A CLASSICAL DICTIONARY, ETC., ETC. (continued 36)

Polylāus, a son of Hercules and Crathe, daughter of Thespius.

Polymĕnes, an officer appointed to take care of Egypt after it had been conquered by Alexander. Curtius, bk. 4, ch. 8.

Polymēde, a daughter of Autolycus, who married Æson, by whom she had Jason. She survived her husband only a few days. Apollodorus, bk. 1, ch. 13.

Polymedon, one of Priam’s illegitimate children.

Polymēla, one of Diana’s companions. She was daughter of Phylas, and had a son by Mercury. Homer, Iliad, bk. 16.――A daughter of Æolus, seduced by Ulysses.――A daughter of Actor. She was the first wife of Peleus the father of Achilles.

Polymnestes, a Greek poet of Colophon. Pausanias, bk. 1, ch. 14.――A native of Thera, father of Battus, or Aristotle, by Phronima the daughter of Etearchus king of Oaxus. Herodotus, bk. 4, ch. 150.

Polymnestor, a king of the Thracian Chersonesus, who married Ilione, the eldest of Priam’s daughters. When the Greeks besieged Troy, Priam sent the greatest part of his treasures, together with Polydorus, the youngest of his sons, to Thrace, where they were entrusted to the care of Polymnestor. The Thracian monarch paid every attention to his brother-in-law; but when he was informed that Priam was dead, he murdered him to become master of the riches which were in his possession. At that time, the Greeks were returning victorious from Troy, followed by all the captives, among whom was Hecuba the mother of Polydorus. The fleet stopped on the coast of Thrace, where one of the female captives discovered on the shore the body of Polydorus, whom Polymnestor had thrown into the sea. The dreadful intelligence was immediately communicated to the mother, and Hecuba, who recollected the frightful dreams which she had had on the preceding night, did not doubt but Polymnestor was the cruel assassin. She resolved to revenge her son’s death, and immediately she called out Polymnestor, as if wishing to impart to him a matter of the most important nature. The tyrant was drawn into the snare, and was no sooner introduced into the apartments of the Trojan princess, than the female captives rushed upon him and put out his eyes with their pins, while Hecuba murdered his two children who had accompanied him. According to Euripides, the Greeks condemned Polymnestor to be banished into a distant island for his perfidy. Hyginus, however, relates the whole differently, and observes, that when Polydorus was sent to Thrace, Ilione his sister took him instead of her son Deiphilus, who was of the same age, apprehensive of her husband’s cruelty. The monarch was unacquainted with the imposition; he looked upon Polydorus as his own son, and treated Deiphilus as the brother of Ilione. After the destruction of Troy, the conquerors, who wished the house and family of Priam to be totally extirpated, offered Electra the daughter of Agamemnon to Polymnestor, if he would destroy Ilione and Polydorus. The monarch accepted the offer, and immediately despatched his own son Deiphilus, whom he had been taught to regard as Polydorus. Polydorus, who passed as the son of Polymnestor, consulted the oracle after the murder of Deiphilus, and when he was informed that his father was dead, his mother a captive in the hands of the Greeks, and his country in ruins, he communicated the answer of the god to Ilione, whom he had always regarded as his mother. Ilione told him the measures she had pursued to save his life, and upon this he avenged the perfidy of Polymnestor by putting out his eyes. Euripides, Hecuba.—Hyginus, fable 102.—Virgil, Æneid, bk. 3, li. 45, &c.—Ovid, Metamorphoses, bk. 13, li. 430, &c.――A king of Arcadia, succeeded on the throne by Ecmis. Pausanias, bk. 8.――A young Milesian who took a hare in running, and afterwards obtained a prize at the Olympic games.

Poly̆nīces, a son of Œdipus king of Thebes by Jocasta. He inherited his father’s throne with his brother Eteocles, and it was mutually agreed between the two brothers, that they should reign each a year alternately. Eteocles first ascended the throne by right of seniority; but when the year was expired, he refused to resign the crown to his brother. Polynices, upon this, fled to Argos, where he married Argia, the daughter of Adrastus the king of the country, and levied a large army, at the head of which he marched to Thebes. The command of this army was divided among seven celebrated chiefs, who were to attack the seven gates of the city of Thebes. The battle was decided by a single combat between the two brothers, who both killed one another. See: Eteocles. Aeschylus, Seven Against Thebes.—Euripides, Phoenician Women.—Seneca, Œdipus.—Diodorus, bk. 4.—Hyginus, fable 68, &c.—Pausanias, bk. 2, ch. 20; bk. 9, ch. 5.—Apollodorus, bk. 3, ch. 5.

Polynoe, one of the Nereides. Apollodorus, bk. 1, ch. 2.

Polypēmon, a famous thief, called also Procrustes, who plundered all the travellers about the Cephisus, and near Eleusis in Attica. He was killed by Theseus. Ovid calls him father of Procrustes, and Apollodorus of Sinus. See: Procrustes. Pausanias, bk. 1, ch. 38.—Ovid, Ibis, li. 409.—Diodorus, bk. 4.—Plutarch, Theseus.

Polyperchon, or Polysperchon, one of the officers of Alexander. Antipater, at his death, appointed him governor of the kingdom of Macedonia, in preference to his own son Cassander. Polyperchon, though old, and a man of experience, showed great ignorance in the administration of the government. He became cruel, not only to the Greeks, or such as opposed his ambitious views, but even to the helpless and innocent children and friends of Alexander, to whom he was indebted for his rise and military reputation. He was killed in a battle 309 B.C. Curtius.—Diodorus, bk. 17, &c.—Justin, bk. 13.

Polyphēmus, a celebrated Cyclops, king of all the Cyclops in Sicily, and son of Neptune and Thoosa the daughter of Phorcys. He is represented as a monster of strength, of tall stature, and one eye in the middle of the forehead. He fed upon human flesh, and kept his flocks on the coasts of Sicily, when Ulysses, at his return from the Trojan war, was driven there. The Grecian prince, with 12 of his companions, visited the coast, and were seized by the Cyclops, who confined them in his cave, and daily devoured two of them. Ulysses would have shared the fate of his companions, had he not intoxicated the Cyclops, and put out his eye with a firebrand while he was asleep. Polyphemus was awaked by the sudden pain; he stopped the entrance of his cave, but Ulysses made his escape by creeping between the legs of the rams of the Cyclops, as they were led out to feed on the mountains. Polyphemus became enamoured of Galatæa, but his addresses were disregarded, and the nymph shunned his presence. The Cyclops was more earnest, and when he saw Galatæa surrender herself to the pleasures of Acis, he crushed his rival with a piece of a broken rock. Theocritus, poem 1.—Ovid, Metamorphoses, bk. 13, li. 772.—Homer, Odyssey, bk. 19.—Euripides, Cyclops.—Hyginus, fable 125.—Virgil, Æneid, bk. 3, li. 619, &c.――One of the Argonauts, son of Elatus and Hippea. Hyginus, fable 14.

Polyphonta, one of Diana’s nymphs, daughter of Hipponus and Thraosa.

Polyphontes, one of the Heraclidæ, who killed Cresphontes king of Messenia, and usurped his crown. Hyginus, fable 137.――One of the Theban generals, under Eteocles. Aeschylus, Seven Against Thebes.

Polypœtes, a son of Pirithous and Hippodamia, at the Trojan war. Homer, Iliad, bk. 2.—Pausanias, bk. 10, ch. 26.――A son of Apollo by Pythia.――One of the Trojans whom Æneas saw when he visited the infernal regions. Virgil, Æneid, bk. 6, li. 484.

Polysperchon. See: Polyperchon.

Polystrātus, a Macedonian soldier, who found Darius after he had been stabbed by Bessus, and gave him water to drink, and carried the last injunctions of the dying monarch to Alexander. Curtius, bk. 5, ch. 13.――An epicurean philosopher who flourished B.C. 238.

Polytecnus, an artist of Colophon, who married Ædon the daughter of Pandarus.

Polytion, a friend of Alcibiades, with whom he profaned the mysteries of Ceres. Pausanias, bk. 1, ch. 2.

Polytimētus, a river of Sogdiana. Curtius, bk. 6, ch. 4.

Polyphron, a prince killed by his nephew Alexander the tyrant of Pheræ.

Polytrŏpus, a man sent by the Lacedæmonians with an army against the Arcadians. He was killed at Orchomenus. Diodorus, bk. 15.

Polyxĕna, a daughter of Priam and Hecuba, celebrated for her beauty and accomplishments. Achilles became enamoured of her, and solicited her hand, and their marriage would have been consummated, had not Hector her brother opposed it. Polyxena, according to some authors, accompanied her father when he went to the tent of Achilles to redeem the body of his son Hector. Some time after, the Grecian hero came into the temple of Apollo to obtain a sight of the Trojan princess, but he was murdered there by Paris; and Polyxena, who had returned his affection, was so afflicted at his death, that she went and sacrificed herself on his tomb. Some, however, suppose that that sacrifice was not voluntary, but that the manes of Achilles appeared to the Greeks as they were going to embark, and demanded of them the sacrifice of Polyxena. The princess, who was in the number of the captives, was upon this dragged to her lover’s tomb, and there immolated by Neoptolemus the son of Achilles. Ovid, Metamorphoses, bk. 13, fable 5, &c.—Dictys Cretensis, bks. 3 & 5.—Virgil, Æneid, bk. 3, li. 321.—Catullus, poem 65.—Hyginus, fable 90.

Polyxenĭdas, a Syrian general, who flourished B.C. 192.

Polyxĕnus, one of the Greek princes during the Trojan war. His father’s name was Agasthenes. Homer, Iliad, bk. 2.—Pausanias, bk. 5, ch. 3.――A son of Medea by Jason.――A young Athenian who became blind, &c. Plutarch, Parallela minora.――A general of Dionysius, from whom he revolted.

Polyxo, a priestess of Apollo’s temple in Lemnos. She was also nurse to queen Hypsipyle. It was by her advice that the Lemnian women murdered all their husbands. Apollonius, bk. 1.—Flaccus, bk. 2.—Hyginus, fable 15.――One of the Atlantides.――A native of Argos, who married Tlepolemus son of Hercules. She followed him to Rhodes, after the murder of his uncle Licymnius, and when he departed for the Trojan war with the rest of the Greek princes, she became the sole mistress of the kingdom. After the Trojan war, Helen fled from Peloponnesus to Rhodes, where Polyxo reigned. Polyxo detained her, and to punish her as being the cause of a war, in which Tlepolemus had perished, she ordered her to be hanged on a tree by her female servants, disguised in the habit of Furies. See: Helena. Pausanias, bk. 5, ch. 19.――The wife of Nycteus.――One of the wives of Danaus.

Polyzēlus, a Greek poet of Rhodes. He had written a poem on the origin and birth of Bacchus, Venus, the Muses, &c. Some of his verses are quoted by Athenæus. Hyginus, Poetica Astronomica, bk. 2, ch. 14.――An Athenian archon.

Pomaxæthres, a Parthian soldier, who killed Crassus, according to some. Plutarch.

Pometia, Pometii, Pometia Suessa, a town of the Volsci in Latium, totally destroyed by the Romans, because it had revolted. Virgil, Æneid, bk. 6, li. 775.—Livy, bk. 2, ch. 17.

