A CLASSICAL DICTIONARY, ETC., ETC. (continued 42)

Statĭnæ, islands on the coast of Campania, raised from the sea by an earthquake. Pliny, bk. 2, ch. 88.

Statīra, a daughter of Darius, who married Alexander. The conqueror had formerly refused her, but when she had fallen into his hands at Issus, the nuptials were celebrated with uncommon splendour. No less than 9000 persons attended, to each of whom Alexander gave a golden cup, to be offered to the gods. Statira had no children by Alexander. She was cruelly put to death by Roxana, after the conqueror’s death. Justin, bk. 12, ch. 12.――A sister of Darius the last king of Persia. She also became his wife, according to the manners of the Persians. She died after an abortion, in Alexander’s camp, where she was detained as a prisoner. She was buried with great pomp by the conqueror. Plutarch, Alexander.――A wife of Artaxerxes Memnon, poisoned by her mother-in-law queen Parysatis. Plutarch, Artaxerxes.――A sister of Mithridates the Great. Plutarch.

Statius Cæcilius, a comic poet in the age of Ennius. He was a native of Gaul, and originally a slave. His latinity was bad, yet he acquired great reputation by his comedies. He died a little after Ennius. Cicero, de Senectute.――Annæus, a physician, the friend of the philosopher Seneca. Tacitus, Annals, bk. 15, ch. 64.――Publius Papinius, a poet born at Naples, in the reign of the emperor Domitian. His father’s name was Statius of Epirus, and his mother’s Agelina. Statius has made himself known by two epic poems, the Thebais in 12 books, and the Achilleis in two books, which remained unfinished on account of his premature death. There are, besides, other pieces composed on several subjects, which are extant, and well known under the name of Sylvæ, divided into four books. The two epic poems of Statius are dedicated to Domitian, whom the poet ranks among the gods. They were universally admired in his age at Rome, but the taste of the times was corrupted, though some of the moderns have called them inferior to no Latin compositions except Virgil’s. The style of Statius is bombastic and affected, and he often forgets the poet to become the declaimer and the historian. In his Sylvæ, which were written generally extempore, are many beautiful expressions and strokes of genius. Statius, as some suppose, was poor, and he was obliged to maintain himself by writing for the stage. None of his dramatic pieces are extant. Martial has satirized him, and what Juvenal has written in his praise, some have interpreted as an illiberal reflection upon him. Statius died about the 100th year of the christian era. The best editions of his works are that of Barthius, 2 vols., 4to, Zwickau, 1664, and that of the Variorum, 8vo, Leiden, 1671; and of the Thebais, separate, that of Warrington, 2 vols., 12mo, 1778.――Domitius, a tribune in the age of Nero, deprived of his office when Piso’s conspiracy was discovered. Tacitus, Annals, bk. 15, ch. 17.――A general of the Samnites.――An officer of the pretorian guards, who conspired against Nero.

Stator, a surname of Jupiter, given him by Romulus, because he stopped (sto) the flight of the Romans in a battle against the Sabines. The conqueror erected him a temple under that name. Livy, bk. 1, ch. 12.

Stellates, a field remarkable for its fertility, in Campania. Cicero, On the Agrarian Law, bk. 1, ch. 70.—Suetonius, Cæsar, ch. 20.

Stellio, a youth turned into an elf by Ceres, because he derided the goddess, who drank with avidity when tired and afflicted in her vain pursuit of her daughter Proserpine. Ovid, Metamorphoses, bk. 5, li. 445.

Stena, a narrow passage on the mountains near Antigonia, in Chaonia. Livy, bk. 32, ch. 5.

Stenobœa. See: Sthenobœa.

Stenocrătes, an Athenian who conspired to murder the commander of the garrison which Demetrius had placed in the citadel, &c. Polyænus, bk. 5.

Stentor, one of the Greeks who went to the Trojan war. His voice alone was louder than that of 50 men together. Homer, Iliad, bk. 5, li. 784.—Juvenal, satire 13, li. 112.

Stentoris lacus, a lake near Enos in Thrace. Herodotus, bk. 7, ch. 58.

Stephănus, a musician of Media, upon whose body Alexander made an experiment in burning a certain sort of bitumen called naphtha. Strabo, bk. 16.—Plutarch, Alexander.――A Greek writer of Byzantium, known for his dictionary giving an account of the towns and places of the ancient world, of which the best edition is that of Gronovius, 2 vols., folio, Leiden, 1694.

Sterŏpe, one of the Pleiades, daughters of Atlas. She married Œnomaus king of Pisa, by whom she had Hippodamia, &c.――A daughter of Parthaon, supposed by some to be the mother of the Sirens.――A daughter of Cepheus.――A daughter of Pleuron,――of Acastus,――of Danaus,――of Cebrion.

Sterŏpes, one of the Cyclops. Virgil, Æneid, bk. 8, li. 425.

Stersichŏrus, a lyric Greek poet of Himera, in Sicily. He was originally called Tisias, and obtained the name of Stersichorus from the alterations which he made in music and dancing. His compositions were written in the Doric dialect, and comprised in 26 books, all now lost, except a few fragments. Some say he lost his eyesight for writing invectives against Helen, and that he received it only upon making a recantation of what he had said. He was the first inventor of that fable of the horse and the stag, which Horace and some other poets have imitated, and this he wrote to prevent his countrymen from making an alliance with Phalaris. According to some, he was the first who wrote an epithalamium. He flourished 556 B.C., and died at Cantana, in the 85th year of his age. Isocrates, Helen.—Aristotle, Rhetoric.—Strabo, bk. 3.—Lucian, Macrobii.—Cicero, in Against Verres, bk. 2, ch. 35.—Plutarch, de Musica.—Quintilian, bk. 10, ch. 1.—Pausanias, bk. 3, ch. 19; bk. 10, ch. 26.

Stertinius, a stoic philosopher, ridiculed by Horace, bk. 2, satire 3. He wrote in Latin verse 220 books on the philosophy of the stoics.

Stesagŏras, a brother of Miltiades. See: Miltiades.

Stesilēa, a beautiful woman of Athens, &c.

Stesilēus, a beautiful youth of Cos, loved by Themistocles and Aristides, and the cause of jealousy and dissension between these celebrated men. Plutarch, Cimon.

Stesimbrŏtus, an historian very inconsistent in his narrations. He wrote an account of Cimon’s exploits. Plutarch, Cimom.――A son of Epaminondas, put to death by his father, because he had fought the enemy without his orders, &c. Plutarch.――A musician of Thasos.

Sthenele, a daughter of Acastus, wife of Menœtius. Apollodorus, bk. 3, ch. 13.――A daughter of Danaus by Memphis. Apollodorus, bk. 2, ch. 1.

Sthenĕlus, a king of Mycenæ, son of Perseus and Andromeda. He married Nicippe the daughter of Pelops, by whom he had two daughters, and a son called Eurystheus, who was born, by Juno’s influence, two months before the natural time, that he might obtain a superiority over Hercules, as being older. Sthenelus made war against Amphitryon, who had killed Electryon and seized his kingdom. He fought with success, and took his enemy prisoner, whom he transmitted to Eurystheus. Homer, Iliad, bk. 19, li. 91.—Apollodorus, bk. 2, ch. 4.――One of the sons of Ægyptus by Tyria.――A son of Capaneus. He was one of the Epigoni, and of the suitors of Helen. He went to the Trojan war, and was one of those who were shut up in the wooden horse, according to Virgil. Pausanias, bk. 2, ch. 18.—Virgil, Æneid, bks. 2 & 10.――A son of Androgeus the son of Minos. Hercules made him king of Thrace. Apollodorus, bk. 2, ch. 5.――A king of Argos, who succeeded his father Crotopus. Pausanias, bk. 2, ch. 16.――A son of Actor, who accompanied Hercules in his expedition against the Amazons. He was killed by one of these females.――A son of Melas, killed by Tydeus. Apollodorus, bk. 1, ch. 8.

Sthenis, a statuary of Olynthus.――An orator of Himera in Sicily, during the civil wars of Pompey. Plutarch, Pompey.

Stheno, one of the three Gorgons.

Sthenobœa, a daughter of Jobates king of Lycia, who married Prœtus king of Argos. She became enamoured of Bellerophon, who had taken refuge at her husband’s court, after the murder of his brother, and when he refused to gratify her criminal passion, she accused him before Prœtus of attempts upon her virtue. According to some she killed herself after his departure. Homer, Iliad, bk. 6, li. 162.—Hyginus, fable 57.――Many mythologists call her Antæa.

Stilbe, or Stilbia, a daughter of Peneus by Creusa, who became mother of Centaurus and Lapithus by Apollo. Diodorus, bk. 4.

Stilbo, a name given to the planet Mercury by the ancients, from its shining appearance. Cicero, de Natura Deorum, bk. 2, ch. 20.

Stĭlĭcho, a general of the emperor Theodosius the Great. He behaved with much courage, but under the emperor Honorius he showed himself turbulent and disaffected. As being of barbarian extraction, he wished to see the Roman provinces laid desolate by his countrymen, but in this he was disappointed. Honorius discovered his intrigues, and ordered him to be beheaded about the year of Christ 408. His family were involved in his ruin. Claudian has been loud in his praises, and Zosimus, Historia Nova, bk. 5, denies the truth of the charges laid against him.

Stilpo, a celebrated philosopher of Megara, who flourished 336 years before Christ, and was greatly esteemed by Ptolemy Soter. He was naturally addicted to riot and debauchery, but he reformed his manners when he opened a school at Megara. He was universally respected, his school was frequented, and Demetrius, when he plundered Megara, ordered the house of the philosopher to be left safe and unmolested. It is said that he intoxicated himself when ready to die, to alleviate the terrors of death. He was one of the chiefs of the Stoics. Plutarch, Demosthenes.—Diogenes Laërtius, bk. 2.—Seneca, de Constantia.

Stĭmĭcon, a shepherd’s name in Virgil’s fifth eclogue.

Stiphĭlus, one of the Lapithæ, killed in the house of Pirithous. Ovid, Metamorphoses, bk. 12.

Stobæus, a Greek writer who flourished A.D. 405. His work is valuable for the precious relics of ancient literature which he has preserved. The best edition is that of Geneva, folio, 1609.

Stobi, a town of Pœonia, in Macedonia. Livy, bk. 33, ch. 19; bk. 40, ch. 21.

Stœchădes, five small islands in the Mediterranean, on the coast of Gaul, now the Hieres, near Marseilles. They were called Ligustides by some, but Pliny speaks of them as only three in number. Stephanus Byzantius.—Lucan, bk. 3, li. 515.—Strabo, bk. 4.

Stœni, a people living among the Alps. Livy, bk. 62.

Stoĭci, a celebrated sect of philosophers founded by Zeno of Citium. They received the name from the portico (στυα), where the philosopher delivered his lectures. They preferred virtue to everything else, and whatever was opposite to it, they looked upon as the greatest of evils. They required, as well as the disciples of Epicurus, an absolute command over the passions, and they supported that man alone, in the present state of his existence, could attain perfection and felicity. They encouraged suicide, and believed that the doctrine of future punishments and rewards was unnecessary to excite or intimidate their followers. See: Zeno.

