when he saw a soldier in the act of killing his father, and, by the exclamation which he uttered, saved his parent's life, the soldier being ignorant of his rank; and the other being as follows: Croesus having been made prisoner, a pile was erected, on which he was placed in order to be burned alive. After keeping silence for a long time, the royal captive heaved a deep sigh, and with a groan thrice pronounced the name of Solon. Cyrus sent to know the reason of this exclamation, and Cræsus, after considerable delay, acquainted him with the conversation between himself and Solon, in which the latter had discoursed with so much wisdom on the instability of human happiness. The Persian monarch, relenting upon this, gave orders for Croesus to be released. But the flames had already begun to ascend on every side of the pile, and all human aid proved ineffectual. In this emergency Croesus prayed earnestly to Apollo, the god on whom he had lavished so many splendid offerings; that deity heard his prayer, and a sudden and heavy fall of rain extinstory must be decidedly untrue, as it is not possible to conceive that the Persians would employ fire, which to them was a sacred element, in punishing a criminal. Croesus, after this, stood high in the favour of Cyrus, who profited by his advice on several important occasions; and Ctesias says that the Persian monarch assigned him for his residence a city near Ecbatana. This prince, in his last moments, recommended Crosus to the care of his son and successor Cambyses, and entreated the Lydian, on the other hand, to be an adviser to his son. Croesus discharged this duty with so much fidelity as to give offence to the new monarch, who ordered him to be put to death. Happily for him, they who were charged with this order hesitated to carry it into execution; and Cambyses, soon after, having regretted his precipitation, Croesus was again brought into his presence, and restored to his former favour. The rest of his history is unknown. As he was advanced in years, he could not have long survived Cambyses. (Herod., 3, 36, seqq. - Compare Bähr, ad Ctes., p. 102, seqq.-Creuzer, Fragm. Hist., p. 207, seqq.-Nic. Damasc., in Excerpt. Vales., p. 457, seqq.) The wealth of Croesus was proverbial in the ancient world, and one source of supply was in the gold ore washed down by the Pactolus from Mount Tmolus in Lydia. (Compare Erasmus, chil. 1, cent. 6, col. 216. Strab., 610, 625.—Virg., Æn., 10, 141. Senec., Phan., 604.-Juvenal, Sat., 14, 298.) CROMI OF CROMNI, a town of Arcadia, in the district Cromitis, mentioned by Xenophon as a place of some strength. It is thought by Sir W. Gell to correspond with Crano, two hours and forty-seven minutes from Sinano, or Megalopolis. (Itin. of the Morca, p. 99.) and of literature. He came famed for his riches and munificence. Poets and philosophers were invited to his court, and, among others, Solon, the Athenian, is said to have visited his captital, Sardis. Herodotus relates the conversation which took place between the latter and Croesus on the subject of human felicity, in which the Athenian offended the Lydian monarch by the little value which he attached to riches as a means of happiness. (Herod., 1, 30.) This anecdote, however, appeared encumbered with chronological difficulties, even to the ancients (Plut., Vit. Sol., c. 27), and has given rise to considerable discussions in modern times. (Consult Larcher, Chronol. d'Herod., vol. 7, p. 205, seqq.-Clavier, Histoire des premiers temps de la Grèce, vol. 2, p. 324.- - Schultz, Apparat. ad Annall. Crit. Rer. Græc., p. 16, seqq. — Bähr, ad Herodot., 1, 30.) Not long after this, Croesus had the misfortune to lose his son Atys (vid. Atys); but the deep affliction into which this loss plunged him was dispelled in some degree, after two years of mourning, by a feeling of disquiet relative to the move-guished the flames! (Herod., 1, 86, seqq.) This ments of Cyrus and the increasing power of the Persians. Wishing to form an alliance with the Greeks of Europe against the danger which threatened him, a step which had been recommended by the oracle at Delphi (Herod., 1, 53), he addressed himself, for this purpose, to the Lacedæmonians, at that time the most powerful of the Grecian communities, and having succeeded in his object, and made magnificent presents to the Delphic shrine, he resolved on open hostilities with the Persians. The art of the crafty priesthood who managed the machinery of the oracle at Delphi is nowhere more clearly shown than in the history of their royal dupe, the monarch