Chapter M (19)

=Phraates I.=, a king of Parthia, who succeeded Arsaces III., called
also Phriapatius. He made war against Antiochus king of Syria, and
was defeated in three successive battles. He left many children
behind him, but as they were all too young, and unable to succeed
to the throne, he appointed his brother Mithridates king, of whose
abilities and military prudence he had often been a spectator.
_Justin_, bk. 41, ch. 5.

=Phraates II.=, succeeded his father Mithridates as king of Parthia;
and made war against the Scythians, whom he called to his assistance
against Antiochus king of Syria, and whom he refused to pay, on
the pretence that they came too late. He was murdered by some Greek
mercenaries, who had been once his captives, and who had enlisted in
his army, B.C. 129. _Justin_, bk. 42, ch. 1.――_Plutarch_, _Pompey_.

=Phraates III.=, succeeded his father Pacorus on the throne of Parthia,
and gave one of his daughters in marriage to Tigranes the son of
Tigranes king of Armenia. Soon after he invaded the kingdom of
Armenia, to make his son-in-law sit on the throne of his father.
His expedition was attended with ill success. He renewed a treaty
of alliance which his father had made with the Romans. At his return
in Parthia, he was assassinated by his sons Orodes and Mithridates.
_Justin._

=Phraates IV.=, was nominated king of Parthia by his father Orodes,
whom he soon after murdered, as also his own brothers. He made war
against Marcus Antony with great success, and obliged him to retire
with much loss. Some time after he was dethroned by the Parthian
nobility, but he soon regained his power, and drove away the usurper,
called Tiridates. The usurper claimed the protection of Augustus the
Roman emperor, and Phraates sent ambassadors to Rome to plead his
cause, and gain the favour of his powerful judge. He was successful
in his embassy: he made a treaty of peace and alliance with the Roman
emperor, restored the ensigns and standards which the Parthians had
taken from Crassus and Antony, and gave up his four sons with their
wives as hostages, till his engagements were performed. Some suppose
that Phraates delivered his children into the hands of Augustus to
be confined at Rome, that he might reign with greater security, as he
knew his subjects would revolt as soon as they found any one of his
family inclined to countenance their rebellion, though at the same
time they scorned to support the interest of any usurper who was not
of the royal house of the Arsacidæ. He was, however, at last murdered
by one of his concubines, who placed her son called Phraatices on the
throne. _Valerius Maximus_, bk. 7, ch. 6.――_Justin_, bk. 42, ch. 5.
――_Dio Cassius_, bk. 51, &c.――_Plutarch_, _Antonius_, &c.――_Tacitus_,
_Annals_, bk. 6, ch. 32.

=Phraates=, a prince of Parthia in the reign of Tiberius.――――A satrap
of Parthia. _Tacitus_, _Annals_, bk. 6, ch. 42.

=Phraatices=, a son of Phraates IV. He, with his mother, murdered
his father, and took possession of the vacant throne. His reign
was short; he was deposed by his subjects, whom he had offended
by cruelty, avarice, and oppression.

=Phradates=, an officer in the army of Darius at the battle of Arbela.

=Phragrandæ=, a people of Thrace. _Livy_, bk. 26, ch. 25.

=Phrahates=, the same as Phraates. _See:_ Phraates.

=Phranicates=, a general of the Parthian armies, &c. _Strabo_, bk. 16.

=Phraortes=, succeeded his father Deioces on the throne of Media. He
made war against the neighbouring nations, and conquered the greatest
part of Asia. He was defeated and killed in a battle by the Assyrians,
after a reign of 22 years, B.C. 625. His son Cyaxares succeeded him.
It is supposed that the Arphaxad mentioned in Judith is Phraortes.
_Pausanias._――_Herodotus_, bk. 1, ch. 102.――――A king of India,
remarkable for his frugality. _Philostratus._

=Phrasĭcles=, a nephew of Themistocles, whose daughter Nicomacha he
married. _Plutarch_, _Themistocles_.

=Phrasimus=, the father of Praxithea. _Apollodorus._

=Phrasius=, a Cyprian soothsayer, sacrificed on an altar by Busiris
king of Egypt.

=Phrataphernes=, a general of the Massagetæ, who surrendered to
Alexander. _Curtius_, bk. 8.――――A satrap who, after the death of
Darius, fled to Hyrcania, &c. _Curtius._

=Phriapatius=, a king of Parthia, who flourished B.C. 195.

=Phricium=, a town near Thermopylæ. _Livy_, bk. 36, ch. 13.

=Phrixus=, a river of Argolis. There is also a small town of that name
in Elis, built by the Minyæ. _Herodotus_, bk. 4, ch. 148.

=Phronĭma=, a daughter of Etearchus king of Crete. She was delivered to
a servant to be thrown into the sea, by order of her father, at the
instigation of his second wife. The servant was unwilling to murder
the child, but as he was bound by an oath to throw her into the
sea, he accordingly let her down into the water by a rope, and took
her out again unhurt. Phronima was afterwards in the number of the
concubines of Polymnestus, by whom she became mother of Battus the
founder of Cyrene. _Herodotus_, bk. 4, ch. 154.

=Phrontis=, son of Onetor, pilot of the ship of Menelaus, after the
Trojan war, was killed by Apollo just as the ship reached Sunium.
_Homer_, _Odyssey_, bk. 3, li. 282.――_Pausanias_, bk. 10, ch. 25.
――――One of the Argonauts. _Apollodorus_, bk. 1.

=Phruri=, a Scythian nation.

=Phryges=, a river of Asia Minor, dividing Phrygia from Caria, and
falling into the Hermus. _Pausanias._

=Phrygia=, a country of Asia Minor, generally divided into Phrygia
Major and Minor. Its boundaries are not properly or accurately
defined by ancient authors, though it appears that it was situate
between Bithynia, Lydia, Cappadocia and Caria. It received its
name from the _Bryges_, a nation of Thrace, or Macedonia, who came
to settle there, and from their name, by corruption, arose the
word _Phrygia_. Cybele was the chief deity of the country, and
her festivals were observed with the greatest solemnity. The most
remarkable towns, besides Troy, were Laodice, Hierapolis, and Synnada.
The invention of the pipe of reeds, and of all sorts of needlework,
is attributed to the inhabitants, who are represented by some authors
as stubborn, but yielding to correction (hence _Phryx verberatus
melior_), as imprudent, effeminate, servile, and voluptuous; and to
this _Virgil_ seems to allude. _Æneid_, bk. 9, li. 617. The Phrygians,
like all other nations, were called barbarians by the Greeks; their
music (_Phrygii cantus_) was of a grave and solemn nature, when
opposed to the brisker and more cheerful Lydian airs. _Mela_, bk. 1,
ch. 19.――_Strabo_, bk. 2, &c.――_Ovid_, _Metamorphoses_, bk. 13,
li. 429, &c.――_Cicero_, bk. 7, _Letters to his Friends_, ltr. 18.
――_Flaccus_, bk. 27.――_Dio Cassius_, bk. 1, ch. 50.――_Pliny_, bk. 1,
ch. 4.――_Horace_, bk. 2, ode 9, li. 16.――_Pausanias_, bk. 5, ch. 25.
――_Herodotus_, bk. 7, ch. 73.――――A city of Thrace.

