Philo
（
Φίλων).
1.
A sculptor; the son of Antipater. He flourished in the time of Alexander the Great. Among
his works was the statue of Hephaestion, and that of Zeus Ourios, at the entrance of the
Bosporus (
Verr. iv. 58, 129). The dedicatory verses inscribed on the pedestal
of the latter are now in the British Museum (quoted on p. 40 of Demosth.
Adv.
Leptinem, ed. Sandys). Pliny (xxxiv. 91) mentions him as one of the sculptors who
made
athletas et armatos et venatores sacrificantesque.
2.
An Athenian architect who built for Demetrius Phalereus, about B.C. 318, the portico to the
great temple at Eleusis. It had twelve Doric columns in front, and its dimensions were 183
feet by 37 1/2 feet. Under the administration of Lycurgus, he constructed an
armamentarium or arsenal at Zea in the Piraeus, containing tackle, etc., for 1000
ships (Pliny ,
Pliny H. N. vii. 125). It was
destroyed by Sulla , but apparently rebuilt, since it is described by Valerius Maximus (viii.
12, 2) as still existing. An inscription in the
Corpus Inscriptionum
Atticarum (ii. 1054) contains the contract for the work, with full details of
its structure and fittings.
3.
Of Byzantium; a celebrated mechanician. He wrote, in the second century B.C., a work on
mechanics, of which only one book, on the construction of engines of war, and portions of two
others, on siege-warfare, are extant. Edited by Köchly and Rüstow
(1853). See
Seven
Wonders of the World.
4.
Of Larissa; an Academic philosopher, a pupil of Clitomachus. He came to Rome in B.C. 88,
being one of a number of eminent Greeks who fled from Athens on the
approach of its siege during the Mithridatic War. He was a man of versatile genius, and a
perfect master of the theory and practice of oratory. Cicero had scarcely heard him before
all inclination for Epicureanism was swept from his mind, and he surrendered himself wholly
to the brilliant Academic (
Brutus. 306). One of his works, twice mentioned,
though not by any definite title (
Acad. i. 13, ii. 11), supplied Cicero with
his historic account of the New Academy (
Academica, ed. Reid, pp. 2, 52).
5.
Called Iudaeus, “the Jew.” Born of a priestly
family at Alexandria, about B.C. 25, he carefully studied the different branches of Greek
culture, and, in particular, acquired a knowledge of the Platonic philosophy, while in no way
abandoning the study of the Scriptures or the creed of his nation. In A.D. 39 he went to Rome
as an emissary to the emperor Caligula in the interest of his fellow-countrymen, whose
religious feelings were offended by a decree ordering them to place the statue of the deified
emperor in their synagogues. This embassy, which led to no result, is described by him in a
work which is still extant, though in an incomplete form. Philo is the chief representative
of the Graeco-Judaic philosophy. He wrote numerous Greek works in a style modelled on that of
Plato. These are remarkable for moral earnestness, passionate enthusiasm, and vigour of
thought. They include allegorical expositions of portions of the Scriptures, as well as works
of ethical, historical, or political purport. Several of his works only survive in Armenian
versions. His philosophy, especially his theology, is an endeavour to reconcile Platonism
with Judaism. Eng. trans. by Yonge, 4 vols.
(1854-55).
6.
Byblius Philo or Herennius Byblius. A
Roman grammarian, born at Byblus in Phœnicia. His life extended from about the time
of Nero to that of Hadrian (A.D. 61-141). A considerable fragment of his translation of the
alleged Phœnician writer
Sanchuniathon (q.v.) is preserved in the first book of the
Praeparatio
Evangelica of Eusebius ; and he also wrote a work
Περὶ
Πόλεων, much used by the later grammarians, especially Hesychius and Stephanus
of Byzantium.
7.
Q. Publilius. A distinguished Roman general in the Samnite Wars,
and the author of one of the great reforms in the Roman constitution. He was consul in B.C.
339, with Ti. Aemilius Mamercinus, and defeated the Latins, over whom he triumphed. In the
same year he was appointed dictator by his colleague Aemilius Mamercinus, and, as such,
proposed the celebrated
Publiliae Leges, which abolished the power of the
patrician assembly of the curiae, and elevated the plebeians to an equality with the
patricians for all practical purposes. (See
Publiliae Leges.) In 337 Philo was the first plebeian praetor, and in 332 he was
censor with Sp. Postumius Albinus. In 327 he was consul a second time, and carried on war in
the south of Italy. He was continued in the command for the following year with the title of
proconsul, the first instance in Roman history in which a person was invested with
proconsular power. He took Palaepolis in 326. In 320 he was consul a third time, with L.
Papirius Cursor, and carried on the war with success against the Samnites (
Livy, viii. 15-26; ix. 7-15).
8.
L. Veturius, consul B.C. 220, with C. Lutatius Catulus; dictator
217 for the purpose of holding the Comitia; and censor 210 with P. Licinius Crassus
Dives, and died while holding this office.
9.
L. Veturius, praetor B.C. 209, with Cisalpine Gaul as his
province. In 207 he served under Claudius Nero and Livius Salinator in the campaign against
Hasdrubal. In 206 he was consul with Q. Caecilius Metellus, and in conjunction with his
colleague carried on the war against Hannibal in Bruttium. He accompanied Scipio to Africa,
and after the battle of Zama (B.C. 202) was sent to Rome to announce the news of Hannibal's
defeat (
Livy, xxviii. 9-11; xxx. 38-40).
