amiss to examine more closely into the etymology of the term Amazon. We have thus far regarded the word as of Grecian origin. What if, after all, it be of Oriental birth, and have reference to the far-famed Asi of Oriental and Scandinavian mythology? Salverte sees in them a class of female divinities, the spouses of the Asi, and he traces the first part of the name to the Pehlvi am, denoting "a mother," or "a female" generally. (Essai sur les Noms, &c., vol. 2, p. 178.) Ritter also detects in the name an allusion to the Asi (Vorhalle, p. 465, seqq.); and, in connexion with this view of the subject, we may state that the name of Asia (the land of the Asi) was first given to a small district near the Cayster, and in the very vicinity of Ephesus, the city which the Amazons had founded. Ephesus, moreover, first bore, it is said, the name of Smyrna, an appellation afterward bestowed on the city of Smyrna, which was founded by an Ephesian colony. This term Smyrna is said to have been originally the name of an Amazonian leader. Would thus blend together the name of the African Amazon Myrina with the sacred appellation of the Asi? AMAZONIUS, a surname of Apollo at Pyrrhicus, in Laconia, from the protection he is said to have afforded to the inhabitants when attacked by the Amazons. (Pausan., 3, 25.) AMBARRI, a people of Gallia Celtica, situate between the Edui and Allobroges, along either bank of the Arar or Saône. Following D'Anville's authority, we would place them in the present Department de l'Ain. Livy enumerates them among the Gallic tribes that crossed the Alps in the time of Tarquinius Priscus. (Liv., 5, 34.-Cas., B. G., 1, 11, et 14.) AMBARVALIA, sacred rites in honour of Ceres, previous to the commencement of reaping, which were called sacra ambarralia, because the victim was carried around the fields (arva ambiebat.-Vid. Arvales). to this explanation, will be a band of warlike priest-tem of belief.-Before we conclude, it may not be esses or Hierodulæ, who, in renouncing maternity, and in giving themselves up to martial exercises, sought to imitate the periodical sterility of the great powers of light, the sun and moon, and the combats in which these were from time to time engaged, against the gloomy energies of night and winter. (Creuzer, Symbolik, par Guigniaut, vol. 2, p. 90, seqq.)-That the legend of the Amazons rests on a religious basis, we readily admit, but that any Amazons ever existed, even as warlike priestesses, we do not at all believe. The first source of error respecting them is the etymology commonly assigned to the name. To derive this from the negative a and pūšos, and to make it indicate the loss of one of the breasts, is, we think, altogether erroneous. If a Greek derivation is to be assigned to the term Amazon, it is far more correct to deduce the word from the intensive a, and ulos, and to regard it as denoting, not the absence of one breast, but the presence of many. The name 'Autov (Amazon) then becomes equivalent to the Greek Пoλvuoros (Polymastus) and the Latin Multimam-it be too fanciful to deduce it from Asa-Myrina, and mia, both of which epithets are applied by the ancient mythologists to the Ephesian Diana, with her numerous breasts, as typifying the great mother and nurse of all created beings. It is curious to connect with this the well-known tradition, that the Amazons founded the city of Ephesus, and at a remote period sacrificed to the goddess there. (Callim., H. in Dian., 238.-Dionys. Perieg., 828.) But how does the view which we have just taken of the erroneous nature of the common etymology, in the case of the name Amazon, harmonize with the remains of ancient sculpture? In the most satisfactory manner. No monument of antiquity represents the Amazons with a mutilated bosom, but, wherever their figures are given, they have both breasts fully and plainly developed. Thus, for example, the Amazons on the Phigaleian frieze have both breasts entire, one being generally exposed, while the other is concealed by drapery, but still in the latter the roundness of form is very perceptible. Both breasts appear also in the fine figure of the Amazon belonging to the Lansdowne collection; and so again in the basso-relievo described by Winckelmann in his Monumenti Inediti. The authorities, indeed, on this head are altogether incontrovertible. (Winckelmann, Gesch. der Kunst des Alterthums, vol. 2, p. 131.-Id., Mon. Ined., pt. 2, c. 18, p. 184.Müller, Archäologie der Kunst, p. 530.-Elgin and Phigaleian Marbles, vol. 2, p. 179.