=Phryne=, a celebrated prostitute who flourished at Athens about 328
years before the christian era. She was mistress to Praxiteles, who
drew her picture. _See:_ Praxiteles. This was one of his best pieces,
and it was placed in the temple of Apollo at Delphi. It is said that
Apelles painted his Venus Anadyomene after he had seen Phryne on the
sea-shore naked, and with dishevelled hair. Phryne became so rich
by the liberality of her lovers, that she offered to rebuild, at her
own expense, Thebes, which Alexander had destroyed, provided this
inscription was placed on the walls: _Alexander diruit, sed meretrix
Phryne refecit_. This was refused. _Pliny_, bk. 34, ch. 8.――――There
was also another of the same name who was accused of impiety. When
she saw that she was going to be condemned, she unveiled her bosom,
which so influenced her judges, that she was immediately acquitted.
_Quintilian_, bk. 2, ch. 15.

=Phrynĭcus=, a general of Samos, who endeavoured to betray his country
to the Athenians, &c.――――A flatterer at Athens.――――A tragic poet of
Athens, disciple to Thespis. He was the first who introduced a female
character on the stage. _Strabo_, bk. 14.――――A comic poet.

=Phrynis=, a musician of Mitylene, the first who obtained a musical
prize at the Panathenæa at Athens. He added two strings to the lyre,
which had always been used with seven by all his predecessors, B.C.
438. It is said that he was originally a cook at the house of Hiero
king of Sicily.――――A writer in the reign of Commodus, who made a
collection, in 36 books, of phrases and sentences from the best Greek
authors, &c.

=Phryno=, a celebrated general of Athens, who died B.C. 590.

=Phryxus=, a son of ♦Athamas king of Thebes by Nephele. After the
repudiation of his mother, he was persecuted with the most inveterate
fury by his stepmother Ino, because he was to sit on the throne
of Athamas, in preference to the children of a second wife. He was
apprised of Ino’s intentions upon his life by his mother Nephele,
or, according to others, by his preceptor; and the better to make his
escape, he secured part of his father’s treasures, and privately left
Bœotia, with his sister Helle, to go to their friend and relation
Æetes king of Colchis. They embarked on board a ship, or, according
to the fabulous account of the poets and mythologists, they mounted
on the back of a ram whose fleece was of gold, and proceeded on their
journey through the air. The height to which they were carried made
Helle giddy, and she fell into the sea. Phryxus gave her a decent
burial on the sea-shore, and after he had called the place Hellespont
from her name, he continued his flight, and arrived safe in the
kingdom of Æetes, where he offered the ram on the altars of Mars.
The king received him with great tenderness, and gave him his
daughter Chalciope in marriage. She had by him Phrontis, Melias,
Argos, Cylindrus, whom some call Cytorus, Catis, Lorus, and Hellen.
Some time after he was murdered by his father-in-law, who envied
him the possession of the golden fleece; and Chalciope, to prevent
her children from sharing their father’s fate, sent them privately
from Colchis to Bœotia, as nothing was to be dreaded there from the
jealousy or resentment of Ino, who was then dead. The fable of the
flight of Phryxus to Colchis on a ram has been explained by some, who
observe that the ship on which he embarked was either called by that
name, or carried on her prow the figure of that animal. The fleece of
gold is explained by recollecting that Phryxus carried away immense
treasures from Thebes. Phryxus was placed among the constellations
of heaven after death. The ram which carried him to Asia is said to
have been the fruit of Neptune’s amour with Theophane the daughter of
Altis. This ram had been given to Athamas by the gods, to reward his
piety and religious life, and Nephele procured it for her children,
just as they were going to be sacrificed to the jealousy of Ino.
The murder of Phryxus was some time after amply revenged by the
Greeks. It gave rise to a celebrated expedition which was achieved
under Jason and many of the princes of Greece, and which had for its
object the recovery of the golden fleece, and the punishment of the
king of Colchis for his cruelty to the son of Athamas. _Diodorus_,
bk. 4.――_Herodotus_, bk. 7, ch. 197.――_Apollodorus_, _Argonautica_.
――_Orpheus._――_Flaccus._――_Strabo._――_Apollodorus_, bk. 1, ch. 9.
――_Pindar_, _Pythian_, poem 4.――_Hyginus_, fables 14, 188, &c.
――_Ovid_, _Heroides_, poem 18; _Metamorphoses_, bk. 4.――――A small
river of Argolis.

♦ ‘Athmas’ replaced with ‘Athamas’

=Phthia=, a town of Phthiotis, at the east of mount Othrys in Thessaly,
where Achilles was born, and from which he is often called _Phthius
heros_. _Horace_, bk. 4, ode 6, li. 4.――_Ovid_, _Metamorphoses_, bk.
13, li. 156.――_Mela_, bk. 2, ch. 3.――_Propertius_, bk. 2, poem 14, li.
38.――_Cicero_, _Tusculanæ Disputationes_, bk. 1, ch. 10.――――A nymph
of Achaia, beloved by Jupiter, who, to seduce her, disguised himself
under the shape of a pigeon. _Ælian_, _Varia Historia_, bk. 1, ch. 15.
――――A daughter of Amphion and Niobe, killed by Diana. _Apollodorus._

=Phthiōtis=, a small province of Thessaly, between the Pelasgicus sinus,
and the Maliacus sinus, Magnesia, and mount Œta. It was also called
Achaia. _Pausanias_, bk. 10, ch. 8.

=Phya=, a tall and beautiful woman of Attica, whom Pisistratus, when
he wished to re-establish himself a third time in his tyranny,
dressed like the goddess Minerva, and led to the city on a chariot,
making the populace believe that the goddess herself came to restore
him to power. The artifice succeeded. _Herodotus_, bk. 1, ch. 59.
――_Polyænus_, bk. 1, ch. 40.

=Phycus= (untis), a promontory near Cyrene, now called _Ras-al-sem_.
_Lucan_, bk. 9.

=Phylăce=, a town of Thessaly, built by Phylacus. Protesilaus reigned
there, from whence he is often called _Phylacides_. _Lucan_, bk. 6,
li. 252.――――A town of Arcadia. _Pausanias_, bk. 1, ch. 34.――――A town
of Epirus. _Livy_, bk. 45, ch. 26.

=Phylăcus=, a son of Deion king of Phocis. He married Clymene the
daughter of Mynias, and founded Phylace. _Apollodorus._

=Phylarchus=, a Greek biographer, who flourished B.C. 221. He was
accused of partiality by _Plutarch_, _Aratus_.

=Phylas=, a king of Ephyre, son of Antiochus and grandson of Hercules.

