LEMPRIERE’S CLASSICAL DICTIONARY by JOHN LEMPRIERE

VOLUME # 2  M – Z  (See Vol # 1 For  A – L)

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A CLASSICAL DICTIONARY

CONTAINING A COPIOUS ACCOUNT OF ALL THE PROPER NAMES

MENTIONED BY ANCIENT AUTHORS WITH THE VALUE OF COINS,

WEIGHTS, AND MEASURES USED AMONG THE GREEKS AND ROMANS

WITHOUT THE CLASSICAL CHRONOLOGICAL TABLE

BY  JOHN LEMPRIERE, D.D.

LONDON: GEORGE ROUTLEDGE AND SONS, Limited

NEW YORK: E. P. DUTTON AND CO.

1904

Printed by Ballantyne, Hanson & Co. At the Ballantyne Press

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PREFACE TO THE ORIGINAL EDITION.

In the following pages it has been the wish of the author to give the most accurate and satisfactory account of all the proper names which occur in reading the Classics, and by a judicious collection of anecdotes and historical facts to draw a picture of ancient times, not less instructive than entertaining. Such a work, it is hoped, will not be deemed a useless acquisition in the hands of the public; and while the student is initiated in the knowledge of history and mythology, and familiarized with the ancient situation and extent of kingdoms and cities that no longer exist, the man of letters may, perhaps, find it not a contemptible companion, from which he may receive information, and be made, a second time, acquainted with many important particulars which time, or more laborious occupations, may have erased from his memory. In the prosecution of his plan, the author has been obliged to tread in the steps of many learned men, whose studies have been directed, and not without success, to facilitate the attainment of classical knowledge, and of the ancient languages. Their compositions have been to him a source of information, and he trusts that their labours have now found new elucidation in his own, and that, by a due consideration of every subject, he has been enabled to imitate their excellences, without copying their faults. Many compositions of the same nature have issued from the press, but they are partial and unsatisfactory. The attempts to be concise, have rendered the labours of one barren and uninstructive, while long and unconnected quotations of passages from Greek and Latin writers, disfigure the page of the other, and render the whole insipid and disgusting. It cannot, therefore, be a discouraging employment now, to endeavour to finish what others have left imperfect, and with the conciseness of Stephens, to add the diffuse researchs of Lloyd, Hoffman, Collier, &c. After paying due attention to the ancient poets and historians, from whom the most authentic information can be received, the labours of more modern authors have been consulted, and every composition distinguished for the clearness and perspicuity of historical narration, or geographical descriptions, has been carefully examined. Truly sensible of what he owes to modern Latin and English writers and commentators, the author must not forget to make a public acknowledgment of the assistance he has likewise received from the labours of the French. In the Siècles Payens of l’Abbé Sabatier de Castres he has found all the information which judicious criticism, and a perfect knowledge of heathen mythology, could procure. The compositions of l’Abbé Banier have also been useful; and in the Dictionnaire Historique, of a literary society, printed at Caen, a treasure of original anecdotes, and a candid selection and arrangement of historical facts, have been discovered.

It was the original design of the author of this Dictionary to give a minute explanation of all the names of which Pliny and other ancient geographers make mention; but, upon a second consideration of the subject, he was convinced that it would have increased his volume in bulk, and not in value. The learned reader will be sensible of the propriety of this remark, when he recollects that the names of many places mentioned by Pliny and Pausanias occur nowhere else in ancient authors; and that to find the true situation of an insignificant village mentioned by Strabo, no other writer but Strabo is to be consulted.

This Dictionary being undertaken more particularly for the use of schools, it has been thought proper to mark the quantity of the penultimate of every word, and to assist the student who can receive no fixed and positive rules for pronunciation. In this the authority of Smethius has been followed, as also Leede’s edition of Labbe’s Catholici Indices.

As every publication should be calculated to facilitate literature, and to be serviceable to the advancement of the sciences, the author of this Dictionary did not presume to intrude himself upon the public, before he was sensible that his humble labours would be of some service to the lovers of the ancient languages. The undertaking was for the use of schools, therefore he thought none so capable of judging of its merit, and of ascertaining its utility, as those who preside over the education of youth. With this view, he took the liberty to communicate his intentions to several gentlemen in that line, not less distinguished for purity of criticism, than for their classical abilities, and from them he received all the encouragement which the desire of contributing to the advancement of learning can expect. To them, therefore, for their approbation and friendly communications, he publicly returns his thanks, and hopes that, now his labours are completed, his Dictionary may claim from them that patronage and that support to which, in their opinion, the specimen of the work seemed to be entitled. He has paid due attention to their remarks, he has received with gratitude their judicious observations, and cannot pass over in silence their obliging recommendations, and particularly the friendly advice he has received from the Rev. R. Valpy, master of Reading School.

For the account of the Roman laws, and for the festivals celebrated by the ancient inhabitants of Greece and Italy, he is particularly indebted to the useful collections of Archbishop Potter, of Godwyn, and Kennet. In the tables of ancient coins, weights and measures, which he has annexed to the body of the Dictionary, he has followed the learned calculations of Dr. Arbuthnot. The quoted authorities have been carefully examined, and frequently revised: and, it is hoped, the opinions of mythologists will appear without confusion, and be found divested of all obscurity.

Therefore, with all the confidence which an earnest desire of being useful can command, the author offers the following pages to the public, conscious that they may contain inaccuracies and imperfections. A Dictionary, the candid reader is well aware, cannot be made perfect all at once; it must still have its faults and omissions, however cautious and vigilant the author may have been; and in every page there may be found, in the opinion of some, room for improvement and for addition. Before the candid, therefore, and the impartial, he lays his publication, and for whatever observations the friendly critic may make, he will show himself grateful, and take advantage of the remarks of every judicious reader, should the favours and the indulgence of the public demand a second edition.

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A CLASSICAL DICTIONARY,

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M

Macæ, a people of Arabia Felix. Mela, bk. 3, ch. 8. They are placed in Africa near the larger Syrtis by Herodotus, bk. 4, ch. 175.—Silius Italicus, bk. 3, li. 275; bk. 5, li. 194.

Macar, a son of Criasius or Crinacus, the first Greek who led a colony to Lesbos. His four sons took possession of the four neighbouring islands, Chios, Samos, Cos, and Rhodes, which were called the seats of the Macares, or the blessed (μακαρ, beatus). Dionysius of Halicarnassus, bk. 1.—Homer, Iliad, bk. 24.—Diodorus, bk. 5.—Mela, bk. 3, ch. 7.

Măcăreus, an ancient historian.――A son of Æolus, who debauched his sister Canace, and had a son by her. The father being informed of the incest, ordered the child to be exposed, and sent a sword to his daughter, and commanded her to destroy herself. Macareus fled to Delphi, where he became priest of Apollo. Ovid, Metamorphoses; Heroides, poem 11; Ibis, li. 562.――One of the companions of Ulysses, left at Caieta in Italy, where Æneas found him. Ovid, Metamorphoses, bk. 14, li. 159.――A son of Lycaon. Apollodorus, bk. 3, ch. 8.—Pausanias, bk. 8, ch. 3.

Măcăria, a daughter of Hercules and Dejanira. After the death of Hercules, Eurystheus made war against the Heraclidæ, whom the Athenians supported, and the oracle declared, that the descendants of Hercules should obtain the victory if any one of them devoted him self to death. This was cheerfully accepted by Macaria, who refused to endanger the life of the children of Hercules by suffering the victim to be drawn by lot, and the Athenians obtained a victory. Great honours were paid to the patriotic Macaria, and a fountain of Marathon was called by her name. Pausanias, bk. 1, ch. 32.――An ancient name of Cyprus.

Macăris, an ancient name of Crete.

Macednus, a son of Lycaon. Apollodorus.

Măcēdo, a son of Osiris, who had a share in the divine honours which were paid to his father. He was represented clothed in a wolf’s skin, for which reason the Egyptians held that animal in great veneration. Diodorus, bk. 1.—Plutarch, De Iside et Osiride.――A man who gave his name to Macedonia. Some supposed him to be the same as the son or general of Osiris, whilst others consider him as the grandson of Deucalion by the mother’s side. Diodorus, bk. 1.

Măcēdŏnia, a celebrated country, situated between Thrace, Epirus, and Greece. Its boundaries have been different at different periods. Philip increased it by the conquest of Thessaly and of part of Thrace, and according to Pliny it contained no less than 150 different nations. The kingdom of Macedonia, first founded B.C. 814, by Caranus, a descendant of Hercules, and a native of Argos, continued in existence 646 years, till the battle of Pydna. The family of Caranus remained in possession of the crown until the death of Alexander the Great, and began to reign in the following order: Caranus, after a reign of 28 years, was succeeded by Cœnus, who ascended the throne 786 B.C.; Thurimas, 774; Perdiccas, 729; Argæus, 678; Philip, 640; Æropas, 602; Alcetas or Alectas, 576; Amyntas, 547; Alexander, 497; Perdiccas, 454; Archelaus, 413; Amyntas, 399; Pausanias, 398; Amyntas II., 397; Argæus the tyrant, 390; Amyntas restored, 390; Alexander II., 371; Ptolemy Alorites, 370; Perdiccas III., 366; Philip son of Amyntas, 360; Alexander the Great, 336; Philip Aridæus, 323; Cassander, 316; Antipater and Alexander, 298; Demetrius king of Asia, 294; Pyrrhus, 287; Lysimachus, 286; Ptolemy Ceraunus, 280; Meleager, two months; Antipater the Etesian, 45 days; Antigonus Gonatas, 277; Demetrius, 243; Antigonus Doson, 232; Philip, 221; Perseus, 179; conquered by the Romans 168 B.C. at Pydna. Macedonia has been severally called Æmonia, Mygdonia, Pæonia, Edonia, Æmathia, &c. The inhabitants of Macedonia were naturally warlike, and though in the infancy of their empire they were little known beyond the borders of their country, yet they signalized themselves greatly in the reign of Philip, and added the kingdom of Asia to their European dominions by the valour of Alexander. The Macedonian phalanx, or body of soldiers, was always held in the highest repute, and it resisted and subdued the repeated attacks of the bravest and most courageous enemies. Livy, bk. 44.—Justin, bk. 6, ch. 9; bk. 7, ch. 1, &c.—Strabo, bk. 7.—Mela, bk. 1, ch. 3, &c.—Pliny, bk. 4, ch. 10, &c.—Curtius, bks. 3 & 4.—Pausanias, bk. 8, ch. 7.

Macedonĭcum bellum, was undertaken by the Romans against Philip king of Macedonia, some few months after the second Punic war, B.C. 200. The cause of this war originated in the hostilities which Philip had exercised against the Achæans, the friends and allies of Rome. The consul Flaminius had the care of the war, and he conquered Philip on the confines of Epires, and afterwards in Thessaly. The Macedonian fleets were also defeated; Eubœa was taken; and Philip, after continual losses, sued for peace, which was granted him in the fourth year of the war. The ambition and cruelty of Perseus, the son and successor of Philip, soon irritated the Romans. Another war was undertaken, in which the Romans suffered two defeats. This, however, did not discourage them; Paulus Æmilius was chosen consul in the 60th year of his age, and entrusted with the care of the war. He came to a general engagement near the city of Pydna. The victory sided with the Romans, and 20,000 of the Macedonian soldiers were left on the field of battle. This decisive blow put an end to the war, which had already continued for three years, 168 years before the christian era. Perseus and his sons Philip and Alexander were taken prisoners, and carried to Rome to adorn the triumph of the conqueror. About 15 years after, new seditions were raised in Macedonia, and the false pretensions of Andriscus, who called himself the son of Perseus, obliged the Romans to send an army to quell the commotions. Andriscus at first obtained many considerable advantages over the Roman forces, till at last he was conquered and delivered to the consul Metellus, who carried him to Rome. After these commotions, which are sometimes called the third Macedonian war, Macedonia was finally reduced into a Roman province, and governed by a regular proconsul, about 148 years before the christian era.

Macedonĭcus, a surname given to Metellus, from his conquests in Macedonia. It was also given to such as had obtained any victory in that province.

Macella, a town of Sicily, taken by the consul Duillius. Livy, bk. 26, ch. 21.

Macer Æmylius, a Latin poet of Verona, intimate with Tibullus and Ovid, and commended for his genius, his learning, and the elegance of his poetry. He wrote some poems upon serpents, plants, and birds, mentioned by Ovid. He also composed a poem upon the ruins of Troy, to serve as a supplement to Homer’s Iliad. His compositions are now lost. He died B.C. 16. Ovid, Tristia, bk. 4, poem 10, li. 44; ex Ponto, bk. 2, ltr. 10.—Quintilian, bk. 10, ch. 1.――Lucius Claudius, a propretor of Africa in the reign of Nero. He assumed the title of emperor, and was put to death by order of Galba.

Machæra, a river of Africa.――A common crier at Rome. Juvenal, satire 7, li. 9.

Machanĭdas, a man who made himself absolute at Sparta. He was killed by Philopœmen, after being defeated at Mantinea, B.C. 208. Nabis succeeded him. Plutarch.—Livy, bk. 27, ch. 30; bk. 28, chs. 5 & 7.

Măchāon, a celebrated physician, son of Æsculapius and brother to Podalirus. He went to the Trojan war with the inhabitants of Trica, Ithome, and Œchalia. According to some he was king of Messenia. As physician to the Greeks, he healed the wounds which they received during the Trojan war, and was one of those concealed in the wooden horse. Some suppose that he was killed before Troy by Eurypylus the son of Telephus. He received divine honours after death, and had a temple in Messenia. Homer, Iliad, bk. 2, &c.—Ovid ex Ponto, bk. 3, ltr. 4.—Quintus Smyrnæus, bk. 6, li. 409.—Virgil, Æneid, bk. 2, lis. 263 & 426.

Macra, a river flowing from the Apennines, and dividing Liguria from Etruria. Lucan, bk. 2, li. 426.—Livy, bk. 39, ch. 32.—Pliny, bk. 3, ch. 5.

Macri campi, a plain in Cisalpine Gaul, near the river Gabellus. Livy, bk. 41, ch. 18; bk. 45, ch. 12.――A plain near Mutina bears the same name. Columella, bk. 7, ch. 2.

Macriānus Titus Fulvius Julius, an Egyptian of obscure birth, who, from a private soldier, rose to the highest command in the army, and proclaimed himself emperor when Valerian had been made prisoner by the Persians, A.D. 260. His liberality supported his usurpation; his two sons Macrianus and Quietus were invested with the imperial purple, and the enemies of Rome were severely defeated, either by the emperors or their generals. When he had supported his dignity for a year in the eastern parts of the world, Macrianus marched towards Rome, to crush Gallienus, who had been proclaimed emperor. He was defeated in Illyricum by the lieutenant of Gallienus, and put to death with his son, at his own expressive request, A.D. 262.

Macrīnus Marcus Opilius Severus, a native of Africa, who rose from the most ignominious condition to the rank of prefect of the pretorian guards, and at last of emperor, after the death of Caracalla, whom he inhumanly ♦sacrificed to his ambition, A.D. 217. The beginning of his reign was popular; the abolition of the taxes, and an affable and complaisant behaviour, endeared him to his subjects. These promising appearances did not long continue, and the timidity which Macrinus betrayed in buying the peace of the Persians by a large sum of money, soon rendered him odious; and while he affected to imitate the virtuous Aurelius without possessing the good qualities of his heart, he became contemptible and insignificant. This affectation irritated the minds of the populace, and when severe punishments had been inflicted on some of the disorderly soldiers the whole army mutinied; and their tumult was increased by their consciousness of their power and numbers, which Macrinus had the imprudence to betray, by keeping almost all the military force of Rome encamped together in the plains of Syria. Heliogabalus was proclaimed emperor, and Macrinus attempted to save his life by flight. He was, however, seized in Cappadocia, and his head was cut off and sent to his successor, June 7th, A.D. 218. Macrinus reigned about two months and three days. His son, called Diadumenianus, shared his father’s fate.――A friend of the poet Persius, to whom his second satire is inscribed.

♦ ‘sacrified’ replaced with ‘sacrificed’

Macro, a favourite of the emperor Tiberius, celebrated for his intrigues, perfidy, and cruelty. He destroyed Sejanus, and raised himself upon the ruins of that unfortunate favourite. He was accessary to the murder of Tiberius, and conciliated the good opinion of Caligula, by prostituting to him his own wife called Ennia. He soon after became unpopular, and was obliged by Caligula to kill himself together with his wife, A.D. 38.

Macrŏbii, a people of Æthiopia, celebrated for their justice and the innocence of their manners. They generally lived to their 120th year, some say 1000 years; and indeed from that longevity they have obtained their name (μακρος βιος, long life), to distinguish them more particularly from the other inhabitants of Æthiopia. After so long a period spent in virtuous actions, and freed from the ♦indulgences of vice, and from maladies, they dropped into the grave as to sleep, without pain and without terror. Orpheus, Argonautica, li. 1105.—Herodotus, bk. 3, ch. 17.—Mela, bk. 3, ch. 9.—Pliny, bk. 7, ch. 48.—Valerius Maximus, bk. 8, ch. 3.

♦ ‘induligencies’ replaced with ‘indulgences’

Macrobius, a Latin writer, who died A.D. 415. Some suppose that he was chamberlain to the emperor Theodosius II.; but this appears groundless, when we observe that Macrobius was a follower of paganism, and that none were admitted to the confidence of the emperor, or to the enjoyment of high stations, except such as were of the christian religion. Macrobius has rendered himself famous for a composition called Saturnalia, a miscellaneous collection of antiquities and criticism, supposed to have been the result of a conversation of some of the learned Romans during the celebration of the Saturnalia. This was written for the use of his son, and the bad latinity which the author has often introduced, proves that he was not born in a part of the Roman empire where the Latin tongue was spoken, as he himself candidly confesses. The Saturnalia are useful for the learned reflections which they contain, and particularly for some curious observations on the two greatest epic poets of antiquity. Besides this, Macrobius wrote a commentary on Cicero’s Somnium Scipionis, which was likewise composed for the improvement of the author’s son, and dedicated to him. The best editions are that of Gronovius, 8vo, Leiden, 1670, and that of Lipscomb, 8vo, 1777.

Macrŏchir, a Greek name of Artaxerxes, the same as Longimanus. This surname arises from his having one hand longer than the other. Cornelius Nepos, Kings.

Macrōnes, a nation of Pontus, on the confines of Colchis and Armenia. Flaccus, bk. 5, li. 153.—Herodotus.

Mactorium, a town of Sicily at the south, near Gela.

Măcŭlōnus, a rich and penurious Roman, &c. Juvenal, satire 7, li. 40.

Madaura, a town on the borders of Numidia and Gætulia, of which the inhabitants were called Madaurenses. It was the native place of Apuleius. Apuleius, Metamorphoses, bk. 11.

Madestes, a town of Thrace.

Madetes, a general of Darius, who bravely defended a place against Alexander. The conqueror resolved to put him to death, though 30 orators pleaded for his life. Sisygambis prevailed over the almost inexorable Alexander, and Madetes was pardoned. Curtius, bk. 5, ch. 3.

Maduatēni, a people of Thrace. Livy, bk. 38, ch. 40.

Madyes, a Scythian prince who pursued the Cimmerians in Asia, and conquered Cyaxares, B.C. 623. He held for some time the supreme power of Asia Minor. Herodotus, bk. 8, ch. 103.

Mæander, a son of Oceanus and Tethys.――A celebrated river of Asia Minor, rising near Celænæ, and flowing through Caria and Ionia into the Ægean sea between Miletus and Priene, after it has been increased by the waters of the Marsyas, Lycus, Eudon, Lethæus, &c. It is celebrated among the poets for its windings, which amount to no less than 600, and from which all obliquities have received the name of Mæanders. It forms in its course, according to the observations of some travellers, the Greek letters ε, ζ, ξ, ς, and ω, and from its windings Dædalus had the first idea of his famous labyrinth. Ovid, Metamorphoses, bk. 8, li. 145, &c.—Virgil, Æneid, bk. 5, li. 254.—Lucan, bk. 5, li. 208; bk. 6, li. 471.—Homer, Iliad, bk. 2.—Herodotus, bk. 2, ch. 29.—Cicero, Piso, ch. 22.—Strabo, bk. 12, &c.—Mela, bk. 1, ch. 17.

Mæandria, a city of Epirus.

Mæatæ, a people at the south of Scotland. Dio Cassius, bk. 76, ch. 12.

Mæcenas. See: Mecænas.

Mædi, a people of Mædica, a district of Thrace, near Rhodope. Livy, bk. 26, ch. 25; bk. 40, ch. 21.

Mælius, a Roman, thrown down from the Tarpeian rock, for aspiring to tyranny at Rome in the early ages of the republic.

Mæmacteria, sacrifices offered to Jupiter at Athens in the winter month Mæmacterion. The god surnamed Mæmactes was intreated to send mild and temperate weather, as he presided over the seasons, and was the god of the air.

Mænădes, a name of the Bacchantes, or priestesses of Bacchus. The word is derived from μαινομαι, to be furious, because in the celebration of their festivals, their gestures and actions were those of mad women. Ovid, Fasti, bk. 4, li. 458.

Mænăla, a town of Spain.

Mænălus (plural, Mænala), a mountain of Arcadia sacred to the god Pan, and greatly frequented by shepherds. It received its name from Mænalus, a son of Lycaon. It was covered with pine trees, whose echo and shade have been greatly celebrated by all the ancient poets. Ovid, Metamorphoses, bk. 1, li. 216.—Virgil, Georgics, bk. 1, li. 17; Eclogues poem 8, li. 24.—Pausanias, bk. 8, ch. 3.—Strabo, bk. 8.—Mela, bk. 2, ch. 3.――A town of Arcadia.――A son of Lycaon.――The father of Atalanta.

Mænius, a Roman consul.――A dictator accused and honourably acquitted, &c.――A spendthrift at Rome. Horace, bk. 1, ltr. 15, li. 26.

Mænon, a tyrant of Sicily, B.C. 285.

Mænus, a river of Germany, now called the Mayne, falling into the Rhine at Mayence.

Mæŏnia, a country of Asia Minor, the same as Lydia. It is to be observed, that only part of Lydia was known by the name of Mæonia, that is, the neighbourhood of mount Tmolus, and the country watered by the Pactolus. The rest on the sea coast was called Lydia. Strabo, bk. 12.—Ovid, Metamorphoses.――The Etrurians, as being descended from a Lydian colony, are often called Mæonidæ (Virgil, Æneid, bk. 11, li. 759), and even the lake Thrasymenus in their country is called Mæonius lacus. Silius Italicus, bk. 15, li. 35.

Mæŏnĭdes, a name given to the Muses, because Homer, their greatest and worthiest favourite, was supposed to be a native of Mæonia.

Mæŏnĭdes, a surname of Homer, because, according to the opinion of some writers, he was born in Mæon. Ovid.――The surname is also applied to Bacchus, as he was worshipped in Mæonia.

Mæŏnis, an epithet applied to Omphale, as queen of Lydia or Mæonia. Ovid.――The epithet is also applied to Arachne, as a native of Lydia. Ovid, Metamorphoses, bk. 6.

Mæōtæ, a people of Asiatic Sarmatia.

Mæōtis Palus, a large lake, or part of the sea between Europe and Asia, at the north of the Euxine, to which it communicates by the Cimmerian Bosphorus, now called the sea of Azof or Zaback. It was worshipped as a deity by the Massagetæ. It extends about 390 miles from south-west to north-east, and is about 600 miles in circumference. The Amazons are called Mæotides, as living in the neighbourhood. Strabo.—Mela, bk. 1, ch. 1, &c.—Justin, bk. 2, ch. 1.—Curtius, bk. 5, ch. 4.—Lucan, bk. 2, &c.—Ovid, ♦Tristia, bk. 3, poem 12; epistles of Sabinus, ltr. 2, li. 9.—Virgil, Æneid, bk. 6, li. 739.

♦ ‘Fasti’ replaced with ‘Tristia’

Mæsia sylva, a wood in Etruria, near the mouth of the Tiber. Livy, bk. 1, ch. 33.

Mævia, an immodest woman. Juvenal, satire 1, li. 22.

Mævius, a poet of inferior note in the Augustan age, who made himself known by his illiberal attacks on the character of the first writers of his time, as well as by his affected compositions. His name would have sunk in oblivion if Virgil had not ridiculed him in his third eclogue, and Horace in his 10th epode.

Magas, a king of Cyrene, in the age of Ptolemy Philadelphus. He reigned 50 years, and died B.C. 257. Polyænus, bk. 2.

Magella, a town of Sicily about the middle of the island.

Magetæ, a people of Africa.

Magi, a religious sect among the eastern nations of the world, and particularly in Persia. They had great influence in the political as well as religious affairs of the state, and a monarch seldom ascended the throne without their previous approbation. Zoroaster was founder of their sect. They paid particular homage to fire, which they deemed a deity, as pure in itself, and the purifier of all things. In their religious tenets they had two principles, one good, the source of everything good; and the other evil, from whence sprang all manner of ills. Their professional skill in the mathematics and philosophy rendered everything familiar to them, and from their knowledge of the phenomena of the heavens, the word Magi was applied to all learned men; and in process of time, the Magi, from their experience and profession, were confounded with the magicians who impose upon the superstitious and credulous. Hence the word Magi and Magicians became synonymous among the vulgar. Smerdis, one of the Magi, usurped the crown of Persia after the death of Cambyses, and the fraud was not discovered till the seven noble Persians conspired against the usurper, and elected Darius king. From this circumstance there was a certain day on which none of the Magi were permitted to appear in public, as the populace had the privilege of murdering whomsoever of them they met. Strabo.—Cicero, de Divinatione, bk. 1.—Herodotus, bk. 3, ch. 62, &c.

Magius, a lieutenant of Piso, &c.――A man in the interest of Pompey, grandfather to the historian Velleius Paterculus, &c. Paterculus, bk. 2, ch. 115.

Magna Græcia, a part of Italy. See: Græcia Magna.

Magna Mater, a name given to Cybele.

Magnentius, an ambitious Roman, who distinguished himself by his cruelty and perfidy. He conspired against the life of Constans, and murdered him in his bed. This cruelty was highly resented by Constantius; and the assassin, unable to escape from the fury of his antagonist, murdered his own mother and the rest of his relations, and afterwards killed himself by falling upon a sword, which he had thrust against a wall. He was the first of the followers of christianity who ever murdered his lawful sovereign, A.D. 353.

Magnes, a young man who found himself detained by the iron nails which were under his shoes as he walked over a stone mine. This was no other than the magnet, which received its name from the person who had been first sensible of its powers. Some say that Magnes was a slave of Medea, whom that enchantress changed into a magnet. Orphic Lithica, bk. 10, li. 7.――A son of Æolus and Anaretta, who married Nais, by whom he had Pierus, &c. Apollodorus, bk. 1, ch. 7.――A poet and musician of Smyrna, in the age of Gyges king of Lydia.

Magnēsia, a town of Asia Minor on the Mæander, about 15 miles from Ephesus, now called Guzelhizar. It is celebrated for the death of Themistocles, and for a battle which was fought there 187 years before the christian era, between the Romans and Antiochus king of Syria. The forces of Antiochus amounted to 70,000 men, according to Appian, or 70,000 foot and 12,000 horse, according to Livy, which have been exaggerated by ♦Florus to 300,000 men; the Roman army consisted of about 28,000 or 30,000 men, 2000 of which were employed in guarding the camp. The Syrians lost 50,000 foot and 4000 horse, and the Romans only 300 killed, with 25 horse. It was founded by a colony from Magnesia in Thessaly, and was commonly called Magnesia ad Mæandrum, to distinguish it from another called Magnesia ad Sipylum in Lydia, at the foot of mount Sipylus. This last was destroyed by an earthquake in the reign of Tiberius.――A country on the eastern parts of Thessaly, at the south of Ossa. It was sometimes called Æmonia and Magnes Campus. The capital was also called Magnesia.――A promontory of Magnesia in Thessaly. Livy, bk. 37.—Florus, bk. 2.—Appian.

♦ ‘Florius’ replaced with ‘Florus’

Mago, a Carthaginian general sent against Dionysius tyrant of Sicily. He obtained a victory, and granted peace to the conquered. In a battle which soon after followed this treaty of peace, Mago was killed. His son, of the same name, succeeded to the command of the Carthaginian army, but he disgraced himself by flying at the approach of Timoleon, who had come to assist the Syracusans. He was accused in the Carthaginian senate, and he prevented by suicide the execution of the sentence justly pronounced against him. His body was hung on a gibbet, and exposed to public ignominy.――A brother of Annibal the Great. He was present at the battle of Cannæ, and was deputed by his brother to carry to Carthage the news of the celebrated victory which had been obtained over the Roman armies. His arrival at Carthage was unexpected, and more powerfully to astonish his countrymen on account of the victory of Cannæ, he emptied in the senate-house the three bushels of golden rings which had been taken from the Roman knights slain in battle. He was afterwards sent to Spain, where he defeated the two Scipios, and was himself, in another engagement, totally ruined. He retired to the Baleares, which he conquered; and one of the cities there still bears his name, and is called Portus Magonis, Port Mahon. After this he landed in Italy with an army, and took possession of part of Insubria. He was defeated in a battle by Quintilius Varus, and died of a mortal wound 203 years before the christian era. Livy, bk. 30, &c. Cornelius Nepos, Hannibal, ch. 8, gives a very different account of his death, and says he either perished in a shipwreck, or was murdered by his servants. Perhaps Annibal had two brothers of that name.――A Carthaginian, more known by the excellence of his writings than by his military exploits. He wrote 28 volumes upon husbandry; these were preserved by Scipio, at the taking of Carthage, and presented to the Roman senate. They were translated into Greek by Cassius Dionysius of Utica, and into Latin by order of the Roman senate, though Cato had already written so copiously upon the subject; and the Romans, as it has been observed, consulted the writings of Mago with greater earnestness than the books of the Sybilline verses. Columella.――A Carthaginian sent by his countrymen to assist the Romans against Pyrrhus and the Tarentines, with a fleet of 120 sail. This offer was politely refused by the Roman senate. This Mago was father of Asdrubal and Hamilcar. Valerius Maximus.

Magon, a river of India falling into the Ganges. Arrian.

Māgrontiăcum, or Magontea, a large city of Germany, now called Mentz. Tacitus, bk. 4, Histories, bks. 15 & 23.

Magus, an officer of Turnus, killed by Æneas. Virgil, Æneid, bk. 10, li. 522.

Maherbal, a Carthaginian who was at the siege of Saguntum, and who commanded the cavalry of Annibal at the battle of Cannæ. He advised the conqueror immediately to march to Rome, but Annibal required time to consider on so bold a measure; upon which Maherbal observed, that Annibal knew how to conquer, but not how to make a proper use of victory.

Maīa, a daughter of Atlas and Pleione, mother of Mercury by Jupiter. She was one of the Pleiades, the most luminous of the seven sisters. See: Pleiades. Apollodorus, bk. 3, ch. 10.—Virgil, Æneid, bk. 1, li. 301.――A surname of Cybele.

Majestas, a goddess among the Romans, daughter of Honour and Reverence. Ovid, bk. 5; Fasti, li. 25.

Majoriānus Julius Valerius, an emperor of the western Roman empire, raised to the imperial throne A.D. 457. He signalized himself by his private as well as public virtues. He was massacred, after a reign of 37 years, by one of his generals, who envied in his master the character of an active, virtuous, and humane emperor.

Majorca, the greatest of the islands called Baleares, on the coast of Spain, in the Mediterranean. Strabo.

Mala Fortuna, the goddess of evil fortune, was worshipped among the Romans. Cicero, de Natura Deorum, bk. 3.

Malēa, a promontory of Lesbos.――Another in Peloponnesus, at the south of Laconia. The sea is so rough and boisterous there, that the dangers which attended a voyage round it gave rise to the proverb of Cum ad Maleam deflexeris, obliviscere quæ sunt domi. Strabo, bks. 8 & 9.—Lucan, bk. 6, li. 58.—Plutarch, Aratus.—Virgil, Æneid, bk. 5, li. 193.—Mela, bk. 2, ch. 3.—Livy, bk. 21, ch. 44.—Ovid, Amores, bk. 2, poem 16, li. 24; poem 11, li. 20.—Pausanias, bk. 3, ch. 23.

Maleventum, the ancient name of Beneventum. Livy, bk. 9, ch. 27.

Malho, or Matho, a general of an army of Carthaginian mercenaries, 258 B.C.

Malia, a city of Phthiotis, near mount Œta and Thermopylæ. There were in its neighbourhood some hot mineral waters which the poet Catullus has mentioned. From Malia a gulf or small bay in the neighbourhood, at the western extremities of the island of Eubœa, has received the name of the gulf of Malia, Maliacum Fretum, or Maliacus Sinus. Some call it the gulf of Lamia, from its vicinity to Lamia. It is often taken for the Sinus Pelasgicus of the ancients. Pausanias, bk. 1, ch. 4.—Herodotus.

Malii, a people of Mesopotamia.

Malis, a servant-maid of Omphale, beloved by Hercules.

Mallea, or Mallia aqua. See: Malia.

Malleŏlus, a man who murdered his mother, &c. Cicero, Rhetorica ad Herennium, bk. 1, ch. 13.

Mallius, a Roman consul defeated by the Gauls, &c.

Mallophŏra (lanam ferens), a surname under which Ceres had a temple at Megara, because she had taught the inhabitants the utility of wool, and the means of tending sheep to advantage. This temple is represented as so old in the age of Pausanias, that it was falling to decay. Pausanias, bk. 1, ch. 44.

Mallos, a town of Cilicia. Lucan, bk. 3, li. 227.

Malthīnus, a name under which Horace has lashed some of his friends or enemies. Bk. 1, satire 2, li. 27.

Mamaus, a river of Peloponnesus.

Mamercus, a tyrant of Catana, who surrendered to Timoleon. His attempts to speak in a public assembly at Syracuse were received with groans and hisses, upon which he dashed his head against a wall, and endeavoured to destroy himself. The blows were not fatal, and Mamercus was soon after put to death as a robber, B.C. 340. Polyænus, bk. 5.—Cornelius Nepos, Timoleon.――A dictator at Rome, B.C. 437.――A consul with Decimus Brutus.

Mamerthes, a Corinthian who killed his brother’s son in hopes of reigning, upon which he was torn to pieces by his brother. Ovid, Ibis.

Mamertīna, a town of Campania, famous for its wines.――A name of Messana in Sicily. Martial, bk. 13, ltr. 117.—Strabo, bk. 7.

Mamertīni, a mercenary band of soldiers which passed from Campania into Sicily, at the request of Agathocles. When they were in the service of Agathocles, they claimed the privilege of voting at the election of magistrates at Syracuse, and had recourse to arms to support their unlawful demands. The sedition was appeased by the authority of some leading men, and the Campanians were ordered to leave Sicily. In their way to the coast they were received with great kindness by the people of Messana, and soon returned perfidy for hospitality. They conspired against the inhabitants, murdered all the males in the city, and married their wives and daughters, and rendered themselves masters of the place. After this violence they assumed the name of Mamertini, and called their city Mamertina, from a provincial word, which in their language signified martial or warlike. The Mamertines were afterwards defeated by Hiero, and totally disabled from repairing their ruined affairs. Plutarch, Pyrrhus, &c.

Mamilia lex, de limitibus, by the tribune Mamilius. It ordained that in the boundaries of the lands five or six feet of land should be left uncultivated, which no person could convert into private property. It also appointed commissioners to see it carried into execution.

Mamilii, a plebeian family at Rome, descended from the Aborigines. They first lived at Tusculum, from whence they came to Rome. Livy, bk. 3, ch. 29.

Mamilius Octavius, a son-in-law of Tarquin, who behaved with uncommon bravery at the battle of Regillæ. He is also called Manilius. See: Manilius.

Mammea, the mother of the emperor Severus, who died A.D. 235.

Mamŭrius Veturius, a worker in brass in Numa’s reign. He was ordered by the monarch to make a number of ancylia or shields, like that one which had fallen from heaven, that it might be difficult to distinguish the true one from the others. He was very successful in his undertaking, and he asked for no other reward, but that his name might be frequently mentioned in the hymns which were sung by the Salii in the feast of the Ancylia. This request was granted. Ovid, Fasti, bk. 3, li. 392.—Varro, de Lingua Latina, bk. 5, ch. 6.

Mamurra, a Roman knight born at Formiæ. He followed the fortune of Julius Cæsar in Gaul, where he greatly enriched himself. He built a magnificent palace on mount Cœlius, and was the first who incrusted his walls with marble. Catullus has attacked him in his epigrams. Formiæ is sometimes called Mamurrarum urbs. Pliny, bk. 36, ch. 6.

Manastăbal, son of Masinissa, who was father to the celebrated Jugurtha. Sallust, Jugurthine War.

Caius Mancīnus, a Roman general, who, though at the head of an army of 30,000 men, was defeated by 4000 Numantians, B.C. 138. He was dragged from the senate, &c. Cicero, Orator, bk. 1, ch. 40.

Mandāne, a daughter of king Astyages, married by her father to Cambyses, an ignoble person of Persia. The monarch had dreamed that his daughter’s urine had drowned all his city, which had been interpreted in an unfavourable manner by the soothsayers, who assured him that his daughter’s son would dethrone him. The marriage of Mandane with Cambyses would, in the monarch’s opinion, prevent the effects of the dream, and the children of this connection would, like their father, be poor and unnoticed. The expectations of Astyages were frustrated. He was dethroned by his grandson. See: Cyrus. Herodotus, bk. 1, ch. 107.

Mandānes, an Indian prince and philosopher, whom Alexander invited by his ambassador, on pain of death, to come to his banquet, as being the son of Jupiter. The philosopher ridiculed the threats and promises of Alexander, &c. Strabo, bk. 15.

Mandēla, a village in the country of the Sabines, near Horace’s country seat. Horace, bk. 1, ltr. 18, li. 105.

Mandonius, a prince of Spain, who for some time favoured the cause of the Romans. When he heard that Scipio the Roman commander was ill, he raised commotions in the provinces, for which he was severely reprimanded and punished. Livy, bk. 29.

Mandrŏcles, a general of Artaxerxes, &c. Cornelius Nepos, Datames.

Mandron, a king of the Bebryces, &c. Polyænus, bk. 8.

Mandubii, a people of Gaul (now Burgundy), in Cæsar’s army, &c. Cæsar, Gallic War, bk. 7, ch. 78.

Mandubratius, a young Briton who came over to Cæsar in Gaul. His father Immanuentius was king in Britain, and had been put to death by order of Cassivelaunus. Cæsar, Gallic War, bk. 5, ch. 20.

Manduria, a city of Calabria near Tarentum, whose inhabitants were famous for eating dog’s flesh. Pliny, bk. 2, ch. 103.—Livy, bk. 27, ch. 15.

Manes, a son of Jupiter and Tellus, who reigned in Mæonia. He was father of Cotys, by Callirrhoe the daughter of Oceanus.

Mānes, a name generally applied by the ancients to the souls when separated from the body. They were reckoned among the infernal deities, and generally supposed to preside over the burying places and the monuments of the dead. They were worshipped with great solemnity, particularly by the Romans. The augurs always invoked them when they proceeded to exercise their sacerdotal offices. Virgil introduces his hero as sacrificing to the infernal deities, and to the Manes, a victim whose blood was received in a ditch. The word manes is supposed to be derived from Mania, who was by some reckoned the mother of those tremendous deities. Others derive it from manare, quod per omnia ætherea terrenaque manabant, because they filled the air, particularly in the night, and were intent to molest and disturb the peace of mankind. Some say that manes comes from manis, an old Latin word which signified good or propitious. The word manes is differently used by ancient authors; sometimes it is taken for the infernal regions, and sometimes it is applied to the deities of Pluto’s kingdom, whence the epitaphs of the Romans were always superscribed with D. M., Dîs Manibus, to remind the sacrilegious and profane not to molest the monuments of the dead, which were guarded with such sanctity. Propertius, bk. 1, poem 19.—Virgil, bk. 4, Georgics, li. 469; Æneid, bk. 3, &c.—Horace, bk. 1, satire 8, li. 28.――A river of Locris.

Manētho, a celebrated priest of Heliopolis in Egypt, surnamed the Mendesian, B.C. 261. He wrote in Greek a history of Egypt, which has been often quoted and commended by the ancients, particularly by Josephus. It was chiefly collected from the writings of Mercury, and from the journals and annals which are preserved in the Egyptian temples. This history has been greatly corrupted by the Greeks. The author supported that all the gods of the Egyptians had been mere mortals, and had all lived upon earth. This history, which is now lost, had been epitomized, and some fragments of it are still extant. There is extant a Greek poem ascribed to Manetho, in which the power of the stars, which preside over the birth and fate of mankind, is explained. The Apotelesmata of this author were edited in 4to, by Gronovious, Leiden, 1698.

Mania, a goddess, supposed to be the mother of the Lares and Manes.――A female servant of queen Berenice the daughter of Ptolemy.――A mistress of Demetrius Poliorcetes, called also Demo, and Mania, from her folly. Plutarch, Demetrius.

Manilia lex, by Manilius the tribune, A.U.C. 678. It required that all the forces of Lucullus and his province, together with Bithynia, which was then under the command of Glabrio, should be delivered to Pompey, and that this general should, without any delay, declare war against Mithridates, and still retain the command of the Roman fleet, and the empire of the Mediterranean, as before.――Another, which permitted all those whose fathers had not been invested with public offices, to be employed in the management of affairs.――A woman famous for her debaucheries. Juvenal, satire 6, li. 242.

Mānīlius, a Roman who married the daughter of Tarquin. He lived at Tusculum, and received his father-in-law in his house, when banished from Rome, &c. Livy, bk. 2, ch. 15.――Caius, a celebrated mathematician and poet of Antioch, who wrote a poetical treatise on astronomy, of which five books are extant, treating of the fixed stars. The style is not elegant. The age in which he lived is not known, though some suppose that he flourished in the Augustan age. No author, however, in the age of Augustus has made mention of Manilius. The best editions of Manilius are those of Bentley, 4to, London, 1739, and Stoeberus, 8vo, Strasbourg, 1767.――Titus, a learned historian in the age of Sylla and Marius. He is greatly commended by Cicero, pro Roscio.――Marcus, another mentioned by Cicero, On Oratory, bk. 1, ch. 48, as supporting the character of a great lawyer, and of an eloquent and powerful orator.

Manĭmi, a people in Germany. Tacitus, Germania, ch. 43.

Manlia lex, by the tribune Publius Manlius, A.U.C. 557. It revived the office of treviri epulones, first instituted by Numa. The epulones were priests, who prepared banquets for Jupiter and the gods at public festivals, &c.

Manlius Torquātus, a celebrated Roman, whose youth was distinguished by a lively and cheerful disposition. These promising talents were, however, impeded by a difficulty of speaking; and the father, unwilling to expose his son’s rusticity at Rome, detained him in the country. The behaviour of the father was publicly censured, and Marius Pomponius the tribune cited him to answer for his unfatherly behaviour to his son. Young Manlius was informed of this, and with a dagger in his hand he entered the house of the tribune, and made him solemnly promise that he would drop the accusation. This action of Manlius endeared him to the people, and soon after he was chosen military tribune. In a war against the Gauls, he accepted the challenge of one of the enemy, whose gigantic stature and ponderous arms had rendered him terrible and almost invincible in the eyes of the Romans. The Gaul was conquered, and Manlius stripped him of his arms, and from the collar (torquis) which he took from the enemy’s neck, he was ever after surnamed Torquatus. Manlius was the first Roman who was raised to the dictatorship without having been previously consul. The severity of Torquatus to his son has been deservedly censured. This father had the courage and heart to put to death his son, because he had engaged one of the enemy, and obtained an honourable victory, without his previous permission. This uncommon rigour displeased many of the Romans; and though Torquatus was honoured with a triumph, and commended by the senate for his services, yet the Roman youth showed their disapprobation of the consul’s severity, by refusing him at his return the homage which every other conqueror received. Some time after the censorship was offered to him, but he refused it, observing that the people could not bear his severity, nor he the vices of the people. From the rigour of Torquatus, all edicts and actions of severity and justice have been called Manliana edicta. Livy, bk. 7, ch. 10.—Valerius Maximus, bk. 6, ch. 9.――Marcus, a celebrated Roman, whose valour was displayed in the field of battle, even at the early age of 16. When Rome was taken by the Gauls, Manlius with a body of his countrymen fled into the Capitol, which he defended when it was suddenly surprised in the night by the enemy. This action gained him the surname of Capitolinus, and the geese, which by their clamour had awakened him to arm himself in his own defence, were ever after held sacred among the Romans. A law which Manlius proposed to abolish the taxes on the common people, raised the senators against him. The dictator Cornelius Cossus seized him as a rebel, but the people put on mourning, and delivered from prison their common father. This did not in the least check his ambition; he continued to raise factions, and even secretly to attempt to make himself absolute, till at last the tribunes of the people themselves became his accusers. He was tried in the Campius Martius; but when the distant view of the Capitol which Manlius had saved seemed to influence the people in his favour, the court of justice was removed, and Manlius was condemned. He was thrown down from the Tarpeian rock, A.U.C. 371, and to render his ignominy still greater, none of his family were afterwards permitted to bear the surname of Marcus, and the place where his house had stood was deemed unworthy to be inhabited. Livy, bk. 5, ch. 31; bk. 6, ch. 5.—Florus, bk. 1, chs. 13 & 26.—Valerius Maximus, bk. 6, ch. 3.—Virgil, Æneid, bk. 6, li. 825.――Imperiosus, father of Manlius Torquatus. He was made dictator. He was accused of detaining his son at home. See: Manlius Torquatus.――Volsco, a Roman consul who received an army of Scipio in Asia, and made war against the Gallo-grecians, whom he conquered. He was honoured with a triumph at his return, though it was at first strongly opposed. Florus, bk. 3, ch. 11.—Livy, bk. 38, ch. 12, &c.――Caius, or Aulus, a senator sent to Athens to collect the best and wisest laws of Solon, A.U.C. 300. Livy, bk. 2, ch. 54; bk. 3, ch. 31.――Another, called also Cincinnatus. He made war against the Etrurians and Veientes with great success, and he died of a wound which he had received in a battle.――Another, who in his pretorship reduced Sardinia. He was afterwards made dictator.――Another, who was defeated by a rebel army of slaves in Sicily.――A pretor in Gaul, who fought against the Boii, with very little success.――Another, called Attilius, who defeated a Carthaginian fleet, &c.――Another, who conspired with Catiline against the Roman republic.――Another, in whose consulship the temple of Janus was shut.――Another, who was banished under Tiberius for his adultery.――A Roman appointed judge between his son Silanus and the province of Macedonia. When all the parties had been heard, the father said, “It is evident that my son has suffered himself to be bribed, therefore I deem him unworthy of the republic and of my house, and I order him to depart from my presence.” Silanus was so struck at the rigour of his father, that he hanged himself. Valerius Maximus, bk. 5, ch. 5.――A learned man in the age of Cicero.

Mannus, the son of Thiasto, both famous divinities among the Germans. Tacitus, Germania, ch. 2.

Julius Mansuētus, a friend of Vitellius, who entered the Roman armies, and left his son, then very young, at home. The son was promoted by Galba, and soon after met a detachment of the partisans of Vitellius in which his father was. A battle was fought, and Mansuetus was wounded by the hand of his son, &c. Tacitus, Histories, bk. 3, ch. 25.

Mantinea, a town of Arcadia in Peloponnesus. It was taken by Aratus and Antigonus, and, on account of the latter, it was afterwards called Antigonia. The emperor Adrian built there a temple in honour of his favourite Alcinous. It is famous for the battle which was fought there between Epaminondas at the head of the Thebans, and the combined forces of Lacedæmon, Achaia, Elis, Athens, and Arcadia, about 363 years before Christ. The Theban general was killed in the engagement, and from that time Thebes lost its power and consequence among the Grecian states. Strabo, bk. 8.—Cornelius Nepos, Epaminondas.—Diodorus, bk. 15.—Ptolemy, bk. 3, ch. 16.

Mantineus, the father of Ocalea, who married Abas the son of Lynceus and Hypermnestra. Apollodorus, bk. 2, ch. 9.

Mantinōrum oppidum, a town of Corsica, now supposed to be Bastia.

Mantius, a son of Melampus.

Manto, a daughter of the prophet Tiresias, endowed with the gift of prophecy. She was made prisoner by the Argives when the city of Thebes fell into their hands, and as she was the worthiest part of the booty, the conquerors sent her to Apollo the god of Delphi, as the most valuable present they could make. Manto, often called Daphne, remained for some time at Delphi, where she officiated as priestess, and where she gave oracles. From Delphi she came to Claros in Ionia, where she established an oracle of Apollo. Here she married Rhadius the sovereign of the country, by whom she had a son called Mopsus. Manto afterwards visited Italy, where she married Tiberinus the king of Alba, or, as the poets mention, the god of the river Tiber. From this marriage sprang Ocnus, who built a town in the neighbourhood, which, in honour of his mother, he called Mantua. Manto, according to a certain tradition, was so struck at the misfortunes which afflicted Thebes, her native country, that she gave way to her sorrow, and was turned into a fountain. Some suppose her to be the same who conducted Æneas into hell, and who sold the Sibylline books to Tarquin the Proud. She received divine honours after death. Virgil, Æneid, bk. 1, li. 199; bk. 10, li. 199.—Ovid, Metamorphoses, bk. 6, li. 157.—Diodorus, bk. 4.—Apollodorus, bk. 3, ch. 7.—Strabo, bks. 14 & 16.—Pausanias, bk. 9, chs. 10 & 33; bk. 7, ch. 3.

Mantua, a town of Italy beyond the Po, founded about 300 years before Rome, by Bianor or Ocnus the son of Manto. It was the ancient capital of Etruria. When Cremona, which had followed the interest of Brutus, was given to the soldiers of Octavius, Mantua also, which was in the neighbourhood, shared the common calamity, though it had favoured the party of Augustus, and many of the inhabitants were tyrannically deprived of their possessions. Virgil, who was among them, and a native of the town, and from thence often called Mantuanus, applied for redress to Augustus, and obtained it by means of his poetical talents. Strabo, bk. 5.—Virgil, Eclogues, poem 1, &c.; Georgics, ch. 3, li. 12; Æneid, bk. 10, li. 180.—Ovid, Amores, bk. 3, poem 15.

Maracanda, a town of Sogdiana.

Mărătha, a village of Arcadia. Pausanias, bk. 8, ch. 28.

Mărăthon, a village of Attica, 10 miles from Athens, celebrated for the victory which the 10,000 Athenians and 1000 Platæans, under the command of Miltiades, gained over the Persian army, consisting of 100,000 foot and 10,000 horse, or, according to Valerius Maximus, of 300,000, or, as Justin says, of 600,000, under the command of Datis and Artaphernes, on the 28th of Sept. 490, B.C. In this battle, according to Herodotus, the Athenians lost only 192 men, and the Persians 6300. Justin has raised the loss of the Persians in this expedition and in the battle to 200,000 men. To commemorate this immortal victory of their countrymen, the Greeks raised small columns, with the names inscribed on the tombs of the fallen heroes. It was also in the plains of Marathon that Theseus overcame a celebrated bull, which ravaged the neighbouring country. Erigone is called Marathonia virgo, as being born at Marathon. Statius, bk. 5, Sylvæ, poem 3, li. 74.—Cornelius Nepos, Miltiades.—Herodotus, bk. 6, &c.—Justin, bk. 2, ch. 9.—Valerius Maximus, bk. 5, ch. 3.—Plutarch, Parallela minora――A king of Attica, son of Epopeus, who gave his name to a small village there. Pausanias, bk. 2, ch. 1.――A king of Sicyon.

Marăthos, a town of Phœnicia. Mela, bk. 1, ch. 12.

Marcella, a daughter of Octavia the sister of Augustus by Marcellus. She married Agrippa.

Marcellīnus Ammiānus, a celebrated historian who carried arms under Constantius, Julian, and Valens, and wrote a history of Rome from the reign of Domitian, where Suetonius stops, to the emperor Valens. His style is neither elegant nor laboured, but it is greatly valuable for its veracity, and in many of the actions he mentions, the author was nearly concerned. This history was composed at Rome, where Ammianus retired from the noise and troubles of the camp, and does not betray that severity against the christians which other writers have manifested, though the author was warm in favour of paganism, the religion which for a while was seated on the throne. It was divided into 31 books, of which only the 18 last remain, beginning at the death of Magnentius. Ammianus has been liberal in his encomiums upon Julian, whose favours he enjoyed and who so eminently patronised his religion. The negligence with which some facts are sometimes mentioned, has induced many to believe that the history of Ammianus has suffered much from the ravages of time, and that it has descended to us mutilated and imperfect. The best editions of Ammianus are those of Gronovius, folio, and 4to, Leiden, 1693, and of Ernesti, 8vo, Lipscomb, 1773.――An officer under Julian.

Marcellus Marcus Claudius, a famous Roman general, who, after the first Punic war, had the management of an expedition against the Gauls, where he obtained the Spolia opima, by killing with his own hand Viridomarus the king of the enemy. Such success rendered him popular, and soon after he was entrusted to oppose Annibal in Italy. He was the first Roman who obtained some advantage over this celebrated Carthaginian, and showed his countrymen that Annibal was not invincible. The troubles which were raised in Sicily by the Carthaginians at the death of Hieronymus, alarmed the Romans, and Marcellus, in his third consulship, was sent with a powerful force against Syracuse. He attacked it by sea and land, but his operations proved ineffectual, and the invention and industry of a philosopher [See: Archimedes] were able to baffle all the efforts, and to destroy all the great and stupendous machines and military engines of the Romans during three successive years. The perseverance of Marcellus at last obtained the victory. The inattention of the inhabitants during their nocturnal celebration of the festivals of Diana, favoured his operations; he forcibly entered the town, and made himself master of it. The conqueror enriched the capital of Italy with the spoils of Syracuse, and when he was accused of rapaciousness, for stripping the conquered city of all its paintings and ornaments, he confessed that he had done it to adorn the public buildings of Rome, and to introduce a taste for the fine arts and elegance of the Greeks among his countrymen. After the conquest of Syracuse, Marcellus was called upon by his country to oppose a second time Annibal. In this campaign he behaved with greater vigour than before; the greatest part of the towns of the Samnites, which had revolted, were recovered by force of arms, and 3000 of the soldiers of Annibal made prisoners. Some time after an engagement with the Carthaginian general proved unfavourable; Marcellus had the disadvantage; but on the morrow a more successful skirmish vindicated his military character, and the honour of the Roman soldiers. Marcellus, however, was not sufficiently vigilant against the snares of his adversary. He imprudently separated himself from his camp, and was killed in an ambuscade in the 60th year of his age, in his fifth consulship, A.U.C. 546. His body was honoured with a magnificent funeral by the conqueror, and his ashes were conveyed in a silver urn to his son. Marcellus claims our commendation for his private as well as public virtues; and the humanity of the general will ever be remembered who, at the surrender of Syracuse, wept at the thought that many were going to be exposed to the avarice and rapaciousness of an incensed soldiery, which the policy of Rome and the laws of war rendered inevitable. Virgil, Æneid, bk. 6, li. 855.—Paterculus, bk. 2, ch. 38.—Plutarch, Lives, &c.――One of his descendants, who bore the same name, signalized himself in the civil wars of Cæsar and Pompey, by his firm attachment to the latter. He was banished by Cæsar, but afterwards recalled at the request of the senate. Cicero undertook his defence in an oration which is still extant.――The grandson of Pompey’s friend rendered himself popular by his universal benevolence and affability. He was son of Marcellus, by Octavia the sister of Augustus. He married Julia, that emperor’s daughter, and was publicly intended as his successor. The suddenness of his death, at the early age of 18, was the cause of much lamentation at Rome, particularly in the family of Augustus, and Virgil procured himself great favours by celebrating the virtues of this amiable prince. See: Octavia. Marcellus was buried at the public expense. Virgil, Æneid, bk. 6, li. 883.—Suetonius, Augustus.—Plutarch, Marcellus.—Seneca, de Consolatione ad Marciam.—Paterculus, bk. 2, ch. 93.――The son of the great Marcellus who took Syracuse, was caught in the ambuscade which proved fatal to his father, but he forced his way from the enemy and escaped. He received the ashes of his father from the conqueror. Plutarch, Marcellus.――A man who conspired against Vespasian.――The husband of Octavia the sister of Augustus.――A conqueror of Britain.――An officer under the emperor Julian.――A man put to death by Galba.――A man who gave Cicero information of Catiline’s conspiracy.――A colleague of Cato in the questorship.――A native of Pamphylia, who wrote an heroic poem on physic, divided into 42 books. He lived in the reign of Marcus Aurelius.――A Roman drowned in a storm, &c.

Marcia lex, by Marcius Censorinus. It forbade any man to be invested with the office of censor more than once.

Marcia, the wife of Regulus. When she heard that her husband had been put to death at Carthage in the most excruciating manner, she retorted the punishment, and shut up some Carthaginian prisoners in a barrel, which she had previously filled with sharp nails. The senate was obliged to stop the wantonness of her cruelty. Diodorus, bk. 24.――A favourite of the emperor Commodus, whom he poisoned.――A vestal virgin, punished for her incontinence.――A daughter of Philip, who married Cato the censor. Her husband gave her to his friend Hortensius for the sake of procreating children, and after his death he took her again to his own house.――An ancient name of the island of Rhodes.――A daughter of Cato of Utica.――A stream of water. See: Martia aqua.

Marciāna, a sister of the emperor Trajan, who, on account of her public and private virtues and her amiable disposition, was declared Augusta and empress by her brother. She died A.D. 113.

Marcianopŏlis, the capital of Lower Mœsia in Greece. It receives its name in honour of the empress Marciana.

Marciānus, a native of Thrace, born of an obscure family. After he had for some time served in the army as a common soldier, he was made private secretary to one of the officers of Theodosius. His winning address and uncommon talents raised him to higher stations; and on the death of Theodosius II., A.D. 450, he was invested with the imperial purple in the east. The subjects of the Roman empire had reason to be satisfied with their choice. Marcianus showed himself active and resolute, and when Attila, the barbarous king of the Huns, asked of the emperor the annual tribute, which the indolence and cowardice of his predecessors had regularly paid, the successor of Theodosius firmly said that he kept his gold for his friends, but that iron was the metal which he had prepared for his enemies. In the midst of universal popularity Marcianus died, after a reign of six years, in the 69th year of his age, as he was making warlike preparations against the barbarians that had invaded Africa. His death was lamented, and indeed his merit was great, since his reign has been distinguished by the appellation of the golden age. Marcianus married Pulcheria, the sister of his predecessor. It is said, that in the years of his obscurity he found a man who had been murdered, and that he had the humanity to give him a private burial, for which circumstance he was accused of the homicide and imprisoned. He was condemned to lose his life, and the sentence would have been executed, had not the real murderer been discovered, and convinced the world of the innocence of Marcianus.――Capella, a writer. See: Capella.

Marcus Marcius Sabīnus, was the progenitor of the Marcian family at Rome. He came to Rome with Numa, and it was he who advised Numa to accept of the crown which the Romans offered to him. He attempted to make himself king of Rome, in opposition to Tullus Hostilius, and when his efforts proved unsuccessful he killed himself. His son, who married a daughter of Numa, was made high priest by his father-in-law. He was father of Ancus Marcius. Plutarch, Numa.――A Roman who accused Ptolemy Auletes king of Egypt of misdemeanour in the Roman senate.――A Roman consul, defeated by the Samnites. He was more successful against the Carthaginians, and obtained a victory, &c.――Another consul, who obtained a victory over the Etrurians.――Another, who defeated the Hernici.――A Roman who fought against Asdrubal.――A man whom Catiline hired to assassinate Cicero.

Marcius Saltus, a place in Liguria, &c.

Marcomanni, a people of Germany, who originally dwelt on the banks of the Rhine and the Danube. They proved powerful enemies to the Roman emperors. Augustus granted them peace, but they were afterwards subdued by Antoninus and Trajan, &c. Paterculus, bk. 2, ch. 109.—Tacitus, Annals, bk. 2, chs. 46 & 62; Germania, ch. 42.

Marcus, a prænomen common to many of the Romans. See: Æmilius, Lepidus, &c.――A son of Cato, killed at Philippi, &c.――Caryensis, a general of the Achæan league, 255 B.C.

Mardi, a people of Persia, on the confines of Media. They were very poor, and generally lived upon the flesh of wild beasts. Their country, in later times, became the residence of the famous assassins destroyed by Hulakou the grandson of Zingis Khan. Herodotus, bks. 1 & 3.—Pliny, bk. 6, ch. 16.

Mardia, a place of Thrace, famous for a battle between Constantine and Licinius, A.D. 315.

Mardonius, a general of Xerxes, who, after the defeat of his master at Thermopylæ and Salamis, was left in Greece with an army of 300,000 chosen men, to subdue the country, and reduce it under the power of Persia. His operations were rendered useless by the courage and vigilance of the Greeks; and in a battle at Platæa, Mardonius was defeated and left among the slain, B.C. 479. He had been commander of the armies of Darius in Europe, and it was chiefly by his advice that Xerxes invaded Greece. He was son-in-law of Darius. Plutarch, Aristotle.—Herodotus, bks. 6, 7, & 8.—Diodorus, bk. 11.—Justin, bk. 2, ch. 13, &c.

Mardus, a river of Media, falling into the Caspian sea.

Mare Mortuum, called also, from the bitumen which it throws up, the lake Asphaltites, is situate in Judæa, and is near 100 miles long and 25 broad. Its waters are ♦saltier than those of the sea, but the vapours exhaled from them are not so pestilential as have been generally represented. It is supposed that the 13 cities, of which Sodom and Gomorrah, as mentioned in the Scriptures, were the capital, were destroyed by a volcano, and on the site a lake formed. Volcanic appearances now mark the face of the country, and earthquakes are frequent. Pliny, bk. 5, ch. 6.—Josephus, Jewish War, bk. 4, ch. 27.—Strabo, bk. 16, p. 764.—Justin, bk. 36, ch. 3.

♦ ‘salter’ replaced with ‘saltier’

Măreōtis, now Siwah, a lake in Egypt near Alexandria. Its neighbourhood is famous for wine, though some make the Mareoticum vinum grow in Epirus, or in a certain part of Libya, called also Mareotis, near Egypt. Virgil, Georgics, bk. 2, li. 91.—Horace, bk. 1, ode 38, li. 14.—Lucan, bks. 3 & 10.—Strabo, bk. 17.

Marginia and Margiania, a town and country near the river Oxus, at the east of Hyrcania, celebrated for its wines. The vines are so uncommonly large that two men can scarcely grasp the trunk of one of them. Curtius, bk. 7, ch. 10.—Ptolemy, bk. 5.

Margītes, a man against whom, as some suppose, Homer wrote a poem, to ridicule his superficial knowledge, and to expose his affectation. When Demosthenes wished to prove Alexander an inveterate enemy to Athens, he called him another Margites.

Margus, a river of Mœsia falling into the Danube, with a town of the same name, now Kastolatz.

Mariăba, a city in Arabia, near the Red sea.

Maria lex, by Caius Marius the tribune, A.U.C. 634. It ordered the planks called pontes, on which the people stood up to give their votes in the comitia, to be narrower, that no other might stand there to hinder the proceedings of the assembly by appeal, or other disturbances.――Another, called also Porcia, by Lucius Marius and Porcius, tribunes, A.U.C. 691. It fined a certain sum of money such commanders as gave a false account to the Roman senate of the number of the slain in a battle. It obliged them to swear to the truth of their return when they entered the city, according to the best computation.

Mariamna, a Jewish woman, who married Herodes, &c.

Mariānæ fossæ, a town of Gaul Narbonensis, which received its name from the dyke (fossa) which Marius opened from thence to the sea. Pliny, bk. 3, ch. 4.—Strabo, bk. 4.

Mariandynum, a place near Bithynia, where the poets feign that Hercules dragged Cerberus out of hell. Dionysius of Halicarnassus.—Ptolemy, bk. 5, ch. 1.—Mela, bk. 1, chs. 2 & 19; bk. 2, ch. 7.

Mariānus, a surname given to Jupiter from a temple built to his honour by Marius. It was in this temple that the Roman senate assembled to recall Cicero, a circumstance communicated to him in a dream. Valerius Maximus, bk. 1, ch. 7.

Marīca, a nymph of the river Liris, near Minturnæ. She married king Faunus, by whom she had king Latinus, and she was afterwards called Fauna and Fatua, and honoured as a goddess. A city of Campania bore her name. Some suppose her to be the same as Circe. Virgil, Æneid, bk. 7, li. 47.—Livy, bk. 27, ch. 37.――A wood on the borders of Campania bore also the name of Marica, as being sacred to the nymph. Livy, bk. 27, ch. 37.—Horace, bk. 3, ode 17, li. 7.

Marīcus, a Gaul thrown to lions, in the reign of Vitellius, who refused to devour him, &c. Tacitus, Annals, bk. 2, ch. 61.

Marīna, a daughter of Arcadius, &c.

Marīnis, a friend of Tiberius, put to death, &c.

Marion, a king of Tyre in the age of Alexander the Great.

Marissa, an opulent town of Judæa.

Marīta lex. See: Julia de Maritandis.

Maris, a river of Scythia.――A son of Armisodares, who assisted Priam against the Greeks, and was killed by Antilochus. Homer, Iliad, bk. 6, li. 317.

Marisus, a river of Dacia.

Caiaus Marius, a celebrated Roman, who, from a peasant, became one of the most powerful and cruel tyrants that Rome ever beheld during her consular government. He was born at Arpinum, of obscure and illiterate parents. His father bore the same name as himself, and his mother was called Fulcinia. He forsook the meaner occupations of the country for the camp, and signalized himself under Scipio at the siege of Numantia. The Roman general saw the courage and intrepidity of young Marius, and foretold the era of his future greatness. By his seditions and intrigues at Rome, while he exercised the inferior offices of the state, he rendered himself known; and his marriage with Julia, who was of the family of the Cæsars, contributed in some measure to raise him to consequence. He passed into Africa as lieutenant to the consul Metellus against Jugurtha, and after he had there ingratiated himself with the soldiers, and raised enemies to his friend and benefactor, he returned to Rome, and canvassed for the consulship. The extravagant promises he made to the people, and his malevolent insinuations about the conduct of Metellus, proved successful. He was elected, and appointed to finish the war against Jugurtha. He showed himself capable in every degree to succeed Metellus. Jugurtha was defeated and afterwards betrayed into the hands of the Romans by the perfidy of Bocchus. No sooner was Jugurtha conquered, than new honours and fresh trophies awaited Marius. The provinces at Rome were suddenly invaded by an army of 300,000 barbarians, and Marius was the only man whose activity and boldness could resist so powerful an enemy. He was elected consul, and sent against the Teutones. The war was prolonged, and Marius was a third and fourth time invested with the consulship. At last two engagements were fought, and not less than 200,000 of the barbarian forces of the Ambrones and Teutones were slain in the field of battle, and 90,000 made prisoners. The following year was also marked by a total overthrow of the Cimbri, another horde of barbarians, in which 140,000 were slaughtered by the Romans, and 60,000 taken prisoners. After such honourable victories, Marius, with his colleague Catulus, entered Rome in triumph, and for his eminent services, he deserved the appellation of the third founder of Rome. He was elected consul a sixth time; and, as his intrepidity had delivered his country from its foreign enemies, he sought employment at home, and his restless ambition began to raise seditions and to oppose the power of Sylla. This was the cause and the foundation of a civil war. Sylla refused to deliver up the command of the forces with which he was empowered to prosecute the Mithridatic war, and he resolved to oppose the authors of a demand which he considered as arbitrary and improper. He advanced to Rome, and Marius was obliged to save his life by flight. The unfavourable winds prevented him from seeking a safer retreat in Africa, and he was left on the coasts of Campania, where the emissaries of his enemy soon discovered him in a marsh, where he had plunged himself in the mud, and left only his mouth above the surface for respiration. He was violently dragged to the neighbouring town of Minturnæ, and the magistrates, all devoted to the interest of Sylla, passed sentence of immediate death on their magnanimous prisoner. A Gaul was commanded to cut off his head in the dungeon, but the stern countenance of Marius disarmed the courage of the executioner, and, when he heard the exclamation of Tune, homo, audes occidere Caium Marium, the dagger dropped from his hand. Such an uncommon adventure awakened the compassion of the inhabitants of Minturnæ. They released Marius from prison, and favoured his escape to Africa, where he joined his son Marius, who had been arming the princes of the country in his cause. Marius landed near the walls of Carthage, and he received no small consolation at the sight of the venerable ruins of a once powerful city, which, like himself, had been exposed to calamity, and felt the cruel vicissitude of fortune. This place of his retreat was soon known, and the governor of Africa, to conciliate the favours of Sylla, compelled Marius to fly to a neighbouring island. He soon after learned that Cinna had embraced his cause at Rome, when the Roman senate had stripped him of his consular dignity and bestowed it upon one of his enemies. This intelligence animated Marius; he set sail to assist his friend, only at the head of 1000 men. His army, however, gradually increased, and he entered Rome like a conqueror. His enemies were inhumanly sacrificed to his fury. Rome was filled with blood, and he who had once been called the father of his country, marched through the streets of the city, attended by a number of assassins, who immediately slaughtered all those whose salutations were not answered by their leader. Such were the signals for bloodshed. When Marius and Cinna had sufficiently gratified their resentment, they made themselves consuls, but Marius, already worn out with old age and infirmities, died 16 days after he had been honoured with the consular dignity for the seventh time, B.C. 86. His end was probably hastened by the uncommon quantities of wine which he drank when labouring under a dangerous disease, to remove, by intoxication, the stings of a guilty conscience. Such was the end of Marius, who rendered himself conspicuous by his victories, and by his cruelty. As he was brought up in the midst of poverty and among peasants, it will not appear wonderful that he always betrayed rusticity in his behaviour, and despised in others those polished manners and that studied address which education had denied him. He hated the conversation of the learned only because he was illiterate, and if he appeared an example of sobriety and temperance, he owed these advantages to the years of obscurity which he had passed at Arpinum. His countenance was stern, his voice firm and imperious, and his disposition untractable. He always betrayed the greatest timidity in the public assemblies, as he had not been early taught to make eloquence and oratory his pursuit. He was in the 70th year of his age when he died, and Rome seemed to rejoice at the fall of a man whose ambition had proved fatal to so many of her citizens. His only qualifications were those of a great general, and with these he rendered himself the most illustrious and powerful of the Romans, because he was the only one whose ferocity seemed capable to oppose the barbarians of the north. The manner of his death, according to some opinions, remains doubtful, though some have charged him with the crime of suicide. Among the instances which are mentioned of his firmness this may be recorded: A swelling in the leg obliged him to apply to a physician, who urged the necessity of cutting it off. Marius gave it, and saw the operation performed without a distortion of the face, and without a groan. The physician asked the other, and Marius gave it with equal composure. Plutarch, Lives.—Paterculus, bk. 2, ch. 9.—Florus, bk. 3, ch. 3.—Juvenal, satire 8, li. 245, &c.—Lucan, bk. 2, li. 69.――Caius, the son of the great Marius, was as cruel as his father, and shared his good and his adverse fortune. He made himself consul in the 25th year of his age, and murdered all the senators who opposed his ambitious views. He was defeated by Sylla, and fled to Præneste, where he killed himself. Plutarch, Caius Marius.――Priscus, a governor of Africa, accused of extortion in his province by Pliny the younger, and banished from Italy. Pliny, bk. 2, ltr. 11.—Juvenal, satire 1, li. 48.――A lover, &c. See: Hellas.――One of the Greek fathers of the fifth century, whose works were edited by Garner, 2 vols., folio, Paris, 1673; and by Baluzius, Paris, 1684.――Marcus Aurelius, a native of Gaul, who, from the mean employment of a blacksmith, became one of the generals of Gallienus, and at last caused himself to be saluted emperor. Three days after this elevation, a man who had shared his poverty without partaking of his more prosperous fortune, publicly assassinated him, and he was killed by a sword which he himself had made in the time of his obscurity. Marius has been often celebrated for his great strength, and it is confidently reported that he could stop, with one of his fingers only, the wheel of a chariot in its most rapid course.――Maximus, a Latin writer, who published an account of the Roman emperors from Trajan to Alexander, now lost. His compositions were entertaining, and executed with great exactness and fidelity. Some have accused him of inattention, and complain that his writings abounded with many fabulous and insignificant stories.――Celsus, a friend of Galba, saved from death by Otho, &c. Tacitus, Histories, bk. 1, ch. 45.――Sextus, a rich Spaniard, thrown down from the Tarpeian rock, on account of his riches, &c. Tacitus, Annals, bk. 6, ch. 19.

Marmăcus, the father of Pythagoras. Diogenes Laërtius.

Marmărenses, a people of Lycia.

Marmărĭca. See: Marmaridæ.

Marmărĭdæ, the inhabitants of that part of Lybia called Marmarica, between Cyrene and Egypt. They were swift in running, and pretended to possess some drugs or secret power to destroy the poisonous effects of the bite of serpents. Silius Italicus, bk. 3, li. 300; bk. 11, li. 182.—Lucan, bk. 4, li. 680; bk. 9, li. 894.

Marmărion, a town of Eubœa, whence Apollo is called Marmarinus. Strabo, bk. 10.

Maro. See: Virgilius.

Marobodui, a nation of Germany. Tacitus, Germania, ch. 42.

Maron, a son of Evanthes, high priest of Apollo in Africa, when Ulysses touched upon the coast. Homer, Odyssey, bk. 9, li. 179.――An Egyptian who accompanied Osiris in his conquests, and built a city in Thrace, called from him Maronea. Mela, bk. 2, ch. 2.—Diodorus, bk. 1.

Maronēa, a city of the Cicones, in Thrace, near the Hebrus, of which Bacchus is the chief deity. The wine has always been reckoned excellent, and with it, it was supposed that Ulysses intoxicated the Cyclops Polyphemus. Pliny, bk. 14, ch. 4.—Herodotus.—Mela, bk. 2, ch. 2,—Tibullus, bk. 4, poem 1, li. 57.

Marpĕsia, a celebrated queen of the Amazons, who waged a successful war against the inhabitants of mount Caucasus. The mountain was called Marpesius Mons from its female conqueror. Justin, bk. 2, ch. 4.—Virgil, Æneid, bk. 6.

Marpessa, a daughter of the Evenus, who married Idas, by whom she had Cleopatra the wife of Meleager. Marpessa was tenderly loved by her husband; and when Apollo endeavoured to carry her away, Idas followed the ravisher with a bow and arrows, resolved on revenge. Apollo and Idas were separated by Jupiter, who permitted Marpessa to go with that of the two lovers whom she most approved of. She returned to her husband. Homer, Iliad, bk. 9, li. 549.—Ovid, Metamorphoses, bk. 8, li. 305.—Apollodorus, bk. 1, ch. 7.—Pausanias, bk. 4, ch. 2; bk. 5, ch. 18.

Marpesus, a town of Mysia.――A mountain of Paros, abounding in white marble, whence Marpesia cautes. The quarries are still seen by modern travellers. Virgil, Æneid, bk. 6, li. 471.—Pliny, bk. 4, ch. 12; bk. 36, ch. 5.

Marres, a king of Egypt, who had a crow which conveyed his letters wherever he pleased. He raised a celebrated monument to this faithful bird near the city of crocodiles. Ælian, de Natura Animalium, bk. 6, ch. 7.

Marrucīni, a people of Picenum. Silius Italicus, bk. 15, li. 564.

Marrŭvium, or Marrubium, now San Benedetto, a place near the Liris, in Italy. Virgil, Æneid, bk. 7, li. 750.—Silius Italicus, bk. 8, li. 497.

Mars, the god of war among the ancients, was the son of Jupiter and Juno, according to Hesiod, Homer, and all the Greek poets, or of Juno alone, according to Ovid. This goddess, as the poet mentions, wished to become a mother without the assistance of the other sex, like Jupiter, who had produced Minerva all armed from his head, and she was shown a flower by Flora in the plains near Olenus, whose very touch made women pregnant. See: Juno. The education of Mars was entrusted by Juno to the god Priapus, who instructed him in dancing and in every manly exercise. His trial before the celebrated court of the Areopagus, according to the authority of some authors, for the murder of Hallirhotius, forms an interesting epoch in history. See: Areopagitæ. The amours of Mars and Venus are greatly celebrated. The god of war gained the affection of Venus, and obtained the gratification of his desires; but Apollo, who was conscious of their familiarities, informed Vulcan of his wife’s debaucheries, and awakened his suspicions. Vulcan secretly laid a net around the bed, and the two lovers were exposed in each other’s arms, to the ridicule and satire of all the gods, till Neptune prevailed upon the husband to set them at liberty. This unfortunate discovery so provoked Mars, that he changed into a cock his favourite Alectryon, whom he had stationed at the door to watch against the approach of the sun [See: Alectryon], and Venus also showed her resentment by persecuting with the most inveterate fury the children of Apollo. In the wars of Jupiter and the Titans, Mars was seized by Otus and Ephialtes, and confined for 15 months, till Mercury procured him his liberty. During the Trojan war Mars interested himself on the side of the Trojans, but whilst he defended these favourites of Venus with uncommon activity, he was wounded by Diomedes, and hastily retreated to heaven to conceal his confusion and his resentment, and to complain to Jupiter that Minerva had directed the unerring weapon of his antagonist. The worship of Mars was not very universal among the ancients; his temples were not numerous in Greece, but in Rome he received the most unbounded honours, and the warlike Romans were proud of paying homage to a deity whom they esteemed as the patron of their city, and the father of the first of their monarchs. His most celebrated temple at Rome was built by Augustus after the battle of Philippi. It was dedicated to Mars ultor, or the avenger. His priests among the Romans were called Salii; they were first instituted by Numa, and their chief office was to guard the sacred Ancylia, one of which, as was supposed, had fallen down from heaven. Mars was generally represented in the naked figure of an old man, armed with a helmet, a pike, and a shield. Sometimes he appeared in a military dress, and with a long flowing beard, and sometimes without. He generally rode in a chariot drawn by furious horses, which the poets called Flight and Terror. His altars were stained with the blood of the horse, on account of his warlike spirit, and of the wolf, on account of his ferocity. Magpies and vultures were also offered up to him, on account of their greediness and voracity. The Scythians generally offered him asses, and the people of Caria dogs. The weed called dog-grass was sacred to him, because it grows, as it is commonly reported, in places which are fit for fields of battle, or where the ground has been stained with the effusion of human blood. The surnames of Mars are not numerous. He was called Gradivus, Mavors, Quirinus, Salisubsulus, among the Romans. The Greeks called him Ares, and he was the Enyalus of the Sabines, the Camulus of the Gauls, and the Mamers of Carthage. Mars was father of Cupid, Anteros, and Harmonia, by the goddess Venus. He had Ascalaphus and Ialmenus by Astyoche; Alcippe by Agraulos; Molus, Pylus, Evenus, and Thestius, by Demonice the daughter of Agenor. Besides these, he was the reputed father of Romulus, Œnomaus, Bythis, Thrax, Diomedes of Thrace, &c. He presided over gladiators, and was the god of hunting, and of whatever exercises or amusements have something manly and warlike. Among the Romans it was usual for the consul, before he went on an expedition, to visit the temple of Mars, where he offered his prayers, and in a solemn manner shook the spear which was in the hand of the ♦statue of the god, at the same time exclaiming, “Mars vigila! god of war, watch over the safety of this city.” Ovid, Fasti, bk. 5, li. 231; Tristia, bk. 2, li. 925.—Hyginus, fable 148.—Virgil, Georgics, bk. 4, li. 346; Æneid, bk. 8, li. 701.—Lucian, Electrum.—Varro, de Lingua Latina, bk. 4, ch. 10.—Homer, Odyssey, bk. 1; Iliad, bk. 5.—Flaccus, bk. 6.—Apollodorus, bk. 1, &c.—Hesiod, Theogony.—Pindar, ode 4, Pythian.—Quintus Smyrnæus, bk. 14.—Pausanias, bk. 1, chs. 21 & 28.—Juvenal, satire 9, li. 102.

♦ ‘staute’ replaced with ‘statue’

Marsala, a town of Sicily.

Marsæus, a Roman, ridiculed by Horace, bk. 1, satire 2, li. 35, for his prodigality to courtesans.

Marse, a daughter of Thespius. Apollodorus.

Marsi, a nation of Germany, who afterwards came to settle near the lake Fucinus in Italy, in a country chequered with forests, abounding with wild boars and other ferocious animals. They at first proved very inimical to the Romans, but in process of time they became their firmest supporters. They are particularly celebrated for the civil war in which they were engaged, and which from them has received the name of the Marsian war. The large contributions which they made to support the interest of Rome, and the number of men which they continually supplied to the republic, rendered them bold and aspiring, and they claimed, with the rest of the Italian states, a share of the honours and privileges which were enjoyed by the citizens of Rome, B.C. 91. This petition, though supported by the interest, the eloquence, and the integrity of the tribune Drusus, was received with contempt by the Roman senate; and the Marsi, with their allies, showed their dissatisfaction by taking up arms. Their resentment was increased when Drusus, their friend at Rome, had been basely murdered by the means of the nobles; and they erected themselves into a republic, and Corfinium was made the capital of their new empire. A regular war was now begun, and the Romans led into the field an army of 100,000 men, and were opposed by a superior force. Some battles were fought in which the Roman generals were defeated, and the allies reaped no inconsiderable advantages from their victories. A battle, however, near Asculum, proved fatal to their cause: 4000 of them were left dead on the spot; their general, Francus, a man of uncommon experience and abilities, was slain, and such as escaped from the field perished by hunger in the Apennines, where they had sought a shelter. After many defeats, and the loss of Asculum, one of their principal cities, the allies, grown dejected and tired of hostilities which had already continued for three years, sued for peace one by one, and tranquillity was at last re-established in the republic, and all the states of Italy were made citizens of Rome. The armies of the allies consisted of the Marsi, the Peligni, the Vestini, the Hirpini, Pompeiani, Marcini, Picentes, Venusini, Ferentani, Apuli, Lucani, and Samnites. The Marsi were greatly addicted to magic. Horace, epode 5, li. 76; epode 27, li. 29.—Appian.—Valerius Maximus, bk. 8.—Paterculus, bk. 2.—Plutarch, Sertorius, Caius Marius, &c.—Cicero, For Cornelius Balbus.—Strabo.—Tacitus, Annals, bk. 1, chs. 50 & 56; Germania, ch. 2.

Marsigni, a people of Germany. Tacitus, Germania, ch. 43.

Marsus Domitius, a Latin poet.

Marsyaba, a town of Arabia.

Marsyas, a celebrated piper of Celænæ, in Phrygia, son of Olympus, or of Hyagnis, or Œagrus. He was so skilful in playing on the flute, that he is generally deemed the inventor of it. According to the opinion of some, he found it when Minerva had thrown it aside on account of the distortion of her face when she played upon it. Marsyas was enamoured of Cybele, and he travelled with her as far as Nysa, where he had the imprudence to challenge Apollo to a trial of his skill as a musician. The god accepted the challenge, and it was mutually agreed that he who was defeated should be flayed alive by the conquerer. The Muses, or according to Diodorus, the inhabitants of Nysa, were appointed umpires. Each exerted his utmost skill, and the victory, with much difficulty, was adjudged to Apollo. The god, upon this, tied his antagonist to a tree, and flayed him alive. The death of Marsyas was universally lamented; the Fauns, Satyrs, and Dryads wept at his fate, and from their abundant tears, arose a river of Phrygia, well known by the name of Marsyas. The unfortunate Marsyas is often represented on monuments as tied, his hands behind his back, to a tree, while Apollo stands before him with his lyre in his hand. In independent cities among the ancients the statue of Marsyas was generally erected in the forum, to represent the intimacy which subsisted between Bacchus and Marsyas, as the emblems of liberty. It was also erected at the entrance of the Roman forum, as a spot where usurers and merchants resorted to transact business, being principally intended in terrorem litigatorum; a circumstance to which Horace seems to allude, bk. 1, satire 6, li. 120. At Celænæ, the skin of Marsyas was shown to travellers for some time; it was suspended in the public place in the form of a bladder, or a foot-ball. Hyginus, fable 165.—Ovid, Fasti, bk. 6, li. 707; Metamorphoses, bk. 6, fable 7.—Diodorus, bk. 3.—Silius Italicus, bk. 8, li. 503.—Pliny, bk. 5, ch. 29; bk. 7, ch. 56.—Pausanias, bk. 10, ch. 30.—Apollodorus, bk. 1, ch. 4.――The sources of the Marsyas were near those of the Mæander, and those two rivers had their confluence a little below the town of Celænæ. Livy, bk. 38, ch. 13.—Ovid, Metamorphoses, bk. 2, li. 265.—Lucan, bk. 3, li. 208.――A writer who published a history of Macedonia, from the first origin and foundation of that empire till the reign of Alexander, in which he lived.――An Egyptian who commanded the armies of Cleopatra against her brother Ptolemy Physcon, whom she attempted to dethrone.――A man put to death by Dionysius the tyrant of Sicily.

Martha, a celebrated prophetess of Syria, whose artifice and fraud proved of the greatest service to Caius Marius in the numerous expeditions which he undertook. Plutarch, Caius Marius.

Martia, a vestal virgin, put to death for her incontinence.――A daughter of Cato. See: Marcia.

Martia aqua, water at Rome, celebrated for its clearness and salubrity. It was conveyed to Rome, at the distance of above 30 miles, from the lake Fucinus, by Ancus Martius, whence it received its name. Tibullus, bk. 3, poem 7, li. 26.—Pliny, bk. 31, ch. 3; bk. 36, ch. 15.

Martiāles ludi, games celebrated at Rome in honour of Mars.

Martiālis Marcus Valerius, a native of Bilbilis, in Spain, who came to Rome about the 20th year of his age, where he recommended himself to notice by his poetical genius. As he was the panegyrist of the emperors, he gained the greatest honours, and was rewarded in the most liberal manner. Domitian gave him the tribuneship; but the poet, unmindful of the favours he received, after the death of his benefactor, exposed to ridicule the vices and cruelties of a monster, whom in his lifetime he had extolled as the pattern of virtue, goodness, and excellence. Trajan treated the poet with coldness, and Martial, after he had passed 35 years in the capital of the world, in the greatest splendour and affluence, retired to his native country, where he had the mortification to be the object of malevolence, satire, and ridicule. He received some favours from his friends, and his poverty was alleviated by the ♦liberality of Pliny the younger, whom he had panegyrized in his poems. Martial died about the 104th year of the christian era, in the 75th year of his age. He is now well known by the 14 books of epigrams which he wrote, and whose merit is now best described by the candid confession of the author in this line,

Sunt bona, sunt quædam mediocria, sunt mala plura.

But the genius which he displays in some of his epigrams deserves commendation, though many critics are liberal in their censure upon his style, his thoughts, and particularly upon his puns, which are often low and despicable. In many of his epigrams the poet has shown himself a declared enemy to decency, and the book is to be read with caution which can corrupt the purity of morals, and initiate the votaries of virtue in the mysteries of vice. It has been observed of Martial, that his talent was epigrams. Everything which he did was the subject of an epigram. He wrote inscriptions upon monuments in the epigrammatical style, and even a new year’s gift was accompanied with a distich, and his poetical pen was employed in begging a favour as well as in satirizing a fault. The best editions of Martial are those of Rader, folio, Mogunt. 1627; of Schriverius, 12mo, Leiden, 1619; and of Smids, 8vo, Amsterdam, 1701.――A friend of Otho.――A man who conspired against Caracalla.

♦ ‘liberalty’ replaced with ‘liberality’

Martiānus. See: Marcianus.

Martīna, a woman skilled in the knowledge of poisonous herbs, &c. Tacitus, Annals, bk. 2, ch. 79, &c.

Martiniānus, an officer, made Cæsar by ♦Licinius, to oppose Constantine. He was put to death by order of Constantine.

♦ ‘Linicius’ replaced with ‘Licinius’

Martius, a surname of Jupiter in Attica, expressive of his power and valour. Pausanias, bk. 5, ch. 14.――A Roman consul sent against Perseus, &c.――A consul against the Dalmatians, &c.――Another, who defeated the Carthaginians in Spain.――Another, who defeated the Privernates, &c.

Marullus, a tribune of the people, who tore the garlands which had been placed upon Cæsar’s statues, and who ordered those that had saluted him king to be imprisoned. He was deprived of his consulship by Julius Cæsar. Plutarch.――A governor of Judæa.――A Latin poet in the age of Marcus Aurelius. He satirized the emperor with great licentiousness, but his invectives were disregarded, and himself despised.

Marus (the Morava), a river of Germany, which separates modern Hungary and Moravia. Tacitus, Annals, bk. 2, ch. 63.

Massa Bæbius, an informer at the court of Domitian. Juvenal, satire 1, li. 35.

Masæsylii, a people of Libya, where Syphax reigned. See: Massyla.

Masinissa, son of Gala, was king of a small part of Africa, and assisted the Carthaginians in their wars against Rome. He proved a most indefatigable and courageous ally, but an act of generosity rendered him amicable to the interests of Rome. After the defeat of Asdrubal, Scipio, the first Africanus who had obtained the victory, found, among the prisoners of war, one of the nephews of Masinissa. He sent him back to his uncle loaded with presents, and conducted him with a detachment for the safety and protection of his person. Masinissa was struck with the generous action of the Roman general; he forgot all former hostilities, and joined his troops to those of Scipio. This change of sentiments was not the effect of a wavering or unsettled mind, but Masinissa showed himself the most attached and the firmest ally the Romans ever had. It was to his exertions they owed many of their victories in Africa, and particularly in that battle which proved fatal to Asdrubal and Syphax. The Numidian conqueror, charmed with the beauty of Sophonisba, the captive wife of Syphax, carried her to his camp and married her; but when he perceived that this new connection displeased Scipio, he sent poison to his wife, and recommended her to destroy herself, since he could not preserve her life in a manner which became her rank, her dignity, and fortune, without offending his Roman allies. In the battle of Zama, Masinissa greatly contributed to the defeat of the great Annibal, and the Romans, who had been so often spectators of his courage and valour, rewarded his fidelity with the kingdom of Syphax, and some of the Carthaginian territories. At his death Masinissa showed the confidence which he had in the Romans, and the esteem he entertained for the rising talents of Scipio Æmilianus, by entrusting him with the care of his kingdom, and empowering him to divide it among his sons. Masinissa died in the 97th year of his age, after a reign of above 60 years, 149 years before the christian era. He experienced adversity as well as prosperity, and in the first years of his reign he was exposed to the greatest danger, and obliged often to save his life by seeking a retreat among his savage neighbours. But his alliance with the Romans was the beginning of his greatness, and he ever after lived in the greatest affluence. He is remarkable for the health which he long enjoyed. In the last years of his life he was seen at the head of his armies behaving with the most indefatigable activity, and he often remained for many successive days on horseback without a saddle under him, or a covering upon his head, and without showing the least mark of fatigue. This strength of mind and body he chiefly owed to the temperance which he observed. He was seen eating brown bread at the door of his tent like a private soldier the day after he had obtained an immortal victory over the armies of Carthage. He left 54 sons, three of whom were legitimate, Micipsa, Gulussa, and Manastabal. The kingdom was fairly divided among them by Scipio, and the illegitimate children received, as their portion, very valuable presents. The death of Gulussa and Manastabal soon after left Micipsa sole master of the large possessions of Masinissa. Strabo, bk. 17.—Polybius.—Appian, Lybica [Punic Wars].—Cicero, de Senectute.—Valerius Maximus, bk. 8.—Sallust, Jugurthine War.—Livy, bk. 25, &c.—Ovid, Fasti, bk. 6, li. 769.—Justin, bk. 33, ch. 1; bk. 38, ch. 6.

Maso, a name common to several persons mentioned by Cicero.

Massăga, a town of India, taken by Alexander the Great.

Massăgĕte, a people of Scythia, who had their wives in common, and dwelt in tents. They had no temples, but worshipped the sun, to whom they offered horses, on account of their swiftness. When their parents had come to a certain age, they generally put them to death, and ate their flesh mixed with that of cattle. Authors are divided with respect to the place of their residence. Some place them near the Caspian sea, others at the north of the Danube, and some confound them with the Getæ and the Scythians. Horace, bk. 1, ode 35, li. 40.—Dionysius Periegeta, li. 738.—Herodotus, bk. 1, ch. 204.—Strabo, bk. 1.—Mela, bk. 1, ch. 2.—Lucan, bk. 2, li. 50.—Justin, bk. 1, ch. 8.

Massāna. See: Messana.

Massāni, a nation at the mouth of the Indus.

Massĭcus, a mountain of Campania near Minturnæ, famous for its wine, which even now preserves its ancient character. Pliny, bk. 14, ch. 6.—Horace, bk. 1, ode 1, li. 19.—Virgil, Georgics, bk. 2, li. 143.――An Etrurian prince, who assisted Æneas against Turnus with 1000 men. Virgil, Æneid, bk. 10, li. 166, &c.

Massilia, a maritime town of Gaul Narbonensis, now called Marseilles, founded B.C. 539, by the people of Phocæa, in Asia, who quitted their country to avoid the tyranny of the Persians. It is celebrated for its laws, its fidelity for the Romans, and for its being long the seat of literature. It acquired great consequence by its commercial pursuits during its infancy, and even waged war against Carthage. By becoming the ally of Rome, its power was established; but in warmly espousing the cause of Pompey against Cæsar, its views were frustrated, and it was so much reduced by the insolence and resentment of the conqueror, that it never after recovered its independence and warlike spirit. Herodotus, bk. 1, ch. 164.—Pliny, bk. 3, ch. 4.—Justin, bk. 37, &c.—Strabo, bk. 1.—Livy, bk. 5, ch. 3.—Horace, epode 16.—Florus, bk. 4, ch. 2.—Cicero, For Flaccus, ch. 26; De Officiis, bk. 2, ♦ch. 28.—Tacitus, Annals, bk. 4, ch. 44; Agricola, ch. 4.

♦ ‘8’ replaced with ‘28’

Massȳla, an inland part of Mauritania near mount Atlas. When the inhabitants, called Massyli, went on horseback, they never used saddles or bridles, but only sticks. Their character was warlike, their manners simple, and their love of liberty unconquerable. Some suppose them to be the same as the Masæylii, though others say half the country belonged only to this last-mentioned people. Livy, bk. 24, ch. 48; bk. 28, ch. 17; bk. 29, ch. 32.—Silius Italicus, bk. 3, li. 282; bk. 16, li. 171.—Lucan, bk. 4, li. 682.—Virgil, Æneid, bk. 4, li. 132.

Mastramela, a lake near Marseilles, now mer de Martegues. Pliny, bk. 3, ch. 4.

Măsŭrius, a Roman knight under Tiberius, learned, but poor. Persius, bk. 5, li. 90.

Masus Domitius, a Latin poet. See: Domitius.

Matho, an infamous informer, patronized by Domitian. Juvenal, satire 1, li. 32.

Matiēni, a people in the neighbourhood of Armenia.

Matĭnus, a mountain of Apulia, abounding in yew trees and bees. Lucan, bk. 9, li. 184.—Horace, bk. 4, ode 2, li. 27; epode 16, li. 28.

Matisco, a town of the Ædui in Gaul, now called Macon.

Matrālia, a festival at Rome, in honour of Matuta or Ino. Only matrons and freeborn women were admitted. They made offerings of flowers, and carried their relations’ children in their arms, recommending them to the care and patronage of the goddess whom they worshipped. Varro, de Lingua Latina, bk. 5, ch. 22.—Ovid, Fasti, bk. 6, li. 47.—Plutarch, Camillus.

Matrōna, a river of Gaul, now called the Marne, falling into the Seine. Ausonius, Mosella, li. 462.――One of the surnames of Juno, because she presided over marriage and over child-birth.

Matronālia, festivals at Rome in honour of Mars, celebrated by married women, in commemoration of the rape of the Sabines, and of the peace which their intreaties had obtained between their fathers and husbands. Flowers were then offered in the temples of Juno. Ovid, Fasti, bk. 3, li. 229.—Plutarch, Romulus.

Mattiăci, a nation of Germany, now Marpurg, in Hesse. The Mattiacæ aquæ was a small town, now Wisbaden, opposite Mentz. Tacitus, Germania, ch. 29; Annals, bk. 1, ch. 56.

Mātūta, a deity among the Romans, the same as the Leucothoe of the Greeks. She was originally Ino, who was changed into a sea deity [See: Ino and Leucothoe], and she was worshipped by sailors as such, at Corinth, in a temple sacred to Neptune. Only married women and freeborn matrons were permitted to enter her temples at Rome, where they generally brought the children of their relations in their arms. Livy, bk. 5, &c.—Cicero, de Natura Deorum, bk. 3, li. 19.

Mavors, a name of Mars. See: Mars.

Mavortia, an epithet applied to every country whose inhabitants were warlike, but especially to Rome, founded by the reputed son of Mavors. Virgil, Æneid, bk. 1, li. 280, and to Thrace, Æneid, bk. 3, li. 13.

Mauri, the inhabitants of Mauritania. This name is derived from their black complexion (μαυροι). Everything among them grew in greater abundance and greater perfection than in other countries. Strabo, bk. 17.—Martial, bk. 5, ltr. 29; bk. 12, ltr. 67.—Silius Italicus, bk. 4, li. 569; bk. 10, li. 402.—Mela, bk. 1, ch. 5; bk. 3, ch. 10.—Justin, bk. 19, ch. 2.—Sallust, Jugurthine War.—Virgil, Æneid, bk. 4, li. 206.

Mauritānia, a country on the western part of Africa, which forms the modern kingdom of Fez and Morocco. It was bounded on the west by the Atlantic, south by Gætulia, and north by the Mediterranean, and is sometimes called Maurusia. It became a Roman province in the reign of the emperor Claudius. See: Mauri.

Maurus, a man who flourished in the reign of Trajan, or, according to others, of the Antonini. He was governor of Syene, in Upper Egypt. He wrote a Latin poem upon the rules of poetry and versification.

Maurūsii, the people of Maurusia, a country near the columns of Hercules. It is also called Mauritania. See: Mauritania. Virgil, Æneid, bk. 4, li. 206.

Mausōlus, a king of Caria. His wife Artemisia was so disconsolate at his death, which happened B.C. 353, that she drank up his ashes, and resolved to erect one of the grandest and noblest monuments of antiquity, to celebrate the memory of a husband whom she tenderly loved. This famous monument, which passed for one of the seven wonders of the world, was called Mausoleum, and from it all other magnificent sepulchres and tombs have received the same name. It was built by four different architects. Scopas erected the side which faced the east, Timotheus had the south, Leochares had the west, and Bruxis the north. Pithis was also employed in raising a pyramid over this stately monument, and the top was adorned by a chariot drawn by four horses. The expenses of this edifice were immense, and this gave an occasion to the philosopher Anaxagoras to exclaim, when he saw it, “How much money changed into stones!” See: Artemisia. Herodotus, bk. 7, ch. 99.—Strabo, bk. 14.—Diodorus, bk. 16.—Pausanias, bk. 8, ch. 16.—Florus, bk. 4, ch. 11.—Aulus Gellius, bk. 10, ch. 18.—Propertius, bk. 3, poem 2, li. 21.—Suetonius, Augustus, ch. 100.

Maxentius Marcus Aurelius Valerius, a son of the emperor Maximianus Hercules. Some suppose him to have been a supposititious child. The voluntary abdication of Diocletian, and of his father, raised him in the state, and he declared himself independent emperor, or Augustus, A.D. 306. He afterwards incited his father to reassume his imperial authority, and in a perfidious manner destroyed Severus, who had delivered himself into his hands and relied upon his honour for the safety of his life. His victories and successes were impeded by Galerius Maximianus, who opposed him with a powerful force. The defeat and voluntary death of Galerius soon restored peace to Italy, and Maxentius passed into Africa, where he rendered himself odious by his cruelty and oppression. He soon after returned to Rome, and was informed that Constantine was come to dethrone him. He gave his adversary battle near Rome, and, after he had lost the victory, he fled back to the city. The bridge over which he crossed the Tiber was in a decayed state, and he fell into the river and was drowned, on the 24th of September, A.D. 317. The cowardice and luxuries of Maxentius are as conspicuous as his cruelties. He oppressed his subjects with heavy taxes to gratify the cravings of his pleasures, or the avarice of his favourites. He was debauched in his manners, and neither virtue nor innocence were safe whenever he was inclined to voluptuous pursuits. He was naturally deformed, and of an unwieldy body. To visit a pleasure ground, or to exercise himself under a marble portico, or to walk on a shady terrace, was to him a Herculean labour, which required the greatest exertions of strength and resolution.

Cornelius Maximiliāna, a vestal virgin, buried alive for incontinency, A.D. 92.

Maximiānus Herculius Marcus Aurelius Valerius, a native of Sirmium, in Pannonia, who served as a common soldier in the Roman armies. When Diocletian had been raised to the imperial throne, he remembered the valour and courage of his fellow-soldier Maximianus, and rewarded his fidelity by making him his colleague in the empire, and by ceding to him the command of the provinces of Italy, Africa, and Spain, and the rest of the western territories of Rome. Maximianus showed the justness of the choice of Diocletian by his victories over the barbarians. In Britain success did not attend his arms; but in Africa he defeated and put to death Aurelius Julianus, who had proclaimed himself emperor. Soon after Diocletian abdicated the imperial purple, and obliged Maximianus to follow his example on the 1st of April, A.D. 304. Maximianus reluctantly complied with the command of a man to whom he owed his greatness, but before the first year of his resignation had elapsed, he was roused from his indolence and retreat by the ambition of his son Maxentius. He reassumed the imperial dignity, and showed his ingratitude to his son by wishing him to resign the sovereignty, and to sink into a private person. This proposal was not only rejected with the contempt which it deserved, but the troops mutinied against Maximianus, and he fled for safety to Gaul, to the court of Constantine, to whom he gave his daughter Faustina in marriage. Here he again acted a conspicuous character, and reassumed the imperial power, which his misfortunes had obliged him to relinquish. This offended Constantine. But, when open violence seemed to frustrate the ambitious views of Maximianus, he had recourse to artifice. He prevailed upon his daughter Faustina to leave the doors of her chamber open in the dead of night; and when she promised faithfully to execute his commands, he secretly introduced himself to her bed, where he stabbed to the heart the man who slept by the side of his daughter. This was not Constantine; Faustina, faithful to her husband, had apprised him of her father’s machinations, and a eunuch had been placed in his bed. Constantine watched the motions of his father-in-law, and when he heard the fatal blow given to the eunuch, he rushed in with a band of soldiers, and secured the assassin. Constantine resolved to destroy a man who was so inimical to his nearest relations, and nothing was left to Maximianus but to choose his own death. He strangled himself at Marseilles, A.D. 310, in the 60th year of his age. His body was found fresh and entire in a leaden coffin about the middle of the 11th century.――Galerius Valerius, a native of Dacia, who, in the first years of his life, was employed in keeping his father’s flocks. He entered the army, where his valour and bodily strength recommended him to the notice of his superiors, and particularly to Diocletian, who invested him with the imperial purple in the east, and gave him his daughter Valeria in marriage. Galerius deserved the confidence of his benefactor. He conquered the Goths and Dalmatians, and checked the insolence of the Persians. In a battle, however, with the king of Persia, Galerius was defeated; and, to complete his ignominy, and render him more sensible of his disgrace, Diocletian obliged him to walk behind his chariot arrayed in his imperial robes. This humiliation stung Galerius to the quick; he assembled another army, and gave battle to the Persians. He gained a complete victory, and took the wives and children of his enemy. This success elated Galerius to such a degree, that he claimed the most dignified appellations, and ordered himself to be called the son of Mars. Diocletian himself dreaded his power, and even, it is said, abdicated the imperial dignity by means of his threats. This resignation, however, is attributed by some to a voluntary act of the mind, and to a desire of enjoying solitude and retirement. As soon as Diocletian had abdicated, Galerius was proclaimed Augustus, A.D. 304, but his cruelty soon rendered him odious, and the Roman people, offended at his oppression, raised Maxentius to the imperial dignity the following year, and Galerius was obliged to yield to the torrent of his unpopularity, and to fly before his more fortunate adversary. He died in the greatest agonies, A.D. 311. The bodily pains and sufferings which preceded his death were, according to the christian writers, the effects of the vengeance of an offended providence for the cruelty which he had exercised against the followers of Christ. In his character Galerius was wanton and tyrannical, and he often feasted his eyes with the sight of dying wretches, whom his barbarity had delivered to bears and other wild beasts. His aversion to learned men arose from his ignorance of letters; and, if he was deprived of the benefits of education, he proved the more cruel and the more inexorable. Lactantius, de Mortibus Persecutorum, ch. 33.—Eusebius, bk. 8, ch. 16.

Maximīnus Caius Julius Verus, the son of a peasant in Thrace. He was originally a shepherd, and, by heading his countrymen against the frequent attacks of the neighbouring barbarians and robbers, he inured himself to the labours and to the fatigues of a camp. He entered the Roman armies, where he gradually rose to the first offices; and on the death of Alexander Severus he caused himself to be proclaimed emperor, A.D. 235. The popularity which he had gained when general of the armies, was at an end when he ascended the throne. He was delighted with acts of the greatest barbarity, and no less than 400 persons lost their lives on the false suspicion of having conspired against the emperor’s life. They died in the greatest torments, and, that the tyrant might the better entertain himself with their sufferings, some were exposed to wild beasts, others expired by blows, some were nailed on crosses, while others were shut up in the bellies of animals just killed. The noblest of the Roman citizens were the objects of his cruelty; and, as if they were more conscious than others of his mean origin, he resolved to spare no means to remove from his presence a number of men whom he looked upon with an eye of envy, and who, as he imagined, hated him for his oppression, and despised him for the poverty and obscurity of his early years. Such is the character of the suspicious and tyrannical Maximinus. In his military capacity he acted with the same ferocity; and, in an expedition in Germany, he not only cut down the corn, but he totally ruined and set fire to the whole country, to the extent of 450 miles. Such a monster of tyranny at last provoked the people of Rome. The Gordians were proclaimed emperors, but their innocence and pacific virtues were unable to resist the fury of Maximinus. After their fall, the Roman senate invested 20 men of their number with the imperial dignity and entrusted into their hands the care of the republic. These measures so highly irritated Maximinus, that at the first intelligence, he howled like a wild beast, and almost destroyed himself by knocking his head against the walls of his palace. When his fury was abated he marched to Rome, resolved on slaughter. His bloody machinations were stopped, and his soldiers, ashamed of accompanying a tyrant whose cruelties had procured him the name of Busiris, Cyclops, and Phalaris, assassinated him in his tent before the walls of Aquileia, A.D. 236, in the 65th year of his age. The news of his death was received with the greatest rejoicings at Rome; public thanksgivings were offered, and whole hecatombs flamed on the altars. Maximinus has been represented by historians as of a gigantic stature; he was eight feet high, and the bracelets of his wife served as rings to adorn the fingers of his hand. His voracity was as remarkable as his corpulence; he generally ate 40 pounds of flesh every day, and drank 18 bottles of wine. His strength was proportionable to his gigantic shape; he could alone draw a loaded waggon, and, with a blow of his fist, he often broke the teeth in a horse’s mouth; he also broke the hardest stones between his fingers, and cleft trees with his hand. Herodian.—Jornandes, Getica.—Capitol. Maximinus made his son, of the same name, emperor, as soon as he was invested with the purple, and his choice was unanimously approved by the senate, by the people, and by the army.――Galerius Valerius, a shepherd of Thrace, who was raised to the imperial dignity by Diocletian, A.D. 305. He was nephew to Galerius Maximianus, by his mother’s side, and to him he was indebted for his rise and consequence in the Roman armies. As Maximinus was ambitious and fond of power, he looked with an eye of jealousy upon those who shared the dignity of emperor with himself. He declared war against Licinius, his colleague on the throne, but a defeat, which soon after followed, on the 30th of April, A.D. 313, between Heraclea and Adrianopolis, left him without resources and without friends. His victorious enemy pursued him, and he fled beyond mount Taurus, forsaken and almost unknown. He attempted to put an end to his miserable existence, but his efforts were ineffectual, and though his death is attributed by some to despair, it is more universally believed that he expired in the greatest agonies of a dreadful distemper, which consumed him, day and night, with inexpressible pains, and reduced him to a mere skeleton. This miserable end, according to the ecclesiastical writers, was the visible punishment of heaven, for the barbarities which Maximinus had exercised against the followers of christianity, and for the many blasphemies which he had uttered. Lactantius.—Eusebius.――A minister of the emperor Valerian.――One of the ambassadors of young Theodosius to Attila king of the Huns.

