Ptolemāis, a town of Thebais in Egypt, called after the Ptolemies, who beautified it. There was also another city of the same name in the territories of Cyrene. It was situate on the sea-coast, and, according to some, it was the same as Barce. See: Barce.——A city of Palestine, called also Acon. Mela, bk. 1, ch. 8; bk. 3, ch. 8.—Pliny, bk. 2, ch. 73.—Strabo, bk. 14, &c.

Ptoly̆cus, a statuary of Corcyra, pupil to Critias the Athenian. Pausanias, bk. 6, ch. 3.

Ptous, a son of Athamas and Themisto, who gave his name to a mountain of Bœotia, upon which he built a temple to Apollo, surnamed Ptous. The god had also a celebrated oracle on mount Ptous. Plutarch, de Defectu Oraculorum.—Pausanias, bk. 9, ch. 23.—Apollodorus, bk. 1, ch. 9.

Publicia lex, forbade any person to play with bad or ♦fraudulent designs.

♦ ‘fradulent’ replaced with ‘fraudulent’

Publicius, a Roman freedman, so much like Pompey the Great, that they were often confounded together. Valerius Maximus, bk. 9, ch. 14.

Publicŏla, a name given to Publius Valerius, on account of his great popularity. See: Valerius. Plutarch, Publicola.—Livy, bk. 2, ch. 8.—Pliny, bk. 30, ch. 15.

Publilia lex, was made by Publilius Philo the dictator, A.U.C. 445. It permitted one of the censors to be elected from the plebeians, since one of the consuls was chosen from that body. Livy, bk. 8, ch. 12.——Another, by which it was ordained, that all laws should be previously approved by the senators, before they were proposed by the people.

Publius Syrus, a Syrian mimic poet, who flourished about 44 years before Christ. He was originally a slave sold to a Roman patrician, called Domitius, who brought him up with great attention, and gave him his freedom when of age. He gained the esteem of the most powerful at Rome, and reckoned Julius Cæsar among his patrons. He soon eclipsed the poet Laberius, whose burlesque compositions were in general esteem. There remains of Publius a collection of moral sentences, written in iambics, and placed in alphabetical order; the newest edition of which is that of Patavium. Josephus Cominus, 1740.

Publius, a prænomen common among the Romans.——Caius, a man who conspired with Brutus against Julius Cæsar.——A pretor who conquered Palæpolis. He was only a plebeian, and though neither consul nor dictator, he obtained a triumph in spite of the opposition of the senators. He was the first who was honoured with a triumph during a pretorship.——A Roman consul who defeated the Latins, and was made dictator.——A Roman flatterer in the court of Tiberius.——A tribune who accused Manlius, &c.

Pudīcĭtia, a goddess who, as her name implies, presided over chastity. She had two temples at Rome. Festus, Lexicon of Festus.—Livy, bk. 10, ch. 7.

Pulchĕria, a daughter of the emperor Theodosius the Great, famous for her piety, moderation, and virtues.——A daughter of Arcadius, who held the government of the Roman empire for many years. She was mother of Valentinian. Her piety, and her private as well as public virtues, have been universally admired. She died A.D. 452, and was interred at Ravenna, where her tomb is still to be seen.——A sister of Theodosius, who reigned absolute for some time in the Roman empire.

Pulchrum, a promontory near Carthage, now Rasafran. Livy, bk. 29, ch. 27.

Pullus, a surname of Numitorius.

