a jurist, was in the consilium of Antoninus Pius. (Capitol. Antonin.
Pius, 100.12.)
Among the many illustrious men who formed the character of Marcus Aurelius, was Maecianus :
Aurelius was one of his auditores. (Capitol. Antonin. Philosoph. 100.3.)
A rescript of the Divi Fratres (Dig. 37. tit. 14. s. 17), speaks of
him in these terms : " Volusius Maecianus amicus noster, &c." Marcus in his
Τῶν εἰς ἑαυτόν (lib. 1) mentions Marcianus, in place of which it is proposed to read
Maecianus, but Marcus does not speak of him as a jurist. Vulcatius (Avid.
Cass. 100.7) says that Maecianus was entrusted with the government of Alexandria, and
that he was killed by the army for having joined Cassius in his usurpation, A. D. 175.
Works
Legal Writings
Maecianus wrote sixteen books on Fideicommissa, and fourteen books on Judicia Publica. A
Liber Quaestionum is also mentioned (Dig. 29. tit. 2. s. 86), but
it may have been a part of the work on Fideicommissa. He also wrote that Legem Rhodiam, from
which there is a single excerpt in the Digest (14. tit. 2. s. 9) in
Greek, from which we may conclude that this was a collection of the Rhodian laws relating to
maritime affairs, and Maecianus may have accompanied the collection with a commentary. This
work is not mentioned in the Florentine Index.
There are forty-four excerpts from Maecianus in the Digest. He is cited by Cervidius
Scaevola, Papinian, Ulpian and Paulus.
A treatise,
De Asse et Ponderibus, is attributed to Volusius
Maecianus, but there is some doubt about the authorship.
Editions
It is printed in Graevius, Antiq. Roman. xi., and at Paris,
1565, 8vo. There is a dissertation by Wunderlich, De L. Volusio
Maeciano; and a recent edition of Maecianus de Asse, and
of Balbus by E. Böcking, Bonn, 1831, 12mo.