Obrazy na stronie
PDF
ePub

The

bo the oxyde of iron. We may hence conclude, that | salts, were perfectly known to them They made the green pigment is a mixture of a little ochre, with a wine, vinegar, and even beer. Their method of empulverulent glass, made by vitrifying the oxydes of cop-balming, whatever it was, may be reckoned among per and iron with sand and soda. 2. The blue pigment the evidences of their chemical knowledge. is a pulverulent blue glass, of like composition, without statements on this subject by Herodotus and Diodorus the ochreous admixture, brightened with a little of the Siculus are very unsatisfactory; and there is reason chalky matter used in the distemper preparation. 3. to believe, as it was the object of the embalmers to The red pigment is merely a red earthy bole. 4. The shroud their art in mystery, that those writers were black is bone black, mixed with a little gum, and con- either totally deceived, or, at least, that the mummify taining some traces of iron. 5. The white is nothing ing drug was artfully concealed from their knowledge but a very pure chalk, containing hardly any alumina, Another important branch of the domestic arts was and a mere trace of iron. 6. The yellow pigment is Pottery, in which the Egyptians displayed a skill not a yellow iron ochre." (Wilkinson, vol. 3, p. 301.) at all inferior to that of the Greeks; and they who supNext in importance to weaving must be ranked Metal- pose that graceful forms in pottery, porcelain, bronze, lurgy. As far as we can judge from the colour, which or even more precious materials, were indigenous is always green, brass seems to have been constantly to Greece alone, will find many things to undeceive employed where in other nations iron would be. The them in the paintings of Egypt. The country poswar-chariots appear to be entirely of the former metal. sessed a species of clay extremely well adapted to Their green colour, as well as their shape, and the this purpose, and which is still found there.` (Rey、 lightness and elegance of their wheels, are thought nier, Economics des Egypt., p. 274.) Coptos was clearly to indicate this. The arms, moreover, of the the chief seat of this branch of industry, as Keft Egyptians appear to be entirely all of brass, and not (or Kuft), in its immediate vicinity, is at the present only the swords, but the bows also, and quivers are day. The vases thus manufactured served for holdmade of it. These, together with the instruments for ing the water of the Nile, to which they were believed cutting that are found depicted among the hieroglyph- to impart an agreeable coolness, an opinion that preics, are always green. In the infancy of the arts and vails even in modern times. Besides, however, being sciences, the difficulty of working iron might long applied to household purposes, they were used alsɔ for withhold the secret of its superiority over copper or the purpose of holding the mummies of the sacred bronze; but it cannot reasonably be supposed that a animals, such as the ibis and others. The vases nation so far advanced, and so eminently skilled in the depicted on the monuments of Egypt are sometimes art of working metals as the Egyptians, should have adorned with the most brilliant colours. As to the remained ignorant of its use, even if we had no evi- elegance of form and ornament in domestic and other dence of its having been known to the Greeks and articles, the Egyptians can stand comparison with any other people; and the constant employment of bronze other nation of antiquity, the Greeks not excepted. arms and implements is not a sufficient argument Their couches and seats might serve as patterns even against their knowledge of iron, since we find the for our own; their silver tripods, beautiful baskets, Greeks and Romans made the same things of bronze, and distaffs, as we see them in paintings, were known long after the period when iron was universally known. even in the days of the Odyssey (4, 128), and their If we reject this view of the question, we must come musical instruments exceed those of modern times in at once to the conclusion that the Egyptians possessed the beauty and variety of their shape. Those who an art of hardening copper and bronze which is now wish to examine more fully into this branch of our lost to the world. The skill of the Egyptians in com- subject are referred to Rosellini's great work, or the pounding metals is abundantly proved by the vases, more accessible one of Wilkinson. The productions mirrors, arms, and implements of bronze discovered at of the goldsmiths and silversmiths of Thebes are exThebes; and the numerous methods they adopted for hibited by Rosellini, and they fully demonstrate the varying the composition of bronze by a judicious mix- high pitch of refinement to which they had brought ture of alloys, are shown in the many qualities of the working of the precious metals. He exhibits gold the metal. They had even the secret of giving to and silver turcens, urns, vases, banqueting cups, &c., bronze or brass blades a certain degree of elasticity, of the most exquisitely beautiful workmanship, and of as may be seen in the dagger of the Berlin museum. the most tasteful as well as elegant forms. Another remarkable feature in their bronze is the re- veying them, the classical reader will be convinced sistance it offers to the effects of the atmosphere; that Homer drew little on his imagination in describing some continuing smooth and bright, though buried for the gift of plate made to Helen by the wife of the ages, and since exposed to the damp of European Egyptian king Thone. But Homer ascribes still climates. (Wilkinson, vol. 3, p. 253.) Other lost arts more extraordinary wonders to the goldsmiths of the in metallurgy may be evidenced by the well-known same time. They must have succeeded in uniting the fact, that the Hebrew legislator inferentially ascribes most skilful mechanical clockwork with the workmanto the Egyptian chemists the art of making gold liquid, ship of gold; for he describes golden statues, thrones, and of retaining it in that state. This we have not and footstools moving about as if instinct with life. the power to do. Still, however, it must be confessed, It would appear, indeed, that we had made, at the that the Egyptians cannot properly be considered as at present day, little or perhaps no improvement on the any time acquainted with the science of chemistry; forms of the vases and vessels to which we have above though they were early made aware of various chemi-referred, and that an Egyptian buffet or sideboard, with cal facts, and many and indubitable proofs of this have been collected in one or two not inconsiderable works devoted to the subject. Their progress in the manufacture of not only white but coloured glass may also be instanced. Seneca informs us that they made artificial gems of extraordinary beauty. (Epist., 90.) They had a method of purifying natron, and of extracting potash from cinders. They prepared lime by the calcination of calcareous stones, and had an intimate knowledge of the uses to which it may be applied, as also that it renders the carbonate of soda caustic. Litharge, together with the vitriolic and many other

