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

T

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

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

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

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

Tabor, a mountain of Palestine.

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

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

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

Tacape, a town of Africa.

Tacatua, a maritime town of Numidia.

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

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

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

Tacina, a river of the Brutii.

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

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

[♦] ‘C.’ replaced with ‘Publius’

[♠] ‘peculiarites’ replaced with ‘peculiarities’

Tader, a river of Spain, near New Carthage.

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

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

Tænias, a part of the lake Mœotis. Strabo.

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

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

Tagonius, a river of Hispania Tarraconensis.

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

Talasius. See: [♦][Thalassius].

[♦] ‘Thalasius’ replaced with ‘Thalassius’

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

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

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

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

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

Tamaris, a river of Spain.

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

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

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

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

Tampius, a Roman historian.

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

Tamyris, a queen. See: [Thomyris].

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Tapyri, a people near Hyrcania. Dionysius Periegetes.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Tarrutius. See: [Acca Laurentia].

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

Tarsius, a river of Troas. Strabo.

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

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

Tartessus, a town in Spain near the columns of Hercules, on the Mediterranean. Some suppose that it was afterwards called Carteia, and it was better known by the name of Gades, when Hercules had set up his columns on the extremity of Spain and Africa. There is also a town called Tartessus, in a small island formed by the river of the same name, near Gades in Iberia. Tartessus has been called the most distant town in the extremities of Spain, by the Romans, as also the place where the poets imagined the sun unharnessed his tired horses. Silius Italicus, bk. 3, lis. 399 & 411; bk. 10, li. 538.—Mela, bk. 2, ch. 6.—Pausanias, bk. 6, ch. 19.—Ovid, Metamorphoses, bk. 14, li. 416.—Strabo, bk. 3.

Taruana, a town of Gaul, now Terrouen in Artois.

Lucius Taruntius Spurina, a mathematician who flourished 61 years B.C. Cicero, de Divinatione, bk. 2, ch. 47.

Tarus, a river of Gaul, falling into the Po.

Tarusates, a people of Gaul, now Turcan. Cæsar, Gallic War, bk. 3, chs. 23 & 27.

Taruscum, a town of Gaul.

Tarvisium, a town of Italy, now Treviso, in the Venetian states.

Tasgretius Cornūtus, a prince of Gaul, assassinated in the age of Cæsar. Cæsar, Gallic War, bk. 5, ch. 25.

Tatian, one of the Greek fathers, A.D. 172. The best edition of his works is that of Worth, 8vo, Oxford, 1700.

Tatienses, a name given to one of the tribes of the Roman people by Romulus, in honour of Tatius king of the Sabines. The Tatienses, who were partly the ancient subjects of the king of the Sabines, lived on mounts Capitolinus and Quirinalis.

Tātius Titus, king of Cures among the Sabines, made war against the Romans after the rape of the Sabines. The gates of the city were betrayed into his hands by Tarpeia, and the army of the Sabines advanced as far as the Roman forum, where a bloody battle was fought. The cries of the Sabine virgins at last stopped the fury of the combatants, and an agreement was made between the two nations. Tatius consented to leave his ancient possessions, and with his subjects of Cures, to come and live in Rome, which, as stipulated, was permitted still to bear the name of its founder, whilst the inhabitants adopted the name of Quirites in compliment to the new citizens. After he had for six years shared the royal authority with Romulus, in the greatest union, he was murdered at Lanuvium, B.C. 742, for an act of cruelty to the ambassadors of the Laurentes. This was done by order of his royal colleague, according to some authors. Livy, bk. 1, ch. 10, &c.—Plutarch, Romulus.—Cicero, For Cornelius Balbus.—Ovid, Metamorphoses, bk. 14, li. 804.—Florus, bk. 1, ch. 1.

Tatta, a large lake of Phrygia, on the confines of Pisidia.

Tavola, a river of Corsica.

Taua, a town of the Delta in Egypt.

Taulantii, a people of Illyricum on the Adriatic. Livy, bk. 45, ch. 26.—Lucan, bk. 6, li. 16.

Taunus, a mountain in Germany, now Heyrich or Hoche, opposite Mentz. Tacitus, bk. 1, Annals, ch. 56.

Taurania, a town of Italy in the country of the Brutii.

Taurantes, a people of Armenia, between Artaxata and Tigranocerta. Tacitus, Annals, bk. 14, ch. 24.

Tauri, a people of European Sarmatia, who inhabited Taurica Chersonesus, and sacrificed all strangers to Diana. The statue of this goddess, which they believed to have fallen down from heaven, was carried away to Sparta by Iphigenia and Orestes. Strabo, bk. 12.—Herodotus, bk. 4, ch. 99, &c.—Mela, bk. 2, ch. 1.—Pausanias, bk. 3, ch. 16.—Euripides, Iphigeneia.—Ovid, ex Ponto, bk. 1, poem 2, li. 80.—Silius Italicus, bk. 14, li. 260.—Juvenal, satire 15, li. 116.

Taurĭca Chersonēsus, a large peninsula of Europe at the south-west of the Palus Mæotis, now called the Crimea. It is joined by an isthmus to Scythia, and is bounded by the Cimmerian Bosphorus, the Euxine sea, and the Palus Mœotis. The inhabitants, called Tauri, were a savage and uncivilized nation. Strabo, bk. 4.—Pliny, bk. 4, ch. 12. See: [Tauri].

Taurĭca, a surname of Diana, because she was worshipped by the inhabitants of Taurica Chersonesus.

Taurīni, the inhabitants of Taurinum, a town of Cisalpine Gaul, now called Turin, in Piedmont. Silius Italicus, bk. 3, li. 646.—Pliny, bk. 3, ch. 17.

Taurisci, a people of Mysia. Strabo, bk. 7.——Of Noricum, among the Alps. Strabo, bk. 4.

Tauriscus, a sculptor. See: [Apollonius].

Taurium, a town of the Peloponnesus. Polybius.

Taurominium, a town of Sicily, between Messana and Catana, built by the Zancleans, Sicilians, and Hybleans, in the age of Dionysius the tyrant of Syracuse. The hills in the neighbourhood were famous for the fine grapes which they produced, and they surpassed almost the whole world for the extent and beauty of their prospects. There is a small river near it called Taurominius. Diodorus, bk. 16.

Taurus, the largest mountain of Asia, as to extent. One of its extremities is in Caria, and it extends not only as far as the most eastern extremities of Asia, but it also branches in several parts, and runs far into the north. Mount Taurus was known by several names, particularly in different countries. In Cilicia, where it reaches as far as the Euphrates, it was called Taurus. It was known by the names of Amanus, from the bay of Issus as far as the Euphrates; of Antitaurus from the western boundaries of Cilicia up to Armenia; of Montes Matieni in the country of the Leucosyrians; of Mons Moschicus at the south of the river Phasis; of Amaranta at the north of the Phasis; of Caucasus between the Hyrcanian and Euxine seas; of Hyrcanii Montes, near Hyrcania; of Imaus in the more eastern parts of Asia. The word Taurus was more properly confined to the mountains which separate Phrygia and Pamphylia from Cilicia. The several passes which were opened in the mountains were called Pylæ, and hence frequent mention is made in ancient authors of the Armenian Pylæ, Cilician Pylæ, &c. Mela, bk. 1, ch. 15; bk. 3, chs. 7 & 8.—Pliny, bk. 5, ch. 27.——A mountain in Germany. Tacitus, Annals, bk. 6, ch. 41.——Of Sicily.——Titus Statilius, a consul distinguished by his intimacy with Augustus, as well as by a theatre which he built, and the triumph which he obtained after a prosperous campaign in Africa. He was made prefect of Italy by his imperial friend.——A proconsul of Africa, accused by Agripina, who wished him to be condemned, that she might become mistress of his gardens. Tacitus, Annals, bk. 12, ch. 59.——An officer of Minos king of Crete. He had an amour with Pasiphae, whence arose the fable of the Minotaur, from the son, who was born some time after. See: [Minotaurus]. Taurus was vanquished by Theseus, in the games which Minos exhibited in Crete. Plutarch, Theseus.

Taxĭla (plural), a large country in India, between the Indus and the Hydaspes. Strabo, bk. 15.

Taxĭlus, or Taxiles, a king of Taxila in the age of Alexander, called also Omphis. He submitted to the conqueror, who rewarded him with great liberality. Diodorus, bk. 17.—Plutarch, Alexander.—Ælian, Varia Historia, bk. 5, ch. 6.—Curtius, bk. 8, ch. 14.——A general of Mithridates, who assisted Archelaus against the Romans in Greece. He was afterwards conquered by Muræna the lieutenant of Sylla.

Taximaquilus, a king in the southern parts of Britain when Cæsar invaded it. Cæsar, bk. 5, Gallic War, ch. 22.

Taygēte, or Taygēta, a daughter of Atlas and Pleione, mother of Lacedæmon by Jupiter. She became one of the Pleiades after death. Hyginus, fables 155 & 192.—Pausanias, in Laconia, chs. 1 & 18.

Taygētus, or Taygēta (orum), a mountain of Laconia, in Peloponnesus, at the west of the river Eurotas. It hung over the city of Lacedæmon, and it is said that once a part of it fell down by an earthquake, and destroyed the suburbs. It was on this mountain that the Lacedæmonian women celebrated the orgies of Bacchus. Mela, bk. 2, ch. 5.—Pausanias, bk. 3, ch. 1.—Strabo, bk. 8.—Lucan, bk. 5, li. 52.—Virgil, Georgics, bk. 2, li. 488.

Teānum, a town of Campania, on the Appian road, at the east of the Liris, called Sidicinum, to be distinguished from another town of the same name at the west of Apulia, at a small distance from the coast of the Adriatic. The rights of citizenship were extended to it under Augustus. Cicero, For Aulus Cluentius, chs. 9 & 69. Philostratus, bk. 12, ch. 11.—Horace, bk. 1, ltr. 1.—Pliny, bk. 31, ch. 2.—Livy, bk. 22, ch. 27.

Tearus, a river of Thrace, rising in the same rock from 38 different sources, some of which are hot, and others cold. Darius raised a column there when he marched against the Scythians, as if to denote the sweetness and salubrity of the waters of that river. Herodotus, bks. 4, 5, 90, &c.—Pliny, bk. 4, ch. 11.

Teātea, Teate, or Tegeate, a town of Latium. Silius Italicus, bk. 8, li. 522; bk. 17, li. 457.

Teches, a mountain of Pontus, from which the 10,000 Greeks had first a view of the sea. Xenophon, Anabasis, bk. 4.

Techmessa, the daughter of a Phrygian prince, called by some Teuthras, and by others Teleutas. When her father was killed in war by Ajax son of Telamon, the young princess became the property of the conqueror, and by him she had a son called Eurysaces. Sophocles, in one of his tragedies, represents Techmessa as moving her husband to pity by her tears and entreaties, when he wished to stab himself. Horace, bk. 2, ode 1, li. 6.—Dictys Cretensis.—Sophocles, Ajax.

Tecmon, a town of Epirus. Livy, bk. 45, ch. 26.

Tecnatis, a king of Egypt.

Tectămus, a son of Dorus, grandson of Hellen the son of Deucalion, went to Crete with the Ætolians and Pelasgians, and reigned there. He had a son called Asterius by the daughter of Cretheus.

Tectosăges, or Tectosăgæ, a people of Gallia Narbonensis, whose capital was the modern Toulouse. They received the name of Tectosagæ quod sagis tegerentur. Some of them passed into Germany, where they settled near the Hercynian forest, and another colony passed into Asia, where they conquered Phrygia, Paphlagonia, and Cappadocia. The Tectosagæ were among those Gauls who pillaged Rome under Brennus, and who attempted some time after to plunder the temple of Apollo at Delphi. At their return home from Greece they were visited by a pestilence, and ordered, to stop it, to throw into the river all the riches and plunder which they had obtained in their distant excursions. Cæsar, Gallic War, bk. 6, ch. 23.—Strabo, bk. 4.—Cicero, de Natura Deorum, bk. 3.—Livy, bk. 38, ch. 16.—Florus, bk. 2, ch. 11.—Justin, bk. 32.

Tecum, a river of Gaul falling from the Pyrenees into the Mediterranean.

Tedanius, a river of Liburnia. Pliny, bk. 3, ch. 21.

Tĕgēa, or Tegæa, now Moklai, a town of Arcadia in the Peloponnesus, founded by Tegeates, a son of Lycaon, or, according to others, by Aleus. The gigantic bones of Orestes were found buried there and removed to Sparta. Apollo and Pan were worshipped there, and there also Ceres, Proserpine, and Venus had each a temple. The inhabitants were called Tegeates; and the epithet Tegæa is given to Atalanta, as a native of the place. Ovid, Metamorphoses, bk. 8, fable 7; Fasti, bk. 6, li. 531.—Virgil, Æneid, bk. 5, li. 293.—Strabo, bk. 8.—Pausanias, bk. 8, ch. 45, &c.

Tegula Publius Licinius, a comic poet who flourished B.C. 198.

Tegyra, a town of Bœotia where Apollo Tegyrœus was worshipped. There was a battle fought there between the Thebans and the Peloponnesians.

Teios. See: [Teos].

Teium, a town of Paphlagonia on the Euxine sea.

Tela, a town of Spain.

Tĕlămon, a king of the island of Salamis, son of Æacus and Endeis. He was brother to Peleus, and father to Teucer and to Ajax, who on that account is often called Telamonius heros. He fled from Megara, his native country, after he had accidentally murdered his brother Phocus in playing with the quoit, and he sailed to the island of Salamis, where he soon after married Glauce, the daughter of Cychreus the king of the place. At the death of his father-in-law, who had no male issue, Telamon became king of Salamis. He accompanied Jason in his expedition to Colchis, and was arm-bearer to Hercules, when that hero took Laomedon prisoner, and destroyed Troy. Telamon was rewarded by Hercules for his services with the hand of Hesione, whom the conqueror had obtained among the spoils of Troy, and with her he returned to Greece. He also married Peribœa, whom some call Eribœa. Ovid, Metamorphoses, bk. 13, li. 151.—Sophocles, Ajax.—Pindar, Isthmean, ch. 6.—Statius, Thebaid, bk. 6.—Apollodorus, bks. 1, 2, &c.—Pausanias, Corinthia.—Hyginus, fable 97, &c.——A seaport town of Etruria. Mela, bk. 2, ch. 4.

Telamoniădes, a patronymic given to the descendants of Telamon.

Telchīnes, a people of Rhodes, said to have been originally from Crete. They were the inventors of many useful arts, and, according to Diodorus, passed for the sons of the sea. They were the first who raised statues to the gods. They had the power of changing themselves into whatever shape they pleased, and, according to Ovid, they could poison and fascinate all objects with their eyes, and cause rain and hail to fall at pleasure. The Telchinians insulted Venus, for which the goddess inspired them with a sudden fury, so that they committed the grossest crimes, and offered violence even to their own mothers. Jupiter destroyed them all by a deluge. Diodorus.—Ovid, Metamorphoses, bk. 7, li. 365, &c.

Telchīnia, a surname of Minerva at Teumessa in Bœotia, where she had a temple. Pausanias, bk. 9, ch. 19.——Also a surname of Juno in Rhodes, where she had a statue at Ialysus raised by the Telchinians, who settled there.——Also an ancient name of Crete, as the place from whence the Telchines of Rhodes were descended. Statius, bk. 6, Sylvæ, poem 6, li. 47.

Telchīnius, a surname of Apollo among the Rhodians. Diodorus, bk. 5.

Telchis, a son of Europs the son of Ægialeus. He was one of the first kings of the Peloponnesus.

Telea, a surname of Juno in Bœotia.

Teleboæ, or Teleboes, a people of Ætolia, called also Taphians; some of whom left their native country, and settled in the island of Capreæ. Virgil, Æneid, bk. 7, li. 715. See: [Taphiæ].

Teleboas, a son of Ixion and the cloud. Ovid, Metamorphoses, bk. 11.——A son of Lycaon. Apollodorus.

Teleboides, islands opposite Leucadia. Pliny, bk. 4, ch. 12.

Telĕcles, or Telĕclus, a Lacedæmonian king of the family of the Agidæ, who reigned 40 years, B.C. 813. Herodotus, bk. 7, ch. 205.—Pausanias, bk. 3, ch. 2.——A philosopher, disciple of Lacidas, B.C. 214.——A Milesian.

Teleclīdes, an Athenian comic poet in the age of Pericles, one of whose plays, called the Amphictyon, is mentioned by ancient authors. Plutarch, Nicias.—Athenæus.

Tēlĕgŏnus, a son of Ulysses and Circe, born in the island of Ææa, where he was educated. When arrived to the years of manhood, he went to Ithaca to make himself known to his father, but he was shipwrecked on the coast, and, being destitute of provisions, he plundered some of the inhabitants of the island. Ulysses and Telemachus came to defend the property of their subjects against this unknown invader; a quarrel arose, and Telegonus killed his father without knowing who he was. He afterwards returned to his native country, and, according to Hyginus, he carried thither his father’s body, where it was buried. Telemachus and Penelope also accompanied him in his return, and soon after the nuptials of Telegonus and Penelope were celebrated by order of Minerva. Penelope had by Telegonus a son called Italus, who gave his name to Italy. Telegonus founded Tusculum and Tibur or Præneste, in Italy, and, according to some, he left one daughter called Mamilia, from whom the patrician family of the Mamilii at Rome were descended. Horace, bk. 3, ode 29, li. 8.—Ovid, Fasti, bks. 3 & 4. Tristia, bk. 1, poem 1.—Plutarch, Parallela minora.—Hyginus, fable 12.—Diodorus, bk. 7.——A son of Proteus, killed by Hercules. Apollodorus.——A king of Egypt, who married Io after she had been restored to her original form by Jupiter. Apollodorus.

Tēlĕmăchus, a son of Ulysses and Penelope. He was still in the cradle when his father went with the rest of the Greeks to the Trojan war. At the end of this celebrated war, Telemachus, anxious to see his father, went to seek him, and as the place of his residence, and the cause of his long absence, were then unknown, he visited the court of Menelaus and Nestor to obtain information. He afterwards returned to Ithaca, where the suitors of his mother Penelope had conspired to murder him; but he avoided their snares, and by means of Minerva, he discovered his father, who had arrived in the island two days before him, and was then in the house of Eumæus. With this faithful servant and Ulysses, Telemachus concerted how to deliver his mother from the importunities of her suitors, and it was effected with success. After the death of his father, Telemachus went to the island of Ææa, where he married Circe, or, according to others, Cassiphone the daughter of Circe, by whom he had a son called Latinus. He some time after had the misfortune to kill his mother-in-law Circe, and fled to Italy, where he founded Clusium. Telemachus was accompanied in his visit to Nestor and Menelaus by the goddess of wisdom, under the form of Mentor. It is said that, when a child, Telemachus fell into the sea, and that a dolphin brought him safe to shore, after he had remained some time under water. From this circumstance Ulysses had the figure of a dolphin engraved on the seal which he wore on his ring. Hyginus, fables 95 & 125.—Ovid, Heroides, poem 1, li. 98.—Horace, bk. 1, ltr. 7, li. 41.—Homer, Odyssey, bk. 2, &c.—Lycophron, Alexandra.

Telĕmus, a Cyclops who was acquainted with futurity. He foretold to Polyphemus all the evils which he some time after suffered from Ulysses. Ovid, Metamorphoses, bk. 13, li. 771.

Telephassa, the mother of Cadmus, Phœnix, and Cilix by Agenor. She died in Thrace, as she was seeking her daughter Europa, whom Jupiter had carried away. Apollodorus, bk. 3, chs. 1 & 4.

Tĕlĕphus, a king of Mysia, son of Hercules and Auge the daughter of Aleus. He was exposed as soon as born on mount Parthenius, but his life was preserved by a goat, and by some shepherds. According to Apollodorus, he was exposed, not on a mountain, but in the temple of Minerva, at Tegea, or, according to a tradition mentioned by Pausanias, he was left to the mercy of the waves with his mother, by the cruelty of Aleus, and carried by the winds to the mouth of the Caycus, where he was found by Teuthras the king of the country, who married, or rather adopted as his daughter, Auge, and educated her son. Some, however, suppose that Auge fled to Teuthras to avoid the anger of her father, on account of her amour with Hercules. Yet others declare that Aleus gave her to Nauplius to be [♦]severely punished for her incontinence, and that Nauplius, unwilling to injure her, sent her to Teuthras king of Bithynia, by whom she was adopted. Telephus, according to the more received opinions, was ignorant of his origin, and he was ordered by the oracle, if he wished to know his parents, to go to Mysia. Obedient to this injunction, he came to Mysia, where Teuthras offered him his crown, and his adopted daughter Auge in marriage, if he would deliver his country from the hostilities of Idas the son of Aphareus. Telephus readily complied, and at the head of the Mysians, he soon routed the enemy, and received the promised reward. As he was going to unite himself to Auge, the sudden appearance of an enormous serpent separated the two lovers; Auge implored the assistance of Hercules, and was soon informed by the god that Telephus was her own son. When this was known, the nuptials were not celebrated, and Telephus some time after married one of the daughters of king Priam. As one of the sons of the Trojan monarch, Telephus prepared to assist Priam against the Greeks, and with heroic valour he attacked them when they had landed on his coast. The carnage was great, and Telephus was victorious, had not Bacchus, who protected the Greeks, suddenly raised a vine from the earth, which entangled the feet of the monarch, and laid him flat on the ground. Achilles immediately rushed upon him, and wounded him so severely, that he was carried away from the battle. The wound was mortal, but Telephus was informed by the oracle, that he alone who had inflicted it could totally cure it. Upon this, applications were made to Achilles, but in vain; the hero observed that he was no physician, till Ulysses, who knew that Troy could not be taken without the assistance of one of the sons of Hercules, and who wished to make Telephus the friend of the Greeks, persuaded Achilles to obey the directions of the oracle. Achilles consented, and as the weapon which had given the wound could alone cure it, the hero scraped the rust from the point of his spear, and, by applying it to the sore, gave it immediate relief. It is said that Telephus showed himself so grateful to the Greeks, that he accompanied them to the Trojan war, and fought with them against his father-in-law. Hyginus, fable 101.—Pausanias, bk. 8, ch. 48.—Apollodorus, bk. 2, ch. 7, &c.—Ælian, Varia Historia, bk. 12, ch. 42.—Diodorus, bk. 4.—Ovid, Fasti, bk. 1, poem 1, &c.—Philostratus, Heroicus.—Pliny.——A friend of Horace, remarkable for his beauty and the elegance of his person. He was the favourite of Lydia the mistress of Horace, &c. Horace, bk. 1, ode 12; bk. 4, ode 11, li. 21.——A slave who conspired against Augustus. Suetonius, Augustus.——Lucius Verus, wrote a book on the rhetoric of Homer, as also a comparison of that poet with Plato, and other treatises, all lost.

[♦] ‘sevevely’ replaced with ‘severely’

Telesia, a town of Campania, taken by Annibal. Livy, bk. 21, ch. 13; bk. 24, ch. 20.

Telesĭcles, a Parian, father to the poet Archilochus by a slave called Enippo. Ælian, Varia Historia, bk. 10, ch. 13.

Telesilla, a lyric poetess of Argos, who bravely defended her country against the Lacedæmonians, and obliged them to raise the siege. A statue was raised to her honour in the temple of Venus. Pausanias, bk. 2, ch. 20.

Telesinicus, a Corinthian auxiliary at Syracuse, &c. Polyænus, bk. 5.

Telesīnus, a general of the Samnites, who joined the interest of Marius, and fought against the generals of Sylla. He marched towards Rome and defeated Sylla with great loss. He was afterwards routed in a bloody battle, and left in the number of the slain, after he had given repeated proofs of valour and courage. Plutarch, Sulla, &c.——A poet of considerable merit in Domitian’s reign. Juvenal, satire 7, li. 25.

Telesippus, a poor man of Pheræ, father to the tyrant Dinias. Polyænus, bk. 2.

Telestagŏras, a man of Naxos, whose daughters were ravished by some of the nobles of the island, in consequence of which they were expelled by the direction of Lygdamis, &c. Athenæus, bk. 8.

Telestas, a son of Priam. Apollodorus, bk. 3, ch. 12.——An athlete of Messenia. Pausanias, bk. 6, ch. 14.——A king of Corinth, who died 779 B.C.

Telestes, a dithyrambic poet, who flourished B.C. 402.

Telesto, one of the Oceanides. Hesiod, Theogony.

Telethes, a mountain in Eubœa.

Telethūsa, the wife of Lygdus or Lyctus, a native of Crete. She became mother of a daughter, who was afterwards changed into a boy. See: [Iphis]. Ovid, Metamorphoses, bk. 9, li. 681.

Teleurias, a prince of Macedonia, &c. Xenophon.

Teleutias, the brother of Agesilaus, who was killed by the Olynthians, &c.

Teleute, a surname of Venus among the Egyptians. Plutarch, de Iside et Osiride.

Tellenæ, a town of Latium, now destroyed. Livy, bk. 1, ch. 33.

Telles, a king of Achaia, son of Tisamenes. Pausanias, bk. 7, ch. 6.

Tellias, a famous soothsayer of Elis, in the age of Xerxes. He was greatly honoured in Phocis, where he had settled, and the inhabitants raised him a statue in the temple of Apollo, at Delphi. Pausanias, bk. 10, ch. 1.—Herodotus, bk. 8, ch. 27.

Tellis, a Greek lyric poet, the father of Brasidas.

Tellus, a divinity, the same as the earth, the most ancient of all the gods after Chaos. She was mother by Cœlus of Oceanus, Hyperion, Ceus, Rhea, Japetus, Themis, Saturn, Phœbe, Tethys, &c. Tellus is the same as the divinity who is honoured under the several names of Cybele, Rhea, Vesta, Ceres, Tithea, Bona Dea, Proserpine, &c. She was generally represented in the character of Tellus, as a woman with many breasts, distended with milk, to express the fecundity of the earth. She also appeared crowned with turrets, holding a sceptre in one hand and a key in the other; while at her feet was lying a tame lion without chains, as if to intimate that every part of the earth can be made fruitful by means of cultivation. Hesiod, Theogony, li. 130.—Virgil, Æneid, bk. 7, li. 137.—Apollodorus, bk. 1, ch. 1.——A poor man, whom Solon called happier than Crœsus the rich and ambitious king of Lydia. Tellus had the happiness to see a strong and healthy family of children, and at last to fall in the defence of his country. Herodotus, bk. 1, ch. 30.——An Italian who is said to have had commerce with his mares, and to have had a daughter called Hippone, who became the goddess of horses.

Telmessus, or Telmissus, a town of Caria, whose inhabitants were skilled in augury and the interpretation of dreams. Cicero, de Divinatione, bk. 1.—Strabo, bk. 14.—Livy, bk. 37, ch. 16.——Another in Lycia.——A third in Pisidia.

Telo Martius, a town at the south of Gaul, now Toulon.

Telon, a skilful pilot of Massilia, killed during the siege of that city by Cæsar. Lucan, bk. 3, li. 592.——A king of the Teleboæ, who married Sebethis, by whom he had Œbalus. Virgil, Æneid, bk. 7, li. 734.

Telos, a small island near Rhodes.

Telphūsa, a nymph of Arcadia, daughter of the Ladon who gave her name to a town and fountain of that place. The waters of the fountain Telphusa were so cold, that Tiresias died by drinking them. Diodorus, bk. 4.—Strabo, bk. 9.—Lycophron, li. 1040.

Telxiŏpe, one of the muses according to Cicero, de Natura Deorum, bk. 3, ch. 21.

Telys, a tyrant of Sybaris.

Temathea, a mountain of Messenia. Pausanias, bk. 4, ch. 34.

Temēnium, a place in Messene, where Temenus was buried.

Temĕnītes, a surname of Apollo, which he received at Temenos, a small place near Syracuse, where he was worshipped. Cicero, Against Verres.

Temĕnos, a place of Syracuse, where Apollo, called Temenites, had a statue. Cicero, Against Verres, bk. 4, ch. 53.—Suetonius, Tiberius, ch. 74.

Temĕnus, the son of Aristomachus, was the first of the Heraclidæ, who returned to Peloponnesus with his brother Ctesiphontes, and in the reign of Tisamenes king of Argos. Temenus made himself master of the throne of Argos, from which he expelled the reigning sovereign. After death he was succeeded by his son-in-law Deiphon, who had married his daughter Hyrnetho, and this succession was in preference to his own son. Apollodorus, bk. 2, ch. 7.—Pausanias, bk. 2, chs. 18 & 19.——A son of Pelasgus, who was entrusted with the care of Juno’s infancy. Pausanias, bk. 8, ch. 22.

Temerinda, the name of the Paulus Mæotis among the natives.

Temĕsa, a town of Cyprus.——Another in Calabria in Italy, famous for its mines of copper, which were exhausted in the age of Strabo. Cicero, Against Verres, bk. 5, ch. 15.—Livy, bk. 34, ch. 35.—Homer, Odyssey, bk. 1, li. 184.—Ovid, Fasti, bk. 5, li. 441; Metamorphoses, bk. 7, li. 207.—Mela, bk. 2, ch. 4.—Strabo, bk. 6.

Temnes, a king of Sidon.

Temnos, a town of Æolia, at the mouth of the Hermus. Herodotus, bk. 1, ch. 49.—Cicero, Flaccus, ch. 18.

Tempe (plural), a valley in Thessaly, between mount Olympus at the north and Ossa at the south, through which the river Peneus flows into the Ægean. The poets have described it as the most delightful spot on the earth, with continually cool shades and verdant walks, which the warbling of birds rendered more pleasant and romantic, and which the gods often honoured with their presence. Tempe extended about five miles in length, but varied in the dimensions of its breadth so as to be in some places scarce one acre and a half wide. All valleys that are pleasant, either for their situation or the mildness of their climate, are called Tempe by the poets. Strabo, bk. 9.—Mela, bk. 2, ch. 3.—Diodorus, bk. 4.—Dionysius Periegetes, li. 219.—Ælian, Varia Historia, bk. 3, ch. 1.—Plutarch, de Musica.—Virgil, Georgics, bk. 2, li. 469.—Ovid, Metamorphoses, bk. 1, li. 569.

Tenchtheri, a nation of Germany, who frequently changed the place of their habitation. Tacitus, Annals, bk. 13, ch. 56; Histories, bk. 4, ch. 21.

Tendera, a town of Caria. Livy, bk. 33, ch. 18.

Tenea, a part of Corinth. Mela, bk. 2, ch. 3.

Tenĕdia securis. See: [Tenes].

Tĕnĕdos, a small and fertile island of the Ægean sea, opposite Troy, at the distance of about 12 miles from Sigæum, and 56 miles north from Lesbos. It was anciently called Leucophrys, till Tenes the son of Cycnus settled there and built a town, which he called Tenedos, from which the whole island received its name. It became famous during the Trojan war, as it was there that the Greeks concealed themselves, the more effectually to make the Trojans believe that they were returned home without finishing the siege. Homer, Odyssey, bk. 3, li. 59.—Diodorus, bk. 5.—Strabo, bk. 13.—Virgil, Æneid, bk. 2, li. 21.—Ovid, Metamorphoses, bk. 1, li. 540; bk. 12, li. 109.—Mela, bk. 2, ch. 7.

Tenĕrus, son of Apollo and Melia, received from his father the knowledge of futurity. Pausanias, bk. 9, ch. 10.

Tenes, a son of [♦]Cycnus and Proclea. He was exposed on the sea, on the coast of Troas, by his father, who credulously believed his wife Philonome, who had fallen in love with Cycnus, and accused him of attempts upon her virtue, when he refused to gratify her passion. Tenes arrived in Leucophrys, which he called Tenedos, and of which he became the sovereign. Some time after [♦]Cycnus discovered the guilt of his wife Philonome, and as he wished to be reconciled to his son whom he had so grossly injured, he went to Tenedos. But when he had tied his ship to the shore, Tenes cut off the cable with a hatchet, and suffered his father’s ship to be tossed about in the sea. From this circumstance the hatchet of Tenes is become proverbial to intimate a resentment that cannot be pacified. Some, however, suppose that the proverb arose from the severity of a law made by a king of Tenedos against adultery, by which the guilty were both put to death by a hatchet. The hatchet of Tenes was carefully preserved at Tenedos, and afterwards deposited by Periclytus son of Eutymachus, in the temple of Delphi, where it was still seen in the age of Pausanias. Tenes, as some suppose, was killed by Achilles, as he defended his country against the Greeks, and he received divine honours after death. His statue at Tenedos was carried away by Verres. Strabo, bk. 13.—Pausanias, bk. 10, ch. 14.——A general of 4000 mercenary Greeks sent by the Egyptians to assist the Phœnicians. Diodorus, bk. 16.

[♦] ‘Cyncus’ replaced with ‘Cycnus’

Tĕnĕsis, a part of Æthiopia. Strabo.

Tennes, a king of Sidon, who, when his country was besieged by the Persians, burnt himself and the city together, B.C. 351.

Tennum, a town of Æolia.

Tenos, a small island in the Ægean, near Andros, called Ophiussa, and also Hydrussa, from the number of its fountains. It was very mountainous, but it produced excellent wines, universally esteemed by the ancients. Tenos was about 15 miles in extent. The capital was also called Tenos.—Strabo, bk. 10.—Mela, bk. 2, ch. 7.—Ovid, Metamorphoses, bk. 7, li. 469.

Tenty̆ra (plural) and Tentyris, a small town of Egypt, on the Nile, whose inhabitants were at enmity with the crocodiles, and made war against those who paid them adoration. Seneca, Quæstiones Naturales, bk. 4, ch. 2.—Strabo, bk. 17.—Juvenal, satire 15.—Pliny, bk. 25, ch. 8.

Tenty̆ra (melius Tempyra), a place of Thrace, opposite Samothrace. Ovid, Tristia, bk. 1, poem 9, li. 21.

Teos, or Teios, now Sigagik, a maritime town on the coast of Ionia in Asia Minor, opposite Samos. It was one of the 12 cities of the Ionian confederacy, and gave birth to Anacreon and Hecatæus, who is by some deemed a native of Miletus. According to Pliny, Teos was an island. Augustus repaired Teos, whence he is often called the founder of it on ancient medals. Strabo, bk. 14.—Mela, bk. 1, ch. 17.—Pausanias, bk. 7, ch. 3.—Ælian, Varia Historia, bk. 8, ch. 5.—Horace, bk. 1, ode 17, li. 18.—Pliny, bk. 5, ch. 31.

Terēdon, a town on the Arabian gulf. Dionysius Periegeta, li. 982.

Terentia, the wife of Cicero. She became mother of Marcus Cicero, and of a daughter called Tulliola. Cicero repudiated her because she had been faithless to his bed, when he was banished in Asia. Terentia married Sallust, Cicero’s enemy, and afterwards Messala Corvinus. She lived to her 103rd, or, according to Pliny, to her 117th year. Plutarch, Cicero.—Valerius Maximus, bk. 8, ch. 13.—Cicero, Letters to Atticus, bk. 11, ltr. 16, &c.——The wife of Scipio Africanus.——The wife of Mecænas, with whom it was said that Augustus carried on an intrigue.

Terentia lex, called also Cassia, frumentaria, by Marcus Terentius Varro Lucullus and Caius Cassius, A.U.C. 680. It ordered that the same price should be given for all corn bought in the provinces, to hinder the exactions of the questors.——Another, by Terentius the tribune, A.U.C. 291, to elect five persons to define the power of the consuls, lest they should abuse the public confidence, by violence or rapine.

Terentiānus, a Roman to whom Longinus dedicated his treatise on the sublime.——Maurus, a writer who flourished A.D. 240. The last edition of his treatise de literis, syllabis, et metris Horatii, is by Mycillus, Frankfurt, 8vo, 1584. Martial, bk. 1, ltr. 70.

Terentius Publius, a native of Carthage in Africa, celebrated for the comedies which he wrote. He was sold as a slave to Terentius Lucanus, a Roman senator, who educated him with great care, and manumitted him for the brilliancy of his genius. He bore the name of his master and benefactor, and was called Terentius. He applied himself to the study of Greek comedy with uncommon assiduity, and merited the friendship and patronage of the learned and powerful. Scipio the elder Africanus, and his friend Lælius, have been suspected, on account of their intimacy, of assisting the poet in the composition of his comedies; and the fine language, the pure expressions, and delicate sentiments with which the plays of Terence abound, seem, perhaps, to favour the supposition. Terence was in the 25th year of his age when his first play appeared on the Roman stage. All his compositions were received with great applause, but when the words

Homo sum, humani nil a me alienum puto,

were repeated, the plaudits were reiterated, and the audience, though composed of foreigners, conquered nations, allies, and citizens of Rome, were unanimous in applauding the poet, who spoke with such elegance and simplicity the language of nature, and supported the native independence of man. The talents of Terence were employed rather in translation than in the effusions of originality. It is said that he translated 108 of the comedies of the poet Menander, six of which only are extant, his Andria, Eunuch, Heautontimorumenos, Adelphi, Phormio, and Hecyra. Terence is admired for the purity of his language, and the artless elegance and simplicity of his diction, and for a continual delicacy of sentiment. There is more originality in Plautus, more vivacity in the intrigues, and more surprise in the catastrophes of his plays; but Terence will ever be admired for his taste, his expressions, and his faithful pictures of nature and manners, and the becoming dignity of his several characters. Quintilian, who candidly acknowledges the deficiencies of the Roman comedy, declares that Terence was the most elegant and refined of all the comedians whose writings appeared on the stage. The time and the manner of his death are unknown. He left Rome in the 35th year of his age, and never after appeared there. Some suppose that he was drowned in a storm as he returned from Greece, about 159 years before Christ, though others imagine he died in Arcadia or Leucadia, and that his death was accelerated by the loss of his property, and particularly of his plays which perished in a shipwreck. The best editions of Terence are those of Westerhovius, 2 vols., 4to, Amsterdam, 1726; of Edinburgh, 12mo, 1758; of Cambridge, 4to, 1723; Hawkey’s, 12mo, Dublin, 1745; and that of Zeunius, 8vo, Lipscomb, 1774. Cicero, Letters to Atticus, bk. 7, ltr. 3.—Paterculus, bk. 1, ch. 17.—Quintilian, bk. 10, ch. 1.—Horace, bk. 2, ltr. 1, li. 59.——Culeo, a Roman senator, taken by the Carthaginians, and redeemed by Africanus. When Africanus triumphed, Culeo followed his chariot with a pileus on his head. He was some time after appointed judge between his deliverer and the people of Asia, and had the meanness to condemn him and his brother Asiaticus, though both innocent. Livy, bk. 30, ch. 45.——A tribune who wished the number of the citizens of Rome to be increased.——Evocatus, a man who, as it was supposed, murdered Galba. Tacitus, Histories, bk. 1, ch. 41.——Lentinus, a Roman knight condemned for perjury.——Varro, a writer. See: [Varro].——A consul with Æmilius Paulus at the battle of Cannæ. He was the son of a butcher, and had followed for some time the profession of his father. He placed himself totally in the power of Hannibal, by making an improper disposition of his army. After he had been defeated, and his colleague slain, he retired to Canusium, with the remains of his slaughtered countrymen, and sent word to the Roman senate of his defeat. He received the thanks of this venerable body, because he had engaged the enemy, however improperly, and not despaired of the affairs of the republic. He was offered the dictatorship, which he declined. Plutarch.—Livy, bk. 22, &c.——An ambassador sent to Philip king of Macedonia.——Massaliora, an edile of the people, &c.——Marcus, a friend of Sejanus, accused before the senate for his intimacy with that discarded favourite. He made a noble defence, and was acquitted. Tacitus, Annals, bk. 6.

Terentus, a place in the Campus Martius near the capitol, where the infernal deities had an altar. Ovid, Fasti, bk. 1, li. 504.

Tēreus, a king of Thrace, son of Mars and Bistonis. He married Progne the daughter of Pandion king of Athens, whom he had assisted in a war against Megara. He offered violence to his sister-in-law Philomela, whom he conducted to Thrace by desire of Progne. See: [Philomela] and [Progne].——A friend of Æneas, killed by Camilla. Virgil, Æneid, bk. 11, li. 675.

Tergeste and Tergestum, now Trieste, a town of Italy on the Adriatic sea, made a Roman colony. Mela, bk. 2, ch. 3, &c.—Dionysius Periegetes, li. 380.—Paterculus, bk. 2, ch. 110.—Pliny, bk. 3, ch. 18.

Terias, a river of Sicily near Catana.

Teribazus, a nobleman of Persia, sent with a fleet against Evagoras king of Cyprus. He was accused of treason, and removed from office, &c. Polyænus, bk. 7.

Teridae, a concubine of Menelaus.

Teridates, a favourite eunuch at the court of Artaxerxes. At his death the monarch was in tears for three days, and was consoled at last only by the arts and the persuasion of Aspasia, one of his favourites. Ælian, Varia Historia, bk. 12, ch. 1.

Terigum, a town of Macedonia.

Terina, a town of the Brutii.

Terioli, now Tirol, a fortified town at the north of Italy, in the country of the Grisons.

Termentia, or Termes, a town of Hispania Tarraconensis.

Termera, a town of Caria.

Termĕrus, a robber of Peloponnesus, who killed people by crushing their head against his own. He was slain by Hercules in the same manner. Plutarch, Theseus.

Termesus, a river of Arcadia.

Termilæ, a name given to the Lycians.

Terminalia, annual festivals at Rome, observed in honour of the god Terminus, in the month of February. It was then usual for peasants to assemble near the principal landmarks which separated their fields, [♦]and after they had crowned them with garlands and flowers, to make libations of milk and wine, and to sacrifice a lamb or a young pig. They were originally established by Numa, and though at first it was forbidden to shed the blood of victims, yet in process of time landmarks were plentifully sprinkled with it. Ovid, Fasti, bk. 2, li. 641.—Cicero, Philippics, bk. 12, ch. 10.

[♦] ‘aad’ replaced with ‘and’

Terminālis, a surname of Jupiter, because he presided over the boundaries and lands of individuals, before the worship of the god Terminus was introduced. Dionysius of Halicarnassus, bk. 2.

Termĭnus, a divinity at Rome who was supposed to preside over bounds and limits, and to punish all unlawful usurpation of land. His worship was first introduced at Rome by Numa, who persuaded his subjects that the limits of their lands and estates were under the immediate inspection of heaven. His temple was on the Tarpeian rock, and he was represented with a human head without feet or arms, to intimate that he never moved, wherever he was placed. The people of the country assembled once a year with their families, and crowned with garlands and flowers the stones which [♦]separated their different possessions, and offered victims to the god who presided over their boundaries. It is said that when Tarquin the Proud wished to build a temple on the Tarpeian rock to Jupiter, the god Terminus refused to give way, though the other gods resigned their seats with cheerfulness; whence Ovid has said,

Restitit, et mango cum Jove templa tenet.

Dionysius of Halicarnassus, bk. 2.—Ovid, Fasti, bk. 2, li. 641.—Plutarch, Numa.—Livy, bk. 5.—Virgil, Æneid, bk. 9.

[♦] ‘separted’ replaced with ‘separated’

Termissus, or Termessus, a town of Pisidia.

Terpander, a lyric poet and musician of Lesbos, 675 B.C. It is said that he appeased a tumult at Sparta by the melody and sweetness of his notes. He added three strings to the lyre, which before his time had only four. Ælian, Varia Historia, bk. 12, ch. 50.—Plutarch, de Musica.

Terpsĭchŏre, one of the muses, daughter of Jupiter and Mnemosyne. She presided over dancing, of which she was reckoned the inventress, as her name intimates, and with which she delighted her sisters. She is represented like a young virgin crowned with laurel, and holding in her hand a musical instrument. Juvenal, satire 7, li. 35.—Apollodorus, bk. 1.—Eustathius, ad Iliadem, bk. 10.

Terpsicrăte, a daughter of Thespius. Apollodorus, bk. 2, ch. 7.

Terra, one of the most ancient deities in mythology, wife of Uranus, and mother of Oceanus, the Titans, Cyclops, Giants, Thea, Rhea, Themis, Phœbe, [♦]Tethys, and Mnemosyne. By the Air she had Grief, Mourning, Oblivion, Vengeance, &c. According to Hyginus, she is the same as Tellus. See: [Tellus].

[♦] ‘Thetys’ replaced with ‘Tethys’

Terracīna. See: [Tarricina].

Terrasidius, a Roman knight in Cæsar’s army in Gaul. Cæsar, Gallic War, bk. 3, chs. 7 & 8.

Terror, an emotion of the mind which the ancients have made a deity, and one of the attendants of the god Mars, and of Bellona.

Tertia, a sister of Clodius the tribune, &c.——A daughter of Paulus the conqueror of Perseus. Cicero, De Divinatione, bk. 1, ch. 46.——A daughter of Isidorus. Cicero, Against Verres, bk. 3, ch. 34.——A sister of Brutus, who married Cassius. She was also called Tertulla and Junia. Tacitus, Annals, bk. 3, ch. 76.—Suetonius, Cæsar, ch. 50.—Cicero, Letters to Brutus, ltrs. 5 & 6; Letters to Atticus, bk. 15, ltr. 11; bk. 16, ltr. 20.

Tertius Julianus, a lieutenant in Cæsar’s legions.

Tertulliānus Quintus Septimius Florens, a celebrated christian writer of Carthage, who flourished A.D. 196. He was originally a pagan, but afterwards embraced christianity, of which he became an able advocate by his writings, which showed that he was possessed of a lively imagination, impetuous eloquence, elevated style, and strength of reasoning. The most famous and esteemed of his numerous works, are his Apology for the Christians, and his Prescriptions. The best edition of Tertullian is that of Semlerus, 4 vols., 8vo, Halle, 1770; and of his Apology, that of Havercamp, 8vo, Leiden, 1718.

Tethys, the greatest of the sea deities, was wife of Oceanus, and daughter of Uranus and Terra. She was mother of the chiefest rivers of the universe, such as the Nile, the Alpheus, the Mæander, Simois, Peneus, Evenus, Scamander, &c., and about 3000 daughters called Oceanides. Tethys is confounded by some mythologists with her granddaughter Thetis the wife of Peleus, and the mother of Achilles. The word Tethys is poetically used to express the sea. Apollodorus, bk. 1, ch. 1, &c.—Virgil, Georgics, bk. 1, li. 31.—Ovid, Metamorphoses, bk. 2, li. 509; bk. 9, li. 498; Fasti, bk. 2, li. 191.—Hesiod, Theogony, li. 336.—Homer, Iliad, bk. 14, li. 302.

Tetis, a river of Gaul flowing from the Pyrenees. Mela, bk. 2, ch. 5.

Tetrapŏlis, a name given to the city of Antioch the capital of Syria, because it was divided into four separate districts, each of which resembled a city. Some apply the word to Seleucis, which contained the four large cities of Antioch near Daphne, Laodicea, Apamea, and Seleucia in Pieria.——The name of four towns at the north of Attica. Strabo, bk. 8.

Tĕtrĭca, a mountain of the Sabines near the river Fabaris. It was very rugged and difficult of access, whence the epithet Tetricus was applied to persons of a morose and melancholy disposition. Virgil, Æneid, bk. 7, li. 713.

Tetrĭcus, a Roman senator, saluted emperor in the reign of Aurelian. He was led in triumph by his successful adversary, who afterwards heaped the most unbounded honours upon him and his son of the same name.