Strabo, a name among the Romans, given to those whose eyes were naturally deformed or distorted. Pompey’s father was distinguished by that name.――A native of Amasia, on the borders of Cappadocia, who flourished in the age of Augustus and Tiberius. He first studied under Xenarchus the peripatetic, and afterwards warmly embraced the tenets of the Stoics. Of all his compositions nothing remains but his geography, divided into 17 books, a work justly celebrated for its elegance, its purity, the erudition and universal knowledge of the author. It contains an account, in Greek, of the most celebrated places of the world, the origin, the manners, religion, prejudices, and government of nations; the foundation of cities, and the accurate history of each separate province. Strabo travelled over great part of the world in quest of information, and to examine with the most critical inquiry, not only the situation of the places, but also the manners of the inhabitants, whose history he meant to write. In the two first books the author wishes to show the necessity of geography; in the 3rd he gives a description of Spain; in the 4th of Gaul and the British isles. The 5th and 6th contain an account of Italy and the neighbouring islands; the 7th, which is mutilated at the end, gives a full description of Germany, and the country of the Getæ, Illyricum, Taurica, Chersonesus, and Epirus. The affairs of Greece and the adjacent islands are separately treated in the 8th, 9th, and 10th; and in the four next Asia, within mount Taurus; and in the 15th and 16th, Asia without Taurus, India, Persia, Syria, and Arabia; the last book gives an account of Egypt, Æthiopia, Carthage, and other places of Africa. Among the books of Strabo which have been lost, were historical commentaries. This celebrated geographer died A.D. 25. The best editions of his geography are those of Casaubon, folio, Paris, 1620; and of Amsterdam, 2 vols., folio, 1707.――A Sicilian, so clear-sighted, that he could distinguish objects at the distance of 130 miles, with the same ease as if they had been near.

Stratarchas, the grandfather of the geographer Strabo. His father’s name was Dorylaus. Strabo, bk. 10.

Strato, or Straton, a king of the island Aradus, received into alliance by Alexander. Curtius, bk. 4, ch. 1.――A king of Sidon, dependent upon Darius. Alexander deposed him, because he refused to surrender. Curtius, bk. 4, ch. 1.――A philosopher of Lampsacus, disciple and successor in the school of Theophrastus, about 289 years before the christian era. He applied himself with uncommon industry to the study of nature, and was surnamed Physicus; and after the most mature investigations, he supported that nature was inanimate, and that there was no god but nature. He was appointed preceptor to Ptolemy Philadelphus, who not only revered his abilities and learning, but also rewarded his labours with unbounded liberality. He wrote different treatises, all now lost. Diogenes Laërtius, bk. 5.—Cicero, Academica, bk. 1, ch. 9; bk. 4, ch. 38, &c.――A physician.――A peripatetic philosopher.――A native of Epirus, very intimate with Brutus the murderer of Cæsar. He killed his friend at his own request.――A rich Orchomenian who destroyed himself, because he could not obtain in marriage a young woman of Haliartus. Plutarch.――A Greek historian who wrote the life of some of the Macedonian kings.――An athlete of Achaia, twice crowned at the Olympic games. Pausanias, bk. 7, ch. 23.

Stratŏcles, an Athenian general at the battle of Cheronæ, &c., Polyænus.――A stage-player in Domitian’s reign. Juvenal, satire 3, li. 99.

Straton. See: Strato.

Stratŏnīce, a daughter of Thespius. Apollodorus.――A daughter of Pleuron. Apollodorus.――A daughter of Ariarathes king of Cappadocia, who married Eumenes king of Pergamus, and became mother of Attalus. Strabo, bk. 13.――A daughter of Demetrius Poliorcetes, who married Seleucus king of Syria. Antiochus, her husband’s son by a former wife, became enamoured of her, and married her with his father’s consent, when the physicians had told him that if he did not comply, his son’s health would be impaired. Plutarch, Demetrius.—Valerius Maximus, bk. 5, ch. 7.――A concubine of Mithridates king of Pontus. Plutarch, Pompey.――The wife of Antigonus, mother of Demetrius Poliorcetes.――A town of Caria, made a Macedonian colony. Strabo, bk. 14.—Livy, bk. 33, chs. 18 & 33.――Another, in Mesopotamia.――A third, near mount Taurus.

Stratonīcus, an opulent person in the reign of Philip, and of his son Alexander, whose riches became proverbial. Plutarch.――A musician of Athens in the age of Demosthenes. Athenæus, bk. 6, ch. 6; bk. 8, ch. 12.

Stratonis turris, a city of Judea, afterwards called Cæsarea by Herod in honour of Augustus.

Stratos, a city of Æolia. Livy, bk. 36, ch. 11.――Of Acarnania.

Strenua, a goddess at Rome, who gave vigour and energy to the weak and indolent. Augustine, City of God, bk. 4, chs. 11 & 16.

Strongy̆le, now Strombolo, one of the islands called Æolides in the Tyrrhene sea, near the coast of Sicily. It has a volcano, 10 miles in circumference, which throws up flame continually, and of which the crater is on the side of the mountain. Mela, bk. 2, ch. 7.—Strabo, bk. 6.—Pausanias, bk. 10, ch. 11.

Strophădes, two islands in the Ionian sea, on the western coasts of the Peloponnesus. They were anciently called Plotæ, and received the name of Strophades from στρεφω, verto, because Zethes and Calais, the sons of Boreas, returned from thence by order of Jupiter, after they had driven the Harpies there from the tables of Phineus. The fleet of Æneas stopped near the Strophades. The largest of these two islands is not above five miles in circumference. Hyginus, fable 19.—Mela, bk. 2, ch. 7.—Ovid, Metamorphoses, bk. 13, li. 709.—Virgil, Æneid, bk. 3, li. 210.—Strabo, bk. 8.

Strophius, a son of Crisus king of Phocis. He married a sister of Agamemnon, called Anaxibia, or Astyochia, or, according to others, Cyndragora, by whom he had Pylades, celebrated for his friendship with Orestes. After the murder of Agamemnon by Clytemnestra and Ægisthus, the king of Phocis educated at his own house, with the greatest care, his nephew, whom Electra had secretly removed from the dagger of his mother and her adulterer. Orestes was enabled, by means of Strophius, to revenge the death of his father. Pausanias, bk. 2, ch. 29.—Hyginus, fables 1, 17.――A son of Pylades by Electra the sister of Orestes.

Struthophăgi, a people of Æthiopia, who fed on sparrows, as their name signifies.

Struthus, a general of Artaxerxes against the Lacedæmonians, B.C. 393.

Stryma, a town of Thrace, founded by a Thasian colony. Herodotus, bk. 7, ch. 109.

Strymno, a daughter of the Scamander, who married Laomedon. Apollodorus, bk. 3, ch. 12.

Strymon, a river which separates Thrace from Macedonia, and falls into a part of the Ægean sea, which has been called Strymonicus sinus. A number of cranes, as the poets say, resorted on its banks in the summer time. Its eels were excellent. Mela, bk. 2, ch. 2.—Apollodorus, bk. 2, ch. 5.—Virgil, Georgics, bk. 1, li. 120; bk. 4, li. 508; Æneid, bk. 10, li. 265.—Ovid, Metamorphoses, bk. 2, li. 251.

Stubera, a town of Macedonia, between the Axius and Erigon. Livy, bk. 31, ch. 39.

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

Sturni, a town of Calabria.

Stymphālia, or Stymphālis, a part of Macedonia. Livy, bk. 45, ch. 30.――A surname of Diana.

Stymphālus, a king of Arcadia, son of Elatus and Laodice. He made war against Pelops, and was killed in a truce. Apollodorus, bk. 3, ch. 9.—Pausanias, bk. 8, ch. 4.――A town, river, lake, and fountain of Arcadia, which receives its name from king Stymphalus. The neighbourhood of the lake Stymphalus was infested with a number of voracious birds, like cranes or storks, which fed upon human flesh, and which were called Stymphalides. They were at last destroyed by Hercules, with the assistance of Minerva. Some have confounded them with the Harpies, while others pretend that they never existed but in the imagination of the poets. Pausanias, however, supports that there were carnivorous birds like the Stymphalides, in Arabia. Pausanias, bk. 8, ch. 4.—Statius, Thebaid, bk. 4, li. 298.――A lofty mountain of Peloponnesus in Arcadia.

Stygne, a daughter of Danaus. Statius, Sylvæ, bk. 4, poem 6.—Apollodorus.

Styra, a town of Eubœa.

Stȳrus, a king of Albania, to whom Æetes promised his daughter Medea in marriage, to obtain his assistance against the Argonauts. Flaccus, bk. 3, li. 497; bk. 8, li. 358.

Styx, a daughter of Oceanus and Tethys. She married Pallas, by whom she had three daughters, Victory, Strength, and Valour. Hesiod, Theogony, lis. 363 & 384.—Apollodorus, bk. 1, ch. 2.――A celebrated river of hell, round which it flows nine times. According to some writers, the Styx was a small river of Nonacris in Arcadia, whose waters were so cold and venomous, that they proved fatal to such as tasted them. Among others, Alexander the Great is mentioned as a victim to their fatal poison, in consequence of drinking them. They even consumed iron, and broke all vessels. The wonderful properties of this water suggested the idea that it was a river of hell, especially when it disappeared in the earth a little below its fountain head. The gods held the waters of the Styx in such veneration, that they always swore by them; an oath which was inviolable. If any of the gods had perjured themselves, Jupiter obliged them to drink the waters of the Styx, which lulled them for one whole year into a senseless stupidity; for the nine following years they were deprived of the ambrosia and the nectar of the gods, and after the expiration of the years of their punishment, they were restored to the assembly of the deities, and to all their original privileges. It is said that this veneration was shown to the Styx, because it received its name from the nymph Styx, who, with her three daughters, assisted Jupiter in his war against the Titans. Hesiod, Theogony, lis. 384, 775.—Homer, Odyssey, bk. 10, li. 513.—Herodotus, bk. 6, ch. 74.—Virgil, Æneid, bk. 6, lis. 323, 439, &c.—Apollodorus, bk. 1, ch. 3.—Ovid, Metamorphoses, bk. 3, li. 29, &c.—Lucan, bk. 6, li. 378, &c.—Pausanias, bk. 8, chs. 17 & 18.—Curtius, bk. 10, ch. 10.

Suada, the goddess of persuasion, called Pitho by the Greeks. She had a form of worship established to her honour first by Theseus. She had a statue in the temple of Venus Praxis at Megara. Cicero, Brutus, bk. 15.—Pausanias, bk. 1, chs. 22 & 43; bk. 9, ch. 35.

Suana, a town of Etruria.

Suardones, a people of Germany. Tacitus, Germania, ch. 40.

Suasa, a town of Umbria.

Subatrii, a people of Germany, over whom Drusus triumphed. Strabo, bk. 7.

Subi, a small river of Catalonia.

Sublicius, the first bridge erected at Rome over the Tiber. See: Pons.

Submontorium, a town of Vindelicia, now Augsburg.

Subota, small islands at the east of Athos. Livy, bk. 44, ch. 28.

Subur, a river of Mauritania.――A town of Spain.

Suburra, a street in Rome where all the licentious, dissolute, and lascivious Romans and courtesans resorted. It was situate between mount Viminalis and Quirinalis, and was remarkable as having been the residence of the obscurer years of Julius Cæsar. Suetonius, Cæsar.—Varro, de Lingua Latina, bk. 4, ch. 8.—Martial, bk. 8, ltr. 66.—Juvenal, satire 3, li. 5.

Sucro, now Xucar, a river of Hispania Tarraconensis, celebrated for a battle fought there between Sertorius and Pompey, in which the former obtained the victory. Plutarch.――A Rutulian killed by Æneas. Virgil, Æneid, bk. 12, li. 505.

Sudertum, a town of Etruria. Livy, bk. 26, ch. 23.

Suessa, a town of Campania, called also Aurunca, to distinguish it from Suessa Pometia, the capital of the Volsci. Strabo, bk. 5.—Pliny, bk. 3, ch. 5.—Dionysius of Halicarnassus, bk. 4.—Livy, bks. 1 & 2.—Virgil, Æneid, bk. 6, li. 775.—Cicero, Philippics, bk. 3, ch. 4; bk. 4, ch. 2.

Suessitani, a people of Spain. Livy, bk. 25, ch. 34.

Suessŏnes, a powerful nation of Belgic Gaul, reduced by Julius Cæsar. Cæsar, Gallic War, bk. 2.

