Syrus, PUBLIUS

Syrus, PUBLIUS or PUBLILIUS, a Roman writer of mimes who flourished about 43 B.C., and was most probably a Syrian slave brought to Rome in early youth, educated, and freed by some indulgent master. After Laberius he reigned supreme on the stage, and his mimes, being as full of shrewd epigrammatic wit as broad humour, did not altogether perish with him. About two hundred apophthegms are still extant, under the title Publilii Syri Mimi Sententie. One of these supplied the motto for the Edinburgh Review, although Sydney Smith admits that none of the young collaborators knew anything further of its author: 'Judex damnatur cum nocens absolvitur.'