of Lydia. He had lavished upon their temple the most splendid gifts; so splendid, in fact, that we should be tempted to suspect Herodotus of exaggeration if his account were not confirmed by other writers. And the recipients of this bounty, in their turn, put him off with an answer of the most studied ambiguity when he consulted their far-famed oracle on the subject of a war with the Persians. The response of Apollo was, that if Croesus made war upon this people, he would destroy a great empire; and the answer of Amphiaraus (for his oracle, too, was consulted by the Lydian king), tended to the same effect. (Herod., 1, 53.) The verse itself, containing the response of the oracle, is given by Diodorus (Excerpt., 7, 28), and is as follows: Κροῖσος, "Αλυν διαβὰς, μεγάλην ἀρχὴν καταλύσει, 66 Cræsus, on having crossed the Halys, will destroy a great empire," the river Halys being, as already remarked, the boundary of his dominions to the east. (Compare Cic., de Div., 2, 56.-Aristot., Rhet., 3, 4.) Croesus thought, of course, the kingdom thus referred to was that of Cyrus; the issue, however, proved it to be his own. Having assembled a numerous army, the Lydian monarch crossed the Halys, invaded the territory of Cyrus, and a battle took place in the district of Pteria, but without any decisive result. Croesus, upon this, thinking his forces not sufficiently numerous, marched back to Sardis, disbanded his army, consisting entirely of mercenaries, and sent for succour to Amasis of Egypt, and also to the Lacedæmonians, determining to attack the Persians again in the beginning of the next spring. But Cyrus did not allow him time to effect this. Having discovered that it was the intention of the Lydian king to break up his present army, he marched with all speed into Lydia, before a new mercenary force could be assembled, defeated Croesus (who had no force at his command but his Lydian cavalry), in the battle of Thymbra, shut him up in Sardis, and took the city itself after a siege of fourteen days, and in the fourteenth year of the reign of the son of Alyattes. With Croesus fell the empire of the Lydians. Herodotus relates two incredible stories connected with this event; one having reference to the dumb son of Croesus, who spoke for the first time CROMMYON, a small place in Corinthia, on the shore of the Saronic Gulf, south of the Megarean frontier. It was celebrated in mythology as the haunt of a wild boar destroyed by Theseus. (Plut., Vit. Thes., Plat., Lach., p. 196.-Strabo, 380.) Pausanias says it was named after Crommus, son of Neptune. From Thucydides (4, 44) it appears that Crommyon was 120 stadia from Corinth. The little hamlet of Canetta or Kinetta is generally thought to occupy the site of this ancient town. (Chandler's Travels, vol. 2, ch. 43.—Gell's Itin., p. 209.) CROPHI, a mountain of Egypt, between Elephantina and Syene. Between this mountain and another called Mophi were the sources of the Nile, according to a foolish statement made to Herodotus by an Egyptian priest at Saïs. (Herodot., 2, 28.) CROTONA OF CROTO (KpóTwv), now Cotrone, a powerful city of Italy, in the Brutiorum ager, on the coast of the Sinus Tarentinus. Its foundation is ascribed to Myscellus, an Achæan leader, soon after Syb aris had been colonized by a party of the same nation, which was about 715 A.C. (Antioch., Syrac., ap. 14, 26.) Its harbour, however, does not seem to have been any of the best, or well calculated to afford protection against storms and winds. It was rather what Polybius calls (10, 1) a summer-harbour. (Cramer's Anc. Italy, vol. 2, p. 391, seqq.-Mannert, Geogr., vol. 9, pt. 2, p. 210.) CROTONIATE, the inhabitants of Crotona. (Cic., de Inv., 2, 1.) Strab., 262.) According to some traditions, the origin of Crotona was much more ancient, and it is said to derive its name from the hero Croton. (Ovid, Metam., 15, 53. Compare Heracl., Pont. Fragm., p. 20.Diod. Sic., 4, 24.) The residence of Pythagoras and his most distinguished followers in this city, together with the overthrow of Sybaris which it accomplished, and the exploits of Milo and of several other Crotoniat victors in the Olympic Games, contributed in a high CROTONIATIS ( Kρorwviūtis xúpa), a part of Italy, degree to raise its fame. Its climate, also, was prover- of which Crotona was the capital. (Thucyd., 7, 35.) bially excellent, and was supposed to be particularly CRUSTUMERIUM or CRUSTUMIUM, a town of the calculated for producing in its inhabitants that robust Sabines, in the vicinity of Fidenæ, and, like Fidenæ, frame of body requisite to ensure success in gymnastic founded by a colony from Alba. (Dion. Hal., 2, 53.) contests. Hence it was commonly said, that the last Its great antiquity is also attested by Virgil (Æn., 7, athlete of Crotona was the first of the other Greeks. 