Chapter XV: Preface: To the Original Edition (14)

=Atlas=, one of the Titans, son of Japetus and Clymene, one of the
Oceanides. He was brother to Epimetheus, Prometheus, and Menœtius.
His mother’s name, according to Apollodorus, was Asia. He married
Pleione daughter of Oceanus, or Hesperis, according to others, by
whom he had seven daughters, called Atlantides. _See:_ Atlantides.
He was king of Mauritania, and master of 1000 flocks of every kind,
as also of beautiful gardens, abounding in every species of fruit,
which he had entrusted to the care of a dragon. Perseus, after the
conquest of the Gorgons, passed by the palace of Atlas, and demanded
hospitality. The king, who was informed by an oracle of Themis
that he should be dethroned by one of the descendants of Jupiter,
refused to receive him, and even offered him violence. Perseus, who
was unequal in strength, showed him Medusa’s head, and Atlas was
instantly changed into a large mountain. This mountain, which runs
across the deserts of Africa east and west, is so high that the
ancients have imagined that the heavens rested on its top, and
that Atlas supported the world on his shoulders. Hyginus says that
Atlas assisted the giants in their wars against the gods, for which
Jupiter compelled him to bear the heavens on his shoulders. The
fable that Atlas supported the heavens on his back, arises from his
fondness for astronomy, and his often frequenting elevated places
and mountains, whence he might observe the heavenly bodies. The
daughters of Atlas were carried away by Busiris king of Egypt, but
redeemed by Hercules, who received, as a reward from the father,
the knowledge of astronomy, and a celestial globe. This knowledge
Hercules communicated to the Greeks; whence the fable has further
said, that he eased for some time the labours of Atlas by taking
upon his shoulders the weight of the heavens. According to some
authors there were two other persons of that name, a king of Italy,
father of Electra, and a king of Arcadia, father of Maia the mother
of Mercury. _Virgil_,, _Æneid_, bk. 4, li. 481; bk. 8, li. 186.
――_Ovid_, _Metamorphoses_, bk. 4, fable 17.――_Diodorus_, bk. 3.
――_Lucan_, bk. 9, li. 667, &c.――_Valerius Flaccus_, bk. 5.
――_Hyginus_, fables 83, 125, 155, 157, 192.――_Aratus_, _Astronomia_.
――_Apollodorus_, bk. 1.――_Hesiod_, _Theogony_, li. 508, &c.――――A
river flowing from mount Hæmus into the Ister. _Herodotus_, bk. 4,
ch. 49.

=Atossa=, a daughter of Cyrus, who was one of the wives of Cambyses,
of Smerdis, and afterwards of Darius, by whom she had Xerxes. She
was cured of a dangerous cancer by Democedes. She is supposed by
some to be the Vashti of scripture. _Herodotus_, bk. 3, ch. 68, &c.

=Atrăces=, a people of Ætolia, who received their name from Atrax son
of Ætolus. Their country was called Atracia.

=Atramyttium=, a town of Mysia.

=Atrăpes=, an officer of Alexander, who, at the general division of
the provinces, received Media. _Diodorus_, bk. 18.

=Atrax=, son of Ætolus, or, according to others, of the river Peneus.
He was king of Thessaly, and built a town which he called Atrax
or Atracia. This town became so famous that the word _Atracias_
has been applied to any inhabitant of Thessaly. He was father of
Hippodamia, who married Pirithous, and whom we must not confound
with the wife of Pelops, who bore the same name. _Propertius_, bk. 1,
poem 8, li. 25.――_Statius_, bk. 1, _Thebiad_, li. 106.――_Ovid_,
_Metamorphoses_, bk. 12, li. 209.――――A city of Thessaly, whence the
epithet of Atracius.――――A river of Ætolia, which falls into the
Ionian sea.

=Atrebātæ=, a people of Britain, who were in possession of the modern
counties of Berks, Oxford, &c.

=Atrĕbātes=, now _Artois_, a people of Gaul, who, together with the
Nervii, opposed Julius Cæsar with 15,000 men. They were conquered,
and Comius, a friend of the general, was set over them as king. They
were reinstated in their former liberty and independence, on account
of the services of Comius. _Cæsar_, _Gallic War_, bk. 2, &c.

=Atrēni=, a people of Armenia.

=Atreus=, a son of Pelops by Hippodamia, daughter of Œnomaus king of
Pisa, was king of Mycenæ, and brother to Pittheus, Trœzon, Thyestes,
and Chrysippus. As Chrysippus was an illegitimate son, and at the
same time a favourite of his father, Hippodamia resolved to remove
him. She persuaded her sons Thyestes and Atreus to murder him; but
their refusal exasperated her more, and she executed it herself.
This murder was grievous to Pelops: he suspected his two sons,
who fled away from his presence. Atreus retired to the court
of Eurystheus king of Argos, his nephew, and upon his death he
succeeded him on the throne. He married, as some report, Ærope, his
predecessor’s daughter, by whom he had Plisthenes, Menelaus, and
Agamemnon. Others affirm that Ærope was the wife of Plisthenes,
by whom he had Agamemnon and Menelaus, who are the reputed sons
of Atreus, because that prince took care of their education, and
brought them up as his own. _See:_ Plisthenes. Thyestes had followed
his brother to Argos, where he lived with him, and debauched his
wife, by whom he had two, or, according to some, three children.
This incestuous commerce offended Atreus, and Thyestes was banished
from his court. He was, however, soon after recalled by his brother,
who determined cruelly to revenge the violence offered to his bed.
To effect this purpose, he invited his brother to a sumptuous feast,
where Thyestes was served up with the flesh of the children he had
had by his sister-in-law the queen. After the repast was finished,
the arms and the heads of the murdered children were produced, to
convince Thyestes of what he had feasted upon. This action appeared
so cruel and impious, that the sun is said to have shrunk back in
his course at the bloody sight. Thyestes immediately fled to the
court of Thesprotus, and thence to Sicyon, where he ravished his
own daughter Pelopea, in a grove sacred to Minerva, without knowing
who she was. This incest he committed intentionally, as some report,
to revenge himself on his brother Atreus, according to the words of
the oracle, which promised him satisfaction for the cruelties he had
suffered only from the hand of a son who should be born of himself
and his own daughter. Pelopea brought forth a son whom she called
Ægisthus, and soon after she married Atreus, who had lost his
wife. Atreus adopted Ægisthus, and sent him to murder Thyestes,
who had been seized at Delphi and imprisoned. Thyestes knew his
son, and made himself known to him; he made him espouse his cause,
and instead of becoming his father’s murderer, he rather avenged
his wrongs, and returned to Atreus, whom he assassinated. _See:_
Thyestes, Ægisthus, Pelopea, Agamemnon, and Menelaus. _Hyginus_,
fables 83, 86, 87, 88, & 258.――_Euripides_, _Orestes_; _Iphigeneia
in Taurus_.――_Plutarch_, _Parallela minora_.――_Pausanias_, bk. 9,
ch. 40.――_Apollodorus_, bk. 3, ch. 10.――_Seneca_ on _Atreus_.

