Aug. 11; Tac. Ann. i. 10; Pseudo-Brut. ad Cic. i. 6.)
Whether the "A. Hirtius, a. f." mentioned in an inscription discovered at Ferentinum, as having, while censor or quinquennalis in the reign of Augustus, repaired or restored the walls of that town, were the son of the consul of b. c. 43 is uncertain. (Orelli, Inscr. n. 589, id. vol. ii. p. 172; Westphal, Camp. Romagn. p. 84.) The Hirtius mentioned by Appian (B. C. iv. 43, 84) as compelled by proscription to fly to Sex. Pompeius, may have been the same person, since many of the Pompeians were restored and even favoured by Augustus after the treaty at Misenum, in b. c. 39.
Hirtia, whom Cicero, after his repudiation of Terentia, in b. c. 46, had some thoughts of marrying, was a sister of Hirtius. He declined her, saying, that he could not undertake a wife and philosophy at once (Hieron. in Jovin. i. 38), and the words "Nihil vidi foedius" are supposed to refer to her. But, as he shortly afterwards, without apology, espoused the young, beautiful, and rich Publilia, it is probable that Hirtia wanted youth and a good dower, as well as good looks.
The character of Hirtius is easy to delineate. A revolution brought him into notice; ordinary times would have left him in obscurity. He was a good officer, without military genius—for his last campaign with Antony shows nothing beyond secondary talent, and a skilful negotiator when the terms were prescribed. But Hirtius merits without abatement the praise of unwavering loyalty to his patron, of moderation in political prosperity, and of using his influence with Caesar unselfishly. A staunch Caesarian, he protected the Pompeians, and while he deplored his benefactor's murder, he opposed the lawless and prodigal ambition of Antony. Cicero frequently mentions his addiction to the pleasures of the table (ad Fam. ix. 16, 18, 20, ad Att. xii. 2, xvi. 1), and Q. Cicero describes him as a licentious reveller (ad Fam. xvi. 17). Both charges were probably exaggerated, in the one case by political, in the other by personal dislike. But Hirtius had tastes more refined ; and Caesar, when he commissioned him to answer the Cato of Cicero, must have thought highly of his literary attainments. Hirtius divides with Oppius the claim to the authorship of the eighth book of the Gallic war, as well as that of the Alexandrian, African, and Spanish. (Suet. Caes. 52, 53, 56; Plin. xi. 105; Voss. de Hist. Lat. p. 64; Dodwell. Dissert de Auct. lib. viii. de B. G. et Al. Af. et Hisp. in Oudendorp's Caesar, vol. ii. p. 869, ed. 1822.) Without determining the question, we may allow that Hirtius was quite capable of writing the best of these, the eighth of the commentaries on the Gaulish war, and the single book of the Alexandrine war, and that he certainly did not write the account of Caesar's last campaign in Spain. (Niebuhr, Lectures on Hist. of Rome, vol. ii. pp. 46, 47, ed. Schmitz.)
[W. B. D.]
coin of a. hirtius.
HIRTULEIUS, quaestor after the year b. c. 86, was the author of an amendment on the law of L. Valerius Flaccus, consul in the same year. [L. Valerius Flaccus, No. 11.] The Valerian law had cancelled debts by decreeing that only a quadrans should be paid to the creditor. The amendment of Hirtuleius, by tripling the dividend to be paid, rendered the law almost nugatory. (Cic. pro Font. 1.) It is doubtful whether this Hirtuleius were the same with the quaestor and legatus of Sertorius in Spain (Plut. Sert. 12; Front. Strat. i. 5. § 8), who in b. c. 79, on the banks of the Anas, defeated L. Domitius Ahenobarbus [Ahenobarbus, No. 15], –––– Therius, legatus of Q. Metellus Pius, and L. Manilius, praetor of Narbonne, in the neighbourhood of Lerida. But early in the following spring Hirtuleius was himself routed and slain near Italica in Baetica by Metellus. Hirtuleius was so highly esteemed as an officer by Sertorius, that the latter is said to have stabbed the messenger who brought the news of his death, that the report of it might not discourage his own soldiers. (Liv. Epit. 90; Flor. iii. 22; Appian, B. C. i. 109; Schol. Bob. in Cic. pro Flacc. p. 235, ed. Orelli; Eutrop. vi. 1; Oros. v. 23; Front. Strat. ii. 1. § 2, 3. §5, 7. § 5, ii. 5. § 31, iv. 5. § 19 ; Sallust. Hist. ii. ap. Non. s. v. Sagum.)
[W. B. D.]
HISAGUS, a river god, who, according to one tradition, gave decision in the dispute between Athena and Poseidon about the possession of Athens. (Serv. ad Aen. iii. 377.)
[L. S.]
HI'SPALA FECE'NIA, by birth a slave, but afterwards a freed woman, was in b. c. 186 the mistress of one P. Aebutius, who lived in the Aventine quarter of Rome. To prevent her lover's initiation in the Bacchanalian mysteries, she partially disclosed to him the nefarious nature of their rites, which, while a slave in attendance on her mistress, she had occasionally witnessed. Aebutius revealed to the consul, Sp. Postumius Albinus [Albinus, No. 12], what Hispala had imparted to him. She was in consequence summoned by the consul, who, partly by promises, partly by threats, drew from her a full disclosure of the place, the practices, and the purposes of the Bacchanalian society. After the association was put down, Hispala was rewarded with the privileges of a free-born matron of Rome; and lest revenge or superstition should prompt any of the worshippers of Bacchus to attempt her life, her security was made by a special decree of the senate the charge of the consuls for the time being. And besides these immunities, a million of sesterces was paid from the treasury to Hispala. (Liv. xxxix. 9—19; comp. Val. Max. vi. 3. § 7.)
[W. B. D.]
HISPALLUS, an agnomen of Cn. Cornelius Scipio, consul in b. c. 176. [Scipio.]
HISPO ROMANUS. [Romanus.]
HISPO, CORNE'LIUS, a rhetorician mentioned by Seneca, who gives an extract from one of his declamations, "de uxore torta a tyranno pro marito." (Sen. Contr. 13.)
[W. B. D.]
HISTIAEA (Ἱστιαία), a daughter of Hyrieus, from whom the town of Histiaea, in Euboea, was said to have derived its name. (Eustath. ad Hom. p. 280; comp. Strab. p. 445.)
[L. S.]
HISTIAEUS (Ἱστιαῖος), tyrant of Miletus, commanded his contingent of Ionians in the service of Dareius in the invasion of Scythia by the Persians (b. c. 513), when he was left with his countrymen to guard the bridge of boats by which the
