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an assembly of the army was accordingly held, for the
purpose of avenging the death of Numerianus, and
electing a new emperor. Their choice fell upon Dio-
clesian, who, immediately after his election, put Arrius
to death with his own hands, without giving him an op-
portunity of justifying himself, which might, perhaps,
The vir-
have proved dangerous to the new emperor.
tues of Numerianus are mentioned by most of his biog-
raphers. His manners were mild and affable; and he
was celebrated among his contemporaries for eloquence
and poetic talent. He successfully contended with
Nemesianus for the prize of poetry; and the senate
To Nu-
voted to him a statue, with the inscription,
merianus Cæsar, the most powerful orator of his times."
(Vopisc., Vit. Numerian.-Aurel. Victor, de Cas., c.
38.-Eutrop., 9, 12.-Zonaras, lib. 12.)

66

NUMICIA VIA, a Roman road, traversing the northern part of Samnium. It communicated with the Valerian, Latin, and Appian Ways, and, after crossing through part of Apulia, fell into the Via Aquilia in Lucania. (Cramer's Anc. Italy, vol. 2, p. 260.)

NUMICIUS, a small river of Latium near Lavinium, in which, according to some authorities, Eneas was drowned. (Ovid, Fast., 3, 647.-Virg., En., 7, 150, seqq.-Ovid, Met, 14, 358, seqq.) It is now the Rio Torto. (Nibby, Viaggio Antiquario, vol. 2, p. 266.) NUMIDA, Plotius, a friend of Horace, who had returned, after a long absence, from Spain, where he had been serving under Augustus in the Cantabrian The poet addresses one of his odes to him, and bids his friends celebrate in due form so joyous an event. (Horat., Od., 1, 36.)

war.

he himself, no long time thereafter, paid the penalty of
his crimes with his own life. (Vid. Jugurtha.)-After
the capture and death of Jugurtha (B. C. 106), the king-
dom of Numidia appears to have been given by the
Romans to Hiempsal II. (Hirtius, Bell. Afr., 56),
who was probably the nephew of Hiempsal the son of
Micipsa. Hiempsal was succeeded, about B.C. 50,
by his son Juba I., who took an active part in the civil
contest between Pompey and Cæsar, and had the mis-
fortune to espouse the party of the former. After the
victory of Thapsus, therefore, Cæsar declared the whole
kingdom of Numidia to be Roman territory, and Sal-
lust the historian was sent thither as its governor.
(Appian, Bell. Civ., 2, 100.) The western district,
around the city of Cirta, was bestowed on Sittius, in
recompense for his services to Cæsar. (Vid. Cirta.)
The country, however, still remained in an unsettled
state, a prey to intestine commotions, until it fell into
the hands of the triumvir Lepidus, and after him into
those of Augustus, under the latter of whom the aspect
of affairs was completely changed, and a more regular
administration introduced into Numidia. Juba, son of
the first Juba, an intelligent prince, who had been ed-
ucated at Rome, and had gained the friendship of Au-
gustus, received back from that emperor his father's
former kingdom, but with very important alterations.
The western part of Numidia, included between the
rivers Mulucha and Ampsagas, which had formed the
old territory of the Massasyli and Syphax, together
with all Mauritania, were assigned him for his king
dom, which now assumed the general name of Mauri-
tania. At a later period, in the reign of Claudius, the
western portion of Numidia, from the river Ampsagas,
together with the eastern part of Mauritania as far as
the Malva, were formed into a Roman province under
the name of Mauritania Casariensis, from Cæsarea,
its capital; the remainder of Mauritania received the
epithet of Tingitana. In the eighth century Numidia
fell into the hands of the Saracens, and is now nomin-
ally under the Ottoman porte.-The Numidians were
a brave and hardy race, and remarkable for their skill
in horsemanship. Hence the epithet of infreni applied
to them by Virgil, and poetically denoting a nation
who could dispense with the use of bridles. (Mela,
1, 6.-Plin., 5, 3.-Virg., Æn., 4, 41.-Encycl. Us.
Knowl., vol. 16, p. 369. Mannert, Geogr., vol. 10,
pt. 2, p. 192, seqq.)

NUNDINA, a goddess whom the Romans invoked when they named and purified their children. This happened the ninth day after their birth, whence the name of the goddess, Nona dies. (Macrob., Sat., 1, 16.)