=Phyle=, a well-fortified village of Attica, at a little distance from
Athens. _Cornelius Nepos_, _Thrasybulus._

=Phyleis=, a daughter of Thespius. _Apollodorus._

=Phylēus=, one of the Greek captains during the Trojan war.――――A son of
Augeas. He blamed his father for refusing to pay Hercules what he had
promised him for cleaning his stables. He was placed on his father’s
throne by Hercules.

=Phylĭra.= _See:_ Philyra.

=Phylla=, the wife of Demetrius Poliorcetes, and mother of Stratonice
the wife of Seleucus.

=Phyllalia=, a part of Arcadia.――――A place in Thessaly.

=Phylleius=, a mountain, country, and town of Macedonia. _Apollonius_,
_Argonautica_, bk. 1.

=Phyllis=, a daughter of Sithon, or, according to others, of Lycurgus
king of Thrace, who hospitably received Demophoon the son of Theseus,
who, at his return from the Trojan war, had stopped on her coasts.
She became enamoured of him, and did not find him insensible to
her passion. After some months of mutual tenderness and affection,
Demophoon set sail for Athens, where his domestic affairs recalled
him. He promised faithfully to return as soon as a month was expired;
but either his dislike for Phyllis, or the irreparable situation
of his affairs, obliged him to violate his engagement, and the
queen, grown desperate on account of his absence, hanged herself,
or, according to others, threw herself down a precipice into the
sea, and perished. Her friends raised a tomb over her body, where
there grew up certain trees, whose leaves at a particular season of
the year, suddenly became wet, as if shedding tears for the death
of Phyllis. According to an old tradition mentioned by Servius,
Virgil’s commentator, Phyllis was changed by the gods into an almond
tree, which is called _Phylla_ by the Greeks. Some days after this
metamorphosis, Demophoon revisited Thrace, and when he heard of the
fate of Phyllis, he ran and clasped the tree, which, though at that
time stripped of its leaves, suddenly shot forth and blossomed, as if
still sensible of tenderness and love. The absence of Demophoon from
the house of Phyllis has given rise to a beautiful epistle of Ovid,
supposed to have been written by the Thracian queen, about the fourth
month after her lover’s departure. _Ovid_, _Heroides_, poem 2; _De
Ars Amatoria_, bk. 2, li. 353; _Tristia_, bk. 2, li. 437.――_Hyginus_,
fable 59.――――A country woman introduced in Virgil’s eclogues.――――The
nurse of the emperor Domitian. _Suetonius_, _Domitian_, ch. 17.――――A
country of Thrace, near mount Pangæus. _Herodotus_, bk. 7, ch. 13.

=Phyllius=, a young Bœotian, uncommonly fond of Cygnus the son of Hyria,
a woman of Bœotia. Cygnus slighted his passion, and told him that, to
obtain a return of affection, he must previously destroy an enormous
lion, take alive two large vultures, and sacrifice on Jupiter’s
altars a wild bull that infested the country. This he easily effected
by means of artifice, and by the advice of Hercules he forgot his
partiality for the son of Hyria. _Ovid_, _Metamorphoses_, bk. 7, li.
372.――_Nicander_, _Heteroeumena_, bk. 3.――――A Spartan remarkable for
the courage with which he fought against Pyrrhus king of Epirus.

=Phyllŏdŏce=, one of Cyrene’s attendant nymphs. _Virgil_, _Georgics_,
bk. 4, li. 336.

=Phyllos=, a country of Arcadia.――――A town of Thessaly near Larissa,
where Apollo had a temple.

=Phyllus=, a general of Phocis during the Phocian or sacred war against
the Thebans. He had assumed the command after the death of his
brothers Philomelus and Onomarchus. He is called by some Phayllus.
_See:_ Phocis.

=Physcella=, a town of Macedonia. _Mela_, bk. 2, ch. 3.

=Physcion=, a famous rock of Bœotia, which was the residence of the
Sphinx, and against which the monster destroyed himself, when his
enigmas were explained by Œdipus. _Plutarch._

=Physcoa=, a woman of Elis, mother of Narcæus by Bacchus. _Pausanias_,
bk. 5, ch. 16.

=Physcon=, a surname of one of the Ptolemies, king of Egypt, from the
great prominency of his belly (φνοκη, _venter_). _Athenæus_, bk. 2,
ch. 23.

=Physcos=, a town of Caria, opposite Rhodes. _Strabo_, bk. 14.

=Physcus=, a river of Asia falling into the Tigris. The 10,000 Greeks
crossed it on their return from Cunaxa.

=Phytălĭdes=, the descendants of Phytalus, a man who hospitably
received and entertained Ceres, when she visited Attica. _Plutarch_,
_Theseus_.

=Phyton=, a general of the people of Rhegium, against Dionysius the
tyrant of Sicily. He was taken by the enemy and tortured, B.C. 387,
and his son was thrown into the sea. _Diodorus_, bk. 14.

=Phyxium=, a town of Elis.

=Pia=, or =Pialia=, festivals instituted in honour of Adrian, by the
Emperor Antoninus. They were celebrated at Puteoli, on the second
year of the Olympiads.

=Piăsus=, a general of the Pelasgi. _Strabo_, bk. 13.

=Picēni=, the inhabitants of Picenum, called also _Picentes_. They
received their name from _picus_, a bird by whose auspices they had
settled in that part of Italy. _Silius Italicus_, bk. 8, li. 425.
――_Strabo_, bk. 5.――_Mela_, bk. 2, ch. 4.

=Picentia=, the capital of the Picentini.

=Picentīni=, a people of Italy between Lucania and Campania on the
Tuscan sea. They are different from the Piceni or Picentes, who
inhabited Picenum. _Silius Italicus_, bk. 8, li. 450.――_Tacitus_,
_Histories_, bk. 4, ch. 62.

=Picēnum=, or =Picēnus ager=, a country of Italy near the Umbrians
and Sabines, on the borders of the Adriatic. _Livy_, bk. 21, ch. 6;
bk. 22, ch. 9; bk. 27, ch. 43.――_Silius Italicus_, bk. 10, li. 313.
――_Horace_, bk. 2, satire 3, li. 272.――_Martial_, bk. 1, ltr. 44.

=Picra=, a lake of Africa, which Alexander crossed when he went to
consult the oracle of Ammon. _Diodorus._

=Pictæ=, or =Picti=, a people of Scythia, called also _Agathyrsæ_. They
received this name from their painting their bodies with different
colours, to appear more terrible in the eyes of their enemies.
A colony of these, according to Servius, Virgil’s commentator,
emigrated to the northern parts of Britain, where they still
preserved their name and their savage manners, but they are mentioned
only by later writers. _Marcellinus_, bk. 27, ch. 18.――_Claudian_,
_de Consulatu Honorii_, li. 54.――_Pliny_, bk. 4, ch. 12.――_Mela_,
bk. 2, ch. 1.

=Pictāvi=, or =Pictŏnes=, a people of Gaul in the modern country of
_Poictou_. _Cæsar_, bk. 7, _Gallic War_, ch. 4.

=Pictăvium=, a town of Gaul.

=Fabius Pictor=, a consul under whom silver was first coined at Rome,
A.U.C. 485.

