Julius, a Greek writer of antiquity, flourished in the reign of the emperor Commodus, and was born at Naucrates, a town in Egypt. He was educated under the sophists, and made great progress in grammatical and critical learning. He taught rhetoric at Athens, and became so famous that he was made preceptor of the emperor Commodus. He drew up for his use, and inscribed to him, while his father Marcus Antoninus was living, an Onomasticon or Greek vocabulary, divided into ten books. It is extant, and contains a vast variety of synonymous words and phrases, agreeable to the copiousness of the Greek tongue, ranged under the general classes of things. It was intended to facilitate the knowledge of the Greek language to the young prince; and it is still very useful to all who have a mind to be perfect in it. The first edition of it was printed at Venice by Aldus in 1522, and a Latin version was afterwards made and published with it; but there was no correct and handsome edition of it till that of Amsterdam, 1766, in folio, by Lederlinus and Hemsterhuisius. Lederlinus went through the first seven books, corrected the text and version, and subjoining his own, with the notes of Salmatus, If. Volfius, Valerius, and of Kuhmius, whose scholar he had been, and whom he succeeded in the professorship of the oriental languages in the university of Strasbourg. Hemsterhuisius continued the same method through the three last books: this learned man has since distinguished himself by an excellent edition of Lucian, and other monuments of solid and profound literature.

Pollux wrote many other things, none of which remain. He lived to the age of 58. Philokratius and Lucian have treated him with much contempt and ridicule. Philograt., de vit. Sophist. lib. ii. and Lucian in Rhetorum praecoptore.

in Astronomy, a fixed star of the second magnitude in the constellation Gemini, or the Twins. See CASTOR.

POLLUX and Castor, a fiery meteor. See CASTOR and POLLUX.