GRAVINA, John Vincent, one of the most distinguished men of letters that the kingdom of Naples ever produced, was born at Rogiano, a small town near Cosenza, in Calabria-Ulteriore, on the 20th of January 1664. His parents, who, [7:10:716]by their station and their fortune, held the first rank in the place, neglected nöthing to promote his early education; but the precocity of mind, the vivacity of imagination, and the ardour to instruct himself evinced by their son, soon made them sensible that he required other cares at their hands, and needed to be restrained rather than stimulated. Gregorio Caloprese, his uncle, after having cultivated, with success, at Naples, poetry and philosophy, had retired to his native place, Scalea, a maritime city in that part of Calabria. The education of a nephew, who inspired so high hopes, appeared to him an agreeable task, and he willingly undertook it. Under the auspices of his uncle, young Ġravina learned Latin, rhetoric, history, and the principles of geometry; acquisitions well calculated to pave the way for the study of philosophy, which was then beginning to cast off the yoke under which it had languished in the schools. Thus occupied, Gravina attained his sixteenth year, when Caloprese, finding that the education of his nephew, on which he had bestowed so great care, required his removal to another and wider field, desired to conduct him to Naples; but some domestic embarrassments obstructed the proposed arrangement, and the young student might have been left to his fate, had not his generous relation taken on himself the expense of carrying this proposal into effect, and sent him to the capital, with a strong recommendation to Seraphino Biscardi of Cosenza, then considered as the head of the Neapolitan bar. Charmed with the dispositions evinced by Gravina, Biscardi divided his attentions between him and Cajetano Argentin, particularly directing the application of the former towards Greek, in which he had only received a few lessons from his uncle, but of which he soon acquired a perfect knowledge under Gregorio Massere, then regarded as the first Hellenist of Naples. In the mean time Biscardi taught them all the secrets of the art of oratory, not forgetting that of declamation; but Gravina, who at the same time cultivated poetry', did not so far abandon this pursuit as to devote himself exclusively to the study of eloquence.· It was about this time in fact that he composed, on the subject of the Passion, a drama, entitled Tragedia di Cristo ; a piece which has not been printed, but which he most probably translated, with some additions, from the Greek drama of the same name attributed to Gregory of Nazianzen. Of another drama also composed by Gravina, there remains only the title, Sant’ Atanasio. As the relations of Gravina had destined him for the profession of the law, the time was now approaching when it would be necessary to make jurisprudence a serious study; but for that science he had conceived an aversion which appeared to be insurmountable. The barbarous language of chicane, as he considered the technical nomenclature of the law, appeared to him an offence committed against the worship of the muses, and the riches which the bar often produces, a sordid means of existence. Biscardi had much difficulty in convincing him of the difference which exists between the science of laws, and the mere conduct of processes, or ordinary practice. He repeated, for some time in vain, that this science rests on a profound knowledge of the classics; and that, if modern jurisconsults had corrupted the Latinity of the schools, it might still be brought back to the standard of the purer ages of Alciat and Cujas. The prejudices of Gravina at length vanished; he applied himself vigorously to the study of the civil and canon law, and at the same time extended his knowledge of theology by an attentive perusal of the works of the Fathers. He sought the conversation of the learned, and continually studied the five books which he regarded as the sources of the knowledge to which he aspired; we mean the Holy Scriptures, the body of the civil law, the works of Plato, those of Cicero, and the poems of Homer. Gravina had long desired to visit Rome; but his uncle, Caloprese, who still superintended his education, opposed his wish until he should have completed his course of study. When this was accomplished, he repaired to the ancient capital of the world in 1689. Paolo Coardo, of Turin, afterwards chamberlain to Clement XI. received him into his house, where he remained several years, and also procured him the acquaintance of the most celebrated men of their time, Ciampini, Fabretti, Bianchini, Buonaroti, Emmanuel Martino, and Father Miro. In conversation, they were accustomed to discuss the most important questions; and as it often turned upon the relaxation of morals, Gravina undertook to treat this subject, applying to it the theological knowledge which he had acquired in the course of his studies. Accordingly, in 1691, he published, under the supposititious name of Priscus Censorinus, a dialogue, entitled De corrupta Morali Doctrina, Naples, 4to, the object of which was to prove that the corrupters of morals do more injury to the church than the boldest heresiarchs. Gravina was then only twenty-six years of age. But the eloquence of the style and the solidity of the reasonings ensured the success of the book, which at the same time excited lively dissatisfaction amongst the numerous partisans of convenient doctrines and loose practice. Father Concina has inserted this dialogue almost entire in his treatise De Incredulis. Nor did poetry escape the contamination which had so deeply infected morals. A single writer, Alessandro Guidi, a friend of Gravina, struggled at Rome against the prevailing debasement of taste, and, at the request of Christina, queen of Sweden, had, under the Arcadian name of Erillo Cleoneo, written a comedy, entitled Endimione. As this piece became the object of the most virulent attacks, Gravina, under the name of Bione Crateo, undertook the defence of his friend, which he read in a literary assembly, and which was afterwards printed under the title of Discorso sopra Endimione, Rome, 1692. This little work, in which he laid down excellent’ principles, drew upon the author new adversaries, who considered it equally strange and unpardonable that Gravina should attempt to constitute himself at once the censor of morals and the reformer of taste. A jealousy, almost amounting to fury, was excited against the young Neapolitan; whilst his disposition to censure the works of others, and the confidence which he appeared to repose in his own opinions, were but little calculated to calm the spirits of his enemies. Gravina sometimes commended, but he more frequently censured, and his decisions were often expressed in contemptuous terms. This tendency made him a host of enemies. His least actions were