In sur

all its details, not excluding dishes, plates, knives, and spoons, near four thousand years ago, bore a striking resemblance to the sideboards of modern palaces and villas. Still farther, a survey of the trades and manufactures of Egypt, as afforded by the ancient paintings, exhibits, in a great degree, the same tools, implements, and processes, as are employed in workshops and manufactories at the present day. The whole process of manufacturing silk and cotton, with all its details of reeling, carding, weaving, dying, and patterning. may be more especially named. (Foreign Quarterly Review, No. 32, p. 308, seqq.)

16. Trade of Egypt.

ject to fewer restraints; the exchange of Egyptian commodities was extended; and, as Herodotus exNature has destined Egypt, by its products, its gen-pressly remarks, agriculture and individual wealth eral character, and its geographical position, for one of were never so much improved in Egypt as under this the principal trading countries of the globe. Neither system of free trade. The Egyptian kings now acthe despotism under which it has groaned for centu-quired a fleet, the materials for which, or the vessels ries, nor the bloody feuds and wars of which it has so themselves, they could procure from the Phoenicians or often been the scene, have operated, for any length of the Greeks. Neco, the successor of Psammetichus, time, to deprive it of these advantages; the purposes and the conqueror of Jerusalem (Herod., 2, 159.-Comof Nature may be impeded, but they cannot be wholly pare Kings, book 2, ch. 23, and Jeremiah, ch. 46), destroyed. The situation of Egypt, a fertile district, formed the project of uniting the Nile to the Red Sea abounding in the first necessaries of life, between the by a canal: this canal was not completed till the time arid deserts of Asia and Africa, has in all ages given of Darius I., the Persian king. The object of the Phait a value which, in another position, it could not have.raohs and the monarchs of Persia was to facilitate the From the time of Jacob to the present day, it has been transportation of commodities from the Red Sea to the granary of the less fertile neighbouring countries Egypt; for the Egyptians had long been accustomed The natural facilities for internal communication were, to receive the products of India and Arabia up this at an early period, increased by the formation of canals, gulf. This artificial channel was neglected on acwhich united the various arms of the river that bound count of the difficulty of navigating the northern part or flow through the Delta. From Syene to about lat. of the Red Sea; it existed under the Ptolemies, but 31° north there is one uninterrupted boat-navigation, a land communication was also formed between Copwhich is seldom impeded for want of water. The contos and the ports of Myos-hormos and Berenice on the veyance of articles up the stream is favoured at cer- gulf, and this remained for a long time the great comtain seasons by the steady winds from the north. A mercial road between the western and the eastern description of the Nile-boat, called Baris, is given by world. In Upper Egypt, the city of Thebes was once Herodotus (2, 96). One of the great national festivals, the centre of commerce for Africa and Arabia: under that of Artemis at Bubastis, was celebrated during the its colossal porticoes and market-houses, the wares of annual inundation; the people, in boats, sailed from southern Africa, and the products of Arabia and India, one town to another, and their numbers were increased were collected. Its fame had spread, probably through by the inhabitants of every town that was visited. As the Phoenician traders, as far as the country of the Hoit was an idle time for the agriculturists, like the winter meric poems (Il., 9, 381). A modern traveller, Denon, of other climates, it was spent in carousing and drunk- standing among the ruins of Thebes, could feel and enness. The quantity of wine consumed was immense, comprehend the advantages of its situation: he could and the whole of it was procured by giving in exchange compute the number of days' journey which separated Egyptian commodities. The Egyptians were never a him from