Pholoe, one of the horses of Admetus.——A mountain of Arcadia, near Pisa. It received its name from Pholus the friend of Hercules, who was buried there. It is often confounded with another of the same name in Thessaly, near mount Othrys. Pliny, bk. 4, ch. 6.—Lucan, bk. 3, li. 198; bk. 6, li. 388; bk. 7, li. 449.—Ovid, bk. 2, Fasti, li. 273.——A female servant, of Cretan origin, given with her two sons to Sergestus by Æneas. Virgil, Æneid, bk. 5, li. 285.——A courtesan in the age of Horace. Horace, bk. 1, ode 33, li. 7.

Pholus, one of the Centaurs, son of Silenus and Melia, or, according to others, of Ixion and the cloud. He kindly entertained Hercules when he was going against the boar of Erymanthus, but he refused to give him wine, as that which he had belonged to the rest of the Centaurs. Hercules, upon this, without ceremony, broke the cask and drank the wine. The smell of the liquor drew the Centaurs from the neighbourhood to the house of Pholus, but Hercules stopped them when they forcibly entered the habitation of his friend, and killed the greatest part of them. Pholus gave the dead a decent funeral, but he mortally wounded himself with one of the arrows which were poisoned with the venom of the hydra, and which he attempted to extract from the body of one of the Centaurs. Hercules, unable to cure him, buried him when dead, and called the mountain where his remains were deposited by the name of Pholoe. Apollodorus, bk. 1.—Pausanias, bk. 3.—Virgil, Georgics, bk. 2, li. 456; Æneid, bk. 8, li. 294.—Diodorus, bk. 4.—Silius Italicus, bk. 1.—Lucan, bks. 3, 6 & 7.—Statius Thebaid, bk. 2.——One of the friends of Æneas, killed by Turnus. Virgil, Æneid, bk. 12, li. 341.

Phorbas, a son of Priam and Epithesia, killed during the Trojan war by Menelaus. The god Somnus borrowed his features when he deceived Palinurus, and threw him into the sea near the coast of Italy. Virgil, Æneid, bk. 5, li. 842.——A son of Lapithus, who married Hyrmine the daughter of Epeus, by whom he had Actor. Pelops, according to Diodorus, shared his kingdom with Phorbas, who also, says the same historian, established himself at Rhodes, at the head of a colony from Elis and Thessaly, by order of the oracle, which promised, by his means only, deliverance from the numerous serpents which infested the island. Diodorus, bk. 2.—Pausanias, bk. 5, ch. 1.——A shepherd of Polybus king of Corinth.——A man who profaned Apollo’s temple, &c. Ovid, Metamorphoses, bk. 11, li. 414.——A king of Argos.——A native of Cyrene, son of Methion, killed by Perseus. Ovid, Metamorphoses, bk. 5, fable 3.

Phorcus, or Phorcys, a sea deity, son of Pontus and Terra, who married his sister Ceto, by whom he had the Gorgons, the dragon that kept the apples of the Hesperides, and other monsters. Hesiod, Theogony.—Apollodorus.——One of the auxiliaries of Priam, killed by Ajax during the Trojan war. Homer, Iliad, bk. 17.——A man whose seven sons assisted Turnus against Æneas. Virgil, Æneid, bk. 10, li. 328.

Phormio, an Athenian general, whose father’s name was Asopicus. He impoverished himself to maintain and support the dignity of his army. His debts were some time after paid by the Athenians, who wished to make him their general, an office which he refused, while he had so many debts, observing that it was unbecoming an officer to be at the head of an army, when he knew that he was poorer than the meanest of his soldiers.——A general of Crotona.——A peripatetic philosopher of Ephesus, who once gave a lecture upon the duties of an officer, and a military profession. The philosopher was himself ignorant of the subject which he treated, upon which Hannibal the Great, who was one of his auditors, exclaimed that he had seen many doting old men, but never one worse than Phormio. Cicero, de Natura Deorum, bk. 2.——An Athenian archon.——A disciple of Plato, chosen by the people of Elis to make a reformation in their government and their jurisprudence.

Phormis, an Arcadian who acquired great riches at the court of Gelon and Hiero in Sicily. He dedicated the brazen statue of a mare to Jupiter Olympius in Peloponnesus, which so much resembled nature, that horses came near it, as if it had been alive. Pausanias, bk. 5, ch. 27.