NUMIDIA, a country of Africa, bounded on the east by Africa Propria, on the north by the Mediterranean, on the south by Gætulia, and on the west by Mauritania. The Roman province of Numidia was, however, of much smaller extent, being bounded on the west by the Ampsagas, and on the east by the Tusca (or Zain), and thus corresponded to the eastern part of Algiers. The Numidians were originally a nomadic people; and hence some think they were called by the Greeks Nomades (Nouúdes), and their country Nomadia (Nopadía), whence came by corruption Numida and Numidia. (Compare Polyb., 37, 3.-Sall., Bell. Jug., 18.-Plin., 5, 2.) Others, however, are in favour of a Phoenician etymology. (Vid. Nomades.)- When the Greek and Roman writers speak of the Numidians, NUMITOR, I. a son of Procas, king of Alba, and the term is usually limited to the two great tribes of the Massæsyli and Massyli, the former of which ex-brother of Amulius. (Vid. Amulius.)-II. A son of tended along the northern part of Africa, from the Mu- Phorcus, who fought with Turnus against Æneas. lucha on the west to the Ampsagas on the east; and (Virg., Æn., 10, 342.) the latter from the Ampsagas to the territories of Carthage. When the Romans first became acquainted with the Numidians, which was during the second Punic war, Syphax was king of the Massæsyli, and Gala of the Massyli. Masinissa, son of Gala, succeeded to the throne after various turns of fortune, and, siding with the Romans during the latter part of the second Punic war, yielded them very important assistance, which they requited by bestowing upon him all the dominions of his rival Syphax, and a considerable part of the Carthaginian territory, so that his kingdom extended from the Mulucha on the west to Cyrenaïca on the east, and completely surrounded the small district which was left to the Carthaginians on the coast. (Appian, 8, 106.) Masinissa laid the NYCTEIS, I. a daughter of Nycteus, who was mother foundation of a great and powerful state in Numidia. He introduced the arts of agriculture and civilized life, of Labdacus.-II. A patronymic of Antiope, the daughamassed considerable wealth, and supported a well-ter of Nycteus, mother of Amphion and Zethus by Juappointed army. (Vid. Masinissa.)-Masinissa left piter. (Ovid, Met., 6, 110.) NYCTELIUS, a surname of Bacchus, because his orthree sons, Micipsa, Mastanabal, and Gulussa. The two latter died soon after their father, but Micipsa lived gies were celebrated in the night (vúš, night, and tεto B.C. 118, and bequeathed the kingdom to his two Zéw, to perform). The words latex Nyclelius thence sons Adherbal and Hiempsal, and to his nephew Ju- signify wine. (Senec., Ed., v. 492.-Pausan.. 1, 40. gurtha. The two former soon fell victims to the am-Ovid, Met., 4, 15.-Compare Serv. ad. Virg., En., bitious schemes of the last-mentioned individual; but 4, 303.-Liv., 39, 8.)

NURSE, a town of the Sabines, or more correctly, perhaps, in the territory of the Equi, and near the banks of the Anio. Its particular site is unknown. (Virg., En., 7, 744.)

NURSIA, a city of the Sabines, at the foot of the central chain of the Apennines, and near the sources of the river Var. It was noted for the coldness of its atmosphere. (Virg., En., 7, 715.-Sil. Ital., 8, 418.) The modern Norcia corresponds to the ancient site. Polla Vespasia, the mother of Vespasian, was borr. here. (Cramer's Anc. Italy, vol. 1, p. 320.)

charged itself into the Tigris southeast of Amida. (Amm. Marcell., 18, 9.)

NYMPHODORUS, a native of Syracuse, whose era 19 uncertain. He wrote a work on the "Navigation along the coasts of Asia," and another on the "Wonders in Sicily and Sardinia." (Schöll, Hist. Lit. Gr., vol. 2, p. 184.)

amen des Hist. d'Alex., p. 241.) It is pretty evident that this last is the most correct opinion, and that the story was invented by the Greeks to flatter the vanity of Alexander, who was thus treading the same ground that Bacchus had. Hence the etymology given by them to the name Atóvvoos (the Greek appellation of Bacchus), namely, the god (Air), from Nysa (Ast, Grundriss der Philologie, p. 44); and hence, too, the analogy that was found between the name of the mountain (Mnpós) and the Greek term for a thigh (unpóc), which was supposed to be connected with the

