A CLASSICAL DICTIONARY, ETC., ETC. (continued 38)

Pyrgotĕles, a celebrated engraver on gems in the age of Alexander the Great. He had the exclusive privilege of engraving the conqueror, as Lysippus was the only sculptor who was permitted to make statues of him. Pliny, bk. 37, ch. 1.

Pyrgrus, a fortified place of Elis in the Peloponnesus.

Pyrippe, a daughter of Thespius.

Pyro, one of the Oceanides. Hesiod.

Pyrodes, a son of Cilix, said to be the first who discovered and applied to human purposes the fire concealed in flints. Pliny, bk. 7, ch. 56.

Pyrois, one of the horses of the sun. Ovid, Metamorphoses, bk. 2, li. 153.

Pyronia, a surname of Diana. Pausanias, bk. 8, ch. 16.

Pyrrha, a daughter of Epimetheus and Pandora, who married Deucalion the son of Prometheus, who reigned in Thessaly. In her age all mankind were destroyed by a deluge, and she alone, with her husband, escaped from the general destruction, by saving themselves in a boat which Deucalion had made by his father’s advice. When the waters had retired from the surface of the earth, Pyrrha, with her husband, went to the oracle of Themis, where they were directed, to repair the loss of mankind, to throw stones behind their backs. They obeyed, and the stones which Pyrrha threw were changed into women, and those of Deucalion into men. See: Deucalion. Pyrrha became mother of Amphictyon, Hellen, and Protogenea by Deucalion. Ovid, Metamorphoses, bk. 1, li. 350, &c.—Hyginus, fable 153.—Apollonius of Rhodes, bk. 3, li. 1085.――A daughter of Creon king of Thebes. Pausanias, bk. 9, ch. 10.――The name which Achilles bore when he disguised himself in women’s clothes, at the court of Lycomedes. Hyginus, fable 96.――A town of Eubœa. Mela, bk. 2, ch. 7.――A promontory of Phthiotis, on the bay of Malia.――A town of Lesbos.――A beautiful courtesan at Rome, of whom Horace was long an admirer. Horace, bk. 1, ode 5.

Pyrrheus, a place in the city of Ambracia. Livy, bk. 38, ch. 5.

Pyrrhi castra, a place of Lucania. Livy, bk. 35, ch. 27.

Pyrrhias, a boatman of Ithaca, remarkable for his humanity. He delivered from slavery an old man who had been taken by pirates, and robbed of some pots full of pitch. The old man was so grateful for his kindness, that he gave the pots to his deliverer, after he had told him that they contained gold under the pitch. Pyrrhias, upon this, offered the sacrifice of a bull to the old man, and retained him in his house, with every act of kindness and attention, till the time of his death. Plutarch, Quæstiones Græcæ.――A general of the Ætolians, defeated by Philip, king of Macedonia.

Pyrrhicha, a kind of dance, said to be invented and introduced into Greece by Pyrrhus the son of Achilles. The dancers were generally armed. Pliny, bk. 7, ch. 56.

Pyrrhicus, a free town of Laconia. Pausanias, bk. 3, ch. 21.—Athenæus, bk. 14.

Pyrrhidæ, a patronymic given to the successors of Neoptolemus in Epirus.

Pyrrho, a philosopher of Elis, disciple to Anaxarchus, and originally a painter. His father’s name was Plistarchus, or Pistocrates. He was in continual suspense of judgment; he doubted of everything, never made any conclusions, and when he had carefully examined a subject, and investigated all its parts, he concluded by still doubting of its evidence. This manner of doubting in the philosopher has been called Pyrrhonism, and his disciples have received the appellation of sceptics, inquisitors, examiners, &c. He pretended to have acquired an uncommon dominion over opinion and passions. The former of these virtues he called ataraxia, and the latter matriopathia, and so far did he carry his want of common feeling and sympathy, that he passed with unconcern near a ditch in which his master Anaxarchus had fallen, and where he nearly perished. He was once in a storm, and when all hopes were vanished, and destruction certain, the philosopher remained unconcerned; and while the rest of the crew were lost in lamentations, he plainly told them to look at a pig which was then feeding himself on board the vessel, exclaiming, “This is a true model for a wise man.” As he showed so much indifference in everything, and declared that life and death were the same thing, some of his disciples asked him why he did not hurry himself out of the world. “Because,” says he, “there is no difference between life and death.” When he walked in the streets he never looked behind, or moved from the road for a chariot, even in its most rapid course; and, indeed, as some authors remark, this indifference for his safety often exposed him to the greatest and most imminent dangers, from which he was saved by the interference of his friends who followed him. He flourished B.C. 304, and died at the advanced age of 90. He left no writings behind him. His countrymen were so partial to him that they raised statues to his memory, and exempted all the philosophers of Elis from taxes. Diogenes Laërtius, bk. 9.—Cicero, On Oratory, bk. 3, ch. 17.—Aulus Gellius, bk. 11, ch. 5.—Pausanias, bk. 6, ch. 24.

Pyrrhus, a son of Achilles and Deidamia the daughter of king Lycomedes, who received this name from the yellowness of his hair. He was also called Neoptolemus, or new warrior, because he came to the Trojan war in the last year of the celebrated siege of the capital of Troas. See: Neoptolemus.――A king of Epirus, descended from Achilles by the side of his mother, and from Hercules by that of his father, and son of Æacides and Phthia. He was saved when an infant, by the fidelity of his servants, from the pursuits of the enemies of his father, who had been banished from his kingdom, and he was carried to the court of Glautias king of Illyricum, who educated him with great tenderness. Cassander king of Macedonia wished to despatch him, as he had so much to dread from him; but Glautias not only refused to deliver him up into the hands of his enemy but he even went with an army and placed him on the throne of Epirus, though only 12 years of age. About five years after, the absence of Pyrrhus, to attend the nuptials of one of the daughters of ♦Glautias, raised new commotions. The monarch was expelled from his throne by Neoptolemus, who had usurped it after the death of Æacides; and being still without resources, he applied to his brother-in-law Demetrius for assistance. He accompanied Demetrius at the battle of Ipsus, and fought there with all the prudence and intrepidity of an experienced general. He afterwards passed into Egypt, where, by his marriage with Antigone the daughter of Berenice, he soon obtained a sufficient force to attempt the recovery of his throne. He was successful in the undertaking, but to remove all causes of quarrel, he took the usurper to share with him the royalty, and some time after he put him to death under pretence that he had attempted to poison him. In the subsequent years of his reign, Pyrrhus engaged in the quarrels which disturbed the peace of the Macedonian monarchy; he marched against Demetrius, and gave the Macedonian soldiers fresh proofs of his valour and activity. By dissimulation he ingratiated himself in the minds of his enemy’s subjects, and when Demetrius laboured under a momentary illness, Pyrrhus made an attempt upon the crown of Macedonia, which, if not then successful, soon after rendered him master of the kingdom. This he shared with Lysimachus for seven months, till the jealousy of the Macedonians, and the ambition of his colleague, obliged him to retire. Pyrrhus was meditating new conquests, when the Tarentines invited him to Italy to assist them against the encroaching power of Rome. He gladly accepted the invitation, but his passage across the Adriatic proved nearly fatal, and he reached the shores of Italy, after the loss of the greatest part of his troops in a storm. At his entrance into Tarentum, B.C. 280, he began to reform the manners of the inhabitants, and by introducing the strictest discipline among their troops, to accustom them to bear fatigue and to despise dangers. In the first battle which he fought with the Romans, he obtained the victory, but for this he was more particularly indebted to his elephants, whose bulk and uncommon appearance astonished the Romans and terrified their cavalry. The number of the slain was equal on both sides, and the conqueror said that such another victory would totally ruin him. He also sent Cineas, his chief minister, to Rome, and though victorious, he sued for peace. These offers of peace were refused, and when Pyrrhus questioned Cineas about the manners and the character of the Romans, the sagacious minister replied, that their senate was a venerable assembly of kings, and that to fight against them, was to attack another Hydra. A second battle was fought near Asculum, but the slaughter was so great, and the valour so conspicuous on both sides, that the Romans and their enemies reciprocally claimed the victory as their own. Pyrrhus still continued the war in favour of the Tarentines, when he was invited into Sicily by the inhabitants, who laboured under the yoke of Carthage, and the cruelty of their own petty tyrants. His fondness of novelty soon determined him to quit Italy; he left a garrison at Tarentum, and crossed over to Sicily, where he obtained two victories over the Carthaginians, and took many of their towns. He was for a while successful, and formed the project of invading Africa; but soon his popularity vanished, his troops became insolent, and he behaved with haughtiness, and showed himself oppressive, so that his return to Italy was deemed a fortunate event for all Sicily. He had no sooner arrived at Tarentum than he renewed hostilities with the Romans with great acrimony, but when his army of 80,000 men had been defeated by 20,000 of the enemy, under Curius, he left Italy with precipitation, B.C. 274, ashamed of the enterprise, and mortified by the victories which had been obtained over one of the descendants of Achilles. In Epirus he began to repair his military character by attacking Antigonus, who was then on the Macedonian throne. He gained some advantages over his enemy, and was at last restored to the throne of Macedonia. He afterwards marched against Sparta, at the request of Cleonymus, but when all his vigorous operations were insufficient to take the capital of Laconia, he retired to Argos, where the treachery of Aristeus invited him. The Argives desired him to retire, and not to interfere in the affairs of their republic, which were confounded by the ambition of two of their nobles. He complied with their wishes, but in the night he marched his forces into the town, and might have made himself master of the place had he not retarded his progress by entering it with his elephants. The combat that ensued was obstinate and bloody, and the monarch, to fight with more boldness, and to encounter dangers with more facility, exchanged his dress. He was attacked by one of the enemy, but as he was going to run him through in his own defence, the mother of the Argive, who saw her son’s danger from the top of a house, threw down a tile and brought Pyrrhus to the ground. His head was cut off, and carried to Antigonus, who gave his remains a magnificent funeral, and presented his ashes to his son Helenus, 272 years before the christian era. Pyrrhus has been deservedly commended for his talents as a general; and not only his friends, but also his enemies, have been warm in extolling him; and Annibal declared, that for experience and sagacity the king of Epirus was the first of commanders. He had chosen Alexander the Great for a model, and in everything he wished not only to imitate, but to surpass him. In the art of war none were superior to him; he not only made it his study as a general, but even he wrote many books on encampments, and the different ways of training up an army, and whatever he did was by principle and rule. His uncommon understanding and his penetration are also admired; but the general is severely censured, who has no sooner conquered a country, than he looks for other victories, without regarding or securing what he has already obtained, by measures and regulations honourable to himself, and advantageous to his subjects. The Romans passed great encomiums upon him, and Pyrrhus was no less struck with their magnanimity and valour; so much indeed, that he exclaimed that if he had soldiers like the Romans, or if the Romans had him for a general, he would leave no corner of the earth unseen, and no nation unconquered. Pyrrhus married many wives, and all for political reasons; besides Antigone, he had Lanassa the daughter of Agathocles, as also a daughter of Autoleon king of Pæonia. His children, as his biographer observes, derived a warlike spirit from their father, and when he was asked by one to which of them he should leave the kingdom of Epirus, he replied, to him who has the sharpest sword. Ælian, De Natura Animalium, bk. 10.—Plutarch, Lives.—Justin, bk. 17, &c.—Livy, bks. 13 & 14.—Horace, bk. 3, ode 6.――A king of Epirus, son of Ptolemy, murdered by the people of Ambracia. His daughter, called Laudamia, or Deidamia, succeeded him. Pausanias.――A son of Dædalus.

