Obrazy na stronie
PDF
ePub

with P. Corn. Scipio Nasica, A.U.C. 561, and the conqueror of Antiochus at Thermopyla. (Liv. 35, 24.-Id. 36, 19.)—V. Glabrio M., son of the preceding, a decemvir. He built a temple to Piety, in fulfilment of a vow which his father had made when fighting against Antiochus. He erected also a gilded statue (statuam auratam) to his father, the first of the kind ever seen at Rome. (Val. Max. 2, 5.-Liv. 40, 34. Compare Hase, ad loc.)—VI. A consul, A.U.C. 684, appointed to succeed Lucullus in the management of the Mithradatic war. (Cic. in Verr. 7, 61.)—-VII. Aviola Manius, a lieutenant under Tiberius in Gaul, A.D. 19, and afterward consul. He was roused from a trance by the flames of the funeral pile, on which he had been laid as a corpse, but could not be rescued. (Plin. 7, 53.-Val. Max. 1, 8.)-VIII. Son of the preceding, consul under Claudius, A.D. 54.-IX. A consul with M. Ulpian Trajanus, the subsequent emperor. He was induced to engage with wild beasts in the arena, and, proving successful, was put to death by Domitian, who was jealous of his strength.

ACIRIS, now the Agri, a river of Lucania, rising near Abællinum Marsicum, and falling into the Sinus Tarentinus. Near its mouth stood Heraclea, now Policoro. (Cramer's Anc. Italy, 2, 350.)

pais. It was founded either by Athamas, or by Acræpheus, a son of Apollo. Pausanias calls the place Acræphnium (9, 23-Compare Steph. Byz. s. v.). ACRAGALLIDE. vid. Crauallidæ.

ACRAGAS, I. the Greek name of Agrigentum.-II. A river in Sicily, on which Agrigentum was situate. It gave its Greek name to the city. The modern name is San Blasio. (Mannert, 9, 2, 354.)—III. An engraver on silver, whose country and age are both uncertain. He is noticed by Pliny (33, 12, 55), who speaks of cups of his workmanship, adorned with sculptured work, preserved in the temple of Bacchus at Rhodes. His hunting pieces on cups were very famous. (Sillig, Dict. Art. s. v.)

[ocr errors]

ACRĂTUS, a freedman of Nero, sent into Asia to plunder the temples of the gods, which commission he executed readily, being, according to Tacitus (Ann. 15, 45), cuicumque flagitio promptus." Secundus Carinas was joined with him on this occasion, whom Lipsius (ad Tac. 1. c.) suspects to be the same with the Carinas sent into exile (Dio Cassius, 59, 20) by the Emperor Caligula, for declaiming against tyrants. Compare Juvenal, 7, 204.

skin. The account given of their diet is much more probable. The locust is said to be a very common and palatable food in many parts of the East, after having been dried in the sun. This is thought by some to have constituted the food of the Israelites on the occasion mentioned in Exodus (16, 14). Wesseling (ad Diod. Sic. 3, 28) is of this opinion. But the salvim of Moses evidently mean quails, as the received version has rendered the word. Besides, quails are very numerous in Arabia. (Bochart, Hieroz. 2, p. 92.-Gesenius ad voc.)

ACRIDOPHAGI, an Ethiopian nation, who fed upon locusts. Diodorus Siculus (3, 28) says, that they Acis, a Sicilian shepherd, son of Faunus and the never lived beyond their 40th year, and that they then nymph Simæthis. He gained the affections of Gala- perished miserably, being attacked by swarms of winged tæa, but his rival Polyphemus, through jealousy, crush-lice (TTEρwroì plɛīpes), which issued forth from their ed him to death with a fragment of rock, which he hurled upon him. Acis was changed into a stream, which retained his name. According to Servius (ad Virg. Eclog. 9, 39) it was also called Acilius. Cluve rius places it about two miles distant from the modern Castello di Acc. Fazellus, however, without much reason, assigns the name of Acis to the Fiume Freddo, near Taormina. Sir Richard Hoare describes the Acis of Cluverius as a limpid though small stream. He thinks that it may have been diminished by the eruptions of Etna. (Classical Tour, 2, 314.) The story of Acis is given by Ovid (Met. 13, 750, seqq.). ACONTIUS, a youth of Cea, who, when he went to Delos to sacrifice to Diana, fell in love with Cydippe, a beautiful virgin, and, being unable to obtain her, by reason of his poverty, had recourse to a stratagem. A sacred law obliged every one to fulfil whatever promise they had made in the temple of the goddess; and Acontius having procured an apple or quince, wrote on it the following words: "I swear by Diana I will wed Acontius." This he threw into her bosom in the temple, and Cydippe having read the words, felt herself compelled by the vow she had thus inadvertently made, and married Acontius. (Aristænet. ep. 10. -Ovid, Her. ep. 20.) The story of Ctesylla and Hermochares, as related by Antoninus Liberalis (c. 1), is in some respects similar. Compare Muncker, and Verheyk, ad loc.