Punĭcum bellum. The first Punic war was undertaken by the Romans against Carthage, B.C. 264. The ambition of Rome was the origin of this war. For upwards of 240 years, the two nations had beheld with secret jealousy each other’s power, but they had totally eradicated every cause of contention, by settling, in three different treaties, the boundaries of their respective territories, the number of their allies, and how far one nation might sail in the Mediterranean without giving offence to the other. Sicily, an island of the highest consequence to the Carthaginians as a commercial nation, was the seat of the first dissensions. The Mamertini, a body of Italian mercenaries, were appointed by the king of Syracuse to guard the town of Messana, but this tumultuous tribe, instead of protecting the citizens, basely massacred them, and seized their possessions. This act of cruelty raised the indignation of all the Sicilians, and Hiero king of Syracuse, who had employed them, prepared to punish their perfidy; and the Mamertini, besieged in Messana, and without friends or resources, resolved to throw themselves for protection into the hands of the first power that could relieve them. They were, however, divided in their sentiments, and while some implored the assistance of Carthage, others called upon the Romans for protection. Without hesitation or delay, the Carthaginians entered Messana, and the Romans also hastened to give to the Mamertini that aid which had been claimed from them with as much eagerness as from the Carthaginians. At the approach of the Roman troops, the Mamertini, who had implored their assistance, took up arms, and forced the Carthaginians to evacuate Messana. Fresh forces were poured in on every side, and though Carthage seemed superior in arms and in resources, yet the valour and intrepidity of the Romans daily appeared more formidable, and Hiero, the Syracusan king, who hitherto had embraced the interest of the Carthaginians, became the most faithful ally of the republic. From a private quarrel the war became general. The Romans obtained a victory in Sicily, but as their enemies were masters at sea, the advantages which they gained were small and inconsiderable. To make themselves equal to their adversaries, they aspired to the dominion of the sea, and in 60 days timber was cut down, and a fleet of 120 galleys completely manned and provisioned. The successes they met with at sea were trivial, and little advantages could be gained over an enemy that were sailors by actual practice and long experience. ♦Duillius at last obtained a victory, and he was the first Roman who ever received a triumph after a naval battle. The losses which they had already sustained induced the Carthaginians to sue for peace, and the Romans, whom an unsuccessful descent upon Africa, under Regulus [See: Regulus], had rendered diffident, listened to the proposal, and the first Punic war was concluded B.C. 241, on the following terms:—The Carthaginians pledged themselves to pay to the Romans, within 20 years, the sum of 3000 Euboic talents; they promised to release all the Roman captives without ransom, to evacuate Sicily, and the other islands in the Mediterranean, and not to molest Hiero king of Syracuse, or his allies. After this treaty, the Carthaginians, who had lost the dominion of Sardinia and Sicily, made new conquests in Spain, and soon began to repair their losses by industry and labour. They planted colonies, and secretly prepared to revenge themselves upon their powerful rivals. The Romans were not insensible of their successes in Spain, and to stop their progress towards Italy, they made stipulations with the Carthaginians, by which they were not permitted to cross the Iberus, or to molest the cities of their allies the Saguntines. This was for some time observed, but when Annibal succeeded to the command of the Carthaginian armies in Spain, he spurned the boundaries which the jealousy of Rome had set to his arms, and he immediately formed the siege of Saguntum. The Romans were apprised of the hostilities which had been begun against their allies, but Saguntum was in the hands of the active enemy before they had taken any steps to oppose him. Complaints were carried to Carthage, and war was determined on by the influence of Annibal in the Carthaginian senate. Without delay or diffidence, B.C. 218, Annibal marched a numerous army of 90,000 foot and 12,000 horse towards Italy, resolved to carry on the war to the gates of Rome. He crossed the Rhone, the Alps, and the Apennines, with uncommon celerity, and the Roman consuls who were stationed to stop his progress were severally defeated. The battles of Trebia, of Ticinus, and of the lake of Thrasymenus, threw Rome into the greatest apprehensions, but the prudence and the dilatory measures of the dictator Fabius soon taught them to hope for better times. Yet the conduct of Fabius was universally censured as cowardice, and the two consuls who succeeded him in the command, by pursuing a different plan of operations, soon brought on a decisive action at Cannæ, in which 45,000 Romans were left in the field of battle. This bloody victory caused so much consternation at Rome, that some authors have declared that if Annibal had immediately marched from the plains of Cannæ to the city, he would have met with no resistance, but would have terminated a long and dangerous war with glory to himself, and the most inestimable advantages to his country. This celebrated victory at Cannæ left the conqueror master of two camps, and of an immense booty; and the cities which had hitherto observed a neutrality, no sooner saw the defeat of the Romans, than they eagerly embraced the interest of Carthage. The news of this victory was carried to Carthage by Mago, and the Carthaginians refused to believe it till three bushels of golden rings were spread before them, which had been taken from the Roman knights in the field of battle. After this Annibal called his brother Asdrubal from Spain with a large reinforcement; but the march of Asdrubal was intercepted by the Romans, his army was defeated, and himself slain. Affairs now had taken a different turn, and Marcellus, who had the command of the Roman legions in Italy, soon taught his countrymen that Annibal was not invincible in the field. In different parts of the world the Romans were making very rapid conquests, and if the sudden arrival of a Carthaginian army in Italy at first raised fears and apprehensions, they were soon enabled to dispute with their enemies for the sovereignty of Spain and the dominion of the sea. Annibal no longer appeared formidable in Italy; if he conquered towns in Campania or Magna Græcia, he remained master of them only while his army hovered in the neighbourhood, and if he marched towards Rome the alarm he occasioned was but momentary; the Romans were prepared to oppose him, and his retreat was therefore the more dishonourable. The conquests of young Scipio in Spain had now raised the expectations of the Romans, and he had no sooner returned to Rome than he proposed to remove Annibal from the capital of Italy by carrying the war to the gates of Carthage. This was a bold and hazardous enterprise, but though Fabius opposed it, it was universally approved by the Roman senate, and young Scipio was empowered to sail to Africa. The conquests of the young Roman were as rapid in Africa as in Spain, and the Carthaginians, apprehensive for the fate of their capital, recalled Annibal from Italy, and preferred their safety at home to the maintaining of a long and expensive war in another quarter of the globe. Annibal received their orders with indignation, and with tears in his eyes he left Italy, where for 16 years he had known no superior in the field of battle. At his arrival in Africa, the Carthaginian general soon collected a large army, and met his exulting adversary in the plains of Zama. The battle was long and bloody, and though one nation fought for glory, and the other for the dearer sake of liberty, the Romans obtained the victory, and Annibal, who had sworn eternal enmity to the gods of Rome, fled from Carthage after he had advised his countrymen to accept the terms of the conqueror. This battle of Zama was decisive, the Carthaginians sued for peace, which the haughty conquerors granted with difficulty. The conditions were these: Carthage was permitted to hold all the possessions which she had in Africa before the war, and to be governed by her own laws and institutions. She was ordered to make restitution of all the ships and other effects which had been taken in violation of a truce that had been agreed upon by both nations. She was to surrender the whole of her fleet, except 10 galleys; she was to release and deliver up all the captives, deserters, or fugitives, taken or received during the war; to indemnify Masinissa for all the losses which he had sustained; to deliver up all her elephants, and for the future never more to tame or break any more of these animals. She was not to make war upon any nation whatever without the consent of the Romans, and she was to reimburse the Romans, to pay the sum of 10,000 talents, at the rate of 200 talents a year for 50 years, and she was to give up hostages from the noblest families for the performance of these several articles; and till the ratification of the treaty, to supply the Roman forces with money and provisions. These humiliating conditions were accepted 201 B.C., and immediately 4000 Roman captives were released, 500 galleys were delivered and burnt on the spot, but the immediate exaction of 200 talents was more severely felt, and many of the Carthaginian senators burst into tears. During the 50 years which followed the conclusion of the second Punic war, the Carthaginians were employed in repairing their losses by unwearied application and industry; but they found still in the Romans a jealous rival and a haughty conqueror, and in Masinissa the ally of Rome an intriguing and ambitious monarch. The king of Numidia made himself master of one of their provinces; but as they were unable to make war without the consent of Rome, the Carthaginians sought relief by embassies, and made continual complaints in the Roman senate of the tyranny and oppression of Masinissa. Commissioners were appointed to examine the cause of their complaints; but as Masinissa was the ally of Rome, the interest of the Carthaginians was neglected, and whatever seemed to depress their republic was agreeable to the Romans. Cato, who was in the number of the commissioners, examined the capital of Africa with a jealous eye; he saw it with concern, rising as it were from its ruins; and when he returned to Rome he declared, in full senate, that the peace of Italy would never be established while Carthage was in being. The senators, however, were not guided by his opinion, and the delenda est Carthago of Cato did not prevent the Romans from acting with moderation. But while the senate were debating about the existence of Carthage, and while they considered it as a dependent power, and not as an ally, the wrongs of Africa were without redress, and Masinissa continued his depredations. Upon this the Carthaginians resolved to do their cause that justice which the Romans had denied them; they entered the field against the Numidians, but they were defeated in a bloody battle by Masinissa, who was then 90 years old. In this bold measure they had broken the peace; and as their late defeat had rendered them desperate, they hastened with all possible speed to the capital of Italy to justify their proceedings, and to implore the forgiveness of the Roman senate. The news of Masinissa’s victory had already reached Italy, and immediately some forces were sent to Sicily, and from thence ordered to pass into Africa. The ambassadors of Carthage received evasive and unsatisfactory answers from the senate; and when they saw the Romans landed at Utica, they resolved to purchase peace by the most submissive terms which even the most abject slaves could offer. The Romans acted with the deepest policy; no declaration of war had been made, though hostilities appeared inevitable; and in answer to the submissive offers of Carthage, the consuls replied, that to prevent every cause of quarrel, the Carthaginians must deliver into their hands 300 hostages, all children of senators, and of the most noble and respectable families. The demand was great and alarming, but it was no sooner granted, than the Romans made another demand, and the Carthaginians were told that peace could not continue, if they refused to deliver up all their ships, their arms, engines of war, with all their naval and military stores. The Carthaginians complied, and immediately 40,000 suits of armour, 20,000 large engines of war, with a plentiful store of ammunition and missile weapons, were surrendered. After this duplicity had succeeded, the Romans laid open the final resolutions of the senate, and the Carthaginians were then told that, to avoid hostilities, they must leave their ancient habitations and retire into the inland parts of Africa, and found another city, at the distance of not less than 10 miles from the sea. This was heard with horror and indignation; the Romans were fixed and inexorable, and Carthage was filled with tears and lamentations. But the spirit of liberty and independence was not yet extinguished in the capital of Africa, and the Carthaginians determined to sacrifice their lives for the protection of their gods, the tombs of their forefathers, and the place which had given them birth. Before the Roman army approached the city, preparations to support a siege were made, and the ramparts of Carthage were covered with stones, to compensate for the weapons and instruments of war which they had ignorantly betrayed to the duplicity of their enemies. Asdrubal, whom the despair of his countrymen had banished on account of the unsuccessful expedition against Masinissa, was immediately recalled; and, in the moment of danger, Carthage seemed to have possessed more spirit and more vigour than when Annibal was victorious at the gates of Rome. The town was blocked up by the Romans, and a regular siege begun. Two years were spent in useless operations, and Carthage seemed still able to rise from its ruins, to dispute for the empire of the world; when Scipio, the descendant of the great Scipio, who finished the second Punic war, was sent to conduct the siege. The vigour of his operations soon baffled the efforts and the bold resistance of the besieged; the communications which they had with the land were cut off, and the city, which was 20 miles in circumference, was completely surrounded on all sides by the enemy. Despair and famine now raged in the city, and Scipio gained access to the city walls, where the battlements were low and unguarded. His entrance into the streets was disputed with uncommon fury, the houses as he advanced were set on fire to stop his progress; but when a body of 50,000 persons of either sex had claimed quarter, the rest of the inhabitants were disheartened, and such as disdained to be prisoners of war perished in the flames, which gradually destroyed their habitations, 147 B.C., after a continuation of hostilities for three years. During 17 days Carthage was in flames; and the soldiers were permitted to redeem from the fire whatever possession they could. But while others profited from the destruction of Carthage, the philosophic general, struck by the melancholy aspect of the scene, repeated two lines from Homer, which contained a prophecy concerning the fall of Troy. He was asked by the historian Polybius to what he then applied his prediction. “To my country,” replied Scipio; “for her too I dread the vicissitude of human affairs, and in her turn she may exhibit another flaming Carthage.” This remarkable event happened about the year of Rome 606. The news of this victory caused the greatest rejoicings at Rome; and immediately commissioners were appointed by the Roman senate, not only to raze the walls of Carthage, but even to demolish and burn the very materials with which they were made: and in a few days, that city which had been once the seat of commerce, the model of magnificence, the common store of the wealth of nations, and one of the most powerful states of the world, left behind no traces of its splendour, of its power, or even of its existence. Polybius.—Orosius.—Appian, Punic Wars, &c.—Florus.—Plutarch, Cato, &c.—Strabo.—Livy, Epitaph.—Diodorus.