Suessula, a town of Campania. Livy, bk. 7, ch. 37; bk. 23, ch. 14.

♦Suetonius Caius Paulinus, the first Roman general who crossed mount Atlas with an army, of which expedition he wrote an account. He presided over Britain as governor for about 20 years, and was afterwards made consul. He forsook the interest of Otho, and attached himself to Vitellius.――Caius Tranquillus, a Latin historian, son of a Roman knight of the same name. He was favoured by Adrian, and became his secretary, but he was afterwards banished from the court for want of attention and respect to the empress Sabina. In his retirement Suetonius enjoyed the friendship and correspondence of Pliny the younger, and dedicated his time to study. He wrote a history of the Roman kings, divided into three books; a catalogue of all the illustrious men of Rome, a book on the games and spectacles of the Greeks, &c., which are all now lost. The only one of his compositions extant, is the lives of the 12 first Cæsars, and some fragments of his catalogue of celebrated grammarians. Suetonius, in his Lives, is praised for his impartiality and correctness. His expressions, however, are often too indelicate, and it has been justly observed, that while he exposed the deformities of the Cæsars, he wrote with all the licentiousness and extravagance with which they lived. The best editions of Suetonius are that of Pitiscus, 4to, 2 vols., Leiden, 1714; that of Oudendorp, 2 vols., 8vo, Leiden, 1751; and that of Ernesti, 8vo, Lipscomb, 1775. Pliny, bk. 1, ltr. 11; bk. 5, ltr. 11, &c.

Suetri, a people of Gaul near the Alps.

♦Suevi, a people of Germany, between the Elbe and the Vistula, who made frequent incursions upon the territories of Rome under the emperors. Lucan, bk. 2, li. 51.

Suevius, a Latin poet in the age of Ennius.

Suffetala, an inland town of Mauritania.

Suffēnus, a Latin poet in the age of Catullus. He was but of moderate abilities, but puffed up with a high idea of his own excellence, and therefore deservedly exposed to the ridicule of his contemporaries. Catullus, poem 22.

Suffetius, or Suftius. See: Metius.

Suidas, a Greek writer who flourished A.D. 1100. The best edition of his excellent Lexicon is that of Kuster, 3 vols., folio, Cambridge. 1705.

Publius Suilius, an informer in the court of Claudius, banished under Nero, by means of Seneca, and sent to the Baleares. Tacitus, Annals, bk. 14, ch. 42, &c.――Cæsorinus, a guilty favourite of Messalina. Tacitus, Annals, bk. 11, ch. 36.

Suiones, a nation of Germany, supposed the modern Swedes. Tacitus, Germania, ch. 44.

Sulchi, a town at the south of Sardinia. Mela, bk. 2, ch. 7.—Claudian, Gildonic War, li. 518.—Strabo, bk. 5.

Sulcius, an informer whom Horace describes as hoarse with the number of defamations which he daily gave. Horace, bk. 1, satire 4, li. 65.

Sulga, now Sorgue, a small river of Gaul, falling into the Rhone. Strabo, bk. 4.

Sulla. See: Sylla.

Sulmo, now Sulmona, an ancient town of the Peligni, at the distance of about 90 miles from Rome, founded by Solymus, one of the followers of Æneas. Ovid was born there. Ovid, passim.—Silius Italicus, bk. 8, li. 511.—Strabo, bk. 5.――A Latin chief killed in the night by Nisus, as he was going with his companions to destroy Euryalus. Virgil, Æneid, bk. 9, li. 412.

Sulpitia, a daughter of Paterculus, who married Fulvius Flaccus. She was so famous for her chastity, that she consecrated a temple to ♦Venus Verticordia, a goddess who was implored to turn the hearts of the Roman women to virtue. Pliny, bk. 7, ch. 35.――A poetess in the age of Domitian, against whom she wrote a poem, because he had banished the philosophers from Rome. This composition is still extant. She had also written a poem on conjugal affection, commended by Martial, ltr. 35, now lost.――A daughter of Servius Sulpitius, mentioned in the fourth book of elegies, falsely attributed to Tibullus.

Sulpitia lex, militaris, by Caius Sulpicius the tribune, A.U.C. 665, invested Marius with the full power of the war against Mithridates, of which Sylla was to be deprived.――Another, de senatu, by Servius Sulpicius the tribune, A.U.C. 665. It required that no senator should owe more than 2000 drachmæ.――Another, de civitate, by Publius Sulpitius the tribune, A.U.C. 665. It ordered that the new citizens who composed the eight tribes lately created, should be divided among the 35 old tribes, as a greater honour.――Another, called also Sempronia, de religione, by Publius Sulpicius Saverrio and Publius Sempronius Sophus, consuls, A.U.C. 449. It forbade any person to consecrate a temple or altar without the permission of the senate and the majority of the tribunes.――Another, to empower the Romans to make war against Philip of Macedonia.

Sulpitius, or Sulpicius, an illustrious family at Rome, of whom the most celebrated are:—Peticus, a man chosen dictator against the Gauls. His troops mutinied when he first took the field, but soon after he engaged the enemy and totally defeated them. Livy, bk. 7.――Saverrio, a consul who gained a victory over the Æqui. Livy, bk. 9, ch. 45.――Caius Paterculus, a consul sent against the Carthaginians. He conquered Sardinia and Corsica, and obtained a complete victory over the enemy’s fleet. He was honoured with a triumph at his return to Rome. Livy, bk. 17.――Spurius, one of the three commissioners whom the Romans sent to collect the best laws which could be found in the different cities and republics of Greece. Livy, bk. 3, ch. 10.――One of the first consuls who received intelligence that a conspiracy was formed in Rome to restore the Tarquins to power, &c.――A priest who died of the plague in the first ages of the republic at Rome.――Publius Galba, a Roman consul who signalized himself greatly during the war which his countrymen waged against the Achæans and the Macedonians.――Severus, a writer. See: Severus.――Publius, one of the associates of Marius, well known for his intrigues and cruelty. He made some laws in favour of the allies of Rome, and he kept about 3000 young men in continual pay, whom he called his anti-senatorial band, and with these he had often the impertinence to attack the consul in the popular assemblies. He became at last so seditious, that he was proscribed by Sylla’s adherents, and immediately murdered. His head was fixed on a pole in the rostrum, where he had often made many seditious speeches in the capacity of tribune. Livy, bk. 77.――A Roman consul who fought against Pyrrhus and defeated him.――Caius Longus, a Roman consul, who defeated the Samnites and killed 30,000 of their men. He obtained a triumph for this celebrated victory. He was afterwards made dictator to conduct a war against the Etrurians.――Rufus, a lieutenant of Cæsar in Gaul.――One of Messalina’s favourites, put to death by Claudius.――Publius Quirinus, a consul in the age of Augustus.――Camerinus, a proconsul of Africa, under Nero, accused of cruelty, &c. Tacitus, bk. 13, Annals, ch. 52.――Gallus, a celebrated astrologer in the age of Paulus. He accompanied the consul in his expedition against Perseus, and told the Roman army that the night before the day on which they were to give the enemy battle there would be an eclipse of the moon. This explanation encouraged the soldiers, which, on the contrary, would have intimidated them, if not previously acquainted with the causes of it. Sulpitius was universally respected, and he was honoured a few years after with the consulship. Livy, bk. 44, ch. 37.—Pliny, bk. 2, ch. 12.――Apollinaris, a grammarian in the age of the emperor Marcus Aurelius. He left some letters and a few grammatical observations now lost. Cicero.—Livy.—Plutarch.—Polybius.—Florus.—Eutropius.

Summānus, a surname of Pluto, as prince of the dead, summus manium. He had a temple at Rome, erected during the wars with Pyrrhus, and the Romans believed that the thunderbolts of Jupiter were in his power during the night. Cicero, De Divinatione.—Ovid, Fasti, bk. 6, li. 731.

Sunici, a people of Germany on the shores of the Rhine. Tacitus, Histories, bk. 4, ch. 66.

Sunides, a soothsayer in the army of Eumenes. Polyænus, bk. 4.

Sunium, a promontory of Attica, about 45 miles distant from the Piræus. There was there a small harbour, as also a town. Minerva had there a beautiful temple, whence she was called Sunias. There are still extant some ruins of this temple. Pliny, bk. 4, ch. 7.—Strabo, bk. 9.—Pausanias, bk. 1, ch. 1.—Cicero, Letters to Atticus, bk. 7, ltr. 3; bk. 13, ltr. 10.

Suovetaurilia, a sacrifice among the Romans, which consisted of the immolation of a sow (sus), a sheep (ovis), and a bull (taurus), whence the name. It was generally observed every fifth year.

Supĕrum mare, a name of the Adriatic sea, because it was situate above Italy. The name of Mare Inferum was applied for the opposite reasons to the sea below Italy. Cicero, For Aulus Cluentius, &c.

Sura Æmylius, a Latin writer, &c. Velleius Paterculus, bk. 1, ch. 6.――Lucius Licinius, a favourite of Trajan, honoured with the consulship.――A writer in the age of the emperor Gallienus. He wrote a history of the reign of the emperor.――A city on the Euphrates.――Another in Iberia.――A river of Germany, whose waters fall into the Moselle. Ausonius, Mosella.

Surēna, a powerful officer in the armies of Orodes king of Parthia. His family had the privilege of crowning the kings of Parthia. He was appointed to conduct the war against the Romans, and to protect the kingdom of Parthia against Crassus, who wished to conquer it. He defeated the Roman triumvir, and after he had drawn him perfidiously to a conference, he ordered his head to be cut off. He afterwards returned to Parthia, mimicking the triumphs of the Romans. Orodes ordered him to be put to death, B.C. 52. Surena has been admired for his valour, his sagacity as a general, and his prudence and firmness in the execution of his plans; but his perfidy, his effeminate manners, and his lasciviousness have been deservedly censured. Polyænus, bk. 7.—Plutarch, Crassus.

Surium, a town at the south of Colchis.

Surrentum, a town of Campania, on the bay of Naples, famous for the wine which was made in the neighbourhood. Mela, bk. 2, ch. 4.—Strabo, bk. 5.—Horace, bk. 1, ltr. 17, li. 52.—Ovid, Metamorphoses, bk. 15, li. 710.—Martial, bk. 13, ltr. 110.

Surus, one of the Ædui, who made war against Cæsar. Cæsar, Gallic War, bk. 8, ch. 45.

Susa (orum), now Suster, a celebrated city of Asia, the chief town of Susiana, and the capital of the Persian empire, built by Tithonus the father of Memnon. Cyrus took it. The walls of Susa were above 120 stadia in circumference. The treasures of the kings of Persia were generally kept there, and the royal palace was built with white marble, and its pillars were covered with gold and precious stones. It was usual with the kings of Persia to spend the summer at Ecbatana, and the winter at Susa, because the climate was more warm than at any other royal residence. It has been called Memnonia, or the palace of Memnon, because that prince reigned there. Pliny, bk. 6, ch. 26, &c.—Lucan, bk. 2, li. 49.—Strabo, bk. 15.—Xenophon, Cyropædia.—Propertius, bk. 2, poem 13.—Claudian.

Susăna, a town of Hispania Tarraconensis. Silius Italicus, bk. 3, li. 384.

Susarion, a Greek poet of Megara, who is supposed, with Dolon, to be the inventor of comedy, and to have first introduced it at Athens on a movable stage, B.C. 562.

Susiāna, or Susis, a country of Asia, of which the capital was called Susa, situate at the east of Assyria. Lilies grow in great abundance in Susiana, and it is from that plant that the province received its name, according to some, as Susan is the name of a lily in Hebrew.

Susidæ pylæ, narrow passes over mountains, from Susiana into Persia. Curtius, bk. 5, ch. 3.