Phŏrōneus, the god of a river of Peloponnesus of the same name. He was son of the river Inachus by Melissa, and he was the second king of Argos. He married a nymph called Cerdo, or Laodice, by whom he had Apis, from whom Argolis was called Apia, and Niobe, the first woman of whom Jupiter became enamoured. Phoroneus taught his subjects the utility of laws, and the advantages of a social life and of friendly intercourse, whence the inhabitants of Argolis are often called Phoronæi. Pausanias relates that Phoroneus, with the Cephisus, Asterion, and Inachus, were appointed as umpires in a quarrel between Neptune and Juno, concerning their right of patronizing Argolis. Juno gained the preference, upon which Neptune, in a fit of resentment, dried up all the four rivers, whose decision he deemed partial. He afterwards restored them to their dignity and consequence. Phoroneus was the first who raised a temple to Juno. He received divine honours after death. His temple still existed at Argos, under Antoninus the Roman emperor. Pausanias, bk. 2, ch. 15, &c.—Apollodorus, bk. 2, ch. 1.—Hyginus, fable 143.

Phorōnis, a patronymic of Io the sister of Phoroneus. Ovid, Metamorphoses, bk. 1, li. 625.

Phorōnium, a town of Argolis, built by Phoroneus.

Photīnus, a eunuch who was prime minister to Ptolemy king of Egypt. When Pompey fled to the court of Ptolemy, after the battle of Pharsalia, Photinus advised his master not to receive him, but to put him to death. His advice was strictly followed. Julius Cæsar some time after visited Egypt, and Photinus raised seditions against him, for which he was put to death. When Cæsar triumphed over Egypt and Alexandria, the pictures of Photinus, and of some of the Egyptians, were carried in the procession at Rome. Plutarch.

Photius, a son of Antonina, who betrayed to Belisarius his wife’s debaucheries.——A patrician in Justinian’s reign.

Phoxus, a general of the Phocæans, who burnt Lampsacus, &c. Polyænus, bk. 8.——A tyrant of Chalcis, banished by his subjects, &c. Aristotle, Politics, bk. 5, ch. 4.

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

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

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

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

Phraates, a prince of Parthia in the reign of Tiberius.——A satrap of Parthia. Tacitus, Annals, bk. 6, ch. 42.

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

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

Phragrandæ, a people of Thrace. Livy, bk. 26, ch. 25.

Phrahates, the same as Phraates. See: Phraates.

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

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

Phrasĭcles, a nephew of Themistocles, whose daughter Nicomacha he married. Plutarch, Themistocles.

Phrasimus, the father of Praxithea. Apollodorus.

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

Phrataphernes, a general of the Massagetæ, who surrendered to Alexander. Curtius, bk. 8.——A satrap who, after the death of Darius, fled to Hyrcania, &c. Curtius.

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

Phricium, a town near Thermopylæ. Livy, bk. 36, ch. 13.

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

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

Phrontis, son of Onetor, pilot of the ship of Menelaus, after the Trojan war, was killed by Apollo just as the ship reached Sunium. Homer, Odyssey, bk. 3, li. 282.—Pausanias, bk. 10, ch. 25.——One of the Argonauts. Apollodorus, bk. 1.

Phruri, a Scythian nation.

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

Phrygia, a country of Asia Minor, generally divided into Phrygia Major and Minor. Its boundaries are not properly or accurately defined by ancient authors, though it appears that it was situate between Bithynia, Lydia, Cappadocia and Caria. It received its name from the Bryges, a nation of Thrace, or Macedonia, who came to settle there, and from their name, by corruption, arose the word Phrygia. Cybele was the chief deity of the country, and her festivals were observed with the greatest solemnity. The most remarkable towns, besides Troy, were Laodice, Hierapolis, and Synnada. The invention of the pipe of reeds, and of all sorts of needlework, is attributed to the inhabitants, who are represented by some authors as stubborn, but yielding to correction (hence Phryx verberatus melior), as imprudent, effeminate, servile, and voluptuous; and to this Virgil seems to allude. Æneid, bk. 9, li. 617. The Phrygians, like all other nations, were called barbarians by the Greeks; their music (Phrygii cantus) was of a grave and solemn nature, when opposed to the brisker and more cheerful Lydian airs. Mela, bk. 1, ch. 19.—Strabo, bk. 2, &c.—Ovid, Metamorphoses, bk. 13, li. 429, &c.—Cicero, bk. 7, Letters to his Friends, ltr. 18.—Flaccus, bk. 27.—Dio Cassius, bk. 1, ch. 50.—Pliny, bk. 1, ch. 4.—Horace, bk. 2, ode 9, li. 16.—Pausanias, bk. 5, ch. 25.—Herodotus, bk. 7, ch. 73.——A city of Thrace.