Pyste, the wife of Seleucus, taken prisoner by the Gauls, &c. Polyænus, bk. 2.

Pythagŏras, a celebrated philosopher, born at Samos. His father Mnesarchus was a person of distinction, and therefore the son received that education which was most calculated to enlighten his mind and invigorate his body. Like his contemporaries, he was early made acquainted with poetry and music; eloquence and astronomy became his private studies, and in gymnastic exercises he often bore the palm for strength and dexterity. He first made himself known in Greece, at the Olympic games, where he obtained, in the 18th year of his age, the prize for wrestling; and, after he had been admired for the elegance and the dignity of his person, and the brilliancy of his understanding, he retired into the east. In Egypt and Chaldæa he gained the confidence of the priests, and learned from them the artful policy, and the symbolic writings, by which they governed the prince as well as the people, and, after he had spent many years in gathering all the information which could be collected from antique tradition concerning the nature of the gods and the immortality of the soul, Pythagoras revisited his native island. The tyranny of Polycrates at Samos disgusted the philosopher, who was a great advocate for national independence; and though he was the favourite of the tyrant, he retired from the island, and a second time assisted at the Olympic games. His fame was too well known to escape notice; he was saluted in the public assembly by the name of Sophist, or wise man; but he refused the appellation, and was satisfied with that of philosopher, or, the friend of wisdom. “At the Olympic games,” said he, in explanation of this new appellation he wished to assume, “some are attracted with the desire of obtaining crowns and honours, others come to expose their different commodities to sale, while curiosity draws a third class, and the desire of contemplating whatever deserves notice in that celebrated assembly; thus, on the more extensive theatre of the world, while many struggle for the glory of a name, and many pant for the advantages of fortune, a few, and indeed but a few, who are neither desirous of money nor ambitious of fame, are sufficiently gratified to be spectators of the wonder, the hurry, and the magnificence of the scene.” From Olympia, the philosopher visited the republics of Elis and Sparta, and retired to Magna Græcia, where he fixed his habitation in the town of Crotona, about the 40th year of his age. Here he founded a sect which has received the name of the Italian, and he soon saw himself surrounded by a great number of pupils, which the recommendation of his mental as well as his personal accomplishments had procured. His skill in music and medicine, and his knowledge of mathematics and of natural philosophy, gained him friends and admirers, and amidst the voluptuousness that prevailed among the inhabitants of Crotona, the Samian sage found his instructions respected and his approbation courted; the most debauched and effeminate were pleased with the eloquence and the graceful delivery of the philosopher, who boldly upbraided them for their vices, and called them to more virtuous and manly pursuits. These animated harangues were attended with rapid success, and a reformation soon took place in the morals and the life of the people of Crotona. The females were exhorted to become modest, and they left off their gaudy ornaments; the youths were called away from their pursuits of pleasure, and instantly they forgot their intemperance, and paid to their parents that submissive attention and deference which the precepts of Pythagoras required. As to the old, they were directed no longer to spend their time in amassing money, but to improve their understanding, and to seek that peace and those comforts of mind which frugality, benevolence, and philanthropy alone can produce. The sober and religious behaviour of the philosopher strongly recommended the necessity and importance of these precepts. Pythagoras was admired for his venerable aspect; his voice was harmonious, his eloquence persuasive, and the reputation he had acquired by his distant travels, and by being crowned at the Olympic games, was great and important. He regularly frequented the temples of the gods, and paid his devotion to the divinity at an early hour; he lived upon the purest and most innocent food, he clothed himself like the priests of the Egyptian gods, and by his continual purifications and regular offerings, he seemed to be superior to the rest of mankind in sanctity. These artful measures united to render him an object not only of reverence, but of imitation. To set himself at a greater distance from his pupils, a number of years was required to try their various dispositions; the most talkative were not permitted to speak in the presence of their master before they had been his auditors for five years, and those who possessed a natural taciturnity were allowed to speak after a probation of two years. When they were capable of receiving the secret instructions of the philosopher, they were taught the use of cyphers and hieroglyphic writings, and Pythagoras might boast that his pupils could correspond together, though in the most distant regions, in unknown characters; and by the signs and words which they had received, they could discover, though strangers and barbarians, those that had been educated in the Pythagorean school. So great was his authority among his pupils, that to dispute his word was deemed a crime, and the most stubborn were drawn to coincide with the opinions of their opponent, when they helped their arguments by the words of the master said so, an expression which became proverbial in jurare in verba magistri. The great influence which the philosopher possessed in his school was transferred to the world: the pupils divided the applause and the approbation of the people with their venerable master, and in a short time the rulers and the legislators of all the principal towns of Greece, Sicily, and Italy, boasted in being the disciples of Pythagoras. The Samian philosopher was the first who supported the doctrine of metempsychosis, or transmigration of the soul into different bodies, and those notions he seemed to have imbibed among the priests of Egypt, or in the solitary retreats of the Brachmans. More strenuously to support his chimerical system, he declared he recollected the different bodies which his soul had animated before that of the son of Mnesarchus. He remembered to have been Æthalides the son of Mercury, to have assisted the Greeks during the Trojan war in the character of Euphorbus [See: Euphorbus], to have been Hermotimus, afterwards a fisherman, and last of all Pythagoras. He forbade his disciples to eat flesh, as also beans, because he supposed them to have been produced from the same putrefied matter from which, at the creation of the world, man was formed. In his theological system Pythagoras supported that the universe was created from a shapeless heap of passive matter by the hands of a powerful being, who himself was the mover and soul of the world, and of whose substance the souls of mankind were a portion. He considered numbers as the principles of everything, and perceived in the universe regularity, correspondence, beauty, proportion, and harmony, as intentionally produced by the Creator. In his doctrines of morality, he perceived in the human mind propensities common to us with the brute creation; but besides these, and the passions of avarice and ambition, he discovered the nobler seeds of virtue, and supported that the most ample and perfect gratification was to be found in the enjoyment of moral and intellectual pleasures. The thoughts of the past he considered as always present to us, and he believed that no enjoyment could be had where the mind was disturbed by consciousness of guilt, or fears about futurity. This opinion induced the philosopher to recommend to his followers a particular mode of education. The tender years of the Pythagoreans were employed in continual labour, in study, in exercise, and repose; and the philosopher maintained his well-known and important maxim, that many things, especially love, are best learnt late. In a more advanced age, the adult was desired to behave with caution, spirit, and patriotism, and to remember that the community and civil society demanded his exertions, and that the good of the public, and not his own private enjoyments, were the ends of his creation. From lessons like these, the Pythagoreans were strictly enjoined to call to mind, and carefully to review, the actions, not only of the present, but of the preceding days. In their acts of devotion, they early repaired to the most solitary places of the mountains, and after they had examined their private and public conduct, and conversed with themselves, they joined in the company of their friends, and early refreshed their body with light and frugal aliments. Their conversation was of the most innocent nature; political or philosophic subjects were discussed with propriety, but without warmth, and after the conduct of the following day was regulated, the evening was spent with the same religious ceremony as the morning, in a strict and partial self-examination. From such regularity nothing but the most salutary consequences could arise, and it will not appear wonderful that the disciples of Pythagoras were so much respected and admired as legislators, and imitated for their constancy, friendship, and humanity. The authors that lived in, and after, the age of Alexander, have rather tarnished than brightened the glory of the founder of the Pythagorean school, and they have obscured his fame by attributing to him actions which were dissonant with his character as a man and a moralist. To give more weight to his exhortations, as some writers mention, Pythagoras retired into a subterraneous cave, where his mother sent him intelligence of everything which happened during his absence. After a certain number of months he again reappeared on the earth, with a grim and ghastly countenance, and declared, in the assembly of the people, that he was returned from hell. From similar exaggerations, it has been asserted that he appeared at the Olympic games with a golden thigh, and that he could write in letters of blood whatever he pleased on a looking-glass, and that, by setting it opposite to the moon, when full, all the characters which were on the glass became legible on the moon’s disc. They also support that, by some magical words, he tamed a bear, stopped the flight of an eagle, and appeared on the same day and at the same instant in the cities of Crotona and Metapontum, &c. The time and the place of the death of this great philosopher are unknown; yet many suppose that he died at Metapontum about 497 years before Christ; and so great was the veneration of the people of Magna Græcia for him, that he received the same honours as were paid to the immortal gods, and his house became a sacred temple. Succeeding ages likewise acknowledged his merits, and when the Romans, A.U.C. 411, were commanded by the oracle of Delphi to erect a statue to the bravest and wisest of the Greeks, the distinguished honour was conferred on Alcibiades and Pythagoras. Pythagoras had a daughter, called Damo. There is now extant a poetical composition ascribed to the philosopher, and called the golden verses of Pythagoras, which contain the greatest part of his doctrines and moral precepts; but many support that it is a supposititious composition, and that the true name of the writer was Lysis. Pythagoras distinguished himself also by his discoveries in geometry, astronomy, and mathematics, and it is to him that the world is indebted for the demonstration of the 47th proposition of the first book of Euclid’s elements, about the square of the hypothenuse. It is said that he was so elated after making the discovery, that he made an offering of a hecatomb to the gods; but the sacrifice was undoubtedly of small oxen, made with wax, as the philosopher was ever an enemy to shedding the blood of all animals. His system of the universe, in which he placed the sun in the centre, and all the planets moving in elliptical orbits round it, was deemed chimerical and improbable, till the deep inquiries and the philosophy of the 16th century proved it, by the most accurate calculations, to be true and incontestable. Diogenes Laërtius, Porphyry, Iamblicus, and others, have written an account of his life, but with more erudition, perhaps, than veracity. Cicero, de Natura Deorum, bk. 1, ch. 5; Tusculanæ Disputationes, bk. 4, ch. 1.—Diogenes Laërtius, bk. 8, &c.—Hyginus, fable 112.—Ovid, Metamorphoses, bk. 15, li. 60, &c.—Plato.—Pliny, bk. 34, ch. 6.—Aulus Gellius, bk. 9.—Iamblic.—Porphyry.—Plutarch.――A soothsayer of Babylon, who foretold the death of Alexander and of Hephæstion, by consulting the entrails of victims.――A tyrant of Ephesus.――One of Nero’s wicked favourites.

Pytheas, an archon at Athens.――A native of Massilia, famous for his knowledge of astronomy, mathematics, philosophy, and geography. He also distinguished himself by his travels, and, with a mind that wished to seek information in every corner of the earth, he advanced far into the northern seas, and discovered the island of Thule, and entered that then unknown sea, which is now called the Baltic. His discoveries in astronomy and geography were ingenious, and, indeed, modern navigators have found it expedient to justify and accede to his conclusions. He was the first who established a distinction of climate by the length of days and nights. He wrote different treatises in Greek, which have been lost, though some of them were extant in the beginning of the fifth century. Pytheas lived, according to some, in the age of Aristotle. Strabo, bk. 2, &c.—Pliny, bk. 37.――An Athenian rhetorician, in the age of Demosthenes, who distinguished himself by his intrigues, rapacity, and his opposition to the measures of Demosthenes, of whom he observed that his orations smelt of the lamp. Pytheas joined Antipater after the death of Alexander the Great. His orations were devoid of elegance, harsh, unconnected, and diffuse, and from this circumstance he has not been ranked among the orators of Athens. Ælian, Varia Historia, bk. 7, ch. 7.—Plutarch, Demosthenes & Politica Præcepta.

