PETRONIUS was a renowned Roman senator. When governor of Egypt, he permitted Herod, king of the Jews, to purchase in Alexandria any quantity of corn which he should judge necessary for the supply of his subjects, who were afflicted with a severe famine. When Tiberius died, Caius Caligula, who succeeded him, took from Vitellius the government of Syria, and gave it to Petronius, who discharged the duties of his office with dignity and honour. From his inclination to favour the Jews, he ran the risk of losing the emperor's friendship and his own life; for when that prince gave orders to have his statue deposited in the temple of Jerusalem, Petronius, finding that the Jews would rather suffer death than see that sacred place profaned, was unwilling to have recourse to violent measures; and therefore preferred a moderation, dictated by humanity, to a cruel obedience. We must not confound him with another of the same name, viz. Petronius Granius, who was a centurion in the eighth legion, and served under Caesar in the Gallic war. In his voyage to Africa, of which country he had been appointed quaestor, the ship in which Petronius fell was taken by Scipio, who caused all the soldiers to be put to the sword, and promised to save the quaestor's life, provided that he would renounce Caesar's party. To this proposal Petronius replied, that "Caesar's officers were accustomed to grant life to others, and not to receive it;" and, at the same time, he stabbed himself with his own sword.

PETRONIUS Arbiter, Titus, a celebrated critic and polite writer of antiquity, the favourite of Nero, supposed to be the same mentioned by Tacitus in the 16th book of his Annals. He was proconsul of Bithynia, and afterwards consul, and appeared capable of the greatest employments. He was one of Nero's principal confidants, and in a manner the superintendent of his pleasures; for that prince thought nothing agreeable or delightful but what was approved by Petronius. The great favours shown him drew upon him the envy of Tigellinus, another of Nero's favourites, who accused him of being concerned in a conspiracy against the emperor; on which Petronius was seized, and was sentenced to die. He met death with a striking indifference, and seems to have tasted it nearly as he had done his pleasures. He would sometimes open a vein, and sometimes close it, conversing with his friends in the meanwhile, not on the immortality of the soul, which was no part of his creed, but on topics which pleased his fancy, as of love-letters, agreeable and passionate airs; so that it has been said "his dying was barely ceasing to live." Of this disciple of Epicurus, Tacitus gives the following character: "He was (says he) neither a spendthrift nor a debauchee, like the generality of those who ruin themselves; but a refined voluptuary, who devoted the day to sleep, and the night to the duties of his office, and to pleasure." This courtier is much distinguished by a satire which he wrote, and secretly conveyed to Nero; in which he ingeniously describes, under borrowed names, the character of this prince. Voltaire is of opinion that we have no more of this performance but an extract made by some obscure libertine, without either taste or judgment.

Peter Petit discovered at Traw in Dalmatia, in 1665, a considerable fragment containing the sequel of Trimalcion's Feast. This fragment, which was printed the year after at Padua and at Paris, produced a paper war among the learned. While some affirmed that it was the work of Petronius, and others denied it to be so, Petit continued to assert his right to the discovery of the manuscript, and sent it to Rome, where it was acknowledged to be a production of the 15th century. The French critics, who had attacked its authenticity, were silent from the moment it was deposited in the royal library. It is now generally attributed to Petronius, and found in every subsequent edition of the works of that refined voluptuary. The public did not form the same favourable opinion of some other fragments, which were extracted from a manuscript found at Belgrade in 1688, and printed at Paris by Nodot in 1694, though they are ascribed by the editor Charpentier, and several other learned men, to Petronius; yet, on account of the Gallicisms, and other barbarous expressions with which they abound, they have generally been considered as unworthy of that author. His genuine works are, 1. A Poem on the civil war between Caesar and Pompey, translated into prose by Abbé de Marolles, and into French verse by President Bouhier, 1737, in 4to. Pe- Petronius, full of fire and enthusiasm, and disgusted with Lucan's flowery language, opposed Pharsalia to Pharsalia; but his work, though evidently superior to the other in some respects, is by no means in the true style of epic poetry.

2. A Poem on the Education of the Roman Youth. 3. Two Treatises; one upon the Corruption of Eloquence, and the other on the Causes of the Decay of Arts and Sciences. 4. A Poem on the Vanity of Dreams. 5. The Shipwreck of Licas. 6. Reflections on the Inconstancy of Human Life. 7. Trimalcion's Banquet.

To this last performance morality is not much indebted. It is a description of the pleasures of a corrupted court; and the painter is rather an ingenious courtier than a person whose aim is to perform abuses. The best editions of Petronius are those published at Venice, 1499, in 4to; at Amsterdam, 1669, in 8vo, cum notis variarum; Ibid. with Bochius's notes, 1677, in 2to; and 1700, two vols. in 24to.

The edition of variarum was reprinted in 1743, in two vols. 4to, with the learned Peter Burman's commentaries. Petronius died in the year 65 or 66.

Petronius Maximus, was born in the year 395, of an illustrious family, being at first a senator and consul of Rome. He put on the imperial purple in 455, after having effected the assassination of Valentinian III. In order to establish himself upon the throne, he married Eudoxia, the widow of that unfortunate prince; and as she was ignorant of his villany, he confessed to her, in a transport of love, that the strong desire he had of being her husband, had made him commit this atrocious crime. Whereupon Eudoxia privately applied to Genseric, king of the Vandals, who coming into Italy with a very powerful army, entered Rome, where the usurper then was. The unhappy wretch endeavoured to make his escape; but the soldiers and people, enraged at his cowardice, fell upon him, and overwhelmed him with a shower of stones. His body was dragged through the streets of the city for three days; and, after treating it with every mark of disgrace, they threw it into the Tiber the 12th of June the same year, 455. He reigned only 77 days. He had some good qualities. He loved and cultivated the sciences. He was prudent in his councils, circumspect in his actions, equable in his judgments; a factious companion, and steady friend. He had the good fortune to win the affections of everybody, while he remained a private character; but as a prince, he was so much the more detestable, in that, after he had obtained the throne by villany, he kept possession of it only by violence. The crown was scarcely on his head before it appeared to him an insupportable burden. "Happy Democles (exclaimed he in his despair), thou wert a king during a single entertainment."