Aristoteleia, festivals in honour of Aristotle, because he obtained the restitution of his country from Alexander.
Aristotĕles, a famous philosopher, son of the physician Nicomachus by Festiada, born at Stagira. After his father’s death he went to Athens to hear Plato’s lectures, where he soon signalized himself by the brightness of his genius. He had been of an inactive and dissolute disposition in his youth, but now he applied himself with uncommon diligence; and after he had spent 20 years in hearing the instructions of Plato, he opened a school for himself, for which he was accused of ingratitude and illiberality by his ancient master. He was moderate in his meals; he slept little, and always had one arm out of his couch with a bullet in it, which by falling into a brazen basin underneath, early awakened him. He was, according to some, 10 years preceptor to Alexander, who received his instructions with much pleasure and deference, and always respected him. According to Plutarch, the improvement that Alexander made under Aristotle was of more service to him than all the splendour and power which he received from Philip. Almost all his writings, which are composed on a variety of subjects, are extant: he gave them to Theophrastus at his death, and they were bought by one of the Ptolemies, and placed in the famous library of Alexandria. Diogenes Laertes has given us a very extensive catalogue of them. Aristotle had a deformed countenance, but his genius was a sufficient compensation for all his personal defects. He has been called by Plato the philosopher of truth; and Cicero compliments him with the title of a man of eloquence, universal knowledge, readiness and acuteness of invention, and fecundity of thought. The writings of Aristotle have been compared with those of Plato; but the one are the effusions of a lively and fruitful imagination, whilst the philosopher of Stagira studied nature more than art, and had recourse to simplicity of expression more than ornament. He neither worshipped nor cared for the divinity, concerning which his opinions were ever various and dissonant; and the more he disregarded the mythology of the ancients, the greater was the credit he acquired over his less philosophical predecessors. He was so authoritative in his opinions, that, as Bacon observes, he wished to establish the same dominion over men’s minds, as his pupil over nations. Alexander, it is said, wished and encouraged his learned tutor to write the history of animals; and the more effectually to assist him, he supplied him with 800 talents, and in his Asiatic expedition employed above 1000 men to collect animals, either in fishing, hunting, or hawking, which were carefully transmitted to the philosopher. Aristotle’s logic has long reigned in the schools, and been regarded as the perfect model of all imitation. As he expired, the philosopher is said to have uttered the following sentiment: Fœde hunc mundum intravi, anxius vixi, perturbatus egredior, causa causarum miserere mei. The letter which Philip wrote to Aristotle has been preserved, and is in these words: “I inform you I have a son; I thank the gods, not so much for making me a father, as for giving me a son in an age when he can have Aristotle for his instructor. I hope you will make him a successor worthy of me, and a king worthy of Macedonia.” Aristotle wished to make his wife Pythias a deity, and to pay her the same worship as was paid to Ceres. He died in the 63rd year of his age, B.C. 322. His treatises have been published separately; but the best edition of the works collectively, is that of Duval, 2 vols., folio, Paris, 1629. Tyrwhitt’s edition of the Poetica, Oxford, 4to, 1794, is a valuable acquisition to literature. He had a son whom he called Nicomachus, by the courtesan Herpyllis. Some have accused him of being accessary to the death of Alexander, and said that he drowned himself in the Euripus, because he could not find out the cause of its flux and reflux. There are, however, different reports about the manner of his death, and some believe that he died at Athens of a cholic, two years after Alexander’s death. The people of Stagira instituted festivals in his honour, because he had rendered important services to their city. Diogenes Laërtius, Lives of Eminent Philosophers.—Plutarch, Alexander & de Alexandri Magni Fortuna Aut Virtute, &c.—Cicero, Academica Quæstiones, bk. 4; On Oratory, bk. 3; de Finibus, bk. 5.—Quintilian, bks. 1, 2, 5, 10.—Ælian, Varia Historia, bk. 4.—Justin, bk. 12.—Justin Martyr.—Augustine, City of God, bk. 8.—Pliny, bks. 2, 4, 5, &c.—Athenæus.—Valerius Maximus, bk. 5, ch. 6, &c. There were besides seven of the same name. A magistrate of Athens.——A commentator on Homer’s Iliad.——An orator of Sicily, who answered the panegyric of Isocrates.——A friend of Æschines.——A man of Cyrene who wrote on poetry.——A schoolmaster mentioned in Plato’s life, written by Aristoxenus.——An obscure grammarian. Diogenes Laërtius, Aristotle.
Aristotīmus, a tyrant of Elis, 271 years B.C. Pausanias, bk. 5, ch. 5.
Aristoxĕnus, a celebrated musician, disciple of Aristotle, and born at Tarentum. He wrote 453 different treatises on philosophy, history, &c., and was disappointed in his expectations of succeeding in the school of Aristotle, for which he always spoke with ingratitude of his learned master. Of all his works nothing remains but three books upon music, the most ancient on that subject extant.——A philosopher of Cyrene. Athenæus.——A physician whose writings are quoted by Galen.——A poet of Selinus.——A Pythagorean philosopher.
Aristus, a Greek historian of Salamas, who wrote an account of Alexander’s expedition. Strabo, bk. 14.—Arrian, bk. 7.
Aristyllus, an obscure poet. Aristophanes.——An astronomer of Alexandria, 292 B.C.
Arius, a river of Gaul, and——of Asia. The inhabitants in the neighbourhood are called Arii.——A celebrated writer, the origin of the Arian controversy, that denied the eternal divinity and consubstantiality of the Word. Though he was greatly persecuted for his opinions, he gained the favour of the emperor Constantine, and triumphed over his powerful antagonist Athanasius. He died the very night he was going to enter the church of Constantinople in triumph. Pressed by nature, he went aside to ease himself; but his bowels gushed out, and he expired on the spot, A.D. 336. Athanasius.
Armĕnes, a son of Nabis, led in triumph at Rome. Livy, bk. 34, ch. 1.
Armenia, a large country of Asia, divided into Upper and Lower Armenia. Upper Armenia, called also Major, has Media on the east, Iberia on the north, and Mesopotamia on the south. Lower Armenia, or Minor, is bounded by Cappadocia, Armenia Major, Syria, Cilicia, and the Euphrates. The Armenians were a long time under the dominion of the Medes and Persians, till they were conquered with the rest of Asia, by Alexander and his successors. The Romans made it one of their provinces, and under some of the emperors the Armenians had the privilege of choosing their own kings, but they were afterwards reduced. The country received its name from Armenus, who was one of the Argonauts, and of Thessalian origin. They borrowed the names and attributes of their deities from the Persians. They paid great adoration to Venus Anaitis, and the chiefest of the people always prostituted their daughters in honour of this goddess. Armenia Major is now called Turcomania, and Minor, Aladulia. Herodotus, bk. 1, ch. 194; bk. 5, ch. 49.—Curtius, bk. 4, ch. 12; bk. 5, ch. 1.—Strabo, bks. 1 & 11.—Mela, bk. 3, chs. 5 & 8.—Pliny, bk. 6, ch. 4, &c.—Lucan, bk. 2.
Armentarius, a Cæsar in Diocletian’s reign.