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

PLANUDES. PLANUDES. 385
PLAUTIUS, ut possent specie numeroque senatum literature, poets of the highest fame cultivated this
Fallere, personis imlperat ora tegi." species of composition, which received its most
perfect development from the hand of Simonides.
(Comp. EckL el, vol. v. p. 276, &c.) Thenceforth, as a set form of poetry, it became a
6. L. MUNATIUS PLANCUS, son of No. 2, was fit vehicle for the brief expression of thoughts and
consul A. D. 13 with C. Silius. In the following sentiments on any subject; until at last the form
year he was sent by the senate after the death of came to be cultivated for its own sake, and the
Augustus to the mutinous legions of Germanicus liteati of Alexandria and Byzantium deemed the
in the territory of the Ubii, and there narrowly ability to make epigrams an essential part of the
escaped death at the hands of the soldiers (Dion character of a scholar. Hence the mere trifling
Cass. lvi. 28; Suet. Aug. 101; Tac. Ann. i. 39.) the stupid jokes, and the wretched personalities,
PLANTA, POMPEIUS, praefect of Egypt in which form so large a part of the epigramnlatic
the reign of Trajan. (Plin. Ep. x. 7 or 5.) poetry contained in the Greek Anthology.
PLANU'DES (flavoas'oss), surnamed MAXI- The monumental inscriptions, to which reMus, was one of the most learned of the Constan- T m i t
tin, was opoltan he mostnk learned of the Constan- ference has already been made, are often quoted by
tiolitan monks of the last ath ancient writers as historical authorities, as, for
empire, and was greatly distinguished as a theolo-example, by Herodotus and Thucydides, and by
gian, grammarian, and rhetorician; but his name later writers, such as Diodorus and Plutarch,
is now chiefly interesting as that of the compiler partly as authorities, partly to embellish their
of the latest of those collections of minor Greek works. This use of iscriptions would naturally
poems, which were known by the names of Gar- suggest the idea of collecting them. The earliest
lands or An ologies (.avo,'Av i). Pl- known collection was made by the geographer
nudes flourished at Constantinople in the first half Polemon (B. c. 200), in a work 7rEpl Clv KaTc
of the fourteenth century, under the emperors 7ro6AL EsirLypa/uAtarwv (Ath. x. p. 436, d., p. 442, e.).
Andronicus II. and III. Palaeologi. In A. D. 1327 He also wrote other works, on Votive offerings
he was sent by Andronicus II. as ambassador to which are likely to have contained the epigramVenice. Nothing more is known of his life with matic inscriptions on them. [POLEsMoN.] Simiany certainty, except that he was somewhat dis-lar collections were made by Alcetas, 7irpl S-r)V eV
posed to the tenets of the RIoman Church, which, ArXcols leacaio a-wrey (Ath. xiii. p. 591,c.), by
however, a short imprisonment seems to have in- Menestor,'v atr crepl dvaOr( wv (Ath. xiii.
dced him to renounce. (See Faburic. Bib. Goecd. p. 594, d.), and perhaps by Apellas Ponticus.
Bvol. xi. p. 68t2, and the authorities quoted in These persons collected chiefly the inscriptions on
oIarles's note.) His wrolrks, of which several only oferings (daruata): epigrams of other kinds
exist in MS., are not of sufficient importance to were also collected, as the Thebams fiotaes, by
be enumerated individually. They consist of ore- asrt h(Sol. in Epigra. 90), the
Aristodemus (Sehol. in Apoll. Ilhod. ii. 906), the
tions and homilies; translations from Latin into Attic by Philochorus (Suid. s. v., the reading is,
Greek of Cicero's SolsuiunL Scipionis, Caesar de however, somewhat doubtful), and others by
Bello Gcllico, Ovid's N/letanz ophoses, Cato's Dis- Neoptolemusof Paros (Ath. x. p 454, f.), and Euticha Moralia, Bohthius dle Colnsolatione, St. Au-, hemerus (Lactant. Inslit. Div. i. 9; Cic. de Niat.
gustin de Trinitate and de Civitale Dei, and Dona- Deor. i. 42).
tus's G2rauncticac Parva; two grammatical works; 2. Te Garland of ilfeleager. The above coma collection of Aesop's Fables, with a worthless pilers chiefly collected epigrams of particular
Lfe of Aesop; some arithmvetical works, especially classes, and with reference to their use as historical
Scholze, of no great value, on the first two books aithorities. The first person who made such a
of the Arithmietic of Diophantus; a few works on collection solely for its orsn sake, and to preserve
natural history; Comnlentaries on the Rhetoric of epigrams of all kinds, was MELEAGER, a cynic
Herinlogenes, anld on other Greek writers; a. poem philosopher of Gadara, in Palestine, about a. c. 60.
in forty-seven hexameters, on Claudius Ptolemaeus, His collection contained epigrams by no less than
and a ftev other poems; and his ~Anthology. (See forty-six poets, of all ages of Greek poetry, up to
Fabric. 1. c. pp. 682-693, vol. i. p. 641, vol. vi. the most ancient lyric period. He entitled it Thie
p. 348; Hoffnmainn, Lexicon Bibliographicu"' Garland (,4e'davos), with reference, of course, to
Script. Graec. s. v.) As the Antlology of Planudes the common comparison of small beautiful poems
was not only the latest compiled, butt was also that to flowers; and in the introduction to his work,
which was recognised as Tie Greek Anthology, until he attaches the names of various flowers, shrubs,
the discovery of the Anthology of Constantinus and herbs, as emblems, to the names of the several
Cephalas, this is chosen as the fittest place for an poets. The same idea is kept up in the word
account of the Anthology (civoAoyla), which was adopted by the
next compiler as the title of his work. The GetLITE RARY tIISI'5ORY OF THE aGREEKi ANTHOLOGY. land of Meleager was arranged in alphabetical
1. 1Materials. The various collections, to which order, according to the initial letters of the first
their compilers gave the name of Garlands and line of each epigram.
Antholoqies, were made up of short poems, chiefly 3. Tlie Anthology of Philip of Thzessalonica. —In
of an epigrammatic character, and in the elegiac the time of Trajan, as it seems, PHILIP of THESmetre. The earliest examples of such poetry were, SALONICA compiled his Anthology ('Av0eoAo-ya),
doubtless, furnished by the inscriptions on monu- avowedly in imitation of the Garland of Meleager,
ments, such as those erected to commemorate heroic and chiefly with the view of adding to that coldeeds, the, statues of distinguished men, especially lection the epigrams of more recent writers. The
victors in the public games, sepulchral monuments, arrangement of the work was the same as that of
and dedicatory offerings ill temples (daeaO:riarta); Meleager. It was also entitled e —nparos, as well
to which may be added oracles and proverbial say- as dveoAoo/ia. Another title by which it is qlluoted
iplgS. A.t an early period in the history of Greek is vuAvXoy's riwv s' rypaAtscaw,.
V(L. III C C