A Dictionary of Greek and Roman biography and mythology

(Καικίλιος Καλακτῖνος), or, as he was formerly, though erroneously, surnamed CALANTIANUS, a Greek rhetorician, who lived at Rome in the time of Augustus. He was a native of Cale Acte in Sicily (whence his name Calactinus). His parents are said by Suidas to have been slaves of the Jewish religion; and Caecilius himself, before he had obtained the Roman franchise, is said to have borne the name Archagathus. He is mentioned by Quintilian (3.1.16, comp. 3.6.47, 5.10.7, 9.1.12, 3. §§ 38, 46, 89, 91, 97) along with Dionysius of Halicarnassus as a distinguished Greek rhetorician and grammarian. Respecting the sphere of his activity at Rome, and his success as a teacher of rhetoric, nothing is known; but, from the title of one of his works, we see that he studied Roman oratory along with that of the Greeks. He wrote a great number of works on rhetoric, grammar, and also on historical subjects. All these works are now lost; but they were in high repute with the rhetoricians and critics of the imperial period. (Plut. Dem. 3, Vit. X Orat. pp. 832, 833, 836, 838, 840; Phot. Bibl. pp. 20, 485, 486, 489, ed. Bekker.) Some of his works were of a theoretical character, others were commentaries on the Greek orators, and others again were of a grammatical or historical kind. The following list is made up from that given by Suidas, and from some passages of other writers: 1. Περὶ ῥητορικῆς. (Suid.; Quintil. l.c.) 2. Περἰ σχημάτων. (Alex. de Figur. 2.2; Tiber. de Figur. passim.) 3. Περὶ χαρακτῆρος τῶν δέκα ῥητόρων. 4. Πεπὶ Δυσίου σύγγραμμα. (Longin. de Sublim. 32.) 5. Περ. Ἀντιφῶντος σύνταγμα. (Plut. Vit. X Orat. p. 832. e.) 6. Σύγκρισις Δημοσθένους καὶ Αἰσχίνου. 7. Σύγκριδις Δημοσθένους καὶ Κικερῶνος. (Plut. Dem. 3.) 8. Περὶ ἱδτορίας. (Athen. 11.466., 9. Τίνι διαφέρει ὁ Ἀττικός ζῆλος τοῦ Ἀσιανοῦ. 10. Περὶ Δημοσθένους, ποῖοι αὐτοῦ γνήσιοι λόγοι καὶ ποῖοι νόθοι. 11. Πεπὶ τῶν καθʼ ἱστορίαν ἢ παρʼ ἱστορίαν εἰρημένων τοῖς ῥήτορσι. 12. Περὶ δουλικῶν πολέμων. (Athen. 6.272.) 13. Κατὰ Φρυγῶν δύο. 14. Ἐκλογὴ λέξεων κατὰ στοιχεῖον. This work has been much used by Suidas. (See his preface.) 15. Περὶ ὕψους, was the first work with this title in antiquity. (Longin. 1; compare Westermann, Gesch. der Griech; Beredtsamk. § 88, notes 16, &c., § 47, note 6.57, note 4.)

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