♦ ‘Duilius’ replaced with ‘Duillius’

Pupia lex, de senatu, required that the senate should not be assembled from the 18th of the calends of February to the calends of the same month, and that before the embassies were either accepted or rejected, the senate should be held on no account.

Pupiēnus Marcus Claudius Maximus, a man of an obscure family, who raised himself by his merit to the highest offices in the Roman armies, and gradually became a pretor, consul, prefect of Rome, and a governor of the provinces. His father was a blacksmith. After the death of the Gordians, Pupienus was elected with Balbinus to the imperial throne, and to rid the world of the usurpation and tyranny of the Maximini, he immediately marched against these tyrants; but he was soon informed that they had been sacrificed to the fury and resentment of their own soldiers; and therefore he retired to Rome to enjoy the tranquillity which his merit claimed. He soon after prepared to make war against the Persians, who insulted the majesty of Rome, but in this he was prevented, and massacred A.D. 236, by the pretorian guards. Balbinus shared his fate. Pupienus is sometimes called Maximus. In his private character he appeared always grave and serious; he was the constant friend of justice, moderation, and clemency, and no greater encomium can be passed upon his virtues than to say that he was invested with the purple without soliciting for it, and that the Roman senate said that they had selected him from thousands because they knew no person more worthy or better qualified to support the dignity of an emperor.

Pupius, a centurion of Pompey’s army, seized by Cæsar’s soldiers, &c. Cæsar, Gallic War, bk. 1, ch. 13.

Puppius, a tragic poet in the age of Julius Cæsar. His tragedies were so pathetic, that when they were represented on the Roman stage, the audience melted into tears, from which circumstance Horace calls them lacrymosa, bk. 1, ltr. 1, li. 67.

Purpurăriæ, two islands of the Atlantic on the African coast, now Lancarota and Fortaventura. Pliny, bk. 6, ch. 31; bk. 35, ch. 6.

Puteŏli, a maritime town of Campania, between Baiæ and Naples, founded by a colony from Cumæ. It was originally called Dicæarchia, and afterwards Puteoli, from the great number of wells that were in the neighbourhood. It was much frequented by the Romans, on account of its mineral waters and hot baths, and near it Cicero had a villa called Puteolanum. It is now called Puzzoli, and contains, instead of its ancient magnificence, not more than 10,000 inhabitants. Silius Italicus, bk. 13, li. 385.—Strabo, bk. 5.—Varro, de Lingua Latina, bk. 4, ch. 5.—Cicero, Philippics, bk. 8, ch. 3; Letters to his Friends, bk. 15, ltr. 5.—Mela, bk. 2, ch. 4.—Pausanias, bk. 8, ch. 7.

Puticŭlæ, a place near the Esquiline gate, where the meanest of the Roman populace were buried. Part of it was converted into a garden by Mecænas, who received it as a present from Augustus. Horace, bk. 1, satire 8, li. 8.—Varro, de Lingua Latina, bk. 4, ch. 5.

Pyanepsia, an Athenian festival celebrated in honour of Theseus and his companions; who, after their return from Crete, were entertained with all manner of fruits, and particularly pulse. From this circumstance, the Pyanepsia was ever after commemorated by the boiling of pulse, ἀπο του ἑψειν πυανα. Some, however, suppose that it was observed in commemoration of the Heraclidæ, who were entertained with pulse by the Athenians.

Pydna, a town of Macedonia, originally called Citron, situate between the mouth of the rivers Aliacmon and Lydius. It was in this city that Cassander massacred Olympias the mother of Alexander the Great, his wife Roxane, and his son Alexander. Pydna is famous for a battle which was fought there, on the 22nd of June, B.C. 168, between the Romans under Paulus, and king Perseus, in which the latter was conquered, and Macedonia soon after reduced to the form of a Roman province. Justin, bk. 14, ch. 6.—Florus.—Plutarch, Æmilius Paulus.—Livy, bk. 44, ch. 10.

Pygela, a seaport town of Ionia. Livy, bk. 37, ch. 11.

Pygmæi, a nation of dwarfs, in the extremest parts of India, or, according to others, in Æthiopia. Some authors affirm that they were no more than one foot high, and that they built their houses with egg-shells. Aristotle says that they lived in holes under the earth, and that they came out in the harvest time with hatchets to cut down the corn as if to fell a forest. They went on goats and lambs of proportionable stature to themselves, to make war against certain birds, whom some call cranes, which came there yearly from Scythia to plunder them. They were originally governed by Gerana, a princess who was changed into a crane, for boasting herself fairer than Juno. Ovid, Metamorphoses, bk. 6, li. 90.—Homer, Iliad, bk. 3.—Strabo, bk. 7.—Aristotle, History of Animals, bk. 8, ch. 12.—Juvenal, satire 13, li. 186.—Pliny, bk. 4, &c.—Mela, bk. 3, ch. 8.—Suetonius, Augustus, ch. 83.—Philostratus, Imagines, bk. 2, ch. 22, mentions that Hercules once fell asleep in the deserts of Africa, after he had conquered Antæus, and that he was suddenly awakened by an attack which had been made upon his body by an army of these Liliputians, who discharged their arrows with great fury upon his arms and legs. The hero, pleased with their courage, wrapped the greatest number of them in the skin of the Nemæan lion, and carried them to Eurystheus.

Pygmæon, a surname of Adonis in Cyprus. Hesychius.

