Aster, a dexterous archer of Amphipolis, who offered his service to Philip king of Macedonia. Upon being slighted, he retired into the city, and aimed an arrow at Philip, who pressed it with a siege. The arrow, on which was written “Aimed at Philip’s right eye,” struck the king’s eye, and put it out; and Philip, to return the pleasantry, threw back the same arrow, with these words, “If Philip takes the town, Aster shall be hanged.” The conqueror kept his word. Lucian, Quomodo historia conscribenda sit.

Astĕria, a daughter of Ceus, one of the Titans, by Phœbe daughter of Cœlus and Terra. She married Perses son of Crius, by whom she had the celebrated Hecate. She enjoyed for a long time the favours of Jupiter, under the form of an eagle; but falling under his displeasure, she was changed into a quail, called Ortyx by the Greeks; whence the name of Ortygia, given to that island in the Archipelago, where she retired. Ovid, Metamorphoses, bk. 6, fable 4.—Hyginus, fable 58.—Apollodorus, bk. 1, ch. 2, &c.——A town of Greece, whose inhabitants went to the Trojan war. Homer, Iliad, bk. 2, li. 782.——One of the daughters of Danaus, who married Chætus son of Ægyptus. Apollodorus, bk. 2.——One of the daughters of Atlas, mother of Œnomaus king of Pisa. Hyginus, fable 250.——A mistress of Gyges, to whom Horace wrote three odes to comfort her during her lover’s absence.

Astĕrion and Astĕrius, a river of Peloponnesus, which flowed through the country of Argolis. This river had three daughters, Eubœa, Prosymna, and Acræa, who nursed the goddess Juno. Pausanias, bk. 2, ch. 17.——A son of Cometes, who was one of the Argonauts. Apollonius, bk. 1.——A statuary, son of Æschylus. Pausanias.——A son of Minos II., king of Crete, by Pasiphæ. He was killed by Theseus, though he was thought the strongest of his age. Apollodorus supposes him to be the same as the famous Minotaur. According to some, Asterion was son of Teutamus, one of the descendants of Æolus, and they say that he was surnamed Jupiter, because he had carried away Europa, by whom he had Minus I. Diodorus, bk. 4.—Apollodorus, bk. 3.—Pausanias, bk. 2, ch. 31.——A son of Neleus and Chloris. Apollodorus, bk. 1, ch. 12.

Asterodia, the wife of Endymion. Pausanias, bk. 5, ch. 1.

Asterŏpe and Asteropēa, one of the Pleiades, who were beloved by the gods and most illustrious heroes, and made constellations after death.——A daughter of Pelias king of Iolchos, who assisted her sisters to kill her father, whom Medea promised to restore to life. Her grave was seen in Arcadia, in the time of Pausanias, bk. 8, ch. 11.——A daughter of Deion by Diomede. Apollodorus, bk. 1.——The wife of Æsacus. Apollodorus, bk. 3.

Asteropæus, a king of Pæonia, son of Pelegon. He assisted Priam in the Trojan war, and was killed, after a brave resistance, by Achilles. Homer, Iliad, bk. 17, &c.

Asterūsius, a mountain at the south of Crete.——A town of Arabia Felix.

Astinŏme, the wife of Hipponous.

Astiŏchus, a general of Lacedæmon, who conquered the Athenians near Cnidus, and took Phocæa and Cumæ, B.C. 411.

Astræa, a daughter of Astræus king of Arcadia, or, according to others, of Titan, Saturn’s brother, by Aurora. Some make her daughter of Jupiter and Themis, and others consider her to be the same as Rhea wife of Saturn. She was called Justice, of which virtue she was the goddess. She lived upon the earth, as the poets mention, during the golden age, which is often called the age of Astræa; but the wickedness and impiety of mankind drove her to heaven in the brazen and iron ages, and she was placed among the constellations of the zodiac, under the name of Virgo. She is represented as a virgin, with a stern but majestic countenance, holding a pair of scales in one hand and a sword in the other. Seneca, Octavia.—Ovid, Metamorphoses, bk. 1, li. 149.—Aratus, bk. 1, Phænomena, li. 98.—Hesiod, Theogony.

Astræus, one of the Titans who made war against Jupiter.——A river of Macedonia, near Thermæ. Ælian, Varia Historia, bk. 15, ch. 1.

