A CLASSICAL DICTIONARY, ETC., ETC. (continued 22)

Issa, now Lissa, an island in the Adriatic sea, on the coast of Dalmatia.――A town of Illyricum. Mela, bk. 2, ch. 7.—Strabo, bk. 1, &c.—Marcellinus, bk. 26, ch. 25.

Isse, a daughter of Macareus the son of Lycaon. She was beloved by Apollo, who, to obtain her confidence, changed himself into the form of a shepherd, to whom she was attached. This metamorphosis of Apollo was represented on the web of Arachne. Ovid, Metamorphoses, bk. 6, li. 124.

Issus, now Aisse, a town of Cilicia, on the confines of Syria, famous for a battle fought there between Alexander the Great and the Persians under Darius their king, in October, B.C. 333, in consequence of which it was called Nicopolis. In this battle the Persians lost, in the field of battle, 100,000 foot and 10,000 horse, and the Macedonians only 300 foot and 150 horse, according to Diodorus Siculus. The Persian army, according to Justin, consisted of 400,000 foot and 100,000 horse, and 61,000 of the former and 10,000 of the latter were left dead on the spot, and 40,000 were taken prisoners. The loss of the Macedonians, as he further adds, was no more than 130 foot and 150 horse. According to Curtius, the Persians slain amounted to 100,000 foot and 10,000 horse; and those of Alexander to 32 foot and 150 horse killed, and 504 wounded. This spot is likewise famous for the defeat of Niger by Severus, A.D. 194. Plutarch, Alexander.—Justin, bk. 11, ch. 9.—Curtius, bk. 3, ch. 7.—Arrian.—Diodorus, bk. 17.—Cicero, bk. 5, Letters to Atticus, ltr. 20; Letters to his Friends, bk. 2, ltr. 10.

Ister and Istrus, an historian, disciple to Callimachus. Diogenes Laërtius.――A large river of Europe, falling into the Euxine sea, called also the Danube. See: Danubius.――A son of Ægyptus. Apollodorus.

Isthmia, sacred games among the Greeks, which received their names from the Isthmus of Corinth, where they were observed. They were celebrated in commemoration of Melicerta, who was changed into a sea deity, when his mother Ino had thrown herself into the sea with him in her arms. The body of Melicerta, according to some traditions, when cast upon the sea-shore, received an honourable burial, in memory of which the Isthmian games were instituted, B.C. 1326. They were interrupted after they had been celebrated with great regularity during some years, and Theseus at last reinstituted them in honour of Neptune, whom he publicly called his father. These games were observed every third, or rather fifth, year, and held so sacred and inviolable that even a public calamity could not prevent the celebration. When Corinth was destroyed by Mummius the Roman general, they were observed with the usual solemnity, and the Sicyonians were entrusted with the superintendence, which had been before one of the privileges of the ruined Corinthians. Combats of every kind were exhibited, and the victors were rewarded with garlands of pine leaves. Some time after the custom was changed, and the victor received a crown of dry and withered parsley. The years were reckoned by the celebration of the Isthmian games, as among the Romans from the consular government. Pausanias, bk. 1, ch. 44; bk. 2, chs. 1 & 2.—Pliny, bk. 4, ch. 5.—Plutarch, Theseus.

Isthmius, a king of Messenia, &c. Pausanias, bk. 4, ch. 3.

Isthmus, a small neck of land which joins one country to another, and prevents the sea from making them separate, such as that of Corinth, called often the Isthmus by way of eminence, which joins Peloponnesus to Greece. Nero attempted to cut it across and make a communication between the two seas, but in vain. It is now called Hexamili. Strabo, bk. 1.—Mela, bk. 2, ch. 2.—Pliny, bk. 4, ch. 4.—Lucan, bk. 1, li. 101.

Istiæotis, a country of Greece, near Ossa. See: Histiæotis.

Istria, a province at the west of Illyricum, at the top of the Adriatic sea, whose inhabitants were originally pirates, and lived on plunder. They were not subjected to Rome till six centuries after the foundation of that city. Strabo, bk. 1.—Mela, bk. 2, ch. 3.—Livy, bk. 10, &c.—Pliny, bk. 3, ch. 19.—Justin, bk. 9, ch. 2.

Istropŏlis, a city of Thrace near the mouth of the Ister, founded by a Milesian colony. Pliny, bk. 4, ch. 11.

Isus and Antĭphus, sons of Priam, the latter by Hecuba, and the former by a concubine. They were seized by Achilles, as they fed their father’s flocks on mount Ida; but they were redeemed by Priam, and fought against the Greeks. They were both killed by Agamemnon. Homer, Iliad, bk. 11.――A city of Bœotia. Strabo, bk. 9.

Itălia, a celebrated country of Europe, bounded by the Adriatic and Tyrrhene seas, and by the Alpine mountains. It has been compared, and with some similitude, to a man’s leg. It has borne, at different periods, the different names of Saturnia, Œnotria, Hesperia, Ausonia, and Tyrrhenia, and it received the name of Italy either from Italus, a king of the country, or from Italos, a Greek word which signifies an ox, an animal very common in that part of Europe. The boundaries of Italy appear to have been formed by nature itself, which seems to have been particularly careful in supplying this country with whatever may contribute not only to the support, but also to the pleasures and luxuries of life. It has been called the garden of Europe; and the panegyric which Pliny bestows upon it seems not in any degree exaggerated. The ancient inhabitants called themselves Aborigines, offspring of the soil, and the country was soon after peopled by colonies from Greece. The Pelasgi and the Arcadians made settlements there, and the whole country was divided into as many different governments as there were towns, till the rapid increase of the Roman power [See: Roma] changed the face of Italy, and united all its states in support of one common cause. Italy has been the mother of arts as well as of arms, and the immortal monuments which remain of the eloquence and poetical abilities of its inhabitants are universally known. It was divided into 11 small provinces or regions by Augustus, though sometimes known under the three greater divisions of Cisalpine Gaul, Italy properly so called, and Magna Græcia. The sea above was called Superum, and that at the south Inferum. Ptolemy, bk. 3, ch. 1.—Dionysius of Halicarnassus.—Diodorus, bk. 4.—Justin, bk. 4, &c.—Cornelius Nepos, Dion, Alcibiades, &c.—Livy, bk. 1, ch. 2, &c.—Varro, de Re Rustica, bk. 2, chs. 1 & 5.—Virgil, Æneid, bk. 1, &c.—Polybius, bk. 2.—Florus, bk. 2.—Ælian, Varia Historia, bk. 1, ch. 16.—Lucan, bk. 2, li. 397, &c.—Pliny, bk. 3, chs. 5 & 8.

Italĭca, a town of Italy, called also Corfinium.――A town of Spain, now Sevilla la Vieja, built by Scipio for the accommodation of his wounded soldiers. Aulus Gellius, bk. 16, ch. 13.—Appian, Wars in Spain.

Italĭcus, a poet. See: Silius Italicus.

Itălus, a son of Telegonus. Hyginus, fable 127.――An Arcadian prince, who came to Italy, where he established a kingdom, called after him. It is supposed that he received divine honours after death, as Æneas calls upon him among the deities to whom he paid his adoration when he entered Italy. Virgil, Æneid, bk. 7, li. 178.――A prince, whose daughter Roma by his wife Leucaria is said to have married Æneas or Ascanius. Plutarch, Romulus.――A king of the Cherusci, &c. Tacitus, Annals, bk. 1, ch. 16.

Itargris, a river of Germany.

Itea, a daughter of Danaus. Hyginus, fable 170.

Itemales, an old man who exposed Œdipus on mount Cithæron, &c. Hyginus, fable 65.

Ithăca, a celebrated island in the Ionian sea, on the western parts of Greece, with a city of the same name, famous for being part of the kingdom of Ulysses. It is very rocky and mountainous, measures about 25 miles in circumference, and is now known by the name of Isola del Compare, or Thiachi. Homer, Iliad, bk. 2, li. 139; Odyssey, bk. 1, li. 186; bk. 4, li. 601; bk. 9, li. 20.—Strabo, bks. 1 & 8.—Mela, bk. 2, ch. 7.

Ithacesiæ, three islands opposite Vibo, on the coast of the Brutii.――Baiæ was called also Ithacesiæ, because built by Bajus the pilot of Ulysses. Silius Italicus, bk. 8, li. 540; bk. 12, li. 113.

Ithobălus, a king of Tyre, who died B.C. 595. Josephus.

Ithōme, a town of Phthiotis. Homer, Iliad, bk. 2.――Another of Messenia, which surrendered, after 10 years’ siege, to Lacedæmon, 724 years before the christian era. Jupiter was call Ithomates, from a temple which he had there, where games were also celebrated, and the conqueror rewarded with an oaken crown. Pausanias, bk. 4, ch. 32.—Statius, Thebiad, bk. 4, li. 179.—Strabo, bk. 8.

Ithomaia, a festival in which musicians contended, observed at Ithome, in honour of Jupiter, who had been nursed by the nymphs Ithome and Neda, the former of whom gave her name to a city, and the latter to a river.

Ithyphallus, an obscene name of Priapus. Columella, bk. 10.—Diodorus, bk. 1.

Itius Portus, a town of Gaul, now Wetsand, or Boulogne, in Picardy. Cæsar set sail from thence on his passage into Britain. Cæsar, Gallic War, bk. 4, ch. 21; bk. 5, chs. 2 & 5.

Itōnia, a surname of Minerva, from a place in Bœotia, where she was worshipped.

Itōnus, a king of Thessaly, son of Deucalion, who first invented the manner of polishing metals. Lucan, bk. 6, li. 402.

Ituna, a river of Britain, now Eden, in Cumberland.

Itūræa, a country of Palestine, whose inhabitants were very skilful in drawing the bow. Lucan, bk. 7, lis. 230 & 514.—Virgil, Æneid, bk. 2, li. 448.—Strabo, bk. 17.

Itūrum, a town of Umbria.

Ity̆lus, a son of Zetheus and Ædon, killed by his mother. See: Ædon. Homer, Odyssey, bk. 19, li. 462.

Ityræi, a people of Palestine. See: Ituræa.

Itys, a son of Tereus king of Thrace by Procne, daughter of Pandion king of Athens. He was killed by his mother when he was about six years old, and served up as meat before his father. He was changed into a pheasant, his mother into a swallow, and his father into an owl. See: Philomela. Ovid, Metamorphoses, bk. 6, li. 620; Amores, bk. 2, poem 14, li. 29.—Horace, bk. 4, ode 12.――A Trojan who came to Italy with Æneas, and was killed by Turnus. Virgil, Æneid, bk. 9, li. 574.

