XX. C. JULIUS HYGINUS, a freedman of Augustus, was a native of Spain,

(although some say he was born at Alexandria,) (520) and that when that city was taken, Caesar brought him, then a boy, to Rome. He closely and carefully imitated Cornelius Alexander , a Greek grammarian, who, for his antiquarian knowledge, was called by many Polyhistor, and by some History. He had the charge of the Palatine library, but that did not prevent him from having many scholars; and he was one of the most intimate friends of the poet Ovid, and of Caius Licinius, the historian, a man of consular rank , who has related that Hyginus died very poor, and was supported by his liberality as long as he lived. Julius Modestus , who was a freedman of Hyginus, followed the footsteps of his patron in his studies and learning.