Alcon, a famous archer, who one day saw his son attacked by a serpent, and aimed at him so dexterously that he killed the beast without hurting his son.——A silversmith. Ovid, Metamorphoses, bk. 13, fable 5.——A son of Hippocoon. Pausanias, bk. 3, ch. 14.——A surgeon under Claudius, who gained much money by his profession, in curing hernias and fractures.——A son of Mars.——A son of Amycus. These two last were at the chase of the Calydonian boar. Hyginus, fable 173.

♦Alcyŏna, a pool of Greece, whose depth the emperor Nero attempted in vain to find. Pausanias, bk. 2, ch. 37.

♦ Resorted into proper alphabetical order

Alcyŏne, or Halcyŏne, daughter of Æolus, married Ceyx, who was drowned as he was going to Claros to consult the oracle. The gods apprised Alcyone in a dream of her husband’s fate; and when she found, on the morrow, his body washed on the sea-shore, she threw herself into the sea, and was with her husband changed into birds of the same name, who keep the waters calm and serene, while they build and sit on their nests on the surface of the sea, for the space of 7, 11, or 14 days. Virgil, Georgics, bk. 1, li. 399.—Apollodorus, bk. 1, ch. 7.—Ovid, Metamorphoses, bk. 11, fable 10.—Hyginus, fable 65.——One of the Pleiades, daughter of Atlas. She had Arethusa by Neptune, and Eleuthera by Apollo. She, with her sisters, was changed into a constellation. See: Pleiades. Pausanias, bk. 2, ch. 30; bk. 3, ch. 18.—Apollodorus, bk. 3, ch. 10.—Hyginus, fable 157.——The daughter of Evenus, carried away by Apollo after her marriage. Her husband pursued the ravisher with his bow and arrows, but was not able to recover her. Upon this, her parents called her Alcyone, and compared her fate to that of the wife of Ceyx. Homer, Iliad, bk. 9, li. 558.——The wife of Meleager. Hyginus, fable 174.——A town of Thessaly, where Philip, Alexander’s father, lost one of his eyes.

Alcyŏneus, a youth of exemplary virtue, son to Antigonus. Plutarch, Pyrrhus.—Diogenes Laërtius, bk. 4.——A giant, brother to Porphyrion. He was killed by Hercules. His daughters, mourning his death, threw themselves into the sea, and were changed into Alcyons by Amphitrite. Claudian, De Raptu Proserpinæ.—Apollodorus, bk. 1, ch. 6.

Aldescus, a river of European Sarmatia, rising from the Riphæan mountains, and falling into the northern sea. Dionysius Periegetes.

Alduăbis. See: Dubis.

Alea, a surname of Minerva, from her temple built by Aleus son of Aphidas, at Tegæa in Arcadia. The statue of the goddess made of ivory was carried by Augustus to Rome. Pausanias, bk. 8, chs. 4 & 46.——A town of Arcadia, built by Aleus. It had three famous temples, those of Minerva, Bacchus, and Diana the Ephesian. When the festivals of Bacchus were celebrated, the women were whipped in the temple. Pausanias, bk. 8, ch. 23.

Alēbas, a tyrant of Larissa, killed by his own guards for his cruelties. Ovid, Ibis, li. 323.

Alēbion and Dercynus, sons of Neptune, were killed by Hercules for stealing his oxen in Africa. Apollodorus, bk. 2, ch. 5.

Alecto, one of the Furies (a, ληγω, non desino), is represented with flaming torches, her head covered with serpents, and breathing vengeance, war, and pestilence. See: Eumenides. Virgil, Æneid, bk. 7, li. 324, &c.; bk. 10, li. 41.

Alector, succeeded his father Anaxagoras in the kingdom of Argos, and was father to Iphis and Capaneus. Pausanias, bk. 2, ch. 18.—Apollodorus, bk. 3, ch. 6.

Alectryon, a youth whom Mars, during his amours with Venus, stationed at the door to watch against the approach of the sun. He fell asleep, and Apollo came and discovered the lovers, who were exposed by Vulcan, in each other’s arms, before all the gods. Mars was so incensed that he changed Alectryon into a cock, which, still mindful of his neglect, early announces the approach of the sun. Lucian, Alectryon [Gallus].

Alectus, a tyrant of Britain, in Diocletian’s reign, &c. He died 296 A.D.

Alēius Campus, a place in Lycia, where Bellerophon fell from the horse Pegasus, and wandered over the country till the time of his death. Homer, Iliad, bk. 6, li. 201.—Dionysius Periegetes, li. 872.—Ovid, Ibis, li. 257.

Alemanni, or Alamanni, a people of Germany. They are first mentioned in the reign of Caracalla, who was honoured with the surname of Alemannicus for a victory over them.

Alēmon, the father of Myscellus. He built Crotona in Magna Græcia. Myscellus is often called Alemonides. Ovid, Metamorphoses, bk. 15, lis. 19 & 26.

Alemusii, inhabitants of Attica, in whose country there was a temple of Ceres and of Proserpine. Pausanias, Attica.

Alens, a place in the island of Cos.

Aleon, or Ales, a river of Ionia, near Colophon. Pausanias, bk. 7, ch. 5; bk. 8, ch. 28.

Alēse, a town of Sicily, called afterwards Achronidion, after the founder. The Romans made it an independent city.

Alēsia, or Alexia, now Alise, a famous city of the Mandubii in Gaul, founded by Hercules, as he returned from Iberia, on a high hill. Julius Cæsar conquered it. Florus, bk. 3, ch. 10.—Cæsar, Gallic War, bk. 7, ch. 68.

Alēsium, a town and mountain of Peloponnesus. Pausanias, bk. 8, ch. 10.

Aletes, a son of Ægisthus, murdered by Orestes. Hyginus, fable 122.

Alēthes, the first of the Heraclidæ, who was king of Corinth. He was son of Hippotas. Pausanias, bk. 2, ch. 4.——A companion of Æneas, described as a prudent and venerable old man. Virgil, Æneid, bk. 1, li. 125; bk. 9, li. 246.

Alethia, one of Apollo’s nurses.

Aletĭdas (from ἀλαομαι, to wander), certain sacrifices at Athens, in remembrance of Erigone, who wandered with a dog after her father Icarius.

Aletrium, a town of Latium, whose inhabitants are called Aletrinates. Livy, bk. 9, ch. 42.

Alētum, a tomb near the harbour of Carthage in Spain. Polybius, bk. 10.

Aleuādæ, a royal family of Larissa in Thessaly, descended from Aleuas king of that country. They betrayed their country to Xerxes. The name is often applied to the Thessalians without distinction. Diodorus, bk. 16.—Herodotus, bk. 7, chs. 6, 172.—Pausanias, bk. 3, ch. 8; bk. 7, ch. 10.—Ælian, De Natura Animalium, bk. 8, ch. 11.

