Atella´næ Fab´ulæ (called also Oscan plays), a kind of light interlude, in ancient Rome, performed not by the regular actors, but by freeborn young Romans; it originated from the ancient Atella, a city of the Oscans. They were the origin of the Italian commedie dell'arte. Cf. Munk, De Fabulis Atellanis.
Atesh´ga (the place of fire), a sacred place of the Guebres or Persian fire-worshippers, on the Peninsula of Apsheron, on the W. coast of the Caspian, visited by large numbers of pilgrims, who bow before the sacred flames which issue from the bituminous soil.
Ath (ät), a fortified town of Belgium, in the province of Hainaut, on the Dender; it carries on weaving, dyeing, and printing cottons. It was the scene of fighting in Nov., 1918. Pop. 11,108.
Athabas´ca, a river and lake of Canada. The river rises on the eastern slopes of the Rocky Mountains not far from Mount Hooker, in the province of Alberta, flows N.E. and N., and falls into Lake Athabasca after a course of about 600 miles.—Lake Athabasca, or Lake of the Hills, is about 190 miles S.S.E. of the Great Slave Lake, to which its waters are carried by means of the Slave River. It is about 200 miles in length from east to west, and 35 miles wide where widest, but narrows to a point at either extremity.—The former district of Athabasca, in 1905 divided between the two new provinces of Alberta and Saskatchewan, had British Columbia on the west, Keewatin on the east, Alberta and Saskatchewan districts on the south, the parallel of 60° on the north, being crossed by the Athabasca and the Peace Rivers. Lake Athabasca is partly in Alberta, partly in Saskatchewan.
Athali´ah, daughter of Ahab, King of Israel, and wife of Joram, King of Judah. After the death of her son Ahaziah, she opened her way to the throne by the murder of forty-two princes of the royal blood. She reigned six years; in the seventh the high-priest Jehoiada placed Joash, the young son of Ahaziah, who had been secretly preserved, on the throne of his father, and Athaliah was slain. Cf. 2 Kings, xi. The story of Athaliah supplied Racine with the plot of one of his most famous tragedies.
Athana´sian Creed, a creed or exposition of Christian faith, supposed formerly to have been drawn up by St. Athanasius, though this opinion is now generally rejected, and the composition often ascribed to Hilary, Bishop of Arles (about 430). It is an explicit avowal of the doctrines of the Trinity (as opposed to Arianism, of which Athanasius was a great opponent) and of the incarnation, and contains what are known as the 'damnatory clauses', in which it declares that damnation must be the lot of those who do not believe the true and catholic faith. It is contained in the Book of Common Prayer, to be read on certain occasions.—BIBLIOGRAPHY: F. J. A. Hort, Two Dissertations; G. D. W. Ommanney, Critical Dissertation on the Athanasian Creed; J. A. Robinson, The Athanasian Creed; E. C. S. Gibson, The Three Creeds; R. O. P. Taylor, Athanasian Creed in the Twentieth Century.
Athana´sius, St., Archbishop of Alexandria, a renowned father of the Church, born in that city about A.D. 296, died 373. While yet a young man he attended the Council at Nice (325), where he gained the highest esteem of the fathers by the talents which he displayed in the Arian controversy. He had a great share in the decrees passed here, and thereby drew on himself the hatred of the Arians. Shortly afterwards he was appointed Archbishop of Alexandria. The complaints and accusations of his enemies at length induced the Emperor Constantine to summon him in 334 before the Councils of Tyre and Jerusalem, when he was suspended, and
afterwards banished to Trèves. The death of Constantine put an end to this banishment, and Constantius recalled the holy patriarch. His return to Alexandria resembled a triumph. Deposed again in 340, he was reinstated in 342. Again in 355 he was sentenced to be banished, when he retired into those parts of the desert which were entirely uninhabited. He was followed by a faithful servant, who, at the risk of his life, supplied him with the means of subsistence. Here Athanasius composed many writings, full of eloquence, to strengthen the faith of the believers, or expose the falsehood of his enemies. When Julian the Apostate ascended the throne, toleration was proclaimed to all religions, and Athanasius returned to his former position at Alexandria. His next controversy was with the heathen subjects of Julian, who excited the emperor against him, and he was obliged to flee in order to save his life. The death of the emperor and the accession of Jovian (363) again brought him back; but Valens becoming emperor, and the Arians recovering the superiority, he was once more compelled to flee. He concealed himself in the tomb of his father, where he remained four months, until Valens allowed him to return. From this period he remained undisturbed in his office till he died. Of the forty-six years of his official life he spent twenty in banishment, and the greater part of the remainder in defending the Nicene Creed. Athanasius was not so much a speculative theologian as a great Christian pastor (cf. L. Duchesne, Histoire ancienne. de l'Église, 1907). His writings, which are in Greek, are on polemical, historical, and moral subjects. The polemical treat chiefly of the doctrines of the Trinity, the incarnation of Christ, and the divinity of the Holy Spirit. The historical ones are of the greatest importance for the history of the Church. See Athanasian Creed.
A´theism (Gr. a, priv., and Theos, God), the disbelief of the existence of a God or supreme intelligent being; the doctrine opposed to theism or deism. The term has been often loosely used as equivalent with infidelity generally, with deism, with pantheism, and with the denial of immortality. The most famous exponents of atheism were La Mettrie, Holbach, Feuerbach, and Carl Vogt; whilst Comte and Haeckel have put forward systems of thought essentially atheistic.—BIBLIOGRAPHY: R. Flint, Anti-theistic Theories; J. S. Blackie, Natural History of Atheism; F. A. Lange, History of Materialism.
Ath´eling, a title of honour among the Anglo-Saxons, meaning one who is of noble blood. The title was gradually confined to the princes of the blood royal, and in the ninth and tenth centuries was used exclusively for the sons or brothers of the reigning king.