Pometīna, one of the tribes of the people at Rome.

Pomōna, a nymph at Rome, who was supposed to preside over gardens and to be the goddess of all sorts of fruit trees. She had a temple at Rome, and a regular priest called Flamen Pomonalis, who offered sacrifices to her divinity, for the preservation of fruit. She was generally represented as sitting on a basket full of flowers and fruit, and holding a bough in one hand and apples in the other. Pomona was particularly delighted with the cultivation of the earth; she disdained the toils of the field, and the fatigues of hunting. Many of the gods of the country endeavoured to gain her affection, but she received their addresses with coldness. Vertumnus was the only one who, by assuming different shapes, and introducing himself into her company, under the form of an old woman, prevailed upon her to break her vow of celibacy and to marry him. This deity was unknown among the Greeks. Ovid, Metamorphoses, bk. 14, li. 628, &c.—Festus, Lexicon of Festus.

Pompeia, a daughter of Sextus Pompey by Scribonia. She was promised to Marcellus, as a means of procuring a reconciliation between her father and the triumvirs, but she married Scribonius Libo.――A daughter of Pompey the Great, Julius Cæsar’s third wife. She was accused of incontinence, because Clodius had introduced himself in women’s clothes into the room where she was celebrating the mysteries of Cybele. Cæsar repudiated her upon this accusation. Plutarch.――The wife of Annæus Seneca, was the daughter of Pompeius Paulinus.――There was a portico at Rome, called Pompeia, much frequented by all orders of people. Ovid, Ars Amatoria, li. 67.—Martial, bk. 11, ltr. 48.

Pompeia lex, by Pompey the Great, de ambitu, A.U.C. 701. It ordained that whatever person had been convicted of the crime of ambitus, should be pardoned, provided he could impeach two others of the same crime, and occasion the condemnation of one of them.――Another by the same, A.U.C. 701, which forbade the use of laudatores in trials, or persons who gave a good character of the prisoner then impeached.――Another by the same, A.U.C. 683. It restored to the tribunes their original power and authority, of which they had been deprived by the Cornelian law.――Another by the same, A.U.C. 701. It shortened the forms of trials, and enacted that the three first days of a trial should be employed in examining witnesses, and it allowed only one day to the parties to make their accusation and defence. The plaintiff was confined to two hours, and the defendant to three. This law had for its object the riots, which happened from the quarrels of Clodius and Milo.――Another by the same, A.U.C. 698. It required that the judges should be the richest of every century, contrary to the usual form. It was, however, requisite that they should be such as the Aurelian law prescribed.――Another of the same, A.U.C. 701. Pompey was by this empowered to continue in the government of Spain five years longer.

Pompeiānus Jupiter, a large statue of Jupiter, near Pompey’s theatre, whence it received its name. Pliny, bk. 34, ch. 7.

Pompeiānus, a Roman knight of Antioch, raised to offices of the greatest trust, under the emperor Aurelius, whose daughter Lucilla he married. He lived in great popularity at Rome, and retired from the court when Commodus succeeded to the imperial crown. He ought, according to Julian’s opinion, to have been chosen and adopted as successor by Marcus Aurelius.――A general of Maxentius, killed by Constantine.――A Roman put to death by Caracalla.

Pompeii, or Pompeium, a town of Campania, built, as some suppose, by Hercules, and so called because the hero there exhibited the long procession (pompa) of the herds of Geryon, which he had obtained by conquest. It was partly demolished by an earthquake, A.D. 63, and afterwards rebuilt. Sixteen years after it was swallowed up by another earthquake, which accompanied one of the eruptions of mount Vesuvius. Herculaneum, in its neighbourhood, shared the same fate. The people of the town were then assembled in a theatre, where public spectacles were exhibited. See: Herculaneum. Livy, bk. 9, ch. 38.—Strabo, bk. 6.—Mela, bk. 2, ch. 4.—Dionysius of Halicarnassus, bk. 1.—Seneca, Quæstiones Naturales, bk. 4.—Solinus, bk. 8.

Pompeiopŏlis, a town of Cilicia, formerly called Soli. Mela, bk. 1, ch. 13.――Another in Paphlagonia, originally called Eupatoria, which name was exchanged when Pompey conquered Mithridates.

