A classical dictionary / containing a copious account of all the proper names mentioned in ancient authors with tables of coins, weights, and measures used among the Greeks and Romans and a chronological table

by John Lemprière

D

Daæ, Dahæ, or Dai, now the Dahistan, a people of Scythia, who dwelt on the borders of the Caspian sea. Silius Italicus, bk. 13, li. 764.—Lucan, bk. 7, li. 420.—Virgil, Æneid, bk. 1, li. 728.

Daci and Dacæ, a warlike nation of Germany, beyond the Danube, whose country, called Dacia, was conquered by the Romans under Trajan, after a war of 15 years, A.D. 103. The emperor joined the country to Mœsia, by erecting a magnificent bridge across the Danube, considered as the best of his works, which, however, the envy of his successor Adrian demolished. Dacia now forms the modern countries of Walachia, Transylvania, and Moldavia. Lucan, bk. 2, li. 53.

Dacĭcus, a surname assumed by Domitian on his pretended victory over the Dacians. Juvenal, satire 6, li. 204.

Dacty̆li, a name given to the priests of Cybele, which some derive from δακτυλος, finger, because they were 10, the same number as the fingers of the hands. Pausanias, bk. 1, ch. 8.

Dadicæ, a people of Asiatic Scythia. Herodotus, bk. 3, ch. 91.

Dædăla, a mountain and city of Lycia, where Dædalus was buried according to Pliny, bk. 5, ch. 27.——A name given to Circe, from her being cunning (δαιδαλος), and like Dædalus, addicted to deceit and artifice. Virgil, Æneid, bk. 7, li. 282.——Two festivals in Bœotia. One of these was observed at Alalcomenos by the Platæans, in a large grove, where they exposed in the open air pieces of boiled flesh, and carefully observed whither the crows that came to prey upon them directed their flight. All the trees upon which any of these birds alighted were immediately cut down, and with them statues were made called Dædala, in honour of Dædalus.——The other festival was of a more solemn kind. It was celebrated every 60 years by all the cities of Bœotia, as a compensation for the intermission of the smaller festivals, for that number of years, during the exile of the Platæans. Fourteen of the statues, called Dædala, were distributed by lot among the Platæans, Lebadæans, Coroneans, Orchomenians, Thespians, Thebans, Tanagræans, and Chæroneans, because they had effected a reconciliation among the Platæans and had caused them to be recalled from exile, about the time that Thebes was restored by Cassander the son of Antipater. During this festival, a woman in the habit of a bride-maid accompanied a statue, which was dressed in female garments, on the banks of the Eurotas. This procession was attended to the top of mount Cithæron, by many of the Bœotians, who had places assigned them by lot. Here an altar of square pieces of wood cemented together like stones, was erected, and upon it were thrown large quantities of combustible materials. Afterwards a bull was sacrificed to Jupiter, and an ox or heifer to Juno, by every one of the cities of Bœotia, and by the most opulent that attended. The poorest citizens offered small cattle; and all these oblations, together with the Dædala, were thrown in the common heap and set on fire, and totally reduced to ashes. They originated in this: When Juno, after a quarrel with Jupiter, had retired to Eubœa, and refused to return to his bed, the god, anxious for her return, went to consult Cithæron king of Platæa, to find some effectual measure to break her obstinacy. Cithæron advised him to dress a statue in woman’s apparel, and carry it in a chariot, and publicly to report that it was Platæa the daughter of Asopus, whom he was going to marry. The advice was followed, and Juno, informed of her husband’s future marriage, repaired in haste to meet the chariot, and was easily united to him, when she discovered the artful measures he made use of to effect a reconciliation. Pausanias & Plutarch.

Dædălion, a son of Lucifer, brother to Ceyx and father of Philonis. He was so afflicted at the death of Philonis, whom Diana had put to death, that he threw himself down from the top of mount Parnassus, and was changed into a falcon by Apollo. Ovid, Metamorphoses, bk. 11, li. 295.

Dædălus, an Athenian, son of Eupalamus, descended from Erechtheus king of Athens. He was the most ingenious artist of his age, and to him we are indebted for the invention of the wedge, the axe, the wimble, the level, and many other mechanical instruments, and the sails of ships. He made statues, which moved of themselves, and seemed to be endowed with life. Talus, his sister’s son, promised to be as great as himself, by the ingenuity of his inventions; and therefore, from envy, he threw him down from a window and killed him. After the murder of this youth, Dædalus, with his son Icarus, fled from Athens to Crete, where Minos king of the country gave him a cordial reception. Dædalus made a famous labyrinth for Minos, and assisted Pasiphae the queen to gratify her unnatural passion for a bull. For this action, Dædalus incurred the displeasure of Minos, who ordered him to be confined in the labyrinth which he had constructed. Here he made himself wings with feathers and wax, and carefully fitted them to his body, and to that of his son, who was the companion of his confinement. They took their flight in the air from Crete; but the heat of the sun melted the wax on the wings of Icarus, whose flight was too high, and he fell into that part of the ocean, which from him has been called the Icarian sea. The father, by a proper management of his wings, alighted at Cumæ, where he built a temple to Apollo, and thence directed his course to Sicily, where he was kindly received by Cocalus, who reigned over part of the country. He left many monuments of his ingenuity in Sicily, which still existed in the age of Diodorus Siculus. He was despatched by Cocalus, who was afraid of the power of Minos, who had declared war against him, because he had given an asylum to Dædalus. The flight of Dædalus from Crete, with wings, is explained, by observing that he was the inventor of sails, which in his age might pass at a distance for wings. Pausanias, bks. 1, 7 & 9.—Diodorus, bk. 4.—Ovid, Metamorphoses, bk. 8, fable 3; Heroides, poem 4; De Ars Amatoria, bk. 2; Tristia, bk. 3, poem 4.—Hyginus, fable 40.—Virgil, Æneid, bk. 6, li. 14.—Apollodorus, bk. 3, ch. 1, &c.—Herodotus, bk. 7, ch. 170.——There were two statuaries of the same name, one of Sicyon son of Patroclus, the other a native of Bithynia. Pausanias, bk. 7, ch. 14.—Arrian.

Dæmon, a kind of spirit which, as the ancients supposed, presided over the actions of mankind, gave them their private counsels, and carefully watched over their most secret intentions. Some of the ancient philosophers maintained that every man had two of these Dæmons; the one bad and the other good. These Dæmons had the power of changing themselves into whatever they pleased, and of assuming whatever shapes were most subservient to their intentions. At the moment of death, the Dæmon delivered up to judgment the person with whose care he had been entrusted; and according to the evidence he delivered, sentence was passed over the body. The Dæmon of Socrates is famous in history. That great philosopher asserted that the genius informed him when any of his friends was going to engage in some unfortunate enterprise, and stopped him from the commission of all crimes and impiety. These Genii or Dæmons, though at first reckoned only as the subordinate ministers of the superior deities, received divine honour in length of time, and we find altars and statues erected to a Genio loci, Genio Augusti, Junonibus, &c. Cicero, Tusculanæ Disputationes, bk. 1.—Plutarch, de Genio Socratis.

Dahæ. See: [Daæ].

Dai, a nation of Persia, all shepherds. Herodotus, bk. 1, ch. 125.

Daicles, a victor at Olympia, B.C. 753.

Daĭdis, a solemnity observed by the Greeks. It lasted three days. The first was in commemoration of Latona’s labour; the second in memory of Apollo’s birth; and the third in honour of the marriage of Podalirius, and the mother of Alexander. Torches were always carried at the celebration; whence the name.

Daimăchus, a master of horse at Syracuse, &c. Polyænus, bk. 1.

Daimĕnes, a general of the Achæans. Pausanias, bk. 7, ch. 6.——An officer exposed on a cross, by Dionysius of Syracuse. Diodorus, bk. 14.

Daĭphron, a son of Ægyptus, killed by his wife, &c. Apollodorus, bk. 2, ch. 1.

Daīra, one of the Oceanides, mother of Eleusis by Mercury. Pausanias, bk. 1, ch. 38.

Daldia, a town of Lydia.

Dalmatius, one of the Cæsars in the age of Constantine, who died A.D. 337.

Dalmătia, a part of Illyricum, at the east of the Adriatic, near Liburnia on the west, whose inhabitants, called Dalmatæ, were conquered by Metellus, B.C. 118. They chiefly lived upon plunder, and from their rebellious spirit were troublesome to the Roman empire. They wore a peculiar garment called Dalmatica, afterwards introduced at Rome. Horace, bk. 2, ode 1, li. 16.—Lampridus, Commodus, ch. 8.—Strabo, bk. 7.—Ptolemy, bk. 2.

Dalmium, the chief town of Dalmatia. Strabo, bk. 7.

Damagetus, a man of Rhodes, who inquired of the oracle what wife he ought to marry? and received for answer the daughter of the bravest of the Greeks. He applied to Aristomenes, and obtained his daughter in marriage, B.C. 670. Pausanias, bk. 4, ch. 24.

Damălis, a courtesan at Rome in the age of Horace, bk. 1, ode 36, li. 13.

Damas, a Syracusan in the interest of Agathocles. Diodorus, bk. 19.

Damascēna, a part of Syria near mount Libanus.

Damascius, a stoic of Damascus, who wrote a philosophical history, the life of Isidorus, and four books on extraordinary events, in the age of Justinian. His works, which are now lost, were greatly esteemed according to Photius.

Damascus, a rich and ancient city of Damascene in Syria, where Demetrius Nicanor was defeated by Alexander Zebina. It is the modern Damas, or Sham, inhabited by about 80,000 souls. Lucan, bk. 3, li. 215.—Justin, bk. 36, ch. 2.—Mela, bk. 1, ch. 11.

Damasia, a town called also Augusta, now [♦]Augsburg, in Swabia, on the Leck.

[♦] ‘Ausburg’ replaced with ‘Augsburg’

Damasichthon, a king of Thebes. Pausanias, bk. 9, ch. 5.

Damasippus, a captain in Philip’s army.——A senator who accompanied Juba when he entered Utica in triumph. Cæsar, Civil War, bk. 2.——A great enemy of Sylla. Paterculus, bk. 2, ch. 22.——An orator. Juvenal, satire 3, li. 185.——A merchant of old seals and vessels, who, after losing his all in unfortunate schemes in commerce, assumed the name and habit of a stoic philosopher. Horace, bk. 2, satire 3.——One of Niobe’s sons.

Damasistrătus, a king of Platæa, who buried Laius. Apollodorus, bk. 3, ch. 5.

Damasithynus, a son of Candaules general in the army of Xerxes. Herodotus, bk. 7, ch. 98.——A king of Calyndæ, sunk in his ship by Artemisia. Herodotus, bk. 8, ch. 87.

Damastes, a man of Sigæum, disciple of Hellanicus about the age of Herodotus, &c. Dionysius of Halicarnassus.——A famous robber. See: [Procrustes].

Damastor, a Trojan chief, killed by Patroclus at the siege of Troy. Homer, Iliad, bk. 16, li. 416.

Damia, a surname of Cybele.——A woman to whom the Epidaurians raised a statue. Herodotus, bk. 5, ch. 82.

Damias, a statuary of Clitor, in Arcadia, in the age of Lysander. Pausanias, bk. 10, ch. 9.

Damippus, a Spartan taken by Marcellus as he sailed out of the port of Syracuse. He discovered to the enemy that a certain part of the city was negligently guarded, and in consequence of this discovery Syracuse was taken. Polyænus.

Damis, a man who disputed with Aristodemus the right of reigning over the Messenians. Pausanias, bk. 4, ch. 10.

Damnii, a people at the north of Britain.

Damnonii, a people of Britain, now supposed Devonshire.

Damnōrix, a celebrated Gaul in the interest of Julius Cæsar, &c.

Damo, a daughter of Pythagoras, who, by order of her father, devoted her life to perpetual celibacy, and induced others to follow her example. Pythagoras at his death entrusted her with all the secrets of his philosophy, and gave her the unlimited care of his compositions, under the promise that she never would part with them. She faithfully obeyed his injunctions; and though in the extremest poverty, she refused to obtain money by the violation of her father’s commands. Diogenes Laërtius, Pythagoras.

Damŏcles, one of the flatterers of Dionysius the elder, of Sicily. He admired the tyrant’s wealth, and pronounced him the happiest man on earth. Dionysius prevailed upon him to undertake for a while the charge of royalty, and be convinced of the happiness which a sovereign enjoyed. Damocles ascended the throne, and while he gazed upon the wealth and splendour that surrounded him, he perceived a sword hanging over his head by a horse hair. This so terrified him that all his imaginary felicity vanished at once, and he begged Dionysius to remove him from a situation which exposed his life to such fears and dangers. Cicero, Tusculanæ Disputationes, bk. 5, ch. 21.

Damocrătes, a hero, &c. Plutarch, Aristotle.

Damocrĭta, a Spartan matron, wife of Alcippus, who severely punished her enemies who had banished her husband, &c. Plutarch, Parallela minora.

Damocrĭtus, a timid general of the Achæans, &c. Pausanias, bk. 7, ch. 13.——A Greek writer, who composed two treatises, one upon the art of drawing an army in battle array, and the other concerning the Jews.——A man who wrote a poetical treatise upon medicine.

Damon, a victor at Olympia, Olympiad 102. Pausanias, bk. 4, ch. 27.——A poet and musician of Athens, intimate with Pericles, and distinguished for his knowledge of government and fondness of discipline. He was banished for his intrigues about 430 years before Christ. Cornelius Nepos, bk. 15, ch. 2.—Plutarch, Pericles.——A Pythagorean philosopher, very intimate with Pythias. When he had been condemned to death by Dionysius, he obtained from the tyrant leave to go and settle his domestic affairs, on promise of returning at a stated hour to the place of execution. Pythias pledged himself to undergo the punishment which was to be inflicted on Damon, should he not return in time, and he consequently delivered himself into the hands of the tyrant. Damon returned at the appointed moment, and Dionysius was so struck with the fidelity of those two friends, that he remitted the punishment, and entreated them to permit him to share their friendship, and enjoy their confidence. Valerius Maximus, bk. 4, ch. 7.——A man of Cheronæa, who killed a Roman officer, and was murdered by his fellow-citizens. Plutarch, Cimon.——A Cyrenean, who wrote a history of philosophy. Diogenes Laërtius.

Damophantus, a general of Elis in the age of Philopœmen. Plutarch, Philopœmen.

Damophĭla, a poetess of Lesbos, wife of Pamphilus. She was intimate with Sappho, and not only wrote hymns in honour of Diana and of the gods, but opened a school where the younger persons of her sex were taught the various powers of music and poetry. Philostratus.

Damophĭlus, an historian. Diodorus.——A Rhodian general against the fleet of Demetrius. Diodorus, bk. 20.

Damŏphon, a sculptor of Messenia. Pausanias, bk. 7, ch. 23.

Damostrătus, a philosopher who wrote a treatise concerning fishes. Ælian, Varia Historia, bk. 13, ch. 21.

Damoxĕnus, a comic writer of Athens. Athenæus, bk. 3.——A boxer of Syracuse, banished for killing his adversary. Pausanias, bk. 8, ch. 40.

Damyrias, a river of Sicily. Plutarch, Timoleon.

Dana, a large town of Cappadocia.

Danăce, the name of the piece of money which Charon required to convey the dead over the Styx. Suidas.

Dănae, the daughter of Acrisius king of Argos by Eurydice. She was confined in a brazen tower by her father, who had been told by an oracle that his daughter’s son would put him to death. His endeavours to prevent Danae from becoming a mother proved fruitless; and Jupiter, who was enamoured of her, introduced himself to her bed, by changing himself into a golden shower. From his embraces Danae had a son, with whom she was exposed on the sea by her father. The wind drove the bark which carried her to the coasts of the island of Seriphus, where she was saved by some fishermen, and carried to Polydectes king of the place, whose brother called Dictys educated the child called Perseus, and tenderly treated the mother. Polydectes fell in love with her; but as he was afraid of her son, he sent him to conquer the Gorgons, pretending that he wished Medusa’s head to adorn the nuptials which he was going to celebrate with Hippodamia the daughter of Œnomaus. When Perseus had victoriously finished his expedition, he retired to Argos with Danae, to the house of Acrisius, whom he inadvertently killed. Some suppose that it was Prœtus the brother of Acrisius who introduced himself to Danae in the brazen tower; and instead of a golden shower, it was maintained that the keepers of Danae were bribed by the gold of her seducer. Virgil mentions that Danae came to Italy with some fugitives of Argos, and that she founded a city called Ardea. Ovid, Metamorphoses, bk. 4, li. 611; Ars Amatoria, bk. 3, li. 415; Amores, bk. 2, poem 19, li. 27.—Horace, bk. 3, ode 16.—Homer, Iliad, bk. 14, li. 319.—Apollodorus, bk. 2, chs. 2 & 4.—Statius, Thebiad, bk. 1, li. 255.—Virgil, Æneid, bk. 7, li. 410.——A daughter of Leontium, mistress to Sophron governor of Ephesus.——A daughter of Danaus, to whom Neptune offered violence.

Dănai, a name given to the people of Argos, and promiscuously to all the Greeks, from Danaus their king. Virgil, & Ovid, passim.

Dănaĭdes, the 50 daughters of Danaus king of Argos. When their uncle Ægyptus came from Egypt with his 50 sons, they were promised in marriage to their cousins; but before the celebration of their nuptials, Danaus, who had been informed by an oracle that he was to be killed by the hands of one of his sons-in-law, made his daughters solemnly promise that they would destroy their husbands. They were provided with daggers by their father, and all, except Hypermnestra, stained their hands with the blood of their cousins, the first night of their nuptials; and as a pledge of their obedience to their father’s injunctions, they presented him each with the head of the murdered sons of Ægyptus. Hypermnestra was summoned to appear before her father, and answer for her disobedience in suffering her husband Lynceus to escape, but the unanimous voice of the people declared her innocent, and in consequence of her honourable acquittal, she dedicated a temple to the goddess of Persuasion. The sisters were purified of this murder by Mercury and Minerva, by order of Jupiter; but according to the more received opinion, they were condemned to severe punishment in hell, and were compelled to fill with water a vessel full of holes, so that the water ran out as soon as poured into it, and therefore their labour was infinite, and their punishment eternal. The names of the Danaides and their husbands were as follows, according to Apollodorus: Amymone married Enceladus; Automate, Busiris; Agave, Lycus; Scea, Dayphron; Hippodamia, Ister; Rhodia, Chalcedon; Calyce, another Lynceus; Gorgophone, Proteus; Cleopatra, Agenor; Asteria, Chætus; Glauce, Aleis; Hippodamia, Diacorytes; Hippomedusa, Alcmenon; Gorge, Hippothous; Iphimedusa, Euchenor; Rhode, Hippolytus; Pirene, Agaptolemus; Cercestis, Dorion; Pharte, Eurydamas; Mnestra, Ægius; Evippe, Arigius; Anaxibia, Archelaus; Nelo, Melachus; Clite, Clitus; Stenele, Stenelus; Chrysippe, Chrysippus; Autonoe, Eurylochus; Theano, Phantes; Electra, Peristhenes; Eurydice, Dryas; Glaucippe, Potamon; Autholea, Cisseus; Cleodora, Lixus; Evippe, Imbrus; Erata, Bromius; Stygne, Polyctor; Bryce, Chthonius; Actea, Periphas; Podarce, Œneus; Dioxippe, Ægyptus; Adyte, Menalces; Ocypete, Lampus; Pilarge, Idmon; Hippodice, Idas; Adiante, Diaphron; Callidia, Pandion; Œme, Arbelus; Celena, Hixbius; Hyperia, Hippocoristes. The heads of the sons of Ægyptus were buried at Argos; but their bodies were left at Lerna, where the murder had been committed. Apollodorus, bk. 2, ch. 1.—Horace, bk. 3, ode 11.—Strabo, bk. 8.—Pausanias, bk. 2, ch. 16.—Hyginus, fable 168, &c.

Danăla, a castle of Galatia.

Danapris, now the Nieper, a name given in the middle ages to the Borysthenes, as Danaster the Neister, was applied to the Tyras.

Dănaus, a son of Belus and Anchinoe, who, after his father’s death, reigned conjointly with his brother Ægyptus on the throne of Egypt. Some time after, a difference arose between the brothers, and Danaus set sail with his 50 daughters in quest of a settlement. He visited Rhodes, where he consecrated a statue to Minerva, and arrived safe on the coast of Peloponnesus, where he was hospitably received by Gelanor king of Argos. Gelanor had lately ascended the throne, and the first years of his reign were marked with dissensions with his subjects. Danaus took advantage of Gelanor’s unpopularity, and obliged him to abdicate the crown. In Gelanor, the race of the Inaehidæ was extinguished, and the Belides began to reign at Argos in Danaus. Some authors say that Gelanor voluntarily resigned the crown to Danaus, on account of the wrath of Neptune, who had dried up all the waters of Argolis, to punish the impiety of Inachus. The success of Danaus invited the 50 sons of Ægyptus to embark for Greece. They were kindly received by their uncle, who, either apprehensive of their number, or terrified by an oracle which threatened his ruin by one of his sons-in-law, caused his daughters, to whom they were promised in marriage, to murder them the first night of their nuptials. His fatal orders were executed, but Hypermnestra alone spared the life of Lynceus. See: [Danaides]. Danaus at first persecuted Lynceus with unremitted fury, but he was afterwards reconciled to him, and he acknowledged him for his son-in-law and successor, after a reign of 50 years. He died about 1425 years before the christian era, and after death he was honoured with a splendid monument in the town of Argos, which still existed in the age of Pausanias. According to Æschylus, Danaus left Egypt, not to be present at the marriage of his daughters with the sons of his brother, a connection which he deemed unlawful and impious. The ship in which Danaus came to Greece was called Armais, and was the first that had ever appeared there. It is said that the use of pumps was first introduced into Greece by Danaus. Apollodorus, bk. 2, ch. 1.—Pausanias, bk. 2, ch. 19.—Hyginus, fable 168, &c.—Herodotus, bk. 2, ch. 91, &c.; bk. 7, ch. 94.

Dandări and Dandarĭdæ, certain inhabitants near mount Caucasus. Tacitus, Annals, bk. 12, ch. 18.

Dandon, a man of Illyricum, who, as Pliny, bk. 7, ch. 48, reports, lived 500 years.

Dānŭbius, a celebrated river, the greatest in Europe, which rises, according to Herodotus, near the town of Pyrene, in the country of the Celtæ, and after flowing through the greatest part of Europe, falls into the Euxine sea. The Greeks called it Ister; but the Romans distinguished it by the appellation of the Danube, from its source till the middle of its course; and from thence to its mouths they called it Ister, like the Greeks. It falls into the Euxine through seven mouths, or six according to others. Herodotus mentions five, and modern travellers discover only two. The Danube was generally supposed to be the northern boundary of the Roman empire in Europe; and therefore, several castles were erected on its banks, to check the incursions of the barbarians. It was worshipped as a deity by the Scythians. According to modern geography, the Danube rises in Suabia, and after receiving about 40 navigable rivers, finishes a course of 1600 miles, by emptying itself into the Black sea. Dionysius Periegetes.—Herodotus, bk. 2, ch. 33; bk. 4, ch. 48, &c.—Strabo, bk. 4.—Pliny, bk. 4, ch. 12.—Ammianus, bk. 23.

Daŏchus, an officer of Philip, &c. Plutarch, Demosthenes.

Daphnæ, a town in Egypt on one of the mouths of the Nile, 16 miles from Pelusium. Herodotus, bk. 2, ch. 30.

