Chapter M (30)

=Scyros=, a rocky and barren island in the Ægean, at the distance
of about 28 miles north-east from Eubœa, 60 miles in circumference.
It was originally in the possession of the Pelasgians and Carians.
Achilles retired there not to go to the Trojan war, and became father
of Neoptolemus by Deidamia the daughter of king Lycomedes. Scyros was
conquered by the Athenians under Cimon. _Homer_, _Odyssey_, bk. 10,
li. 508.――_Ovid_, _Metamorphoses_, bk. 7, li. 464; bk. 13, li. 156.
――_Pausanias_, bk. 1, ch. 7.――_Strabo_, bk. 9.

=Scythæ=, the inhabitants of Scythia. _See:_ Scythia.

=Scythes=, or =Scytha=, a son of Jupiter by a daughter of Tellus.
Half his body was that of a man, and the rest that of a serpent. He
became king of a country which he called Scythia. _Diodorus_, bk. 2.
――――A son of Hercules and Echidna.

=Scythia=, a large country situate in the most northern parts of
Europe and Asia, from which circumstance it is generally denominated
European and Asiatic. The most northern parts of Scythia were
uninhabited on account of the extreme coldness of the climate. The
more southern parts in Asia that were inhabited were distinguished
by the name of Scythia _intra et extra Imaum_, &c. The boundaries of
Scythia were unknown to the ancients, as no traveller had penetrated
beyond the vast tracts of land which lay at the north, east, and west.
Scythia comprehended the modern kingdoms of Tartary, Russia in Asia,
Siberia, Muscovy, the Crimea, Poland, part of Hungary, Lithuania,
the northern parts of Germany, Sweden, Norway, &c. The Scythians
were divided into several nations or tribes; they had no cities, but
continually changed their habitations. They inured themselves to bear
labour and fatigue; they despised money, and lived upon milk, and
covered themselves with the skins of their cattle. The virtues seemed
to flourish among them, and that philosophy and moderation which
other nations wished to acquire by study, seemed natural to them.
Some authors, however, represent them as a savage and barbarous
people, who fed upon human flesh, who drank the blood of their
enemies, and used the skulls of travellers as vessels in their
sacrifices to their gods. The Scythians made several irruptions
upon the more southern provinces of Asia, especially B.C. 624, when
they remained in possession of Asia Minor for 28 years, and we find
them at different periods extending their conquests in Europe, and
penetrating as far as Egypt. Their government was monarchical, and
the deference which they paid to their sovereigns was ♦unparalleled.
When the king died, his body was carried through every province,
where it was received in solemn procession, and afterwards buried.
In the first centuries after Christ they invaded the Roman empire
with the Sarmatians. _See:_ Sarmatia. _Herodotus_, bk. 1, ch. 4, &c.
――_Strabo_, bk. 7.――_Diodorus_, bk. 2.――_Valerius Maximus_, bk. 5,
ch. 4.――_Justin_, bk. 2, ch. 1, &c.――_Ovid_, _Metamorphoses_, bk. 1,
li. 64; bk. 2, li. 224.

♦ ‘uuparalleled’ replaced with ‘unparalleled’

=Scythīnus=, a Greek poet of Teos in Ionia, who wrote iambics.
_Diogenes Laërtius_, _Heraclides_.――_Athenæus_, bk. 11.

=Scython=, a man changed into a woman. _Ovid_, _Metamorphoses_, bk. 4,
li. 280.

=Scythopŏlis=, a town of Syria, said to have been built by Bacchus.
_Strabo_, bk. 16.――_Pliny_, bk. 5, ch. 18.

=Scythotauri=, a people of Chersonesus Taurica. _Pliny_, bk. 4, ch. 12.

=Sebasta=, a town of Judæa.――――Another in Cilicia.――――The name was
common to several cities, as it was in honour of Augustus.

=Sebastīa=, a city of Armenia.

=Sebennȳtus=, a town of the Delta in Egypt. The branch of the Nile
which flows near it has been called the _Sebennytic_. _Pliny_, bk. 5,
ch. 10.

=Sebētus=, a small river of Campania, falling into the bay of Naples,
whence the epithet _Sebethis_, given to one of the nymphs who
frequented its borders, and became mother of Œbalus by Telon.
_Virgil_, _Æneid_, bk. 7, li. 734.

=Sebusiāni=, or =Segusiani=, a people of Celtic Gaul.

=Sectānus=, an infamous debauchee in the age of Horace, bk. 1, satire 4,
li. 112.

=Secundus Julius=, a man who published some harangues and orations in
the age of the emperor Titus.――――A favourite of Nero.――――One of the
associates of Sejanus.

=Seditāni=, or =Sedentāni=, a people of Spain. _Silius Italicus_, bk. 3,
li. 372.

=Sedūni=, an ancient nation of Belgic Gaul. _Cæsar_, _Gallic War_,
bk. 3.

=Sedusii=, a people of Germany near the Suevi. _Cæsar._

=Segesta=, a town of Sicily founded by Æneas, or, according to some, by
Crinisus. _See:_ Ægesta.

=Segestes=, a German, friendly to the Roman interest in the time of
Germanicus. His daughter married Arminius. _Tacitus_, _Annals_, bk. 1,
ch. 55.

=Segetia=, a divinity at Rome, invoked by the husbandmen that the
harvest might be plentiful. _Augustine_, _City of God_, bk. 4, ch. 8.
――_Macrobius_, bk. 1, ch. 16.――_Pliny_, bk. 18, ch. 2.

=Segni=, a people with a town of the same name in Belgic Gaul. _Cæsar_,
_Gallic War_, bk. 6.

=Segrobrica=, a town of Spain near Saguntum. _Pliny_, bk. 3, ch. 3.

=Segōnax=, a prince in the southern parts of Britain, who opposed Cæsar,
by order of Cassivelaunus, &c. _Cæsar_, _Gallic War_, bk. 5, ch. 22.

=Segontia=, or =Seguntia=, a town of Hispania Tarraconensis. _Livy_,
bk. 34, ch. 10.

=Segontiăci=, a people of Belgic Gaul, who submitted to Julius Cæsar.

=Segovia=, a town of Spain, of great power in the age of the Cæsars.
――――There was also another of the same name in Lusitania. Both had
been founded by the Celtiberi.

=Seguntium=, a town of Britain, supposed to be _Carnarvon_ in Wales.
_Cæsar_, _Gallic War_, bk. 5, ch. 21.

