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Title: Carleton's Condensed Classical Dictionary
Author: Carleton, George W., 1832-1901 [Editor]
Language: English
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CARLETON'S
CONDENSED
CLASSICAL DICTIONARY.
BEING
BRIEF BUT SUCCINCT INFORMATION
CONCERNING
THE PROMINENT NAMES
IN
CLASSICAL HISTORY AND MYTHOLOGY,
TOGETHER WITH
THE MOST CONSPICUOUS
INCIDENTS ASSOCIATED WITH THEM.
_CAREFULLY PREPARED AND EDITED_
BY
GEORGE W. CARLETON,
AUTHOR OF
"OUR ARTIST IN CUBA, PERU, ALGIERS AND SPAIN."
"Knowledge is of two kinds. We know a subject ourselves, or we know where we
can find information upon it."--_Boswell's Life of Johnson._
NEW YORK
Copyright, 1882, by
_G. W. Carleton & Co., Publishers_.
MADISON SQUARE.
MDCCCLXXXII.
CARLETON'S CONDENSED CLASSICAL DICTIONARY.
=Aby´dos.= A city of Asia opposite Sestos in Europe. It is famous for the
loves of Hero and Leander, and for the bridge of boats which Xerxes
built there across the Hellespont. Leander was in the habit of swimming
across the Hellespont to see Hero, till at length, on a stormy night, he
was drowned.
=Aby´dos.= A town of Egypt, where was the famous temple of Osiris.
=Acade´mi´a.= A place surrounded with trees, near Athens, belonging to
Academus, from whom the name is derived. Here Plato opened his school of
philosophy, and from this every place sacred to learning has ever since
been called Academia.
=Acha´tes.= A friend of Æneas, whose fidelity was so exemplary that _Fidus
Achates_ has become a proverb.
=Achelo´us.= The son of Oceanus and Terra, or Tethys, god of the river of
the same name in Epirus. As one of the numerous suitors of Dejanira, he
entered the lists against Hercules, and being inferior, changed himself
into a serpent, and afterwards into an ox. Hercules broke off one of his
horns and defeated him, after which, according to some, he was changed
into a river.
=Ac´heron.= One of the rivers of hell; often used to signify hell itself.
=Achil´les=, the son of Peleus and Thetis, was the bravest of all the
Greeks in the Trojan war. During his infancy, Thetis plunged him in the
Styx, thus making every part of his body invulnerable except the heel by
which she held him. To prevent him from going to the Trojan war, Thetis
sent him privately to the court of Lycomedes, where he was disguised in
a female dress. As Troy could not be taken without his aid, Ulysses went
to the court of Lycomedes in the habit of a merchant, and exposed jewels
and arms for sale. Achilles, choosing the arms, discovered his sex, and
went to the war. Vulcan made him a strong suit of armor, which was proof
against all weapons. He was deprived by Agamemnon of his favorite
Briseis, and for this affront he would not appear on the field till the
death of Patroclus impelled him to vengeance. He slew Hector, who had
killed Patroclus, and tying his corpse to his war-car, dragged it three
times round Troy. He is said to have been killed by Paris, who inflicted
a mortal wound in his vulnerable heel with an arrow.
=A´cis.= A shepherd of Sicily, son of Faunus and the nymph Simæthis.
Galatea passionately loved him, upon which his rival, Polyphemus,
crushed him to death with a piece of broken rock. The gods changed Acis
into a stream, which rises from Mount Etna.
=Actæ´on.= A famous huntsman, son of Aristæus and Autonoe, daughter of
Cadmus. He saw Diana and her attendants bathing, for which he was
changed into a stag and devoured by his own dogs.
=Ac´tium.= A town and promontory of Epirus, famous for the naval victory
which Augustus obtained over Antony and Cleopatra, B. C. 31.
=A´des or Hades.= The God of hell amongst the Greeks; the same as the
Pluto of the Latins. The word is often used for hell itself by the
ancient poets.
=Adher´bal.= Son of Micipsa, and grandson of Masinissa, was besieged at
Cirta, and put to death by Jugurtha, after vainly imploring the aid of
Rome, B. C. 112.
=Adme´tus.= Son of Pheres and Clymene, king of Pheræ in Thessaly. Apollo,
when banished from heaven, is said to have tended his flocks for nine
years.
=Ado´nis=, son of Cinyras and Myrrha, was the favorite of Venus. He was
fond of hunting, and was often cautioned not to hunt wild beasts. This
advice he slighted, and at last was mortally wounded by a wild boar.
Venus changed him into the flower anemone. Proserpine is said to have
restored him to life, on condition that he should spend six months of
the year with her, and the rest of the year with Venus. This implies the
alternate return of summer and winter.
=Adras´tus=, son of Talaus and Lysimache, was king of Argos. Polynices,
being banished from Thebes by his brother Eteocles, fled to Argos, where
he married Argia, daughter of Adrastus. The king assisted his
son-in-law, and marched against Thebes with an army. He was defeated
with great slaughter, and fled to Athens, where Theseus gave him
assistance, and was victorious. Adrastus died from grief, occasioned by
the death of his son Ægialeus.
=Adria´nus.= A famous emperor of Rome. He is represented as an active,
learned, warlike, and austere general. He came to Britain, where he
built a wall between the modern towns of Carlisle and Newcastle-on-Tyne,
to protect the Britons from the incursions of the Caledonians.
=Ædi´les.= Roman magistrates, who had the charge of all buildings, baths,
and aqueducts, and examined weights and measures. The office of an Ædile
was honorable, and the primary step to a more distinguished position in
the State.
=Ægeus.= King of Athens, son of Pandion. Being desirous of having
children, he went to consult the oracle, and on his return stopped at
the court of Pittheus, king of Troezene, who gave him his daughter
Æthra in marriage. He directed her, if she had a son, to send him to
Athens as soon as he could lift a stone under which he had concealed his
sword. Æthra became mother of Theseus, whom she sent to Athens with his
father's sword, Ægeus being at that time living with Medea, the divorced
wife of Jason. When Theseus came to Athens, Medea attempted to poison
him, but he escaped; and upon showing Ægeus the sword, discovered
himself to be his son. When Theseus returned from Crete, after the death
of the Minotaur, he omitted to hoist up white sails, as a signal of
success, and at sight of black sails, Ægeus, concluding that his son was
dead, threw himself into the sea, which, as some suppose, has since been
called the Ægean sea. Ægeus died B. C. 1235.
=Ægis.= The shield of Jupiter. He gave it to Pallas, who placed Medusa's
head on it, which turned into stones all those who gazed at it.
=Ægy´ptus=, son of Belus, and brother to Danaus, gave his fifty sons in
marriage to the fifty daughters of his brother. Danaus, who had
established himself at Argos, and was jealous of his brother, obliged
all his daughters to murder their husbands on the first night of their
nuptials. This was done, Hypermnestra alone sparing her husband Lynceus.
Ægyptus himself was killed by his niece Polyxena.
=Ælia´nus Clau´dius.= A Roman sophist of Præneste in the reign of Adrian.
He taught rhetoric at Rome. He wrote treatises on animals in seventeen
books, and on various other subjects in fourteen books. Ælian died at
the age of sixty, A. D. 140.
=Æne´as.= A Trojan prince, son of Anchises and Venus. He married Creusa,
the daughter of Priam, and they had a son named Ascanius. During the
Trojan war Æneas behaved with great valor in defense of Troy. When the
city was in flames he is said to have carried away his father Anchises
on his shoulders, leading his son Ascanius by the hand, his wife
following them. Subsequently he built a fleet of twenty ships, with
which he set sail in quest of a settlement. He was driven on the coasts
of Africa, and was kindly received by Dido, Queen of Carthage, who
became enamored with him; but he left Carthage by the order of the gods.
He has been praised for his piety and his submission to the will of the
gods; the term "Pius" is generally appended to his name.
=Æne´is.= The Æneid, a grand poem by Virgil, the great merit of which is
well known. The author has imitated the style of Homer, and is by some
thought to equal him.
=Æolus=, the ruler of storms and winds, was the son of Hippotas. He
reigned over Æolia. He was the inventor of sails, and a great
astronomer, from which the poets have called him the god of wind.
=Æs´chines.= An Athenian orator who lived about 342 B.C.; and
distinguished himself by his rivalship with Demosthenes.
=Æs´chylus=, a soldier and poet of Athens, son of Euphorion. He was in the
Athenian army at the battles of Marathon, Salamis, and Platæa; but his
most solid fame rests on his writings. He wrote ninety tragedies, forty
of which were rewarded with a public prize. He was killed by the fall of
a tortoise, dropped from the beak of an eagle on his head, B.C. 456.
=Æscula´pius=, son of Apollo and Coronis, or, as some say, of Apollo and
Larissa, daughter of Phlegias, was the god of medicine. He married
Epione, and they had two sons, famous for their skill in medicine,
Machaon and Podalirus; of their four daughters, Hygeia, goddess of
health, is the most celebrated.
=Æson=, son of Cretheus, was born at the same birth as Pelias. He
succeeded his father in the kingdom of Iolchos, but was soon exiled by
his brother. He married Alcimeda, by whom he had Jason, whose education
he intrusted to Chiron. When Jason reached manhood he demanded his
father's kingdom from his uncle, who gave him evasive answers, and
persuaded him to go in quest of the Golden Fleece. On his return Jason
found his father very infirm, and at his request Medea drew the blood
from Æson's veins and refilled them with the juice of certain herbs,
which restored the old man to the vigor of youth.
=Æso´pus.= A Phrygian philosopher who, originally a slave, procured his
liberty by his genius. He dedicated his fables to his patron Croesus.
The fables which we have now under his name doubtless are a collection
of fables and apologues of wits before and after the age of Æsop,
conjointly with his own.
=Agamem´non=, king of Mycenæ and Argos, was brother to Menelaus, and son
of Plisthenes, the son of Atreus. He married Clytemnestra, and Menelaus
Helen, both daughters of Tyndarus, king of Sparta. When Helen eloped
with Paris, Agamemnon was elected commander-in-chief of the Grecian
forces invading Troy.
=Agesila´us.= Of the family of the Proclidæ, son of Archidamus, king of
Sparta, whom he succeeded. He made war against Artaxerxes, king of
Persia, with success; but in the midst of his conquests he was called
home to oppose the Athenians and Boetians. He passed over in thirty
days that tract of country which had taken up a whole year of Xerxes'
expedition. He defeated his enemies at Coronea, but sickness interfered
with his conquests, and the Spartans were beaten in every engagement
till he again appeared at their head. He died 362 years B.C.
=Agrip´pa, M. Vipsanius.= A celebrated Roman who obtained a victory over
S. Pompey, and favored the cause of Augustus at the battles of Actium
and Philippi, where he behaved with great valor. In his expeditions in
Gaul and Germany he obtained several victories, but refused the honor of
a triumph, and turned his attention to the embellishment of Rome and the
raising of magnificent buildings, among them the Pantheon. Augustus
gave him his daughter Julia in marriage. He died universally lamented at
Rome, aged fifty-one, B.C. 12.
=Agrip´pa.= A son of Aristobulus, grandson of the great Herod. He was
popular with the Jews, and it is said that while they were flattering
him with the appellation of god he was struck with death, A.D. 43. His
son of the same name was with Titus at the siege of Jerusalem, and died
A.D. 94. It was before him that St. Paul pleaded. There were a number of
others of the same name, but of less celebrity.
=A´jax=, son of Telamon and Periboea, or Eriboea, was one of the
bravest of the Greeks in the Trojan war. After the death of Achilles,
Ajax and Ulysses both claimed the arms of the dead hero, which were
given to Ulysses. Some say that he was killed in battle by Paris, but
others record that he was murdered by Ulysses.
=Alari´cus.= A famous king of the Goths, who plundered Rome in the reign
of Honorius. He was greatly respected for his valor, and during his
reign he kept the Roman empire in continual alarm. He died after a reign
of twelve years, A.D. 410. He was buried in the bed of a river which had
been turned from its course for the reception of his corpse, in order
that it might be said that no one should tread on the earth where he
reposed.
=Al´bion=, son of Neptune and Amphitrite, came into Britain, where he
established a kingdom, and introduced astrology and the art of building
ships. Great Britain is called "Albion" after him.
=Alcæ´us.= A celebrated lyric poet of Mitylene, in Lesbos, about 600 years
before the Christian era. He fled from a battle, and the armor in which
he left the field was hung up in the temple of Minerva as a monument of
his disgrace. He was enamored of Sappho. Of his works only a few
fragments remain.
=Alces´te= or =Alces´tis=, daughter of Pelias, married Admetus. She, with
her sisters, put her father to death that he might be restored to youth
and vigor by Medea, who had promised to effect this by her enchantments.
She, however, refused to fulfill her promise, on which the sisters fled
to Admetus, who married Alceste.
=Alcibi´ades.= An Athenian general, famous for his enterprise, versatile
genius, and natural foibles. He was a disciple of Socrates, whose
lessons and example checked for a while his vicious propensities. In the
Peloponnesian war he encouraged the Athenians to undertake an expedition
against Syracuse. He died in his forty-sixth year, B.C. 404.
=Alcme´na.= Daughter of Electrion, king of Argos. Her father promised her
and his crown to Amphitryon if he would revenge the death of his sons,
who had been killed by the Teleboans. In the absence of Amphitryon,
Jupiter assumed his form and visited Alcmena, who, believing the god to
be her lover, received him with joy. Amphitryon, on his return,
ascertained from the prophet Tiresias the deception which had been
practiced. After the death of Amphitryon Alcmena married Rhadamanthus.
Hercules was the son of Jupiter and Alcmena.
=Alcy´one= or =Halcy´one=, daughter of Æolus, married Ceyx, who was drowned
as he was going to consult the oracle. The gods apprised Alcyone in a
dream of her husband's fate, and when she found his body washed ashore
she threw herself into the sea, and she and her husband were changed
into birds.
=Alec´to.= One of the Furies. She is represented with her head covered
with serpents, and breathing vengeance, war, and pestilence.
=Alexan´der=, surnamed the Great, was son of Philip and Olympias. He was
born B. C. 355, on the night on which the famous temple of Diana at
Ephesus was burnt. This event, according to the magicians, was a
prognostic of his future greatness, as well as the taming of Bucephalus,
a horse which none of the king's attendants could manage. Philip, it is
recorded, said, with tears in his eyes, that his son must seek another
kingdom, as that of Macedonia would not be large enough for him. He
built a town, which he called Alexandria, on the Nile. His conquests
were extended to India, where he fought with Porus, a powerful king of
the country, and after he had invaded Scythia, he retired to Babylon
laden with spoils. His entry into the city was predicted by the
magicians as to prove fatal to him. He died at Babylon in his
thirty-second year, after a reign of twelve years and eight months of
continual success, B. C. 323. There were a number of others of the same
name, but of less celebrity.
=Althæ´a=, daughter of Thestius and Eurythemis, married OEneus, king of
Calydon, by whom she had many children, amongst them being Meleager.
When he was born the Parcæ put a log of wood on the fire, saying, as
long as it was preserved the life of the child would be prolonged. The
mother took the wood from the flames and preserved it, but when Meleager
killed his two uncles, Althæa, to revenge them, threw the log in the
fire, and when it was burnt Meleager expired. Althæa then killed
herself.
=Amaryl´lis.= The name of a countrywoman in Virgil's Eclogues. Some
commentators have supposed that the poet spoke of Rome under this
fictitious name.
=Amaz´ones or Amazonides.= A nation of famous women who lived near the
river Thermodon in Cappadocia. All their lives were employed in wars and
manly exercises. They founded an extensive empire in Asia Minor along
the shores of the Euxine.
=Ambra´cia.= A city of Epirus, the residence of King Pyrrhus. Augustus,
after the battle of Actium, called it Nicopolis.
=Amphiara´us=, son of Oicleus and Hypermnestra, was at the chase of the
Calydonian boar, and accompanied the Argonauts in their expedition. He
was famous for his knowledge of futurity.
=Amphic´tyon=, son of Deucalion and Pyrrha, reigned at Athens after
Cranaus. Some say the deluge happened in his age.
=Amphic´tyon=, the son of Helenus, who first established the celebrated
Council of the Amphictyons, composed of the wisest and most virtuous men
of some cities of Greece.
=Amphi´on=, son of Jupiter and Antiope. He cultivated poetry, and made
such progress in music that he is said to have been the inventor of it,
and to have built the walls of Thebes by the sound of his lyre.
=Amphitri´te.= A daughter of Oceanus and Tethys, who married Neptune. She
is sometimes called Salatia. She was mother of Triton, a sea deity.
=Amphit´ryon.= A Theban prince, son of Alcæus and Hipponome. His sister
Anaxo married Electryon, king of Mycenæ, whose sons were killed in
battle by the Teleboans. Electryon gave his daughter Alcmena to
Amphitryon for avenging the death of his sons.
=Anachar´sis=, a Scythian philosopher 592 years B. C., who, on account of
his wisdom, temperance, and knowledge, has been called one of the seven
wise men. He has rendered himself famous among the Ancients by his
writings, his poems on war, the laws of the Scythians, etc.
=Anac´reon.= A famous lyric poet of Teos, in Ionia, favored by Polycrates
and Hipparchus, son of Philostratus. He was of intemperate habits and
fond of pleasure. Some of his odes are extant, and the elegance of his
poetry has been the admiration of every age and country. He lived to the
age of eighty-five, and after a life of voluptuousness was choked with a
grape stone. He flourished B. C. 532.
=Anadyom´ene.= A famous painting by Apelles of Venus rising from the sea.
=Anaxag´oras.= A Clazomenian philosopher, who disregarded wealth and
honors to indulge his fondness for meditation and philosophy. He applied
himself to astronomy, and obtained a knowledge of eclipses. He used to
say he preferred a grain of wisdom to heaps of gold. He was accused of
impiety and condemned to die, but he ridiculed the sentence, which he
said had already been pronounced on him by nature. He died at the age of
seventy-two, B. C. 428.
=Anaxar´ete.= A girl of Salamis, who so arrogantly rejected the addresses
of Iphis, a youth of ignoble birth, that he hanged himself at her door.
She saw the spectacle without emotion, and was changed into stone.
=Anchi´ses.= A son of Capys and Themis. He was so beautiful that Venus
came down from heaven on Mount Ida to enjoy his company. Æneas was the
son of Anchises and Venus, and was intrusted to the care of Chiron the
Centaur. When Troy was taken, Anchises had become so infirm that Æneas
had to carry him through the flames upon his shoulders, and thus saved
his life.
=Androm´ache.= Daughter of Eetion, king of Thebes. She married Hector, son
of Priam, and was the mother of Astyanax. Her parting with Hector, who
was going to battle, is described in the Iliad, and has been deemed one
of the most beautiful passages in that great work. Pope's translation of
the Iliad (book 6) describes with great pathos and beauty the parting of
Hector from his wife and child.
=Androm´eda.= A daughter of Cepheus, king of Æthiopia, and Cassiope. She
was promised in marriage to Phineus when Neptune drowned the kingdom and
sent a sea monster to ravage the country, because Cassiope had boasted
that she was fairer than Juno and the Nereides. The oracle of Jupiter
Ammon was consulted, but nothing could stop the resentment of Neptune
except the exposure of Andromeda to the sea monster. She was accordingly
tied to a rock, but at the moment that the monster was about to devour
her, Perseus, returning from the conquest of the Gorgons, saw her, and
was captivated with her beauty. He changed the monster into a rock by
showing Medusa's head, and released Andromeda and married her.
=Anthropoph´agi.= A people of Scythia who fed on human flesh. They lived
near the country of the Messagetæ. Shakspeare makes Othello, in his
speech to the Senate, allude to the Anthropophagi thus:--
"The cannibals that each other eat,
The Anthropophagi, and men whose heads
Do grow beneath their shoulders."
=Antig´one.= A daughter of OEdipus, king of Thebes. She buried by night
her brother Polynices, against the orders of Creon, who ordered her to
be buried alive. She, however, killed herself on hearing of the
sentence. The death of Antigone is the subject of one of the finest
tragedies of Sophocles. The play has been adapted for representation on
the English stage, Miss Helen Faucit performing the heroine with
exquisite pathos.
=Antig´onus.= One of Alexander's generals, who, on the division of the
provinces after the king's death, received Pamphylia, Lycia, and
Phrygia. Eventually his power became so great that Ptolemy, Seleucus,
Cassander, and Lysimachus combined to destroy him. He gained many
victories over them, but at last was killed in battle at the age of
eighty, B.C. 301. There were others of the same name, but much less
conspicuous.
=Antin´ous.= A youth of Bithynia of whom the emperor Adrian was so
extremely fond that, at his death, he erected a temple to him, and
wished it to be believed that he had been changed into a constellation.
=Anti´ochus=, surnamed _Soter_, was son of Seleucus and king of Syria. He
made a treaty of alliance with Ptolemy Philadelphus, king of Egypt. He
wedded his step-mother Stratonice. He was succeeded by his son Antiochus
II., who put an end to the war which had begun with Ptolemy, and married
his daughter Berenice, but being already married to Laodice, she, in
revenge, poisoned him. Antiochus, the third of that name, surnamed the
Great, was king of Syria, and reigned thirty-six years. He was defeated
by Ptolemy Philopater at Raphia. He conquered the greater part of
Greece, and Hannibal incited him to enter on a crusade against Roma. He
was killed 187 years before the Christian era. Antiochus Epiphanes, the
fourth of the name, was king of Syria after his brother Seleucus. He
behaved with cruelty to the Jews. He reigned eleven years, and died
unregretted. There were many others of the same name of less note.
=Ant´iope=, daughter of Nycteus, king of Thebes, and Polyxo, was beloved
by Jupiter. Amphion and Tethus were her offspring.
=Antip´ater=, son of Iolaus, was a soldier under King Philip, and raised
to the rank of a general under Alexander the Great. When Alexander went
to invade Asia, he left Antipater supreme governor of Macedonia. He has
been suspected of giving poison to Alexander to advance himself in
power.
=Antoni´nus=, surnamed _Pius_, was adopted by the Emperor Adrian, whom he
succeeded. He was remarkable for all the virtues forming a perfect
statesman, philosopher, and king. He treated his subjects with
affability and humanity, and listened with patience to every complaint
brought before him. He died in his seventy-fifth year, after a reign of
twenty-three years, A.D. 160.
=Anto´nius Mar´cus.= Mark Antony, the triumvir, distinguished himself by
his ambitious views. When Julius Cæsar was killed in the senate house,
Antony delivered an oration over his body, the eloquence of which is
recorded in Shakspeare's tragedy of Julius Cæsar. Antony had married
Fulvia, whom he repudiated to marry Octavia, the sister of Augustus. He
fought by the side of Augustus at the battle of Philippi, against the
murderers of Julius Cæsar. Subsequently he became enamored with
Cleopatra, the renowned queen of Egypt, and repudiated Octavia to marry
her. He was utterly defeated at the battle of Actium, and stabbed
himself. He died in the fifty-sixth year of his age, B.C. 30.
=Anto´nius, Ju´lius=, son of the famous triumvir Antony, by Fulvia, was
consul with Paulus Fabius Maximus. He was surnamed Africanus, and put to
death by order of Augustus, but some say he killed himself.
=Anto´nius M. Gni´pho.= A poet of Gaul who taught rhetoric at Rome. Cicero
and other illustrious men frequented his school. There were a number of
others of the same name, but of less repute.
=Apel´les.= A celebrated painter of Cos, or, as others say, of Ephesus,
son of Pithius. He lived in the age of Alexander the Great, who forbade
any one but Apelles to paint his portrait. He was so absorbed in his
profession that he never allowed a day to pass without employing himself
at his art: hence the proverb of _Nulla dies sine linea_. His most
perfect picture was Venus Anadyomene, which was not quite finished when
he died. He painted a picture in which a horse was a prominent feature,
and so correctly was it delineated that a horse passing by it neighed,
supposing it to be alive. He was ordered by Alexander to paint a
portrait of one of his favorites--Campaspe. Apelles became enamored with
her and married her. He only put his name to three of his pictures--a
sleeping Venus, Venus Anadyomene, and an Alexander. The proverb, _Ne
sutor ultra crepidam_, has been used in reference to him by some
writers.
=Aphrodi´te.= The Grecian name for Venus, from the Greek word [Greek:
aphros], _froth_, because Venus is said to have been born from the froth
of the ocean.
=Apic´ius.= A famous gourmand in Rome. There were three of this name, all
noted for their voracious appetites.
=A´pis.= One of the ancient kings of Peloponnesus, son of Phoroneus and
Laodice. Some say that Apollo was his father, and that he was king of
Argos, whilst others called him king of Sicyon, and fix the time of his
reign above 200 years earlier. Varro and others have supposed that Apis
went to Egypt with a colony of Greeks, and that he civilized the
inhabitants and polished their manners, for which they made him a god
after death, and paid divine honors to him under the name of Serapis.
=A´pis.= A god of the Egyptians, worshiped under the form of an ox. Some
say that Isis and Osiris are the deities worshiped under this name,
because they taught the Egyptians agriculture.
=Apol´lo.= Son of Jupiter and Latona; called also Phoebus. He was the
god of the fine arts and the reputed originator of music, poetry, and
eloquence. He had received from Jupiter the power of knowing futurity,
and his oracles were in repute everywhere. As soon as he was born he
destroyed with his arrows the serpent Python, which Juno had sent to
persecute Latona; hence he was called Pythius. He was not the inventor
of the lyre, as some have supposed, but it was given to him by Mercury,
who received in return the famous Caduceus. He received the surnames of
Phoebus, Delius, Cynthius, Pæan, Delphicus, etc. He is in sculpture
generally represented as a handsome young man with a bow in his hand,
from which an arrow has just been discharged.
=Appia´nus.= An historian of Alexandria, who flourished A.D. 123. His
Universal History, which consisted of twenty-four books, was a history
of all the nations conquered by the Romans.
=Ap´pius Clau´dius.= A decemvir who obtained his power by force and
oppression. He grossly insulted Virginia, whom her father killed to save
her from the power of the tyrant.
=Arca´dia.= A district of Peloponnesus, which has been much extolled by
the poets. It was famous for its mountains. The inhabitants were for the
most part shepherds, who lived upon acorns. They were skillful warriors
and able musicians. Pan lived chiefly among them.
=Archil´ochus.= A poet of Paros, who wrote elegies, satires, odes, and
epigrams. He lived B.C. 685.
=Archime´des.= A famous geometrician of Syracuse, who invented a machine
of glass that represented the motion of the heavenly bodies. When
Marcellus, the Roman consul, besieged Syracuse, Archimedes constructed
machines which suddenly raised into the air the ships of the enemy,
which then fell into the sea and were sunk. He also set fire to the
ships with burning-glasses. When the enemy were in possession of the
town, a soldier, not knowing who he was, killed him, B.C. 212.
=Arethu´sa=, a nymph of Elis, daughter of Oceanus, and one of Diana's
attendants. As she returned one day from hunting she bathed in the
Alpheus stream. The god of the river was enamored of her, and pursued
her over the mountains, till Arethusa, ready to sink from fatigue,
implored Diana to change her into a fountain, which the goddess did.
=Ar´go.= The name of the famous ship which carried Jason and his
companions to Polchis, when they went to recover the Golden Fleece.
=Argonau´tæ.= The Argonauts, those ancient heroes who went with Jason in
the Argo to Aolchis to recover the Golden Fleece, about seventy-nine
years before the capture of Troy. The number of the Argonauts is not
exactly known.
=Ar´gus.= A son of Arestor, whence he is sometimes called Arestorides. He
had a hundred eyes, of which only two were asleep at one time. Juno set
him to watch Io, whom Jupiter had changed into a heifer, but Mercury, by
order of Jupiter, slew him, by lulling all his eyes to sleep with the
notes of the lyre. Juno put the eyes of Argus in the tail of the
peacock, a bird sacred to her.
=Ariad´ne=, daughter of Minos, second king of Crete, and Pasiphæ, fell in
love with Theseus, who was shut up in the labyrinth to be devoured by
the Minotaur. She gave Theseus a clue of thread by which he extricated
himself from the windings of the labyrinth. After he had conquered the
Minotaur he married her, but after a time forsook her. On this,
according to some authorities, she hanged herself. According to other
writers, after being abandoned by Theseus, Bacchus loved her, and gave
her a crown of seven stars, which were made a constellation.
=Ari´on.= A famous lyric poet and musician, son of Cyclos of Methymna in
Lesbos. He went into Italy with Periander, tyrant of Corinth, where he
gained much wealth by his profession. Afterwards he wished to revisit
the place of his nativity, and he embarked in a ship, the sailors of
which resolved to kill him for the riches he had with him. Arion
entreated them to listen to his music, and as soon as he had finished
playing he threw himself into the sea. A number of dolphins had been
attracted by the sweetness of his music, and it is said that one of them
carried him safely on its back to Tænarus, whence he went to the court
of Periander, who ordered all the sailors to be crucified.
=Aristæ´us.= Son of Apollo and Cyrene, famous for his fondness for
hunting. He married Autonoe, the daughter of Cadmus, Actæon being their
son. He was after death worshiped as a demigod.
=Aristar´chus.= A celebrated grammarian of Samos, disciple of
Aristophanes. He lived the greatest part of his life at Alexandria. He
wrote about 800 commentaries on different authors. He died in his
seventy-second year, B.C. 157.
=Aristi´des.= A celebrated Athenian, son of Lysimachus, in the age of
Themistocles, whose great temperance and virtue procured for him the
name of the "Just." He was rival to Themistocles, by whose influence he
was banished for ten years, B.C. 484. He was at the battle of Salamis,
and was appointed to be chief commander with Pausanias against
Mardonius, whom they defeated at Platæa.
=Aristip´pus=, the elder, a philosopher of Cyrene, a disciple of Socrates,
and founder of the Cyrenaic sect.
=Aristogi´ton= and =Harmo´dis=. Two celebrated friends of Athens, who, by
their joint efforts, delivered their country from the tyranny of the
Pisistratidæ, B.C. 510.
=Aristoph´anes.= A celebrated comic poet of Athens, son of Philip of
Rhodes. He wrote fifty-four comedies, of which eleven have come down to
us. He lived B.C. 434, and lashed the vices of the age with a masterly
hand.
=Aristot´eles.= A famous philosopher, son of Nicomachus, born at Stagira.
He went to Athens to hear Plato's lectures, where he soon signalized
himself by his genius. He has been called by Plato the philosopher of
truth, and Cicero complimented him for his eloquence, fecundity of
thought, and universal knowledge. He died in his sixty-third year, B.C.
322. As he expired he is said to have exclaimed: _Causa causarum
miserere mei_, which sentence has since become famous, and is by some
attributed to Cicero. The term Stagirite has been applied to Aristotle
from the name of his birthplace.
=Artaxerx´es= the First succeeded to the kingdom of Persia after Xerxes.
He made war against the Bactrians, and reconquered Egypt, which had
revolted. He was remarkable for his equity and moderation.
=Artaxerx´es= the Second. King of Persia, surnamed Mnemon. His brother
Cyrus endeavored to make himself king in his place, and marched against
his brother at the head of 100,000 Barbarians and 13,000 Greeks. He was
opposed by Artaxerxes with a large army, and a bloody battle was fought
at Cunaxa, in which Cyrus was killed and his forces routed.
=Ar´temis.= The Greek name of Diana. Her festivals, called Artemesia, were
celebrated in several parts of Greece, particularly at Delphi.
=Asca´nius=, son of Æneas and Creusa, was saved from the flames of Troy by
his father, whom he accompanied in his voyage to Italy. He was
afterwards called Iulus.
=Aspa´sia.= Daughter of Axiochus, born at Miletus. She came to Athens,
where she taught eloquence. Socrates was one of her scholars. She so
captivated Pericles by her accomplishments that he made her his wife.
The conduct of Pericles and Aspasia greatly corrupted the morals of the
Athenians, and caused much dissipation in the State.
=Aspa´sia.= A daughter of Hermotimus of Phocæa, famous for her personal
charms. She was priestess of the sun, and became mistress to Cyrus.
=Astar´te.= A powerful divinity of Syria, the same as the Venus of the
Greeks. She had a famous temple at Hierapolis in Syria, which was
attended by 300 priests.
=Astræ´a.= A daughter of Astræus, king of Arcadia, or, according to
others, daughter of Titan and Aurora. Some make her daughter of Jupiter
and Themis. She was called Justice, of which virtue she was the goddess.
=Asty´anax.= A son of Hector and Andromache. He was very young when the
Greeks besieged Troy, and when the city was taken his mother saved him
in her arms from the flames. According to Euripides he was killed by
Menelaus.
=Atalan´ta.= Daughter of Schoeneus, king of Scyros. According to some
she was the daughter of Jasus, or Jasius, and Clymene, but others say
that Menalion was her father. She determined to live in celibacy, but
her beauty gained her many admirers, and to free herself from their
importunities she proposed to run a race with them. As she was almost
invincible in running, her suitors, who entered the lists against her,
were defeated, till Hippomenes, the son of Macareus, proposed himself as
an admirer. Venus gave him three golden apples from the garden of the
Hesperides, and with these concealed about him he entered the lists to
race against Atalanta. As the race proceeded he dropped the apples,
which she stopped to pick up, thus enabling Hippomenes to arrive first
at the goal, and obtain her in marriage.
=A´te.= Daughter of Jupiter, and goddess of all evil. She raised such
discord amongst the gods that Jupiter banished her from heaven, and sent
her to dwell on earth, where she incited mankind to evil thoughts and
actions.
=Athana´sius.= A bishop of Alexandria, celebrated for his determined
opposition to Arius and his doctrines. He died A.D. 373, after filling
the archiepiscopal chair for forty-seven years. The famous creed which
is named after him is no longer supposed to have been written by him,
and its authorship remains in doubt.