Daphnæus, a general of Syracuse, against Carthage. Polyænus, bk. 5.

Daphne, a daughter of the river Peneus or of the Ladon by the goddess Terra, of whom Apollo became enamoured. This passion had been raised by Cupid, with whom Apollo, proud of his late conquest over the serpent Python, had disputed the power of his darts. Daphne heard with horror the addresses of the god, and endeavoured to remove herself from his importunities by flight. Apollo pursued her; and Daphne, fearful of being caught, intreated the assistance of the gods, who changed her into a laurel. Apollo crowned his head with the leaves of the laurel, and for ever ordered that that tree should be sacred to his divinity. Some say that Daphne was admired by Leucippus, son of Œnomaus king of Pisa, who, to be in her company, disguised his sex, and attended her in the woods, in the habit of a huntress. Leucippus gained Daphne’s esteem and love; but Apollo, who was his powerful rival, discovered his sex, and Leucippus was killed by the companions of Diana. Ovid, Metamorphoses, bk. 1, li. 452, &c.—Parthenius, Narrationes Amatoriæ, ch. 15.—Pausanias, bk. 8, ch. 20.——A daughter of Tiresias priestess in the temple of Delphi, supposed by some to be the same as Manto. She was consecrated to the service of Apollo by the Epigoni, or, according to others, by the goddess Tellus. She was called Sibyl, on account of the wildness of her looks and expressions when she delivered oracles. Her oracles were generally in verse, and Homer, according to some accounts, has introduced much of her poetry in his compositions. Diodorus, bk. 4.—Pausanias, bk. 10, ch. 5.——A famous grove near Antioch, consecrated to voluptuousness and luxury.

Daphnēphŏria, a festival in honour of Apollo, celebrated every ninth year by the Bœotians. It was then usual to adorn an olive bough with garlands of laurel and other flowers, and place on the top a brazen globe, on which were suspended smaller ones. In the middle were placed a number of crowns, and a globe of inferior size, and the bottom was adorned with a saffron-coloured garment. The globe on the top represented the sun, or Apollo; that in the middle was an emblem of the moon, and the others of the stars. The crowns, which were 65 in number, represented the sun’s annual revolutions. This bough was carried in solemn procession by a beautiful youth of an illustrious family, and whose parents were both living. The youth was dressed in rich garments which reached to the ground, his hair hung loose and dishevelled, his head was covered with a golden crown, and he wore on his feet shoes called Iphicratidæ, from Iphicrates, an Athenian who first invented them. He was called δαφνηφορος, laurel-bearer, and at that time he executed the office of priest of Apollo. He was preceded by one of his nearest relations, bearing a rod adorned with garlands, and behind him followed a train of virgins, with branches in their hands. In this order the procession advanced as far as the temple of Apollo, surnamed Ismenius, where supplicatory hymns were sung to the god. This festival owed its origin to the following circumstance: When an oracle advised the Ætolians, who inhabited Arne and the adjacent country, to abandon their ancient possessions, and go in quest of a settlement, they invaded the Theban territories, which at that time were pillaged by an army of Pelasgians. As the celebration of Apollo’s festivals was near, both nations, who religiously observed it, laid aside all hostilities, and according to custom, cut down laurel boughs from mount Helicon and in the neighbourhood of the river Melas, and walked in procession in honour of the divinity. The day that this solemnity was observed, Polemates the general of the [♦]Bœotian army saw a youth in a dream that presented him with a complete suit of armour, and commanded the Bœotians to offer solemn prayers to Apollo, and walk in procession with laurel boughs in their hands every ninth year. Three days after this dream, the Bœotian general made a sally, and cut off the greatest part of the besiegers, who were compelled by this blow to relinquish their enterprise. Polemates immediately instituted a novennial festival to the god who seemed to be the patron of the Bœotians. Pausanias, Bœotia, &c.

[♦] ‘Bœtian’ replaced with ‘Bœotian’

Daphnis, a shepherd of Sicily, son of Mercury by a Sicilian nymph. He was educated by the nymphs, Pan taught him to sing and play upon the pipe, and the muses inspired him with the love of poetry. It was supposed that he was the first who wrote pastoral poetry, in which his successor Theocritus so happily excelled. He was extremely fond of hunting; and at his death five of his dogs, from their attachment to him, refused all aliments, and pined away. From the celebrity of this shepherd, the name of Daphnis has been appropriated by the poets, ancient and modern, to express a person fond of rural employments, and the peaceful innocence which accompanies the tending of flocks. Ælian, Varia Historia, bk. 10, ch. 18.—Diodorus, bk. 4.——There was another shepherd on mount Ida of the same name changed into a rock, according to Ovid, Metamorphoses, bk. 4, li. 275.——A servant of Nicocrates tyrant of Cyrene, &c. Polyænus, bk. 8.——A grammarian. Suetonius, Lives of the Grammarians.——A son of Paris and Œnone.

Daphnus, a river of Locris, into which the body of Hesiod was thrown after his murder. Plutarch, de Convivium Septem Sapientium.——A physician who preferred a supper to a dinner, because he supposed that the moon assisted digestion. Athenæus, bk. 7.

Darăba, a town of Arabia.

Darantasia, a town of Belgic Gaul, called also Forum Claudii, and now Motier.

Daraps, a king of the Gangaridæ, &c. Flaccus, bk. 6, li. 67.

Dardăni, the inhabitants of Dardania.——Also a people of Mœsia, very inimical to the neighbouring power of Macedonia. Livy, bk. 26, ch. 25; bk. 27, ch. 33; bk. 31, ch. 28; bk. 40, ch. 57.—Pliny, bk. 4, ch. 1.

Dardănia, a town or country of Troas, from which the Trojans were called Dardani and Dardanidæ. There is also a country of the same name near Illyricum. This appellation is also applied to Samothrace. Virgil & Ovid, passim.—Strabo, bk. 7.

Dardănĭdes, a name given to Æneas, as descended from Dardanus. The word, in the plural number, is applied to the Trojan women. Virgil, Æneid.

Dardanium, a promontory of Troas, called from the small town of Dardanus, about seven miles from Abydos. The two castles built on each side of the strait by the emperor Mahomet IV., A.D. 1659, gave the name of Dardanelles to the place. Strabo, bk. 13.

Dardănus, a son of Jupiter and Electra, who killed his brother Jasius to obtain the kingdom of Etruria after the death of his reputed father Corytus, and fled to Samothrace, and thence to Asia Minor, where he married Batia the daughter of Teucer, king of Teucria. After the death of his father-in-law he ascended the throne, and reigned 62 years. He built the city of Dardania, and was reckoned the founder of the kingdom of Troy. He was succeeded by Erichthonius. According to some, Corybas his nephew accompanied him to Teucria, where he introduced the worship of Cybele. Dardanus taught his subjects to worship Minerva; and he gave them two statues of the goddess, one of which is well known by the name of Palladium. Virgil, Æneid, bk. 5, li. 167.—Pausanias, bk. 7, ch. 4.—Hyginus, fables 155 & 275.—Apollodorus, bk. 3.—Homer, Iliad, bk. 20.——A Trojan killed by Achilles. Homer, Iliad, bk. 20, li. 460.

Dardării, a nation near the Palus Mæotis. Plutarch, Lucullus.

Dares, a Phrygian who lived during the Trojan war, in which he was engaged, and of which he wrote the history in Greek. This history was extant in the age of Ælian; the Latin translation, now extant, is universally believed to be spurious, though it is attributed by some to Cornelius Nepos. The best edition is that of Smids cum not. var. 4to & 8vo, Amsterdam, 1702.—Homer, Iliad, bk. 5, lis. 10 & 27.——One of the companions of Æneas, descended from Amycus, and celebrated as a pugilist at the funeral games in honour of Hector, where he killed Butes. He was killed by Turnus in Italy. Virgil, Æneid, bk. 5, li. 369; bk. 12, li. 363.

Darētis, a country of Macedonia.

Darīa, a town of Mesopotamia.

Dariaves, the name of Darius in Persian. Strabo, bk. 16.

Dariobrigum, a town of Gaul, now Vennes in Britany.

Darītæ, a people of Persia. Herodotus, bk. 3, ch. 92.

Darīus, a noble satrap of Persia, son of Hystaspes, who conspired with six other noblemen to destroy Smerdis, who usurped the crown of Persia after the death of Cambyses. On the murder of the usurper, the seven conspirators universally agreed, that he whose horse neighed first should be appointed king. In consequence of this resolution the groom of Darius previously led his master’s horse to a mare at a place near which the seven noblemen were to pass. On the morrow before sunrise, when they proceeded all together, the horse, recollecting the mare, suddenly neighed; and at the same time a clap of thunder was heard, as if in approbation of the choice. The noblemen dismounted from their horses, and saluted Darius king; and a resolution was made among them, that the king’s wives and concubines should be taken from no other family but that of the conspirators, and that they should for ever enjoy the unlimited privilege of being admitted into the king’s presence without previous introduction. Darius was 29 years old when he ascended the throne, and he soon distinguished himself by his activity and military accomplishments. He besieged Babylon, which he took after a siege of 20 months, by the artifices of Zopyrus. From thence he marched against the Scythians, and in his way conquered Thrace. This expedition was unsuccessful; and, after several losses and disasters in the wilds of Scythia, the king retired with shame, and soon after turned his arms against the Indians, whom he subdued. The burning of Sardis, which was a Grecian colony, incensed the Athenians, and a war was kindled between Greece and Persia. Darius was so exasperated against the Greeks, that a servant every evening, by his order, repeated these words: “Remember, O king, to punish the Athenians.” Mardonius, the king’s son-in-law, was entrusted with the care of the war, but his army was destroyed by the Thracians; and Darius, more animated by his loss, sent a more considerable force, under the command of Datis and Artaphernes. They were conquered at the celebrated battle of Marathon, by 10,000 Athenians; and the Persians lost in that expedition no less than 206,000 men. Darius was not disheartened by this severe blow, but he resolved to carry on the war in person, and immediately ordered a still larger army to be levied. He died in the midst of his preparations, B.C. 485, after a reign of 36 years, in the 65th year of his age. Herodotus, bks. 1, 2, &c.—Diodorus, bk. 1.—Justin, bk. 1, ch. 9.—Plutarch, Aristotle.—Cornelius Nepos, Miltiades.——The second king of Persia, of that name, was also called Ochus or Nothus, because he was the illegitimate son of Artaxerxes by a concubine. Soon after the murder of Xerxes he ascended the throne of Persia, and married Parysatis his sister, a cruel and ambitious woman, by whom he had Artaxerxes Memnon, Amestris, and Cyrus the younger. He carried on many wars with success, under the conduct of his generals and of his son Cyrus. He died B.C. 404, after a reign of 19 years, and was succeeded by his son Artaxerxes, who asked him on his death-bed, what had been the guide of his conduct in the management of the empire, that he might imitate him? “The dictates of justice and of religion,” replied the expiring monarch. Justin, bk. 5, ch. 11.—Diodorus, bk. 12.——The third of that name was the last king of Persia, surnamed Codomanus. He was son of Arsanes and Sysigambis, and descended from Darius Nothus. The eunuch Bagoas raised him to the throne, though not nearly allied to the royal family, in hopes that he would be subservient to his will; but he prepared to poison him, when he saw him despise his advice, and aim at independence. Darius discovered his perfidy, and made him drink the poison which he had prepared against his life. The peace of Darius was early disturbed, and Alexander invaded Persia to avenge the injuries which the Greeks had suffered from the predecessors of Darius. The king of Persia met his adversary in person, at the head of 600,000 men. This army was remarkable more for its opulence and luxury than for the military courage of its soldiers; and Athenæus mentions that the camp of Darius was crowded with 277 cooks, 29 waiters, 87 cup-bearers, 40 servants to perfume the king, and 66 to prepare garlands and flowers to deck the dishes and meat which appeared on the royal table. With these forces Darius met Alexander. A battle was fought near the Granicus, in which the Persians were easily defeated. Another was soon after fought near Issus; and Alexander left 110,000 of the enemy dead on the field of battle, and took among the prisoners of war, the mother, wife, and children of Darius. The darkness of the night favoured the retreat of Darius, and he saved himself by flying in disguise, on the horse of his armour-bearer. These losses weakened, but discouraged not Darius. He assembled another more powerful army, and the last decisive battle was fought at Arbela. The victory was long doubtful; but the intrepidity of Alexander, and the superior valour of the Macedonians, prevailed over the effeminate Persians; and Darius, sensible of his disgrace and ruin, fled towards Media. His misfortunes were now completed. Bessus the governor of Bactriana took away his life, in hopes of succeeding him on the throne; and Darius was found by the Macedonians in his chariot, covered with wounds, and almost expiring, B.C. 331. He asked for water, and exclaimed, when he received it from the hand of a Macedonian, “It is the greatest of my misfortunes that I cannot reward thy humanity. Beg Alexander to accept my warmest thanks for the tenderness with which he has treated my wretched family, whilst I am doomed to perish by the hand of a man whom I have loaded with kindness.” These words of the dying monarch were reported to Alexander, who covered the dead body with his own mantle, and honoured it with a most magnificent funeral. The traitor Bessus met with a due punishment from the conquerer, who continued his kindness to the unfortunate family of Darius. Darius has been accused of imprudence, for the imperious and arrogant manner in which he wrote his letters to Alexander, in the midst of his misfortunes. In him the empire of Persia was extinguished 228 years after it had been first founded by Cyrus the Great. Diodorus, bk. 17.—Plutarch, Alexander.—Justin, bks. 10, 11, &c.—Curtius.——A son of Xerxes, who married Artaynta, and was killed by Artabanus. Herodotus, bk. 9, ch. 108.—Diodorus, bk. 11.——A son of Artaxerxes, declared successor to the throne, as being the eldest prince. He conspired against his father’s life, and was capitally punished. Plutarch, Artaxerxes.

Dascon, a man who founded Camarina. Thucydides, bk. 6, ch. 5.

Dascylitis, a province of Persia. Thucydides, bk. 1, ch. 129.

Dascy̆lus, the father of Gyges. Herodotus, bk. 1, ch. 8.

Dasea, a town of Arcadia. Pausanias, bk. 8, ch. 27.

Dasius, a chief of Salapia, who favoured Annibal. Livy, bk. 26, ch. 38.

Dassarĕtæ, Dassarītæ, Dassarēni, or Dassariti, a people of Illyricum, or Macedonia. Plutarch, Titus Flamininus.

Datămes, son of Camissares, governor of Caria and general of the armies of Artaxerxes. The influence of his enemies at court obliged him to fly for safety, after he had greatly signalized himself by his military exploits. He took up arms in his own defence, and the king made war against him. He was treacherously killed by Mithridates, who had invited him under pretence of entering into the most inviolable connection and friendship, 362 B.C. Cornelius Nepos, Datames.

Dataphernes, one of the friends of Bessus. After the murder of Darius, he betrayed Bessus into Alexander’s hands. He also revolted from the conqueror, and was delivered up by the Dahæ. Curtius, bk. 7, chs. 5 & 8.

Datis, a general of Darius I., sent with an army of 200,000 foot and 10,000 horse, against the Greeks, in conjunction with Artaphernes. He was defeated at the celebrated battle of Marathon by Miltiades, and some time after put to death by the Spartans. Cornelius Nepos, Miltiades.

Datos, or Daton, a town of Thrace, on a small eminence, near the Strymon. There is in the neighbourhood a fruitful plain, from which Proserpine, according to some, was carried away by Pluto. That city was so rich, that the ancients generally made use of the word Datos to express abundance. When the king of Macedonia conquered it he called it Philippi, after his own name. Appian, Civil Wars.

Davara, a hill near mount Taurus, in Asia Minor.

Daulis, a nymph, from whom the city of Daulis in Phocis, anciently called Anacris, received its name. It was there that Philomela and Procne made Tereus eat the flesh of his son, and hence the nightingale, into which Philomela was changed, is often called Daulias avis. Ovid, ltr. 15, li. 154.—Strabo, bk. 9.—Pausanias, bk. 10, ch. 4.—Ptolemy, bk. 3, ch. 15.—Livy, bk. 32, ch. 18.—Pliny, bk. 4, ch. 3.

Dauni, a people on the eastern part of Italy, conquered by Daunus, from whom they received their name.

Daunia, a name given to the northern parts of Apulia, on the coast of the Adriatic. It receives its name from Daunus, who settled there, and is now called Capitanata. Virgil, Æneid, bk. 8, li. 146.—Silius Italicus, bk. 9, li. 500; bk. 12, li. 429.—Horace, bk. 4, ode 6, li. 27.——Juturna, the sister of Turnus, was called Daunia, after she had been made a goddess by Jupiter. Virgil, Æneid, bk. 12, lis. 139 & 785.

Daunus, a son of Pilumnus and Danae. He came from Illyricum into Apulia, where he reigned over part of the country, which from him was called Daunia, and he was still on the throne when Diomedes came to Italy. Ptolemy, bk. 3, ch. 1.—Mela, bk. 2, ch. 4.—Strabo, bk. 5.——A river of Apulia, now Carapelle. Horace, bk. 3, ode 30.

Daurĭfer and Daurises, a brave general of Darius, treacherously killed by the Carians. Herodotus, bk. 5, ch. 116, &c.

Davus, a comic character in the Andria of Terence. Horace, bk. 1, satire 10, li. 40.

Debæ, a nation of Arabia. Diodorus, bk. 3.

Decapŏlis, a district of Judæa, from its 10 cities. Pliny, bk. 5, ch. 18.

Decebălus, a warlike king of the Daci, who made a successful war against Domitian. He was conquered by Trajan, Domitian’s successor, and he obtained peace. His active spirit again kindled rebellion, and the Roman emperor marched against him, and defeated him. He destroyed himself, and his head was brought to Rome, and Dacia became a Roman province, A.D. 103. Dio Cassius, bk. 68.

Deceleum (or ea), now Biala Castro, a small village of Attica, north of Athens; which, when in the hands of the Spartans, proved a very galling garrison to the Athenians. The Peloponnesian war has occasionally been called Decelean, because for some time hostilities were carried on in its neighbourhood. Cornelius Nepos, bk. 7, ch. 4.

Decĕlus, a man who informed Castor and Pollux that their sister, whom Theseus had carried away, was concealed at Aphidnæ. Herodotus, bk. 9, ch. 73.

Decemvĭri, 10 magistrates of absolute authority among the Romans. The privileges of the patricians raised dissatisfaction among the plebeians; who, though freed from the power of the Tarquins, still saw that the administration of justice depended upon the will and caprice of their superiors, without any written statute to direct them, and convince them that they were governed with equity and impartiality. The tribunes complained to the senate, and demanded that a code of laws might be framed for the use and benefit of the Roman people. This petition was complied with, and three ambassadors were sent to Athens, and to all the other Grecian states, to collect the laws of Solon, and of the other celebrated legislators of Greece. Upon the return of the commissioners, it was universally agreed that 10 new magistrates, called decemviri, should be elected from the senate, to put the project into execution. Their power was absolute; all other offices ceased after their election, and they presided over the city with regal authority. They were invested with the badges of the consul, in the enjoyment of which they succeeded by turns, and only one was preceded by the fasces, and had the power of assembling the senate and confirming decrees. The first decemvirs were Appius Claudius, Titus Genutius, Publius Sextus, Spurius Veturius, Caius Julius, Aulus Manlius, Servius Sulpitius Pluriatius, Titus Romulus, Spurius Posthumius, A.U.C. 303. Under them, the laws which had been exposed to public view, that every citizen might speak his sentiments, were publicly approved of as constitutional, and ratified by the priests and augurs in the most solemn and religious manner. These laws were 10 in number, and were engraved on tables of brass; two were afterwards added, and they were called the laws of the 12 tables, leges duodecim tabularum, and leges decemvirales. The decemviral power, which was beheld by all ranks of people with the greatest satisfaction, was continued; but in the third year after their creation, the decemvirs became odious, on account of their tyranny; and the attempt of Appius Claudius to ravish Virginia, was followed by the total abolition of the office. The people were so exasperated against them, that they demanded them from the senate, to burn them alive. Consuls were again appointed, and tranquillity re-established in the state.——There were other officers in Rome, called decemvirs, who were originally appointed, in the absence of the pretor, to administer justice. Their appointment became afterwards necessary, and they generally assisted at sales called subhastationes, because a spear, hasta, was fixed at the door of the place where the goods were exposed to sale. They were called decemviri litibus judicandis. The officers whom Tarquin appointed to guard the Sibylline books, were also called decemviri. They were originally two in number, called duumviri, till the year of Rome 388, when their number was increased to 10, five of which were chosen from the plebeians, and five from the patricians. Sylla increased their number to 15, called quindecemvirs.

Decetia, a town of Gaul. Cæsar.

Decia lex, was enacted by Marcus Decius the tribune, A.U.C. 442, to empower the people to appoint two proper persons to fit and repair the fleets.

Lucius Decidius Saxa, a Celtiberian in Cæsar’s camp. Cæsar, Civil War, bk. 1.

Decineus, a celebrated soothsayer. Strabo, bk. 16.

Decius Mus, a celebrated Roman consul, who, after many glorious exploits, devoted himself to the gods’ manes for the safety of his country, in a battle against the Latins, 338 years B.C. His son Decius imitated his example, and devoted himself in like manner in his fourth consulship, when fighting against the Gauls and Samnites, B.C. 296. His grandson also did the same in the wars against Pyrrhus and the Tarentines, B.C. 280. This action of devoting oneself was of infinite service to the state. The soldiers were animated by the example, and induced to follow with intrepidity a commander who, arrayed in an unusual dress, and addressing himself to the gods with solemn invocation, rushed into the thickest part of the enemy to meet his fate. Livy, bks. 8, 9, &c.—Valerius Maximus, bk. 5, ch. 6.—Polybius, bk. 2.—Virgil, Æneid, bk. 6, li. 824.——Brutus, conducted Cæsar to the senate-house the day that he was murdered.—Cnæus Metius Q. Trajanus, a native of Pannonia, sent by the emperor Philip to appease a sedition in Mœsia. Instead of obeying his master’s command, he assumed the imperial purple, and soon after marched against him, and at his death became the only emperor. He signalized himself against the Persians; and when he marched against the Goths, he pushed his horse in a deep marsh, from which he could not extricate himself, and he perished with all his army by the darts of the barbarians, A.D. 251, after a reign of two years. This monarch enjoyed the character of a brave man and of a great disciplinarian; and by his justice and exemplary life merited the title of Optimus, which a servile senate had lavished upon him.

Decurio, a subaltern officer in the Roman armies. He commanded a decuria, which consisted of 10 men, and was the third part of a turma, or the thirtieth part of a legio of horse, which was composed of 300 men. The badge of the centurions was a vine rod or sapling, and each had a deputy called optio. There were certain magistrates in the provinces called decuriones municipales, who formed a body to represent the Roman senate in free and corporate towns. They consisted of 10, whence the name; and their duty extended to watch over the interest of their fellow-citizens, and to increase the revenues of the commonwealth. Their court was called curia decurionum, and minor senatus; and their decrees, called decreta decurionum, were marked with two D. D. at the top. They generally styled themselves civitatum patres curiales, and honorati municipiorum senatores. They were elected with the same ceremonies as the Roman senators; they were to be at least 25 years of age, and to be possessed of a certain sum of money. The election happened on the calends of March.

Decumates agri, lands in Germany which paid the tenth part of their value to the Romans. Tacitus, Germania, ch. 29.

Deditamĕnes, a friend of Alexander, made governor of Babylonia. Curtius, bk. 8, ch. 3.