NYCTEUS, father of Antiope. (Vid. Antiope I.) NYMPHE, certain female deities among the ancients. The imagination of the Greeks peopled all the regions of earth and water with beautiful female forms called Nymphs, divided into various orders, according to the place of their abode. Thus, 1. the Mountain-Nymphs, or Oreades ('Opɛtúdɛç), haunted the mountains; 2. the Dale-Nymphs, or Napaa (Naraia), the valleys; NYSA, I. according to the Greek writers, a city of 3. the Mead-Nymphs, or Leimoniades (Axiμwviádeç), India, on a mountain named Mercs, whose inhabithe meadows; 4. the Water-Nymphs, or Naiades tants were said to be descended from a colony planted (Naudes), the rivers, brooks, and springs; 5. the there by Bacchus in his Indian expedition. Arrian Lake-Nymphs, or Limniades (Auviádɛç), the lakes (5, 1) places it between the Cophenes and Indus. and pools. There were also, 6. the Tree-Nymphs, or (Compare Plin., 6, 21.-Diod. Sic., 2, 38.- TheoHamudryades ('Aμadpvúdɛç), who were born and died phrast., Hist. Pl., 4, 4. — Polyæn., 1, 1, 2.) D'Anwith the trees; 7. the Wood-Nymphs, or Dryades ville is inclined to give a real existence to Nysa, apart, (Apvúdes), who presided over the forests generally; however, from the story of its origin, and seeks to and, 8. the Fruit-tree-Nymphs, or Flock-Nymphs (Me- identify its site with that of the ancient Nagger. liades, Mnhiúdes), who watched over gardens or flocks (Geogr. Ancienne, vol. 2, p. 339.- Eclaire. sur la of sheep.-The Nymphs occur in various relations to Carte de l'Inde, p. 21.) Rennell also, and Barbier gods and men. The charge of rearing various deities du Bocage, are in favour of the existence of such a and heroes was committed to them they were, for place as Nysa, and strive to identify it with the modinstance, the nurses of Bacchus, Pan, and even Jupi-ern Nughz, making the river Cophenes the same with ter himself, and they also brought up Aristaus and the Cow. (Rennell, Description of India, vol. 2, p. Eneas. They were, moreover, the attendants of the 219.-Barbier du Bocage, p. 831.) Sainte-Croix, on goddesses; they waited on Juno and Venus, and in the other hand, denies that there ever was such a huntress attire they pursued the deer over the mount-place as Nysa, or such a mountain as Meros. (Exains in company with Diana. The Sea-Nymphs also formed a numerous class, under the appellation of Oceanides and Nereides.-The word Nymph (výuon) seems to have originally signified "bride," and was probably derived from a verb vúbw, “to cover" or "veil," and which was akin to the Latin nubo and nubes. It was gradually applied to married or marriageable young women, for the idea of youth was always included. It is in this last sense that the goddesses of whom we have been treating were called Nymphs. (Keightley's Mythology, p. 237, seqq.) NYMPHUM, I. a place in the territory of Apollo-legend of Bacchus's concealment in the thigh of Jove, nia, in Illyricum, remarkable for a mine of asphaltus, of which several ancient writers have given a description. Near this spot was some rising ground, whence fire was constantly seen to issue, without, however, injuring either the grass or trees that grew there. (Aristot., Mirand. Auscult. — Ælian, Var. Hist., 13, 16.-Plin., 24, 7.) Strabo supposes it to have arisen from a mine of bitumen liqueffed, there being a hill in the vicinity whence this substance was dug out, the earth which was removed being in process of time converted into pitch, as it had been stated by Posidonius. (Strabo, 316.) Pliny says this spot was considered as oracular, which is confirmed by Dio Cassius, who describes at length the mode of consulting the oracle (41, 45). The phenomenon noticed by the writers here mentioned has been verified by modern travellers as existing near the village of Selenitza, on the left bank of the Aous, and near the junction of that river with the Sutchitza. (Jones's Journal, cited by Hughes, vol. 2, p. 262.) From Livy (42, 36 ct 49) it appears that there was a Roman encampment here for some time during the Macedonian war. (Cramer's Anc. Greece, vol. 1, p. 61.) Plutarch (Vit. Syll.) tells an amusing story of a satyr having been caught asleep in this vicinity and brought to Sylla, the Roman commander, who was then on the spot!-II. A promontory of Athos, on the Singitic Gulf, now Cape S. Georgio. (Ptol., p. 82.)—III. A city in the Tauric Chersonese, on the route from Theodosia to Panticapæum, and having a good port on the Euxine. In Pliny's time it no longer existed (4. 12). The ruins, however, may still be traced in the vicinity of the modern Vosfor. (Mela, 2, 130.-Steph. Byz., p. 500.)

NYMPHEUS, a river of Armenia Major, which, according to Procopius, formed a separation between the Roman and Persian empires. It ran from north to south, entered the town of Martyropolis, and dis

and his double birth.-II. According to Diodorus Siculus (1, 15), a city of Arabia Felix, where Osiris was nurtured. The same writer elsewhere states (4, 2) that it was situate between Phoenicia and the Nile (μεταξὺ Φοινίκης καὶ Νείλου), leaving its precise situation altogether unknown.-III. A city of Cappadocia, on the Halys, between Parnassus and Osianas, now Nous Shehr. (Itin. Anton., p. 200.-Hierocles, Synecdem., p. 699.)-IV. A city of Caria, called also Pythopolis (Steph. Byz., p. 567), on the slope of Mount Messogis, in the valley of the Mænder. Strabo studied here under Aristodemus. It is now Nasli or Nosli. (Strabo, 650.— Plin, 5, 29.- Pococke, vol. 3, b. 2, c. 10.-Chandler, c. 63.)-V. A place in Euboea, where the vine was said to put forth leaves and bear fruit the same day. (Steph. Byz., s. v. Nvoal. VI. A small town on Mount Helicon, in Boo tia. (Strabo, 403.-Steph. Byz., s. v. Nuoai.)-VII A town in the island of Naxos. (Steph. Byz.)

