(), 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. (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. l.c.) 2. de Figur. 2.2;
Tiber. de Figur. passim.) 3. de Sublim. 32.) 5. Vit. X
Orat. p. 832. e.) 6. Gesch. der Griech; Beredtsamk. § 88, notes 16, &c., § 47, note 6.57, note
4.)