Pythes, a native of Abdera, in Thrace, son of Andromache, who obtained a crown at the Olympian games. Pliny, bk. 34, ch. 7.—Pausanias, bk. 6, ch. 14.

Pytheus, a Lydian in the age of Xerxes, famous for his riches. He kindly entertained the monarch and all his army, when he was marching on his expedition against Greece, and offered him to defray the expenses of the whole war. Xerxes thanked him with much gratitude, and promised to give him whatever he should require. Pytheus asked him to dismiss his son from the expedition; upon which the monarch ordered the young man to be cut in two, and one half of the body to be placed on the right hand of the way, and the other on the left, that his army might march between them. Plutarch, de Mulierum Virtutes.—Herodotus.

Pythia, the priestess of Apollo at Delphi. She delivered the answer of the god to such as came to consult the oracle, and was supposed to be suddenly inspired by the sulphureous vapours which issued from the hole of a subterraneous cavity within the temple, over which she sat bare on a three-legged stool, called a tripod. In this stool was a small aperture, through which the vapour was inhaled by the priestess, and, at this divine inspiration, her eyes suddenly sparkled, her hair stood on end, and a shivering ran over all her body. In this convulsive state she spoke the oracles of the god, often with loud howlings and cries, and her articulations were taken down by the priest, and set in order. Sometimes the spirit of inspiration was more gentle, and not always violent; yet Plutarch mentions one of the priestesses who was thrown into such an excessive fury, that not only those that consulted the oracle, but also the priest that conducted her to the sacred tripod, and attended her during the inspiration, were terrified and forsook the temple; and so violent was the fit, that she continued for some days in the most agonizing situation, and at last died. The Pythia, before she placed herself on the tripod, used to wash her whole body, and particularly her hair, in the waters of the fountain Castalis, at the foot of mount Parnassus. She also shook a laurel tree that grew near the place, and sometimes ate the leaves with which she crowned herself. The priestess was originally a virgin, but the institution was changed when Echecrates, a Thessalian, had offered violence to one of them, and none but women who were above the age of 50 were permitted to enter upon that sacred office. They always appeared dressed in the garments of virgins, to intimate their purity and modesty, and they were solemnly bound to observe the strictest laws of temperance and chastity, that neither fantastical dresses nor lascivious behaviour might bring the office, the religion, or the sanctity of the place into contempt. There was originally but one Pythia, besides subordinate priests, and afterwards two were chosen, and sometimes more. The most celebrated of all these is Phemonoe, who is supposed by some to have been the first who gave oracles at Delphi. The oracles were always delivered in hexameter verses, a custom which was some time after discontinued. The Pythia was consulted only one month in the year, about the spring. It was always required that those who consulted the oracle should make large presents to Apollo, and from thence arose the opulence, splendour, and the magnificence of that celebrated temple of Delphi. Sacrifices were also offered to the divinity, and if the omens proved unfavourable, the priestess refused to ♦give an answer. There were generally five priests who assisted at the offering of the sacrifices, and there was also another who attended the Pythia, and assisted her in receiving the oracle. See: ♠Delphi, Oraculum. Pausanias, bk. 10, ch. 5.—Diodorus, bk. 16.—Strabo, bks. 6 & 9.—Justin, bk. 24, ch. 5.—Plutarch, De Defectu Oraculorum.—Euripides, Ion.—Dio Chrysostom.――Games celebrated in honour of Apollo, near the temple of Delphi. They were at first instituted, according to the more received opinion, by Apollo himself, in commemoration of the victory which he had obtained over the serpent Python, from which they received their name; though others maintain that they were first established by Agamemnon, or Diomedes, or by Amphictyon, or, lastly, by the council of Amphictyons, B.C. 1263. They were originally celebrated once in nine years, but afterwards every fifth year, or the second year of every olympiad, according to the number of the Parnassian nymphs who congratulated Apollo after his victory. The gods themselves were originally among the combatants, and, according to some authors, the first prize was won by Pollux, in boxing; by Castor, in horse-races; by Hercules, in the pancratium; by Zetes, in fighting with the armour; by Calais, in running; by Telamon, in wrestling; and by Peleus in throwing the quoit. These illustrious conquerors were rewarded by Apollo himself, who was present, with crowns and laurels. Some, however, observe that it was nothing but a musical contention, in which he who sung best the praises of Apollo obtained the prize, which was presents of gold or silver, which were afterwards exchanged for a garland of the palm tree, or of beech leaves. It is said that Hesiod was refused admission to these games because he was not able to play upon the harp, which was required of all such as entered the lists. The songs which were sung were called Πυθικοι νομοι, the Pythian modes, divided into five parts, which contained a representation of the fight and victory of Apollo over Python; ἀνακρουσις, the preparation for the fight; ἐμπειρα, the first attempt; κατακελευσμος, taking breath and collecting courage; ἰαμβοι και δακτυλοι, the insulting sarcasms of the god over his vanquished enemy; συριγγες, an imitation of the hisses of the serpent, just as he expired under the blows of Apollo. A dance was also introduced; and in the 48th Olympiad, the Amphictyons, who presided over the games, increased the number of musical instruments by the addition of a flute; but, as it was more peculiarly used in funeral songs and lamentations, it was soon rejected as unfit for merriment, and the festivals which represented the triumph of Apollo over the conquered serpent. The Romans, according to some, introduced them into their city, and called them Apollinares ludi. Pausanias, bk. 10, chs. 13 & 37.—Strabo, bk. 9.—Ovid, Metamorphoses, bk. 1, li. 447.—Pliny, bk. 7.—Livy, bk. 25.

Pythias, a Pythagorean philosopher, intimate with Damon. See: Phintias.――A road which led from Thessaly to Tempe. Ælian.――A comic character, &c.

Pythion, an Athenian killed, with 420 soldiers, when he attempted to drive the garrison of Demetrius from Athens, &c. Polyænus, bk. 5.

Pythium, a town of Thessaly. Livy, bk. 42, ch. 53; bk. 44, ch. 2.

Pythius, a Syracusan, who defrauded Canius, a Roman knight, to whom he had sold his gardens, &c. Cicero, de Officiis, bk. 3, ch. 14.――A surname of Apollo, which he had received for his having conquered the serpent Python, or because he was worshipped at Delphi; called also Pytho. Macrobius, bk. 1, Saturnalia, ch. 17.—Propertius, bk. 2, poem 33, li. 16.

Pytho, the ancient name of the town of Delphi, which it received ἀπο του πυθεσθαι, because the serpent which Apollo killed, rotted there. It was also called Parnassia Nape. See: Delphi.

Pythochăris, a musician, who assuaged the fury of some wolves by playing on a musical instrument, &c. Ælian.

Pythŏcles, an Athenian descended from Aratus. It is said, that on his account, and for his instruction, Plutarch wrote the life of Aratus.――A man put to death with Phocion.――A man who wrote on Italy.

Pythodōrus, an Athenian archon in the age of Themistocles.

Pytholāus, the brother of Theba, the wife of Alexander tyrant of Pheræ. He assisted his sister in despatching her husband. Plutarch.

Python, a native of Byzantium, in the age of Philip of Macedonia. He was a great favourite of the monarch who sent him to the Thebes, when that city, at the instigation of Demosthenes, was going to take arms against Philip. Plutarch, Demosthenes.—Diodorus.――One of the friends of Alexander, put to death by Ptolemy Lagus.――A man who killed Cotys king of Thrace at the instigation of the Athenians.――A celebrated serpent sprung from the mud and stagnated waters which remained on the surface of the earth after the deluge of Deucalion. Some, however, suppose that it was produced from the earth by Juno, and sent by the goddess to persecute Latona, who was then pregnant by Jupiter. Latona escaped his fury by means of her lover, who changed her into a quail during the remaining months of her pregnancy, and afterwards restored her to her original shape in the island of Delos, where she gave birth to Apollo and Diana. Apollo, as soon as he was born, attacked the monster and killed him with his arrows, and in commemoration of the victory which he had obtained, he instituted the celebrated Pythian games. Strabo, bk. 8.—Pausanias, bk. 2, ch. 7; bk. 10, ch. 6.—Hyginus.—Ovid, Metamorphoses, bk. 1, li. 438, &c.—Lucan, bk. 5, li. 134.

Pythonĭce, an Athenian prostitute greatly honoured by Harpalus, whom Alexander some time before had entrusted with the treasures of Babylon. He married her; and according to some, she died at the very moment that the nuptials were going to be celebrated. He raised her a splendid monument on the road which led from Athens to Eleusis, which cost him 30 talents. Diodorus, bk. 17.—Pausanias, bk. 1.—Athenæus, bk. 13, &c.

Pythonissa, a name given to the priestess of Apollo’s temple at Delphi. She is more generally called Pythia. See: Pythia. The word Pythonissa was commonly applied to women who attempted to explain futurity.

Pytna, a part of mount Ida.

Pyttalus, a celebrated athlete, son of Lampis of Elis, who obtained a prize at the Olympic games. Pausanias, bk. 9, ch. 16.

Q

Quaderna, a town of Italy.

Quadi, an ancient nation of Germany, near the country of the Marcomanni, on the borders of the Danube, in modern Moravia. They rendered themselves celebrated by their opposition to the Romans, by whom they were often defeated, though not totally subdued. Tacitus, Germania, chs. 42 & 43; Annals, bk. 2, ch. 63.

Quadrātus, a surname given to Mercury, because some of his statues were square. The number 4, according to Plutarch, was sacred to Mercury, because he was born on the 4th day of the month. Plutarch, Convivium Septem Sapientium, ch. 9.――A governor of Syria in the age of Nero.

Quadrĭfrons, or Quadrĭceps, a surname of Janus, because he was represented with four heads. He had a temple on the Tarpeian rock, raised by Lucius Catulus.

Quæstōres, two officers at Rome, first created A.U.C. 269. They received their name a quærendo, because they collected the revenues of the state, and had the total management of the public treasury. The questorship was the first office which could be had in the state. It was requisite that the candidates should be 24 or 25 years of age, or, according to some, 27. In the year 332, A.U.C., two more were added to the others, to attend the consuls, to take care of the pay of the armies abroad, and sell the plunder and booty which had been acquired by conquest. These were called Peregrini, whilst the others, whose employment was in the city, received the name of Urbani. When the Romans were masters of all Italy, four more were created, A.U.C. 439, to attend the proconsuls and propretors in their provinces, and to collect all the taxes and customs which each particular district owed to the republic. They were called Provinciales. Sylla the dictator created 20 questors, and Julius Cæsar 40, to fill up the vacant seats in the senate; from whence it is evident that the questors ranked as senators in the senate. The questors were always appointed by the senate at Rome, and if any person was appointed to the questorship without their permission, he was only called proquestor. The quæstores urbani were apparently of more consequence than the rest, the treasury was entrusted to their care, they kept an account of all the receipts and disbursements, and the Roman eagles or ensigns were always in their possession when the armies were not on an expedition. They required every general before he triumphed to tell them, upon his oath, that he had given a just account of the number of the slain on both sides, and that he had been saluted imperator by the soldiers, a title which every commander generally received from his army after he had obtained a victory, and which was afterwards confirmed and approved by the senate. The city questors had also the care of the ambassadors; they lodged and received them, and some time after, when Augustus was declared emperor, they kept the decrees of the senate, which had been before entrusted with the ediles and the tribunes. This gave rise to two new offices of trust and honour, one of which was quæstor palatii, and the other quæstor principis, or augusti, sometimes called candidatus principis. The tent of the questor in the camp was called quæstorium. It stood near that of the general. Varro, de Lingua Latina, bk. 4.—Livy, bk. 4, ch. 43.—Dio Cassius, bk. 43.