=At´las.= One of the Titans, son of Iapetus and Clymene. He married
Pleione, daughter of Oceanus (or of Hesperis, according to some
writers). He had seven daughters, who were called the Atlantides.
=A´treus.= A son of Pelops and Hippodamia, was king of Mycenæ. His brother
Chrysippus was illegitimate, and Hippodamia wished to get rid of him,
and urged Atreus and another of her sons, Thyestes, to murder him,
which, on their refusal, she did herself. Atreus retired to the court of
Eurystheus, king of Argos, and succeeded to his throne.
=At´ticus, T. Pomponius.= A celebrated Roman knight, to whom Cicero wrote
a number of letters, containing the general history of the age. He
retired to Athens, where he endeared himself to the citizens, who
erected statues to him in commemoration of his virtues. He died at the
age of seventy-seven, B.C. 32.
=At´tila.= A celebrated king of the Huns, who invaded the Roman empire in
the reign of Valentinian, with an army of half a million of men. He
laid waste the provinces, and marched on Rome, but retreated on being
paid a large sum of money. He called himself the "Scourge of God," and
died A.D. 453, of an effusion of blood, on the night of his marriage.
=Angus´tus, Octavia´nus Cæ´sar=, emperor of Rome, was son of Octavius, a
senator, and Accia, sister to Julius Cæsar. He was associated in the
triumvirate with Antony and Lepidus, and defeated the armies of Brutus
and Cassius at Philippi. Octavia, the sister of Augustus, married Antony
after the death of his wife Fulvia. Octavia, however, was slighted for
the charms of Cleopatra, which incensed Augustus, who took up arms to
avenge the wrongs of his sister, and at the great battle of Actium (B.C.
31), the forces of Antony and Cleopatra suffered a disastrous defeat.
=Aurelia´nus=, emperor of Rome, was austere and cruel in the execution of
the laws, and in his treatment of his soldiers. He was famous for his
military character, and his expedition against Zenobia, queen of
Palmyra, gained him great honors. It is said that in his various battles
he killed 800 men with his own hand. He was assassinated near Byzantium,
A.D. 275.
=Aure´lius, M. Antoni´nus=, surnamed "the philosopher," possessed all the
virtues which should adorn the character of a prince. He raised to the
imperial dignity his brother L. Verus, whose dissipation and
voluptuousness were as conspicuous as the moderation of the philosopher.
During their reign the Quadi, Parthians, and Marcomanni were defeated.
Verus died of apoplexy, and Antoninus survived him eight years, dying in
his sixty-first year, after a reign of nineteen years and ten days.
=Auro´ra.= A goddess, daughter of Hyperion and Thia or Thea. She is
generally represented by the poets as sitting in a chariot and opening
with her fingers the gates of the east, pouring dew on the earth, and
making the flowers grow. The Greeks call her Eos.
=Bac´chus= was son of Jupiter and Semele, the daughter of Cadmus. He was
the god of wine, and is generally represented crowned with vine leaves.
He is said to have married Ariadne after she had been forsaken by
Theseus.
=Belisa´rius.= A celebrated general who, in the reign of Justinian,
emperor of Constantinople, renewed the victories which had rendered the
first Romans so distinguished. He died, after a life of glory, suffering
from royal ingratitude, 565 years before the Christian era.
=Beller´ophon=, son of Glaucus, king of Ephyre, and Eurymede; was at first
called Hipponous. He was sent by Iobates, king of Lycia, to conquer the
monster Chimæra. Minerva assisted him in the expedition, and by the aid
of the winged horse Pegasus he conquered the monster and returned
victorious. After sending him on other dangerous adventures, Iobates
gave him his daughter in marriage, and made him successor to his throne.
=Bello´na=, goddess of war, was daughter of Phorcys and Ceto; called by
the Greeks Enyo, and is often confounded with Minerva. She prepared the
chariot of Mars when he was going to war, and appeared in battles armed
with a whip to animate the combatants, and holding a torch.
=Be´lus=, one of the most ancient kings of Babylon, about 1800 years
before the age of Semiramis, was made a god after death, and was
worshiped by the Assyrians and Babylonians. He was supposed to be the
son of the Osiris of the Egyptians. The temple of Belus was the most
ancient and magnificent in the world, and was said to have been
originally the tower of Babel.
=Bereni´ce.= A daughter of Philadelphus, who married Antiochus, king of
Syria, after he had divorced his former wife Laodice.
=Bereni´ce.= The mother of Agrippa, whose name occurs in the history of
the Jews as daughter-in-law of Herod the Great. A number of others of
minor celebrity were known by the same name.
=Bi´on.= A philosopher of Scythia who rendered himself famous for his
knowledge of poetry, music, and philosophy. Another of the same name was
a Greek poet of Smyrna who wrote pastorals. He was a friend of Moschus,
who says that he died by poison about 300 years B.C.
=Boadice´a.= A famous British queen who rebelled against the Romans and
was defeated, on which she poisoned herself. Her cruel treatment by the
Romans is the subject of an ode by Cowper.
=Bo´reas.= The name of the north wind blowing from the Hyperborean
mountains. According to the poets, he was son of Astræus and Aurora. He
was passionately fond of Hyacinthus.
=Bren´nus.= A general of the Galli Senones, who entered Italy, defeated
the Romans, and marched into the city. The Romans fled into the Capitol,
and left the city in possession of the enemy. The Gauls climbed the
Tarpeian rock in the night, and would have taken the Capitol had not the
Romans been awakened by the cackling of some geese, on which they
roused themselves and repelled the enemy.
=Bri´a´reus.= A famous giant, son of Coelus and Terra. He had a hundred
hands and fifty heads, and was called by men by the name of Ægeon.
=Bru´tus L. Junius.= Son of M. Junius and Tarquinia. When Lucretia killed
herself, B.C. 509, in consequence of the brutality of Tarquin, Brutus
snatched the dagger from the wound and swore upon the reeking blade
immortal hatred to the royal family, and made the people swear they
would submit no longer to the kingly authority. His sons conspired to
restore the Tarquins, and were tried and condemned before their father,
who himself attended their execution. Mr. John Howard Payne, the
American dramatist, has written a tragedy, of which Brutus is the hero.
=Bru´tus, Mar´cus Ju´nius=, father of Cæsar's murderer, followed the party
of Marius, and was conquered by Pompey, by whose orders he was put to
death.
=Bru´tus, Mar´cus Ju´nius=, the destroyer of Cæsar, conspired with many of
the most illustrious citizens of Rome, against Cæsar, and stabbed him in
Pompey's Basilica. The tumult following the murder was great, but the
conspirators fled to the Capitol, and by proclaiming freedom and liberty
to the populace, for the time established tranquillity. Antony, however,
soon obtained the popular ear, and the murderers were obliged to leave
Rome. Brutus retired into Greece, where he gained many friends. He was
soon pursued by Antony, who was accompanied by the young Octavius. The
famous battle of Philippi followed, in which Brutus and his friend
Cassius, who commanded the left wing of the army, were totally defeated.
Brutus fell on his own sword, B.C. 42, and was honored with a
magnificent funeral by Antony. Plutarch relates that Cæsar's ghost
appeared to Brutus in his tent before the battle of Philippi, warning
him of his approaching fall.
=Buceph´alus.= A horse of Alexander's, so frequently named by writers that
the term has become proverbial. Alexander was the only person that could
mount him, and he always knelt down for his master to bestride him.
=Ca´cus.= A famous robber, son of Vulcan and Medusa, represented as a
three-headed monster vomiting flames. He resided in Italy, and the
avenues of his cave were covered with human bones. When Hercules
returned from the conquest of Geryon, Cacus stole some of his cows,
which Hercules discovering, he strangled Cacus.
=Cad´mus=, son of Agenor, king of Phoenicia, and Telephassa, or Agriope,
was ordered by his father to go in quest of his sister Europa, whom
Jupiter had carried away. His search proving fruitless, he consulted the
oracle of Apollo, and was told to build a city where he saw a heifer
stop in the grass, and call the country around Boeotia. He found the
heifer, as indicated by the oracle. Requiring water, he sent his
companions to fetch some from a neighboring grove. The water was guarded
by a dragon, who devoured those who were sent for it, and Cadmus, tired
of waiting, went himself to the place. He attacked the dragon and killed
it, sowing its teeth in the ground, on which a number of armed men rose
out of the earth. Cadmus threw a stone amongst them, and they at once
began fighting, and all were killed except five, who assisted him in
building the city. Cadmus introduced the use of letters in Greece--the
alphabet, as introduced by him, consisting of sixteen letters.
=Cadu´ceus.= A rod entwined at one end with two serpents. It was the
attribute of Mercury, and was given to him by Apollo in exchange for the
lyre.
=Cæ´sar.= A surname given to the Julian family in Rome. This name, after
it had been dignified in the person of Julius Cæsar and his successors,
was given to the apparent heir of the empire in the age of the Roman
emperors. The first twelve emperors were distinguished by the name of
Cæsar. They reigned in this order--Julius Cæsar, Augustus, Tiberius,
Caligula, Claudius, Nero, Galba, Otho, Vitellius, Vespasian, Titus, and
Domitian. Suetonius has written an exhaustive history of the Cæsars. C.
Julius Cæsar, the first emperor of Rome, was son of L. Cæsar and
Aurelia, the daughter of Cotta. He was descended, according to some
accounts, from Julus, the son of Æneas. His eloquence procured him
friends at Rome, and the generous manner in which he lived equally
served to promote his interest. He was appointed for five years over the
Gauls. Here he enlarged the boundaries of the Roman empire by conquest,
and invaded Britain, which till then was unknown to the Romans. The
corrupt state of the Roman senate, and the ambition of Cæsar and Pompey,
caused a civil war. Neither of these celebrated Romans would endure a
superior, and the smallest matters were grounds enough for unsheathing
the sword. By the influence of Pompey a decree was passed to strip Cæsar
of his power. Antony, as tribune, opposed this, and went to Cæsar's camp
with the news. On this Cæsar crossed the Rubicon, which was the boundary
of his province. The passage of the Rubicon was a declaration of war,
and Cæsar entered Italy with his army. Upon this Pompey left Rome and
retired to Dyrrachium, and Cæsar shortly afterwards entered Rome. He
then went to Spain, where he conquered the partisans of Pompey, and on
his return to Rome was declared dictator, and soon afterwards consul.
The two hostile generals met in the plains of Pharsalia, and a great
battle ensued B.C. 48. Pompey was defeated and fled to Egypt, where he
was slain. At length Cæsar's glory came to an end. Enemies had sprung up
around him, and a conspiracy, consisting of many influential Romans, was
formed against him. Conspicuous among the conspirators was Brutus, his
most intimate friend, who, with others, assassinated him in the senate
house in the ides of March, B.C. 44, in the fifty-sixth year of his age.
He wrote his Commentaries on the Gallic wars when the battles were
fought. This work is admired for its elegance and purity of style. It
was after his conquest over Pharnaces, king of Pontus, that he made use
of the words, which have since become proverbial, _Veni, vidi, vici_,
illustrative of the activity of his operations. Shakspeare's tragedy of
Julius Cæsar, in the third act of which he is assassinated, uttering as
his last words, "_Et tu, Brute!_ Then fall Cæsar"--is devoted to the
conspiracy and its results, ending with defeat and death of Brutus and
Cassius at Philippi.
=Calig´ula=, a Roman emperor, was son of Germanicus by Agrippina. He was
proud, wanton, and cruel. He was pleased when disasters befell his
subjects, and often expressed a wish that the Romans had but one head,
that he might have the pleasure of striking it off. He had a favorite
horse made consul, and adorned it with the most valuable trappings and
ornaments. The tyrant was murdered A.D. 41, in his twenty-ninth year,
after a reign of three years and ten months.
=Calli´ope.= One of the Muses, daughter of Jupiter and Mnemosyne, who
presided over eloquence and heroic poetry.
=Cal´ydon.= A city of Ætolia, where OEneus, the father of Meleager,
reigned. During the reign of OEneus Diana sent a wild boar to ravage
the country on account of the neglect which had been shown of her
divinity by the king. All the princes of the age assembled to hunt the
Calydonian boar. Meleager killed the animal, and gave the head to
Atalanta, of whom he was enamored.
=Calyp´so.= One of the Oceanides, or one of the daughters of Atlas,
according to some writers. When Ulysses was shipwrecked on her coasts
she received him with hospitality, and offered him immortality if he
would remain with her as a husband, which he refused to do, and after
seven years' delay he was permitted to depart from the island where
Calypso reigned.
=Camby´ses=, king of Persia, was the son of Cyrus the Great. He conquered
Egypt, and was so disgusted at the superstition of the Egyptians, that
he killed their god Apis and plundered their temples.
=Camill´us, L. Fu´rius.= A celebrated Roman, called a second Romulus from
the services he rendered his country. He was banished for distributing
the spoils he had obtained at Veii. During his exile Rome was besieged
by the Gauls under Brennus. The besieged Romans then elected him
dictator, and he went to the relief of his country, which he delivered
after it had been some time occupied by the enemy. He died B.C. 365.
=Cam´pus Mar´tius.= A large plain without the walls of Rome, where the
Roman youth were instructed in athletic exercises and learnt to throw
the discus, hurl the javelin, etc.
=Can´næ.= A village of Apuleia, where Hannibal defeated the Roman consuls
Æmylius and Varro, B.C. 216.
=Capitoli´num.= A celebrated temple and citadel at Rome on the Tarpeian
rock.
=Caracal´la=, son of the emperor Septimius Severus, was notorious for his
cruelties. He killed his brother Geta in his mother's arms, and
attempted to destroy the writings of Aristotle. After a life made odious
by his vices he was assassinated, A.D. 217, in the forty-third year of
his age.
=Carac´tacus.= A king of the Britons, who was conquered by the Romans and
taken prisoner to Rome.
=Cartha´go.= Carthage, a celebrated city of Africa, the rival of Rome, and
for a long period the capital of the country, and mistress of Spain,
Sicily, and Sardinia. The time of its foundation is unknown, but it
seems to be agreed on that it was built by Dido about 869 years before
the Christian era, or, according to some writers, 72 or 73 years before
the foundation of Rome. It had reached its highest glory in the days of
Hamilcar and Hannibal.
=Cassan´der=, son of Antipater, made himself master of Macedonia after his
father's death, where he reigned for eighteen years.
=Cassan´dra=, daughter of Priam and Hecuba, was passionately loved by
Apollo, who promised to grant her whatever she might require, and she
obtained from him the power of seeing into futurity. Some say she
received the gift of prophecy, with her brother Helenus, by being placed
when young one night in the temple of Apollo, where serpents were found
wreathed round their bodies and licking their ears, which gave them a
knowledge of futurity. She was allotted to Agamemnon in the division of
the spoils of Troy, and was slain by Clytemnestra, Agamemnon's wife.
=Cas´sius C.= A celebrated Roman who became famous by being first quæstor
to Crassus in his expedition against Parthia. He married Junia, the
sister of Brutus, and joined Brutus in the conspiracy formed to
assassinate Cæsar, after which he returned to Philippi with Brutus, and
commanded one wing of the army in the famous battle fought there. On the
defeat of his forces he ordered one of his freedmen to kill him, and he
perished by the sword which had inflicted a wound on Cæsar. He was
called by Brutus "the last of all the Romans."
=Casta´lius Fons=, or =Casta´lia=. A fountain of Parnassus sacred to the
Muses.
=Castor= and =Pollux= were twin brothers, sons of Jupiter and Leda. Mercury
carried them to Pallena, where they were educated. As soon as they
arrived at manhood they embarked with Jason in quest of the Golden
Fleece. In this expedition they evinced great courage. Pollux defeated
and slew Amycus in the combat of the Cestus, and was afterwards
considered to be the god and patron of boxing and wrestling. Castor
distinguished himself in the management of horses.
=Catili´na, L. Ser´gius=, a celebrated Roman, descended from a noble
family. When he had squandered his fortune he secretly meditated the
ruin of his country, and conspired with many Romans as dissolute as
himself to extirpate the senate, plunder the treasuries, and set Rome on
fire. This plot, known as the Catiline conspiracy, was unsuccessful.
The history of it is written by Sallust. Catiline was killed in battle
B.C. 63.
=Ca´to, Mar´cus=, was great-grandson of the censor Cato. The early virtues
that appeared in his childhood seemed to promise that he would become a
great man. He was austere in his morals and a strict follower of the
tenets of the Stoics. His fondness for candor was so great that his
veracity became proverbial. In the Catilinian conspiracy he supported
Cicero, and was the chief cause of the capital punishment which was
inflicted on some of the conspirators. He stabbed himself after reading
Plato's treatise on the immortality of the soul, B.C. 46, in the
fifty-ninth year of his age.
=Catul´lus C.=, or =Q. Vale´rius=. A poet of Verona whose compositions are
the offspring of a luxuriant imagination. He was acquainted with the
most distinguished people of his age. He directed his satire against
Cæsar, whose only revenge was to invite him to a sumptuous banquet.
=Cel´sus=, a physician in the age of Tiberius, who wrote eight books on
medicine, besides treatises on agriculture, rhetoric, and military
affairs.
=Centau´ri.= A people of Thessaly, half men and half horses. They were the
offspring of Centaurus and Stilbia.
=Centum´viri.= The members of a court of justice at Rome. Though
originally 105 in number, they were known as Centumvirs, and this name
they retained when they were increased to 180.
=Cer´berus.= A dog of Pluto. According to Hesiod he had fifty heads, but
according to other mythologists he had three only. He was placed at the
entrance to the infernal regions to prevent the living from entering,
and the inhabitants of the place from escaping.
=Ce´res=, the goddess of corn and harvests, was daughter of Saturn and
Vesta. She was the mother of Proserpine, who was carried away by Pluto
whilst she was gathering flowers.
=Chærone´a=, a city of Boeotia celebrated for a great battle fought
there, in which the Athenians were defeated by the Boeotians, B.C.
447, and for the victory which Philip of Macedonia obtained there over
the confederate armies of the Thebans and Athenians, B.C. 338. It was
the birth-place of Plutarch.
=Cha´ron.= A god of the infernal regions, son of Nox and Erebus, who
conducted the souls of the dead in a boat over the rivers Styx and
Acheron.
=Che´ops.= A king of Egypt, after Rhampsinitus, famous for building
pyramids.
=Chimæ´ra.= A celebrated monster which continually vomited flames. It was
destroyed by Bellerophon.
=Chi´ron.= A centaur, half a man and half a horse, son of Philyra and
Saturn. He was famous for his knowledge of music, medicine, and
shooting, and taught mankind the use of plants and medicinal herbs.
=Chrysos´tom.= A bishop of Constantinople who died A.D. 407. He was a
great disciplinarian, and by severely lashing the vices of his age he
made many enemies.
=Cic´ero, M. T.=, born at Arpinum, was son of a Roman knight and lineally
descended from the ancient kings of the Sabines. In youth he displayed
many abilities, and was taught philosophy by Philo, and law by Mutius
Scævola. He applied himself with great diligence to the study of
oratory, and was distinguished above all the speakers of his time in the
Roman forum. He signalized himself in opposing Catiline, whom he
publicly accused of treason against the State, and whom he drove from
the city. After a number of vicissitudes of fortune he was assassinated,
B.C. 43, at the age of sixty-three.
=Cincinna´tus, L. Q.= A celebrated Roman, who was informed, as he plowed
in the fields, that the senate had chosen him to be dictator. On this he
left the plow and repaired to the field of battle, where his countrymen
were opposed by the Volsci and Æqui. He conquered the enemy, and entered
Rome in triumph.
=Cir´ce.= A daughter of Sol and Perseis, celebrated for her knowledge of
magic and venomous herbs. She was carried by her father to an island
called Æaea. Ulysses, on his return from the Trojan war, visited her
coasts, and his companions were changed, by her potions, into swine.
Ulysses, who was fortified against enchantments by an herb which he had
received from Mercury, demanded of Circe the restoration of his
companions to their former shape; she complied with his wishes, and
eventually permitted him to depart from her island.
=Claudia´nus.= A celebrated poet, in the age of Honorius, who is
considered by some writers to equal Virgil in the majestic character of
his style.
=Clau´dius, T. Drusus Nero=, son of Drusus, became emperor of Rome after
the death of Caligula. He went to Britain, and obtained a triumph for
victories achieved by his generals. He suffered himself to be governed
by favorites, whose avarice plundered the State and distracted the
provinces. He was poisoned by Agrippina, who wished to raise her son
Nero to the throne.
=Cleopa´tra=, queen of Egypt, daughter of Ptolemy Auletes, was celebrated
for her beauty. Antony became enamored of her and married her, ignoring
his connection with Octavia, the sister of Augustus. He gave her the
greatest part of the eastern provinces of the Roman empire. This caused
a rupture between Augustus and Antony, and these two famous men met at
Actium, when Cleopatra, by flying with sixty ships, ruined the battle
for Antony, and he was defeated. Cleopatra destroyed herself by applying
an asp to her breast.
=Cli´o.= The first of the Muses, daughter of Jupiter and Mnemosyne. She
presided over history.
=Cloaci´na.= A goddess at Rome who presided over the Cloacæ, which were
large receptacles for the filth of the whole city.
=Clo´tho=, the youngest of the three Parcæ, who were daughters of Jupiter
and Themis, was supposed to preside over the moment of birth. She held
the distaff in her hand and spun the thread of life.
=Clytemnes´tra.= A daughter of Tyndarus, king of Sparta, and Leda, married
Agamemnon, king of Argos, in whose absence in the Trojan war she
misconducted herself with his cousin Ægysthus. On the return of
Agamemnon Clytemnestra murdered him, as well as Cassandra, whom he had
brought with him. After this Clytemnestra ascended the throne of Argos.
In the meantime her son Orestes, after an absence of seven years,
returned, resolved to avenge the death of his father Agamemnon. On an
occasion when Ægysthus and Clytemnestra repaired to the Temple of
Apollo, Orestes, with his friend Pylades, killed them.
=Clyt´ia= or =Clyt´ie=. A daughter of Oceanus and Tethys, beloved by Apollo.
She was changed into a sun-flower.
=Co´cles, P. Horatius.= A celebrated Roman who alone opposed the whole
army of Porsenna at the head of a bridge whilst his companions were
cutting off the communication with the other shore. When the bridge was
destroyed, Cocles, though wounded by the darts of the enemy, leapt into
the Tiber and swam across it, armed as he was. For his heroism a brazen
statue was raised to him in the Temple of Vulcan.
=Co´drus.= The last king of Athens, son of Melanthus. When the Heraclidæ
made war against Athens, the oracle said that the victory would be
granted to that nation whose king was killed in battle. The Heraclidæ on
hearing this gave orders to spare the life of Codrus, but the patriotic
king disguised himself, and engaging with one of the enemy, was killed.
The Athenians obtained the victory, and Codrus was regarded as the
savior of his country.
=Coe´lus= or =Ura´nus=. An ancient deity supposed to be the father of
Saturn, Oceanus, and Hyperion.
=Col´chis= or =Col´chos=. A country of Asia famous for the expedition of the
Argonauts, and as being the birthplace of Medea.
=Collati´nus, L. Tarquinius.= A nephew of Tarquin the Proud. He married
Lucretia. He, with Brutus, drove the Tarquins from Rome.
=Colos´sus.= A celebrated brazen image at Rhodes, which was considered to
be one of the seven wonders of the world.
=Com´modus, L. Aure´lius Antoni´nus=, son of M. Antoninus, succeeded his
father in the Roman empire. He was naturally cruel and fond of indulging
his licentious propensities. Desirous of being likened to Hercules, he
adorned his shoulders with a lion's skin, and carried a knotted club in
his hand. He fought with the gladiators, and boasted of his skill in
killing wild beasts in the amphitheatre. He was strangled by a wrestler
in the thirty-first year of his age, A.D. 192.
=Co´mus.= The god of revelry, feasting, and nocturnal amusements. He is
represented as a drunken young man with a torch in his hand.
=Concor´dia.= The goddess of peace and concord at Rome, to whom Camillus
raised a temple in the Capitol.
=Confu´cius.= A Chinese philosopher, as much honored amongst his
countrymen as if he had been a monarch. He died about 499 years B.C.
=Co´non.= A famous general of Athens, son of Timotheus. He was made
governor of all the islands of the Athenians, and was defeated in a
naval battle by Lysander. He defeated the Spartans near Cnidos, when
Pisander, the enemy's admiral, was killed. He died in prison B.C. 393.
=Constan´tia.= A granddaughter of the great Constantine, married the
Emperor Gratian.
=Constanti´nus=, surnamed the Great from the greatness of his exploits,
was son of Constantius. It is said that as he was going to fight against
Maxentius, one of his rivals, he saw a cross in the sky with the
inscription, _In hoc vince_. From this he became a convert to
Christianity, ever after adopting a cross for his standard. He founded a
city where old Byzantium formerly stood, and called it Constantinopolis.
There he kept his court, and made it the rival of Rome in population and
magnificence. He died A.D. 337, after a reign of thirty-one years of the
greatest glory.
=Constan´tius Chlo´rus=, son of Eutropius, and father of the great
Constantine. He obtained victories in Britain and Germany. He became the
colleague of Galerius on the abdication of Dioclesian, and died A.D.
306, bearing the reputation of being brave, humane, and benevolent.
=Con´sul.= A magistrate at Rome with real authority for the space of a
year. There were two consuls, who were annually chosen in the Campus
Martius. The first two were L. Jun. Brutus and L. Tarquinius Collatinus.
=Corin´na.= A celebrated woman of Thebes, whose father was Archelodorus.
It is said that she obtained a poetical prize five times against the
competitorship of Pindar.
=Coriola´nus.= The surname of C. Martius, from his victory over Corioli.
After a number of military exploits, and many services to his country,
he was refused the consulship. He was banished, and went to the Volsci,
where he met with a gracious reception from Tullus Aufidius, whom he
advised to make war against Rome, marching with the Volsci as general.
His approach alarmed the Romans, who sent his mother and his wife to
meet him and appease his resentment against his countrymen, which with
difficulty they succeeded in doing.
=Corne´lia.= A daughter of Scipio Africanus, famous for her learning and
virtues, and as being the mother of the Gracchi, Tiberius and Caius
Gracchus. Her husband was T. Sempronius Gracchus.
=Cras´sus, M. Licin´ius.= A celebrated Roman, who by educating slaves and
selling them, became very wealthy. He was made consul with Pompey, and
was afterwards censor, and formed one of the first triumvirate, his
associates in it being Pompey and Cæsar. In the hope of enlarging his
possessions he left Rome, crossed the Euphrates, and hastened to make
himself master of Parthia. He was met by Surena, the Parthian general,
and in the battle which ensued 20,000 of the Romans were killed and
10,000 made prisoners. Crassus surrendered, and was put to death B.C.
53.
=Cre´on=, king of Corinth, was son of Sisyphus. He promised his daughter
Glauce to Jason, who had repudiated Medea. To revenge herself on her
rival, Medea sent her a present of a dress covered with poison. Glauce
put it on, and was seized with sudden pain. Her body took fire, and she
expired in the greatest agony. The house in which she was was also
consumed, and Creon and his family shared Glauce's fate.
=Cre´on.= King of Thebes, whose territories were ravaged by the Sphinx.
Creon offered his crown to any one who would explain the enigmas
proposed by the Sphinx. OEdipus solved the riddles, and ascended the
throne of Thebes.
=Croe´sus=, the fifth and last of the Mermnadæ, who reigned in Lydia,
was the son of Alyattes, and was considered the richest man in the
world. His court was an asylum for learning, and Æsop, the famous fable
writer, with other learned men, lived under his patronage. "As rich as
Croesus," has become a proverb.
=Cupi´do=, god of love, son of Jupiter and Venus, is represented as a
winged infant, naked, armed with a bow and arrows. On gems and ornaments
he is represented generally as amusing himself with some childish
diversion. Cupid, like the rest of the gods, assumed different shapes,
and we find him in the Æneid putting on, at the request of his mother,
the form of Ascanius, and going to Dido's court, where he inspired the
queen with love.
=Cur´tius, M.= A Roman who devoted himself to the service of his country,
about 360 years B.C., by leaping on horseback, and fully armed, into a
huge gap in the earth, at the command of the oracle.
=Cyb´ele.= A goddess, daughter of Coelus and Terra, and wife of Saturn.
She was supposed to be the same as Ceres, Rhea, Ops, Vesta, etc.
According to Diodorus, she was the daughter of a Lydian prince. On her
birth she was exposed on a mountain, where she was tended and fed by
wild beasts, receiving the name of Cybele from the mountain where her
life had been preserved.
=Cyclo´pes.= A race of men of gigantic stature, supposed to be the sons of
Coelus and Terra. They had only one eye, which was in the center of
the forehead. According to Hesiod they were three in number, and named
Arges, Brontes, and Steropes.
=Cy´rus.= A king of Persia, son of Cambyses and Mandane, daughter of
Astyages, king of Media. Xenophon has written the life of Cyrus; and
delineates him as a brave and virtuous prince, and often puts in his
mouth many of the sayings of Socrates.
=Cy´rus= the younger was the son of Darius Nothus, and the brother of
Artaxerxes, the latter succeeding to the throne at the death of Nothus.
Cyrus was appointed to the command of Lydia and the sea-coasts, where he
fomented rebellion and levied troops under various pretenses. At length
he took the field with an army of 100,000 Barbarians and 13,000 Greeks
under the command of Clearchus. Artaxerxes met him with 900,000 men near
Cunaxa. The engagement ended fatally for Cyrus, who was killed 401 years
B.C.
=Dæd´alus=, an Athenian, was the most ingenious artist of his age; he was
the inventor of the wedge and many other mechanical instruments. He made
a famous labyrinth for Minos, king of Crete, but incurred the
displeasure of Minos, who ordered him to be confined in the labyrinth.
Here he made himself wings with feathers and wax, and fitted them to his
body, adopting the same course with his son Icarus, who was the
companion of his confinement. They mounted into the air, but the heat of
the sun melted the wax on the wings of Icarus, and he fell into the
ocean, which after him has been called the Icarian Sea. The father
alighted safely at Cumæ, where he built a temple to Apollo.
=Dan´ae=, daughter of Acrisius, king of Argos, and Eurydice. Jupiter was
enamored with her, and they had a son, with whom Danae was exposed in a
boat on the sea by her father. The winds carried them to the island of
Seriphus, where she was saved by some fishermen, and carried to
Polydectes, king of the place, whose brother, named Dictys, educated the
child, who was called Perseus, and kindly treated the mother.
=Dana´ides.= The fifty daughters of Danaus, king of Argos, who married the
fifty sons of their uncle Ægyptus. Danaus had been told by the oracle
that he would be killed by a son-in-law, and he made his daughters
promise to slay their husbands immediately after marriage. All of them
fulfilled their father's wishes except one, Hypermnestra, who spared her
husband Lynceus.
=Daph´ne.= A daughter of the River Peneus, or of the Ladon, and the
goddess Terra, of whom Apollo became enamored. Daphne fled to avoid the
addresses of this god, and was changed into a laurel.
=Dar´danus.= A son of Jupiter, who killed his brother Jasius to obtain the
kingdom of Etruria. He built the city of Dardania, and was reckoned to
have been the founder of Troy.
=Dari´us.= A noble satrap of Persia, son of Hystaspes, who usurped the
crown of Persia after the death of Cambyses. Darius was twenty-nine
years old when he ascended the throne, and he soon distinguished himself
by his military prowess. He besieged Babylon, which he took after a
siege of twenty months. He died B.C. 485.
=Dari´us=, the second king of Persia of that name, ascended the throne of
Persia soon after the murder of Xerxes. He carried on many wars with
success, aided by his generals and his son Cyrus the younger. He died
B.C. 404, after a reign of nineteen years.
=Dari´us.= The third king of Persia of that name. He soon had to take the
field against Alexander, who invaded Persia. Darius met him with an
enormous army, which, however, was more remarkable for the luxuries
indulged in by its leaders than for military courage. A battle was
fought near the Granicus, in which the Persians were easily defeated,
and another conflict followed near Issus, equally fatal to the Persians.
Darius escaped and assembled another powerful army. The last and
decisive battle was fought at Arbela, Alexander being again victorious.
When the fight was over Darius was found in his chariot covered with
wounds and expiring, B.C. 331.
=Dejani´ra.= A daughter of OEneus, king of Ætolia. Her beauty procured
her many admirers, and her father promised to give her in marriage to
him who should excel in a competition of strength. Hercules obtained
the prize, and married Dejanira.
=Del´phi.= A town of Phocis, at the south-west side of Mount Parnassus. It
was famous for a temple of Apollo, and for an oracle celebrated in every
age and country.
=Deme´trius.= A son of Antigonus and Stratonice, surnamed Poliorcetes,
_destroyer of towns_. At the age of twenty-two he was sent by his father
against Ptolemy, who had invaded Syria. He was defeated at Gaza, but
soon afterwards obtained a victory. The greater part of his life was
passed in warfare, his fortunes undergoing many changes. He was
distinguished for his fondness of dissipation when in dissolute society,
and for military skill and valor in the battle-field. He died B.C. 286.
=Deme´trius.= Surnamed _Soter_, king of Syria. His father gave him as a
hostage to the Romans. After the death of his father, Seleucus
Philopator, Antiochus Epiphanes usurped the throne of Syria, and was
succeeded by his son Antiochus Eupator. Demetrius procured his liberty,
and established himself on the throne, causing Eupator to be put to
death.