Astu, a Greek word which signifies city, generally applied, by way of distinction, to Athens, which was the most capital city of Greece. The word urbs is applied with the same meaning of superiority to Rome, and πολις to Alexandria the capital of Ægypt, as also to Troy.

Astur, an Etrurian who assisted Æneas against Turnus. Virgil, Æneid, bk. 10, li. 180.

Astŭra, a small river and village of Latium, where Antony’s soldiers cut off Cicero’s head.

Astŭres, a people of Hispania Tarraconensis, who spent all their lives in digging for mines of ore. Lucan, bk. 4, li. 298.—Silius Italicus, bk. 1, li. 231.

Astyăge, a daughter of Hypseus, who married Periphas, by whom she had some children, among whom was Antion the father of Ixion.

Astyăges, a son of Cyaxares, was the last king of Media. He was father to Mandane, whom he gave in marriage to Cambyses, an ignoble person of Persia, because he was told by a dream that his daughter’s son would dispossess him of his crown. From such a marriage he hoped that none but mean and ignorant children could be raised; but he was disappointed, and though he had exposed his daughter’s son by the effects of a second dream, he was deprived of his crown by his grandson, after a reign of 35 years. Astyages was very cruel and oppressive; and Harpagus, one of his officers, whose son he had wantonly murdered, encouraged Mandane’s son, who was called Cyrus, to take up arms against his grandfather, and he conquered him and took him prisoner, 559 B.C. Xenophon, in his Cyropædia, relates a different story, and asserts that Cyrus and Astyages lived in the most undisturbed friendship together. Justin, bk. 1, ch. 4, &c.—Herodotus, bk. 1, chs. 74, 75, &c.——A grammarian who wrote a commentary on Callimachus.——A man changed into a stone by Medusa’s head. Ovid, Metamorphoses, bk. 5, fable 6.

Astyălus, a Trojan killed by Neoptolemus. Homer, Iliad, bk. 6.

Astyănax, a son of Hector and Andromache. He was very young when the Greeks besieged Troy; and when the city was taken, his mother saved him in her arms from the flames. Ulysses, who was afraid lest the young prince should inherit the virtues of his father, and one day avenge the ruin of his country upon the Greeks, seized him, and threw him down from the walls of Troy. According to Euripides, he was killed by Menelaus; and Seneca says that Pyrrhus the son of Achilles put him to death. Hector had given him the name of Scamandrius; but the Trojans, who hoped he might prove as great as his father, called him Astyanax, or the bulwark of the city. Homer, Iliad, bk. 6, li. 400; bk. 22, li. 500.—Virgil, Æneid, bk. 2, li. 457; bk. 3, li. 489.—Ovid, Metamorphoses, bk. 13, li. 415.——An Arcadian, who had a statue in the temple of Jupiter, on mount Lyceus. Pausanias, bk. 8, ch. 38.——A son of Hercules. Apollodorus, bk. 2, ch. 7.——A writer in the age of Gallienus.

Astycratia, a daughter of Æolus. Homer, Iliad.——A daughter of Amphion and Niobe.

Astydămas, an Athenian, pupil to Isocrates. He wrote 240 tragedies, of which only 15 obtained the poetical prize.——A Milesian, three times victorious at Olympia. He was famous for his strength, as well as for his voracious appetite. He was once invited to a feast by king Ariobarzanes, and he ate what had been prepared for nine persons. Athenæus, bk. 10.——Two tragic writers bore the same name, one of whom was disciple to Socrates.——A comic poet of Athens.

Astydămīa, or Astyadamia, daughter of Amyntor king of Orchomenos in Bœotia, married Acastus son of Pelias, who was king of Iolchos. She became enamoured of Peleus son of Æacus, who had visited her husband’s court, and because he refused to gratify her passion, she accused him of attempting her virtue. Acastus readily believed his wife’s accusation; but as he would not violate the laws of hospitality by punishing his guest with instant death, he waited for a favourable opportunity, and dissembled his resentment. At last they went in a hunting party to mount Pelion, where Peleus was tied to a tree by order of Acastus, that he might be devoured by wild beasts. Jupiter was moved at the innocence of Peleus, and sent Vulcan to deliver him. When Peleus was set at liberty, he marched with an army against Acastus, whom he dethroned, and punished with death the cruel and false Astydamia. She is called by some Hippolyte, and by others Cretheis. Apollodorus, bk. 3, ch. 13.—Pindar, Nemean, bk. 4.——A daughter of Ormenus, carried away by Hercules, by whom she had Tlepolemus. Ovid, Heroides, poem 9, li. 50.