Quari, a people of Gaul.

Quarius, a river of Bœotia.

Quercens, a Rutulian who fought against the Trojans. Virgil, Æneid, bk. 9, li. 684.

Querquetulānus, a name given to mount Cœlius at Rome, from the oaks which grew there. Tacitus, Annals, bk. 4, ch. 65.

Quiētis fanum, a temple without the walls of the city of Rome. Quies was the goddess of rest. Her temple was situate near the Colline gate. Livy, bk. 4, ch. 4.—Augustine, City of God, bk. 4, ch. 16.

Lucius Quiētus, an officer under the emperor Trajan, who behaved with great valour in the expeditions which were undertaken by the army which he commanded. He was put to death by Adrian.

Quinctia prata. See: Quintia.

Quinctiānus, a man who conspired against Nero, for which he was put to death.

Quinctilia, a comedian who refused to betray a conspiracy which had been formed against Caligula.

Quinctius Titus, a Roman consul who gained some victories over the Æqui and the Volsci, and obtained a triumph for subduing Præneste.――Cæso, a man accused before the Roman people, and vindicated by his father Cincinnatus.――A Roman celebrated for his frugality. See: Cincinnatus.――A master of horse.――A Roman consul when Annibal invaded Italy.――A brother of Flaminius, banished from the senate by Cato, for killing a Gaul.――An officer killed by the Carthaginians.――An officer under Dolabella.――Another who defeated the Latins.――A consul who obtained a victory over the Volsci.――Hirpinus. See: Hirpinus.

Quinda, a town of Cilicia.

Quindecimvĭri, an order of priests whom Tarquin the Proud appointed to take care of the Sibylline books. They were originally two, but afterwards the number was increased to 10, to whom Sylla added five more, whence their name. See: Decemviri and Duumviri.

Quinquatria, a festival in honour of Minerva at Rome, which continued during five days. The beginning of the celebration was the 18th of March. The first day sacrifices and oblations were presented, but, however, without the effusion of blood. On the second, third, and fourth days, shows of gladiators were exhibited, and on the fifth day there was a solemn procession through the streets of the city. On the days of the celebration, scholars obtained holidays, and it was usual for them to offer prayers to Minerva for learning and wisdom, which the goddess patronized; and on their return to school they presented their master with a gift which has received the name of Minerval. They were much the same as the Panathenæa of the Greeks. Plays were also acted, and disputations were held on subjects of literature. They received their name from the five days which were devoted for the celebration.

Quinquennāles ludi, games celebrated by the Chians in honour of Homer every fifth year. There were also some games among the Romans which bore this name. They are the same as the Actian games. See: Actia.

Quintia Prata, a place on the borders of the Tiber near Rome, which had been cultivated by the great Cincinnatus. Livy, bk. 3, ch. 26.

Quintiliānus Marcus Fabius, a celebrated rhetorician born in Spain. He opened a school of rhetoric at Rome, and was the first who obtained a salary from the state as being a public teacher. After he had remained 20 years in this laborious employment, and obtained the merited applause of the most illustrious Romans, not only as a preceptor, but as a pleader at the bar, Quintilian, by the permission of the emperor Domitian, retired to enjoy the fruits of his labours and industry. In his retirement he assiduously dedicated his time to the study of literature, and wrote a treatise on the causes of the corruption of eloquence. Some time after, at the pressing solicitations of his friends, he wrote his institutiones oratoricæ, the most perfect and complete system of oratory extant. It is divided into 12 books, in which the author explains from observation, as well as from experience, what can constitute a good and perfect orator, and in this he not only mentions the pursuits and the employments of the rhetorician, but he also speaks of his education, and begins with the attention which ought to be shown him even in his cradle. He was appointed preceptor to the two young princes whom Domitian destined for his successors on the throne, but the pleasures which the rhetorician received from the favours and the attention of the emperor and from the success which his writings met in the world, were embittered by the loss of his wife, and of his two sons. It is said that Quintilian was poor in his retirement, and that his indigence was relieved by the liberality of his pupil Pliny the younger. He died A.D. 95. His Institutions were discovered in the 1415th year of the christian era, in an old tower of a monastery at St. Gal, by Poggio Bracciolini, a native of Florence. The best editions of Quintilian are those of Gesner, 4to, Göttingen, 1738; of Leiden, 8vo, cum notis variorum, 1665; of Gibson, 4to, Oxford, 1693; and that of Rollin, republished in 8vo, London, 1792.

Quintilius Varus, a Roman governor of Syria. See: Varus.――A friend of the emperor Alexander.――A man put to death by the emperor Severus.

Quintilla, a courtesan at Rome, &c. Juvenal, satire 7, li. 75.

Quintillus Marcus Aurelius Claudius, a brother of Claudius, who proclaimed himself emperor, and 17 days after destroyed himself by opening his veins in a bath, when he heard that Aurelian was marching against him, about the 270th year of the christian era.

Quintius Curtius Rufus, a Latin historian, who flourished, as some suppose, in the reign of Vespasian or Trajan. He has rendered himself known by his history of the reign of Alexander the Great. This history was divided into 10 books, of which the two first, the end of the fifth, and the beginning of the sixth, are lost. This work is admired for the elegance, the purity, and the floridness of its style. It is, however, blamed for great anachronisms and glaring mistakes in geography as well as history. Freinshemius has written a supplement to Curtius, in which he seems to have made some very satisfactory amends for the loss of which the history had suffered, by a learned collection of facts and circumstances from all the different authors who have employed their pen in writing an account of Alexander, and of his Asiatic conquests. Some suppose that the historian is the same with that Curtius Rufus who lived in the age of Claudius, under whom he was made consul. This Rufus was born of an obscure family, and he attended a Roman questor in Africa, when he was met at Adrumentum by a woman above a human shape, as he was walking under the porticoes in the middle of the day. This extraordinary character addressed the indigent Roman, and told him that the day should come in which he should govern Africa with consular power. This strange prophecy animated Rufus; he repaired to Rome, where he gained the favours of the emperor, obtained consular honours, and at last retired as proconsul to Africa, where he died. The best editions of Curtius are those of Elzevir, 8vo, Amsterdam, 1673; of Snakenburg, 4to, Leiden, 1724; and of Barbou, 12mo, Paris, 1757. Tacitus, Annals, bk. 11, ch. 23, &c.

♦Quintus, or Quinctius, one of the names of Cincinnatus. Persius, bk. 1, li. 73.――Pedius, a painter. See: Pedius.

Quintus Veranius, a governor of Cappadocia.――Cicero, the brother of Cicero.――Catulus, a Roman consul.――A friend of Cæsar.

Quirinalia, festivals in honour of Romulus, surnamed Quirinus, celebrated on the 13th of the calends of March.

Quirinālis, a hill at Rome, originally called Agonius, and afterwards Collinus. The name of Quirinalis is obtained from the inhabitants of Cures, who settled there under their king Tatius. It was also called Cabalinus, from two marble statues of a horse, one of which was the work of Phidias, and the other of Praxiteles. Livy, bk. 1, ch. 44.—Ovid, Fasti, li. 375; Metamorphoses, bk. 14, li. 843.――One of the gates of Rome near mount Quirinalis.

Quirīnus, a surname of Mars among the Romans. This name was also given to Romulus when he had been made a god by his superstitious subjects. Ovid, Fasti, bk. 2, li. 475.――Also a surname of the god Janus.――Sulpitius, a Roman consul, born at Lanuvium. Though descended of an obscure family, he was raised to the greatest honours by Augustus. He was appointed governor of Syria, and was afterwards made preceptor to Caius the grandson of the emperor. He married Æmilia Lepida the granddaughter of Sylla and Pompey, but some time after he shamefully repudiated her. He died A.D. 22. Tacitus, Annals, bk. 3, &c.

Quirītes, a name given to the Roman citizens, because they admitted into their city the Sabines, who inhabited the town of Cures, and who on that account were called Quirites. After this union, the two nations were indiscriminately and promiscuously called by that name. It is, however, to be observed that the word was confined to Rome, and not used in the armies, as we find some of the generals applying it only to such of their soldiers as they dismissed or disgraced. Even some of the emperors appeased a sedition, by calling their rebellious soldiers by the degrading appellation of Quirites. Suetonius, Cæsar, ch. 170.—Lampridius, bk. 53.—Lucan, bk. 5, li. 558.—Horace, bk. 4, ode 14, li. 1.—Varro, de Lingua Latina, bk. 4.—Livy, bk. 1, ch. 13.—Ovid, Fasti, bk. 2, li. 479.

R

Rabirius Caius, a Roman knight, who lent an immense sum of money to Ptolemy Auletes king of Egypt. The monarch afterwards not only refused to repay him, but even confined him, and endangered his life. Rabirius escaped from Egypt with difficulty, but at his return to Rome, he was accused by the senate of having lent money to an African prince, for unlawful purposes. He was ably defended by Cicero, and acquitted with difficulty. Cicero, For Rabirius.――A Latin poet in the age of Augustus, who wrote, besides satires and epigrams, a poem on the victory which the emperor had gained over Antony at Actium. Seneca has compared him to Virgil for elegance and majesty, but Quintilian is not so favourable to his poetry.――An architect in the reign of Domitian, who built a celebrated palace for the emperor, of which the ruins are still seen at Rome.

Racillia, the wife of Cincinnatus. Livy, bk. 3, ch. 26.

Racilius, a tribune who complained in the senate of the faction of Clodius. Cicero, Against Verres, bk. 2, ch. 12; Letters to his brother Quintus, bk. 2, ch. 1.

Ræsaces, an officer of Artaxerxes. He revolted from his master, and fled to Athens.

Ramises, a king of Egypt. See: Rhamses.

Ramnes, or Rhamnenses, one of the three centuries instituted by Romulus. After the Roman people had been divided into three tribes, the monarch elected out of each 100 young men of the best and noblest families, with which he formed three companies of horse. One of them was called Ramnes, either from the tribe of which it was chosen, or from Romulus. Another was called Tatian, and the third Luceres. Varro, de Lingua Latina, bk. 4, ch. 9.—Livy, bk. 1, ch. 13.—Horace, Art of Poetry, li. 304.—Plutarch, Romulus.

Randa, a village of Persia, where 3000 rebellious Persians were slain by Chiles. Polyænus, bk. 7.

Rapo, a Rutulian chief, &c. Virgil, Æneid, bk. 10, li. 748.

Rascipŏlis, a Macedonian sent to the assistance of Pompey. Cæsar, Civil War, bk. 3, ch. 4.