=Segusiāni=, a people of Gaul on the Loire. _Cæsar_, _Gallic War_,
bk. 1, ch. 10.――_Pliny_, bk. 4, ch. 18.

=Segusio=, a town of Piedmont on the Durias. _Pliny_, bk. 3, ch. 17.

=Ælius Sejānus=, a native of Vulsinum in Tuscany, who distinguished
himself in the court of Tiberius. His father’s name was Seuis Strabo,
a Roman knight, commander of the pretorian guards. His mother was
descended from the Junian family. Sejanus first gained the favours
of Caius Cæsar the grandson of Augustus, but afterwards he attached
himself to the interest and the views of Tiberius, who then sat on
the imperial throne. The emperor, who was naturally of a suspicious
temper, was free and open with Sejanus, and while he distrusted
others, he communicated his greatest secrets to this fawning
favourite. Sejanus improved this confidence, and when he had found
that he possessed the esteem of Tiberius, he next endeavoured to
become the favourite of the soldiers and the darling of the senate.
As commander of the pretorian guards he was the second man in Rome,
and in that important office he made use of insinuations and every
mean artifice to make himself beloved and revered. His affability and
condescension gained him the hearts of the common soldiers, and by
appointing his own favourites and adherents to places of trust and
honour, all the officers and centurions of the army became devoted
to his interest. The views of Sejanus in this were well known; yet
to advance with more success, he attempted to gain the affection of
the senators. In this he met with no opposition. A man who has the
disposal of places of honour and dignity, and who has the command
of the public money, cannot but be the favourite of those who are in
need of his assistance. It is even said that Sejanus gained to his
views all the wives of the senators, by a private and most secret
promise of marriage to each of them, whenever he had made himself
independent and sovereign of Rome. Yet however successful with
the best and noblest families in the empire, Sejanus had to combat
numbers in the house of the emperor; but these seeming obstacles were
soon removed. All the children and grandchildren of Tiberius were
sacrificed to the ambition of the favourite under various pretences;
and Drusus the son of the emperor, by striking Sejanus, made his
destruction sure and inevitable. Livia the wife of Drusus was gained
by Sejanus, and though the mother of many children, she was prevailed
upon to assist her adulterer in the murder of her husband, and she
consented to marry him when Drusus was dead. No sooner was Drusus
poisoned than Sejanus openly declared his wish to marry Livia. This
was strongly opposed by Tiberius; and the emperor, by recommending
Germanicus to the senators for his successor, rendered Sejanus bold
and determined. He was more urgent in his demands; and when he could
not gain the consent of the emperor, he persuaded him to retire to
solitude from the noise of Rome and the troubles of the government.
Tiberius, naturally fond of ease and luxury, yielded to his
representations, and retired to Campania, leaving Sejanus at the head
of the empire. This was highly gratifying to the favourite, and he
was now without a master. Prudence and moderation might have made him
what he wished to be; but Sejanus offended the whole empire when he
declared that he was emperor of Rome, and Tiberius only the dependent
prince of the island of Capreæ, where he had retired. Tiberius was
upon this fully convinced of the designs of Sejanus; and when he had
been informed that his favourite had had the meanness and audacity
to ridicule him by introducing him on the stage, the emperor ordered
him to be accused before the senate. Sejanus was deserted by all his
pretended friends, as soon as by fortune; and the man who aspired
to the empire, and who called himself the favourite of the people,
the darling of the pretorian guards, and the companion of Tiberius,
was seized without resistance, and the same day strangled in prison,
A.D. 31. His remains were exposed to the fury and insolence of the
populace, and afterwards thrown into the Tiber. His children and
all his relations were involved in his ruin, and Tiberius sacrificed
to his resentment and suspicions all those who were even connected
with Sejanus, or had shared his favours and enjoyed his confidence.
_Tacitus_, bk. 3, _Annals_, &c.――_Dio Cassius_, bk. 58.――_Suetonius_,
_Tiberias_.

=Cnæus Seius=, a Roman who had a famous horse of large size and
uncommon beauty. He was put to death by Antony, and it was observed,
that whoever obtained possession of his horse, which was supposed to
be of the same race as the horses of Diomedes destroyed by Hercules,
and which was called _Sejanus equus_, became unfortunate, and lost
all his property, with every member of his family. Hence arose the
proverb, _ille homo habet Sejanum equum_, applied to such as were
oppressed with misfortunes. _Aulus Gellius_, bk. 3, ch. 9.

=Seius Strabo=, the father of Sejanus, was a Roman knight, and
commander of the pretorian guards.

=Selasia.= _See:_ Sellasia.

=Selemnus=, a river of Achaia. _Pausanias_, bk. 7, ch. 23. _See:_
Selimnus.

=Selēne=, the wife of Antiochus king of Syria, put to death by Tigranes
king of Armenia. She was daughter of Physcon king of Egypt, and had
first married her brother Lathurus, according to the custom of her
country, and afterwards, by desire of her mother, her other brother
Gryphus. At the death of Gryphus she had married Antiochus, surnamed
Eusebes, the son of Antiochus Cyzicenus, by whom she had two sons.
According to Appian, she first married the father, and after his
death, his son Eusebes. _Appian_, _Syrian Wars_, &c.

=Seleucēna=, or =Seleucis=, a country of Syria, in Asia. _See:_
Seleucis.

=Seleucīa=, a town of Syria, on the sea-shore, generally called
_Pieria_, to distinguish it from others of the same name. There were
no less than eight other cities which were called Seleucia, and which
had all received their name from Seleucus Nicator. They were all
situate in the kingdom of Syria, in Cilicia, and near the Euphrates.
_Florus_, bk. 3, ch. 11.――_Plutarch_, _Demosthenes_.――_Mela_, bk. 1,
ch. 12.――_Strabo_, bks. 11 & 15.――_Pliny_, bk. 6, ch. 26.――――Also
the residence of the Parthian kings. _Cicero_, bk. 8, _Letters to his
Friends_, ltr. 14.

=Seleucĭdæ=, a surname given to those monarchs who sat on the throne of
Syria, which was founded by Seleucus the son of Antiochus, from whom
the word is derived. The era of the Seleucidæ begins with the taking
of Babylon by Seleucus, B.C. 312, and ends at the conquest of Syria
by Pompey, B.C. 65. The order in which these monarchs reigned is
shown in the account of Syria. _See:_ Syria.