Teucer, a king of Phrygia, son of the Scamander by Ida. According to some authors he was the first who introduced among his subjects the worship of Cybele, and the dances of the Corybantes. The country where he reigned was from him called Teucria, and his subjects Teucri. His daughter Batea married Dardanus, a Samothracian prince, who succeeded him in the government of Teucria. Apollodorus, bk. 3, ch. 12.—Virgil, Æneid, bk. 3, li. 108.——A son of Telamon king of Salamis, by Hesione the daughter of Laomedon. He was one of Helen’s suitors, and accordingly accompanied the Greeks to the Trojan war, where he signalized himself by his valour and intrepidity. It is said that his father refused to receive him into his kingdom, because he had left the death of his brother Ajax unrevenged. This severity of the father did not dishearten the son; he left Salamis, and retired to Cyprus, where, with the assistance of Belus king of Sidon, he built a town, which he called Salamis, after his native country. He attempted, to no purpose, to recover the island of Salamis after his father’s death. He built a temple to Jupiter in Cyprus, on which a man was annually sacrificed till the reign of the Antonines. Some suppose that Teucer did not return to Cyprus, but that, according to a less received opinion, he went to settle in Spain, where new Carthage was afterwards built, and thence into Galatia. Homer, Iliad, bk. 1, li. 281.—Virgil, Æneid, bk. 1, li. 623.—Apollodorus, bk. 3, ch. 12.—Pausanias, bk. 2, ch. 29.—Justin, bk. 44, ch. 3.—Paterculus, bk. 1, ch. 1.——One of the servants of Phalaris of Agrigentum.

Teucri, a name given to the Trojans, from Teucer their king. Virgil, Æneid, bk. 1, lis. 42 & 239.

Teucria, a name given to Troy, from Teucer one of its kings. Virgil, Æneid, bk. 2, li. 26.

Teucteri, a people of Germany, at the east of the Rhine. Tacitus, Germania, ch. 22.

Teumessus, a mountain of Bœotia with a village of the same name, where Hercules, when young, killed an enormous lion. Statius, Thebaid, bk. 1, li. 331.

Teuta, a queen of Illyricum, B.C. 231, who ordered some Roman ambassadors to be put to death. This unprecedented murder was the cause of a war, which ended in her disgrace. Florus, bk. 2, ch. 5.—Pliny, bk. 34, ch. 6.

Teutamias, or Teutamis, a king of Larissa. He instituted games in honour of his father, where Perseus killed his grandfather Acrisius with a quoit.

Teutamus, a king of Assyria, the same as Tithonus the father of Memnon. Diodorus, bk. 5.

Teutas, or Teutates, a name of Mercury among the Gauls. The people offered human victims to this deity. Lucan, bk. 1, li. 445.—Cæsar, Gallic War.

Teuthrania, a part of Mysia where the Caycus rises.

Teuthras, a king of Mysia on the borders of the Caycus. He adopted as his daughter, or, according to others, married, Auge the daughter of Aleus, when she fled away into Asia from her father, who wished to punish her for her amours with Hercules. Some time after his kingdom was invaded by Idas the son of Aphareus, and to remove this enemy, he promised Auge and his crown to any one who could restore tranquillity to his subjects. This was executed by Telephus, who afterwards proved to be the son of Auge, who was promised in marriage to him by right of his successful expedition. The 50 daughters of Teuthras, who became mothers by Hercules, are called Teuthrantia turba. Apollodorus, bk. 2, ch. 7, &c.—Pausanias, bk. 3, ch. 25.—Ovid, Tristia, bk. 2, li. 19; Heroides, poem 9, li. 51.—Hyginus, fable 100.——A river’s name.——One of the companions of Æneas in Italy. Virgil, Æneid, bk. 10, li. 402.

Teutoburgiensis saltus, a forest of Germany, between the Ems and Lippa, where Varus and his legions were cut to pieces. Tacitus, Annals, bk. 1, ch. 60.

Teutomatus, a prince of Gaul, among the allies of Rome.

Teutŏni and Teutŏnes, a people of Germany, who with the Cimbri made incursions upon Gaul, and cut to pieces two Roman armies. They were at last defeated by the consul Marius, and an infinite number made prisoners. See: [Cimbri]. Cicero, On Pompey’s Command.—Florus, bk. 3, ch. 3.—Plutarch, Caius Marius.—Martial, bk. 14, ltr. 26.—Pliny, bk. 4, ch. 14.

Thabenna, an inland town of Africa, African War, ch. 77.

Thabusium, a fortified place of Phrygia. Livy, bk. 38, ch. 14.

Thais, a famous courtesan of Athens, who accompanied Alexander in his Asiatic conquests, and gained such an ascendancy over him, that she made him burn the royal palace of Persepolis. After Alexander’s death, she married Ptolemy king of Egypt. Menander celebrated her charms both mental and personal, which were of a superior nature, and on this account she is called Menandrea by Propertius, bk. 2, poem 6.—Ovid, Ars Amatoria, bk. 3, li. 604; Remedia Amoris, li. 384.—Plutarch, Alexander.—Juvenal, satire 3, li. 93.—Athenæus, bk. 13, ch. 13.

Thala, a town of Africa. Tacitus, Annals, bk. 3, ch. 21.

Thalăme, a town of Messenia, famous for a temple and oracle of Pasiphae. Plutarch, Agis.

Thalassius, a beautiful young Roman in the reign of Romulus. At the rape of the Sabines, one of these virgins appeared remarkable for beauty and elegance, and her ravisher, afraid of many competitors, exclaimed, as he carried her away, that it was for Thalassius. The name of Thalassius was no sooner mentioned, than all were eager to preserve so beautiful a prize for him. Their union was attended with so much happiness, that it was ever after usual at Rome to make use of the word Thalassius at nuptials, and to wish those that were married the felicity of Thalassius. He is supposed by some to be the same as Hymen, as he was made a deity. Plutarch, Romulus.—Martial, bk. 3, ltr. 92.—Livy, bk. 1, ch. 9.

Thales, one of the seven wise men of Greece, born at Miletus in Ionia. He was descended from Cadmus: his father’s name was Examius, and his mother’s Cleobula. Like the rest of the ancients, he travelled in quest of knowledge, and for some time resided in Crete, Phœnicia, and Egypt. Under the priests of Memphis he was taught geometry, astronomy, and philosophy, and enabled to measure with exactness the vast height and extent of a pyramid merely by its shadow. His discoveries in astronomy were great and ingenious; and he was the first who calculated with accuracy a solar eclipse. He discovered the solstices and equinoxes, he divided the heavens into five zones, and recommended the division of the year into 365 days, which was universally adopted by the Egyptian philosophy. Like Homer, he looked upon water as the principle of everything. He was the founder of the Ionic sect, which distinguished itself for its deep and abstruse speculations under the successors and pupils of the Milesian philosopher, Anaximander, Anaximenes, Anaxagoras, and Archelaus the master of Socrates. Thales was never married; and when his mother pressed him to choose a wife, he said he was too young. The same exhortations were afterwards repeated, but the philosopher eluded them by observing that he was then too old to enter the matrimonial state. He died in the 96th year of his age, about 548 years before the christian era. His compositions on philosophical subjects are lost. Herodotus, bk. 1, ch. 7.—Plato.—Diogenes Laërtius, bk. 1.—Cicero, de Natura Deorum, &c.——A lyric poet of Crete, intimate with Lycurgus. He prepared by his rhapsodies the minds of the Spartans to receive the rigorous institutions of his friend, and inculcated a reverence for the peace of civil society.

Thalestria, or Thalestris, a queen of the Amazons, who, accompanied by 300 women, came 35 days’ journey to meet Alexander in his Asiatic conquests, to raise children by a man whose fame was so great, and courage so uncommon. Curtius, bk. 6, ch. 5.—Strabo, bk. 11.—Justin, bk. 2, ch. 4.

Thaletes, a Greek poet of Crete, 900 B.C.

Thălīa, one of the Muses, who presided over festivals, and over pastoral and comic poetry. She is represented leaning on a column, holding a mask in her right hand, by which she is distinguished from her sisters, as also by a shepherd’s crook. Her dress appears shorter, and not so ornamented as that of the other Muses. Horace, bk. 4, ode 6, li. 25.—Martial, bk. 9, ltr. 75.—Plutarch, Convivium Septem Sapientium, &c.—Virgil, Eclogues, poem 6, li. 2.——One of the Nereides. Hesiod, Theogony.—Virgil, Æneid, bk. 5, li. 826.——An island in the Tyrrhene sea.

Thallo, one of the Horæ or Seasons, who presided over the spring. Pausanias, bk. 9, ch. 35.

Thalpius, a son of Eurytus, one of Helen’s suitors. Apollodorus, bk. 3, ch. 10.

Thalyssia, Greek festivals celebrated by the people of the country in honour of Ceres, to whom the first fruits were regularly offered. Scholia on Theocritus, poem 3.

Thamĭras, a Cilician who first introduced the art of augury in Cyprus, where it was religiously preserved in his family for many years. Tacitus, Histories, bk. 2, ch. 3.

Thamuda, a part of Arabia Felix.

Thamyras, or Thamyris, a celebrated musician of Thrace. His father’s name was Philammon, and his mother’s Argiope. He became enamoured of the Muses, and challenged them to a trial of skill. His challenge was accepted, and it was mutually agreed that the conqueror should be totally at the disposal of his victorious adversary. He was conquered, and the Muses deprived him of his eyesight and his melodious voice, and broke his lyre. His poetical compositions are lost. Some accused him of having first introduced into the world the unnatural vice of which Sotades is accused. Homer, Iliad, bk. 2, li. 594; bk. 5, li. 599.—Apollodorus, bk. 1, ch. 3.—Ovid, Amores, bk. 3, poem 7, li. 62; Ars Amatoria, bk. 3, li. 399.—Pausanias, bk. 4, ch. 33.

Thamyris, one of the petty princes of the Dacæ, in the age of Darius, &c.——A queen of the Massagetæ. See: [Thomyris].——A Trojan killed by Turnus. Virgil, Æneid, bk. 12, li. 341.

Thapsăcus, a city on the Euphrates.

Thapsus, a town of Africa Propria, where Scipio and Juba were defeated by Cæsar. Silius Italicus, bk. 3, li. 261.—Livy, bk. 29, ch. 30; bk. 33, ch. 48.——A town at the north of Syracuse in Sicily.

Thargelia, festivals in Greece, in honour of Apollo and Diana. They lasted two days, and the youngest of both sexes carried olive branches, on which were suspended cakes and fruits. Athenæus, bk. 12.

Thariădes, one of the generals of Antiochus, &c.

Tharops, the father of Œager, to whom Bacchus gave the kingdom of Thrace, after the death of Lycurgus. Diodorus, bk. 4.

Thasius, or Thrasius, a famous soothsayer of Cyprus, who told Busiris king of Egypt, that to stop a dreadful plague which afflicted his country, he must offer a foreigner to Jupiter. Upon this the tyrant ordered him to be seized and sacrificed to the god, as he was not a native of Egypt. Ovid, de Ars Amatoria, bk. 1, li. 549.——A surname of Hercules, who was worshipped at Thasos.

Thasos, or Thasus, a small island in the Ægean, on the coast of Thrace, opposite the mouth of the Nestus, anciently known by the name of Æria, Odonis, Æthria, Acte, Ogygia, Chryse, and Ceresis. It received that of Thasos from Thasus the son of Agenor, who settled there when he despaired of finding his sister Europa. It was about 40 miles in circumference, and so uncommonly fruitful, that the fertility of Thasos became proverbial. Its wine was universally esteemed, and its marble quarries were also in great repute, as well as its mines of gold and silver. The capital of the island was also called Thasos. Livy, bk. 33, chs. 30 & 55.—Herodotus, bk. 2, ch. 44.—Mela, bk. 2, ch. 7.—Pausanias, bk. 5, ch. 25.—Ælian, Varia Historia, bk. 4, &c.—Virgil, Georgics, bk. 2, li. 91.—Cornelius Nepos, Cimon, ch. 2.

Thasus, a son of Neptune, who went with Cadmus to seek Europa. He built the town of Thasus in Thrace. Some make him brother of Cadmus. Apollodorus, bk. 3, ch. 1.

Thaumaci, a town of Thessaly on the Maliac gulf. Livy, bk. 32, ch. 4.

Thaumantias and Thaumantis, a name given to Iris the messenger of Juno, because she was the daughter of Thaumas the son of Oceanus and Terra by one of the Oceanides. Hesiod, Theogony.—Virgil, Æneid, bk. 9, li. 5.—Ovid, Metamorphoses, bk. 4, li. 479; bk. 14, li. 845.

Thaumas, a son of Neptune and Terra, who married Electra, one of the Oceanides, by whom he had Iris and the [♦]Harpies, &c. Apollodorus, bk. 1, ch. 2.

[♦] ‘Harpyies’ replaced with ‘Harpies’

Thaumasius, a mountain of Arcadia, on whose top, according to some accounts, Jupiter was born.

Thea, a daughter of Uranus and Terra. She married her brother Hyperion, by whom she had the sun, the moon, Aurora, &c. She is also called Thia, Titæa, Rhea, Tethys, &c.——One of the Sporades.

Theagĕnes, a man who made himself master of Megara, &c.——An athlete of Thaos, famous for his strength. His father’s name was Timosthenes, a friend of Hercules. He was crowned above 1000 times at the public games of the Greeks, and became a god after death. Pausanias, bk. 6, chs. 6 & 11.—Plutarch.——A Theban officer, who distinguished himself at the battle of Cheronæa. Plutarch.——A writer who published commentaries on Homer’s works.

Theages, a Greek philosopher, disciple of Socrates. Plato.—Ælian, Varia Historia, bk. 4, &c.

Theangela, a town of Caria.

Theāno, the wife of Metapontus son of Sisyphus, presented some twins to her husband, when he wished to repudiate her for her barrenness. The children were educated with the greatest care, and some time afterwards Theano herself became the mother of twins. When they were grown up she encouraged them to murder the supposititious children, who were to succeed to their father’s throne in preference to them. They were both killed in the attempt, and the father, displeased with the conduct of Theano, repudiated her to marry the mother of the children whom he had long considered as his own. Hyginus, fable 186.——A daughter of Cisseus, sister to Hecuba, who married Antenor, and was supposed to have betrayed the Palladium to the Greeks, as she was priestess of Minerva. Homer, Iliad, bk. 6, li. 298.—Pausanias, bk. 10, ch. 27.—Dictys Cretensis, bk. 5, ch. 8.——One of the Danaides. Her husband’s name was Phantes. Apollodorus, bk. 2, ch. 1.——The wife of the philosopher Pythagoras, daughter of Pythanax of Crete, or, according to others, of Brontinus of Crotona. Diogenes Laërtius, bk. 8, ch. 42.——The daughter of Pythagoras.——A poetess of Locris.——A priestess of Athens, daughter of Menon, who refused to pronounce a curse upon Alcibiades when he was accused of having mutilated all the statues of Mercury. Plutarch.——The mother of Pausanias. She was the first, as it is reported, who brought a stone to the entrance of Minerva’s temple, to shut up her son when she heard of his crimes and perfidy to his country. Polyænus, bk. 8.——A daughter of Scedasus, to whom some of the Lacedæmonians offered violence at Leuctra.——A Trojan matron, who became mother of Mimas by Amycus, the same night that Paris was born. Virgil, Æneid, bk. 10, li. 703.

Theānum, a town of Italy. See: [Teanum].

Thearidas, a brother of Dionysius the elder. He was made admiral of his fleet. Diodorus, bk. 14.

Thearius, a surname of Apollo at Trœzene. Pausanias, bk. 2, ch. 51.

Theatetes, a Greek epigrammatist.

Theba, or Thebe, a town of Cilicia. See: [Thebæ].

Thebæ (arum), a celebrated city, the capital of Bœotia, situate on the banks of the river Ismenus. The manner of its foundation is not precisely known. Cadmus is supposed to have first begun to found it by building the citadel Cadmea. It was afterwards finished by Amphion and Zethus; but, according to Varro, it owed its origin to Ogyges. The government of Thebes was monarchical, and many of the sovereigns are celebrated for their misfortunes, such as Laius, Œdipus, Polynices, Eteocles, &c. The war which Thebes supported against the Argives, is famous as well as that of the Epigoni. The Thebans were looked upon as an indolent and sluggish nation, and the words of Theban pig, became proverbial to express a man remarkable for stupidity and inattention. This, however, was not literally true; under Epaminondas, the Thebans, though before dependent, became masters of Greece, and everything was done according to their will and pleasure. When Alexander invaded Greece, he ordered Thebes to be totally demolished, because it had revolted against him, except the house where the poet Pindar had been born and educated. In this dreadful period 6000 of its inhabitants were slain, and 30,000 sold for slaves. Thebes was afterwards repaired by Cassander the son of Antipater, but it never rose to its original consequence, and Strabo, in his age, mentions it merely as an inconsiderable village. The monarchical government was abolished there at the death of Xanthus, about 1190 years before Christ, and Thebes became a republic. It received its name from Thebe the daughter of Asopus, to whom the founder Amphion was nearly related. Apollodorus, bk. 2, ch. 4, &c.—Mela, bk. 2, ch. 3.—Pausanias, bk. 2, ch. 6; bk. 9, ch. 5.—Strabo, bk. 9.—Plutarch, Pelopidas, Pelopidas, & Alexander.—Cornelius Nepos, Pelopidas, Epaminondas, &c.—Horace, Art of Poetry, li. 394.—Ovid, Metamorphoses.——A town at the south of Troas, built by Hercules, and also called Placia and Hypoplacia. It fell into the hands of the Cilicians, who occupied it during the Trojan war. Curtius, bk. 3, ch. 4.—Livy, bk. 37, ch. 19.—Strabo, bk. 11.——An ancient celebrated city of Thebais in Egypt, called also Hecatompylos, on account of its 100 gates, and Diospolis, as being sacred to Jupiter. In the time of its splendour, it extended above 23 miles, and upon any emergency could send into the field, by each of its 100 gates, 20,000 fighting men and 200 chariots. Thebes was ruined by Cambyses king of Persia, and few traces of it were seen in the age of Juvenal. Pliny, bk. 5, ch. 9.—Juvenal, satire bk. 15, li. 16.—Tacitus, Annals, bk. 2.—Herodotus, bks. 2 & 3.—Diodorus, bk. 2.—Homer, Iliad, bk. 9, li. 381.—Strabo, bk. 17.—Mela, bk. 1, ch. 9.——A town of Africa, built by Bacchus.——Another in Thessaly. Livy, bk. 28, ch. 7.——Another in Phthiotis.

Thebais, a country in the southern parts of Egypt, of which Thebes was the capital.——There have been some poems which have borne the name of Thebais, but of these the only one extant is the Thebais of Statius. It gives an account of the war of the Thebans against the Argives, in consequence of the dissension of Eteocles with his brother Polynices. The poet was 12 years in composing it.——A river of Lydia.——A name given to a native of Thebes.

Thebe, a daughter of the Asopus, who married Zethus. Apollodorus, bk. 3, ch. 5.—Pausanias, bk. 2, ch. 5.——The wife of Alexander tyrant of Pheræ. She was persuaded by Pelopidas to murder her husband.

Theia, a goddess. See: [Thea].

Theias, a son of Belus, who had an incestuous intercourse with his daughter Smyrna.

Thelephassa, the second wife of Agenor, called also Telaphassa.

Thelpūsa, a nymph of Arcadia. See: [♦][Telphusa].

[♦] ‘Telpusa’ replaced with ‘Telphusa’

Thelxion, a son of Apis, who conspired against his father, who was king of Peloponnesus. Pausanias, bk. 2, ch. 5.—Apollodorus, bk. 2, ch. 1.

Thelxiope, one of the Muses, according to some writers. Cicero, de Finibus Bonorum et Malorum.

Themeneus, a son of Aristomachus, better known by the name of Temenus.

Themesion, a tyrant of Eretria. Diodorus, bk. 15.

Themillas, a Trojan, &c. Virgil, Æneid, bk. 9, li. 376.

Themis, a daughter of Cœlus and Terra, who married Jupiter against her own inclination. She became mother of Dice, Irene, Eunomia, the Parcæ and Horæ; and was the first to whom the inhabitants of the earth raised temples. Her oracle was famous in Attica in the age of Deucalion, who consulted it with great solemnity, and was instructed how to repair the loss of mankind. She was generally attended by the seasons. Among the moderns she is represented as holding a sword in one hand, and a pair of scales in the other. Ovid, Metamorphoses, bk. 1, li. 321.——A daughter of Ilus, who married Capys, and became mother of Anchises. Apollodorus, bk. 3, ch. 12.

Themiscy̆ra, a town of Cappadocia, at the mouth of the Thermodon, belonging to the Amazons. The territories round it bore the same name.

Themĭson, a famous physician of Laodicea, disciple to Asclepiades. He was founder of a sect called Methodists, because he wished to introduce methods to facilitate the learning and the practice of physic. He flourished in the Augustan age. Pliny, bk. 29, ch. 1.—Juvenal, satire 10.——One of the generals and ministers of Antiochus the Great. He was born at Cyprus. Ælian, Varia Historia, bk. 2, ch. 41.

Themista, or Themistis, a goddess, the same as Themis.

Themistĭus, a celebrated philosopher of Paphlagonia in the age of Constantius, greatly esteemed by the Roman emperors, and called Euphrades, the fine speaker, from his eloquent and commanding delivery. He was made a Roman senator, and always distinguished for his [♦]liberality and munificence. His school was greatly frequented. He wrote, when young, some commentaries on Aristotle, fragments of which are still extant, and 33 of his orations. He professed himself to be an enemy to flattery, and though he often deviates from this general rule in his addresses to the emperors, yet he strongly recommends humanity, wisdom, and clemency. The best edition of Themistius is that of Harduin, folio, Paris, 1684.

[♦] ‘liberalty’ replaced with ‘liberality’

Themisto, a daughter of Hypseus, was the third wife of Athamas king of Thebes, by whom she had four sons, called Ptous, Leucon, Schœneus, and Erythroes. She endeavoured to kill the children of Ino, her husband’s second wife, but she killed her own, by means of Ino, who lived in her house in the disguise of a servant-maid, and to whom she entrusted her bloody intentions, upon which she destroyed herself. Pausanias, bk. 9, ch. 23.—Apollodorus, bk. 1, ch. 9.——A woman mentioned by Polyænus.——The mother of the poet Homer, according to a tradition mentioned by Pausanias, bk. 10, ch. 24.

Themistŏcles, a celebrated general born at Athens. His father’s name was Neocles, and his mother’s Euterpe, or Abrotonum, a native of Halicarnassus, or of Thrace, or Acarnaia. The beginning of his youth was marked by vices so flagrant, and an inclination so incorrigible, that his father disinherited him. This, which might have disheartened others, roused the ambition of Themistocles, and the protection which he was denied at home, he sought in courting the favours of the populace, and in sharing the [♦]administration of public affairs. When Xerxes invaded Greece, Themistocles was at the head of the Athenian republic, and in this capacity the fleet was entrusted to his care. When the Lacedæmonians under Leonidas were opposing the Persians at Thermopylæ, the naval operations of Themistocles, and of the combined fleet of the Peloponnesians, were directed to destroy the armament of Xerxes, and to ruin his maritime power. The obstinate wish of the generals to command the Grecian fleet might have proved fatal to the interest of the allies, had not Themistocles freely relinquished his pretensions, and by nominating his rival Eurybiades master of the expedition, shown the world that his ambition could stoop when his country demanded his assistance. The Persian fleet was distressed at Artemisium by a violent storm, and the feeble attack of the Greeks; but a decisive battle had never been fought if Themistocles had not used threats and entreaties, and even called religion to his aid, and the favourable answers of the oracle, to second his measures. The Greeks, actuated by different views, were unwilling to make head by sea against an enemy whom they saw victorious by land, plundering their cities and destroying all by fire and sword; but before they were dispersed, Themistocles sent intelligence of their intentions to the Persian monarch. Xerxes, by immediately blocking them with his fleet, in the bay of Salamis, prevented their escape, and while he wished to crush them all at one blow, he obliged them to fight for their safety, as well as for the honour of their country. This battle, which was fought near the island of Salamis, B.C. 480, was decisive; the Greeks obtained the victory, and Themistocles the honour of having destroyed the formidable navy of Xerxes. Further to ensure the peace of his country, Themistocles informed the Asiatic monarch that the Greeks had conspired to cut the bridge which he had built across the Hellespont, and to prevent his retreat into Asia. This met with equal success; Xerxes hastened away from Greece, and while he believed the words of Themistocles, that his return would be disputed, he left his forces without a general, and his fleets an easy conquest to the victorious Greeks. These signal services to his country endeared Themistocles to the Athenians, and he was universally called the most warlike and most courageous of all the Greeks who fought against the Persians. He was received with the most distinguished honours, and by his prudent administration, Athens was soon fortified with strong walls, her Pireus was rebuilt, and her harbours were filled with a numerous and powerful navy, which rendered her the mistress of Greece. Yet in the midst of that glory, the conqueror of Xerxes incurred the displeasure of his countrymen, which had proved so fatal to many of his illustrious predecessors. He was banished from the city, and after he had sought in vain a safe retreat among the republics of Greece, and the barbarians of Thrace, he threw himself into the arms of a monarch, whose fleets he had defeated, and whose father he had ruined. Artaxerxes, the successor of Xerxes, received the illustrious Athenian with kindness; and though he had formerly set a price upon his head, yet he made him one of his greatest favourites, and bestowed three rich cities upon him, to provide him with bread, wine, and meat. Such kindness from a monarch, from whom he, perhaps, expected the most hostile treatment, did not alter the sentiments of Themistocles. He still remembered that Athens gave him birth, and according to some writers, the wish of not injuring his country, and therefore his inability of carrying on war against Greece, at the request of Artaxerxes, obliged him to destroy himself by drinking bull’s blood. The manner of his death, however, is uncertain, and while some affirm that he poisoned himself, others declare that he fell a prey to a violent distemper in the city of Magnesia, where he had fixed his residence, while in the dominions of the Persian monarch. His bones were conveyed to Attica and honoured with a magnificent tomb by the Athenians, who began to repent too late of their cruelty to the saviour of his country. Themistocles died in the 65th year of his age, about 449 years before the christian era. He has been admired as a man naturally courageous, of a disposition fond of activity, ambitious of glory and enterprise. Blessed with a provident and discerning mind, he seemed to rise superior to misfortunes, and in the midst of adversity, possessed of resources which could enable him to regain his splendour, and even to command fortune. Plutarch & Cornelius Nepos, Lives.—Pausanias, bk. 1, ch. 1; bk. 8, ch. 52.—Ælian, Varia Historia, bk. 2, ch. 12; bk. 9, ch. 18; bk. 13, ch. 40.——A writer, some of whose letters are extant.

[♦] ‘adminstration’ replaced with ‘administration’

Themistogĕnes, an historian of Syracuse, in the age of Artaxerxes Memnon. He wrote on the wars of Cyrus the younger, a subject ably treated afterwards by Xenophon.

Theŏcles, an opulent citizen of Corinth, who liberally divided his riches among the poor. Thrasonides, a man equally rich with himself, followed the example. Ælian, Varia Historia, bk. 14, ch. 24.——A Greek statuary. Pausanias, bk. 6, ch. 19.

Theŏclus, a Messenian poet and soothsayer, who died B.C. 671. Pausanias, bk. 4, ch. 15, &c.

Theoclymĕnus, a soothsayer of Argolis, descended from Melampus. His father’s name was Thestor. He foretold the speedy return of Ulysses to Penelope and Telemachus. Homer, Odyssey, bk. 15, li. 225, &c.—Hyginus, fable 128.

Theŏcrĭtus, a Greek poet who flourished at Syracuse, in Sicily, 282 B.C. His father’s name was Praxagoras or Simichus, and his mother’s Philina. He lived in the age of Ptolemy Philadelphus, whose praises he sung, and whose favours he enjoyed. Theocritus distinguished himself by his poetical compositions, of which 30 idyllia and some epigrams are extant, written in the Doric dialect, and admired for their beauty, elegance, and simplicity. Virgil, in his eclogues, has imitated and often copied him. Theocritus has been blamed for the many indelicate and obscene expressions which he uses; and while he introduces shepherds and peasants with all the rusticity and ignorance of nature, he often disguises their character by making them speak on high and exalted subjects. It is said he wrote some invectives against Hiero king of Syracuse, who ordered him to be strangled. He also wrote a ludicrous poem called Syrinx, and placed his verses in such order that they represented the pipe of the god Pan. The best editions of Theocritus, are Warton’s, 2 vols., 4to, Oxford, 1770; that of Heinsius, 8vo, Oxford, 1699; that of Valkenaer, 8vo, Leiden, 1781; and that of Reiske, 2 vols., 4to, Lipscomb, 1790. Quintilian, bk. 10, ch. 1.—Diogenes Laërtius, bk. 5.——A Greek historian of Chios, who wrote an account of Libya. Plutarch.

[♦]Theodămas, or Thiodamas, a king of Mysia, in Asia Minor. He was killed by Hercules, because he refused to treat him and his son with hospitality. Ovid, Ibis, li. 438.—Apollodorus, bk. 2, ch. 7.—Hyginus, fable 271.

[♦] ‘Thodămas’ replaced with ‘Theodămas’

Theodectes, a Greek orator and poet of Phaselis in Pamphylia, son of Aristander, and disciple of Isocrates. He wrote 50 tragedies, besides other works now lost. He had such a happy memory that he could repeat with ease whatever verses were spoken in his presence. When Alexander passed through Phaselis, he crowned with garlands the statue which had been erected to the memory of the deceased poet. Cicero, Tusculanæ Disputationes, bk. 1, ch. 24; Orator, ch. 51, &c.—Plutarch.—Quintilian.

Theodonis, a town of Germany, now Thionville, on the Moselle.

Theodōra, a daughter-in-law of the emperor Maximian, who married Constantius.——A daughter of Constantine.——A woman who, from being a prostitute, became empress to Justinian, and distinguished herself by her intrigues and enterprises.——The name of Theodora is common to the empresses of the east in a later period.

Theodoretus, one of the Greek fathers who flourished A.D. 425, whose works have been edited, 5 vols., folio, Paris, 1642, and 5 vols., Halæ, 1769 to 1774.

Theodoritus, a Greek ecclesiastical historian, whose works have been best edited by Reading, folio, Cambridge. 1720.

Theodōrus, a Syracusan of great authority among his countrymen, who severely inveighed against the tyranny of Dionysius.——A philosopher, disciple to Aristippus. He denied the existence of a God. He was banished from Cyrene, and fled to Athens, where the friendship of Demetrius Phalereus saved him from the accusations which were carried to the Areopagus against him. Some suppose that he was at last condemned to death for his impiety, and that he drank poison.——A preceptor to one of the sons of Antony, whom he betrayed to Augustus.——A consul in the reign of Honorius. Claudian wrote a poem upon him, in which he praises him with great liberality.——A secretary of Valens. He conspired against the emperor and was beheaded.——A man who compiled a history of Rome. Of this, nothing but his history of the reigns of Constantine and Constantius is extant.——A comic actor.——A player on the flute in the age of Demetrius Poliorcetes, who contemptuously rejected the favours of Lamia the mistress of the monarch.——A Greek poet of Colophon, whose compositions are lost.——A sophist of Byzantium, called Logodaidalos by Plato.——A Greek poet in the age of Cleopatra. He wrote a book of metamorphoses, which Ovid imitated, as some suppose.——An artist of Samos about 700 years B.C. He was the first who found out the art of melting iron, with which he made statues.——A priest, father of Isocrates.——A Greek writer, called also Prodromus. The time in which he lived is unknown. There is a romance of his composition extant, called the amours of Rhodanthe and Dosicles, the only edition of which was by Gaulminus, 8vo, Paris, 1625.

Theodosia, now Caffa, a town in the Cimmerian Bosphorus. Mela, bk. 2, ch. 1.

Theodosiopŏlis, a town of Armenia, built by Theodosius, &c.

Theodosius Flavius, a Roman emperor surnamed Magnus, from the greatness of his exploits. He was invested with the imperial purple by Gratian, and appointed over Thrace and the eastern provinces, which had been in the possession of Valentinian. The first years of his reign were marked by different conquests over the barbarians. The Goths were defeated in Thrace, and 4000 of their chariots, with an immense number of prisoners of both sexes, were the reward of the victory. This glorious campaign intimidated the inveterate enemies of Rome; they sued for peace, and treaties of alliance were made with distant nations, who wished to gain the favours and the friendship of a prince whose military virtues were so conspicuous. Some conspiracies were formed against the emperor, but Theodosius totally disregarded them; and while he punished his competitors for the imperial purple, he thought himself sufficiently secure in the love and the affection of his subjects. His reception at Rome was that of a conqueror; he triumphed over the barbarians, and restored peace in every part of the empire. He died of a dropsy at Milan, in the 60th year of his age, after a reign of 16 years, the 17th of January, A.D. 395. His body was conveyed to Constantinople, and buried by his son Arcadius, in the tomb of Constantine. Theodosius was the last of the emperors who was the sole master of the whole Roman empire. He left three children, Arcadius and Honorius, who succeeded him, and Pulcheria. Theodosius has been commended by ancient writers, as a prince blessed with every virtue, and debased by no vicious propensity. Though master of the world, he was a stranger to that pride and arrogance which too often disgrace the monarch; he was affable in his behaviour, benevolent and compassionate, and it was his wish to treat his subjects as himself was treated when a private man and a [♦]dependent. Men of merit were promoted to places of trust and honour, and the emperor was fond of patronizing the cause of virtue and learning. His zeal as a follower of christianity has been applauded by all the ecclesiastical writers, and it was the wish of Theodosius to support the revealed religion, as much by his example, meekness, and christian charity, as by his edicts and ecclesiastical institutions. His want of clemency, however, in one instance, was too openly betrayed, and when the people of Thessalonica had unmeaningly, perhaps, killed one of his officers, the emperor ordered his soldiers to put all the inhabitants to the sword, and no less than 6000 persons, without distinction of rank, age, or sex, were cruelly butchered in that town in the space of three hours. This violence irritated the ecclesiastics, and Theodosius was compelled by St. Ambrose to do open penance in the church, and publicly to make atonement for an act of barbarity which had excluded him from the bosom of the church, and the communion of the faithful. In his private character Theodosius was an example of soberness and temperance; his palace displayed becoming grandeur, but still with moderation. He never indulged in luxury, or countenanced superfluities. He was fond of bodily exercise, and never gave himself up to pleasure and enervating enjoyments. The laws and regulations which he introduced in the Roman empire, were of the most salutary nature. Socrates of Constantinople, bk. 5, &c.—Zosimus, bk. 4, &c.—Ambrose.—Augustine.—Claudian, &c.

[♦] ‘dependant’ replaced with ‘dependent’

Theodosius II., succeeded his father Arcadius as emperor of the western Roman empire, though only in the eighth year of his age. He was governed by his sister Pulcheria, and by his ministers and eunuchs, in whose hands was the disposal of the offices of state, and all places of trust and honour. He married Eudoxia, the daughter of a philosopher called Leontius, a woman remarkable for her virtues and piety. The territories of Theodosius were invaded by the Persians, but the emperor soon appeared at the head of a numerous force, and the two hostile armies met on the frontiers of the empire. The consternation was universal on both sides; without even a battle, the Persians fled, and no less than 100,000 were lost in the waters of the Euphrates. Theodosius raised the siege of Nisibis, where his operations failed of success, and he averted the fury of the Huns and Vandals by bribes and promises. He died on the 29th of July, in the 49th year of his age, A.D. 450, leaving only one daughter, Licinia Eudoxia, whom he married to the emperor Valentinian III. The carelessness and inattention of Theodosius to public affairs are well known. He signed all the papers that were brought to him without even opening them or reading them, till his sister apprised him of his negligence, and rendered him more careful and diligent, by making him sign a paper, in which he delivered into her hand, Eudoxia his wife as a slave and menial servant. The laws and regulations which were promulgated under him, and selected from the most useful and salutary institutions of his imperial predecessors, have been called the Theodosian code. Theodosius was a warm advocate for the christian religion, but he has been blamed for his partial attachment to those who opposed the orthodox faith. Sozomen.—Socrates, &c.

Theodosius, a lover of Antonina the wife of Belisarius.——A mathematician of Tripoli, who flourished 75 B.C. His treatise, called Sphærica, is best edited by Hunt, 8vo, Oxford, 1707.——A Roman general, father of Theodosius the Great; he died A.D. 376.

Theodŏta, a beautiful courtesan of Elis, whose company was frequented by Socrates. Xenophon, on Socrates.—Ælian, Varia Historia, bk. 13, ch. 32.——A Roman empress, &c.

Theodotian, an interpreter, in the reign of Commodus.

Theodŏtus, an admiral of the Rhodians, sent by his countrymen to make a treaty with the Romans.——A native of Chios, who, as preceptor and counsellor of Ptolemy, advised the feeble monarch to murder Pompey. He carried the head of the unfortunate Roman to Cæsar, but the resentment of the conqueror was such that the mean assassin fled, and after a wandering and miserable life in the cities of Asia, he was at last put to death by Brutus. Plutarch, Brutus & Pompey.——A Syracusan, accused of a conspiracy against Hieronymus the tyrant of Syracuse.——A governor of Bactriana in the age of Antiochus, who revolted and made himself king, B.C. 250.——A friend of the emperor Julian.——A Phœnician historian.——One of the generals of Alexander.

Theognētes, a Greek tragic poet. Athenæus.

Theognis, a Greek poet of Megara, who flourished about 549 years before Christ. He wrote several poems, of which only few sentences are now extant, quoted by Plato and other Greek historians and philosophers, and intended as precepts for the conduct of human life. The morals of the poet have been censured as neither decorous nor chaste. The best edition of Theognis is that of Blackwall, 12mo, London, 1706.——There was also a tragic poet of the same name, whose compositions were so lifeless and inanimated, that they procured him the name of Chion, or snow.

Theomnestus, a rival of Nicias in the administration of public affairs at Athens. Strabo, bk. 14.——A statuary of Sardinia. Pausanias, bk. 6, ch. 15.——An Athenian philosopher, among the followers of Plato’s doctrines. He had Brutus, Cæsar’s murderer, among his pupils.——A painter. Pliny, bk. 35.

Theon, a philosopher, who used frequently to walk in his sleep. Diogenes Laërtius.——An astronomer of Smyrna, in the reign of Adrian.——A painter of Samos. Ælian, Varia Historia, bk. 3, ch. 44.——Another philosopher. Diogenes Laërtius.——An infamous reviler. Horace, bk. 1, ltr. 19.

Theonoe, a daughter of Thestor, sister to Calchas. She was carried away by sea pirates, and sold to Icarus king of Caria, &c. Hyginus, fable 190.——A daughter of Proteus and a Nereid, who became enamoured of Canobus, the pilot of a Trojan vessel, &c.

Theope, one of the daughters of Leos.

Theophăne, a daughter of Bisaltus, whom Neptune changed into a sheep, to remove her from her numerous suitors, and conveyed to the island Crumissa. The god afterwards assumed the shape of a ram, and under this transformation he had by the nymph a ram with a golden fleece, which carried Phryxus to Colchis. Ovid, Metamorphoses, bk. 6, li. 177.—Hyginus, fable 188.

Theophănes, a Greek historian, born at Mitylene. He was very intimate with Pompey, and from his friendship with the Roman general, his countrymen derived many advantages. After the battle of Pharsalia, he advised Pompey to retire to the court of Egypt. Cicero, For Archias, &c.—Paterculus.—Plutarch, Cicero & Pompey.——His son Marcus Pompeius Theophanes was made governor of Asia, and enjoyed the intimacy of Tiberius.——The only edition of Theophanes the Byzantine historian, is that of Paris, folio, 1649.

Theophania, festivals celebrated at Delphi in honour of Apollo.

Theophĭlus, a comic poet of Athens.——A governor of Syria in the age of Julian.——A friend of Piso.——A physician, whose treatise de Urinis is best edited by Guidotius, Leiden, 1728, and another by Morell, 8vo, Paris, 1556.——One of the Greek fathers, whose work ad Autolycum is best edited in 12mo, by Wolf, Hamburg, 1724.——The name of Theophilus is common among the primitive christians.

Theophrastus, a native of Eresus in Lesbos, son of a fuller. He studied under Plato, and afterwards under Aristotle, whose friendship he gained, and whose warmest commendations he deserved. His original name was Tyrtamus, but this the philosopher made him exchange for that of Euphrastus, to intimate his excellence in speaking, and afterwards for that of Theophrastus, which he deemed still more expressive of his eloquence, the brilliancy of his genius, and the elegance of his language. After the death of Socrates, when the malevolence of the Athenians drove all the philosopher’s friends from the city, Theophrastus succeeded Aristotle in the Lyceum, and rendered himself so conspicuous, that in a short time the number of his auditors was increased to 2000. Not only his countrymen courted his applause, but kings and princes were desirous of his friendship: and Cassander and Ptolemy, two of the most powerful of the successors of Alexander, regarded him with more than usual partiality. Theophrastus composed many books, and Diogenes has enumerated the titles of above 200 treatises, which he wrote with great elegance and copiousness. About 20 of these are extant, among which are his history of stones, his treatise on plants, on the winds, on the signs of fair weather, &c., and his Characters, an excellent moral treatise, which was begun in the 99th year of his age. He died, loaded with years and infirmities, in the 107th year of his age, B.C. 288, lamenting the shortness of life, and complaining of the partiality of nature in granting longevity to the crow and to the stag, but not to man. To his care we are indebted for the works of Aristotle, which the dying philosopher entrusted to him. The best edition of Theophrastus, is that of Heinsius, folio, Leiden, 1613; and of his Characters, that of Needham, 8vo, Cambridge. 1712, and that of Fischer, 8vo, Coburg, 1763. Cicero, Tusculanæ Disputationes, bk. 3, ch. 28; Brutus, ch. 31; Orator, ch. 19, &c.—Strabo, bk. 13.—Diogenes Laërtius, Lives.—Ælian, Varia Historia, bk. 2, ch. 8; bk. 34, ch. 20; bk. 8, ch. 12.—Quintilian, bk. 10, ch. 1.—Plutarch, Adversus Colotem.——An officer entrusted with the care of the citadel of Corinth by Antigonus. Polyænus.

Theopolĕmus, a man who, with his brother Hiero, plundered Apollo’s temple at Delphi, and fled away for fear of being punished. Cicero, Against Verres, bk. 5.

Theopŏlis, a name given to Antioch, because the christians first received their name there.

Theopompus, a king of Sparta, of the family of the Proclidæ, who succeeded his father Nicander, and distinguished himself by the many new regulations which he introduced. He created the Ephori, and died, after a long and peaceful reign, B.C. 723. While he sat on the throne, the Spartans made war against Messenia. Plutarch, Lycurgus.—Pausanias, bk. 3, ch. 7.——A famous Greek historian of Chios, disciple of Isocrates, who flourished B.C. 354. All his compositions are lost, except a few fragments quoted by ancient writers. He is compared to Thucydides and Herodotus as an historian, yet he is severely censured for his satirical remarks and illiberal reflections. He obtained a prize in which his master was a competitor, and he was liberally rewarded for composing the best funeral oration in honour of Mausolus. His father’s name was Damasistratus. Dionysius of Halicarnassus, bk. 1.—Plutarch, Lysis.—Cornelius Nepos, bk. 7.—Pausanias, bk. 6, ch. 18.—Quintilian, bk. 10, ch. 1.——An Athenian, who attempted to deliver his countrymen from the tyranny of Demetrius. Polyænus, bk. 5.——A comic poet in the age of Menander. He wrote 24 plays, all lost.——A son of Demaratus, who obtained several crowns at the Olympic games. Pausanias, bk. 6, ch. 10.——An orator and historian of Cnidus, very intimate with Julius Cæsar. Strabo, bk. 14.——A Spartan general, killed at the battle of Tegyra.——A philosopher of Cheronæa, in the reign of the emperor Philip.

Theophylactus Simocatta, a Byzantine historian, whose works were edited folio, Paris, 1647.——One of the Greek fathers who flourished A.D. 1070. His works were edited at Venice, 4 vols., 1754 to 1763.

Theorius, a surname of Apollo at Trœzene, where he had a very ancient temple. It signifies clear-sighted.

Theotīmus, a wrestler of Elis, in the age of Alexander. Pausanias, bk. 6, ch. 17.——A Greek who wrote a history of Italy.

Theoxĕna, a noble lady of Thessaly, who threw herself into the sea, when unable to escape from the soldiers of king Philip, who pursued her. Livy, bk. 40, ch. 4.

Theoxenia, a festival celebrated in honour of all the gods in every city of Greece, but especially at Athens. Games were then observed, and the conqueror who obtained the prize received a large sum of money, or, according to others, a vest beautifully ornamented. The Dioscuri established a festival of the same name, in honour of the gods who had visited them at one of their entertainments.

Theoxenius, a surname of Apollo.

Thera, a daughter of Amphion and Niobe. Hyginus, fable 69.——One of the Sporades in the Ægean sea, anciently called Callista, now Santorin. It was first inhabited by the Phœnicians, who were left there under Membliares by Cadmus, when he went in quest of his sister Europa. It was called Thera by Theras the son of Autesion, who settled there with a colony from Lacedæmon. Pausanias, bk. 3, ch. 1.—Herodotus, bk. 4.—Strabo, bk. 8.——A town of Caria.

Therambus, a town near Pallene. Herodotus, bk. 7, ch. 123.

Theramĕnes, an Athenian philosopher and general in the age of Alcibiades. His father’s name was Agnon. He was one of the 30 tyrants of Athens, but he had no share in the cruelties and oppression which disgraced their administration. He was accused by Critias, one of his colleagues, because he opposed their views, and he was condemned to drink hemlock, though defended by his own innocence, and the friendly intercession of the philosopher Socrates. He drank the poison with great composure, and poured some of it on the ground, with the sarcastical exclamation of, “This is to the health of Critias.” This happened about 404 years before the christian era. Theramenes, on account of the fickleness of his disposition, has been called Cothurnus, a part of the dress used both by men and women. Cicero, On Oratory, bk. 3, ch. 16.—Plutarch, Alcibiades, &c.—Cornelius Nepos.

Therapne, or Terapne, a town of Laconia, at the west of the Eurotas, where Apollo had a temple called Phœbeum. It was but a very short distance from Lacedæmon, and, indeed, some authors have confounded it with the capital of Laconia. It received its name from Therapne, a daughter of Lelex. Castor and Pollux were born there, and on that account they were sometimes called Therapnæi fratres. Pausanias, bk. 3, ch. 14.—Ovid, Fasti, bk. 5, li. 223.—Silius Italicus, bk. 6, li. 303; bk. 8, li. 414; bk. 13, li. 43.—Livy, bk. 2, ch. 16.—Dionysius of Halicarnassus, bk. 2, ch. 49.—Statius, bk. 7, Thebaid, li. 793.

Theras, a son of Autesion of Lacedæmon, who conducted a colony to Callista, to which he gave the name of Thera. He received divine honours after death. Pausanias, bk. 3, chs. 1 & 15.

Therimăchus, a son of Hercules by Megara. Apollodorus, bk. 2, chs. 4 & 7.

Therippidas, a Lacedæmonian, &c. Diodorus, bk. 15.

Theritas, a surname of Mars in Laconia.

Therma, a town of Africa. Strabo.——A town of Macedonia, afterwards called Thessalonica, in honour of the wife of Cassander, and now Salonichi. The bay in the neighbourhood of Therma is called Thermæus, or Thermaicus sinus, and advances far into the country, so much, that Pliny has named it Macedonicus sinus, by way of eminence, to intimate its extent. Strabo.—Tacitus, Annals, bk. 5, ch. 10.—Herodotus.

