Lemannus, a lake in the country of the Allobroges, through which the Rhone flows by Geneva. It is now called the lake of Geneva or Lausanne. Lucan, bk. 1, li. 396.—Mela, bk. 2, ch. 5.
Lemnos, an island in the Ægean sea between Tenedos, Imbros, and Samothrace. It was sacred to Vulcan, called Lemnius pater, who fell there when kicked down from heaven by Jupiter. See: [Vulcanus]. It was celebrated for two horrible massacres; that of the Lemnian women murdering their husbands [See: [♦][Hypsipyle]], and that of the Lemnians, or Pelasgi, in killing all the children they had had by some Athenian women, whom they had carried away to become their wives. These two acts of cruelty have given rise to the proverb of Lemnian actions, which is applied to all barbarous and inhuman deeds. The first inhabitants of Lemnos were the Pelasgi, or rather the Thracians, who were murdered by their wives. After them came the children of the Lemnian widows by the Argonauts, whose descendants were at last expelled by the Pelasgi, about 1100 years before the christian era. Lemnos is about 112 miles in circumference, according to Pliny, who says that it is often shadowed by mount Athos, though at the distance of 87 miles. It has been called [♦]Hypsipyle, from queen [♦]Hypsipyle. It is famous for a certain kind of earth or chalk, called terra Lemnia or terra sigillata, from the seal or impression which it can bear. As the inhabitants were blacksmiths, the poets have taken occasion to fix the forges of Vulcan in that island, and to consecrate the whole country to his divinity. Lemnos is also celebrated for a labyrinth, which, according to some traditions, surpassed those of Crete and Egypt. Some remains of it were still visible in the age of Pliny. The island of Lemnos, now called Stalimene, was reduced under the power of Athens by Miltiades, and the Carians, who then inhabited it, were obliged to emigrate. Virgil, Æneid, bk. 8, li. 454.—Homer, Iliad, bk. 1, li. 593.—Cornelius Nepos, Miltiades.—Strabo, bks. 1, 2, & 7.—Herodotus, bk. 6, ch. 140.—Mela, bk. 2, ch. 7.—Apollonius, bk. 1, Argonautica.—Flaccus, bk. 2, li. 78.—Ovid, Ars Amatoria, bk. 3, li. 672.—Statius, bk. 3, Thebiad, li. 274.
[♦] ‘Hipsipyle’ replaced with ‘Hypsipyle’ for consistency
Lemovices, a people of Gaul, now Limousin and Limoges. Cæsar, Gallic War, bk. 7; ch. 4.
Lemovii, a nation of Germany. Tacitus, Germania.
Lĕmŭres, the manes of the dead. The ancients supposed that the souls after death wandered all over the world, and disturbed the peace of its inhabitants. The good spirits were called Lares familiares, and the evil ones were known by the name of Larvæ, or Lemures. They terrified the good, and continually haunted the wicked and impious; and the Romans had the superstition to celebrate festivals in their honour, called Lemuria, or [♦]Lemuralia, in the month of May. They were first instituted by Romulus to appease the manes of his brother Remus, from whom they were called Remuria, and, by corruption, Lemuria. These solemnities continued three nights, during which the temples of the gods were shut and marriages prohibited. It was usual for the people to throw black beans on the graves of the deceased, or to burn them, as the smell was supposed to be insupportable to them. They also muttered magical words, and, by beating kettles and drums, they believed that the ghosts would depart and no longer come to terrify their relations upon earth. Ovid, Fasti, bk. 5, li. 421, &c.—Horace, bk. 2, ltr. 2, li. 209.—Persius, bk. 5, li. 185.
[♦] ‘Lemurialia’ replaced with ‘Lemuralia’
Lĕmūria and Lĕmŭrālia. See: [Lemures].
Lenæus, a surname of Bacchus, from ληνος, a wine-press. There was a festival called Lenæa, celebrated in his honour, in which the ceremonies observed at the other festivals of the god chiefly prevailed. There were, besides, poetical contentions, &c. Pausanias.—Virgil, Georgics, bk. 2, li. 4; Æneid, bk. 4, li. 207.—Ovid, Metamorphoses, bk. 4, li. 14.——A learned grammarian, ordered by Pompey to translate into Latin some of the physical manuscripts of Mithridates king of Pontus.
Lentŭlus, a celebrated family at Rome, which produced many great men in the commonwealth. The most illustrious were Lucius Cornelius Lentulus, a consul, A.U.C. 427, who dispersed some robbers who infested Umbria.——Batiatus Lentulus, a man who trained up some gladiators at Capua, which escaped from his school.——Cornelius Lentulus, surnamed Sura. He joined in Catiline’s conspiracy, and assisted in corrupting the Allobroges. He was convicted in full senate by Cicero, and put in prison and afterwards executed.——A consul who triumphed over the Samnites.——Cnæus Lentulus, surnamed Gætulicus, was made consul A.D. 26, and was some time after put to death by Tiberius, who was jealous of his great popularity. He wrote a history mentioned by Suetonius, and attempted also poetry.——Lucius Lentulus, a friend of Pompey, put to death in Africa.——Publius Cornelius Lentulus, a pretor, defeated by the rebellious slaves in Sicily.——Lentulus Spinther, a senator, kindly used by Julius Cæsar, &c.——A tribune at the battle of Cannæ.——Publius Lentulus, a friend of Brutus, mentioned by Cicero (On Oratory, bk. 1, ch. 48) as a great and consummate statesman.——Besides these, there are a few others, whose name is only mentioned in history, and whose life was not marked by any uncommon event. The consulship was in the family of the Lentuli in the years of Rome 427, 479, 517, 518, 553, 555, 598, &c. Tacitus, Annals.—Livy.—Florus.—Pliny.—Plutarch.—Eutropius.