=Atrīdæ=, a patronymic given by Homer to Agamemnon and Menelaus,
as being the sons of Atreus. This is false, upon the authority of
Hesiod, Lactantius [Placidus], Dictys of Crete, &c., who maintain
that these princes were not the sons of Atreus, but of Plisthenes,
and that they were brought up in the house and under the eye of
their grandfather. _See:_ Plisthenes.

=Atronius=, a friend of Turnus, killed by the Trojans. _Virgil_,
_Æneid_, bk. 10.

=Atropatia=, a part of Media. _Strabo._

=Atrŏpos=, one of the Parcæ, daughters of Nox and Erebus. According
to the derivation of her name (_a non_, τρεπω _muto_), she is
inexorable and inflexible, and her duty among the three sisters
is to cut the thread of life, without any regard to sex, age, or
quality. She was represented by the ancients in a black veil, with
a pair of scissors in her hand. _See:_ Parcæ.

=T. Q. Atta=, a writer of merit in the Augustan age, who seems to
have received this name from some deformity in his legs or feet.
His compositions, dramatical as well as satirical, were held in
universal admiration, though Horace thinks of them with indifference.
_Horace_, bk. 2, ltr. 1, li. 79.

=Attălia=, a city of Pamphylia, built by king Attalus. _Strabo._

=Attalĭcus.= _See:_ Attalus III.

=Attălus I.=, king of Pergamus, succeeded Eumenes I. He defeated the
Gauls who had invaded his dominions, extended his conquests to mount
Taurus, and obtained the assistance of the Romans against Antiochus.
The Athenians rewarded his merit with great honours. He died at
Pergamus after a reign of 44 years, B.C. 197. _Livy_, bks. 26, 27,
28, &c.――_Polybius_, bk. 5.――_Strabo_, bk. 13.――――The second of that
name was sent on an embassy to Rome by his brother Eumenes II., and
at his return was appointed guardian to his nephew Attalus III.,
who was then an infant. Prusias made successful war against him, and
seized his capital; but the conquest was stopped by the interference
of the Romans, who restored Attalus to his throne. Attalus, who has
received the name of _Philadelphus_, from his fraternal love, was
a munificent patron of learning, and the founder of several cities.
He was poisoned by his nephew in the 82nd year of his age, B.C. 138.
He had governed the nation with great prudence and moderation
for 20 years. _Strabo_, bk. 13.――_Polybius_, bk. 5.――――The third
succeeded to the kingdom of Pergamus, by the murder of Attalus II.,
and made himself odious by his cruelty to his relations and his
wanton exercise of power. He was son to Eumenes II., and surnamed
_Philopater_. He left the cares of government to cultivate his
garden, and to make experiments on the melting of metals. He lived
in great amity with the Romans; and as he died without issue by
his wife Berenice, he left in his will the words _Populus Romanus
meorum hæres esto_, which the Romans interpreted as themselves,
and therefore took possession of his kingdom, B.C. 133, and made
of it a Roman province, which they governed by a proconsul. From
this circumstance, whatever was a valuable acquisition, or an ample
fortune, was always called by the epithet _Attalicus_. Attalus,
as well as his predecessors, made themselves celebrated for the
valuable libraries which they collected at Pergamus, and for the
patronage which merit and virtue always found at their court.
_Livy_, bk. 24, &c.――_Pliny_, bks. 7, 8, 33, &c.――_Justin_, bk.
39.――_Horace_, bk. 1, ode 1.――――An officer in Alexander’s army.
_Curtius_, bk. 4, ch. 13.――――Another very inimical to Alexander.
He was put to death by Parmenio, and Alexander was accused of the
murder. _Curtius_, bk. 6, ch. 9; bk. 8, ch. 1.――――A philosopher,
preceptor to Seneca. _Seneca_ ltr. 108.――――An astronomer of Rhodes.

=Attarras=, an officer who seized those that had conspired with Dymnus
against Alexander. _Curtius_, bk. 6.

=Atteius Capĭto=, a consul in the age of Augustus, who wrote treatises
on sacerdotal laws, public courts of justice, and the duty of a
senator. _See:_ ♦Ateius.

♦ No reference to ‘Ateius’ found.

=Attes=, a son of Calaus of Phrygia, who was born impotent. He
introduced the worship of Cybele among the Lydians, and became a
great favourite of the goddess. Jupiter was jealous of his success,
and sent a wild boar to lay waste the country and destroy Attes.
_Pausanias_, bk. 7, ch. 17. =Atthis=, a daughter of Cranaus II. king
of Athens, who gave her name to Attica, according to _Apollodorus_,
bk. 3, ch. 14. =Attĭca=, a country of Achaia or Hellas, at the south
of Bœotia, west of the Ægean sea, north of the Saronicus Sinus,
and east of Megara. It received its name from Atthis, the daughter
of Cranaus. It was originally called Ionia, from the Ionians, who
settled there; and also Acte, which signifies _shore_, and Cecropia,
from Cecrops the first of its kings. The most famous of its cities
is called Athens, whose inhabitants sometimes bear the name of
_Attici_. Attica was famous for its gold and silver mines, which
constituted the best part of the public revenues. The face of the
country was partly level and partly mountainous, divided into the 13
tribes of Acamantis, Æantis, Antiochis, Attalis, Ægeis, Erechtheis,
Adrianis, Hippothoontis, Cecropis, Leontis, Æneis, Ptolemais, and
Pandionis; whose inhabitants were numbered in the 116th olympiad,
at 31,000 citizens, and 400,000 slaves, within 174 villages, some
of which were considerable towns. _See:_ Athenæ.

=Attĭcus=, one of Galba’s servants, who entered his palace with
a bloody sword, and declared he had killed Otho. _Tacitus_,
_Histories_, bk. 1.――――Titus Pomponius, a celebrated Roman knight,
to whom Cicero wrote a great number of letters, which contained
the general history of the age. They are now extant, and divided
into 17 books. In the time of Marius and Sylla, Atticus retired to
Athens, where he so endeared himself to the citizens, that after
his departure they erected statues to him in commemoration of his
munificence and liberality. He was such a perfect master of the
Greek writers, and spoke their language so fluently, that he was
surnamed _Atticus_; and, as a proof of his learning, he favoured
the world with some of his compositions. He behaved in such a
disinterested manner, that he offended neither of the inimical
parties at Rome, and both were equally anxious of courting his
approbation. He lived in the greatest intimacy with the illustrious
men of his age, and he was such a lover of truth, that he not
only abstained from falsehood even in a joke, but treated with
the greatest contempt and indignation a lying tongue. It is said
that he refused to take aliments when unable to get the better of a
fever; and died in the 77th year, B.C. 32, after bearing the amiable
character of peacemaker among his friends. _Cornelius Nepos_, one
of his intimate friends, has written a minute account of his life.
_Cicero_, _Letters to Atticus_, &c.――――Herodes, an Athenian in the
age of the Antonines, descended from Miltiades, and celebrated for
his munificence. His son of the same name was honoured with the
consulship, and he generously erected an aqueduct at Troas, of which
he had been made governor by the emperor Adrian, and raised, in
other parts of the empire, several public buildings as useful as
they were magnificent. _Philostratus_, _Lives of the Sophists_,
bk. 2, p. 548.――_Aulus Gellius_, _Noctes Atticæ_.――――A consul in the
age of Nero, &c. _Tacitus_, _Annals_, bk. 15.