Thermæ (baths), a town of Sicily, where were the baths of Selinus, now Sciacca.——Another, near Panormus, now Thermini. Silius Italicus, bk. 14, li. 23.—Cicero, Against Verres, bk. 2, ch. 35.

Thermōdon, now Termeh, a famous river of Cappadocia, in the ancient country of the Amazons, falling into the Euxine sea near Themiscyra. There was also a small river of the same name in Bœotia, near Tanagra, which was afterwards called Hæmon. Strabo, bk. 11.—Herodotus, bk. 9, ch. 27.—Mela, bk. 1, ch. 19.—Pausanias, bk. 1, ch. 1; bk. 9, ch. 19.—Plutarch, Demosthenes.—Virgil, Æneid, bk. 11, li. 659.—Ovid, Metamorphoses, bk. 2, li. 249, &c.

Thermopy̆læ, a small pass leading from Thessaly into Locris and Phocis. It has a large ridge of mountains on the west, and the sea on the east, with deep and dangerous marshes, being in the narrowest part only 25 feet in breadth. Thermopylæ receives its name from the hot baths which are in the neighbourhood. It is celebrated for a battle which was fought there B.C. 480, on the 7th of August, between Xerxes and the Greeks, in which 300 Spartans resisted for three successive days repeatedly the attacks of the most brave and courageous of the Persian army, which, according to some historians, amounted to 5,000,000. There was also another battle fought there between the Romans and Antiochus king of Syria. Herodotus, bk. 7, ch. 176, &c.—Strabo, bk. 9.—Livy, bk. 36, ch. 15.—Mela, bk. 2, ch. 3.—Plutarch, Marcus Cato, &c.—Pausanias, bk. 7, ch. 15.

Thermum, a town of Ætolia on the Evenus. Polybius, bk. 5.

Thermus, a man accused in the reign of Tiberius, &c.——A man put to death by Nero.——A town of Ætolia, the capital of the country.

Therodămas, a king of Scythia, who, as some report, fed lions with human blood, that they might be more cruel. Ovid, Ibis, li. 383.

Theron, a tyrant of Agrigentum, who died 472 B.C. He was a native of Bœotia, and son of Ænesidamus, and he married Damarete the daughter of Gelon of Sicily. Herodotus, bk. 7.—Pindar, Olympian, ch. 2.——One of Actæon’s dogs. Ovid.——A Rutulian who attempted to kill Æneas. He perished in the attempt. Virgil, Æneid, bk. 10, li. 312.——A priest in the temple of Hercules at Saguntum, &c. Silius Italicus, bk. 2, li. 149.——A Theban descended from the Spartæ. Statius, Thebaid, bk. 2, li. 572.——A daughter of Phylas, beloved by Apollo. Pausanias, bk. 9, ch. 40.

Therpander, a celebrated poet and musician of Lesbos. See: [Terpander].

Thersander, a son of Polynices and Argia. He accompanied the Greeks to the Trojan war, but he was killed in Mysia by Telephus, before the confederate army reached the enemy’s country. Virgil, Æneid, bk. 2, li. 261.—Apollodorus, bk. 3, ch. 7.——A son of Sisyphus king of Corinth.——A musician of Ionia.

Thersĭlŏchus, a leader of the Pæonians in the Trojan war, killed by Achilles. Virgil, Æneid, bk. 6, li. 483.——A friend of Æneas, killed by Turnus. Virgil, Æneid, bk. 12, li. 363.——An athlete at Corcyra, crowned at the Olympic games. Pausanias, bk. 6, ch. 13.

Thersippus, a son of Agrius, who drove Œneus from the throne of Calydon.——A man who carried a letter from Alexander to Darius. Curtius.——An Athenian author, who died 954 B.C.

Thersītes, an officer, the most deformed and illiberal of the Greeks during the Trojan war. He was fond of ridiculing his fellow-soldiers, particularly Agamemnon, Achilles, and Ulysses. Achilles killed him with one blow of his fist, because he laughed at his mourning the death of Penthesilea. Ovid, ex Ponto, bk. 4, poem 17, li. 15.—Apollodorus, bk. 1, ch. 8.—Homer, Iliad, bk. 2, li. 212, &c.

Theseidæ, a patronymic given to the Athenians from Theseus, one of their kings. Virgil, Georgics, bk. 2, li. 383.

Theseis, a poem written by Codrus, containing an account of the life and actions of Theseus, and now lost. Juvenal, satire 1, li. 2.

Theseus, a king of Athens, and son of Ægeus by Æthra the daughter of Pittheus, was one of the most celebrated of the heroes of antiquity. He was educated at Trœzene in the house of Pittheus, and as he was not publicly acknowledged to be the son of the king of Athens, he passed for the son of Neptune. When he came to years of maturity, he was sent by his mother to his father, and a sword was given him, by which he might make himself known to Ægeus in a private manner. See: [Ægeus]. His journey to Athens was not across the sea, as it was usual with travellers, but Theseus determined to signalize himself in going by land, and encountering difficulties. The road which led from Trœzene to Athens was infested with robbers and wild beasts, and almost impassable; but these obstacles were easily removed by the courageous son of Ægeus. He destroyed Corynetes, Synnis, Sciron, Cercyon, Procrustes, and the celebrated Phæa. At Athens, however, his reception was not cordial; Medea lived there with Ægeus, and as she knew that her influence would fall to the ground, if Theseus was received in his father’s house, she attempted to destroy him before his arrival was made public. Ægeus was himself to give the cup of poison to this unknown stranger at a feast, but the sight of his sword on the side of Theseus reminded him of his amours with Æthra. He knew him to be his son, and the people of Athens were glad to find that this illustrious stranger, who had cleared Attica from robbers and pirates, was the son of their monarch. The Pallantides, who expected to succeed their uncle Ægeus on the throne, as he apparently had no children, attempted to assassinate Theseus; but they fell a prey to their own barbarity, and were all put to death by the young prince. The bull of Marathon next engaged the attention of Theseus. The labour seemed arduous, but he caught the animal alive, and after he had led it through the streets of Athens, he sacrificed it to Minerva, or the god of Delphi. After this Theseus went to Crete among the seven chosen youths whom the Athenians yearly sent to be devoured by the Minotaur. The wish to deliver his country from so dreadful a tribute, engaged him to undertake this expedition. He was successful by means of Ariadne the daughter of Minos, who was enamoured of him, and after he had escaped from the labyrinth with a clue of thread, and killed the Minotaur [See: [Minotaurus]], he sailed from Crete with the six boys and seven maidens, whom his victory had equally redeemed from death. In the island of Naxos, where he was driven by the winds, he had the meanness to abandon Ariadne, to whom he was indebted for his safety. The rejoicings which his return might have occasioned at Athens were interrupted by the death of Ægeus, who threw himself into the sea when he saw his son’s ship return with black sails, which was the signal of ill success. See: [Ægeus]. His ascension on his father’s throne was universally applauded, B.C. 1235. The Athenians were governed with mildness, and Theseus made new regulations, and enacted new laws. The number of the inhabitants of Athens was increased by the liberality of the monarch, religious worship was attended with more than usual solemnity, a court was instituted which had the care of all civil affairs, and Theseus made the government democratical, while he reserved for himself only the command of the armies. The fame which he had gained by his victories and policy, made his alliance courted; but Pirithous king of the Lapithæ, alone wished to gain his friendship, by meeting him in the field of battle. He invaded the territories of Attica, and when Theseus had marched out to meet him, the two enemies, struck at the sight of each other, rushed between their two armies, to embrace one another in the most cordial and affectionate manner, and from that time began the most sincere and admired friendship, which has become proverbial. Theseus was present at the nuptials of his friend, and was the most eager and courageous of the Lapithæ, in the defence of Hippodamia and her female attendants, against the brutal attempts of the Centaurs. When Pirithous had lost Hippodamia, he agreed with Theseus, whose wife Phædra was also dead, to carry away some of the daughters of the gods. Their first attempt was upon Helen the daughter of Leda, and after they had obtained this beautiful prize, they cast lots, and she became the property of Theseus. The Athenian monarch entrusted her to the care of his mother Æthra, at Aphidnæ, till she was of nubile years, but the resentment of Castor and Pollux soon obliged him to restore her safe into their hands. Helen, before she reached Sparta, became mother of a daughter by Theseus, but this tradition, confirmed by some ancient mythologists, is confuted by others, who affirm that she was but nine years old when carried away by the two royal friends, and Ovid introduces her in one of his epistles, saying, Excepto redii passa timore nihil. Some time after Theseus assisted his friend in procuring a wife, and they both descended into the infernal regions to carry away Proserpine. Pluto, apprised of their intentions, stopped them. Pirithous was placed on his father’s wheel, and Theseus was tied to a huge stone on which he had sat to rest himself. Virgil represents him in this eternal state of punishment repeating to the shades in Tartarus the words of Discite justitiam moniti, et non temnere divos. Apollodorus, however, and others declare that he was not long detained in hell; when Hercules came to steal the dog Cerberus, he tore him away from the stone, but with such violence, that his skin was left behind. The same assistance was given to Pirithous, and the two friends returned upon the earth by the favour of Hercules and the consent of the infernal deities, not, however, without suffering the most excruciating torments. During the captivity of Theseus in the kingdom of Pluto, Mnestheus, one of the descendants of Erechtheus, ingratiated himself into the favours of the people of Athens, and obtained the crown in preference to the children of the absent monarch. At his return Theseus attempted to eject the usurper, but to no purpose. The Athenians had forgotten his many services, and he retired with great mortification to the court of Lycomedes king of the island of Scyros. After paying him much attention, Lycomedes, either jealous of his fame, or bribed by the presence of Mnestheus, carried him to a high rock, on pretence of showing him the extent of his dominions, and threw him down a deep precipice. Some suppose that Theseus inadvertently fell down this precipice, and that he was crushed to death without receiving any violence from Lycomedes. The children of Theseus, after the death of Mnestheus, recovered the Athenian throne, and that the memory of their father might not be without the honours due to a hero, they brought his remains from Scyros, and gave them a magnificent burial. They also raised him statues and a temple, and festivals and games were publicly instituted to commemorate the actions of a hero who had rendered such services to the people of Athens. These festivals were still celebrated with original solemnity in the age of Pausanias and Plutarch, about 1200 years after the death of Theseus. The historians disagree from the poets in their accounts about this hero, and they all suppose that, instead of attempting to carry away the wife of Pluto, the two friends wished to seduce a daughter of Aidoneus king of the Molossi. This daughter, as they say, bore the name of Proserpine, and the dog which kept the gates of the palace was called Cerberus, and hence, perhaps, arises the fiction of the poets. Pirithous was torn to pieces by the dog, but Theseus was confined in prison, from whence he made his escape some time after by the assistance of Hercules. Some authors place Theseus and his friend in the number of the Argonauts, but they were both detained, either in the infernal regions, or in the country of the Molossi, in the time of Jason’s expedition to Colchis. Plutarch, Lives.—Apollodorus, bk. 3.—Hyginus, fables 14 & 79.—Pausanias, bk. 1, ch. 2, &c.—Ovid, Metamorphoses, bk. 7, li. 433; Ibis, li. 412; Fasti, bk. 3, lis. 473 & 491; Heroides.—Diodorus, bks. 1 & 4.—Lucan, bk. 2, li. 612.—Homer, Odyssey, bk. 21, li. 293.—Hesiod, Shield of Heracles.—Ælian, Varia Historia, bk. 4, ch. 5.—Statius, Thebaid, bk. 5, li. 432—Propertius, bk. 3.—Lactantius, on Thebaid of Statius.—Philostratus, Imagines, bk. 1.—Flaccus, bk. 2.—Apollonius, bk. 1.—Virgil, Æneid, bk. 6, li. 617.—Seneca, Hippolytus.—Statius, Achilles, bk. 1.

Thesīdæ, a name given to the people of Athens, because they were governed by Theseus.

Thesĭdes, a patronymic applied to the children of Theseus, especially Hippolytus. Ovid, Heroides, poem 4, li. 65.

Thesmophŏra, a surname of Ceres, as lawgiver, in whose honour festivals were instituted called Thesmophoria. The Thesmophoria were instituted by Triptolemus, or, according to some, by Orpheus, or the daughters of Danaus. The greatest part of the Grecian cities, especially Athens, observed them with great solemnity. The worshippers were free-born women, whose husbands were obliged to defray the expenses of the festival. They were assisted by a priest called στεφανοφορος, because he carried a crown on his head. There were also certain virgins who officiated, and were maintained at the public expense. The freeborn women were dressed in white robes, to intimate their spotless innocence; they were charged to observe the strictest chastity during three or five days before the celebration, and during the four days of the solemnity; and on that account it was usual for them to strew their bed with agnus castus, fleabane, and all such herbs as were supposed to have the power of expelling all venereal propensities. They were also charged not to eat pomegranates, or to wear garlands on their heads, as the whole was to be observed with the greatest signs of seriousness and gravity, without any display of wantonness or levity. It was, however, usual to jest at one another, as the goddess Ceres had been made to smile by a merry expression when she was sad and melancholy for the recent loss of her daughter Proserpine. Three days were required for the preparation, and upon the 11th of the month called Pyanepsion, the women went to Eleusis, carrying books on their heads, in which the laws which the goddess had invented were contained. On the 14th of the same month the festival began, on the 16th day a fast was observed, and the women sat on the ground in token of humiliation. It was usual during the festival to offer prayers to Ceres, Proserpine, Pluto, and Calligenia, whom some suppose to be the nurse or favourite maid of the goddess of corn, or perhaps one of her surnames. There were some sacrifices of a mysterious nature, and all persons whose offence was small were released from confinement. Such as were initiated at the festivals of Eleusis assisted at the Thesmophoria. The place of high priest was hereditary in the family of Eumolpus. Ovid, Metamorphoses, bk. 10, li. 431; Fasti, bk. 4, li. 619.—Apollodorus, bk. 1, ch. 4.—Virgil, Æneid, bk. 4, li. 58.—Sophocles, Œdipus at Colonus.—Clement of Alexandria.

Thesmothĕtæ, a name given to the last six Archons among the Athenians, because they took particular care to enforce the laws, and to see justice impartially administered. They were at that time nine in number.

Thespia, now Neocorio, a town of Bœotia, at the foot of mount Helicon, which received its name from Thespia the daughter of Asopus, or from Thespius. Pliny, bk. 4, ch. 7.—Pausanias, bk. 9, ch. 26.—Strabo, bk. 9.

Thespiădæ, the sons of Thespiades. See: [Thespius].

Thespiădes, a name given to the 50 daughters of Thespius. See: [Thespius]. Diodorus, bk. 4.—Seneca, Hercules Œtaeus, li. 369.——Also a surname of the nine muses, because they were held in great veneration in Thespia. Flaccus, bk. 2, li. 368.—Ovid, Metamorphoses, bk. 5, li. 310.

Thespis, a Greek poet of Attica, supposed by some to be the inventor of tragedy, 536 years before Christ. His representations were very rustic and imperfect. He went from town to town upon a cart, on which was erected a temporary stage, where two actors, whose faces were daubed with the lees of wine, entertained the audience with choral songs, &c. Solon was a great enemy to his dramatic representations. Horace, Art of Poetry, li. 276.—Diogenes Laërtius.

Thespius, a king of Thespia, in Bœotia, son of Erechtheus, according to some authors. He was desirous that his 50 daughters should have children by Hercules, and therefore when that hero was at his court he permitted him to enjoy their company. This, which, according to some, was effected in one night, passes for the 13th and most arduous of the labours of Hercules, as the two following lines from the arcana arcanissima indicate:

Tertius hinc decimus labor est durissimus, unâ

Quinquaginta simul stupravit nocte puellas.

All the daughters of Thespius brought male children into the world, and some of them twins, particularly Procris the eldest, and the youngest. Some suppose that one of the Thespiades refused to admit Hercules to her arms, for which the hero condemned her to pass all her life in continual celibacy, and to become the priestess of a temple he had at Thespia. The children of the Thespiades, called Thespiadæ, went to Sardinia, where they made a settlement with Iolaus, the friend of their father. Thespius is often confounded by ancient authors with Thestius, though the latter lived in a different place, and, as king of Pleuron, sent his sons to the hunting of the Calydonian boar. Apollodorus, bk. 2, ch. 4.—Pausanias, bk. 9, chs. 26 & 27.—Plutarch.

Thesprōtia, a country of Epirus, at the west of Ambracia, bounded on the south by the sea. It is watered by the rivers Acheron and Cocytus, which the poets, after Homer, have called the streams of hell. The oracle of Dodona was in Thesprotia. Homer, Odyssey, bk. 14, li. 315.—Strabo, bk. 7, &c.—Pausanias, bk. 1, ch. 17.—Lucan, bk. 3, li. 179.

Thesprōtus, a son of Lycaon king of Arcadia. Apollodorus, bk. 3, ch. 8.

Thessălia, a country of Greece, whose boundaries have been different at different periods. Properly speaking, Thessaly was bounded on the south by the northern parts of Greece, or Græcia propria; east, by the Ægean; north, by Macedonia and Mygdonia; and west, by Illyricum and Epirus. It was generally divided into four separate provinces, Thessaliotis, Pelasgiotis, Istiæotis, and Phthiotis, to which some add Magnesia. It has been severally called Æmonia, Pelasgicum, Argos, Hellas, Argeia, Dryopis, Pelasgia, Pyrrhæa, Æmathia, &c. The name of Thessaly is derived from Thessalus, one of its monarchs. Thessaly is famous for a deluge which happened there in the age of Deucalion. Its mountains and cities are also celebrated, such as Olympus, Pelion, Ossa, Larissa, &c. The Argonauts were partly natives of Thessaly. The inhabitants of the country passed for a treacherous nation, so that false money was called Thessalian coin, and a perfidious action, Thessalian deceit. Thessaly was governed by kings, till it became subject to the Macedonian monarchs. The cavalry was universally esteemed, and the people were superstitious, and addicted to the study of magic and incantations. Thessaly is now called Janna. Lucan, bk. 6, li. 438, &c.—Dionysius Periegetes,li. 219.—Curtius, bk. 3, ch. 2.—Ælian, Varia Historia, bk. 3, ch. 1.—Pausanias, bk. 4, ch. 36; bk. 10, ch. 1.—Mela, bk. 2, ch. 3.—Justin, bk. 7, ch. 6.—Diodorus, bk. 4.

Thessălion, a servant of Mentor of Sidon, in the age of Artaxerxes Ochus, &c. Diodorus, bk. 16.

Thessaliotis, a part of Thessaly at the south of the river Peneus.

Thessalonīca, an ancient town of Macedonia, first called Therma, and Thessalonica, after Thessalonica the wife of Cassander. According to ancient writers it was once very powerful, and it still continues to be a place of note. Strabo, bk. 7.—Dionysius of Halicarnassus.—Cicero, Against Piso, ch. 17.—Livy, bk. 29, ch. 17; bk. 40, ch. 4; bk. 44, chs. 10 & 45.—Mela, bk. 2, ch. 3.——A daughter of Philip king of Macedonia, sister to Alexander the Great. She married Cassander, by whom she had a son called Antipater, who put her to death. Pausanias, bk. 8, ch. 7.

Thessălus, a son of Æmon.——A son of Hercules and Calliope daughter of Euryphilus. Thessaly received its name from one of these. Apollodorus, bk. 2.—Dictys Cretensis, bk. 2.——A physician who invited Alexander to a feast at Babylon to give him poison.——A physician of Lydia in the age of Nero. He gained the favours of the great and opulent at Rome, by the meanness and servility of his behaviour. He treated all physicians with contempt, and thought himself superior to all his predecessors.——A son of Cimon, who accused Alcibiades because he imitated the mysteries of Ceres.——A son of Pisicratus.——A player in the age of Alexander.

Thestălus, a son of Hercules and Epicaste. Apollodorus, bk. 2, ch. 7.

Theste, a sister of Dionysius the elder, tyrant of Syracuse. She married Philoxenus, and was greatly esteemed by the Sicilians.

Thestia, a town of Ætolia, between the Evenus and Achelous. Polybius, bk. 5.

Thestiădæ and Thestiădes. See: [Thespiadæ] and [Thespiades].

Thestiădæ, the sons of Thestius, Toxeus, and Plexippus. Ovid, Metamorphoses, bk. 8, li. 286.

Thestias, a patronymic of Althæa, daughter of Thestius. Ovid, Metamorphoses, bk. 8.

Thestis, a fountain in the country of Cyrene.

Thestius, a king of Pleuron, and son of Parthaon, was father to Toxeus, Plexippus, and Althæa.——A king of Thespia. See: [Thespius]. The sons of Thestius, called Thestiadæ, were killed by Meleager at the chase of the Calydonian boar. Apollodorus, bk. 1, ch. 7.

Thestor, a son of Idmon and Laothoe, father to Calchas. From him Calchas is often called Thestorides. Ovid, Metamorphoses, bk. 12, li. 19.—Statius, bk. 1, Achilleis, li. 497.—Apollonius, bk. 1, li. 239.—Homer, Iliad, bk. 1, li. 69.

Thesty̆lis, a country-woman mentioned in Theocritus and Virgil.

Thetis, one of the sea deities, daughter of Nereus and Doris, often confounded with Tethys her grandmother. She was courted by Neptune and Jupiter; but when the gods were informed that the son she would bring forth must become greater than his father, their addresses were stopped, and Peleus the son of Œacus was permitted to solicit her hand. Thetis refused him, but the lover had the artifice to catch her when asleep, and, by binding her strongly, he prevented her from escaping from his grasp, in assuming different forms. When Thetis found that she could not elude the vigilance of her lover she consented to marry him, though much against her inclination. Their nuptials were celebrated on mount Pelion with great pomp; all the deities attended except the goddess of discord, who punished the negligence of Peleus, by throwing into the midst of the assembly a golden apple, to be given to the fairest of all the goddesses. See: [Discordia]. Thetis became mother of several children by Peleus, but all these she destroyed by fire in attempting to see whether they were immortal. Achilles must have shared the same fate, if Peleus had not snatched him from her hand as she was going to repeat the cruel operation. She afterwards rendered him invulnerable by plunging him in the waters of the Styx, except that part of the heel by which she held him. As Thetis well knew the fate of her son, she attempted to remove him from the Trojan war by concealing him in the court of Lycomedes. This was useless. He went with the rest of the Greeks. The mother, still anxious for his preservation, prevailed upon Vulcan to make him a suit of armour; but when it was done, she refused the god the favours which she had promised him. When Achilles was killed by Paris, Thetis issued out of the sea with the Nereides to mourn his death, and after she had collected his ashes in a golden urn, she raised a monument to his memory, and instituted festivals in his honour. Hesiod, Theogony, li. 244, &c.—Apollodorus, bk. 1, chs. 2 & 9; bk. 3, ch. 13.—Hyginus, fable 54.—Homer, Iliad, bk. 1, &c.; Odyssey, bk. 24, li. 55.—Pausanias, bk. 5, ch. 18, &c.—Ovid, Metamorphoses, bk. 11, fable 7; bk. 12, fable 1, &c.

Theutis, or Teuthis, a prince of a town of the same name in Arcadia, who went to the Trojan war. He quarrelled with Agamemnon at Aulis, and when Minerva, under the form of Melas son of Ops, attempted to pacify him, he struck the goddess and returned home. Some say that the goddess afterwards appeared to him and showed him the wound which he had given her in the thigh, and that he died soon after. Pausanias, bk. 8, ch. 28.

Thia, the mother of the sun, moon, and Aurora by Hyperion. See: [Thea]. Hesiod, Theogony, li. 371.——One of the Sporades, that rose out of the sea in the age of Pliny. Pliny, bk. 27, ch. 12.

Thias, a king of Assyria.

Thimbron, a Lacedæmonian, chosen general to conduct a war against Persia. He was recalled, and afterwards reappointed. He died B.C. 391. Diodorus, bk. 17.——A friend of Harpalus.

Thiodamas, the father of Hylas. See: [♦][Theodamas].

[♦] ‘Theodamus’ replaced with ‘Theodamas’

Thirmidia, a town of Numidia, where Hiempsal was slain. Sallust, Jugurthine War, ch. 2.

Thisbe, a beautiful woman of Babylon. See: [Pyramus].——A town of Bœotia, between two mountains. Pausanias, bk. 9, ch. 32.

Thisias, a Sicilian writer.

Thiosa, one of the three nymphs who fed Jupiter in Arcadia. She built a town which bore her name in Arcadia. Pausanias, bk. 8, ch. 38.

Thistie, a town of Bœotia. Pliny, bk. 4, ch. 7.

Thoantium, a place on the sea coast at Rhodes.

Thoas, a king of Taurica Chersonesus, in the age of Orestes and Pylades. He would have immolated these two celebrated strangers on Diana’s altars, according to the barbarous customs of the country, had they not been delivered by Iphigenia. See: [Iphigenia]. According to some, Thoas was the son of Borysthenes. Ovid, ex Ponto, bk. 3, poem 2.——A king of Lemnos, son of Bacchus and Ariadne the daughter of Minos, and husband to Myrine. He had been made king of Lemnos by Rhadamanthus. He was still alive when the Lemnian women conspired to kill all the males in the island, but his life was spared by his only daughter [♦]Hypsipyle, in whose favour he had resigned the crown. [♦]Hypsipyle obliged her father to depart secretly from Lemnos, to escape from the fury of the women, and he arrived safe in a neighbouring island, which some call Chios, though many suppose that Thoas was assassinated by the enraged females before he had left Lemnos. Some mythologists confound the king of Lemnos with that of Chersonesus, and suppose that they were one and the same man. According to their opinion, Thoas was very young when he retired from Lemnos, and after that he went to Taurica Chersonesus, where he settled. Flaccus, bk. 8, li. 208.—Hyginus, fables 74, 120.—Ovid, Ibis, li. 384; Heroides, poem 6, li. 114.—Statius, Thebaid, bk. 6, lis. 262 & 486.—Apollonius of Rhodes, bk. 1, lis. 209 & 615.—Apollodorus, bk. 1, ch. 9; bk. 3, ch. 6.—Euripides, Iphigeneia.——A son of Andremon and Gorge the daughter of Œneus. He went to the Trojan war with 15, or rather 40 ships. Homer, Iliad, bk. 2, &c.—Dictys Cretensis, bk. 1.—Hyginus, fable 97.——A famous huntsman. Diodorus, bk. 4.——A son of Icarius. Apollodorus, bk. 3, ch. 10.——A son of Jason and [♦]Hypsipyle queen of Lemnos. Statius, Thebaid, bk. 6, li. 342.——A son of Ornytion, grandson of Sisyphus.——A king of Assyria, father of Adonis and Myrrha, according to Apollodorus, bk. 3, ch. 14.——A man who made himself master of Miletus.——An officer of Ætolia, who strongly opposed the views of the Romans, and favoured the interest of Antiochus, B.C. 193.——One of the friends of Æneas in Italy, killed by Halesus. Virgil, Æneid, bk. 10, li. 415.

[♦] ‘Hipsipyle’ replaced with ‘Hypsipyle’ for consistency

Thoe, one of the Nereides. Hesiod, Theogony, li. 245.——One of the horses of Admetus.——One of the Amazons, &c. Valerius Flaccus, bk. 6, li. 376.

Tholus, a town of Africa.

Thomȳris, called also Tamyris, Tameris, Thamyris, and Tomeris, was queen of the Massagetæ. After her husband’s death, she marched against Cyrus, who wished to invade her territories, cut his army to pieces, and killed him on the spot. The barbarous queen ordered the head of the fallen monarch to be cut off and thrown into a vessel full of human blood, with the insulting words of satia te sanguine quem sitisti. Her son had been conquered by Cyrus before she marched herself at the head of her armies. Herodotus, bk. 1, ch. 205.—Justin, bk. 1, ch. 8.—Tibullus, bk. 4, poem 1, li. 143.

Thon, an Egyptian physician, &c.

Thonis, a courtesan of Egypt.

Thoon, a Trojan chief killed by Ulysses. Ovid, Metamorphoses, bk. 13, li. 259.——One of the giants who made war against Jupiter. Apollodorus, bk. 1, ch. 6.

Thoosa, a sea nymph, daughter of Phorcys, and mother of Polyphemus by Neptune. Hesiod, Theogony, li. 236.—Homer, Odyssey, bk. 1, li. 71.

Thoōtes, one of the Grecian heralds.

Thoranius, a general of Metellus, killed by Sertorius. Plutarch.

Thorax, a mountain near Magnesia in Ionia, where the grammarian Daphitas was suspended on a cross for his abusive language against kings and absolute princes, whence the proverb cave a Thorace. Strabo, bk. 14.——A Lacedæmonian officer who served under Lysander, and was put to death by the Ephori. Plutarch, Lysander.——A man of Larissa, who paid much attention to the dead body of Antigonus, &c. Plutarch, Lysander, &c.

Thoria lex, agraria, by Spurius Thorius the tribune. It ordained that no person should pay any rent for the land which he possessed. It also made some regulations about grazing and pastures. Cicero, Brutus.

Thornax, a mountain of Argolis. It received its name from Thornax, a nymph who became mother of Buphagus by Japetus. The mountain was afterwards called Coccygia, because Jupiter changed himself there into a cuckoo. Pausanias, bk. 8, ch. 27.

Thorsus, a river of Sardinia. Pausanias, bk. 10, ch. 17.

Thoth, an Egyptian deity, the same as Mercury.

Thous, a Trojan chief, &c.——One of Actæon’s dogs.

Thrāce, a daughter of Titan.——A name of Thrace. See: [Thracia].

Thrāces, the inhabitants of Thrace. See: [Thracia].

Thrācia, a large country of Europe, at the south of Scythia, bounded by mount Hæmus. It had the Ægean sea on the south, on the west Macedonia and the river Strymon, and on the east the Euxine sea, the Propontis, and the Hellespont. Its northern boundaries extended as far as the Ister, according to Pliny and others. The Thracians were looked upon as a cruel and barbarous nation; they were naturally brave and warlike, addicted to drinking and venereal pleasures, and they sacrificed without the smallest humanity their enemies on the altars of their gods. Their government was originally monarchical, and divided among a number of independent princes. Thrace is barren as to its soil. It received its name from Thrax the son of Mars, the chief deity of the country. The first inhabitants lived upon plunder, and on the milk and flesh of sheep. It forms now the province of Romania. Herodotus, bk. 4, ch. 99; bk. 5, ch. 3.—Strabo, bk. 1, &c.—Virgil, Æneid, bk. 3, &c.—Mela, bk. 2, ch. 2, &c.—Pausanias, bk. 9, ch. 29, &c.—Ovid, Metamorphoses, bk. 11, li. 92; bk. 13, li. 565, &c.—Cornelius Nepos, Alcibiades, ch. 11.

Thracidæ, an illustrious family at Delphi, destroyed by Philomelus because they opposed his views. Diodorus, bk. 16.

Thracis, a town of Phocis. Pausanias, bk. 10, ch. 3.

Thrăseas, or Thrasius, a soothsayer. See: [Thrasius].——Pætus, a stoic philosopher of Patavium, in the age of Nero, famous for his independence and generous sentiments. He died A.D. 66. Juvenal, satire 5, li. 36.—Martial, bk. 1, ltr. 19.—Tacitus, Annals, bk. 15, ch. 16.

Thrasideus, succeeded his father Theron as tyrant of Agrigentum. He was conquered by Hiero, and soon after put to death. Diodorus, bk. 11.

Thrasimenus. See: [Thrasymenus].

Thrasius, a general of a mercenary band in Sicily, who raised a sedition against Timoleon. Diodorus, bk. 16.——A spendthrift at Rome, &c. Horace, bk. 2, satire 2, li. 99.

Thraso, a painter. Strabo, bk. 14.——A favourite of Hieronymus, who espoused the interest of the Romans. He was put to death by the tyrant.——The character of a captain in Terence.

Thrasybūlus, a famous general of Athens, who began the expulsion of the 30 tyrants of his country, though he was only assisted by 30 of his friends. His efforts were attended with success, B.C. 401, and the only reward he received for this patriotic action was a crown made with two twigs of an olive branch; a proof of his own disinterestedness and of the virtues of his countrymen. The Athenians employed a man whose abilities and humanity were so [♦]conspicuous, and Thrasybulus was sent with a powerful fleet to recover their lost power in the Ægean, and on the coast of Asia. After he had gained many advantages, this great man was killed in his camp by the inhabitants of Aspendus, whom his soldiers had plundered without his knowledge, B.C. 391. Diodorus, bk. 14.—Cornelius Nepos, Lives.—Cicero.—Philostratus.—Valerius Maximus, bk. 4, ch. 1.——A tyrant of Miletus, B.C. 634.——A soothsayer descended from Apollo. Pausanias, bk. 6, ch. 2.——A son of Gelon, banished from Syracuse, of which he was the tyrant, B.C. 466.——An Athenian in the army of the Persians, who supported the siege of Halicarnassus.

[♦] ‘conspicious’ replaced with ‘conspicuous’

Thrasydæus, a king of Thessaly, &c.

Thrasyllus, a man of Attica, so disordered in his mind that he believed all the ships which entered the Piræus to be his own. He was cured by means of his brother, whom he liberally reproached for depriving him of that happy illusion of mind. Ælian, Varia Historia, bk. 4, ch. 25.——A general of the Athenians in the age of Alcibiades, with whom he obtained a victory over the Persians. Thucydides, bk. 8.——A Greek Pythagorean philosopher and mathematician, who enjoyed the favours and the friendship of Augustus and Tiberius. Suetonius, Tiberius.

Thrasy̆măchus, a native of Carthage, who became the pupil of Isocrates and of Plato. Though he was a public teacher at Athens, he starved for want of bread, and at last hanged himself. Juvenal, satire 7, li. 204.——A man who abolished democracy at Cumæ. Aristotle, Politics, bk. 5, ch. 5.

Thrasymēdes, a son of Nestor king of Pylos, by Anaxibia the daughter of Bias. He was one of the Grecian chiefs during the Trojan war. Hyginus, fable 27.—Pausanias, bk. 2, ch. 26.——A son of Philomelus, who carried away a daughter of Pisistratus, whom he married. Polyænus, bk. 5.

Thrăsy̆mēnus, a lake of Italy near Perusium, celebrated for a battle fought there between Annibal and the Romans, under Flaminius, B.C. 217. No less than 15,000 Romans were left dead on the field of battle, and 10,000 taken prisoners, or, according to Livy, 6000, or Polybius, 15,000. The loss of Annibal was about 1500 men. About 10,000 Romans made their escape, all covered with wounds. This lake is now called the lake of Perugia. Strabo, bk. 5.—Ovid, Fasti, bk. 6, li. 765.—Plutarch.

Threicius, of Thrace. Orpheus is called, by way of eminence, Threicius Sacerdos. Virgil, Æneid, bk. 6, li. 645.

Threissa, an epithet applied to Harpalyce, a native of Thrace. Virgil, Æneid, bk. 1, li. 310.

Threpsippas, a son of Hercules and Panope. Apollodorus.

Thriambus, one of the surnames of Bacchus.

Thronium, a town of Phocis, where the Boagrius falls into the sea, in the Sinus Malicus. Livy, bk. 36, ch. 20.—Strabo, bk. 9.—Pliny, bk. 4, ch. 7.——Another of Thesprotia.

Thryon, a town of Messenia, near the Alpheus. Strabo, bk. 8.—Homer, Iliad, bk. 2.

Thryus, a town of Peloponnesus, near Elis.

Thūcy̆dĭdes, a celebrated Greek historian, born at Athens. His father’s name was Olorus, and among his ancestors he reckoned the great Miltiades. His youth was distinguished by an eager desire to excel in the vigorous exercises and gymnastic amusements which called the attention of his contemporaries, and when he had reached the years of manhood, he appeared in the Athenian armies. During the Peloponnesian war he was commissioned by his countrymen to relieve Amphipolis; but the quick march of Brasidas the Lacedæmonian general defeated his operations, and Thucydides, unsuccessful in his expedition, was banished from Athens. This happened in the eighth year of this celebrated war, and in the place of his banishment the general began to write an impartial history of the important events which had happened during his administration, and which still continued to agitate the several states of Greece. This famous history is continued only to the 21st year of the war, and the remaining part of the time, till the demolition of the walls of Athens, was described by the pen of Theopompus and Xenophon. Thucydides wrote in the Attic dialect, as possessed of more vigour, purity, elegance, and energy. He spared neither time nor money to procure authentic materials; and the Athenians, as well as their enemies, furnished him with many valuable communications, which contributed to throw great light on the different transactions of the war. His history has been divided into eight books, the last of which is imperfect, and supposed to have been written by his daughter. The character of this interesting history is well known, and the noble emulation of the writer will ever be admired, who shed tears when he heard Hercules repeat his history of the Persian wars at the public festivals of Greece. The historian of Halicarnassus has been compared with the son of Olorus, but each has his peculiar excellence. Sweetness of style, grace, and elegance of expression, may be called the characteristics of the former, while Thucydides stands unequalled for the fire of his descriptions, the conciseness, and, at the same time, the strong and energetic matter of his narratives. His relations are authentic, as he himself was interested in the events he mentions; his impartiality is indubitable, as he nowhere betrays the least resentment against his countrymen, and the factious partisans of Cleon, who had banished him from Athens. Many have blamed the historian for the injudicious distribution of his subjects; and while, for the sake of accuracy, the whole is divided into summers and winters, the thread of history is interrupted, the scene continually shifted; and the reader, unable to pursue events to the end, is transported from Persia to Peloponnesus, or from the walls of Syracuse to the coast of Corcyra. The animated harangues of Thucydides have been universally admired; he found a model in Herodotus, but he greatly surpassed the original; and succeeding historians have adopted, with success, a peculiar mode of writing which introduces a general addressing himself to the passions and the feelings of his armies. The history of Thucydides was so admired, that Demosthenes, to perfect himself as an orator, transcribed it eight different times, and read it with such attention, that he could almost repeat it by heart. Thucydides died at Athens, where he had been recalled from his exile, in his 80th year, 391 years before Christ. The best editions of Thucydides are those of Duker, folio, Amsterdam, 1731; of Glasgow, 12mo, 8 vols., 1759; of Hudson, folio, Oxford, 1796, and the 8vo of Zweibrücken, 1788. Cicero, On Oratory, &c.—Diodorus, bk. 12.—Dionysius of Halicarnassus, Thucydides.—Ælian, Varia Historia, bk. 12, ch. 50.—Quintilian.——A son of Milesias, in the age of Pericles. He was banished for his opposition to the measures of Pericles, &c.

Thuisto, one of the deities of the Germans. Tacitus.

Thūle, an island in the most northern parts of the German ocean, to which, on account of its great distance from the continent, the ancients gave the epithet of ultima. Its situation was never accurately ascertained, hence its present name is unknown by modern historians. Some suppose that it is the island now called Iceland or part of Greenland, whilst others imagine it to be the Shetland isles. Statius, bk. 3, Sylvæ, poem 5, li. 20.—Strabo, bk. 1.—Mela, bk. 3, ch. 6.—Tacitus, Agricola, ch. 10.—Pliny, bk. 2, ch. 75; bk. 4, ch. 16.—Virgil, Georgics, bk. 1, li. 30.—Juvenal, satire 15, li. 112.

Thuriæ, Thurii, or Thurium, a town of Lucania in Italy, built by a colony of Athenians, near the ruins of Sybaris, B.C. 444. In the number of this Athenian colony were Lysias and Herodotus. Strabo, bk. 6.—Pliny, bk. 12, ch. 4.—Mela, bk. 2, ch. 4.——A town of Messenia. Pausanias, bk. 4, ch. 31.—Strabo, bk. 8.

Thurīnus, a name given to Augustus when he was young, either because some of his progenitors were natives of Thurium, or because they had distinguished themselves there. Suetonius, Augustus, ch. 7.

Thuscia, a country of Italy, the same as Etruria. See: [Etruria].

Thya, a daughter of the Cephisus.——A place near Delphi.

Thyădes (singular, Thyas), a name of the Bacchanals. They received it from Thyas daughter of Castalius, and mother of Delphus by Apollo. She was the first woman who was priestess of the god Bacchus. Virgil, Æneid, bk. 4, li. 302.—Pausanias, bk. 10, ch. 4.

Thyămis, a river of Epirus falling into the Ionian sea. Pausanias, bk. 1, ch. 11.—Cicero, bk. 7, Letters to Atticus, ltr. 2.

Thyana, a town of Cappadocia. Strabo.

Thyatira, a town of Lydia, now Akisar. Livy, bk. 37, chs. 8 & 44.

Thybarni, a people near Sardes. Diodorus, bk. 17.

Thyesta, a sister of Dionysius the tyrant of Syracuse.

Thyestes, a son of Pelops and Hippodamia, and grandson of Tantalus, debauched Ærope the wife of his brother Atreus, because he refused to take him as his colleague on the throne of Argos. This was no sooner known, than Atreus divorced Ærope, and banished Thyestes from his kingdom; but soon after, the more effectually to punish his infidelity, he expressed a wish to be reconciled to him, and recalled him to Argos. Thyestes was received by his brother at an elegant entertainment, but he was soon informed that he had been feeding upon the flesh of one of his own children. This Atreus took care to communicate to him by showing him the remains of his son’s body. This action appeared so barbarous, that, according to the ancient mythologists, the sun changed his usual course, not to be a spectator of so bloody a scene. Thyestes escaped from his brother, and fled to Epirus. Some time after he met his daughter Pelopea in a grove sacred to Minerva, and he offered her violence without knowing who she was. This incest, however, according to some, was intentionally committed by the father, as he had been told by an oracle, that the injuries he had received from Atreus would be avenged by a son born from himself and Pelopea. The daughter, pregnant by her father, was seen by her uncle Atreus and married, and some time after she brought into the world a son, whom she exposed in the woods. The life of the child was preserved by goats; he was called Ægysthus, and presented to his mother, and educated in the family of Atreus. When grown to years of maturity, the mother gave her son Ægysthus a sword, which she had taken from her unknown ravisher in the grove of Minerva, with hopes of discovering who he was. Meantime Atreus, intent to punish his brother, sent Agamemnon and Menelaus to pursue him, and when at last they found him, he was dragged to Argos, and thrown into a close prison. Ægysthus was sent to murder Thyestes, but the father recollected the sword, which was raised to stab him, and a few questions convinced him that his assassin was his own son. Pelopea was present at this discovery, and when she found that she had committed incest with her father, she asked Ægysthus to examine the sword, and immediately plunged it into her own breast. Ægysthus rushed from the prison to Atreus, with the bloody weapon, and murdered him near an altar, as he wished to offer thanks to the gods on the supposed death of Thyestes. At the death of Atreus, Thyestes was placed on his brother’s throne by Ægysthus, from which he was soon after driven by Agamemnon and Menelaus. He retired from Argos, and was banished into the island of Cythera by Agamemnon, where he died. Apollodorus, bk. 2, ch. 4.—Sophocles, Ajax.—Hyginus, fable 86, &c.—Ovid, Ibis, li. 359.—Lucan, bk. 1, li. 544; bk. 7, li. 451.—Seneca, Thyestes.

Thymbra, a small town of Lydia near Sardes, celebrated for a battle which was fought there between Cyrus and Crœsus, in which the latter was defeated. The troops of Cyrus amounted to 196,000 men, besides chariots, and those of Crœsus were twice as numerous.——A plain in Troas, through which a small river, called Thymbrius, falls in its course to the Scamander. Apollo had there a temple, and from thence he is called Thymbræus. Achilles was killed there by Paris, according to some. Strabo, bk. 13.—Statius, bk. 4, Sylvæ, poem 7, li. 22.—Dictys Cretensis, bk. 2, ch. 52; bk. 2, ch. 1.

Thymbræus, a surname of Apollo. Virgil, Georgics, bk. 4, li. 323; Æneid, bk. 3, li. 85. See: [Thymbra].

Thymbris, a concubine of Jupiter, said to be mother of Pan. Apollodorus.——A fountain and river of Sicily. Theocritus, poem 1, li. 100.

Thymbron. See: [Thimbron].

Thymĕle, a celebrated female dancer, favoured by Domitian. Juvenal, satire 1, li. 36.—Statius, bk. 6, li. 36.

Thymiathis, a river of Epirus. Strabo, bk. 7.

Thymochăres, an Athenian defeated in a battle by the Lacedæmonians.

Thymœtes, a king of Athens, son of Oxinthas, the last of the descendants of Theseus, who reigned at Athens. He was deposed because he refused to accept a challenge sent by Xanthus king of Bœotia, and was succeeded by a Messenian, B.C. 1128, who repaired the honour of Athens by fighting the Bœotian king. Pausanias, bk. 2, ch. 18.——A Trojan prince, whose wife and son were put to death by order of Priam. It was to revenge the king’s cruelty that he persuaded his countrymen to bring the wooden horse within their city. He was son of Laomedon, according to some. Virgil, Æneid, bk. 2, li. 32.—Dictys Cretensis, bk. 4, ch. 4.——A son of Hicetaon, who accompanied Æneas into Italy, and was killed by Turnus. Virgil, Æneid, bk. 10, li. 123; bk. 12, li. 364.

Thyni, or Bythyni, a people of Bithynia, hence the word Thyna merx applied to their commodities. Horace, bk. 3, ode 7, li. 3.—Pliny, bk. 4, ch. 11.

Thyodămas. See: [♦][Theodamas].

[♦] ‘Theodamus’ replaced with ‘Theodamas’

Thyōne, a name given to Semele after she had been presented with immortality by her son Bacchus. Apollodorus, bk. 3, ch. 5.

Thyōneus, a surname of Bacchus from his mother Semele, who was called Thyone. Apollodorus, bk. 3, ch. 5.—Horace, bk. 1, ode 17, li. 23.—Ovid, bk. 4, Metamorphoses, li. 13.

Thyotes, a priest of the Cabiri, in Samothrace. Flaccus, bk. 2, li. 438.

Thyre, a town of the Messenians, famous for a battle fought there between the Argives and the Lacedæmonians. Herodotus, bk. 1, ch. 82.—Statius, Thebaid, bk. 4, li. 48.

Thyrea, an island on the coast of Peloponnesus, near Hermione. Herodotus, bk. 6, ch. 76.

Thyreum, a town of Acarnania, whose inhabitants are called Thyrienses. Livy, bk. 36, ch. 11; bk. 38, ch. 9.

Thyreus, a son of Lycaon king of Arcadia. Pausanias, bk. 8, ch. 3.——A son of Œneus king of Calydon. Apollodorus, bk. 1, ch. 8.

Thyrĭdes, three small islands at the point of Tænarus. Pliny, bk. 4, ch. 12.

Thyrsagĕtæ, a people of Sarmatia, who live upon hunting. Pliny, bk. 4, ch. 12.

Thyrsus, a river of Sardinia, now Oristagni.

Thysos, a town near mount Athos.

Thyus, a satrap of Paphlagonia, who revolted from Artaxerxes, and was seized by Datames. Cornelius Nepos, Datames.

Tiasa, a daughter of the Eurotas, who gave her name to a river in Laconia. Pausanias, bk. 3, ch. 18.

Tibarēni, a people of Cappadocia, on the borders of the Thermodon.——A people of Pontus. Mela, bk. 2, ch. 20.

Tiberias, a town of Galilee, built by Herod, near a lake of the same name, and called after Tiberius. Pliny, bk. 5, ch. 16.—Josephus, Antiquities, bk. 18, ch. 3.