Ravenna, a town of Italy on the Adriatic, which became celebrated under the Roman emperors for its capacious harbour, which could contain 250 ships, and for being for some time the seat of the western empire. It was difficult of access by land, as it stood on a small peninsula; and so ill supplied with water, that it was sold at a higher price than wine, according to Martial. The emperors kept one of their fleets there, and the other at Misenum, on the other side of Italy. It was founded by a colony of Thessalians, or, according to others, of Sabines. It is now fallen from its former grandeur, and is a wretched town situate at the distance of about four miles from the sea, and surrounded with swamps and marshes. Strabo, bk. 5.—Suetonius, Augustus, ch. 49.—Pliny, bk. 36, ch. 12.—Mela, bk. 2, ch. 4.—Martial, bk. 3, ltr. 93, li. 8, &c.

Rāvŏla, a celebrated debauchee, &c. Juvenal.

Rauraci, a people of Gaul, whose chief town is now Augst on the Rhine. Cæsar, Gallic War, bk. 1, ch. 5.

Reāte, a pleasant town of Umbria, built, as some suppose, before the Trojan war, about 15 miles from Fanum Vacunæ, near the lake Velinus. Cybele was the chief deity of the place. It was famous for its asses. Strabo, bk. 5.—Dionysius of Halicarnassus, bk. 1.—Varro, de Re Rustica, bk. 1.—Livy, bk. 25, ch. 7; bk. 26, ch. 11; bk. 28, ch. 45.—Cicero, Against Catiline, bk. 3, ch. 2; de Natura Deorum, bk. 2, ch. 2.

Redicŭlus, a deity whose name is derived from the word redire (to return). The Romans raised a temple to this imaginary deity on the spot where Annibal had retired when he approached Rome, as if to besiege it. Festus, Lexicon of Festus.

Redŏnes, a nation among the Armorici, now the people of Rennes and St. Maloes, in Brittany. Cæsar, Gallic War, bk. 2, ch. 41.

Regillæ, or Regillum, a town in the country of the Sabines in Italy, about 20 miles from Rome, celebrated for a battle which was fought there, A.U.C. 258, between 24,000 Romans and 40,000 Etrurians, who were headed by the Tarquins. The Romans obtained the victory, and scarce 10,000 of the enemy escaped from the field of battle. Castor and Pollux, according to some accounts, were seen mounted on white horses, and fighting at the head of the Roman army. Livy, bk. 2, ch. 16.—Dionysius of Halicarnassus, bk. 5.—Plutarch, Caius Marcius Coriolanus.—Valerius Maximus, bk. 1.—Florus, bk. 1.—Suetonius, Tiberias, ch. 1.

Regilliānus Q. Nonius, a Dacian who entered the Roman armies, and was raised to the greatest honours under Valerian. He was elected emperor by the populace, who were dissatisfied with Gallienus, and was soon after murdered by his soldiers, A.D. 262.

Regillus, a small lake of Latium, whose waters fall into the Anio, at the east of Rome. The dictator Posthumius defeated the Latin army near it. Livy, bk. 2, ch. 19.

Regīnum, a town of Germany, now supposed Ratisbon or Regensburg.

Regium Lepidum, a town of Modena, now Regio, at the south of the Po. Pliny, bk. 3, ch. 15.—Cicero, bk. 12, Letters to his Friends, ltr. 5; bk. 13, ltr. 7.

Marcus Attilius Regŭlus, a consul during the first Punic war. He reduced Brundusium, and in his second consulship he took 64, and sunk 30 galleys of the Carthaginian fleet, on the coast of Sicily. Afterwards he landed in Africa, and so rapid was his success, that in a short time he defeated three generals, and made himself master of about 200 places of consequence on the coast. The Carthaginians sued for peace, but the conqueror refused to grant it, and soon after he was defeated in a battle by Xanthippus, and 30,000 of his men were left on the field of battle, and 15,000 taken prisoners. Regulus was in the number of the captives, and he was carried in triumph to Carthage. He was afterwards sent by the enemy to Rome, to propose an accommodation, and an exchange of prisoners; and if his commission was unsuccessful, he was bound by the most solemn oaths to return to Carthage without delay. When he came to Rome, Regulus dissuaded his countrymen from accepting the terms which the enemy proposed, and when his opinion had had due influence on the senate, he then retired to Carthage agreeable to his engagements. The Carthaginians were told that their offers of peace had been rejected at Rome by the means of Regulus, and therefore they prepared to punish him with the greatest severity. His eyebrows were cut, and he was exposed for some days to the excessive heat of the meridian sun, and afterwards confined in a barrel, whose sides were everywhere filled with large iron spikes, till he died in the greatest agonies. His sufferings were heard at Rome, and the senate permitted his widow to inflict whatever punishments she pleased on some of the most illustrious captives of Carthage, who were in their hands. She confined them also in presses filled with sharp iron points, and was so exquisite in her cruelty, that the senate at last interfered, and stopped the barbarity of her punishments. Regulus died about 251 years before Christ. Silius Italicus, bk. 6, li. 319.—Florus, bk. 2, ch. 3.—Horace, bk. 3, ode 5.—Cicero, de Officiis, bk. 1, ch. 13.—Valerius Maximus, bk. 1, ch. 1; bk. 9, ch. 2.—Livy, ltr. 16.――Memmius, a Roman made governor of Greece by Caligula. While Regulus was in this province, the emperor wished to bring the celebrated statue of Jupiter Olympius, by Phidias, to Rome; but this was supernaturally prevented, and according to ancient authors, the ship which was to convey it was destroyed by lightning, and the workmen who attempted to remove the statue were terrified away by sudden noises. Dio Cassius.――A man who condemned Sejanus.――Roscius, a man who held the consulship but for one day, in the reign of Vitellius.

Remi, a nation of Gaul, whose principal town, Duricortorium, is now Rheims, in the north of Champagne. Pliny, bk. 4, ch. 17.—Cæsar, Gallic War, bk. 2, ch. 5.

Remmia lex, de judiciis, was enacted to punish all calumniators. The letter K was marked on their forehead. This law was abolished by Constantine the Great. Cicero, For Quintus Roscius.

Rĕmŭlus, a chief of Tibur, whose arms were seized by the Rutulians, and afterwards became part of the plunder which Euryalus obtained. Virgil, Æneid, bk. 9, li. 360.――A friend of Turnus, trampled to death by his horse, which Orsilochus had wounded. Virgil, Æneid, bk. 11, li. 636, &c.

Rĕmŭlus Sylvius, a king of Alba, destroyed by lightning on account of his impiety. Ovid, Tristia, bk. 4, li. 50.

Remuria, festivals established at Rome by Romulus, to appease the manes of his brother Remus. They were afterwards called Lemuria, and celebrated yearly.

Remus, the brother of Romulus, was exposed, together with him, by the cruelty of his grandfather. In the contest which happened between the two brothers about building a city, Romulus obtained the preference, and Remus, for ridiculing the rising walls, was put to death by his brother’s orders, or by Romulus himself. See: Romulus. The Romans were afflicted with a plague after this murder, upon which the oracle was consulted, and the manes of Remus appeased by the institution of the Remuria. Ovid.――One of the auxiliaries of Turnus against Æneas. Virgil, Æneid, bk. 9, li. 330.

Resæna, a town of Mesopotamia, famous for the defeat of Sapor by Gordian.

Resus, a small river of Asia Minor, falling into the Mæander.

Retina, a village near Misenum. Pliny, bk. 6, ltr. 16.

Reudigni, a nation of Germany. Tacitus, Germania, ch. 40.

Rha, a large river, now the Volga, of Russia. A medicinal root which grew on its bank was called Rha barbarum, Rhubarb.

Rhacia, a promontory in the Mediterranean sea, projecting from the Pyrenean mountains.

Rhacius, a Cretan prince, the first of that nation who entered Ionia with a colony. He seized Claros, of which he became the sovereign. He married Manto the daughter of Tiresias, who had been seized on his coasts. Pausanias, bk. 7, ch. 3.

Rhacōtis, an ancient name of Alexandria the capital of Egypt. Strabo.—Pausanias, bk. 5, ch. 21.

Rhadamanthus, a son of Jupiter and Europa. He was born in Crete, which he abandoned about the 30th year of his age. He passed into some of the Cyclades, where he reigned with so much justice and impartiality, that the ancients have said he became one of the judges of hell, and that he was employed in the infernal regions in obliging the dead to confess their crimes, and in punishing them for their offences. Rhadamanthus reigned not only over some of the Cyclades, but over many of the Greek cities of Asia. Pausanias, bk. 8, ch. 53.—Ovid, Metamorphoses, bk. 9, li. 435.—Diodorus, bk. 5.—Plato.—Homer. Iliad, bk. 4, li. 564.—Virgil, Æneid, bk. 6, li. 566.

Rhadamistus, a son of Pharnasmanes king of Iberia. He married Zenobia, the daughter of his uncle Mithridates king of Armenia, and some time after put him to death. He was put to death by his father for his cruelties, about the year 52 of the christian era. Tacitus, Annals, bk. 13, ch. 37.

Rhadius, a son of Neleus.

Rhæteum, a city of Phrygia.

Rhæti, or Ræti, an ancient and warlike nation of Etruria. They were driven from their native country by the Gauls, and went to settle on the other side of the Alps. See: Rhætia. Pliny, bk. 3, ch. 10.—Justin, bk. 20, ch. 5.

Rhætia, a country at the north of Italy, between the Alps and the Danube, which now forms the territories of the Grisons, of the Tyrol, and part of Italy. It was divided into two parts, Rhætia prima and Rhætia secunda. The first extended from the sources of the Rhine to those of the Licus or Lek, a small river which falls into the Danube. The other, called also Vindelicia, extended from the Licus to another small river called Œnus, or Inn, towards the east. The principal towns of Rhætia were called Curia, Tridentum, Belunum, Feltria. The Rhætians rendered themselves formidable by the frequent invasions which they made upon the Roman empire, and were at last conquered by Drusus the brother of Tiberius, and others under the Roman emperors. Virgil, Georgics, bk. 2, li. 96.—Strabo, bk. 4.—Pliny, bk. 3, ch. 20; bk. 14, ch. 2, &c.—Horace, bk. 4, ode 4 & 14.

Rhamnes, a king and augur, who assisted Turnus against Æneas. He was killed in the night by Nisus. Virgil, Æneid, bk. 9, li. 325.

Rhamnus, a town of Attica, famous for a temple of Amphiaraus, and a statue of the goddess Nemesis, who was from thence called Rhamnusia. This statue was made by Phidias, out of a block of Parian marble, which the Persians intended as a pillar to be erected to commemorate their expected victory over Greece. Pausanias, bk. 1.—Pliny, bk. 36.

Rhamnusia, a name of Nemesis. See: Rhamnus.

Rhampsinītus, an opulent king of Egypt, who succeeded Proteus. He built a large tower with stones at Memphis, where his riches were deposited, and of which he was robbed by the artifice of the architect, who had left a stone in the wall easily movable, so as to admit a plunderer. Herodotus, bk. 2, ch. 121, &c.

Rhamses, or Ramises, a powerful king of Egypt, who, with an army of 700,000 men, conquered Æthiopia, Libya, Persia, and other eastern nations. In his reign, according to Pliny, Troy was taken. Some authors consider him to be the same as Sesostris. Tacitus, Annals, bk. 2, ch. 60.—Pliny, bk. 36, ch. 8.

Rhanis, one of Diana’s attendant nymphs. Ovid, Metamorphoses, bk. 3.

Rharos, or Rharium, a plain of Attica, where corn was first sown by Triptolemus. It received its name from the sower’s father, who was called Rharos. Pausanias, bk. 1, chs. 14 & 38.

