the abnepos of Augustus, the latter was his abavus, and not his atavus. (Tac. Ann. xii. 58, xv. 35; Dion Cass. lxii. 27.) 15. L. JUNIUS TORQUATUS SILANUS, the son of No. 12, and consequently the atnepos, or greatgreat-great grandson of Augustus. In consequence of the early death of his father, he was brought up in the house of the jurist Cassius, who had married his aunt Lepida; but his descent from Augustus, as well as his virtues, rendered him an object of suspicion to Nero. He was accordingly accused in A. D. 65, along with Cassius and his aunt Lepida. The crimes laid to the charge of Silanus were that he was aspiring to the empire, and that he had committed incest with his aunt Lepida. Silanus was sentenced to banishment, and was removed to Ostia, as if for the purpose of being carried over to Naxus; but from Ostia he was conveyed to Barium, a municipium of Apulia, and was there shortly afterwards put to death. The name of the month of Junius was now changed into that of Germanicus, because the two Torquati had by their crimes rendered this name inauspicious (Tac. Ann. xv. 52, xvi. 7—9, 12). This L. Silanus is probably the same as the L. Silanus whose statue was erected in the forum in the time of the younger Pliny (Ep. i. 17). This Silanus appears to have been the last descendant of Julia, the granddaughter of Augustus. 16. C. JUNIUS SILANUS, consul suffectus under Domitian in A. D. 92 (Fasti). 17. JUNIUS SILANUS, consul under Commodus in A. D. 189 with Q. Servilius Silanus (Fasti). 18. JUNIUS SILANUS, consul suffectus under Maximinus in A. D. 237 (Fasti). There are several coins of the Junia Gens with the name of Silanus upon them. We annex two specimens. On the obverse of the first is the head of Salus, and on the obverse of the second the head of a barbarian with a torquis round the coin. The torquis was inserted in order to mark the connection of the Silani with the Manlii Torquati. We have already seen that the son of the jurist T. Manlius Torquatus was adopted by a D. Junius Silanus. [See above, No. 3.] In consequence of this connection between the Silani and Torquati, we find the name of Torquatus assumed by several of the Silani. [See above, Nos. 14, 15.] Who the D. Silanus is, referred to on these coins, cannot be determined; the two coins probably refer to two different persons of the name. ROMA SILANYS COINS OF D. JUNIUS SILANUS. SILA'NUS, LICI'NIUS, consul B. C. 20, is a false reading in Dion Cassius (lv. 30) for Silianus. The full name of this consul was A. Licinius Nerva Silianus [NERVA, LICINIUS, No. 7]. SILA'NUS, SERVI'LIUS, the name of two consuls under Commodus, namely, M. Servilius Silanus in A. D. 188, and Q. Servilius Silanus in A. D. 189 (Fasti). SILA'NUS, T. TURPI/LIUS, was appointed by Metellus in B. c. 108 commander of the town of Vaga or Vacca, in Numidia; but the inhabitants, urged on by Jugurtha, treacherously massacred all the Roman garrison, with the exception of Turpilius Silanus, who escaped to the main body of the Roman army. The conduct and escape of Turpilius were suspicious; he was brought to trial before Metellus, and condemned; and, as he was a Latin and not a Roman citizen, was scourged and put to death. Plutarch relates that the innocence of Turpilius was afterwards established; and that Marius, who was present at the trial as an assessor, had strongly urged Metellus to put him to death, in order thus to bring upon his commander the odium of having condemned an innocent man (Sall. Jug. 66-69; Plut. Mar. 8). SILENTIA RIUS, PAULUS (PAULUS, lite rary, No. 18]. SILE NUS or SEILE'NUS (Zeiλnvós). It is remarked in the article Satyrus, that the older Satyrs were generally termed Sileni (comp. Schol. ad Nicand. Alex. 31), but one of these Sileni is commonly the Silenus, who always acts a prominent part in the retinue of Dionysus, from whom he is inseparable, and whom he is said to have brought up and instructed. (Diod. iv. 14; Orph. Hymn. 53. 1.) Like the other Satyrs he is called a son of Hermes (Serv. ad Virg. Eclog. vi. 13), but others call him a son of Pan by a nymph, or of Gaea (Nonn. Dionys. xiv. 97, xxix. 262; Aelian, V. H. iii. 18; comp. Porphyr. Vit. Pythag. 16; Clemens, Cohort. ad Gent. p. 24.) Being the constant companion of Dionysus, he is, like the god, said to have been born at Nysa (Catull. 