=Picumnus= and =Pilumnus=, two deities at Rome, who presided over
the auspices that were required before the celebration of nuptials.
Pilumnus was supposed to patronize children, as his name seems, in
some manner, to indicate, _quod pellat mala infantiæ_. The manuring
of lands was first invented by Picumnus, from which reason he is
called _Sterquilinius_. Pilumnus is also invoked as the god of bakers
and millers, as he is said to have first invented how to grind corn.
Turnus boasted of being one of his lineal descendants. _Virgil_,
_Æneid_, bk. 9, li. 4.――_Varro._

=Picus=, a king of Latium, son of Saturn, who married Venilia, who is
also called Canens, by whom he had Faunus. He was tenderly loved by
the goddess Pomona, and he returned a mutual affection. As he was
one day hunting in the woods, he was met by Circe, who became deeply
enamoured of him, and who changed him into a woodpecker, called
by the name of _picus_ among the Latins. His wife Venilia was so
disconsolate when she was informed of his death, that she pined away.
Some suppose that Picus was the son of Pilumnus, and that he gave out
prophecies to his subjects, by means of a favourite woodpecker, from
which circumstance originated the fable of his being metamorphosed
into a bird. _Virgil_, _Æneid_, bk. 7, lis. 48, 171, &c.――_Ovid_,
_Metamorphoses_, bk. 14, li. 320, &c.

=Pidorus=, a town near mount Athos. _Herodotus_, bk. 7, ch. 122.

=Pidytes=, a man killed by Ulysses during the Trojan war.

=Piĕlus=, a son of Neoptolemus king of Epirus, after his father.
_Pausanias_, bk. 1, ch. 11.

=Pĭĕra=, a fountain of Peloponnesus, between Elis and Olympia.
_Pausanias_, bk. 5, ch. 16.

=Piĕria=, a small tract of country in Thessaly or Macedonia, from which
the epithet of _Pierian_ was applied to the Muses, and to poetical
compositions. _Martial_, bk. 9, ltr. 88, li. 3.――_Horace_, bk. 4, ode
8, li. 20.――――A place between Cilicia and Syria.――――One of the wives
of Danaus, mother of six daughters, called Actea, Podarce, Dioxippe,
Adyte, Ocypete, and Pilarge. _Apollodorus_, bk. 2.――――The wife of
Oxylus the son of Hæmon, and mother of Ætolus and Laias. _Pausanias_,
bk. 5, ch. 3.――――The daughter of Pythas, a Milesian, &c.

=Piĕrĭdes=, a name given to the Muses, either because they were born
in Pieria, in Thessaly, or because they were supposed by some to be
the daughters of Pierus, a king of Macedonia, who settled in Bœotia.
――――Also the daughters of Pierus, who challenged the Muses to a trial
in music, in which they were conquered, and changed into magpies. It
may perhaps be supposed that the victorious Muses assumed the name
of the conquered daughters of Pierus, and ordered themselves to be
called Pierides, in the same manner as Minerva was called Pallas
because she had killed the giant Pallas. _Ovid_, _Metamorphoses_,
bk. 5, li. 300.

=Piĕris=, a mountain of Macedonia. _Pausanias_, bk. 9, ch. 29.

=Piĕrus=, a mountain of Thessaly, sacred to the Muses, who were from
thence, as some imagine, called _Pierides_.――――A rich man of Thessaly,
whose nine daughters, called Pierides, challenged the Muses, and were
changed into magpies when conquered. _Pausanias_, bk. 9, ch. 29.――――A
river of Achaia, in Peloponnesus.――――A town of Thessaly. _Pausanias_,
bk. 7, ch. 21.――――A mountain with a lake of the same name in
Macedonia.

=Piĕtas=, a virtue which denotes veneration for the deity, and love
and tenderness to our friends. It received divine honours among the
Romans, and was made one of their gods. Acilius Glabrio first erected
a temple to this new divinity, on the spot where a woman had fed with
her own milk her aged father, who had been imprisoned by the order of
the senate, and deprived of all aliments. _Cicero_, _De Divinatione_,
bk. 1.――_Valerius Maximus_, bk. 5, ch. 4.――_Pliny_, bk. 7, ch. 36.

=Pigres= and =Mattyas=, two brothers, &c. _Herodotus._――――The name of
three rivers.

=Pigrum mare=, a name applied to the Northern sea, from its being
frozen. The word _Pigra_ is applied to the Palus Mœotis. _Ovid_, bk.
4, _ex Ponto_, ltr. 10, li. 61.――_Pliny_, bk. 4, ch. 13.――_Tacitus_,
_Germania_, ch. 45.

=Pilumnus=, the god of bakers at Rome. _See:_ Picumnus.

=Pimpla=, a mountain of Macedonia, with a fountain of the same name,
on the confines of Thessaly, near Olympus, sacred to the Muses, who
on that account are often called _Pimpleæ_ and _Pimpleades_. _Horace_,
bk. 1, ode 26, li. 9.――_Strabo_, bk. 10.――_Martial_, bk. 12, ltr. 11,
li. 3.――_Statius_, bk. 1, _Sylvæ_, poem 4, li. 26; _Sylvæ_, poem 2,
li. 36.

=Pimprana=, a town on the Indus. _Arrian._

=Pinăre=, an island of the Ægean sea.――――A town of Syria, at the south
of mount Amanus. _Pliny_, bk. 5, ch. 25.――――Of Lycia. _Strabo_,
bk. 14.

=Pinārius= and =Potitius=, two old men of Arcadia, who came with
Evander to Italy. They were instructed by Hercules, who visited the
court of Evander, how they were to offer sacrifices to his divinity,
in the morning, and in the evening, immediately at sunset. The
morning sacrifice they punctually performed, but on the evening
Potitius was obliged to offer the sacrifice alone, as Pinarius
neglected to come till after the appointed time. This negligence
offended Hercules, and he ordered that for the future Pinarius and
his descendants should preside over the sacrifices, but that Potitius,
with his posterity, should wait upon the priests as servants, when
the sacrifices were annually offered to him on mount Aventine.
This was religiously observed till the age of Appius Claudius,
who persuaded the Potitii, by a large bribe, to discontinue their
sacred office, and to have the ceremony performed by slaves. For this
negligence, as the Latin authors observe, the Potitii were deprived
of sight, and the family became a little time after totally extinct.
_Livy_, bk. 1, ch. 7.――_Virgil_, _Æneid_, bk. 8, li. 269, &c.
――_Victor_, _de Origo Gentis Romanæ_, ch. 8.

=Marcus Pinārius Rusca=, a pretor, who conquered Sardinia, and defeated
the Corsicans. _Cicero_, _On Oratory_, bk. 2.

=Pinarus=, or =Pindus=, now _Delifou_, a river falling into the sea
near Issus, after flowing between Cilicia and Syria. _Dionysius
Periegeta._

=Pincum=, a town of Mœsia Superior, now _Gradisca_.