Quintus Pompeius, a consul who carried on war against the Numantines, and made a shameful treaty. He is the first of that noble family, of whom mention is made. Florus, bk. 2, ch. 18.――Cneus, a Roman general, who made war against the Marsi, and triumphed over the Piceni. He declared himself against Cinna and Marius, and supported the interest of the republic. He was surnamed Strabo, because he squinted. While he was marching against Marius, a plague broke out in his army, and raged with such violence, that it carried away 11,000 men in a few days. He was killed by a flash of lightning, and as he had behaved with cruelty while in power, the people dragged his body through the streets of Rome with an iron hook, and threw it into the Tiber. Paterculus, bk. 2.—Plutarch, Pompey.―― Rufus, a Roman consul with Sylla. He was sent to finish the Marsian war, but the army mutinied at the instigation of Pompeius Strabo, whom he was to succeed in command, and he was assassinated by some of the soldiers. Appian, Civil Wars, bk. 1.――A general who succeeded Metellus in Spain, and was the occasion of a war with Numantia.――Another general, taken prisoner by Mithridates.――Sextus, a governor of Spain, who cured himself of the gout by placing himself in corn above the knee. Pliny, bk. 22, ch. 25.――Rufus, a grandson of Sylla.――A tribune of the soldiers in Nero’s reign, deprived of his office when Piso’s conspiracy was discovered. Tacitus.――A consul praised for his learning and abilities. Ovid, ex Ponto, bk. 4, poem 1.――A son of Theophanes of Mitylene, famous for his intimacy with Pompey the Great, and for his writings. Tacitus, Annals, bk. 6.――A tribune of a pretorian cohort under Galba.――A Roman knight, put to death by the emperor Claudius for his adultery with Messalina. Tacitus, bk. 11, Annals.――Cneus, surnamed Magnus, from the greatness of his exploits, was son of Pompeius Strabo and Lucilia. He early distinguished himself in the field of battle, and fought with success and bravery under his father, whose courage and military prudence he imitated. He began his career with great popularity; the beauty and elegance of his person gained him admirers, and by pleading at the bar he displayed his eloquence, and received the most unbounded applause. In the disturbances which agitated Rome, by the ambition and avarice of Marius and Sylla, Pompey followed the interest of the latter, and by levying three legions for his service he gained his friendship and his protection. In the 26th year of his age, he conquered Sicily, which was in the power of Marius and his adherents, and in 40 days he regained all the territories of Africa, which had forsaken the interest of Sylla. This rapid success astonished the Romans, and Sylla, who admired and dreaded the rising power of Pompey, recalled him to Rome. Pompey immediately obeyed, and the dictator, by saluting him with the appellation of the Great, showed to the world what expectations he formed from the maturer age of his victorious lieutenant. This sounding title was not sufficient to gratify the ambition of Pompey; he demanded a triumph, and when Sylla refused to grant it, he emphatically exclaimed, that the sun shone with more ardour at his rising than at his setting. His assurance gained what petitions and entreaties could not obtain, and he was the first Roman knight who, without an office under the appointment of the senate, marched in triumphal procession through the streets of Rome. He now appeared, not as a ♦dependent, but as a rival, of the dictator, and his opposition to his measures totally excluded him from his will. After the death of Sylla, Pompey supported himself against the remains of the Marian faction, which was headed by Lepidus. He defeated them, put an end to the war which the revolt of Sertorius in Spain had occasioned, and obtained a second triumph, though still a private citizen, about 73 years before the christian era. He was soon after made consul, and in that office he restored the tribunitial power to its original dignity, and in 40 days removed the pirates from the Mediterranean, where they had reigned for many years, and by their continual plunder and audacity, almost destroyed the whole naval power of Rome. While he prosecuted the piratical war, and extirpated these maritime robbers in their obscure retreat in Cilicia, Pompey was called to greater undertakings, and by the influence of his friends at Rome, and of the tribune Manilius, he was empowered to finish the war against two of the most powerful monarchs of Asia—Mithridates king of Pontus, and Tigranes king of Armenia. In this expedition Pompey showed himself no ways inferior to Lucullus, who was then at the head of the Roman armies, and who resigned with reluctance an office which would have made him the conqueror of Mithridates and the master of all Asia. His operations against the king of Pontus were bold and vigorous, and in a general engagement the Romans so totally defeated the enemy, that the Asiatic monarch escaped with difficulty from the field of battle. See: Mithridaticum bellum. Pompey did not lose sight of the advantages which despatch would ensure; he entered Armenia, received the submission of king Tigranes, and after he had conquered the Albanians and Iberians, visited countries which were scarce known to the Romans, and, like a master of the world, disposed of kingdoms and provinces, and received homage from 12 crowned heads at once; he entered Syria, and pushed his conquests as far as the Red sea. Part of Arabia was subdued, Judea became a Roman province, and when he had now nothing to fear from Mithridates, who had voluntarily destroyed himself, Pompey returned to Italy with all the pomp and majesty of an eastern conqueror. The Romans dreaded his approach; they knew his power and his influence among his troops, and they feared the return of another tyrannical Sylla. Pompey, however, banished their fears; he disbanded his army, and the conqueror of Asia entered Rome like a private citizen. This modest and prudent behaviour gained him more friends and adherents than the most unbounded power, aided with profusion and liberality. He was honoured with a triumph, and the Romans, for three successive days, gazed with astonishment on the riches and the spoils which their conquests had acquired in the east, and expressed their raptures at the sight of the different nations, habits, and treasures which preceded the conqueror’s chariot. But it was not this alone which gratified the ambition, and flattered the pride of the Romans; the advantages of their conquests were more lasting than an empty show, and when 20,000 talents were brought into the public treasury, and when the revenues of the republic were raised from 50 to 85 millions of drachmæ, Pompey became more powerful, more flattered, and more envied. To strengthen himself, and to triumph over his enemies, Pompey soon after united his interest with that of Cæsar and Crassus, and formed the first triumvirate, by solemnly swearing that their attachment should be mutual, their cause common, and their union permanent. The agreement was completed by the marriage of Pompey with Julia the daughter of Cæsar, and the provinces of the republic were arbitrarily divided among the triumvirs. Pompey was allotted Africa and the two Spains, while Crassus repaired to Syria, to add Parthia to the empire of Rome, and Cæsar remained satisfied with the rest, and the continuation of his power as governor of Gaul for five additional years. But this powerful confederacy was soon broken; the sudden death of Julia, and the total defeat of Crassus in Syria, shattered the political bands which held the jarring interest of Cæsar and Pompey united. Pompey dreaded his father-in-law, and yet he affected to despise him; and by suffering anarchy to prevail in Rome, he convinced his fellow-citizens of the necessity of investing him with dictatorial power. But while the conqueror of Mithridates was as a sovereign at Rome, the adherents of Cæsar were not silent. They demanded that either the consulship should be given to him, or that he should be continued in the government of Gaul. This just demand would perhaps have been granted, but Cato opposed it, and when Pompey sent for the two legions which he had lent to Cæsar, the breach became more wide, and a civil war inevitable. Cæsar was privately preparing to meet his enemies, while Pompey remained indolent, and gratified his pride in seeing all Italy celebrate his recovery from an indisposition by universal rejoicings. But he was soon roused from his inactivity, and it was now time to find his friends, if anything could be obtained from the caprice and the fickleness of a people which he had once delighted and amused, by the exhibition of games and spectacles in a theatre which could contain 20,000 spectators. Cæsar was now near Rome, he had crossed the Rubicon, which was a declaration of hostilities, and Pompey, who had once boasted that he could raise legions to his assistance by stamping on the ground with his foot, fled from the city with precipitation, and retired to Brundusium with the consuls and part of the senators. His cause, indeed, was popular; he had been invested with discretionary power, the senate had entreated him to protect the republic against the usurpation and tyranny of Cæsar, and Cato, by embracing his cause, and appearing in his camp, seemed to indicate that he was the friend of the republic, and the assertor of Roman liberty and independence. But Cæsar was now master of Rome, and in 60 days all Italy acknowledged his power, and the conqueror hastened to Spain, there to defeat the interest of Pompey, and to alienate the hearts of his soldiers. He was too successful, and when he had gained to his cause the western parts of the Roman empire, Cæsar crossed Italy and arrived in Greece, where Pompey had retired, supported by all the power of the east, the wishes of the republican Romans, and a numerous and well-disciplined army. Though superior in numbers, he refused to give the enemy battle, while Cæsar continually harassed him, and even attacked his camp. Pompey repelled him with great success, and he might have decided the war, if he had continued to pursue the enemy, while their confusion was great, and their escape almost impossible. Want of provisions obliged Cæsar to advance towards Thessaly; Pompey pursued him, and in the plains of Pharsalia the two armies engaged. The whole was conducted against the advice and approbation of Pompey; and by suffering his troops to wait for the approach of the enemy, he deprived his soldiers of that advantage which the army of Cæsar obtained by running to the charge with spirit, vigour, and animation. The cavalry of Pompey soon gave way, and the general retired to his camp, overwhelmed with grief and shame. But here there was no safety; the conqueror pushed on every side, and Pompey disguised himself, and fled to the sea-coast, whence he passed to Egypt, where he hoped to find a safe asylum, till better and more favourable moments returned, in the court of Ptolemy, a prince whom he had once protected and ensured on his throne. When Ptolemy was told that Pompey claimed his protection, he consulted his ministers, and had the baseness to betray and to deceive him. A boat was sent to fetch him on shore, and the Roman general left his galley, after an affectionate and tender parting with his wife Cornelia. The Egyptian sailors sat in sullen silence in the boat, and when Pompey disembarked, Achillas and Septimius assassinated him. His wife, who had followed him with her eyes to the shore, was a spectator of the bloody scene, and she hastened away from the bay of Alexandria, not to share his miserable fate. He died B.C. 48, in the 58th or 59th year of his age, the day after his birthday. His head was cut off and sent to Cæsar, who turned away from it with horror, and shed a flood of tears. The body was left for some time naked on the sea-shore, till the humanity of Philip, one of his freedmen, and an old soldier who had often followed his standard to victory, raised a burning pile, and deposited his ashes under a mound of earth. Cæsar erected a monument on his remains, and the emperor Adrian, two centuries after, when he visited Egypt, ordered it to be repaired at his own expense, and paid particular honour to the memory of a great and good man. The character of Pompey is that of an intriguing and artful general, and the oris probi and animo inverecundo of Sallust, short and laconic as it may appear, is the best and most descriptive picture of his character. He wished it to appear that he obtained all his honours and dignity from merit alone, and as the free and unprejudiced favour of the Romans, while he secretly claimed them by faction and intrigue; and he who wished to appear the patron and an example of true discipline and ancient simplicity, was not ashamed publicly to bribe the populace to gain an election, or support his favourites. Yet amidst all this dissimulation, which was perhaps but congenial with the age, we perceive many other striking features; Pompey was kind and clement to the conquered, and generous to his captives, and he buried at his own expense Mithridates, with all the pomp and solemnity which the greatness of his power and the extent of his dominions seemed to claim. He was an enemy to flattery, and when his character was impeached by the malevolence of party, he condescended, though consul, to appear before the censorial tribunal, and to show that his actions and measures were not subversive of the peace and the independence of the people. In his private character he was as remarkable; he lived with great temperance and moderation, and his house was small, and not ostentatiously furnished. He destroyed with great prudence the papers which were found in the camp of Sertorius, lest mischievous curiosity should find causes to accuse the innocent, and to meditate their destruction. With great disinterestedness he refused the presents which princes and monarchs offered to him, and he ordered them to be added to the public revenue. He might have seen a better fate, and terminated his days with more glory, if he had not acted with such imprudence when the flames of civil war were first kindled; and he reflected with remorse, after the battle of Pharsalia, upon his want of usual sagacity and military prudence, in fighting at such a distance from the sea, and in leaving the fortified places of Dyrrachium, to meet in the open plain an enemy, without provisions, without friends, and without resources. The misfortunes which attended him after the conquest of Mithridates, are attributed by christian writers to his impiety in profaning the temple of the Jews, and in entering with the insolence of a conqueror the Holy of Holies, where even the sacred person of the high priest of the nation was not admitted but upon the most solemn occasions. His duplicity of behaviour in regard to Cicero is deservedly censured, and he should not have violently sacrificed to party and sedition a Roman whom he had ever found his firmest friend and adherent. In his meeting with Lucullus he cannot but be taxed with pride, and he might have paid more deference and more honour to a general who was as able and more entitled than himself to finish the Mithridatic war. Pompey married four different times. His first matrimonial connection was with Antistia the daughter of the pretor Antistius, whom he divorced, with great reluctance, to marry Æmylia the daughter-in-law of Sylla. Æmylia died in child-bed; and Pompey’s marriage with Julia the daughter of Cæsar was a step more of policy than affection. Yet Julia loved Pompey with great tenderness, and her death in child-bed was the signal of war between her husband and her father. He afterwards married Cornelia the daughter of Metellus Scipio, a woman commended for her virtues, beauty, and accomplishments. Plutarch, Lives.—Florus, bk. 4.—Paterculus, bk. 2, ch. 29.—Dio Cassius.—Lucan.—Appian.—Cæsar, Civil War.—Cicero, Orator, ch. 68, Letters to Atticus, bk. 7, ltr. 25; Letters to his Friends, bk. 13, ltr. 19.—Eutropius.――The two sons of Pompey the Great, called Cneus and Sextus, were masters of a powerful army, when the death of their father was known. They prepared to oppose the conqueror, but Cæsar pursued them with his usual vigour and success, and at the battle of Munda they were defeated, and Cneus was left among the slain. Sextus fled to Sicily, where he for some time supported himself; but the murder of Cæsar gave rise to new events, and if Pompey had been as prudent and as sagacious as his father, he might have become, perhaps, as great and as formidable. He treated with the triumvirs as an equal, and when Augustus and Antony had the imprudence to trust themselves without arms and without attendants in his ship, Pompey, by following the advice of his friend Menas, who wished him to cut off the illustrious persons who were masters of the world, and now in his power, might have made himself as absolute as Cæsar; but he refused, and observed it was unbecoming the son of Pompey to act with such duplicity. This friendly meeting of Pompey with two of the triumvirs was not productive of advantages to him; he wished to have no superior, and hostilities began. Pompey was at the head of 350 ships, and appeared so formidable to his enemies, and so confident of success in himself, that he called himself the son of Neptune, and the lord of the sea. He was, however, soon defeated in a naval engagement by Octavius and Lepidus, and of all his numerous fleet, only 17 sail accompanied his flight into Asia. Here for a moment he raised seditions, but Antony ordered him to be seized and put to death about 35 years before the christian era. Plutarch, Antonius, &c.—Paterculus, bk. 2, ch. 55, &c.—Florus, bk. 4, ch. 2, &c.――Trogus. See: Trogus.――Sextus Festus, a Latin grammarian, of whose treatise de verborum significatione, the best edition is in 4to, Amsterdam, 1699.

Pompelon, a town of Spain, now Pompeluna, the capital of Navarre. Pliny, bk. 1, ch. 3.

Pompĭlius Numa, the second king of Rome. See: Numa. The descendants of the monarch were called Pompilius Sanguis, an expression applied by Horace to the Pisos. Art of Poetry, li. 292.――Andronicus, a grammarian of Syria, who opened a school at Rome, and had Cicero and Cæsar among his pupils. Suetonius.

Pompĭlia, a daughter of Numa Pompilius. She married Numa Martius, by whom she had Ancus Martius the fourth king of Rome.

Pompīlus, a fisherman of Ionia. He carried into Miletus Ocyroe the daughter of Chesias, of whom Apollo was enamoured; but before he had reached the shore, the god changed the boat into a rock, Pompilus into a fish of the same name, and carried away Ocyroe. Pliny, bk. 6, ch. 29; bk. 9, ch. 15; bk. 32, ch. 11.

Pompiscus, an Arcadian. Polyænus, bk. 5.

Pompōnia, the wife of Quintus Cicero, sister to Pomponius Atticus. She punished with the greatest cruelty Philologus, the slave who had betrayed her husband to Antony, and she ordered him to cut his flesh by piecemeal, and afterwards to boil it and eat it in her presence.――A daughter of Pomponius Græcinus, in the age of Augustus, &c.――Another matron, banished from Rome by Domitian, and recalled by Nerva.

Pompōnius, the father of Numa, advised his son to accept the regal dignity which the Roman ambassadors offered to him.――A celebrated Roman intimate with Cicero. He was surnamed Atticus from his long residence at Athens. See: Atticus.――Flaccus, a man appointed governor of Mœsia and Syria by Tiberius, because he had continued drinking and eating with him for two days without intermission. Suetonius, Tiberius, ch. 42.――A tribune of the people in the time of Servilius Ahala the consul.――Labeo, a governor of Mœsia, accused of ill management in his province. He destroyed himself by opening his veins. Tacitus, Annals, bk. 6, li. 29.――Mela, a Spaniard, who wrote a book on geography. See: Mela.――A proconsul of Africa, accused by the inhabitants of his province, and acquitted, &c.――A Roman who accused Manlius the dictator of cruelty. He triumphed over Sardinia, of which he was made governor. He escaped from Rome, and the tyranny of the triumvirs, by assuming the habit of a pretor, and by travelling with his servants disguised in the dress of lictors with their fasces.――Secundus, an officer in Germany in the age of Nero. He was honoured with a triumph for a victory over the barbarians of Germany. He wrote some poems greatly celebrated by the ancients for their beauty and elegance. They are lost.――A friend of Caius Gracchus. He was killed in attempting to defend him. Plutarch, Tiberius Gracchus.――An officer taken prisoner by Mithridates.――A dissolute youth, &c. Horace, bk. 1, satire 4, li. 52.――Sextus, a lawyer, disciple to Papinian, &c.

Pomposiānus, a Roman put to death by Domitian. He had before been made consul by Vespasian.

Pomptina. See: Pontina.