Degis, a brother of Decebalus king of the Daci. He came as ambassador to the court of Domitian. Martial, bk. 5, ltr. 3.

Dējănīra, a daughter of Œneus king of Ætolia. Her beauty procured her many admirers, and her father promised to give her in marriage to him only who proved to be the strongest of all his competitors. Hercules obtained the prize, and married Dejanira, by whom he had three children, the most known of whom is Hyllus. As Dejanira was once travelling with her husband, they were stopped by the swollen streams of the Evenus, and the centaur Nessus offered Hercules to convey her safe to the opposite shore. The hero consented; but no sooner had Nessus gained the bank, than he attempted to offer violence to Dejanira, and to carry her away in the sight of her husband. Hercules, upon this, aimed from the other shore a poisoned arrow at the seducer, and mortally wounded him. Nessus, as he expired, wished to avenge his death upon his murderer; and he gave Dejanira his tunic, which was covered with blood, poisoned and infected by the arrow, observing that it had the power of reclaiming a husband from unlawful loves. Dejanira accepted the present; and when Hercules proved faithless to her bed, she sent him the centaur’s tunic, which instantly caused his death. See: [Hercules]. Dejanira was so disconsolate at the death of her husband, which she had ignorantly occasioned, that she destroyed herself. Ovid, Metamorphoses, bks. 8 & 9.—Diodorus, bk. 4.—Seneca, Hercules.—Hyginus, fable 34.

Deicoon, a Trojan prince, son of Pergasus, intimate with Æneas. He was killed by Agamemnon. Homer, Iliad, bk. 4, li. 534.——A son of Hercules and Megara. Apollodorus, bk. 2, ch. 7.

Dēĭdămīa, a daughter of Lycomedes king of Scyros. She bore a son called Pyrrhus, or Neoptolemus, to Achilles, who was disguised at her father’s court in woman’s clothes, under the name of Pyrrha. Propertius, bk. 2, poem 9.—Apollodorus, bk. 3, ch. 13.——A daughter of Pyrrhus, killed by the Epirots. Polyænus.——A daughter of Adrastus king of Argos, called also Hippodamia.

Deilēon, a companion of Hercules in his expedition against the Amazons. Flaccus, bk. 5, li. 115.

Deilŏchus, a son of Hercules.

Deimăchus, a son of Neleus and Chloris, was killed, with all his brothers, except Nestor, by Hercules. Apollodorus, bk. 1, ch. 9.——The father of Enarette. Apollodorus, bk. 1, ch. 7.

Deiŏces, a son of Phraortes, by whose means the Medes delivered themselves from the yoke of the Assyrians. He presided as judge among his countrymen, and his great popularity and love of equity raised him to the throne, and he made himself absolute, B.C. 700. He was succeeded by his son Phraortes, after a reign of 53 years. He built Ecbatana according to Herodotus, and surrounded it with seven different walls, in the middle of which was the royal palace. Herodotus, bk. 1, ch. 96, &c.—Polyænus.

Deiŏchus, a Greek captain killed by Paris in the Trojan war. Homer, Iliad, bk. 15, li. 341.

Dēīŏne, the mother of Miletus by Apollo. Miletus is often called Deionides, on account of his mother. Ovid, Metamorphoses, bk. 9, li. 442.

Dēīŏneus, a king of Phocis, who married Diomede daughter of Xuthus, by whom he had Dia. He gave his daughter Dia in marriage to Ixion, who promised to make a present to his father-in-law. Deioneus accordingly visited the house of Ixion, and was thrown into a large hole filled with burning coal, by his son-in-law. Hyginus, fables 48 & 241.—Apollodorus, bk. 1, chs. 7 & 9; bk. 2, ch. 4.

Dēĭŏpēia, a nymph, the fairest of all the 14 nymphs that attended upon Juno. The goddess promised her in marriage to Æolus the god of the winds, if he would destroy the fleet of Æneas, which was sailing for Italy. Virgil, Æneid, bk. 1, li. 76.——One of the attendant nymphs of Cyrene. Virgil, Georgics, bk. 4, li. 343.

Deiotărus, a governor of Galatia, made king of that province by the Roman people. In the civil wars of Pompey and Cæsar, Deiotarus followed the interest of the former. After the battle of Pharsalia, Cæsar severely reprimanded Deiotarus for his attachment to Pompey, deprived him of part of his kingdom, and left him only the bare title of royalty. When he was accused by his grandson of attempts upon Cæsar’s life, Cicero ably defended him in the Roman senate. He joined Brutus with a large army, and faithfully supported the republican cause. His wife was barren; but fearing that her husband might die without issue, she presented him with a beautiful slave, and tenderly educated, as her own, the children of this union. Deiotarus died in an advanced old age. Strabo, bk. 12.—Lucan, bk. 5, li. 55.

Deĭphĭla. See: [Deipyle].

Dēĭphŏbe, a sibyl of Cumæ, daughter of Glaucus. It is supposed that she led Æneas to the infernal regions. See: [Sibyllæ]. Virgil, Æneid, bk. 6, li. 36.

Dēĭphŏbus, a son of Priam and Hecuba, who, after the death of his brother Paris, married Helen. His wife unworthily betrayed him, and introduced into his chamber her old husband Menelaus, to whom she wished to reconcile herself. He was shamefully mutilated and killed by Menelaus. He had highly distinguished himself during the war, especially in his two combats with Merion, and in that in which he slew Ascalaphus son of Mars. Virgil, Æneid, bk. 6, li. 495.—Homer, Iliad, bk. 13.——A son of Hippolytus, who purified Hercules after the murder of Iphitus. Apollodorus, bk. 2, ch. 6.

Deĭphon, a brother of Triptolemus, son of Celeus and Metanira. When Ceres travelled over the world, she stopped at his father’s court, and undertook to nurse him and bring him up. To reward the hospitality of Celeus, the goddess began to make his son immortal; and every evening she placed him on burning coals to purify him from whatever mortal particles he still possessed. The uncommon growth of Deiphon astonished Metanira, who wished to see what Ceres did to make him so vigorous. She was frightened to see her son on burning coals, and the shrieks that she uttered disturbed the mysterious operations of the goddess, and Deiphon perished in the flames. Apollodorus, bk. 1, ch. 5.——The husband of Hyrnetho, daughter of Temenus king of Argos. Apollodorus, bk. 2, ch. 7.

Dēiphontes, a general of Temenus, who took Epidauria, &c. Pausanias, bk. 2, ch. 12.——A general of the Dorians, &c. Polyænus.

Dēipy̆le, a daughter of Adrastus, who married Tydeus, by whom she had Diomedes. Apollodorus, bk. 1, ch. 8.

Dēipy̆lus, a son of Sthenelus, in the Trojan war. Homer, Iliad, bk. 5.

Dēipy̆rus, a Grecian chief during the Trojan war. Homer, Iliad, bk. 8.

Deldon, a king of Mysia, defeated by Crassus.

Dēlia, a festival celebrated every fifth year in the island of Delos, in honour of Apollo. It was first instituted by Theseus, who, at his return from Crete, placed a statue there, which he had received from Ariadne. At the celebration, they crowned the statue of the goddess with garlands, appointed a choir of music, and exhibited horse-races. They afterwards led a dance, in which they imitated, by their motions, the various windings of the Cretan labyrinth, from which Theseus had extricated himself by Ariadne’s assistance.——There was also another festival of the same name, yearly celebrated by the Athenians in Delos. It was also instituted by Theseus, who, when he was going to Crete, made a vow, that if he returned victorious, he would yearly visit in a solemn manner the temple of Delos. The persons employed in this annual procession were called Deliastæ and Theori. The ship, the same which carried Theseus, and had been carefully preserved by the Athenians, was called Theoria and Delias. When the ship was ready for the voyage, the priest of Apollo solemnly adorned the stern with garlands, and a universal lustration was made all over the city. The Theori were crowned with laurel, and before them proceeded men armed with axes, in commemoration of Theseus, who had cleared the way from Trœzene to Athens, and delivered the country from robbers. When the ship arrived at Delos, they offered solemn sacrifices to the god of the island, and celebrated a festival in his honour. After this they retired to their ship, and sailed back to Athens, where all the people of the city ran in crowds to meet them. Every appearance of festivity prevailed at their approach, and the citizens opened their doors, and prostrated themselves before the Deliastæ, as they walked in procession. During this festival, it was not lawful to put to death any malefactor, and on that account the life of Socrates was prolonged for 30 days. Xenophon, Memorabilia & Symposium.—[♦]Plato, Phædo.—Seneca, ltr. 70.

[♦] ‘Plutarch’ replaced with ‘Plato’

Dēlia, a surname of Diana, because she was born in Delos. Virgil, Eclogues, poem 3, li. 67.

Dēliădes, a son of Glaucus, killed by his brother Bellerophon. Apollodorus, bk. 2, ch. 3.——The priestesses in Apollo’s temple. Homer, Hymn to Apollo.

Dēlium, a temple of Apollo.——A town of Bœotia opposite Calchis, famous for a battle fought there, B.C. 424, &c. Livy, bk. 31, ch. 45; bk. 35, ch. 51.

Dēlius, a surname of Apollo, because he was born in Delos.——Quintus, an officer of Antony, who, when he was sent to cite Cleopatra before his master, advised her to make her appearance in the most captivating attire. The plan succeeded. He afterwards abandoned his friend, and fled to Augustus, who received him with great kindness. Horace has addressed bk. 2, ode 3 to him. Plutarch, Antonius.

Delmatius Flavius Julius, a nephew of Constantine the Great, honoured with the title of Cæsar, and put in possession of Thrace, Macedonia, and Achaia. His great virtues were unable to save him from a violent death, and he was assassinated by his own soldiers, &c.

Delmĭnium, a town of Dalmatia. Florus, bk. 4, ch. 12.

Dēlos, one of the Cyclades at the north of Naxos, was severally called Lagia, Ortygia, Asteria, Chlamidia, Pelasgia, Pyrpyle, Cynthus, and Cynæthus, and now bears the name of Sailles. It was called Delos from δηλος, because it suddenly made its appearance on the surface of the sea, by the power of Neptune, who, according to the mythologists, permitted Latona to bring forth there, when she was persecuted all over the earth, and could find no safe asylum. See: [Apollo]. The island is celebrated for the nativity of Apollo and Diana; and the solemnity with which the festivals of these deities were celebrated there, by the inhabitants of the neighbouring islands and of the continent, is well known. One of the altars of Apollo, in the island, was reckoned among the seven wonders of the world. It had been erected by Apollo when only four years old, and made with the horns of goats, killed by Diana on mount Cynthus. It was unlawful to sacrifice any living creature upon that altar, which was religiously kept pure from blood and every pollution. The whole island of Delos was held in such veneration, that the Persians, who had pillaged and profaned all the temples of Greece, never offered violence to the temple of Apollo, but respected it with the most awful reverence. Apollo, whose image was in the shape of a dragon, delivered there oracles during the summer, in a plain manner, without any ambiguity or obscure meaning. No dogs, as Thucydides mentions, were permitted to enter the island. It was unlawful for a man to die, or for a child to be born there; and when the Athenians were ordered to purify the place, they dug up all the dead bodies that had been interred there, and transported them to the neighbouring islands. An edict was also issued, which commanded all persons labouring under any mortal or dangerous disease to be instantly removed to the adjacent island called Rhane. Some mythologists suppose that Asteria, who changed herself into a quail, to avoid the importuning addresses of Jupiter, was metamorphosed into this island, originally called Ortygia ab ὀρτυξ, a quail. The people of Delos are described by Cicero, Academica, bk. 2, chs. 16 & 18; bk. 4, ch. 18, as famous for rearing hens. Strabo, bks. 8 & 10.—Ovid, Metamorphoses, bk. 5, li. 329; bk. 6, li. 333.—Mela, bk. 2, ch. 7.—Pliny, bk. 4, ch. 12.—Plutarch, de Sollertia Animalium, &c.—Thucydides, bks. 3, 4, &c.—Virgil, Æneid, bk. 3, li. 73.—Ptolemy, bk. 3, ch. 15.—Callimachus, Hymn to Delos.—Claudian, Panegyricus de Consulatu Honorii Augusti, bk. 4.

Delphi, now Castri, a town of Phocis, situate in a valley at the south-west side of mount Parnassus. It was also called Pytho, because the serpent Python was killed there; and it received the name of Delphi, from Delphus the son of Apollo. Some have also called it Parnassia Nape, the valley of Parnassus. It was famous for a temple of Apollo, and for an oracle celebrated in every age and country. The origin of the oracle, though fabulous, is described as something wonderful. A number of goats that were feeding on mount Parnassus came near a place which had a deep and long perforation. The steam which issued from the hole seemed to inspire the goats, and they played and frisked about in such an uncommon manner, that the goat-herd was tempted to lean on the hole, and see what mysteries the place contained. He was immediately seized with a fit of enthusiasm, and his expressions were wild and extravagant, and passed for prophecies. This circumstance was soon known about the country, and many experienced the same enthusiastic inspiration. The place was revered, and a temple was soon after erected in honour of Apollo, and a city built. According to some accounts, Apollo was not the first who gave oracles there; but Terra, Neptune, Themis, and Phœbe were in possession of the place before the son of Latona. The oracles were generally given in verse; but when it had been sarcastically observed that the god and patron of poetry was the most imperfect poet in the world, the priestess delivered her answers in prose. The oracles were always delivered by a priestess called Pythia. See: [Pythia]. The temple was built and destroyed several times. It was customary for those who consulted the oracle to make rich presents to the god of Delphi; and no monarch distinguished himself more by his donations than Crœsus. This sacred repository of opulence was often the object of plunder, and the people of Phocis seized 10,000 talents from it, and Nero carried away no less than 500 statues of brass, partly of the gods, and partly of the most [♦]illustrious heroes. In another age, Constantine the Great removed its most splendid ornaments to his new capital. It was universally believed, and supported, by the ancients, that Delphi was in the middle of the earth; and on that account it was called terræ umbilicus. This, according to mythology, was first found out by two doves, which Jupiter had let loose from the two extremities of the earth, and which met at the place where the temple of Delphi was built. Apollonius, bk. 2, li. 706.—Diodorus, bk. 16.—Plutarch, de Defectu Oraculorum, &c.—Pausanias, bk. 10, ch. 6, &c.—Ovid, Metamorphoses, bk. 10, li. 168.—Strabo, bk. 9.

[♦] ‘illustrous’ replaced with ‘illustrious’

Delphĭcus, a surname of Apollo, from the worship paid to his divinity at Delphi.

Delphīnia, festivals at Ægina, in honour of Apollo of Delphi.

Delphīnium, a place in Bœotia, opposite Eubœa.

Delphis, the priestess of Delphi. Martial, bk. 9, ltr. 43.

Delphus, a son of Apollo, who built Delphi, and consecrated it to his father. The name of his mother is differently mentioned. She is called by some Celæno, by others Melæne daughter of Cephis, and by others Thyas daughter of Castalius, the first who was priestess of Bacchus. Hyginus, fable 161.—Pausanias, bk. 10, ch. 6.

Delphȳne, a serpent which watched over Jupiter. Apollodorus, bk. 1, ch. 6.

Delta, a part of Egypt, which received that name from its resemblance to the form of the fourth letter of the Greek alphabet. It lies between the Canopian and Pelusian mouths of the Nile, and begins to be formed where the river divides itself into several streams. It has been formed totally by the mud and sand, which are washed down from the upper parts of Egypt by the Nile, according to ancient tradition. Cæsar, Alexandrine War, ch. 27.—Strabo, bks. 15 & 17.—Herodotus, bk. 2, ch. 13, &c.—Pliny, bk. 3, ch. 16.

Demădes, an Athenian, who, from a sailor, became an eloquent orator, and obtained much influence in the state. He was taken prisoner at the battle of Cheronæa by Philip, and ingratiated himself into the favour of that prince, by whom he was greatly esteemed. He was put to death, with his son, on suspicion of treason, B.C. 322. One of his orations is extant. Diodorus, bks. 16 & 17.—Plutarch, Demosthenes.

Demænetus, a rhetorician of Syracuse, enemy to Timoleon. Cornelius Nepos, Timoleon, ch. 5.

Demagŏras, one of Alexander’s flatterers.——An historian, who wrote concerning the foundation of Rome. Dionysius of Halicarnassus, bk. 1.

Demarāta, a daughter of Hiero, &c. Livy, bk. 24, ch. 22.

Demarātus, the son and successor of Ariston on the throne of Sparta, B.C. 526. He was banished by the intrigues of Cleomenes his royal colleague, as being illegitimate. He retired into Asia, and was kindly received by Darius son of Hystaspes king of Persia. When the Persian monarch made preparations to invade Greece, Demaratus, though persecuted by the Lacedæmonians, informed them of the hostilities which hung over their head. Herodotus, bk. 5, ch. 75, &c.; bk. 6, ch. 50, &c.——A rich citizen of Corinth, of the family of the Bacchiadæ. When Cypselus had usurped the sovereign power of Corinth, Demaratus, with all his family, migrated to Italy, and settled at Tarquinii, 658 years before Christ. His son Lucumon was king of Rome, under the name of Tarquinius Priscus. Dionysius of Halicarnassus.——A Corinthian exile at the court of Philip king of Macedonia. Plutarch, Alexander.

Demarchus, a Syracusan put to death by Dionysius.

Demarēta, the wife of Gelon. Diodorus, bk. 15.

Demariste, the mother of Timoleon.

Dēmātria, a Spartan mother, who killed her son because he returned from a battle without glory. Plutarch, Instituta Laconica.

Demetria, a festival in honour of Ceres, called by the Greeks Demeter. It was then customary for the votaries of the goddess to lash themselves with whips made with the bark of trees. The Athenians had a solemnity of the same name, in honour of Demetrius Poliorcetes.

Dēmētrias, a town of Thessaly. The name was common to other places.

Dēmētrius, a son of Antigonus and Stratonice, surnamed Poliorcetes, destroyer of towns. At the age of 22, he was sent by his father against Ptolemy, who had invaded Syria. He was defeated near Gaza, but he soon repaired his loss by a victory over one of the generals of the enemy. He afterwards sailed with a fleet of 250 ships to Athens, and restored the Athenians to liberty, by freeing them from the power of Cassander and Ptolemy, and expelling the garrison, which was stationed there under Demetrius Phalereus. After this successful expedition, he besieged and took Munychia, and defeated Cassander at Thermopylæ. His reception at Athens, after these victories, was attended with the greatest servility; and the Athenians were not ashamed to raise altars to him as to a god, and to consult his oracles. This uncommon success raised the jealousy of the successors of Alexander; and Seleucus, Cassander, and Lysimachus united to destroy Antigonus and his son. Their hostile armies met at Ipsus, B.C. 301. Antigonus was killed in the battle; and Demetrius, after a severe loss, retired to Ephesus. His ill success raised him many enemies; and the Athenians, who lately adored him as a god, refused to admit him into their city. He soon after ravaged the territories of Lysimachus, and reconciled himself to Seleucus, to whom he gave his daughter Stratonice in marriage. Athens now laboured under tyranny; and Demetrius relieved it, and pardoned the inhabitants. The loss of his possessions in Asia recalled him from Greece, and he established himself on the throne of Macedonia, by the murder of Alexander the son of Cassander. Here he was continually at war with the neighbouring states; and the superior power of his adversaries obliged him to leave Macedonia, after he had sat on the throne for seven years. He passed into Asia, and attacked some of the provinces of Lysimachus with various success; but famine and pestilence destroyed the greatest part of his army, and he retired to the court of Seleucus for support and assistance. He met with a kind reception, but hostilities were soon begun; and after he had gained some advantages over his son-in-law, Demetrius was totally forsaken by his troops in the field of battle, and became an easy prey to the enemy. Though he was kept in confinement by his son-in-law, yet he maintained himself like a prince, and passed his time in hunting and in every laborious exercise. His son Antigonus offered Seleucus all his possessions and even his person, to procure his father’s liberty; but all proved unavailing, and Demetrius died in the 54th year of his age, after a confinement of three years, 286 B.C. His remains were given to Antigonus, and honoured with a [♦]splendid funeral pomp at Corinth, and thence conveyed to Demetrias. His posterity remained in possession of the Macedonian throne till the age of Perseus, who was conquered by the Romans. Demetrius has rendered himself famous for his fondness of dissipation when among the dissolute, and his love of virtue and military glory in the field of battle. He has been commended as a great warrior, and his ingenious inventions, his warlike engines, and stupendous machines in his war with the Rhodians, justify his claims to that perfect character. He has been blamed for his voluptuous indulgencies; and his biographer observes, that no Grecian prince had more wives and concubines than Poliorcetes. His obedience and reverence to his father have been justly admired; and it has been observed, that Antigonus ordered the ambassadors of a foreign prince particularly to remark the cordiality and friendship which subsisted between him and his son. Plutarch, Parallel Lives.—Diodorus, bk. 17.—Justin, bk. 1, ch. 17, &c.——A prince who succeeded his father Antigonus on the throne of Macedonia. He reigned 11 years, and was succeeded by Antigonus Doson. Justin, bk. 26, ch. 2.—Polybius, bk. 2.——A son of Philip king of Macedonia, given up as a hostage to the Romans. His modesty delivered his father from a heavy accusation laid before the Roman senate. When he returned to Macedonia, he was falsely accused by his brother Perseus, who was jealous of his popularity, and his father too credulously consented to his death, B.C. 180. Livy, bk. 40, ch. 20.—Justin, bk. 32, ch. 2.——A Magnesian.——A servant of Cassius.——A son of Demetrius of Cyrene.——A freedman of Pompey.——A son of Demetrius, surnamed Slender.——A prince surnamed Soter, was son of Seleucus Philopater, the son of Antiochus the Great king of Syria. His father gave him as a hostage to the Romans. After the death of Seleucus, Antiochus Epiphanes, the deceased monarch’s brother, usurped the kingdom of Syria, and was succeeded by his son Antiochus Eupator. This usurpation displeased Demetrius, who was detained at Rome; he procured his liberty on pretence of going to hunt, and fled to Syria, where the troops received him as their lawful sovereign, B.C. 162. He put to death Eupator and Lysias, and established himself on his throne by cruelty and oppression. Alexander Bala the son of Antiochus Epiphanes laid claim to the crown of Syria, and defeated Demetrius in a battle, in the 12th year of his reign. Strabo, bk. 16.—Appian.—Justin, bk. 34, ch. 3.——[The] Second, surnamed Nicanor, or Conqueror, was son of Soter, to whom he succeeded by the assistance of Ptolemy Philometer, after he had driven out the usurper Alexander Bala, B.C. 146. He married Cleopatra daughter of Ptolemy; who was, before, the wife of the expelled monarch. Demetrius gave himself up to luxury and voluptuousness, and suffered his kingdom to be governed by his favourites. At that time a pretended son of Bala, called Diodorus Tryphon, seized a part of Syria; and Demetrius, to oppose his antagonist, made an alliance with the Jews, and marched into the east, where he was taken by the Parthians. Phraates king of Parthia gave him his daughter Rhodogyne in marriage; and Cleopatra was so incensed at this new connection, that she gave herself up to Antiochus Sidetes her brother-in-law, and married him. Sidetes was killed in a battle against the Parthians, and Demetrius regained the possession of his kingdom. His pride and oppression rendered him odious, and his subjects asked a king of the house of Seleucus, from Ptolemy Physcon king of Egypt; and Demetrius, unable to resist the power of his enemies, fled to Ptolemais, which was then in the hands of his wife Cleopatra. The gates were shut up against his approach by Cleopatra; and he was killed by order of the governor of Tyre, whither he had fled for protection. He was succeeded by Alexander Zebina, whom Ptolemy had raised to the throne, B.C. 127. Justin, bk. 36, &c.—Appian, Syrian Wars.—Josephus.——The Third, surnamed Eucerus, was son of Antiochus Gryphus. After the example of his brother Philip, who had seized Syria, he made himself master of Damascus, B.C. 93, and soon after obtained a victory over his brother. He was taken in a battle against the Parthians, and died in captivity. Josephus, bk. 1.——Phalereus, a disciple of Theophrastus, who gained such an influence over the Athenians, by his eloquence, and the purity of his manners, that he was elected decennial archon, B.C. 317. He so embellished the city, and rendered himself so popular by his munificence, that the Athenians raised 360 brazen statues to his honour. Yet in the midst of all this popularity, his enemies raised a sedition against him, and he was condemned to death, and all his statues thrown down, after obtaining the sovereign power for 10 years. He fled without concern or mortification to the court of Ptolemy Lagus, where he met with kindness and cordiality. The Egyptian monarch consulted him concerning the succession of his children; and Demetrius advised him to raise to the throne the children of Eurydice, in preference to the offspring of Berenice. This counsel so irritated Philadelphus the son of Berenice, that after his father’s death he sent the philosopher into Upper Egypt, and there detained him in strict confinement. Demetrius, tired with his situation, put an end to his life by the bite of an asp, 284 B.C. According to some, Demetrius enjoyed the confidence of Philadelphus, and enriched his library at Alexandria with 200,000 volumes. All the works of Demetrius, on rhetoric, history, and eloquence are lost; and the treatise on rhetoric, falsely attributed to him, is by some supposed to be the composition of Halicarnassus. The last edition of this treatise is that of Glasgow, 8vo, 1743. Diogenes Laërtius, Lives and Opinions of Eminent Philosophers.—Cicero, Brutus & de Officiis, bk. 1.—Plutarch, De Exilio.——A Cynic philosopher, disciple of Apollonius Thyaneus, in the age of Caligula. The emperor wished to gain the philosopher to his interest by a large present; but Demetrius refused it with indignation, and said, “If Caligula wishes to bribe me, let him send me his crown.” Vespasian was displeased with his insolence, and banished him to an island. The Cynic derided the punishment, and bitterly inveighed against the emperor. He died in a great old age; and Seneca observes, that nature had brought him forth, to show mankind that an exalted genius can live securely without being corrupted by the vices of the surrounding world. Seneca.—Philostratus, Apollonius.——One of Alexander’s flatterers.——A native of Byzantium, who wrote on the Greek poets.——An Athenian killed at Mantinea, when fighting against the Thebans. Polyænus.——A writer who published a history of the irruptions of the Gauls into Asia.——A philological writer in the age of Cicero. Cicero, Letters to Atticus, bk. 8, ltr. 11.——A stage player. Juvenal, satire 3, li. 99.——Syrus, a rhetorician at Athens. Cicero, Brutus, ch. 174.——A geographer surnamed the Calatian. Strabo, bk. 1.