Maxĭmus Magnus, a native of Spain, who proclaimed himself emperor, A.D. 383. The unpopularity of Gratian favoured his usurpation, and he was acknowledged by his troops. Gratian marched against him, but he was defeated, and soon after assassinated. Maximus refused the honours of a burial to the remains of Gratian; and, when he had made himself master of Britain, Gaul, and Spain, he sent ambassadors into the east, and demanded of the emperor Theodosius to acknowledge him as his associate on the throne. Theodosius endeavoured to amuse and delay him, but Maximus resolved to support his claim by arms, and crossed the Alps. Italy was laid desolate, and Rome opened her gates to the conqueror. Theodosius now determined to revenge the audaciousness of Maximus, and had recourse to artifice. He began to make a naval armament, and Maximus, not to appear inferior to his adversary, had already embarked his troops, when Theodosius, by secret and hastened marches, fell upon him, and besieged him at Aquileia. Maximus was betrayed by his soldiers, and the conqueror, moved with compassion at the sight of his fallen and dejected enemy, granted him life, but the multitude refused him mercy, and instantly struck off his head, A.D. 388. His son Victor, who shared the imperial dignity with him, was soon after sacrificed to the fury of the soldiers.――Petronius, a Roman, descended of an illustrious family. He caused Valentinian III. to be assassinated, and ascended the throne; and, to strengthen his usurpation, he married the empress, to whom he had the weakness and imprudence to betray that he had sacrificed her husband to his love for her person. This declaration irritated the empress; she had recourse to the barbarians to avenge the death of Valentinian, and Maximus was stoned to death by his soldiers, and his body thrown into the Tiber, A.D. 455. He reigned only 77 days.――Pupianus. See: ♦Pupianus.――A celebrated cynic philosopher and magician of Ephesus. He instructed the emperor Julian in magic; and according to the opinion of some historians, it was in the conversation and company of Maximus that the apostacy of Julian originated. The emperor not only visited the philosopher, but he even submitted his writings to his inspection and censure. Maximus refused to live in the court of Julian, and the emperor, not dissatisfied with the refusal, appointed him high pontiff in the province of Lydia, an office which he discharged with the greatest moderation and justice. When Julian went into the east, the philosopher promised him success, and even said that his conquests would be more numerous and extensive than those of the son of Philip. He persuaded his imperial pupil that, according to the doctrine of metempsychosis, his body was animated by the soul which once animated the hero whose greatness and victories he was going to eclipse. After the death of Julian, Maximus was almost sacrificed to the fury of the soldiers, but the interposition of his friends saved his life, and he retired to Constantinople. He was soon after accused of magical practices before the emperor Valens, and beheaded at Ephesus, A.D. 366. He wrote some philosophical and rhetorical treatises, some of which were dedicated to Julian. They are all now lost. Ammianus.――Tyrius, a Platonic philosopher in the reign of Marcus Aurelius. This emperor, who was naturally fond of study, became one of the pupils of Maximus, and paid great deference to his instructions. There are extant of Maximus 41 dissertations on moral and philosophical subjects, written in Greek, the best editions of which are that of Davis, 8vo, Cambridge, 1703; and that of Reiske, 2 vols., 8vo, Lipscomb, 1774.――One of the Greek fathers of the seventh century, whose works were edited by Combesis, 2 vols., folio, Paris, 1675.――Paulus Fabius, a consul with Marcus Antony’s son. Horace speaks of him, bk. 4, ode 1, li. 10, as of a gay, handsome youth, fond of pleasure, yet industrious and indefatigable.――An epithet applied to Jupiter, as being the greatest and most powerful of all the gods.――A native of Sirmium, in Pannonia. He was originally a gardener, but, by enlisting in the Roman army, he became one of the military tribunes, and his marriage with a woman of rank and opulence soon rendered him independent. He was father to the emperor Probus.――A general of Trajan, killed in the eastern provinces.――One of the murderers of Domitian, &c.――A philosopher, native of Byzantium, in the age of Julian the emperor.

♦ Reference not found.

Mazăca, a large city of Cappadocia, the capital of the province. It was called Cæsarea by Tiberius, in honour of Augustus.

Mazāces, a Persian governor of Memphis. He made a sally against the Grecian soldiers of Alexander, and killed great numbers of them. Curtius, bk. 4, ch. 1.

Mazæus, a satrap of Cilicia, under Artaxerxes Ochus.――A governor of Babylon, son-in-law to Darius. He surrendered to Alexander, &c. Curtius, bk. 5, ch. 1.

Mazāres, a satrap of Media, who reduced Priene under the power of Cyrus. Herodotus, bk. 1, ch. 161.

Mazaxes (singular, Mazax), a people of Africa, famous for shooting arrows. Lucan, bk. 4, li. 681.

Mazĕras, a river of Hyrcania, falling into the Caspian sea. Plutarch.

Mazīces and Mazȳges, a people of Libya, very expert in the use of missile weapons. The Romans made use of them as couriers, on account of their great swiftness. Suetonius, Nero, ch. 30.—Lucan, bk. 4, li. 684.

Mecænas, or Mecœnas Caius ♦Cilnius, a celebrated Roman knight, descended from the kings of Etruria. He has rendered himself immortal by his liberal patronage of learned men and of letters; and to his prudence and advice Augustus acknowledged himself indebted for the security which he enjoyed. His fondness for pleasure removed him from the reach of ambition, and he preferred to die, as he was born, a Roman knight, to all the honours and dignities which either the friendship of Augustus or his own popularity could heap upon him. It was from the result of his advice, against the opinion of Agrippa, that Augustus resolved to keep the supreme power in his hands, and not by a voluntary resignation to plunge Rome into civil commotions. The emperor received the private admonitions of Mecœnas in the same friendly manner as they were given, and he was not displeased with the liberty of his friend, who threw a paper to him with these words, “Descend from the tribunal, thou butcher!” while he sat in the judgment-seat, and betrayed revenge and impatience in his countenance. He was struck with the admonition, and left the tribunal without passing sentence of death on the criminals. To the interference of Mecœnas, Virgil owed the restitution of his lands, and Horace was proud to boast that his learned friend had obtained his forgiveness from the emperor, for joining the cause of Brutus at the battle of Philippi. Mecœnas was himself fond of literature, and, according to the most received opinion, he wrote a history of animals, a journal of the life of Augustus, a treatise on the different natures and kinds of precious stones, besides the two tragedies of Octavia and Prometheus, and other things, all now lost. He died eight years before Christ; and, on his death-bed, he particularly recommended his poetical friend Horace to the care and confidence of Augustus. Seneca, who has liberally commended the genius and abilities of Mecœnas, has not withheld his censure from his dissipation, indolence, and effeminate luxury. From the patronage and encouragement which the princes of heroic and lyric poetry among the Latins received from the favourite of Augustus, all patrons of literature have ever since been called Mecœnates. Virgil dedicated to him his Georgics, and Horace his odes. Suetonius, Augustus, ch. 66, &c.—Plutarch, Augustus.—Herodian, bk. 7.—Seneca, ltrs. 19 & 92.

♦ ‘Cilnus’ replaced with ‘Cilnius’

Mechaneus, a surname of Jupiter, from his patronizing undertakings. He had a statue near the temple of Ceres at Argos, and there the people swore, before they went to the Trojan war, either to conquer or to perish. Pausanias, bk. 2, ch. 22.

Mecisteus, son of Echius, or Talaus, was one of the companions of Ajax. He was killed by Polydamus. Homer, Iliad, bk. 6, li. 28, &c.――A son of Lycaon. Apollodorus.

Mecrida, the wife of Lysimachus. Polyænus, bk. 6.

Mēdēa, a celebrated magician, daughter of Æetes king of Colchis. Her mother’s name, according to the more received opinion of Hesiod and Hyginus, was Idyia, or, according to others, Ephyre, Hecate, Asterodia, Antiope, or Neræa. She was the niece of Circe. When Jason came to Colchis in quest of the golden fleece, Medea became enamoured of him, and it was to her well-directed labours that the Argonauts owed their preservation. See: Jason and Argonautæ. Medea had an interview with her lover in the temple of Hecate, where they bound themselves by the most solemn oaths, and mutually promised eternal fidelity. No sooner had Jason overcome all the difficulties which Æetes had placed in his way, than Medea embarked with the conquerors for Greece. To stop the pursuit of her father, she tore to pieces her brother Absyrtus, and left his mangled limbs in the way through which Æetes was to pass. This act of barbarity some have attributed to Jason, and not to her. When Jason reached Iolchos, his native country, the return and victories of the Argonauts were celebrated with universal rejoicings; but Æson the father of Jason was unable to assist at the solemnity, on account of the infirmities of his age. Medea, at her husband’s request, removed the weakness of Æson, and by drawing away the blood from his veins, and filling them again with the juice of certain herbs, she restored to him the vigour and sprightliness of youth. This sudden change in Æson astonished the inhabitants of Iolchos, and the daughters of Pelias were also desirous to see their father restored, by the same power, to the vigour of youth. Medea, willing to revenge the injuries which her husband’s family had suffered from Pelias, increased their curiosity, and by cutting to pieces an old ram and making it again, in their presence, a young lamb, she totally determined them to try the same experiment upon their father’s body. They accordingly killed him of their own accord, and boiled his flesh in a cauldron; but Medea refused to perform the same friendly offices to Pelias which she had done to Æson, and he was consumed by the heat of the fire, and even deprived of a burial. This action greatly irritated the people of Iolchos, and Medea, with her husband, fled to Corinth to avoid the resentment of an offended populace. Here they lived for 10 years with much conjugal tenderness; but the love of Jason for Glauce, the king’s daughter, soon interrupted their mutual harmony, and Medea was divorced. Medea revenged the infidelity of Jason by causing the death of Glauce, and the destruction of her family. See: Glauce. This action was followed by another still more atrocious. Medea killed two of her children in their father’s presence, and when Jason attempted to punish the barbarity of the mother, she fled through the air upon a chariot drawn by winged dragons. From Corinth Medea came to Athens, where, after she had undergone the necessary purification of her murder, she married king Ægeus, or, according to others, lived in an adulterous manner with him. From her connection with Ægeus, Medea had a son, who was called Medus. Soon after, when Theseus wished to make himself known to his father [See: Ægeus], Medea, jealous of his fame, and fearful of his power, attempted to poison him at a feast which had been prepared for his entertainment. Her attempts, however, failed of success, and the sight of the sword which Theseus wore by his side, convinced Ægeus that the stranger against whose life he had so basely conspired was no less than his own son. The father and the son were reconciled, and Medea, to avoid the punishment which her wickedness deserved, mounted her fiery chariot, and disappeared through the air. She came to Colchis, where, according to some, she was reconciled to Jason, who had sought her in her native country after her sudden departure from Corinth. She died at Colchis, as Justin mentions, when she had been restored to the confidence of her family. After death she married Achilles in the Elysian fields, according to the traditions mentioned by Simonides. The murder of Mermerus and Pheres, the youngest of Jason’s children by Medea, is not attributed to their mother according to Ælian, but the Corinthians themselves assassinated them in the temple of Juno Acræa. To avoid the resentment of the gods, and deliver themselves from the pestilence which visited their country after so horrid a massacre, they engaged the poet Euripides, for five talents, to write a tragedy, which cleared them of the murder, and represented Medea as the cruel assassin of her own children. And besides, that this opinion might be the better credited, festivals were appointed, in which the mother was represented with all the barbarity of a fury murdering her own sons. See: Heræa. Apollodorus, bk. 1, ch. 9.—Hyginus, fables 21, 22, 23, &c.—Plutarch, Theseus.—Dionysius Periegetes.—Ælian, Varia Historia, bk. 5, ch. 21.—Pausanias, bk. 2, ch. 3; bk. 8, ch. 11.—Euripides, Medea.—Diodorus, bk. 4.—Ovid, Metamorphoses, bk. 7, fable 1; Medicamina Faciei Femineæ.—Strabo, bk. 7.—Cicero, de Natura Deorum, bk. 3, ch. 19.—Apollonius, Argonautica, bk. 3, &c.—Orpheus.—Flaccus.—Lucan, bk. 4, li. 556.

Medesicaste, a daughter of Priam, who married Imbrius son of Mentor, who was killed by Teucer during the Trojan war. Homer, Iliad, bk. 13, ch. 172.—Apollodorus, bk. 3.

Media, a celebrated country of Asia, bounded on the north by the Caspian sea, west by Armenia, south by Persia, and east by Parthia and Hyrcania. It was originally called Aria, till the age of Medus the son of Medea, who gave it the name of Media. The province of Media was first raised into a kingdom by its revolt from the Assyrian monarchy, B.C. 820; and after it had for some time enjoyed a kind of republican government, Deioces, by his artifice, procured himself to be called king, 700 B.C. After a reign of 53 years he was succeeded by Phraortes, B.C. 647; who was succeeded by Cyaxares, B.C. 625. His successor was Astyages, B.C. 585, in whose reign Cyrus became master of Media, B.C. 551; and ever after the empire was transferred to the Persians. The Medes were warlike in the primitive ages of their power; they encouraged polygamy, and were remarkable for the homage which they paid to their sovereigns, who were styled kings of kings. This title was afterwards adopted by their conquerors the Persians, and it was still in use in the age of the Roman emperors. Justin, bk. 1, ch. 5.—Herodotus, bk. 1, &c.—Polybius, bks. 5 & 10.—Curtius, bk. 5, &c.—Diodorus Siculus, bk. 13.—Ctesias.

Medias, a tyrant of Mysia, &c.

Medĭcus, a prince of Larissa, in Thessaly, who made war against Lycophron tyrant of Pheræ. Diodorus, bk. 14.

Mediolānum, now Milan, the capital of Insubria at the mouth of the Po. Livy, bk. 5, ch. 34; bk. 34, ch. 46.――Aulercorum, a town of Gaul, now Evreux, in Normandy.――Santŏnum, another, now Saintes, in Guienne.

Mediomatrices, a nation that lived on the borders of the Rhine, now Metz. Strabo, bk. 4.—Cæsar, Gallic War, bk. 4, ch. 10.

Mediterraneum mare, a sea which divides Europe and Asia Minor from Africa. It receives its name from its situation, medio terræ, situate in the middle of the land. It has a communication with the Atlantic by the columns of Hercules, and with the Euxine through the Ægean. The word Mediterraneum does not occur in the classics; but it is sometimes called internum, nostrum, or medius liquor, and is frequently denominated in Scripture the Great sea. The first naval power that ever obtained the command of it, as recorded in the fabulous epochs of the writer Castor, was Crete, under Minos. Afterwards it passed into the hands of the Lydians, B.C. 1179; of the Pelasgi, 1058; of the Thracians, 1000; of the Rhodians, 916; of the Phrygians, 893; of the Cyprians, 868; of the Phœnicians, 826; of the Egyptians, 787; of the Milesians, 753; of the Carians, 734; and of the Lesbians, 676, which they retained for 69 years. Horace, bk. 3, ode 3, li. 46.—Pliny, bk. 2, ch. 668.—Sallust, Jugurthine War, ch. 17.—Cæsar, Gallic War, bk. 5, ch. 1.—Livy, bk. 26, ch. 42.

Meditrīna, the goddess of medicines, whose festivals, called Meditrinalia, were celebrated at Rome the last day of September, when they made offerings of fruits. Varro, de Lingua Latina, bk. 5, ch. 3.

Medoacus, or Meduacus, a river in the country of the Veneti, falling into the Adriatic sea. Livy, bk. 10, ch. 2.

Medobithyni, a people of Thrace.

Medobriga, a town of Lusitania, now destroyed. Hirtius, ch. 48.

Medon, son of Codrus, the seventeenth and last king of Athens, was the first Archon that was appointed with regal authority, B.C. 1070. In the election Medon was preferred to his brother Neleus, by the oracle of Delphi, and he rendered himself popular by the justice and moderation of his administration. His successors were called from him Medontidæ, and the office of archon remained for above 200 years in the family of Codrus under 12 perpetual archons. Pausanias, bk. 7, ch. 2.—Paterculus, bk. 2, ch. 2.――A man killed in the Trojan war. Æneas saw him in the infernal regions. Virgil, Æneid, bk. 6, li. 483.――A statuary of Lacedæmon, who made a famous statue of Minerva, seen in the temple of Juno at Olympia. Pausanias, bk. 7, ch. 17.――One of the Centaurs, &c. Ovid, Metamorphoses, bk. 12, li. 303.――One of the Tyrrhene sailors changed into dolphins by Bacchus. Ovid, Metamorphoses, bk. 3, li. 671.――A river of Peloponnesus.――An illegitimate son of Ajax Oileus. Homer.――One of Penelope’s suitors. Ovid, Heroides, poem 1.――A man of Cyzicus, killed by the Argonauts.――A king of Argos, who died about 990 years B.C.――A son of Pylades by Electra. Pausanias, bk. 2, ch. 16.

Medontias, a woman of Abydos, with whom Alcibiades cohabited as with a wife. She had a daughter, &c. Lysias.

Meduacus, two rivers (Major, now Brenta, and Minor, now Bachilione), falling, near Venice, into the Adriatic sea. Pliny, bk. 3, ch. 16.—Livy, bk. 10, ch. 2.

Meduana, a river of Gaul, flowing into the Ligeris, now the Mayne. Lucan, bk. 1, li. 438.

Medullīna, a Roman virgin ravished by her father, &c. Plutarch, Parallela minora.――An infamous courtesan in Juvenal’s age, satire 6, li. 321.

Medus, now Kur, a river of Media, falling into the Araxes. Some take Medus adjectively, as applying to any of the great rivers of Media. Strabo, bk. 15.—Horace, bk. 2, ode 9, li. 21.――A son of Ægeus and Medea, who gave his name to a country of Asia. Medus, when arrived to years of maturity, went to seek his mother, whom the arrival of Theseus in Athens had driven away. See: Medea. He came to Colchis, where he was seized by his uncle Perses, who usurped the throne of Æetes, his mother’s father, because the oracle had declared that Perses should be murdered by one of the grandsons of Æetes. Medus assumed another name, and called himself Hippotes son of Creon. Meanwhile Medea arrived in Colchis, disguised in the habit of a priestess of Diana, and when she heard that one of Creon’s children was imprisoned, she resolved to hasten the destruction of a person whose family she detested. To effect this with more certainty, she told the usurper that Hippotes was really a son of Medea, sent by his mother to murder him. She begged Perses to give her Hippotes, that she might sacrifice him to her resentment. Perses consented. Medea discovered that it was her own son, and she instantly armed him with the dagger which she had prepared against his life, and ordered him to stab the usurper. He obeyed, and Medea discovered who he was, and made her son Medus sit on his grandfather’s throne. Hesiod, Theogony.—Pausanias, bk. 2.—Apollodorus, bk. 1.—Justin, bk. 42.—Seneca, Medea.—Diodorus.

Medūsa, one of the three Gorgons, daughter of Phorcys and Ceto. She was the only one of the Gorgons who was subject to mortality. She is celebrated for her personal charms and the beauty of her locks. Neptune became enamoured of her, and obtained her favours in the temple of Minerva. This violation of the sanctity of the temple provoked Minerva, and she changed the beautiful locks of Medusa, which had inspired Neptune’s love, into serpents. According to Apollodorus and others, Medusa and her sisters came into the world with snakes on their heads, instead of hair, with yellow wings and brazen hands. Their bodies were also covered with impenetrable scales, and their very looks had the power of killing or turning to stones. Perseus rendered his name immortal by his conquest of Medusa. He cut off her head, and the blood that dropped from the wound produced the innumerable serpents that infest Africa. The conqueror placed Medusa’s head on the ægis of Minerva, which he had used in his expedition. The head still retained the same petrifying power as before, as it was fatally known in the court of Cepheus. See: Andromeda. Some suppose that the Gorgons were a nation of women, whom Perseus conquered. See: Gorgones. Apollodorus, bk. 2, ch. 4.—Hesiod, Theogony.—Ovid, Metamorphoses, bk. 4, li. 618.—Lucan, bk. 9, li. 624.—Apollonius, bk. 4.—Hyginus fable 151.――A daughter of Priam.――A daughter of Sthenelus. Apollodorus.

Megabizi, certain priests in Diana’s temple at Ephesus. They were all eunuchs. Quintilian, bk. 5, ch. 12.

Megabyzus, one of the noble Persians who conspired against the usurper Smerdis. He was set over an army in Europe by king Darius, where he took Perinthus and conquered all Thrace. He was greatly esteemed by his sovereign. Herodotus, bk. 3, &c.――A son of Zopyrus, satrap to Darius. He conquered Egypt, &c. Herodotus, bk. 3, ch. 160.――A satrap of Artaxerxes. He revolted from his king, and defeated two large armies that had been sent against him. The interference of his friends restored him to the king’s favour, and he showed his attachment to Artaxerxes by killing a lion which threatened his life in hunting. This act of affection in Megabyzus was looked upon with envy by the king. He was discarded and afterwards reconciled to the monarch by means of his mother. He died in the 76th year of his age, B.C. 447, greatly regretted. Ctesias.

Megăcles, an Athenian archon, who involved the greatest part of the Athenians in the sacrilege which was committed in the conspiracy of Cylon. Plutarch, Solon.――A brother of Dion, who assisted his brother against Dionysius, &c.――A son of Alcmæon, who revolted with some Athenians after the departure of Solon from Athens. He was ejected by Pisistratus.――A man who exchanged dress with Pyrrhus, when assisting the Tarentines in Italy. He was killed in that disguise.――A native of Messana in Sicily, famous for his inveterate enmity to Agathocles tyrant of Syracuse.――A man who destroyed the leading men of Mitylene, because he had been punished.――A man who wrote an account of the lives of illustrious persons.――The maternal grandfather of Alcibiades.

Megaclides, a peripatetic philosopher in the age of Protagoras.

Megæra, one of the furies, daughter of Nox and Acheron. The word is derived from μεγαιρειν, invidere, odisse, and she is represented as employed by the gods, like her sisters, to punish the crimes of mankind, by visiting them with diseases, with inward torments, and with death. Virgil, Æneid, bk. 12, li. 846. See: Eumenides.

Megăle, the Greek name of Cybele the mother of the gods, whose festivals were called Megalesia.

Megaleas, a seditious person of Corinth. He was seized for his treachery to king Philip of Macedonia, upon which he destroyed himself to avoid punishment.

Megalesia, games in honour of Cybele, instituted by the Phrygians, and introduced at Rome in the second Punic war, when the statue of the goddess was brought from Pessinus. Livy, bk. 29, ch. 14.—Ovid, Fasti, bk. 4, li. 337.

Megalia, a small island of Campania, near Neapolis. Statius, bk. 2, Sylvæ, ♦poem 3, li. 80.

♦ omitted from text

Megalŏpŏlis, a town of Arcadia in Peloponnesus, built by Epaminondas. It joined the Achæan league, B.C. 232, and was taken and ruined by Cleomenes king of Sparta. The inhabitants were called Megalopolitæ, or Megalopolitani. Strabo, bk. 8.—Pausanias, bk. 9, ch. 14.—Livy, bk. 28, ch. 8.

Megamēde, the wife of Thestius, mother by him of 50 daughters. Apollodorus, bk. 2.

Meganīra, the wife of Celeus king of Eleusis in Attica. She was mother of Triptolemus, to whom Ceres, as she travelled over Attica, taught agriculture. She received divine honours after death, and she had an altar raised to her, near the fountain where Ceres had first been seen when she arrived in Attica. Pausanias, bk. 1, ch. 39.――The wife of Arcas. Apollodorus.

Megapenthes, an illegitimate son of Menelaus, who, after his father’s return from the Trojan war, was married to a daughter of Alector, a native of Sparta. His mother’s name was Teridae, a slave of Menelaus. Homer, Odyssey, bk. 4.—Apollodorus, bk. 3.

Megāra, a daughter of Creon king of Thebes, given in marriage to Hercules, because he had delivered the Thebans from the tyranny of the Orchomenians. See: Erginus. When Hercules went to hell by order of Eurystheus, violence was offered to Megara by Lycus, a Theban exile, and she would have yielded to her ravisher had not Hercules returned that moment and punished him with death. This murder displeased Juno, and she rendered Hercules so delirious, that he killed Megara and the three children he had by her, in a fit of madness, thinking them to be wild beasts. Some say that Megara did not perish by the hand of her husband, but that he afterwards married her to his friend Iolas. The names of Megara’s children by Hercules were Creontiades, Therimachus, and Deicoon. Hyginus, fable 82.—Seneca, Hercules.—Apollodorus, bk. 2, ch. 6.—Diodorus, bk. 4.

Megāra (æ, and plural, orum), a city of Achaia, the capital of a country called Megaris, founded about 1131 B.C. It is situate nearly at an equal distance from Corinth and Athens, on the Sinus Saronicus. It was built upon two rocks, and is still in being, and preserves its ancient name. It was called after Megareus the son of Neptune, who was buried there, or from Megareus, a son of Apollo. It was originally governed by 12 kings, but became afterwards a republic, and fell into the hands of the Athenians, from whom it was rescued by the Heraclidæ. At the battle of Salamis the people of Megara furnished 20 ships for the defence of Greece, and at Platæa they had 300 men in the army of Pausanias. There was here a sect of philosophers called the Megaric, who held the world to be eternal. Cicero, Academica, bk. 4, ch. 42; On Oratory, bk. 3, ch. 17; Letters to Atticus, bk. 1, ltr. 8.—Pausanias, bk. 1, ch. 39.—Strabo, bk. 6.—Mela, bk. 2, ch. 3.――A town of Sicily, founded by a colony from Megara in Attica, about 728 years before the christian era. It was destroyed by Gelon king of Syracuse; and before the arrival of the Megarean colony it was called Hybla. Strabo, ♦bk. 6, &c.—Virgil, Æneid, bk. 3, li. 689.

♦ ‘26’ replaced with ‘6’

Megareus, the father of Hippomenes, was son of Onchestus. Ovid, Metamorphoses, bk. 10, li. 605.――A son of Apollo.

Megāris, a small country of Achaia, between Phocis on the west and Attica on the east. Its capital city was called Megara. See: Megara. Strabo, bk. 8.—Pliny, bk. 3, ch. 8.—Mela, bk. 2, chs. 3 & 7.

Megarsus, a town of Sicily,――of Cilicia.――A river of India.

Megasthĕnes, a Greek historian in the age of Seleucus Nicanor, about 300 years before Christ. He wrote about the oriental nations, and particularly the Indians. His history is often quoted by the ancients. What now passes as his composition is spurious.

Meges, one of Helen’s suitors, governor of Dulichium and of the Echinades. He went with 40 ships to the Trojan war. Homer, Iliad, bk. 2.

Megilla, a native of Locris, remarkable for beauty, and mentioned by Horace, bk. 1, ode 27, li. 11.

Megista, an island of Lycia, with a harbour of the same name. Livy, bk. 37, ch. 22.

Megistias, a soothsayer, who told the Spartans that defended Thermopylæ, that they all should perish, &c. Herodotus, bk. 7, ch. 219, &c.――A river. See: Mella.

Mela Pomponius, a Spaniard, who flourished about the 45th year of the christian era, and distinguished himself by his geography divided into three books, and written with elegance, with great perspicuity and brevity. The best editions of this book, called De Situ Orbis, are those of Gronovius, 8vo, Leiden, 1722, and of Reinhold, 4to, Eton, 1761.

Melænæ, a village of Attica. Statius, Thebiad, bk. 12, li. 619.

Melampus, a celebrated soothsayer and physician of Argos, son of Amythaon and Idomenea, or Dorippe. He lived at Pylos in Peloponnesus. His servants once killed two large serpents, which had made their nests at the bottom of a large oak, and Melampus paid so much regard to these two reptiles, that he raised a burning pile and burned them upon it. He also took particular care of their young ones, and fed them with milk. Some time after this the young serpents crept to Melampus as he slept on the grass near the oak, and, as if sensible of the favours of their benefactor, they wantonly played around him, and softly licked his ears. This awoke Melampus, who was astonished at the sudden change which his senses had undergone. He found himself acquainted with the chirping of the birds, and with all their rude notes, as they flew around him. He took advantage of this supernatural gift, and soon made himself perfect in the knowledge of futurity, and Apollo also instructed him in the art of medicine. He had soon after the happiness of curing the daughters of Prœtus, by giving them hellebore, which from this circumstance has been called melampodium, and as a reward for his trouble he married the eldest of these princesses. See: Prœtides. The tyranny of his uncle Neleus king of Pylos obliged him to leave his native country, and Prœtus, to show himself more sensible of his services, gave him part of his kingdom, over which he established himself. About this time the personal charms of Pero the daughter of Neleus had gained many admirers, but the father promised his daughter only to him who brought into his hands the oxen of Iphiclus. This condition displeased many; but Bias, who was also one of her admirers, engaged his brother Melampus to steal the oxen, and deliver them to him. Melampus was caught in the attempt and imprisoned, and nothing but his services as a soothsayer and physician to Iphiclus would have saved him from death. All this pleaded in favour of Melampus, but when he had taught the childless Iphiclus how to become a father, he not only obtained his liberty, but also the oxen, and with them he compelled Neleus to give Pero in marriage to Bias. A severe distemper, which had rendered the women of Argos insane, was totally removed by Melampus, and Anaxagoras, who then sat on the throne, rewarded his merit by giving him part of his kingdom, where he established himself, and where his posterity reigned during six successive generations. He received divine honours after death, and temples were raised to his memory. Homer, Odyssey, bk. 11, li. 287; bk. 15, li. 225.—Herodotus, bks. 2 & 9.—Apollodorus, bk. 2, ch. 2.—Pausanias, bk. 2, ch. 18; bk. 4, ch. 3.—Virgil, Georgics, bk. 3, li. 550.――The father of Cisseus and Gyas. Virgil, Æneid, bk. 10.――A son of Priam. Apollodorus, bk. 3.――One of Actæon’s dogs. Ovid, Metamorphoses, bk. 3.

Melampyges, a surname of Hercules, from the black and hairy appearance of his back, &c.

Melanchætes, one of Actæon’s dogs, so called from his black hair. Ovid, Metamorphoses, bk. 3.

Melanchlæni, a people near the Cimmerian Bosphorus.

Melanchrus, a tyrant of Lesbos, who died about 612 B.C.

Melane, the same as Samothrace.

Melaneus, a son of Eurytus, from whom Eretria has been called Melaneis.――A centaur. Ovid, Metamorphoses, bk. 12.――One of Actæon’s dogs. Metamorphoses, bk. 3.――An Æthiopian, killed at the nuptials of Perseus. Metamorphoses, bk. 5.

Melanida, a surname of Venus.

Melanion, the same as Hippomenes, who married Atalanta, according to some mythologists. Apollodorus, bk. 3.

Melanippe, a daughter of Æolus, who had two children by Neptune, for which her father put out both her eyes, and confined her in a prison. Her children, who had been exposed and preserved, delivered her from confinement, and Neptune restored to her her eye-sight. She afterwards married Metapontus. Hyginus, fable 186.――A nymph who married Itonus son of Amphictyon, by whom she had Bœotus, who gave his name to Bœotia. Pausanias, bk. 9, ch. 1.

Melanippĭdes, a Greek poet about 520 years before Christ. His grandson, of the same name, flourished about 60 years after at the court of Perdiccas II. of Macedonia. Some fragments of their poetry are extant.

Melanippus, a priest of Apollo at Cyrene, killed by the tyrant Nicocrates. Polyænus, bk. 8.――A son of Astacus, one of the Theban chiefs who defended the gates of Thebes against the army of Adrastus king of Argos. He was opposed by Tydeus, whom he slightly wounded, and at last was killed by Amphiaraus, who carried his head to Tydeus. Tydeus, to take revenge of the wound he had received, bit the head with such barbarity, that he swallowed the brains, and Minerva, offended with his conduct, took away the herb which she had given him to cure his wound, and he died. Apollodorus, bk. 1, ch. 8.—Aeschylus, Seven Against Thebes.—Pausanias, bk. 9, ch. 18.――A son of Mars, who became enamoured of Cometho, a priestess of Diana Triclaria. He concealed himself in the temple, and ravished his mistress, for which violation of the sanctity of the place the two lovers soon after perished by a sudden death, and the country was visited by a pestilence, which was stopped only after the offering of a human sacrifice by the direction of the oracle. Pausanias, bk. 7, ch. 19.――A Trojan, killed by Antilochus in the Trojan war. Homer, Iliad, bk. 15.――Another, killed by Patroclus.――Another, killed by Teucer.――A son of Agrius.――Another, son of Priam.――A son of Theseus.

Melanosyri, a people of Syria.

Melanthii, rocks near the island of Samos.

Melanthius, a man who wrote a history of Attica.――A famous painter of Sicyon. Pliny, bk. 35.――A tragic poet of a very malevolent disposition in the age of Phocion. Plutarch.――A Trojan, killed by Eurypylus in the Trojan war. Homer, Odyssey.――A shepherd in Theocritus, Idylls.――A goat-herd, killed by Telemachus after the return of Ulysses. Ovid, ltr. 1, Heroides.――An elegiac poet.

Melantho, a daughter of Proteus, ravished by Neptune under the form of a dolphin. Ovid, Metamorphoses, bk. 6, li. 12.――One of Penelope’s women, sister to Melanthius. Homer, Iliad, bk. 18, &c.; Odyssey, bk. 18.

Melanthus, Melanthes, or Melanthius, a son of Andropompus, whose ancestors were kings of Pylos. He was driven from his paternal kingdom by the Heraclidæ, and came to Athens, where king Thymœtes resigned the crown to him, provided he fought a battle against Xanthus, a general of the Bœotians, who made war against him. He fought and conquered [See: Apaturia], and his family, surnamed the Neliadæ, sat on the throne of Athens, till the age of Codrus. He succeeded to the crown 1128 years B.C., and reigned 37 years. Pausanias, bk. 2, ch. 18.――A man of Cyzicus. Flaccus.――A river of European Sarmatia, falling into the Borysthenes. Ovid, ex Ponto, bk. 4, ltr. 10, li. 55.

Melas (æ), a river of Peloponnesus.――Of Thrace, at the west of the Thracian Chersonesus.――Another in Thessaly,――in Achaia,――in Bœotia,――in Sicily,――in Ionia,――in Cappadocia.――A son of Neptune.――Another, son of Proteus.――A son of Phryxus, who was among the Argonauts, and was drowned in that part of the sea which bore his name. Apollodorus, bk. 1.

Meldæ, or Meldorum urbs, a city of Gaul, now Meaux, in Champagne.

Mĕleāger, a celebrated hero of antiquity, son of Œneus king of Ætolia, by Althæa daughter of Thestius. The Parcæ were present at the moment of his birth, and predicted his future greatness. Clotho said that he would be brave and courageous, Lachesis foretold his uncommon strength, and Atropos declared that he should live as long as that fire-brand, which was on the fire, remained entire and unconsumed. Althæa no sooner heard this, than she snatched the stick from the fire, and kept it with the most jealous care, as the life of her son was destined to depend upon its preservation. The fame of Meleager increased with his years; he signalized himself in the Argonautic expedition, and afterwards delivered his country from the neighbouring inhabitants, who made war against his father, at the instigation of Diana, whose altars Œneus had neglected. See: Œneus. No sooner were they destroyed than Diana punished the negligence of Œneus by a greater calamity. She sent a huge wild boar, which laid waste all the country, and seemed invincible on account of its immense size. It became soon a public concern; all the neighbouring princes assembled to destroy this terrible animal, and nothing became more famous in mythological history than the hunting of the Calydonian boar. The princes and chiefs who assembled, and who are mentioned by mythologists, are Meleager son of Œneus, Idas and Lynceus sons of Aphareus, Dryas son of Mars, Castor and Pollux sons of Jupiter and Leda, Pirithous son of Ixion, Theseus son of Ægeus, Anceus and Cepheus sons of Lycurgus, Admetes son of Pheres, Jason son of Æson, Peleus and Telamon sons of Æacus, Iphicles son of Amphitryon, Eurytryon son of Actor, Atalanta daughter of Schœneus, Iolas the friend of Hercules, the sons of Thestius, Amphiaraus son of Oileus, Protheus, Cometes, the brothers of Althæa, Hippothous son of Cercyon, Leucippus, Adrastus, Ceneus, Phileus, Echeon, Lelex, Phœnix son of Amyntor, Panopeus, Hyleus, Hippasus, Nestor, Menœtius the father of Patroclus, Amphicides, Laertes the father of Ulysses, and the four sons of Hippocoon. This troop of armed men attacked the boar with unusual fury, and it was at last killed by Meleager. The conqueror gave the skin and the head to Atalanta, who had first wounded the animal. This partiality to a woman irritated the others, and particularly Toxeus and Plexippus the brothers of Althæa, and they endeavoured to rob Atalanta of the honourable present. Meleager defended a woman, of whom he was enamoured, and killed his uncles in the attempt. Meantime the news of this celebrated conquest had already reached Calydon, and Althæa went to the temple of the gods to return thanks for the victory which her son had gained. As she went she met the corpses of her brothers that were brought from the chase, and at this mournful spectacle she filled the whole city with her lamentations. She was upon this informed that they had been killed by Meleager, and in the moment of resentment, to revenge the death of her brothers, she threw into the fire the fatal stick on which her son’s life depended, and Meleager died as soon as it was consumed. Homer does not mention the fire-brand, whence some have imagined that this fable is posterior to that poet’s age. But he says that the death of Toxeus and Plexippus so irritated Althæa, that she uttered the most horrible curses and imprecations upon the head of her son. Meleager married Cleopatra the daughter of Idas and Marpessa, as also Atalanta, according to some accounts. Apollodorus, bk. 1, ch. 8.—Apollonius, Argonautica, bk. 1, li. 997; bk. 3, li. 518.—Flaccus, bks. 1 & 6.—Pausanias, bk. 10, ch. 31.—Hyginus, fable 14.—Ovid, Metamorphoses, bk. 8.—Homer, Iliad, bk. 9.――A general who supported Aridæus when he had been made king, after the death of his brother Alexander the Great.――A brother of Ptolemy, made king of Macedonia B.C. 280 years. He was but two months invested with the regal authority.――A Greek poet in the reign of Seleucus, the last of the Seleucidæ. He was born at Tyre, and died at Cos. It is to his well-directed labours that we are indebted for the Anthologia, or collection of Greek epigrams, which he selected from 46 of the best and most esteemed poets. The original collection of Meleager has been greatly altered by succeeding editors. The best edition of the Anthologia is that of Brunck, in three vols., 4to and 8vo, Strasbourg, 1772.

Mĕleāgrĭdes, the sisters of Meleager, daughters of Œneus and Althæa. They were so disconsolate at the death of their brother Meleager, that they refused all aliments, and were, at the point of death, changed into birds called Meleagrides, whose feathers and eggs, as it is supposed, are of a different colour. The youngest of the sisters, Gorge and Dejanira, who had been married, escaped this metamorphosis. Apollodorus, bk. 1, ch. 8.—Ovid, Metamorphoses, bk. 8, li. 540.—Pliny, bk. 10, ch. 26.

Melesander, an Athenian general, who died B.C. 414.

Meles (ētis), a river of Asia Minor, in Ionia, near Smyrna. Some of the ancients supposed that Homer was born on the banks of that river, from which circumstance they call him Melisigènes, and his compositions Meletææ chartæ. It is even supported that he composed his poems in a cave near the source of that river. Strabo, bk. 12.—Statius, bk. 2, Sylvæ, poem 7, li. 34.—Tibullus, bk. 4, poem 1, li. 201.—Pausanias, bk. 7, ch. 5.――A beautiful Athenian youth, greatly beloved by Timagoras, whose affections he repaid with the greatest coldness and indifference. He even ordered Timagoras to leap down a precipice, from the top of the citadel of Athens, and Timagoras, not to disoblige him, obeyed, and was killed in the fall. This token of true friendship and affection had such an effect upon Meles, that he threw himself down from the place, to atone by his death for the ingratitude which he had shown to Timagoras. Pausanias, bk. 1, ch. 30.――A king of Lydia, who succeeded his father Alyattes, about 747 years before Christ. He was father to Candaules.

Melesigĕnes, or Melesigĕna, a name given to Homer. See: Meles.

Melia, a daughter of Oceanus, who married Inachus.――A nymph, &c. Apollodorus.――A daughter of Oceanus, sister to Caanthus. She became mother of Ismarus and Tenerus by Apollo. Tenerus was endowed with the gift of prophecy, and the river Ladon in Bœtia assumed the name of Ismarus. Pausanias, bk. 9, ch. 10.――One of the Nereides.――A daughter of Agenor.

Mĕlĭbœa, a daughter of Oceanus, who married Pelasgus.――A daughter of Amphion and Niobe. Apollodorus.――A maritime town of Magnesia in Thessaly, at the foot of mount Ossa, famous for dyeing wool. The epithet of Melibœus is applied to Philoctetes, because he reigned there. Virgil, Æneid, bk. 3, li. 401; bk. 5, li. 251.—Herodotus, bk. 7, ch. 188.――Also an island at the mouth of the Orontes in Syria, whence Melibœa purpura. Mela, bk. 2, ch. 3.

Melibœus, a shepherd introduced in Virgil’s eclogues.

Mĕlĭcerta, Melicertes, or Melicertus, a son of Athamas and Ino. He was saved by his mother from the fury of his father, who prepared to dash him against the wall as he had done his brother Learchus. The mother was so terrified that she threw herself into the sea, with Melicerta in her arms. Neptune had compassion on the misfortunes of Ino and her son, and changed them both into sea deities. Ino was called Leucothoe or Matuta, and Melicerta was known among the Greeks by the name of Palæmon, and among the Latins by that of Portumnus. Some suppose that the Isthmian games were in honour of Melicerta. See: Isthmia. Apollodorus, bk. 1, ch. 9; bk. 3, ch. 4.—Pausanias, bk. 1, ch. 44.—Hyginus, fables 1 & 2.—Ovid, Metamorphoses, bk. 4, li. 529, &c.—Plutarch de Convivium Septem Sapientium.

Meligūnis, one of the Æolian islands near Sicily.

Melīna, a daughter of Thespius, mother of Laomedon by Hercules.

Melīsa, a town of Magna Græcia.

Melissa, a daughter of Melissus king of Crete, who, with her sister Amalthæa, fed Jupiter with the milk of goats. She first found out the means of collecting honey; whence some have imagined that she was changed into a bee, as her name is the Greek word for that insect. Columella.――One of the Oceanides, who married Inachus, by whom she had Phoroneus and Ægialus.――A daughter of Procles, who married Periander the son of Cypselus, by whom, in her pregnancy, she was killed with a blow of his foot, by the false accusation of his concubines. Diogenes Laërtius.—Pausanias, bk. 1, ch. 28.――A woman of Corinth, who refused to initiate others in the festivals of Ceres, after she had received admission. She was torn to pieces upon this disobedience, and the goddess made a swarm of bees rise from her body.

Melissus, a king of Crete, father to Melissa and Amalthæa. Hyginus, Poetica Astronomica, bk. 2, ch. 13.—Lactantius [Placidus], bk. 1, ch. 22.――An admiral of the Samian fleet, B.C. 441. He was defeated by Pericles, &c. Plutarch, Pericles.――A philosopher of Samos, who maintained that the world was infinite, immovable, and without a vacuum. According to his doctrines, no one could advance any argument upon the power or attributes of Providence, as all human knowledge was weak and imperfect. Themistocles was among his pupils. He flourished about 440 years before the christian era. Diogenes Laërtius.――A freedman of Mecænas, appointed librarian to Augustus. He wrote some comedies. Ovid, ex Ponto, bk. 4, ltr. 16, li. 30.—Suetonius, Lives of the Grammarians.

Melĭta, an island in the Libyan sea, between Sicily and Africa, now called Malta. The soil was fertile, and the country famous for its wool. It was first peopled by the Phœnicians. St. Paul was shipwrecked there, and cursed all venomous creatures, which now are not to be found in the whole island. Some, however, suppose that the island on which the Apostle was shipwrecked, was another island of the same name in the Adriatic on the coast of Illyricum, now called Melede. Malta is now remarkable as being the residence of the knights of Malta, formerly of St. John of Jerusalem, settled there A.D. 1530, by the concession of Charles V., after their expulsion from Rhodes by the Turks. Strabo, bk. 6.—Mela, bk. 2, ch. 7.—Cicero, Against Verres, bk. 4, ch. 46.――Another on the coast of Illyricum, in the Adriatic, now Melede. Pliny, bk. 3, ch. 26.――An ancient name of Samothrace. Strabo, bk. 10.――One of the Nereides. Virgil, Æneid, bk. 5, li. 825.

Melitene, a province of Armenia.

Melĭtus, a poet and orator of Athens, who became one of the principal accusers of Socrates. After his eloquence had prevailed, and Socrates had been put ignominiously to death, the Athenians repented of their severity to the philosopher, and condemned his accusers. Melitus perished among them. His character was mean and insidious, and his poems had nothing great or sublime. Diogenes Laërtius.

Spurius Melius, a Roman knight accused of aspiring to tyranny, on account of his uncommon liberality to the populace. He was summoned to appear by the dictator Lucius Quinctius Cincinnatus, and when he refused to obey, he was put to death by Ahala the master of horse, A.U.C. 314.—Varro, de Lingua Latina, bk. 4.—Valerius Maximus, bk. 6, ch. 3.

Melixandrus, a Milesian, who wrote an account of the wars of the Lapithæ and Centaurs. Ælian, Varia Historia, bk. 11, ch. 2.

Mella, or Mela, a small river of Cisalpine Gaul, falling into the Ollius, and with it into the Po. Catullus, poem 68, li. 33.—Virgil, Georgics, bk. 4, li. 278.

Mella Annæus, the father of Lucan. He was accused of being privy to Piso’s conspiracy against Nero, upon which he opened his veins. Tacitus, Annals, bk. 16, ch. 17.

Melobōsis, one of the Oceanides.

Melon, an astrologer, who feigned madness and burnt his house that he might not go to an expedition, which he knew would be attended with great calamities.――An interpreter of king Darius. Curtius, bk. 5, ch. 13.

Melos, now Milo, an island between Crete and Peloponnesus, about 24 miles from Scyllæum, about 60 miles in circumference, and of an oblong figure. It enjoyed its independence for above 700 years before the time of the Peloponnesian war. This island was originally peopled by a Lacedæmonian colony, 1116 years before the christian era. From this reason the inhabitants refused to join the rest of the islands and the Athenians against the Peloponnesians. This refusal was severely punished. The Athenians took Melos, and put to the sword all such as were able to bear arms. The women and children were made slaves, and the island left desolate. An Athenian colony repeopled it, till Lysander reconquered it and re-established the original inhabitants in their possessions. The island produced a kind of earth successfully employed in painting and medicine. Strabo, bk. 7.—Mela, bk. 2, ch. 7.—Pliny, bk. 4, ch. 12; bk. 35, ch. 9.—Thucydides, bk. 2, &c.

Melpes, now Melpa, a river of Lucania, falling into the Tyrrhene sea. Pliny, bk. 3, ch. 5.

Melpia, a village of Arcadia. Pausanias, bk. 8, ch. 38.

Melpŏmĕne, one of the Muses, daughter of Jupiter and Mnemosyne. She presided over tragedy. Horace has addressed the finest of his odes to her, as to the patroness of lyric poetry. She was generally represented as a young woman with a serious countenance. Her garments were splendid; she wore a buskin, and held a dagger in one hand, and in the other a sceptre and crowns. Horace, bk. 3, ode 4.—Hesiod, Theogony.

Memaceni, a powerful nation of Asia, &c. Curtius.

Memmia Sulpitia, a woman who married the emperor Alexander Severus. She died when young.

Memmia lex, ordained that no one should be entered on the calendar of criminals who was absent on the public account.

Memmius, a Roman citizen, accused of ambitus. Cicero, Letters to his brother Quintus, bk. 3.――A Roman knight, who rendered himself illustrious for his eloquence and poetical talents. He was made tribune, pretor, and afterwards governor of Bithynia. He was accused of extortion in his province, and banished by Julius Cæsar, though Cicero undertook his defence. Lucretius dedicated his poem to him. Cicero, Brutus.――Regulus, a Roman of whom Nero observed, that he deserved to be invested with the imperial purple. Tacitus, Annals, bk. 14, ch. 47.――A Roman who accused Jugurtha before the Roman people.――A lieutenant of Pompey, &c.――The family of the Memmii were plebeians. They were descended, according to some accounts, from Mnestheus the friend of Æneas. Virgil, Æneid, bk. 5, li. 117.

Memnon, a king of Æthiopia, son of Tithonus and Aurora. He came with a body of 10,000 men to assist his uncle Priam, during the Trojan war, where he behaved with great courage, and killed Antilochus, Nestor’s son. The aged father challenged the Æthiopian monarch, but Memnon refused it on account of the venerable age of Nestor, and accepted that of Achilles. He was killed in the combat, in the sight of the Grecian and Trojan armies. Aurora was so disconsolate at the death of her son, that she flew to Jupiter all bathed in tears, and begged the god to grant her son such honours as might distinguish him from other mortals. Jupiter consented, and immediately a numerous flight of birds issued from the burning pile on which the body was laid, and after they had flown three times round the flames, they divided themselves into two separate bodies, and fought with such acrimony, that above half of them fell down into the fire, as victims to appease the manes of Memnon. These birds were called Memnonides; and it has been observed by some of the ancients, that they never failed to return yearly to the tomb of Memnon in Troas, and repeat the same bloody engagement, in honour of the hero, from whom they received their name. The Æthiopians or Egyptians, over whom Memnon reigned, erected a celebrated statue to the honour of their monarch. This statue had the wonderful property of uttering a melodious sound every day, at sun-rising, like that which is heard at the breaking of the string of a harp when it is wound up. This was effected by the rays of the sun when they fell upon it. At the setting of the sun, and in the night the sound was lugubrious. This is supported by the testimony of the geographer Strabo, who confesses himself ignorant whether it proceeded from the basis of the statue, or the people that were then round it. This celebrated statue was dismantled by order of Cambyses, when he conquered Egypt, and its ruins still astonish modern travellers by their grandeur and beauty. Memnon was the inventor of the alphabet, according to Anticlides, a writer mentioned by Pliny, bk. 7, ch. 56. Moschus, Epitaphios Bionis.—Ovid, Metamorphoses, bk. 13, li. 578, &c.—Ælian, bk. 5, ch. 1.—Pausanias, bk. 1, ch. 42; bk. 10, ch. 31.—Strabo, bks. 13 & 17.—Juvenal, satire 15, li. 5.—Philostratus, on Apollodorus.—Pliny, bk. 36, ch. 7.—Homer, Odyssey, bk. 9.—Quintus Calaber [Smyrnæus].――A general of the Persian forces, when Alexander invaded Asia. He distinguished himself for his attachment to the interest of Darius, his valour in the field, the soundness of his counsels, and his great sagacity. He defended Milotus against Alexander, and died in the midst of his successful enterprises, B.C. 333. His wife Barsine was taken prisoner with the wife of Darius. Diodorus, bk. 16.――A governor of Cœlosyria.――A man appointed governor of Thrace by Alexander.――A man who wrote a history of Heraclea in Pontus, in the age of Augustus.

Memphis, a celebrated town of Egypt, on the western banks of the Nile, above the Delta. It once contained many beautiful temples, particularly those of the god Apis (bos Memphites), whose worship was observed with the greatest ceremonies. See: Apis. It was in the neighbourhood of Memphis that those famous pyramids were built, whose grandeur and beauty still astonish the modern traveller. These noble monuments of Egyptian vanity, which pass for one of the wonders of the world, are about 20 in number, three of which, by their superior size, particularly claim attention. The largest of these is 481 feet in height measured perpendicularly, and the area of its basis is on 480,249 square feet, or something more than 11 English acres of ground. It has steps all round with massy and polished stones, so large that the breadth and depth of every step is one single stone. The smallest stone, according to an ancient historian, is not less than 30 feet. The number of steps, according to modern observation, amounts to 208, a number which is not always adhered to by travellers. The place where Memphis formerly stood is not now known; the ruins of its fallen grandeur were conveyed to Alexandria to beautify its palaces, or to adorn the neighbouring cities. Tibullus, bk. 1, poem 7, li. 28.—Silius Italicus, bk. 14, li. 660.—Strabo, bk. 17.—Mela, bk. 1, ch. 9.—Diodorus, bk. 1.—Plutarch, De Iside et Osiride.—Herodotus, bk. 2, ch. 10, &c.—Josephus, Jewish Antiquities, bk. 8.――A nymph, daughter of the Nile, who married Ephesus, by whom she had Libya. She gave her name to the celebrated city of Memphis. Apollodorus, bk. 2, ch. 1.――The wife of Danaus. Apollodorus, bk. 2, ch. 1.

Memphītis, a son of Ptolemy Physcon king of Egypt. He was put to death by his father.

Mena, a goddess worshipped at Rome, and supposed to preside over the monthly infirmities of women. She was the same as Juno. According to some, the sacrifices offered to her were young puppies that still sucked their mother. Augustine, City of God, bk. 4, ch. 2.—Pliny, bk. 29, ch. 4.

Mena, or Menes, the first king of Egypt, according to some accounts.

Menalcas, a shepherd in Virgil’s eclogues.

Menalcĭdas, an intriguing Lacedæmonian in the time of the famous Achæan league. He was accused before the Romans, and he killed himself.

Menalippe, a sister of Antiope queen of the Amazons, taken by Hercules when that hero made war against this celebrated nation. She was ransomed, and Hercules received in exchange the arms and belt of the queen. Juvenal, satire 8, li. 229.――A daughter of the centaur Chiron, beloved and ravished by Æolus son of Hellen. She retired into the woods to hide her disgrace from the eyes of her father, and when she had brought forth she entreated the gods to remove her totally from the pursuits of Chiron. She was changed into a mare, and called Ocyroe. Some suppose that she assumed the name of Menalippe, and lost that of Ocyroe. She became a constellation after death, called the horse. Some authors call her Hippe, or Evippe. Hyginus, Poetica Astronomica, bk. 2, ch. 18.—Pollux, bk. 4.――Menalippe is a name common to other persons, but it is generally spelt Melanippe by the best authors. See: Melanippe.

Menalippus. See: Melanippus.

Menander, a celebrated comic poet of Athens, educated under Theophrastus. He was universally esteemed by the Greeks, and received the appellation of Prince of the New Comedy. He did not disgrace his compositions, like Aristophanes, by mean and indecent reflections and illiberal satire, but his writings were replete with elegance, refined wit, and judicious observations. Of 108 comedies which he wrote, nothing remains but a few fragments. It is said that Terence translated all these, and indeed we may have cause to lament the loss of such valuable writings, when we are told by the ancients that the elegant Terence, so much admired, was in the opinion of his countrymen reckoned inferior to Menander. It is said that Menander drowned himself in the 52nd year of his age, B.C. 293, because the compositions of his rival Philemon obtained more applause than his own. Only eight of his numerous comedies were rewarded with a poetical prize. The name of his father was Diopythus, and that of his mother Hegistrata. His fragments, with those of Philemon, were published by Clericus, 8vo, 1709. Quintilian, bk. 10, ch. 1.—Paterculus, bk. 1, ch. 16.――A man who wrote an account of embassies, &c.――A king of Bactria, whose ashes were divided among his subjects, &c.――An historian of Ephesus.――Another of Pergamus.――An Athenian general defeated at Ægospotamos by Lysander.――An Athenian sent to Sicily with Nicias.――A man put to death by Alexander for deserting a fortress of which he had the command.――An officer under Mithridates, sent against Lucullus.

Menapii, a people of Belgic Gaul, near the Mosa. Cæsar, Gallic War.

Menapis, a Persian exile, made satrap of Hyrcania by Alexander. Curtius, bk. 6, ch. 4.

Menas, a freedman of Pompey the Great, who distinguished himself by the active and perfidious part which he took in the civil wars which were kindled between the younger Pompey and Augustus. When Pompey invited Augustus to his galley, Menas advised his master to seize the person of his enemy, and at the same time the Roman empire, by cutting the cables of his ship. “No,” replied Pompey, “I would have approved of the measure if you had done it without consulting me; but I scorn to break my word.” Suetonius, Octavius Augustus. Horace, epode 4, has ridiculed the pride of Menas, and recalled to his mind his former meanness and obscurity.

Menchēres, the twelfth king of Memphis.

Mendes, a city of Egypt, near Lycopolis, on one of the mouths of the Nile, called the Mendesian mouth. Pan, under the form of a goat, was worshipped there with the greatest solemnity. It was unlawful to kill one of these animals, with which the Egyptians were not ashamed to have public commerce, to the disgrace of human nature, from the superstitious notion that such embraces had given birth to the greatest heroes of antiquity, as Alexander, Scipio, &c. Herodotus, bk. 2, chs. 42 & 46.—Strabo, bk. 17.—Diodorus, bk. 1.

Menĕcles, an orator of Alabanda in Caria, who settled at Rhodes. Cicero, On Oratory, bk. 2, ch. 53.—Strabo, bk. 14.

Meneclides, a detractor of the character of Epaminondas. Cornelius Nepos, Epaminondas.

Menecrătes, a physician of Syracuse, famous for his vanity and arrogance. He was generally accompanied by some of his patients, whose disorders he had cured. He disguised one in the habit of Apollo, and the other in that of Æsculapius, while he reserved for himself the title and name of Jupiter, whose power was extended over those inferior deities. He crowned himself like the master of the gods; and in a letter which he wrote to Philip king of Macedon, he styled himself in these words, Menecrates Jupiter to king Philip, greeting. The Macedonian monarch answered, Philip to Menecrates, greeting, and better sense. Philip also invited him to one of his feasts, but when the meats were served up, a table was put separate for the physician, on which he was served only with perfumes and frankincense, like the father of the gods. This entertainment displeased Menecrates; he remembered that he was a mortal, and hurried away from the company. He lived about 360 years before the christian era. The book which he wrote on cures is lost. Ælian, Varia Historia, bk. 10, ch. 51.—Athenæus, bk. 7, ch. 13.――One of the generals of Seleucus.――A physician under Tiberius.――A Greek historian of Nysa, disciple to Aristarchus, B.C. 119. Strabo, bk. 16.――An Ephesian architect who wrote on agriculture. Varro, de Re Rustica.――An historian.――A man appointed to settle the disputes of the Athenians and Lacedæmonians in the eighth year of the Peloponnesian war. His father’s name was Amphidorus.――An officer in the fleet of Pompey the son of Pompey the Great.

Menedēmus, an officer of Alexander, killed by the ♦Dahæ. Curtius, bk. 7, ch. 6.――A Socratic philosopher of Eretria, who was originally a tent-maker, an employment which he left for the profession of arms. The persuasive eloquence and philosophical lectures of Plato had such an influence over him, that he gave up his offices in the state to cultivate literature. It is said that he died through melancholy when Antigonus, one of Alexander’s generals, had made himself master of his country, B.C. 301, in the 74th year of his age. Some attribute his death to a different cause, and say that he was falsely accused of treason, for which he became so desperate that he died, after he had passed seven days without taking any aliments. He was called the Eretrian Bull, on account of his gravity. Strabo, bk. 9.—Diogenes Laërtius.――A cynic philosopher of Lampsacus, who said that he was come from hell to observe the sins and wickedness of mankind. His habit was that of the furies, and his behaviour was a proof of his insanity. He was the disciple of Colotes of Lampsacus. Diogenes Laërtius.――An officer of Lucullus.――A philosopher of Athens. Cicero, On Oratory, bk. 1, ch. 19.

♦ ‘Danæ’ replaced with ‘Dahæ’

Menegetas, a boxer or wrestler in Philip of Macedon’s army, &c. Polyænus.

Menĕlāi portus, a harbour on the coast of Africa, between Cyrene and Egypt. Cornelius Nepos, Agesilaus, ch. 8.—Strabo, bk. 1.――Mons, a hill near Sparta, with a fortification, called Menelaium. Livy, bk. 34, ch. 28.

Mĕnĕlāia, a festival celebrated at Therapnæ in Laconia, in honour of Menelaus. He had there a temple, where he was worshipped with his wife Helen, as one of the supreme gods.

Mĕnĕlāus, a king of Sparta, brother to Agamemnon. His father’s name was Atreus, according to Homer, or, according to the more probable opinion of Hesiod, Apollodorus, &c., he was the son of Plisthenes and Ærope. See: Plisthenes. He was educated with his brother Agamemnon in the house of Atreus, but soon after the death of this monarch, Thyestes his brother usurped the kingdom, and banished the two children of Plisthenes. Menelaus and Agamemnon came to the court of Œneus king of Calydonia, who treated them with tenderness and paternal care. From Calydonia they went to Sparta, where, like the rest of the Grecian princes, they solicited the marriage of Helen the daughter of king Tyndarus. By the artifice and advice of Ulysses, Helen was permitted to choose a husband, and she fixed her eyes upon Menelaus, and married him, after her numerous suitors had solemnly bound themselves by an oath to defend her, and protect her person against the violence or assault of every intruder. See: Helena. As soon as the nuptials were celebrated, ♦Tyndarus resigned the crown to his son-in-law, and their happiness was complete. This was, however, of short duration; Helen was the fairest woman of the age, and Venus had promised Paris the son of Priam to reward him with such a beauty. See: Paris. The arrival of Paris in Sparta was the cause of great revolutions. The absence of Menelaus in Crete gave opportunities to the Trojan prince to corrupt the fidelity of Helen, and to carry away home what the goddess of beauty had promised to him as his due. This action was highly resented by Menelaus; he reminded the Greek princes of their oath and solemn engagements when they courted the daughter of Tyndarus, and immediately all Greece took up arms to defend his cause. The combined forces assembled at Aulis in Bœotia, where they chose Agamemnon for their general, and Calchas for their high priest; and after their applications to the court of Priam for the recovery of Helen had proved fruitless, they marched to meet their enemies in the field. During the Trojan war Menelaus behaved with great spirit and courage, and Paris must have fallen by his hand, had not Venus interposed and redeemed him from certain death. He also expressed his wish to engage Hector, but Agamemnon hindered him from fighting so powerful an adversary. In the tenth year of the Trojan war, Helen, as it is reported, obtained the forgiveness and the good graces of Menelaus by introducing him with Ulysses, the night that Troy was reduced to ashes, into the chamber of Deiphobus, whom she had married after the death of Paris. This perfidious conduct totally reconciled her to her first husband; and she returned with him to Sparta, during a voyage of eight years. He died some time after his return. He had a daughter called Hermione, and Nicostratus, according to some, by Helen, and a son called Megapenthes by a concubine. Some say that Menelaus went to Egypt on his return from the Trojan war to obtain Helen, who had been detained there by the king of the country. See: Helena. The palace which Menelaus once inhabited was still entire in the days of Pausanias, as well as the temple which had been raised to his memory by the people of Sparta. Homer, Odyssey, bk. 4, &c.; Iliad, bk. 1, &c.—Apollodorus, bk. 3, ch. 10.—Pausanias, bk. 3, chs. 14 & 19.—Dictys Cretensis, bk. 2, &c.—Virgil, Æneid, bk. 2, &c.—Quintus Smyrnæus bk. 14.—Ovid, Heroides, poems 5 & 13.—Hyginus fable 79.—Euripides, Iphigeneia.—Propertius, bk. 2.—Sophocles.――A lieutenant of Ptolemy, set over Salamis. Polyænus.—Pausanias.――A city of Egypt. Strabo, bk. 14.――A mathematician in the age of the emperor Trajan.

♦ ‘Tyndaros’ replaced with ‘Tyndarus’

Menēnius Agrippa, a celebrated Roman who appeased the Roman populace in the infancy of the consular government by repeating the well-known fable of the belly and limbs. He flourished 495 B.C. Livy, bk. 2, chs. 16, 32, 33.――A Roman consul.――An insane person in the age of Horace.

Menĕphron, a man who attempted to offer violence to his own mother. He was changed into a wild beast. Ovid, Metamorphoses, bk. 7, li. 387.

Mēnes, the first king of Egypt. He built the town of Memphis, as is generally supposed, and deserved, by his abilities and popularity, to be called a god after death. Herodotus, bk. 2, chs. 1 & 90.—Diodorus, bk. 1.

Menesthēi portus, a town of Hispania ♦Bætica.

♦ ‘Bœtica’ replaced with ‘Bætica’

Menesteus, Menestheus, or Mnestheus, a son of Pereus, who so insinuated himself into the favour of the people of Athens, that, during the long absence of Theseus, he was elected king. The lawful monarch at his return home was expelled, and Mnestheus established his usurpation by his popularity and great moderation. As he had been one of Helen’s suitors, he went to the Trojan war at the head of the people of Athens, and died in his return in the island of Melos. He reigned 23 years B.C. 1205, and was succeeded by Demophoon the son of Theseus. Plutarch, Theseus.――A son of Iphicrates, who distinguished himself in the Athenian armies. Cornelius Nepos, Timoleon.

Menesthius, a Greek killed by Paris in the Trojan war.

Menetas, a man set governor over Babylon by Alexander. Curtius, bk. 5, ch. 1.

Meninx, or Lotophagītis insula, now Zerbi, an island on the coast of Africa, near the Syrtis Minor. It was peopled by the people of Neritos, and thence called Neritia. Pliny, bk. 5, ch. 7.—Strabo, bk. 17.—Silius Italicus, bk. 3, li. 318.

Menippa, one of the Amazons who assisted Ætes, &c.

Menippides, a son of Hercules. Apollodorus.

Menippus, a cynic philosopher of Phœnicia. He was originally a slave, and obtained his liberty with a sum of money, and became one of the greatest usurers at Thebes. He grew so desperate from the continual reproaches and insults to which he was daily exposed on account of his meanness, that he destroyed himself. He wrote 13 books of satires, which have been lost. Marcus Varro composed satires in imitation of his style, and called them Menippean.――A native of Stratonice, who was preceptor to Cicero for some time. Cicero, Brutus, ch. 91.

Menius, a plebeian consul at Rome. He was the first who made the rostrum at Rome with the beaks (rostra) of the enemy’s ships.――A son of Lycaon, killed by the same thunderbolt which destroyed his father. Ovid, Ibis, li. 472.

Mennis, a town of Assyria abounding in bitumen. Curtius, bk. 5, ch. 1.

Menodŏtus, a physician.――A Samian historian.

Menœceus, a Theban, father of Hipponome, Jocasta, and Creon.――A young Theban, son of Creon. He offered himself to death when Tiresias, to ensure victory on the side of Thebes against the Argive forces, ordered the Thebans to sacrifice one of the descendants of those who sprang from the dragon’s teeth, and he killed himself near the cave where the dragon of Mars had formerly resided. The gods required this sacrifice because the dragon had been killed by Cadmus, and no sooner was Creon dead than his countrymen obtained the victory. Statius, Thebiad, bk. 10, li. 614.—Euripides, Phœnician Women.—Apollodorus, bk. 3, ch. 6.—Cicero, Tusculanæ Disputationes, bk. 1, ch. 98.—Sophocles, Antigone.

Menœtes, the pilot of the ship Gyas, at the naval games exhibited by Æneas at the anniversary of his father’s death. He was thrown into the sea by Gyas for his inattention, and saved himself by swimming to a rock. Virgil, Æneid, bk. 5, li. 161, &c.――An Arcadian, killed by Turnus in the wars of Æneas. Æneid, bk. 12, li. 517.

Menœtiades. See: Menœtius.

Menœtius, a son of Actor and Ægina after her amour with Jupiter. He left his mother and went to Opus, where he had, by Sthenele, or, according to others, by Philomela or Polymela, Patroclus, often called from him Menœtiades. Menœtius was one of the Argonauts. Apollodorus, bk. 4, ch. 24.—Homer, Iliad, bk. 1, li. 307.—Hyginus, fable 97.

Menon, a Thessalian commander in the expedition of Cyrus the younger against his brother Artaxerxes. He was dismissed on the suspicion that he had betrayed his fellow-soldiers. Diodorus, bk. 14.――A Thessalian refused the freedom of Athens, though he furnished a number of auxiliaries to the people.――The husband of Semiramis.――A sophist in the age of Socrates.――One of the first kings of Phrygia. Dionysius of Halicarnassus.――A scholar of Phidias, &c.

Menophĭlus, a eunuch to whom Mithridates, when conquered by Pompey, entrusted the care of his daughter. Menophilus murdered the princess for fear of her falling into the enemy’s hands. Ammianus, bk. 16.

Menta, or Minthe. See: Minthe.

Mentes, a king of the Taphians in Ætolia, son of Anchialus, in the time of the Trojan war.

Mentissa, a town of Spain. Livy, bk. 26, ch. 17.

Mento, a Roman consul, &c.

Mentor, a faithful friend of Ulysses.――A son of Hercules.――A king of Sidonia, who revolted against Artaxerxes Ochus, and afterwards was restored to favour by his treachery to his allies, &c. Diodorus, bk. 16.――An excellent artist in polishing cups and engraving flowers on them. Pliny, bk. 33, ch. 11.—Martial, bk. 9, ltr. 63, ltr. 16.

Menyllus, a Macedonian set over the garrison which Antipater had stationed at Athens. He attempted in vain to corrupt the innocence of Phocion. Plutarch.

Mera, a priest of Venus. Statius, Thebiad, bk. 8, li. 478.――A dog of Icarius, which by his cries showed Erigone where her murdered father had been thrown. Immediately after this discovery the daughter hung herself in despair, and the dog pined away, and was made a constellation in the heavens known by the name of Canis. Ovid, Metamorphoses, bk. 7, li. 363.—Hyginus, fable 130.—Ælian, Varia Historia, bk. 7, ch. 28.

Mera, or Mœra, one of the Atlantides, who married Tegeates son of Lycaon. Pausanias, bk. 8, ch. 48.

Mercurii promontorium, a cape of Africa near Clypea. Livy, bk. 26, ch. 44; bk. 29, ch. 27.—Pliny, bk. 5, ch. 4.

Mercŭrius, a celebrated god of antiquity, called Hermes by the Greeks. There were no less than five of this name according to Cicero; a son of Cœlus and Lux; a son of Valens and Coronis; a son of the Nile; a son of Jupiter and Maia; and another called by the Egyptians Thaut. Some add a sixth, a son of Bacchus and Proserpine. To the son of Jupiter and Maia, the actions of all the others have been probably attributed, as he is the most famous and the best known. Mercury was the messenger of the gods, and of Jupiter in particular; he was the patron of travellers and of shepherds; he conducted the souls of the dead into the infernal regions, and not only presided over orators, merchants, declaimers, but he was also the god of thieves, pickpockets, and all dishonest persons. His name is derived a mercibus, because he was the god of merchandise among the Latins. He was born, according to the more received opinion, in Arcadia, on mount Cyllene, and in his infancy he was entrusted to the care of the Seasons. The day that he was born, or more probably the following day, he gave an early proof of his craftiness and dishonesty, in stealing away the oxen of Admetus which Apollo tended. He gave another proof of his thievish propensity, by taking also the quiver and arrows of the divine shepherd, and he increased his fame by robbing Neptune of his trident, Venus of her girdle, Mars of his sword, Jupiter of his sceptre, and Vulcan of many of his mechanical instruments. These specimens of his art recommended him to the notice of the gods, and Jupiter took him as his messenger, interpreter, and cup-bearer in the assembly of the gods. This last office he discharged till the promotion of Ganymede. He was presented by the king of heaven with a winged cap called petasus, and with wings for his feet called talaria. He had also a short sword called herpe, which he lent to Perseus. With these he was enabled to go into whatever part of the universe he pleased with the greatest celerity; and besides, he was permitted to make himself invisible, and to assume whatever shape he pleased. As messenger of Jupiter he was entrusted with all his secrets. He was the ambassador and plenipotentiary of the gods, and he was concerned in all alliances and treaties. He was the confidant of Jupiter’s amours, and he often was set to watch over the jealousy and intrigues of Juno. The invention of the lyre and its seven strings is ascribed to him. This he gave to Apollo, and received in exchange the celebrated caduceus with which the god of poetry used to drive the flocks of king Admetus. See: Caduceus. In the wars of the giants against the gods, Mercury showed himself brave, spirited, and active. He delivered Mars from the long confinement which he suffered from the superior power of the Aloides. He purified the Danaides of the murder of their husbands, he tied Ixion to his wheel in the infernal regions, he destroyed the hundred-eyed Argus, he sold Hercules to Omphale the queen of Lydia, he conducted Priam to the tent of Achilles, to redeem the body of his son Hector, and he carried the infant Bacchus to the nymphs of Nysa. Mercury had many surnames and epithets. He was called Cyllenius, Caduceator, Acacetos, from Acacos, an Arcadian; Acacesius, Tricephalos, Triplex, Chthonius, Camillus, Agoneus, Delius, Arcas, &c. His children are also numerous as well as his amours. He was father of Autolycus by Chione; of Myrtillus by Cleobula; of Libys by Libya; of Echion and Eurytus by Antianira; of Cephalus by Creusa; of Prylis by Issa; and of Priapus, according to some. He was also father of Hermaphroditus by Venus; of Eudorus by Polimela; of Pan by Dryope, or Penelope. His worship was well established, particularly in Greece, Egypt, and Italy. He was worshipped at Tanagra in Bœotia, under the name of Criophorus, and represented as carrying a ram on his shoulders, because he delivered the inhabitants from a pestilence by telling them to carry a ram in that manner round the walls of their city. The Roman merchants yearly celebrated a festival on the 15th of May, in honour of Mercury, in a temple near the Circus Maximus. A pregnant sow was then sacrificed, and sometimes a calf and particularly the tongues of animals were offered. After the votaries had sprinkled themselves with water with laurel leaves, they offered prayers to the divinity, and entreated him to be favourable to them, and to forgive whatever artful measures, false oaths, or falsehoods they had used or uttered in the pursuit of gain. Sometimes Mercury appears on monuments with a large cloak round his arm, or tied under his chin. The chief ensigns of his power and offices are his caduceus, his petasus, and his talaria. Sometimes he is represented sitting upon a crayfish, holding in one hand his caduceus, and in the other the claws of the fish. At other times he is like a young man without a beard, holding in one hand a purse, as being the tutelary god of merchants, with a cock on his wrists as an emblem of vigilance, and at his feet a goat, a scorpion, and a fly. Some of his statues represented him as a youth fascino erecto. Sometimes he rests his foot upon a tortoise. In Egypt his statues represented him with the head of a dog, whence he was often confounded with Anubis, and received the sacrifice of a stork. Offerings of milk and honey were made because he was the god of eloquence, whose powers were sweet and persuasive. The Greeks and Romans offered tongues to him by throwing them into the fire, as he was the patron of speaking of which the tongue is the organ. Sometimes his statues represent him as without arms, because, according to some, the power of speech can prevail over everything, even without the assistance of arms. Homer, Odyssey, bk. 1, &c.; Iliad, bk. 1, &c.; Hymn to Hermes.—Lucian, Dialogi Mortuorum.—Ovid, Fasti, bk. 5, li. 667; Metamorphoses, bks. 1, 4, 11, 14.—Martial, bk. 9, ltr. 35.—Statius, Thebiad, bk. 4.—Pausanias, bks. 1, 7, 8, & 9.—Orpheus.—Plutarch, Numa.—Varro, de Lingua Latina, bk. 6.—Plato, Phædras.—Livy, bk. 36.—Virgil, Georgics, bk. 1; Æneid, bk. 1, li. 48.—Diodorus, bks. 4 & 5.—Apollodorus, bks. 1, 2, & 3.—Apollonius, Argonautica, bk. 1.—Horace, bk. 1, ode 10.—Hyginus, Poetica Astronomica, bk. 2.—Tzetzes, Lycophron, li. 219.—Cicero, de Natura Deorum.—Lactantius [Placidus].—Philostratus, bk. 1, Imagines, ch. 27.—Marcus Manilius.—Macrobius, bk. 1, Saturnalia, ch. 19.――Trismegistus, a priest and philosopher of Egypt, who taught his countrymen how to cultivate the olive, and measure their lands, and to understand hieroglyphics. He lived in the age of Osiris, and wrote 40 books on theology, medicine, and geography, from which Sanchoniathon the Phœnician historian has taken his theogonia. Diodorus, bks. 1, & 5.—Plutarch, de Iside et Osiride.—Cicero, bk. 3, de Natura Deorum.

Merĕtrix, a name under which Venus was worshipped at Abydos and at Samos, because both those places had been benefited by the intrigues or the influence of courtesans. Athenæus, bk. 13.

Mēriŏnes, a charioteer of Idomeneus king of Crete during the Trojan war, son of Molus, a Cretan prince, and Melphidis. He signalized himself before Troy, and fought with Deiphobus the son of Priam, whom he wounded. He was greatly admired by the Cretans, who even paid him divine honours after death. Horace, bk. 1, ode 6, li. 15.—Homer, Iliad, bk. 2, &c.—Dictys Cretensis, bk. 1, &c.—Ovid, Metamorphoses, bk. 13, fable 1.――A brother of Jason son of Æson, famous for his great opulence and for his avarice. Polyænus, bk. 6, ch. 1.

Mermĕros, a centaur. Ovid, Metamorphoses, bk. 12, li. 305.――A Trojan, killed by Antilochus.――A son of Jason and Medea, who was father to Ilus of Corinth. Pausanias, bk. 2, ch. 3.

Mermnadæ, a race of kings in Lydia, of which Gyges was the first. They sat on the Lydian throne till the reign of Crœsus, who was conquered by Cyrus king of Persia. They were descendants of the Heraclidæ, and probably received the name of Mermnadæ from Mermnas, one of their own family. They were descended from Lemnos, or, according to others, from Agelaus, the son of Omphale by Hercules. Herodotus, bk. 1, chs. 7 & 14.

Meroe, now Nuabia, an island of Æthiopia, with a town of the same name, celebrated for its wines. Its original name was Saba, and Cambyses gave it that of Meroe from his sister. Strabo, bk. 17.—Herodotus, bk. 2, ch. 31.—Pliny, bk. 2, ch. 173.—Mela, bk. 1.—Lucan, bk. 4, lis. 3, 33; bk. 10, lis. 163 & 303.

Merŏpe, one of the Atlantides. She married Sisyphus son of Æolus, and, like her sisters, was changed into a constellation after death. See: Pleiades. It is said, that in the constellation of the Pleiades the star of Merope appears more dim and obscure than the rest, because she, as the poets observe, married a mortal, while her sisters married some of the gods or their descendants. Ovid, Fasti, bk. 4, li. 175.—Diodorus, bk. 4.—Hyginus, fable 192.—Apollodorus, bk. 1, ch. 9.――A daughter of Cypselus, who married Cresphontes king of Messenia, by whom she had three children. Her husband and two of her children were murdered by Polyphontes. The murderer obliged her to marry him, and she would have been forced to comply had not Epytus or Telephontes, her third son, revenged his father’s death by assassinating Polyphontes. Apollodorus, bk. 2, ch. 6.—Pausanias, bk. 4, ch. 3.――A daughter of Œnopion, beloved by Orion. Apollodorus, bk. 1, ch. 4.――A daughter of the Cebrenus, who married Æsacus the son of Priam.――A daughter of Erechtheus, mother of Dædalus. Plutarch, Theseus.――A daughter of Pandarus.――A daughter of the river Sangarius, who married king Priam.

Merops, a king of the island of Cos, who married Clymene, one of the Oceanides. He was changed into an eagle and placed among the constellations. Ovid, Metamorphoses, bk. 1, li. 763.—Apollodorus, bk. 3.—Hyginus, Poetica astronomica, bk. 2, ch. 16.――A celebrated soothsayer of Percosus in Troas, who foretold the death of his sons Adrastus and Amphius, who were engaged in the Trojan war. They slighted their father’s advice, and were killed by Diomedes. Homer, Iliad, bk. 2.――One of the companions of Æneas, killed by Turnus. Virgil, Æneid, bk. 9, li. 702.

Meros, a mountain of India sacred to Jupiter. It is called by Pliny, bk. 6, ch. 21, Nysa. Bacchus was educated upon it, whence arose the fable that Bacchus was confined in the thigh (μηρος) of his father. Mela, bk. 2, ch. 7.—Pliny, bk. 8, ch. 13.—Curtius, bk. 8, ch. 10.—Diodorus, bk. 1.

Merŭla Cornelius, a Roman who fought against the Gauls, and who was made consul by Octavius in the place of Cinna. He some time after killed himself in despair, &c. Plutarch.

Mesabătes, a eunuch in Persia, flayed alive by order of Parysatis, because he had cut off the head and right hand of Cyrus. Plutarch, Artaxerxes.

Mesabius, a mountain of Bœotia, hanging over the Euripus. Pausanias, bk. 9, ch. 22.

Mesapia, an ancient name of Bœotia.

Mesaubius, a servant of Eumæus the steward of Ulysses. Homer, Odyssey, bk. 14, li. 449.

Mesembria, now Miseuria, a maritime city of Thrace. Hence Mesembriacus. Ovid, bk. 1, Tristia, bk. 6, li. 37.――Another at the mouth of the Lissus.

Mesene, an island in the Tigris where Apamea was built, now Disel. Pliny, bk. 6, ch. 27.

Mesomēdes, a lyric poet in the age of the emperor Antoninus.

Mesopotămia, a country of Asia, which receives its name from its situation (μεσος ποταμος) between the rivers Tigris and Euphrates. It is yearly inundated by the Euphrates, and the water properly conveyed over the country by canals. It is now called Diarbec. Strabo, bk. 2.—Mela, bk. 1, ch. 11.—Cicero, de Natura Deorum, bk. 2, ch. 52.

Messāla, a name of Valerius Corvinus, from his having conquered Messana in Sicily. This family was very ancient; the most celebrated was a friend of Brutus, who seized the camp of Augustus at Philippi. He was afterwards reconciled to Augustus, and died A.D. 9, in his 77th year. Plutarch.――Another consul, &c.――The father of Valeria, who married the dictator Sylla. Plutarch.――A great flatterer at the court of Tiberius.――A governor of Syria.――A tribune in one of the Roman legions during the civil war between Vespasian and Vitellius, of which he wrote an historical account mentioned by Tacitus, Dialogue on Oratory, ch. 14.――A consul with Domitius, &c.――A painter at Rome, who flourished B.C. 235.――A writer, whose book de Augusti progenie was edited 12mo, Leiden, 1648.

Messalīna Valeria, a daughter of Messala Barbatus. She married the emperor Claudius, and disgraced herself by her cruelties and incontinence. Her husband’s palace was not the only seat of her lasciviousness, but she prostituted herself in the public streets, and few men there were at Rome who could not boast of having enjoyed the favours of the impure Messalina. Her extravagancies at last irritated her husband; he commanded her to appear before him to answer all the accusations which were brought against her, upon which she attempted to destroy herself, and when her courage failed, one of the tribunes, who had been sent to her, despatched her with his sword, A.D. 48. It is in speaking of her debaucheries and lewdness that a celebrated satirist says,

Et lassata viris, necdum satiata, recessit.

Juvenal.—Tacitus, Annals, bk. 11, ch. 37.—Suetonius, Claudius.—Dio Cassius.――Another, called also Statilia. She was descended from a consular family, and married the consul Atticus Vistinus, whom Nero murdered. She received with great marks of tenderness her husband’s murderer and married him. She had married four husbands before she came to the imperial throne; and after the death of Nero she retired to literary pursuits and peaceful occupations. Otho courted her, and would have married her had he not destroyed himself. In his last moments he wrote her a very pathetic and consolatory letter, &c. Tacitus, Annals.

Messālīnus Marcus Valerius, a Roman officer in the reign of Tiberius. He was appointed governor of Dalmatia, and rendered himself known by his opposition to Piso, and by his attempts to persuade the Romans of the necessity of suffering women to accompany the camps on their different expeditions. Tacitus, Annals, bk. 3.――One of Domitian’s informers.――A flatterer of the emperor Tiberius.

Messāna, an ancient and celebrated town of Sicily, on the straits which separate Italy from Sicily. It was anciently called Zancle, and was founded 1600 years before the christian era. The inhabitants, being continually exposed to the depredation of the people of Cuma, implored the assistance of the Messenians of Peloponnesus, and with them repelled the enemy. After this victorious campaign, the Messenians entered Zancle, and lived in such intimacy with the inhabitants that they changed their name, and assumed that of the Messenians, and called their city Messana. Another account say that Anaxilaus tyrant of Rhegium made war against the Zancleans, with the assistance of the Messenians of Peloponnesus, and that after he had obtained a decisive victory, he called the conquered city Messana in compliment to his allies, about 494 years before the christian era. After this revolution at Zancle, the Mamertini took possession of it, and made it the capital of the neighbouring country. See: Mamertini. It afterwards fell into the hands of the Romans, and was for some time the chief of their possessions in Sicily. The inhabitants were called Messanii, Messanienses, and Mamertini. The straits of Messana have always been looked upon as very dangerous, especially by the ancients, on account of the rapidity of the currents, and the irregular and violent flowing and ebbing of the sea. Strabo, bk. 6.—Mela, bk. 2, ch. 7.—Pausanias, bk. 4, ch. 23.—Diodorus, bk. 4.—Thucydides, bk. 1, &c.—Herodotus, bk. 6, ch. 23; bk. 7, ch. 28.

Messapia, a country of Italy, between Tarentum and Brundusium. It is the same as Calabria. It received its name from Messapus the son of Neptune, who left a part of Bœotia called Messapia, and came to Italy, where he assisted the Rutulians against Æneas. Ovid, Metamorphoses, bk. 14, li. 513.—Virgil, Æneid, bk. 7, li. 691; bk. 8, li. 6; bk. 9, li. 27.

Messatis, a town of Achaia. Pausanias, bk. 7, ch. 18.

Messe, a town in the island of Cythera. Statius, bk. 1, Thebiad, bk. 4, li. 226.

Messeis, a fountain of Thessaly. Strabo, bk. 9.

Messēne, a daughter of Triopas king of Argos, who married Polycaon, son of Lelex king of Laconia. She encouraged her husband to levy troops, and to seize a part of Peloponnesus, which, after it had been conquered, received her name. She received divine honours after her death, and had a magnificent temple at Ithome, where her statue was made half of gold and half of Parian marble. Pausanias, bk. 4, chs. 1 & 13.

Messēne, or Messēna, now Maura-Matra, a city in the Peloponnesus, the capital of the country called Messenia. The inhabitants have rendered themselves famous for the war which they carried on against the Spartans, and which received the appellation of the Messenian war. The first Messenian war arose from the following circumstances. The Messenians offered violence to some Spartan women, who had assembled to offer sacrifices in a temple which was common to both nations, and which stood on the borders of their respective territories; and, besides, they killed Teleclus the Spartan king, who attempted to defend the innocence of the females. This account, according to the Spartan traditions, is contradicted by the Messenians, who observe that Teleclus, with a chosen body of Spartans, assembled at the temple before mentioned, disguised in women’s clothes, and all secretly armed with daggers. This hostile preparation was to surprise some of the neighbouring inhabitants; and in a quarrel which soon after arose, Teleclus and his associates were all killed. These quarrels were the cause of the first Messenian war, which began B.C. 743. It was carried on with vigour and spirit on both sides, and after many obstinate and bloody battles had been fought and continued for 19 years, it was at last finished by the taking of Ithome by the Spartans, a place which had stood a siege of 10 years, and been defended with all the power of the Messenians. The insults to which the conquered Messenians were continually exposed at last excited their resentment, and they resolved to shake off the yoke. They suddenly revolted, and the second Messenian war was begun 685 B.C., and continued 14 years. The Messenians at first gained some advantage, but a fatal battle in the third year of the war so totally disheartened them, that they fled to Ira, where they resolved to maintain an obstinate siege against their victorious pursuers. The Spartans were assisted by the Samians in besieging Ira, and the Messenians were at last obliged to submit to the superior power of their adversaries. The taking of Ira by the Lacedæmonians, after a siege of 11 years, put an end to the second Messenian war. Peace was re-established for some time in Peloponnesus, but after the expiration of 200 years, the Messenians attempted a third time to free themselves from the power of Lacedæmon, B.C. 465. At that time the Helots had revolted from the Spartans, and the Messenians, by joining their forces to these wretched slaves, looked upon their respective calamities as common, and thought themselves closely interested in each other’s welfare. The Lacedæmonians were assisted by the Athenians, but they soon grew jealous of one another’s power, and their political connection ended in the most inveterate enmity, and at last in open war. Ithome was the place in which the Messenians had a second time gathered all their forces, and though 10 years had already elapsed, both parties seemed equally confident of victory. The Spartans were afraid of storming Ithome, as the oracle of Delphi had threatened them with the greatest calamities if they offered any violence to a place which was dedicated to the service of Apollo. The Messenians, however, were soon obliged to submit to their victorious adversaries, B.C. 453, and they consented to leave their native country, and totally to depart from the Peloponnesus, solemnly promising that if they ever returned into Messenia, they would suffer themselves to be sold as slaves. The Messenians upon this, miserably exiled, applied to the Athenians for protection, and were permitted to inhabit Naupactus, whence some of them were afterwards removed to take possession of their ancient territories in Messenia, during the Peloponnesian war. The third Messenian war was productive of great revolutions in Greece, and though almost a private quarrel, it soon engaged the attention of all the neighbouring states, and kindled the flames of dissension everywhere. Every state took up arms as if in its own defence, or to prevent additional power and dominion from being lodged in the hands of its rivals. The descendants of the Messenians at last returned to Peloponnesus, B.C. 370, after a long banishment of 300 years. Pausanias, Messenia, &c.—Justin, bk. 3, ch. 4, &c.—Strabo, bk. 6, &c.—Thucydides, bk. 1, &c.—Diodorus, bk. 11, &c.—Plutarch, Cimon, &c.—Polyænus, bk. 3.—Polybius, bk. 4, &c.

Messēnia, a province of Peloponnesus, situate between Laconia, Elis, Arcadia, and the sea. Its chief city is Messena. See: Messena.

Mestor, a son of Perseus and Andromeda, who married Lysidice daughter of Pelops, by whom he had Hippothoe.――A son of Pterilaus.――of Priam. Apollodorus.

Mesūla, a town of Italy, in the country of the Sabines.

Metăbus, a tyrant of the Privernates. He was father of Camilla, whom he consecrated to the service of Diana, when he had been banished from his kingdom by his subjects. Virgil, Æneid, bk. 11, li. 540.

Metagitnia, a festival in honour of Apollo, celebrated by the inhabitants of Melite, who migrated to Attica. It receives its name from its being observed in the month called Metagitnion.

Metanīra, the wife of Celeus king of Eleusis, who first taught mankind agriculture. She is also called Meganira. Apollodorus, bk. 1, ch. 5.

Metapontum, a town of Lucania in Italy, founded about 1269 years B.C. by Metabus the father of Camilla, or Epeus, one of the companions of Nestor. Pythagoras retired there for some time, and perished in a sedition. Annibal made it his head-quarters when in that part of Italy, and its attachment to Carthage was afterwards severely punished by the Roman conquerors, who destroyed its liberties and independence. A few broken pillars of marble are now the only vestiges of Metapontum. Strabo, bk. 5.—Mela, bk. 2, ch. 4.—Justin, bk. 12, ch. 2.—Livy, bks. 1, 8, 25, 27, &c.

Metapontus, a son of Sisyphus, who married ♦Theano. See: ♦Theano. Hyginus, fable 166.

♦ ‘Theana’ replaced with ‘Theano’ for consistency

Metaurus, now Metro, a town with a small river of the same name, in the country of the Brutii. The river Metaurus falls into the Tyrrhene sea above Sicily.――Another, in Umbria, famous for the defeat of Asdrubal by the consuls Livy and Nero. Horace, bk. 4, ode 4, li. 38.—Mela, bk. 2, ch. 4.—Lucan, bk. 2, li. 495.

Metella, the wife of Sylla.

Metelli [Metellus], the surname of the family of the Cæcilii at Rome, the most known of whom were:—A general who defeated the Achæans, took Thebes, and invaded Macedonia, &c.――Quintus Cæcilius, who rendered himself illustrious by his successes against Jugurtha the Numidian king, from which he was surnamed Numidicus. He took, in this expedition, the celebrated Marius as his lieutenant, and he had soon cause to repent of the confidence he had placed in him. Marius raised himself to power by defaming the character of his benefactor, and Metellus was recalled to Rome, and accused of extortion and ill-management. Marius was appointed successor to finish the Numidian war, and Metellus was acquitted of the crimes laid to his charge before the tribunal of the Roman knights, who observed that the probity of his whole life and the greatness of his exploits were greater proofs of his innocence than the most powerful arguments. Cicero, On Oratory, bk. 1, ch. 48.—Sallust, Jugurthine War.――Lucius Cæcilius, another, who saved from the flames the palladium, when Vesta’s temple was on fire. He was then high priest. He lost his sight and one of his arms in doing it, and the senate, to reward his zeal and piety, permitted him always to be drawn to the senate-house in a chariot, an honour which no one had ever before enjoyed. He also gained a great victory over the Carthaginians in the first Punic war, and led in his triumph 13 generals and 120 elephants taken from the enemy. He was honoured with the dictatorship, and the office of master of horse, &c.――Quintus Cæcilius Celer, another, who distinguished himself by his spirited exertions against Catiline. He married Clodia the sister of Clodius, who disgraced him by her incontinence and lasciviousness. He died 57 years B.C. He was greatly lamented by Cicero, who shed tears at the loss of one of his most faithful and valuable friends. Cicero, For Marcus Cæcilius.――Lucius Cæcilius, a tribune in the civil wars of Julius Cæsar and Pompey. He favoured the cause of Pompey, and opposed Cæsar when he entered Rome with a victorious army. He refused to open the gates of Saturn’s temple, in which were deposited great treasures, upon which they were broken open by Cæsar, and Metellus retired, when threatened with death.――Quintus Cæcilius, the grandson of the high priest, who saved the palladium from the flames, was a warlike general, who, from his conquest of Crete and Macedonia, was surnamed Macedonicus. He had six sons, of whom four are particularly mentioned by Plutarch.――Quintus Cæcilius, surnamed Balearicus, from his conquest of the Baleares.――Lucius Cæcilius, surnamed Diadematus, but supposed the same as that called Lucius with the surname of Dalmaticus, from a victory obtained over the Dalmatians during his consulship with Mutius Scævola.――Caius Cæcilius, surnamed Caprarius, who was consul with Carbo, A.U.C. 641.――The fourth was Marcus, and of these four brothers it is remarkable, that two of them triumphed in one day, but over what nations is not mentioned by Eutropius, ch. 4.――Nepos, a consul, &c.――Another, who accused Caius Curio, his father’s detractor, and who also vented his resentment against Cicero when going to banishment.――Another, who, as tribune, opposed the ambition of Julius Cæsar.――A general of the Roman armies against the Sicilians and Carthaginians. Before he marched he offered sacrifices to all the gods, except Vesta, for which neglect the goddess was so incensed that she demanded the blood of his daughter Metella. When Metella was going to be immolated, the goddess placed a heifer in her place, and carried her to a temple at Lanuvium, of which she became the priestess.――Lucius Cæcilius, or Quintus, surnamed Creticus, from his conquest in Crete, B.C. 66, is supposed by some to be the son of Metellus Macedonicus.――Cimber, one of the conspirators against Julius Cæsar. It was he who gave the signal to attack and murder the dictator in the senate-house.――Pius, a general in Spain, against Sertorius, on whose head he set a price of 100 talents, and 20,000 acres of land. He distinguished himself also in the Marsian war, and was high priest. He obtained the name of Pius from the sorrow he showed during the banishment of his father Metellus Numidicus, whom he caused to be recalled. Paterculus, bk. 2, ch. 5.—Sallust, Jugurthine War, ch. 44.――A consul who commanded in Africa, &c. Valerius Maximus.—Pliny.—Plutarch.—Livy.—Paterculus, bk. 2.—Florus, bk. 3, ch. 8.—Pausanias, bk. 7, chs. 8 & 13.—Cicero, Tusculanæ Disputationes, &c.—Juvenal, satire 3, li. 138.—Appian, Civil Wars.—Cæsar, Civil War.—Sallust, Jugurthine War.

Metharma, a daughter of Pygmalion king of Cyprus, and mother of Adonis by Cinyras, &c. Apollodorus, bk. 3, ch. 14.

Methīon, the father of Phorbas, &c. Ovid, Metamorphoses, bk. 5, fable 3.

Methodius, a bishop of Tyre, who maintained a controversy against Porphyry. The best edition of his works is that of Paris, folio, 1657.

Methōne, a town of Peloponnesus, where king Philip gained his first battle over the Athenians, B.C. 360.――A town of Macedonia, south of Pella, in the siege of which, according to Justin, bk. 7, ch. 6, Philip lost his right eye.――Another in Magnesia. Homer, Iliad, bk. 2, li. 71.

Methydrium, a town of Peloponnesus, near Megalopolis. Valerius Flaccus.

Methymna (now Porto Petero), a town of the island of Lesbos, which received its name from a daughter of ♦Macareus. It is the second city of the island in greatness, population, and opulence, and its territory is fruitful, and the wines it produces excellent. It was the native place of Arion. When the whole island of Lesbos revolted from the power of the Athenians, Methymna alone remained firm to its ancient allies. Diodorus, bk. 5.—Thucydides, bk. 3.—Horace, bk. 2, satire 8, li. 50.—Virgil, Georgics, bk. 3, li. 90.

♦ ‘Marcareus’ replaced with ‘Macareus’

Metiadūsa, a daughter of Eupalamus, who married Cecrops, by whom she had Pandion. Apollodorus, bk. 3, ch. 15.

Metilia lex, was enacted A.U.C. 536, to settle the power of the dictator, and of his master of horse, within certain bounds.

Metilii, a patrician family, brought from Alba to Rome by Tullus Hostilius. Dionysius of Halicarnassus.

Metilius, a man who accused Fabius Maximus before the senate, &c.

Mētiŏchus, a son of Miltiades, who was taken by the Phœnicians, and given to Darius king of Persia. He was tenderly treated by the monarch, though his father had conquered the Persian armies in the plains of Marathon. Plutarch.—Herodotus, bk. 6, ch. 41.――An Athenian entrusted with the care of the roads, &c. Plutarch.

Metion, a son of Erechtheus king of Athens and Praxithea. He married Alcippe daughter of Mars and Agraulos. His sons drove Pandion from the throne of Athens, and were afterwards expelled by Pandion’s children. Apollodorus, bk. 3, ch. 15.—Pausanias, bk. 2, ch. 6.

Metis, one of the Oceanides. She was Jupiter’s first wife, celebrated for her great prudence and sagacity above the rest of the gods. Jupiter, who was afraid lest she should bring forth into the world a child more cunning and greater than himself, devoured her in the first month of her pregnancy. Some time after this adventure the god had his head opened, from which issued Minerva, armed from head to foot. According to Apollodorus, bk. 1, ch. 2, Metis gave a portion to Saturn, and obliged him to throw up the children whom he had devoured. Hesiod, Theogony, li. 890.—Apollodorus, bk. 7, ch. 3.—Hyginus.

Metiscus, a charioteer to Turnus. Virgil, Æneid, bk. 12, li. 469.

Metius Curtius, one of the Sabines who fought against the Romans, on account of the stolen virgins.――Suffetius, a dictator of Alba, in the reign of Tullus Hostilius. He fought against the Romans, and at last, finally to settle their disputes, he proposed a single combat between the Horatii and Curiatii. The Albans were conquered, and Metius promised to assist the Romans against their enemies. In a battle against the Veientes and Fidenates, Metius showed his infidelity by forsaking the Romans at the first onset, and retired to a neighbouring eminence, to wait for the event of the battle, and to fall upon whatever side proved victorious. The Romans obtained the victory, and Tullus ordered Metius to be tied between two chariots, which were drawn by four horses two different ways, and his limbs were torn away from his body, about 669 years before the christian era. Livy, bk. 1, ch. 23, &c.—Florus, bk. 1, ch. 3.—Virgil, Æneid, bk. 8, li. 642.――A critic. See: Tarpa.――Carus, a celebrated informer under Domitian, who enriched himself with the plunder of those who were sacrificed to the emperor’s suspicion.

Metœcia, festivals instituted by Theseus in commemoration of the people of Attica having removed to Athens.

Meton, an astrologer and mathematician of Athens. His father’s name was Pausanias. He refused to go to Sicily with his countrymen, and pretended to be insane, because he foresaw the calamities that attended that expedition. In a book called Enneadecaterides, or the cycle of 19 years, he endeavoured to adjust the course of the sun and the moon, and supported that the solar and lunar years could regularly begin from the same point in the heavens. This is called by the moderns the golden numbers. He flourished B.C. 432. Vitruvius, bk. 1.—Plutarch, Nicias. A native of Tarentum, who pretended to be intoxicated that he might draw the attention of his countrymen, when he wished to dissuade them from making an alliance with king Pyrrhus. Plutarch, Pyrrhus.

Metŏpe, the wife of the river Sangarius. She was mother of Hecuba.――The daughter of Ladon, who married the Asopus.――A river of Arcadia.

Metra, the daughter of Eresichthon, a Thessalian prince, beloved by Neptune. When her father had spent all his fortune to gratify the canine hunger under which he laboured, she prostituted herself to her neighbours, and received for reward oxen, goats, and sheep, which she presented to Eresichthon. Some say that she had received from Neptune the power of changing herself into whatever animal she pleased, and that her father sold her continually to gratify his hunger, and that she instantly assumed a different shape, and became again his property. Ovid, Metamorphoses, bk. 8, fable 21.

Metragryrte, one of the names of Tellus, or Cybele.

Metrobius, a player greatly favoured by Sylla. Plutarch.

Metrŏcles, a pupil of Theophrastus, who had the care of the education of Cleombrotus and Cleomenes. He suffocated himself when old and infirm. Diogenes Laërtius.

Metrodōrus, a physician of Chios, B.C. 444. He was the disciple of Democritus, and had Hippocrates among his pupils. His compositions on medicine, &c., are lost. He supported that the world was eternal and infinite, and denied the existence of motion. Diogenes Laërtius.――A painter and philosopher of Stratonice, B.C. 171. He was sent to Paulus Æmylius, who, after the conquest of Perseus, demanded of the Athenians a philosopher and a painter; the former to instruct his children, and the latter to make a painting of his triumphs. Metrodorus was sent, as in him alone were united the philosopher and the painter. Pliny, bk. 35, ch. 11.—Cicero, bk. 5, De Finibus Bonorum et Malorum, ch. 1; On Oratory, bk. 4; Academica.—♦Diogenes Laërtius, Epicurus.――A friend of Mithridates, sent as ambassador to Tigranes king of Armenia. He was remarkable for his learning, moderation, humanity, and justice. He was put to death by his royal master for his infidelity, B.C. 72. Strabo.—Plutarch.――Another, of a very retentive memory.

♦ ‘Diod.’ replaced with ‘Diogenes Laërtius’

Metrophănes, an officer of Mithridates, who invaded Eubœa, &c.

Metropŏlis, a town of Phrygia on the Mæander.――Another of Thessaly near Pharsalia.

Mettius, a chief of the Gauls, imprisoned by Julius Cæsar. Cæsar, Gallic War.

Mettus. See: Metius.

Metulum, a town of Liburnia, in besieging of which Augustus was wounded. Dio Cassius, bk. 49.

Mevania, now Bevagna, a town of Umbria, on the Clitumnus, the birthplace of the poet Propertius. Lucan, bk. 1, li. 473.—Propertius, bk. 4, poem 1, li. 124.

Mevius, a wretched poet. See: Mævius.

Mezentius, a king of the Tyrrhenians when Æneas came into Italy. He was remarkable for his cruelties, and put his subjects to death by slow tortures, or sometimes tied a man to a dead corpse face to face, and suffered him to die in that condition. He was expelled by his subjects, and fled to Turnus, who employed him in his war against the Trojans. He was killed by Æneas, with his son Lausus. Dionysius of Halicarnassus, bk. 1, ch. 15.—Justin, bk. 43, ch. 1.—Livy, bk. 1, ch. 2.—Virgil, Æneid, bk. 7, li. 648; bk. 8, li. 482.—Ovid, Fasti, bk. 4, li. 881.

Micea, a virgin of Elis, daughter of Philodemus, murdered by a soldier called Lucius, &c. Plutarch, Mulierum virtutes.

Micipsa, a king of Numidia, son of Masinissa, who, at his death, B.C. 119, left his kingdom between his sons Adherbal and Hiempsal, and his nephew Jugurtha. Jugurtha abused his uncle’s favours by murdering his two sons. Sallust, Jugurthine War.—Florus, bk. 3, ch. 1.—Plutarch, Gaius Gracchus.

Micythus, a youth through whom Diomedon, by order of the Persian king, made an attempt to bribe Epaminondas. Cornelius Nepos, Epaminondas, ch. 4.――A slave of Anaxilaus of Rhegium. Herodotus, bk. 7, ch. 170.

Mĭdas, a king of Phrygia, son of Gordius, or Gorgius. In the early part of his life, according to some traditions, he found a large treasure, to which he owed his greatness and opulence. The hospitality he showed to Silenus the preceptor of Bacchus, who had been brought to him by some peasants, was liberally rewarded; and Midas, when he conducted the old man back to the god, was permitted to choose whatever recompence he pleased. He had the imprudence and the avarice to demand of the god that whatever he touched might be turned into gold. His prayer was granted, but he was soon convinced of his injudicious choice; and when the very meats which he attempted to eat became gold in his mouth, he begged Bacchus to take away a present which must prove so fatal to the receiver. He was ordered to wash himself in the river Pactolus, whose sands were turned into gold by the touch of Midas. Some time after this adventure, Midas had the imprudence to support that Pan was superior to Apollo in singing and playing upon the flute, for which rash opinion the offended god changed his ears into those of an ass, to show his ignorance and stupidity. This Midas attempted to conceal from the knowledge of his subjects, but one of his servants saw the length of his ears, and being unable to keep the secret, and afraid to reveal it, apprehensive of the king’s resentment, he opened a hole in the earth, and after he had whispered there that Midas had the ears of an ass, he covered the place as before, as if he had buried his words in the ground. On that place, as the poets mention, grew a number of reeds, which, when agitated by the wind, uttered the same sound that had been buried beneath, and published to the world that Midas had the ears of an ass. Some explain the fable of the ears of Midas by the supposition that he kept a number of informers and spies, who were continually employed in gathering every seditious word that might drop from the mouths of his subjects. Midas, according to Strabo, died of drinking hot bull’s blood. This he did, as Plutarch mentions, to free himself from the numerous ill dreams which continually tormented him. Midas, according to some, was son of Cybele. He built a town, which he called Ancyræ. Ovid, Metamorphoses, bk. 11, fable 5.—Plutarch, de Superstitione.—Strabo, bk. 1.—Hyginus, fables 191, 274.—Maximus Tyrius, ch. 30.—Pausanias, bk. 1, ch. 4.—Valerius Maximus, bk. 1, ch. 6.—Herodotus, bk. 1, ch. 14.—Ælian, Varia Historia, bks. 4 & 12.—Cicero, De Divinatione, bk. 1, ch. 36; bk. 2, ch. 31.

Midea, a town of Argolis. Pausanias, bk. 6, ch. 20.――Of Lycia. Statius, Thebiad, bk. 4, li. 45.――Of Bœotia, drowned by the inundations of the lake Copais. Strabo, bk. 8.――A nymph, who had Aspledon by Neptune. Pausanias, bk. 9, ch. 38.――A mistress of Electryon. Apollodorus.

Milānion, a youth who became enamoured of Atalanta. He is supposed by some to be the same as Meleager or Hippomanes. Ovid, Ars Amatoria, bk. 2, li. 188.――A son of Amphidamas.

Mīlēsii, the inhabitants of Miletus. See: Miletus.

Milesiorum murus, a place of Egypt, at the entrance of one of the mouths of the Nile.

Milesius, a surname of Apollo.――A native of Miletus.

Milētia, one of the daughters of Scedasus, ravished with her sister by some young Thebans. Plutarch & Pausanias.

Milētium, a town of Calabria, built by the people of Miletus of Asia.――A town of Crete. Homer, Iliad, bk. 2, li. 154.