629), and by Silius Italicus (8, 367). From Pliny (3, (Strabo, 262.) This city was also celebrated for its 5) we learn that the Crustumini were vanquished by school of medicine, and was the birthplace of Demo- Romulus, and that a settlement was formed in their cedes, who long enjoyed the reputation of being the territory. The fertility of their lands is extolled by first physician of Greece. (Herodol., 3, 131.) How-more than one writer. Their city, however, was not ever brilliant an epoch in the history of Crotona its finally conquered till the reign of the elder Tarquin. triumph over Sybaris may appear, that event must be (Liv., 1, 38.) The name of Crustumini Colles apregarded also as the term of her greatness and pros- pears to have been given to the ridge of which the perity; for from this period it is said that luxury and Mons Sacer formed a part, since Varro, speaking of the love of pleasure, the usual consequences of great the secession of the Roman people to that hill, terms opulence, soon obliterated all the good effects which it Secessio Crustumerina. (L. L., 3, 1.) The tribe had been produced by the wisdom and morality of Py- called Crustumina evidently derived its name from thagoras, and conspired to enervate that hardihood and this ancient city. (Liv, 42, 34.) The ruins of Crusvigour for which the Crotoniate had hitherto been so pe- tumerium are said to exist in a place now called Marculiarly distinguished. (Polyb., Fragm., 7, 1, and 10, cigliano Vecchio. (Vulp., Vet. Lat., lib. 18, c. 17.— 1.-Tim., ap. Athen., 12, 4.) As a proof of the remark- Cramer's Ancient Italy, vol. 1, p. 303, seqq.) able change which took place in the warlike spirit of CTESIAS, I. a Greek historian and physician of Cnithis people, it is said that, on their being subsequently dus, who flourished in the time of Artaxerxes Mnemon. engaged in hostilities with the Locrians, an army of (Suidas, s. v.-Xen., Anab., 1, 8, 27.-Diod. Sic., 130,000 Crotoniata were routed by 10,000 of the en-1, 32.) He was of the family of the Asclepiades, who emy on the banks of the Sagras. Such was, indeed, possessed the art of healing as a patrimony, inherited the loss they experienced in this battle, that, according from their great progenitor Esculapius. (Galen, vol. to Strabo, their city henceforth rapidly declined, and 5, p. 652, Ï. 51, ed. Basil.) Ctesias assisted at the could no longer maintain the rank it had long held among battle of Cunaxa, B.C. 401, but it is not precisely the Italiot republics. (Strabo, 261.) According to known whether he was in the army of Cyrus or in Justin (20, 2), it is true, a much earlier date ought to that of Artaxerxes. He merely states that he healed be assigned to this event; but the accounts which the wound received by the latter during the conflict. Strabo has followed evidently regarded it as subsequent In speaking, however, of the death of Clearchus, the to the fall of Sybaris, and probability rather favours Grecian commander, which took place a short time such an arrangement in the order of events. (Con-after the battle, he informs us, that he was then the sult Heyne, de Civit. Græc., prolus. 10, in Op. Acad., vol. 2, p. 184.) Dionysius the elder, who was then aiming at the subversion of all the states of Magna Græcia, having surprised the citadel, gained possession of the town, which, however, he did not long retain. (Liv., 24, 3.) Crotona was finally able to assert its independence against his designs, as well as the attacks of the Brutii; and when Pyrrhus invaded Italy, it was still a considerable city, extending on both banks of the Esarus, and its walls embracing a circumference of twelve miles. But the consequences of the war which ensued with that king proved so ruinous to its prosperity, that above one half of its extent became deserted; the Esarus, which flowed through the town, now ran at some distance from the inhabited part, which was again separated from the fortress by a vacant space. Such is the picture which Livy draws of the state of this city after the battle of Canna, at which period almost all the Greek colonies abandoned the Roman cause. Crotona was then occupied by the Brutii, with the exception of the citadel, in which the chief inhabitants had taken refuge; these being unable to defend the place against a Carthaginian force, soon after