=Attĭla=, a celebrated king of the Huns, a nation in the southern parts
of Scythia, who invaded the Roman empire in the reign of Valentinian,
with an army of 500,000 men, and laid waste the provinces. He took
the town of Aquileia, and marched against Rome; but his retreat and
peace were purchased with a large sum of money by the feeble emperor.
Attila, who boasted in the appellation of _the scourge of God_, died
A.D. 453, of an uncommon effusion of blood, the first night of his
nuptials. He had expressed his wish to extend his conquests over the
whole world; and he often feasted his barbarity by dragging captive
kings in his train. _Jornandes_, _Getica_.

=Attilius=, a Roman consul in the first Punic war. _See:_ Regulus.
――――Calatinus, a Roman consul who fought the Carthaginian fleet.
――――Marcus, a poet who translated the Electra of Sophocles into
Latin verse, and wrote comedies whose unintelligible language
procured him the appellation of _Ferreus_.――――Regulus, a Roman
censor who built a temple to the goddess of concord. _Livy_, bk. 23,
ch. 23, &c.――――The name of Attilius was common among the Romans,
and many of the public magistrates are called Attilii; their life,
however, is not famous for any illustrious event.

=Attinas=, an officer set over Bactriana by Alexander. _Curtius_,
bk. 8.

=Attius Pelignus=, an officer of Cæsar. _Cæsar_, _Civil War_, bk. 1.
――――Tullius, the general of the Volsci, to whom Coriolanus fled when
banished from Rome. _Livy._――――Varius seized Auxinum in Pompey’s
name, whence he was expelled. After this he fled to Africa, which
he alienated from Julius Cæsar. _Cæsar_, bk. 1, _Civil War_.――――A
poet. _See:_ Accius.――――The family of the Attii was descended from
Atys, one of the companions of Æneas, according to the opinion which
Virgil has adopted, _Æneid_, bk. 5, li. 568.

=Atūrus=, a river of Gaul, now the _Adour_, which runs at the foot
of the Pyrenean mountains into the bay of Biscay. _Lucan_, bk. 1,
li. 420.

=Atyădæ=, the descendants of Atys the Lydian.

=Atys=, an ancient king of Lydia, who sent away his son Tyrrhenus
with a colony of Lydians, who settled in Italy. _Herodotus_, bk. 1,
ch. 7.――――A son of Crœsus king of Lydia. He was forbidden the use of
all weapons by his father, who had dreamt that he had been killed.
Some time after this, Atys prevailed on his father to permit him to
go to hunt a wild boar which laid waste the country of Mysia, and
he was killed in the attempt by Adrastus, whom Crœsus had appointed
guardian over his son, and thus the apprehensions of the monarch
were realized. _Herodotus_, bk. 1, ch. 34, &c. _See:_ Adrastus.――――A
Trojan who came to Italy with Æneas, and is supposed to be the
progenitor of the family of the Atti at Rome. _Virgil_, _Æneid_,
bk. 5, li. 568.――――A youth to whom Ismene the daughter of Œdipus was
promised in marriage. He was killed by Tydeus before his nuptials.
_Statius_, _Thebiad_, bk. 8, li. 598.――――A son of Limniace the
daughter of the river Ganges, who assisted Cepheus in preventing
the marriage of Andromeda, and was killed by Perseus with a burning
log of wood. _Ovid_, _Metamorphoses_, bk. 5, li. 47.――――A celebrated
shepherd of Phrygia, of whom the mother of the gods, generally
called Cybele, became enamoured. She entrusted him with the care
of her temple, and made him promise that he always would live in
celibacy. He violated his vow by an amour with the nymph Sangaris,
for which the goddess made him so insane and delirious, that
he castrated himself with a sharp stone. This was afterwards
intentionally done by his sacerdotal successors in the service of
Cybele, to prevent their breaking their vows of perpetual chastity.
This account is the most general and most approved. Others say
that the goddess became fond of Atys, because he had introduced her
festivals in the greatest part of Asia Minor, and that she herself
mutilated him. _Pausanias_ relates, in _Achaia_, ch. 17, that Atys
was the son of the daughter of the Sangar, who became pregnant
by putting the bough of an almond tree in her bosom. Jupiter, as
the passage mentions, once had an amorous dream, and some of the
impurity of the god fell upon the earth, which soon after produced a
monster of a human form, with the characteristics of the two sexes.
This monster was called Agdistis, and was deprived by the gods of
those parts which distinguished the male sex. From the mutilated
parts which were thrown upon the ground, rose an almond tree, one
of whose branches a nymph of the Sangar gathered, and placed in her
bosom as mentioned above. Atys, as soon as born, was exposed in a
wood, but preserved by a she-goat. The genius Agdistis saw him in
the wood, and was captivated with his beauty. As Atys was going to
celebrate his nuptials with the daughter of the king of Pessinus,
Agdistis, who was jealous of his rival, inspired by his enchantments
the king and his future son-in-law with such an uncommon fury,
that they both attacked and ♦mutilated one another in the struggle.
_Ovid_ says, _Metamorphoses_, bk. 10, fable 2, &c., that Cybele
changed Atys into a pine tree as he was going to lay violent hands
upon himself, and ever after that tree was sacred to the mother
of the gods. After his death, Atys received divine honours, and
temples were raised to his memory, particularly at Dymæ. _Catullus_,
_the Adventures of Atys [Attis] and Berecynthia [Cybele]_.――_Ovid_,
_Metamorphoses_, bk. 10, fable 3; _Fasti_, bk. 4, li. 223, &c.
――_Lucian_, _Deâ Syriâ_.――――Sylvius, son of Albius Sylvius, was king
of Alba. _Livy_, bk. 1, ch. 3.

♦ ‘multilated’ replaced with ‘mutilated’

=Avarīcum=, a strong and fortified town of Gaul, now called Bourges,
the capital of Berry. _Cæsar_, _Gallic War_, bk. 7.

=Avella=, a town of Campania, abounding in nuts, whence nuts have been
called _avellinæ_. _Silius Italicus_, bk. 8, li. 45, &c.――_Virgil_,
_Æneid_, ♦bk. 7, li. 740.