[♦] ‘splended’ replaced with ‘splendid’

Demo, a sibyl of Cumæ.

Demoanassa, the mother of Ægialeus.

Democēdes, a celebrated physician of Crotona, son of Calliphon, and intimate with Polycrates. He was carried as a prisoner from Samos to Darius king of Persia, where he acquired great riches and much reputation by curing the king’s foot, and the breast of Atossa. He was sent to Greece as a spy by the king, and fled away to Crotona, where he married the daughter of the wrestler Milo. Ælian, Varia Historia, bk. 8, ch. 18.—Herodotus, bk. 3, ch. 124, &c.

Dēmŏchăres, an Athenian sent with some of his countrymen with an embassy to Philip king of Macedonia. The monarch gave them audience, and when he asked them what he could do to please the people of Athens, Demochares replied, “Hang yourself.” This imprudence raised the indignation of all the hearers; but Philip mildly dismissed them, and bade them ask their countrymen, which deserved most the appellation of wise and moderate, either they who gave such ill language, or he who received it without any signs of resentment? Seneca, de Irâ, bk. 3.—Ælian, Varia Historia, bks. 3, 7, 8, 12.—Cicero, Brutus, ch. 3; On Oratory, bk. 2.——A poet of Soli, who composed a comedy on Demetrius Poliorcetes. Plutarch, Demetrius.——A statuary, who wished to make a statue to mount Athos. Vitruvius.——A general of Pompey the younger, who died B.C. 36.

Dēmŏcles, a man accused of disaffection towards Dionysius, &c. Polyænus, bk. 5.——A beautiful youth, passionately loved by Demetrius Poliorcetes. He threw himself into a cauldron of boiling water, rather than submit to the unnatural lusts of the tyrant. Plutarch, Demetrius.

Demŏcoon, a natural son of Priam, who came from his residence at Abydos to protect his country against the Greeks. He was, after a glorious defence, killed by Ulysses. Homer, Iliad, bk. 4.

Dēmŏcrătes, an architect of Alexandria.——A wrestler. Ælian, Varia Historia, bk. 4, ch. 15.——An Athenian, who fought on the side of Darius against the Macedonians. Curtius, bk. 6, ch. 5.

Dēmŏcrĭtus, a celebrated philosopher of Abdera, disciple to Leucippus. He travelled over the greatest part of Europe, Asia, and Africa, in quest of knowledge, and returned home in the greatest poverty. There was a law at Abdera, which deprived of the honour of a funeral the man who had reduced himself to indigence; and Democritus, to avoid ignominy, repeated before his countrymen one of his compositions called Diacosmus. It was received with such uncommon applause that he was presented with 500 talents; statues were erected in his honour; and a decree passed that the expenses of his funeral should be paid from the public treasury. He retired to a garden near the city, where he dedicated his time to study and solitude; and according to some authors he put out his eyes, to apply himself more closely to philosophical inquiries. He was accused of insanity, and Hippocrates was ordered to inquire into the nature of his disorder. The physician had a conference with the philosopher, and declared that not Democritus, but his enemies, were insane. He continually laughed at the follies and vanity of mankind, who distract themselves with care, and are at once a prey to hope and anxiety. He told Darius, who was inconsolable for the loss of his wife, that he would raise her from the dead, if he could find three persons who had gone through life without adversity, whose names he might engrave on the queen’s monument. The king’s inquiries to find such persons proved unavailing, and the philosopher in some manner soothed the sorrow of his sovereign. He taught his disciples that the soul died with the body; and therefore, as he gave no credit to the existence of ghosts, some youths, to try his fortitude, dressed themselves in a hideous and deformed habit, and approached his cave in the dead of night, with whatever could create terror and astonishment. The philosopher received them unmoved; and without even looking at them, he desired them to cease making themselves such objects of ridicule and folly. He died in the 109th year of his age, B.C. 361. His father was so rich, that he entertained Xerxes, with all his army, as he was marching against Greece. All the works of Democritus are lost. He was the author of the doctrine of atoms, and first taught that the milky way was occasioned by a confused light from a multitude of stars. He may be considered as the parent of experimental philosophy, in the prosecution of which he showed himself so ardent, that he declared he would prefer the discovery of one of the causes of the works of nature to the diadem of Persia. He made artificial emeralds, and tinged them with various colours; he likewise dissolved stones, and softened ivory. Eusebius, bk. 14, ch. 27.—Diogenes Laërtius, Lives and Opinions of Eminent Philosophers.—Ælian, Varia Historia, bk. 4, ch. 20.—Cicero, de Finibus Bonorum et Malorum.—Valerius Maximus, bk. 8, ch. 7.—Strabo, bks. 1 & 15.——An Ephesian, who wrote a book on Diana’s temple, &c. Diogenes Laërtius.——A powerful man of Naxos. Herodotus, bk. 7, ch. 46.

Dēmŏdĭce, the wife of Cretheus king of Iolchos. Some call her Biadice, or Tyro. Hyginus, Poeticon Astronomicon, bk. 2, ch. 20.

Dēmŏdŏchus, a musician at the court of Alcinous, who sang, in the presence of Ulysses, the secret amours of Mars and Venus, &c. Homer, Odyssey, bk. 8, li. 44.—Plutarch, de Musica.——A Trojan chief, who came with Æneas into Italy, where he was killed. Virgil, Æneid, bk. 10, li. 413.——An historian. Plutarch, de Fluviis.

Dēmŏleon, a centaur, killed by Theseus at the [♦]nuptials of Pirithous. Ovid, Metamorphoses, bk. 12, li. 356.——A son of Antenor, killed by Achilles. Homer, Iliad, bk. 20, li. 395.

[♦] ‘nupitals’ replaced with ‘nuptials’

Dēmŏleus, a Greek, killed by Æneas in the Trojan war. Virgil, Æneid, bk. 5, li. 260.

Dēmon, an Athenian, nephew to Demosthenes. He was at the head of the government during the absence of his uncle, and obtained a decree that Demosthenes should be recalled, and that a ship should be sent to bring him back.

Dēmonassa, a daughter of Amphiaraus, who married Thersander. Pausanias, bk. 9, ch. 5.

Dēmōnax, a celebrated philosopher of Crete, in the reign of Adrian. He showed no concern about the necessaries of life; but when hungry, he entered the first house he met, and there satisfied his appetite. He died in his 100th year.——A man of Mantinea, sent to settle the government of Cyrene. Herodotus, bk. 4, ch. 161.

Dēmŏnīca, a woman who betrayed Ephesus to Brennus. Plutarch, Parallela minora.

Dēmŏphantus, a general killed by Antigonus, &c. Pausanias, bk. 8, ch. 49.

Demophĭle, a name given to the sibyl of Cumæ, who, as it is supposed by some, sold the sibylline books to Tarquin. Varro, cited by Lactantius, [Divine Institutes], bk. 1, ch. 6.

Dēmŏphĭlus, an Athenian archon.——An officer of Agathocles. Diodorus, bk. 19.

Dēmŏphon, an Athenian, who assisted the Thebans in recovering Cadmea, &c. Diodorus, bk. 15.

Dēmŏphoon, son of Theseus and Phædra, was king of Athens, B.C. 1182 and reigned 33 years. At his return from the Trojan war, he visited Thrace, where he was tenderly received and treated by Phyllis. He retired to Athens, and forgot the kindness and love of Phyllis, who hanged herself in despair. Ovid, Heroides, poem 2.—Pausanias, bk. 10, ch. 55.——A friend of Æneas, killed by Camilla. Virgil, Æneid, bk. 11, li. 675.

Dēmŏpŏlis, a son of Themistocles. Plutarch, Themistocles.

Dēmos, a place of Ithaca.

Dēmosthĕnes, a celebrated Athenian, son of a rich blacksmith, called Demosthenes, and of Cleobule. He was but seven years of age when his father died. His guardians negligently managed his affairs, and embezzled the greatest part of his possessions. His education was totally neglected; and for whatever advances he made in learning, he was indebted to his own industry and application. He became the pupil of Isæus and Plato, and applied himself to study the orations of Isocrates. At the age of 17 he gave an early proof of his eloquence and abilities against his guardians, from whom he obtained the retribution of the greatest part of his estate. His rising talents were, however, impeded by weak lungs, and a difficulty of pronunciation, especially of the letter ρ, but these obstacles were soon conquered by unwearied application. To correct the stammering of his voice, he spoke with pebbles in his mouth; and removed the distortion of his features, which accompanied his utterance, by watching the motions of his countenance in a looking-glass. That his pronunciation might be loud and full of emphasis, he frequently ran up the steepest and most uneven walks, where his voice acquired force and energy; and on the sea-shore, when the waves were violently agitated, he declaimed aloud, to accustom himself to the noise and tumults of a public assembly. He also confined himself in a subterraneous cave, to devote himself more closely to studious pursuits; and to eradicate all curiosity of appearance in public, he shaved one half of his head. In this solitary retirement, by the help of a glimmering lamp, he composed the greatest part of his orations, which have ever been the admiration of every age, though his contemporaries and rivals severely inveighed against them, and observed that they smelt of oil. His abilities as an orator raised him to consequence at Athens, and he was soon placed at the head of the government. In this public capacity he roused his countrymen from their indolence, and animated them against the encroachments of Philip of Macedonia. In the battle of Cheronæa, however, Demosthenes betrayed his pusillanimity, and saved his life by flight. After the death of Philip, he declared himself warmly against his son and successor Alexander, whom he branded with the appellation of boy; and when the Macedonians demanded of the Athenians their orators, Demosthenes reminded his countrymen of the fable of the sheep which delivered their dogs to the wolves. Though he had boasted that all the gold of Macedonia could not tempt him, yet he suffered himself to be bribed by a small golden cup from Harpalus. The tumults which this occasioned forced him to retire from Athens; and in his banishment, which he passed at Trœzene and Ægina, he lived with more effeminacy than true heroism. When Antipater made war against Greece, after the death of Alexander, Demosthenes was publicly recalled from his exile, and a galley was sent to fetch him from Ægina. His return was attended with much splendour, and all the citizens crowded at the Piræus to see him land. His triumph and popularity, however, were short. Antipater and Craterus were near Athens, and demanded all the orators to be delivered up into their hands. Demosthenes, with all his adherents, fled to the temple of Neptune in Calauria, and when he saw that all hopes of safety were banished, he took a dose of poison, which he always carried in a quill, and expired on the day that the Thesmophoria were celebrated, in the 60th year of his age, B.C. 322. The Athenians raised a brazen statue to his honour, with an inscription translated into this distich:

Si tibi par menti robur, Vir magne, fuisset,
Græcia non Macedæ succubuisset hero.

Demosthenes has been deservedly called the prince of orators; and Cicero, his successful rival among the Romans, calls him a perfect model, and such as he wished to be. These two great princes of eloquence have often been compared together; but the judgment hesitates to which to give the preference. They both arrived at perfection, but the measures by which they obtained it were diametrically opposite. Demosthenes has been compared, and with propriety, by his rival Æschines, to a Siren, from the melody of his expressions. No orator can be said to have expressed the various passions of hatred, resentment, or indignation, with more energy than he; and as a proof of his uncommon application, it need only be mentioned, that he transcribed eight or even ten times the history of Thucydides, that he might not only imitate, but possess the force and energy of the great historian. The best editions of his works are that of Wolfius, folio, Frankof. 1604; that left unfinished by Taylor, Cambridge, 4to, and that published in 12 vols., 8vo, 1720, &c., Lipscomb, by Reiske and his widow. Many of the orations of Demosthenes have been published separately. Plutarch, Parallel Lives.—Diodorus, bk. 16.—Cicero, Orator, &c.—Pausanias, bk. 1, ch. 8; bk. 2, ch. 33.——An Athenian general, sent to succeed Alcibiades in Sicily. He attacked Syracuse with Nicias, but his efforts were ineffectual. After many calamities he fell into the enemy’s hands, and his army was confined to hard labour. The accounts about the death of Demosthenes are various; some believe that he stabbed himself, while others suppose that he was put to death by the Syracusans, B.C. 413. Plutarch, Nicias.—Thucydides, bk. 4, &c.—Diodorus, bk. 12.——The father of the orator Demosthenes. He was very rich, and employed an immense number of slaves in the business of a sword-cutler. Plutarch, Demosthenes.——A governor of Cæsarea, under the Roman emperors.

Dēmostrătus, an Athenian orator.

Demūchus, a Trojan, son of Philetor, killed by Achilles. Homer, Iliad, bk. 20, li. 457.

Dēmy̆lus, a tyrant who tortured the philosopher Zeno. Plutarch, de Stoicorum Repugnantiis.

Denseletæ, a people of Thrace. Cicero, Against Piso, ch. 34.

Deobriga, a town on the Iberus in Spain, now Miranda de Ebro.

Deodătus, an Athenian who opposed the cruel resolutions of Cleon against the captive prisoners of Mitylene.

Dēōis, a name given to Proserpine from her mother Ceres, who was called Deo. This name Ceres received, because when she sought her daughter all over the world, all wished her success in her pursuits, with the word δηεις, invenies; a δηω, invenio. Ovid, Metamorphoses, bk. 6, li. 114.

Deræ, a place of Messenia.

Derbe, a town of Lycaonia, at the north of mount Taurus in Asia Minor, now Alah-Dag.—Cicero, Letters to his Friends, bk. 13, ltr. 73.

Derbĭces, a people near Caucasus, who killed all those that had reached their 70th year. They buried such as died a natural death. Strabo.

Derce, a fountain in Spain, whose waters were said to be uncommonly cold.

Dercennus, an ancient king in Latium. Virgil, Æneid, bk. 11, li. 850.

Dercĕto and Dercĕtis, a goddess of Syria, called also Atergatis, whom some supposed to be the same as Astarte. She was represented as a beautiful woman above the waist, and the lower part terminated in a fish’s tail. According to Diodorus, Venus, whom she had offended, made her passionately fond of a young priest, remarkable for the beauty of his features. She had a daughter by him, and became so ashamed of her incontinence, that she removed her lover, exposed the fruit of her amour, and threw herself into a lake. Her body was transformed into a fish, and her child was preserved, and called Semiramis. As she was chiefly worshipped in Syria, and represented like a fish, the Syrians anciently abstained from fishes. Lucian, de Deâ Syria.—Pliny, bk. 5, ch. 13.—Ovid, Metamorphoses, bk. 4, li. 44.—Diodorus, bk. 2.

Dercyllĭdas, a general of Sparta, celebrated for his military exploits. He took nine different cities in eight days, and freed Chersonesus from the inroads of the Thracians by building a wall across the country. He lived B.C. 399. Diodorus, bk. 14.—Xenophon, Hellenica, bk. 1, &c.

Dercyllus, a man appointed over Attica by Antipater. Cornelius Nepos, Phocion, ch. 2.

Dercy̆nus, a son of Neptune, killed by Hercules. Apollodorus, bk. 2, ch. 5.

Dersæi, a people of Thrace.

Derthona, now Tortona, a town of Liguria, between Genoa and Placentia, where a Roman colony was settled. Cicero, De Divinatione, bk. 2.

Dertose, now Tortosa, a town of Spain near the Iberus.

Derusiæi, a people of Persia.

Dēsudăba, a town of Media. Livy, bk. 44, ch. 26.

Deva, a town of Britain, now Chester on the Dee.

Deucălion, a son of Prometheus, who married Pyrrha the daughter of Epimetheus. He reigned over part of Thessaly, and in his age the whole earth was overwhelmed with a deluge. The impiety of mankind had irritated Jupiter, who resolved to destroy the world, and immediately the earth exhibited a boundless scene of waters. The highest mountains were climbed up by the frightened inhabitants of the country; but this seeming place of security was soon overtopped by the rising waters, and no hope was left of escaping the universal calamity. Prometheus advised his son to make himself a ship, and by this means he saved himself and his wife Pyrrha. The vessel was tossed about during nine successive days, and at last stopped on the top of mount Parnassus, where Deucalion remained till the waters had subsided. Pindar and Ovid make no mention of a vessel built by the advice of Prometheus; but, according to their relation, Deucalion saved his life by taking refuge on the top of Parnassus, or, according to Hyginus, of Ætna in Sicily. As soon as the waters had retired from the surface of the earth, Deucalion and his wife went to consult the oracle of Themis, and were directed to repair the loss of mankind, by throwing behind them the bones of their grandmother. This was nothing but the stones of the earth; and after some hesitation about the meaning of the oracle, they obeyed. The stones thrown by Deucalion became men, and those of Pyrrha women. According to Justin, Deucalion was not the only one who escaped from the universal calamity. Many saved their lives by ascending the highest mountains, or trusting themselves in small vessels to the mercy of the waters. This deluge, which chiefly happened in Thessaly, according to the relation of some writers, was produced by the inundation of the waters of the river Peneus, whose regular course was stopped by an earthquake near mount Ossa and Olympus. According to Xenophon, there were no less than five deluges. The first happened under Ogyges, and lasted three months. The second, which was in the age of Hercules and Prometheus, continued but one month. During the third, which happened in the reign of another Ogyges, all Attica was laid waste by the waters. Thessaly was totally covered by the waters during the fourth, which happened in the age of Deucalion. The last was before the Trojan war, and its effects were severely felt by the inhabitants of Egypt. There prevailed a report in Attica, that the waters of Deucalion’s deluge had disappeared through a small aperture about a cubit wide, near Jupiter Olympius’s temple; and Pausanias, who saw it, further adds, that a yearly offering of flour and honey was thrown into it with religious ceremony. The deluge of Deucalion, so much celebrated in ancient history, is supposed to have happened 1503 years B.C. Deucalion had two sons by Pyrrha, Hellen, called by some son of Jupiter, and Amphictyon king of Attica, and also a daughter, Protogenia, who became mother of Æthlius by Jupiter. Pindar, poem 9, Olympian.—Ovid, Metamorphoses, bk. 1, fable 8; Heroides, [♦]poem 15, li. 167.—Apollodorus, bk. 1, ch. 7.—Pausanias, bk. 1, ch. 10; bk. 5, ch. 8.—Juvenal, satire 1, li. 81.—Hyginus, fable 153.—Justin, bk. 2, ch. 6.—Diodorus, bk. 5.—Lucian, de Deâ Syriâ.—Virgil, Georgics, bk. 1, li. 62.——One of the Argonauts.——A son of Minos. Apollodorus, bk. 3, ch. 1.——A son of Abas.

[♦] ‘45’ replaced with ‘15’

Deucetius, a Sicilian general. Diodorus, bk. 11.

Deudorix, one of the Cherusci, led in triumph by Germanicus.

Dexamĕne, one of the Nereides. Homer, Iliad, bk. 18.

Dexamĕnus, a man delivered by Hercules from the hands of his daughter’s suitors. Apollodorus, bk. 2, ch. 5.——A king of Olenus in Achaia, whose two daughters married the sons of Actor. Pausanias, bk. 5, ch. 3.

Dexippus, a Spartan who assisted the people of Agrigentum, &c. Diodorus, bk. 13.

Dexithea, the wife of Minos. Apollodorus, bk. 3, ch. 1.

Dexius, a Greek, father of Iphinous, killed by Glaucus in the Trojan war, &c. Homer, Iliad, bk. 7.

Dīa, a daughter of Deion, mother of Pirithous by Ixion.——An island in the Ægean sea, 17 miles from Delos. It is the same as Naxos. See:[Naxos]. Ovid, Metamorphoses, bk. 8, li. 157.——Another on the coast of Crete, now Standia.——A city of Thrace,——of Eubœa,——Peloponnesus,——Lusitania,——Italy, near the Alps,——Scythia, near the Phasis,——Caria,——Bithynia,——and Thessaly.

Diactorĭdes, one of Agarista’s suitors. Herodotus, bk. 6, ch. 127.——The father of Eurydame the wife of Leutychides. Herodotus, bk. 6, ch. 71.

Diæus, of Megalopolis, a general of the Achæans, who killed himself when his affairs became desperate. Pausanias, bk. 7, ch. 16.

Diadumeniānus, a son of Macrinus, who enjoyed the title of Cæsar during his father’s lifetime, &c.

Diăgon and Diăgum, a river of Peloponnesus, flowing into the Alpheus, and separating Pisa from Arcadia. Pausanias, bk. 6, ch. 21.

Diagondas, a Theban who abolished all nocturnal sacrifices. Cicero, de Legibus, bk. 2, ch. 15.