NYS US, a surname of Bacchus, as the god of Nysa. (Vid. Nysa.)

NYSIADES, a name given to the nymphs of Nysa, to whose care Jupiter intrusted the education of his son Bacchus. (Ovid, Met., 3, 314, &c.)

0.

OĂRUŞ, a river of Sarmatia, falling into the Palus Mæotis. De Guignes conjectures it to be the modern Wardan. (Mem. de l'Acad. des Inscr., &c., vol. 35, p. 546.) Mannert, on the other hand, is in favour of the Uzen. (Geogr., vol. 4, p. 79.) The river in question is mentioned by Herodotus, who gives, however, no particular information respecting it. (Herod., 4, 123.-Bähr, ad loc.)

OASIS (in Greek 'Oaois, and sometimes Avaois), the appellation given to those fertile spots, watered by springs and covered with verdure, which are scat

OASIS.

tered about the great sandy deserts of Africa. In who, proceeding in search of it westward from the Arabic they are called Wahys. The Arabic and the valley of Fayoum, arrived at the close of the fourth He describes it as a valley surGreek names seem to contain the same root with the day on the brink of what he calls the Elloah, that is, Coptic Ouahe, and possibly the word may be originally the Elwah or Oasis. -The Oases appear to be de- rounded with high rocks, forming a spacious plain of a native African term.pressions in the table-land of Libya. On going from twelve or fourteen miles in length, and about six miles the Nile westward, the traveller gradually ascends till in breadth. There is only a small portion cultivated he arrives at the summit of an elevated plain, which at present, but there are many proofs remaining that continues nearly level, or with slight undulations, for it must at one time have been all under crop, and that, a considerable distance, and rises higher on advancing with proper management, it might again be easily rentowards the south. The Oases are valleys sunk in this dered fertile. Here also the traveller found a fountplain; and, when you descend to one of them, you ain, the waters of which resembled, in their chanfind the level space or plain of the Oasis similar to ages of temperature at different times of the day, the portion of the valley of Egypt, surrounded by steep famous Fons Solis in the Oasis of Ammon. It is now hills of limestone at some distance from the cultivated ascertained that such fountains are not peculiar to any land. The low plain of the Oasis is sandstone or clay, one of the Oases, having been discovered in various and from this last the water rises to the surface and fer- parts of the Libyan desert. The change, in fact, takes tilizes the country; and, as the table-land is higher in place in the surrounding atmosphere.-The Oasis of the latitude of Thebes than in that of Lower Egypt, Ammon, called by the Arabs Siwah, has already been we may readily imagine that the water of the Oases is partially alluded to under the article Ammon. It is conveyed from some elevated point to the south, and, situated in lat. 29° 12′ N., and in longitude 26° 6' being retained by the bed of clay, rises to the surface E., being about six miles long, and between four and wherever the limestone superstratum is removed. five in width, the nearest distance from the river of (Wilkinson, "On the Nile, and the present and for- Egypt not exceeding one hundred and twenty miles. mer levels of Egypt."-Journal of the London Geo- A large proportion of the land is occupied by dateThe principal Oases are trees; but the palm, the pomegranate, the fig, the graphical Society, 1839.) four in number: 1. The Great Oasis ("Óaσıç Meyaλń, olive, the vine, the apricot, the plum, and even the Ptol.), which Strabo calls "the First Oasis" (apple, are said to flourish in the gardens. No soil πрúτη Oασis, 791). 2. The Little Oasis ("Oariç Mi- can be more fertile. Tepid springs, too, holding salts Kpá, Ptolemy), called by Strabo the Second Oasis in solution, are numerous throughout the district; and 4. it is imagined that the frequency of earthquakes is con3. The Oasis of Ammon. (Οασις δευτέρα). The Western Oasis, which does not appear to have nected with the geological structure of the surrounding The ruins of the temple of Ammon are debeen mentioned by any ancient geographer except country. Olympiodorus, and was never seen by any Euro- scribed as still very imposing; and nearly a mile from peans until Sir Archibald Edmonstone visited it about these ruins, in a pleasant grove of date-palms, is still 20 years ago. These four constitute, as has been discovered the celebrated Fountain of the Sun, dedisaid, the principal Oases. The writers of the mid-cated of old to the Ammonian deity. (Vid. Ammon.) dle ages enlarge the number materially, from Arabic The interest of the traveller is still farther excited by sources, and modern writers increase it still more, a succession of lakes and remains of temples, which making upward of thirty Oases. (Bischoff und Möl- stretch into the desert far towards the west; all renler, Wörterb. der Geogr., p. 795.)-The Great Oasis dered sacred by religious associations, and by the trais the most southern of the whole, and is placed by ditionary legends of the native tribes. Tombs, cataStrabo and Ptolemy to the west of Abydos. It is the combs, churches, and convents are scattered over the only one, with the exception of that of Ammon, with waste, which awaken the recollections of the Christian which Herodotus seems to have been acquainted (3, to the early history of his belief, and which, at the 26). He translates the term Oasis into Greek by same time, recall to the pagan and Mohammedan Makúрwν vñoos, "Island of the blessed," and without events more interesting than are to be found in the doubt this, or any other of these fertile spots, must vulgar annals of the human race, or can touch the have appeared to the traveller of former days well heart of any one but those who are connected with a worthy of such an appellation, after he had suffered, remote lineage by means of a family history. At a during many painful weeks, the privations and fatigue short distance from the sacred lake there is a temple of the desert. To the Greeks and Romans, however, of Roman or Greek construction, the architecture of of a later age, they generally presented themselves in which is executed with much care and precision, a cira less favourable aspect, and were not unfrequently cumstance which cannot fail to excite surprise in a assigned as places of banishment, where the state-country surrounded by the immense deserts of Libya, malefactor and the ministers of the Christian church, and at the distance of not less than 400 miles from the who were sometimes comprehended in the same class, ancient limits of civilization. In the consecrated terwere, in the second and third centuries, condemned to ritory of that mysterious land is the salt lake of Arawaste their days in the remote solitude of the desert shieh, distant two days and a half from Siwah, in a -The Great Oasis consists of a number of insulated valley enclosed by two mountains, and extending from spots, which extend in a line parallel to the course of six to seven leagues in circumference. So holy is it the Nile, separated from one another by considerable esteemed, that M. Caillaud could not obtain permisintervals of sandy waste, and stretching not less than sion to visit its banks. Even the pacha's firman failed a hundred miles in latitude. Its Arabic name is El- to alter the determination of the sheiks on this essential Wah, a general term in that language for Oasis. M. point. They declared that they would sooner perish Poncet, who examined it in 1698, says that it contains than suffer a stranger to approach that sacred island, many gardens watered with rivulets, and that its palm- which, according to their belief, contained treasures groves exhibit a perpetual verdure. It is the first stage and talismans of mysterious power. It is said to possess of the Darfur caravan, which assembles at Siout, be- a temple, in which are the seal and sword of the prophA reasonable doubt may ing about four days' journey from that town, and et, the palladium of their independence, and not to be seen by any profane eye. nearly the same distance from Farshout. The exertions of Browne, Caillaud, Edmonstone, and Henniker however be entertained as to these assertions; for have supplied us with ample details relative to this in- M. Drovetti, who accompanied a detachment of troops teresting locality.-The Little Oasis, now El-Kas- under Hassan Bey, walked round the borders of the We lake, and observed nothing in its bosom but naked sar, has not been much visited by travellers. owe the latest and most distinct account to Belzoni, rocks. Mr. Browne, too, remarks that he found mis