Tiberīnus, son of Capetus, and king of Alba, was drowned in the river Albula, which on that account assumed the name of Tiberis, of which he became the protecting god. Livy, bk. 1, ch. 3.—Cicero, de Natura Deorum, bk. 2, ch. 20.—Varro, de Lingua Latina, bk. 4, ch. 5, &c.—Ovid, Fasti, bk. 2, li. 389; bk. 4, li. 47.

Tibĕris, Tyberis, Tiber, or Tibris, a river of Italy on whose banks the city of Rome was built. It was originally called Albula, from the whiteness of its waters, and afterwards Tiberis, when Tiberinus king of Alba had been drowned there. It was also named Tyrrhenus, because it watered Etruria, and Lydius, because the inhabitants of the neighbourhood were supposed to be of Lydian origin. The Tiber rises in the Apennines, and falls into the Tyrrhene sea, 16 miles below Rome, after dividing Latium from Etruria. Ovid, Fasti, bk. 4, lis. 47, 329, &c.; bk. 5, li. 641; Ibis, li. 514.—Lucan, bk. 1, li. 381, &c.—Varro, de Lingua Latina, bk. 4, ch. 5.—Virgil, Æneid, bk. 7, li. 30.—Horace, bk. 1, ode 2, li. 13.—Mela, bk. 2, ch. 4.—Livy, bk. 1, ch. 3.

Tibērius Claudius Drusus Nero, a Roman emperor after the death of Augustus, was descended from the family of the Claudii. In his early years he commanded popularity by entertaining the populace with magnificent shows and fights of gladiators, and he gained some applause in the funeral oration which he pronounced over his father, though only nine years old. His first appearance in the Roman armies was under Augustus, in the war against the Cantabri; and afterwards, in the capacity of general, he obtained victories in different parts of the empire, and was rewarded with a triumph. Yet, in the midst of his glory, Tiberius fell under the displeasure of Augustus, and retired to Rhodes, where he continued for seven years as an exile, till, by the influence of his mother Livia with the emperor, he was recalled. His return to Rome was the more glorious; he had the command of the Roman armies in Illyricum, Pannonia, and Dalmatia, and seemed to divide the sovereign power with Augustus. At the death of this celebrated emperor, Tiberius, who had been adopted, assumed the reins of government; and while with dissimulation and affected modesty he wished to decline the dangerous office, he found time to try the fidelity of his friends, and to make the greatest part of the Romans believe that he was invested with the purple, not from his own choice, but by the recommendation of Augustus, and the urgent entreaties of the Roman senate. The beginning of his reign seemed to promise tranquillity to the world. Tiberius was a watchful guardian of the public peace; he was the friend of justice, and never assumed the sounding titles which must disgust a free nation, but he was satisfied to say of himself that he was the master of his slaves, the general of his soldiers, and the father of the citizens of Rome. That seeming moderation, however, which was but the fruit of the deepest policy, soon disappeared, and Tiberius was viewed in his real character. His ingratitude to his mother Livia, to whose intrigues he was indebted for the purple, his cruelty to his wife Julia, and his tyrannical oppression and murder of many noble senators, rendered him odious to the people, and suspected even by his most intimate favourites. The armies mutinied in Pannonia and Germany, but the tumults were silenced by the prudence of the generals and the fidelity of the officers, and the factious demagogues were abandoned to their condign punishment. This acted as a check upon Tiberius in Rome; he knew from thence, as his successors experienced, that his power was precarious, and his very existence in perpetual danger. He continued as he had begun, to pay the greatest deference to the senate; all libels against him he disregarded, and he observed that, in a free city, the thoughts and the tongue of every man should be free. The taxes were gradually lessened, and luxury restrained by the salutary regulations, as well as by the prevailing example and frugality of the emperor. While Rome exhibited a scene of peace and public tranquillity, the barbarians were severally defeated on the borders of the empire, and Tiberius gained new honours, by the activity and valour of Germanicus and his other faithful lieutenants. Yet the triumphs of Germanicus were beheld with jealousy. Tiberius dreaded his power, he was envious of his popularity, and the death of that celebrated general in Antioch was, as some suppose, accelerated by poison, and the secret resentment of the emperor. Not only his relations and friends, but the great and opulent, were sacrificed to his ambition, cruelty, and avarice; and there was scarce in Rome one single family that did not reproach Tiberius for the loss of a brother, a father, or a husband. He at last retired to the island of Capreæ, on the coast of Campania, where he buried himself in unlawful pleasures. The care of the empire was entrusted to favourites, among whom Sejanus for a while shone with uncommon splendour. In this solitary retreat the emperor proposed rewards to such as invented new pleasures, or could produce fresh luxuries. He forgot his age, as well as his dignity, and disgraced himself by the most unnatural vices and enormous indulgencies, which can draw a blush even upon the countenance of the most debauched and abandoned. While the emperor was lost to himself and the world, the provinces were harassed on every side by the barbarians, and Tiberius found himself insulted by those enemies whom hitherto he had seen fall prostrate at his feet with every mark of submissive adulation. At last, grown weak and helpless through infirmities, he thought of his approaching dissolution; and as he well knew that Rome could not exist without a head, he nominated, as his successor, Caius Caligula. Many might inquire, why a youth naturally so vicious and abandoned as Caius was chosen to be the master of an extensive empire; but Tiberius wished his own cruelties to be forgotten in the barbarities which might be displayed in the reign of his successor, whose natural propensities he had well defined, in saying of Caligula that he bred a serpent for the Roman people, and a Phaeton for the rest of the empire. Tiberius died at Misenum the 16th of March, A.D. 37, in the 78th year of his age, after a reign of 22 years, six months, and 26 days. Caligula was accused of having hastened his end by suffocating him. The joy was universal when his death was known; and the people of Rome, in the midst of sorrow, had a moment to rejoice, heedless of the calamities which awaited them in the succeeding reigns. The body of Tiberius was conveyed to Rome, and burnt with great solemnity. A funeral oration was pronounced by Caligula, who seemed to forget his benefactor while he expatiated on the praises of Augustus, Germanicus, and his own. The character of Tiberius has been examined with particular attention by historians, and his reign is the subject of the most perfect and elegant of all the compositions of Tacitus. When a private man, Tiberius was universally esteemed; when he had no superior, he was proud, arrogant, jealous, and revengeful. If he found his military operations conducted by a warlike general, he affected moderation and virtue; but when he got rid of the powerful influence of a favourite, he was tyrannical and dissolute. If, as some observe, he had lived in the times of the Roman republic, he might have been as conspicuous as his great ancestors; but the sovereign power lodged in his hands, rendered him vicious and oppressive. Yet, though he encouraged informers and favoured flattery, he blushed at the mean servilities of the senate, and derided the adulation of his courtiers, who approached him, he said, as if they approached a savage elephant. He was a patron of learning; he was an eloquent and ready speaker, and dedicated some part of his time to study. He wrote a lyric poem, entitled, “A Complaint on the death of Lucius Cæsar,” as also some Greek pieces in imitation of some of his favourite authors. He avoided all improper expressions, and all foreign words he totally wished to banish from the Latin tongue. As instances of his humanity, it has been recorded that he was uncommonly liberal to the people of Asia Minor, whose cities had been destroyed by a violent earthquake, A.D. 17. One of his officers wished him to increase the taxes. “No,” said Tiberius; “a good shepherd must shear, not flay, his sheep.” The senators wished to call the month of November, in which he was born, by his name, in imitation of Julius Cæsar and Augustus, in the months of July and August; but this he refused, saying, “What will you do, conscript fathers, if you have thirteen Cæsars?” Like the rest of the emperors, he received divine honours after death, and even during his life. It has been wittily observed by Seneca, that he never was intoxicated but once all his life, for he continued in a perpetual state of intoxication from the time he gave himself to drinking till the last moment of his life. Suetonius, Lives, &c.—Tacitus, Annals, bk. 6, &c.—Dio Cassius.——A friend of Julius Cæsar, whom he accompanied in the war of Alexandria. Tiberius forgot the favours he had received from his friend; and when he was assassinated, he wished all his murderers to be publicly rewarded.——One of the Gracchi. See: [Gracchus].——Sempronius, a son of Drusus and Livia the sister of Germanicus, put to death by Caligula.——A son of Brutus, put to death by his father, because he had conspired with other young noblemen to restore Tarquin to his throne.——A Thracian made emperor of Rome in the latter ages of the empire.

Tibēsis, a river of Scythia, flowing from mount Hæmus into the Ister. Herodotus, bk. 4, ch. 49.

Tibiscus, now Teisse, a river of Dacia, with a town of the same name, now Temeswar. It falls into the Danube.

Tibris. See: [Tiberis].

Tibŭla, a town of Sardinia, now Lango Sardo.

Tibullus Aulus Albius, a Roman knight celebrated for his poetical compositions. He followed Messala Corvinus into the island of Corcyra, but he was soon dissatisfied with the toils of war, and retired to Rome, where he gave himself up to literary ease, and to all the effeminate indolence of an Italian climate. His first composition was to celebrate the virtues of his friend Messala; but his more favourite study was writing love verses, in praise of his mistresses Delia and Plautia, of Nemesis and Neæra, and in these elegant effusions he showed himself the most correct of the Roman poets. As he had espoused the cause of Brutus, he lost his possessions when the soldiers of the triumvirate were rewarded with lands; but he might have recovered them if he had condescended, like Virgil, to make his court to Augustus. Four books of elegies are the only remaining pieces of his composition. They are uncommonly elegant and beautiful, and possessed with so much grace and purity of sentiment, that the writer is deservedly ranked as the prince of elegiac poets. Tibullus was intimate with the literary men of his age, and for some time he had a poetical contest with Horace, in gaining the favours of an admired courtesan. Ovid has written a beautiful elegy on the death of his friend. The poems of Tibullus are generally published with those of Propertius and Catullus, of which the best editions are that of Vulpius, Patavii, 1737, 1749, 1755; that of Barbou, 12mo, Paris, 1755; and that by Heyne, 8vo, Lipscomb, 1776. Ovid, bk. 3, Amores, poem 9; Tristia, bk. 2, li. 487.—Horace, bk. 1, ltr. 4; bk. 1, ode 33, li. 1.—Quintilian, bk. 10, ch. 1.

Tibur, an ancient town of the Sabines, about 20 miles north of Rome, built, as some say, by Tiburtus the son of Amphiaraus. It was watered by the Anio, and Hercules was the chief deity of the place, from which circumstance it has been called Herculei muri. In the neighbourhood, the Romans, on account of the salubrity of the air, had their several villas where they retired; and there also Horace had his favourite country seat, though some place it nine miles higher. Strabo, bk. 5.—Cicero, bk. 2, Orations, ch. 65.—Suetonius, Caligula, ch. 21.—Virgil, Æneid, bk. 7, li. 630.—Horace, bk. 3, ode 4, &c.—Ovid, Fasti, bk. 6, li. 61, &c.

Lucius Tiburtius, a centurion in Cæsar’s army, wounded by Pompey’s soldiers.

Tiburtus, the founder of Tibur, often called Tiburtia mænia. He was one of the sons of Amphiaraus. Virgil, Æneid, bk. 7, li. 670.

Tichis, now Tech, a river of Spain, falling into the Mediterranean.

Tichius, a name given to the top of mount Œta. Livy, bk. 36, ch. 16.

Ticĭda, a Roman poet a few years before the age of Cicero, who wrote epigrams, and praised his mistress Metella under the fictitious name of Petilla. Ovid, Tristia, bk. 2, li. 433.

Ticīnus, now Tesino, a river near Ticinum, a small town of Italy, where the Romans were defeated by Annibal. The town of Ticinum was also called Pavia. The Ticinus falls into the Po. Strabo, bk. 5.—Silius Italicus, bk. 4, li. 81.

Tidius, a man who joined Pompey, &c.

Tiessa, a river of Laconia, falling into the Eurotas. Pausanias, bk. 3, ch. 18.

Tifāta, a mountain of Campania, near Capua. Statius, Sylvæ, bk. 4.

Tifernum, a name common to three towns of Italy. One of them, for distinction’s sake, is called Metaurense, near the Metaurus, in Umbria; the other, Tiberinum, on the Tiber; and the third, Samniticum, in the country of the Sabines. Livy, bk. 10, ch. 14.—Pliny, bk. 3, ch. 14.—Pliny, Sect. 4, ltr. 1.

Tifernus, a mountain and river in the country of the Samnites. Pliny, bk. 3, ch. 11.—Livy, bk. 10, ch. 30.—Mela, bk. 3, ch. 4.

Tigasis, a son of Hercules.

Tigellīnus, a Roman celebrated for his intrigues and perfidy in the court of Nero. He was appointed judge at the trial of the conspirators who had leagued against Nero, for which he was liberally rewarded with triumphal honours. He afterwards betrayed the emperor, and was ordered to destroy himself, 68 A.D. Tacitus, Histories, bk. 1, ch. 72.—Plutarch.—Juvenal, satire 1.

Tigellius, a native of Sardinia, who became the favourite of Julius Cæsar, of Cleopatra and Augustus, by his mimicry and facetiousness. He was celebrated for the melody of his voice, yet he was of a mean and ungenerous disposition, and of unpleasing manners, as Horace, bk. 1, satire 2, li. 3 et seq. insinuates.

Tigrānes, a king of Armenia, who made himself master of Assyria and Cappadocia. He married Cleopatra the daughter of Mithridates, and by the advice of his father-in-law, he declared war against the Romans. He despised these distant enemies, and even ordered the head of the messenger to be cut off who first told him that the Roman general was boldly advancing towards his capital. His pride, however, was soon abated, and though he ordered the Roman consul Lucullus to be brought alive into his presence, he fled with precipitation from his capital, and was soon after defeated near mount Taurus. This totally disheartened him; he refused to receive Mithridates into his palace, and even set a price upon his head. His mean submission to Pompey, the successor of Lucullus in Asia, and a bribe of 60,000 talents, insured him on his throne, and he received a garrison in his capital, and continued at peace with the Romans. His second son of the same name revolted against him, and attempted to dethrone him with the assistance of the king of Parthia, whose daughter he had married. This did not succeed, and the son had recourse to the Romans, by whom he was put in possession of Sophene, while the father remained quiet on the throne of Armenia. The son was afterwards sent in chains to Rome, for his insolence to Pompey. Cicero, On Pompey’s Command.—Valerius Maximus, bk. 5, ch. 1.—Paterculus, bk. 2, chs. 33 & 37.—Justin, bk. 40, chs. 1 & 2.—Plutarch, Lucullus, Pompey, &c.——A king of Armenia in the reign of Tiberius. He was put to death. Tacitus, Annals, bk. 6, ch. 40.——One of the royal family of the Cappadocians, chosen by Tiberius to ascend the throne of Armenia.——A general of the Medes.——A man appointed king of Armenia by Nero. Tacitus, Annals, bk. 14, ch. 26.——A prince of Armenia in the age of Theodosius.

Tigranocerta, now Sered, the capital of Armenia, was built by Tigranes, during the Mithridatic war, on a hill between the springs of the Tigris and mount Taurus. Lucullus, during the Mithridatic war, took it with difficulty, and found in it immense riches, and no less than 8000 talents in ready money. Tacitus, Annals, bk. 15, ch. 4.—Pliny, bk. 6, ch. 9.

Tigres, a river of Peloponnesus, called also Harpys, from a person of the same name drowned in it. Apollodorus, bk. 1, ch. 9.

Tigris, now Basilensa, a river of Asia, rising on mount Niphates in Armenia, and falling into the Persian gulf. It is the eastern boundary of Mesopotamia. The Tigris now falls into the Euphrates, though in the age of Pliny the two separate channels of these rivers could be easily traced. Pliny, bk. 6, ch. 27.—Justin, bk. 42, ch. 3.—Lucan, bk. 3, li. 256.

Tigurīni, a warlike people among the Helvetii, now forming the modern cantons of Switz, Zurich, Schaffhausen, and St. Gall. Their capital was Tigurnum. Cæsar, Gallic War.

Tilatæi, a people of Thrace. Thucydides, bk. 2.

Tilavemptus, a river of Italy falling into the Adriatic at the west of Aquileia.

Tilfossius, a mountain of Bœotia.——Also a fountain at the tomb of Tiresias. Pausanias, Bœotia, ch. 33.

Tilium, a town of Sardinia, now Argentera.

Tillius Cimber. See: [Tullius].

Tilox, a north-west cape of Corsica.

Tilphussus, a mountain of Bœotia.

Timachus, a river of Mœsia falling into the Danube. The neighbouring people were called Timachi. Pliny, bk. 3, ch. 26.

Timæ, the wife of Agis king of Sparta, was debauched by Alcibiades, by whom she had a son. This child was rejected in the succession to the throne, though Agis, on his death-bed, declared him to be legitimate. Plutarch, Agesilaus.

Timæus, a friend of Alexander, who came to his assistance when he was alone surrounded by the Oxydracæ. He was killed in the encounter. Curtius, bk. 9, ch. 5.——An historian of Sicily, who flourished about 262 B.C., and died in the 96th year of his age. His father’s name was Andromachus. He was banished from Sicily by Agathocles. His general history of Sicily, and that of the wars of Pyrrhus, were in general esteem, and his authority was great, except when he treated of Agathocles. All his compositions are lost. Plutarch, Nicias.—Cicero, On Oratory.—Diodorus, bk. 5.—Cornelius Nepos.——A writer who published some treatises concerning ancient philosophers. Diogenes Laërtius, Empedocles.——A Pythagorean philosopher, born at Locris. He followed the doctrines of the founder of the metempsychosis, but in some parts of his system of the world he differed from him. He wrote a treatise on the nature and the soul of the world, in the Doric dialect, still extant. Plato, Timæus.—Plutarch.——An Athenian in the age of Alcibiades. Plutarch.——A sophist, who wrote a book called Lexicon vocum Platonicarum.

Timagĕnes, a Greek historian of Alexandria, 54 B.C., brought to Rome by Gabinius, and sold as a slave to the son of Sylla. His great abilities procured him his liberty, and gained the favours of the great, and of Augustus. The emperor discarded him for his impertinence; and Timagenes, to revenge himself on his patron, burnt the interesting history which he had composed of his reign. Plutarch.—Horace, bk. 1, ltr. 19, li. 15.—Quintilian.——An historian and rhetorician of Miletus.——A man who wrote an account of the life of Alexander. Curtius, bk. 9, ch. 5.——A general, killed at Cheronæa.

Timagŏras, an Athenian, capitally punished for paying homage to Darius, according to the Persian manner of kneeling on the ground, when he was sent to Persia as ambassador. Valerius Maximus, bk. 6, ch. 3.—Suidas.——Another. See: [Meles].

Timandra, a daughter of Leda, sister to Helen. She married Echemus of Arcadi. Pausanias, bk. 8, ch. 5.——A mistress of Alcibiades.

Timandrĭdes, a Spartan celebrated for his virtues. Ælian, Varia Historia, bk. 14, ch. 32.

Timanthes, a painter of Sicyon, in the reign of Philip the father of Alexander the Great. In his celebrated painting of Iphigenia going to be immolated, he represented all the attendants overwhelmed with grief; but his superior genius, by covering the face of Agamemnon, left to the conception of the imagination the deep sorrows of the father. He obtained a prize, for which the celebrated Parrhasius was a competitor. This was in painting an Ajax with all the fury which his disappointments could occasion, when deprived of the arms of Achilles. Cicero, On Oratory.—Valerius Maximus, bk. 8, ch. 11.—Ælian, Varia Historia, bk. 9, ch. 11.——An athlete of Cleone, who burnt himself when he perceived that his strength began to fail. Pausanias, bk. 6, ch. 8.

Timarchus, a philosopher of Alexandria, intimate with Lamprocles the disciple of Socrates. Diogenes Laërtius.——A rhetorician, who hung himself when accused of licentiousness by Æschines.——A Cretan, accused before Nero of oppression. Tacitus, Annals, bk. 15, ch. 20.——An officer in Ætolia, who burnt his ships to prevent the flight of his companions, and to ensure himself the victory. Polyænus, bk. 5.——A king of Salamis.——A tyrant of Miletus, in the age of Antiochus, &c.

Timareta, a priestess of the oracle of Dodona. Herodotus, bk. 2, ch. 94.

Timasion, one of the leaders of the 10,000 Greeks, &c.

Timasitheus, a prince of Lipara, who obliged a number of pirates to spare some Romans who were going to make an offering of the spoils of Veii to the god of Delphi. The Roman senate rewarded him very liberally, and 137 years after, when the Carthaginians were dispossessed of Lipara, the same generosity was nobly extended to his descendants in the island. Diodorus, bk. 14.—Plutarch, Camillus.

Tĭmāvus, a broad river of Italy rising from a mountain, and, after running a short space, falling by seven mouths, or, according to some, by one, into the Adriatic sea. There are, at the mouth of the Timavus, small islands with hot springs of water. Mela, bk. 2, ch. 4.—Virgil, Eclogues, poem 8, li. 6; Æneid, bk. 1, lis. 44 & 248.—Strabo, bk. 5.—Pliny, bk. 2, ch. 103.

Timesius, a native of Clazomenæ, who began to build Abdera. He was prevented by the Thracians, but honoured as a hero at Abdera. Herodotus, bk. 1, ch. 168.

Timochăris, an astronomer of Alexandria, 294 B.C. See: [Aristillus].

Timoclēa, a Theban lady, sister to Theogenes, who was killed at Cheronæa. One of Alexander’s soldiers offered her violence, after which she led her ravisher to a well, and while he believed that immense treasures were concealed there, Timoclea threw him into it. Alexander commended her virtue, and forbade his soldiers to hurt the Theban females. Plutarch, Alexander.

Timŏcles, two Greek poets of Athens, who wrote some theatrical pieces, the one six, and the other 11, some verses of which are extant. Athenæus, bk. 6.——A statuary of Athens. Pausanias, bk. 10, ch. 34.

Timocrătes, a Greek philosopher of uncommon austerity.——A Syracusan who married Arete when Dion had been banished into Greece by Dionysius. He commanded the forces of the tyrant.

Timocreon, a comic poet of Rhodes, who obtained poetical, as well as gymnastic, prizes at Olympia. He lived about 476 years before Christ, distinguished for his voracity, and for his resentment against Simonides and Themistocles. The following epitaph was written on his grave:

Multa bibens, et multa vorans, mala denique dicens

Multis, hic jaceo Timocreon Rhodius.

Timodēmus, the father of Timoleon.

Timolāus, a Spartan, intimate with Philopœmen, &c.——A son of the celebrated Zenobia.——A general of Alexander, put to death by the Thebans.

Timoleon, a celebrated Corinthian, son of Timodemus and Demariste. He was such an enemy to tyranny, that he did not hesitate to murder his own brother Timophanes, when he attempted, against his representations, to make himself absolute in Corinth. This was viewed with pleasure by the friends of liberty; but the mother of Timoleon conceived the most inveterate aversion for her son, and for ever banished him from her sight. This proved painful to Timoleon; a settled melancholy dwelt upon his mind, and he refused to accept of any offices in the state. When the Syracusans, oppressed with the tyranny of Dionysius the younger, and of the Carthaginians, had solicited the assistance of the Corinthians, all looked upon Timoleon as a proper deliverer, but all applications would have been disregarded, if one of the magistrates had not awakened in him the sense of natural liberty. “Timoleon,” says he, “if you accept of the command of this expedition, we will believe that you have killed a tyrant; but if not, we cannot but call you your brother’s murderer.” This had due effect, and Timoleon sailed for Syracuse in 10 ships, accompanied by about 1000 men. The Carthaginians attempted to oppose him, but Timoleon eluded their vigilance. Icetas, who had the possession of the city, was defeated, and Dionysius, who despaired of success, gave himself up into the hands of the Corinthian general. This success gained Timoleon adherents in Sicily; many cities which hitherto had looked upon him as an impostor, claimed his protection; and when he was at last master of Syracuse by the total overthrow of Icetas and of the Carthaginians, he razed the citadel which had been the seat of tyranny, and erected on the spot a common hall. Syracuse was almost destitute of inhabitants, and at the solicitation of Timoleon, a Corinthian colony was sent to Sicily; the lands were equally divided among the citizens, and the houses were sold for 1000 talents, which were appropriated to the use of the state, and deposited in the treasury. When Syracuse was thus delivered from tyranny, the conqueror extended his benevolence to the other states of Sicily, and all the petty tyrants were reduced and banished from the island. A code of salutary laws was framed for the Syracusans; and the armies of Carthage, which had attempted again to raise commotions in Sicily, were defeated, and peace was at last re-established. The gratitude of the Sicilians was shown everywhere to their deliverer. Timoleon was received with repeated applause in the public assemblies, and though a private man, unconnected with the government, he continued to enjoy his former influence at Syracuse: his advice was consulted on matters of importance, and his authority respected. He ridiculed the accusations of malevolence, and when some informers had charged him with oppression, he rebuked the Syracusans who were going to put the accusers to immediate death. A remarkable instance of his providential escape from the dagger of an assassin, has been recorded by one of his biographers. As he was going to offer a sacrifice to the gods after a victory, two assassins, sent by the enemies, approached his person in disguise. The arm of one of the assassins was already lifted up, when he was suddenly stabbed by an unknown person, who made his escape from the camp. The other assassin, struck at the fall of his companion, fell before Timoleon, and confessed, in the presence of the army, the conspiracy that had been formed against his life. The unknown assassin was in the mean time pursued, and when he was found, he declared that he had committed no crime in avenging the death of a beloved father, whom the man he had stabbed had murdered in the town of Leontini. Inquiries were made, and his confessions were found to be true. Timoleon died at Syracuse, about 337 years before the christian era. His body received an honourable burial, in a public place called from him Timoleonteum; but the tears of a grateful nation were more convincing proofs of the public regret, than the institution of festivals and games yearly to be observed on the day of his death. Cornelius Nepos & Plutarch, Lives.—Polyænus, bk. 5, ch. 3.—Diodorus, bk. 16.

Timōlus. See: [Tmolus].

Timomăchus, a painter of Byzantium, in the age of Sylla and Marius. His painting of Medea murdering her children, and his Ajax, were purchased for 80 talents by Julius Cæsar, and deposited in the temple of Venus at Rome. Pliny, bk. 35, ch. 11.——A general of Athens, sent to assist the Thebans. Xenophon.

Timon, a native of Athens, called Misanthrope, for his unconquerable aversion to mankind and to all society. He was fond of Apemantus, another Athenian whose character was similar to his own, and he said that he had some partiality for Alcibiades, because he was one day to be his country’s ruin. Once he went into the public assembly, and told his countrymen that he had a fig tree on which many had ended their life with a halter, and that as he was going to cut it down to raise a building on the spot, he advised all such as were inclined to destroy themselves, to hasten and go and hang themselves in his garden. Plutarch, Alcibiades, &c.—Lucan, Timon.—Pausanias, bk. 6, ch. 12.——A Greek poet, son of Timarchus, in the age of Ptolemy Philadelphus. He wrote several dramatic pieces, all now lost, and died in the 90th year of his age. Diogenes Laërtius.—Athenæus, bks. 6 & 13.——An athlete of Elis. Pausanias, bk. 6, ch. 12.

Timophănes, a Corinthian, brother to Timoleon. He attempted to make himself tyrant of his country, by means of the mercenary soldiers with whom he had fought against the Argives and Cleomenes. Timoleon wished to convince him of the impropriety of his measures, and when he found him unmoved, he caused him to be assassinated. Plutarch & Cornelius Nepos, Timoleon.——A man of Mitylene, celebrated for his riches, &c.

Timotheus, a poet and musician of Miletus, son of Thersander or Philopolis. He was received with hisses the first time he exhibited as musician in the assembly of the people; and further applications would have totally been abandoned, had not Euripides discovered his abilities, and encouraged him to follow a profession in which he afterwards gained so much applause. He received the immense sum of 1000 pieces of gold from the Ephesians, because he had composed a poem in honour of Diana. He died about the 90th year of his age, two years before the birth of Alexander the Great. There was also another musician of Bœtia in the age of Alexander, often confounded with the musician of Miletus. He was a great favourite of the conqueror of Darius. Cicero, de Legibus, bk. 2, ch. 15.—Pausanias, bk. 3, ch. 12.—Plutarch, de Musica, de Fortuna, &c.——An Athenian general, son of Conon. He signalized himself by his valour and magnanimity, and showed that he was not inferior to his great father in military prudence. He seized Corcyra, and obtained several victories over the Thebans, but his ill success in one of his expeditions disgusted the Athenians, and Timotheus, like the rest of his noble predecessors, was fined a large sum of money. He retired to Chalcis, where he died. He was so disinterested, that he never appropriated any of the plunder to his own use, but after one of his expeditions, he filled the treasury of Athens with 1200 talents. Some of the ancients, to imitate his continual successes, have represented him sleeping by the side of Fortune, while the goddess drove cities into his net. He was intimate with Plato, at whose table he learned temperance and moderation. Athenæus, bk. 10, ch. 3.—Pausanias, bk. 1, ch. 29.—Plutarch, Sulla, &c.—Ælian, Varia Historia, bk. 2, chs. 10 & 18; bk. 3, ch. 16.—Cornelius Nepos.——A Greek statuary. Pausanias, bk. 1, ch. 32.——A tyrant of Heraclea, who murdered his father. Diodorus, bk. 16.——A king of the Sapæi.

Timoxĕnus, a governor of Sicyon, who betrayed his trust, &c. Polyænus.——A general of the Achæans.

Tingis, now Tangiers, a maritime town of Africa in Mauritania, built by the giant Antæus. Sertorius took it, and as the tomb of the founder was near the place, he caused it to be opened, and found in it a skeleton six cubits long. This increased the veneration of the people for their founder. Plutarch, Sertorius.—Mela, bk. 1, ch. 5.—Pliny, bk. 5, ch. 1.—Silius Italicus, bk. 3, li. 258.

Tinia, a river of Umbria, now Topino, falling into the Clitumnus. Strabo, bk. 5.—Silius Italicus, bk. 8, li. 454.

Tipha, a town of Bœtia, where Hercules had a temple. Ovid, ltr. 6, li. 48.—Pausanias, bk. 9, ch. 32.

Tiphys, the pilot of the ship of the Argonauts, was son of Hagnius, or, according to some, of Phorbas. He died before the Argonauts reached Colchis, at the court of Lycus in the Propontis, and Erginus was chosen in his place. Orphica.—Apollodorus, bk. 1, ch. 9.—Apollonius.—Valerius Flaccus.—Pausanias, bk. 9, ch. 32.—Hyginus, fables 14 & 18.

Tiphysa, a daughter of Thestius. Apollodorus, bk. 2, ch. 7.

Tīrĕsias, a celebrated prophet of Thebes, son of Everus and Chariclo. He lived to a great age, which some authors have called as long as seven generations of men, others six, and others nine, during the time that Polydorus, Labdacus, Laius, Œdipus, and his sons sat on the throne of Thebes. It is said that in his youth he found two serpents in the act of copulation on mount Cyllene, and that when he had struck them with a stick to separate them, he found himself suddenly changed into a girl. Seven years after he found again some serpents together in the same manner, and he recovered his original sex, by striking them a second time with his wand. When he was a woman, Tiresias had married, and it was from those reasons, according to some of the ancients, that Jupiter and Juno referred to his decision, a dispute in which the deities wished to know which of the sexes received greater pleasure from the connubial state. Tiresias, who could speak from actual experience, decided in favour of Jupiter, and declared, that the pleasure which the female received was 10 times greater than that of the male. Juno, who supported a different opinion, and gave the superiority to the male sex, punished Tiresias by depriving him of his eyesight. But this dreadful loss was in some measure repaired by the humanity of Jupiter, who bestowed upon him the gift of prophecy, and permitted him to live seven times more than the rest of men. These causes of the blindness of Tiresias, which are supported by the authority of Ovid, Hyginus, and others, are contradicted by Apollodorus, Callimachus, Propertius, &c., who declare that this was inflicted upon him as a punishment, because he had seen Minerva bathing in the fountain Hippocrene, on mount Helicon. Chariclo, who accompanied Minerva, complained of the severity with which her son was treated; but the goddess, who well knew that this was the irrevocable punishment inflicted by Saturn on such mortals as fix their eyes upon a goddess without her consent, alleviated the misfortunes of Tiresias, by making him acquainted with futurity, and giving him a staff which could conduct his steps with as much safety as if he had the use of his eye-sight. During his lifetime, Tiresias was an infallible oracle to all Greece. The generals, during the Theban war, consulted him, and found his predictions verified. He drew his prophecies sometimes from the flight or the language of birds, in which he was assisted by his daughter Manto, and sometimes he drew the manes from the infernal regions to know futurity, with mystical ceremonies. He at last died, after drinking the waters of a cold fountain, which froze his blood. He was buried with great pomp by the Thebans on mount Tilphusses, and honoured as a god. His oracle at Orchomenos was in universal esteem. Homer represents Ulysses as going to the infernal regions to consult Tiresias concerning his return to Ithaca. Apollodorus, bk. 3, ch. 6.—Theocritus, Idylls, poem 24, li. 70.—Statius, Thebaid, bk. 2, li. 96.—Hyginus, fable 75.—Aeschylus, Seven Against Thebes.—Sophocles, Œdipus Tyrannus.—Pindar, Nemean, poem 1.—Diodorus, bk. 4.—Homer, Odyssey, bk. 11.—Plutarch, Convivium Septem Sapientium, &c.—Pausanias, bk. 9, ch. 33.

Tiribāses, an officer of Artaxerxes killed by the guards for conspiring against the king’s life, B.C. 394. Plutarch, Artaxerxes.

Tirida, a town of Thrace where Diomedes lived. Pliny, bk. 4, ch. 11.

Tiridātes, a king of Parthia, after the expulsion of Phraates by his subjects. He was soon after deposed, and fled to Augustus in Spain. Horace, bk. 1, ode 26.——A man made king of Parthia by Tiberius, after the death of Phraates, in opposition to Artabanus. Tacitus, Annals, bk. 6, &c.——A keeper of the royal treasures at Persepolis, who offered to surrender to Alexander the Great. Curtius, bk. 5, ch. 5, &c.——A king of Armenia, in the reign of Nero.——A son of Phraates, &c.

Tiris, a general of the Thracians, who opposed Antiochus. Polyænus, bk. 4.

Tiro Tullius, a freedman of Cicero, greatly esteemed by his master for his learning and good qualities. It is said that he invented shorthand writing among the Romans. He wrote the life of Cicero and other treatises now lost. Cicero, Letters to Atticus, &c.

Tirynthia, a name given to Alcmena, because she lived at Tirynthus. Ovid, Metamorphoses, bk. 6.

Tirynthus, a town of Argolis in the Peloponnesus, founded by Tyrinx son of Argus. Hercules generally resided there, whence he is called Tirynthius heros. Pausanias, bk. 2, chs. 16 & 25.—Pliny, bk. 4, ch. 5.—Ælian, Varia Historia, bk. 3, chs. 15 & 49.—Virgil, Æneid, bk. 7, li. 662.—Silius Italicus, bk. 8, li. 217.

Tisæum, a mountain of Thessaly. Polybius.

Tisagŏras, a brother of Miltiades, called also Stesagoras. Cornelius Nepos, Miltiades.

Tisamĕnes, or Tisamĕnus, a son of Orestes and Hermione the daughter of Menelaus, who succeeded on the throne of Argos and Lacedæmon. The Heraclidæ entered his kingdom in the third year of his reign, and he was obliged to retire with his family into Achaia. He was some time after killed in a battle against the Ionians, near Helice. Apollodorus, bk. 2, ch. 7.—Pausanias, bk. 3, ch. 1; bk. 7, ch. 1.——A king of Thebes, son of Thersander and grandson of Polynices. The Furies, who continually persecuted the house of Œdipus, permitted him to live in tranquillity, but they tormented his son and successor Autesion, and obliged him to retire to Doris. Pausanias, bk. 3, ch. 5; bk. 9, ch. 6.——A native of Elis, crowned twice at the Olympic games. Pausanias, bk. 3, ch. 11.

Tisandrus, one of the Greeks concealed with Ulysses in the wooden horse. Some suppose him to be the same as Thersander the son of Polynices. Virgil, Æneid, bk. 2, li. 261.

Tisarchus, a friend of Agathocles, by whom he was murdered, &c. Polyænus, bk. 5.

Tisdra, a town of Africa. Cæsar, African War, ch. 76.

Tisiarus, a town of Africa.

Tisias, an ancient philosopher of Sicily, considered by some as the inventor of rhetoric, &c. Cicero, de Inventione, bk. 2, ch. 2; Orations, bk. 1, ch. 18.

Tīsĭphŏne, one of the Furies, daughter of Nox and Acheron, who was the minister of divine vengeance upon mankind, and visited them with plagues and diseases, and punished the wicked in Tartarus. She was represented with a whip in her hand, serpents hung from her head, and were wreathed round her arms instead of bracelets. By Juno’s direction she attempted to prevent the landing of Io in Egypt, but the god of the Nile repelled her, and obliged her to retire to hell. Statius, Thebaid, bk. 1, li. 59.—Virgil, Georgics, bk. 3, li. 552; Æneid, bk. 6, li. 555.—Horace, bk. 1, satire 8, li. 34.——A daughter of Alcmæon and Manto.

Tisiphŏnus, a man who conspired against Alexander tyrant of Pheræ, and seized the sovereign power, &c. Diodorus, bk. 16.

Tissa, now Randazzo, a town of Sicily. Silius Italicus, bk. 14, li. 268.—Cicero, Against Verres, bk. 3, ch. 38.

Tissamĕnus. See: [Tisamenus].

Tissaphernes, an officer of Darius.——A satrap of Persia, commander of the forces of Artaxerxes, at the battle of Cunaxa, against Cyrus. It was by his valour and intrepidity that the king’s forces gained the victory, and for this he obtained the daughter of Artaxerxes in marriage, and all the provinces of which Cyrus was governor. His popularity did not long continue, and the king ordered him to be put to death when he had been conquered by Agesilaus, 395 B.C. Cornelius Nepos.——An officer in the army of Cyrus, killed by Artaxerxes at the battle of Cunaxa. Plutarch.

Titæa, the mother of the Titans. She is supposed to be the same as Thea, Rhea, Terra, &c.

Titan, or Titānus, a son of Cœlus and Terra, brother to Saturn and Hyperion. He was the eldest of the children of Cœlus; but he gave his brother Saturn the kingdom of the world, provided he raised no male children. When the birth of Jupiter was concealed, Titan made war against Saturn, and with the assistance of his brothers the Titans, he imprisoned him till he was replaced on the throne by his son Jupiter. This tradition is recorded by Lactantius, a christian writer, who took it from the dramatic compositions of Ennius, now lost. None of the ancient mythologists, such as Apollodorus, Hesiod, Hyginus, &c., have made mention of Titan. Titan is a name applied to Saturn by Orpheus and Lucian, to the sun by Virgil and Ovid, and to Prometheus by Juvenal. Ovid, Metamorphoses, bk. 1, li. 10.—Juvenal, satire 14, li. 35.—Diodorus, bk. 5.—Pausanias, bk. 2, ch. 11.—Orpheus, hymn 13.—Virgil, Æneid, bk. 4, li. 119.

Titāna, a town of Sicyonia in Peloponnesus. Titanus reigned there.——A man skilled in astronomy. Pausanias, bk. 2, ch. 11.

Titānes, a name given to the sons of Cœlus and Terra. They were 45 in number, according to the Egyptians. Apollodorus mentions 13, Hyginus six, and Hesiod 20, among whom are the Titanides. The most known of the Titans are Saturn, Hyperion, Oceanus, Japetus, Cottus, and Briareus, to whom Horace adds Typhœus, Mimas, Porphyrion, Rhœtus, and Enceladus, who are by other mythologists reckoned among the giants. They were all of a gigantic stature, and with proportionable strength. They were treated with great cruelty by Cœlus, and confined in the bowels of the earth, till their mother pitied their misfortunes, and armed them against their father. Saturn, with a scythe, cut off the genitals of his father, as he was going to unite himself to Terra, and threw them into the sea, and from the froth sprang a new deity, called Venus; as also Alecto, Tisiphone, and Megæra, according to Apollodorus. When Saturn succeeded his father, he married Rhea; but he devoured all his male children, as he had been informed by an oracle that he should be dethroned by them as a punishment for his cruelty to his father. The wars of the Titans against the gods are very celebrated in mythology. They are often confounded with that of the giants; but it is to be observed, that the war of the Titans was against Saturn, and that of the giants against Jupiter. Hesiod, Theogony, li. 135, &c.—Apollodorus, bk. 1, ch. 1.—Aeschylus, Prometheus Bound.—Callimachus, Hymn to Delos, li. 17.—Diodorus, bk. 1.—Hyginus, preface to fables.

Titānia, a patronymic applied to Pyrrha, as granddaughter of Titan, and likewise to Diana. Ovid, Metamorphoses, bk. 1, li. 395; bk. 2, &c.

Titanīdes, the daughters of Cœlus and Terra; reduced in number to six, according to Orpheus. The most celebrated were Tethys, Themis, Dione, Thea, Mnemosyne, Ops, Cybele, Vesta, Phœbe, and Rhea. Hesiod, Theogony, li. 145, &c.—Apollodorus, bk. 1, ch. 1.

Titānus, a river in Peloponnesus, with a town and mountain of the same name.

Titaresus, a river of Thessaly, called also Eurotas, flowing into the Teneus, but without mingling its thick and turbid waters with the transparent stream. From the unwholesomeness of its water, it was considered as deriving its source from the Styx. Lucan, bk. 6, li. 376.—Homer, Iliad, bk. 2, li. 751.—Strabo, bk. 8.—Pausanias, bk. 8, ch. 18.

Titēnus, a river of Colchis, falling into the Euxine sea. Apollonius, bk. 4.

Tithenidia, a festival of Sparta, in which nurses, τθηναι, conveyed male infants entrusted to their charge to the temple of Diana, where they sacrificed young pigs. During the time of the solemnity, they generally danced and exposed themselves in ridiculous postures; there were also some entertainments given near the temple, where tents were erected. Each had a separate portion allotted him, together with a small loaf, a piece of new cheese, part of the entrails of the victims, and figs, beans, and green vetches, instead of sweetmeats.

Tithōnus, a son of Laomedon king of Troy, by Strymo the daughter of the Scamander. He was so beautiful that Aurora became enamoured of him, and carried him away. He had by her Memnon and Æmathion. He begged of Aurora to be immortal, and the goddess granted it; but as he had forgotten to ask the vigour, youth, and beauty which he then enjoyed, he soon grew old, infirm, and [♦]decrepit; and as life became insupportable to him, he prayed Aurora to remove him from the world. As he could not die, the goddess changed him into a cicada, or grasshopper. Apollodorus, bk. 3, ch. 5.—Virgil, Georgics, bk. 1, li. 447; Æneid, bk. 4, li. 585; bk. 8, li. 384.—Hesiod, Theogony, li. 984.—Diodorus, bk. 1.—Ovid, Fasti, bk. 1, li. 461; [♠]bk. 3, li. 403.—Horace, bk. 1, ode 28; bk. 2, ode 16.

[♦] ‘discrepit’ replaced with ‘decrepit’

[♠] ‘Book 9’ replaced with ‘Book 3’

Tithorea, one of the tops of Parnassus. Herodotus, bk. 8, ch. 32.

Tithraustes, a Persian satrap, B.C. 395, ordered to murder Tissaphernes by Artaxerxes. He succeeded to the offices which the slaughtered favourite enjoyed. He was defeated by the Athenians under Cimon.——An officer in the Persian court, &c.——The name was common to some of the superior officers of state in the court of Artaxerxes. Plutarch.—Cornelius Nepos, Datames & Conon.

Titia, a deity among the Milesians.

Titia lex, de magistratibus, by Publius Titius the tribune, A.U.C. 710. It ordained that a triumvirate of magistrates should be invested with consular power to preside over the republic for five years. The persons chosen were Octavius, Antony, and Lepidus.——Another, de provinciis, which required that the provincial questors, like the consuls and pretors, should receive their provinces by lot.

Titiāna Flavia, the wife of the emperor Pertinax, disgraced herself by her debaucheries and incontinence. After the murder of her husband she was reduced to poverty, and spent the rest of her life in an obscure retreat.

Titiānus Atilius, a noble Roman put to death, A.D. 156, by the senate for aspiring to the purple. He was the only one proscribed during the reign of Antoninus Pius.——A brother of Otho.

Titii, priests of Apollo at Rome, who observed the flight of doves, and drew omens from it. Varro, de Lingua Latina, bk. 4, ch. 45.—Lucan, bk. 1, li. 602.

Titinius, a tribune of the people in the first ages of the republic.——A friend of Cassius, who killed himself.——One of the slaves who revolted at Capua. He betrayed his trust to the Roman generals.

Titius Proculus, a Roman knight, appointed to watch Messalina. Tacitus, Annals, bk. 11, ch. 35.——A tribune of the people who enacted the Titian law.——An orator of a very dissolute character.——One of Pompey’s murderers.——One of Antony’s officers.——A man who foretold a victory to Sylla.——Septimus, a poet in the Augustan age, who distinguished himself by his lyric and tragic compositions, now lost. Horace, bk. 1, ltr. 3, li. 9.

Titormus, a shepherd of Ætolia, called another Hercules, on account of his prodigious strength. He was stronger than his contemporary, Milo of Crotona, as he could lift on his shoulders a stone which the Crotonian moved with difficulty. Ælian, Varia Historia, bk. 12, ch. 22.—Herodotus, bk. 6, ch. 127.

Titurius, a friend of Julia Silana, who informed against Agrippina, &c. Tacitus, Annals, bk. 13.——A lieutenant of Cæsar in Gaul, killed by Ambiorix.—Cæsar, Gallic War, bk. 5, ch. 29, &c.

Titus Vespasianus, son of Vespasian and Flavia Domitilla, became known by his valour in the Roman armies, particularly at the siege of Jerusalem. In the 79th year of the christian era, he was invested with the imperial purple, and the Roman people had every reason to expect in him the barbarities of a Tiberius and the debaucheries of a Nero. While in the house of Vespasian, Titus had been distinguished for his extravagance and incontinence; his attendants were the most abandoned and dissolute; and it seemed that he wished to be superior to the rest of the world in the gratification of every impure desire, and in every unnatural vice. From such a private character, which still might be curbed by the authority and example of a father, what could be expected but tyranny and [♦]oppression? Yet Titus became a model of virtue, and in an age and office in which others wish to gratify all their appetites, the emperor abandoned his usual profligacy, he forgot his debaucheries, and Berenice, whom he had loved with uncommon ardour, even to render himself despised by the Roman people, was dismissed from his presence. When raised to the throne, he thought himself bound to be the father of his people, the guardian of virtue, and the patron of liberty; and Titus is, perhaps, the only monarch who, when invested with uncontrollable power, bade adieu to those vices, those luxuries and indulgencies, which as a private man he never ceased to gratify. He was moderate in his entertainments, and though he often refused the donations which were due to sovereignty, no emperor was ever more generous and magnificent than Titus. All informers were banished from his presence, and even severely punished. A reform was made in the judicial proceedings, and trials were no longer permitted to be postponed for years. The public edifices were repaired, and baths were erected for the convenience of the people. Spectacles were exhibited, and the Roman populace were gratified with the sight of a naval combat in the ancient naumachia, and the sudden appearance of 5000 wild beasts brought into the circus for their amusement. To do good to his subjects was the ambition of Titus, and it was at the recollection that he had done no service, or granted no favour, one day, that he exclaimed in the memorable words of “My friends, I have lost a day!” A continual wish to be benevolent and kind, made him popular; and it will not be wondered, that he who could say that he had rather die himself, than be the cause of the destruction of one of his subjects, was called the love and delight of mankind. Two of the senators conspired against his life, but the emperor disregarded their attempts; he made them his friends by kindness, and, like another Nerva, presented them with a sword to destroy him. During his reign, Rome was three days on fire, the towns of Campania were destroyed by an eruption of Vesuvius, and the empire was visited by a pestilence which carried away an infinite number of inhabitants. In this time of public calamity, the emperor’s benevolence and philanthropy were conspicuous. Titus comforted the afflicted as a father, he alleviated their distresses by his liberal bounties, and as if they were but one family, he exerted himself for the good and preservation of the whole. The Romans, however, had not long to enjoy the favours of this magnificent prince. Titus was taken ill, and as he retired into the country of the Sabines to his father’s house, his indisposition was increased by a burning fever. He lifted his eyes to heaven, and with modest submission complained of the severity of fate which removed him from the world when young, where he had been employed in making a grateful people happy. He died the 13th of September, A.D. 81, in the 41st year of his age, after a reign of two years, two months, and 20 days. The news of his death was received with lamentations; Rome was filled with tears, and all looked upon themselves as deprived of the most benevolent of fathers. After him Domitian ascended the throne, not without incurring the suspicion of having hastened his brother’s end, by ordering him to be placed, during his agony, in a tub full of snow, where he expired. Domitian has also been accused of raising commotions, and of making attempts to dethrone his brother; but Titus disregarded them, and forgave the offender. Some authors have reflected with severity upon the cruelties which Titus exercised against the Jews; but though certainly a disgrace to the benevolent features of his character, we must consider him as an instrument in the hands of Providence, exerted for the punishment of a wicked and infatuated people. Josephus, Jewish War, bk. 7, ch. 16, &c.—Suetonius.—Dio Cassius, &c.