Diăgŏras, an Athenian philosopher. His father’s name was Teleclytus. From the greatest superstition, he became a most unconquerable atheist, because he saw a man who laid a false claim to one of his poems, and who perjured himself, go unpunished. His great impiety and blasphemies provoked his countrymen, and the Areopagites promised one talent to him who brought his head before their tribunal, and two if he were produced alive. He lived about 416 years before Christ. Cicero, de Natura Deorum, bk. 1, ch. 23; bk. 3, ch. 37, &c.—Valerius Maximus, bk. 1, ch. 1.——An athlete of Rhodes, 460 years before the christian era. Pindar celebrated his merit in a beautiful ode still extant, which was written in golden letters in a temple of Minerva. He saw his three sons crowned the same day at Olympia, and died through excess of joy. Cicero, Tusculanæ Disputationes, bk. 5.—Plutarch, Pelopidas.—Pausanias, bk. 6, ch. 7.

Diālis, a priest of Jupiter at Rome, first instituted by Numa. He was never permitted to swear, even upon public trials. Varro, de Lingua Latina, bk. 4, ch. 15.—Dionysius of Halicarnassus, bk. 2.—Livy, bk. 1, ch. 20.

Diallus, an Athenian who wrote a history of all the memorable occurrences of his age.

Diamastigōsis, a festival of Sparta in honour of Diana Orthia, which received that name, ἀπο του μαστιγουν, from whipping, because boys were whipped before the altar of the goddess. These boys, called Bomonicæ, were originally free-born Spartans; but, in the more delicate ages, they were of mean birth, and generally of a slavish origin. This operation was performed by an officer in a severe and unfeeling manner; and that no compassion should be raised, the priest stood near the altar with a small light statue of the goddess, which suddenly became heavy and insupportable if the lash of the whip was more lenient or less rigorous. The parents of the children attended the solemnity, and exhorted them not to commit anything, either by fear or groans, that might be unworthy of Laconian education. These flagellations were so severe, that the blood gushed in profuse torrents, and many expired under the lash of the whip without uttering a groan, or betraying any marks of fear. Such a death was reckoned very honourable, and the corpse was buried with much solemnity, with a garland of flowers on its head. The origin of this festival is unknown. Some suppose that Lycurgus first instituted it to inure the youths of Lacedæmon to bear labour and fatigue, and render them insensible to pain and wounds. Others maintain that it was a mitigation of an oracle, which ordered that human blood should be shed on Diana’s altar; and according to their opinion, Orestes first introduced that barbarous custom, after he had brought the statue of Diana Taurica into Greece. There is another tradition, which mentions that Pausanias, as he was offering prayers and sacrifices to the gods, before he engaged with Mardonius, was suddenly attacked by a number of Lydians who disturbed the sacrifice, and were at last repelled with staves and stones, the only weapons with which the Lacedæmonians were provided at that moment. In commemoration of this, therefore, the whipping of boys was instituted at Sparta, and after that the Lydian procession.

Diāna, was the goddess of hunting. According to Cicero, there were three of this name; a daughter of Jupiter and Proserpine, who became mother of Cupid; a daughter of Jupiter and Latona; and a daughter of Upis and Glauce. The second is the most celebrated, and to her all the ancients allude. She was born at the same birth as Apollo; and the pains which she saw her mother suffer during her labour, gave her such an aversion to marriage, that she obtained from her father the permission to live in perpetual celibacy, and to preside over the travails of women. To shun the society of men, she devoted herself to hunting, and obtained the permission of Jupiter to have for her attendants 60 of the Oceanides, and 20 other nymphs, all of whom, like herself, abjured the use of marriage. She is represented with a bent bow and quiver, and attended with dogs, and sometimes drawn in a chariot by two white stags. Sometimes she appears with wings, holding a lion in one hand and a panther in the other, with a chariot drawn by two heifers, or two horses of different colours. She is represented taller by the head than her attendant nymphs, her face has something manly, her legs are bare, well-shaped, and strong, and her feet are covered with a buskin, worn by huntresses among the ancients. Diana received many surnames, particularly from the places where her worship was established, and from the functions over which she presided. She was called Lucina, Ilythia, or Juno Pronuba, when invoked by women in child-bed, and Trivia when worshipped in the cross-ways, where her statues were generally erected. She was supposed to be the same as the moon, and Proserpine or Hecate, and from that circumstance she was called Triformis; and some of her statues represented her with three heads, that of a horse, a dog, and a boar. Her power and functions under these three characters have been beautifully expressed in these two verses:

Terret, lustrat, agit, Proserpina, Luna, Diana,

Ima, suprema, feras, sceptro, fulgore, sagittâ.

She was also called Agrotera, Orthia, Taurica, Delia, Cynthia, Aricia, &c. She was supposed to be the same as the Isis of the Egyptians, whose worship was introduced into Greece with that of Osiris under the name of Apollo. When Typhon waged war against the gods, Diana is said to have metamorphosed herself into a cat, to avoid his fury. The goddess is generally known in the figures that represent her, by the crescent on her head, by the dogs which attend her, and by her hunting habit. The most famous of her temples was that of Ephesus, which was one of the seven wonders of the world. See: [Ephesus]. She was there represented with a great number of breasts, and other symbols which signified the earth, or Cybele. Though she was the patroness of chastity, yet she forgot her dignity to enjoy the company of Endymion, and the very familiar favours which, according to mythology, she granted to Pan and Orion are well known. See: [Endymion], [Pan], [Orion]. The inhabitants of Taurica were particularly attached to the worship of this goddess, and they cruelly offered on her altar all the strangers that were shipwrecked on their coasts. Her temple in Aricia was served by a priest who had always murdered his predecessor, and the Lacedæmonians yearly offered her human victims till the age of Lycurgus, who changed this barbarous custom for the sacrifice of flagellation. The Athenians generally offered her goats, and others a white kid, and sometimes a boar pig, or an ox. Among plants the poppy and the ditamy were sacred to her. She, as well as her brother Apollo, had some oracles, among which those of Egypt, Cilicia, and Ephesus are the most known. Ovid, Fasti, bk. 2, li. 155; Metamorphoses, bk. 3, li. 156; bk. 7, lis. 94 & 194, &c.—Cicero, de Natura Deorum, bk. 3.—Horace, bk. 3, ode 22.—Virgil, Georgics, bk. 3, li. 302; Æneid, bk. 1, li. 505.—Homer, Odyssey, bk. 5.—Pausanias, bk. 8, chs. 31 & 37.—Catullus.—Statius, bk. 3, Sylvæ, poem 1, li. 57.—Apollodorus bk. 1, ch. 4, &c.; bk. 3, ch. 5, &c.

Dianasa, the mother of Lycurgus. Plutarch, Lycurgus.

Dianium, a town and promontory of Spain, now cape Martin, where Diana was worshipped.

Diasia, festivals in honour of Jupiter at Athens. They received their name ἀπο του διος και της ἁτης, from Jupiter and misfortune, because, by making application to Jupiter, men obtained relief from their misfortunes, and were delivered from dangers. During this festival things of all kinds were exposed for sale.

Dibio, a town of France, now Dijon in Burgundy.

Dicæa and Dicæarchea, a town of Italy. Silius Italicus, bk. 13, li. 385.

Dicæus, an Athenian who was supernaturally apprised of the defeat of the Persians in Greece. Herodotus, bk. 8, ch. 65.

Dice, one of the Horæ, daughters of Jupiter. Apollonius, bk. 1, ch. 3.

Dicearchus, a Messenian famous for his knowledge of philosophy, history, and mathematics. He was one of Aristotle’s disciples. Nothing remains of his numerous compositions. He had composed a history of the Spartan republic, which was publicly read over every year by order of the magistrates, for the improvement and instruction of youth.

Diceneus, an Egyptian philosopher in the age of Augustus, who travelled into Scythia, where he ingratiated himself with the king of the country, and by his instruction softened the wildness and rusticity of his manners. He also gained such an influence over the multitude, that they destroyed all the vines which grew in their country, to prevent the riot and dissipation which the wine occasioned among them. He wrote all his maxims and his laws in a book, that they might not lose the benefit of them after his death.

Dicomas, a king of the Getæ. Plutarch, Antonius.

Dictæ and Dictæus mons, a mountain of Crete. The island is often known by the name of Dictæa arva. Virgil, Eclogues, poem 6; Æneid, bk. 3, li. 171.——Jupiter was called Dictæus, because worshipped there, and the same epithet was applied to Minos. Virgil, Georgics, bk. 2, li. 536.—Ovid. Metamorphoses, bk. 8, li. 43.—Ptolemy, bk. 3, ch. 17.—Strabo, bk. 10.

Dictamnum and Dictynna, a town of Crete, where the herb called dictamnus chiefly grows. Virgil, Æneid, bk. 12, li. 412.—Cicero, de Natura Deorum, bk. 2, ch. 50.

Dictātor, a magistrate at Rome, invested with regal authority. This officer, whose magistracy seems to have been borrowed from the customs of the Albans or Latins, was first chosen during the Roman wars against the Latins. The consuls being unable to raise forces for the defence of the state, because the plebeians refused to enlist, if they were not discharged from all the debts they had contracted with the patricians, the senate found it necessary to elect a new magistrate, with absolute and incontrollable power to take care of the state. The dictator remained in office for six months, after which he was again elected, if the affairs of the state seemed to be desperate; but if tranquillity was re-established, he generally laid down his power before the time was expired. He knew no superior in the republic, and even the laws were subjected to him. He was called dictator, because dictus, named by the consul, or quoniam dictis ejus parebat populus, because the people implicitly obeyed his command. He was named by the consul in the night, vivâ voce, and his election was confirmed by the auguries, though sometimes he was nominated or recommended by the people. As his power was absolute, he could proclaim war, levy forces, conduct them against an enemy, and disband them at pleasure. He punished as he pleased; and from his decision there was no appeal, at least till later times. He was preceded by 24 lictors, with the fasces: during his administration, all other offices, except the tribunes of the people, were suspended, and he was the master of the republic. But amidst all his independence he was not permitted to go beyond the borders of Italy, and he was always obliged to march on foot in his expeditions; and he never could ride in difficult and laborious marches, without previously obtaining a formal leave from the people. He was chosen only when the state was in imminent dangers from foreign enemies or inward seditions. In the time of a pestilence, a dictator was sometimes elected, as also to hold the comitia, or to celebrate the public festivals, to hold trials, to choose senators, or drive a nail in the Capitol, by which superstitious ceremonies the Romans believed that a plague could be averted, or the progress of an enemy stopped. This office, so respectable and illustrious in the first ages of the republic, became odious by the perpetual usurpations of Sylla and Julius Cæsar; and after the death of the latter the Roman senate, on the motion of the consul Antony, passed a decree, which for ever after forbade a dictator to exist in Rome. The dictator, as soon as elected, chose a subordinate officer, called his master of horse, magister equitum. This officer was respectable, but he was totally subservient to the will of the dictator, and could do nothing without his express order, though he enjoyed the privilege of using a horse, and had the same insignia as the pretors. This subordination, however, was some time after removed; and during the second Punic war the master of the horse was invested with a power equal to that of the dictator. A second dictator was also chosen for the election of magistrates at Rome, after the battle of Cannæ. The dictatorship was originally confined to the patricians, but the plebeians were afterwards admitted to share it. Titus Lartius Flavus was the first dictator, A.U.C. 253. Dionysius of Halicarnassus.—Cicero, de Legibus, bk. 3.—Dio Cassius.—Plutarch, Fabius Maximus.—Appian, bk. 3.—Polybius, bk. 3.—Paterculus, bk. 2, ch. 28.—Livy, bk. 1, ch. 23; bk. 2, ch. 18; bk. 4, ch. 57; bk. 9, ch. 38.

Dictidienses, certain inhabitants of mount Athos. Thucydides, bk. 5, ch. 82.

Dictynna, a nymph of Crete, who first invented hunting nets. She was one of Diana’s attendants, and for that reason the goddess is often called Dictynnia. Some have supposed that Minos pursued her, and that, to avoid his importunities, she threw herself into the sea, and was caught in fishermen’s nets, δικτυα, whence her name. There was a festival at Sparta in honour of Diana, called Dictynnia. Pausanias, bk. 2, ch. 30; bk. 3, ch. 12.——A city of Crete.

Dictys, a Cretan, who went with Idomeneus to the Trojan war. It is supposed that he wrote a history of this celebrated war, and that at his death he ordered it to be laid in his tomb, where it remained till a violent earthquake, in the reign of Nero, opened the monument where he had been buried. This convulsion of the earth threw out his history of the [♦]Trojan war, which was found by some shepherds, and afterwards carried to Rome. This mysterious tradition is deservedly deemed fabulous; and the history of the Trojan war, which is now extant as the composition of Dictys of Crete, was composed in the 15th century, or, according to others, in the age of Constantine, and falsely attributed to one of the followers of Idomeneus. The edition of Dictys is by Mascellus Venia, 4to, Milan, 1477.——A king of the island of Seriphus, son of Magnes and Nais. He married the nymph Clymene, and was made king of Seriphus by Perseus, who deposed Polydectes, because he behaved with wantonness to Danae. See: [Polydectes]. Apollodorus, bk. 1, ch. 9; bk. 2, ch. 4.——A centaur, killed at the nuptials of Pirithous. Ovid, Metamorphoses, bk. 12, li. 334.

[♦] ‘Trojon’ replaced with ‘Trojan’

Didas, a Macedonian who was employed by Perseus to render Demetrius suspected to his father Philip. Livy, bk. 40.

Didia lex, de Sumptibus, by Didius, A.U.C. 606, to restrain the expenses that attended public festivals and entertainments, and limit the number of guests which generally attended them, not only at Rome, but in all the provinces of Italy. By it, not only those who received guests in these festive meetings, but the guests themselves, were liable to be fined. It was an extension of the Oppian and Fannian laws.

Didius, a governor of Spain, conquered by Sertorius. Plutarch, Sertorius.——A man who brought Cæsar the head of Pompey’s eldest son. Plutarch.——A governor of Britain under Claudius.——Julianus, a rich Roman, who, after the murder of Pertinax, bought the empire which the pretorians had exposed to sale, A.D. 192. His great luxury and extravagance rendered him odious; and when he refused to pay the money which he had promised for the imperial purple, the soldiers revolted against him, and put him to death, after a short reign. Severus was made emperor after him.

Dīdo, called also Elissa, a daughter of Belus king of Tyre, who married Sichæus, or Sicharbas, her uncle, who was priest of Hercules. Pygmalion, who succeeded to the throne of Tyre after Belus, murdered Sichæus, to get possession of the immense riches which he possessed; and Dido, disconsolate for the loss of a husband whom she tenderly loved, and by whom she was equally esteemed, set sail in quest of a settlement, with a number of Tyrians, to whom the cruelty of the tyrant became odious. According to some accounts, she threw into the sea the riches of her husband, which Pygmalion so greatly desired; and by that artifice compelled the ships to fly with her, that had come by order of the tyrant to obtain the riches of Sichæus. During her voyage, Dido visited the coast of Cyprus, where she carried away 50 women, who prostituted themselves on the sea-shore, and gave them as wives to her Tyrian followers. A storm drove her fleet on the African coast, and she bought of the inhabitants as much land as could be covered by a bull’s hide, cut into thongs. Upon this piece of land she built a citadel, called Byrsa [See: [Byrsa]], and in the increase of population, and the rising commerce among her subjects, soon obliged her to enlarge her city and the boundaries of her dominions. Her beauty, as well as the fame of her enterprise, gained her many admirers; and her subjects wished to compel her to marry Iarbas king of Mauritania, who threatened them with a dreadful war. Dido begged three months to give her decisive answer; and during that time, she erected a funeral pile, as if wishing, by a solemn sacrifice, to appease the manes of Sichæus, to whom she had promised eternal fidelity. When all was prepared, she stabbed herself on the pile in presence of her people, and by this uncommon action obtained the name of Dido, valiant woman, instead of Elissa. According to Virgil and Ovid, the death of Dido was caused by the sudden departure of Æneas, of whom she was deeply enamoured, and whom she could not obtain as a husband. This poetical fiction represents Æneas as living in the age of Dido, and introduces an anachronism of near 300 years. Dido left Phœnicia, 247 years after the Trojan war, or the age of Æneas; that is, about 953 years B.C. This chronological error proceeds not from the ignorance of the poets, but it is supported by the authority of Horace,

Aut famam sequere, aut sibi convenientia finge.

While Virgil describes, in a beautiful episode, the desperate love of Dido, and the submission of Æneas to the will of the gods, he at the same time gives an explanation of the hatred which existed between the republics of Rome and Carthage, and informs his readers that their mutual enmity originated in their very first foundation, and was apparently kindled by a more remote cause than the jealousy and rivalship of two flourishing empires. Dido, after her death, was honoured as a deity by her subjects. Justin, bk. 18, ch. 4, &c.—Paterculus, bk. 1, ch. 6.—Virgil, Æneid.—Ovid, Metamorphoses, bk. 14, fable 2; Heroides, poem 6.—Appian, Punic Wars.—Orosius, bk. 4.—Herodian.—Dionysius of Halicarnassus.

Dĭdy̆ma, a place of Miletus. Pausanias, bk. 2, ch. 9.——An island in the Sicilian sea. Pausanias, bk. 10, ch. 11.

Dĭdy̆mæus, a surname of Apollo.

Dĭdy̆māon, an excellent artist, famous for making suits of armour. Virgil, Æneid, bk. 5, li. 359.

Dĭdy̆me, one of the Cyclades. Ovid, Metamorphoses, bk. 7, li. 469.——A city of Sicily. Ovid, Fasti, bk. 4, li. 476.——One of the Lipari isles, now Saline.——A place near Miletus, where the Branchidæ had their famous oracle.

Dĭdy̆mum, a mountain of Asia Minor.

Dĭdy̆mus, a freedman of Tiberius, &c. Tacitus, Annals, bk. 6, ch. 24.——A scholiast on Homer, surnamed Χαλκεντερος, flourished B.C. 40. He wrote a number of books, which are now lost. The editions of his commentaries are, that in 2 vols., Venice, by Aldus Manutius, 1528, and that of Paris, 8vo, 1530.

Diēnĕces, a Spartan, who, upon hearing, before the battle of Thermopylæ, that the Persians were so numerous that their arrows would darken the light of the sun, observed that it would be a great convenience, for they then should fight in the shade. Herodotus, bk. 7, ch. 226.

Diespĭter, a surname of Jupiter, as being the father of light.

Digentia, a small river which watered Horace’s farm, in the country of the Sabines. Horace, bk. 1, ltr. 18, li. 104.

Digma, a part of the Piræus at Athens.

Dii, the divinities of the ancient inhabitants of the earth, were very numerous. Every object which causes terror, inspires gratitude, or bestows affluence, received the tribute of veneration. Man saw a superior agent in the stars, the elements, or the trees, and supposed that the waters which communicated fertility to his fields and possessions, were under the influence and direction of some invisible power, inclined to favour and to benefit mankind. Thus arose a train of divinities, which imagination arrayed in different forms, and armed with different powers. They were endowed with understanding, and were actuated by the same passions which daily afflict the human race; and those children of superstition were appeased or provoked as the imperfect being which gave them birth. Their wrath was mitigated by sacrifice and incense, and sometimes human victims bled to expiate a crime which superstition alone supposed to exist. The sun, from its powerful influence and animating nature, first attracted the notice, and claimed the adoration, of the uncivilized inhabitants of the earth. The moon also was honoured with sacrifices, and addressed in prayers; and after immortality had been liberally bestowed on all the heavenly bodies, mankind classed among their deities the brute creation, and the cat and the sow shared equally with Jupiter himself, the father of gods and men, the devout veneration of their votaries. This immense number of deities have been divided into classes, according to the will and pleasure of the mythologists. The Romans, generally speaking, reckoned two classes of the gods, the dii majorum gentium, or dii consulentes, and the dii minorum gentium. The former were 12 in number, six males and six females. See: [Consentes]. In the class of the latter, were ranked all the gods who were worshipped in different parts of the earth. Besides these, there were some called dii selecti, sometimes classed with the 12 greater gods; these were Janus, Saturn, the Genius, the Moon, Pluto, and Bacchus. There were also some called demi-gods, that is, who deserved immortality by the greatness of their exploits, and for their uncommon services to mankind. Among these were Priapus, Vertumnus, Hercules, and those whose parents were some of the immortal gods. Besides these, there were some called topici, whose worship was established at particular places, such as Isis in Egypt, Astarte in Syria, Uranus at Carthage, &c. In process of time also, all the passions and the moral virtues were reckoned as powerful deities, and temples were raised to a goddess of concord, peace, &c. According to the authority of Hesiod, there were no less than 30,000 gods that inhabited the earth, and were guardians of men, all subservient to the power of Jupiter. To these succeeding ages have added an almost equal number; and indeed they were so numerous, and their functions so various, that we find temples erected, and sacrifices offered, to unknown gods. It is observable, that all the gods of the ancients have lived upon earth as mere mortals; and even Jupiter, who was the ruler of heaven, is represented by the mythologists as a helpless child; and we are acquainted with all the particulars that attended the birth and education of Juno. In process of time, not only good and virtuous men who had been the patrons of learning and the supporters of liberty, but also thieves and pirates, were admitted among the gods; and the Roman senate courteously granted immortality to the most cruel and abandoned of their emperors.

Dii, a people of Thrace, on mount Rhodope.

Dimassus, an island near Rhodes. Pliny, bk. 5, ch. 31.

Dinarchus, a Greek orator, son of Sostratus, and disciple to Theophrastus at Athens. He acquired much money by his compositions, and suffered himself to be bribed by the enemies of the Athenians, 307 B.C. Of 64 of his orations, only three remain. Cicero, On Oratory, bk. 2, ch. 53.——A Corinthian ambassador, put to death by Polyperchon. Plutarch, Phocion.——A native of Delos, who collected some fables in Crete, &c. Dionysius of Halicarnassus.

Dindy̆mus (or a, orum), a mountain of Phrygia, near a town of the same name in the neighbourhood of Cyzicus. It was from this place that Cybele was called Dindymene, as her worship was established there by Jason. Strabo, bk. 12.—Statius, bk. 1, Sylvæ, poem 1, li. 9.—Horace, bk. 1, ode 16, li. 5.—Virgil, Æneid, bk. 9, li. 617.

Dinia, a town of Phrygia. Livy, bk. 38, ch. 5.——A town of Gaul, now Digne in Provence.

Dinias, a general of Cassander. Diodorus, bk. 19.——A man of Pheræ, who seized the supreme power at Cranon. Polyænus, bk. 2.——A man who wrote a history of Argos. Plutarch, Aratus.

Dinĭche, the wife of Archidamus. Pausanias, bk. 3, ch. 10.

Dinŏchăres, an architect who finished the temple of Diana at Ephesus, after it had been burnt by Erostratus.

Dinŏcrătes, an architect of Macedonia, who proposed to Alexander to cut mount Athos in the form of a statue, holding a city in one hand, and in the other a basin, into which all the waters of the mountain should empty themselves. This project Alexander rejected as too chimerical, but he employed the talents of the artist in building and beautifying Alexandria. He began to build a temple in honour of Arsinoe, by order of Ptolemy Philadelphus, in which he intended to suspend a statue of the queen, by means of loadstones. His death, and that of his royal patron, prevented the execution of a work which would have been the admiration of future ages. Pliny, bk. 7, ch. 37.—Marcellinus, bk. 22, ch. 40.—Plutarch, Alexander.——A general of Agathocles.——A Messenian, who behaved with great effeminacy and wantonness. He defeated Philopœmen, and put him to death, B.C. 183. Plutarch, Titus Flamininus.

Dinŏdŏchus, a swift runner. Pausanias, bk. 6, ch. 1.