the capital of a kingdom which had its appropriate sovereign, and was said to have been founded by the Oaxes mentioned in the preceding article. (Herod., 5, 153.-Serv. ad Virg., Eclog., 1, 66.—Steph. Byz., s. v.-Hierocles, p. 650.)

OBRINGA, a river of Germany, forming the line of separation between Germania Superior and Inferior. According to Spener, Cluverius, Cellarius, and others it corresponds to the modern Aar or Ahr. Mannert, however, and Wilhelm, make it the same with the beginning of the Upper Rhine ("den Anfang des OberRheins."-Mannert, Geogr., vol. 3, p. 432).

OBSEQUENS, Julius, a Latin writer, whose era is uncertain. Vossius places him a short period prior to Honorius; but his style indicates an earlier era. Scaliger makes him to have been before the time of St. Jerome; while Saxe assigns him to about 107 A.D. (G. I. Voss, de Hist. Lat., 3, p. 710.—Saxe, Onomast., vol. 1, p. 289.- Funcc., de veget. L. L. senect., 8, 11, seq). He was probably either a Roman or an Italian, and some are inclined to identify him with the M. Livius Obsequens whose name occurs in one of Gruter's inscriptions (Inscript., 241), on the supposition that Livius may have been altered to Julius in the only MS. that has come down to us of this work. (Fuhrmann, Handbuch., vol. 2, p. 490.) Obsequens has left us a work "On Prodigies" (de Prodigus), containing a brief account of all the presages remarked at Rome from the consulship of Scipio and Lælius, A.U.C. 453, down to that of Paulus Fabius and Quintus Elius, in the time of Augustus, or A.U.C. 742. The portion of the work which comprehended the history of the first five or six centuries is lost. This production is taken in part from Livy; but it contains, at the same time, some historical details which are nowhere else to be found. It is written in a pure style, and is not unworthy of the Augustan age. The contents, however, are full of absurdity. The best edition is that of Kapp, Curiæ, 1772, 8vo. (Fuhrmann, Handbuch, vol. 2, p. 490.-Schöll, Hist. Lit. Rom., vol. 2, p. 465.—Bähr, Gesch. Röm. Lit., p. 658, seq.)