Pygmălion, a king of Tyre, son of Belus, and brother to the celebrated Dido, who founded Carthage. At the death of his father, he ascended the vacant throne, and soon became odious by his cruelty and avarice. He sacrificed everything to the gratification of his predominant passions, and he did not even spare the life of Sichæus, Dido’s husband, because he was the most powerful and opulent of all the Phœnicians. This murder he committed in a temple, of which Sichæus was the priest; but instead of obtaining the riches which he desired, Pygmalion was shunned by his subjects, and Dido, to avoid further acts of cruelty, fled away with her husband’s treasures, and a large colony, to the coast of Africa, where she founded a city. Pygmalion died in the 56th year of his age, and in the 47th of his reign. Virgil, Æneid, bk. 1, li. 347, &c.—Justin, bk. 18, ch. 5.—Apollodorus, bk. 3.—Silius Italicus, bk. 1.——A celebrated statuary of the island of Cyprus. The debauchery of the females of Amathus, to which he was a witness, created in him such an aversion for the fair sex, that he resolved never to marry. The affection which he had denied to the other sex, he liberally bestowed upon the works of his own hands. He became enamoured of a beautiful statue of marble which he had made, and at his earnest request and prayers, according to the mythologists, the goddess of beauty changed the favourite statue into a woman, whom the artist married, and by whom he had a son called Paphus, who founded the city of that name in Cyprus. Ovid, Metamorphoses, bk. 10, fable 9.

Pylădes, a son of Strophius king of Phocis, by one of the sisters of Agamemnon. He was educated, together with his cousin Orestes, with whom he formed the most inviolable friendship, and whom he assisted to revenge the murder of Agamemnon, by assassinating Clytemnestra and Ægysthus. He also accompanied him to Taurica Chersonesus, and for his services Orestes rewarded him by giving him his sister Electra in marriage. Pylades had by her two sons, Medon and Strophius. The friendship of Orestes and Pylades became proverbial. See: Orestes. Euripides, Iphigeneia.—Æschylus, Agamemnon, &c.—Pausanias, bk. 1, ch. 28.——A celebrated Greek musician, in the age of Philopœmen. Plutarch, Philopœmen.——A mimic in the reign of Augustus, banished, and afterwards recalled.

Pylæ, a town of Asia, between Cappadocia and Cilicia. Cicero, bk. 5, Letters to Atticus. The word Pylæ, which signifies gates, was often applied by the Greeks to any straits or passages which opened a communication between one country and another, such as the straits of Thermopylæ, of Persia, Hyrcania, &c.

Pylæmĕnes, a Paphlagonian, son of Melius, who came to the Trojan war, and was killed by Menelaus. His son, called Harpalion, was killed by Meriones. Dictys Cretensis, bk. 2, ch. 34.—Homer, Iliad, bk. 2, li. 358.——A king of Mæonia, who sent his sons, Mestes and Antiphus, to the Trojan war.——Another, son of Nicomedes, banished from Paphlagonia by Mithridates, and restored by Pompey. Eutropius, bks. 5 & 6.

Pylagŏræ, a name given to the Amphictyonic council, because they always assembled at Pylæ, near the temple of Delphi.

Pylāon, a son of Neleus and Chloris, killed by Hercules with his brothers. Apollodorus, bk. 1, ch. 9.

Pylarge, a daughter of Danaus. Apollodorus.

Pylartes, a Trojan killed by Patroclus. Homer, Iliad, bk. 16, li. 695.

Pylas, a king of Megara. He had the misfortune accidentally to kill his uncle Bias, for which he fled away, leaving his kingdom to Pandion his son-in-law, who had been driven from Athens. Apollodorus, bk. 3, ch. 15.—Pausanias, bk. 1, ch. 39.

Pylēne, a town of Ætolia. Homer, Iliad, bk. 2.

Pyleus, a Trojan chief, killed by Achilles.——A son of Clymenus king of Orchomenos.

Pylleon, a town of Thessaly. Livy, bk. 42, ch. 42.

Pylo, a daughter of Thespius, mother of Hippotas. Apollodorus.

Pylos, now Navarin, a town of Messenia, situate on the western coast of the Peloponnesus, opposite the island Sphacteria in the Ionian sea. It was also called Coryphasion, from the promontory on which it was erected. It was built by Pylus, at the head of a colony from Megara. The founder was dispossessed of it by Neleus, and fled into Elis, where he dwelt in a small town, which he also called Pylos.——A town of Elis, at the mouth of the river Alpheus, between the Peneus and the Selleis.——Another town of Elis, called Triphyliacha, from Triphylia, a province of Elis, where it was situate. These three cities, which bore the name of Pylos, disputed their respective right to the honour of having given birth to the celebrated Nestor son of Neleus. The Pylos which is situated near the Alpheus seems to win the palm, as it had in its neighbourhood a small village called Geranus, and a river called Geron, of which Homer makes mention. Pindar, however, calls Nestor king of Messenia, and therefore gives the preference to the first-mentioned of these three cities. Apollodorus, bk. 1, ch. 19; bk. 3, ch. 15.—Pausanias, bk. 1, ch. 39.—Strabo, bk. 9.—Homer, Iliad, bk. 2, Odyssey, bk. 3.

Pylus, a town. See: Pylos.——A son of Mars by Demonice the daughter of Agenor. He was present at the chase of the Calydonian boar. Apollodorus, bk. 1.

Pyra, part of mount Œta, on which the body of Hercules was burnt. Livy, bk. 36, ch. 30.

Pyracmon, one of Vulcan’s workmen in the forges of mount Ætna. The name is derived from two Greek words which signify fire and an anvil. Virgil, Æneid, bk. 8, li. 425.

Pyracmos, a man killed by Cæneus. Ovid, Metamorphoses, bk. 12, li. 460.

Pyræchmes, a king of Eubœa.——A king of Pæonia during the Trojan war.

Pyrămus, a youth of Babylon, who became enamoured of Thisbe, a beautiful virgin who dwelt in the neighbourhood. The flame was mutual, and the two lovers, whom their parents forbade to marry, regularly received each other’s addresses through the chink of a wall, which separated their houses. After the most solemn vows of sincerity they both agreed to elude the vigilance of their friends, and to meet one another at the tomb of Ninus, under a white mulberry tree, without the walls of Babylon. Thisbe came first to the appointed place, but the sudden arrival of a lioness frightened her away; and as she fled into a neighbouring cave she dropped her veil, which the lioness found and besmeared with blood. Pyramus soon arrived; he found Thisbe’s veil all bloody, and concluding that she had been torn to pieces by the wild beasts of the place, he stabbed himself with his sword. Thisbe, when her fears were vanished, returned from the cave, and at the sight of the dying Pyramus, she fell upon the sword which still reeked with his blood. This tragical scene happened under a white mulberry tree, which, as the poets mention, was stained with the blood of the lovers, and ever after bore fruit of the colour of blood. Ovid, Metamorphoses, bk. 4, li. 55, &c.—Hyginus, fable 243.——A river of Cilicia, rising in mount Taurus, and falling into the Pamphylian sea. Cicero, bk. 3, Letters to his Friends, ltr. 11.—Dionysius Periegetes.

Pyrenæa Venus, a town of Gallia ♦Narbonensis.

♦ ‘Narbonesis’ replaced with ‘Narbonensis’

Pyrēnæi, a mountain, or a long ridge of high mountains, which separate Gaul from Spain, and extend from the Atlantic to the Mediterranean sea. They receive their name from Pyrene the daughter of Bebrycius [See: Pyrene], or from the fire (πυρ) which once raged there for several days. This fire was originally kindled by shepherds, and so intense was the heat which it occasioned, that all the silver mines of the mountains were melted, and ran down in large rivulets. This account is deemed fabulous by Strabo and others. Diodorus, bk. 5.—Strabo, bk. 3.—Mela, bk. 2, ch. 6.—Silius Italicus, bk. 3, li. 415.—Livy, bk. 21, ch. 60.—Pliny, bk. 4, ch. 34.

