Science Fair Project Encyclopedia Caecilius of Calacte
Originally called Archagathus, he took the name of Caecilius
from his patron, one of the Metelli. According to the Suda, he
was by birth a Jew. Next to Dionysius of Halicarnassus, he was
the most important critic and rhetorician of the Augustan age.
Only fragments are extant of his numerous and important works,
among which may be mentioned: - On the Style of the Ten Orators
(the lives and a critical examination of the works of the Ten
Orators), the basis of the pseudo-Plutarchian treatise of the
same name, in which Caecilius is frequently referred to; - On
the Sublime, attacked by (?) Longinus in his essay on the same
subject; - History of the Servile Wars, or slave risings in
Sicily, the local interest of which would naturally appeal to
the author; - On Rhetoric and Rhetorical Figures, an
Alphabetical Selection of Phrases, intended to serve as a guide
to the acquirement of a pure Attic style—the first example of an
Atticist lexicon, mentioned by Suidas i