Asty̆lus, one of the centaurs who had the knowledge of futurity. He advised his brothers not to make war against the Lapithæ. Ovid, Metamorphoses, bk. 12, li. 338.——A man of Crotona, who was victorious three successive times at the Olympic games. Pausanias.

Astymedūsa, a woman whom Œdipus married after he had divorced Jocasta.

Astynŏme, the daughter of Chryses the priest of Apollo, sometimes called Chryseis. She fell to the share of Achilles, at the division of the spoils of Lyrnessus.——A daughter of Amphion,——of Talaus. Hyginus.

Astynous, a Trojan prince. Homer, Iliad, bk. 5, li. 144.

Astyŏche and Astyochīa, a daughter of Actor, who had by Mars, Ascalaphus and Ialmenus, who were at the Trojan war. Homer, Iliad, bk. 2, li. 20.——A daughter of Phylas king of Ephyre, who had a son called Tlepolemus by Hercules. Hyginus, fables 97, 162.——A daughter of Laomedon by Strymo. Apollodorus, bk. 3.——A daughter of Amphion and Niobe. Apollodorus, bk. 3, ch. 4.——A daughter of the Simois, who married Erichthonius. Apollodorus, bk. 3, ch. 12.——The wife of Strophius, sister to Agamemnon.

Astypalæa, one of the Cyclades, between Cos and Carpathos, called after Astypalæa the daughter of Phœnix, and mother of Ancæus by Neptune. Pausanias, bk. 7, ch. 4.—Strabo, bk. 14.

Astyphĭlus, a soothsayer, well skilled in the knowledge of futurity. Plutarch, Cimon.

Astȳron, a town built by the Argonauts on the coast of Illyricum. Strabo.

Asychis, a king of Egypt, who succeeded Mycerinus, and made a law, that whoever borrowed money, must deposit his father’s body in the hand of his creditors, as a pledge of his promise of payment. He built a magnificent pyramid. Herodotus, bk. 2, ch. 136.

Asȳlas, a friend of Æneas, skilled in auguries. Virgil, Æneid, bk. 9, li. 571; bk. 10, li. 175.

Asyllus, a gladiator. Juvenal, satire 6, li. 266.

Atābŭlus, a wind which was frequent in Apulia. Horace, bk. 1, satire 5, li. 78.

Atabȳris, a mountain in Rhodes, where Jupiter had a temple, whence he was surnamed Atabyris. Strabo, bk. 14.

Atăce, a town of Gaul, whence the adjective Atacinus.

Atalanta, a daughter of Schœneus king of Scyros. According to some she was the daughter of Jasus or Jasius by Clymene; but others say that Menalion was her father. This uncertainty of not rightly knowing the name of her father has led the mythologists into error, and some have maintained that there were two persons of that name, though their supposition is groundless. Atalanta was born in Arcadia, and according to Ovid she determined to live in perpetual celibacy; but her beauty gained her many admirers, and to free herself from their importunities, she proposed to run a race with them. They were to run without arms, and she was to carry a dart in her hand. Her lovers were to start first, and whoever arrived at the goal before her would be made her husband; but all those whom she overtook were to be killed by the dart with which she had armed herself. As she was almost invincible in running, many of her suitors perished in the attempt, till Hippomenes the son of Macareus proposed himself as her admirer. Venus had presented him with three golden apples from the garden of the Hesperides, or, according to others, from an orchard in Cyprus; and as soon as he had started in the course, he artfully threw down the apples at some distance one from the other. While Atalanta, charmed at the sight, stopped to gather the apples, Hippomenes hastened on his course, arrived first at the goal, and obtained Atalanta in marriage. These two fond lovers, in the impatience of consummating their nuptials, entered the temple of Cybele; and the goddess was so offended at their impiety, and at the profanation of her house, that she changed them into two lions. Apollodorus says that Atalanta’s father was desirous of raising male issue, and that therefore she was exposed to wild beasts as soon as born. She was, however, suckled by a she-bear, and preserved by shepherds. She dedicated her time to hunting, and resolved to live in celibacy. She killed two centaurs, Hyleus and Rhecus, who attempted her virtue. She was present at the hunting of the Calydonian boar, which she first wounded, and she received the head as a present from Meleager, who was enamoured of her. She was also at the games instituted in honour of Pelias, where she conquered Peleus; and when her father, to whom she had been restored, wished her to marry, she consented to give herself to him who could overcome her in running, as has been said above. She had a son called Parthenopæus by Hippomenes. Hyginus says that that son was the fruit of her love with Meleager; and Apollodorus says she had him by Milanion, or, according to others, by the god Mars. See: Meleager. Apollodorus, bk. 1, ch. 8; bk. 3, ch. 9, &c.—Pausanias, bk. 1, chs. 36, 45, &c.—Hyginus, fables 99, 174, 185, 270.—Ælian, Varia Historia, bk. 13.—Diodorus, bk. 4.—Ovid, Metamorphoses, bk. 8, fable 4; bk. 10, fable 11.—Euripides, Phœnician Women.——An island near Eubœa and Locris. Pausanias.