=Deme´trius.= Son of Soter, whom he succeeded after he had driven from the
throne a usurper, Alexander Bala. Demetrius gave himself up to luxury,
and suffered his kingdom to be governed by his favorites, thus becoming
odious to his subjects. He was at last killed by the governor of Tyre,
where he had fled for protection.
=Deme´trius Phale´reus.= A disciple of Theophrastus, who gained such
influence over the Athenians by his eloquence and the purity of his
manners that he was elected decennial archon, B.C. 317. He embellished
the city, and rendered himself popular by his munificence, but his
enemies plotted against him, and he fled to the court of Ptolemy Lagus,
where he was received with kindness. He put an end to his life by
permitting an asp to bite him, B.C. 284. There were several others of
the name of Demetrius of minor note.
=Democ´ritus.= A celebrated philosopher of Abdera, one of the disciples of
Leucippus. He travelled over the greatest part of Europe, Asia, and
Africa, in quest of knowledge, and returned home in the greatest
poverty. He indulged in continual laughter at the follies of mankind for
distracting themselves with care and anxiety in the short term of their
lives. He told Darius, who was inconsolable for the loss of his wife,
that he would raise her from the dead if he could find three persons who
had gone through life without adversity, whose names he might engrave on
the queen's monument. He taught his disciples that the soul died with
the body. He died in his 109th year, B.C. 361. He has been termed "the
laughing philosopher."
=Demos´thenes.= A celebrated Athenian, was son of a rich blacksmith and
Cleobule. He became pupil of Plato, and applied himself to study the
orations of Isocrates. At the age of seventeen he gave early proof of
his eloquence and abilities in displaying them against his guardians,
from whom he obtained restitution of the greater part of his estate. To
correct the stammering of voice under which he labored he spoke with
pebbles in his mouth. In the battle of Cheronæa he evinced cowardice,
and saved his life by flight. He ended his life by taking poison, which
he always carried in a quill, in the sixtieth year of his age, B.C. 322.
=Deuca´lion.= A son of Prometheus, who married Pyrrha, the daughter of
Epimetheus. He reigned over part of Thessaly, and in his age the earth
was covered by a deluge of water, sent by Jupiter as a punishment for
the impiety of mankind. Deucalion constructed a ship, and by this means
saved himself and Pyrrha. The ship, after being tossed on the waves for
nine days, rested on Mount Parnassus. The deluge of Deucalion is
supposed to have occurred B.C. 1503.
=Dia´na.= The goddess of hunting. According to Cicero there were three of
the name--viz.: a daughter of Jupiter and Proserpine, a daughter of
Jupiter and Latona, and a daughter of Upis and Glauce. The second is the
most celebrated, and all mention of Diana by ancient writers refers to
her. To shun the society of men she devoted herself to hunting, and was
always accompanied by a number of young women, who, like herself,
abjured marriage. She is represented with a quiver, and attended by
dogs. The most famous of her temples was that at Ephesus, which was one
of the wonders of the world.
=Dicta´tor.= A magistrate at Rome, invested with regal authority.
=Di´do.= A daughter of Belus, king of Tyre, who married Sichæus or
Sicharbus, her uncle, who was priest of Hercules. Pygmalion killed
Sichæsus to obtain his immense riches, and Dido, disconsolate at the
loss of her husband, set sail with a number of Tyrians in quest of a
place in which to form a settlement. A storm drove her fleet on the
African coast, and she bought of the inhabitants as much land as could
be covered by a bull's hide cut into thongs. On this land she built a
citadel called Byrsa, which was the nucleus of a great city. Her
subjects wished her to marry again, but she refused, and erected a
funeral pile, on which she ascended and stabbed herself to death.
=Diocletia´nus, Cai´us Valer´ius Jo´vius.= A celebrated Roman emperor,
born of an obscure family in Dalmatia. He was first a common soldier,
and by merit gradually rose to the position of a general, and at length
he was invested with imperial power. He has been celebrated for his
military virtues, and though he was naturally unpolished by education,
yet he was the friend and patron of learning and genius. His cruelty,
however, against the followers of Christianity, has been severely
reprobated. After reigning twenty-one years in great prosperity, he
abdicated, A.D. 304, and died nine years afterwards, aged sixty-eight.
=Diodo´rus, Sic´ulus.= Celebrated as the author of a history of Egypt,
Persia, Syria, Media, Greece, Rome and Carthage. It was divided into
forty books, of which only fifteen are extant, with a few fragments.
=Dio´genes.= A celebrated cynic philosopher of Sinope, banished from his
country for coining false money. From Sinope he retired to Athens, where
he became the disciple of Antisthenes, who was at the head of the
Cynics. He dressed himself in the garment which distinguished the
Cynics, and walked about the streets with a tub on his head, which
served him as a house. His singularity, joined to his great contempt for
riches, gained him reputation, and Alexander the Great visited the
philosopher and asked him if there was anything in which he could oblige
him. "Get out of my sunshine," was the reply of the Cynic. Such
independence pleased the monarch, who, turning to his courtiers, said,
"Were I not Alexander, I would wish to be Diogenes." He was once sold as
a slave, and his magnanimity so pleased his master, that he made him
the preceptor of his children and the guardian of his estates. He died,
B.C. 324, in the ninety-sixth year of his age. The life of Diogenes does
not bear strict examination: whilst boasting of his poverty, he was so
arrogant that it has been observed that his virtues arose from pride and
vanity, not from wisdom or sound philosophy.
=Dio´genes Laer´tius.= An Epicurean philosopher, born in Cilicia. He wrote
the lives of the philosophers, in ten books. This work contains an
accurate account of the ancient philosophers, and is replete with
anecdotes respecting them. It is compiled, however, without any plan,
method, or precision, though neatness and conciseness are observable in
it.
=Diome´des=, a son of Tydeus and Deiphyle, was king of Ætolia, and one of
the bravest of the Grecian chiefs in the Trojan war. He often engaged
Hector and Æneas, and obtained much military glory.
=Diome´des.= A king of Thrace, son of Mars and Cyrene, who fed his horses
with human flesh. Hercules destroyed Diomedes, and gave him to his own
horses to be devoured.
=Di´on.= A Syracusan, son of Hipparina, famous for his power and
abilities. He was related to Dionysius the First, who constantly advised
with him, and at whose court he obtained great popularity. He was
assassinated 354 years before the Christian era by one of his familiar
friends. His death was greatly lamented by the Syracusans, who raised a
monument to his memory. When Dionysius the Second ascended the throne he
banished Dion, who collected some forces, and in three days made himself
master of Syracuse.
=Di´on Cas´sius.= A native of Nicæa in Bithynia, who was raised to some
of the greatest offices of state in the Roman empire. He is celebrated
as the writer of a history of Rome which occupied him twelve years in
composing.
=Dionys´ius= the Elder was son of Hermocrates. He signalized himself in
the wars which the Syracusans carried on against Carthage, and made
himself absolute at Syracuse. His tyranny rendered himself odious to his
subjects. He made a subterraneous cave in a rock in the form of a human
ear, which was called "the Ear of Dionysius." The sounds of this cave
were all directed to one common tympanum, which had a communication with
an adjoining room, where Dionysius spent part of his time in listening
to what was said by those whom he had imprisoned. He died in the
sixty-third year of his age, B.C. 368, after a reign of thirty-eight
years.
=Dionys´ius= the Younger was son of Dionysius the First and Doris. He
succeeded his father, and as soon as he ascended the throne he invited
Plato to his court and studied under him for some time. Plato advised
him to lay aside the supreme power, in which he was supported by Dion.
This highly incensed Dionysius, who banished Dion, who collected forces
in Greece, and in three days rendered himself master of Syracuse, and
expelled the tyrant, B.C. 357. He, however, recovered Syracuse ten years
afterward, but was soon compelled to retire again by the Corinthians
under Timoleon.
=Dionys´ius= of Halicarnassus. A historian who left his country and came
to reside in Rome that he might study all the authors who had written
Roman history. He was occupied during twenty-four years on his work on
Roman antiquities, which consisted of twenty books.
=Dir´ce.= A woman whom Lycus, king of Thebes, married after he had
divorced Antiope. Amphion and Zethus, sons of Antiope, for cruelties she
practiced on Antiope, tied Dirce to the tail of a wild bull, by which
she was dragged over rocks and precipices till the gods pitied her and
changed her into a fountain.
=Discor´dia.= A malevolent deity, daughter of Nox, and sister to Nemesis,
the Parcæ, and Death. She was driven from heaven by Jupiter because she
sowed dissensions amongst the gods. At the nuptials of Peleus and Thetis
she threw an apple amongst the gods, inscribed with the words, _Detur
pulchriori_, which was the primary cause of the ruin of Troy, and of
infinite misfortunes to the Greeks.
=Dolabel´la, P. Corn.= A Roman who married the daughter of Cicero. During
the civil wars he warmly espoused the cause of Julius Cæsar, whom he
accompanied at the famous battles of Pharsalia and Munda.
=Domitia´nus, Ti´tus Fla´vius=, son of Vespasian and Flavia Domitilla,
made himself emperer of Rome on the death of his brother Titus, whom,
according to some accounts, he destroyed by poison. The beginning of his
reign promised hopefully, but Domitian became cruel, and gave way to
vicious indulgences. In the latter part of his reign he became
suspicious and remorseful. He was assassinated A.D. 96, in the
forty-fifth year of his age.
=Dra´co.= A celebrated lawgiver of Athens, who made a code of laws, B.C.
623, which, on account of their severity, were said to be written in
letters of blood. Hence the term "Draconic," applied to any punishment
of exceptional severity.
=Dru´sus.= A son of Tiberius and Vipsania, who became famous for his
courage displayed in Illyricum and Pannonia.
=Dru´sus, M. Liv´ius.= A celebrated Roman, who renewed the proposals
bearing on the Agrarian laws, which had proved fatal to the Gracchi.
=Dru´sus, Ne´ro Clau´dius.= A son of Tiberius Nero and Livia. He
distinguished himself in the wars in Germany and Gaul, and was honored
with a triumph. There were other Romans of the same name, but of smaller
distinction.
=Dry´ades.= Nymphs that presided over the woods. Oblations of milk, oil,
and honey were offered to them. Sometimes the votaries of the Dryads
sacrificed a goat to them.
=Duum´viri.= Two patricians at Rome, first appointed by Tarquin to keep
the Sibylline books, which were supposed to contain the fate of the
Roman empire.
=Ech´o.= A daughter of the Air and Tellus, who was one of Juno's
attendants. She was deprived of speech by Juno, but was allowed to reply
to questions put to her.
=Ege´ria.= A nymph of Aricia in Italy, where Diana was particularly
worshiped. Egeria was courted by Numa, and, according to Ovid, became
his wife. Ovid says that she was disconsolate at the death of Numa, and
that she wept so violently that Diana changed her into a fountain.
=Elec´tra.= A daughter of Agamemnon, king of Argos. She incited her
brother Orestes to revenge his father's death by assassinating his
mother Clytemnestra. Her adventures and misfortunes form the subject of
one of the finest of the tragedies of Sophocles.
=Eleu´sinia.= A great festival observed by the Lacedæmonians, Cretans, and
others, every fourth year, and by the people of Athens every fifth year,
at Eleusis in Attica, where it was introduced by Eumolpus, B.C. 1356. It
was the most celebrated of all the religious ceremonies of Greece. The
term "Mysteries" is often applied to it. The expression "Eleusinian
mysteries," as applied to anything that is inexplicable, has become
proverbial.
=Elys´ium.= The Elysian Fields, a place in the infernal regions, where,
according to the ancients, the souls of the virtuous existed after
death.
=Emped´ocles.= A philosopher, poet, and historian of Agrigentum in Sicily,
who lived 444 B.C. He was a Pythagorean, and warmly espoused the belief
in the transmigration of souls.
=Endym´ion.= A shepherd, son of Æthlius and Calyce. He is said to have
required of Jupiter that he might be always young. Diana saw him as he
slept on Mount Latmus, and was so struck with his beauty that she came
down from heaven every night to visit him.
=En´nius.= An ancient poet, born in Calabria. He obtained the privileges
of a Roman citizen on account of his learning and genius.
=E´os.= The name of Aurora among the Greeks.
=Epaminon´das.= A famous Theban descended from the ancient kings of
Boeotia. At the head of the Theban armies he defeated the Spartans at
the celebrated battle of Leuctra about 370 B.C. He was killed in battle
in the forty-eighth year of his age.
=Eph´esus.= A city of Ionia, famous for a temple of Diana, which was
considered to be one of the seven wonders of the world.
=Epicte´tus.= A Stoic philosopher of Hieropolis, originally the slave of
Epaphroditus, the freedman of Nero. He supported the doctrine of the
immortality of the soul.
=Epicu´rus.= A celebrated philosopher, born in Attica of obscure parents.
He distinguished himself at school by the brilliancy of his genius. He
taught that the happiness of mankind consisted in pleasure, which arises
from mental enjoyment, and the sweets of virtue. His death occurred 270
B.C., his age being seventy-two.
=Er´ato.= One of the Muses. She presided over lyric poetry, and is
represented as crowned with roses and myrtle, and holding a lyre in her
hand.
=Er´ebus=, A deity of the infernal regions, son of Chaos and Darkness. The
poets often use the word to signify the infernal regions.
=Ete´ocles.= A king of Thebes, son of OEdipus and Jocasta. After his
father's death it was agreed between him and his brother Polynices that
they should reign a year each alternately. Eteocles first ascended the
throne, but at the end of the year he refused to resign the crown. Thus
treated, Polynices implored assistance from Adrastus, king of Argos,
whose daughter he married, and who placed an army at his disposal.
Eteocles marshalled his forces, and several skirmishes took place
between the hostile hosts, when it was agreed on that the brothers
should decide the contest by single combat. They fought with inveterate
fury, and both were killed.
=Eucli´des.= A famous mathematician of Alexandria, who lived B.C. 300. He
wrote fifteen books on the elements of mathematics. Euclid was so much
respected that King Ptolemy became one of his pupils.
=Eu´menes.= A Greek officer in the army of Alexander. He was the most
worthy of all Alexander's generals to succeed him after his death. He
conquered Paphlagonia and Cappadocia, of which he obtained the
government, till the power of Antigonus obliged him to retire.
Eventually, after many vicissitudes of fortune, he was put to death in
prison by order of Antigonus.
=Eumen´ides.= A name given to the Furies. They sprang from the drops of
blood which flowed from a wound which Coelus received from Saturn.
According to some writers they were daughters of the Earth, and sprung
from the blood of Saturn. Others make them to be daughters of Acheron
and Night, or Pluto and Proserpine. According to the generally received
opinion they were three in number--Tisiphone, Megara, and Alecto, to
which some add Nemesis.
=Euphor´bus.= A famous Trojan. He wounded Patroclus, whom Hector killed.
He died by the hand of Menelaus.
=Euphra´tes.= A large river in Asia which flowed through the middle of the
city of Babylon.
=Eurip´ides.= A celebrated tragic poet born at Salamis. He studied
eloquence under Prodicus, ethics under Socrates, and philosophy under
Anaxagoras. He often retired to a solitary cave, where he wrote his
tragedies. It is said that he met his death by being attacked and torn
in pieces by dogs, 407 years before the Christian era, in the
seventy-eighth year of his age. He is accredited with the authorship of
seventy-five tragedies, of which only nineteen are extant. One of his
plays, "Ion," has become familiarized in name to general readers by the
exquisite play thus called written by the late Judge Talfourd, and first
acted at Covent Garden theater, May 26, 1836.
=Euro´pa.= A daughter of Agenor, king of Phoenicia, and Telaphassa. Her
beauty attracted Jupiter, and to become possessed of her he assumed the
shape of a handsome bull, and mingled with the herds of Agenor while
Europa was gathering flowers in the meadows. She caressed the animal,
and mounted on his back. The god crossed the sea with her, and arrived
in Crete, where he assumed his proper form, and declared his love. She
became mother of Minos, Sarpedon, and Rhadamanthus.
=Euryd´ice.= The wife of the poet Orpheus. As she fled from Aristæus, who
was enamored with her, she was bit by a serpent, and died of the wound.
Orpheus was disconsolate at her loss, and descended to the infernal
regions in search of her, and by the melody of his lyre he obtained from
Pluto the restoration of Eurydice, provided he did not look behind him
till he reached the earth; but his eagerness to see his wife caused him
to violate the conditions, and he looked behind him, thus losing
Eurydice forever.
=Euryd´ice.= Wife of Amyntas, king of Macedonia. Alexander, Perdiccas, and
Philip were their sons, and they had a daughter named Euryone. She
conspired against Amyntas, but was prevented from killing him by
Euryone.
=Eurys´thenes.= A son of Aristodemus, who lived in perpetual dissension
with his twin brother Procles whilst they both sat on the Spartan
throne. The descendants of Eurysthenes were called Eurysthenidæ, and
those of Procles Proclidæ.
=Eurys´theus.= A king of Argos and Mycenæ, son of Sthenelus and Nicippe.
Juno hastened his birth by two months that he might come into the world
before Hercules, the son of Alcmena, as the younger of the two was
doomed by Jupiter to be subservient to the other. This natural right was
cruelly exercised by Eurystheus, who was jealous of the fame of
Hercules, and who, to destroy him, imposed upon him the most dangerous
enterprises, known as the Twelve Labors of Hercules, all of which were
successfully accomplished.
=Euse´bius.= A bishop of Cæsarea, in favor with the Emperor Constantine.
He was mixed up in the theological disputes of Arius and Athanasius, and
distinguished himself by writing an ecclesiastical history and other
works.
=Euter´pe.= One of the Muses, daughter of Jupiter and Mnemosyne. She
presided over music.
=Entro´pius.= A Latin historian in the age of Julian. He wrote an epitome
of the history of Rome from the age of Romulus to the reign of the
emperor Valens.
=Fa´bii.= A noble and powerful family at Rome. They fought with the
Veientes, and all of them were slain. One of the family, of tender age,
remained in Rome, and from him descended the family which afterwards
became so distinguished.
=Fa´bius, Max´imus Rullia´nus=, was the first of the Fabii who obtained
the name of "Maximus." He was master of the horse, and his victory over
the Samnites in that capacity nearly cost him his life. He was five
times consul, twice dictator, and once censor.
=Fa´bius, Q. Max´imus.= A celebrated Roman who was raised to the highest
offices of state. In his first consulship he obtained a victory over
Liguria, and the battle of Thrasymenus caused his election to the
dictatorship. In this office he opposed Hannibal, harassing him more by
countermarches and ambuscades than by fighting in the open field. He
died at the age of 100, after being consul five times. Others of the
family were of minor distinction, though their names occur in Roman
history.
=Fabric´ius, Cai´us.= A distinguished Roman, who in his first consulship
obtained several victories over the Samnites and Lucanians. He had the
most consummate knowledge of military matters, and was distinguished for
the simplicity of his manners.
=Faler´nus.= A fertile mountain and plain of Campania, famous for its
wine. Falernian wine was held in great esteem by the Romans, and it is
often alluded to by the poets.
=Fau´ni.= Rural deities represented as having the legs, feet, and ears of
goats, and the rest of the body human.
=Flac´cus.= A consul who marched against Sylla and was assassinated.
=Flamin´ius, T. Q.= A famous Roman who was trained in the art of war
against Hannibal. He was sent in command of the Roman troops against
Philip of Macedonia, and met with great success.
=Flo´ra.= The goddess of flowers and gardens among the Romans. She was the
same as the Chloris of the Greeks.
=Fortu´na.= A powerful deity among the ancients, daughter of Oceanus,
according to Homer, or one of the Parcæ according to Pindar. She was
the goddess of Fortune, and bestowed riches or poverty on mankind.
=Ful´via.= An ambitious woman, wife of the tribune Clodius, afterwards of
Curio, and lastly of Antony. Antony divorced her for Cleopatra. She
attempted to avenge her wrongs by persuading Augustus to take up arms
against Antony.
=Galatæ´a.= A sea nymph, daughter of Nereus and Doris. She was loved by
Polyphemus, the Cyclops, whom she treated with disdain, while she was in
love with Acis, a shepherd of Sicily.
=Gal´ba, Ser´vius Sulpi´cius.= A Roman who rose to the greatest offices of
the state, and exercised his powers with equity till he was seated on
the throne, when his virtues disappeared. He was assassinated in the
seventy-third year of his age.
=Gallie´nus, Pub. Licin´ius.= A son of the emperor Valerian. He reigned
conjointly with his father for seven years, and then became sole
emperor, A.D. 260. In his youth he showed military ability in an
expedition against the Germans and Sarmatæ, but when possessed of the
purple he gave himself up to pleasure and vice. He was assassinated in
his fiftieth year, A.D. 268.
=Gal´lus, Corne´lius.= A Roman knight famous for his poetical as well as
his military talents. He was greatly attached to his slave Lycoris (or
Cytheris), whose beauty he extolled in his poetry.
=Ganyme´des.= A beautiful youth of Phrygia. He was taken to heaven by
Jupiter while tending flocks on Mount Ida, and he became the cupbearer
of the gods in place of Hebe.
=Gel´lius Au´lus.= A Roman grammarian in the age of M. Antoninus. He
wrote a work called "Noctes Atticæ," which he composed at Athens.
=German´icus Cæ´sar.= A son of Drusus and Antonia, the niece of Augustus.
He was raised to the most important position in the state, and was
employed in war in Germany, where his successes obtained him a triumph.
He was secretly poisoned, A.D. 19, in the thirty-fourth year of his age.
He has been commended not only for his military talents but for his
learning and humanity.
=Ge´ryon.= A monster, represented by the poets as having three bodies and
three heads. It was killed by Hercules.
=Gigan´tes.= The sons of Coelus and Terra, who, according to Hesiod,
sprang from the blood of a wound inflicted on Coelus by his son
Saturn. They are represented as huge giants, with strength in accordance
with their size.
=Glau´cus.= A son of Hippolochus, the son of Bellerophon. He aided Priam
in the Trojan war, and was noted for his folly in exchanging his golden
armor with Diomedes for an iron one.
=Glau´cus.= A fisherman of Boeotia. He observed that the fishes which he
caught and laid on the grass became invigorated and leaped into the sea.
He tasted the grass, and suddenly felt a desire to live in the sea. He
was made a sea deity by Oceanus and Tethys.
=Glau´cus.= A son of Minos the Second and Pasiphae, who was smothered in a
cask of honey. The soothsayer Polyidus, on being commanded by Minos to
find his son, discovered him, and by rubbing his body with a certain
herb restored him to life.
=Gordia´nus, M. Anto´nius Africa´nus.= Son of Metius Marcellus. He applied
himself to poetry, and composed a poem in thirty books. He was sent as
proconsul to Africa, and subsequently, when he had attained his
eightieth year, he was proclaimed emperor. He strangled himself at
Carthage A.D. 236, and was deeply lamented by the army and the people.
=Gordia´nus, M. Anto´nius Africa´nus=, son of Gordianus, was made prefect
of Rome, and afterwards consul, by Alexander Severus. He was elected
emperor in conjunction with his father. He was killed in a battle fought
with Maximinus in Mauritania.
=Gordia´nus M. Anto´nius Pius=, was grandson of the first Gordian. He was
proclaimed emperor in the sixteenth year of his age. He married the
daughter of Misetheus, who was distinguished by his virtues, and to whom
Gordian intrusted many of the chief offices of the state. Gordian
conquered Sapor, king of Persia, and took many cities from him. He was
assassinated A.D. 244.
=Gor´dius.= A Phrygian who, from the position of a peasant, was raised to
the throne consequent on a prediction of the oracle. The knot which tied
the yoke to the draught-tree of his chariot was made so cunningly that
the ends of the cord could not be seen, and a report arose that the
empire of Asia was promised by the oracle to him who should untie the
Gordian knot. Alexander cut the knot with his sword.
=Gor´gones= (the Gorgons). Three sisters, daughters of Phorcys and Ceto,
whose names were Stheno, Euryale, and Medusa. They possessed the power
of turning into stone those on whom they looked. Perseus attacked them
and cut off Medusa's head, which he gave to Minerva, who placed it on
her ægis, which turned into stone those who fixed their eyes on it.
=Grac´chus, T. Sempronius=, was twice consul and once censor. He married
Cornelia, of the family of the Scipios, a woman of piety and learning.
Their children, Tiberius and Caius, rendered themselves famous for their
obstinate attachment to the interests of the populace, which at last
proved fatal to them. The Gracchi stand out conspicuously in Roman
annals. The history of Gaius Gracchus has been dramatized by James
Sheridan Knowles. It was one of his earliest efforts in dramatic
literature, and has long been obsolete as an acting play.
=Gymna´sium.= A place among the Greeks where all the public exercises were
performed, and where not only dancers and wrestlers exhibited, but where
poets and philosophers repeated their compositions.
=Ha´des=, see ADES.
=Halicarnas´sus.= A maritime city in Asia Minor, where a mausoleum, one of
the seven wonders of the world, was erected. It is celebrated as being
the birthplace of Herodotus, Dionysius, and Heraclitus.
=Hamadry´ades.= Nymphs who lived in the country and presided over trees.
=Hamil´car.= A famous Carthaginian, father of Hannibal. He was engaged in
Sicily during the first Punic war. He used to say of his three sons that
he kept three lions to devour the Roman power.
=Han´nibal.= A celebrated Carthaginian general, son of Hamilcar. While a
child he took a solemn oath never to be at peace with Rome. His passage
of the Alps with a great army was achieved by softening the rocks with
fire and vinegar, so that even his armed elephants descended the
mountains without difficulty. He defeated the Romans in the great battle
of Cannæ, but was subsequently conquered by Scipio at Zama. He died by
poison taken from a ring in which he kept it concealed. This occurred in
his seventieth year, about 182 years B.C.
=Harmo´dius.= A friend of Aristogiton who assisted in delivering his
country from the tyranny of the Pisistratidæ.
=Harpy´læ.= The Harpies, winged monsters who had the face of a woman, the
body of a vulture, and feet and fingers armed with claws. They were
three in number--Aello, Ocypete, and Celeno. They were daughters of
Neptune and Terra.
=Has´drubal.= A son of Hamilcar, and brother of Hannibal. He crossed the
Alps and entered Italy, where he was defeated by the consuls, M. Livius
Salinator and Claudius Nero. He was killed in the battle B.C. 207, and
his head was sent to Hannibal. One of the finest passages in Professor
Nichol's tragedy of Hannibal is the invocation over Hasdrubal's head at
the close of the play.
=He´be.= A daughter of Jupiter and Juno. She was made cup-bearer to the
gods, but was dismissed from the office by Jupiter, because she fell
down in a clumsy posture as she was pouring out nectar at a festival,
and Ganymedes succeeded her as cupbearer.
=Hec´ate.= A daughter of Persus and Asteria. She was called Luna in
heaven, Diana on earth, and Hecate or Proserpine in hell.
=Hec´tor=, son of King Priam and Hecuba, was the most valiant of all the
Trojan chiefs who fought against the Greeks. He married Andromache, the
daughter of Eetion, Astyanax being their son. Hector was made chief of
the Trojan forces when Troy was besieged by the Greeks, and it is said
that thirty-one of the most valiant Greek chiefs were killed by him, but
when he met Achilles he fled. Achilles pursued him, and Hector was
killed, and his body dragged in triumph at the chariot wheels of the
conqueror.
=Hec´uba=, daughter of Dymas, a Phrygian prince, or, according to some, of
Cisseus, a Thracian king, was the second wife of Priam, king of Troy.
When her son Paris was born, she exposed him on Mount Ida, hoping he
would perish, as the soothsayers had predicted that he would be the ruin
of his country. In the Trojan war she saw most of her children perish.
After enduring many misfortunes, she threw herself into the sea, and was
drowned.
=Hel´ena.= One of the most beautiful women in the age in which she lived.
Her beauty was so universally admired, even in her infancy, that
Theseus, with his friend Pirithous, carried her away when she was ten
years of age and concealed her with his mother, but she was recovered by
Castor and Pollux, and restored to her native country. She married
Menelaus, son of Atreus, but when Paris visited Menelaus he persuaded
her to fly with him to Troy, B.C. 1198. On this, Menelaus sent
ambassadors to the court of Priam to demand her restitution, but in
vain, and the result was the Trojan war. When Troy was taken she
returned to Menelaus, and after his death she retired to Rhodes, where
she was strangled by order of Polyxo, who reigned there. Her beauty and
misfortunes have been a theme for the poets in all ages.
=Hel´icon.= A mountain of Boeotia on the borders of Phocis. It was
sacred to the Muses, who had a temple there. The fountain Hippocrene
flowed from this mountain.
=Heliogab´alus, M. Aure´lius Antoni´nus.= A Roman emperor who had been
priest to a divinity in Phoenicia. Under his sway Rome became the
scene of cruelty and vice. He raised his horse to the honors of
consulship, and indulged in a number of absurdities which rendered him
odious to his subjects. His head was cut off by his soldiers A.D. 222.
=Hel´le.= A daughter of Athamas and Nephele. She fled from her father's
house to avoid the oppression of her mother-in-law Ino. According to
some accounts she was carried through the air on a golden ram, when,
becoming giddy, she fell into the sea, which received from her the name
Hellespont.
=Hellespon´tus.= A narrow strait between Europe and Asia, which received
its name from Helle, who is said to have been drowned in it. It is
celebrated as being the scene of the love and death of Leander.
=Heracli´tus.= A celebrated Greek philosopher of Ephesus, who lived about
500 years before the Christian era. He received the appellation of the
Obscure Philosopher and the Mourner, from his custom of weeping at the
follies and frailties of human life.
=Hercula´neum.= A town of Campania swallowed up by an earthquake, produced
by an eruption of Mount Vesuvius, A.D. 79.
=Her´cules.= A celebrated hero who, after death, was ranked among the
gods. According to the ancients there were many persons of the same
name, but the son of Jupiter and Alcmena, generally called the Theban,
is the most celebrated. The birth of Hercules was attended with many
miraculous events. Before he was eight months old Juno sent two snakes
to devour him, which he seized, and crushed them to death. He achieved a
series of enterprises known as the "Twelve Labors of Hercules." These
comprised the slaughter of the Nemæan lion, the destruction of the
Lernæan hydra, the catching of a stag having golden horns and remarkable
for his swiftness, the seizing alive a wild boar which committed great
ravages, the cleansing of the stables of Augias, the killing of the
carnivorous birds near Lake Stymphalis, the taking captive a prodigious
wild bull, the obtaining the mares of Diomedes which fed on human flesh,
the getting possession of the girdle of the queen of the Amazons, the
destruction of the monster Geryon, the obtaining the apples from the
garden of the Hesperides, and the bringing to the earth the three-headed
dog Cerberus. Besides these labors he aided the gods in their wars with
the giants, and performed numerous difficult feats. He was conducted by
Mercury to Omphale, queen of Lydia, whom he married, and whom he
permitted to dress in his armor while he was sitting to spin with her
female servants. He delivered Dejanira from the Centaur Nessus, whom he
killed. The Centaur, as he expired, gave Dejanira a mystic tunic, which,
in a jealous paroxysm, she gave to Hercules to put on, which he had no
sooner done than he was seized with a desperate distemper which was
incurable. He erected a burning pile on Mount Ætna, on which he cast
himself. Jupiter surrounded the burning pile with smoke, amidst which
Hercules, after his mortal parts were consumed, was carried to heaven in
a chariot drawn by four horses.
=Her´mes.= A name of Mercury among the Greeks.
=Hermin´ius.= A valiant Roman who defended the bridge with Cocles against
the army of Porsenna.
=Hermi´one.= A daughter of Mars and Venus who married Cadmus. She was
changed into a serpent, and placed in the Elysian Fields.
=Hermi´one.= A daughter of Menelaus and Helen. She was privately promised
in marriage to Orestes, the son of Agamemnon, but her father, ignorant
of the engagement, gave her hand to Pyrrhus, the son of Achilles, whose
services he had experienced in the Trojan war.
=Hermip´pus.= A freedman, disciple of Philo, in the reign of Adrian, by
whom he was greatly esteemed. He wrote five books on dreams.
=Hermoc´rates.= A general of Syracuse, who was sent against the Athenians.
His lenity towards the Athenian prisoners was regarded with suspicion.
He was banished from Sicily, and was murdered on his attempt to return
to his country.
=Hermodo´rus.= A philosopher of Ephesus who is said to have assisted, as
interpreter, the Roman decemvirs, in the composition of the ten tables
of laws which had been collected in Greece.
=He´ro.= A beautiful girl of Sestos, greatly beloved by Leander, a youth
of Abydos. The lovers were greatly attached to each other, and often in
the night Leander swam across the Hellespont to Hero in Sestos, till on
one tempestuous night he was drowned, and Hero in despair threw herself
into the sea and perished.
=Hero´des=, surnamed the Great, followed the fortunes of Brutus and
Cassius, and afterwards those of Antony. He was made king of Judæa by
the aid of Antony, and after the battle of Actium he was continued in
power by submission to and flattery of Augustus. He rendered himself
odious by his cruelty, and as he knew his death would be a cause for
rejoicing, he ordered a number of the most illustrious of his subjects
to be confined and murdered directly he expired, that there might appear
to be grief and shedding of tears for his own death. Herod died in the
seventieth year of his age, after a reign of 40 years.
=Herod´otus.= A celebrated historian of Halicarnassus. He ranks amongst
historians as Homer does amongst the poets and Demosthenes amongst the
orators. His great work is a history of the wars of the Persians against
the Greeks, from the age of Cyrus to the battle of Mycale in the reign
of Xerxes; besides which it gives an account of many celebrated nations.
A life of Homer is attributed to his pen, though by some the authorship
is doubted.