Caius Pomptinus, a Roman officer, who conquered the Allobroges after the defeat of Catiline. Cicero bk. 4, Letters to Atticus, ltr. 16; bk. 6, ltr. 3.

Pompus, a king of Arcadia. Pausanias, bk. 8, ch. 5.

Pons Ælius, was built by the emperor Adrian at Rome. It was the second bridge of Rome in following the current of the Tiber. It is still to be seen, the largest and most beautiful in Rome.――Æmylius, an ancient bridge at Rome, originally called Sublicius, because built with wood (sublicæ). It was raised by Ancus Martius, and dedicated with great pomp and solemnity by the Roman priests. It was rebuilt with stones by Æmylius Lepidus, whose name it assumed. It was much injured by the overflowing of the river, and the emperor Antoninus, who repaired it, made it all with white marble. It was the last of all the bridges of Rome, in following the course of the river, and some vestiges of it may still be seen.――Aniensis was built across the river Anio, about three miles from Rome. It was rebuilt by the eunuch Narses, and called after him when destroyed by the Goths.――Cestus was built in the reign of Tiberius, by a Roman called Cestius Gallus, from whom it received its name, and carried back from an island of the Tiber, to which the Fabricius conducted.――Aurelianus was built with marble by the emperor ♦Antoninus.――Armoniensis was built by Augustus, to join the Flaminian to the Æmylian road.――Bajanus was built at Baiæ in the sea by Caligula. It was supported by boats, and measured about six miles in length.――Janicularis received its name from its vicinity to mount Janiculum. It is still standing.――Milvius was about one mile from Rome. It was built by the censor Ælius Scaurus. It was near it that Constantine defeated Maxentius.――Fabricius was built by Fabricius, and carried to an island of the Tiber.――Gardius was built by Agrippa.――Palatinus, near mount Palatine, was also called Senatorius, because the senators walked over it in procession when they went to consult the Sibylline books. It was begun by Marcus Fulvius, and finished in the censorship of Lucius Mummius, and some remains of it are still visible.――Trajani was built by Trajan across the Danube, celebrated for its bigness and magnificence. The emperor built it to assist more expeditiously the provinces against the barbarians, but his successor destroyed it, as he supposed that it would be rather an inducement for the barbarians to invade the empire. It was raised on 20 piers of hewn stones, 150 feet from the foundation, 60 feet broad, and 170 feet distant one from the other, extending in length above a mile. Some of the pillars are still standing.――Another was built by Trajan over the Tagus, part of which still remains. Of temporary bridges, that of Cæsar over the Rhine was the most famous.――The largest single-arched bridge known is over the river Elaver in France, called Pons Veteris Brivatis. The pillars stand on two rocks, at the distance of 195 feet. The arch is 84 feet high above the water.――Suffragiorum was built in the Campus Martius, and received its name, because the populace were obliged to pass over it whenever they delivered their suffrages at the elections of magistrates and officers of the state.――Tirensis, a bridge of Latium between Arpinum and Minturnæ.――Triumphalis was on the way to the capitol, and passed over by those who triumphed.――Narniensis joined two mountains near Narnia, built by Augustus, of stupendous height, 60 miles from Rome; one arch of it remains, about 100 feet high.

Pontia, a Roman matron who committed adultery with Sagitta, &c. Tacitus, Annals, bk. 12.――A mother infamous for her cruelty. Martial, bk. 1, ltr. 34.――A surname of Venus at Hermione. Pausanias, bk. 2, ch. 34.――A woman condemned by Nero as guilty of a conspiracy. She killed herself by opening her veins. She was daughter of Petronius and wife of Bolanus. Juvenal, satire 6, li. 637.――An island in the Tyrrhene sea, where Pilate, surnamed Pontius, is supposed to have lived. Pliny, bk. 3, ch. 6.—Ptolemy, bk. 3, ch. 1. See: Œnotrides.

Pontĭcum mare, the sea of Pontus, generally called the Euxine.

Pontīcus, a poet of Rome, contemporary with Propertius, by whom he is compared to Homer. He wrote an account of the Theban war in heroic verse. Propertius, bk. 1, poem 7.――A man in Juvenal’s age, fond of boasting of the antiquity and great actions of his family, yet without possessing himself one single virtue.

Pontīna, or Pomptina lacus, a lake in the country of the Volsci, through which the great Appian road passed. Travellers were sometimes conveyed in a boat, drawn by a mule, in the canal that ran along the road from Forum Appii to Tarracina. This lake is now become so dangerous, from the exhalations of its stagnant water, that travellers avoid passing near it. Horace, bk. 1, satire 5, li. 9.—Lucan, bk. 3, li. 85.

Pontīnus, a friend of Cicero.――A tribune of the people, who refused to rise up when Cæsar passed in triumphal procession. He was one of Cæsar’s murderers, and was killed at the battle of Mutina. Suetonius, Cæsar, ch. 78.—Cicero, bk. 10, Letters to his Friends.――A mountain of Argolis, with a river of the same name. Pausanias, bk. 2, ch. 73.

Pontius Aufidianus, a Roman citizen, who, upon hearing that violence had been offered to his daughter, punished her and her ravisher with death. Valerius Maximus, bk. 6, ch. 1.――Herennius, a general of the Samnites, who surrounded the Roman army under the consuls Titus Veturius and Publius Posthumius. As there was no possibility of escaping for the Romans, Pontius consulted his father what he could do with an army that were prisoners in his hands. The old man advised him either to let them go untouched, or put them all to the sword. Pontius rejected his father’s advice, and spared the lives of the enemy, after he had obliged them to pass under the yoke with the greatest ignominy. He was afterwards conquered, and obliged, in his turn, to pass under the yoke. Fabius Maximus defeated him, when he appeared again at the head of another army, and he was afterwards shamefully put to death by the Romans, after he had adorned the triumph of the conqueror. Livy, bk. 9, ch. 1, &c.――Cominius, a Roman who gave information to his countrymen who were besieged in the capitol, that Camillus had obtained a victory over the Gauls. Plutarch.――A Roman slave who told Sylla, in a prophetic strain, that he brought him success from Bellona.――One of the favourites of Albucilla. He was degraded from the rank of a senator. Tacitus.――Titus, a Roman centurion, whom Cicero de Senectute mentions as possessed of uncommon strength.

Pontus, a kingdom of Asia Minor, bounded on the east by Colchis, west by the Halys, north by the Euxine sea, and south by part of Armenia. It was divided into three parts, according to Ptolemy; Pontus Galaticus, of which Amasia was the capital, Pontus Polemoniacus, from its chief town Polemonium, and Pontus Cappadocius, of which Trapezus was the capital. It was governed by kings, the first of whom was Artabazes, either one of the seven Persian noblemen who murdered the usurper Smerdis, or one of their descendants. The kingdom of Pontus was in its most flourishing state under Mithridates the Great. When Julius Cæsar had conquered it, it became a Roman province, though it was often governed by monarchs who were tributary to the power of Rome. Under the emperors a regular governor was always appointed over it. Pontus produced castors, whose testicles were highly valued among the ancients for their salutary qualities in medicinal processes. Virgil, Georgics, bk. 1, li. 58.—Mela, bk. 1, chs. 1 & 19.—Strabo, bk. 12.—Cicero, De Legibus.—Manitius.—Appian.—Ptolemy, bk. 5, ch. 6.――A part of Mysia in Europe, on the borders of the Euxine sea, where Ovid was banished, and from whence he wrote his four books of epistles ex Ponto, and his six books de Tristibus. Ovid, ex Ponto.――An ancient deity, father of Phorcys, Thaumas, Nereus, Eurybia, and Ceto by Terra. He is the same as Oceanus. Apollodorus, bk. 1, ch. 2.

Pontus Euxīnus, a celebrated sea, situate at the west of Colchis between Asia and Europe, at the north of Asia Minor. It is called the Black sea by the moderns. See: Euxinus.

Marcus Popilius, a consul who was informed, as he was offering a sacrifice, that a sedition was raised in the city against the senate. Upon this he immediately went to the populace in his sacerdotal robes, and quieted the multitude with a speech. He lived about the year of Rome 404. Livy, bk. 9, ch. 21.—Valerius Maximus, bk. 7, ch. 8.――Caius, a consul, who, when besieged by the Gauls, abandoned his baggage to save his army. Cicero, Rhetorica ad Herennium, bk. 1, ch. 15.――Lænas, a Roman ambassador to Antiochus king of Syria. He was commissioned to order the monarch to abstain from hostilities against Ptolemy king of Egypt, who was an ally of Rome. Antiochus wished to evade him by his answers, but Popilius, with a stick which he had in his hand, made a circle round him on the sand, and bade him, in the name of the Roman senate and people, not to go beyond it before he spoke decisively. This boldness intimidated Antiochus; he withdrew his garrisons from Egypt, and no longer meditated a war against Ptolemy. Valerius Maximus, bk. 6, ch. 4.—Livy, bk. 45, ch. 12.—Paterculus, bk. 1, ch. 10.――A tribune of the people who murdered Cicero, to whose eloquence he was indebted for his life when he was accused of parricide. Plutarch.――A pretor who banished the friends of Tiberius Gracchus from Italy.――A Roman consul who made war against the people of Numantia, on pretence that the peace had not been firmly established. He was defeated by them.――A senator who alarmed the conspirators against Cæsar, by telling them that the whole plot was discovered.――A Roman emperor. See: Nepotianus.

Poplicŏla, one of the first consuls. See: Publicola.

Poppæa Sabīna, a celebrated Roman matron, daughter of Titus Ollius. She married a Roman knight called Rufus Crispinus, by whom she had a son. Her personal charms, and the elegance of her figure, captivated Otho, who was then one of Nero’s favourites. He carried her away and married her; but Nero, who had seen her, and had often heard her accomplishments extolled, soon deprived him of her company, and sent him out of Italy, on pretence of presiding over one of the Roman provinces. After he had taken this step, Nero repudiated his wife Octavia, on pretence of barrenness, and married Poppæa. The cruelty and avarice of the emperor did not long permit Poppæa to share the imperial dignity, and though she had already made him father of a son, he began to despise her, and even to use her with barbarity. She died of a blow which she received from his foot when many months advanced in her pregnancy, about the 65th year of the christian era. Her funeral was performed with great pomp and solemnity, and statues were raised to her memory. It is said that she was so anxious to preserve her beauty and the elegance of her person, that 500 asses were kept on purpose to afford her milk in which she used daily to bathe. Even in her banishment she was attended by 50 of these animals for the same purpose, and from their milk she invented a kind of ointment or pomatum, to preserve beauty, called poppæanum from her. Pliny, bk. 11, ch. 41.—Dio Cassisus, bk. 65.—Juvenal, satire 6.—Suetonius, Nero & Otho.—Tacitus, ♦Annals, bks. 13 & 14.――A beautiful woman at the court of Nero. She was mother to the preceding. Tacitus, Annals, bk. 11, ch. 1, &c.

Poppæus Sabīnus, a Roman of obscure origin, who was made governor of some of the Roman provinces. He destroyed himself, &c. Tacitus, bk. 6, Annals, ch. 39.――Sylvanus, a man of consular dignity, who brought to Vespasian a body of 600 Dalmatians.――A friend of Otho.