Juba, a king of Numidia and Mauritania, who succeeded his father Hiempsal, and favoured the cause of Pompey against Julius Cæsar. He defeated Curio, whom Cæsar had sent to Africa, and after the battle of Pharsalia, he joined his forces to those of Scipio. He was conquered in a battle at Thapsus, and totally abandoned by his subjects. He killed himself with Petreius, who had shared his good fortune and his adversity. His kingdom became a Roman province, of which Sallust was the first governor. Plutarch, Pompey & Cæsar.—Florus, bk. 4, ch. 12.—Suetonius, Cæsar, ch. 35.—Dio Cassius, bk. 41.—Mela, bk. 1, ch. 6.—Lucan, bk. 3, &c.—Cæsar, Civil War, bk. 2.—Paterculus, bk. 2, ch. 54.――The second of that name was the son of Juba I. He was led among the captives to Rome, to adorn the triumph of Cæsar. His captivity was the source of the greatest honours, and his application to study procured him more glory than he could have obtained from the inheritance of a kingdom. He gained the hearts of the Romans by the courteousness of his manners, and Augustus rewarded his fidelity by giving him in marriage Cleopatra the daughter of Antony, and conferring upon him the title of king, and making him master of all the territories which his father once possessed. His popularity was so great, that the Mauritanians rewarded his benevolence by making him one of their gods. The Athenians raised him a statue, and the Æthiopians worshipped him as a deity. Juba wrote a history of Rome in Greek, which is often quoted and commended by the ancients, but of which only a few fragments remain. He also wrote on the history of Arabia and the antiquities of Assyria, chiefly collected from Berosus. Besides these he composed some treatises upon the drama, Roman antiquities, the nature of animals, painting, grammar, &c., now lost. Strabo, bk. 17.—Suetonius, Caligula, ch. 26.—Pliny, bk. 5, chs. 25 & 32.—Dio Cassius, bk. 51, &c.

Judacilius, a native of Asculum celebrated for his patriotism, in the age of Pompey, &c.

Judæa, a famous country of Assyria, bounded by Arabia, Egypt, Phœnicia, the Mediterranean sea, and part of Syria. The inhabitants, whose history is best collected from the Holy Scriptures, were chiefly governed after their Babylonish captivity by the high priests, who raised themselves to the rank of princes, B.C. 153, and continued in the enjoyment of regal power till the age of Augustus. Plutarch, de Iside et Osiride.—Strabo, bk. 16.—Dio Cassius, bk. 36.—Tacitus, Histories, bk. 5, ch. 6.—Lucan, bk. 2, li. 593.

Jugālis, a surname of Juno, because she presided over marriage. Festus, Lexicon of Festus.

Jugantes, a people of Britain. Tacitus, Annals, bk. 12, ch. 32.

Jugarius, a street in Rome, below the Capitol.

Jugurtha, the illegitimate son of Manastabal the brother of Micipsa. Micipsa and Manastabal were the sons of Masinissa king of Numidia. Micipsa, who had inherited his father’s kingdom, educated his nephew with his two sons, Adherbal and Hiempsal; but, as he was of an aspiring disposition, he sent him with a body of troops to the assistance of Scipio, who was besieging Numantia, hoping to lose a youth whose ambition seemed to threaten the tranquillity of his children. His hopes were frustrated; Jugurtha showed himself brave and active, and endeared himself to the Roman general. Micipsa appointed him successor to his kingdom with his two sons, but the kindness of the father proved fatal to the children. Jugurtha destroyed Hiempsal, and stripped Adherbal of his possessions, and obliged him to fly to Rome for safety. The Romans listened to the well-grounded complaints of Adherbal, but Jugurtha’s gold prevailed among the senators, and the suppliant monarch, forsaken in his distress, perished by the snares of his enemy. Cæcilius Metellus was at last sent against Jugurtha, and his firmness and success soon reduced the crafty Numidian, and obliged him to fly among his savage neighbours for support. Marius and Sylla succeeded Metellus, and fought with equal success. Jugurtha was at last betrayed by his father-in-law Bocchus, from whom he claimed assistance, and he was delivered into the hands of Sylla, after carrying on a war of five years. He was exposed to the view of the Roman people, and dragged in chains to adorn the triumph of Marius. He was afterwards put in a prison, where he died six days after of hunger, B.C. 106. The name and the wars of Jugurtha have been immortalized by the pen of Sallust. Sallust, Jugurthine War.—Florus, bk. 3, ch. 1.—Paterculus, bk. 2, ch. 10, &c.—Plutarch, Caius Marius & Sulla.—Eutropius, bk. 4, ch. 3.

Julia lex, prima de provinciis, by Julius Cæsar, A.U.C. 691. It confirmed the freedom of all Greece; it ordained that the Roman magistrates should act there as judges, and that the towns and villages through which the Roman magistrates and ambassadors passed should maintain them during their stay; that the governors, at the expiration of their office, should leave a scheme of their accounts in two cities of their province, and deliver a copy of it at the public treasury; that the provincial governors should not accept of a golden crown unless they were honoured with a triumph by the senate; that no supreme commander should go out of his province, enter any dominions, lead an army, or engage in a war, without the previous approbation and command of the Roman senate and people.――Another, de sumptibus, in the age of Augustus. It limited the expense of provisions on the dies profesti, or days appointed for the transaction of business, to 200 sesterces; on common calendar festivals to 300; and on all extraordinary occasions, such as marriages, births, &c., to 1000.――Another, de provinciis, by Julius Cæsar Dictator. It ordained that no pretorian province should be held more than one year, and a consular province more than two years.――Another, called also Campana agraria, by the same, A.U.C. 691. It required that all the lands of Campania, formerly rented according to the estimation of the state, should be divided among the plebeians, and that all the members of the senate should bind themselves by an oath to establish, confirm, and protect that law.――Another, de civitate, by Lucius Julius Cæsar, A.U.C. 664. It rewarded with the name and privileges of citizens of Rome all such as, during the civil wars, had remained the constant friends of the republican liberty. When that civil war was at an end, all the Italians were admitted as free denizens, and composed eight new tribes.――Another, de judicibus, by Julius Cæsar. It confirmed the Pompeian law in a certain manner, requiring the judges to be chosen from the richest people in every century, allowing the senators and knights in the number, and excluding the tribuni ærarii.――Another, de ambitu, by Augustus. It restrained the illicit measures used at elections, and restored to the comitia their ancient privileges, which had been destroyed by the ambition and bribery of Julius Cæsar.――Another, by Augustus, de adulterio & pudicitiâ. It punished adultery with death. It was afterwards confirmed and enforced by Domitian. Juvenal, satire 2, li. 30, alludes to it.――Another, called also Papia, or Papia Poppæa, which was the same as the following, only enlarged by the consuls Papius and Poppæus, A.U.C. 762.――Another, de maritandis ordinibus, by Augustus. It proposed rewards to such as engaged in matrimony, of a particular description. It inflicted punishment on celibacy, and permitted the patricians, the senators and sons of senators excepted, to intermarry with the libertini, or children of those that had been liberti, or servants manumitted. Horace alludes to it when he speaks of lex marita.――Another, de majestate, by Julius Cæsar. It punished with aquæ & ignis interdictio all such as were found guilty of the crimen majestatis, or treason against the state.

Julia, a daughter of Julius Cæsar, by Cornelia, famous for her personal charms and for her virtues. She married Cornelius Cæpio, whom her father obliged her to divorce to marry Pompey the Great. Her amiable disposition more strongly cemented the friendship of the father and of the son-in-law; but her sudden death in child-bed, B.C. 53, broke all ties of intimacy and relationship, and soon produced a civil war. Plutarch.――The mother of Marcus Antony, whose humanity is greatly celebrated in saving her brother-in-law Julius Cæsar from the cruel prosecutions of her son.――An aunt of Julius Cæsar, who married Caius Marius. Her funeral oration was publicly pronounced by her nephew.――The only daughter of the emperor Augustus, remarkable for her beauty, genius, and debaucheries. She was tenderly loved by her father, who gave her in marriage to Marcellus; after whose death she was given to Agrippa, by whom she had five children. She became a second time a widow, and was married to Tiberius. Her lasciviousness and debaucheries so disgusted her husband, that he retired from the court of the emperor; and Augustus, informed of her lustful propensities and infamy, banished her from his sight, and confined her in a small island on the coast of Campania. She was starved to death, A.D. 14, by order of Tiberius, who had succeeded to Augustus as emperor of Rome. Plutarch.――A daughter of the emperor Titus, who prostituted herself to her brother Domitian.――A daughter of Julia the wife of Agrippa, who married Lepidas, and was banished for her licentiousness.――A daughter of Germanicus and Agrippina, born in the island of Lesbos, A.D. 17. She married a senator called Marcus Vinucius, at the age of 16, and enjoyed the most unbounded favours in the court of her brother Caligula, who is accused of being her first seducer. She was banished by Caligula on suspicion of conspiracy. Claudius recalled her; but she was soon after banished by the powerful intrigues of Messalina, and put to death about the 24th year of her age. She was no stranger to the debaucheries of the age, and she prostituted herself as freely to the meanest of the people as to the nobler companions of her brother’s extravagance. Seneca, as some suppose, was banished to Corsica for having seduced her.――A celebrated woman, born in Phœnicia. She is also called Domna. She applied herself to the study of geometry and philosophy, &c., and rendered herself conspicuous, as much by her mental as by her personal charms. She came to Rome, where her learning recommended her to all the literati of the age. She married Septimius Severus, who, 20 years after this matrimonial connection, was invested with the imperial purple. Severus was guided by the prudence and advice of Julia, but he was blind to her foibles, and often punished with the greatest severity those vices which were enormous in the empress. She is even said to have conspired against the emperor, but she resolved to blot out, by patronizing literature, the spots which her debauchery and extravagance had rendered indelible in the eyes of virtue. Her influence, after the death of Severus, was for some time productive of tranquillity and cordial union between his two sons and successors. Geta at last, however, fell a sacrifice to his brother Caracalla, and Julia was even wounded in the arm while she attempted to screen her favourite son from his brother’s dagger. According to some, Julia committed incest with her son Caracalla, and publicly married him. She starved herself when her ambitious views were defeated by Macrinus, who aspired to the empire in preference to her, after the death of Caracalla.――A town of Gallia Togata.

Juliacum, a town of Germany, now Juliers.

