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

PETRUS. PETRUS. 219
[NIGERi], but this is uncertain, and in the latest and if there is truth in the account given by Epiedition of Dioscorides (1. c.), where the words Kacl phanius (Haeres. lxviii. 1-5) of the origin of the
NIKrP'oaTs Kical rIElpYOS NtYEp Te Kal AL6o8'TOS schism in the Egyptian churches, occasioned by
occur, a comma is placed between nleTrpsrios and Meletius of Lycopolis [MELETIUS, literary and
Ni~yep. In Pliny (H. N. xx. 32), he is called ecclesiastical, No. 3], the conjecture is probably
Petronius Diodotus, but probably the text is not correct; and if so, Peter must have obtained his
quite sound [DIODOTUS]. He is mentioned by release, as this imprisonment must have been anteGalen (De Compos. Medicanz. sec. Gen. ii. 5, vol. cedent to the deposition of Meletius by Petrus,
xiii. p. 502), where the words IeTrpwvrlov Mou'aar and the commencement of the Meletian schism. In
occur, which has made some persons consider Pe- the ninth year of the persecution Peter was, sudtronius Musa to be one and the same individual, denly and contrary to all expectation, again arand others conjecture that instead of IIeTrpw'vos, we rested and was beheaded, by order of Maximin Daza
should read'Ayri-Juos: probably, however, it is only [MAxIMINus II.], without any distinct charge
necessary to insert a Kal or a comma between the being brought against him. Eusebius speaks with
words. One of his medicines is quoted by Galen the highest admiration of his piety and his attain(Ibid. v. 11. p. 831). (See Fabric. Bibl. Gr. 1. c.) ments in sacred literature, and he is revered as a
The name of M. Petronius Heras, a physician, saint and martyr both in the Eastern and Western
occurs in an ancient Latin inscription preserved by Churches. His martyrdom is placed by an ancient
Gruter. [W. A. G.] Oriental chronicle of the bishops of Alexandria,
L. PETROSI'DIUS, a standard-bearer (aqui- translated by Abraham Echellensis (Paris, 1651),
lifer), died fighting bravely, when Titurius Sabi- on the 29th of the month Athur or Athyr, which
nus and Aurunculeius Cotta were destroyed with corresponds sometimes to the 25th, and sometimes
their troops, by Ambiorix, B. c. 54. (Caes. B. G. to the 26th November. His memory is now celev. 37.) brated by the Latin and Greek Churches on the
PETRUS, Latin emperor of Constantinople, 26th, except in Russia, where the more ancient
belonged to that branch of the Courtenay family computation, which placed it on the 25th, is still
which was descended from the kings of France. followed. An account of the martyrdom (Acta
He was chosen to succeed the emperor Henry in Martyrii) of Peter, in the Latin version of Anas1217, being then in France, where he held the tasius Bibliothecarius, is given by Surius, De Prodignity of count of Auxerre. While traversing batis Sanctorum Vitis, a. d. 25 Nov.; and the Greek
Epeirus with an army on his way to Constanti- Acda of Symeon Metaphrastes are given, with a
nople, he was made a prisoner by Theodore, despot Latin version, in the Selecti Martyrum Triumphi of
of Epeirus, and died in captivity in 1219, having Comb6fis already cited.
never sat on the throne. We consequently dis- Peter wrote several works, of which there are
miss him, and only mention that his successor was very scanty remains. 1. Iepl ei'avoifasr Aoyos,
his second son, Robert. [W. P.] Sermo de Poenitentia. 2. Adyos eis' nIdo-aXa,
PETRUS (rl7TpoS), literary and ecclesiastical. Sermo ins Sanctum Pascha. These discourses are
1. Of ALEXANDRIA (1). Petrus or Peter, the not extant in their original form, but fifteen canons
first of that name in the list of the bishops of relating to the lapsi, or those who in tinle of perAlexandria, succeeded Theonas in that see some- secution had fallen away, fourteen of them from
time between Easter and the latter part of Novem- the Se}rmo de Poenitentia, the fifteenth from the
ber, A. D. 300, according to Tillemont's calculation; Sermno in Sanctum Pascha, are contained in all the
and exercised his episcopal functions more than Canonum Collectiones. They were published in a
eleven (Eusebius says for twelve) years. Of the Latin version in the Micropresbyticon, Basel, 1550
time and place of his birth we have no account. in the Orthodoxographa of I-Ieroldus, Basel, 1555,
Cave considers that he was probably born at Alex- and of Grynaeus, Basel, 1569; in the first and
andria, and that he was there "trained alike to second editions of De la Bigne's Bibliotheca Pavirtue and to sacred literature by his predecessor trum, Paris, 1575 and 1589, and in the Cologne
Theonas;" but we do not know that these state- edition, 1618. They are given also in the Concilia.
ments are more than inferences from his being In the edition of Labbe (vol. i. col. 955) and in
chosen to succeed Theonas. He had not occupied that of Hardouin (vol. i. col. 225) they are given
the see quite three years when the persecution com- in Greek with a Latin version, but without notes;
menced by the emperor Diocletian [DIOCLETIANUS] but in the vvo&SKv,', sive Pandectae Caaonum of
and continued by his successors, broke out A. D. Bishop Beveridge (vol. ii. p. 8, fol. Oxon. 1672)
304. During its long continuance Peter was obliged they are accompanied by the notes of Joannes Zoto flee from one hiding-place to another. The naras and Theodorus Balsamon. They are entitled
monk Ammonius (De Caede SS. Patrum in Monte Tove aKcaptov apXLe7crKo'rov'AXeiav5pefas HlE'pov
Syna et in Solitudine Raithu, apud Valesium, NTot. Ka)l tap'prvpos Kavoves Erupep/emFEoE E 7- repI upead Euseb. H. E. vii. 32) attests this; and Peter ravoias ao'Tlos Ao'yc, Beati Petri Archiepiscopi Alexhimself, if confidence may be placed in a discourse andrini et Martyris Caznones qui ferantur in Sermone
said to have been delivered by him in prison, and ejus de Poenitentia. It is only in some MSS. and
given in certain Acta Petri Alexandrini (apud editions that the separate source of the fifteenth
Valesium, ibid.) states that he found shelter at canon is pointed out. A passage from the Sermo
different times in Mesopotamia, in Phoenicia, in Pa- in Sanctuzm Pascha, or from some other work of
lestine, and in various islands; but if these Acta Peter's on the same subject, is given in the
are the same that were published by Comb6fis Diatriba de Paschate prefixed to the Chronicon
in his Selecti Martyrum Triumphi, 8vo. Paris, 1660, Alexandrinum s. Paschale, and published separately
their authority is materially lessened by the inter- in the Uranologion of Petavius, fol. Paris, 1630,
polations of Symeon Metaphrastes. Cave conjec- p. 396, &c. As the Diatriiba is mutilated, and the
tures that he was imprisoned during the reign of Dio- extract from Peter forms its present commencement,
cletian or Maximian Galerius [MAXIMIANUS II.], it was hastily inferred by some critics that the