Gauls who had invaded his dominions, extended his conquests to mount
Taurus, and obtained the assistance of the Romans against Antiochus.
The Athenians rewarded his merit with great honours. He died at
Pergamus after a reign of 44 years, B.C. 197. _Livy_, bks. 26, 27,
28, &c.――_Polybius_, bk. 5.――_Strabo_, bk. 13.――――The second of that
name was sent on an embassy to Rome by his brother Eumenes II., and
at his return was appointed guardian to his nephew Attalus III.,
who was then an infant. Prusias made successful war against him, and
seized his capital; but the conquest was stopped by the interference
of the Romans, who restored Attalus to his throne. Attalus, who has
received the name of _Philadelphus_, from his fraternal love, was
a munificent patron of learning, and the founder of several cities.
He was poisoned by his nephew in the 82nd year of his age, B.C. 138.
He had governed the nation with great prudence and moderation
for 20 years. _Strabo_, bk. 13.――_Polybius_, bk. 5.――――The third
succeeded to the kingdom of Pergamus, by the murder of Attalus II.,
and made himself odious by his cruelty to his relations and his
wanton exercise of power. He was son to Eumenes II., and surnamed
_Philopater_. He left the cares of government to cultivate his
garden, and to make experiments on the melting of metals. He lived
in great amity with the Romans; and as he died without issue by
his wife Berenice, he left in his will the words _Populus Romanus
meorum hæres esto_, which the Romans interpreted as themselves,
and therefore took possession of his kingdom, B.C. 133, and made
of it a Roman province, which they governed by a proconsul. From
this circumstance, whatever was a valuable acquisition, or an ample
fortune, was always called by the epithet _Attalicus_. Attalus,
as well as his predecessors, made themselves celebrated for the
valuable libraries which they collected at Pergamus, and for the
patronage which merit and virtue always found at their court.
_Livy_, bk. 24, &c.――_Pliny_, bks. 7, 8, 33, &c.――_Justin_, bk.
39.――_Horace_, bk. 1, ode 1.――――An officer in Alexander’s army.
_Curtius_, bk. 4, ch. 13.――――Another very inimical to Alexander.
He was put to death by Parmenio, and Alexander was accused of the
murder. _Curtius_, bk. 6, ch. 9; bk. 8, ch. 1.――――A philosopher,
preceptor to Seneca. _Seneca_ ltr. 108.――――An astronomer of Rhodes.
=Attarras=, an officer who seized those that had conspired with Dymnus
against Alexander. _Curtius_, bk. 6.
=Atteius Capĭto=, a consul in the age of Augustus, who wrote treatises
on sacerdotal laws, public courts of justice, and the duty of a
senator. _See:_ ♦Ateius.
♦ No reference to ‘Ateius’ found.
=Attes=, a son of Calaus of Phrygia, who was born impotent. He
introduced the worship of Cybele among the Lydians, and became a
great favourite of the goddess. Jupiter was jealous of his success,
and sent a wild boar to lay waste the country and destroy Attes.
_Pausanias_, bk. 7, ch. 17. =Atthis=, a daughter of Cranaus II. king
of Athens, who gave her name to Attica, according to _Apollodorus_,
bk. 3, ch. 14. =Attĭca=, a country of Achaia or Hellas, at the south
of Bœotia, west of the Ægean sea, north of the Saronicus Sinus,
and east of Megara. It received its name from Atthis, the daughter
of Cranaus. It was originally called Ionia, from the Ionians, who
settled there; and also Acte, which signifies _shore_, and Cecropia,
from Cecrops the first of its kings. The most famous of its cities
is called Athens, whose inhabitants sometimes bear the name of
_Attici_. Attica was famous for its gold and silver mines, which
constituted the best part of the public revenues. The face of the
country was partly level and partly mountainous, divided into the 13
tribes of Acamantis, Æantis, Antiochis, Attalis, Ægeis, Erechtheis,
Adrianis, Hippothoontis, Cecropis, Leontis, Æneis, Ptolemais, and
Pandionis; whose inhabitants were numbered in the 116th olympiad,
at 31,000 citizens, and 400,000 slaves, within 174 villages, some
of which were considerable towns. _See:_ Athenæ.