Juliānus, a son of Julius Constantius, the brother of Constantine the Great, born at Constantinople. The massacre which attended the elevation of the sons of Constantine the Great to the throne, nearly proved fatal to Julian and to his brother Gallus. The two brothers were privately educated together, and taught the doctrines of the christian religion, and exhorted to be modest, temperate, and to despise the gratification of all sensual pleasures. Gallus received the instructions of his pious teachers with deference and submission, but Julian showed his dislike for christianity by secretly cherishing a desire to become one of the votaries of paganism. He gave sufficient proofs of this propensity when he went to Athens in the 24th year of his age, where he applied himself to the study of magic and astrology. He was some time after appointed over Gaul, with the title of Cæsar, by Constans, and there he showed himself worthy of the imperial dignity by his prudence, valour, and the numerous victories which he obtained over the enemies of Rome in Gaul and Germany. His mildness, as well as his condescension, gained him the hearts of his soldiers; and when Constans, to whom Julian was become suspected, ordered him to send him part of his forces to go into the east, the army immediately mutinied, and promised immortal fidelity to their leader, by refusing to obey the order of Constans. They even compelled Julian, by threats and entreaties, to accept of the title of independent emperor and of Augustus; and the death of Constans, which soon after happened, left him sole master of the Roman empire, A.D. 261. Julian then disclosed his religious sentiments, and publicly disavowed the doctrines of christianity, and offered solemn sacrifices to all the gods of ancient Rome. This change of religious opinion was attributed to the austerity with which he received the precepts of christianity, or, according to others, to the literary conversation and persuasive eloquence of some of the Athenian philosophers. From this circumstance, therefore, Julian has been called Apostate. After he had made his public entry at Constantinople, he determined to continue the Persian war, and check those barbarians, who had for 60 years derided the indolence of the Roman emperors. When he had crossed the Tigris, he burned his fleet, and advanced with boldness into the enemy’s country. His march was that of a conqueror; he met with no opposition from a weak and indigent enemy; but the country of Assyria had been left desolate by the Persians, and Julian, without corn or provisions, was obliged to retire. As he could not convey his fleet again over the streams of the Tigris, he took the resolution of marching up the source of the river, and imitating the bold return of the 10,000 Greeks. As he advanced through the country he defeated the officers of Sapor the king of Persia; but an engagement proved fatal to him, and he received a deadly wound as he animated his soldiers to battle. He expired the following night, the 27th of June, A.D. 363 in the 32nd year of his age. His last moments were spent in a conversation with a philosopher about the immortality of the soul, and he breathed his last without expressing the least sorrow for his fate, or the suddenness of his death. Julian’s character has been admired by some and censured by others, but the malevolence of his enemies arises from his apostacy. As a man and as a monarch he demands our warmest commendations; but we must blame his idolatry, and despise his bigoted principles. He was moderate in his successes, merciful to his enemies, and amiable in his character. He abolished the luxuries which reigned in the court of Constantinople, and dismissed with contempt the numerous officers who waited upon Constantius, to anoint his head or perfume his body. He was frugal in his meals and slept little, reposing himself on a skin spread on the ground. He awoke at midnight, and spent the rest of the night in reading or writing, and issued early from his tent to pay his daily visit to the guards around the camp. He was not fond of public amusements, but rather dedicated his time to study and solitude. When he passed through Antioch in his Persian expedition, the inhabitants of the place, offended at his religious sentiments, ridiculed his person and lampooned him in satirical verses. The emperor made use of the same arms for his defence, and rather than destroy his enemies by the sword, he condescended to expose them to derision, and unveil their follies and debaucheries in a humerous work, which he called Misopogon, or beard-hater. He imitated the virtuous example of Scipio and Alexander, and laid no temptation for his virtue by visiting some female captives that had fallen into his hands. In his matrimonial connections, Julian rather consulted policy than inclination, and his marriage with the sister of Constantius arose from his unwillingness to offend his benefactor, rather than to obey the laws of nature. He was buried at Tarsus, and afterwards his body was conveyed to Constantinople. He distinguished himself by his writings, as well as by his military character. Besides his Misopogon, he wrote the history of Gaul. He also wrote two letters to the Athenians; and, besides, there are now extant 64 of his letters on various subjects. His Cæsars is the most famous of all his compositions, being a satire upon all the Roman emperors from Julius Cæsar to Constantine. It is written in the form of a dialogue, in which the author severely attacks the venerable character of Marcus Aurelius, whom he had proposed to himself as a pattern, and speaks in scurrilous and abusive language of his relation Constantine. It has been observed of Julian that, like Cæsar, he could employ at the same time his hand to write, his ear to listen, his eyes to read, and his mind to dictate. The best edition of his works is that of Spanheim, folio, Leipsic, 1696; and of the Cæsars, that of Heusinger, 8vo, Gothæ, 1741. Julian.—Socrates.—Eutropius.—Ammianus Marcellinus.—Libanius, &c.――A son of Constantine.――A maternal uncle of the emperor Julian.――A Roman emperor. See: Didius.――A Roman, who proclaimed himself emperor in Italy during the reign of Diocletian, &c.――A governor of Africa.――A counsellor of the emperor Adrian.――A general in Dacia, in Domitian’s reign.

Julii, a family of Alba, brought to Rome by Romulus, where they soon rose to the greatest honours of the state. Julius Cæsar and Augustus were of this family; and it was said, perhaps through flattery, that they were lineally descended from Æneas the founder of Lavinium.

Jūliomăgus, a city of Gaul, now Angers, in Anjou.

Juliopŏlis, a town of Bithynia, supposed by some to be the same as Tarsus of Cilicia.

Jūlis, a town of the island of Cos, which gave birth to Simonides, &c. The walls of this city were all marble, and there are now some pieces remaining entire above 12 feet in height, as the monuments of its ancient splendour. Pliny, bk. 4, ch. 12.

Jūlius Cæsar. See: Cæsar.――Agricola, a governor of Britain, A.C. 80, who first discovered that Britain was an island by sailing round it. His son-in-law, the historian Tacitus, has written an account of his life. Tacitus, Agricola.――Obsequens, a Latin writer who flourished A.D. 214. The best edition of his book de prodigiis is that of Oudendorp, 8vo, Leiden, 1720.――Sextus, a pretor, &c. Cicero, Rhetorica ad Herennium, bk. 2, ch. 13.――Agrippa, banished from Rome by Nero, after the discovery of the Pisonian conspiracy. Tacitus, Annals, bk. 15, ch. 71.――Solinus, a writer. See: Solinus.――Titianus, a writer in the age of Diocletian. His son became famous for his oratorical powers, and was made preceptor in the family of Maximinus. Julius wrote a history of all the provinces of the Roman empire, greatly commended by the ancients. He also wrote some letters, in which he happily imitated the style and elegance of Cicero, for which he was called the ape of his age.――Africanus, a chronologer, who flourished A.D. 220.――Constantius, the father of the emperor Julian, was killed at the accession of the sons of Constantine to the throne, and his son nearly shared his fate.――Pollux, a grammarian of Naupactus, in Egypt. See: Pollux.――Canus, a celebrated Roman, put to death by order of Caracalla. He bore the undeserved punishment inflicted on him with the greatest resignation, and even pleasure.――Proculus, a Roman, who solemnly declared to his countrymen, after Romulus had disappeared, that he had seen him above a human shape, and that he had ordered him to tell the Romans to honour him as a god. Julius was believed. Plutarch, Romulus.—Ovid.――Florus. See: Florus.――Lucius Cæsar, a Roman consul, uncle to Antony the triumvir the father of Cæsar the dictator. He died as he was putting on his shoes.――Celsus, a tribune imprisoned for conspiring against Tiberius. Tacitus, Annals, bk. 6, ch. 14.――Maximinus, a Thracian, who, from a shepherd, became an emperor of Rome. See: Maximinus.

Iūlus, the name of Ascanius the son of Æneas. See: Ascanius.――A son of Ascanius, born in Lavinium. In the succession to the kingdom of Alba, Æneas Sylvius the son of Æneas and Lavinia was preferred to him. He was, however, made chief priest. Dionysius of Halicarnassus, bk. 1.—Virgil, Æneid, bk. 1, li. 271.――A son of Antony the triumvir and Fulvi. See: Antonius Julius.

Jūnia lex, Sacrata, by Lucius Junius Brutus the first tribune of the people, A.U.C. 260. It ordained that the person of the tribune should be held sacred and inviolable; that an appeal might be made from the consuls to the tribunes; and that no senator should be able to exercise the office of a tribune.――Another, A.U.C. 627, which excluded all foreigners from enjoying the privileges or names of Roman citizens.

Junia, a niece of Cato of Utica, who married Cassius, and died 64 years after her husband had killed himself at the battle of Philippi.――Calvina, a beautiful Roman lady, accused of incest with her brother Silanus. She was descended from Augustus. She was banished by Claudius, and recalled by Nero. Tacitus, Annals, bk. 2, ch. 4.

Junius Blæsus, a proconsul of Africa under the emperors. Tacitus, Annals, bk. 3, ch. 35.――Lupus, a senator who accused Vitellius of aspiring to the sovereignty, &c. Tacitus, Annals, bk. 12, ch. 42.――Decimus Silanus, a Roman who committed adultery with Julia the granddaughter of Augustus, &c. Tacitus, Annals, bk. 3, ch. 24.――Brutus. See: Brutus.

Jūno, a celebrated deity among the ancients, daughter of Saturn and Ops. She was sister to Jupiter, Pluto, Neptune, Vesta, Ceres, &c. She was born at Argos, or, according to others, in Samos, and was entrusted to the care of the Seasons, or, as Homer and Ovid mention, to Oceanus and Tethys. Some of the inhabitants of Argolis supposed that she had been brought up by the three daughters of the river Asterion; and the people of Stymphalus, in Arcadia, maintained that she had been educated under the care of Temenus the son of Pelasgus. Juno was devoured by Saturn, according to some mythologists; and according to Apollodorus she was again restored to the world by means of a potion which Metis gave to Saturn, to make him throw up the stone which his wife had given him to swallow instead of Jupiter. See: Saturnus. Jupiter was not insensible to the charms of his sister; and the more powerfully to gain her confidence he changed himself into a cuckoo, and raised a great storm, and made the air unusually chill and cold. Under this form he went to the goddess, all shivering. Juno pitied the cuckoo, and took him into her bosom. When Jupiter had gained these advantages, he resumed his original form, and obtained the gratification of his desires, after he had made a solemn promise of marriage to his sister. The nuptials of Jupiter and Juno were celebrated with the greatest solemnity: the gods, all mankind, and all the brute creation, attended. Chelone, a young woman, was the only one who refused to come, and who derided the ceremony. For this impiety Mercury changed her into a tortoise, and condemned her to perpetual silence; from which circumstance the tortoise has always been used as a symbol of silence among the ancients. By her marriage with Jupiter, Juno became the queen of all the gods, and mistress of heaven and earth. Her conjugal happiness, however, was frequently disturbed by the numerous amours of her husband, and she showed herself jealous and inexorable in the highest degree. Her severity to the mistresses and illegitimate children of her husband was unparalleled. She persecuted Hercules and his descendants with the most inveterate fury; and her resentment against Paris, who had given the golden apple to Venus in preference to herself, was the cause of the Trojan war and of all the miseries which happened to the unfortunate house of Priam. Her severities to Alcmena, Ino, Athamas, Semele, &c., are also well known. Juno had some children by Jupiter. According to Hesiod she was mother of Mars, Hebe, and Ilithyia, or Lucina; and besides these, she brought forth Vulcan, without having any commerce with the other sex, but only by smelling a certain plant. This was in imitation of Jupiter, who had produced Minerva from his brain. According to others, it was not Vulcan, but Mars, or Hebe, whom she brought forth in this manner, and this was after eating some lettuces at the table of Apollo. The daily and repeated debaucheries of Jupiter at last provoked Juno to such a degree, that she retired to Eubœa, and resolved for ever to forsake his bed. Jupiter produced a reconciliation, after he had applied to Cithæron for advice, and after he had obtained forgiveness by fraud and artifice. See: Dædala. This reconciliation, however cordial ♦it might appear, was soon dissolved by new offences; and, to stop the complaints of the jealous Juno, Jupiter had often recourse to violence and blows. He even punished the cruelties which she had exercised upon his son Hercules, by suspending her from the heavens by a golden chain, and tying a heavy anvil to her feet. Vulcan was punished for assisting his mother in this degrading situation, and he was kicked down from heaven by his father, and broke his leg by the fall. This punishment rather irritated than pacified Juno. She resolved to revenge it, and she engaged some of the gods to conspire against Jupiter and to imprison him, but Thetis delivered him from this conspiracy, by bringing to his assistance the famous Briareus. Apollo and Neptune were banished from heaven for joining in the conspiracy, though some attribute their exile to different causes. The worship of Juno was universal, and even more than that of Jupiter, according to some authors. Her sacrifices were offered with the greatest solemnity. She was particularly worshipped at Argos, Samos, Carthage, and afterwards at Rome. The ancients generally offered on her altars a ewe lamb and a sow the first day of every month. No cows were ever immolated to her, because she assumed the nature of that animal when the gods fled into Egypt in their war with the giants. Among the birds, the hawk, the goose, and particularly the peacock, often called Junonia avis [See: Argus], were sacred to her. The dittany, the poppy, and the lily were her favourite flowers. The latter flower was originally of the colour of the crocus; but, when Jupiter placed Hercules to the breasts of Juno while asleep, some of her milk fell down upon earth, and changed the colour of the lilies from purple to a beautiful white. Some of the milk also dropped in that part of the heavens which, from its whiteness, still retains the name of the milky way, lactea via. As Juno’s power was extended over all the gods, she often made use of the goddess Minerva as her messenger, and even had the privilege of hurling the thunder of Jupiter when she pleased. Her temples were numerous, the most famous of which were at Argos, Olympia, &c. At Rome, no woman of debauched character was permitted to enter her temple, or even to touch it. The surnames of Juno are various; they are derived either from the function or things over which she presided, or from the places where her worship was established. She was the queen of the heavens; she protected cleanliness, and presided over marriage and child-birth, and particularly patronized the most faithful and virtuous of the sex, and severely punished incontinence and lewdness in matrons. She was the goddess of all power and empire, and she was also the patroness of riches. She is represented sitting on a throne with a diadem on her head and a golden sceptre in her right hand. Some peacocks generally sat by her, and a cuckoo often perched on her sceptre, while Iris behind her displayed the thousand colours of her beautiful rainbow. She is sometimes carried through the air in a rich chariot drawn by peacocks. The Roman consuls, when they entered upon office, were always obliged to offer her a solemn sacrifice. The Juno of the Romans was called Matrona or Romana. She was generally represented as veiled from head to foot, and the Roman matrons always imitated this manner of dressing themselves, and deemed it indecent in any married woman to leave any part of her body but her face uncovered. She has received the surnames of Olympia, Sarnia, Lacedæmonia, Argiva, Telchinia, Candrena, Rescinthes, Prosymna, Imbrasia, Acrea, Cithæroneia, Bunea, Ammonia, Fluonia, Anthea, Migale, Gemelia, Tropeia, Boopis, Parthenos, Teleia, Xera, Egophage, Hyperchinia, Juga, Ilithyia, Lucina, Pronuba, Caprotina, Mena, Populonia, Lacinia, Sospita, Moneta, Curis, Domiduca, Februa, Opigenia, &c. Cicero, de Natura Deorum, bk. 2.—Pausanias, bk. 2, &c.—Apollodorus, bks. 1, 2, 3.—Apollonius, bk. 1.—Argon.—Homer, Iliad, bk. 1, &c.—Virgil, Æneid, bk. 1, &c.—Herodotus, bks. 1, 2, 4, &c.—Silius Italicus, bk. 1.—Dionysius of Halicarnassus, bk. 1.—Livy, bks. 23, 24, 27, &c.—Ovid, Metamorphoses, bk. 1, &c.; Fasti, bk. 5.—Plutarch, Quæstiones Romanæ.—Tibullus, bk. 4, poem 13.—Athenæus, bk. 15.—Pliny, bk. 34.

