Maecēnas, ātis, m. [Tuscan, perh. Maecnatial; v. Sil. 10, 40; Müll. Etrusk. 1, p. 404; 415]: C. Cilnius Maecenas,
I a Roman knight, descended, on the mother's side, from the Arretinian gens of the Maecenates (and on the father's side from that of the Cilnii; v. Müll. l. c. p. 416 sq.), the friend of Augustus and the patron of Horace and Virgil , Prop. 4, 8 (9), 1; Hor. C. 1, 1, 1; Verg. G. 1, 2; Vell. 2, 88, 2; Tac. A. 6, 11; Sen. Prov. 3, 9 sq.; id. Ep. 19, 8 sq.; 114, 4; Quint. 9, 4, 28.—
B Transf., to denote, in gen.,
1 A patron of literature: sint Maecenates, non deerunt, Flacce, Marones, Mart. 8, 56, 5; Sen. Prov. 3, 10: quis tibi Maecenas erit? Juv. 7, 94.—
2 A person of distinction : vestem Purpuream teneris quoque Maecenatibus aptam, Juv. 12, 39. —
3 A luxurious, effeminate person : multum referens de Maecenate supino, Juv. 1, 66.—Hence,
II Maecēnātĭānus , a, um, adj., of or belonging to Maecenas : turris, Suet. Ner. 38: horti, id. Tib. 15: vina, named after him , Plin. 14, 6, 8, § 67.