=Pindărus=, a celebrated lyric poet of Thebes. He was carefully trained
from his earliest years to the study of music and poetry, and he was
taught how to compose verses with elegance and simplicity, by Myrtis
and Corinna. When he was young, it is said that a swarm of bees
settled on his lips, and there left some honeycombs as he reposed
on the grass. This was universally explained as a prognostic of
his future greatness and celebrity, and indeed he seemed entitled
to notice when he had conquered Myrtis in a musical conquest. He
was not, however, so successful against Corinna, who obtained five
times, while he was competitor, a poetical prize, which, according
to some, was adjudged rather to the charms of her person, than to the
brilliancy of her genius, or the superiority of her composition. In
the public assemblies of Greece, where females were not permitted to
contend, Pindar was rewarded with the prize, in preference to every
other competitor; and as the conquerors at Olympia were the subject
of his compositions, the poet was courted by statesmen and princes.
His hymns and pæans were repeated before the most crowded assemblies
in the temples of Greece; and the priestess of Delphi declared that
it was the will of Apollo that Pindar should receive the half of all
the first fruit offerings that were annually heaped on his altars.
This was not the only public honour which he received; after his
death, he was honoured with every mark of respect, even to adoration.
His statue was erected at Thebes in the public place where the games
were exhibited, and six centuries after it was viewed with pleasure
and admiration by the geographer Pausanias. The honours which had
been paid to him while alive, were also shared by his posterity; and
at the celebration of one of the festivals of the Greeks, a portion
of the victim which had been offered in sacrifice, was reserved for
the descendants of the poet. Even the most inveterate enemies of the
Thebans showed regard for his memory, and the Spartans spared the
house which the prince of Lyrics had inhabited, when they destroyed
the houses and the walls of Thebes. The same respect was also paid
him by Alexander the Great when Thebes was reduced to ashes. It
is said that Pindar died at the advanced age of 86, B.C. 435. The
greatest part of his works have perished. He had written some hymns
to the gods, poems in honour of Apollo, dithyrambics to Bacchus, and
odes on several victories obtained at the four greatest festivals
of the Greeks, the Olympic, Isthmian, Pythian, and Nemean games.
Of all these, the odes are the only compositions extant, admired
for sublimity of sentiments, grandeur of expression, energy and
magnificence of style, boldness of metaphors, harmony of numbers, and
elegance of diction. In these odes, which were repeated with the aid
of musical instruments, and accompanied by the various inflections
of the voice, with suitable attitudes and proper motions of the body,
the poet has not merely celebrated the place where the victory was
won, but has introduced beautiful episodes, and by unfolding the
greatness of his heroes, the dignity of their characters, and the
glory of the several republics where they flourished, he has rendered
the whole truly beautiful and in the highest degree interesting.
Horace has not hesitated to call Pindar inimitable, and this
panegyric will not perhaps appear too offensive when we recollect
that succeeding critics have agreed in extolling his beauties, his
excellence, the fire, animation, and enthusiasm of his genius. He has
been censured for his affectation in composing an ode from which the
letter S was excluded. The best editions of Pindar are those of Heyne,
4to, Gottingen, 1773; of Glasgow, 12mo, 1774; and of Schmidius, 4to,
Witteberg, 1616. _Athenæus._――_Quintilian_, bk. 10, ch. 1.――_Horace_,
bk. 4, ode 2.――_Ælian_, _Varia Historia_, bk. 3.――_Pausanias_, bk. 1,
ch. 8; bk. 9, ch. 23.――_Valerius Maximus_, bk. 9, ch. 12.――_Plutarch_,
_Alexander_.――_Curtius_, bk. 1, ch. 13.――――A tyrant of Ephesus, who
killed his master at his own request, after the battle of Philippi.
_Plutarch._――――A Theban, who wrote a Latin poem on the Trojan war.

=Pindăsus=, a mountain of Troas.

=Pindenissus=, a town of Cilicia, on the borders of Syria. Cicero, when
proconsul in Asia, besieged it for 25 days and took it. _Cicero_,
_For Marcus Cælius_; _Letters to his Friends_, bk. 2, ltr. 10.

=Pindus=, a mountain, or rather a chain of mountains, between Thessaly,
Macedonia, and Epirus. It was greatly celebrated as being sacred to
the Muses and to Apollo. _Ovid_, _Metamorphoses_, bk. 1, li. 570.
――_Strabo_, bk. 18.――_Virgil_, _Eclogues_, poem 10.――_Lucan_, bk. 1,
li. 674; bk. 6, li. 339.――_Mela_, bk. 2, ch. 3.――――A town of Doris
in Greece, called also Cyphas. It was watered by a small river of
the same name which falls into the Cephisus, near Lilæa. _Herodotus_,
bk. 1, ch. 56.

=Pingus=, a river of Mœsia, falling into the Danube. _Pliny_, bk. 3,
ch. 26.

=Pinna=, a town of Italy at the mouth of the Matrinus, south of Picenum.
_Silius Italicus_, bk. 8, li. 518.

=Pinthias.= _See:_ Phinthias.

=Pintia=, a town of Spain, now supposed to be _Valladolid_.

=Pion=, one of the descendants of Hercules, who built _Pionia_, near
the Caycus in Mysia. It is said that smoke issued from his tomb as
often as sacrifices were offered to him. _Pausanias_, bk. 9, ch. 18.

=Pione=, one of the Nereides. _Apollodorus._

=Piŏnia=, a town of Mysia, near the Caycus.

=Piræus=, or =Pyræeus=, a celebrated harbour at Athens, at the mouth
of the Cephisus, about three miles distant from the city. It was
joined to the town by two walls, in circumference seven miles and
a half, and 60 feet high, which Themistocles wished to raise in a
double proportion. One of these was built by Pericles, and the other
by Themistocles. The towers which were raised on the walls to serve
as a defence, were turned into dwelling-houses, as the population
of Athens gradually increased. It was the most capacious of all
the harbours of the Athenians, and was naturally divided into three
large basins called Cantharos, Aphrodisium, and Zea, improved by
the labours of Themistocles, and made sufficiently commodious for
the reception of a fleet of 400 ships, in the greatest security. The
walls which joined it to Athens, with all the fortifications, were
totally demolished when Lysander put an end to the Peloponnesian war
by the reduction of Attica. _Pausanias_, bk. 1, ch. 1.――_Strabo_,
bk. 9.――_Cornelius Nepos_, _Themistocles_.――_Florus_, bk. 3, ch. 5.
――_Justin_, bk. 5, ch. 8.――_Ovid_, _Metamorphoses_, bk. 6, li. 446.

=Piranthus=, a son of Argus and Evadne, brother to Jasus, Epidaurus,
and Perasus. _Pausanias_, bk. 2, chs. 16 & 17.――_Apollodorus_, bk. 2.