=Seleucis=, a division of Syria, which received its name from Seleucus,
the founder of the Syrian empire after the death of Alexander the
Great. It was also called _Tetrapolis_, from the four cities which it
contained, called also sister cities; Seleucia called after Seleucus,
Antioch called after his father, Laodicea after his mother, and
Apamea after his wife. _Strabo_, bk. 16.

=Seleucus I.=, one of the captains of Alexander the Great, surnamed
_Nicator_, or _Victorious_, was son of Antiochus. After the king’s
death, he received Babylon as his province; but his ambitious
views, and his attempt to destroy Eumenes as he passed through his
territories, rendered him so unpopular, that he fled for safety to
the court of his friend Ptolemy king of Egypt. He was soon after
enabled to recover Babylon, which Antigonus had seized in his absence,
and he increased his dominions by the immediate conquest of Media,
and some of the neighbouring provinces. When he had strengthened
himself in his empire, Seleucus imitated the example of the rest
of the generals of Alexander, and assumed the title of independent
monarch. He afterwards made war against Antigonus, with the united
forces of Ptolemy, Cassander, and Lysimachus; and after this monarch
had been conquered and slain, his territories were divided among his
victorious enemies. When Seleucus became master of Syria, he built a
city there, which he called Antioch in honour of his father, and made
it the capital of his dominions. He also made war against Demetrius
and Lysimachus, though he had originally married Stratonice the
daughter of the former, and had lived in the closest friendship with
the latter. Seleucus was at last murdered by one of his servants
called Ptolemy Ceraunus, a man on whom he bestowed the greatest
favours, and whom he had distinguished by acts of the most unbounded
confidence. According to Arrian, Seleucus was the greatest and most
powerful of the princes who inherited the Macedonian empire after the
death of Alexander. His benevolence has been commended; and it has
been observed, that he conquered not to enslave nations, but to make
them more happy. He founded no less than 34 cities in different parts
of his empire, which he peopled with Greek colonies, whose national
industry, learning, religion, and spirit, were communicated to
the indolent and luxurious inhabitants of Asia. Seleucus was a
great benefactor to the Greeks; he restored to the Athenians the
library and statues which Xerxes had carried away from their city
when he invaded Greece, and among them were those of Harmodius and
Aristogiton. Seleucus was murdered 280 years before the christian era,
in the 32nd year of his reign, and the 78th, or, according to others,
the 73rd year of his age, as he was going to conquer Macedonia,
where he intended to finish his days in peace and tranquillity in
that province where he was born. He was succeeded by Antiochus Soter.
_Justin_, bk. 13, ch. 4; bk. 15, ch. 4; bk. 16, ch. 3, &c.
――_Plutarch_, _Demosthenes_.――_Pliny_, bk. 6, ch. 17.――_Pausanias_,
bk. 8, ch. 51.――_Josephus_, _Antiquities_, bk. 12.

=Seleucus II.=, surnamed _Callinicus_, succeeded his father Antiochus
Theus on the throne of Syria. He attempted to make war against
Ptolemy king of Egypt, but his fleet was shipwrecked in a violent
storm, and his armies soon after conquered by his enemy. He was at
last taken prisoner by Arsaces, an officer who made himself powerful
by the dissensions which reigned in the house of the Seleucidæ,
between the two brothers Seleucus and Antiochus; and after he had
been a prisoner for some time in Parthia, he died of a fall from his
horse, B.C. 226, after a reign of 20 years. Seleucus had received the
surname of _Pogon_, from his long beard, and that of _Callinicus_,
ironically to express his very unfortunate reign. He had married
Laodice the sister of one of his generals, by whom he had two sons,
Seleucus and Antiochus, and a daughter whom he gave in marriage to
Mithridates king of Pontus. _Strabo_, bk. 16.――_Justin_, bk. 27.
――_Appian_, _Syrian Wars_.

=Seleucus III.=, succeeded his father Seleucus II. on the throne of
Syria, and received the surname of _Ceraunus_, by antiphrasis, as he
was a very weak, timid, and irresolute monarch. He was murdered by
two of his officers, after a reign of three years, B.C. 223, and his
brother Antiochus, though only 15 years old, ascended the throne, and
rendered himself so celebrated that he acquired the name of the Great.
_Appian._

=Seleucus IV.=, succeeded his father Antiochus the Great on the throne
of Syria. He was surnamed _Philopater_, or, according to Josephus,
_Soter_. His empire had been weakened by the Romans when he became
monarch, and the yearly tribute of 1000 talents to those victorious
enemies concurred in lessening his power and consequence among
nations. Seleucus was poisoned after a reign of 12 years, B.C. 175.
His son Demetrius had been sent to Rome, there to receive his
education, and he became a prince of great abilities. _Strabo_,
bk. 16.――_Justin_, bk. 32.――_Appian._

=Seleucus V.=, succeeded his father Demetrius Nicator on the throne of
Syria, in the 20th year of his age. He was put to death in the first
year of his reign by Cleopatra his mother, who had also sacrificed
her husband to her ambition. He is not reckoned by many historians in
the number of the Syrian monarchs.

=Seleucus VI.=, one of the Seleucidæ, son of Antiochus Gryphus, killed
his uncle Antiochus Cyzicenus, who wished to obtain the crown of
Syria. He was some time after banished from his kingdom by Antiochus
Pius son of Cyzicenus, and fled to Cilicia, where he was burnt in a
palace by the inhabitants, B.C. 93. _Appian._――_Josephus._

=Seleucus=, a prince of Syria, to whom the Egyptians offered the crown
of which they had robbed Auletes. Seleucus accepted it, but he soon
disgusted his subjects, and received the surname of _Cybiosactes_,
or _Scullion_, for his meanness and avarice. He was at last murdered
by Berenice, whom he had married.――――A servant of Cleopatra the
last queen of Egypt, who accused his mistress, before Octavianus, of
having secreted part of her jewels and treasures.――――A mathematician
intimate with Vespasian the Roman emperor.――――A part of the Alps.
――――A Roman consul.――――A celebrated singer. _Juvenal_, satire 10,
li. 211.――――A king of the Bosphorus, who died B.C. 429.