Populonia, or Populanium, a town of Etruria, near Pisæ, destroyed in the civil wars of Sylla. Strabo, bk. 5.—Virgil, Æneid, bk. 10, li. 172.—Mela, bk. 2, ch. 5.—Pliny, bk. 3, ch. 5.

Porata, a river of Dacia, now Pruth, falling into the Danube a little below Axiopoli.

Porcia, a sister of Cato of Utica, greatly commended by Cicero.――A daughter of Cato of Utica, who married Bibulus, and after his death, Brutus. She was remarkable for her prudence, philosophy, courage, and conjugal tenderness. She gave herself a heavy wound in the thigh, to see with what fortitude she could bear pain; and when her husband asked her the reason of it, she said that she wished to try whether she had courage enough to share not only his bed, but to partake of his most hidden secrets. Brutus was astonished at her constancy, and no longer detained from her knowledge the conspiracy which he and many other illustrious Romans had formed against Julius Cæsar. Porcia wished them success, and though she betrayed fear, and fell into a swoon the day that her husband was gone to assassinate the dictator, yet she was faithful to her promise, and dropped nothing which might affect the situation of the conspirators. When Brutus was dead, she refused to survive him, and attempted to end her life as a daughter of Cato. Her friends attempted to terrify her; but when she saw that every weapon was removed from her reach, she swallowed burning coals and died, about 42 years before the christian era. Valerius Maximus says that she was acquainted with her husband’s conspiracy against Cæsar when she gave herself the wound. Valerius Maximus, bk. 3, ch. 2; bk. 4, ch. 6.—Plutarch, Brutus, &c.

Porcia lex, de civitate, by Marcus Porcius the tribune, A.U.C. 453. It ordained that no magistrate should punish with death, or scourge with rods, a Roman citizen when condemned, but only permit him to go into exile. Sallust, Catilinae Coniuratio.—Livy, bk. 10.—Cicero, For Rabirius Postumus.

Porcina, a surname of the orator Marcus Æmilius Lepidus, who lived a little before Cicero’s age, and was distinguished for his abilities. Cicero, Rhetorica ad Herennium, bk. 4, ch. 5.

Marcus Porcius Latro, a celebrated orator who killed himself when labouring under a quartan ague, A.U.C. 750.――Licinius, a Latin poet during the time of the third Punic war, commended for the elegance, the graceful ease, and happy wit of his epigrams.――A Roman senator who joined the conspiracy of Catiline.――A son of Cato of Utica, given much to drinking.

Poredorax, one of the 40 Gauls whom Mithridates ordered to be put to death, and to remain unburied for conspiring against him. His mistress at Pergamus buried him against the orders of the monarch. Plutarch, Mulierum Virtutes.

Porīna, a river of Peloponnesus. Pausanias, bk. 1, ch. 85.

Poroselēne, an island near Lesbos. Strabo, bk. 13.—Pliny, bk. 5, ch. 31.

Porphyrion, a son of Cœlus and Terra, one of the giants who made war against Jupiter. He was so formidable, that Jupiter, to conquer him, inspired him with love for Juno, and while the giant endeavoured to obtain his wishes, he, with the assistance of Hercules, overpowered him. Horace, bk. 3, ode 4.—Martial, bk. 13, ltr. 78.—Apollodorus, bk. 1, ch. 6.

Porphy̆ris, a name of the island Cythera.

Porphyrius, a Platonic philosopher of Tyre. He studied eloquence at Athens under Longinus, and afterwards retired to Rome, where he perfected himself under Plotinus. Porphyry was a man of universal information, and, according to the testimony of the ancients, he excelled his contemporaries in the knowledge of history, mathematics, music, and philosophy. He expressed his sentiments with elegance and with dignity, and while other philosophers studied obscurity in their language, his style was remarkable for its simplicity and grace. He applied himself to the study of magic, which he called a theourgic or divine operation. The books that he wrote were numerous, and some of his smaller treatises are still extant. His most celebrated work, which is now lost, was against the religion of Christ, and in this theological contest he appeared so formidable, that most of the fathers of the church have been employed in confuting his arguments, and developing the falsehood of his assertions. He has been universally called the greatest enemy which the christian religion had, and, indeed, his doctrines were so pernicious, that a copy of his book was publicly burnt by order of Theodosius, A.D. 388. Porphyry resided for some time in Sicily, and died at the advanced age of 71, A.D. 304. The best edition of his life of Pythagoras is that of Kuster, 4to, Amsterdam, 1707, that of his treatise, De Abstinentiâ, is De Rhoer, Utrecht, 8vo, 1767, and that De Antro Nympharum, in 8vo, Utrecht, 1765.――A Latin poet in the reign of Constantine the Great.

Porrima, one of the attendants of Carmente when she came from Arcadia. Ovid, bk. 1, Fasti, li. 633.

Porsenna, or Porsĕna, a king of Etruria, who declared war against the Romans because they refused to restore Tarquin to his throne and to his royal privileges. He was at first successful; the Romans were defeated, and Porsenna would have entered the gates of Rome, had not Cocles stood at the head of a bridge, and supported the fury of the whole Etrurian army, while his companions behind were cutting off the communication with the opposite shore. This act of bravery astonished Porsenna; but when he had seen Mutius Scævola enter his camp with an intention to murder him, and when he had seen him burn his hand without emotion to convince him of his fortitude and intrepidity, he no longer dared to make head against a people so brave and so generous. He made a peace with the Romans, and never after supported the claims of Tarquin. The generosity of Porsenna’s behaviour to the captives was admired by the Romans, and to reward his humanity they raised a brazen statue to his honour. Livy, bk. 2, ch. 9, &c.—Plutarch, Publicola.—Florus, bk. 1, ch. 10.—Horace, epode 16.—Virgil, Æneid, bk. 8, li. 646.

Porta Capēna, a gate at Rome, which leads to the Appian road. Ovid, Fasti, bk. 6, li. 192.――Aurelia, a gate at Rome, which received its name from Aurelius, a consul who made a road which led to Pisæ, all along the coast of Etruria.――Asinaria led to mount Cœlius. It received its name from the family of the Asinii.――Carmentalis was at the foot of the capitol, built by Romulus. It was afterwards called Scelerata, because the 300 Fabii marched through when they went to fight an enemy, and were killed near the river Cremera.――Janualis was near the temple of Janus.――Esquilina was also called Metia, Taurica, or Libitinensis, and all criminals who were going to be executed generally passed through, as also dead bodies which were carried to be burnt on mount Esquilinus.――Flaminia, called also Flumentana, was situate between the capitol and mount Quirinalis, and through it the Flaminian road passed.――Fontinalis led to the Campus Martius. It received its name from the great number of fountains that were near it.――Navalis was situate near the place where the ships came from Ostia.――Viminalis was near mount Viminalis.――Trigemina, called also Ostiensis, led to the town of Ostia.――Catularia was near the Carmentalis Porta, at the foot of mount Viminalis.――Collatina received its name from its leading to Collatia.――Collina, called also Quirinalis, Agonensis, and Salaria, was near Quirinalis Mons. Annibal rode up to this gate and threw a spear into the city. It is to be observed, that at the death of Romulus there were only three or four gates at Rome, but the number was increased, and in the time of Pliny there were 37, when the circumference of the walls was 13 miles and 200 paces.

Portia and Portius. See: Porcia and Porcius.

Portmos, a town of Eubœa. Demosthenes.—Pliny, bk. 3, ch. 5.

Portumnalia, festivals of Portumnus at Rome, celebrated on the 17th of August, in a very solemn and lugubrious manner, on the borders of the Tiber. Ovid, Fasti, bk. 6, li. 547.—Varro, de Lingua Latina, bk. 5, ch. 3.

Portumnus, a sea deity. See: Melicerta.

Porus, the god of plenty at Rome. He was son of Metis or Prudence. Plato.――A king of India, when Alexander invaded Asia. The conqueror of Darius ordered him to come and pay homage to him, as a dependent prince. Porus scorned his commands, and declared he would go and meet him on the frontiers of his kingdom sword in hand, and immediately he marched a large army to the banks of the Hydaspes. The stream of the river was rapid; but Alexander crossed it in the obscurity of the night, and defeated one of the sons of the Indian monarch. Porus himself renewed the battle, but the valour of the Macedonians prevailed, and the Indian prince retired covered with wounds, on the back of one of his elephants. Alexander sent one of the kings of India to demand him to surrender, but Porus killed the messenger, exclaiming, “Is not this the voice of the wretch who has abandoned his country?” and when he at last was prevailed upon to come before the conqueror, he approached him as an equal. Alexander demanded of him how he wished to be treated. “Like a king,” replied the Indian monarch. This magnanimous answer so pleased the Macedonian conqueror, that he not only restored him his dominions, but he increased his kingdom by the conquest of new provinces; and Porus, in acknowledgment of such generosity and benevolence, became one of the most faithful and attached friends of Alexander, and never violated the assurances of peace which he had given him. Porus is represented as a man of uncommon stature, great strength, and proportionable dignity. Plutarch, Alexander.—Philostratus, bk. 2, ch. 10.—Curtius, bk. 8, ch. 8, &c.—Claudianus, De Consulatu Honorii, ch. 4.――Another king of India in the reign of Alexander.――A king of Babylon.

Pŏsīdes, a eunuch and freedman of the emperor Claudius, who rose to honours by the favour of his master. Juvenal, satire 14, li. 94.

Posidēum, a promontory and town of Ionia, where Neptune had a temple. Strabo, bk. 14.――A town of Syria below Libanus. Pliny, bk. 5, ch. 20.――A town near the Strymon, on the borders of Macedonia. Pliny, bk. 4, ch. 10.

Posīdon, the name of Neptune among the Greeks.

Posidonia, a town of Lucania, better known by the name of Pæstum. See: Pæstum.

Posidonium, a town or temple of Neptune, near Cænis in Italy, where the straits of Sicily are narrowest, and scarce a mile distant from the opposite shore.

Posidonius, a philosopher of Apamea. He lived at Rhodes for some time, and afterwards came to Rome, where, after cultivating the friendship of Pompey and Cicero, he died in his 84th year. He wrote a treatise on the nature of the gods, and also attempted to measure the circumference of the earth; he accounted for the tides from the motion of the moon, and calculated the height of the atmosphere to be 400 stadia, nearly agreeing with the ideas of the moderns. Cicero, Tusculanæ Disputationes, bk. 5, ch. 37.—Strabo, bk. 14.――Another philosopher, born at Alexandria in Egypt.

Posio, a native of Magnesia, who wrote a history of the Amazons.

Posthumia, a vestal virgin, accused of adultery and acquitted.――The wife of Servius Sulpicius. Cicero, Epistles.――A daughter of Sylla.