=Pirēne=, a daughter of Danaus.――――A daughter of Œbalus, or, according
to others, of the Achelous. She had by Neptune two sons, called
Leches and Cenchrius, who gave their names to two of the harbours of
Corinth. Pirene was so disconsolate at the death of her son Cenchrius,
who had been killed by Diana, that she pined away, and was dissolved,
by her continual weeping, into a fountain of the same name, which was
still seen at Corinth in the age of Pausanias. The fountain Pirene
was sacred to the Muses, and, according to some, the horse Pegasus
was then drinking some of its waters, when Bellerophon took it to
go and conquer the Chimæra. _Pausanias_, bk. 2, ch. 3.――_Ovid_,
_Metamorphoses_, bk. 2, li. 240.

=Pirĭthous=, a son of Ixion and the cloud, or, according to others,
of Dia the daughter of Deioneus. Some make him son of Dia by Jupiter,
who assumed the shape of a horse whenever he paid his addresses to
his mistress. He was king of the Lapithæ, and, as an ambitious prince,
he wished to become acquainted with Theseus, king of Athens, of whose
fame and exploits he had heard so many reports. To see him, and at
the same time to be a witness of his valour, he resolved to invade
his territories with an army. Theseus immediately met him on the
borders of Attica, but at the sight of one another the two enemies
did not begin the engagement, but, struck with the appearance of
each other, they stepped between the hostile armies. Their meeting
was like that of the most cordial friends, and Pirithous, by giving
Theseus his hand as a pledge of his sincerity, promised to repair all
the damages which his hostilities in Attica might have occasioned.
From that time, therefore, the two monarchs became the most intimate
and the most attached of friends, so much, that their friendship,
like that of Orestes and Pylades, is become proverbial. Pirithous
some time after married Hippodamia, and invited not only the heroes
of his age, but also the gods themselves, and his neighbours the
Centaurs, to celebrate his nuptials. Mars was the only one of the
gods who was not invited, and to punish this neglect, the god of
war was determined to raise a quarrel among the guests, and to
disturb the festivity of the entertainment. Eurythion, captivated
with the beauty of Hippodamia, and intoxicated with wine, attempted
to offer violence to the bride, but he was prevented by Theseus,
and immediately killed. This irritated the rest of the Centaurs;
the contest became general, but the valour of Theseus, Pirithous,
Hercules, and the rest of the Lapithæ, triumphed over their enemies.
Many of the Centaurs were slain, and the rest saved their lives
by flight. _See:_ Lapithus. The death of Hippodamia left Pirithous
very disconsolate, and he resolved with his friend Theseus, who had
likewise lost his wife, never to marry again, except to a goddess, or
one of the daughters of the gods. This determination occasioned the
rape of Helen by the two friends; the lot was drawn, and it fell to
the share of Theseus to have the beautiful prize. Pirithous upon this
undertook with his friend to carry away Proserpine and to marry her.
They descended into the infernal regions, but Pluto, who was apprised
of their machinations to disturb his conjugal peace, stopped the two
friends and confined them there. Pirithous was tied to his father’s
wheel, or, according to Hyginus, he was delivered to the furies to be
continually tormented. His punishment, however, was short, and when
Hercules visited the kingdom of Pluto, he obtained from Proserpine
the pardon of Pirithous, and brought him back to his kingdom safe
and unhurt. Some suppose that he was torn to pieces by the dog
Cerberus. _See:_ Theseus. _Ovid_, _Metamorphoses_, bk. 12, fable 4
& 5.――_Hesiod_, _Shield of Heracles_.――_Homer_, _Iliad_, bk. 2.
――_Pausanias_, bk. 5, ch. 10.――_Apollodorus_, bk. 1, ch. 8; bk. 2, ch.
5.――_Hyginus_, fables 14, 79, 155.――_Diodorus_, bk. 4.――_Plutarch_,
_Theseus_.――_Horace_, bk. 4, ode 7.――_Virgil_, _Æneid_, bk. 7,
li. 304.――_Martial_, bk. 7, ltr. 23.

=Pirus=, a captain of the Thracians during the Trojan war, killed by
Thoas king of Ætolia. _Homer_, _Iliad_, bk. 4.

=Pirustæ=, a people of Illyricum. _Livy_, bk. 45, ch. 26.

=Pisa=, a town of Elis, on the Alpheus at the west of the Peloponnesus,
founded by Pisus the son of Perieres, and grandson of Æolus. Its
inhabitants accompanied Nestor to the Trojan war, and they enjoyed
long the privilege of presiding at the Olympic games, which were
celebrated near their city. This honourable appointment was envied by
the people of Elis, who made war against the Piseans, and after many
bloody battles took their city and totally demolished it. It was at
Pisa that Œnomaus murdered the suitors of his daughter, and that he
himself was conquered by Pelops. The inhabitants were called _Pisæi_.
Some have doubted the existence of such a place as Pisa; but this
doubt originates from Pisa’s having been destroyed in so remote an
age. The horses of Pisa were famous. The year on which the Olympic
games were celebrated, was often called _Pisæus annus_, and the
victory which was obtained there was called _Pisææ ramus olivæ_.
_See:_ Olympia. _Strabo_, bk. 8.――_Ovid_, _Tristia_, bk. 2, li. 386;
bk. 4, poem 10, li. 95.――_Mela_, bk. 2.――_Virgil_, _Georgics_, bk. 3,
li. 180.――_Statius_, _Thebaid_, bk. 7, li. 417.――_Pausanias_, bk. 6,
ch. 22.

=Pisæ=, a town of Etruria, built by a colony from Pisa in the
Peloponnesus. The inhabitants were called _Pisani_. Dionysius of
Halicarnassus affirms that it existed before the Trojan war, but
others support that it was built by a colony of Pisæans, who were
shipwrecked on the coast of Etruria at their return from the Trojan
war. Pisæ was once a very powerful and flourishing city, which
conquered the Baleares, together with Sardinia and Corsica. The
sea on the neighbouring coast was called the bay of Pisæ. _Virgil_,
_Æneid_, bk. 10, li. 179.――_Strabo_, bk. 5.――_Lucan_, bk. 2, li. 401.
――_Livy_, bk. 39, ch. 2; bk. 45, ch. 13.――_Pliny_, bk. 2, ch. 103.

=Pisæus=, a surname of Jupiter at Pisa.

=Pisander=, a son of Bellerophon, killed by the Solymi.――――A Trojan
chief, killed by Menelaus. _Homer_, _Iliad_, bk. 13, li. 601.――――One
of Penelope’s suitors, son of Polyctor. _Ovid_, _Heroides_, poem 1.
――――A son of Antimachus, killed by Agamemnon during the Trojan war.
He had had recourse to entreaties and promises, but in vain, as
the Grecian wished to resent the advice of Antimachus, who opposed
the restoration of Helen. _Homer_, _Iliad_, bk. 11, li. 123.――――An
admiral of the Spartan fleet during the Peloponnesian war. He
abolished the democracy at Athens, and established the aristocratical
government of the 400 tyrants. He was killed in a naval battle by
Conon the Athenian general near Cnidus, in which the Spartans lost
50 galleys, B.C. 394. _Diodorus._――――A poet of Rhodes, who composed
a poem called _Heraclea_, in which he gave an account of all the
labours and all the exploits of Hercules. He was the first who ever
represented his hero armed with a club. _Pausanias_, bk. 8, ch. 22.