=Selge=, a town of Pamphylia, made a colony by the Lacedæmonians.
_Livy_, bk. 36, ch. 13.――_Strabo._

=Selimnus=, a shepherd of Achaia, who for some time enjoyed the
favours of the nymph Argyra without interruption. Argyra was at last
disgusted with her lover, and the shepherd died through melancholy,
and was changed into a river of the same name. Argyra was also
changed into a river of the same name. Argyra was also changed into
a fountain, and was fond of mingling her waters with those of the
Selimnus. _Pausanias_, bk. 7, ch. 23.

=Selīnuns=, or =Selīnus= (untis), a town on the southern parts of
Sicily, founded A.U.C. 127, by a colony from Megara. It received
its name from σελινον, _parsley_, which grew there in abundance. The
marks of its ancient consequence are visible in the venerable ruins
now found in its neighbourhood. _Virgil_, _Æneid_, bk. 3, li. 705.
――_Pausanias_, bk. 6, ch. 19.――――A river of Elis in Peloponnesus,
which watered the town of Scillus. _Pausanias_, bk. 5, ch. 6.
――――Another in Achaia.――――Another in Sicily.――――A river and town of
Cilicia, where Trajan died. _Livy_, bk. 33, ch. 20.――_Strabo_, bk. 14.
――――Two small rivers near Diana’s temple at Ephesus. _Pliny_, bk. 5,
ch. 29.――――A lake at the entrance of the Cayster. _Strabo_, bk. 14.

=Sellasia=, a town of Laconia, where Cleomenes was defeated by the
Achæans, B.C. 222. Scarce 200 of a body of 5000 Lacedæmonians
survived the battle. _Plutarch._

=Sellēis=, a river of Peloponnesus falling into the Ionian sea. _Homer_,
_Iliad_.

=Selletæ=, a people of Thrace near mount Hæmus. _Livy_, bk. 38, ch. 40.

=Selli=, an ancient nation of Epirus near Dodona. _Lucan_, bk. 3,
li. 180.――_Strabo_, bk. 7.

=Selymbria=, a town of Thrace on the Propontis. _Livy_, bk. 39, ch. 39.

=Sĕmĕle=, a daughter of Cadmus by Hermione the daughter of Mars and
Venus. She was tenderly beloved by Jupiter; but Juno, who was always
jealous of her husband’s amours, and who hated the house of Cadmus
because they were related to the goddess of beauty, determined to
punish this successful rival. She borrowed the girdle of Ate, which
contained every wickedness, deceit, and perfidy, and in the form of
Beroe, Semele’s nurse, she visited the house of Jupiter’s mistress.
Semele listened with attention to the artful admonitions of the false
Beroe, and was at last persuaded to entreat her lover to come to her
arms with the same majesty as he approached Juno. This rash request
was heard with horror by Jupiter; but as he had sworn by the Styx
to grant Semele whatever she required, he came to her bed attended
by the clouds, the lightning, and thunderbolts. The mortal nature
of Semele could not endure so much majesty, and she was instantly
consumed with fire. The child, however, of which she was pregnant,
was saved from the flames by Mercury, or, according to others, by
Dirce, one of the nymphs of the Achelous, and Jupiter placed him in
his thigh the rest of the time which he ought to have been in his
mother’s womb. This child was called Bacchus, or Dionysius. Semele
immediately after death was honoured with immortality under the name
of Thyone. Some, however, suppose that she remained in the infernal
regions till Bacchus her son was permitted to bring her back. There
were in the temple of Diana, at Trœzene, two altars raised to the
infernal gods, one of which was over an aperture, through which, as
Pausanias reports, Bacchus returned from hell with his mother. Semele
was particularly worshipped at Brasiæ in Laconia, where, according to
a certain tradition, she had been driven by the winds with her son,
after Cadmus had exposed her on the sea on account of her incontinent
amour with Jupiter. The mother of Bacchus, though she received
divine honours, had no temples; she had a statue in a temple of
Ceres, at Thebes, in Bœotia. _Pausanias_, bk. 3, ch. 24; bk. 9,
ch. 5.――_Hesiod_, _Theogony_.――_Homer_, _Iliad_, bk. 14, li. 323.
――_Orpheus_, _Hymns_.――_Euripides_, _Bacchæ_.――_Apollodorus_, bk. 3,
ch. 4.――_Ovid_, _Metamorphoses_, bk. 3, li. 254; _Fasti_, bk. 3,
li. 715.――_Diodorus_, bks. 3 & 4.

=Semigermāni=, a name given to the Helvetii, a people of Germany.
_Livy_, bk. 21, ch. 38.

=Semiguntus=, a general of the Cherusci, taken prisoner by Germanicus,
&c. _Strabo_, bk. 7.

=Sĕmīrămis=, a celebrated queen of Assyria, daughter of the goddess
Derceto by a young Assyrian. She was exposed in a desert, but her
life was preserved by doves for one whole year, till Simmas, one
of the shepherds of Ninus, found her, and brought her up as his own
child. Semiramis, when grown up, married Menones the governor of
Nineveh, and accompanied him to the siege of Bactra, where, by her
advice and prudent directions, she hastened the king’s operations
and took the city. These eminent services, but chiefly her uncommon
beauty, endeared her to Ninus. The monarch asked her of her husband,
and offered him instead, his daughter Sosana; but Menones, who
tenderly loved Semiramis, refused, and when Ninus had added threats
to entreaties, he hung himself. No sooner was Menones dead than
Semiramis, who was of an aspiring soul, married Ninus, by whom she
had a son called Ninyas. Ninus was so fond of Semiramis, that at
her request he resigned the crown to her, and commanded her to be
proclaimed queen and sole empress of Assyria. Of this, however,
he had cause to repent; Semiramis put him to death, the better to
establish herself on the throne, and when she had no enemies to fear
at home, she began to repair the capital of her empire, and by her
means Babylon became the most superb and magnificent city in the
world. She visited every part of her dominions, and left everywhere
immortal monuments of her greatness and benevolence. To render the
roads passable and communication easy, she hollowed mountains and
filled up valleys; and water was conveyed at a great expense, by
large and convenient aqueducts, to barren deserts and unfruitful
plains. She was not less distinguished as a warrior. Many of the
neighbouring nations were conquered; and when Semiramis was once told,
as she was dressing her hair, that Babylon had revolted, she left
her toilette with precipitation, and though only half dressed, she
refused to have the rest of her head adorned before the sedition was
quelled and tranquillity re-established. Semiramis has been accused
of licentiousness, and some authors have observed that she regularly
called the strongest and stoutest men in her army to her arms, and
afterwards put them to death, that they might not be living witnesses
of her incontinence. Her passion for her son was also unnatural, and
it was this criminal propensity which induced Ninyas to destroy his
mother with his own hands. Some say that Semiramis was changed into
a dove after death, and received immortal honours in Assyria. It is
supposed that she lived about 1965 years before the christian era,
and that she died in the 62nd year of her age, and the 25th of her
reign. Many fabulous reports have been propagated about Semiramis,
and some have declared that for some time she disguised herself
and passed for her son Ninyas. _Valerius Maximus_, bk. 9, ch. 3.
――_Herodotus_, bk. 1, ch. 184.――_Diodorus_, bk. 2.――_Mela_, bk. 1,
ch. 3.――_Strabo_, bk. 5.――_Paterculus_, bk. 1, ch. 6.――_Justin_,
bk. 1, ch. 1, &c.――_Propertius_, bk. 3, poem 11, li. 21.――_Plutarch_,
_de Alexandri magni fortuna aut virtute_, &c.――_Ovid_, _Amores_,
bk. 1, poem 5, li. 11; _Metamorphoses_, bk. 4, li. 58.――_Marcellinus_,
bk. 14, ch. 6.