=Attĭcus=, one of Galba’s servants, who entered his palace with
a bloody sword, and declared he had killed Otho. _Tacitus_,
_Histories_, bk. 1.――――Titus Pomponius, a celebrated Roman knight,
to whom Cicero wrote a great number of letters, which contained
the general history of the age. They are now extant, and divided
into 17 books. In the time of Marius and Sylla, Atticus retired to
Athens, where he so endeared himself to the citizens, that after
his departure they erected statues to him in commemoration of his
munificence and liberality. He was such a perfect master of the
Greek writers, and spoke their language so fluently, that he was
surnamed _Atticus_; and, as a proof of his learning, he favoured
the world with some of his compositions. He behaved in such a
disinterested manner, that he offended neither of the inimical
parties at Rome, and both were equally anxious of courting his
approbation. He lived in the greatest intimacy with the illustrious
men of his age, and he was such a lover of truth, that he not
only abstained from falsehood even in a joke, but treated with
the greatest contempt and indignation a lying tongue. It is said
that he refused to take aliments when unable to get the better of a
fever; and died in the 77th year, B.C. 32, after bearing the amiable
character of peacemaker among his friends. _Cornelius Nepos_, one
of his intimate friends, has written a minute account of his life.
_Cicero_, _Letters to Atticus_, &c.――――Herodes, an Athenian in the
age of the Antonines, descended from Miltiades, and celebrated for
his munificence. His son of the same name was honoured with the
consulship, and he generously erected an aqueduct at Troas, of which
he had been made governor by the emperor Adrian, and raised, in
other parts of the empire, several public buildings as useful as
they were magnificent. _Philostratus_, _Lives of the Sophists_,
bk. 2, p. 548.――_Aulus Gellius_, _Noctes Atticæ_.――――A consul in the
age of Nero, &c. _Tacitus_, _Annals_, bk. 15.
=Attĭla=, a celebrated king of the Huns, a nation in the southern parts
of Scythia, who invaded the Roman empire in the reign of Valentinian,
with an army of 500,000 men, and laid waste the provinces. He took
the town of Aquileia, and marched against Rome; but his retreat and
peace were purchased with a large sum of money by the feeble emperor.
Attila, who boasted in the appellation of _the scourge of God_, died
A.D. 453, of an uncommon effusion of blood, the first night of his
nuptials. He had expressed his wish to extend his conquests over the
whole world; and he often feasted his barbarity by dragging captive
kings in his train. _Jornandes_, _Getica_.
=Attilius=, a Roman consul in the first Punic war. _See:_ Regulus.
――――Calatinus, a Roman consul who fought the Carthaginian fleet.
――――Marcus, a poet who translated the Electra of Sophocles into
Latin verse, and wrote comedies whose unintelligible language
procured him the appellation of _Ferreus_.――――Regulus, a Roman
censor who built a temple to the goddess of concord. _Livy_, bk. 23,
ch. 23, &c.――――The name of Attilius was common among the Romans,
and many of the public magistrates are called Attilii; their life,
however, is not famous for any illustrious event.
=Attinas=, an officer set over Bactriana by Alexander. _Curtius_,
bk. 8.
=Attius Pelignus=, an officer of Cæsar. _Cæsar_, _Civil War_, bk. 1.
――――Tullius, the general of the Volsci, to whom Coriolanus fled when
banished from Rome. _Livy._――――Varius seized Auxinum in Pompey’s
name, whence he was expelled. After this he fled to Africa, which
he alienated from Julius Cæsar. _Cæsar_, bk. 1, _Civil War_.――――A
poet. _See:_ Accius.――――The family of the Attii was descended from
Atys, one of the companions of Æneas, according to the opinion which
Virgil has adopted, _Æneid_, bk. 5, li. 568.
=Atūrus=, a river of Gaul, now the _Adour_, which runs at the foot
of the Pyrenean mountains into the bay of Biscay. _Lucan_, bk. 1,
li. 420.
=Atyădæ=, the descendants of Atys the Lydian.
=Atys=, an ancient king of Lydia, who sent away his son Tyrrhenus
with a colony of Lydians, who settled in Italy. _Herodotus_, bk. 1,
ch. 7.――――A son of Crœsus king of Lydia. He was forbidden the use of
all weapons by his father, who had dreamt that he had been killed.
Some time after this, Atys prevailed on his father to permit him to
go to hunt a wild boar which laid waste the country of Mysia, and
he was killed in the attempt by Adrastus, whom Crœsus had appointed
guardian over his son, and thus the apprehensions of the monarch
were realized. _Herodotus_, bk. 1, ch. 34, &c. _See:_ Adrastus.――――A
Trojan who came to Italy with Æneas, and is supposed to be the
progenitor of the family of the Atti at Rome. _Virgil_, _Æneid_,
bk. 5, li. 568.――――A youth to whom Ismene the daughter of Œdipus was
promised in marriage. He was killed by Tydeus before his nuptials.
