Pācŭvĭus (Pācŭus), i, m.,
- I. the name of a Roman gens. So esp. Pacuvius, a celebrated Roman poet, a native of Brundisium, nephew of Ennius, and contemporary of P. Scipio Africanus, Cic. Opt. Gen. Or. 1, 1; id. Brut. 64, 229; id. Fin. 1, 2, 4; id. Or. 11, 36; Hor. Ep. 2, 1, 56; Quint. 10, 1, 97. He is also said to have distinguished himself as a painter, Plin. 35, 4, 7, § 19.
Sync. form: Pacui discipulus dicor, porro is fuit Enni, Enniu’ musarum, Varr. ap. Non. 88, 4; Plin. 35, 4, 7, § 19 Jan.
Hence,
- II. Pā-cŭvĭānus, a, um, adj., Pacuvian: physicus, Cic. Div. 1, 57, 131: testudo, described by Pacuvius, Tert. Pall. 3: ex quibus est Pacuvianum illud: nam si qui, etc., that Pacuvian verse, Gell. 14, 1, 34.