[♦] ‘oppresssion’ replaced with ‘oppression’

Titus Tatius, a king of the Sabines. See: [Tatius].——Livius, a celebrated historian. See: [Livius].——A son of Junius Brutus, put to death by order of his father, for conspiring to restore the Tarquins.——A friend of Coriolanus.——A native of Crotona, engaged in Catiline’s conspiracy.

Tīty̆rus, a shepherd introduced in Virgil’s eclogues, &c.——A large mountain of Crete.

Tityus, a celebrated giant, son of Terra; or, according to others, of Jupiter, by Elara the daughter of Orchomenos. He was of such a prodigious size, that his mother died in travail after Jupiter had drawn her from the bowels of the earth, where she had been concealed during her pregnancy to avoid the anger of Juno. Tityus attempted to offer violence to Latona, but the goddess delivered herself from his importunities, by calling to her assistance her children, who killed the giant with their arrows. He was placed in hell, where a serpent continually devoured his liver; or, according to others, where vultures perpetually fed upon his entrails, which grew again as soon as devoured. It is said that Tityus covered nine acres when stretched on the ground. He had a small chapel with an altar in the island of Eubœa. Apollodorus, bk. 1, ch. 4.—Pindar, Pythian, ch. 4.—Homer, Odyssey, bk. 7, li. 325; bk. 11, li. 575.—Apollonius of Rhodes, bk. 1, li. 182, &c.—Virgil, Æneid, bk. 6, li. 525.—Horace, bk. 3, ode 4, li. 77.—Hyginus, fable 55.—Ovid, Metamorphoses, bk. 4, li. 457.—Tibullus, bk. 1, poem 3, li. 75.

Tium, or Tion, a maritime town of Paphlagonia, built by the Milesians. Mela, bk. 1, ch. 9.

Tlēpŏlemus, a son of Hercules and Astyochia, born at Argos. He left his native country after the accidental murder of Licymnius, and retired to Rhodes, by order of the oracle, where he was chosen king, as being one of the sons of Hercules. He went to the Trojan war with nine ships, and was killed by Sarpedon. There were some festivals established at Rhodes in his honour, called Tlepolemia, in which men and boys contended. The victors were rewarded with poplar crowns. Homer, Iliad.—Apollodorus, bk. 2, ch. 7.—Diodorus, bk. 5.—Hyginus, fable 97.——One of Alexander’s generals, who obtained Carmania at the general division of the Macedonian empire. Diodorus, bk. 18.——An Egyptian general, who flourished B.C. 207.

Tmarus, a Rutulian in the wars of Æneas. Virgil, Æneid, bk. 9, li. 685.——A mountain of Thesprotia, called Tomarus by Pliny.

Tmolus, a king of Lydia, who married Omphale, and was son of Sipylus and Chthonia. He offered violence to a young nymph called Arriphe, at the foot of Diana’s altar, for which impiety he was afterwards killed by a bull. The mountain on which he was buried bore his name. Apollodorus, bk. 2, ch. 6.—Ovid, Metamorphoses, bk. 11, fable 4.—Hyginus, fable 191.——A town of Asia Minor, destroyed by an earthquake.——A mountain of Lydia, now Bouzdag, on which the river Pactolus rises. The air was so wholesome near Tmolus, that the inhabitants generally lived to their 150th year. The neighbouring country was very fertile, and produced many vines, saffron, and odoriferous flowers. Strabo, bk. 13, &c.—Herodotus, bk. 1, ch. 84, &c.—Ovid, Metamorphoses, bk. 2, &c.—Silius Italicus, bk. 7, li. 210.—Virgil, Georgics, bk. 1, li. 56; bk. 2, li. 98.

Togāta, an epithet applied to a certain part of Gaul where the inhabitants were distinguished by the peculiarity of their dress. See: [Gallia].

Togonius Gallus, a senator of ignoble birth, devoted to the interest of Tiberius, whom he flattered, &c. Tacitus, Annals, bk. 6, ch. 2.

Tolbiacum, a town of Gallia Belgica, south of Juliers.

Tolenus, a river of Latium, now Salto, falling into the Velinus. Ovid, Fasti, bk. 9, li. 561.

Toletum, now Toledo, a town of Spain on the Tagus.

Tolistoboii, a people of Galatia in Asia, descended from the Boii of Gaul. Pliny, bk. 5, ch. 32.—Livy, bk. 58, chs. 15 & 16.

Tollentīnum, a town of Picenum. Pliny, bk. 3, ch. 13.

Tolmĭdes, an Athenian officer, defeated and killed in a battle in Bœotia, 477 B.C. Polyænus, bk. 7.

Tolōsa, now Toulouse, the capital of Languedoc, a town of Gallia Narbonensis, which became a Roman colony under Augustus, and was afterwards celebrated for the cultivation of the sciences. Minerva had there a rich temple, which Cæpio the consul plundered, and as he was never after fortunate, the words aurum Tolosanum became proverbial. Cæsar, Gallic War.—Mela, bk. 2, ch. 5.—Cicero, de Natura Deorum, bk. 3, ch. 20.

Tolumnus, an augur in the army of Turnus against Æneas. Virgil, Æneid, bk. 11, li. 429.——A king of Veii, killed by Cornelius Cossus after he had ordered the ambassadors of Rome to be assassinated. Livy, bk. 4, ch. 19.

Tolus, a man whose head was found in digging for the foundation of the capitol, in the reign of Tarquin, whence the Romans concluded that their city should become the head or mistress of the world.

Tomæum, a mountain of Peloponnesus. Thucydides.

Tomărus, or Tmarus. See: [Tmarus].

Tomisa, a country between Cappadocia and Taurus. Strabo.

Tomos, or Tomi, a town situate on the western shore of the Euxine sea, about 36 miles from the mouth of the Danube. The word is derived from τεμνω, seco, because Medea, as it is said, cut to pieces the body of her brother Absyrtus there. It is celebrated as being the place where Ovid was banished by Augustus. Tomos was the capital of Lower Mœsia, founded by a Milesian colony, B.C. 633.—Strabo, bk. 7.—Apollodorus, bk. 1, ch. 9.—Mela, bk. 2, ch. 2.—Ovid, ex Ponto, bk. 4, poem 14, li. 59; Tristia, bk. 3, poem 9, li. 33, &c.

Tomyris. See: [Thomyris].

Tonea, a solemnity observed at Samos. It was usual to carry Juno’s statue to the sea-shore, and to offer cakes before it, and afterwards to replace it again in the temple. This was in commemoration of the theft of the Tyrrhenians, who attempted to carry away the statue of the goddess, but were detained in the harbour by an invisible force.

Tongillius, an avaricious lawyer, &c. Juvenal, satire 7, li. 130.

Topāzos, an island in the Arabian gulf, anciently called Ophiodes from the quantity of serpents that were there. The valuable stone called topaz is found there. Pliny, bk. 6, ch. 20.

Topiris, or Torpus, a town of Thrace.

Torĭni, a people of Scythia. Valerius Flaccus, bk. 6.

Torōne, a town of Macedonia. Livy, bk. 31, ch. 45.——Of Epirus.

Torquāta, one of the vestal virgins, daughter of Caius Silanus. She was a vestal for 64 years. Tacitus, Annals, bk. 3, ch. 69.

Torquātus, a surname of Titus Manlius. See: [Manlius].——Silanus, an officer put to death by Nero.——A governor of Oricum, in the interest of Pompey. He surrendered to Julius Cæsar, and was killed in Africa. Hirtius, Africican War, ch. 96.——An officer in Sylla’s army.——A Roman sent ambassador to the court of Ptolemy Philometor of Egypt.

Tortor, a surname of Apollo. He had a statue at Rome under that name.

Torus, a mountain of Sicily, near Agrigentum.

Toryne, a small town near Actium. The word in the language of the country signifies a ladle, which gave Cleopatra occasion to make a pun when it fell into the hands of Augustus. Plutarch, Antonius.

Toxandri, a people of Gallia Belgica. Pliny, bk. 4, ch. 7.

Toxaridia, a festival at Athens, in honour of Toxaris, a Scythian hero who died there.

Toxeus, a son of Œneus, killed by his father. Apollodorus, bk. 1, ch. 8.

Toxicrăte, a daughter of Thespius.

Quintus Trabea, a comic poet at Rome, in the age of Regulus. Some fragments of his poetry remain. Cicero, Tusculanæ Disputationes, bk. 4, ch. 31; de Finibus Bonorum et Malorum, bk. 2, ch. 4.

Trachălus Marcus Galerius, a consul in the reign of Nero, celebrated for his eloquence as an orator, and for a majestic and commanding aspect. Quintilian.—Tacitus.——One of the friends and ministers of Otho.

Trachas, a town of Latium. Ovid, Metamorphoses, bk. 15, li. 717.

Trāchīnia, a small country of Phthiotis, on the bay of Malea, near mount Œta. The capital was called Trachis, or Trachina, where Hercules went after he had killed Eunomus. Strabo, bk. 9.—Apollodorus, bk. 2, ch. 7.—Ovid, Metamorphoses, bk. 11, li. 269.

Trachonītis, a part of Judæa, on the other side of the Jordan. Pliny, bk. 5, ch. 14.

Tragurium, a town of Dalmatia on the sea.

Tragus, a river of Arcadia, falling into the Alpheus. Pausanias, bk. 8, ch. 33.

Trajanopŏlis, a town of Thrace.——A name given to Selinus of Cilicia, where Trajan died.

Trajānus Marcus Ulpius Crinītus, a Roman emperor, born at Italica in Spain. His great virtues, and his private as well as public character, and his services to the empire, both as an officer, a governor, and a consul, recommended him to the notice of Nerva, who solemnly adopted him as his son; invested him during his lifetime with the imperial purple, and gave him the name of Cæsar and of Germanicus. A little time after Nerva died, and the election of Trajan to the vacant throne was confirmed by the unanimous rejoicings of the people, and the free concurrence of the armies on the confines of Germany and the banks of the Danube. The noble and independent behaviour of Trajan evinced the propriety and goodness of Nerva’s choice, and the attachment of the legions; and the new emperor seemed calculated to ensure peace and domestic tranquillity to the extensive empire of Rome. All the actions of Trajan showed a good and benevolent prince, whose virtues truly merited the encomiums which the pen of an elegant and courteous panegyrist has paid. The barbarians continued quiet, and the hostilities which they generally displayed at the election of a new emperor whose military abilities they distrusted, were now few. Trajan, however, could not behold with satisfaction and unconcern the insolence of the Dacians, who claimed from the Roman people a tribute which the cowardice of Domitian had offered. The sudden appearance of the emperor on the frontiers awed the barbarians to peace; but Decebalus, their warlike monarch, soon began hostilities by violating the treaty. The emperor entered the enemy’s country, by throwing a bridge across the rapid stream of the Danube, and a battle was fought in which the slaughter was so great, that in the Roman camp linen was wanted to dress the wounds of the soldiers. Trajan obtained the victory, and Decebalus, despairing of success, destroyed himself, and Dacia became a province of Rome. That the ardour of the Roman soldiers in defeating their enemies might not cool, an expedition was undertaken into the east, and Parthia threatened with immediate war. Trajan passed through the submissive kingdom of Armenia, and, by his well-directed operations, made himself master of the provinces of Assyria and Mesopotamia. He extended his conquests in the east, he obtained victories over unknown nations; and when on the extremities of India, he lamented that he possessed not the vigour and youth of an Alexander, that he might add unexplored provinces and kingdoms to the Roman empire. These successes in different parts of the world gained applause, and the senators were profuse in the honours they decreed to the conqueror. This, however, was but the blaze of transient glory. Trajan had no sooner signified his intentions of returning to Italy, than the conquered barbarians appeared again in arms, and the Roman empire did not acquire one single acre of territory from the conquests of her sovereign in the east. The return of the emperor towards Rome was hastened by indisposition; he stopped in Cilicia, and in the town of Selinus, which afterwards was called Trajanopolis, he was seized with a flux, and a few days after expired, in the beginning of August, A.D. 117, after a reign of 19 years, six months, and 15 days, in the 64th year of his age. He was succeeded on the throne by Adrian, whom the empress Plotina introduced to the Roman armies, as the adopted son of her husband. The ashes of Trajan were carried to Rome, and deposited under the stately column which he had erected a few years before. Under this emperor the Romans enjoyed tranquillity, and for a moment supposed that their prosperity was complete under a good and virtuous sovereign. Trajan was fond of popularity, and he merited it. The sounding titles of Optimus, and the father of his country, were not unworthily bestowed upon a prince who was equal to the greatest generals of antiquity, and who, to indicate his affability, and his wish to listen to the just complaints of his subjects, distinguished his palace by the inscription of the public palace. Like other emperors, he did not receive with an air of unconcern the homage of his friends, but rose from his seat and went cordially to salute them. He refused the statues which the flattery of favourites wished to erect to him, and he ridiculed the follies of an enlightened nation, that could pay adoration to cold, inanimate pieces of marble. His public entry into Rome gained him the hearts of the people; he appeared on foot, and showed himself an enemy to parade and an ostentatious equipage. When in his camp, he exposed himself to the fatigues of war, like the meanest soldier, and crossed the most barren deserts and extensive plains on foot, and in his dress and food displayed all the simplicity which once gained the approbation of the Romans in their countryman Fabricius. All the oldest soldiers he knew by their own name; he conversed with them with great familiarity, and never retired to his tent before he had visited the camp, and by a personal attendance convinced himself of the vigilance and the security of his army. As a friend he was not less distinguished than as a general. He had a select number of intimates, whom he visited with freedom and openness, and at whose tables he partook many a moderate repast without form or ceremony. His confidence, however, in the good intentions of others, was, perhaps, carried to excess. His favourite Sura had once been accused of attempts upon his life, but Trajan disregarded the informer, and as he was that same day invited to the house of the supposed conspirator, he went thither early. To try further the sincerity of Sura, he ordered himself to be shaved by his barber, to have a medicinal application made to his eyes by the hand of his surgeon, and to bathe together with him. The public works of Trajan are also celebrated; he opened free and easy communications between the cities of his provinces, he planted many colonies, and furnished Rome with all the corn and provisions which could prevent a famine in the time of calamity. It was by his directions that the architect Apollodorus built that celebrated column which is still to be seen at Rome, under the name of Trajan’s column. The area on which it stands was made by the labours of men, and the height of the pillar proves that a large hill, 144 feet high, was removed at a great expense, A.D. 114, to commemorate the victories of the reigning prince. His persecutions of the christians were stopped by the interference of the humane Pliny, but he was unusually severe upon the Jews, who had barbarously murdered 200,000 of his subjects, and even fed upon the flesh of the dead. His vices have been obscurely seen through a reign of continued splendour and popularity, yet he is accused of incontinence and many unnatural indulgencies. He was too much addicted to drinking, and his wish to be styled lord has been censured by those who admired the dissimulated moderation and the modest claims of an Augustus. Pliny, Panegyrics, &c.—Dio Cassius.—Eutropius.—Ammianus.—Spartian.—Josephus, Jewish Wars.—Aurelius Victor.——The father of the emperor, who likewise bore the name of Trajan, was honoured with the consulship and a triumph, and the rank of a patrician by the emperor Vespasian.——A general of the emperor Valens.——A son of the emperor Decius.

Trajectus Rheni, now Utrecht, the capital of one of the provinces of Holland.

Tralles, a town of Lydia, now Sultanhisar. Juvenal, satire 3, li. 70.—Livy, bk. 37, ch. 45.——A people of Illyricum.

Transtiberīna, a part of the city of Rome, on one side of the Tiber. Mount Vatican was in that part of the city. Martial, bk. 1, ltr. 109.

Trapēzus, a city of Pontus, built by the people of Sinope, now called Trebizond. It had a celebrated harbour on the Euxine sea, and became famous under the emperors of the eastern empire, of which it was for some time the magnificent capital. Tacitus, Histories, bk. 3, ch. 47.—Pliny, bk. 6, ch. 4.——A town of Arcadia near the Alpheus. It received its name from a son of Lycaon. Apollodorus, bk. 3, ch. 8.

Trasimenus. See: [Thrasymenus].

Trasullus, a man who taught Tiberius astrology at Rhodes, &c.

Traulus Montānus, a Roman knight, one of Messalina’s favourites, put to death by Claudius. Tacitus, Annals, bk. 11, ch. 36.

Treba, a town of the Æqui. Pliny, bk. 3, ch. 12.

Caius Trebātius Testas, a man banished by Julius Cæsar for following the interest of Pompey, and recalled by the eloquence of Cicero. He was afterwards reconciled to Cæsar. Trebatius was not less distinguished for his learning than for his integrity, his military experience, and knowledge of law. He wrote nine books on religious ceremonies, and treatises on civil law; and the verses that he composed proved him a poet of no inferior consequence. Horace, bk. 2, satire 1, li. 4.

Trebelliānus Caius Annius, a pirate who proclaimed himself emperor of Rome, A.D. 264. He was defeated and slain in Isauria, by the lieutenants of Gallienus.

Trebelliēnus Rufus, a pretor appointed governor of the children of king Cotys, by Tiberius.——A tribune who opposed the Gabinian law.——A Roman who numbered the inhabitants of Gaul. He was made governor of Britain. Tacitus, Annals, bk. 6, ch. 39.

Trebellius Pollio, a Latin historian, who wrote an account of the lives of the emperors. The beginning of this history is lost; part of the reign of Valerian, and the life of the two Gallieni, with the 30 tyrants, are the only fragments remaining. He flourished A.D. 305.

Trĕbia, a river of Cisalpine Gaul, rising in the Apennines, and falling into the Po, at the west of Placentia. It is celebrated for the victory which Annibal obtained there over the forces of Lucius Sempronius the Roman consul. Silius Italicus, bk. 4, li. 486.—Lucan, bk. 2, li. 46.—Livy, bk. 21, chs. 54 & 56.——A town of Latium. Livy, bk. 2, ch. 39.——Of Campania. Livy, bk. 23, ch. 14.——Of Umbria. Pliny, bk. 3, ch. 14.

Trebius, an officer in Cæsar’s army in Gaul.——A parasite in Domitian’s reign. Juvenal, satire 4.

Trĕbōnia lex, de provinciis, by Lucius Trebonius the tribune, A.U.C. 698. It gave Cæsar the chief command in Gaul for five years longer than was enacted by the Vatinian law, and in this manner prevented the senators from recalling or superseding him.——Another, by the same, on the same year, conferred the command of the provinces of Syria and Spain on Cassius and Pompey for five years. Dio Cassius, bk. 39.——Another, by Lucius Trebonius the tribune, A.U.C. 305, which confirmed the election of the tribunes in the hands of the Roman people. Livy, bks. 3 & 5.

Trĕbōnius, a soldier remarkable for his continence, &c.——Caius, one of Cæsar’s friends, made through his interest pretor and consul. He was afterwards one of his benefactor’s murderers. He was killed by Dolabella at Smyrna. Cæsar, Gallic War, bk. 5, ch. 17.—Cicero, Philippics, bk. 11, ch. 2.—Paterculus, bks. 56 & 69.—Livy, bk. 119.—Dio Cassius, bk. 47.—Horace, bk. 1, satire 4, li. 14.——Garucianus, a governor of Africa, who put to death the proconsul Clodius Macer, by Galba’s orders. Tacitus, Histories, bk. 1, ch. 7.——A tribune who proposed a law at Rome, and imprisoned Cato, because he opposed it.——One of the adherents of Marius.——A man caught in adultery, and severely punished in the age of Horace.

Trebŭla, a town of the Sabines, celebrated for cheese. The inhabitants were called Trebulani. Cicero, On the Agrarian Law, bk. 2, ch. 25.—Livy, bk. 23.—Pliny, bk. 3, chs. 5 & 12.—Martial, bk. 5, ltr. 72.——Another, in Campania. Livy, bk. 23, ch. 39.

Trerus, a river of Latium, falling into the Liris.

Tres Tabernæ, a place on the Appian road, where travellers took refreshment. Cicero, Letters to Atticus, bk. 1, ltr. 13; bk. 2, ltrs. 10 & 11.

Trevĕri, a town and people of Belgium, now called Triers. Mela, bk. 3, ch. 2.

Triaria, a woman well known for her cruelty. She was the wife of Lucius Vitellius. Tacitus, Histories, bks. 1 & 3.

Caius Triarius, an orator commended by Cicero.——A friend of Pompey. He had for some time the care of the war in Asia against Mithridates, whom he defeated, and by whom he was afterwards beaten. He was killed in the civil wars of Pompey and Cæsar. Cæsar, Civil War, bk. 3, ch. 5.

Triballi, a people of Thrace, or, according to some, of Lower Mœsia. They were conquered by Philip the father of Alexander; and some ages after, they maintained a long war against the Roman emperors. Pliny.

Triboci, a people of Alsace in Gaul. Tacitus, Germania, ch. 28.

Tribulium, a town of Dalmatia.

Tribūni Plebis, magistrates at Rome, created in the year [♦]A.U.C. 261, when the people after a quarrel with the senators had retired to Mons Sacer. The two first were Caius Licinius and Lucius Albinius, but their number was soon after raised to five, and 37 years after to 10, which remained fixed. Their office was annual, and as the first had been created on the 4th of the ides of December, that day was ever after chosen for the election. Their power, though at first small, and granted by the patricians to appease the momentary seditions of the populace, soon became formidable, and the senators repented too late of having consented to elect magistrates, who not only preserved the rights of the people, but could summon assemblies, propose laws, stop the consultations of the senate, and even abolish their decrees by the word Veto. Their approbation was also necessary to confirm the senatus consulta, and this was done by affixing the letter T under it. If any irregularity happened in the state, their power was almost absolute; they criticized the conduct of all the public magistrates, and even dragged a consul to prison, if the measures he pursued were hostile to the peace of Rome. The dictator alone was their superior, but when that magistrate was elected, the office of tribune was not, like that of all other inferior magistrates, abolished while he continued at the head of the state. The people paid them so much deference, that their person was held sacred, and thence they were always called Sacrosancti. To strike them was a capital crime, and to interrupt them while they spoke in the assemblies, called for the immediate interference of power. The marks by which they were distinguished from other magistrates were not very conspicuous. They wore no particular dress, only a beadle called viator marched before them. They never sat in the senate, though, some time after, their office entitled them to the rank of senators. Yet, great as their power might appear, they received a heavy wound from their number, and as their consultations and resolutions were of no effect if they were not all unanimous, the senate often took advantage of their avarice, and by gaining one of them by bribes, they, as it were, suspended the authority of the rest. The office of tribune of the people, though at first deemed mean and servile, was afterwards one of the first steps that led to more honourable employments, and as no patrician was permitted to canvass for the tribuneship, we find many that descended among the plebeians to exercise that important office. From the power with which they were at last invested by the activity, the intrigues, and continual applications of those who were in office, they became almost absolute in the state, and it has been properly observed, that they caused far greater troubles than those which they were at first created to silence. Sylla, when raised to the dictatorship, gave a fatal blow to the authority of the tribunes, and by one of his decrees, they were no longer permitted to harangue and inflame the people; they could make no laws; no appeal lay to their tribunal; and such as had been tribunes were not permitted to solicit for the other offices of the state. This disgrace, however, was but momentary; at the death of the tyrant the tribunes recovered their privileges by means of Cotta and Pompey the Great. The office of tribune remained in full force till the age of Augustus, who, to make himself more absolute, and his person sacred, conferred the power and office upon himself, whence he was called tribunitiâ potestate donatus. His successors on the throne imitated his example, and as the emperor was the real and official tribune, such as were appointed to the office were merely nominal without power or privilege. Under Constantine the tribuneship was totally abolished. The tribunes were never permitted to sleep out of the city, except at the Feriæ Latinæ, when they went with other magistrates to offer sacrifices upon a mountain near Alba. Their houses were always open, and they received every complaint, and were ever ready to redress the wrongs of their constituents. Their authority was not extended beyond the walls of the city.——There were also other officers who bore the name of tribunes, such as the tribuni militum or militares, who commanded a division of the legions. They were empowered to decide all quarrels that might arise in the army; they took care of the camp, and gave the watchword. There were only three at first, chosen by Romulus, but the number was at last increased to six in every legion. After the expulsion of the Tarquins, they were chosen by the consuls; but afterwards the right of electing them was divided between the people and the consuls. They were generally of senatorian and equestrian families, and the former were called laticlavii, and the latter angusticlavii, from their peculiar dress. Those that were chosen by the consuls were called Rutuli, because the right of the consuls to elect them was confirmed by Rutulus, and those elected by the people were called Comitiati, because chosen in the Comitia. They wore a golden ring, and were in office no longer than six months. When the consuls were elected, it was usual to choose 14 tribunes from the knights, who had served five years in the army, and who were called juniores, and 10 from the people who had been in 10 campaigns, who were called seniores.——There were also some officers called tribuni militum consulari potestate, elected instead of consuls, A.U.C. 310. They were only three originally, but the number was afterwards increased to six or more, according to the will and pleasure of the people and the emergencies of the state. Part of them were plebeians, and the rest of patrician families. When they had subsisted for about 70 years, not without some interruption, the office was totally abolished, as the plebeians were admitted to share the consulship, and the consuls continued at the head of the state till the end of the commonwealth.——The tribuni cohortium prætorianarum were entrusted with the person of the emperor, which they guarded and protected.——The tribuni ærarii were officers chosen from among the people, who kept the money which was to be applied to defray the expenses of the army. The richest persons were always chosen, as much money was requisite for the pay of the soldiers. They were greatly distinguished in the state, and they shared with the senators and Roman knights the privileges of judging. They were abolished by Julius Cæsar, but Augustus re-established them, and created 200 more, to decide causes of smaller importance.——The tribuni celerum had the command of the guard which Romulus chose for the safety of his person. They were 100 in number, distinguished for their probity, their opulence, and their nobility.——The tribuni voluptatum were commissioned to take care of the amusements which were prepared for the people, and that nothing might be wanting in the exhibitions. This office was also honourable.

[♦] ‘U.C.’ replaced with ‘A.U.C.’

Tricala, a fortified place at the south of Sicily, between Selinus and Agrigentum. Silius Italicus, bk. 14, li. 271.

Tricasses, a people of Champagne in Gaul.

Tricastīni, a people of Gallia Narbonensis. Silius Italicus, bk. 3, li. 466.—Livy, bk. 21, ch. 31.

Triccæ, a town of Thessaly, where Æsculapius had a temple. The inhabitants went to the Trojan war. Livy, bk. 32, ch. 13.—Homer, Iliad.—Pliny, bk. 4, ch. 8.

Trichonium, a town of Ætolia.

Tricipitinus. See: [Lucretius].

Triclaria, a yearly festival celebrated by the inhabitants of three cities in Ionia, to appease the anger of Diana Triclaria, whose temple had been defiled by the adulterous commerce of Menalippus and Cometho. It was usual to sacrifice a boy and a girl, but this barbarous custom was abolished by Eurypilus. The three cities were Aroe, Messatis, and Anthea, whose united labours had erected the temple of the goddess. Pausanias, bk. 7, ch. 19.

Tricorii, a people of Gaul, now Dauphiné. Livy, bk. 21, ch. 31.

Tricorythus, a town of Attica.

Tricrēna, a place of Arcadia, where, according to some, Mercury was born. Pausanias, bk. 8, ch. 16.

Tridentum, a town of Cisalpine Gaul, now called Trent, and famous in history for the ecclesiastical council which sat there 18 years to regulate the affairs of the church, A.D. 1545.

Trieterīca, festivals in honour of Bacchus celebrated every three years. Virgil, Æneid, bk. 4, li. 302.

Tripānum, a place of Latium near Sinuessa. Livy, bk. 8, ch. 11.

Tripolīnus, a mountain of Campania famous for wine. Martial, bk. 13, ltr. 104.—Pliny, bk. 14, ch. 7.

Trigemĭna, one of the Roman gates, so called because the three Horatii went through it against the Curiatii. Livy, bk. 4, ch. 16; bk. 35, ch. 41; bk. 40, ch. 51.

Trinăcria, or Trinăcris, one of the ancient names of Sicily from its triangular form. Virgil, Æneid, bk. 3, li. 384, &c.

Trinium, a river of Italy falling into the Adriatic.

Trinobantes, a people of Britain in modern Essex and Middlesex. Tacitus, Annals, bk. 14, ch. 31.—Cæsar, Gallic War, bk. 5, ch. 20.

Triocăla, or Triocla, a town in the southern parts of Sicily. Silius Italicus, bk. 14, li. 271.

Triŏpas, or Triops, a son of Neptune by Canace the daughter of Æolus. He was father of Iphimedia and of Erisichthon, who is called on that account Triopeius, and his daughter Triopeia. Ovid, Metamorphoses, bk. 8, li. 754.—Apollodorus, bk. 1, ch. 7.——A son of Phorbas, father to Agenor, Jasus, and Messene. Homer, Hymn 3 to Apollo, li. 211.——A son of Piranthus.

Triphȳlia, one of the ancient names of Elis. Livy, bk. 28, ch. 8.——A mountain where Jupiter had a temple in the island Panchaia, whence he is called Triphylius.

Triopium, a town of Caria.

Tripŏlis, an ancient town of Phœnicia, built by the liberal contribution of Tyre, Sidon, and Aradus, whence the name.——A town of Pontus.——A district of Arcadia,——of Laconia. Livy, bk. 35, ch. 27.——Of Thessaly, Livy, bk. 42, ch. 53.——A town of Lydia or Caria.——A district of Africa between the Syrtes.

[♦]Trīptŏlĕmus, a son of Oceanus and Terra, or, according to some, of Trochilus, a priest of Argos. According to the more received opinion he was son of Celeus king of Attica by Neræa, whom some have called Metanira, Cothonea, Hyona, Melani, or Polymnia. He was born at Eleusis in Attica, and was cured in his youth of a severe illness by the care of Ceres, who had been invited into the house of Celeus, by the monarch’s children, as she travelled over the country in quest of her daughter. To repay the kindness of Celeus, the goddess took particular notice of his son. She fed him with her own milk, and placed him on burning coals during the night, to destroy whatever particles of mortality he had received from his parents. The mother was astonished at the uncommon growth of her son, and she had the curiosity to watch Ceres. She disturbed the goddess by a sudden cry, when Triptolemus was laid on the burning ashes, and as Ceres was therefore unable to make him immortal, she taught him agriculture, and rendered him serviceable to mankind, by instructing him how to sow corn, and make bread. She also gave him her chariot, which was drawn by two dragons, and in this celestial vehicle he travelled all over the earth, and distributed corn to all the inhabitants of the world. In Scythia the favourite of Ceres nearly lost his life; but Lyncus the king of the country, who had conspired to murder him, was changed into a lynx. At his return to Eleusis, Triptolemus restored Ceres her chariot, and established the Eleusinian festivals and mysteries in honour of the deity. He reigned for some time, and after death received divine honours. Some suppose that he accompanied Bacchus in his Indian expedition. Diodorus.—Hyginus, fable 147.—Pausanias, bk. 2, ch. 14; bk. 8, ch. 4.—Justin, bk. 2, ch. 6.—Apollodorus, bk. 1, ch. 5.—Callimachus, Hymn to Demeter, li. 22.—Ovid, Metamorphoses, bk. 5, li. 646; Fasti, bk. 4, li. 501; Tristia, bk. 3, poem 8, li. 1.

[♦] ‘Trīppŏlĕmus’ replaced with ‘Trīptŏlĕmus’

Triquĕtra, a name given to Sicily by the Latins, for its triangular form. Lucretius, bk. 1, li. 78.

Trismegistus, a famous Egyptian. See: [Mercurius].

Tritia, a daughter of the river Triton, mother of Menalippus by Mars.——A town in Achaia, built by her son, bore her name. Pausanias, bk. 7, ch. 22.

Tritogenia, a surname of Pallas. Hesiod.—Festus, Lexicon of Festus.

Triton, a sea deity, son of Neptune by Amphitrite, or, according to some, by Celeno, or Salacia. He was very powerful among the sea deities, and could calm the ocean and abate storms at pleasure. He is generally represented as blowing a shell. His body above the waist is like that of a man, and below a dolphin. Some represent him with the fore feet of a horse. Many of the sea deities are called Tritons, but the name is generally applied to those only who are half men and half fishes. Apollodorus, bk. 1, ch. 4.—Hesiod, Theogony, li. 930.—Ovid, Metamorphoses, bk. 1, li. 333.—Cicero, de Natura Deorum, bk. 1, ch. 28.—Virgil, Æneid, bk. 1, li. 148; bk. 6, li. 173.—Pausanias, bk. 9, ch. 20.——A river of Africa falling into the lake Tritonis.——One of the names of the Nile.——A small river of Bœotia, or Thessaly.

Tritōnis, a lake and river of Africa, near which Minerva had a temple, whence she is surnamed Tritonis, or Tritonia. Herodotus, bk. 4, ch. 178.—Pausanias, bk. 9, ch. 33.—Virgil, Æneid, bk. 2, li. 171.—Mela, bk. 1, ch. 7.——Athens is also called Tritonis, because dedicated to Minerva.—Ovid, Metamorphoses, bk. 5.

Tritonon, a town of Doris. Livy, bk. 28, ch. 7.

Triventum, a town of the Samnites.

Trivia, a surname given to Diana, because she presided over all places where three roads met. At the new moon the Athenians offered her sacrifices, and a sumptuous entertainment, which was generally distributed among the poor. Virgil, Æneid, bk. 6, li. 13; bk. 7, li. 774.—Ovid, Metamorphoses, bk. 2, li. 416; Fasti, bk. 1, li. 389.

Triviæ antrum, a place in the valley of Aricia, where the nymph Egeria resided. Martial, bk. 6, ltr. 47.

Triviæ lucus, a place of Campania, in the bay of Cumæ. Virgil, Æneid, bk. 6, li. 13.

Trivīcum, a town in the country of the Hirpini in Italy. Horace, bk. 1, satire 5, li. 79.

Triumvĭri, reipublicæ constituendæ, were three magistrates appointed equally to govern the Roman state with absolute power. These officers gave a fatal blow to the expiring independence of the Roman people, and became celebrated for their different pursuits, their ambition, and their various fortunes. The first triumvirate, B.C. 60, was in the hands of Julius Cæsar, Pompey, and Crassus, who at the expiration of their office kindled a civil war. The second and last triumvirate, B.C. 43, was under Augustus, Marcus Antony, and Lepidus, and through them the Romans totally lost their liberty. Augustus disagreed with his colleagues, and after he had defeated them, he made himself absolute in Rome. The triumvirate was in full force at Rome for the space of about 12 years.——There were also officers who were called triumviri capitales, created A.U.C. 464. They took cognizance of murders and robberies, and everything in which slaves were concerned. Criminals under sentence of death were entrusted to their care, and they had them executed according to the commands of the pretors.——The triumviri nocturni watched over the safety of Rome in the night-time, and in case of fire were ever ready to give orders, and to take the most effectual measures to extinguish it.——The triumviri agrarii had the care of colonies that were sent to settle in different parts of the empire. They made a fair division of the lands among the citizens, and exercised over the new colony all the power which was placed in the hands of the consuls at Rome.——The triumviri monetales were masters of the mint, and had the care of the coin, hence their office was generally intimated by the following letters often seen on ancient coins and medals: [♦]IIIVIR. A. A. A. F. F. i.e., Triumviri auro, argento, ære flando, feriendo. Some suppose that they were created only in the age of Cicero, as those who were employed before them were called Denariorum flandorum curatores.——The triumviri valetudinis were chosen when Rome was visited by a plague or some pestiferous distemper, and they took particular care of the temples of health and virtue.——The triumviri senatus legendi were appointed to name those that were most worthy to be made senators from among the plebeians. They were first chosen in the age of Augustus, as before this privilege belonged to the kings, and afterwards devolved upon the consuls and the censors, A.U.C. 310.——The triumviri mensarii were chosen in the second Punic war, to take care of the coin and prices of exchange.

[♦] ‘HIVIR’ replaced with ‘IIIVIR’

Triumvirorum insula, a place on the Rhine which falls into the Po, where the triumvirs Antony, Lepidus, and Augustus met to divide the Roman empire after the battle of Mutina. Dio Cassius, bk. 46, ch. 55.—Appian, Civil Wars, ch. 4.

Troădes, the inhabitants of Troas.

Troas, a country of Phrygia, in Asia Minor, of which Troy was the capital. When Troas is taken for the whole kingdom of Priam, it may be said to contain Mysia and Phrygia Minor; but if only applied to that part of the country where Troy was situate, its extent is confined within very narrow limits. Troas was anciently called Dardania. See: [Troja].

Trochois, a lake in the island of Delos, near which Apollo and Diana were born.

Trocmi, a people of Galatia. Livy, bk. 38, ch. 16.

Trœzēne a town of Argolis, in Peloponnesus, near the Saronicus Sinus, which received its name from Trœzen the son of Pelops, who reigned there for some time. It is often called Theseis, because Theseus was born there; and Posidonia, because Neptune was worshipped there. Statius, Thebaid, bk. 4, li. 81.—Pausanias, bk. 2, ch. 50.—Plutarch, Theseus.—Ovid, Metamorphoses, bk. 8, li. 556; bk. 15, li. 296.——Another town at the south of the Peloponnesus.

Trogiliæ, three small islands near Samos.

Trogilium, a part of mount Mycale, projecting into the sea. Strabo, bk. 14.

Trogilus, a harbour of Sicily. Silius Italicus, bk. 14, lis. 2, 59.

Troglody̆tæ, a people of Æthiopia, who dwelt in caves (τρωγλη specus, δυμι subeo). They were all shepherds, and had their wives in common. Strabo, bk. 1.—Mela, bk. 1, chs. 4 & 8.—Pliny, bk. 1, ch. 8; bk. 37, ch. 10.

Trogus Pompeius, a Latin historian, B.C. 41, born in Gaul. His father was one of the friends and adherents of Julius Cæsar, and his ancestors had obtained privileges and honours from the most illustrious of the Romans. Trogus wrote a universal history of all the most important events that had happened from the beginning of the world to the age of Augustus, divided into 44 books. This history, which was greatly admired for its purity and elegance, was epitomized by Justin, and is still extant. Some suppose that the epitome is the cause that the original of Trogus is lost. Justin, bk. 47, ch. 5.—Augustine, City of God, bk. 4, ch. 6.

Troja, a city, the capital of Troas, or, according to others, a country of which Ilium was the capital. It was built on a small eminence near mount Ida, and the promontory of Sigæum, at the distance of about four miles from the sea-shore. Dardanus the first king of the country built it, and called it Dardania, and from Troas, one of his successors, it was called Troja, and from Ilus, Ilion. Neptune is also said to have built, or more properly repaired, its walls, in the age of king Laomedon. This city has been celebrated by the poems of Homer and Virgil, and of all the wars which have been carried on among the ancients, that of Troy is the most famous. The Trojan war was undertaken by the Greeks, to recover Helen, whom Paris the son of Priam king of Troy had carried away from the house of Menelaus. All Greece united to avenge the cause of Menelaus, and every prince furnished a certain number of ships and soldiers. According to Euripides, Virgil, and Lycophron, the armament of the Greeks amounted to 1000 ships. Homer mentions them as being 1186, and Thucydides supposes that they were 1200 in number. The number of men which these ships carried is unknown; yet, as the largest contained about 120 men each, and the smallest 50, it may be supposed that no less than 100,000 men were engaged in this celebrated expedition. Agamemnon was chosen general of all these forces; but the princes and kings of Greece were admitted among his counsellors, and by them all the operations of the war were directed. The most celebrated of the Grecian princes that distinguished themselves in this war, were Achilles, Ajax, Menelaus, Ulysses, Diomedes, Protesilaus, Patroclus, Agamemnon, Nestor, Neoptolemus, &c. The Grecian army was opposed by a more numerous force. The king of Troy received assistance from the neighbouring princes in Asia Minor, and reckoned among his most active generals, Rhesus king of Thrace, and Memnon, who entered the field with 20,000 Assyrians and Æthiopians. Many of the adjacent cities were reduced and plundered before the Greeks approached their walls; but when the siege was begun, the enemies on both sides gave proofs of valour and intrepidity. The army of the Greeks, however, was visited by a plague, and the operations were not less retarded by the quarrel of Agamemnon and Achilles. The loss was great on both sides; the most valiant of the Trojans, and particularly of the sons of Priam, were slain in the field; and, indeed, so great was the slaughter, that the rivers of the country are represented as filled with dead bodies and suits of armour. After the siege had been carried on for 10 years, some of the Trojans, among whom were Æneas and Antenor, betrayed the city into the hands of the enemy, and Troy was reduced to ashes. The poets, however, support that the Greeks made themselves masters of the place by artifice. They secretly filled a large wooden horse with armed men, and led away their army from the plains, as if to return home. The Trojans brought the wooden horse into their city, and in the night, the Greeks that were confined within the sides of the animal rushed out and opened the gates to their companions, who had returned from the place of their concealment. The greatest part of the inhabitants were put to the sword, and the others carried away by the conquerors. This happened, according to the Arundelian marbles, about 1184 years before the christian era, in the 3530th year of the Julian period, on the night between the 11th and 12th of June, 408 years before the first olympiad. Some time after, a new city was raised, about 30 stadia from the ruins of the old Troy; but though it bore the ancient name, and received ample donations from Alexander the Great, when he visited it in his Asiatic expedition, yet it continued to be small, and in the age of Strabo it was nearly in ruins. It is said that Julius Cæsar, who wished to pass for one of the descendants of Æneas, and consequently to be related to the Trojans, intended to make it the capital of the Roman empire, and to transport there the senate and the Roman people. The same apprehensions were entertained in the reign of Augustus, and according to some, an ode of Horace, Justum et tenacem propositi virum, was written purposely to dissuade the emperor from putting into execution so wild a project. See: [Paris], [Æneas], [Antenor], [Agamemnon], [Ilium], [Laomedon], [Menelaus], &c. Virgil, Æneid.—Homer.—Ovid.—Diodorus, &c.

Trojāni and Trojugĕnæ, the inhabitants of Troy.

Trojāni ludi, games instituted by Æneas, or his son Ascanius, to commemorate the death of Anchises, and celebrated in the circus at Rome. Boys of the best families, dressed in a neat manner, and accoutred with suitable arms and weapons, were permitted to enter the list. Sylla exhibited them in his dictatorship, and under Augustus they were observed with unusual pomp and solemnity. A mock fight on horseback, or sometimes on foot, was exhibited. The leader of the party was called princeps juventutis, and was generally the son of a senator, or the heir apparent to the empire. Virgil, Æneid, bk. 5, li. 602.—Suetonius, Cæsar & Augustus.—Plutarch, Sulla.

Troĭlus, a son of Priam and Hecuba, killed by Achilles during the Trojan war. Apollodorus, bk. 3, ch. 12.—Horace, bk. 2, ode 9, li. 16.—Virgil, Æneid, bk. 1, li. 474.

Tromentīna, one of the Roman tribes. Livy, bk. 6, ch. 5.

Tropæa, a town of the Brutii.——A stone monument on the Pyrenees, erected by Pompey.——Drusi, a town of Germany where Drusus died, and Tiberius was saluted emperor by the army.

Trophonius, a celebrated architect, son of Erginus king of Orchomenos in Bœotia. He built Apollo’s temple at Delphi, with the assistance of his brother Agamedes, and when he demanded of the god a reward for his trouble, he was told by the priestess to wait eight days, and to live during that time with all cheerfulness and pleasure. When the days were passed, Trophonius and his brother were found dead in their bed. According to Pausanias, however, he was swallowed up alive in the earth; and when afterwards the country was visited by a great drought, the Bœotians were directed to apply to Trophonius for relief, and to seek him at Lebadea, where he gave oracles in a cave. They discovered this cave by means of a swarm of bees, and Trophonius told them how to ease their misfortunes. From that time Trophonius was honoured as a god; he passed for the son of Apollo, a chapel and a statue were erected to him, and sacrifices were offered to his divinity when consulted to give oracles. The cave of Trophonius became one of the most celebrated oracles of Greece. Many ceremonies were required, and the suppliant was obliged to make particular sacrifices, to anoint his body with oil, and to bathe in the waters of certain rivers. He was to be clothed in a linen robe, and, with a cake of honey in his hand, he was directed to descend into the cave by a narrow entrance, from whence he returned backwards after he had received an answer. He was always pale and dejected at his return, and thence it became proverbial to say of a melancholy man, that he had consulted the oracle of Trophonius. There were annually exhibited games in honour of Trophonius at Lebadea. Pausanias, bk. 9, ch. 37, &c.—Cicero, Tusculanæ Disputationes, bk. 1, ch. 47.—Plutarch.—Pliny, bk. 34, ch. 7.—Ælian, Varia Historia, bk. 3, ch. 45.

Tros, a son of Ericthonius king of Troy, who married Callirhoe the daughter of the Scamander, by whom he had Ilus, Assaracus, and Ganymedes. He made war against Tantalus king of Phrygia, whom he accused of having stolen away the youngest of his sons. The capital of Phrygia was called Troja from him, and the country itself Troas. Virgil, bk. 3, Georgics, li. 36.—Homer, Iliad, bk. 20, li. 219.—Apollodorus, bk. 3, ch. 12.

Trossŭlum, a town of Etruria, which gave the name of Trossuli to the Roman knights who had taken it without the assistance of foot soldiers. Pliny, bk. 32, ch. 2.—Seneca, ltrs. 86 & 87.—Persius, bk. 1, li. 82.

Trotilum, a town of Sicily. Thucydides, bk. 6.

Truentum, or Truentinum, a river of Picenum, falling into the Adriatic. There is also a town of the same name in the neighbourhood. Silius Italicus, bk. 8, li. 434.—Mela, bk. 2.—Pliny, bk. 3, ch. 13.

Trypherus, a celebrated cook, &c. Juvenal, bk. 11.

Tryphiodorus, a Greek poet and grammarian of Egypt in the sixth century, who wrote a poem in 24 books on the destruction of Troy, from which he excluded the α in the first book, the β in the second, and the γ in the third, &c.

