milk. Hence some authors have called her a goat, and have maintained
that Jupiter, to reward her kindnesses, placed her in heaven as
a constellation, and gave one of her horns to the nymphs who had
taken care of his infant years. This horn was called the horn of
plenty, and had the power to give the nymphs whatever they desired.
_Diodorus_, bks. 3, 4, 5.――_Ovid_, _Fasti_, bk. 5, li. 113.――_Strabo_,
bk. 10.――_Hyginus_, fable 139.――_Pausanias_, bk. 7, ch. 26.――――A
Sibyl of Cumæ, called also Hierophile and Demophile. She is supposed
to be the same who brought nine books of prophecies to Tarquin king
of Rome, &c. _Varro._――_Tibullus_, bk. 2, poem 5, li. 67. _See:_
Sibyllæ.
=Amalthēum=, a public place which Atticus had opened in his country
house, called Amalthea, in Epirus, and provided with everything
which could furnish entertainment and convey instruction. _Cicero_,
_Letters to Atticus_, bk. 1, ltr. 13.
=Amăna=, or =Amanus=, part of mount Taurus in Cilicia. _Lucan_, bk. 3,
li. 244.
=Cn. Salvius Amandus=, a rebel general under Diocletian, who assumed
imperial honours, and was at last conquered by Diocletian’s
colleague.
=Amantes=, or =Amantīni=, a people of Illyricum descended from the
Abantes of Phocis. _Callimachus._
=Amānus=, one of the deities worshipped in Armenia and Cappadocia.
_Strabo_, bk. 11.――――A mountain in Cilicia.
=Amārăcus=, an officer of Cinyras, changed into marjoram.
=Amardi=, a nation near the Caspian sea. _Mela_, bk. 1, ch. 3.
=Amartus=, a city of Greece. _Homer_, _Hymn to Apollo_.
=Amaryllis=, the name of a countrywoman in Virgil’s eclogues. Some
commentators have supposed that the poet spoke of Rome under this
fictitious appellation.
=Amarynceus=, a king of the Epeans, buried at Buprasium. _Strabo_,
bk. 8.――_Pausanias_, bk. 8, ch. 1.
=Amarynthus=, a village in Eubœa, whence Diana is called Amarysia, and
her festivals in that town Amarynthia.――――Eubœa is sometimes called
Amarynthus. _Pausanias_, bk. 1, ch. 31.
=Amas=, a mountain of Laconia. _Pausanias_, bk. 3.
=Amăsēnus=, a small river of Latium falling into the Tyrrhene sea.
_Virgil_, _Æneid_, bk. 7, li. 685.
=Amasia=, a city of Pontus, where Mithridates the Great and Strabo the
geographer were born. _Strabo_, bk. 12.――_Pliny_, bk. 6, ch. 3.
=Amāsis=, a man who, from a common soldier, became king of Egypt. He
made war against Arabia, and died before the invasion of his country
by Cambyses king of Persia. He made a law that every one of his
subjects should yearly give an account to the public magistrates
of the manner in which he supported himself. He refused to continue
in alliance with Polycrates the tyrant of Samos, on account of his
uncommon prosperity. When Cambyses came into Egypt, he ordered the
body of Amasis to be dug up, and to be insulted and burnt; an action
which was very offensive to the religious notions of the Egyptians.
_Herodotus_, bks. 1, 2, 3.――――A man who led the Persians against the
inhabitants of Barce. _Herodotus_, bk. 4, ch. 201, &c.
=Amastris=, the wife of Dionysius the tyrant of Sicily, was sister
to Darius, whom Alexander conquered. _Strabo_.――――Also, the wife of
Xerxes king of Persia. _See:_ Amestris.――――A city of Paphlagonia, on
the Euxine sea. _Catullus._
=Amastrus=, one of the auxiliaries of Perses, against Ætes king of
Colchis, killed by Argus son of Phryxus. _Flaccus_, bk. 6, li. 544.
――――A friend of Æneas, killed by Camilla in the Rutulian war.
_Virgil_, _Æneid_, bk. 11, li. 673.