64, 253), and Diodorus (iii. 72) even represents him as king of Nysa; he moreover took part in the contest with the Gigantes, and slew Enceladus, putting the others to flight by the braying of his ass. (Eurip. Cycl.) He is described as a jovial old man, with a bald head, a puck nose, fat and round like his wine bag, which he always carried with him, and generally as intoxicated. As therefore he cannot trust to his own legs, he is generally riding on an ass (Ov. Fast. i. 399, iii. 749), or he is supported by other Satyrs and Satyrisci. (Virg. Eclog. vi. 13; Lucian, Deor. Conc. 4.) In every other respect he is described as resembling his brethren in the fondness for sleep, wine and music. He is mentioned along with Marsyas and Olympus as the inventor of the flute which he is often seen playing (Strab. x. p. 470), and a special kind of dance was called after him Silenus, while he himself is designated as the dancer. (Anacr. 38. 11; Paus. iii. 25. § 2; Lucian, Icarom. 27.) But it is a peculiar feature in his character that he was conceived also as an inspired prophet, who knew all the past and the most distant future (Aelian, V. H. iii. 18; Virg. Eclog. vi, 31, &c.), and as a sage who despised all the gifts of fortune (Cic. Tuscul. i. 48); so that he becomes the represent ative of that wisdom which conceals itself behind a rough and uncouth external appearance, whence he is likened to Socrates. (Plat. Sympos. 32; Xenoph. Sympos. 5. § 7.) When he was drunk and asleep, he was in the power of mortals who might compel him to prophesy and sing by surrounding him with chains of flowers. (Aelian, V. H. iii. 18; Philostr. Imag. i. 22, Vit. Apoll. vi. 27; Ov. Met. xi. 91.) Silenus had a temple at Elis, where Methe (Drunkenness) stood by his side handing him a cup of wine. (Hirt, Mythol. Bilderb. p. 164, &c.; C. O. Müller, Ancient Art and its Remains, § 386.) [L. S.] SILENUS (Zeiλnvós or Ziλnvós), literary. 1. A native of Calatia (Zenvòs & Kaλatiavós), an historical writer. Athenaeus (xii. p. 542, a), quotes from the third book of a work by him, entitled Σικελικά, The same work is probably referred to by Diogenes Laërtius (ii. 3, 11). He also wrote upon Roman history, and is mentioned by Dionysius of Halicarnassus (Ant. Rom. i. 6), who charges him with a want of care and accuracy, and by Livy (xxvi. 49) when speaking of the operations of Scipio Africanus the elder, in Spain. This Silenus is, doubtless, identical with Σιλανὸς ὁ συγγραφεύς, mentioned by Strabo (iii. p. 172), who remarks that he, as well as Artemidorus, was ignorant of the reason why the fountain in the temple of Hercules at Gades rose when the tide fell, and fell when the tide rose. It is probably this writer also who is quoted by Stephanus (s. v. Пaλký), and by Pliny (H. N. iv. 22). Photius also (s. v. Zapdóvios yéλws), mentions what Silenus says év B Tŵν TEрl ZupaKóσoas. Cicero (de Div. i. 24) quotes from Silenus (of whom he remarks: is autem diligentissime res Hannibalis persecutus est) an account of a dream that Hannibal had after the capture of Saguntum. (Comp. Corn. Nep. Hannib. extr.) although a person of this name is mentioned as early as B. c. 409. The first member of the gens who obtained the consulship was P. Silius Nerva, in B. c. 20. The different cognomens of the Silii are given below in alphabetical order. Nerva is the only cognomen that occurs on coins of the gens. SILIO, UMBO'NIUS, governor of Baetica under Claudius, was recalled from his province, and expelled from the senate because he had offended some of the emperor's freedmen, though accused, for the sake of form, of another crime (Dion Cass. lx. 24). SILIUS. 1. Q. SILIUS, one of the quaestors elected for the first time from the plebs in B. C. 409 (Liv. iv. 54). 2. T. SILIUS, served under Caesar in Gaul, and was sent by him against the Veneti in B. c. 56 (Caes. B. G. iii. 7). 3. A. SILIUS, a friend of Cicero, is frequently mentioned by him in his correspondence with Atticus in B. c. 45. (Cic. ad Att. x. 13, xii. 18, 22, 24, 25, xiii. 50.) 