Pyrenæus, a king of Thrace, who, during a shower of rain, gave shelter in his house to the nine muses, and attempted to offer them violence. The goddesses upon this took to their wings and flew away. Pyrenæus, who attempted to follow them, as if he had wings, threw himself down from the top of a tower and was killed. Ovid, Metamorphoses, bk. 5, li. 274.

Pyrēne, a daughter of Bebrycius king of the southern parts of Spain. Hercules offered violence to her before he went to attack Geryon, and she brought into the world a serpent, which so terrified her, that she fled into the woods, where she was torn to pieces by wild beasts.——A nymph, mother of Cycnus by Mars. Apollodorus.——A fountain near Corinth.——A small village in Celtic Gaul, near which, according to some, the river Ister took its rise.

Pyrgi, an ancient town of Etruria, on the sea coast. Virgil, Æneid, bk. 10, li. 184.—Livy, bk. 36, ch. 3.

Pyrgion, an historian who wrote on the laws of Crete. Athenæus.

Pyrgo, the nurse of Priam’s children, who followed Æneas in his flight from Troy. Virgil, Æneid, bk. 5, li. 645.

Pyrgotĕles, a celebrated engraver on gems in the age of Alexander the Great. He had the exclusive privilege of engraving the conqueror, as Lysippus was the only sculptor who was permitted to make statues of him. Pliny, bk. 37, ch. 1.

Pyrgrus, a fortified place of Elis in the Peloponnesus.

Pyrippe, a daughter of Thespius.

Pyro, one of the Oceanides. Hesiod.

Pyrodes, a son of Cilix, said to be the first who discovered and applied to human purposes the fire concealed in flints. Pliny, bk. 7, ch. 56.

Pyrois, one of the horses of the sun. Ovid, Metamorphoses, bk. 2, li. 153.

Pyronia, a surname of Diana. Pausanias, bk. 8, ch. 16.

Pyrrha, a daughter of Epimetheus and Pandora, who married Deucalion the son of Prometheus, who reigned in Thessaly. In her age all mankind were destroyed by a deluge, and she alone, with her husband, escaped from the general destruction, by saving themselves in a boat which Deucalion had made by his father’s advice. When the waters had retired from the surface of the earth, Pyrrha, with her husband, went to the oracle of Themis, where they were directed, to repair the loss of mankind, to throw stones behind their backs. They obeyed, and the stones which Pyrrha threw were changed into women, and those of Deucalion into men. See: Deucalion. Pyrrha became mother of Amphictyon, Hellen, and Protogenea by Deucalion. Ovid, Metamorphoses, bk. 1, li. 350, &c.—Hyginus, fable 153.—Apollonius of Rhodes, bk. 3, li. 1085.——A daughter of Creon king of Thebes. Pausanias, bk. 9, ch. 10.——The name which Achilles bore when he disguised himself in women’s clothes, at the court of Lycomedes. Hyginus, fable 96.——A town of Eubœa. Mela, bk. 2, ch. 7.——A promontory of Phthiotis, on the bay of Malia.——A town of Lesbos.——A beautiful courtesan at Rome, of whom Horace was long an admirer. Horace, bk. 1, ode 5.

Pyrrheus, a place in the city of Ambracia. Livy, bk. 38, ch. 5.

Pyrrhi castra, a place of Lucania. Livy, bk. 35, ch. 27.

Pyrrhias, a boatman of Ithaca, remarkable for his humanity. He delivered from slavery an old man who had been taken by pirates, and robbed of some pots full of pitch. The old man was so grateful for his kindness, that he gave the pots to his deliverer, after he had told him that they contained gold under the pitch. Pyrrhias, upon this, offered the sacrifice of a bull to the old man, and retained him in his house, with every act of kindness and attention, till the time of his death. Plutarch, Quæstiones Græcæ.——A general of the Ætolians, defeated by Philip, king of Macedonia.

Pyrrhicha, a kind of dance, said to be invented and introduced into Greece by Pyrrhus the son of Achilles. The dancers were generally armed. Pliny, bk. 7, ch. 56.

Pyrrhicus, a free town of Laconia. Pausanias, bk. 3, ch. 21.—Athenæus, bk. 14.

Pyrrhidæ, a patronymic given to the successors of Neoptolemus in Epirus.

Pyrrho, a philosopher of Elis, disciple to Anaxarchus, and originally a painter. His father’s name was Plistarchus, or Pistocrates. He was in continual suspense of judgment; he doubted of everything, never made any conclusions, and when he had carefully examined a subject, and investigated all its parts, he concluded by still doubting of its evidence. This manner of doubting in the philosopher has been called Pyrrhonism, and his disciples have received the appellation of sceptics, inquisitors, examiners, &c. He pretended to have acquired an uncommon dominion over opinion and passions. The former of these virtues he called ataraxia, and the latter matriopathia, and so far did he carry his want of common feeling and sympathy, that he passed with unconcern near a ditch in which his master Anaxarchus had fallen, and where he nearly perished. He was once in a storm, and when all hopes were vanished, and destruction certain, the philosopher remained unconcerned; and while the rest of the crew were lost in lamentations, he plainly told them to look at a pig which was then feeding himself on board the vessel, exclaiming, “This is a true model for a wise man.” As he showed so much indifference in everything, and declared that life and death were the same thing, some of his disciples asked him why he did not hurry himself out of the world. “Because,” says he, “there is no difference between life and death.” When he walked in the streets he never looked behind, or moved from the road for a chariot, even in its most rapid course; and, indeed, as some authors remark, this indifference for his safety often exposed him to the greatest and most imminent dangers, from which he was saved by the interference of his friends who followed him. He flourished B.C. 304, and died at the advanced age of 90. He left no writings behind him. His countrymen were so partial to him that they raised statues to his memory, and exempted all the philosophers of Elis from taxes. Diogenes Laërtius, bk. 9.—Cicero, On Oratory, bk. 3, ch. 17.—Aulus Gellius, bk. 11, ch. 5.—Pausanias, bk. 6, ch. 24.