Tryphon, a tyrant of Apamea in Syria, put to death by Antiochus. Justin, bk. 36, ch. 1.——A surname of one of the Ptolemies. Ælian, Varia Historia, bk. 14, li. 31.——A grammarian of Alexander in the age of Augustus.

Tubantes, a people of Germany. Tacitus, bk. 1, ch. 51.

Tubĕro Quintus Ælius, a Roman consul, son-in-law of Paulus the conqueror of Perseus. He is celebrated for his poverty, in which he seemed to glory as well as the rest of his family. Sixteen of the Tuberos, with their wives and children, lived in a small house, and maintained themselves with the produce of a little field, which they cultivated with their own hand. The first piece of silver plate that entered the house of Tubero was a small cup which his father-in-law presented to him after he had conquered the king of Macedonia.——A learned man.——A governor of Africa.——A Roman general who marched against the Germans under the emperors. He was accused of treason, and acquitted.

Tuburbo, two towns of Africa, called Major and Minor.

Tucca Plautius, a friend of Horace and Virgil. He was, with Varus and Plotius, ordered by Augustus, as some report, to revise the Æneid of Virgil, which remained uncorrected on account of the premature death of the poet. Horace, bk. 1, satire 5, li. 40; satire 10, li. 84.——A town of Mauritania.

Tuccia, an immodest woman in Juvenal’s age. Juvenal, satire 6, li. 64.

Tucia, a river near Rome. Silius Italicus, bk. 13, li. 5.

Tuder, or Tudertia, an ancient town of Umbria. The inhabitants were called Tudertes. Silius Italicus, bk. 4, li. 222.

Tudri, a people of Germany. Tacitus, Germania, ch. 42.

Tugia, now Toia, a town of Spain. Pliny, bk. 3, ch. 1.

Tugīni, or Tugēni, a people of Germany.

Tuisto, a deity of the Germans, son of Terra, and the founder of the nation. Tacitus, Germania, bk. 2.

Tulcis, a river of Spain, falling into the Mediterranean, now Francoli.

Tulingi, a people of Germany between the Rhine and the Danube. Cæsar, bk. 1, ch. 5, Gallic War.

Tulla, one of Camilla’s attendants in the Rutulian war. Virgil, Æneid, bk. 11, li. 656.

Tullia, a daughter of Servius Tullius king of Rome. She married Tarquin the Proud, after she had murdered her first husband Arunx, and consented to see Tullius assassinated, that Tarquin might be raised to the throne. It is said that she ordered her chariot to be driven over the body of her aged father, which had been thrown all mangled and bloody into one of the streets of Rome. She was afterwards banished from Rome with her husband. Ovid, Ibis, li. 363.——Another daughter of Servius Tullius, who married Tarquin the Proud. She was murdered by her own husband, that [♦]he might marry her ambitious sister of the same name.——A daughter of Cicero. See: [Tulliola].——A debauched woman. Juvenal, satire 6, li. 306.

[♦] ‘she’ replaced with ‘he’

Tullia lex, de senatu, by Marcus Tullius Cicero, A.U.C. 689, enacted that those who had a libera legatio granted them by the senate, should hold it no more than one year. Such senators as had a libera legatio travelled through the provinces of the empire without any expense, as if they were employed in the affairs of the state.——Another, de ambitu, by the same, the same year. It forbade any person, two years before he canvassed for an office, to exhibit a show of gladiators, unless that case had devolved upon him by will. Senators guilty of the crime of ambitu were punished with the aquæ et ignis interdictio for 10 years, and the penalty inflicted on the commons was more severe than that of the Calpurnian law.

Tulliānum, a subterraneous prison in Rome, built by Servius Tullius, and added to the other called Robur, where criminals were confined. Sallust, Conspiracy of Catiline.

Tulliŏla, or Tullia, a daughter of Cicero by Terentia. She married Caius Piso, and afterwards Furius Crassipes, and lastly Publius Cornelius Dolabella. With this last husband she had every reason to be dissatisfied. Dolabella was turbulent, and consequently the cause of much grief to Tullia and her father. Tullia died in child-bed, about 44 years before Christ. Cicero was so inconsolable on this occasion, that some have accused him of an unnatural partiality for his daughter. According to a ridiculous story which some of the moderns report, in the age of Pope Paul III., a monument was discovered on the Appian road with the superscription of Tulliolæ filiæ meæ. The body of a woman was found in it, which was reduced to ashes as soon as touched; there was also a lamp burning, which was extinguished as soon as the air gained admission there, and which was supposed to have been lighted above 1500 years. Cicero.—Plutarch, Cicero.

Tullius Cimber, the son of a freedman, rose to great honours, and followed the interest of Pompey. He was reconciled to Julius Cæsar, whom he murdered with Brutus. Plutarch.——Cicero, a celebrated orator. See: [Cicero].——The son of the orator Cicero. See: [Cicero].——Servius, a king of Rome. See: [Servius].——Senecio, a man accused of conspiracy against Nero with Piso.——A friend of Otho.——One of the kings of Rome. See: [Servius].

Tullus Hostilius, the third king of Rome after the death of Numa. He was of a warlike and active disposition, and signalized himself by his expedition against the people of Alba, whom he conquered, and whose city he destroyed after the famous battle of the Horatii and Curiatii. He afterwards carried his arms against the Latins and the neighbouring states with success, and enforced reverence for majesty among his subjects. He died with all his family, about 640 years before the christian era, after a reign of 32 years. The manner of his death is not precisely known. Some suppose that he was killed by lightning, while he was performing some magical ceremonies in his own house; or, according to the more probable accounts of others, he was murdered by Ancus Martius, who set fire to the palace, to make it be believed that the impiety of Tullus had been punished by heaven. Florus, bk. 1, ch. 3.—Dionysius of Halicarnassus, bk. 3, ch. 1.—Virgil, Æneid, bk. 6, li. 814.—Livy, bk. 1, ch. 22.—Pausanias.——A consul, A.U.C. 686. Horace, bk. 3, ode 8, li. 12.

Tunēta, or Tunis, a town of Africa, near which Regulus was defeated and taken by Xanthippus. Livy, bk. 30, ch. 9.

Tungri, a name given to some of the Germans, supposed to live on the banks of the Maese, whose chief city, called Atuatuca, is now Tongeren. The river of the country is now the Spaw. Tacitus, Germania, bk. 2.

Caius Turanius, a Latin tragic poet in the age of Augustus. Ovid, ex Ponto, bk. 4, poem 16, li. 29.

Turba, a town of Gaul.

Turbo, a gladiator, mentioned Horace, bk. 2, satire 3, li. 310. He was of small stature, but uncommonly courageous.——A governor of Pannonia, under the emperors.

Turdetăni, or Turduti, a people of Spain, inhabiting both sides of the Bætis. Livy, bk. 21, ch. 6; bk. 28, ch. 39; bk. 34, ch. 17.

Turesis, a Thracian who revolted from Tiberius.

Turias, a river of Spain falling into the Mediterranean near Valentia, now the [♦]Guadalquiver.

[♦] ‘Guadalavier’ replaced with ‘Guadalquiver’

Turicum, a town of Gaul, now Zurich, in Switzerland.

Turiosa, a town of Spain.

Turius, a corrupt judge in the Augustan age. Horace, bk. 2, satire 1, li. 49.

Turnus, a king of the Rutuli, son of Daunus and Venilia. He made war against Æneas, and attempted to drive him away from Italy, that he might not marry the daughter of Latinus, who had been previously engaged to him. His efforts were attended with no success, though supported with great courage and a numerous army. He was conquered, and at last killed in a single combat by Æneas. He is represented as a man of uncommon strength. Virgil, Æneid, bk. 7, li. 56, &c.—Tibullus, bk. 2, poem 5, li. 49.—Ovid, Fasti, bk. 4, li. 879; Metamorphoses, bk. 14, li. 451.

Turŏnes, a people of Gaul, whose capital, Cæsarodunum, is the modern Tours.

Turpio. See: [Ambivius].

Turrus, a river of Italy falling into the Adriatic.

Turullius, one of Cæsar’s murderers.

Turuntus, a river of Sarmatia, supposed to be the Dwina, or Duna.

Tuscania and Tuscia, a large country at the west of Rome, the same as Etruria. See: [Etruria].

Tusci, the inhabitants of Etruria.——The villa of Pliny the younger near the sources of the Tiber. Pliny, ltrs. 5 & 6.

Tusculānum, a country house of Cicero, near Tusculum, where, among other books, the orator composed his Quæstiones, concerning the contempt of death, &c., in five books. Cicero, Tusculanæ Disputationes, bk. 1, ch. 4; Letters to Atticus, bk. 15, ltr. 2; Letters to his Friends, bk. 2, ch. 1.

Tuscŭlum, a town of Latium on the declivity of a hill, about 12 miles from Rome, founded by Telegonus the son of Ulysses and Circe. It is now called Frescati, and is famous for the magnificent villas in its neighbourhood. Cicero, Letters to Atticus.—Strabo, bk. 5.—Horace, bk. 3, ode 23, li. 8, &c.

Tuscus, belonging to Etruria. The Tiber is called Tuscus Amnis, from its situation. Virgil, Æneid, bk. 10, li. 199.

Tuscus vicus, a small village near Rome. It received this name from the Etrurians of Porsenna’s army that settled there. Livy, bk. 2, ch. 14.

Tuscum mare, a part of the Mediterranean on the coast of Etruria. See: [Tyrrhenum].

Tuta, a queen of Illyricum, &c. See: [Teuta].

Tutia, a vestal virgin accused of incontinence. She proved herself to be innocent by carrying water from the Tiber to the temple of Vesta in a sieve, after a solemn invocation to the goddess. Livy, bk. 20.——A small river six miles from Rome, where Annibal pitched his camp, when he retreated from the city. Livy, bk. 26, ch. 11.

Tuticum, a town of the Hirpini.

Tyăna, a town at the foot of mount Taurus in Cappadocia, where Apollonius was born, whence he is called Tyaneus. Ovid, Metamorphoses, bk. 8, li. 719.—Strabo, bk. 12.

Tyanītis, a province of Asia Minor, near Cappadocia.

Tybris. See: [Tiberis].——A Trojan who fought in Italy with Æneas against Turnus. Virgil, Æneid, bk. 10, li. 124.

Tybur, a town of Latium on the Anio. See: [Tibur].

Tyche, one of the Oceanides. Hesiod, Theogony, li. 360.——A part of the town of Syracuse. Cicero, Against Verres, bk. 4, ch. 53.

Tychius, a celebrated artist of Hyle in Bœotia, who made Hector’s shield, which was covered with the hides of seven oxen. Ovid, Fasti, bk. 3, li. 823.—Strabo, bk. 9.—Homer, Iliad, bk. 7, li. 220.

Tyde, a town of Hispania Tarraconensis. Silius Italicus, bk. 3, li. 367.

Tydeus, a son of Œneus king of Calydon and Peribœa. He fled from his country after the accidental murder of one of his friends, and found a safe asylum in the court of Adrastus king of Argos, whose daughter Deiphyle he married. When Adrastus wished to replace his son-in-law Polynices on the throne of Thebes, Tydeus undertook to go and declare war against Eteocles, who usurped the crown. The reception he met provoked his resentment; he challenged Eteocles and his officers to single combat, and defeated them. On his return to Argos he slew 50 of the Thebans who had conspired against his life, and lay in an ambush to surprise him; and only one of the number was permitted to return to Thebes, to bear the tidings of the fate of his companions. He was one of the seven chiefs of the army of Adrastus, and during the Theban war he behaved with great courage. Many of the enemies expired under his blows, till he was at last wounded by Menalippus. Though the blow was fatal, Tydeus had the strength to dart at his enemy, and to bring him to the ground, before he was carried away from the fight by his companions. At his own request, the dead body of Menalippus was brought to him, and after he had ordered the head to be cut off, he began to tear out the brains with his teeth. The savage barbarity of Tydeus displeased Minerva, who was coming to bring him relief and to make him immortal, and the goddess left him to his fate, and suffered him to die. He was buried at Argos, where his monument was still to be seen in the age of Pausanias. He was father to Diomedes. Some suppose that the cause of his flight to Argos was the murder of the son of Melus, or, according to others, of Alcathous his father’s brother, or perhaps his own brother Olenius. Homer, Iliad, bk. 4, lis. 365, 387.—Apollodorus, bk. 1, ch. 8; bk. 3, ch. 6.—Aeschylus, Seven Against Thebes.—Pausanias, bk. 9, ch. 18.—Diodorus, bk. 2.—Euripides, Suppliants.—Virgil, Æneid, bk. 6, li. 479.—Ovid, Ibis, li. 350, &c.

Tydīdes, a patronymic of Diomedes, as son of Tydeus. Virgil, Æneid, bk. 1, li. 101.—Horace, bk. 1, ode 15, li. 28.

Tylos, a town of Peloponnesus near Tænarus, now Bahrain.

Tymber, a son of Daunus, who assisted Turnus. His head was cut off in an engagement by Pallas. Virgil, Æneid, bk. 10, li. 391, &c.

Tymōlus, a mountain. Ovid, Metamorphoses, bk. 6, li. 15. See: [Tmolus].

Tympania, an inland town of Elis.

Tynphæi, a people between Epirus and Thessaly.

Tyndărĭdæ, a patronymic of the children of Tyndarus, as Castor, Pollux, and Helen, &c. Ovid, Metamorphoses, bk. 8.——A people of Colchis.

Tyndăris, a patronymic of Helen daughter of Tyndarus. Virgil, Æneid, bk. 2, li. 569.——A town of Sicily near Pelorus, founded by a Messenian colony. Strabo, bk. 6.—Pliny, bk. 2, ch. 91.—Silius Italicus, bk. 14, li. 209.——Horace gave this name to one of his mistresses, as best expressive of all female accomplishments, bk. 1, ode 17, li. 10.——A name given to Cassandra. Ovid, Ars Amatoria, bk. 2, li. 408.——A town of Colchis on the Phasis. Pliny.

Tyndărus, son of Œbalus and Gorgophone, or, according to some, of Perieres. He was king of Lacedæmon, and married the celebrated Leda, who bore him Timandra, Philonoe, &c., and also became mother of Pollux and Helen by Jupiter. See: [Leda], [Castor], [Pollux], [Clytemnestra], &c.

Tynnĭchus, a general of Heraclea. Polyænus.

Typhœus, or Typhon, a famous giant, son of Tartarus and Terra, who had 100 heads like those of a serpent or a dragon. Flames of devouring fire were darted from his mouth and from his eyes, and he uttered horrid yells, like the dissonant shrieks of different animals. He was no sooner born, than, to avenge the death of his brothers the giants, he made war against heaven, and so frightened the gods that they fled away and assumed different shapes. Jupiter became a ram, Mercury an ibis, [♦]Apollo a crow, Juno a cow, Bacchus a goat, Diana a cat, Venus a fish, &c. The father of the gods at last resumed courage, and put Typhœus to flight with his thunderbolts, and crushed him under mount Ætna, in the island of Sicily, or, according to some, under the island Inarime. Typhœus became father of Geryon, Cerberus, and Orthos by his union with Echidna. Hyginus, fables 152 & 196.—Ovid, Metamorphoses, bk. 5, li. 325.—Aeschylus, Seven Against Thebes.—Hesiod, Theogony, li. 820.—Homer, Hymns.—Herodotus, bk. 2, ch. 156.—Virgil, Æneid, bk. 9, li. 716.

[♦] ‘Appollo’ replaced with ‘Apollo’

Typhon, a giant whom Juno produced by striking the earth. Some of the poets make him the same as the famous Typhœus. See: [Typhœus].——A brother of Osiris, who married Nepthys. He laid snares for his brother during his expedition, and murdered him at his return. The death of Osiris was avenged by his son Orus, and Typhon was put to death. See: [Osiris]. He was reckoned among the Egyptians to be the cause of every evil, and on that account generally represented as a wolf and a crocodile. Plutarch, de Iside et Osiride.—Diodorus, bk. 1.

Tyrannion, a grammarian of Pontus, intimate with Cicero. His original name was Theophrastus, and he received that of Tyrannion, from his austerity to his pupils. He was taken by Lucullus, and restored to his liberty by Muræna. He opened a school in the house of his friend Cicero, and enjoyed his friendship. He was extremely fond of books, and collected a library of about 30,000 volumes. To his care and industry the world is indebted for the preservation of Aristotle’s works.——There was also one of his disciples called Diocles, who bore his name. He was a native of Phœnicia, and was made prisoner in the war of Augustus and Antony. He was bought by Dymes, one of the emperors favourites, and afterwards by Terentia, who gave him his liberty. He wrote 68 different volumes, in one of which he proved that the Latin tongue was derived from the Greek; and another in which Homer’s poems were corrected, &c.

Tyrannus, a son of Pterelaus.

Tyras, or Tyra, a river of European Sarmatia, falling into the Euxine sea, between the Danube and the Borysthenes, and now called the Niester. Ovid, ex Ponto, bk. 4, poem 10, li. 50.

Tyres, one of the companions of Æneas in his wars against Turnus. He was brother to Teuthras. Virgil, Æneid, bk. 10, li. 403.

Tyridates, a rich man in the age of Alexander, &c. Curtius.

Tyrii, or Tyrus, a town of Magna Græcia.

Tyriotes, a eunuch of Darius, who fled from Alexander’s camp, to inform his master of the queen’s death. Curtius, bk. 4, ch. 10.

Tyro, a beautiful nymph, daughter of Salmoneus king of Elis and Alcidice. She was treated with great severity by her mother-in-law Sidero, and at last removed from her father’s house by her uncle Cretheus. She became enamoured of the Enipeus; and as she often walked on the banks of the river, Neptune assumed the shape of her favourite lover, and gained her affections. She had two sons, Pelias and Neleus, by Neptune, whom she exposed, to conceal her incontinence from the world. The children were preserved by shepherds, and when they had arrived at years of maturity, they avenged their mother’s injuries by assassinating the cruel Sidero. Some time after her amour with Neptune, Tyro married her uncle Cretheus, by whom she had Amythaon, Pheres, and Æson. Tyro is often called Salmonis from her father. Homer, Odyssey, bk. 11, li. 234.—Pindar, Pythian, ch. 4.—Apollodorus, bk. 1, ch. 9.—Diodorus, bk. 4.—Propertius, bk. 1, poem 13, li. 20; bk. 2, poem 30, li. 51; bk. 3, poem 19, li. 13.—Ovid, Amores, bk. 3, poem 6, li. 43.—Ælian, Varia Historia, bk. 12, ch. 42.

Tyros, an island of Arabia.——A city of Phœnicia. See: [Tyrus].

Tyrrheidæ, a patronymic given to the sons of Tyrrheus, who kept the flocks of Latinus. Virgil, Æneid, bk. 7, li. 484.

Tyrrhēni, the inhabitants of Etruria. See: [Etruria].

Tyrrhēnum mare, that part of the Mediterranean which lies on the coast of Etruria. It is also called Inferum, as being at the bottom or south of Italy.

Tyrrhēnus, a son of Atys king of Lydia, who came to Italy, where part of the country was called after him. Strabo, bk. 5.—Tacitus, Annals, bk. 4, ch. 55.—Paterculus, bk. 1, ch. 1.——A friend of Æneas. Virgil, Æneid, bk. 11, li. 612.

Tyrrheus, a shepherd of king Latinus, whose stag being killed by the companions of Ascanius, was the first cause of war between Æneas and the inhabitants of Latium. Hence the word Tyrrheides. Virgil, Æneid, bk. 7, li. 485.——An Egyptian general, B.C. 91.

Tyrsis, a place in the Balearides, supposed to be the palace of Saturn.

Tyrtæus, a Greek elegiac poet, born in Attica, son of Archimbrotus. In the second Messenian war, the Lacedæmonians were directed by the oracle to apply to the Athenians for a general, if they wished to finish their expedition with success, and they were contemptuously presented with Tyrtæus. The poet, though ridiculed for his many deformities, and his ignorance of military affairs, animated the Lacedæmonians with martial songs, just as they wished to raise the siege of Ithome, and inspired them with so much courage, that they defeated the Messenians. For his services, he was made a citizen of Lacedæmon, and treated with great attention. Of the compositions of Tyrtæus nothing is extant but the fragments of four or five elegies. He flourished about 684 B.C. Justin, bk. 2, ch. 5.—Strabo, bk. 8.—Aristotle, Politics, bk. 5, ch. 7.—Horace, Art of Poetry, li. 402.—Ælian, Varia Historia, bk. 12, ch. 50.—Pausanias, bk. 4, ch. 6, &c.

Tyrus, or Tyros, a very ancient city of Phœnicia, built by the Sidonians, on a small island at the south of Sidon, about 200 stadia from the shore, and now called Sur. There were, properly speaking, two places of that name, the old Tyros, called Palætyros, on the sea-shore, and the other in the island. It was about 19 miles in circumference, including Palætyros, but, without it, about four miles. Tyre was destroyed by the princes of Assyria, and afterwards rebuilt. It maintained its independence till the age of Alexander, who took it with much difficulty, and only after he had joined the island to the continent by a mole, after a siege of seven months, on the 20th of August, B.C. 332. The Tyrians were naturally industrious; their city was the emporium of commerce, and they were deemed the inventors of scarlet and purple colours. They founded many cities in different parts of the world, such as Carthage, Gades, Leptis, Utica, &c., which on that account are often distinguished by the epithet Tyria. The buildings of Tyre were very splendid and magnificent; the walls were 150 feet high, with a proportionate breadth. Hercules was the chief deity of the place. It had two large and capacious harbours, and a powerful fleet, and was built, according to some writers, about 2760 years before the christian era. Strabo, bk. 16.—Herodotus, bk. 2, ch. 44.—Mela, bk. 1, ch. 12.—Curtius, bk. 4, ch. 4.—Virgil, Æneid, bk. 1, lis. 6, 339, &c.—Ovid, Fasti, bk. 1, &c. Metamorphoses, bks. 5 & 10.—Lucan, bk. 3, &c.——A nymph, mother of Venus, according to some.

Tysias, a man celebrated by Cicero. See: [Tisias].

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U & V

Vacatione (lex de), was enacted concerning the exemption from military service, and contained this very remarkable clause, nisi bellum Gallicum exoriatur, in which case the priests themselves were not exempted from service. This can intimate how apprehensive the Romans were of the Gauls, by whom their city had once been taken.

Vacca, a town of Numidia. Sallust, Jugurthine War.——A river of Spain.

Vaccæi, a people at the north of Spain. Livy, bk. 21, ch. 5; bk. 35, ch. 7; bk. 46, ch. 47.

Vaccus, a general, &c. Livy, bk. 8, ch. 19.

Vacūna, a goddess at Rome, who presided over repose and leisure, as the word indicates (vacare). Her festivals were observed in the month of December. Ovid, Fasti, bk. 6, li. 307.—Horace, bk. 1, ltr. 10, li. 49.

Vadimōnis lacus, now Bassano, a lake of Etruria, whose waters were sulphureous. The Etrurians were defeated there by the Romans, and the Gauls by Dolabella. Livy, bk. 9, ch. 39.—Florus, bk. 1, ch. 13.—Pliny, bk. 8, ltr. 20.

Vaga, a town of Africa. Silius Italicus, bk. 3, li. 259.

Vagedrūsa, a river of Sicily between the towns of Camarina and Gela. Silius Italicus, bk. 14, li. 229.

Vagellius, an obscene lawyer of Mutina. Juvenal, satire 16, li. 23.

Vagēni, or Vagienni, a people of Liguria, at the sources of the Po, whose capital was called Augusta Vagiennorum. Silius Italicus, bk. 8, li. 606.

Vahālis, a river of modern Holland, now called the Waal. Tacitus, Annals, bk. 2, ch. 6.

Vala Caius Numonius, a friend of Horace, to whom the poet addressed bk. 1, ltr. 15.

Valens Flavius, a son of Gratian, born in Pannonia. His brother Valentinian took him as his colleague on the throne, and appointed him over the eastern parts of the Roman empire. The bold measures and the threats of the rebel Procopius frightened the new emperor; and if his friends had not interfered, he would have willingly resigned all his pretensions to the empire which his brother had entrusted to his care. By perseverance, however, Valens was enabled to destroy his rival, and to distinguish himself in his wars against the northern barbarians. But his lenity to these savage intruders proved fatal to the Roman power; and by permitting some of the Goths to settle in the provinces of Thrace, and to have free access to every part of the country, Valens encouraged them to make depredations on his subjects, and to disturb their tranquillity. His eyes were opened too late; he attempted to repel them, but he failed in the attempt. A bloody battle was fought, in which the barbarians obtained some advantage, and Valens was hurried away by the obscurity of the night, and the affection of the soldiers for his person, into a lonely house, which the Goths set on fire. Valens, unable to make his escape, was burnt alive in the 50th year of his age, after a reign of 13 years, A.D. 378. He has been blamed for his superstition and cruelty, in putting to death all such of his subjects whose name began by Theod, because he had been informed by his favourite astrologers that his crown would devolve upon the head of an officer whose name began with these letters. Valens did not possess any of the great qualities which distinguish a good and powerful monarch. He was illiterate, and of a disposition naturally indolent and inactive. Yet though timorous in the highest degree, he was warlike; and though fond of ease, he was acquainted with the character of his officers, and preferred none but such as possessed merit. He was a great friend to discipline, a pattern of chastity and temperance, and he showed himself always ready to listen to the just complaints of his subjects, though he gave an attentive ear to flattery and malevolent informations. Ammianus, &c.——Valerius, a proconsul of Achaia, who proclaimed himself emperor of Rome, when Marcian, who had been invested with the purple in the east, attempted to assassinate him. He reigned only six months, and was murdered by his soldiers, A.D. 261.——Fabius, a friend of Vitellius, whom he saluted emperor, in opposition to Otho. He was greatly honoured by Vitellius, &c.——A general of the emperor Honorius.——The name of the second Mercury mentioned by Cicero, de Natura Deorum, bk. 3, ch. 22, but considered as more properly belonging to Jupiter.

Valentia, one of the ancient names of Rome.——A town of Spain, a little below Saguntum, founded by Julius Brutus, and for some time known by the name of Julia Collonia.——A town of Italy.——Another, in Sardinia.

Valentiniānus I., a son of Gratian, raised to the imperial throne by his merit and valour. He kept the western part of the empire for himself, and appointed over the east his brother Valens. He gave the most convincing proof of his military valour in the victories which he obtained over the barbarians in the provinces of Gaul, the deserts of Africa, and on the banks of the Rhine and the Danube. The insolence of the Quadi he punished with great severity; and when these desperate and indigent barbarians had deprecated the conqueror’s mercy, Valentinian treated them with contempt, and upbraided them with every mark of resentment. While he spoke with such warmth, he broke a blood-vessel, and fell lifeless on the ground. He was conveyed into his palace by his attendants, and soon after died, after suffering the greatest agonies, from violent fits and contortions of his limbs, on the 17th of November, A.D. 375. He was then in the 55th year of his age, and had reigned 12 years. He has been represented by some as cruel and covetous in the highest degree. He was naturally of an irascible disposition, and he gratified his pride in expressing a contempt for those who were his equals in military abilities, or who shone for gracefulness or elegance of address. Ammianus.

Valentinianus II., second son of Valentinian I., was proclaimed emperor about six days after his father’s death, though only five years old. He succeeded his brother, Gratian, A.D. 383, but his youth seemed to favour dissension, and the attempts and the usurpations of rebels. He was robbed of his throne by Maximus, four years after the death of Gratian; and in this helpless situation he had recourse to Theodosius, who was then emperor of the east. He was successful in his applications; Maximus was conquered by Theodosius, and Valentinian entered Rome in triumph, accompanied by his benefactor. He was some time after strangled by one of his officers, a native of Gaul, called Arbogastes, in whom he had placed too much confidence, and from whom he expected more deference than the ambition of a barbarian could pay. Valentinian reigned nine years. This happened the 15th of May, A.D. 392, at Vienne, one of the modern towns of France. He has been commended for his many virtues, and the applause which the populace bestowed upon him was bestowed upon real merit. He abolished the greatest part of the taxes; and because his subjects complained that he was too fond of the amusements of the circus, he ordered all such festivals to be abolished, and all the wild beasts that were kept for the entertainment of the people to be slain. He was remarkable for his benevolence and clemency, not only to his friends, but even to such as had conspired against his life; and he used to say that tyrants alone are suspicious. He was fond of imitating the virtues and exemplary life of his friend and patron Theodosius, and if he had lived longer, the Romans might have enjoyed peace and security.

Valentinianus III., was son of Constantius and Placidia the daughter of Theodosius the Great, and therefore, as related to the imperial family, he was saluted emperor in his youth, and publicly acknowledged as such at Rome, the 3rd of October, A.D. 423, about the sixth year of his age. He was at first governed by his mother, and the intrigues of his generals and courtiers; and when he came to years of discretion, he disgraced himself by violence, oppression, and incontinence. He was murdered in the midst of Rome, A.D. 454, in the 36th year of his age, and 31st of his reign, by Petronius Maximus, to whose wife he had offered violence. The vices of Valentinian III. were conspicuous; every passion he wished to gratify at the expense of his honour, his health, and character; and as he lived without one single act of benevolence or kindness, he died lamented by none, though pitied for his imprudence and vicious propensities. He was the last of the family of Theodosius.

Valentinianus, a son of the emperor Gratian, who died when very young.

Valeria, a sister of Publicola, who advised the Roman matrons to go and deprecate the resentment of Coriolanus. Plutarch, Coriolanus.——A daughter of Publicola, given as a hostage to Porsenna by the Romans. She fled from the enemy’s country with Clœlia, and swam across the Tiber. Plutarch, de Mulierum Virtutibus.——A daughter of Messala, sister to Hortensius, who married Sylla.——The wife of the emperor Valentinian.——The wife of the emperor Galerius, &c.——A road in Sicily, which led from Messana to Lilybæum.——A town of Spain. Pliny, bk. 3, ch. 3.

Valeria lex, de provocatione, by Publius Valerius Poplicola the sole consul, A.U.C. 245. It permitted the appeal from a magistrate to the people, and forbade the magistrate to punish a citizen for making the appeal. It further made it a capital crime for a citizen to aspire to the sovereignty of Rome, or to exercise any office without the choice and approbation of the people. Valerius Maximus, bk. 4, ch. 1.—Livy, bk. 2, ch. 8.—Dionysius of Halicarnassus, bk. 4.——Another, de debitoribus, by Valerius Flaccus. It required that all creditors should discharge their debtors, on receiving a fourth part of the whole sum.——Another, by Marcus Valerius Corvinus, A.U.C. 453, which confirmed the first Valerian law, enacted by Poplicola.——Another, called also Horatia, by Lucius Valerius and Marcus Horatius the consuls, A.U.C. 305. It revived the first Valerian law, which, under the triumvirate, had lost its force.——Another, de magistratibus, by Publius Valerius Poplicola sole consul, A.U.C. 245. It created two questors to take care of the public treasure, which was for the future to be kept in the temple of Saturn. Plutarch, Publicola.—Livy, bk. 2.

Valeriānus Publius Licinius, a Roman, proclaimed emperor by the armies in Rhætia, A.D. 254. The virtues which shone in him when a private man, were lost when he ascended the throne. Formerly distinguished for his temperance, moderation, and many virtues, which fixed the uninfluenced choice of all Rome upon him, Valerian, invested with the purple, displayed inability and meanness. He was cowardly in his operations, and though acquainted with war, and the patron of science, he seldom acted with prudence, or favoured men of true genius and merit. He took his son Gallienus as his colleague in the empire, and showed the malevolence of his heart by persecuting the christians whom he had for a while tolerated. He also made war against the Goths and Scythians; but in an expedition which he undertook against Sapor king of Persia, his arms were attended with ill success. He was conquered in Mesopotamia, and when he wished to have a private conference with Sapor, the conqueror seized his person, and carried him in triumph to his capital, where he exposed him, and in all the cities of his empire, to the ridicule and insolence of his subjects. When the Persian monarch mounted on horseback, Valerian served as a footstool, and the many other insults which he suffered excited indignation even among the courtiers of Sapor. The monarch at last ordered him to be flayed alive, and salt to be thrown over his mangled body, so that he died in the greatest torments. His skin was tanned, and painted in red; and that the ignominy of the Roman empire might be lasting, it was nailed in one of the temples of Persia. Valerian died in the 71st year of his age, A.D. 260, after a reign of seven years.——A grandson of Valerian the emperor. He was put to death when his father, the emperor Gallienus, was killed.——One of the generals of the usurper Niger.——A worthy senator, put to death by Heliogabalus.

Valerius Publius, a celebrated Roman surnamed Poplicola, from his popularity. He was very active in assisting Brutus to expel the Tarquins, and he was the first that took an oath to support the liberty and independence of his country. Though he had been refused the consulship, and had retired with great dissatisfaction from the direction of affairs, yet he regarded the public opinion; and when the jealousy of the Romans inveighed against the towering appearance of his house, he acknowledged the reproof, and in making it lower, he showed his wish to be on a level with his fellow-citizens, and not to erect what might be considered as a citadel for the oppression of his country. He was afterwards honoured with the consulship, on the expulsion of Collatinus, and he triumphed over the Etrurians, after he had gained the victory in the battle in which Brutus and the sons of Tarquin had fallen. Valerius died after he had been four times consul, and enjoyed the popularity, and received the thanks and the gratitude, which people redeemed from slavery and oppression usually pay to their patrons and deliverers. He was so poor, that his body was buried at the public expense. The Roman matrons mourned his death a whole year. Plutarch, Lives.—Florus, bk. 1, ch. 9.—Livy, bk. 3, ch. 8, &c.——Corvinus, a tribune of the soldiers under Camillus. When the Roman army were challenged by one of the Senones, remarkable for his strength and stature, Valerius undertook to engage him, and obtained an easy victory, by means of a crow that assisted him, and attacked the face of the Gaul, whence his surname of Corvinus. Valerius triumphed over the Etrurians, and the neighbouring states that made war against Rome, and was six times honoured with the consulship. He died in the 100th year of his age, admired and regretted for many public and private virtues. Valerius Maximus, bk. 8, ch. 13.—Livy, bk. 7, ch. 27, &c.—Plutarch, Caius Marius.—Cicero, Against Catiline.——Antias, an excellent Roman historian often quoted, and particularly by Livy.——Marcus Corvinus Messala, a Roman, made consul with Augustus. He distinguished himself by his learning as well as military virtues. He lost his memory about two years before his death, and according to some, he was even ignorant of his own name. Suetonius, Augustus.—Cicero, Brutus.——Soranus, a Latin poet in the age of Julius Cæsar, put to death for betraying a secret. He acknowledged no god, but the soul of the universe.——Maximus, a brother of Poplicola.——A Latin historian who carried arms under the sons of Pompey. He dedicated his time to study, and wrote an account of all the most celebrated sayings and actions of the Romans, and other illustrious persons, which is still extant, and divided into nine books. It is dedicated to Tiberius. Some have supposed that he lived after the age of Tiberius, from the want of purity and elegance which so conspicuously appear in his writings, unworthy of the correctness of the golden age of the Roman literature. The best editions of Valerius are those of Torrenius, 4to, Leiden, 1726, and of Vorstius, 8vo, Berlin, 1672.——Marcus, a brother of Poplicola, who defeated the army of the Sabines in two battles. He was honoured with a triumph, and the Romans, to show the sense of his great merit, built him a house on mount Palatine, at the public expense.——Potitus, a general who stirred up the people and army against the decemvirs, and Appius Claudius in particular. He was chosen consul, and conquered the Volsci and Æqui.——Flaccus, a Roman, intimate with Cato the censor, whose friendship he honourably shared. He was consul with him, and cut off an army of 10,000 of the Insubres and Boii in Gaul, in one battle. He was also chosen censor, and prince of the senate, &c.——A Latin poet who flourished under Vespasian. He wrote a poem in eight books on the Argonautic expedition, but it remained unfinished on account of his premature death. The Argonauts were there left on the sea in their return home. Some critics have been lavish in their praises upon Flaccus, and have called him the second poet of Rome, after Virgil. His poetry, however, is deemed by some frigid and languishing, and his style uncouth and inelegant. The best editions of Flaccus are those of Burman, Leiden, 1724, and 12mo, Utrecht, 1702.——Asiaticus, a celebrated Roman, accused of having murdered one of the relations of the emperor Claudius. He was condemned by the intrigues of Messalina, though innocent, and he opened his veins, and bled to death. Tacitus, Annals.——A friend of Vitellius.——Fabianus, a youth condemned under Nero, for counterfeiting the will of one of his friends, &c. Tacitus, Annals, bk. 14, ch. 42.——Lævinus, a consul who fought against Pyrrhus during the Tarentine war. See: [Lævinus].——Præconius, a lieutenant of Cæsar’s army in Gaul, slain in a skirmish.——Paulinus, a friend of Vespasian, &c.

Valerus, a friend of Turnus against Æneas. Virgil, Æneid, bk. 10, li. 752.

Valgius Rufus, a Roman poet in the Augustan age, celebrated for his writings. He was very intimate with Horace. Tibullus, [♦]bk. 1, li. 180.—Horace, bk. 1, satire 10, li. 82.

[♦] removed extraneous ‘3’

Vandalii, a people of Germany. Tacitus, Germania, ch. 3.

Vangiŏnes, a people of Germany. Their capital, Borbetomagus, is now called Worms. Lucan, bk. 1, li. 431.—Cæsar, Gallic War, bk. 1, ch. 51.

Vannia, a town of Italy, north of the Po, now called Civita.

Vannius, a king of the Suevi, banished under Claudius, &c. Tacitus, Annals, bk. 12, ch. 29.

Vapineum, a town of Gaul.

Varanes, a name common to some of the Persian monarchs, in the age of the Roman emperors.

Vardæi, a people of Dalmatia. Cicero, Letters to his Friends, bk. 5, ltr. 9.

Varia, a town of Latium.

Varia lex, de majestate, by the tribune [♦]Quintus Varius, A.U.C. 662. It ordained that all such as had assisted the confederates in their war against Rome, should be publicly tried.——Another, de civiate, by Quintus Varius Hybrida. It punished all such as were suspected of having assisted or supported the people of Italy in their petition to become free citizens of Rome. Cicero, For Milo, ch. 36; Brutus, chs. 56, 88, &c.

[♦] ‘L. Varrus’ replaced with ‘Quintus Varius’

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

Varisti, a people of Germany.

Lucius Varius, or Varus, a tragic poet intimate with Horace and Virgil. He was one of those whom Augustus appointed to revise Virgil’s Æneid. Some fragments of his poetry are still extant. Besides tragedies, he wrote a panegyric on the emperor. Quintilian says, bk. 10, that his Thyestes was equal to any composition of the Greek poets. Horace, bk. 1, satire 5, li. 40.——A man who raised his reputation by the power of his oratory. Cicero, On Oratory, bk. 1, ch. 25.——One of the friends of Antony, surnamed Cotylon.——A man in the reign of Otho, punished for his adulteries, &c.

Varro Marcus Terentius, a Roman consul defeated at Cannæ, by Annibal. See: [Terentius]. A Latin writer, celebrated for his great learning. He wrote no less than 500 different volumes, which are all now lost, except a treatise de Re Rusticâ, and another de Linguâ Latinâ, in five books, written in his 80th year, and dedicated to the orator Cicero. He was Pompey’s lieutenant in his piratical wars, and obtained a naval crown. In the civil wars he was taken by Cæsar and proscribed, but he escaped. He has been greatly commended by Cicero for his erudition, and St. Augustin says that it cannot but be wondered how Varro, who read such a number of books, could find time to compose so many volumes; and how he who composed so many volumes, could be at leisure to peruse such a variety of books, and gain so much literary information. He died B.C. 28, in the 88th year of his age. The best edition of Varro is that of Dordrac, 8vo, 1619. Cicero, Academica, &c.—Quintilian.——Atacinus, a native of Gaul, in the age of Julius Cæsar. He translated into Latin verse the Argonautica of Apollonius Rhodius, with great correctness and elegance. He also wrote a poem entitled de Bello Sequanico, besides epigrams and elegies. Some fragments of his poetry are still extant. He failed in his attempt to write satire. Horace, bk. 1, satire 10, li. 46.—Ovid, Amores, bk. 1, li. 15.—Quintilian, bk. 10, ch. 1.

Varrōnis villa, now Vicovaro, was situate on the Anio, in the country of the Sabines. Cicero, Philippics, bk. 2, ltr. 41.

Varus Quintilius, a Roman proconsul, descended from an illustrious family. He was appointed governor of Syria, and afterwards made commander of the armies in Germany. He was surprised by the enemy, under Arminius, a crafty and dissimulating chief, and his army was cut to pieces. When he saw that everything was lost, he killed himself, A.D. 10, and his example was followed by some of his officers. His head was afterwards sent to Augustus at Rome, by one of the barbarian chiefs, as also his body; and so great was the influence of this defeat upon the emperor, that he continued for whole months to show all the marks of dejection, and of deep sorrow, often exclaiming, “O Varus, restore me my legions!” The bodies of the slain were left in the field of battle, where they were found six years after by Germanicus, and buried with great pomp. Varus has been taxed with indolence and cowardice, and some have intimated, that if he had not trusted too much to the insinuations of the barbarian chiefs, he might have not only escaped ruin, but awed the Germans to their duty. His avarice was also conspicuous; he went poor to Syria, whence he returned loaded with riches. Horace, bk. 1, ode 24.—Paterculus, bk. 2, ch. 117.—Florus, bk. 4, ch. 12.—Virgil, Eclogues, poem 6.——A son of Varus, who married a daughter of Germanicus. Tacitus, Annals, bk. 4, ch. 6.——The father and grandfather of Varus, who was killed in Germany, slew themselves with their own swords, the one after the battle of Philippi, and the other in the plains of Pharsalia.——Quintilius, a friend of Horace, and other great men in the Augustan age. He was a good judge of poetry, and a great critic, as Horace, Art of Poetry, li. 438, seems to insinuate. The poet has addressed the 18th ode of his first book to him, and in the 24th he mourns pathetically his death. Some suppose this Varus to be the person killed in Germany, while others believe him to be a man who devoted his time more to the muses than to war. See: [Varius].——Lucius, an epicurean philosopher, intimate with Julius Cæsar. Some suppose that it was to him that Virgil inscribed his sixth eclogue. He is commended by Quintilian, bk. 6, chs. 3, 78.——Alfrenus, a Roman, who, though originally a shoemaker, became consul, and distinguished himself by his abilities as an orator. He was buried at the public expense, an honour granted to few, and only to persons of merit. Horace, bk. 1, satire 3.——Accius, one of the friends of Cato in Africa, &c.——A river which falls into the Mediterranean, to the west of Nice, after separating Liguria from Gallia Narbonensis. Lucan, bk. 1, li. 404.

Vasates, a people of Gaul.

Vascŏnes, a people of Spain, on the Pyrenees. They were so reduced by a famine by Metellus, that they fed on human flesh. Pliny, bk. 3, ch. 3.—Ausonius, bk. 2, li. 100.—Juvenal, satire 15, li. 93.

Vasio, a town of Gaul in modern Provence. Cicero, Letters to his Friends, bk. 10, ltr. 34.

Vaticānus, a hill at Rome, near the Tiber and the Janiculum, which produced wine of no great esteem. It was disregarded by the Romans on account of the unwholesomeness of the air, and the continual stench of the filth that was there, and of stagnated waters. Heliogabalus was the first who cleared it of all disagreeable nuisances. It is now admired for ancient monuments and pillars, for a celebrated public library, and for the palace of the pope. Horace, bk. 1, ode 20.

Vătiēnus, now Saterno, a river rising in the Alps and falling into the Po. Martial, bk. 3, ltr. 67.—Pliny, bk. 3, ch. 16.

Vātinia lex, de provinciis, by the tribune Publius Vatinius, A.U.C. 694. It appointed Cæsar governor of Gallia Cisalpina and Illyricum, for five years, without a decree of the senate, or the usual custom of casting lots. Some persons were also appointed to attend him as lieutenants without the interference of the senate. His army was to be paid out of the public treasury, and he was empowered to plant a Roman colony in the town of Novocomum in Gaul.——Another by Publius Vatinius the tribune, A.U.C. 694, de repetundis, for the better management of the trial of those who were accused of extortion.

Vatinius, an intimate friend of Cicero, once distinguished for his enmity to the orator. He hated the people of Rome for their great vices and corruption, whence excessive hatred became proverbial in the words Vatinianum odium. Catullus, bk. 14, li. 3.——A shoemaker, ridiculed for his deformities, and the oddity of his character. He was one of Nero’s favourites, and he surpassed the rest of the courtiers in flattery, and in the commission of every impious deed. Large cups, of no value, are called Vatiniana from him, because he used one which was both ill-shaped and uncouth. Tacitus, Annals, bk. 13, ch. 34.—Juvenal.—Martial, bk. 14, ltr. 96.

Ubii, a people of Germany near the Rhine, transported across the river by Agrippa, who gave them the name of Agrippinenses, from his daughter Agrippina, who had been born in the country. Their chief town, Ubiorum oppidum, is now Cologne. Tacitus, Germania, ch. 28; Annals, bk. 12, ch. 27.—Pliny, bk. 4, ch. 17.—Cæsar, bk. 4, ch. 30.

Ucălĕgon, a Trojan chief, remarkable for his great age, and praised for the soundness of his counsels and his good intentions, though accused by some of betraying his country to the enemy. His house was first set on fire by the Greeks. Virgil, Æneid, bk. 2, li. 312.—Homer, Iliad, bk. 3, li. 148.

Ucetia, a town of Gaul.

Ucubis, now Lucubi, a town of Spain. Hirtius.

Udina, or Vedĭnum, now Udino, a town of Italy.

Vectis, the isle of Wight, south of Britain. Suetonius, Claudius, ch. 5.

Vectius, a rhetorician, &c. Juvenal, satire 7, li. 150.

Vectones. See: [Vettones].

Vedius Pollio, a friend of Augustus, very cruel to his servants, &c. See: [Pollio].——Aquila, an officer at the battle of Bebriacum, &c. Tacitus, Histories, bk. 2, ch. 44.

Vegetius, a Latin writer, who flourished B.C. 386. The best edition of his treatise de Re Militari, together with Modestus, is that of Paris, 4to, 1607.

Vegia, an island on the coast of Dalmatia.

Veia, a sorceress, in the age of Horace, epode 5, li. 29.

Veianus, a gladiator, in the age of Horace, bk. 1, ltr. 1, li. 4.

Veientes, the inhabitants of Veii. They were carried to Rome, where the tribe they composed was called Veientina. See: [Veii].

Veiento Fabricius, a Roman, as arrogant as he was satirical. Nero banished him for his libellous writings. Juvenal, satire 3, li. 185.

Veii, a powerful city of Etruria, at the distance of about 12 miles from Rome. It sustained many long wars against the Romans, and was at last taken and destroyed by Camillus, after a siege of 10 years. At the time of its destruction, Veii was larger and far more magnificent than the city of Rome. Its situation was so eligible, that the Romans, after the burning of the city by the Gauls, were long inclined to migrate there, and totally abandon their native home; and this would have been carried into execution, if not opposed by the authority and eloquence of Camillus. Ovid, Fasti, bk. 2, li. 195.—Cicero, De Divinatione, bk. 1, ch. 44.—Horace, bk. 2, satire 3, li. 143.—Livy, bk. 5, ch. 21, &c.

