ACCIUS (LUCIUS), a Latin tragic poet, the son of a freed-man, and according to St. Jerome, born in the consulship of Hostilius Mancinus and Attilius Serranus, in the year of Rome 583; but there appears somewhat of confusion and perplexity in this chronology. He made himself known before the death of Pacuvius, a dramatic piece of his being exhibited the same year that Pacuvius brought one upon the stage, the latter being then 80 years of age, and Accius only 30, We do not know the name of this piece of Accius, but the titles of several of his tragedies are mentioned by various authors. He wrote on the most celebrated stories which had been represented on the Athenian stage, as Andromache, Andromeda, Atreus, Clytemnestra, Medea, Meleager, Philocletes, the civil wars of Thebes, Tereus, the Troades, &c. He did not always, however, take his subjects from the Grecian story; for he composed one dramatic piece wholly Roman: it was entitled Brutus, and related to the expulsion of the Tarquins. It is affirmed by some, that he wrote also comedies; which is not unlikely, if he was the author of two pieces, "The Wedding," and "The Merchant," which have been ascribed to him. He did not confine himself to dramatic writing; for he left other productions, particularly his Annals, mentioned by Macrobius, Priscian, Festus, and Nonius Marcellus. Decimus Brutus, who was consul in the year of Rome 615, and had the honour of a triumph for several victories gained in Spain, was his particular friend and patron. This general was so highly pleased with the verses which Accius wrote in his praise, that he had them inscribed at the entrance of the temples and monuments raised out of the spoils of the vanquished. Though this might proceed from a principle of vanity, and may not be so much a proof of his affection for the poet as his love of applause; yet it proves that Brutus had an opinion of Accius's poetry, and Brutus was far from being a contemptible judge. He has been censured for writing in too harsh a style, but was in all other respects esteemed a very great poet. Aulus Gellius tells us, that Accius, being on his way to Asia, passed through Tarentum, where he paid a visit to Pacuvius, and read to him his play of Atreus; that Pacuvius told him his verse was lofty and sonorous, but somewhat harsh and crude. "It is as you observe," said Accius; " nor am I sorry for it, since my future productions will be better upon this account; for as in fruit so in geniuses, those which are at first harsh and sour, become mellow and agreeable; but such as are at first soft and sweet, grow in a short time not ripe, but rotten." Accius was so much esteemed by the public, that a comedian was punished for only mentioning his name on the stage. Cicero speaks with great derision of one Accius who had written a history; and, as our author wrote.annals, some insist that he is the person censured; but as Cicero himself, Horace, Quintilian, Ovid, and Paterculus, have spoken of our author with so much applause, he can-not be supposed the same whom the Roman orator censures with so much severity. Nothing remains of Accius, but some few fragments collected by Robert Stephens, and the titles of his pieces. He is supposed to have died at an advanced age, but the precise time is not known.1 ACCOLTI (BENEDETTO), an eminent lawyer and historian of the fifteenth century, and the first of that ancient Tuscan family who acquired a name for literary talents, was born at Arezzo, in 1415. His father was Michel Accolti, a civilian of Florence, and his mother a daughter of Roselli of Arezzo, also a lawyer. After a classical education, he studied the civil law, and was made professor at Florence, where his opinions acquired him much popularity. The Florentines, after conferring on him the rights of citizenship, chose him in 1459 to be secretary of the republic, in the room of Poggius, which office he retained until his death in 1466. The account of his transactions in public affairs are preserved in four books, with a great collection of his letters to foreign princes, which evince his sagacity as a statesman, and his politeness as a writer. He married Laura Frederigi, the daughter of a lawyer and patrician of Florence, by whom he had a numerous family, of whom Bernard and Peter will be noticed hereafter. His memory is said to have been so retentive, that on one occasion, after hearing the Hungarian ambassador pronounce a Latin address to the magistrates of Florence, he repeated the whole word for word. His inclination for the study of history made him relax in the profession of the law, and produced: 1. "De bello à Christianis contra Barbaros gesto, pro Christi sepulchro et Judæa recuperandis, libri quatuor," Venice, 1532, 4to, and reprinted at Basle, Venice, and Florence, the latter edition with notes by Thomas Dempster, 1623, 4to, and at Groninguen, by Henry Moreri. Gen. Dict. 1 Hoffnider, 1731, 8vo. It was also translated into Italian, by Francis Baldelli, and printed at Venice, 1549, 8vo. Yves Duchat of Troyes in Champagne, translated it into French and Greek, and printed it at Paris, 1620, 8vo. This is a work of considerable historical credit, and in the succeeding century, served as a guide to Torquato Tasso, in his immortal poem, the Gerusalemme liberata. It was dedicated to Piero de Medici, and not to Cosmo, as Moreri asserts. Paulo Cortesi, a severe censor, allows that it is a work of great industry, and that it throws considerable light on a very difficult subject. A more recent critic objects to the purity of his style, and the length of the speeches he puts in the mouths of his principal personages. 