surrendered, and were allowed to withdraw to Locri. (Liv., 24, 2 and 3.) Crotona eventually fell again into the hands of the Romans, A.U.C. 560, and a colony was established here. Pliny merely speaks of it as an Oppidum, without adding a single remark respecting its importance. It became a place of some consequence in the time of Belisarius, who made it, on account of its position, a chief point in his operations along the coast. (Procop., B. Goth., 3, 28, et physician of Parysatis, the mother of Artaxerxes, which would render it very probable that he was from the first in the suite of the king, and not in that of his brother. (Compare Bähr, ad Ctes., p. 16, Proleg.) He passed, after this, seventeen years at the court of Persia. Ctesias composed a History of Assyria and Persia, entitled IIɛpotká, in 23 books, written in the Ionic dialect. In writing this, he obtained great as. sistance, as well from the oral communications of the Persians as from the archives of the empire, to which he states that he had access, and in which appear to have been deposited those royal documents which Diodorus Siculus calls ẞaoikikai dio0épai. These annals contained rather the history of the court and the monarchs of Persia than that of the state itself. What we possess at present of the history of Ctesias, induces the belief, that it was precisely in this circle of events that the work of Ctesias just mentioned was principally taken up. It is by means of quotations given by Athenæus, and more particularly by Plutarch, that we are made acquainted with some fragments of the first six books, which turned entirely on the history of Assyria. We have an extract, in a somewhat more complete order, from the seventeen books that immediately follow: Photius has placed it in his Bibliotheca. Ctesias wrote also a history of India ('Ivdiká), in one book, from which Photius has also copied an extract.-On many points Ctesias is in contradiction with Herodotus, whom he accuses of dealing in fable; and also with Xenophon. He has been charged, in his turn, with being, on many occasions, negligent of the truth. What has principally injured the reputation o: by Pacorus, and became the metropolis of the whole Parthian empire. Ctesiphon was at first an inconsiderable village, but the camp of the Parthian monarchs being frequently pitched in its vicinity, caused it gradually to become a large city. In A.D. 165 it was taken by the Romans, and again 33 years after by the Emperor Severus. (Dio Cass., 75, 9.—Spartian., Vit. Sev., 16.-Herodian, 3, 30.) Notwithstanding, however, its losses, it succeeded to Babylon and Seleucia as one of the great capitals of the East. In the time of Julian, Ctesiphon was a great and flourishing city; and Coche, as the only remaining part of Seleucia was called, was merely its suburb. To these two have been assigned the modern epithet of “Al Modain," or "the cities." They are now both in ruins. Ctesiphon never recovered its sack by the Saracens, A.D. 637. This place was the winter residence of the Parthian and Persian monarchs. In summer they dwelt at Ecbatana in Media. (Strabo, 743.-Plin., 6, 26.-Mannert, Geogr., vol. 5, p. 406.) CULARO, a city of the Allobroges, in Gallia Narbonensis, on the banks of the Isara. On being rebuilt by Gratian, it took the name of Gratianopolis, and is now Grenoble. (Cic., Ep. ad Fam., 10, 23.—Paul Warnefr., de Gest. Longob, 3, 8.) Ctesias is his system of chronology, which is more dif- | from Seleucia. It was founded by Vardanes, fortified ficult to be reconciled with that of the Scriptures than the one adopted by Herodotus. It must be observed, however, that, among the ancient writers, Plutarch is the only one who shows little respect for Ctesias; whereas Dionysius of Halicarnassus, Diodorus Siculus, Strabo, Pliny, and even Xenophon himself, his contemporary, cite him with praise, or at least without contradicting him. It may reasonably be asked, moreover, which of the two ought to have been better acquainted with the subject of which they treat, Herodotus or Ctesias? Herodotus, who speaks only of the affairs of Persia on the testimony of others, and who wrote at a period when the Greeks had as yet but little intercourse with Persia; or Ctesias, who had passed many years at Susa, where he enjoyed so high a reputation as to be charged with the management of some important negotiations? (Gedoyn, Mem. de l'Acad. des Inscr., &c., vol. 14, p. 247, seqq.)