the towns of Arabia, the emporium of Menation of sailors, for their country furnished no mate- roë, and the cities of central Africa. In the mountrials for building large vessels. Till the time of Psam- ains east of Thebes, the precious metals were once metichus, foreigners, though allowed to trade there, found the mines were worked by prisoners of war were subject to many strict regulations, and were or by slaves. Agatharchides, a Greek geographer, regarded as suspicious persons. Egypt, being a (Geogr. Gr. Min., vol. 1, p. 212, ed. Hudson), in the grain-country, would be more likely to receive the time of the sixth Ptolemy, visited these mines, of visits of foreigners, than to make, herself, any active which he has given a most exact description. Thus commercial speculations. The later Pharaohs, after Thebes possessed, in the precious metals, one of those Psammetichus, as also the Ptolemics, could only then articles of commerce which invite strangers. Membuild fleets when the woods of Phoenicia were under phis, in Lower Egypt, was the centre of commerce their control; and it is well-known what bloody wars when Herodotus visited Egypt. The gold, the ivory, were carried on for the possession of these regions be- and the slaves of Africa, the salt of the desert, wine tween the Ptolemies and Seleucida. It may be easily imported from Greece and Phoenicia twice a year, with imagined, too, that the Tyrians and Sidonians were the products of India and Yemen, were collected in never anxious to make the Egyptians a maritime peo- this market. In exchange, the merchants received the ple, even if the latter had possessed the inclination to precious metals, grain, and linen (or perhaps cotton) become such. The true reason why the Egyptians cloths, which Herodotus compares with those of Colforbade all foreigners to approach their coast, is to be chis. Amasis, who was a usurper, and a prince fond found in the peculiar character of early commerce. of foreign luxuries, did not scruple to make great inAll the nations that trafficked on the Mediterranean novations. He admitted foreigners more freely into were at that time pirates, with whom the carrying Lower Egypt, and appointed Naucratis, on the Canoaway the inhabitants from the coasts and selling them pic branch, as the residence of the Greek merchants. for slaves had become a lucrative branch of commerce. He carried his liberality so far as to permit non-resiIt was natural, then, that a people who had no ships dent Greeks to build temples to their national gods, of their own to oppose such visitants, should forbid and use the precincts as market-places: several Ionian them, under any pretext, to approach their coasts. and Dorian cities of Asia, together with the town of Passages occur, it is true, in the ancient writers, Mytilene, built a noble temple, called the Hellenium, which render it doubtful whether there were not some and, by their joint votes, appointed the superintendents exceptions to what has just been remarked. Homer of the market and the commercial establishment. makes Menelaus to have sailed to Egypt, and Diodo- Some other Greek towns also followed their example. rus Siculus mentions a maritime city, named Thonis, (Long's Anc. Geogr., p. 64, seqq. - - Heeren's Ideen, to which he assigns a great antiquity. The colonies, vol. 2, pt. 2, p. 373, seqq.) too, that are said to have sailed from Egypt to Greece, as, for example, those of Danaus and Cecrops, suppose an acquaintance with the art of navigation. The ques- The same veneration for ancient usage and the stern ion, however, admits of a serious consideration, wheth- regulations of the priesthood, which forbade any innoer the Phoenicians were not in these cases the agents of vation in the form of the human figure, particularly in commerce and transportation. The reign of Psam- subjects connected with religion, fettered the genius metichus and his successors changed the character of of the Egyptian artists, and prevented its development. the Egyptians, or at least altered the old and settled The same formal outline, the same attitudes and pospolity of the country. Foreign merchants were sub-tures of the body, the same conventional mode of rep