-Heyne, ad Apollod., 2, 5, 9.) The first Greek writer that made mention of females who removed their right breast was Hippocrates (IIɛpì úépwv, k. т. λ., § 43). His remarks, however, were meant to apply merely to the females of the Sauromata, a Scythian tribe; but subsequent writers made them extend to the fabled race of the Amazons.-It appears to us, then, from a careful examination of the subject, that the term Amazon originally indicated, neither a warlike female, nor a race of such females, but was merely an epithet applied to the Ephesian Diana, the great parent and source of nurture, and was intended to express the most striking of her attributes. The victories and conquests of the Amazonian race are nothing more, then, than a figurative allusion to the spread of her worship over a large portion of the globe, and the contests with Bacchus, Hercules, and Theseus refer in reality to the struggles of this worship with other rival systems of faith, for Bacchus, Hercules, and Theseus are nothing more than mythic types of three different forms of belief. Hence we see why the conflict of the Amazons with Theseus, who was nothing more than the symbol of the establishment of the Ionic worship, became a most appropriate ornament for the frieze of the Parthenon, the temple of the great national goddess Minerva. It was, in fact, a delineation of the downfall of a rival sys AMBIANI, a people of Gallia Belgica, whose capital was Samarobriva, afterward called Ambiani or Ambianum, now Amiens. Their territory corresponds to what is now the Department de la Somme. (Cæs., B. G., 2, 4.—Id. ib.,7, 75.) AMBIATĪNUS VICUS, a village of Germany, where the Emperor Caligula was born. It was situate between Confluentes and Baudobriga, and is supposed by some to be now Capelle, on the Rhine, by others Königstuhl. Mannert, without fixing the modern site, thinks it lay on the Moselle. (Geogr., 2, p. 210.-Sueton., Vit. Calig., 8.) AMRIGATUS, a king of the Celta, in the time of Tarquinius Priscus. According to the account given by Livy (5, 34), he sent his two nephews, Sigovesus and Bellovesus, in quest of new settlements, with the view of diminishing the overflowing numbers at home. The two chieftains drew lots respecting their course, and Sigovesus obtained the route that led towards the Hercynian forest, Bellovesus the road to Italy. What is here stated, however, appears to be a mere fable, owing its origin to the simultaneous emigrations of two hordes of Gallic warriors. (Compare Thierry, Histoire des Gaulois, vol. 1, p. 39.) He AMBIŎRIX, a king of one half of the Eburones in Gaul, Cativoleus being king of the other half. was an inveterate foe to the Romans, and after inflicting several serious losses upon, narrowly escaped the pursuit of, Cæsar's men, on being defeated by that commander. (Cæs., B. G., 5, 24, et 26.-Id., 6, 30.) AMBIVARĚTI and AMBIVARĒTI (for we have, in the Greek Paraphrase of Cæsar, b. 7, c. 75, 'Aubibapέτwv, and at c. 90, 'Aubibapírov), a Gallic tribe, ranked among the clients of the Edui, whence Glareanus and Ciacconius suspect them to be the same with the Ambarri. Almost all the MSS. of Cæsar call them Ambluarett. The ancient geographical writers are silent respecting them. AMBIVARITI, a tribe of Gallia Belgica, a short distance beyond the Mosa or Meuse. (Cas., B. G., 4, 9.) AMBRACIA, a celebrated city of Epirus, the capital of the country, and the royal residence of Pyrrhus and his descendants. It was situate on the banks of the Aracthus or Arethon, a short distance from the waters of the Ambracian Gulf. The founders of the place were said to have been a colony of Corinthians, headed by Tolgus or Torgus, 650 B.C., who was either the brother or the son of Cypselus, chief of Corinth. (Strabo. 325.—Scymn., Ch., v. 452.) It early acquired some maritime celebrity, by reason of its advantageous position, and was a powerful and independent city towards the commencement of the Peloponnesian war, in which it espoused the cause of Corinth and Sparta. At a later period we find its independence threatened by Philip, who seems to have entertained the project of annexing it to the dominions of his brother-in-law, Alexander, king of the Molossians. (Demosth., Phil., 3, 85.) Whether it actually fell into the possession of that monarch is uncertain, but there can be no doubt of its having been in the occupation of Philip, since Diodorus Siculus (17, 3) asserts, that the Ambraciots, on the accession of Alexander the Great to the throne, ejected the Macedonian garrison stationed in their city. Ambracia, however, did not