Atarantes, a people of Africa, ten days’ journey from the Garamantes. There was in their country a hill of salt with a fountain of sweet water upon it. Herodotus, bk. 4, ch. 184.

Atarbĕchis, a town in one of the islands of the Delta, where Venus had a temple.

Atargătis, a divinity among the Syrians represented as a Syren. She is considered by some to be the same as Venus, and honoured by the Assyrians under the name of Astarte. Strabo, bk. 16.

Atarnea, a part of Mysia opposite Lesbos, with a small town in the neighbourhood of the same name. Pausanias, bk. 4, ch. 35.

Atas and Athas, a youth of wonderful velocity, who is said to have run 75 miles between noon and the evening. Martial, bk. 4, ltr. 19.—Pliny, bk. 7.

Atax, now Aude, a river of Gaul Narbonensis, rising in the Pyrenean mountains, and falling into the Mediterranean sea. Mela, bk. 2.

Ate, the goddess of all evil, and daughter of Jupiter. She raised such jealousy and sedition in heaven among the gods, that Jupiter dragged her away by the hair, and banished her for ever from heaven, and sent her to dwell on earth, where she incited mankind to wickedness, and sowed commotions among them. Homer, Iliad, bk. 19. She is the same as the Discord of the Latins.

Atella, a town of Campania, famous for a splendid amphitheatre, where interludes were first exhibited, and thence called Atellanæ fabulæ. Juvenal, satire 6.

Atenomārus, a chieftain of Gaul, who made war against the Romans. Plutarch, Parallela minora.

Athamānes, an ancient people of Epirus, who existed long before the Trojan war, and still preserved their name and customs in the age of Alexander. There was a fountain in their territories, whose waters, about the last quarter of the moon, were so sulphureous that they would set wood on fire. Ovid, Metamorphoses, bk. 15, li. 311.—Strabo, bk. 7.—Pliny, bk. 2, ch. 103.—Mela, bk. 2, ch. 3.

Athămas, king of Thebes in Bœotia, was son of Æolus. He married Themisto, whom some call Nephele, and Pindar, Demotice, and by her he had Phryxus and Helle. Some time after, on pretence that Nephele was subject to fits of madness, he married Ino the daughter of Cadmus, by whom he had two sons, Learchus and Melicerta. Ino became jealous of the children of Nephele. Because they were to ascend their father’s throne in preference to her own, therefore she resolved to destroy them; but they escaped from her fury to Colchis, on a golden ram. See: Phryxus and Argonautæ. According to the Greek scholiast of Lycophron, li. 22, Ino attempted to destroy the corn of the country; and as if it were the consequence of divine vengeance, the soothsayers, at her instigation, told Athamas, that before the earth would yield her usual increase, he must sacrifice one of the children of Nephele to the gods. The credulous father led Phryxus to the altar, where he was saved by Nephele. The prosperity of Ino was displeasing to Juno, and more particularly because she was descended from Venus. The goddess therefore sent Tisiphone, one of the furies, to the house of Athamas, who became inflamed with such sudden fury that he took Ino to be a lioness, and her two sons to be whelps. In this fit of madness he snatched Learchus from her, and killed him against a wall; upon which Ino fled with Melicerta, and, with him in her arms, she threw herself into the sea from a high rock, and was changed into a sea deity. After this, Athamas recovered the use of his senses; and as he was without children, he adopted Coronus and Aliartus, the sons of Thersander his nephew. Hyginus, fables 1, 2, 5, 239.—Apollodorus, bk. 1, chs. 7 & 9.—Ovid, Metamorphoses, bk. 4, li. 467, &c.; Fasti, bk. 6, li. 419.—Pausanias, bk. 9, ch. 34.——A servant of Atticus. Cicero, Letters to Atticus, bk. 12, ltr. 10.——A stage dancer. Cicero, Piso, ch. 36.——A tragic poet. Cicero, Piso, ch. 20.——One of the Greeks, concealed in the wooden horse at the siege of Troy. Virgil, Æneid, bk. 2, li. 263.