[ocr errors]

17. Style of Egyptian Art.

scarcely be expected to make any great effort to rise, or to succeed in the attempt; and the same union of parts into a whole, the same preference for profile, are observable in these as in the human figure. It must, however, be allowed, that, in general, the character and form of animals were admirably portrayed; the parts were put together with greater truth; and the same license was not resorted to as in the shoulders and other portions of the human body. (Wilkinson, vol. 3, p. 263, seqq.)

18. Egyptian Architecture.

resenting the different parts, were adhered to at the | the same rigid style; but genius once cramped can latest as at the earliest periods. No improvements, resulting from experience and observation, were admitted in the mode of drawing the figure; no attempt was made to copy nature, or to give proper action to the limbs. Certain rules, certain models, had been established by law, and the faulty conceptions of earlier times were copied and perpetuated by every successive artist. Egyptian bas-relief appears to have been, in its origin, a mere copy of painting, its predecessor. The first attempt to represent the figures of the gods, sacred emblems, and other subjects, consisted in painting simple outlines of them on a flat surface, the details being afterward put in with colour. But, in process of time, these forms were traced on stone with a tool, and the intermediate space between the various figures being afterward cut away, the once level surface assumed the appearance of a bas-relief. It was, in fact, a pictorial representation on stone, which is evidently the character of all the bas-reliefs on Egyptian monuments, and which readily accounts for the imperfect arrangement of their figures. Deficient in conception, and, above all, in a proper knowledge of grouping, they were unable to form those combinations which give true expression. Every picture was made up of isolated parts, put together according to some general notions, but without harmony or preconceived effect. The human face, the whole body, and everything they introduced, were composed, in the same manner, of separate members, placed together one by one, according to their relative situations: the eye, the nose, and other features, composed a face; but the expression of feelings and passions was entirely wanting; and the countenance of the king, whether charging an enemy's phalanx in the heat of battle, or peaceably offering incense in a sombre temple, presented the same outline, and the same inanimate look. The peculiarity of the front view of an eye, introduced in a profile, is thus accounted for; it was the ordinary representation of that feature added to a profile, and no allowance was made for any change in the position of the head. It was the same with drapery. The figure was first drawn, and the drapery was then added, not as a part of the whole, but as an accessory. They had no general conception, no previous idea of the effect required to distinguish the warrior or the priest, beyond the impression received from costume, or from the subject of which they formed a part; and the same figure was dressed according to the character it was intended to perform. Every portion of a picture was conceived by itself, and inserted as it was wanted to complete the scene; and when the walls of a building, where a subject was to be drawn, had been accurately ruled with squares, the figures were introduced, and fitted to this mechanical arrangement. The members were appended to the body, and these squares regulated their form and distribution, in whatever posture they might be placed. In the paintings of the tombs, greater license was allowed in the representation of subjects relating to private life, the trades, or the manners and occupations of the people; and some indications of perspective in the position of the figures may occasionally be observed; but the attempt was imperfect, and, probably, to an Egyptian eye, unpleasing; for such is the force of habit, that, even where nature is copied, a conventional style is sometimes preferred to a more accurate representation. In the battle scenes on the temples of Thebes, some of the figures representing the monarch pursuing the flying enemy, despatching a hostile chief with his sword, and drawing his bow, as his horses carry his car over the prostrate bodies of the slain, are drawn with much spirit; but still the same imperfections of style and want of truth are observed; there is action, but no sentiment, no expression of the passions, or life in the features. In the representation of animals they appear not to have been restricted to