ACORIS, a king of Egypt, who assisted Evagoras, king of Cyprus, against Persia. (Diod. 15, 2.) Theopompus (ap. Phot. cod. 176) gives the name erroneously as Pacōris, and not long after the form Acōris (Akwpic) occurs. Diodorus has 'Ακορις.

ACHRADINA, one of the five divisions of Syracuse, and deriving its name from the wild pear-trees with which it once abounded (axpás, a wild pear-tree). It is sometimes called the citadel of Syracuse, but incorrectly, although a strongly fortified quarter. It was very thickly inhabited, and contained many fine buildings, yielding only to Ortygia. (Laporte Du Theil, ad Strab., vol. 2, p. 358, not. 3, French transl.) As regards the situation of Achradina, and its aspect in more modern times, compare Swinburn, Travels in the two Sicilies, 3, 382 (French transl.), and Göller, de Situ et Origine Syracusarum, p. 49, seqq. (Lips. 1818).

ACRÆPHNIA, a city of Boeotia, situate on Mount Ptous, towards the northeast extremity of the Lake Co

ACRISIONEUS, a name applied to the Argives, from Acrisius, one of their ancient kings.

ACRISIONEIS, a patronymic appellation given to Danaë, as daughter of Acrisius. (Virg. Æn. 7, 410, and Servius, ad loc.)

ACRISIONIADES, a patronymic of Perseus, from his grandfather Acrisius. (Ovid, Met. 5, v. 70.)

ACRISIUS, Son of Abas, king of Argos, by Ocalea, daughter of Mantineus. He was born at the same birth as Prœtus, with whom it is said that he quarrelled even in his mother's womb. After many dissensions, Prœtus was driven from Argos. Acrisius had Danaë by Eurydice, daughter of Lacedæmon; and an oracle having declared that he should lose his life by the hand of his grandson, he endeavoured to frustrate the prediction by the imprisonment of his daughter, in order to prevent her becoming a mother (vid. Danaë). His efforts failed of success, and he was eventually killed by Perseus, son of Danae and Jupiter. Acrisius, it seems, had been attracted to Larissa by the reports which had reached him of the prowess of Perseus. At Larissa, Perseus, wishing to show his skill in throwing a quoit, killed an old man who proved to be his grandfather, whom he knew not, and thus the oracle was fulfilled. Acrisius reigned about 31 years. (Hygin. fab. 63.-Ovid, Met. 4, fab. 16.-Horat. 3, od. 16.-Apollod. 2, 2, &c.-Paus. 2, 16, &c. · Vid. Danaë, Perseus, Polydectes.)

ACRITAS, a promontory of Messenia, in the Peloponnesus. (Plin. 4, 5.—Mela, 2, 3.) Now Cape Gallo.

ACROATHOS, or ACROTHŎUM. The name Acroathos properly denotes the promontory of the peninsula of Athos, now Cape Monte Santo. It is the lower one of the two, the upper one being called Nymphæum (Promontorium). By Acrothoum (or Acrothoi) is meant a town on the peninsula of Athos, situate some distance up the mountain, and of which Mela observes

(2, 3), that the inhabitants were supposed to live be- | when he lived is uncertain: he is thought, however, to yond the usual time allotted to man. (Compare Thucyd. 4, 109-Scylaz, p. 26.-Steph. Byz. s. v. "Aows. -Strab. epit. lib. 7, 331.) ACROCERAUNIA, or ACROCERAUNII Montes. vid. Ce

raunia.

have been later than Servius. Acron's scholia on Horace have descended to us in part, or at least only a part was ever published. They are valuable on account of their containing the remarks of C. Æmilius, Julius Modestus, and Q. Terentius Scaurus, the oldest commentators on Horace. Acron also wrote scholia on Terence, which are cited by Charisius, but they have not reached us. Some critics ascribe to him the scholia which we have on Persius. (Schoell, Hist. Litt. Rom. 3, 326.)

ACROPOLIS, in a special sense, the citadel of Athens, an account of which will be given under the article Athens. In a general acceptation, it stands for the citadel of any place.

ACROTATUS, I. son of Cleomenes, king of Sparta, died before his father, leaving a son called Areus, who contended for the crown with Cleonymus his uncle, and obtained it through the suffrages of the senate. Cleonymus, in his disappointment, called in Pyrrhus of Epirus. (Paus. 3, 6.-Plut. vit. Pyrrh.-Paus. 1, 13.)-II. A king of Sparta, son of Areus, and grandson of the preceding. He reigned one year. Before ascending the throne, he distinguished himself by courageously defending Sparta against Pyrrhus. (Plut. vit. Pyrrh.)