=Semnŏnes=, a people of Italy, on the borders of Umbria.――――Of Germany,
on the Elbe and Oder.

=Semōnes=, inferior deities of Rome, that were not in the number of
the 12 great gods. Among these were Faunus, the Satyrs, Priapus,
Vertumnus, Janus, Pan, Silenus, and all such illustrious heroes as
had received divine honours after death. The word seems to be the
same as _semi homines_, because they were inferior to the supreme
gods and superior to men. _Ovid_, _Fasti_, bk. 6, li. 213.

=Semosanctus=, one of the gods of the Romans among the _Indigetes_, or
such as were born and educated in their country.

=Sempronia=, a Roman matron, mother of the two Gracchi, celebrated
for her learning, and her private as well as public virtues.――――Also
a sister of the Gracchi, who is accused of having assisted the
triumvirs Carbo, Gracchus, and Flaccus to murder her husband Scipio
Africanus the younger. The name of Sempronia was common to the female
descendants of the family of the Sempronii, Gracchi, and Scipios.

=Semprōnia lex=, _de magistratibus_, by Caius Sempronius Gracchus the
tribune, A.U.C. 630, ordained that no person who had been legally
deprived of a magistracy for misdemeanours should be capable of
bearing an office again. This law was afterwards repealed by the
author.――――Another, _de civitate_, by the same, A.U.C. 630. It
ordained that no capital judgment should be passed over a Roman
citizen without the concurrence and authority of the senate. There
were also some other regulations, included in this law.――――Another,
_de comitiis_, by the same, A.U.C. 635. It ordained that, in giving
their votes, the centuries should be chosen by lot, and not give it
according to the order of their classes.――――Another, _de comitiis_,
by the same, the same year, which granted to the Latin allies of Rome
the privilege of giving votes at elections, as if they were Roman
citizens.――――Another, _de provinciis_, by the same, A.U.C. 630. It
enacted that the senators should be permitted before the assembly of
the consular _comitia_, to determine as they pleased the particular
provinces which should be proposed to the consuls, to be divided
by lot, and that the tribunes should be deprived of the power of
interposing against a decree of the senate.――――Another, called
_agraria prima_, by Tiberius Sempronius Gracchus the tribune, A.U.C.
620. It confirmed the _lex agraria Licinia_, and enacted that all
such as were in possession of more lands than that law allowed,
should immediately resign them, to be divided among the poor citizens.
Three commissioners were appointed to put this law into execution;
and its consequences were so violent, as it was directly made against
the nobles and senators, that it cost the author his life.――――Another,
called _agraria altera_, by the same. It required that all the ready
money which was found in the treasury of Attalus king of Pergamus,
who had left the Romans his heirs, should be divided among the poorer
citizens of Rome, to supply them with all the various instruments
requisite in husbandry, and that the lands of that monarch should be
farmed by the Roman censors, and the money drawn from thence should
be divided among the people.――――Another, _frumentaria_, by Caius
Sempronius Gracchus. It required that a certain quantity of corn
should be distributed among the people, so much to every individual,
for which it was required that they should only pay the trifling sum
of a _semissis_, and a _triens_.――――Another, _de usurâ_, by Marcus
Sempronius the tribune, A.U.C. 560. It ordained that, in lending
money to the Latins and the allies of Rome, the Roman laws should be
observed as well as among the citizens.――――Another, _de judicibus_,
by the tribune Caius Sempronius, A.U.C. 630. It required that the
right of judging, which had been assigned to the Senatorian order
by Romulus, should be transferred from them to the Roman knights.
――――Another, _militaris_, by the same, A.U.C. 630. It enacted that
the soldiers should be clothed at the public expense, without any
diminution of their usual pay. It also ordered that no person should
be obliged to serve in the army before the age of 17.

=Semprōnius Aulus Atratinus=, a senator who opposed the Agrarian law,
which was proposed by the consul Cassius, soon after the election of
the tribunes.――――Lucius Atratinus, a consul A.U.C. 310. He was one
of the first censors with his colleague in the consulship, Papirius.
――――Caius, a consul summoned before an assembly of the people because
he had fought with ill success against the Volsci.――――Blæsus, a
consul who obtained a triumph for some victories gained in Sicily.
――――Sophus, a consul against the Æqui. He also fought against the
Picentes, and during the engagement there was a dreadful earthquake.
The soldiers were terrified, but Sophus encouraged them, and observed
that the earth trembled only for fear of changing its old masters.
――――A man who proposed a law that no person should dedicate a temple
or altar, without the previous approbation of the magistrates, A.U.C.
449. He repudiated his wife because she had gone to see a spectacle
without his permission or knowledge.――――Rufus, a senator, banished
from the senate, because he had killed a crane to serve him as
food.――――Tuditanus, a man sent against Sardinia by the Romans.――――A
legionary tribune, who led away from Cannæ the remaining part of
the soldiers who had not been killed by the Carthaginians. He was
afterwards consul, and fought in the field against Annibal with
great success. He was killed in Spain.――――Tiberius Longus, a Roman
consul defeated by the Carthaginians in an engagement which he had
begun against the approbation of his colleague Cornelius Scipio. He
afterwards obtained victories over Hanno and the Gauls.――――Tiberius
Gracchus, a consul who defeated the Carthaginians and the Campanians.
He was afterwards betrayed by Fulvius, a Lucanian, into the hands
of the Carthaginians, and was killed, after he had made a long and
bloody resistance against the enemy. Annibal showed great honour to
his remains; a funeral pile was raised at the head of the camp, and
the enemy’s cavalry walked round it in solemn procession.――――Gracchus,
a man who had debauched Julia. _See:_ Gracchus.――――A eunuch, made
governor of Rome by Caracalla.――――Densus, a centurion of a pretorian
cohort who defended the person of Galba against his assassins. He was
killed in the attempt.――――The father of the Gracchi. _See:_ Gracchus.
――――A censor, who was also sent as ambassador to the court of Egypt.
――――A tribune of the people, &c. _Tacitus._――_Florus._――_Livy._
――_Plutarch_, _Cæsar_.――_Appian._――――An emperor. _See:_ Saturninus.