Athamantiădes, a patronymic of Melicerta, Phryxus, or Helle, children of Athamas. Ovid, Metamorphoses, bk. 13, li. 319; Fasti, bk. 4, li. 903.

Athanasius, a bishop of Alexandria, celebrated for his sufferings, and the determined opposition he maintained against Arius and his doctrines. His writings, which were numerous, and some of which have perished, contain a defence of the mystery of the Trinity, the divinity of the Word and of the Holy Ghost, and an apology to Constantine. The creed which bears his name, is supposed by some not to be his composition. Athanasius died 2nd May, 373 A.D., after filling the archiepiscopal chair 47 years, and leading alternately a life of exile and of triumph. The latest edition of his works is that of the Benedictines, 3 vols., folio, Paris, 1698.

Athanis, a man who wrote an account of Sicily. Athenæus, bk. 3.

Atheas, a king of Scythia, who implored the assistance of Philip of Macedonia against the Istrians, and laughed at him when he had furnished him with an army. Justin, bk. 9, ch. 2.

Athēna, the name of Minerva among the Greeks; and also among the Egyptians, before Cecrops had introduced the worship of the goddess into Greece. Pausanias, bk. 1, ch. 2.

Athēnæ, a celebrated city of Attica, founded about 1556 years before the christian era, by Cecrops and an Egyptian colony. It was called Cecropia from its founder, and afterwards Athenæ in honour of Minerva, who had obtained the right of giving it a name in preference to Neptune. See: Minerva. It was governed by 17 kings in the following order:—After a reign of 50 years, Cecrops was succeeded by Cranaus, who began to reign 1506 B.C.; Amphictyon, 1497; Erichthonius, 1487; Pandion, 1437; Erichtheus, 1397; Cecrops II., 1347; Pandion II., 1307; Ægeus, 1283; Theseus, 1235; Menestheus, 1205; Demophoon, 1182; Oxyntes, 1149; Aphidas, 1137; Thymœtes, 1136; Melanthus, 1128; and Codrus, 1091, who was killed after a reign of 21 years. The history of the 12 first of these monarchs is mostly fabulous. After the death of Codrus the monarchical power was abolished, and the state was governed by 13 perpetual, and 317 years after, by seven decennial, and lastly, B.C. 684, after an anarchy of three years, by annual magistrates, called Archons. See: Archontes. Under this democracy, the Athenians signalized themselves by their valour in the field, their munificence, and the cultivation of the fine arts. They were deemed so powerful by the Persians, that Xerxes, when he invaded Greece, chiefly directed his arms against Athens, which he took and burnt. Their military character was chiefly displayed in the battles of Marathon, of Salamis, of Platæa, and of Mycale. After these immortal victories, they rose in consequence and dignity, and they demanded the superiority in the affairs of Greece. The town was rebuilt and embellished by Themistocles, and a new and magnificent harbour erected. Their success made them arrogant, and they raised contentions among the neighbouring states, that they might aggrandize themselves by their fall. The luxury and intemperance, which had been long excluded from the city by the salutary laws of their countrymen, Draco and Solon, crept by degrees among all ranks of people, and soon after all Greece united to destroy that city, which claimed a sovereign power over all the rest. The Peloponnesian war, though at first a private quarrel, was soon fomented into a universal war; and the arms of all the states of Peloponnesus [See: Peloponnesiacum bellum] were directed against Athens, which, after 28 years of misfortunes and bloodshed, was totally ruined, the 24th April, 404 years before the christian era, by Lysander. After this, the Athenians were oppressed by 30 tyrants, and for a while laboured under the weight of their own calamities. They recovered something of their usual spirit in the age of Philip, and boldly opposed his ambitious views; but their short-lived efforts were not of great service to the interest of Greece, and they fell into the hands of the Romans, B.C. 86. The Athenians have been admired in all ages for their love of liberty, and for the great men that were born among them; but favour there was attended with danger; and there are very few instances in the history of Athens that can prove that the jealousy and frenzy of the people did not persecute and disturb the peace of the man who had fought their battles and exposed his life in the defence of his country. Perhaps, not