Mīlētus, a son of Apollo, who fled from Crete to avoid the wrath of Minos, whom he meditated to dethrone. He came to Caria, where he built a city which he called by his own name. Some suppose that he only conquered a city there called Anactoria, which assumed his name. They further say, that he put the inhabitants to the sword, and divided the women among his soldiers. Cyanea, a daughter of the Mæander, fell to his share. Strabo, bk. 14.—Ovid, Metamorphoses, bk. 9, li. 446.—Pausanias, bk. 7, ch. 2.—Apollodorus, bk. 3, ch. 1.――A celebrated town of Asia Minor, the capital of all Ionia, situate about 10 stadia south of the mouth of the river Mæander, near the sea coast on the confines of Ionia and Caria. It was founded by a Cretan colony under Miletus, or, according to others, by Neleus the son of Codrus, or by Sarpedon, Jupiter’s son. It has successively been called Lelegeis, Pithyusa, and Anactoria. The inhabitants, called Milesii, were very powerful, and long maintained an obstinate war against the kings of Lydia. They early applied themselves to navigation, and planted no less than 80 colonies, or, according to Seneca, 380, in different parts of the world. Miletus gave birth to Thales, Anaximenes, Anaximander, Hecatæus, Timotheus the musician, Pittacus, one of the seven wise men, &c. Miletus was also famous for a temple and an oracle of Apollo Didymæus, and for its excellent wool, with which were made stuffs and garments, held in the highest reputation, both for softness, elegance, and beauty. The words Milesiæ fabulæ, or Milesiaca, were used to express wanton and ludicrous plays. Ovid, Tristia, bk. 2, li. 413.—Capitolinus, Life of Albinus, ch. 11.—Virgil, Georgics, bk. 3, li. 306.—Strabo, bk. 15.—Pausanias, bk. 7, ch. 2.—Mela, bk. 1, ch. 17.—Pliny, bk. 5, ch. 29.—Herodotus, bk. 1, &c.—Seneca, de Consolatione ad Helviam.

Milias, a part of Lycia.

Milichus, a freedman who discovered Piso’s conspiracy against Nero. Tacitus, Annals, bk. 15, ch. 54.

Milinus, a Cretan king, &c.

Milionia, a town of the Samnites, taken by the Romans.

Mīlo, a celebrated athlete of Crotona in Italy. His father’s name was Diotimus. He early accustomed himself to carry the greatest burdens, and by degrees became a monster in strength. It is said that he carried on his shoulders a young bullock four years old, for above 40 yards, and afterwards killed it with one blow of his fist, and ate it up in one day. He was seven times crowned at the Pythian games, and six at Olympia. He presented himself a seventh time, but no one had the courage or boldness to enter the lists against him. He was one of the disciples of Pythagoras, and to his uncommon strength the learned preceptor and his pupils owed their life. The pillar which supported the roof of the school suddenly gave way, but Milo supported the whole weight of the building, and gave the philosopher and his auditors time to escape. In his old age Milo attempted to pull up a tree by the roots and break it. He partly effected it, but his strength being gradually exhausted, the tree, when half cleft, re-united, and his hands remained pinched in the body of the tree. He was then alone, and being unable to disentangle himself, he was eaten up by the wild beasts of the place, about 300 years before the christian era. Ovid, Metamorphoses, bk. 15.—Cicero, de Senectute.—Valerius Maximus, bk. 9, ch. 12.—Strabo, bk. 16.—Pausanias, bk. 6, ch. 11.――Titus Annius, a native of Lanuvium, who attempted to obtain the consulship at Rome by intrigue and seditious tumults. Clodius the tribune opposed his views, yet Milo would have succeeded had not an unfortunate event totally frustrated his hopes. As he was going into the country, attended by his wife and a numerous retinue of gladiators and servants, he met on the Appian road his enemy Clodius, who was returning to Rome with three of his friends and some domestics completely armed. A quarrel arose between the servants. Milo supported his attendants, and the dispute became general. Clodius received many severe wounds, and was obliged to retire to a neighbouring cottage. Milo pursued his enemy in his retreat, and ordered his servants to despatch him. Eleven of the servants of Clodius shared his fate, as also the owner of the house who had given them a reception. The body of the murdered tribune was carried to Rome, and exposed to public view. The enemies of Milo inveighed bitterly against the violence and barbarity with which the sacred person of a tribune had been treated. Cicero undertook the defence of Milo, but the continual clamours of the friends of Clodius, and the sight of an armed soldiery, which surrounded the seat of judgment, so terrified the orator, that he forgot the greatest part of his arguments, and the defence he made was weak and injudicious. Milo was condemned and banished to Massilia. Cicero soon after sent his exiled friend a copy of the oration which he had delivered in his defence, in the form in which we have it now; and Milo, after he had read it, exclaimed, “O Cicero, hadst thou spoken before my accusers in those terms, Milo would not be now eating figs at Marseilles.” The friendship and cordiality of Cicero and Milo were the fruits of long intimacy and familiar intercourse. It was by the successful labours of Milo that the orator was recalled from banishment and restored to his friends. Cicero, For Milo.—Paterculus, bk. 2, chs. 47 & 68.—Dio Cassius, bk. 40.――A general of the forces of Pyrrhus. He was made governor of Tarentum, and that he might be reminded of his duty to his sovereign, Pyrrhus sent him as a present a chain, which was covered with the skin of Nicias the physician, who had perfidiously offered the Romans to poison his royal master for a sum of money. Polyænus, bk. 8, &c.――A tyrant of Pisa in Elis, thrown into the river Alpheus by his subjects for his oppression. Ovid, Ibis, li. 325.

Milōnius, a drunken buffoon at Rome, accustomed to dance when intoxicated. Horace, bk. 2, satire 1, li. 24.

Miltas, a soothsayer, who assisted Dion in explaining prodigies, &c.

Miltiădes, an Athenian, son of Cypselus, who obtained a victory in a chariot race at the Olympic games, and led a colony of his countrymen to the Chersonesus. The causes of this appointment are striking and singular. The Thracian Dolonci, harassed by a long war with the Absynthians, were directed by the oracle of Delphi to take for their king the first man they met in their return home, who invited them to come under his roof and partake of his entertainments. This was Miltiades, whom the appearance of the Dolonci, their strange arms and garments, had struck. He invited them to his house, and was made acquainted with the commands of the oracle. He obeyed, and when the oracle of Delphi had approved a second time the choice of the Dolonci, he departed for the Chersonesus, and was invested by the inhabitants with sovereign power. The first measure he took was to stop the further incursions of the Absynthians, by building a strong wall across the isthmus. When he had established himself at home, and fortified his dominions against foreign invasion, he turned his arms against Lampsacus. His expedition was unsuccessful; he was taken in an ambuscade, and made prisoner. His friend Crœsus king of Lydia was informed of his captivity, and he procured his release by threatening the people of Lampsacus with his severest displeasure. He lived a few years after he had recovered his liberty. As he had no issue, he left his kingdom and his possessions to Stesagoras the son of Cimon, who was his brother by the same mother. The memory of Miltiades was greatly honoured by the Dolonci, and they regularly celebrated festivals and exhibited shows in commemoration of a man to whom they owed their greatness and preservation. Some time after Stesagoras died without issue, and Miltiades the son of Cimon, and the brother of the deceased, was sent by the Athenians with one ship to take possession of the Chersonesus. At his arrival Miltiades appeared mournful, as if lamenting the recent death of his brother. The principal inhabitants of the country visited the new governor to condole with him; but their confidence in his sincerity proved fatal to them. Miltiades seized their persons, and made himself absolute in Chersonesus; and to strengthen himself he married Hegesipyla, the daughter of Olorus the king of the Thracians. His prosperity, however, was of short duration. In the third year of his government his dominions were threatened by an invasion of the Scythian Nomades, whom Darius had some time before irritated by entering their country. He fled before them, but as their hostilities were but momentary, he was soon restored to his kingdom. Three years after he left Chersonesus and set sail for Athens, where he was received with great applause. He was present at the celebrated battle of Marathon, in which all the chief officers ceded their power to him, and left the event of the battle to depend upon his superior abilities. He obtained an important victory [See: Marathon] over the more numerous forces of his adversaries; and when he had demanded of his fellow-citizens an olive crown as the reward of his valour in the field of battle, he was not only refused, but severely reprimanded for presumption. The only reward, therefore, that he received for a victory which proved so beneficial to the interests of universal Greece, was in itself simple and inconsiderable, though truly great in the opinion of that age. He was represented in the front of a picture among the rest of the commanders who fought at the battle of Marathon, and he seemed to exhort and animate his soldiers to fight with courage and intrepidity. Some time after Miltiades was entrusted with a fleet of 70 ships, and ordered to punish those islands which had revolted to the Persians. He was successful at first, but a sudden report that the Persian fleet was coming to attack him, changed his operations as he was besieging Paros. He raised the siege and returned to Athens, where he was accused of treason, and ♦particularly of holding a correspondence with the enemy. The falsity of these accusations might have appeared, if Miltiades had been able to come into the assembly. A wound which he had received before Paros detained him at home, and his enemies, taking advantage of his absence, became more eager in their accusations and louder in their clamours. He was condemned to death, but the rigour of the sentence was retracted on the recollection of his great services to the Athenians, and he was put into prison till he had paid a fine of 50 talents to the state. His inability to discharge so great a sum detained him in confinement, and soon after his wounds became incurable, and he died about 489 years before the christian era. His body was ransomed by his son Cimon, who was obliged to borrow and pay the 50 talents, to give his father a decent burial. The crimes of Miltiades were probably aggravated in the eyes of his countrymen when they remembered how he made himself absolute in Chersonesus; and in condemning the barbarity of the Athenians towards a general who was the source of their military prosperity, we must remember the jealousy which ever reigns among a free and independent people, and how watchful they are in defence of the natural rights which they see wrested from others by violence and oppression. Cornelius Nepos has written the life of Miltiades the son of Cimon; but his history is incongruous and not authentic; and the author, by confounding the actions of the son of Cimon with those of the son of Cypselus, has made the whole dark and unintelligible. Greater reliance in reading the actions of both the Miltiades is to be placed on the narration of Herodotus, whose veracity is confirmed, and who was indisputably more informed and more capable of giving an account of the life and exploits of men who flourished in his age, and of which he could see the living monuments. Herodotus was born about six years after the famous battle of Marathon, and Cornelius Nepos, as a writer of the Augustan age, flourished about 450 years after the age of the father of history. Cornelius Nepos, Lives.—Herodotus, bk. 4, ch. 137; bk. 6, ch. 34, &c.—Plutarch, Cimon.—Valerius Maximus, bk. 5, ch. 3.—Justin, bk. 2.—Pausanias.――An Archon of Athens.

♦ ‘paticularly’ replaced with ‘particularly’

Milto, a favourite mistress of Cyrus the younger. See: Aspasia.

Milvius, a parasite at Rome, &c. Horace, bk. 2, satire 7.――A bridge at Rome over the Tiber, now called Pont de Molle. Cicero, Letters to Atticus, bk. 13, ltr. 33.—Sallust, Catilinæ Coniuratio, ch. 45.—Tacitus, Annals, bk. 13, ch. 47.

Milyas, a country of Asia Minor, better known by the name of Lycia. Its inhabitants, called Milyades, and afterwards Solymi, were among the numerous nations which formed the army of Xerxes in his invasion of Greece. Herodotus.—Cicero, Against Verres, bk. 1, ch. 38.

Mimallŏnes, the Bacchanals, who, when they celebrated the orgies of Bacchus, put horns on their heads. They are also called Mimallonides, and some derive their name from the mountain Mimas. Persius, bk. 1, li. 99.—Ovid, Ars Amatoria, li. 541.—Statius, Thebiad, bk. 4, li. 660.

Mimas, a giant whom Jupiter destroyed with thunder. Horace, bk. 3, ode 4.――A high mountain of Asia Minor, near Colophon. Ovid, Metamorphoses, bk. 2, fable 5.――A Trojan, son of Theano and Amycus, born on the same night as Paris, with whom he lived in great intimacy. He followed the fortune of Æneas, and was killed by Mezentius. Virgil, Æneid, bk. 10, li. 702.

Mimnermus, a Greek poet and musician of Colophon in the age of Solon. He chiefly excelled in elegiac poetry, whence some have attributed the invention of it to him; and, indeed, he was the poet who made elegy an amorous poem, instead of a mournful and melancholy tale. In the expression of love, Propertius prefers him to Homer, as this verse shows:

Plus in amore valet Mimnermi versus Homero.

In his old age Mimnermus became enamoured of a young girl called Nanno. Some few fragments of his poetry remain, collected by Stobæus. He is supposed by some to be the inventor of the pentameter verse, which others, however, attribute to Callinus or Archilochus. The surname of Ligustiades, λιγυς (shrill-voiced), has been applied to him, though some imagine the word to be the name of his father. Strabo, bks. 1 & 14.—Pausanias, bk. 9, ch. 29.—Diogenes Laërtius, bk. 1.—Propertius, bk. 1, poem 9, li. 11.—Horace, bk. 1, ltr. 6, li. 65.

Mincius, now Mincio, a river of Venetia, flowing from the lake Benacus, and falling into the Po. Virgil was born on its banks. Virgil, Eclogues, poem 7, li. 13; Germania, ch. 3, li. 15; Æneid, bk. 10, li. 206.

Mindărus, a commander of the Spartan fleet during the Peloponnesian war. He was defeated by the Athenians, and died 410 B.C. Plutarch.

Mīnēĭdes, the daughters of Minyas or Mineus, king of Orchomenos in Bœotia. They were three in number, Leuconoe, Leucippe, and Alcithoe. Ovid calls the two first Clymene and Iris. They derided the orgies of Bacchus, for which impiety the god inspired them with an unconquerable desire of eating human flesh. They drew lots which of them should give up her son as food to the rest. The lot fell upon Leucippe, and she gave up her son Hippasus, who was instantly devoured by the three sisters. They were changed into bats. In commemoration of this bloody crime, it was usual among the Orchomenians for the high priest, as soon as the sacrifice was finished, to pursue, with a drawn sword, all the women who had entered the temple, and even to kill the first he came up to. Ovid, Metamorphoses, bk. 4, fable 12.—Plutarch, Quæstiones Græcæ, ch. 38.

Mĭnerva, the goddess of wisdom, war, and all the liberal arts, was produced from Jupiter’s brain without a mother. The god, as it is reported, married Metis, whose superior prudence and sagacity above the rest of the gods, made him apprehend that the children of such a union would be of a more exalted nature, and more intelligent than their father. To prevent this, Jupiter devoured Metis in her pregnancy, and some time after, to relieve the pains which he suffered in his head, he ordered Vulcan to cleave it open. Minerva came all armed and grown up from her father’s brain, and immediately was admitted into the assembly of the gods, and made one of the most faithful counsellors of her father. The power of Minerva was great in heaven; she could hurl the thunders of Jupiter, prolong the life of men, bestow the gift of prophecy, and, indeed, she was the only one of all the divinities whose authority and consequence were equal to those of Jupiter. The actions of Minerva are numerous, as well as the kindnesses by which she endeared herself to mankind. Her quarrel with Neptune concerning the right of giving a name to the capital of Cecropia deserves attention. The assembly of the gods settled the dispute by promising the preference to whichever of the two gave the most useful and necessary present to the inhabitants of the earth. Neptune, upon this, struck the ground with his trident, and immediately a horse issued from the earth. Minerva produced the olive, and obtained the victory by the unanimous voice of the gods, who observed that the olive, as the emblem of peace, is far preferable to the horse, the symbol of war and bloodshed. The victorious deity called the capital Athenæ, and became the tutelar goddess of the place. Minerva was always very jealous of her power, and the manner in which she punished the presumption of Arachne is well known. See: Arachne. The attempts of Vulcan to offer her violence, are strong marks of her virtue. Jupiter had sworn by the Styx to give to Vulcan, who had made him a complete suit of armour, whatever he desired. Vulcan demanded Minerva, and the father of the gods, who had permitted Minerva to live in perpetual celibacy, consented, but privately advised his daughter to make all the resistance she could to frustrate the attempts of her lover. The prayers and force of Vulcan proved ineffectual, and her chastity was not violated, though the god left on her body the marks of his passion, and, from the impurity which proceeded from this scuffle, and which Minerva threw down upon the earth, wrapped up in wool, was born Erichthon, an uncommon monster. See: Erichthonius. Minerva was the first who built a ship, and it was her zeal for navigation, and her care for the Argonauts, which placed the prophetic tree of Dodona behind the ship Argo, when going to Colchis. She was known among the ancients by many names. She was called Athena, Pallas [See: Pallas], Parthenos, from her remaining in perpetual celibacy; Tritonia, because worshipped near the lake Tritonis; Glaucopis, from the blueness of her eyes; Agorea, from her presiding over markets; Hippia, because she first taught mankind how to manage the horse; Stratea and Area, from her martial character; Coryphagenes, because born from Jupiter’s brain; Sais, because worshipped at Sais, &c. Some attributed to her the invention of the flute, whence she was surnamed Andon, Luscinia, Musica, Salpiga, &c. She, as it is reported, once amused herself in playing upon her favourite flute before Juno and Venus, but the goddesses ridiculed the distortion of her face in blowing the instrument. Minerva, convinced of the justness of their remarks by looking at herself in a fountain near mount Ida, threw away the musical instrument, and denounced a melancholy death to him who found it. Marsyas was the miserable proof of the veracity of her expressions. The worship of Minerva was universally established; she had magnificent temples in Egypt, Phœnicia, all parts of Greece, Italy, Gaul, and Sicily. Sais, Rhodes, and Athens particularly claimed her attention, and it is even said that Jupiter rained a shower of gold upon the island of Rhodes, which had paid so much veneration and such an early reverence to the divinity of his daughter. The festivals celebrated in her honour were solemn and magnificent. See: Panathenæa. She was invoked by every artist, and particularly such as worked in wool, embroidery, painting, and sculpture. It was the duty of almost every member of society to implore the assistance and patronage of a deity who presided over sense, taste, and reason. Hence the poets have had occasion to say,

Tu nihil invitâ dices faciesve Minervâ,

and,

Qui bene placârit Pallada, doctus erit.

Minerva was represented in different ways, according to the different characters in which she appeared. She generally appeared with a countenance full more of masculine firmness and composure, than of softness and grace. Most usually she was represented with a helmet on her head, with a large plume nodding in the air. In one hand she held a spear, and in the other a shield, with the dying head of Medusa upon it. Sometimes this Gorgon’s head was on her breastplate, with living serpents writhing round it, as well as round her shield and helmet. In most of her statues she is represented as sitting, and sometimes she holds in one hand a distaff, instead of a spear. When she appeared as the goddess of the liberal arts she was arrayed in a variegated veil, which the ancients called peplum. Sometimes Minerva’s helmet was covered at the top with the figure of a cock, a bird which, on account of his great courage, is properly sacred to the goddess of war. Some of her statues represented her helmet with a sphinx in the middle, supported on either side by griffins. In some medals, a chariot drawn by four horses, or sometimes a dragon or a serpent, with winding spires, appear at the top of her helmet. She was partial to the olive tree; the owl and the cock were her favourite birds, and the dragon among reptiles was sacred to her. The functions, offices, and actions of Minerva seem so numerous, that they undoubtedly originate in more than one person. Cicero speaks of five persons of this name; a Minerva, mother of Apollo; a daughter of the Nile, who was worshipped at Sais, in Egypt; a third, born from Jupiter’s brain; a fourth, daughter of Jupiter and Coryphe; and a fifth, daughter of Pallas, generally represented with winged shoes. This last put her father to death because he attempted her virtue. Pausanias, bks. 1, 2, 3, &c.—Horace, bk. 1, ode 16; bk. 3, ode 4.—Virgil, Æneid, bk. 2, &c.—Strabo, bks. 6, 9, & 13.—Philostratus, Imagines, bk. 2.—Ovid, Fasti, bk. 3, &c.; Metamorphoses, bk. 6.—Cicero, de Natura Deorum, bk. 1, ch. 15; bk. 3, ch. 23, &c.—Apollodorus, bk. 1, &c.—Pindar, Olympian, poem 7.—Lucan, bk. 9, li. 354.—Sophocles, Œdipus.—Homer, Iliad, &c.; Odyssey; Hymn to Pallas Athena.—Diodorus, bk. 5.—Hesiod, Theogony.—Aeschylus, Eumenides.—Lucian, Dialogues.—Clement of Alexandria, Stromateis, bk. 2.—Orpheus, Hymns, poem 31.—Quintus Smyrnæus, bk. 14, li. 448.—Apollonius, bk. 1.—Hyginus, fable 168.—Statius, Thebiad, bk. 2, li. 721; bk. 7, &c.—Callimachus, Hymn to Demeter.—Ælian, Varia Historia, bk. 12.—Cornelius Nepos, Pausanias.—Plutarch, Lycurgus, &c.—Thucydides, bk. 1.—Herodotus, bk. 5.

Minervæ Castrum, a town of Calabria, now Castro.――Promontorium, a cape at the most southern extremity of Campania.

Mĭnervālia, festivals at Rome in honour of Minerva, celebrated in the months of March and June. During this solemnity scholars obtained some relaxation from their studious pursuits, and the present, which it was usual for them to offer to their masters, was called Minerval, in honour of the goddess Minerva, who patronized over literature. Varro, de Re Rustica, bk. 3, ch. 2.—Ovid, Tristia, bk. 3, li. 809.—Livy, bk. 9, ch. 30.

Mĭnio, now Mignone, a river of Etruria, falling into the Tyrrhene sea. Virgil, Æneid, bk. 10, li. 183.――One of the favourites of Antiochus king of Syria.

Minnæi, a people of Arabia, on the Red sea. Pliny, bk. 12, ch. 14.

Minoa, a town of Sicily, built by Minos when he was pursuing Dædalus, and called also Heraclea.――A town of Peloponnesus.――A town of Crete.

Minois, belonging to Minos. Crete is called Minoia regna, as being the legislator’s kingdom. Virgil, Æneid, bk. 6, li. 14.――A patronymic of Ariadne. Ovid, Metamorphoses, bk. 8, li. 157.

Minos, a king of Crete, son of Jupiter and Europa, who gave laws to his subjects, B.C. 1406, which still remained in full force in the age of the philosopher Plato. His justice and moderation procured him the appellation of the favourite of the gods, the confidant of Jupiter, the wise legislator, in every city of Greece; and, according to the poets, he was rewarded for his equity, after death, with the office of supreme and absolute judge in the infernal regions. In this capacity, he is represented sitting in the middle of the shades and holding a sceptre in his hand. The dead plead their different causes before him, and the impartial judge shakes the fatal urn, which is filled with the destinies of mankind. He married Ithona, by whom he had Lycastes, who was the father of Minos II. Homer, Odyssey, bk. 19, li. 178.—Virgil, Æneid, bk. 6, li. 432.—Apollodorus, bk. 3, ch. 1.—Hyginus, fable 41.—Diodorus, bk. 4.—Horace, bk. 1, ode 28.

Minos II., was a son of Lycastes, the son of Minos I. king of Crete. He married Pasiphae the daughter of Sol and Perseis, and by her he had many children. He increased his paternal dominions by the conquest of the neighbouring islands, but he showed himself cruel in the war which he carried on against the Athenians, who had put to death his son Androgeus. See: Androgeus. He took Megara by the treachery of Scylla [See: Scylla], and, not satisfied with a victory, he obliged the vanquished to bring him yearly to Crete seven chosen boys, and the same number of virgins, to be devoured by the Minotaur. See: Minotaurus. This bloody tribute was at last abolished when Theseus had destroyed the monster. See: Theseus. When Dædalus, whose industry and invention had fabricated the labyrinth, and whose imprudence, in assisting Pasiphae in the gratification of her unnatural desires, had offended Minos, fled from the place of his confinement with wings [See: Dædalus], and arrived safe in Sicily, the incensed monarch pursued the offender, resolved to punish his infidelity. Cocalus king of Sicily, who had hospitably received Dædalus, entertained his royal guest with dissembled friendship; and that he might not deliver to him a man whose ingenuity and abilities he so well knew, he put Minos to death. Some say that it was the daughters of Cocalus who put the king of Crete to death, by detaining him so long in a bath till he fainted, after which they suffocated him. Minos died about 35 years before the Trojan war. He was father of Androgeus, Glaucus, and Deucalion, and two daughters, Phædra and Ariadne. Many authors have confounded the two monarchs of this name, the grandfather and the grandson, but Homer, Plutarch, and Diodorus prove plainly that they were two different persons. Pausanias, Achaia, ch. 4.—Plutarch, Theseus.—Hyginus, fable 41.—Ovid, Metamorphoses, bk. 8, li. 141.—Diodorus, bk. 4.—Virgil, Æneid, bk. 6, li. 21.—Plutarch, Parallela minora.—Athenæus.—Flaccus, bk. 14.

Minōtaurus, a celebrated monster, half a man and half a bull, according to this verse of Ovid, Ars Amatoria, bk. 2, li. 24,

Semibovemque virum, semivirumque bovem.

It was the fruit of Pasiphae’s amour with a bull. Minos refused to sacrifice a white bull to Neptune, an animal which he had received from the god for that purpose. This offended Neptune, and he made Pasiphae the wife of ♦Minos enamoured of this fine bull, which had been refused to his altars. Dædalus prostituted his talents in being subservient to the queen’s unnatural desires, and, by his means, Pasiphae’s horrible passions were gratified, and the Minotaur came into the world. Minos confined in the labyrinth a monster which convinced the world of his wife’s lasciviousness and indecency, and reflected disgrace upon his family. The Minotaur usually devoured the chosen young men and maidens, whom the tyranny of Minos yearly extracted from the Athenians. Theseus delivered his country from this shameful tribute, when it had fallen to his lot to be sacrificed to the voracity of the Minotaur, and, by means of Ariadne, the king’s daughter, he destroyed the monster, and made his escape from the windings of the labyrinth. The fabulous traditions of the Minotaur, and of the infamous commerce of Pasiphae with a favourite bull, have been often explained. Some suppose that Pasiphae was enamoured of one of her husband’s courtiers, called Taurus, and that Dædalus favoured the passion of the queen by suffering his house to become the retreat of the two lovers. Pasiphae, some time after, brought twins into the world, one of whom greatly resembled Minos, and the other Taurus. In the natural resemblance of their countenance with that of their supposed fathers originated their name, and consequently the fable of the Minotaur. Ovid, Metamorphoses, bk. 8, fable 2.—Hyginus, fable 40.—Plutarch, Theseus.—Palæphatus.—Virgil, Æneid, bk. 6, li. 26.

♦ ‘Minys’ replaced with ‘Minos’

Minthe, a daughter of Cocytus, loved by Pluto. Proserpine discovered her husband’s amour, and changed his mistress into an herb, called by the same name, mint. Ovid, Metamorphoses, bk. 10, li. 729.

Minturnæ, a town of Campania, between Sinuessa and Formiæ. It was in the marshes, in its neighbourhood, that Marius concealed himself in the mud, to avoid the partisans of Sylla. The people condemned him to death, but when his voice alone had terrified the executioner, they showed themselves compassionate, and favoured his escape. Marica was worshipped there; hence Maricæ regna applied to the place. Strabo, bk. 2.—Mela, bk. 2, ch. 4.—Livy, bk. 8, ch. 10; bk. 10, ch. 21; bk. 27, ch. 38.—Paterculus, bk. 2, ch. 14.—Lucan, bk. 2, li. 424.

Mĭnŭtia, a vestal virgin, accused of debauchery on account of the beauty and elegance of her dress. She was condemned to be buried alive because a female supported the false accusation, A.U.C. 418. Livy, bk. 8, ch. 15.――A public way from Rome to Brundusium. See: Via.

Mĭnŭtius Augurinus, a Roman consul slain in a battle against the Samnites.――A tribune of the people, who put Mælius to death when he aspired to the sovereignty of Rome. He was honoured with a brazen statue for causing the corn to be sold at a reduced price to the people. Livy, bk. 4, ch. 16.—Pliny, bk. 18, ch. 3.――Rufus, a master of horse to the dictator Fabius Maximus. His disobedience to the commands of the dictator was productive of an extension of his prerogative, and the master of the horse was declared equal in power to the dictator. Minutius, soon after this, fought with ill success against Annibal, and was saved by the interference of Fabius; which circumstance had such an effect upon him, that he laid down his power at the feet of his deliverer, and swore that he would never act again but by his directions. He was killed at the battle of Cannæ. Livy.—Cornelius Nepos, Hannibal.――A Roman consul who defended Coriolanus from the insults of the people, &c.――Another, defeated by the Æqui, and disgraced by the dictator Cincinnatus.――An officer under Cæsar, in Gaul, who afterwards became one of the conspirators against his patron. Cæsar, Gallic War, bk. 6, ch. 29.――A tribune who warmly opposed the views of Caius Gracchus.――A Roman, chosen dictator, and obliged to lay down his office, because, during the time of his election, the sudden cry of a rat was heard.――A Roman, one of the first who were chosen questors.――Felix, an African lawyer, who flourished 207 A.D. He has written an elegant dialogue in defence of the christian religion, called Octavius, from the principal speaker in it. This book was long attributed to Arnobius, and even printed as an eighth book (Octavus), till Balduinus discovered the imposition in his edition of Felix, 1560. The two last editions are that of Davies, 8vo, Cambridge, 1712; and of Gronovius, 8vo, Leiden, 1709.

Minyæ, a name given to the inhabitants of Orchomenos in Bœotia, from Minyas king of the country. Orchomenos the son of Minyas gave his name to the capital of the country, and the inhabitants still retained their original appellation, in contradistinction to the Orchomenians of Arcadia. A colony of Orchomenians passed into Thessaly and settled in Iolchos; from which circumstance the people of the place, and particularly the Argonauts, were called Minyæ. This name they received, according to the opinion of some, not because a number of Orchomenians had settled among them, but because the chief and noblest of them were descended from the daughters of Minyas. Part of the Orchomenians accompanied the sons of Codrus when they migrated to Ionia. The descendants of the Argonauts, as well as the Argonauts themselves, received the name of Minyæ. They first inhabited Lemnos, where they had been born from the Lemnian women who had murdered their husbands. They were driven from Lemnos by the Pelasgi about 1160 years before the christian era, and came to settle in Laconia, from whence they passed into Calliste with a colony of Lacedæmonians. Hyginus, fable 14.—Pausanias, bk. 9, ch. 6.—Apollonius, bk. 1, Argonautica.—Herodotus, bk. 4, ch. 145.

Mĭnyas, a king of Bœotia, son of Neptune and Tritogenia the daughter of Æolus. Some make him the son of Neptune and Callirrhoe, or of Chryses, Neptune’s son, and Chrysogenia the daughter of Halmus. He married Clytodora, by whom he had Presbon, Periclymenus, and Eteoclymenus. He was father of Orchomenos, Diochithondes, and Athamas, by a second marriage with Phanasora the daughter of Paon. According to Plutarch and Ovid, he had three daughters, called Leuconoe, Alcithoe, and Leucippe. They were changed into bats. See: Mineides. Pausanias, bk. 9, ch. 36.—Plutarch, Quæstiones Græcæ, ch. 38.—Ovid, Metamorphoses, bk. 4, lis. 1 & 468.

Miny̆cus, a river of Thessaly, falling into the sea near Arene, called afterwards Orchomenus. Homer, Iliad, bk. 11.—Strabo, bk. 8.

Minyeides. See: Mineides.

Minyia, a festival observed at Orchomenus, in honour of Minyas the king of the place. The Orchomenians were called Minyæ, and the river upon whose banks their town was built, Mynos.――A small island near Patmos.

Minytus, one of Niobe’s sons. Apollodorus.

Miraces, a eunuch of Parthia, &c. Flaccus, bk. 6, li. 690.

Misēnum, or Misenus. See: Misenus.

Misēnus, a son of Æolus, who was piper to Hector. After Hector’s death he followed Æneas to Italy, and was drowned on the coast of Campania, because he had challenged one of the Tritons. Æneas afterwards found his body on the sea-shore, and buried it on a promontory which bears his name, now Miseno. There was also a town of the same name on the promontory, at the west of the bay of Naples, and it had also a capacious harbour, where Augustus and some of the Roman emperors generally kept stationed one of their fleets. Virgil, Æneid, bk. 3, li. 239; bk. 6, lis. 164 & 234.—Strabo, bk. 5.—Mela, bk. 2, ch. 4.—Livy, bk. 24, ch. 13.—Tacitus, Histories, bk. 2, ch. 9; Annals, bk. 15, ch. 51.

Misitheus, a Roman celebrated for his virtues and his misfortunes. He was father-in-law to the emperor Gordian, whose counsels and actions he guided by his prudence and moderation. He was sacrificed to the ambition of Philip, a wicked senator who succeeded him as prefect of the pretorian guards. He died A.D. 243, and left all his possessions to be appropriated for the good of the public.

Mithras, a god of Persia, supposed to be the sun, or, according to others, Venus Urania. His worship was introduced at Rome, and the Romans raised him altars, on which was this ♦inscription, Deo Soli Mithræ, or Soli Deo invicto Mithræ. He is generally represented as a young man, whose head is covered with a turban, after the manner of the Persians. He supports his knee upon a bull that lies on the ground, and one of whose horns he holds in one hand, while with the other he plunges a dagger into his neck. Statius, Thebiad, bk. 1, li. 720.—Curtius, bk. 4, ch. 13.—Claudian, de consulatu Stilichonis, bk. 1.

♦ ‘incription’ replaced with ‘inscription’

Mithracenses, a Persian who fled to Alexander after the murder of Darius by Bessus. Curtius, bk. 5.

Mithradātes, a herdsman of Astyages, ordered to put young Cyrus to death. He refused, and educated him at home as his own son, &c. Herodotus.—Justin.

Mithrēnes, a Persian who betrayed Sardes, &c. Curtius, bk. 3.

Mithridātes I., was the third king of Pontus. He was tributary to the crown of Persia, and his attempts to make himself independent proved fruitless. He was conquered in a battle, and obtained peace with difficulty. Xenophon calls him merely a governor of Cappadocia. He was succeeded by Ariobarzanes, B.C. 363. Diodorus.—Xenophon.

Mithridātes II., king of Pontus, was grandson to Mithridates I. He made himself master of Pontus, which had been conquered by Alexander, and had been ceded to Antigonus at the general division of the Macedonian empire among the conqueror’s generals. He reigned about 26 years, and died at the advanced age of 84 years, B.C. 302. He was succeeded by his son Mithridates III. Some say that Antigonus put him to death, because he favoured the cause of Cassander. Appian, Mithridatic Wars.—Diodorus.

Mithridātes III., was son of the preceding monarch. He enlarged his paternal possessions by the conquest of Cappadocia and Paphlagonia, and died after a reign of 36 years. Florus.

Mithridātes IV., succeeded his father Ariobarzanes, who was the son of Mithridates III.

Mithridātes V., succeeded his father Mithridates IV., and strengthened himself on his throne by an alliance with Antiochus the Great, whose daughter Laodice he married. He was succeeded by his son Pharnaces.

Mithridātes VI., succeeded his father Pharnaces. He was the first of the kings of Pontus who made alliance with the Romans. He furnished them with a fleet in the third Punic war, and assisted them against Aristonicus, who had laid claim to the kingdom of Pergamus. This fidelity was rewarded; he was called Evergetes, and received from the Roman people the province of Phrygia Major, and was called the friend and ally of Rome. He was murdered B.C. 123. Appian, Mithridatic Wars.—Justin, bk. 37, &c.

Mithridātes VII., surnamed Eupator and The Great, succeeded his father Mithridates VI., though only at the age of 11 years. The beginning of his reign was marked by ambition, cruelty, and artifice. He murdered his own mother, who had been left by his father co-heiress of the kingdom, and he fortified his constitution by drinking antidotes against the poison with which his enemies at court attempted to destroy him. He early inured his body to hardship, and employed himself in many manly exercises, often remaining whole months in the country, and making the frozen snow and the earth the place of his repose. Naturally ambitious and cruel, he spared no pains to acquire himself power and dominion. He murdered the two sons whom his sister Laodice had had by Ariarathes king of Cappadocia, and placed one of his own children, only eight years old, on the vacant throne. These violent proceedings alarmed Nicomedes king of Bithynia, who married Laodice the widow of Ariarathes. He suborned a youth to be king of Cappadocia, as the third son of Ariarathes, and Laodice was sent to Rome to impose upon the senate, and assure them that her third son was still alive, and that his pretensions to the kingdom of Cappadocia were just and well grounded. Mithridates used the same arms of dissimulation. He also sent to Rome Gordius, the governor of his son, who solemnly declared before the Roman people, that the youth who sat on the throne of Cappadocia was the third son and lawful heir of Ariarathes, and that he was supported as such by Mithridates. This intricate affair displeased the Roman senate, and finally to settle the dispute between the two monarchs, the powerful arbiters took away the kingdom of Cappadocia from Mithridates, and Paphlagonia from Nicomedes. These two kingdoms, being thus separated from their original possessors, were presented with their freedom and independence; but the Cappadocians refused it, and received Ariobarzanes for king. Such were the first seeds of enmity between Rome and the king of Pontus. See: Mithridaticum bellum. Mithridates never lost an opportunity by which he might lessen the influence of his adversaries; and the more effectually to destroy their power in Asia, he ordered all the Romans that were in his dominions to be massacred. This was done in one night, and no less than 150,000, according to Plutarch, or 80,000 Romans, as Appian mentions, were made, at one blow, the victims of his cruelty. This universal massacre called aloud for revenge. Aquilius, and soon after Sylla, marched against Mithridates with a large army. The former was made prisoner, but Sylla obtained a victory over the king’s generals, and another decisive engagement rendered him master of all Greece, Macedonia, Ionia, and Asia Minor, which had submitted to the victorious arms of the monarch of Pontus. This ill fortune was aggravated by the loss of about 200,000 men, who were killed in the several engagements that had been fought; and Mithridates, weakened by repeated ill success by sea and land, sued for peace from the conqueror, which he obtained on condition of defraying the expenses which the Romans had incurred by the war, and of remaining satisfied with the possessions which he had received from his ancestors. While these negotiations of peace were carried on, Mithridates was not unmindful of his real interests. His poverty, and not his inclinations, obliged him to wish for peace. He immediately took the field, with an army of 140,000 infantry and 16,000 horse, which consisted of his own forces and those of his son-in-law Tigranes king of Armenia. With such a numerous army, he soon made himself master of the Roman provinces in Asia; none dared to oppose his conquests, and the Romans, relying on his fidelity, had withdrawn the greatest part of their armies from the country. The news of his warlike preparations was no sooner heard, than Lucullus the consul marched into Asia, and without delay blocked up the camp of Mithridates, who was then besieging Cyzicus. The Asiatic monarch escaped from him, and fled into the heart of his kingdom. Lucullus pursued him with the utmost celerity, and would have taken him prisoner after a battle, had not the avidity of his soldiers preferred the plundering of a mule loaded with gold, to the taking of a monarch who had exercised such cruelties against their countrymen, and shown himself so faithless to the most solemn engagements. After this escape, Mithridates was more careful about the safety of his person, and he even ordered his wives and sisters to destroy themselves, fearful of their falling into the enemy’s hands. The appointment of Glabrio to the command of the Roman forces, instead of Lucullus, was favourable to Mithridates, and he recovered the greatest part of his dominions. The sudden arrival of Pompey, however, soon put an end to his victories. A battle, in the night, was fought near the Euphrates, in which the troops of Pontus laboured under every disadvantage. The engagement was by moonlight, and, as the moon then shone in the face of the enemy, the lengthened shadows of the arms of the Romans having induced Mithridates to believe that the two armies were close together, the arrows of his soldiers were darted from a great distance, and their efforts rendered ineffectual. A universal overthrow ensued, and Mithridates, bold in his misfortunes, rushed through the thick ranks of the enemy, at the head of 800 horsemen, 500 of which perished in the attempt to follow him. He fled to Tigranes, but that monarch refused an asylum to his father-in-law, whom he had before supported with all the collected forces of his kingdom. Mithridates found a safe retreat among the Scythians, and, though destitute of power, friends, and resources, yet he meditated the destruction of the Roman empire, by penetrating into the heart of Italy by land. These wild projects were rejected by his followers, and he sued for peace. It was denied to his ♦ambassadors, and the victorious Pompey declared that, to obtain it, Mithridates must ask it in person. He scorned to trust himself into the hands of his enemy, and resolved to conquer or to die. His subjects refused to follow him any longer, and they revolted from him, and made his son Pharnaces king. The son showed himself ungrateful to his father, and even, according to some writers, he ordered him to be put to death. This unnatural treatment broke the heart of Mithridates; he obliged his wife to poison herself, and attempted to do the same himself. It was in vain; the frequent antidotes he had taken in the early part of his life strengthened his constitution against the poison, and, when this was unavailing, he attempted to stab himself. The blow was not mortal; and a Gaul, who was then present, at his own request, gave him the fatal stroke, about 63 years before the christian era, in the 72nd year of his age. Such were the misfortunes, abilities, and miserable end of a man, who supported himself so long against the power of Rome, and who, according to the declaration of the Roman authors, proved a more powerful and indefatigable adversary to the capital of Italy, than the great Annibal, and Pyrrhus, Perseus, or Antiochus. Mithridates has been commended for his eminent virtues, and censured for his vices. As a commander he deserves the most unbounded applause, and it may create admiration to see him waging war with such success during so many years against the most powerful people on earth, led to the field by a Sylla, a Lucullus, and a Pompey. He was the greatest monarch that ever sat on a throne, according to the opinion of Cicero; and, indeed, no better proof of his military character can be brought, than the mention of the great rejoicings which happened in the Roman armies and in the capital at the news of his death. No less than 12 days were appointed for public thanksgivings to the immortal gods, and Pompey, who had sent the first intelligence of his death to Rome, and who had partly hastened his fall, was rewarded with the most uncommon honours. See: Ampia lex. It is said that Mithridates conquered 24 nations, whose different languages he knew, and spoke with the same ease and fluency as his own. As a man of letters he also deserves attention. He was acquainted with the Greek language, and even wrote in that dialect a treatise on botany. His skill in physic is well known, and even now there is a celebrated antidote which bears his name, and is called Mithridate. Superstition, as well as nature, had united to render him great; and if we rely upon the authority of Justin, his birth was accompanied by the appearance of two large comets, which were seen for 70 days successively, and whose splendour eclipsed the mid-day sun, and covered the fourth part of the heavens. Justin, bk. 37, ch. 1, &c.—Strabo.—Diodorus, bk. 14.—Florus, bk. 3, ch. 5, &c.—Plutarch, Sulla; Lucullus; Caius Marius; & Pompey.—Valerius Maximus, bk. 4, ch. 6, &c.—Dio Cassius, bk. 30, &c.—Appian, Mithridatic Wars.—Pliny, bk. 2, ch. 97; bk. 7, ch. 24; bk. 25, ch. 2; bk. 33, ch. 3, &c.—Cicero, On Pompey’s Command, &c.—Paterculus, bk. 2, ch. 18.—Eutropius, bk. 5.—Josephus, bk. 14.—Orosius, bk. 6, &c.

♦ ‘ambassaders’ replaced with ‘ambassadors’

Mithridātes, a king of Parthia, who took Demetrius prisoner.――A man made king of Armenia by Tiberius. He was afterwards imprisoned by Caligula, and set at liberty by Claudius. He was murdered by one of his nephews, and his family were involved in his ruin. Tacitus, Annals.――Another, king of Armenia.――A king of Pergamus, who warmly embraced the cause of Julius Cæsar, and was made king of Bosphorus by him. Some supposed him to be the son of the great Mithridates by a concubine. He was murdered, &c.――A king of Iberia.――Another of Comagena.――A celebrated king of Parthia, who enlarged his possessions by the conquest of some of the neighbouring countries. He examined with a careful eye the constitution and political regulations of the nations he had conquered, and framed from them, for the service of his own subjects, a code of laws. Justin.—Orosius.――Another, who murdered his father, and made himself master of the crown.――A king of Pontus, put to death by order of Galba, &c.――A man in the armies of Artaxerxes. He was rewarded by the monarch for having wounded Cyrus the younger; but, when he boasted that he had killed him, he was cruelly put to death. Plutarch, Artaxerxes.――A son of Ariobarzanes, who basely murdered Datames. Cornelius Nepos, Datames.

Mithridātĭcum bellum, begun 89 years B.C., was one of the longest and most celebrated wars ever carried on by the Romans against a foreign power. The ambition of Mithridates, from whom it receives its name, may be called the cause and origin of it. His views upon the kingdom of Cappadocia, of which he was stripped by the Romans, first engaged him to take up arms against the republic. Three Romans officers, Lucius Cassius the proconsul, Marcus Aquilius, and Quintus Oppius, opposed Mithridates with the troops of Bithynia, Cappadocia, Paphlagonia, and Gallo-græcia. The army of these provinces, together with the Roman soldiers in Asia, amounted to 70,000 men and 6000 horse. The forces of the king of Pontus were greatly superior to these; he led 250,000 foot, 40,000 horse, and 130 armed chariots into the field of battle, under the command of Neoptolemus and Archelaus. His fleet consisted of 400 ships of war, well manned and provisioned. In an engagement the king of Pontus obtained the victory, and dispersed the Roman forces in Asia. He became master of the greatest part of Asia, and the Hellespont submitted to his power. Two of the Roman generals were taken, and Marcus Aquilius, who was principally entrusted with the conduct of the war, was carried about in Asia, and exposed to the ridicule and insults of the populace, and at last put to death by Mithridates, who ordered melted gold to be poured down his throat, as a slur upon the avidity of the Romans. The conqueror took every possible advantage; he subdued all the islands of the Ægean sea, and, though Rhodes refused to submit to his power, yet all Greece was soon overrun by his general Archelaus, and made tributary to the kingdom of Pontus. Meanwhile the Romans, incensed against Mithridates on account of his perfidy, and of his cruelty in massacring 80,000 of their countrymen in one day all over Asia, appointed Sylla to march into the east. Sylla landed in Greece, where the inhabitants readily acknowledged his power; but Athens shut her gates against the Roman commander, and Archelaus, who defended it, defeated, with the greatest courage, all the efforts and operations of the enemy. This spirited defence was of short duration. Archelaus retreated into Bœotia, where Sylla soon followed him. The two hostile armies drew up in a line of battle near Chæronea, and the Romans obtained the victory, and of the almost innumerable forces of the Asiatics, no more than 10,000 escaped. Another battle in Thessaly, near Orchomenos, proved equally fatal to the king of Pontus. Dorylaus, one of his generals, was defeated, and he soon after sued for peace. Sylla listened to the terms of accommodation, as his presence at Rome was now become necessary to quell the commotions and cabals which his enemies had raised against him. He pledged himself to the king of Pontus to confirm him in the possession of his dominions, and to procure him the title of friend and ally of Rome; and Mithridates consented to relinquish Asia and Paphlagonia, to deliver Cappadocia to Ariobarzanes, and Bithynia to Nicomedes, and to pay to the Romans 2000 talents to defray the expenses of the war, and to deliver into their hands 70 galleys, with all their rigging. Though Mithridates seemed to have re-established peace in his dominions, yet Fimbria, whose sentiments were contrary to those of Sylla, and who made himself master of the army of Asia by intrigue and oppression, kept him under continual alarms, and rendered the existence of his power precarious. Sylla, who had returned from Greece to ratify the treaty which had been made with Mithridates, rid the world of the tyrannical Fimbria; and the king of Pontus, awed by the resolution and determined firmness of his adversary, agreed to the conditions, though with reluctance. The hostile preparations of Mithridates, which continued in the time of peace, became suspected by the Romans, and Muræna, who was left as governor of Asia in Sylla’s absence, and who wished to make himself known by some conspicuous action, began hostilities by taking Comana and plundering the temple of Bellona. Mithridates did not oppose him, but he complained of this breach of peace before the Roman senate. Muræna was publicly reprimanded; but, as he did not cease from hostilities, it was easily understood that he acted by the private directions of the Roman people. The king upon this marched against him, and a battle was fought, in which both the adversaries claimed the victory. This was the last blow which the king of Pontus received in this war, which is called the second Mithridatic war, and which continued for about three years. Sylla at that time was made perpetual dictator at Rome, and he commanded Muræna to retire from the kingdom of Mithridates. The death of Sylla changed the face of affairs; the treaty of peace between the king of Pontus and the Romans, which had never been committed to writing, demanded frequent explanations, and Mithridates at last threw off the mask of friendship, and declared war. Nicomedes, at his death, left his kingdom to the Romans, but Mithridates disputed their right to the possessions of the deceased monarch, and entered the field with 120,000 men, besides a fleet of 400 ships in his ports, 16,000 horsemen to follow him, and 100 chariots armed with scythes. Lucullus was appointed over Asia, and entrusted with the care of the Mithridatic war. His valour and prudence showed his merit; and Mithridates, in his vain attempts to take Cyzicum, lost no less than 300,000 men. Success continually attended the Roman arms. The king of Pontus was defeated in several bloody engagements, and with difficulty saved his life, and retired to his son-in-law Tigranes king of Armenia. Lucullus pursued him; and, when his applications for the person of the fugitive monarch had been despised by Tigranes, he marched to the capital of Armenia, and terrified, by his sudden approach, the numerous forces of the enemy. A battle ensued. The Romans obtained an easy victory, and no less than 100,000 foot of the Armenians perished, and only five men of the Romans were killed. Tigranocerta, the rich capital of the country, fell into the conqueror’s hands. After such signal victories, Lucullus had the mortification to see his own troops mutiny, and to be dispossessed of the command by the arrival of Pompey. The new general showed himself worthy to succeed Lucullus. He defeated Mithridates, and rendered his affairs so desperate, that the monarch fled for safety into the country of the Scythians; where, for a while, he meditated the ruin of the Roman empire, and, with more wildness than prudence, secretly resolved to invade Italy by land, and march an army across the northern wilds of Asia and Europe to the Apennines. Not only the kingdom of Mithridates had fallen into the enemy’s hands, but also all the neighbouring kings and princes were subdued, and Pompey saw prostrate at his feet Tigranes himself, that king of kings, who had lately treated the Romans with such contempt. Meantime, the wild projects of Mithridates terrified his subjects; and they, fearful to accompany him in a march of above 2000 miles across a barren and uncultivated country, revolted, and made his son king. The monarch, forsaken in his old age, even by his own children, put an end to his life [See: Mithridates VII.], and gave the Romans cause to rejoice, as the third Mithridatic war was ended in his fall, B.C. 63. Such were the unsuccessful struggles of Mithridates against the power of Rome. He was always full of resources, and the Romans had never a greater or more dangerous war to sustain. The duration of the Mithridatic war is not precisely known. According to Justin, Orosius, Floras, and Eutropius, it lasted 40 years; but the opinion of others, who fix its duration to 30 years, is far more credible; and, indeed, by proper calculation, there elapsed no more than 26 years from the time that Mithridates first entered the field against the Romans, till the time of his death. Appian, Mithridatic Wars.—Justin, bk. 37, &c.—Florus, bk. 2, &c.—Livy.—Plutarch, Lucullus, &c.—Orosius.—Paterculus.—Dionysius of Halicarnassus.

Mithridātis, a ♦daughter of Mithridates the Great. She was poisoned by her father.

♦ ‘daughther’ replaced with ‘daughter’

Mithrobarzānes, a king of Armenia, &c.――An officer sent by Tigranes against Lucullus, &c. Plutarch.――The father-in-law of Datames.

Mĭty̆lēne and Hĭty̆lĕnæ, the capital city of the island of Lesbos, which receives its name from Mitylene the daughter of Macareus, a king of the country. It was greatly commended by the ancients for the stateliness of its buildings and the fruitfulness of its soil, but more particularly for the great men whom it produced. Pittacus, Alcæus, Sappho, Terpander, Theophanes, Hellenicus, &c., were all natives of Mitylene. It was long a seat of learning, and, with Rhodes and Athens, it had the honour of having educated many of the great men of Rome and Greece. In the Peloponnesian war the Mityleneans suffered greatly for their revolt from the power of Athens; and, in the Mithridatic wars, they had the boldness to resist the Romans, and disdain the treaties which had been made between Mithridates and Sylla. Cicero, On the Agrarian Law.—Strabo, bk. 13.—Mela, bk. 2, ch. 7.—Diodorus, bks. 3 & 12.—Paterculus, bk. 1, ch. 4.—Horace, bk. 1, ode 7, &c.—Thucydides, bk. 3, &c.—Plutarch, Pompey, &c.

Mitys, a man whose statue fell upon his murderer, and crushed him to death, &c. Aristotle, bk. 10, Poetics.――A river of Macedonia.

Mizæi, a people of Elymais.

Mnasalces, a Greek poet, who wrote epigrams. Athenæus.—Strabo.

Mnasias, an historian of Phœnicia.――Another of Colophon.――A third of Patræ, in Achaia, who flourished 141 B.C.

Mnasicles, a general of Thymbro, &c. Diodorus, ♦bk. 18.

♦ ‘58’ replaced with ‘18’

Mnasīlus, a youth who assisted Chromis to tie the old Silenus, whom they found asleep in a cave. Some imagine that Virgil spoke of Varus under the name of Mnasilus. Virgil, Eclogues, poem 6, li. 13.

Mnasippidas, a Lacedæmonian, who imposed upon the credulity of the people, &c. Polyænus.

Mnasippus, a Lacedæmonian, sent with a fleet of 65 ships and 1500 men to Corcyra, where he was killed, &c. Diodorus, bk. 15.

Mnasitheus, a friend of Aratus.

Mnason, a tyrant of Elatia, who gave 1200 pieces of gold for 12 pictures of 12 gods to Asclepiodorus. Pliny, bk. 35, ch. 16.

Mnasyrium, a place in Rhodes. Strabo, bk. 14.

Mnemon, a surname given to Artaxerxes on account of his retentive memory. Cornelius Nepos, Kings.――A Rhodian.

Mnēmŏsy̆ne, a daughter of Cœlus and Terra, mother of the nine Muses by Jupiter, who assumed the form of a shepherd to enjoy her company. The word Mnemosyne signifies memory, and therefore the poets have rightly called memory the mother of the Muses, because it is to that mental endowment that mankind are indebted for their progress in science. Ovid, Metamorphoses, bk. 6, fable 4.—Pindar, Isthmean, ch. 6.—Hesiod, Theogony.—Apollodorus, bk. 1, ch. 1, &c.――A fountain of Bœotia, whose waters were generally drunk by those who consulted the oracle of Trophonius. Pausanias, bk. 9, ch. 39.

Mnesarchus, a celebrated philosopher of Greece, pupil to Panætius, &c. Cicero, On Oratory, bk. 1, ch. 11.

Mnesidămus, an officer who conspired against the lieutenant of Demetrius. Polyænus, bk. 5.

Mnesilaus, a son of Pollux and Phœbe. Apollodorus.

Mnesimăche, a daughter of Dexamenus king of Olenus, courted by Eurytion, whom Hercules killed. Apollodorus, bk. 2.

Mnesimăchus, a comic poet.

Mnester, a freedman of Agrippina, who murdered himself at the death of his mistress. Tacitus, Annals, bk. 14, ch. 9.

Mnestheus, a Trojan, descended from Assaracus. He was a competitor for the prize given to the best sailing vessel by Æneas, at the funeral games of Anchises in Sicily, and became the progenitor of the family of the Memmii at Rome. Virgil, Æneid, bk. 4, li. 116, &c.――A son of Peteus. See: Menestheus.――A freedman of Aurelian, &c. Eutropius, bk. 9.—Aurelius Victor.

Mnestia, a daughter of Danaus. Apollodorus.

Mnestra, a mistress of Cimon.

Mnĕvis, a celebrated bull, sacred to the sun in the town of Heliopolis. He was worshipped with the same superstitious ceremonies as Apis, and, at his death, he received the most magnificent funeral. He was the emblem of Osiris. Diodorus, bk. 1.—Plutarch, de Iside et Osiride.

Moaphernes, the uncle of Strabo’s mother, &c. Strabo, bk. 12.

Modestus, a Latin writer, whose book De re Militari has been elegantly edited in 2 vols., 8vo, Vesaliæ, 1670.

Modia, a rich widow at Rome. Juvenal, satire 3, li. 130.

Mœcia, one of the tribes at Rome. Livy, bk. 8, ch. 17.

Mœnus, now Mayne, a river of Germany, which falls into the Rhine near Mentz. Tacitus, Germania, ch. 28.

Mœragĕtes, fatorum ductor, a surname of Jupiter. Pausanias, bk. 5, ch. 15.

Mœris, a king of India, who fled at the approach of Alexander. Curtius, bk. 9, ch. 8.――A steward of the shepherd Menalcas in Virgil’s, Eclogues, poem 9.――A king of Egypt. He was the last of the 300 kings from Menes to Sesostris, and reigned 68 years. Herodotus, bk. 2, ch. 13.――A celebrated lake in Egypt, supposed to have been dug by the king of the same name. It is about 220 miles in circumference, and intended as a reservoir for the superfluous waters during the inundation of the Nile. There were two pyramids in it, 600 feet high, half of which lay under the water, and the other appeared above the surface. Herodotus, bk. 2, ch. 4, &c.—Mela, bk. 1, ch. 6.—Pliny, bk. 36, ch. 12.

Mœdi, a people of Thrace, conquered by Philip of Macedonia.

Mœon, a Sicilian, who poisoned Agathocles, &c.

Mœra, a dog. See: Mera.

Mœsia, a country of Europe, bounded on the south by the mountains of Dalmatia, north by mount Hæmus, extending from the confluence of the Savus and the Danube to the shores of the Euxine. It was divided into Upper and Lower Mœsia. Lower Mœsia was on the borders of the Euxine, and contained that tract of country which received the name of Pontus from its vicinity to the sea, and which is now part of Bulgaria. Upper Mœsia lies beyond the other, in the inland country, now called Servia. Pliny, bk. 3, ch. 26.—Virgil, Georgics, bk. 1, li. 102.

Moleia, a festival in Arcadia, in commemoration of a battle in which Lycurgus obtained the victory.

Molion, a Trojan prince, who distinguished himself in the defence of his country against the Greeks as the friend and companion of Thymbræus. They were slain by Ulysses and Diomedes. Homer, Iliad, bk. 11, li. 320.

Molīŏne, the wife of Actor son of Phorbas. She became mother of Cteatus and Eurytus, who, from her, are called Molionides. Pausanias, bk. 8, ch. 14.—Apollodorus, bk. 2, ch. 7.

Molo, a philosopher of Rhodes, called also Apollonius. Some are of opinion that Apollonius and Molo are two different persons, who were both natives of Alabanda, and disciples of Menecles, of the same place. They both visited Rhodes, and there opened a school, but Molo flourished some time after Apollonius. Molo had Cicero and Julius Cæsar among his pupils. See: Apollonius. Cicero, On Oratory.――A prince of Syria, who revolted against Antiochus, and killed himself when his rebellion was attended with ill success.

Moloeis, a river of Bœotia, near Platæa.

Mŏlorchus, an old shepherd near Cleonæ, who received Hercules with great hospitality. The hero, to repay the kindness he received, destroyed the Nemæan lion, which laid waste the neighbouring country and, therefore, the Nemæan games, instituted on this occasion, are to be understood by the words Lucus Molorchi. There were two festivals instituted in his honour, called Molorcheæ. Martial, bk. 9, ltr. 44; bk. 14, ltr. 44.—Apollodorus, bk. 2, ch. 5.—Virgil, Georgics, bk. 3, li. 19.—Statius, Thebiad, bk. 4, li. 160.

Mŏlossi, a people of Epirus, who inhabited that part of the country which was called Molossia, or Molossis from king Molossus. This country had the bay of Ambracia on the south, and the country of the Perrhæbeans on the east. The dogs of the place were famous, and received the name of Molossi among the Romans. Dodona was the capital of the country according to some writers. Others, however, reckon it as the chief city of Thesprotia. Lucretius, bk. 5, lis. 10, 62.—Lucan, bk. 4, li. 440.—Strabo, bk. 7.—Livy.—Justin, bk. 7, ch. 6.—Cornelius Nepos, bk. 2, ch. 8.—Virgil, Georgics, bk. 3, li. 495.—Horace, bk. 2, satire 6, li. 114.

Mŏlossia, or Molossis. See: Molossi.

Molossus, a son of Pyrrhus and Andromache. He reigned in Epirus, after the death of Helenus, and part of his dominions received the name of Molossia from him. Pausanias, bk. 1, ch. 11.――A surname of Jupiter in Epirus.――An Athenian general, &c. Pausanias, Theseus.――The father of Merion of Crete. See: Molus. Homer, Odyssey, bk. 6.

Molpadia, one of the Amazons, &c. Plutarch.

Molpus, an author who wrote a history of Lacedæmon.

Molus, a Cretan, father of Meriones. Homer, Odyssey, bk. 6.――A son of Deucalion.――Another, son of Mars and Demonice.

Molycrion, a town of Ætolia, between the Evenus and Naupactum. Pausanias, bk. 5, ch. 3.

Momemphis, a town of Egypt. Strabo, bk. 17.

Momus, the god of pleasantry among the ancients, was son of Nox, according to Hesiod. He was continually employed in satirizing the gods, and whatever they did was freely turned to ridicule. He blamed Vulcan, because in the human form which he had made of clay, he had not placed a window in his breast, by which whatever was done or thought there might be easily brought to light. He censured the house which Minerva had made, because the goddess had not made it movable, by which means a bad neighbourhood might be avoided. In the bull which Neptune had produced, he observed that his blows might have been surer if his eyes had been placed near his horns. Venus herself was exposed to his satire; and when the sneering god had found no fault in the body of the naked goddess, he observed, as she retired, that the noise of her feet was too loud, and greatly improper in the goddess of beauty. These illiberal reflections upon the gods were the cause that Momus was driven from heaven. He is generally represented raising a mask from his face, and holding a small figure in his hand. Hesiod, Theogony.—Lucian, Hermotimus.

Mona, an island between Britain and Hibernia, anciently inhabited by a number of Druids. It is supposed by some to be the modern island of Anglesey, and by others, the island of Man. Tacitus, Annals, bk. 14, chs. 18 & 29.

Monæses, a king of Parthia, who favoured the cause of Marcus Antony against Augustus. Horace, bk. 3, ode 6, li. 9.――A Parthian in the age of Mithridates, &c.

Monda, a river between the Durius, and Tagus, in Portugal. Pliny, bk. 4, ch. 22.

Monēsus, a general killed by Jason at Colchis, &c.

Monēta, a surname of Juno among the Romans. She received it because she advised them to sacrifice a pregnant sow to Cybele, to avert an earthquake. Cicero, De Divinatione, bk. 1, ch. 15. Livy says (bk. 7, ch. 28) that a temple was vowed to Juno under this name, by the dictator Furius, when the Romans waged war against the Aurunci, and that the temple was raised to the goddess by the senate, on the spot where the house of Manlius Capitolinus had formerly stood. Suidas, however, says, that Juno was surnamed Moneta, from assuring the Romans, when in the war against Pyrrhus they complained of want of pecuniary resources, that money could never fail to those who cultivated justice.

Monĭma, a beautiful woman of Miletus, whom Mithridates the Great married. When his affairs grew desperate, Mithridates ordered his wives to destroy themselves; Monima attempted to strangle herself, but when her efforts were unavailing, she ordered one of her attendants to stab her. Plutarch, Lucullus.

Monimus, a philosopher of Syracuse.

Monŏdus, a son of Prusias. He had one continued bone instead of a row of teeth, whence his name (μονος ὁδους). Pliny, bk. 7, ch. 16.

Monœcus, now Monaco, a town and port of Liguria, where Hercules had a temple; whence he is called Monœcius, and the harbour Herculis Portus. Strabo, bk. 4.—Virgil, Æneid, bk. 6, li. 830.

Monoleus, a lake of Æthiopia.

Monophăge, sacrifices in Ægina.

Monophĭlus, a eunuch of Mithridates. The king entrusted him with the care of one of his daughters; and the eunuch, when he saw the affairs of his master in a desperate situation, stabbed her, lest she should fall into the enemy’s hands, &c.

Mons Sacer, a mountain near Rome, where the Roman populace retired in a tumult, which was the cause of the election of the tribunes.

Mons Sevērus, a mountain near Rome, &c.

Montānus, a poet who wrote in hexameter and elegiac verses. Ovid, ex Ponto.――An orator under Vespasian.――A favourite of Messalina.――One of the senators whom Domitian consulted about boiling a turbot. Juvenal, satire 4.

Mony̆chus, a powerful giant, who could root up trees and hurl them like a javelin. He receives his name from his having the feet of a horse, as the word implies. Juvenal, satire 1, li. 11.

Mony̆ma. See: Monima.

Mony̆mus, a servant of Corinth, who, not being permitted by his master to follow Diogenes the cynic, pretended madness, and obtained his liberty. He became a great admirer of the philosopher, and also of Crates, and even wrote something in the form of facetious stories. Diogenes Laërtius.

Mophis, an Indian prince conquered by Alexander.

Mopsium, a hill and town of Thessaly, between Tempe and Larissa. Livy, bk. 42.

Mopsopia, an ancient name of Athens, from Mopsus, one of its kings, and from thence the epithet of Mopsopius is often applied to an Athenian.

Mopsuhestia, or Mopsos, a town of Cilicia near the sea. Cicero, Letters to his Friends, bk. 3, ch. 8.

Mopsus, a celebrated prophet, son of Manto and Apollo, during the Trojan war. He was consulted by Amphimachus king of Colophon, who wished to know what success would attend his arms in a war which he was going to undertake. He predicted the greatest calamities; but Calchas, who had been a soothsayer of the Greeks during the Trojan war, promised the greatest successes. Amphimachus followed the opinion of Calchas, but the opinion of Mopsus was fully verified. This had such an effect upon Calchas that he died soon after. His death is attributed by some to another mortification of the same nature. The two soothsayers, jealous of each other’s fame, came to a trial of their skill in divination. Calchas first asked his antagonist how many figs a neighbouring tree bore. “Ten thousand except one,” replied Mopsus, “and one single vessel can contain them all.” The figs were gathered, and his conjectures were true. Mopsus, now to try his adversary, asked him how many young ones a certain pregnant sow would bring forth. Calchas confessed his ignorance, and Mopsus immediately said that the sow would bring forth on the morrow 10 young ones, of which only one should be a male, all black, and that the females should all be known by their white streaks. The morrow proved the veracity of his prediction, and Calchas died by excess of the grief which this defeat produced. Mopsus after death was ranked among the gods; and had an oracle at Malia, celebrated for the true and decisive answers which it gave. Strabo, bk. 9.—Pausanias, bk. 7, ch. 3.—Ammianus, bk. 14, ch. 8.—Plutarch, de Defectu Oraculorum.――A son of Ampyx and Chloris, born at Titaressa in Thessaly. He was the prophet and soothsayer of the Argonauts, and died at his return from Colchis by the bite of a serpent in Libya. Jason erected to him a monument on the sea-shore, where afterwards the Africans built him a temple where he gave oracles. He has often been confounded with the son of Manto, as their professions and their names were alike. Hyginus, fables 14, 128, 173.—Strabo, bk. 9.――A shepherd of that name in Virgil, Eclogues.

Morgantium (or ia), a town of Sicily, near the mouth of the Simethus. Cicero, Against Verres, bk. 3, ch. 18.

Morĭni, a people of Belgic Gaul, on the shores of the British ocean. The shortest passage to Britain was from their territories. They were called extremi hominum by the Romans, because situate on the extremities of Gaul. Their city, called Morinorum castellum, is now Mount Cassel, in Artois; and Morinorum civitas, is Terouenne, on the Lis. Virgil, Æneid, bk. 8, li. 726.—Cæsar, bk. 4, Gallic War, ch. 21.

Moritasgus, a king of the Senones at the arrival of Cæsar in Gaul. Cæsar, Gallic War.

Morius, a river of Bœotia. Plutarch.

Morpheus, the son and minister of the god Somnus, who naturally imitated the grimaces, gestures, words, and manners of mankind. He is sometimes called the god of sleep. He is generally represented as a sleeping child of great corpulence, and with wings. He holds a vase in one hand, and in the other are some poppies. He is represented by Ovid as sent to inform by a dream and a vision the unhappy Alcyone of the fate of her husband Ceyx. Ovid, Metamorphoses, bk. 11, fable 10.

Mors, one of the infernal deities born of Night, without a father. She was worshipped by the ancients, particularly by the Lacedæmonians, with great solemnity, and represented not as an actually existing power, but as an imaginary being. Euripides introduces her in one of his tragedies on the stage. The moderns represent her as a skeleton armed with a scythe and a scymetar.

Mortuum mare. See: Mare Mortuum.

Morys, a Trojan killed by Meriones during the Trojan war. Homer, Iliad, bk. 13, &c.

Mosa, a river of Belgic Gaul falling into the German ocean, and now called the Maese or Meuse. The bridge over it, Mosæpons, is now supposed to be Maestricht. Tacitus, Histories, bk. 4, ch. 66.

Moscha, now Mascat, a port of Arabia on the Red sea.

Moschi, a people of Asia, at the west of the Caspian sea. Mela, bk. 1, ch. 2; bk. 3, ch. 5.—Lucan, bk. 3, li. 270.

Moschion, a name common to four different writers, whose compositions, character, and native place are unknown. Some fragments of their writings remain, some few verses and a treatise de morbis mulierum, edited by Gesner, 4to, Basil, 1566.

Moschus, a Phœnician who wrote the history of his country in his own mother tongue.――A philosopher of Sidon. He is supposed to be the founder of anatomical philosophy. Strabo.――A Greek Bucolic poet in the age of Ptolemy Philadelphus. The sweetness and elegance of his eclogues, which are still extant, make the world regret the loss of poetical pieces no ways inferior to the productions of Theocritus. The best editions of Moschus with Bion is that of Heskin, 8vo, Oxford, 1748.――A Greek rhetorician of Pergamus in the age of Horace, defended by Torquatus in an accusation of having poisoned some of his friends. Horace, bk. 1, ltr. 5, li. 9.

Mosella, a river of Belgic Gaul falling into the Rhine at Coblentz, and now called the Moselle. Florus, bk. 3, ch. 10.—Tacitus, Annals, bk. 13, ch. 53.

Moses, a celebrated legislator and general among the Jews, well known in sacred history. He was born in Egypt 1571 B.C., and after he had performed his miracles before Pharaoh, conducted the Israelites through the Red sea, and given them laws and ordinances, during their peregrination of 40 years in the wilderness of Arabia, he died at the age of 120. His writings have been quoted and commended by several of the heathen authors, who have divested themselves of their prejudices against a Hebrew, and extolled his learning and the effects of his wisdom. Longinus.—Diodorus, bk. 1.

Mosychlus, a mountain of Lemnos. Nicander.

Mosynæci, a nation on the Euxine sea, in whose territories the 10,000 Greeks stayed on their return from Cunaxa. Xenophon.

Mothōne, a town of Magnesia, where Philip lost one of his eyes. Justin, bk. 7, ch. 6. The word is oftener spelt Methone.

Motya, a town of Sicily, besieged and taken by Dionysius tyrant of Syracuse.

Muciānus, a facetious and intriguing general under Otho and Vitellius, &c.

Mucius. See: Mutius.

Mucræ, a village of Samnium. Silius Italicus, bk. 8, li. 565.

Mulcĭber, a surname of Vulcan (a mulcendo ferrum), from his occupation. Ovid, Metamorphoses, bk. 2, li. 5. See: Vulcanus.

Mulŭcha, a river of Africa, dividing Numidia from Mauritania. Pliny, bk. 5, ch. 2.

Mulvius pons, a bridge on the Flaminian way, about one mile distant from Rome. Martial, bk. 3, ltr. 14.

Lucius Mummius, a Roman consul sent against the Achæans, whom he conquered, B.C. 147. He destroyed Corinth, Thebes, and Chalcis, by order of the senate, and obtained the surname of Achaicus from his victories. He did not enrich himself with the spoils of the enemy, but returned home without any increase of fortune. He was so unacquainted with the value of the paintings and works of the most celebrated artists of Greece, which were found in the plunder of Corinth, that he said to those who conveyed them to Rome, that if they lost them or injured them, they should make others in their stead. Paterculus, bk. 1, ch. 13.—Strabo, bk. 8.—Pliny, bk. 34, ch. 7; bk. 37, ch. 1.—Florus, bk. 2, ch. 6.—Pausanias, bk. 5, ch. 24.――Publius, a man commended by Caius Publicius for the versatility of his mind, and the propriety of his manners. Cicero, On Oratory, bk. 2.――A Latin poet. Macrobius, bk. 1, Saturnalia, ch. 10.――Marcus, a pretor. Cicero, Against Verres.――Spurius, a brother of Achaicus before mentioned, distinguished as an orator, and for his fondness for the stoic philosophy. Cicero, Brutus, ch. 25; Letters to Atticus, bk. 13, ltr. 6.――A lieutenant of Crassus defeated, &c. Plutarch, Crassus.

Munatius Plancus, a consul sent to the rebellious army of Germanicus. He was almost killed by the incensed soldiery, who suspected that it was through him that they had not all been pardoned and indemnified by a decree of the senate. Calpurnius rescued him from their fury.――An orator and disciple of Cicero. His father, grandfather, and great grandfather bore the same name. He was with Cæsar in Gaul, and was made consul with Brutus. He promised to favour the republican cause for some time, but he deserted again to Cæsar. He was long Antony’s favourite, but he left him at the battle of Actium to conciliate the favours of Octavius. His services were great in the senate; for through his influence and persuasion, that venerable body flattered the conqueror of Antony with the appellation of Augustus. He was rewarded with the office of censor. Plutarch, Antonius.――Gratus, a Roman knight who conspired with Piso against Nero. Tacitus, Annals, bk. 15, ch. 30.――Suetonius, Augustus, ch. 23.――A friend of Horace, epode 3, li. 31.

Munda, a small town of Hispania Bætica, celebrated for a battle which was fought there on the 17th of March, B.C. 45, between Cæsar and the republican forces of Rome, under Labienus and the sons of Pompey. Cæsar obtained the victory after an obstinate and bloody battle, and by this blow put an end to the Roman republic. Pompey lost 30,000 men, and Cæsar only 1000, and 500 wounded. Silius Italicus, bk. 3, li. 400.—Hirtius, Spanish War, ch. 27.—Lucan, bk. 1.

Munītus, a son of Laodice, the daughter of Priam by Acamas. He was entrusted to the care of Æthra as soon as born, and at the taking of Troy he was made known to his father, who saved his life, and carried him to Thrace, where he was killed by the bite of a serpent. Parthenius, ch. 10.

Muny̆chia (and æ), a port of Attica, between the Piræus and the promontory of Sunium, called after king Munychus, who built there a temple to Diana, and in whose honour he instituted festivals called Munychia. The temple was held so sacred that whatever criminals fled there for refuge were pardoned. During the festivals they offered small cakes which they called amphiphontes, ἀπο τον ἁμφιφαειν, from shining all round, because there were lighted torches hung round when they were carried to the temple, or because they were offered at the full moon, at which time the solemnity was observed. It was particularly in honour of Diana, who is the same as the moon, because it was full moon when Themistocles conquered the Persian fleet at Salamis. The port of Munychia was well fortified and of great consequence; therefore the Lacedæmonians, when sovereigns of Greece, always kept a regular garrison there. Plutarch.—Ovid, Metamorphoses, bk. 2, li. 709.—Strabo, bk. 2.—Pausanias, bk. 1, ch. 1.

Muræna, a celebrated Roman, left at the head of the armies of the republic in Asia by Sylla. He invaded the dominions of Mithridates with success, but soon after met with a defeat. He was honoured with a triumph at his return to Rome. He commanded one of the wings of Sylla’s army at the battle against Archelaus near Chæronea. He was ably defended in an oration by Cicero, when his character was attacked and censured. Cicero, for Lucius Murena.—Appian, Mithridatic Wars.――A man put to death for conspiring against Augustus, B.C. 22.

Murcia. See: Murtia.

Murcus, an enemy of the triumvirate of Julius Cæsar.――Statius, a man who murdered Piso in Vesta’s temple in Nero’s reign. Tacitus, Histories, bk. 1, ch. 43.

Murgantia, a town of Samnium. Livy, bk. 25, ch. 27.

Murrhēnus, a friend of Turnus, killed by Æneas, &c. Virgil, Æneid, bk. 12, li. 529.

Mursa, now Essek, a town of Hungary, where the Drave falls into the Danube.

Murtia, or Myrtia (a μυρτος), a supposed surname of Venus, because she presided over the myrtle. This goddess was the patroness of idleness and cowardice. Varro, de Lingua Latina, bk. 4, ch. 32.

Mus, a Roman consul. See: Decius.

Musa Antonius, a freedman and physician of Augustus. He cured his imperial master of a dangerous disease under which he laboured, by recommending to him the use of the cold bath. He was greatly rewarded for this celebrated cure. He was honoured with a brazen statue by the Roman senate, which was placed near that of Æsculapius, and Augustus permitted him to wear a golden ring, and to be exempted from all taxes. He was not so successful in recommending the use of the cold bath to Marcellus, as he had been to Augustus, and his illustrious patient died under his care. The cold bath was for a long time discontinued, till Charmis of Marseilles introduced it again, and convinced the world of its great benefits. Musa was brother to Euphorbus the physician of king Juba. Two small treatises, de herbâ Botanicâ, and de tuendâ Valetudine, are supposed to be the productions of his pen.――A daughter of Nicomedes king of Bithynia. She attempted to recover her father’s kingdom from the Romans, but to no purpose, though Cæsar espoused her cause. Paterculus, bk. 2.—Suetonius, Julius Cæsar.

Musæ, certain goddesses who presided over poetry, music, dancing, and all the liberal arts. They were daughters of Jupiter and Mnemosyne, and were nine in number: Clio, Euterpe, Thalia, Melpomene, Terpsichore, Erato, Polyhymnia, Calliope, and Urania. Some suppose that there were in ancient times only three Muses, Melete, Mneme, and Aœde; others four, Telxiope, Aœde, Arche, Melete. They were, according to others, daughters of Pierus and Antiope, from which circumstance they are called Pierides. The name of Pierides might probably be derived from mount Pierus, where they were born. They have been severally called Castalides, Aganippides, Lebethrides, Aonides, Heliconiades, &c., from the places where they were worshipped, or over which they presided. Apollo, who was the patron and the conductor of the Muses, has received the name of Musagetes, or leader of the Muses. The same surname was also given to Hercules. The palm tree, the laurel, and all the fountains of Pindus, Helicon, Parnassus, &c., were sacred to the Muses. They were generally represented as young, beautiful, and modest virgins. They were fond of solitude, and commonly appeared in different attire, according to the arts and sciences over which they presided. See: Clio, Euterpe, Thalia, Melpomene, &c. Sometimes they were represented as dancing in a chorus, to intimate the near and indissoluble connection which exists between the liberal arts and sciences. The Muses sometimes appear with wings, because by the assistance of wings they freed themselves from the violence of Pyrenæus. Their contest with the daughters of Pierus is well known. See: Pierides. The worship of the Muses was universally established, particularly in the enlightened parts of Greece, Thessaly, and Italy. No sacrifices were ever offered to them, though no poet ever began a poem without a solemn invocation to the goddesses who presided over verse. There were festivals instituted in their honour in several parts of Greece, especially among the Thespians, every fifth year. The Macedonians observed also a festival in honour of Jupiter and the Muses. It had been instituted by king Archelaus, and it was celebrated with stage plays, games, and different exhibitions, which continued nine days, according to the number of the Muses. Plutarch, Amatorius.—Pollux.—Aeschines, Against Timarchus.—Pausanias, bk. 9, ch. 29.—Apollodorus, bk. 1, ch. 3.—Cicero, de Natura Deorum, bk. 3, ch. 21.—Hesiod, Theogony.—Virgil, Æneid.—Ovid, Metamorphoses, bk. 4, li. 310.—Homer, Hymn 25 to the Muses and Apollo.—Juvenal, satire 7.—Diodorus, bk. 1.—Martial, bk. 4, ltr. 14.

Musæus, an ancient Greek poet, supposed to have been son or disciple of Linus or Orpheus, and to have lived about 1410 years before the christian era. Virgil has paid great honour to his memory by placing him in the Elysian fields attended by a great multitude, and taller by the head than his followers. None of the poet’s compositions are extant. The elegant poem of the loves of Leander and Hero was written by a Musæus, who flourished in the fourth century, according to the more received opinions. Among the good editions of Musæus two may be selected as the best; that of Rover, 8vo, Leiden, 1727, and that of Schroder, 8vo, Leovard, 1743. Virgil, Æneid, bk. 6, li. 677.—Diogenes Laërtius.――A Latin poet, whose compositions were very obscene. Martial, bk. 12, ltr. 96.――A poet of Thebes who lived during the Trojan war.

Musonius Rufus, a stoic philosopher of Etruria in the reign of Vespasian. Tacitus, Histories, bk. 3, ch. 81.

Mustēla, a man greatly esteemed by Cicero. Letters to Atticus, bk. 12.――A gladiator. Cicero.

♦Muta, a goddess who presided over silence, among the Romans. Ovid, Fasti, bk. 2, li. 580.

♦ corrected alphabetic order.

Muthullus, a river of Numidia. Sallust, Jugurthine War, ch. 48.

Mutia, a daughter of Quintus Mutius Scævola, and sister of Metellus Celer. She was Pompey’s third wife. Her incontinent behaviour so disgusted her husband, that at his return from the Mithridatic war, he divorced her, though she had borne him three children. She afterwards married Marcus Scaurus. Augustus greatly esteemed her. Plutarch, Pompey.――A wife of Julius Cæsar, beloved by Clodius the tribune. Suetonius, Julius Cæsar, ch. 50.――The mother of Augustus.

Mutia lex, the same as that which was enacted by Licinius Crassus, and Quintus Mutius, A.U.C. 657. See: Licinia lex.

Mutica, or Mutyce, a town of Sicily west of the cape Pachynus. Cicero, Against Verres, bk. 3, ch. 43.

Mutilia, a woman intimate with Livia Augusta. Tacitus, Annals, bk. 4, ch. 12.

Mutĭna, a Roman colony of Cisalpine Gaul, where Marcus Antony besieged Decimus Brutus, whom the consuls Pansa and Hirtius delivered. Two battles on the 15th of April, B.C. 43, were fought there, in which Antony was defeated, and at last obliged to retire. Mutina is now called Modena. Lucan, bk. 1, li. 41; bk. 7, li. 872.—Silius Italicus, bk. 8, li. 592.—Ovid, Metamorphoses, bk. 15, li. 822.—Cicero, Letters to his Friends, bk. 10, ltr. 14; Brutus, ltr. 5.

Mutīnes, one of Annibal’s generals, who was honoured with the freedom of Rome on delivering up Agrigentum. Livy, bk. 25, ch. 41; bk. 27, ch. 5.

Mutinus. See: Mutunus.

Mutius, the father-in-law of Caius Marius.――A Roman who saved the life of young Marius by conveying him away from the pursuit of his enemies in a load of straw.――A friend of Tiberius Gracchus, by whose means he was raised to the office of a tribune.――Caius Scævola, surnamed Cordus, became famous for his courage and intrepidity. When Porsenna king of Etruria had besieged Rome to reinstate Tarquin in all his rights and privileges, Mutius determined to deliver his country from so dangerous an enemy. He disguised himself in the habit of a Tuscan, and as he could fluently speak the language, he gained an easy introduction into the camp, and soon into the royal tent. Porsenna sat alone with his secretary when Mutius entered. The Roman rushed upon the secretary and stabbed him to the heart, mistaking him for his royal master. This occasioned a noise, and Mutius, unable to escape, was seized and brought before the king. He gave no answer to the inquiries of the courtiers, and only told them that he was a Roman; and to give them a proof of his fortitude, he laid his right hand on an altar of burning coals, and sternly looking at the king, and without uttering a groan, he boldly told him that 300 young Romans like himself had conspired against his life, and entered the camp in disguise, determined either to destroy him or perish in the attempt. This extraordinary confession astonished Porsenna; he made peace with the Romans, and retired from their city. Mutius obtained the surname of Scævola, because he had lost the use of his right hand by burning it in the presence of the Etrurian king. Plutarch, Parallela minora.—Florus, bk. 1, ch. 10.—Livy, bk. 2, ch. 12.――Quintus Scævola, a Roman consul. He obtained a victory over the Dalmatians, and signalized himself greatly in the Marsian war. He is highly commended by Cicero, whom he instructed in the study of civil law. Cicero.—Plutarch.――Another, appointed proconsul of Asia, which he governed with so much popularity, that he was generally proposed to others as a pattern of equity and moderation. Cicero speaks of him as eloquent, learned, and ingenious, equally eminent as an orator and as a lawyer. He was murdered in the temple of Vesta, during the civil war of Marius and Sylla, 82 years before Christ. Plutarch.—Cicero, On Oratory, bk. 1, ch. 48.—Paterculus, bk. 2, ch. 22.

Mutūnus, or Mutīnus, a deity among the Romans, much the same as the Priapus of the Greeks. The Roman matrons, and particularly new married women, disgraced themselves by the obscene ceremonies which custom obliged them to observe before the statue of this impure deity. Augustine, City of God, bk. 4, ch. 9; bk. 6, ch. 9.—Lactantius, bk. 1, ch. 20.

Mutuscæ, a town of Umbria. Virgil, Æneid, bk. 7, li. 711.

Muzeris, a town of India, now Vizindruk. Pliny, bk. 6, ch. 23.

Myagrus, or Myodes, a divinity among the Egyptians, called also Achor. He was entreated by the inhabitants to protect them from flies and serpents. His worship passed into Greece and Italy. Pliny, bk. 10, ch. 28.—Pausanias, bk. 8, ch. 26.

My̆căle, a celebrated magician, who boasted that she could draw down the moon from her orb. Ovid, Metamorphoses, bk. 12, li. 263.――A city and promontory of Asia Minor opposite Samos, celebrated for a battle which was fought there between the Greeks and Persians on the 22nd of September, 479 B.C., the same day that Mardonius was defeated at Platæa. The Persians were about 100,000 men, that had just returned from the unsuccessful expedition of Xerxes in Greece. They had drawn their ships to the shore and fortified themselves, as if determined to support a siege. They suffered the Greeks to disembark from their fleet without the least molestation, and were soon obliged to give way before the cool and resolute intrepidity of an inferior number of men. The Greeks obtained a complete victory, slaughtered some thousands of the enemy, burned their camp, and sailed back to Samos with an immense booty, in which were seventy chests of money among other very valuable things. Herodotus.—Justin, bk. 2, ch. 14.—Diodorus.――A woman’s name. Juvenal, satire 4, li. 141.

Mycalessus, an inland town of Bœotia, where Ceres had a temple. Pausanias, bk. 9, ch. 19.

My̆cēnæ, a town of Argolis, in Peloponnesus, built by Perseus son of Danae. It was situate on a small river at the east of the Inachus, about 50 stadia from Argos, and received its name from Mycene, a nymph of Laconia. It was once the capital of a kingdom, whose monarchs reigned in the following order: Acrisius, 1344 B.C.; Perseus, Electryon, Mæstor, and Sthenelus, and Sthenelus alone for eight years; Atreus and Thyestes, Agamemnon, Ægysthus, Orestes, Æpytus, who was dispossessed 1104 B.C., on the return of the Heraclidæ. The town of Mycenæ was taken and laid in ruins by the Argives, B.C. 568; and it was almost unknown where it stood in the age of the geographer Strabo. Pausanias, bk. 2, ch. 16.—Strabo, bk. 8.—Virgil, Æneid, bk. 6, li. 839.—Mela, bk. 2, ch. 3. The word Mycenæus is used for Agamemnon, as he was one of the kings of Mycenæ.

Mycēnis (idis), a name applied to Iphigenia, as residing at Mycenæ. Ovid, Metamorphoses, bk. 12, li. 34.

Mycerīnus, a son of Cheops king of Egypt. After the death of his father he reigned with great justice and moderation. Herodotus, bk. 2, ch. 129.

Myciberna, a town of the Hellespont. Diodorus, bk. 12.

Mycithus, a servant of Anaxilaus tyrant of Rhegium. He was entrusted with the care of the kingdom, and of the children of the deceased prince, and he exercised his power with such fidelity and moderation, that he acquired the esteem of all the citizens, and at last restored the kingdom to his master’s children when come to years of maturity, and retired to peace and solitude with a small portion. He is called by some Micalus. Justin, bk. 4, ch. 2.

Mycon, a celebrated painter, who with others assisted in making and perfecting the Pœcile of Athens. He was the rival of Polygnotus. Pliny, bks. 33 & 35.――A youth of Athens changed into a poppy by Ceres.

Mycŏnos (or e), one of the Cyclades between Delos and Icaria, which received its name from Myconus, an unknown person. It is about three miles at the east of Delos, and is 36 miles in circumference. It remained long uninhabited on account of the frequent earthquakes to which it was subject. Some suppose that the giants whom Hercules killed were buried under that island, whence arose the proverb of everything is under Mycone, applied to those who treat of different subjects under one and the same title, as if none of the defeated giants had been buried under no other island or mountain about Mycone. Strabo observes, and his testimony is supported by that of modern travellers, that the inhabitants of Mycone became bald very early, even at the age of 20 or 25, from which circumstance they were called, by way of contempt, the bald heads of Mycone. Pliny says that the children of the place were always born without hair. The island was poor, and the inhabitants very avaricious; whence Archilochus reproached a certain Pericles, that he came to a feast like a Myconian, that is, without previous invitation. Virgil, Æneid, bk. 3, li. 76.—Strabo, bk. 10.—Pliny, bk. 11, ch. 37; bk. 12, ch. 7; bk. 14, ch. 1.—Athenæus, bk. 1.—Thucydides, bk. 3, ch. 29.—Mela, bk. 2, ch. 7.—Ovid, Metamorphoses, bk. 7, li. 463.

Mydon, one of the Trojan chiefs who defended Troy against the Greeks. He was killed by Antilochus. Homer, Iliad, bk. 5, li. 580.

Myecphŏris, a town in Egypt, in a small island near Bubastis.

Myēnus, a mountain of Ætolia. Plutarch, de Fluviis.

Mygdon, a brother of Amycus, killed in a war against Hercules.――A brother of Hecuba. See: Mygdonus.

Mygdŏnia, a small province of Macedonia, near Thrace, between the rivers Axius and Strymon. The inhabitants, called Mygdones, migrated into Asia, and settled near Troas, where the country received the name of their ancient habitation. Cybele was called Mygdonia, from the worship she received in Mygdonia in Phrygia. Horace, bk. 2, ode 12, li. 22; bk. 3, ode 16, li. 41.—Ovid, Metamorphoses, bk. 6, li. 45.――A small province of Mesopotamia bears also the name of Mygdonia, and was probably peopled by a Macedonian colony. Flaccus, bk. 3, &c.—Pliny, bk. 4, ch. 10.—Ovid, Heroides, poem 20.—Horace, bk. 2, ode 12.

Mygdŏnus, or Mygdon, a brother of Hecuba, Priam’s wife, who reigned in part of Thrace. His son Corœbus was called Mygdonides, from him. Virgil, Æneid, bk. 2, li. 341.—Homer, Iliad, bk. 3.――A small river running through Mesopotamia.

Mylassa (orum), a town of Caria. Livy, bk. 38, ch. 39.

Myle, or Mylas, a small river on the east of Sicily, with a town of the same name. Livy, bk. 24, chs. 30 & 31.—Suetonius, Augustus, ch. 16.――Also a town of Thessaly, now Mulazzo. Livy, bk. 42, ch. 54.

Myles, a son of Lelex.

Mylitta, a surname of Venus among the Assyrians, in whose temples all the women were obliged to prostitute themselves to strangers. Herodotus, bk. 1, chs. 131 & 199.—Strabo, bk. 16.

Myndus, a maritime town of Caria near Halicarnassus. Cicero, Letters to his Friends, bk. 3, ltr. 8.—Mela, bk. 1, ch. 16.—Pliny, bk. 5, ch. 29.

Mynes, a prince of Lyrnessus, who married Briseis. He was killed by Achilles, and his wife became the property of the conqueror. Homer, Iliad, bk. 3.

Myniæ. See: Minyæ.

Myŏnia, a town of Phocis. Pausanias.

Myonēsus, a town and promontory of Ionia, now Jalanghi-Liman. Livy, bk. 37, chs. 13 & 27.

Myra (orum, or æ), a town of Lycia, on a high hill, two miles from the sea. Pliny, bk. 5, ch. 27.—Strabo, bk. 14.

Myriandros, a town of Seleucia in Syria, on the bay of Issus, which is sometimes called Sinus Myriandricus. Livy, bk. 2, ch. 108.

Myrīna, a maritime town of Æolia, called also Sebastopolis, and now Sanderlic. Tacitus, Annals, bk. 2, ch. 47.—Livy, bk. 33, ch. 30.—Strabo, bk. 13.――A queen of the Amazons, &c. Dionysius of Halicarnassus, bk. 4.――A town of Lemnos, now Palio Castro. Pliny, bk. 4, ch. 12.――A town of Asia, destroyed by an earthquake in Trajan’s reign.――The wife of Thoas king of Lemnos, by whom she had ♦Hypsipyle.

♦ ‘Hipsipyle’ replaced with ‘Hypsipyle’ for consistency

Myrīnus, a surname of Apollo, from Myrina in Æolia, where he was worshipped.――A gladiator. Martial, bk. 12, ltr. 29.

Myriœ, a town of Arcadia, called also Megalopolis.

Myrlææ, or Apamea, a town of Bithynia. Pliny, bk. 5, ch. 32.

Myrmecĭdes, an artist of Miletus, mentioned as making chariots so small that they could be covered by the wing of a fly. He also inscribed an elegiac distich on a grain of Indian sesamum. Cicero, bk. 4, Academica.—Ælian, Varia Historia, bk. 1.

Myrmĭdŏnes, a people on the southern borders of Thessaly, who accompanied Achilles to the Trojan war. They received their name from Myrmidon, a son of Jupiter and Eurymedusa, who married one of the daughters of Æolus son of Hellen. His son Actor married Ægina the daughter of the Asopus. He gave his name to his subjects, who dwelt near the river Peneus in Thessaly. According to some, the Myrmidons received their name from their having been originally ants, μυρμηκες. See: Æacus. According to Strabo, they received it from their industry, because they imitated the diligence of the ants, and like them were indefatigable, and were continually employed in cultivating the earth. Ovid, Metamorphoses, bk. 1, li. 654.—Strabo.—Hyginus, fable 52.

Myron, a tyrant of Sicyon.――A man of Priene, who wrote a history of Messenia. Pausanias, bk. 4, ch. 6.――A celebrated statuary of Greece, peculiarly happy in imitating nature. He made a cow so much resembling life, that even bulls were deceived and approached her as if alive, as is frequently mentioned by many epigrams in the Anthologia. He flourished about 442 years before Christ. Ovid, Ars Amatoria, bk. 3, li. 319.—Pausanias.—Juvenal satire 8.—Propertius, bk. 2, poem 41.

Myronianus, an historian. Diogenes Laërtius.

Myronides, an Athenian general who conquered the Thebans. Polyænus.

Myrrha, a daughter of Cinyras king of Cyprus. She became enamoured of her father, and introduced herself into his bed unknown. She had a son by him, called Adonis. When Cinyras was apprised of the incest he had committed, he attempted to stab his daughter, and Myrrha fled into Arabia, where she was changed into a tree called myrrh. Hyginus, fables 58 & 275.—Ovid, Metamorphoses, bk. 10, li. 298.—Plutarch, Parallela minora.—Apollodorus, bk. 3.

Myrsĭlus, a son of Myrsus, the last of the Heraclidæ who reigned in Lydia. He is also called Candaules. See: Candaules.

Myrsus, the father of Candaules. Herodotus, bk. 1, ch. 7.――A Greek historian in the age of Solon.

Myrtăle, a courtesan of Rome, mistress to the poet Horace, bk. 1, ode 33.

Myrtea, a surname of Venus. See: Murtia.

Myrtĭlus, son of Mercury and Phaetusa, or Cleobule, or Clymene, was arm-bearer to Œnomaus king of Pisa. He was so experienced in riding and in the management of horses, that he rendered those of Œnomaus the swiftest in all Greece. His infidelity proved at last fatal to him. Œnomaus had been informed by an oracle that his daughter Hippodamia’s husband would cause his death, and on that account he resolved to marry her only to him who should overcome him in a chariot race. This seemed totally impossible, and to render it more terrible, Œnomaus declared that death would be the consequence of a defeat in the suitors. The charms of Hippodamia were so great, that many sacrificed their life in the fruitless endeavour to obtain her hand. Pelops at last presented himself, undaunted at the fate of those who had gone before him, but before he entered the course he bribed Myrtilus, and assured him that he should share Hippodamia’s favours if he returned victorious from the race. Myrtilus, who was enamoured of Hippodamia, gave an old chariot to Œnomaus, which broke in the course and caused his death. Pelops gained the victory, and married Hippodamia; and when Myrtilus had the audacity to claim the reward promised to his perfidy, Pelops threw him headlong into the sea, where he perished. The body of Myrtilus, according to some, was carried by the waves to the sea-shore, where he received an honourable burial, and as he was the son of Mercury, he was made a constellation. Diodorus, bk. 4.—Hyginus, fable 84 & 224.—Pausanias, bk. 8, ch. 14.—Apollonius, bk. 1.

Myrtis, a Greek woman who distinguished herself by her poetical talents. She flourished about 500 years B.C., and instructed the celebrated Corinna in the several rules of versification. Pindar himself, as some report, was also one of her pupils.

Myrtōum mare, a part of the Ægean sea which lies between Eubœa, Attica, and Peloponnesus, as far as cape Melea. It receives this name from Myrto, a woman; or from Myrtos, a small island opposite to Carystos in Eubœa; or from Myrtilus the son of Mercury, who was drowned there, &c. Pausanias, bk. 8, ch. 14.—Hyginus, fable 84.—Pliny, bk. 4, ch. 11.

Myrtuntium, a name given to that part of the sea which lies on the coast of Epirus, between the bay of Ambracia and Leucas.

Myrtūsa, a mountain of Libya. Callimachus, Hymn to Apollo.

Mys (Myos), an artist famous in working and polishing silver. He beautifully represented the battle of the Centaurs and Lapithæ, on a shield in the hand of Minerva’s statue made by Phidias. Pausanias, bk. 1, ch. 28.—Martial, bk. 8, ltrs. 34 & 51; bk. 14, ltr. 93.—Propertius, bk. 3, poem 9, li. 14.

Myscellus, or Miscellus, a native of Rhypæ in Achaia, who founded Crotona in Italy according to an oracle, which told him to build a city where he found rain with fine weather. The meaning of the oracle long perplexed him, till he found a beautiful woman all in tears in Italy, which circumstance he interpreted in his favour. According to some, Myscellus, who was the son of Hercules, went out of Argos without the permission of the magistrates, for which he was condemned to death. The judges had put each a black ball as a sign of condemnation, but Hercules changed them all and made them white, and had his son acquitted, upon which Myscellus left Greece and came to Italy, where he built Crotona. Ovid, Metamorphoses, bk. 15, li. 19.—Strabo, bks. 6 & 8.—Suidas.

Mysia, a country of Asia Minor, generally divided into major and minor. Mysia minor was bounded on the north and west by the Propontis and Bithynia, and Phrygia on the southern and eastern borders. Mysia major had Æolia on the south, the Ægean on the west, and Phrygia on the north and east. Its chief cities were Cyzicum, Lampsacus, &c. The inhabitants were once very warlike, but they greatly degenerated; and the words Mysorum ultimus were emphatically used to signify a person of no merit. The ancients generally hired them to attend their funerals as mourners, because they were naturally melancholy and inclined to shed tears. They were once governed by monarchs. They are supposed to be descended from the Mysians of Europe, a nation which inhabited that part of Thrace which was situate between mount Hæmus and the Danube. Strabo.—Herodotus, bk. 1, &c.—Cicero, Against Verres.—Flaccus, ch. 27.—Florus, bk. 3, ch. 5.—Appian, Mithridatic Wars.――A festival in honour of Ceres, surnamed Mysia from Mysias, an Argive, who raised her a temple near Pallene in Achaia. Some derive the words ἀπο του μυσιαν, to cloy, or satisfy, because Ceres was the first who satisfied the wants of men by giving them corn. The festival continued during seven days, &c.

Myson, a native of Sparta, one of the seven wise men of Greece. When Anacharsis consulted the oracle of Apollo, to know which was the wisest man in Greece, he received for answer, he who was now ploughing his fields. This was Myson. Diogenes Laërtius, Lives and Opinions of Eminent Philosophers.

Mystes, a son of the poet Valgius, whose early death was so lamented by the father, that Horace wrote an ode to allay the grief of his friend. Horace, bk. 2, ode 9.

Mythecus, a sophist of Syracuse. He studied cookery, and when he thought himself sufficiently skilled in dressing meat, he went to Sparta, where he gained much practice, especially among the younger citizens. He was soon after expelled the city by the magistrates, who observed that the aid of Mythecus was unnecessary, as hunger was the best seasoning.

My̆tilēne. See: Mitylene.

Myus (Myuntis), a town of Ionia on the confines of Caria, founded by a Grecian colony. It is one of the 12 capital cities of Ionia, situate at the distance of about 30 stadia from the mouth of the Mæander. Artaxerxes king of Persia gave it to Themistocles to maintain him in meat. Magnesia was to support him in bread, and Lampsacus in wine. Cornelius Nepos, Themistocles.—Strabo, bk. 14.—Herodotus, bk. 4, ch. 142.—Diodorus, bk. 11.

________________________________________

N

Nabazanes, an officer of Darius III., at the battle of Issus. He conspired with Bessus to murder his royal master, either to obtain the favour of Alexander or to seize the kingdom. He was pardoned by Alexander. Curtius, bk. 3, &c.—Diodorus, bk. 17.

Năbăthæa, a country of Arabia, of which the capital was called Petra. The word is often applied to any of the eastern countries of the world by the poets, and seems to be derived from Nabath the son of Ishmael. Ovid, Metamorphoses, bk. 1, li. 61; bk. 5, li. 163.—Strabo, bk. 16.—Lucan, bk. 4, li. 63.—Juvenal, satire 11, li. 126.—Seneca, Hercules Œtaeus, li. 160, &c.

Nābis, a celebrated tyrant of Lacedæmon, who in all acts of cruelty and oppression surpassed a Phalaris or a Dionysius. His house was filled with flatterers and with spies, who were continually employed in watching the words and the actions of his subjects. When he had exercised every art in plundering the citizens of Sparta, he made a statue, which in resemblance was like his wife, and was clothed in the most magnificent apparel, and whenever any one refused to deliver up his riches, the tyrant led him to the statue, which immediately, by means of secret springs, seized him in its arms, and tormented him in the most excruciating manner with bearded points and prickles, hid under the clothes. To render his tyranny more popular, Nabis made an alliance with Flaminius the Roman general, and pursued with the most inveterate enmity the war which he had undertaken against the Achæans. He besieged Gythium and defeated Philopœmen in a naval battle. His triumph was short; the general of the Achæans soon repaired his losses, and Nabis was defeated in an engagement, and treacherously murdered, as he attempted to save his life by flight, B.C. 192, after a usurpation of 14 years. Polybius, bk. 13.—Justin, bks. 30 & 31.—Plutarch, Philopœmen.—Pausanias, bk. 7, ch. 8.—Florus, bk. 2, ch. 7.――A priest of Jupiter Ammon, killed in the second Punic war, as he fought against the Romans. Silius Italicus, bk. 15, li. 672.

Nabonassar, a king of Babylon, after the division of the Assyrian monarchy. From him the Nabonassarean epoch received its name, agreeing with the year of the world 3237, or 746 B.C.

Nacri campi, a place of Gallia Togata near Mutina. Livy, bk. 41, ch. 18.

Nadagara. See: ♦Nagara.

♦ reference not found

Nænia, the goddess of funerals at Rome, whose temple was without the gates of the city. The songs which were sung at funerals were also called nænia. They were generally filled with the praises of the deceased, but sometimes they were so unmeaning and improper, that the word became proverbial to signify nonsense. Varro, ♦Antiquitates rerum humanarum et divinarum.—Plautus, Asinaria. ♠act 4, scene 1, li. 63.

♦ ‘de Vitâ P. R.’ replaced with ‘Antiquitates rerum humanarum et divinarum’

♠ ‘41’ replaced with ‘4’

Cnæus Nævius, a Latin poet in the first Punic war. He was originally in the Roman armies, but afterwards he applied himself to study and wrote comedies, besides a poetical account of the first Punic war, in which he had served. His satirical disposition displeased the consul Metellus, who drove him from Rome. He passed the rest of his life in Utica, where he died, about 203 years before the christian era. Some fragments of his poetry are extant. Cicero, Tusculanæ Disputationes, bk. 1, ch. 1; de Senectute.—Horace, bk. 2, ltr. 1, li. 53.――A tribune of the people at Rome, who accused Scipio Africanus of extortion.――An augur in the reign of Tarquin. To convince the king and the Romans of his power as an augur, he cut a flint with a razor, and turned the ridicule of the populace into admiration. Tarquin rewarded his merit by erecting to him a statue in the comitium, which was still in being in the age of Augustus. The razor and flint were buried near it under an altar, and it was usual among the Romans to make witnesses in civil causes swear near it. This miraculous event of cutting a flint with a razor, though believed by some writers, is treated as fabulous and improbable by Cicero, who himself had been an augur. Dionysius of Halicarnassus.—Livy, bk. 1, ch. 36.—Cicero, de Divinatione, bk. 1, ch. 17; De Natura Deorum, bk. 2, ch. 3; bk. 3, ch. 6.

Nævŏlus, an infamous pimp in Domitian’s reign. Juvenal, satire 9, li. 1.

Naharvali, a people of Germany. Tacitus, Germania, ch. 43.

Nāiădes, or Naides, certain inferior deities who presided over rivers, springs, wells, and fountains. The Naiades generally inhabited the country, and resorted to the woods or meadows near the stream over which they presided, whence the name (ναιειν, to flow). They are represented as young and beautiful virgins, often leaning upon an urn, from which flows a stream of water. Ægle was the fairest of the Naiades, according to Virgil. They were held in great veneration among the ancients, and often sacrifices of goats and lambs were offered to them, with libations of wine, honey, and oil. Sometimes they received only offerings of milk, fruit, and flowers. See: Nymphæ. Virgil, Eclogues.—Ovid, Metamorphoses, bk. 14, li. 328.—Homer, Odyssey, bk. 13.

Nais, one of the Oceanides, mother of Chiron or Glaucus by Magnes. Apollodorus, bk. 1, ch. 9.――A nymph, mother by Bucolion of Ægesus and Pedasus. Homer, Iliad, bk. 6.――A nymph in an island of the Red sea, who by her incantations turned to fishes all those who approached her residence, after she had admitted them to her embraces. She was herself changed into a fish by Apollo. Ovid, Metamorphoses, bk. 4, li. 49, &c.――The word is used for water by Tibullus, bk. 3, poem 7.

Naissus, or Nessus, now Nissa, a town of Mœsia, the birthplace of Constantine, ascribed by some to Illyricum or Thrace.

Nantuates, a people of Gaul near the Alps. Cæsar, Gallic War, bk. 3, ch. 1.

Napææ, certain divinities among the ancients, who presided over the hills and woods of the country. Some suppose that they were tutelary deities of the fountains, and the Naiades of the sea. Their name is derived from ναπη, a grove. Virgil, Georgics, bk. 4, li. 535.

Napata, a town of Æthiopia.

Naphĭlus, a river of Peloponnesus, falling into the Alpheus. Pausanias, bk. 1.

Nar, now Nera, a river of Umbria, whose waters, famous for their sulphureous properties, pass through the lake Velinus, and issuing from thence with great rapidity, fall into the Tiber. Ovid, Metamorphoses, bk. 14, li. 330.—Virgil, Æneid, bk. 7, li. 517.—Cicero, Letters to Atticus, bk. 4, ltr. 15.—Tacitus, Annals, bk. 1, ch. 79; bk. 3, ch. 9.

Narbo Martius, now Narbonne, a town of Gaul, founded by the consul Marcius, A.U.C. 636. It became the capital of a large province of Gaul, which obtained the name of Gallia Narbonensis. Paterculus, bk. 1, ch. 15; bk. 2, ch. 8.—Pliny, bk. 3.

Narbonensis Gallia, one of the four great divisions of ancient Gaul, was bounded by the Alps, the Pyrenean mountains, Aquitania, Belgicum, and the Mediterranean, and contained the modern provinces of Languedoc, Provence, Dauphiné, and Savoy.

Narcæus, a son of Bacchus and Physcoa. Pausanias, bk. 5, ch. 15.

Narcea, a surname of Minerva in Elis, from her temple there, erected by Narcæus.