Suthul, a town of Numidia, where the king’s treasures were kept. Sallust, Jugurthine War, ch. 37.

Sutrium, a town of Etruria, about 24 miles north-west of Rome. Some suppose that the phrase Ire Sutrium, to act with despatch, arises from the celerity with which Camillus recovered the place, but Festus explains it differently. Plautus, Casina, act 3, scen 1, li. 10.—Livy, bk. 26, ch. 34.—Paterculus, bk. 1, ch. 14.—Livy, bk. 9, ch. 32.

Syagrus, an ancient poet, the first who wrote on the Trojan war. He is called Segaris, by Diogenes Laërtius, who adds that he lived in Homer’s age, of whom he was the rival. Ælian, Varia Historia, bk. 14, ch. 21.

Sybăris, a river of Lucania in Italy, whose waters were said to render men more strong and robust. Strabo, bk. 6.—Pliny, bk. 3, ch. 11; bk. 31, ch. 2.――There was a town of the same name on its banks on the bay of Tarentum, which had been founded by a colony of Achæans. Sybaris became very powerful, and in its most flourishing situation it had the command of four neighbouring nations, of 25 towns, and could send an army of 300,000 men into the field. The walls of the city were said to extend six miles and a half in circumference, and the suburbs covered the banks of the Crathis for the space of seven miles. It made a long and vigorous resistance against the neighbouring town of Crotona, till it was at last totally reduced by the disciples of Pythagoras, B.C. 501. Sybaris was destroyed no less than five times, and always repaired. In a more recent age the inhabitants became so effeminate, that the word Sybarise became proverbial to intimate a man devoted to pleasure. There was a small town built in the neighbourhood about 444 years before the christian era, and called Thurium, from a small fountain called Thuria, where it was built. Diodorus, bk. 12.—Strabo, bk. 6.—Ælian, Varia Historia, bk. 9, ch. 24.—Martial, bk. 12, ltr. 96.—Plutarch, Pelopidas, &c.—Pliny, bk. 3, ch. 10, &c.――A friend of Æneas, killed by Turnus. Virgil, Æneid, bk. 12, li. 363.――A youth enamoured of Lydia, &c. Horace, bk. 1, ode 8, li. 2.

Sybarīta, an inhabitant of Sybaris. See: Sybaris.

Sybota, a harbour of Epirus. Cicero, bk. 5, Letters to Atticus, ltr. 9.—Strabo, bk. 7.

Sybŏtas, a king of the Messenians in the age of Lycurgus the Spartan legislator. Pausanias, bk. 4, ch. 4.

Sycinnus, a slave of Themistocles, sent by his master to engage Xerxes to fight against the fleet of the Peloponnesians.

Sycurium, a town of Thessaly at the foot of Ossa. Livy, bk. 42, ch. 54.

Syedra, a town of Cilicia.

Syēne, now Assuan, a town of Thebais, on the extremities of Egypt. Juvenal the poet was banished there on pretence of commanding a pretorian cohort stationed in the neighbourhood. It was famous for its quarries of marble. Strabo, bks. 1 & 2.—Mela, bk. 1, ch. 9.—Pliny, bk. 36, ch. 8.—Ovid, ex Ponto, bk. 1, poem 5, li. 79; Metamorphoses, bk. 5, li. 74.—Lucan, bk. 2, li. 587; bk. 8, li. 851; bk. 10, li. 234.

Syenesius, a Cilician who, with Labinetus of Babylon, concluded a peace between Alyattes king of Lydia, and Cyaxares king of Media, while both armies were terrified by a sudden eclipse of the sun, B.C. 585. Herodotus, bk. 1, ch. 74.

Syennesis, a satrap of Cilicia, when Cyrus made war against his brother Artaxerxes. He wished to favour both the brothers by sending one of his sons into the army of Cyrus and another to Artaxerxes.

Sylēa, a daughter of Corinthus.

Syleum, a town of Pamphylia.

Syleus, a king of Aulis.

Sylla Lucius Cornelius, a celebrated Roman of a noble family. The poverty of his early years was relieved by the liberality of the courtesan Nicopolis, who left him heir to a large fortune; and with the addition of the immense wealth of his mother-in-law, he soon appeared one of the most opulent of the Romans. He first entered the army under the great Marius, whom he accompanied in Numidia in the capacity of questor. He rendered himself conspicuous in military affairs; and Bocchus, one of the princes of Numidia, delivered Jugurtha into his hands for the Roman consul. The rising fame of Sylla gave umbrage to Marius, who was always jealous of an equal, as well as of a superior; but the ill language which he might use, rather inflamed than extinguished the ambition of Sylla. He left the conqueror of Jugurtha, and carried arms under Catullus. Some time after he obtained the pretorship, and was appointed by the Roman senate to place Ariobarzanes on the throne of Cappadocia, against the views and interest of Mithridates king of Pontus. This he easily effected: one battle left him victorious; and before he quitted the plains of Asia, the Roman pretor had the satisfaction to receive in his camp the ambassadors of the king of Parthia, who wished to make a treaty of alliance with the Romans. Sylla received them with haughtiness, and behaved with such arrogance, that one of them exclaimed, “Surely this man is master of the world, or doomed to be such!” At his return to Rome, he was commissioned to finish the war with the Marsi, and when this was successfully ended, he was rewarded with the consulship, in the 50th year of his age. In this capacity he wished to have the administration of the Mithridatic war; but he found an obstinate adversary in Marius, and he attained the summit of his wishes only when he had entered Rome sword in hand. After he had slaughtered all his enemies, set a price upon the head of Marius, and put to death the tribune Sulpitius, who had continually opposed his views, he marched towards Asia, and disregarded the flames of discord which he left behind him unextinguished. Mithridates was already master of the greatest part of Greece; and Sylla, when he reached the coast of Peloponnesus, was delayed by the siege of Athens, and of the Piræus. His operations were carried on with vigour, and when he found his money fail, he made no scruple to take the riches of the temples of the gods to bribe his soldiers, and render them devoted to his service. His boldness succeeded. The Piræus surrendered; and the conqueror, as if struck with reverence at the beautiful porticoes where the philosophic followers of Socrates and Plato had often disputed, spared the city of Athens, which he had devoted to destruction, and forgave the living for the sake of the dead. Two celebrated battles at Cheronæa and Orchomenos, rendered him master of Greece. He crossed the Hellespont, and attacked Mithridates in the very heart of his kingdom. The artful monarch, who well knew the valour and perseverance of his adversary, made proposals of peace; and Sylla, whose interest at home was then decreasing, did not hesitate to put an end to a war which had rendered him master of so much territory, and which enabled him to return to Rome like a conqueror, and to dispute with his rival the sovereignty of the republic with a victorious army. Muræna was left at the head of the Roman forces in Asia, and Sylla hastened to Italy. In the plains of Campania, he was met by a few of his adherents, whom the success of his rivals had banished from the capital, and he was soon informed, that if he wished to contend with Marius, he must encounter 15 generals, followed by 25 well-disciplined legions. In these critical circumstances he had recourse to artifice, and while he proposed terms of accommodation to his adversaries, he secretly strengthened himself, and saw, with pleasure, his armies daily increase by the revolt of soldiers whom his bribes or promises had corrupted. Pompey, who afterwards merited the surname of Great, embraced his cause, and marched to the camp with three legions. Soon after he appeared in the field with advantage; the confidence of Marius decayed with his power, and Sylla entered Rome like a tyrant and a conqueror. The streets were daily filled with dead bodies, and 7000 citizens, to whom the conqueror had promised pardon, were suddenly massacred in the circus. The senate, at that time assembled in the temple of Bellona, heard the shrieks of their dying countrymen; and when they inquired into the cause of it, Sylla coolly replied, “They are only a few rebels whom I have ordered to be chastised.” If this had been the last and most dismal scene, Rome might have been called happy; but it was only the beginning of her misfortunes. Each succeeding day exhibited a great number of slaughtered bodies, and when one of the senators had the boldness to ask the tyrant when he meant to stop his cruelties, Sylla, with an air of unconcern, answered, that he had not yet determined, but that he would take it into his consideration. The slaughter was continued; a list of such as were proscribed was daily stuck in the public streets, and the slave was rewarded to bring his master’s head, and the son was not ashamed to imbrue his hands in the blood of his father for money. No less than 4700 of the most powerful and opulent were slain, and Sylla wished the Romans to forget his cruelties in aspiring to the title of perpetual dictator. In this capacity he made new laws, abrogated such as were inimical to his views, and changed every regulation where his ambition was obstructed. After he had finished whatever the most absolute sovereign may do from his own will and authority, Sylla abdicated the dictatorial power, and retired to a solitary retreat at Puteoli, where he spent the rest of his days, if not in literary ease and tranquillity, yet far from the noise of arms, in the midst of riot and debauchery. The companions of his retirement were the most base and licentious of the populace, and Sylla took pleasure still to wallow in voluptuousness, though on the verge of life, and covered with infirmities. His intemperance hastened his end, his blood was corrupted, and an imposthume was bred in his bowels. He at last died in the greatest torments of the lousy disease, about 78 years before Christ, in the 60th year of his age; and it has been observed, that, like Marius, on his death-bed, he wished to drown the stings of conscience and remorse by continual intoxication. His funeral was very magnificent; his body was attended by the senate and the vestal virgins, and hymns were sung to celebrate his exploits and to honour his memory. A monument was erected in the field of Mars, on which appeared an inscription written by himself, in which he said, that the good services he had received from his friends, and the injuries of his enemies, had been returned with unexampled usury. The character of Sylla is that of an ambitious, dissimulating, credulous, tyrannical, debauched, and resolute commander. He was revengeful in the highest degree, and the surname of Felix, or the Fortunate, which he assumed, showed that he was more indebted to fortune than to valour for the great fame which he had acquired. But in the midst of all this, who cannot admire the moderation and philosophy of a man, who when absolute master of a republic, which he had procured by his cruelty and avarice, silently abdicates the sovereign power, challenges a critical examination of his administration, and retires to live securely in the midst of thousands whom he has injured and offended? The Romans were pleased and astonished at his abdication; and when the insolence of a young man had been vented against the dictator, he calmly answered, “This usage may perhaps deter another to resign his power to follow my example, if ever he becomes absolute.” Sylla has been commended for the patronage which he gave to the arts and sciences. He brought from Asia the extensive library of Apellicon the Peripatetic philosopher, in which were the works of Aristotle and Theophrastus, and he himself composed 22 books of memoirs concerning himself. Cicero, Against Verres, &c.—Cornelius Nepos, Atticus.—Paterculus, bk. 2, ch. 17, &c.—Livy, bk. 75, &c.—Pausanias, bk. 1, ch. 20.—Florus, bk. 3, ch. 5, &c.; bk. 4, ch. 2, &c.—Valerius Maximus, bk. 12, &c.—Polybius, bk. 5.—Justin, bks. 37 & 38.—Eutropius, bk. 5, ch. 2.—Plutarch, Lives.――A nephew of the dictator, who conspired against his country because he had been deprived of his consulship for bribery.――Another relation, who also joined in the same conspiracy.――A man put to death by Nero at Marseilles, where he had been banished.――A friend of Cato, defeated and killed by one of Cæsar’s lieutenants.――A senator banished from the senate for his prodigality by Tiberius.

Syllis, a nymph, mother of Zeuxippus by Apollo. Pausanias, bk. 2, ch. 6.

Syloes, a promontory of Africa.

Sylŏson, a man who gave a splendid garment to Darius son of Hystaspes, when a private man. Darius, when raised to the throne of Persia, remembered the gift of Syloson with gratitude. Strabo, bk. 14.

Sylvānus, a god of the woods. See: Silvanus.

Sylvia, or Ilia, the mother of Romulus. See: Rhea.――A daughter of Tyrrhenus, whose favourite stag was wounded by Ascanius. Virgil, Æneid, bk. 7, li. 503.