—What has just been said, however, refers merely to the work of Ctesias on Persia. His history of India is crowded with fables. Heeren (Ideen, vol. 1, p. 323) seeks to justify Ctesias, on the ground that he details merely those of the myths of India which were in the mouths of the vulgar in Persia. Cuvier also observes, that Ctesias has by no means imagined the fantastic animals of which he speaks, but that he has fallen into CUMA, I. a city of Æolis, in Asia Minor. (Vid. the mistake of ascribing an actual existence to the Cyme.)-II. A city of Campania in Italy, northwest hieroglyphic figures, which are remarked at the present of Neapolis. It was placed on a rocky hill washed by day among the ruins of Persepolis. We there find, the sea; and the same name is still attached to the for example, the martichora, that fabulous animal ruins which lie scattered around its base. Whatever which was the symbol or hieroglyphic of royal power. doubt may have been thrown on the pretensions of Many other fables are to be explained by the ignorance many other Italian towns to a Greek origin, those of of the laws of nature, which was so great among the Cuma seem to stand on grounds too firm and indisancients. The fragments of Ctesias are to be found putable to be called in question. It is agreed upon by appended to various editions of Herodotus. A separ-all ancient writers who have adverted to this city, that it ate edition was given by Lion, in 1825, 8vo, Götting., and another by Bähr, in 1824, 8vo, Francof. This last is decidedly the best. The editor has not contented himself with giving an accurate text, corrected by the aid of manuscripts, but in his commentary he explains the text, with reference to history, geography, &c., and seeks also to justify Ctesias against most of the charges alleged to his discredit. (Schöll, Hist. Lit. Gr., vol. 2, p. 176, seqq.—Id., vol. 7, p. 436.)—in the chronology of Eusebius to have been about 1050 II. An Ephesian, who also wrote on Persian affairs. (Consult Vossius, de Hist. Græc., 3, p. 349.) III. An artist, mentioned by Pliny (34, 29) as having flourished, along with other carvers in silver, after the time of Myron.-IV. A spendthrift and debauched person. Some verses of the comic poets Anaxilas and Philetarus against him are preserved in Athenæus (10,nization of Cumæ at this early period is a remarkable p. 416, d.) CTESIBIUS, a native of Ascra, and contemporary of Archimedes, who flourished during the reigns of Ptolemy II. and Ptolemy III., or between 260 and 240 B.C. He was the son of a barber, and for some time exercised at Alexandrea the calling of his parent. His mechanical genius, however, soon caused him to emerge from obscurity, and he became known as the inventor of several very ingenious contrivances for raising water, &c. The invention of clepsydra, or water clocks, is also ascribed to him. (Compare Vitruvius, 9, 9.) He wrote a work on hydraulic machines, which is now lost. (Schöll, Hist. Lit. Gr., vol. 3, p. 363.) was founded at a very early period by some Greeks of event, as showing the progress already made by the Greeks in the art of navigation, and proving also that they were then well acquainted with Italy. (Compare Müller, Etrusker, vol. 1, p. 167.) Hence Blum is of opinion, that to an early intercourse between Rome and Cuma, by means of commercial operations, is to be ascribed the Æolic character which so clearly develops itself in the forms of the most ancient Latin. (Einleitung in Roms alte Geschichte, p. 89.) Strabo also informs us, that from its commencement the state of the colony was most flourishing. The fertility of the surrounding country, and the excellent harbours which the coast afforded, soon rendered it one of the most powerful cities of southern Italy, and enabled it to form CTESIPHON, I. an Athenian, who brought forward settlements along the coast, and to send out colonies the proposition respecting the crown of gold, which as far as Sicily. When Campania placed itself under the Athenians, on his motion, decreed to Demosthe- the protection of Rome, Cuma followed the example nes for his public services. He was accused and of that province, and obtained soon after the privileges brought to trial for this by schines, but was suc- of a municipal city. (Liv., 8, 14, and 23, 31.) In cessfully defended by Demosthenes. This contro- the second Punic war it was attacked by Hannibal, but, versy gave rise to the two famous and rival orations by the exertions of Tiberius Sempronius Gracchus, concerning "the Crown." (Vid. Æschines, Demos- it was vigorously and successfully defended. (Liv., thenes.)