2. "De præstantia virorum sui ævi," Parma, 1689, or 1692, the tendency of which is to prove that the moderns are not inferior to the ancients. It appeared originally in the Bibliotheque of Magliabechi, and has been often reprinted since, particularly at Coburg, in 1735, in the first volume of John Gerard Meuschen's "Vitæ summorunı dignitate et eruditione virorum."1 ACCOLTI (BERNARD) was one of the sons of the preceding, and, on account of the great fame of his poetry, called Unico Aretino; but such of his works as have descended to our days are not calculated to preserve the very extraordinary reputation which he enjoyed from his contemporaries. According to them, no fame could be equal to what he obtained at the court of Urbino and at Rome, in the time of Leo X. When it was known that the Unico was to recite his verses, the shops were shut, and all business suspended; guards were necessary at the doors, and the most learned scholars and prelates often interrupted the poet by loud acclamations. The testimony of his contemporaries, and among them, of the Cardinal Bembo, will not permit us to doubt that his merit was extraordinary; but it is probable that he owed his fame more to his talents at extempore verse, than to those which he prepared by study. In the latter, however, there is an elegance of style, and often the fancy and nerve of true poetry. His poems were first printed at Florence in 1513, under the title "Virginia comedia, capitoli, e strambotti di messer Bernardo, Accolti Aretino, in Firenze (al di Francesco Rossegli)," 8vo; and at Venice, 1519, "Opera nuova del preclarissimo messer Bernardo Accolti Aretino, scrittore 1 Moreri. Biographie Universelle, 1811. Roscoe's Lorenzo. apostolico ed abbreviatore, &c." 8vo, and have been often re-printed. In this volume, his comedy "Virginie," written, according to the custom of the age, in the ottava rima, and other measures, obtained its name from a natural daughter, whom he gave in marriage to a nobleman, with a large dowry. Leo X. who had an esteem for him, gave him the employment of apostolic secretary; and is likewise said to have given him the duchy of Nepi; but Accolti informs us, in one of his letters to Peter Aretin, that he purchased this with his own money, and that Paul III. afterwards deprived him of it. The dates of his birth and death are not known; but he was living in the time of Ariosto, who mentions him as a person of great consideration at the court of Urbino. 1 ACCOLTI (FRANCIS), the brother of Benedetto, and usually called FRANCIS D'AREZZO, or ARETIN, from the place of his birth, was born in 1418. The celebrated Francis Philelphus was his preceptor in polite learning; after which he studied law under the ablest professors, and became himself one of their number, teaching that faculty at Bologna, Ferrara, and Sienna. He was for five years secretary to the duke of Milan, and died of the stone at the baths of Sienna, in 1483. He has been accused, but without proof, of the grossest avarice. If he left vast wealth, it was owing to the profits of his profession, of which he was acknowledged to be the ablest and most successful practitioner. A journey which he made to Rome, when Sixtus IV. was Pope, has given rise to another story, equally without proof, that he solicited to be made Cardinal, which the Pope refused, on pretence of the injury that would accrue to learning from such a promotion. Another story is recorded, more to his honour. While professor of law at Ferrara, he had occasion to lecture to his scholars on the advantages of a character knowH for probity and honour; and, in order to exemplify his doctrine, he went in the night, accompanied by only one servant, broke open the butchers' stalls, and took away some pieces. The law-students were immediately suspected of the robbery, and two of them, of indifferent character, were imprisoned. The Professor then went before the Duke, demanded their release, and accused himself: having proved the fact, which was with difficulty believed, he took the opportunity to show the advantage of a good character, and the dangers of a bad one. 1 Biographie Universelle, 1811.-Ginguene, Hist. Litteraire d'Italie, vol. III. p. 546.-Some additional particulars are in Roscoe's Life of Leo. He left several works. The principal are: 1. "S. Chry sostomi homiliæ in Evangelium S. Joannis, interprete F.A." Rome, 1470, fol. Erasmus is of opinion that this translation is deficient in fidelity, and that the author was not sufficiently acquainted with the Greek language. 2. "Phalaridis Epistolæ," Rome, about 1469, 8vo; afterwards re-printed in 1471, 1474, 1475. 3. "Diogenis Cynici philosophi Epistolæ." 4. " Authoris incerti libellus de Thermis Puteolorum, et vicinis in Italia, a Fr. de Accoltis Aretino repertus, publicatus, &c." Naples, 1475, 4to. Some writers, not attending to the title of this work, have considered him as the author of it. 5. "Consilia seu Responsa," Pisa, a collection of consultations on questions of law. 6. "Commentaria super Lib. II. Decretalium," Bonon. 1481. 7. "Commentaria," Pavia, 1495, fol. He also cultivated Italian poetry, and the libraries of Chigi and Strozzi contain several of his poetical pieces in manuscript. Crescembini inserted some of his sonnets in his history of Italian poetry. His Latin letters are in the Ambrosian library at Milan.' ACCOLTI (PETER), another of the sons of Benedetto the historian, was born at Florence in 1455, and studied law at Pisa, where he became doctor and professor. He afterwards went into the church, was promoted to the bishoprick of Ancona, and six years after, to be Cardinal, under the title of St. Eusebius, but is better known by the title of Cardinal of Ancona. He afterwards held seven bishopricks in Spain, Flanders, France, and Italy; and attained the higher honours of cardinal-vicar and legate. He died at Rome Dec. 12, 1532, aged 77; and left some works on law of no great importance. He was the author of the bull against Luther, which condemned forty-one propositions of that reformer. One of his natural sons, Benedict Accolti, was, in 1564, the chief of the Florentine conspiracy against Pius IV. for which he was executed.* ACCORDS. See TABOUROT. ACCORSO, or ACCURSIUS (FRANCIS), an eminent lawyer, who first collected the various opinions and decisions of his predecessors, in the Roman law, into one body, 1 Biographie Universelle, 1811. Ibid. Gen. Dict. Moreri. |