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

CORNIFICIUS.
CORNE'LIUS CELSUS. [CELSUS.]
CORNE'LIUS CHRYSO'GONUS. [CHiYSOGONUS.]
CORNE'LIUS FRONTO. [FRONTO.]
CORNE'LIUS FUSCUS. [Fuscus.]
CORNE'LIUS LACO. [LAco.]
CORNE'LIUS MARCELLUS. [MARCELLUS.]
CORNE'LIUS MARTIALIS. [MARTIALIS.]
CORNE'LIUS NEPOS. [NEPOs.]
CORNE'LIUS TA'CITUS. [TAcITUS]
CORNE'LIUS TLEPO'LEMUS. [TLEPOLEMUS.]
CORNE'LIUS TUSCUS. [Tuscus.]
CORNI'ADES (Kopvliad s), an intimate friend
of Epicurus, is spoken of by Cicero (de Fin. v. 31)
as paying a visit to Arcesilaus. The MSS. of Cicero have Carneades, but there can be little doubt
that Corniades is the correct reading, since the
latter is mentioned by Plutarch (non posse suaviter
vivi secundum Epicur. p. 1089) as a friend of Epicurus, and the former could not possibly have
been the friend of Epicurus, as Carneades died in
u. c. 129, and Epicurus in B. c. 209.
CO'RNICEN, a "horn-blower," an agnomen of
Postumus Aebutius Elva, consul B. c. 442 [ELVA],
and a cognomen of the Oppia gens. Cicero uses
the form Cornicinus. [See No. 2.]
1. SP. OPPIUS CORNICEN, a plebeian, one of the
second decemvirate, B. c. 450. When the other
decemvirs had to march against the enemy, Cornicen was left as the colleague of App. Claudius to
take care of the city; and it was he who convened
the senate when the people rose in arms upon the
death of Virginia. In the next year, he was sent
to prison on the evidence of an old soldier, whom,
after twenty-seven years of service, he had ordered
to be scourged without any cause; but Cornicen,
fearing the result of a trial, put an end to his own
life in prison. (Liv. iii. 35, 41, 49, 50, 58; Dionys. x. 58, xi. 23, 44, 46.)
2. (OPPIUS) CORNICINUS, a senator, the son-inlaw of Sex. Atilius Serranus, tribune of the plebs,
B. C. 57. (Cic. ad Alt. iv. 2.)
CORNIF'CIA. 1. Daughter of Q. Cornificius
[CoRNIFICIUS, No. 2], was sought in marriage by
Juventius Thalna in a. c. 45, when she was rather
advanced in years and had been married several
times; but she refused his offer, because his fortune was not large enough. (Cic. ad Att. xiii. 29.)
2. Sister of the poet Cornificius, is said by
Hieronymus (Chron. Euseb. 01. 184. 4) to have
written some excellent epigrams, which were extant in his time.
CORNI'FICIA, the last surviving daughter of
M. Aurelius, was put to death by Caracalla, and a
very interesting account of her last moments and
last words has recently come to light in the fragments of Dion Cassius discovered by Mai. (Mai,
Fragment. Vatican, ii. p. 230.) [W. R.]
CORNIFICIA GENS, plebeian, seems to
have come originally from Rhegium. (Cic. ad Fasm.
xii. 25.) No persons of this name occur till the
last century of the republic; and the first who obtained any of the higher honours of the state was
Q. Cornificius, praetor, B. c. 66. On coins the
name is written Cornuficius, which is also the form
used by Dion Cassius (xlviii. 21).
CORNI'FICIUS. 1. CoaNIFIciUS, secretary
(scriba) of Verres in his praetorship, B. c. 74.
(Cic. in Vcrr. i. 57.)

CORNIFICIUS. 857.2. Q. CORNIFICIUS, was one of the judices on
the trial of Verres, and tribune of the plebs in the
following year, B. c. 69. He probably obtained
the praetorship in 66, and was one of Cicero's
competitors for the consulship in 64. His failure,
however, did not make him an enemy of the great
orator; he seems to have assisted him in the suppression of the Catilinarian conspiracy, and it was
to his care that Cethegus was committed upon the
arrest of the conspirators. Subsequently in B. c,
62, Cornificius was the first to bring before the
senate the sacrilege of Clodius in violating the
mysteries of the Bona Dea. He probably died
soon afterwards, as we hear nothing further of him.
He is called by Asconius "vir sobrius ac sanctus."
(Cic. in Verr. Act. i. 10; Ascon. in Tog. Cand. p.
82; Cic. ad Ait. i. 1; Sall. Cat. 47; Appian,
B. C. ii. 5; Cic. ad Att. i. 13.)
3. Q. CORNIFICIUS, son of No. 2, is first mentioned in B. c. 50, as betrothing himself to the
daughter of Aurelia Orestilla, the beautiful but profligate widow of Catiline. (Cic. ad Famo. viii. 7.)
In the civil war between Caesar and Pompey, he
served in 48 as the quaestor of the former, by
whom he was sent into Illyricum with the title of
propraetor. By his prudence and military skill,
Cornificius reduced the province to a state of obedience, and rendered no small service to Caesar's
cause. (Hirt. B. Alex. 42.) He seems to have
returned to Rome in the following year, and was
then probably rewarded by Caesar with the augurate, as we find, from Cicero's letters, that he was
in possession of that office in the next year. He
also formed an intimate friendship with Cicero,
several of whose letters to him are extant. (Ad
Fam. xii. 17-30.)
Cornificius did not remain long in Rome. In
B. c. 46, we find him in Syria, where he was observing the movements of Caecilius Bassus, and in
the beginning of the following year he was appointed by Caesar governor of Syria. (Cic. ad Fam.
xii. 18, 19.) This office, however, he did not hold
long, for on the death of Caesar, in B. c. 44, he
was in possession of the province of Old Africa.
This he maintained for the senate against L. Calvisius Sabinus, and continued to adhere to the
same party on the formation of the triumvirate, in
43. He sent troops to the assistance of Sex.
Pompey, and gave shelter and protection to those
who had been proscribed by the triumvirs. IIe
refused to surrender his province to T. Sextius,
who commanded the neighbouring province of
New Africa, and who had ordered him, in the
name of the triumvirs, to do so. Hereupon a war
broke out between them. The details of this war
are related somewhat differently by Appian and
Dion Cassius; but so much is certain, that Cornificius at first defeated T. Sextius, but was eventually conquered by the latter, and fell in battle.
(Appian, B. C. iii. 85, iv. 36, 53-56; Dion Cass.
xlviii. 17, 21; Liv. Epit. 123.)
Cornificius was a man of literary habits and
tastes. Cicero speaks highly of his judgment
when he sends him in B. c. 45 a copy of his "Orator," but seems to banter him somewhat respecting
his oratory. (Cic. Ad Fam. xii. 17, 18.) Many
have attributed to him the authorship of the
" Rhetorica ad Herennium." Some remarks are
made on this subject below.
The following, coin refers to this Cornificius. It
bears on the obverse the head of Ammon, and on