=Amāta=, the wife of king Latinus. She had betrothed her daughter
Lavinia to Turnus, before the arrival of Æneas in Italy. She
zealously favoured the interest of Turnus, and when her daughter was
given in marriage to Æneas, she hung herself to avoid the sight of
her son-in-law. _Virgil_, _Æneid_, bk. 7, &c.
=Amăthus= (genitive: untis), now _Limisso_, a city on the southern
side of the island of Cyprus, particularly dedicated to Venus.
The island is sometimes called Amathusia, a name not unfrequently
applied to the goddess of the place. _Virgil_, _Æneid_, bk. 10,
li. 51.――_Claudius Ptolemy_, bk. 5, ch. 14.
=Amaxampēus=, a fountain of Scythia, whose waters imbitter the stream
of the river Hypanis. _Herodotus_, bk. 4, ch. 52.
=Amaxia=, or =Amaxīta=, an ancient town of Troas.――――A place of
Cilicia abounding with wood fit for building ships. _Pliny_, bk. 5,
ch. 9.――_Strabo_, bk. 14.
=Amazēnes=, or =Mazēnes=, a prince of the island Oaractus, who sailed
for some time with the Macedonians and Nearchus in Alexander’s
expedition to the east. _Arrian_, _Indica_.
=Amazŏnes=, or =Amazŏnĭdes=, a nation of famous women who lived near
the river Thermodon in Cappadocia. All their life was employed
in wars and manly exercises. They never had any commerce with the
other sex, but, only for the sake of propagation, they visited the
inhabitants of the neighbouring country for a few days, and the
male children which they brought forth were given to the fathers.
According to Justin, they were strangled as soon as born, and
Diodorus says that they maimed them and distorted their limbs. The
females were carefully educated with their mothers, in the labours
of the field; their right breast was burnt off that they might hurl
a javelin with more force, and make a better use of the bow; from
that circumstance, therefore, their name is derived (_a non_, μαζα
_mamma_). They founded an extensive empire in Asia Minor, along the
shores of the Euxine, and near the Thermodon. They were defeated in
a battle near the Thermodon by the Greeks; and some of them migrated
beyond the Tanais, and extended their territories as far as the
Caspian sea. Themyscyra was the most capital of their towns; and
Smyrna, Magnesia, Thyatira, and Ephesus, according to some authors,
were built by them. Diodorus, bk. 3, mentions a nation of Amazons
in Africa more ancient than those of Asia. Some authors, among whom
is Strabo, deny the existence of the Amazons, and of a republic
supported and governed by women, who banished or extirpated all
their males; but Justin and Diodorus particularly support it; and
the latter says that Penthesilea, one of their queens, came to the
Trojan war on the side of Priam, and that she was killed by Achilles,
and from that time the glory and character of the Amazons gradually
decayed, and was totally forgotten. The Amazons of Africa flourished
long before the Trojan war, and many of their actions have been
attributed to those of Asia. It is said, that after they had subdued
almost all Asia, they invaded Attica, and were conquered by Theseus.
Their most famous actions were their expeditions against Priam,
and afterwards the assistance they gave him during the Trojan war;
and their invasion of Attica, to punish Theseus, who had carried
away Antiope, one of their queens. They were also conquered by
Bellerophon and Hercules. Among their queens, Hippolyte, Antiope,
Lampeto, Marpesia, &c., are famous. Curtius says that Thalestris,
one of their queens, came to Alexander, whilst he was pursuing
his conquests in Asia, for the sake of raising children from a man
of such military reputation; and that, after she had remained 13
days with him, she retired into her country. The Amazons were such
expert archers, that, to denote the goodness of a bow or quiver, it
was usual to call it Amazonian. _Virgil_, _Æneid_, bk. 5, li. 311.
――_Jornandes_, _Getica_, ch. 7.――_Philostratus Major_, _Imagines_,
bk. 2, ch. 5.――_Justin_, bk. 2, ch. 4.――_Curtius_, bk. 6, ch. 5.
――_Pliny_, bk. 6, ch. 7; bk. 14, ch. 8; bk. 36, ch. 5.――_Herodotus_,
bk. 4, ch. 110.――_Strabo_, bk. 11.――_Diodorus_, bk. 2.――_Dionysius
of Halicarnassus_, bk. 4.――_Pausanias_, bk. 7, ch. 2.――_Plutarch_,
_Theseus_.――_Apollodorus_, bk. 2, chs. 3 & 5.――_Hyginus_, fables 14
& 163.