Dinolŏchus, a Syracusan, who composed 14 comedies. Ælian, de Natura Animalium, bk. 6, ch. 52.

Dinŏmĕnes, a tyrant of Syracuse. Pausanias, bk. 3, ch. 42.

Dinon, a governor of Damascus, under Ptolemy, &c. Polyænus, bk. 4.——The father of Clitarchus, who wrote a history of Persia in Alexander’s age. He is esteemed a very [♦]authentic historian by Cornelius Nepos, Conon.—Plutarch, Alexander.—Diogenes Laërtius.

[♦] ‘anthentic’ replaced with ‘authentic’

Dinosthĕnes, a man who made himself a statue of an Olympian victor. Pausanias, bk. 6, ch. 16.

Dinostrătus, a celebrated geometrician in the age of Plato.

Diŏclea, festivals in the spring at Megara, in honour of Diocles, who died in the defence of a certain youth to whom he was tenderly attached. There was a contention on his tomb, and the youth who gave the sweetest kiss was publicly rewarded with a garland. Theocritus has described them in his Idylls, bk. 12, li. 27.——A town on the coast of Dalmatia. Pliny, bk. 3, ch. 23.

Diocles, a general of Athens, &c. Polyænus, bk. 5.——A comic poet of Athens.——An historian, the first Grecian who ever wrote concerning the origin of the Romans, and the fabulous history of Romulus. Plutarch, Romulus.——One of the four brothers placed over the citadel of Corinth by Archelaus, &c. Polyænus, bk. 6.——A rich man of Messenia. Pausanias, bk. 4, ch. 2.——A general of Syracuse. Diodorus, bk. 13.

Diocletianopŏlis, a town of Thessaly, called so in honour of Diocletian.

Diocletiānus Caius Valerius Jovius, a celebrated Roman emperor, born of an obscure family in Dalmatia. He was first a common soldier, and by merit and success he gradually rose to the office of a general, and at the death of Numerian he was invested with the imperial purple. In this high station, he rewarded the virtue and fidelity of Maximian, who had shared with him all the subordinate offices in the army, by making him his colleague on the throne. He created two subordinate emperors, Constantius and Galerius, whom he called Cæsars, whilst he claimed for himself and his colleague the superior title of Augustus. Diocletian has been celebrated for his military virtues; and though he was naturally unpolished by education and study, yet he was the friend and patron of learning and true genius. He was bold and resolute, active and diligent, and well acquainted with the arts which endear a sovereign to his people, and make him respectable even in the eyes of his enemies. His cruelty, however, against the followers of christianity has been deservedly branded with the appellation of unbounded tyranny, and insolent wantonness. After he had reigned 21 years in the greatest prosperity, he publicly abdicated the crown at Nicomedia, on the 1st of May, A.D. 304, and retired to a private station at Salona. Maximian, his colleague, followed his example, but not from voluntary choice; and when he some time after endeavoured to rouse the ambition of Diocletian, and persuade him to reassume the imperial purple, he received for answer, that Diocletian took now more delight in cultivating his little garden, than he formerly enjoyed in a palace, when his power was extended over all the earth. He lived nine years after his abdication in the greatest security and enjoyment at Salona, and died in the 68th year of his age. Diocletian is the first sovereign who voluntarily resigned his power; a philosophical resolution, which, in a later age, was imitated by the emperor Charles V. of Germany.

Diŏdōrus, an historian, surnamed Siculus, because he was born at Argyra in Sicily. He wrote a history of Egypt, Persia, Syria, Media, Greece, Rome, and Carthage, which was divided into 40 books, of which only 15 are extant, with some few fragments. This valuable composition was the work of an accurate inquirer, and it is said that he visited all the places of which he has made mention in his history. It was the labour of 30 years, though the greater part may be considered as nothing more than a judicious compilation from Berosus, Timæus, Theopompus, Callisthenes, and others. The author, however, is too credulous in some of his narrations, and often wanders far from the truth. His style is neither elegant nor too laboured, but it contains great simplicity and unaffected correctness. He often dwells too long upon fabulous reports and trifling incidents, while events of the greatest importance to history are treated with brevity, and sometimes passed over in silence. His manner of reckoning, by the Olympiads and the Roman consuls, will be found very erroneous. The historian flourished about 44 years B.C. He spent much time at Rome to procure information, and authenticate his historical narrations. The best edition of his works is that of Wesseling, 2 vols., folio, Amsterdam, 1746.——A disciple of Euclid, in the age of Plato. Diogenes Laërtius, Lives and Opinions of Eminent Philosophers.——A comic poet.——A son of Echeanax, who, with his brothers Codrus and Anaxagoras, murdered Hegesias the tyrant of Ephesus, &c. Polyænus, bk. 6.——An Ephesian, who wrote an account of the life of Anaximander. Diogenes Laërtius.——An orator of Sardis, in the time of the Mithridatic war.——A stoic philosopher, preceptor to Cicero. He lived and died in the house of his pupil, whom he instructed in the various branches of Greek literature. Cicero, Brutus.——A general of Demetrius.——A writer, surnamed Periegetes, who wrote a description of the earth. Plutarch, Themistocles.——An African, &c. Plutarch.

Dioetas, a general of Achaia, &c. Polyænus, bk. 2.

Dīŏgēnes, a celebrated Cynic philosopher of Sinope, banished from his country for coining false money. From Sinope, he retired to Athens, where he became the disciple of Antisthenes, who was at the head of the Cynics. Antisthenes, at first, refused to admit him into his house, and even struck him with a stick. Diogenes calmly bore the rebuke, and said, “Strike me, Antisthenes, but never shall you find a stick sufficiently hard to remove me from your presence, whilst there is anything to be learnt, any information to be gained, from your conversation and acquaintance.” Such firmness recommended him to Antisthenes, and he became his most devoted pupil. He dressed himself in the garment which distinguished the Cynics, and walked about the streets with a tub on his head, which served him as a house and a place of repose. Such singularity, joined to the greatest contempt for riches, soon gained him reputation, and Alexander the Great condescended to visit the philosopher in his tub. He asked Diogenes if there was anything in which he could gratify or oblige him. “Get out of my sunshine,” was the only answer which the philosopher gave. Such an independence of mind so pleased the monarch, that he turned to his courtiers, and said, “Were I not Alexander, I would wish to be Diogenes.” He was once sold as a slave, but his magnanimity so pleased his master, that he made him the preceptor of his children, and the guardian of his estates. After a life spent in the greatest misery and indigence, he died B.C. 324, in the 96th year of his age. He ordered his body to be carelessly thrown into a ditch, and some dust to be sprinkled over it. His orders were, however, disobeyed in this particular, and his friends honoured his remains with a magnificent funeral at Corinth. The inhabitants of Sinope raised statues to his memory; and the marble figure of a dog was placed on a high column erected on his tomb. His biographer has transmitted to posterity a number of his sayings, remarkable for their simplicity and moral tendency. The life of Diogenes, however, shrinks from the eye of a strict examination; he boasted of his poverty, and was so arrogant, that many have observed that the virtues of Diogenes arose from pride and vanity, not from wisdom and sound philosophy. His morals were corrupted, and he gave way to his most vicious indulgencies, and his unbounded wantonness has given occasion to some to observe, that the bottom of his tub would not bear too close an examination. Diogenes Laërtius, Lives and Opinions of Eminent Philosophers.—Plutarch, Apophthegmata Laconica.—Cicero, de Natura Deorum, bk. 3, ch. 36, &c.——A stoic of Babylon, disciple of Chrysippus. He went to Athens, and was sent as ambassador to Rome, with Carneades and Critolaus, 155 years before Christ. He died in the 88th year of his age, after a life of the most exemplary virtue. Some suppose that he was strangled by order of Antiochus king of Syria, for speaking disrespectfully of his family in one of his treatises. Quintilian, bk. 1, ch. 1.—Athenæus, bk. 5, ch. 11.—Cicero, de Officiis, bk. 3, ch. 51.——A native of Apollonia, celebrated for his knowledge of philosophy and physic. He was pupil to Anaxagoras. Diogenes Laërtius, Lives and Opinions of Eminent Philosophers.——Laërtius, an epicurean philosopher, born in Cilicia. He wrote the lives of the philosophers in 10 books, still extant. This work contains an accurate account of the ancient philosophers, and is replete with all their anecdotes and particular opinions. It is compiled, however, without any plan, method, or precision, though much neatness and conciseness are observable through the whole. In this multifarious biography the author does not seem particularly partial to any sect, except perhaps it be that of Potamon of Alexandria. Diogenes died A.D. 222. The best editions of his works are that of Meibomius, 2 vols., 4to, Amsterdam, 1692, and that of Lipscomb, 8vo, 1759.——A Macedonian, who betrayed Salamis to Aratus. Pausanias, bk. 2, ch. 8.——There was a philosopher of that name who attended Alexander in his Asiatic expedition, for the purpose of marking out and delineating his march, &c.

Diogĕnia, a daughter of Celeus. Pausanias, bk. 1, ch. 38.——A daughter of the Cephisus, who married Erechtheus. Apollodorus.

Diogĕnus, a man who conspired with Dymnus against Alexander. Curtius, bk. 6, ch. 7.

Diognetus, a philosopher who instructed Marcus Aurelius in philosophy, and in writing dialogues.

Diŏmēda, a daughter of Phorbas, whom Achilles brought from Lemnos, to be his mistress after the loss of Briseis. Homer, Iliad, bk. 9, li. 661.——The wife of Deion of Amyclæ.

Diŏmēdes, son of Tydeus and Deiphyle, was king of Ætolia, and one of the bravest of the Grecian chiefs in the Trojan war. He engaged Hector and Æneas, and by repeated acts of valour obtained much military glory. He went with Ulysses to steal the Palladium from the temple of Minerva at Troy; and assisted in murdering Rhesus king of Thrace, and carrying away his horses. At his return from the siege of Troy, he lost his way in the darkness of the night, and landed in Attica, where his companions plundered the country, and lost the Trojan Palladium. During his long absence, his wife Ægiale forgot her marriage vows, and prostituted herself to Cometes, one of her servants. This lasciviousness of the queen was attributed by some to the resentment of Venus, whom Diomedes had severely wounded in the arm in a battle before Troy. The infidelity of Ægiale was highly displeasing to Diomedes. He resolved to abandon his native country, which was the seat of his disgrace, and the attempts of his wife to take away his life, according to some accounts, did not a little contribute to hasten his departure. He came to that part of Italy which has been called Magna Græcia, where he built a city called Argyripa, and married the daughter of Daunus the king of the country. He died there in extreme old age, or, according to a certain tradition, he perished by the hand of his father-in-law. His death was greatly lamented by his companions, who in the excess of their grief were changed into birds resembling swans. These birds took flight into a neighbouring island in the Adriatic, and became remarkable for the tameness with which they approached the Greeks, and for the horror with which they shunned all other nations. They are called the birds of Diomedes. Altars were raised to Diomedes, as to a god, one of which Strabo mentions at Timavus. Virgil, Æneid, bk. 1, li. 756; bk. 11, li. 243, &c.—Ovid, Metamorphoses, bk. 14, fable 10.—Apollodorus, bk. 1, ch. 8; bk. 3, ch. 7.—Hyginus, fables 97, 112, & 113.—Pausanias, bk. 2, ch. 30.——A king of Thrace, son of Mars and Cyrene, who fed his horses with human flesh. It was one of the labours of Hercules to destroy him; and accordingly the hero, attended with some of his friends, attacked the inhuman tyrant, and gave him to be devoured by his own horses, which he had fed so barbarously. Diodorus, bk. 4.—Pausanias, bk. 3, ch. 18.—Apollodorus, bk. 2, ch. 5.——A friend of Alcibiades. Plutarch, Alcibiades.——A grammarian.

Diŏmēdon, an Athenian general, put to death for his negligence at Arginusæ. Thucydides, bk. 8, ch. 19.——A man of Cyzicus, in the interest of Artaxerxes. Cornelius Nepos, Epaminondas.

Dion, a Syracusan, son of Hipparinus, famous for his power and abilities. He was related to Dionysius, and often advised him, together with the philosopher Plato, who at his request had come to reside at the tyrant’s court, to lay aside the supreme power. His great popularity rendered him odious in the eyes of the tyrant, who banished him to Greece. There he collected a numerous force, and encouraged by the influence of his name, and the hatred of his enemy, he resolved to free his country from tyranny. He entered the port of Syracuse only with two ships, and in three days reduced under his power an empire which had already subsisted for 50 years, and which was guarded by 500 ships of war, and 100,000 foot and 10,000 horse. The tyrant fled to Corinth, and Dion kept the power in his own hands, fearful of the aspiring ambition of some of the friends of Dionysius. He was, however, shamefully betrayed and murdered by one of his familiar friends, called Callicrates, or Callipus, 354 years before the christian era, in the 55th year of his age, and four years after his return from Peloponnesus. His death was universally lamented by the Syracusans, and a monument was raised to his memory. Diodorus, bk. 16.—Cornelius Nepos, Life of Dion.——A town of Macedonia. Pausanias, bk. 9, ch. 36.——Cassius, a native of Nicæa in Bithynia. His father’s name was Apronianus. He was raised to the greatest offices of state in the Roman empire by Pertinax and his three successors. Naturally fond of study, he improved himself by unwearied application, and was 10 years collecting materials for a history of Rome, which he made public in 80 books, after a laborious employment of 12 years in composing it. This valuable history began with the arrival of Æneas in Italy, and was continued down to the reign of the emperor Alexander Severus. The 34 first books are totally lost, the 20 following are mutilated, and fragments are all that we possess of the last 20. In the compilation of his extensive history, Dion proposed to himself Thucydides for a model; but he is not perfectly happy in his imitation. His style is pure and elegant, and his narrations are judiciously managed, and his reflections learned; but upon the whole he is credulous, and the bigoted slave of partiality, satire, and flattery. He inveighs against the republican principles of Brutus and Cicero, and extols the cause of Cæsar. Seneca also is the object of his satire, and he represents him as debauched and licentious in his morals. Dion flourished about the 230th year of the christian era. The best edition of his works is that of Reimarus, 2 vols., folio, Hamburg, 1750.——A famous christian writer, surnamed Chrysostom, &c.

Diōnæa, a surname of Venus, supposed to be the daughter of Jupiter and Done.

Diōne, a nymph, daughter of Nereus and Doris. She was mother of Venus by Jupiter, according to Homer and others. Hesiod, however, gives Venus a different origin. See: [Venus]. Venus is herself sometimes called Dione. Virgil, Æneid, bk. 3, li. 19.—Homer, Iliad, bk. 5, li. 381.—Statius, bk. 1, Sylvæ, poem 1, li. 86.

Dionȳsia, festivals in honour of Bacchus among the Greeks. Their form and solemnity were first introduced into Greece from Egypt by a certain Melampus, and if we admit that Bacchus is the same as Isis, the Dionysia of the Greeks are the same as the festivals celebrated by the Egyptians in honour of Isis. They were observed at Athens with more splendour and ceremonious superstition than in any other part of Greece. The years were numbered by their celebration, the Archon assisted at the solemnity, and the priests that officiated were honoured with the most dignified seats at the public games. At first they were celebrated with great simplicity, and the time was consecrated to mirth. It was then usual to bring a vessel of wine adorned with a vine branch, after which followed a goat, a basket of figs, and the φαλλοι. The worshippers imitated in their dress and actions the poetical fictions concerning Bacchus. They clothed themselves in fawns’ skins, fine linen, and mitres; they carried thyrsi, drums, pipes, and flutes, and crowned themselves with garlands of ivy, vine, fir, &c. Some imitated Silenus, Pan, and the Satyrs by the uncouth manner of their dress, and their fantastical motions. Some rode upon asses, and others drove the goats to slaughter for the sacrifice. In this manner both sexes joined in the solemnity, and ran about the hills and country, nodding their heads, dancing in ridiculous postures, and filling the air with hideous shrieks and shouts, and crying aloud, “Evoe Bacche! Io! Io! Evoe! Iacche! Io Bacche! Evohe!” With such solemnities were the festivals of Bacchus celebrated by the Greeks, particularly the Athenians. In one of these there followed a number of persons carrying sacred vessels, one of which contained water. After these came a select number of noble virgins, carrying little baskets of gold filled with all sorts of fruits. This was the most mysterious part of the solemnity. Serpents were sometimes put in the baskets, and by their wreathing and crawling out they amused and astonished the beholders. After the virgins followed a company of men carrying poles, at the end of which were fastened φαλλοι. The heads of these men, who were called φαλλοφοροι, were crowned with ivy and violets, and their faces covered with other herbs. They marched singing songs upon the occasion of the festivals, called φαλλικα ᾁσματα. Next to the φαλλοφοροι followed the ἰθυφαλλοι in women’s apparel, with white striped garments reaching to the ground; their heads were decked with garlands, and on their hands they wore gloves composed of flowers. Their gestures and actions were like those of a drunken man. Besides these, there were a number of persons called λικνοφοροι, who carried the λικνον or musical van of Bacchus; without their attendance none of the festivals of Bacchus were celebrated with due solemnity, and on that account the god is often called λικνιτης. The festivals of Bacchus were almost innumerable. The name of the most celebrated were the Dionysia [♦]ἀρχαιότερα, at Limnæ in Attica. The chief persons that officiated were 14 women called γεραιραι, venerable. They were appointed by one of the archons, and before their appointment they solemnly took an oath before the archon or his wife, that their body was free from all pollution.——The greater Dionysia, sometimes called ἀστικα or τα κατ’ ἀστυ, as being celebrated within the city, were the most famous. They were supposed to be the same as the preceding.——The less Dionysia, sometimes called τα κατ’ ἀργους, because celebrated in the country, or ληναια, from ληνος, a wine-press, were, to all appearance, a preparation for the greater festivals. They were celebrated in autumn.——The Dionysia βραυρωνια, observed at Brauron in Attica, were a scene of lewdness, extravagance, and debauchery.——The Dionysia νυκτηλια were observed by the Athenians in honour of Bacchus Nyctelius. It was unlawful to reveal whatever was seen or done during the celebration.——The Dionysia called ὠμοφαγια, because human victims were offered to the god, or because the priests imitated the eating of raw flesh, were celebrated with much solemnity. The priests put serpents in their hair, and by the wildness of their looks, and the oddity of their actions, they feigned insanity.——The Dionysia ἀρκαδικα were yearly observed in Arcadia, and the children who had been instructed in the music of Philoxenus and Timotheus, were introduced in a theatre, where they celebrated the festivals of Bacchus by entertaining the spectators with songs, dances, and different exhibitions. There were, besides these, others of inferior note. There was also one observed every three years called Dionysia τριετηρικα, and it is said that Bacchus instituted it himself in commemoration of his Indian expedition, in which he spent three years. There is also another, celebrated every fifth year, as mentioned by the scholiast of Aristophanes.——All these festivals, in honour of the god of wine, were celebrated by the Greeks with great licentiousness, and they contributed much to the corruption of morals among all ranks of people. They were also introduced into Tuscany, and from thence to Rome. Among the Romans, both sexes promiscuously joined in the celebration during the darkness of night. The drunkenness, the debauchery, and impure actions and indulgencies which soon prevailed at the solemnity, called aloud for the interference of the senate, and the consuls Spurius Posthumius Albinus and Quintus Martius Philippus made a strict examination concerning the propriety and superstitious forms of the Bacchanalia. The disorder and pollution which was practised with impunity by no less than 7000 votaries of either sex, were beheld with horror and astonishment by the consuls, and the Bacchanalia were for ever banished from Rome by a decree of the senate. They were again reinstituted there in length of time, but not with such licentiousness as before. Euripides, Bacchæ.—Virgil, Æneid, bk. 11, li. 737.—Diodorus, bk. 4.—Ovid, Metamorphoses, bk. 3, li. 533; bk. 4, li. 391; bk. 6, li. 587.

[♦] ‘ἀλχαιωτερα’ replaced with ‘ἀρχαιότερα’

Diŏnȳsiădes, two small islands near Crete.——Festivals in honour of Bacchus. Pausanias, bk. 3, ch. 13.

Diŏnȳsias, a fountain. Pausanias, bk. 4, ch. 36.

Diŏnysides, a tragic poet of Tarsus.

Diŏnȳsiodōrus, a famous geometer. Pliny, bk. 7, ch. 109.——A Bœotian historian. Diodorus, bk. 15.——A Tarentine, who obtained a prize at Olympia in the 100th Olympiad.

Dionȳsion, a temple of Bacchus in Attica. Pausanias, bk. 1, ch. 43.

Dionȳsipŏlis, a town of Thrace. Mela, bk. 2, ch. 2.