ACROCORINTHUS, a high hill, overhanging the city of Corinth, on which was erected a citadel, called also by the same name. This situation was so important a one as to be styled by Philip the fetters of Greece. The fortress was surprised by Antigonus, but recovered in a brilliant manner by Aratus. (Strab. 8, 380.Paus. 2, 4.-Plut. Vit. Arat.-Stat. Theb. 7, v. 106.) "The Acrocorinthus, or Acropolis of Corinth," observes Dodwell, is one of the finest objects in Greece, and, if properly garrisoned, would be a place of great strength and importance. It abounds with excellent water, is in most parts precipitous, and there is only one spot from which it can be annoyed with artillery. This is a pointed rock, at a few hundred yards to the southwest of it, from which it was battered by Mohammed II. Before the introduction of artillery, it was deemed almost impregnable, and had never been taken except by treachery or surprise. Owing to its natural strength, a small number of men was deemed sufficient to garrison it; and in the time of Aratus, according to Plutarch, it was defended by 400 soldiers, 50 dogs, and as many keepers. It was surrounded with a wall by Cleomenes. It shoots up majestically from the plain to a considerable height, and forms a conspicuous object at a great distance: it is clearly seen from Athens, from which it is not less than fortyfour miles in a direct line. Strabo affirms that it is 3 1-2 stadia in perpendicular height, but that the ascent to the top is 30 stadia by the road, the circuitous inflections of which render this no extravagant computation. The Acrocorinthus contains within its walls a town and three mosques. Athenæus commends the ACTEON, a celebrated hunter, son of Aristæus and water in the Acrocorinthus as the most salubrious in Autonoë the daughter of Cadmns. Having inadverGreece. It was at this fount that Pegasus was drink-tently, on one occasion, seen Diana bathing, he was ing when taken by Bellerophon." (Dodwell, vol. 2, p. 187.) All modern travellers who have visited this spot, give a glowing description of the view obtained from the ridge. Consult, in particular, Clarke's Travels, vol. 6, 750.

ACROTHŎUM. Vid. Acroathos.

ACTA or ACTE, strictly speaking, a beach or shore on which the waves break, from yw, "to break." According to Apollodorus (Steph. B. s. v. 'AкTý), the primitive name of Attica was 'AKT (Acte), from the circumstance of two of its sides being washed by the sea. The name is also applied by Thucydides to that part of the peninsula of Athos which is below the city of Sane and including it. Besides Sane, the historian mentions five other cities as being situate upon it. (Thucyd. 4, 109.)

changed by the goddess into a stag, and was hunted down and killed by his own hounds. (Ov. Met. 3, 155, seqq.) The scene of the fable is laid by the poets at Gargaphia, a fountain of Boeotia, on Mount Citharon, about a mile and a half from Platea. From a curious passage in Diodorus Siculus (4, 81), a suspicion arises, that the story of Acteon is a corruption of some earlier tradition, respecting the fate of an intruder into the mysteries of Diana. Wesseling's explanation does not appear satisfactory, although it may serve as a clew to the true one. (Wesseling, ad Diod. Sic. 1. c.)

ACRON, I. a king of the Caninenses, whom Romulus slew in battle, after the affair of the Sabine women. His arms were dedicated to Jupiter Feretrius, and his subjects were incorporated with the Roman people. (Plut. Vit. Rom.) Propertius styles him Caninus Acron, from the name of his city and people (4, 10, 7), and also Herculeus (4, 10, 9), from the circumstance of all the Sabine race tracing their descent from Her- ACTEUS, the first king of Attica, according to the cules or Sancus.-II. A celebrated physician of Agri- ancient writers. He was succeeded by Cecrops, to gentum in Sicily, contemporary with Empedocles whom he had given one of his daughters in marriage. (Diog. Laert. 8, 65). Plutarch speaks of his having (Paus. 1, 2.-Clem. Alex. 1, 321.) He is called by been at Athens during the time of the great plague, some Actæon. (Strab. 397.-Harpocr. s. v. 'AKTŮ. which occurred B.C. 444. He aided the Athenians-Consult Siebelis, ad Paus. l. c.) on that occasion, by causing large fires to be kindled in their streets. (Plut. Is. et Os. 383.) Acron is generally regarded as the founder of the sect of Empirics or Experimentalists (Pseud. Gal. Isag. 372) As this school of medicine, however, had a much later date, it is probable that he was merely one of the class of physicians called Tepiodevrai, who did not confine themselves to mere theory, but went round and visited patients. His contempt for the mysterious charlatanism of Empedocles drew upon him the hatred of that philosopher. At least it is fair to suppose that ACTIA, games renewed by Augustus in commemthis was the cause of their enmity. Acron wrote, ac-oration of his victory at Actium. They are also styled cording to Suidas, a treatise in Doric Greek, on the Ludi Actiaci by the Latin writers, and were celebrated healing art, and another on diet. He appears also, in the suburbs of Nicopolis. Strabo makes them to from the words of the lexicographer, to have turned have been quinquennial. Previously, however, to the his attention in some degree to the influence of cli- battle of Actium they occurred every three years. mate. (Consult Sprengel, Hist. Med. 1, 273.)-III. | (Strab. 7, 325.) Helenius Acron, an ancient commentator. The period

