A´treus. A son of Pelops and Hippodamia, was king of Mycenæ. His brother Chrysippus was illegitimate, and Hippodamia wished to get rid of him, and urged Atreus and another of her sons, Thyestes, to murder him, which, on their refusal, she did herself. Atreus retired to the court of Eurystheus, king of Argos, and succeeded to his throne.
At´ticus, T. Pomponius. A celebrated Roman knight, to whom Cicero wrote a number of letters, containing the general history of the age. He retired to Athens, where he endeared himself to the citizens, who erected statues to him in commemoration of his virtues. He died at the age of seventy-seven, B.C. 32.
At´tila. A celebrated king of the Huns, who invaded the Roman empire in the reign of Valentinian, with an army of half a million of men. He laid waste the provinces, and marched on Rome, but retreated on being paid a large sum of money. He called himself the “Scourge of God,” and died A.D. 453, of an effusion of blood, on the night of his marriage.
Angus´tus, Octavia´nus Cæ´sar, emperor of Rome, was son of Octavius, a senator, and Accia, sister to Julius Cæsar. He was associated in the triumvirate with Antony and Lepidus, and defeated the armies of Brutus and Cassius at Philippi. Octavia, the sister of Augustus, married Antony after the death of his wife Fulvia. Octavia, however, was slighted for the charms of Cleopatra, which incensed Augustus, who took up arms to avenge the wrongs of his sister, and at the great battle of Actium (B.C. 31), the forces of Antony and Cleopatra suffered a disastrous defeat.
Aurelia´nus, emperor of Rome, was austere and cruel in the execution of the laws, and in his treatment of his soldiers. He was famous for his military character, and his expedition against Zenobia, queen of Palmyra, gained him great honors. It is said that in his various battles he killed 800 men with his own hand. He was assassinated near Byzantium, A.D. 275.
Aure´lius, M. Antoni´nus, surnamed “the philosopher,” possessed all the virtues which should adorn the character of a prince. He raised to the imperial dignity his brother L. Verus, whose dissipation and voluptuousness were as conspicuous as the moderation of the philosopher. During their reign the Quadi, Parthians, and Marcomanni were defeated. Verus died of apoplexy, and Antoninus survived him eight years, dying in his sixty-first year, after a reign of nineteen years and ten days.
Auro´ra. A goddess, daughter of Hyperion and Thia or Thea. She is generally represented by the poets as sitting in a chariot and opening with her fingers the gates of the east, pouring dew on the earth, and making the flowers grow. The Greeks call her Eos.
Bac´chus was son of Jupiter and Semele, the daughter of Cadmus. He was the god of wine, and is generally represented crowned with vine leaves. He is said to have married Ariadne after she had been forsaken by Theseus.
Belisa´rius. A celebrated general who, in the reign of Justinian, emperor of Constantinople, renewed the victories which had rendered the first Romans so distinguished. He died, after a life of glory, suffering from royal ingratitude, 565 years before the Christian era.
Beller´ophon, son of Glaucus, king of Ephyre, and Eurymede; was at first called Hipponous. He was sent by Iobates, king of Lycia, to conquer the monster Chimæra. Minerva assisted him in the expedition, and by the aid of the winged horse Pegasus he conquered the monster and returned victorious. After sending him on other dangerous adventures, Iobates gave him his daughter in marriage, and made him successor to his throne.