Narcissus, a beautiful youth, son of Cephisus and the nymph Liriope, born at Thespis in Bœotia. He saw his image reflected in a fountain, and became enamoured of it, thinking it to be the nymph of the place. His fruitless attempts to approach this beautiful object so provoked him, that he grew desperate and killed himself. His blood was changed into a flower, which still bears his name. The nymphs raised a funeral pile to burn his body, according to Ovid, but they found nothing but a beautiful flower. Pausanias says that Narcissus had a sister as beautiful as himself, of whom he became deeply enamoured. He often hunted in the woods in her company, but his pleasure was soon interrupted by her death; and still to keep afresh her memory, he frequented the groves, where he had often attended her, or reposed himself on the brim of a fountain, where the sight of his own reflected image still awakened tender sentiments. Pausanias, bk. 9, ch. 21.—Hyginus, fable 271.—Ovid, Metamorphoses, bk. 3, li. 346, &c.—Philostratus, bk. 1.――A freedman and secretary of Claudius, who abused his trust and the infirmities of his imperial master, and plundered the citizens of Rome to enrich himself. Messalina, the emperor’s wife, endeavoured to remove him, but Narcissus sacrificed her to his avarice and resentment. Agrippina, who succeeded in the place of Messalina, was more successful. Narcissus was banished by her intrigues, and compelled to kill himself, A.D. 54. The emperor greatly regretted his loss, as he had found him subservient to his most criminal and extravagant pleasures. Tacitus.—Suetonius.――A favourite of the emperor Nero, put to death by Galba.――A wretch who strangled the emperor Commodus.

Nargara, a town of Africa, where Hannibal and Scipio came to a parley. Livy, bk. 30, ch. 29.

Narisci, a nation of Germany, in the Upper Palatinate. Tacitus, Germania, ch. 42.

Narnia, or Narna, anciently Nequinum, now Narni, a town of Umbria, washed by the river Nar, from which it received its name. In its neighbourhood are still visible the remains of an aqueduct and of a bridge, erected by Augustus. Livy, bk. 10, ch. 9.

Naro, now Narenta, a river of Dalmatia, falling into the Adriatic, and having the town of Narona, now called Narenza, on its banks, a little above the mouth.

Narses, a king of Persia, A.D. 294, defeated by Maximianus Galerius, after a reign of seven years.――A eunuch in the court of Justinian, who was deemed worthy to succeed Belisarius, &c.――A Persian general, &c.

Narthēcis, a small island near Samos.

Narycia, Narycium, or Naryx, a town of Magna Græcia, built by a colony of Locrians after the fall of Troy. The place in Greece from which they came bore the same name, and was the country of Ajax Oileus. The word Narycian is more universally understood as applying to the Italian colony, near which pines and other trees grew in abundance. Virgil, Georgics, bk. 2, li. 438; Æneid, bk. 3, li. 399.—Ovid, Metamorphoses, bk. 15, li. 705.

Nasămōnes, a savage people of Libya near the Syrtes, who generally lived upon plunder. Curtius, bk. 4, ch. 7.—Lucan, bk. 9, li. 439.—Herodotus, bk. 2, ch. 165.—Silius Italicus, bk. 2, li. 116; bk. 11, li. 180.

Nascio, or Natio, a goddess at Rome who presided over the birth of children. She had a temple at Ardea. Cicero, de Natura Deorum, bk. 3, ch. 18.

Nasīca, the surname of one of the Scipios. Nasica was the first who invented the measuring of time by water, B.C. 159, about 134 years after the introduction of sun-dials at Rome. See: Scipio.――An avaricious fellow who married his daughter to Coranus, a man as mean as himself, that he might not only not repay the money he had borrowed, but moreover become his creditor’s heir. Coranus, understanding his meaning, purposely alienated his property from him and his daughter, and exposed him to ridicule. Horace, bk. 2, satire 5, li. 64, &c.

Nasidiēnus, a Roman knight, whose luxury, arrogance, and ostentation, exhibited at an entertainment which he gave to Mecænas, were ridiculed by Horace, bk. 2, satire 8.

Lucius Nasidius, a man sent by Pompey to assist the people of Massilia. After the battle of Pharsalia, he followed the interests of Pompey’s children, and afterwards revolted to Antony. Appian.

Naso, one of the murderers of Julius Cæsar.――One of Ovid’s names. See: Ovidius.

Nassus, or Nasus, a town of Acarnania, near the mouth of the Achelous. Livy, bk. 26, ch. 24. Also a part of the town of Syracuse.

Nasua, a general of the Suevi, when Cæsar was in Gaul.

Natālis Antonius, a Roman knight who conspired against Nero with Piso. He was pardoned for discovering the conspiracy, &c. Tacitus, Annals, bk. 15, ch. 50.

Natiso, now Natisone, a river rising in the Alps, and falling into the Adriatic east of Aquileia. Pliny, bk. 3, ch. 18.

Natta, a man whose manner of living was so mean, that his name became almost proverbial at Rome. Horace, bk. 1, ode 6, li. 224.

Nava, now Nape, a river of Germany, falling into the Rhine at Bingen, below Mentz. Tacitus, Histories, bk. 4, ch. 70.

Naubŏlus, a charioteer of Laius king of Thebes.――A Phocean, father of Iphitus. The sons of Iphitus were called Naubolides, from their grandfather.――A son of Lernus, one of the Argonauts.

Naucles, a general of the mercenary troops of Lacedæmon against Thebes, &c.

Naucrătes, a Greek poet, who was employed by Artemisia to write a panegyric upon Mausolus.――Another poet. Athenæus, bk. 9.――An orator who endeavoured to alienate the cities of Lycia from the interest of Brutus.

Naucrătis, a city of Egypt on the left side of the Canopic mouth of the Nile. It was celebrated for its commerce, and no ship was permitted to land at any other place, but was obliged to sail directly to the city, there to deposit its cargo. It gave birth to Athenæus. The inhabitants were called Naucratitæ, or Naucratiotæ. Herodotus, bk. 2, chs. 97 & 179.—Pliny, bk. 5, ch. 9.

Navius Actius, a famous augur. See: Nævius.

Naulŏchus, a maritime town of Sicily near Pelorum.――A town of Thrace on the Euxine sea. Pliny, bk. 4, ch. 11.――A promontory of the island of Imbros.――A town of the Locri. Pliny, bk. 4, ch. 3.

Naupactus, or Naupactum, a city of Ætolia, at the mouth of the Evenus, now called Lepanto. The word is derived from ναυς and πηγνυμι because it was there that the Heraclidæ built the first ship, which carried them to Peloponnesus. It first belonged to the Locri Ozolæ, and afterwards fell into the hands of the Athenians, who gave it to the Messenians, who had been driven from Peloponnesus by the Lacedæmonians. It became the property of the Lacedæmonians, after the battle of Ægospotamos, and it was restored to the Locri. Philip of Macedonia afterwards took it, and gave it to the Ætolians, from which circumstance it has generally been called one of the chief cities of their country. Strabo, bk. 4.—Pausanias, bk. 4, ch. 25.—Mela, bk. 2, ch. 3.—Ovid, Fasti, bk. 2, li. 43.

Nauplia, a maritime city of Peloponnesus, the naval station of the Argives. The famous fountain Canathos was in its neighbourhood. Pausanias, bk. 2, ch. 38.—Strabo, bk. 8.

Naupliădes, a patronymic of Palamedes son of Nauplius. Ovid, Metamorphoses, bk. 13, li. 39.

Nauplius, a son of Neptune and Amymone, king of Eubœa. He was father to the celebrated Palamedes, who was so unjustly sacrificed to the artifice and resentment of Ulysses by the Greeks during the Trojan war. The death of Palamedes highly irritated Nauplius, and to avenge the injustice of the Grecian princes, he attempted to debauch their wives and ruin their character. When the Greeks returned from the Trojan war, Nauplius saw them with pleasure distressed in a storm on the coasts of Eubœa, and to make their disaster still more universal, he lighted fires on such places as were surrounded with the most dangerous rocks, that the fleet might be shipwrecked upon the coast. This succeeded, but Nauplius was so disappointed when he saw Ulysses and Diomedes escape from the general calamity, that he threw himself into the sea. According to some mythologists, there were two persons of this name.――A native of Argos, who went to Colchis with Jason. He was son of Neptune and Amymone. The other was king of Eubœa, and lived during the Trojan war. He was, according to some, son of Clytonas, one of the descendants of Nauplius the Argonaut. The Argonaut was remarkable for his knowledge of sea affairs, and of astronomy. He built the town of Nauplia, and sold Auge daughter of Aleus to king Teuthras, to withdraw her from her father’s resentment. Orpheus, Argonautica.—Apollodorus, bk. 2, ch. 7.—Apollonius, bk. 1, &c.—Flaccus, bks. 1 & 5.—Strabo, bk. 8.—Pausanias, bk. 4, ch. 35.—Hyginus, fable 116.

Nauportus, a town of Pannonia on a river of the same name, now called Ober, or Upper Laybach. Velleius Paterculus, bk. 2, ch. 110.—Pliny, bk. 3, ch. 18.—Tacitus, Annals, bk. 1, ch. 20.

Naura, a country of Scythia in Asia. Curtius, bk. 3.――Of India within the Ganges. Arrian.

Nausĭcaa, a daughter of Alcinous king of the Phæaceans. She met Ulysses shipwrecked on her father’s coasts, and it was to her humanity that he owed the kind reception which he experienced from the king. She married, according to Aristotle and Dictys, Telemachus the son of Ulysses, by whom she had a son called Perseptolis or Ptoliporthus. Homer, Odyssey, bk. 6.—Pausanias, bk. 5, ch. 19.—Hyginus, fable 126.

Nausĭcles, an Athenian, sent to assist the Phocians with 5000 foot, &c.

Nausīmĕnes, an Athenian, whose wife lost her voice from the alarm she received in seeing her son guilty of incest.

Nausithoe, one of the Nereides.

Nausithous, a king of the Phæaceans, father to Alcinous. He was son of Neptune and Peribœa. Hesiod makes him son of Ulysses and Calypso. Hesiod, Theogony, bk. 1, li. 16.――The pilot of the vessel which carried Theseus into Crete.

Naustathmus, a port of Phocæa in Ionia. Livy, bk. 37, ch. 31.――Also a part of Cyrenaica, now Bondaria. Strabo, bk. 17.

Nautes, a Trojan soothsayer, who comforted Æneas when his fleet had been burnt in Sicily. Virgil, Æneid, bk. 5, li. 704. He was the progenitor of the Nautii at Rome, a family to whom the Palladium of Troy was, in consequence of the service of their ancestors, entrusted. Virgil, Æneid, bk. 5, li. 794.

Naxos, now Naxia, a celebrated island in the Ægean sea, the largest and most fertile of all the Cyclades, about 105 miles in circumference, and 30 broad. It was formerly called Strongyle, Dia, Dionysias, and Callipolis, and received the name of Naxos from Naxus, who was at the head of a Carian colony, which settled in the island. Naxos abounds with all sorts of fruits, and its wines are still in the same repute as formerly. The Naxians were anciently governed by kings, but they afterwards exchanged this form of government for a republic, and enjoyed their liberty till the age of Pisistratus, who appointed a tyrant over them. They were reduced by the Persians; but in the expedition of Darius and Xerxes against Greece, they revolted and fought on the side of the Greeks. During the Peloponnesian war, they supported the interest of Athens. Bacchus was the chief deity of the island. The capital was also called Naxos; and near it, on the 20th Sept., B.C. 377, the Lacedæmonians were defeated by Chabrias. Thucydides, bk. 1, &c.—Herodotus.—Diodorus, bk. 5, &c.—Ovid, Metamorphoses, bk. 3, li. 636.—Virgil, Æneid, bk. 3, li. 125.—Pausanias, bk. 6, ch. 16.—Pindar.――An ancient town on the eastern side of Sicily, founded 759 years before the christian era. There was also another town at the distance of five miles from Naxos, which bore the same name, and was often called, by contradistinction, Taurominium. Pliny, bk. 3.—Diodorus, bk. 13.――A town of Crete, noted for hones. Pliny, bk. 36, ch. 7.――A Carian who gave his name to the greatest of the Cyclades.

Nazianzus, a town of Cappadocia where St. Gregory was born, and hence he is called Nazianzenus.

Nea, or Nova insula, a small island between Lemnos and the Hellespont, which rose out of the sea during an earthquake. Pliny, bk. 2, ch. 87.

Neæra, a nymph, mother of Phaetusa and Lampetia by the Sun. Homer, Odyssey, bk. 12.――A woman mentioned by Virgil’s Eclogues, poem 3.――A mistress of the poet Tibullus.――A favourite of Horace.――A daughter of Pereus, who married Aleus, by whom she had Cepheus, Lycurgus, and Auge, who was ravished by Hercules. Apollodorus, bk. 3, ch. 9.—Pausanias, bk. 8, ch. 4.――The wife of Autolycus. Pausanias.――A daughter of Niobe and Amphion.――The wife of Strymon. Apollodorus.

Neæthus, now Neto, a river of Magna Græcia near Crotona. Ovid, Metamorphoses, bk. 15, li. 51.

Nealces, a friend of Turnus in his war against Æneas. Virgil, Æneid, bk. 10, li. 753.

Nealices, a painter, amongst whose capital pieces are mentioned a painting of Venus, a sea-fight between the Persians and Egyptians, and an ass drinking on the shore, with a crocodile preparing to attack it.

Neandros (or ia), a town of Troas. Pliny, bk. 5, ch. 30.

Neanthes, an orator and historian of Cyzicum, who flourished 257 years B.C.

Neapŏlis, a city of Campania, anciently called Parthenope, and now known by the name of Naples, rising like an amphitheatre at the back of a beautiful bay 30 miles in circumference. As the capital of that part of Italy, it is now inhabited by upwards of 350,000 souls, who exhibit the opposite marks of extravagant magnificence, and extreme poverty. Augustus called it Neapolis. Suetonius, Augustus, ch. 98.――A town in Africa.――A city of Thrace.――A town of Egypt,――of Palestine,――of Ionia.――Also a part of Syracuse. Livy, bk. 25, ch. 24.—Cicero, Against Verres, bk. 5.

Nearchus, an officer of Alexander in his Indian expedition. He was ordered to sail upon the Indian ocean with Onesicritus, and to examine it. He wrote an account of this voyage and of the king’s life; but his veracity has been called in question by Arrian. After the king’s death he was appointed over Lycia and Pamphylia. Curtius, bk. 9, ch. 10.—Polyænus, bk. 9.—Justin, bk. 13, ch. 4.—Strabo, bk. 2, &c.――A beautiful youth, &c. Horace, bk. 3, ode 20.――An old man mentioned by Cicero, de Senectute.

Nebo, a high mountain near Palestine, beyond Jordan, from the top of which Moses was permitted to view the promised land.

Nebrissa, a town of Spain, now Lebrixa.

Nebrōdes, a mountain of Sicily, where the Himera rises. Silius Italicus, bk. 14, li. 237.

Nebrophŏnos, a son of Jason and Hypsipyle. Apollodorus.――One of Actæon’s dogs. Ovid, Metamorphoses, bk. 3.

Nebŭla, a name given to Nephele the wife of Athamas. Lactantius [Placidus] on Achilleid of Statius, bk. 1, ch. 65.

Necessĭtas, a divinity who presided over the destinies of mankind, and who was regarded as the mother of the Parcæ. Pausanias, bk. 2, ch. 4.

Nechos, a king of Egypt, who attempted to make a communication between the Mediterranean and Red seas, B.C. 610. No less than 12,000 men perished in the attempt. It was discovered in his reign that Africa was circumnavigable. Herodotus, bk. 2, ch. 158; bk. 4, ch. 42.

Necropŏlis, one of the suburbs of Alexandria.

Nectanēbus and Nectanābis, a king of Egypt, who defended his country against the Persians, and was succeeded by Tachos, B.C. 363. His grandson, of the same name, made an alliance with Agesilaus king of Sparta, and with his assistance he quelled a rebellion of his subjects. Some time after he was joined by the Sidonians, Phœnicians, and inhabitants of Cyprus, who had revolted from the king of Persia. This powerful confederacy was soon attacked by Darius the king of Persia, who marched at the head of his troops. Nectanebus, to defend his frontiers against so dangerous an enemy, levied 20,000 mercenary soldiers in Greece, the same number in Libya, and 60,000 were furnished in Egypt. This numerous body was not equal to the Persian forces; and Nectanebus, defeated in a battle, gave up all hopes of resistance, and fled into Æthiopia, B.C. 350, where he found a safe asylum. His kingdom of Egypt became from that time tributary to the king of Persia. Plutarch, Agesilaus.—Diodorus, bk. 16, &c.—Polyænus.—Cornelius Nepos, Agesilaus.

Necysia, a solemnity observed by the Greeks in memory of the dead.

Neis, the wife of Endymion. Apollodorus.

Neleus, a son of Neptune and Tyro. He was brother to Pelias, with whom he was exposed by his mother, who wished to conceal her infirmities from her father. They were preserved and brought to Tyro, who had then married Cretheus king of Iolchos. After the death of Cretheus, Pelias and Neleus seized the kingdom of Iolchos, which belonged to Æson, the lawful son of Tyro by the deceased monarch. After they had reigned for some time conjointly, Pelias expelled Neleus from Iolchos. Neleus came to Aphareus king of Messenia, who treated him with kindness, and permitted him to build a city, which he called Pylos. Neleus married Chloris the daughter of Amphion, by whom he had a daughter and 12 sons, who were all, except Nestor, killed by Hercules, together with their father. Neleus promised his daughter in marriage only to him who brought him the bulls of Iphiclus. Bias was the successful lover. See: Melampus. Ovid, Metamorphoses, bk. 6, li. 418.—Pausanias, bk. 4, ch. 36.—Apollodorus, bk. 1, ch. 9; bk. 2, ch. 6.――A river of Eubœa.

Nelo, one of the Danaides. Apollodorus, bk. 2.

Nemæa, a town of Argolis between Cleonæ and Phlius, with a wood, where Hercules, in the 16th year of his age, killed the celebrated Nemæan lion. This animal, born of the hundred-headed Typhon, infested the neighbourhood of Nemæa, and kept the inhabitants under continual alarms. It was the first labour of Hercules to destroy it; and the hero, when he found that his arrows and his club were useless against an animal whose skin was hard and impenetrable, seized him in his arms and squeezed him to death. The conqueror clothed himself in the skin, and games were instituted to commemorate so great an event. The Nemæan games were originally instituted by the Argives in honour of Archemorus, who died by the bite of a serpent [See: Archemorus], and Hercules some time after renewed them. They were one of the four great and solemn games which were observed in Greece. The Argives, Corinthians, and the inhabitants of Cleonæ generally presided by turns at the celebration, in which were exhibited foot and horse races, chariot races, boxing, wrestling, and contests of every kind, both gymnical and equestrian. The conqueror was rewarded with a crown of olives, afterwards of green parsley, in memory of the adventure of Archemorus, whom his nurse laid down on a sprig of that plant. They were celebrated every third, or, according to others, every fifth year, or more properly on the first and third year of every Olympiad, on the 12th day of the Corinthian month Panemos, which corresponds to our August. They served as an era to the Argives, and to the inhabitants of the neighbouring country. It was always usual for an orator to pronounce a funeral oration in memory of the death of Archemorus, and those who distributed the prizes were always dressed in mourning. Livy, bk. 27, chs. 30 & 31; bk. 34, ch. 41.—Ovid, Metamorphoses, bk. 9, li. 97, Epistles, ltr. 9, li. 61.—Pausanias, Corinthia.—Clement of Alexandria.—Athenæus.—Polyænus.—Strabo, bk. 8.—Hyginus, fables 30 & 273.—Apollodorus, bk. 3, ch. 6.――A river of Peloponnesus falling into the bay of Corinth. Livy, bk. 33, ch. 15.

Nemausus, a town of Gaul, in Languedoc, near the mouth of the Rhone, now Nismes.

Nemesia, festivals in honour of Nemesis. See: Nemesis.

Marcus Aurelius Olympius Nemesiānus, a Latin poet, born at Carthage, of no very brilliant talents, in the third century, whose poems on hunting and bird-catching were published by Burman, inter scriptores rei venaticæ, 4to, Leiden, 1728.

Nĕmĕsis, one of the infernal deities, daughter of Nox. She was the goddess of vengeance, always prepared to punish impiety, and at the same time liberally to reward the good and virtuous. She is made one of the Parcæ by some mythologists, and is represented with a helm and a wheel. The people of Smyrna were the first who made her statues with wings, to show with what celerity she is prepared to punish the crimes of the wicked, both by sea and land, as the helm and the wheel in her hands intimate. Her power did not only exist in this life, but she was also employed after death to find out the most effectual and rigorous means of correction. Nemesis was particularly worshipped at Rhamnus in Attica, where she had a celebrated statue 10 cubits long, made of Parian marble by Phidias, or, according to others, by one of his pupils. The Romans were also particularly attentive to the adoration of a deity whom they solemnly invoked, and to whom they offered sacrifices before they declared war against their enemies, to show the world that their wars were undertaken upon the most just grounds. Her statue at Rome was in the Capitol. Some suppose that Nemesis was the person whom Jupiter deceived in the form of a swan, and that Leda was entrusted with the care of the children which sprang from the two eggs. Others observe that Leda obtained the name of Nemesis after death. According to Pausanias, there were more than one Nemesis. The goddess Nemesis was surnamed Rhamnusia because worshipped at Rhamnus, and Adrastia from the temple which Adrastus king of Argos erected to her, when he went against Thebes, to revenge the indignities which his son-in-law Polynices had suffered in being unjustly driven from his kingdom by Eteocles. The Greeks celebrated a festival called Nemesia, in memory of deceased persons, as the goddess Nemesis was supposed to defend the relics and the memory of the dead from all insult. Hyginus, Poetica Astronomica, bk. 2, ch. 8.—Pausanias, bk. 1, ch. 33.—Apollodorus, bk. 3, ch. 10.――Hesiod, Theogony, li. 224.—Pliny, bk. 11, ch. 28; bk. 26, ch. 5.――A mistress of Tibullus, bk. 2, poem 3, li. 55.

Nemesius, a Greek writer, whose elegant and useful treatise, de Naturâ Hominis, was edited in 12mo, Ant. apud Plant. 1565, and in 8vo, Oxford, 1671.

Nemetacum, a town of Gaul, now Arras.

Nemetes, a nation of Germany, now forming the inhabitants of Spire, which was afterwards called Noviomagus. Tacitus, Germania, ch. 28.

Nemoralia, festivals observed in the woods of Aricia, in honour of Diana, who presided over the country and the forests, on which account that part of Italy was sometimes denominated Nemorensis ager. Ovid, de Ars Amatoria, bk. 1, li. 259.

Nemossus (or um), the capital of the Arverni in Gaul, now Clermont. Lucan, bk. 1, li. 419.—Strabo, bk. 4.

Neobūle, a daughter of Lycambes, betrothed to the poet Archilochus. See: Lycambes. Horace, epode 6, li. 13; bk. 1, ltr. 3, li. 79.—Ovid, Ibis, li. 54.――A beautiful woman, to whom Horace addressed bk. 3, ode 12.

Neocæsaria, a town of Pontus.

Neochabis, a king of Egypt.

Neŏcles, an Athenian philosopher, father, or according to Cicero, brother to the philosopher Epicurus. Cicero, bk. 1, de Natura Deorum, ch. 21.—Diogenes Laërtius.――The father of Themistocles. Ælian, Varia Historia, bk. 2, &c.—Cornelius Nepos, Themistocles.

Neogĕnes, a man who made himself absolute, &c. Diodorus, bk. 15.

Neomoris, one of the Nereides. Apollodorus, bk. 1.

Neon, a town of Phocis.――There was also another of the same name in the same country, on the top of Parnassus. It was afterwards called Tithorea. Plutarch, Sulla.—Pausanias, Phocis.—Herodotus, bk. 8, ch. 32.――One of the commanders of the 10,000 Greeks who assisted Cyrus against Artaxerxes.

Neontīchos, a town of Æolia near the Hermus. Herodotus.—Pliny.

Neōptŏlĕmus, a king of Epirus, son of Achilles and Deidamia, called Pyrrhus from the yellow colour of his hair. He was carefully educated under the eye of his mother, and gave early proofs of his valour. After the death of Achilles, Calchas declared, in the assembly of the Greeks, that Troy could not be taken without the assistance of the son of the deceased hero. Immediately upon this, Ulysses and Phœnix were commissioned to bring Pyrrhus to the war. He returned with them with pleasure, and received the name of Neoptolemus (new soldier), because he had come late to the field. On his arrival before Troy, he paid a visit to the tomb of his father, and wept over his ashes. He afterwards, according to some authors, accompanied Ulysses to Lemnos, to engage Philoctetes to come to the Trojan war. He greatly signalized himself during the remaining time of the siege, and he was the first who entered the wooden horse. He was inferior to none of the Grecian warriors in valour, and Ulysses and Nestor alone could claim a superiority over him in eloquence, wisdom, and address. His cruelty, however, was as great as that of his father. Not satisfied with breaking down the gates of Priam’s palace, he exercised the greatest barbarities upon the remains of his family, and without any regard to the sanctity of the place where Priam had taken refuge, he slaughtered him without mercy; or, according to others, dragged him by the hair to the tomb of his father, where he sacrificed him, and where he cut off his head, and carried it in exultation through the streets of Troy, fixed on the point of a spear. He also sacrificed Astyanax to his fury, and immolated Polyxena on the tomb of Achilles, according to those who deny that that sacrifice was voluntary. When Troy was taken, the captives were divided among the conquerors, and Pyrrhus had for his share Andromache the widow of Hector, and Helenus the son of Priam. With these he departed for Greece, and he probably escaped from destruction by giving credit to the words of Helenus, who foretold him that, if he sailed with the rest of the Greeks, his voyage would be attended with fatal consequences, and perhaps with death. This obliged him to take a different course from the rest of the Greeks, and he travelled over the greatest part of Thrace, where he had a severe encounter with queen Harpalyce. See: Harpalyce. The place of his retirement after the Trojan war is not known. Some maintain that he went to Thessaly, where his grandfather still reigned; but this is confuted by others, who observe, perhaps with more reason, that he went to Epirus, where he laid the foundation of a new kingdom, because his grandfather Peleus had been deprived of his sceptre by Acastus the son of Pelias. Neoptolemus lived with Andromache after his arrival in Greece, but it is unknown whether he treated her as a lawful wife or a concubine. He had a son by this unfortunate princess, called Molossus, and two others, if we rely on the authority of Pausanias. Besides Andromache, he married Hermione the daughter of Menelaus, as also Lanassa the daughter of Cleodæus, one of the descendants of Hercules. The cause of his death is variously related. Menelaus, before the Trojan war, had promised his daughter Hermione to Orestes, but the services he experienced from the valour and the courage of Neoptolemus during the siege of Troy, induced him to reward his merit by making him his son-in-law. The nuptials were accordingly celebrated, but Hermione became jealous of Andromache, and because she had no children, she resolved to destroy her Trojan rival, who seemed to steal away the affections of their common husband. In the absence of Neoptolemus at Delphi, Hermione attempted to murder Andromache, but she was prevented by the interference of Peleus, or, according to others, of the populace. When she saw her schemes defeated, she determined to lay violent hands upon herself, to avoid the resentment of Neoptolemus. The sudden arrival of Orestes changed her resolution, and she consented to elope with her lover to Sparta. Orestes at the same time, to revenge and to punish his rival, caused him to be assassinated in the temple of Delphi, and he was murdered at the foot of the altar by Machareus the priest, or by the hand of Orestes himself, according to Virgil, Paterculus, and Hyginus. Some say that he was murdered by the Delphians, who had been bribed by the presents of Orestes. It is unknown why Neoptolemus went to Delphi. Some support that he wished to consult the oracle to know how he might have children by the barren Hermione; others say that he went thither to offer the spoils which he had obtained during the Trojan war, to appease the resentment of Apollo, whom he had provoked by calling him the cause of the death of Achilles. The plunder of the rich temple of Delphi, if we believe others, was the object of the journey of Neoptolemus, and it cannot but be observed that he suffered the same death and the same barbarities which he had inflicted in the temple of Minerva upon the aged Priam and his wretched family. From this circumstance, the ancients have made use of the proverb Neoptolemic revenge, when a person had suffered the same savage treatment which others had received from his hand. The Delphians celebrated a festival with great pomp and solemnity in memory of Neoptolemus, who had been slain in his attempt to plunder their temple, because, as they said, Apollo, the patron of the place, had been in some manner accessary to the death of Achilles. Paterculus, bk. 1, ch. 1.—Virgil, Æneid, bks. 2 & 3.—Pausanias, bk. 10, ch. 24.—Ovid, Metamorphoses, bk. 13, lis. 334, 455, &c.; Heroides, poem 8.—Strabo, bk. 9.—Pindar, Nemean, poem 7.—Euripides, Andromache & Orestes, &c.—Plutarch, Pyrrhus.—Justin, bk. 17, ch. 3.—Dictys Cretensis, bks. 4, 5, & 6.—Homer, Odyssey, bk. 11, li. 504; Iliad, bk. 19, li. 326.—Sophocles, Philoctetes.—Apollodorus, bk. 3, ch. 13.—Hyginus, fables 97 & 102.—Philostratus, Heroicus, ch. 19, &c.—Dares Phrygius.—Quintus Smyrnæus, bk. 14.――A king of the Molossi, father of Olympias the mother of Alexander. Justin, bk. 17, ch. 3.――Another, king of Epirus.――An uncle of the celebrated Pyrrhus who assisted the Tarentines. He was made king of Epirus by the Epirots, who had revolted from their lawful sovereign, and was put to death when he attempted to poison his nephew, &c. Plutarch, Pyrrhus.――A tragic poet of Athens, greatly favoured by Philip king of Macedonia. When Cleopatra, the monarch’s daughter, was married to Alexander of Epirus, he wrote some verses which proved to be prophetic of the tragical death of Philip. Diodorus, bk. 16.――A relation of Alexander. He was the first who climbed the walls of Gaza when that city was taken by Alexander. After the king’s death he received Armenia as his province, and made war against Eumenes. He was supported by Craterus, but an engagement with Eumenes proved fatal to his cause. Craterus was killed, and himself mortally wounded by Eumenes, B.C. 321. Cornelius Nepos, Eumenes.――One of the officers of Mithridates the Great, beaten by Lucullus in a naval battle. Plutarch, Lucullus.――A tragic writer.

Neoris, a large country of Asia, near Gedrosia, almost destitute of waters. The inhabitants were called Neoritæ, and it was usual among them to suspend their dead bodies from the boughs of trees. Diodorus, bk. 17.

Nepe, a constellation of the heavens, the same as Scorpio.――An inland town of Etruria, called also Nepete, whose inhabitants are called Nepesini. Silius Italicus, bk. 8, li. 490.—Livy, bk. 5, ch. 19; bk. 26, ch. 34.

Nephalia, festivals in Greece, in honour of Mnemosyne the mother of the Muses, and Aurora, Venus, &c. No wine was used during the ceremony, but merely a mixture of water and honey. Pollux, bk. 6, ch. 3.—Athenæus, bk. 15.—Suidas.

Nĕphĕle, the first wife of Athamas king of Thebes, and mother of Phryxus and Helle. She was repudiated on pretence of being subject to fits of insanity, and Athamas married Ino the daughter of Cadmus, by whom he had several children. Ino became jealous of Nephele, because her children would succeed to their father’s throne before hers, by right of seniority, and she resolved to destroy them. Nephele was apprised of her wicked intentions, and she removed her children from the reach of Ino, by giving them a celebrated ram, sprung from the union of Neptune and Theophane, on whose back they escaped to Colchis. See: Phryxus. Nephele was afterwards changed into a cloud, whence her name is given by the Greeks to the clouds. Some call her Nebula, which word is the Latin translation of Nephele. The fleece of the ram, which saved the life of Nephele’s children, is often called the Nephelian fleece. Apollodorus, bk. 1, ch. 9.—Hyginus, fable 2, &c.—Ovid, Metamorphoses, bk. 11, li. 195.—Flaccus, bk. 11, li. 56.――A mountain of Thessaly, once the residence of the Centaurs.

Nephĕlis, a cape of Cilicia. Livy, bk. 33, ch. 20.

Nepherītes, a king of Egypt, who assisted the Spartans against Persia, when Agesilaus was in Asia. He sent them a fleet of 100 ships, which were intercepted by Conon, as they were sailing towards Rhodes, &c. Diodorus, bk. 14.

Nephus, a son of Hercules.

Nepia, a daughter of Jasus, who married Olympus king of Mysia, whence the plains of Mysia are sometimes called Nepiæ campi.

Nepos, Cornelius, a celebrated historian in the reign of Augustus. He was born at Hostilia, and, like the rest of his learned contemporaries, he shared the favours and enjoyed the patronage of the emperor. He was the intimate friend of Cicero and of Atticus, and recommended himself to the notice of the great and opulent by delicacy of sentiment and a lively disposition. According to some writers, he composed three books of chronicles, as also a biographical account of all the most celebrated kings, generals, and authors of antiquity. Of all his valuable compositions, nothing remains but his lives of the illustrious Greek and Roman generals, which have often been attributed to Æmylius Probus, who published them in his own name in the age of Theodosius, to conciliate the favour and the friendship of that emperor. The language of Cornelius has always been admired, and as a writer of the Augustan age, he is entitled to many commendations for the delicacy of his expressions, the elegance of his style, and the clearness and precision of his narrations. Some support that he translated Dares Phrygius from the Greek original; but the inelegance of the diction, and its many incorrect expressions, plainly prove that it is the production, not of a writer of the Augustan age, but the spurious composition of a more modern pen. Cornelius speaks of his account of the Greek historians Dion, ch. 3. Among the many good editions of Cornelius Nepos, two may be selected as the best, that of Verheyk, 8vo, Leiden, 1773, and that of Glasgow, 12mo, 1761.――Julius, an emperor of the west, &c.

Nepotiānus Flavius Popilius, a son of Eutropia the sister of the emperor Constantine. He proclaimed himself emperor after the death of his cousin Constans, and rendered himself odious by his cruelty and oppression. He was murdered by Anicetus, after one month’s reign, and his family were involved in his ruin.

Nepthys, wife of Typhon, became enamoured of Osiris her brother-in-law, and introduced herself to his bed. She had a son called Anubis by him. Plutarch, De Iside et Osiride.

Neptūni fanum, a place near Cenchreæ. Mela, bk. 1, ch. 19.――Another in the island of Calauria.――Another near Mantinea.

Neptūnia, a town and colony of Magna Græcia.

Neptūnium, a promontory of Arabia at the entrance of the gulf.

Neptūnius, an epithet applied to Sextus Pompey, because he believed himself to be god of the sea, or descended from him, on account of his superiority in ships, &c. Horace epode 9.—Dio Cassius, bk. 48.

Neptūnus, a god, son of Saturn and Ops, and brother to Jupiter, Pluto, and Juno. He was devoured by his father the day of his birth, and again restored to life by means of Metis, who gave Saturn a certain potion. Pausanias says that his mother concealed him in a sheepfold in Arcadia, and that she imposed upon her husband, telling him that she had brought a colt into the world, which was instantly devoured by Saturn. Neptune shared with his brothers the empire of Saturn, and received as his portion the kingdom of the sea. This, however, did not seem equivalent to the empire of heaven and earth, which Jupiter had claimed, therefore he conspired to dethrone him, with the rest of the gods. The conspiracy was discovered, and Jupiter condemned Neptune to build the walls of Troy. See: Laomedon. A reconciliation was soon after made, and Neptune was reinstituted to all his rights and privileges. Neptune disputed with Minerva the right of giving a name to the capital of Cecropia, but he was defeated, and the olive which the goddess suddenly raised from the earth was deemed more serviceable for the good of mankind than the horse which Neptune had produced by striking the ground with his trident, as that animal is the emblem of war and slaughter. This decision did not please Neptune; he renewed the combat by disputing for Trœzene, but Jupiter settled their disputes by permitting them to be conjointly worshipped there, and by giving the name of Polias, or the protectress of the city, to Minerva, and that of king of Trœzene to the god of the sea. He also disputed his right for the isthmus of Corinth with Apollo; and Briareus the Cyclops, who was mutually chosen umpire, gave the isthmus to Neptune, and the promontory to Apollo. Neptune, as being god of the sea, was entitled to more power than any of the other gods, except Jupiter. Not only the ocean, rivers, and fountains were subjected to him, but he also could cause earthquakes at his pleasure, and raise islands from the bottom of the sea with a blow of his trident. The worship of Neptune was established in almost every part of the earth, and the Libyans in particular venerated him above all other nations, and looked upon him as the first and greatest of the gods. The Greeks and the Romans were also attached to his worship, and they celebrated their isthmian games and Consualia with the greatest solemnity. He was generally represented sitting in a chariot made of a shell, and drawn by sea-horses or dolphins. Sometimes he is drawn by winged horses, and holds his trident in his hand, and stands up as his chariot flies over the surface of the sea. Homer represents him as issuing from the sea, and in three steps crossing the whole horizon. The mountains and the forests, says the poet, trembled as he walked; the whales, and all the fishes of the sea, appear round him, and even the sea herself seems to feel the presence of her god. The ancients generally sacrificed a bull and a horse on his altars, and the Roman soothsayers always offered to him the gall of the victims, which in taste resembles the bitterness of the sea water. The amours of Neptune are numerous. He obtained, by means of a dolphin, the favours of Amphitrite, who had made a vow of perpetual celibacy, and he placed among the constellations the fish which had persuaded the goddess to become his wife. He also married Venilia and Salacia, which are only the names of Amphitrite according to some authors, who observed that the former word is derived from venire, alluding to the continual motion of the sea. Salacia is derived from Salum, which signifies the sea, and is applicable to Amphitrite. Neptune became a horse to enjoy the company of Ceres. See: Arion. To deceive Theophane, he changed himself into a ram. See: Theophane. He assumed the form of the river Enipeus, to gain the confidence of Tyro the daughter of Salmoneus, by whom he had Pelias and Neleus. He was also father of Phorcus and Polyphemus by Thoossa; of Lycus, Nycteus, and Euphemus by Celeno; of Chryses by Chrysogenia; of Ancæus by Astypalea; of Bœotus and Helen by Antiope; of Leuconoe by Themisto; of Agenor and Bellerophon by Eurynome the daughter of Nysus; of Antas by Alcyone the daughter of Atlas; of Abas by Arethusa; of Actor and Dictys by Agemede the daughter of Augias; of Megareus by Œnope daughter of Epopeus; of Cycnus by Harpalyce; of Taras, Otus, Ephialtes, Dorus, Alesus, &c. The word Neptunus is often used metaphorically by the poets, to signify sea water. In the Consualia of the Romans, horses were led through the streets finely equipped and crowned with garlands, as the god in whose honour the festivals were instituted had produced the horse, an animal so beneficial for the use of mankind. Pausanias, bks. 1, 2, &c.—Homer, Iliad, bk. 7, &c.—Varro, de Lingua Latina, bk. 4.—Cicero, de Natura Deorum, bk. 2, ch. 26; bk. 2, ch. 25.—Hesiod, Theogony.—Virgil, Æneid, bk. 1, li. 12, &c.; bks. 2, 3, &c.—Apollodorus, bks. 1, 2, &c.—Ovid, Metamorphoses, bk. 6, li. 117, &c.—Herodotus, bk. 2, ch. 50; bk. 4, ch. 188.—Macrobius, Saturnalia, bk. 1, ch. 17.—Augustine, City of God, bk. 18.—Plutarch, Themistocles.—Hyginus, fable 157.—Euripides, Phœnician Women.—Flaccus.—Apollonius Rhodius.

Nēreĭdes, nymphs of the sea, daughters of Nereus and Doris. They were 50, according to the greater number of the mythologists, whose names are as follows: Sao, Amphitrite, Proto, Galatæa, Thoe, Eucrate, Eudora, Galena, Glauce, Thetis, Spio, Cymothoe, Melita, Thalia, Agave, Eulimene, Erato, Pasithea, Doto, Eunice, Nesea, Dynamene, Pherusa, Protomelia, Actea, Panope, Doris, Cymatolege, Hippothoe, Cymo, Eione, Hipponoe, Cymodoce, Neso, Eupompe, Pronoe, Themisto, Glauconome, Halimede, Pontoporia, Evagora, Liagora, Polynome, Laomedia, Lysianassa, Autonoe, Menippe, Evarne, Psamathe, Nemertes. In those which Homer mentions, to the number of 30, we find the following names different from those spoken of by Hesiod: Halia, Limmoria, Iera, Amphitroe, Dexamene, Amphinome, Callianira, Apseudes, Callanassa, Clymene, Janira, Nassa, Mera, Orythya, Amathea. Apollodorus, who mentions 45, mentions the following names different from the others: Glaucothoe, Protomedusa, Pione, Plesaura, Calypso, Cranto, Neomeris, Dejanira, Polynoe, Melia, Dione, Isea, Dero, Eumolpe, Ione, Ceto. Hyginus and others differ from the preceding authors in the following names: Drymo, Xantho, Ligea, Phyllodoce, Cydippe, Lycorias, Cleio, Beroe, Ephira, Opis, Asia, Deopea, Arethusa, Crenis, Eurydice, and Leucothoe. The Nereides were implored as the rest of the deities; they had altars chiefly on the coast of the sea, where the piety of mankind made offerings of milk, oil, and honey, and often of the flesh of goats. When they were on the sea-shore they generally resided in grottos and caves which were adorned with shells, and shaded by the branches of vines. Their duty was to attend upon the more powerful deities of the sea, and to be subservient to the will of Neptune. They were particularly fond of alcyons, and as they had the power of ruffling or calming the waters, they were always addressed by sailors, who implored their protection, that they might grant them a favourable voyage and a prosperous return. They are represented as young and handsome virgins, sitting on dolphins and holding Neptune’s trident in their hand, or sometimes garlands of flowers. Orpheus, Hymn 23.—Catullus, Marriage of Peleus and Thetis.—Ovid, Metamorphoses, bk. 11, li. 361, &c.—Statius, bk. 2, Sylvæ, poem 2; bk. 3, Sylvæ, poem 1.—Pausanias, bk. 2, ch. 1.—Apollodorus, bk. 1, chs. 2, & 3.—Hesiod, Theogony.—Homer, Iliad, bk. 18, li. 39.—Pliny, bk. 36, ch. 5.—Hyginus, &c.

Nereius, a name given to Achilles, as son of Thetis, who was one of the Nereides. Horace, epode 17, li. 8.

Nēreus, a deity of the sea, son of Oceanus and Terra. He married Doris, by whom he had 50 daughters, called the Nereides. See: Nereides. Nereus was generally represented as an old man with a long flowing beard, and hair of an azure colour. The chief place of his residence was in the Ægean sea, where he was surrounded by his daughters, who often danced in choruses round him. He had the gift of prophecy, and informed those that consulted him with the different fates that attended them. He acquainted Paris with the consequences of his elopement with Helen; and it was by his directions that Hercules obtained the golden apples of the Hesperides. But the sea-god often evaded the importunities of inquirers by assuming different shapes, and totally escaping from their grasp. The word Nereus is often taken for the sea itself. Nereus is sometimes called the most ancient of all the gods. Hesiod, Theogony.—Hyginus.—Homer, Iliad, bk. 18.—Apollodorus.—Orpheus, Argonautica.—Horace, bk. 1, ode 13.—Euripides, Iphigeneia.

Nerio, or Neriēne, the wife of Mars. Aulus Gellius, ch. 21.

Nerĭphus, a desert island near the Thracian Chersonesus.

Nerĭtos, a mountain in the island of Ithaca, as also a small island in the Ionian sea, according to Mela. The word Neritos is often applied to the whole island of Ithaca, and Ulysses the king of it is called Neritius dux, and his ship Neritia navis. The people of Saguntum, as descended from a Neritian colony, are called Neritia proles. Silius Italicus, bk. 2, li. 317.—Virgil, Æneid, bk. 3, li. 271.—Pliny, bk. 4.—Mela, bk. 2, ch. 7.—Ovid, Metamorphoses, bk. 13, li. 712; Remedia Amoris, li. 263.

Nerĭtum, a town of Calabria, now called Nardo.

Nerius, a silversmith in the age of Horace, bk. 2, satire 3, li. 69.――A usurer in Nero’s age, who was so eager to get money that he married as often as he could, and as soon destroyed his wives by poison, to possess himself of their estates. Persius, bk. 2, li. 14.

Nero Claudius Domitius Cæsar, a celebrated Roman emperor, son of Caius Domitius Ahenobarbus and Agrippina the daughter of Germanicus. He was adopted by the emperor Claudius, A.D. 50, and four years after he succeeded to him on the throne. The beginning of his reign was marked by acts of the greatest kindness and condescension, by affability, complaisance, and popularity. The object of his administration seemed to be the good of his people; and when he was desired to sign his name to a list of malefactors that were to be executed, he exclaimed, “I wish to heaven I could not write.” He was an enemy to flattery, and when the senate had liberally commended the wisdom of his government, Nero desired them to keep their praises till he deserved them. These promising virtues were soon discovered to be artificial, and Nero displayed the propensities of his nature. He delivered himself from the sway of his mother, and at last ordered her to be assassinated. This unnatural act of barbarity might astonish some of the Romans, but Nero had his devoted adherents; and when he declared that he had taken away his mother’s life to save himself from ruin, the senate applauded his measures, and the people signified their approbation. Many of his courtiers shared the unhappy fate of Agrippina, and Nero sacrificed to his fury or caprice all such as obstructed his pleasure, or diverted his inclination. In the night he generally sallied out from his palace, to visit the meanest taverns and all the scenes of debauchery which Rome contained. In this nocturnal riot he was fond of insulting the people in the streets, and his attempts to offer violence to the wife of a Roman senator nearly cost him his life. He also turned actor, and publicly appeared on the Roman stage in the meanest characters. In his attempts to excel in music, and to conquer the disadvantages of a hoarse, rough voice, he moderated his meals, and often passed the day without eating. The celebrity of the Olympian games attracted his notice. He passed into Greece, and presented himself as a candidate for the public honours. He was defeated in wrestling, but the flattery of the spectators adjudged him the victory, and Nero returned to Rome with all the pomp and ♦splendour of an eastern conqueror, drawn in the chariot of Augustus, and attended by a band of musicians, actors, and stage dancers, from every part of the empire. These private and public amusements of the emperor were indeed innocent; his character was injured, but not the lives of the people. But his conduct soon became more abominable; he disguised himself in the habit of a woman, and was publicly married to one of his eunuchs. This violence to nature and decency was soon exchanged for another; Nero resumed his sex, and celebrated his nuptials with one of his meanest catamites, and it was on this occasion that one of the Romans observed that the world would have been happy if Nero’s father had had such a wife. But now his cruelty was displayed in a more superlative degree, and he sacrificed to his wantonness his wife Octavia Poppæa, and the celebrated writers, Seneca, Lucan, Petronius, &c. The christians also did not escape his barbarity. He had heard of the burning of Troy, and as he wished to renew that dismal scene, he caused Rome to be set on fire in different places. The conflagration became soon universal, and during nine successive days the fire was unextinguished. All was desolation; nothing was heard but the lamentations of mothers whose children had perished in the flames, the groans of the dying, and the continual fall of palaces and buildings. Nero was the only one who enjoyed the general consternation. He placed himself on the top of a high tower, and he sang on his lyre the destruction of Troy, a dreadful scene which his barbarity had realized before his eyes. He attempted to avert the public odium from his head, by a feigned commiseration of the miseries of his subjects. He began to repair the streets and the public buildings at his own expense. He built himself a celebrated palace, which he called his golden house. It was profusely adorned with gold and precious stones, and with whatever was rare and exquisite. It contained spacious fields, artificial lakes, woods, gardens, orchards, and whatever could exhibit beauty and grandeur. The entrance of this edifice could admit a large colossus of the emperor 120 feet high; the galleries were each a mile long, and the whole was covered with gold. The roofs of the dining halls represented the firmament in motion as well as in figure, and continually turned round night and day, showering down all sorts of perfumes and sweet waters. When this grand edifice, which, according to Pliny, extended all round the city, was finished, Nero said, that now he could lodge like a man. His profusion was not less remarkable in all his other actions. When he went a-fishing, his nets were made with gold and silk. He never appeared twice in the same garment, and when he undertook a voyage, there were thousands of servants to take care of his wardrobe. This continuation of debauchery and extravagance at last roused the resentment of the people. Many conspiracies were formed against the emperor, but they were generally discovered, and such as were accessary suffered the greatest punishments. The most dangerous conspiracy against Nero’s life was that of Piso, from which he was delivered by the confession of a slave. The conspiracy of Galba proved more successful; and the conspirator, when he was informed that his plot was known to Nero, declared himself emperor. The unpopularity of Nero favoured his cause; he was acknowledged by all the Roman empire, and the senate condemned the tyrant that sat on the throne to be dragged naked through the streets of Rome, and whipped to death, and afterwards to be thrown down from the Tarpeian rock like the meanest malefactor. This, however, was not done, and Nero, by a voluntary death, prevented the execution of the sentence. He killed himself, A.D. 68, in the 32nd year of his age, after a reign of thirteen years and eight months. Rome was filled with acclamations at the intelligence, and the citizens, more strongly to indicate their joy, wore caps such as were generally used by slaves who had received their freedom. Their vengeance was not only exercised against the statues of the deceased tyrant, but his friends were the objects of the public resentment, and many were crushed to pieces in such a violent manner, that one of the senators, amid the universal joy, said that he was afraid they should soon have cause to wish for Nero. The tyrant, as he expired, begged that his head might not be cut off from his body, and exposed to the insolence of an enraged populace, but that the whole might be burned on the funeral pile. His request was granted by one of Galba’s freedmen, and his obsequies were performed with the usual ceremonies. Though his death seemed to be the source of universal gladness, yet many of his favourites lamented his fall, and were grieved to see that their pleasures and amusements were stopped by the death of the patron of debauchery and extravagance. Even the king of Parthia sent ambassadors to Rome to condole with the Romans, and to beg that they would honour and revere the memory of Nero. His statues were also crowned with garlands of flowers, and many believed that he was not dead, but that he would soon make his appearance, and take a due vengeance upon his enemies. It will be sufficient to observe, in finishing the character of this tyrannical emperor, that the name of Nero is even now used emphatically to express a barbarous and unfeeling oppressor. Pliny calls him the common enemy and the fury of mankind, and in this he has been followed by all writers, who exhibit Nero as the pattern of the most execrable barbarity and unpardonable wantonness. Plutarch, Galba.—Suetonius, Lives.—Pliny, bk. 7, ch. 8, &c.—Dio Cassius, bk. 64.—Aurelius Victor.—Tacitus, Annals.――Claudius, a Roman general sent into Spain to succeed the two Scipios. He suffered himself to be imposed upon by Asdrubal, and was soon after succeeded by young Scipio. He was afterwards made consul, and intercepted Asdrubal, who was passing from Spain into Italy with a large reinforcement for his brother Annibal. An engagement was fought near the river Metaurus, in which 56,000 of the Carthaginians were left on the field of battle, and great numbers taken prisoners, 207 B.C. Asdrubal the Carthaginian general was also killed, and his head cut off and thrown into his brother’s camp by the conquerors. Appian, Hannibalic War.—Orosius, bk. 4.—Livy, bk. 27, &c.—Horace, bk. 4, ode 4, li. 37.—Florus, bk. 2, ch. 6.—Valerius Maximus, bk. 4, ch. 1.――Another, who opposed Cicero when he wished to punish with death such as were accessary to Catiline’s conspiracy.――A son of Germanicus, who was ruined by Sejanus, and banished from Rome by Tiberius. He died in the place of his exile. His death was voluntary, according to some. Suetonius, Tiberius.――Domitian was called Nero, because his cruelties surpassed those of his predecessors, and also Calvus, from the baldness of his head. Juvenal, satire 4.――The Neros were of the Claudian family, which, during the republican times of Rome, was honoured with 28 consulships, five dictatorships, six triumphs, seven censorships, and two ovations. They assumed the surname of Nero, which, in the language of the Sabines, signifies strong and warlike.

♦ ‘slendour’ replaced with ‘splendour’

Neronia, a name given to Artaxata by Tiridates, who had been restored to his kingdom by Nero, whose favours he acknowledged by calling the capital of his dominions after the name of his benefactor.

Neroniānæ Thermæ, baths at Rome, made by the emperor Nero.

Nertobrigia, a town of Spain on the Bilbilis.

Nerva Cocceius, a Roman emperor after the death of Domitian, A.D. 96. He rendered himself popular by his mildness, his generosity, and the active part he took in the management of affairs. He suffered no statues to be raised to his honour, and he applied to the use of the government all the gold and silver statues which flattery had erected to his predecessor. In his civil character he was the pattern of good manners, of sobriety, and temperance. He forbade the mutilation of male children, and gave no countenance to the law which permitted the marriage of an uncle with his niece. He made a solemn declaration that no senator should suffer death during his reign; and this he observed with such sanctity that, when two members of the senate had conspired against his life, he was satisfied to tell them that he was informed of their wicked machinations. He also conducted them to the public spectacles, and seated himself between them, and when a sword was offered to him, according to the usual custom, he desired the conspirators to try it upon his body. Such goodness of heart, such confidence in the self-conviction of the human mind, and such reliance upon the consequence of his lenity and indulgence, conciliated the affection of all his subjects. Yet, as envy and danger are the constant companions of greatness, the pretorian guards at last mutinied, and Nerva nearly yielded to their fury. He uncovered his aged neck in the presence of the incensed soldiery, and bade them wreak their vengeance upon him, provided they spared the life of those to whom he was indebted for the empire, and whom his honour commanded him to defend. His seeming submission was unavailing, and he was at last obliged to surrender to the fury of his soldiers some of his friends and supporters. The infirmities of his age, and his natural timidity, at last obliged him to provide himself against any future mutiny or tumult, by choosing a worthy successor. He had many friends and relations, but he did not consider the aggrandizement of his family, and he chose for his son and successor Trajan, a man of whose virtues and greatness of mind he was fully convinced. This voluntary choice was approved by the acclamations of the people, and the wisdom and prudence which marked the reign of Trajan showed how discerning was the judgment, and how affectionate were the intentions, of Nerva for the good of Rome. He died on the 27th of July, A.D. 98, in his 72nd year, and his successor showed his respect for his merit and his character by raising him altars and temples in Rome, and in the provinces, and by ranking him in the number of the gods. Nerva was the first Roman emperor who was of foreign extraction, his father being a native of Crete. Pliny, Panegyrics.—Dio Cassius, bk. 69.――Marcus Cocceius, a consul in the reign of Tiberius. He starved himself, because he would not be concerned in the extravagance of the emperor.――A celebrated lawyer, consul with the emperor Vespasian. He was father to the emperor of that name.

Nervii, a warlike people of Belgic Gaul, who continually upbraided the neighbouring nations for submitting to the power of the Romans. They attacked Julius Cæsar, and were totally defeated. Their country forms the modern province of Hainault. Lucan, bk. 1, li. 428.—Cæsar, Gallic War, bk. 2, ch. 15.

Nerulum, an inland town of Lucania, now Lagonegro. Livy, bk. 9, ch. 20.

Nerium, or Artabrum, a promontory of Spain, now cape Finisterre. Strabo, bk. 3.

Nesactum, a town of Istria at the mouth of the Arsia, now Castel Nuovo.

Nesæa, one of the Nereides. Virgil, Georgics, bk. 4, li. 338.

Nesimăchus, the father of Hippomedon, a native of Argos, who was one of the seven chiefs who made war against Thebes. Hyginus, fable 70.—Scholiast on Statius, Thebaid, bk. 1, li. 44.

Nesis (is, or idis), now Nisita, an island on the coast of Campania, famous for asparagus. Lucan and Statius speak of its air as unwholesome and dangerous. Pliny, bk. 19, ch. 8.—Lucan, bk. 6, li. 90.—Cicero, Letters to Atticus, bk. 16, ltrs. 1 & 2.—Statius, bk. 3, Sylvæ, poem 1, li. 148.

Nessus, a celebrated centaur, son of Ixion and the Cloud. He offered violence to Dejanira, whom Hercules had entrusted to his care, with orders to carry her across the river Evenus. See: Dejanira. Hercules saw the distress of his wife from the opposite shore of the river, and immediately he let fly one of his poisoned arrows, which struck the centaur to the heart. Nessus, as he expired, gave the tunic he then wore to Dejanira, assuring her that, from the poisoned blood which had flowed from his wounds, it had received the power of calling a husband away from unlawful loves. Dejanira received it with pleasure, and this mournful present caused the death of Hercules. See: Hercules. Apollodorus, bk. 2, ch. 7.—Ovid, ltr. 9.—Seneca, Hercules Furens.—Pausanias, bk. 3, ch. 28.—Diodorus, bk. 4.――A river. See: Nestus.

Nestŏcles, a famous statuary of Greece, rival to Phidias. Pliny, bk. 34, ch. 8.

Nestor, a son of Neleus and Chloris, nephew to Pelias and grandson to Neptune. He had 11 brothers, who were all killed, with his father, by Hercules. His tender age detained him at home, and was the cause of his preservation. The conqueror spared his life, and placed him on the throne of Pylos. He married Eurydice the daughter of Clymenes, or, according to others, Anaxibia the daughter of Atreus. He early distinguished himself in the field of battle, and was present at the nuptials of Pirithous, when a bloody battle was fought between the Lapithæ and Centaurs. As king of Pylos and Messenia he led his subjects to the Trojan war, where he distinguished himself among the rest of the Grecian chiefs by eloquence, address, wisdom, justice, and an uncommon prudence of mind. Homer displays his character as the most perfect of all his heroes; and Agamemnon exclaims, that if he had 10 generals like Nestor, he should soon see the walls of Troy reduced to ashes. After the Trojan war, Nestor retired to Greece, where he enjoyed, in the bosom of his family, the peace and tranquillity which were due to his wisdom and to his old age. The manner and the time of his death are unknown; the ancients are all agreed that he lived three generations of men, which length of time some suppose to be 300 years, though more probably only 90, allowing 30 years for each generation. From that circumstance, therefore, it was usual among the Greeks and the Latins, when they wished a long and happy life to their friends, to wish them to see the years of Nestor. He had two daughters, Pisidice and Polycaste; and seven sons, Perseus, Straticus, Aretus, Echephron, Pisistratus, Antilochus, and Trasimedes. Nestor was one of the Argonauts, according to Valerius Flaccus, bk. 1, li. 380, &c.—Dictys Cretensis, bk. 1, ch. 13, &c.—Homer, Iliad, bk. 1, &c.; Odyssey, bks. 3 & 11.—Hyginus, fables 10 & 273.—Pausanias, bk. 3, ch. 26; bk. 4, chs. 3 & 31.—Apollodorus, bk. 1, ch. 9; bk. 2, ch. 7.—Ovid, Metamorphoses, bk. 12, li. 162, &c.—Horace, bk. 1, ode 15.――A poet of Lycaonia in the age of the emperor Severus. He was father to Pisander, who, under the emperor Alexander, wrote some fabulous stories.――One of the body-guards of Alexander. Polyænus.

Nestorius, a bishop of Constantinople, who flourished A.D. 431. He was condemned and degraded from his episcopal dignity for his heretical opinions, &c.

Nestus, or Nessus, now Nesto, a small river of Thrace, rising in mount Rhodope, and falling into the Ægean sea above the island of Thasos. It was for some time the boundary of Macedonia on the east, in the more extensive power of that kingdom.

Netum, a town of Sicily, now called Noto, on the eastern coast. Silius Italicus, bk. 14, li. 269.—Cicero, Against Verres, bk. 4, ch. 26; bk. 5, ch. 51.

Neuri, a people of Sarmatia. Mela, bk. 2, ch. 1.

Nicæa, a widow of Alexander, who married Demetrius.――A daughter of Antipater, who married Perdiccas.――A city of India, built by Alexander on the very spot where he had obtained a victory over king Porus.――A town of Achaia near Thermopylæ, on the bay of Malia.――A town of Illyricum.――Another in Corsica.――Another in Thrace,――in Bœotia.――A town of Bithynia (now Nice, or Is-nik), built by Antigonus, the son of Philip king of Macedonia. It was originally called Antigonia, and afterwards Nicæa by Lysimachus, who gave it the name of his wife, who was daughter of Antipater.――A town of Liguria, built by the people of Massilia, in commemoration of a victory.

Nicagŏras, a sophist of Athens in the reign of the emperor Philip. He wrote the lives of illustrious men, and was reckoned one of the greatest and most learned men of his age.

Nicander, a king of Sparta, son of Charillus, of the family of the Proclidæ. He reigned 39 years, and died B.C. 770.――A writer of Chalcedon.――A Greek grammarian, poet, and physician, of Colophon, 137 B.C. His writings were held in estimation, but his judgment cannot be highly commended, since, without any knowledge of agriculture, he ventured to compose a book on that intricate subject. Two of his poems, entitled Theriaca, on hunting, and Alexipharmaca, on antidotes against poison, are still extant; the best editions of which are those of Gorræus, with a translation in Latin verse by Grevinus, a physician at Paris, 4to, Paris, 1557, and Salvinus, 8vo, Florence, 1764. Cicero, bk. 1, On Oratory, ch. 16.

Nicānor, a man who conspired against the life of Alexander. Curtius, bk. 6.――A son of Parmenio, who died in Hyrcania, &c.――A surname of Demetrius. See: Demetrius II.――An unskilful pilot of Antigonus. Polyænus.――A servant of Atticus. Cicero, bk. 5, ltr. 3.――A Samian, who wrote a treatise on rivers.――A governor of Media, conquered by Seleucus. He had been governor over the Athenians under Cassander, by whose orders he was put to death.――A general of the emperor Titus, wounded at the siege of Jerusalem.――A man of Stagira, by whom Alexander the Great sent a letter to recall the Grecian exiles. Diodorus, bk. 18.――A governor of Munychia, who seized the Piræus, and was at last put to death by Cassander, because he wished to make himself absolute over Attica. Diodorus, bk. 18.――A brother of Cassander, destroyed by Olympias. Diodorus, bk. 19.――A general of Antiochus king of Syria. He made war against the Jews, and showed himself uncommonly cruel.

Nicarchus, a Corinthian philosopher in the age of Periander. Plutarch.――An Arcadian chief, who deserted to the Persians, at the return of the 10,000 Greeks.

Nicarthīdes, a man set over Persepolis by Alexander.

Nicātor, a surname of Seleucus king of Syria, from his having been unconquered.

Nice, a daughter of Thestius. Apollodorus.

Nicephorium, a town of Mesopotamia, on the Euphrates, where Venus had a temple. Livy, bk. 32, ch. 33.—Tacitus, Annals, bk. 6, ch. 41.

Nicephŏrius, now Khabour, a river which flowed by the walls of Tigranocerta. Tacitus, Annals, bk. 15, ch. 4.

Nicephŏrus Cæsar, a Byzantine historian, whose works were edited folio, Paris, 1661.――Gregoras, another, edited folio, Paris, 1702.――A Greek ecclesiastical historian, whose works were edited by Ducæus, 2 vols., Paris, 1630.

Nicer, now the Necker, a river of Germany, falling into the Rhine at the modern town of Manheim. Ausonius, Mosella, li. 423.

Nicerātus, a poet who wrote a poem in praise of Lysander.――The father of Nicias.

Nicetas, one of the Byzantine historians, whose works were edited folio, Paris, 1647.

Niceteria, a festival at Athens, in memory of the victory which Minerva obtained over Neptune, in their dispute about giving a name to the capital of the country.

Nicia, a city. See: Nicæa.――A river falling into the Po at Brixellum. It is now called Lenza, and separates the duchy of Modena from Parma.

Nicias, an Athenian general, celebrated for his valour and for his misfortunes. He early conciliated the good will of the people by his liberality, and he established his military character by taking the island of Cythera from the power of Lacedæmon. When Athens determined to make war against Sicily, Nicias was appointed, with Alcibiades and Lamachus, to conduct the expedition, which he reprobated as impolitic, and as the future cause of calamities to the Athenian power. In Sicily he behaved with great firmness, but he often blamed the quick and inconsiderate measures of his colleagues. The success of the Athenians remained long doubtful. Alcibiades was recalled by his enemies to take his trial, and Nicias was left at the head of affairs. Syracuse was surrounded by a wall, and though the operations were carried on slowly, yet the city would have surrendered, had not the sudden appearance of Gylippus, the Corinthian ally of the Sicilians, cheered up the courage of the besieged at the most critical moment. Gylippus proposed terms of accommodation to the Athenians, which were refused; some battles were fought, in which the Sicilians obtained the advantage, and Nicias at last, tired of his ill success, and grown desponding, demanded of the Athenians a reinforcement or a successor. Demosthenes, upon this, was sent with a powerful fleet, but the advice of Nicias was despised, and the admiral, by his eagerness to come to a decisive engagement, ruined his fleet and the interest of Athens. The fear of his enemies at home prevented Nicias from leaving Sicily; and when, at last, a continued series of ill success obliged him to comply, he found himself surrounded on every side by the enemy, without hope of escaping. He gave himself up to the conquerors with all his army, but the assurances of safety which he had received soon proved vain and false, and he was no sooner in the hands of the enemy than he was shamefully put to death with Demosthenes. His troops were sent to quarries, where the plague and hard labour diminished their numbers and aggravated their misfortunes. Some suppose that the death of Nicias was not violent. He perished about 413 years before Christ, and the Athenians lamented in him a great and valiant but unfortunate general. Plutarch, Lives.—Cicero.—Cornelius Nepos, Alcibiades.—Thucydides, bk. 4, &c.—Diodorus, bk. 15.――A grammarian of Rome, intimate with Cicero. Cicero, Letters.――A man of Nicæa, who wrote a history of philosophers.――A physician of Pyrrhus king of Epirus, who made an offer to the Romans of poisoning his master for a sum of money. The Roman general disdained his offers, and acquainted Pyrrhus with his treachery. He is oftener called Cineas.――A painter of Athens in the age of Alexander. He was chiefly happy in his pictures of women. Ælian, Varia Historia, bk. 2, ch. 31.

Nicippe, a daughter of Pelops, who married Sthenelus.――A daughter of Thespius. Apollodorus.

Nicippus, a tyrant of Cos, one of whose sheep brought forth a lion, which was considered as portending his future greatness, and his elevation to the sovereignty. Ælian, Varia Historia, bk. 1, ch. 29.

Nico, one of the Tarentine chiefs who conspired against the life of Annibal. Livy, bk. 30.――A celebrated architect and geometrician. He was father to the celebrated Galen the prince of physicians.――One of the slaves of Craterus.――The name of an ass which Augustus met before the battle of Actium, a circumstance which he considered as a favourable omen.――The name of an elephant remarkable for his fidelity to king Pyrrhus.

Nicochăres, a Greek comic poet in the age of Aristophanes.

Nicŏcles, a familiar friend of Phocion, condemned to death. Plutarch.――A king of Salamis, celebrated for his contest with a king of Phœnicia, to prove which of the two was most effeminate.――A king of Paphos, who reigned under the protection of Ptolemy king of Egypt. He revolted from his friend to the king of Persia, upon which Ptolemy ordered one of his servants to put him to death, to strike terror into the other dependent princes. The servant, unwilling to murder the monarch, advised him to kill himself. Nicocles obeyed, and all his family followed his example, 310 years before the christian era.――An ancient Greek poet, who called physicians a happy race of men, because light published their good deeds to the world, and the earth hid all their faults and imperfections.――A king of Cyprus, who succeeded his father Evagoras on the throne, 374 years before Christ. It was with him that the philosopher Isocrates corresponded.――A tyrant of Sicyon, deposed by means of Aratus the Achæan. Plutarch, Aratus.

Nicocrătes, a tyrant of Cyrene.――An author at Athens.――A king of Salamis in Cyprus, who made himself known by the valuable collection of books which he had. Athenæus, bk. 1.

Nicocreon, a tyrant of Salamis in the age of Alexander the Great. He ordered the philosopher Anaxarchus to be pounded to pieces in a mortar.

Nicodēmus, an Athenian appointed by Conon over the fleet which was going to the assistance of Artaxerxes. Diodorus, bk. 14.――A tyrant of Italy, &c.――An ambassador sent to Pompey by Aristobulus.

Nicodōrus, a wrestler of Mantinea, who studied philosophy in his old age. Ælian, Varia Historia, bk. 2, ch. 22.—Suidas.――An Athenian archon.

Nicodrŏmus, a son of Hercules and Nice. Apollodorus.――An Athenian who invaded Ægina, &c.

Nicolāus, a philosopher.――A celebrated Syracusan, who endeavoured, in a pathetic speech, to dissuade his countrymen from offering violence to the Athenian prisoners who had been taken with Nicias their general. His eloquence was unavailing.――An officer of Ptolemy against Antigonus.――A peripatetic philosopher and historian in the Augustan age.

Nicomăcha, a daughter of Themistocles.

Nicomăchus, the father of Aristotle, whose son also bore the same name. The philosopher composed his 10 books of morals for the use and improvement of his son, and thence they are called Nicomachea. Suidas.――One of Alexander’s friends, who discovered the conspiracy of Dymus. Curtius, bk. 6.――An excellent painter.――A Pythagorean philosopher.――A Lacedæmonian general, conquered by Timotheus.――A writer in the fifth century, &c.

Nicomēdes I., a king of Bithynia, about 278 years before the christian era. It was by his exertions that this part of Asia became a monarchy. He behaved with great cruelty to his brothers, and built a town which he called by his own name, Nicomedia. Justin.—Pausanias, &c.

Nicomēdes II., was ironically surnamed Philopater, because he drove his father Prusias from the kingdom of Bithynia, and caused him to be assassinated, B.C. 149. He reigned 59 years. Mithridates laid claim to his kingdom, but all their disputes were decided by the Romans, who deprived Nicomedes of the province of Paphlagonia, and his ambitious rival of Cappadocia. He gained the affections of his subjects by a courteous behaviour, and by a mild and peaceful government. Justin.

Nicomēdes III., son and successor of the preceding, was dethroned by his brother Socrates, and afterwards by the ambitious Mithridates. The Romans re-established him on his throne, and encouraged him to make reprisals upon the king of Pontus. He followed their advice, and he was, at last, expelled another time from his dominions, till Sylla came into Asia, who restored him to his former power and affluence. Strabo.—Appian.

Nicomēdes IV., was son and successor of Nicomedes III. He passed his life in an easy and tranquil manner, and enjoyed the peace which his alliance with the Romans had procured him. He died B.C. 75, without issue, and left his kingdom, with all his possessions, to the Roman people. Strabo, bk. 12.—Appian, Mithridatic Wars.—Justin, bk. 38, ch. 2, &c.—Florus, bk. 3, ch. 5.

Nicomēdes, a celebrated geometrician in the age of the philosopher Eratosthenes. He made himself known by his useful machines, &c.――An engineer in the army of Mithridates.――One of the preceptors of the emperor Marcus Antoninus.

Nicomēdia (now Is-nikmid), a town of Bithynia, founded by Nicomedes I. It was the capital of the country, and it has been compared, for its beauty and greatness, to Rome, Antioch, or Alexandria. It became celebrated for being, for some time, the residence of the emperor Constantine and most of his imperial successors. Some suppose that it was originally called Astacus, and Olbia, though it is generally believed that they were all different cities. Ammianus, bk. 17.—Pausanias, bk. 5, ch. 12.—Pliny, bk. 5, &c.—Strabo, bk. 12, &c.

Nicon, a pirate of Phære in Peloponnesus, &c. Polyænus.――An athlete of Thasos, 14 times victorious at the Olympic games.――A native of Tarentum. See: Nico.

Niconia, a town of Pontus.

Nicophanes, a famous painter of Greece, whose pieces are mentioned with commendation. Pliny, bk. 35, ch. 10.

Nicŏphron, a comic poet of Athens some time after the age of Aristophanes.

Nicŏpolis, a city of Lower Egypt.――A town of Armenia, built by Pompey the Great in memory of a victory which he had there obtained over the forces of Mithridates. Strabo, bk. 12.――Another, in Thrace, built on the banks of the Nestus by Trajan, in memory of a victory which he obtained there over the barbarians.――A town of Epirus, built by Augustus after the battle of Actium.――Another, near Jerusalem, founded by the emperor Vespasian.――Another, in Mœsia.――Another, in Dacia, built by Trajan to perpetuate the memory of a celebrated battle.――Another, near the bay of Issus, built by Alexander.

Nicostrăta, a courtesan who left all her possessions to Sylla.――The same as Carmente mother of Evander.

Nicostrătus, a man of Argos of great strength. He was fond of imitating Hercules by clothing himself in a lion’s skin. Diodorus, bk. 16.――One of Alexander’s soldiers. He conspired against the king’s life, with Hermolaus. Curtius, bk. 8.――A painter who expressed great admiration at the sight of Helen’s picture by Zeuxis. Ælian, bk. 14, ch. 47.――A dramatic actor of Ionia.――A comic poet of Argos.――An orator of Macedonia, in the reign of the emperor Marcus Antoninus.――A son of Menelaus and Helen. Pausanias, bk. 2, ch. 18.――A general of the Achæans, who defeated the Macedonians.

Nicotelea, a celebrated woman of Messenia, who said that she became pregnant of Aristomenes by a serpent. Pausanias, bk. 4, ch. 14.

Nicotĕles, a Corinthian drunkard, &c. Ælian, Varia Historia, bk. 2, ch. 14.

Niger, a friend of Marcus Antony, sent to him by Octavia.――A surname of Clitus, whom Alexander killed in a fit of drunkenness.――Caius Pescennius Justus, a celebrated governor in Syria, well known by his valour in the Roman armies, while yet a private man. At the death of Pertinax he was declared emperor of Rome, and his claims to that elevated situation were supported by a sound understanding, prudence of mind, moderation, courage, and virtue. He proposed to imitate the actions of the venerable Antoninus, of Trajan, of Titus, and Marcus Aurelius. He was remarkable for his fondness for ancient discipline, and never suffered his soldiers to drink wine, but obliged them to quench their thirst with water and vinegar. He forbade the use of silver and gold utensils in his camp, all the bakers and cooks were driven away, and the soldiers ordered to live, during the expedition they undertook, merely upon biscuits. In his punishments Niger was inexorable; he condemned 10 of his soldiers to be beheaded in the presence of the army, because they had stolen and eaten a fowl. The sentence was heard with groans: the army interfered; and when Niger consented to diminish the punishment for fear of kindling a rebellion, he yet ordered the criminals to make each a restoration of 10 fowls to the person whose property they had stolen. They were, besides, ordered not to light a fire the rest of the campaign, but to live upon cold aliments, and to drink nothing but water. Such great qualifications in a general seemed to promise the restoration of ancient discipline in the Roman armies, but the death of Niger frustrated every hope of reform. Severus, who had also been invested with the imperial purple, marched against him; some battles were fought, and Niger was at last defeated, A.D. 194. His head was cut off and fixed to a long spear, and carried in triumph through the streets of Rome. He reigned about one year. Herodian, bk. 3.—Eutropius.

Niger, or Nigris (itis), a river of Africa, which rises in Æthiopia, and falls by three mouths into the Atlantic, little known to the ancients, and not yet satisfactorily explored by the moderns. Pliny, bk. 5, chs. 1 & 8.—Mela, bk. 1, ch. 4; bk. 3, ch. 10.—Ptolemy, bk. 4, ch. 6.

Publius Nigidius Figŭlus, a celebrated philosopher and astrologer at Rome, one of the most learned men of his age. He was intimate with Cicero, and gave his most unbiassed opinions concerning the conspirators who had leagued to destroy Rome with Catiline. He was made pretor, and honoured with a seat in the senate. In the civil wars he followed the interest of Pompey, for which he was banished by the conqueror. He died in the place of his banishment, 47 years before Christ. Cicero, Letters to his Friends, bk. 4, ltr. 13.—Lucan, bk. 1, li. 639.

Nigrītæ, a people of Africa, who dwell on the banks of the Niger. Mela, bk. 1, ch. 4.—Pliny, bk. 5, ch. 1.

Nileus, a son of Codrus, who conducted a colony of Ionians to Asia, where he built Ephesus, Miletus, Priene, Colophon, Myus, Teos, Lebedos, Clazomenæ, &c. Pausanias, bk. 7, ch. 2, &c.――A philosopher who had in his possession all the writings of Aristotle. Athenæus, bk. 1.

Nilus, a king of Thebes, who gave his name to the river which flows through the middle of Egypt, and falls into the Mediterranean sea. The Nile, anciently called Ægyptus, is one of the most celebrated rivers in the world. Its sources were unknown to the ancients, and the moderns were till lately ignorant of their situation, whence an impossibility is generally meant by the proverb of Nili caput quærere. It flows through the middle of Egypt in a northern direction, and when it comes to the town of Cercasorum, it then divides itself into several streams, and falls into the Mediterranean by seven mouths. The most eastern canal is called the Pelusian, and the most western is called the Canopic mouth. The other canals are the Sebennytican, that of Sais, the Mendesian, Bolbitinic, and Bucolic. They have all been formed by nature, except the two last, which have been dug by the labours of men. The island which the Nile forms by its division into several streams is called Delta, from its resemblance to the fourth letter in the Greek alphabet. The Nile yearly overflows the country, and it is to those regular inundations that the Egyptians are indebted for the fertile produce of their lands. It begins to rise in the month of May for 100 successive days, and then decreases gradually the same number of days. If it does not rise as high as 16 cubits, a famine is generally expected, but if it exceeds this by many cubits, it is of the most dangerous consequences; houses are overturned, the cattle are drowned, and a great number of insects are produced from the mud, which destroy the fruits of the earth. The river, therefore, proves a blessing or a calamity to Egypt, and the prosperity of the nation depends so much upon it, that the tributes of the inhabitants were in ancient times, and are still under the present government, proportioned to the rise of the waters. The causes of the overflowings of the Nile, which remained unknown to the ancients, though searched with the greatest application, are owing to the heavy rains which regularly fall in Æthiopia, in the months of April and May, and which rush down like torrents upon the country, and lay it all under water. These causes, as some people suppose, were well known to Homer, as he seems to show it, by saying that the Nile flowed down from heaven. The inhabitants of Egypt, near the banks of the river, were called Niliaci, Niligenæ, &c., and large canals were also from this river denominated Nili or Euripi. Cicero, De Legibus, bk. 2, ch. 1; Letters to his brother Quintus, bk. 3, ltr. 9; Letters to Atticus, bk. 11, ltr. 12.—Strabo, bk. 17.—Ovid, Metamorphoses, bk. 5, li. 187; bk. 15, li. 753.—Mela, bk. 1, ch. 9; bk. 3, ch. 9.—Seneca, Quæstiones Naturales, bk. 4.—Lucan, bks. 1, 2, &c.—Claudian, de Nilus.—Virgil, Georgics, bk. 4, li. 288; Æneid, bk. 6, li. 800; bk. 9, li. 31.—Diodorus, bk. 1, &c.—Herodotus, bk. 2.—Lucretius, bk. 6, li. 712.—Ammianus, bk. 22.—Pausanias, bk. 10, ch. 32.—Pliny, bk. 5, ch. 10.――One of the Greek fathers, who flourished A.D. 440. His works were edited at Rome, folio, 2 vols., 1668 & 1678.

Ninnius, a tribune who opposed Clodius the enemy of Cicero.

Ninias. See: Ninyas.

Ninus, a son of Belus, who built a city to which he gave his own name, and founded the Assyrian monarchy, of which he was the first sovereign, B.C. 2059. He was very warlike, and extended his conquests from Egypt to the extremities of India and Bactriana. He became enamoured of Semiramis the wife of one of his officers, and he married her after her husband had destroyed himself through fear of his powerful rival. Ninus reigned 52 years, and at his death he left his kingdom to the care of his wife Semiramis, by whom he had a son. The history of Ninus is very obscure, and even fabulous according to the opinion of some. Ctesias is the principal historian from whom it is derived, but little reliance is to be placed upon him, when Aristotle deems him unworthy to be believed. Ninus after death received divine honours, and became the Jupiter of the Assyrians and the Hercules of the Chaldeans. Ctesias.—Diodorus, bk. 2.—Justin, bk. 1, ch. 1.—Herodotus, bk. 2.――A celebrated city, now Nino, the capital of Assyria, built on the banks of the Tigris by Ninus, and called Nineveh in Scripture. It was, according to the relation of Diodorus Siculus, 15 miles long, nine broad, and 48 in circumference. It was surrounded by large walls 100 feet high, on the top of which three chariots could pass together abreast, and was defended by 1500 towers, each 200 feet high. Ninus was taken by the united armies of Cyaxares and Nabopolassar king of Babylon, B.C. 606. Strabo, bk. 1.—Diodorus, bk. 2.—Herodotus, bk. 1, ch. 185, &c.—Pausanias, bk. 8, ch. 33.—Lucian.

Ninyas, a son of Ninus and Semiramis, king of Assyria, who succeeded his mother, who had voluntarily abdicated the crown. Some suppose that Semiramis was put to death by her own son, because she had encouraged him to commit incest. The reign of Ninyas is remarkable for its luxury and extravagance. The prince left the care of the government to his favourites and ministers, and gave himself up to pleasure, riot, and debauchery, and never appeared in public. His successors imitated the example of his voluptuousness, and therefore their names or history are little known till the age of Sardanapalus. Justin, bk. 1, ch. 2.—Diodorus, bk. 1, &c.

Niŏbe, a daughter of Tantalus king of Lydia by Euryanassa or Dione. She married Amphion the son of Jasus, by whom she had 10 sons and 10 daughters according to Hesiod, or two sons and three daughters according to Herodotus. Homer and Propertius say that she had six daughters and as many sons, and Ovid, Apollodorus, &c., according to the more received opinion, support that she had seven sons and seven daughters. The names of the sons were Sipylus, Minytus, Tantalus, Agenor, Phædimus, Damasichthon, and Ismenus; and those of the daughters, Cleodoxa, Ethodæa or Thera, Astyoche, Phthia, Pelopia or Chloris, Asticratea, and Ogygia. The number of her children increased the pride of Niobe, and she not only had the imprudence to prefer herself to Latona, who had only two children, but she even insulted her, and ridiculed the worship which was paid to her, observing that she had a better claim to altars and sacrifices than the mother of Apollo and Diana. This insolence provoked Latona, who entreated her children to punish the arrogant Niobe. Her prayers were heard, and immediately all the sons of Niobe expired by the darts of Apollo, and all the daughters except Chloris, who had married Neleus king of Polos, were equally destroyed by Diana; and Niobe, struck at the suddenness of her misfortunes, was changed into a stone. The carcases of Niobe’s children, according to Homer, were left unburied in the plains for nine successive days, because Jupiter changed into stones all such as attempted to inter them. On the tenth day they were honoured with a funeral by the gods. Homer, Iliad, bk. 24.—Ælian, Varia Historia, bk. 12, ch. 36.—Apollodorus, bk. 3, ch. 5.—Ovid, Metamorphoses, fable 5.—Hyginus, fable 9.—Horace, bk. 4, ode 6.—Propertius, bk. 2, poem 6.――A daughter of Phoroneus king of Peloponnesus by Laodice. She was beloved by Jupiter, by whom she had a son called Argus, who gave his name to Argia or Argolis, a country of Peloponnesus. Pausanias, bk. 2, ch. 22.—Apollodorus, bk. 2, ch. 1; bk. 3, ch. 8.

Niphæus, a man killed by horses, &c. Virgil, Æneid, bk. 10, li. 570.

Niphātes, a mountain of Asia, which divides Armenia from Assyria, and from which the Tigris takes its rise. Virgil, Georgics, bk. 3, li. 30.—Strabo, bk. 11.—Mela, bk. 1, ch. 15.――A river of Armenia, falling into the Tigris. Horace, bk. 2, ode 9, li. 20.—Lucan, bk. 3, li. 245.

Niphe, one of Diana’s companions. Ovid, Metamorphoses, bk. 3, li. 245.

Nireus, a king of Naxos, son of Charops and Aglaia, celebrated for his beauty. He was one of the Grecian chiefs during the Trojan war. Homer, Iliad, bk. 2.—Horace, bk. 2, ode 20.

Nisa, a town of Greece. Homer, Iliad, bk. 2.――A country-woman. Virgil, Eclogues, poem 8.――A place. See: Nysa.――A celebrated plain of Media near the Caspian sea, famous for its horses. Herodotus, bk. 3, ch. 106.

Nisæa, a naval station on the coasts of Megaris. Strabo, bk. 8.――A town of Parthia, called also Nisa.

Nisæe, a sea-nymph. Virgil, Æneid, bk. 5, li. 826.

Niseia. See: Nisus.

Nisĭbis, a town of Mesopotamia, built by a colony of Macedonians on the Tigris, and celebrated as being a barrier between the provinces of Rome and the Persian empire during the reign of the Roman emperors. It was sometimes called Antiochia Mygdonica. Josephus, bk. 20, ch. 2.—Strabo, bk. 11.—Ammianus, bk. 25, &c.—Pliny, bk. 6, ch. 13.

Nisus, a son of Hyrtacus, born on mount Ida near Troy. He came to Italy with Æneas, and signalized himself by his valour against the Rutulians. He was united in the closest friendship with Euryalus, a young Trojan, and with him he entered, in the dead of night, the enemy’s camp. As they were returning victorious, after much bloodshed, they were perceived by the Rutulians, who attacked Euryalus. Nisus, in endeavouring to rescue his friend from the enemy’s darts, perished himself with him, and their heads were cut off and fixed on a spear, and carried in triumph to the camp. Their death was greatly lamented by all the Trojans, and their great friendship, like that of a Pylades and an Orestes, or of a Theseus and Pirithous, is become proverbial. Virgil, Æneid, bk. 9, li. 176, &c.――A king of Dulichium, remarkable for his probity and virtue. Homer, Odyssey, bk. 18.――A king of Megara, son of Mars, or more probably of Pandion. He inherited his father’s kingdom with his brothers, and received as his portion the country of Megaris. The peace of the brothers was interrupted by the hostilities of Minos, who wished to avenge the death of his son Androgeus, who had been murdered by the Athenians. Megara was besieged, and Attica laid waste. The fate of Nisus depended totally upon a yellow lock, which, as long as it continued upon his head, according to the words of an oracle, promised him life, and success to his affairs. His daughter Scylla (often called Niseia Virgo) saw from the walls of Megara the royal besieger, and she became desperately enamoured of him. To obtain a more immediate interview with this object of her passion, she stole away the fatal hair from her father’s head as he was asleep; the town was immediately taken, but Minos disregarded the services of Scylla, and she threw herself into the sea. The gods changed her into a lark, and Nisus assumed the nature of the hawk at the very moment that he gave himself death, not to fall into the enemy’s hands. These two birds have continually been at variance with each other, and Scylla, by her apprehensions at the sight of her father, seems to suffer the punishment which her perfidy deserved. Apollodorus, bk. 3, ch. 15.—Pausanias, bk. 1, ch. 19.—Strabo, bk. 9.—Ovid, Metamorphoses, bk. 8, li. 6, &c.—Virgil, Georgics, bk. 1, li. 404, &c.

Nisȳros, an island in the Ægean sea, at the west of Rhodes, with a town of the same name. It was originally joined to the island of Cos, according to Pliny, and it bore the name of Porphyris. Neptune, who was supposed to have separated them with a blow of his trident, and to have there overwhelmed the giant Polybotes, was worshipped there, and called Nisyreus. Apollodorus, bk. 1, ch. 6.—Mela, bk. 2, ch. 7.—Strabo, bk. 10.

Nitētis, a daughter of Apries king of Egypt, married by his successor Amasis to Cyrus. Polyænus, bk. 8.

Nitiobriges, a people of Gaul, supposed to be Agenois, in Guienne. Cæsar, Gallic War, bk. 7, ch. 7.

Nitōcris, a celebrated queen of Babylon, who built a bridge across the Euphrates, in the middle of that city, and dug a number of reservoirs for the superfluous waters of that river. She ordered herself to be buried over one of the gates of the city, and placed an inscription on her tomb, which signified that her successors would find great treasures within if ever they were in need of money, but that their labours would be but ill repaid if ever they ventured to open it without necessity. Cyrus opened it through curiosity, and was struck to find within these words: If thy avarice had not been insatiable, thou never wouldst have violated the monuments of the dead. Herodotus, bk. 1, ch. 185.――A queen of Egypt, who built a third pyramid.

Nitria, a country of Egypt with two towns of the same name, above Memphis.

Nivaria, an island at the west of Africa, supposed to be Teneriff, one of the Canaries. Pliny, bk. 6, ch. 32.

Noas, a river of Thrace falling into the Ister. Herodotus, bk. 4, ch. 46.

Nocmon, a Trojan killed by Turnus. Virgil, Æneid, bk. 9, li. 767.

Noctilūca, a surname of Diana. She had a temple at Rome on mount Palatine, where torches were generally lighted in the night. Varro, de Lingua Latina, bk. 4.—Horace, bk. 4, ode 6, li. 38.

Nola, an ancient town of Campania, which became a Roman colony before the first Punic war. It was founded by a Tuscan, or, according to others, by an Eubœan colony. It is said that Virgil had introduced the name of Nola in his Georgics, but that, when he was refused a glass of water by the inhabitants as he passed through the city, he totally blotted it out of his poem, and substituted the word ora, in the 225th line of the second book of his Georgics. Nola was besieged by Annibal, and bravely defended by Marcellus. Augustus died there on his return from Neapolis to Rome. Bells were first invented there in the beginning of the fifth century, from which reason they have been called Nolæ, or Campanæ, in Latin. The inventor was St. Paulinus, the bishop of the place, who died A.D. 431, though many imagine that bells were known long before, and only introduced into churches by that prelate. Before his time, congregations were called to the church by the noise of wooden rattles (sacra ligna). Paterculus, bk. 1, ch. 7.—Suetonius, Augustus.—Silius Italicus, bk. 8, li. 517; bk. 12, li. 161.—Aulus Gellius, bk. 7, ch. 20.—Livy, bk. 23, chs. 14 & 39; bk. 24, ch. 13.

Nomădes, a name given to all those uncivilized people who had no fixed habitation, and who continually changed the place of their residence, to go in quest of fresh pasture for the numerous cattle which they tended. There were Nomades in Scythia, India, Arabia, and Africa. Those of Africa were afterwards called Numidians, by a small change of the letters which composed their name. Silius Italicus, bk. 1, li. 215.—Pliny, bk. 5, ch. 3.—Herodotus, bk. 1, ch. 15; bk. 4, ch. 187.—Strabo, bk. 7.—Mela, bk. 2, ch. 1; bk. 3, ch. 4.—Virgil, Georgics, bk. 3, li. 343.—Pausanias, bk. 8, ch. 43.

Nomæ, a town of Sicily. Diodorus, bk. 11.—Silius Italicus, bk. 14, li. 266.

Nomentānus, an epithet applied to Lucius Cassius as a native of Nomentum. He is mentioned by Horace as a mixture of luxury and dissipation. Horace, bk. 1, satire 2, li. 102 & alibi.

Nomentum, a town of the Sabines in Italy, famous for wine, and now called Lamentana. The dictator Quintus Servilius Priscus gave the Veientes and Fidenates battle there A.U.C. 312, and totally defeated them. Ovid, Fasti, bk. 4, li. 905.—Livy, bk. 1, ch. 38; bk. 4, ch. 22.—Virgil, Æneid, bk. 6, li. 773.

Nomii, mountains of Arcadia. Pausanias.

Nomius, a surname given to Apollo, because he fed (νεμω, pasco), the flocks of king Admetus in Thessaly. Cicero, de Natura Deorum, bk. 3, ch. 23.

Nōnācris, a town of Arcadia, which received its name from a wife of Lycaon. There was a mountain of the same name in the neighbourhood. Evander is sometimes called Nonacrius heros, as being an Arcadian by birth, and Atalanta Nonacria, as being a native of the place. Curtius, bk. 10, ch. 10.—Ovid, Fasti, bk. 5, li. 97; Metamorphoses, bk. 8, fable 10.—Pausanias, bk. 8, ch. 17, &c.

Nonius, a Roman soldier, imprisoned for paying respect to Galba’s statues, &c. Tacitus, Histories, bk. 1, ch. 56.――A Roman who exhorted his countrymen after the fatal battle of Pharsalia, and the flight of Pompey, by observing that eight standards (aquilæ) still remained in the camp, to which Cicero answered, Recte, si nobis cum graculis bellum esset.

Nonnius Marcellus, a grammarian, whose treatise de variâ significatione verborum was edited by Mercer, 8vo, Paris, 1614.

Nonnus, a Greek writer of the fifth century, who wrote an account of the embassy he had undertaken to Æthiopia, among the Saracens and other eastern nations. He is also known by his Dionysiaca, a wonderful collection of heathen mythology and erudition, edited 4to, Antwerp, 1569. His paraphrase on John was edited by Heinsius, 8vo, Leiden, 1627.

Nonus, a Greek physician, whose book de omnium morborum curatione was edited in 12mo, Strasbourg, 1568.

Nopia, or Cinopia, a town of Bœotia, where Amphiaraus had a temple.

Nōra, now Nour, a place of Phrygia, where Eumenes retired for some time, &c. Cornelius Nepos.――A town. See: Norax.

Norax, a son of Mercury and Eurythæa, who led a colony of Iberians into Sardinia, where he founded a town, to which he gave the name of Nora. Pausanias, bk. 10, ch. 17.

Norba, a town of the Volsci. Livy, bk. 2, ch. 34.――Cæsarea, a town of Spain on the Tagus.

Caius Norbānus, a young and ambitious Roman who opposed Sylla, and joined his interest to that of young Marius. In his consulship he marched against Sylla, by whom he was defeated, &c. Plutarch.――A friend and general of Augustus, employed in Macedonia against the republicans. He was defeated by Brutus, &c.

Norĭcum, a country of ancient Illyricum, which now forms a part of modern Bavaria and Austria. It extended between the Danube, and part of the Alps and Vindelicia. Its savage inhabitants, who were once governed by kings, made many incursions upon the Romans, and were at last conquered under Tiberius, and the country became a dependent province. In the reign of Diocletian, Noricum was divided into two parts, Ripense and Mediterranean. The iron that was drawn from Noricum was esteemed excellent, and thence Noricus ensis was used to express the goodness of a sword. Dionysius Periegetes.—Strabo, bk. 4.—Pliny, bk. 34, ch. 14.—Tacitus, Histories, bk. 3, ch. 5.—Horace, bk. 1, ode 16, li. 9.—Ovid, Metamorphoses, bk. 14, li. 712.

Northippus, a Greek tragic poet.

Nortia, a name given to the goddess of Fortune among the Etrurians. Livy, bk. 7, ch. 3.

Nothus, a son of Deucalion.――A surname of Darius king of Persia, from his illegitimacy.

Notium, a town of Æolia near the Cayster. It was peopled by the inhabitants of Colophon, who left their ancient habitations because Notium was more conveniently situated in being on the seashore. Livy, bk. 37, chs. 26, 38, 39.

Notus, the south wind, called also Auster.

Novæ (tabernæ), the new shops built in the forum at Rome, and adorned with the shields of the Cimbri. Cicero, On Oratory, bk. 2, ch. 66.――The Veteres tabernæ were adorned with those of the Samnites. Livy, bk. 9, ch. 40.

Novaria, a town of Cisalpine Gaul, now Novara, in Milan. Tacitus, Histories, bk. 1, ch. 70.

Novātus, a man who severely attacked the character of Augustus, under a fictitious name. The emperor discovered him, and only fined him a small sum of money.

Novesium, a town of the Ubii, on the west of the Rhine, now called Nuys, near Cologne. Tacitus, Histories, bk. 4, ch. 26, &c.

Noviodūnum, a town of the Ædui in Gaul, taken by Julius Cæsar. It is pleasantly situated on the Ligeris, and now called Noyon, or, as others suppose, Nevers. Cæsar, Gallic War, bk. 2, ch. 12.

Noviomagus, or Neomagus, a town of Gaul, now Nizeux, in Normandy.――Another, called also Nemetes, now Spire.――Another, in Batavia, now Nimeguen, on the south side of the Waal.

Novium, a town of Spain, now Noya.

Novius Priscus, a man banished from Rome by Nero, on suspicion that he was accessary to Piso’s conspiracy. Tacitus, Annals, bk. 15, ch. 71.――A man who attempted to assassinate the emperor Claudius.――Two brothers obscurely born, distinguished in the age of Horace for their officiousness. Horace, bk. 1, satire 6.

Novum Comum, a town of Insubria on the lake Larinus, of which the inhabitants were called Novocomenses. Cicero, De Divinatione, bk. 13, ch. 55.

Nox, one of the most ancient deities among the heathens, daughter of Chaos. From her union with her brother Erebus she gave birth to the Day and the Light. She was also the mother of the Parcæ, Hesperides, Dreams, of Discord, Death, Momus, Fraud, &c. She is called by some of the poets the mother of all things, of gods as well as of men, and therefore she was worshipped with great solemnity by the ancients. She had a famous statue in Diana’s temple at Ephesus. It was usual to offer her a black sheep, as she was the mother of the furies. The cock was also offered to her, as that bird proclaims the approach of day, during the darkness of the night. She is represented as mounted on a chariot, and covered with a veil bespangled with stars. The constellations generally went before her as her constant messengers. Sometimes she is seen holding two children under her arms, one of which is black, representing death, or rather night, and the other white, representing sleep or day. Some of the moderns have described her as a woman veiled in mourning, and crowned with poppies, and carried on a chariot drawn by owls and bats. Virgil, Æneid, bk. 6, li. 950.—Ovid, Fasti, bk. 1, li. 455.—Pausanias, bk. 10, ch. 38.—Hesiod, Theogony, lis. 125 & 212.

Nuceria, a town of Campania taken by Annibal. It became a Roman colony under Augustus, and was called Nuceria Constantia, or Alfaterna. It now bears the name of Nocera, and contains about 30,000 inhabitants. Lucan, bk. 2, li. 472.—Livy, bk. 9, ch. 41; bk. 27, ch. 3.—Silius Italicus, bk. 8, li. 531.—Tacitus, Annals, bks. 13 & 14.――A town of Umbria at the foot of the Apennines. Strabo.—Pliny.

Nuithones, a people of Germany, possessing the country now called Mecklenburg and Pomerania. Tacitus, Germania, ch. 40.

Numa Martius, a man made governor of Rome by Tullus Hostilius. He was son-in-law of Numa Pompilius, and father to Ancus Martius. Tacitus, Annals, bk. 6, ch. 11.—Livy, bk. 1, ch. 20.

Numa Pompilius, a celebrated philosopher, born at Cures, a village of the Sabines, on the day that Romulus laid the foundation of Rome. He married Tatia, the daughter of Tatius the king of the Sabines, and at her death he retired into the country to devote himself more freely to literary pursuits. At the death of Romulus, the Romans fixed upon him to be their new king, and two senators were sent to acquaint him with the decisions of the senate and of the people. Numa refused their offers, and it was not but at the repeated solicitations and prayers of his friends that he was prevailed upon to accept the royalty. The beginning of his reign was popular, and he dismissed the 300 body-guards which his predecessor had kept around his person, observing that he did not distrust a people who had compelled him to reign over them. He was not, like Romulus, fond of war and military expeditions, but he applied himself to tame the ferocity of his subjects, to inculcate in their minds a reverence for the Deity, and to quell their dissensions by dividing all the citizens into different classes. He established different orders of priests, and taught the Romans not to worship the Deity by images; and from his example no graven or painted statues appeared in the temples or sanctuaries of Rome for upwards of 160 years. He encouraged the report which was spread of his paying regular visits to the nymph Egeria, and made use of her name to give sanction to the laws and institutions which he had introduced. He established the college of the vestals, and told the Romans that the safety of the empire depended upon the preservation of the sacred ancyle or shield which, as was generally believed, had dropped down from heaven. He dedicated a temple to Janus, which, during his whole reign, remained shut, as a mark of peace and tranquillity at Rome. Numa died after a reign of 43 years, in which he had given every possible encouragement to the useful arts, and in which he had cultivated peace, B.C. 672. Not only the Romans, but also the neighbouring nations, were eager to pay their last offices to a monarch whom they revered for his abilities, moderation, and humanity. He forbade his body to be burnt according to the custom of the Romans, but he ordered it to be buried near mount Janiculum, with many of the books which he had written. These books were accidentally found by one of the Romans, about 400 years after his death, and as they contained nothing new or interesting, but merely the reasons why he had made innovations in the form of worship and in the religion of the Romans, they were burnt by order of the senate. He left behind one daughter called Pompilia, who married Numa Martius, and became the mother of Ancus Martius, the fourth king of Rome. Some say that he had also four sons, but this opinion is ill-founded. Plutarch, Lives.—Varro.—Livy, bk. 1, ch. 18.—Pliny, bks. 13 & 14, &c.—Florus, bk. 1, ch. 2.—Virgil, Æneid, bk. 6, li. 809; bk. 9, li. 562.—Cicero, de Natura Deorum, bk. 3, chs. 2 & 17.—Valerius Maximus, bk. 1, ch. 2.—Dionysius of Halicarnassus, bk. 2, ch. 59.—Ovid, Fasti, bk. 3, &c.――One of the Rutulian chiefs killed in the night by Nisus and Euryalus. Virgil, Æneid, bk. 9, li. 454.

Numāna, a town of Picenum in Italy, of which the people were called Numanates. Mela, bk. 2, ch. 4.

Numantia, a town of Spain near the sources of the river Durius, celebrated for the war of 14 years which, though unprotected by walls and towers, it bravely maintained against the Romans. The inhabitants obtained some advantages over the Roman forces till Scipio Africanus was empowered to finish the war, and to see the destruction of Numantia. He began the siege with an army of 60,000 men, and was bravely opposed by the besieged, who were no more than 4000 men able to bear arms. Both armies behaved with uncommon valour, and the courage of the Numantines was soon changed into despair and fury. Their provisions began to fail, and they fed upon the flesh of their horses, and afterwards on that of their dead companions, and at last were necessitated to draw lots to kill and devour one another. The melancholy situation of their affairs obliged some to surrender to the Roman general. Scipio demanded them to deliver themselves up on the morrow; they refused, and when a longer time had been granted to their petitions, they retired and set fire to their houses, and all destroyed themselves, B.C. 133, so that not even one remained to adorn the triumph of the conqueror. Some historians, however, deny that, and support that a number of Numantines delivered themselves into Scipio’s hands, and that 50 of them were drawn in triumph at Rome, and the rest sold as slaves. The fall of Numantia was more glorious than that of Carthage or Corinth, though inferior to them. The conqueror obtained the surname of Numantinus. Florus, bk. 2, ch. 18.—Appian, Wars in Spain.—Paterculus, bk. 2, ch. 3.—Cicero, bk. 1, De Officiis.—Strabo, bk. 3.—Mela, bk. 2, ch. 6.—Plutarch.—Horace, bk. 2, ode 12, li. 1.

Numantīna, a woman accused under Tiberius of making her husband insane by enchantments, &c. Tacitus, Annals, bk. 4, ch. 22.

Numānus Remŭlus, a Rutulian who accused the Trojans of effeminacy. He had married the younger sister of Turnus, and was killed by Ascanius during the Rutulian war. Virgil, Æneid, bk. 9, li. 592, &c.

Numēnes, a follower of the doctrines of Plato and Pythagoras, born at Apamea in Syria. He flourished in the reign of Marcus Antoninus.

Numenia, or Neomenia, a festival observed by the Greeks at the beginning of every lunar month, in honour of all the gods, but especially of Apollo or the Sun, who is justly deemed the author of light, and of whatever distinction is made in the months, seasons, days, and nights. It was observed with games and public entertainments which were provided at the expense of rich citizens, and which were always frequented by the poor. Solemn prayers were offered at Athens during the solemnity, for the prosperity of the republic. The demigods as well as the heroes of the ancients were honoured and invoked in the festival.

Numenius, a philosopher, who supposed that Chaos, from which the world was created, was animated by an evil and maleficent soul. He lived in the second century.

Numentāna via, a road at Rome, which led to mount Sacer through the gate Viminalis. Livy, bk. 3, ch. 52.

Numeria, a goddess at Rome who presided over numbers. Augustine, City of God, bk. 4, ch. 11.

Numeriānus Marcus Aurelius, a son of the emperor Carus. He accompanied his father into the east with the title of Cæsar, and at his death he succeeded him with his brother Carinus, A.D. 282. His reign was short. Eight months after his father’s death, he was murdered in his litter by his father-in-law, Arrius Aper, who accompanied him in an expedition. The murderer, who hoped to ascend the vacant throne, continued to follow the litter as if the emperor was alive, till he found a proper opportunity to declare his sentiments. The stench of the body, however, soon discovered his perfidy, and he was sacrificed to the fury of the soldiers. Numerianus had been admired for his learning as well as his moderation. He was naturally an eloquent speaker, and in poetry he was inferior to no writer of his age.――A friend of the emperor Severus.

Numerius, a man who favoured the escape of Marius to Africa, &c.――A friend of Pompey taken by Julius Cæsar’s adherents, &c. Pliny.

Numicia via, one of the great Roman roads, which led from the capital to the town of Brundusium.

Nŭmīcus, a small river of Latium, near Lavinium, where the dead body of Æneas was found, and where Anna, Dido’s sister, drowned herself. Virgil, Æneid, bk. 7, li. 150, &c.—Silius Italicus, bk. 1, li. 359.—Ovid, Metamorphoses, bk. 14, li. 358, &c.; Fasti, bk. 3, li. 643.――A friend of Horace, to whom he addressed bk. 1, ltr. 6.

Numĭda, a surname given by Horace, bk. 1, ode 36, to one of the generals of Augustus, from his conquests in Numidia. Some suppose that it is Pomponius; others, Plotius.

Nŭmĭdia, an inland country of Africa, which now forms the kingdom of Algiers and Bildulgerid. It was bounded on the north by the Mediterranean sea, south by Gætulia, west by Mauritania, and east by a part of Libya, which was called Africa Propria. The inhabitants were called Nomades, and afterwards Numidæ. It was the kingdom of Masinissa, which was the occasion of the third Punic war, on account of the offence which he had received from the Carthaginians. Jugurtha reigned there, as also Juba the father and son. It was conquered, and became a Roman province, of which Sallust was the first governor. The Numidians were excellent warriors, and in their expeditions they always endeavoured to engage with the enemy in the night-time. They rode without saddles or bridles, whence they have been called infræni. They had their wives in common, as the rest of the barbarian nations of antiquity. Sallust, Jugurthine War.—Florus, bk. 2, ch. 15.—Strabo, bks. 2 & 17.—Mela, bk. 1, ch. 4, &c.—Ovid, Metamorphoses, bk. 15, li. 754.

Numidius Quadratus, a governor of Syria under Claudius. Tacitus, Annals, bk. 12.

Numistro, a town of the Brutii in Italy. Livy, bk. 45, ch. 17.

Nŭmĭtor, a son of Procas king of Alba, who inherited his father’s kingdom with his brother Amulius, and began to reign conjointly with him. Amulius was too avaricious to bear a colleague on the throne; he expelled his brother, and that he might more safely secure himself, he put to death his son Lausus, and consecrated his daughter Ilia to the service of the goddess Vesta, which demanded perpetual celibacy. These great precautions were rendered abortive. Ilia became pregnant, and though the two children whom she brought forth were exposed in the river by order of the tyrant, their life was preserved, and Numitor was restored to his throne by his grandsons, and the tyrannical usurper was put to death. Dionysius of Halicarnassus.—Livy, bk. 1, ch. 3.—Plutarch, Romulus.—Ovid, Fasti, bk. 4, li. 55, &c.—Virgil, Æneid, bk. 6, li. 768.――A son of Phorcus, who fought with Turnus against Æneas. Virgil, Æneid, bk. 10, li. 342.――A rich and dissolute Roman in the age of Juvenal, satire 7, li. 74.

Numitōrius, a Roman who defended Virginia, to whom Appius wished to offer violence. He was made military tribune.――Quintus Pullus, a general of Fregellæ, &c. Cicero, de Inventione, bk. 2, ch. 34.

Numonius. See: Vala.

Nuncoreus, a son of Sesostris king of Egypt, who made an obelisk, some ages after brought to Rome, and placed in the Vatican. Pliny, bk. 26, ch. 11.――He is called Pheron by Herodotus.

Nundīna, a goddess whom the Romans invoked when they named their children. This happened the ninth day after their birth, whence the name of the goddess, Nona dies. Macrobius, Saturnalia, bk. 1, ch. 16.

Nundīnæ. See: Feriæ.

Nursæ, a town of Italy. Virgil, Æneid, bk. 7, li. 744.

Nurscia, a goddess who patronized the Etrurians. Juvenal, satire 10, li. 74.