=Pisātes=, or =Pisæi=, the inhabitants of Pisa in the Peloponnesus.

=Pisaurus=, now _Poglia_, a river of Picenum, with a town called
_Pisaurum_, now _Pesaro_, which became a Roman colony in the
consulship of Claudius Pulcher. The town was destroyed by an
earthquake in the beginning of the reign of Augustus. _Mela_, bk. 2,
ch. 4.――_Catullus_, poem 82.――_Pliny_, bk. 3.――_Livy_, bk. 39, ch. 44;
bk. 41, ch. 27.

=Pisēnor=, a son of Ixion and the cloud.――――One of the ♦ancestors of
the nurse of Ulysses. _Homer_, _Odyssey_, bk. 1.

♦ ‘ancestor’ replaced with ‘ancestors’

=Piseus=, a king of ♦Etruria, about 260 years before the foundation of
Rome. _Pliny_, bk. 7, ch. 26.

♦ ‘Etrura’ replaced with ‘Etruria’

=Pisias=, a general of the Argives in the age of Epaminondas.――――A
statuary at Athens, celebrated for his pieces. _Pausanias._

=Pĭsĭdia=, an inland country of Asia Minor, between Phrygia, Pamphylia,
Galatia, and Isauria. It was rich and fertile. The inhabitants were
called _Pisidæ_. _Cicero_, _de Divinatione_, bk. 1, ch. 1.――_Mela_,
bk. 1, ch. 2.――_Strabo_, bk. 12.――_Livy_, bk. 37, chs. 54 & 56.

=Pisidĭce=, a daughter of Æolus, who married Myrmidon.――――A daughter
of Nestor.――――A daughter of Pelias.――――The daughter of a king of
Methymna in Lesbos. She became enamoured of Achilles when he invaded
her father’s kingdom, and she promised to deliver the city into his
hands if he would marry her. Achilles agreed to the proposal, but
when he became master of Methymna, he ordered Pisidice to be stoned
to death for her perfidy. _Parthenius_, _Narrationes Amatoriæ_,
ch. 21.

=Pisis=, a native of Thespia, who gained uncommon influence among
the Thebans, and behaved with great courage in the defence of their
liberties. He was taken prisoner by Demetrius, who made him governor
of Thespia.

=Pisistrătĭdæ=, the descendants of Pisistratus tyrant of Athens. _See:_
Pisistratus.

=Pisistrătĭdes=, a man sent as ambassador to the satraps of the king of
Persia, by the Spartans.

=Pisistrătus=, an Athenian, son of Hippocrates, who early distinguished
himself by his valour in the field, and by his address and eloquence
at home. After he had rendered himself the favourite of the populace
by his liberality, and by the intrepidity with which he had fought
their battles, particularly near Salamis, he resolved to make himself
master of his country. Everything seemed favourable to his views;
but Solon alone, who was then at the head of affairs, and who had
lately instituted his celebrated laws, opposed him, and discovered
his duplicity and artful behaviour before the public assembly.
Pisistratus was not disheartened by the measures of his relation
Solon, but he had recourse to artifice. In returning from his country
house, he cut himself in various places, and after he had exposed his
mangled body to the eyes of the populace, deplored his misfortunes,
and accused his enemies of attempts upon his life, because he was
the friend of the people, the guardian of the poor, and the reliever
of the oppressed; he claimed a chosen body of 50 men from the
populace to defend his person in future from the malevolence and the
cruelty of his enemies. The unsuspecting people unanimously granted
his request, though Solon opposed it with all his influence; and
Pisistratus had no sooner received an armed band, on whose fidelity
and attachment he could rely, than he seized the citadel of Athens,
and made himself absolute. The people too late perceived their
credulity; yet, though the tyrant was popular, two of the citizens,
Megacles and Lycurgus, conspired together against him, and by their
means he was forcibly ejected from the city. His house and all his
effects were exposed to sale, but there was found in Athens only one
man who would buy them. The private dissensions of the friends of
liberty proved favourable to the expelled tyrant, and Megacles, who
was jealous of Lycurgus, secretly promised to restore Pisistratus
to all his rights and privileges in Athens, if he would marry
his daughter. Pisistratus consented, and, by the assistance of
his father-in-law, he was soon enabled to expel Lycurgus, and to
re-establish himself. By means of a woman called Phya, whose shape
was tall, and whose features were noble and commanding, he imposed
upon the people, and created himself adherents even among his enemies.
Phya was conducted through the streets of the city, and, showing
herself subservient to the artifice of Pisistratus, she was announced
as Minerva, the goddess of wisdom and the patroness of Athens, who
was come down from heaven to re-establish her favourite Pisistratus,
in a power which was sanctioned by the will of the gods, and favoured
by the affection of the people. In the midst of his triumph, however,
Pisistratus felt himself unsupported, and some time after, when
he repudiated the daughter of Megacles, he found that not only the
citizens, but even his very troops, were alienated from him by the
influence, the intrigues, and the bribery of his father-in-law.
He fled from Athens, where he could no longer maintain his power,
and retired to Eubœa. Eleven years after, he was drawn from his
obscure retreat, by means of his son Hippias, and he was a third
time received by the people of Athens as their master and sovereign.
Upon this he sacrificed to his resentment the friends of Megacles,
but he did not lose sight of the public good; and while he sought
the aggrandizement of his family, he did not neglect the dignity and
the honour of the Athenian name. He died about 527 years before the
christian era, after he had enjoyed the sovereign power at Athens for
33 years, including the years of his banishment, and he was succeeded
by his son Hipparchus. Pisistratus claims our admiration for his
justice, his liberality, and his moderation. If he was dreaded and
detested as a tyrant, the Athenians loved and respected his private
virtues and his patriotism as a fellow-citizen; and the opprobrium
which generally falls on his head may be attributed not to the
severity of his administration, but to the republican principles of
the Athenians, who hated and exclaimed against the moderation and
equity of the mildest sovereign, while they flattered the pride
and gratified the guilty desires of the most tyrannical of their
fellow-subjects. Pisistratus often refused to punish the insolence
of his enemies; and when he had one day been violently accused of
murder, rather than inflict immediate punishment upon the man who
had criminated him, he went to the Areopagus, and there convinced the
Athenians that the accusations of his enemies were groundless, and
that his life was irreproachable. It is to his labours that we are
indebted for the preservation of the poems of Homer, and he was the
first, according to Cicero, who introduced them at Athens, in the
order in which they now stand. He also established a public library
at Athens; and the valuable books which he had diligently collected,
were carried into Persia when Xerxes made himself master of the
capital of Attica. Hipparchus and Hippias, the sons of Pisistratus,
who have received the name of _Pisistratidæ_, rendered themselves
as illustrious as their father; but the flames of liberty were too
powerful to be extinguished. The Pisistratidæ governed with great
moderation, yet the name of tyrant or sovereign was insupportable to
the Athenians. Two of the most respectable of the citizens, called
Harmodius and Aristogiton, conspired against them, and Hipparchus
was dispatched in a public assembly. This murder was not, however,
attended with any advantage, and though the two leaders of the
conspiracy, who have been celebrated through every age for their
patriotism, were supported by the people, yet Hippias quelled
the tumult by his uncommon firmness and prudence, and for a while
preserved that peace in Athens which his father had often been
unable to command. This was not long to continue, Hippias was at
last expelled by the united efforts of the Athenians and of their
allies of Peloponnesus; and he left Attica, when he found himself
unable to maintain his power and independence. The rest of the family
of Pisistratus followed him in his banishment, and after they had
refused to accept the liberal offers of the princes of Thessaly, and
the king of Macedonia, who wished them to settle in their respective
territories, the Pisistratidæ retired to Sigæum, which their father
had, in the summit of his power, conquered and bequeathed to his
posterity. After the banishment of the Pisistratidæ, the Athenians
became more than commonly jealous of their liberty, and often
sacrificed the most powerful of their citizens, apprehensive of
the influence which popularity and a well-directed liberality might
gain among the fickle and unsettled populace. The Pisistratidæ were
banished from Athens about 18 years after the death of Pisistratus,
B.C. 510. _Ælian_, _Varia Historia_, bk. 13, ch. 14.――_Pausanias_,
bk. 7, ch. 26.――_Herodotus_, bk. 1, ch. 59; bk. 6, ch. 103.――_Cicero_,
_On Oratory_, bk. 3.――_Valerius Maximus_, bk. 1, ch. 2.――――A son of
Nestor. _Apollodorus._――――A king of Orchomenos, who rendered himself
odious by his cruelty towards his nobles. He was put to death by
them; and they carried away his body from the public assembly, by
hiding each a piece of his flesh under their garments, to prevent
a discovery from the people, of whom he was a great favourite.
_Plutarch_, _Parallela minora_.――――A Theban attached to the Roman
interest while the consul Flaminius was in Greece. He assassinated
the pretor of Bœotia, for which he was put to death, &c.

