Apries and Aprius, one of the kings of Egypt in the age of Cyrus, supposed to be the Pharaoh Hophra of Scripture. He took Sidon, and lived in great prosperity till his subjects revolted to Amasis, by whom he was conquered and strangled. Herodotus, bk. 2, ch. 159, &c.—Diodorus, bk. 1.
Apsinthii, a people of Thrace. They received their name from a river called Apsinthus, which flowed through their territory. Dionysius Periegetes.
Apsinus, an Athenian sophist in the third century, author of a work called Præceptor de Arte Rhetoricâ.
Apsus, a river of Macedonia falling into the Ionian sea between Dyrrhachium and Apollonia. Lucan, bk. 5, li. 46.
Aptĕra, an inland town of Crete. Ptolemy.—Pliny, bk. 4, ch. 12.
Apuleia lex, was enacted by Lucius Apuleius the tribune, A.U.C. 652, for inflicting a punishment upon such as were guilty of raising seditions, or showing violence in the city.——Varilia, a granddaughter of Augustus, convicted of adultery with a certain Manlius, in the reign of Tiberius. Tacitus, Annals, ch. 50.
Apuleius, a learned man, born at Madaura in Africa. He studied at Carthage, Athens, and Rome, where he married a rich widow called Pudentilla, for which he was accused by some of her relations of using magical arts to win her heart. His apology was a masterly composition. In his youth, Apuleius had been very expensive; but he was, in a maturer age, more devoted to study, and learnt Latin without a master. The most famous of his works extant is the Golden Ass, in 11 books, an allegorical piece, replete with morality. The best editions of Apuleius are the Delphin, 2 vols., 4to, Paris, 1688, and Pricæi, 8vo, Goudæ, 1650.
Apūlia, now Puglia, a country of Italy between Daunia and Calabria. It was part of the ancient Magna Græcia, and generally divided into Apulia Daunia and Apulia Peucetia. It was famous for its wool, superior to all the produce of Italy. Some suppose that it is called after Apulus, an ancient king of the country before the Trojan war. Pliny, bk. 3, ch. 11.—Cicero, de Divinatione, bk. 1, ch. 43.—Strabo, bk. 6.—Mela, bk. 2, ch. 4.—Martial, Apophoreta, ltr. 155.
Apuscidāmus, a lake of Africa. All bodies, however heavy, were said to swim on the surface of its waters. Pliny, bk. 32, ch. 2.
Aquarius, one of the signs of the zodiac, rising in January and setting in February. Some suppose that Ganymede was changed into this sign. Virgil, Georgics, bk. 3, li. 304.