long enjoy the freedom which thus regained, for, having fallen into the hands of Pyrrhus, we are told that it was selected by that prince as his usual place of residence. (Strabo, 325-Liv., 38, 9) Ovid (Ibis, v. 306) seems to imply that he was interred there. Many years after, being under the dominion of the Etolians, who were at that time involved in hostilities with the Romans, this city sustained a siege against the latter, almost unequalled in the annals of ancient warfare for the gallantry and perseverance displayed in defence of the place. (Polyb., frag, 22, 13.) Ambracia, at last, opened its gates to the foe, on a truce being concluded, and was stripped by the Roman consul, M. Fulvius Nobilior, of all the statues and pictures with which it had been so richly adorned by Pyrrhus. From this time Ambracia began to sink into a state of insignificance, and Augustus, by transferring its inhabitants to Nicopolis, completed its desolation. (Strabo, 325.-Pausan., 5, 23.) In regard to the topography of this ancient city, most travellers and antiquaries are of opinion, that it must have stood near the town of Arta, which now gives its name to the gulf. (Cramer's Ancient Greece, vol. 1, p. 145, seqq.) AMBRACIUS SINUS, a gulf of the Ionian Sea, between Epirus and Acarnania. Scylax (Peripl., p. 13) calls it the Bay of Anactorium, and observes, that the distance from its mouth to the farthest extremity was one hundred and twenty stadia, while the entrance was scarcely four stadia broad. Strabo (325) makes the whole circuit three hundred stadia. (Cramer's Ancient Greece, vol. 1, p. 153.) AMBRONES, a Gallic horde, who invaded the Roman territories along with the Teutones and Cimbri, and were defeated with great slaughter by Marius. The name is thought to mean, "dwellers on the Rhone" (Amb-rones). So Ambidravii, 'dwellers on the Draave;" Sigambri, "dwellers on the Sieg," &c. (Compare Pfister, Gesch. der Teutschen, vol. 1, p. 35.) AMBROSIA, the celestial food on which the gods were supposed to subsist, and to which, along with nectar, they were believed to owe their immortality. The name is derived from άμβροτος, "immortal." {Compare Heyne, Excurs. 9, ad Il., 1.-Id., Obs. ad Hom., Il., 1, 190). There is a striking resemblance between the Grecian and Hindoo mythology in this respect. The Amrita, or water of life, recalls imme | diately to mind the Ambrosia of Olympus. (Compare Hom., Od., 1, 359, where ambrosia and nectar appear to be used as synonymous terms.-Heyne, Excurs. 9, ad Il., 1, and consult the remarks of Buttmann in his Lexilogus, s. v. 'Aμbpóσioç, &c.) AMBROSIUS, bishop of Milan in the fourth century. and one of the latest and most distinguished of what are denominated the Fathers of the Christian Church. He was born at Arelate (Arles), then the metropolis of Gallia Narbonensis, according to some authorities A.D. 333, according to others, 340. His father was the emperor's lieutenant in that district, and, after his death, Ambrose, who was the youngest of three children, returned with the widow and family to Rome. Here, under the instructions of his mother and his sister Marcellina, who had vowed virginity, he received a highly religious education, and that bias in favour of Catholic orthodoxy by which he was subsequently so much distinguished. Having studied law, he pleaded causes in the court of the prætorian prefect, and was in due time appointed proconsul of Liguria. He thereupon took up his residence at Milan, where a circumstance occurred which produced a sudden change in his fortunes, and transformed him from a civil gov. ernor into a bishop. Auxentius, bishop of Milan, the Arian leader in the west, died, and left that see vacant, when a warm contest for the succession ensued between the Arians and Catholics. In the midst of a tumultuous dispute, Ambrose appeared in the midst of the assembly, and exhorted them to conduct the election peaceably. At the conclusion of his address, a child in the crowd exclaimed, "Ambrose is bishop!" and, whether accidentally or by management, the result throws a curious light upon the nature of the times; for the superstitious multitude, regarding the exclamation as a providential and miraculous suggestion, by general acclamation declared Ambrose to be elected. After various attempts to decline the episcopal office, Ambrose at length entered upon the discharge of its duties, and rendered himself conspicuous by his decided and unremitting opposition to the tenets of Arianism. To his zealous endeavours also was owing the failure of the attempt