shapen rocks in abundance, but nothing that he could | island, at the mouth, probably, of the Oaxes. It was positively decide to be ruins; it being very unlikely, he adds, that any should be there, the spot being entirely destitute of trees and fresh water. Major Rennell has employed much learning to prove that the Oasis of Siwah is the site of the famous temple of Jupiter Ammon. He remarks that the variations between all the authorities, ancient and modern, amount to little more than a space equal to twice the length of the Oasis in question, which is, at the utmost, only six miles long. "And it is pretty clearly proved," he remarks, "that no other Oasis exists in that quarter, within two or more days' journey; but, on the contrary, that Siwah is surrounded by a wide desert: so that it cannot be doubted that this Oasis is the same with that of Ammon, and the edifice found there the remains of the celebrated temple whence the oracles of Jupiter Ammon were delivered." (Geogr. of Herodotus, vol. 2, p. 230, ed. 1830.)-The Western Oasis, as it is termed, was visited in the year 1819 by Sir A. Edmonstone, in company with two friends. Having joined a caravan of Bedouins at Beni Ali, and entered the Libyan desert, they proceeded towards the southwest. At the end of six days, having travelled about one hundred and eighty miles, they reached the first village of the Western Oasis, which is called Bellata. The principal town of the Oasis, however, is El Cazar. The situation of this last-mentioned place is said to be perfectly lovely, being on an eminence at the foot of a line of rock which rises abruptly behind it, and encircled by extensive gardens filled with palm, acacia, citron, and various other kinds of trees, some of which are rarely seen even in those regions. The principal edifice is an old temple or convent called Daer el Hadjin, about fifty feet long by twentyfive wide, but presenting nothing either very magnificent or curious. The Oasis is composed of twelve villages, of which ten are within five or six miles of each other. The prevailing soil is a very light red earth, fertilized entirely by irrigation. The latitude of this Oasis is nearly the same as that of the Great Dasis, or about 26° north. The longitude eastward from Greenwich may be a little more or less than 28°. OCEANIDES (Kεavides), the Ocean-Nymphs, daugh-At different distances in the desert, towards the ters of Oceanus and Tethys, and sisters of the rivers. west, are other Oases, the exact position and extent Mythologists make them three thousand in number. of which are almost entirely unknown to the European (Hes., Theog., 364.—Apollod., 1, 2.—Heyne, not. geographer. The ancients, who would appear to have crit., ad loc.) From their pretended names, as given had more certain intelligence in regard to this quarter by some of the ancient writers, they appear to be only of the globe than is yet possessed by the moderns, personifications of the various qualities and appearanwere wont to compare the surface of Africa to a leop-ces of water. (Theog., 346.-Göttling, ad loc.ard's skin; the little islands of fertile soil being as nu- Keightley's Mythology, p. 244.) merous as the spots on that animal.-The fertility of OCEANUS, I. the god of the stream Oceanus (vid. the Oases has always been deservedly celebrated. Oceanus II.), earlier than Neptune. He was the firstStrabo mentions the superiority of their wine; Abul-born of the Titans, the offspring of Coelus and Terra, feda and Edrisi the luxuriance of their palm-trees. or Heaven and Earth. Oceanus espoused his sister TeThe climate, however, is extremely variable, especially thys, and their children were the rivers of the earth, and in winter. Sometimes the rains in the Western Oasis the three thousand Oceanides or Nymphs of Ocean. are very abundant, and fall in torrents, as appears from (Hesiod, Theog., 337, seq.) This is all the account the furrows in the rocks; but the season Sir A. Ed- of Oceanus that is given in the Theogony. Homer monstone made his visit there was none at all, and the speaks of him and Tethys as the origin of the gods. total want of dew in the hot months sufficiently proves (N., 14, 201, 302.) When Jupiter, he also says, placed the general dryness of the atmosphere. The springs his sire in Tartarus, Rhea committed her daughter Juare all strongly impregnated with iron and sulphur, and no to the charge of Oceanus and Tethys, by whom she hot at their sources; but, as they continue the same was carefully nurtured. (Il., 14, 202, 303.) The abode throughout the whole year, they supply to the inhabi- of Oceanus was in the West. (I., 14, 200, 301.) tants one of the principal means of life. The water, He dwelt, according to Eschylus, in a grotto-palace, notwithstanding, cannot be used until it has been cool- beneath his stream, as it would appear. (Prom. Vinced in an earthen jar. (Russell's Egypt, p. 393, seqq.) tus, 300.) In the "Prometheus Bound" of this poet, OAXES, a river of Crete, said to have derived its Oceanus comes borne through the air on a hippo-griff, name from Oaxes, a son of Apollo. (Virg., Eclog., to console and advise the lofty-minded sufferer; and 1, 66.-Serv., ad loc.) It is now the Mylopotomo, from the account he gives of his journey, it is maniand is apparently one of the most considerable streams fest that he came from the West.-When Hercules in the island. Some, however, identify it with the was crossing his stream in the cup of the Sun-god to Petrea. (Cramer's Anc. Greece, vol. 3, p. 381.- procure the oxen of Geryon, Oceanus rose, and, by Bischoff und Möller, Wörterb. der Geogr., p. 795.) agitating his waters, tried to terrify him; but, on the hero's bending his bow at him, he retired. (Pherec.,