♦ ‘Book 7’ omitted from reference

=Aventīnus=, a son of Hercules by Rhea, who assisted Turnus against
Æneas, and distinguished himself by his valour. _Virgil_, _Æneid_,
bk. 7, li. 657.――――A king of Alba, buried upon mount Aventine.
_Ovid_, _Fasti_, bk. 4, li. 51.――――One of the seven hills on
which part of the city of Rome was built, it was 13,300 feet in
circumference, and was given to the people to build houses upon, by
king Ancus Martius. It was not reckoned within the precincts of the
city till the reign of the emperor Claudius, because the soothsayers
looked upon it as a place of ill omen, as Remus had been buried
there, whose blood had been criminally shed. The word is derived,
according to some, _ab avibus_, because birds were fond of the place.
Others suppose that it receives its name because Aventinus, one of
the Alban kings, was buried upon it. Juno, the Moon, Diana, Bona Dea,
Hercules, and the goddess of Victory and Liberty, had magnificent
temples built upon it. _Varro_, _de Lingua Latina_, bk. 4.――_Virgil_,
_Æneid_, bk. 8, li. 235.――_Livy_, bk. 1, ch. 33.

=Avernus=, or =Averna=, a lake of Campania near Baiæ, whose waters
were so unwholesome and putrid, that no birds were seen on its
banks; hence its original name was ἀορνος, _avibus carens_. The
ancients made it the entrance of hell, as also one of its rivers.
Its circumference was five stadia, and its depth could not be
ascertained. The waters of the Avernus were indispensably necessary
in all enchantments and magical processes. It may be observed, that
all lakes whose stagnated waters were putrid and offensive to the
smell, were indiscriminately called Averna. _Virgil_, _Æneid_, bk. 4,
lis. 5, 12, &c.; bk. 6, li. 201, &c.――_Mela_, bk. 2, ch. 4.――_Strabo_,
bk. 5.――_Diodorus_, bk. 4.――_Aristotle_, _on Admethics [Ethics]_.

=Avesta=, a book composed by Zoroaster.

=Aufeia aqua=, called afterwards Marcia, was the sweetest and most
wholesome water in Rome, and it was first conveyed into the city by
Ancus Martius.

=Aufidēna=, now _Alfidena_, a city of the Peligni in Italy, whose
inhabitants, called _Aufidenates_, were among the Sabines. _Livy_,
bk. 10, ch. 12.

=Aufĭdia lex=, was enacted by the tribune Aufidius Lurco, A.U.C. 692.
It ordained, that if any candidate, in canvassing for an office,
promised money to the tribunes, and failed in the performance,
he should be excused; but if he actually paid it, he should be
compelled to pay every tribune 6000 sesterces.

=Aufidius=, an effeminate person of Chios. _Juvenal_, satire 9, li. 25.
――――Bassus, a famous historian in the age of Quintilian, who wrote
an account of Germany, and of the civil wars.――――A Roman senator,
famous for his blindness and abilities. _Cicero_, _Tusculanæ
Disputations_, bk. 5.――――Lurco, a man who enriched himself by
fattening peacocks, and selling them for meat. _Pliny_, bk. 10.
――――Luscus, a man obscurely born, and made pretor of Fundi, in the
age of Horace. _Horace_, bk. 1, satire 5, li. 34.

=Aufĭdus=, a river of Apulia falling into the Adriatic sea, and now
called Ofanto. It was on its banks that the Romans were defeated by
Hannibal at Cannæ. The spot is still shown by the inhabitants, and
bears the name of the field of blood. _Horace_, bk. 3, ode 30; bk. 4,
ode 9.――_Virgil_, _Æneid_, bk. 11, li. 405.

=Auga=, =Auge=, and =Augea=, daughter of Aleus king of Tegea by Neæra,
was ravished by Hercules, and brought forth a son, whom she exposed
in the woods to conceal her amours from her father. The child was
preserved, and called Telephus. Aleus was informed of his daughter’s
shame, and gave her to Nauplius to be put to death. Nauplius refused
to perform the cruel office, and gave Auge to Teuthras king of Mysia,
who, being without issue, adopted her as his daughter. Some time
after the dominions of Teuthras were invaded by an enemy, and the
king promised his crown and daughter to him who could deliver him
from the impending calamity. Telephus, who had been directed by the
oracle to go to the court of Teuthras, if he wished to find his
parents, offered his services to the king, and they were accepted.
As he was going to unite himself to Auge, in consequence of the
victory he had obtained, Auge rushed from him with secret horror,
and the gods sent a serpent to separate them. Auge implored the aid
of Hercules, who made her son known to her, and she returned with
him to Tegea. _Pausanias_ says, that Auge was confined in a coffer
with her infant son, and thrown into the sea, where, after being
preserved and protected by Minerva, she was found by king Teuthras.
_Apollodorus_, bks. 2 & 3.――_Pausanias_, bk. 8, ch. 4.――_Hyginus_,
fables 99 & 100.

=Augarus=, an Arabian who, for his good offices obtained the favours of
Pompey, whom he vilely deceived. _Dio Cassius._――――A king of Osroene,
whom Caracalla imprisoned, after he had given him solemn promises of
friendship and support. _Dio Cassius_, bk. 78.

=Augeæ=, a town of Laconia. _Pausanias_, bk. 3, ch. 21.――――Another of
Locris.

=Augias= and =Augeas=, son of Eleus, or Elius, was one of the
Argonauts, and afterwards ascended the throne of Elis. He had an
immense number of oxen and goats, and the stables in which they were
kept had never been cleaned, so that the task seemed an impossibility
to any man. Hercules undertook it, on promise of receiving as a
reward the tenth part of the herds of Augias, or something equivalent.
The hero changed the course of the river Alpheus, or, according
to others, of the Peneus, which immediately carried away the dung
and filth from the stables. Augias refused the promised recompense
on pretence that Hercules had made use of artifice, and had not
experienced any labour or trouble, and he further drove his own son
Phyleus from his kingdom, because he supported the claims of the
hero. The refusal was a declaration of war. Hercules conquered Elis,
put to death Augias, and gave the crown to Phyleus. _Pausanias_ says,
bk. 5, chs. 2 & 3, that Hercules spared the life of Augias for the
sake of his son, and that Phyleus went to settle in Dulichium; and
that at the death of Augias his other son, Agasthenes succeeded
to the throne. Augias received, after his death, the honours which
were generally paid to a hero. Augias has been called the son of
Sol, because Elius signifies the sun. The proverb of _Augean stable_
is now applied to an impossibility. _Hyginus_, fables 14, 30, 157.
――_Pliny_, bk. 17, ch. 9.――_Strabo_, bk. 8.――_Apollodorus_, bk. 2.

=Augĭlæ=, a people of Africa, who supposed that there were no gods
except the manes of the dead, of whom they sought oracles. _Mela_,
bk. 1.

=Augīnus=, a mountain of Liguria. _Livy_, bk. 39, ch. 2.