=Semurium=, a place near Rome, where Apollo had a temple. _Cicero_,
_Philippics_, bk. 6, ch. 6.

=Sena=, or =Senogallia=, a town of Umbria in Italy, on the Adriatic,
built by the Senones, after they had made an irruption into Italy,
A.U.C. 396; and on that account called Gallica. There was also a
small river in the neighbourhood which bore the name of _Sena_. It
was near it that Asdrubal was defeated by Claudius Nero. _Cornelius
Nepos_, _Cato._――_Silius Italicus_, bk. 8, li. 454.――_Livy_, bk. 27,
ch. 46.――_Cicero_, _Brutus_, ch. 18.

=Sĕnātus=, the chief council of the state among the Romans. The
members of this body, called _senatores_ on account of their _age_,
and _patres_ on account of their _authority_, were of the greatest
consequence in the republic. The senate was first instituted by
Romulus to govern the city, and to preside over the affairs of the
state during his absence. This was continued by his successors; but
Tarquin II. disdained to consult them, and by having his own council
chosen from his favourites, and from men who were totally devoted to
his interest, he diminished the authority and the consequence of the
senators, and slighted the concurrence of the people. The senators
whom Romulus created were 100, to whom he afterwards added the same
number when the Sabines had migrated to Rome. Tarquin the ancient
made the senate consist of 300, and this number remained fixed for
a long time. After the expulsion of the last Tarquin, whose tyranny
had thinned the patricians as well as the plebeians, 164 new senators
were chosen to complete the 300; and as they were called _conscripts_,
the senate ever afterwards consisted of members who were denominated
_patres_ and _conscripti_. The number continued to fluctuate during
the times of the republic, but gradually increased to 700, and
afterwards to 900 under Julius Cæsar, who filled the senate with men
of every rank and order. Under Augustus, the senators amounted to
1000, but this number was reduced to 300, which being the cause of
complaints, induced the emperor to limit the number to 600. The place
of a senator was always bestowed upon merit; the monarchs had the
privilege of choosing the members, and after the expulsion of the
Tarquins, it was one of the rights of the consuls, till the election
of the censors, who from their office seemed most capable of making
choice of men whose character was irreproachable, whose morals were
pure, and relations honourable. Sometimes the assembly of the people
elected senators, but it was only upon some extraordinary occasions;
there was also a dictator chosen to fill up the number of the senate
after the battle of Cannæ. Only particular families were admitted
into the senate; and when the plebeians were permitted to share the
honours of the state, it was then required that they should be born
of free citizens. It was also required that the candidates should be
knights before their admission into the senate. They were to be above
the age of 25, and to have previously passed through the inferior
offices of questor, tribune of the people, edile, pretor, and consul.
Some, however, suppose that the senators whom Romulus chose were all
old men; yet his successors neglected this, and often men who were
below the age of 25 were admitted by courtesy into the senate. The
dignity of a senator could not be supported without the possession of
80,000 sesterces, or about 7000_l._ English money; and therefore such
as squandered away their money, and whose fortune was reduced below
this sum, were generally struck out of the list of senators. This
regulation was not made in the first ages of the republic, when the
Romans boasted of their poverty. The senators were not permitted to
be of any trade or profession. They were distinguished from the rest
of the people by their dress; they wore the laticlave, half boots
of a black colour, with a crescent or silver buckle in the form of
a C; but this last honour was confined only to the descendants of
those 100 senators who had been elected by Romulus, as the letter C
seems to imply. They had the sole right of feasting publicly in the
capitol in ceremonial habits; they sat in curule chairs, and at the
representation of plays and public spectacles, they were honoured
with particular seats. Whenever they travelled abroad, even on their
own business, they were maintained at the public expense, and always
found provisions for themselves and their attendants ready prepared
on the road; a privilege that was generally termed _free legation_.
On public festivals they wore the _prætexta_, or long white robe,
with purple borders. The right of convoking the senate belonged
only to the monarchs; and after the expulsion of the Tarquins, to
the consuls, the dictator, master of the horse, governor of Rome,
and tribunes of the people; but no magistrate could exercise this
privilege except in the absence of a superior officer, the tribunes
excepted. The time of meeting was generally three times a month, on
the calends, nones, and ides. Under Augustus they were not assembled
on the nones. It was requisite that the place where they assembled
should have been previously consecrated by the augur. This was
generally in the temple of Concord, of Jupiter Capitolinus, Apollo,
Castor and Pollux, &c., or in the Curiæ called Hostilia, Julia,
Pompeia, &c. When audience was given to foreign ambassadors, the
senators assembled without the walls of the city, either in the
temples of Bellona or of Apollo; and the same ceremony as to their
meeting was also observed when they transacted business with their
generals, as the ambassadors of foreign nations, and the commanders
of armies, while in commission, were not permitted to appear within
the walls of the city. To render their decrees valid and authentic,
a certain number of members was requisite, and such as were absent
without some proper cause, were always fined. In the reign of
Augustus, 400 senators were requisite to make a senate. Nothing
was transacted before sunrise, or after sunset. In their office
the senators were the guardians of religion; they disposed of the
provinces as they pleased, they prorogued the assemblies of the
people, they appointed thanksgivings, nominated their ambassadors,
distributed the public money, and, in short, had the management of
everything political or civil in the republic, except the creating
of the magistrates, the enacting of laws, and the declarations of
war or peace, which were confined to the assemblies of the people.
Rank was always regarded in their meetings; the chief magistrates of
the state, such as the consuls, the pretors, and censors, sat first;
after these the inferior magistrates, such as the ediles and questors,
and last of all, those that then exercised no office in the state.
Their opinions were originally collected, each according to his age;
but when the office of censor was instituted, the opinion of the
_princeps senatus_, or the person whose name stood first on the
censor’s list, was first consulted, and afterwards those who were
of consular dignity, each in their respective order. In the age of
Cicero the consuls elect were first consulted; and in the age of
Cæsar, he was permitted to speak first till the end of the year,
on whom the consul had originally conferred that honour. Under the
emperors the same rules were observed, but the consuls were generally
consulted before all others. When any public matter was introduced
into the senate, which was always called _referre ad senatum_, any
senator whose opinion was asked, was permitted to speak upon it as
long as he pleased; and on that account it was often usual for the
senators to protract their speeches till it was too late to determine.
When the question was put, they passed to the side of that speaker
whose opinion they approved, and a majority of votes was easily
collected, without the trouble of counting the numbers. This mode
of proceeding was called _pedibus in alicujus sententiam ire_; and
therefore, on that account, the senators who had not the privilege
of speaking, but only the right of giving a silent vote, such as bore
some curule honours, and on that account were permitted to sit in the
senate, but not to deliberate, were denominated _pedarii senatores_.
After the majority had been known, the matter was determined, and
a _senatus consultum_ was immediately written by the clerks of the
house, at the feet of the chief magistrates, and it was signed by all
the principal members of the house. When there was not a sufficient
number of members to make a senate, the decision was called _senatus
autoritas_; but it was of no consequence if it did not afterwards
pass into a _senatus consultum_. The tribunes of the people, by the
word _veto_, could stop the debates, and the decrees of the assembled
senate, as also any one who was of equal authority with him who had
proposed the matter. The _senatus consulta_ were left in the custody
of the consuls, who could suppress or preserve them; but about the
year of Rome 304, they were always deposited in the temple of Ceres,
and afterwards in the treasury, by the ediles of the people. The
degradation of the senators was made by the censor, by omitting their
names when he called over the list of the senate. This was called
_præterire_. A senator could be again introduced into the senate
if he could repair his character or fortune, which had been the
causes why the censor had lawfully called him unqualified, and had
challenged his opposition. The meeting of the senate was often sudden,
except the particular times already mentioned, upon any emergency.
After the death of Julius Cæsar, they were not permitted to meet on
the ides of March, which were called _parricidium_, because on that
day the dictator had been assassinated. The sons of senators, after
they had put on the _toga virilis_, were permitted to come into
the senate, but this was afterwards limited. _See:_ Papirius. The
rank and authority of the senators, which were so conspicuous in the
first ages of the republic, and which caused the minister of Pyrrhus
to declare that the Roman senate was a venerable assembly of kings,
dwindled into nothing under the emperors. Men of the lowest character
were admitted into the senate; the emperors took pleasure in robbing
this illustrious body of their privileges and authority, and the
senators themselves, by their manners and servility, contributed
as much as the tyranny of the sovereign to diminish their own
consequence; and by applauding the follies of a Nero, and the
cruelties of a Domitian, they convinced the world that they no
longer possessed sufficient prudence or authority to be consulted on
matters of weight and importance. In the election of successors to
the imperial purple after Augustus, the approbation of the senate was
consulted, but it was only a matter of courtesy, and the concurrence
of a body of men was little regarded who were without power, and
under the control of a mercenary army. The title of _Clarissimus_ was
given to the senators under the emperors, and, indeed, this was the
only distinction which they had in compensation for the loss of their
independence. The senate was abolished by Justinian, 13 centuries
after its first institution by Romulus.

