Isŏcrătes, a celebrated orator, son of Theodorus, a rich musical instrument maker at Athens. He was taught in the schools of Georgias and Prodicus, but his oratorical abilities were never displayed in public, and Isocrates was prevented by an unconquerable timidity from speaking in the popular assemblies. He opened a school of eloquence at Athens, where he distinguished himself by the number, character, and fame of his pupils, and by the immense riches which he amassed. He was intimate with Philip of Macedon, and regularly corresponded with him; and to his familiarity with that monarch the Athenians were indebted for some of the few peaceful years which they passed. The aspiring ambition of Philip, however, displeased Isocrates, and the defeat of the Athenians at Cheronæa had such an effect upon his spirits, that he did not survive the disgrace of his country, but died, after he had been four days without taking any aliment, in the 99th year of his age, about 338 years before Christ. Isocrates has always been much admired for the sweetness and graceful simplicity of his style, for the harmony of his expressions, and the dignity of his language. The remains of his orations extant inspire the world with the highest veneration for his abilities as a moralist, an orator, and, above all, as a man. His merit, however, is lessened by those who accuse him of plagiarism from the works of Thucydides, Lysias, and others, seen particularly in his panegyric. He was so studious of correctness, that his lines are sometimes poetry. The severe conduct of the Athenians against Socrates highly displeased him, and, in spite of all the undeserved unpopularity of that great philosopher, he put on mourning the day of his death. About 31 of his orations are extant. Isocrates was honoured after death with a brazen serpent by Timotheus, one of his pupils, and Aphareus his adopted son. The best editions of Isocrates are that of Battie, 2 vols., 8vo, Cambridge, 1729, and that of Auger, 3 vols., 8vo, Paris, 1782. Plutarch, Lives of the Ten Orators, &c.—Cicero, Orator, ch. 20 ; De Inventione, bk. 2, ch. 126; Brutus, ch. 15; On Oratory, bk. 2, ch. 6.—Quintilian, bk. 2, &c.—Paterculus, bk. 1, ch. 16.——One of the officers of the Peloponnesian fleet, &c. Thucydides.——One of the disciples of Isocrates.——A rhetorician of Syria, enemy to the Romans, &c.
Issa, now Lissa, an island in the Adriatic sea, on the coast of Dalmatia.——A town of Illyricum. Mela, bk. 2, ch. 7.—Strabo, bk. 1, &c.—Marcellinus, bk. 26, ch. 25.
Isse, a daughter of Macareus the son of Lycaon. She was beloved by Apollo, who, to obtain her confidence, changed himself into the form of a shepherd, to whom she was attached. This metamorphosis of Apollo was represented on the web of Arachne. Ovid, Metamorphoses, bk. 6, li. 124.
Issus, now Aisse, a town of Cilicia, on the confines of Syria, famous for a battle fought there between Alexander the Great and the Persians under Darius their king, in October, B.C. 333, in consequence of which it was called Nicopolis. In this battle the Persians lost, in the field of battle, 100,000 foot and 10,000 horse, and the Macedonians only 300 foot and 150 horse, according to Diodorus Siculus. The Persian army, according to Justin, consisted of 400,000 foot and 100,000 horse, and 61,000 of the former and 10,000 of the latter were left dead on the spot, and 40,000 were taken prisoners. The loss of the Macedonians, as he further adds, was no more than 130 foot and 150 horse. According to Curtius, the Persians slain amounted to 100,000 foot and 10,000 horse; and those of Alexander to 32 foot and 150 horse killed, and 504 wounded. This spot is likewise famous for the defeat of Niger by Severus, A.D. 194. Plutarch, Alexander.—Justin, bk. 11, ch. 9.—Curtius, bk. 3, ch. 7.—Arrian.—Diodorus, bk. 17.—Cicero, bk. 5, Letters to Atticus, ltr. 20; Letters to his Friends, bk. 2, ltr. 10.
Ister and Istrus, an historian, disciple to Callimachus. Diogenes Laërtius.——A large river of Europe, falling into the Euxine sea, called also the Danube. See: [Danubius].——A son of Ægyptus. Apollodorus.
Isthmia, sacred games among the Greeks, which received their names from the Isthmus of Corinth, where they were observed. They were celebrated in commemoration of Melicerta, who was changed into a sea deity, when his mother Ino had thrown herself into the sea with him in her arms. The body of Melicerta, according to some traditions, when cast upon the sea-shore, received an honourable burial, in memory of which the Isthmian games were instituted, B.C. 1326. They were interrupted after they had been celebrated with great regularity during some years, and Theseus at last reinstituted them in honour of Neptune, whom he publicly called his father. These games were observed every third, or rather fifth, year, and held so sacred and inviolable that even a public calamity could not prevent the celebration. When Corinth was destroyed by Mummius the Roman general, they were observed with the usual solemnity, and the Sicyonians were entrusted with the superintendence, which had been before one of the privileges of the ruined Corinthians. Combats of every kind were exhibited, and the victors were rewarded with garlands of pine leaves. Some time after the custom was changed, and the victor received a crown of dry and withered parsley. The years were reckoned by the celebration of the Isthmian games, as among the Romans from the consular government. Pausanias, bk. 1, ch. 44; bk. 2, chs. 1 & 2.—Pliny, bk. 4, ch. 5.—Plutarch, Theseus.
Isthmius, a king of Messenia, &c. Pausanias, bk. 4, ch. 3.
Isthmus, a small neck of land which joins one country to another, and prevents the sea from making them separate, such as that of Corinth, called often the Isthmus by way of eminence, which joins Peloponnesus to Greece. Nero attempted to cut it across and make a communication between the two seas, but in vain. It is now called Hexamili. Strabo, bk. 1.—Mela, bk. 2, ch. 2.—Pliny, bk. 4, ch. 4.—Lucan, bk. 1, li. 101.
Istiæotis, a country of Greece, near Ossa. See: [Histiæotis].
Istria, a province at the west of Illyricum, at the top of the Adriatic sea, whose inhabitants were originally pirates, and lived on plunder. They were not subjected to Rome till six centuries after the foundation of that city. Strabo, bk. 1.—Mela, bk. 2, ch. 3.—Livy, bk. 10, &c.—Pliny, bk. 3, ch. 19.—Justin, bk. 9, ch. 2.