OAXUS, a town of Crete, on the northern side of the

ap. Athen., 11, p. 470.-Keightley's Mythology, p. 51, | has been occasioned by the circumstance of the last
seq.)-II. Besides being the name of a deity, the term of these productions, which we still possess, being
Oceanus ('κɛavós) occurs in Homer in another sense in Ionic Greek. In consequence of this discrepance,
also. It is made to signify an immense stream, which,
according to the rude ideas of that early age, circula-
ted around the terraqueous plain, and from which the
different seas ran out in the manner of bays. This
opinion, which is also that of Eratosthenes, was prev-
alent even in the time of Herodotus (4, 36). Homer
terms the ocean á óppoos, because it thus flowed back
into itself. (Mus. Crit., vol. 1, p. 254) This same
river Oceanus was supposed to ebb and flow thrice in
the course of a single day, and the heavenly bodies
were believed to descend into it at their setting, and
emerge from it at their rising. Hence the term ke-
avóc is sometimes put for the horizon (Damm. Lex.,
s. v. ὁ ὁρίζων καὶ ἀποτέμνων τὸ ὑπὲρ γῆς καὶ ὑπὸ γῆν
opaipiov.) In Homer, therefore, wɛɛavóc and vú-
Aaoca always mean different things, the latter merely
denoting the sea in the more modern acceptation of
the term. On the shield of Achilles the poet repre-
sents the Oceanus as encircling the rim or extreme
border of the shield, in full accordance with the popu-
lar belief of the day; whereas in Virgil's time, when
this primitive meaning of the term was obsolete, and
more correct geographical views had come in, we find
the sea (the idea being borrowed, probably, from the
position of the Mediterranean) occupying in the poet's
description the centre of the shield of Eneas. If it
be asked whether any traces of this peculiar meaning
of the term Keavós occurs in other writers besides
Homer, the following authorities, in favour of the af-
firmative, may be cited in reply. Hesiod, Theog,
242. Id., Herc. Clyp., 314.- Eurip., Orest., 1369.
-Orph, Hymn., 10, 14 —Id., H., 82.-Id, fragm.,
44-(Maltby, ad Morell., Thes., s. v. 'Akɛavós. -
Compare Völcker, Homerische Geographie, p. 86, seq.)
As regards the etymology of the term wkɛavóc, we are
left in complete uncertainty. The form wyvos oc-
curs in Pherecydes (Clem. Alex., Strom., 6, p. 621.
-Sturz, ad Pherecyd.), from which it appears to some
that the root was connected with the Greek yea, yn
(w-yeu-vos, w-yn-vos). On the other hand, Munter
(Rel. der Karthager, p. 63) finds the root of wyvos
in the Hebrew hug, "in orbem ire," as referring to the
circular course of the fabled Oceanus. Creuzer is in-
clined to consider wyévior as equivalent to mahaiós,
"antiquus." (Creuzer und Hermann, Briefe, p. 160.)
It is remarkable that one of the oldest names of the
Nile among the Greeks was wкeavós (Tzetz. ad Ly-
cophron., 119), or, more correctly, perhaps, kɛaun.
(Diod. Sic., 1, 19.-Compare Ritter's Erdkunde, vol.
1, p. 570, 2d ed.) Now in the Coptic, according to
Champollion, oukamé means ‘black,” “dark;" and
according to Marcel, ochemau, in the same language,
denotes "a great collection of water." Will either
of these give kɛavóc as a derivative? The one or
the other of them seems connected in some way with
the Arabic Kâmus, "ocean,' (Ritter, loc. cit.) Per-
haps, however, the most satisfactory derivation for
the term Occanus is that alluded to in the article Ogy-
ges.

