PARTHENIUS, a Bithynian poet, said to have been captured in the Mithradatic war and carried to Rome. He lived there for many years, as late as the time of Tiberius. His poems were on erotic subjects, and many of them treated of obscure mythological stories. The only work of his which is preserved is ä collection of short lovetales in prose, dedicated to the poet Cornelius Gallus, but apparently not intended for publication.