Pyrrhus, a son of Achilles and Deidamia the daughter of king Lycomedes, who received this name from the yellowness of his hair. He was also called Neoptolemus, or new warrior, because he came to the Trojan war in the last year of the celebrated siege of the capital of Troas. See: Neoptolemus.——A king of Epirus, descended from Achilles by the side of his mother, and from Hercules by that of his father, and son of Æacides and Phthia. He was saved when an infant, by the fidelity of his servants, from the pursuits of the enemies of his father, who had been banished from his kingdom, and he was carried to the court of Glautias king of Illyricum, who educated him with great tenderness. Cassander king of Macedonia wished to despatch him, as he had so much to dread from him; but Glautias not only refused to deliver him up into the hands of his enemy but he even went with an army and placed him on the throne of Epirus, though only 12 years of age. About five years after, the absence of Pyrrhus, to attend the nuptials of one of the daughters of ♦Glautias, raised new commotions. The monarch was expelled from his throne by Neoptolemus, who had usurped it after the death of Æacides; and being still without resources, he applied to his brother-in-law Demetrius for assistance. He accompanied Demetrius at the battle of Ipsus, and fought there with all the prudence and intrepidity of an experienced general. He afterwards passed into Egypt, where, by his marriage with Antigone the daughter of Berenice, he soon obtained a sufficient force to attempt the recovery of his throne. He was successful in the undertaking, but to remove all causes of quarrel, he took the usurper to share with him the royalty, and some time after he put him to death under pretence that he had attempted to poison him. In the subsequent years of his reign, Pyrrhus engaged in the quarrels which disturbed the peace of the Macedonian monarchy; he marched against Demetrius, and gave the Macedonian soldiers fresh proofs of his valour and activity. By dissimulation he ingratiated himself in the minds of his enemy’s subjects, and when Demetrius laboured under a momentary illness, Pyrrhus made an attempt upon the crown of Macedonia, which, if not then successful, soon after rendered him master of the kingdom. This he shared with Lysimachus for seven months, till the jealousy of the Macedonians, and the ambition of his colleague, obliged him to retire. Pyrrhus was meditating new conquests, when the Tarentines invited him to Italy to assist them against the encroaching power of Rome. He gladly accepted the invitation, but his passage across the Adriatic proved nearly fatal, and he reached the shores of Italy, after the loss of the greatest part of his troops in a storm. At his entrance into Tarentum, B.C. 280, he began to reform the manners of the inhabitants, and by introducing the strictest discipline among their troops, to accustom them to bear fatigue and to despise dangers. In the first battle which he fought with the Romans, he obtained the victory, but for this he was more particularly indebted to his elephants, whose bulk and uncommon appearance astonished the Romans and terrified their cavalry. The number of the slain was equal on both sides, and the conqueror said that such another victory would totally ruin him. He also sent Cineas, his chief minister, to Rome, and though victorious, he sued for peace. These offers of peace were refused, and when Pyrrhus questioned Cineas about the manners and the character of the Romans, the sagacious minister replied, that their senate was a venerable assembly of kings, and that to fight against them, was to attack another Hydra. A second battle was fought near Asculum, but the slaughter was so great, and the valour so conspicuous on both sides, that the Romans and their enemies reciprocally claimed the victory as their own. Pyrrhus still continued the war in favour of the Tarentines, when he was invited into Sicily by the inhabitants, who laboured under the yoke of Carthage, and the cruelty of their own petty tyrants. His fondness of novelty soon determined him to quit Italy; he left a garrison at Tarentum, and crossed over to Sicily, where he obtained two victories over the Carthaginians, and took many of their towns. He was for a while successful, and formed the project of invading Africa; but soon his popularity vanished, his troops became insolent, and he behaved with haughtiness, and showed himself oppressive, so that his return to Italy was deemed a fortunate event for all Sicily. He had no sooner arrived at Tarentum than he renewed hostilities with the Romans with great acrimony, but when his army of 80,000 men had been defeated by 20,000 of the enemy, under Curius, he left Italy with precipitation, B.C. 274, ashamed of the enterprise, and mortified by the victories which had been obtained over one of the descendants of Achilles. In Epirus he began to repair his military character by attacking Antigonus, who was then on the Macedonian throne. He gained some advantages over his enemy, and was at last restored to the throne of Macedonia. He afterwards marched against Sparta, at the request of Cleonymus, but when all his vigorous operations were insufficient to take the capital of Laconia, he retired to Argos, where the treachery of Aristeus invited him. The Argives desired him to retire, and not to interfere in the affairs of their republic, which were confounded by the ambition of two of their nobles. He complied with their wishes, but in the night he marched his forces into the town, and might have made himself master of the place had he not retarded his progress by entering it with his elephants. The combat that ensued was obstinate and bloody, and the monarch, to fight with more boldness, and to encounter dangers with more facility, exchanged his dress. He was attacked by one of the enemy, but as he was going to run him through in his own defence, the mother of the Argive, who saw her son’s danger from the top of a house, threw down a tile and brought Pyrrhus to the ground. His head was cut off, and carried to Antigonus, who gave his remains a magnificent funeral, and presented his ashes to his son Helenus, 272 years before the christian era. Pyrrhus has been deservedly commended for his talents as a general; and not only his friends, but also his enemies, have been warm in extolling him; and Annibal declared, that for experience and sagacity the king of Epirus was the first of commanders. He had chosen Alexander the Great for a model, and in everything he wished not only to imitate, but to surpass him. In the art of war none were superior to him; he not only made it his study as a general, but even he wrote many books on encampments, and the different ways of training up an army, and whatever he did was by principle and rule. His uncommon understanding and his penetration are also admired; but the general is severely censured, who has no sooner conquered a country, than he looks for other victories, without regarding or securing what he has already obtained, by measures and regulations honourable to himself, and advantageous to his subjects. The Romans passed great encomiums upon him, and Pyrrhus was no less struck with their magnanimity and valour; so much indeed, that he exclaimed that if he had soldiers like the Romans, or if the Romans had him for a general, he would leave no corner of the earth unseen, and no nation unconquered. Pyrrhus married many wives, and all for political reasons; besides Antigone, he had Lanassa the daughter of Agathocles, as also a daughter of Autoleon king of Pæonia. His children, as his biographer observes, derived a warlike spirit from their father, and when he was asked by one to which of them he should leave the kingdom of Epirus, he replied, to him who has the sharpest sword. Ælian, De Natura Animalium, bk. 10.—Plutarch, Lives.—Justin, bk. 17, &c.—Livy, bks. 13 & 14.—Horace, bk. 3, ode 6.——A king of Epirus, son of Ptolemy, murdered by the people of Ambracia. His daughter, called Laudamia, or Deidamia, succeeded him. Pausanias.——A son of Dædalus.

♦ ‘Glautius’ replaced with ‘Glautias’

Pyste, the wife of Seleucus, taken prisoner by the Gauls, &c. Polyænus, bk. 2.