=Amazŏnia=, a celebrated mistress of the emperor Commodus.――――The
country of the Amazons, near the Caspian sea.
=Amazŏnium=, a place in Attica, where Theseus obtained a victory over
the Amazons.
=Amazŏnius=, a surname of Apollo at Lacedæmon.
=Ambarri=, a people of Gallia Celtica, on the Arar, related to the
Ædui. _Cæsar_, _Gallic War_, bk. 1, ch. 11.
=Ambarvālia=, a joyful procession round the ploughed fields, in honour
of Ceres the goddess of corn. There were two festivals of that name
celebrated by the Romans, one about the month of April, the other
in July. They went three times round their fields crowned with oak
leaves singing hymns to Ceres, and entreating her to preserve their
corn. The word is derived _ab ambiendis arvis_, going round the
fields. A sow, a sheep, and a bull, called _ambarvaliæ hostiæ_, were
afterwards immolated, and the sacrifice has sometimes been called
_suovetaurilia_, from _sus_, _ovis_, and _taurus_. _Virgil_,
_Georgics_, bk. 1, lis. 339 & 345.――_Tibullus_, bk. 2, poem 1,
li. 19.――_Cato_, _de Re Rustica_, ch. 141.
=Ambĕnus=, a mountain of European Sarmatia. _Flaccus_, bk. 6, ch. 85.
=Ambialītes=, a people of Gallia Celtica. _Cæsar_, _Gallic War_,
bk. 3, ch. 9.
=Ambiānum=, a town of Belgium, now _Amiens_. Its inhabitants conspired
against Julius Cæsar. _Cæsar_, _Gallic War_, bk. 2, ch. 4.
=Ambiatīnum=, a village of Germany, where the emperor Caligula was
born. _Suetonius_, _Caligula_, ch. 8.
=Ambigātus=, a king of the Celtæ, in the time of Tarquinius Priscus.
Seeing the great population of his country, he sent his two nephews,
Sigovesus and Bellovesus, with two colonies, in quest of new
settlements; the former towards the Hercynian woods, and the other
towards Italy. _Livy_, bk. 5, ch. 34, &c.
=Ambiōrix=, a king of the Eburones in Gaul. He was a great enemy to
Rome, and was killed in a battle with Julius Cæsar, in which 60,000
of his countrymen were slain. _Cæsar_, _Gallic War_, bk. 5, chs.
11, 26; bk. 6, ch. 30.
=Ambivius=, a man mentioned by _Cicero_, _de Senectute_.
=Amblada=, a town of Pisidia. _Strabo._
=Ambracia=, a city of Epirus near the Acheron, the residence of king
Pyrrhus. Augustus, after the battle of Actium, called it Nicopolis.
_Mela_, bk. 2, ch. 3.――_Pliny_, bk. 4, ch. 1.――_Polybius_, bk. 4,
ch. 63.――_Strabo_, bk. 10.
=Ambracius Sinus=, a bay of the Ionian sea, near Ambracia, about 300
stadia deep, narrow at the entrance, but within near 100 stadia
in breadth, and now called the gulf of Larta. _Polybius_, bk. 4,
ch. 63.――_Mela_, bk. 2, ch. 3.――_Florus_, bk. 4, ch. 11.――_Strabo_,
bk. 10.
=Ambri=, an Indian nation. _Justin_, bk. 12, ch. 9.
=Ambrōnes=, certain nations of Gaul, who lost their possessions by the
inundation of the sea, and lived upon rapine and plunder, whence the
word _Ambrones_ implied a dishonourable meaning. They were conquered
by Marius. _Plutarch_, _Marius_.
=Ambrōsia=, festivals observed in honour of Bacchus in some cities
in Greece. They were the same as the Brumalia of the Romans.――――One
of the daughters of Atlas, changed into a constellation after death.