Rhascupŏris, a king of Thrace, who invaded the possessions of Cotys, and was put to death by order of Tiberius, &c. Tacitus, Annals, bk. 2, ch. 64.

Rhea, a daughter of Cœlus and Terra, who married Saturn, by whom she had Vesta, Ceres, Juno, Pluto, Neptune, &c. Her husband, however, devoured them all as soon as born, as he had succeeded to the throne with the solemn promise that he would raise no male children, or, according to others, because he had been informed by an oracle that one of his sons would dethrone him. To stop the cruelty of her husband, Rhea consulted her parents, and was advised to impose upon him, or perhaps to fly into Crete. Accordingly, when she brought forth, the child was immediately concealed, and Saturn devoured up a stone which his wife had given him as her own child. The fears of Saturn were soon proved to be well founded. A year after, the child, whose name was Jupiter, became so strong and powerful, that he drove his father from his throne. Rhea has been confounded by the mythologists with some of the other goddesses, and many have supposed that she was the same divinity that received adoration under the various names of Bona Dea, Cybele, Dindymena, Magna mater, Ceres, Vesta, Titæa, and Terra, Tellus, and Ops. See: Cybele, Ceres, Vesta, &c. Rhea, after the expulsion of her husband from his throne, followed him to Italy, where he established a kingdom. Her benevolence in this part of Europe was so great, that the golden age of Saturn is often called the age of Rhea. Hesiod, Theogony.—Orpheus, Hymns.—Homer, Hymns.—Æschylus, Prometheus Bound.—Euripides, Bacchæ & Electra.—Ovid, Fasti, bk. 4, li. 197.—Apollodorus, bk. 1, ch. 1, &c.――Sylvia, the mother of Romulus and Remus. She is also called Ilia. See: Ilia.――A nymph of Italy, who is said to have borne a son called Aventinus to Hercules. Virgil, Æneid, bk. 7, li. 659.

Rhebas, or Rhebus, a river of Bithynia, flowing from mount Olympus into the Euxine sea. Flaccus, bk. 7, li. 698.

Rhedŏnes. See: Redones.

Rhegium, now Rheggio, a town of Italy, in the country of the Brutii, opposite Messana in Sicily, where a colony of Messenians under Alcidamidas settled, B.C. 723. It was originally called Rhegium, and afterwards Rhegium Julium, to distinguish it from Rhegium Lepidi, a town of Cisalpine Gaul. Some suppose that it received its name from the Greek word ῥηγνυμι, to break, because it is situate on the straits of Charybdis, which were formed when the island of Sicily, as it were, was broken and separated from the continent of Italy. This town has always been subject to great earthquakes, by which it has often been destroyed. The neighbourhood is remarkable for its great fertility, and for its delightful views. Silius Italicus, bk. 13, li. 94.—Cicero, For Archias, ch. 3.—Ovid, Metamorphoses, bk. 14, lis. 5 & 48.—Justin, bk. 4, ch. 1.—Mela, bk. 2, ch. 4.—Strabo, bk. 6.

Rhegusci, a people of the Alps.

Rhemi. See: Remi.

Rhene, a small island of the Ægean, about 200 yards from Delos, 18 miles in circumference. The inhabitants of Delos always buried their dead there, and their women also retired there during their labour, as their own island was consecrated to Apollo, where Latona had brought forth, and where no dead bodies were to be inhumated. Strabo says that it was uninhabited, though it was once as populous and flourishing as the rest of the Cyclades. Polycrates conquered it, and consecrated it to Apollo, after he had tied it to Delos, by means of a long chain. Rhene was sometimes called the small Delos, and the island of Delos the great Delos. Thucydides, bk. 3.—Strabo, bk. 10.—Mela, bk. 2, ch. 7.

Rheni, a people on the borders of the Rhine.

Rhenus, one of the largest rivers of Europe, which divides Germany from Gaul. It rises in the Rhætian Alps, and falls into the German ocean. Virgil has called it bicornis, because it divides itself into two streams. The river Rhine was a long time a barrier between the Romans and the Germans, and on that account its banks were covered with strong castles. Julius Cæsar was the first Roman who crossed it to invade Germany. The waters of that river were held in great veneration, and were supposed by the ancient Germans to have some peculiar virtue, as they threw their children into it, either to try the fidelity of the mothers, or to brace and invigorate their limbs. If the child swam on the surface, the mother was acquitted of suspicion, but if it sunk to the bottom, its origin was deemed illegitimate. In modern geography the Rhine is known as dividing itself into four large branches; the Waal, Lech, Issel, and the Rhine. That branch which still retains the name of Rhine loses itself in the sands above modern Leyden, and is afterwards no longer known by its ancient appellation, since the year 860, A.D., when inundations of the sea destroyed the regularity of its mouth. Ovid, Metamorphoses, bk. 2, li. 258.—Strabo, bk. 4.—Mela, bk. 2, ch. 3; bk. 5, ch. 2.—Cæsar, Gallic War, bk. 4, ch. 10.—Tacitus, Annals, bk. 2, ch. 6.—Virgil, Æneid, bk. 8, li. 727.――A small river of Italy, falling into the Po on the south, now Rheno. Silius Italicus, bk. 8, li. 600.—Pliny, bk. 3, ch. 16; bk. 16, ch. 36.

Rheomitres, a Persian who revolted from Artaxerxes, &c. Diodorus, bk. 15.――A Persian officer killed at the battle of Issus. Curtius, bk. 2, ch. 5.

Rhesus, a king of Thrace, son of the Strymon and Terpsichore, or, according to others, of Eioneus by Euterpe. After many warlike exploits and conquests in Europe, he marched to the assistance of Priam king of Troy, against the Greeks. He was expected with great impatience, as an ancient oracle had declared that Troy should never be taken if the horses of Rhesus drank the waters of the Xanthus, and fed upon the grass of the Trojan plains. This oracle was well known to the Greeks, and therefore two of their best generals, Diomedes and Ulysses, were commissioned by the rest to intercept the Thracian prince. The Greeks entered his camp in the night, slew him, and carried away his horses to their camp. Homer, Iliad, bk. 10.—Dictys Cretensis, bk. 2.—Apollodorus, bk. 1, ch. 3.—Virgil, Æneid, bk. 1, li. 473.—Ovid, Metamorphoses, bk. 13, li. 98.

Rhetogĕnes, a prince of Spain, who surrendered to the Romans, and was treated with great humanity.

Rhetĭco, a mountain of Rhætia.

Rheunus, a place in Arcadia. Pausanias, bk. 8, ch. 23.

Rhexēnor, a son of Nausithous king of Phæacia. Homer, Odyssey, bk. 7.――The father of Chalciope, the wife of Ægeus king of Athens.――A musician who accompanied Antony in Asia.

Rhexibius, an athlete of Opus, who obtained a prize in the Olympic games, and had a statue in the grove of Jupiter. Pausanias, bk. 6, ch. 18.

Rhiānus, a Greek poet of Thrace, originally a slave. He wrote an account of the war between Sparta and Messenia, which continued for 20 years, as also a history of the principal revolutions and events which had taken place in Thessaly. Of this poetical composition nothing but a few verses are extant. He flourished about 200 years before the christian era. Pausanias, bk. 4, ch. 6.

Rhidago, a river of Hyrcania falling into the Caspian sea. Curtius, bk. 6, ch. 4.

Rhimotăcles, a king of Thrace, who revolted from Antony to Augustus. He boasted of his attachment to the emperor’s person at an entertainment, upon which Augustus said, proditionem amo, proditores vero odi.

Rhinocolūra, a town on the borders of Palestine and Egypt. Livy, bk. 45, ch. 11.

♦Rhinthon, a Greek poet of Tarentum, in the age of Alexander. Cicero, Letters to Atticus, ltr. 20.

Rhion, a promontory of Achaia, opposite to Antirrhium in Ætolia, at the mouth of the Corinthian gulf, called also the Dardanelles of Lepanto. The strait between Naupactum and Patræ bore also the same name. The tomb of Hesiod was at the top of the promontory. Livy, bk. 27, ch. 30; bk. 38, ch. 7.—Pliny, bk. 4, ch. 2.—Pausanias, bk. 7, ch. 22.

Rhipha, or Rhiphe, a town of Arcadia. Statius, bk. 4, Thebaid, li. 286.

Rhiphæi, large mountains at the north of Scythia, where, as some suppose, the Gorgons had fixed their residence. The name of Rhiphæan was applied to any cold mountain in a northern country, and, indeed, these mountains seem to have existed only in the imagination of the poets, though some make the Tanais rise there. Pliny, bk. 4, ch. 12.—Lucan, bk. 3, li. 272; bk. 3, li. 282; bk. 4, li. 418.—Virgil, Georgics, bk. 1, li. 240; bk. 4, li. 518.

Rhipheus, one of the Centaurs. Ovid, Metamorphoses.――A Trojan praised for his justice, &c. Virgil, Æneid, bk. 2, li. 426. See: Ripheus.

Rhium. See: Rhion.

Rhizonitæ, a people of Illyricum, whose chief town was called Rhizinium. Livy, bk. 45, ch. 26.

Rhoda, now Roses, a seaport town of Spain. Livy, bk. 34, ch. 8.――A town on the Rhone, from which the river received its name. It was ruined in Pliny’s age. Pliny, bk. 3, ch. 4.

Rhodănus, a river of Gallia Narbonensis, arising in the Rhætian Alps, and falling into the Mediterranean sea, near Marseilles. It is one of the largest and most rapid rivers of Europe, now known by the name of the Rhone. Mela, bk. 2, ch. 5; bk. 3, ch. 3.—Ovid, Metamorphoses, bk. 2, li. 258.—Silius Italicus, bk. 3, li. 477.—Marcellinus, bk. 15, &c.—Cæsar, Gallic War, bk. 1, ch. 1.—Pliny, bk. 3, ch. 4.—Strabo, bk. 4.—Lucan, bk. 1, li. 433; bk. 6, li. 475.

Rhode, a daughter of Neptune. Apollodorus.――Of Danaus. Apollodorus.

Rhodia, one of the Oceanides. Hesiod.――A daughter of Danaus. Apollodorus.

Rhodogȳne, a daughter of Phraates king of Parthia, who married Demetrius, when he was in banishment at her father’s court. Polyænus, bk. 8.

Rhŏdŏpe, or Rhodōpis, a celebrated courtesan of Greece, who was fellow-servant with Æsop, at the court of a king of Samos. She was carried to Egypt by Xanthus, and her liberty was at last bought by Charaxes of Mitylene, the brother of Sappho, who was enamoured of her, and who married her. She sold her favours at Naucratis, where she collected so much money, that, to render her name immortal, she consecrated a number of spits in the temple of Apollo at Delphi; or, according to others, erected one of the pyramids of Egypt. Ælian says that, as Rhodope was one day bathing herself, an eagle carried away one of her sandals, and dropped it near Psammetichus king of Egypt, at Memphis. The monarch was struck with the beauty of the sandal, strict inquiry was made to find the owner, and Rhodope, when discovered, married Psammetichus. Herodotus, bk. 2, ch. 134, &c.—Ovid, Heroides, poem 15.—Ælian, Varia Historia, bk. 13, ch. 33. Perizonius supposes there were two persons of that name.

