P. 27.—“Hermus.” A good sized river of Asia Minor, rising in Phrygia, flowing through Lydia, watering the plain of Sardis, and emptying into the Gulf of Smyrna.
P. 28.—“Telmessus.” A town of Cana about six miles from Halicarnassus. Its people were celebrated for their power in divination.
P. 32.—“Agbatana.” The usual form of writing the word is Ecbatana; the first form is the Ionic, used in poetry.
“Pactyas.” An army was sent against this man when he fled to Cyme, thence to Mytilene, and from there to Chios. The Chians gave him up to the Persians.
P. 33.—“L’Allegro,” läl-lāˈgrō. The merry, the gay.
P. 35.—“Nitocris.” Supposed to have been the wife of Nebuchadnezzar, and the mother or grandmother of Belshazzar. While queen of Babylon many important works were carried on by her for the improvement of the city.
P. 37.—“Massagetæ.” They were probably a nomad people of Central Asia. The best authorities suppose them to have lived north of the Jaxartes and the sea of Aral. Some critics identify them with the Mesech of the Scriptures. Many of their customs were very peculiar. They worshipped the sun, to which they sacrificed horses. Their very old people were killed and eaten. The race to which they belonged is in dispute, though usually considered the Turkoman.
P. 40.—“Prexaspes.” He had always been held in high honor by Cambyses, having been employed by the latter to kill his brother Smerdis, whom he feared. Later in life an impostor calling himself Smerdis, tried to usurp the throne and Cambyses suspected Prexaspes, but he cleared himself. After the death of Cambyses this false Smerdis was acknowledged king, and the Magi, who had put him on the throne, tried to win over Prexaspes to their plans, but he told before the assembled Persians of the assassination of the true Smerdis, and then threw himself from the tower on which he was standing.
P. 43.—“Apis.” A bull worshipped by the Egyptians. He was supposed to contain the spirit of the divinity Osiris, and was the symbol of fertility. The god must be black, with a white square or triangular mark on his forehead, an eagle on the back, and other mysterious marks about the body. When such an animal was found he was carried to Heliopolis and thence to Memphis, where he had his own temple and priests. The lifetime of Apis was twenty-five years. If one died the whole land was in mourning until a successor was found.
P. 45.—“Staters,” stāˈter. The chief gold coin of the Greeks, usually worth about $5.50, though it varied much in value.