――――The food of the gods was called _ambrosia_, and their drink
_nectar_. The word signifies immortal. It had the power of giving
immortality to all those who eat it. It was sweeter than honey, and
of a most odoriferous smell; and it is said that Berenice, the wife
of Ptolemy Soter, was saved from death by eating ambrosia given her
by Venus. Titonus was made immortal by Aurora, by eating ambrosia;
and in like manner Tantalus and Pelops, who, on account of their
impiety, had been driven from heaven, and compelled to die upon
earth. It had the power of healing wounds, and therefore Apollo, in
Homer’s Iliad, saves Sarpedon’s body from putrefaction, by rubbing
it with ambrosia; and Venus also heals the wounds of her son, in
Virgil’s Æneid, with it. The gods used generally to perfume the hair
with ambrosia; as Juno when she adorned herself to captivate Jupiter,
and Venus when she appeared to Æneas. _Homer_, _Iliad_, bks. 1,
14, 16, & 24.――_Lucian_, _de Dea Syria_.――_Catullus_, poem 100.――
_Theocritus_, _Idylls_, poem 15.――_Virgil_, _Æneid_, bk. 1, li. 407;
bk. 12, li. 419.――_Ovid_, _Metamorphoses_, bk. 2.――_Pindar_, bk. 1,
_Olympian_.
=Ambrosius=, bishop of Milan, obliged the emperor Theodosius to
make penance for the murder of the people of Thessalonica, and
distinguished himself by his writings, especially against the Arians.
His three books, _de Officiis_, are still extant, besides eight
hymns on the creation. His style is not inelegant, but his diction
is sententious, his opinions eccentric, though his subject is
diversified by copiousness of thought. He died A.D. 397. The best
edition of his works is that of the Benedictines, 2 vols., folio,
Paris, 1686.
=Ambrȳon=, a man who wrote the life of Theocritus of Chios. _Diogenes
Laërtius._
=Ambryssus=, a city of Phocis, which receives its name from a hero of
the same name. _Pausanias_, bk. 10, ch. 35.
=Ambūbājæ=, Syrian women of immoral lives, who, in the dissolute
period of Rome, attended festivals and assemblies as minstrels. The
name is derived by some from Syrian words, which signify a flute.
_Horace_, bk. 1, satire 2.――_Suetonius_, _Nero_, ch. 27.
=Ambulli=, a surname of Castor and Pollux, in Sparta.
=Ameles=, a river of hell, whose waters no vessel could contain.
♦_Plato_, bk. 10, _Republic_.
♦ ‘Plutarch’ replaced with ‘Plato’
=Amenanus=, a river of Sicily, near mount Ætna, now _Guidicello_.
_Strabo_, bk. 5.
=Amenīdes=, a secretary of Darius the last king of Persia. Alexander
set him over the Arimaspi. _Curtius_, bk. 7, ch. 3.
=Amenŏcles=, a Corinthian, said to be the first Grecian who built a
three-oared galley at Samos and Corinth. _Thucydides_, bk. 1, ch. 13.
=Ameria=, a city of Umbria, whose osiers (_Amerinæ salices_) were
famous for the binding of vines to the elm trees. _Pliny_, bk. 3,
ch. 14.――_Virgil_, _Georgics_, bk. 1, li. 265.
=Amestrătus=, a town of Sicily, near the Halesus. The Romans besieged
it for seven months, and it yielded at last after a third siege, and
the inhabitants were sold as slaves. _Polybius_, bk. 1, ch. 24.
=Amestris=, queen of Persia, was wife to Xerxes. She cruelly treated
the mother of Artiante, her husband’s mistress, and cut off her
nose, ears, lips, breast, tongue, and eyebrows. She also buried
alive 14 noble Persian youths, to appease the deities under the
earth. _Herodotus_, bk. 7, ch. 61; bk. 9, ch. 111.――――A daughter
of Oxyartes, wife to Lysimachus. _Diodorus_, bk. 20.
=Amīda=, a city of Mesopotamia, besieged and taken by Sapor king of
Persia. _Ammianus_, bk. 19.
=Amilcar=, a Carthaginian general of great eloquence and cunning,
surnamed Rhodanus. When the Athenians were afraid of Alexander,
Amilcar went to his camp, gained his confidence, and secretly
transmitted an account of all his schemes to Athens. _Trogus_,
bk. 21, ch. 6.――――A Carthaginian, whom the Syracusans called to
their assistance against the tyrant Agathocles, who besieged their
city. Amilcar soon after favoured the interest of Agathocles, for
which he was accused at Carthage. He died in Syracuse, B.C. 309.
