Archippe, a city of the Marsi, destroyed by an earthquake, and lost in the lake of Fucinus. Pliny, bk. 3, ch. 19.
Archippus, a king of Italy, from whom, perhaps, the town of Archippe received its name. Virgil, Æneid, bk. 7, li. 752.——A philosopher of Thebes, pupil to Pythagoras.——An archon at Athens.——A comic poet of Athens, of whose eight comedies only one obtained the prize.——A philosopher in the age of Trajan.
Archītis, a name of Venus, worshipped on mount Libanus.
Archon, one of Alexander’s generals, who received the provinces of Babylon, at the general division after the king’s death. Diodorus, bk. 18.
Archontes, the name of the chief magistrates of Athens. They were nine in number, and none were chosen but such as were descended from ancestors who had been free citizens of the republic for three generations. They were also to be without deformity in all the parts and members of their body, and were obliged to produce testimonies of their dutiful behaviour to their parents, of the services they had rendered their country, and the competency of their fortune to support their dignity. They took a solemn oath that they would observe the laws, administer justice with impartiality, and never suffer themselves to be corrupted. If they ever received bribes, they were compelled by the laws to dedicate to the god of Delphi a statue of gold of equal weight with their body. They all had the power of punishing malefactors with death. The chief among them was called Archon. The year took its denomination from him; he determined all causes between man and wife, and took care of legacies and wills; he provided for orphans, protected the injured, and punished drunkenness with uncommon severity. If he suffered himself to be intoxicated during the time of his office, the misdemeanour was punished with death. The second of the archons was called Basileus . It was his office to keep good order, and to remove all causes of quarrel in the families of those who were dedicated to the service of the gods. The profane and the impious were brought before his tribunal; and he offered public sacrifices for the good of the state. He assisted at the celebration of the Eleusinian festivals, and other religious ceremonies. His wife was to be related to the whole people of Athens, and of a pure and unsullied life. He had a vote among the Areopagites, but was obliged to sit among them without his crown. The Polemarch was another archon of inferior dignity. He had the care of all foreigners, and provided a sufficient maintenance from the public treasury for the families of those who had lost their lives in defence of their country. These three chief archons generally chose each of them two persons of respectable character, and of an advanced age, whose counsels and advice might assist and support them in their public capacity. The six other archons were indistinctly called Thesmothetæ, and received complaints against persons accused of impiety, bribery, and ill behaviour. They settled all disputes between the citizens, redressed the wrongs of strangers and forbade any laws to be enforced but such as were conducive to the safety of the state. These officers of state were chosen after the death of king Codrus; their power was originally for life, but afterwards it was limited to 10 years, and at last to one year. After some time, the qualifications which were required to be an archon were not strictly observed. Adrian, before he was elected emperor of Rome, was made archon at Athens, though a foreigner; and the same honours were conferred upon Plutarch. The perpetual archons, after the death of Codrus, were Medon, whose office began B.C. 1070; Acastus, 1050; Archippus, 1014; Thersippus, 995; Phorbas, 954; Megacles, 923; Diognetus, 893; Pherecles, 865; Ariphron, 846; Thespius, 826; Agamestor, 799; Æschylus, 778; Alcmæon, 756; after whose death the archons were decennial, the first of whom was Charops, who began 753; Æsimedes, 744; Clidicus, 734; Hippomenes, 724; Leocrates, 714; Apsander, 704; Eryxias, 694; after whom the office became annual, and of these annual archons Creon was the first. Aristophanes, The Clouds & The Birds.—Plutarch, Convivium Septem Sapientium, ch. 1.—Demosthenes.—Pollux.—Lysias.
Archy̆lus Thurius, a general of Dionysius the elder. Diodorus, bk. 14.
Archytas, a musician of Mitylene, who wrote a treatise on agriculture. Diogenes Laërtius.——The son of Hestiæus of Tarentum, was a follower of the Pythagorean philosophy, and an able astronomer and geometrician. He redeemed his master, Plato, from the hands of the tyrant Dionysius, and for his virtues he was seven times chosen, by his fellow-citizens, governor of Tarentum. He invented some mathematical instruments, and made a wooden pigeon which could fly. He perished in a shipwreck about 394 years before the christian era. He is also the reputed inventor of the screw and the pulley. A fragment of his writings has been preserved by Porphyry. Horace, bk. 1, ode 28.—Cicero, bk. 3, On Oratory.—Diogenes Laërtius, Lives and Opinions of Eminent Philosophers.
Arcĭtĕnens, an epithet applied to Apollo, from his bearing a bow, with which, as soon as born, he destroyed the serpent Python. Virgil, Æneid, bk. 3, li. 75.
Arctīnus, a Milesian poet, said to be pupil to Homer. Dionysius of Halicarnassus, bk. 1.
Arctophy̆lax, a star near the great bear, called also Bootes. Cicero, de Natura Deorum, bk. 2, ch. 42.