captives. In time the order changed its character from that of a military In that of a religious institution, and as such exerted a wide influence. Peter himself, when he was old, was taken from his cell by angels, so the legend goes, and borne to and from the altar, where he received the holy Eucharist. In the paintings ofthe saints he is represented as old, with a white habit, and the shield of king .lames on his breast. His death is said i" have occurred Jan. 15, 1258. (J. II. W.)
bassadors. Peter and his colleague remained in cap- tivity until Belisarius, by detaining Bome Ostrogothic compelled Vitiges,
Peter Nolasco (by Claude de Mellan).
Peter the Patrician (1) was a Byzantine histo- rian ofthe 6th century, lie was born at Thessalonica, iu the province of Macedonia, then included in the pre- fecture of Ulyricum. He settled at Constantinople, where he acquired distinction as a rhetor or advocate, a profession for which his cultivated mind, agreeable address, .and natural powers of persuasion were admira- bly adapted. These qualifications pointed hii it to
the discernment ofthe emperor Justinian I as suited for diplomatic life, and he was sent by him (A.D. 534 i as ambassador to Amalasuntha, regent ofthe kingdom of the Ostrogoths. Before arriving in Italy Peter learned the death ofthe young king Athalaric, the marriage of Amalasuntha and Theodotus, one of the principal (duel's
ol the Ostrogoths, their exaltation to the throne of
Italy, and of their subsequent dissensions and the ira- pris hi of Amalasuntha. Peter then received in- structions to vindicate the cause ol the imprisoned queen; but his arrival at Ravenna was Bpeedily fol- lowed by the murder of Amalasuntha. Procopius charges Peter with instigating Theodotus to commit
the murder, being secretly < imissioned to do so by the
jealousj of Tl lora, Justinian's w ife, who held out to
him as an inducement to comply with her de-ire the
hope of ureal advancement. Whether he was an abetter lo the crime or not. Peter, iu conformity to
ambassadors, compelled Vitiges, who had succeeded Theodotus, to release him about the end of A.D. 538. On his return Peter received, as Procopius intimates, by Theodora's interest, and as a reward lor his participa- tion in procuring Amalasuntha's death, the high ap- pointment of magister officiorum, hut incurred general odium by the part he had acted. He exercised his au- thority with the most unbridled rapacity ; for although he was, according to Procopius, naturally of a mild tem- per, and by no mean- insolent, he was at the same time the most dishonest of all mankind. k\cit- rinraTor ci av-jpw—nn uiruvriov. Sev- eral years afterwards (about A.D. 550) Peter, who retained hi- post of magister officiorum, and had in addition acquired the dignity of patrician, was sent by JllS- tinian to negotiate a peace with Chosroes I. king (if Persia. Some negotiations with pope Vi-ilius i .">.">■_' i. and a n< w mis- sion into Persia I 562 |, an- t he last i vents known of the career of Peter the Patri- cian. He died soon after his return from Persia, leaving one son, who succeeded him in his office of magister ojfi According to Suidas, Peter composed t w o
works. Ili.<tmii< and Ih Statu Rfipubli- cce. The TJistorice began with Augustus, or rather with the second triumvirate, and continued to a period a little later than the time of Constantine the Great Considerable portions of it tire preserved in the Excerpta </< tegationibus, made by order of the emperor ( 'oiistanl ine l'or- phyrogenitus. The treatise D< Statu Re- ipublicce is lost, although Mai thinks lie recognises it in /'. Republica, from which he has deciphered and published long passages in his Scriptorum Veterum Nova Collectio. Authentic fragments from the tnati-e of Peter are found in the /'. < " - remoniis Aula Byzantina of Constantine Porphyrogen- itns. Peter the Patrician has given a relation of his negotiations with Chosroes, which is quoted by Menan- der. All the remain- of this historian are given in the Bonn edition ofthe Excerpta dt Legaiionibus. See Fahrieius. Biblu itk< ca Graca,v'\, 135; vii, 538; viii, 33 ; l.'eiske. Prmfatio, c ii. to the hi Catremoniis of Con- stantine Porphyrogenitus; Niebuhr, D< Historicis quo- rum Reliquiae hoc Volumim continentur, in the Excerpta ilt Legat. ed. of Bonn ; Mai. I>> Fragmentis Politicis Pe- tri Magistri, in the Script. Veterum Nova CoUec. ii..">71 s(|. : Smith, Diet. ofGr. and A'"//'. Biog. <in<l MythoU iti, 226; lloefer. Nouv. Biog. Genhale,xl, 182.
Peter rm Patrician (2) was a Greek saint who
lived early in the 9th century. He had fought in the
battle tA.D. Ml) against the Bulgarians in which the
emperor Nicephorus I was defeated and slain. A life of Peter, laken from the Menaa of the Creek-, i- given in the original Greek, with a Latin version, and a Com- mentariolus Pratvius by Joannes Pinius, in the Acta Sanctorum (July), i. --'.v. '.".hi.
Peter the Patrh un t.". }, a Greek, different from the foregoing, and belonging to a somewhat later pe- riod. He presented to the emperor 1 eo \ 1 - who began to reign A.D. **('., a copy of Theodoret's
PETER
35
PETER
Curatio Grcecarum Adfectionum, to which he prefixed an Epigramma, which is printed at length by Lam- becius in his Commentarius de Biblioth. Ccesarcea.