=Augŭres=, certain officers at Rome who foretold future events,
whence their name, _ab avium garritu_. They were first created by
Romulus, to the number of three. Servius Tullius added a fourth,
and the tribunes of the people, A.U.C. 454, increased the number to
nine; and Sylla added six more during his dictatorship. They had a
particular college, and the chief amongst them was called _Magister
collegii_. Their office was honourable; and if any one of them was
convicted of any crime, he could not be deprived of his privileges;
an indulgence granted to no other sacerdotal body at Rome. The augur
generally sat on a high tower to make his observations. His face was
turned towards the east, and he had the north to his left, and the
south at his right. With a crooked staff he divided the face of
the heavens into four different parts, and afterwards sacrificed to
the gods, covering his head with his vestment. There were generally
five things from which the augurs drew omens. The first consisted in
observing the phænomena of the heavens, such as thunder, lightning,
comets, &c. The second kind of omen was drawn from the chirping
or flying of birds. The third was from the sacred chickens, whose
eagerness or indifference in eating the bread which was thrown
to them, was looked upon as lucky or unlucky. The fourth was from
quadrupeds, from their crossing or appearing in some unaccustomed
place. The fifth was from different casualties, which were called
_Dira_, such as spilling salt upon a table, or wine upon one’s
clothes, hearing strange noises, stumbling or sneezing, meeting a
wolf, hare, fox, or pregnant bitch. From such superstitious notions
did the Romans draw their prophecies. The sight of birds on the left
hand was always deemed a lucky object, and the words _sinister_ and
_lævus_, though generally supposed to be terms of ill luck, were
always used by the augurs in an auspicious sense. _Cicero_, _de
Divinatione_.――_Livy_, bk. 1, &c.――_Dionysius of Halicarnassus._
――_Ovid_, _Fasti_.

♦=Augurīnus Julius=, a Roman knight who conspired against Nero, &c.
_Tacitus_, ♠_Annals_, bk. 15, ch. 70.

♦ ‘Tugurīnus Julius’ replaced with ‘Augurīnus Julius’
Placed in correct alphebetical order.
♠ ‘H. 15, c. 70’ replaced with ‘Annals, bk. 15, ch. 50’

=Augusta=, a name given to 70 cities in the Roman provinces in honour
of Augustus Cæsar.――――London, as capital of the country of the
Trinobantes, was called Augusta Trinobantia.――――Messalina, famous
for her debaucheries, was called Augusta, as wife of the emperor
Claudius. _Juvenal_, satire 6, li. 118.

=Augustālia=, a festival at Rome, in commemoration of the day on which
Augustus returned to Rome, after he had established peace over the
different parts of the empire.

=Augustīnus=, a bishop of Hippo in Africa, distinguished himself by
his writings, as well as by the austerity of his life. In his works,
which are numerous, he displayed the powers of a great genius, and
an extensive acquaintance with the philosophy of Plato. He died in
the 76th year of his age, A.D. 430. The best edition of his works is
that of the Benedict, folio, Antwerp, 1700 to 1703, 12 vols.

=Augustodūnum=, now _Autun_, a town of Gaul, the capital of the
ancient Ædui.

=Augustŭlus=, the last Roman emperor of the west, A.D. 475, conquered
by Odoacer king of the Heruli.

=Augustus Octaviānus Cæsar=, second emperor of Rome, was son of
Octavius a senator, and Accia daughter of Julius, and sister to
Julius Cæsar. He was adopted by his uncle Cæsar, and inherited
the greatest part of his fortune. He lost his father at the age of
four; and though only 18 when his uncle was murdered, he hastened
to Rome, where he ingratiated himself with the senate and people,
and received the honours of the consulship two years after, as the
reward of his hypocrisy. Though his youth and his inexperience were
ridiculed by his enemies, who branded him with the appellation of
_boy_, yet he rose in consequence by his prudence and valour, and
made war against his opponents, on pretence of avenging the death of
his murdered uncle. But when he perceived that by making him fight
against Antony, the senate wished to debilitate both antagonists, he
changed his views, and uniting himself with his enemy, soon formed
the second triumvirate, in which his cruel proscriptions shed the
innocent blood of 300 senators and 200 knights, and did not even
spare the life of his friend Cicero. By the divisions which were
made among the triumvirs, Augustus retained for himself the more
important provinces of the west, and banished, as it were, his
colleagues, Lepidus and Antony, to more distant territories. But as
long as the murderers of Cæsar were alive, the reigning tyrants had
reason for apprehension, and therefore the forces of the triumvirate
were directed against the partisans of Brutus and the senate. The
battle was decided at Philippi, where it is said that the valour and
conduct of Antony alone preserved the combined armies, and effected
the defeat of the republican forces. The head of the unfortunate
Brutus was carried to Rome, and in insolent revenge thrown at the
feet of Cæsar’s statue. On his return to Italy, Augustus rewarded
his soldiers with the lands of those that had been proscribed; but
among the sufferers were many who had never injured the conqueror of
Philippi, especially Virgil, whose modest application procured the
restitution of his property. The friendship which subsisted between
Augustus and Antony was broken as soon as the fears of a third rival
vanished away, and the aspiring heir of Cæsar was easily induced to
take up arms by the little jealousies and resentment of Fulvia. Her
death, however, retarded hostilities; the two rivals were reconciled;
their united forces were successfully directed against the younger
Pompey; and, to strengthen their friendship, Antony agreed to marry
Octavia the sister of Augustus. But as this step was political, and
not dictated by affection, Octavia was slighted, and Antony resigned
himself to the pleasures and company of the beautiful Cleopatra.
Augustus was incensed, and immediately took up arms to avenge the
wrongs of his sister, and perhaps more eagerly to remove a man
whose power and existence kept him in continual alarms, and made
him dependent. Both parties met at Actium, B.C. 31, to decide the
fate of Rome. Antony was supported by all the power of the east,
and Augustus by Italy. Cleopatra fled from the battle with 60
ships, and her flight ruined the interest of Antony, who followed
her into Egypt. The conqueror soon after passed into Egypt,
besieged Alexandria, and honoured, with a magnificent funeral, the
unfortunate Roman and the celebrated queen, whom the fear of being
led in the victor’s triumph at Rome had driven to commit suicide.
After he had established peace all over the world, Augustus shut up
the gates of the temple of Janus, the year our Saviour was born. It
is said he twice resolved to lay down the supreme power, immediately
after the victory obtained over Antony, and afterwards on account of
his ill-health; but his friend Mecænas dissuaded him, and observed
that he would leave it to be the prey of the most powerful, and
expose himself to ingratitude and to danger. He died at Nola, in the
76th year of his age, A.D. 14, after he had held the sovereign power
during 44 years. Augustus was an active emperor, and consulted the
good of the Romans with the most anxious care. He visited all the
provinces except Africa and Sardinia, and his consummate prudence
and experience gave rise to many salutary laws, but it may be said,
that be finished with a good grace what he began with cruelty.
While making himself absolute, he took care to leave his countrymen
the shadow of liberty; and if, under the character and office ♦of
perpetual tribune, of priest and imperator, he was invested with all
the power of sovereignty, he guarded against offending the jealous
Romans, by not assuming the regal title. His refusal to read the
letters he found after Pompey’s defeat arose more from fear than
honour, and he dreaded the discovery of names which would have
perhaps united to sacrifice his ambition. His good qualities, and
many virtues he perhaps never possessed, have been transmitted to
posterity by the pen of adulation or gratitude, in the poems of
Virgil, Horace, and Ovid. To distinguish himself from the obscurity
of the Octavii, and, if possible, to suppress the remembrance
of his uncle’s violent fate, he aspired after a new title; and
the submissive senate yielded to his ambition, by giving him
the honourable appellation of _Augustus_. He has been accused of
licentiousness and adultery by his biographer; but the goodness
of his heart, and the fidelity of his friendship, which in some
instances he possessed, made some amends for his natural foibles.
He was ambitious of being thought handsome; and as he was publicly
reported to be the son of Apollo, according to his mother’s
declaration, he wished his flatterers to represent him with the
figure and attributes of that god. Like Apollo, his eyes were clear,
and he affected to have it thought that they possessed some divine
irradiation; and was well pleased if, when he fixed his looks upon
anybody, they held down their eyes as if overcome by the glaring
brightness of the sun. He distinguished himself by his learning; he
was a perfect master of the Greek language, and wrote some tragedies,
besides memoirs of his life, and other works, all now lost. He was
married three times; to Claudia, to Scribonia, and to Livia; but he
was unhappy in his matrimonial connections, and his only daughter
Julia by Scribonia disgraced herself and her father by the debauchery
and licentiousness of her manners. He recommended, at his death, his
adopted son Tiberius as his successor. He left his fortune, partly
to Tiberius and to Drusus, and made donations to the army and to
the Roman people. Virgil wrote his heroic poem at the desire of
Augustus, whom he represented under the amiable and perfect character
of Æneas. _Suetonius_, _The Twelve Caesars_.――_Horace._――_Virgil._
――_Pausanias._――_Tacitus._――_Paterculus._――_Dio Cassius._――_Ovid._
――――The name of _Augustus_ was afterwards given to the successors
of Octavianus in the Roman empire as a personal, and the name of
_Cæsar_ as a family, distinction. In a more distant period of the
empire, the title of Augustus was given only to the emperor, while
that of Cæsar was bestowed on the second person in the state, who
was considered as presumptive heir.