Sylvius, a son of Æneas by Lavinia, from whom afterwards all the kings of Alba were called Sylvii. Virgil, Æneid, bk. 6, li. 763.

Syma, or Syme, a town of Asia.――A nymph, mother of Chthonius by Neptune. Diodorus, bk. 5.

Symbŏlum, a place of Macedonia, near Philippi, on the confines of Thrace.

Symmăchus, an officer in the army of Agesilaus.――A celebrated orator in the age of Theodosius the Great. His father was prefect of Rome. He wrote against the christians, and 10 books of his letters are extant, which have been refuted by Ambrose and Prudentius. The best editions of Symmachus are that of Geneva, 8vo, 1598, and that of Paris, 4to, 1604.――A writer in the second century. He translated the Bible into Greek, of which few fragments remain.

Symplegădes, or Cyaneæ, two islands or rocks at the entrance of the Euxine sea. See: Cyaneæ.

Symus, a mountain of Armenia, from which the Araxes flows.

Syncellus, one of the Byzantine historians, whose works were edited in folio, Paris, 1652.

Synesius, a bishop of Cyrene in the age of Theodosius the younger, as conspicuous for his learning as his piety. He wrote 155 epistles, besides other treatises, in Greek, in a style pure and elegant, and bordering much upon the poetic. The last edition is in 8vo, Paris, 1605; inferior, however, to the editio princeps by Dionysius Pectavius, folio, Paris, 1613. The best edition of Synesius de febribus is that of Bernard, Amsterdam, 1749.

Synnalaxis, a nymph of Ionia, who had a temple at Heraclea in Elis. Pausanias, bk. 6, ch. 22.

Synnas (adis), or Synnada (plural), a town of Phrygia, famous for its marble quarries. Strabo, bk. 12.—Claudian, Against Eutropius, bk. 2.—Martial, bk. 9, ltr. 77.—Statius, bk. 1, Sylvæ, poem 5, li. 41.

Synnis, a famous robber of Attica. See: Scinis.

Synōpe, a town on the borders of the Euxine. See: Sinope.

Syphæum, a town of the Brutii in Italy. Livy, bk. 30, ch. 19.

Syphax, a king of the Masæsylii in Libya, who married Sophonisba the daughter of Asdrubal, and forsook the alliance of the Romans to join himself to the interest of his father-in-law, and of Carthage. He was conquered in a battle by Masinissa the ally of Rome, and given to Scipio the Roman general. The conqueror carried him to Rome, where he adorned his triumph. Syphax died in prison 201 years before Christ, and his possessions were given to Masinissa. According to some, the descendants of Syphax reigned for some time over a part of Numidia, and continued to make opposition to the Romans. Livy, bk. 24, &c.—Plutarch, Scipio.—Florus, bk. 2, ch. 6.—Polybius.—Silius Italicus, bk. 16, lis. 171 & 188.—Ovid, Fasti, bk. 6, li. 769.

Syraces, one of the Sacæ, who mutilated himself, and, by pretending to be a deserter, brought Darius, who made war against his country, into many difficulties. Polyænus, bk. 7.

Syracosia, festivals at Syracuse celebrated during 10 days, in which women were busily employed in offering sacrifices.――Another yearly observed near the lake of Syracuse, where, as they supposed, Pluto had disappeared with Proserpine.

Syracūsæ, a celebrated city of Sicily, founded about 732 years before the christian era by Archias, a Corinthian, and one of the Heraclidæ. In its flourishing state it extended 22½ English miles in circumference, and was divided into four districts, Ortygia, Acradina, Tycha, and Neapolis, to which some add a fifth division, Epipolæ, a district little inhabited. These were of themselves separate cities, and were fortified with three citadels, and three-folded walls. Syracuse had two capacious harbours separated from one another by the island of Ortygia. The greatest harbour was about 5000 paces in circumference, and its entrance 500 paces wide. The people of Syracuse were very opulent and powerful, and though subject to tyrants, they were masters of vast possessions and dependent states. The city of Syracuse was well built, its houses were stately and magnificent; and it has been said, that it produced the best and most excellent of men when they were virtuous, but the most wicked and depraved when addicted to vicious pursuits. The women of Syracuse were not permitted to adorn themselves with gold, or wear costly garments, except such as prostituted themselves. Syracuse gave birth to Theocritis and Archimedes. It was under different governments; and after being freed from the tyranny of Thrasybulus, B.C. 446, it enjoyed security for 61 years, till the usurpation of the Dionysii, who were expelled by Timoleon, B.C. 343. In the age of the elder Dionysius, an army of 100,000 foot and 10,000 horse, and 400 ships, were kept in constant pay. It fell into the hands of the Romans, under the consul Marcellus, after a siege of three years, B.C. 212. Cicero, Against Verres, bk. 4, chs. 52 & 53.—Strabo, bks. 1 & 8.—Cornelius Nepos.—Mela, bk. 2, ch. 7.—Livy, bk. 23, &c.—Plutarch, Marcellus, &c.—Florus, bk. 2, ch. 6.—Silius Italicus, bk. 14, li. 278.

Syria, a large country of Asia, whose boundaries are not accurately ascertained by the ancients. Syria, generally speaking, was bounded on the east by the Euphrates, north by mount Taurus, west by the Mediterranean, and south by Arabia. It was divided into several districts and provinces, among which were Phœnicia, Seleucis, Judæa or Palestine, Mesopotamia, Babylon, and Assyria. It was also called Assyria; and the words Syria and Assyria, though distinguished and defined by some authors, were often used indifferently. Syria was subjected to the monarchs of Persia; but after the death of Alexander the Great, Seleucus, surnamed Nicator, who had received this province as his lot in the division of the Macedonian dominions, raised it into an empire, known in history by the name of the kingdom of Syria or Babylon, B.C. 312. Seleucus died after a reign of 32 years, and his successors, surnamed the Seleucidæ, ascended the throne in the following order: Antiochus, surnamed Soter, 280 B.C.; Antiochus Theos, 261; Seleucus Callinicus, 246; Seleucus Ceraunus, 226; Antiochus the Great, 223; Seleucus Philopator, 187; Antiochus Epiphanes, 175; Antiochus Eupator, 164; Demetrius Soter, 162; Alexander Balas, 150; Demetrius Nicator, 146; Antiochus VI., 144; Diodotus Tryphon, 147; Antiochus Sidetes, 139; Demetrius Nicator restored, 130; Alexander Zebina, 127, who was dethroned by Antiochus Grypus, 123; Antiochus Cyzicenus, 112, who takes part of Syria, which he calls Cœlesyria; Philip and Demetrius Eucerus, 93, and in Cœlesyria, Antiochus Pius; Aretas was king of Cœlesyria, 85; Tigranes, king of Armenia, 83; and Antiochus Asiaticus, 69, who was dethroned by Pompey, B.C. 65; in consequence of which Syria became a Roman province. Herodotus, bks. 2, 3 & 7.—Apollodorus, bk. 1, Argonautica.—Strabo, bks. 12 & 16.—Cornelius Nepos, Datames.—Mela, bk. 1, ch. 2.—Ptolemy, bk. 5, ch. 6.—Curtius, bk. 6.—Dionysius Periegetes.

Syriăcum mare, that part of the Mediterranean sea which is on the coast of Phœnicia and Syria.

Syrinx, a nymph of Arcadia, daughter of the river Ladon. Pan became enamoured of her, and attempted to offer her violence; but Syrinx escaped, and at her own request was changed by the gods into a reed called Syrinx by the Greeks. The god made himself a pipe with the reeds, into which his favourite nymph had been changed. Ovid, Metamorphoses, bk. 1, li. 691.—Martial, bk. 9, ltr. 63.

Syrophœnix, the name of an inhabitant of the maritime coast of Syria. Juvenal, satire 8.

Syros, one of the Cyclades in the Ægean sea, at the east of Delos, about 20 miles in circumference, very fruitful in wine and corn of all sorts. The inhabitants lived to a great old age, because the air was wholesome. Homer, Odyssey, bk. 15, li. 504.—Strabo, bk. 10.—Mela, bk. 2, ch. 7.――A town of Caria. Pausanias, bk. 3, ch. 26.

Syrtes, two large sand-banks in the Mediterranean on the coast of Africa, one of which was near Leptis, and the other near Carthage. As they often changed places, and were sometimes very high or very low under the water, they were deemed most dangerous in navigation, and proved fatal to whatever ships touched upon them. From this circumstance, therefore, the word has been used to denote any part of the sea of which the navigation was attended with danger, either from whirlpools or hidden rocks. Mela, bk. 1, ch. 7; bk. 2, ch. 7.—Virgil, Æneid, bk. 4, li. 41.—Lucan, bk. 9, li. 303.—Sallust, Jugurthine War.

Syrus, an island. See: Syros.――A son of Apollo by Sinope the daughter of the Asopus, who gave his name to Syria. Plutarch, Lucullus.――A writer. See: Publius.

Sysigambis, the mother of Darius. See: Sisygambis.

Sysimethres, a Persian satrap, who had two children by his mother, an incestuous commerce tolerated by the laws of Persia. He opposed Alexander with 2000 men, but soon surrendered. He was greatly honoured by the conqueror. Curtius, bk. 8, ch. 4.

Sysinas, the elder son of Datames, who revolted from his father to Artaxerxes.

Sythas, a river of Peloponnesus, flowing through Sicyonia into the bay of Corinth. Pausanias, bk. 2, ch. 7.

T

Taautes, a Phœnician deity, the same as the Saturn of the Latins, and probably the Thoth, or Thaut, the Mercury of the Egyptians. Cicero, de Natura Deorum, bk. 3, ch. 22.—Varro.

Tabæ, a town of Pisidia. Livy, bk. 38, ch. 13.

Tabellariæ leges, laws made by suffrages delivered upon tables (tabellæ), and not vivâ voce. There were four of these laws, the Gabinia lex, A.U.C. 614, by Gabinius; the Cassia, by Cassius, A.U.C. 616; the Papiria, by Carbo, A.U.C. 622; and the Cælia, by Cælius, A.U.C. 646. Cicero, de Legibus, bk. 3, ch. 16.

Tabernæ novæ, a street in Rome where shops were built. Livy, bk. 3, ch. 48.――Rhenanæ, a town of Germany on the confluence of the Felbach and the Rhine, now Rhin-Zabern.――Riguæ, now Bern-Castel, on the Moselle.――Triboccorum, a town of Alsace in France, now Saverne.

Tabor, a mountain of Palestine.

Tabrăca, a maritime town of Africa, near Hippo, made a Roman colony. The neighbouring forests abounded with monkeys. Juvenal, satire 10, li. 194.—Pliny, bk. 5, ch. 3.—Mela, bk. 1, ch. 7.—Silius Italicus, bk. 3, li. 256.

Tabuda, a river of Germany, now the Scheldt. Ptolemy.

Taburnus, a mountain of Campania, which abounded with olives. Virgil, Georgics, bk. 2, li. 38; Æneid, bk. 12, li. 715.

Tacape, a town of Africa.

Tacatua, a maritime town of Numidia.

Tacfarīnas, a Numidian who commanded an army against the Romans in the reign of Tiberius. He had formerly served in the Roman legions, but in the character of an enemy, he displayed the most inveterate hatred against his benefactor. After he had severally defeated the officers of Tiberius, he was at last routed and killed in the field of battle, fighting with uncommon fury, by Dolabella. Tacitus, Annals, bk. 2, &c.

Tachampso, an island in the Nile, near Thebais. The Egyptians held one half of this island, and the rest was in the hands of the Æthiopians. Herodotus, bk. 2.