one single city in the world can boast, in such a short space of time, of such a number of truly illustrious citizens, equally celebrated for their humanity, their learning, and their military abilities. The Romans, in the more polished ages of their republic, sent their youths to finish their education at Athens, and respected the learning, while they despised the military character of the inhabitants. The reputation which the Athenian schools had acquired under Socrates and Plato was maintained by their degenerate and less learned successors; and they flourished with diminished lustre, till an edict of emperor Justinian suppressed, with the Roman consulship, the philosophical meetings of the academy. It has been said by Plutarch that the good men whom Athens produced were the most just and equitable in the world; but that its bad citizens could not be surpassed in any age or country, for their impiety, perfidiousness, or cruelties. Their criminals were always put to death by drinking the juice of hemlock. The ancients, to distinguish Athens in a more particular manner, called it Astu, one of the eyes of Greece, the learned city, the school of the world, the common patroness of Greece. The Athenians thought themselves the most ancient nation of Greece, and supposed themselves the original inhabitants of Attica, for which reason they were called ἀυτοχθονες, produced from the same earth which they inhabited, γηγενες sons of the earth, and τεττιγες grasshoppers. They sometimes wore golden grasshoppers in their hair as badges of honour, to distinguish them from other people of later origin and less noble extraction, because those insects are supposed to be sprung from the ground. The number of men able to bear arms at Athens in the reign of Cecrops was computed at 20,000, and there appeared no considerable augmentation in the more civilized age of Pericles; but in the time of Demetrius Phalereus there were found 21,000 citizens, 10,000 foreigners, and 40,000 slaves. Among the numerous temples and public edifices none was more celebrated than that of Minerva, which, after being burnt by the Persians, was rebuilt by Pericles, with the finest marble, and still exists a venerable monument of the hero’s patriotism, and of the abilities of the architect. Cicero, Letters to Atticus, Against Verres, &c.—Thucydides, bk. 1, &c.—Justin, bk. 2, &c.—Diodorus, bk. 13, &c.—Ælian, Varia Historia.—Pliny, bk. 7, ch. 56.—Xenophon, Memorabilia.—Plutarch, in vitis, &c.—Strabo, bk. 9, &c.—Pausanias, bk. 1, &c.—Valerius Maximus.—Livy, bk. 31, &c.—Cornelius Nepos, Miltiades, &c.—Polybius.—Paterculus.

Athenæa, festivals celebrated at Athens in honour of Minerva. One of them was called ♦Panathenæa, and the other Chalcea; for an account of which see those words.

♦ ‘Bana, thenæe’ replaced with ‘Panathenæa’

Athenæum, a place at Athens sacred to Minerva, where the poets, philosophers, and rhetoricians generally declaimed and repeated their compositions. It was public to all the professors of the liberal arts. The same thing was adopted at Rome by Adrian, who made a public building for the same laudable purposes.——A promontory of Italy.——A fortified place between Ætolia and Macedonia. Livy, bk. 38, ch. 1; bk. 39, ch. 25.

Athenæus, a Greek cosmographer.——A peripatetic philosopher of Cilicia in the time of Augustus. Strabo.——A Spartan sent by his countrymen to Athens, to settle the peace during the Peloponnesian war.——A grammarian of Naucratis, who composed an elegant and miscellaneous work, called ♦Deipnosophistæ, replete with very curious and interesting remarks and anecdotes of the manners of the ancients, and likewise valuable for the scattered pieces of ancient poetry which it preserves. The work consists of 15 books, of which the two first, part of the third, and almost the whole of the last, are lost. Athenæus wrote, besides this, a history of Syria, and other works now lost. He died A.D. 194. The best edition of his works is that of Casaubon, folio, 2 vols., Lugdunum, 1612, by far superior to the editions of 1595 and 1657.——An historian, who wrote an account of Semiramis. Diodorus.——A brother of king Eumenes II., famous for his paternal affection.——A Roman historian, in the age of Gallienus, who is supposed to have written a book on military engines.——A physician of Cilicia in the age of Pliny, who made heat, cold, wet, dry, and air the elements, instead of the four commonly received.