Pythagŏras, a celebrated philosopher, born at Samos. His father Mnesarchus was a person of distinction, and therefore the son received that education which was most calculated to enlighten his mind and invigorate his body. Like his contemporaries, he was early made acquainted with poetry and music; eloquence and astronomy became his private studies, and in gymnastic exercises he often bore the palm for strength and dexterity. He first made himself known in Greece, at the Olympic games, where he obtained, in the 18th year of his age, the prize for wrestling; and, after he had been admired for the elegance and the dignity of his person, and the brilliancy of his understanding, he retired into the east. In Egypt and Chaldæa he gained the confidence of the priests, and learned from them the artful policy, and the symbolic writings, by which they governed the prince as well as the people, and, after he had spent many years in gathering all the information which could be collected from antique tradition concerning the nature of the gods and the immortality of the soul, Pythagoras revisited his native island. The tyranny of Polycrates at Samos disgusted the philosopher, who was a great advocate for national independence; and though he was the favourite of the tyrant, he retired from the island, and a second time assisted at the Olympic games. His fame was too well known to escape notice; he was saluted in the public assembly by the name of Sophist, or wise man; but he refused the appellation, and was satisfied with that of philosopher, or, the friend of wisdom. “At the Olympic games,” said he, in explanation of this new appellation he wished to assume, “some are attracted with the desire of obtaining crowns and honours, others come to expose their different commodities to sale, while curiosity draws a third class, and the desire of contemplating whatever deserves notice in that celebrated assembly; thus, on the more extensive theatre of the world, while many struggle for the glory of a name, and many pant for the advantages of fortune, a few, and indeed but a few, who are neither desirous of money nor ambitious of fame, are sufficiently gratified to be spectators of the wonder, the hurry, and the magnificence of the scene.” From Olympia, the philosopher visited the republics of Elis and Sparta, and retired to Magna Græcia, where he fixed his habitation in the town of Crotona, about the 40th year of his age. Here he founded a sect which has received the name of the Italian, and he soon saw himself surrounded by a great number of pupils, which the recommendation of his mental as well as his personal accomplishments had procured. His skill in music and medicine, and his knowledge of mathematics and of natural philosophy, gained him friends and admirers, and amidst the voluptuousness that prevailed among the inhabitants of Crotona, the Samian sage found his instructions respected and his approbation courted; the most debauched and effeminate were pleased with the eloquence and the graceful delivery of the philosopher, who boldly upbraided them for their vices, and called them to more virtuous and manly pursuits. These animated harangues were attended with rapid success, and a reformation soon took place in the morals and the life of the people of Crotona. The females were exhorted to become modest, and they left off their gaudy ornaments; the youths were called away from their pursuits of pleasure, and instantly they forgot their intemperance, and paid to their parents that submissive attention and deference which the precepts of Pythagoras required. As to the old, they were directed no longer to spend their time in amassing money, but to improve their understanding, and to seek that peace and those comforts of mind which frugality, benevolence, and philanthropy alone can produce. The sober and religious behaviour of the philosopher strongly recommended the necessity and importance of these precepts. Pythagoras was admired for his venerable aspect; his voice was harmonious, his eloquence persuasive, and the reputation he had acquired by his distant travels, and by being crowned at the Olympic games, was great and important. He regularly frequented the temples of the gods, and paid his devotion to the divinity at an early hour; he lived upon the purest and most innocent food, he clothed himself like the priests of the Egyptian gods, and by his continual purifications and regular offerings, he seemed to be superior to the rest of mankind in sanctity. These artful measures united to render him an object not only of reverence, but of imitation. To set himself at a greater distance from his pupils, a number of years was required to try their various dispositions; the most talkative were not permitted to speak in the presence of their master before they had been his auditors for five years, and those who possessed a natural taciturnity were allowed to speak after a probation of two years. When they were capable of receiving the secret instructions of the philosopher, they were taught the use of cyphers and hieroglyphic writings, and Pythagoras might boast that his pupils could correspond together, though in the most distant regions, in unknown characters; and by the signs and words which they had received, they could discover, though strangers and barbarians, those that had been educated in the Pythagorean school. So great was his authority among his pupils, that to dispute his word was deemed a crime, and the most stubborn were drawn to coincide with the opinions of their opponent, when they helped their arguments by the words of the master said so, an expression which became proverbial in jurare in verba magistri. The great influence which the philosopher possessed in his school was transferred to the world: the pupils divided the applause and the approbation of the people with their venerable master, and in a short time the rulers and the legislators of all the principal towns of Greece, Sicily, and Italy, boasted in being the disciples of Pythagoras. The Samian philosopher was the first who supported the doctrine of metempsychosis, or transmigration of the soul into different bodies, and those notions he seemed to have imbibed among the priests of Egypt, or in the solitary retreats of the Brachmans. More strenuously to support his chimerical system, he declared he recollected the different bodies which his soul had animated before that of the son of Mnesarchus. He remembered to have been Æthalides the son of Mercury, to have assisted the Greeks during the Trojan war in the character of Euphorbus [See: Euphorbus], to have been Hermotimus, afterwards a fisherman, and last of all Pythagoras. He forbade his disciples to eat flesh, as also beans, because he supposed them to have been produced from the same putrefied matter from which, at the creation of the world, man was formed. In his theological system Pythagoras supported that the universe was created from a shapeless heap of passive matter by the hands of a powerful being, who himself was the mover and soul of the world, and of whose substance the souls of mankind were a portion. He considered numbers as the principles of everything, and perceived in the universe regularity, correspondence, beauty, proportion, and harmony, as intentionally produced by the Creator. In his doctrines of morality, he perceived in the human mind propensities common to us with the brute creation; but besides these, and the passions of avarice and ambition, he discovered the nobler seeds of virtue, and supported that the most ample and perfect gratification was to be found in the enjoyment of moral and intellectual pleasures. The thoughts of the past he considered as always present to us, and he believed that no enjoyment could be had where the mind was disturbed by consciousness of guilt, or fears about futurity. This opinion induced the philosopher to recommend to his followers a particular mode of education. The tender years of the Pythagoreans were employed in continual labour, in study, in exercise, and repose; and the philosopher maintained his well-known and important maxim, that many things, especially love, are best learnt late. In a more advanced age, the adult was desired to behave with caution, spirit, and patriotism, and to remember that the community and civil society demanded his exertions, and that the good of the public, and not his own private enjoyments, were the ends of his creation. From lessons like these, the Pythagoreans were strictly enjoined to call to mind, and carefully to review, the actions, not only of the present, but of the preceding days. In their acts of devotion, they early repaired to the most solitary places of the mountains, and after they had examined their private and public conduct, and conversed with themselves, they joined in the company of their friends, and early refreshed their body with light and frugal aliments. Their conversation was of the most innocent nature; political or philosophic subjects were discussed with propriety, but without warmth, and after the conduct of the following day was regulated, the evening was spent with the same religious ceremony as the morning, in a strict and partial self-examination. From such regularity nothing but the most salutary consequences could arise, and it will not appear wonderful that the disciples of Pythagoras were so much respected and admired as legislators, and imitated for their constancy, friendship, and humanity. The authors that lived in, and after, the age of Alexander, have rather tarnished than brightened the glory of the founder of the Pythagorean school, and they have obscured his fame by attributing to him actions which were dissonant with his character as a man and a moralist. To give more weight to his exhortations, as some writers mention, Pythagoras retired into a subterraneous cave, where his mother sent him intelligence of everything which happened during his absence. After a certain number of months he again reappeared on the earth, with a grim and ghastly countenance, and declared, in the assembly of the people, that he was returned from hell. From similar exaggerations, it has been asserted that he appeared at the Olympic games with a golden thigh, and that he could write in letters of blood whatever he pleased on a looking-glass, and that, by setting it opposite to the moon, when full, all the characters which were on the glass became legible on the moon’s disc. They also support that, by some magical words, he tamed a bear, stopped the flight of an eagle, and appeared on the same day and at the same instant in the cities of Crotona and Metapontum, &c. The time and the place of the death of this great philosopher are unknown; yet many suppose that he died at Metapontum about 497 years before Christ; and so great was the veneration of the people of Magna Græcia for him, that he received the same honours as were paid to the immortal gods, and his house became a sacred temple. Succeeding ages likewise acknowledged his merits, and when the Romans, A.U.C. 411, were commanded by the oracle of Delphi to erect a statue to the bravest and wisest of the Greeks, the distinguished honour was conferred on Alcibiades and Pythagoras. Pythagoras had a daughter, called Damo. There is now extant a poetical composition ascribed to the philosopher, and called the golden verses of Pythagoras, which contain the greatest part of his doctrines and moral precepts; but many support that it is a supposititious composition, and that the true name of the writer was Lysis. Pythagoras distinguished himself also by his discoveries in geometry, astronomy, and mathematics, and it is to him that the world is indebted for the demonstration of the 47th proposition of the first book of Euclid’s elements, about the square of the hypothenuse. It is said that he was so elated after making the discovery, that he made an offering of a hecatomb to the gods; but the sacrifice was undoubtedly of small oxen, made with wax, as the philosopher was ever an enemy to shedding the blood of all animals. His system of the universe, in which he placed the sun in the centre, and all the planets moving in elliptical orbits round it, was deemed chimerical and improbable, till the deep inquiries and the philosophy of the 16th century proved it, by the most accurate calculations, to be true and incontestable. Diogenes Laërtius, Porphyry, Iamblicus, and others, have written an account of his life, but with more erudition, perhaps, than veracity. Cicero, de Natura Deorum, bk. 1, ch. 5; Tusculanæ Disputationes, bk. 4, ch. 1.—Diogenes Laërtius, bk. 8, &c.—Hyginus, fable 112.—Ovid, Metamorphoses, bk. 15, li. 60, &c.—Plato.—Pliny, bk. 34, ch. 6.—Aulus Gellius, bk. 9.—Iamblic.—Porphyry.—Plutarch.——A soothsayer of Babylon, who foretold the death of Alexander and of Hephæstion, by consulting the entrails of victims.——A tyrant of Ephesus.——One of Nero’s wicked favourites.