Tachos, or Tachus, a king of Egypt, in the reign of Artaxerxes Ochus, against whom he sustained a long war. He was assisted by the Greeks, but his confidence in Agesilaus king of Lacedæmon proved fatal to him. Chabrias the Athenian had been entrusted with the fleet of the Egyptian monarch, and Agesilaus was left with the command of the mercenary army. The Lacedæmonian disregarded his engagements, and by joining with Nectanebus, who had revolted from Tachus, he ruined the affairs of the monarch, and obliged him to save his life by flight. Some observe that Agesilaus acted with that duplicity to avenge himself upon Tachus, who had insolently ridiculed his short and deformed stature. The expectations of Tachus had been raised by the fame of Agesilaus; but when he saw the lame monarch, he repeated on the occasion the fable of the mountain which brought forth a mouse, upon which Agesilaus replied with asperity, though he called him a mouse, yet he soon should find him to be a lion. Cornelius Nepos, Agesilaus.

Tacina, a river of the Brutii.

Tacĭta, a goddess who presided over silence. Numa, as some say, paid particular veneration to this divinity.

Tacĭtus ♦Publius Cornelius, a celebrated Latin historian, born in the reign of Nero. His father was a Roman knight, who had been appointed governor of Belgic Gaul. The native genius and the rising talents of Tacitus were beheld with rapture by the emperor Vespasian, and as he wished to protect and patronize merit, he raised the young historian to places of trust and honour. The succeeding emperors were not less partial to Tacitus, and Domitian seemed to forget his cruelties, when virtue and innocence claimed his patronage. Tacitus was honoured with the consulship, and he gave proofs of his eloquence at the bar by supporting the cause of the injured Africans against the proconsul Marius Priscus, and in causing him to be condemned for his avarice and extortion. The friendly intercourse of Pliny and Tacitus has often been admired, and many have observed, that the familiarity of these two great men arose from similar principles, and a perfect conformity of manners and opinions. Yet Tacitus was as much the friend of a republican government, as Pliny was an admirer of the imperial power, and of the short-lived virtues of his patron Trajan. Pliny gained the heart of his adherents by affability, and all the elegant graces which became the courtier and the favourite, while Tacitus conciliated the esteem of the world by his virtuous conduct, which prudence and love of honour ever guided. The friendship of Tacitus and of Pliny almost became proverbial, and one was scarce mentioned without the other, as the following instance may indicate. At the exhibition of the spectacles in the circus, Tacitus held a long conversation on different subjects with a Roman knight, with whom he was unacquainted; and when the knight asked him whether he was a native of Italy, the historian told him that he was not unknown to him, and that for their distant acquaintance he was indebted to literature. “Then you are,” replied the knight, “either Tacitus or Pliny.” The time of Tacitus was not employed in trivial pursuits; the orator might have been forgotten if the historian had not flourished. Tacitus wrote a treatise on the manners of the Germans, a composition admired for the fidelity and exactness with which it is executed, though some have declared that the historian delineated manners and customs with which he was not acquainted, and which never existed. His life of Cnaeus Julius Agricola, whose daughter he had married, is celebrated for its purity, elegance, and the many excellent instructions and important truths which it relates. His history of the Roman emperors is imperfect; of the 28 years of which it treated, that is from the 69th to the 96th year of the christian era, nothing remains but the year 69, and part of the 70th. His annals were the most extensive and complete of his works. The history of the reign of Tiberius, Caius, Claudius, and Nero, was treated with accuracy and attention, yet we are to lament the loss of the history of the reign of Caius, and the beginning of that of Claudius. Tacitus had reserved for his old age the history of the reign of Nerva and Trajan, and he also proposed to give to the world an account of the interesting administration of Augustus; but these important subjects never employed the pen of the historian, and as some of the ancients observe, the only compositions of Tacitus were contained in 30 books, of which we have now left only 16 of his annals, and five of his history. The style of Tacitus has always been admired for peculiar beauties: the thoughts are great; there is a sublimity, force, weight, and energy; everything is treated with precision and dignity. Yet many have called him obscure, because he was fond of expressing his ideas in few words. This was the fruit of experience and judgment; the history appears copious and diffuse, while the annals, which were written in his old age, are less flowing as to style, more concise, and more heavily laboured. His Latin is remarkable for being pure and classical; and though a writer in the decline of the Roman empire, he has not used obsolete words, antiquated phrases, or barbarous expressions, but with him everything is sanctioned by the authority of the writers of the Augustan age. In his biographical sketches he displays an uncommon knowledge of human nature; he paints every scene with a masterly hand, and gives each object its proper size and becoming colours. Affairs of importance are treated with dignity, the secret causes of events and revolutions are investigated from their primeval source, and the historian everywhere shows his reader that he was a friend of public liberty and national independence, a lover of truth, and of the general good and welfare of mankind, and an inveterate enemy to oppression and to a tyrannical government. The history of the reign of Tiberius is his masterpiece: the deep policy, the dissimulation and various intrigues of this celebrated prince, are painted with all the fidelity of the historian; and Tacitus boasted in saying, that he neither would flatter the follies, or maliciously or partially represent the extravagance, of the several characters he delineated. Candour and impartiality were his standard, and his claim to these essential qualifications of an historian have never been disputed. It is said that the emperor Tacitus, who boasted in being one of the descendants of the historian, ordered the works of his ancestor to be placed in all public libraries, and directed that 10 copies, well ascertained for accuracy and exactness, should be yearly written, that so great and so valuable a work might not be lost. Some ecclesiastical writers have exclaimed against Tacitus for the partial manner in which he speaks of the Jews and christians; but it should be remembered that he spoke the language of the Romans, and that the ♠peculiarities of the christians could not but draw upon them the odium and the ridicule of the pagans, and the imputation of superstition. Among the many excellent editions of Tacitus, these may pass for the best: that of Rome, folio, 1515; that in 8vo, 2 vols., Leiden, 1673; that in usum Delphim, 4 vols., 4to, Paris, 1682; that of Lipscomb, 2 vols., 8vo, 1714; of Gronovius, 2 vols., 4to, 1721; that of Brotier, 7 vols., 12mo, Paris, 1776; that of Ernesti, 2 vols., 8vo, Lipscomb, 1777; and Barbou’s, 3 vols., 12mo, Paris, 1760.――Marcus Claudius, a Roman chosen emperor by the senate, after the death of Aurelian. He would have refused this important and dangerous office, but the pressing solicitations of the senate prevailed, and in the 70th year of his age he complied with the wishes of his countrymen, and accepted the purple. The time of his administration was very popular, the good of the people was his care, and as a pattern of moderation, economy, temperance, regularity, and impartiality, Tacitus found no equal. He abolished the several brothels which under the preceding reigns had filled Rome with licentiousness and obscenity; and by ordering all the public baths to be shut at sunset, he prevented the commission of many irregularities, which the darkness of the night had hitherto sanctioned. The senators under Tacitus seemed to have recovered their ancient dignity and long-lost privileges. They were not only the counsellers of the emperor, but they even seemed to be his masters; and when Florianus, the brother-in-law of Tacitus, was refused the consulship, the emperor said, that the senate, no doubt, could fix upon a more deserving object. As a warrior, Tacitus is inferior to few of the Romans; and during a short reign of about six months, he not only repelled the barbarians who had invaded the territories of Rome in Asia, but he prepared to make war against the Persians and Scythians. He died in Cilicia as he was on his expedition, of a violent distemper, or, according to some, he was destroyed by the secret dagger of an assassin, on the 13th of April, in the 276th year of the christian era. Tacitus has been commended for his love of learning; and it has been observed, that he never passed a day without consecrating some part of his time to reading or writing. He has been accused of superstition, and authors have recorded that he never studied on the second day of each month, a day which he deemed inauspicious and unlucky. Tacitus, Agricola.—Zosimus.

Tader, a river of Spain, near New Carthage.

Tædai, a prostitute at Rome, &c., Juvenal, Satire 2, li. 49.

Tænărus, now Matapan, a promontory of Laconia, the most southern point of Europe, where Neptune had a temple. There was there a large and deep cavern, whence issued a black and unwholesome vapour, from which circumstance the poets have imagined that it was one of the entrances of hell, through which Hercules dragged Cerberus from the infernal regions. This fabulous tradition arises, according to Pausanias, from the continual resort of a large serpent near the cavern of Tænarus, whose bite was mortal. The serpent, as the geographer observes, was at last killed by Hercules, and carried to Eurystheus. The town of Tænarus was at the distance of about 40 stadia from the promontory, and was famous for marble of a beautiful green colour. The town, as well as the promontory, received its name from Tænarus, a son of Neptune. There were some festivals celebrated there, called Tænaria, in honour of Neptune, surnamed Tænarius. Homer, Hymn to Apollo, li. 413.—Pausanias, bk. 3, ch. 14.—Lucan, bk. 6, li. 648.—Ovid, Metamorphoses, bk. 2, li. 247; bk. 10, lis. 13 & 83.—Pausanias, bk. 3, ch. 25.—Apollodorus, bk. 2, ch. 5.—Mela, bk. 2, ch. 3.—Strabo, bk. 8.

Tænias, a part of the lake Mœotis. Strabo.

Tagaste, a town of Numidia. Pliny, bk. 5, ch. 4.

Tages, a son of Genius, grandson of Jupiter, was the first who taught the 12 nations of the Etrurians the science of augury and divination. It is said that he was found by a Tuscan ploughman in the form of a clod, and that he assumed a human shape to instruct this nation, which became so celebrated for their knowledge of omens and incantations. Cicero, de Divinatione bk. 2, ch. 23.—Ovid, Metamorphoses, bk. 15, li. 558.—Lucan, bk. 1, li. 673.

Tagonius, a river of Hispania Tarraconensis.

Tagus, a river of Spain, which falls into the Atlantic after it has crossed Lusitania or Portugal, and now bears the name of Tajo. The sands of the Tagus, according to the poets, were covered with gold. Mela, bk. 3, ch. 1.—Ovid, Metamorphoses, bk. 2, li. 251.—Silius Italicus, bk. 4, li. 234.—Lucan, bk. 7, li. 755.—Martial, bk. 4, ltr. 55, &c.――A Latin chief killed by Nisus. Virgil, Æneid, bk. 9, li. 418.――A Trojan killed by Turnus. Virgil, Æneid, bk. 12, li. 513.

Talasius. See: ♦Thalassius.

Talaus, a son of Bias and Pero, father of Adrastus by Lysimache. He was one of the Argonauts. Apollodorus, bk. 1, ch. 9; bk. 3, ch. 6.

Talayra, the sister of Phœbe. She is also called Hilaira. See: Phœbe.

Talĕtum, a temple sacred to the sun on mount Taygetus in Laconia. Horses were generally offered there for sacrifice. Pausanias.

Talthybius, a herald in the Grecian camp during the Trojan war, the particular minister and friend of Agamemnon. He brought away Briseis from the tent of Achilles by order of his master. Talthybius died at Ægium in Achaia. Homer, Iliad, bk. 1, li. 320, &c.—Pausanias, bk. 7, ch. 23.

Talus, a youth, son of the sister of Dædalus, who invented the saw, compasses, and other mechanical instruments. His uncle became jealous of his growing fame, and murdered him privately; or, according to others, he threw him down from the citadel of Athens. Talus was changed into a partridge by the gods. He is also called Calus, Acalus, Perdix, and Taliris. Apollodorus, bk. 3, ch. 1.—Pausanias, bk. 1, ch. 21.—Ovid, Metamorphoses, bk. 8.――A son of Œnopion. Pausanias, bk. 7, ch. 4.――A son of Cres, the founder of the Cretan nation. Pausanias, bk. 8, ch. 53.――A friend of Æneas, killed by Turnus. Virgil, Æneid, bk. 12, li. 513.

Tamaris, a river of Spain.

Tamărus, a mountain of Epirus, called also Tmarus and Tomarus. Strabo.