made by the remains of a pagan party to re-establish the worship of paganism. The strength and ability of Ambrose were such, that, although opposed to him on ecclesiastical points, Valentinian and his mother respected his talents, and in moments of political exigency required his assistance. The most conspicuous act on the part of Ambrose was his treatment of Theodosius for the mas sacre at Thessalonica. The emperor was consigned to a retirement of eight months, and not absolved ever then until he had signed an edict, which ordained that an interval of thirty days should pass before any sentence of death, or even of confiscation, should be executed. After having paid the funeral honours to Theodosius, who died soon after obtaining peaceable possession of the entire Roman empire, the bishop departed from this world with a composure worthy of his firm character, in the year 397. It is evident, that Ambrose was one of those men of great energy of mind and temperament, who, in the adoption of a theory or a party, hold no middle course, but act with determination towards the fulfilment of their purposes. Regarded within their own circles, there is generally something in such characters to admire; and, beyond that, as certainly much to condemn. It must be conceded, however, that men resembling Ambrose effected much to advance the Roman Catholic Church to the power to which it afterward attained, and, by necessary sequence, to the abuse of it which produced the Reformation. The writings of this father are numerous, and the great object of almost all of them was to maintain the faith and discipline of the Catholic Church, while some of them are written to recommend celibacy as the summit of Christian perfection. His best work is "De Officiis," intended to explain the duties of Christian ministers. The most accurate edition of his works is that of the Benedictines, Paris, 2 vols. fol., 1682–90. (Gorton's Biogr. Dict., vol. 1, p. 67.) AMBRYSSUS, a city of Phocis, said to have been founded by the hero Ambryssus, situate between two chains of mountains, west of Lebedea, and northwest of Anticyra. It was destroyed by the Amphictyons, but rebuilt and fortified by the Thebans before the battle of Cheronea. (Pausan., 10, 3, and 36.) Its ruins were first discovered by Chandler, near the village of Dystomo. (Cramer's Ancient Greece, vol. 2, p. 159.) AMBUBAIE, female minstrels, of Syrian origin, who exercised their vocation at Rome, and were also of dissolute lives. (Acron, ad Horat., Serm., 1, 2, 1.— Nork, Etymol. Handwörterbuch, vol. 1, p. 45, seq.) The name is supposed to be derived from the Syriac abub or anbub, "a flute." AMBULI, a surname of Castor and Pollux, in Sparta, and also of Jupiter and Minerva. They were so named, it is said, from duboký, delay, because it was thought that they could delay the approach of death. Some, on the other hand, consider the term in question to be of Latin origin, and derived from ambulare. (Compare the remarks of Vollmer, Wörterb. der Mythol., s. v.) AMELES, a river of the lower world, according to Plato, whose waters no vessel could contain: Tòv Αμέλητα ποταμὸν, οὐ τὸ ὕδωρ ἀγγεῖον οὐδὲν στέγειν. | (De Rep., 10, vol. 7, p. 229, cd Bekk.) AMENANUS, a river of Sicily, near Catania. It is now the Judicello. (Strabo, 360.-Ovid, Met., 15, 279.) stones, have caused it to be termed by the Turks Kara-Amid, (" black Amid"), although it is more commonly denominated Diar-Bekir, from the name of its district. (Ammian. Marcell, 18, 22.—Procop., de Bell. Pers., 1, 8.-Salmas., Exercit. Plin., p. 488.) AMILCAR. Vid. Hamilcar. AMINEI, a people of Campania, mentioned by Macrobius (Sat., 2, 16) as having occupied the spot, where was afterward the Falernus Ager. The Aminean wine is thought to have derived its name from them. (Consult, however, the remarks of Heyne, ad Virg., Georg., 2, 97, Var. Lect.) The more correct opinion appears to be, that the Aminean wine was so called, because made from a grape transplanted into Italy from Aminæum, a place in Thessaly. Macrobius, however, asserts, that the Falernian wine was more anciently called Aminean. (Compare Heyne, ad Virg., Georg., 2, 97.) AMISENUS SINUS, a gulf of the Euxine, east of the mouth of the Halys, on the coast of Pontus, so called from the town of Amisus. AMISIA, now the Ems, a river of Germany, falling into the German Ocean. Strabo (201) calls it Amasia ('Apaoía), and Pliny (4, 14) Amasis. AMISUS, a city of Pontus, on the coast of the Euxine, northwest from the mouth of the Iris. It was founded by a colony of Milesians, was the largest city in Pontus next to Sinope, and was made by Pharnaces the metropolis of his kingdom. It is now called Samsoun. (Strabo, 547.