The earliest inhabitants of Egypt appear to have been of Troglodytic habits, or, in other words, to have inhabited caves. The mountain ranges on either side of the stream would easily supply them with abodes of this kind. From the site of ancient Memphis, until we ascend the Nile beyond Thebes, these mountains are composed of stratified limestone, full of organic remains. Such rocks, it is well known, abound in natural caverns in all eastern countries; and although no cavities are now found in Egypt that do not bear marks of human skill, we have no right to assert that it was not in many cases merely called in for the aid of nature, to smooth and embellish abodes originally provided by her. Much of this rock, too, was of a highly sectile and friable nature, and easily worked, therefore, by the hand of man. When the natural caverns then became insufficient for the growing population, the artificial formation of others would be no difficult task. With the demand, the skill of workmanship would naturally increase; harder limestone would be worked, then the flinty but friable sandstones of the quarries of Selseleh, and, finally, the hard and imperishable rock that still bears the name of the city of Syene. To understand fully the causes which led to the erection of such enormous works by the Egyptians, as still astonish and have for ages astonished the world, we must investigate other circumstances besides those of climate and position. The government of Egypt was monarchical from the very earliest date; and a monarchical and despotic government, if it be only stable, is incontestibly more favourable to the execution of magnificent structures than one more free. Hence one cause for the vast structures of Egypt. The population, too, of the country was probably redundant beyond any modern parallel. Considered as a grain country alone, it was capable of supporting a population three times as great as one of equal extent in a less favoured climate. It produces, besides, those tropical plants which yield more fruit on a given space of ground than any of the vegetables of the temperate zone, and which grow where, from the aridity of the soil, the cereal gramina cannot vegetate. Domestic animals, too, multiply with great rapidity, and the prolific influence of the waters of the Nile is said to extend to the human race. With a population created and supported by such causes, we cannot wonder that a government, commanding without fear of accountabil ity the whole resources of the country, could project and execute works, at which the richest and most pow erful nations of modern times would hesitate. Many causes must have conspired to induce the abandonment of the cavern habitations of the early inhabitants. Be sides the necessity which existed of providing recep tacles for the embalmed bodies of the dead, and for which purpose these caverns would admirably answer, a growing and improving people could not long endure to be shut up in rocky grottoes during the inundation, or to pursue their agricultural labours at other seasons, far from a fixed abode. A remedy for these inconveniences was found in the erection of mounds in the plain, and quays upon the banks of the river, exceeding in elevation its utmost rise, and extended with the increase of population until they could contain important

[ocr errors]

cities. Such artificial mounds are stiil to be seen the Egyptians at a very early period. It consisted of forming the basis of all the important ruins that exist., brick, as appears from monuments, as far back as the When we consider the remarkable skill exhibited by year 1540 before our era, and of stone in B.C. 600.— the Egyptians in the art of stone-cutting, manifested, Before concluding this head it may not be unimportant too, at the most remote period to which we can trace to remark, that the Greek orders of architecture, more them historically, we cannot but ascribe this charac-, especially the Doric and Corinthian, can all be traced teristic taste to something in their original habits. to Egyptian originals. (Description de l'Egypte, t. 1, The first necessities of their ancestors must have given 2, 3, &c. Quatremere de Quincy, de l'Architecture this impulse to the national genius, and determined the Egyptienne. · -American Quarterly Rev., No. 9, p. 1, character which their architecture manifests, down to seqq.-Wilkinson, vol. 2, p. 95, seqq.; vol. 3, p. 316, the latest period of their existence, not merely as an seqq.) independent nation, but as a separate people. In the same way that the Tyrians, and the inhabitants of Palestine, owed to their cedar forests their taste and skill in the workmanship of wood, the Egyptians derived from their original mode of life, from their abundant quarries, and from the facility they found in excavating the rocks into dwellings, the taste for the workmanship of stone which distinguishes them; and this taste explains the high degree of perfection they attained in this art. In inquiring into the origin and principles of Egyptian architecture, certain prominent characters strike us at once that cannot be mistaken. The plans and great outlines of their buildings are remarkable for simplicity and sameness, however diversified they may be in decoration and ornament. Openings are extremely rare, and the interior of their temples is as dark as the primitive caverns themselves; so that, when within them, it is difficult to distinguish between an excavation and a building; the pillars are of enormous diameter, and resemble in their proportions the masses left to support the roofs of mines and quarries. Nay, their hypostyle halls are almost similar in appearance to this kind of excavation; the portals, porticoes, and doors are enclosed in masses, in such a way as to present the appearance of the entrance of a cave; and the roofs of vast stones, lying horizontally, could have been imitated from no shelter erected in the open air. All the buildings yet existing between Denderah and Syene are constructed of a kind of sandstone, furnished in abundance by the quarries of the adjacent country. This stone is composed of quartzose grains, usually united by a calcareous cement. Its colours are grayish, yellowish, or even almost white; some have a slight tinge of rose colour, and others various veins of different shades of yellow. But when forming a part of the mass of a building, they produce an almost uniform effect of colour, namely, a light gray. One great advantage connected with this species of stone is the ease with which it can be wrought; and the mode of its aggregation, and the uniformity of its structure, so far from resisting, offer the greatest facilities for the execution of hieroglyphic and symbolic sculptures. The obelisks and statues, on the other hand, which adorned the approaches and entrances of the sandstone structures, were made of a more costly and enduring substance, the granite of Syene, the Cataracts, and Elephantine. The most important of the rocks of this species is the rose-granite, remarkable for the beauty of its colours, the large size of its crystals, its hardness and durability. A part of the monuments which have been made of it have been preserved almost uninjured for many centuries. The mode of building among the Egyptians was very peculiar. They placed in their columns rude stones upon each other, after merely smoothing the surfaces of contact, and the figure of the column, with all its decorations, was finished after it was set up. In their walls, the outer and inner surfaces of the stones were also left unfinished, to be reduced to shape by one general process, after the whole mass had been erected. Of the private architecture of the Egyptians, but few remains have come down to us. It was composed chiefly of perishable materials, namely, of bricks dried in the sun those burned in a kiln being rarely employed, except in damp situations The arch appears to have been known to