Tamasea, a beautiful plain of Cyprus, sacred to the goddess of beauty. It was in this place that Venus gathered the golden apples with which Hippomanes was enabled to overtake Atalanta. Ovid, Metamorphoses, bk. 10, li. 644.—Pliny, bk. 5.—Strabo, bk. 14.

Tamesis, a river of Britain, now the Thames. Cæsar, Gallic War, bk. 5, ch. 11.

Tamos, a native of Memphis, made governor of Ionia, by young Cyrus. After the death of Cyrus, Tamos fled into Egypt, where he was murdered on account of his immense treasures. Diodorus, bk. 14.――A promontory of India in the Ganges.

Tampius, a Roman historian.

Tamyras, a river of Phœnicia, between Tyre and Sidon.

Tamyris, a queen. See: Thomyris.

Tanăgra, a town of Bœotia, near the Euripus, between the Asopus and Thermodon, famous for fighting-cocks. It was founded by Pœmandros, a son of Chæresilaus the son of Jasius, who married Tanagra the daughter of Æolus, or, according to some, of the Asopus. Corinna was a native of Tanagra. Strabo, bk. 9.—Pausanias, bk. 9, chs. 20 & 23.—Ælian, Varia Historia, bk. 13, li. 25.

Tanăgrus, or Tanāger, now Negro, a river of Lucania in Italy, remarkable for its cascades, and the beautiful meanders of its streams, through a fine picturesque country. Virgil, Georgics, bk. 3, li. 151.

Tanais, a eunuch, freedman to Mæcenas. Horace, bk. 1, satire 1, li. 105.――A river of Scythia, now the Don, which divides Europe from Asia, and falls into the Palus Mæotis after a rapid course, and after it has received the additional streams of many small rivulets. A town at its mouth bore the same name. Mela, bk. 1, ch. 19.—Strabo, bks. 11 & 16.—Curtius, bk. 6, ch. 2.—Lucan, bks. 3, 8, &c.――A deity among the Persians and Armenians, who patronized slaves; supposed to be the same as Venus. The daughters of the noblest of the Persians and Armenians prostituted themselves in honour of this deity, and were received with greater regard and affection by their suitors. Artaxerxes the son of Darius was the first who raised statues to Tanais in the different provinces of his empire, and taught his subjects to pay her divine honours. Curtius, bk. 5, ch. 1.—Strabo, bk. 11.

Tanăquil, called also Caia Cæcilia, was the wife of Tarquin the fifth king of Rome. She was a native of Tarquinia, where she married Lucumon, better known by the name of Tarquin, which he assumed after he had come to Rome at the representation of his wife, whose knowledge of augury promised him something uncommon. Her expectations were not frustrated; her husband was raised to the throne, and she shared with him the honours of royalty. After the murder of Tarquin, Tanaquil raised her son-in-law Servius Tullius to the throne, and ensured him the succession. She distinguished herself by her liberality; and the Romans in succeeding ages had such a veneration for her character, that the embroidery she had made, her girdle, as also the robe of her son-in-law, which she had worked with her own hands, were preserved with the greatest sanctity. Juvenal bestows the appellation of Tanaquil on all such women as were imperious, and had the command of their husbands. Livy, bk. 1, ch. 34, &c.—Dionysius of Halicarnassus, bk. 3, ch. 59.—Florus, bk. 1, chs. 5 & 8.—Silius Italicus, bk. 13, li. 818.

Tanas, a river of Numidia. Sallust, Jugurthine War, ch. 90.

Tanetum, a town of Italy, now Tonedo, in the duchy of Modena.

Tanfanæ lucus, a sacred grove in Germany, in the country of the Marsi, between the Ems and Lippe. Tacitus, Annals, bk. 1, ch. 51.

Tanis, a city of Egypt, on one of the eastern mouths of the Nile.

Tantălĭdes, a patronymic applied to the descendants of Tantalus, such as Niobe, Hermione, &c.――Agamemnon and Menelaus, as grandsons of Tantalus, are called Tantalidæ fratres. Ovid, Heroides, poem 8, lis. 45 & 122.

Tantălus, a king of Lydia, son of Jupiter by a nymph called Pluto. He was father of Niobe, Pelops, &c., by Dione, one of the Atlantides, called by some Euryanassa. Tantalus is represented by the poets as punished in hell with an insatiable thirst, and placed up to the chin in the midst of a pool of water, which, however, flows away as soon as he attempts to taste it. There hangs also above his head a bough richly loaded with delicious fruit, which, as soon as he attempts to seize, is carried away from his reach by a sudden blast of wind. According to some mythologists, his punishment is to sit under a huge stone hung at some distance over his head, and as it seems every moment ready to fall, he is kept under continual alarms and never-ceasing fears. The causes of this eternal punishment are variously explained. Some declare that it was inflicted upon him because he stole a favourite dog, which Jupiter had entrusted to his care to keep his temple in Crete. Others say that he stole away the nectar and ambrosia from the tables of the gods, when he was admitted into the assemblies of heaven, and that he gave it to mortals on earth. Others support that this proceeds from his cruelty and impiety in killing his son Pelops, and in serving his limbs as food before the gods, whose divinity and power he wished to try, when they had stopped at his house as they passed over Phrygia. There were also others who impute it to his lasciviousness in carrying away Ganymedes to gratify the most unnatural of passions. Pindar, Olympian, bk. 1.—Homer, Odyssey, bk. 11, li. 581.—Cicero, Tusculanæ Disputationes, bk. 1, ch. 5; bk. 4, ch. 16.—Euripides, Iphigeneia.—Propertius, bk. 2, poem 1, li. 66.—Horace, bk. 1, satire 1, li. 68.――A son of Thyestes, the first husband of Clytemnestra. Pausanias, bk. 2.――One of Niobe’s children. Ovid, Metamorphoses, bk. 6, fable 6.

Tanusius Germinus, a Latin historian intimate with Cicero. Seneca, ltr. 93.—Suetonius, Cæsar, ch. 9.

Taphiæ, islands in the Ionian sea between Achaia and Leucadia. They were also called Teleboides. They received these names from Taphius and Telebous, the sons of Neptune who reigned there. The Taphians made war against Electryon king of Mycenæ, and killed all his sons; upon which the monarch promised his kingdom and his daughter in marriage to whoever could avenge the death of his children upon the Taphians. Amphitryon did it with success, and obtained the promised reward. The Taphians were expert sailors, but too fond of plunder and piratical excursions. Homer, Odyssey, bk. 1, lis. 181 & 419; bk. 15, li. 426.—Apollodorus, bk. 2, ch. 4.—Pliny, bk. 4, ch. 12.

Taphius, a son of Neptune by Hippothoe the daughter of Nestor. He was king of the Taphiæ, to which he gave his name. Strabo, bk. 16.—Apollodorus, bk. 2, ch. 4.

Taphius, or Taphiassus, a mountain of Locris on the confines of Ætolia.

Taphiusa, a place near Leucas, where a stone is found called Taphiusius. Pliny, bk. 36, ch. 21.

Taphræ, a town on the isthmus of the Taurica Chersonesus, now Precop. Mela, bk. 2, ch. 1.—Pliny, bk. 4, ch. 12.

Taphros, the strait between Corsica and Sardinia, now Bonifacio.

Taprobăne, an island in the Indian ocean, now called Ceylon. Its inhabitants were very rich, and lived to a great age. Their country was visited by two summers and two winters. Hercules was their chief deity, and as the sovereignty was elective, and only from among unmarried men, the monarch was immediately deposed if he became a father. Ptolemy, bk. 6.—Strabo, bk. 2.—Ovid, ex Ponto, bk. 8, poem 5, li. 80.

Tapsus, a maritime town of Africa. Silius Italicus, bk. 3.――A small and lowly situated peninsula on the eastern coast of Sicily. Virgil, Æneid, bk. 3, li. 619.――A man of Cyzicus, killed by Pollux. Valerius Flaccus, bk. 2, li. 191.

Tapyri, a people near Hyrcania. Dionysius Periegetes.

Tarănis, a name of Jupiter among the Gauls, to whom human sacrifices were offered. Lucan, bk. 1, li. 446.

Taras, a son of Neptune, who built Tarentum, as some suppose.

Tarasco, a town of Gaul, now Tarascon in Provence.

Taraxippus, a deity worshipped at Elis. His statue was placed near the race-ground, and his protection was implored that no harm might happen to the horses during the games. Pausanias, bk. 6, ch. 20, &c.—Dionysius of Halicarnassus, bk. 2.

Tarbelli, a people of Gaul at the foot of the Pyrenees, which from thence are sometimes called Tarbellæ. Tibullus, bk. 1, poem 7, li. 13.—Lucan, bk. 4, li. 121.—Cæsar, Gallic War, bk. 3, ch. 27.

Tarchetius, an impious king of Alba. Plutarch, Romulus.

Tarchon, an Etrurian chief, who assisted Æneas against the Rutuli. Some suppose that he founded Mantua. Virgil, Æneid, bk. 8, li. 693.――A prince of Cilicia. Lucan, bk. 9, li. 219.

Tarchondimŏtus, a prince of Cilicia. Lucan, bk. 11, li. 219.

Tarentum, Tarentus, or Taras, a town of Calabria, situate on a bay of the same name, near the mouth of the river Galesus. It was founded, or rather repaired, by a Lacedæmonian colony, about 707 years before Christ, under the conduct of Phalanthus. Long independent, it maintained its superiority over 13 tributary cities; and could once arm 100,000 foot and 3000 horse. The people of Tarentum were very indolent, and as they were easily supplied with all necessaries as well as luxuries from Greece, they gave themselves up to voluptuousness, so that the delights of Tarentum became proverbial. The war which they supported against the Romans, with the assistance of Pyrrhus king of Epirus, and which has been called the Tarentine war, is greatly celebrated in history. This war, which had been undertaken B.C. 281, by the Romans, to avenge the insults the Tarentines had offered to their ships when near their harbour, was terminated after 10 years; 300,000 prisoners were taken, and Tarentum became subject to Rome. The government was democratical; there were, however, some monarchs who reigned there. It was for some time the residence of Pythagoras, who inspired the citizens with the love of virtue, and rendered them superior to their neighbours in the cabinet as well as in the field of battle. The large, beautiful, and capacious harbour of Tarentum is greatly commended by ancient historians. Tarentum, now called Tarento, is inhabited by about 18,000 souls, who still maintain the character of their forefathers in idleness and effeminacy, and live chiefly by fishing. Florus, bk. 1, ch. 18.—Valerius Maximus, bk. 2, ch. 2.—Plutarch, Pyrrhus.—Pliny, bk. 8, ch. 6; bk. 15, ch. 10; bk. 34, ch. 7.—Livy, bk. 12, ch. 13, &c.—Mela, bk. 2, ch. 4.—Strabo, bk. 6.—Horace, bk. 1, ltr. 7, li. 45.—Ælian, Varia Historia, bk. 5, ch. 20.

Tarichæum, a fortified town of Judæa. Cicero, Letters to his Friends, bk. 12, ch. 11.――Several towns on the coast of Egypt bore this name from their pickling fish. Herodotus, bk. 2, ch. 15, &c.

Tarnæ, a town mentioned by Homer, Iliad, bk. 5.――A fountain of Lydia, near Tmolus. Strabo.――A river of Aquitania.

Tarpa Spurius Mætius, a critic at Rome in the age of Augustus. He was appointed with four others in the temple of Apollo, to examine the merit of every poetical composition, which was to be deposited in the temple of the Muses. In this office he acted with great impartiality, though many taxed him with want of candour. All the pieces that were represented on the Roman stage had previously received his approbation. Horace, bk. 1, satire 10, li. 38.