=Hesi´odus.= A celebrated poet, born at Ascra in Boeotia. He lived in
the age of Homer, and obtained a poetical prize in competition with him,
according to Varro and Plutarch. Quintilian, Philostratus, and others,
maintain that Hesiod lived before the age of Homer. Hesiod, without
possessing the sublimity of Homer, is admired for the elegance of his
diction.
=Hesi´one.= A daughter of Laodemon, king of Troy. It was her fate to be
exposed to a sea-monster, to whom the Trojans presented yearly a young
girl to appease the resentment of Apollo and Neptune, whom Laodemon had
offended. Hercules undertook to rescue her, and attacking the monster
just as he was about to devour her, killed him with his club.
=Hesper´ides.= Three Nymphs, daughters of Hesperus. Apollodorus mentions
four, Ægle, Erythia, Vesta and Arethusa. They were appointed to guard
the golden apples which Juno gave to Jupiter on the day of their
marriage. The place where the Hesperides lived was a celebrated garden,
abounding with delicious fruit, and was guarded by a dragon which never
slept. It was one of the labors of Hercules to procure some of the
golden apples, which he succeeded in doing after slaying the dragon.
=Hieron´ymus.= A tyrant of Sicily, who succeeded to the throne when he
was fifteen years old. He rendered himself odious by his cruelty and
oppression.
=Hieron´ymus.= A Christian writer, commonly called St. Jerome. He was
distinguished for his zeal against heretics. He wrote commentaries on
the prophets, St. Matthew's Gospel, &c. He died A.D. 420, in his
eightieth year.
=Hippar´chus.= A son of Pisistratus, who succeeded his father, as tyrant
of Athens, with his brother Hippias. He patronized some of the learned
men of his age, and distinguished himself for his love of literature.
=Hippoc´rates.= A celebrated physician of Cos. He delivered Athens from a
dreadful pestilence in the beginning of the Peloponnesian war, for which
he was rewarded with a golden crown. He died in his ninety-ninth year,
B.C. 361.
=Hippocre´ne.= A fountain of Boeotia, near Mount Helicon, sacred to the
Muses. It rose from the ground when struck by the feet of the horse
Pegasus.
=Hippodami´a.= A daughter of OEnomaus, king of Pisa, who married Pelops,
son of Tantalus. Her father would marry her only to some one who should
conquer him in a chariot race. Her beauty was great, and many were
competitors for her hand, though the conditions involved death in case
of defeat in the race. After thirteen suitors had been defeated, Pelops
entered the lists, and by bribing the charioteer of OEnomaus, obtained
the victory and married Hippodamia.
=Hippol´yte.= A queen of the Amazons, given in marriage to Theseus by
Hercules. Hippolytus was their son.
=Hippol´ytus.= Son of Theseus and Hippolyte. His step-mother Phædra fell
in love with him. He fled to the sea-shore, where, his horses taking
fright and rushing among the rocks, his chariot was broken in pieces,
and he was killed. According to some accounts he was restored to life by
Diana.
=Hippo´nax.= A Greek poet born at Ephesus, 540 years before the Christian
era. He cultivated satirical poetry, which was marked by its beauty and
vigor.
=Home´rus.= A celebrated Greek poet, the most ancient of all the profane
writers. The age in which he lived is not known, though some suppose it
to be about 168 years after the Trojan war. Uncertainty prevails, also,
as to the place of his nativity, seven cities claiming to be thus
honored. These are Smyrna, Chios, Colophon, Salamis, Rhodos, Argos, and
Athenæ. In his two famous poems, the Iliad and Odyssey, he has displayed
the most consummate knowledge of human nature, and rendered himself
immortal by the sublimity and elegance of his poetry. In the Iliad be
gives a narrative of the siege of Troy, and the Odyssey deals with the
wanderings of Ulysses after the fall of the city.
=Hono´rius.= An emperor of the Western Empire of Rome, who succeeded his
father, Theodosius the Great. He conquered his enemies by the ability of
his generals, and suffered his people to be governed by ministers who
took advantage of his indolence and indifference. He died A.D. 423.
=Hora´tii.= Three brave Romans, born at the same time, who fought against
the three Curiatii about 667 years before Christ. At the beginning of
the fight two of the Horatii were killed, and the surviving one
pretended to fly, thus separating his antagonists as they pursued him,
and then, attacking them singly, he slew them all.
=Hora´tius Q. Flac´cus.= A celebrated poet born at Venusia. His rising
talents obtained the attention of Virgil and Varius, who recommended him
to the care of Mæcenas and Augustus, the celebrated patrons of
literature. Under this fostering patronage Horace gave himself up to
indolence and pleasure. He was warm in his friendships, and if he at any
time gave offense he was ready to make any concession to effect a
reconciliation. In his satires and epistles he displays much wit and
satirical humor. He died in his fifty-seventh year, B.C. 8.
=Hora´tius.= See =Cocles=.
=Horten´sius, Q.= A celebrated orator who began to distinguish himself in
the Roman Forum when he was nineteen years old. Cicero speaks
eulogistically of his oratorical powers, and of his retentive memory.
Quintilian alludes to his orations in terms of high commendation.
=Hyacin´thus.= A son of Amyclas and Diomede, greatly beloved by Apollo and
Zephyrus. He was accidentally killed by Apollo, who changed his blood
into a flower which bore his name.
=Hy´bla.= A mountain in Sicily, famous for the odoriferous herbs which
grew on it. It was famous for its honey.
=Hy´dra.= A celebrated monster which infested the neighborhood of Lake
Lerna in Peloponnesus. It was one of the labors of Hercules to destroy
the monster, which he effected with the aid of Iolas.
=Hyge´ia.= The goddess of health, daughter of Æsculapius. She was held in
great veneration among the ancients.
=Hymenæ´us= or =Hy´men=, the god of marriage among the Greeks, was the son
of Bacchus and Venus, or, according to some, of Apollo and one of the
Muses.
=Hymet´tus.= A mountain of Attica, about two miles from Athens, famous for
its bees and honey.
=Hyperi´on.= A son of Coelus and Terra, who married Thea. Aurora was
their daughter. Hyperion is often used by the poets to signify the sun.
Also in "Troilus and Cressida" and other of Shakspeare's plays, the same
license is used.
=Hypermnes´tra.= One of the Danaides, who were the fifty daughters of
Danaus. She was ordered by her father to murder her husband Lynceus on
the night of their marriage, which she refused to do. Danaus wished to
punish her for her disobedience, but afterwards forgave her, and left
his kingdom at his death to Lynceus.
=Hypsip´yle.= A queen of Lemnos, daughter of Thoas. During her reign,
Venus, whose altars had been slighted, punished the Lemnian women by
causing their husbands' affections to be estranged from them. This
enraged the women, and they put to death their male relations, except in
the case of Hypsipyle, who spared her father Thoas.
=Ic´arus.= A son of Daedalus, who, with his father, took a winged flight
from Crete to escape the anger of Minos. His flight was too high, and
thus the sun melted the wax which cemented his wings, and he fell into
the sea and was drowned.
=Idom´eneus= succeeded his father Deucalion on the throne of Crete, and
accompanied the Greeks to the Trojan war, during which he rendered
himself famous for his valor. On his voyage home, being caught in a
great tempest, he vowed to Neptune that if he escaped he would make an
offering to the god of the first living creature he saw on his arrival
at the Cretan shore. He escaped the storm, and the first to meet him on
his landing was his son. He performed his vow, and became so odious to
his subjects that he had to leave his dominions.
=Igna´tius.= A bishop of Antioch, torn to pieces by lions in the
amphitheater at Rome A.D. 107. His works consisted of letters to the
Ephesians, Romans, etc. He zealously supported the doctrine of the
divinity of Christ.
=I´lus=, fourth king of Troy, was son of Tros by Callirrhoe. He married
Eurydice, the daughter of Adrastus. He embellished the city of Ilium,
called also Troy from his father Tros.
=I´no.= A daughter of Cadmus and Harmonia, who nursed Bacchus. She married
Athamas, king of Thebes, after he had divorced Nephele.
=I´o=, a daughter of Inachus, was a priestess of Juno at Argos. Juno
changed her into a beautiful heifer, and eventually restored her to her
own form. She was greatly persecuted by Juno. She married Telegonus,
king of Egypt, or Osiris, according to others, and treated her subjects
with such kindness that after death she received divine honors, and was
worshiped under the name of Isis.
=I´olas= or =Iola´us=. A son of Iphiclus, king of Thessaly, who assisted
Hercules in conquering the Hydra; he burnt with a hot iron the place
where the monster's heads had been cut off to prevent their re-growth.
=Iph´iclus.= A son of Amphitryon and Alcmena, twin brother of Hercules. As
the children were cradled together, Juno, jealous of Hercules, sent two
large serpents to destroy him. At the sight of the snakes Iphiclus
showed great alarm, but Hercules seized them, one in each hand, and
squeezed them to death.
=Iphic´rates.= A celebrated general of Athens, who, though son of a
shoemaker, rose to the highest offices in the state. He made war against
the Thracians, and assisted the Persian king against Egypt.
=Iphigeni´a.= A daughter of Agamemnon and Clytemnestra. When the Greeks,
going to the Trojan war, were detained at Aulis by contrary winds, they
were informed by a soothsayer that to appease the gods they must
sacrifice Iphigenia to Diana. As the fatal knife was about to be plunged
into her, Iphigenia suddenly disappeared, and a goat of great beauty was
found in the place where she had stood ready for the sacrifice.
=Iph´itus.= A son of Eurytus, king of OEchalia. When his father had
promised his daughter Iole to any one who could excel him or his sons in
drawing the bow, Hercules accepted the challenge and was victorious.
Eurytus, however, refused to fulfill the compact by giving his daughter
to the conqueror. Afterwards some oxen were stolen from Eurytus, and
Iphitus was sent in quest of them. In his search he met Hercules, who
aided him in seeking the lost animals, but on recollecting the
faithlessness of Eurytus he killed Iphitus.
=Irenæ´us.= A native of Greece, disciple of Polycarp, and bishop of Lyons.
He wrote on different subjects, and suffered martyrdom A.D. 202.
=I´ris.= One of the Oceanides, messenger of the gods, and more
particularly of Juno. Her office was to cut the thread which seemed to
detain the soul of those who were expiring. She is the same as the
rainbow.
=I´sis.= A celebrated deity of the Egyptians, daughter of Saturn and
Rhea, according to Diodorus of Sicily. Some suppose her to be the same
as Io, who was changed into a cow, and restored to her human form in
Egypt, where she taught agriculture, and governed the people with
mildness and equity, for which she received divine honors after her
death.
=Isoc´rates.= A celebrated orator, son of a musical instrument maker at
Athens. He opened a school of eloquence at Athens, where he was
distinguished for the number, character, and fame of his pupils. He was
intimate with Philip of Macedon, but the aspiring ambition of Philip
displeased Isocrates, and the defeat of the Athenians at Chæronea had
such an effect on him that he did not long survive it. He died, after
being four days without taking any aliment, in his ninety-ninth year,
about 338 years B.C. He was honored after death by the erection of a
brazen statue to his memory by Timotheus, one of his pupils, and
Aphareus, his adopted son. Milton, in one of his sonnets, speaks of him
as "that old man eloquent" when alluding to his death as being caused by
the news of the battle of Chæronea.
=I´tys.= A son of Tereus, king of Thrace, and Procne, daughter of Pandion,
king of Athens. He was killed by his mother when he was six years old,
and served up to his father to be eaten by him. He was changed into a
pheasant, his mother into a swallow, and his father into an owl.
=Ixi´on.= A king of Thessaly, son of Phlegias, or, according to Hyginus,
of Leontes, or, according to Diodorus, of Antion and Perimela. Jupiter
carried him to heaven and placed him at the table of the gods, where he
became enamored with Juno, which so incensed Jupiter that he banished
him from heaven, and ordered Mercury to tie him to a wheel in hell,
which continually whirled round, keeping Ixion in perpetual torture.
=Ja´nus.= An ancient king who reigned in Italy. He was a native of
Thessaly, and, according to some writers, a son of Apollo. He built a
town which he called Janiculum. Some authors make him to have been son
of Coelus and Hecate. He is represented with two faces, because he was
acquainted with the past and future. His temple was always open in time
of war, and was shut when peace existed.
=Jap´etus.= A son of Coelus or Titan and Terra, who married Asia, or,
according to some writers, Clymene. The Greeks looked on him as the
father of all mankind.
=Ja´son.= A celebrated hero, son of Æson and Alcimedes. His education was
entrusted to the Centaur Chiron. The greatest feat recorded of him is
his voyage in the Argo to Colchis to obtain the Golden Fleece, which,
aided by Juno, he succeeded in doing. Medea, daughter of Ætes, king of
Colchis, fell in love with Jason. She was a powerful magician, and on
Jason having vowed eternal fidelity to her, she gave him charms to
protect him from danger. After securing the Fleece, Jason set sail from
the country with his wife Medea. After some years he became enamored
with Glauce, daughter of Creon, king of Corinth, whom he married, having
divorced Medea. This cruel act was revenged by Medea, who destroyed her
children in the presence of their father. Jason is said to have been
killed by a beam which fell on his head as he was reposing by the side
of the ship which had borne him to Colchis.
=Jocas´ta.= A daughter of Menoeceus, who married Laius, king of Thebes,
OEdipus being their son. She afterwards married OEdipus without
knowing who he was, and on the discovery she hanged herself. By some
mythologists she is called Epicasta.
=Jose´phus, Fla´vius.= A celebrated Jew, born in Jerusalem, who signalized
himself in a siege conducted by Vespasian and Titus in a small town in
Judæa. He was present at the siege of Jerusalem by Titus, and received
all the sacred books which it contained from the conqueror's hands. He
wrote a history of the wars of the Jews, in Syriac, and afterwards
translated it into Greek. He also wrote a work, which he divided into
twenty books, on Jewish antiquities. He died A.D. 93, in his fifty-sixth
year.
=Jovia´nus, Fla´vius Clau´dius.= A native of Pannonia elected emperor of
Rome by the soldiers after the death of Julian. He refused the purple at
first, but on being assured that his subjects were favorably disposed
towards Christianity he accepted the crown. He died about seven months
after assuming the supreme power, being found in bed suffocated by the
vapors of charcoal which had been lighted in his room, A.D. 364.
=Ju´ba.= A king of Numidia and Mauritania who favored the cause of Pompey
against Julius Cæsar. He defeated Curio, whom Cæsar had sent to Africa,
and after the battle of Pharsalia he joined his forces to those of
Scipio. He was conquered in a battle at Thapsus, and killed himself. His
kingdom became a Roman province, of which Sallust was the first
governor.
=Ju´ba=, the second of that name, was led captive to Rome to give lustre
to the triumph of Cæsar. He wrote a history of Rome, which was often
commended and quoted by the ancients.
=Jugur´tha.= A distinguished Numidian who went with a body of troops to
the assistance of Scipio, who was besieging Numantia. Jugurtha endeared
himself to the Roman general by his bravery and activity. His uncle
Micipsa appointed him successor to the throne, with his two sons
Adherbal and Hiempsal, the latter of whom was slain by Jugurtha, and the
former had to fly to Rome for safety. Cæcilius Metellus was sent against
Jugurtha, who was betrayed and delivered into the hands of the Romans.
He died in prison B.C. 106.
=Ju´lia.= A daughter of Julius Cæsar and Cornelia, famous for her virtues
and personal charms. She was obliged by her father to divorce herself
from her first husband to marry Pompey the Great, with the object of
cementing the friendship between him and her father.
=Ju´lia.= Daughter of Augustus, remarkable for her beauty, genius, and
vices. Her father give her in marriage to Marcellus, after whose death
she united herself to Agrippa, and again becoming a widow she married
Tiberius. Her conduct now became so unseemly that she was banished to a
small island on the coast of Campania, where she was starved to death.
=Ju´lia.= A daughter of Germanicus and Agrippina, born at Lesbos, A.D. 17.
She married M. Vinucius, a senator, when she was sixteen years old. She
was banished on suspicion of conspiracy by her brother Caligula. She was
notorious for her licentious conduct, and was put to death when she was
about twenty-four years of age.
=Ju´lia.= A celebrated woman born in Phoenicia. She applied herself to
the study of philosophy, and was conspicuous for her mental as well as
her personal charms. She came to Rome, where she married Septimius
Severus, who was afterwards invested with the purple. She was also
called Domna.
=Julia´nus.= A son of Julius Constantius, the brother of Constantine the
Great, born in Constantinople. The massacre which attended the elevation
of the sons of Constantine to the throne nearly proved fatal to Julian
and his brother Gallus. The two brothers were privately educated and
taught the doctrines of the Christian religion--which afterwards Julian
disavowed, and in consequence of this the term "Apostate" is generally
affixed to his name. He died, A.D. 363, in his thirty-second year. His
last moments were spent in a conversation with a philosopher about the
immortality of the soul. Julian's character has been admired by some
writers, but generally he is censured for his apostasy.
=Ju´no.= A celebrated deity among the ancients, daughter of Saturn and
Ops. Jupiter married her, and the nuptials were celebrated with the
greatest solemnity in the presence of all the gods. By her marriage with
Jupiter, Juno became the queen of all the gods, and mistress of heaven
and earth. She presided over marriage, and patronized those of her sex
who were distinguished for virtuous conduct. Paris gave her great
offense by giving the golden apple, as an award to beauty, to Venus
instead of herself.
=Ju´piter.= The chief of all the gods of the ancients. According to Varro
there were three hundred persons of that name. To him of Crete, who
passed for the son of Saturn and Ops, the actions of the rest have been
attributed. Jupiter was educated in a cave on Mount Ida, in Crete, and
fed with the milk of the goat Amalthæa. While he was very young he made
war on the Titans, whom he conquered. The beginning of his reign in the
supernal regions was interrupted by the rebellion of the giants, who
were sons of the earth, and who were desirous of revenging the death of
the Titans, but by the aid of Hercules, Jupiter overpowered them.
Jupiter married Metis, Themis, Ceres, Euronyme, Mnemosyne, Latona, and
Juno. His worship was universal: he was the Ammon of the Africans, the
Belus of Babylon, and the Osiris of Egypt.
=Juvena´lis, D. Ju´nius.= A poet born at Axuinum in Italy. He came to Rome
at an early age, where he applied himself to the writing of satires,
some of which are extant. He died in the reign of Trajan, A.D. 128. His
writings are distinguished by a lively style, but abound with ill humor.
=Labe´rius, J. Dec´imus.= A Roman knight famous for his skill in writing
pantomimes. Cæsar made him appear on the stage in one of his plays,
which he resented by throwing out aspersions on Cæsar during the
performance, and by warning the audience against tyranny.
=Lach´esis.= One of the Parcæ, or Fates. She presided over futurity, and
was represented as spinning the thread of life, or, according to some,
as holding the spindle.
=Laer´tes.= A king of Ithaca who married Anticlea, daughter of Autolycus.
Ulysses was their son, and succeeded him on the throne, Laertes retiring
to the country, and devoting his time to gardening, in which employment
he was found by Ulysses on his return from the Trojan war, after twenty
years´ absence.
=La´gus.= A Macedonian of mean extraction, who married Arsinoe, daughter
of Meleager. On the birth of a child it was exposed in the woods by
Lagus, but an eagle preserved its life by feeding and sheltering it with
her wings. The infant was afterwards known as King Ptolemy the First of
Egypt.
=La´is.= A woman of immoral character, daughter of Timandra and
Alcibiades. Diogenes, the Cynic, was one of her admirers, and gained her
heart. She went to Thessaly, where the women, jealous of her charms,
assassinated her.
=Laoc´oon.= A priest of Apollo who in the Trojan war was opposed to the
admission of the wooden horse to the city. For this, as a punishment,
two enormous serpents were sent to attack him, which they did whilst,
accompanied by his two sons, he was offering a sacrifice to Neptune. The
serpents coiled round him and his sons, and crushed them to death.
=Laom´edon.= Son of Ilus, and king of Troy. He married Strymo, called by
some Placia or Leucippe. Podarces, afterwards known as Priam, was their
son. Laomedon built the walls of Troy, in which he was assisted by
Apollo and Neptune.
=Lap´ithus.= A son of Apollo and Stilbe. He married Orsinome, Phorbas and
Periphas being their children, to whose numerous descendants was given
the name Lapithæ, a number of whom attended the nuptials of Pirithous
with Hippodamia, the daughter of Adrastus, king of Argos. The Centaurs
also attended the festivity, and quarrelled with the Lapithæ, which
resulted in blows and slaughter. Many of the Centaurs were slain, and
they were at last obliged to retire.
=La´res.= Gods of inferior power at Rome, who presided over houses and
families. They were two in number, sons of Mercury and Lara.
=Lati´nus.= A son of Faunus and Marica, king of the Aborigines in Italy,
who from him were called Latini.
=Lato´na.= A daughter of Coeus, the Titan, and Phoebe. She was admired
for her beauty by Jupiter. Juno made Latona the object of her vengeance,
and sent the serpent Python to persecute her.
=Lean´der.= A youth of Abydos. He was passionately in love with Hero, a
young girl of Sestos. He was in the habit of swimming across the
Hellespont to visit her, in doing which, on a tempestuous night, he was
drowned. Lord Byron performed the same feat in 1810, an exploit which he
has celebrated in verse in his occasional pieces. He expresses surprise
that, as the truth of Leander's story had been questioned, no one had
hitherto tested its practicability.
=Le´da.= A daughter of king Thespius and Eurythemis, who married Tyndarus,
king of Sparta. She is famous for her intrigue with Jupiter. She brought
forth two eggs, from one of which sprang Pollux and Helena, and from the
other Castor and Clytemnestra. She is said to have received the name of
Nemesis after death.
=Lem´ures.= The manes of the dead. The ancients supposed that after death
the departed souls wandered over the world and disturbed the peace of
its inhabitants.
=Leon´idas.= A celebrated king of Lacedæmon who went to oppose Xerxes,
king of Persia, who had invaded Greece with a vast army. A great battle
was fought at Thermopylæ, the entire army of Leonidas consisting of 300
men who refused to abandon him. For a time this small army resisted the
vast legions of Xerxes, till at length a traitor conducted a detachment
of Persians by a secret path to the rear of Leonidas, when his soldiers
were cut to pieces, one only of the 300 escaping.
=Lep´idus, M. Æmil´ius.= A celebrated Roman, one of the triumvirs with
Augustus and Antony. He was of an illustrious family, and, like many of
his contemporaries, remarkable for ambition. He was unable to maintain
his position as triumvir, and, resigning power, he sank into obscurity.
=Le´the.= One of the rivers of hell, whose waters were imbibed by the
souls of the dead which had been for a certain period confined in
Tartarus. Those who drank of this river forgot what they had previously
known. In this sense the word is constantly used by the poets.
=Leucip´pus.= A celebrated philosopher of Abdera, about 428 years before
Christ. He was a disciple of Zeno. His life was written by Diogenes.
There were several others of the same name.
=Leuc´tra.= A village in Boeotia, famous for the victory which
Epaminondas, the Theban general, obtained over the superior force of
Cleombrotus, king of Sparta, B.C. 371.
=Licin´ius, C.= A tribune of the people, celebrated for his intrigues and
ability. He was a plebeian, and was the first of that class that was
raised to the office of master of the horse to the dictator. There were
a number of other Romans of the same name.
=Liv´ius, Ti´tus.= A native of Padua, a celebrated historian. He passed
the chief part of his time at Naples and Rome, but more particularly at
the court of Augustus, who liberally patronized him. The name of Livy is
rendered immortal by his history of the Roman empire. The merit of this
history is admitted by all, and the high rank which Livy holds amongst
historians is undisputed.
=Liv´ius Androni´cus= was a dramatic poet who flourished at Rome about 240
years before the Christian era.
=Longi´nus, Dionys´ius Cas´sius.= A celebrated Greek philosopher of
Athens. He was preceptor of the Greek language, and afterwards minister,
to Zenobia, the famous queen of Palmyra.
=Luca´nus M. Annæ´us.= A native of Corduba in Spain. At an early age he
went to Rome, where his rising talents recommended him to the emperor
Nero. He unwisely entered into a poetical contest with Nero, in which he
obtained an easy victory, which greatly offended the emperor. After this
Lucan was exposed to much annoyance from Nero, and was induced to join
in a conspiracy against him, on which he was condemned to death, the
mode of which he had the liberty of choosing. He decided to have his
veins opened in a warm bath, and died quoting some lines from his
"Pharsalia." Of all his works none but the "Pharsalia" remains.
=Lucia´nus.= A celebrated writer of Samosata. His works are numerous,
consisting chiefly of dialogues written with much force. He died A.D.
180, being, as some say, torn in pieces by dogs for his impiety.
=Lu´cifer.= The name of the planet Venus, or morning star. It is called
Lucifer when appearing in the morning before the sun, but when it
appears after its setting it is called Hesperus.
=Lucil´ius, C.= A Roman knight, who is regarded as the first satirical
writer amongst the Romans. Of thirty satires which he wrote only a few
verses remain. He died at Naples B.C. 103.
=Lucil´ius Luci´nus.= A famous Roman who fled with Brutus from the battle
of Philippi. He was taken prisoner, but the conquerors spared his life.
=Luci´na.= Daughter of Jupiter and Juno. She was the goddess who presided
over the birth of children.
=Lucre´tia.= A celebrated Roman lady, daughter of Lucretius and wife of
Tarquinius Collatinus. A number of young noble Romans at Ardea, among
whom were Collatinus and the sons of Tarquin the Proud, were discussing
the virtues of their wives at home, and it was agreed to go to Rome to
ascertain how their wives employed themselves in their husbands' absence
in the camp. While the wives of the others were indulging in feasting
and dissipation, Lucretia was found in her house employing herself with
her servants in domestic duties. She was brutally treated by Sextus
Tarquin, a relative of Collatinus, and stabbed herself. This was the
signal for a rebellion, the result being the expulsion of the Tarquins
from Rome.
=Lucre´tius, Ca´rus T.= A celebrated Roman poet and philosopher. The
tenets of Epicurus were embraced by him, and were explained and
elucidated in a poem which he wrote, _De rerum natura_. This poem is
distinguished by genius and elegance, but the doctrines it inculcates
have an atheistical tendency. Lucretius is said to have destroyed
himself B.C. 54.
=Lucul´lus, Lu´cius Licin´ius.= A Roman noted for his fondness of luxury
and for his military abilities. He was born about 115 years before the
Christian era, and distinguished himself by his proficiency in eloquence
and philosophy. He was soon advanced to the consulship, and intrusted
with the management of the Mithridatic war, in which he displayed his
military talents.
=Lycur´gus.= A celebrated lawgiver of Sparta, son of King Eunomus and
brother to Polydectes. He succeeded his brother on the Spartan throne.
In the laws which he enacted he maintained a just equilibrium between
the throne and the people; he banished luxury and encouraged the useful
arts, and adopted a number of measures having for their object the
well-being of the people. Lycurgus has been compared with Solon, the
celebrated legislator of Athens.
=Lyn´ceus=, son of Aphareus, was one of the hunters of the Calydonian
boar, and one of the Argonauts. He was so sharp-sighted that he could
see through the earth and distinguish objects at a great distance from
him. There was another person of the same name who married Hypermnestra,
daughter of Danaus.
=Lysan´der.= A celebrated general of Sparta in the last years of the
Peloponnesian war. He drew Ephesus from the interest of Athens, and
gained the friendship of Cyrus the Younger. He gave battle to the
Athenian fleet, and destroyed it all except three ships. In this battle,
which was fought 405 years before the Christian era, the Athenians lost
a great number of men, and in consequence of it forfeited their
influence over neighboring states. Lysander was killed in battle 394
years B.C.
=Lysim´achus.= A son of Agathocles, who was one of the generals of
Alexander. After the death of that monarch Lysimachus made himself
master of Thrace, where he built a town which he called Lysimachia.
=Lysip´pus.= A famous statuary of Sicyon. He applied himself to painting,
but he was born to excel in sculpture. He lived about 325 years before
the Christian era, in the age of Alexander the Great.
=Macro´bius.= A Latin writer, who died A.D. 415. He has rendered himself
famous for a composition called _Saturnalia_, a miscellaneous collection
of antiquarian and critical literature.
=Mæan´der.= A celebrated river of Asia Minor flowing into the Ægean Sea.
It is famous amongst the poets for its windings, and from it the
application of the word "meandering" to a winding stream has become
proverbial.
=Ma´ecenas=, or =Meca´enas, C. Cilnius=, a celebrated Roman knight, has
rendered himself immortal by his liberal patronage of learned men. To
the interference of Maecenas Virgil was indebted for the restitution of
his lands. Maecenas, according to the received opinion, wrote a history
of animals and a journal of the life of Augustus. Virgil dedicated his
Georgics to him, as did Horace his Odes.
=Ma´nes.= A name applied by the ancients to the soul when departed from
the body.
=Man´lius, Mar´cus.= A celebrated Roman who, at an early age,
distinguished himself for valor. When Rome was taken by the Gauls, he,
with a body of his countrymen, fled to the Capitol, which he defended
when it was surprised in the night by the enemy. This gained him the
surname of _Capitolinus_, and the geese which had awakened him to action
by their clamor were afterwards held sacred among the Romans.
=Mar´athon.= A village of Attica, celebrated for the victory which the
Athenians and Platæans, under the command of Miltiades, gained over the
Persian army, 490 B.C.
=Marcel´lus, Mar´cus Clau´dius.= A famous Roman general. He was the first
Roman who obtained some advantage over Hannibal. He conquered Syracuse,
with the spoils from which he adorned Rome. He was killed in battle in
his fifth consulship.
=Marcel´lus.= A Roman who distinguished himself in the civil wars of Cæsar
and Pompey by his firm attachment to the latter. He was banished by
Cæsar, but was afterwards recalled at the request of the Senate. There
were some other Romans of the same name, of minor repute.
=Mardo´nius.= A general in the army of Xerxes who was defeated in the
battle of Platæa, where he was slain, B.C. 479.
=Ma´rius, C.= A celebrated Roman who signalized himself under Scipio at
the siege of Numantia. He was appointed to finish the war against
Jugurtha, who was defeated and betrayed into the hands of the Romans.
After this new honors awaited Marius. He was elected consul, and was
sent against the Teutones. The war was prolonged, and Marius was a third
and fourth time invested with the consulship. At length two engagements
were fought, and the Teutones were defeated, a vast number of them being
left dead on the battlefields. After many vicissitudes Marius died, B.C.
86, directly after he had been honored with the consulship for the
seventh time. There were a number of others of the same name, but of
minor note.
=Mars=, the god of war, was the son of Jupiter and Juno, or of Juno alone,
according to Ovid. The loves of Mars and Venus are greatly celebrated.
On one occasion, while in each other's company, Vulcan spread a net
round them, from which they could not escape without assistance. They
were thus exposed to the ridicule of the gods till Neptune induced
Vulcan to set them at liberty. During the Trojan war Mars interested
himself on the side of the Trojans, and defended the favorites of Venus
with great determination.
=Mar´syas.= A celebrated piper of Celæne in Phrygia. He challenged Apollo
to a trial of skill in music, which challenge was accepted, the Muses
being appointed umpires. The palm of victory was awarded to Apollo, who
tied his antagonist to a tree and flayed him.
=Martia´lis, Mar´cus Vale´rius.= A native of Spain who came to Rome when
he was about twenty years old, where he became noticeable by his
poetical genius. Martial wrote fourteen books of epigrams, and died in
the seventy-fifth year of his age.
=Masinis´sa.= A king of a small part of Africa, who at first assisted the
Carthaginians in their wars against Rome, but who subsequently became an
ally of the Romans. After his defeat of Syphax he married Sophonisba,
the wife of Syphax, which gave offense to the Roman general, Scipio, on
which Masinissa induced Sophonisba to end her life by poison. In the
battle of Zama, Masinissa greatly contributed to the defeat of Hannibal.
He died in his ninety-seventh year, 149 years before the Christian era.
=Mauso´lus.= A king of Caria. His wife Artemisia was very disconsolate at
his death, and erected one of the grandest monuments of antiquity to
perpetuate his memory. This famous building, which was deemed to be one
of the seven wonders of the world, was called "Mausoleum," which name
has been since applied to other grand sepulchral monuments.
=Maximi´nus, Ca´ius Ju´lius Ve´rus=, was the son of a peasant of Thrace.
He entered the Roman armies, where he gradually rose till he was
proclaimed emperor A.D. 235. He ruled with great cruelty, and was
eventually killed by his own soldiers. He was of immense size and
strength, and was able to break the hardest stones between his fingers.
=Mede´a.= A celebrated magician, daughter of Ætes, king of Colchis, and
niece of Circe. When Jason came to Colchis in quest of the Golden
Fleece, Medea fell in love with him, and they exchanged oaths of
fidelity, and when he had overcome all the difficulties which he had to
encounter, Medea embarked with him for Greece. She lived in Corinth with
her husband Jason for ten years, with much conjugal happiness, when he
became enamored with Glauce, daughter of Creon, king of Corinth. To
avenge herself on Jason she caused the destruction of Glauce, and killed
her two children in his presence.
=Medu´sa.= One of the three Gorgons, daughter of Phorcys and Ceto. She was
the only one of the Gorgons subject to mortality. She was celebrated for
her personal charms and the beauty of her hair, which Minerva changed
into serpents. According to Apollodorus and others, the Gorgons were
born with snakes on their heads instead of hair, and with yellow wings
and brazen hands. Perseus rendered himself famous by his conquest of
Medusa. He cut off her head and placed it on the ægis of Minerva. The
head had the power of changing those who looked at it into stone.
=Melea´ger.= A celebrated hero of antiquity, who signalized himself in the
Argonautic expedition, and especially by killing the Calydonian boar, a
famous event in mythological history.