Alēus, a son of Aphidas king of Arcadia, famous for his skill in building temples. Pausanias, bk. 8, chs. 4 & 53.

Alex, a river in the country of the Brutii. Dionysius Periegetes.

Alexamēnus, an Ætolian, who killed Nabis tyrant of Lacedæmon, and was soon after murdered by the people. Livy, bk. 35, ch. 34.

Alexander I., son of Amyntas, was the tenth king of Macedonia. He killed the Persian ambassadors for their immodest behaviour to the women of his father’s court, and was the first who raised the reputation of the Macedonians. He reigned 43 years, and died 451 B.C. Justin, bk. 7, ch. 3.—Herodotus, bks. 5, 7, 8, & 9.

Alexander II., son of Amyntas II., king of Macedonia, was treacherously murdered, B.C. 370, by his younger brother Ptolemy, who held the kingdom for four years, and made way for Perdiccas and Philip. Justin, bk. 7, ch. 5, says Eurydice, the wife of Amyntas, was the cause of his murder.

Alexander III., surnamed the Great, was son of Philip and Olympias. He was born B.C. 355, that night on which the famous temple of Diana at Ephesus was burnt by Erostratus. This event, according to the magicians, was an early prognostic of his future greatness, as well as the taming of Bucephalus, a horse which none of the king’s courtiers could manage; upon which Philip said, with tears in his eyes, that his son must seek another kingdom, as that of Macedonia would not be sufficiently large for the display of his greatness. Olympias, during her pregnancy, declared that she was with child by a dragon; and the day that Alexander was born, two eagles perched for some time on the house of Philip, as if foretelling that his son would become master of Europe and Asia. He was pupil to Aristotle during five years, and he received his learned preceptor’s instructions with becoming deference and pleasure, and ever respected his abilities. When Philip went to war, Alexander, in his 15th year, was left governor of Macedonia, where he quelled a dangerous sedition, and soon after followed his father to the field, and saved his life in a battle. He was highly offended when Philip divorced Olympias to marry Cleopatra, and he even caused the death of Attalus, the new queen’s brother. After this he retired from court to his mother Olympias, but was recalled; and when Philip was assassinated, he punished his murderers; and, by his prudence and moderation, gained the affections of his subjects. He conquered Thrace and Illyricum, and destroyed Thebes; and after he had been chosen chief commander of all the forces of Greece, he declared war against the Persians, who under Darius and Xerxes had laid waste and plundered the noblest of the Grecian cities. With 32,000 foot and 5000 horse, he invaded Asia, and after the defeat of Darius at the Granicus, he conquered all the provinces of Asia Minor. He obtained two other celebrated victories over Darius at Issus and Arbela, took Tyre after an obstinate siege of seven months, and the slaughter of 2000 of the inhabitants in cold blood, and made himself master of Egypt, Media, Syria, and Persia. From Egypt he visited the temple of Jupiter Ammon, and bribed the priests, who saluted him as the son of their god, and enjoined his army to pay him divine honours. He built a town which he called Alexandria, on the western side of the Nile, near the coast of the Mediterranean, an eligible situation which his penetrating eye marked as best entitled to become the future capital of his immense dominions, and to extend the commerce of his subjects from the Mediterranean to the Ganges. His conquests were spread over India, where he fought with Porus, a powerful king of the country; and after he had invaded Scythia, and visited the Indian ocean, he retired to Babylon loaded with the spoils of the east. His entering the city was foretold by the magicians as fatal, and their prediction was fulfilled. He died at Babylon the 21st of April, in the 32nd year of his age, after a reign of 12 years and 8 months of brilliant and continued success, 323 B.C. His death was so premature that some have attributed it to the effects of poison, and excess of drinking. Antipater has been accused of causing the fatal poison to be given him at a feast; and perhaps the resentment of the Macedonians, whose services he seemed to forget, by entrusting the guard of his body to the Persians, was the cause of his death. He was so universally regretted, that Babylon was filled with tears and lamentations; and the Medes and Macedonians declared that no one was able or worthy to succeed him. Many conspiracies were formed against him by the officers of his army, but they were all seasonably suppressed. His tender treatment of the wife and mother of king Darius, who were taken prisoners, has been greatly praised; and the latter, who had survived the death of her son, killed herself when she heard that Alexander was dead. His great intrepidity more than once endangered his life; he always fought as if sure of victory, and the terror of his name was often more powerfully effectual than his arms. He was always forward in every engagement, and bore the labours of the field as well as the meanest of his soldiers. During his conquests in Asia, he founded many cities, which he called Alexandria, after his own name. When he had conquered Darius, he ordered himself to be worshipped as a god; and Callisthenes, who refused to do it, was shamefully put to death. He also murdered at a banquet, his friend Clitus, who had once saved his life in a battle, because he enlarged upon the virtues and exploits of Philip, and preferred them to those of his son. His victories and success increased his pride; he dressed himself in the Persian manner, and, giving himself up to pleasure and dissipation, he set on fire the town of Persepolis in a fit of madness and intoxication, encouraged by the courtesan Thais. Yet, among all his extravagances, he was fond of candour and of truth; and when one of his officers read to him, as he sailed on the Hydaspes, a history which he had composed of his wars with Porus, and in which he had too liberally panegyrized him, Alexander snatched the book from his hand, and threw it into the river, saying, “What need is there of such flattery? Are not the exploits of Alexander sufficiently meritorious in themselves, without the colourings of falsehood?” He in like manner rejected a statuary, who offered to cut mount Athos like him, and represent him as holding a town in one hand, and pouring a river from the other. He forbade any statuary to make his statue except Lysippus, and any painter to draw his picture except Apelles. On his death-bed he gave his ring to Perdiccas, and it was supposed that by this singular present he wished to make him his successor. Some time before his death, his officers asked him whom he appointed to succeed him on the throne; and he answered, “The worthiest among you; but I am afraid,” added he, “my best friends will perform my funeral obsequies with bloody hands.” Alexander, with all his pride, was humane and liberal, easy and familiar with his friends, a great patron of learning, as may be collected from his assisting Aristotle with a purse of money to effect the completion of his natural history. He was brave often to rashness; he frequently lamented that his father conquered everything, and left him nothing to do; and exclaimed, in all the pride of regal dignity, “Give me kings for competitors, and I will enter the lists at Olympia.” All his family and infant children were put to death by Cassander. The first deliberation that was made after his decease, among his generals, was to appoint his brother Philip Aridæus successor, until Roxane, who was then pregnant by