4. P. SILIUS, governed Bithynia and Pontus as propraetor in B. c. 51, at the same time as Cicero governed Cilicia as proconsul, Bibulus Syria, and Thermus Asia. Silius was a friend of Atticus (Cic. ad Att. vi. 1. § 13, vii. 1. § 8). Several of Cicero's letters are addressed to this Silius. He consulted Cicero on a legal point in B. c. 44, the explanation of which has exercised the ingenuity of modern jurists. (Cic. ad Fam. vii. 21, ad Att. xv. 23, 24; P. E. Huschke, De Causa Siliana, Rostochii, 1824, and also in his Studien, Breslau, 1830, vol. i.) This Silius was probably the father of P. Silius Nerva, consul in B. C. 20. [SILIUS NERVA.] 2. It was probably a different writer from the 5. C. SILIUS P. F. P. N., was consul A. D. 13, last who is quoted several times by Athenaeus with L. Munatius Plancus (Dion Cass. lvi. 28; and others as the author of a work on foreign Suet. Aug. 101; Frontin. de Aquaed. 102; Fasti words (ywooa). Athenaeus mentions him fre- Capitol.). He was appointed at the end of his quently along with Cleitarchus. (Athen. xi. pp. year of office legatus of Upper Germany, where 468, a. 475, d. 478, e. 482, f. xiv. p. 644, f., &c. ; he was at the death of Augustus, in the month of comp. Schol. ad Apoll. Rhod. i. 1299; Eustath. August in the following year. He served under ad Od. vii. 102, p. 1571.) Silenus also compiled Germanicus in his campaigns in Germany, and on a collection of fabulous histories. (Tzetzes in Ly-account of his success obtained the triumphal orcophr. 786; Schol. Hom. Od. i. 75, where he is called a Chian, as he is also by Eustathius, ad Od. xix. 407, p. 1871, and Eudocia, pp. 43, 312, 394; Vossius, de Hist. Graecis, p. 498, ed. Westermann.) [C. P. M.] SILE/NUS, an architect who wrote a work on the Doric order, de Symmetriis Doricorum. He was apparently of an early age and a little later than the scene painter Agatharchus, who was contemporary with Aeschylus. (Vitruv. vii. praef. § 12.) [P.S.] P. SILICIUS, as he is called by Plutarch, or SILICIUS CORONAS, as Dion Cassius names him, a Roman senator, and one of the judices appointed to try the conspirators against the life of Caesar in B. c. 43, in accordance with the Lex Pedia. [PEDIUS, No. 1.] Although Octavianus was present with his army, Silicius ventured to vote for the acquittal of M. Brutus, in consequence of which he was afterwards proscribed by the triumvirs, and put to death. Appian erroneously calls him Icilius (Dion Cass. xlvi. 49; Plut. Brut. 27; Appian, B. C. iv. 27). SILIA GENS, plebeian, did not attain much importance till quite the latter end of the republic, naments in A. D. 15. Germanicus sent him against the Chatti in the following year, but the result of that expedition is not mentioned by Tacitus. In A. D. 21 he defeated Julius Sacrovir, who, in conjunction with Julius Florus, had excited an insurrection in Gaul, and had collected a formidable army among the Aedui and the surrounding people [SACROVIR]. But his friendship with Germanicus caused his ruin. He had also excited the suspicions of the jealous emperor by the successes he had obtained, by the long continuance of his command, and by the boastful manner in which he had spoken of his services. He was accordingly accused of repetundae and majestas in A. D. 24, and anticipated his condemnation by a voluntary death. His wife Sosia Galla was involved in the accusations brought against him, and was sentenced to banishment. [GALLA, SOSIA.] (Tac. Ann. i. 31, ii. 6, 7, 25, iii. 42—45, iv. 18, 19; Dion Cass. lx. 31.) 6. C. SILIUS, son of No. 5, the most beautiful of the Roman youths, was passionately loved by Messalina, the wife of the emperor Claudius. She made no secret of her affection for him, and visited his house openly, with a large retinue. She com pelled him to divorce his wife Junia Silana, and made | him consul designatus in A. D. 48. At length her effrontery reached so mad a pitch, that she married him with all the forms and ceremonies of a legal marriage, during the absence of her stupid husband at Ostia. The latter would no doubt have remained ignorant of the whole affair, had not his freedman Narcissus resolved upon the destruction both of Silius and Messalina. By means of two favourite concubines of Claudius, Narcissus acquainted the emperor with the outrage that had been committed against him. Silius was put to death and many others with him. (Tac. Ann. xi. 5, 12, 26–35; Dion Cass. lx. 31; Suet. Claud. 