-II. A city of Parthia, situate on the eastern 23, 37.) This city became a Roman colony in the bank of the Tigris, opposite to, and distant three miles reign of Augustus, but, owing to the superior attractions of Baia and Neapolis, it did not attain to any degree | pelago, and establishing themselves also along the coasts of prosperity, and in Juvenal's time it appears to have been nearly deserted. (Sat., 3, 1.) But Cuma was, perhaps, still more indebted for its celebrity to the oracular sibyl, who, from the earliest ages, was supposed to have made her abode in the Cumaan cave, from which she delivered her prophetic lore. Every one is acquainted with the splendid fictions of Virgil relative to this sibyl, but it is not so generally known that the noble fabric of the poet was raised on a real foundation. The temple of Apollo, or, as it was more generally called, the cavern of the sibyl, actually existed; it consisted of one vast chamber, hewn out of the solid rock; but was almost entirely destroyed in a siege which the fortress of Cumæ, then in the possession of the Goths, maintained against Narses; that general, by undermining the cavern, caused the citadel to sink into the hollow, and thus involved the whole in one common ruin. (Agath., Hist. Goth., 1.) There is also a description of this cave in Justin Martyr. (Orat. Paran.-Cramer's Ancient Italy, vol. 2, p. 148, seqq.) CUNAXA, a place in Babylonia, where the battle was fought between Cyrus the younger and his brother Artaxerxes Mnemon, and in which the former lost his life. Plutarch (Vit. Artax., c. 8) says, it was 500 stadia distant from Babylon. D'Anville places it within the limits of Mesopotamia, near Is, the modern Hit. But Mannert, with more propriety, assigns it to Babylonia, and fixes its location a few miles south of the entrance of the wall of Media. (Geogr., vol. 5, pt. 2, p. 331.) of Acarnania and Ætolia. It is from them that the lat- CUNEUS, I. AGER, a region in the southernmost part of Lusitania, between the river Anas and the Sacrum Promontorium and Atlantic. It is now Algarve. The appellation Cuneus is generally thought to have been given it by the Romans from its resemblance to "a wedge" (cuneus); Ukert, however, thinks that the name is to be traced to the Conii (Koviot), of whom Polybius (10, 7) speaks as dwelling to the west of the straits, and who were probably inhabitants of the south-selves successfully to civilize the rude inhabitants of western part of Iberia. Appian (Reb. Hisp., c. 57) Crete. (Compare Servius, ad Virg., Æn., 3, 131.— calls them Cunei (Kovvéot), and makes their capital “Curetes primi cultores Creta esse dicuntur.") They to have been Conistorgis. It is very probable that this taught them to keep flocks and herds, to raise bees, to name, in the time of the Roman sway, reminding that work metals. They made them acquainted also with people of their own term cuneus, gave rise to the idea some of the leading principles of astronomy. (Theon., of ascribing a wedgelike form to the country in the ad Arat., 1, 35.) To the Curetes, too, must no doubt southern parts of Lusitania. (Ukert, Geogr., vol. 2, be attributed what is said of Melisseus, the first king p. 309.)—II. or CUNĚUM PROMONTORIUM, a promon- of Crete, that he was the first to sacrifice to the gods, tory of the Cuneus Ager, in Lusitania, to the west of to introduce new rites and sacred processions unknown the mouth of the Anas, now Cape Santa Maria. It before his time; and that his daughter Melissa was the is the southernmost point of Portugal. (Plin., 4, 22.) first priestess of the Mother of the Gods. (Lactant., div. CUPIDO, the god of love. (Vid. Eros.) Inst., 1, 22, 19.) Melisseus, whose daughters AmalCURES, a town of the Sabines, to the north of Ere- thea and Melissa nourished the infant Jupiter with milk tum, celebrated as having given birth to Numa Pom- and honey, was of necessity contemporaneous with the pilius. (Virg., En., 6, 811.) Antiquaries are divi- Curetes, and may be regarded without doubt as one ded in opinion as to the site occupied by this ancient of them. In a word, so well grounded a reputation place. Cluverius fixed it at Vescovo di Sabini (Ital. did the Curetes leave behind them, that, in process of Ant., 1, 675), about twenty-five miles from Rome; time, it became customary in Crete, when an inhabithe Abbé Chaupy at Monte Maggiore, on the Via Sa- tant of the island had rendered himself conspicuous by leria, and twenty miles from that city. (Dec. de la talent or acquirements, to call him, as is proved by Maison d'Hor., vol. 3, p. 576.) The opinion of Hol- the example of Epimenides, a new Curete, or simply a stenius ought, however, to be preferred; he places it Curete. (Plut., Vit. Solon, 84.