ACTE, a freed woman of Asiatic origin. Suetonius (Vit. Ner. 28) informs us, that Nero, at one time, was on the point of making her his wife, having suborned certain individuals of consular rank to testify, under oath, that she was descended from Attalus. From a passage in Tacitus (Ann. 14, 2) it would appear, that Seneca introduced this female to the notice of the tyrant, in order to counteract, by her means, the dreaded ascendency of Agrippina. (Compare Dio Cass. 61, 7.)

ACTIS, one of the Heliades, or offspring of the Sun,

who, according to Diodorus Siculus (5, 57), migrated from Rhodes into Egypt, founded Heliopolis, and taught the Egyptians astrology. The same writer states, that the Greeks, having lost by a deluge nearly all their memorials of previous events, became ignorant of their claim to the invention of the science in question, and allowed the Egyptians to arrogate it to themselves. Wesseling considers this a mere fable, based on the national vanity of the Greeks, who, it is well known, inverted so many of the ancient traditions, and in this case, for example, made that pass from Greece into Egypt, which came in reality from Egypt to Greece. (Wess. ad Diod. Sic. l. c.)

ACTISANES, according to Diodorus Siculus (1, 60), a king of Ethiopia, who conquered Egypt and dethroned Amasis. He was remarkable for his moderation towards his new subjects, as well as for his justice and equity. All the robbers and malefactors, too, were collected from every part of the kingdom, and, having had their noses cut off, were established in Rhinocolura, a city which he had founded for the purpose of receiving them. We must read, no doubt, with Stephens and Wesseling, in the text of Diodorus, Αμμωσις instead of "Αμασις, for the successor of Apries cannot here be meant. Who the Actisanes of Diodorus was, appears to be undetermined. According to Wesseling (ad loc.), Strabo is the only other writer that makes mention of him. (Strabo, 759.)

ACTORIDES, I. a patronymic given to Patroclus, grandson of Actor. (Ovid, Met. 13, fab. 1.)-II. The sons of Actor and Molione, vid. Molionides.

ACULEO, C., a Roman lawyer of talent and great legal erudition. He married Cicero's maternal aunt, and hence the latter calls Aculeo's sons his cousins. (De Orat. 2, 1.)

ACUSILAUS, a Greek historian, born at Argos, and who lived, according to Josephus (contr. Ap. 1, 2), a short time previous to the Persian invasion of Greece, being a contemporary of Cadmus of Miletus. He wrote a work entitled " Genealogies," in which he gave the origin of the principal royal lines among hie countrymen. He made historic times commence with Phoroneus, son of Inachus, and he reckoned 1020 years from him to the first Olympiad, or 776 B.C. We have only a few fragments of his work, collected by Sturz, and placed by him at the end of those of Pherecydes, published at Gera, 1798.

ACUTICUS, M., an ancient comic writer, author of various pieces, entitled, Leones, Gemini, Baotia, &c., and ascribed by some to Plautus. (Voss. de Poet. Lat. c. 1.)

AD AQUAS, AD AQUILAS, &c., a form common to very many names of places. The Roman legions, on many occasions, when stopping or encamping in any quarter, did not find any habitation or settlement by which the place in question might be designated, and therefore selected for this purpose some natural object, or some peculiar feature in the adjacent scenery. Thus Ad Aquas indicated a spot near which there was water, or an encampment near water, &c. Another form of common occurrence is that which denotes the number of miles on any Roman road. Thus, Ad Quartum, "at the fourth mile-stone," supply lapidem. So also, Ad Quintum, Ad Decimum, &c.

ADA, the sister of Artemisia. She married Hidrieus, her brother (such unions being allowed among the Carians), and, after the death of Artemisia, ascended the throne of Caria, and reigned seven years conjointly with her husband. On the death of Hidrieus she reigned four years longer, but was then driven from her dominions by Pexodarus, the youngest of her brothers, who had obtained the aid of the satrap Orontobates. Alexander the Great afterward restored her to her throne. She was the last queen of Caria. (Quint. Curt. 2, 8.)

