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

536 CAESAR.
are, that Cicero was intimate with her during the
latter period of his life, and that letters of his addressed to her were extant in the days of Quintilian. (vi. 3. ~ 112.) The charge of Calenus would
acquire some additional weight, if it were certain
that in the 13th Idyll of Ausonius the name Cicero
has dropped out before the words in praeceptis
omnibus exstare severitatem, in epistolis ad Caerelliamn
subesse petulantiam. [L. S.]
CAESAR, the name of a patrician family of the
Julia gens, which was one of the most ancient in
the Roman state, and traced its origin to lulus,
the son of Aeneas. [JULIA GENS.] It is uncertain which member of this gens first obtained
the surname of Caesar, but the first who occurs
in history is Sex. Julius Caesar, praetor in B. c.
208. The origin of the name is equally uncertain.
Spartianus, in his life of Aelius Verus (c. 2), mentions four different opinions respecting its origin:
1.That the word signified an elephant in the language
of the Moors, and was given as a surname to one
of the Julii because he had killed an elephant.
2. That it was given to one of the Julii because
he had been cut (caesus) out of his mother's womb
after her death; or 3. Because he had been born
with a great quantity of hair (caesaries) on his
head; or 4. Because he had azure-coloured (caesii)
eyes of an almost supernatural kind. Of these opinions the third, which is also given by Festus (s. v.
Caesar), seems to come nearest the truth. Caesar
and caesaries are both probably connected with the
Sanskrit kssa, " hair," and it is quite in accordance
with the Roman custom for a surname to be given to
an individual from some peculiarity in his personal
appearance. The second opinion, which seems to
have been the most popular one with the ancient
writers (Serv. ad Virg. Aen. i. 290; Plin. H. N.

CAESAR.
vii. 7. s. 9; Solin. 1. ~ 62; Zonar. x. 11), arose
without doubt from a false etymology. With
respect to the first, which was the one adopted,
says Spartianus (1. c.), by the most learned men, it
is impossible to disprove it absolutely, as we know
next to nothing of the ancient Moorish language:
but it has no inherent probability in it; and the
statement of Servius (1. c.) is undoubtedly false,
that the grandfather of the dictator obtained the
surname on account of killing an elephant with his
own hand in Africa, as there were several of the
Julii with this name before his time.
An inquiry into the etymology of this name is
of some interest, as no other name has ever obtained such celebrity-"clarum et duraturum cum
aeternitate mundi nomen." (Spart. Ael. Ver. 1.)
It was assumed by Augustus as the adopted son
of the dictator, and was by Augustus handed
down to his adopted son Tiberius. It continued
to be used by Caligula, Claudius, and Nero, as
members either by adoption or female descent of
Caesar's family; but though the family became
extinct with Nero, succeeding emperors still retained it as part of their titles, and it was the
practice to prefix it to their own name, as for instance, Imperator Caesar Domitianus Augustus.
When Hadrian adopted Aelius Verus, he allowed
the latter to take the title of Caesar; and from this
time, though the title of Augustus continued to be
confined to the reigning prince, that of Caesar was
also granted to the second person in the state and
the heir presumptive to the throne.
In the following stemma the connexion of the
earlier members of the family is to a considerable
extent conjectural. A full account of the lives of
all the Caesars mentioned below is given in Drumann's Geschichte Roms, vol. iii. p. 113, &c.

STEMMA CAESARUM.
1. Sex. Julius Caesar, Pr. B. c. 208.
2. L. Julius Caesar.
3. L. Julius Caesar, Pr. B. C. 183. 4. Sex. Julius Caesar, Trib. Mil. B. c. 181.
I I
5. L. Julius Caesar, Pr. B. c. 166. 6. Sex. Julius Caesar, Cos. B. c. 157.
7. Sex. Julius Caesar, Pr. B. c. 123. 8. L. Julius Caesar, married Popillia.
I

1
9. L. Julius Caesar, Cos. B. c. 90,
Cens. B. c. 89, married Fulvia.
11. L. Julius Caesar, 12. Julia, married
Cos. B. C. 64. 1. M. Antonius,
1 2. P. Lentulus.
13. L. Julius Caesar,
died B. c. 46.

10. C. Julius Caesar StraboVopiscus,
Aed. cur. B. c, o0

14. C. Julius Caesar, the grandfather of the dictator,
married Marcia.
I

I
15. C. Julius Caesar, Pr., married
Aurelia.
a

-- - -"-"--~-I

S6. Julia, married
C. Marius.

17. Sex. Julius Caesar.
Cos. B. c. 91.
I
b