-Diag. Laert., 1, at Corese, a little town on a river of the same name, 114.) The title of Tnyevɛis, or "children of the which bears an evident similarity to that of the ancient Earth," also given to the Curetes (Diod. Sic., 5, 65), city, and where, according to the same accurate ob- and likewise that of "Companions of Rhea" (Strabo, server, many remains were still visible when he ex- 465), suffice to prove that they worshipped this divinamined the spot. (Adnot. ad Steph. Byz., p. 106.-ity. The founders of Cnosus, they raised in that Compare D'Anville, Geogr. Anc., vol. 1, p. 195.– Cramer's Ancient Italy, vol. 1, p. 310.) city a temple, and consecrated a grove, unto the Mother of the Gods. (Diod. Sic., 5, 66.-Syncell., Chron., p. 125.)-For other remarks on the Curetes, consult Sainte-Croix, Mystères du Paganisme, vol. 1, p. 71, seqq. CURETES, an ancient people, who would seem to have been a branch of the Leleges, and to have settled at an early period in the island of Crete. (Compare Euseb., Chron., 1, p. 14.-Mannert, Geogr., vol. 8, p. CURĒTIS, I. a name given to Crete, as being the 21.) Being piratical in their habits, we find them, in pro- residence of the Curetes. (Ovid, Met., 8, 136.)-II, cess of time, occupying many of the islands of the Archi-The earlier name of Ætolia. (Vid. Curetes.) זי CURIA, I. a subdivision of the early Roman tribes, | circumstance which applies to Curium in the middle each tribe containing ten curiæ. This arrangement ages. (Hierocl., p. 706.) Ancient writers report, commenced, as is said, with Romulus, at which time that the hills around Curium contained rich veins of the number of tribes amounted to three, so that the copper ore. (Theophr., de Vent.-Serv., ad Virg, curiæ at their very outset were thirty. This number En., 3, 111.-Cramer's Asia Minor, vol. 2, p. 3:6.) of curiæ always remained the same, whereas that CURIUS DENTATUS, Manius, a Roman, celebrated of the tribes was increased subsequently to thirty- for his warlike achievements, and also for the primitive five. Each curia anciently had a chapel or temple simplicity of his manners. In his first consulship for the performance of sacred rites. He who presided (A.U.C. 463) he triumphed twice, once over the Samover one curia was called Curio; he who presided nites and then over the Sabines, and in this same year over them all, Curio Maximus.-II. A name given to also he obtained an ovation for his successes against a building where the senate assembled. These curia the Lucanians. (Aurel. Vict., c. 33.-Compare the were always consecrated, and, bei thus of a reli- remarks of Sigonius, ad Fast. Cons., p. 142, seqq., gious character,were supposed to re...er the debates of ed. Oxon.) He afterward (A.U.C. 478), in his third the senate more solemn and auspicious. The senate consulship, triumphed over Pyrrhus and the Samnites. appear at first to have met in the chapels or temples (Sigon., p. 164.) It was on this occasion that the of the curiæ, and afterward to have had buildings spe- Roman people first saw elephants led along in triumph cially erected for this purpose. Varro, therefore, dis- (Flor., 1, 18.-Pliny, 8, 6.—Eutropius, 2, 14.tinguishes the curia into two kinds; the one where Tzschucke, ad Eutrop., l. c.), and it was this victory the priests took care of divine matters, and the other that drove Pyrrhus from Italy. The simple manners where the senate took counsel for human affairs. of this distinguished man are often referred to by the (Varro, L. L., 4, 32.—Burgess, Antiquities of Rome, Roman writers. When the ambassadors of the Samvol. 1, p. 360.) nites visited his cottage, they found him, according to one account, sitting on a bench by the fireside, and supping out of a wooden bowl (Val. Max., 4, 3, 5), and, according to another, boiling turnips (povra yoyyvhidas.-Plut., Vit. Cat. Maj., c. 2). On their attempting to bribe him with a large sum of gold, he at once rejected their offer, exclaiming, that a man who could be content to live as they saw him living, had no need whatever of gold; and that he thought it more glorious to conquer the possessors of it than to possess it himself.-His scanty farm and humble cottage, moreover, were in full accordance with the idea which Curius had formed of private wealth; for, after so many achievements and honours, he declared that citizen a pernicious one who did not find seven acres (jugera) sufficient for his subsistence. (Plin., 18, 3.