_Diodorus_, bk. 20.――_Justin_, bk. 22, chs. 2 & 3.――――A Carthaginian,
surnamed Barcas, father to the celebrated Annibal. He was general in
Sicily during the first Punic war; and after a peace had been made
with the Romans, he quelled a rebellion of slaves, who had besieged
Carthage, and taken many towns of Africa, and rendered themselves
so formidable to the Carthaginians that they begged and obtained
assistance from Rome. After this, he passed into Spain with his
son Annibal, who was but nine years of age, and laid the foundation
of the town of Barcelona. He was killed in a battle against the
Vettones, B.C. 237. He had formed the plan of an invasion of
Italy, by crossing the Alps, which his son afterwards carried into
execution. His great enmity to the Romans was the cause of the
second Punic war. He used to say of his three sons, that he kept
three lions to devour the Roman power. _Cornelius Nepos_, _Lives
of Distinguished Romans_.――_Livy_, bk. 21, ch. 1.――_Polybius_,
bk. 2.――_Plutarch_, _Life of Hannibal_.――――A Carthaginian general,
who assisted the Insubres against Rome, and was taken by Cnaeus
Cornelius. _Livy_, bk. 32, ch. 30; bk. 33, ch. 8.――――A son of Hanno,
defeated in Sicily by Gelon, the same day that Xerxes was defeated
at Salamis by Themistocles. He burnt himself, that his body might
not be found among the slain. Sacrifices were offered to him.
_Herodotus_, bk. 7, ch. 165, &c.
=Amĭlos=, or =Amĭlus=, a river of Mauritania, where the elephants go
to wash themselves by moonshine. _Pliny_, bk. 8, ch. 1.――――A town of
Arcadia. _Pausanias_, _Arcadia_.
=Amimŏne=, or =Amymŏne=, a daughter of Danaus, changed into a
fountain which is near Argos, and flows into the lake Lerna. _Ovid_,
_Metamorphoses_, bk. 2, li. 240.
=Amĭnea=, or =Amminea=, a part of Campania, where the inhabitants are
great husbandmen. Its wine was highly esteemed. _Virgil_, _Georgics_,
bk. 2, li. 97.――――A place of Thessaly.
=Aminias=, a famous pirate, whom Antigonus employed against
Apollodorus tyrant of Cassandrea. _Polyænus_, bk. 4, ch. 18.
=Aminius=, a river of Arcadia. _Pausanias_, bk. 8, ch. 30.
=Aminŏcles=, a native of Corinth, who flourished 705 B.C., &c.
=Amisēna=, a country of Cappadocia. _Strabo_, bk. 12.
=Amisias=, a comic poet, whom Aristophanes ridiculed for his insipid
verses.
=Amissas=, an officer of Megalopolis in Alexander’s army. _Curtius_,
bk. 10, ch. 8.
=Amiternum=, a town of Italy, where Sallust was born. The
inhabitants assisted Turnus against Æneas. _Virgil_, _Æneid_,
bk. 7, li. 710.――_Pliny_, bk. 3, ch. 5.――_Livy_, bk. 28, ch. 45.
=Amithāon=, or =Amythāon=, was father to Melampus the famous prophet.
_Statius_, _Thebiad_, bk. 3, li. 451.
=Ammālo=, a festival in honour of Jupiter in Greece.
=Ammiānus.= _See:_ Marcellinus.
=Ammon= and =Hammon=, a name of Jupiter, worshipped in Libya. He
appeared under the form of a ram to Hercules, or, according to
others, to Bacchus, who, with his army, suffered the greatest
extremities for want of water, in the deserts of Africa, and showed
him a fountain. Upon this Bacchus erected a temple to his father,
under the name of Jupiter Ammon, _i.e._ _sandy_, with the horns of
a ram. The ram, according to some, was made a constellation. The
temple of Jupiter Ammon was in the deserts of Libya, nine days’
journey from Alexandria. It had a famous oracle, which, according
to ancient tradition, was established about 18 centuries before the
time of Augustus, by two doves which flew away from Thebais in Egypt,
and came, one to Dodona, and the other to Libya, where the people
were soon informed of their divine mission. The oracle of Hammon was
consulted by Hercules, Perseus, and others; but when it pronounced
Alexander to be the son of Jupiter, such flattery destroyed its
long-established reputation, and in the age of Plutarch it was
scarce known. The situation of the temple was pleasant; and
according to _Ovid_, _Metamorphoses_, bk. 15, li. 310,――_Lucretius_,
bk. 6, li. 147,――_Herodotus_, _Melpomene_.――_Curtius_, bk. 4, ch. 7,
there was near it a fountain whose waters were cold at noon and
midnight, and warm in the morning and evening. There were above
100 priests in the temple, but only the elders delivered oracles.