Rhŏdŏpe, a high mountain of Thrace, extending as far as the Euxine sea, all across the country, nearly in an eastern direction. Rhodope, according to the poets, was the wife of Hæmus king of Thrace, who was changed into this mountain, because she preferred herself to Juno in beauty. Ovid, Metamorphoses, bk. 6, li. 87, &c.—Virgil, Eclogues, poem 8; Georgics, bk. 3, li. 351.—Mela, bk. 2, ch. 2.—Strabo, bk. 7.—Silius Italicus, bk. 2, li. 73.—Seneca, Hercules Oetaeus.

Rhodopēius, is used in the same signification as Thracian, because Rhodope was a mountain of that country. Ovid, Ars Amatoria, bk. 3, li. 321; Heroides, poem 2.—Virgil, Georgics, bk. 4, li. 461.

Rhodunia, the top of mount Œta. Livy, bk. 36, ch. 16.

Rhodus, a celebrated island in the Carpathian sea, 120 miles in circumference, at the south of Caria, from which it is distant about 20 miles. Its principal cities were Rhodes, founded about 408 years before the christian era, Lindus, Camisus, Jalysus. Rhodes was famous for the siege which it supported against Demetrius, and for a celebrated statue of Apollo. See: Colossus. The Rhodians were originally governed by kings, and were independent, but this government was at last exchanged for a democracy and an aristocracy. They were naturally given up to commerce, and, during many ages, they were the most powerful nation by sea. Their authority was respected, and their laws were so universally approved, that every country made use of them to decide disputes concerning maritime affairs, and they were at last adopted by other commercial nations, and introduced into the Roman codes, from whence they have been extracted to form the basis of the maritime regulations of modern Europe. When Alexander made himself master of Asia, the Rhodians lost their independence, but they soon after asserted their natural privileges under his cruel successors, and continued to hold that influence among nations to which their maritime power and consequence entitled them. They assisted Pompey against Cæsar, and were defeated by Cassius, and became dependent upon the Romans. The island of Rhodes has been known by the several names of Ophiusa, Stadia, Telchinus, Corymbia, Trinacria, Æthrea, Asteria, Poessa, Atabyria, Oloessa, Marcia, and Pelagia. It received the name of Rhodes, either on account of Rhode, a beautiful nymph who dwelt there, and who was one of the favourites of Apollo, or because roses (ῥοδον) grew in great abundance all over the island. Strabo, bk. 14.—Homer, Iliad, bk. 2.—Mela, bk. 2, ch. 7.—Diodorus, bk. 5.—Pliny, bk. 2, chs. 62 & 87; bk. 5, ch. 31.—Florus, bk. 2, ch. 7.—Pindar, Olympian, poem 7.—Lucan, bk. 8, li. 248.—Cicero, On Pompey’s Command; Brutus, ltr. 13.—Livy, bk. 27, ch. 30; bk. 31, ch. 2.

Rhœbus, a horse of Mezentius, whom his master addressed with the determination to conquer or to die, when he saw his son Lausus brought lifeless from the battle. This beautiful address is copied from Homer, where likewise Achilles addresses his horses. Virgil, Æneid, bk. 10, li. 861.

Rhœcus, one of the Centaurs who attempted to offer violence to Atalanta. He was killed at the nuptials of Pirithous by Bacchus. Ovid, Metamorphoses, bk. 12, li. 301.—Virgil, Georgics, bk. 2.――One of the giants killed by Bacchus, under the form of a lion, in the war which these sons of the earth waged against Jupiter and the gods. Horace, bk. 2, ode 19, li. 23.

Rhœo, a nymph beloved by Apollo. Diodorus, bk. 5.

Rhœtēum, or Rhœtus, a promontory of Troas, on the Hellespont, near which the body of Ajax was buried. Ovid, Metamorphoses, bk. 11, li. 197; bk. 4, Fasti, li. 279.—Virgil, Æneid, bk. 6, li. 505; bk. 12, li. 456.

Rhœtius, a mountain of Corsica, now Rosso.

Rhœtus, a king of the Marrubii, who married a woman called Casperia, to whom Archemorus, his son by a former wife, offered violence. After this incestuous attempt, ♦Archemorus fled to Turnus king of the Rutuli. Virgil, Æneid, bk. 10, li. 388.――A Rutulian killed by Euryalus in the night. Æneid, bk. 9, li. 344.――An Æthiopian killed by Perseus. Ovid, Metamorphoses, bk. 5, li. 38.

Rhosaces, a Persian killed by Clitus as he was going to stab Alexander at the battle of the Granicus. Curtius, bk. 8, ch. 1.

Rhosus, a town of Syria, on the gulf of Issus, celebrated for its earthen wares. Cicero, bk. 6, Letters to Atticus, ltr. 1.

Rhoxalāni, a people at the north of the Palus Mæotis. Tacitus, Histories, bk. 1, ch. 79.

Rhoxāna, or Roxāna, a mistress of Alexander, daughter of a Persian satrap. See:, Roxana.

Rhoxāni, a nation against whom Mithridates made war.

Rhutēni and Rhuthēni, a people of Gaul.

Rhyndăcus, a large river of Mysia, in Asia Minor. Pliny, bk. 5, ch. 32.

Rhynthon, a dramatic writer of Syracuse, who flourished at Tarentum, where he wrote 38 plays. Authors are divided with respect to the merit of his compositions, and the abilities of the writer. See: Rhinthon.

Rhypæ, a town of Achaia, at the west of Helice.

Rigodulum, a village of Germany, now Rigol, near Cologne. Tacitus, Histories, bk. 4, ch. 71.

Riphæi. See: Rhiphæi.

Ripheus, a Trojan who joined Æneas the night that Troy was reduced to ashes, and was at last killed after making a great carnage of the Greeks. He is commended for his love of justice and equity. Virgil, Æneid, bk. 2, lis. 339 & 426.――One of the Centaurs killed by Theseus at the nuptials of Pirithous. Ovid, Metamorphoses, bk. 12, li. 352.

Rixamăræ, a people of Illyricum. Livy, bk. 45, ch. 26.

Robīgo, or Rubīgo, a goddess at Rome, particularly worshipped by husbandmen, as she presided over corn. Her festivals, called Robigalia, were celebrated on the 25th of April, and incense was offered to her, as also the entrails of a sheep and of a dog. She was intreated to preserve the corn from blights. Ovid, Fasti, bk. 4, li. 911.—Virgil, Georgics, bk. 1, li. 151.—Varro, de Lingua Latina, bk. 5; de Re Rustica, bk. 1, ch. 1.

Rodumna, now Roanne, a town of the Ædui, on the Loire.

