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

'"73~0.: LENTULUS. LENTULUS;
Spain he was curule aedile with his brother Cneius applied by flattering haruspices to him. Three
[No. 11], though he had been already praetor. Cornelii were to rule Rome, and he was the third
(Liv. xxix. 11.) This might be to further his after Sulla and Cinna; the twentieth year after
designs upon the consulship, which he obtained the the burning of the capitol, &c., was to be fatal to
year after his return, B. C. 199; and the year after the city. (Cic. in Cat. iii. 4, iv. 1, 6; Sal. Cat.
that he was proconsul in Gaul. (Liv. xxxi. 49, 47.)* To gain power, and recover his place in
xxxii. 1, 2, 8, 9.) He is perhaps the Lentulus the senate, he became praetor again in B.C. 63.
that was decemvir sacrorum in B.C. 213, and died (Sall. B. C. 17, 46, &c.) When Catiline left the
in 173. (Id. xxv. 2, xlii. 10.) city for Etruria, Lentulus remainedas chief of the
13. L. CORNELIUS CN. F. L. N. LENTULUS home-conspirators, and his irresolution probably
LvuP s, son of No. 11, nephew to the last (Eckhel, saved the city from being fired. (Sall. Cat. 32, 43;
vol. ii. p. 302).; curule aedile in B. C. 163; consul Cic. in Cat. iii. 4, 7, iv. 6, Brut. 66, &c.; comp. CEin 156; censor in 147. (Titul. Terentii Heaut.; THEEGUS, 8.) For it was by his over-caution that the
Fasti, A. u. 597, 606; Cic. Brut. 20; Val. Max. negotiation with the ambassadors of the Allobroges
vi. 9. ~ 10.) was entered into; and these unstable allies revealed
14. CORNELIUS LENTUJLUS was praetor in the secret to the consul Cicero, who directed them to
Sicily, and was defeated in the Servile war about feign compliance with the conspirators' wishes, and
B.c. 1 34. (Florus, iii. 19, 7.) thus to obtain written documents which might be
15. CN. CORNELIUS LENTULUS, consul in B. c. brought in evidence against them. The well-known.97. (Fasti; Plin. H.N. x. 2, xxx. 3 (1); Cas- sequel will be found under the life of Catiline
siod.) He was probably father by adoption of [p. 632]. Lentulus was deposed from the praetorNo. 24. ship; given to be kept in libera custodia by the
16. P. CORNELIUS L. F. L. N. LENTULUS, pro- aedile P. Lentulus Spinther (No. 20; comp. Cic.
bably son of No. 12. He was curule aedile. with in Cat. iii. 6, iv. 3, p. Red. ad Quir. 6; Sall. Cat.
Scipio Nasica in B. c. 169: in their Circensian 50, &c.); and was strangled in the Capitoline
games they exhibited elephants and bears. (Liv. prison on the 5th of December. (Cic. pro Flacc.
xliv. 18.) Next year he went with two others to 40, &c., Philipp. ii. 7 (8); Sall. Cat. 55, &c.)
negotiate with Perseus of Macedon, but without His step-son Antony pretended that Cicero refused
effect. (Liv. xlv. 4.) He was consul suffectus, to deliver up his corpse for burial. (Cic. Philipp.
with C. Domitius, in B. C. 162, the election of the 1. c.; Plut. Anton. 2.) Lentulus was slow in
former consuls being declared informal. (Fasti, thought and speech, but this was disguised by the
A. U. 591;. Cic. de Arat. Deor. ii. 4, de Divin. ii. dignity of his person, the expressiveness and grace
35; Val. Max. i. 1. ~ 3.) He became princeps se- of his action, the sweetness and power of his voice.
natus (Cic. Brut. 28, Divin, in Caecil. 21, de Orat. (Cic. Brut. 64.) His impudence was excessive, his
i. 48); and must have lived to a good old age, since morals infamous, so that there was nothing so bad
he was wounded in the contest with C. Gracchus but he dared say or do it; but when danger showed
in B. C. 121..(Cic. in Cat. iv. 6, Philipp. viii. 4.) itself he was slow and irresolute. The former qua17. P. CORNELIUS LENTULUS, only known lities made him join the gang of Catiline; the latter
from Fasti, son of No.- 16, and father of No. 18. were in great part the ruin of their cause. (Comp.
18. P. CORNELIUS P. F. P. N. LENTULUS, sur- Senec. de Ira, iii. 38; Cic. pro Szll. 25.)
named SURA, son of the last, the man of chief note 19. P. CORNELIUS L. F. LENTULUS, father of
in Catiline's crew. (Cic. in Cat. iii. 5, iv. 6; Ascon. the next.
ad Divin. 21.) He was quaestor to Sulla in B.C. 20. P. CORNELIUS P. F. L. N. LENTULUS, sur81 (Plut. Cic. 17): before him and L. Triarius, named SPINTHER. (Fast. A. U. 696; comp. Goltz.
Verres had to give an account of the monies he had A. U. 698; Eckhel, vol. v. p. 182.) He received this
received as quaestor in Cisalpine Gaul. (Cic. in nickname from his resemblance to the actor Spinther,
Verr. i. 14.) He was. soon after himself called to and it was remarked as curious, that his colleague
account for the same matter, but was acquitted. in the consulship, Metellus Nepos, was like PamIt is said that he got his cognomen of Sura from philus, another actor. (Plin. H. N. vii. 10; Val.
his conduct on this occasion; for when Sulla called Max. ix. 14. ~ 4.) Caesar commonly calls him by
him to account, he answered by scornfully putting this name (B. C. i. 15, &c.): not so Cicero; but
out his leg, " like boys," says Plutarch, " when there could be no harm in it, for he used it on his
they make a blunder in playing at ball." (Cic. coins when. pro-praetor in Spain, simply to distin17.) Other persons, however, had borne the name guish himself from the many of the same family
before, one perhaps of the Lentulus family. (Liv. (Eckhel, I. c.); and his son bore it after him. He
xxii. 31; comp. Suet. Domit. 13; Dion Cass. was curule aedile in B. C. 63, the year of Cicero's
lxviii. 9, 15.) In B. C. 75 he was praetor; and consulship, and was entrusted with the care of the
Hortensius, pleading before such a judge, had no apprehended conspirator, P. Lent. Sura (No. 18).
difficulty in procuring the acquittal of Terentius His games were long remembered for their splenVarro, when accused of extortion. (Ascon. ad dour; but his toga, edged with Tyrian purple, gave
Divin. 7; Plut. Cic. 17; Acron. ad Horat. Serm. offence. (Sall. Cat. 47; Cic. de Of. ii. 16; Plin.
ii. 1. 49.) In B. C. 71 he was consul. (Fasti, H. N. ix. 63, xxxvi. 12, (7).) He was praetor in
A. U. 682; Conseularis in Vell. Pat. ii. 34; Dion B. C. 60: at the Apollinarian games he, for the first
Cass. xxxvii. 30.) But in the next year he was time, drew an awning over the theatre (carbasina
ejected from the senate, with sixty-three others, vela, Plin. H. N. xix. 6), and ornamented the
for infamous life and manners. (Gell. v. 6; Plut. scenes with silver. (Val. Max. ii. 4. ~ 6.) By
1. c.; Dion Cass., &c.; see No. 25.) It was this, Caesar's interest he obtained Hither Spain for his
probably, that led him to join Catiline and his
crew. From his distinguished birth and high * That many fictitious oracles were current after
rank, he calculated on becoming chief of the con- the burning of the capitol is clear from Tacit. Ann.
spiracy; and a prophecy of the Sibylline books was vi. 12; comp. Suet. Oct. 31.