26; Juv. x. 331, &c.) [MESSALINA, p. 1054, a.] SILIUS BASSUS. [BASSUS.] C. SILIUS ITA'LICUS, the most voluminous among the Roman writers of heroic verse, was born about A. D. 25. From his early years he devoted himself to oratory and poetry, taking Cicero as his model in the former, and Virgil in the latter. He acquired great reputation as a pleader at the bar, and acted for some time as a member of that body of judicial umpires who were known as the Centumvirs. His life, in so far as we can trace it, presents a course of unbroken prosperity. He was elevated to the consulship in A. D. 68, the year in which Nero perished; he was admitted to familiar intercourse with Vitellius, and subsequently discharged the duties of proconsul of Asia with high renown. After enjoying for a lengthened period the dignities of political and literary fame without incurring the envy which is for the most part the lot of distinguished statesmen and authors, he determined to retire from the busy world, and to pass his old age among his numerous villas, which were abundantly furnished with books and works of art. His two favourite residences were a mansion near Puteoli, formerly the Academy of Cicero, and the house in the vicinity of Naples once occupied by Virgil; and so enamoured did he become of seclusion, that upon the accession of Trajan he refused to repair to Rome, and pay homage to the new prince. In these happy retreats he passed his time in tranquillity until he had completed his 75th year, when, in consequence of the pain caused by an incurable tubercle (insanabilis clavus) of some kind, he starved himself to death; and it was remarked that as he was the last consul nominated by Nero, so he survived all those who had held that office in the same reign. The only stain upon his character arises from the imputation that he pandered to the cruelties of the tyrant, by acting as a voluntary accuser; but if this charge was true, his guilt was in a great measure expiated by the blamelessness of his subsequent career. He had two sons, one of whom died when young; the other attained to the consulship before his father's death. to the men of genius whom his native province had "Felix purpura tertiusque consul," The great work of Silius Italicus was an heroic poem in seventeen books, entitled Punica, which has descended to us entire. It contains a narrative of the events of the second Punic War, from the capture of Saguntum to the triumph of Scipio Africanus, together with various episodes relating to the more remarkable achievements in the first contest with Carthage, and to the exploits of champions in still earlier ages, such as Scaevola, Camillus, and the three hundred Fabii. Just as Virgil did not think that he degraded the majesty of the epic by making it a vehicle for flattering the Julian line, so his imitator has interwoven with his verses a panegyric upon the Flavian dynasty. The materials are derived almost entirely from Livy and Polybius. With regard to the merits of the piece, those few persons who have perused it from beginning to end will scarcely think the criticism too severe which pronounces it to be the least attractive poem within the range of classical antiquity; and this judgment is by no means incompatible with the praises awarded by Cellarius. We may freely admit that many passages may be adduced which throw light upon the historical events of that remarkable epoch, upon the origin, fortunes, and geographical position of different nations in Italy, Sicily, Spain, and Africa, and upon various points connected with mythology and ancient usages. But these are not the commendations we bestow on a great poet; the information which, Much discussion has taken place with regard to after all, might be compressed within a very limited the import of the word Italicus, which no one has compass is certainly not destitute of value, but it as yet explained in a satisfactory manner. Accord is conveyed through the medium of the coldest, ing to the opinion most generally adopted, it was heaviest, and most lifeless composition that ever derived from the place of his birth which is ima- was misnamed an heroic poem. Notwithstanding gined to have been either Italica near Hispalis in the eulogistic apostrophe of Martial (Sili, Castali Baetica, or Corfinium, in