=Melpom´ene.= One of the Muses, daughter of Jupiter and Mnemosyne. She
presided over tragedy. She is generally represented as a young woman
wearing a buskin and holding a dagger in her hand.
=Mem´non.= A king of Ethiopia, son of Tithonus and Aurora. He came with
ten thousand men to assist Priam in the Trojan war, where he behaved
with great courage, and killed Antilochus, Nestor's son, on which Nestor
challenged Memnon to fight, but he refused on account of the great age
of the challenger; but he fought Achilles, who killed him. A statue was
erected in his honor, which had the property of uttering a melodious
sound every day at sunrise.
=Menan´der.= A celebrated comic poet of Athens, educated under
Theophrastus. He was universally esteemed by the Greeks. He wrote 108
comedies, but of which only a few fragments remain.
=Menela´us.= A king of Sparta, brother to Agamemnon. He married Helen, the
most beautiful woman of her time. Paris, having arrived in Sparta in the
absence of Menelaus, persuaded her to elope with him, which was the
cause of the Trojan war. In the tenth year of the war Helen, it is said,
obtained the forgiveness of Menelaus, with whom she returned to Sparta,
where, shortly after his return, he died.
=Mene´nius Agrippa.= A celebrated Roman who appeased the Roman populace in
the infancy of the consular government by repeating to them the
well-known fable of the belly and limbs. He lived B.C. 495.
=Menip´pus.= A Cynic philosopher of Phoenicia. He was originally a
slave, and, obtaining his liberty, became notorious as a usurer. He
wrote thirteen books of satires.
=Men´tor.= A faithful friend of Ulysses, and guide and instructor of his
son Telemachus. The term Mentor has become proverbial as applied to any
one who is an educator of youth.
=Mercu´rius.= A celebrated god of antiquity, called Hermes by the Greeks.
He was the messenger of the gods, and conducted the souls of the dead
into the infernal regions. He presided over orators, merchants, and was
also the god of thieves. The invention of the lyre is ascribed to him.
This he gave to Apollo, and received in exchange the Caduceus, which the
god of poetry used to drive the flocks of King Admetus.
=Mer´ope.= One of the Atlantides. She married Sisyphus, son of Æolus, and
was changed into a constellation.
=Me´rops.= A king of the island of Cos, who married Clymene, one of the
Oceanides. He was changed into an eagle, and placed among the
constellations.
=Messali´na, Vale´ria=, was notorious for her vices. She married the
emperor Claudius, who, wearied with her misconduct, cited her to appear
before him and reply to the accusations which were brought against her,
on which she attempted to destroy herself, but failing to do so, was
slain by one of the tribunes who had been sent to summon her.
=Metel´li.= The surname of the family of the Cæcilii at Rome, the most
noted of whom are--a general who defeated the Achæans, took Thebes, and
invaded Macedonia; Quintus Cæcilius, rendered famous by his successes
against Jugurtha, the king of Numidia; Q. Cæcilius Celer, who
distinguished himself against Catiline. He died fifty-seven years B.C.,
greatly lamented by Cicero, who was one of his warmest friends; L.
Cæcilius, a tribune in the civil wars of Cæsar and Pompey, who favored
the cause of Pompey; Q. Caæilius, a warlike general who conquered Crete
and Macedonia; Metellus Cimber, one of the conspirators against Cæsar.
He gave the signal to attack and murder the dictator.
=Micip´sa.= A king of Numidia, son of Masinissa, who, at his death, B.C.
119, left his kingdom between his sons Adherbal and Hiempsal, and his
nephew Jugurtha.
=Mi´das.= A king of Phrygia, son of Gordius or Gorgias. According to some
traditions, in the early part of his life he found a treasure, to which
he owed his greatness and opulence. He showed hospitality to Silenus, in
return for which Bacchus permitted him to choose whatever recompense he
pleased. He demanded of the god that whatever he touched might be turned
into gold. His wish was granted, but when the very food which he
attempted to eat became gold in his mouth he prayed Bacchus to revoke
the favor, and he was ordered to wash himself in the river Pactolus, the
sands of which were turned into gold by the touch of Midas. Afterwards,
in consequence of maintaining that Pan was superior to Apollo in singing
and playing the flute, he had his ears changed into those of an ass by
the god.
=Mi´lo.= A celebrated athlete of Crotona in Italy. He is said to have
carried on his shoulders a bullock for a considerable distance, and to
have killed it with a blow from his fist, and eaten it in one day. In
his old age he attempted to pull up a tree by the roots, which, when
half-cleft, reunited, and his hands remaining imprisoned in the tree, he
was eaten by wild beasts about 500 years before the Christian era.
=Milti´ades=, son of Simon, was sent by the Athenians to take possession
of the Chersonesus. On his arrival he seized some of the principal
inhabitants of the country, made himself absolute in Chersonese, and
married the daughter of Olorus, king of the Thracians. He was present at
the celebrated battle of Marathon, where the command was ceded to him,
owing to his superior abilities. He obtained the victory, but an olive
crown, which he demanded from his fellow-citizens as a reward for his
valor, was refused. Afterwards he was intrusted with a fleet of seventy
ships, with which to punish some islands which had revolted to the
Persians. At first he was successful, but afterwards fortune frowned on
him. He was accused of treason and condemned to death, but his sentence
was, owing to his great services, commuted. He died in prison of some
wounds he had received, which became incurable.
=Miner´va=, the goddess of wisdom, war, and all the liberal arts, sprang,
full-grown and armed, from the head of Jupiter, and was immediately
admitted to the assembly of the gods, and became one of the most
faithful counselors of her father. Her power in heaven was great: she
could hurl the thunders of Jupiter, prolong the life of men, and bestow
the gift of prophecy. She was known amongst the ancients by many names.
She was called Athena, Pallas, Parthenos, Tritonia (because she was
worshiped near the lake Tritonis) and Hippia (because she first taught
mankind how to manage the horse), Sais (because she was worshipped at
Sais), and some other names. She is usually represented with a helmet on
her head with a large plume on it, in one hand holding a spear, and in
the other a shield with the head of Medusa on it. Temples were erected
for her worship in different places, one of the most renowned of which
was the Parthenon at Athens. From this building a large collection of
ancient sculpture was brought to the British Museum by Lord Elgin more
than sixty years ago, which is known as the "Elgin Marbles."
=Mi´nos.= A king of Crete, son of Jupiter and Europa, who gave laws to his
subjects, B.C. 1406, which remained in full force in the age of Plato.
=Mi´nos the Second= was a son of Lycastes, the son of Minos the first, and
king of Crete. He married Pasiphae, the daughter of Sol and Perseis.
=Minotau´rus.= A celebrated monster, half a man and half a bull, for which
a number of young Athenian men and maidens were yearly exacted to be
devoured. The Minotaur was confined in a famous labyrinth, where at
length it was slain by Theseus, who was guided out of the labyrinth by a
clue of thread given to him by Ariadne, daughter of King Minos.
=Mithrida´tes First=, king of Pontus. He was tributary to the crown of
Persia: his attempts to make himself independent of that fealty proved
fruitless, being defeated in a battle which he had provoked, and having
to sue for peace.
=Mithrida´tes=, surnamed "Eupator" and "The Great," succeeded to the
throne of Pontus when eleven years of age. The beginning of his reign
was marked by ambition and cruelty. At an early age he inured himself to
hardships by devoting himself to manly exercises, and sleeping in the
open air on the bare earth. He was constantly engaged in warfare against
the Romans, and his contests with them are known as the Mithridatic
wars. His hatred of the Romans was so great that, to destroy their
power, he ordered all of them that were in his dominions to be
massacred, and in one night 150,000, according to Plutarch, or 80,000,
according to another authority, were slaughtered. This cruel act called
for revenge, and great armies were sent against him. After varied
fortunes Mithridates had to succumb to Pompey, and, worn out with
misfortune, attempted to poison himself, but unsuccessfully, as the
numerous antidotes to poison which in early life he had taken
strengthened his constitution to resist the effect. He then ordered one
of his soldiers to give him the fatal blow with a sword, which was done.
He died about sixty-three years before the Christian era, in his
seventy-second year. He is said to have been the most formidable
opponent the Romans ever had, and Cicero estimates him as the greatest
monarch that ever sat upon a throne. It is recorded of him that he
conquered twenty-four nations, whose different languages he knew and
spoke fluently. There were a number of persons of the same name, but of
inferior note.
=Mnemos´yne.= A daughter of Coelus and Terra, mother of the nine Muses.
Jupiter assumed the form of a shepherd in order to enjoy her company.
=Mo´mus=, the god of mirth amongst the ancients, according to Hesiod, was
the son of Nox. He amused himself by satirizing the gods by turning into
ridicule whatever they did.
=Mor´pheus.= A minister of the god Somnus, who imitated very naturally the
gestures, words, and manners of mankind. He is sometimes called the god
of sleep. He is generally represented as a sleeping child, of great
corpulence, with wings.
=Mos´chus.= A Greek Bucolic poet in the age of Ptolemy Philadelphus. His
eclogues are characterized by sweetness and elegance, and are said to be
equal in merit to the productions of Theocritus.
=Mure´na.= A celebrated Roman who invaded the dominions of Mithridates, at
first with success, but afterwards he met with defeat. He was honored
with a triumph on his return to Rome.
=Mu´sæ.= The Muses, 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.
=Myce´næ.= A town of Argolis, said to have been built by Perseus. It
received its name from Mycene, a nymph of Laconia. It was taken and
destroyed by the Argives.
=Nai´ades.= Inferior deities who presided over rivers, springs, wells, and
fountains. The Naiads generally inhabited the country, and resorted to
the woods and meadows near the stream over which they presided. They are
represented as young and beautiful girls leaning on an urn, from which
flows a stream of water. Ægle was the fairest of them, according to
Virgil. The word Naiad has become Anglicized, and is in frequent use,
especially by the poets.
=Narcis´sus=, a beautiful youth, son of Cephisus and the nymph Liriope,
was born at Thespis in Boeotia. He saw his image reflected in a
fountain and became in love with it, thinking it to be the nymph of the
place. His fruitless attempts to reach this beautiful object so provoked
him, that he killed himself. His blood was changed into a flower which
still bears his name.
=Nemæ´a.= A town of Argolis, with a wood where Hercules in the sixteenth
year of his age killed the celebrated Nemæan lion. It was the first of
the labors of Hercules to destroy the monster, and when he found that
his arrows and clubs were useless, against an animal whose skin was
impenetrable, he seized it in his arms and strangled it.
=Nem´esis.= One of the infernal deities, daughter of Nox. She was the
goddess of vengeance. She is made one of the Parcæ by some mythologists,
and is represented with a helm and a wheel. The term is sometimes used
to signify vengeance itself.
=Neoptol´emus.= A king of Epirus, son of Achilles and Deidamia, called
also Pyrrhus. He greatly signalized himself during the siege of Troy,
and he was the first who entered the wooden horse. He was inferior to
none of the Grecian warriors in valor. Ulysses and Nestor alone were his
superiors in eloquence and wisdom.
=Ne´pos, Corne´lius.= A celebrated historian in the reign of Augustus,
and, like the rest of his literary contemporaries, he enjoyed the
patronage and obtained the favor of the emperor. He was the intimate
friend of Cicero and Atticus, and recommended himself to notice by
delicacy of sentiment and a lively disposition. Of all his valuable
works the only one extant is his lives of illustrious Greek and Roman
generals.
=Neptu´nus.= One of the gods, son of Saturn and Ops, and brother to
Jupiter and Pluto. He was devoured by his father as soon as he was born,
and restored to life again by a potion given to Saturn, by Metis, the
first wife of Jupiter. Neptune shared with his brothers the empire of
Saturn, and received as his portion the kingdom of the sea. He did not
think this equivalent to the empire of heaven and earth, which Jupiter
had claimed, therefore he conspired to dethrone him. The conspiracy was
discovered, and Jupiter condemned Neptune to build the walls of Troy.
He married Amphitrite, who thus broke a vow she had made of perpetual
celibacy.
=Nere´ides.= Nymphs of the sea, daughters of Nereus and Doris. According
to most of the mythologists, they were fifty in number. They are
represented as young and handsome girls, sitting on dolphins and armed
with tridents.
=Ne´ro, Clau´dius Domit´ius Cæ´sar.= A celebrated Roman emperor, son of
Caius Domitius Ahenobarbus and Agrippina, the daughter of Germanicus.
His name is the synonym for cruelty and vice. In the night it was his
wont to sally out from his palace to visit the meanest taverns and the
different scenes of depravity that were to be found. He appeared on the
stage, sometimes representing the meanest characters. He resolved to
imitate the burning of Troy, and caused Rome to be set on fire in
different places, the flames being unextinguished for nine days, and he
enjoyed the terrible scene. During the conflagration he placed himself
on the top of a tower and sang, accompanying himself on a lyre, of the
destruction of Troy. Many conspiracies were formed against him, the most
dangerous of which he was saved from by the confession of a slave. He
killed himself A.D. 68, in the thirty-second year of his age, after a
reign of thirteen years and eight months. Wretch that he was, it is said
that he had some few to mourn for him, and Suetonius records that some
unseen hand had placed flowers on his tomb.
=Ner´va, M. Cocce´ius.= A Roman emperor after the death of Domitian A.D.
96. He rendered himself popular by his mildness and generosity. In his
civil character he set an example of good manners and sobriety. He made
an oath that no senator should suffer death during his reign, which he
carried out by pardoning two members of the Senate who had conspired
against his life. He died in his seventy-second year, A.D. 98, and was
succeeded by his son Trajan.
=Nes´sus.= A celebrated Centaur killed by Hercules for insulting Dejanira.
=Nes´tor.= A son of Neleus and Chloris, nephew to Pelias, and grandson to
Neptune. He was present at the bloody battle between the Lapithæ and the
Centaurs, which took place at the nuptials of Pirithous. As king of
Pylos he led his soldiers to the Trojan war, where he distinguished
himself among the Grecian chieftains by eloquence, wisdom, and prudence.
Homer makes his character as the most perfect of all his heroes. After
the Trojan war Nestor retired to Greece, where he lived during his
declining years in peace and tranquillity. The manner and time of his
death are unknown.
=Ni´nus.= A son of Belus. He built Nineveh and founded the Assyrian
monarchy, of which he was the first sovereign, B.C. 2059. He married
Semiramis, whose husband had destroyed himself through fear of Ninus. He
reigned fifty-two years.
=Ni´obe.= A daughter of Tantalus, king of Lydia, and Euryanassa, or Dione.
She married Amphion, and, according to Hesiod, they had ten sons and ten
daughters. All the sons of Niobe expired by the darts of Apollo, and all
the daughters, except Chloris, were destroyed by Diana. Niobe,
overwhelmed with grief, was changed into a stone.
=Nito´cris.= 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 water of the river.
=Nom´ades.= A name given to people who had no fixed habitation, and who
continually changed their place of residence in quest of fresh pastures
for the cattle they tended. There were Nomades in Scythia, India,
Arabia, etc. The word is in constant use as Anglicized--Nomad--meaning
any one who leads a wandering and unsettled life.
=Nox.= One of the most ancient deities among the heathens, daughter of
Chaos. She gave birth to the Day and the Light, and was mother of the
Parcæ, Hesperides, Dreams, Death, etc.
=Nu´ma Pompil´ius.= A celebrated philosopher of Cures. He married Tatia,
daughter of Tatius, king of the Sabines, and at her death he retired
into the country to devote himself to literary pursuits. At the death of
Romulus the Romans fixed on him to be their new king. Numa at first
refused the offer of the crown, but at length was prevailed on to accept
it. He endeavored to inculcate into the minds of his subjects a
reverence for the deity, and he did all he could to heal their
dissensions. He encouraged the report of his visits to the nymph Egeria,
and made use of her name to give sanction to the laws which he had made.
He dedicated a temple to Janus, which, during his whole reign, remained
closed as a mark of peace and tranquillity at Rome. Numa died after a
reign of forty-three years (B.C. 672), during which he had given
encouragement to the useful arts, and had cultivated peace.
=Nym´phæ.= Certain female deities among the ancients. They were generally
divided into two classes--nymphs of the land and nymphs of the sea. Of
the former some presided over woods, and were called Dryades and
Hamadryades. Of the sea nymphs some were called Oceanides, Nereides,
Naiades, etc.
=Ocean´ides and Oceanit´ides.= Sea nymphs, daughters of Oceanus, from whom
they received their name. According to Apollodorus they were 3000 in
number, whilst Hesiod speaks of them as consisting of forty-one.
=Oce´anus.= A powerful deity of the sea, son of Coelus and Terra. He
married Tethys, the Oceanides being their children.
=Octa´via.= A Roman lady, sister to the emperor Augustus, celebrated for
her beauty and virtues. She married Claudius Marcellus, and, after his
death, Antony, who for some time was attentive to her, but eventually
deserted her for Cleopatra.
=Octavia´nus, or Octa´vius Cæ´sar.= A famous Roman who, after the battle
of Actium, had bestowed on him by the senate the surname _Augustus_, as
expressing his dignity and greatness.
=Odena´tus.= A celebrated prince of Palmyra. At an early period of his
life he inured himself to bear fatigue by hunting wild beasts. He was a
faithful ally of the Romans, and gave great offense to Sapor, king of
Persia, in consequence. In the warfare which ensued he obtained
advantage over the troops of Sapor, and took his wife prisoner, besides
gaining great booty. He died by the hand of one of his relations whom he
had offended. Zenobia succeeded him on the throne.
=OE´dipus.= A son of Laius, king of Thebes, and Jocasta. Laius was
informed by the oracle, as soon as he married Jocasta, that he would
perish by the hands of his son. On his birth OEdipus was given to a
domestic, with orders to expose him to death on the mountains, where he
was found by one of the shepherds of Polybus, king of Corinth.
Periboea, the wife of Polybus, educated him as her own child, tending
him with great care. In after life he met Laius in a narrow lane in a
chariot, and being haughtily ordered to make way for Laius, a combat
ensued in which Laius was slain. After this OEdipus was attracted to
Thebes by the fame of the Sphinx, who devoured all those who attempted
to explain without success the enigmas which she propounded. The enigma
proposed by the Sphinx to OEdipus was:--What animal in the morning
walks upon four feet, at noon upon two, and in the evening upon three?
OEdipus solved the riddle by replying that the animal was man, who in
childhood crawls on his hands and feet, on attaining manhood walks on
two feet erect, and in the evening of life supports his tottering steps
with a staff. The monster on hearing the correct solution of the riddle,
dashed her head against a rock and perished.
=OE´neus.= A king of Calydon, son of Parthaon or Portheus and Euryte. He
married Althæa, their children being Clymenus, Meleager, Gorge, and
Dejanira. In a general sacrifice he made to the gods he slighted Diana,
who, in revenge, sent a wild boar to waste his country. The animal was
killed by Meleager in the celebrated Calydonian boar hunt. After this
misfortunes overtook OEneus, and he exiled himself from Calydon, and
died on his way to Argolis.
=OEnom´aus.= King of Pisa, in Elis, and father of Hippodamia. He was
told by the oracle that he would perish by his son-in-law. Being
skillful in driving a chariot, he announced that he would give his
daughter in marriage only to some one who could defeat him in a race,
death being the result of those who were defeated. After a number of
aspirants had contended and failed, Pelops, son of Tantalus, entered the
lists, and by bribing the charioteer of OEnomaus, who provided a
chariot with a broken axle-tree, Pelops won the race, and married
Hippodamia, becoming king of Pisa. OEnomaus was killed in the race.
=Olym´pia.= Celebrated games which received their name either from
Olympia, where they were observed, or from Jupiter Olympius, to whom
they were dedicated.
=Olym´pus.= A mountain in Macedonia and Thessaly. The ancients supposed
that it touched the heavens, and thus they have made it the residence of
the gods, and the place where Jupiter held his court. On the top of the
mountain, according to the poets, eternal spring reigned.
=Om´phale.= A queen of Lydia, daughter of Jardanus. She married Tmolus,
who at his death left her mistress of his kingdom. She had heard of the
exploits of Hercules, and wished to see him. After he had slain Eurytus,
Hercules was ordered to be sold as a slave, and was purchased by
Omphale, who gave him his liberty. He became in love with Omphale, who
reciprocated his passion. He is represented by the poets as being so
infatuated with her that he sat spinning by her side surrounded by her
women, whilst she garbed herself with his lion's skin, arming herself
with his club.
=Oppia´nus.= A Greek poet of Cilicia. He wrote some poems celebrated for
their sublimity and elegance. Caracalla gave him a piece of gold for
every verse in one of his poems. Oppian died of the plague in the
thirtieth year of his age.
=Ops.= A daughter of Coelus and Terra, the same as the Rhea of the
Greeks, who married Saturn, and became mother of Jupiter. She was known
amongst the ancients by the different names of Cybele, Bona Dea, Magna
Mater, Thya, Tellus, and Proserpina.
=Ores´tes.= A son of Agamemnon and Clytemnestra. His father was slain by
Clytemnestra and Ægisthus, but young Orestes was saved from his mother's
dagger by his sister Electra, called by Homer Laodicea, and was conveyed
to the house of Strophius, king of Phocis, who had married a sister of
Agamemnon. He was indulgently treated by Strophius, who educated him
with his son Pylades. The two young princes formed the most inviolable
friendship. When Orestes had arrived at years of manhood he avenged his
father's death by killing his mother Clytemnestra.
=Or´igen.= A Greek writer, celebrated for his learning and the sublimity
of his genius. He suffered martyrdom in his sixty-ninth year. His works
are numerous, consisting of commentaries on the Scriptures and various
treatises.
=Or´pheus.= A son of OEger and the Muse Calliope. Some suppose him to be
the son of Apollo. He received a lyre from Apollo, or, according to
some, from Mercury, on which he played in such a masterly manner that
the melodious sounds caused rivers to cease to flow, and savage beasts
to forget their wildness. He married Eurydice, who died from the bite of
a serpent. Orpheus felt her death acutely, and to recover her he visited
the infernal regions. Pluto, the king of the infernal regions, was
enraptured with the strains of music from the lyre of Orpheus, and,
according to the poets, the wheel of Ixion stopped, the stone of
Sisyphus stood still, Tantalus forgot his burning thirst, and even the
Furies relented, so fascinating were the sounds extracted from the lyre.
Pluto was moved by the sorrow of Orpheus, and consented to restore
Eurydice to him, provided he forebore to look behind him till he had
reached the extremity of his domain. Orpheus agreed to this, but forgot
his promise, and turned round to look at Eurydice, who instantly
vanished from his sight. After this he separated himself from the
society of mankind, and the Thracian women, whom he had offended by his
coldness, attacked him whilst they celebrated the orgies of Bacchus, and
after they had torn his body to pieces they threw his head into the
Hebrus.
=Osi´ris.= A great deity of the Egyptians, husband of Isis. The ancients
differ in opinion concerning this celebrated god, but they all agree
that as ruler of Egypt he took care to civilize his subjects, to improve
their morals, to give them good and salutary laws, and to teach them
agriculture.
=Ovid´ius, P. Na´so.= A celebrated Roman poet born at Sulmo. He was sent
at an early age to Rome, and afterwards went to Athens in the sixteenth
year of his age, where his progress in the study of eloquence was great.
His natural inclination, however, was towards poetry, and to this he
devoted his chief attention. His lively genius and fertile imagination
soon gained him admirers; the learned became his friends; Virgil,
Propertius, Horace, and Tibullus, honored him with their correspondence,
and Augustus patronized him with unbounded liberality. These favors,
however, were transitory, and he was banished to a place on the Euxine
Sea by order of the emperor. The true cause of his banishment is not
known. His friends ardently entreated the emperor to permit him to
return, but in vain, and he died in the seventh or eighth year of his
banishment, in the fifty-ninth year of his age, A.D. 17. A great portion
of his works remains. These consist of the "Metamorphoses," "Fasti,"
"Epistolæ," etc. Whilst his works are occasionally disfigured by
indelicacy, they are distinguished by great sweetness and elegance.
=Pacto´lus.= A celebrated river of Lydia. It was in this river that Midas
washed himself when he turned into gold whatever he touched.
=Pæ´an.= A surname of Apollo, derived from the word _pæan_, a hymn which
was sung in his honor for killing the serpent Python.
=Palæ´mon= or =Pale´mon=. A sea deity, son of Athamas and Ino. His original
name was Melicerta. He assumed the name of Palæmon after being changed
into a sea deity by Neptune.
=Palame´des.= A Grecian chief, son of Nauplius, king of Euboea, and
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, had pretended to be insane. Palamedes soon penetrated the
deception, and Ulysses was obliged to join in the war, but an inveterate
enmity arose between the two, and by an unworthy artifice Ulysses
procured the death of Palamedes. Palamedes is accredited with the
invention of dice, backgammon, and other games.
=Palati´nus, Mons.= A celebrated hill, the largest of the seven hills on
which Rome was built.
=Palinu´rus.= A skillful pilot of the ship of Æneas. He fell into the sea
whilst asleep, and was exposed to the waves for three days, and on
reaching the shore was murdered by the inhabitants of the place where he
landed.
=Palla´dium.= A celebrated statue of Pallas. It represented the goddess as
holding a spear in her right hand, and in her left a distaff and
spindle. It fell down from heaven near the tent of Ilus as he was
building the citadel of Ilium, whilst, according to others, it fell in
Phrygia; another account says Dardanus received it as a present from his
mother Electra; other accounts are given of its origin. It is generally
agreed, however, that on the preservation of the statue the fate of Troy
depended. This was known to the Greeks during the Trojan war, and they
contrived to obtain possession of it. But some authors say that the true
Palladium was not carried away by the Greeks, but only a statue which
had been placed near it, and which bore some resemblance to it.
=Pal´las.= A name of Minerva. She is said to have received the name
because she killed a noted giant bearing that name.
=Palmy´ra.= The capital of Palmyrene, a country on the eastern boundaries
of Syria, now called Tadmor. It is famous as being the seat of
government of the celebrated Queen Zenobia.
=Pan.= The god of shepherds, huntsmen, and the inhabitants of the country.
He was in appearance a monster; he had two small horns on his head, and
his legs, thighs, tail, and feet were like those of the goat.
=Pan´darus.= A son of Lycaon, who aided the Trojans in their war with the
Greeks. He broke the truce which had been agreed on by the contending
armies, and wounded Menelaus and Diomedes. He was at last killed by
Diomedes.
=Pandi´on.= A king of Athens, father of Procne and Philomela. During his
reign there was such an abundance of corn, wine, and oil in his realm,
that it was supposed that Bacchus and Minerva had personally visited the
country.
=Pando´ra.= A celebrated woman; the first mortal female that ever lived,
according to Hesiod. She was made of clay by Vulcan, and having received
life, all the gods made presents to her. Venus gave her beauty and the
art of pleasing; the Graces gave her the power of captivating; Apollo
taught her how to sing, and Mercury instructed her in eloquence. Jupiter
gave her a beautiful box, which she was ordered to present to the man
who married her. This was Epithemeus, brother of Prometheus, who opened
the box, from which issued a multitude of evils, which became dispersed
all over the world, and which from that fatal moment have never ceased
to affect the human race. Hope alone remained at the bottom of the box.
=Pan´sa, C. Vib´ius.= A Roman consul, who, with Hirtius, pursued the
assassins of Cæsar, and was killed in a battle near Mutina.
=Pan´theon.= A celebrated temple at Rome, built by Agrippa in the reign of
Augustus, and dedicated to all the gods.
=Par´cæ.= The Fates, powerful goddesses who presided over the birth and
life of mankind. They were three in number, Clotho, Lachesis, and
Atropos, daughters of Nox and Erebus, according to Hesiod, or, according
to what he says in another place, of Jupiter and Themis.
=Par´is.= The son of Priam, king of Troy, and Hecuba; he was also called
Alexander. He was destined before his birth to cause the ruin of his
country, and before he was born his mother dreamt that he would be a
torch which would set fire to her palace. The soothsayers predicted that
he would be the cause of the destruction of Troy. In consequence of
these foretold calamities Priam ordered a slave to destroy the child
immediately after birth, but instead of acting thus the slave exposed
the child on Mount Ida, where some shepherds found him and took care of
him. Paris gave early proofs of courage, and his graceful countenance
recommended him to OEnone, a nymph of Ida, whom he married. At the
marriage of Peleus and Thetis, the goddess of discord, who had not been
invited, showed her displeasure by throwing into the assembly of the
gods, who were at the nuptials, a golden apple, on which were the words:
Let it be given to the fairest. The apple was claimed by Juno, Venus,
and Minerva. Paris, who had been appointed to award it to the most
beautiful of the three goddesses, gave it to Venus. Subsequently Paris
visited Sparta, where he persuaded Helen, wife of Menelaus, the most
beautiful woman of the age, to elope with him. This caused the Trojan
war. Different accounts are given of the death of Paris. By some he is
said to have been killed by one of the arrows of Philoctetes which had
once belonged to Hercules.
=Parme´nio.= A celebrated general in the armies of Alexander the Great, by
whom he was regarded with the greatest affection. The firm friendship
which existed between the two generals was broken in a sudden fit of
anger by Alexander, who ordered his friend to be put to death, B.C. 330.
=Parnas´sus.= A mountain of Phocis sacred to the Muses, and to Apollo and
Bacchus. It was named thus after a son of Neptune who bore that
designation.
=Parrha´sius.= A famous painter of Ephesus in the age of Zeuxis, about
fifteen years before Christ. He contended, on one occasion, with Zeuxis
for the palm in painting, and Zeuxis acknowledged that he was excelled
by Parrhasius.
=Par´thenon.= A temple of Athens sacred to Minerva. It was destroyed by
the Persians, and was rebuilt by Pericles.
=Pasiph´ae.= A daughter of the Sun and of Perseis, who married Minos, king
of Crete. She became the mother of the Minotaur, which was killed by
Theseus.
=Patro´clus.= One of the Grecian chiefs during the Trojan war. He
contracted an intimate friendship with Achilles, and when the Greeks
went to the Trojan war Patroclus accompanied them. He was the constant
companion of Achilles, living in the same tent, and when his friend
refused to appear in the field of battle, because of being offended with
Agamemnon, Patroclus imitated his example. Nestor, however, prevailed on
him again to take the field, and Achilles lent him his armor. Hector
encountered him, and after a desperate fight slew him. The Greeks
obtained his dead body, which was brought into the Grecian camp, where
Achilles received it with great lamentation, and again taking the field,
killed Hector, thus avenging the death of his friend.
=Pau´lus Æmil´ius.= A Roman celebrated for his military achievements,
surnamed "Macedonicus" from his conquest of Macedonia. In early life he
distinguished himself by his application and for his love for military
discipline. In his first consulship he reduced the Ligurians to
subjection, and subsequently obtained a great victory over the
Macedonians, making himself master of the country. In the office of
censor, which he filled, he behaved with great moderation, and at his
death, about 168 years before the Christian era, the Romans mourned
deeply for him.
=Pausa´nias.= A Spartan general who greatly signalized himself at the
battle of Platæa against the Persians. He afterwards, at the head of the
Spartan armies, extended his conquests in Asia, but the haughtiness of
his behavior made him many enemies. He offered, on certain conditions,
to betray Greece to the Persians, but his perfidy was discovered, on
which he fled for safety to a temple of Minerva, where he was starved to
death, B.C. 471.
=Peg´asus.= A winged horse sprung from the blood of Medusa. According to
Ovid he fixed his abode on Mount Helicon, where, by striking the earth
with his foot, he raised a fountain which has been called Hippocrene.
=Pe´leus.= A king of Thessaly, son of Æacus and Endeis, the daughter of
Chiron. He married Thetis, one of the Nereids.
=Pe´lias.= Son of Neptune and Tyro. On his birth he was exposed in the
woods, but his life was preserved by some shepherds. Subsequently Tyro
was married to Cretheus, king of Iolchos. They had three children, of
whom Æson was the eldest. Pelias visited his mother after the death of
Cretheus, and usurped the authority which properly belonged to the
children of the deceased monarch. Jason, the son of Æson, who had been
educated by Chiron, on attaining manhood demanded the kingdom, the
government of which Pelias had usurped. Jason was persuaded by Pelias to
waive his claim for the present, and start on the Argonautic
expedition. On his return, accompanied by the sorceress Medea, she
undertook to restore Pelias to youth, explaining that it was necessary
first to cut his body to pieces and place the limbs in a caldron of
boiling water. This was done, when Medea refused to fulfill her promise,
which she had solemnly made to the daughters of Pelias, who were four in
number, and who had received the patronymic of the "Peliades."
=Pe´lion=, sometimes called Pelios. A celebrated mountain of Thessaly, the
top of which is covered with pine-trees.
=Pelop´idas.= A celebrated general of Thebes, son of Hippoclus. It was
owing to his valor and prudence, combined with the ability of
Epaminondas, that the famous victory of Leuctra was won.
=Pe´lops.= A celebrated prince, son of Tantalus, king of Phrygia. He was
killed by his father, and served up as a feast to the gods, who had
visited Phrygia. He was restored to life, and married Hippodamia, having
won her through defeating her father in a chariot race.
=Pena´tes.= Certain inferior deities among the Romans, who presided over
the domestic affairs of families.
=Penel´ope.= A celebrated princess of Greece, daughter of Icarius, and
wife of Ulysses, king of Ithaca. She became the mother of Telemachus,
and was obliged to part, with great reluctance, from her husband, when
the Greeks obliged him to go to the Trojan war. The strife between the
hostile forces continued for ten years, and when Ulysses did not return
home at the conclusion of the war her fears and anxieties became
overwhelming. She was beset by a number of suitors, who told her that
her husband would never return, and she ought to give herself to one of
her admirers. She received their advances with coldness, but as she was
devoid of power, and, as it were, almost a prisoner in their hands, she
temporized with them. After twenty years' absence Ulysses returned, and
at once delivered her from the persecutions of her suitors. Penelope is
described by Homer as a model of female propriety, whilst some more
modern writers dispute the correctness of this view. The accounts given
by different authors respecting her, in fact, differ materially. By some
she is said to have been the mother of Pan.