ELIA, I. Gens, a celebrated Plebeian house, of which there were various branches, such as the Pati, Lamia, Tuberones, Galli, &c.-II. The wife of Sylla. (Plut., Vit. Syll.)-III. Patina, of the family of the Tuberos, and wife of the Emperor Claudius. She was repudiated, in order to make way for Messalina. (Sueton., Claud., 26.)—IV. Lex, a law proposed by the tribune Elius Tubero, and enacted A.U.C. 559, for sending two colonies into Bruttium. (Liv., 34, 53.)—V. Another, commonly called Lex Ela et Fusia. These were, in fact, two separate laws, though they are sometimes joined by Cicero. The first (Lex Ælia) was brought forward by the consul Q. Elius Pætus, A.U.C. 586, and ordained, that when the comitia were to be held for passing laws, the magistrates, or the augurs by their authority, might take observations from the heavens, and, if the omens were unfavourable, might prevent or dissolve the assembly. And also, that any other magistrate of equal or greater authority than he who presided, might declare that he had heard thunder or seen lightning, and in this way put off the assembly to some other time.-The second (Lex Furia or Fusia), proposed either by the consul Furius, or by one Fusius or Fufius, was passed A.U.C. 617, and ordained that it should not be lawful to enact laws on any dies fastus. VI. Sentia Lex, brought forward by the consuls Elius and Sentius, and enacted A.U.Č. 756. It ordained that no slave who had ever, for the sake of a crime, been bound, publicly whipped, tortured, or branded in the face, although freed by his master, should obtain the freedom of the city, but should always remain in the class of the deditii, who were indeed free, but could not aspire to the advantages of Roman citizens. (Suct., Aug., 40.)-VII. A name given to various cities, either repaired or built by the Emperor Hadrian, whose family name was Elius.-VIII. Capitolina, a name given to Jerusalem by the Emperor Hadrian, when he rebuilt the city, from his own family title Ælius, and also from his erecting within that city a temple to Jupiter Capitolinus. (Vid. Hierosolyma.) ELIANUS, I. a Greek writer, who flourished about the middle of the second century of our era. He com posed a treatise on military tactics, which he dedicated to the Emperor Hadrian. The best edition is that of Arcerius and Meursius, Lugd. Bat., 1613, 4to.—II. Claudius, a native of Præneste, who flourished during the reigns of Heliogabalus and Alexander Severus (218-235 A.D.). Although born in Italy, and of Latin parents, and almost constantly residing within the limits of his native country, he nevertheless acquired so complete a knowledge of the language of Greece, that Philostratus, if his testimony be worth quoting, makes him worthy of being compared with the purest Atticists, while Suidas states that he obtained the appellations of Meλioboyyoç (“ Honey-voiced”), and Mɛλíyżwooes ("Honey-tongued"). He appears to have been a man of extensive reading and considerable information. His "Various History," Пokiλn 'loтopia, in fourteen books, is a collection of extracts from different works, themes very probably which he composed for the purpose of exercising himself in the Grecian tongue, and which his heirs very indiscreetly gave to the world. These extracts may be regarded as the earliest on the list of Ana. The Various History of Elian evinces neither taste, judgment, nor powers of critical discrim