him, brought into the world a legitimate heir. Perdiccas wished to be supreme regent as Aridæus wanted capacity; and, more strongly to establish himself, he married Cleopatra, Alexander’s sister, and made alliance with Eumenes. As he endeavoured to deprive Ptolemy of Egypt, he was defeated in a battle by Seleucus and Antigonus, on the banks of the river Nile, and assassinated by his own cavalry. Perdiccas was the first of Alexander’s generals who took up arms against his fellow-soldiers, and he was the first who fell a sacrifice to his rashness and cruelty. To defend himself against him, Ptolemy made a treaty of alliance with some generals, among whom was Antipater, who had strengthened himself by giving his daughter Phila, an ambitious and aspiring woman, in marriage to Craterus, another of the generals of Alexander. After many dissensions and bloody wars among themselves, the generals of Alexander laid the foundation of several great empires in the three quarters of the globe. Ptolemy seized Egypt, where he firmly established himself, and where his successors were called Ptolemies, in honour of the founder of their empire, which subsisted till the time of Augustus. Seleucus and his posterity reigned in Babylon and Syria. Antigonus at first established himself in Asia Minor, and Antipater in Macedonia. The descendants of Antipater were conquered by the successors of Antigonus, who reigned in Macedonia till it was reduced by the Romans in the time of king Perseus. Lysimachus made himself master of Thrace; and Leonatus, who had taken possession of Phrygia, meditated for a while to drive Antipater from Macedonia. Eumenes established himself in Cappadocia, but was soon overpowered by the combinations of his rival Antigonus, and starved to death. During his lifetime, Eumenes appeared so formidable to the successors of Alexander, that none of them dared to assume the title of king. Curtius, Arrian, & Plutarch have written an account of Alexander’s life. Diodorus, bks. 17 & 18.—Pausanias, bks. 1, 7, 8, & 9.—Justin, bks. 11 & 12.—Valerius Maximus.—Strabo, bk. 1, &c.——A son of Alexander the Great, by Roxane, put to death, with his mother, by Cassander. Justin, bk. 15, ch. 2.——A man who, after the expulsion of Telestes, reigned in Corinth. Twenty-five years after, Telestes dispossessed him, and put him to death.——A son of Cassander king of Macedonia, who reigned two years conjointly with his brother Antipater, and was prevented by Lysimachus from revenging his mother Thessalonica, whom his brother had murdered. Demetrius, the son of Antigonus, put him to death. Justin, bk. 16, ch. 1.—Pausanias, bk. 9, ch. 7.——A king of Epirus, brother to Olympias, and successor to Arybas. He banished Timolaus to Peloponnesus, and made war in Italy against the Romans, and observed that he fought with men, while his nephew, Alexander the Great, was fighting with an army of women (meaning the Persians). He was surnamed Molossus. Justin, bk. 17, ch. 3.—Diodorus, bk. 16.—Livy, bk. 8, chs. 17 & 27.—Strabo, bk. 16.——A son of Pyrrhus, was king of Epirus. He conquered Macedonia, from which he was expelled by Demetrius. He recovered it by the assistance of the Acarnanians. Justin, bk. 26, ch. 3.—Plutarch, Pyrrhus.——A king of Syria, driven from his kingdom by Nicanor son of Demetrius Soter, and his father-in-law Ptolemy Philometer. Justin, bk. 35, chs. 1 & 2.—Josephus, bk. 13, Antiquities of the Jews.—Strabo, bk. 17.——A king of Syria, first called Bala, was a merchant, and succeeded Demetrius. He conquered Nicanor by means of Ptolemy Physcon, and was afterwards killed by Antiochus Gryphus son of Nicanor. Josephus, Antiquities of the Jews, bk. 13, ch. 18.——Ptolemy was one of the Ptolemean kings in Egypt. His mother Cleopatra raised him to the throne, in preference to his brother Ptolemy Lathurus, and reigned conjointly with him. Cleopatra, however, expelled him, and soon after recalled him; and Alexander, to prevent being expelled a second time, put her to death, and for this unnatural action was himself murdered by one of his subjects. Josephus, bk. 13, Antiquities of the Jews, ch. 20, &c.—Justin, bk. 39, chs. 3 & 4.—Pausanias, bk. 1, ch. 9.——Ptolemy II., king of Egypt, was son of the preceding. He was educated in the island of Cos, and, falling into the hands of Mithridates, escaped to Sylla, who restored him to his kingdom. He was murdered by his subjects a few days after his restoration. Appian, bk. 1, Civil Wars.——Ptolemy III., was king of Egypt after his brother Alexander the last mentioned. After a peaceful reign, he was banished by his subjects, and died at Tyre, B.C. 65, leaving his kingdom to the Roman people. See: Ægyptus and Ptolemæus. Cicero, De Lege Agraria contra Rullum.——A youth, ordered by Alexander the Great to climb the rock Aornus, with 30 other youths. He was killed in the attempt. Curtius, bk. 8, ch. 11.——An historian mentioned by Plutarch, Marius.——An Epicurean philosopher. Plutarch.——A governor of Æolia, who assembled a multitude on pretence of showing them an uncommon spectacle, and confined them till they had each bought their liberty with a sum of money. Polyænus, bk. 6, ch. 10.——A name given to Paris son of Priam. See: Paris.——Jannæus, a king of Judea, son of Hyrcanus and brother of Aristobulus, who reigned as a tyrant, and died through excess of drinking, B.C. 79, after massacring 800 of his subjects for the entertainment of his concubines.——A Paphlagonian, who gained divine honours by his magical tricks and impositions, and likewise procured the friendship of Marcus Aurelius. He died 70 years old.——A native of Caria, in the third century, who wrote a commentary on the writings of Aristotle, part of which is still extant.——Trallianus, a physician and philosopher of the fourth century, some of whose works in Greek are still extant.——A poet of Ætolia, in the age of Ptolemy Philadelphus.——A peripatetic philosopher, said to have been preceptor to Nero.——An historian, called also Polyhistor, who wrote five books on the Roman republic, in which he said that the Jews had received their laws, not from God, but from a woman whom he called Moso. He also wrote treatises on the Pythagorean philosophy, B.C. 88.——A poet of Ephesus, who wrote a poem on astronomy and geography.——A writer of Myndus, quoted by Athenæus and Ælian.——A sophist of Seleucia, in the age of Antoninus.——A physician in the age of Justinian.——A Thessalian, who, as he was going to engage in a naval battle, gave to his soldiers a great number of missile weapons, and ordered them to dart them continually upon the enemy to render their numbers useless. Polyænus, bk. 6, ch. 27.——A son of Lysimachus. Polyænus, bk. 6, ch. 12.——A governor of Lycia, who brought a reinforcement of troops to Alexander the Great. Curtius, bk. 7, ch. 10.——A son of Polyperchon, killed in Asia by the Dymæans. Diodorus, bks. 18 & 19.——A poet of Pleuron son of Satyrus and Stratoclea, who said that Theseus had a daughter called Iphigenia by Helen. Pausanias, bk. 2, ch. 22.——A Spartan, killed with 200 of his soldiers by the Argives, when he endeavoured to prevent their passing through the country of Tegea. Diodorus, bk. 15.——A cruel tyrant of Pheræ, in Thessaly, who made war against the Macedonians, and took Pelopidas prisoner. He was murdered, B.C. 357, by his wife called Thebe, whose room he carefully guarded by a Thracian sentinel, and searched every night, fearful of some dagger that might be concealed to take away his life. Cicero, de Inventione, bk. 2, ch. 49; de Officiis, bk. 2, ch. 9.—Valerius Maximus, bk. 9, ch. 13.—Plutarch & Cornelius Nepos, Pelopidas.—Pausanias, bk. 6, ch. 5.—Diodorus, bks. 15 & 16.—Ovid, Ibis, li. 321.——Severus, a Roman emperor. See: Severus.