=Piso=, a celebrated family at Rome, which was a branch of the
Calpurnians, descended from Calpus the son of Numa. Before the death
of Augustus, 11 of this family had obtained the consulship, and
many had been honoured with triumphs, on account of their victories
in the different provinces of the Roman empire. Of this family the
most famous were――――Lucius Calpurnius, who was tribune of the people
about 149 years before Christ, and afterwards consul. His frugality
procured him the surname of _Frugi_, and he gained the greatest
honours as an orator, a lawyer, a statesman, and an historian. He
made a successful campaign in Sicily, and rewarded his son, who
had behaved with great valour during the war, with a crown of gold,
which weighed 20 pounds. He composed some annals and harangues, which
were lost in the age of Cicero. His style was obscure and inelegant.
――――Caius, a Roman consul, A.U.C. 687 who supported the consular
dignity against the tumults of the tribunes, and the clamours of
the people. He made a law to restrain the cabals which generally
prevailed at the election of the chief magistrates.――――Cneus, another
consul under Augustus. He was one of the favourites of Tiberius, by
whom he was appointed governor of Syria, where he rendered himself
odious by his cruelty. He was accused of having poisoned Germanicus;
and when he saw that he was shunned and despised by his friends, he
destroyed himself, A.D. 20.――――Lucius, a governor of Spain, who was
assassinated by a peasant, as he was travelling through the country;
the murderer was seized and tortured, but he refused to confess
the causes of the murder.――――Lucius, a private man accused of
having uttered seditious words against the emperor Tiberius. He
was condemned, but a natural death saved him from the hands of the
executioner.――――Lucius, a governor of Rome for 20 years, an office
which he discharged with the greatest justice and credit. He was
greatly honoured by the friendship of Augustus, as well as of his
successor, a distinction he deserved, both as a faithful citizen
and a man of learning. Some, however, say that Tiberius made him
governor of Rome, because he had continued drinking with him a
night and two days, or two days and two nights, according to Pliny.
Horace dedicated his poem, _De Arte Poeticâ_, to his two sons, whose
partiality for literature had distinguished them among the rest of
the Romans, and who were fond of cultivating ♦poetry in their leisure
hours. _Plutarch_, _Cæsar_.――_Pliny_, bk. 18, ch. 3.――――Cneus, a
factious and turbulent youth, who conspired against his country with
Catiline. He was among the friends of Julius Cæsar.――――Caius, a Roman
who was at the head of a celebrated conspiracy against the emperor
Nero. He had rendered himself a favourite of the people by his
private as well as public virtues, by the generosity of his behaviour,
his fondness of pleasure with the voluptuous, and his austerity with
the grave and the reserved. He had been marked by some as a proper
person to succeed the emperor; but the discovery of the plot by a
freed man who was among the conspirators, soon cut him off, with
all his partisans. He refused to court the affections of the people
and of the army, when the whole had been made public; and instead of
taking proper measures for his preservation, either by proclaiming
himself emperor, as his friends advised, or by seeking a retreat in
the distant provinces of the empire, he retired to his own house,
where he opened the veins of both his arms, and bled to death.
――――Lucius, a senator who followed the emperor Valerian into Persia.
He proclaimed himself emperor after the death of Valerian, but he
was defeated and put to death a few weeks after, A.D. 261, by Valens,
&c.――――Licimanus, a senator adopted by the emperor Galba. He was put
to death by Otho’s orders.――――A son-in-law of Cicero.――――A patrician,
whose daughter married Julius Cæsar. _Horace._――_Tacitus_, _Annals_
& _Histories_.――_Valerius Maximus._――_Livy._――_Suetonius._――_Cicero_,
_de Officiis_, &c.――_Plutarch_, _Cæsar_, &c.――――One of the 30 tyrants
appointed over Athens by Lysander.

♦ ‘poety’ replaced with ‘poetry’

=Pĭsōnis villa=, a place near Baiæ in Campania, which the emperor Nero
often frequented. _Tacitus_, _Annals_, bk. 1.

=Pissirus=, a town of Thrace, near the river Nestus. _Herodius_, bk. 7,
ch. 109.

=Pistor=, a surname given to Jupiter by the Romans, signifying _baker_,
because when their city was taken by the Gauls, the god persuaded
them to throw down loaves from the Tarpeian hill where they were
besieged, that the enemy might from thence suppose that they were not
in want of provisions, though in reality they were near surrendering
through famine. This deceived the Gauls, and they soon after raised
the siege. _Ovid_, _Fasti_, bk. 6, lis. 350, 394, &c.

=Pistoria=, now _Pistoja_, a town of Etruria, at the foot of the
Apennines, near Florence, where ♦Catiline was defeated. _Sallust_,
_Catilinæ Coniuratio_, ch. 47.――_Pliny_, bk. 3, ch. 4.

♦ ‘Cataline’ replaced with ‘Catiline’

=Pisus=, a son of Aphareus, or, according to others, of Perieres.
_Apollodorus_, bk. 3.――_Pausanias_, bk. 5.