AQUILIUS SEVERUS.
AQUILIUS SEVERUS a Spaniard, of the Race of that Severus to whom Lactantius address'd two Books of Letters, wrote a Volume in the form of an Itinerary, which contains * 1.1 all the History of his Life in Prose as well as Verse. 'Tis entituled, The Catastrophe, or the Experiment. He died under the Reign of Valentinian, that is to say, about the Year 370. This is what St. Jerom has told us of this Author, and 'tis all that we know of him. This sort of Books which contain the Lives of Authors are pleasant when they are written of Great Men who had a share in the Manage∣ment of Affairs, or of such Persons whose Lives were full of extraordinary and surprizing Accidents; and they are useful when they are written of Persons of great Vertue and Merit: But when no such thing is to be found in them, they are commonly tedious and useless Books. 'Tis probable that this Life of Aquilius was fill'd with Extraordinary Occurrences, which was the reason why he wrote it, and why he gave it the Title of The Catastrophe, or the Experiment. Wherein he probably gives us cause to admire the Providence of God in the wonderful Changes that happen'd to himself. This is all that we can say by Conjecture, having no certain Knowledge of this Matter.