Alexandra, the name of some queens of Judæa mentioned by Josephus.——A nurse of Nero. Suetonius, Nero, ch. 50.——A name of Cassandra, because she assisted mankind by her prophecies. Lycophron.

Alexandri Aræ, the boundaries, according to some, of Alexander’s victories, near the Tanais. Pliny, bk. 6, ch. 16.

Alexandrīa, the name of several cities which were founded by Alexander, during his conquests in Asia; the most famous are:—A grand and extensive city, built B.C. 332, by Alexander, on the western side of the Delta. The illustrious founder intended it not only for the capital of Egypt, but of his immense conquests, and the commercial advantages which its situation commanded continued to improve from the time of Alexander till the invasion of the Saracens in the seventh century. The commodities of India were brought there, and thence dispersed to the different countries around the Mediterranean. Alexandria is famous, among other curiosities, for the large library which the pride or learning of the Ptolemies had collected there, at a vast expense, from all parts of the earth. This valuable repository was burnt by the orders of the caliph Omar, A.D. 642; and it is said that, during six months, the numerous volumes supplied fuel for the 4000 baths, which contributed to the health and convenience of the populous capital of Egypt. Alexandria has likewise been distinguished for its schools, not only of theology and philosophy, but of physic, where once to have studied was a sufficient recommendation to distant countries. The astronomical school, founded by Philadelphus, maintained its superior reputation for 10 centuries, till the time of the Saracens. The modern town of Scanderoon has been erected upon the ruins of Alexandria, and, as if it were an insult to its former greatness, it scarce contains 6000 inhabitants. Curtius, bk. 4, ch. 8.—Strabo, bk. 17.—Pliny, bk. 5, ch. 10.——Another in Albania, at the foot of mount Caucasus.——Another in Arachosia, in India.——The capital of Aria, between Hecatompylon and Bactra.——Another of Carmania.——Another in Cilicia, on the confines of Syria.——Another the capital of Margiana.——Another of Troas, &c. Curtius, bk. 7.—Pliny, bk. 6, chs. 16, 23, & 25.

Alexandrĭdes, a Lacedæmonian, who married his sister’s daughter, by whom he had Dorycus, Leonidas, and Cleombrotus.——A native of Delphi, of which he wrote a history.

Alexandrīna aqua, baths in Rome, built by the emperor Alexander Severus.

Alexandropŏlis, a city of Parthia, built by Alexander the Great. Pliny, bk. 6, ch. 25.

Alexānor, a son of Machaon, who built in Sicyon a temple to his grandfather Æsculapius, and received divine honours after death. Pausanias, bk. 2, ch. 11.

Alexarchus, a Greek historian.

Alexas, of Laodicea, was recommended to Marcus Antony by Timagenes. He was the cause that Antony repudiated Octavia to marry Cleopatra. Augustus punished him severely after the defeat of Antony. Plutarch, Antonius.

Alexia, or Alesia. See: Alesia.

Alexicăcus, a surname given to Apollo by the Athenians, because he delivered them from the plague during the Peloponnesian war.

Alexīnus, a disciple of Eubulides the Milesian, famous for the acuteness of his genius and judgment, and for his fondness for contention and argumentation. He died of a wound which he had received from a sharp-pointed reed, as he swam across the river Alpheus. Diogenes Laërtius, Euclides.

Alexion, a physician intimate with Cicero. Cicero, Letters to Atticus, bk. 13, ltr. 25.

Alexippus, a physician of Alexander. Plutarch, Alexander.

Alexiraes, son of Hercules by Hebe. Apollodorus, bk. 2, ch. 7.——A place of Bœotia, where Alexiraes was born, bears also this name. Pausanias, bk. 9, ch. 25.

Alexirhoe, a daughter of the river Granicus. Ovid, Metamorphoses, bk. 11, li. 763.

Alexis, a man of Samos, who endeavoured to ascertain, by his writings, the borders of his country.——A comic poet, 336 B.C., of Thurium, who wrote 245 comedies, of which some few fragments remain.——A servant of Asinius Pollio.——An ungrateful youth of whom a shepherd is deeply enamoured, in Virgil’s Eclogues, poem 2.——A statuary, disciple to Polycletes, 87th Olympiad Pliny, bk. 34, ch. 8.——A schoolfellow of Atticus. Cicero, Letters to Atticus, bk. 7, ltr. 2.

Alexon, a native of Myndos, who wrote fables. Diogenes Laërtius.

Alfaterna, a town of Campania, beyond mount Vesuvius.

Publius Alfēnus Varus, a native of Cremona, who, by the force of his genius and his application, raised himself from his original profession of a cobbler to offices of trust at Rome, and at last became consul. Horace, bk. 1, satire 3, li. 130.

Algĭdum, a town of Latium near Tusculum, about 12 miles from Rome. There is a mountain of the same name in the neighbourhood. Horace, bk. 1, ode 21.

Aliacmon and Haliacmon, a river of Macedonia, separating it from Thessaly. It flows into the Ægean sea. Pliny, bk. 4, ch. 10.

Aliartus (or um) and Haliartus, a town of Bœotia, near the river Permessus, taken by Marcus Lucretius. Livy, bk. 42, ch. 63.——Another in Peloponnesus, on the coast of Messenia. Statius, Thebiad, bk. 7, li. 274.

Alĭcis, a town of Laconia.——A tribe of Athens.

Aliēnus Cæcīna, a questor in Bœotia, appointed, for his services, commander of a legion in Germany, by Galba. The emperor disgraced him for his bad conduct, for which he raised commotions in the empire. Tacitus, Histories, bk. 1, ch. 52.

Alīfæ, Alifa, or Alipha, a town of Italy, near the Vulturnus, famous for the making of cups. Horace, bk. 2, satire 8, li. 39.—Livy, bk. 8, ch. 25.

Alilæi, a people of Arabia Felix.