Dionȳsius I., or the elder, was son of Hermocrates. He signalized himself in the wars which the Syracusans carried on against the Carthaginians, and, taking advantage of the power lodged in his hands, he made himself absolute at Syracuse. To strengthen himself in his usurpation, and acquire popularity, he increased the pay of the soldiers, and recalled those that had been banished. He vowed eternal enmity against Carthage, and experienced various success in his wars against that republic. He was ambitious of being thought a poet, and his brother Theodorus was commissioned to go to Olympia, and repeat there some verses in his name, with other competitors, for the poetical prizes. His expectations were frustrated, and his poetry was received with groans and hisses. He was not, however, so unsuccessful at Athens, where a poetical prize was publicly adjudged to one of his compositions. This victory gave him more pleasure than all the victories he had ever obtained in the field of battle. His tyranny and cruelty at home rendered him odious in the eyes of his subjects, and he became so suspicious that he never admitted his wife or children to his private apartment without a previous examination of their garments. He never trusted his head to a barber, but always burnt his beard. He made a subterraneous cave in a rock, said to be still extant, in the form of a human ear, which measured 80 feet in height and 250 in length. It was called the ear of Dionysius. The sounds of this subterraneous cave were all necessarily directed to one common tympanum, which had a communication with an adjoining room, where Dionysius spent the greatest part of his time to hear whatever was said by those whom his suspicion and cruelty had confined in the apartments above. The artists that had been employed in making this cave were all put to death by order of the tyrant, for fear of their revealing to what purposes a work of such uncommon construction was to be appropriated. His impiety and sacrilege were as conspicuous as his suspicious credulity. He took a golden mantle from the statue of Jupiter, observing that the son of Saturn had a covering too warm for the summer, and too cold for the winter, and he placed one of wool instead. He also robbed Æsculapius of his golden beard, and plundered the temple of Proserpine. He died of an indigestion in the 63rd year of his age, B.C. 368, after a reign of 38 years. Authors, however, are divided about the manner of his death, and some are of opinion that he died a violent death. Some suppose that the tyrant invented the catapulta, an engine which proved of infinite service for the discharging of showers of darts and stones in the time of a siege. Diodorus, bks. 13, 15, &c.—Justin, bk. 20, ch. 1, &c.—Xenophon, Hellenica.—Cornelius Nepos, Timoleon.—Plutarch, Diodorus.——The second of that name, surnamed the younger, was son of Dionysius I. by Doris. He succeeded his father as tyrant of Sicily, and by the advice of Dion his brother-in-law, he invited the philosopher Plato to his court, under whom he studied for a while. The philosopher advised him to lay aside the supreme power, and in his admonitions he was warmly seconded by Dion. Dionysius refused to consent, and soon after Plato was seized and publicly sold as a slave. Dion likewise, on account of his great popularity, was severely abused and insulted in his family, and his wife given in marriage to another. Such a violent behaviour was highly resented; Dion, who was banished, collected some forces in Greece, and in three days rendered himself master of Syracuse, and expelled the tyrant B.C. 357. See: [Dion]. Dionysius retired to Locri, where he behaved with the greatest oppression, and was ejected by the citizens. He recovered Syracuse 10 years after his expulsion, but his triumph was short, and the Corinthians, under conduct of Timoleon, obliged him to abandon the city. He fled to Corinth, where to support himself he kept a school, as Cicero observes, that he might still continue to be tyrant; and as he could not command over men, that he might still exercise his power over boys. It is said that he died from excess of joy, when he heard that a tragedy of his own composition had been rewarded with a poetical prize. Dionysius was as cruel as his father, but he did not, like him, possess the art of restraining his power. This was seen and remarked by the old man, who, when he saw his son attempting to debauch the wives of some of his old subjects, asked him, with the greatest indignation, whether he had ever heard of his having acted so brutal a part in his younger days? “No,” answered the son, “because you were not the son of a king.” “Well, my son,” replied the old man, “never shalt thou be the father of a king.” Justin, bk. 21, chs. 1, 2, &c.—Diodorus, bk. 15, &c.—Ælian, Varia Historia, bk. 9, ch. 8.—Quintilian, bk. 8, ch. 6.—Cornelius Nepos, Dion.—Cicero, Tusculanæ Disputationes, bk. 5, ch. 2.——An historian of Halicarnassus, who left his country and came to reside at Rome, that he might carefully study all the Greek and Latin writers, whose compositions treated of the Roman history. He formed an acquaintance with all the learned of the age, and derived much information from their company and conversation. After an unremitted application, during 24 years, he gave to the world his Roman antiquities in 20 books, of which only the 11 first are now extant, nearly containing the account of 312 years. His composition has been greatly valued by the ancients as well as the moderns for the easiness of his style, the fidelity of his chronology, and the judiciousness of his remarks and criticism. Like a faithful historian, he never mentioned anything but what was authenticated, and he totally disregarded the fabulous traditions which fill and disgrace the pages of both his predecessors and followers. To the merits of the elegant historian, Dionysius, as may be seen in his treatises, has also added the equally respectable character of the eloquent orator, the critic, and the politician. He lived during the Augustan age, and came to Rome about 80 years before the christian era. The best editions of his works are that of Oxford, 2 vols., folio, 1704, and that of Reiske, 6 vols., 8vo, Lipscomb, 1774.——A tyrant of Heraclea in Pontus, in the age of Alexander the Great. After the death of the conqueror and of Perdiccas, he married Amestris the niece of king Darius, and assumed the title of king. He was of such an uncommon corpulence that he never exposed his person in public, and when he gave audience to foreign ambassadors, he always placed himself in a chair which was conveniently made to hide his face and person from the eyes of the spectators. When he was asleep, it was impossible to awake him without boring his flesh with pins. He died in the 55th year of his age. As his reign was remarkable for mildness and popularity, his death was severely lamented by his subjects. He left two sons and a daughter, and appointed his widow queen-regent.——A surname of Bacchus.——A disciple of Chæremon.——A native of Chalcis, who wrote a book entitled κτισεις, or the origin of cities.——A commander of the Ionian fleet against the Persians, who went to plunder Phœnicia. Herodotus, bk. 6, ch. 17.——A general of Antiochus Hierax.——A philosopher of Heraclea, disciple to Zeno. He starved himself to death, B.C. 279, in the 81st year of his age. Diogenes Laërtius.——An epic poet of Mitylene.——A sophist of Pergamus. Strabo, bk. 13.——A writer in the Augustan age, called Periegetes. He wrote a very valuable geographical treatise in Greek hexameters, still extant. The best edition of his treatise is that of Henry Stephens, 4to, 1577, with the scholia, and that of Hill, 8vo, London, 1688.——A christian writer, A.D. 492, called Areopagita. The best edition of his works is that of Antwerp, 2 vols., folio, 1634.——The music master of Epaminondas. Cornelius Nepos.——A celebrated critic. See: [Longinus].——A rhetorician of Magnesia.——A Messenian madman, &c. Plutarch, Alexander.——A native of Thrace, generally called the Rhodian, because he lived there. He wrote some grammatical treatises and commentaries, B.C. 64. Strabo, bk. 14.——A painter of Colophon.

Diŏphănes, a man who joined Peloponnesus to the Achæan league. Pausanias, bk. 8, ch. 30.——A rhetorician intimate with Tiberias Gracchus. Plutarch, Tiberius Gracchus.

Diŏphantus, an Athenian general of the Greek mercenary troops in the service of Nectanebus king of Egypt. Diodorus, bk. 16.——A Greek orator of Mitylene, preceptor to Tiberius Gracchus. Cicero, Brutus.——A native of Alexandria in the fourth century. He wrote 13 books of arithmetical questions, of which six are still extant, the best edition of which is that in folio, Tolosæ, 1670. He died in his 84th year, but the age in which he lived is uncertain. Some place him in the reign of Augustus, others under Nero and Antonines.

Diopœnus, a noble sculptor of Crete. Pliny, bk. 36, ch. 4.

Diopŏlis, a name given to Cabira, a town of Paphlagonia, by Pompey. Strabo, bk. 12.

Diōres, a friend of Æneas, killed by Turnus. He had engaged in the games exhibited by Æneas on his father’s tomb in Sicily. Virgil, Æneid, bk. 5, li. 297; bk. 12, li. 509.

Dioryctus, a place of Acarnania, where a canal was cut (δια ὀρυσσω), to make Leucadia an island. Pliny, bk. 4, ch. 1.

Dioscorĭdes, a native of Cilicia, who was physician to Antony and Cleopatra, or lived, as some suppose, in the age of Nero. He was originally a soldier, but afterwards he applied himself to study, and wrote a book upon medicinal herbs, of which the best edition is that of Saracenus, folio, Frankfurt. 1598.——A man who wrote an account of the republic of Lacedæmon.——A nephew of Antigonus. Diodorus, bk. 19.——A Cyprian, blind of one eye, in the age of Ptolemy Philadelphus.——A disciple of Isocrates.——An astrologer sent ambassador by Julius Cæsar to Achillas, &c. Cæsar, Civil War, bk. 3, ch. 109.

Dioscorĭdis insula, an island situate at the south of the entrance of the Arabic gulf, and now called Socotra.

Dioscūri, or sons of Jupiter, a name given to Castor and Pollux. There were festivals in their honour, called Dioscuria, celebrated by the people of Corcyra, and chiefly by the Lacedæmonians. They were observed with much jovial festivity. The people made a free use of the gifts of Bacchus, and diverted themselves with sports, of which wrestling matches always made a part.

Dioscurias, a town of Colchis. Pliny, bk. 6, ch. 28.

Diospăge, a town of Mesopotamia. Pliny, bk. 6, ch. 26.

Diospŏlis, or Thebæ, a famous city of Egypt, formerly called Hecatompylos. See: [Thebæ].

Diotīme, a woman who gave lectures upon philosophy, which Socrates attended. Plutarch, Convivium Septem Sapientium.

Diotīmus, an Athenian skilled in maritime affairs, &c. Polyænus, bk. 5.——A stoic, who flourished 85 B.C.

Diotrephes, an Athenian officer, &c. Thucydides, bk. 3, ch. 75.

Dioxippe, one of the Danaides. Apollodorus, bk. 2, ch. 1.

Dioxippus, a soldier of Alexander, who killed one of his fellow-soldiers in a fury, &c. Ælian.——An Athenian boxer, &c. Diodorus, bk. 17.——A Trojan killed by Turnus. Virgil, Æneid, bk. 9, li. 574.

Dipæa, a place of Peloponnesus, where a battle was fought between the Arcadians and Spartans. Herodotus, bk. 9, ch. 35.

Diphĭlas, a man sent to Rhodes by the Spartans, to destroy the Athenian faction there. Diodorus, bk. 14.——A governor of Babylon in the interest of Antigonus. Diodorus, bk. 19.——An historian.

Dīphĭlus, an Athenian general, A.U.C. 311.——An architect so slow in finishing his works, that Diphilo tardior became a proverb. Cicero, Letters to his brother Quintus, bk. 3.——A tragic writer.

Diphorĭdas, one of the Ephori at Sparta. Plutarch, Agesilaus.

Dipœnæ, a town of Arcadia. Pausanias, bk. 8, ch. 31.

Dipŏlis, a name given to Lemnos, as having two cities, Hephæstia and Myrina.

Dipsas (antis), a river of Cilicia, flowing from mount Taurus. Lucan, bk. 8, li. 255.——(adis), a profligate and incontinent woman mentioned by Ovid, Amores, bk. 1, poem 8.——A kind of serpent. Lucan, bk. 9.

Dipylon, one of the gates of Athens.

Diræ, the daughters of Acheron and Nox, who persecuted the souls of the guilty. They are the same as the furies, and some suppose they are called Furies in hell, Harpies on earth, and Diræ in heaven. They were represented as standing near the throne of Jupiter, in an attitude which expressed their eagerness to receive his orders, and the power of tormenting the guilty on earth with the most excruciating punishments. Virgil, Æneid, bk. 4, li. 473; bk. 8, li. 701.

Dirce, a woman whom Lycus king of Thebes married after he had divorced Antiope. When Antiope became pregnant by Jupiter, Dirce suspected her husband of infidelity to her bed, and imprisoned Antiope, whom she tormented with the greatest cruelty. Antiope escaped from her confinement, and brought forth Amphion and Zethus on mount Cithæron. When these children were informed of the cruelties to which their mother had been exposed, they besieged Thebes, put Lycus to death, and tied the cruel Dirce to the tail of a wild bull, which dragged her over rocks and precipices, and exposed her to the most poignant pains, till the gods, pitying her fate, changed her into a fountain, in the neighbourhood of Thebes. According to some accounts, Antiope was mother of Amphion and Zethus before she was confined and exposed to the tyranny of Dirce. See: [Amphion], [Antiope]. Propertius, bk. 3, poem 15, li. 37.—Pausanias, bk. 9, ch. 26.—Ælian, Varia Historia, bk. 12, ch. 57.—Lucan, bk. 3, li. 175; bk. 4, li. 550.

Dircenna, a cold fountain of Spain, near Bilbilis. Martial, bk. 1, ltr. 50, li. 17.

Dirphyia, a surname of Juno, from Dirphya, a mountain of Bœotia, where the goddess had a temple.

Dis, a god of the Gauls, the same as Pluto the god of hell. The inhabitants of Gaul supposed themselves descended from that deity. Cæsar, Gallic War, bk. 6.—Tacitus, Histories, bk. 4, ch. 84.

Discordia, a malevolent deity, daughter of Nox, and sister to Nemesis, the Parcæ, and death. She was driven from heaven by Jupiter, because she sowed dissensions among the gods, and was the cause of continual quarrels. When the nuptials of Peleus and Thetis were celebrated, the goddess of discord was not invited, and this seeming neglect so irritated her, that she threw an apple into the midst of the assembly of the gods, with the inscription of detur pulchriori. This apple was the cause of the ruin of Troy, and of infinite misfortunes to the Greeks. See: [Paris]. She is represented with a pale, ghastly look, her garment is torn, her eyes sparkle with fire, and she holds a dagger concealed in her bosom. Her head is generally entwined with serpents, and she is attended by Bellona. She is supposed to be the cause of all dissensions, murders, wars, and quarrels which arise upon earth, public as well as private. Virgil, Æneid, bk. 8, li. 702.—Hesiod, Theogony, li. 225.—Petronius.

Dithyrambus, a surname of Bacchus, whence the hymns sung in his honour were called Dithyrambics. Horace, bk. 4, ode 2.

Dittani, a people of Spain.

Divi, a name chiefly appropriated to those who were made gods after death, such as heroes and warriors, or the Lares and Penates, and other domestic gods.

Divitiăcus, one of the Ædui, intimate with Cæsar. Cicero bk. 1, de Divinatione.

Dium, a town of Eubœa, where there were hot baths. Pliny, bk. 31, ch. 2.——A promontory of Crete.——A town of Macedonia. Livy, bk. 44, ch. 7.

Divodurum, a town of Gaul, now Metz in Lorrain.

Divus Fidius, a god of the Sabines, worshipped also at Rome. Dionysius of Halicarnassus.

Diyllus, an Athenian historian. Diodorus, bk. 16.——A statuary. Pausanias, bk. 10, ch. 13.

Doberes, a people of Pæonia. Herodotus, bk. 5, ch. 16.

Docĭlis, a gladiator at Rome, mentioned by Horace, bk. 1, ltr. 18, li. 19.

Docĭmus, a man of Tarentum, deprived of his military dignity by Philip son of Amyntas, for indulging himself with hot baths. Polyænus, bk. 4.——An officer of Antigonus. Diodorus, bk. 19.——An officer of Perdiccas, taken by Antigonus. Diodorus, bk. 18.

Dōdōna, a town of Thesprotia in Epirus, or, according to others, in Thessaly. There was in its neighbourhood, upon a small hill called Tmarus, a celebrated oracle of Jupiter. The town and temple of the god were first built by Deucalion, after the universal deluge. It was supposed to be the most ancient oracle of all Greece, and according to the traditions of the Egyptians mentioned by Herodotus, it was founded by a dove. Two black doves, as he relates, took their flight from the city of Thebes in Egypt, one of which flew to the temple of Jupiter Ammon, and the other to Dodona, where, with a human voice, they acquainted the inhabitants of the country that Jupiter had consecrated the ground, which in future would give oracles. The extensive grove which surrounded Jupiter’s temple was endowed with the gift of prophecy, and oracles were frequently delivered by the sacred oaks, and the doves which inhabited the place. This fabulous tradition of the oracular power of the doves is explained by Herodotus, who observes that some Phœnicians carried away two priestesses from Egypt, one of which went to fix her residence at Dodona, where the oracle was established. It may further be observed, that the fable might have been founded upon the double meaning of the word πελειαι, which signifies doves in most parts of Greece, while in the dialect of the Epirots, it implies old women. In ancient times the oracles were delivered by the murmuring of a neighbouring fountain, but the custom was afterwards changed. Large kettles were suspended in the air near a brazen statue, which held a lash in its hand. When the wind blew strong, the statue was agitated and struck against one of the kettles, which communicated the motion to all the rest, and raised that clattering and discordant din which continued for a while, and from which the artifice of the priests drew their predictions. Some suppose that the noise was occasioned by the shaking of the leaves and boughs of an old oak, which the superstition of the people frequently consulted, and from which they pretended to receive oracles. It may be observed with more probability that the oracles were delivered by the priests, who, by artfully concealing themselves behind the oaks, gave occasion to the superstitious multitude to believe that the trees were endowed with the power of prophecy. As the ship Argo was built with some of the oaks of the forest of Dodona, there were some beams in the vessel which gave oracles to the Argonauts, and warned them against the approach of calamity. Within the forest of Dodona there was a stream with a fountain of cool water, which had the power of lighting a torch as soon as it touched it. This fountain was totally dry at noonday, and was restored to its full course at midnight, from which time till the following noon it began to decrease, and at the usual hour was again deprived of its waters. The oracles of Dodona were originally delivered by men, but afterwards by women. See: [Dodonides]. Pliny, bk. 2, ch. 103.—Herodotus, bk. 2, ch. 57.—Mela, bk. 2, ch. 3.—Homer, Odyssey, bk. 14; Iliad.—Pausanias, bk. 7, ch. 21.—Strabo, bk. 17.—Plutarch, Pyrrhus.—Apollodorus, bk. 1, ch. 9.—Lucan, bk. 6, li. 427.—Ovid, Tristia, bk. 4, poem 8, li. 23.

Dōdōnæus, a surname of Jupiter from Dodona.

Dōdōne, a daughter of Jupiter and Europa.——A fountain in the forest of Dodona. See: [Dodona].

Dōdōnĭdes, the priestesses who gave oracles in the temple of Jupiter in Dodona. According to some traditions the temple was originally inhabited by seven daughters of Atlas, who nursed Bacchus. Their names were Ambrosia, Eudora, Pasithoe, Pytho, Plexaure, Coronis, Tythe or Tyche. In the latter ages the oracles were always delivered by three old women, which custom was first established when Jupiter enjoyed the company of Dione, whom he permitted to receive divine honour in his temple at Dodona. The Bœotians were the only people of Greece who received their oracles at Dodona from men, for reasons which Strabo, bk. 9, fully explains.

Doii, a people of Arabia Felix.

Dolabella Publius Cornelius, a Roman who married the daughter of Cicero. During the civil wars he warmly espoused the interest of Julius Cæsar, whom he accompanied at the famous battles at Pharsalia, Africa, and Munda. He was made consul by his patron, though Marcus Antony his colleague opposed it. After the death of Julius Cæsar, he received the government of Syria as his province. Cassius opposed his views, and Dolabella, for violence, and for the assassination of Trebonius, one of Cæsar’s murderers, was declared an enemy to the republic of Rome. He was besieged by Cassius in Laodicea, and when he saw that all was lost, he killed himself, in the 27th year of his age. He was of small stature, which gave occasion to his father-in-law to ask him once when he entered his house, who had tied him so cleverly to his sword.——A proconsul of Africa.——Another, who conquered the Gauls, Etrurians, and Boii at the lake of Vadimonis, B.C. 283.——The family of the Dolabellæ distinguished themselves at Rome, and one of them, Lucius Cornelius, conquered Lusitania, B.C. 99.

Dolichaon, the father of the Hebrus, &c. Virgil, Æneid, bk. 10, li. 696.

Dolīche, an island in the Ægean sea. Apollodorus, bk. 2, ch. 6.——A town of Syria,——of Macedonia. Livy, bk. 42, ch. 53.

Dolius, a faithful servant of Ulysses. Homer, Odyssey, bk. 4, li. 675.

Dolomēna, a country of Assyria. Strabo, bk. 16.

Dŏlon, a Trojan, son of Eumedes, famous for his swiftness. Being sent by Hector to spy the Grecian camp by night, he was seized by Diomedes and Ulysses, to whom he revealed the situation, schemes, and resolutions of his countrymen, with the hopes of escaping with his life. He was put to death by Diomedes, as a traitor. Homer, Iliad, bk. 10, li. 314.—Virgil, Æneid, bk. 12, li. 349, &c.——A poet. See: [Susarion].

Dōlonci, a people of Thrace. Herodotus, bk. 6, ch. 34.

Dŏlŏpes, a people of Thessaly, near mount Pindus. Peleus reigned there, and sent them to the Trojan war under Phœnix. They became also masters of Scyros, and like the rest of the ancient Greeks, were fond of migration. Virgil, Æneid, bk. 2, li. 7.—Flaccus, bk. 2, li. 10.—Livy, bk. 36, ch. 33.—Strabo, bk. 9.—Plutarch, Cimon.

Dŏlŏpia, the country of the Dolopes, near Pindus, through which the Achelous flowed.

Dŏlops, a Trojan, son of Lampus, killed by Menelaus. Homer, Iliad, bk. 15, li. 525.

Domidūcus, a god who presided over marriage. Juno also was called Domiduca, from the power she was supposed to have in marriages.

Domīnĭca, a daughter of Petronius, who married the [♦]emperor Valens.

[♦] ‘emperior’ replaced with ‘emperor’

Domitĭa lex, de Religione, was enacted by Domitius Ahenobarbus the tribune, A.U.C. 650. It transferred the right of electing priests from the college to the people.

Domĭtia Longīna, a Roman lady who boasted in her debaucheries. She was the wife of the emperor Domitian.

Domĭtiānus Titus Flavius, son of Vespasian and Flavia Domatilla, made himself emperor of Rome at the death of his brother Titus, whom, according to some accounts, he destroyed by poison. The beginning of his reign promised tranquillity to the people, but their expectations were soon frustrated. Domitian became cruel, and gave way to incestuous and unnatural indulgencies. He commanded himself to be called God and Lord in all the papers which were presented to him. He passed the greatest part of the day in catching flies and killing them with a bodkin, so that it was wittily answered by Vibius to a person who asked him who was with the emperor, “Nobody, not even a fly.” In the latter part of his reign Domitian became suspicious, and his anxieties were increased by the predictions of astrologers, but still more poignantly by the stings of remorse. He was so distrustful even when alone, that round the terrace, where he usually walked, he built a wall with shining stones, that from them he might perceive as in a looking-glass whether anybody followed him. All these precautions were unavailing; he perished by the hand of an assassin the 18th of September, A.D. 96, in the 45th year of his age and the 15th of his reign. He was the last of the 12 Cæsars. He distinguished himself for his love of learning, and in a little treatise which he wrote upon the great care which ought to be taken of the hair to prevent baldness, he displayed much taste and elegance, according to the observations of his biographers. After his death he was publicly deprived by the senate of all the honours which had been profusely heaped upon him, and even his body was left in the open air without the honours of a funeral. This disgrace might proceed from the resentment of the senators, whom he had exposed to terror as well as to ridicule. He once assembled that august body, to know in what vessel a turbot might be most conveniently dressed. At another time they received a formal invitation to a feast, and when they arrived at the palace, they were introduced into a large gloomy hall hung with black, and lighted with a few glimmering tapers. In the middle were placed a number of coffins, on each of which was inscribed the name of some one of the invited senators. On a sudden a number of men burst into the room, clothed in black, with drawn swords and flaming torches, and after they had for some time terrified the guests, they permitted them to retire. Such were the amusements and cruelties of a man who, in the first part of his reign, was looked upon as the father of his people, and the restorer of learning and liberty. Suetonius, The Twelve Caesars.—Eutropius, bk. 7.

Domĭtilla Flavia, a woman who married Vespasian, by whom she had Titus a year after her marriage, and, 11 years after, Domitian.——A niece of the emperor Domitian, by whom she was banished.

Domĭtius Domitiănus, a general of Diocletian in Egypt. He assumed the imperial purple at Alexandria, A.D. 288, and supported the dignity of emperor for about two years. He died a violent death.——Lucius. See: [Ænobarbus].——Cnæus Ænobarbus, a Roman consul, who conquered Bituitus the Gaul, and left 20,000 of the enemy on the field of battle, and took 3000 prisoners.——A grammarian in the reign of Adrian. He was remarkable for his virtues, and his melancholy disposition.——A Roman who revolted from Antony to Augustus. He was at the battle of Pharsalia, and forced Pompey to fight by the mere force of his ridicule.——The father of Nero, famous for his cruelties and debaucheries. Suetonius, Nero.——A tribune of the people, who conquered the Allobroges. Plutarch.——A consul during whose consulate peace was concluded with Alexander king of Epirus. Livy, bk. 8, ch. 17.——A consul under Caligula. He wrote some few things now lost.——A Latin poet, called also Marsus, in the age of Horace. He wrote epigrams, remarkable for little besides their indelicacy. Ovid, ex Ponto, bk. 4, poem 16, li. 5.——Afer, an orator, who was preceptor to Quintilian. He disgraced his talents by his adulation, and by practising the arts of an informer under Tiberius and his successors. He was made a consul by Nero, and died A.D. 59.

Ælius Donātus, a grammarian, who flourished A.D. 353.——A bishop of Numidia, a promoter of the Donatists, A.D. 311.——A bishop of Africa, banished from Carthage, A.D. 356.

Donilāus, a prince of Gallogræcia, who assisted Pompey with 300 horsemen against Julius Cæsar.

Donūca, a mountain of Thrace. Livy, bk. 40, ch. 57.

Dŏnȳsa, one of the Cyclades in the Ægean, where green marble is found. Virgil, Æneid, bk. 3, li. 125.

Doracte, an island in the Persian gulf.

Dōres, the inhabitants of Doris. See: [Doris].

Dori and Dorica, a part of Achaia near Athens.