Vejŏvis, or Vejupĭter, a deity of ill omen at Rome. He had a temple on the Capitoline hill built by Romulus. Some suppose that he was the same as Jupiter the infant, or in the cradle, because he was represented without thunder, or a sceptre, and had only by his side the goat Amalthæa, and the Cretan nymph who fed him when young. Ovid, Fasti, bk. 3, li. 430.

Velabrum, a marshy piece of ground on the side of the Tiber, between the Aventine, Palatine, and Capitoline hills, which Augustus drained, and where he built houses. The place was frequented as a market, where oil, cheese, and other commodities were exposed to sale. Horace, bk. 2, satire 3, li. 229.—Ovid, Fasti, bk. 6, li. 401.—Tibullus, bk. 2, poem 5, li. 33.—Plautus, bk. 3, Captivi, ch. 1, li. 29.

Velanius, one of Cæsar’s officers in Gaul, &c.

Velauni, a people of Gaul.

Velia, a maritime town of Lucania, founded by a colony of Phoceans, about 600 years after the coming of Æneas into Italy. The port in its neighbourhood was called Velinus portus. Strabo, bk. 6.—Mela, bk. 2, ch. 4.—Cicero, Philippics, bk. 10, ch. 4.—Virgil, Æneid, bk. 6, li. 366.——An eminence near the Roman forum, where Poplicola built himself a house. Livy, bk. 2, ch. 6.—Cicero, bk. 7, Letters to Atticus, ltr. 15.

Velica, or Vellica, a town of the Cantabri.

Velīna, a part of the city of Rome, adjoining mount Palatine. It was also one of the Roman tribes. Horace, bk. 1, ltr. 6, li. 52.—Cicero, bk. 4, Letters to Atticus, ltr. 15.

Velīnus, a lake in the country of the Sabines, formed by the stagnant waters of the Velinus, between some hills near Reate. The river Velinus rises in the Apennines, and after it has formed the lake, it falls into the Nar, near Spoletium. Virgil, Æneid, bk. 7, li. 517.—Cicero, De Divinatione, bk. 1, ch. 36.

Veliocassi, a people of Gaul.

Veliterna, or Velitræ, an ancient town of Latium on the Appian road, 20 miles at the east of Rome. The inhabitants were called Veliterni. It became a Roman colony. Livy, bk. 8, ch. 12, &c.—Suetonius Augustus.—Silius Italicus, bk. 8, li. 378, &c.

Vellari, a people of Gaul.

Vellaunodūnum, a town of the Senones, now Beaune. Cæsar, [♦]Gallic War, bk. 7, ch. 11.

[♦] Book name omitted from text.

Velleda, a woman famous among the Germans, in the age of Vespasian, and worshipped as a deity. Tacitus, Germania, ch. 8.

Velleius Paterculus, a Roman historian, descended from an equestrian family of Campania. He was at first a military tribune in the Roman armies, and for nine years served under Tiberius in the various expeditions which he undertook in Gaul and Germany. Velleius wrote an epitome of the history of Greece, and of Rome, and of other nations of the most remote antiquity, but of this authentic composition there remain only fragments of the history of Greece and Rome from the conquest of Perseus, by Paulus, to the 17th year of the reign of Tiberius, in two books. It is a judicious account of celebrated men and illustrious cities; the historian is happy in his descriptions, and accurate in his dates; his pictures are true, and his narrations lively and interesting. The whole is candid and impartial, but only till the reign of the Cæsars, when the writer began to be influenced by the presence of the emperor, or the power of his favourites. Paterculus is deservedly censured for his invectives against Cicero and Pompey, and his encomiums on the cruel Tiberius, and the unfortunate Sejanus. Some suppose that he was involved in the ruin of this disappointed courtier, whom he had extolled as a pattern of virtue and morality. The best editions of Paterculus are those of Ruhnkenius, 8vo, 2 vols., Leiden, 1779; of Barbou, Paris, 12mo, 1777; and of Burman, 8vo, Leiden, 1719.——Caius, the grandfather of the historian of that name, was one of the friends of Livia. He killed himself when old and unable to accompany Livia in her flight.

Velocasses, the people of Vexin, in Normandy. Cæsar, Gallic War, bk. 2, ch. 4.

Venāfrum, a town of Campania near Arpinum, abounding in olive trees. It became a Roman colony. It had been founded by Diomedes. Horace, bk. 2, ode 6, li. 16.—Martial, bk. 13, ltr. 98.—Juvenal, satire 5, li. 86.—Strabo, bk. 5.—Pliny, bk. 3, ch. 5.

Venedi, a people of Germany, near the mouth of the Vistula, or gulf of Dantzic. Tacitus, Germania, ch. 46.—Pliny, bk. 4, ch. 13.

Veneli, a people of Gallia Celtica.

Venĕti, a people of Italy in Cisalpine Gaul, near the mouth of the Po. They were descended from a nation of Paphlagonia, who settled there under Antenor some time after the Trojan war. The Venetians, who have been long a powerful and commercial nation, were originally very poor, whence a writer in the age of the Roman emperors said, they had no other fence against the waves of the sea but hurdles, no food but fish, no wealth besides their fishing-boats, and no merchandise but salt. Strabo, bk. 4, &c.—Livy, bk. 1, ch. 1.—Mela, bk. 1, ch. 2; bk. 2, ch. 4.—Cæsar, Gallic War, bk. 3, ch. 8.—Lucan, bk. 4, li. 134.—Silius Italicus, bk. 8, li. 605.——A nation of Gaul, at the south of Armorica, on the western coast, powerful by sea. Their chief city is now called Vannes. Cæsar, bk. 3, Gallic War, ch. 8.

Venĕtia, a part of Gaul, on the mouths of the Po. See: [Veneti].

Venetus Paulus, a centurion who conspired against Nero with Piso, &c. Tacitus, Annals, bk. 15, ch. 50.——A lake through which the Rhine passes, now Bodensee or Constance. Mela, bk. 3, ch. 2.

Vĕnīlia, a nymph, sister to Amata, and mother of Turnus by Daunus. Amphitrite the sea goddess is also called Venilia. Virgil, Æneid, bk. 10, li. 76.—Ovid, Metamorphoses, bk. 14, li. 334.—Varro, de Lingua Latina, bk. 4, ch. 10.

Vennones, a people of the Rhæetian Alps.

Venonius, an historian mentioned by Cicero, Letters to Atticus, bk. 12, ltr. 3, &c.

Venta Belgarum, a town of Britain, now Winchester.——Silurum, a town of Britain, now Caerwent, in Monmouthshire.——Icenorum, now Norwich.

Venti. The ancients, and especially the Athenians, paid particular attention to the winds, and offered them sacrifices as to deities, intent upon the destruction of mankind, by continually causing storms, tempests, and earthquakes. The winds were represented in different attitudes and forms. The four principal winds were Eurus, the south-east, who is represented as a young man flying with great impetuosity, and often appearing in a playsome and wanton humour. Auster, the south wind, appeared generally as an old man with grey hair, a gloomy countenance, a head covered with clouds, a sable vesture, and dusky wings. He is the dispenser of rain, and of all heavy showers. Zephyrus is represented as the mildest of all the winds. He is young and gentle, and his lap is filled with vernal flowers. He married Flora the goddess, with whom he enjoyed the most perfect felicity. Boreas, or the north wind, appears always rough and shivering. He is the father of rain, snow, hail, and tempests, and is always represented as surrounded with impenetrable clouds. Those of inferior note were Solanus, whose name is seldom mentioned. He appeared as a young man holding fruit in his lap, such as peaches, oranges, &c. Africus, or south-west, is represented with black wings, and a melancholy countenance. Corus, or north-west, drives clouds of snow before him, and Aquilo, the north-east, is equally dreadful in appearance. The winds, according to some mythologists, were confined in a large cave, of which Æolus had the management; and without this necessary precaution, they would have overturned the earth, and reduced everything to its original chaos. Virgil, Æneid, bk. 1, li. 57, &c.

Ventĭdius Bassus, a native of Picenum, born of an obscure family. When Asculum was taken, he was carried before the triumphant chariot of Pompeius Strabo, hanging on his mother’s breast. A bold, aspiring soul, aided by the patronage of the family of Cæsar, raised him from the mean occupation of a chairman and muleteer to dignity in the state. He displayed valour in the Roman armies, and gradually arose to the offices of tribune, pretor, high priest, and consul. He made war against the Parthians, and conquered them in three great battles, B.C. 39. He was the first Roman ever honoured with a triumph over Parthia. He died greatly lamented by all the Roman people, and was buried at the public expense. Plutarch, Antonius.—Juvenal, satire 7, li. 199.——Cumanus, governor of Palestine, &c. Tacitus, Annals, bk. 13, ch. 54.——Two brothers in the age of Pompey, who favoured Carbo’s interest, &c. Plutarch.

Venŭleius, a writer in the age of the emperor Alexander.——A friend of Verres. Cicero, Against Verres, bk. 3, ch. 42.

Venŭlus, one of the Latin elders sent into Magna Græcia to demand the assistance of Diomedes, &c. Virgil, Æneid, bk. 8, li. 9.

Vĕnus, one of the most celebrated deities of the ancients. She was the goddess of beauty, the mother of love, the queen of laughter, the mistress of the graces and of pleasures, and the patroness of courtesans. Some mythologists speak of more than one Venus. Plato mentions two, Venus Urania the daughter of Uranus, and Venus Popularia the daughter of Jupiter and Dione. Cicero speaks of four, a daughter of Cœlus and Light, one sprung from the froth of the sea, a third, daughter of Jupiter and the Nereid Dione, and a fourth born at Tyre, and the same as the Astarte of the Syrians. Of these, however, the Venus sprung from the froth of the sea, after the mutilated part of the body of Uranus had been thrown there by Saturn, is the most known, and of her in particular ancient mythologists, as well as painters, make mention. She arose from the sea near the island of Cyprus, or, according to Hesiod, of Cythera, whither she was wafted by the zephyrs, and received on the sea-shore by the seasons, daughters of Jupiter and Themis. She was soon after carried to heaven, where all the gods admired her beauty, and all the goddesses became jealous of her personal charms. Jupiter attempted to gain her affections and even wished to offer her violence, but Venus refused, and the god, to punish her obstinacy, gave her in marriage to his ugly and deformed son Vulcan. This marriage did not prevent the goddess of Love from gratifying her favourite passions, and she defiled her husband’s bed by her amours with the gods. Her intrigue with Mars is the most celebrated. She was caught in her lover’s arms, and exposed to the ridicule and laughter of all the gods. See: [Alectryon]. Venus became mother of Hermione, Cupid, and Anteros by Mars; by Mercury she had Hermaphroditus; by Bacchus, Priapus; and by Neptune, Eryx. Her great partiality for Adonis made her abandon the seats of Olympus [See: [Adonis]], and her regard for Anchises obliged her often to visit the woods and solitary retreats of mount Ida. See: [Anchises], Æneas. The power of Venus over the heart was supported and assisted by a celebrated girdle, called zone by the Greeks, and cestus by the Latins. This mysterious girdle gave beauty, grace, and elegance, when worn even by the most deformed; and it excited love and rekindled extinguished flames. Juno herself was indebted to this powerful ornament to gain the favours of Jupiter, and Venus, though herself possessed of every charm, no sooner put on her cestus, than Vulcan, unable to resist the influence of love, forgot all the intrigues and infidelities of his wife, and fabricated arms even for her illegitimate children. The contest of Venus for the golden apple of Discord is well known. She gained the prize over Pallas and Juno [See: [Paris], [Discordia]], and rewarded her impartial judge with the hand of the fairest woman in the world. The worship of Venus was universally established; statues and temples were erected to her in every kingdom, and the ancients were fond of paying homage to a divinity who presided over generation, and by whose influence alone mankind existed. In her sacrifices and in the festivals celebrated in her honour, too much licentiousness prevailed, and public prostitution was often part of the ceremony. Victims were seldom offered to her, or her altars stained with blood, though we find Aspasia making repeated sacrifices. No pigs, however, or male animals were deemed acceptable. The rose, the myrtle, and the apple, were sacred to Venus; and among birds, the dove, the swan, and the sparrow, were her favourites; and among fishes, those called the aphya and the lycostomus. The goddess of beauty was represented among the ancients in different forms. At Elis she appeared seated on a goat, with one foot resting on a tortoise. At Sparta and Cythera, she was represented armed like Minerva, and sometimes wearing chains on her feet. In the temple of Jupiter Olympius, she was represented by Phidias, as rising from the sea, received by love, and crowned by the goddess of persuasion. At Cnidos her statue, made by Praxiteles, represented her naked, with one hand hiding what modesty keeps concealed. Her statue at Elephantis was the same, with only a naked Cupid by her side. In Sicyon she held a poppy in one hand, and in the other an apple, while on her head she had a crown, which terminated in a point, to intimate the pole. She is generally represented with her son Cupid, on a chariot drawn by doves, or at other times by swans and sparrows. The surnames of the goddess are numerous, and only show how well established her worship was all over the earth. She was called Cypria, because particularly worshipped in the island of Cyprus, and in that character she was often represented with a beard, and the male parts of generation, with a sceptre in her hand, and the body and dress of a female, whence she is called duplex Amathusia by Catullus. She received the name of Paphia, because worshipped at Paphos, where she had a temple with an altar, on which rain never fell, though exposed in the open air. Some of the ancients called her Apostrophia or Epistrophia, as also Venus Urania, and Venus Pandemos. The first of these she received as presiding over wantonness and incestuous enjoyments; the second because she patronized pure love, and chaste and moderate gratifications; and the third because she favoured the propensities of the vulgar, and was fond of sensual pleasures. The Cnidians raised her temples under the name of Venus Acræa, of Doris, and of Euploea. In her temple under the name of Euploea, at Cnidos, was the most celebrated of her statues, being the most perfect piece of Praxiteles. It was made with white marble, and appeared so engaging, and so much like life, that, according to some historians, a youth of the place introduced himself in the night into her temple, and attempted to gratify his passions on the lifeless image. Venus was also surnamed Cytheræa, because she was the chief deity of Cythera; Exopolis, because her statue was without the city of Athens; Phallommeda, from her affection for the phallus; Philommedis, because the queen of laughter; Telessigama, because she presided over marriage; Caliada, Colotis, or Colias, because worshipped on a promontory of the same name in Attica; Area, because armed like Mars; Verticordia, because she could turn the hearts of women to cultivate chastity; Apaturia, because she deceived; Calva, because she was represented bald; Ericyna, because worshipped at Eryx; Etaira, because the patroness of courtesans; Acidalia, because of a fountain of Orchomenos: Basilea, because the queen of love; Myrtea, because the myrtle was sacred to her; Libertina, from her inclinations to gratify lust; Mechanitis, in allusion to the many artifices practised in love, &c., &c. As goddess of the sea, because born in the bosom of the waters, Venus was called Pontia, Marina, Limnesia, Epipontia, Pelagia, Saligenia, Pontogenia, Aligena, Thalassia, &c., and as rising from the sea, the name of Anadyomene is applied to her, and rendered immortal by the celebrated painting of Apelles, which represented her as issuing from the bosom of the waves, and wringing her tresses on her shoulder. See: [Anadyomene]. Cicero de Natura Deorum, bk. 2, ch. 27; bk. 3, ch. 23.—Orpheus, Hymn 54.—Hesiod, Theogony.—Sappho.—Homer, Hymn to Aphrodite, &c.—Virgil, Æneid, bk. 5, li. 800, &c.—Ovid, Heroides, poems 15, 16, 19, &c.; Metamorphoses, bk. 4, fable 5, &c.—Diodorus, bks. 1 & 5.—Hyginus, fables 94, 271.—Pausanias, bk. 2, ch. 1; bk. 4, ch. 30; bk. 5, ch. 18.—Martial, bk. 6, ltr. 13.—Euripides, Helen, Iphigeneia in Taurus.—Plutarch, Amatorius.—Ælian, Varia Historia, bk. 12, ch. 1.—Athenæus, bk. 12, &c.—Catullus.—Lactantius, de Falsa Religione.—Quintus Calaber [Smyrnæus], bk. 11.—Lucian, Dialogi, &c.—Strabo, bk. 14.—Tacitus, Annals, bk. 3, &c.—Valerius Maximus, bk. 8, ch. 11.—Pliny, bk. 36.—Horace, bk. 3, ode 26; bk. 4, ode 11, &c.——A planet called by the Greeks Phosphorus, and by the Latins Lucifer, when it rises before the sun, but when it follows it, Hesperus or Vesper. Cicero, de Natura Deorum, bk. 2, ch. 20; Somnium Scipionis.

Venus Pyrenæa, a town of Spain near the borders of Gaul.

Venŭsia, or Venŭsium, a town of Apulia, where Horace was born. Part of the Roman army fled thither after the defeat at Cannæ. The town, though in ruins, contains still many pieces of antiquity, especially a marble bust preserved in the great square, and said falsely to be an original representation of Horace. Venusia was on the confines of Lucania, whence the poet said Lucanus an Apulus anceps, and it was founded by Diomedes, who called it Venusia or Aphrodisia, after Venus, whose divinity he wished to appease. Strabo, bks. 5 & 6.—Horace, bk. 2, satire 1, li. 35.—Livy, bk. 22, ch. 54.—Pliny, bk. 3, ch. 11.

Veragri, a people between the Alps and the Allobroges. Livy, bk. 21, ch. 38.—Cæsar, Gallic War, bk. 3, ch. 1.

Verania, the wife of Piso Licinianus, whom Galba adopted.

Veranius, a governor of Britain under Nero. He succeeded Didius Gallus. Tacitus, Annals, bk. 14.

Verbānus lacus, now Majora, a lake of Italy, from which the Ticinus flows. It is in the modern duchy of Milan, and extends 50 miles in length from south to north, and five or six in breadth. Strabo, bk. 4.

Verbigenus, a village in the country of the Celtæ.

Verbinum, a town in the north of Gaul.

Vercellæ, a town on the borders of Insubria, where Marius defeated the Cimbri. Pliny, bk. 3, ch. 17.—Cicero, Letters to his Friends, bk. 11, ltr. 19.—Silius Italicus, bk. 8, li. 598.

Vercingetŏrix, a chief of the Gauls, in the time of Cæsar. He was conquered and led in triumph, &c. Cæsar, Gallic War, bk. 7, ch. 4.—Florus, bk. 3, ch. 10.

Veresis, a small river of Latium falling into the Anio.

Vergasillaunus, one of the generals and friends of Vercingetorix. Cæsar, Gallic War.

Vergæ, a town of the Brutii. Livy, bk. 30, ch. 19.

Vergellus, a small river near Cannæ, falling into the Aufidus, over which Annibal made a bridge with the slaughtered bodies of the Romans. Florus, bk. 2, ch. 6.—Valerius Maximus, bk. 9, ch. 11.

Vergilia, the wife of Coriolanus, &c.

Vergilia, a town of Spain, supposed to be Murcia.

Vergiliæ, seven stars, called also Pleiades. When they set, the ancients began to sow their corn. They received their name from the spring, quia vere oriantur. Propertius, bk. 1, poem 8, li. 18.—Cicero, de Natura Deorum, bk. 2, ch. 44.

Verginius, one of the officers of the Roman troops in Germany, who refused the absolute power which his soldiers offered to him. Tacitus, Histories, bk. 1, ch. 8.——A rhetorician in the age of Nero, banished on account of his great fame. Tacitus, Annals, bk. 15, ch. 71.

Vergium, a town of Spain.

Vergobretus, one of the chiefs of the Ædui, in the age of Cæsar, &c. Cæsar, Gallic War, bk. 1, ch. 16.

Verĭtas (truth), was not only personified by the ancients, but also made a deity, and called the daughter of Saturn and the mother of Virtue. She was represented like a young virgin, dressed in white apparel, with all the marks of youthful diffidence and modesty. Democritus used to say that she hid herself at the bottom of a well, to intimate the difficulty with which she is found.

Verodoctius, one of the Helvetii. Cæsar, Gallic War, bk. 1, ch. 7.

Veromandui, a people of Gaul, the modern Vermandois. The capital is now St. Quintin. Cæsar, Gallic War, bk. 2.

Vērōna, a town of Venetia, on the Athesis, in Italy, founded, as some suppose, by Brennus the leader of the Gauls. Cornelius Nepos, Catullus, and Pliny the elder were born there. It was adorned with a circus and an amphitheatre by the Roman emperors, which still exist, and it still preserves its ancient name. Pliny, bk. 9, ch. 22.—Strabo, bk. 5.—Ovid, Amores, bk. 3, poem 15, li. 7.

Verōnes, a people of Hispania Tarraconensis. Silius Italicus, bk. 3, li. 578.

Verrecīnum, a town in the country of the Volsci. Livy, bk. 4, ch. 1, &c.—Valerius Maximus, bk. 6, ch. 5.

Caius Verres, a Roman who governed the province of Sicily as pretor. The oppression and rapine of which he was guilty, while in office, so offended the Sicilians, that they brought an accusation against him before the Roman senate. Cicero undertook the cause of the Sicilians, and pronounced those celebrated orations which are still extant. Verres was defended by Hortensius, but as he despaired of the success of his defence, he left Rome without waiting for his sentence, and lived in great affluence in one of the provinces. He was at last killed by the soldiers of Antony the triumvir, about 26 years after his voluntary exile from the capital. Cicero, Against Verres.—Pliny, bk. 34, ch. 2.—Lactantius, bk. 2, ch. 4.

Verritus, a general of the Frisii in the age of Nero, &c. Tacitus, Annals, bk. 13, ch. 54.

Verrius Flaccus, a freedman and grammarian famous for his powers in instructing. He was appointed over the grandchildren of Augustus, and also distinguished himself by his writings. Aulus Gellius, bk. 4, ch. 5.—Suetonius, Lives of the Grammarians.——A Latin critic, B.C. 4, whose works have been edited with Dacier’s and Clerk’s notes, 4to, Amsterdam, 1699.

Verrūgo, a town in the country of the Volsci. Livy, bk. 4, ch. 1.

Vertico, one of the Nervii who deserted to Cæsar’s army, &c. Cæsar, Gallic War, bk. 6, ch. 45.

Verticordia, one of the surnames of Venus, the same as the Apostrophia of the Greeks, because her assistance was implored to turn the hearts of the Roman matrons, and teach them to follow virtue and modesty. Valerius Maximus, bk. 8.

Vertiscus, one of the Rhemi, who commanded a troop of horse in Cæsar’s army. Cæsar, Gallic War, bk. 8, ch. 12.

Vertumnus, a deity among the Romans, who presided over the spring and over orchards. He endeavoured to gain the affections of the goddess Pomona; and to effect this, he assumed the shape and dress of a fisherman, of a soldier, a peasant, a reaper, &c., but all to no purpose, till, under the form of an old woman, he prevailed upon his mistress and married her. He is generally represented as a young man crowned with flowers, covered up to the waist, and holding in his right hand fruit, and a crown of plenty in his left. Ovid, Metamorphoses, bk. 14, li. 642, &c.—Propertius, bk. 4, poem 2, li. 2.—Horace, bk. 2, satire 7, li. 14.

Verulæ, a town of the Hernici. Livy, bk. 9, ch. 42.

Verulānus, a lieutenant under Corbulo, who drove away Tiridates from Media, &c. Tacitus, Annals, bk. 14, ch. 26.

Verus Lucius Ceionius Commodus, a Roman emperor, son of Ælius and Domitia Lucilla. He was adopted in the 7th year of his age by Marcus Aurelius, at the request of Adrian, and he married Lucilia the daughter of his adopted father, who also took him as his colleague on the throne. He was sent by Marcus Aurelius to oppose the barbarians in the east. His arms were attended with success, and he obtained a victory over the Parthians. He was honoured with a triumph at his return home, and soon after he marched with his imperial colleague against the Marcomanni in Germany. He died in this expedition of an apoplexy, in the 39th year of his age, after a reign of eight years and some months. His body was brought back to Rome, and buried by Marcus Aurelius with great pomp and solemnity. Verus has been greatly censured for his debaucheries, which appeared more enormous and disgusting, when compared with the temperance, meekness, and popularity of Aurelius. The example of his father did not influence him, and he often retired from the frugal and moderate repast of Aurelius, to the profuse banquets of his own palace, where the night was spent in riot and debauchery, with the meanest of the populace, with stage-dancers, buffoons, and lascivious courtesans. At one entertainment alone, where there were no more than 12 guests, the emperor spent no less than six millions of sesterces, or about 32,200l. sterling. But it is to be observed, that whatever was most scarce and costly was there; the guests never drank twice out of the same cup; and whatever vessels they had touched, they received as a present from the emperor when they left the palace. In his Parthian expedition, Verus did not check his vicious propensities; for four years he left the care of the war to his officers, while he retired to the voluptuous retreats of Daphne, and the luxurious banquets of Antioch. His fondness for a horse has been faithfully recorded. The animal had a statue of gold, he was fed with almonds and raisins by the hand of the emperor, he was clad in purple, and kept in the most splendid of the halls of the palace, and when dead, the emperor, to express his sorrow, raised him a magnificent monument on mount Vatican. Some have suspected Marcus Aurelius of despatching Verus to rid the world of his debaucheries and guilty actions, but this seems to be the report of malevolence.——Lucius Annæus, a son of the emperor Aurelius, who died in Palestine.——The father of the emperor Verus. He was adopted by the emperor Adrian, but like his son he disgraced himself by his debaucheries and extravagance. He died before Adrian.

Vesbius, or Vesubius. See: [Vesuvius].

Vescia, a town of Campania. Livy, bk. 8, ch. 11.

Vescianum, a country house of Cicero in Campania, between Capua and Nola. Cicero bk. 15, Letters to Atticus, ltr. 2.

Flaccus Vescularius, a Roman knight intimate with Tiberius, &c. Tacitus, Annals.

[♦]Vesontio, a town of Gaul, now Besancon. Cæsar, Gallic War, [♠]bk. 1, ch. 38.

[♦] ‘Vesentio’ replaced with ‘Vesontio’

[♠] Book reference omitted in text.

Vesentium, a town of Tuscany.

Veseris, a place or river near mount Vesuvius. Livy, bk. 8, ch. 8.—Cicero, De Officiis, bk. 3, ch. 31.

Vesēvius and Vesēvus. See: [Vesuvius].

Vesidia, a town of Tuscany.

Vesonna, a town of Gaul, now Perigueux.

Vespaciæ, a small village of Umbria, near Nursia. Suetonius, Vespasian, ch. 1.

Vespasiānus Titus Flavius, a Roman emperor, descended from an obscure family at Reate. He was honoured with the consulship, not so much by the influence of the imperial courtiers, as by his own private merit, and his public services. He accompanied Nero into Greece, but he offended the prince by falling asleep while he repeated one of his poetical compositions. This momentary resentment of the emperor did not prevent Vespasian from being sent to carry on a war against the Jews. His operations were crowned with success; many of the cities of Palestine surrendered, and Vespasian began the siege of Jerusalem. This was, however, achieved by the hands of his son Titus, and the death of Vitellus and the affection of his soldiers hastened his rise, and he was proclaimed emperor at Alexandria. The choice of the army was approved by every province of the empire; but Vespasian did not betray any signs of pride at so sudden and so unexpected an exaltation, and though once employed in the mean office of a horse-doctor, he behaved, when invested with the imperial purple, with all the dignity and greatness which became a successor of Augustus. In the beginning of his reign Vespasian attempted to reform the manners of the Romans, and he took away an appointment which he had a few days before granted to a young nobleman who approached him to return him thanks, all smelling of perfumes and covered with ointment, adding, “I had rather you had smelt of garlic.” He repaired the public buildings, embellished the city, and made the great roads more spacious and convenient. After he had reigned with great popularity for 10 years, Vespasian died with a pain in his bowels, A.D. 79, in the 70th year of his age. He was the first Roman emperor that died a natural death, and he was also the first who was succeeded by his own son on the throne. Vespasian has been admired for his great virtues. He was clement, he gave no ear to flattery, and for a long time refused the title of father of his country, which was often bestowed upon the most worthless and tyrannical of the emperors. He despised informers, and rather than punish conspirators, he rewarded them with great liberality. When the king of Parthia addressed him with the subscription of “Arsaces king of kings to Flavius Vespasianus,” the emperor was no way dissatisfied with the pride and insolence of the monarch, and answered him again in his own words, “Flavius Vespasianus to Arsaces king of kings.” To men of learning and merit, Vespasian was very liberal: 100,000 sesterces were annually paid from the public treasury to the different professors that were appointed to encourage and promote the arts and sciences. Yet in spite of this apparent generosity, some authors have taxed Vespasian with avarice. According to their accounts, he loaded the provinces with new taxes, he bought commodities, that he might sell them to a greater advantage, and even laid an impost upon urine, which gave occasion to Titus to ridicule the meanness of his father. Vespasian, regardless of his son’s observation, was satisfied to show him the money that was raised from so productive a tax, asking him at the same time whether it smelt offensive. His ministers were the most avaricious of his subjects, and the emperor used very properly to remark that he treated them as sponges, by wetting them when dry, and squeezing them when they were wet. He has been accused of selling criminals their lives, and of condemning the most opulent to make himself master of their possessions. If, however, he was guilty of these meaner practices, they were all under the name of one of his concubines, who wished to enrich herself by the avarice and credulity of the emperor. Suetonius, Lives.—Tacitus, Histories, bk. 4.

Vesper, or Vespĕrus, a name applied to the planet Venus when it was the evening star. Virgil.

Vessa, a town of Sicily.

Vesta, a goddess, daughter of Rhea and Saturn, sister to Ceres and Juno. She is often confounded by the mythologists with Rhea, Ceres, Cybele, Proserpine, Hecate, and Tellus. When considered as the mother of the gods, she is the mother of Rhea and Saturn; and when considered as the patroness of the vestal virgins and the goddess of fire, she is called the daughter of Saturn and Rhea. Under this last name she was worshipped by the Romans. Æneas was the first who introduced her mysteries into Italy, and Numa built her a temple where no males were permitted to go. The palladium of Troy was supposed to be preserved within her sanctuary, and a fire was continually kept lighted by a certain number of virgins, who had dedicated themselves to the service of the goddess. See: [Vestales]. If the fire of Vesta was ever extinguished, it was supposed to threaten the republic with some sudden calamity. The virgin by whose negligence it had been extinguished, was severely punished, and it was kindled again by the rays of the sun. The temple of Vesta was of a round form, and the goddess was represented in a long, flowing robe, with a veil on her head, holding in one hand a lamp, or a two-eared vessel, and in the other a javelin, or sometimes a palladium. On some medals she appears holding a drum in one hand, and a small figure of victory in the other. Hesiod, Theogony, li. 454.—Cicero, de Legibus, bk. 2, ch. 12.—Apollodorus, bk. 1, ch. 1.—Virgil, Æneid, bk. 2, li. 296.—Diodorus, bk. 5.—Ovid, Fasti, bk. 6; Tristia, bk. 3.—Valerius Maximus, bk. 1, ch. 1.—Plutarch, Numa.—Pausanias, bk. 5, ch. 14.

Vestāles, priestesses among the Romans, consecrated to the service of Vesta, as their name indicates. This office was very ancient, as the mother of Romulus was one of the vestals. Æneas is supposed to have first chosen the vestals. Numa first appointed four, to which number Tarquin added two. They were always chosen by the monarchs, but after the expulsion of the Tarquins, the high priest was entrusted with the care of them. As they were to be virgins, they were chosen young, from the age of six to ten; and if there was not a sufficient number that presented themselves as candidates for the office, 20 virgins were selected, and they upon whom the lot fell were obliged to become priestesses. Plebeians as well as patricians were permitted to propose themselves, but it was required that they should be born of a good family, and be without blemish or deformity, in every part of their body. For 30 years they were to remain in the greatest continence; the 10 first years were spent in learning the duties of the order; the 10 following were employed in discharging them with fidelity and sanctity, and the 10 last in instructing such as had entered the noviciate. When the 30 years were elapsed, they were permitted to marry, or if they still preferred celibacy, they waited upon the rest of the vestals. As soon as a vestal was initiated, her head was shaved, to intimate the liberty of her person, as she was then free from the shackles of parental authority, and she was permitted to dispose of her possessions as she pleased. The employment of the vestals was to take care that the sacred fire of Vesta was not extinguished, for if it ever happened, it was deemed the prognostic of great calamities to the state; the offender was punished for her negligence, and severely scourged by the high priest. In such a case all was consternation at Rome, and the fire was again kindled by glasses with the rays of the sun. Another equally particular charge of the vestals was to keep a sacred pledge, on which depended the very existence of Rome, which, according to some, was the palladium of Troy, or some of the mysteries of the gods of Samothrace. The privileges of the vestals were great; they had the most honourable seats at public games and festivals; a lictor with the fasces always preceded them when they walked in public; they were carried in chariots when they pleased; and they had the power of pardoning criminals when led to execution, if they declared that their meeting was accidental. Their declarations in trials were received without the formality of an oath; they were chosen as arbiters in causes of moment and in the execution of wills, and so great was the deference paid them by the magistrates, as well as by the people, that the consuls themselves made way for them, and bowed their fasces when they passed before them. To insult them was a capital crime, and whoever attempted to violate their chastity, was beaten to death with scourges. If any of them died while in office, their body was buried within the walls of the city, an honour granted to few. Such of the vestals as proved incontinent were punished in the most rigorous manner. Numa ordered them to be stoned, but Tarquin the elder dug a large hole under the earth, where a bed was placed with a little bread, wine, water, and oil, and a lighted lamp, and the guilty vestal was stripped of the habit of her order, and compelled to descend into the subterraneous cavity, which was immediately shut, and she was left to die through hunger. Few of the vestals were guilty of incontinence, and for the space of 1000 years, during which the order continued established from the reign of Numa, only 18 were punished for the violation of their vow. The vestals were abolished by Theodosius the Great, and the fire of Vesta extinguished. The dress of the vestals was peculiar; they wore a white vest with purple borders, a white linen surplice called linteum supernum, above which was a great purple mantle which flowed to the ground, and which was tucked up when they offered sacrifices. They had a close covering on their head, called infula, from which hung ribands, or vitta. Their manner of living was sumptuous, as they were maintained at the public expense, and though originally satisfied with the simple diet of the Romans, their tables soon after displayed the luxuries and the superfluities of the great and opulent. Livy, 2, &c.—Plutarch, Numa, &c.—Valerius Maximus, bk. 1, ch. 1.—Cicero, de Natura Deorum, bk. 3, ch. 30.—Florus, bk. 1.—Propertius, bk. 4, poem 11.—Tacitus, bk. 4, ch. 10.

Vestālia, festival in honour of Vesta, observed at Rome on the 9th of June. Banquets were then prepared before the houses, and meat was sent to the vestals to be offered to the gods; millstones were decked with garlands, and the asses that turned them were led round the city covered with garlands. The ladies walked in the procession bare-footed to the temple of the goddess, and an altar was erected to Jupiter surnamed Pistor. Ovid, Fasti, bk. 6, li. 305.

Vestalium Mater, a title given by the senate to Livia the mother of Tiberius, with the permission to sit among the vestal virgins at plays. Tacitus, bk. 4, Annals, ch. 16.

Vestia Oppia, a common prostitute of Capua.

Vesticius Spurina, an officer sent by Otho to the borders of the Po, &c. Tacitus.

Vestilius Sextus, a pretorian disgraced by Tiberius, because he was esteemed by Drusus. He killed himself. Tacitus, Annals, bk. 4, ch. 16.

Vestilla, a matron of a patrician family, who declared publicly before the magistrates that she was a common prostitute. She was banished to the island of Seriphos for her immodesty.

Vestīni, a people of Italy near the Sabines, famous for the making of cheese. Pliny, bk. 3, ch. 5.—Martial, bk. 13, ltr. 31.—Strabo, bk. 5.

Lucius Vestīnus, a Roman knight appointed by Vespasian to repair the capitol, &c. Tacitus, Histories, bk. 4, ch. 53.—Livy, bk. 8, ch. 29.——A consul put to death by Nero in the time of Piso’s conspiracy.

Vesvius. See: [Vesuvius].

Vesŭlus, now Viso, a large mountain of Liguria, near the Alps, where the Po takes its rise. Virgil, Æneid, bk. 10, li. 708.—Pliny, bk. 3, ch. 19.

Vesŭvius, a mountain of Campania, about six miles at the east of Naples, celebrated for its volcano, and now called Mount Soma. The ancients, particularly the writers of the Augustan age, spoke of Vesuvius as a place covered with orchards and vineyards, of which the middle was dry and barren. The first eruption of this volcano was in the 79th year of the christian era under Titus. It was accompanied by an earthquake, which overturned several cities of Campania, particularly Pompeii and Herculaneum, and the burning ashes which it threw up were carried not only over the neighbouring country, but as far as the shores of Egypt, Libya, and Syria. This eruption proved fatal to Pliny the naturalist. From that time the eruptions have been frequent. Vesuvius continually throws up a smoke, and sometimes ashes and flames. The perpendicular height of this mountain is 3780 feet. Dio Cassius, bk. 46.—Varro, de Re Rustica, bk. 1, ch. 6.—Livy, bk. 23, ch. 39.—Strabo, bk. 5.—Tacitus, Histories, bk. 1, ch. 2.—Mela, bk. 2, ch. 4.—Pliny, bk. 6, ltr. 16.—Silius Italicus, bk. 12, li. 152, &c.—Virgil, Georgics, bk. 2, li. 224.—Martial, bk. 4, ltrs. 43 & 44.

Vetera castra, a Roman encampment in Germany, which became a town, now Sanlen, near Cleves. Tacitus, Histories, bk. 4, ch. 18; Annals, bk. 1, ch. 45.

Vettius Spurius, a Roman senator who was made interrex at the death of Romulus, till the election of another king. He nominated Numa, and resigned his office. Plutarch, Numa.——A man who accused Cæsar of being concerned in Catiline’s conspiracy.——Cato, one of the officers of the allies in the Marsian war. He defeated the Romans, and was at last betrayed and murdered.——A Roman knight who became enamoured of a young female at Capua, and raised a tumult among the slaves who proclaimed him king. He was betrayed by one of his adherents, upon which he laid violent hands upon himself.

Vettona, a town of Umbria. Pliny, bk. 3, ch. 14.

Vettōnes, Vetones, or Vectones, an ancient nation of Spain. Silius Italicus, bk. 3, li. 378.—Pliny, bk. 25, ch. 8.

Vetulōnia, one of the chief cities of Etruria, whose hot waters were famous. The Romans were said to derive the badges of their magisterial offices from thence. Pliny, bk. 2, ch. 103; bk. 3, ch. 3.—Silius Italicus, bk. 8, li. 484.

Vetūria, one of the Roman tribes, divided into two branches of the Junii and Senii. It received its name from the Veturian family, which was originally called Vetusian. Livy, bk. 36.——The mother of Coriolanus. She was solicited by all the Roman matrons to go to her son with her daughter-in-law, and entreat him not to make war against his country. She went and prevailed over Coriolanus, and for her services to the state, the Roman senate offered to reward her as she pleased. She only asked to raise a temple to the goddess of female fortune, which was done on the very spot where she had pacified her son. Livy, bk. 2, ch. 40.—Dionysius of Halicarnassus, bk. 7, &c.

Veturius, a Roman artist who made shields for Numa. See: [Mamurius].——Caius, a Roman consul, accused before the people, and fined because he had acted with imprudence while in office.——A Roman who conspired against Galba. Tacitus, Histories, bk. 1, ch. 25.——A consul appointed one of the decemvirs.——Another consul defeated by the Samnites, and obliged to pass under the yoke with great ignominy.——A tribune of the people, &c.

Lucius Vetus, a Roman who proposed to open a communication between the Mediterranean and the German ocean by means of a canal. He was put to death by order of Nero.——A man accused of adultery, &c.

Ufens, a river of Italy near Tarracina. Virgil, Æneid, bk. 7, li. 892.——Another river of Picenum. Livy, bk. 5, ch. 35.——A prince who assisted Turnus against Æneas. The Trojan monarch made a vow to sacrifice his four sons to appease the manes of his friend Pallas, in the same manner as Achilles is represented killing some Trojan youths on the tomb of Patroclus. Virgil, Æneid, bk. 7, li. 745; bk. 10, li. 518. He was afterwards killed by Gyas. Virgil, Æneid, bk. 12, li. 460.

Ufentina, a Roman tribe first created A.U.C. 435, with the tribe Falerina, in consequence of the great increase of population at Rome. Livy, bk. 9, ch. 20.—Festus.

Via Æmylia, a celebrated road, made by the consul Marcus Æmylius Lepidus, A.U.C. 567. It led with the Flaminian road to Aquileia. There was also another of the same name in Etruria, which led from Pisæ to Dertona.——Appia, was made by the censor Appius, and led from Rome to Capua, and from Capua to Brundusium, to the distance of 350 miles, which the Romans call a five days’ journey. It passed successively through the towns and stages of Aricia, Forum Appii, Tarracina, Fundi, Minturnæ, Sinuessa, Capua, Caudium, Beneventum, Equotuticum, Herdonia, Canusium, Barium, Egnatia, to Brundusium. It was called, by way of eminence, regina viarum, made so strong, and the stones so well cemented together, that it remained entire for many hundred years. Some parts of it are still to be seen in the neighbourhood of Naples. Appius carried it only 130 miles, as far as Capua, A.U.C. 442, and it was finished as far as Brundusium by Augustus.——There was also another road called Minucia or Numicia, which led to Brundusium, but by what places is now uncertain.——Flaminia, was made by the censor Flaminius, A.U.C. 533. It led from the Campus Martius to the modern town of Rimini, on the Adriatic, through the country of the Osci and Etrurians, at the distance of about 360 miles.——Lata, one of the ancient streets of Rome.——Valeria, led from Rome to the country of the Marsi, through the territories of the Sabines. There were, besides, many streets and roads of inferior note, such as the Aurelia, Cassia, Campania, Ardentina, Labicana, Domitiana, Ostiensis, Prænestina, &c., all of which were made and constantly kept in repair at the public expense.

Viadrus, the classical name of the Oder, which rises in Moravia, and falls by three mouths into the Baltic. Ptolemy.

Vibidia, one of the vestal virgins in the favour of Messalina, &c. Tacitus, Annals, bk. 11, ch. 32.

Vibidius, a friend of Mæcenas. Horace, bk. 2, satire 8, li. 22.

Vibius, a Roman who refused to pay any attention to Cicero when banished, though he had received from him the most unbounded favours.——Siculus. See: [Sica].——A proconsul of Spain, banished for ill conduct.——A Roman knight accused of extortion in Africa, and banished.——A man who poisoned himself at Capua.——Sequester, a Latin writer, whose treatise de Fluminibus, &c., is best edited by Oberlin, 8vo, Strasbourg, 1778.

Vibo, a town of Lucania, anciently called Hipponium and Hippo. Cicero. Letters to Atticus, bk. 3, ch. 3.—Pliny, bk. 3, ch. 5.——A town of Spain,——of the Brutii.

Vibulēnus Agrippa, a Roman knight accused of treason. He attempted to poison himself, and was strangled in prison, though almost dead. Tacitus, Annals, bk. 6, ch. 40.——A mutinous soldier in the army of Germanicus, &c.

Vibullius Rufus, a friend of Pompey, taken by Cæsar, &c. Plutarch.—Cicero, Letters.——A pretor in Nero’s reign.

Vica Pota, a goddess at Rome, who presided over victory (à vincere et potiri). Livy, bk. 2, ch. 7.

Vicellius, a friend of Galba, who brought him news of Nero’s death.

Vicentia, or Vicetia, a town of Cisalpine Gaul, at the north-west of the Adriatic. Tacitus, Histories, bk. 3.

Victor Sextus Aurelius, a writer in the age of Constantius. He gave the world a concise history of the Roman emperors, from the age of Augustus to his own time, or A.D. 360. He also wrote an abridgment of the Roman history before the age of Julius Cæsar, which is now extant, and ascribed by different authors to Cornelius Nepos, to Tacitus, Suetonius, Pliny, &c. Victor was greatly esteemed by the emperors, and honoured with the consulship. The best editions of Victor are that of Pitiscus, 8vo, Utrecht, 1696; and that of Artnzenius, 4to, Amsterdam, 1733.

Victōria, one of the deities of the Romans, called by the Greeks Nice, supposed to be the daughter of the giant Pallas, or of Titan and Styx. The goddess of victory was sister to Strength and Valour, and was one of the attendants of Jupiter. She was greatly honoured by the Greeks, particularly at Athens. Sylla raised her a temple at Rome, and instituted festivals in her honour. She was represented with wings, crowned with laurel, and holding the branch of a palm tree in her hand. A golden statue of this goddess, weighing 320 pounds, was presented to the Romans by Hiero king of Syracuse, and deposited in the temple of Jupiter, on the Capitoline hill. Livy, bk. 22.—Varro, de Lingua Latina.—Hesiod, Theogony.—Hyginus, preface to fables.—Suetonius.

Victoriæ mons, a place of Spain at the mouth of the Iberus. Livy, bk. 24, ch. 41.

Victōrius, a man of Aquitain, who, A.D. 463, invented the paschal cycle of 532 years.

Victorīna, a celebrated matron who placed herself at the head of the Roman armies, and made war against the emperor Gallienus. Her son Victorinus, and her grandson of the same name, were declared emperors, but when they were assassinated, Victorina invested with the imperial purple one of her favourites called Tetricus. She was some time after poisoned, A.D. 269, and according to some by Tetricus himself.

Victorīnus, a christian writer, who composed a worthless epic poem on the death of the seven children mentioned in the Maccabees, and distinguished himself more by the active part he took in his writings against the Arians.

Victumviæ, a small town of Insubria near Placentia. Livy, bk. 21, ch. 45.

Vicus longus, a street at Rome, where an altar was raised to the goddess Pudicitia, or the modesty of the plebeians. Livy, bk. 10, ch. 23.——Cyprius, a place on the Esquiline hill, where the Sabines dwelt.

Viducasses, a people of Normandy. Pliny, bk. 4, ch. 18.

Vienna, a town of Gallia Narbonensis on the Rhone, below Lyons. Strabo, bk. 1.—Cæsar, Gallic War, bk. 7, ch. 9.

Villia lex, annalis or annaria, by Lucius Villius the tribune, A.U.C. 574, defined the proper age required for exercising the office of a magistrate, 25 years for the questorship, 27 or 28 for the edileship or tribuneship, for the office of pretor 30, and for that of consul 43. Livy, bk. 11, ch. 44.

Villius, a tribune of the people, author of the Villian law, and thence called Annalis, a surname borne by his family. Livy, bk. 11, ch. 44.——Publius, a Roman ambassador sent to Antiochus. He held a conference with Annibal, who was at that monarch’s court.——A man who disgraced himself by his criminal amours with the daughter of Sylla. Horace, bk. 1, satire 2, li. 64.

Viminālis, one of the seven hills on which Rome was built, so called from the number of osiers (vimines) which grew there. Servius Tullius first made it part of the city. Jupiter had a temple there, whence he was called Viminalis. Livy, bk. 1, ch. 44.—Varro, de Lingua Latina, bk. 4, ch. 8.

Vinalia, festivals at Rome in honour of Jupiter and Venus.

[♦]Vincentius, one of the christian fathers, A.D. 434, whose works are best edited by Baluzius, Paris, 1669.

[♦] ‘Vicentius’ replaced with ‘Vincentius’

Vincius, a Roman knight, condemned under Nero. Tacitus, Annals, bk. 14, ch. 40.——An officer in Germany.

Vindalius, a writer in the reign of Constantius, who wrote 10 books on agriculture.

