Apāme, the mother of Nicomedes by Prusias king of Bithynia.——The mother of Antiochus Soter by Seleucus Nicanor. Soter founded a city which he called by his mother’s name.
Apamia, or Apamēa, a city of Phrygia, on the Marsyas.——A city of Bithynia,——of Media,——of Mesopotamia.——Another near the Tigris.
Aparni, a nation of shepherds near the Caspian sea. Strabo.
Apatūria, a festival of Athens, which received its name from ἀπατη, deceit, because it was instituted in memory of a stratagem by which Xanthus king of Bœotia was killed by Melanthus king of Athens, upon the following occasion. When a war arose between the Bœotians and Athenians about a piece of ground which divided their territories, Xanthus made a proposal to the Athenian king to decide the battle by single combat. Thymœtes, who was then on the throne of Athens, refused, and his successor Melanthus accepted the challenge. When they began the engagement, Melanthus exclaimed that his antagonist had some person behind him to support him; upon which Xanthus looked behind, and was killed by Melanthus. From this success Jupiter was called ἀπατηνωρ, deceiver, and Bacchus, who was supposed to be behind Xanthus, was called Μελαναιγις, clothed in the skin of a black goat. Some derive the word from ἀπατορια, i.e. ὁμοτορια, because, on the day of the festival, the children accompanied their fathers to be registered among the citizens. The festival lasted three days. The first day was called δορπια, because suppers, δορποι, were prepared for each separate tribe. The second day was called ἀναρρυσις ἀπο του ἀνω ἐρυειν, because sacrifices were offered to Jupiter and Minerva, and the head of the victim was generally turned up towards the heavens. The third was called Κουρεωτις, from Κουρος, a youth, or Κουρα, shaving, because the young men had their hair cut off before they were registered, when their parents swore that they were freeborn Athenians. They generally sacrificed two ewes and a she-goat to Diana. This festival was adopted by the Ionians, except the inhabitants of Ephesus and Colophon.——A surname of Minerva,——of Venus.
Apeauros, a mountain of Peloponnesus. Polybius, bk. 4.
Apella, a word, Horace, bk. 1, satire 5, li. 10, which has given much trouble to critics and commentators. Some suppose it to mean circumcised (sine pelle), an epithet highly applicable to a Jew. Others maintain that it is a proper name, upon the authority of Cicero, Letters to Atticus, bk. 12, ltr. 19, who mentions a person of the same name.
Apelles, a celebrated painter of Cos, or, as others say, of Ephesus or Colophon, son of Pithius. He lived in the age of Alexander the Great, who honoured him so much that he forbade any man but Apelles to draw his picture. He was so attentive to his profession that he never spent a day without employing his pencil, whence the proverb of Nulla dies sine lineâ. His most perfect picture was Venus Anadyomene, which was not totally finished when the painter died. He made a painting of Alexander holding thunder in his hand, so much like life that Pliny, who saw it, says that the hand of the king with the thunder seemed to come out of the picture. This picture was placed in Diana’s temple at Ephesus. He made another of Alexander, but the king expressed not much satisfaction at the sight of it: and at that moment a horse, passing by, neighed at the horse which was represented in the piece, supposing it to be alive; upon which the painter said, “One would imagine that the horse is a better judge of painting than your Majesty.” When Alexander ordered him to draw the picture of Campaspe, one of his mistresses, Apelles became enamoured of her, and the king permitted him to marry her. He wrote three volumes upon painting, which were still extant in the age of Pliny. It is said that he was accused in Egypt of conspiring against the life of Ptolemy, and that he would have been put to death had not the real conspirator discovered himself, and saved the painter. Apelles never put his name to any pictures but three; a sleeping Venus, Venus Anadyomene, and an Alexander. The proverb of Ne sutor ultra crepidam is applied to him by some. Pliny, bk. 35, ch. 10.—Horace, bk. 2, ltr. 1, li. 238.—Cicero, Letters to his Friends, bk. 1, ltr. 9.—Ovid, Ars Amatoria, bk. 3, li. 401.—Valerius Maximus, bk. 8, ch. 11.——A tragic writer. Suetonius, Caligula, ch. 33.——A Macedonian general, &c.
Apellĭcon, a Teian peripatetic philosopher, whose fondness for books was so great that he is accused of stealing them, when he could not obtain them with money. He bought the works of Aristotle and Theophrastus, but greatly disfigured them by his frequent interpolations. The extensive library, which he had collected at Athens, was carried to Rome when Sylla had conquered the capital of Attica, and among the valuable books was found an original manuscript of Aristotle. He died about 86 B.C. Strabo, bk. 13.
Apennīnus, a ridge of high mountains which run through the middle of Italy, from Liguria to Ariminum and Ancona. They are joined to the Alps. Some have supposed that they ran across Sicily by Rhegium before Italy was separated from Sicily. Lucan, bk. 2, li. 306.—Ovid, Metamorphoses, bk. 2, li. 226.—Silius Italicus, bk. 4, li. 743.—Strabo, bk. 2.—Mela, bk. 2, ch. 4.
Aper Marcus, a Latin orator of Gaul, who distinguished himself as a politician, as well as by his genius. The dialogue of the orators, inserted with the works of Tacitus and Quintilian, is attributed to him. He died A.D. 85.——Another. See: [Numerianus].