Alimentus Cincius, an historian in the second Punic war, who wrote in Greek an account of Annibal, besides a treatise on military affairs. Livy, bks. 21 & 30.

Alindæ, a town of Caria. Arrian.

Aliphēria, a town of Arcadia, situate on a hill. Polybius, bk. 4, ch. 77.

Alirrothius, a son of Neptune. Hearing that his father had been defeated by Minerva, in his dispute about giving a name to Athens, he went to the citadel, and endeavoured to cut down the olive, which had sprung from the ground and given the victory to Minerva; but in the attempt he missed his aim, and cut his own legs so severely that he instantly expired.

Tiberius Alledius Severus, a Roman knight, who married his brother’s daughter to please Agrippina.——A noted glutton in Domitian’s reign. Juvenal, satire 5, li. 118.

Allia, a river of Italy, falling into the Tiber. The Romans were defeated on its banks by Brennus and the Gauls, who were going to plunder Rome, 17th July, B.C. 390. Plutarch, Camillus.—Livy, bk. 5, ch. 37.—Florus, bk. 1, ch. 13.—Virgil, Æneid, bk. 7, li. 717.—Ovid, Ars Amatoria, bk. 1, li. 413.

Alliēnos, a pretor of Sicily, under Cæsar. Hirtius, African War, ch. 2.

Allŏbrŏges, a warlike nation of Gaul near the Rhone, in that part of the country now called Savoy, Dauphiné, and Vivarais. The Romans destroyed their city because they had assisted Annibal. Their ambassadors were allured by great promises to join in Catiline’s conspiracy against his country; but they scorned the offers, and discovered the plot. Dio Cassius.—Strabo, bk. 4.—Tacitus, Histories, bk. 1, ch. 66.—Sallust, Jugurthine War.

Allobry̆ges, a people of Gaul, supposed to be the same as the Allobroges. Polybius, bk. 30, ch. 56.

Allotrĭges, a nation on the southern parts of Spain. Strabo, bk. 2.

Allutius, or Albutius, a prince of the Celtiberi, to whom Scipio restored the beautiful princess whom he had taken in battle.

Almo, a small river near Rome falling into the Tiber. Ovid, Fasti, bk. 4, li. 387.—Lucan, bk. 1, li. 600.

Almon, the eldest of the sons of Tyrrhus. He was the first Rutulian killed by the Trojans; and from the skirmish which happened before and after his death, arose the enmities which ended in the fall of Turnus. Virgil, Æneid, bk. 7, li. 532.

Alŏa, festivals at Athens in honour of Bacchus and Ceres, by whose beneficence the husbandmen received the recompense of their labours. The oblations were the fruits of the earth. Ceres has been called from this, Aloas and Alois.

Aloēus, a giant, son of Titan and Terra. He married Iphimedia, by whom Neptune had the twins Othus and Ephialtus. Aloeus educated them as his own, and from that circumstance they have been called Aloides. They made war against the gods, and were killed by Apollo and Diana. They grew up nine inches every month, and were only nine years old when they undertook their war. They built the town of Ascra, at the foot of mount Helicon. Pausanias, bk. 9, ch. 29.—Virgil, Æneid, bk. 6, li. 582.—Homer, Iliad, bk. 5; Odyssey, bk. 11.

Aloīdes and Aloidæ, the sons of Aloeus. See: Aloeus.

Alŏpe, daughter of Cercyon king of Eleusis, had a child by Neptune, whom she exposed in the woods, covered with a piece of her gown. The child was preserved, and carried to Alope’s father, who, upon knowing the gown, ordered his daughter to be put to death. Neptune, who could not save his mistress, changed her into a fountain. The child, called Hippothoon, was preserved by some shepherds and placed by Theseus upon his grandfather’s throne. Pausanias, bk. 1, chs. 5 & 39.—Hyginus, fable 187.——One of the Harpies. Hyginus, fable 14.——A town of Thessaly. Pliny, bk. 4, ch. 7.—Homer, Iliad, bk. 2, li. 682.

Alopĕce, an island in the Palus Mæotis. Strabo.——Another in the Cimmerian Bosphorus. Pliny, bk. 4, ch. 12.——Another in the Ægean sea opposite Smyrna. Pliny, bk. 5, ch. 31.——A small village of Attica, where was the tomb of Anchimolius, whom the Spartans had sent to deliver Athens from the tyranny of the Pisistratidæ. Socrates and Aristides were born there. Aeschines, Against Timarchus.—Herodotus, bk. 5, ch. 64.

Alopius, a son of Hercules and Antiope. Apollodorus, bk. 2, ch. 35.

Alos, a town of Achaia. Strabo, bk. 9.—Pliny, bk. 4, ch. 7.

Alotia, festivals in Arcadia, in commemoration of a victory gained over Lacedæmon by the Arcadians.

Alpēnus, the capital of Locris, at the north of Thermopylæ. Herodotus, bk. 7, ch. 176, &c.

Alpes, mountains that separate Italy from Spain, Gaul, Rhætia, and Germany; considered as the highest ground in Europe. From them arise several rivers, which, after watering the neighbouring countries, discharge themselves into the German, Mediterranean, and Euxine seas. The Alps are covered with perpetual snows, and distinguished, according to their situation, by the different names of Cottiæ, Carnicæ, Graiæ, Noricæ, Juliæ, Maritimæ, Pannoniæ, Penninæ, Pœnæ, Rhætiæ, Tridentinæ, Venetæ. A traveller is generally five days in reaching the top in some parts. They were supposed for a long time to be impassable. Hannibal marched his army over them, and made his way through rocks, by softening and breaking them with vinegar. They were inhabited by fierce uncivilized nations, who were unsubdued till the age of Augustus, who, to eternize the victory which he had obtained over them, erected a pillar in their territory. Strabo, bks. 4 & 5.—Livy, bk. 21, ch. 35.—Juvenal, satire 10, li. 151.—Horace, bk. 2, satire 5, li. 41.—Lucan, bk. 1, li. 183.—Tacitus, Histories, bk. 3, ch. 53.

Alpheia, a surname of Diana in Elis. It was given her when the river Alpheus endeavoured to ravish her without success.——A surname of the nymph Arethusa, because loved by the Alpheus. Ovid, Metamorphoses, bk. 5, li. 487.

Alphēnor, one of Niobe’s sons. Ovid, Metamorphoses, bk. 6, fable 6.

Alphēnus. See: Alfenus.

