Smith, William, A new classical dictionary of Greek and Roman biography mythology and geography

(New York :  Harper & Brothers,  1884.)

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FRENTANI
 

FU'AENTIUS.
 

Iwre Maccaresc)., a town of Etruria, on the eoa&,

between Alsium and the Tiber, on a low, swampy

shore, colonized by the Romans B.C. 245.

  Frentani, a Samnite people, inhabiting a fer¬

tile and well-watered territory on the coast of

the Adriatic, from the River Sagrus on the north

'and subsequently almost as  far north as from

the Aternus) to  the River Frento on the south,

from  the  latter of whieh rivers  they  derived

 heir  name.  They were bounded by the Mar-

 uoini on the north, by the Peligni and by Sam¬

nium  on the west, and by Apulia on the south.

They submitted  to the Romans in B.C 304, and

concluded a peace with the republic.

  Frento (now  Fortore), a river in Italy, form¬

ing the boundary between the Frentani and Apu¬

lia, rises in the Apennines and falls into, the

Adriatic Sea.

  Friniates, a people in  Liguria, probably the

6ame as the Briniates, who, after being subdued

by the Romans, were transplanted to Samnium.

  Frisiahones, probably a tribe of the Frisii, in¬

habiting the islands at the mouth of the Rhine.

  Frisii,  a people in  the  northwest of  Ger¬

many, inhabited the coast  from the  eastern

mouth of the Rhine to the Amisia (now Ems),

and were bounded on  the south  by the Bruc¬

teri, consequently in the modern Friesland,  Gro-

ningen,  &a.  Tacitus divided  them into Majores

and Minores, the former probably in the east,

and the  latter  in the west of the country.   The

Frisii  were on friendly terms with the Romans

from  the time of the first campaign of Drusus

till A.D. 28, when  the  oppressions of the Ro¬

man officers drove them to revolt  In the  fifth

sentury we find them joining the Saxons and

Angli in their invasion of Britain.

  Front! sus, Sex. Julius, was praator A.D. 70,

aud in  75 succeeded  Cerealis  as governor of

Britain, where he distinguished  Mmself by the

conquest of the Silures, and maintained the Ro¬

man power unbroken until superseded by Agric¬

ola in  78.   In  97 Frontinus  was  nominated

curator aquarum.  He died   about  106.   Two

works undoubtedly by  tMs author are  still ex

tant: 1. Strategematicon  Libri  IV, a sort of

treatise on  the  art of war, developed in a col¬

lection  of the sayings and doings of the most

renowned leaders of antiquity.   2. Be Aquedue-

tibus  Urbis Rome Libri II, which forms a valu¬

able contribution to the history of architecture.

The best editions  of the Strategematica are by

Oudendorp, Lugd. Bat, 1779, and by Schwebel,

Lips, 1772 ; of the Be Aqueductibus by Polenus,

Patav,  1722.   In  the  collection  of the Agri-

mensores, or Rei Agraric Audores (ed. Goesius,

Amst, 1674;  ed. Laehmann,  Berlin,  1848), are

preserved  some treatises  usually ascribed  to

Sex.  Julius Frontinus.   The collection  consists

of fragments connected with the art  of  measur¬

ing land and  ascertaining boundaries.  It  was

■put together  without skill,  pages of different

works being mixed up together, and the writ¬

ings of one author being sometimes  attributed

to another.

   Fronto, M, Cornelius, was born  at  Cirta in

Numidia, in the reign of Domitian, and came to

Rome in  the  reign of Hadrian, where he attain¬

ed great celebrity as a pleader and a teacher of

rhetoric.  He  was intrusted with the education

 cf  the  future  errpaw-s M. Aurelius and L. Ve-
 

ri3, and was  rewarl'd with wealth and honors

He was raised tc 'j>a consulsMp  in  143.   Sc

great was Ms fam' us a  speaker that a sect of

rhetoricians arose w\io were denominated From

toniani.   Following  the example of their found¬

er, they avoided the  exaggeration of tie Groet

sophistical school,  and bestowed  especial  eara

on the purity of their language and the simplicity

of their  style.  Fronto  lived till  the  reip-n of

M. Aurelius.  The  latest  of his epistles lutan,;*

to the year 166.  Up to a recent period no woik

of Fronto was known to  be in existanee, with

the exception of a corrupt and wortMess tract

entitled Be Bifferentiit  Vaeabulorum, and  a few

fragments preserved  by the grammarians.  But

about the year 1814 Angelo Mai diuoovered on

a palimpsest in the  Ambrosian library at Milan s

considerable number of letters  wMcli had paw¬

ed between Fronto,  Antoninus Pius, M. Ain-o-

lius, L. Verus, and  various friends, together with

some  short essays.  These were  published by

Mai at Milan in 1815, and in an improved form

by Niebuhr,  Buttmann,  and Hoindorf, Berlin,

1816.  Subsequently  Mai discovered, on  a pa¬

limpsest in the Vatican library at Rome, upward

of one hundred new letters; and  he published

these at  Rome  in  1823,  together with  those

whieh had been previously discovered.

  Fronto, Papirius,  a jurist, who probably lived

about the time  of  Antoninus  Pius,  or rather

earlier.

  Fruslno (Frusinas, -atis: now Frosinone), a

town of the  Hernici  in Latium, in  the valley of

the River Cosas,  and subsequently  a Roman

colony;   It  was  celebrated  for  its  prodigies,

which  occurred  here  almost  more frequently

than at any other place.

  Fucentis, Fucentia.   Vid. Alba, No. 4.

  Fucinus Lacus (now Lagc di Celano or Gap-

istrano), a large lake in the centre of Italy and rn

the country of the Marsi, about thirty miles in

circumference,  into  which  all the mountain

streams  of the Apenninet  flow. As  the  water

of this lake had no visible outlet, and frequently

inundated ihe surrounding country,  the Emperor

Claudius constructed au  emissarium or artificial

channel for carrying off (fhe waters of the lake

into  the Rrver Liris.  This emissarium is still

nearly perfect: it is almost three miles in length,

It appears that the actual drainage was relin¬

quished sood after the death of Claudius, for it

was reopened by Hadrian.

   Fufius Calenus.  Vid. Calenus.

   Fuficius, a jurist, who  probably lived between

the time of Vespasian and Hadrian.

   Fulgentius,  Fabius  Planciades,  a  Latin

grammarian of uncertain date, probably not ear¬

lier than the sixth century after Christ, appears

to have been of African origin. He is the au¬

thor  of, 1. Mythologiarum IJibri III. ad Qa'.urft

Presbyterum, a collection of the most remark¬

able tales connected with the history  and ex¬

ploits of gods and  heroes.  2.  Expositio Sermo-

num Antiquorum  cum Testimoniis ad Chalcidi-

cum Grammaticum, a glossary of obsolete  words

and  phrases  : of very little value.  3.  Liber dt

ExpositioneVirgilianat Continentim ad Chalcidi-

cum Grammaticum, a title which means am ex¬

planation of what is contained in  Virgil, that if

to say, of the  esoteric truths  •dllegorieally con

veyad in the Virgilian poems   The best cdiJao*

                              J13
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