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

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

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

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

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

♦ ‘Athmas’ replaced with ‘Athamas’

Phthia, a town of Phthiotis, at the east of mount Othrys in Thessaly, where Achilles was born, and from which he is often called Phthius heros. Horace, bk. 4, ode 6, li. 4.—Ovid, Metamorphoses, bk. 13, li. 156.—Mela, bk. 2, ch. 3.—Propertius, bk. 2, poem 14, li. 38.—Cicero, Tusculanæ Disputationes, bk. 1, ch. 10.——A nymph of Achaia, beloved by Jupiter, who, to seduce her, disguised himself under the shape of a pigeon. Ælian, Varia Historia, bk. 1, ch. 15.——A daughter of Amphion and Niobe, killed by Diana. Apollodorus.

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

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

Phycus (untis), a promontory near Cyrene, now called Ras-al-sem. Lucan, bk. 9.

Phylăce, a town of Thessaly, built by Phylacus. Protesilaus reigned there, from whence he is often called Phylacides. Lucan, bk. 6, li. 252.——A town of Arcadia. Pausanias, bk. 1, ch. 34.——A town of Epirus. Livy, bk. 45, ch. 26.

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

Phylarchus, a Greek biographer, who flourished B.C. 221. He was accused of partiality by Plutarch, Aratus.

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

Phyle, a well-fortified village of Attica, at a little distance from Athens. Cornelius Nepos, Thrasybulus.

Phyleis, a daughter of Thespius. Apollodorus.

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

Phylĭra. See: Philyra.

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

Phyllalia, a part of Arcadia.——A place in Thessaly.

Phylleius, a mountain, country, and town of Macedonia. Apollonius, Argonautica, bk. 1.

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

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

Phyllŏdŏce, one of Cyrene’s attendant nymphs. Virgil, Georgics, bk. 4, li. 336.

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

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

Physcella, a town of Macedonia. Mela, bk. 2, ch. 3.

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

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

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

Physcos, a town of Caria, opposite Rhodes. Strabo, bk. 14.

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

Phytălĭdes, the descendants of Phytalus, a man who hospitably received and entertained Ceres, when she visited Attica. Plutarch, Theseus.

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

Phyxium, a town of Elis.

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

Piăsus, a general of the Pelasgi. Strabo, bk. 13.

Picēni, the inhabitants of Picenum, called also Picentes. They received their name from picus, a bird by whose auspices they had settled in that part of Italy. Silius Italicus, bk. 8, li. 425.—Strabo, bk. 5.—Mela, bk. 2, ch. 4.

Picentia, the capital of the Picentini.

Picentīni, a people of Italy between Lucania and Campania on the Tuscan sea. They are different from the Piceni or Picentes, who inhabited Picenum. Silius Italicus, bk. 8, li. 450.—Tacitus, Histories, bk. 4, ch. 62.

Picēnum, or Picēnus ager, a country of Italy near the Umbrians and Sabines, on the borders of the Adriatic. Livy, bk. 21, ch. 6; bk. 22, ch. 9; bk. 27, ch. 43.—Silius Italicus, bk. 10, li. 313.—Horace, bk. 2, satire 3, li. 272.—Martial, bk. 1, ltr. 44.

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

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

Pictāvi, or Pictŏnes, a people of Gaul in the modern country of Poictou. Cæsar, bk. 7, Gallic War, ch. 4.

Pictăvium, a town of Gaul.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Piĕris, a mountain of Macedonia. Pausanias, bk. 9, ch. 29.

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

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

Pigres and Mattyas, two brothers, &c. Herodotus.——The name of three rivers.

Pigrum mare, a name applied to the Northern sea, from its being frozen. The word Pigra is applied to the Palus Mœotis. Ovid, bk. 4, ex Ponto, ltr. 10, li. 61.—Pliny, bk. 4, ch. 13.—Tacitus, Germania, ch. 45.

Pilumnus, the god of bakers at Rome. See: Picumnus.

Pimpla, a mountain of Macedonia, with a fountain of the same name, on the confines of Thessaly, near Olympus, sacred to the Muses, who on that account are often called Pimpleæ and Pimpleades. Horace, bk. 1, ode 26, li. 9.—Strabo, bk. 10.—Martial, bk. 12, ltr. 11, li. 3.—Statius, bk. 1, Sylvæ, poem 4, li. 26; Sylvæ, poem 2, li. 36.

Pimprana, a town on the Indus. Arrian.

Pinăre, an island of the Ægean sea.——A town of Syria, at the south of mount Amanus. Pliny, bk. 5, ch. 25.——Of Lycia. Strabo, bk. 14.