Alphesibœa, daughter of the river Phlegeus, married Alcmæon son of Amphiaraus, who had fled to her father’s court after the murder of his mother. See: Alcmæon. She received, as a bridal present, the famous necklace which Polynices had given to Eriphyle, to induce her to betray her husband Amphiaraus. Alcmæon being persecuted by the means of his mother, left his wife by order of the oracle, and retired near the Achelous, whose daughter Callirrhoe had two sons by him, and begged of him, as a present, the necklace which was then in the hands of Alphesibœa. He endeavoured to obtain it, and was killed by Temenus and Axion, Alphesibœa’s brothers, who thus revenged their sister who had been so innocently abandoned. Hyginus, fable 244.—Propertius, bk. 8, poem 15, li. 15.—Pausanias, bk. 8, ch. 24.

Alphesibœus, a shepherd, often mentioned in Virgil’s eclogues.

Alphēus, now Alpheo, a famous river of Peloponnesus, which rises in Arcadia, and after passing through Elis falls into the sea. The god of this river fell in love with the nymph Arethusa, and pursued her till she was changed into a fountain by Diana. The fountain Arethusa is in Ortygia, a small island near Syracuse; and the ancients affirm that the river Alpheus passes under the sea from Peloponnesus, and without mingling itself with the salt waters, rises again in Ortygia, and joins the stream of Arethusa. If anything is thrown into the Alpheus in Elis, according to their traditions, it will reappear, after some time, swimming on the waters of Arethusa, near Sicily. Hercules made use of the Alpheus to clean the stables of Augeas. Strabo, bk. 6.—Virgil, Æneid, bk. 3, li. 694.—Ovid, Metamorphoses, bk. 5, fable 10.—Lucan, bk. 3, li. 176.—Statius, Thebiad, bks. 1 & 4.—Mela, bk. 2, ch. 7.—Pausanias, bk. 5, ch. 7; bk. 6, ch. 21.—Marcellinus, bk. 25.—Pliny, bk. 2, ch. 103.

Alphius, or Alfeus, a celebrated usurer ridiculed in Horace, Epodes, poem 2.

Alphius Avitus, a writer in the age of Severus, who gave an account of illustrious men, and a history of the Carthaginian war.

Alpīnus, belonging to the Alps. Virgil, Æneid, bk. 4, li. 442.

Alpīnus (Cornelius), a contemptible poet, whom Horace ridicules for the awkward manner in which he introduces the death of Memnon in a tragedy, and the pitiful style with which he describes the Rhine, in an epic poem which he attempted on the wars in Germany. Horace, bk. 1, satire 10, li. 36.——Julius, one of the chiefs of the Helvetii. Tacitus, Histories, bk. 1, ch. 68.

Alpis, a small river falling into the Danube.

Alsium, a maritime town at the west of the Tiber, now Statua. Silius Italicus, bk. 8.

Alsus, a river of Achaia in Peloponnesus, flowing from mount Sipylus. Pausanias, bk. 7, ch. 27.——A shepherd during the Rutulian wars. Virgil, Æneid, bk. 12, li. 304.

Althæa, daughter of Thestius and Eurythemis, married Œneus king of Calydon, by whom she had many children, among whom was Meleager. When Althæa brought forth Meleager, the Parcæ placed a log of wood in the fire, and said, that as long as it was preserved, so long would the life of the child just born be prolonged. The mother saved the wood from the flames, and kept it very carefully; but when Meleager killed his two uncles, Althæa’s brothers, Althæa, to revenge their death, threw the log into the fire, and as soon as it was burnt, Meleager expired. She was afterwards so sorry for the death she had caused, that she killed herself, unable to survive her son. See: Meleager. Ovid, Metamorphoses, bk. 8, fable 4.—Homer, Iliad, bk. 9.—Pausanias, bk. 8, ch. 45; bk. 10, ch. 31.—Apollodorus, bk. 1, ch. 8.

Althæmĕnes, a son of Creteus king of Crete. Hearing that either he or his brothers were to be their father’s murderers, he fled to Rhodes, where he made a settlement, to avoid becoming a parricide. After the death of all his other sons, Creteus went after his son Althæmenes; when he landed in Rhodes, the inhabitants attacked him, supposing him to be an enemy, and he was killed by the hand of his own son. When Althæmenes knew that he had killed his father, he entreated the gods to remove him, and the earth immediately opened, and swallowed him up. Apollodorus, bk. 3, ch. 2.

Altīnum, a flourishing city of Italy, near Aquileia, famous for its wool. Martial, bk. 14, ltr. 25.—Pliny, bk. 3, ch. 18.

Altis, a sacred grove round Jupiter’s temple at Olympia, where the statues of the Olympic conquerors were placed. Pausanias, bk. 5, ch. 20, &c.

Altus, a city of Peloponnesus. Xenophon, Hellenica.

Aluntium, a town of Sicily. Pliny, bk. 5, ch. 8.—Cicero, Against Verres, bk. 4.

Alus, Aluus, and Halus, a village of Arcadia, called also the temple of Æsculapius. Pausanias, bk. 8, ch. 25.

Alyattes I., a king of Lydia, descended from the Heraclidæ. He reigned 57 years.

Alyattes II., king of Lydia, of the family of the Mermnadæ, was father to Crœsus. He drove the Cimmerians from Asia, and made war against the Medes. He died when engaged in a war against Miletus, after a reign of 35 years. A monument was raised on his grave with the money which the women of Lydia had obtained by prostitution. An eclipse of the sun terminated a battle between him and Cyaxares. Herodotus, bk. 1, chs. 16, 17, &c.—Strabo, bk. 13.

Aly̆ba, a country near Mysia. Homer, Iliad, bk. 2.

Alycæa, a town of Arcadia. Pausanias, bk. 8, ch. 27.

Alycæus, son of Sciron, was killed by Theseus. A place in Megara received its name from him. Plutarch, Theseus.

Aly̆mon, the husband of Circe.

Alyssus, a fountain of Arcadia, whose waters could cure the bite of a mad dog. Pausanias, bk. 8, ch. 19.

Alyxothoe, or Alexirhoe, daughter of Dymus, was mother of Æsacus by Priam. Ovid, Metamorphoses, bk. 11, li. 763.

Alyzia, a town of Acarnania on the western mouth of the Achelous, opposite to the Echinades. Cicero, Letters to his Friends, bk. 16, ltr. 2.

Amadŏcus, a king of Thrace, defeated by his antagonist Seuthes. Aristotle, bk. 5, Politics, ch. 10.

Amage, a queen of Sarmatia, remarkable for her justice and fortitude. Polyænus, bk. 8, ch. 56.

Amalthæa, daughter of Melissus king of Crete, fed Jupiter with goat’s milk. Hence some authors have called her a goat, and have maintained that Jupiter, to reward her kindnesses, placed her in heaven as a constellation, and gave one of her horns to the nymphs who had taken care of his infant years. This horn was called the horn of plenty, and had the power to give the nymphs whatever they desired. Diodorus, bks. 3, 4, 5.—Ovid, Fasti, bk. 5, li. 113.—Strabo, bk. 10.—Hyginus, fable 139.—Pausanias, bk. 7, ch. 26.——A Sibyl of Cumæ, called also Hierophile and Demophile. She is supposed to be the same who brought nine books of prophecies to Tarquin king of Rome, &c. Varro.—Tibullus, bk. 2, poem 5, li. 67. See: Sibyllæ.