should be elected as before, every five years, but that
their power should continue only a year and a half.
|(Liv., 4, 24.—Id., 9, 33.)—II. Sumtuaria, vel cibaria,
a sumptuary law, brought forward by M. Emilius Le-
pidus, and enacted A.U.C. 675. It limited the kind
and quantity of meats to be used at an entertain-
ment. (Macrob., Sat., 2, 13.-Aul. Gell., 2, 24.) Pliny
ascribes this law to M. Scaurus (8, 57).

mation. Its chief claim to attention rests on its having | Æmilius, A.U.C. 309, ordaining that the censors preserved from oblivion some fragments of authors, the rest of whose works are lost. It is to be regretted that Ælian, instead of giving these extracts in the language of the writers themselves, has thought fit to array them in a garb of his own. Elian composed also a pretended history of animals, Пlepì Gwwv idiótηtos, in seventeen books, each of which is subdivided into small chapters. This zoological compilation is full of absurd stories, intermingled occasionally with interesting notices. To this same writer are also ascribed twenty epistles on rural affairs ('Aypoikikai ÈTIσTоhaí) which possess very little interest. Ælian led a life of celibacy, and died at the age of 60 years or over. The best editions of the Various History are, that of Gronovius, Amst., 4to, 1731, 2 vols., and that of Kuhnius, Lips., 8vo, 1780, 2 vols. The best edition of the History of Animals is that of F. Jacobs, Lips., 8vo, 1784. -ÏII., IV. (Vid. Supplement.)

EMILIA, I. Gens, the name of a distinguished Roman family among the patricians, originally written AIMILIA. (Vid. Supplement.)-II. The third daughter of L. Æmilius Paullus, who fell in the battle of Canna. She was the wife of the elder Africanus, and the mother of the celebrated Cornelia. She was of a mild disposition, and long survived her husband. Her property, which was large, was inherited by her adopted grandson Africanus the Younger, who gave it to his own mother Papiria, who had been divorced by his own father L. Æmilius.-III. Lepida. (Vid. Lepida I.)-IV. A part of Italy, extending from Ariminum to Piacentia. It formed one of the later subdivisions of the country.-V. Via Lepidi, a Roman road. There were two roads, in fact, of this name, both branching off from Mediolanum (Milan) to the eastern and southern extremities of the province of Cisalpine Gaul; the one leading to Verona and Aquileia, the latter to Placentia and Ariminum. The same name, however, of Via Emilia Lepidi, was applied t› both. They were made by M. Æmilius Lepidus, who was consul A.U.C. 567, in continuation of the Via Flaminia, which had been carried from Rome to Ariminum.-VI. Via Scauri, a Roman road, a continuation of the Aurelian way, from Pisa to Dertona. (Strab., 217.)