-Polyb., Exc. de legat., 55.— Mannert, 6, pt. 2, p. 448, seqq.) AMITERNUM, a city in the territory of the Sabines, the birthplace of Sallust the historian. It was situate a short distance below the southern boundary of the Prætutii, and its ruins are to be seen near S. Vittorino, AMERIA, one of the most considerable and ancient a few miles to the north of Aquila. From Livy (10, cities of Umbria. It lay south of Tuder, and in the 39) we learn, that this town, having fallen into the vicinity of the Tiber. According to Cato, who is hands of the Samnites, was recovered by the consul quoted by Pliny (3, 14), Ameria could boast of an Sp. Carvilius (A.U.C. 459). Under the Romans it origin greatly anterior to that of Rome, having been became successively a præfectura and a colony, as we founded, it is said, 964 years before the war with are informed by Frontinus and several inscriptions. Perseus, or 1045 years before the Christian era. Ci-(Romanelli, vol. 3, p. 330.) In Ptolemy's time, Amcero, in his defence of the celebrated Roscius, who was a native of Ameria, has frequent occasion to speak of this town. From him we learn its municipal rank, and from Frontinus, that it became a colony under Augustus. (Compare Strabo, 228.-Festus, s. v. Ameria.) The small episcopal town of Amelia now represents this ancient city. (Cramer's Anc. Italy, vol. 1, p. 273.) iternum seems to have been included among the cities of the Vestini. (Cramer's Ancient Italy, vol. 1, p. 319.) AMMIANUS. Vid. Marcellinus. AMMOCHOSTUS, a promontory of Cyprus, whence by corruption comes the modern name Famagosta, or, more properly, Amgoste: now the principal place in the island. (Ptol.-Cramer's Asia Minor, vol. 2, p. 381.) AMESTRATUS, a town of Sicily, near the Halesus. AMMON, OF HAMMON, a name given to Jupiter, as The Romans besieged it for seven months when in worshipped in Libya. When Bacchus was conquering the hands of the Carthaginians, but without success. Africa, he is said to have come with his army to a spot It was taken, however, after a third siege, and razed called, from the vast quantity of sand lying around, by to the ground, the surviving inhabitants being sold as the name of Hammōdes ('Auudne, i. e., sandy, from slaves Steph. Byz. calls the place Amestratus; Di-oç," sand,” and eldoç,“ aspect” or “ appearance"). odorus Siculus, Mystratum; and Polybius, Myttistra- Here his forces were in great danger of perishing from tum. (Diod. Sic., 23, ecl. 9.-Polyb., 1, 24.) It is want of water, when a ram on a sudden appeared, and now Mistretta, in the Val. de Demona. guided them to a verdant spot, or oasis, in the midst of the desert. When they reached this place, the ram disappeared, and they found an abundant supply of water. Bacchus, therefore, out of gratitude, erected on the spot a temple to Jupiter, giving him, at the same time, the surname of Ammon or Hammon, from the Greek upos or upoç, “sand,” in allusion to the circumstances connected with his appearance; and the statue of the deity had the head and horns of a ram. (Hygin., Poet. Astron., 2, 20.) According to another version of the fable, Bacchus, in his extremity, prayed to Jupiter for aid, and the god, appearing under the form of a ram, indicated the place of the fountain with his foot, the water, before unseen, immediately bubbling up through the sand.-The spot to which the fable points is the Oasis of Ammon (vid. Oasis), and the fountain is the famous Fons Solis, or fountain of the Sun, which, according to Herodotus (4, 181), was AMESTRIS, queen of Persia, and wife to Xerxes. Having discovered an intrigue between her husband and Artaynta, and imputing all the blame solely to the mother of the latter, she requested her from the king at a royal festival; and, when she had her in her power, cut off her breasts, nose, ears, lips, and tongue, and sent her home in this shocking condition. She also, on another occasion, sacrificed fourteen Persian children of noble birth, to propitiate," says Herodotas, .. the deity who is said to dwell beneath the earth." (Herodot., 9, 110, seqq.