-Compare Schott., ad Aurel. Vict., c. 33.) Seven acres was the number fixed by law on the expulsion of the kings. (Plin., l. c.)—According to Pliny, Dentatus was so named because born with teeth (cum dentibus. CURIATII, a family of Alba. The three Curiatii, who engaged the Horatii and lost the victory, belonged to it. (Liv, 1, 24.) CURIO, I, Caius, was prætor A.U.C. 632, but did not attain to the consulship. Cicero speaks with praise of his oratory, an opinion founded, not on personal knowledge, but on the speeches he had left. (Cic., Brut., 32.)-II. C. Scribonius, was consul with Cneus Octavius, A.U.C. 677. On returning from the province of Macedonia, he triumphed over the Dardani, as proconsul, A.U.C. 681. (Sigon., Fast. Cons. ad Ann. DCXXCI.-ld., Comment. in Fast., p. 454, ed. Oxon.) Cicero often mentions him, and in his Brutus (c. 49) enumerates him among the Roman orators, along with Cotta and others.-III. C. Scribonius, son of the preceding, a turbulent and unprincipled man, and an active partisan of Julius Caesar's. Being deeply involved in debt when tribune of the commons, Cæsar gained him over by paying for him what he owed (Plut., Vit. Pomp., c. 58), and Curio-Plin. 7, 15). immediately exerted himself with great vigour in his behalf. Cæsar, it seems, was under obligations to him before this, since Curio is said to have saved his life when he was leaving the senate-house after the debate about Catiline's accomplices, his personal safety being endangered by the young men who stood in arms around the building. (Plut., Vit. Cæs., c. 8.) Plutarch ascribes Antony's early initiation into licentious habits to his acquaintance with Curio. (Vit. Ant., c. 2.-Compare, Cic., Phil., 2, 2.). Cicero speaks very favourably of his natural qualifications as an orator, but denies him the praise of application. (Cic., Brut., 81.) On the breaking out of the civil war, Cæsar, after having possessed himself of Rome, sent Curio to take charge of Sicily. The latter subsequently crossed over from this island into Africa, with an armed force, against Juba and the followers of Pompey, but was defeated and slain. (Appian, Bell. Civ., 2, 41, seqq.) CURIOSOLITÆ, a people of Gaul, forming part of the Armoric states. Their territory lay to the northeast of the Veneti, and answers to what is now the territory of St. Malo, between Dinant and Lamballe, in the department des Côtes-du-Nord. (Lemaire, Ind. Geogr., ad Cæs., p. 244.) CURIUM, a city of Cyprus, on the southern coast, or rather, according to the ancients, at the commencement of the western shore, at a small distance from which, to the southeast, there is a cape which bears the name of Curias. Curium is said to have been founded by an Argive colony, and it was one of the nine royal cities of Cyprus. (Herod., 5, 113.-Strab., 683.) The site seems to correspond with what is now Episcopia, implying the existence of a bishop's see, a At CURTIUS, M., a Roman youth, who devoted himself, for his country, to the gods Manes, B.C. 359. According to the account given by Livy (7, 6), the ground near the middle of the Forum, in consequence, as the historian remarks, either of an earthquake or some other violent cause, sank down to an immense depth, forming a vast aperture; nor could the gulf be filled up by all the earth which they could throw into it. last the soothsayers declared, that, if they wished the Roman commonwealth to be everlasting, they must devote to this chasm what constituted the principle strength of the Roman people. Curtius, on hearing the answer, demanded of his countrymen whether they possessed anything so valuable as their arms and courage. They yielded a silent assent to the question put them by the heroic youth; whereupon, having arrayed himself in full armour and mounted his horse, he plunged into the chasm, and the people threw after him their offerings, and quantities of the fruits of the earth. Valerius Maximus (5, 6, 2) states, that the earth closed immediately over him. Livy, however, speaks of a lake occupying the spot, called Lacus Curtius. In another part of his history (1, 13), he mentions this same lake as existing in the time of Romulus, and as having derived its name from Mettus Curtius, a Sabine in the army of Titus Tatius. In all probability it was of volcanic origin, since the early accounts speak of its great depth, and was not produced merely by the inundations of the Tiber, as Burgess thinks. (Antiquities of Rome, vol. 2, p. 219.) Tarquinius Priscus is said to have filled up this lake, at the time that he drained the whole of this district and constructed the Cloaca Maxima. Possibly he may |