ACTIUM, originally the name of a small neck of land, called also Acte (AKT), at the entrance of the Sinus Ambracius, on which the inhabitants of Anactorium had erected a small temple in honour of Apollo. On the outer side of this same promontory was a small harbour, the usual rendezvous of vessels which did not wish to enter the bay. Scylax (p. 13) calls this harbour Acte. Thucydides, however, applies this name to the temple itself. Polybius (4, 63) makes mention of the temple, under the appellation of Actium, and speaks of it as belonging to the Acarnanians. Actium became famous, in a later age, for the decisive victory which Augustus gained in this quarter over the fleet of Marc Antony. From the accounts given of it by the Roman writers, Actium appears to have been, about the time of this battle, nothing more than a temple on a height, with a small harbour below. The conqueror beautified the sacred edifice, and very probably a number of small buildings began after this to arise in the vicinity of the temple. (Strab. 325.-Sueton. Vit. Aug. 17.-Cic. ep. ad fam. 16, 9.) Hence Strabo (451) applies to it the epithet of xwpiov. It never, however, became a regular city, although an inattentive reader would be likely to form this opinion from the language of Mela (2, 3) and Pliny (4, 1). Both these writers, however, in fact confound it with Nicopolis. There are no traces of the temple at the present day, but Pouqueville found some remains of the Hippodrome and Stadium. More within the Sinus Ambracius (Gulf of Arta) lies the small village of Azio. Hence probably, according to Mannert, originated the error of D'Anville, who places Actium, in contradiction to all ancient authorities, at some distance within the bay. ADAMANTEA, Jupiter's nurse in Crete, who sus(Vid. Nicopolis, and compare Mannert, 8, 70.-pended him in his cradle from a tree, that he might be Pouqueville, 3, 445.) found neither on the earth, the sea, nor in heaven. To drown the infant's cries, she gave small brazen shields, and also spears, to young boys, and caused them to be clashed by these, while they kept at the same time moving around the tree. She is probably the same as Amalthea. (Hygin. fab. c. 139.)

Acrius, a surname of Apollo, from Actium, where he had a temple. (Virg. En. 8, v. 704.) ACTIUS Navius. Vid. Attus Navius.

ACTOR, the father of Mencetius, and grandfather of Patroclus, who is hence called Actorides. The birth of Actor is by some placed in Locris, by others in Thessaly. As a Thessalian, he is said to have been the son of Myrmidon and Pisidia, the daughter of Eolus, and husband of Ægina, daughter of the Asopus; and to have conceded his kingdom, on account of the rebellion of his sons, to Peleus. (Ov. Trist. 1, 9.) Consult, on the different individuals of this name, the remarks of Heyne, ad Apollod. 3, 13.

ADAD, an Assyrian deity, supposed to be the sun. Macrobius (Sat. 1, 23) states, that the name Adad means "One" (Unus), and that the goddess Adargatis was assigned to this deity as his spouse, the former representing the Sun, and the latter the Earth. He also mentions, that the effigy of Adad was represented with rays inclining downward, whereas they extend upward from that of Adargatis. Selden (de Duis Syris, c. 6, synt. 1) thinks that Macrobius must be in error when he makes Adad equivalent to " One," and that he must have confounded it with the word Chad, which has that meaning; or else that the MS. of this writer must be corrupt.

ADANA, a city of Cilicia, southeast of Tarsus, on the Sarus, or Sihon. It was at one time a large and well-known place, and was said to have been founded by Adanus, son of Uranus and Gæa. (Steph. B.)

ADDUA, now Adda, a river of Cisalpine Gaul, rising in the Rhaetian Alps, traversing the Lacus Larius, and falling into the Po to the west of Cremona. In the old editions of Strabo, it is termed in one passage

(204) the Adula (ó 'Adoúλaç), but this is an error of ADMо, an engraver on precious stones in the time the copyists, arising probably from the name of Mount of Augustus. His country is uncertain. An elegant Adula, which precedes. Tzschucke restores ó 'Ad-portrait of Augustus, engraved by him, is described by δούας. Mongez, Icon. Rom. tab. 18, n. 6.

ADES, or HADES, an epithet originally of Pluto, the monarch of the shades; afterward applied to the lower world itself. The term is derived by most etymologists from a privative, and ɛidw, video, alluding to the darkness supposed to prevail in this abode of the dead. That this is the true derivation, indeed, will appear from what the poets tell us of the helmet of Pluto (kvvn 'Aidov), which had the power of rendering the wearer invisible. (Hom. Il. 5, 845.) For farther remarks on the Hades of the Greeks, vid. Tartarus.