♦ ‘or’ replaced with ‘of’

=Avĭdiēnus=, a rich and sordid man, whom _Horace_ styles happy, bk. 2,
satire 2, li. 55.

=Avidius Cassius=, a man saluted emperor, A.D. 175. He reigned only
three months, and was assassinated by a centurion. He was called a
second Catiline, from his excessive love of bloodshed. _Diodorus._

=Rufus Festus Aviēnus=, a poet in the age of Theodosius, who translated
the phænomena of Aratus, as also all Livy, into iambic verses. The
best edition of what remains of him is that of Cannegetier, 8vo,
1731.

=Avitus=, a governor of Britain under Nero. _Tacitus_, _Annals_,
bk. 14.――――Alcinus, a christian poet, who wrote a poem in six books
on original sin, &c.

=Avium=, a city between Tyre and Sidon. _Strabo_, bk. 16.

=Aulerci=, a people of Gaul, between the Seine and the Loire.

=Aulestes=, a king of the Etrurians when Æneas came into Italy.
_Virgil_, _Æneid_, bk. 12, li. 290.

=Aulētes=, a general who assisted Æneas in Italy, with 100 ships.
_Virgil_, _Æneid_, bk. 10, li. 207.――――The surname of one of the
Ptolemean kings, father to Cleopatra.

=Aulis=, a daughter of Ogyges. _Pausanias_, _Bœotia_.――――A town of
Bœotia near Chalcis on the sea coast, where all the Greeks conspired
against Troy. They were detained there by contrary winds, by the
anger of Diana, whose favourite stag had been killed by Agamemnon.
To appease the resentment of the goddess, Agamemnon was obliged to
sacrifice his own daughter Iphigenia, whom, however, Diana spared
by substituting a ram. _Virgil_, _Æneid_, bk. 4, li. 426.――_Ovid_,
_Metamorphoses_, bk. 12, li. 9, &c.――_Homer_, _Iliad_, bk. 2, li. 303.

=Aulon=, a mountain of Calabria, opposite Tarentum, famous for its
wine, which, according to _Horace_ bk. 2, ode 6, li. 18, is superior
to that of Falernum. _Martial_, bk. 13, ltr. 125.――_Strabo_, bk. 6.
――――A place of Messenia. _Pausanias._

=Aulonius=, a surname of Æsculapius.

=Aulus=, a prænomen common among the Romans.――――Gellius. _See:_ Gellius.

=Auras=, a European river, flowing into the Ister from mount Hæmus.
_Herodotus_, bk. 4, ch. 49.

=Aurelia lex=, was enacted A.U.C. 653, by the pretor Lucius Aurelius
Cotta, to invest the Senatorian and Equestrian orders, and the
Tribuni Ærarii, with judicial power.――――Another, A.U.C. 678. It
abrogated a clause of the Lex Cornelia and permitted the tribunes
to hold other offices after the expiration of the tribuneship.

=Aurelia=, a town of Hispania Bætica.――――The mother of Julius Cæsar.
_Suetonius_, _Cæsar_, ch. 74.――――A fishwoman. _Juvenal_, satire 4,
li. 98.

=Aureliānus=, emperor of Rome after Flavius Claudius, was austere, and
even cruel in the execution of the laws, and punished his soldiers
with unusual severity. He rendered himself famous for his military
character; and his expedition against Zenobia, the celebrated
queen of Palmyra, gained him great honours. He beautified Rome, was
charitable to the poor, and the author of many salutary laws. He was
naturally brave, and in all the battles he fought, it is said, he
killed no less than 800 men with his own hand. In his triumph, he
exhibited to the Romans people of 15 different nations, all of which
he had conquered. He was the first emperor who wore a diadem. After
a glorious reign of six years, as he marched against the northern
barbarians, he was assassinated near Byzantium, A.D. 275, January
29th, by his soldiers, whom Mnestheus had incited to rebellion
against their emperor. This Mnestheus had been threatened with death,
for some ill behaviour to the emperor, and therefore he meditated
his death. The soldiers, however, soon repented of their ingratitude
and cruelty to Aurelian, and threw Mnestheus to be devoured by wild
beasts.――――A physician of the fourth century.

=Aurelius=, emperor of Rome. _See:_ Antoninus Bassianus.――――A painter
in the age of Augustus. _Pliny_, bk. 35.――――Victor, an historian in
the age of Julian, two of whose compositions are extant――an account
of illustrious men, and a biography of all the Cæsars to Julian. The
best edition of Aurelius are the 4to of Artuzenius, Amsterdam, 1733,
and the 8vo of Pitiscus, Utrecht, 1696.――――Antoninus, an emperor.
_See:_ Antoninus.

=Aureolus=, a general who assumed the purple in the age of Gallienus.