Junonālia and Junonia, festivals at Rome in honour of Juno, the same as the Heræa of the Greeks. See: Heræa. Livy, bk. 27, ch. 37.

Junōnes, a name of the protecting genii of the women among the Romans. They generally swore by them, as the men by their genii. There were altars often erected to their honour. Pliny, bk. 2, ch. 7.—Seneca, ltr. 110.

Junōnia, two islands, supposed to be among the Fortunate Islands.――A name which Gracchus gave to Carthage, when he went with 6000 Romans to rebuild it.

Junonigĕna, a surname of Vulcan, as son of Juno. Ovid, Metamorphoses, bk. 4, li. 173.

Junōnis promontorium, a promontory of Peloponnesus.――Laciniæ templum, a temple of Juno in Italy, between Crotona and the Lacinian promontory.

Jūpĭter, the most powerful of all the gods of the ancients. According to Varro, there were no less than 300 persons of that name; Diodorus mentions two; and Cicero three, two of Arcadia, and one of Crete. To that of Crete, who passed for the son of Saturn and Ops, the actions of the rest have been attributed. According to the opinion of the mythologists, Jupiter was saved from destruction by his mother, and entrusted to the care of the Corybantes. Saturn, who had received the kingdom of the world from his brother Titan, on condition of not raising male children, devoured all his sons as soon as born; but Ops, offended at her husband’s cruelty, secreted Jupiter, and gave a stone to Saturn, which he devoured on the supposition that it was a male child. Jupiter was educated in a cave on mount Ida, in Crete, and fed upon the milk of the goat Amalthæa, or upon honey, according to others. He received the name of Jupiter, quasi juvans pater. His cries were drowned by the noise of cymbals and drums, which the Corybantes beat at the express command of Ops. See: Corybantes. As soon as he was a year old, Jupiter found him sufficiently strong to make war against the Titans, who had imprisoned his father because he had brought up male children. The Titans were conquered, and Saturn set at liberty by the hands of his son. Saturn, however, soon after, apprehensive of the power of Jupiter, conspired against his life, and was, for this treachery, driven from his kingdom, and obliged to fly for safety into Latium. Jupiter, now become the sole master of the empire of the world, divided it with his brothers. He reserved for himself the kingdom of heaven, and gave the empire of the sea to Neptune, and that of the infernal regions to Pluto. The peaceful beginning of his reign was soon interrupted by the rebellion of the giants, who were sons of the earth, and who wished to revenge the death of their relations the Titans. They were so powerful that they hurled rocks, and heaped up mountains upon mountains, to scale heaven, so that all the gods, to avoid their fury, fled to Egypt, where they escaped from the danger by assuming the form of different animals. Jupiter, however, animated them, and by the assistance of Hercules, he totally overpowered the gigantic race, which had proved such tremendous enemies. See: Gigantes. Jupiter, now freed from every apprehension, gave himself up to the pursuit of pleasures. He married Metis, Themis, Eurynome, Ceres, Mnemosyne, Latona, and Juno. See: Juno. He became a Proteus to gratify his passions. He introduced himself to Danae in a shower of gold; he corrupted Antiope in the form of a satyr, and Leda in the form of a swan; he became a bull to seduce Europa, and he enjoyed the company of Ægina in the form of a flame of fire. He assumed the habit of Diana to corrupt Callisto, and became Amphitryon to gain the affections of Alcmena. His children were also numerous as well as his mistresses. According to Apollodorus, bk. 1, ch. 3, he was father of the Seasons, Irene, Eunomia, the Fates, Clotho, Lachesis, and Atropos by Themis; of Venus by Dione; of the Graces, Aglaia, Euphrosyne, and Thalia, by Eurynome the daughter of Oceanus; of Proserpine by Styx; of the nine muses by Mnemosyne, &c. See: Niobe, Laodamia, Pyrrha, Protogenia, Electra, Maia, Semele, &c. The worship of Jupiter was universal; he was the Ammon of the Africans, the Belus of Babylon, the Osiris of Egypt, &c. His surnames were numerous, many of which he received from the place or function over which he presided. He was severally called Jupiter Feretrius, Inventor, Elicius, Capitolinus, Latialis, Pistor, Sponsor, Herceus, Anxurus, Victor, Maximus, Optimus, Olympius, Fluvialis, &c. The worship of Jupiter surpassed that of the other gods in solemnity. His altars were not, like those of Saturn and Diana, stained with the blood of human victims, but he was delighted with the sacrifice of goats, sheep, and white bulls. The oak was sacred to him because he first taught mankind to live upon acorns. He is generally represented as sitting upon a golden or ivory throne, holding in one hand thunderbolts just ready to be hurled, and in the other, a sceptre of cypress. His looks express majesty, his beard flows long and neglected, and the eagle stands with expanded wings at his feet. He is sometimes represented with the upper parts of his body naked, and those below the waist carefully covered, as if to show that he is visible to the gods above, but that he is concealed from the sight of the inhabitants of the earth. Jupiter had several oracles, the most celebrated of which were at Dodona, and Ammon, in Libya. As Jupiter was the king and father of gods and men, his power was extended over the deities, and everything was subservient to his will, except the Fates. From him mankind received their blessings and their miseries, and they looked upon him as acquainted with everything past, present, and future. He was represented at Olympia with a crown like olive branches; his mantle was variegated with different flowers, particularly by the lily, and the eagle perched on the top of the sceptre which he held in his hand. The Cretans represented Jupiter without ears, to signify that the sovereign master of the world ought not to give a partial ear to any particular person, but be equally candid and propitious to all. At Lacedæmon he appeared with four heads, that he might seem to hear with greater readiness the different prayers and solicitations which were daily poured to him from every part of the earth. It is said that Minerva came all armed from his brains when he ordered Vulcan to open his head. Pausanias, bks. 1, 2, &c.—Livy, bks. 1, 4, 5, &c.—Diodorus, bks. 1 & 3.—Homer, Iliad, bks. 1, 5, &c.; Odyssey, bks. 1, 4, &c.; Hymn 23 to Zeus.—Orpheus.—Callimachus, Hymn to Zeus.—Pindar, Olympian, bks. 1, 3, 5.—Apollonius, bk. 1, &c.—Hesiod, Theogony; Shield of Heracles; Works and Days.—Lycophron, Cassandra.—Virgil, Æneid, bks. 1, 2, &c.; Georgics, bk. 3.—Ovid, Metamorphoses, bk. 1, fable 1, &c.—Horace, bk. 3, ode 1, &c.

Jura, a high ridge of mountains separating the Helvetii from the Sequani, or Switzerland from Burgundy. Cæsar, Gallic War, bk. 1, ch. 2.

Justīnus Marcus Junianus, a Latin historian in the age of Antoninus, who epitomized the history of Trogus Pompeius. This epitome, according to some traditions, was the cause that the comprehensive work of Trogus was lost. It comprehends the history of the Assyrian, Persian, Grecian, Macedonia, and Roman empires, &c., in a neat and elegant style. It is replete with many judicious reflections and animated harangues, but the author is often too credulous, and sometimes examines events too minutely, while others are related only in a few words too often obscure. The indecency of many of his expressions is deservedly censured. The best editions of Justin are that of Abraham Gronovius, 8vo, Leiden, 1719, that of Hearne, 8vo, Oxford, 1703, and that of Barbou, 12mo, Paris, 1770.――Martyr, a Greek father, formerly a Platonic philosopher, born at Palestine. He died in Egypt, and wrote two apologies for the christians, besides his dialogue with a Jew; two treatises, &c., in a plain, unadorned style. The best editions of Justin Martyr are that of Paris, folio, 1636; that of his apologies, 2 vols., 8vo, 1700 & 1703; and Jebb’s dialogue with Trypho, published in London, 1722.――An emperor of the east, who reigned nine years, and died A.D. 526.――Another, who died A.D. 564, after a reign of 38 years.――Another, who died 577 A.D., after a reign of 13 years.

Juturna, a sister of Turnus king of the Rutuli. She heard with contempt the addresses of Jupiter, or, according to others, she was not unfavourable to his passion, so that the god rewarded her love with immortality. She was afterwards changed into a fountain of the same name near the Numicus, falling into the Tiber. The waters of that fountain were used in sacrifices, and particularly in those of Vesta. They had the power to heal diseases. Varro, de Lingua Latina, bk. 1, ch. 10.—Ovid, Fasti, bk. 1, li. 708; bk. 2, li. 585.—Virgil, Æneid, bk. 12, li. 139.—Cicero, For Aulus Cluentius, ch. 36.