ADONIA, a festival in honour of Adonis, celebrated both at Byblus in Phoenicia, and in most of the Grecian cities. Lucian (de Syria Dea.-vol. 9, p. 88, seqq., ed. Bip.) has left us an account of the manner in which it was held at Byblus. According to this writer, it lasted during two days, on the first of which everything wore an appearance of sorrow, and the death of the favourite of Venus was indicated by public mourning. On the following day, however, the aspect of things underwent a complete change, and the greatest joy prevailed on account of the fabled resurrection of Adonis from the dead. During this festival the priests of Byblus shaved their heads, in imitation of the priests of Isis in Egypt. In the Grecian cities, the manner of holding this festival was nearly, if not exactly, the same with that followed in Phoenicia. On the first day all the citi

ADGANDESTRIUS, a prince of the Catti, who wrote a letter to the Roman senate, in which he promised to destroy Arminius, if poison should be sent him for that purpose from Rome. The senate answered, that the Romans fought their enemies openly, and never used perfidious measures. (Tacit. Ann. 2, c. 88.) ADHERBAL, Son of Micipsa, and grandson of Masi-zens put themselves in mourning, coffins were exposed nissa, was besieged at Cirta, and put to death by Jugurtha, after vainly imploring the aid of Rome, B.C. 112. (Sallust, Jug. 5, 7, &c.) According to Gesenius (Phan. Mon., p. 399, seq.), the more Oriental form of the name is Atherbal, signifying "the worshipper of Baal." From this the softer form Adherbal arose. The MSS. of Sallust often give Atherbal, with which we may compare the Greek 'Arúpbaç. (Diod. Sic. lib. 34, fragm.—vol. 10, p. 132, ed. Bip.-Polyb. 1, 46, &c.)

ADIABENE, a region in the northern part of Assyria, and to the cast of the Tigris. During the Macedonian sway, it comprised all the country between the Zabus Major and Minor. Under the Parthian sway it comprehended the country as far as the Euphrates, including what was previously Aturia. It was afterward the seat of a kingdom dependant on the Parthian power, which disappeared from history, however, on the rise of the second Persian empire. (Plin. 5, 12, &c.)

ADIMANTUS, a naval commander of the Athenians, taken by the Spartans at Egos Potamos, but whose life was spared, because he had opposed the cruel design, entertained by his countrymen, of cutting off the right hand of their captives in case they should prove victorious. (Xen. H. G. 2, 1, 32.) Pausanias (10, 9) states, that the Athenians charged the Spartans with having bribed him and another commander.

ADMETUS, I. son of Pheres, king of Pheræ in Thessaly, and who succeeded his father on the throne. He married Theone, daughter of Thestor, and, after her death, Alcestis, daughter of Pelias, so famous for her conjugal heroism. It was to the friendship of Apollo that he owed this latter union. The god having been banished from the sky for one year, in consequence of his killing the Cyclopes, tended during that period the herds of Admetus. Pelias had promised his daughter to the man who should bring him a chariot drawn by a lion and a wild boar, and Admetus succeeded in this by the aid of Apollo. The god also obtained from the Fates, that Admetus should not die if another person laid down his or her life for him, and Alcestis heroically devoted herself to death for her husband. Admetus was so deeply affected at her loss, that Proserpina actually relented; but Pluto remained inexorable, and Hercules at last descended to the shades and bore back Alcestis to life. Admetus was one of the Argonauts, and was also present at the hunt of the Calydonian boar. Euripides composed a tragedy on the story of Alcestis, which has come down to us. (Apollod. 1, 8.-Tibull. 2, 3.-Hygin. fab. 50, 51, &c.)-II. A king of the Molossi, to whom Themistocles, when banished, fled for protection. Nepos (Vit. | Them. 8) says, that a tie of hospitality existed between them, but Thucydides (1, 136) and most historians make them to have been enemies.