-Id., 7, 114.) AMIDA, a city of Mesopotamia, taken and destroyed by Sapor, king of Persia. It was repeopled by the inhabitants of Nisibis, after Jovian's treaty with the Persians, and by a new colony which was sent to it. It was called also Constantia, from the Emperor Constantius. Its ancient walls, constructed with black es of Dodona; whereas the priests of Thebes ascribed tepid at dawn, cool as the day advanced, very cool at noon, diminishing in coolness as the day declined, warm at sunset, and boiling hot at midnight. Here also was the celebrated oracle of Ammon, which Alexander the Great visited, in order to obtain an answer respecting the divinity of his origin. An account of the expedition is given by Plutarch (Vit. Alex., c. 26), and, as may well be expected, the answer of the oracle was altogether acceptable to the royal visitant, though the credit previously attached to its answers was seriously impaired by the gross flattery which it had on this occasion displayed. The temple of Ammon, like that of Delphi, was famed for its treasures, the varied offerings of the pious; and these, in the time of the Persian invasion of Egypt, excited so far the cupidity of Cambyses as to induce him to send a large body of forces across the desert to seize upon the place. The expedition, however, proved a signal failure; no accounts of it were ever received, and it is probable, therefore, that the Persian troops were purposely misled on their route by the Egyptian guides, and that all perished in the desert. (Vid. Cambyses.)-Herodotus (2, 54, seqq.) gives us two accounts respecting the origin of the temple of Ammon. One, which he heard from the priests of Jupiter in Thebes, stated, that two priestesses had been carried off by some Phoenicians from Thebes, and that one of them had been conveyed to Libya and there sold as a slave, and the other to Greece. These two females, according to them, had founded oracles in each of these countries. According to the other story, which he heard from the priestesses at Dodona, two black pigeons had flown from Thebes in Egypt; one of these had passed into Libya, the other had come to Dodona in Greece, and both had spoken with a human voice, and directed the establishment of oracles in each of these places. Thus much for the ordinary narrative. Ammon, says Plutarch (de Is. et Os., p. 354), is the Egyptian name for Jupiter. This god was particularly worshipped at Thebes, called in the sacred books Hammon- AMMONII, a people of Africa, occupying what is now no, "the possession of Hammon," and in the Septua- the Oasis of Siwah. According to Herodotus (2, 42), gint version (Ezek., c. 20) the city of Ammon. Jablon- the Ammonians were a colony of Egyptians and Ethiski derives the word Ammon from Am-oein, “shining." opians, speaking a language composed of words taken According, however, to Champollion the younger, the from both those nations.-The arable territory of the term in question (Amon or Amen) denoted, in the Oasis of Sicah is about six miles long and four broad. Egyptian language, "secret," ," "concealed," or "he The chief plantation consists of date-trees; there are who reveals his secret powers." It is sometimes also, also pomegranates, fig-trees, olives, apricots, and baas the same writer informs us, united with the word nanas. A considerable quantity of a reddish-grained Kneph, another appellation of the Supreme Being, and rice is cultivated here, being a different variety from from this results the compound Amenebis (Amen-Neb) that which is grown in the Egyptian Delta. It also which is found on a Greek inscription in the greater produces wheat for the consumption of the inhabitants. Oasis. (Letronne, Rech. sur l'Egyp., p. 237, seqq.) Abundance of water, both fresh and salt, is found. The Greek etymology of the name Ammon, from auuos The fresh-water springs are mostly warm, and are acor papuoç, "sand," is fanciful and visionary, and only cused of giving rise to dangerous fevers when used by affords another proof of the constant habit in which that strangers. The population of Siwah is capable of furnation indulged, of referring so many things to them-nishing about 1500 armed men. (Malte-Brun, Geogr., selves, with which they had not, in truth, the slightest vol. 4, p. 173, Am. ed.) For remarks on the celebraconnexion. From all that has been said by the ancient ted Fons Solis, consult preceding article towards its writers, it would appear very clearly, that the allusion in the legend of Ammon is an astronomical one. AMMONIUS, I. the preceptor of Plutarch. He taught is very apparent from the story told by Herodotus (2, philosophy and inathematics at Delphi, and lived du42), and which he received from the priests of Thebes. ring the first century of the Christian era, in the reign According to this narrative, Hercules was very desi- of Nero, to whom he acted as interpreter when that rous of seeing Jupiter, whereas the god was unwilling monarch visited the temple at Delphi. Plutarch makes to be seen; until, at last, Jupiter, yielding to his im- frequent mention of him in his writings, and particuportunity, contrived the following artifice. Having larly in his treatise on the inscription of the Delphic separated the head from the body of a ram, and flayed temple.