the country of the Pe- dum decus sororum), dictated perhaps by personal ligni. Neither of these suppositions will bear in- friendship, or more probably by the desire of vestigation. It is extremely improbable that he fawning upon one who possessed so much power at was a Spaniard, for Martial, who repeatedly cele- court, the merits of Silius seem to have been fairly brates his praises, nowhere claims him as a coun-appreciated by his contemporaries, as we perceive tryman, although he frequently aliudes with pride from the words of Pliny" Scribebat carmina majori eura quam industria;" and soon after death he appears to have fallen into complete oblivion, for he is neither quoted nor named by any writer, not even by the grammarians, until the time of Apollinaris. (Excusator. ad Felic. 260.) The work of Silius Italicus was first brought to light after the revival of letters by Poggio the Florentine, having been discovered by him while attending the council of Constance. The Editio Princeps was printed at Rome by Sweynheym and Pannartz under the inspection of Andrew, bishop of Aleria, fol. 1471, and again at the same place, fol. 1471, 1474, 1480. The best editions are those of Cellarius, 8vo. Lips. 1695, and Drakenborch, 4to. Traj. ad Rhen. 1717, especially the latter. That by Ruperti, 2 vols. 8vo. Goetting. 1795, contains a considerable quantity of useful matter, but displays little scholarship or judgment. There is a complete translation into English verse, bearing the title "The Second Punik War between Hannibal and the Romanes: the whole xvii. books Englished from the Latine of Silius Italicus, with a continuation from the triumphe of Scipio to the death of Hannibal, by Tho. Ross." Fol. London, 1661; and reprinted fol. Lond. 1672. The commencement was translated into French verse by Mich. de Marolles, and was appended to his "Considérations sur une Critique de l'Eneide," 4to. Paris (no date), and to his translation of the Achilleis of Statius, 4to. Paris, 1678. Select passages have been rendered into German by K. P. Kretschmann, to be found in the collection called "Meissner's Apollo," 1797, Heft. 5. There is also a version into Italian by Buzio, which is contained in the Raccolta di tutti gli antichi poeti Latini, 4to. Milan 1765, vol. 34-35. [W. R.] SILIUS MESSALLA. [MESSALLA, p. 1053.] SILIUS NERVA. 1. P. SILIUS NERVA, was consul under Augustus B. C. 20, with M. Appuleius, and afterwards subdued the Cammunii and Venii (al. Venones), Gallic tribes. (Dion Cass. liv. 7, 20.) 2. P. SILIUS NERVA, consul under Tiberius A. D. 28, with Ap. Junius Silanus. (Tac. Ann. iv. 68; Plin. H. N. viii. 40.) 3. SILIUS NERVA, consul under Nero in A. D. 65, with Vestinus Atticus (Tac. Ann. xv. 48). He is described in the Fasti as A. Licinius Nerva Silianus ; whence it would appear that he was adopted by A. Licinius. He was probably the son of No. 2. There are several coins bearing on the reverse P. NERVA, which are referred by modern numismatologists to the Silia gens, and not to the Licinia gens, as older writers had done. A specimen of these coins is annexed. The reverse represents the septa of the comitia: one citizen is placing his tabella in the ballot-box, while another is receiving his tabella from the officer. (Eckhel, vol. v. p. 313.) ། flourished about B. c. 500, since he was mentioned SILO, Q. POMPAE/DIUS, the leader of the Marsi in the Social War, and the soul of the whole undertaking, at first endeavoured to obtain for the Socii the Roman franchise, by means of M. Livius Drusus, the celebrated tribune of the plebs in B. C. 91. He came to Rome to concoct his plans with Drusus, and remained in his house several days; and it is related by Diodorus that he subsequently marched upon Rome at the head of 10,000 men, with weapons concealed beneath their clothes, in order to extort the franchise by force, but that he was persuaded by Domitius, perhaps the censor of the preceding year, to give up his enterprise (Plut. Cat. Min. 2; Diod. xxxvii. p. 612, ed. Wess.). With the death of Drusus the allies lost all hope of obtaining their demands peaceably, and forth with took up arms. The history of the war which ensued is given in too confused and fragmentary a manner to enable us to follow the operations of Pompaedius Silo step by step; but all accounts agree in representing him as the most distinguished of the Italian generals. His most brilliant exploit seems to have been the defeat of Q. Caepio, whom he decoyed into an ambush ; but he was unable, either by his stratagems or his sarcasms, to force Marius to an engagement (Plut. Mar. 33). After most of the allies had laid down their arms and submitted to the Romans, Pompaedius still continued the struggle. He regained Bovianum, which had been taken by Sulla, and entered this capital of Samnium in triumph (Obsequ. 