Nursia, now Norza, a town of Picenum, whose inhabitants are called Nursini. Its situation was exposed, and the air considered as unwholesome. Silius Italicus, bk. 8, li. 416.—Virgil, Æneid, bk. 7, li. 716.—Martial, bk. 13, ltr. 20.—Livy, bk. 28, ch. 45.

Nutria, a town of Illyricum. Polybius, bk. 2.

Nycteis, a daughter of Nycteus, who was mother of Labdacus.――A patronymic of Antiope the daughter of Nycteus, mother of Amphion and Zethus by Jupiter, who had assumed the shape of a satyr to enjoy her company. Ovid, Metamorphoses, bk. 6, li. 110.

Nyctelia, festivals in honour of Bacchus [See: Nyctelius], observed on mount Cithæron. Plutarch, Convivium Septem Sapientium.

Nyctelius, a surname of Bacchus, because his orgies were celebrated in the night (νυξ nox, τελεω perficio). The words latex Nyctelius thence signify wine. Seneca, Œdipus.—Pausanias, bk. 1, ch. 40.—Ovid, Metamorphoses, bk. 4, li. 15.

Nycteus, a son of Hyrieus and Clonia.――A son of Chthonius.――A son of Neptune by Celene, daughter of Atlas king of Lesbos, or of Thebes, according to the more received opinion. He married a nymph of Crete, called Polyxo or Amalthæa, by whom he had two daughters, Nyctimene and Antiope. The first of these disgraced herself by her criminal amours with her father, into whose bed she introduced herself by means of her nurse. When the father knew the incest which he had committed, he attempted to stab his daughter, who was immediately changed by Minerva into an owl. Nycteus made war against Epopeus, who had carried away Antiope, and died of a wound which he had received in an engagement, leaving his kingdom to his brother Lycus, whom he entreated to continue the war, and punish Antiope for her immodest conduct. See: Antiope. Pausanias, bk. 2, ch. 6.—Hyginus, fables 157 & 204.—Ovid, Metamorphoses, bk. 2, li. 590, &c.; bk. 6, li. 110, &c.

Nyctimĕne, a daughter of Nycteus. See: Nycteus.

Nyctĭmus, a son of Lycaon king of Arcadia. He died without issue, and left his kingdom to his nephew Arcas the son of Callisto. Pausanias, bk. 8, ch. 4.

Nymbæum, a lake of Peloponnesus in Laconia. Pausanias, bk. 3, li. 23.

Nymphæ, certain female deities among the ancients. They were generally divided into two classes, nymphs of the land and nymphs of the sea. Of the nymphs of the earth, some presided over woods, and were called Dryades and Hamadryades; others presided over mountains, and were called Oreades; some presided over hills and dales, and were called Napææ, &c. Of the sea nymphs, some were called Oceanides, Nereides, Naiades, Potamides, Limnades, &c. These presided not only over the sea, but also over rivers, fountains, streams, and lakes. The nymphs fixed their residence not only in the sea, but also on mountains, rocks, in woods or caverns, and their grottos were beautified by evergreens and delightful and romantic scenes. The nymphs were immortal, according to the opinion of some mythologists; others supposed that, like men, they were subject to mortality, though their life was of long duration. They lived for several thousand years, according to Hesiod, or, as Plutarch seems obscurely to intimate, they lived above 9720 years. The number of the nymphs is not precisely known. They were, according to Hesiod, above 3000, whose power was extended over the different places of the earth, and the various functions and occupations of mankind. They were worshipped by the ancients, though not with so much solemnity as the superior deities. They had no temples raised to their honour, and the only offerings they received were milk, honey, oil, and sometimes the sacrifice of a goat. They were generally represented as young and beautiful virgins, veiled up to the middle, and sometimes they held a vase, from which they seemed to pour water. Sometimes they had grass, leaves, and shells, instead of vases. It was deemed unfortunate to see them naked, and such sight was generally attended by a delirium, to which Propertius seems to allude in this verse, wherein he speaks of the innocence and simplicity of the primitive ages of the world,

Nec fuerat nudas pœna videre Deas.

The nymphs were generally distinguished by an epithet which denoted the place of their residence; thus the nymphs of Sicily were called Sicelides; those of Corycus, Corycides, &c. Ovid, Metamorphoses, bk. 1, li. 320; bk. 5, li. 412; bk. 9, li. 651, &c.; Fasti, bk. 3, li. 769.—Pausanias, bk. 10, ch. 4.—Plutarch, de Defectu Oraculorum.—Orpheus, Argonautica.—Hesiod, Theogony.—Propertius, bk. 3, poem 12.—Homer, Odyssey, bk. 14.

Nymphæum, a port of Macedonia. Cæsar, Civil War.――A promontory of Epirus on the Ionian sea.――A place near the walls of Apollonia, sacred to the nymphs, where Apollo had also an oracle. The place was also celebrated for the continual flames of fire which seemed to rise at a distance from the plains. It was there that a sleeping satyr was once caught and brought to Sylla as he returned from the Mithridatic war. This monster had the same features as the poets ascribed to the satyr. He was interrogated by Sylla and by his interpreters, but his articulations were unintelligible, and the Roman spurned from him a creature which seemed to partake of the nature of a beast more than that of a man. Plutarch, Sulla.—Dio Cassius, bk. 41.—Pliny, bk. 5, ch. 29.—Strabo, bk. 7.—Livy, bk. 42, chs. 36 & 49.――A city of Taurica Chersonesus.――The building at Rome where the nymphs were worshipped bore also this name, being adorned with their statues and with fountains and waterfalls, which afforded an agreeable and refreshing coolness.

Nymphæus, a man who went into Caria at the head of a colony of Melians, &c. Polyænus, bk. 8.

Nymphidius, a favourite of Nero, who said that he was descended from Caligula. He was raised to the consular dignity, and soon after disputed the empire with Galba. He was slain by the soldiers, &c. Tacitus, Annals, bk. 15.

Nymphis, a native of Heraclea, who wrote a history of Alexander’s life and actions, divided into 24 books. Ælian, bk. 7, de Natura Animalium.

Nymphodōrus, a writer of Amphipolis.――A Syracusan who wrote a history of Sicily.

Nympholleptes, or Nymphomănes, possessed by the nymphs. This name was given to the inhabitants of mount Cithæron, who believed that they were inspired by the nymphs. Plutarch, Aristeides.

Nymphon, a native of Colophon, &c. Cicero, Letters to his brother Quintus, bk. 1.

Nypsius, a general of Dionysius the tyrant, who took Syracuse, and put all the inhabitants to the sword. Diodorus, bk. 16.

Nysa, or Nyssa, a town of Æthiopia, at the south of Egypt, or, according to others, of Arabia. This city, with another of the same name in India, was sacred to the god Bacchus, who was educated there by the nymphs of the place, and who received the name of Dionysius, which seems to be compounded of Διος and ♦Νυσα, the name of his father, and that of the place of his education. The god made this place the seat of his empire, and the capital of the conquered nations of the east. Diodorus, in his third and fourth books, has given a prolix account of the birth of the god at Nysa, and of his education and heroic actions. Mela, bk. 3, ch. 7.—Ovid, Metamorphoses, bk. 4, li. 13, &c.—Silius Italicus, bk. 7, li. 198.—Curtius, bk. 8, ch. 10.—Virgil, Æneid, bk. 6, li. 805.――According to some geographers there were no less than 10 places of the name of Nysa. One of these was on the coast of Eubœa, famous for its vines, which grew in such an uncommon manner, that if a twig was planted in the ground in the morning, it was said immediately to produce grapes, which were full ripe in the evening.――A city of Thrace.――Another seated on the top of mount Parnassus, and sacred to Bacchus. Juvenal, satire 7, li. 63.

♦ ‘Νμσα’ replaced with ‘Νυσα’

Nysæus, a surname of Bacchus, because he was worshipped at Nysa. Propertius, bk. 3, poem 17, li. 22.—A son of Dionysius of Syracuse. Cornelius Nepos, Dion.

Nysas, a river of Africa, rising in Æthiopia.

Nysisæ portæ, a small island in Africa.

Nysiădes, a name given to the nymphs of Nysa, to whose care Jupiter entrusted the education of his son Bacchus. Ovid, Metamorphoses, bk. 3, li. 314, &c.

Nysīros, an island. See: Nisyros.

Nysius, a surname of Bacchus as the protecting god of Nysa. Cicero, Flaccus, ch. 25.

Nyssa, a sister of Mithridates the Great. Plutarch.

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O

Oarses, the original name of Artaxerxes Memnon.

Oarus, a river of Sarmatia, falling into the Palus Mœotis. Herodotus, bk. 4.

Oăsis, a town about the middle of Libya, at the distance of seven days’ journey from Thebes in Egypt, where the Persian army, sent by Cambyses to plunder Jupiter Ammon’s temple, was lost in the sands. There were two other cities of that name very little known. Oasis became a place of banishment under the lower empire. Strabo, bk. 17.—Zosimus, bk. 5, ch. 97.—Herodotus, bk. 3, ch. 26.

Oaxes, a river of Crete, which received its name from Oaxus the son of Apollo. Virgil, Eclogues, poem 1, li. 66.

Oaxus, a town of Crete where Etearchus reigned, who founded Cyrene.――A son of Apollo and the nymph Anchiale.

Obringa, now Ahr, a river of Germany, falling into the Rhine above Rimmagen.

Obultronius, a questor put to death by Galba’s orders, &c. Tacitus.

Ocalea, or Ocalia, a town of Bœotia. Homer, Iliad, bk. 2.――A daughter of Mantineus, who married Abas son of Lynceus and Hypermnestra, by whom she had Acrisius and Prœtus. Apollodorus, bk. 2, ch. 2.

Oceia, a woman who presided over the sacred rites of Vesta for 57 years with the greatest sanctity. She died in the reign of Tiberius, and the daughter of Domitius succeeded her. Tacitus, Annals, bk. 2, ch. 86.

Oceănĭdes and Oceanītĭdes, sea nymphs, daughters of Oceanus, from whom they received their name, and of the goddess Tethys. They were 3000 according to Apollodorus, who mentions the names of seven of them: Asia, Styx, Electra, Doris, Eurynome, Amphitrite, and Metis. Hesiod speaks of the eldest of them, and reckons 41: Pitho, Admete, Prynno, Ianthe, Rhodia, Hippo, Callirhoe, Urania, Clymene, Idyia, Pasithoe, Clythia, Zeuxo, Galuxaure, Plexaure, Perseis, Pluto, Thoe, Polydora, Melobosis, Dione, Cerceis, Xantha, Acasta, Ianira, Telestho, Europa, Menestho, Petrea, Eudora, Calypso, Tyche, Ocyroe, Crisia, Amphiro, with those mentioned by Apollodorus, except Amphitrite. Hyginus mentions 16, whose names are almost all different from those of Apollodorus and Hesiod, which difference proceeds from the mutilation of the original text. The Oceanides, like the rest of the inferior deities, were honoured with libations and sacrifices. Prayers were offered to them, and they were entreated to protect sailors from storms and dangerous tempests. The Argonauts, before they proceeded on their expedition, made an offering of flour, honey, and oil, on the sea-shore, to all the deities of the sea, and sacrificed bulls to them, and entreated their protection. When the sacrifice was made on the sea-shore the blood of the victim was received in a vessel, but when it was in the open sea, the blood was permitted to run down into the waters. When the sea was calm, the sailors generally offered a lamb or a young pig, but if it was agitated by the winds, and rough, a black bull was deemed the most acceptable victim. Homer, Odyssey, bk. 3.—Horace.—Apollonius, Argonautica.—Virgil, Georgics, bk. 4, li. 341.—Hesiod, Theogony, li. 349.—Apollodorus, bk. 1.

Oceănus, a powerful deity of the sea, son of Cœlus and Terra. He married Tethys, by whom he had the most principal rivers, such as the Alpheus, Peneus, Strymon, &c., with a number of daughters who are called from him Oceanides. See: Oceanides. According to Homer, Oceanus was the ♦father of all the gods, and on that account he received frequent visits from the rest of the deities. He is generally represented as an old man with a long flowing beard, and sitting upon the waves of the sea. He often holds a pike in his hand, whilst ships under sail appear at a distance, or a sea monster stands near him. Oceanus presided over every part of the sea, and even the rivers were subjected to his power. The ancients were superstitious in their worship to Oceanus, and revered with great solemnity a deity to whose care they entrusted themselves when going on any voyage. Hesiod, Theogony.—Ovid, Fasti, bk. 5, li. 81, &c.—Apollodorus, bk. 1.—Cicero, de Natura Deorum, bk. 3, ch. 20.—Homer, Iliad.

♦ ‘fathers’ replaced with ‘father’

Ocellus, an ancient philosopher of Lucania. See: Lucanus.

Ocēlum, a town of Gaul. Cæsar, Gallic War, bk. 1, ch. 10.

Ocha, a mountain of Eubœa, and the name of Eubœa itself.――A sister of Ochus, buried alive by his orders.

Ochesius, a general of Ætolia in the Trojan war. Homer, Iliad, bk. 5.

Ochus, a surname given to Artaxerxes III., king of Persia. See: Artaxerxes.――A man of Cyzicus, who was killed by the Argonauts. Flaccus, bk. 3.――A prince of Persia, who refused to visit his native country for fear of giving all the women each a piece of gold. Plutarch.――A river of India, or of Bactriana. Pliny, bk. 6, ch. 16; bk. 31, ch. 7.――A king of Persia. He exchanged his name for that of Darius. See: Darius Nothus.

Ocnus, a son of the Tiber and of Manto, who assisted Æneas against Turnus. He built a town, which he called Mantua after his mother’s name. Some suppose that he is the same as Bianor. Virgil, Eclogues, poem 9; Æneid, bk. 10, li. 198.――A man remarkable for his industry. He had a wife as remarkable for her profusion; she always consumed and lavished away whatever the labours of her husband had earned. He is represented as twisting a cord, which an ass standing by eats up as soon as he makes it; whence the proverb of the cord of Ocnus often applied to labour which meets no return, and which is totally lost. Propertius, bk. 4, poem 3, li. 21.—Pliny, bk. 35, ch. 11.—Pausanias, bk. 10, ch. 29.

Ocricŭlum, now Otricoli, a town of Umbria near Rome. Cicero, For Milo.—Livy, bk. 19, ch. 41.

Ocridion, a king of Rhodes, who was reckoned in the number of the gods after death. Plutarch, Græcæ Quæstiones, ch. 27.

Ocrīsia, a woman of Corniculum, who was one of the attendants of Tanaquil the wife of Tarquinius Priscus. As she was throwing into the flames, as offerings, some of the meats that were served on the table of Tarquin, she suddenly saw in the fire what Ovid calls obscœni forma virilis. She informed the queen of it, and when by her orders she had approached near it, she conceived a son who was called Servius Tullus, and who, being educated in the king’s family, afterwards succeeded to the vacant throne. Some suppose that Vulcan had assumed that form which was presented to the eyes of Ocrisia, and that the god was the father of the sixth king of Rome. Plutarch, de Fortuna Romanorum.—Pliny, bk. 36, ch. 27.—Ovid, Fasti, bk. 6, li. 627.

Octacillius, a slave who was manumitted, and who afterwards taught rhetoric at Rome. He had Pompey the Great in the number of his pupils. Suetonius, Rhetoricians.—Martial, bk. 10, ltr. 79.

Octāvia, a Roman lady, sister to the emperor Augustus, and celebrated for her beauty and virtues. She married Claudius Marcellus, and after his death, Marcus Antony. Her marriage with Antony was a political step to reconcile her brother and her husband. Antony proved for some time attentive to her, but he soon after despised her for Cleopatra, and when she attempted to withdraw him from this unlawful amour by going to meet him at Athens, she was secretly rebuked, and totally banished from his presence. This affront was highly resented by Augustus, and though Octavia endeavoured to pacify him by palliating her husband’s behaviour, he resolved to revenge her cause by arms. After the battle of Actium and the death of Antony, Octavia, forgetful of the injuries she had received, took into her house all the children of her husband and treated them with maternal tenderness. Marcellus her son by her first husband was married to a niece of Augustus, and publicly intended as a successor to his uncle. His sudden death plunged all his family into the greatest grief. Virgil, whom Augustus patronized, undertook upon himself to pay a melancholy tribute to the memory of a young man whom Rome regarded as her future father and patron. He was desired to repeat his composition in the presence of Augustus and of his sister. Octavia burst into tears as soon as the poet began; but when he mentioned, Tu Marcellus eris, she swooned away. This tender and pathetic encomium upon the merit and the virtues of young Marcellus was liberally rewarded by Octavia, and Virgil received 10,000 sesterces for every one of the verses. Octavia had two daughters by Antony, Antonia Major and Antonia Minor. The elder married Lucius Domitius Ahenobarbus, by whom she had Cnæus Domitius the father of the emperor Nero, by Agrippina the daughter of Germanicus. Antonia Minor, who was as virtuous and as beautiful as her mother, married Drusus the son of Tiberius, by whom she had Germanicus and Claudius, who reigned before Nero. The death of Marcellus continually preyed upon the mind of Octavia, who died of melancholy about 10 years before the christian era. Her brother paid great regard to her memory, by pronouncing himself her funeral oration. The Roman people also showed their respect for her virtues by their wish to pay her divine honours. Suetonius, Augustus.—Plutarch, Antonius, &c.――A daughter of the emperor Claudius by Messalina. She was betrothed to Silanus, but by the intrigues of Agrippina, she was married to the emperor Nero in the 16th year of her age. She was soon after divorced on pretence of barrenness, and the emperor married Poppæa, who exercised her enmity upon Octavia by causing her to be banished into Campania. She was afterwards recalled at the instance of the people, and Poppæa, who was resolved on her ruin, caused her again to be banished to an island, where she was ordered to kill herself by opening her veins. Her head was cut off and carried to Poppæa. Suetonius in Claudius, ch. 27; Nero, chs. 7 & 35.—Tacitus, Annals, bk. 12.

Octāviānus, or Octāvius Cæsar, the nephew of Cæsar the dictator. After the battle of Actium and the final destruction of the Roman republic, the servile senate bestowed upon him the title and surname of Augustus, as more expressive of his greatness and dignity. See: Augustus.

Octāvius, a Roman officer who brought Perseus king of Macedonia a prisoner to the consul. He was sent by his countrymen to be guardian to Ptolemy Eupator the young king of Egypt, where he behaved with the greatest arrogance. He was assassinated by Lysias, who was before regent of Egypt. The murderer was sent to Rome.――A man who opposed Metellus in the reduction of Crete by means of Pompey. He was obliged to retire from the island.――A man who banished Cinna from Rome, and became remarkable for his probity and fondness of discipline. He was seized and put to death by order of his successful rivals Marius and Cinna.――A Roman who boasted of being in the number of Cæsar’s murderers. His assertions were false, yet he was punished as if he had been accessary to the conspiracy.――A lieutenant of Crassus in Parthia. He accompanied his general to the tent of the Parthian conqueror, and was killed by the enemy as he attempted to hinder them from carrying away Crassus.――A governor of Cilicia. He died in his province, and Lucullus made applications to succeed him, &c.――A tribune of the people at Rome, whom Tiberias Gracchus his colleague deposed.――A commander of the forces of Antony against Augustus.――An officer who killed himself, &c.――A tribune of the people, who debauched a woman of Pontus from her husband. She proved unfaithful to him, upon which he murdered her. He was condemned under Nero. Tacitus, Annals & Histories.—Plutarch, Lives.—Florus.—Livy, &c.――A poet in the Augustan age, intimate with Horace. He also distinguished himself as an historian. Horace, bk. 1, satire 10, li. 82.

Octodūrus, a village in the modern country of Switzerland, now called Martigny. Cæsar, Gallic War, bk. 3, ch. 1.

Octogesa, a town of Spain, a little above the mouth of the Iberus, now called Mequinensa. Cæsar, Gallic War, bk. 1, ch. 61.

Octolophum, a place of Greece. Livy, bk. 31.

Ocyălus, one of the Phæacians with Alcinous. Homer, Odyssey.

Ocypĕte, one of the Harpies, who infected whatever she touched. The name signifies swift flying. Hesiod, Theogony, li. 265.—Apollodorus, bk. 1, ch. 9.――A daughter of Thaumas.――A daughter of Danaus.

Ocy̆roe, a daughter of Chiron by Chariclo, who had the gift of prophecy. She was changed into a mare. See: Melanippe. Ovid, Metamorphoses, bk. 2, li. 638, &c.――A woman, daughter of Chesias, carried away by Apollo, as she was going to a festival at Miletus.

Odenātus, a celebrated prince of Palmyra. He early inured himself to bear fatigues, and by hunting leopards and wild beasts, he accustomed himself to the labours of a military life. He was faithful to the Romans; and when Aurelian had been taken prisoner by Sapor king of Persia, Odenatus warmly interested himself in his cause, and solicited his release by writing a letter to the conqueror and sending him presents. The king of Persia was offended at the liberty of Odenatus; he tore the letter, and ordered the presents which were offered to be thrown into a river. To punish Odenatus, who had the impudence, as he observed, to pay homage to so great a monarch as himself, he ordered him to appear before him, on pain of being devoted to instant destruction, with all his family, if he dared to refuse. Odenatus disdained the summons of Sapor, and opposed force to force. He obtained some advantages over the troops of the Persian monarch, and took his wife prisoner with a great and rich booty. These services were seen with gratitude by the Romans; and Gallienus, the then reigning emperor, named Odenatus as his colleague on the throne, and gave the title of Augustus to his children and to his wife, the celebrated Zenobia. Odenatus, invested with new power, resolved to signalize himself more conspicuously by conquering the northern barbarians, but his exaltation was short, and he perished by the dagger of one of his relations, whom he had slightly offended in a domestic entertainment. He died at Emessa, about the 267th year of the christian era. Zenobia succeeded to all his titles and honours.

Odessus, a seaport town at the west of the Euxine sea in Lower Mœsia, below the mouths of the Danube. Ovid, bk. 1, Tristia, poem 9, li. 57.

Odeum, a musical theatre at Athens. Vitruvius, bk. 5, ch. 9.

Odīnus, a celebrated hero of antiquity, who flourished about 70 years before the christian era, in the northern parts of ancient Germany, or the modern kingdom of Denmark. He was at once a priest, a soldier, a poet, a monarch, and a conqueror. He imposed upon the credulity of his superstitious countrymen, and made them believe that he could raise the dead to life, and that he was acquainted with futurity. When he had extended his power, and increased his fame by conquest and by persuasion, he resolved to die in a different manner from other men. He assembled his friends, and with a sharp point of a lance he made on his body nine different wounds in the form of a circle, and as he expired he declared he was going into Scythia, where he should become one of the immortal gods. He further added that he would prepare bliss and felicity for such of his countrymen as lived a virtuous life, who fought with intrepidity, and who died like heroes in the field of battle. These injunctions had the desired effect; his countrymen superstitiously believed him, and always recommended themselves to his protection whenever they engaged in a battle, and they entreated him to receive the souls of such as had fallen in war.

Odītes, a son of Ixion, killed by Mopsus at the nuptials of Pirithous. Ovid, Metamorphoses, bk. 12, li. 457.――A prince killed at the nuptials of Andromeda. Ovid, Metamorphoses, bk. 5, li. 97.

Odoācer, a king of the Heruli, who destroyed the western empire of Rome, and called himself king of Italy, A.D. 476.

Odomanti, a people of Thrace on the eastern banks of the Strymon. Livy, bk. 45, ch. 4.

Odŏnes, a people of Thrace.

Odry̆sæ, an ancient people of Thrace, between Abdera and the river Ister. The epithet of Odrysius is often applied to a Thracian. Ovid, Metamorphoses, bk. 6, li. 490; bk. 13, li. 554.—Statius, Achilleis, bk. 1, li. 184.—Livy, bk. 39, ch. 53.

Odyssēa, one of Homer’s epic poems, in which he describes in 24 books the adventures of Ulysses on his return from the Trojan war, with other material circumstances. The whole of the action comprehends no more than 55 days. It is not so esteemed as the Iliad of that poet. See: Homerus.

Odyssēum, a promontory of Sicily, at the west of Pachynus.

Œa, a city of Africa, now Tripoli. Pliny, bk. 5, ch. 4.—Silius Italicus, bk. 3, li. 257.――Also a place in Ægina. Herodotus, bk. 5, ch. 83.

Œagrus, or Œager, the father of Orpheus by Calliope. He was king of Thrace, and from him mount Hæmus, and also the Hebrus, one of the rivers of the country, have received the appellation of Œagrius, though Servius, in his commentaries, disputes the explanation of Diodorus, by asserting that the Œagrus is a river of Thrace, whose waters supply the streams of the Hebrus. Ovid, Ibis, li. 414.—Apollonius, bk. 1, Argonautica.—Virgil, Georgics, bk. 4, li. 524.—Silius Italicus, bk. 5, li. 463.—Diodorus.—Apollodorus, bk. 1, ch. 3.

Œanthe and Œanthia, a town of Phocis, where Venus had a temple. Pausanias, bk. 10, ch. 38.

Œax, a son of Nauplius and Clymene. He was brother to Palamedes, whom he accompanied to the Trojan war, and whose death he highly resented on his return to Greece, by raising disturbances in the family of some of the Grecian princes. Dictys Cretensis.—Apollodorus, bk. 2.—Hyginus, fable 117.

Œbălia, the ancient name of Laconia, which it received from king Œbalus, and thence Œbalides puer is applied to Hyacinthus as a native of the country, and Œbalius sanguis is used to denominate his blood. Pausanias, bk. 3, ch. 1.—Apollodorus, bk. 3, ch. 10.――The same name is given to Tarentum because built by a Lacedæmonian colony, whose ancestors were governed by Œbalus. Virgil, Georgics, bk. 4, li. 125.—Silius Italicus, bk. 12, li. 451.

Œbălus, a son of Argalus or Cynortas, who was king of Laconia. He married Gorgophone the daughter of Perseus, by whom he had Hippocoon, Tyndarus, &c. Pausanias, bk. 3, ch. 1.—Apollodorus, bk. 3, ch. 10.――A son of Telon and the nymph Sebethis, who reigned in the neighbourhood of Neapolis in Italy. Virgil, Æneid, bk. 7, li. 734.

Œbăres, a satrap of Cyrus, against the Medes. Polyænus, bk. 7.――A groom of Darius son of Hystaspes. He was the cause that his master obtained the kingdom of Persia, by his artifice in making his horse neigh first. See: Darius I. Herodotus, bk. 3, ch. 85.—Justin, bk. 1, ch. 10.

Œchălia, a country of Peloponnesus in Laconia, with a small town of the same name. This town was destroyed by Hercules, while Eurytus was king over it, from which circumstance it was often called Eurytopolis.――A small town of Eubœa, where, according to some, Eurytus reigned, and not in Peloponnesus. Strabo, bks. 8, 9, & 10.—Virgil, Æneid, bk. 8, li. 291.—Ovid, Heroides, poem 9; Metamorphoses, bk. 9, li. 136.—Sophocles, Trachiniæ, li. 74 & Scholia.

Œclīdes, a patronymic of Amphiaraus son of Œcleus. Ovid, Metamorphoses, bk. 8, fable 7.

Œcleus. See: Oicleus.

Œcumenius, wrote in the middle of the 10th century a paraphrase of some of the books of the New Testament in Greek, edited in two vols., folio, Paris, 1631.

Œdipŏdia, a fountain of Thebes in Bœotia.

Œdĭpus, a son of Laius king of Thebes and Jocasta. As being descended from Venus by his father’s side, Œdipus was born to be exposed to all the dangers and the calamities which Juno could inflict upon the posterity of the goddess of beauty. Laius the father of Œdipus was informed by the oracle, as soon as he married Jocasta, that he must perish by the hands of his son. Such dreadful intelligence awakened his fears, and to prevent the fulfilling of the oracle, he resolved never to approach Jocasta; but his solemn resolutions were violated in a fit of intoxication. The queen became pregnant, and Laius, still intent to stop this evil, ordered his wife to destroy her child as soon as it came into the world. The mother had not the courage to obey, yet she gave the child as soon as born to one of her domestics, with orders to expose him on the mountains. The servant was moved with pity, but to obey the commands of Jocasta, he bored the feet of the child, and suspended him with a twig by the heels to a tree on mount Cithæron, where he was soon found by one of the shepherds of Polybus king of Corinth. The shepherd carried him home; and Peribœa the wife of Polybus, who had no children, educated him as her own child, with maternal tenderness. The accomplishments of the infant, who was named Œdipus, on account of the swelling of his feet (οἰδεω tumeo, ποδες pedes), soon became the admiration of the age. His companions envied his strength and his address; and one of them, to mortify his rising ambition, told him he was an illegitimate child. This raised his doubts; he asked Peribœa, who, out of tenderness, told him that his suspicions were ill-founded. Not satisfied with this, he went to consult the oracle of Delphi, and was there told not to return home, for if he did, he must necessarily be the murderer of his father, and the husband of his mother. This answer of the oracle terrified him; he knew no home but the house of Polybus, therefore he resolved not to return to Corinth, where such calamities apparently attended him. He travelled towards Phocis, and in his journey, met in a narrow road Laius on a chariot with his arm-bearer. Laius haughtily ordered Œdipus to make way for him. Œdipus refused, and a contest ensued, in which Laius and his arm-bearer were both killed. As Œdipus was ignorant of the quality and of the rank of the men whom he had just killed, he continued his journey, and was attracted to Thebes by the fame of the Sphynx. This terrible monster, which Juno had sent to lay waste the country [See: ♦Sphinx], resorted in the neighbourhood of Thebes, and devoured all those who attempted to explain, without success, the enigmas which he proposed. The calamity was now become an object of public concern, and as the successful explanation of an enigma would end in the death of the Sphynx, Creon, who at the death of Laius had ascended the throne of Thebes, promised his crown and Jocasta to him who succeeded in the attempt. The enigma proposed was this: What animal in the morning walks upon four feet, at noon upon two, and in the evening upon three? This was left for Œdipus to explain; he came to the monster and said, that man, in the morning of life, walks upon his hands and his feet; when he has attained the years of manhood, he walks upon his two legs; and in the evening, he supports his old age with the assistance of a staff. The monster, mortified at the true explanation, dashed his head against a rock and perished. Œdipus ascended the throne of Thebes, and married Jocasta, by whom he had two sons, Polynices and Eteocles, and two daughters, Ismene and Antigone. Some years after, the Theban territories were visited with a plague; and the oracle declared that it should cease only when the murderer of king Laius was banished from Bœotia. As the death of Laius had never been examined, and the circumstances that attended it never known, this answer of the oracle was of the greatest concern to the Thebans; but Œdipus, the friend of his people, resolved to overcome every difficulty by the most exact inquiries. His researches were successful, and he was soon proved to be the murderer of his father. The melancholy discovery was rendered the more alarming when Œdipus considered, that he had not only murdered his father, but that he had committed incest with his mother. In the excess of his grief he put out his eyes, as unworthy to see the light, and banished himself from Thebes, or, as some say, was banished by his own sons. He retired towards Attica, led by his daughter Antigone, and came near Colonus, where there was a grove sacred to the Furies. He remembered that he was doomed by the oracle to die in such a place, and to become the source of prosperity to the country in which his bones were buried. A messenger upon this was sent to Theseus king of the country, to inform him of the resolution of Œdipus. When Theseus arrived, Œdipus acquainted him, with a prophetic voice, that the gods had called him to die in the place where he stood; and to show the truth of this he walked, himself, without the assistance of a guide, to the spot where he must expire. Immediately the earth opened, and Œdipus disappeared. Some suppose that Œdipus had not children by Jocasta, and that the mother murdered herself as soon as she knew the incest which had been committed. His tomb was near the Areopagus, in the age of Pausanias. Some of the ancient poets represent him in hell, as suffering the punishment which crimes like his seemed to deserve. According to some, the four children which he had were by Euriganea the daughter of Periphas, whom he married after the death of Jocasta. Apollodorus, bk. 3, ch. 5.—Hyginus, fable 66, &c.—Euripides, Phœnician Women, &c.—Sophocles, Œdipus Tyrannus & Colonus, Antigone, &c.—Hesiod, Theogony, li. 1.—Homer, Odyssey, bk. 11, ch. 270.—Pausanias, bk. 9, ch. 5, &c.—Statius, Thebaid, bk. 8, li. 642.—Seneca, Œdipus.—Pindar, Olympian, ch. 2.—Diodorus, bk. 5.—Athenæus, bks. 6 & 10.

♦ ‘Sphynx’ replaced with ‘Sphinx’ to match listing

Œme, a daughter of Danaus by Crino. Apollodorus.

Œnanthes, a favourite of young Ptolemy king of Egypt.

Œne, a small town of Argolis. The people were called Œneadæ.

Œnea, a river of Assyria. Ammianus.

Œneus, a king of Calydon in Ætolia, son of Parthaon, or Portheus, and Euryte. He married Althæa the daughter of Thestius, by whom he had Clymenus, Meleager, Gorge, and Dejanira. After Althæa’s death, he married Peribœa the daughter of Hipponous, by whom he had Tydeus. In a general sacrifice, which Œneus made to all the gods upon reaping the rich produce of his fields, he forgot Diana, and the goddess, to revenge this unpardonable neglect, incited his neighbours to take up arms against him, and, besides, she sent a wild boar to lay waste the country of Calydonia. The animal was at last killed by Meleager and the neighbouring princes of Greece, in a celebrated chase, known by the name of the chase of the Calydonian boar. Some time after, Meleager died, and Œneus was driven from his kingdom by the sons of his brother Agrius. Diomedes, however, his grandson, soon restored him to his throne; but the continual misfortunes to which he was exposed rendered him melancholy. He exiled himself from Calydon, and left his crown to his son-in-law Andremon. He died as he was going to Argolis. His body was buried by the care of Diomedes, in a town of Argolis, which from him received the name of Œnoe. It is reported that Œneus received a visit from Bacchus, and that he suffered the god to enjoy the favours of Althæa, and to become the father of Dejanira, for which Bacchus permitted that the wine of which he was the patron should be called among the Greeks by the name of Œneus (οἰνος). Hyginus, fable 129.—Apollodorus, bk. 1, ch. 8.—Homer, Iliad, bk. 9, li. 539.—Diodorus, bk. 4.—Pausanias, bk. 2, ch. 25.—Ovid, Metamorphoses, bk. 8, li. 510.

Œniadæ, a town of Acarnania. Livy, bk. 26, ch. 24; bk. 38, ch. 11.

Œnĭdes, a patronymic of Meleager son of Œneus. Ovid, Metamorphoses, bk. 8, fable 10.

Œnoe, a nymph who married Sicinus, the son of Thoas king of Lemnos. From her the island of Sicinus had been called Œnoe.――Two villages of Attica were also called Œnoe. Herodotus, bk. 5, ch. 74.—Pliny, bk. 4, ch. 7.――A city of Argolis, where Œneus fled when driven from Calydon. Pausanias, bk. 2, ch. 25.――A town of Elis in the Peloponnesus. Strabo.—Apollodorus, bk. 1, ch. 8.—Pausanias, bk. 1, &c.

Œnŏmaus, a son of Mars, by Sterope the daughter of Atlas. He was king of Pisa in Elis, and father of Hippodamia, by Evarete daughter of Acrisius, or Eurythoa the daughter of Danaus. He was informed by the oracle that he should perish by the hands of his son-in-law, therefore as he could skilfully drive a chariot he determined to marry his daughter only to him who could outrun him, on condition that all who entered the list should agree to lay down their life, if conquered. Many had already perished, when Pelops son of Tantalus proposed himself. He previously bribed Myrtilus the charioteer of Œnomaus, by promising him the enjoyment of the favours of Hippodamia, if he proved victorious. Myrtilus gave his master an old chariot, whose axletree broke on the course, which was from Pisa to the Corinthian isthmus, and Œnomaus was killed. Pelops married Hippodamia, and became king of Pisa. As he expired, Œnomaus entreated Pelops to revenge the perfidy of Myrtilus, which was executed. Those that had been defeated when Pelops entered the lists, were Marmax, Alcathous, Euryalus, Eurymachus, Capetus, Lasius, Acrias, Chalcodon, Lycurgus, Tricolonus, Prias, Aristomachus, Æolius, Eurythrus, and Chronius. Apollodorus, bk. 2, ch. 4.—Diodorus, bk. 4.—Pausanias, bk. 5, ch. 17; bk. 6, ch. 11, &c.—Apollonius Rhodius, bk. 1.—Propertius, bk. 1, poem 2, li. 20.—Ovid, Ibis, li. 367; Ars Amatoria, bk. 2, li. 8; Heroides, poem 8, li. 70.

Œnon, a part of Locris on the bay of Corinth.

Œnōna, an ancient name of the island Ægina. It is also called Œnopia. Herodotus, bk. 8, ch. 46.――Two villages of Attica are also called Œnona, or rather Œnoe.――A town of Troas, the birthplace of the nymph Œnone. Strabo, bk. 13.

Œnōne, a nymph of mount Ida, daughter of the river Cebrenus in Phrygia. As she had received the gift of prophecy, she foretold to Paris, whom she married before he was discovered to be the son of Priam, that his voyage into Greece would be attended with the most serious consequences, and the total ruin of his country, and that he should have recourse to her medicinal knowledge at the hour of death. All these predictions were fulfilled; and Paris, when he had received the fatal wound, ordered his body to be carried to Œnone, in hopes of being cured by her assistance. He expired as he came into her presence; and Œnone was so struck at the sight of his dead body, that she bathed it with her tears, and stabbed herself to the heart. She was mother of Corythus by Paris, and this son perished by the hand of his father when he attempted, at the instigation of Œnone, to persuade him to withdraw his affection from Helen. Dictys Cretensis.—Ovid, de Remedia Amoris li. 457; Heroides, poem 5.—Lucan, bk. 9.

Œnŏpia, one of the ancient names of the island Ægina. Ovid, Metamorphoses, bk. 7, li. 473.

Œnopĭdes, a mathematician of Chios. Diodorus, bk. 1.

Œnopion, a son of Ariadne by Theseus, or, according to others, by Bacchus. He married Helice, by whom he had a daughter called Hero, or Merope, of whom the giant Orion became enamoured. The father, unwilling to give his daughter to such a lover, and afraid of provoking him by an open refusal, evaded his applications, and at last put out his eyes when he was intoxicated. Some suppose that this violence was offered to Orion after he had dishonoured Merope. Œnopion received the island of Chios from Rhadamanthus, who had conquered most of the islands of the Ægean sea, and his tomb was still seen there in the age of Pausanias. Some suppose, and with more probability, that he reigned not at Chios, but at Ægina, which from him was called Œnopia. Plutarch, Theseus.—Apollodorus, bk. 1, ch. 4.—Diodorus.—Pausanias, bk. 7, ch. 4.—Apollonius Rhodius, bk. 3.

Œnōtri, the inhabitants of Œnotria.

Œnōtria, a part of Italy, which was afterwards called Lucania. It received this name from Œnotrus the son of Lycaon, who settled there with a colony of Arcadians. The Œnotrians afterwards spread themselves into Umbria and as far as Latium, and the country of the Sabines, according to some writers. The name of Œnotria is sometimes applied to Italy. That part of Italy where Œnotrus settled, was before inhabited by the Ausones. Dionysius of Halicarnassus, bk. 8, ch. 11.—Pausanias, bk. 1, ch. 3.—Virgil, Æneid, bk. 1, li. 536; bk. 7, li. 85.—Silius Italicus, bk. 8, li. 220.

Œnotrĭdes, two small islands on the coast of Lucania, where some of the Romans were banished by the emperors. They were called Ischia and Pontia.

Œnōtrus, a son of Lycaon of Arcadia. He passed into Magna Græcia with a colony, and gave the name of Œnotria to that part of the country where he settled. Dionysius of Halicarnassus, bk. 1, ch. 11.—Pausanias, bk. 1, ch. 3.

Œnūsæ, small islands near Chios. Pliny, bk. 5, ch. 31.—Thucydides, bk. 8.――Others on the coast of the Peloponnesus, near Messenia. Mela, bk. 2, ch. 17.—Pliny, bk. 4, ch. 12.

Œonus, a son of Licymnius, killed at Sparta, where he accompanied Hercules; and as the hero had promised Licymnius to bring back his son, he burnt his body and presented the ashes to the afflicted father. From this circumstance arose a custom of burning the dead among the Greeks. Scholia, Homer, Iliad.――A small river of Laconia. Livy, bk. 34, ch. 28.

Œnoe, an island of Bœotia formed by the Asopus. Herodotus, bk. 9, ch. 50.

Œta, now Banina, a celebrated mountain between Thessaly and Macedonia, upon which Hercules burnt himself. Its height has given occasion to the poets to feign that the sun, moon, and stars arose behind it. Mount Œta, properly speaking, is a long chain of mountains which runs from the straits of Thermopylæ and the gulf of Malia, in a western direction, to mount Pindus, and from thence to the bay of Ambracia. The straits or passes of mount Œta are called the straits of Thermopylæ, from the hot baths and mineral waters which are in the neighbourhood. These passes are not more than 25 feet in breadth. Mela, bk. 2, ch. 3.—Catullus, poem 66, li. 54.—Apollodorus, bk. 2, ch. 7.—Pausanias, bk. 10, ch. 20, &c.—Ovid, Heroides, poem 9; Metamorphoses, bk. 2, li. 216; bk. 9, li. 204, &c.—Virgil, Eclogues, poem 8.—Pliny, bk. 25, ch. 5.—Seneca, Medea.—Lucan, bk. 3, &c.――A small town at the foot of mount Œta near Thermopylæ.

Œty̆lus, or Œty̆lum, a town of Laconia, which received its name from Œtylus, one of the heroes of Argos. Serapis had a temple there. Pausanias, bk. 3, ch. 25.

Ofellus, a man whom, though unpolished, Horace represents as a character exemplary for wisdom, economy, and moderation. Horace, bk. 2, satire 2, li. 2.

Ofi, a nation of Germany. Tacitus, Germania, ch. 28.

Ogdolăpis, a navigable river flowing from the Alps. Strabo, bk. 6.

Ogdōrus, a king of Egypt.

Oglosa, an island in the Tyrrhene sea, east of Corsica, famous for wine, and now called Monte Christo. Pliny, bk. 3, ch. 6.

Ogmius, a name of Hercules among the Gauls. Lucian, Hercules.

Ogoa, a deity of Mylassa in Caria, under whose temple, as was supposed, the sea passed. Pausanias, bk. 8, ch. 10.

Ogulnia lex, by Quintus and Cnæus Ogulnius, tribunes of the people, A.U.C. 453. It increased the number of pontifices and augurs from four to nine. The addition was made to both orders from plebeian families.――A Roman lady as poor as she was lascivious. Juvenal, satire 6, li. 351.

Ogy̆ges, a celebrated monarch, the most ancient of those that reigned in Greece. He was son of Terra, or, as some suppose, of Neptune, and married Thebe the daughter of Jupiter. He reigned in Bœotia, which from him is sometimes called Ogygia, and his power was also extended over Attica. It is supposed that he was of Egyptian or Phœnician extraction; but his origin, as well as the age in which he lived, and the duration of his reign, are so obscure and unknown, that the epithet of Ogygian is often applied to everything of dark antiquity. In the reign of Ogyges there was a deluge, which so inundated the territories of Attica, that they remained waste for near 200 years. This, though it is very uncertain, is supposed to have happened about 1764 years before the christian era, and previous to the deluge of Deucalion. According to some writers, it was owing to the overflowing of one of the rivers of the country. The reign of Ogyges was also marked by an uncommon appearance in the heavens, and, as it is reported, the planet Venus changed her colour, diameter, figure, and her course. Varro, de Re Rustica, bk. 3, ch. 1.—Pausanias, bk. 9, ch. 5.—Augustine, City of God, bk. 18, &c.

Ogy̆gia, a name of one of the gates of Thebes in Bœotia. Lucan, bk. 1, li. 675.――One of the daughters of Niobe and Amphion, changed into stones. Apollodorus.—Pausanias, bk. 9, ch. 8.――An ancient name of Bœotia, from Ogyges, who reigned there.――The island of Calypso, opposite the promontory of Lacinium in Magna Græcia, where Ulysses was shipwrecked. The situation, and even the existence of Calypso’s island, is disputed by some writers. Pliny, bk. 3, ch. 10.—Homer, Odyssey, bk. 1, lis. 52 & 85; bk. 5, li. 254.

Ocy̆ris, an island in the Indian ocean.

Oicleus, a son of Antiphates and Zeuxippe, who married Hypermnestra daughter of Thestius, by whom he had Iphianira, Polybœa, and Amphiaraus. He was killed by Laomedon when defending the ships which Hercules had brought to Asia, when he made war against Troy. Homer, Odyssey, bk. 15.—Diodorus, bk. 4.—Apollodorus, bk. 1, ch. 8; bk. 3, ch. 6.—Pausanias, bk. 6, ch. 17.

Oīleus, a king of the Locrians. His father’s name was Odoedocus, and his mother’s Agrianome. He married Eriope, by whom he had Ajax, called Oileus from his father, to discriminate him from Ajax the son of Telamon. He had also another son called Medon, by a courtesan called Rhene. Oileus was one of the Argonauts. Virgil, Æneid, bk. 1, li. 45.—Apollonius, bk. 1.—Hyginus, fables 14 & 18.—Homer, Iliad, bks. 13 & 15.—Apollodorus, bk. 3, ch. 10.

Olane, one of the mouths of the Po.――A mountain of Armenia.

Olanus, a town of Lesbos.

Olastræ, a people of India. Lucan, bk. 3, li. 249.—Pliny, bk. 6, ch. 20.

Olba, or Olbus, a town of Cilicia.

Olbia, a town of Sarmatia at the confluence of the Hypanis and the Borysthenes, about 15 miles from the sea, according to Pliny. It was afterwards called Borysthenes and Miletopolis, because peopled by a Milesian colony, and is now supposed to be Oczakow. Strabo, bk. 7.—Pliny, bk. 4, ch. 12.――A town of Bithynia. Mela, bk. 1, ch. 19.――A town of Gallia Narbonensis. Mela, bk. 2, ch. 5.――The capital of Sardinia. Claudian.

Olbius, a river of Arcadia. Pausanias, bk. 8, ch. 14.

Olbus, one of Æetes’ auxiliaries. Valerius Flaccus, bk. 6, li. 639.

Olchinium, or Olcinium, now Dulcigno, a town of Dalmatia, on the Adriatic. Livy, bk. 45, ch. 26.

Olbades, a people of Spain. Livy, bk. 21, ch. 5.

Oleăros, or Oliaros, one of the Cyclades, about 16 miles in circumference, separated from Paros by a strait of seven miles. Virgil, Æneid, bk. 3, li. 126.—Ovid, Metamorphoses, bk. 7, li. 469.—Strabo, bk. 10.—Pliny, bk. 4, ch. 12.

Oleatrum, a town of Spain near Saguntum. Strabo.

Olen, a Greek poet of Lycia, who flourished some time before the age of Orpheus, and composed many hymns, some of which were regularly sung at Delphi, on solemn occasions. Some suppose that he was the first who established the oracle of Apollo at Delphi where he first delivered oracles. Herodotus, bk. 4, ch. 35.

Olenius, a Lemnian killed by his wife. Valerius Flaccus, bk. 2, li. 164.

Olĕnus, a son of Vulcan, who married Lethæa, a beautiful woman, who preferred herself to the goddesses. She and her husband were changed into stones by the deities. Ovid, Metamorphoses, bk. 10, li. 68.――A famous soothsayer of Etruria. Pliny, bk. 28, ch. 2.

Olĕnus, or Olenum, a town of Peloponnesus between Patræ and Cyllene. The goat Amalthæa, which was made a constellation by Jupiter, is called Olenia, from its residence there. Pausanias, bk. 7, ch. 22.—Ovid, Metamorphoses, bk. 3.—Strabo, bk. 8.—Apollodorus, bk. 1, ch. 8.――Another in Ætolia.

Oleorus, one of the Cyclades, now Antiparo.

Olgasys, a mountain of Galatia.

Oligyrtis, a town of Peloponnesus.

Olinthus, a town of Macedonia. See: Olynthus.

Olisipo, now Lisbon, a town of ancient Spain on the Tagus, surnamed Felicitas Julia (Pliny, bk. 4, ch. 22), and called by some Ulysippo, and said to be founded by Ulysses. Mela, bk. 3, ch. 1.—Solinus, bk. 23.

Olitingi, a town of Lusitania. Mela, bk. 3, ch. 1.

Olīzon, a town of Magnesia in Thessaly. Homer.

Titus Ollius, the father of Poppæa, destroyed on account of his intimacy with Sejanus, &c. Tacitus, Annals, bk. 13, ch. 45.――A river rising in the Alps, and falling into the Po, now called the Oglio. Pliny, bk. 2, ch. 103.

Ollovĭco, a prince of Gaul, called the friend of the republic by the Roman senate. Cæsar, Gallic War, bk. 7, ch. 31.

Olmiæ, a promontory near Megara.

Olmius, a river of Bœotia, near Helicon, sacred to the Muses. Statius, Thebaid, bk. 7, li. 284.

Oloosson, now Alessone, a town of Magnesia. Homer.

Olophyxus, a town of Macedonia on mount Athos. Herodotus, bk. 7, ch. 22.

Olpæ, a fortified place of Epirus, now Forte Castri.

Olus (untis), a town at the west of Crete.

Olympeum, a place of Delos.――Another in Syracuse.

Olympia (orum), celebrated games which received their name either from Olympia, where they were observed, or from Jupiter Olympius, to whom they were dedicated. They were, according to some, instituted by Jupiter after his victory over the Titans, and first observed by the Idæi Dactyli, B.C. 1453. Some attribute the institution to Pelops, after he had obtained a victory over Œnomaus and married Hippodamia; but the more probable, and indeed the more received opinion is, that they were first established by Hercules in honour of Jupiter Olympius, after a victory obtained over Augias, B.C. 1222. Strabo objects to this opinion, by observing that if they had been established in the age of Homer, the poet would have undoubtedly spoken of them, as he is in every particular careful to mention the amusements and diversions of the ancient Greeks. But they were neglected after their first institution by Hercules, and no notice was taken of them, according to many writers, till Iphitus, in the age of the lawgiver of Sparta, renewed them, and instituted the celebration with greater solemnity. This reinstitution, which happened B.C. 884, forms a celebrated epoch in Grecian history, and is the beginning of the Olympiad. See: Olympias. They, however, were neglected for some time after the age of Iphitus, till Corœbus, who obtained a victory, B.C. 776, reinstituted them to be regularly and constantly celebrated. The care and superintendence of the games were entrusted to the people of Elis, till they were excluded by the Pisæans, B.C. 364, after the destruction of Pisa. These obtained great privileges from this appointment; they were in danger neither of violence nor war, but they were permitted to enjoy their possessions without molestation, as the games were celebrated within their territories. Only one person superintended till the 50th Olympiad, when two were appointed. In the 103rd Olympiad, the number was increased to 12, according to the number of the tribes of Elis. But in the following Olympiad, they were reduced to eight, and afterwards increased to 10, which number continued till the reign of Adrian. The presidents were obliged solemnly to swear that they would act impartially, and not take any bribes, or discover why they rejected some of the combatants. They generally sat naked, and held before them the crown which was prepared for the conqueror. There were also certain officers to keep good order and regularity, called ἀλυται, much the same as the Roman lictors, of whom the chief was called ἀλυταρχης. No women were permitted to appear at the celebration of the Olympian games, and whoever dared to trespass this law was immediately thrown down from a rock. This, however, was sometimes neglected, for we find not only women present at the celebration, but also some among the combatants, and some rewarded with the crown. The preparations for these festivals were great. No person was permitted to enter the lists if he had not regularly exercised himself 10 months before the celebration at the public gymnasium of Elis. No unfair dealings were allowed, and whoever attempted to bribe his adversary was subjected to a severe fine. No criminals, nor such as were connected with impious and guilty persons, were suffered to present themselves as combatants; and even the father and relations were obliged to swear that they would have recourse to no artifice which might decide the victory in favour of their friends. The wrestlers were appointed by lot. Some little balls, superscribed with a letter, were thrown into a silver urn, and such as drew the same letter were obliged to contend one with the other. He who had an odd letter remained the last, and he often had the advantage, as he was to encounter the last who had obtained the superiority over his adversary. He was called ἐφεδρος. In these games were exhibited running, leaping, wrestling, boxing, and the throwing of the quoit, which was called altogether πενταθλον, or quinquertium. Besides these, there were horse and chariot races, and also contentions in poetry, eloquence, and the fine arts. The only reward that the conqueror obtained, was a crown of olive; which, as some suppose, was in memory of the labours of Hercules, which was accomplished for the universal good of mankind, and for which the hero claimed no other reward than the consciousness of having been the friend of humanity. So small and trifling a reward stimulated courage and virtue, and was more the source of great honours than the most unbounded treasures. The statues of the conquerors, called Olympionicæ, were erected at Olympia, in the sacred wood of Jupiter. Their return home was that of a warlike conqueror; they were drawn in a chariot by four horses, and everywhere received with the greatest acclamations. Their entrance into their native city was not through the gates, but, to make it more grand and more solemn, a breach was made in the walls. Painters and poets were employed in celebrating their names; and indeed the victories severally obtained at Olympia are the subjects of the most beautiful odes of Pindar. The combatants were naked; a scarf was originally tied round the waist, but when it had entangled one of the adversaries, and been the cause that he lost the victory, it was laid aside, and no regard was paid to decency. The Olympic games were observed every fifth year, or, to speak with greater exactness, after a revolution of four years, and in the first month of the fifth year, and they continued for five successive days. As they were the most ancient and the most solemn of all the festivals of the Greeks, it will not appear wonderful that they drew so many people together, not only inhabitants of Greece, but of the neighbouring islands and countries. Pindar, Olympian, chs. 1 & 2.—Strabo, bk. 8.—Pausanias, bk. 5, ch. 67, &c.—Diodorus, bk. 1, &c.—Plutarch, Theseus, Lycurgus, &c.—Ælian, Varia Historia, bk. 10, li. 1.—Cicero, Tusculanæ Disputationes, bk. 1, ch. 46.—Lucian, Anacharsis.—Tzetzes, Lycophron.—♦Aristotle.—Statius, Thebaid, bk. 6.—Cornelius Nepos, Preface.—Virgil, Georgics, bk. 3, li. 49.――A town of Elis in Peloponnesus, where Jupiter had a temple with a celebrated statue 50 cubits high, reckoned one of the seven wonders of the world. The Olympic games were celebrated in the neighbourhood. Strabo, bk. 8.—Pausanias, bk. 3, ch. 8.

♦ ‘Aristotel’ replaced with ‘Aristotle’

Olympias, a certain space of time which elapsed between the celebration of the Olympic games. The Olympic games were celebrated after the expiration of four complete years, whence some have said that they were observed every fifth year. This period of time was called Olympiad, and became a celebrated era among the Greeks, who computed their time by it. The custom of reckoning time by the celebration of the Olympic games was not introduced at the first institution of these festivals, but, to speak accurately, only the year in which Corœbus obtained the prize. This Olympiad, which has always been reckoned the first, fell, according to the accurate and learned computations of some of the moderns, exactly 776 years before the christian era, in the year of the Julian period 3938, and 23 years before the building of Rome. The games were exhibited at the time of the full moon, next after the summer solstice; therefore the Olympiads were of unequal length, because the time of the full moon differs 11 days every year, and for that reason they sometimes began the next day after the solstice, and at other times four weeks after. The computations by Olympiads ceased, as some suppose, after the 364th, in the year 440 of the christian era. It was universally adopted, not only by the Greeks, but by many of the neighbouring countries, though still the Pythian games served as an epoch to the people of Delphi and to the Bœotians, the Nemæan games to the Argives and Arcadians, and the Isthmian to the Corinthians and the inhabitants of the Peloponnesian isthmus. To the Olympiads history is much indebted. They have served to fix the time of many momentous events, and indeed before this method of computing time was observed, every page of history is mostly fabulous, and filled with obscurity and contradiction, and no true chronological account can be properly established and maintained with certainty. The mode of computation, which was used after the suppression of the Olympiads and of the consular fasti of Rome, was more useful as it was more universal; but while the era of the creation of the world prevailed in the east, the western nations in the sixth century began to adopt with more propriety the christian epoch, which was propagated in the eighth century, and at last, in the tenth, became legal and popular.――A celebrated woman, who was daughter of a king of Epirus, and who married Philip king of Macedonia, by whom she had Alexander the Great. Her haughtiness, and more probably her infidelity, obliged Philip to repudiate her, and to marry Cleopatra the niece of king Attalus. Olympias was sensible of this injury, and Alexander showed his disapprobation of his father’s measures by retiring from the court to his mother. The murder of Philip, which soon followed this disgrace, and which some have attributed to the intrigues of Olympias, was productive of the greatest extravagancies. The queen paid the highest honour to her husband’s murderer. She gathered his mangled limbs, placed a crown of gold on his head, and laid his ashes near those of Philip. The administration of Alexander, who had succeeded his father, was, in some instances, offensive to Olympias; but when the ambition of her son was concerned, she did not scruple to declare publicly that Alexander was not the son of Philip, but that he was the offspring of an enormous serpent which had supernaturally introduced itself into her bed. When Alexander was dead, Olympias seized the government of Macedonia, and to establish her usurpation, she cruelly put to death Aridæus, with his wife Eurydice, as also Nicanor the brother of Cassander, with 100 leading men of Macedonia, who were inimical to her interest. Such barbarities did not long remain unpunished; Cassander besieged her in Pydna, where she had retired with the remains of her family, and she was obliged to surrender after an obstinate siege. The conqueror ordered her to be accused, and to be put to death. A body of 200 soldiers were directed to put the bloody commands into execution, but the splendour and majesty of the queen disarmed their courage, and she was at last massacred by those whom she had cruelly deprived of their children, about 316 years before the christian era. Justin, bk. 7, ch. 6; bk. 9, ch. 1.—Plutarch, Alexander.—Curtius.—Pausanias.――A fountain of Arcadia which flowed for one year and the next was dry. Pausanias, bk. 8, ch. 29.

Olympiodōrus, a musician who taught Epaminondas music. Cornelius Nepos.――A native of Thebes in Egypt, who flourished under Theodosius II., and wrote 22 books of history, in Greek, beginning with the seventh consulship of Honorius, and the second of Theodosius, to the period when Valentinian was made emperor. He wrote also an account of an embassy to some of the barbarian nations of the north, &c. His style is censured by some as low, and unworthy of an historian. The commentaries of Olympiodorus on the Meteora of Aristotle, were edited with Aldus Manutius, 1550, in folio.――An Athenian officer, present at the battle of Platæa, where he behaved with great valour. Plutarch.

Olympius, a surname of Jupiter at Olympia, where the god had a celebrated temple and statue, which passed for one of the seven wonders of the world. It was the work of Phidias. Pausanias, bk. 7, ch. 2.――A native of Carthage, called also Nemesianus. See: Nemesianus.――A favourite at the court of Honorius, who was the cause of Stilicho’s death.

Olympus, a physician of Cleopatra queen of Egypt, who wrote some historical treatises. Plutarch, Antonius.――A poet and musician of Mysia, son of Mæon and disciple to Marsyas. He lived before the Trojan war, and distinguished himself by his amatory elegies, his hymns, and particularly the beautiful airs which he composed, and which were still preserved in the age of Aristophanes. Plato, Minos.—Aristotle, Politics, bk. 8.――Another musician of Phrygia, who lived in the age of Midas. He is frequently confounded with the preceding. Pollux, bk. 4, ch. 10.――A son of Hercules and Eubœa. Apollodorus.――A mountain of Macedonia and Thessaly, now Lacha. The ancients supposed that it touched the heavens with its top; and, from that circumstance, they have placed the residence of the gods there, and have made it the court of Jupiter. It is about one mile and a half in perpendicular height, and is covered with pleasant woods, caves, and grottoes. On the top of the mountain, according to the notions of the poets, there was neither wind nor rain, nor clouds, but an eternal spring. Homer, Iliad, bk. 1, &c.—Virgil, Æneid, bks. 2, 6, &c.—Ovid, Metamorphoses.—Lucan, bk. 5.—Mela, bk. 2, ch. 3.—Strabo, bk. 8.――A mountain of Mysia, called the Mysian Olympus, a name which it still preserves.――Another in Elis.――Another in Arcadia.――Another in the island of Cyprus, now Santa Croce. Some suppose the Olympus of Mysia and of Cilicia to be the same.――A town on the coast of Lycia.

Olympusa, a daughter of Thespius. Apollodorus.

Olynthus, a celebrated town and republic of Macedonia, on the isthmus of the peninsula of Pallene. It became famous for its flourishing situation, and for its frequent disputes with the Athenians and Lacedæmonians, and with king Philip, who destroyed it, and sold the inhabitants for slaves. Cicero, Against Verres.—Plutarch, de Cohibenda Ira, &c.—Mela, bk. 2, ch. 2.—Herodotus, bk. 1, ch. 127.—Curtius, bk. 8, ch. 9.

Olyras, a river near Thermopylæ, which, as the mythologists report, attempted to extinguish the funeral pile on which Hercules was consumed. Strabo, bk. 9.

Olyzon, a town of Thessaly.

Omarius, a Lacedæmonian sent to Darius, &c. Curtius, bk. 3, ch. 13.

Ombi and Tentyra, two neighbouring cities of Egypt, whose inhabitants were always in discord one with another. Juvenal, satire 15, li. 35.

Ombri. See: ♦Umbria.

♦ ‘Umbri’ replaced with ‘Umbria’ to match listing

Omŏle, or Homŏle, a mountain of Thessaly. Virgil, Æneid, bk. 7, li. 675.――There were some festivals called Homoleia, which were celebrated in Bœotia in honour of Jupiter, surnamed Homoleius.

Omophagia, a festival in honour of Bacchus. The word signifies the eating of raw flesh. See: Dionysia.

Omphăle, a queen of Lydia, daughter of Jardanus. She married Tmolus, who, at his death, left her mistress of his kingdom. Omphale had been informed of the great exploits of Hercules, and wished to see so illustrious a hero. Her wish was soon gratified. After the murder of Eurytus, Hercules fell sick, and was ordered to be sold as a slave, that he might recover his health, and the right use of his senses. Mercury was commissioned to sell him, and Omphale bought him, and restored him to liberty. The hero became enamoured of his mistress, and the queen favoured his passion, and had a son by him, whom some call Agelaus, and others Lamon. From this son were descended Gyges and Crœsus; but this opinion is different from the account which makes these Lydian monarchs spring from Alcæus, a son of Hercules by Malis, one of the female servants of Omphale. Hercules is represented by the poets as so desperately enamoured of the queen that, to conciliate her esteem, he spins by her side among her women, while she covers herself with the lion’s skin, and arms herself with the club of the hero, and often strikes him with her sandals for the uncouth manner with which he holds the distaff, &c. Their fondness was mutual. As they once travelled together, they came to a grotto on mount Tmolus, where the queen dressed herself in the habit of her lover, and obliged him to appear in a female garment. After they had supped, they both retired to rest in different rooms, as a sacrifice on the morrow to Bacchus required. In the night, Faunus, or rather Pan, who was enamoured of Omphale, introduced himself into the cave. He went to the bed of the queen, but the lion’s skin persuaded him that it was the dress of Hercules, and therefore he repaired to the bed of Hercules, in hopes to find there the object of his affection. The female dress of Hercules deceived him, and he laid himself down by his side. The hero was awakened, and kicked the intruder into the middle of the cave. The noise awoke Omphale, and Faunus was discovered lying on the ground, greatly disappointed and ashamed. Ovid, Fasti, bk. 2, li. 305, &c.—Apollodorus, bk. 1, ch. 9; bk. 2, ch. 7.—Diodorus, bk. 4.—Propertius, bk. 3, poem 11, li. 17.

Omphălos, a place of Crete, sacred to Jupiter, on the borders of the river Triton. It received its name from the umbilical cord (ὀμφαλος) of Jupiter, which fell there soon after his birth. Diodorus.

Omphis, a king of India, who delivered himself up to Alexander the Great. Curtius, bk. 8, ch. 12.

Onæum, or Oæneum, a promontory and town of Dalmatia. Livy, bk. 43, ch. 19.

Onārus, a priest of Bacchus, who is supposed to have married Ariadne after she had been abandoned by Theseus. Plutarch, Theseus.

Onasĭmus, a sophist of Athens, who flourished in the reign of Constantine.

Onātas, a famous statuary of Ægina son of Micon. Pausanias, bk. 8, ch. 42.

Onchemītes, a wind which blows from Onchesmus, a harbour of Epirus, towards Italy. The word is sometimes spelt Anchesites and Anchemites. Cicero, Letters to Atticus, bk. 7, ltr. 2.—Ptolemæus.

Onchestus, a town of Bœotia, founded by Onchestus, a son of Neptune. Pausanias, bk. 9, ch. 26.

Oneion, a place of Arcadia. Pausanias, bk. 8, ch. 25.

Onesicrĭtus, a cynic philosopher of Ægina, who went with Alexander into Asia, and was sent to the Indian Gymnosophists. He wrote a history of the king’s life, which has been censured for the romantic, exaggerated, and improbable narrative it gives. It is asserted that Alexander, upon reading it, said that he should be glad to come to life again for some time, to see what reception the historian’s work met with. Plutarch, Alexander.—Curtius, bk. 9, ch. 10.

Onesĭmus, a Macedonian nobleman, treated with great kindness by the Roman emperors. He wrote an account of the life of the emperor Probus, and of Carus, with great precision and elegance.

Onesippus, a son of Hercules. Apollodorus.

Onesius, a king of Salamis, who revolted from the Persians.

Onetorĭdes, an Athenian officer, who attempted to murder the garrison which Demetrius had stationed at Athens, &c. Polyænus, bk. 5.

Onium, a place of Peloponnesus, near Corinth.

Onoba, a town near the columns of Hercules. Mela, bk. 3, ch. 1.

Onobala, a river of Sicily.

Onochŏnus, a river of Thessaly, falling into the Peneus. It was dried up by the army of Xerxes. Herodotus, bk. 7, ch. 196.

Onomacrĭtus, a soothsayer of Athens. It is generally believed that the Greek poem on the Argonautic expedition, attributed to Orpheus, was written by Onomacritus. The elegant poems of Musæus are also, by some, supposed to be the production of his pen. He flourished about 516 years before the christian era, and was expelled from Athens by Hipparchus, one of the sons of Pisistratus. Herodotus, bk. 7, ch. 6.――A Locrian, who wrote concerning laws, &c. Aristotle, bk. 2, Politics.

Onomarchus, a Phocian, son of Euthycrates and brother of Philomelus, whom he succeeded, as general of his countrymen, in the sacred war. After exploits of valour and perseverance, he was defeated and slain in Thessaly by Philip of Macedon, who ordered his body to be ignominiously hung up, for the sacrilege offered to the temple of Delphi. He died 353 B.C. Aristotle, Politics, bk. 5, ch. 4.—Diodorus, bk. 16.――A man to whose care Antigonus entrusted the keeping of Eumenes. Cornelius Nepos, Eumenes.

Onomastorĭdes, a Lacedæmonian ambassador sent to Darius, &c. Curtius, bk. 3, ch. 13.

Onomastus, a freedman of the emperor Otho. Tacitus.

Onophas, one of the seven Persians who conspired against the usurper Smerdis. Ctesias.――An officer in the expedition of Xerxes against Greece.

Onosander, a Greek writer, whose book De Imperatoris Institutione has been edited by Schwebel, with a French translation, folio, Nuremberg, 1752.

Onythes, a friend of Æneas, killed by Turnus. Virgil, Æneid, bk. 12, li. 514.

Opalia, festivals celebrated by the Romans, in honour of Ops, on the 14th of the calends of January.

Ophēlas, a general of Cyrene, defeated by Agathocles.

Opheltes, a son of Lycurgus king of Thrace. He is the same as Archemorus. See: Archemorus.――The father of Euryalus, whose friendship with Nisus is proverbial. Virgil, Æneid, bk. 9, li. 201.――One of the companions of Acœtes, changed into a dolphin by Bacchus. Ovid, Metamorphoses, bk. 3, fable 8.

Ophensis, a town of Africa. Tacitus, Histories, bk. 4, ch. 50.

Ophiădes, an island on the coast of Arabia, so called from the great number of serpents found there. It belonged to the Egyptian kings, and was considered valuable for the topaz it produced. Diodorus, bk. 3.

Ophias, a patronymic given to Combe, as daughter of Ophius, an unknown person. Ovid, Metamorphoses, bk. 7, li. 382.

Ophioneus, was an ancient soothsayer in the age of Aristodemus. He was born blind.

Ophis, a small river of Arcadia, which falls into the Alpheus.

Ophiūsa, the ancient name of Rhodes.――A small island near Crete.――A town of Sarmatia.――An island near the Baleares, so called from the number of serpents which it produced (ὀφις, serpens). It is now called Formentera.

Ophrynium, a town of Troas on the Hellespont. Hector had a grove there. Strabo, bk. 13.

Opĭci, the ancient inhabitants of Campania, from whose mean occupations the word Opicus has been used to express disgrace. Juvenal, satire 3, li. 207.

Opilius, a grammarian who flourished about 94 years before Christ. He wrote a book called Libri Musarum.

Lucius Opimius, a Roman who made himself consul in opposition to the interests and efforts of the Gracchi. He showed himself a most inveterate enemy to Caius Gracchus and his adherents, and behaved, during his consulship, like a dictator. He was accused of bribery, and banished. He died of want at Dyrrachium. Cicero, For Sestius, For Plancius, & Against Piso.—Plutarch.――A Roman, who killed one of the Cimbri in single combat.――A rich usurer at Rome in the age of Horace, bk. 2, satire 3, li. 142.

Opis, a town on the Tigris, afterwards called Antiochia. Xenophon, Anabasis, bk. 2.――A nymph who was among Diana’s attendants. Virgil, Æneid, bk. 11, lis. 532 & 867.――A town near the mouth of the Tigris.――One of Cyrene’s attendants. Virgil, Georgics, bk. 4, li. 343.

Opĭter, a Roman consul, &c.

Opitergīni, a people near Aquileia, on the Adriatic. Their chief city was called Opitergum, now Oderso. Lucan, bk. 4, li. 416.

Opītes, a native of Argos, killed by Hector in the Trojan war. Homer, Iliad.

Oppia, a vestal virgin, buried alive for her incontinence.

Oppia lex, by Caius Oppius the tribune, A.U.C. 540. It required that no woman should wear above half an ounce of gold, have party-coloured garments, or be carried in any city or town, or to any place within a mile’s distance, unless it was to celebrate some sacred festivals or solemnities. This famous law, which was made while Annibal was in Italy, and while Rome was in distressed circumstances, created discontent, and, 18 years after, the Roman ladies petitioned the assembly of the people that it might be repealed. Cato opposed it strongly, and made many satirical reflections upon the women for their appearing in public to solicit votes. The tribune Valerius, who had presented their petition to the assembly, answered the objections of Cato, and his eloquence had such an influence on the minds of the people, that the law was instantly abrogated with the unanimous consent of all the comitia, Cato alone excepted. Livy, bks. 33 & 34.—Cicero, On Oratory, bk. 3.

Oppiānus, a Greek poet of Cilicia in the second century. His father’s name was Agesilaus, and his mother’s Zenodota. He wrote some poems, celebrated for their elegance and sublimity. Two of his poems are now extant, five books on fishing called alieuticon, and four on hunting called cynegeticon. The emperor Caracalla was so pleased with his poetry, that he gave him a piece of gold for every verse of his cynegeticon; from which circumstance the poem received the name of the golden verses of Oppian. The poet died of the plague in the 30th year of his age. His countrymen raised statues to his honour, and engraved on his tomb that the gods had hastened to call back Oppian in the flower of youth, only because he had already excelled all mankind. The best edition of his works is that of Schneider, 8vo, Strasbourg, 1776.

Oppidius, a rich old man introduced by Horace, bk. 2, satire 3, li. 168, as wisely dividing his possessions among his two sons, and warning them against those follies and that extravagance which he believed he saw rising in them.

Caius Oppius, a friend of Julius Cæsar, celebrated for his life of Scipio Africanus, and of Pompey the Great. In the latter he paid not much regard to historical facts, and took every opportunity to defame Pompey, to extol the character of his patron Cæsar. In the age of Suetonius, he was deemed the true author of the Alexandrian, African, and Spanish wars, which some attribute to Cæsar, and others to Aulus Hirtius. Tacitus, Annals, bk. 12.—Suetonius, Cæsar, ch. 53.――An officer sent by the Romans against Mithridates. He met with ill success, and was sent in chains to the king, &c.――A Roman who saved his aged father from the dagger of the triumvirate.

Ops (opis), a daughter of Cœlus and Terra, the same as the Rhea of the Greeks, who married Saturn, and became mother of Jupiter. She was known among the ancients by the different names of Cybele, Bona Dea, Magna Mater, Thya, Tellus, Proserpina, and even of Juno and Minerva; and the worship which was paid to these apparently several deities was offered merely to one and the same person, mother of the gods. The word Ops seems to be derived from Opus; because the goddess, who is the same as the earth, gives nothing without labour. Tatius built her a temple at Rome. She was generally represented as a matron, with her right hand opened, as if offering assistance to the helpless, and holding a loaf in her left hand. Her festivals were called Opalia, &c. Varro, de Lingua Latina, bk. 4.—Dionysius of Halicarnassus, bk. 2, &c.—Tibullus, poem 4, li. 68.—Pliny, bk. 19, ch. 6.

Optātus, one of the fathers, whose works were edited by Du Pin, folio, Paris, 1700.

Optĭmus Maximus, epithets given to Jupiter to denote his greatness, omnipotence, and supreme goodness. Cicero, de Natura Deorum, bk. 2, ch. 25.

Opus (opuntis), a city of Locris, on the Asopus, destroyed by an earthquake. Strabo, bk. 9.—Mela, bk. 2, ch. 3.—Livy, bk. 28, ch. 7.

Ora, a town in India, taken by Alexander.――One of Jupiter’s mistresses.

Oracŭlum, an answer of the gods to the questions of men, or the place where those answers were given. Nothing is more famous than the ancient oracles of Egypt, Greece, Rome, &c. They were supposed to be the will of the gods themselves, and they were consulted, not only upon every important matter, but even in the affairs of private life. To make peace or war, to introduce a change of government, to plant a colony, to enact laws, to raise an edifice, to marry, were sufficient reasons to consult the will of the gods. Mankind, in consulting them, showed that they wished to pay implicit obedience to the command of the divinity, and, when they had been favoured with an answer, they acted with more spirit and with more vigour, conscious that the undertaking had met with the sanction and approbation of heaven. In this, therefore, it will not appear wonderful that so many places were sacred to oracular purposes. The small province of Bœotia could once boast of her 25 oracles, and Peloponnesus of the same number. Not only the chief of the gods gave oracles, but, in process of time, heroes were admitted to enjoy the same privileges; and the oracles of a Trophonius and an Antinous were soon able to rival the fame of Apollo and of Jupiter. The most celebrated oracles of antiquity were those of Dodona, Delphi, Jupiter Ammon, &c. See: Dodona, Delphi, Ammon. The temple of Delphi seemed to claim a superiority over the other temples; its fame was once more extended, and its riches were so great, that not only private persons, but even kings and numerous armies, made it an object of plunder and of rapine. The manner of delivering oracles was different. A priestess at Delphi [See: Pythia] was permitted to pronounce the oracles of the god, and her delivery of the answers was always attended with acts of apparent madness and desperate fury. Not only women but even doves, were the ministers of the temple of Dodona; and the suppliant votary was often startled to hear his questions readily answered by the decayed trunk or the spreading branches of a neighbouring oak. Ammon conveyed his answers in a plain and open manner; but Amphiaraus required many ablutions and preparatory ceremonies, and he generally communicated his oracles to his suppliants in dreams and visions. Sometimes the first words that were heard, after issuing from the temple, were deemed the answers of the oracles, and sometimes the nodding or shaking of the head of the statue, the motions of fishes in a neighbouring lake, or their reluctance in accepting the food which was offered to them, were as strong and valid as the most express and the minutest explanations. The answers were also sometimes given in verse, or written on tablets, but their meaning was always obscure, and often the cause of disaster to such as consulted them. Crœsus, when he consulted the oracle of Delphi, was told that, if he crossed the Halys, he should destroy a great empire; he supposed that that empire was the empire of his enemy, but unfortunately it was his own. The words of Credo te, Æacida, Romanos vincere posse, which Pyrrhus received when he wished to assist the Tarentines against the Romans, by a favourable interpretation for himself, proved his ruin. Nero was ordered by the oracle of Delphi to beware of 73 years; but the pleasing idea that he should live to that age, rendered him careless, and he was soon convinced of his mistake, when Galba, in his 73rd year, had the presumption to dethrone him. It is a question among the learned whether the oracles were given by the inspiration of evil spirits, or whether they proceeded from the imposture of the priests. Imposture, however, and forgery cannot long flourish, and falsehood becomes its own destroyer; and, on the contrary, it is well known how much confidence an enlightened age, therefore, much more the credulous and the superstitious, place upon dreams and romantic stories. Some have strongly believed that all the oracles of the earth ceased at the birth of Christ, but the supposition is false. It was, indeed, the beginning of their decline; but they remained in repute, and were consulted, though perhaps not so frequently, till the fourth century, when christianity began to triumph over paganism. The oracles often suffered themselves to be bribed. Alexander did it, but it is well known that Lysander failed in the attempt. Herodotus, who first mentioned the corruption which often prevailed in the oracular temples of Greece and Egypt, has been severely treated for his remarks by the historian Plutarch. Demosthenes is also a witness of the corruption, and he observed that the oracles of Greece were servilely subservient to the will and pleasure of Philip king of Macedon, as he beautifully expresses it by the word φιλιππιζειν. If some of the Greeks, and other European and Asiatic countries, paid so much attention to oracles, and were so fully persuaded of their veracity, and even divinity, many of their leading men and of their philosophers were apprised of their deceit, and paid no regard to the command of priests, whom money could corrupt, and interposition silence. The Egyptians showed themselves the most superstitious of mankind, by their blind acquiescence to the imposition of the priests, who persuaded them that the safety and happiness of their life depended upon the mere motions of an ox, or the tameness of a crocodile. Homer, Iliad; Odyssey, bk. 10.—Herodotus, bks. 1 & 2.—Xenophon, Memorabilia.—Strabo, bks. 5, 7, &c.—Pausanias, bk. 1, &c.—Plutarch, de Defectu Oraculorum; Agesilaus; De Herodoti Malignitate.—Cicero, de Divinatione bk. 1, ch. 19.—Justin, bk. 24, ch. 6.—Livy, bk. 37.—Ælian, Varia Historia, bk. 6.—Cornelius Nepos, Lysander.—Aristophanes, Knights & Wealth.—Demosthenes, Philippics.—Ovid, Metamorphoses, bk. 1.

Oræa, a small country of Peloponnesus. Pausanias, bk. 2, ch. 30.――Certain solemn sacrifices of fruits offered in the four seasons of the year, to obtain mild and temperate weather. They were offered to the goddesses who presided over the seasons, who attended upon the sun, and who received divine worship at Athens.

Orasus, a man who killed Ptolemy the son of Pyrrhus.

Orates, a river of European Scythia. Ovid, ex Ponto, bk. 4, poem 10, li. 47. As this river is not now known, Vossius reads Cretes, a river which is found in Scythia. Valerius Flaccus, bk. 4, li. 719.—Thucydides, bk. 4.

Orbelus, a mountain of Thrace or Macedonia.

Orbĭlius Pupillus, a grammarian of Beneventum, who was the first instructor of the poet Horace. He came to Rome in the consulship of Cicero, and there, as a public teacher, acquired more fame than money. He was naturally of a severe disposition, of which his pupils often felt the effects. He lived almost to his 100th year, and lost his memory some time before his death. Suetonius, Lives of the Grammarians, ch. 9.—Horace, bk. 2, ltr. 1, li. 71.

Orbitanium, a town of the Samnites. Livy, bk. 24, ch. 20.

Orbōna, a mischievous goddess at Rome, who, as it was supposed, made children die. Her temple at Rome was near that of the gods Lares. Cicero, de Natura Deorum, bk. 3, ch. 25.—Pliny, bk. 2, ch. 7.

Orcădes, islands on the northern coasts of Britain, now called the Orkneys. They were unknown till Britain was discovered to be an island by Agricola, who presided there as governor. Tacitus, Agricola.—Juvenal satire 2, li. 161.

Orchālis, an eminence of Bœotia, near Haliartus, called also Alopecos. Plutarch, Lysander.

Orchămus, a king of Assyria, father of Leucothoe by Eurynome. He buried his daughter alive for her amours with Apollo. Ovid, Metamorphoses, bk. 4, li. 212.

Orchia lex, by Orchius the tribune, A.U.C. 566. It was enacted to limit the number of guests that were to be admitted at an entertainment; and it also enforced that, during supper, which was the chief meal among the Romans, the doors of every house should be left open.

Orchomĕnus, or Orchomĕnum, a town of Bœotia, at the west of the lake Copais. It was anciently called Minyeia, and from that circumstance the inhabitants were often called Minyans of Orchomenos. There was at Orchomenos a celebrated temple, built by Eteocles son of Cephisus, sacred to the Graces, who were from thence called the Orchomenian goddesses. The inhabitants founded Teos in conjunction with the Ionians, under the sons of Codrus. Pliny, bk. 4, ch. 8.—Herodotus, bk. 1, ch. 146.—Pausanias, bk. 9, ch. 37.—Strabo, bk. 9.――A town of Arcadia, at the north of Mantinea. Homer, Iliad, bk. 2.――A town of Thessaly, with a river of the same name. Strabo.――A son of Lycaon king of Arcadia, who gave his name to a city of Arcadia, &c. Pausanias, bk. 8.――A son of Minyas king of Bœotia, who gave the name of Orchomenians to his subjects. He died without issue, and the crown devolved to Clymenus the son of Presbon, &c. Pausanias, bk. 9, ch. 36.

Orcus, one of the names of the god of hell, the same as Pluto, though confounded by some with Charon. He had a temple at Rome. The word Orcus is generally used to signify the infernal regions. Horace, bk. 1, ode 29, &c.—Virgil, Æneid, bk. 4, li. 502, &c.—Ovid, Metamorphoses, bk. 14, li. 116.

Orcynia, a place of Cappadocia, where Eumenes was defeated by Antigonus.

Ordessus, a river of Scythia, which falls into the Ister. Herodotus.

Ordovices, the people of North Wales in Britain, mentioned by Tacitus, Annals, bk. 12, ch. 53.

Oreădes, nymphs of the mountains (ὀρος, mons), daughters of Phoroneus and Hecate. Some call them Orestiades, and give them Jupiter for father. They generally attended upon Diana, and accompanied her in hunting. Virgil, Æneid, bk. 1, li. 504.—Homer, Iliad, bk. 6.—Strabo, bk. 10.—Ovid, Metamorphoses, bk. 8, li. 787.

Oreas, a son of Hercules and Chryseis.

Orestæ, a people of Epirus. They received their name from Orestes, who fled to Epirus when cured of his insanity. Lucan, bk. 3, li. 249.――Of Macedonia. Livy, bk. 33, ch. 34.

Orestes, a son of ♦Agamemnon and Clytemnestra. When his father was cruelly murdered by Clytemnestra and Ægisthus, young Orestes was saved from his mother’s dagger by means of his sister Electra, called Laodicea by Homer, and he was privately conveyed to the house of Strophius, who was king of Phocis, and who had married a sister of Agamemnon. He was tenderly treated by Strophius, who educated him with his son Pylades. The two young princes soon became acquainted, and, from their familiarity, arose the most inviolable attachment and friendship. When Orestes was arrived to the years of manhood, he visited Mycenæ, and avenged his father’s death by assassinating his mother Clytemnestra, and her adulterer Ægisthus. The manner in which he committed this murder is variously reported. According to Æschylus he was commissioned by Apollo to avenge his father, and, therefore, he introduced himself, with his friend Pylades, at the court of Mycenæ, pretending to bring the news of the death of Orestes from king Strophius. He was at first received with coldness, and when he came into the presence of Ægisthus, who wished to inform himself of the particulars, he murdered him, and soon after Clytemnestra shared the adulterer’s fate. Euripides and Sophocles mention the same circumstance. Ægisthus was assassinated after Clytemnestra, according to Sophocles; and, in Euripides, Orestes is represented as murdering the adulterer, while he offers a sacrifice to the nymphs. This murder, as the poet mentions, irritates the guards, who were present, but Orestes appeases their fury by telling them who he is, and immediately he is acknowledged king of the country. Afterwards he stabs his mother, at the instigation of his sister Electra, after he has upbraided her for her infidelity and cruelty to her husband. Such meditated murders receive the punishment which, among the ancients, was always supposed to attend parricide. Orestes is tormented by the Furies, and exiles himself to Argos, where he is still pursued by the avengeful goddesses. Apollo himself purifies him, and he is acquitted by the unanimous opinion of the Areopagites, whom Minerva herself instituted on this occasion, according to the narration of the poet Æschylus, who flatters the Athenians in his tragical story, by representing them as passing judgment even upon the gods themselves. According to Pausanias, Orestes was purified of the murder, not at Delphi, but at Trœzene, where still was seen a large stone at the entrance of Diana’s temple, upon which the ceremonies of purification had been performed by nine of the principal citizens of the place. There was also, at Megalopolis in Arcadia, a temple dedicated to the Furies, near which Orestes cut off one of his fingers with his teeth in a fit of insanity. These different traditions are confuted by Euripides, who says that Orestes, after the murder of his mother, consulted the oracle of Apollo at Delphi, where he was informed that nothing could deliver him from the persecutions of the Furies, if he did not bring into Greece Diana’s statue, which was in the Taurica Chersonesus, and which, as it is reported by some, had fallen down from heaven. This was an arduous enterprise. The king of the Chersonesus always sacrificed on the altars of the goddess all such as entered the borders of his country. Orestes and his friend were both carried before Thoas the king of the place, and they were doomed to be sacrificed. Iphigenia was then priestess of Diana’s temple, and it was her office to immolate these strangers. The intelligence that they were Grecians delayed the preparations, and Iphigenia was anxious to learn something about a country which had given her birth. See: Iphigenia. She even interested herself in their misfortunes, and offered to spare the life of one of them provided he would convey letters to Greece from her hand. This was a difficult trial; never was friendship more truly displayed, according to the words of Ovid, ex Ponto, bk. 3, poem 2:

Ire jubet Pylades carum moriturus Orestem,

Hic negat; inque vicem pugnat uterque mori.

At last Pylades gave way to the pressing entreaties of his friend, and consented to carry the letters of Iphigenia to Greece. These were addressed to Orestes himself, and, therefore, these circumstances soon led to a total discovery of the connections of the priestess with the man whom she was going to immolate. Iphigenia was convinced that he was her brother Orestes, and, when the causes of their journey had been explained, she resolved, with the two friends, to fly from Chersonesus, and to carry away the statue of Diana. Their flight was discovered, and Thoas prepared to pursue them; but Minerva interfered, and told him that all had been done by the will and approbation of the gods. Some suppose that Orestes came to Cappadocia from Chersonesus, and that there he left the statue of Diana at Comana. Others contradict this tradition, and, according to Pausanias, the statue of Diana Orthia was the same as that which had been carried away from the Chersonesus. Some also suppose that Orestes brought it to Aricia, in Italy, where Diana’s worship was established. After these celebrated adventures, Orestes ascended the throne of Argos, where he reigned in perfect security, and married Hermione the daughter of Menelaus, and gave his sister to his friend Pylades. The marriage of Orestes with Hermione is a matter of dispute among the ancients. All are agreed that she had been promised to the son of Agamemnon, but Menelaus had married her to Neoptolemus the son of Achilles, who had shown himself so truly interested in his cause during the Trojan war. The marriage of Hermione with Neoptolemus displeased Orestes; he remembered that she had been early promised to him, and therefore he resolved to recover her by force or artifice. This he effected by causing Neoptolemus to be assassinated, or assassinating him himself. According to Ovid’s epistle of Hermione to Orestes, Hermione had always been faithful to her first lover, and even it was by her persuasion that Orestes removed her from the house of Neoptolemus. Hermione was dissatisfied with the partiality of Neoptolemus for Andromache, and her attachment for Orestes was increased. Euripides, however, and others, speak differently of Hermione’s attachment to Neoptolemus: she loved him so tenderly, that she resolved to murder Andromache, who seemed to share, in a small degree, the affection of her husband. She was ready to perpetrate the horrid deed when Orestes came into Epirus, and she was easily persuaded by the foreign prince to withdraw herself, in her husband’s absence, from a country which seemed to contribute so much to her sorrows. Orestes, the better to secure the affections of Hermione, assassinated Neoptolemus [See: Neoptolemus], and retired to his kingdom of Argos. His old age was crowned with peace and security, and he died in the 90th year of his age, leaving his throne to his son Tisamenes by Hermione. Three years after, the Heraclidæ recovered the Peloponnesus, and banished the descendants of Menelaus from the throne of Argos. Orestes died in Arcadia, as some suppose, by the bite of a serpent; and the Lacedæmonians, who had become his subjects at the death of Menelaus, were directed by an oracle to bring his bones to Sparta. They were some time after discovered at Tegea, and his stature appeared to be seven cubits, according to the traditions mentioned by Herodotus and others. The friendship of Orestes and of Pylades became proverbial, and the two friends received divine honours among the Scythians, and were worshipped in temples. Pausanias, bks. 1, 2, 4, &c.—Paterculus, bk. 1, chs. 1 & 3.—Apollodorus, bk. 1, &c.—Strabo, bks. 9 & 13.—Ovid, Heroides, poem 8; Ex Ponto, bk. 3, poem 2; Metamorphoses, bk. 15; Ibis.—Euripides; Orestes; Andromache, &c. Iphigeneia.—Sophocles, Electra, &c.—Aeschylus, Eumenides; Agamemnon, &c.—Horodotus, bk. 1, ch. 69.—Hyginus, fables 120 & 261.—Plutarch, Lycurgus.—Dictys Cretensis, bk. 6, &c.—Pindar, Pythian, bk. 2.—Pliny, bk. 33.—Virgil, Æneid, bk. 3, &c.—Homer, Odyssey, bk. 3, li. 304; bk. 4, li. 530.—Tzetzes, On Lycophron, li. 1374.――A son of Achelaus. Apollodorus.――A man sent as ambassador, by Attila king of the Huns, to the emperor Theodosius. He was highly honoured at the Roman court, and his son Augustulus was the last emperor of the western empire.――A governor of Egypt under the Roman emperors.――A robber of Athens who pretended madness, &c. Aristophanes, Acharnians, li. 1166.――A general of Alexander. Curtius, bk. 4, ch. 108.

♦ ‘Agememnon’ replaced with ‘Agamemnon’

Oresteum, a town of Arcadia, about 18 miles from Sparta. It was founded by Orestheus, a son of Lycaon, and originally called Oresthesium, and afterwards Oresteum, from Orestes the son of Agamemnon, who resided there for some time after the murder of Clytemnestra. Pausanias, bk. 8, ch. 8.—Euripides.

Orestīdæ, the descendants or subjects of Orestes the son of Agamemnon. They were driven from the Peloponnesus by the Heraclidæ, and came to settle in a country which, from them, was called Orestida, at the south-west of Macedonia. Some suppose that that part of Greece originally received its name from Orestes, who fled and built there a city, which gave its founder’s name to the whole province. Thucydides, bk. 2.—Livy, bk. 31.

Aurelia Orestilla, a mistress of Catiline. Cicero, ♦Letters to his Friends, bk. 8, ch. 7.

♦ ‘ad. Div. 7,’ replaced with ‘Letters to his Friends, bk. 8’

Orestis, or Orestida, a part of Macedonia. Cicero, On the Responses of the Haruspices, ch. 16.

Orĕtæ, a people of Asiatic Sarmatia, on the Euxine sea.

Oretāni, a people of Spain, whose capital was Oretum, now Oreto. Livy, bk. 21, ch. 11; bk. 35, ch. 7.

Oretillia, a woman who married Caligula, by whom she was soon after banished.

Orēum, one of the principal towns of Eubœa. Livy, bk. 28, ch. 6.

Orga, or Orgas, a river of Phrygia, falling into the Mæander. Strabo.—Pliny.

Orgessum, a town of Macedonia. Livy, bk. 31, ch. 27.

Orgetŏrix, one of the chief men of the Helvetii, while Cæsar was in Gaul. He formed a conspiracy against the Romans, and, when accused, he destroyed himself. Cæsar.

Orgia, festivals in honour of Bacchus. They are the same as the Bacchanalia, Dionysia, &c., which were celebrated by the ancients to commemorate the triumph of Bacchus in India. See: Dionysia.

Oribăsus, a celebrated physician, greatly esteemed by the emperor Julian, in whose reign he flourished. He abridged the works of Galenus, and of all the most respectable writers on physic, at the request of the emperor. He accompanied Julian into the east, but his skill proved ineffectual in attempting to cure the fatal wound which his benefactor had received. After Julian’s death, he fell into the hands of the barbarians. The best edition of his works is that of Dundas, 4to, Leiden, 1745.――One of Actæon’s dogs, ab ὀρος, mons, and (βαινω, scando. Ovid, Metamorphoses.

Orĭcum, or Orĭcus, a town of Epirus, on the Ionian sea, founded by a colony from Colchis, according to Pliny. It was called Dardania, because Helenus and Andromache, natives of Troy or Dardania, reigned over the country after the Trojan war. It had a celebrated harbour, and was greatly esteemed by the Romans on account of its situation, but it was not well defended. The tree which produces the turpentine grew there in abundance. Virgil, Æneid, bk. 10, li. 136.—Livy, bk. 24, ch. 40.—Pliny, bk. 2, ch. 89.—Cæsar, Civil War, bk. 3, ch. 1, &c.—Lucan, bk. 3, li. 187.

Oriens, in ancient geography, is taken for all the most eastern parts of the world, such as Parthia, India, Assyria, &c.

Origen, a Greek writer, as much celebrated for the easiness of his manners, his humility, and modesty, as for his learning and the sublimity of his genius. He was surnamed Adamantus, from his assiduity; and became so rigid a christian that he made himself a eunuch, by following the literal sense of a passage in the Greek testament, which speaks of the voluntary eunuchs of Christ. He suffered martyrdom in his 69th year, A.D. 254. His works were excellent and numerous, and contained a number of homilies, commentaries on the Holy Scriptures, and different treatises, besides the Hexapla, so called from its being divided into six columns, the first of which contained the Hebrew text, the second the same text in Greek characters, the third the Greek version of the Septuagint, the fourth that of Aquila, the fifth that of Symmachus, and the sixth Theodotion’s Greek version. This famous work first gave the hint for the compilation of our Polyglot Bibles. The works of Origen have been learnedly edited by the Benedictine monks, though the whole is not yet completed, in 4 vols., folio, Paris, 1733, 1740, and 1759. The Hexapla was published in 8vo, at Lipscomb, 1769, by Carl Friedrich Bahrdt.

Orīgo, a courtesan in the age of Horace. Horace, bk. 1, satire 2, li. 55.

Orinus, a river of Sicily.

Oriobătes, a general of Darius at the battle of Arbela, &c. Curtius, bk. 4.

Orīon, a celebrated giant sprung from the urine of Jupiter, Neptune, and Mercury. These three gods, as they travelled over Bœotia, met with great hospitality from Hyrieus, a peasant of the country, who was ignorant of their dignity and character. They were entertained with whatever the cottage afforded, and, when Hyrieus had discovered that they were gods, because Neptune told him to fill up Jupiter’s cup with wine, after he had served it before the rest, the old man welcomed them by the voluntary sacrifice of an ox. Pleased with his piety, the gods promised to grant him whatever he required, and the old man, who had lately lost his wife, to whom he had promised never to marry again, desired them that, as he was childless, they would give him a son without another marriage. The gods consented, and they ordered him to bury in the ground the skin of the victim, into which they had all three made water. Hyrieus did as they commanded, and when, nine months after, he dug for the skin, he found in it a beautiful child, whom he called Urion, ab urinâ. The name was changed into Orion, by the corruption of one letter, as Ovid says, Perdidit antiquum littera prima sonum. Orion soon rendered himself celebrated, and Diana took him among her attendants, and even became deeply enamoured of him. His gigantic stature, however, displeased Œnopion king of Chios, whose daughter Hero or Merope he demanded in marriage. The king, not to deny him openly, promised to make him his son-in-law as soon as he delivered his island from wild beasts. This task, which Œnopion deemed impracticable, was soon performed by Orion, who eagerly demanded his reward. Œnopion, on pretence of complying, intoxicated his illustrious guest, and put out his eyes on the seashore, where he had laid himself down to sleep. Orion, finding himself blind when he awoke, was conducted by the sound to a neighbouring forge, where he placed one of the workmen on his back, and by his directions, went to a place where the rising sun was seen with the greatest advantage. Here he turned his face towards the luminary, and, as it is reported, he immediately recovered his eyesight, and hastened to punish the perfidious cruelty of Œnopion. It is said that Orion was an excellent workman in iron, and that he fabricated a subterraneous palace for Vulcan. Aurora, whom Venus had inspired with love, carried him away to the island of Delos, to enjoy his company with the greater security; but Diana, who was jealous of this, destroyed Orion with her arrows. Some say that Orion had provoked Diana’s resentment, by offering violence to Opis, one of her female attendants, or, according to others, because he had attempted the virtue of the goddess herself. According to Ovid, Orion died of the bite of a scorpion, which the earth produced, to punish his vanity in boasting that there was not on earth any animal which he could not conquer. Some say that Orion was the son of Neptune and Euryale, and that he had received from his father the privilege and power of walking over the sea without wetting his feet. Others made him son of Terra, like the rest of the giants. He had married a nymph called Sida before his connection with the family of Œnopion; but Sida was the cause of her own death, by boasting herself fairer than Juno. According to Diodorus, Orion was a celebrated hunter, superior to the rest of mankind by his strength and uncommon stature. He built the port of Zancle, and fortified the coast of Sicily against the frequent inundations of the sea, by heaping a mound of earth, called Pelorum, on which he built a temple to the gods of the sea. After death, Orion was placed in heaven, where one of the constellations still bears his name. The constellation of Orion, placed near the feet of the bull, is composed of 17 stars, in the form of a man holding a sword, which has given occasion to the poets often to speak of Orion’s sword. As the constellation of Orion, which rises about the 9th day of March, and sets about the 21st of June, is generally supposed to be accompanied, at its rising, with great rains and storms, it has acquired the epithet of aquosus, given it by Virgil. Orion was buried in the island of Delos, and the monument which the people of Tanagra in Bœotia showed, as containing the remains of this celebrated hero, was nothing but a cenotaph. The daughters of Orion distinguished themselves as much as their father; and when the oracle had declared that Bœotia should not be delivered from a dreadful pestilence before two of Jupiter’s children were immolated on the altars, they joyfully accepted the offer, and voluntarily sacrificed themselves for the good of their country. Their names were Menippe and Metioche. They had been carefully educated by Diana, and Venus and Minerva had made them very rich and valuable presents. The deities of hell were struck at the patriotism of the two females, and immediately two stars were seen to arise from the earth, which still smoked with the blood, and they were placed in the heavens in the form of a crown. According to Ovid, their bodies were burned by the Thebans, and from their ashes arose two persons whom the gods soon after changed into constellations. Diodorus, bk. 4.—Homer, Odyssey, bk. 5, li. 121; bk. 11, li. 309.—Virgil, Æneid, bk. 3, li. 517.—Apollodorus, bk. 1, ch. 4.—Ovid, Metamorphoses, bks. 8 & 13; Fasti, bk. 5, &c.—Hyginus, fable 125, & Poetica Astronomica, bk. 2, ch. 44, &c.—Propertius, bk. 2, poem 13.—Virgil, Æneid, bk. 1, &c.—Horace, bk. 2, ode 13; bk. 3, odes 4 & 27; Epodes, poem 10, &c.—Lucan, bk. 1, &c.—Catullus, Carmina.—Palæphatus, bk. 1.—Parthenius, Narrationes Amatoriae, ch. 20.

Orissus, a prince of Spain, who put Hamilcar to flight, &c.

Orisulla Livia, a Roman matron, taken away from Piso, &c.

Orītæ, a people of India, who submitted to Alexander, &c. Strabo, bk. 15.

Orithyia, a daughter of Erechtheus king of Athens by Praxithea. She was courted and carried away by Boreas king of Thrace, as she crossed the Ilissus, and became mother of Cleopatra, Chione, Zetus, and Calais. Apollodorus, bk. 1.—Apollonius, bk. 3, ch. 15.—Orpheus.—Ovid, Metamorphoses, bk. 6, li. 706; Fasti, bk. 5, li. 204.—Pausanias, bk. 1, ch. 19; bk. 5, ch. 19.――One of the Nereides.――A daughter of Cecrops, who bore Europus to Macedon.――One of the Amazons, famous for her warlike and intrepid spirit. Justin, bk. 2, ch. 4.

Orĭtias, one of the hunters of the Calydonian boar. Ovid, Metamorphoses, bk. 8, fable 8.

Oriundus, a river of Illyricum. Livy, bk. 44, ch. 31.

Ormĕnus, a king of Thessaly, son of Cercaphus. He built a town which was called Ormenium. He was father of Amyntor. Homer, Iliad, bk. 9, li. 448.――A man who settled at Rhodes.――A son of Eurypylus, &c.

Ornea, a town of Argolis, famous for a battle fought there between the Lacedæmonians and Argives. Diodorus.

Orneates, a surname of Priapus, at Ornea.

Orneus, a centaur, son of Ixion and the Cloud. Ovid, Metamorphoses, bk. 12, li. 302.――A son of Erechtheus king of Athens, who built Ornea in Peloponnesus. Pausanias, bk. 2, ch. 25.

Ornithiæ, a wind blowing from the north in the spring, and so called from the appearance of birds (ὀρνιθες, aves). Columella, bk. 11, ch. 2.

Ornītron, a town of Phœnicia between Tyre and Sidon.

Ornitus, a friend of Æneas, killed by Camilla in the Rutulian wars. Virgil, Æneid, bk. 11, li. 677.

Ornospădes, a Parthian, driven from his country by Artabanus. He assisted Tiberius, and was made governor of Macedonia, &c. Tacitus, Annals, bk. 6, ch. 37.

Ornytion, a son of Sisyphus king of Corinth, father of Phocus. Pausanias, bk. 9, ch. 17.

Ornytus, a man of Cyzicus, killed by the Argonauts, &c. Valerius Flaccus, bk. 3, li. 173.

Oroanda, a town of Pisidia, now Haviran. Livy, bk. 38, ch. 18.

Orobia, a town of Eubœa.

Orobii, a people of Italy, near Milan.

Orōdes, a prince of Parthia, who murdered his brother Mithridates, and ascended his throne. He defeated Crassus the Roman triumvir, and poured melted gold down the throat of his fallen enemy, to reproach him for his avarice and ambition. He followed the interest of Cassius and Brutus at Philippi. It is said that, when Orodes became old and infirm, his 30 children applied to him, and disputed in his presence their right to the succession. Phraates, the eldest of them, obtained the crown from his father, and to hasten him out of the world, he attempted to poison him. The poison had no effect; and Phraates, still determined on his father’s death, strangled him with his own hands, about 37 years before the christian era. Orodes had then reigned about 50 years. Justin, bk. 42, ch. 4.—Paterculus, bk. 2, ch. 30.――Another king of Parthia, murdered for his cruelty. Josephus, bk. 18, Jewish Antiquities.――A son of Artabanus king of Armenia. Tacitus, Annals, bk. 6, ch. 33.――One of the friends of Æneas in Italy, killed by Mezentius. Virgil, Æneid, bk. 10, li. 732, &c.

Orœtes, a Persian governor of Sardis, famous for his cruel murder of Polycrates. He died B.C. 521. Herodotus.

Oromĕdon, a lofty mountain in the island of Cos. Theocritus, poem 7.――A giant. Propertius, bk. 3, poem 7, li. 48.

Orontas, a relation of Artaxerxes, sent to Cyprus, where he made peace with Evagoras, &c. Polyænus, bk. 7.

♦Orontes, a satrap of Mysia, B.C. 385, who rebelled from Artaxerxes, &c. Polyænus.――A governor of Armenia. Polyænus.――A king of the Lycians during the Trojan war, who followed Æneas, and perished in a shipwreck. Virgil, Æneid, bk. 1, li. 117; bk. 6, li. 34.――A river of Syria (now Asi), rising in Cœlosyria, and falling, after a rapid and troubled course, into the Mediterranean, below Antioch. According to Strabo, who mentions some fabulous accounts concerning it, the Orontes disappeared under ground for the space of five miles. The word Oronteus is often used as Syrius. Dionysius Periegetes.—Ovid, Metamorphoses, bk. 2, li. 248.—Strabo, bk. 16.—Pausanias, bk. 8, ch. 20.

♦ ‘Orantes’ replaced with ‘Orontes’

Orophernes, a man who seized the kingdom of Cappadocia. He died B.C. 154.

Orōpus, a town of Bœotia, on the borders of Attica, near the Euripus, which received its name from Oropus, a son of Macedon. It was the frequent cause of quarrels between the Bœotians and the Athenians, whence some have called it one of the cities of Attica, and was at last confirmed in the possession of the Athenians by Philip king of Macedon. Amphiaraus had a temple there. Pausanias, bk. 1, ch. 34.—Strabo, bk. 9.――A small town of Eubœa.――Another in Macedonia.

Orosius, a Spanish writer, A.D. 416, who published a universal history, in seven books, from the creation to his own time, in which, though learned, diligent, and pious, he betrayed a great ignorance of the knowledge of historical facts, and of chronology. The best edition is that of Havercamp, 4to, Leiden, 1767.

Orospeda, a mountain of Spain. Strabo, bk. 3.

Orpheus, a son of Œager by the muse Calliope. Some suppose him to be the son of Apollo, to render his birth more illustrious. He received a lyre from Apollo, or, according to some, from Mercury, upon which he played with such a masterly hand, that even the most rapid rivers ceased to flow, the savage beasts of the forest forgot their wildness, and the mountains moved to listen to his song. All nature seemed charmed and animated, and the nymphs were his constant companions. Eurydice was the only one who made a deep impression on the melodious musician, and their nuptials were celebrated. Their happiness, however, was short; Aristaeus became enamoured of Eurydice, and, as she fled from her pursuer, a serpent, that was lurking in the grass, bit her foot, and she died of the poisonous wound. Her loss was severely felt by Orpheus, and he resolved to recover her, or perish in the attempt. With his lyre in his hand, he entered the infernal regions, and gained an easy admission to the palace of Pluto. The king of hell was charmed with the melody of his strains; and, according to the beautiful expressions of the poets, the wheel of Ixion stopped, the stone of Sisyphus stood still, Tantalus forgot his perpetual thirst, and even the Furies relented. Pluto and Proserpine were moved with his sorrow, and consented to restore him Eurydice, provided he forbore looking behind till he had come to the extremest borders of hell. The conditions were gladly accepted, and Orpheus was already in sight of the upper regions of the air, when he forgot his promises, and turned back to look at his long-lost Eurydice. He saw her, but she instantly vanished from his eyes. He attempted to follow her, but he was refused admission; and the only comfort he could find, was to soothe his grief at the sound of his musical instrument, in grottoes, or on the mountains. He totally separated himself from the society of mankind; and the Thracian women, whom he had offended by his coldness to their amorous passion, or, according to others, by his unnatural gratifications and impure indulgencies, attacked him while they celebrated the orgies of Bacchus, and after they had torn his body to pieces, they threw his head into the Hebrus, which still articulated the words “Eurydice! Eurydice” as it was carried down the stream into the Ægean sea. Orpheus was one of the Argonauts, of which celebrated expedition he wrote a poetical account, still extant. This is doubted by Aristotle, who says, according to Cicero, that there never existed an Orpheus, but that the poems which pass under his name are the compositions of a Pythagorean philosopher named Cecrops. According to some of the moderns, the Argonautica, and the other poems attributed to Orpheus, are the production of the pen of Onomacritus, a poet who lived in the age of Pisistratus tyrant of Athens. Pausanias, however, and Diodorus Siculus, speak of Orpheus as a great poet and musician, who rendered himself equally celebrated by his knowledge of the art of war, by the extent of his understanding, and by the laws which he enacted. Some maintain that he was killed by a thunderbolt. He was buried at Pieria in Macedonia, according to Apollodorus. The inhabitants of Dion boasted that his tomb was in their city, and the people of mount Libethrus, in Thrace, claimed the same honour, and further observed, that the nightingales, which built their nests near his tomb, sang with greater melody than all other birds. Orpheus, as some report, after death received divine honours, the muses gave an honourable burial to his remains, and his lyre became one of the constellations in the heavens. The best edition of Orpheus is that of Gesner, 8vo, Lipscomb, 1764. Diodorus, bk. 1, &c.—Pausanias, bk. 1, &c.—Apollodorus, bk. 1, ch. 9, &c.—Cicero, de Natura Deorum, bk. 1, ch. 38.—Apollonius, bk. 1.—Virgil, Æneid, bk. 6, li. 645; Georgics, bk. 4, li. 457, &c.—Hyginus, fable 14, &c.—Ovid, Metamorphoses, bk. 10, fable 1, &c.; bk. 11, fable 1.—Plato, Republic, bk. 10.—Horace, bk. 1, odes 13 & 35.—Orpheus.