Juvenālis Decius Junius, a poet born at Aquinum in Italy. He came early to Rome, and passed some time in declaiming; after which he applied himself to write satires, 16 of which are extant. He spoke with virulence against the partiality of Nero for the pantomime Paris, and though all his satire and declamation were pointed against this ruling favourite of the emperor, yet Juvenal lived in security during the reign of Nero. After the death of Nero, the effects of the resentment of Paris were severely felt, and the satirist was sent by Domitian as governor on the frontiers of Egypt. Juvenal was then in the 80th year of his age, and he suffered much from the trouble which attended his office, or rather his exile. He returned, however, to Rome, after the death of Paris, and died in the reign of Trajan, A.D. 128. His writings are fiery and animated, and they abound with humour. He is particularly severe upon the vice and dissipation of the age he lived in; but the gross and indecent manner in which he exposed to ridicule the follies of mankind, rather encourages than disarms the debauched and licentious. He wrote with acrimony against all his adversaries, and whatever displeased or offended him was exposed to his severest censure. It is to be acknowledged that Juvenal is far more correct than his contemporaries, a circumstance which some have attributed to his judgment and experience, which were uncommonly mature, as his satires were the productions of old age. He may be called, and with reason, perhaps, the last of the Roman poets. After him poetry decayed, and nothing more claims our attention as a perfect poetical composition. The best editions are those of Casaubon, 4to, Leiden, 1695, with Persius, and of Hawkey, Dublin, 12mo, 1746, and of Grævius, cum notis variorum, 8vo, Leiden, 1684.

Juventas, or Juventus, a goddess at Rome who presided over youth and vigour. She is the same as the Hebe of the Greeks, and represented as a beautiful nymph, arrayed in variegated garments. Livy, bk. 5, ch. 54; bk. 21, ch. 62; bk. 36, ch. 36.—Ovid, ex Ponto, bk. 1, ltr. 9, li. 12.

Juverna, or Hibernia, an island at the west of Britain, now called Ireland. Juvenal, satire 2, li. 160.

Ixibatæ, a people of Pontus.

Ixīon, a king of Thessaly, son of Phlegas, or, according to Hyginus, of Leontes, or, according to Diodorus, of Antion, by Perimela daughter of Amythaon. He married Dia daughter of Eioneus or Deioneus, and promised his father-in-law a valuable present for the choice he had made of him to be his daughter’s husband. His unwillingness, however, to fulfil his promises obliged Deioneus to have recourse to violence to obtain it, and he stole away some of his horses. Ixion concealed his resentment under the mask of friendship; he invited his father-in-law to a feast at Larissa, the capital of his kingdom, and when Deioneus was come, according to the appointment, he threw him into a pit, which he had previously filled with wood and burning coals. This premeditated treachery so irritated the neighbouring princes, that all of them refused to perform the usual ceremony, by which a man was then purified of murder, and Ixion was shunned and despised by all mankind. Jupiter had compassion upon him, and he carried him to heaven, and introduced him at the table of the gods. Such a favour, which ought to have awakened gratitude in Ixion, served only to inflame his lust; he became enamoured of Juno, and attempted to seduce her. Juno was willing to gratify the passion of Ixion, though according to others she informed Jupiter of the attempts which had been made upon her virtue. Jupiter made a cloud in the shape of Juno, and carried it to the place where Ixion had appointed to meet Juno. Ixion was caught in the snare and from his embrace with the cloud, he had the Centaurs, or, according to others, Centaurus. See: Centauri. Jupiter, displeased with the insolence of Ixion, banished him from heaven; but when he heard that he had seduced Juno, the god struck him with his thunder, and ordered Mercury to tie him to a wheel in hell which continually whirls round. The wheel was perpetually in motion, therefore the punishment of Ixion was eternal. Diodorus, bk. 4.—Hyginus, fable 62.—Pindar, bk. 2, Pythian, poem 2.—Virgil, Georgics, bk. 4, li. 484; Æneid, bk. 6, li. 601.—Ovid, Metamorphoses, bk. 12, lis. 210 & 338.—Philostratus, Imagines, bk. 2, ch. 3.—Lactantius [Placidus] on [Statius’] Thebaid, bk. 2.――One of the Heraclidæ, who reigned at Corinth for 57 or 37 years. He was son of Alethes.

Ixīŏnĭdes, the patronymic of Pirithous son of Ixion. Propertius, bk. 2, poem 1, li. 38.

L

Laander, a youth, brother to Nicocrates tyrant of Cyrene &c.—Polyænus, bk. 8.

Laarchus, the guardian of Battus of Cyrene. He usurped the sovereign power for some time, and endeavoured to marry the mother of Battus, the better to establish his tyranny. The queen gave him a friendly invitation, and caused him to be assassinated, and restored the power to Battus. Polyænus.

Labaris, a king of Egypt after Sesostris.

Labda, a daughter of Amphion, one of the Bacchiadæ, born lame. She married Ection, by whom she had a son whom she called Cypselus because she saved his life in a coffer. See: Cypselus. This coffer was preserved at Olympia. Herodotus, bk. 5, ch. 92.—Aristotle, Politics, bk. 5.

Labdacĭdes, a name given to Œdipus, as descended from Labdacus.

Labdăcus, a son of Polydorus by Nycteis, the daughter of Nycteus king of Thebes. His father and mother died during his childhood, and he was left to the care of Nycteus, who at his death left his kingdom in the hands of Lycus, with orders to restore it to Labdacus as soon as of age. He was father to Laius. It is unknown whether he ever sat on the throne of Thebes. According to Statius his father’s name was Phœnix. His descendants were called Labdacides. Statius, Thebiad, bk. 6, li. 451.—Apollodorus, bk. 3, ch. 5.—Pausanias, bk. 2, ch. 6; bk. 9, ch. 5.

Labdalon, a promontory of Sicily, near Syracuse. Diodorus, bk. 13.

Labeālis, a lake in Dalmatia, now Scutari, of which the neighbouring inhabitants were called Labeates. Livy, bk. 44, ch. 31; bk. 45, ch. 26.

Lăbeo Antistius, a celebrated lawyer in the age of Augustus, whose views he opposed, and whose offers of the consulship he refused. His works are lost. He was wont to enjoy the company and conversation of the learned for six months, and the rest of the year was spent in writing and composing. His father, of the same name, was one of Cæsar’s murderers. He killed himself at the battle of Philippi. Horace, bk. 1, satire 3, li. 82, has unjustly taxed him with insanity because, no doubt, he inveighed against his patrons. Appian, The Civil Wars, bk. 4.—Suetonius, Augustus, ch. 45.――A tribune of the people at Rome, who condemned the censor Metellus to be thrown down from the Tarpeian rock, because he had expelled him from the senate. This rigorous sentence was stopped by the interference of another of the tribunes.――Quintus Fabius, a Roman consul, A.U.C. 571, who obtained a naval victory over the fleet of the Cretans. He assisted Terence in composing his comedies, according to some.――Actius, an obscure poet who recommended himself to the favour of Nero by an incorrect translation of Homer into Latin. The work is lost, and only this curious line is preserved by an old scholiast, Persius, bk. 1, li. 4, Crudum manducus Priamum, Priamique Pisinnos.

Lăbĕrius J. Decimus, a Roman knight famous for his poetical talents in writing pantomimes. Julius Cæsar compelled him to act one of his characters on the stage. The poet consented with great reluctance, but he showed his resentment during the acting of the piece by throwing severe aspersions upon Julius Cæsar, by warning the audience against his tyranny, and by drawing upon him the eyes of the whole theatre. Cæsar, however, restored him to the rank of knight which he had lost by appearing on the stage; but to his mortification, when he went to take his seat among the knights, no one offered to make room for him, and even his friend Cicero said, Recepissem te nisi angustè sederem. Laberius was offended at the affectation and insolence of Cicero, and reflected upon his unsettled and pusillanimous behaviour during the civil wars of Cæsar and Pompey, by the reply of Mirum si angustè sedes, qui soles duabas sellis sedere. Laberius died 10 months after the murder of Julius Cæsar. Some fragments remain of his poetry. Macrobius, Saturnalia, bk. 2, chs. 3 & 7.—Horace, bk. 1, satire 10.—Seneca, de Controversiæ, bk. 7, ch. 3.—Suetonius, Cæsar, ch. 39.――Quintus Durus, a tribune of the soldiers in Cæsar’s legions, killed in Britain. Cæsar, Gallic War.

Labīcum, now Colonna, a town of Italy, called also Lavicum, between Gabii and Tusculum, which became a Roman colony about four centuries B.C. Virgil, Æneid, bk. 7, li. 796.—Livy, bk. 2, ch. 39; bk. 4, ch. 47.

Lăbiēnus, an officer of Cæsar in the wars of Gaul. He deserted to Pompey, and was killed at the battle of Munda. Cæsar, Gallic War, bk. 6, &c.—Lucan, bk. 5, li. 346.――A Roman who followed the interest of Brutus and Cassius, and became general of the Parthians against Rome. He was conquered by the officers of Augustus. Strabo, bks. 12 & 14.—Dio Cassius, bk. 48.――Titus, an historian and orator at Rome in the age of Augustus, who admired his own compositions with all the pride of superior genius and incomparable excellence. The senate ordered his papers to be burnt on account of their seditious contents; and Labienus, unable to survive the loss of his writings, destroyed himself. Suetonius, Caligula, ch. 16.—Seneca.

Labinētus, or Labynētus, a king of Babylon, &c. Herodotus, bk. 1, ch. 74.

Labotas, a river near Antioch in Syria. Strabo, bk. 16.――A son of Echestratus, who made war against Argos, &c.

Labradeus, a surname of Jupiter in Caria. The word is derived from labrys which in the language of the country signifies a hatchet, which Jupiter’s statue held in its hand. Plutarch.

Labron, a part of Italy on the Mediterranean, supposed to be Leghorn. Cicero bk. 2, Letters to his brother Quintus, ltr. 6.

Lăby̆rinthus, a building whose numerous passages and perplexing windings render the escape from it difficult, and almost impracticable. There were four very famous among the ancients; one near the city of Crocodiles or Arsinoe, another in Crete, a third at Lemnos, and a fourth in Italy, built by Porsenna. That of Egypt was the most ancient, and Herodotus, who saw it, declares that the beauty and art of the building were almost beyond belief. It was built by 12 kings, who at one time reigned in Egypt, and it was intended for the place of their burial, and to commemorate the actions of their reign. It was divided into 12 halls, or, according to Pliny, into 16, or, as Strabo mentions, into 27. The halls were vaulted, according to the relation of Herodotus. They had each six doors, opening to the north, and the same number to the south, all surrounded by one wall. The edifice contained 3000 chambers, 1500 in the upper part, and the same number below. The chambers above were seen by Herodotus, and astonished him beyond conception, but he was not permitted to see those below, where were buried the holy crocodiles and the monarchs whose munificence had raised the edifice. The roofs and walls were encrusted with marble, and adorned with sculptured figures. The halls were surrounded with stately and polished pillars of white stone, and, according to some authors, the opening of the doors was artfully attended with a terrible noise like peals of thunder. The labyrinth of Crete was built by Dædalus, in imitation of that of Egypt, and it is the most famous of all in classical history. It was the place of confinement for Dædalus himself, and the prison of the Minotaur. According to Pliny the labyrinth of Lemnos surpassed the others in grandeur and magnificence. It was supported by 40 columns of uncommon height and thickness, and equally admirable for their beauty and splendour. Modern travellers are still astonished at the noble and magnificent ruins which appear of the Egyptian labyrinth, at the south of the lake Mœris, about 30 miles from the ruins of Arsinoe. Mela, bk. 1, ch. 9.—Pliny, bk. 36, ch. 13.—Strabo, bk. 10.—Diodorus, bk. 1.—Herodotus, bk. 2, ch. 148.—Virgil, Æneid, bk. 5, li. 588.

