Grecinus, Julius

, a Roman senator, and a man of letters, flourished in the reign of Caligula, and was greatly distinguished for eloquence, and for the study of philosophy, as well as for a moral conduct surpassing that of many of his contemporaries. He refused to obey the command of the emperor to appear as the accuser of Marcus Silanus, and suffered death in consequence, in the 40th year of the Christian sera. Seneca, who never speaks of him without admiration, says, that he was put to death because he was too good a man to be permitted to live under a tyrant. He is said to have written a treatise concerning agriculture and the management of vines. He was the father of the illustrious Cn. Julius Agricola. ²