Orphĭca, a name by which the orgies of Bacchus were called, because they had been introduced in Europe from Egypt by Orpheus.

Orphne, a nymph of the infernal regions, mother of Ascalaphus by Acheron. Ovid, Metamorphoses, bk. 5, li. 542.

Orsedĭce, a daughter of Cinyras and Metharme. Apollodorus.

Orseis, a nymph who married Hellen. Apollodorus.

Orsillus, a Persian who fled to Alexander, when Bessus murdered Darius. Curtius, bk. 5, ch. 31.

Orsilŏchus, a son of Idomeneus, killed by Ulysses in the Trojan war, &c. Homer, Odyssey, bk. 13, li. 260.――A son of the river Alpheus.――A Trojan killed by Camilla in the Rutulian wars, &c. Virgil, Æneid, bk. 11, lis. 636 & 690.

Orsīnes, one of the officers of Darius at the battle of Arbela. Curtius, bk. 10, ch. 1.

Orsippus, a man of Megara, who was prevented from obtaining a prize at the Olympic games, because his clothes were entangled as he ran. This circumstance was the cause that, for the future, all the combatants were obliged to appear naked. Pausanias, bk. 1, ch. 44.

Marcus Ortalus, a grandson of Hortensius, who was induced to marry by a present from Augustus, who wished that ancient family not to be extinguished. Tacitus, Annals, bk. 2, ch. 37.—Valerius Maximus, bk. 3, ch. 5.—Suetonius, Tiberius.

Orthagŏras, a man who wrote a treatise on India, &c. Ælian, de Natura Animalium.――A musician in the age of Epaminondas.――A tyrant of Sicyon, who mingled severity with justice in his government. The sovereign authority remained upwards of 100 years in his family.

Orthæa, a daughter of Hyacinthus. Apollodorus.

Orthe, a town of Magnesia. Pliny.

Orthia, a surname of Diana at Sparta. In her sacrifices it was usual for boys to be whipped. See: Diamastigosis. Plutarch, Theseus, &c.

Orthosia, a town of Caria. Livy, bk. 45, ch. 25.――Of Phœnicia. Pliny, bk. 5, ch. 20.

Orthrus, or Orthos, a dog which belonged to Geryon, from which and the Chimæra sprung the Sphinx and the Nemæan lion. He had two heads, and was sprung from the union of Echidna and Typhon. He was destroyed by Hercules. Hesiod, Theogony, li. 310.—Apollodorus, bk. 2, ch. 5.

Ortōna. See: Artona.

Ortygia, a grove near Ephesus. Tacitus, Annals, bk. 3, ch. 16.――A small island of Sicily, within the bay of Syracuse, which formed once one of the four quarters of that great city. It was in this island that the celebrated fountain Arethusa arose. Ortygia is now the only part remaining of the once famed Syracuse, about two miles in circumference, and inhabited by 18,000 souls. It has suffered, like the towns on the eastern coast, by the eruptions of Ætna. Virgil, Æneid, bk. 3, li. 694.—Homer, Odyssey, bk. 15, li. 403.――An ancient name of the island of Delos. Some suppose that it received this name from Latona, who fled thither when changed into a quail (ὀρτυξ) by Jupiter, to avoid the pursuit of Juno. Diana was called Ortygia, as being born there; as also Apollo. Ovid, Metamorphoses, bk. 1, li. 651; Fasti, bk. 5, li. 692.—Virgil, Æneid, bk. 3, li. 124.

Ortygius, a Rutulian killed by Æneas. Virgil, Æneid, bk. 9, li. 573.

Orus, or Horus, one of the gods of the Egyptians, son of Osiris and Isis. He assisted his mother in avenging his father, who had been murdered by Typhon. Orus was skilled in medicine, he was acquainted with futurity, and he made the good and the happiness of his subjects the sole object of his government. He was the emblem of the sun among the Egyptians, and he was generally represented as an infant, swathed in variegated clothes. In one hand he held a staff, which terminated in the head of a hawk, in the other a whip with three thongs. Herodotus, bk. 2.—Plutarch, Iside et Osiride.—Diodorus, bk. 1.――The first king of Trœzene. Pausanias, bk. 2, ch. 30.

Oryander, a satrap of Persia, &c. Polyænus, bk. 7.

Oryx, a place of Arcadia on the Ladon. Pausanias, bk. 8, ch. 25.

Osaces, a Parthian general, who received a mortal wound from Cassius. Cicero, Letters to Atticus, bk. 5, ltr. 20.

Osca, a town of Spain, now Huesca, in Arragon. Livy, bk. 34, ch. 10.

Oschophŏria, a festival observed by the Athenians. It receives its name ἀπο του φερειν τας ὀσχας, from carrying boughs hung up with grapes, called ὀσχαι. Its original institution is thus mentioned by Plutarch, Theseus. Theseus, at his return from Crete, forgot to hang out the white sail by which his father was to be apprised of his success. This neglect was fatal to Ægeus, who threw himself into the sea and perished. Theseus no sooner reached the land, than he sent a herald to inform his father of his safe return, and in the mean time he began to make the sacrifices which he vowed when he first set sail from Crete. The herald, on his entrance into the city, found the people in great agitation. Some lamented the king’s death, while others, elated at the sudden news of the victory of Theseus, crowned the herald with garlands in demonstration of their joy. The herald carried back the garlands on his staff to the sea-shore, and after he had waited till Theseus had finished his sacrifice, he related the melancholy story of the king’s death. Upon this, the people ran in crowds to the city, showing their grief by cries and lamentations. From that circumstance, therefore, at the feast of the Oschophoria, not the herald but his staff is crowned with garlands, and all the people that are present always exclaim ἐλελευ, ιου, ιου, the first of which expresses haste, and the other a consternation or depression of spirits. The historian further mentions that Theseus, when he went to Crete, did not take with him the usual number of virgins, but that, instead of two of them, he filled up the number with two youths of his acquaintance, whom he made pass for women, by disguising their dress, and by using them to the ointment and perfumes of women, as well as by a long and successful imitation of their voice. The imposition succeeded; their sex was not discovered in Crete, and when Theseus had triumphed over the Minotaur, he, with these two youths, led a procession with branches in their hands, in the same habit which is still used at the celebration of the Oschophoria. The branches which were carried were in honour of Bacchus or of Ariadne, or because they returned in autumn when the grapes were ripe. Besides this procession, there was also a race exhibited, in which only young men whose parents were both alive were permitted to engage. It was usual for them to run from the temple of Bacchus to that of Minerva, which was on the sea-shore. The place where they stopped was called ὀσχοφοριον, because the boughs which they carried in their hands were deposited there. The reward of the conqueror was a cup called τεντα πλοα, five-fold, because it contained a mixture of five different things—wine, honey, cheese, meal, and oil. Plutarch, Theseus.

Osci, a people between Campania and the country of the Volsci, who assisted Turnus against Æneas. Some suppose that they are the same as the Opici, the word Osci being a diminutive or abbreviation of the other. The language, the plays, and ludicrous expressions of this nation, are often mentioned by the ancients, and from their indecent tendency some suppose the word obscænum (quasi oscenum) is derived. Tacitus, Annals, bk. 4, ch. 14.—Cicero, Letters to his Friends, bk. 7, ltr. 1.—Livy, bk. 10, ch. 20.—Strabo, bk. 5.—Pliny, bk. 3, ch. 5.—Virgil, Æneid, bk. 7, li. 730.

Oscius, a mountain, with a river of the same name, in Thrace. Thucydides.

Oscus, a general of the fleet of the emperor Otho. Tacitus, bk. 1, Histories, bk. 17.

Osi, a people of Germany. Tacitus, Germania, chs. 28 & 43.

Osinius, a king of Clusium, who assisted Æneas against Turnus. Virgil, Æneid, bk. 10, li. 655.

Osīris, a great deity of the Egyptians, son of Jupiter and Niobe. All the ancients greatly differ in their opinions concerning this celebrated god, but they all agree that, as king of Egypt, he took particular care to civilize his subjects, to polish their morals, to give them good and salutary laws, and to teach them agriculture. After he had accomplished a reform at home, Osiris resolved to go and spread cultivation in the other parts of the earth. He left his kingdom to the care of his wife Isis, and of her faithful minister Hermes or Mercury. The command of his troops at home was left to the trust of Hercules, a warlike officer. In this expedition Osiris was accompanied by his brother Apollo, and by Anubis, Macedo, and Pan. His march was through Æthiopia, where his army was increased by the addition of the Satyrs, a hairy race of monsters, who made dancing and playing on musical instruments their chief study. He afterwards passed through Arabia, and visited the greatest part of the kingdoms of Asia and Europe, where he enlightened the minds of men by introducing among them the worship of the gods, and a reverence for the wisdom of a supreme being. At his return home Osiris found the minds of his subjects roused and agitated. His brother Typhon had raised seditions, and endeavoured to make himself popular. Osiris, whose sentiments were always of the most pacific nature, endeavoured to convince his brother of his ill conduct, but he fell a sacrifice to the attempt. Typhon murdered him in a secret apartment and cut his body to pieces, which were divided among the associates of his guilt. Typhon, according to Plutarch, shut up his brother in a coffer and threw him into the Nile. The inquiries of Isis discovered the body of her husband on the coast of Phœnicia, where it had been conveyed by the waves, but Typhon stole it as it was being carried into Memphis, and he divided it amongst his companions, as was before observed. This cruelty incensed Isis; she revenged her husband’s death, and, with her son Orus, she defeated Typhon and the partisans of his conspiracy. She recovered the mangled pieces of her husband’s body, the genitals excepted, which the murderer had thrown into the sea; and to render him all the honour which his humanity deserved, she made as many statues of wax as there were mangled pieces of his body. Each statue contained a piece of the flesh of the dead monarch; and Isis, after she had summoned in her presence, one by one, the priests of all the different deities in her dominions, gave them each a statue, intimating that in doing that she had preferred them to all the other communities of Egypt, and she bound them by a solemn oath that they would keep secret that mark of her favour, and endeavour to show their sense of it by establishing a form of worship and paying divine honours to their prince. They were further directed to choose whatever animals they pleased to represent the person and the divinity of Osiris, and they were enjoined to pay the greatest reverence to that representative of divinity, and to bury it when dead with the greatest solemnity. To render their establishment more popular, each sacerdotal body had a certain portion of land allotted to them to maintain them, and to defray the expenses which necessarily attended their sacrifices and ceremonial rites. That part of the body of Osiris which had not been recovered was treated with more particular attention by Isis, and she ordered that it should receive honours more solemn, and at the same time more mysterious, than the other members. See: Phallica. As Osiris had particularly instructed his subjects in cultivating the ground, the priests chose the ox to represent him, and paid the most superstitious veneration to that animal. See: Apis. Osiris, according to the opinion of some mythologists, is the same as the sun, and the adoration which is paid by different nations to an Anubis, a Bacchus, a Dionysius, a Jupiter, a Pan, &c., is the same as that which Osiris received in the Egyptian temples. Isis also after death received divine honours as well as her husband, and as the ox was the symbol of the sun, or Osiris, so the cow was the emblem of the moon, or of Isis. Nothing can give a clearer idea of the power and greatness of Osiris than this inscription, which has been found on some ancient monuments: Saturn, the youngest of all the gods, was my father: I am Osiris, who conducted a large and numerous army as far as the deserts of India, and travelled over the greatest part of the world, and visited the streams of the Ister, and the remote shores of the ocean, diffusing benevolence to all the inhabitants of the earth. Osiris was generally represented with a cap on his head like a mitre, with two horns; he held a stick in his left hand, and in his right a whip with three thongs. Sometimes he appears with the head of a hawk, as that bird, from its quick and piercing eyes, is a proper emblem of the sun. Plutarch, De Iside et Osiride.—Herodotus, bk. 2, ch. 144.—Diodorus, bk. 1.—Homer, Odyssey, bk. 12, li. 323.—Ælian, de Natura Animalium, bk. 3.—Lucian, de Syria Dea.—Pliny, bk. 8.――A Persian general, who lived 450 B.C.――A friend of Turnus, killed in the Rutulian war. Virgil, Æneid, bk. 12, li. 458.

Osismii, a people of Gaul in Britany. Mela, bk. 3, ch. 2.—Cæsar, Gallic War, bk. 2, ch. 34.

Osphăgus, a river of Macedonia. Livy, bk. 31, ch. 39.

Osrhoēne, a country of Mesopotamia, which received this name from one of its kings called Osrhoes.

Ossa, a lofty mountain of Thessaly, once the residence of the Centaurs. It was formerly joined to mount Olympus, but Hercules, as some report, separated them, and made between them the celebrated valley of Tempe. This separation of the two mountains was more probably effected by an earthquake, which happened, as fabulous accounts represent, about 1885 years before the christian era. Ossa was one of those mountains which the giants, in their wars against the gods, heaped up one on the other to scale the heavens with more facility. Mela, bk. 2, ch. 3.—Ovid, Metamorphoses, bk. 1, li. 155; bk. 2, li. 225; bk. 7, li. 224; Fasti, bk. 1, li. 307; bk. 3, li. 441.—Strabo, bk. 2.—Lucan, bks. 1 & 6.—Virgil, Georgics, bk. 1, li. 281.――A town of Macedonia.

Osteōdes, an island near the Lipari isles.

Ostia, a town built on the mouth of the river Tiber by Ancus Martius king of Rome, about 16 miles distant from Rome. It had a celebrated harbour, and was so pleasantly situated, that the Romans generally spent a part of the year there as in a country seat. There was a small tower in the port like the Pharos of Alexandria, built upon the wreck of a large ship which had been sunk there, and which contained the obelisks of Egypt, with which the Roman emperors intended to adorn the capital of Italy. In the age of Strabo the sand and mud deposited by the Tiber had choked the harbour, and added much to the size of the small islands, which sheltered the ships at the entrance of the river. Ostia, and her harbour called Portus, became gradually separated, and are now at a considerable distance from the sea. Florus, bk. 1, ch. 4; bk. 3, ch. 21.—Livy, bk. 1, ch. 33.—Mela, bk. 2, ch. 4.—Suetonius.—Pliny.

Ostorius Scapŭla, a man made governor of Britain. He died A.D. 55. Tacitus, Annals, bk. 16, ch. 23.――Another, who put himself to death when accused before Nero, &c. Tacitus, Annals, bk. 14, ch. 48.――Sabinus, a man who accused Soranus, in Nero’s reign. Tacitus, Annals, bk. 16, ch. 33.

Ostracine, a town of Egypt on the confines of Palestine. Pliny, bk. 5, ch. 12.

Osymandyas, a magnificent king of Egypt in a remote period.

Otacilius, a Roman consul sent against the Carthaginians, &c.

Otānes, a noble Persian, one of the seven who conspired against the usurper Smerdis. It was through him that the usurpation was first discovered. He was afterwards appointed by Darius over the sea-coast of Asia Minor, and took Byzantium. Herodotus, bk. 3, ch. 70, &c.

Otho Marcus Salvius, a Roman emperor descended from the ancient kings of Etruria. He was one of Nero’s favourites, and as such he was raised to the highest offices of the state, and made governor of Pannonia by the interest of Seneca, who wished to remove him from Rome, lest Nero’s love for Poppæa should prove his ruin. After Nero’s death Otho conciliated the favour of Galba the new emperor; but when he did not gain his point, and when Galba had refused to adopt him as his successor, he resolved to make himself absolute, without any regard to the age and dignity of his friend. The great debts which he had contracted encouraged his avarice, and he caused Galba to be assassinated, and he made himself emperor. He was acknowledged by the senate and the Roman people, but the sudden revolt of Vitellius in Germany rendered his situation precarious, and it was mutually resolved that their respective right to the empire should be decided by arms. Otho obtained three victories over his enemies, but in a general engagement near Brixellum, his forces were defeated, and he stabbed himself when all hopes of success were vanished, after a reign of about three months, on the 20th of April, A.D. 69. It has been justly observed that the last moments of Otho’s life were those of a philosopher. He comforted his soldiers who lamented his fortunes, and he expressed his concern for their safety, when they earnestly solicited to pay him the last friendly offices before he stabbed himself, and he observed that it was better that one man should die, than that all should be involved in ruin for his obstinacy. His nephew was pale and distressed, fearing the anger and haughtiness of the conqueror; but Otho comforted him, and observed that Vitellius would be kind and affectionate to the friends and relations of Otho, since Otho was not ashamed to say, that in the time of their greatest enmity the mother of Vitellius had received every friendly treatment from his hand. He also burnt the letters which, by falling into the hands of Vitellius, might provoke his resentment against those who had favoured the cause of an unfortunate general. These noble and humane sentiments of a man who was the associate of Nero’s shameful pleasures, and who stained his hand in the blood of his master, have appeared to some wonderful, and passed for the features of policy, and not of a naturally virtuous and benevolent heart. Plutarch, Lives.—Suetonius.—Tacitus, Histories, bk. 2, ch. 50, &c.—Juvenal, satire 2, li. 90.――Roscius, a tribune of the people, who, in Cicero’s consulship, made a regulation to permit the Roman knights at public spectacles to have the 14 first rows after the seats of the senators. This was opposed with virulence by some, but Cicero ably defended it, &c. Horace, epode 4, li. 10.――The father of the Roman emperor Otho was the favourite of Claudius.

Othryădes, one of the 300 Spartans who fought against 300 Argives, when those two nations disputed their respective right to Thyrea. Two Argives, Alcinor and Cronius, and Othryades, survived the battle. The Argives went home to carry the news of their victory, but Othryades, who had been reckoned among the number of the slain, on account of his wounds, recovered himself and carried some of the spoils, of which he had stripped the Argives, into the camp of his countrymen; and after he had raised a trophy, and had written with his own blood, the word vici on his shield, he killed himself, unwilling to survive the death of his countrymen. Valerius Maximus, bk. 3, ch. 2.—Plutarch, Parallela Minora.――A patronymic given to Pantheus the Trojan priest of Apollo, from his father Othryas. Virgil, Æneid, bk. 2, li. 319.

Othryoneus, a Thracian who came to the Trojan war in hopes of marrying Cassandra. He was killed by Idomeneus. Homer, Iliad, bk. 13.

Othrys, a mountain, or rather a chain of mountains, in Thessaly, the residence of the Centaurs. Strabo, bk. 9.—Herodotus, bk. 7, ch. 129.—Virgil, Æneid, bk. 7, li. 675.

Otreus, a king of Phrygia, son of Cisseus and brother to Hecuba.

Otrœda, a small town on the confines of Bithynia.

Otus and Ephialtes, sons of Neptune. See: Aloides.

Otys, a prince of Paphlagonia, who revolted from the Persians to Agesilaus. Xenophon.

Ovia, a Roman lady, wife of Cneaus Lollius. Cicero, Letters to Atticus, bk. 12, ltr. 21.

Publius Ovīdius Naso, a celebrated Roman poet, born at Sulmo on the 20th of March, about 43 B.C. As he was intended for the bar, his father sent him early to Rome, and removed him to Athens in the 16th year of his age. The progress of Ovid in the study of eloquence was great, but the father’s expectations were frustrated; his son was born a poet, and nothing could deter him from pursuing his natural inclination, though he was often reminded that Homer lived and died in the greatest poverty. Everything he wrote was expressed in poetical numbers, as he himself says, et quod tentabam scribere versus erat. A lively genius and a fertile imagination soon gained him admirers; the learned became his friends; Virgil, Propertius, Tibullus, and Horace, honoured him with their correspondence, and Augustus patronized him with the most unbounded liberality. These favours, however, were but momentary, and the poet was soon after banished to Tomos, on the Euxine sea, by the emperor. The true cause of this sudden exile is unknown. Some attribute it to a shameful amour with Livia the wife of Augustus, while others support that it arose from the knowledge which Ovid had of the unpardonable incest of the emperor with his daughter Julia. These reasons are, indeed, merely conjectural; the cause was of a very private and very secret nature, of which Ovid himself is afraid to speak, as it arose from error and not from criminality. It was, however, something improper in the family and court of Augustus, as these lines seem to indicate.

Cur aliquid vidi? Cur noxia lumina feci?

Cur imprudenti cognita culpa mihi est?

Inscius Actæon vidit sine veste Dianam;

Præda fuit canibus non minus ille suis.

Again,

Inscia quod crimen viderunt lumina plector,

Peccatumque oculos est habuisse meum.

And in another place,

Perdiderunt cum me duo crimina, carmen et error,

Alterius facti culpa silenda mihi est.

In his banishment, Ovid betrayed his pusillanimity, and however afflicted and distressed his situation was, yet the flattery and impatience which he showed in his writings are a disgrace to his pen, and expose him more to ridicule than pity. Though he prostituted his pen and his time to adulation, yet the emperor proved deaf to all entreaties, and refused to listen to his most ardent friends at Rome who wished for the return of the poet. Ovid, who undoubtedly wished for a Brutus to deliver Rome of her tyrannical Augustus, continued his flattery even to meanness; and, when the emperor died, he was so mercenary as to consecrate a temple to the departed tyrant on the shores of the Euxine, where he regularly offered frankincense every morning. Tiberius proved as regardless as his predecessor to the entreaties which were made for Ovid, and the poet died in the seventh or eighth year of his banishment, in the 59th year of his age, A.D. 17, and was buried at Tomos. In the year 1508 of the christian era, the following epitaph was found at Stain, in the modern kingdom of Austria:

Hic situs est vates quem Divi Cæsaris ira.

Augusti patriâ cedere jussit humo.

Sæpe miser voluit patriis occumbere terris,

Sed frustra! Hunc illi fata dedere locum.

This, however, is an imposition, to render celebrated an obscure corner of the world, which never contained the bones of Ovid. The greatest part of Ovid’s poems are remaining. His Metamorphoses, in 15 books, are extremely curious, on account of the many different mythological facts and traditions which they relate, but they can have no claim to an epic poem. In composing this the poet was more indebted to the then existing traditions, and to the theogony of the ancients, than to the powers of his own imagination. His Fasti were divided into 12 books, the same number as the constellations in the zodiac; but of these, six have perished, and the learned world have reason to lament the loss of a poem which must have thrown so much light upon the religious rites and ceremonies, festivals and sacrifices, of the ancient Romans, as we may judge from the six that have survived the ravages of time and barbarity. His Tristia, which are divided into five books, contain much elegance and softness of expression, as also his Elegies on different subjects. The Heroides are nervous, spirited, and diffuse, the poetry is excellent, the language varied, but the expressions are often too wanton and indelicate, a fault which is common in his compositions. His three books of Amorum, and the same number de Arte Amandi, with the other de Remedio Amoris, are written with great elegance, and contain many flowery descriptions; but the doctrine which they hold forth is dangerous, and they are to be read with caution, as they seem to be calculated to corrupt the heart, and sap the foundations of virtue and morality. His Ibis, which is written in imitation of a poem of Callimachus, of the same name, is a satirical performance. Besides these, there are extant some fragments of other poems, and among these some of a tragedy called Medea. The talents of Ovid as a dramatic writer have been disputed, and some have observed that he, who is so often void of sentiment, was not born to shine as a tragedian. Ovid has attempted perhaps too many sorts of poetry at once. On whatever he has written, he has totally exhausted the subject, and left nothing unsaid. He everywhere paints nature with a masterly hand, and gives strength to the most vulgar expressions. It has been judiciously observed, that his poetry, after his banishment from Rome, was destitute of that spirit and vivacity which we admire in his other compositions. His Fasti are perhaps the best written of all his poems, and after them we may fairly rank his love verses, his Heroides, and, after all, his Metamorphoses, which were not totally finished when Augustus sent him into banishment. His Epistles from Pontus are the language of an abject and pusillanimous flatterer. However critics may censure the indelicacy and the inaccuracies of Ovid, it is to be acknowledged that his poetry contains great sweetness and elegance, and, like that of Tibullus, charms the ear and captivates the mind. Ovid married three wives, but of the last alone he speaks with fondness and affection. He had only one daughter, but by which of his wives is unknown; and she herself became mother of two children, by two husbands. The best editions of Ovid’s works are those of Burman, 4 vols., 4to, Amsterdam, 1727; of Leiden, 1670, in 8vo, and of Utrecht, in 12mo, 4 vols., 1713. Ovid, Tristia, bks. 3 & 4, &c.—Paterculus, bk. 2.—Martial, bks. 3 & 8.――A man who accompanied his friend Cæsonius when banished from Rome by Nero. Martial, bk. 7, ltr. 43.

Ovinia lex was enacted to permit the censors to elect and admit among the number of the senators the best and the worthiest of the people.

Ovinius, a freedman of Vatinius, the friend of Cicero, &c. Quintilian, bk. 3, ch. 4.――Quintus, a Roman senator, punished by Augustus for disgracing his rank in the court of Cleopatra. Eutropius, bk. 1.

Oxathres, a brother of Darius, greatly honoured by Alexander, and made one of his generals. Curtius, bk. 7, ch. 5.――Another Persian, who favoured the cause of Alexander. Curtius.

Oxidătes, a Persian whom Darius condemned to death. Alexander took him prisoner, and some time after made him governor of Media. He became oppressive, and was removed. Curtius, bk. 8, ch. 3; bk. 9, ch. 8.

Oximes, a people of European Sarmatia.

Oxionæ, a nation of Germans, whom superstitious traditions represented as having the countenance human, and the rest of the body like that of beasts. Tacitus, Germania, ch. 46.

Oxus, a large river of Bactriana, now Gihon, falling into the east of the Caspian sea. Pliny, bk. 16, ch. 6.――Another in Scythia.

Oxyares, a king of Bactriana, who surrendered to Alexander.

Oxycānus, an Indian prince in the age of Alexander, &c.

Oxydrăcæ, a nation of India. Curtius, bk. 9, ch. 4.

Oxy̆lus, a leader of the Heraclidæ, when they recovered the Peloponnesus. He was rewarded with the kingdom of Elis. Pausanias, bk. 5, ch. 4.――A son of Mars and Protogenia. Apollodorus, bk. 1, ch. 7.

Oxynthes, a king of Athens, B.C. 1149. He reigned 12 years.

Oxypŏrus, a son of Cinyras and Metharme. Apollodorus, bk. 3, ch. 14.

Oxyrynchus, a town of Egypt on the Nile. Strabo.

Ozīnes, a Persian imprisoned by Craterus, because he attempted to revolt from Alexander. Curtius, bk. 9, ch. 10.

Ozŏlæ, or Ozŏli, a people who inhabited the eastern parts of Ætolia, which were called Ozolea. This tract of territory lay at the north of the bay of Corinth, and extended about 12 miles northward. They received their name from the bad stench (ὀζη) of their bodies and of their clothing, which was the raw hides of wild beasts, or from the offensive smell of the body of Nessus the Centaur, which after death was left to putrefy in the country without the honours of a burial. Some derive it with more propriety from the stench of the stagnated waters in the neighbouring lakes and marshes. According to a fabulous tradition, they received their name from a very different circumstance. During the reign of a son of Deucalion, a bitch brought into the world a stick instead of whelps. The stick was planted in the ground by the king, and it grew up to a large vine and produced grapes, from which the inhabitants of the country were called Ozolæ, not from ὀζειν, to smell bad, but from ὀζος, a branch or sprout. The name of Ozolæ, on account of its indelicate signification, highly displeased the inhabitants, and they exchanged it soon for that of Ætolians. Pausanias, bk. 10, ch. 38.—Herodotus, bk. 8, ch. 32.

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Pacatianus Titus Julius, a general of the Roman armies, who proclaimed himself emperor in Gaul, about the latter part of Philip’s reign. He was soon after defeated, A.D. 249, and put to death, &c.

Paccius, an insignificant poet in the age of Domitian. Juvenal, satire 7, li. 12.

Paches, an Athenian, who took Mitylene, &c. Aristotle, Politics, bk. 4.

Păchīnus, or Pachynus, now Passaro, a promontory of Sicily, projecting about two miles into the sea, in the form of a peninsula, at the south-east corner of the island, with a small harbour of the same name. Strabo, bk. 6.—Mela, bk. 2, ch. 7.—Virgil, Æneid, bk. 3, li. 699.—Pausanias, bk. 5, ch. 25.

Marcus Paconius, a Roman put to death by Tiberius, &c. Suetonius, Tiberias, ch. 61.――A stoic philosopher, son of the preceding. He was banished from Italy by Nero, and he retired from Rome with the greatest composure and indifference. Arrian, bk. 1, ch. 1.

Pacŏrus, the eldest of the 30 sons of Orodes king of Parthia, sent against Crassus, whose army he defeated, and whom he took prisoner. He took Syria from the Romans and supported the republican party of Pompey, and of the murderers of Julius Cæsar. He was killed in a battle by Ventidius Bassus, B.C. 39, on the same day (9th of June) that Crassus had been defeated. Florus, bk. 4, ch. 9.—Horace, bk. 3, ode 6, li. 9.――A king of Parthia, who made a treaty of alliance with the Romans, &c.――Another, intimate with king Decebalus.

Pactōlus, a celebrated river of Lydia, rising in mount Tmolus, and falling into the Hermus after it has watered the city of Sardes. It was in this river that Midas washed himself when he turned into gold whatever he touched, and from that circumstance it ever after rolled golden sands, and received the name of Chrysorrhoas. It is called Tmolus by Pliny. Strabo observes that it had no golden sands in his age. Virgil, Æneid, bk. 10, li. 142.—Strabo, bk. 18.—Ovid, Metamorphoses, bk. 11, li. 86.—Herodotus, bk. 5, ch. 110.—Pliny, bk. 33, ch. 8.

Pactyas, a Lydian entrusted with the care of the treasures of Crœsus at Sardes. The immense riches which he could command, corrupted him, and, to make himself independent, he gathered a large army. He laid siege to the citadel of Sardes, but the arrival of one of the Persian generals soon put him to flight. He retired to Cumæ and afterwards to Lesbos, where he was delivered into the hands of Cyrus. Herodotus, bk. 1, ch. 154, &c.—Pausanias, bk. 2, ch. 35.

Pactye, a town of the Thracian Chersonesus.

Pactyes, a mountain of Ionia, near Ephesus. Strabo, bk. 14.

Pācŭvius Marcus, a native of Brundusium, son of the sister of the poet Ennius, who distinguished himself by his skill in painting, and by his poetical talents. He wrote satires and tragedies which were represented at Rome, and of some of which the names are preserved, as Peribœa, Hermione, Atalanta, Ilione, Teucer, Antiope, &c. Orestes was considered as the best finished performance; the style, however, though rough and without either purity or elegance, deserved the commendation of Cicero and Quintilian, who perceived strong rays of genius and perfection frequently beaming through the clouds of the barbarity and ignorance of the times. The poet in his old age retired to Tarentum, where he died in his 90th year, about 131 years before Christ. Of all his compositions about 437 scattered lines are preserved in the collections of Latin poets. Cicero, On Oratory, bk. 2; Rhetorica ad Herennium, bk. 2, ch. 27.—Horace, bk. 2, ltr. 1, li. 56.—Quintilian, bk. 10, ch. 10.

Padæi, an Indian nation, who devoured their sick before they died. Herodotus, bk. 3, ch. 99.

Padinum, now Bondeno, a town on the Po, where it begins to branch into different channels. Pliny, bk. 3, ch. 15.

Pădua, a town called also Patavium, in the country of the Venetians, founded by Antenor immediately after the Trojan war. It was the native place of the historian Livy. The inhabitants were once so powerful, that they could levy an army of 20,000 men. Strabo, bk. 5.—Mela, bk. 2, ch. 4.—Virgil, Æneid, bk. 1, li. 251.

Padus (now called the Po), a river in Italy, known also by the name of Eridanus, which forms the northern boundary of the territories of Italy. It rises in mount Vesulus, one of the highest mountains of the Alps, and after it has collected in its course the waters of above 30 rivers, discharges itself in an eastern direction into the Adriatic sea by seven mouths, two of which only, the Plana or Volano, and the Padusa, were formed by nature. It was formerly said that it rolled gold dust in its sand, which was carefully searched by the inhabitants. The consuls Caius Flaminius Nepos and Publius Furius Philus were the first Roman generals who crossed it. The Po is famous for the death of Phaeton, who, as the poets mention, was thrown down there by the thunderbolts of Jupiter. Ovid, Metamorphoses, bk. 2, li. 258, &c.—Mela, bk. 2, ch. 4.—Lucan, bk. 2, &c.—Virgil, Æneid, bk. 9, li. 680.—Strabo, bk. 5.—Pliny, bk. 37, ch. 2.

Padūsa, the most southern mouth of the Po, considered by some writers as the Po itself. See: Padus. It was said to abound in swans, and from it there was a cut to the town of Ravenna. Virgil, Æneid, bk. 11, li. 455.

Pæan, a surname of Apollo, derived from the word pæan, a hymn which was sung in his honour, because he had killed the serpent Python, which had given cause to the people to exclaim Io Pæan! The exclamation of Io Pæan! was made use of in speaking to the other gods, as it often was a demonstration of joy. Juvenal, satire 6, li. 171.—Ovid, Metamorphoses, bk. 1, li. 358; bk. 14, li. 720.—Lucan, bk. 1, &c.—Strabo, bk. 18.

Pædaretus, a Spartan who, on not being elected in the number of the 300 sent on an expedition, &c., declared that, instead of being mortified, he rejoiced that 300 men better than himself could be found in Sparta. Plutarch, Lycurgus.

Pædius, a lieutenant of Julius Cæsar in Spain, who proposed a law to punish with death all such as were concerned in the murder of his patron, &c.

Pæmāni, a people of Belgic Gaul, supposed to have dwelt in the country at the west of Luxemburg. Cæsar, Gallic War, bk. 2, ch. 4.

Pæon, a Greek historian. Plutarch, Theseus.――A celebrated physician who cured the wounds which the gods received during the Trojan war. From him, physicians are sometimes called Pæonii, and herbs serviceable in medicinal processes, Pæoniæ herbæ. Virgil, Æneid, bk. 7, li. 769.—Ovid, Metamorphoses, bk. 15, li. 535.

Pæŏnes, a people of Macedonia, who inhabited a small part of the country called Pæonia. Some believe that they were descended from a Trojan colony. Pausanias, bk. 5, ch. 1.—Herodotus, bk. 5, ch. 13, &c.

♦Pæŏnia, a country of Macedonia at the west of the Strymon. It received its name from Pæon, a son of Endymion, who settled there. Livy, bk. 42, ch. 51; bk. 45, ch. 29.――A small town of Attica.

♦ ‘Peŏnia’ replaced with ‘Pæŏnia’

Pæŏnĭdes, a name given to the daughters of Pierus, who were defeated by the Muses, because their mother was a native of Pæonia. Ovid, Metamorphoses, bk. 5, last fable.

Pæos, a small town of Arcadia.

Pæsos, a town of the Hellespont, called also Apæsos, situated at the north of Lampsacus. When it was destroyed, the inhabitants migrated to Lampsacus, where they settled. They were of Milesian origin. Strabo, bk. 13.—Homer Iliad, bk. 2.

Pæstum, a town of Lucania, called also Neptunia and Posidonia by the Greeks, where the soil produced roses which blossomed twice a year. The ancient walls of the town, about three miles in extent, are still standing, and likewise venerable remains of temples and porticoes. The Sinus Pæstanus on which it stood is now called the gulf of Salerno. Virgil, Georgics, bk. 4, li. 119.—Ovid, Metamorphoses, bk. 15, li. 708; ex Ponto, bk. 2, poem 4, li. 28.

Pætovium, a town of Pannonia.

Pætus Cæcinna, the husband of Arria. See: Arria.――A governor of Armenia, under Nero.――A Roman who conspired with Catiline against his country.――A man drowned as he was going to Egypt to collect money. Propertius, bk. 3, poem 7, li. 5.

Pagæ, a town of Megaris,――of Locris. Pliny, bk. 4, ch. 3.

Păgăsæ, or Păgăsa, a town of Magnesia, in Macedonia, with a harbour and a promontory of the same name. The ship Argo was built there, as some suppose, and, according to Propertius, the Argonauts set sail from that harbour. From that circumstance not only the ship Argo, but also the Argonauts themselves, were ever after distinguished by the epithet of Pagasæus. Pliny confounds Pagasæ with Demetrias, but they are different, and the latter was peopled by the inhabitants of the former, who preferred the situation of Demetrias for its conveniences. Ovid, Metamorphoses, bk. 7, li. 1; bk. 8, li. 349.—Lucan, bk. 2, li. 715; bk. 6, li. 400.—Mela, bk. 2, chs. 3 & 7.—Strabo, bk. 9.—Propertius, bk. 1, poem 20, li. 17.—Pliny, bk. 4, ch. 8.—Apollodorus Rhodius, bk. 1, li. 238, &c.

Păgăsus, a Trojan killed by Camilla. Virgil, Æneid, bk. 11, li. 670.

Pagræ, a town of Syria, on the borders of Cilicia. Strabo, bk. 16.

Pagus, a mountain of Æolia. Pausanias, bk. 7, ch. 5.

Palācium, or Palātium, a town of the Thracian Chersonesus.――A small village on the Palatine hill, where Rome was afterwards built.

Palæ, a town at the south of Corsica, now St. Bonifacio.

Palæa, a town of Cyprus,――of Cephallenia.

Palæapŏlis, a small island on the coast of Spain. Strabo.

Palæmon, or Palemon, a sea deity, son of Athamas and Ino. His original name was Melicerta, and he assumed that of Palæmon, after he had been changed into a sea deity by Neptune. See: Melicerta.――A noted grammarian at Rome in the age of Tiberius, who made himself ridiculous by his arrogance and luxury. Juvenal, satire 6, li. 451.—Martial, bk. 2, ltr. 86.――A son of Neptune, who was amongst the Argonauts. Apollodorus.

Palæpăphos, the ancient town of Paphos in Cyprus, adjoining to the new. Strabo, bk. 14.

Palæpharsālus, the ancient town of Pharsalus in Thessaly. Cæsar, Alexandrine War, ch. 48.

Palæphătus, an ancient Greek philosopher, whose age is unknown, though it can be ascertained that he flourished between the times of Aristotle and Augustus. He wrote five books de incredibilibus, of which only the first remains, and in it he endeavours to explain fabulous and mythological traditions by historical facts. The best edition of Palæphatus is that of Johann Friedrich Fischer, in 8vo, Lipscomb, 1773.――An heroic poet of Athens, who wrote a poem on the creation of the world.――A disciple of Aristotle, born at Abydos.――An historian of Egypt.

Palepŏlis, a town of Campania, built by a Greek colony, where Naples afterwards was erected. Livy, bk. 8, ch. 22.

Palæste, a village of Epirus near Oricus, where Cæsar first landed with his fleet. Lucan, bk. 5, li. 460.

Palæstīna, a province of Syria, &c. Herodotus, bk. 1, ch. 105.—Silius Italicus, bk. 3, li. 606.—Strabo, bk. 16.

Palæstīnus, an ancient name of the river Strymon.

Palætyrus, the ancient town of Tyre on the continent. Strabo, bk. 16.

Pălămēdes, a Grecian chief, son of Nauplius king of Eubœa by Clymene. He was sent by the Greek princes, who were going to the Trojan war, to bring Ulysses to the camp, who, to withdraw himself from the expedition, pretended insanity, and, the better to impose upon his friends, used to harness different animals to a plough, and to sow salt instead of barley into the furrows. The deceit was soon perceived by Palamedes; he knew that the regret to part from his wife Penelope, whom he had lately married, was the only reason of the pretended insanity of Ulysses; and to demonstrate this, Palamedes took Telemachus, whom Penelope had lately brought into the world, and put him before the plough of his father. Ulysses showed that he was not insane, by turning the plough a different way not to hurt his child. This having been discovered, Ulysses was obliged to attend the Greek princes to the war, but an immortal enmity arose between Ulysses and Palamedes. The king of Ithaca resolved to take every opportunity to distress him: and when all his expectations were frustrated, he had the meanness to bribe one of his servants, and to make him dig a hole in his master’s tent, and there conceal a large sum of money. After this Ulysses forged a letter in Phrygian characters, which king Priam was supposed to have sent to Palamedes. In the letter the Trojan king seemed to entreat Palamedes to deliver into his hands the Grecian army, according to the conditions which had been previously agreed upon, when he received the money. This forged letter was carried, by means of Ulysses, before the princes of the Grecian army. Palamedes was summoned, and he made the most solemn protestations of innocence. But all was in vain; the money that was discovered in his tent served only to corroborate the accusation, and he was found guilty by all the army, and stoned to death. Homer is silent about the miserable fate of Palamedes, and Pausanias mentions that it had been reported by some, that Ulysses and Diomedes had drowned him in the sea as he was fishing on the coast. Philostratus, who mentions the tragical story above related, adds that Achilles and Ajax buried his body with great pomp on the sea-shore, and that they raised upon it a small chapel, where sacrifices were regularly offered by the inhabitants of Troas. Palamedes was a learned man as well as a soldier, and, according to some, he completed the alphabet of Cadmus by the addition of the four letters θ, ξ, χ, φ, during the Trojan war. To him, also, is attributed the invention of dice and backgammon; and it is said he was the first who regularly ranged an army in a line of battle, and who placed sentinels round a camp, and excited their vigilance and attention by giving them a watchword. Hyginus, fables 95, 105, &c.—Apollodorus, bk. 2, &c.—Dictys Cretensis, bk. 2, ch. 15.—Ovid, Metamorphoses, bk. 13, lis. 56 & 308.—Pausanias, bk. 1, ch. 31.—Marcus Manilius, bk. 4, li. 205.—Philostratus, bk. 10, ch. 6.—Euripides, Phœnician Women.—Martial, bk. 13, ltr. 75.—Pliny, bk. 7, ch. 56.

Palantia, a town of Spain. Mela, bk. 2, ch. 6.

Pălātīnus mons, a celebrated hill, the largest of the seven hills on which Rome was built. It was upon it that Romulus laid the first foundation of the capital of Italy, in a quadrangular form, and there also he kept his court, as well as Tullus Hostilius and Augustus, and all the succeeding emperors, from which circumstance the word Palatium has ever since been applied to the residence of a monarch or prince. The Palatine hill received its name from the goddess Pales, or from the Palatini, who originally inhabited the place, or from balare or palare, the bleatings of sheep, which were frequent there, or perhaps from the word palantes, wandering, because Evander, when he came to settle in Italy, gathered all the inhabitants, and made them all one society. There were some games celebrated in honour of Augustus, and called Palatine, because kept on the hill. Dio Cassius, bk. 53.—Silius Italicus, bk. 12, li. 709.—Livy, bk. 1, chs. 7 & 33.—Ovid, Metamorphoses, bk. 14, li. 822.—Juvenal, satire 9, li. 23.—Martial, bk. 1, ltr. 71.—Varro, de Lingua Latina, bk. 4, ch. 3.—Cicero, Against Catiline, bk. 1.――Apollo, who was worshipped on the Palatine hill, was also called Palatinus. His temple there had been built, or rather repaired, by Augustus, who had enriched it with a library, valuable for the various collections of Greek and Latin manuscripts which it contained, as also for the Sibylline books deposited there. Horace, bk. 1, ltr. 3, li. 17.

Palantium, a town of Arcadia.

Palēis, or Palæ, a town in the island of Cephallenia. Pausanias, bk. 6, ch. 15.

Pales, the goddess of sheepfolds and of pastures among the Romans. She was worshipped with great solemnity at Rome, and her festivals, called Palilia, were celebrated the very day that Romulus began to lay the foundation of the city of Rome. Virgil, Georgics, bk. 3, lis. 1 & 294.—Ovid, Fasti, bk. 4, li. 722, &c.—Paterculus, bk. 1, ch. 8.

Palfurius Sura, a writer, removed from the senate by Domitian, who suspected him of attachment to Vitellius, &c. Juvenal, satire 4, li. 53.

Palibothra, a city of India, supposed now to be Patna, or, according to others, Allahabad. Strabo, bk. 15.

Palīci, or Palisci, two deities, sons of Jupiter by Thalia, whom Æschylus calls Ætna, in a tragedy which is now lost, according to the words of Macrobius. The nymph Ætna, when pregnant, entreated her lover to remove her from the pursuit of Juno. The god concealed her in the bowels of the earth, and when the time of her delivery was come, the earth opened, and brought into the world two children, who received the name of Palici, ἀπο του παλιν ἰκεσθαι, because they came again into the world from the bowels of the earth. These deities were worshipped with great ceremonies by the Sicilians, and near their temple were two small lakes of sulphureous water, which were supposed to have sprung out of the earth at the same time that they were born. Near these pools it was usual to take the most solemn oaths, by those who wished to decide controversies and quarrels. If any of the persons who took the oaths perjured themselves, they were immediately punished in a supernatural manner; and those whose oath, by the deities of the place, was sincere, departed unhurt. The Palici had also an oracle, which was consulted upon great emergencies, and which rendered the truest and most unequivocal answers. In a superstitious age, the altars of the Palici were stained with the blood of human sacrifices, but this barbarous custom was soon abolished, and the deities were satisfied with their usual offerings. Virgil, Æneid, bk. 9, li. 585.—Ovid, Metamorphoses, bk. 5, li. 506.—Diodorus, bk. 2.—Macrobius, Saturnalia, bk. 5, ch. 10.—Silius Italicus, bk. 14, li. 219.

Palīlia, a festival celebrated by the Romans, in honour of the goddess Pales. The ceremony consisted in burning heaps of straw, and leaping over them. No sacrifices were offered, but the purifications were made with the smoke of horses’ blood, and with the ashes of a calf that had been taken from the belly of his mother, after it had been sacrificed, and with the ashes of beans. The purification of the flocks was also made with the smoke of sulphur, of the olive, the pine, the laurel, and the rosemary. Offerings of mild cheese, boiled wine, and cakes of millet, were afterwards made to the goddess. This festival was observed on the 21st of April, and it was during the celebration that Romulus first began to build his city. Some call this festival Parilia quasi a pariendo, because the sacrifices were offered to the divinity for the fecundity of the flocks. Ovid, Metamorphoses, bk. 14, li. 774; Fasti, bk. 4, li. 721, &c.; bk. 6, li. 257.—Propertius, bk. 4, poem 1, li. 19.—Tibullus, bk. 2, poem 5, li. 87.

Pălĭnūrus, a skilful pilot of the ship of Æneas. He fell into the sea in his sleep, and was three days exposed to the tempests and the waves of the sea, and at last came safe to the sea-shore near Velia, where the cruel inhabitants of the place murdered him to obtain his clothes. His body was left unburied on the sea-shore, and as, according to the religion of the ancient Romans, no person was suffered to cross the Stygian lake before 100 years were elapsed, if his remains had not been decently buried, we find Æneas, when he visited the infernal regions, speaking to Palinurus, and assuring him, that though his bones were deprived of a funeral, yet the place were his body was exposed should soon be adorned with a monument and bear his name, and accordingly a promontory was called Palinurus, now Palinuro. Virgil, Æneid, bk. 3, li. 513; bk. 5, li. 840, &c.; bk. 6, li. 341.—Ovid, de Remedia Amoris, li. 577.—Mela, bk. 2, ch. 4.—Strabo.—Horace, bk. 3, ode 4, li. 28.

Paliscōrum, or Palīcōrum stagnum, a sulphureous pool in Sicily. See: Palici.

Paliurus, now Nahil, a river of Africa, with a town of the same name at its mouth, at the west of Egypt, on the Mediterranean. Strabo, bk. 17.

Pallădes, certain virgins of illustrious parents, who were consecrated to Jupiter by the Thebans of Egypt. It was required that they should prostitute themselves, an infamous custom which was considered as a purification, during which they were publicly mourned, and afterwards they were permitted to marry. Strabo, bk. 17.

Pallădium, a celebrated statue of Pallas. It was about three cubits high, and represented the goddess as sitting and holding a pike in her right hand, and in her left a distaff and a spindle. It fell down from heaven near the tent of Ilus, as that prince was building the citadel of Ilium. Some, nevertheless, suppose that it fell at Pessinus in Phrygia, or, according to others, Dardanus received it as a present from his mother Electra. There are some authors who maintain that the Palladium was made with the bones of Pelops by Abaris; but Apollodorus seems to say that it was no more than a piece of clock-work, which moved of itself. However discordant the opinions of ancient authors be about this famous statue, it is universally agreed that on its preservation depended the safety of Troy. This fatality was well known to the Greeks during the Trojan war, and therefore Ulysses and Diomedes were commissioned to steal it away. They effected their purpose; and if we rely upon the authority of some authors, they were directed how to carry it away by Helenus the son of Priam, who proved in this unfaithful to his country, because his brother Deiphobus, at the death of Paris, had married Helen, of whom he was enamoured. Minerva was displeased with the violence which was offered to her statue, and, according to Virgil, the Palladium itself appeared to have received life and motion, and by the flashes which started from its eyes, and its sudden springs from the earth, it seemed to show the resentment of the goddess. The true Palladium, as some authors observe, was not carried away from Troy by the Greeks, but only one of the statues of similar size and shape, which were placed near it, to deceive whatever sacrilegious persons attempted to steal it. The Palladium, therefore, as they say, was conveyed safe from Troy to Italy by Æneas, and it was afterwards preserved by the Romans with the greatest secrecy and veneration, in the temple of Vesta, a circumstance which none but the vestal virgins knew. Herodian, bk. 1, ch. 14, &c.—Ovid, Fasti, bk. 6, li. 442, &c.; Metamorphoses, bk. 13, li. 336.—Dictys Cretensis, bk. 1, ch. 5.—Apollodorus, bk. 3, ch. 12.—Dionysius of Halicarnassus, bk. 1, &c.—Homer, Iliad, bk. 10.—Virgil, Æneid, bk. 2, li. 166; bk. 9, li. 151.—Plutarch, Parallela minora.—Lucan, bk. 9.—Dares Phrygius.—Juvenal, satire 3, li. 139.

Palladius, a Greek physician, whose treatise on fevers was edited 8vo, Leiden, 1745.――A learned Roman under Adrian, &c.

Pallantēum, a town of Italy, or perhaps more properly a citadel built by Evander, on mount Palatine, from whence its name originates. Virgil says it was called after Pallas the grandfather of Evander; but Dionysius derives its name from Palantium, a town of Arcadia. Dionysius of Halicarnassus, bk. 1, ch. 31.—Virgil, Æneid, bk. 8, lis. 54 & 341.

Pallantia, a town of Spain, now Palencia, on the river Cea. Mela, bk. 2, ch. 6.

Pallantias, a patronymic of Aurora, as being related to the giant Pallas. Ovid, Metamorphoses, bk. 9, fable 12.

Pallantides, the 50 sons of Pallas the son of Pandion and the brother of Ægeus. They were all killed by Theseus the son of Ægeus, whom they opposed when he came to take possession of his father’s kingdom. This opposition they showed in hopes of succeeding to the throne, as Ægeus left no children except Theseus, whose legitimacy was even disputed, as he was born at Trœzene. Plutarch, Theseus.—Pausanias, bk. 1, ch. 22.

Pallas (ădis), a daughter of Jupiter, the same as Minerva. The goddess received this name either because she killed the giant Pallas, or perhaps from the spear which she seems to brandish in her hands (παλλειν). For the functions, power, and character of the goddess, See: Minerva.

Pallas (antis), a son of king Evander, sent with some troops to assist Æneas. He was killed by Turnus the king of the Rutuli, after he had made a great slaughter of the enemy. Virgil, Æneid, bk. 8, li. 104, &c.――One of the giants, son of Tartarus and Terra. He was killed by Minerva, who covered herself with his skin, whence, as some suppose, she is called Pallas. Apollodorus, bk. 3, ch. 12.――A son of Crius and Eurybia, who married the nymph Styx, by whom he had Victory, Valour, &c. Hesiod, Theogony.――A son of Lycaon.――A son of Pandion, father of Clytus and Butes. Ovid, Metamorphoses, bk. 7, fable 17.—Apollodorus.――A freedman of Claudius, famous for the power and the riches he obtained. He advised the emperor, his master, to marry Agrippina, and to adopt her son Nero for his successor. It was by his means, and those of Agrippina, that the death of Claudius was hastened, and that Nero was raised to the throne. Nero forgot to whom he was indebted for the crown. He discarded Pallas, and some time after caused him to be put to death, that he might make himself master of his great riches, A.D. 61. Tacitus, Annals, bk. 12, ch. 53.

Pallēne, a small peninsula of Macedonia, formerly called Phlegra, situate above the bay of Thermæ on the Ægean sea, and containing five cities, the principal of which is called Pallene. It was in this place, according to some of the ancients, that an engagement happened between the gods and the giants. Livy, bk. 31, ch. 45; bk. 45, ch. 30.—Virgil, Georgics, bk. 4, li. 391.—Ovid, Metamorphoses, bk. 15, li. 357.――A village of Attica, where Minerva had a temple, and where the Pallantides chiefly resided. Herodotus, bk. 1, chs. 1, 161.—Plutarch, Theseus.

Pallenses, a people of Cephallenia, whose chief town was called Pala or Palæa. Livy, bk. 38, ch. 18.—Polybius, bk. 3, ch. 3.

Palma, a governor of Syria.

Palmaria, a small island opposite Tarracina in Latium. Pliny, bk. 3, ch. 6.

Palmȳra, the capital of Palmyrene, a country on the eastern boundaries of Syria, now called Theudemor, or Tadmor. It is famous for being the seat of the celebrated Zenobia and Odenatus, in the reign of the emperor Aurelian. It is now in ruins, and the splendour and magnificence of its porticoes, temples, and palaces, are now frequently examined by the curious and the learned. Pliny, bk. 6, chs. 26 & 30.

Palphurius, one of the flatterers of Domitian. Juvenal, satire 4, li. 53.

Palumbinum, a town of Samnium. Livy, bk. 10, ch. 45.

Pamīsos, a river of Thessaly, falling into the Peneus. Herodotus, bk. 7, ch. 129.—Pliny, bk. 4, ch. 8.――Another of Messenia in Peloponnesus.

Pammēnes, an Athenian general, sent to assist Megalopolis against the Mantineans, &c.――An astrologer.――A learned Grecian, who was preceptor to Brutus. Cicero, Brutus, ch. 97, Orator, ch. 9.

Pammon, a son of Priam and Hecuba. Apollodorus.

Pampa, a village near Tentyra in Thrace. Juvenal, satire 15, li. 76.

Pamphĭlus, a celebrated painter of Macedonia in the age of Philip, distinguished above his rivals by a superior knowledge of literature, and the cultivation of those studies which taught him to infuse more successfully grace and dignity into his pieces. He was founder of the school for painting at Sicyon, and he made a law which was observed not only in Sicyon, but all over Greece, that none but the children of noble and dignified persons should be permitted to learn painting. Apelles was one of his pupils. Diogenes Laërtius.――A son of Neoclides, among the pupils of Plato. Diogenes Laërtius.

Pamphos, a Greek poet, supposed to have lived before Hesiod’s age.

Pamphy̆la, a Greek woman who wrote a general history in 33 books, in Nero’s reign. This history, so much commended by the ancients, is lost.

Pamphy̆lia, a province of Asia Minor, anciently called Mopsopia, and bounded on the south by a part of the Mediterranean, called the Pamphylian sea, west by Lycia, north by Pisidia, and east by Cilicia. It abounded with pastures, vines, and olives, and was peopled by a Grecian colony. Strabo, bk. 14.—Mela, bk. 1.—Pausanias, bk. 7, ch. 3.—Pliny, bk. 5, ch. 26.—Livy, bk. 37, chs. 23 & 40.

Pan was the god of shepherds, of huntsmen, and of all the inhabitants of the country. He was the son of Mercury by Dryope, according to Homer. Some give him Jupiter and Callisto for parents, others Jupiter and Ybis or Oneis. Lucian, Hyginus, &c., support that he was the son of Mercury and Penelope the daughter of Icarius, and that the god gained the affections of the princess under the form of a goat, as she tended her father’s flocks on mount Taygetus, before her marriage with the king of Ithaca. Some authors maintain that Penelope became mother of Pan during the absence of Ulysses in the Trojan war, and that he was the offspring of all the suitors that frequented the palace of Penelope, whence he received the name of Pan, which signifies all or everything. Pan was a monster in appearance; he had two small horns on his head, his complexion was ruddy, his nose flat, and his legs, thighs, tail, and feet were those of a goat. The education of Pan was entrusted to a nymph of Arcadia, called Sinoe, but the nurse, according to Homer, terrified at the sight of such a monster, fled away and left him. He was wrapped up in the skin of beasts by his father, and carried to heaven, where Jupiter and the gods long entertained themselves with the oddity of his appearance. Bacchus was greatly pleased with him, and gave him the name of Pan. The god of shepherds chiefly resided in Arcadia, where the woods and the most rugged mountains were his habitation. He invented the flute with seven reeds, which he called Syrinx, in honour of a beautiful nymph of the same name, to whom he attempted to offer violence, and who was changed into a reed. He was continually employed in deceiving the neighbouring nymphs, and often with success. Though deformed in his shape and features, yet he had the good fortune to captivate Diana, and of gaining her favour, by transforming himself into a beautiful white goat. He was also enamoured of a nymph of the mountains called Echo, by whom he had a son called Lynx. He also paid his addresses to Omphale queen of Lydia, and it is well known in what manner he was received. See: Omphale. The worship of Pan was well established, particularly in Arcadia, where he gave oracles on mount Lycæus. His festivals, called by the Greeks Lycæa, were brought to Italy by Evander, and they were well known at Rome by the name of the Lupercalia. See: Lupercalia. The worship, and the different functions of Pan, are derived from the mythology of the ancient Egyptians. This god was one of the eight great gods of the Egyptians, who ranked before the other 12 gods, whom the Romans called Consentes. He was worshipped with the greatest solemnity over all Egypt. His statues represented him as a goat, not because he was really such, but this was done for mysterious reasons. He was the emblem of fecundity, and they looked upon him as the principle of all things. His horns, as some observe, represented the rays of the sun, and the brightness of the heavens was expressed by the vivacity and the ruddiness of his complexion. The star which he wore on his breast was the symbol of the firmament, and his hairy legs and feet denoted the inferior parts of the earth, such as the woods and plants. Some suppose that he appeared as a goat because, when the gods fled into Egypt, in their war against the giants, Pan transformed himself into a goat, an example which was immediately followed by all the deities. Pan, according to some, is the same as Faunus, and he is the chief of all the Satyrs. Plutarch mentions that, in the reign of Tiberius, an extraordinary voice was heard near the Echinades, in the Ionian sea, which exclaimed that the great Pan was dead. This was readily believed by the emperor, and the astrologers were consulted; but they were unable to explain the meaning of so supernatural a voice, which probably proceeded from the imposition of one of the courtiers who attempted to terrify Tiberius. In Egypt, in the town of Mendes, which word also signifies a goat, there was a sacred goat kept with the most ceremonious sanctity. The death of this animal was always attended with the greatest solemnities, and, like that of another Apis, became the cause of a universal mourning. As Pan usually terrified the inhabitants of the neighbouring country, that kind of fear which often seizes men, and which is only ideal and imaginary, has received from him the name of panic fear. This kind of terror has been exemplified not only in individuals, but in numerous armies, such as that of Brennus, which was thrown into the greatest consternation at Rome, without any cause or plausible reason. Ovid, Fasti, bk. 1, li. 396; bk. 2, li. 277; Metamorphoses, bk. 1, li. 689.—Virgil, Georgics, bk. 1, li. 17; Æneid, bk. 8, li. 343; Georgics, ch. 3, li. 392.—Juvenal, satire 2, li. 142.—Pausanias, bk. 8, ch. 30.—Silius Italicus, bk. 13, li. 327.—Varro, de Lingua Latina, bk. 5, ch. 3.—Livy, bk. 1, ch. 5.—Dionysius of Halicarnassus, bk. 1.—Herodotus, bk. 2, chs. 46 & 145, &c.—Diodorus, bk. 1.—Orpheus, Hymns, poem 10.—Homer, Hymn to Pan.—Lucian, Dialogi Deorum, Dialogue of Pan and Hermes (Mercury).—Apollodorus, bk. 1, ch. 4.

Pănăcēa, a goddess, daughter of Æsculapius, who presided over health. Lucan, bk. 9, li. 918.—Pliny, bk. 35, ch. 11, &c.

Panætius, a stoic philosopher of Rhodes, 138 B.C. He studied at Athens for some time, of which he refused to become a citizen, observing, that a good and modest man ought to be satisfied with one country. He came to Rome, where he reckoned among his pupils Lælius and Scipio the second Africanus. To the latter he was attached by the closest ties of friendship and partiality; he attended him in his expeditions, and partook of all his pleasures and amusements. To the interest of their countryman at Rome, the Rhodians were greatly indebted for their prosperity and the immunities which they for some time enjoyed. Panætius wrote a treatise on the duties of man, whose merit can be ascertained from the encomiums which Cicero bestows upon it. Cicero, de Officiis; de Divinatione, bk. 1; Academica, bk. 2, ch. 2; De Natura Deorum, bk. 2, ch. 46.――A tyrant of Leontini in Sicily, B.C. 613. Polyænus, bk. 5.

Panætolium, a general assembly of the Ætolians. Livy, bk. 31, ch. 29; bk. 35, ch. 32.

Panares, a general of Crete, defeated by Metellus, &c.

Panariste, one of the waiting-women of Berenice the wife of king Antiochus. Polyænus, bk. 8.

Panathenæa, festivals in honour of Minerva the patroness of Athens. They were first instituted by Erechtheus or Orpheus, and called Athenæa, but Theseus afterwards renewed them, and caused them to be celebrated and observed by all the tribes of Athens, which he had united into one, and from this reason the festivals received their name. Some suppose that they are the same as the Roman Quinquatria, as they are often called by that name among the Latins. In the first years of the institution, they were observed only during one day, but afterwards the time was prolonged, and the celebration was attended with greater pomp and solemnity. The festivals were two; the great Panathenæa (μεγαλα), which were observed every fifth year, beginning on the 22nd of the month called Hecatombæon, or the 7th of July; and the lesser Panathenæa (μικρα), which were kept every third year, or rather annually, beginning on the 20th or 21st of the month called Thargelion, corresponding to the 5th or 6th day of the month of May. In the lesser festivals there were three games conducted by 10 presidents chosen from the 10 tribes of Athens, who continued four years in office. On the evening of the first day there was a race with torches, in which men on foot, and afterwards on horseback, contended. The same was also exhibited in the greater festivals. The second combat was gymnical, and exhibited a trial of strength and bodily dexterity. The last was a musical contention, first instituted by Pericles. In the songs they celebrated the generous undertaking of Harmodius and Aristogiton, who opposed the Pisistratidæ, and of Thrasybulus, who delivered Athens from its 30 tyrants. Phrynis of Mitylene was the first who obtained the victory by playing upon the harp. There were, besides, other musical instruments, on which they played in concert, such as flutes, &c. The poets contended in four plays, called from their number τετραλογια. The last of these was a satire. There was also at Sunium an imitation of a naval fight. Whoever obtained the victory in any of these games was rewarded with a vessel of oil, which he was permitted to dispose of in whatever manner he pleased, and it was unlawful for any other person to transport that commodity. The conqueror also received a crown of the olives which grew in the groves of Academus, and were sacred to Minerva, and called μορειαι, from μορος, death, in remembrance of the tragical end of Hallirhotius the son of Neptune, who cut his own legs when he attempted to cut down the olive which had given the victory to Minerva in preference to his father, when these two deities contended about giving a name to Athens. Some suppose that the word is derived from μερος, a part, because these olives were given by contribution by all such as attended at the festivals. There was also a dance called Pyrrhichia, performed by young boys in armour, in imitation of Minerva, who thus expressed her triumph over the vanquished Titans. Gladiators were also introduced when Athens became tributary to the Romans. During the celebration no person was permitted to appear in dyed garments, and if any one transgressed he was punished according to the discretion of the president of the games. After these things, a sumptuous sacrifice was offered, in which every one of the Athenian boroughs contributed an ox, and the whole was concluded by an entertainment for all the company with the flesh that remained from the sacrifice. In the greater festivals, the same rites and ceremonies were usually observed, but with more solemnity and magnificence. Others were also added, particularly the procession, in which Minerva’s sacred πεπλος, or garment, was carried. This garment was woven by a select number of virgins, called ἐργαστικαι, from ἐργον, work. They were superintended by two of the ἀρρηφοροι, or young virgins, not above 17 years of age nor under 11, whose garments were white and set off with ornaments of gold. Minerva’s peplus was of a white colour, without sleeves, and embroidered with gold. Upon it were described the achievements of the goddess, particularly her victories over the giants. The exploits of Jupiter and the other gods were also represented there, and from that circumstance men of courage and bravery are said to be ἀξιοι πεπλου, worthy to be portrayed on Minerva’s sacred garment. In the procession of the peplus, the following ceremonies were observed. In the ceramicus, without the city, there was an engine built in the form of a ship, upon which Minerva’s garment was hung as a sail, and the whole was conducted, not by beasts, as some have supposed, but by subterraneous machines, to the temple of Ceres Eleusinia, and from thence to the citadel, where the peplus was placed upon Minerva’s statue, which was laid upon a bed woven or strewed with flowers, which was called πλακις. Persons of all ages, of every sex and quality, attended the procession, which was led by old men and women carrying olive branches in their hands, from which reason they were called θαλλοφοροι, bearers of green boughs. Next followed men of full age with shields and spears. They were attended by the μετοικοι, or foreigners, who carried small boats as a token of their foreign origin, and from that account they were called σκαφηφοροι, boat-bearers. After them came the women, attended by the wives of the foreigners, called ὑδριαφοροι, because they carried water-pots. Next to these came young men crowned with millet and singing hymns to the goddess, and after them followed select virgins of the noblest families, called κανηφοροι, basket-bearers, because they carried baskets, in which were certain things necessary for the celebration, with whatever utensils were also requisite. These several necessaries were generally in the possession of the chief manager of the festival called ἀρχιθεωρος, who distributed them when occasion offered. The virgins were attended by the daughters of the foreigners, who carried umbrellas and little seats, from which they were named διφρηφοροι, seat-carriers. The boys, called παιδαμικοι, as it may be supposed, led the rear, clothed in coats generally worn at processions. The necessaries for this and every other festival were prepared in a public hall erected for that purpose, between the Piræan gate and the temple of Ceres. The management and the care of the whole was entrusted to the ὑομοφυλακες, or people employed in seeing the rites and ceremonies properly observed. It was also usual to set all prisoners at liberty, and to present golden crowns to such as had deserved well of their country. Some persons were also chosen to sing some of Homer’s poems, a custom which was first introduced by Hipparchus the son of Pisistratus. It was also customary in this festival, and every other quinquennial festival, to pray for the prosperity of the Platæans, whose services had been so conspicuous at the battle of Marathon. Plutarch, Theseus.—Pausanias, Arcadia, ch. 2.—Ælian, Varia Historia, bk. 8, ch. 2.—Apollodorus, bk. 3, ch. 14.

Panchæa, Panchēa, or Panchaia, an island of Arabia Felix, where Jupiter Triphylius had a magnificent temple.――A part of Arabia Felix, celebrated for the myrrh, frankincense, and perfumes which it produced. Virgil, Georgics, bk. 2, li. 139; bk. 4, li. 379; The Gnat, li. 87.—Ovid, Metamorphoses, bk. 1, li. 309, &c.—Diodorus, bk. 5.—Lucretius, bk. 2, li. 417.

Panda, two deities at Rome, who presided, one over the openings of roads, and the other over the openings of towns. Varro, de Re Rustica, bk. 1.—Aulus Gellius, bk. 13, ch. 22.

Pandama, a girl of India favoured by Hercules, &c. Polyænus, bk. 1.

Pandaria, or Pandataria, a small island of the Tyrrhene sea.

Pandărus, a son of Lycaon, who assisted the Trojans in their war against the Greeks. He went to the war without a chariot, and therefore he generally fought on foot. He broke the truce which had been agreed upon between the Greeks and Trojans, and wounded Menelaus and Diomedes, and showed himself brave and unusually courageous. He was at last killed by Diomedes; and Æneas, who then carried him in his chariot, by attempting to revenge his death, nearly perished by the hands of the furious enemy. Dictys Cretensis, bk. 2, ch. 35.—Homer, Iliad, bks. 2 & 5.—Hyginus, fable 112.—Virgil, Æneid, bk. 5, li. 495.—Strabo, bk. 14.—Servius, Aeneid, bk. 5, li. 495 ff.――A son of Alcanor, killed with his brother Bitias by Turnus. Virgil, Æneid, bk. 9, li. 735.――A native of Crete, punished with death for being accessary to the theft of Tantalus. What this theft was is unknown. Some, however, suppose that Tantalus stole the ambrosia and the nectar from the tables of the gods to which he had been admitted, or that he carried away a dog which watched Jupiter’s temple in Crete, in which crime Pandarus was concerned, and for which he suffered. Pandarus had two daughters, Camiro and Clytia, who were also deprived of their mother by a sudden death, and left without friends or protectors. Venus had compassion upon them, and she fed them with milk, honey, and wine. The goddesses were all equally interested in their welfare. Juno gave them wisdom and beauty, Diana a handsome figure and regular features, and Minerva instructed them in whatever domestic accomplishment can recommend a wife. Venus wished to make their happiness still more complete; and when they were come to nubile years, the goddess prayed Jupiter to grant them kind and tender husbands. But in her absence the Harpies carried away the virgins and delivered them to the Eumenides, to share the punishment which their father suffered. Pausanias, bk. 10, ch. 30.—Pindar.

Pandărus, or Pandareus, a man who had a daughter called Philomela. She was changed into a nightingale, after she had killed, by mistake, her son Itylus, whose death she mourned in the greatest melancholy. Some suppose him to be the same as Pandion king of Athens.

Pandataria, an island on the coast of Lucania, now called Santa Maria.

Pandates, a friend of Datames at the court of Artaxerxes. Cornelius Nepos, Datames.

Pandemia, a surname of Venus, expressive of her great power over the affections of mankind.

Pandēmus, one of the surnames of the god of love among the Egyptians and the Greeks, who distinguished two Cupids, one of whom was the vulgar, called Pandemus, and another of a purer and more celestial origin. Plutarch, Amatorius.

Pandia, a festival at Athens established by Pandion, from whom it received its name, or because it was observed in honour of Jupiter, who can τα παντα διγευειν, move and turn all things as he pleases. Some suppose that it concerned the moon, because it does παντοτε ἰεναι, moves incessantly, by showing itself day and night, rather than the sun, which never appears but in the day-time. It was celebrated after the Dionysia, because Bacchus is sometimes taken for the Sun or Apollo, and therefore the brother, or, as some will have it, the son, of the moon.

Pandīon, a king of Athens, son of Erichthon and Pasithea, who succeeded his father, B.C. 1437. He became father of Procne and Philomela, Erechtheus and Butes. During his reign, there was such an abundance of corn, wine, and oil, that it was publicly reported that Bacchus and Minerva had personally visited Attica. He waged a successful war against Labdacus king of Bœotia, and gave his daughter Procne in marriage to Tereus king of Thrace, who had assisted him. The treatment which Philomela received from her brother-in-law Tereus [See: Philomela] was the source of infinite grief to Pandion, and he died through excess of sorrow, after a reign of 40 years.――There was also another Pandion, son of Cecrops II. by Metiaduca, who succeeded to his father, B.C. 1307. He was driven from his paternal dominions, and fled to Pylas king of Megara, who gave him his daughter Pelia in marriage, and resigned his crown to him. Pandion became father of four children, called from him Pandionidæ, Ægeus, Pallas, Nisus, and Lycus. The eldest of these children recovered his father’s kingdom. Some authors have confounded the two Pandions together in such an indiscriminate manner, that they seem to have been only one and the same person. Many believe that Philomela and Procne were the daughters, not of Pandion I., but of Pandion II. Ovid, Metamorphoses, bk. 6, li. 676.—Apollodorus, bk. 3, ch. 15.—Pausanias, bk. 1, ch. 5.—Hyginus, fable 48.――A son of Phineus and Cleopatra, deprived of his eyesight by his father. Apollodorus, bk. 3, ch. 15.――A son of Ægyptus and Hephæstina.――A king of the Indies in the age of Augustus.

Pandōra, a celebrated woman, the first mortal female that ever lived, according to the opinion of the poet Hesiod. She was made with clay by Vulcan at the request of Jupiter, who wished to punish the impiety and artifice of Prometheus, by giving him a wife. When this woman of clay had been made by the artist, and received life, all the gods vied in making her presents. Venus gave her beauty and the art of pleasing, the Graces gave her the power of captivating, Apollo taught her how to sing, Mercury instructed her in eloquence, and Minerva gave her the most rich and splendid ornaments. From all these valuable presents, which she had received from the gods, the woman was called Pandora, which intimates that she had received every necessary gift, παν δωρον. Jupiter after this gave her a beautiful box, which she was ordered to present to the man who married her; and by the commission of the god, Mercury conducted her to Prometheus. The artful mortal was sensible of the deceit, and as he had always distrusted Jupiter, as well as the rest of the gods, since he had stolen fire away from the sun to animate his man of clay, he sent away Pandora without suffering himself to be captivated by her charms. His brother Epimetheus was not possessed of the same prudence and sagacity. He married Pandora, and when he opened the box which she presented to him, there issued from it a multitude of evils and distempers, which dispersed themselves all over the world, and which, from that fatal moment, have never ceased to afflict the human race. Hope was the only one who remained at the bottom of the box, and it is she alone who has the wonderful power of easing the labours of man, and of rendering his troubles and his sorrows less painful in life. Hesiod, Theogony & Works and Days.—Apollodorus, bk. 1, ch. 7.—Pausanias, bk. 1, ch. 24.—Hyginus, fable 14.――A daughter of Erechtheus king of Athens. She was sister to Protogenia, who sacrificed herself for her country at the beginning of the Bœotian war.

Pandōrus, a son of Erechtheus king of Athens.

Pandosia, a town in the country of the Brutii, situate on a mountain. Alexander king of the Molossi died there. Strabo, bk. 6.――A town of Epirus. Pliny, bk. 4, ch. 1.

Pandrŏsos, a daughter of Cecrops king of Athens, sister to Aglauros and Herse. She was the only one of the sisters who had not the fatal curiosity to open a basket which Minerva had entrusted to their care [See: Erichthonius], for which sincerity a temple was raised to her near that of Minerva, and a festival instituted in her honour, called Pandrosia. Ovid, Metamorphoses, bk. 2, li. 738.—Apollodorus, bk. 3.—Pausanias, bk. 1, &c.

Panenus, or Panæus, a celebrated painter who was for some time engaged in painting the battle of Marathon. Pliny, bk. 35.

Pangæus, a mountain of Thrace, anciently called Mons Caraminus, and joined to mount Rhodope near the sources of the river Nestus. It was inhabited by four different nations. It was on this mountain that Lycurgus the Thracian king was torn to pieces, and that Orpheus called the attention of the wild beasts, and of the mountains and woods, to listen to his song. It abounded in gold and silver mines. Herodotus, bk. 5, ch. 16, &c.; bk. 7, ch. 113.—Virgil, Georgics, bk. 4, li. 462.—Ovid, Fasti, bk. 3, li. 739.—Thucydides, bk. 2.—Lucan, bk. 1, li. 679; bk. 7, li. 482.

Paniasis, a man who wrote a poem upon Hercules, &c. See: Panyasis.

Panionium, a place at the foot of mount Mycale, near the town of Ephesus in Asia Minor, sacred to Neptune of Helice. It was in this place that all the states of Ionia assembled, either to consult for their own safety and prosperity, or to celebrate festivals, or to offer a sacrifice for the good of all the nation, whence the name πανιωγιον, all Ionia. The deputies of the 12 Ionian cities which assembled there were those of Miletus, Myus, Priene, Ephesus, Lebedos, Colophon, Clazomenæ, Phocæa, Teos, Chios, Samos, and Erythræ. If the bull offered in sacrifice bellowed, it was accounted an omen of the highest favour, as the sound was particularly acceptable to the god of the sea, as in some manner it resembled the roaring of the waves of the ocean. Herodotus, bk. 1, ch. 148, &c.—Strabo, bk. 14.—Mela, bk. 1, ch. 17.

Panius, a place at Cœlo-Syria, where Antiochus defeated Scopas, B.C. 198.

Pannŏnia, a large country of Europe, bounded on the east by Upper Mœsia, south by Dalmatia, west by Noricum, and north by the Danube. It was divided by the ancients into Lower and Upper Pannonia. The inhabitants were of Celtic origin, and were first invaded by Julius Cæsar, and conquered in the reign of Tiberius. Philip and his son Alexander some ages before had successively conquered it. Sirmium was the ancient capital of all Pannonia, which contains the modern provinces of Croatia, Carniola, Sclavonia, Bosnia, Windisch, March, with part of Servia, and of the kingdoms of Hungary and Austria. Lucan, bk. 3, li. 95; bk. 6, li. 220.—Tibullus, bk. 4, poem 1, li. 109.—Pliny, bk. 3.—Dio Cassius, bk. 49.—Strabo, bks. 4 & 7.—Jornandes.—Paterculus, bk. 2, ch. 9.—Suetonius, Augustus, ch. 20.

Panolbius, a Greek poet, mentioned by Suidas.

Panomphæus, a surname of Jupiter, either because he was worshipped by every nation on earth, or because he heard the prayers and the supplications which were addressed to him, or because the rest of the gods derived from him their knowledge of futurity (πας omnis, ὀμφη vox). Ovid, Metamorphoses, bk. 11, li. 198.—Homer, Iliad, bk. 8.

Panŏpe, or Panŏpēa, one of the Nereides, whom sailors generally invoked in storms. Her name signifies, giving every assistance, or seeing everything. Hesiod, Theogony, li. 251.—Virgil, Æneid, bk. 5, li. 825.――One of the daughters of Thespius. Apollodorus, bk. 2, ch. 7.――A town of Phocis, called also Panopeus. Ovid, Metamorphoses, bk. 3, li. 19.—Livy, bk. 32, ch. 18.—Pausanias, bk. 10, ch. 4.—Statius, Thebaid, bk. 7, li. 344.—Homer, Iliad, bk. 2, li. 27; Odyssey, bk. 11, li. 580.

Panŏpes, a famous huntsman among the attendants of Acestes king of Sicily, who was one of those that engaged in the games exhibited by Æneas. Virgil, Æneid, bk. 5, li. 300.

Panŏpeus, a son of Phocus and Asterodia, who accompanied Amphitryon when he made war against the Teleboans. He was father to Epeus, who made the celebrated wooden horse at the siege of Troy. Pausanias, bk. 2, ch. 29.—Apollodorus, bk. 2, ch. 4.――A town of Phocis, between Orchomenos and the Cephisus. Pausanias, bk. 10, ch. 4.—Strabo, bk. 9.

Panopion, a Roman saved from death by the uncommon fidelity of his servant. When the assassins came to murder him as being proscribed, the servant exchanged clothes with his master, and let him escape by a back door. He afterwards went into his master’s bed, and suffered himself to be killed, as if Panopion himself. Valerius Maximus.

Panopŏlis, the city of Pan, a town of Egypt, called also Chemmis. Pan had there a temple, where he was worshipped with great solemnity, and represented in a statue fascino longissimo et erecto. Diodorus, bk. 5.—Strabo, bk. 17.

Panoptes, a name of Argus, from the power of his eyes. Apollodorus, bk. 2.

Panormus, now called Palermo, a town of Sicily, built by the Phœnicians, on the north-west part of the island, with a good and capacious harbour. It was the strongest hold of the Carthaginians in Sicily, and it was at last taken with difficulty by the Romans. Mela, bk. 2, ch. 7.—Silius Italicus, bk. 14, li. 262.――A town of the Thracian Chersonesus.――A town of Ionia, near Ephesus,――Another in Crete,――in Macedonia,――Achaia,――Samos.――A Messenian who insulted the religion of the Lacedæmonians. See: Gonippus.

Panotii, a people of Scythia, said to have very large ears. Pliny, bk. 4, ch. 13.

Pansa Cætronianus Vibius, a Roman consul who, with Aulus Hirtius, pursued the murderers of Julius Cæsar, and was killed in a battle near Mutina. On his death-bed he advised young Octavius to unite his interest with that of Antony, if he wished to revenge the death of Julius Cæsar, and from his friendly advice soon after rose the celebrated second triumvirate. Some suppose that Pansa was put to death by Octavius himself, or, through him, by the physician Glicon, who poured poison into the wounds of his patient. Pansa and Hirtius were the two last consuls who enjoyed the dignity of chief magistrates of Rome with full power. The authority of the consuls afterwards dwindled into a shadow. Paterculus, bk. 2, ch. 6.—Dio Cassius, bk. 46.—Ovid, Tristia bk. 3, poem 5.—Plutarch & Appian.

Pantagnostus, a brother of Polycrates tyrant of Samos. Polyænus, bk. 1.

Pantagyas, a small river on the eastern coast of Sicily, which falls into the sea, after running a short space in rough cascades over rugged stones and precipices. Virgil, Æneid, bk. 3, li. 689.—Silius Italicus, bk. 14, li. 232.—Ovid, Fasti, bk. 4, li. 471.

Pantaleon, a king of Pisa, who presided at the Olympic games, B.C. 664, after excluding the Eleans, who on that account expunged the Olympiad from the Fasti, and called it the second Anolympiad. They had called for the same reason the eighth the first Anolympiad, because the Pisæans presided.――An Ætolian chief. Livy, bk. 42, ch. 15.

Pantanus lacus, the lake of Lesina, is situate in Apulia at the mouth of the Freuto. Pliny, bk. 3, ch. 12.

Pantauchus, a man appointed over Ætolia by Demetrius, &c. Plutarch.

Panteus, a friend of Cleomenes king of Sparta, &c. Plutarch.

Panthides, a man who married Italia the daughter of Themistocles.

Panthea, the wife of Abradates, celebrated for her beauty and conjugal affection. She was taken prisoner by Cyrus, who refused to visit her, not to be ensnared by the power of her personal charms. She killed herself on the body of her husband, who had been slain in a battle, &c. See: Abradates. Xenophon, Cyropædia.—Suidas.――The mother of Eumæus the faithful servant of Ulysses.

Pantheon, a celebrated temple at Rome, built by Agrippa, in the reign of Augustus, and dedicated to all the gods, whence the name πας θεος. It was struck with lightning some time after, and partly destroyed. ♦Adrian repaired it, and it still remains at Rome, converted into a christian temple, the admiration of the curious. Pliny, bk. 36, ch. 15.—Marcellinus, bk. 16, ch. 10.

♦ ‘Adarin’ replaced with ‘Adrian’

Pantheus, or Panthus, a Trojan, son of Othryas the priest of Apollo. When his country was burnt by the Greeks, he followed the fortune of Æneas, and was killed. Virgil, Æneid, bk. 2, li. 429.

Panthoĭdes, a patronymic of Euphorbus the son of Panthous. Pythagoras is sometimes called by that name, as he asserted that he was Euphorbus during the Trojan war. Horace, bk. 1, ode 28, li. 10.—Ovid, Metamorphoses, bk. 15, li. 161.――A Spartan general killed by Pericles at the battle of Tanagra.

Panticăpæum, now Kerche, a town of Taurica Chersonesus, built by the Milesians, and governed some time by its own laws, and afterwards subdued by the kings of Bosphorus. It was, according to Strabo, the capital of the European Bosphorus. Mithridates the Great died there. Pliny.—Strabo.

Panticăpes, a river of European Scythia, which falls into the Borysthenes, supposed to be the Samara of the moderns. Herodotus, bk. 4, ch. 54.

Pantilius, a buffoon, ridiculed by Horace, bk. 1, satire 10, li. 78.

Panyăsis, an ancient Greek, uncle to the historian Herodotus. He celebrated Hercules in one of his poems, and the Ionians in another, and was universally esteemed. Athenæus, bk. 2.

Panyăsus, a river of Illyricum, falling into the Adriatic, near Dyrrhachium. Ptolemy.

Papæus, a name of Jupiter among the Scythians. Herodotus, bk. 4.

Păphāges, a king of Ambracia, killed by a lioness deprived of her whelps. Ovid, Ibis, li. 502.

Paphia, a surname of Venus, because the goddess was worshipped at Paphos.――An ancient name of the island of Cyprus.

Paphlăgŏnia, now Penderachia, a country of Asia Minor, situate at the west of the river Halys, by which it was separated from Cappadocia. It was divided on the west from the Bithynians, by the river Parthenius. Herodotus, bk. 1, ch. 72.—Strabo, bk. 4.—Mela.—Pliny.—Curtius, bk. 6, ch. 11.—Cicero, De Lege Agraria contra Rullum, bk. 2, chs. 2 & 9.

Paphos, now Bafo, a famous city of the island of Cyprus, founded, as some suppose, about 1184 years before Christ, by Agapenor, at the head of a colony from Arcadia. The goddess of beauty was particularly worshipped there, and all male animals were offered on her altars, which, though 100 in number, daily smoked with the profusion of Arabian frankincense. The inhabitants were very effeminate and lascivious, and the young virgins were permitted by the laws of the place to get a dowry by prostitution. Strabo, bk. 8, &c.—Pliny, bk. 2, ch. 96.—Mela, bk. 2, ch. 7.—Homer, Odyssey, bk. 8.—Virgil, Æneid, bk. 1, li. 419, &c.; bk. 10, li. 51, &c.—Horace, bk. 1, ode 30, li. 1.—Tacitus, Annals, bk. 3, ch. 62; Histories, bk. 2, ch. 2.

Paphus, a son of Pygmalion, by a statue which had been changed into a woman by Venus. See: Pygmalion. Ovid, Metamorphoses, bk. 10, li. 297.

Papia lex, de peregrinis, by Papius the tribune, A.U.C. 688, which required that all strangers should be driven away from Rome. It was afterwards confirmed and extended by the Junian law.――Another, called Papia Poppæa, because it was enacted by the tribunes Marcus Papius Mutilus and Quintus Poppæus Secundus, who had received consular power from the consuls for six months. It was called the Julian law, after it had been published by order of Augustus, who himself was of the Julian family. See: Julia lex, de Maritandis ordinibus.――Another, to empower the high priest to choose 20 virgins for the service of the goddess Vesta.――Another, in the age of Augustus. It gave the patron a certain right to the property of his client, if he had left a specified sum of money, or if he had not three children.

Papiānus, a man who proclaimed himself emperor some time after the Gordians. He was put to death.

Papias, an early christian writer, who first propagated the doctrine of the Millennium. There are remaining some historical fragments of his.

Papinianus, a writer, A.D. 212. See: Æmylius Papinianus.

Papinius, a tribune who conspired against Caligula.――A man who destroyed himself, &c. Tacitus, Annals, bk. 6, ch. 49.

Pāpĭria, the wife of Paulus Æmylius. She was divorced. Plutarch.

Papiria lex, by Papirius Carbo, A.U.C. 621. It required that, in passing or rejecting laws in the comitia, the votes should be given on tablets.――Another, by the tribune Papirius, which enacted that no person should consecrate any edifice, place, or thing, without the consent and permission of the people. Cicero, On his House, ch. 50.――Another, A.U.C. 563, to diminish the weight, and increase the value of the Roman as.――Another, A.U.C. 421, to give the freedom of the city to the citizens of Acerræ.――Another, A.U.C. 623. It was proposed, but not passed. It recommended the right of choosing a man tribune of the people as often as he wished.

Pāpĭrius, a centurion engaged to murder Piso the proconsul of Africa. Tacitus, Histories, bk. 4, ch. 49.――A patrician, chosen rex sacrorum, after the expulsion of the Tarquins from Rome.――A Roman who wished to gratify his unnatural desires upon the body of one of his slaves called Publilius. The slave refused, and was inhumanly treated. This called for the interference of justice, and a decree was made which forbade any person to be detained in fetters, but only for a crime that deserved such a treatment, and only till the criminal had suffered the punishment which the laws directed. Creditors also had a right to arrest the goods, and not the person, of their debtors. Livy, bk. 8, ch. 28.――Carbo, a Roman consul who undertook the defence of Opimius, who was accused of condemning and putting to death a number of citizens on mount Aventinus, without the formalities of a trial. His client was acquitted.――Cursor, a man who first erected a sun-dial in the temple of Quirinus at Rome, B.C. 293; from which time the days began to be divided into hours.――A dictator who ordered his master of horse to be put to death, because he had fought and conquered the enemies of the republic without his consent. The people interfered, and the dictator pardoned him. Cursor made war against the Sabines and conquered them, and also triumphed over the Samnites. His great severity displeased the people. He flourished about 320 years before the christian era. Livy, bk. 9, ch. 14.――One of his family surnamed Prætextatus, from an action of his whilst he wore the prætexta, a certain gown for young men. His father, of the same name, carried him to the senate-house, where affairs of the greatest importance were then in debate before the senators. The mother of young Papirius wished to know what had passed in the senate; but Papirius, unwilling to betray the secrets of that august assembly, amused his mother by telling her that it had been considered whether it would be more advantageous to the republic to give two wives to one husband, than two husbands to one wife. The mother of Papirius was alarmed, and she communicated the secret to the other Roman matrons, and, on the morrow, they assembled in the senate, petitioning that one woman might have two husbands, rather than one husband two wives. The senators were astonished at this petition, but young Papirius unravelled the whole mystery, and from that time it was made a law among the senators, that no young man should for the future be introduced into the senate-house, except Papirius. This law was carefully observed till the age of Augustus, who permitted children of all ages to hear the debates of the senators. Macrobius, Saturnalia, bk. 1, ch. 6.――Carbo, a friend of Cinna and Marius. He raised cabals against Sylla and Pompey, and was at last put to death by order of Pompey, after he had rendered himself odious by a tyrannical consulship, and after he had been proscribed by Sylla.――A consul defeated by the armies of the Cimbri.――Crassus, a dictator who triumphed over the Samnites.――A consul murdered by the Gauls, &c.――A son of Papirius Cursor, who defeated the Samnites, and dedicated a temple to Romulus Quirinus.――Maso, a consul who conquered Sardinia and Corsica, and reduced them into the form of a province. At his return to Rome, he was refused a triumph, upon which he introduced a triumphal procession, and walked with his victorious army to the capitol, wearing a crown of myrtle upon his head. His example was afterwards followed by such generals as were refused a triumph by the Roman senate. Valerius Maximus, bk. 3, ch. 6.――The family of the Papirii was patrician, and long distinguished for its services to the state. It bore the different surnames of Crassus, Cursor, Mugillanus, Maso, Prætextatus, and Pætus, of which the three first branches became the most illustrious.

Pappia lex, was enacted to settle the rights of husbands and wives, if they had no children.――Another, by which a person less than 50 years old could not marry another of 60.

Pappus, a philosopher and mathematician of Alexandria, in the reign of Theodosius the Great.

Papyrius. See: Papirius.

Parabyston, a tribunal of Athens, where causes of inferior consequences were tried by 11 judges. Pausanias, bk. 1, ch. 40.

Paradīsus, a town of Syria or Phœnicia. Pliny, bk. 5, ch. 23.—Strabo, bk. 16.――In the plains of Jericho there was a large palace, with a garden beautifully planted with trees, and called Balsami Paradisus.

Parætacæ, or Taceni, a people between Media and Persia, where Antigonus was defeated by Eumenes. Cornelius Nepos, Eumenes, ch. 8.—Strabo, bks. 11 & 16.—Pliny, bk. 6, ch. 26.

Parætonium, a town of Egypt at the west of Alexandria, where Isis was worshipped. The word Parætonius is used to signify Egyptian, and is sometimes applied to Alexandria, which was situate in the neighbourhood. Strabo, bk. 17.—Florus, bk. 4, ch. 11.—Lucan, bk. 3, li. 295; bk. 10, li. 9.—Ovid, Metamorphoses, bk. 9, li. 712; Amores, bk. 2, poem 13, li. 7.

Parăli, a division of the inhabitants of Attica. They received this name from their being near the sea coast, παρα and ἁλς.

Parălus, a friend of Dion, by whose assistance he expelled Dionysius.――A son of Pericles. His premature death was greatly lamented by his father. Plutarch.

Parasia, a country at the east of Media.

Parasius, a son of Philonomia by a shepherd. He was exposed on Erymanthus by his mother, with his twin brother Lycastus. Their lives were preserved.

Parcæ, powerful goddesses, who presided over the birth and the life of mankind. They were three in number, Clotho, Lachesis, and Atropos, daughters of Nox and Erebus, according to Hesiod, or of Jupiter and Themis, according to the same poet in another poem. Some make them daughters of the sea. Clotho, the youngest of the sisters, presided over the moment in which we are born, and held a distaff in her hand; Lachesis spun out all the events and actions of our life; and Atropos, the eldest of the three, cut the thread of human life with a pair of scissors. Their different functions are well expressed in this ancient verse:

Clotho colum retinet, Lachesis net, et Atropos occat.

The name of the Parcæ, according to Varro, is derived a partu or parturiendo, because they presided over the birth of men; and by corruption the word parca is formed from parta or partus: but, according to Servius, they are called so by antiphrasis, quod nemini parcant. The power of the Parcæ was great and extensive. Some suppose that they were subjected to none of the gods but Jupiter, while others support that even Jupiter himself was obedient to their commands; and, indeed, we see the father of the gods, in Homer’s Iliad, unwilling to see Patroclus perish, yet obliged, by the superior power of the Fates, to abandon him to his destiny. According to the more received opinion, they were the arbiters of the life and death of mankind, and whatever good or evil befalls us in the world, immediately proceeds from the Fates or Parcæ. Some make them ministers of the king of hell, and represent them as sitting at the foot of his throne; others represent them as placed on radiant thrones, amidst the celestial spheres, clothed in robes spangled with stars, and wearing crowns on their heads. According to Pausanias, the names of the Parcæ were different from those already mentioned. The most ancient of all, as the geographer observes, was Venus Urania, who presided over the birth of men; the second was Fortune; Ilythia was the third. To these some add a fourth, Proserpina, who often disputes with Atropos the right of cutting the thread of human life. The worship of the Parcæ was well established in some cities of Greece, and though mankind were well convinced that they were inexorable, and that it was impossible to mitigate them, yet they were eager to show a proper respect to their divinity, by raising them temples and statues. They received the same worship as the Furies, and their votaries yearly sacrificed to them black sheep, during which solemnity the priests were obliged to wear garlands of flowers. The Parcæ were generally represented as three old women with chaplets made with wool, and interwoven with the flowers of the narcissus. They were covered with a white robe, and fillet of the same colour, bound with chaplets. One of them held a distaff, another the spindle, and the third was armed with scissors, with which she cut the thread which her sisters had spun. Their dress is differently represented by some authors. Clotho appears in a variegated robe, and on her head is a crown of seven stars. She holds a distaff in her hand, reaching from heaven to earth. The robe which Lachesis wore was variegated with a great number of stars, and near her were placed a variety of spindles. Atropos was clothed in black; she held scissors in her hand, with clues of thread of different sizes, according to the length and shortness of the lives, whose destinies they seemed to contain. Hyginus attributes to them the invention of these Greek letters, α, β, η, τ, υ, and others call them the secretaries of heaven, and the keepers of the archives of eternity. The Greeks call the Parcæ by the different names of μοιρα, αἰσα, κηρ, εἰμαρμενη, which are expressive of their power and of their inexorable decrees. Hesiod, Theogony & Shield of Heracles.—Pausanias, bk. 1, ch. 40; bk. 3, ch. 11; bk. 5, ch. 15.—Homer, Iliad, bk. 20; Odyssey, bk. 7.—Theocritus.—Callimachus, Hymn to Artemis.—Ælian, De Natura Animalium, bk. 10.—Pindar, Olympian, poem 10; Nemean, poem 7.—Euripides, Iphigeneia.—Plutarch, de Faciæ Quæ in Orbe Lunæ Apparet.—Hyginus, in preface to fables & fable 277.—Varro.—Orpheus, hymn 58.—Apollonius, bk. 1, &c.—Claudian, de Raptu Proserpinæ.—Lycophron & Tzetzes, &c.—Horace, bk. 2, ode 6, &c.—Ovid, Metamorphoses, bk. 5, li. 533.—Lucan, bk. 3.—Virgil, Eclogues, poem 4; Æneid, bk. 3, &c.—Seneca, Hercules Furens.—Statius, Thebaid, bk. 6.

Parentalia, a festival annually observed at Rome in honour of the dead. The friends and relations of the deceased assembled on the occasion, when sacrifices were offered, and banquets provided. Æneas first established it. Ovid, Fasti, bk. 2, li. 544.

Parentium, a port and town of Istria. Pliny, bk. 3, ch. 19.

Păris, the son of Priam king of Troy by Hecuba, also called Alexander. He was destined, even before his birth, to become the ruin of his country; and when his mother, in the first month of her pregnancy, had dreamed that she should bring forth a torch which should set fire to her palace, the soothsayers foretold the calamities which might be expected from the imprudence of her future son, and which would end in the destruction of Troy. Priam, to prevent so great and so alarming an evil, ordered his slave Archelaus to destroy the child as soon as born. The slave, either touched with humanity, or influenced by Hecuba, did not destroy him, but was satisfied to expose him on mount Ida, where the shepherds of the place found him, and educated him as their own son. Some attribute the preservation of his life, before he was found by the shepherds, to the motherly tenderness of a she-bear which suckled him. Young Paris, though educated among shepherds and peasants, gave early proofs of courage and intrepidity, and from his care in protecting the flocks of mount Ida against the rapacity of the wild beasts, he obtained the name of Alexander (helper or defender). He gained the esteem of all the shepherds, and his graceful countenance and manly deportment recommended him to the favour of Œnone, a nymph of Ida, whom he married, and with whom he lived with the most perfect tenderness. Their conjugal peace was soon disturbed. At the marriage of Peleus and Thetis, the goddess of discord, who had not been invited to partake of the entertainment, showed her displeasure by throwing into the assembly of the gods who were at the celebration of the nuptials, a golden apple on which were written the words Detur pulchriori. All the goddesses claimed it as their own: the contention at first became general, but at last only three, Juno, Venus, and Minerva, wished to dispute their respective right to beauty. The gods, unwilling to become arbiters in an affair of so tender and so delicate a nature, appointed Paris to adjudge the prize of beauty to the fairest of the goddesses, and indeed the shepherd seemed properly qualified to decide so great a contest, as his wisdom was so well established, and his prudence and sagacity so well known. The goddesses appeared before their judge without any covering or ornament, and each tried by promises and entreaties to gain the attention of Paris, and to influence his judgment. Juno promised him a kingdom; Minerva, military glory; and Venus, the fairest woman in the world for his wife, as Ovid expresses it, Heroides, poem 17, li. 118,

Udaque cum regnum; belli daret altera laudem;

Tyndaridis conjux, tertia dixit, eris.

After he had heard their several claims and promises, Paris adjudged the prize to Venus, and gave her the golden apple, to which, perhaps, she seemed entitled as the goddess of beauty. This decision of Paris in favour of Venus drew upon the judge and his family the resentment of the two other goddesses. Soon after Priam proposed a contest among his sons and other princes, and promised to reward the conqueror with one of the finest bulls of mount Ida. His emissaries were sent to procure the animal, and it was found in the possession of Paris, who reluctantly yielded it up. The shepherd was desirous of obtaining again this favourite animal, and he went to Troy and entered the list of the combatants. He was received with the greatest applause, and obtained the victory over his rivals, Nestor the son of Neleus; Cycnus son of Neptune; Polites, Helenus, and Deiphobus sons of Priam. He also obtained a superiority over Hector himself, and the prince, enraged to see himself conquered by an unknown stranger, pursued him closely, and Paris must have fallen a victim to his brother’s resentment, had he not fled to the altar of Jupiter. This sacred retreat preserved his life, and Cassandra the daughter of Priam, struck with the similarity of the features of Paris with those of her brothers, inquired his birth and his age. From these circumstances she soon discovered that he was her brother, and as such she introduced him to her father and to his children. Priam acknowledged Paris as his son, forgetful of the alarming dream which had influenced him to meditate his death, and all jealousy ceased among the brothers. Paris did not long suffer himself to remain inactive; he equipped a fleet, as if willing to redeem Hesione, his father’s sister, whom Hercules had carried away and obliged to marry Telamon the son of Æacus. This was the pretended motive of his voyage, but the causes were far different. Paris recollected that he was to be the husband of the fairest of women; and if he had been led to form those expectations while he was an obscure shepherd of Ida, he had now every plausible reason to see them realized, since he was acknowledged son of the king of Troy. Helen was the fairest woman of the age, and Venus had promised her to him. On these grounds, therefore, he visited Sparta, the residence of Helen, who had married Menelaus. He was received with every mark of respect, but he abused the hospitality of Menelaus, and while the husband was absent in Crete, Paris persuaded Helen to elope with him and fly to Asia. Helen consented, and Priam received her into his palace without difficulty, as his sister was then detained in a foreign country, and as he wished to show himself as hostile as possible to the Greeks. This affair was soon productive of serious consequences. When Menelaus had married Helen, all her suitors had bound themselves by a solemn oath to protect her person, and to defend her from every violence [See: Helena], and therefore the injured husband reminded them of their engagements, and called upon them to recover Helen. Upon this all Greece took up arms in the cause of Menelaus; Agamemnon was chosen general of all the combined forces, and a regular war was begun. See: Troja. Paris, meanwhile, who had refused Helen to the petitions and embassies of the Greeks, armed himself with his brothers and subjects to oppose the enemy; but the success of the war was neither hindered nor accelerated by his means. He fought with little courage, and at the very sight of Menelaus, whom he had so recently injured, all his resolution vanished, and he retired from the front of the army, where he walked before like a conqueror. In a combat with Menelaus, which he undertook at the persuasion of his brother Hector, Paris must have perished, had not Venus interfered, and stolen him from the resentment of his adversary. He nevertheless wounded, in another battle, Machaon, Euryphilus, and Diomedes, and, according to some opinions, he killed with one of his arrows the great Achilles. See: Achilles. The death of Paris is differently related; some suppose that he was mortally wounded by one of the arrows of Philoctetes, which had been once in the possession of Hercules, and that when he found himself languid on account of his wounds, he ordered himself to be carried to the feet of Œnone, whom he had basely abandoned, and who, in the years of his obscurity, had foretold him that he would solicit her assistance in his dying moments. He expired before he came into the presence of Œnone, and the nymph, still mindful of their former loves, threw herself upon his body, and stabbed herself to the heart, after she had plentifully bathed it with her tears. According to some authors, Paris did not immediately go to Troy when he left the Peloponnesus, but he was driven on the coast of Egypt, where Proteus, who was king of the country, detained him, and when he heard of the violence which had been offered to the king of Sparta, he kept Helen at his court, and permitted Paris to retire. See: Helena. Dictys Cretensis, bks. 1, 3, & 4.—Apollodorus, bk. 3, ch. 12.—Homer, Iliad.—Ovid, Heroides, poems 5, 16, & 17.—Quintus Calabrus [Smyrnæus], bk. 10, li. 290.—Horace, ode 3.—Euripides, Iphigeneia.—Hyginus, fables 92 & 273.—Virgil, Æneid, bk. 1, &c.—Ælian, Varia Historia, bk. 12, ch. 42.—Pausanias, bk. 10, ch. 27.—Cicero, de Divinatione.—Lycophron. & Tzetzes on Lycophron.――A celebrated player at Rome, in the good graces of the emperor Nero, &c. Tacitus, Annals, bk. 13, ch. 19, &c.

Parisădes, a king of Pontus in the age of Alexander the Great.――Another, king of Bosphorus.

Parīsii, a people and a city of Celtic Gaul, now called Paris, the capital of the kingdom of France. Cæsar, Gallic War, bk. 6, ch. 3.

Parisus, a river of Pannonia, falling into the Danube. Strabo.

Parium, now Camanar, a town of Asia Minor, on the Propontis, where Archilochus was born, as some say. Strabo, bk. 10.—Pliny, bk. 7, ch. 2; bk. 36, ch. 5.

Parma, a town of Italy, near Cremona, celebrated for its wool, and now for its cheese. The poet Cassius and the critic Macrobius were born there. It was made a Roman colony, A.U.C. 569. The inhabitants are called Parmenenses and Parmani. Livy, bk. 39, ch. 55.—Strabo, bk. 5.—Horace, bk. 1, ltr. 4, li. 3.—Cicero, Philippics, bk. 14, li. 3.—Varro, de Lingua Latina, bk. 7, ch. 31.—Martial, bk. 2, ltr. 43, li. 4; bk. 3, ltr. 13, li. 8 & ltr. 14, li. 155.

Parmenĭdes, a Greek philosopher of Elis, who flourished about 505 years before Christ. He was son of Pyres of Elis, and the pupil of Xenophanes, or of Anaximander, according to some. He maintained that there were only two elements, fire and the earth; and he taught that the first generation of men was produced from the sun. He first discovered that the earth was round, and habitable only in the two temperate zones, and that it was suspended in the centre of the universe, in a fluid lighter than air, so that all bodies left to themselves fell on its surface. There were, as he supposed, only two sorts of philosophy,—one founded on reason, and the other on opinion. He digested this unpopular system in verses, of which a few fragments remain. Diogenes Laërtius.

Parmenio, a celebrated general in the armies of Alexander, who enjoyed the king’s confidence, and was more attached to his person as a man than as a monarch. When Darius king of Persia offered Alexander all the country which lies at the west of the Euphrates, with his daughter Statira in marriage, and 10,000 talents of gold, Parmenio took occasion to observe that he would, without hesitation, accept of these conditions, if he were Alexander. “So would I, were I Parmenio,” replied the conqueror. This friendship, so true and inviolable, was sacrificed to a moment of resentment and suspicion; and Alexander, who had too eagerly listened to a light and perhaps a false accusation, ordered Parmenio and his son to be put to death, as if guilty of treason against his person. Parmenio was in the 70th year of his age, B.C. 330. He died in the greatest popularity, and it has been judiciously observed, that Parmenio obtained many victories without Alexander, but Alexander not one without Parmenio. Curtius, bk. 7, &c.—Plutarch, Alexander.

Parnassus, a mountain of Phocis, anciently called Larnassos, from the boat of Deucalion (λαρναξ), which was carried there in the universal deluge. It received the name of Parnassus from Parnassus the son of Neptune by Cleobula, and was sacred to the Muses, and to Apollo and Bacchus. The soil was barren, but the valleys and the green woods that covered its sides, rendered it agreeable, and fit for solitude and meditation. Parnassus is one of the highest mountains of Europe, and it is easily seen from the citadel of Corinth, though at the distance of about 80 miles. According to the computation of the ancients, it is one day’s journey round. At the north of Parnassus, there is a large plain, about eight miles in circumference. The mountain, according to the poets, had only two tops, called Hyampea and Tithorea, on one of which the city of Delphi was situated, and thence it was called Biceps. Strabo, bks. 8, 9.—Ovid, Metamorphoses, bk. 1, li. 317; bk. 2, li. 221; bk. 5, li. 278.—Lucan, bk. 5, li. 71; bk. 3, li. 173.—Livy, bk. 42, ch. 16.—Silius Italicus, bk. 15, li. 311.—Mela, bk. 2, ch. 3.—Pausanias, bk. 10, ch. 6.—Propertius, bk. 2, poem 23, li. 13; bk. 3, poem 11, li. 54.――A son of Neptune, who gave his name to a mountain of Phocis.

Parnes (etis), a mountain of Africa, abounding in vines. Statius, bk. 12, Thebaid, li. 620.

Parnessus, a mountain of Asia near Bactriana. Dionysius Periegeta, li. 737.

Parni, a tribe of the Scythians, who invaded Parthia. Strabo, bk. 11.

Paron and Heraclides, two youths who killed a man who had insulted their father. Plutarch, Apophthegmata Laconica.

Paropamisus, a ridge of mountains at the north of India, called the Stony Girdle, or Indian Caucasus. Strabo, bk. 15.

Paropus, now Colisano, a town at the north of Sicily, on the shores of the Tyrrhene sea. Polybius, bk. 1, ch. 24.

