A Dictionary of Greek and Roman biography and mythology. By various writers. Ed. by William Smith. Illustrated by numerous engravings on wood.

288 GEMINIUS. GEMIN US.
Vales. xxvi. p. 568.) Livy asserts that after the 4. A Roman eques, put to death at the end of
battle of Cannae, Gelon was preparing to'abandon A. D. 33, on a charge of conspiracy against Tiberius,
the alliance, of Rome for that of Carthage, and that but really because of his intimacy with Sejanus
he was only prevented, from doing so by his sudden (Tac. Ann. vi. 14.) [W. B. D.]
death; but this seems quite at variance with the GEMI'NIUS METTIUS. [METTIUS.]
statement of Polybius of his uniform submission to GEMI'NUS (r1Eivos). This name comes down
his father's views, and may very likely deserve as to us in the manuscripts of Proclus, with a cirlittle credit as the insinuation with which Livy cumfiex on the penultimate syllable. Gerard Vosimmediately follows it-that his death occurred so sius believes, nevertheless, that it is the Latin
opportunely, as to cast suspicion upon Hieron him- word: Petavius and Fabricius admit the circumself. (Liv. xxiii. 30.) Gelon was married to flex without ether comment than reference to
Nereis, daughter of Pyrrhus, by whom he left a Proclus. Any one is justified in saying either
son, Hieronymus, and a daughter, Harmonia, mar- Gemlnus or Geminus, according to his theory.
ried to a Syracusan named Themistus. (Polyb. Of the man belonging to this dubious name we
vii. 4; Justin. xxviii. 3; Paus. vi. 12. ~ 3.) Ar- know nothing but that, from a passage in his
chimedes dedicated to him his treatise called works relative to the Egyptian annus vagus of 120
Arenarius, in which it may be observed that he years before his own time, it appears that he must
addresses him by the title of king. (Arenar. p. 319. have been living in the year B. c. 77. He was
ed Torell.) a Rhodian, and both Petavius and Vossius susThe coins referred by earlier writers to the elder pect that he wrote at Rome; but perhaps on no
Gelon are generally admitted by modern numis- stronger foundation than his Latin name and his
matists to belong to this prince; the head on the Greek tongue, which make them suppose that he
obverse is probably that of Gelon himself; though was a libertus. Proclus mentions him (p. 11 of
Eckhel (vol. i. p. 255) considers it as that of the Grynoeus) as distinguishing the mathematical
elder Gelon, and that the coins were struck in his sciences into vo,/rd and aYor0Ta, in the former of
honour, under the reign of Hieron II., which he places geometry and arithmetic, in the
latter mechanics, astronomy, optics, geodesy, canonics, and logic(no doubt a corruption of logistic.,
a'F)) R' p A&xc \ or computation; Barocius has ars supputatr'x).
geometrical work containing an account of spiral,
conchoid, and cissoid lines. But Delambre (A str.
Anc. vol. i. p. 211) saw reason to question the skill
___ / ~ ( of Geminus both in arithmetic and geometry.
The only work of Geminus now remaining is
3. A native of Epeirus, in the service of Neop- the Eieaywy2) fIr aid 4'aevofeva, which many
tolemus II., king of that country, who took occasion wrongly make to be a commentary on the Phaenoto form a plot against the life of Pyrrhus, when mena of Aratus. The work on the sphere attrithat prince and Neoptolemus had met to perform a buted to Proclus is not much more than an
solemn sacrifice. The conspiracy was, however, abridgment of some chapters of Geminus. The
discovered, and Neoptolemus himself assassinated book of the latter is a descriptive treatise on eleby his rival, B. c. 296. (Plut. Pyrrh, 5.) [E.H.B.] mentary astronomy, with a great deal of historical
GELO'NUS. [ECHIDNA.] allusion. There is a full account of it in Delambrc
GE'MINA, one of the ladies who attended the (I. c.). The total rejection of the supposed effect.
philosophical instructions of Plotinus when he was of the risings and settings of the stars, &c. upor
at Rome in the early part of the reign of the em- the weather is creditable to Geminus. The worl
peror Philip, A. D. 244. Her affluence is indicated was first published by Edo Hildericus, Or. Lat.
by the circumstance that the philosopher resided Altorf, 1590, 8vo. This edition was reprinted
and taught in her house, and her age by the cir- at Leyden, 1603, 8vo. H. Briggs diligentl)
cumstance that her daughter, of the same name compared the edition with a manuscript at Ox
with herself, was also one of his zealous disciples. ford, and handed the results to Petavius, wh(
(Porphyr. Vit. Plotin. c. 3, 9.) [J. C. M.] made a similar comparison with another manuscript
-GEMI'NIUS, 1. C. Praetor of Macedonia, of his own, and published a corrected editior
B.c. 92. He sustained.a severe defeat from the (Gr. Lat.) in his Uranologion, Paris, 1630, fol
Maedians, a Thracian tribe, who afterwards ra- The most recent edition is that in Halma's editior
vaged the province. (Liv. Epit. 70; Jul. Obseq. of Ptolemy, Paris, 1819, 4to. Petavius also informl
de Prodig. 113.) us that another work of Geminus was sent t(
2. A decurio of Terracina, and a personal enemy England in manuscript, with other portions of the
of C. Marius the elder. The troop of horse which library of Barocips (the editor of Proclus, we
discovered Marius in the marshes of Minturnae, presume). (Proclus; Fabric. Bibl. Graec. vol. iv
B. C. 88, had been despatched by Geminius to p. 31, &c.; Petavius, Uranologion; Weidler, Hist
apprehend him. (Plut. Mar. 36, 38.) Astron.; Delambre, Astron. Anc.) [A. De M.'
3. A zealous partizan of M. Antony, was de- GE'MINUS, ANTONI'NUS, son of M. Aure
puted by the triumvir's friends in Rome to re- lius and Faustina, twin brother of the empero:
monstrate with him on his ruinous connection with Commodus. He died when a child of four year;
Cleopatra. Geminius went to Athens in the old. [M. AUREr.IU.] [W. R.]
winter of B.. 32-31, but could not obtain a pri- GE'MINUS, ATI'DIUS, a praetor of Achaia
vate audience from Antony. At length, being but at what time is unknown. (Tac. Ann. iv
menaced by Cleopatra with the torture, he with- 43.) [L. S.]
drew from Athens, leaving his mission unaccom- GE'MINUS, DUCE'NNIUS, was appointee
plished. (Plut. Ant. 59.) by Nero, in A. D. 63, one of the three. consular