_Statius_, _Thebiad_, bk. 8, li. 598.――――A son of Limniace the
daughter of the river Ganges, who assisted Cepheus in preventing
the marriage of Andromeda, and was killed by Perseus with a burning
log of wood. _Ovid_, _Metamorphoses_, bk. 5, li. 47.――――A celebrated
shepherd of Phrygia, of whom the mother of the gods, generally
called Cybele, became enamoured. She entrusted him with the care
of her temple, and made him promise that he always would live in
celibacy. He violated his vow by an amour with the nymph Sangaris,
for which the goddess made him so insane and delirious, that
he castrated himself with a sharp stone. This was afterwards
intentionally done by his sacerdotal successors in the service of
Cybele, to prevent their breaking their vows of perpetual chastity.
This account is the most general and most approved. Others say
that the goddess became fond of Atys, because he had introduced her
festivals in the greatest part of Asia Minor, and that she herself
mutilated him. _Pausanias_ relates, in _Achaia_, ch. 17, that Atys
was the son of the daughter of the Sangar, who became pregnant
by putting the bough of an almond tree in her bosom. Jupiter, as
the passage mentions, once had an amorous dream, and some of the
impurity of the god fell upon the earth, which soon after produced a
monster of a human form, with the characteristics of the two sexes.
This monster was called Agdistis, and was deprived by the gods of
those parts which distinguished the male sex. From the mutilated
parts which were thrown upon the ground, rose an almond tree, one
of whose branches a nymph of the Sangar gathered, and placed in her
bosom as mentioned above. Atys, as soon as born, was exposed in a
wood, but preserved by a she-goat. The genius Agdistis saw him in
the wood, and was captivated with his beauty. As Atys was going to
celebrate his nuptials with the daughter of the king of Pessinus,
Agdistis, who was jealous of his rival, inspired by his enchantments
the king and his future son-in-law with such an uncommon fury,
that they both attacked and ♦mutilated one another in the struggle.
_Ovid_ says, _Metamorphoses_, bk. 10, fable 2, &c., that Cybele
changed Atys into a pine tree as he was going to lay violent hands
upon himself, and ever after that tree was sacred to the mother
of the gods. After his death, Atys received divine honours, and
temples were raised to his memory, particularly at Dymæ. _Catullus_,
_the Adventures of Atys [Attis] and Berecynthia [Cybele]_.――_Ovid_,
_Metamorphoses_, bk. 10, fable 3; _Fasti_, bk. 4, li. 223, &c.
――_Lucian_, _Deâ Syriâ_.――――Sylvius, son of Albius Sylvius, was king
of Alba. _Livy_, bk. 1, ch. 3.
♦ ‘multilated’ replaced with ‘mutilated’
=Avarīcum=, a strong and fortified town of Gaul, now called Bourges,
the capital of Berry. _Cæsar_, _Gallic War_, bk. 7.
=Avella=, a town of Campania, abounding in nuts, whence nuts have been
called _avellinæ_. _Silius Italicus_, bk. 8, li. 45, &c.――_Virgil_,
_Æneid_, ♦bk. 7, li. 740.
♦ ‘Book 7’ omitted from reference
=Aventīnus=, a son of Hercules by Rhea, who assisted Turnus against
Æneas, and distinguished himself by his valour. _Virgil_, _Æneid_,
bk. 7, li. 657.――――A king of Alba, buried upon mount Aventine.
_Ovid_, _Fasti_, bk. 4, li. 51.――――One of the seven hills on
which part of the city of Rome was built, it was 13,300 feet in
circumference, and was given to the people to build houses upon, by
king Ancus Martius. It was not reckoned within the precincts of the
city till the reign of the emperor Claudius, because the soothsayers
looked upon it as a place of ill omen, as Remus had been buried
there, whose blood had been criminally shed. The word is derived,
according to some, _ab avibus_, because birds were fond of the place.
Others suppose that it receives its name because Aventinus, one of
the Alban kings, was buried upon it. Juno, the Moon, Diana, Bona Dea,
Hercules, and the goddess of Victory and Liberty, had magnificent
temples built upon it. _Varro_, _de Lingua Latina_, bk. 4.――_Virgil_,
_Æneid_, bk. 8, li. 235.――_Livy_, bk. 1, ch. 33.
