Apŏnus, now Abano, a fountain, with a village of the same name, near Patavium in Italy. The waters of the fountain, which were hot, were wholesome, and were supposed to have an oracular power. Lucan, bk. 7, li. 194.—Suetonius, Tiberius, ch. 14.
Apostrophia, a surname of Venus in Bœotia, who was distinguished under these names, Venus Urania, Vulgaria, and Apostrophia. The former was the patroness of a pure and chaste love; the second of carnal and sensual desires; and the last incited men to illicit and unnatural gratifications, to incests, and rapes. Venus Apostrophia was invoked by the Thebans, that they might be saved from such unlawful desires. She is the same as the Verticordia of the Romans. Pausanias, bk. 9, ch. 16.—Valerius Maximus, bk. 8, ch. 15.
Apotheōsis, a ceremony observed by the ancient nations of the world, by which they raised their kings, heroes, and great men to the rank of deities. The nations of the east were the first who paid divine honours to their great men, and the Romans followed their example, and not only deified the most prudent and humane of their emperors, but also the most cruel and profligate. Herodian, bk. 4, ch. 2, has left us an account of the apotheosis of a Roman emperor. After the body of the deceased was burnt, an ivory image was laid on a couch for seven days, representing the emperor under the agonies of disease. The city was in sorrow, the senate visited it in mourning, and the physicians pronounced it every day in a more decaying state. When the death was announced, a band of young senators carried the couch and image to the Campus Martius, where it was deposited on an edifice in the form of a pyramid, where spices and combustible materials were thrown. After this the knights walked round the pile in solemn procession, and the images of the most illustrious Romans were drawn in state, and immediately the new emperor, with a torch, set fire to the pile, and was assisted by the surrounding multitude. Meanwhile an eagle was let fly from the middle of the pile, which was supposed to carry the soul of the deceased to heaven, where he was ranked among the gods. If the deified was a female, a peacock, and not an eagle, was sent from the flames. The Greeks observed ceremonies much of the same nature.
Appia via, a celebrated road leading from the porta Capena at Rome to Brundusium, through Capua. Appius Claudius made it as far as Capua, and it received its name from him. It was continued and finished by Gracchus, Julius Cæsar, and Augustus. See: [Via]. Lucan, bk. 3, li. 285.—Statius, bk. 2, Sylvæ, poem 2, li. 12.—Martial, bk. 9, ltr. 104.—Suetonius, Tiberias, ch. 14.
Appiădes, a name given to these five deities, Venus, Pallas, Vesta, Concord, and Peace, because a temple was erected to them near the Appian road. The name was also applied to those courtesans at Rome who lived near the temple of Venus by Appiæ Aquæ, and the forum of Julius Cæsar. Ovid, de Ars Amatoria, bk. 3, li. 452.
Appiānus, a Greek historian of Alexandria, who flourished A.D. 123. His universal history, which consisted of 24 books, was a series of history of all the nations that had been conquered by the Romans, in the order of time; and in the composition, the writer displayed, with a style simple and unadorned, a great knowledge of military affairs, and described his battles in a masterly manner. This excellent work is greatly mutilated, and there is extant now only the account of the Punic, Syrian, Parthian, Mithridatic, and Spanish wars, with those of Illyricum and the civil dissensions, with a fragment of the Celtic wars. In his preface, Appian has enlarged on the boundaries of that mighty empire, of which he was the historian. The best editions are those of Tollius and Variorum, 2 vols., 8vo, Amsterdam, 1670, and that of Schweigheuserus, 3 vols., 8vo, Lipscomb, 1785. He was so eloquent that the emperor highly promoted him in the state.
Appii Forum, now Borgo Longo, a little village not far from Rome, built by the consul Appius. Horace, bk. 1, satire 5.
Appius, the prænomen of an illustrious family at Rome.——A censor of that name, A.U.C. 442. Horace, bk. 1, satire 6.
Appius Claudius, a decemvir who obtained his power by force and oppression. He attempted the virtue of Virginia, whom her father killed to preserve her chastity. This act of violence was the cause of a revolution in the state, and the ravisher destroyed himself when cited to appear before the tribunal of his country. Livy, bk. 3, ch. 33.——Claudius Cæcus, a Roman orator, who built the Appian way and many aqueducts in Rome. When Pyrrhus, who was come to assist the Tarentines against Rome, demanded peace of the senators, Appius, grown old in the service of the republic, caused himself to be carried to the senate house, and by his authority dissuaded them from granting a peace which would prove dishonourable to the Roman name. Ovid, Fasti, bk. 6, li. 203.—Cicero, Brutus & Tusculanæ Disputationes, bk. 4.——A Roman who, when he heard that he had been proscribed by the triumvirs, divided his riches among his servants, and embarked with them for Sicily. In their passage the vessel was shipwrecked, and Appius alone saved his life. Appian, bk. 4.——Claudius Crassus, a consul, who, with Spurius Naut. Rutilius, conquered the Celtiberians, and was defeated by Perseus king of Macedonia. Livy.——Claudius Pulcher, a grandson of Appius Claudius Cæcus, consul in the age of Sylla, retired from grandeur to enjoy the pleasures of a private life.——Clausus, a general of the Sabines, who, upon being ill treated by his countrymen, retired to Rome with 5000 of his friends, and was admitted into the senate in the early ages of the republic. Plutarch, Poplicola [Publicola].——Herdonius, seized the capitol with 4000 exiles, A.U.C. 292, and was soon after overthrown. Livy, bk. 3, ch. 15.—Florus, bk. 3, ch. 19.——Claudius Lentulus, a consul with Marcus Perpenna.——A dictator who conquered the Hernici.——The name of Appius was common in Rome, and particularly to many consuls, whose history is not marked by any uncommon event.
Appŭla, an immodest woman, &c. Juvenal, satire 6, li. 64.