=Penthesile´a.= A queen of the Amazons, daughter of Mars. She came to
assist Priam in the last years of the Trojan war, and was slain by
Achilles.
=Per´gamus.= The citadel of the city of Troy. The word is often used to
signify Troy. From it Xerxes reviewed his troops as he marched to invade
Greece.
=Per´icles.= An Athenian of noble family, son of Xanthippus and Agariste.
His naturally great mental powers were greatly improved by attending the
lectures of Zeno and other philosophers. He became a commander, a
statesman, and an orator, and gained the esteem of the people by his
address and liberality. In his ministerial capacity, Pericles did not
enrich himself. The prosperity and happiness of Athens was his primary
object. He made war against the Lacedæmonians, and restored the temple
of Delphi to the care of the Phocians, who had been improperly deprived
of that honorable trust. The Peloponnesian war was fomented by his
ambitious views. He at length lost his popularity, but only temporarily,
and he was restored to all the honors of which he had been deprived. A
pestilence which prevailed proved fatal to him in his seventieth year,
about 429 years before Christ.
=Per´seus.= A son of Jupiter and Danae, the daughter of Acrisius. It had
been predicted by the oracle that Acrisius was to perish by his
daughter's offspring, so Perseus, soon after his birth, was, with his
mother Danae, thrown into the sea. Both were saved and reached the
island of Seriphos, where they were treated kindly by Polydectes, the
king, who, however, soon became jealous of the genius of Perseus.
Perseus had promised Polydectes to bring him the head of the Gorgon
Medusa. To enable him to obtain this Pluto lent him a helmet which made
the wearer invisible. Minerva gave him her buckler, and Mercury
furnished him with wings. Thus equipped he found the Gorgons, and cut
off Medusa's head, with which he fled through the air, and from the
blood which dropped from it, sprang the horse Pegasus. During his flight
Perseus discovered Andromeda chained to a rock to be devoured by a sea
monster, which he destroyed, and married Andromeda. He now returned to
Seriphos, where he turned into stone Polydectes by showing him Medusa's
head. By an accident, in throwing a quoit he killed Acrisius, thus
fulfilling the prediction of the oracle.
=Per´seus= or =Per´ses=. A son of Philip, king of Macedonia. He
distinguished himself by his enmity to the Romans, and when he had made
sufficient preparations he declared war against them. He, however,
wanted courage and resolution, and though he at first obtained some
advantages over the Roman armies, his timidity proved destructive to his
cause. He was defeated at Pydna, and soon after was taken prisoner, and
died in prison at Rome.
=Per´sius, Au´lus Flac´cus.= A Latin poet of Volaterræ. He was of a good
family, and soon became intimate with the most illustrious Romans of his
day. The early part of his life was spent in his native town, but at
the age of sixteen he was removed to Rome, where he studied philosophy.
He died in his thirtieth year, A.D. 62. The satires of Persius were read
with pleasure and avidity by his contemporaries.
=Per´tinax, Pub´lius Hel´vius.= A Roman emperor after the death of
Commodus. He was descended from an obscure family, and for some time was
employed in drying wood and making charcoal. He entered on a military
life and by his valor rose to offices of the highest trust, and was made
consul. At the death of Commodus he was selected to succeed to the
throne. His patriotism gained him the affection of the worthiest of his
subjects, but there were some who plotted against him. He was killed by
his soldiers, A.D. 193.
=Petro´nius Ar´biter.= A favorite of the emperor Nero, and one of the
ministers and associates of his pleasures and vices. He was made
proconsul of Bithynia, and afterwards was honored with the consulship.
Eventually he became out of favor with Nero, and resolved to destroy
himself, which he did by having his veins opened, A.D. 66. Petronius
distinguished himself by his writings as well as by his voluptuousness.
He is the author of many elegant compositions, which are, however, often
characterized by impropriety of language.
=Phæ´dra.= A daughter of Minos and Pasiphæ, who married Theseus. She
became the mother of Acamas and Demophoon. She brought an unjust
accusation against Hippolytus (a son of Theseus before she married him),
who was killed by the horses in his chariot taking fright, causing him
to be thrown under the wheels and crushed to death. On hearing this
Phædra acknowledged the falseness of the charge she had brought against
Hippolytus, and hanged herself in despair.
=Phæ´drus.= A Thracian who became one of the freed men of the emperor
Augustus. He translated the fables of Æsop into Iambic verse.
=Pha´ethon.= A son of the Sun, or of Phoebus and Clymene. According to
Hesiod and Pausanias he was son of Cephalus and Aurora, or of Tithonus
and Aurora, according to Apollodorus. He is, however, generally
acknowledged to be son of Phoebus and Clymene. Phoebus allowed him
to drive the chariot of the sun for one day. Phaethon, on receiving the
reins, at once showed his incapacity; the horses became unmanageable,
and heaven and earth were threatened with a conflagration, when Jupiter
struck Phaethon with a thunderbolt, and hurled him into the river Po,
where he perished.
=Phal´aris.= A tyrant of Agrigentum, who treated his subjects with great
cruelty. Perillus made him a brazen bull, inside of which he proposed to
place culprits, and by applying fire burn them to death. The first to be
thus burnt in this manner was Perillus himself. The cruelties practiced
by Phalaris were revenged by a revolt of his people, who put him to
death by burning him in the bull.
=Pha´on.= A boatman of Mitylene, in Lesbos. He received a box of ointment
from Venus, who had presented herself to him in the form of an old
woman. When he had rubbed himself with the unguent he became beautiful,
and Sappho, the celebrated poetess, became enamored with him. For a
short time he devoted himself to her, but soon treated her with
coldness, upon which she threw herself into the sea and was drowned.
=Pharnaba´zus.= A satrap of Persia who assisted the Lacedæmonians against
the Athenians, and gained their esteem by his devotion to their cause.
=Pha´ros.= A small island in the bay of Alexandria, on which was built a
tower which was considered one of the seven wonders of the world. It was
erected in the reigns of Ptolemy Soter and Ptolemy Philadelphus, the
architect being Sostratus, the son of Dexiphanes.
=Pharsa´lia.= A town of Thessaly, famous for the great battle fought there
between Julius Cæsar and Pompey, in which the former obtained the
victory.
=Phid´ias.= A celebrated sculptor of Athens, who died B.C. 432. He
executed a statue of Minerva, which was placed in the Pantheon.
=Philip´pi.= A town of Macedonia, celebrated for two battles fought there,
B.C. 42, between Augustus and Antony and the republican forces of Brutus
and Cassius, in which the former were victorious.
=Philip´pus=, king of Macedonia, was son of Amyntas, king of Macedonia. He
learnt the art of war from Epaminondas. He married Olympias, the
daughter of Neoptolemus, king of the Molossi, and became father of
Alexander the Great. Amongst the most important events of his reign was
the battle of Chæronea, which he won from the Greeks. The character of
Philip is that of a sagacious, prudent, but artful and intriguing,
monarch. He was assassinated by Pausanias at the celebration of the
nuptials of his daughter, in the forty-seventh year of his age and the
twenty-fourth of his reign, about 336 years before the Christian era.
=Philip´pus.= The last king of Macedonia of that name was son of
Demetrius. He aspired to become the friend of Hannibal. His intrigues
were discovered by the Romans, who invaded his territories, and
extorted peace from him on terms which were humiliating. He died in the
forty-second year of his reign, 179 years before the Christian era.
=Phi´lo.= A Jewish writer of Alexandria, A.D. 40. His works related to the
creation of the world, sacred history, and the laws and customs of the
Jewish nation.
=Philocte´tes= was one of the Argonauts. He received from Hercules the
arrows which had been dipped in the gall of the Hydra. The Greeks, in
the tenth year of the Trojan war, were informed by the oracle that Troy
could not be taken without these arrows. Philoctetes repaired to the
Grecian camp, where he destroyed a number of the Trojans, among whom was
Paris, with the arrows. The adventures of Philoctetes are the subject of
one of the best tragedies of Sophocles.
=Philome´la.= A daughter of Pandion, king of Athens. Her sister Procne had
married Tereus, king of Thrace, and being separated from Philomela spent
her time in great melancholy. She persuaded her husband to go to Athens
and bring her sister to Thrace. Tereus, on the journey, treated
Philomela with great cruelty, and cut off her tongue, confining her in a
lonely castle, and reporting to Procne that she was dead. Philomela,
however, found means to inform Procne that she was living. In revenge
for the cruelty of Tereus, Procne murdered his son and served him up as
food at a banquet. On hearing this Tereus drew his sword to slay the
sisters, when he was changed into a hoopoe, Philomela into a
nightingale, and Procne into a swallow.
=Philopoe´men.= A celebrated general of the Achæans, born at Megalopolis.
At an early age he distinguished himself in the field of battle, at the
same time appearing fond of agriculture and a country life. He adopted
Epaminondas as his model, and was not unsuccessful in imitating the
prudence and other good qualities of the famous Theban. When Megalopolis
was attacked by the Spartans, Philopoemen, then in his thirtieth year,
gave the most decisive proofs of his valor. Raised to the rank of
commander, he showed his ability to discharge that important trust, by
killing with his own hand Mechanidas, the tyrant of Sparta, and
defeating his army. Sparta having become, after its conquest, tributary
to the Achæans, Philopoemen enjoyed the triumph of having subdued one of
the most powerful states of Greece. He was at length made prisoner by
the Messenians, and was treated by their general, Dinocrates, with great
severity. He was poisoned in his seventieth year, about 183 years before
the Christian era.
=Philos´tratus.= A famous Sophist, born at Lemnos, or, according to some,
at Athens. He came to Rome, where he was patronized by Julia, the wife
of the emperor Severus. She intrusted him with some papers referring to
Apollonius, whose life he wrote. This biography is written with
elegance, but contains many exaggerated descriptions and improbable
stories.
=Phi´neus.= A son of Agenor, king of Phoenicia, or, according to some, a
son of Neptune, who became king of Thrace. He married Cleopatra (called
by some Cleobula), the daughter of Boreas, their children being
Plexippus and Pandion. After the death of Cleopatra, he married Idæa,
the daughter of Dardanus, who, jealous of Cleopatra's children, accused
them of an attempt on their father's life, and they were condemned by
Phineus to have their eyes put out. This cruelty was punished by the
gods, Phineus being made blind, and the Harpies were sent by Jupiter to
keep him in continual alarm. He recovered his sight by means of the
Argonauts, whom he received with great hospitality.
=Phleg´ethon.= A river in the infernal regions, between the banks of which
flames of fire flowed instead of water.
=Phle´gon.= One of the emperor Adrian's freedmen. He wrote a historical
account of Sicily, an account of the principal places in Rome, and
treatises on different subjects. His style was inelegant, and he evinced
a want of judgment in his writings.
=Pho´cion.= An Athenian celebrated for his public and private virtues. He
was distinguished for his zeal for the general good, and for his
military abilities. The fickleness of the Athenians, however, caused
them to lose sight of his virtues, and being accused of treason, he was
condemned to drink poison, which he took with the greatest heroism. His
death occurred about 318 years before the Christian era.
=Phoe´nix=, son of Amyntor, king of Argos, and Cleobule or Hippodamia,
was preceptor to Achilles. He accompanied his pupil to the Trojan war,
and Achilles was ever grateful for the precepts he had received from
him. After the fall of Troy he died in Thrace, and, according to Strabo,
was buried near Trachinia, where his name was given to a river.
=Phry´ne.= A beautiful woman who lived at Athens about 328 years before
the Christian era. She was beloved by Praxiteles, who painted her
portrait. It is said that Apelles painted his Venus Anadyomene after he
had seen Phryne on the sea-shore with disheveled hair. There was another
woman of the same name, who was accused of impiety. When her judges were
about to condemn her she unveiled her bosom, and her beauty so
captivated them that they acquitted her.
=Phryx´us.= A son of Athamas, king of Thebes, and Nephele. On the plea of
insanity, Nephele was repudiated by Athamas, who then married Ino, who
persecuted Phryxus with inveterate hatred, because he was to succeed to
the throne in preference to one of her own children. Being apprised that
Ino had designs on his life, he started with his sister Helle to go to
Ætes, king of Colchis. According to the poets they mounted on a ram,
whose fleece was gold, which soared into the air, directing its course
to Colchis. Helle became giddy, and falling into the sea (afterwards
called the Hellespont), was drowned. Phryxus arrived at the court of
Ætes, whose daughter Chalciope he married. Sometime afterwards he was
killed by his father-in-law. The murder of Phryxus gave rise to the
famous Argonautic expedition under Jason, the object being to recover
the Golden Fleece, which Jason succeeded in obtaining.
=Phyl´lis.= A daughter of Sithon, or, according to other writers, of
Lycurgus, king of Thrace. She received Demophoon, who landed on her
coasts on his return from the Trojan war, and fell in love with him, and
he reciprocated her affection; but afterwards proving faithless, Phyllis
hanged herself, and according to an old tradition, was changed into an
almond tree.
=Pi´cus.= King of Latium, son of Saturn, who married Venilia. As he was
hunting he was met by Circe, who became enamored with him. She changed
him into a woodpecker.
=Pier´ides.= A name given to the Muses, because they were born in Pieria,
or, as some say, because they were supposed to be the daughters of
Pierus, a king of Macedonia, who settled in Boeotia.
=Pin´darus.= A celebrated lyric poet of Thebes. When he was young it is
said that a swarm of bees settled on his lips and left on them some
honey, which was regarded as a prognostic of his future greatness. After
his death great respect was shown to his memory, and a statue was
erected in his honor in one of the most public places in Thebes. Pindar
is said to have died at the age of eighty-six, B.C. 435. Of his works,
the odes only are extant; they are admired for sublimity of sentiment
and grandeur of expression.
=Piræ´us.= A celebrated harbor at Athens about three miles from the city.
It was joined to the town by two walls, one built by Pericles, and the
other by Themistocles.
=Pirith´ous.= Son of Ixion and Dia, the daughter of Deioneus. He was king
of the Lapithæ, and wished to become acquainted with Theseus, king of
Athens, of whose fame and exploits he had heard. They became cordial
friends. Pirithous married Hippodamia, and invited the Centaurs to
attend his nuptials, where, having become intoxicated, they behaved with
great rudeness, on which they were attacked and overcome by Theseus,
Pirithous, Hercules, and the rest of the Lapithæ. Many of the Centaurs
were slain, and the rest saved their lives by flight.
=Pisan´der.= A commander in the Spartan fleet during the Peloponnesian
war. He was greatly opposed to democracy at Athens. He was killed in a
naval battle near Cnidus, B.C. 394.
=Pisis´tratus.= A celebrated Athenian who distinguished himself by valor
in the field and by eloquence at home. He obtained a bodyguard of fifty
men to defend his person, and having thus got a number of armed men on
whom he could rely, he seized the citadel of Athens, and soon made
himself absolute. After this a conspiracy was formed against him, and he
was banished from the city. He soon, however, re-established himself in
power, and married the daughter of Megacles, one of his greatest
enemies, whom he afterwards repudiated. On this his popularity waned,
and he fled from Athens, but after an absence of eleven years he
returned, and was received by the people with acclamation. He died about
527 years before the Christian era.
=Pi´so.= A celebrated family at Rome, eleven of whom had obtained the
consulship, and some of whom had been honored with triumphs for their
victories. Of this family the most famous were--LUCIUS CALPURNIUS, who
was tribune of the people about 149 years before Christ, and afterwards
consul. He gained honor as an orator, a statesman, and a historian.
CAIUS, another of the family, distinguished himself during his
consulship by his firmness in resisting the tumults raised by the
tribunes and the clamors of the people. CENIUS, who was consul under
Augustus, rendered himself odious by his cruelty. He was accused of
poisoning Germanicus, and, being shunned by his friends, destroyed
himself. LUCIUS, a governor of Spain, who was assassinated by a peasant.
LUCIUS, a governor of Rome for twenty years, during which time he
discharged his duties with moderation and justice. CAIUS, who was at the
head of a conspiracy against Nero. He committed suicide by venesection.
=Pit´tacus=, a native of Mitylene in Lesbos, was one of the seven wise men
of Greece. He died in the eighty-second year of his age, about 570 years
B.C., the latter part of his life being spent in retirement. Many of
his maxims were inscribed on the walls of Apollo's temple at Delphi, to
show how high an opinion his countrymen entertained of his abilities as
a moralist and philosopher.
=Plau´cus L. Muna´tius.= A Roman conspicuous for his follies and
extravagance. He had been consul, and had presided over a province, but
he forgot his dignity, and became one of the most servile flatterers of
Antony and Cleopatra.
=Platæ´a.= A town of Boeotia, near Mount Citheron, celebrated as the
scene of a battle between Mardonius, the general of Xerxes, king of
Persia, and Pausanias, who commanded the Athenians. The Persians were
defeated with great slaughter.
=Pla´to.= A celebrated philosopher of Athens. He was educated carefully,
his mind being cultivated by the study of poetry and geometry, whilst
his body was invigorated by the practice of gymnastics. He began his
literary career by writing poetry and tragedies. At the age of twenty he
was introduced to Socrates, with whom he was for some time a pupil.
After traveling in various countries, he retired to the neighborhood of
Athens, where his lectures were attended by a crowd of learned, noble,
and illustrious pupils. He died on his birthday in the eighty-first year
of his age, about 348 years before the Christian era. His writings were
so celebrated, and his opinions so highly regarded, that he was called
the Divine.
=Plau´tus, M. Ac´cius.= A dramatic poet born in Umbria. He wrote
twenty-five comedies, of which only nineteen are extant. He died about
184 years before the Christian era.
=Plei´ades.= A name given to seven daughters of Atlas and Pleione. They
were placed after death in the heavens, and formed a constellation.
=Plin´ius, C. Secun´dus=, called the Elder, was born at Verona, of a noble
family. He distinguished himself in the field, and was appointed
governor of Spain. When at Misenum in command of the Roman fleet, Pliny
observed the appearance of a cloud of dust and ashes, which was the
commencement of the famous eruption of Mount Vesuvius which overwhelmed
Herculaneum and Pompeii. He sailed for the scene of the eruption, where
he was suffocated by the vapors emitted. This occurred in the
seventy-ninth year of the Christian era.
=Plin´ius, C. Cæcil´ius Secun´dus=, surnamed the Younger Pliny, was son of
L. Cæcilius by the sister of Pliny the Elder. At the age of nineteen he
distinguished himself at the bar. When Trajan was invested with the
purple Pliny was created consul. He died in the fifty-second year of his
age, A.D. 113. Pliny had much to do with the persecutions of the
Christians in the early promulgation of the Christian religion. The Rev.
James Copland, M. A., in an admirable little work entitled "Reasons why
we Believe the Bible," gives a very interesting letter from Pliny to the
emperor Trajan, asking instructions how to deal with the Christians when
they were cited to appear before him.
=Plutar´chus=, the celebrated biographer, was born at Chæronea, his father
being distinguished for his learning and virtues. After traveling in
quest of knowledge, he retired to Rome, where he opened a school.
Subsequently he removed to Chæronea, where he died at an advanced age
about the 140th year of the Christian era. His most esteemed work is the
Lives of Illustrious Men.
=Plu´to=, son of Saturn and Ops, inherited his father's kingdom with his
brothers, Jupiter and Neptune. He received as his portion the kingdom of
the infernal regions, of death, and funerals. He seized Proserpine as
she was gathering flowers, and carrying her away on his chariot, she
became his wife and queen of the infernal regions.
=Plu´tus=, the god of riches, was the son of Jason, or Jasius, and Ceres.
=Pol´lio, C. Asin´ius.= A Roman consul in the reign of Augustus, who
distinguished himself equally by his eloquence and exploits in war. He
wrote a history and some tragedies, and died in his eightieth year, A.D.
4.
=Pol´lux.= A son of Jupiter and Leda, brother to Castor.
=Polyb´ius.= A native of Megalopolis. He distinguished himself by his
valor against the Romans in Macedonia, He wrote an universal history in
Greek, and died about 124 years B.C.
=Polydec´tes.= A son of Magnes, king of Seriphos. He received with
kindness Danae and her son Perseus, who had been exposed on the sea.
Polydectes was turned into stone by being shown Medusa's head by
Perseus.
=Polyhym´nia.= One of the Muses, daughter of Jupiter and Mnemosyne. She
presided over singing and rhetoric.
=Polyni´ces.= A son of OEdipus, king of Thebes, and Jocasta. He
inherited his father's throne with his brother Eteocles, and it was
agreed that they should reign a year alternately. Eteocles first
ascended the throne, but refused to resign the crown. Polynices upon
this fled to Argos, where he married Argia, the daughter of Adrastus,
the king of the country, and levied an army with which he marched on
Thebes. The battle was decided by a combat between the brothers, who
killed each other.
=Polyphe´mus.= A celebrated Cyclops, son of Neptune and Thoosa, the
daughter of Phorcys. He is represented as a monster with one eye in the
middle of his forehead. Ulysses was his captive, but escaped by putting
a firebrand in the monster's eye.
=Pomo´na.= A nymph at Rome, who was supposed to preside over gardens and
to be the goddess of fruit trees.
=Pompe´ii or Pompei´um.= A town of Campania. It was partly destroyed by an
earthquake, A.D. 63, and sixteen years afterwards it was swallowed up by
another earthquake. Herculaneum, in its vicinity, shared the same fate.
=Pompe´ius, Cnei´us=, surnamed Magnus from his exploits, was son of
Pompeius Strabo and Lucilia. In the contentions which existed between
Marius and Sylla, Pompey linked himself with the latter. Subsequently he
united his interest with that of Cæsar and Crassus, thus forming the
first triumvirate. A breach soon occurred, and at the great battle of
Pharsalia, where the forces of Cæsar and Pompey met, the latter was
totally defeated, and fled to Egypt, where he was assassinated in the
fifty-eighth year of his age, B.C. 48. He left two sons, Cneius and
Sextus, who at their father's death were masters of a powerful army,
with which they opposed Cæsar, but were defeated at the battle of Munda,
where Cneius was slain. Sextus escaped, and was put to death by Antony
about thirty-five years before the Christian era.
=Por´cia.= A daughter of Cato of Utica, who married Bibulus, and after his
death Brutus. She was distinguished for her prudence and courage. After
her husband's death she killed herself by swallowing burning coals. She
is said to have given herself a severe wound to show that she could bear
pain.
=Porphyr´ius.= A Platonic philosopher of Tyre. He studied eloquence at
Athens under Longinus, and afterwards retired to Rome. His most
celebrated work was in reference to the Christian religion. Porphyry
died A.D. 304, aged seventy-one years.
=Porsen´na or Por´sena.= A king of Etruria, who declared war against the
Romans because they refused to restore Tarquin to the throne; He was
prevented from entering the gates of Rome by the valor of P. Horatius
Cocles, who at the head of a bridge kept back Porsenna's army, whilst
the bridge was being cut down by the Romans to prevent the entry of
their enemies into the city. Eventually Porsenna abandoned the cause of
Tarquin.
=Praxit´eles.= A famous sculptor of Greece, who lived about 324 years
before the Christian era. The most famous of his works was a Cupid,
which he gave to Phyrne. He executed a statue of Phyrne, and also one of
Venus.
=Pri´amus.= The last king of Troy was son of Laomedon, by Strymo, called
Placia by some writers. He married Arisba, whom he divorced in order to
marry Hecuba, by whom he had a number of children, the most celebrated
of whom were Hector, Paris, Deiphobus, Helenus, Laodice, and Cassandra.
After he had reigned some time, Priam was anxious to recover his sister
Hesione, who had been carried into Greece by Hercules, and to achieve
this, he manned a fleet, the command of which he gave to his son Paris,
who, instead of obeying the paternal instructions, carried away Helen,
the wife of Menelaus, king of Sparta. This caused the Trojan war, which
lasted for ten years. At the end of the war Priam was slain by
Neoptolemus, the son of Achilles.
=Pro´bus, M. Aure´lius.= A native of Pannonia. His father was a gardener,
who became a military tribune. His son obtained the same office in the
twenty-second year of his age, and distinguished himself so much by his
probity and valor that he was invested with the imperial purple. He
encouraged the arts, and by his victories added to the glory of his
country. He was slain by his soldiers in the fiftieth year of his age,
B.C. 282.
=Proco´pius=, born of a noble family in Cilicia, was related to the
emperor Julian. He signalized himself under Julian, and afterwards
retired to the Thracian Chersonesus, whence he made his appearance at
Constantinople, and proclaimed himself master of the Eastern Empire. He
was defeated in Phrygia, and beheaded A.D. 366. There was a famous Greek
historian of the same name, who wrote the history of the reign of
Justinian, and who was secretary to Belisarius.
=Prome´theus.= A son of Iapetus and Clymene, one of the Oceanides. He
ridiculed the gods and deceived Jupiter himself, who, to punish him and
the rest of mankind, took fire away from the earth; but Prometheus
climbed the heavens by the assistance of Minerva, and stole fire from
the chariot of the sun, which he brought down to the earth. This
provoked Jupiter, and he ordered Prometheus to be chained to a rock,
where a vulture was to feed on his liver, which was never exhausted. He
was delivered from his torture by Hercules, who killed the vulture.
=Proper´tius, Sex´tus Aure´lius.= A Latin poet born in Umbria. He came to
Rome, where his genius greatly recommended him to the great and
powerful. His works consist of four books of elegies which are marked by
much ability. He died about nineteen years B.C.
=Proser´pina=, a daughter of Ceres and Jupiter, called by the Greeks
Persephone. As she was gathering flowers Pluto carried her off to the
infernal regions, where he married her. Ceres, having learnt that her
daughter had been carried away by Pluto, demanded of Jupiter that Pluto
should be punished. As queen of hell, Proserpine presided over the death
of mankind. She was known by the names of Hecate, Juno Inferna,
Libitina, and several others.
=Protag´oras.= A Greek philosopher of Abdera in Thrace. He wrote a book in
which he denied the existence of a Supreme Being, which book was
publicly burnt at Athens, and its author was banished from the city.
=Pro´tesila´us.= A king of part of Thessaly, who married Laodamia, and
shortly afterwards went to the Trojan war. He was the first of the
Greeks who entered the Trojan domain, and on that account, in accordance
with the prediction of the oracle, was killed by his countrymen.
=Pro´teus.= A sea deity, son of Oceanus and Tethys, or, according to some
writers, of Neptune and Phenice. He had received the gift of prophecy
from Neptune, but when consulted he often refused to give answers, and
puzzled those who consulted him by assuming different shapes.
=Psy´che.= A nymph who married Cupid. Venus put her to death because of
this, but Jupiter, at the request of Cupid, granted immortality to her.
=Ptolemæ´us= First, called Ptolemy, surnamed Lagus. A king of Egypt, son
of Arsinoe and Lagus. He was educated in the court of the king of
Macedonia, and when Alexander invaded Asia Ptolemy attended him. After
Alexander's death Ptolemy obtained the government of Egypt, where he
gained the esteem of the people by acts of kindness. He made himself
master of Phoenicia and Syria, and rendered assistance to the people
of Rhodes against their enemies, for which he received the name of
_Soter_. He laid the foundation of a library, which became the most
celebrated in the world. He died in his eighty-fourth year, about 284
years B.C. He was succeeded by his son, Ptolemy Philadelphus, who showed
himself to be a worthy successor of his father. His palace was an asylum
for learned men, and he greatly increased the library his father had
founded. Ptolemy Third succeeded his father Philadelphus on the Egyptian
throne. He conquered Syria and Cilicia, and returned home laden with
spoils. He was, like his predecessors, a patron of learning and the
arts. Ptolemy Fourth, called Philopater, succeeded to the throne, his
reign being marked by acts of cruelty and oppression. He died in his
thirty-seventh year, after a reign of seventeen years, 204 years B.C.
Numerous members of this celebrated family in succession occupied the
throne, not, however, approaching to the greatness of the founders of
the family.
=Ptolemæ´us.= A celebrated geographer and astronomer in the reign of
Adrian and Antoninus. He was a native of Alexandria, or, as some say, of
Pelusium. In his system of the world, designated the Ptolemaic system,
he places the earth in the center of the universe, which was generally
received as correct till it was confuted by Copernicus.
=Pyr´rhus.= A famous king of Epirus, son of Æacides and Phthia. He is
celebrated for his military talents; and not only his friends, but his
enemies, have been warm in extolling him. He is said to have had no
superior in the art of war. He wrote several books on encampments and
the ways of training an army. He fought against the Romans with much
valor, and they passed encomiums on his great military skill. He was
killed in an attack on Argos, by a tile thrown on his head from a
housetop.
=Pyr´rhus.= See NEOPTOLEMUS.
=Pythag´oras.= A celebrated philosopher born at Samos. He first made
himself known in Greece at the Olympic games, where, when he was
eighteen years old, he obtained the prize for wrestling. He also
distinguished himself by his discoveries in geometry, astronomy, and
mathematics. He was the first who supported the doctrine of
metempsychosis, or transmigration of the soul into different bodies. He
believed that the universe was created from a shapeless mass of passive
matter by the hands of a powerful Being, who was the mover and soul of
the world, and of whose substance the souls of mankind were a portion.
The time and place of death of this great philosopher are unknown, but
some suppose that he died at Metapontum about 497 years B.C.
=Py´thon.= A celebrated serpent sprung from the mud and stagnated waters
which remained on the surface of the earth after the deluge of
Deucalion. Apollo killed the monster.
=Quintilia´nus, Mar´cus Fa´bius=, a celebrated rhetorician, born in Spain.
He opened a school of rhetoric at Rome, and was the first who obtained a
salary from the State as a public teacher. He died A.D. 95.
=Quin´tus Cur´tius Ru´fus.= A Latin historian supposed to have lived in
the reign of Vespasian. He wrote a history of the reign of Alexander the
Great. This work is admired for the elegance of its diction.
=Regil´lus.= A small lake in Latium, famous as being the scene of a great
Roman victory, which forms the subject of a fine poem by Lord Macaulay,
called "The Battle of the Lake Regillus," included in his "Lays of
Ancient Rome."
=Reg´ulus, M. Attil´ius.= A consul during the first Punic war. He reduced
Brundusium, and in his second consulship he captured a great portion of
the Carthaginian fleet. After further successes he was taken prisoner by
the Carthaginians, who put him to death with refined tortures.
=Rhadaman´thus.= A son of Jupiter and Europa. He reigned in the Cyclades,
where his rule was characterized by marked justice and impartiality.
=Rom´ulus.= According to tradition the founder of Rome. He was a son of
Mars and Ilia, and was twin brother of Remus. The twins were thrown into
the Tiber, but were saved and suckled by a she-wolf till they were found
by Fautulus, a shepherd, who brought them up. Disputes arising between
the brothers in reference to the building of the city, Romulus caused
Remus to be slain.
=Ros´cius.= A celebrated Roman actor. He died about 60 years B.C.
=Ru´bicon.= A small river in Italy. By crossing it, and thus transgressing
the boundaries of his province, Cæsar declared war against the senate
and Pompey. "Passing the Rubicon" has become a proverbial expression,
indicating an irrevocable step taken in any weighty matter.
=Sa´cra, Vi´a.= An important street in Rome, where a treaty of peace was
made between Romulus and Tatius.
=Sal´amis.= An island of Attica celebrated for a battle fought there
between the fleets of the Greeks and the Persians, in which the latter
suffered defeat.
=Sallus´tius Cris´pus.= A celebrated Latin historian. He wrote a history
of the Catalinian conspiracy, and died thirty-five years before the
Christian era.
=Sanchoni´athon.= A Phoenician historian born at Berytus, or, as some
say, at Tyre. He lived a few years before the Trojan war; and wrote on
the antiquities of Phoenicia.
=Sa´por.= A king of Persia, who succeeded to the throne about the 238th
year of the Christian era. He wished to increase his dominions by
conquest, but was defeated by Odenatus, who defeated his army with great
slaughter. He was assassinated A.D. 273.
=Sa´por.= The second king of Persia of that name. He fought against the
Romans, and obtained several victories over them. Died A.D. 380.
=Sap´pho=, celebrated for her beauty and poetical talents, was born at
Lesbos about 600 years before Christ. She became enamored with Phaon, a
youth of Mitylene, but he not reciprocating her passion, she threw
herself into the sea from the rock of Leucadia.
=Sardanapa´lus.= The last king of Assyria, celebrated for his luxury and
indolence. His effeminacy induced his subjects to conspire against him
with success, on which he set fire to his palace and perished in the
flames, B.C. 820.
=Satur´nus.= The son of Coelus, or Uranus, by Terra. It was customary to
offer human victims on his altars till this custom was abolished by
Hercules. He is generally represented as an old man bent with age, and
holding a scythe in his right hand.
=Sat´yri.= Demigods whose origin is unknown. They had the feet and legs of
a goat, their body bearing the human form.
=Scævola, Mu´tius=, surnamed Cordus, was famous for his courage. He
attempted to assassinate Porsenna, but was seized; and to show his
fortitude when confronted with Porsenna, he thrust his hand into the
fire, on which the king pardoned him.
=Scip´io.= The name of a celebrated family at Rome, the most conspicuous
of which was Publius Cornelius, afterwards called Africanus. He was the
son of Publius Scipio, and commanded an army against the Carthaginians.
After obtaining some victories he encountered Hannibal at the famous
battle of Zama, in which he obtained a decisive victory. He died about
184 years before Christ, in his forty-eighth year.