Vindelĭci, an ancient people of Germany, between the heads of the Rhine and the Danube. Their country, which was called Vindelicia, forms now part of Swabia and Bavaria, and their chief town, Augusta Vindelicorum, is now [♦]Augsburg. Horace, bk. 4, ode 4, li. 18.

[♦] ‘Ausburg’ replaced with ‘Augsburg’

Vindemiātor, a constellation that rose about the nones of March. Ovid, Fasti, bk. 3, li. 407.—Pliny, bk. 18, ch. 13.

Vindex Julius, a governor of Gaul, who revolted against Nero, and determined to deliver the Roman empire from his tyranny. He was followed by a numerous army, but at last defeated by one of the emperor’s generals. When he perceived that all was lost he laid violent hands upon himself, 68 A.D. Seutonius, Galba.—Tacitus, Histories, bk. 1, ch. 51.—Pliny, bk. 9, ltr. 19.

Vindicius, a slave who discovered the conspiracy which some of the most noble of the Roman citizens had formed to restore Tarquin to his throne. He was amply rewarded and made a citizen of Rome. Livy, bk. 2, ch. 5.—Plutarch, Publicola.

Vindili, a nation of Germany. Pliny, bk. 4, ch. 14.

Vindonissa, now Wendish, a town of the Helvetii on the Aar, in the territory of Berne. Tacitus, bk. 4, Histories, chs. 61 & 70.

Vinicius, a Roman consul poisoned by Messalina, &c.——A man who conspired against Nero, &c.

Vinidius, a miser mentioned by Horace, bk. 1, satire 1, li. 95. Some manuscripts read Numidius and Umidius.

Titus Vinius, a commander in the pretorian guards, intimate with Galba, of whom he became the first minister. He was honoured with the consulship, and some time after murdered. Tacitus, Histories, bk. 1, chs. 11, 42 & 48.—Plutarch.——A man who revolted from Nero.

Vinnius Asella, a servant of Horace, to whom ltr. 13 is addressed, as injunctions how to deliver to Augustus some poems from his master.

Vipsania, a daughter of Marcus Agrippa, mother of Drusus. She was the only one of Agrippa’s daughters who died a natural death. She was married to Tiberius when a private man, and when she had been repudiated, she married Asinius Gallus. Tacitus, Annals, bk. 1, ch. 12; bk. 3, ch. 19.

Virbius (qui inter viros bis fuit), a name given to Hippolytus, after he had been brought back to life by Æsculapius, at the instance of Diana, who pitied his unfortunate end. Virgil makes him son of Hippolytus. Æneid, bk. 7, li. 762.—Ovid, Metamorphoses, bk. 15, li. 544.—Hyginus, fable 251.

Publius Virgĭlius Marco, called the prince of the Latin poets, was born at Andes, a village near Mantua, about 70 years before Christ, on the 15th of October. His first years were spent at Cremona, where his taste was formed, and his rising talents first exercised. The distribution of the lands of Cremona to the soldiers of Augustus, after the battle of Philippi, nearly proved fatal to the poet, and when he attempted to dispute the possession of his fields with a soldier, Virgil was obliged to save his life from the resentment of the lawless veteran, by swimming across a river. This was the beginning of his greatness; he with his father repaired to Rome, where he soon formed an acquaintance with Mecænas, and recommended himself to the favours of Augustus. The emperor restored his lands to the poet, whose modest muse knew so well how to pay the tribute of gratitude, and his first bucolic was written to thank the patron, as well as to tell the world that his favours were not unworthily bestowed. The 10 bucolics were written in about three years. The poet showed his countrymen that he could write with graceful simplicity, with elegance, delicacy of sentiments, and with purity of language. Some time after, Virgil undertook the Georgics, a poem the most perfect and finished of all Latin compositions. The Æneid was begun, as some suppose, at the particular request of Augustus, and the poet, while he attempted to prove that the Julian family was lineally descended from the founder of Lavinium, visibly described in the pious and benevolent character of his hero the amiable qualities of his imperial patron. The great merit of this poem is well known, and it will ever remain undecided which of the two poets, either Homer or Virgil, is more entitled to our praise, our applause, and our admiration. The writer of the Iliad stood as a pattern to the favourite of Augustus. The voyage of Æneas is copied from the Odyssey; and for his battles, Virgil found a model in the wars of Troy, and the animated descriptions of the Iliad. The poet died before he had revised this immortal work, which had already engaged his time for 11 successive years. He had attempted to attend his patron in the east, but he was detained at Naples on account of his ill health. He, however, went to Athens, where he met Augustus in his return, but he soon after fell sick at Megara, and though indisposed, he ordered himself to be removed to Italy. He landed at Brundusium, where a few days after he expired, the 22nd of September, in the 51st year of his age, B.C. 19. He left the greatest part of his immense possessions to his friends, particularly to Mecænas, Tucca, and Augustus, and he ordered, as his last will, his unfinished poem to be burnt. These last injunctions were disobeyed; and according to the words of an ancient poet, Augustus saved his favourite Troy from a second and more dismal conflagration. The poem was delivered by the emperor to three of his literary friends. They were ordered to revise and to expunge whatever they deemed improper; but they were strictly enjoined not to make any additions, and hence, as some suppose, the causes that so many lines of the Æneid are unfinished, particularly in the last books. The body of the poet, according to his own directions, was conveyed to Naples, and interred with much solemnity in a monument, erected on the road that leads from Naples to Puteoli. The following modest distich was engraved on the tomb, written by the poet some few moments before he expired:

Mantua me genuit; Calabri rapuere; tenet nunc

Parthenope: cecini pascua, rura, duces.

The Romans were not insensible of the merit of their poet. Virgil received much applause in the capital, and when he entered the theatre, he was astonished and delighted to see the crowded audience rise up to him as to an emperor, and welcome his approach by reiterated plaudits. He was naturally modest, and of a timorous disposition. When people crowded to gaze upon him, or pointed at him with the finger with rapture, the poet blushed, and stole away from them, and often hid himself in shops to be removed from the curiosity and the admiration of the public. The most liberal and gratifying marks of approbation he received were from the emperor and from Octavia. He attempted in his Æneid to paint the virtues, and to lament the premature death of the son of Octavia, and he was desired by the emperor to repeat the lines in the presence of the afflicted mother. He had no sooner begun O nate, &c., than Octavia burst into tears; he continued, but he had artfully suppressed the name of her son, and when he repeated in the 16th line the well-known words, Tu Marcellus eris, the princess swooned away, and the poet withdrew, but not without being liberally rewarded. Octavia presented him 10 sesterces for every one of his verses in praise of her son, the whole of which was equivalent to 2000l. English money. As an instance of his modesty, the following circumstance has been recorded. Virgil wrote this distich, in which he compared his patron to Jupiter,

Nocte pluit totâ, redeunt spectacula mane,

Divisum imperium cum Jove Cæsar habet,

and placed it in the night on the gates of the palace of Augustus. Inquiries were made for the author by order of Augustus, and when Virgil had the diffidence not to declare himself, Bathyllus, a contemptible poet of the age, claimed the verses as his own, and was liberally rewarded. This displeased Virgil; he again wrote the verses near the palace and under them

Hos ego versiculos feci, tulit alter honores;

with the beginning of another line in these words,

Sic vos non vobis,

four times repeated. Augustus wished the lines to be finished. Bathyllus seemed unable, and Virgil at last, by completing the stanza in the following order—

Sic vos non vobis nidificatis aves;

Sic vos non vobis vellera fertis oves;

Sic vos non vobis mellificatis apes;

Sic vos non vobis fertis aratra boves;

proved himself to be the author of the distich, and the poetical usurper became the sport and ridicule of Rome. In the works of Virgil we can find a more perfect and satisfactory account of the religious ceremonies and customs of the Romans, than in all the other Latin poets, Ovid excepted. Everything he mentions is founded upon historical truth, and though he borrowed much from his predecessors, and even whole lines from Ennius, yet he has had the happiness to make it all his own. He was uncommonly severe in revising his own poetry, and he used often to compare himself to a bear that licks her cubs into shape. In his connections, Virgil was remarkable; his friends enjoyed his unbounded confidence, and his library and possessions seemed to be the property of the public. Like other great men, he was not without his enemies and detractors in his lifetime, but from their aspersions he received additional lustre. Among the very numerous and excellent editions of Virgil, these few may be collected as the best: that of Masvicius, 2 vols., 4to, Leovardiæ, 1717; of Baskerville, 4to, Birmingham, 1757; of the Variorum, in 8vo, Leiden, 1661; of Heyne, 4 vols., 8vo, Lipscomb, 1767; of Edinburgh, 2 vols., 12mo, 1755; and of Glasgow, 12mo, 1758. Paterculus, bk. 2, ch. 36.—Horace, bk. 1, satire 5, li. 40.—Propertius, bk. 2, poem 34, li. 61.—Ovid, Tristia, bk. 4, poem 10, li. 51.—Martial, bk. 8, ltr. 56.—Juvenal, satire 11, li. 178.—Quintilian, bk. 10, ch. 1.—Pliny, bk. 3, ltr. 21.——Caius, a pretor of Sicily, who, when Cicero was banished, refused to receive the exiled orator, though his friend, for fear of the resentment of Clodius. Cicero, Letters to his brother Quintus.

Virgĭnia, a daughter of the centurion Lucius Virginius. Appius Claudius the decemvir became enamoured of her, and attempted to remove her from the place where she resided. She was claimed by one of his favourites as the daughter of a slave, and Appius, in the capacity and with the authority of judge, had pronounced the sentence, and delivered her into the hands of his friend, when Virginius, informed of his violent proceedings, arrived from the camp. The father demanded to see his daughter, and when this request was granted, he snatched a knife and plunged it into Virginia’s breast, exclaiming, “This is all, my dearest daughter, I can give thee, to preserve thy chastity from the lust and violence of a tyrant.” No sooner was the blow given, than Virginius ran to the camp with the bloody knife in his hand. The soldiers were astonished and incensed, not against the murderer, but the tyrant that was the cause of Virginia’s death, and they immediately marched to Rome. Appius was seized, but he destroyed himself in prison, and prevented the execution of the law. Spurius Oppius, another of the decemvirs who had not opposed the tyrant’s views, killed himself also, and Marcus Claudius the favourite of Appius was put to death, and the decemviral power abolished, about 449 years before Christ. Livy, bk. 3, ch. 44, &c.—Juvenal, satire 10, li. 294.

Virginius, the father of Virginia, made tribune of the people. See: [Virginia].——A tribune of the people who accused Quinctius Cæso the son of Cincinnatus. He increased the number of the tribunes to 10, and distinguished himself by his seditions against the patricians.——Another tribune in the age of Camillus, fined for his opposition to a law which proposed going to Veii.——An augur who died of the plague.——Caius, a pretor of Sicily, who opposed the entrance of Cicero into his province, though under many obligations to the orator. Some read Virgilius.——A tribune who encouraged Cinna to criminate Sylla.——One of the generals of Nero in Germany. He made war against Vindex and conquered him. He was treated with great coldness by Galba, whose interest he had supported with so much success. He refused all dangerous stations, and though twice offered the imperial purple, he rejected it with disdain. Plutarch.——A Roman orator and rhetorician.

Viriāthus, a mean shepherd of Lusitania, who gradually rose to power, and by first heading a gang of robbers, saw himself at last followed by a numerous army. He made war against the Romans with uncommon success, and for 14 years enjoyed the envied title of protector of public liberty in the provinces of Spain. Many generals were defeated, and Pompey himself was ashamed to find himself beaten. Cæpio was at last sent against him. But his despair of conquering him by force of arms, obliged him to have recourse to artifice, and he had the meanness to bribe the servants of Viriathus to murder their master, B.C. 40. Florus, bk. 2, ch. 17.—Valerius Maximus, bk. 6, ch. 4.—Livy, bks. 52 & 54.

Viridomărus, a young man of great power among the Ædui. Cæsar greatly honoured him, but he fought at last against the Romans. Cæsar, Gallic War, bk. 7, ch. 39, &c.

Viriplāca, a goddess among the Romans who presided over the peace of families, whence her name (virum placare). If any quarrel happened between a man and his wife, they generally repaired to the temple of the goddess, which was erected on the Palatine mount, and came back reconciled. Valerius Maximus, bk. 2, ch. 1.

Virro, a fictitious name introduced in Juvenal’s fifth satire.

Virtus. All virtues were made deities among the Romans. Marcellus erected two temples, one to Virtue, and the other to Honour. They were built in such a manner, that to see the temple of Honour it was necessary to pass through that of Virtue; a happy allegory among a nation free and independent. The principal Virtues were distinguished, each by their attire. Prudence was known by her rule, and her pointing to a globe at her feet; Temperance had a bridle; Justice had an equal balance, and Fortitude leant against her sword; Honesty was clad in a transparent vest; Modesty appeared veiled; Clemency wore an olive branch, and Devotion threw incense upon an altar; Tranquillity was seen to lean on a column; Health was known by her serpent, Liberty by her cap, and Gaiety by her myrtle. Cicero, de Natura Deorum, bk. 2, ch. 23.—Plautus, Amphitruo, Prologue.—Livy, bk. 29, ch. 11.—Valerius Maximus, bk. 1, ch. 1.—Augustine, City of God, bk. 4, ch. 20.

Visargis, a river of Germany, now called the Weser, and falling into the German ocean. Varus and his legions were cut to pieces there by the Germans. Velleius Paterculus, bk. 2, ch. 105.—Tacitus, Annals, bk. 1, ch. 70; bk. 2, ch. 9.

Viscellæ, now Weltz, a town of Noricum, between the Ens and Mure.

Spurius Cassius Viscellinus, Cicero, De Amicitia, ch. 11.

Visellia lex, was made by Visellius Varro the consul, A.U.C. 776, to restrain the introduction of improper persons into the offices of the state.

Lucius Visellius Varro, a lieutenant in Germany under Tiberius. Tacitus, Annals, bk. 3, ch. 41; bk. 4, ch. 17.

Visellus, a man whose father-in-law the commentators of Horace believe to have been afflicted with a hernia, on their observations on this verse (bk. 1, satire 1, li. 105), Est inter Tanaim quiddam, socerumque Viselli.

Vistŭla, a river falling into the Baltic, the eastern boundary of ancient Germany.

Vitellia, a Roman colony on the borders of the Æqui. Livy, bk. 5, ch. 29.

Vitellius Aulus, a Roman raised by his vices to the throne. He was descended from one of the most illustrious families of Rome, and as such he gained an easy admission to the palace of the emperors. The greatest part of his youth was spent at Capreæ, where his willingness and compliance to gratify the most vicious propensities of Tiberius raised his father to the dignity of consul and governor of Syria. The applause he gained in this school of debauchery was too great and flattering to induce Vitellius to alter his conduct, and no longer to be one of the votaries of vice. Caligula was pleased with his skill in driving a chariot. Claudius loved him because he was a great gamester, and he recommended himself to the favours of Nero by wishing him to sing publicly in the crowded theatre. With such an insinuating disposition, it is not to be wondered that Vitellius became so great. He did not fall with his patrons, like the other favourites, but the death of an emperor seemed to raise him to greater honours, and to procure him fresh applause. He passed through all the offices of the state, and gained over the soldiery by donations and liberal promises. He was at the head of the [♦]Roman legions in Germany when Otho was proclaimed emperor, and the exaltation of his rival was no sooner heard in the camp, than he was likewise invested with the purple by his soldiers. He accepted with pleasure the dangerous office, and instantly marched against Otho. Three battles were fought, and in all Vitellius was conquered. A fourth, however, in the plains between Mantua and Cremona, left him master of the field and of the Roman empire. He feasted his eyes in viewing the bodies of the slain and the ground covered with blood, and regardless of the insalubrity of the air, proceeding from so many carcases, he told his attendants that the smell of a dead enemy was always sweet. His first care was not like that of a true conqueror, to alleviate the distresses of the conquered, or patronize the friends of the dead, but it was to insult their misfortunes, and to intoxicate himself with the companions of his debauchery in the field of battle. Each successive day exhibited a scene of greater extravagance. Vitellius feasted four or five times a day, and such was his excess that he often made himself vomit to begin his repast afresh, and to gratify his palate with more luxury. His food was of the most rare and exquisite nature; the deserts of Libya, the shores of Spain, and the waters of the Carpathian sea, were diligently searched to supply the table of the emperor. The most celebrated of his feasts was that with which he was treated by his brother Lucius. The table, among other meats, was covered with 2000 different dishes of fish, and 7000 of fowls, and so expensive was he in everything, that above seven millions sterling were spent in maintaining his table in the space of four months; and Josephus has properly observed, that if Vitellius had reigned long, the great opulence of all the Roman empire would have been found insufficient to defray the expenses of his banquets. This extravagance, which delighted the favourites, soon raised the indignation of the people. Vespasian was proclaimed emperor by the army, and his minister Primus was sent to destroy the imperial glutton. Vitellius concealed himself under the bed of the porter of his palace, but this obscure retreat betrayed him; he was dragged naked through the streets, his hands were tied behind his back, and a drawn sword was placed under his chin to make him lift his head. After suffering the greatest insults from the populace, he was at last carried to the place of execution, and put to death with repeated blows. His head was cut off and fixed to a pole, and his mutilated body dragged with a hook and thrown into the Tiber, A.D. 69, after a reign of one year, except 12 days. Suetonius.—Tacitus, Histories, bk. 2.—Eutropius.—Dio Cassius.—Plutarch.——Lucius, the father of the emperor, obtained great honours by his flattery to the emperors. He was made governor of Syria, and in this distant province he obliged the Parthians to sue for peace. His adulation to Messalina is well known, and he obtained as a particular favour the honourable office of pulling off the shoes of the empress, &c. Suetonius, &c.——A brother of the emperor, who enjoyed his favours by encouraging his gluttony, &c.——Publius, an uncle of the emperor of that name. He was accused under Nero of attempts to bribe the people with money from the treasury against the emperor. He killed himself before his trial.——One of the flatterers of Tiberius.——An officer of the pretorians under Otho.——A son of the emperor Vitellius, put to death by one of his father’s friends.——Some of the family of the Vitellii conspired with the Aquilii and other illustrious Romans to restore Tarquin to his throne. Their conspiracy was discovered by the consuls, and they were severely punished. Plutarch, &c.

[♦] ‘Romans’ replaced with ‘Roman’

Viterbum, a town of Tuscany, where Fanum Volumnæ stood. It is not mentioned by classical writers. Livy, bk. 4, chs. 23 & 61; bk. 5, ch. 17.

Vitia, a mother put to death by Tiberius for weeping at the death of her son, &c. Tacitus, Annals, bk. 7, ch. 10.

Vītrĭcus, a surname of Mars. Ovid.

Marcus Vitruvius Pollio, a celebrated architect in the age of Augustus, born at Formiæ. He is known only by his writings, and nothing is recorded in history of his life or private character. He wrote a treatise on his profession, which he dedicated to Augustus, and it is the only book on architecture now extant written by the ancients. In this work he plainly shows that he was master of his profession, and that he possessed both genius and abilities. The best edition of Vitruvius is that of De Laet, Amsterdam, 1649.

Vitŭla, a deity among the Romans who presided over festivals and rejoicings. Macrobius, bk. 3, ch. 2.

Vitularia via, a road in the country of Arpinum. Cicero, Letters to his brother Quintus, bk. 3, ltr. 1.

Ulpia Trajāna, a Roman colony planted in Sarmatia by Trajan.

Ulpiānus Domitius, a lawyer in the reign of Alexander Severus, of whom he became the secretary and principal minister. He raised a persecution against the christians, and was at last murdered by the pretorian guards, of which he had the command, A.D. 226. There are some fragments of his compositions on civil law still extant. The Greek commentaries of Ulpian on Demosthenes were printed in folio, 1527, with Aldus Manutius.——Marcellus, an officer in the age of Commodus.——Julianus, a man sent to oppose Heliogabalus, &c.

Ulŭbræ, a small town of Latium on the river Astura, where Augustus was educated. Juvenal, satire 10, li. 102.—Horace, bk. 1, ltr. 11.

Ulysses, a king of the islands of Ithaca and Dulichium, son of Anticlea and Laertes, or, according to some, of Sisyphus. See: [Sisyphus] and [Anticlea]. He became, like the other princes of Greece, one of the suitors of Helen, but as he despaired of success in his applications, on account of the great numbers of his competitors, he solicited the hand of Penelope the daughter of Icarius. Tyndarus the father of Helen favoured the addresses of Ulysses, as by him he was directed to choose one of his daughter’s suitors without offending the others, and to bind them all by a solemn oath, that they would unite together in protecting Helen if any violence was ever offered to her person. Ulysses had no sooner obtained the hand of Penelope, than he returned to Ithaca, where his father resigned him the crown, and retired to peace and rural solitude. The rape of Helen, however, by Paris, did not long permit him to remain in his kingdom, and as he was bound to defend her against every intruder, he was summoned to the war with the other princes of Greece. Pretending to be insane, not to leave his beloved Penelope, he yoked a horse and a bull together, and ploughed the sea-shore, where he sowed salt instead of corn. This dissimulation was soon discovered, and Palamedes, by placing before the plough of Ulysses his infant son Telemachus, convinced the world that the father was not mad who had the providence to turn away the plough from the furrow, not to hurt his child. Ulysses was therefore obliged to go to the war, but he did not forget him who had discovered his pretended insanity. See: [Palamedes]. During the Trojan war, the king of Ithaca was courted for his superior prudence and sagacity. By his means Achilles was discovered among the daughters of Lycomedes king of Scyros [See: [Achilles]], and Philoctetes was induced to abandon Lemnos, and to fight the Trojans with the arrows of Hercules. See: [Philoctetes]. He was not less distinguished for his activity and valour. With the assistance of Diomedes he murdered Rhesus, and slaughtered the sleeping Thracians in the midst of their camp, [See: [Rhesus] and [Dolon]], and he introduced himself into the city of Priam, and carried away the Palladium of the Trojans. See: [Palladium]. For these eminent services he was universally applauded by the Greeks, and he was rewarded with the arms of Achilles, which Ajax had disputed with him. After the Trojan war Ulysses embarked on board his ships to return to Greece, but he was exposed to a number of misfortunes before he reached his native country. He was thrown by the winds upon the coasts of Africa, and visited the country of the Lotophagi, and of the Cyclops in Sicily. Polyphemus, who was the king of the Cyclops, seized Ulysses with his companions, five of whom he devoured [See: [Polyphemus]], but the prince of Ithaca intoxicated him and put out his eye, and at last escaped from the dangerous cave where he was confined, by tying himself under the belly of the sheep of the Cyclops when led to pasture. In Æolia he met with a friendly reception, and Æolus gave him, confined in bags, all the wind which could obstruct his return to Ithaca, but the curiosity of his companions to know what the bags contained proved nearly fatal. The winds rushed with impetuosity, and all the fleet was destroyed, except the ship which carried Ulysses. From thence he was thrown upon the coasts of the Læstrygones, and of the island Æea, where the magician Circe changed all his companions into pigs for their voluptuousness. He escaped their fate by means of an herb which he had received from Mercury, and after he had obliged the magician by force of arms to restore his companions to [♦]their original shape, he yielded to her charms, and made her mother of Telegonus. He visited the infernal regions and consulted Tiresias how to regain his country in safety; and after he had received every necessary information, he returned on earth. He passed along the coasts of the Sirens unhurt, by the directions of Circe [See: [Sirenes]], and escaped the whirlpools and shoals of Scylla, and Charybdis. On the coast of Sicily his companions stole and killed some oxen that were sacred to Apollo, for which the god destroyed the ships, and all were drowned except Ulysses, who saved himself on a plank, and swam to the island of Calypso, in Ogygia. There, for seven years, he forgot Ithaca, in the arms of the goddess, by whom he had two children. The gods at last interfered, and Calypso, by order of Mercury, suffered him to depart, after she had furnished him with a ship, and everything requisite for the voyage. He had almost reached the island of Corcyra, when Neptune, still mindful that his son Polyphemus had been robbed of his sight by the perfidy of Ulysses, raised a storm and sunk his ship. Ulysses swam with difficulty to the island of the Phæacians, where the kindness of Nausicaa, and the humanity of her father king Alcinous, entertained him for a while. He related the series of his misfortunes to the monarch, and at last, by his benevolence, he was conducted in a ship to Ithaca. The Phæacians laid him on the sea-shore as he was asleep, and Ulysses found himself safely restored to his country after a long absence of 20 years. He was well informed that his palace was besieged by a number of suitors, who continually disturbed the peace of Penelope, and therefore he assumed the habit of a beggar, by the advice of Minerva, and made himself known to his son, and his faithful shepherd Eumæus. With them he took measures to re-establish himself on his throne; he went to the palace, and was personally convinced of the virtues and of the fidelity of Penelope. Before his arrival was publicly known, all the importuning suitors were put to death, and Ulysses restored to the peace and bosom of his family. See: [Laertes], [Penelope], [Telemachus], [Eumæus]. He lived about 16 years after his return, and was at last killed by his son Telegonus, who had landed in Ithaca, with the hopes of making himself known to his father. This unfortunate event had been foretold to him by Tiresias, who assured him that he should die by the violence of something that was to issue from the bosom of the sea. See: [Telegonus]. According to some authors, Ulysses went to consult the oracle of Apollo after his return to Ithaca, and he had the meanness to seduce Erippe the daughter of a king of Epirus, who had treated him with great kindness. Erippe had a son by him whom she called Euryalus. When come to years of puberty, Euryalus was sent to Ithaca by his mother, but Penelope no sooner knew who he was than she resolved to destroy him. Therefore, when Ulysses returned, he put to immediate death his unknown son on the crimination of Penelope his wife, who accused him of attempts upon her virtue. The adventures of Ulysses in his return to Ithaca from the Trojan war are the subject of Homer’s Odyssey. Homer, Iliad & Odyssey.—Virgil, Æneid, bks. 2, 3, &c.—Dictys Cretensis, bk. 1, &c.—Ovid, Metamorphoses, bk. 13; Heroides, poem 1.—Hyginus, fable 201, &c.—Apollodorus, bk. 3, ch. 10.—Pausanias, bk. 1, chs. 17 & 22; bk. 3, ch. 12; bk. 7, ch. 4.—Ælian, Varia Historia, bk. 13, ch. 12.—Horace, bk. 3, ode 29, li. 8.—Parthenius, Narrationes Amatoriæ, ch. 3.—Plutarch.—Pliny, bk. 35.—Tzetzes, ad Lycurgus.

[♦] ‘his’ replaced with ‘their’

Ulysseum, a promontory of Sicily, west of Pachinus.

Umber, a lake of Umbria near the Tiber. Propertius, bk. 4, poem 1, li. 124.

Umbra Pompeia, a portico of Pompey at Rome. Martial, bk. 5, ltr. 10.

Umbria, a country of Italy, separated from Etruria by the Tiber, bounded on the north by the Adriatic sea, east by Picenum and the country of the Sabines, and south by the river Nar. Some derive the word Umbria ab imbribus, the frequent showers that were supposed to fall there, or from the shadow (umbra) of the Apennines which hung over it. Umbria had many cities of note. The Umbrians opposed the Romans in the infancy of their empire, but afterwards they became their allies, about the year [♦]A.U.C. 434. Catullus, bk. 40, li. 11.—Strabo, bk. 5.—Pliny, bk. 3, ch. 12.—Dionysius of Halicarnassus.

[♦] ‘U.C.’ replaced with ‘A.U.C.’

Umbrigius, a soothsayer, who foretold approaching calamities to Galba. Juvenal, satire 3, li. 21.—Tacitus, Histories, bk. 1, ch. 27.

Umbro, a navigable river of Italy. Pliny, bk. 3, ch. 5.——A general who assisted Turnus against Æneas, and was killed during the war. He could assuage the fury of serpents by his songs, and counteract the poisonous effects of their bite. Virgil, Æneid, bk. 7, li. 752; bk. 10, li. 544.

Unca, a surname of Minerva among the Phœnicians and Thebans.

Unchæ, a town of Mesopotamia.

Undecemvĭri, magistrates at Athens, to whom such as were publicly condemned were delivered to be executed. Cornelius Nepos, Phocion.

Unelli, a people of Cotantin in Gaul, conquered by Cæsar. Cæsar, Gallic War, bk. 2, ch. 34.

Unigĕna, a surname of Minerva, as sprung of Jupiter alone.

Unxia, a surname of Juno, derived from ungere, to anoint, because it was usual among the Romans for the bride to anoint the threshold of her husband, and from this necessary ceremony wives were called Unxores, and afterwards Uxores, from Unxia, who presided over them. Arnobius, bk. 3.

Vocetius, part of mount Jura in Gaul. Tacitus, Histories, bk. 1, ch. 68.

Vŏcōnia lex, de testamentis, by Quintus Voconius Saxa the tribune, A.U.C. 584, enacted that no woman should be left heiress to an estate, and that no rich person should leave by his will more than the fourth part of his fortune to a woman. This step was taken to prevent the decay of the noblest and most illustrious of the families of Rome. This law was abrogated by Augustus.

Voconii forum, a town of Gaul, between Antibes and Marseilles. Cicero, bk. 10, Letters to his Friends, ltr. 17.

Vŏcōnius Victor, a Latin poet, &c. Martial, bk. 7, ltr. 28.——Saxa, a tribune who made a law.——An officer of Lucullus in Asia.

Vocontia, now Vasio. Silius Italicus, bk. 3, li. 167.

Vŏgēsus, now Vauge, a mountain of Belgic Gaul, which separates the Sequani from the Lingones. Lucan, bk. 1, li. 397.—Cæsar, Gallic War, bk. 4, ch. 10.

Volæ, a city of the Æqui. Livy, bk. 4, ch. 49.

Volaginius, a soldier who assassinated one of his officers, &c. Tacitus, Histories, bk. 2, ch. 75.

Volana, a town of the Samnites.

Volandum, a fortified place of Armenia.

Volaterra, an ancient town of Etruria, famous for hot baths. Perseus the satirist was born there. Livy, bk. 10, ch. 12.—Strabo, bk. 5.—Cicero, bk. 15, Letters to his Friends, ltr. 4.

Volcæ, or Volgæ, a people of Gaul between the Garonne and the Rhone. Livy, bk. 21, ch. 26.—Mela, bk. 2, ch. 5.

Volci, an inland town of Lucania, now Lauria. Livy, bk. 27, ch. 15.——A town of Etruria. Pliny, bk. 3, ch. 5.

Vologĕses, a name common to many of the kings of Parthia, who made war against the Roman emperors. Tacitus, bk. 12, Annals, ch. 14.

Volscens, a Latin chief who discovered Nisus and Euryalus as they returned from the Rutulian camp loaded with spoils. He killed Euryalus, and was himself immediately stabbed by Nisus. Virgil, Æneid, bk. 9, lis. 370 & 442.

Volsci, or Volci, a people of Latium, whose territories are bounded on the south by the Tyrrhene sea, north by the country of the Hernici and Marsi, west by the Latins and Rutulians, and east by Campania. Their chief cities were Antium, Circeii, Anxur, Corioli, Fregellæ, Arpinum, &c. Ancus king of Rome made war against them, and in the time of the republic they became formidable enemies, till they were at last conquered with the rest of the Latins. Livy, bks. 3 & 4.—Virgil, Georgics, bk. 2, li. 168; Æneid, bk. 9, li. 505; bk. 11, li. 546, &c.—Strabo, bk. 5.—Mela, bk. 2, chs. 4 & 5.

Volsinium, a town of Etruria in Italy, destroyed, according to Pliny, bk. 2, ch. 53, by fire from heaven. The inhabitants numbered their years by fixing nails in the temple of Nortia, a Tuscan goddess. Livy, bk. 5, ch. 31; bk. 7, ch. 3.—Juvenal, satire 15, li. 191.—Tacitus, Annals, bk. 4.

Voltinia, one of the Roman tribes.

Volubilis, a town of Africa, supposed Fez, the capital of Morocco. Pliny, bk. 5, ch. 1.

Volumnæ Fanum, a temple in Etruria, sacred to the goddess Volumna, who presided over the will and over complaisance, where the states of the country used to assemble. Viterbo now stands on the spot. Livy, bk. 4, ch. 23; bk. 5, ch. 17; bk. 6, ch. 2.

Volumnia, the wife of Coriolanus. Livy, bk. 2, ch. 40.——The freedwoman of Volumnius Eutrapelus. Cicero, Philippics, bk. 2, ch. 24.

Volumnus and Volumna, two deities who presided over the will. They were chiefly invoked at marriages to preserve concord between the husband and wife. They were particularly worshipped by the Etrurians. Livy, bk. 4, ch. 61.

T. Volumnius, a Roman famous for his friendship towards Marcus Lucullus, whom Marcus Antony had put to death. His great lamentations were the cause that he was dragged to the triumvir, of whom he demanded to be conducted to the body of his friend, and there to be put to death. His request was easily granted. Livy, bk. 124, ch. 20.——A mimic whom Brutus put to death.——An Etrurian who wrote tragedies in his own native language.——A consul who defeated the Samnites and the Etrurians, &c. Livy, bk. 9.——A friend of Marcus Brutus. He was preserved when that great republican killed himself, and he wrote an account of his death and of his actions, from which Plutarch selected some remarks.——A prefect of Syria, B.C. 11.——A Roman knight put to death by Catiline.

Voluptas and Volupia, the goddess of sensual pleasures, worshipped at Rome, where she had a temple. She was represented as a young and beautiful woman, well dressed, and elegantly adorned, seated on a throne, and having virtue under her feet. Cicero, de Natura Deorum, bk. 2, ch. 25.—Macrobius, bk. 1, ch. 10.—Augustine, City of God, bk. 4, ch. 8.

Caius Volusēnus, a military tribune in Cæsar’s army, &c. Cæsar, Gallic War, bk. 3.

Volusiānus, a Roman taken as colleague on the imperial throne, by his father Gallus. He was killed by his soldiers.

Vŏlŭsius, a poet of Patavia, who wrote, like Ennius, the annals of Rome in verse. Seneca, ltr. 93.—Catullus, bk. 96, li. 7.——Saturninus, a governor of Rome, who died in the 93rd year of his age, beloved and respected, under Nero. Tacitus, Annals, bk. 13.——Caius, a soldier at the siege of Cremona, &c.——One of Nero’s officers. Tacitus, Annals, bk. 15, ch. 51.

Volusus, a friend of Turnus. Virgil, Æneid, bk. 11, li. 463.

Volux, a son of Bocchus, whom the Romans defeated. Sylla suspected his fidelity, &c. Sallust, Jugurthine War, ch. 105.

Vomanus, a river of Picenum in Italy. Pliny, bk. 3, ch. 13.—Silius Italicus, bk. 8, li. 438.

Vonōnes, a king of Parthia expelled by his subjects, and afterwards placed on the throne of Armenia. Tacitus, Annals, bk. 12, ch. 14.——Another king of Armenia.——A man made king of Parthia by Augustus.

Vopiscus, a native of Syracuse, 303, A.D. who wrote the life of Aurelian, Tacitus, Florianus, Probus, Firmus, Carus, &c. He is one of the six authors who are called Historiæ Augustæ scriptores, but he excels all others in the elegance of his style, and the manner in which he relates the various actions of the emperors. He is not, however, without his faults, and we look in vain for the purity or perspicuity of the writers of the Augustan age.

Vŏrānus, a freedman of Quintus Luctatius Catulus, famous for his robberies as well as his cunning, &c. Horace, bk. 1, satire 8, li. 39.

Votiēnus Montanus, a man of learning, banished to one of the Baleares for his malevolent reflections upon Tiberius. Ovid has celebrated him as an excellent poet. Tacitus, Annals, bk. 4, ch. 42.

Upis, the father of one of the Dianas, mentioned by the ancients, from which circumstance Diana herself is called Upis. Cicero, de Natura Deorum, bk. 3, ch. 23.—Callimachus, Artemis.

Urănia, one of the Muses, daughter of Jupiter and Mnemosyne, who presided over astronomy. She is generally called mother of Linus by Apollo, and of the god Hymenæus by Bacchus. She was represented as a young virgin dressed in an azure-coloured robe, crowned with stars, and holding a globe in her hands, and having many mathematical instruments placed round. Hesiod, Theogony, li. 77.—Apollodorus, bk. 1, ch. 2.—Hyginus, fable 161.——A surname of Venus, the same as Celestial. She was supposed, in that character, to preside over beauty and generation, and was called daughter of Uranus or Cœlus by the Light. Her temples in Asia, Africa, Greece, and Italy were numerous. Plato, Convivium Septem Sapientium.—Cicero, de Natura Deorum, bk. 3, ch. 23.—Pausanias, bk. 1, ch. 14, &c.; bk. 7, ch. 26, &c.——A town of Cyprus.

Urănii, or Urii, a people of Gaul.

Uranopŏlis, a town at the top of Athos.

Urănus, or Ouranus, a deity, the same as Cœlus, the most ancient of all the gods. He married Tithea or the Earth, by whom he had Ceus, Creus, Hyperion, Mnemosyne, Cottus, Phœbe, Briareus, Thetis, Saturn, Gyges, called from their mother Titans. His children conspired against him, because he confined them in the bosom of the earth, and his son Saturn mutilated him, and drove him from his throne.

Urba, now Orbe, a town of the Helvetii, on a river of the same name.

Urbicua, a town of Hispania Tarraconensis.

Urbicus, an actor at Rome, in Domitian’s reign. Juvenal, satire 6.

Urbinum, now Urbino, a town of Umbria. Pliny, bk. 3, ch. 14.

Urgo, now Gorgona, an island in the bay of Pisa, 25 miles west of Leghorn, famous for anchovies. Pliny, bk. 3, ch. 6.

Uria, a town of Calabria, built by a Cretan colony, and called also Hyria. Pliny, bk. 3, ch. 11.—Strabo, bk. 6.——Of Apulia.

Urites, a people of Italy. Livy, bk. 42, ch. 48.

Ursentum, a town of the Brutii, now Orso. Pliny, bk. 3, ch. 11.

Ursidius, an adulterer. Juvenal, satire 6, li. 38.

Uscana, a town of Macedonia. Livy, bk. 43, ch. 18.

Usceta, a town of Africa Propria. Aulus Hirtius, African War, ch. 89.

Uscudama, a town of Thrace. Eutropius, bk. 6, ch. 8.

Usipĕtes, or Usipii, a people of Germany. Cæsar, Gallic War, bk. 4, ch. 1, &c.

Ustīca, a town in an island on the coast of Sicily, near Panormum. Horace, bk. 1, ode 17, li. 11.

Utens, a river of Gaul, now Montone, falling into the Adriatic by Ravenna. Livy, bk. 5, ch. 35.

Utĭca, now Satcor, a celebrated city of Africa, on the coast of the Mediterranean, on the same bay as Carthage, founded by a Tyrian colony above 287 years before Carthage. It had a large and commodious harbour, and it became the metropolis of Africa, after the destruction of Carthage in the third Punic war, and the Romans granted it all the lands situate between Hippo and Carthage. It is celebrated for the death of Cato, who from thence is called Uticensis, or of Utica. Strabo, bk. 17.—Lucan, bk. 6, li. 306.—Justin, bk. 18, ch. 4.—Pliny, bk. 16, ch. 40.—Livy, bk. 25, ch. 31.—Silius Italicus, bk. 3, li. 242.—Horace, bk. 1, ltr. 20, li. 513.

Vulcanālia, festivals in honour of Vulcan, brought to Rome from Præneste, and observed in the month of August. The streets were illuminated, fires kindled everywhere, and animals thrown into the flames, as a sacrifice to the deity. Varro, de Lingua Latina, bk. 5.—Dionysius of Halicarnassus, bk. 1.—Columella, bk. 11.—Pliny, bk. 18, ch. 13.

Vulcāni insula, or Vulcania, a name given to the islands between Sicily and Italy, now called Lipari. Virgil, Æneid, bk. 8, li. 422. They received it because there were there subterraneous fires, supposed to be excited by Vulcan the god of fire.

Vulcanius Terentianus, a Latin historian, who wrote an account of the life of the three Gordians, &c.

Vulcānus, a god of the ancients who presided over fire, and was the patron of all artists who worked iron and metal. He was son of Juno alone, who in this wished to imitate Jupiter, who had produced Minerva from his brains. According to Homer, he was son of Jupiter and Juno, and the mother was so disgusted with the deformities of her son, that she threw him into the sea as soon as born, where he remained for nine years. According to the more received opinion, Vulcan was educated in heaven with the rest of the gods, but his father kicked him down from [♦]Olympus, when he attempted to deliver his mother, who had been fastened by a golden chain for her insolence. He was nine days in coming from heaven upon earth, and he fell in the island of Lemnos, where, according to Lucian, the inhabitants, seeing him in the air, caught him in their arms. He, however, broke his leg by the fall, and ever after remained lame of one foot. He fixed his residence in Lemnos, where he built himself a palace, and raised forges to work metals. The inhabitants of the island became sensible of his industry, and were taught all the useful arts which could civilize their rude manners, and render them serviceable to the good of society. The first work of Vulcan was, according to some, a throne of gold with secret springs, which he presented to his mother to avenge himself for her want of affection towards him. Juno no sooner was seated on the throne, than she found herself unable to move. The gods attempted to deliver her by breaking the chains which held her, but to no purpose, and Vulcan alone had the power to set her at liberty. Bacchus intoxicated him, and prevailed upon him to come to Olympus, where he was reconciled to his parents. Vulcan has been celebrated by the ancient poets for the ingenious works and automatical figures which he made, and many speak of two golden statues, which not only seemed animated, but which walked by his side, and even assisted him in the working of metals. It is said that, at the request of Jupiter, he made the first woman that ever appeared on earth, well known under the name of Pandora. See: [Pandora]. The Cyclops of Sicily were his ministers and attendants, and with him they fabricated not only the thunderbolts of Jupiter, but also arms for the gods and the most celebrated heroes. His forges were supposed to be under mount Ætna, in the island of Sicily, as well as in every part of the earth where there were volcanoes. The most known of the works of Vulcan which were presented to mortals are the arms of Achilles, those of Æneas, the shield of Hercules described by Hesiod, a collar given to [♠]Hermione the wife of Cadmus, and a sceptre, which was in the possession of Agamemnon king of Argos and Mycenæ. The collar proved fatal to all those that wore it, but the sceptre, after the death of Agamemnon, was carefully preserved at Cheronæa, and regarded as a divinity. The amours of Vulcan are not numerous. He demanded Minerva from Jupiter, who had promised him in marriage whatever goddess he should choose, and when she refused his addresses, he attempted to offer her violence. Minerva resisted with success, though there remained on her body some marks of Vulcan’s passion, which she threw down upon earth wrapped up in wool. See: [♣]Erichthonius. This disappointment in his love was repaired by Jupiter, who gave him one of the Graces. Venus is universally acknowledged to have been the wife of Vulcan; but her infidelity is well known, as well as her amours with Mars, which were discovered by Phœbus, and exposed to the gods by her own husband. See: [Alectryon]. The worship of Vulcan was well established, particularly in Egypt, at Athens, and at Rome. It was usual, in the sacrifices that were offered to him, to burn the whole victim, and not reserve part of it, as in the immolations to the rest of the gods. A calf and a boar pig were the principal victims offered. Vulcan was represented as covered with sweat, blowing with his nervous arm the fires of his forges. His breast was hairy, and his forehead was blackened with smoke. Some represent him lame and deformed, holding a hammer raised in the air, ready to strike; while with the other hand he turns, with pincers, a thunderbolt on his anvil, for which an eagle waits by his side to carry it to Jupiter. He appears on some monuments with a long beard, dishevelled hair, half naked, and a small round cap on his head, while he holds a hammer and pincers in his hand. The Egyptians represented him under the figure of a monkey. Vulcan has received the names of Mulciber, Pamphanes, Clytotechnes, Pandamator, Cyllopodes, Chalaipoda, &c., all expressive of his lameness and his profession. He was father of Cupid by Venus; of Cæculus, Cecrops, Cacus, Periphetes, Cercyon, Ocrisia, &c. Cicero speaks of more than one deity of the name of Vulcan. One he calls son of Cœlus and father of Apollo by Minerva; the second he mentions is son of the Nile, and called Phtas by the Egyptians; the third was the son of Jupiter and Juno, and fixed his residence in Lemnos; and the fourth who built his forges in the Lipari islands was son of Menalius. Vulcan seems to have been admitted into heaven more for ridicule than any other purpose. He seems to be the great cuckold of Olympus, and even his wife is represented as laughing at his deformities, and mimicking his lameness to gain the smiles of her lovers. Hesiod, Theogony & Shield of Heracles, lis. 140 & 320.—Apollodorus, bk. 1, ch. 3, &c.—Homer, Iliad, bk. 1, li. 57; bk. 15, li. 18; bk. 11, li. 397, &c.—Diodorus, bk. 5.—Pausanias, bk. 1, ch. 20; bk. 3, ch. 17.—Cicero, de Natura Deorum, bk. 3, ch. 22.—Herodotus, bks. 2 & 3.—Varro, de Lingua Latina.—Virgil, Æneid, 7, &c.

[♦] ‘Olympas’ replaced with ‘Olympus’

[♠] ‘Hermoine’ replaced with ‘Hermione’

[♣] ‘Erichsithonius’ replaced with ‘Erichthonius’

Vulcātius, a Roman knight, who conspired with Piso against Nero, &c. Tacitus.——A senator in the reign of Diocletian, who attempted to write a history of all such as had reigned at Rome, either as lawful sovereigns or by usurpation. Of his works nothing is extant but an account of Avidius Cassius, who revolted in the east during the reign of Marcus Aurelius, which some ascribe to Spartianus.

Vulsīnum, a town of Etruria. See: [Volsinium].

Vulso, a Roman consul who invaded Africa with Regulus.——Another consul. He had the provinces of Asia while in office, and triumphed over the Galatians.

Vultŭra, or Vulturaria, a mountain on the borders of Apulia. Horace, bk. 3, ode 4, li. 9.—Lucan, bk. 9, li. 183.

Vulturius, a man who conspired against his country with Catiline.

Vulturnius, a surname of Apollo. See: [Vulturnus].

Vulturnum, a town of Campania, near the mouth of the Vulturnus. Livy, bk. 25, ch. 20.—Pliny, bk. 3, ch. 5.——Also an ancient name of Capua. Livy, bk. 4, ch. 37.

Vulturnus, a river of Campania rising in the Apennines, and falling into the Tyrrhene sea, after passing by the town of Capua. Lucretius, bk. 5, li. 664.—Virgil, Æneid, bk. 7, li. 729.——The god of the Tiber was also known by that name. Varro, de Lingua Latina, bk. 4, ch. 5.——The wind, which received the name of Vulturnus when it blew from the side of the Vulturnus, highly incommoded the Romans at the battle of Cannæ. Livy, bk. 22, chs. 43 & 46.——A surname of Apollo on mount Lissus in Ionia, near Ephesus. The god received this name from a shepherd who raised him a temple after he had been drawn out of a subterraneous cavern by vultures.

Vulsinum, a town of Etruria, where Sejanus was born.

Uxama, a town of Spain on the Iberus. Silius Italicus, bk. 3, li. 384.

Uxantis, now Ushant, an island on the coast of Britany.

Uxellodunum, a town of Gaul defended by steep rocks, now Puech d’Issoiu. Cæsar, Gallic War, bk. 8, ch. 33.

Uxentum, a town of Calabria, now Ugento.

Uxii, mountains of Armenia, with a nation of the same name, conquered by Alexander. The Tigris rises in their country. Strabo.—Diodorus.

Uxisama, an island in the western ocean.

Uzita, an inland town of Africa destroyed by Cæsar. Hirtius, African War, ch. 41, &c.

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