116). But this was his last success. He was first defeated by Mam. Aemilius, and subsequently by Q. Metellus Pius. In the latter battle he perished, and with his death the war came to an end, B. C. 38 (Appian, B. C. i. 40, 44, 53; Diod. xxxvii. p. 539, ed. Wess.; Liv. Epit. 76; Flor. iii. 18; Oros. v. 18; Vell. Pat. ii. 16). Several writers have Popedius, and others give Sylo or Sillo as the cognomen, but Pompaedius Silo is the correct orthography. SILO, POMPAE'DIUS, fought under Ventidius, the legatus of Antony, in his campaign against the Parthians in B. c. 39 (Dion Cass. xlviii. 41). The proceedings of Silo in Judaea are related at length by Josephus (Antiq. xiv. 15, B. J. i. 15). SILVA'NUS, a Latin divinity of the fields and forests, to whom in the very earliest times the Tyrrhenian Pelasgians are said to have dedicated a grove and a festival (Virg. Aen. viii. 600). He is described as a god watching over the fields and husbandmen, and is also called the protector of the boundaries of fields (Horat. Epod. ii. 22). Hy. ginus (De Limit. Const. Praef.) tells us that Silvanus was the first to set up stones to mark the limits of fields, and that every estate had three Silvani, a Silvanus domesticus (in inscriptions called Silvanus Larum and Silvanus sanctus sacer Larum), Silvanus agrestis (also called salutaris), SILLAX (Xí^^αğ), a painter, of Rhegium, who was worshipped by shepherds, and Silvanus COIN OF P. SILIUS NERVA. orientalis; that is, the god presiding over the point at which an estate begins. Hence Silvani are often spoken of in the plural. In connection with woods (sylvestris deus), he especially presided over plantations, and delighted in trees growing wild (Tibull. ii. 5. 30; Lucan, Phars. iii. 402; Plin. H. N. xii. 2; Ov. Met. i. 193); whence he is represented as carrying the trunk of a cypress (Sevdpopópos, Virg. Georg. i. 20). Respecting the cypress, however, the following story is told. Silvanus, or according to others, Apollo (Serv. ad Aen. iii. 680; Ov. Met. x. 106, &c.), was in love with the youth Cyparissus, and once by accident killed a hind belonging to Cyparissus. The latter died of grief, and was metamorphosed into a cypress (Serv. ad Virg. Georg. i. 20, Eclog. x. 26, Aen. iii. 680). He is further described as the divinity protecting the flocks of cattle, warding off wolves, and promoting their fertility (Virg. Aen. viii. 601; Tibull. i. 5. 27; Cato, De Re Rust. 83; Nonn. ii. 324). Being the god of woods and flocks, he is also described as fond of music; the syrinx was sacred to him (Tibull. ii. 5. 30), and he is mentioned along with the Pans and Nymphs (Virg. Georg. i. 21; Lucan, l. c.). Later speculators even identified Silvanus with Pan, Faunus, Inuus and Aegipan (Plut. Parall. Min. 22). Cato (l. c.) calls him Mars Silvanus, from which it is clear that he must have been connected with the Italian Mars, and it is further stated that his connection with agriculture referred only to the labour performed by men, and that females were excluded from his worship (Schol. ad Juven. vi. 446). In the Latin poets, as well as in works of art, he always appears as an old man, but as cheerful and in love with Pomona (Virg. Georg. ii. 494; Horat. Epod. ii. 21, Carm. iii. 8; Ov. Met. xiv. 639). The sacrifices offered to him consisted of grapes, corn-ears, milk, meat, wine and pigs. (Horat. Epod. ii. 22, Epist. ii. 1. 143; Tibull. i. 5. 