Tarpeia, the daughter of Tarpeius the governor of the citadel of Rome, promised to open the gates of the city to the Sabines, provided they gave her their gold bracelets, or, as she expressed it, what they carried on their left hands. Tatius the king of the Sabines consented, and as he entered the gates, to punish her perfidy, he threw not only his bracelet but his shield upon Tarpeia. His followers imitated his example, and Tarpeia was crushed under the weight of the bracelets and shields of the Sabine army. She was buried in the capitol, which from her has been called the Tarpeian rock, and there afterwards many of the Roman malefactors were thrown down a deep precipice. Plutarch, Romulus.—Ovid, Fasti, bk. 1, li. 261.—Amores, bk. 1, poem 10, li. 50.—Livy, bk. 1, ch. 11.—Propertius, bk. 4, poem 4.――A vestal virgin in the reign of Numa.――One of the warlike female attendants of Camilla in the Rutulian war. Virgil, Æneid, bk. 11, li. 665.

Tarpeia lex, was enacted A.U.C. 269, by Spurius Tarpeius, to empower all the magistrates of the republic to lay fines on offenders. This power belonged before only to the consuls. This fine was not to exceed two sheep and 30 oxen.

Spurius Tarpeius, the governor of the citadel of Rome, under Romulus. His descendants were called Montani and Capitolini.

Tarpeius mons, a hill at Rome about 80 feet in perpendicular height, from whence the Romans threw down their condemned criminals. It received its name from Tarpeia, who was buried there, and is the same as the Capitoline hill. Livy, bk. 6, ch. 20.—Lucan, bk. 7, li. 758.—Virgil, Æneid, bk. 8, lis. 347 & 652.

Tarquinii, now Turchina, a town of Etruria, built by Tarchon, who assisted Æneas against Turnus. Tarquinius Priscus was born or educated there, and he made it a Roman colony when he ascended the throne. Strabo, bk. 5.—Pliny, bk. 2, ch. 95.—Livy, bk. 2, ch. 34; bk. 27, ch. 4.

Tarquinia, a daughter of Tarquinius Priscus, who married Servius Tullius. When her husband was murdered by Tarquinius Superbus, she privately conveyed away his body by night, and buried it. This preyed upon her mind, and the night following she died. Some have attributed her death to excess of grief, or to suicide, while others, perhaps more justly, have suspected Tullia the wife of young Tarquin of the murder.――A vestal virgin, who, as some suppose, gave the Roman people a large piece of land, which was afterwards called the Campus Martius.

Tarquinius Priscus, the fifth king of Rome, was son of Demaratus, a native of Greece. His first name was Lucumon, but this he changed when, by the advice of his wife Tanaquil, he had come to Rome. He called himself Lucius, and assumed the surname of Tarquinius, because born in the town of Tarquinii, in Etruria. At Rome he distinguished himself so much by his liberality and engaging manners, that Ancus Martius, the reigning monarch, nominated him, at his death, the guardian of his children. This was insufficient to gratify the ambition of Tarquin; the princes were young, and an artful oration delivered to the people immediately transferred the crown of the deceased monarch on the head of Lucumon. The people had every reason to be satisfied with their choice. Tarquin reigned with moderation and popularity. He increased the number of the senate, and made himself friends by electing 100 new senators from the plebeians, whom he distinguished by the appellation of Patres minorum gentium, from those of the patrician body, who were called Patres majorum gentium. The glory of the Roman arms, which was supported with so much dignity by the former monarch, was not neglected in this reign, and Tarquin showed that he possessed vigour and military prudence in the victories which he obtained over the united forces of the Latins and Sabines, and in the conquest of the 12 nations of Etruria. He repaired, in the time of peace, the walls of the capital; the public places were adorned with elegant buildings and useful ornaments, and many centuries after, such as were spectators of the stately mansions and golden palaces of Nero, viewed with more admiration and greater pleasure the more simple, though not less magnificent, edifices of Tarquin. He laid the foundations of the capitol, and to the industry and the public spirit of this monarch, the Romans were indebted for their aqueducts and subterraneous sewers, which supplied the city with fresh and wholesome water, and removed all the filth and ordure, which in a great capital too often breed pestilence and diseases. Tarquin was the first who introduced among the Romans the custom to canvass for offices of trust and honour; he distinguished the monarch, the senators, and other inferior magistrates with particular robes and ornaments, with ivory chairs at spectacles, and the hatchets carried before the public magistrates were by his order surrounded with bundles of sticks, to strike more terror, and to be viewed with greater reverence. Tarquin was assassinated by the two sons of his predecessor, in the 80th year of his age, 38 of which he had sat on the throne, 578 years before Christ. Dionysius of Halicarnassus, bk. 3, ch. 59.—Valerius Maximus, bk. 1, ch. 4; bk. 3, ch. 2.—Florus, bk. 1, ch. 5, &c.—Livy, bk. 1, ch. 31.—Virgil, Æneid, bk. 6, li. 817.――The second Tarquin, surnamed Superbus, from his pride and insolence, was grandson of Tarquinius Priscus. He ascended the throne of Rome after his father-in-law Servius Tullius, and was the seventh and last king of Rome. He married Tullia the daughter of Tullius, and it was at her instigation that he murdered his father-in-law, and seized the kingdom. The crown which he had obtained with violence, he endeavoured to keep by a continuation of tyranny. Unlike his royal predecessors, he paid no regard to the decisions of the senate, or the approbation of the public assemblies, and by wishing to disregard both, he incurred the jealousy of the one and the odium of the other. The public treasury was soon exhausted by the continual extravagance of Tarquin, and to silence the murmurs of his subjects, he resolved to call their attention to war. He was successful in his military operations, and the neighbouring cities submitted; but while the siege of Ardea was continued, the wantonness of the son of Tarquin at Rome for ever stopped the progress of his arms; and the Romans, whom a series of barbarity and oppression had hitherto provoked, no sooner saw the virtuous Lucretia stab herself, not to survive the loss of her honour [See: Lucretia], than the whole city and camp arose with indignation against the monarch. The gates of Rome were shut against him, and Tarquin was for ever banished from his throne, in the year of Rome 244. Unable to find support from even one of his subjects, Tarquin retired among the Etrurians, who attempted in vain to replace him on his throne. The republican government was established at Rome, and all Italy refused any longer to support the cause of an exiled monarch against a nation, who heard the name of Tarquin, of king, and tyrant, mentioned with equal horror and indignation. Tarquin died in the 90th year of his age, about 14 years after his expulsion from Rome. He had reigned about 25 years. Though Tarquin appeared so odious among the Romans, his reign was not without its share of glory. His conquests were numerous; to beautify the buildings and porticoes at Rome was his wish, and with great magnificence and care he finished the capitol, which his predecessor of the same name had begun. He also bought the Sibylline books which the Romans consulted with such religious solemnity. See: Sibyllæ. Cicero, For Rabirius on a Charge of Treason & Tusculanæ Disputationes, bk. 3, ch. 27.—Livy, bk. 1, ch. 46, &c.—Dionysius of Halicarnassus, bk. 3, ch. 48, &c.—Florus, bk. 1, chs. 7 & 8.—Pliny, bk. 8, ch. 41.—Plutarch.—Valerius Maximus, bk. 9, ch. 11.—Ovid, Fasti, bk. 2, li. 687.—Virgil, Æneid, bk. 6, li. 817.—Eutropius.――Collatinus, one of the relations of Tarquin the Proud, who married Lucretia. See: Collatinus.――Sextius, the eldest of the sons of Tarquin the Proud, rendered himself known by a variety of adventures. When his father besieged Gabii, young Tarquin publicly declared that he was at variance with the monarch, and the report was the more easily believed when he came before Gabii with his body all mangled and bloody with stripes. This was an agreement between the father and the son, and Tarquin had no sooner declared that this proceeded from the tyranny and oppression of his father, than the people of Gabii entrusted him with the command of their armies, fully convinced that Rome could never have a more inveterate enemy. When he had thus succeeded, he despatched a private messenger to his father, but the monarch gave no answer to be returned to his son. Sextius inquired more particularly about his father, and when he heard from the messenger that when the message was delivered, Tarquin cut off with a stick the tallest poppies in his garden, the son followed the example by putting to death the most noble and powerful citizens of Gabii. The two soon fell into the hands of the Romans. The violence which some time after Tarquinius offered to Lucretia, was the cause of his father’s exile, and the total expulsion of his family from Rome. See: Lucretia. Sextius was at last killed, bravely fighting in a battle during the war which the Latins sustained against Rome in the attempt of re-establishing the Tarquins on their throne. Ovid, Fasti.—Livy.――A Roman senator who was accessary to Catiline’s conspiracy.

Tarquitius Crescens, a centurion under Cæsennius Pætus. Tacitus, Annals, bk. 15, ch. 11.――Priscus, an officer in Africa, who accused the proconsul, &c. Tacitus, Annals, bk. 12, ch. 59; bk. 14, ch. 46.

Tarquĭtus, a son of Faunus and Dryope, who assisted Turnus against Æneas. He was killed by Æneas. Virgil, Æneid, bk. 10, li. 550.

Tarracīna, a town of the Volsci in Latium, between Rome and Neapolis. It was also called Anxur, because the infant Jupiter was worshipped there under that name, which signifies beardless. Livy, bk. 4, ch. 29.—Strabo, bk. 5.—Mela, bk. 2, ch. 4.—Festus, Lexicon of Festus.

Tarrăco, now Tarragona, a city of Spain, situate on the shores of the Mediterranean, founded by the two Scipios, who planted a Roman colony there. The province of which it was the capital was called Tarraconensis, and was famous for its wines. Hispania Tarraconensis, which was also called by the Romans Hispania Citerior, was bounded on the east by the Mediterranean, the ocean on the west, the Pyrenean mountains and the sea of the Cantabri on the north, and Lusitania and Bætica on the south. Martial, bk. 10, ltr. 104; bk. 13, ltr. 118.—Mela, bk. 2, ch. 6.—Silius Italicus, bk. 3, li. 369; bk. 15, li. 177.

Tarrutius. See: Acca Laurentia.

Tarsa, a Thracian, who rebelled under Tiberius, &c. Tacitus, Annals, bk. 4, ch. 50.

Tarsius, a river of Troas. Strabo.

Tarsus, now Tarasso, a town of Cilicia, on the Cydnus, founded by Triptolemus and a colony of Argives, or, as others say, by Sardanapalus, or by Perseus. Tarsus was celebrated for the great men it produced. It was once the rival of Alexandria and Athens in literature and the study of the polite arts. The people of Tarsus wished to ingratiate themselves into the favour of Julius Cæsar by giving the name of Juliopolis to their city, but it was soon lost. Lucan, bk. 3, li. 225.—Mela, bk. 1, ch. 13.—Strabo, bk. 14.

Tartărus, (plural, a, orum), one of the regions of hell, where, according to the ancients, the most impious and guilty among mankind were punished. It was surrounded by a brazen wall, and its entrance was continually hidden from the sight by a cloud of darkness, which is represented three times more gloomy than the obscurest night. According to Hesiod it was a separate prison, at a greater distance from the earth than the earth is from the heavens. Virgil says that it was surrounded by three impenetrable walls, and by the impetuous and burning streams of the river Phlegethon. The entrance was by a large and lofty tower, whose gates were supported by columns of adamant, which neither gods nor men could open. In Tartarus, according to Virgil, were punished such as had been disobedient to their parents, traitors, adulterers, faithless ministers, and such as had undertaken unjust and cruel wars, or had betrayed their friends for the sake of money. It was also the place where Ixion, Tityus, the Danaides, Tantalus, Sisyphus, &c., were punished, according to Ovid. Hesiod, Theogony, li. 720.—Silius Italicus, bk. 13, li. 591.—Virgil, Æneid, bk. 6.—Homer, Odyssey, bk. 11.—Ovid, Metamorphoses, bk. 4, fable 13.――A small river of Italy, near Verona. Tacitus, Histories, bk. 3, ch. 9.