watched in order to calumniate him, and he was assailed with the most malignant invectives. Then appeared in succession, under the name of Quintio Settano, the Arcadian alias of LudovicoSergardi, sixteen satires against Philodemus, the name under which Gravina was therein designated. These satires, which were equally spirited and bitter, obtained great success, and were circulated in profusion. Gravina at first affected indifference. It is a fault of the age, said he, to take pleasure in outraging merit. But as this tranquillity did not reduce his enemies to silence, he could no longer restrain his resentment, and composed some declamations of the nature of verrine, and also some iambics; but he has not published these retaliatory effusions, probably because he thought them inferior to the satires of Settano. The malignity of the enemies of Gravina did not lessen the esteem which he had inspired, nor abate his zeal for useful and wholesome pursuits. He united with several other literary men who had associated together for the purpose of cultivating poetry in silence. There were only fifteen of them, but their number soon increased, and Gravina assembled them for the first time, in November 1695, at a house which he had provided for the purpose on Mount Janiculum. They framed for the association a democratic constitution, and took the name of Arcadi, or Area-dians[7:10:717]. In summer, they were to assemble in the gardens, and there invoke the Muses: and, by their manner of living and the simplicity of their writings, they were to endeavour to imitate the ancient shepherds, without distinction of rank or fortune. Each assumed a pastoral name. As the number of members increased, it became necessary to give laws to the association, and decemvirs were named for the purpose of preparing them. Called to discharge this duty, Gravina reviewed the numerous and incoherent regulations adopted by the Arcadians, and reduced them into a single code. These laws, written in Latin, with an elegant conciseness, and rare propriety in the selection of terms, in imitation of those of the Twelve Tables, soon spread throughout Europe, and were universally admired. Lastly, on the 20th of May 1696, the Arcadi held a general assembly on the Palatine Hill. Gravina, after an eloquent discourse, presented the marble tablets containing the laws, which he established with the expressions consecrated in the Roman jurisprudence, and on this occasion also he assumed the name of Opizio Eri-manteo. During this period, Gravina had composed several dissertations, which he collected under the title of Opuscula, Rome, 1696, and in which are included, 1. Specimen prisci Juris; 2. De Lingua Latina dialogus; 3. Epistola ad Gabrielern Reignerium à Gallum; 4. De contemptu Mortis; 5. Epistola ad Trojanum Mirabellam; and, 6. Delie Favole Antiche, which has been translated into French by Joseph Regnauld. After the death of Alexander VIII. Antonio Pignatelli, having obtained the pontifical throne under the name of Innocent XII. wished to raise Gravina to the highest ecclesiastical honours; but the latter refused to embrace the clerical profession, as all his ambition was confined to teaching the laws, and his taste led him towards profane erudition. Nor was his ambition disappointed. In 1699, he obtained the chair of civil law, and in his opening discourse traced the history of that science; whilst, in order to make his system of instruction better known, he composed the treatise De Instauratione Studiorum, which he dedicated to the new pontiff. The discourse De Sapientia, which he delivered in 1700, also relates to the same subject. In that one which is entitled Pro Legibus ad magnum Moschorum regem, after speaking of the pre-eminence and dignity of the Roman laws, he considers them in reference to the influence which they were likely to have in the civilization of the states of the czar, Peter the Great. The subjects of the other dissertations of Gravina we need not indicate, as they have been collected in his works. We shall merely refer to that one on the internal rule, because it makes known the religious sentiments with which the mind of this great civilian was deeply imbued. In 1703, Gravina passed from the chair of civil to that of canon law. From the commencement of his career as a public instructor he had abolished the usage of scholastic argumentation; and each succeeding year brought some useful change. He thought that the only means of establishing sound doctrine was to ascend to the sources or fountain-head of the laws; and this accordingly is the object of his treatise De repetendis Doctrinarum Fontibus. But these little treatises, which he composed with extreme facility, did not prevent him from continuing his great work, De Ortu et Progressu Juris Civilis, the first book of which appeared at Naples in 1701, and the whole was completed in three books, and printed in 1713. Europe resounded with the praises bestowed on this great work; the celebrated Maffei made an abridgment of it; and it was reprinted several times in different places. The writings of Gravina attest the extent of his knowledge, and his ardour in the cause of education; but the greatest proof of his general zeal and discrimination consists in giving to literature Metastasio, who owed to him his education and his fortune, and who, in his writings, particularly in his poetry, takes pleasure in acknowledging the gratitude he owed, not only to the beneficence, but still more to the instructions of his adoptive father. During the period which elapsed from 1711 to 1714, Gravina completed and published several works, particularly his Discourses, his book De Romano Imperio, Naples, 1712, in 12mo; his tragedies, Palamede, Andromede, Appius Claudius, Papinianus, and Servius Tullius, Naples, 1712, in 12mo; and his treatises, Della Ragione Poetica, Rome, 1708, and Della Tragedia, Naples, 1714, in 4to. Gregorio Caloprese died at Scalea in the summer of 1714. As soon as Gravina heard of his illness, he hastened to pay his last duties to a relation to whom he lay under so many obligations. He passed nearly two years in Calabria, and it was not until 1716 that he returned to Rome, where he died on the 6th of January 1718, leaving to his mother, Anna Lombarde, the property which he possessed in Calabria, and to Metastasio all that he had acquired at Rome, excepting some legacies to his other pupils, Giuliano Pier-Santi, Lorenzo Gori, and Horazio Bianchi, all men of reputation in letters. The works of Gravina have been collected in three volumes, under the title of Opere del Gravina, Leipsic, 1737, in 4to, and Naples, 1756, with notes by Mascovius the editor. (a.) Gravina, a city of the province of Bari, in the kingdom of Naples. It is a rocky height, watered at its foot by the rivers Casale and Gravina. It contains 8693 inhabitants, who are employed in cultivating wheat and aniseseed, and in preparing saltpetre.