Roma, a city of Italy, the capital of the Roman empire, situate on the banks of the river Tiber, at the distance of about 16 miles from the sea. The name of its founder, and the manner of its foundation, are not precisely known. Romulus, however, is universally supposed to have laid the foundations of that celebrated city, on the 20th of April, according to Varro, in the year 3961 of the Julian period, 3251 years after the creation of the world, 753 before the birth of Christ, and 431 years after the Trojan war, and in the fourth year of the sixth Olympiad. In its original state, Rome was but a small castle on the summit of mount Palatine; and the founder, to give his followers the appearance of a nation or a barbarian horde, was obliged to erect a standard as a common asylum, for every criminal, debtor, or murderer, who fled from their native country to avoid the punishment which attended them. From such an assemblage a numerous body was soon collected, and before the death of the founder, the Romans had covered with their habitations the Palatine, Capitoline, Aventine, Esquiline hills, with mount Cœlius and Quirinalis. After many successful wars against the neighbouring states, the views of Romulus were directed to regulate a nation naturally fierce, warlike, and uncivilized. The people were divided into classes, the interests of the whole were linked in a common chain, and the labours of the subject, as well as those of his patron, tended to the same end, the aggrandizement of the state. Under the successors of Romulus, the power of Rome was increased, and the boundaries of her dominions extended; while one was employed in regulating the forms of worship, and inculcating in the minds of his subjects a reverence for the deity, the other was engaged in enforcing discipline among the army, and raising the consequence of the soldiers in the government of the state; and a third made the object of his administration consist in adorning his capital, in beautifying its edifices, and in fortifying it with towers and walls. During 244 years the Romans were governed by kings, but the tyranny, the oppression, and the violence of the last of these monarchs and of his family, became so atrocious, that a revolution was effected in the state, and the democratical government was established. The monarchical government existed under seven princes, who began to reign in the following order: Romulus, B.C. 753; and after one year’s interregnum, Numa, 715; Tullus Hostilius, 672; Ancus Martius, 640; Tarquin Priscus, 616; Servius Tullius, 578; and Tarquin the Proud, 534, expelled 25 years after, B.C. 509; and this regal administration has been properly denominated the infancy of the Roman empire. After the expulsion of the Tarquins from the throne, the Romans became more sensible of their consequence: with their liberty they acquired a spirit of faction, and they became so jealous of their independence, that the first of their consuls who had been the most zealous and animated in the assertion of their freedom, was banished from the city because he bore the name, and was of the family, of the tyrants; and another, to stop their suspicions, was obliged to pull down his house, whose stateliness and magnificence above the rest seemed incompatible with the duties and the rank of a private citizen. They knew more effectually their power when they had fought with success against Porsenna the king of Etruria, and some of the neighbouring states, who supported the claim of the tyrant, and attempted to replace him on his throne by force of arms. A government which is entrusted into the hands of two of the most distinguished of its members, for the limited space of one year, cannot but give rise to great men, glorious exploits, and tremendous seditions. The general who is placed at the head of an army during a campaign, must be active and diligent, when he knows that his power is terminated with the year, and if he has a becoming ambition, he will distinguish his consulship by some uncommon act of valour, before he descends from the dignity of an absolute magistrate to the dependence of a fellow-citizen. Yet these attempts for the attainment of glory often failed of success; and though the Romans could once boast that every individual in their armies could discharge with fidelity and honour the superior offices of magistrate and consul, there are to be found in their annals many years marked by overthrows, or disgraced by the ill conduct, the oppression, and the wantonness of their generals. See: Consul. To the fame which their conquests and daily successes had gained abroad, the Romans were not a little indebted for their gradual rise to superiority; and to this may be added the policy of the census, which every fifth year told them their actual strength, and how many citizens were able to bear arms. And indeed it was no small satisfaction to a people who were continually making war, to see that, in spite of all the losses which they might sustain in the field, the increase of the inhabitants of the city was prodigious, and almost incredible; and had Romulus lived after the battle of Actium, he would have been persuaded with difficulty that above 4,000,000 of inhabitants were contained within those walls, which in the most flourishing period of his reign could scarce muster an army of 3000 infantry and 300 horse. But when Rome had flourished under the consular government for about 120 years, and had beheld with pleasure the conquests of her citizens over the neighbouring states and cities, which, according to a Roman historian, she was ashamed to recollect in the summit of her power, an irruption of the barbarians of Gaul rendered her very existence precarious, ♦and her name was nearly extinguished. The valour of an injured individual [See: Camillus] saved it from destruction, yet not before its buildings and temples were reduced to ashes. This celebrated event, which gave the appellation of another founder of Rome to Camillus, has been looked upon as a glorious era to the Romans. The huts and cottages which Romulus had erected, and all his successors repaired, were totally consumed, and when the city arose again from its ruins, the streets were enlarged, convenience as well as order was observed, taste and regularity were consulted, and the poverty, ignorance, and rusticity of the Romans seemed to be extinguished with their old habitations. But no sooner were they freed from the fears of their barbarian invaders, than they turned their arms against those states which refused to acknowledge their superiority, or yield their independence. Their wars with Pyrrhus and the Tarentines displayed their character in a different view; if they before had fought for freedom and independence, they now drew their sword for glory; and here we may see them conquered in the field, and yet refusing to grant that peace for which their conqueror himself had sued. The advantages they gained from their battles with Pyrrhus were many. The Roman name became known in Greece, Sicily, and Africa, and in losing or gaining a victory, the Romans were enabled to examine the manœuvres, observe the discipline, and contemplate the order and the encampments of those soldiers whose friends and ancestors had accompanied Alexander the Great in the conquest of Asia. Italy became subjected to the Romans at the end of the war with the Tarentines, and that period of time has been called the second age, or the adolescence of the Roman empire. After this memorable era they tried their strength not only with distant nations, but also upon a new element; and in the long wars which they waged against Carthage, they acquired territory, and obtained the sovereignty of the sea; and though Annibal for 16 years kept them in continual alarms, hovered round their gates, and destroyed their armies almost before their walls, yet they were doomed to conquer [See: Punicum bellum], and soon to add the kingdom of Macedonia [See: Macedonicum bellum] and the provinces of Asia [See: Mithridaticum bellum] to their empire. But while we consider the Romans as a nation subduing their neighbours by war, their manners, their counsels, and their pursuits at home are not to be forgotten. To be warriors was their profession; their assemblies in the Campus Martius were a meeting of armed men, and very properly denominated an army. Yet while their conquests were so extensive abroad, we find them torn by factions at home; and so far was the resentment of the poorer citizens carried, that we see the enemy at the gates of the city, while all are unwilling to take up arms and to unite in the defence of their common liberty. The senators and nobles were ambitious of power, and endeavoured to retain in their hands that influence which had been exercised with so much success, and such cruelty, by their monarchs. This was the continual occasion of tumults and sedition. The people were jealous of their liberty. The oppression of the nobles irritated them, and the stripes to which they were too often exposed without mercy, was often productive of revolutions. The plebeians, though originally the poorest and most contemptible citizens of an indigent nation, whose food in the first ages of the empire was only bread and salt, and whose drink was water, soon gained rights and privileges by their opposition. Though really slaves, they became powerful in the state; one concession from the patricians produced another, and when their independence was boldly asserted by their tribunes, they were admitted to share in the highest offices of the state, and the laws which forbade the intermarriage of plebeian and patrician families were repealed, and the meanest peasant could by valour and fortitude be raised to the dignity of dictator and consul. It was not till these privileges were obtained by the people from the senate, that Rome began to enjoy internal peace and tranquillity; her battles were then fought with more vigour, her soldiers were more animated, and her sovereignty was more universally established. But supreme power lodged in the hands of a factious and ambitious citizen, becomes too often dangerous. The greatest oppression and tyranny took place of subordination and obedience; and from those causes proceeded the unparalleled slaughter and effusion of blood under a Sylla and a Marius. It has been justly observed, that the first Romans conquered their enemies by valour, temperance, and fortitude; their moderation also and their justice were well known among their neighbours, and not only private possessions, but even mighty kingdoms and empires, were left in their power, to be distributed among a family or to be ensured in the hands of a successor. They were also chosen umpires to decide quarrels, but in this honourable office they consulted their own interest; they artfully supported the weaker side, that the more powerful might be reduced, and gradually become their prey. Under Julius Cæsar and Pompey, the rage of civil war was carried to unprecedented excess: it was not merely to avenge a private injury, but it was a contest for the sovereignty; and though each of the adversaries wore the mask of pretended sincerity, and professed himself to be the supporter of the republic, no less than the abolition of freedom and the public liberty was the aim. What Julius began, his adopted son achieved: the ancient spirit of national independence was extinguished at Rome; and after the battle of Actium, the Romans seemed unable to govern themselves without the assistance of a chief, who, under the title of imperator, an appellation given to every commander by his army after some signal victory, reigned with as much power and as much sovereignty as another Tarquin. Under their emperors, the Romans lived a luxurious and indolent life; they had long forgot to appear in the field, and their wars were left to be waged by mercenary troops, who fought without spirit or animosity, and who were ever ready to yield to him who bought their allegiance and fidelity with the greatest sums of money. Their leaders themselves were not the most prudent or the most humane; the power which they had acquired by bribery was indeed precarious, and among a people where not only the highest offices of the state, but even the imperial purple itself, are exposed to sale, there cannot be expected much happiness or tranquillity in the palace of the emperor. The reigns of the successors of Augustus were distinguished by variety; one was the most abandoned and profligate of men, whom his own vices and extravagance hurried out of the world, while his successor, perhaps the most clement, just, and popular of princes, was sacrificed in the midst of his guards and attendants by the dagger of some offended favourite or disappointed eunuch. Few indeed were the emperors of Rome whose days were not shortened by poison, or the sword of an assassin. If one for some time had the imprudence to trust himself in the midst of a multitude, at last to perish by his own credulity, the other consulted his safety, but with no better success, in the innumerable chambers of his palace, and changed every day, to elude discovery, the place of his retirement. After they had been governed by a race of princes, remarkable for the variety of their characters, the Roman possessions were divided into two distinct empires, by the enterprising Constantine, A.D. 328. Constantinople became the seat of the eastern empire, and Rome remained in the possession of the western emperors, and continued to be the capital of their dominions. In the year 800 of the christian era, Rome with Italy was delivered by Charlemagne, the then emperor of the west, into the hands of the Pope, who still continues to hold the sovereignty, and to maintain his independence under the name of the Ecclesiastical States. The original poverty of the Romans has often been disguised by their poets and historians, who wished it to appear that a nation who were masters of the world, had had better beginning than to be a race of shepherds and robbers. Yet it was to this simplicity they were indebted for their successes. Their houses were originally destitute of every ornament, they were made with unequal boards, and covered with mud, and these served them rather as a shelter against the inclemency of the seasons than for relaxation and ease. Till the age of Pyrrhus, they despised riches, and many salutary laws were enacted to restrain luxury and to punish indolence. They observed great temperance in their meals; young men were not permitted to drink wine till they had attained their 30th year, and it was totally forbidden to women. Their national spirit was supported by policy; the triumphal procession of a conqueror along the streets amidst the applause of thousands, was well calculated to promote emulation, and the number of gladiators who were regularly introduced not only in public games and spectacles, but also at private meetings, served to cherish their fondness for war, whilst it steeled their hearts against the calls of compassion; and when they could gaze with pleasure upon wretches whom they forcibly obliged to murder one another, they were not inactive in the destruction of those whom they considered as inveterate foes or formidable rivals in the field. In their punishments, civil as well as military, the Romans were strict and rigorous; a deserter was severely whipped and sold as a slave, and the degradation from the rank of a soldier and dignity of a citizen was the most ignominious stigma which could be affixed upon a seditious mutineer. The transmarine victories of the Romans proved at last the ruin of their innocence and bravery. They grew fond of the luxury of the Asiatics; and, conquered by the vices and indolence of those nations whom they had subdued, they became as effeminate and as dissolute as their captives. Marcellus was the first who introduced a taste for the fine arts among his countrymen. The spoils and treasures that were obtained in the plunder of Syracuse and Corinth, rendered the Romans partial to elegant refinement and ornamental equipage. Though Cato had despised philosophy [See: Carneades], and declared that war was the only profession of his countrymen, the Romans, by their intercourse with the Greeks, soon became fond of literature; and though they had once banished the sophists of Athens from their city, yet they beheld with rapture their settlement among them in the principal towns of Italy, after the conquest of Achaia. They soon after began to imitate their polished captives, and to cultivate poetry with success. From the valour of their heroes and conquerors, indeed, the sublimest subjects were offered to the genius of their poets; but of the little that remains to celebrate the early victories of Rome, nothing can be compared to the nobler effusions of the Augustan age. Virgil has done so much for the Latin name that the splendour and the triumphs of his country are forgotten for a while, when we are transported in the admiration of the majesty of his numbers, the elegant delicacy of his expressions, and the fire of his muse; and the applauses given to the lyric powers of Horace, the softness of Tibullus, the vivacity of Ovid, and to the ♠superior compositions of other respectable poets, shall be unceasing so long as the name of Rome excites our reverence and our praises, and so long as genius, virtue, and abilities are honoured amongst mankind. Though they originally rejected with horror a law which proposed the building of a public theatre, and the exhibition of plays, like the Greeks, yet the Romans soon proved favourable to the compositions of their countrymen. Livius was the first dramatic writer of consequence at Rome, whose plays began to be exhibited A.U.C. 514. After him Nævius and Ennius wrote for the stage; and in a more polished period Plautus, Terence, Cæcilius, and Afranius claimed the public attention and gained the most unbounded applause. Satire did not make its appearance at Rome till 100 years after the introduction of comedy, and so celebrated was Lucilius in this kind of writing, that he was called the inventor of it. In historical writing the progress of the Romans was slow and inconsiderable, and for many years they employed the pen of foreigners to compile their annals, till the superior abilities of a Livy were made known. In their worship and sacrifices the Romans were uncommonly superstitious; the will of the gods was consulted on every occasion, and no general marched to an expedition without the previous assurance from the augurs that the omens were propitious, and his success almost indubitable. Their sanctuaries were numerous; they raised altars not only to the gods, who, as they supposed, presided over their city, but also to the deities of conquered nations, as well as to the different passions and virtues. There were no less than 420 temples at Rome, crowded with statues; the priests were numerous, and each divinity had a particular college of sacerdotal servants. Their wars were declared in the most awful and solemn manner, and prayers were always offered in the temples for the prosperity of Rome, when a defeat had been sustained or a victory won. The power of fathers over their children was very extensive, and indeed unlimited; they could sell them or put them to death at pleasure, without the forms of a trial, or the interference of the civil magistrate. Many of their ancient families were celebrated for the great men whom they had produced, but the vigorous and interested part they took in the government of the republic exposed them often to danger; and some have observed that the Romans sunk into indolence and luxury when the Cornelii, the Fabii, the Æmylii, the Marcelli, &c., who had so often supported their spirit and led them to victory, had been extinguished in the bloody wars of Marius and of the two triumvirates. When Rome was become powerful, she was distinguished from other cities by the flattery of her neighbours and citizens; a form of worship was established to her as a deity, and temples were raised in her honour, not only in the city but in the provinces. The goddess Roma was represented like Minerva, all armed and sitting on a rock, holding a pike in her hand, with her head covered with a helmet, and a trophy at her feet. Livy, bk. 1, &c.—Cato, de Re Rustica.—Virgil, Eclogues, Georgics, & Æneid.—Horace, bk. 2, satire 6, &c.—Florus, bk. 1, ch. 1, &c.—Paterculus.—Tacitus, Annals & Histories.—Tibullus, bk. 4.—Lucan.—Plutarch, Romulus, Numa, &c.—Cicero, de Natura Deorum, bk. 1, &c.—Pliny, bk. 7, &c.—Justin, bk. 43.—Varro, de Lingua Latina, bk. 5.—Valerius Maximus, bk. 1, &c.—Martial, bk. 12, ltr. 8.――A daughter of Evander.――A Trojan woman who came to Italy with Æneas.――A daughter of Italus and Luceria. It was after one of these females, according to some authors, that the capital of Italy was called Roma.