Lăcæna, an epithet applied to a female native of Laconia, and, among others, to Helen. Virgil, Æneid, bk. 6, li. 511.

Lăcĕdæemon, a son of Jupiter and Taygeta the daughter of Atlas, who married Sparta the daughter of Eurotas, by whom he had Amyclas and Eurydice the wife of Acrisius. He was the first who introduced the worship of the Graces in Laconia, and who first built them a temple. From Lacedæmon and his wife, the capital of Laconia was called Lacedæmon and Sparta. Apollodorus, bk. 3, ch. 10.—Hyginus, fable 155.—Pausanias, bk. 3, ch. 1.――A noble city of Peloponnesus, the capital of Laconia called also Sparta, and now known by the name of Misitra. It has been severally known by the name of Lelegia, from the Leleges the first inhabitants of the country, or from Lelex one of their kings; and Œbalia, from Œbalus the sixth king from Eurotas. It was also called Hecatompolis from the 100 cities which the whole province once contained. Lelex is supposed to have been the first king. His descendants, 13 in number, reigned successively after him, till the reign of the sons of Orestes, when the Heraclidæ recovered the Peloponnesus, about 80 years after the Trojan war. Procles and Eurysthenes, the descendants of the Heraclidæ, enjoyed the crown together, and after them it was decreed that the two families should always sit on the throne together. See: Eurysthenes. These two brothers began to reign B.C. 1102. Their successors in the family of Procles were called Proclidæ, and afterwards Eurypontidæ, and those of Eurysthenes, Eurysthenidæ, and afterwards Agidæ. The successors of Procles on the throne began to reign in the following order: Sous 1060 B.C., after his father had reigned 42 years; Eurypon, 1028; Prytanis, 1021; Eunomus, 986; Polydectes, 907; Lycurgus, 898; Charilaus, 873; Nicander, 809; Theopompus, 770; Zeuxidamus, 723; Anaxidamus, 690; Archidamus, 651; Agasicles, 605; Ariston, 564; Demaratus, 526; Leotychides, 491; Archidamus, 469; Agis, 427; Agesilaus, 397; Archidamus, 361; Agis II., 338; Eudamidas, 330; Archidamus, 295; Eudamidas II., 268; Agis, 244; Archidamus, 230; Euclidus, 225; Lycurgus, 219. The successors of Eurysthenes were Agis, 1059; Echestratus, 1058; Labotas, 1023; Doryssus, 986; Agesilaus, 957; Archelaus, 913; Teleclus, 853; Alcamenes, 813; Polydorus, 776; Eurycrates, 724; Anaxander, 687; Eurycrates II., 644; Leon, 607; Anaxandrides, 563; Cleomenes, 530; Leonidas, 491; Plistarchus, under guardianship of Pausanius, 480; Plistoanax, 466; Pausanius, 408; Agesipolis, 397; Cleombrotus, 380; Agesipolis II., 371; Cleomenes II., 370; Aretus or Areus, 309; Acrotatus, 265; Areus II., 264; Leonidas, 257; Cleombrotus, 243; Leonidas restored, 241; Cleomenes, 235; Agesipolis, 219. Under the two last kings, Lycurgus and Agesipolis, the monarchical power was abolished, though Machanidas the tyrant made himself absolute, B.C. 210, and Nabis, 206, for 14 years. In the year 191 B.C. Lacedæmon joined the Achæan league, and about three years after the walls were demolished by order of Philopœmen. The territories of Laconia shared the fate of the Achæn confederacy, and the whole was conquered by Mummius, 147 B.C., and converted into a Roman province. The inhabitants of Lacedæmon have rendered themselves illustrious for their courage and intrepidity, for their love of honour and liberty, and for their aversion to sloth and luxury. They were inured from their youth to labour, and their laws commanded them to make war their profession. They never applied themselves to any trade, but their only employment was arms, and they left everything else to the care of their slaves. See: Helotæ. They hardened their body by stripes and other manly exercises, and accustomed themselves to undergo hardships, and even to die, without fear or regret. From their valour in the field, and their moderation and temperance at home, they were courted and revered by all the neighbouring princes, and their assistance was severally implored to protect the Sicilians, Carthaginians, Thracians, Egyptians, Cyreneans, &c. They were forbidden by the laws of their country [See: Lycurgus] to visit foreign states, lest their morals should be corrupted by an intercourse with effeminate nations. The austere manner in which their children were educated, rendered them undaunted in the field of battle, and from this circumstance, Leonidas, with a small band, was enabled to resist the millions of the army of Xerxes at Thermopylæ. The women were as courageous as the men, and many a mother has celebrated with festivals the death of her son who had fallen in battle, or has coolly put him to death, if, by a shameful flight or loss of his arms, he brought disgrace upon his country. As to domestic manners, the Lacedæmonians as widely differed from their neighbours as in political concerns, and their noblest women were not ashamed to appear on the stage hired for money. In the affairs of Greece, the interest of the Lacedæmonians was often powerful, and obtained the superiority for 500 years. Their jealousy of the power and greatness of the Athenians is well known. The authority of their monarchs was checked by the watchful eye of the Ephori, who had the power of imprisoning the kings themselves if guilty of misdemeanours. See: Ephori. The Lacedæmonians are remarkable for the honour and reverence which they paid to old age. The names of Lacedæmon and Sparta are promiscuously applied to the capital of Laconia, and often confounded together. The latter was applied to the metropolis, and the former was reserved for the inhabitants of the suburbs, or rather of the country contiguous to the walls of the city. This propriety of distinction was originally observed, but in process of time it was totally lost, and both appellatives were soon synonymous, and indiscriminately applied to the city and country. See: Sparta, Laconia. The place where the city stood is now called Paleo Chori (the old town), and the new one erected on its ruins at some distance on the west is called Misatra. Livy, bk. 34, ch. 33; bk. 45, ch. 28.—Strabo, bk. 8.—Thucydides, bk. 1.—Pausanias, bk. 3.—Justin, bks. 2, 3, &c.—Herodotus, bk. 1, &c.—Plutarch, Lycurgus, &c.—Diodorus.—Mela, bk. 2. There were some festivals celebrated at Lacedæmon, the names of which are not known. It was customary for the women to drag all the old bachelors round the altars, and beat them with their fists, that the shame and ignominy to which they were exposed might induce them to marry, &c. Athenæus, bk. 13.

Lăcĕdæmŏnii and Lăcĕdæmŏnes, the inhabitants of Lacedæmon. See: Lacedæmon.

Lăcĕdæmŏnius, a son of Cimon by Clitoria. He received this name from his father’s regard for the Lacedæmonians. Plutarch.

Lăcerta, a soothsayer in Domitian’s age, who acquired immense riches by his art. Juvenal, satire 7, li. 114.

Lacetania, a district at the north of Spain. Livy, bk. 21, ch. 23.

Lachăres, a man who seized the supreme power at Athens when the city was in discord, and was banished B.C. 296. Polyænus, bk. 4.――An Athenian three times taken prisoner. He deceived his keepers, and escaped, &c. Polyænus, bk. 3.――A son of Mithridates king of Bosphorus. He was received into alliance by Lucullus.――A robber condemned by Marcus Antony.――An Egyptian, buried in the labyrinth near Arsinoe.

Laches, an Athenian general in the age of Epaminondas. Diodorus, bk. 12.――An Athenian sent with Carias at the head of a fleet in the first expedition undertaken against Sicily in the Peloponnesian war. Justin, bk. 4, ch. 3.――An artist who finished the Colossus of Rhodes.

Lăchĕsis, one of the Parcæ, whose name is derived from λαχειν, to measure out by lot. She presided over futurity, and was represented as spinning the thread of life, or, according to others, holding the spindle. She generally appeared covered with a garment variegated with stars, and holding spindles in her hand. See: Parcæ. Statius, Thebiad, bk. 2, li. 249.—Martial, bk. 4, ltr. 54.

Lacidas, a Greek philosopher of Cyrene, who flourished B.C. 241. His father’s name was Alexander. He was disciple of Arcesilaus, whom he succeeded in the government of the second academy. He was greatly esteemed by king Attalus, who gave him a garden where he spent his hours in study. He taught his disciples to suspend their judgment, and never speak decisively. He disgraced himself by the magnificent funeral with which he honoured a favourite goose. He died through excess of drinking. Diogenes Laërtius, bk. 4.

Lacīdes, a village near Athens, which derived its name from Lacius, an Athenian hero, whose exploits are unknown. Here Zephyrus had an altar sacred to him, and likewise Ceres and Proserpine a temple. Pausanias, bk. 1, ch. 37.

Lăcīnia, a surname of Juno from her temple at Lacinium in Italy, which the Crotonians held in great veneration, and where there was a famous statue of Helen by Zeuxis. See: Zeuxis. On an altar near the door were ashes which the wind could not blow away. Fulvius Flaccus took away a marble piece from this sacred place, to finish a temple that he was building at Rome to Fortuna Equestris; and it is said that, for this sacrilege, he afterwards led a miserable life, and died in the greatest agonies. Strabo, bk. 6.—Ovid, Metamorphoses, bk. 15, lis. 12 & 702.—Livy, bk. 42, ch. 3.—Valerius Maximus, bk. 1, ch. 1.

Lacīnienses, a people of Liburnia.

Lacīnium, a promontory of Magna Græcia, now cape Colonna, the southern boundary of Tarentum in Italy, where Juno Lacinia had a temple held in great veneration. It received its name from Lacinius, a famous robber killed there by Hercules. Livy, bk. 24, ch. 3; bk. 27, ch. 5; bk. 30, ch. 20.—Virgil, Æneid, bk. 3, li. 522.

Lacmon, a part of mount Pindus where the Inachus flows. Herodotus, bk. 9, ch. 93.

Laco, a favourite of Galba, mean and cowardly in his character. He was put to death.――An inhabitant of Laconia or Lacedæmon.

Lacobriga, a city of Spain, where ♦Sertorius was besieged by Metellus.

Lacōnia, Lacōnĭca, and Lacedæmon, a country in the southern parts of Peloponnesus, having Argos and Arcadia on the north, Messenia on the west, the Mediterranean on the south, and the bay of Argos at the east. Its extent from north to south was about 50 miles. It is watered by the river Eurotas. The capital is called Sparta, or Lacedæmon. The inhabitants never went on an expedition or engaged an enemy but at the full moon. See: Lacedæmon. The brevity with which they always expressed themselves is now become proverbial, and by the epithet of Laconic we understand whatever is concise and not loaded with unnecessary words. The word Laconicum is applied to some hot baths used among the ancients, and first invented at Lacedæmon. Cicero, bk. 4, Letters to Atticus, ltr. 10.—Strabo, bk. 1.—Ptolemy, bk. 3, ch. 16.—Mela, bk. 2, ch. 3.

Lacrătes, a Theban, general of a detachment sent by Artaxerxes to the assistance of the Egyptians. Diodorus, bk. 16.

Lacrĭnes, a Lacedæmonian ambassador to Cyrus. Herodotus, bk. 1, ch. 152.

Lactantius, a celebrated christian writer, whose principal works are de irâ divinâ, de Dei operibus, and his divine institutions, in seven books, in which he proves the truth of the christian religion, refutes objections, and attacks the illusions and absurdities of paganism. The expressive purity, elegance, and energy of his style have gained him the name of the christian Cicero. He died A.D. 325.――The best editions of his works are that of Sparke, 8vo, Oxford, 1684; that of Bimeman, 2 vols., 8vo, Lipscomb, 1739; and that of Du Fresnoy, 2 vols., 4to, Paris, 1748.