Paroreia, a town of Thrace, near mount Hæmus. Livy, bk. 39, ch. 27.――A town of Peloponnesus.――A district of Phrygia Magna. Strabo, bk. 12.

Paros, a celebrated island among the Cyclades, about 7½ miles distant from Naxos, and 28 from Delos. According to Pliny, it is half as large as Naxos, that is, about 36 or 37 miles in circumference, a measure which some of the moderns have extended to 50 and even 80 miles. It has borne the different names of Pactia, Minoa, Hiria, Demetrias, Zacynthus, Cabarnis, and Hyleassa. It received the name of Paros, which it still bears, from Paros, a son of Jason, or, as some maintain, of Parrhasius. The island of Paros was rich and powerful, and well known for its famous marble, which was always used by the best statuaries. The best quarries were those of Marpesus, a mountain where still caverns of the most extraordinary depth are seen by modern travellers, and admired as the sources from whence the ♦labyrinth of Egypt and the porticoes of Greece received their splendour. According to Pliny, the quarries were so uncommonly deep, that, in the clearest weather, the workmen were obliged to use lamps, from which circumstance the Greeks have called the marble Lychnites, worked by the light of lamps. Paros is also famous for the fine cattle which it produces, and for its partridges, and wild pigeons. The capital city was called Paros. It was first peopled by the Phœnicians, and afterwards a colony of Cretans settled in it. The Athenians made war against it, because it had assisted the Persians in the invasion of Greece, and took it, and it became a Roman province in the age of Pompey. Archilochus was born there. The Parian marbles, perhaps better known by the appellation of Arundelian, were engraved in this island in capital letters, B.C. 264, and, as a valuable chronicle, preserved the most celebrated epochas of Greece, from the year 1582 B.C. These valuable pieces of antiquity were procured originally by M. de Peirisc, a Frenchman, and afterwards purchased by the earl of Arundel, by whom they were given to the university of Oxford, where they are still to be seen. Prideaux published an account of all the inscriptions in 1676. Mela, bk. 2, ch. 7.—Strabo, bk. 5.—Cornelius Nepos, Miltiades & Alcibiades.—Virgil, Æneid, bk. 1, li. 593; Georgics, bk. 3, li. 34.—Ovid, Metamorphoses, bk. 3, li. 419; bk. 7, li. 466.—Pliny, bk. 3, ch. 14; bk. 36, ch. 17.—Diodorus, bk. 5, & Thucydides, bk. 1.—Herodotus, bk. 5, &c.—Horace, bk. 1, ode 19, li. 6.

♦ ‘labryrinth’ replaced with ‘labyrinth’

Parphŏrus, a native of Colophon, who, at the head of a colony, built a town at the foot of Ida, which was abandoned for a situation nearer his native city. Strabo, bk. 14.—Pausanias, bk. 7, ch. 3.

Parrhăsia, a town of Arcadia, founded by Parrhasius the son of Jupiter. The Arcadians are sometimes called Parrhasians, and Arcas Parrhasis, and Carmenta, Evander’s mother, Parrhasiadea. Lucan, bk. 2, li. 237.—Virgil, Æneid, bk. 8, li. 333.—Ovid, Metamorphoses, bk. 8, li. 315; Fasti, bk. 1, li. 618; Tristia, bk. 1, li. 190.—Pausanias, bk. 8, ch. 27.

Parrhăsius, a famous painter, son of Evenor of Ephesus, in the age of Zeuxis, about 415 years before Christ. He was a great master of his profession, and particularly excelled in strongly expressing the violent passions. He was blessed with a great genius, and much invention, and he was particularly happy in his designs. He acquired himself great reputation by his pieces, but by none more than that in which he allegorically represented the people of Athens with all the injustice, the clemency, the fickleness, timidity, the arrogance and inconsistency, which so eminently characterized that celebrated nation. He once entered the lists against Zeuxis, and when they had produced their respective pieces, the birds came to pick with the greatest avidity the grapes which ♦Zeuxis had painted. Immediately Parrhasius exhibited his piece, and Zeuxis said, “Remove your curtain, that we may see the painting.” The curtain was the painting, and Zeuxis acknowledged himself conquered, by exclaiming, “Zeuxis has deceived birds, but Parrhasius has deceived Zeuxis himself”. Parrhasius grew so vain of his art, that he clothed himself in purple, and wore a crown of gold, calling himself the king of painters. He was lavish in his own praises, and by his vanity too often exposed himself to the ridicule of his enemies. Plutarch, Theseus; Quomodo Adolescens Poetas Audire Debeat.—Pausanias, bk. 1, ch. 28.—Pliny, bk. 35, ch. 10.—Horace, bk. 4, ode 8.――A son of Jupiter, or, according to some, of Mars, by a nymph called Philonomia.

♦ ‘Xeuxis’ replaced with ‘Zeuxis’

Parthamisiris, a king of Armenia, in the reign of Trajan.

Parthāon, a son of Agenor and Epicaste, who married Euryte daughter of Hippodamus, by whom he had many children, among whom were Œneus and Sterope. Parthaon was brother to Demonice, the mother of Evenus by Mars, and also to Molus, Pylus, and Thestius. He is called Portheus by Homer, Iliad, bk. 14.—Apollodorus, bk. 1, ch. 7.—Hyginus, fables 129 & 239.――A son of Peripetus and father of Aristas. Pausanias, bk. 8.

Parthĕniæ and Parthĕnii, a certain number of desperate citizens of Sparta. During the Messenian war, the Spartans were absent from their city for the space of 10 years, and it was unlawful for them to return, as they had bound themselves by a solemn oath not to revisit Sparta before they had totally subdued Messenia. This long absence alarmed the Lacedæmonian women, as well as the magistrates. The Spartans were reminded by their wives, that if they continued in their resolution, the state must at last decay for want of citizens, and when they had duly considered this embassy, they empowered all the young men in the army, who had come to the war while yet under age, and who therefore were not bound by the oath, to return to Sparta, and, by a familiar and promiscuous intercourse with all the unmarried women of the state, to raise a future generation. It was carried into execution, and the children that sprang from this union were called Partheniæ, or sons of virgins (παρθενος). The war with Messenia was some time after ended, and the Spartans returned victorious; but the cold indifference with which they looked upon the Partheniæ was attended with serious consequences. The Partheniæ knew they had no legitimate fathers, and no inheritance, and that therefore their life depended upon their own exertions. This drove them almost to despair. They joined with the Helots, whose maintenance was as precarious as their own, and it was mutually agreed to murder all the citizens of Sparta, and to seize their possessions. This massacre was to be done at a general assembly, and the signal was the throwing of a cap in the air. The whole, however, was discovered through the diffidence and apprehensions of the Helots; and when the people had assembled, the Partheniæ discovered that all was known, by the voice of a crier, who proclaimed that no man should throw up his cap. The Partheniæ, though apprehensive of punishment, were not visibly treated with greater severity; their calamitous condition was attentively examined, and the Spartans, afraid of another conspiracy, and awed by their numbers, permitted them to sail for Italy, with Phalantus their ringleader at their head. They settled in Magna Græcia, and built Tarentum, about 707 years before Christ. Justin, bk. 3, ch. 5.—Strabo, bk. 6.—Pausanias, on Laconia, &c.—Plutarch, Apophthegmata Laconica.

Parthĕnias, a river of Peloponnesus, flowing by Elis. Pausanias, bk. 6, ch. 21.――The ancient name of Samos. Pliny, bk. 5, ch. 31.

Parthĕnion, a mountain of Peloponnesus at the north of Tegea. Pausanias.

Parthĕnius, a river of Paphlagonia, which, after separating Bithynia, falls into the Euxine sea, near Sesamum. It received its name either because the virgin Diana (παρθενος) bathed herself there, or perhaps it received it from the purity and mildness of its waters. Herodotus, bk. 2, ch. 104.—Pliny, bk. 6, ch. 2.――A mountain of Arcadia, which was said to abound in tortoises. Here Telephus had a temple. Atalanta was exposed on its top and brought up there. Pausanias, bk. 8, ch. 54.—Ælian, Varia Historia, bk. 13.—Apollodorus, bk. 2, ch. 7.――A favourite of the emperor Domitian. He conspired against his imperial master, and assisted to murder him.――A river of European Sarmatia. Ovid, ex Ponto, bk. 4, poem 10, li. 49.――A friend of Æneas killed in Italy. Virgil, Æneid, bk. 10, li. 748.――A Greek writer, whose romance, de Amatoriis Affectionibus has been edited in 12mo, Basil, 1531.

Parthĕnon, a temple of Athens, sacred to Minerva. It was destroyed by the Persians, and afterwards rebuilt by Pericles in a more magnificent manner, and still exists. All the circumstances which related to the birth of Minerva were beautifully and minutely represented in bas-relief, on the front of the entrance. The statue of the goddess, 26 cubits high, and made of gold and ivory, passed for one of the masterpieces of Phidias. Pliny, bk. 34.

Parthĕnŏpæus, a son of Meleager and Atalanta, or, according to some, of Milanion and another Atalanta. He was one of the seven chiefs who accompanied Adrastus the king of Argos in his expedition against Thebes. He was killed by Amphidicus. Apollodorus, bk. 3, ch. 9.—Pausanias, bk. 3, ch. 12; bk. 9, ch. 19.――A son of Talaus.

Parthĕnŏpe, one of the Sirens.――A daughter of Stymphalus. Apollodorus.――A city of Campania, afterwards called Neapolis, or the new city, when it had been beautified and enlarged by a colony from Eubœa. It is now called Naples. It received the name of Parthenope from one of the Sirens, whose body was found on the sea-shore there. Virgil, Georgics, bk. 4, li. 564.—Strabo, bks. 1 & 5.—Paterculus, bk. 1, ch. 4.—Homer, Odyssey, bk. 12, li. 167.—Silius Italicus, bk. 12, li. 33.

Parthia, a celebrated country of Asia, bounded on the west by Media, south by Carmania, north by Hyrcania, and east by Aria, &c., containing, according to Ptolemy, 25 large cities, the most capital of which was called Hecatompylos, from its hundred gates. Some suppose that the present capital of the country is built on the ruins of Hecatompylos. According to some authors, the Parthians were Scythians by origin, who made an invasion on the more southern provinces of Asia, and at last fixed their residence near Hyrcania. They long remained unknown and unnoticed, and became successively tributary to the empire of the Assyrians, Medes, and Persians. When Alexander invaded Asia, the Parthians submitted, like the other dependent provinces of Persia, and they were for some time under the power of Eumenes, Antigonus, Seleucus, Nicanor, and Antiochus, till the rapacity and oppression of Agathocles, a lieutenant of the latter, roused their spirit, and fomented rebellion. Arsaces, a man of obscure origin, but blessed with great military powers, placed himself at the head of his countrymen, and laid the foundation of the Parthian empire, about 250 years before the christian era. The Macedonians attempted in vain to recover it; a race of active and vigilant princes, who assumed the surname of Arsacides, from the founder of their kingdom, increased its power, and rendered it so formidable, that, while it possessed 18 kingdoms between the Caspian and Arabian seas, it even disputed the empire of the world with the Romans, and could never be subdued by that nation, which had seen no people on earth unconquered by their arms. It remained a kingdom till the reign of Artabanus, who was killed about the year 229 of the christian era, and from that time it became a province of the newly re-established kingdom of Persia, under Artaxerxes. The Parthians were naturally strong and warlike, and were esteemed the most expert horsemen and archers in the world. The peculiar custom of discharging their arrows while they were retiring full speed, has been greatly celebrated by the ancients, particularly by the poets, who all observe that their flight was more formidable than their attacks. This manner of fighting, and the wonderful address and dexterity with which it was performed, gained them many victories. They were addicted much to drinking, and to every manner of lewdness, and their laws permitted them to raise children even by their mothers and sisters. Strabo, bks. 2, 6, &c.—Curtius, bk. 6, ch. 11.—Florus, bk. 3, ch. 5.—Virgil, Georgics, bk. 3, li. 31, &c.; Æneid bk. 7, li. 606.—Ovid, Ars Amatoria, bk. 1, &c., Fasti, bk. 5, li. 580.—Dio Cassius, bk. 40.—Ptolemy, bk. 6, ch. 5.—Pliny, bk. 6, ch. 25.—Polybius, bk. 5, &c.—Marcellinus.—Herodian, bk. 3, &c.—Lucan, bk. 1, li. 230; bk. 6, li. 50; bk. 10, li. 53.—Justin, bk. 41, ch. 1.—Horace, bk. 1, ode 19, li. 11; bk. 2, ode 13, li. 17.

Parthini, a people of Illyricum. Livy, bk. 29, ltr. 12; bk. 33, ch. 34; bk. 44, ch. 30.—Suetonius, Augustus, ch. 19.—Cicero, Against Piso, ch. 40.

Parthytēne, a province of Parthia, according to Ptolemy, though some authors support that it is the name of Parthia itself.

Parysădes, a king of Pontus, B.C. 310. Diodorus.――A king of the Cimmerian Bosphorus, who flourished 284 B.C.

Parysătis, a Persian princess, wife of Darius Ochus, by whom she had Artaxerxes, Memnon, and Cyrus the younger. She was so extremely partial to her younger son, that she committed the greatest cruelties to encourage his ambition, and she supported him with all her interest in his rebellion against his brother Memnon. The death of Cyrus at the battle of Cunaxa, was revenged with the grossest barbarity, and Parysatis sacrificed to her resentment all such as she found concerned in his fall. She also poisoned Statira the wife of her son Artaxerxes, and ordered one of the eunuchs of the court to be flayed alive, and his skin to be stretched on two poles before her eyes, because he had, by order of the king, cut off the hand and the head of Cyrus. These cruelties offended Artaxerxes, and he ordered his mother to be confined in Babylon; but they were soon after reconciled, and Parysatis regained all her power and influence till the time of her death. Plutarch, Artaxerxes.—Ctesiphon.

Pasargada, a town of Persia, near Carmania, founded by Cyrus on the very spot where he had conquered Astyages. The kings of Persia were always crowned there, and the Pasargadæ were the noblest families of Persia, in the number of which were the Achæmenides. Strabo, bk. 15.—Pliny, bk. 8, ch. 26.—Herodotus, bk. 1, ch. 125.—Mela, bk. 3, ch. 8.

Paseas, a tyrant in Sicyon in Peloponnesus, father to Abantidas, &c. Plutarch, Aratus.

Pasicles, a grammarian, &c.

Pasicrătes, a king of part of the island of Cyprus. Plutarch.

Pasiphae, a daughter of the Sun and of Perseis, who married Minos king of Crete. She disgraced herself by her unnatural passion for a bull, which, according to some authors, she was enabled to gratify by means of the artist Dædalus. This celebrated bull had been given to Minos by Neptune, to be offered on his altars, but as the monarch refused to sacrifice the animal on account of his beauty, the god revenged his disobedience by inspiring Pasiphæ with an unnatural love for it. This fabulous tradition, which is universally believed by the poets, who observe that the Minotaur was the fruit of this infamous commerce, is refuted by some writers, who suppose that the infidelity of Pasiphæ to her husband was betrayed in her affection for an officer called Taurus; and that Dædalus, by permitting his house to be the asylum of the two lovers, was looked upon as accessary to the gratification of Pasiphæ’s lust. From this amour with Taurus, as it is further remarked, the queen became mother of twins, and the name of Minotaurus arises from the resemblance of the children to the husband and the lover of Pasiphæ. Minos had four sons by Pasiphæ, Castreus, Deucalion, Glaucus, and Androgeus, and three daughters, Hecate, Ariadne, and Phædra. See: Minotaurus. Plato, Minos.—Plutarch, Theseus.—Apollonius, bk. 2, ch. 1.—Virgil, Æneid, bk. 6, li. 24.—Hyginus, fable 40.—Diodorus, bk. 4.—Ovid, Heroides, poem 4, lis. 57 & 165.

Pasithea, one of the Graces, also called Aglaia. Pausanias, bk. 9, ch. 35.――One of the Nereides. Hesiod.――A daughter of Atlas.

Pasitĭgris, a name given to the river Tigris. Strabo, bk. 15.—Pliny, bk. 6, ch. 20.

Passaron, a town of Epirus, where, after sacrificing to Jupiter, the kings swore to govern according to law, and the people to obey and to defend the country. Plutarch, Pyrrhus.—Livy, bk. 45, chs. 26 & 33.

Passiēnus, a Roman who reduced Numidia, &c. Tacitus, Annals.――Paulus, a Roman knight, nephew to the poet Propertius, whose elegiac compositions he imitated. He likewise attempted lyric poetry, and with success, and chose for his model the writings of Horace. Pliny, ltrs. 6 & 9.――Crispus, a man distinguished as an orator, but more as the husband of Domitia, and afterwards of Agrippina, Nero’s mother, &c. Tacitus, Annals, bk. 6, ch. 20.

Pasus, a Thessalian in Alexander’s army, &c.

Patala, a harbour at the mouth of the Indus, in an island called Patale. The river here begins to form a Delta like the Nile. Pliny places this island within the torrid zone. Pliny, bk. 2, ch. 73.—Curtius, bk. 9, ch. 7.—Strabo, bk. 15.—Arrian, bk. 6, ch. 17.

Pătăra (orum), now Patera, a town of Lycia, situate on the eastern side of the mouth of the river Xanthus, with a capacious harbour, a temple, and an oracle of Apollo, surnamed Patareus, where was preserved and shown, in the age of Pausanias, a brazen cap, which had been made by the hands of Vulcan, and presented by the god to Telephus. The god was supposed by some to reside for the six winter months at Patara, and the rest of the year at Delphi. The city was greatly embellished by Ptolemy Philadelphus, who attempted in vain to change its original name into that of his wife Arsinoe. Livy, bk. 37, ch. 15.—Strabo, bk. 14.—Pausanias, bk. 9, ch. 41.—Horace, bk. 3, ode 14, li. 64.—Ovid, Metamorphoses, bk. 1, li. 516.—Mela, bk. 1, ch. 15.

Pătăvium, a city of Italy, at the north of the Po, on the shores of the Adriatic, now called Padua, and once said to be capable of sending 20,000 men into the field. See: Padua. It is the birthplace of Livy, from which reason some writers have denominated Patavinity those peculiar expressions and provincial dialect, which they seem to discover in the historian’s style, not strictly agreeable to the purity and refined language of the Roman authors who flourished in or near the Augustan age. Martial, bk. 11, ltr. 17, li. 8.—Quintilian, bk. 1, chs. 5, 56; bk. 8, ch. 13.—Livy, bk. 10, ch. 2; bk. 41, ch. 27.—Strabo, bk. 5.—Mela, bk. 2, ch. 4.

Patercŭlus, a Roman, whose daughter Sulpicia was pronounced the chastest matron at Rome. Pliny, bk. 7, ch. 35.――Velleius, an historian. See: Velleius.

Patizithes, one of the Persian Magi, who raised his brother to the throne because he resembled Smerdis the brother of Cambyses, &c. Herodotus, bk. 3, ch. 61.

Patmos, one of the Cyclades, with a small town of the same name, situate at the south of Icaria, and measuring 30 miles in circumference, according to Pliny, or only 18, according to modern travellers. It has a large harbour, near which are some broken columns, the most ancient in that part of Greece. The Romans generally banished their culprits there. It is now called Palmosa. Strabo.—Pliny, bk. 4, ch. 12.

Patræ, an ancient town at the north-west of Peloponnesus, anciently called Aroe. Diana had there a temple, and a famous statue of gold and ivory. Pausanias, bk. 7, ch. 6.—Ovid, Metamorphoses, bk. 6, li. 417.—Livy, bk. 27, ch. 29.—Mela, bk. 2, ch. 3.

Patro, a daughter of Thestius. Apollodorus.――An epicurean philosopher intimate with Cicero. Cicero, Letters to his Friends, bk. 13, ch. 1.

Pātrōcles, an officer of the fleet of Seleucus and Antiochus. He discovered several countries, and it is said that he wrote a history of the world. Strabo.—Pliny, bk. 6, ch. 17.

Patrocli, a small island on the coast of Attica. Pausanias, bk. 4, ch. 5.

Pātrōclus, one of the Grecian chiefs during the Trojan war, son of Menœtius by Sthenele, whom some call Philomela, or Polymela. The accidental murder of Clysonymus the son of Amphidamus, in the time of his youth, obliged him to fly from Opus, where his father reigned. He retired to the court of Peleus king of Phthia, where he was kindly received, and where he contracted the most intimate friendship with Achilles the monarch’s son. When the Greeks went to the Trojan war, Patroclus also accompanied them at the express command of his father, who had visited the court of Peleus, and he embarked with 10 ships from Phthia. He was the constant companion of Achilles, and he lodged in the same tent; and when his friend refused to appear in the field of battle, because he had been offended by Agamemnon, Patroclus imitated his example, and by his absence was the cause of the overthrow of the Greeks. But at last Nestor prevailed upon him to return to the war, and Achilles permitted him to appear in his armour. The valour of Patroclus, together with the terror which the sight of the arms of Achilles inspired, soon routed the victorious armies of the Trojans, and obliged them to fly within their walls for safety. He would have broken down the walls of the city; but Apollo, who interested himself for the Trojans, placed himself to oppose him, and Hector, at the instigation of the god, dismounted from his chariot to attack him, as he attempted to strip one of the Trojans whom he had slain. The engagement was obstinate, but at last Patroclus was overpowered by the valour of Hector, and the interposition of Apollo. His arms became the property of the conqueror, and Hector would have severed his head from his body had not Ajax and Menelaus intervened. His body was at last recovered and carried to the Grecian camp, where Achilles received it with the bitterest lamentations. His funeral was observed with the greatest solemnity. Achilles sacrificed near the burning pile 12 young Trojans, besides four of his horses, and two of his dogs, and the whole was concluded by the exhibition of funeral games, in which the conquerors were liberally rewarded by Achilles. The death of Patroclus, as it is described by Homer, gave rise to new events; Achilles forgot his resentment against Agamemnon, and entered the field to avenge the fall of his friend, and his anger was gratified only by the slaughter of Hector, who had more powerfully kindled his wrath by appearing at the head of the Trojan armies in the armour which had been taken from the body of Patroclus. The patronymic of Actorides is often applied to Patroclus, because Actor was father to Menœtius. Dictys Cretensis, bk. 1, &c.—Homer, bk. 9, Iliad, &c.—Apollodorus, bk. 3, ch. 13.—Hyginus, fables 97 & 275.—Ovid, Metamorphoses, bk. 13, li. 273.――A son of Hercules. Apollodorus.――An officer of Ptolemy Philadelphus.

Patron, an Arcadian at the games exhibited by Æneas in Sicily. Virgil, Æneid, bk. 5, li. 298.

Patrous, a surname of Jupiter among the Greeks, represented by his statues as having three eyes, which some suppose to signify that he reigned in three different places, in heaven, on earth, and in hell. Pausanias, bk. 2.

Patulcius, a surname of Janus, which he received a pateo, because the doors of his temple were always open in the time of war. Some suppose that he received it because he presided over gates, or because the year began by the celebration of his festivals. Ovid, Fasti, bk. 1, li. 129.

Paventia, a goddess who presided over terror at Rome, and who was invoked to protect her votaries from its effects. Augustine, City of God, bk. 4, ch. 11.

Paula, the first wife of the emperor Heliogabalus. She was daughter of the prefect of the pretorian guards. The emperor divorced her, and Paula retired to solitude and obscurity with composure.

Paulīna, a Roman lady who married Saturninus, a governor of Syria, in the reign of the emperor Tiberius. Her conjugal peace was disturbed, and violence was offered to her virtue by a young man called Mundus, who was enamoured of her, and who had caused her to come to the temple of Isis by means of the priests of the goddess, who declared that Anubis wished to communicate to her something of moment. Saturninus complained to the emperor of the violence which had been offered to his wife, and the temple of Isis was overturned and Mundus banished, &c. Josephus, Antiquities, bk. 18, ch. 4.――The wife of the philosopher Seneca, who attempted to kill herself when Nero had ordered her husband to die. The emperor, however, prevented her, and she lived some few years after in the greatest melancholy. Tacitus, Annals, bk. 15, ch. 63, &c.――A sister of the emperor Adrian.――The wife of the emperor Maximinus.

Paulīnus Pompeius, an officer in Nero’s reign, who had the command of the German armies, and finished the works on the banks of the Rhine, which Drusus had begun 63 years before. Tacitus, Annals, bk. 13, ch. 53.—Suetonius.――A Roman general, the first who crossed mount Atlas with an army. He wrote a history of this expedition in Africa, which is lost. Paulinus also distinguished himself in Britain, &c. He followed the arms of Otho against Vitellius. Pliny, bk. 5, ch. 1.――Valerius, a friend of Vespasian.――Julius, a Batavian nobleman, put to death by Fonteius Capito, on pretence of rebellion. Tacitus, Histories, bk. 4, ch. 13.

Paulus Æmylius, a Roman, son of the Æmylius who fell at Cannæ, was celebrated for his victories, and received the surname of Macedonicus from his conquest of Macedonia. In the early part of life he distinguished himself by his uncommon application, and by his fondness for military discipline. His first appearance in the field was attended with great success, and the barbarians that had revolted in Spain were reduced with the greatest facility under the power of the Romans. In his first consulship his arms were directed against the Ligurians, whom he totally subjected. His applications for a second consulship proved abortive; but when Perseus the king of Macedonia had declared war against Rome, the abilities of Paulus were remembered, and he was honoured with the consulship about the 60th year of his age. After this appointment he behaved with uncommon vigour, and soon a general engagement was fought near Pydna. The Romans obtained the victory, and Perseus saw himself deserted by all his subjects. In two days the conqueror made himself master of all Macedonia, and soon after the fugitive monarch was brought into his presence. Paulus did not exult over his fallen enemy; but when he had gently rebuked him for his temerity in attacking the Romans, he addressed himself in a pathetic speech to the officers of his army who surrounded him, and feelingly enlarged on the instability of fortune, and the vicissitude of all human affairs. When he had finally settled the government of Macedonia with 10 commissioners from Rome, and after he had sacked 70 cities of Epirus, and divided the booty amongst his soldiers, Paulus returned to Italy. He was received with the usual acclamations, and though some of the seditious soldiers attempted to prevent his triumphal entry into the capital, yet three days were appointed to exhibit the fruits of his victories. Perseus, with his wretched family, adorned the triumph of the conqueror, and as they were dragged through the streets before the chariot of Paulus, they drew tears of compassion from the people. The riches which the Romans derived from this conquest were immense, and the people were freed from all taxes till the consulship of Hirtius and Pansa; but while every one of the citizens received some benefit from the victories of Paulus, the conqueror himself was poor, and appropriated for his own use nothing of the Macedonian treasures except the library of Perseus. In the office of censor, to which he was afterwards elected, Paulus behaved with the greatest moderation, and at his death, which happened about 168 years before the christian era, not only the Romans, but their very enemies, confessed, by their lamentations, the loss which they had sustained. He had married Papiria, by whom he had two sons, one of whom was adopted by the family of Maximus, and the other by that of Scipio Africanus. He had also two daughters, one of whom married a son of Cato, and the other Ælius Tubero. He afterwards divorced Papiria; and when his friends wished to reprobate his conduct in doing so, by observing that she was young and handsome, and that she had made him father of a fine family, Paulus replied, that the shoe which he then wore was new and well made, but that he was obliged to leave it off, though no one but himself, as he said, knew where it pinched him. He married a second wife, by whom he had two sons, whose sudden death exhibited to the Romans, in the most engaging view, their father’s philosophy and stoicism. The elder of these sons died five days before Paulus triumphed over Perseus, and the other three days after the public ♦procession. This domestic calamity did not shake the firmness of the conqueror; yet before he retired to a private station, he harangued the people, and in mentioning the severity of fortune upon his family, he expressed his wish that every evil might be averted from the republic by the sacrifice of the domestic prosperity of an individual. Plutarch, Lives.—Livy, bks. 43, 44, &c. Justin, bk. 33, ch. 1, &c.――Samosatenus, an author in the reign of Gallienus.――Maximus. See: Maximus Fabius.――Ægineta, a Greek physician whose work was edited apud, Aldus Manutius, Venice, folio, 1528.――Lucius Æmylius, a consul, who, when opposed to Annibal in Italy, checked the rashness of his colleague Varro, and recommended an imitation of the conduct of the great Fabius, by harassing and not facing the enemy in the field. His advice was rejected, and the battle of Cannæ, so glorious to Annibal, and so fatal to Rome, soon followed. Paulus was wounded, but when he might have escaped from the slaughter, by accepting a horse generously offered by one of his officers, he disdained to fly, and perished by the darts of the enemy. Horace, ode 12, li. 38.—Livy, bk. 22, ch. 39.――Julius, a Latin poet in the age of Adrian and Antoninus. He wrote some poetical pieces, recommended by Aulus Gellius.

♦ ‘processsion’ replaced with ‘procession’

Pāulus. See: Æmylius.

Pavor, an emotion of the mind which received divine honours among the Romans, and was considered of a most tremendous power, as the ancients swore by her name in the most solemn manner. Tullus Hostilius, the third king of Rome, was the first who built her temples, and raised altars to her honour, as also to Pallor the goddess of paleness. Cicero, de Natura Deorum, bk. 3, ch. 17.

Pausanias, a Spartan general, who greatly signalized himself at the battle of Platæa, against the Persians. The Greeks were very sensible of his services, and they rewarded his merit with the tenth of the spoils taken from the Persians. He was afterwards set at the head of the Spartan armies, and extended his conquests in Asia; but the haughtiness of his behaviour created him many enemies, and the Athenians soon obtained a superiority in the affairs of Greece. Pausanias was dissatisfied with his countrymen, and he offered to betray Greece to the Persians, if he received in marriage, as the reward of his perfidy, the daughter of their monarch. His intrigues were discovered by means of a youth, who was entrusted with his letters to Persia, and who refused to go, on the recollection that such as had been employed in that office before had never returned. The letters were given to the Ephori of Sparta, and the perfidy of Pausanias laid open. He fled for safety to a temple of Minerva, and as the sanctity of the place screened him from the violence of his pursuers, the sacred building was surrounded with heaps of stones, the first of which was carried there by the indignant mother of the unhappy man. He was starved to death in the temple, and died about 471 years before the christian era. There was a festival, and solemn games instituted in his honour, in which only free-born Spartans contended. There was also an oration spoken in his praise, in which his actions were celebrated, particularly the battle of Platæa, and the defeat of Mardonius. Cornelius Nepos, Lives.—Plutarch, Aristeides & Themistocles.—Herodotus, bk. 9.――A favourite of Philip king of Macedonia. He accompanied the prince in an expedition against the Illyrians, in which he was killed.――Another, at the court of king Philip, very intimate with the preceding. He was grossly and unnaturally abused by Attalus, one of the friends of Philip, and when he complained of the injuries he had received, the king in some measure disregarded his remonstrances, and wished them to be forgotten. This incensed Pausanias; he resolved to revenge himself, and when he had heard from his master Hermocrates the sophist that the most effectual way to render himself illustrious was to murder a person who had signalized himself by uncommon actions, he stabbed Philip as he entered a public theatre. After this bloody action he attempted to make his escape to his chariot, which waited for him at the gate of the city, but he was stopped accidentally by the twig of a vine, and fell down. Attalus, Perdiccas, and other friends of Philip, who pursued him, immediately fell upon him and despatched him. Some support that Pausanias committed this murder at the instigation of Olympias the wife of Philip, and of her son Alexander. Diodorus, bk. 16.—Justin, bk. 9.—Plutarch, Apophthegmata Laconica.――A king of Macedonia, deposed by Amyntas, after a year’s reign. Diodorus.――Another, who attempted to seize upon the kingdom of ♦Macedonia, from which he was prevented by Iphicrates the Athenian.――A friend of Alexander the Great, made governor of Sardis.――A physician in the age of Alexander. Plutarch.――A celebrated orator and historian, who settled at Rome, A.D. 170, where he died in a very advanced age. He wrote a history of Greece, in 10 books, in the Ionic dialect, in which he gives, with great precision and geographical knowledge, an account of the situation of its different cities, their antiquities, and the several curiosities which they contained. He has also interwoven mythology in his historical account, and introduced many fabulous traditions and superstitious stories. In each book the author treats of a separate country, such as Attica, Arcadia, Messenia, Elis, &c. Some suppose that he gave a similar description of Phœnicia and Syria. There was another Pausanias, a native of Cæsarea in Cappadocia, who wrote some declamations, and who is often confounded with the historian of that name.――The best edition of Pausanias is that of Khunius, folio, Lipscomb, 1696.――A Lacedæmonian, who wrote a partial account of his country.――A statuary of Apollonia, whose abilities were displayed in adorning Apollo’s temple at Delphi. Pausanias, bk. 10, ch. 9.――A king of Sparta, of the family of the Eurysthenidæ, who died 397 B.C., after a reign of 14 years.

♦ ‘Macedona’ replaced with ‘Macedonia’

Pausias, a painter of Sicyon, the first who understood how to apply colours to wood or ivory by means of fire. He made a beautiful painting of his mistress Glycere, whom he represented as sitting on the ground, and making garlands with flowers, and from this circumstance the picture, which was bought afterwards by Lucullus for two talents, received the name of Stephanoplocon. Some time after the death of Pausias, the Sicyonians were obliged to part with the pictures which they possessed to deliver themselves from an enormous debt, and Marcus Scaurus the Roman bought them all, in which were those of Pausias, to adorn the theatre, which had been built during his edileship. Pausias lived about 350 years before Christ. Pliny, bk. 35, ch. 11.

Pausily̆pus, a mountain near Naples, which receives its name from the beauty of its situation, (παυω λυπη, cessare facio dolor). The natives show there the tomb of Virgil, and regard it with the highest veneration. There were near some fish-ponds belonging to the emperor. The mountain is now famous for a subterraneous passage near half a mile in length, and 22 feet in breadth, which affords a safe and convenient passage to travellers. Statius, bk. 4, Sylvæ, poem 4, li. 52.—Pliny, bk. 9, ch. 53.—Strabo, bk. 5.—Seneca, ltrs. 5 & 57.

Pax, an allegorical divinity among the ancients. The Athenians raised her a statue, which represented her as holding Plutus the god of wealth in her lap, to intimate that peace gives rise to prosperity and to opulence; and they were the first who erected an altar to her honour after the victories obtained by Timotheus over the Lacedæmonian power, though Plutarch asserts it had been done after the conquests of Cimon over the Persians. She was represented among the Romans with the horn of plenty, and also carrying an olive branch in her hand. The emperor Vespasian built her a celebrated temple at Rome, which was consumed by fire in the reign of Commodus. It was customary for men of learning to assemble in that temple, and even to deposit their writings there, as in a place of the greatest security. Therefore when it was burnt, not only books, but also many valuable things, jewels, and immense treasures, were lost in the general conflagration. Cornelius Nepos, Timotheus, bk. 2.—Plutarch, Cimon.—Pausanias, bk. 9, ch. 16.

Paxos, a small island between Ithaca and the Echinades in the Ionian sea.

Peas, a shepherd, who, according to some, set on fire the pile on which Hercules was burnt. The hero gave him his bow and arrows. Apollodorus, bk. 2.

Pedæus, an illegitimate son of Antenor. Homer, Iliad, bk. 7.

Pedācia, a woman of whom Horace, bk. 1, satire 8, li. 39, speaks of as a contemptible character.

Pedāni. See: Pedum.

Pedānius, a prefect of Rome, killed by one of his slaves for having denied him his liberty, &c. Tacitus, Annals, bk. 14, ch. 42.

Pedasa (orum), a town of Caria, near Halicarnassus. Livy, bk. 33, ch. 30.

Pedăsus, a son of Bucolion the son of Laomedon. His mother was one of the Naiades. He was killed in the Trojan war by Euryalus. Homer, Iliad, bk. 6, li. 21.――One of the four horses of Achilles. As he was not immortal like the other three, he was killed by Sarpedon. Homer, Iliad, bk. 16.――A town near Pylos in the Peloponnesus.

Pediadis, a part of Bactriana, through which the Oxus flows. Polybius.

Pedias, the wife of Cranaus.

Pedius Blæsus, a Roman, accused by the people of Cyrene of plundering the temple of Æsculapius. He was condemned under Nero, &c. Tacitus, Annals, bk. 14, ch. 18.――A nephew of Julius Cæsar, who commanded one of his legions in Gaul, &c.――Poplicola, a lawyer in the age of Horace. His father was one of Julius Cæsar’s heirs, and became consul with Augustus after Pansa’s death.

Pedo, a lawyer, patronized by Domitian. Juvenal, satire 7, li. 129.――Albinovanus. See: Albinovanus.

Pedianus Asconius, flourished A.D. 76.

Pedum, a town of Latium, about 10 miles from Rome, conquered by Camillus. The inhabitants were called Pedani. Livy, bk. 2, ch. 39; bk. 8, chs. 13 & 14.—Horace, bk. 1, ltr. 4, li. 2.

Pegæ, a fountain at the foot of mount Arganthus in Bithynia, into which Hylas fell. Propertius, bk. 1, poem 20, li. 33.

Pegăsĭdes, a name given to the Muses from the horse Pegasus, or from the fountain which Pegasus had raised from the ground, by striking it with his foot. Ovid, Heroides, poem 15, li. 27.

Pēgăsis, a name given to Œnone by Ovid, Heroides, poem 5, because she was daughter of the river (πηγη) Cebrenus.

Pegăsium stagnum, a lake near Ephesus, which arose from the earth when Pegasus struck it with his foot.

Pegăsus, a winged horse sprung from the blood of Medusa, when Perseus had cut off her head. He received his name from his being born, according to Hesiod, near the sources (πηγη) of the ocean. As soon as born he left the earth, and flew up into heaven, or rather, according to Ovid, he fixed his residence on mount Helicon, where, by striking the earth with his foot, he instantly raised a fountain, which has been called Hippocrene. He became the favourite of the Muses; and being afterwards tamed by Neptune or Minerva, he was given to Bellerophon to conquer the Chimæra. No sooner was this fiery monster destroyed, than Pegasus threw down his rider, because he was a mortal, or rather, according to the more received opinion, because he attempted to fly to heaven. This act of temerity in Bellerophon was punished by Jupiter, who sent an insect to torment Pegasus, which occasioned the melancholy fall of his rider. Pegasus continued his flight up to heaven, and was placed among the constellations by Jupiter. Perseus, according to Ovid, was mounted on the horse Pegasus, when he destroyed the sea monster which was going to devour Andromeda. Hesiod, Theogony, li. 282.—Horace, bk. 4, ode 11, li. 20.—Homer, Iliad, bk. 6, li. 179.—Apollodorus, bk. 2, chs. 3 & 4.—Lycophron, li. 17.—Pausanias, bk. 12, chs. 3 & 4.—Ovid, Metamorphoses, bk. 4, li. 785.—Hyginus, fable 57.

Pelăgo, a eunuch, one of Nero’s favourites, &c. Tacitus, Annals, bk. 14, ch. 59.

Pelăgon, a man killed by a wild boar. Ovid, Metamorphoses, bk. 8, li. 360.――A son of Asopus and Metope.――A Phocian, one of whose men conducted Cadmus, and showed him where, according to the oracle, he was to build a city.

Pelagonia, one of the divisions of Macedonia at the north. Livy, bk. 26, ch. 25; bk. 31, ch. 28.

Pelarge, a daughter of Potneus, who re-established the worship of Ceres in Bœotia. She received divine honours after death. Pausanias, bk. 9, ch. 25.

Pelasgi, a people of Greece, supposed to be one of the most ancient in the world. They first inhabited Argolis in Peloponnesus, which from them received the name of Pelasgia, and about 1883 years before the christian era they passed into Æmonia, and were afterwards dispersed in several parts of Greece. Some of them fixed their habitation in Epirus, others in Crete, others in Italy, and others in Lesbos. From these different changes of situation in the Pelasgians, all the Greeks are indiscriminately called Pelasgians, and their country Pelasgia, though, more properly speaking, it should be confined to Thessaly, Epirus, and Peloponnesus, in Greece. Some of the Pelasgians, that had been driven from Attica, settled at Lemnos, where some time after they carried some Athenian women, whom they had seized in an expedition on the coast of Attica. They raised some children by these captive females, but they afterwards destroyed them with their mothers, through jealousy, because they differed in manners as well as language from them. This horrid murder was attended by a dreadful pestilence, and they were ordered, to expiate their crime, to do whatever the Athenians commanded them. This was to deliver their possessions into their hands. The Pelasgians seem to have received their name from Pelasgus, the first king and founder of their nation. Pausanias, bk. 8, ch. 1.—Strabo, bk. 5.—Herodotus, bk. 1.—Plutarch, Romulus.—Virgil, Æneid, bk. 1.—Ovid, Metamorphoses.—Flaccus.—Seneca, Medea & Agamemnon.

Pelasgia, or Pelasgiotis, a country of Greece, whose inhabitants are called Pelasgi or Pelasgiotæ. Every country of Greece, and all Greece in general, is indiscriminately called Pelasgia, though the name should be more particularly confined to a part of Thessaly, situate between the Peneus, the Aliacmon, and the Sperchius. The maritime borders of this part of Thessaly were afterwards called Magnesia, though the sea or its shore still retained the name of Pelasgicus Sinus, now the gulf of Volo. Pelasgia is also one of the ancient names of Epirus, as also of Peloponnesus. See: Pelasgi.

Pelasgus, a son of Terra, or, according to others, of Jupiter and Niobe, who reigned in Sicyon, and gave his name to the ancient inhabitants of Peloponnesus.

Pĕlēthrŏnii, an epithet given to the Lapithæ, because they inhabited the town of Pelethronium, at the foot of mount Pelion in Thessaly; or because one of their number bore the name of Pelethronius. It is to them that mankind is indebted for the invention of the bit with which they tamed their horses with so much dexterity. Virgil, Georgics, bk. 3, li. 115.—Ovid, Metamorphoses, bk. 12, li. 452.—Lucan, bk. 6, li. 387.

Peleus, a king of Thessaly, son of Æacus and Endeis the daughter of Chiron. He married Thetis, one of the Nereides, and was the only one among mortals who married an immortal. He was accessary to the death of his brother Phocus, and on that account he was obliged to leave his father’s dominions. He retired to the court of Eurytus the son of Actor, who reigned at Phthia, or according to the less received opinion of Ovid, he fled to Ceyx king of Trachinia. He was purified of his murder by Eurytus, with the usual ceremonies, and the monarch gave him his daughter Antigone in marriage. Some time after this Peleus and Eurytus went to the chase of the Calydonian boar, where the father-in-law was accidentally killed by an arrow which his son-in-law had aimed at the beast. This unfortunate event obliged him to banish himself from the court of Phthia, and he retired to Iolchos, where he was purified of the murder of Eurytus, by Acastus the king of the country. His residence at Iolchos was short; Astydamia the wife of Acastus became enamoured of him, and when she found him insensible to her passionate declaration, she accused him of attempts upon her virtue. The monarch partially believed the accusations of his wife, but not to violate the laws of hospitality, by putting him instantly to death, he ordered his officers to conduct him to mount Pelion, on pretence of hunting, and there to tie him to a tree, that he might become the prey of the wild beasts of the place. The orders of Acastus were faithfully obeyed; but Jupiter, who knew the innocence of his grandson Peleus, ordered Vulcan to set him at liberty. As soon as he had been delivered from danger, Peleus assembled his friends to punish the ill-treatment which he had received from Acastus. He forcibly took Iolchos, drove the king from his possessions, and put to death the wicked Astydamia. After the death of Antigone, Peleus courted Thetis, of whose superior charms Jupiter himself had been enamoured. His pretensions however, were rejected, and, as he was a mortal, the goddess fled from him with the greatest abhorrence; and the more effectually to evade his inquiries, she generally assumed the shape of a bird, or of a tree, or of a tigress. Peleus became more animated from her refusal; he offered a sacrifice to the gods, and Proteus informed him that to obtain Thetis he must surprise her while she was asleep in her grotto, near the shores of Thessaly. This advice was immediately followed, and Thetis, unable to escape from the grasp of Peleus, at last consented to marry him. Their nuptials were celebrated with the greatest solemnity, and all the gods attended, and made them each the most valuable presents. The goddess of discord was the only one of the deities who was not present, and she punished this seeming neglect by throwing an apple into the midst of the assembly of the gods, with the inscription of Detur pulchriori. See: Discordia. From the marriage of Peleus and Thetis was born Achilles, whose education was early entrusted to the Centaur Chiron, and afterwards to Phœnix the son of Amyntor. Achilles went to the Trojan war, at the head of his father’s troops, and Peleus gloried in having a son who was superior to all the Greeks in valour and intrepidity. The death of Achilles was the source of grief to Peleus; and Thetis, to comfort her husband, promised him immortality, and ordered him to retire into the grottos of the island of Leuce, where he would see and converse with the manes of his son. Peleus had a daughter called Polydora, by Antigone. Homer, Iliad, bk. 9, li. 482.—Euripides, Andromache.—Catullus, Marriage of Peleus and Thetis [poem 64].—Ovid, Heroides, poem 5; Fasti, bk. 2; Metamorphoses, bk. 11, fables 7 & 8.—Apollodorus, bk. 3, ch. 12.—Pausanias, bk. 2, ch. 29.—Diodorus, bk. 4.—Hyginus, fable 54.

Peliădes, the daughters of Pelias. See: Pelias.

Pelias, the twin brother of Neleus, was son of Neptune, by Tyro the daughter of Salmoneus. His birth was concealed from the world by his mother, who wished her father to be ignorant of her incontinence. He was exposed in the woods, but his life was preserved by shepherds, and he received the name of Pelias, from a spot of the colour of lead in his face. Some time after this adventure, Tyro married Cretheus, son of Æolus king of Iolchos, and became mother of three children, of whom Æson was the eldest. Meantime Pelias visited his mother, and was received in her family; and, after the death of Cretheus, he unjustly seized the kingdom, which belonged to the children of Tyro, by the deceased monarch. To strengthen himself in his usurpation, Pelias consulted the oracle, and when he was told to beware of one of the descendants of Æolus, who should come to his court with one foot shod, and the other bare, he privately removed the son of Æson, after he had publicly declared that he was dead. These precautions proved abortive. Jason the son of Æson, who had been educated by Chiron, returned to Iolchos, when arrived to years of maturity; and as he had lost one of his shoes in crossing the river Anaurus, or the Evenus, Pelias immediately perceived that this was the person whom he was advised so much to dread. His unpopularity prevented him from acting with violence against a stranger, whose uncommon dress and commanding aspect had raised admiration in his subjects. But his astonishment was excited when he saw Jason arrive at his palace, with his friends and his relations, and boldly demand the kingdom which he usurped. Pelias was conscious that his complaints were well founded, and therefore, to divert his attention, he told him that he would voluntarily resign the crown to him if he went to Colchis to avenge the death of Phryxus the son of Athamas, whom Æetes had cruelly murdered. He further observed that the expedition would be attended with the greatest glory, and that nothing but the infirmities of old age had prevented him himself from vindicating the honour of his country, and the injuries of his family by punishing the assassin. This, so warmly recommended, was as warmly accepted by the young hero, and his intended expedition was made known all over Greece. See: Jason. During the absence of Jason, in the Argonautic expedition, Pelias murdered Æson and all his family; but, according to the more received opinion of Ovid, Æson was still living when the Argonauts returned, and he was restored to the vigour of youth by the magic of Medea. This sudden change in the vigour and the constitution of Æson astonished all the inhabitants of Iolchos, and the daughters of Pelias, who had received the patronymic of Peliades, expressed their desire to see their father’s infirmities vanish by the same powerful arts. Medea, who wished to avenge the injuries which her husband Jason had received from Pelias, raised the desires of the Peliades, by cutting an old ram to pieces, and boiling the flesh in a cauldron, and afterwards turning it into a fine young lamb. After they had seen this successful experiment, the Peliades cut their father’s body to pieces, after they had drawn all the blood from his veins, on the assurance that Medea would replenish them by her incantations. The limbs were immediately put into a cauldron of boiling water, but Medea suffered the flesh to be totally consumed, and refused to give the Peliades the promised assistance, and the bones of Pelias did not even receive a burial. The Peliades were four in number, Alceste, Pisidice, Pelopea, and Hippothoe, to whom Hyginus adds Medusa. Their mother’s name was Anaxibia, the daughter of Bias, or Philomache, the daughter of Amphion. After this parricide, the Peliades fled to the court of Admetus, where Acastus the son-in-law of Pelias pursued them, and took their protector prisoner. The Peliades died, and were buried in Arcadia. Hyginus, fables 12, 13, & 14.—Ovid, Metamorphoses, bk. 7, fables 3 & 4; Heroides, poem 12, li. 129.—Pausanias, bk. 8, ch. 11.—Apollodorus, bk. 1, ch. 9.—Seneca, Medea.—Apollonius, Argonautica, bk. 1.—Pindar, Pythian, poem 4.—Diodorus, bk. 4.――A Trojan chief wounded by Ulysses during the Trojan war. He survived the ruin of his country, and followed the fortune of Æneas. Virgil, Æneid, bk. 2, li. 431.――The ship Argo is called Pelias arbor, built of the trees of mount Pelion.――The spear of Achilles. See: Pelion.

Pelīdes, a patronymic of Achilles, and of Pyrrhus, as being descended from Peleus. Virgil, Æneid, bk. 2, li. 264.

Pēligni, a people of Italy, who dwelt near the Sabines and Marsi, and had Corfinium and Sulmo for their chief towns. The most expert magicians were among the Peligni, according to Horace. Livy, bk. 8, chs. 6 & 29; bk. 9, ch. 41.—Ovid, ex Ponto, bk. 1, poem 8, li. 42.—Strabo, bk. 5.—Horace, bk. 3, ode 19, li. 8.

Pelignus, a friend of the emperor Claudius, made governor of Cappadocia. Tacitus, Annals, bk. 12, ch. 49.

Pelinæus, a mountain of Chios.

Pelinnæum, or Pelinna, a town of Macedonia. Strabo, bk. 14.—Livy, bk. 36, chs. 10 & 14.

Pelion and Pelios, a celebrated mountain of Thessaly, whose top is covered with pine trees. In their wars against the gods, the giants, as the poets mention, placed mount Ossa upon Pelion, to scale the heavens with more facility. The celebrated spear of Achilles, which none but the hero could wield, had been cut down on this mountain, and was thence called Pelias. It was a present from his preceptor Chiron, who, like the other Centaurs, had fixed his residence here. Ovid, Metamorphoses, bk. 1, li. 155; bk. 13, li. 199.—Mela, bk. 2, ch. 3.—Strabo, bk. 9.—Virgil, Georgics, bk. 1, li. 281; bk. 3, li. 94.—Seneca, Hercules & Medea.

Pelium, a town of Macedonia. Livy, bk. 31, ch. 40.

Pella, a celebrated town of Macedonia, on the Ludias, not far from the Sinus Thermaicus, which became the capital of the country after the ruin of Edessa. Philip king of Macedonia was educated there, and Alexander the Great was born there, whence he is often called Pellæus juvenis. The tomb of the poet Euripides was in the neighbourhood. The epithet Pellæus is often applied to Egypt or Alexandria, because the Ptolemies, kings of the country, were of Macedonian origin. Martial, bk. 13, ltr. 85.—Lucan, bk. 5, li. 60; bk. 8, lis. 475 & 607; bk. 9, lis. 1016 & 1073; bk. 10, li. 55.—Mela, bk. 2, ch. 3.—Strabo, bk. 7.—Livy, bk. 42, ch. 41.

Pellāne, a town of Laconia, with a fountain whose waters have a subterraneous communication with the waters of another fountain. Pausanias, bk. 3, ch. 21.—Strabo, bk. 8.

Pellēne, a town of Achaia, in the Peloponnesus, at the west of Sicyon, famous for its wool. It was built by the giant Pallas, or, according to others, by Pellen of Argos, son of Phorbas, and was the country of Proteus the sea-god. Strabo, bk. 8.—Pausanias, bk. 7, ch. 26.—Livy, bk. 33, ch. 14.

Pĕlŏpēa, or Pĕlŏpīa, a daughter of Thyestes the brother of Atreus. She had a son by her father, who had offered her violence in a wood, without knowing that she was his own daughter. Some suppose that Thyestes purposely committed the incest, as the oracle had informed him that his wrongs should be avenged, and his brother destroyed, by a son who should be born from him and his daughter. This proved too true. Pelopea afterwards married her uncle Atreus, who kindly received in his house his wife’s illegitimate child, called Ægysthus, because preserved by goats (αἰγες) when exposed in the mountains. Ægysthus became his uncle’s murderer. See: Ægysthus. Hyginus, fable 87, &c.—Ælian, Varia Historia, bk. 12.—Ovid, Ibis, li. 359.—Seneca, Agamemnon.

Pelŏpēia, a festival observed by the people of Elis in honour of Pelops. It was kept in imitation of Hercules, who sacrificed to Pelops in a trench, as it was usual, when the manes and the infernal gods were the objects of worship.

Pelŏpīa, a daughter of Niobe.――A daughter of Pelias.――The mother of Cycnus.

Pelopĭdas, a celebrated general of Thebes, son of Hippoclus. He was descended of an illustrious family, and was remarkable for his immense possessions, which he bestowed with great liberality to the poor and necessitous. Many were the objects of his generosity; but when Epaminondas had refused to accept his presents, Pelopidas disregarded all his wealth, and preferred before it the enjoyment of his friend’s conversation and of his poverty. From their friendship and intercourse the Thebans derived the most considerable advantages. No sooner had the interest of Sparta prevailed at Thebes, and the friends of liberty and national independence been banished from the city, than Pelopidas, who was in the number of the exiles, resolved to free his country from foreign slavery. His plan was bold and animated, and his deliberations were slow. Meanwhile Epaminondas, who had been left by the tyrants at Thebes, as being in appearance a worthless and insignificant philosopher, animated the youths of the city, and at last Pelopidas, with 11 of his associates, entered Thebes, and easily massacred the friends of the tyranny, and freed the country from foreign masters. After this successful enterprise, Pelopidas was unanimously placed at the head of the government; and so confident were the Thebans of his abilities as a general and a magistrate, that they successively re-elected him 13 times to fill the honourable office of governor of Bœotia. Epaminondas shared with him the sovereign power, and it was to their valour and prudence that the Thebans were indebted for a celebrated victory at the battle of Leuctra. In a war which Thebes carried on against Alexander tyrant of Pheræ, Pelopidas was appointed commander; but his imprudence, in trusting himself unarmed into the enemy’s camp, nearly proved fatal to him. He was taken prisoner, but Epaminondas restored him to liberty. The perfidy of Alexander irritated him, and he was killed bravely fighting in a celebrated battle in which his troops obtained the victory, B.C. 364 years. He received an honourable burial. The Thebans showed their sense for his merit by their lamentations; they sent a powerful army to revenge his death on the destruction of the tyrant of Pheræ; and his relations and his children were presented with immense donations by the cities of Thessaly. Pelopidas is admired for his valour, as he never engaged an enemy without obtaining the advantage. The impoverished state of Thebes before his birth, and after his fall, plainly demonstrates the superiority of his genius and of his abilities; and it has been justly observed, that with Pelopidas and Epaminondas the glory and the independence of the Thebans rose and set. Plutarch & Cornelius Nepos, Lives.—Xenophon, Hellenica.—Diodorus, bk. 15.—Polybius.

Peloponnesiăcum bellum, a celebrated war which continued for 27 years between the Athenians and the inhabitants of Peloponnesus with their respective allies. It is the most famous and the most interesting of all the wars which have happened between the inhabitants of Greece; and for the minute and circumstantial description which we have of the events and revolutions which mutual animosity produced, we are indebted more particularly to the correct and authentic writings of Thucydides and of Xenophon. The circumstances which gave birth to this memorable war are these. The power of Athens, under the prudent and vigorous administration of Pericles, was already extended over Greece, and it had procured itself many admirers and more enemies, when the Corcyreans, who had been planted by a Corinthian colony, refused to pay their founders those marks of respect and reverence which among the Greeks every colony was obliged to pay to its mother country. The Corinthians wished to punish that infidelity; and when the people of Epidamnus, a considerable town on the Adriatic, had been invaded by some of the barbarians of Illyricum, the people of Corinth gladly granted to the Epidamnians that assistance which had in vain been solicited from the Corcyreans, their founders and their patrons. The Corcyreans were offended at the interference of Corinth in the affairs of their colony; they manned a fleet, and obtained a victory over the Corinthian vessels which had assisted the Epidamnians. The subsequent conduct of the Corcyreans, and their insolence to some of the Elians, who had furnished a few ships to the Corinthians, provoked the Peloponnesians, and the discontent became general. Ambassadors were sent by both parties to Athens to claim its protection, and to justify these violent proceedings. The greatest part of the Athenians heard their various reasonings with moderation and with compassion; but the enterprising ambition of Pericles prevailed, and when the Corcyreans had reminded the people of Athens, that in all the states of Peloponnesus they had to dread the most malevolent enemies, and the most insidious of rivals, they were listened to with attention, and were promised support. This step was no sooner taken, than the Corinthians appealed to the other Grecian states, and particularly to the Lacedæmonians. Their complaints were accompanied by those of the people of Megara and of Ægina, who bitterly inveighed against the cruelty, injustice, and insolence of the Athenians. This had due weight with the Lacedæmonians, who had long beheld with concern and with jealousy the ambitious power of the Athenians, and they determined to support the cause of the Corinthians. However, before they proceeded to hostilities, an embassy was sent to Athens, to represent the danger of entering into a war with the most powerful and flourishing of all the Grecian states. This alarmed the Athenians, but when Pericles had eloquently spoken of the resources and the actual strength of the republic, and of the weakness of the allies, the clamours of his enemies were silenced, and the answer which was returned to the Spartans was taken as a declaration of war. The Spartans were supported by all the republics of the Peloponnesus, except Argos and part of Achaia, besides the people of Megara, Bœotia, Phocis, Locris, Leucas, Ambracia, and Anactorium. The Platæans, the Lesbians, Carians, Chians, Messenians, Acarnanians, Zacynthians, Corcyreans, Dorians, and Thracians, were the friends of the Athenians, with all the Cyclades, except Eubœa, Samos, Melos, and Thera. The first blow had already been struck, May 7, B.C. 431, by an attempt of the Bœotians to ♦surprise Platæa; and therefore Archidamus king of Sparta, who had in vain recommended moderation to the allies, entered Attica at the head of an army of 60,000 men, and laid waste the country by fire and sword. Pericles, who was at the head of the government, did not attempt to oppose them in the field; but a fleet of 150 ships set sail, without delay, to ravage the coasts of the Peloponnesus. Megara was also depopulated by an army of 20,000 men, and the campaign of the first year of the war was concluded in celebrating, with the most solemn pomp, the funerals of such as had nobly fallen in battle. The following year was remarkable for a pestilence which raged in Athens, and which destroyed the greatest part of the inhabitants. The public calamity was still heightened by the approach of the Peloponnesian army on the borders of Attica, and by the ♠unsuccessful expedition of the Athenians against Epidaurus and in Thrace. The pestilence which had carried away so many of the Athenians proved also fatal to Pericles, and he died about two years and six months after the commencement of the Peloponnesian war. The following years did not give rise to decisive events; but the revolt of Lesbos from the alliance of the Athenians was productive of fresh troubles. Mitylene the capital of the island was recovered, and the inhabitants treated with the greatest cruelty. The island of Corcyra became also the seat of new seditions, and those citizens who had been carried away prisoners by the Corinthians, and for political reasons treated with lenity, and taught to despise the alliance of Athens, were no sooner returned home, than they raised commotions and endeavoured to persuade their countrymen to join the Peloponnesian confederates. This was strongly opposed; but both parties obtained by turns the superiority, and massacred, with the greatest barbarity, all those who obstructed their views. Some time after Demosthenes the Athenian general invaded Ætolia, where his arms were attended with the greatest success. He also fortified Pylos in the Peloponnesus, and gained so many advantages over the confederates, that they sued for peace, which the insolence of Athens refused. The fortune of the war soon after changed, and the Lacedæmonians, under the prudent conduct of Brasidas, made themselves masters of many valuable places in Thrace. But this victorious progress was soon stopped by the death of their general, and that of Cleon the Athenian commander; and the pacific disposition of Nicias, who was now at the head of Athens, made overtures of peace and universal tranquillity. Plistoanax the king of the Spartans wished them to be accepted; but the intrigues of the Corinthians prevented the discontinuation of the war, and therefore hostilities began anew. But while war was carried on with various success in different parts of Greece, the Athenians engaged in a new expedition; they yielded to the persuasive eloquence of Gorgias of Leontium, and the ambitious views of Alcibiades, and sent a fleet of 20 ships to assist the Sicilian states against the tyrannical power of Syracuse, B.C. 416. This was warmly opposed by Nicias; but the eloquence of Alcibiades prevailed, and a powerful fleet was sent against the capital of Sicily. These vigorous though impolitic measures of the Athenians were not viewed with indifference by the confederates. Syracuse, in her distress, implored the assistance of Corinth, and Gylippus was sent to direct her operations, and to defend her against the power of her enemies. The events of battles were dubious, and though the Athenian army was animated by the prudence and intrepidity of Nicias, and the more hasty courage of Demosthenes, yet the good fortune of Syracuse prevailed; and after a campaign of two years of bloodshed, the fleets of Athens were totally ruined, and the few soldiers that survived the destructive siege, made prisoners of war. So fatal a blow threw the people of Attica into consternation and despair, and while they sought for resources at home, they severely felt themselves deprived of support abroad, their allies were alienated by the intrigues of the enemy, and rebellion was fomented in their dependent states and colonies on the Asiatic coast. The threatened ruin, however, was timely averted, and Alcibiades, who had been treated with cruelty by his countrymen, and who had for some time resided in Sparta, and directed her military operations, now exerted himself to defeat the designs of the confederates, by inducing the Persians to espouse the cause of his country. But in a short time after, the internal tranquillity of Athens was disturbed, and Alcibiades, by wishing to abolish the democracy, called away the attention of his fellow-citizens from the prosecution of a war which had already cost them so much blood. This, however, was but momentary; the Athenians soon after obtained a naval victory, and the Peloponnesian fleet was defeated by Alcibiades. The Athenians beheld with rapture the success of their arms; but when their fleet, in the absence of Alcibiades, had been defeated and destroyed near Andros by Lysander the Lacedæmonian admiral, they showed their discontent and mortification by eagerly listening to the accusations which were brought against their naval leader, to whom they gratefully had acknowledged themselves indebted for their former victories. Alcibiades was disgraced in the public assembly, and 10 commanders were appointed to succeed him in the management of the republic. This change of admirals, and the appointment of Callicratidas to succeed Lysander, whose office had expired with the revolving year, produced new operations. The Athenians fitted out a fleet, and the two nations decided their superiority near Arginusæ, in a naval battle. Callicratidas was killed, and the Lacedæmonians conquered, but the rejoicings which the intelligence of this victory occasioned were soon stopped, when it was known that the wrecks of some of the disabled ships of the Athenians, and the bodies of the slain, had not been saved from the sea. The admirals were accused in the tumultuous assembly, and immediately condemned. Their successors in office were not so prudent, but they were more unfortunate in their operations. Lysander was again placed at the head of the Peloponnesian forces, instead of Eteonicus, who had succeeded to the command at the death of Callicratidas. The age and the experience of this general seemed to promise something decisive, and indeed an opportunity was not long wanting for the display of his military character. The superiority of the Athenians over that of the Peloponnesians, rendered the former insolent, proud, and negligent, and when they had imprudently forsaken their ships to indulge their indolence, or pursue their amusements on the sea-shore at Ægospotamus, Lysander attacked their fleet, and his victory was complete. Of 180 sail, only nine escaped, eight of which fled, under the command of Conon, to the island of Cyprus, and the other carried to Athens the melancholy news of the defeat. The Athenian prisoners were all massacred; and when the Peloponnesian conquerors had extended their dominion over the states and communities of Europe and Asia, which formerly acknowledged the power of Athens, they returned home to finish the war by the reduction of the capital of Attica. The siege was carried on with vigour, and supported with firmness, and the first Athenian who mentioned capitulation to his countrymen, was instantly sacrificed to the fury and the indignation of the populace, and all the citizens unanimously declared, that the same moment would terminate their independence and their lives. This animated language, however, was not long continued; the spirit of faction was not yet extinguished at Athens; and it proved, perhaps, more destructive to the public liberty, than the operations and assaults of the Peloponnesian besiegers. During four months, negotiations were carried on with the Spartans by the aristocratical part of the Athenians, and at last it was agreed that to establish the peace, the fortifications of the Athenian harbours must be demolished, together with the long walls which joined them to the city; all their ships, except 12, were to be surrendered to the enemy; they were to resign every pretension to their ancient dominions abroad; to recall from banishment all the members of the late aristocracy; to follow the Spartans in war, and, in the time of peace, to frame their constitution according to the will and the prescriptions of their Peloponnesian conquerors. The terms were accepted, and the enemy entered the harbour, and took possession of the city, that very day on which the Athenians had been accustomed to celebrate the anniversary of the immortal victory which their ancestors had obtained over the Persians about 76 years before, near the island of Salamis. The walls and fortifications were instantly levelled with the ground, and the conquerors observed, that in the demolition of Athens, succeeding ages would fix the era of Grecian freedom. The day was concluded with a festival, and the recitation of one of the tragedies of Euripides, in which the misfortunes of the daughter of Agamemnon, who was reduced to misery, and banished from her father’s kingdom, excited a kindred sympathy in the bosom of the audience, who melted into tears at the recollection that one moment had likewise reduced to misery and servitude the capital of Attica, which was once called the common patroness of Greece, and the scourge of Persia. This memorable event happened about 404 years before the christian era, and 30 tyrants were appointed by Lysander over the government of the city. Xenophon, Hellenica.—Plutarch, Lysander, Pericles, Alcibiades, Nicias, & Agesilaus.—Diodorus, bk. 11, &c.—Aristophanes.—Thucydides.—Plato.—Aristotle.—Lycias.—Isocrates.—Cornelius Nepos, Lysander, Alcibiades, &c.—Cicero, De Officiis, bk. 1, ch. 24.

♦ ‘supprise’ replaced with ‘surprise’

♠ ‘unsuccesful’ replaced with ‘unsuccessful’

Peloponnēsus, a celebrated peninsula which comprehends the most southern parts of Greece. It received its name from Pelops, who settled there, as the name indicates (πηλοπος νησος, the island of Pelops). It had been called before Argia, Pelasgia, and Argolis, and in its form, it has been observed by the moderns, highly to resemble the leaf of the plane tree. Its present name is Morea, which seems to be derived either from the Greek word μορεα, or the Latin morus, which signifies a mulberry tree, which is found there in great abundance. The ancient Peloponnesus was divided into six different provinces, Messenia, Laconia, Elis, Arcadia, Achaia propria, and Argolis, to which some add Sicyon. These provinces all bordered on the sea-shore, except Arcadia. The Peloponnesus was conquered, some time after the Trojan war, by the Heraclidæ or descendants of Hercules, who had been forcibly expelled from it. The inhabitants of this peninsula rendered themselves illustrious, like the rest of the Greeks, by their genius, their fondness for the fine arts, the cultivation of learning, and the profession of arms, but in nothing more than by a celebrated war, which they carried on against Athens and her allies for 27 years, and which from them received the name of the Peloponnesian war. See: Peloponnesiacum bellum. The Peloponnesus scarce extended 200 miles in length, and 140 in breadth, and about 563 miles in circumference. It was separated from Greece by the narrow isthmus of Corinth, which, as being only five miles broad, Demetrius, Cæsar, Nero, and some others, attempted in vain to cut, to make a communication between the bay of Corinth, and the Saronicus sinus. Strabo, bk. 8.—Thucydides.—Diodorus, bk. 12, &c.—Pausanias, bk. 3, ch. 21; bk. 8, ch. 1.—Mela, bk. 2, ch. 3.—Pliny, bk. 4, ch. 6.—Herodotus, bk. 8, ch. 40.

Pelopēa mœnia, is applied to the cities of Greece, but more particularly to Mycenæ and Argos, where the descendants of Pelops reigned. Virgil, Æneid, bk. 2, li. 193.

Pelops, a celebrated prince, son of Tantalus king of Phrygia. His mother’s name was Euryanassa, or, according to others, Euprytone, or Eurystemista, or Dione. He was murdered by his father, who wished to try the divinity of the gods who had visited Phrygia, by placing on their table the limbs of his son. The gods perceived his perfidious cruelty, and they refused to touch the meat, except Ceres, whom the recent loss of her daughter had rendered melancholy and inattentive. She ate one of the shoulders of Pelops, and therefore, when Jupiter had compassion on his fate, and restored him to life, he placed a shoulder of ivory instead of that which Ceres had devoured. This shoulder had an uncommon power, and it could heal by its very touch every complaint, and remove every disorder. Some time after, the kingdom of Tantalus was invaded by Tros king of Troy, on pretence that he had carried away his son Ganymedes. This rape had been committed by Jupiter himself; the war, nevertheless, was carried on, and Tantalus, defeated and ruined, was obliged to fly with his son Pelops, and to seek a shelter in Greece. This tradition is confuted by some, who support that Tantalus did not fly into Greece, as he had been some time before confined by Jupiter in the infernal regions for his impiety, and therefore Pelops was the only one whom the enmity of Tros persecuted. Pelops came to Pisa, where he became one of the suitors of Hippodamia the daughter of king Œnomaus, and he entered the lists against the father, who promised his daughter only to him who could outrun him in a chariot race. Pelops was not terrified at the fate of the 13 lovers, who before him had entered the course against Œnomaus, and had, according to the conditions proposed, been put to death when conquered. He previously bribed Myrtilus the charioteer of Œnomaus, and therefore he easily obtained the victory. See: Œnomaus. He married Hippodamia, and threw headlong into the sea Myrtilus, when he claimed the reward of his perfidy. According to some authors, Pelops had received some winged horses from Neptune, with which he was enabled to outrun Œnomaus. When he had established himself on the throne of Pisa, Hippodamia’s possession, he extended his conquests over the neighbouring countries, and from him the peninsula, of which he was one of the monarchs, received the name of Peloponnesus. Pelops, after death, received divine honours, and he was as much revered above all the other heroes of Greece, as Jupiter was above the rest of the gods. He had a temple at Olympia, near that of Jupiter, where Hercules consecrated to him a small portion of land, and offered to him a sacrifice. The place where this sacrifice had been offered was religiously observed, and the magistrates of the country yearly, on coming upon office, made there an offering of a black ram. During the sacrifice, the soothsayer was not allowed, as at other times, to have a share of the victim, but he alone who furnished the wood was permitted to take the neck. The wood for sacrifices, as may be observed, was always furnished by some of the priests to all such as offered victims, and they received a price equivalent to what they gave. The white poplar was generally used in the sacrifices made to Jupiter and to Pelops. The children of Pelops by Hippodamia were Pitheus, Trœzen, Atreus, Thyestes, &c., besides some by concubines. The time of his death is unknown, though it is universally agreed that he survived for some time Hippodamia. Some suppose that the Palladium of the Trojans was made with the bones of Pelops. His descendants were called Pelopidæ. Pindar, who, in his first Olympic, speaks of Pelops, confutes the traditions of his ivory shoulder, and says that Neptune took him up to heaven to become the cup-bearer to the gods, from which he was expelled, when the impiety of Tantalus wished to make mankind partake of the nectar and the entertainments of the gods. Some suppose that Pelops first instituted the Olympic games in honour of Jupiter, and to commemorate the victory which he had obtained over Œnomaus. Pausanias, bk. 5, ch. 1, &c.—Apollodorus, bk. 2, ch. 5.—Euripides, Iphigeneia.—Diodorus, bk. 3.—Strabo, bk. 8.—Mela, bk. 1, ch. 18.—Pindar, Olympian, bk. 1.—Virgil, Georgics, bk. 3, li. 7.—Ovid, Metamorphoses, bk. 6, li. 404, &c.—Hyginus, fables 9, 82, & 83.

Pelor, one of the men who sprang from the teeth of the dragon killed by Cadmus. Pausanias, bk. 9, ch. 5.

Peloria, a festival observed by the Thessalians, in commemoration of the news which they received by one Pelorious, that the mountains of Tempe had been separated by an earthquake, and that the waters of the lake which lay there stagnated, had found a passage into the Alpheus, and left behind a vast, pleasant, and most delightful plain, &c. Athenæus, bk. 3.

Pelōrus (v. is-dis, v. ias-iados), now Cape Faro, one of the three great promontories of Sicily, on whose top is erected a tower to direct the sailor on his voyage. It lies near the coast of Italy, and received its name from Pelorus, the pilot of the ship which carried away Annibal from Italy. This celebrated general, as it is reported, was carried by the tides into the straits of Charybdis, and as he was ignorant of the coast, he asked the pilot of his ship the name of the promontory, which appeared at a distance. The pilot told him it was one of the capes of Sicily, but Annibal gave no credit to his information, and murdered him on the spot, on the apprehension that he would betray him into the hands of the Romans. He was, however, soon convinced of his error, and found that the pilot had spoken with great fidelity; and therefore, to pay honour to his memory, and to atone for his cruelty, he gave him a magnificent funeral, and ordered that the promontory should bear his name, and from that time it was called Pelorus. Some suppose that this account is false, and they observe that it bore that name before the age of Annibal. Valerius Maximus, bk. 9, ch. 8.—Mela, bk. 2, ch. 7.—Strabo, bk. 5.—Virgil, Æneid, bk. 3, lis. 411 & 687.—Ovid, Metamorphoses, bk. 5, li. 350; bk. 13, li. 727; bk. 15, li. 706.

Peltæ, a town of Phrygia.

Pelūsium, now Tineh, a town of Egypt, situate at the entrance of one of the mouths of the Nile, called from it Pelusian. It is about 20 stadia from the sea, and it has received the name of Pelusium from the lakes and marshes (♦πυλος) which are in its neighbourhood. It was the key of Egypt on the side of Phœnicia, as it was impossible to enter the Egyptian territories without passing by Pelusium, and therefore on that account it was always well fortified and garrisoned, as it was of such importance for the security of the country. It produced lentils, and was celebrated for the linen stuffs made there. It is now in ruins. Mela, bk. 2, ch. 9.—Columella, bk. 5, ch. 10.—Silius Italicus, bk. 3, li. 25.—Lucan, bk. 8, li. 466; bk. 9, li. 83; bk. 10, li. 53.—Livy, bk. 44, ch. 19; bk. 45, ch. 11.—Strabo, bk. 17.—Virgil, Georgics, bk. 1, li. 228.

♦ ‘πμλος’ replaced with ‘πυλος’

Pĕnātes, certain inferior deities among the Romans, who presided over houses and the domestic affairs of families. They were called Penates, because they were generally placed in the innermost and most secret parts of the house, in Penitissimâ ædium parte, quod, as Cicero says, penitus insident. The place ♦where they stood was afterwards called penetralia, and they themselves received the name of Penetrales. It was in the option of every master of a family to choose his Penates, and therefore Jupiter, and some of the superior gods, are often invoked as patrons of domestic affairs. According to some, the gods Penates were divided into four classes; the first comprehended all the celestial, the second the sea-gods, the third the gods of hell, and the last all such heroes as had received divine honours after death. The Penates were originally the manes of the dead, but when superstition had taught mankind to pay uncommon reverence to the statues and images of their deceased friends, their attention was soon exchanged for regular worship, and they were admitted by their votaries to share immortality and power over the world, with a Jupiter or a Minerva. The statues of the Penates were generally made with wax, ivory, silver, or earth, according to the affluence of the worshipper, and the only offerings they received were wine, incense, fruits, and sometimes the sacrifice of lambs, sheep, goats, &c. In the early ages of Rome, human sacrifices were offered to them; but Brutus, who expelled the Tarquins, abolished this unnatural custom. When offerings were made to them, their statues were crowned with garlands, poppies, or garlic, and besides the monthly day that was set apart for their worship, their festivals were celebrated during the Saturnalia. Some have confounded the Lares and the Penates, but they were different. Cicero, de Natura Deorum, bk. 2, ch. 27; Against Verres, bk. 2.—Dionysius of Halicarnassus, bk. 1.

♦ ‘were’ replaced with ‘where’

Pendalium, a promontory of Cyprus.

Pēneia, or Penēis, an epithet applied to Daphne, as daughter of Peneus. Ovid, Metamorphoses, bk. 1, li. 452.

Penelius, one of the Greeks killed in the Trojan war. Homer, Iliad, bk. 2, li. 494.――A son of Hippalmus among the Argonauts.

Pēnĕlŏpe, a celebrated princess of Greece, daughter of Icarius, and wife of Ulysses king of Ithaca. Her marriage with Ulysses was celebrated about the same time that Menelaus married Helen, and she retired with her husband to Ithaca, against the inclination of her father, who wished to detain her at Sparta, her native country. She soon after became mother of Telemachus, and was obliged to part with great reluctance from her husband, whom the Greeks obliged to go to the Trojan war. See: Palamedes. The continuation of hostilities for 10 years made her sad and melancholy; but when Ulysses did not return like the other princes of Greece at the conclusion of the war, her fears and her anxieties were increased. As she received no intelligence of his situation, she was soon beset by a number of importuning suitors, who wished her to believe that her husband was shipwrecked, and that therefore, she ought no longer to expect his return, but forget his loss, and fix her choice and affections on one of her numerous admirers. She received their addresses with coldness and disdain; but as she was destitute of power, and a prisoner, as it were, in their hands, she yet flattered them with hopes and promises, and declared that she would make choice of one of them, as soon as she had finished a piece of tapestry, on which she was employed. The work was done in a dilatory manner, and she baffled their eager expectations, by undoing in the night what she had done in the daytime. This artifice of Penelope has given rise to the proverb of Penelope’s web, which is applied to whatever labour can never be ended. The return of Ulysses, after an absence of 20 years, however, delivered her from her fears and from her dangerous suitors. Penelope is described by Homer as a model of female virtue and chastity, but some more modern writers dispute her claims to modesty and continence, and they represent her as the most debauched and voluptuous of her sex. According to their opinions, therefore, she liberally gratified the desires of her suitors, in the absence of her husband, and had a son whom she called Pan, as if to show that he was the offspring of all her admirers. Some, however, suppose that Pan was son of Penelope by Mercury, and that he was born before his mother’s marriage with Ulysses. The god, as it is said, deceived Penelope, under the form of a beautiful goat, as she was tending her father’s flocks on one of the mountains of Arcadia. After the return of Ulysses, Penelope had a daughter, who was called Ptoliporthe; but if we believe the traditions that were long preserved at Mantinea, Ulysses repudiated his wife for her incontinence during his absence, and Penelope fled to Sparta, and afterwards to Mantinea, where she died and was buried. After the death of Ulysses, according to Hyginus, she married Telegonus, her husband’s son by Circe, by order of the goddess Minerva. Some say that her original name was Arnea, or Amirace, and that she was called Penelope, when some river birds called Penelopes had saved her from the waves of the sea, when her father had exposed her. Icarius had attempted to destroy her, because the oracles had told him that his daughter by Peribœa would be the most dissolute of her sex, and a disgrace to his family. Apollodorus, bk. 3, ch. 10.—Pausanias, bk. 3, ch. 12.—Homer, Iliad & Odyssey.—Ovid, Heroides, poem 1; Metamorphoses.—Aristotle, History of Animals, bk. 8.—Hyginus, fable 127.—Aristophanes, The Birds.—Pliny, bk. 37.

Pēneus, a river of Thessaly, rising on mount Pindus, and falling into the Thermean gulf, after a wandering course between mount Ossa and Olympus, through the plains of Tempe. It received its name from Peneus, a son of Oceanus and Tethys. The Peneus anciently inundated the plains of Thessaly, till an earthquake separated the mountains Ossa and Olympus, and formed the beautiful vale of Tempe, where the waters formerly stagnated. From this circumstance, therefore, it obtained the name of Arexes, ab ἀρασσω, scindo. Daphne the daughter of the Peneus, according to the fables of the mythologists, was changed into a laurel on the banks of this river. This tradition arises from the quantity of laurels which grow near the Peneus. Ovid, Metamorphoses, bk. 1, li. 452, &c.—Strabo, bk. 9.—Mela, bk. 2, ch. 3.—Virgil, Georgics, bk. 4, li. 317.—Diodorus, bk. 4.――Also a small river of Elis in Peloponnesus, better known under the name of Araxes. Pausanias, bk. 6, ch. 24.—Strabo, bks. 8 & 11.

Penidas, one of Alexander’s friends, who went to examine Scythia under pretence of an embassy. Curtius, bk. 6, ch. 6.

Penīnæ alpes, a certain part of the Alps. Livy, bk. 21, ch. 38.

Pentapŏlis, a town of India.――A part of Africa near Cyrene. It received this name on account of the five cities which it contained, Cyrene, Arsinoe, Berenice, Ptolemais, or Barce, and Apollonia. Pliny, bk. 5, ch. 5.――Also part of Palestine, containing the five cities of Gaza, Gath, Ascalon, Azotus, and Ekron.

Pentelĭcus, a mountain of Attica, where were found quarries of beautiful marble. Strabo, bk. 9.—Pausanias, bk. 1, ch. 32.

Penthesĭlēa, a queen of the Amazons, daughter of Mars by Otrera, or Orithya. She came to assist Priam in the last years of the Trojan war, and fought against Achilles, by whom she was slain. The hero was so struck with the beauty of Penthesilea, when he stripped her of her arms, that he even shed tears for having too violently sacrificed her to his fury. Thersites laughed at the partiality of the hero, for which ridicule he was instantly killed. Lycophron says that Achilles slew Thersites because he had put out the eyes of Penthesilea when she was yet alive. The scholiast of Lycophron differs from that opinion, and declares, that it was commonly believed that Achilles offered violence to the body of Penthesilea when she was dead, and that Thersites was killed because he had reproached the hero for this infamous action, in the presence of all the Greeks. The death of Thersites so offended Diomedes that he dragged the body of Penthesilea out of the camp, and threw it into the Scamander. It is generally supposed that Achilles was enamoured of the Amazon before he fought with her, and that she had by him a son called Cayster. Dictys Cretensis, bks. 3 & 4.—Pausanias, bk. 10, ch. 31.—Quintus Calaber [Smyrnæus], bk. 1.—Virgil, Æneid, bk. 1, li. 495; bk. 11, li. 662.—Dares Phrygius.—Lycophron, Cassandra, li. 995, &c.—Hyginus, fable 112.

Pentheus, son of Echion and Agave, was king of Thebes in Bœotia. His refusal to acknowledge the divinity of Bacchus was attended with the most fatal consequences. He forbade his subjects to pay adoration to this new god; and when the Theban women had gone out of the city to celebrate the orgies of Bacchus, Pentheus, apprised of the debauchery which attended the solemnity, ordered the god himself, who conducted the religious multitude, to be seized. His orders were obeyed with reluctance, but when the doors of the prison in which Bacchus had been confined opened of their own accord, Pentheus became more irritated, and commanded his soldiers to destroy the whole band of the bacchanals. This, however, was not executed, for Bacchus inspired the monarch with the ardent desire of seeing the celebration of the orgies. Accordingly, he hid himself in a wood on mount Cithæron, from whence he could see all the ceremonies unperceived. But here his curiosity soon proved fatal; he was descried by the bacchanals, and they all rushed upon him. His mother was the first who attacked him, and her example was instantly followed by her two sisters, Ino and Autonoe, and his body was torn to pieces. Euripides introduces Bacchus among his priestesses, when Pentheus was put to death; but Ovid, who relates the whole in the same manner, differs from the Greek poet only in saying, that not Bacchus himself, but one of his priests, was present. The tree on which the bacchanals found Pentheus, was cut down by the Corinthians, by order of the oracle, and with it two statues of the god of wine were made, and placed in their forum. Hyginus, fable 184.—Theocritus, poem 26.—Ovid, Metamorphoses, bk. 3, fables 7, 8, & 9.—Virgil, Æneid, bk. 4, li. 469.—Pausanias, bk. 2, ch. 5.—Apollodorus, bk. 3, ch. 5.—Euripides, Bacchæ.—Seneca, Phœnissæ & Hippolytus.

Penthĭlus, a son of Orestes by Erigone the daughter of Ægysthus, who reigned conjointly with his brother Tisamenus at Argos. He was driven some time after from his throne by the Heraclidæ, and he retired to Achaia, and thence to Lesbos, where he planted a colony. Pausanias, bk. 5, ch. 4.—Strabo, bk. 13.—Paterculus bk. 1, ch. 1.

Penthylus, a prince of Paphos, who assisted Xerxes with 12 ships. He was seized by the Greeks, to whom he communicated many important things concerning the situation of the Persians, &c. Herodotus, bk. 7, ch. 195.

Pepărēthos, a small island of the Ægean sea, on the coast of Macedonia, about 20 miles in circumference. It abounded in olives, and its wines have always been reckoned excellent. They were not, however, palatable before they were seven years old. Pliny, bk. 4, ch. 12.—Ovid, Metamorphoses, bk. 7, li. 470.—Livy, bk. 28, ch. 5; bk. 31, ch. 58.

Pephnos, a town of Laconia. Pausanias, bk. 3, ch. 26.

Pephrēdo, a sea nymph, daughter of Phorcys and Ceto. She was born with white hair, and thence surnamed Graia. She had a sister called Enyo. Hesiod, Theogony, li. 270.—Apollodorus.

Peræa, or Beræa, a country of Judæa, near Egypt. Pliny, bk. 5, ch. 14.――A part of Caria, opposite to Rhodes. Livy, bk. 32, ch. 33.――A colony of the Mityleneans in Æolia. Livy, bk. 37, ch. 21.

Perasippus, an ambassador sent to Darius by the Lacedæmonians, &c. Curtius, bk. 3, ch. 13.

Percōpe, or Percote, a city which assisted Priam during the Trojan war. See: Percote.

Percosius, a man acquainted with futurity. He attempted in vain to dissuade his two sons from going to the Trojan war by telling them that they should perish there.

Percōte, a town on the Hellespont, between Abydos and Lampsacus, near the sea-shore. Artaxerxes gave it to Themistocles, to maintain his wardrobe. It is sometimes called Percope. Herodotus, bk. 1, ch. 117.—Homer.

Perdiccas, the fourth king of Macedonia, B.C. 729, was descended from Temenus. He increased his dominions by conquest, and in the latter part of his life, he showed his son Argeus where he wished to be buried, and told him, that as long as the bones of his descendants and successors on the throne of Macedonia were laid in the same grave, so long would the crown remain in their family. These injunctions were observed till the time of Alexander, who was buried out of Macedonia. Herodotus, bks. 7 & 8.—Justin, bk. 7, ch. 2.――Another, king of Macedonia, son of Alexander. He reigned during the Peloponnesian war, and assisted the Lacedæmonians against Athens. He behaved with great courage on the throne, and died B.C. 413, after a long reign of glory and independence, during which he had subdued some of his barbarian neighbours.――Another, king of Macedonia, who was supported on his throne by Iphicrates the Athenian against the intrusions of Pausanias. He was killed in a war against the Illyrians, B.C. 360. Justin, bk. 7, &c.――One of the friends and favourites of Alexander the Great. At the king’s death he wished to make himself absolute; and the ring which he had received from the hand of the dying Alexander, seemed in some measure to favour his pretensions. The better to support his claims to the throne, he married Cleopatra the sister of Alexander, and strengthened himself by making a league with Eumenes. His ambitious views were easily discovered by Antigonus, and the rest of the generals of Alexander, who all wished, like Perdiccas, to succeed to the kingdom and honours of the deceased monarch. Antipater, Craterus, and Ptolemy, leagued with Antigonus against him, and after much bloodshed on both sides, Perdiccas was totally ruined, and at last assassinated in his tent in Egypt, by his own officers, about 321 years before the christian era. Perdiccas had not the prudence and the address which were necessary to conciliate the esteem and gain the attachment of his fellow-soldiers, and this impropriety of his conduct alienated the heart of his friends, and at last proved his destruction. Plutarch, Alexander.—Diodorus, bks. 17 & 18.—Curtius, bk. 10.—Cornelius Nepos, Eumenes.—Ælian, Varia Historia, bk. 12.

Perdix, a young Athenian, son of the sister of Dædalus. He invented the saw, and seemed to promise to become a greater artist than had ever been known. His uncle was jealous of his rising fame, and he threw him down from the top of a tower and put him to death. Perdix was changed into a bird which bears his name. Hyginus, fables 39 & 274.—Apollodorus, bk. 4, ch. 15.—Ovid, Metamorphoses, bk. 8, li. 220, &c.

Perenna. See: Anna.

Perennis, a favourite of the emperor Commodus. He is described by some as a virtuous and impartial magistrate, while others paint him as a cruel, violent, and oppressive tyrant, who committed the greatest barbarities to enrich himself. He was put to death for aspiring to the empire. Herodian.

Pereus, a son of Elatus and Laodice, grandson of Arcas. He left only one daughter, called Neæra, who was mother of Auge, and of Cepheus and Lycurgus. Apollodorus, bk. 3.—Pausanias, bk. 8, ch. 4.

Perga, a town of Pamphylia. See: Perge, Livy, bk. 38, ch. 57.

Pergămus (Pergama plural), the citadel of the city of Troy. The word is often used for Troy. It was situated in the most elevated part of the town, on the shores of the river Scamander. Xerxes mounted to the top of this citadel when he reviewed his troops as he marched to invade Greece. Herodotus, bk. 7, ch. 43.—Virgil, Æneid, bk. 1, li. 466, &c.

Pergamus, now Pergamo, a town of Mysia, on the banks of the Caycus. It was the capital of a celebrated empire called the kingdom of Pergamus, which was founded by Philæterus, a eunuch, whom Lysimachus, after the battle of Ipsus, had entrusted with the treasures which he had obtained in the war. Philæterus made himself master of the treasures and of Pergamus, in which they were deposited, B.C. 283, and laid the foundation of an empire, over which he himself presided for 20 years. His successors began to reign in the following order: His nephew Eumenes ascended the throne 263 B.C.; Attalus, 241; ♦Eumenes II., 197; Attalus Philadelphus, 159; Attalus Philomator, 138, who, B.C. 133, left the Roman people heirs to his kingdom, as he had no children. The right of the Romans, however, was disputed by a usurper, who claimed the empire as his own, and Aquilius the Roman general was obliged to conquer the different cities one by one, and to gain their submission by poisoning the waters which were conveyed to their houses till the whole was reduced into the form of a dependent province. The capital of the kingdom of Pergamus was famous for a library of 200,000 volumes, which had been collected by the different monarchs who had reigned there. This noble collection was afterwards transported to Egypt by Cleopatra, with the permission of Antony, and it adorned and enriched the Alexandrian library, till it was most fatally destroyed by the Saracens, A.D. 642. Parchment was first invented and made use of at Pergamus, to transcribe books, as Ptolemy king of Egypt had forbidden the exportation of papyrus from his kingdom, in order to prevent Eumenes from making a library as valuable and as choice as that of Alexandria. From this circumstance parchment has been called charta pergamena. Galenus the physician and Apollodorus the mythologist were born there. Æsculapius was the chief deity of the country. Pliny, bks. 5 & 15.—Isidorus, bk. 6, ch. 11.—Strabo, bk. 13.—Livy, bk. 29, ch. 11; bk. 31, ch. 46.—Pliny, bk. 10, ch. 21; bk. 13, ch. 11.――A son of Neoptolemus and Andromache, who, as some suppose, founded Pergamus in Asia. Pausanias, bk. 1, ch. 11.

♦ ‘Enmenes’ replaced with ‘Eumenes’

Perge, a town of Pamphylia, where Diana had a magnificent temple, whence her surname of Pergæa. Apollonius the geometrician was born there. Mela, bk. 1, ch. 14.—Strabo, bk. 14.

Pergus, a lake of Sicily near Enna, where Proserpine was carried away by Pluto. Ovid, Metamorphoses, bk. 5, li. 386.

Perĭander, a tyrant of Corinth, son of Cypselus. The first years of his government were mild and popular, but he soon learnt to become oppressive, when he had consulted the tyrant of Sicily, about the surest way of reigning. He received no other answer but whatever explanation he wished to place on the Sicilian tyrant’s having, in the presence of his messenger, plucked, in a field, all the ears of corn which seemed to tower above the rest. Periander understood the meaning of this answer. He immediately surrounded himself with a numerous guard, and put to death the richest and most powerful citizens of Corinth. He was not only cruel to his subjects, but his family also were objects of his vengeance. He committed incest with his mother, and put to death his wife Melissa, upon false accusation. He also banished his son Lycophron to the island of Corcyra, because the youth pitied and wept at the miserable end of his mother, and detested the barbarities of his father. Periander died about 585 years before the christian era, in his 80th year, and by the meanness of his flatterers, he was reckoned one of the seven wise men of Greece. Though he was tyrannical, yet he patronized the fine arts; he was fond of peace, and he showed himself the friend and the protector of genius and of learning. He used to say that a man ought solemnly to keep his word, but not to hesitate to break it if ever it clashed with his interest. He said also, that not only crimes ought to be punished, but also every wicked and corrupt thought. Diogenes Laërtius in Lives.—Aristotle, bk. 5, Politics.—Pausanias, bk. 2.――A tyrant of Ambracia, whom some rank with the seven wise men of Greece, and not the tyrant of Corinth.――A man distinguished as a physician, but contemptible as a poet. Plutarch.—Lucan.

Periarchus, a naval commander of Sparta, conquered by Conon. Diodorus.

Peribœa, the second wife of Œneus king of Calydon, was daughter of Hipponous. She became mother of Tydeus. Some suppose that Œneus debauched her, and afterwards married her. Hyginus, fable 69.――A daughter of Alcathous, sold by her father on suspicion that she was courted by Telamon, son of Æacus king of Ægina. She was carried to Cyprus, where Telamon the founder of Salamis married her, and she became mother of Ajax. She also married Theseus, according to some. She is also called Eribœa. Pausanias, bk. 1, chs. 17 & 42.—Hyginus, fable 97.――The wife of Polybus king of Corinth, who educated Œdipus as her own child.――A daughter of Eurymedon, who became mother of Nausithous by Neptune.――The mother of Penelope, according to some authors.

Peribomius, a noted debauchee, &c. Juvenal, satire 2, li. 16.

Perĭcles, an Athenian of a noble family, son of Xanthippus and Agariste. He was naturally endowed with great powers, which he improved by attending the lectures of Damon, of Zeno, and of Anaxagoras. Under these celebrated masters, he became a commander, a statesman, and an orator, and gained the affections of the people by his uncommon address and well-directed liberality. When he took a share in the administration of public affairs, he rendered himself popular by opposing Cimon, who was the favourite of the nobility; and to remove every obstacle which stood in the way of his ambition, he lessened the dignity and the power of the court of the Areopagus, which the people had been taught for ages to respect and to venerate. He also attacked Cimon, and caused him to be banished by the ostracism. Thucydides also, who had succeeded Cimon on his banishment, shared the same fate, and Pericles remained for 15 years the sole minister, and, as it may be said, the absolute sovereign of a republic which always showed itself so jealous of her liberties, and which distrusted so much the honesty of her magistrates. In his ministerial capacity Pericles did not enrich himself, but the prosperity of Athens was the object of his administration. He made war against the Lacedæmonians, and restored the temple of Delphi to the care of the Phocians, who had been illegally deprived of that honourable trust. He obtained a victory over the Sicyonians near Nemæa, and waged a successful war against the inhabitants of Samos, at the request of his favourite mistress, Aspasia. The Peloponnesian war was fomented by his ambitious views [See: Peloponnesiacum bellum], and when he had warmly represented the flourishing state, the opulence, and actual power of his country, the Athenians did not hesitate a moment to undertake a war against the most powerful republics of Greece, a war which continued for 27 years, and which was concluded by the destruction of their empire, and the demolition of their walls. The arms of the Athenians were for some time crowned with success; but an unfortunate expedition raised clamours against Pericles, and the enraged populace attributed all their losses to him, and to make atonement for their ill success, they condemned him to pay 50 talents. This loss of popular favour by republican caprice, did not so much affect Pericles as the recent death of all his children; and when the tide of unpopularity was passed by, he condescended to come into the public assembly, and to view with secret pride the contrition of his fellow-citizens, who universally begged his forgiveness for the violence which they had offered to his ministerial character. He was again restored to all his honours, and if possible invested with more power and more authority than before; but the dreadful pestilence which had diminished the number of his family proved fatal to him, and about 429 years before Christ in his 70th year, he fell a sacrifice to that terrible malady which robbed Athens of so many of her citizens. Pericles was for 40 years at the head of the administration, 25 with others, and 15 alone; and the flourishing state of the empire during his government gave occasion to the Athenians publicly to lament his loss, and venerate his memory. As he was expiring, and seemingly senseless, his friends that stood around his bed expatiated with warmth on the most glorious actions of his life, and the victories which he had won, when he suddenly interrupted their tears and conversation, by saying that, in mentioning the exploits that he had achieved, and which were common to him with all generals, they had forgotten to mention a circumstance which reflected far greater glory upon him as a minister, a general, and above all, as a man. “It is,” says he, “that not a citizen in Athens has been obliged to put on mourning on my account.” The Athenians were so pleased with his eloquence that they compared it to thunder and lightning, and, as to another father of the gods, they gave him the surname of Olympian. The poets, his flatterers, said that the goddess of persuasion, with all her charms and attractions, dwelt upon his tongue. When he marched at the head of the Athenian armies, Pericles observed that he had the command of a free nation that were Greeks, and citizens of Athens. He also declared, that not only the hand of a magistrate, but also his eyes and his tongue, should be pure and undefiled. Yet great and venerable as his character may appear, we must not forget the follies of Pericles. His vicious partiality for the celebrated courtesan Aspasia subjected him to the ridicule and the censure of his fellow-citizens; but if he triumphed over satire and malevolent remarks, the Athenians had occasion to execrate the memory of a man who by his example corrupted the purity and innocence of their morals, and who made licentiousness respectable, and the indulgence of every impure desire the qualification of the soldier as well as of the senator. Pericles lost all his legitimate children by the pestilence, and to call a natural son by his own name he was obliged to repeal a law which he had made against spurious children, and which he had enforced with great severity. This son, called Pericles, became one ♦of the 10 generals who succeeded Alcibiades in the administration of affairs, and, like his colleagues, he was condemned to death by the Athenians, after the unfortunate battle of Arginusæ. Pausanias, bk. 1, ch. 25.—Plutarch, Lives.—Quintilian, bk. 12, ch. 9.—Cicero, On Oratory, bk. 3.—Ælian, Varia Historia, bk. 4, ch. 10.—Xenophon, Hellenica.—Thucydides.

♦ duplicate ‘of’ removed

Periclymĕnus, one of the 12 sons of Neleus, brother to Nestor, killed by Hercules. He was one of the Argonauts, and had received from Neptune his grandfather the power of changing himself into whatever shape he pleased. Apollodorus.—Ovid, Metamorphoses, bk. 12, li. 556.

Peridia, a Theban woman, whose son was killed by Turnus in the Rutulian war. Virgil, Æneid, bk. 12, li. 515.

Periegētes Dionysius, a poet. See: Dionysius.

Periēres, a son of Æolus, or, according to others, of Cynortas. Apollodorus.――The charioteer of Menœceus. Apollodorus.

Perigĕnes, an officer of Ptolemy, &c.

Perigŏne, a woman who had a son called Melanippus by Theseus. She was daughter of Synnis the famous robber, whom Theseus killed. She married Deioneus the son of Eurytus, by consent of Theseus. Plutarch, Theseus.—Pausanias, bk. 10, ch. 25.

Perilāus, an officer in the army of Alexander the Great. Curtius, bk. 10.――A tyrant of Argos.

Perilēus, a son of Icarius and Peribœa.

Perilla, a daughter of Ovid the poet. She was extremely fond of poetry and literature. Ovid, Fasti, bk. 3, poem 7, li. 1.

Perillus, an ingenious artist at Athens, who made a brazen bull for Phalaris tyrant of Agrigentum. This machine was fabricated to put criminals to death by burning them alive, and it was such that their cries were like the roaring of a bull. When Perillus gave it to Phalaris, the tyrant made the first experiment upon the donor, and cruelly put him to death by lighting a slow fire under the belly of the bull. Pliny, bk. 34, ch. 8.—Ovid, Ars Amatoria, bk. 1, li. 653; Ibis, li. 439.――A lawyer and usurer in the age of Horace. Horace, bk. 2, satire 3, li. 75.

Perimēde, a daughter of Æolus, who married Achelous.――The wife of Licymnius.――A woman skilled in the knowledge of herbs and of enchantments. Theocritus, poem 2.

Perimēla, a daughter of Hippodamus, thrown into the sea for receiving the addresses of the Achelous. She was changed into an island in the Ionian sea, and became one of the Echinades. Ovid, Metamorphoses, bk. 8, li. 690.

Perinthia, a play of Menander’s. Terence, Andria, prologue, li. 9.

Pĕrinthus, a town of Thrace, on the Propontis, anciently surnamed Mygdonica. It was afterwards called Heraclea, in honour of Hercules, and now Erekli. Mela, bk. 2, ch. 2.—Pausanias, bk. 1, ch. 29.—Pliny, bk. 4, ch. 11.—Livy, bk. 33, ch. 30.

Peripatetĭci, a sect of philosophers at Athens, disciples to Aristotle. They derived this name from the place where they were taught, called Peripaton, in the Lyceum, or because they received the philosopher’s lectures as they walked (περιπατουντες). The Peripatetics acknowledged the dignity of human nature, and placed their summum bonum, not in the pleasures of passive sensation, but in the due exercise of the moral and intellectual faculties. The habit of this exercise, when guided by reason, constituted the highest excellence of man. The philosopher contended that our own happiness chiefly depends upon ourselves, and though he did not require in his followers that self-command to which others pretended, yet he allowed a moderate degree of perturbation, as becoming human nature, and he considered a certain sensibility of passion totally necessary, as by resentment we are enabled to repel injuries, and the smart which past calamities have inflicted renders us careful to avoid the repetition. Cicero, Academica, bk. 2, &c.

Perĭphas, a man who attempted, with Pyrrhus, Priam’s palace, &c. Virgil, Æneid, bk. 2, li. 476.――A son of Ægyptus, who married Actæa. Apollodorus, bk. 1, ch. 1.――One of the Lapithæ. Ovid, Metamorphoses, bk. 12, li. 449.――One of the first kings of Attica, before the age of Cecrops, according to some authors.

Periphēmus, an ancient hero of Greece, to whom Solon sacrificed at Salamis, by order of the oracle.

♦Periphētes, a robber of Attica, son of Vulcan, destroyed by Theseus. He is also called Corynetes. Hyginus, fable 38.—Diodorus, bk. 5.

♦ ‘Periphātes’ replaced with ‘Periphētes’

Resorted in alphebetical order.

Perisades, a people of Illyricum.

Peristhĕnes, a son of Ægyptus, who married Electra. Apollodorus.

Peritanus, an Arcadian who enjoyed the company of Helen after her elopement with Paris. The offended lover punished the crime by mutilation, whence mutilated persons were called Peritani in Arcadia. Ptolemy Hephæstion, bk. 1, near the beginning.

Peritas, a favourite dog of Alexander the Great, in whose honour the monarch built a city.

Peritonium, a town of Egypt, on the western side of the Nile, esteemed of great importance, as being one of the keys of the country. Antony was defeated there by Caius Gallus the lieutenant of Augustus.

Permessus, a river of Bœotia, rising in mount Helicon, and flowing all round it. It received its name from Permessus, the father of a nymph called Aganippe, who also gave her name to one of the fountains of Helicon. The river Permessus, as well as the fountain Aganippe, were sacred to the Muses. Strabo, bk. 8.—Propertius, bk. 2, poem 8.

Pero, or Perone, a daughter of Neleus king of Pylos by Chloris. Her beauty drew many admirers, but she married Bias son of Amythaon, because he had by the assistance of his brother Melampus [See: Melampus], and according to her father’s desire, recovered some oxen which Hercules had stolen away; and she became mother of Talaus. Homer, Odyssey, bk. 11, li. 284.—Propertius, bk. 2, poem 2, li. 17.—Pausanias, bk. 4, ch. 36.――A daughter of Cimon, remarkable for her filial affection. When her father had been sent to prison, where his judges had condemned him to starve, she supported his life by giving him the milk of her breasts, as to her own child. Valerius Maximus, bk. 5, ch. 4.

Peroe, a fountain of Bœotia, called after Peroe, a daughter of the Asopus. Pausanias, bk. 9, ch. 4.

Perola, a Roman who meditated the death of Hannibal in Italy. His father Pacuvius dissuaded him from assassinating the Carthaginian general.

Perpenna Marcus, a Roman who conquered Aristonicus in Asia, and took him prisoner. He died B.C. 130.――Another, who joined the rebellion of Sertorius, and opposed Pompey. He was defeated by Metellus, and some time after he had the meanness to assassinate Sertorius, whom he had invited to his house. He fell into the hands of Pompey, who ordered him to be put to death. Plutarch, Sertorius.—Paterculus, bk. 2, ch. 30.――A Greek who obtained the consulship at Rome. Valerius Maximus, bk. 3, ch. 4.

Perperēne, a place of Phrygia, where, as some suppose, Paris adjudged the prize of beauty to Venus. Strabo, bk. 5.

Perranthes, a hill of Epirus, near Ambracia. Livy, bk. 38, ch. 4.

Perrhæbia, a part of Thessaly situate on the borders of the Peneus, extending between the town of Atrax and the vale of Tempe. The inhabitants were driven from their possessions by the Lapithæ, and retired into Ætolia, where part of the country received the name of Perrhæbia. Propertius, bk. 2, poem 5, li. 33—Strabo, bk. 9.—Livy, bk. 33, ch. 34; bk. 39, ch. 34.

Persa, or Perseis, one of the Oceanides, mother of Æetes, Circe, and Pasiphae by Apollo. Hesiod, Theogony.—Apollodorus, bk. 3.

Persæ, the inhabitants of Persia. See: Persia.

Persæus, a philosopher intimate with Antigonus, by whom he was appointed over the Acrocorinth. He flourished B.C. 274. Diogenes Laërtius, Zeno of Citium.

Persēe, a fountain near Mycenæ, in Peloponnesus. Pausanias, bk. 2, ch. 16.

Persēis, one of the Oceanides.――A patronymic of Hecate, as daughter of Perses. Ovid, Metamorphoses, bk. 7, li. 69.

Persĕphŏne, a daughter of Jupiter and Ceres, called also Proserpine. See: Proserpina.――The mother of Amphion by Jasus.

Persĕpŏlis, a celebrated city, the capital of the Persian empire. It was laid in ruins by Alexander after the conquest of Darius. The reason of this is unknown. Diodorus says that the sight of about 800 Greeks, whom the Persians had shamefully mutilated, so irritated Alexander, that he resolved to punish the barbarity of the inhabitants of Persepolis, and of the neighbouring country, by permitting his soldiers to plunder their capital. Others suppose that Alexander set it on fire at the instigation of Thias, one of his courtesans, when he had passed the day in drinking and in riot and debauchery. The ruins of Persepolis, now Estakar, or Tehel-Minar, still astonish the modern traveller by their grandeur and magnificence. Curtius, bk. 5, ch. 7.—Diodorus, bk. 17, &c.—Arrian.—Plutarch, Alexander.—Justin, bk. 11, ch. 14.

Perses, a son of Perseus and Andromeda. From him the Persians, who were originally called Cephenes, received their name. Herodotus, bk. 7, ch. 61.――A king of Macedonia. See: Perseus.