Posthumius Albīnus, a man who suffered himself to be bribed by Jugurtha, against whom he had been sent with an army.――A writer at Rome whom Cato ridiculed for composing a history in Greek, and afterwards offering apologies for the inaccuracy and inelegance of his expressions.――Tubero, a master of horse to the dictator Æmilius Mamercus. He was himself made dictator in the war which the Romans waged against the Volsci, and he punished his son with death for fighting against his orders, A.U.C. 312. Livy, bk. 4, ch. 23.――Spurius, a consul sent against the Samnites. He was taken in an ambush by Pontius, the enemy’s general, and obliged to pass under the yoke with all his army. He saved his life by a shameful treaty, and when he returned to Rome he persuaded the Romans not to reckon as valid the engagements he had made with the enemy, as it was without their advice. He was given up to the enemy because he could not perform his engagements; but he was released by Pontius for his generous and patriotic behaviour.――Aulus, a dictator who defeated the Latins and the Volsci.――Tubertus, another dictator, who defeated the Æqui and Volsci.――Lucius, a consul sent against the Samnites.――A general who defeated the Sabines, and who was the first who obtained an ovation.――A man poisoned by his wife.――A general who conquered the Æqui, and who was stoned by the army, because he refused to divide the promised spoils. Florus, bk. 22.――Lucius, a Roman consul who was defeated by the Boii. He was left among the slain, and his head was cut off from his body, and carried in triumph by the barbarians into their temples, where they made with the skull a sacred vessel to offer libations to their gods.――Marcus Crassus Latianus, an officer proclaimed emperor in Gaul, A.D. 260. He reigned with great popularity, and gained the affection of his subjects by his humanity and moderation. He took his son of the same name as a colleague on the throne. They were both assassinated by their soldiers, after a reign of six years.――Megilthus, a consul against the Samnites and Tarentines.――Quintus, a man put to death by Antony.――A soothsayer in the age of Sylla.――Spurius, an enemy of Tiberius Gracchus.――Albus, a Roman decemvir, sent to Athens to collect the most salutary laws of Solon, &c. Livy, bk. 3, ch. 31.――Sylvius, a son of Æneas and Sylvia.

Postverta, a goddess at Rome, who presided over the painful travails of women. Ovid, Fasti, bk. 1, li. 633.

Postumia via, a Roman road about the town of Hostilia.

Postumius. See: Posthumius.

Potamĭdes, nymphs who presided over rivers and fountains, as their name (ποταμος, fluvius) implies.

Potamon, a philosopher of Alexandria, in the age of Augustus. He wrote several treatises, and confined himself to the doctrines of no particular sect of philosophers.

Potamos, a town of Attica, near Sunium. Strabo, bk. 9.

Potentia, a town of Picenum. Livy, bk. 39, ch. 44.

Pothīnus, a eunuch, tutor to Ptolemy king of Egypt. He advised the monarch to murder Pompey, when he claimed his protection after the battle of Pharsalia. He stirred up commotions in Alexandria, when Cæsar came there, upon which the conqueror ordered him to be put to death. Lucan, bk. 8, li. 483; bk. 10, li. 95.

Pothos, one of the deities of the Samothracians. Pliny, bk. 36, ch. 5.

Potidæa, a town of Macedonia, situate in the peninsula of Pallene. It was founded by a Corinthian colony, and became tributary to the Athenians, from whom Philip of Macedonia took it. The conqueror gave it to the Olynthians, to render them more attached to his interest. Cassander repaired and enlarged it, and called it Cassandria, a name which it still preserves, and which has given occasion to Livy to say, that Cassander was the original founder of that city. Livy, bk. 44, ch. 11.—Demosthenes, Olynthiac.—Strabo, bk. 7.—Pausanias, bk. 5, ch. 23.—Mela, bk. 2, ch. 2.

Potidania, a town of Ætolia. Livy, bk. 28, ch. 8.

Potīna, a goddess at Rome, who presided over children’s potions. Varro.

Potitius. See: Pinarius.

Potniæ, a town of Bœotia, where Bacchus had a temple. The Potnians, having once murdered the priest of the god, were ordered by the oracle, to appease his resentment, yearly to offer on his altars a young man. This unnatural sacrifice was continued for some years, till Bacchus himself substituted a goat, from which circumstance he received the appellation of Ægobolus and Ægophagus. There was here a fountain whose waters made horses run mad as soon as they were touched. There were also here certain goddesses called Potniades, on whose altars, in a grove sacred to Ceres and Proserpine, victims were sacrificed. It was also usual, at a certain season of the year, to conduct into the grove young pigs, which were found the following year in the groves of Dodona. The mares of Potniæ destroyed their master Glaucus son of Sisyphus. See: Glaucus. Pausanias, bk. 9, ch. 8.—Virgil, Georgics, bk. 3, li. 267.—Ælian, Varia Historia, bk. 15, ch. 25.――A town of Magnesia, whose pastures gave madness to asses, according to Pliny.

Practium, a town and a small river of Asia Minor, on the Hellespont.

Præcia, a courtesan at Rome, who influenced Cethegus, and procured Asia as a consular province for Lucullus. Plutarch, Lucullus.

Præneste, a town of Latium, about 21 miles from Rome, built by Telegonus son of Ulysses and Circe, or, according to others, by Cæculus the son of Vulcan. There was a celebrated temple of Fortune there, with two famous images, as also an oracle, which was long in great repute. Cicero, De Divinatione, bk. 2, ch. 41.—Virgil, Æneid, bk. 7, li. 680.—Horace, bk. 3, ode 4.—Statius, bk. 1, Sylvæ, poem 3, li. 80.

Præsos, a small town of Crete, destroyed in a civil war by one of the neighbouring cities.

Præsti, a nation of India. Curtius, bk. 9, ch. 8.

Prætōria, a town of Dacia, now Cronstadt.――Another, now Aoust, in Piedmont.

Prætorius, a name ironically applied to As. Sempronius Rufus, because he was disappointed in his solicitations for the pretorship, as being too dissolute and luxurious in his manners. He was the first who had a stork brought to his table. Horace, bk. 2, satire 2, li. 50.

Prætutium, a town of Picenum. Silius Italicus, bk. 15, li. 568.—Livy, bk. 22, ch. 9; bk. 27, ch. 43.

Prasiane, now Verdant, a large island at the mouth of the Indus. Pliny, bk. 6, ch. 20.

Prasias, a lake between Macedonia and Thrace, where were silver mines. Herodotus, bk. 5, ch. 17.

Prasii, a nation of India in Alexander’s age. Curtius, bk. 9, ch. 2.

Pratellia lex, was enacted by Pratellius the tribune, A.U.C. 398, to curb and check the ambitious views of men who were lately advanced in the state. Livy, bk. 7, ch. 15.

Pratinas, a Greek poet of Phlius, contemporary with Æschylus. He was the first among the Greeks who composed satires, which were represented as farces. Of these 32 were acted, as also 18 of his tragedies, one of which only obtained the poetical prize. Some of his verses are extant, quoted by Athenæus. Pausanias, bk. 2, ch. 13.

Praxagŏras, an Athenian writer, who published a history of the kings of his own country. He was then only 19 years old, and, three years after, he wrote the life of Constantine the Great. He had also written the life of Alexander, all now lost.

Praxias, a celebrated statuary of Athens. Pausanias, bk. 10, ch. 18.

Praxidămas, a famous athlete of Ægina. Pausanias, bk. 6, ch. 18.

Praxidĭce, a goddess among the Greeks, who presided over the execution of enterprises, and who punished all evil actions. Pausanias, bk. 9, ch. 33.

Praxĭla, a lyric poetess of Sicyon, who flourished about 492 years before Christ. Pausanias, bk. 3, ch. 13.

Praxiphănes, a Rhodian, who wrote a learned commentary on the obscure passages of Sophocles.――An historian. Diogenes Laërtius.

Praxis, a surname of Venus at Megara. Pausanias, bk. 1, ch. 43.

Praxitĕles, a famous sculptor of Magna Græcia, who flourished about 324 years before the christian era. He chiefly worked on Parian marble, on account of its beautiful whiteness. He carried his art to the greatest perfection, and was so happy in copying nature, that his statues seemed to be animated. The most famous of his pieces was a Cupid which he gave to Phryne. This celebrated courtesan, who wished to have the best of all the statues of Praxiteles, and who could not depend upon her own judgment in the choice, alarmed the sculptor, by telling him his house was on fire. Praxiteles upon this showed his eagerness to save his Cupid from the flames, above all his other pieces; but Phryne restrained his fears, and, by discovering her artifice, obtained the favourite statue. The sculptor employed his chisel in making a statue of this beautiful courtesan, which was dedicated in the temple of Delphi, and placed between the statues of Archidamus king of Sparta, and Philip king of Macedon. He also made a statue of Venus, at the request of the people of Cos, and gave them their choice of the goddess, either naked or veiled. The former was superior to the other in beauty and perfection, but the inhabitants of Cos preferred the latter. The ♦Cnidians, who did not wish to patronize modesty and decorum with the same eagerness as the people of Cos, bought the naked Venus, and it was so universally esteemed, that Nicomedes king of Bithynia offered the Cnidians to pay an enormous debt under which they laboured, if they would give him their favourite statue. This offer was not accepted. The famous Cupid was bought of the Thespians by Caius Cæsar and carried to Rome, but Claudius restored it to them, and Nero afterwards obtained possession of it. Pausanias, bk. 1, ch. 40; bk. 8, ch. 9.—Pliny, bk. 7, chs. 34 & 36.

Praxithea, a daughter of Phrasimus and Diogenea. She married Erechtheus king of Athens, by whom she had Cecrops, Pandarus, and Metion, and four daughters, Procris, Creusa, Chthonia, and Orithyia. Apollodorus, bk. 3, ch. 15.――A daughter of Thestius, mother of some children by Hercules. Apollodorus, bk. 2, ch. 7.――A daughter of Erechtheus, sacrificed by order of the oracle.

Prelius, a lake of Tuscany, now Castiglione. Cicero, For Milo, ch. 27.—Pliny, bk. 3, ch. 5.

Presbon, a son of Phryxus, father of Clymenus.――A son of Clytodora and Minyas also bore the same name. Pausanias, bk. 9, chs. 34 & 37.

Pretor, one of the chief magistrates at Rome. The office of pretor was first instituted A.U.C. 388, by the senators, who wished by some new honour to compensate for the loss of the consulship, of which the plebeians had claimed a share. The pretor received his name a præeundo. Only one was originally elected, and another A.U.C. 501. One of them was totally employed in administering justice among the citizens, whence he was called pretor urbanus; and the other appointed judges in all causes which related to foreigners. In the year of Rome 520, two more pretors were created to assist the consul in the government of the provinces of Sicily and Sardinia, which had been lately conquered, and two more when Spain was reduced into the form of a Roman province, A.U.C. 521. Sylla the dictator added two more, and Julius Cæsar increased the number to 10, and afterwards to 16, and the second triumvirate to 64. After this their numbers fluctuated, being sometimes 18, 16, or 12, till, in the decline of the empire, their dignity decreased, and their numbers were reduced to three. In his public capacity the pretor administered justice, protected the rights of widows and orphans, presided at the celebration of public festivals, and in the absence of the consul assembled or prorogued the senate as he pleased. He also exhibited shows to the people, and in the festivals of the Bona Dea, where no males were permitted to appear, his wife presided over the rest of the Roman matrons. Feasts were announced and proclaimed by him, and he had the power to make and repeal laws, if it met with the approbation of the senate and people. The questors were subject to him, and in the absence of the consuls, he appeared at the head of the armies, and in the city he kept a register of all the freedmen of Rome, with the reasons for which they had received their freedom. In the provinces the pretors appeared with great pomp; six lictors with the fasces walked before them, and when the empire was increased by conquests, they divided, like the consuls, their government, and provinces were given them by lot. When the year of their pretorship was elapsed, they were called proprætors, if they still continued at the head of their province. At Rome the pretors appeared also with much pomp; two lictors preceded them, they wore the prætexta, or the white robe with purple borders, they sat in curule chairs, and their tribunal was distinguished by a sword and a spear, while they administered justice. The tribunal was called prætorium. When they rode they appeared on white horses at Rome, as a mark of distinction. The pretor who appointed judges to try foreign causes, was called prætor peregrinus. The pretors Cereales, appointed by Julius Cæsar, were employed in providing corn and provision for the city. They were on that account often called frumentarii.