Lacter, a promontory of the island of Cos.

Lacydes, a philosopher. See: Lacidas.

Lacȳdus, an effeminate king of Argos.

Ladas, a celebrated courier of Alexander, born at Sicyon. He was honoured with a brazen statue, and obtained a crown of Olympia. Martial, bk. 10, ltr. 10.—Juvenal, satire 13, li. 97.

Lade, an island of the Ægean sea, on the coast of Asia Minor, where was a naval battle between the Persians and Ionians. Herodotus, bk. 6, ch. 7.—Pausanias, bk. 1, ch. 35.—Strabo, bk. 17.

Lades, a son of Imbrasus, killed by Turnus. Virgil, Æneid, bk. 12, li. 343.

Ladocea, a village of Arcadia. Pausanias.

Ladon, a river of Arcadia, falling into the Alpheus. The metamorphosis of Daphne into a laurel, and of Syrinx into a reed, happened near its banks. Strabo, bk. 1.—Mela, bk. 2, ch. 3.—Pausanias, bk. 8, ch. 25.— Ovid, Metamorphoses, bk. 1, li. 659.――An Arcadian who followed Æneas into Italy, where he was killed. Virgil, Æneid, bk. 10, li. 413.――One of Actæon’s dogs. Ovid, Metamorphoses, bk. 3, li. 216.

Lælaps, one of Actæon’s dogs. Ovid, Metamorphoses, bk. 3.――The dog of Cephalus, given him by Procis. See: Lelaps, &c. Ovid, Metamorphoses, bk. 7.

Lælia, a vestal virgin.

Læliānus, a general, proclaimed emperor in Gaul by his soldiers, A.D. 268, after the death of Gallienus. His triumph was short; he was conquered and put to death after a few months’ reign by another general called Posthumus, who aspired to the imperial purple as well as himself.

Caius Lælius, a Roman consul, A.U.C. 614, surnamed Sapiens, so intimate with Africanus the younger, that Cicero represents him in his treatise De Amicitiâ, as explaining the real nature of friendship, with its attendant pleasures. He made war with success against Viriathus. It is said that he assisted Terence in the composition of his comedies. His modesty, humanity, and the manner in which he patronized letters, are as celebrated as his greatness of mind and integrity in the character of a statesman. Cicero, On Oratory.――Another consul, who accompanied Scipio Africanus the elder in his campaigns in Spain and Africa.――Archelaus, a famous grammarian. Suetonius.

Læna and Leæna, the mistress of Harmodius and Aristogiton. Being tortured because she refused to discover the conspirators, she bit off her tongue, totally to frustrate the violent efforts of her executioners.――A man who was acquainted with the conspiracy formed against Cæsar.

Lænas, a surname of the Popilii at Rome.

Læneus, a river of Crete, where Jupiter brought the ravished Europa. Strabo.

Læpa Magna, a town of Spain. Mela, bk. 3, ch. 1.

Laertes, a king of Ithaca, son of Arcesius and Chalcomedusa, who married Anticlea the daughter of Autolycus. Anticlea was pregnant by Sisyphus when she married Laertes, and eight months after her union with the king of Ithaca, she brought forth a son called Ulysses. See: Anticlea. Ulysses was treated with paternal care by Laertes, though not really his son, and Laertes ceded to him his crown and retired into the country where he spent his time in gardening. He was found in this mean employment by his son at his return from the Trojan war, after 20 years’ absence, and Ulysses, at the sight of his father, whose dress and old age declared his sorrow, long hesitated whether he should suddenly introduce himself as his son, or whether he should, as a stranger, gradually awaken the paternal feelings of Laertes, who had believed that his son was no more. This last measure was preferred, and when Laertes had burst into tears at the mention which was made of his son, Ulysses threw himself on his neck, exclaiming, “O father, I am he for whom you weep.” This welcome declaration was followed by a recital of all the hardships which Ulysses had suffered, and immediately after the father and son repaired to the palace of Penelope the wife of Ulysses, whence all the suitors who daily importuned the princess were forcibly removed. Laertes was one of the Argonauts, according to Apollodorus, bk. 1, ch. 9. Homer, Odyssey, bks. 11 & 24.—Ovid, Metamorphoses, bk. 13, li. 32; Heroides, poem 1, li. 98.――A city of Cilicia, which gave birth to Diogenes, surnamed Laërtius from the place of his birth.

Laërtius Diogenes, a writer born at Laertes. See: Diogenes.

Læstry̆gŏnes, the most ancient inhabitants of Sicily. Some suppose them to be the same as the people of Leontium, and to have been neighbours to the Cyclops. They fed on human flesh, and when Ulysses came on their coasts, they sunk his ships and devoured his companions. See: Antiphates. They were of a gigantic stature, according to Homer, who, however, does not mention their country, but only speaks of Lamus as their capital. A colony of them, as some suppose, passed over into Italy, with Lamus at their head, where they built the town of Formiæ, whence the epithet of Læstrygonia is often used for that of Formiana. Pliny, bk. 3, ch. 5.—Ovid, Metamorphoses, bk. 14, li. 233, &c.; Fasti, bk. 4; ex Ponto, bk. 4, ltr. 10.—Tzetzes, On Lycophron, lis. 662 & 818.—Homer, Odyssey, bk. 10, li. 81.—Silius Italicus, bk. 7, li. 276.

Læta, the wife of the emperor Gratian, celebrated for her humanity and generous sentiments.

Lætoria lex, ordered that proper persons should be appointed to provide for the security and the possession of such as were insane, or squandered away their estates. It made it a high crime to abuse the weakness of persons under such circumstances. Cicero, de Officiis, bk. 3.

Lætus, a Roman whom Commodus condemned to be put to death. This violence raised Lætus against Commodus; he conspired against him, and raised Pertinax to the throne.――A general of the emperor Severus, put to death for his treachery to the emperor; or, according to others, on account of his popularity.

Lævi, the ancient inhabitants of Gallia Transpadana.

Lævīnus, a Roman consul sent against Pyrrhus, A.U.C. 474. He informed the monarch that the Romans would not accept him as an arbitrator in the war with Tarentum, and feared him not as an enemy. He was defeated by Pyrrhus.――Publius Valerius, a man despised at Rome, because he was distinguished by no good quality. Horace, bk. 1, satire 6, li. 12.

Lagaria, a town of Lucania.

Lagia, a name of the island Delos. See: Delos.

Lagĭdes. See: Lagus.

Laginia, a town of Caria.

Lagus, a Macedonian of mean extraction. He received in marriage Arsinoe the daughter of Meleager, who was then pregnant by king Philip, and being willing to hide the disgrace of his wife, he exposed the child in the woods. An eagle preserved the life of the infant, fed him with her prey, and sheltered him with her wings against the inclemency of the air. This uncommon preservation was divulged by Lagus, who adopted the child as his own, and called him Ptolemy, conjecturing that as his life had been so miraculously preserved, his days would be spent in grandeur and affluence. This Ptolemy became king of Egypt after the death of Alexander. According to other accounts Arsinoe was nearly related to Philip king of Macedonia, and her marriage with Lagus was not considered as dishonourable, because he was opulent and powerful. The first of the Ptolemies is called Lagus, to distinguish him from his successors of the same name. Ptolemy, the first of the Macedonian kings of Egypt, wished it to be believed that he was the legitimate son of Lagus, and he preferred the name of Lagides to all other appellations. It is even said that he established a military order in Alexandria, which was called Lageion. The surname of Lagides was transmitted to all his descendants on the Egyptian throne till the reign of Cleopatra, Antony’s mistress. Plutarch mentions an anecdote which serves to show how far the legitimacy of Ptolemy was believed in his age. A pedantic grammarian, says the historian, once displaying his great knowledge of antiquity in the presence of Ptolemy, the king suddenly interrupted him with the question of, “Pray tell me, sir, who was the father of Peleus?” “Tell me,” replied the grammarian, without hesitation, “tell me, if you can, O king! who the father of Lagus was.” This reflection on the meanness of the monarch’s birth did not in the least irritate his resentment, though the courtiers all glowed with indignation. Ptolemy praised the humour of the grammarian, and showed his moderation and the mildness of his temper by taking him under his patronage. Pausanias, Attica.—Justin, bk. 13.—Curtius, bk. 4.—Plutarch, De Cohibenda Ira.—Lucan, bk. 1, li. 684.—Silius Italicus, bk. 1, li. 196.――A Rutulian, killed by Pallas son of Evander. Virgil, Æneid, bk. 10, li. 381.

Lagūsa, an island in the Pamphylian sea.――Another near Crete. Strabo, bk. 10.—Pliny, bk. 5, ch. 31.

Lagȳra, a city of Taurica Chersonesus.

Laiădes, a patronymic of Œdipus son of Laius. Ovid, Metamorphoses, bk. 6, fable 18.

Laias, a king of Arcadia, who succeeded his father Cypselus, &c. Pausanias, bk. 8, ch. 5.――A king of Elis, &c.

Lais, a celebrated courtesan, daughter of Timandra the mistress of Alcibiades, born at Hyccara in Sicily. She was carried away from her native country into Greece, when Nicias the Athenian general invaded Sicily. She first began to sell her favours at Corinth, for 10,000 drachmas, and the immense number of princes, noblemen, philosophers, orators, and plebeians who courted her embraces, show how much commendation is owed to her personal charms. The expenses which attended her pleasures gave rise to the proverb of Non cuivis homini contingit adire Corinthum. Even Demosthenes himself visited Corinth for the sake of Lais, but when he was informed by the courtesans that admittance to her bed was to be bought at the enormous sum of about 300l. English money, the orator departed, and observed that he would not buy repentance at so dear a price. The charms which had attracted Demosthenes to Corinth, had no influence upon Xenocrates. When Lais saw the philosopher unmoved by her beauty, she visited his house herself; but there she had no reason to boast of the licentiousness or easy submission of Xenocrates. Diogenes the cynic was one of her warmest admirers, and though filthy in his dress and manners, yet he gained her heart and enjoyed her most unbounded favours. The sculptor Mycon also solicited the favours of Lais, but he met with coldness; he, however, attributed the cause of his ill reception to the whiteness of his hair, and dyed it of a brown colour, but to no purpose. “Fool that thou art,” said the courtesan, “to ask what I refused yesterday to thy father.” Lais ridiculed the austerity of philosophers, and laughed at the weakness of those who pretend to have gained a superiority over their passions, by observing that the sages and philosophers of the age were not above the rest of mankind, for she found them at her door as often as the rest of the Athenians. The success which her debaucheries met at Corinth encouraged Lais to pass into Thessaly, and more particularly to enjoy the company of a favourite youth called Hippostratus. She was, however, disappointed: the women of the place, jealous of her charms, and apprehensive of her corrupting the fidelity of their husbands, assassinated her in the temple of Venus, about 340 years before the christian era. Some suppose that there were two persons of this name, a mother and her daughter. Cicero, Letters to his Friends, bk. 9, ltr. 26.—Ovid, Amores, bk. 1, poem 5.—Plutarch, Alcibiades.—Pausanias, bk. 2, ch. 2.