-II. Saccas, or Saccophorus (so called because the whole carcass, he put on the skin with the wool, in early life he had been a sack-bearer), a celebrated and in that form showed himself to Hercules. Now, philosopher, who flourished about the beginning of the if Hercules denote the sun, and aries the first sign of third century. He was born at Alexandrea, of Christhe zodiac, the whole may be an allegory illustrative tian parents, and was early instructed in the catechetof the opening of the year.-As regards the establish- ical schools established in that city. Here, under the ment of the oracle of Ammon, it may be observed, that Christian preceptors, Athenagoras, Pantoenus, and the account respecting the two doves or pigeons, which Clemens Alexandrinus, he acquired a strong propenis given by Herodotus, and has already been alluded to, sity towards philosophical studies, and became excame, as that historian informs us, from the priestess-ceedingly desirous of reconciling the different opinions This close. of this edition was published at Erlang, in 1787, 8vo, under the care of Ammon. Valckenaer's edition has also been reprinted entire, but in a more portable form, at Leipzig, 1822, 8vo, under the care of Schaffer, who has added the inedited notes of Kulencamp, and the critical letter of Segaar, addressed to Valckenaer and published at Utrecht in 1776, 8vo. We have also a treatise of Ammonius, IIɛpi akvрoλoyiaç, "On the improper use of words," which has never been printed. thotomist, from his skill in cutting for the stone; an operation which, according to some, he first introduced. He invented an instrument for crushing the larger calculi while in the bladder. He was accustomed also to make use of caustic applications, especially red arse nic, in hemorrhages. (Sprengel, Hist. Med., vol. 1, § 465.) AMNISUS, a port of Gnossus in Crete, southeast from Gnossus, with a small river of the same name in its vicinity. (Hom., Od., 19, 188.-Apoll. Rhod., 3, 877.) AMOR, the son of Venus, was the god of love. (Vid. Cupido.) AMORGOS, now Amorgo, one of the Cyclades, and situate to the east of Nicasia. According to Scylax (Peripl., p. 22) and Stephanus Byzantinus (s. v. "Auop yoç), it contained three towns, Arcesine, Ægialus, and Minoa. The former yet preserves its name, and stands on the northern extremity of the island. Egia lus is perhaps Porto S. Anna. Minoa was the birth place of Simonides, an iambic poet, mentioned by Strabo (487) and others. Amorgus gave its name to a peculiar linen dress manufactured in the island. (Steph. Byz., s. v. "Apopyos.—Cramer's Anc. Greece, vol. 3, p. 416.) which at that time subsisted among philosophers. | of very inferior merit. The best edition is that of Porphyry (ap. Euseb., Hist. Ecc., 6, 19) relates, that Valckenaer, Lugd. Bat., 1739, 4to. An abridgment Ammonius passed over to the legal establishment, that is, apostatized to the pagan religion. Eusebius (I. c., p. 221) and Jerome (De S. E., c. 55, p. 132), on the contrary, assert that Ammonius continued in the Christian faith until the end of his life. But it is probable that these Christian fathers refer to another Ammonius, who, in the third century, wrote a Harmony of the Gospels, or to some other person of this name; for they refer to the sacred books of Ammonius: whereas Ammonius Saccas, as his pupil Longinus attests, wrote-VI. A physiciant of Alexandrea, surnamed the Linothing. (Compare Fabricius, Bibl. Gr., vol. 4, p, 160, 172.) It is not easy, indeed, to account for the particulars related of this philosopher, but upon the supposition of his having renounced the Christian faith. According to Hierocles (De Fato, ap. Phot., Bibl., vol. 2, p. 461, ed. Bekker), Ammonius was induced to adopt the plan of a distinct eclectic school, by a desire of putting an end to those contentions which had so long distracted the philosophical world. Ammonius had many eminent followers and hearers, both pagan and Christian, who all, doubtless, promised themselves much illumination from a preceptor that undertook to collect into a focus all the rays of ancient wisdom. He taught his select disciples certain sublime doctrines and