at every door; the statues of Venus and Adonis were borne in procession, with certain vessels full of earth, in which the worshippers had raised corn, herbs, and lettuce, and these vessels were called the gardens of Adonis ('Adúvidos кnπo). After the ceremony was over they were thrown into the sea or some river, where they soon perished, and thus became emblems of the premature death of Adonis, who had fallen, like a young plant, in the flower of his age. (Histoire du Culie d'Adonis: Mem. Acad. des Inscrip, &c., vol. 4, p. 136, seqq.-Dupuis, Origine de Cultes, vol. 4, p. 118, seqq., ed. 1822.-Valckenaer, ad Theoc. 'Adoviág. in Arg.) The lettuce was used among the other herbs on this occasion, because Venus was fabled to have deposited the dead body of her favourite on a bed of lettuce. In allusion to this festival, the expression 'Advidos Knπоι became proverbial, and was applied to whatever perished previous to the period of maturity. (Adagia Veterum, p. 410.) Plutarch relates, in his life of Nicias, that the expedition against Syracuse set sail from the harbours of Athens, at the very time when the women of that city were celebrating the mournful part of the festival of Adonis, during which there were to be seen, in every quarter of the city, images of the dead, and funeral processions, the women accompanying them with dismal lamentations. Hence an unfavourable omen was drawn of the result of the expedition, which the event but too fatally realized. Theocritus, in his beautiful Idyll entitled 'Adwviálovoai, has left us an account of the part of this grand anniversary spectacle termed cupeois, "the finding," i. e., the resurrection of Adonis, the celebration of it having been made by order of Arsinoë, queen of Ptolemy Philadelphus. Boettiger (Sabina, p. 265) has a very ingenious idea in relation to the fruits exhibited on this joyful occasion. He thinks it impossible, that even so powerful a queen as Arsinoë should be able to obtain in the spring of the year, when this festival was always celebrated, fruits which had attained their full maturity (pia). He considers it more than probable that they were of wax. This conjecture will also furnish another, and perhaps a more satisfactory, explanation of the phrase 'Adúvidos кñπоι, denoting things whose exterior promised fairly, while there was nothing real or substantial within. Adonis was the same deity with the Syrian Tammuz, whose festival was celebrated even by the Jews, when they degenerated into idolatry (Ezekiel, 8, 14); and Tammuz is the proper Syriac name for the Adonis of the Greeks. (Creuzer's Symbolik, vol. ii., p. 86.) (Vid. Adonis.)

ADONIS, I. son of Cinyras, by his daughter Myrrha (vid. Myrrha), and famed for his beauty. He was ardently attached to the chase, and notwithstanding the entreaties of Venus, who feared for his safety and loved him tenderly, he exposed himself day after day in the

rect one is given under No. II. The city had originally an oracle of Apollo and Diana, which was afterward removed to Parium in its vicinity. Homer makes mention of Adrastea, but Pliny is in error (5, 32) when he supposes Parium and Adrastea to have sity, so called, not from Adrastus, who is said to have erected the first temple to her, but from the impossibility of the wicked escaping her power: & privative, and opáw, "to flee." She is the same as Nemesis.

hunt, and at last lost his life by the tusk of a wild | from Adrastus, who founded in the latter a temple to boar whom he had wounded. His blood produced the Nemesis. (Strab. 588.-Steph. B. s. v.) This etyanemone, according to Ovid (Met. 10, 735); but ac-mology, however, appears very doubtful. A more corcording to others, the adonium, while the anemone arose from the tears of Venus. (Bion, Epitaph. Ad. 66.) The goddess was inconsolable at his loss, and at last obtained from Proserpina, that Adonis should spend alternately six months with her on earth, and the remaining six in the shades. This fable is evidently an alle-been the same.-II. A daughter of Jupiter and Necesgorical allusion to the periodical return of winter and summer. (Apollod. 3, ‍14.—Ov. l. c.—Bion, l. c.— Virg. Ecl. 10, 18, &c.) "Adonis, or Adonai," observes R. P. Knight, "was an Oriental title of the sun, signifying Lord; and the boar, supposed to have ADRASTUS, I. a king of Argos, son of Talaus and killed him, was the emblem of winter; during which Lysimache. He received with hospitality Polynices, the productive powers of nature being suspended, Ve- son of Edipus, and gave him his daughter Argia in nus was said to lament the loss of Adonis until he was marriage. Not content with this, he aided Polynices again restored to life; whence both the Syrian and Ar-in his attempt to gain the crown of Thebes, and marchgive women annually mourned his death and celebra-ed an army against that city, commanded by himself ted his renovation; and the mysteries of Venus and and six brave leaders, in the number of whom was his Adonis at Byblus in Syria were held in similar esti- son-in-law Polynices. The expedition, however, promation with those of Ceres and Bacchus at Eleusis, ved unsuccessful, and all six of the leaders perished. and Isis and Osiris in Egypt. Adonis was said to Adrastus alone escaped, by the aid of his steed Arion, pass six months with Proserpina and six with Venus; and having fled as a suppliant to Athens, besought whence some learned persons have conjectured that Theseus to aid him in compelling the Thebans to althe allegory was invented near the pole, where the sun low the rites of burial to the slain. Theseus accorddisappears during so long a time; but it may signifyingly marched against Thebes, took the city, and commerely the decrease and increase of the productive pelled the inhabitants to restore the bodies of the dead powers of nature as the sun retires and advances. The to their relations for interment. Ten years afterward Vishnoo or Juggernaut of the Hindus is equally said a new army was sent against Thebes, commanded by to lie in a dormant state during the four rainy months the sons of the six warriors who had fallen in the preof that climate: and the Osiris of the Egyptians was vious war. The Thebans were defeated, and their city supposed to be dead or absent forty days in each year, was taken, but Ægialeus, son of Adrastus, was slain, during which the people lamented his loss, as the Sy- and the monarch soon after died of grief at his loss. rians did that of Adonis, and the Scandinavians that of (Apollod. 3, 5, 9, seqq.—Herod. 5, 67, &c.) AdrasFrey; though at Upsal, the great metropolis of their tus supplicating Theseus for aid became a favourite worship, the sun never continues any one day entirely topic among the Attic writers when celebrating the below their horizon." An Inquiry into the Symbol- praises of Athens, and forms also the groundwork of ical Language of Ancient Art and Mythology (Class. the Supplices of Euripides. (Heyne, ad Apollod., p. Journal, vol. 25, p. 42.)-II. A river of Phoenicia, 253.)-II. A Peripatetic philosopher, born at Aphrowhich falls into the Mediterranean below Byblus. It disias in Caria, and who flourished about the beginning is now called Nahr Ibrahim. At the anniversary of of the second century. He wrote a treatise on the the death of Adonis, which was in the rainy season, its order of Aristotle's works, and on his philosophy, to waters were tinged red with the ochrous particles from which Simplicius refers. He was the author also of the mountains of Libanus, and were fabled to flow with several commentaries on the works of Aristotle, which his blood. But Dupuis (4, p. 121), with more proba- are lost. One of his productions, however, a treatise bility, supposes this red colour to have been a mere ar-ПTepi 'Apμovikov, is thought to be still preserved in tifice on the part of the priests.