There was also an oracle of Jupiter Ammon in Æthiopia. _Pliny_,
bk. 6, ch. 29.――_Strabo_, bks. 1, 11, & 17.――_Plutarch_, _de Defectu
Oraculorum_, & _Iside et Osiride_.――_Curtius_, bk. 6, ch. 10; bk. 10,
ch. 5.――_Herodotus_, bk. 1, ch. 6; bk. 2, chs. 32 & 55; bk. 4,
ch. 44.――_Pausanias_, bk. 3, ch. 18; bk. 4, ch. 23.――_Hyginus_,
fable 133; _Poeticon Astronomicon_, bk. 2, ch. 20.――_Justin_, bk. 1,
ch. 9; bk. 11, ch. 11.――――A king of Libya, father to Bacchus. He
gave his name to the temple of Hammon, according to _Diodorus_,
bk. 8.
=Ammon= and =Brothas=, two brothers famous for their skill in boxing.
_Ovid_, _Metamorphoses_, bk. 5, li. 107.
=Ammōnia=, a name of Juno in Elis, as being the wife of Jupiter Ammon.
_Pausanias_, bk. 5, ch. 15.
=Ammōnii=, a nation of Africa, who derived their origin from the
Egyptians and Æthiopians. Their language was a mixture of that of
the two people from whom they were descended. _Herodotus_, bks. 2,
3, & 4.
=Ammōnius=, a christian philosopher, who opened a school of Platonic
philosophy at Alexandria, 232 A.D., and had amongst his pupils
Origen and Plotinus. His treatise, Περι Ὁμοιων, was published in
4to by Valckenaer, Leiden, 1739.――――A writer who gave an account of
sacrifices, as also a treatise on the harlots of Athens. _Athenæus_,
bk. 13.――――An Athenian general surnamed Barcas. _Polybius_, bk. 3.
=Ammothea=, one of the Nereides. _Hesiod_, _Theogony_.
=Amnias=, a river of Bithynia. _Appian_, _Mithridatic Wars_.
=Amnīsus=, a port of Gnossus, at the north of Crete, with a small
river of the same name, near which Lucina had a temple. The nymphs
of the place were called Amnisiades. _Callimachus._
=Amœbæus=, an Athenian player of great reputation, who sung at the
nuptials of Demetrius and Nicæa. _Polyænus_, bk. 4, ch. 6.
=Amomētus=, a Greek historian. _Pliny_, bk. 6, ch. 17.
=Amor=, the son of Venus, was the god of love. _See:_ Cupido.
=Amorges=, a Persian general, killed in Caria, in the reign of Xerxes.
_Herodotus_, bk. 5, ch. 121.
=Amorgos=, an island among the Cyclades, where Simonides was born.
_Strabo_, bk. 10.
=Ampĕlus=, a promontory of Samos.――――A town of Crete,――――of
Macedonia,――――of Liguria,――――and Cyrene.――――A favourite of Bacchus,
son of a satyr and a nymph, made a constellation after death. _Ovid_,
_Fasti_, bk. 3, li. 407.
=Ampelūsia=, a promontory of Africa, in Mauritania. _Mela_, bk. 1,
chs. 5 & 6.
=Amphēa=, a city of Messenia, taken by the Lacedæmonians. _Pausanias_,
bk. 4, ch. 5.
=Amphialāus=, a famous dancer in the island of the Phæacians. _Homer_,
_Odyssey_, bk. 8.
=Amphiănax=, a king of Lycia in the time of Acrisius and Prœtus.
_Apollodorus_, bk. 2, ch. 2.