Sannyrion, a tragic poet of Athens. He composed many dramatical pieces, one of which was called Io, and another Danae. Athenæus, bk. 9.
Santŏnes and Santŏne, now Saintonge, a people with a town of the same name in Gaul. Lucan, bk. 1, li. 422.—Martial, bk. 3, ltr. 96.
Saon, an historian. Dionysius of Halicarnassus.——A man who first discovered the oracle of Trophonius. Pausanias, bk. 9, ch. 40.
Sapæi, or Saphæi, a people of Thrace, called also Sintii. Ovid, Fasti, bk. 1, li. 389.
Sapirene, an island of the Arabic gulf. Pliny, bk. 6, ch. 29.
Sapis, now Savio, a river of Gaul Cispadana, falling into the Adriatic. Lucan, bk. 2, li. 406.
Sapor, a king of Persia, who succeeded his father Artaxerxes about the 238th year of the christian era. Naturally fierce and ambitious, Sapor wished to increase his paternal dominions by conquest; and as the indolence of the emperors of Rome seemed favourable to his views, he laid waste the provinces of Mesopotamia, Syria, and Cilicia; and he might have become master of all Asia, if Odenatus had not stopped his progress. If Gordian attempted to repel him, his efforts were weak, and Philip, who succeeded him on the imperial throne, bought the peace of Sapor with money. Valerian, who was afterwards invested with the purple, marched against the Persian monarch, but he was defeated and taken prisoner. Odenatus no sooner heard that the Roman emperor was a captive in the hands of Sapor, than he attempted to release him by force of arms. The forces of Persia were cut to pieces; the wives and the treasures of the monarch fell into the hands of the conqueror, and Odenatus penetrated, with little opposition, into the very heart of the kingdom. Sapor, soon after this defeat, was assassinated by his subjects, A.D. 273, after a reign of 32 years. He was succeeded by his son called Hormisdas. Marcellinus, &c.——The second of that name succeeded his father Hormisdas on the throne of Persia. He was as great as his ancestor of the same name; and by undertaking a war against the Romans, he attempted to enlarge his dominions, and to add the provinces on the west of the Euphrates to his empire. His victories alarmed the Roman emperors, and Julian would have perhaps seized him in the capital of his dominions, if he had not received a mortal wound. Jovian, who succeeded Julian, made peace with Sapor; but the monarch, always restless and indefatigable, renewed hostilities, invaded Armenia, and defeated the emperor Valens. Sapor died A.D. 380, after a reign of 70 years, in which he had often been the sport of fortune. He was succeeded by Artaxerxes, and Artaxerxes by Sapor III., a prince who died after a reign of five years, A.D. 389, in the age of Theodosius the Great. Marcellinus, &c.
Sappho, or Sapho, celebrated for her beauty, her poetical talents, and her amorous disposition, was born in the island of Lesbos, about 600 years before Christ. Her father’s name, according to Herodotus, was Scamandronymus, or, according to others, Symon, or Semus, or Etarchus, and her mother’s name was Cleis. Her tender passions were so violent, that some have represented her attachments to three of her female companions, Telesiphe, Atthis, and Megara, as criminal, and, on that account, have given her the surname of Tribas. She conceived such a passion for Phaon, a youth of Mitylene, that upon his refusal to gratify her desires, she threw herself into the sea from mount Leucas. She had composed nine books in lyric verses, besides epigrams, elegies, &c. Of all these compositions, nothing now remains but two fragments, whose uncommon sweetness and elegance show how meritoriously the praises of the ancients have been bestowed upon a poetess, who for the sublimity of her genius was called the 10th Muse. Her compositions were all extant in the age of Horace. The Lesbians were so sensible of the merit of Sappho, that, after her death, they paid her divine honours, and raised her temples and altars, and stamped their money with her image. The poetess has been censured for writing with that licentiousness and freedom which so much disgraced her character as a woman. The Sapphic verse has been called after her name. Ovid, Heroides, poem 15; Tristia, bk. 2, li. 365.—Horace, bk. 2, ode 13.—Herodotus, bk. 2, ch. 135.—Statius, bk. 5, Sylvæ, poem 3, li. 155.—Ælian, Varia Historia, bk. 12, chs. 18 & 29.—Pliny, bk. 22, ch. 8.
Saptine, a daughter of Darius the last king of Persia, offered in marriage to Alexander.
Saracene, part of Arabia Petræa, the country of the Saracens who embraced the religion of Mahomet.