Preugĕnes, a son of Agenor. Pausanias, bk. 3, ch. 2; bk. 7, chs. 18 & 20.

Prexaspes, a Persian who put Smerdis to death, by order of king Cambyses. Herodotus, bk. 3, ch. 30.

Priamĭdes, a patronymic applied to Paris, as being son of Priam. It is also given to Hector, Deiphobus, and all the other children of the Trojan monarch. Ovid, Heroides.—Virgil, Æneid, bk. 3, li. 235.

Priămus, the last king of Troy, was son of Laomedon by Strymo, called Placia by some. When Hercules took the city of Troy [See: Laomedon], Priam was in the number of his prisoners, but his sister Hesione redeemed him from captivity, and he exchanged his original name of Podarces for that of Priam, which signifies bought or ransomed. See: Podarces. He was also placed on his father’s throne by Hercules, and he employed himself with well-directed diligence in repairing, fortifying, and embellishing the city of Troy. He had married, by his father’s orders, Arisba, whom now he divorced for Hecuba the daughter of Dimas, or Cisseus, a neighbouring prince. He had by Hecuba 17 children, according to Cicero, or, according to Homer, 19; the most celebrated of whom are Hector, Paris, Deiphobus, Helenus, Pammon, Polites, Antiphus, Hipponous, Troilus, Creusa, Laodice, Polyxena, and Cassandra. Besides these he had many others by concubines. Their names, according to Apollodorus, are Melampus, Gorgythion, Philæmon, Glaucus, Agathon, Evagoras, Hippothous, Chersidamas, Hippodamas, Mestor, Atas, Dorcylus, Dryops, Lycaon, Astygonus, Bias, Evander, Chromius, Telestas, Melius, Cebrion, Laodocus, Idomeneus, Archemachus, Echephron, Hyperion, Ascanius, Arrhetus, Democoon, Dejoptes, Echemon, Clovius, Ægioneus, Hypirychus, Lysithous, Polymedon, Medusa, Lysimache, Medesicaste, and Aristodeme. After he had reigned for some time in the greatest prosperity, Priam expressed a desire to recover his sister Hesione, whom Hercules had carried into Greece, and married to Telamon his friend. To carry this plan into execution, Priam manned a fleet, of which he gave the command to his son Paris, with orders to bring back Hesione. Paris, to whom the goddess of beauty had promised the fairest woman in the world [See: Paris], neglected in some measure his father’s injunctions, and as if to make reprisals upon the Greeks, he carried away Helen the wife of Menelaus king of Sparta, during the absence of her husband. Priam beheld this with satisfaction, and he countenanced his son by receiving in his palace the wife of the king of Sparta. This rape kindled the flames of war; all the suitors of Helen, at the request of Menelaus [See: Menelaus], assembled to revenge the violence offered to his bed, and a fleet, according to some, of 140 ships under the command of the 69 chiefs that furnished them, set sail for Troy. Priam might have averted the impending blow by the restoration of Helen; but this he refused to do, when the ambassadors of the Greeks came to him, and he immediately raised an army to defend himself. Troy was soon besieged; frequent skirmishes took place, in which the success was various, and the advantages on both sides inconsiderable. The siege was continued for 10 successive years, and Priam had the misfortune to see the greatest part of his children massacred by the enemy. Hector, the eldest of these, was the only one upon whom now the Trojans looked for protection and support; but he soon fell a sacrifice to his own courage, and was killed by Achilles. Priam severely felt his loss, and as he loved him with the greatest tenderness, he wished to ransom his body, which was in the enemy’s camp. The gods, according to Homer, interested themselves in favour of old Priam. Achilles was prevailed upon by his mother, the goddess Thetis, to restore Hector to Priam, and the king of Troy passed through the Grecian camp conducted by Mercury the messenger of the gods, who with his rod had made him invisible. The meeting of Priam and Achilles was solemn and affecting; the conqueror paid to the Trojan monarch that attention and reverence which was due to his dignity, his years, and his misfortunes, and Priam in a suppliant manner addressed the prince whose favours he claimed, and kissed the hands that had robbed him of the greatest and the best of his children. Achilles was moved by his tears and entreaties; he restored Hector, and permitted Priam a truce of 12 days for the funeral of his son. Some time after Troy was betrayed into the hands of the Greeks by Antenor and Æneas, and Priam upon this resolved to die in defence of his country. He put on his armour and advanced to meet the Greeks, but Hecuba by her tears and entreaties detained him near an altar of Jupiter, whither she had fled for protection. While Priam yielded to the prayers of his wife, Polites, one of his sons, fled also to the altar before Neoptolemus, who pursued him with fury. Polites, wounded and overcome, fell dead at the feet of his parents, and the aged father, fired with indignation, ventured the most bitter invectives against the Greek, who paid no regard to the sanctity of altars and temples, and raising his spear darted it upon him. The spear hurled by the feeble hand of Priam touched the buckler of Neoptolemus, and fell to the ground. This irritated the son of Achilles; he seized Priam by his grey hairs, and without compassion or reverence for the sanctity of the place, he plunged his dagger into his breast. His head was cut off, ♦and the mutilated body was left among the heaps of slain. Dictys Cretensis, bk. 1, &c.—Dares Phrygius.—Herodotus, bk. 2, ch. 120.—Pausanias, bk. 10, ch. 25.—Homer, Iliad, bk. 22, &c.—Euripides, Troades.—Cicero, Tusculanæ Disputationes, bk. 1, ch. 35.—Quintus Smyrnæus, bk. 1.—Virgil, Æneid, bk. 2, li. 507, &c.—Horace, ode 10, li. 14.—Hyginus, fable 110.—Quintus Calaber [Smyrnæus], bk. 15, li. 226.

Priāpus, a deity among the ancients, who presided over gardens, and the parts of generation in the sexes. He was son of Venus by Mercury or Adonis, or, according to the more received opinion, by Bacchus. The goddess of beauty, who was enamoured of Bacchus, went to meet him as he returned victorious from his Indian expedition, and by him she had Priapus, who was born at Lampsacus. Priapus was so deformed in all his limbs, particularly the genitals, by means of Juno, who had assisted at the delivery of Venus, that the mother, ashamed to have given birth to such a monster, ordered him to be exposed on the mountains. His life, however, was preserved by the shepherds, and he received the name of Priapus propter deformitatem & membri virilis magnitudinem. He soon became a favourite of the people of Lampsacus, but he was expelled by the inhabitants on account of the freedom which he took with their wives. This violence was punished by the son of Venus, and when the Lampsacenians had been afflicted with a disease in the genitals, Priapus was recalled, and temples erected to his honour. Festivals were also celebrated, and the people, naturally idle and indolent, gave themselves up to every lasciviousness and impurity during the celebration. His worship was also introduced in Rome; but the Romans revered him more as a god of orchards and gardens, than as the patron of licentiousness. A crown painted with different colours was offered to him in the spring, and in the summer a garland of ears of corn. An ass was generally sacrificed to him, because that animal, by its braying, awoke the nymph Lotis, to whom Priapus was going to offer violence. He is generally represented with a human face and the ears of a goat; he holds a stick in his hand, with which he terrifies birds, as also a club to drive away thieves, and a scythe to prune the trees and cut down corn. He was crowned with the leaves of the vine, and sometimes with laurel or rocket. The last of these plants was sacred to him, as it is said to raise the passions and excite love. Priapus is often distinguished by the epithet of phallus, fascinus, Ictyphallus, or ruber, or rubicundus, which are all expressive of his deformity. Catullus, poems 19 & 20.—Columella, bk. 2, de Res Rustica.—Horace, bk. 1, satire 1.—Tibullus, bk. 1, poem 1, li. 18.—Ovid, Fasti, bk. 1, li. 415; bk. 6, li. 319.—Virgil, Eclogues, poem 7, li. 33; Georgics, bk. 4, li. 111.—Pausanias, bk. 9, ch. 31.—Hyginus, fable 190.—Diodorus, bk. 1.――A town of Asia Minor near Lampsacus, now Caraboa. Priapus was the chief deity of the place, and from him the town received its name, because he had taken refuge there when banished from Lampsacus. Strabo, bk. 12.—Pliny, bk. 5, ch. 32.—Mela, bk. 1, ch. 19.――An island near Ephesus. Pliny, bk. 5, ch. 31.

Priēne, a maritime town of Asia Minor, at the foot of mount Mycale, one of the 12 independent cities of Ionia. It gave birth to Bias, one of the seven wise men of Greece. It had been built by an Athenian colony. Pausanias, bk. 7, ch. 2; bk. 8, ch. 14.—Strabo, bk. 12.

Prima, a daughter of Romulus and Hersilia.

Prion, a place at Carthage.

Prisciānus, a celebrated grammarian at Athens, in the age of the emperor Justinian.

Priscilla, a woman praised for her conjugal affection by Statius, bk. 5, Sylvæ, poem 1.

Priscus Servilius, a dictator at Rome who defeated the Veientes and the Fidenates.――A surname of the elder Tarquin king of Rome. See: Tarquinius.――A governor of Syria, brother to the emperor Philip. He proclaimed himself emperor in Macedonia when he was informed of his brother’s death, but he was soon after conquered and put to death by Decius, Philip’s murderer.――A friend of the emperor Severus.――A friend of the emperor Julian, almost murdered by the populace.――Helvidius, a questor in Achaia during the reign of Nero, remarkable for his independent spirit. Tacitus, Histories, bk. 4, ch. 6.—Juvenal.――An officer under Vitellius.――One of the emperor Adrian’s friends.――A friend of Domitian.――An orator, whose dissipated and luxurious manners Horace ridicules, bk. 1, satire 7, li. 9.

Pristis, the name of one of the ships that engaged in the naval combat which was exhibited by Æneas at the anniversary of his father’s death. She was commanded by Mnestheus. Virgil, Æneid, bk. 1, li. 116.

Privernus, a Rutulian killed by Capys in the wars between Æneas and Turnus. Virgil, Æneid, bk. 9, li. 576.

Privernum, now Piperno Vecchio, a town of the Volsci in Italy, whose inhabitants were called Privernates. It became a Roman colony. Livy, bk. 8, ch. 10.—Virgil, Æneid, bk. 11, li. 540.—Cicero, bk. 1, De Divinatione, ch. 43.