=Scip´io, Lu´cius Corne´lius=, surnamed Asiaticus, accompanied his brother
Africanus in his expedition in Africa. He was made consul A.U.C. 562,
and sent to attack Antiochus, king of Syria, whom he completely routed.
He was accused of receiving bribes of Antiochus, and was condemned to
pay large fines which reduced him to poverty.
=Scip´io, P. Æmilia´nus.= Called Africanus the younger. He finished the
war with Carthage, the total submission of which occurred B.C. 147. The
captive city was set on fire, and Scipio was said to have wept bitterly
over the melancholy scene. On his return to Rome he was appointed to
conclude the war against Numantia, the fall of which soon occurred, and
Scipio had Numantinus added to his name. He was found dead in his bed,
and was presumed to have been strangled, B.C. 128.
=Sem´ele.= A daughter of Cadmus and Hermione, the daughter of Mars and
Venus. She was the mother of Bacchus. After death she was made immortal
under the name of Thyone.
=Semir´amis.= A celebrated queen of Assyria, who married the governor of
Nineveh, and at his death she became the wife of King Ninus. She caused
many improvements to be effected in her kingdom, as well as
distinguishing herself as a warrior. She is supposed to have lived 1965
years before the Christian era.
=Sen´eca, L. Annæ´us=, at an early period of his life, was distinguished
by his talents. He became preceptor to Nero, in which capacity he gained
general approbation. The tyrant, however, determined to put him to
death, and he chose to have his veins opened in a hot bath, but death
not ensuing, he swallowed poison, and was eventually suffocated by the
soldiers who were in attendance. This occurred in his fifty-third year,
and in the sixty-fifth of the Christian era. His works, which were
numerous, were chiefly on moral subjects.
=Sera´pis.= One of the Egyptian deities, supposed to be the same as
Osiris. He had a magnificent temple at Memphis, another at Alexandria,
and a third at Canopus.
=Sesos´tris.= A celebrated king of Egypt, who lived long prior to the
Trojan war. He was ambitious of military fame, and achieved many
conquests. On his return from his victories he employed himself in
encouraging the fine arts. He destroyed himself after a reign of
forty-four years.
=Seve´rus, Lu´cius Septim´ius.= A Roman emperor, born in Africa,
noticeable for his ambition. He invaded Britain, and built a wall in the
north as a check to the incursions of the Caledonians. He died at York
in the 211th year of the Christian era.
=Sile´nus.= A demigod, who is represented generally as a fat old man
riding on an ass, with flowers crowning his head.
=Sil´ius Ital´icus, C.= A Latin poet who retired from the bar to
consecrate his time to study. He imitated Virgil, but with little
success. His poetry, however, is commended for its purity.
=Simon´ides.= A celebrated poet of Cos, who lived B.C. 538 years. He wrote
elegies, epigrams, and dramatic pieces, esteemed for their beauty.
=Sire´nes.= The Sirens. They lured to destruction those who listened to
their songs. When Ulysses sailed past their island he stopped the ears
of his companions with wax, and had himself tied to the mast of his
ship. Thus he passed with safety, and the Sirens, disappointed of their
prey, drowned themselves.
=Sis´yphus.= Son of Æolus and Enaretta. After death he was condemned, in
the infernal regions, to roll a stone to the summit of a hill, which
always rolled back, and rendered his punishment eternal.
=Soc´rates.= The most celebrated philosopher of antiquity, born near
Athens, whose virtues rendered his name venerated. His independence of
spirit created for him many enemies, and he was accused of making
innovations in the religion of the Greeks. He was condemned to death by
drinking hemlock, and expired a few moments after imbibing the poison,
in his seventieth year, B.C. 400. His wife was Xanthippe, remarkable
for her shrewish disposition, for which her name has become proverbial.
=So´lon=, one of the wise men of Greece, was born at Salamis, and educated
at Athens. After traveling over Greece he returned, and was elected
archon and sovereign legislator, in which capacity he effected numerous
reforms in the state, binding the Athenians by a solemn oath to observe
the laws he enacted for one hundred years. After this he visited Egypt,
and on returning to Athens after ten years' absence, he found most of
his regulations disregarded by his countrymen. On this he retired to
Cyprus, where he died in his eightieth year, 558 years before the
Christian era.
=Som´nus=, son of Nox and Erebus, was one of the infernal deities and
presided over sleep.
=Soph´ocles.= A celebrated tragic poet of Athens. He was distinguished
also as a statesman, and exercised the office of archon with credit and
honor. He wrote for the stage, and obtained the poetical prize on twenty
different occasions. He was the rival of Euripides for public applause,
each having his admirers. He died at the age of ninety-one, 406 years
before Christ.
=Sophonis´ba.= A daughter of Hasdrubal, the Carthaginian, celebrated for
her beauty. She married Syphax, prince of Numidia, and when he was
conquered by the Romans she became a captive to their ally, the Numidian
general Masinissa, whom she married. This displeased the Romans, and
Scipio ordered Masinissa to separate from Sophonisba, and she, urged to
this by Masinissa, took poison, about 203 years before Christ.
=Soz´omen.= A historian who died 450 A.D. He wrote an important work on
ecclesiastical history.
=Sphinx.= A monster, having the head and breasts of a woman, the body of a
dog, the tail of a serpent, the wings of a bird, and the paws of a lion.
The Sphinx was sent into the neighborhood of Thebes by Juno, where she
propounded enigmas, devouring those who were unable to solve them. One
of the riddles proposed was--What animal walked on four legs in the
morning, two at noon, and three in the evening? OEdipus solved it,
giving as the meaning--A man, who when an infant crawled on his hands
and feet, walking erect in manhood, and in the evening of life
supporting himself with a stick. On hearing the solution the Sphinx
destroyed herself.
=Stagi´ra.= A town on the borders of Macedonia, where Aristotle was born;
hence he is called the Stagirite.
=Sta´tius, P. Papin´us.= A poet, born at Naples in the reign of Domitian.
He was the author of two epic poems, the Thebais, in twelve books, and
the Achilleis, in two books.
=Sten´tor.= One of the Greeks who went to the Trojan war. He was noted for
the loudness of his voice, and from him the term "stentorian" has become
proverbial.
=Sto´ici.= A celebrated sect of philosophers founded by Zeno. They
preferred virtue to all other things, and regarded everything opposed to
it as an evil.
=Stra´bo.= A celebrated geographer, born at Amasia, on the borders of
Cappadocia. He flourished in the age of Augustus. His work on geography
consists of seventeen books, and is admired for its purity of diction.
=Styx.= A celebrated river of the infernal regions. The gods held it in
such veneration that they always swore by it, the oath being
inviolable.
=Sueto´nius, C. Tranquil´lus.= A Latin historian who became secretary to
Adrian. His best known work is his Lives of the Cæsars.
=Sul´la.= See SYLLA.
=Syb´aris.= A town on the bay of Tarentum. Its inhabitants were
distinguished by their love of ease and pleasure, hence the term
"Sybarite."
=Syl´la= (or =Sulla=), =L. Corne´lius=. A celebrated Roman, of a noble family,
who rendered himself conspicuous in military affairs; and became
antagonistic to Marius. In the zenith of his power he was guilty of the
greatest cruelty. His character is that of an ambitious, tyrannical, and
resolute commander. He died about seventy years before Christ, aged
sixty.
=Sy´phax.= A king of the Masæsyllii in Numidia, who married Sophonisba,
the daughter of Hasdrubal. He joined the Carthaginians against the
Romans, and was taken by Scipio as a prisoner to Rome, where he died in
prison.
=Tac´itus, C. Corne´lius.= A celebrated Latin historian, born in the reign
of Nero. Of all his works the "Annals" is the most extensive and
complete. His style is marked by force, precision, and dignity, and his
Latin is remarkable for being pure and classical.
=Tac´itus, M. Clau´dius.= A Roman, elected emperor by the Senate when he
was seventy years of age. He displayed military vigor, and as a ruler
was a pattern of economy and moderation. He died in the 276th year of
the Christian era.
=Tan´talus.= A king of Lydia, father of Niobe and Pelops. He is
represented by the poets as being, in the infernal regions, placed in a
pool of water which flowed from him whenever he attempted to drink, thus
causing him to suffer perpetual thirst; hence the origin of the term
"tantalizing."
=Tarquin´ius Pris´cus=, the fifth king of Rome, was son of Demaratus, a
native of Greece. He exhibited military talents in the victories he
gained over the Sabines. During peace he devoted attention to the
improvement of the capital. He was assassinated in his eightieth year,
578 years B.C.
=Tarquin´ius Super´bus.= He ascended the throne of Rome after Servius
Tullius, whom he murdered, and married his daughter Tullia. His reign
was characterized by tyranny, and eventually he was expelled from Rome,
surviving his disgrace for fourteen years, and dying in his ninetieth
year.
=Tar´tarus.= One of the regions of hell, where, according to Virgil, the
souls of those who were exceptionally depraved were punished.
=Telem´achus.= Son of Penelope and Ulysses. At the end of the Trojan war
he went in search of his father, whom, with the aid of Minerva, he
found. Aided by Ulysses he delivered his mother from the suitors that
beset her.
=Tem´pe.= A valley in Thessaly through which the river Peneus flows into
the Ægean. It is described by the poets as one of the most delightful
places in the world.
=Teren´tius Pub´lius= (=Terence=). A native of Africa, celebrated for the
comedies he wrote. He was twenty-five years old when his first play was
produced on the Roman stage. Terence is admired for the purity of his
language and the elegance of his diction. He is supposed to have been
drowned in a storm about 159 B.C.
=Te´reus.= A king of Thrace who married Procne, daughter of Pandion, king
of Athens. He aided Pandion in a war against Megara.
=Terpsich´ore.= One of the Muses, daughter of Jupiter and Mnemosyne. She
presided over dancing.
=Tertullia´nus, J. Septim´ius Flor´ens.= A celebrated Christian writer of
Carthage, who lived A.D. 196. He was originally a Pagan, but embraced
Christianity, of which faith he became an able advocate.
=Tha´is.= A celebrated woman of Athens, who accompanied Alexander the
Great in his Asiatic conquests.
=Tha´les.= One of the seven wise men of Greece, born at Miletus in Ionia.
His discoveries in astronomy were great, and he was the first who
calculated with accuracy a solar eclipse. He died about 548 years before
the Christian era.
=Thali´a.= One of the Muses. She presided over festivals and comic poetry.
=Themis´tocles.= A celebrated general born at Athens. When Xerxes invaded
Greece, Themistocles was intrusted with the care of the fleet, and at
the famous battle of Salamis, fought B.C. 480, the Greeks, instigated to
fight by Themistocles, obtained a complete victory over the formidable
navy of Xerxes. He died in the sixty-fifth year of his age, having, as
some writers affirm, poisoned himself by drinking bull's blood.
=Theoc´ritus.= A Greek poet who lived at Syracuse in Sicily, 282 B.C. He
distinguished himself by his poetical compositions, of which some are
extant.
=Theodo´sius, Fla´vius.= A Roman emperor surnamed _Magnus_ from the
greatness of his exploits. The first years of his reign were marked by
conquests over the Barbarians. In his private character Theodosius was
an example of temperance. He died in his sixtieth year, A.D. 395, after
a reign of sixteen years.
=Theodo´sius Second= became emperor of the Western Roman empire at an
early age. His territories were invaded by the Persians, but on his
appearance at the head of a large force they fled, losing a great number
of their army in the Euphrates. Theodosius was a warm advocate of the
Christian religion. He died, aged forty-nine, A.D. 450.
=Theophras´tus.= A native of Lesbos. Diogenes enumerates the titles of
more than 200 treatises which he wrote. He died in his 107th year, B.C.
288.
=Thermop´ylæ.= A narrow Pass leading from Thessaly into Locris and Phocis,
celebrated for a battle fought there, B.C. 480, between Xerxes and the
Greeks, in which three hundred Spartans, commanded by Leonidas, resisted
for three successive days an enormous Persian army.
=Thersi´tes.= A deformed Greek, in the Trojan war, who indulged in
ridicule against Ulysses and others. Achilles killed him because he
laughed at his grief for the death of Penthesilea. Shakspeare, who
introduced Thersites in his play of "Troilus and Cressida," describes
him as "a deformed and scurrilous Grecian."
=The´seus=, king of Athens and son of Ægeus by Æthra, was one of the most
celebrated heroes of antiquity. He caught the bull of Marathon and
sacrificed it to Minerva. After this he went to Crete amongst the seven
youths sent yearly by the Athenians to be devoured by the Minotaur, and
by the aid of Ariadne he slew the monster. He ascended his father's
throne B.C. 1235. Pirithous, king of the Lapithæ, invaded his
territories, but the two became firm friends. They descended into the
infernal regions to carry off Proserpine, but their intentions were
frustrated by Pluto. After remaining for some time in the infernal
regions, Theseus returned to his kingdom to find the throne filled by an
usurper, whom he vainly tried to eject. He retired to Scyros, where he
was killed by a fall from a precipice.
=Thes´pis.= A Greek poet of Attica, supposed to be the inventor of
tragedy, B.C. 536. He went from place to place upon a cart, on which he
gave performances. Hence the term "Thespians" as applied to wandering
actors.
=The´tis.= A sea deity, daughter of Nereus and Doris. She married Peleus,
their son being Achilles, whom she plunged into the Styx, thus rendering
him invulnerable in every part of his body except the heel by which she
held him.
=This´be.= A beautiful girl of Babylon, beloved by Pyramus.
=Thrasybu´lus.= A famous general of Athens, who, with the help of a few
associates, expelled the Thirty Tyrants, B.C. 401. He was sent with a
powerful fleet to recover the Athenian power on the coast of Asia, and
after gaining many advantages, was killed by the people of Aspendos.
=Thucid´ydes.= A celebrated Greek historian born at Athens. He wrote a
history of the events connected with the Peloponnesian war. He died at
Athens in his eightieth year, B.C. 391.
=Tibe´rius, Clau´dius Ne´ro.= A Roman emperor descended from the Claudii.
In his early years he entertained the people with magnificent shows and
gladiatorial exhibitions, which made him popular. At a later period of
his life he retired to the island of Capreæ, where he indulged in vice
and debauchery. He died aged seventy-eight, after a reign of twenty-two
years.
=Tibul´lus, Au´lus Al´bius.= A Roman knight celebrated for his poetical
compositions. His favorite occupation was writing love poems. Four books
of elegies are all that remain of his compositions.
=Timo´leon.= A celebrated Corinthian, son of Timodemus and Demariste. When
the Syracusans, oppressed with the tyranny of Dionysius the Younger,
solicited aid from the Corinthians, Timoleon sailed for Syracuse with a
small fleet. He was successful in the expedition, and Dionysius gave
himself up as a prisoner. Timoleon died at Syracuse, amidst universal
regret.
=Ti´mons.= A native of Athens, called the Misanthrope from his aversion to
mankind. He is the hero of Shakspeare's play of "Timon of Athens" in
which his churlish character is powerfully delineated.
=Timo´theus.= A famous musician in the time of Alexander the Great. Dryden
names him in his well-known ode, "Alexander's Feast."
=Tire´sias.= A celebrated prophet of Thebes. Juno deprived him of sight,
and, to recompense him for the loss, Jupiter bestowed on him the gift of
prophecy.
=Tisiph´one.= One of the Furies, daughter of Nox and Acheron.
=Tita´nes.= The Titans. A name given to the gigantic sons of Coelus and
Terra. The most conspicuous of them are Saturn, Hyperion, Oceanus,
Iapetus, Cottus, and Briareus.
=Ti´tus Vespasia´nus.= Son of Vespasian and Flavia Domitilla, known by
his valor, particularly at the siege of Jerusalem. He had been
distinguished for profligacy, but on assuming the purple, he became a
model of virtue. His death, which occasioned great lamentations,
occurred A.D. 81, in the forty-first year of his age.
=Traja´nus, M. Ul´pius Crini´tus.= A Roman emperor born at Ithaca. His
services to the empire recommended him to the notice of the emperor
Nerva, who adopted him as his son, and invested him with the purple. The
actions of Trajan were those of a benevolent prince. He died in Cilicia,
in August A.D. 117, in his sixty-fourth year, and his ashes were taken
to Rome and deposited under a stately column which he had erected.
=Tribu´ni Ple´bi.= Magistrates at Rome created in the year, U.C. 261. The
office of Tribune to the people was one of the first steps which led to
more honorable employments.
=Triptol´emus.= Son of Oceanus and Terra, or, according to some
authorities, son of Celeus, king of Attica, and Neæra. He was in his
youth cured of a severe illness by Ceres, with whom he became a great
favorite. She taught him agriculture, and gave him her chariot drawn by
dragons, in which he traveled over the earth, distributing corn to the
inhabitants.
=Tri´ton.= A sea deity, son of Neptune and Amphitrite. He was very
powerful, and could calm the sea and abate storms at his pleasure.
=Trium´viri.= Three magistrates appointed to govern the Roman state with
absolute power.
=Tul´lus Hostil´ius= succeeded Numa as king of Rome. He was of a warlike
disposition, and distinguished himself by his expedition against the
people of Alba, whom he conquered.
=Typhoe´us=, or =Ty´phon=. A famous giant, son of Tartarus and Terra, who
had a hundred heads. He made war against the gods, and was put to flight
by the thunderbolts of Jupiter, who crushed him under Mount Ætna.
=Tyrtæ´us.= A Greek elegiac poet born in Attica. Of his compositions none
are extant except a few fragments.
=Ulys´ses.= The famous king of Ithaca, son of Anticlea and Laertes (or,
according to some, of Sisyphus). He married Penelope, daughter of
Icarius, on which his father resigned to him the crown. He went to the
Trojan war, where he was esteemed for his sagacity. On the conclusion of
the war he embarked for Greece, but was exposed to numerous misfortunes
on his journey. In his wanderings, he, with some of his companions, was
seized by the Cyclops, Polyphemus, from whom he made his escape.
Afterwards he was thrown on the island of Æea, where he was exposed to
the wiles of the enchantress Circe. Eventually he was restored to his
own country, after an absence of twenty years. The adventures of Ulysses
on his return from the Trojan war form the subject of Homer's Odyssey.
=Ura´nia.= One of the Muses, daughter of Jupiter and Mnemosyne. She
presided over astronomy.
=Valentinia´nus= the First. Son of Gratian, raised to the throne by his
merit and valor. He obtained victories over the Barbarians in Gaul and
in Africa, and punished the Quadi with severity. He broke a blood-vessel
and died, A.D. 375. Immediately after his death, his son, Valentinian
the Second, was proclaimed emperor. He was robbed of his throne by
Maximus, but regained it by the aid of Theodosius, emperor of the East.
He was strangled by one of his officers. He was remarkable for
benevolence and clemency. The third Valentinian was made emperor in his
youth, and on coming to maturer age he disgraced himself by violence and
oppression. He was murdered A.D. 454.
=Valeria´nus, Pub´lius Licin´ius.= A celebrated Roman emperor, who, on
ascending the throne, lost the virtues he had previously possessed. He
made his son Gallienus his colleague in the empire. He made war against
the Goths and Scythians. He was defeated in battle and made prisoner by
Tapor, king of Persia, who put him to death by torture.
=Var´ro.= A Latin author, celebrated for his great learning. He wrote no
less than five hundred volumes, but all his works are lost except a
treatise De Re Rusticâ, and another De Linguâ Latinâ He died B.C. 28, in
his eighty-eighth year.
=Ve´nus.= One of the most celebrated deities of the ancients; the goddess
of beauty, and mother of love. She sprang from the foam of the sea, and
was carried to heaven, where all the gods admired her beauty. Jupiter
gave her in marriage to Vulcan, but she intrigued with some of the gods,
and, notably, with Mars, their offspring being Hermione, Cupid, and
Anteros. She became enamored of Adonis, which caused her to abandon
Olympus. Her contest for the golden apple, which she gained against her
opponents Juno and Minerva, is a prominent episode in mythology. She had
numerous names applied to her, conspicuous amongst which may be named
Anadyomene, under which cognomen she is distinguished by the picture,
representing her as rising from the ocean, by Apelles. She was known
under the Grecian name of Aphrodite.
=Vespasia´nus Ti´tus Fla´vius.= A Roman emperor of obscure descent. He
began the siege of Jerusalem, which was continued by his son Titus. He
died A.D. 79, in his seventieth year.
=Ves´ta.= A goddess, daughter of Rhea and Saturn. The Palladium, a
celebrated statue of Pallas, was supposed to be preserved within her
sanctuary, where a fire was kept continually burning.
=Vesta´les.= The Vestals, priestesses consecrated to the service of Vesta.
They were required to be of good families and free from blemish and
deformity. One of their chief duties was to see that the sacred fire of
Vesta was not extinguished.
=Virgil´ius, Pub´lius Ma´ro=, called the prince of the Latin poets, was
born at Andes, near Mantua, about seventy years before Christ. He went
to Rome, where he formed an acquaintance with Mæcenas, and recommended
himself to Augustus. His Bucolics were written in about three years, and
subsequently he commenced the Georgics, which is considered one of the
most perfect of all Latin compositions. The Æneid is supposed to have
been undertaken at the request of Augustus. Virgil died in his
fifty-first year B.C. 19.
=Virgin´ia.= Daughter of the centurion L. Virginius. She was slain by her
father to save her from the violence of the decemvir, Appius Claudius.
=Virgin´ius.= A valiant Roman, father of Virginia. (See Virginia.) The
story of Virginius and his ill-fated daughter is the subject of the
well-known tragedy of "Virginius," one of the early productions of J.
Sheridan Knowles. It is rarely performed in the present day.
=Vulca´nus.= The god who presided over fire, and who was the patron of
those who worked in iron. According to Homer, he was the son of Jupiter
and Juno, and was so deformed, that at his birth his mother threw him
into the sea, where he remained nine years; but other writers differ
from this opinion. He married Venus at the instigation of Jupiter. He is
known by the name of Mulciber. The Cyclopes were his attendants, and
with them he forged the thunderbolts of Jupiter.
=Xanthip´pe= or =Xantip´pe=. The wife of Socrates, remarkable for her
ill-humor and fretful disposition. She was a constant torment to her
husband, and on one occasion, after bitterly reviling him, she emptied a
vessel of dirty water on him, on which the philosopher coolly remarked,
"After thunder rain generally falls."
=Xenoc´rates.= An ancient philosopher born at Calcedonia, and educated in
the school of Plato, whose friendship he gained. Died B.C. 314.
=Xen´ophon.= A celebrated Athenian, son of Gryllus, famous as a general,
philosopher, and historian. He joined Cyrus the Younger in an expedition
against Artaxerxes, king of Persia, and after the decisive battle of
Cunaxa, in which Cyrus was defeated and killed, the skill and bravery of
Xenophon became conspicuous. He had to direct an army of ten thousand
Greeks, who were now more than six hundred leagues from home, and in a
country surrounded by an active enemy. He rose superior to all
difficulties till the celebrated "Retreat of the Ten Thousand" was
effected; the Greeks returning home after a march of two hundred and
fifteen days. Xenophon employed his pen in describing the expedition of
Cyrus, in his work the "Anabasis." He also wrote the "Cyropædia,"
"Memorabilia," "Hellenica," etc. He died at Corinth in his ninetieth
year, about 360 years before the Christian era.
=Xer´xes= succeeded his father Darius on the throne of Persia. He entered
Greece with an immense army, which was checked at Thermopylæ by the
valor of three hundred Spartans under king Leonidas, who, for three
successive days, successfully opposed the enormous forces of Xerxes, and
were at last slaughtered. From this period the fortunes of Xerxes waned.
His fleet being defeated at Salamis, and mortified with ill-success, he
hastened to Persia, where he gave himself up to debauchery, and was
murdered in the twenty-first year of his reign, about 464 years before
the Christian era.
=Za´ma.= A town of Numidia, celebrated as the scene of the victory of
Scipio over Hannibal, B.C. 202.
=Ze´no=, a celebrated philosopher, the founder of the sect of Stoics, was
born at Citium in Cyprus. He opened a school in Athens, and soon became
noticed by the great and learned. His life was devoted to sobriety and
moderation. He died at the age of ninety-eight, B.C. 264.
=Ze´no.= A philosopher of Elea or Velia, in Italy. He was the disciple,
or, according to some, the adopted son of Parmenides. Being tortured to
cause him to reveal his confederates in a plot he had engaged in, he bit
off his tongue that he might not betray his friends.
=Zeno´bia.= A celebrated princess of Palmyra, the wife of Odenatus. After
her husband's death, the Roman emperor Aurelian declared war against
her. She took the field with seven hundred thousand men, and though at
first successful, she was eventually conquered. Aurelian, when she
became his prisoner, treated her with great humanity and consideration.
She was admired for her literary talents as well as her military
abilities.
=Zeux´is.= A celebrated painter born at Heraclea. He flourished 468 years
before the Christian era. He painted some grapes so naturally that the
birds came to peck them on the canvas; but he was disgusted with the
picture, because the man painted as carrying the grapes was not natural
enough to frighten the birds.
=Zo´ilus.= A sophist and grammarian of Amphipolis, B.C. 259. He became
known by his severe criticisms on the works of Isocrates and Homer.
=Zoroas´ter.= A king of Bactria, supposed to have lived in the age of
Ninus, king of Assyria, some time before the Trojan war. He rendered
himself known by his deep researches in philosophy. He admitted no
visible object of devotion except fire, which he considered the proper
emblem of a Supreme Being. He was respected by his subjects and
contemporaries for his abilities as a monarch, a lawgiver, and a
philosopher, and though many of his doctrines may be deemed puerile, he
had many disciples. The religion of the Parsees of the present day was
founded by Zoroaster.
=Zos´imus.= A Greek historian who lived about the year 410 of the
Christian era. He wrote a history of some of the Roman emperors, which
is characterized by graceful diction, but he indulges in malevolent and
vituperative attacks on the Christians in his History of Constantine.
A LIST
OF
COMMON ABBREVIATIONS
OF WORDS USED IN
WRITING AND PRINTING.
=A 1=, first class.
=a= or =aa= (Gr. _ana_), in _med._, of each the same quantity.
=A.B.=, Bachelor of Arts.
=A.D.= (L. _anno Domini_), in the year of our Lord.
=ad lib.=, or =ad libit.= (L. _ad libitum_), at pleasure.
=Æ.=, =Æt.= (L. _ætatis_), of age; aged.
=A.M.= (L. _artium magister_), Master of Arts.
=A.M.= (L. _ante meridiem_), before noon.
=A.M.= (L. _anno mundi_), in the year of the world.
=anon.=, anonymous.
=A.R.A.=, Associate of the Royal Academy.
=A.R.S.A.=, Associate of the Royal Scottish Academy.
=A.R.S.S.= (L. _antiquariorum regiæ societatis socius_), Fellow of the
Royal Society of Antiquaries.
=AS.=, Anglo-Saxon.
=A.U.C.= (L. _anno urbis conditæ_, or _anno ab urbe conditâ_), in the year
of, or from the building of the city, viz., Rome.
=B.A.=, Bachelor of Arts.
=Bart.= or =Bt.=, Baronet.
=B.C.=, before Christ.
=B.C.L.=, Bachelor of Civil Law.
=B.D.=, Bachelor of Divinity.
=B.LL.=, also =LL.B.=, Bachelor of Laws.
=B.Sc.=, Bachelor of Science.
=B.S.L.=, Botanical Society of London.
=C.= (L. _centum_), a hundred.
=Cantab.= (L. _Cantabrigiensis_), of Cambridge.
=Cantuar.=, Canterbury.
=cap.= (L. _caput_, the head), chapter; =cap.=, capital; =cap.=, a capital
letter; =caps.=, capital letters.
=C.B.=, Companion of the Bath.
=C.E.=, Civil Engineer.
=cent.= (L. _centum_), a hundred.
=cf.= (L. _confer_), compare.
=chap.=, chapter.
=con.= (L. _contra_), against; in opposition.
=cos.=, cosine.
=cres.=, crescendo.
=crim. con.=, criminal conversation; adultery.
=ct.=, cent; also (L. _centum_), a hundred.
=curt.=, current--that is, in this period of time, as month, year, or
century.
=cwt.= (_c._ for L. _centum_, a hundred; _wt._ for Eng. weight), a
hundred-weight.
=D.C.= (It. _da capo_), in _music_, again; from the beginning.
=D.C.L.=, Doctor of Civil or Canon Law.
=D.D.= (L. _divinitatis doctor_), Doctor of Divinity.
=D.G.= (L. _Dei gratiâ_), by the grace of God; (L. _Deo gratias_), thanks
to God.
=do.= or =Do.=, the same.
=doz.=, dozen.
=Dr.=, doctor; debtor.
=D.S.= (It. _dal segno_), from the sign.
=D.Sc.=, Doctor of Science.
=Dunelm.=, Durham.
=D.V.= (L. _Deo volente_), God willing.
=dwt.= (L. _denarius_, a silver coin, a penny; and first and last letters
of Eng. _weight_), pennyweight.
=Ebor.= (L. _Ebor[)a]cum_), York.
=E.C.=, Established Church.
=Ed.=, editor.
=E.E.=, errors excepted.
=e.g.=, (L. _exempli gratiâ_, for the sake of example), for example; for
instance.
=E.I.=, East Indies; East India.
=E.I.C.=, East India Company; =E.I.C.S.=, East India Company's Service.
=E. long.=, east longitude.
=E.N.E.=, east-north-east.
=E.S.E.=, east-south-east.
=Esq.= or =Esqr.=, Esquire.
=etc.= (L. _et cætera_), &c.; and others; and so forth.
=et seq.= (L. _et sequentia_), and the following.
=ex.=, example; exception; =ex=, "out of," as, a cargo _ex_ Maria.
=exch.=, exchequer; exchange.
=Exon.= (L. _Exonia_), Exeter.
=f.=, feminine; farthing or farthings; foot or feet.
=Fahr.=, Fahrenheit.
=far.=, farriery; farthing.
=F.A.S.=, Fellow of the Society of Arts.
=F.A.S.E.=, Fellow of the Antiquarian Society, Edinburgh.
=F.B.S.E.=, Fellow of the Botanical Society of Edinburgh.
=F.C.=, Free Church.
=fcp.=, foolscap.
=F.D.= (L. _fidei defensor_), Defender of the Faith.
=F.E.I.S.=, Fellow of the Educational Institute of Scotland.
=F.E.S.=, Fellow of the Entomological Society; Fellow of the Ethnological
Society.
=F.G.S.=, Fellow of the Geological Society.
=F.H.S.=, Fellow of the Horticultural Society.
=Fl.=, Flemish; Florida; florin.
=F.L.S.=, Fellow of the Linnæan Society.
=F.M.=, field-marshal.
=fo.=, =fol.=, folio.
=F.P.=, fire-plug.
=F.P.S.=, Fellow of the Philological Society.
=Fr.=, France; French.
=F.R.A.S.=, Fellow of the Royal Astronomical Society.
=F.R.C.P.=, Fellow of the Royal College of Preceptors, or of Physicians.
=F.R.C.P.E.=, Fellow of the Royal College of Physicians, Edinburgh.
=F.R.C.S.=, Fellow of the Royal College of Surgeons.
=F.R.C.S.E.=, Fellow of the Royal College of Surgeons, Edinburgh.
=F.R.C.S.I.=, Fellow of the Royal College of Surgeons, Ireland.
=F.R.C.S.L.=, Fellow of the Royal College of Surgeons, London.
=F.R.G.S.=, Fellow of the Royal Geographical Society.
=F.R.S.=, Fellow of the Royal Society.
=F.R.S.E.=, Fellow of the Royal Society, Edinburgh.
=F.R.S.L.=, Fellow of the Royal Society of Literature.
=F.S.A.=, Fellow of the Society of Arts, or of Antiquaries: =F.S.A., Scot.=,
an F.S.A. of Scotland.
=ft.=, foot or feet.
=F.T.C.D.=, Fellow of Trinity College, Dublin.
=F.Z.A.=, Fellow of the Zoological Academy.
=G.A.=, General Assembly.
=G.C.B.=, Knight Grand Cross of the Bath.
=G.P.O.=, General Post-office.
=gtt.= (L. _gutta_ or _guttæ_), a drop or drops.
=H.B.C.=, Hudson Bay Company.
=H.E.I.C.=, Honorable East India Company.
=H.G.=, Horse Guards.
=hhd.=, hogshead; hogsheads.
=H.I.H.=, His (or Her) Imperial Highness.
=H.M.S.=, Her (or His) Majesty's steamer, ship, or service.
=H.R.H.=, His (or Her) Royal Highness.
=H.S.S.= (L. _historiæ societatis socius_), Fellow of the Historical
Society.
=ib.=, =ibid.= (L. _ibidem_), in the same place.
=id.= (L. _idem_), the same.
=i. e.= (L. _id est_), that is.
=I.H.S.= (L. _Iesus Hominum Salvator_), Jesus the Saviour of Men.
=incog.= (L. _incognito_), unknown.
=in lim.= (L. _in limine_), at the outset.
=in loc.= (L. _in loco_), in its place.
=inst.=, instant--that is, the present month.
=in trans.= (L. _in transitu_), on the passage.
=I.O.U.=, three letters being identical in sound with the three words "I
owe you,"--written as a simple acknowledgment for money lent, followed
by sum and signature.
=Ir.=, Ireland; Irish.
=i.q.= (L. _idem quod_), the same as.
=J.P.=, Justice of the Peace.
=K.C.B.=, Knight Commander of the Bath (Great Britain).
=K.G.=, Knight of the Garter (Great Britain).
=K.G.C.=, Knight of the Grand Cross (Great Britain).