♦ ‘Deipnosphistæ’ replaced with ‘Deipnosophistæ’

Athenagŏras, a Greek in the time of Darius, to whom Pharnabazus gave the government of Chios, &c. Curtius, bk. 8, ch. 5.——A writer on agriculture. Varro.——A christian philosopher, in the age of Aurelius, who wrote a treatise on the resurrection, and an apology for the christians, still extant. He died A.D. 177. The best edition of his works is that of Dechair, 8vo, Oxford, 1706. The romance of Theagenes and Charis is falsely ascribed to him.

Athenāis, a Sibyl of Erythræa, in the age of Alexander. Strabo.——A daughter of the philosopher Leontius.

Athenion, a peripatetic philosopher, 108 B.C.——A general of the Sicilian slaves.——A tyrant of Athens, surnamed Ariston.

Athenŏcles, a general, &c. Polyænus, bk. 6.——A turner of Mitylene. Pliny, bk. 34.

Athenodōrus, a philosopher of Tarsus, intimate with Augustus. The emperor often profited by his lessons, and was advised by him always to repeat the 24 letters of the Greek alphabet before he gave way to the impulse of anger. Athenodorus died in his 82nd year, much lamented by his countrymen. Suetonius.——A poet who wrote comedy, tragedy, and elegy, in the age of Alexander. Plutarch, Alexander.——A stoic philosopher of Cana, near Tarsus, in the age of Augustus. He was intimate with Strabo. Strabo, bk. 14.——A philosopher, disciple to Zeno, and keeper of the royal library at Pergamus.——A marble sculptor.——A man assassinated at Bactra for making himself absolute.

Atheos, a surname of Diagoras and Theodorus, because they denied the existence of a deity. Cicero, de Natura Deorum, bk. 1, ch. 1.

Athĕsis, now Adige, a river of Cisalpine Gaul, near the Po, falling into the Adriatic sea. Virgil, Æneid, bk. 9, li. 680.

Athos, a mountain of Macedonia, 150 miles in circumference, projecting into the Ægean sea like a promontory. It is so high that it overshadows the island of Lemnos, though at the distance of 87 miles; or, according to modern calculation, only 8 leagues. When Xerxes invaded Greece, he made a trench of a mile and a half in length at the foot of the mountain, into which he brought the sea water, and conveyed his fleet over it, so that two ships could pass one another, thus desirous either to avoid the danger of sailing round the promontory, or to show his vanity and the extent of his power. A sculptor, called Dinocrates, offered Alexander to cut mount Athos, and to make with it a statue of the king holding a town in his left hand, and in the right a spacious basin to receive all the waters which flowed from it. Alexander greatly admired the plan, but objected to the place; and he observed, that the neighbouring country was not sufficiently fruitful to produce corn and provisions for the inhabitants which were to dwell in the city, in the hand of the statue. Athos is now called Monte Santo, famous for monasteries, said to contain some ancient and valuable manuscripts. Herodotus, bk. 6, ch. 44; bk. 7, ch. 21, &c.—Lucan, bk. 2, li. 672.—Ælian, de Natura Animalium, bk. 13, ch. 20, &c.—Pliny, bk. 4, ch. 10.—Aeschines, Against Ctesiphon.

Athrulla, a town of Arabia. Strabo.

Athymbra, a city of Caria, afterwards called Nyssa. Strabo, bk. 14.

Atia, a city of Campania.——A law enacted A.U.C. 690 by Titus Atius Labienus, the tribune of the people. It abolished the Cornelian law, and put in full force the Lex Domitia, by transferring the right of electing priests from the college of priests to the people.——The mother of Augustus. See: Accia.

Atilia lex, gave the pretor and a majority of the tribunes power of appointing guardians to those minors who were not previously provided for by their parents. It was enacted about A.U.C. 560.——Another, A.U.C. 443, which gave the people power of electing 20 tribunes of the soldiers in four legions. Livy, bk. 9, ch. 30.

Atilius, a freedman, who exhibited combats of gladiators at Fidenæ. The amphitheatre, which contained the spectators, fell during the exhibition, and about 50,000 persons were killed or mutilated. Tacitus, Annals, bk. 4, ch. 62.

