Prusias, a king of Bithynia, who flourished 221 B.C.——Another, surnamed Venator, who made an alliance with the Romans when they waged war with Antiochus king of Syria. He gave a kind reception to Annibal, and by his advice he made war against Eumenes king of Pergamus, and defeated him. Eumenes, who was an ally of Rome as well as Prusias, complained before the Romans of the hostilities of the king of Bithynia. Quinctius Flaminius was sent from Rome to settle the disputes of the two monarchs, and he was no sooner arrived in Bithynia, than Prusias, to gain his favour, prepared to deliver to him, at his request, the celebrated Carthaginian, to whom he was indebted for all the advantages which he had obtained over Eumenes; but Annibal prevented it by a voluntary death. Prusias was obliged by the Roman ambassador to make a restitution of the provinces he had conquered, and by his meanness he continued to enjoy the favours of the Romans. When some time after he visited the capital of Italy, he appeared in the habit of a manumitted slave, calling himself the freedman of the Romans; and when he was introduced into the senate-house, he saluted the senators by the name of visible deities, of saviours and deliverers. Such abject behaviour rendered him contemptible not only in the eyes of the Romans, but of his subjects, and when he returned home the Bithynians revolted, and placed his son Nicomedes on the throne. The banished monarch fled to Nicomedia, where he was assassinated near the altar of Jupiter, about 149 years before Christ. Some say that his son became his murderer. Prusias, according to Polybius, was the meanest of monarchs, without honesty, without morals, virtue, or principle; he was cruel and cowardly, intemperate and voluptuous, and an enemy to all learning. He was naturally deformed, and he often appeared in public in the habit of a woman, to render his deformities more visible. Polybius.—Livy.—Justin, bk. 31, &c.—Cornelius Nepos, Hannibal.—Plutarch, Titus Flamininus, &c.
Prymno, one of the Oceanides.
Prytănes, certain magistrates at Athens who presided over the senate, and had the privilege of assembling it when they pleased, festivals excepted. They generally met in a large hall, called prytaneum, where they gave audiences, offered sacrifices, and feasted together with all those who had rendered signal service to their country. The Prytanes were elected from the senators which were in number 500, 50 of which were chosen from each tribe. When they were elected, the names of the 10 tribes of Athens were thrown into one vessel, and in another were placed nine black beans and a white one. The tribe whose name was drawn with the white bean, presided the first, and the rest in the order in which they were drawn. They presided each for 35 days, as the year was divided into 10 parts; but it is unknown what tribe presided the rest of those days which were supernumerary. When the number of tribes was increased to 12, each of the Prytanes presided one full month.——Some of the principal magistrates of Corinth were also called Prytanes.
Prytănis, a king of Sparta, of the family of the Proclidæ. Pausanias, bk. 2, ch. 36.——One of the friends of Æneas killed by Turnus. Virgil, Æneid, bk. 9, li. 767.
Psamăthe, one of the Nereides, mother of Phocus by Æacus king of Ægina. Apollodorus, bk. 3, ch. 12.—Ovid, Metamorphoses, bk. 11, li. 398.—Flaccus, [♦]bk. 1, li. 364.——A daughter of Crotopus king of Argos. She became mother of Linus by Apollo, and to conceal her shame from her father, she exposed her child, which was found by dogs and torn to pieces. Pausanias, bk. 1, ch. 43.——A fountain and town of Thebes. Flaccus, bk. 1, li. 364.
[♦] Book reference omitted in text.
Psamathos, a town and port of Laconia. Pausanias, bk. 5, ch. 25.
Psammenītus, succeeded his father Amasis on the throne of Egypt. Cambyses made war against him, and as he knew that the Egyptians paid the greatest veneration to cats, the Persian monarch placed some of these animals at the head of his army, and the enemy, unable to defend themselves, and unwilling to kill those objects of adoration, were easily conquered. Psammenitus was twice beaten at Pelusium and in Memphis, and became one of the prisoners of Cambyses, who treated him with great humanity. Psammenitus, however, raised seditions against the Persian monarch; and attempted to make the Egyptians rebel, for which he was put to death by drinking bull’s blood. He had reigned about six months. He flourished about 525 years before the christian era. Herodotus, bk. 3, ch. 10, &c.
Psammetĭchus, a king of Egypt. He was one of the 12 princes who shared the kingdom among themselves; but as he was more popular than the rest, he was banished from his dominions, and retired into the marshes near the sea-shore. A descent of some of the Greeks upon Egypt proved favourable to his cause: he joined the enemy, and defeated the 11 princes who had expelled him from the country. He rewarded the Greeks, by whose valour he had recovered Egypt, he allotted them some territory on the sea-coast, patronized the liberal arts, and encouraged commerce among his subjects. He made useless inquiries to find the sources of the Nile, and he stopped, by bribes and money, a large army of Scythians that were marching against him. He died 617 years before the christian era, and was buried in Minerva’s temple at Sais. During his reign there was a contention among some of the neighbouring nations about the antiquity of their language. Psammetichus took a part in the contest. He confined two young children and fed them with milk; the shepherd to whose care they were entrusted was ordered never to speak to them, but to watch diligently their articulations. After some time the shepherd observed, that whenever he entered the place of their confinement they repeatedly exclaimed Beccos, and he gave information of this to the monarch. Psammetichus made inquiries, and found that the word Beccos signified bread in the Phœnician language, and from that circumstance, therefore, it was universally concluded that the language of Phœnicia was of the greatest antiquity. Herodotus, bk. 2, ch. 28, &c.—Polyænus, bk. 8.—Strabo, bk. 16.——A son of Gordius, brother to Periander, who held the tyranny at Corinth for three years, B.C. 584. Aristotle, Politics, bk. 5, ch. 12.
Psammis, or Psammuthis, a king of Egypt, B.C. 376.