=Aurinia=, a prophetess held in great veneration by the Germans.
_Tacitus_, _Germania_, ch. 8.

=Aurōra=, a goddess, daughter of Hyperion and Thia or Thea, or,
according to others, of Titan and Terra. Some say that Pallas, son
of Crius and brother to Perseus, was her father; hence her surname
of _Pallantias_. She married Astræus, by whom she had the winds, the
stars, &c. Her amours with Tithonus and Cephalus are also famous; by
the former she had Memnon and Æmathion, and Phaeton by the latter.
_See:_ Cephalus and Tithonus. She had also an intrigue with Orion,
whom she carried to the island of Delos, where he was killed by
Diana’s arrows. Aurora is generally represented by the poets drawn
in a rose-coloured chariot, and opening with her rosy fingers the
gates of the east, pouring the dew upon the earth, and making the
flowers grow. Her chariot is generally drawn by white horses, and
she is covered with a veil. Nox and Somnus fly before her, and the
constellations of heaven disappear at her approach. She always sets
out before the sun, and is the forerunner of his rising. The Greeks
call her Eos. _Homer_, _Iliad_, bk. 8; _Odyssey_, bk. 10; _Hymn to
Aphrodite_.――_Ovid_, _Metamorphoses_, bks. 3, 9, 15.――_Apollodorus_,
bks. 1, 3.――_Virgil_, _Æneid_, bk. 6, li. 535.――_Varro_, _de Lingua
Latina_, bk. 5, &c.――_Hesiod_, _Theogony_.――_Hyginus_, preface to
fables.

=Aurunce=, an ancient town of Latium, built by Auson the son of
Ulysses by Calypso. _Virgil_, _Æneid_, bk. 7, li. 727, &c.

=Auschīsæ=, a people of Libya. _Herodotus_, bk. 4, ch. 171.

=Ausci=, a people of Gaul.

=Auser=, =Auseris=, and =Anser=, a river of Etruria, which joins the
Arnus before it falls into the Tyrrhene sea.

=Auses=, a people of Africa, whose virgins yearly fight with sticks in
honour of Minerva. She who behaves with the greatest valour receives
unusual honour, &c. _Herodotus_, bk. 4, ch. 180.

=Auson=, a son of Ulysses and Calypso, from whom the Ausones, a people
of Italy, are descended.

=Ausonia=, one of the ancient names of Italy, which it received from
Auson the son of Ulysses. If Virgil makes Æneas speak of Ausonia, it
is by anticipation. _Virgil_, _Æneid_, bk. 3, li. 171.

=Decimius Magnus Ausōnius=, a poet, born at Bordeaux in Gaul, in the
fourth century, preceptor to Gratian son of the emperor Valentinian,
and made consul by the means of his pupil. His compositions have
been long admired. The thanks he returned the emperor Gratian is
one of the best of his poems, which were too often hurried for
publication, and consequently not perfect. He wrote the _consular
fasti_ of Rome, a useful performance, now lost. His style is
occasionally obscene, and he has attempted upon the words of Virgil,
what revolts everything against his indelicacy. The best edition
is that of Tollius, 8vo, Leiden, 1671; or that of Jaubert, with a
French translation, 4 vols., 12mo, Paris, 1769.

=Auspĭces=, a sacerdotal order at Rome, nearly the same as the Augurs.
_See:_ Augures.

=Auster=, one of the winds blowing from the south, whose breath was
pernicious to flowers as well as to health. He was parent of rain.
_Virgil_, _Eclogues_, poem 2, li. 58. _See:_ Venti.

=Austesion=, a Theban, son of Tisamenus. His son Theras led a colony
into an island which, from him, was called Thera. _Herodotus_, bk. 4.
――_Pausanias._

=Autobūlus=, a painter. _Pliny_, bk. 35.

=Autochthŏnes=, the original inhabitants of a country who are the first
possessors of it, and who never have mingled with other nations. The
Athenians called themselves Autochthones, and boasted that they were
as old as the country which they inhabited. _Pausanias_, bk. 1, ch.
14.――_Tacitus_, _Germania_.――_Cicero_, _On Oratory_, bk. 3, ch. 83.

=Autŏcles=, an Athenian, sent by his countrymen with a fleet to the
assistance of Alexander of Pheræ.

=Autocrătes=, an historian mentioned by _Athenæus_, bks. 9 & 11.

=Autolŏlæ=, a people of Mauritania descended from the Gætuli. They
excelled all their neighbours in running. _Lucan_, bk. 4, li. 677.

=Autŏly̆cus=, a son of Mercury by Chione a daughter of Dædalion. He
was one of the Argonauts. His craft as a thief has been greatly
celebrated. He stole the flocks of his neighbours, and mingled them
with his own, after he had changed their marks. He did the same
to Sisyphus son of Æolus; but Sisyphus was as crafty as Autolycus,
and he knew his own oxen by a mark which he had made under their
feet. Autolycus was so pleased with the artifice of Sisyphus, that
he immediately formed an intimacy with him, and even permitted
him freely to enjoy the company of his daughter Anticlea, who
became pregnant of Ulysses, and was soon after married to Laertes.
_See:_ Sisyphus, Laertes. _Hyginus_, fable 200, &c.――_Ovid_,
_Metamorphoses_, bk. 1, fable 8.――_Apollodorus_, bk. 1.――_Homer_,
_Odyssey_, bk. 14.――――A son of Phryxus and Chalciope. _Hyginus_,
fable 14.

=Automăte=, one of the Cyclades, called also Hera. _Pliny_,
bks. 2, 6, 37.――――A daughter of Danaus.

=Automĕdon=, a son of Dioreus, who went to the Trojan war with 10
ships. He was the charioteer of Achilles, after whose death he
served Pyrrhus in the same capacity. _Homer_, _Iliad_, bks. 9, 16,
&c.――_Virgil_, _Æneid_, bk. 2, li. 477.

=Automedūsa=, a daughter of Alcathous, killed by Tydeus. _Apollodorus_,
bk. 2.

=Automĕnes=, one of the Heraclidæ, king of Corinth. At his death, B.C.
779, annual magistrates, called Prytanes, were chosen at Corinth,
and their power continued 90 years, till Cypselus and his son
Periander made themselves absolute.

=Automŏli=, a nation of Æthiopia. _Herodotus_, bk. 2.

=Autonoe=, a daughter of Cadmus, who married Aristæus, by whom she
had Actæon, often called _Autoneius heros_. The death of her son
[_See:_ Actæon] was so painful to her, that she retired from Bœotia
to Megara, where she soon after died. _Pausanias_, bk. 1, ch. 44.
――_Hyginus_, fable 179.――_Ovid_, _Metamorphoses_, bk. 3, li. 720.
――――One of the Danaides. _Apollodorus_, bk. 2.――――One of the
Nereides. _Hesiod_, _Theogony_.――――A female servant of Penelope.
_Homer_, _Odyssey_, bk. 18.