Perseus, a son of Jupiter and Danae, the daughter of Acrisius. As Acrisius had confined his daughter in a brazen tower to prevent her becoming a mother, because he was to perish, according to the words of an oracle, by the hands of his daughter’s son, Perseus was no sooner born [See: Danae] than he was thrown into the sea with his mother Danae. The hopes of Acrisius were frustrated; the slender boat which carried Danae and her son was driven by the winds on the coasts of the island of Seriphos, one of the Cyclades, where they were found by a fisherman called Dictys, and carried to Polydectes the king of the place. They were treated with great humanity, and Perseus was entrusted to the care of the priests of Minerva’s temple. His rising genius and manly courage, however, soon displeased Polydectes, and the monarch, who wished to offer violence to Danae, feared the resentment of her son. Yet Polydectes resolved to remove every obstacle. He invited all his friends to a sumptuous entertainment, and it was requisite that all such as came should present the monarch with a beautiful horse. Perseus was in the number of the invited, and the more particularly so, as Polydectes knew that he could not receive from him the present which he expected from all the rest. Nevertheless, Perseus, who wished not to appear inferior to the others in magnificence, told the king that as he could not give him a horse, he would bring him the head of Medusa, the only one of the Gorgons who was subject to mortality. The offer was doubly agreeable to Polydectes, as it would remove Perseus from Seriphos, and on account of its seeming impossibility, the attempt might perhaps end in his ruin. But the innocence of Perseus was patronized by the gods. Pluto lent him his helmet, which had the wonderful power of making its bearer invisible; Minerva gave him her buckler, which was as resplendent as glass; and he received from Mercury wings and the talaria, with a short dagger, made of diamonds, and called herpe. According to some it was from Vulcan, and not from Mercury, that he received the herpe, which was in form like a scythe. With these arms Perseus began his expedition, and traversed the air, conducted by the goddess Minerva. He went to the Graiæ, the sisters of the Gorgons, who, according to the poets, had wings like the Gorgons, but only one eye and one tooth between them all, of which they made use, each in her turn. They were three in number, according to Æschylus and Apollodorus; or only two, according to Ovid and Hesiod. With Pluto’s helmet, which rendered him invisible, Perseus was enabled to steal their eye and their tooth while they were asleep, and he returned them only when they had informed him where their sisters the Gorgons resided. When he had received every necessary information, Perseus flew to the habitation of the Gorgons, which was situate beyond the western ocean, according to Hesiod and Apollodorus; or in Libya, according to Ovid and Lucan; or in the deserts of Asiatic Scythia, according to Æschylus. He found these monsters asleep; and as he knew that if he fixed his eyes upon them, he should be instantly changed into a stone, he continually looked on his shield, which reflected all the objects as clearly as the best of glasses. He approached them, and with a courage which the goddess Minerva supported, he cut off Medusa’s head with one blow. The noise awoke the two immortal sisters, but Pluto’s helmet rendered Perseus invisible, and the attempts of the Gorgons to revenge Medusa’s death proved fruitless; the conqueror made his way through the air, and from the blood which dropped from Medusa’s head sprang all those innumerable serpents which have ever since infested the sandy deserts of Libya. Chrysaor also, with the golden sword, sprung from these drops of blood, as well as the horse Pegasus, which immediately flew through the air, and stopped on mount Helicon, where he became the favourite of the Muses. Meantime Perseus had continued his journey across the deserts of Libya; but the approach of night obliged him to alight in the territories of Atlas king of Mauritania. He went to the monarch’s palace, where he hoped to find a kind reception by announcing himself as the son of Jupiter, but in this he was disappointed. Atlas recollected that, according to an ancient oracle, his gardens were to be robbed of their fruit by one of the sons of Jupiter, and therefore he not only refused Perseus the hospitality which he demanded, but he even offered violence to his person. Perseus, finding himself inferior to his powerful enemy, showed him Medusa’s head, and instantly Atlas was changed into a large mountain which bore the same name in the deserts of Africa. On the morrow Perseus continued his flight, and as he passed across the territories of Libya, he discovered, on the coasts of Æthiopia, the naked Andromeda, exposed to a sea monster. He was struck at the sight, and offered her father Cepheus to deliver her from instant death, if he obtained her in marriage as a reward of his labours. Cepheus consented, and immediately Perseus raised himself in the air, flew towards the monster, which was advancing to devour Andromeda, and he plunged his dagger in ♦its right shoulder, and destroyed it. This happy event was attended with the greatest rejoicings. Perseus raised three altars to Mercury, Jupiter, and Pallas, and after he had offered the sacrifice of a calf, a bullock, and a heifer, the nuptials were celebrated with the greatest festivity. The universal joy, however, was soon disturbed. Phineus, Andromeda’s uncle, entered the palace with a number of armed men, and attempted to carry away the bride, whom he had courted and admired long before the arrival of Perseus. The father and mother of Andromeda interfered, but in vain; a bloody battle ensued, and Perseus must have fallen a victim to the rage of Phineus, had not he defended himself at last with the same arms which proved fatal to Atlas. He showed the Gorgon’s head to his adversaries, and they were instantly turned to stone, each in the posture and attitude in which he then stood. The friends of Cepheus, and such as supported Perseus, shared not the fate of Phineus, as the hero had previously warned them of the power of Medusa’s head, and of the services which he received from it. Soon after this memorable adventure Perseus retired to Seriphos, at the very moment that his mother Danae fled to the altar of Minerva, to avoid the pursuit of Polydectes, who attempted to offer her violence. Dictys, who had saved her from the sea, and who, as some say, was the brother of Polydectes, defended her against the attempts of her enemies, and therefore Perseus, sensible of his merit, and of his humanity, placed him on the throne of Seriphos, after he had with Medusa’s head turned into stones the wicked Polydectes, and the officers who were the associates of his guilt. He afterwards restored to Mercury his talaria and his wings, to Pluto his helmet, to Vulcan his sword, and to Minerva her shield; but as he was more particularly indebted to the goddess of wisdom for her assistance and protection, he placed the Gorgon’s head on her shield, or rather, according to the more received opinion, on her ægis. After he had finished these celebrated exploits, Perseus expressed a wish to return to his native country; and accordingly he embarked for the Peloponnesus, with his mother and Andromeda. When he reached the Peloponnesian coasts he was informed that Teutamias king of Larissa was then celebrating funeral games in honour of his father. This intelligence drew him to Larissa to signalize himself in throwing the quoit, of which, according to some, he was the inventor. But here he was attended by an evil fate, and had the misfortune to kill a man with a quoit which he had thrown in the air. This was no other than his grandfather Acrisius, who, on the first intelligence that his grandson had reached the Peloponnesus, fled from his kingdom of Argos to the court of his friend and ally Teutamias, to prevent the fulfilling of the oracle which had obliged him to treat his daughter with so much barbarity. Some suppose, with Pausanias, that Acrisius had gone to Larissa to be reconciled to his grandson, whose fame had been spread in every city of Greece; and Ovid maintains that the grandfather was under the strongest obligations to his son-in-law, as through him he had received his kingdom, from which he had been forcibly driven by the sons of his brother Prœtus. This unfortunate murder greatly depressed the spirits of Perseus: by the death of Acrisius he was entitled to the throne of Argos, but he refused to reign there; and to remove himself from a place which reminded him of the parricide which he had unfortunately committed, he exchanged his kingdom for that of Tirynthus, and the maritime coast of Argolis, where Megapenthes the son of Prœtus then reigned. When he had finally settled in this part of the Peloponnesus, he determined to lay the foundations of a new city, which he made the capital of his dominions, and which he called Mycenæ, because the pommel of his sword, called by the Greeks myces, had fallen there. The time of his death is unknown, yet it is universally agreed that he received divine honours like the rest of the ancient heroes. He had statues at Mycenæ, and in the island of Seriphos, and the Athenians raised him a temple, in which they consecrated an altar in honour of Dictys, who had treated Danae and her infant son with so much paternal tenderness. The Egyptians also paid particular honour to his memory, and asserted that he often appeared among them wearing shoes two cubits long, which was always interpreted as a sign of fertility. Perseus had by Andromeda, Alceus, Sthenelus, Nestor, Electryon, and Gorgophone, and after death, according to some mythologists, he became a constellation in the heavens. Herodotus, bk. 2, ch. 91.—Apollodorus, bk. 2, ch. 4, &c.—Pausanias, bk. 2, chs. 16 & 18; bk. 3, ch. 17, &c.—Apollonius, Argonautica, bk. 4, li. 1509.—Silius Italicus, bk. 9, li. 442.—Ovid, Metamorphoses, bk. 4, fable 16; bk. 5, fable 1, &c.—Lucan, bk. 9, li. 668.—Hyginus, fable 64.—Hesiod, Theogony, li. 270, & Shield of Heracles.—Pindar, Pythian, li. 7, & Olympian, bk. 3.—Silius Italicus, bk. 9.—Propertius, bk. 2.—Athenæus, bk. 13.—Homer, Iliad, bk. 14.—Tzetzes, on Lycophron, ch. 17.――A son of Nestor and Anaxibia. Apollodorus, bk. 1, ch. 9.――A writer who published a treatise on the republic of Sparta.――A philosopher, disciple to Zeno. See: Persæus.

♦ ‘his’ replaced with ‘its’

Perseus, or Perses, a son of Philip king of Macedonia. He distinguished himself, like his father, by his enmity to the Romans, and when he had made sufficient preparations, he declared war against them. His operations, however, were slow and injudicious; he wanted courage and resolution, and though he at first obtained some advantage over the Roman armies, yet his avarice and his timidity proved destructive to his cause. When Paulus was appointed to the command of the Roman armies in Macedonia, Perseus showed his inferiority by his imprudent encampments, and when he had at last yielded to the advice of his officers, who recommended a general engagement, and drawn up his forces near the walls of Pydna, B.C. 168, he was the first who ruined his own cause, and, by flying as soon as the battle was begun, he left the enemy masters of the field. From ♦Pydna, Perseus fled to Samothrace, but he was soon discovered in his obscure retreat, and brought into the presence of the Roman conqueror, where the meanness of his behaviour exposed him to ridicule, and not to mercy. He was carried to Rome, and dragged along the streets of the city to adorn the triumph of the conqueror. His family was also exposed to the sight of the Roman populace, who shed tears on viewing in their streets, dragged like a slave, a monarch who had once defeated their armies, and spread alarm all over Italy, by the greatness of his military preparations, and by his bold undertakings. Perseus died in prison, or, according to some, he was put to a shameful death the first year of his captivity. He had two sons, Philip and Alexander, and one daughter, whose name is not known. Alexander, the younger of these, was hired to a Roman carpenter, and led the greatest part of his life in obscurity, till his ingenuity raised him to notice. He was afterwards made secretary to the senate. Livy, bk. 40, &c.—Justin, bk. 33, ch. 1, &c.—Plutarch, Æmilius Paulus.—Florus, bk. 2, ch. 12.—Propertius, bk. 4, poem 12, li. 39.

♦ ‘Pydua’ replaced with ‘Pydna’

Persia, a celebrated kingdom of Asia, which, in its ancient state, extended from the Hellespont to the Indus, above 2800 miles, and from Pontus to the shores of Arabia, above 2000 miles. As a province, Persia was but small, and according to the description of Ptolemy, it was bounded on the north by Media, west by Susiana, south by the Persian gulf, and east by Carmania. The empire of Persia, or the Persian monarchy, was first founded by Cyrus the Great, about 559 years before the christian era, and under the succeeding monarchs it became one of the most considerable and powerful kingdoms of the earth. The kings of Persia began to reign in the following order: Cyrus, B.C. 559; Cambyses 529; and, after the usurpation of Smerdis for seven months, Darius, 521; Xerxes the Great, 485; Artabanus seven months, and Artaxerxes Longimanus, 464; Xerxes II., 425; Sogdianus seven months, 424; Darius II., or Nothus, 423; Artaxerxes II., or Memnon, 404; Artaxerxes III., or Ochus, 358; Arses, or Arogus, 337; and Darius III., or Codomanus, 335, who was conquered by Alexander the Great, 331. The destruction of the Persian monarchy by the Macedonians was easily effected, and from that time Persia became tributary to the Greeks. After the death of Alexander, when the Macedonian empire was divided among the officers of the deceased conqueror, Seleucus Nicanor made himself master of the Persian provinces, till the revolt of the Parthians introduced new revolutions in the east. Persia was partly reconquered from the Greeks, and remained tributary to the Parthians for near 500 years. After this the sovereignty was again placed into the hands of the Persians, by the revolt of Artaxerxes, a common soldier, A.D. 229, who became the founder of the second Persian monarchy, which proved so inimical to the power of the Roman emperors. In their national character, the Persians were warlike, they were early taught to ride, and to handle the bow, and by the manly exercises of hunting, they were inured to bear the toils and fatigues of a military life. Their national valour, however, soon degenerated, and their want of employment at home soon rendered them unfit for war. In the reign of Xerxes, when the empire of Persia was in its most flourishing state, a small number of Greeks were enabled repeatedly to repel for three successive days an almost innumerable army. This celebrated action, which happened at Thermopylæ, shows in a strong light the superiority of the Grecian soldiers over the Persians, and the battles that before, and a short time after, were fought between the two nations at Marathon, Salamis, Platæa, and Mycale, are again an incontestible proof that these Asiatics had more reliance upon their numbers and upon the splendour and richness of their arms, than upon the valour and the discipline of their troops. Their custom, too prevalent among the eastern nations, of introducing luxury into the camp, proved also in some measure destructive to their military reputation, and the view which the ancients give us of the army of Xerxes, of his cooks, stage-dancers, concubines, musicians, and perfumers, is no very favourable sign of the sagacity of a monarch, who, by his nod, could command millions of men to flock to his standard. In their religion the Persians were very superstitious; they paid the greatest veneration to the sun, the moon, and the stars, and they offered sacrifices to fire, but the supreme Deity was never represented by statues among them. They permitted polygamy, and it was no incest among them to marry a sister or a mother. In their punishments they were extremely severe, even to barbarity. The monarch always appeared with the greatest pomp and dignity; his person was attended by a guard of 15,000 men, and he had besides a body of 10,000 chosen horsemen, called immortal. He styled himself, like the rest of the eastern monarchs, the king of kings, as expressive of his greatness and his power. The Persians were formerly called Cephenes, Achæmenians, and Artæi, and they are often confounded with the Parthians by the ancient poets. They received the name of Persians from Perses the son of Perseus and Andromeda, who is supposed to have settled among them. Persepolis was the capital of the country. Curtius, bk. 4, ch. 14; bk. 5, ch. 3.—Plutarch, Artaxerxes, Alexander, &c.—Mela, bk. 1, &c.—Strabo, bk. 2, ch. 15.—Xenophon, Cyropædia.—Herodotus, bk. 1, ch. 125, &c.—Apollodorus, bk. 2.—Marcellinus, ch. 23.

Persĭcum mare, or Persicus sinus, a part of the Indian ocean on the coast of Persia and Arabia, now called the gulf of Balgora.

Persis, a province of Persia, bounded by Media, Carmania, Susiana, and the Persian gulf. It is often taken for Persia itself.

Aulus Persius Flaccus, a Latin poet of Volaterræ. He was of an equestrian family, and he made himself known by his intimacy with the most illustrious Romans of the age. The early part of his life was spent in his native town, and at the age of 16 he was removed to Rome, where he studied philosophy under Cornutus the celebrated stoic. He also received the instructions of Palemon the grammarian, and Virginius the rhetorician. Naturally of a mild disposition, his character was unimpeached, his modesty remarkable, and his benevolence universally admired. He distinguished himself by his satirical humour, and made the faults of the orators and poets of his age, the subject of his poems. He did not even spare Nero, and the more effectually to expose the emperor to ridicule, he introduced into his satires some of his verses. The torva mimalloneis implerunt cornua bombis, with the three following verses, are Nero’s, according to some. But though he was so severe upon the vicious and ignorant, he did not forget his friendship for Cornutus, and he showed his regard for his character and abilities by making mention of his name with great propriety in his satires. It was by the advice of his learned preceptor that he corrected one of his poems in which he had compared Nero to Midas, and at his representation he altered the words Auriculas asini Mida rex habet, into Auriculas asini quis non habet? Persius died in the 30th year of his age, A.D. 62, and left all his books, which consisted of 700 volumes, and a large sum of money, to his preceptor; but Cornutus only accepted the books, and returned the money to the sisters and friends of the deceased. The satires of Persius are six in number, blamed by some for obscurity of style and of language. But though they may appear almost unintelligible to some, it ought to be remembered that they were read with pleasure and with avidity by his contemporaries, and that the only difficulties which now appear to the moderns, arise from their not knowing the various characters which they described, the vices which they lashed, and the errors which they censured. The satires of Persius are generally printed with those of Juvenal, the best editions of which will be found to be by Hennin, 4to, Leiden, 1695, and by Hawkey, 12mo, Dublin, 1746. The best edition of Persius, separate, is that of Meric Casaubon, 12mo, London, 1647. Martial.—Quintilian, bk. 10, ch. 1.—Augustine, de Magistro, ch. 9.—Lactantius.――A man whose quarrel with Rupilius is mentioned in a ridiculous manner by Horace, satire 7. He is called Hybrida, as being son of a Greek by a Roman woman.

Pertĭnax Publius Helvius, a Roman emperor after the death of Commodus. He was descended from an obscure family, and, like his father, who was either a slave or the son of a manumitted slave, he for some time followed the mean employment of drying wood and making charcoal. His indigence, however, did not prevent him from receiving a liberal education, and indeed he was for some time employed in teaching a number of pupils the Greek and the Roman languages in Etruria. He left this laborious profession for a military life, and by his valour and intrepidity, he gradually rose to offices of the highest trust in the army, and was made consul by Marcus Aurelius for his eminent services. He was afterwards entrusted with the government of Mœsia, and at last he presided over the city of Rome as governor. When Commodus was murdered, Pertinax was universally selected to succeed to the imperial throne, and his refusal, and the plea of old age and increasing infirmities, did not prevent his being saluted emperor and Augustus. He acquiesced with reluctance, but his mildness, his economy, and the popularity of his administration, convinced the senate and the people of the prudence and the justice of their choice. He forbade his name to be inscribed on such places or estates as were part of the imperial domain, and exclaimed that they belonged not to him, but to the public. He melted all the silver statues which had been raised to his vicious predecessor, and he exposed to public sale all his concubines, his horses, his arms, and all the instruments of his pleasure and extravagance. With the money raised from these he enriched the empire, and was enabled to abolish all the taxes which Commodus had laid on the rivers, ports, and highways through the empire. This patriotic administration gained him the affection of the worthiest and most discerning of his subjects, but the extravagant and luxurious raised their clamours against him, and when Pertinax attempted to introduce among the pretorian guards that discipline which was so necessary to preserve the peace and tranquillity of Rome, the flames of rebellion were kindled, and the minds of the soldiers totally alienated. Pertinax was apprised of this mutiny, but he refused to fly at the hour of danger. He scorned the advice of his friends who wished him to withdraw from the impending storm, and he unexpectedly appeared before the seditious pretorians, and without fear or concern, boldly asked them whether they, who were bound to defend the person of their prince and emperor, were come to betray him and to shed his blood. His undaunted assurance and his intrepidity would have had the desired effect, and the soldiers had already begun to retire, when one of the most seditious advanced and darted his javelin at the emperor’s breast, exclaiming, “The soldiers send you this.” The rest immediately followed the example, and Pertinax, muffling up his head, and calling upon Jupiter to avenge his death, remained unmoved, and was instantly dispatched. His head was cut off, and carried upon the point of a spear as in triumph to the camp. This happened on the 28th of March, A.D. 193. Pertinax reigned only 87 days, and his death was the more universally lamented, as it proceeded from a seditious tumult, and robbed the Roman empire of a wise, virtuous, and benevolent emperor. Dio Cassius.—Herodian.—Capitol.

Pertunda, a goddess at Rome, who presided over the consummation of marriage. Her statue was generally placed in the bridal chamber. Varro, in Augustine, City of God, bk. 6, ch. 9.

Perŭsia, now Perugia, an ancient town of Etruria on the Tiber, built by Ocnus. Lucius Antonius was besieged there by Augustus, and obliged to surrender. Strabo, bk. 5.—Lucan, bk. 1, li. 41.—Paterculus, bk. 2, ch. 74.—Livy, bk. 9, ch. 37; bk. 10, chs. 30 & 37.

Pescennius. See: Niger.――A man intimate with Cicero.

Pessīnus (untis), a town of Phrygia, where Atys, as some suppose, was buried. It is particularly famous for a temple and a statue of the goddess Cybele, who was from thence called Pessinuntia. Strabo, bk. 12.—Pausanias, bk. 7, ch. 17.—Livy, bk. 29, chs. 10 & 11.

Petălia, a town of Eubœa.

Petălus, a man killed by Perseus at the court of Cepheus. Ovid, Metamorphoses, bk. 5, li. 115.

Petelia, or Petellia, a town. See: Petilia.

Petelīnus lacus, a lake near one of the gates of Rome. Livy, bk. 6, ch. 20.

Peteon, a town of Bœotia. Statius, Thebaid, bk. 7, li. 333.—Strabo, bk. 9.

Peteus, a son of Orneus, and grandson of Erechtheus. He reigned in Attica, and became father of Menestheus, who went with the Greeks to the Trojan war. He is represented by some of the ancients as a monster, half a man and half a beast. Apollodorus, bk. 3, ch. 10.—Pausanias, bk. 10, ch. 35.

Petilia, now Strongoli, a town of Magna Græcia, the capital of Lucania, built or perhaps only repaired by Philoctetes, who, after his return from the Trojan war, left his country Melibœa, because his subjects had revolted. Mela, bk. 2, ch. 4.—Livy, bk. 23, ch. 20.—Virgil, Æneid, bk. 3, li. 402.—Strabo, bk. 6.

Petilia lex, was enacted by Petilius the tribune to make an inquiry and know how much money had been obtained from the conquests over king Antiochus.

Petilii, two tribunes who accused Scipio Africanus of extortion. He was acquitted.

Petīlius, a pretor who persuaded the people of Rome to burn the books which had been found in Numa’s tomb, about 400 years after his death. His advice was followed. Plutarch, Numa.――A plebeian decemvir, &c.――A governor of the capitol, who stole away the treasures entrusted to his care. He was accused, but, though guilty, he was acquitted, as being the friend of Augustus. Horace, bk. 1, satire 4, li. 94.

Petosīrīs, a celebrated mathematician of Egypt. Juvenal, satire 6, li. 580.

Petra, the capital town of Arabia Petræa. Strabo, bk. 16.――A town of Sicily, near Hybla, whose inhabitants are called Petrini and Petrenses.――A town of Thrace. Livy, bk. 40, ch. 22.――Another of Pieria in Macedonia. Livy, bk. 39, ch. 26.—Cicero, Against Verres, bk. 1, ch. 39.――An elevated place near Dyrrachium, Lucan, bk. 6, lis. 16 & 70.—Cæsar, Civil War, bk. 3, ch. 40.――Another in Elis.――Another near Corinth.

Petræa, one of the Oceanides. Hesiod, Theogony.――A part of Arabia, which has Syria at the east, Egypt on the west, Palestine on the north, and Arabia Felix at the south. This part of Arabia was rocky, whence it has received its name. It was for the most part also covered with barren sands, and was interspersed with some fruitful spots. Its capital was called Petra.

Petreius, a Roman soldier who killed his tribune during the Cimbrian wars, because he hesitated to attack the enemy. He was rewarded for his valour with a crown of grass. Pliny, bk. 22, ch. 6.――A lieutenant of Caius Antonius, who defeated the troops of Catiline. He took the part of Pompey against Julius Cæsar. When Cæsar had been victorious in every part of the world, Petreius, who had retired into Africa, attempted to destroy himself by fighting with his friend king Juba in single combat. Juba was killed first, and Petreius obliged one of his slaves to run him through. Sallust, Catilinæ Coniuratio.—Appian.—Cæsar, bk. 1, Civil War.――A centurion in Cæsar’s army in Gaul, &c. Some read Petronius.

Petrĭnum, a town of Campania. Horace, bk. 1, ltr. 5, li. 5.

Petrocorii, the inhabitants of the modern town of Perigord in France. Cæsar, bk. 7, Gallic War, ch. 75.

Petronia, the wife of Vitellius. Tacitus, Histories, bk. 2, ch. 64.

Petrōnius, a governor of Egypt, appointed to succeed Gallus. He behaved with great humanity to the Jews, and made war against Candace queen of Æthiopia. Strabo, bk. 17.――A favourite of Nero, put to death by Galba.――A governor of Britain.――A tribune killed in Parthia with Crassus.――A man banished by Nero to the Cyclades, when Piso’s conspiracy was discovered. Tacitus, Annals, bk. 15.――A governor of Britain in Nero’s reign. He was put to death by Galba’s orders.――Maximus, a Roman emperor. See: Maximus.――Arbiter, a favourite of the emperor Nero, and one of the ministers and associates of all his pleasures and his debauchery. He was naturally fond of pleasure and effeminate, and he passed his whole nights in revels and the days in sleep. He indulged himself in all the delights and gaieties of life; but though he was the most voluptuous of the age, yet he moderated his pleasures, and wished to appear curious and refined in luxury and extravagance. Whatever he did seemed to be performed with an air of unconcern and negligence; he was affable in his behaviour, and his witticisms and satirical remarks appeared artless and natural. He was appointed proconsul of Bithynia, and afterwards he was rewarded with the consulship; in both of which honourable employments he behaved with all the dignity which became one of the successors of a Brutus or a Scipio. With his office he laid down his artificial gravity, and gave himself up to the pursuit of pleasure; the emperor became more attached to him, and seemed fonder of his company; but he did not long enjoy the imperial favours. Tigellinus, likewise one of Nero’s favourites, jealous of his fame, accused him of conspiring against the emperor’s life. The accusation was credited, and Petronius immediately resolved to withdraw himself from Nero’s punishment by a voluntary death. This was performed in a manner altogether unprecedented, A.D. 66. Petronius ordered his veins to be opened; but without the eagerness of terminating his agonies, he had them closed at intervals. Some time after they were opened, and as if he wished to die in the same careless and unconcerned manner as he had lived, he passed his time in discoursing with his friends upon trifles, and listened with the greatest avidity to love verses, amusing stories, or laughable epigrams. Sometimes he manumitted his slaves or punished them with stripes. In this ludicrous manner he spent his last moments, till nature was exhausted; and before he expired he wrote an epistle to the emperor, in which he had described with a masterly hand his nocturnal extravagances, and the daily impurities of his actions. This letter was carefully sealed, and after he had conveyed it privately to the emperor, Petronius broke his signet, that it might not after his death become a snare to the innocent. Petronius distinguished himself by his writings, as well as by his luxury and voluptuousness. He is the author of many elegant but obscene compositions still extant, among which is a poem on the civil wars of Pompey and Cæsar, superior in some respects to the Pharsalia of Lucan. There is also the feast of Trimalcion, in which he paints with too much licentiousness the pleasures and the debaucheries of a corrupted court and of an extravagant monarch; reflections on the instability of human life; a poem on the vanity of dreams; another on the education of the Roman youth; two treatises, &c. The best editions of Petronius are those of Burman, 4to, Utrecht, 1709, and Reinesius, 8vo, 1731.

Pettius, a friend of Horace, to whom the poet addressed his eleventh epode.

Petus, an architect. See: Satyrus.

Peuce, a small island at the mouth of the Danube. The inhabitants are called Peucæ and Peucini. Strabo, bk. 7.—Lucan, bk. 3, li. 202.—Pliny, bk. 4, ch. 12.

Peucestes, a Macedonian set over Egypt by Alexander. He received Persia at the general division of the Macedonian empire at the king’s death. He behaved with great cowardice after he had joined himself to Eumenes. Cornelius Nepos, Eumenes.—Plutarch.—Curtius, bk. 4, ch. 8.――An island which was visited by the Argonauts at their return from the conquest of the golden fleece.

Peucĕtia, a part of Magna Græcia in Italy, at the north of the bay of Tarentum, between the Apennines and Lucania, called also Mesapia and Calabria. It received its name from Peucetus the son of Lycaon, of Arcadia. Strabo, bk. 6.—Pliny, bk. 3, ch. 11.—Ovid, Metamorphoses, bk. 14, li. 513.—Pausanias, bk. 10, ch. 13.

Peucīni, a nation of Germany, called also Basternæ. Tacitus, Germania, ch. 46.

Peucolāus, an officer who conspired with Dymnus against Alexander’s life. Curtius, bk. 6.――Another, set over Sogdiana. Curtius, bk. 7.

Pexodōrus, a governor of Caria, who offered to give his daughter in marriage to Aridæus the illegitimate son of Philip. Plutarch.

Phacium, a town of Thessaly. Livy, bk. 32, ch. 13; bk. 36, ch. 13.

Phacūsa, a town of Egypt on the eastern mouth of the Nile.

Phæa, a celebrated sow which infested the neighbourhood of Cromyon. It was destroyed by Theseus as he was travelling from Trœzene to Athens to make himself known to his father. Some suppose that the boar of Calydon sprung from this sow. Phæa, according to some authors, was no other than a woman who prostituted herself to strangers, whom she murdered and afterwards plundered. Plutarch, Theseus.—Strabo, bk. 8.

Phæācia, an island of the Ionian sea, near the coast of Epirus, anciently called Scheria, and afterwards Corcyra. The inhabitants, called Phæaces, were a luxurious and dissolute people, from which reason a glutton was generally stigmatized by the epithet of Phæax. When Ulysses was shipwrecked on the coast of Phæacia, Alcinous was then king of the island, whose gardens have been greatly celebrated. Horace, bk. 1, ltr. 15, li. 24.—Ovid, Metamorphoses, bk. 13, li. 719.—Strabo, bks. 6 & 7.—Propertius, bk. 3, poem 2, li. 13.

Phæax, an inhabitant of the island of Phæacia. See: Phæacia.――A man who sailed with Theseus to Crete.――An Athenian who opposed Alcibiades in his administration.

Phæcasia, one of the Sporades in the Ægean. Pliny, bk. 4, ch. 12.

Phædĭmus, one of Niobe’s children. Apollodorus, bk. 3, ch. 5.――A Macedonian general who betrayed Eumenes to Antigonus.――A celebrated courier of Greece. Statius, bk. 6.

Phædon, an Athenian put to death by the 30 tyrants. His daughters, to escape the oppressors and preserve their chastity, threw themselves together into a well.――A disciple of Socrates. He had been seized by pirates in his younger days, and the philosopher, who seemed to discover something uncommon and promising in his countenance, bought his liberty for a sum of money, and ever after esteemed him. Phædon, after the death of Socrates, returned to Elis his native country, where he founded a sect of philosophers called Elean. The name of Phædon is affixed to one of the dialogues of Plato. Macrobius, Saturnalia, bk. 1, ch. 11.—Diogenes Laërtius.――An archon at Athens, when the Athenians were directed by the oracle to remove the bones of Theseus to Attica. Plutarch, Theseus.

Phædra, a daughter of Minos and Pasiphae, who married Theseus, by whom she became mother of Acamas and Demophoon. They had already lived for some time in conjugal felicity, when Venus, who hated all the descendants of Apollo, because that god had discovered her amours with Mars, inspired Phædra with an unconquerable passion for Hippolytus the son of Theseus, by the Amazon Hippolyte. This shameful passion Phædra long attempted to stifle, but in vain; and therefore, in the absence of Theseus, she addressed Hippolytus with all the impatience of a desponding lover. Hippolytus rejected her with horror and disdain; but Phædra, incensed on account of the reception she had met, resolved to punish his coldness and refusal. At the return of Theseus she accused Hippolytus of attempts upon her virtue. The credulous father listened to the accusation, and without hearing the defence of Hippolytus, he banished him from his kingdom, and implored Neptune, who had promised to grant three of his requests, to punish him in some exemplary manner. As Hippolytus fled from Athens, his horses were suddenly terrified by a huge sea-monster, which Neptune had sent on the shore. He was dragged through precipices and over rocks, and he was trampled under the feet of his horses, and crushed under the wheels of his chariot. When the tragical end of Hippolytus was known at Athens, Phædra confessed her crime, and hung herself in despair, unable to survive one whose death her wickedness and guilt had occasioned. The death of Hippolytus, and the infamous passion of Phædra, are the subject of one of the tragedies of Euripides, and of Seneca. Phædra was buried at Trœzene, where her tomb was still seen in the age of the geographer Pausanias, near the temple of Venus, which she had built to render the goddess favourable to her incestuous passion. There was near her tomb a myrtle, whose leaves were all full of small holes, and it was reported that Phædra had done this with a hair-pin, when the vehemence of her passion had rendered her melancholy and almost desperate. She was represented in a painting in Apollo’s temple at Delphi, as suspended by a cord, and balancing herself in the air, while her sister Ariadne stood near to her, and fixed her eyes upon her; a delicate idea, by which the genius of the artist intimated her melancholy end. Plutarch, Theseus.—Pausanias, bk. 1, ch. 22; bk. 2, ch. 32.—Diodorus, bk. 4.—Hyginus, fables 47 & 243.—Euripides, Hippolytus & Seneca, Phædra.—Virgil, Æneid, bk. 6, li. 445.—Ovid, Heroides, poem 4.

Phædria, a village of Arcadia. Pausanias, bk. 8, ch. 35.

Phædrus, one of the disciples of Socrates. Cicero, de Natura Deorum, bk. 1.――An Epicurean philosopher.――A Thracian who became one of the freedmen of the emperor Augustus. He translated into iambic verses the fables of Æsop, in the reign of the emperor Tiberius. They are divided into five books, valuable for their precision, purity, elegance, and simplicity. They remained long buried in oblivion, till they were discovered in the library of St. Remi, at Rheims, and published by Peter Pithou, a Frenchman, at the end of the 16th century. Phædrus was for some time persecuted by Sejanus, because this corrupt minister believed that he was satirized and abused in the encomiums which the poet everywhere pays to virtue. The best editions of Phædrus are those of Burman, 4to, Leyden, 1727; Hoogstraten, 4to, Amsterdam, 1701; and Barbou, 12mo, Paris, 1754.

Phædy̆ma, a daughter of Otanes, who first discovered that Smerdis, who had ascended the throne of Persia at the death of Cambyses, was an impostor. Herodotus, bk. 3, ch. 69.

Phæmonōe, a priestess of Apollo.

Phænarēte, the mother of the philosopher Socrates. She was a midwife by profession.

Phænias, a peripatetic philosopher, disciple of Aristotle. He wrote a history of tyrants. Diogenes Laërtius.

Phænna, one of the two Graces, worshipped at Sparta, together with her sister Clita. Lacedæmon first paid them particular honour. Pausanias, bk. 9, ch. 35.

Phænnis, a famous prophetess in the age of Antiochus. Pausanias, bk. 10, ch. 15.

Phæsana, a town of Arcadia.

Phæstum, a town of Crete. Homer, Odyssey, bk. 3, li. 296.――Another of Macedonia. Livy, bk. 56, ch. 13.

Phaĕton, a son of the sun, or Phœbus and Clymene, one of the Oceanides. He was son of Cephalus and Aurora, according to Hesiod and Pausanias, or of Tithonus and Aurora, according to Apollodorus. He is, however, more generally acknowledged to be the son of Phœbus and Clymene. Phaeton was naturally of a lively disposition, and a handsome figure. Venus became enamoured of him, and entrusted him with the care of one of her temples. This distinguishing favour of the goddess rendered him vain and aspiring; and when Epaphus the son of Io had told him to check his pride, that he was not the son of Phœbus, Phaeton resolved to know his true origin, and at the instigation of his mother, he visited the palace of the sun. He begged Phœbus, that if he really were his father, he would give him incontestible proofs of his paternal tenderness, and convince the world of his legitimacy. Phœbus swore by the Styx that he would grant him whatever he required, and no sooner was the oath uttered, than Phaeton demanded of him to drive his chariot for one day. Phœbus represented the impropriety of such a request, and the dangers to which it would expose him; but in vain; and, as the oath was inviolable, and Phaeton unmoved, the father instructed his son how he was to proceed in his way through the regions of the air. His explicit directions were forgotten, or little attended to; and no sooner had Phaeton received the reins from his father, than he betrayed his ignorance and incapacity to guide the chariot. The flying horses became sensible of the confusion of their driver, and immediately departed from the usual track. Phaeton repented too late of his rashness, and already heaven and earth were threatened with a universal conflagration, when Jupiter, who had perceived the disorder of the horses of the sun, struck the rider with one of his thunderbolts, and hurled him headlong from heaven into the river Po. His body, consumed with fire, was found by the nymphs of the place, and honoured with a decent burial. His sisters mourned his unhappy end, and were changed into poplars by Jupiter. See: Phaetontiades. According to the poets, while Phaeton was unskilfully driving the chariot of his father, the blood of the Æthiopians was dried up, and their skin became black, a colour which is still preserved among the greatest part of the inhabitants of the torrid zone. The territories of Libya were also parched up, according to the same tradition, on account of their too great vicinity to the sun; and ever since, Africa, unable to recover her original verdure and fruitfulness, has exhibited a sandy country, and uncultivated waste. According to those who explain this poetical fable, Phaeton was a Ligurian prince, who studied astronomy, and in whose age the neighbourhood of the Po was visited with uncommon heats. The horses of the sun are called Phaetontis equi, either because they were guided by Phaeton, or from the Greek word (φαεθων), which expresses the splendour and lustre of that luminary. Virgil, Æneid, bk. 5, li. 105.—Hesiod, Theogony, li. 985.—Ovid, Metamorphoses, bk. 1, fable 17; bk. 2, fable 1, &c.—Apollonius, bk. 4, Argonautica.—Horace, bk. 1, ode 11.—Seneca, Medea.—Apollodorus.—Hyginus, fable 156.

Phaĕtontiădes, or Phaetontides, the sisters of Phaeton, who were changed into poplars by Jupiter. Ovid, Metamorphoses, bk. 2, li. 346. See: Heliades.

Phaetūsa, one of the Heliades changed into poplars, after the death of their brother Phaeton. Ovid, Metamorphoses, bk. 2, li. 346.

Phæus, a town of Peloponnesus.

Phagesia, a festival among the Greeks, observed during the celebration of the Dionysia. It received its name from the good eating and living that then universally prevailed, φαγειν.

Phalacrine, a village of the Sabines, where Vespasian was born. Suetonius, Vespasian, ch. 2.

Phalæ, wooden towers at Rome, erected in the circus. Juvenal, satire 6, li. 589.

Phalæcus, a general of Phocis against the Bœotians, killed at the battle of Cheronæa. Diodorus, bk. 16.

Phalæsia, a town of Arcadia. Pausanias, bk. 8, ch. 35.

Phalanna, a town of Perrhæbia. Livy, bk. 42, ch. 54.

Phalanthus, a Lacedæmonian, who founded Tarentum in Italy, at the head of the Partheniæ. His father’s name was Aracus. As he went to Italy he was shipwrecked on the coast, and carried to shore by a dolphin, and from that reason there was a dolphin placed near his statute in the temple of Apollo at Delphi. See: Partheniæ. He received divine honours after death. Justin, bk. 3, ch. 4.—Pausanias, bk. 10, ch. 10.—Horace, bk. 2, ode 6, li. 11.—Silius Italicus, bk. 11, li. 16.――A town and mountain of the same name in Arcadia. Persius, bk. 8, ch. 35.

Phălăris, a tyrant of Agrigentum, who made use of the most excruciating torments to punish his subjects on the smallest suspicion. Perillus made him a brazen bull, and when he had presented it to Phalaris, the tyrant ordered the inventor to be seized, and the first experiment to be made on his body. These cruelties did not long remain unrevenged; the people of Agrigentum revolted in the tenth year of his reign, and put him to death in the same manner as he had tortured Perillus and many of his subjects after him, B.C. 552. The brazen bull of Phalaris was carried by Amilcar to Carthage; but when that city was taken by Scipio, it was delivered again to the inhabitants of Agrigentum by the Romans. There are now some letters extant written by a certain Abaris to Phalaris, with their respective answers, but they are supposed by some to be spurious. The best edition is that of the learned Boyle, Oxford, 1718. Cicero, Against Verres, bk. 4; Letters to Atticus, bk. 7, ltr. 12; De Officiis, bk. 2.—Ovid, de Ars Amatoria, bk. 1, li. 663.—Juvenal, satire 8, li. 81.—Pliny, bk. 34, ch. 8.—Diodorus.――A Trojan killed by Turnus. Virgil, Æneid, bk. 9, li. 762.

Phalarium, a citadel of Syracuse, where Phalaris’s bull was placed.

Phalărus, a river of Bœotia, falling into the Cephisus. Pausanias, bk. 9, ch. 34.

Phalcidon, a town of Thessaly. Polyænus, bk. 4.

Phaleas, a philosopher and legislator, &c. Aristotle.

Phalēreus Demetrius. See: Demetrius.

Phaleria, a town of Thessaly. Livy, bk. 32, ch. 15.

Phalēris, a Corinthian who led a colony to Epidamnus from Corcyra.

Phalēron, or Phalerum, or Phalera (orum), or Phalerus portus, an ancient harbour of Athens, about 25 stadia from the city, which, for its situation and smallness, was not very fit for the reception of many ships.――A place of Thessaly.

Phalērus, a son of Alcon, one of the Argonauts. Orpheus.

Phalias, a son of Hercules and Heliconis daughter of Thestius. Apollodorus.

Phallĭca, festivals observed by the Egyptians in honour of Osiris. They receive their name from φαλλος simulachrum ligneum membri virilis. The institution originated in this: After the murder of Osiris, Isis was unable to recover among the other limbs the privities of her husband; and therefore, as she paid particular honour to every part of his body, she distinguished that which was lost with more honour, and paid it more attention. Its representation, called phallus, was made with wood, and carried during the sacred festivals which were instituted in honour of Osiris. The people held it in the greatest veneration; it was looked upon as an emblem of fecundity, and the mention of it among the ancients never conveyed any impure thought or lascivious reflection. The festivals of the phallus were imitated by the Greeks, and introduced into Europe by the Athenians, who made the procession of the phallus part of the celebration of the Dionysia of the god of wine. Those that carried the phallus, at the end of a long pole, were called phallophori. They generally appeared among the Greeks, besmeared with the dregs of wine, covered with skins of lambs, and wearing on their heads a crown of ivy. Lucian, de Syria Dea.—Plutarch, De Iside et Osiride.—Pausanias, bk. 1, ch. 2.

Phalysius, a citizen of Naupactum, who recovered his sight by reading a letter sent him by Æsculapius. Pausanias, bk. 10, final chapter.

Phanæus, a promontory of the island of Chios, famous for its wines. It was called after a king of the same name, who reigned there. Livy, bk. 36, ch. 43.—Virgil, Georgics, bk. 2, li. 98.

Phanaræa, a town of Cappadocia. Strabo.

Phanas, a famous Messenian, &c., who died B.C. 682.

Phanes, a man of Halicarnassus, who fled from Amasis king of Egypt, to the court of Cambyses king of Persia, whom he advised, when he invaded Egypt, to pass through Arabia. Herodotus, bk. 3, ch. 4.

Phaneta, a town of Epirus. Livy, bk. 32, ch. 28.

Phanŏcles, an elegiac poet of Greece, who wrote a poem on that unnatural sin of which Socrates is accused by some. He supported that Orpheus had been the first who disgraced himself by that filthy indulgence. Some of his fragments are remaining. Clement of Alexandria, Stromateis, bk. 6.

Phanodēmus, an historian who wrote on the antiquities of Attica.

Phantasia, a daughter of Nicarchus of Memphis, in Egypt. Some have supposed that she wrote a poem on the Trojan war, and another on the return of Ulysses to Ithaca, from which compositions Homer copied the greatest part of his Iliad and Odyssey, when he visited Memphis, where they were deposited.

Phanus, a son of Bacchus, who was among the Argonauts. Apollodorus.

Phaon, a boatman of Mitylene in Lesbos. He received a small box of ointment from Venus, who had presented herself to him in the form of an old woman, to be carried over into Asia, and as soon as he had rubbed himself with what the box contained, he became one of the most beautiful men of his age. Many were captivated with the charms of Phaon, and, among others, Sappho the celebrated poetess. Phaon gave himself up to the pleasures of Sappho’s company; but, however, he soon conceived a disdain for her, and Sappho, mortified at his coldness, threw herself into the sea. Some say that Phaon was beloved by the goddess of beauty, who concealed him for some time among lettuces. Ælian says that Phaon was killed by a man whose bed he was defiling. Ælian, Varia Historia, bk. 12.—Ovid, Heroides, poem 21.—Palæphatus, de Incredibilia, ch. 49.—Athenæus.—Lucian, Dialogi Mortuorum, bk. 9.

Phara, a town of Africa, burnt by Scipio’s soldiers.

Pharacĭdes, a general of the Lacedæmonian fleet, who assisted Dionysius the tyrant of Sicily against the Carthaginians. Polyænus, bk. 2.

Pharæ, or Pheræ, a town of Crete.――Another in Messenia. Pausanias, bk. 4, ch. 30. See: Pheræ.

Pharasmănes, a king of Iberia, in the reign of Antoninus, &c. Tacitus, Annals, bk. 6, ch. 33.

Pharax, a Lacedæmonian officer, who attempted to make himself absolute in Sicily.――A Thessalian, whose son, called Cyanippus, married a beautiful woman, called Leuconoe, who was torn to pieces by his dogs. Parthenius.

Pharis, a town of Laconia, whose inhabitants are called Pharitæ. Pausanias, bk. 3, ch. 30.――A son of Mercury and Philodamea, who built Pharæ in Messenia. Pausanias, bk. 4, ch. 30.

Pharmecūsa, an island of the Ægean sea, where Julius Cæsar was seized by some pirates. Suetonius, Cæsar, ch. 4.――Another, where was shown Circe’s tomb. Strabo.

Pharnabāzus, a satrap of Persia, son of a person of the same name, B.C. 409. He assisted the Lacedæmonians against the Athenians, and gained their esteem by his friendly behaviour and support. His conduct, however, towards Alcibiades, was of the most perfidious nature, and he did not scruple to betray to his mortal enemies the man whom he had long honoured with his friendship. Cornelius Nepos, Alcibiades.—Plutarch.――An officer under Eumenes.――A king of Iberia.

Pharnăce, a town of Pontus. Pliny, bk. 6, ch. 4.――The mother of Cinyras king of Pontus. Suidas.

Pharnăces, a son of Mithridates king of Pontus, who favoured the Romans against his father. He revolted against Mithridates, and even caused him to be put to death, according to some accounts. In the civil wars of Julius Cæsar and Pompey, he interested himself for neither of the contending parties; upon which Cæsar turned his army against him, and conquered him. It was to express the celerity of his operations in conquering Pharnaces, that the victorious Roman made use of these words, Veni, vidi, vici. Florus, bk. 3.—Suetonius, Cæsar, ch. 37.—Paterculus, bk. 2, ch. 55.――A king of Pontus, who made war with Eumenes, B.C. 181.――A king of Cappadocia.――A librarian of Atticus. Cicero, Letters to Atticus.

Pharnapātes, a general of Orodes king of Parthia, killed in a battle by the Romans.

Pharnaspes, the father of Cassandra the mother of Cambyses.

Pharnus, a king of Media, conquered by Ninus king of Assyria.

Pharos, a small island in the bay of Alexandria, about seven furlongs distant from the continent. It was joined to the Egyptian shore with a causeway by Dexiphanes, B.C. 284, and upon it was built a celebrated tower, in the reign of Ptolemy Soter and Philadelphus, by Sostratus the son of Dexiphanes. This tower, which was called the tower of Pharos, and which passed for one of the seven wonders of the world, was built with white marble, and could be seen at the distance of 100 miles. On the top, fires were constantly kept to direct sailors in the bay, which was dangerous and difficult of access. The building of this tower cost the Egyptian monarch 800 talents, which were equivalent to above 165,000l. English, if Attic, or if Alexandrian, double that sum. There was this inscription upon it, King Ptolemy to the Gods the saviours, for the benefit of sailors; but Sostratus the architect, wishing to claim all the glory, engraved his own name upon the stones, and afterwards filled the hollow with mortar, and wrote the above-mentioned inscription. When the mortar had decayed by time, Ptolemy’s name disappeared, and the following inscription then became visible: Sostratus the Cnidian, son of Dexiphanes, to the Gods the saviours, for the benefit of sailors. The word Pharius is often used as Egyptian. Lucan, bk. 2, li. 636; bk. 3, li. 260; bk. 6, li. 308; bk. 9, li. 1005, &c.—Ovid, Ars Amatoria, bk. 3, li. 635.—Pliny, bk. 4, chs. 31 & 85; bk. 36, ch. 13.—Strabo, bk. 17.—Mela, bk. 2, ch. 7.—Pliny, bk. 13, ch. 11.—Homer, Odyssey, bk. 4.—Flaccus, bk. 2.—Statius, bk. 3, Sylvæ, poem 2, li. 102.――A watch-tower near Capreæ.――An island on the coast of Illyricum, now called Lesina. Mela, bk. 2, ch. 7.――The emperor Claudius ordered a tower to be built at the entrance of the port of Ostia, for the benefit of sailors, and it likewise bore the name of Pharos, an appellation afterwards given to every other edifice which was raised to direct the course of sailors, either with lights, or by signals. Juvenal, satire 11, li. 76.—Suetonius.

Pharsălus, now Farsa, a town of Thessaly, in whose neighbourhood is a large plain called Pharsalia, famous for a battle which was fought there between Julius Cæsar and Pompey, in which the former obtained the victory. In that battle, which was fought on the 12th of May, B.C. 48, Cæsar lost about 200 men, or, according to others, 1200. Pompey’s loss was 15,000, or 25,000 according to others, and 24,000 of his army were made prisoners of war by the conqueror. Lucan, bk. 1, &c.—Plutarch, Pompey & Cæsar.—Appian, Civil Wars.—Cæsar, Civil War.—Suetonius, Cæsar.—Dio Cassius.――That poem of Lucan, in which he gives an account of the civil wars of Cæsar and Pompey, bears the name of Pharsalia. See: Lucanus.

Pharte, a daughter of Danaus. Apollodorus.

Pharus, a Rutulian killed by Æneas. Virgil, Æneid, bk. 10, li. 322.

Pharusii, or Phaurusii, a people of Africa, beyond Mauritania. Mela, bk. 1, ch. 4.

Pharybus, a river of Macedonia, falling into the Ægean sea. It is called by some Baphyrus.

Pharycadon, a town of Macedonia, on the Peneus. Strabo, bk. 9.

Pharyge, a town of Locris.

Phasēlis, a town of Pamphylia, at the foot of mount Taurus, which was long the residence of pirates. Strabo, bk. 14.—Lucan, bk. 8, ch. 251.—Cicero, On the Agrarian Law, bk. 2, ch. 19.

Phasiana, a country of Asia, near the river Phasis. The inhabitants called Phasiani, are of Egyptian origin.

Phasias, a patronymic given to Medea, as being born near the Phasis. Ovid, Metamorphoses, bk. 7.

Phasis, a son of Phœbus and Ocyroe.――A river of Colchis, rising in the mountains of Armenia, now called Faoz, and falling into the east of the Euxine. It is famous for the expedition of the Argonauts, who entered it after a long and perilous voyage, from which reason all dangerous voyages have been proverbially intimated by the words of sailing to the Phasis. There were on the banks of the Phasis a great number of large birds, of which, according to some of the ancients, the Argonauts brought some to Greece, and which were called on that account pheasants. The Phasis was reckoned by the ancients one of the largest rivers of Asia. Pliny, bk. 10, ch. 48.—Martial, bk. 13, ltr. 62.—Strabo, bk. 11.—Mela, bk. 1, ch. 19.—Apollodorus, bk. 1, &c.—Pausanias, bk. 4, ch. 44.—Orpheus.

Phassus, a son of Lycaon. Apollodorus.

Phauda, a town of Pontus.

Phavorīnus, a writer, the best edition of whose Greek Lexicon is that in folio, Venice, 1712.

Phayllus, a tyrant of Ambracia.――The brother of Onomarchus of Phocis, &c. See: Phocis. Pausanias, bk. 10, ch. 2.

Phea, or Pheia, a town of Elis. Homer, Iliad, bk. 7.

Phecadum, an inland town of Macedonia. Livy, bk. 31, ch. 41.

Phegeus, or Phlegeus, a companion of Æneas, killed by Turnus. Virgil, Æneid, bk. 9, li. 765.――Another, likewise killed by Turnus. Virgil, Æneid, bk. 12, li. 371, &c.――A priest of Bacchus, the father of Alphesibœa, who purified Alcmæon of his mother’s murder, and gave him his daughter in marriage. He was afterwards put to death by the children of Alcmæon by Callirhoe, because he had ordered Alcmæon to be killed when he had attempted to recover a collar which he had given to his daughter. See: Alcmæon. Ovid, Metamorphoses, bk. 9, li. 412.

Phellia, a river of Laconia. Pausanias, bk. 3, ch. 20.

Phelloe, a town of Achaia near Ægira, where Bacchus and Diana each had a temple. Pausanias, bk. 7, ch. 26.

Phellus, a place of Attica.――A town of Elis, near Olympia. Strabo.

Phemius, a man introduced by Homer as a musician among Penelope’s suitors. Some say that he taught Homer, for which the grateful poet immortalized his name. Homer, Odyssey.――A man who, according to some, wrote an account of the return of the Greeks from the Trojan war. The word is applied by Ovid, Amores, bk. 3, li. 7, indiscriminately to any person who excels in music.

Phemonoe, a priestess of Apollo, who is supposed to have invented heroic verses. Pausanias, bk. 10, ch. 6.

Phenēum, a town of Arcadia, whose inhabitants, called Pheneatæ, worshipped Mercury. Cicero, de Natura Deorum, bk. 3.

Pheneus, a town with a lake of the same name in Arcadia, whose waters were unwholesome in the night and wholesome in the daytime. Cicero, de Natura Deorum, bk. 3, ch. 22.—Virgil, Æneid, bk. 8, li. 165.—Ovid, Metamorphoses, bk. 15, li. 332.――A son of Melas, killed by Tydeus. Apollodorus.

Pheræ, a town of Thessaly, where the tyrant Alexander reigned, whence he was called Pheræus. Strabo, bk. 8.—Cicero, bk. 2, de Officis.—Ovid, Ibis, li. 321.—Valerius Maximus, bk. 9, ch. 13.――A town of Attica.――Another in Laconia in Peloponnesus. Livy, bk. 35, ch. 30.

Pheræus, a surname of Jason, as being a native of Pheræ.

Pheraules, a Persian whom Cyrus raised from poverty to affluence. He afterwards gave up all his possessions to enjoy tranquillity in retirement. Xenophon, Cyropaedia.

Pherĕclus, one of the Greeks during the Trojan war. Ovid, Heroides, poem 15.――A pilot of the ship of Theseus, when he went to Crete. Plutarch, Theseus.

Pherēcrătes, a comic poet of Athens, in the age of Plato and Aristophanes. He is supposed to have written 21 comedies, of which only a few verses remain. He introduced living characters on the stage, but never abused the liberty which he had taken, either by satire or defamation. He invented a sort of verse, which from him has been called Pherecratian. It consisted of the three last feet of an hexameter verse, of which the first was always a spondee, as for instance, the third verse of Horace’s bk. 1, ode 5, Grato Pyrrha sub antro.――Another, descended from Deucalion. Cicero, Tusculanæ Disputationes.

Pherecȳdes, a philosopher of Scyros, disciple of Pittacus, one of the first who delivered his thoughts in prose. He was acquainted with the periods of the moon, and foretold eclipses with the greatest accuracy. The doctrine of the immortality of the soul was first supported by him, as also that of the metempsychosis. Pythagoras was one of his disciples, remarkable for his esteem and his attachment to his learned master. When Pherecydes lay dangerously ill in the island of Delos, Pythagoras hastened to give him every assistance in his power, and when all his efforts had proved ineffectual, he buried him, and after he had paid him the last offices, he retired to Italy. Some, however, suppose, that Pherecydes threw himself down from a precipice as he was going to Delphi, or, according to others, he fell a sacrifice to the lousy disease, B.C. 515, in the 85th year of his age. Diogenes Laërtius.—Lactantius [Placidus].――An historian of Leros, surnamed the Athenian. He wrote a history of Attica, now lost, in the age of Darius Hystaspes.――A tragic poet.

Pherendates, a Persian set over Egypt by Artaxerxes.

Pherephate, a surname of Proserpine, from the production of corn.

Pheres, a son of Cretheus and Tyro, who built Pheræ in Thessaly, where he reigned. He married Clymene, by whom he had Admetus and Lycurgus. Apollodorus.――A son of Medea, stoned to death by the Corinthians, on account of the poisonous clothes which he had given to Glauce, Creon’s daughter. See: Medea. Pausanias, bk. 2, ch. 3.――A friend of Æneas, killed by Halesus. Virgil, Æneid, bk. 10, li. 413.

Pheretias, a patronymic of Admetus son of Pheres. Ovid, Metamorphoses, bk. 1, li. 291.

Pheretīma, the wife of Battus king of Cyrene, and mother of Arcesilaus. After her son’s death, she recovered the kingdom by means of Amasis king of Egypt, and to avenge the murder of Arcesilaus, she caused all his assassins to be crucified round the walls of Cyrene, and she cut off the breasts of their wives, and hung them up near the bodies of their husbands. It is said that she was devoured alive by worms, a punishment which, according to some of the ancients, was inflicted by Providence for her unparalleled cruelties. Polyænus, bk. 8.—Herodotus, bk. 4, ch. 204, &c.

Pherinum, a town of Thessaly.

Pheron, a king of Egypt, who succeeded Sesostris. He was blind, and he recovered his sight by washing his eyes, according to the directions of the oracle, in the urine of a woman who had never had any unlawful connexions. He tried his wife first, but she appeared to have been faithless to his bed, and she was burnt with all those whose urine could not restore sight to the king. He married the woman whose urine proved beneficial. Herodotus, bk. 2, ch. 111.

Pherūsa, one of the Nereides. Apollodorus, bk. 1.

Phiăle, one of Diana’s nymphs. Ovid, Metamorphoses, bk. 3.――A celebrated courtesan. Juvenal, satire 10, li. 238.

Phialia, or Phigalia, a town of Arcadia. Pausanias, bk. 8, ch. 3.

Phiălus, a king of Arcadia. Pausanias, bk. 8, ch. 3.

Phicores, a people near the Palus Mæotis. Mela, bk. 1, ch. 19.

Phidias, a celebrated statuary of Athens, who died B.C. 432. He made a statue of Minerva, at the request of Pericles, which was placed in the Pantheon. It was made with ivory and gold, and measured 39 feet in height. His presumption raised him many enemies, and he was accused of having carved his own image and that of Pericles on the shield of the statue of the goddess, for which he was banished from Athens by the clamorous populace. He retired to Elis, where he determined to revenge the ill-treatment he had received from his countrymen, by making a statue which should eclipse the fame of that of Minerva. He was successful in the attempt; and the statue he made of Jupiter Olympius was always reckoned the best of all his pieces, and has passed for one of the wonders of the world. The people of Elis were so sensible of his merit, and of the honour he had done to their city, that they appointed his descendants to the honourable office of keeping clean that magnificent statue, and of preserving it from injury. Pausanias, bk. 9, ch. 4.—Cicero, On Oratory.—Strabo, bk. 8.—Quintilian, bk. 12, ch. 10.—Plutarch, Pericles.

Phidilē, a woman. See: ♦Phidyle.

♦ ‘Phidyle’ not referenced in the text.

Phidippĭdes a celebrated courier, who ran from Athens to Lacedæmon, about 152 English miles, in two days, to ask of the Lacedæmonians assistance against the Persians. The Athenians raised a temple to his memory. Herodotus, bk. 6, ch. 105.—Cornelius Nepos, Miltiades.

Phiditia, a public entertainment at Sparta, where much frugality was observed, as the word (φειδιτια, from φειδομαι, parco) denotes. Persons of all ages were admitted; the younger frequented it as a school of temperance and sobriety, where they were trained to good manners and useful knowledge, by the example and discourse of their elders. Cicero, Tusculanæ Disputationes, bk. 5, ch. 34.—Pausanias, bk. 3, ch. 10.

Phidon, a man who enjoyed the sovereign power at Argos, and is supposed to have invented scales and measures, and coined silver at Ægina. He died B.C. 854. Aristotle.—Herodotus, bk. 6, ch. 127.――An ancient legislator at Corinth.

Phidy̆re, a female servant of Horace, to whom he addressed bk. 3, ode 23.

Phigalei, a people of Peloponnesus, near Messenia. They were naturally fond of drinking, and negligent of domestic affairs. Pausanias, bk. 8, ch. 39.

Phila, the eldest daughter of Antipater, who married Craterus. She afterwards married Demetrius, and when her husband had lost the kingdom of Macedonia, she poisoned herself. Plutarch.――A town of Macedonia. Livy, bk. 42, ch. 67; bk. 44, chs. 2 & 34.――An island called also ♦Phila.

♦ ‘Phla’ replaced with ‘Phila’

Philadelphia, now Alahasher, a town of Lydia. Pliny, bk. 5, ch. 29.――Another, in Cilicia,――Arabia,――-Syria.

Philadelphus, a king of Paphlagonia, who followed the interest of Marcus Antony.――The surname of one of the Ptolemies, king of Egypt, by antiphrasis, because he destroyed all his brothers. See: Ptolemæus II.

♦Philæ, a town and island of Egypt, above the smaller cataract, but placed opposite Syene by Pliny, bk. 5, ch. 9. Isis was worshipped there. Lucan, bk. 10, li. 313.—Seneca, Quæstiones Naturales, bk. 4, ch. 2.――One of the Sporades. Pliny, bk. 4, ch. 12.

♦ ‘Phile’ replaced with ‘Philæ’

Philæni, two brothers of Carthage. When a contest arose between the Cyreneans and Carthaginians, about the extent of their territories, it was mutually agreed that, at a stated hour, two men should depart from each city, and that, wherever they met, there they should fix the boundaries of their country. The Philæni accordingly departed from Carthage, and met the Cyreneans, when they had advanced far into their territories. This produced a quarrel, and the Cyreneans supported that the Philæni had left Carthage before the appointment, and that therefore they must retire or be buried in the sand. The Philæni refused, upon which they were overpowered by the Cyreneans, and accordingly buried in the sand. The Carthaginians, to commemorate the patriotic deeds of the Philæni, who had sacrificed their lives that the extent of their country might not be diminished, raised two altars on the place where their bodies had been buried, which they called Philænorum aræ. These altars were the boundaries of the Carthaginian dominions, which on the other side extended as far as the columns of Hercules, which is about 2000 miles, or, according to the accurate observations of the moderns, only 1420 geographical miles. Sallust, Jugurthine War, chs. 19 & 79.—Silius Italicus, bk. 15, li. 704.

Philænis, or Phileris, a courtesan. See: Phileris.

Philæus, a son of Ajax, by Lyside the daughter of Coronus, one of the Lapithæ. Miltiades, as some suppose, was descended from him.――A son of Augeas, who upbraided his father for not granting what Hercules justly claimed for cleaning his stables. See: Augeas. He was placed upon his father’s throne by Hercules. Apollodorus, bk. 2.

Philammon, a celebrated musician, son of Apollo and Chione.――A man who murdered Arsinoe, and who was slain by her female attendants.

Philanthus, a son of Prolaus of Elis, killed at the Olympic games. Pausanias, bk. 5, ch. 3.

Philarchus, a hero who gave assistance to the Phocians when the Persians invaded Greece.

Philēmon, a Greek comic poet, contemporary with Menander. He obtained some poetical prizes over Menander, not so much by the merit of his composition, as by the intrigues of his friends. Plautus imitated some of his comedies. He lived to his 97th year, and died, as it is reported, of laughing, on seeing an ass eat figs, B.C. 274.――His son, who bore the same name, wrote 54 comedies, of which some few fragments remain, which do not seem to entitle him to great rank among the Greek comic writers. Valerius Maximus, bk. 9, ch. 12—Quintilian, bk. 10.—Plutarch, de Cohibenda Ira.—Strabo, bk. 14.――A poor man of Phrygia. See: Baucis.――An illegitimate son of Priam.

Philēne, a town of Attica between Athens and Tanagra. Statius, Thebaid, bk. 4, li. 102.

Philēris, an immodest woman, whom Philocrates the poet lampooned. Martial, bk. 7.

Philĕros, a town of Macedonia. Pliny.

Philesius, a leader of the 10,000 Greeks after the battle of Cunaxa.

Philetærus, a eunuch made governor of Pergamus by Lysimachus. He quarrelled with Lysimachus, and made himself master of Pergamus, where he laid the foundations of a kingdom called the kingdom of Pergamus, B.C. 283. He reigned there for 20 years, and at his death he appointed his nephew Eumenes as his successor. Strabo, bk. 13.—Pausanias, bk. 1, ch. 8.――A Cretan general who revolted from Seleucus, and was conquered, &c. Polyænus, bk. 4.

Philētas, a grammarian and poet of Cos, in the reign of king Philip, and of his son Alexander the Great. He was made preceptor to Ptolemy Philadelphus. The elegies and epigrams which he wrote have been greatly commended by the ancients, and some fragments of them are still preserved in Athenæus. He was so small and slender, according to the improbable accounts of Ælian, that he always carried pieces of lead in his pockets, to prevent being blown away by the wind. Ælian, Varia Historia, bk. 9, ch. 14.—Ovid, Fasti, bk. 1, poem 5.—Propertius, bk. 3, poem 1.――An historian.

Philetius, a faithful steward of Ulysses, who, with Eumeus, assisted him in destroying the suitors, who had not only insulted the queen, but wasted the property of the absent monarch. Homer, Odyssey, bk. 20, &c.

Philĭdas, a friend of Pelopidas, who favoured the conspiracy formed to expel the Spartans from Thebes. He received the conspirators in his own house.

Philides, a dealer in horses in the age of Themistocles. Plutarch, Themistocles.

Philinna, a courtesan, mother of Aridæus, by Philip the father of Alexander.

Philīnus, a native of Agrigentum, who fought with Annibal against the Romans. He wrote a partial history of the Punic wars. Cornelius Nepos, Hannibal.—Polybius.

Philippei, or Phillippi, certain pieces of money coined in the reign of Philip of Macedonia, and with his image. Horace, bk. 2, ltr. 1, li. 284.—Livy, bk. 34, ch. 52; bk. 37, ch. 59; bk. 39, chs. 5 & 7.

Philippi, a town of Macedonia, anciently called Datos, and situate at the east of the Strymon on a rising ground, which abounds with springs and water. It was called Philippi after Philip king of Macedonia, who fortified it against the incursions of the barbarians of Thrace, and became celebrated for two battles which were fought there in October, B.C. 42, at the interval of about 20 days, between Augustus and Antony, and the republican forces of Brutus and Cassius, in which the former obtained the victory. Ovid, Metamorphoses, bk. 15, li. 284.—Pliny, bk. 7, ch. 45.—Florus, bk. 4, ch. 7.—Paterculus, bk. 2, ch. 7, &c.—Appian, bk. 2, Civil Wars.—Plutarch, Antonius.—Virgil, Georgics, bk. 1, li. 490.—Suetonius, Augustus, ch. 2.

Philippĭdes, a comic poet in Alexander’s age.――A courier, called also Phidippides.

Philippŏpŏlis, a town of Thrace, near the Hebrus, built by Philip the father of Alexander. Livy, bk. 39, ch. 53.――Of Thessaly, called Philippi.

Philippus I., son of Argæus, succeeded his father on the throne of Macedonia, and reigned 38 years, B.C. 640.――The second of that name was the fourth son of Amyntas king of Macedonia. He was sent to Thebes as a hostage by his father, where he learnt the art of war under Epaminondas, and studied with the greatest care the manners and the pursuits of the Greeks. He was recalled to Macedonia, and at the death of his brother Perdiccas, he ascended the throne as guardian and protector of the youthful years of his nephew. His ambition, however, soon discovered itself, and he made himself independent. The valour of a prudent general, and the policy of an experienced statesman, seemed requisite to ensure his power. The neighbouring nations, ridiculing the youth and inexperience of the new king of Macedonia, appeared in arms, but Philip soon convinced them of their error. Unable to meet them as yet in the field of battle, he suspended their fury by presents, and soon turned his arms against Amphipolis, a colony tributary to the Athenians. Amphipolis was conquered, and added to the kingdom of Macedonia, and Philip meditated no less than the destruction of a republic which had rendered itself so formidable to the rest of Greece, and had even claimed submission from the princes of Macedonia. His designs, however, were as yet immature, and before he could make Athens an object of conquest, the Thracians and the Illyrians demanded his attention. He made himself master of a Thracian colony, to which he gave the name of Philippi, and from which he received the greatest advantages on account of the golden mines in the neighbourhood. In the midst of his political prosperity, Philip did not neglect the honour of his family. He married Olympias, the daughter of Neoptolemus king of the Molossi; and when, some time after he became father of Alexander, the monarch, conscious of the inestimable advantages which arise from the lessons, the example, and the conversation of a learned and virtuous preceptor, wrote a letter with his own hand to the philosopher Aristotle, and begged him to retire from his usual pursuits, and to dedicate his whole time to the instruction of the young prince. Everything seemed now to conspire to his aggrandizement, and historians have observed, that Philip received in one day the intelligence of three things which could gratify the most unbounded ambition, and flatter the hopes of the most aspiring monarch: the birth of a son, an honourable crown at the Olympic games, and a victory over the barbarians of Illyricum. But all these increased rather than satiated his ambition; he declared his inimical sentiments against the power of Athens, and the independence of all Greece, by laying siege to Olynthus, a place which, on account of its situation and consequence, would prove most injurious to the interests of the Athenians, and most advantageous to the intrigues and military operations of every Macedonian prince. The Athenians, roused by the eloquence of Demosthenes, sent 17 vessels and 2000 men to the assistance of Olynthus, but the money of Philip prevailed over all their efforts. The greatest part of the citizens suffered themselves to be bribed by the Macedonian gold, and Olynthus surrendered to the enemy, and was instantly reduced to ruins. His successes were as great in every part of Greece; he was declared head of the Amphictyonic council, and was entrusted with the care of the sacred temple of Apollo at Delphi. If he was recalled to Macedonia, it was only to add fresh laurels to his crown, by victories over his enemies in Illyricum and Thessaly. By assuming the mask of a moderator and peacemaker he gained confidence, and in attempting to protect the Peloponnesians against the encroaching power of Sparta, he rendered his cause popular, and by ridiculing the insults that were offered to his person as he passed through Corinth, he displayed to the world his moderation and philosophic virtues. In his attempts to make himself master of Eubœa, Philip was unsuccessful; and Phocion, who despised his gold as well as his meanness, obliged him to evacuate an island whose inhabitants were as insensible to the charms of money, as they were unmoved at the horrors of war, and the bold efforts of a vigilant enemy. From Eubœa he turned his arms against the Scythians, but the advantages which he obtained over this indigent nation were inconsiderable, and he again made Greece an object of plunder and rapine. He advanced far into Bœotia, and a general engagement was fought at Chæronea. The fight was long and bloody, but Philip obtained the victory. His behaviour after the battle reflects great disgrace upon him as a man, and as a monarch. In the hour of festivity, and during the entertainment which he had given to celebrate the trophies he had won, Philip sallied from his camp, and with the inhumanity of a brute he insulted the bodies of the slain, and exulted over the calamities of the prisoners of war. His insolence, however, was checked when Demades, one of the Athenian captives, reminded him of his meanness, by exclaiming, “Why do you, O king, act the part of a Thersites, when you can represent with so much dignity the elevated character of an Agamemnon?” The reproof was felt; Demades received his liberty, and Philip learned how to gain popularity even among his fallen enemies, by relieving their wants and easing their distresses. At the battle of Chæronea the independence of Greece was extinguished; and Philip, unable to find new enemies in Europe, formed new enterprises, and meditated new conquests. He was nominated general of the Greeks against the Persians, and was called upon as well from inclination as duty to revenge those injuries which Greece had suffered from the invasions of Darius and of Xerxes. But he was stopped in the midst of his warlike preparations; he was stabbed by Pausanius as he entered the theatre, at the celebration of the nuptials of his daughter Cleopatra. This murder has given rise to many reflections upon the causes which produced it; and many who consider the recent repudiation of Olympias, and the resentment of Alexander, are apt to investigate the causes of his death in the bosom of his family. The ridiculous honours which Olympias paid to her husband’s murderer strengthened the suspicion, yet Alexander declared that he invaded the kingdom of Persia to revenge his father’s death upon the Persian satraps and princes, by whose immediate intrigues the assassination had been committed. The character of Philip is that of a sagacious, artful, prudent, and intriguing monarch: he was brave in the field of battle, eloquent and dissimulating at home; and he possessed the wonderful art of changing his conduct according to the disposition and caprice of mankind, without ever altering his purpose, or losing sight of his ambitious aims. He possessed much perseverance, and in the execution of his plans he was always vigorous. The hand of an assassin prevented him from achieving the boldest and the most extensive of his undertakings; and he might have acquired as many laurels, and conquered as many nations, as his son Alexander did in the succeeding reign, and the kingdom of Persia might have been added to the Macedonian empire, perhaps with greater moderation, with more glory, and with more lasting advantages. The private character of Philip lies open to censure, and raises indignation. The admirer of his virtues is disgusted to find him amongst the most abandoned prostitutes, and disgracing himself by the most unnatural crimes and lascivious indulgencies, which can make even the most debauched and the most profligate to blush. He was murdered in the 47th year of his age, and the 24th of his reign, about 336 years before the christian era. His reign is become uncommonly interesting, and his administration a matter of instruction. He is the first monarch whose life and actions are described with peculiar accuracy and historical faithfulness. Philip was the father of Alexander the Great and of Cleopatra by Olympias; he had also by Audaca, an Illyrian, Cyna, who married Amyntas the son of Perdiccas, Philip’s elder brother; by Nicasipolis, a Thessalian, Nicæa, who married Cassander; by Philinna, a Larissæan dancer, Aridæus, who reigned some time after Alexander’s death; by Cleopatra the niece of Attalus, Caranus and Europa, who were both murdered by Olympias; and Ptolemy the first king of Egypt by Arsinoe, who in the first month of her pregnancy was married to Lagus. Demosthenes, Philippics & Olynthiacs.—Justin 7, &c.—Diodorus, bk. 16.—Plutarch, Alexander, Demosthenes, & Apophthegmata Laconica.—Isocrates, ad Philippum.—Curtius, bk. 1, &c.—Æschines.—Pausanias, Bœotia, &c.――The last king of Macedonia, of that name, was son of Demetrius. His infancy, at the death of his father, was protected by Antigonus, one of his friends, who ascended the throne, and reigned for 12 years, with the title of independent monarch. When Antigonus died, Philip recovered his father’s throne, though only 15 years of age, and he early distinguished himself by his boldness and his ambitious views. His cruelty, however, to Aratus, soon displayed his character in its true light; and to the gratification of every vice, and every extravagant propensity, he had the meanness to sacrifice this faithful and virtuous Athenian. Not satisfied with the kingdom of Macedonia, Philip aspired to become the friend of Annibal, and wished to share with him the spoils which the distresses and continual loss of the Romans seemed soon to promise. But his expectations were frustrated; the Romans discovered his intrigues, and though weakened by the valour and artifice of the Carthaginian, yet they were soon enabled to meet him in the field of battle. The consul Lævinus entered without delay his territories of Macedonia, and after he had obtained a victory over him near Apollonia, and reduced his fleet to ashes, he compelled him to sue for peace. This peaceful disposition was not permanent, and when the Romans discovered that he had assisted their immortal enemy Annibal with men and money they appointed Titus Quinctius Flaminius to punish his perfidy, and the violation of the treaty. The Roman consul, with his usual expedition, invaded Macedonia; and in a general engagement which was fought near Cynocephale, the hostile army was totally defeated, and the monarch saved his life with difficulty by flying from the field of battle. Destitute of resources, without friends either at home or abroad, Philip was obliged to submit to the mercy of the conqueror, and to demand peace by his ambassadors. It was granted with difficulty. The terms were humiliating; but the poverty of Philip obliged him to accept the conditions, however disadvantageous and degrading to his dignity. In the midst of these public calamities the peace of his family was disturbed; and Perses, the eldest of his sons by a concubine, raised seditions against his brother Demetrius, whose condescension and humanity had gained popularity among the Macedonians, and who, from his residence at Rome as a hostage, had gained the good graces of the senate, and by the modesty and innocence of his manners, had obtained forgiveness from that venerable body for the hostilities of his father. Philip listened with too much avidity to the false accusation of Perses; and when he heard it asserted that Demetrius wished to rob him of his crown, he no longer hesitated to punish with death so unworthy and so ungrateful a son. No sooner was Demetrius sacrificed to credulity, than Philip became convinced of his cruelty and rashness, and, to punish the perfidy of Perses, he attempted to make Antigonus, another son, his successor on the Macedonian throne. But he was prevented from executing his purpose by death, in the 42nd year of his reign, 179 years before the christian era. The assassin of Demetrius succeeded his father; and with the same ambition, with the same rashness and oppression, renewed the war against the Romans till his empire was destroyed and Macedonia became a Roman province. Philip has been compared with his great ancestor of the same name; but though they possessed the same virtues, the same ambition, and were tainted with the same vices, yet the father of Alexander was more sagacious and more intriguing, and the son of Demetrius was more suspicious, more cruel, and more implacable; and according to the pretended prophecy of one of the Sibyls, Macedonia was indebted to one Philip for her rise and consequence among nations, and under another Philip she lamented the loss of her power, her empire, and her dignity. Polybius, bk. 16, &c.—Justin, bk. 29, &c.—Plutarch, Titus Flamininus.—Pausanias, bk. 7, ch. 8.—Livy, bk. 31, &c.—Valerius Maximus, bk. 4, ch. 8.—Orosius, bk. 4, ch. 20.――Marcus Julius, a Roman emperor, of an obscure family in Arabia, from which he was surnamed Arabian. From the lowest rank in the army he gradually rose to the highest offices, and when he was made general of the pretorian guards he assassinated Gordian to make himself emperor. To establish himself with more certainty on the imperial throne, he left Mesopotamia a prey to the continual invasions of the Persians, and hurried to Rome, where his election was universally approved by the senate and the Roman people. Philip rendered his cause popular by his liberality and profusion; and it added much to his splendour and dignity that the Romans during his reign commemorated the foundation of their city, a solemnity which was observed but once every 100 years, and which was celebrated with more pomp and more magnificence than under the preceding reigns. The people were entertained with games and spectacles, the theatre of Pompey was successively crowded during three days and three nights, and 2000 gladiators bled in the circus at once, for the amusement and pleasure of a gazing populace. His usurpation, however, was short; Philip was defeated by Decius, who had proclaimed himself emperor in Pannonia, and he was assassinated by his own soldiers near Verona, in the 45th year of his age, and the 5th of his reign, A.D. 249. His son, who bore the same name, and who had shared with him the imperial dignity, was also massacred in the arms of his mother. Young Philip was then in the 12th year of his age, and the Romans lamented in him the loss of rising talents, of natural humanity, and endearing virtues. Aurelius Victor.—Zosimus.――A native of Acarnania, physician to Alexander the Great. When the monarch had been suddenly taken ill, after bathing in the Cydnus, Philip undertook to remove the complaint when the rest of the physicians believed that all medical assistance would be ineffectual. But as he was preparing his medicine, Alexander received a letter from Parmenio, in which he was advised to beware of his physician Philip, as he had conspired against his life. The monarch was alarmed; and when Philip presented him the medicine, he gave him Parmenio’s letter to peruse, and began to drink the potion. The serenity and composure of Philip’s countenance, as he read the letter, removed every suspicion from Alexander’s breast, and he pursued the directions of his physician, and in a few days recovered. Plutarch, Alexander.—Curtius, bk. 3.—Arrian, bk. 2.――A son of Alexander the Great, murdered by order of Olympias.――A governor of Sparta.――A son of Cassander.――A man who pretended to be the son of Perses, that he might lay claim to the kingdom of Macedonia. He was called Pseudophilippus.――A general of Cassander, in Ætolia.――A Phrygian, made governor of Jerusalem by Antiochus, &c.――A son of Herod the Great, in the reign of Augustus.――A brother of Alexander the Great, called also Aridæus. See: Aridæus.――A freedman of Pompey the Great. He found his master’s body deserted on the sea-shore, in Egypt, and he gave it a decent burial, with the assistance of an old Roman soldier, who had fought under Pompey.――The father-in-law of the emperor Augustus.――A Lacedæmonian who wished to make himself absolute in Thebes.――An officer made master of Parthia, after the death of Alexander the Great.――A king of part of Syria, son of Antiochus Gryphus.――A son of Antipater in the army of Alexander.――A brother of Lysimachus, who died suddenly after hard walking and labour.――An historian of Amphipolis.――A Carthaginian, &c.――A man who wrote a history of Caria.――A native of Megara, &c.――A native of Pamphylia, who wrote a diffuse history from the creation down to his own time. It was not much valued. He lived in the age of Theodosius II.

Philiscus, a famous sculptor, whose statues of Latona, Venus, Diana, the Muses, and a naked Apollo, were preserved in the portico belonging to Octavia.――A Greek comic poet. Pliny, bk. 11, ch. 9.――An Athenian who received Cicero when he fled to Macedonia.――An officer of Artaxerxes, appointed to make peace with the Greeks.

Philistion, a comic poet of Nicæa in the age of Socrates. Martial, bk. 2, ltr. 41.――A physician of Locris. Aulus Gellius, bk. 7, ch. 12.

Philistus, a musician of Miletus.――A Syracusan, who, during his banishment from his native country, wrote a history of Sicily, in 12 books, which was commended by some, though condemned for inaccuracy by Pausanias. He was afterwards sent against the Syracusans by Dionysius the younger, and he killed himself when overcome by the enemy, 356 B.C. Plutarch, Dion.—Diodorus, bk. 13.

Phillo, an Arcadian maid, by whom Hercules had a son. The father, named Alcimedon, exposed his daughter, but she was saved by means of her lover, who was directed to the place where she was doomed to perish, by the chirping of a magpie, which imitated the plaintive cries of a child. Pausanias, bk. 8, ch. 12.

Philo, a Jewish writer of Alexandria, A.D. 40, sent as ambassador from his nation to Caligula. He was unsuccessful in his embassy, of which he wrote an entertaining account; and the emperor, who wished to be worshipped as a god, expressed his dissatisfaction with the Jews, because they refused to place his statues in their temples. He was so happy in his expressions, and elegant in his variety, that he has been called the Jewish Plato, and the book which he wrote on the sufferings of the Jews in the reign of Caius, met with such unbounded applause in the Roman senate, where he read it publicly, that he was permitted to consecrate it in the public libraries. His works were divided into three parts, of which the first related to the creation of the world, the second spoke of sacred history, and in the third the author made mention of the laws and customs of the Jewish nation. The best edition of Philo is that of Mangey, 2 vols., folio, London, 1742.――A man who fell in love with his daughter, called Proserpine, as she was bathing. He had by her a son, Mercurius Trismegistus.――A man who wrote an account of a journey to Arabia.――A philosopher who followed the doctrines of Carneades, B.C. 100.――Another philosopher of Athens, tutor to Cicero.――A grammarian in the first century.――An architect of Byzantium, who flourished about three centuries before the christian era. He built a dock at Athens, where ships were drawn in safety, and protected from storms. Cicero, On Oratory, bk. 1, ch. 14.――A Greek christian writer, whose work was edited at Rome, 4to, 1772.――A dialectic philosopher, 260 B.C.

Philobœotus, a mountain of Bœotia. Plutarch.

Philochorus, a man who wrote a history of Athens in 17 books, a catalogue of the archons, two books of olympiads, &c. He died B.C. 222.

Philŏcles, one of the admirals of the Athenian fleet, during the Peloponnesian war. He recommended to his countrymen to cut off the right hand of such of the enemies as were taken, that they might be rendered unfit for service. His plan was adopted by all the 10 admirals except one; but their expectations were frustrated, and instead of being conquerors, they were totally defeated at Ægospotamos by Lysander, and Philocles, with 3000 of his countrymen, was put to death, and denied the honours of a burial. Plutarch, Lysander.――A general of Ptolemy king of Egypt.――A comic poet.――Another, who wrote tragedies at Athens.

Philocrātes, an Athenian, famous for his treachery, &c.――A writer who published a history of Thessaly.――A servant of Caius Gracchus.――A Greek orator.

Philoctētes, son of Pœan and Demonassa, was one of the Argonauts, according to Flaccus and Hyginus, and the arm-bearer and particular friend of Hercules. He was present at the death of Hercules, and because he had erected the burning pile on which the hero was consumed, he received from him the arrows which had been dipped in the gall of the hydra, after he had bound himself by a solemn oath not to betray the place where his ashes were deposited. He had no sooner paid the last office to Hercules, than he returned to Melibœa, where his father reigned. From thence he visited Sparta, where he became one of the numerous suitors of Helen, and soon after, like the rest of those princes who had courted the daughter of Tyndarus, and who had bound themselves to protect her from injury, he was called upon by Menelaus to accompany the Greeks to the Trojan war, and he immediately set sail from Melibœa with seven ships, and repaired to Aulis, the general rendezvous of the combined fleet. He was here prevented from joining his countrymen, and the offensive smell which arose from a wound in his foot, obliged the Greeks, at the instigation of Ulysses, to remove him from the camp, and he was accordingly carried to the island of Lemnos, or, as others say, to Chryse, where Phimachus the son of Dolophion was ordered to wait upon him. In this solitary retreat he was suffered to remain for some time, till the Greeks, on the tenth year of the Trojan war, were informed by the oracle that Troy could not be taken without the arrows of Hercules, which were then in the possession of Philoctetes. Upon this Ulysses, accompanied by Diomedes, or, according to others, by Pyrrhus, was commissioned by the rest of the Grecian army to go to Lemnos, and to prevail upon Philoctetes to come and finish the tedious siege. Philoctetes recollected the ill-treatment which he had received from the Greeks, and particularly from Ulysses, and therefore he not only refused to go to Troy, but he even persuaded Pyrrhus to conduct him to Melibœa. As he embarked, the manes of Hercules forbade him to proceed, but immediately to repair to the Grecian camp, where he should be cured of his wounds, and put an end to the war. Philoctetes obeyed, and after he had been restored to his former health by Æsculapius, or, according to some, by Machaon, or Podalirus, he destroyed an immense number of the Trojan enemy, among whom was Paris the son of Priam, with the arrows of Hercules. When by his valour Troy had been ruined, he set sail from Asia, but as he was unwilling to visit his native country, he came to Italy, where, by the assistance of his Thessalian followers, he was enabled to build a town in Calabria, which he called Petilia. Authors disagree about the causes of the wound which Philoctetes received on the foot. The most ancient mythologists support that it was the bite of the serpent which Juno had sent to torment him, because he had attended Hercules in his last moments, and had buried his ashes. According to another opinion, the princes of the Grecian army obliged him to discover where the ashes of Hercules were deposited, and as he had made an oath not to mention the place, he only with his foot struck the ground where they lay, and by this means concluded he had not violated his solemn engagement. For this, however, he was soon after punished, and the fall of one of the poisoned arrows from his quiver upon the foot which had struck the ground, occasioned so offensive a wound, that the Greeks were obliged to remove him from their camp. The sufferings and adventures of Philoctetes are the subject of one of the best tragedies of Sophocles, Virgil, Æneid, bk. 3, li. 46.—Pindar, Pythian, poem 1.—Dictys Cretensis, bk. 1, ch. 14.—Seneca, Hercules.—Sophocles, Philoctetes.—Quintus Calaber [Smyrnæus], bks. 9 & 10.—Hyginus, fables 26, 97, & 102.—Diodorus, bks. 2 & 4.—Ovid, Metamorphoses, bk. 13, li. 329; bk. 9, li. 234; Tristia, bk. 5, poem 2.—Cicero, Tusculanæ Disputationes, ch. 2.—Ptolemy, Hephæstion, ch. 6.

Philocyprus, a prince of Cyprus in the age of Solon, by whose advice he changed the situation of a city, which in gratitude he called Soli. Plutarch, Solon.

Philodamēa, one of the Danaides, mother of Phares by Mercury. Pausanias, bk. 7, ch. 22.

Philodēmus, a poet in the age of Cicero, who rendered himself known by his lascivious and indelicate verses. Cicero, de Finibus Bonorum et Malorum, bk. 2.—Horace, bk. 1, satire 2, li. 121.――A comic poet, ridiculed by Aristophanes.

Philodĭce, a daughter of Inachus, who married Leucippus.

Philolāus, a son of Minos by the nymph Paria, from whom the island of Paros received its name. Hercules put him to death, because he had killed two of his companions. Apollodorus, bk. 3, ch. 1.――A Pythagorean philosopher of Crotona, B.C. 374, who first supported the diurnal motion of the earth round its axis, and its annual motion round the sun. Cicero, Academica, bk. 4, ch. 39, has ascribed this opinion to the Syracusan philosopher Nicetas, and likewise to Plato; and from this passage some supposed that Copernicus started the idea of the system which he afterwards established. Diogenes Laërtius.—Cicero, On Oratory, bk. 3.—Plutarch.――A lawgiver of Thebes. He was a native of Corinth, and of the family of the Bacchiades, &c. Aristotle, bk. 2, Politics, final chapter.――A mechanic of Tarentum.――A surname of Æsculapius, who had a temple in Laconia, near the Asopus.

Philolŏgus, a freedman of Cicero. He betrayed his master to Antony, for which he was tortured by Pomponia the wife of Cicero’s brother, and obliged to cut off his own flesh by piece-meal, and to boil and eat it up. Plutarch, Cicero, &c.

Philomăche, the wife of Pelias king of Iolchos. According to some writers, she was daughter to Amphion king of Thebes, though she is more generally called Anaxibia daughter of Bias. Apollodorus, bk. 1.

Philombrŏtus, an archon at Athens, in whose age the state was entrusted to Solon, when torn by factions. Plutarch, Solon.

Philomēdus, a man who made himself absolute in Phocæa, by promising to assist the inhabitants. Polyænus.

Phĭlŏmēla, a daughter of Pandion king of Athens, and sister to Procne, who had married Tereus king of Thrace. Procne separated from Philomela, to whom she was particularly attached, spent her time in great melancholy till she prevailed upon her husband to go to Athens, and bring his sister to Thrace. Tereus obeyed his wife’s injunctions, but he had no sooner obtained Pandion’s permission to conduct Philomela to Thrace, than he became enamoured of her, and resolved to gratify his passion. He dismissed the guards, whom the suspicions of Pandion had appointed to watch his conduct, and he offered violence to Philomela, and afterwards cut off her tongue, that she might not be able to discover his barbarity, and the indignities which she had suffered. He confined her also in a lonely castle, and after he had taken every precaution to prevent a discovery, he returned to Thrace, and he told Procne that Philomela had died by the way, and that he had paid the last offices to her remains. Procne, at this sad intelligence, put on mourning for the loss of Philomela; but a year had scarcely elapsed before she was secretly informed that her sister was not dead. Philomela, during her captivity, described on a piece of tapestry her misfortunes and the brutality of Tereus, and privately conveyed it to Procne. She was then going to celebrate the orgies of Bacchus when she received it; she disguised her resentment, and as, during the festivals of the god of wine, she was permitted to rove about the country, she hastened to deliver her sister Philomela from her confinement, and she concerted with her on the best measures of punishing the cruelty of Tereus. She murdered her son Itylus, who was in the sixth year of his age, and served him up as food before her husband during the festival. Tereus, in the midst of his repast, called for Itylus, but Procne immediately informed him that he was then feasting on his flesh, and that instant Philomela, by throwing on the table the head of Itylus, convinced the monarch of the cruelty of the scene. He drew his sword to punish Procne and Philomela, but as he was going to stab them to the heart, he was changed into a hoopoe, Philomela into a nightingale, Procne into a swallow, and Itylus into a pheasant. This tragical scene happened at Daulis in Phocis; but Pausanias and Strabo, who mention the whole of the story, are silent about the transformation; and the former observes that Tereus, after this bloody repast, fled to Megara, where he destroyed himself. The inhabitants of the place raised a monument to his memory, where they offered yearly sacrifices, and placed small pebbles instead of barley. It was on this monument that the birds called hoopoes were first seen; hence the fable of his metamorphosis. Procne and Philomela died through excess of grief and melancholy, and as the nightingale’s and swallow’s voice is peculiarly plaintive and mournful, the poets have embellished the fable by supposing that the two unfortunate sisters were changed into birds. Apollodorus, bk. 3, ch. 14.—Pausanias, bk. 1, ch. 42; bk. 10, ch. 4.—Hyginus, fable 45.—♦Strabo, bk. 9.—Ovid, Metamorphoses, bk. 6, fables 9 & 10.—Virgil, Georgics, bk. 4, lis. 15 & 511.――A daughter of Actor king of the Myrmidons.

♦ ‘Stabo’ replaced with ‘Strabo’

Philomēlum, a town of Phrygia. Cicero, Letters to Atticus, bk. 5, ltr. 20; Against Verres, bk. 3, ch. 83.

Philomēlus, a general of Phocis, who plundered the temple of Delphi, and died B.C. 354. See: Phocis.――A rich musician. Martial, bk. 4, ltr. 5.

Philon, a general of some Greeks, who settled in Asia. Diodorus, bk. 18.

Philonides, a courier of Alexander, who ran from Sicyon to Elis, 160 miles, in nine hours, and returned the same journey in 15 hours. Pliny, bk. 2, ch. 71.

Philonis, a name of Chione daughter of Dædalion, made immortal by Diana.

Philonoe, a daughter of Tyndarus king of Sparta by Leda daughter of Thestius. Apollodorus.――A daughter of Iobates king of Lycia, who married Bellerophon. Pliny, bk. 2.

Philonŏme, a daughter of Nyctimus king of Arcadia, who threw into the Erymanthus two children whom she had by Mars. The children were preserved, and afterwards ascended their grandfather’s throne. Plutarch, Pericles.――The second wife of Cycnus the son of Neptune. She became enamoured of Tennes, her husband’s son by his first wife Proclea the daughter of Clytius, and when he refused to gratify her passion, she accused him of attempts upon her virtue. Cycnus believed the accusation, and ordered Tennes to be thrown into the sea, &c. Pausanias, bk. 10, ch. 14.

Philonŏmus, a son of Electryon king of Mycenæ by Anaxo. Apollodorus, bk. 2.

Philonus, a village of Egypt. Strabo.

Philopător, a surname of one of the Ptolemies, king of Egypt. See: Ptolemæus.

Philophron, a general who, with 5000 soldiers, defended Pelusium against the Greeks who invaded Egypt. Diodorus, bk. 16.

Philopœmen, a celebrated general of the Achæan league, born at Megalopolis. His father’s name was Grangis. His education was begun and finished under Cassander, Ecdemus, and Demophanes, and he early distinguished himself in the field of battle, and appeared fond of agriculture and a country life. He proposed himself Epaminondas for a model, and he was not unsuccessful in imitating the prudence and the simplicity, the disinterestedness and activity, of this famous Theban. When Megalopolis was attacked by the Spartans, Philopœmen, then in the 30th year of his age, gave the most decisive proofs of his valour and intrepidity. He afterwards assisted Antigonus, and was present in the famous battle in which the Ætolians were defeated. Raised to the rank of chief commander, he showed his ability to discharge that important trust, by killing with his own hand Mechanidas the ♦tyrant of Sparta; and if he was defeated in a naval battle by Nabis, he soon after repaired his losses by taking the capital of Laconia, B.C. 188, and by abolishing the laws of ♠Lycurgus, which had flourished there for such a length of time. Sparta, after its conquest, became tributary to the Achæans, and Philopœmen enjoyed the triumph of having reduced to ruins one of the greatest and the most powerful of the cities of Greece. Some time after the Messenians revolted from the Achæan league, and Philopœmen, who headed the Achæans, unfortunately fell from his horse, and was dragged to the enemy’s camp. ♣Dinocrates the general of the Messenians treated him with great severity; he was thrown into a dungeon, and obliged to drink a dose of poison. When he received the cup from the hand of the executioner, Philopœmen asked him how his countrymen had behaved in the field of battle; and when he heard that they had obtained the victory, he drank the whole with pleasure, exclaiming that this was comfortable news. The death of Philopœmen, which happened about 183 years before the christian era, in his 70th year, was universally lamented, and the Achæans, to revenge his fate, immediately marched to Messenia, where Dinocrates, to avoid their resentment, killed himself. The rest of his murderers were dragged to his tomb, where they were sacrificed; and the people of Megalopolis, to show further their great sense of his merit, ordered a bull to be yearly offered on his tomb, and hymns to be sung in his praise, and his actions to be celebrated in a panegyrical oration. He had also statues raised to his memory, which some of the Romans attempted to violate, and to destroy, to no purpose, when Mummius took Corinth. Philopœmen has been justly called by his countrymen the last of the Greeks. Plutarch, Lives.—Justin, bk. 32, ch. 4.—Polybius.――A native of Pergamus, who died B.C. 138.

♦ ‘tyant’ replaced with ‘tyrant’

♠ ‘Lyturgus’ replaced with ‘Lycurgus’

♣ ‘Dioncrates’ replaced with ‘Dinocrates’

Phĭlostrătus, a famous sophist born at Lemnos, or, according to some, at Athens. He came to Rome, where he lived under the patronage of Julia the wife of the emperor Severus, and he was entrusted by the empress with all the papers which contained some account or anecdotes of Apollonius Thyanæus, and he was ordered to review them, and with them to compile a history. The life of Apollonius is written with elegance, but the improbable accounts, the fabulous stories, and the exaggerated details which it gives, render it disgusting. There is, besides, another treatise remaining of his writings, &c. He died A.D. 244. The best edition of his writings is that of Olearius, folio, Lipscomb, 1709.――His nephew, who lived in the reign of Heliogabalus, wrote an account of sophists.――A philosopher in the reign of Nero.――Another in the age of Augustus.

Philōtas, a son of Parmenio, distinguished in the battles of Alexander, and at last accused of conspiring against his life. He was tortured and stoned to death, or, according to some, struck through with darts by the soldiers, B.C. 330. Curtius, bk. 6, ch. 11.—Plutarch.—Arrian.――An officer in the army of Alexander.――Another, who was made master of Cilicia, after Alexander’s death.――A physician in the age of Antony. He ridiculed the expenses and the extravagance of this celebrated Roman. Plutarch.

Philotĕra, the mother of Mylo, &c. Polyænus, bk. 8.

Philotĭmus, a freedman of Cicero. Cicero, De Divinatione, bk. 3, ch. 9.

Philōtis, a servant-maid at Rome, who saved her countrymen from destruction. After the siege of Rome by the Gauls, the Fidenates assembled an army, under the command of Lucius Posthumius, and marched against the capital, demanding all the wives and daughters in the city, as the conditions of peace. This extraordinary demand astonished the senators, and when they refused to comply, Philotis advised them to send all their female slaves disguised in matron’s clothes, and she offered to march herself at the head. Her advice was followed, and when the Fidenates had feasted late in the evening, and were quite intoxicated, and fallen asleep, Philotis lighted a torch as a signal for her countrymen to attack the enemy. The whole was successful, the Fidenates were conquered, and the senate, to reward the fidelity of the female slaves, permitted them to appear in the dress of the Roman matrons. Plutarch, Romulus.—Varro, de Lingua Latina, bk. 5.—Ovid, de Ars Amatoria, bk. 2.

Philoxĕnus, an officer of Alexander, who received Cilicia, at the general division of the provinces.――A son of Ptolemy, who was given to Pelopidas as a hostage.――A dithyrambic poet of Cythera, who enjoyed the favour of Dionysius tyrant of Sicily for some time, till he offended him by seducing one of his female singers. During his confinement, Philoxenus composed an allegorical poem, called Cyclops, in which he had delineated the character of the tyrant under the name of Polyphemus, and represented his mistress under the name of Galatæa, and himself under that of Ulysses. The tyrant, who was fond of writing poetry, and of being applauded, removed Philoxenus from his dungeon, but the poet refused to purchase his liberty, by saying things unworthy of himself, and applauding the wretched verses of Dionysius, and therefore he was sent to the quarries. When he was asked his opinion at a feast about some verses which Dionysius had just repeated, and which the courtiers had received with the greatest applause, Philoxenus gave no answer, but he ordered the guards that surrounded the tyrant’s table to take him back to the quarries. Dionysius was pleased with his pleasantry and with his firmness, and immediately forgave him. Philoxenus died at Ephesus, about 380 years before Christ. Plutarch.――A celebrated musician of Ionia.――A painter of Eretria, who made for Cassander an excellent representation of the battle of Alexander with Darius. He was pupil to Nicomachus. Pliny, bk. 31, ch. 10.――A philosopher, who wished to have the neck of a crane, that he might enjoy the taste of his aliments longer, and with more pleasure. Aristotle, Eudemian Ethics, bk. 3.

Philyllius, a comic poet. Athenæus.

Phily̆ra, one of the Oceanides, who was met by Saturn in Thrace. The god, to escape from the vigilance of Rhea, changed himself into a horse, to enjoy the company of Philyra by whom he had a son, half a man and half a horse, called Chiron. Philyra was so ashamed of giving birth to such a monster, that she entreated the gods to change her nature. She was metamorphosed into the linden tree, called by her name among the Greeks. Hyginus, fable 138.――The wife of Nauplius.

Philyres, a people near Pontus.

Phily̆rĭdes, a patronymic of Chiron the son of Philyra. Ovid, Ars Amatoria.—Virgil, Georgics, bk. 3, li. 550.

Phineus, a son of Agenor king of Phœnicia, or, according to some, of Neptune, who became king of Thrace, or, as the greater part of the mythologists support, of Bithynia. He married Cleopatra the daughter of Boreas, whom some call Cleobula, by whom he had Plexippus and Pandion. After the death of Cleopatra, he married Idæa the daughter of Dardanus. Idæa, jealous of Cleopatra’s children, accused them of attempts upon their father’s life and crown, or, according to some, of attempts upon her virtue, and they were immediately condemned by Phineus to be deprived of their eyes. This cruelty was soon after punished by the gods. Phineus suddenly became blind, and the Harpies were sent by Jupiter to keep him under continual alarm, and to spoil the meats which were placed on his table. He was some time after delivered from these dangerous monsters by his brothers-in-law Zetes and Calais, who pursued them as far as the Strophades. He also recovered his sight by means of the Argonauts, whom he had received with great hospitality, and instructed in the easiest and speediest way by which they could arrive in Colchis. The causes of the blindness of Phineus are a matter of dispute among the ancients, some supposing that this was inflicted by Boreas, for his cruelty to his grandson, whilst others attribute it to the anger of Neptune, because he had directed the sons of Phryxus how to escape from Colchis to Greece. Many, however, think that it proceeded from his having rashly attempted to develop futurity, while others assert that Zetes and Calais put out his eyes on account of his cruelty to their nephews. The second wife of Phineus is called by some Dia, Eurytia, Danae, and Idothea. Phineus was killed by Hercules. Argonautica, bk. 2.—Apollodorus, bk. 1, ch. 9; bk. 3, ch. 15.—Diodorus, bk. 4.—Hyginus, fable 19.—Orpheus.—Flaccus.――The brother of Cepheus king of Æthiopia. He was going to marry his niece Andromeda, when her father Cepheus was obliged to give her up to be devoured by a sea monster, to appease the resentment of Neptune. She was, however, delivered by Perseus, who married her by the consent of her parents, for having destroyed the sea monster. This marriage displeased Phineus; he interrupted the ceremony, and, with a number of attendants, attacked Perseus and his friends. Perseus defended himself, and turned into stone Phineus and his companions, by showing them the Gorgon’s head. Apollodorus, bk. 2, chs. 1 & 4.—Ovid, Metamorphoses, bk. 5, fables 1 & 2.—Hyginus, fable 64.――A son of Melas.――A son of Lycaon king of Arcadia.――A son of Belus and Anchinoe.

Phinta, a king of Messenia, &c. Pausanias, bk. 4, ch. 4.

Phinthias, a fountain where it is said nothing could sink. Pliny, bk. 31, ch. 2.

Phintia, a town of Sicily, at the mouth of the Himera. Cicero, Against Verres, bk. 3, ch. 83.

Phintias, called also Pithias, Pinthias, and Phytias, a man famous for his unparalleled friendship for Damon. See: Damon. Cicero, de Officiis, bk. 3, bk. 10; Tusculanæ Disputationes, bk. 5, ch. 22.—Diodorus, bk. 6.――A tyrant of Agrigentum, B.C. 282.

Phinto, a small island between Sardinia and Corsica, now Figo.

Phla, a small island in the lake Tritonis. Herodotus, bk. 4, ch. 178.

Phlegelas, an Indian king beyond the Hydaspes, who surrendered to Alexander. Curtius, bk. 9, ch. 1.

Phlegĕthon, a river of hell, whose waters were burning, as the word φλεγεθω, from which the name is derived, seems to indicate. Virgil, Æneid, bk. 6, li. 550.—Ovid, Metamorphoses, bk. 15, li. 532.—Seneca, Thyestes Hippolytus.—Silius Italicus, bk. 13, li. 564.

Phlegias, a man of Cyzicus when the Argonauts visited it, &c. Flaccus.

Phlegon, a native of Tralles in Lydia, one of the emperor Adrian’s freedmen. He wrote different treatises on the long-lived, on wonderful things, besides an historical account of Sicily, 16 books on the olympiads, an account of the principal places in Rome, three books of fasti, &c. Of these some fragments remain. His style was not elegant, and he wrote without judgment or precision. His works have been edited by Meursius, 4to, Leiden, 1620.――One of the horses of the sun. The word signifies burning. Ovid, Metamorphoses, bk. 2.

Phlegra, or Phlegræus Campus, a place of Macedonia, afterwards called Pallene, where the giants attacked the gods and were defeated by Hercules. The combat was afterwards renewed in Italy, in a place of the same name near Cumæ. Silius Italicus, bk. 8, li. 538; bk. 9, li. 305.—Strabo, bk. 5.—Diodorus, bks. 4 & 5.—Ovid, Metamorphoses, bk. 10, li. 151; bk. 12, li. 378; bk. 15, li. 532.—Statius, bk. 5, Sylvæ, poem 3, li. 196.

Phlegyæ, a people of Thessaly. Some authors place them in Bœotia. They received their name from Phlegyas the son of Mars, with whom they plundered and burned the temple of Apollo at Delphi. Few of them escaped to Phocis, where they settled. Pausanias, bk. 9, ch. 36.—Homer, Iliad, bk. 13, li. 301.—Strabo, bk. 9.

Phlegyas, a son of Mars by Chryse daughter of Halmus, was king of the Lapithæ in Thessaly. He was father of Ixion and Coronis, to whom Apollo offered violence. When the father heard that his daughter had been so wantonly abused, he marched an army against Delphi, and reduced the temple of the god to ashes. This was highly resented. Apollo killed Phlegyas and placed him in hell, where a huge stone hangs over his head, and keeps him in continual alarms, by its appearance of falling every moment. Pausanias, bk. 9, ch. 36.—Apollodorus, bk. 3, ch. 5.—Pindar, Pythian, bk. 3.—Ovid, Metamorphoses, bk. 5, li. 87.—Servius, Commentary on the Aeneid of Vergil, bk. 6, li. 618.

Phlias, one of the Argonauts, son of Bacchus and Ariadne. Pausanias, bk. 2, ch. 12.

Phliasia, a country of Peloponnesus, near Sicyon, of which Phlius was the capital.

Phlius, (genitive, untis), a town in Peloponnesus, now Staphlica, in the territory of Sicyon.――Another, in Elis.――Another, in Argolis, now Drepano.

Phlœus, a surname of Bacchus, expressive of his youth and vigour. Plutarch, Quæstiones Convivales, bk. 5, qu. 8.

Phobētor, one of the sons of Somnus, and his principal minister. His office was to assume the shape of serpents and wild beasts, to inspire terror into the minds of men, as his name intimates (φοβεω). The other two ministers of Somnus were Phantasia and Morpheus. Ovid, Metamorphoses, bk. 11, li. 640.

Phobos, son of Mars, and god of terror among the ancients, was represented with a lion’s head, and sacrifices were offered to him to deprecate his appearance in armies. Plutarch, Amatorius.

Phocæa, now Fochia, a maritime town of Ionia, in Asia Minor, with two harbours, between Cumæ and Smyrna, founded by an Athenian colony. It received its name from Phocus the leader of the colony, or from phocæ, sea calves, which are found in great abundance in the neighbourhood. The inhabitants, called Phocæi and Phocæenses, were expert mariners, and founded many cities in different parts of Europe. They left Ionia, when Cyrus attempted to reduce them under his power, and they came after many adventures into Gaul, where they founded Massilia, now Marseilles. The town of Marseilles is often distinguished by the epithet of Phocaica, and its inhabitants called Phocæenses. Phocæa was declared independent by Pompey, and under the first emperors of Rome it became one of the most flourishing cities of Asia Minor. Livy, bk. 5, ch. 34; bk. 37, ch. 31; bk. 38, ch. 39.—Mela, bk. 1, ch. 17.—Pausanias, bk. 7, ch. 3.—Herodotus, bk. 1, ch. 165.—Strabo, bk. 14.—Horace, epode 16.—Ovid, Metamorphoses, bk. 6, li. 9.—Pliny, bk. 3, ch. 4.

Phocenses and Phocĭci, the inhabitants of Phocis in Greece.

Phocilides, a Greek poet and philosopher of Miletus, about 540 years before the christian era. The poetical piece now extant called νουθετι