Dorĭcus, an epithet applied not only to Doris, but to all the Greeks in general. Virgil, Æneid, bk. 2, li. 27.

Dorienses, a people of Crete,——of Cyrene.

Dorieus, a son of Anaxandridas, who went with a colony into Sicily, because he could not bear to be under his brother at home. Herodotus, bk. 5, ch. 42, &c.—Pausanias, bk. 3, chs. 3 & 16, &c.——A son of Diagoras of Rhodes. Pausanias, bk. 6, ch. 7.

Dorilas, a rich Libyan prince, killed in the court of Cepheus. Ovid, Metamorphoses, bk. 5, fable 4.

Dorilaus, a general of the great Mithridates.

Dorion, a town of Thessaly, where Thamyras the musician challenged the muses to a trial of skill. Statius, Thebiad, bk. 4, li. 182.—Propertius, bk. 2, poem 22, li. 19.—Lucan, bk. 6, li. 352.

Dōris, a country of Greece between Phocis, Thessaly, and Acarnania. It received its name from Dorus the son of Deucalion, who made a settlement there. It was called Tetrapolis, from the four cities of Pindus or Dryopis, Erineum, Cytinium, Borium, which it contained. To these four some add Lilæum and Carphia, and therefore call it Hexapolis. The name of Doris has been common to many parts of Greece. The Dorians, in the age of Deucalion, inhabited Phthiotis, which they exchanged for Histiæotis, in the age of Dorus. From thence they were driven by the Cadmæans, and came to settle near the town of Pindus. From thence they passed into Dryopis, and afterwards into Peloponnesus. Hercules having re-established Ægimius king of Phthiotis or Doris, who had been driven from his country by the Lapithæ, the grateful king appointed Hyllus the son of his patron to be his successor, and the Heraclidæ marched from that part of the country to go to recover Peloponnesus. The Dorians sent many colonies into different places, which bore the same name as their native country. The most famous of these is Doris in Asia Minor, of which Halicarnassus was once the capital. This part of Asia Minor was called Hexapolis, and afterwards Pentapolis, after the exclusion of Halicarnassus. Strabo, bk. 9, &c.—Virgil, Æneid, bk. 2, li. 27.—Pliny, bk. 5, ch. 29.—Apollodorus, bk. 2.—Herodotus, bk. 1, ch. 144; bk. 8, ch. 31.——A goddess of the sea, daughter of Oceanus and Tethys. She married her brother Nereus, by whom she had 50 daughters called Nereides. Her name is often used to express the sea itself. Propertius, bk. 1, poem 17, li. 25.—Virgil, Eclogues, poem 10.—Hesiod, Theogony, li. 240.——A woman of Locri, daughter of Xenetus, whom Dionysius the elder, of Sicily, married the same day with Aristomache. Cicero, Tusculanæ Disputationes, bk. 5.——One of the 50 Nereides. Hesiod, Theogony, li. 250.—Homer, Iliad, bk. 18, li. 45.

Doriscus, a place of Thrace near the sea, where Xerxes numbered his forces. Herodotus, bk. 7, ch. 59.

Dorium, a town of Peloponnesus. Pausanias, bk. 4, ch. 33.——One of the Danaides. Apollodorus.

Dorius, a mountain of Asia Minor. Pausanias, bk. 6, ch. 3.

Dorsennus, a comic poet of great merit in the Augustan age. Pliny, bk. 14, ch. 13.—Horace, bk. 2, ltr. 10, li. 173.

Dorso Caius Fabius, a Roman who, when Rome was in the possession of the Gauls, issued from the Capitol, which was then besieged, to go and offer a sacrifice, which was to be offered on mount Quirinalis. He dressed himself in sacerdotal robes, and carrying on his shoulders the statues of his country gods, passed through the guards of the enemy, without betraying the least signs of fear. When he had finished his sacrifice, he returned to the Capitol unmolested by the enemy, who were astonished at his boldness, and did not obstruct his passage or molest his sacrifice. Livy, bk. 5, ch. 46.

Dōrus, a son of Hellen and Orseis, or, according to others, of Deucalion, who left Phthiotis, where his father reigned, and went to make a settlement with some of his companions near mount Ossa. The country was called Doris, and the inhabitants Dorians. Herodotus, bk. 1, ch. 56, &c.——A city of Phœnicia, whose inhabitants are called Dorienses. Pausanias, bk. 10, ch. 24.

Doryasus, a Spartan, father to Agesilaus.

Dŏrȳclus, an illegitimate son of Priam, killed by Ajax in the Trojan war. Homer, Iliad, bk. 11.——A brother of Phineus king of Thrace, who married Beroe. Virgil, Æneid, bk. 5, li. 620.

Dŏrȳlæum and Dorylæus, a city of Phrygia, now Eski Shehr. Pliny, bk. 5, ch. 29.—Cicero, Flaccus, ch. 17.

Dory̆las, one of the centaurs killed by Theseus. Ovid, Metamorphoses, bk. 12, li. 180.

Dory̆lāus, a warlike person intimate with Mithridates Evergetes, and general of the Gnossians, B.C. 125. Strabo, bk. 10.

Doryssus, a king of Lacedæmon, killed in a tumult. Pausanias, bk. 3, ch. 2.

Dosci, a people near the Euxine.

Dosiadas, a poet who wrote a piece of poetry in the form of an altar (βωμος), which Theocritus has imitated.

Dosiades, a Greek, who wrote a history of Crete. Diodorus, bk. 5.

Doson, a surname of Antigonus, because he promised and never performed.

Dossēnus, or Dorsennus. See: [Dorsennus].

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

Doto, one of the Nereides. Virgil, Æneid, bk. 9, li. 102.

Dotus, a general of the Paphlagonians, in the army of Xerxes. Herodotus, bk. 7, ch. 72.

Doxander, a man mentioned by Aristotle, Politics, bk. 5.

Dracānus, a mountain where Jupiter took Bacchus from his thigh. Theocritus.

Draco, a celebrated lawgiver of Athens. When he exercised the office of archon, he made a code of laws, B.C. 623, for the use of the citizens, which, on account of their severity, were said to be written in letters of blood. By them, idleness was punished with as much severity as murder, and death was denounced against the one as well as the other. Such a code of rigorous laws gave occasion to a certain Athenian to ask of the legislator why he was so severe in his punishments, and Draco gave for answer, that as the smallest transgression had appeared to him deserving death, he could not find any punishment more rigorous for more atrocious crimes. These laws were at first enforced, but they were often neglected on account of their extreme severity, and Solon totally abolished them, except that one which punished a murderer with death. The popularity of Draco was uncommon, but the gratitude of his admirers proved fatal to him. When once he appeared on the theatre, he was received with repeated applauses, and the people, according to the custom of the Athenians, showed their respect to their lawgiver, by throwing garments upon him. This was done in such profusion, that Draco was soon hid under them, and smothered by the too great veneration of his citizens. Plutarch, Solon.——A man who instructed Plato in music. Plutarch, de Musica.

Dracontides, a wicked citizen of Athens. [♦]Plato [Comicus], The Sophists.

[♦] ‘Plut.’ replaced with ‘Plato’

Dracus, a general of the Achæans, conquered by Mummius.

Drances, a friend of Latinus, remarkable for his weakness and eloquence. He showed himself an obstinate opponent to the violent measures which Turnus pursued against the Trojans. Some have imagined that the poet wished to delineate the character and the eloquence of Cicero under this name. Virgil, Æneid, bk. 11, li. 122.

Drangina, a province of Persia. Diodorus, bk. 17.

Drapes, a seditious Gaul, &c. Cæsar, Gallic War, bk. 8, ch. 30.

Drapus, a river of Noricum, which falls into the Danube near Mursa.

Drĕpăna and Drĕpănum, now Trapani, a town of [♦]Sicily near mount Eryx, in the form of a scythe, whence its name (δρεπανον, falx). Anchises died there, in his voyage to Italy with his son Æneas. The Romans under Claudius Pulcher were defeated near the coast, B.C. 249, by the Carthaginian general Adherbal. Virgil, Æneid, bk. 3, li. 707.—Cicero, Against Verres, bk. 2, ch. 57.—Ovid, Fasti, bk. 4, li. 474.——A promontory of Peloponnesus.

[♦] ‘Scily’ replaced with ‘Sicily’

Drilo, a river of Macedonia, which falls into the Adriatic at Lissus.

Drimăchus, a famous robber of Chios. When a price was set upon his head, he ordered a young man to cut it off and go and receive the money. Such an uncommon instance of generosity so pleased the Chians, that they raised a temple to his memory, and honoured him as a god. Athenæus, bk. 13.

Drinus, a small river falling into the Save and Danube.

Driŏpĭdes, an Athenian ambassador sent to Darius when the peace with Alexander had been violated. Curtius, bk. 3, ch. 13.

Drios, a mountain of Arcadia.

Droi, a people of Thrace. Thucydides, bk. 2, ch. 101.

Dromæus, a surname of Apollo in Crete.

Dropĭci, a people of Persia. Herodotus, bk. 1, ch. 125.

Dropion, a king of Pæonia. Pausanias, bk. 10, ch. 13.

Druentius and Druentia, now Durance, a rapid river of Gaul, which falls into the Rhone between Arles and Avignon. Silius Italicus, bk. 3, li. 468.—Strabo, bk. 4.

Drugĕri, a people of Thrace. Pliny, bk. 4, ch. 11.

Druĭdæ, the ministers of religion among the ancient Gauls and Britons. They were divided into different classes, called the Bardi, Eubages, the Vates, the Semnothei, the Sarronides, and the Samothei. They were held in the greatest veneration by the people. Their life was austere and recluse from the world, their dress was peculiar to themselves, and they generally appeared with a tunic which reached a little below the knee. As the chief power was lodged in their hands, they punished as they pleased, and could declare war and make peace at their option. Their power was extended not only over private families, but they could depose magistrates and even kings, if their actions in any manner deviated from the laws of the state. They had the privilege of naming the magistrates which annually presided over their cities, and the kings were created only with their approbation. They were entrusted with the education of youth, and all religious ceremonies, festivals, and sacrifices were under their peculiar care. They taught the doctrine of the metempsychosis, and believed the immortality of the soul. They were professionally acquainted with the art of magic, and from their knowledge of astrology they drew omens and saw futurity revealed before their eyes. In their sacrifices they often immolated human victims to their gods, a barbarous custom which continued long among them, and which the Roman emperors attempted to abolish, to little purpose. The power and privileges which they enjoyed were beheld with admiration by their countrymen, and as their office was open to every rank and every station, there were many who daily proposed themselves as candidates to enter upon this important function. The rigour, however, and severity of a long noviciate deterred many, and few were willing to attempt a labour, which enjoined them during 15 or 20 years to load their memory with the long and tedious maxims of druidical religion. Their name is derived from the Greek word δρυς, an oak, because the woods and solitary retreats were the places of their residence. Cæsar, Gallic War, bk. 6, ch. 13.—Pliny, bk. 16, ch. 44.—Diodorus, bk. 5.

Druna, the Drome, a river of Gaul, falling into the Rhone.

Drusilla Livia, a daughter of Germanicus and Agrippina, famous for her debaucheries and licentiousness. She committed incest with her brother Caligula, who was so tenderly attached to her, that, in a dangerous illness, he made her heiress of all his possessions, and commanded that she should succeed him in the Roman empire. She died A.D. 38, in the 23rd year of her age, and was deified by her brother Caligula, who survived her for some time.——A daughter of Agrippa king of Judæa, &c.

Drūso, an unskilful historian and mean usurer, who obliged his debtors, when they could not pay him, to hear him read his compositions, to draw from them praises and flattery. Horace, bk. 1, satire 3, li. 86.

Drūsus, a son of Tiberius and Vipsania, who made himself famous by his intrepidity and courage in the provinces of Illyricum and Pannonia. He was raised to the greatest honours of the state by his father, but a blow which he gave to Sejanus, an audacious libertine, proved his ruin. Sejanus corrupted Livia the wife of Drusus, and in conjunction with her, he caused him to be poisoned by a eunuch, A.D. 23.——A son of Germanicus and Agrippina, who enjoyed offices of the greatest trust under Tiberius. His enemy Sejanus, however, effected his ruin by his insinuations; Drusus was confined by Tiberius, and deprived of all aliment. He was found dead nine days after his confinement, A.D. 33.——A son of the emperor Claudius, who died by swallowing a pear thrown in the air.——An ambitious Roman, grandfather to Cato. He was killed for his seditious conduct. Paterculus, bk. 1, ch. 13.——Livius, father of Julia Augusta, was intimate with Brutus, and killed himself with him after the battle of Philippi. Paterculus, bk. 2, ch. 71.——Marcus Livius, a celebrated Roman, who renewed the proposals of the Agrarian laws, which had proved fatal to the Gracchi. He was murdered as he entered his house, though he was attended with a number of clients and Latins, to whom he had proposed the privilege of Roman citizens, B.C. 190. Cicero, Rhetorica ad Herennium, bk. 4, [♦]ch. 22.——Nero Claudius, a son of Tiberius Nero and Livia, adopted by Augustus. He was brother to Tiberius, who was afterwards made emperor. He greatly signalized himself in his wars in Germany and Gaul against the Rhœti and Vindelici, and was honoured with a triumph. He died of a fall from his horse in the 30th year of his age, B.C. 9. He left three children, Germanicus, Livia, and Claudius, by his wife Antonia. Dionysius of Halicarnassus.——Marcus Livius Salinator, a consul who conquered Asdrubal with his colleague Claudius Nero. Horace, bk. 4, ode 4.—Virgil, Æneid, bk. 6, li. 824.——Caius, an historian, who being one day missed from his cradle, was found the next on the highest part of the house, with his face turned towards the sun.——Marcus, a pretor, &c. Cicero, Rhetorica ad Herennium, bk. 2, ch. 13.——The plebeian family of the Drusi produced eight consuls, two censors, and one dictator. The surname of Drusus was given to the family of the Livii, as some suppose, because one of them killed a Gaulish leader of that name. Virgil, Æneid, bk. 6, li. 824, mentions the Drusi among the illustrious Romans, and that perhaps more particularly because the wife of Augustus was of that family.

[♦] ‘12’ replaced with ‘22’

Dryădes, nymphs that presided over the woods. Oblations of milk, oil, and honey were offered to them, and sometimes the votaries sacrificed a goat. They were not generally considered immortal, but as genii, whose lives were terminated with the tree over which they were supposed to preside. Virgil, Georgics, bk. 1, li. 11.

Dryantiădes, a patronymic of Lycurgus king of Thrace, son of Dryas. He cut his legs as he attempted to destroy the vines that no libations might be made to Bacchus. Ovid, Ibis, li. 345.

Dryas, a son of Hippolochus, who was father to Lycurgus. He went with Eteocles to the Theban war, where he perished. Statius, Thebiad, bk. 8, li. 355.——A son of Mars, who went to the chase of the Calydonian boar. Apollodorus, bk. 1, ch. 8.——A centaur at the nuptials of Pirithous, who killed Rhœtus. Ovid, Metamorphoses, bk. 12, li. 296.——A daughter of Faunus, who so hated the sight of men, that she never appeared in public.——A son of Lycurgus, killed by his own father in a fury. Apollodorus, bk. 3, ch. 5.——A son of Ægyptus, murdered by his wife Eurydice. Apollodorus, bk. 2, ch. 1.

Drymæa, a town of Phocis. Pausanias, bk. 10, ch. 33.

Drymo, a sea-nymph, one of the attendants of Cyrene. Virgil, Georgics, bk. 4, li. 536.

Drymus, a town between Attica and Bœotia.

Dryŏpe, a woman of Lemnos, whose shape Venus assumed, to persuade all the females of the island to murder the men. Flaccus, bk. 2, li. 174.——A virgin of Œchalia, whom Andræmon married after she had been ravished by Apollo. She became mother of Amphisus, who, when scarce a year old, was with his mother changed into a lotus. Ovid, Metamorphoses, bk. 10, li. 331.——A nymph, mother of Tarquitus by Faunus. Virgil, Æneid, bk. 10, li. 551.——A nymph of Arcadia, mother of Pan by Mercury, according to Homer, Hymn 19 to Pan.

Dryŏpeia, an anniversary day observed at Asine in Argolis, in honour of Dryops the son of Apollo.

[♦]Dryŏpes, a people of Greece, near mount Œta. They afterwards passed into the Peloponnesus, where they inhabited the towns of Asine and Hermione, in Argolis. When they were driven from Asine by the people of Argos, they settled among the Messenians, and called a town by the name of their ancient habitation Asine. Some of their descendants went to make a settlement in Asia Minor, together with the Ionians. Herodotus, bk. 1, ch. 146; bk. 8, ch. 32.—Pausanias, bk. 4, ch. 34.—Strabo, bks. 7, 8, 13.—Pliny, bk. 4, ch. 1.—Virgil, Æneid, bk. 4, li. 146.—Lucan, bk. 3, li. 179.

[♦] ‘Drpŏpes’ replaced with ‘Dryŏpes’

Dryŏpis and Dryŏpĭda, a small country at the foot of mount Œta in Thessaly. Its true situation is not well ascertained. According to Pliny, it bordered on Epirus. It was for some time in the possession of the Hellenes, after they were driven from Histiæotis by the Cadmeans. Herodotus, bk. 1, ch. 56.

Dryops, a son of Priam.——A son of Apollo. Pausanias, bk. 4, ch. 34.——A friend of Æneas, killed by Clausus in Italy. Virgil, Æneid, bk. 10, li. 346.

Drypĕtis, the younger daughter of Darius, given in marriage to Hephæstion by Alexander. Diodorus, bk. 18.

Dubis, or Alduadubis, the Daux, a river of Gaul, falling into the Saone.

Dubris, a town of Britain, supposed to be Dover.

Ducetius, a Sicilian general, who died B.C. 440.

Duillia lex, was enacted by Marcus Duillius, a tribune, A.U.C. 304. It made it a capital crime to leave the Roman people without its tribunes, or to create any new magistrate without a sufficient cause. Livy, bk. 3, ch. 55.——Another, A.U.C. 392, to regulate what interest ought to be paid for money lent.

C. Duillius Nepos, a Roman consul, the first who obtained a victory over the naval power of Carthage, B.C. 260. He took 50 of the enemy’s ships, and was honoured with a naval triumph, the first that ever appeared at Rome. The senate rewarded his valour by permitting him to have music playing and torches lighted, at the public expense, every day while he was at supper. There were some medals struck in commemoration of this victory, and there still exists a column at Rome which was erected on the occasion. Cicero, de Senectute.—Tacitus, Annals, bk. 1, ch. 12.

Dulĭchium, an island of the Ionian sea, opposite the Achelous. It was part of the kingdom of Ulysses. Ovid, Tristia, bk. 1, poem 4, li. 67; Metamorphoses, bk. 14, li. 226; Remedia Amoris, li. 272.—Martial, bk. 11, ltr. 70, li. 8.—Virgil, Eclogues, poem 6, li. 76.

Dumnōrix, a powerful chief among the Ædui. Cæsar, Gallic War, bk. 1, ch. 9.

Dunax, a mountain of Thrace.

Duratius Picto, a Gaul, who remained in perpetual friendship with the Roman people. Cæsar, Gallic War, bk. 8, ch. 26.

Duris, an historian of Samos, who flourished B.C. 257. He wrote the life of Agathocles of Syracuse, a treatise on tragedy, a history of Macedonia, &c. Strabo, bk. 1.

Durius, a large river of ancient Spain, now called the Douro, which falls into the ocean, near modern Oporto in Portugal, after a course of nearly 300 miles. Silius Italicus, bk. 1, li. 234.

Durocasses, the chief residence of the Druids in Gaul, now Dreux. Cæsar. Gallic War, bk. 6, ch. 13.

Duronia, a town of the Samnites.

Dusii, some deities among the Gauls. Augustine, The City of God, bk. 15, ch. 23.

Duumvĭri, two noble patricians at Rome, first appointed by Tarquin to keep the Sibylline books, which were supposed to contain the fate of the Roman empire. These sacred books were placed in the Capitol, and secured in a chest under the ground. They were consulted but seldom, and only by an order of the senate, when the armies had been defeated in war, or when Rome seemed to be threatened by an invasion, or by secret seditions. These priests continued in their original institution, till the year A.U.C. 388, when a law was proposed by the tribunes to increase the number to 10, to be chosen promiscuously from patrician and plebeian families. They were from their number called Decemviri, and some time after Sylla increased them to 15, known by the name of Quindecemviri.——There were also certain magistrates at Rome, called Duumviri perduelliones sive capitales. They were first created by Tullus Hostilius, for trying such as were accused of treason. This office was abolished as unnecessary, but Cicero complains of their revival by Labienus the tribune. For Rabirius on a Charge of Treason.——Some of the commanders of the Roman vessels were also called Duumviri, especially when there were two together. They were first created A.U.C. 542.——There were also in the municipal towns in the provinces two magistrates called Duumviri municipales. They were chosen from the centurions, and their office was much the same as that of the two consuls at Rome. They were sometimes preceded by two lictors with the fasces. Their magistracy continued for five years, on which account they have been called Quinquennales magistratus.

Dyagondas, a Theban legislator, who abolished all nocturnal sacrifices. Cicero, de Legibus, bk. 2, ch. 15.

Dyardenses, a river in the extremities of India. Curtius, bk. 8, ch. 9.

Dy̆mæ, a town of Achaia. Livy, bk. 27, ch. 31; bk. 32, ch. 22.—Pausanias, bk. 7, ch. 17.

Dy̆mæi, a people of Ætolia. Diodorus, bk. 19.

Dy̆mas, a Trojan, who joined himself to Æneas when Troy was taken, and was at last killed by his countrymen, who took him to be an enemy because he had dressed himself in the armour of one of the Greeks whom he had slain. Virgil, Æneid, bk. 2, lis. 340 & 428.——The father of Hecuba. Ovid, Metamorphoses, bk. 11, li. 761.

Dymnus, one of Alexander’s officers. He conspired with many of his fellow-soldiers against his master’s life. The conspiracy was discovered, and Dymnus stabbed himself before he was brought before the king. Curtius, bk. 6, ch. 7.

Dȳnămĕne, one of the Nereides. Homer, Iliad, bk. 18, li. 43.

Dynaste, a daughter of Thespius. Apollodorus.

Dyras, a river of Trachinia. It rises at the foot of mount Œta, and falls into the bay of Malia. Herodotus, bk. 7, ch. 198.

Dyraspes, a river of Scythia. Ovid, ex Ponto, bk. 4, poem 10, li. 54.

Dyris, the name of mount Atlas among the inhabitants of that neighbourhood.

Dyrrhăchium, now Durazzo, a large city of Macedonia, bordering on the Adriatic sea, founded by a colony from Corcyra, B.C. 623. It was anciently called Epidammus, which the Romans, considering it of ominous meaning, changed [♦]into Dyrrhachium. Cicero met with a [♥]favourable reception there during his exile. Mela, bk. 2, ch. 3.—Pausanias, bk. 6, ch. 10.—Plutarch.—Cicero, bk. 3, Letters to Atticus, ltr. 22.

[♦] ‘intlo’ replaced with ‘into’

[♥] ‘favourabe’ replaced with ‘favourable’

Dysaules, a brother of Celeus, who instituted the mysteries of Ceres at Celeæ. Pausanias, bk. 2, ch. 14.

Dyscinētus, an Athenian archon. Pausanias, bk. 4, ch. 27.

Dysōrum, a mountain of Thrace. Herodotus, bk. 5, ch. 22.

Dyspontii, a people of Elis. Pausanias, bk. 6, ch. 22.

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