=Senĕca Marcus Annæus=, a native of Corduba in Spain, who married
Helvia, a woman of Spain, by whom he had three sons, Seneca the
philosopher, Annæus Novatus, and Annæus Mela, the father of the
poet Lucan. Seneca made himself known by some declamations, of which
he made a collection from the most celebrated orators of the age;
and from that circumstance, and for distinction, he obtained the
appellation of _declamator_. He left Corduba, and went to Rome,
where he became a Roman knight. His son Lucius Annæus Seneca, who
was born about six years before Christ, was early distinguished by
his extraordinary talents. He was taught eloquence by his father,
and received lessons in philosophy from the best and most celebrated
stoics of the age. As one of the followers of the Pythagorean
doctrines, Seneca observed the most reserved abstinence, and in his
meals never ate the flesh of animals; but this he abandoned at the
representation of his father, when Tiberius threatened to punish
some Jews and Egyptians, who abstained from certain meats. In the
character of a pleader, Seneca appeared with great advantage, but the
fear of Caligula, who aspired to the name of an eloquent speaker, and
who consequently was jealous of his fame, deterred him from pursuing
his favourite study, and he sought a safer employment in canvassing
for the honours and offices of the state. He was made questor, but
the aspersions which were thrown upon him on account of a shameful
amour with Julia Livilla, removed him from Rome, and the emperor
banished him for some time into Corsica. During his banishment, the
philosopher wrote some spirited epistles to his mother, remarkable
for elegance of language and for sublimity; but he soon forgot his
philosophy and disgraced himself by his flatteries to the emperor,
and in wishing to be recalled, even at the expense of his innocence
and character. The disgrace of Messalina at Rome, and the marriage
of Agrippina with Claudius, proved favourable to Seneca; and after
he had remained five years in Corsica, he was recalled by the empress
to take care of the education of her son Nero, who was destined to
succeed to the empire. In the honourable duty of preceptor, Seneca
gained applause; and as long as Nero followed his advice, Rome
enjoyed tranquillity, and believed herself safe and happy under
the administration of the son of Agrippina. Some, however, are
clamorous against the philosopher, and observe that Seneca initiated
his pupil in those unnatural vices and abominable indulgences which
disgraced him as a monarch and as a man. This may be the language of
malevolence, or the insinuation of jealousy. In the corrupted age of
Nero, the preceptor had to withstand the clamours of many wicked and
profligate ministers; and if he had been the favourite of the emperor,
and shared his pleasures, his debauchery and extravagance, Nero would
not perhaps have been so anxious of destroying a man whose example,
from vicious inclinations, he could not follow, and whose salutary
precepts his licentious associates forbade him to obey. Seneca was
too well acquainted with the natural disposition of Nero to think
himself secure; he had been accused of having amassed the most ample
riches, and of having built sumptuous houses, and adorned beautiful
gardens, during the four years in which he had attended Nero as a
preceptor, and therefore he desired his imperial pupil to accept of
the riches, and the possessions which his attendance on his person
had procured, and to permit him to retire to solitude and study.
Nero refused with artful duplicity, and Seneca, to avoid further
suspicions, kept himself at home for some time as if labouring
under a disease. In the conspiracy of Piso, which happened some time
after, and in which some of the most noble of the Roman senators
were concerned, Seneca’s name was mentioned by Natalis, and Nero,
who was glad of an opportunity of sacrificing him to his secret
jealousy, ordered him to destroy himself. Seneca very probably was
not accessary to the conspiracy, and the only thing which could be
produced against him as a crimination, was trivial and unsatisfactory.
Piso, as Natalis declared, had complained that he never saw Seneca,
and the philosopher had observed in answer, that it was not proper
or conducive to their common interest to see one another often. He
further pleaded indisposition, and said that his own life depended
upon the safety of Piso’s person. Seneca was at table with his wife
Paulina and two of his friends, when the messenger from Nero arrived.
He heard the words which commanded him to destroy himself, with
philosophical firmness, and even with joy; and observed, that such a
mandate might have long been expected from a man who had murdered his
own mother, and assassinated all his friends. He wished to dispose
of his possessions as he pleased, but this was refused; and when
he heard this, he turned to his friends who were weeping at his
melancholy fate, and told them, that since he could not leave them
what he believed his own, he would leave them at least his own
life for an example, an innocent conduct which they might imitate,
and by which they might acquire immortal fame. Against their tears
and wailings he exclaimed with firmness, and asked them whether
they had not learnt better to withstand the attacks of fortune, and
the violence of tyranny? As for his wife, he attempted to calm her
emotions, and when she seemed resolved to die with him, he said he
was glad to find his example followed with so much constancy. Their
veins were opened at the same moment, but the life of Paulina was
preserved, and Nero, who was partial to her ordered the blood to
be stopped; and from that moment, according to some authors, the
philosopher’s wife seemed to rejoice that she could still enjoy the
comforts of life. Seneca’s veins bled but slowly, and it has been
observed, that the sensible and animated conversation of his dying
moments was collected by his friends, and that it has been preserved
among his works. To hasten his death he drank a dose of poison, but
it had no effect, and therefore he ordered himself to be carried into
a hot bath, to accelerate the operation of the draught, and to make
the blood flow more freely. This was attended with no better success;
and as the soldiers were clamorous, he was carried into a stove, and
suffocated by the steam, on the 12th of April, in the 65th year of
the christian era, in his 53rd year. His body was burnt without pomp
or funeral ceremony, according to his will, which he had made when
he enjoyed the most unbounded favours of Nero. The compositions of
Seneca are numerous, and chiefly on moral subjects. He is so much
admired for his refined sentiments and virtuous precepts, for his
morality, his constancy, and his innocence of manners, that St.
Jerome has not hesitated to rank him among christian writers. His
style is nervous, it abounds with ornament, and seems well suited to
the taste of the age in which he lived. The desire of recommending
himself and his writings to the world, obliged him too often to
depreciate the merit of the ancients, and to sink into obscurity.
His treatises are _de irâ_, _de consolatione_, _de Providentiâ_,
_de tranquillitate animi_, _de clementiâ_, _de sapientis constantiâ_,
_de otio sapientis_, _de brevitate vitæ_, _de beneficiis_, _de vitâ
beatâ_, besides his _naturales quæstiones_, _ludus in Claudium_,
_moral letters_, &c. There are also some tragedies ascribed to
_Seneca._ Quintilian supposes that the _Medea_ is his composition,
and according to others, the _Troas_ and the _Hippolytus_ were also
written by him, and the _Agamemnon_, _Hercules furens_, _Thyestes_
& _Hercules in Oetâ_ by his father, Seneca the declaimer. The
best editions of Seneca are those of Antwerp, folio, 1615, and of
Gronovius, 3 vols., Amsterdam, 1672; and those of his tragedies,
are that of Schroder’s, 4to, Delft, 1728, and the 8vo of Gronovius,
Leiden, 1682. _Tacitus_, _Annals_, bk. 12, &c.――_Dio Cassius._
――_Suetonius_, _Nero_, &c.――_Quintilian._