Atilla, the mother of the poet Lucan. She was accused of conspiracy by her son, who expected to clear himself of the charge. Tacitus, Annals, bk. 15, ch. 56.

Atīna, an ancient town of the Volsci, one of the first which began hostilities against Æneas. Virgil, Æneid, bk. 7, li. 630.

Atinas, a friend of Turnus, &c. Virgil, Æneid, bk. 11, li. 869.

Atinia lex, was enacted by the tribune Atinius. It gave a tribune of the people the privileges of a senator, and the right of sitting in the senate.

Atlantes, a people of Africa, in the neighbourhood of mount Atlas, who lived chiefly on the fruits of the earth, and were said not to have their sleep at all disturbed by dreams. They daily cursed the sun at his rising and at his setting, because his excessive heat scorched and tormented them. Herodotus.

Atlantiades, a patronymic of Mercury as grandson of Atlas. Ovid, Metamorphoses, bk. 1, li. 639.

Atlantĭdes, a people of Africa near mount Atlas. They boasted of being in possession of the country in which all the gods of antiquity received their birth. Uranus was their first king, whom, on account of his knowledge in astronomy, they enrolled in the number of their gods. Diodorus, bk. 3.——The daughters of Atlas, were seven in number, Maia, Electra, Taygeta, Asterope, Merope, Alcyone, and Celæno. They married some of the gods, and most illustrious heroes, and their children were founders of many nations and cities. The Atlantides were called nymphs, and even goddesses, on account of their great intelligence and knowledge. The name of Hesperides was also given them, on account of their mother Hesperis. They were made constellations after death. See: Pleiades.

Atlantis, a celebrated island mentioned by the ancients. Its situation is unknown, and even its existence is doubted by some writers.

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

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

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

Atramyttium, a town of Mysia.

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

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

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

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

Atrēni, a people of Armenia.

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

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

Atronius, a friend of Turnus, killed by the Trojans. Virgil, Æneid, bk. 10.

Atropatia, a part of Media. Strabo.

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

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

Attălia, a city of Pamphylia, built by king Attalus. Strabo.

Attalĭcus. See: Attalus III.

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

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

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

♦ No reference to ‘Ateius’ found.

Attes, a son of Calaus of Phrygia, who was born impotent. He introduced the worship of Cybele among the Lydians, and became a great favourite of the goddess. Jupiter was jealous of his success, and sent a wild boar to lay waste the country and destroy Attes. Pausanias, bk. 7, ch. 17.

Atthis, a daughter of Cranaus II. king of Athens, who gave her name to Attica, according to Apollodorus, bk. 3, ch. 14.

Attĭca, a country of Achaia or Hellas, at the south of Bœotia, west of the Ægean sea, north of the Saronicus Sinus, and east of Megara. It received its name from Atthis, the daughter of Cranaus. It was originally called Ionia, from the Ionians, who settled there; and also Acte, which signifies shore, and Cecropia, from Cecrops the first of its kings. The most famous of its cities is called Athens, whose inhabitants sometimes bear the name of Attici. Attica was famous for its gold and silver mines, which constituted the best part of the public revenues. The face of the country was partly level and partly mountainous, divided into the 13 tribes of Acamantis, Æantis, Antiochis, Attalis, Ægeis, Erechtheis, Adrianis, Hippothoontis, Cecropis, Leontis, Æneis, Ptolemais, and Pandionis; whose inhabitants were numbered in the 116th olympiad, at 31,000 citizens, and 400,000 slaves, within 174 villages, some of which were considerable towns. See: Athenæ.

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

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

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

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

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

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

Atyădæ, the descendants of Atys the Lydian.

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

♦ ‘multilated’ replaced with ‘mutilated’

Avarīcum, a strong and fortified town of Gaul, now called Bourges, the capital of Berry. Cæsar, Gallic War, bk. 7.

Avella, a town of Campania, abounding in nuts, whence nuts have been called avellinæ. Silius Italicus, bk. 8, li. 45, &c.—Virgil, Æneid, ♦bk. 7, li. 740.

♦ ‘Book 7’ omitted from reference

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

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

Avesta, a book composed by Zoroaster.

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

Aufidēna, now Alfidena, a city of the Peligni in Italy, whose inhabitants, called Aufidenates, were among the Sabines. Livy, bk. 10, ch. 12.

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

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

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

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