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

Marcus Pinārius Rusca, a pretor, who conquered Sardinia, and defeated the Corsicans. Cicero, On Oratory, bk. 2.

Pinarus, or Pindus, now Delifou, a river falling into the sea near Issus, after flowing between Cilicia and Syria. Dionysius Periegeta.

Pincum, a town of Mœsia Superior, now Gradisca.

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

Pindăsus, a mountain of Troas.

Pindenissus, a town of Cilicia, on the borders of Syria. Cicero, when proconsul in Asia, besieged it for 25 days and took it. Cicero, For Marcus Cælius; Letters to his Friends, bk. 2, ltr. 10.

Pindus, a mountain, or rather a chain of mountains, between Thessaly, Macedonia, and Epirus. It was greatly celebrated as being sacred to the Muses and to Apollo. Ovid, Metamorphoses, bk. 1, li. 570.—Strabo, bk. 18.—Virgil, Eclogues, poem 10.—Lucan, bk. 1, li. 674; bk. 6, li. 339.—Mela, bk. 2, ch. 3.——A town of Doris in Greece, called also Cyphas. It was watered by a small river of the same name which falls into the Cephisus, near Lilæa. Herodotus, bk. 1, ch. 56.

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

Pinna, a town of Italy at the mouth of the Matrinus, south of Picenum. Silius Italicus, bk. 8, li. 518.

Pinthias. See: Phinthias.

Pintia, a town of Spain, now supposed to be Valladolid.

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

Pione, one of the Nereides. Apollodorus.

Piŏnia, a town of Mysia, near the Caycus.

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

Piranthus, a son of Argus and Evadne, brother to Jasus, Epidaurus, and Perasus. Pausanias, bk. 2, chs. 16 & 17.—Apollodorus, bk. 2.

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

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

Pirus, a captain of the Thracians during the Trojan war, killed by Thoas king of Ætolia. Homer, Iliad, bk. 4.

Pirustæ, a people of Illyricum. Livy, bk. 45, ch. 26.

Pisa, a town of Elis, on the Alpheus at the west of the Peloponnesus, founded by Pisus the son of Perieres, and grandson of Æolus. Its inhabitants accompanied Nestor to the Trojan war, and they enjoyed long the privilege of presiding at the Olympic games, which were celebrated near their city. This honourable appointment was envied by the people of Elis, who made war against the Piseans, and after many bloody battles took their city and totally demolished it. It was at Pisa that Œnomaus murdered the suitors of his daughter, and that he himself was conquered by Pelops. The inhabitants were called Pisæi. Some have doubted the existence of such a place as Pisa; but this doubt originates from Pisa’s having been destroyed in so remote an age. The horses of Pisa were famous. The year on which the Olympic games were celebrated, was often called Pisæus annus, and the victory which was obtained there was called Pisææ ramus olivæ. See: Olympia. Strabo, bk. 8.—Ovid, Tristia, bk. 2, li. 386; bk. 4, poem 10, li. 95.—Mela, bk. 2.—Virgil, Georgics, bk. 3, li. 180.—Statius, Thebaid, bk. 7, li. 417.—Pausanias, bk. 6, ch. 22.

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

Pisæus, a surname of Jupiter at Pisa.

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

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

Pisaurus, now Poglia, a river of Picenum, with a town called Pisaurum, now Pesaro, which became a Roman colony in the consulship of Claudius Pulcher. The town was destroyed by an earthquake in the beginning of the reign of Augustus. Mela, bk. 2, ch. 4.—Catullus, poem 82.—Pliny, bk. 3.—Livy, bk. 39, ch. 44; bk. 41, ch. 27.

Pisēnor, a son of Ixion and the cloud.——One of the ♦ancestors of the nurse of Ulysses. Homer, Odyssey, bk. 1.

♦ ‘ancestor’ replaced with ‘ancestors’

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

♦ ‘Etrura’ replaced with ‘Etruria’

Pisias, a general of the Argives in the age of Epaminondas.——A statuary at Athens, celebrated for his pieces. Pausanias.

Pĭsĭdia, an inland country of Asia Minor, between Phrygia, Pamphylia, Galatia, and Isauria. It was rich and fertile. The inhabitants were called Pisidæ. Cicero, de Divinatione, bk. 1, ch. 1.—Mela, bk. 1, ch. 2.—Strabo, bk. 12.—Livy, bk. 37, chs. 54 & 56.

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

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

Pisistrătĭdæ, the descendants of Pisistratus tyrant of Athens. See: Pisistratus.

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

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

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