=Avernus=, or =Averna=, a lake of Campania near Baiæ, whose waters
were so unwholesome and putrid, that no birds were seen on its
banks; hence its original name was ἀορνος, _avibus carens_. The
ancients made it the entrance of hell, as also one of its rivers.
Its circumference was five stadia, and its depth could not be
ascertained. The waters of the Avernus were indispensably necessary
in all enchantments and magical processes. It may be observed, that
all lakes whose stagnated waters were putrid and offensive to the
smell, were indiscriminately called Averna. _Virgil_, _Æneid_, bk. 4,
lis. 5, 12, &c.; bk. 6, li. 201, &c.――_Mela_, bk. 2, ch. 4.――_Strabo_,
bk. 5.――_Diodorus_, bk. 4.――_Aristotle_, _on Admethics [Ethics]_.
=Avesta=, a book composed by Zoroaster.
=Aufeia aqua=, called afterwards Marcia, was the sweetest and most
wholesome water in Rome, and it was first conveyed into the city by
Ancus Martius.
=Aufidēna=, now _Alfidena_, a city of the Peligni in Italy, whose
inhabitants, called _Aufidenates_, were among the Sabines. _Livy_,
bk. 10, ch. 12.
=Aufĭdia lex=, was enacted by the tribune Aufidius Lurco, A.U.C. 692.
It ordained, that if any candidate, in canvassing for an office,
promised money to the tribunes, and failed in the performance,
he should be excused; but if he actually paid it, he should be
compelled to pay every tribune 6000 sesterces.
=Aufidius=, an effeminate person of Chios. _Juvenal_, satire 9, li. 25.
――――Bassus, a famous historian in the age of Quintilian, who wrote
an account of Germany, and of the civil wars.――――A Roman senator,
famous for his blindness and abilities. _Cicero_, _Tusculanæ
Disputations_, bk. 5.――――Lurco, a man who enriched himself by
fattening peacocks, and selling them for meat. _Pliny_, bk. 10.
――――Luscus, a man obscurely born, and made pretor of Fundi, in the
age of Horace. _Horace_, bk. 1, satire 5, li. 34.
=Aufĭdus=, a river of Apulia falling into the Adriatic sea, and now
called Ofanto. It was on its banks that the Romans were defeated by
Hannibal at Cannæ. The spot is still shown by the inhabitants, and
bears the name of the field of blood. _Horace_, bk. 3, ode 30; bk. 4,
ode 9.――_Virgil_, _Æneid_, bk. 11, li. 405.
=Auga=, =Auge=, and =Augea=, daughter of Aleus king of Tegea by Neæra,
was ravished by Hercules, and brought forth a son, whom she exposed
in the woods to conceal her amours from her father. The child was
preserved, and called Telephus. Aleus was informed of his daughter’s
shame, and gave her to Nauplius to be put to death. Nauplius refused
to perform the cruel office, and gave Auge to Teuthras king of Mysia,
who, being without issue, adopted her as his daughter. Some time
after the dominions of Teuthras were invaded by an enemy, and the
king promised his crown and daughter to him who could deliver him
from the impending calamity. Telephus, who had been directed by the
oracle to go to the court of Teuthras, if he wished to find his
parents, offered his services to the king, and they were accepted.
As he was going to unite himself to Auge, in consequence of the
victory he had obtained, Auge rushed from him with secret horror,
and the gods sent a serpent to separate them. Auge implored the aid
of Hercules, who made her son known to her, and she returned with
him to Tegea. _Pausanias_ says, that Auge was confined in a coffer
with her infant son, and thrown into the sea, where, after being
preserved and protected by Minerva, she was found by king Teuthras.
_Apollodorus_, bks. 2 & 3.――_Pausanias_, bk. 8, ch. 4.――_Hyginus_,
fables 99 & 100.
=Augarus=, an Arabian who, for his good offices obtained the favours of
Pompey, whom he vilely deceived. _Dio Cassius._――――A king of Osroene,
whom Caracalla imprisoned, after he had given him solemn promises of
friendship and support. _Dio Cassius_, bk. 78.
=Augeæ=, a town of Laconia. _Pausanias_, bk. 3, ch. 21.――――Another of
Locris.
=Augias= and =Augeas=, son of Eleus, or Elius, was one of the
Argonauts, and afterwards ascended the throne of Elis. He had an
immense number of oxen and goats, and the stables in which they were
kept had never been cleaned, so that the task seemed an impossibility
to any man. Hercules undertook it, on promise of receiving as a
reward the tenth part of the herds of Augias, or something equivalent.