ELIUS, a name common to many Romans, and marking also the plebeian house of the Elii. (Vid. Elia I.) The most noted individuals that bore this name were, I. Publius, a quæstor, A.U.C. 346, the first year that the plebeians were admitted to this office. (Lv., 4, 54.)-II. C. Stalenus, a judge, who suffered himself to be corrupted by Statius Albius. (C.c. pro Sext., 81.)-III. Sextus Elius Catus, an eminent Roman lawyer, who lived in the sixth century from the foundation of the city. He filled in succession the offices of ædile, consul, and censor, and gave his name to a part of the Roman law. When Cneius Flavius, the clerk of Appius Claudius Cæcus, had made known to the people the forms to be observed in prosecuting lawsuits, and the days upon which actions could be brought, the patricians, irritated at this, contrived new forms of process, and, to prevent their being made pub- EMILIANUS, I. the second agnomen of P. Cornelius lic, expressed them in writing by certain secret marks. Scipio Africanus the younger, which he received as These forms, however, were subsequently published being the son of Paulius Æmilius. His adoption by by Elius Catus, and his book was named Jus Elia- the elder Africanus united the houses of the Scipios num, as that of Flavius was styled Jus Flavianum. and Æmilii.-II. A native of Mauritania, who was govEnnius calls him, on account of his knowledge of the ernor of Pannonia and Mosia under Hostilianus and civil law, egregie cordatus homo, "a remarkably wise Gallus. Some successes over the barbarians caused man." (Cic., de Orat., 1, 45.) Notwithstanding the him to be proclaimed emperor by his soldiers. Gallus opinions of Grotius and Bertrand, Elius must be re- marched against him, but was murdered, together with garded as the author of the work entitled Tripartita his son Volusianus, by his own soldiers, who went Eln, which is so styled from its containing, 1st. The over to the side of Æmilianus. The reign of the lattext of the law. 21. Its interpretation. 3d. The le-ter, however, was of short duration. Less than four gis actio, or the forms to be observed in going to law. Ælius Catus, on receiving the consulship, became remarkable for the austere simplicity of his manners, eating from earthen vessels, and refusing the silver ones which the Ætolian deputies offered him. When censor, with M. Cethegus, he assigned to the senate at the public games separate seats from the people.-IV. Lucius, surnamed Lamia, the friend and defender of Cicero, was driven out of the city by Piso and Gabinius. (Cic. in Pis., 27.)—V. Gallus, a Roman knight, and the friend of Strabo, to whom Virgil dedicated his tenth eclogue. (Vid. Gallus III.)-VI. Sejanus. (Vid. Sejanus.)-VII. An engraver on precious stones, who lived in the first century of our era. gem exhibiting the head of Tiberius, engraved by him, is described by Bracci, tab. 2.-VIII. Promōtus, an ancient physician. (Vid. Supplement.)-IX. Gordianus, an eminent lawyer, in the reign of Alexander Severus. -X. Serenianus, a lawyer, and pupil of Papinian. He flourished during the reign of Severus, and is high-conqueror of the Volsci, A.U.C. 273. (Lav., 2, 42.)— ly praised by Lampridius. (Lampr., Vit. Sev.)

A

AELLO ('Aɛλλ), one of the Harpies. (Vid. Harpyia) Her name is derived from deλha, a tempest, the rapidity of her course being compared to a stormy wind. Compare Hesiod, Theog., 267, and Schol., ad loc.

ΕΜΑΤΗΙΑ. Vid. Emathia.
EMATHION. Vid. Emathion.

months intervened between his victory and his fall. Valerian, one of the generals of Gallus, who had been sent by that emperor to bring the legions of Gaul and Germany to his aid, met Emilianus in the plains of Spoletum, where the latter, like Gallus, was murderec by his own troops, who thereupon went over to Vale rian. (Zosimus, 21, p. 25, seqq.-Aurel. Vict.-Eu trop., 9, 6.)-III. A prefect of Egypt, in the reign of Gallienus. He assumed the imperial purple, but was defeated by Theodotus, a general of the emperor's, who sent him prisoner to Rome, where he was strangled. (Treb. Gall., Tr. Tyr., 22.-Euseb., Hist. Eccles., 7.)-IV. (Vid. Supplement.)

EMILIUS, I. Censorinus, a cruel tyrant of Sicily. A person named Aruntius Paterculus having given him a brazen horse, intended as a means of torture, was the first that was made to suffer by it. Compare. the story of Phalaris and his brazen bull. (Plut., de Fort. Rom., 315.)--II. L., three times consul, and the

III. Mamercus, once consul and three times dictator, obtained a triumph over the Fidenates, A.U.C. 329. (Liv., 4, 16.)—IV. Paulus, father of the celebrated Paulus Emilius. He was one of the consuls slain at Cannæ. (Liv., 23, 49.)—V. Paulus Macedonicus. (Vid. Paulus I.)- VI. Scaurus. (Vid. Scaurus.)VII. Lepidus, twice consul, once censor, and six times Pontifex Maximus. He was also Princeps Senatus,

ÆMILIA LEX, I. a law of the dictator Mamercus and guardian to Ptolemy Epiphanes, in the name of

« PoprzedniaDalej »