=Autophradātes=, a satrap of Lydia, who revolted from Artaxerxes.
_Diodorus._

=Autūra=, the _Eure_, a river of Gaul which falls into the Seine.

=Auxesia= and =Damia=, two virgins who came from Crete to Trœzene,
where the inhabitants stoned them to death in a sedition. The
Epidaurians raised them statues by order of the oracle, when their
country was become barren. They were held in great veneration at
Trœzene. _Herodotus_, bk. 5, ch. 82.――_Pausanias_, bk. 2, ch. 30.

=Axĕnus=, the ancient name of the Euxine sea. The word signifies
_inhospitable_, which was highly applicable to the manners of the
ancient inhabitants of the coast. _Ovid_, bk. 4; _Tristia_, poem 4,
li. 56.

=Axiŏchus=, a philosopher, to whom Plato dedicated a treatise
concerning death.

=Axīon=, brother of Alphesibœa, murdered Alcmæon his sister’s husband,
because he wished to recover from her a golden necklace. _See:_
Alcmæon and Alphesibœa.

=Axiotea=, a woman who regularly went in a man’s dress to hear the
lectures of Plato.

=Axiothea=, the wife of Nicocles king of Cyprus. _Polyænus_, bk. 8.

=Axis=, a town of Umbria. _Propertius_, poem 4.

=Axius=, a river of Macedonia. _Herodotus_, bk. 7, ch. 123.

=Axona=, a river of Belgic Gaul, which falls into the Seine below
Paris. The inhabitants of the neighbourhood were called Axones.

=Axur= and =Anxur=, a surname of Jupiter, who had a temple at Trachis
in Thessaly. He was represented as a beardless youth.

=Axus=, a town about the middle of Crete. _Apollodus._

=Azan=, a mountain of Arcadia, sacred to Cybele.――――A son of Arcas
king of Arcadia by Erato, one of the Dryades. He divided his father’s
kingdom with his brothers Aphidas and Elatus, and called his share
Azania. There was in Azania a fountain called _Clitorius_, whose
waters gave a dislike for wine to those who drank them. _Vitruvius_,
bk. 8, ch. 3.――_Ovid_, _Metamorphoses_, bk. 15, li. 322.――_Pausanias_,
bk. 8, ch. 4.

=Azīris=, a place of Libya, surrounded on both sides by delightful
hills covered with trees, and watered by a river where Battus built
a town. _Herodotus_, bk. 4, ch. 157.

=Azonax=, a man who taught Zoroaster the art of magic. _Pliny_, bk. 30.

=Azorus=, one of the Argonauts.

=Azōtus=, now _Asdod_, a large town of Syria on the borders of the
Mediterranean. _Josephus_, _Antiquities of the Jews_, bk. 15.

B

=Babilius=, a Roman, who, by the help of a certain herb, is said to
have passed in six days from the Sicilian sea to Alexandria. _Pliny_,
preface to ch. 19.

=Babilus=, an astrologer in Nero’s age, who told the emperor to avert
the danger which seemed to hang upon his head, from the appearance
of a hairy comet, by putting all the leading men of Rome to death.
His advice was faithfully followed. _Suetonius_, _Nero_, ch. 36.

=Baby̆lon=, a son of Belus, who, as some suppose, founded a city which
bears his name.――――A celebrated city, the capital of the Assyrian
empire, on the banks of the Euphrates. It had 100 brazen gates; and
its walls, which were cemented with bitumen, and greatly enlarged
and embellished by the activity of Semiramis; measured 480 stadia
in circumference, 50 cubits in thickness, and 200 in height. It was
taken by Cyrus, B.C. 538, after he had drained the waters of the
Euphrates into a new channel, and marched his troops by night into
the town, through the dried bed; and it is said that the fate of
the extensive capital was unknown to the inhabitants of the distant
suburbs till late in the evening. Babylon became famous for the
death of Alexander, and for the new empire which was afterwards
established there under the Seleucidæ. _See:_ Syria. Its greatness
was so reduced in succeeding ages, according to Pliny’s observations,
that in his time it was but a desolate wilderness, and at present
the place where it stood is unknown to travellers. The inhabitants
were early acquainted with astrology. _Pliny_, bk. 6, ch. 26.
――_Herodotus_, bks. 1, 2, 3.――_Justin_, bk. 1, &c.――_Diodorus_, bk.
2.――_Xenophon_, _Cyropædia_, bk. 7, &c.――_Propertius_, bk. 3, poem
11, li. 21.――_Ovid_, _Metamorphoses_, bk. 4, fable 2.――_Martial_,
bk. 9, ltr. 77.――――There is also a town of the same name near the
Bubastic branch of the Nile, in Egypt.

=Babylōnia=, a large province of Assyria, of which Babylon was the
capital. The inhabitants shook off the Assyrian yoke, and afterwards
became very powerful.――――The surname of Seleucia, which arose from
the ruins of Babylon, under the successors of Alexander. _Pliny_,
bk. 6, ch. 26.

=Babylōnii=, the inhabitants of Babylon, famous for their knowledge
of astrology, first divided the year into 12 months, and the zodiac
into 12 signs.

=Babyrsa=, a fortified castle near Artaxata. _Strabo_, bk. 11.

=Babytăce=, a city of Armenia, whose inhabitants despise gold. _Pliny_,
bk. 6, ch. 27.

=Bacabasus=, betrayed the snares of Artabanus, brother of Darius,
against Artaxerxes. _Justin_, bk. 3, ch. 1.

=Bacchæ=, the priestesses of Bacchus. _Pausanias_, bk. 2, ch. 7.

=Bacchanālia=, festivals in honour of Bacchus at Rome, the same as the
Dionysia of the Greeks. _See:_ Dionysia.

=Bacchantes=, ♦priestesses of Bacchus, who are represented at the
celebration of the orgies almost naked, with garlands of ivy, with a
thyrsus, and dishevelled hair. Their looks are wild, and they utter
dreadful sounds, and clash different musical instruments together.
They were also called Thyades and Menades. _Ovid_, _Metamorphoses_,
bk. 6, li. 592.――_Horace_, bk. 3, ode 25.――_Propertius_, bk. 3, poem
21.――_Lucan_, bk. 1, li. 674.

♦ ‘priestessess’ replaced with ‘priestesses’

=Bacchi=, a mountain of Thrace, near Philippi. _Appian._

=Bacchiădæ=, a Corinthian family descended from Bacchia daughter of
Dionysius. In their nocturnal orgies they, as some report, tore to
pieces Actæon son of Mellissus, which so enraged the father, that
before the altar he entreated the Corinthians to revenge the death
of his son, and immediately threw himself into the sea. Upon this
the Bacchiadæ were banished, and went to settle in Sicily, between
Pachynum and Pelorus. _Ovid_, _Metamorphoses_, bk. 5, li. 407.
――_Strabo_, bk. 8.

=Bacchĭdes=, a general who betrayed the town of Sinope to Lucullus.
_Strabo_, bk. 12.