Amalthēum, a public place which Atticus had opened in his country house, called Amalthea, in Epirus, and provided with everything which could furnish entertainment and convey instruction. Cicero, Letters to Atticus, bk. 1, ltr. 13.

Amăna, or Amanus, part of mount Taurus in Cilicia. Lucan, bk. 3, li. 244.

Cn. Salvius Amandus, a rebel general under Diocletian, who assumed imperial honours, and was at last conquered by Diocletian’s colleague.

Amantes, or Amantīni, a people of Illyricum descended from the Abantes of Phocis. Callimachus.

Amānus, one of the deities worshipped in Armenia and Cappadocia. Strabo, bk. 11.——A mountain in Cilicia.

Amārăcus, an officer of Cinyras, changed into marjoram.

Amardi, a nation near the Caspian sea. Mela, bk. 1, ch. 3.

Amartus, a city of Greece. Homer, Hymn to Apollo.

Amaryllis, the name of a countrywoman in Virgil’s eclogues. Some commentators have supposed that the poet spoke of Rome under this fictitious appellation.

Amarynceus, a king of the Epeans, buried at Buprasium. Strabo, bk. 8.—Pausanias, bk. 8, ch. 1.

Amarynthus, a village in Eubœa, whence Diana is called Amarysia, and her festivals in that town Amarynthia.——Eubœa is sometimes called Amarynthus. Pausanias, bk. 1, ch. 31.

Amas, a mountain of Laconia. Pausanias, bk. 3.

Amăsēnus, a small river of Latium falling into the Tyrrhene sea. Virgil, Æneid, bk. 7, li. 685.

Amasia, a city of Pontus, where Mithridates the Great and Strabo the geographer were born. Strabo, bk. 12.—Pliny, bk. 6, ch. 3.

Amāsis, a man who, from a common soldier, became king of Egypt. He made war against Arabia, and died before the invasion of his country by Cambyses king of Persia. He made a law that every one of his subjects should yearly give an account to the public magistrates of the manner in which he supported himself. He refused to continue in alliance with Polycrates the tyrant of Samos, on account of his uncommon prosperity. When Cambyses came into Egypt, he ordered the body of Amasis to be dug up, and to be insulted and burnt; an action which was very offensive to the religious notions of the Egyptians. Herodotus, bks. 1, 2, 3.——A man who led the Persians against the inhabitants of Barce. Herodotus, bk. 4, ch. 201, &c.

Amastris, the wife of Dionysius the tyrant of Sicily, was sister to Darius, whom Alexander conquered. Strabo.——Also, the wife of Xerxes king of Persia. See: Amestris.——A city of Paphlagonia, on the Euxine sea. Catullus.

Amastrus, one of the auxiliaries of Perses, against Ætes king of Colchis, killed by Argus son of Phryxus. Flaccus, bk. 6, li. 544.——A friend of Æneas, killed by Camilla in the Rutulian war. Virgil, Æneid, bk. 11, li. 673.

Amāta, the wife of king Latinus. She had betrothed her daughter Lavinia to Turnus, before the arrival of Æneas in Italy. She zealously favoured the interest of Turnus, and when her daughter was given in marriage to Æneas, she hung herself to avoid the sight of her son-in-law. Virgil, Æneid, bk. 7, &c.

Amăthus (genitive: untis), now Limisso, a city on the southern side of the island of Cyprus, particularly dedicated to Venus. The island is sometimes called Amathusia, a name not unfrequently applied to the goddess of the place. Virgil, Æneid, bk. 10, li. 51.—Claudius Ptolemy, bk. 5, ch. 14.

Amaxampēus, a fountain of Scythia, whose waters imbitter the stream of the river Hypanis. Herodotus, bk. 4, ch. 52.

Amaxia, or Amaxīta, an ancient town of Troas.——A place of Cilicia abounding with wood fit for building ships. Pliny, bk. 5, ch. 9.—Strabo, bk. 14.

Amazēnes, or Mazēnes, a prince of the island Oaractus, who sailed for some time with the Macedonians and Nearchus in Alexander’s expedition to the east. Arrian, Indica.

Amazŏnes, or Amazŏnĭdes, a nation of famous women who lived near the river Thermodon in Cappadocia. All their life was employed in wars and manly exercises. They never had any commerce with the other sex, but, only for the sake of propagation, they visited the inhabitants of the neighbouring country for a few days, and the male children which they brought forth were given to the fathers. According to Justin, they were strangled as soon as born, and Diodorus says that they maimed them and distorted their limbs. The females were carefully educated with their mothers, in the labours of the field; their right breast was burnt off that they might hurl a javelin with more force, and make a better use of the bow; from that circumstance, therefore, their name is derived (a non, μαζα mamma). They founded an extensive empire in Asia Minor, along the shores of the Euxine, and near the Thermodon. They were defeated in a battle near the Thermodon by the Greeks; and some of them migrated beyond the Tanais, and extended their territories as far as the Caspian sea. Themyscyra was the most capital of their towns; and Smyrna, Magnesia, Thyatira, and Ephesus, according to some authors, were built by them. Diodorus, bk. 3, mentions a nation of Amazons in Africa more ancient than those of Asia. Some authors, among whom is Strabo, deny the existence of the Amazons, and of a republic supported and governed by women, who banished or extirpated all their males; but Justin and Diodorus particularly support it; and the latter says that Penthesilea, one of their queens, came to the Trojan war on the side of Priam, and that she was killed by Achilles, and from that time the glory and character of the Amazons gradually decayed, and was totally forgotten. The Amazons of Africa flourished long before the Trojan war, and many of their actions have been attributed to those of Asia. It is said, that after they had subdued almost all Asia, they invaded Attica, and were conquered by Theseus. Their most famous actions were their expeditions against Priam, and afterwards the assistance they gave him during the Trojan war; and their invasion of Attica, to punish Theseus, who had carried away Antiope, one of their queens. They were also conquered by Bellerophon and Hercules. Among their queens, Hippolyte, Antiope, Lampeto, Marpesia, &c., are famous. Curtius says that Thalestris, one of their queens, came to Alexander, whilst he was pursuing his conquests in Asia, for the sake of raising children from a man of such military reputation; and that, after she had remained 13 days with him, she retired into her country. The Amazons were such expert archers, that, to denote the goodness of a bow or quiver, it was usual to call it Amazonian. Virgil, Æneid, bk. 5, li. 311.—Jornandes, Getica, ch. 7.—Philostratus Major, Imagines, bk. 2, ch. 5.—Justin, bk. 2, ch. 4.—Curtius, bk. 6, ch. 5.—Pliny, bk. 6, ch. 7; bk. 14, ch. 8; bk. 36, ch. 5.—Herodotus, bk. 4, ch. 110.—Strabo, bk. 11.—Diodorus, bk. 2.—Dionysius of Halicarnassus, bk. 4.—Pausanias, bk. 7, ch. 2.—Plutarch, Theseus.—Apollodorus, bk. 2, chs. 3 & 5.—Hyginus, fables 14 & 163.

