Cecidas, an ancient dithyrambic poet.
Cecilius. See: [Cæcilius].
Cecīna, a river near Volaterra in Etruria. Mela, bk. 2, ch. 4.
A. Cecinna, a Roman knight in the interest of Pompey, who used to breed up young swallows, and send them to carry news to his friends as messengers. He was a particular friend of Cicero, with whom he corresponded. Some of his letters are still extant in Cicero. Pliny, bk. 10, ch. 24.—Cicero, bk. 15, ltr. 66; Orator, ch. 29.——A scribe of Octavius Cæsar. Cicero, bk. 16, Letters to Atticus, ltr. 8.——A consular man suspected of conspiracy and murdered by Titus, after an invitation to supper. Suetonius, Titus, ch. 6.
Cecrŏpia, the original name of Athens, in honour of Cecrops, its first founder. The ancients often use this word for Attica, and the Athenians are often called Cecropidæ. Virgil, Æneid, bk. 6, li. 21.—Ovid, Metamorphoses, bk. 7, li. 671; Fasti, bk. 2, li. 81.—Lucan, bk. 3, li. 306.—Pliny, bk. 7, ch. 56.—Catullus, poems 62, 79.—Juvenal, satire 6, li. 186.
Cecrŏpĭdæ, an ancient name of the Athenians, more particularly applied to those who were descended from Cecrops the founder of Athens. The honourable name of Cecropidæ was often conferred as a reward for some virtuous action in the field of battle. Virgil, Æneid, bk. 6, li. 21.—Ovid, Metamorphoses, bk. 7, li. 671.
Cecrops, a native of Sais in Egypt, who led a colony to Attica about 1556 years before the christian era, and reigned over part of the country which was called from him Cecropia. He softened and polished the rude and uncultivated manners of the inhabitants, and drew them from the country to inhabit 12 small villages which he had founded. He gave them laws and regulations, and introduced among them the worship of those deities which were held in adoration in Egypt. He married the daughter of Actæus, a Grecian prince, and was deemed the first founder of Athens. He taught his subjects to cultivate the olive, and instructed them to look upon Minerva as the watchful patroness of their city. It is said that he was the first who raised an altar to Jupiter in Greece, and offered him sacrifices. After a reign of 50 years, spent in regulating his newly formed kingdom, and in polishing the minds of his subjects, Cecrops died, leaving three daughters, Aglauros, Herse, and Pandrosos. He was succeeded by Cranaus, a native of the country. Some time after, Theseus, one of his successors on the throne, formed the 12 villages which he had established into one city, to which the name of Athens was given. See: [Athenæ]. Some authors have described Cecrops as a monster, half a man and half a serpent; and this fable is explained by the recollection that he was master of two languages, the Greek and the Egyptian; or that he had the command over two countries, Egypt and Greece. Others explain it by an allusion to the regulations which Cecrops made amongst the inhabitants concerning marriage and the union of the two sexes. Pausanias, bk. 1, ch. 5.—Strabo, bk. 9.—Justin, bk. 2, ch. 6.—Herodotus, bk. 8, ch. 44.—Apollodorus, bk. 3, ch. 14.—Ovid, Metamorphoses, bk. 11, li. 561.—Hyginus, fable 166.——The second of that name was the seventh king of Athens, and the son and successor of Erechtheus. He married Metiadusa the sister of Dædalus, by whom he had Pandion. He reigned 40 years, and died 1307 B.C. Apollodorus, bk. 3, ch. 15.—Pausanias, bk. 1, ch. 5.
Cecyphalæ, a place of Greece, where the Athenians defeated the fleet of the Peloponnesians. Thucydides, bk. 1, ch. 105.
Cedreātis, the name of Diana among the Orchomenians, because her images were hung on lofty cedars.
Cedon, an Athenian general, killed in an engagement against the Spartans. Diodorus, bk. 15.