Proba, the wife of the emperor Probus.――A woman who opened the gates of Rome to the Goths.

Probus Marcus Aurelius Severus, a native of Sirmium in Pannonia. His father was originally a gardener, who, by entering the army, rose to the rank of a military tribune. His son obtained the same office in the 22nd year of his age, and he distinguished himself so much by his probity, his valour, his intrepidity, moderation, and clemency, that, at the death of the emperor Tacitus, he was invested with the imperial purple by the voluntary and uninfluenced choice of his soldiers. His election was universally approved by the Roman senate and the people; and Probus, strengthened on his throne by the affection and attachment of his subjects, marched against the enemies of Rome, in Gaul and Germany. Several battles were fought, and after he had left 400,000 barbarians dead in the field, Probus turned his arms against the Sarmatians. The same success attended him, and after he had quelled and terrified to peace the numerous barbarians of the north, he marched through Syria against the Blemmyes in the neighbourhood of Egypt. The Blemmyes were defeated with great slaughter, and the military character of the emperor was so well established, that the king of Persia sued for peace by his ambassadors, and attempted to buy the conqueror’s favour with the most splendid presents. Probus was then feasting upon the most common food when the ambassadors were introduced; but without even casting his eyes upon them, he said, that if their master did not give proper satisfaction to the Romans, he would lay his territories desolate, and as naked as the crown of his head. As he spoke, the emperor took off his cap, and showed the baldness of his head to the ambassadors. The conditions were gladly accepted by the Persian monarch, and Probus retired to Rome to convince his subjects of the greatness of his conquests, and to claim from them the applause which their ancestors had given to the conqueror of Macedonia or the destroyer of Carthage, as he passed along the streets of Rome. His triumph lasted several days, and the Roman populace were long entertained with shows and combats. But the Roman empire, delivered from its foreign enemies, was torn by civil discord; and peace was not re-established till three usurpers had been severally defeated. While his subjects enjoyed tranquillity, Probus encouraged the liberal arts; he permitted the inhabitants of Gaul and Illyricum to plant vines in their territories, and he himself repaired 70 cities in different parts of the empire which had been reduced to ruins. He also attempted to drain the waters which were stagnated in the neighbourhood of Sirmium, by conveying them to the sea by artificial canals. His armies were employed in this laborious undertaking; but as they were unaccustomed to such toils, they soon mutinied, and fell upon the emperor as he was passing into one of the towns of Illyricum. He fled into an iron tower which he himself had built to observe the marshes, but as he was alone, and without arms, he was soon overpowered and murdered, in the 50th year of his age, after a reign of six years and four months, on the second of November, after Christ 282. The news of his death was received with the greatest consternation; not only his friends, but his very enemies, deplored his fate, and even the army, which had been concerned in his fall, erected a monument over his body, and placed upon it this inscription: Hic Probus imperator, verè probus, situs est, victor omnium gentium barbararum, victor etiam tyrannorum. He was then preparing in a few days to march against the Persians that had revolted, and his victories there might have been as great as those he obtained in the two other quarters of the globe. He was succeeded by Carus, and his family, who had shared his greatness, immediately retired from Rome, not to become objects either of private or public malice. Zosimus.—Probus.—Saturninus.――Æmilius, a grammarian in the age of Theodosius. The lives of excellent commanders, written by Cornelius Nepos, have been falsely attributed to him by some authors.――An oppressive prefect of the pretorian guards, in the reign of Valentinian.

Procas, a king of Alba after his father Aventinus. He was father of Amulius and Numitor. Livy, bk. 1, ch. 3.—Ovid, Metamorphoses, bk. 14, li. 622.—Virgil, Æneid, bk. 6, li. 767.

Prochy̆ta, an island of Campania in the bay of Puteoli, now Procida. It was situated near Inarima, from which it was said that it had been separated by an earthquake. It received its name, according to Dionysius, from the nurse of Æneas. Virgil, Æneid, bk. 2, li. 715.—Mela, bk. 2, ch. 7.—Dionysius of Halicarnassus, bk. 2.

Procilius, a Latin historian in the age of Pompey the Great. Varro.

Procilla Julia, a woman of uncommon virtue, killed by the soldiers of Otho. Tacitus, Agricola, ch. 4.

Caius Valerius Procillus, a prince of Gaul, intimate with Cæsar.

Proclēa, a daughter of Clitius, who married Cycnus, a son of Neptune. Pausanias, bk. 10, ch. 14.

Procles, a son of Aristodemus and Argia, born at the same birth as Eurysthenes. There were continual dissensions between the two brothers, who both sat on the Spartan throne, See: Eurysthenes and Lacedæmon.――A native of Andros in the Ægean sea, who was crowned at the Olympic games. Pausanias, bk. 6, ch. 14.――A man who headed the Ionians when they took Samos. Pausanias, bk. 7, ch. 4.――A Carthaginian writer, son of Eucrates. He wrote some historical treatises, of which Pausanias has preserved some fragments. Pausanias, bk. 4, ch. 35.――A tyrant of Epidaurus, put to death and thrown into the sea. Plutarch, de Defectu Oraculorum.――A general of the Naxians in Sicily, who betrayed his country to Dionysius the tyrant for a sum of money.

Proclidæ, the descendants of Procles, who sat on the throne of Sparta, together with the Eurysthenidæ. See: Lacedæmon and Eurysthenes.

Procne. See: Progne.

Proconnēsus, now Marmora, an island of the Propontis, at the north-east of Cyzicus; also called Elaphonnesus and Neuris. It was famous for its fine marble. Pliny, bk. 5, ch. 32.—Strabo, bk. 13.—Mela, bk. 2, ch. 7.

Procopius, a celebrated officer of a noble family in Cilicia, related to the emperor Julian, with whom he lived in great intimacy. He was universally admired for his integrity, but he was not destitute of ambition or pride. After he had signalized himself under Julian and his successor, he retired from the Roman provinces among the barbarians in the Thracian Chersonesus, and some time after he suddenly made his appearance at Constantinople, when the emperor Valens had marched into the east, and he proclaimed himself master of the eastern empire. His usurpation was universally acknowledged, and his victories were so rapid, that Valens would have resigned the imperial purple, had not his friends intervened. But now fortune changed; Procopius was defeated in Phrygia, and abandoned by his army. His head was cut off, and carried to Valentinian in Gaul, A.D. 366. Procopius was slain in the 42nd year of his age, and he had usurped the title of emperor for above eight months. Ammianus Marcellinus, bks. 25 & 26.――A Greek historian of Cæsarea in Palestine, secretary to the celebrated Belisarius, A.D. 534. He wrote the history of the reign of Justinian, and greatly celebrated the hero, whose favours and patronage he enjoyed. This history is divided into eight books, two of which give an account of the Persian war, two of the Vandals, and four of the Goths, to the year 553, which was afterwards continued in five books by Agathias till 559. Of this performance the character is great, though perhaps the historian is often too severe on the emperor. The works of Procopius were edited in 2 vols., folio, Paris, 1662.

Procris, a daughter of Erechtheus king of Athens. She married Cephalus. See: Cephalus. Virgil, Æneid, bk. 6, li. 445.――A daughter of Thestius.

Procrustes, a famous robber of Attica, killed by Theseus near the Cephisus. He tied travellers on a bed, and if their length exceeded that of the bed, he used to cut it off, but if they were shorter, he had them stretched to make their length equal to it. He is called by some Damastes and Polypemon. Ovid, Heroides, poem 2, li. 69; Metamorphoses, bk. 9, li. 43.—Plutarch, Theseus.

Procŭla, a prostitute in Juvenal’s age, satire 2, li. 68.

Procūleius, a Roman knight, very intimate with Augustus. He is celebrated for his humanity and paternal kindness to his brothers Muræna and Scipio, with whom he divided his possessions, after they had forfeited their estates, and incurred the displeasure of Augustus for siding with young Pompey. He was sent by Augustus to Cleopatra, to endeavour to bring her alive into his presence, but to no purpose. He destroyed himself when labouring under a heavy disease. Horace, bk. 2, ode 2.—Plutarch, Antonius.—Pliny, bk. 36, ch. 24.――A debauchee in Nero’s reign. Juvenal, satire 1, li. 40.

Procŭlus Julius, a Roman who, after the death of Romulus, declared that he had seen him in his appearance more than human, and that he had ordered him to bid the Romans to offer him sacrifices under the name of Quirinus, and to rest assured that Rome was destined by the gods to become the capital of the world. Plutarch, Romulus.—Livy, bk. 1, ch. 16.――Geganius, a Roman consul.――Placitius, a Roman who conquered the Hernici.――A friend of Vitellius.――A consul under Nerva.――A man accused of extortion.――An African in the age of Aurelius. He published a book entitled de regionibus, or religionibus, on foreign countries, &c.――An officer who proclaimed himself emperor in Gaul, in the reign of Probus. He was soon after defeated, and exposed on a gibbet. He was very debauched and licentious in his manners, and had acquired riches by piratical excursions.

Procyon, a star near Sirius, or the dog-star, before which it generally rises in July. Cicero calls it Anticanis, which is of the same signification (προ κυων). Horace, bk. 3, ode 29.—Cicero, de Natura Deorum, bk. 2, ch. 44.

Prodĭcus, a sophist and rhetorician of Cos, about 396 years before Christ. He was sent as ambassador by his countrymen to Athens, where he publicly taught, and had among his pupils Euripides, Socrates, Theramenes, and Isocrates. He travelled from town to town in Greece, to procure admirers and get money. He made his auditors pay to hear him harangue, which has given occasion to some of the ancients to speak of the orations of Prodicus for 50 drachmas. In his writings, which were numerous, he composed a beautiful episode, in which virtue and pleasure were introduced, as attempting to make Hercules one of their votaries. The hero at last yielded to the charms of virtue and rejected pleasure. This has been imitated by Lucian. Prodicus was at last put to death by the Athenians on pretence that he corrupted the morals of their youth. Xenophon, Memorabilia.

Proerna, a town of Phthiotis. Livy, bk. 63, ch. 14.

Prœrosia, a surname of Ceres. Her festivals, celebrated at Athens and Eleusis before the sowing of corn, bore the same name. Meursius, Eleusinia.

Prœtĭdes, the daughters of Prœtus king of Argolis, were three in number, Lysippe, Iphinoe, and Iphianassa. They became insane for neglecting the worship of Bacchus, or, according to others, for preferring themselves to Juno, and they ran about the fields, believing themselves to be cows, and flying away not to be harnessed to the plough or to the chariot. Prœtus applied to Melampus to cure his daughters of their insanity, but he refused to employ him when he demanded the third part of his kingdom as a reward. This neglect of Prœtus was punished, the insanity became contagious, and the monarch at last promised Melampus two parts of his kingdom and one of his daughters, if he would restore them and the Argian women to their senses. Melampus consented, and after he had wrought the cure, he married the most beautiful of the Prœtides. Some have called them Lysippe, Ipponoe, and Cyrianassa. Apollodorus, bk. 2, ch. 2.—Virgil, Eclogues, poem 6, li. 48.—Ovid, Metamorphoses, bk. 15.—Lactantius [Placidus] on Statius, Thebaid, bks. 1 & 3.