mystical practices, and was called εodidakтoç, | "the heaven-taught philosopher." These mysteries were communicated to them under a solemn injunction of secrecy. Porphyry relates, that Plotinus, with the rest of the disciples of Ammonius, promised not to divulge certain dogmas which they learned in his school, but to lodge them safely in their purified minds. This circumstance accounts for the fact mentioned on the authority of Longinus, that he left nothing in writing. Ammonius probably died about the year 243. (Enfield's History of Philosophy, vol. 2, p. 58, seqq.Compare Schöll, Hist. Lit. Gr., vol. 5, p. 119, seqq.) -III. A Christian writer, a native of Alexandrea, who lived about 250 A.D. He wrote a Harmony of the Gospels, which Jerome cites with commendation.-IV. The son of Hermias, so called for distinction' sake from other individuals of the name, was a native of Alexandrea, and a disciple of Proclus. He taught philosophy at Alexandrea about the beginning of the sixth century. His system was an eclectic one, embracing principles derived both from Aristotle and Plato. He cannot be regarded as an original thinker: he was very strong, however, in mathematics, and in the AMPELUS, I. a promontory of Crete, on the eastern study of the exact sciences, which rectified his judg-coast, south of the promontory of Sammonium. It is ment, and preserved him, no doubt, from the extravagances of the New Platonism. Ammonius has left commentaries on the Introduction of Porphyry; on the Categories of Aristotle, together with a life of that philosopher; on his treatise of Interpretation; and scholia on the first seven books of the Metaphysics. Of the commentaries on the Introduction of Porphyry we have the following editions: Venice, 1500, fol, Gr.; Venice, 1516, 8vo, ap. Ald, Gr.; Venice, 1569, fol., Lat. transl. Of the commentary on the Categories, and of that on the treatise of Interpretation, Venice, 1503, fol.; Venice, 1546, ap. Ald., 8vo. Of the commentary on the treatise of Interpretation alone, Venice, 1549, 8vo, Gr. et Lat. The scholia on the Metaphysics have never been edited. (Schöll, Hist. Lit. Gr., vol. 7, p. 123, seqq.)—V. A priest of one of the Egyptian temples. He was one of the literary men who fled from Alexandrea to Constantinople after the destruction of the pagan temples. There he became, together with Helladius, one of the masters of Socrates, the ecclesiastical writer: this is a fact.which appears firmly established, and the reasons alleged by Valckenaer for placing him in the first or second century have been generally considered insufficient. Ammonius has left us a work on Greek synonymes, &c., under the title Hepì duoiwv kaì diapópwv λéžewv. It is a production AMPELIUS, Lucius, the author of a work that has reached us, entitled Liber Memorialis. The particular period when he lived is unknown. Bähr makes him to have flourished after Trajan, and before Theodosius. His work is divided into fifty small chapters, and is addressed to a certain Macrinus. It contains a brief account of the world, the elements, the earth, history, &c., and appears to be compiled from previous writers. Marks of declining Latinity are visible in it. The best editions are that of Tzschucke, Lips., 1793, 8vo, and that of Beck, Laps., 1826, 8vo. (Bähr, Gesch. Rom. Lit., vol. 1, p. 454, seqq.) now Cape Sacro. (Ptol., p. 91.) Pliny (4, 12) assigns to Crete a town of this same name; and there are, in fact, some ruins between the mouth of the river Sacro and the promontory. (Cramer's Ancient Greece, vol. 3, p. 372.)-II. A promontory of Macedonia, at the eastern extremity of the peninsula of Sithonia, and forming the lower termination of the Sinus Singiticus. Livy calls it the Toronean promontory (31, 45). AMPELUSIA, called also Cote and Soloë, a promontory of Africa, on the coast of Mauritania, and forming the point of separation between the Fretum Herculeum (Straits of Gibraltar) and the shore of the Western Ocean. It is now Cape Spartel. The ancient name Ampelusia refers to its abounding in vines, a signification which Cote is said to have had in the Punic or Phoenician tongue. (Compare the remarks of Hamaker, Miscell. Phœnic., p. 247, Lugd. Bat., 1824, 4to.) AMPHIARAÏDES, a patronymic of Alemæon, as being son of Amphiaraüs. (Ovid, Fast., 2, 43.) AMPHIARAUS, a famous soothsayer and warrior, according to some a son of Oicleus, according to others of Apollo. So, also, one account makes his mother to have been named Clytemnestra; another, Hypermnestra, daughter of the Etolian king Thestius. He appears |