27; Juven. vi. 446; comp. Voss. Mythol. Briefe, ii. 68; Hartung, Die Relig. der Röm. vol. ii. p. 170, &c.) [L. S.] SILVANUS, a general of infantry in Gaul, where he completely succeeded in quelling a formidable insurrection of the barbarians during the reign of Constantius (A. D. 355), to whom he had rendered an important service upon a former occasion by deserting, with a large body of cavalry, from Magnentius, immediately before the great battle of Mursa. Having been falsely accused of treason by an informer who produced forged documents in support of the charge, he was urged by despair to commit the crime of which he had been so villanously impeached, and assumed the purple at Cologne, about the end of July A.D. 355, almost at the very moment when his innocence had been triumphantly established before the imperial tribune at Milan. Ursicinus having been despatched with a few followers to crush this rebellion as best he might, effected by treachery the destruction of Silvanus, who was murdered twentyeight days after he had been proclaimed Augustus. He is represented by a contemporary historian as an officer of great experience and skill, not less remarkable for his gentle temper and amiable manners, than for his warlike prowess. It is not improbable that he may be the Silvanus named in the Codex Theodosianus (Chron. A. D. 349) as a commander of infantry and cavalry under Constans. (The details with regard to the unfortunate usurpation of Silvanus are given with animated minuteness by Ammianus Marcellinus, xv. 5, 6, who accompanied Ursicinus upon his hazardous mission. See also Julian. Orat. i. ii.; Mamertin. Panegyr. ii.; Aurel. Vict. de Caes. 42, Epit. 42; Eutrop. x. 7; Zonar. xiii. 9.) [W. R.] SILVA'NUS, M. CEIO'NIUS, consul under Antoninus A. D. 156, with C. Serius Augurinus (Fasti). SILVA NUS, GRA'NIUS, tribune of a praetorian cohort under Nero, was commissioned by the emperor, on the detection of the conspiracy of Piso, A. D. 65, to demand from the philosopher Seneca an explanation of certain suspicious words which he was charged with having spoken to Antonius Natalis. Silvanus himself was involved in the conspiracy; and though he was acquitted, he put an end to his own life (Tac. Ann. xv. 60, and 50, 71). Orelli, in his edition of Tacitus, reads Gavius Silvanus instead of Granius Silvanus. SILVA'NUS, PLAUTIUS. 1. M. PLAUTIUS SILVANUS, tribune of the plebs, B. c. 89, proposed a law that fifteen persons should be annually elected by each tribe, out of its own body, to be placed in the Album Judicum (Ascon. in Cornel. p. 79, ed. Orelli). In conjunction with his colleague, C. Papirius Carbo, he also proposed a law conferring the Roman franchise upon the citizens of the foederatae civitates. (Cic. pro Arch. 4; comp. Dict. of Antiq. p. 293, a, 2d ed.) 2. M. PLAUTIUS M. F. A. N. SILVANUS, was consul B. c. 2. He afterwards served with great distinction under Tiberius in the Pannonian and Illyrican wars, and obtained in consequence, as we learn from an inscription, the triumphal ornaments (Vell. Pat. ii. 112; Dion Cass. lv. 34, lvi. 12; Gruter, p. 452. 6). 3. PLAUTIUS SILVANUS, praetor A. D. 24, threw his wife Apronia out of the window, and having been accused of the crime, anticipated his condemnation by a voluntary death. (Tac. Ann. iv. 22). 4. TI. PLAUTIUS SILVANUS AELIANUS, offered up the prayer as pontifex when the first stone of the Capitol was laid, in A. D. 70 (Tac. Hist. iv. 53). We learn from an inscription (Gruter, p. 453; Orelli, n. 750) that he held many important military commands, and that he was twice consul. The date of these consulships, in both of which he was consul suffectus, is uncertain. Baiter, in his Fasti Consulares, places the first in the reign of Claudius, A. D. 47, and the second in the reign of Vespasian, A. d. 76. 5. M. PLAUTIUS SILVANUS, consul suffectus in A. D. 68 (Fasti). SILVA NUS, POMPEIUS, consul suffectus under Claudius, A. D. 45 (Fasti), is perhaps the same as the Pompeius or Poppaeus Silvanus, a man of consular rank, who governed Dalmatia at the death of Nero, and is described by Tacitus as rich and aged. He espoused the side of Vespasian, but prosecuted the war with little vigour. He entered Rome along with the other generals of Vespasian, and was appointed by the senate to superintend the loan of money which the state was to obtain from private persons. (Hist. ii. 86, iii. 50, iv. 47.) SILVA NUS, POMPONIUS, was proconsul of Africa, and was accused by the provincials in the reign of Nero, A. D. 58, but he was acquitted in consequence of his being an old man possessing |