some one of the European libraries, probably in that of the Vatican. (Schoell, Hist. Litt. Grecque, vol. 5, p. 157.)-III. A Phrygian prince, who, having inadvertently killed his own brother, fled to Croesus, at Sardis, and obtained purification. He had the misfortune, however, in hunting a wild boar, mortally to wound Atys, the son of Croesus, by a blow with his javelin, while aiming at the animal, and, in despair, slew himself on the young prince's tomb. (Herod. 1, 35, &c.)

ADRIA, ATRIA, or HADRIA, I. in the time of the Ro

ADRAMYTTIUM, a city of Asia Minor, on the coast of Mysia, and at the head of an extensive bay (Siuus Adramyttenus) facing the island of Lesbos. Strabo (605) makes it an Athenian colony. Stephanus Byzantinus follows Aristotle, and mentions Adramys, the brother of Croesus, as its founder. This last is more probably the true account, especially as an adjacent district bore the name of Lydia. According, however, to Eustathius and other commentators, the place existed before the Trojan war, and was no other than the Peda-mans a small city of Cisalpine Gaul, on the river Tarsus of Homer (Plin. 5, 32). This city became a place of importance under the kings of Pergamus, and continued so in the time of the Roman power, although it suffered severely during the war with Mithradates. (Strab. 605.) Here the Conventus Juridicus was held. The modern name is Adramyt, and it is represented as being still a place of some commerce. It contains 1000 houses, but mostly mean and miserably built. Adramyttium is mentioned in the Acts of the Apostles (ch. 27, 2).

ADRANA, a river in Germany, in the territory of the Catti, and emptying into the Visurgis. It is now the Eder. (Tacit. Ann. 1, c. 56.)

ADRANUM, vid. Hadranum.

ADRASTEA ('Adpάorεla), I. a region of Mysia, in Asia Minor, near Priapus, at the entrance of the Propontis, and containing a plain and city of the same name. The appellation was said to have been derived

tarus, near the Po. Its site is still occupied by the
modern town of Atri. In the ages preceding the Ro-
man power, Adria appears to have been a powerful
and flourishing commercial city, as far as an opinion
may be deduced from the circumstance of its having
given name to the Adriatic, and also from the numer-
ous canals which were to be found in its vicinity.
(Compare Liv. 5, 33.-Strab. 218.-Justin, 20, 1.—
Plin. 3, 16.) It had been founded by a colony of
Etrurians, to whose labours these canals must evi-
dently be ascribed, the name given to them by the
Romans (fossiones Philistina) proving that they were
not the work of that people. (Compare Müller, Etrusk.,
vol. 1, p. 228, in notis.) The fall of Adria was ow-
ing to the inroads of the Gallic nations, and the conse-
quent neglect of the canals. Livy, Justin, and most
of the ancient historians, write the name of this city
Adria; the geographers, on the other hand, prefer

« PoprzedniaDalej »