Amazŏnia, a celebrated mistress of the emperor Commodus.——The country of the Amazons, near the Caspian sea.

Amazŏnium, a place in Attica, where Theseus obtained a victory over the Amazons.

Amazŏnius, a surname of Apollo at Lacedæmon.

Ambarri, a people of Gallia Celtica, on the Arar, related to the Ædui. Cæsar, Gallic War, bk. 1, ch. 11.

Ambarvālia, a joyful procession round the ploughed fields, in honour of Ceres the goddess of corn. There were two festivals of that name celebrated by the Romans, one about the month of April, the other in July. They went three times round their fields crowned with oak leaves singing hymns to Ceres, and entreating her to preserve their corn. The word is derived ab ambiendis arvis, going round the fields. A sow, a sheep, and a bull, called ambarvaliæ hostiæ, were afterwards immolated, and the sacrifice has sometimes been called suovetaurilia, from sus, ovis, and taurus. Virgil, Georgics, bk. 1, lis. 339 & 345.—Tibullus, bk. 2, poem 1, li. 19.—Cato, de Re Rustica, ch. 141.

Ambĕnus, a mountain of European Sarmatia. Flaccus, bk. 6, ch. 85.

Ambialītes, a people of Gallia Celtica. Cæsar, Gallic War, bk. 3, ch. 9.

Ambiānum, a town of Belgium, now Amiens. Its inhabitants conspired against Julius Cæsar. Cæsar, Gallic War, bk. 2, ch. 4.

Ambiatīnum, a village of Germany, where the emperor Caligula was born. Suetonius, Caligula, ch. 8.

Ambigātus, a king of the Celtæ, in the time of Tarquinius Priscus. Seeing the great population of his country, he sent his two nephews, Sigovesus and Bellovesus, with two colonies, in quest of new settlements; the former towards the Hercynian woods, and the other towards Italy. Livy, bk. 5, ch. 34, &c.

Ambiōrix, a king of the Eburones in Gaul. He was a great enemy to Rome, and was killed in a battle with Julius Cæsar, in which 60,000 of his countrymen were slain. Cæsar, Gallic War, bk. 5, chs. 11, 26; bk. 6, ch. 30.

Ambivius, a man mentioned by Cicero, de Senectute.

Amblada, a town of Pisidia. Strabo.

Ambracia, a city of Epirus near the Acheron, the residence of king Pyrrhus. Augustus, after the battle of Actium, called it Nicopolis. Mela, bk. 2, ch. 3.—Pliny, bk. 4, ch. 1.—Polybius, bk. 4, ch. 63.—Strabo, bk. 10.

Ambracius Sinus, a bay of the Ionian sea, near Ambracia, about 300 stadia deep, narrow at the entrance, but within near 100 stadia in breadth, and now called the gulf of Larta. Polybius, bk. 4, ch. 63.—Mela, bk. 2, ch. 3.—Florus, bk. 4, ch. 11.—Strabo, bk. 10.

Ambri, an Indian nation. Justin, bk. 12, ch. 9.

Ambrōnes, certain nations of Gaul, who lost their possessions by the inundation of the sea, and lived upon rapine and plunder, whence the word Ambrones implied a dishonourable meaning. They were conquered by Marius. Plutarch, Marius.

Ambrōsia, festivals observed in honour of Bacchus in some cities in Greece. They were the same as the Brumalia of the Romans.——One of the daughters of Atlas, changed into a constellation after death.——The food of the gods was called ambrosia, and their drink nectar. The word signifies immortal. It had the power of giving immortality to all those who eat it. It was sweeter than honey, and of a most odoriferous smell; and it is said that Berenice, the wife of Ptolemy Soter, was saved from death by eating ambrosia given her by Venus. Titonus was made immortal by Aurora, by eating ambrosia; and in like manner Tantalus and Pelops, who, on account of their impiety, had been driven from heaven, and compelled to die upon earth. It had the power of healing wounds, and therefore Apollo, in Homer’s Iliad, saves Sarpedon’s body from putrefaction, by rubbing it with ambrosia; and Venus also heals the wounds of her son, in Virgil’s Æneid, with it. The gods used generally to perfume the hair with ambrosia; as Juno when she adorned herself to captivate Jupiter, and Venus when she appeared to Æneas. Homer, Iliad, bks. 1, 14, 16, & 24.—Lucian, de Dea Syria.—Catullus, poem 100.—Theocritus, Idylls, poem 15.—Virgil, Æneid, bk. 1, li. 407; bk. 12, li. 419.—Ovid, Metamorphoses, bk. 2.—Pindar, bk. 1, Olympian.

Ambrosius, bishop of Milan, obliged the emperor Theodosius to make penance for the murder of the people of Thessalonica, and distinguished himself by his writings, especially against the Arians. His three books, de Officiis, are still extant, besides eight hymns on the creation. His style is not inelegant, but his diction is sententious, his opinions eccentric, though his subject is diversified by copiousness of thought. He died A.D. 397. The best edition of his works is that of the Benedictines, 2 vols., folio, Paris, 1686.

Ambrȳon, a man who wrote the life of Theocritus of Chios. Diogenes Laërtius.

Ambryssus, a city of Phocis, which receives its name from a hero of the same name. Pausanias, bk. 10, ch. 35.

Ambūbājæ, Syrian women of immoral lives, who, in the dissolute period of Rome, attended festivals and assemblies as minstrels. The name is derived by some from Syrian words, which signify a flute. Horace, bk. 1, satire 2.—Suetonius, Nero, ch. 27.

Ambulli, a surname of Castor and Pollux, in Sparta.

Ameles, a river of hell, whose waters no vessel could contain. ♦Plato, bk. 10, Republic.

♦ ‘Plutarch’ replaced with ‘Plato’

Amenanus, a river of Sicily, near mount Ætna, now Guidicello. Strabo, bk. 5.

Amenīdes, a secretary of Darius the last king of Persia. Alexander set him over the Arimaspi. Curtius, bk. 7, ch. 3.

Amenŏcles, a Corinthian, said to be the first Grecian who built a three-oared galley at Samos and Corinth. Thucydides, bk. 1, ch. 13.