A classical dictionary containing a copious account of all the proper names mentioned in ancient authors with tables of coins, weights, and measures used among the Greeks and Romans and a chronological table (part 7 of 10)

A classical dictionary containing a copious account of all the proper names mentioned in ancient authors with tables of coins, weights, and measures used among the Greeks and Romans and a chronological table (part 7 of 10)

=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.

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.

P

=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 165,000_l._ 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.

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