The hero changed the course of the river Alpheus, or, according
to others, of the Peneus, which immediately carried away the dung
and filth from the stables. Augias refused the promised recompense
on pretence that Hercules had made use of artifice, and had not
experienced any labour or trouble, and he further drove his own son
Phyleus from his kingdom, because he supported the claims of the
hero. The refusal was a declaration of war. Hercules conquered Elis,
put to death Augias, and gave the crown to Phyleus. _Pausanias_ says,
bk. 5, chs. 2 & 3, that Hercules spared the life of Augias for the
sake of his son, and that Phyleus went to settle in Dulichium; and
that at the death of Augias his other son, Agasthenes succeeded
to the throne. Augias received, after his death, the honours which
were generally paid to a hero. Augias has been called the son of
Sol, because Elius signifies the sun. The proverb of _Augean stable_
is now applied to an impossibility. _Hyginus_, fables 14, 30, 157.
――_Pliny_, bk. 17, ch. 9.――_Strabo_, bk. 8.――_Apollodorus_, bk. 2.
=Augĭlæ=, a people of Africa, who supposed that there were no gods
except the manes of the dead, of whom they sought oracles. _Mela_,
bk. 1.
=Augīnus=, a mountain of Liguria. _Livy_, bk. 39, ch. 2.
=Augŭres=, certain officers at Rome who foretold future events,
whence their name, _ab avium garritu_. They were first created by
Romulus, to the number of three. Servius Tullius added a fourth,
and the tribunes of the people, A.U.C. 454, increased the number to
nine; and Sylla added six more during his dictatorship. They had a
particular college, and the chief amongst them was called _Magister
collegii_. Their office was honourable; and if any one of them was
convicted of any crime, he could not be deprived of his privileges;
an indulgence granted to no other sacerdotal body at Rome. The augur
generally sat on a high tower to make his observations. His face was
turned towards the east, and he had the north to his left, and the
south at his right. With a crooked staff he divided the face of
the heavens into four different parts, and afterwards sacrificed to
the gods, covering his head with his vestment. There were generally
five things from which the augurs drew omens. The first consisted in
observing the phænomena of the heavens, such as thunder, lightning,
comets, &c. The second kind of omen was drawn from the chirping
or flying of birds. The third was from the sacred chickens, whose
eagerness or indifference in eating the bread which was thrown
to them, was looked upon as lucky or unlucky. The fourth was from
quadrupeds, from their crossing or appearing in some unaccustomed
place. The fifth was from different casualties, which were called
_Dira_, such as spilling salt upon a table, or wine upon one’s
clothes, hearing strange noises, stumbling or sneezing, meeting a
wolf, hare, fox, or pregnant bitch. From such superstitious notions
did the Romans draw their prophecies. The sight of birds on the left
hand was always deemed a lucky object, and the words _sinister_ and
_lævus_, though generally supposed to be terms of ill luck, were
always used by the augurs in an auspicious sense. _Cicero_, _de
Divinatione_.――_Livy_, bk. 1, &c.――_Dionysius of Halicarnassus._
――_Ovid_, _Fasti_.
♦=Augurīnus Julius=, a Roman knight who conspired against Nero, &c.
_Tacitus_, ♠_Annals_, bk. 15, ch. 70.
♦ ‘Tugurīnus Julius’ replaced with ‘Augurīnus Julius’
Placed in correct alphebetical order.
♠ ‘H. 15, c. 70’ replaced with ‘Annals, bk. 15, ch. 50’
=Augusta=, a name given to 70 cities in the Roman provinces in honour
of Augustus Cæsar.――――London, as capital of the country of the
Trinobantes, was called Augusta Trinobantia.――――Messalina, famous
for her debaucheries, was called Augusta, as wife of the emperor
Claudius. _Juvenal_, satire 6, li. 118.
=Augustālia=, a festival at Rome, in commemoration of the day on which
Augustus returned to Rome, after he had established peace over the
different parts of the empire.
=Augustīnus=, a bishop of Hippo in Africa, distinguished himself by
his writings, as well as by the austerity of his life. In his works,
which are numerous, he displayed the powers of a great genius, and
an extensive acquaintance with the philosophy of Plato. He died in
the 76th year of his age, A.D. 430. The best edition of his works is
that of the Benedict, folio, Antwerp, 1700 to 1703, 12 vols.
=Augustodūnum=, now _Autun_, a town of Gaul, the capital of the
ancient Ædui.
=Augustŭlus=, the last Roman emperor of the west, A.D. 475, conquered
by Odoacer king of the Heruli.