Marcus Antōnius Gnipho

, a poet of Gaul, who taught rhetoric at Rome. Cicero and other illustrious men frequented his school. He never asked anything for his lectures, whence he received more from the liberality of his pupils. Suet on i us , Lives of the Grammarians , ch. 7 .――An orator, grandfather to the triumvir of the same name. He was killed in the civil wars of Marius, and his head was hung in the Forum. Valerius Maximus , bk. 9 , ch. 2 .— Lucan , bk. 2 , li. 121 .――Marcus, the eldest son of the orator of the same name, by means of Cotta and Cethegus, obtained from the senate the office of managing the corn on the maritime coasts of the Mediterranean, with unlimited power. This gave him many opportunities of plundering the provinces and enriching himself. He died of a broken heart. Sallust . Fragments of the Histories .――Caius, a son of the orator of that name, who obtained a troop of horse from Sylla, and plundered Achaia. He was carried before the pretor Marcus Lucullus, and banished from the senate by the censors for pillaging the allies, and refusing to appear when summoned before justice.――Caius, son of Antonius Caius, was consul with Cicero, and a isted him to destroy the conspiracy of Cat i line in Gaul. He went to Macedonia as his province, and fought with ill succe against the Dardani. He was accused at his return, and banished.――Marcus, the triumvir, was grandson to the orator Marcus Antonius, and son of Antonius, surnamed Cretensis from his wars in Crete. He was augur and tribune of the people, in which he distinguished himself by his ambitious views. He always entertained a secret resentment against Cicero, which arose from Cicero’s having put to death Cornel i us Lentulus, who was concerned in Cat i line’s conspiracy. This Lentulus had married Antonius’s mother after his father’s death. When the senate was torn by the factions of Pompey’s and Cæsar’s adherents, Antony proposed that both should lay aside the command of their armies in the provinces; but as this proposition met not with succe , he privately retired from Rome to the camp of Cæsar, and advised him to march his army to Rome. In support of his attachment, he commanded the left wing of his army at Pharsalia, and, according to a premeditated scheme, offered him a diadem in the presence of the Roman people. When Cæsar was a a inated in the senate house, his friend Antony spoke an oration over his body; and to ingratiate himself and his party with the populace, he reminded them of the liberal treatment they had received from Cæsar. He besieged Mutina, which had been allotted to Decimus Brutus, for which the senate judged him an enemy to the republic at the remonstration of Cicero. He was conquered by the consuls Hirtius and Pansa, and by young Cæsar, who soon after joined his interest with that of Antony, and formed the celebrated triumvirate, which was established with such cruel proscriptions, that Antony did not even spare his own uncle, that he might strike off the head of his enemy Cicero. The triumvirate divided the Roman empire among themselves; Lepidus was set over all Italy, August us had the west, and Antony returned into the east, where he enlarged his dominions by different conquests. Antony had married Fulvia, whom he repudiated to marry Octavia the sister of August us, and by this connection to strengthen the triumvirate. He a isted August us at the battle of Philippi against the murderers of Julius Cæsar, and he buried the body of Marcus Brutus, his enemy, in a most magnificent manner. During his residence in the east, he became enamoured of the fair Cleopatra queen of Egypt, and repudiated Octavia to marry her. This divorce incensed August us, who now prepared to deprive Antony of all his power. Antony, in the mean time, a embled all the forces of the east, and with Cleopatra marched against Octavius Cæsar. These two enemies met at Actium, where a naval engagement soon began, but Cleopatra, by flying with 60 sail, drew Antony from the battle, and ruined his cause. After the battle of Actium, Antony followed Cleopatra into Egypt, where he was soon informed of the defection of all his allies and adherents, and saw the conqueror on his shores. He stabbed himself, and Cleopatra likewise killed herself by the bite of an asp. Antony died in the 56th year of his age, B.C. 30, and the conqueror shed tears when he was informed that his enemy was no more. Antony left seven children by his three wives. He has been blamed for his great effeminacy, for his uncommon love of pleasures, and his fondne of drinking. It is said that he wrote a book in praise of drunkenne . He was fond of imitating Hercules, from whom, according to some accounts, he was descended; and he is often represented as Hercules, with Cleopatra in the form of Omphale, dre ed in the arms of her submi ive lover, and beating him with her sandals. In his public character, Antony was brave and courageous, but, with the intrepidity of Cæsar, he po e ed all his voluptuous inclinations. He was prodigal to a degree, and did not scruple to call, from vanity, his sons by Cleopatra, kings of kings. His fondne for low company, and his debauchery, form the best parts of Cicero’s Philippics. It is said, that the night of Cæsar’s murder, Ca ius supped with Antony; and, being asked whether he had a dagger with him, answered, “Yes, if you, Antony, aspire to sovereign power.” Plutarch has written an account of his life. Virgil , Æneid , bk. 8 , li. 685 .— Horace , ltr. 9 .— Juvenal , satire 10, li. 122 .— Cornel i us Nepos , Atticus .— Cicero , Philippics .— Justin , bks. 41 & 42.――Julius, son of Antony the triumvir by Fulvia, was consul with Paulus Fabius Maximus. He was surnamed African us, and put to death by order of August us. Some say that he killed himself. It is supposed that he wrote an heroic poem on Diomede, in 12 books. Horace dedicated his Ode 4 to him. Tacitus , Annals , bk. 4 , ch. 44 .―― Lucius , the triumvir’s brother, was besieged in Pelusium by August us, and obliged to surrender himself, with 300 men, by famine. The conqueror spared his life. Some say that he was killed at the shrine of Cæsar.――A noble but unfortunate youth. His father Julius was put to death by August us for his criminal conversation with Julia, and he himself was removed by the emperor to Marseilles, on pretence of finishing his education. Tacitus , Annals , bk. 4 , ch. 44 .――Felix, a freedman of Claudius, appointed governor of Judæa. He married Drusilla the daughter of Antony and Cleopatra. Tacitus , Histories , bk. 4 , ch. 9 .――Flamma, a Roman condemned for extortion under Vespas i an. Tacitus , Histories , bk. 4 , ch. 45 .――Musa, a physician of August us. Pliny , bk. 29 , ch. 1 .――Merenda, a decemvir at Rome, A.U.C. 304. Livy , bk. 3 , ch. 35 .――Quintus Merenda, a military tribune, A.U.C. 332. Livy , bk. 4 , ch. 42 .