=K.G.C.B.=, Knight of the Grand Cross of the Bath (Great Britain).
=Knt.=, knight.
=K.P.=, Knight of St. Patrick (Ireland).
=Kt.= or =Knt.=, knight.
=K.T.=, Knight of the Thistle (Scotland).
=K.S.E.=, Knight of the Star of the East.
=L.= or =lb.= (L. _libra_), a pound in weight.
=lat.=, latitude, N. or S.
=lb.=--see =L.=
=leg.= (It. _legato_), smoothly.
=L.G.=, Life Guards.
=lib.= (L. _liber_), a book.
=Linn.=, Linnæus; Linnæan.
=LL.B.=, (L. _legum_, of laws, and _baccalaureus_, bachelor), Bachelor of
Laws, an academic title.
=LL.D.=, (L. _legum_, of laws, and _doctor_, doctor), Doctor of Laws, an
academic title, higher than LL.B.
=long.=, longitude, E. or W.
=L.S.D.=, or =£ s. d.= (said to be from L. _libra_, a balance, a pound in
weight; _solidus_, a coin of the value of 25 denarii, subsequently only
a half of that value; and _denarius_, a silver coin worth about 8-1/2d.
Eng.), pounds, shillings, pence--that is, in any written statement of
money, L. is put over pounds, S. over shillings, and D. over pence; in
_printing_, £ for L. is put before the sum, as £15, s. and d. in single
letter, after, as 4s. 6d.
=M.= (L. _mille_), a thousand.
=M.A.= (L. _magister artium_), Master of Arts, an academic title.
=M.C.S.=, Madras Civil Service.
=M.D.=, (L. _medicinæ_, of medicine, _doctor_, doctor), Doctor of
Medicine.
=M.E.=, Mining Engineer.
=Mdlle.= (F. _Mademoiselle_), Miss.
=Mme.= (F. _Madame_), Madam.
=Mons.= (F. _Monsieur_), Mr.; Sir.
=M.P.=, Member of Parliament.
=M.P.S.=, Member of the Philological Society; Member of the Pharmaceutical
Society.
=M.R.A.S.=, Member of the Royal Asiatic Society; Member of the Royal
Academy of Science.
=M.R.C.P.=, Member of the Royal College of Preceptors, or of Physicians.
=M.R.C.S.=, Member of the Royal College of Surgeons.
=M.R.G.S.=, Member of the Royal Geographical Society.
=MS.=, manuscript; =MSS.=, manuscripts.
=Mus. B.=, Bachelor of Music; =Mus. D.=, Doctor of Music.
=N.B.=, North British; North Britain, that is Scotland; New Brunswick; (L.
_nota_, note, _bene_, well), note well, or take notice.
=N.E.=, north-east; New England.
=N.N.E.=, north-north-east.
=N.N.W.=, north-north-west.
=non obst.= (L. _non_, not, _obstante_, standing over against,
withstanding), notwithstanding.
=non pros.= (L. _non_, not, _prosequitur_, he follows after, he
prosecutes), he does not prosecute--applied to a judgment entered
against a plaintiff who does not appear.
=non seq.= (L. _non_, not, _sequitur_, it follows), it does not follow.
=N.P.=, notary public.
=N.S.=, new style; Nova Scotia.
=N.T.=, New Testament.
=N.W.=, north-west.
=ob.= (L. _obiit_), he died.
=obs.=, obsolete.
=O.S.=, old style.
=Oxon.= (L. _Oxonia_), Oxford.
=oz.=, ounce.
=p.=, page; =pp.=, pages.
=P.C.=, Privy Council or Councillor.
=P.D.= or =Ph.D.=, Doctor of Philosophy.
=per an.= (L. _per annum_), by the year.
=per cent.= (L. _per_, by; _centum_, a hundred,) by the hundred.
=pinx., pxt.= (L. _pinxit_), he or she painted it.
=P.M.=, postmaster; (L. _post meridiem_), afternoon.
=P.M.G.=, postmaster-general.
=P.O.=, post-office; =P.O.O.=, Post-Office Order.
=pp.=, pages.
=P.P.=, parish-priest.
=P.P.C.=, (F. _pour prendre congé_, to take leave), put on calling cards
to intimate leave-taking.
=pr.= (L. _per_, by), by the.
=pres.=, also =preses=, _pr[)e]s´-[)e]s_; president.
=prof.=, professor.
=pro tem.= (L. _pro tempore_), for the time being.
=prox.= (L. _proximo_), next; of the next month.
=P.S.=, (L. _post scriptum_), postscript.
=p.t.=, post-town.
=pxt.= (L. _pinxit_), he or she painted it.
=Q.= or =Qu.=, question; query.
=Q.C.=, Queen's Counsel; Queen's College.
=q.e.= (L. _quod est_), which is.
=Q E.D.= (L. _quod erat demonstrandum_), which was to be demonstrated.
=Q.E.F.= (L. _quod erat faciendum_), which was to be done.
=Q.E.I.= (L. _quod erat inveniendum_), which was to be found out.
=q.l.= (L. _quantum libet_), as much as you please.
=Q.M.G.=, quartermaster-general.
=qr.=, quarter; quire: =qrs=., quarters.
=qt.=, quart: =qts.=, quarts.
=q.v.= (L. _quod vide_), which see.
=R.=, L. _rex_, king; _regina_, queen.
=R.=, L. _recipe_, take.
=R.A.=, Royal Academy, or Academician; Royal Artillery; Rear-Admiral;
Right Ascension.
=R.C.=, Roman Catholic.
=Ref. Ch.=, Reformed Church.
=Reg. Prof.=, Regius Professor.
=R.I.P.= (L.), requiescat in pace.
=R.Rev.=, right reverend.
=R.S.A.=, Royal Society of Antiquaries; Royal Scottish Academy.
=R.S.S.= (L. _regiæ societatis socius_), Fellow of the Royal Society.
=Rt.=, Right.
=S.=, south.
=S.A.=, South America; South Africa; South Australia.
=Sarum=, Salisbury.
=S.A.S.= (L. _societatis antiquariorum socius_), Fellow of the Society of
Antiquaries.
=s. caps.=, small capital letters.
=sc.= or =sculp.= (L. _sculpsit_), he or she engraved it.
=s.= or =scil.= (L. _scilicet_), to wit; namely.
=scr.=, scruple.
=sculp.= or =sculpt.= (L. _sculpsit_), he or she engraved it.
=S.E.=, south-east.
=sec.=, secretary; second.
=Sep.= or =Sept.=, Septuagint; also LXX.
=seq.= (L. _sequentes_ or _sequentia_), the following; the next.
=S.G.=, solicitor-general.
=S.H.S.= (_societatis historiæ socius_), Fellow of the Historical Society.
=S.J.=, Society of Jesus.
=S.L.=, solicitor-at-law.
=Sol.-Gen.=, solicitor-general.
=S.P.C.K.=, Society for Promoting Christian Knowledge.
=S.P.G.=, Society for the Propagation of the Gospel.
=sq.=, square: =sq. ft.=, square feet: =sq. in.=, square inches: =sq. m.=,
square miles: =sq. yds.=, square yards.
=S.R.I.= (L. _sacrum Romanum imperium_), the Holy Roman Empire.
=s.s.=, steamship.
=S.S.E.=, south-south-east.
=S.S.W.=, south-south-west.
=S.T.P.= (L. _sacræ theologia professor_), Professor of Theology.
=super.=, superfine.
=supp.=, supplement.
=S.W.=, south-west.
=syn.=, synonym; synonymous.
=T.O.=, turn over.
=tr.= or =trs=., transpose.
=U.C.=, Upper Canada; (L. _urbe condita_, the founding of the city), the
year of Rome.
=univ.=, university.
=U.P.=, United Presbyterian.
=U.S.=, United States.
=v.g.= (L. _verbi gratiâ_), for example.
=vid.= (L. _vide_), see.
=viz.= (a corruption of L. _videlicet_), namely; to wit.
=vol.=, volume: =vols.=, volumes.
=V.P.=, vice-president.
=vul.=, vulgate.
=W.=, west; western.
=Winton=, Winchester.
=W. long.=, west longitude.
=W.M.S.=, Wesleyan Missionary Society.
=W.N.W.=, west-north-west.
=W.S.W.=, west-south-west.
=wt.=, weight.
=X.= or =Xt.=, Christ: =Xm.= or =Xmas.=, Christmas:
=Xn.= or =Xtian.=, Christian.
=yd.=, yard: =yds.=, yards.
THE END.
* * * * *
1883.--1883.
G. W. CARLETON & CO.
NEW BOOKS AND NEW EDITIONS, RECENTLY ISSUED BY
G. W. CARLETON & CO., Publishers,
Madison Square, New York.
The Publishers, on receipt of price, send any book on this Catalogue by
mail, _postage free_.
All handsomely bound in cloth, with gilt backs suitable for libraries.
=Mary J. Holmes' Works.=
Tempest and Sunshine $1 50
English Orphans 1 50
Homestead on the Hillside 1 50
'Lena Rivers 1 50
Meadow Brook 1 50
Dora Deane 1 50
Cousin Maude 1 50
Marian Grey 1 50
Edith Lyle 1 50
Daisy Thornton 1 50
Chateau D´Or (New) 1 50
Darkness and Daylight 1 50
Hugh Worthington 1 50
Cameron Pride 1 50
Rose Mather 1 50
Ethelyn's Mistake 1 50
Millbank 1 50
Edna Browning 1 50
West Lawn 1 50
Mildred 1 50
Forrest House 1 50
Madeline (New) 1 50
=Marion Harland's Works.=
Alone $1 50
Hidden Path 1 50
Moss Side 1 50
Nemesis 1 50
Miriam 1 50
At Last 1 50
Helen Gardner 1 50
True as Steel (New) 1 50
Sunnybank 1 50
Husbands and Homes 1 50
Ruby's Husband 1 50
Phemie's Temptation 1 50
The Empty Heart 1 50
Jessamine 1 50
From My Youth Up 1 50
My Little Love 1 50
=Charles Dickens--15 Vols.--"Carleton's Edition."=
Pickwick and Catalogue $1 50
Dombey and Son 1 50
Bleak House 1 50
Martin Chuzzlewit 1 50
Barnaby Rudge--Edwin Drood. 1 50
Child's. England--Miscellaneous 1 50
Christmas Books--Two Cities 1 50
David Copperfield 1 50
Nicholas Nickleby 1 50
Little Dorrit. 1 50
Our Mutual Friend 1 50
Curiosity Shop--Miscellaneous 1 50
Sketches by Boz--Hard Times 1 50
Great Expectations--Italy 1 50
Oliver Twist--Uncommercial 1 50
Sets of Dickens' Complete Works, in 15
vols.--[elegant half calf bindings] 50 00
=Augusta J. Evans' Novels.=
Beulah $1 75
Macaria 1 75
Ines 1 75
St. Elmo $2 00
Vashti 2 00
Infelice (New) 2 00
=May Agnes Fleming's Novels.=
Guy Earlscourt's Wife $1 50
A Wonderful Woman 1 50
A Terrible Secret 1 50
A Mad Marriage 1 50
Norine's Revenge 1 50
One Night's Mystery 1 50
Kate Danton 1 50
Silent and True 1 50
Heir of Charlton 1 50
Carried by Storm 1 50
Lost for a Woman 1 50
A Wife's Tragedy 1 50
A Changed Heart 1 50
Pride and Passion 1 50
Sharing Her Crime (New) 1 50
=Allan Pinkerton's Works.=
Expressmen and Detectives $1 50
Mollie Maguires and Detectives 1 50
Somnambulists and Detectives 1 50
Claude Melnotte and Detectives 1 50
Criminal Reminiscences, etc. 1 50
Rail-Road Forger, etc. 1 50
Bank Robbers and Detectives 1 50
Gypsies and Detectives 1 50
Spiritualists and Detectives 1 50
Model Town and Detectives 1 50
Strikers, Communists, etc. 1 50
Mississippi Outlaws, etc. 1 50
Bucholz and Detectives 1 50
=Bertha Clay's Novels.=
Thrown on the World $1 50
A Bitter Atonement 1 50
Love Works Wonders 1 50
Evelyn's Folly 1 50
Under a Shadow (New) 1 50
A Woman's Temptation 1 50
Repented at Leisure 1 50
Between Two Loves 1 50
Lady Damer's Secret 1 50
A Struggle for a Ring (New) 1 50
="New York Weekly" Series.=
Brownie's Triumph--Sheldon $1 50
The Forsaken Bride. do. 1 50
Earle Wayne's Nobility. do. 1 50
A New Book. do. 1 50
His Other Wife--Ashleigh 1 50
Curse of Everleigh--Pierce 1 50
Peerless Cathleen--Agnew 1 50
Faithful Margaret--Ashmore 1 50
Nick Whiffles--Robinson 1 50
Grinder Papers--Dallas 1 50
Lady Leonora--Conklin 1 50
=Miriam Coles Harris' Novels.=
Rutledge $1 50
Frank Warrington 1 50
Louie's Last Term, St. Mary's 1 50
A Perfect Adonis 1 50
Missy (New) 1 50
The Sutherlands 1 50
St. Philips 1 50
Round Hearts for Children 1 50
Richard Vandermarck 1 50
Happy-Go-Lucky 1 50
=A. S. Roe's Select Stories.=
True to the Last $1 50
The Star and the Cloud 1 50
How Could He Help it? 1 50
A Long Look Ahead 1 50
I've Been Thinking 1 50
To Love and to be Loved 1 50
=Julie P. Smith's Novels.=
Widow Goldsmith's Daughter $1 50
Chris and Otho 1 50
Ten Old Maids 1 50
His Young Wife 1 50
Lucy (New) 1 50
The Widower 1 50
The Married Belle 1 50
Courting and Farming 1 50
Kiss and be Friends 1 50
=Artemas Ward.=
Complete Comic Writings--With Biography, Portrait
and 50 illustrations $1 50
=The Game of Whist.=
Pole on Whist--The English standard work.
With the "Portland Rules" $ 75
=Victor Hugo's Great Novel.=
Les Miserables--Translated from the French.
The only complete edition $1 50
=Mrs. Hill's Cook Book.=
Mrs. A. P. Hill's New Southern Cookery
Book, and domestic receipts $2 00
=Carleton's Popular Quotations.=
Carleton's New Hand-Book--Familiar Quotations,
with their authorship $1 50
Carleton's Classical Dictionary--Condensed
Mythology for popular use 75
=Celia E. Gardner's Novels.=
Stolen Waters. (In verse) $1 50
Broken Dreams. do. 1 50
Compensation. do. 1 50
A Twisted Skein. do. 1 50
Tested 1 50
Rich Medway 1 50
A Woman's Wiles 1 50
Terrace Roses 1 50
="New York Weekly" Series.=
Thrown on the World. $1 50
A Bitter Atonement. 1 50
Love Works Wonders. 1 50
Evelyn's Folly. 1 50
Lady Damer's Secret. 1 50
A Woman's Temptation. 1 50
Repented at Leisure. 1 50
Between Two Loves. 1 50
Peerless Cathleen. 1 50
Brownie's Triumph. 1 50
The Forsaken Bride. 1 50
His Other Wife. 1 50
Nick Whiffles. 1 50
Lady Leonore. 1 50
The Grinder Papers. 1 50
Faithful Margaret. 1 50
Curse of Everleigh. 1 50
=Artemas Ward.=
Complete Comic Writings--With Biography, Portrait,
and 50 illustrations. $1 50
=Charles Dickens.=
Dickens' Parlor Table Album of Illustrations--with
descriptive text. $2 50
=M. M. Pomeroy= ("=Brick=").
Sense. A serious book. $1 50
Gold Dust.--Do. 1 50
Our Saturday Nights. 1 50
Nonsense. (A comic book). 1 50
Brick-dust.--Do. 1 50
Home Harmonies. 1 50
=Ernest Renan's French Works.=
The Life of Jesus. Translated. $1 75
Lives of the Apostles.--Do. 1 75
The Life of St. Paul. Translated. 1 75
The Bible in India--By Jacolliot. 2 00
=G. W. Carleton.=
Our Artist in Cuba, Peru, Spain, and Algiers--150
Caricatures of travel. $1 00
=Miscellaneous Publications.=
The Children's Fairy Geography--With hundreds of beautiful illustrations.
$2 50
Hawk-eyes--A comic book by "The Burlington Hawkeye Man." Illustrated.
1 50
Among the Thorns--A new novel by Mrs. Mary Lowe Dickinson.
1 50
Our Daughters--A talk with mothers, by Marion Harland, author of "Alone,"
50
Redbirds Christmas Story--An illustrated Juvenile. By Mary J. Holmes.
50
Carleton's Popular Readings--Edited by Mrs. Anna Randall Diehl.
1 50
The Culprit Fay--Joseph Rodman Drake's Poem. With 100 illustrations.
2 00
L'Assommoir--English Translation from Zola's famous French novel.
1 00
Parlor Amusements--Games, Tricks, and Home Amusements, by F. Bellew.
1 00
Love [L'Amour]--Translation from Michelet's famous French work.
1 50
Woman [La Femme].--Do.--Do.--Do.
1 50
Verdant Green--A racy English college Story. With 200 comic illustrations.
1 00
Solid for Mulhooly--The Sharpest Political Satire of the Day.
1 00
A Northern Governess at the Sunny South--By Professor J. H. Ingraham.
1 50
Laus Veneris, and other Poems--By Algernon Charles Swinburne.
1 50
Birds of a Feather Flock Together--By Edward A. Sothern, the actor.
1 00
Beatrice Cenci--from the Italian novel, with Guido's celebrated portrait.
1 50
Morning Glories--A charming collection of Children's stories. By Louisa Alcot.
1 00
Some Women of To-day--A novel by Mrs. Dr. Wm. H. White.
1 50
From New York to San Francisco--By Mrs. Frank Leslie. Illustrated.
1 50
Why Wife and I Quarreled--A Poem by author "Betsey and I are out."
1 00
West India Pickles--A yacht Cruise in the Tropics. By W. P. Talboys.
1 00
Threading My Way--The Autobiography of Robert Dale Owen.
1 50
Debatable Land between this World and Next--Robert Dale Owen.
2 00
Lights and Shadows of Spiritualism--By D. D. Home, the Medium.
2 00
Yachtman's Primer--Instructions for Amateur Sailors.
By Warren.
50
The Fall of Man--A Darwinian Satire, by author of "New Gospel of Peace."
50
The Chronicles of Gotham--A New York Satire.--Do.--Do.
25
Tales from the Operas--A collection of stories based upon the Opera plots.
1 00
Ladies and Gentlemen's Etiquette Book of the best Fashionable Society.
1 00
Self Culture in Conversation, Letter-Writing, and Oratory.
1 00
Love and Marriage--A book for young people.
By Frederick Saunders.
1 00
Under the Rose--A Capital book, by the author of "East Lynne,"
1 00
So Dear a Dream--A novel by Miss Grant, author of "The Sun Maid".
1 00
Give me thine Heart--A Capital new Love Story by Roe.
1 00
Meeting Her Fate--A charming novel by the author of "Aurora Floyd".
1 00
The New York Cook-Book--Book of Domestic Receipts. By Mrs. Astor.
1 00
=Miscellaneous Works.=
Dawn to Noon--By Violet Fane $1 50
Constance's Fate--Do. 1 50
French Love Songs--Translated 50
A Bad Boy's First Reader 10
Lion Jack--By P. T. Barnum 1 50
Jack in the Jungle--Do. 1 50
Cats, Cooks, Etc--By Edw. T. Ely 50
Drumming as a Fine Art 50
How to Win in Wall Street 50
The Life of Sarah Bernhardt 25
Arctic Travels--Isaac I. Hayes 1 50
College Tramps--Fred. A. Stokes 1 50
Gospels in Poetry--E. H. Kimball 1 50
Me--By Mrs. Spencer W. Coe 50
N.Y. to San Francisco--Leslie 1 50
Don Quixote--Illustrated $1 00
Arabian Nights--Do. 1 00
Robinson Crusoe--Do 1 00
Swiss Family Robinson--Illus. 1 00
Debatable Land--R. Dale Owen 2 00
Threading My Way.--Do. 1 50
Spiritualism--By D. D. Home 2 00
Fanny Fern Memorials 2 00
Orpheus C. Kerr--4 vols. in one 2 00
Northern Ballads--E. L. Anderson 1 00
Offenbach's Tour in America 1 50
Stories about Doctors--Jeffreson 1 50
Stories about Lawyers--Do. 1 50
Mrs. Spriggins.--By Widow Bedott 1 50
How to Make Money--Davies 1 50
=Miscellaneous Novels.=
Doctor Antonio--By Ruffini $1 50
Beatrice Cenci--From the Italian 1 50
Madame--By Frank Lee Benedict 1 50
A Late Remorse--Do. 1 50
Hammer and Anvil--Do. 1 50
Her Friend Laurence--Do. 1 50
Prairie Flower--Emerson Bennett 1 50
Among the Thorns--Dickinson 1 50
Women of To-day--Mrs. W.H. White 1 50
Braxton's Bar--R. M. Daggett 1 50
Miss Beck--Tilbury Holt 1 50
Sub Rosa--Chas. T. Murray 50
Hilda and I--E. Bedell Benjamin 1 50
A College Widow--C. H. Seymour 1 50
Old M'sieur's Secret--Translation 50
Petticoats and Slippers 50
Shiftless Folks--Fannie Smith 1 50
Peace Pelican.--Do. 1 50
Price of a Life--R. Forbes Sturgis 1 50
Hidden Power--T. H. Tibbles 1 50
Two Brides--Bernard O'Reilly 1 50
Sorry Her Lot--Miss Grant 1 00
Two of Us--Calista Halsey 75
Cupid on Crutches--A. B. Wood 75
Parson Thorne--E. M. Buckingham 1 50
Marston Hall--L. Ella Byrd 1 50
Ange--Florence Marryatt 1 00
Errors--Ruth Carter 1 50
Unmistakable Flirtation--Garner 75
Wild Oats--Florence Marryatt 1 50
Widow Cherry--B. L. Farjeon 25
Solomon Isaacs.--Do. 50
Edith Murray--Joanna Mathews 1 50
Doctor Mortimer--Fannie Bean 1 50
Outwitted at Last--S. A. Gardner 1 50
Vesta Vane--L. King, R. 1 50
Louise and I--C. R. Dodge 1 50
My Queen--By Sandette 1 50
Fallen among Thieves--Rayne 1 50
San Miniato--Mrs. Hamilton 1 00
All For Her--A Tale of New York 1 50
All for Him--Author "All for Her" 1 50
For Each Other.--Do. 1 50
The Baroness--Joaquin Miller 1 50
One Fair Woman.--Do. 1 50
Saint Leger--Richard B. Kimball $1 75
Was He Successful?--Do. 1 75
Undercurrents of Wall St.--Do. 1 75
Romance of Student Life.--Do. 1 75
To-day.--Do. 1 75
Life in San Domingo.--Do. 1 75
Henry Powers, Banker.--Do. 1 75
Led Astray--Octave Feuillet 1 50
She Loved Him Madly--Borys 1 50
Thick and Thin--Mery 1 50
So Fair yet False--Chavette 1 50
A Fatal Passion--C. Bernard 1 50
A Woman's Case--Bessie Turner 1 50
Marguerite's Journal--for Girls 1 50
Rose of Memphis--W. C. Falkner 1 50
Spell-Bound--Alexandre Dumas 75
Heart's Delight--Mrs. Alderdice 1 50
Another Man's Wife--Mrs. Hartt 1 50
Purple and Fine Linen--Fawcett 1 50
Pauline's Trial--L. D. Courtney 1 50
The Forgiving Kiss--M. Loth 1 75
Flirtation--A West Point novel 1 50
Loyal unto Death 1 50
That Awful Boy 50
That Bridget of Ours 50
Phemie Frost--Ann S. Stephens 1 50
Charette--An American novel 1 50
Fairfax--John Esten Cooke 1 50
Hilt to Hilt.--Do. 1 50
Out of the Foam.--Do. 1 50
Hammer and Rapier.--Do. 1 50
Warwick--By M. T. Walworth 1 75
Lulu.--Do. 1 75
Hotspur--Do. 1 75
Stormcliff.--Do. 1 75
Delaplaine.--Do. 1 75
Beverly.--Do. 1 75
Kenneth--Sallie A. Brock 1 75
Heart Hungry--Westmoreland 1 50
Clifford Troupe.--Do. 1 50
Silcott Mill--Maria D. Deslonde 1 50
John Maribel.--Do. 1 50
Conquered--By a New Author 1 50
Janet--An English novel 1 50
Tales from the Popular Operas 1 50
* * * * *
POPULAR NEW BOOKS.
_"NEW YORK WEEKLY" SERIES._
Messrs. Street & Smith, publishers of _The New York Weekly_, having been
requested by their readers to issue their best and most popular Stories
in Book Form, have consented, and have now made arrangements for such
publications with the well-known New York House of
G. W. CARLETON & CO., Publishers.
The intention is to issue in Book Form such Novels, Stories, Humorous
Writings, etc., as have run through the _The New York Weekly_, and have
proved to be the most popular. Thus the millions of _New York Weekly_
readers, who have been particularly pleased and delighted with certain
stories in the Paper, and who would like to have them in Book Form for
preservation and re-reading, will have an opportunity to buy such works,
and gradually form a beautiful
LIBRARY OF CHOICE BOOKS,
the very cream of the contributions to _The New York Weekly_.
_The volumes already published are as follows:_
=Thrown on the World.=--A Novel, by BERTHA M. CLAY.
=Peerless Cathleen.=--A Novel, by CORA AGNEW.
=Faithful Margaret.=--A Novel, by ANNIE ASHMORE.
=Nick Whiffles.=--A Novel, by DR. J. H. ROBINSON.
=Lady Leonora.=--A Novel, by CARRIE CONKLIN.
=Charity Grinder Papers.=--By MARY KYLE DALLAS.
=A Bitter Atonement.=--A Novel, by BERTHA M. CLAY.
=Curse of Everleigh.=--By HELEN CORWIN PIERCE.
=Love Works Wonders.=--A Novel, by BERTHA M. CLAY.
=Evelyn's Folly.=--A Novel, by BERTHA M. CLAY.
=Lady Damer's Secret.=--A Novel, by BERTHA M. CLAY.
=A Woman's Temptation.=--A Novel, by BERTHA M. CLAY.
=Brownie's Triumph.=--A Novel, by Mrs. GEORGIE SHELDON.
=Repented at Leisure.=--A Novel, by BERTHA M. CLAY.
=Forsaken Bride.=--A Novel, by Mrs. GEORGIE SHELDON.
=Between Two Loves.=--A Novel, by BERTHA M. CLAY.
=His Other Wife.=--A Novel, by ROSE ASHLEIGH.
==>These books are handsomely printed, and elegantly bound in cloth,
with gold back stamps, price, $1.50 each.
==>Sold by Booksellers everywhere--and sent by mail, _postage free_, on
receipt of price. $1.50, by
=G. W. CARLETON & CO., Publishers, Madison Square, New York.=
* * * * *
MRS. MARY J. HOLMES' WORKS.
TEMPEST AND SUNSHINE.
ENGLISH ORPHANS.
HOMESTEAD ON HILLSIDE.
'LENA RIVERS.
MEADOW BROOK.
DORA DEANE.
COUSIN MAUDE.
MARIAN GREY.
EDITH LYLE.
DAISY THORNTON. (_New_).
DARKNESS AND DAYLIGHT.
HUGH WORTHINGTON.
CAMERON PRIDE
ROSE MATHER.
ETHELYN'S MISTAKE.
MILLBANK.
EDNA BROWNING.
WEST LAWN.
MILDRED.
FORREST HOUSE. (_New_).
OPINIONS OF THE PRESS.
"Mrs. Holmes' stories are universally read. Her admirers are numberless.
She is in many respects without a rival in the world of fiction. Her
characters are always life-like, and she makes them talk and act like
human beings, subject to the same emotions, swayed by the same passions,
and actuated by the same motives which are common among men and women of
every day existence. Mrs. Holmes is very happy in portraying domestic
life. Old and young peruse her stories with great delight, for she
writes in a style that all can comprehend."--_New York Weekly._
=The North American Review=, vol. 81, page 557, says of Mrs. Mary J.
Holmes' novel, "English Orphans":--"With this novel of Mrs. Holmes' we
have been charmed, and so have a pretty numerous circle of
discriminating readers to whom we have lent it. The characterization is
exquisite, especially so far as concerns rural and village life, of
which there are some pictures that deserve to be hung up in perpetual
memory of types of humanity fast becoming extinct. The dialogues are
generally brief, pointed, and appropriate. The plot seems simple, so
easily and naturally is it developed and consummated. Moreover, the
story thus gracefully constructed and written, inculcates without
obtruding, not only pure Christian morality in general, but, with
especial point and power, the dependence of true success on character,
and of true respectability on merit."
"Mrs. Holmes' stories are all of a domestic character, and their
interest, therefore, is not so intense as if they were more highly
seasoned with sensationalism, but it is of a healthy and abiding
character. Almost any new book which her publisher might choose to
announce from her pen would get an immediate and general reading. The
interest in her tales begins at once, and is maintained to the close.
Her sentiments are so sound, her sympathies so warm and ready, and her
knowledge of manners, character, and the varied incidents of ordinary
life is so thorough, that she would find it difficult to write any other
than an excellent tale if she were to try it."--_Boston Banner._
==>The volumes are all handsomely printed and bound in cloth, sold
everywhere, and sent by mail, _postage free_, on receipt of price [$1.50
each], by
G. W. CARLETON & CO., Publishers,
_Madison Square, New York._
* * * * *
A VALUABLE NEW BOOK
_That should be on every Scholar's Table._
CARLETON'S HAND-BOOK
OF
POPULAR QUOTATIONS.
A book of _Ready Reference_ for such phrases, extracts and Familiar
Quotations from popular authors, as are oftenest met with in general
literature; together with their authorship and position in the original.
Embracing, also, the best list of quotations from foreign languages ever
published. Elegantly printed and bound. Price, $1.50.
If you want to _find_ any Familiar Quotation, appropriate to any
particular Subject or Sentiment--this book will give it to you.
If you want to know who is the author, and _where_ any particular
Familiar Quotation comes from--this book will tell you.
If you remember _part_ of a Familiar Quotation and want to know the
whole of it, and know it _exactly_--this book will tell you.
If you want to know the exact meaning and correctness of any Latin,
French or Familiar Quotation, in any _Foreign language_--this book will
tell you.
If you simply want a delightful book to have lying upon your table,
convenient to pick up and entertain you with charming and Familiar
thoughts and Quotations of all authors--this is the book that will
exactly suit you. *** There's none more fascinating in the English
language.
*** The demand for this remarkable work is enormous. The publishers can
hardly print them fast enough. They are for sale by every bookseller,
and will be sent by mail, _postage free_, on receipt of, the price,
$1.50, by
G. W. CARLETON & CO., Publishers,
_Madison Square, New York._
CHARLES DICKENS' WORKS.
A NEW EDITION.
Among the many editions of the works of this greatest of English
Novelists, there has not been until _now_ one that entirely satisfies
the public demand.--Without exception, they each have some strong
distinctive objection,--either the form and dimensions of the volumes
are unhandy--or, the type is small and indistinct--or, the illustrations
are unsatisfactory--or, the binding is poor--or, the price is too high.
An entirely new edition is _now_, however, published by G. W. Carleton &
Co., of New York, which, in every respect, completely satisfies the
popular demand.--It is known as
"=Carleton's New Illustrated Edition.="
COMPLETE IN 15 VOLUMES.
The size and form is most convenient for holding,--the type is entirely
new, and of a clear and open character that has received the approval of
the reading community in other works.
The illustrations are by the original artists chosen by Charles Dickens
himself--and the paper, printing, and binding are of an attractive and
substantial character.
This beautiful new edition is complete in 15 volumes--at the extremely
reasonable price of $1.50 per volume, as follows:--
1.--PICKWICK PAPERS AND CATALOGUE.
2.--OLIVER TWIST.--UNCOMMERCIAL TRAVELLER.
3.--DAVID COPPERFIELD.
4.--GREAT EXPECTATIONS.--ITALY AND AMERICA.
5.--DOMBEY AND SON.
6.--BARNABY RUDGE AND EDWIN DROOD.
7.--NICHOLAS NICKLEBY.
8.--CURIOSITY SHOP AND MISCELLANEOUS.
9.--BLEAK HOUSE.
10.--LITTLE DORRIT.
11.--MARTIN CHUZZLEWIT.
12.--OUR MUTUAL FRIEND.
13.--CHRISTMAS BOOKS.--TALE OF TWO CITIES.
14.--SKETCHES BY BOZ AND HARD TIMES.
15.--CHILD'S ENGLAND AND MISCELLANEOUS.
The first volume--Pickwick Papers--contains an alphabetical catalogue of
all of Charles Dickens' writings, with their exact positions in the
volumes.
This edition is sold by Booksellers, everywhere--and single specimen
copies will be forwarded by mail, _postage free_, on receipt of price,
$1.50, by
G. W. CARLETON & CO., Publishers,
Madison Square, New York.
* * * * *
Typographical errors corrected by the etext transcriber:
Hercules was the son of Jupiter and Almena.=> Hercules was the son of
Jupiter and Alcmena. {pg 11}
Pelops and and Hippodamia=> Pelops and Hippodamia {pg 25}
mathemathics=> mathematics {pg 57}
asissted=> assisted {pg 69}
briqing the charioteer=> bribing the charioteer {pg 106}
ane Minerva=> and Minerva {pg 112}
*** End of this LibraryBlog Digital Book "Carleton's Condensed Classical Dictionary" ***
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