=Claudius Senecio=, one of Nero’s favourites, and the associate of his
pleasures and debauchery.――――Tullius, a man who conspired against
Nero, and was put to death though he turned informer against the rest
of the conspirators.――――A man put to death by Domitian, for writing
an account of the life of Helvidius, one of the emperor’s enemies.
――――One of Constantine’s enemies.――――A man who from a restless and
aspiring disposition acquired the surname of _Grandio_. _Seneca_,
_Suasoriæ_, ch. 1.

=Senia=, a town of Liburnia, now Segna. _Pliny_, bk. 3, ch. 21.

=Senna=, or =Sena=, a river of Umbria. _See:_ Sena. _Lucan_, bk. 2,
li. 407.

=Senŏnes=, an uncivilized nation of Gallia Transalpina, who left their
native possessions, and under the conduct of Brennus, invaded Italy
and pillaged Rome. They afterwards united with the Umbri, Latins,
and Etrurians to make war against the Romans, till they were totally
destroyed by Dolabella. The chief of their towns in that part of
Italy where they settled near Umbria, and which from them was called
Senogallia, were Fanum Fortunæ, Sena, Pisaurum, and Ariminum. _See:_
Cimbri. _Lucan_, bk. 1, li. 254.――_Silius Italicus_, bk. 8, li. 454.
――_Livy_, bk. 5, ch. 35, &c.――_Florus._――――A people of Germany near
the Suevi.

=Sentia lex=, _de senatu_, by Cnæus Sentius the consul, A.U.C. 734,
enacted the choosing of proper persons to fill up the number of
senators.

=Sentinum=, a town of Umbria. _Livy_, bk. 10, chs. 27 & 30.

=Sentius Cnæus=, a governor of Syria, under the emperors.――――A governor
of Macedonia.――――Septimius, one of the soldiers of Pompey, who
assisted the Egyptians in murdering him.――――A Roman emperor. _See:_
Severus.――――A writer in the reign of the emperor Alexander, of whose
life he wrote an account in Latin, or, according to others, in Greek.