Barth (Advers., 1. 42, c. 1, p. 1867), Parker (Disp.
de Deo et Provid, 1678-Disp., 4, p. 355,) Thom
as Burnet (Archaol. Philos, p. 152), and Meiners
(Philolog. Biblioth., vol. 1, pt. 3, p. 100 et 204.-
Hist. Doctr. de vero Deo, p. 312-Gesch der Wis-
sensch., p. 584), have attacked the authenticity of the
work in question: while, on the other hand, Bentley
(Phalaris, p. 307, ed. 1816), Lipsius (Manud. ad
Stoic. Phil., 1. 1, diss. 6), Adelung (Gesch. der Phi-
losophie für Liebhaber), Tiedemann (Griechenl. erste
Philosophen, p. 198 et 209), and Bardili (Epochen
der vorzügl. philos. Begriffe, vol. 1, p. 165), declare
in favour of the work. These conflicting opinions
have been carefully examined and weighed by Rudol
phi, in a Dissertation appended to his edition of the
work, and he comes to the conclusion that the treatise
in question was written by Ocellus. It would appear
that some grammarians of subsequent ages, in copy-
ing the text of Ocellus, caused the Doric forms to dis-
appear, and translated the work, so to speak, into the
more common dialect. This idea was first started by
Bardili, and what tends to clothe it with almost abso-
lute certainty is, that the fragments of the same work
which we meet with in the selections of Stobaus
have preserved their original Doric form. And yet
it must at the same time be acknowledged, that this
production of Ocellus is only cited for the first time
by the writers of the second century of our era, and
at a period when the New-Pythagoreans began to
forge works under the guise of celebrated names.—
The best edition is that of Rudolphi, Lips., 1801,
8vo. The edition of Batteux, Paris, 1768, 3 vols.
12mo, is also a very good one. Batteux corrected
the text after two Paris MSS., and Rudolphi availed
himself of Siebenkee's collation of a Vatican MS.
Gale has placed the work of Ocellus in his Opuscula
Mythologica, &c., Cantabr., 1671. (Scholl, Hist.
Lit. Gr., vol. 2, p. 311, seqq.)

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OCELUM, I. a city in Hispania Tarraconensis, in the territory of the Vettones, now Formoselle.-II. A city in Hispania Tarraconensis, in the territory of the Gallaïci.-III. A city of Gallia Cisalpina, among the Cottian Alps, on the eastern borders of the kingdom of Cottius. According to Mannert, it is now Avigliana, a small town with a castle, in Piedmont, not far from Turin. (Cæs., B. G., 1, 10.)

OCHUS, a surname or epithet applied to Artaxerxes III., and also to Darius II., kings of Persia. It is generally thought to indicate illegitimate birth, and to be equivalent to the Greek Nótos (Nothus). This explanation is opposed, however, by some Oriental scholars, who deduce the term Ochus from the Persian Ochi or Achi, which they make equivalent to the Latin dignus or majestate dignus. (Consult Gesenius, Lex. Hebr., s. v. Achas.— Bähr, ad Ctes, p. 186.) The reign of Artaxerxes Ochus has been noticed elsewhere (vid. Artaxerxes III.), that of Darius Ochus, or Darius II., will now be given. This prince was the illegitimate son of Artaxerxes Longimanus. after the murder of Xerxes II., Darius succeeded in deposing Sogdianus, and ascended the throne himself, B.C. 423. By his wife Parysatis he had Artaxerxes Mnemon and Cyrus the Younger. Nothing very remarkable occurred during his reign, but some successful wars were carried on under Cyrus and other generals. He died B.C. 404, after a reign of nineteen years, and was succeeded by his son Artaxerxes, who is said to have asked him, on his death-bed, by what rule he had acted in his administration, that he might adopt the same, and find the same success. The

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OCELLUS, surnamed Lucanus, from his having been a native of Lucania, a Pythagorean philosopher, who flourished about 480 B.C. He wrote many works on philosophical subjects, the titles of which are given in a letter written by Archytas to Plato, which has been preserved by Diogenes Laertius (8, 80). But the only production of his which has come down to us, is "On the Nature of the Universe" (Hepi Tis Toù navτòs púσews). Its chief philosophical topic is to maintain the eternity of the universe. Ocellus also attempts to prove the eternity of the human race (c. 3, s. 3). These works were, without doubt, writ-king's answer is said to have been, that he had always ten in the Doric dialect, which prevailed in the na-kept, to the best of his knowledge, the strict path of Live country of Ocellus; and hence much surprise justice and religion. (Xen., Anab., 1, 1.—Diod. Sic,

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