Stra´bo. A celebrated geographer, born at Amasia, on the borders of Cappadocia. He flourished in the age of Augustus. His work on geography consists of seventeen books, and is admired for its purity of diction.
Styx. A celebrated river of the infernal regions. The gods held it in such veneration that they always swore by it, the oath being inviolable.
Sueto´nius, C. Tranquil´lus. A Latin historian who became secretary to Adrian. His best known work is his Lives of the Cæsars.
Sul´la. See Sylla.
Syb´aris. A town on the bay of Tarentum. Its inhabitants were distinguished by their love of ease and pleasure, hence the term “Sybarite.”
Syl´la (or Sulla), L. Corne´lius. A celebrated Roman, of a noble family, who rendered himself conspicuous in military affairs; and became antagonistic to Marius. In the zenith of his power he was guilty of the greatest cruelty. His character is that of an ambitious, tyrannical, and resolute commander. He died about seventy years before Christ, aged sixty.
Sy´phax. A king of the Masæsyllii in Numidia, who married Sophonisba, the daughter of Hasdrubal. He joined the Carthaginians against the Romans, and was taken by Scipio as a prisoner to Rome, where he died in prison.
Tac´itus, C. Corne´lius. A celebrated Latin historian, born in the reign of Nero. Of all his works the “Annals” is the most extensive and complete. His style is marked by force, precision, and dignity, and his Latin is remarkable for being pure and classical.
Tac´itus, M. Clau´dius. A Roman, elected emperor by the Senate when he was seventy years of age. He displayed military vigor, and as a ruler was a pattern of economy and moderation. He died in the 276th year of the Christian era.
Tan´talus. A king of Lydia, father of Niobe and Pelops. He is represented by the poets as being, in the infernal regions, placed in a pool of water which flowed from him whenever he attempted to drink, thus causing him to suffer perpetual thirst; hence the origin of the term “tantalizing.”