Pytheas, an archon at Athens.——A native of Massilia, famous for his knowledge of astronomy, mathematics, philosophy, and geography. He also distinguished himself by his travels, and, with a mind that wished to seek information in every corner of the earth, he advanced far into the northern seas, and discovered the island of Thule, and entered that then unknown sea, which is now called the Baltic. His discoveries in astronomy and geography were ingenious, and, indeed, modern navigators have found it expedient to justify and accede to his conclusions. He was the first who established a distinction of climate by the length of days and nights. He wrote different treatises in Greek, which have been lost, though some of them were extant in the beginning of the fifth century. Pytheas lived, according to some, in the age of Aristotle. Strabo, bk. 2, &c.—Pliny, bk. 37.——An Athenian rhetorician, in the age of Demosthenes, who distinguished himself by his intrigues, rapacity, and his opposition to the measures of Demosthenes, of whom he observed that his orations smelt of the lamp. Pytheas joined Antipater after the death of Alexander the Great. His orations were devoid of elegance, harsh, unconnected, and diffuse, and from this circumstance he has not been ranked among the orators of Athens. Ælian, Varia Historia, bk. 7, ch. 7.—Plutarch, Demosthenes & Politica Præcepta.

Pythes, a native of Abdera, in Thrace, son of Andromache, who obtained a crown at the Olympian games. Pliny, bk. 34, ch. 7.—Pausanias, bk. 6, ch. 14.

Pytheus, a Lydian in the age of Xerxes, famous for his riches. He kindly entertained the monarch and all his army, when he was marching on his expedition against Greece, and offered him to defray the expenses of the whole war. Xerxes thanked him with much gratitude, and promised to give him whatever he should require. Pytheus asked him to dismiss his son from the expedition; upon which the monarch ordered the young man to be cut in two, and one half of the body to be placed on the right hand of the way, and the other on the left, that his army might march between them. Plutarch, de Mulierum Virtutes.—Herodotus.

Pythia, the priestess of Apollo at Delphi. She delivered the answer of the god to such as came to consult the oracle, and was supposed to be suddenly inspired by the sulphureous vapours which issued from the hole of a subterraneous cavity within the temple, over which she sat bare on a three-legged stool, called a tripod. In this stool was a small aperture, through which the vapour was inhaled by the priestess, and, at this divine inspiration, her eyes suddenly sparkled, her hair stood on end, and a shivering ran over all her body. In this convulsive state she spoke the oracles of the god, often with loud howlings and cries, and her articulations were taken down by the priest, and set in order. Sometimes the spirit of inspiration was more gentle, and not always violent; yet Plutarch mentions one of the priestesses who was thrown into such an excessive fury, that not only those that consulted the oracle, but also the priest that conducted her to the sacred tripod, and attended her during the inspiration, were terrified and forsook the temple; and so violent was the fit, that she continued for some days in the most agonizing situation, and at last died. The Pythia, before she placed herself on the tripod, used to wash her whole body, and particularly her hair, in the waters of the fountain Castalis, at the foot of mount Parnassus. She also shook a laurel tree that grew near the place, and sometimes ate the leaves with which she crowned herself. The priestess was originally a virgin, but the institution was changed when Echecrates, a Thessalian, had offered violence to one of them, and none but women who were above the age of 50 were permitted to enter upon that sacred office. They always appeared dressed in the garments of virgins, to intimate their purity and modesty, and they were solemnly bound to observe the strictest laws of temperance and chastity, that neither fantastical dresses nor lascivious behaviour might bring the office, the religion, or the sanctity of the place into contempt. There was originally but one Pythia, besides subordinate priests, and afterwards two were chosen, and sometimes more. The most celebrated of all these is Phemonoe, who is supposed by some to have been the first who gave oracles at Delphi. The oracles were always delivered in hexameter verses, a custom which was some time after discontinued. The Pythia was consulted only one month in the year, about the spring. It was always required that those who consulted the oracle should make large presents to Apollo, and from thence arose the opulence, splendour, and the magnificence of that celebrated temple of Delphi. Sacrifices were also offered to the divinity, and if the omens proved unfavourable, the priestess refused to ♦give an answer. There were generally five priests who assisted at the offering of the sacrifices, and there was also another who attended the Pythia, and assisted her in receiving the oracle. See: ♠Delphi, Oraculum. Pausanias, bk. 10, ch. 5.—Diodorus, bk. 16.—Strabo, bks. 6 & 9.—Justin, bk. 24, ch. 5.—Plutarch, De Defectu Oraculorum.—Euripides, Ion.—Dio Chrysostom.——Games celebrated in honour of Apollo, near the temple of Delphi. They were at first instituted, according to the more received opinion, by Apollo himself, in commemoration of the victory which he had obtained over the serpent Python, from which they received their name; though others maintain that they were first established by Agamemnon, or Diomedes, or by Amphictyon, or, lastly, by the council of Amphictyons, B.C. 1263. They were originally celebrated once in nine years, but afterwards every fifth year, or the second year of every olympiad, according to the number of the Parnassian nymphs who congratulated Apollo after his victory. The gods themselves were originally among the combatants, and, according to some authors, the first prize was won by Pollux, in boxing; by Castor, in horse-races; by Hercules, in the pancratium; by Zetes, in fighting with the armour; by Calais, in running; by Telamon, in wrestling; and by Peleus in throwing the quoit. These illustrious conquerors were rewarded by Apollo himself, who was present, with crowns and laurels. Some, however, observe that it was nothing but a musical contention, in which he who sung best the praises of Apollo obtained the prize, which was presents of gold or silver, which were afterwards exchanged for a garland of the palm tree, or of beech leaves. It is said that Hesiod was refused admission to these games because he was not able to play upon the harp, which was required of all such as entered the lists. The songs which were sung were called Πυθικοι νομοι, the Pythian modes, divided into five parts, which contained a representation of the fight and victory of Apollo over Python; ἀνακρουσις, the preparation for the fight; ἐμπειρα, the first attempt; κατακελευσμος, taking breath and collecting courage; ἰαμβοι και δακτυλοι, the insulting sarcasms of the god over his vanquished enemy; συριγγες, an imitation of the hisses of the serpent, just as he expired under the blows of Apollo. A dance was also introduced; and in the 48th Olympiad, the Amphictyons, who presided over the games, increased the number of musical instruments by the addition of a flute; but, as it was more peculiarly used in funeral songs and lamentations, it was soon rejected as unfit for merriment, and the festivals which represented the triumph of Apollo over the conquered serpent. The Romans, according to some, introduced them into their city, and called them Apollinares ludi. Pausanias, bk. 10, chs. 13 & 37.—Strabo, bk. 9.—Ovid, Metamorphoses, bk. 1, li. 447.—Pliny, bk. 7.—Livy, bk. 25.