Lāius, a son of Labdacus, who succeeded to the throne of Thebes, which his grandfather Nycteus had left to the care of his brother Lycus, till his grandson came of age. He was driven from his kingdom by Amphion and Zethus, who were incensed against Lycus for the indignities which Antiope had suffered. He was afterwards restored, and married Jocasta the daughter of Creon. An oracle informed him that he should perish by the hand of his son, and in consequence of this dreadful intelligence he resolved never to approach his wife. A day spent in debauch and intoxication made him violate his vow, and Jocasta brought forth a son. The child as soon as born was given to a servant, with orders to put him to death. The servant was moved with compassion, and only exposed him on mount Cithæron, where his life was preserved by a shepherd. The child, called Œdipus, was educated in the court of Polybus, and an unfortunate meeting with his father in a narrow road proved his ruin. Œdipus ordered his father to make way for him without knowing who he was. Laius refused, and was instantly murdered by his irritated son. His armour-bearer or charioteer shared his fate. See: Œdipus. Sophocles, Œdipus.—Hyginus, fables 9 & 66.—Diodorus, bk. 4.—Apollodorus, bk. 3, ch. 5.—Pausanias, bk. 9, chs. 5 & 26.—Plutarch, de Curiositate.

Lalăge, one of Horace’s favourite mistresses. Horace, bk. 1, ode 22, &c.—Propertius, bk. 4, poem 7.――A woman censured for her cruelty. Martial, bk. 2, ltr. 66.

Lalassis, a river of Isauria.

Lamăchus, a son of Xenophanes, sent into Sicily with Nicias. He was killed B.C. 414, before Syracuse, where he had displayed much courage and intrepidity. Plutarch, Alcibiades.――A governor of Heraclea in Pontus, who betrayed his trust to Mithridates, after he had invited all the inhabitants to a sumptuous feast.

Lamalmon, a large mountain of Æthiopia.

Lambrāni, a people of Italy near the Lambrus. Suetonius, Cæsar.

Lambrus, a river of Cisalpine Gaul, falling into the Po.

Lămia, a town of Thessaly at the bottom of the Sinus Maliacus or Lamiacus, and north of the river Sperchius, famous for a siege which it supported after Alexander’s death. See: Lamiacum. Diodorus, bk. 16, &c.—Pausanias, bk. 7, ch. 6.――A river of Greece opposite mount Œta.――A daughter of Neptune, mother of Hierophile, an ancient Sibyl, by Jupiter. Pausanias, bk. 10, ch. 12.――A famous courtesan, mistress to Demetrius Poliorcetes. Plutarch, Demetrius.—Athenæus, bk. 13.—Ælian, Varia Historia, bk. 13, ch. 9.

Lamia and Auxesia, two deities of Crete, whose worship was the same as at Eleusis. The Epidaurians made them two statues of an olive tree given them by the Athenians, provided they came to offer a sacrifice to Minerva at Athens. Pausanias, bk. 2, ch. 30, &c.

Lamiăcum bellum, happened after the death of Alexander, when the Greeks, and particularly the Athenians, incited by their orators, resolved to free Greece from the garrisons of the Macedonians. Leosthenes was appointed commander of a numerous force, and marched against Antipater, who then presided over Macedonia. Antipater entered Thessaly at the head of 13,000 foot and 600 horse, and was beaten by the superior force of the Athenians and of their Greek confederates. Antipater after this blow fled to Lamia, B.C. 323, where he resolved, with all the courage and sagacity of a careful general, to maintain a siege with about the 8000 or 9000 men that had escaped from the field of battle. Leosthenes, unable to take the city by storm, began to make a regular siege. His operations were delayed by the frequent sallies of Antipater; and Leosthenes being killed by the blow of a stone, Antipater made his escape out of Lamia, and soon after, with the assistance of the army of Craterus brought from Asia, he gave the Athenians battle near Cranon, and though only 500 of their men were slain, yet they became so dispirited, that they sued for peace from the conqueror. Antipater at last with difficulty consented, provided they raised taxes in the usual manner, received a Macedonian garrison, defrayed the expenses of the war, and lastly, delivered into his hands Demosthenes and Hyperides, the two orators, whose prevailing eloquence had excited their countrymen against him. These disadvantageous terms were accepted by the Athenians, yet Demosthenes had time to escape and poison himself. Hyperides was carried before Antipater, who ordered his tongue to be cut off, and afterwards put him to death. Plutarch, Demosthenes.—Diodorus, bk. 17.—Justin, bk. 11, &c.

Lămiæ, small islands in the Ægean, opposite Troas. Pliny, bk. 5, ch. 31.――A celebrated family at Rome, descended from Lamus.――Certain monsters of Africa, who had the face and breast of a woman, and the rest of their body like that of a serpent. They allured strangers to come to them, that they might devour them; and though they were not endowed with the faculty of speech, yet their hissings were pleasing and agreeable. Some believed them to be witches, or rather evil spirits, who, under the form of a beautiful woman, enticed young children and devoured them. According to some, the fable of the Lamiæ is derived from the amours of Jupiter with a certain beautiful woman called Lamia, whom the jealousy of Juno rendered deformed, and whose children she destroyed; upon which Lamia became insane, and so desperate that she ate up all the children that came in her way. They are also called Lemures. See: Lemures. Philostratus, Life of Apollonius.—Horace, Art of Poetry, li. 340.—Plutarch, de Curiositate.—Dion.

Lămias Ælius, a governor of Syria under Tiberius. He was honoured with a public funeral by the senate; and as having been a respectable and useful citizen, Horace has dedicated his ode 26, bk. 1, to his praises, as also bk. 3, ode 17.—Tacitus, Annals, bk. 6, ch. 27.――Another during the reign of Domitian, put to death, &c.

Lamīrus, a son of Hercules by Iole.

Lampĕdo, a woman of Lacedæmon, who was daughter, wife, sister, and mother of a king. She lived in the age of Alcibiades. Agrippina the mother of Claudius could boast the same honours. Tacitus, Annals, bk. 12, chs. 22 & 37.—Plutarch, Agesilaus.—Plato, bk. 1, Alcibiades.—Pliny, bk. 7, ch. 41.

Lampĕtia, a daughter of Apollo and Neæra. She, with her sister Phaetusa, guarded her father’s flocks in Sicily when Ulysses arrived on the coasts of that island. These flocks were 14 in number, seven herds of oxen, and seven flocks of sheep, consisting each of 50. They fed by night as well as by day, and it was deemed unlawful and sacrilegious to touch them. The companions of Ulysses, impelled by hunger, paid no regard to their sanctity, or to the threats and entreaties of their chief; but they carried away and killed some of the oxen. The watchful keepers complained to their father, and Jupiter, at the request of Apollo, punished the offence of the Greeks. The hides of the oxen appeared to walk, and the flesh, which was roasting by the fire, began to bellow, and nothing was heard but dreadful noises and loud lowings. The companions of Ulysses embarked on board their ships, but here the resentment of Jupiter followed them. A storm arose, and they all perished except Ulysses, who saved himself on the broken piece of a mast. Homer, Odyssey, bk. 12, ch. 119.—Propertius, bk. 3, poem 12.――According to Ovid, Metamorphoses, bk. 2, li. 349, Lampetia is one of the Heliades, who was changed into a poplar tree at the death of her brother Phaeton.

Lampeto and Lampedo, a queen of the Amazons, who boasted herself to be the daughter of Mars. She gained many conquests in Asia, where she founded several cities. She was surprised afterwards by a band of barbarians, and destroyed with her female attendants. Justin, bk. 2, ch. 4.

Lampeus and Lampia, a mountain of Arcadia. Statius, bk. 8.

Lampon, Lampos, or Lampus, one of the horses of Diomedes,――of Hector,――of Aurora. Homer, Iliad, bk. 8; Odyssey, bk. 23.――A son of Laomedon, father of Dolops.――A soothsayer of Athens in the age of Socrates. Plutarch, Pericles.

Lampōnia and Lampōnium, a city of Troas. Herodotus, bk. 5, ch. 26.――An island on the coast of Thrace. Strabo, bk. 13.

Lamponius, an Athenian general, sent by his countrymen to attempt the conquest of Sicily. Justin, bk. 4, ch. 3.

Lampridius Ælius, a Latin historian in the fourth century, who wrote the lives of some of the Roman emperors. His style is inelegant, and his arrangements injudicious. His life of Commodus, Heliogabalus, Alexander Severus, &c., is still extant, and to be found in the works of the Historiæ Augustæ Scriptores.

Lamprus, a celebrated musician, &c.—Cornelius Nepos, Epaminondas.

Lampsăcus and Lampsăcum, now Lamsaki, a town of Asia Minor on the borders of the Propontis, at the north of Abydos. Priapus was the chief deity of the place, of which he was reckoned by some the founder. His temple there was the asylum of lewdness and debauchery, and exhibited scenes of the most unnatural lust, and hence the epithet Lampsacius is usual to express immodesty and wantonness. Alexander resolved to destroy the city on account of the vices of its inhabitants, and more probably for its firm adherence to the interest of Persia. It was, however, saved from ruin by the artifice of Anaximenes. See: Anaximenes. It was formerly called Pityusa, and received the name of Lampsacus, from Lampsace, a daughter of Mandron, a king of Phrygia, who gave information to some Phoceans who dwelt there, that the rest of the inhabitants had conspired against their life. This timely information saved them from destruction. The city afterwards bore the name of their preserver. The wine of Lampsacus was famous and therefore a tribute of wine was granted from the city by Xerxes to maintain the table of Themistocles. Mela, bk. 1, ch. 19.—Strabo, bk. 13.—Pausanias, bk. 9, ch. 31.—Herodotus, bk. 5, ch. 117.—Cornelius Nepos, Themistocles, ch. 10.—Ovid, bk. 1, Tristia, poem 9, li. 26; Fasti, bk. 8, li. 345.—Livy, bk. 33, ch. 38; bk. 35, ch. 42.—Martial, bk. 11, poems 17, 52.

Lamptera, a town of Phocæa in Ionia. Livy, bk. 37, ch. 31.

Lamptĕria, a festival at Pellene, in Achaia, in honour of Bacchus, who was surnamed Lampter, from λαμπειν, to shine, because, during this solemnity, which was observed in the night, the worshippers went to the temple of Bacchus, with lighted torches in their hands. It was also customary to place vessels full of wine in several parts of every street in the city. Pausanias, bk. 4, ch. 21.

Lampus, a son of Ægyptus.――A man of Elis.――A son of Prolaus.

Lămus, a king of the Læstrygones, who is supposed by some to have founded Formiæ in Italy. The family of the Lamiæ at Rome was, according to the opinion of some, descended from him. Horace, bk. 3, ode 17.――A son of Hercules and Omphale, who succeeded his mother on the throne of Lydia. Ovid, Heroides, poem 9, li. 54.――A Latin chief killed by Nisus. Virgil, Æneid, bk. 9, li. 334.――A river of Bœotia. Pausanias, bk. 9, ch. 31.――A Spartan general hired by Nectanebus king of Egypt. Diodorus, bk. 16.――A city of Cilicia.――A town near Formiæ built by the Læstrygones.

Lămy̆rus, buffoon, a surname of one of the Ptolemies.――One of the auxiliaries of Turnus, killed by Nisus. Virgil, Æneid, bk. 9, li. 334.

Lanassa, a daughter of Cleodæus, who married Pyrrhus the son of Achilles by whom she had eight children. Plutarch, Pyrrhus.—Justin, bk. 17, ch. 3.――A daughter of Agathocles, who married Pyrrhus, whom she soon after forsook for Demetrius. Plutarch.

Lancēa, a fountain, &c. Pausanias.

Lancia, a town of Lusitania. Florus, bk. 4, ch. 12.

Landi, a people of Germany conquered by Cæsar.