Æchmis, succeeded his father Polymnestor on the throne of Arcadia, in the reign of Theopompus of Sparta. Pausanias, bk. 8, ch. 5.
Ædepsum, a town of Eubœa. Pliny, bk. 4, ch. 12.—Strabo, bk. 10.
Ædessa, or Edessa, a town near Pella. Caranus king of Macedonia took it by following goats that sought shelter from the rain, and called it from that circumstance (αἰγας, capras) Ægeas. It was the burying place of the Macedonian kings; and an oracle had said, that as long as the kings were buried there, so long would their kingdom subsist. Alexander was buried in a different place; and on that account some authors have said that the kingdom became extinct. Justin, bk. 7, ch. 1.
Ædicŭla Ridiculi, a temple raised to the god of mirth, from the following circumstance: after the battle of Cannæ, Hannibal marched to Rome, whence he was driven back by the inclemency of the weather; which caused so much joy in Rome, that the Romans raised a temple to the god of mirth. This deity was worshipped at Sparta. Plutarch, Lycurgus, Agis, & Cleomenes. Pausanias also mentions a θεος γελωτος.
Ædīles, Roman magistrates, that had the care of all buildings, baths, and aqueducts, and examined the weights and measures, that nothing might be sold without its due value. There were three different sorts: the Ædiles Plebeii, or Minores; the Majores Ædiles, and the Ædiles Cereales. The plebeian ediles were two, first created with the tribunes; they presided over the more minute affairs of the state, good order, and the reparation of the streets. They procured all the provisions of the city, and executed the decrees of the people. The Majores and Cereales had greater privileges, though they at first shared in the labour of the plebeian ediles; they appeared with more pomp, and were allowed to sit publicly in ivory chairs. The office of an edile was honourable, and was always the primary step to greater dignities in the republic. The ediles were chosen from the plebeians for 127 years, till A.U.C. 338. Varro, De Lingua Latina, bk. 4, ch. 14.—Cicero, De Legibus, bk. 3.
Ædipsus, a town in Eubœa, now Dipso, abounding in hot baths.
Valerius Ædituus, a Roman poet before the age of Cicero, successful in amorous poetry and epigrams.
Ædon, daughter of Pandarus, married Zethus brother to Amphion, by whom she had a son called Itylus. She was so jealous of her sister Niobe, because she had more children than herself, that she resolved to murder the elder, who was educated with Itylus. She by mistake killed her own son, and was changed into a goldfinch as she attempted to kill herself. Homer, Odyssey, bk. 19, li. 518.
Ædui, or Hedui, a powerful nation of Celtic Gaul, known for their valour in the wars of Cæsar. When their country was invaded by this celebrated general, they were at the head of a faction in opposition to the Sequani and their partisans, and they had established their superiority in frequent battles. To support their cause, however, the Sequani obtained the assistance of Ariovistus king of Germany, and soon defeated their opponents. The arrival of Cæsar changed the face of affairs; the Ædui were restored to the sovereignty of the country, and the artful Roman, by employing one faction against the other, was enabled to conquer them all, though the insurrection of Ambiorix, and that more powerfully supported by Vercingetorix, shook for a while the dominion of Rome in Gaul, and checked the career of the conqueror. Cæsar, Gallic War.
Æēta, or Æētes, king of Colchis, son of Sol and Perseis daughter of Oceanus, was father of Medea, Absyrtus, and Chalciope, by Idya, one of the Oceanides. He killed Phryxus son of Athamas, who had fled to his court on a golden ram. This murder he committed to obtain the fleece of the golden ram. The Argonauts came against Colchis, and recovered the golden fleece by means of Medea, though it was guarded by bulls that breathed fire, and by a venomous dragon. Their expedition has been celebrated by all the ancient poets. See: [Jason], [Medea], and [Phryxus]. Apollodorus, bk. 1, ch. 9.—Ovid, Metamorphoses, bk. 7, fable 1, &c.—Pausanias, bk. 2, ch. 3.—Justin, bk. 42, ch. 2.—Flaccus & Orpheus, Argonautica.