Messenia.――――A rock of Asia, on the Thracian Bosphorus.
=Colōnia Agrippina=, a city of Germany on the Rhine, now _Cologne_.
――――Equestris, a town on the lake of Geneva, now _Noyon_.
――――Morinorum, a town of Gaul, now _Terrouen_, in Artois.
――――Norbensis, a town of Spain, now _Alcantara_.――――Trajana, or
Ulpia, a town of Germany, now _Kellen_, near Cleves.――――Valentia,
a town of Spain, which now bears the same name.
=Colōnos=, an eminence near Athens, where Œdipus retired during his
banishment, from which circumstance Sophocles has given the title
of Œdipus _Coloneus_ to one of his tragedies.
=Colŏphon=, a town of Ionia, at a small distance from the sea, first
built by Mopsus the son of Manto, and colonized by the sons of
Codrus. It was the native country of Mimnermus, Nicander, and
Xenophanes, and one of the cities which disputed for the honour of
having given birth to Homer. Apollo had a temple there. _Strabo_, bk.
14.――_Pliny_, bk. 14, ch. 20.――_Pausanias_, bk. 7, ch. 3.――_Tacitus_,
_Annals_, bk. 2, ch. 54.――_Cicero_, _For Archias_, ch. 8.――_Ovid_,
_Metamorphoses_, bk. 6, li. 8.
=Colosse= and =Colossis=, a large town of Phrygia, near Laodicea, of
which the government was democratical, and the first ruler called
archon. One of the first christian churches was established there,
and one of St. Paul’s epistles was addressed to it. _Pliny_, bk. 21,
ch. 9.
=Colossus=, a celebrated brazen image at Rhodes, which passed for one
of the seven wonders of the world. Its feet were upon the two moles
which formed the entrance of the harbour, and ships passed full sail
between its legs. It was 70 cubits, or 105 feet high, and everything
in equal proportion, and few could clasp round its thumb. It was the
work of Chares the disciple of Lysippus, and the artist was 12 years
in making it. It was begun 300 years before Christ; and after it had
remained unhurt during 56 or 88 years, it was partially demolished
by an earthquake, 224 B.C. A winding staircase ran to the top, from
which could easily be discerned the shores of Syria, and the ships
that sailed on the coast of Egypt, by the help of glasses, which
were hung on the neck of the statue. It remained in ruins for the
space of 894 years; and the Rhodians, who had received several large
contributions to repair it, divided the money amongst themselves,
and frustrated the expectations of the donors, by saying that the
oracle of Delphi forbade them to raise it up again from its ruins.
In the year 672 of the christian era, it was sold by the Saracens,
who were masters of the island, to a Jewish merchant of Edessa, who
loaded 900 camels with the brass, whose value has been estimated at
36,000_l._ English money.
=Colotes=, a Teian painter, disciple of Phidias. _Pliny_, bk. 35,
ch. 8.――――A disciple of Epictetus.――――A follower of Epicurus,
accused of ignorance by _Plutarch_.――――A sculptor who made a statue
of Æsculapius. _Strabo_, bk. 8.
=Colpe=, a city of Ionia. _Pliny_, bk. 5, ch. 29.
=Colubraria=, now _Monte Colubre_, a small island at the east of Spain,
supposed to be the same as Ophiusa. _Pliny_, bk. 3, ch. 5.
=Columbra=, a dove, the symbol of Venus among the poets. This bird
was sacred to Venus, and received divine honours in Syria. Doves
disappeared once every year at Eryx, where Venus had a temple, and
they were said to accompany the goddess to Libya, whither she went
to pass nine days, after which they returned. Doves were supposed to
give oracles in the oaks of the forest of Dodona. _Tibullus_, bk. 1,
poem 7, li. 17.――_Ælian_, _Varia Historia_, bk. 1, ch. 15.
=Columella Lucius Junius Moderatus=, a native of Gades, who wrote,
among other works, 12 books on agriculture, of which the tenth, on
gardening, is in verse. The style is elegant, and the work displays
the genius of a naturalist, and the labours of an accurate observer.
The best edition of Columella is that of Gesner, 2 vols., 4to,
Lipscomb, 1735, and reprinted there 1772.
=Columnæ Hercŭlis=, a name given to two mountains on the extremest
parts of Spain and Africa, at the entrance into the Mediterranean.
They were called _Calpe_ and _Abyla_, the former on the coast of
Spain, and the latter on the side of Africa, at the distance of
only 18 miles. They are reckoned the boundaries of the labours of
Hercules, and they were supposed to have been joined, till the hero
separated them, and opened a communication between the Mediterranean
and Atlantic seas.――――Protei, the boundaries of Egypt, or the extent
of the kingdom of Proteus. Alexandria was supposed to be built near
them, though Homer places them in the island Pharos. _Odyssey_,
bk. 4, li. 351.――_Virgil_, _Æneid_, bk. 11, li. 262.
=Colūthus=, a native of Lycopolis in Egypt, who wrote a short poem on
the rape of Helen, an imitation of Homer. The composition remained
long unknown, till it was discovered at Lycopolis in the 15th
century, by the learned cardinal Bessarion. Coluthus was, as some
suppose, a contemporary of Tryphiodorus.
=Colyttus=, a tribe of Athens.
=Comagēna=, a part of Syria, above Cilicia, extending on the east
as far as the Euphrates. Its chief town was called Samosata, the
birthplace of Lucian. _Strabo_, bks. 11 & 17.
=Comāna= (a and orum), a town of Pontus. _Hirtius_, _Alexandrine War_,
ch. 34.――――Another in Cappadocia, famous for a temple of Bellona,
where there were above 6000 ministers of both sexes. The chief
priest among them was very powerful, and knew no superior but
the king of the country. This high office was generally conferred
upon one of the royal family. _Hirtius_, _Alexandrine War_, ch. 66.
――_Flaccus_, bk. 7, li. 636.――_Strabo_, bk. 12.
=Comania=, a country of Asia.
=Comarea=, the ancient name of Cape _Comorin_ in India.
=Comări=, a people of Asia. _Mela_, bk. 1, ch. 2.
=Comărus=, a port in the bay of Ambracia, near Nicopolis.
=Comastus=, a place of Persia.
=Combabus=, a favourite of Stratonice wife of Antiochus.
=Combe=, a daughter of Ophius, who first invented a brazen suit of
armour. She was changed into a bird, and escaped from her children,
who had conspired to murder her. _Ovid_, _Metamorphoses_, bk. 7,
li. 382.
=Combi=, or =Ombi=, a city of Egypt on the Nile. _Juvenal_, satire 15,
li. 35.
=Combrēa=, a town near Pallene. _Herodotus_, bk. 7, ch. 123.
=Combutis=, a general under Brennus. _Pausanias_, bk. 10, ch. 22.
=Comētes=, the father of Asterion, and one of the Argonauts. _Flaccus_,
bk. 1, li. 356.――――One of the Centaurs, killed at the nuptials of
Pirithous. _Ovid_, _Metamorphoses_, bk. 12, li. 284.――――A son of
Thestius, killed at the chase of the Calydonian boar. _Pausanias_,
bk. 8, ch. 45.――――One of the Magi, intimate with Cambyses king of
Persia. _Justin_, bk. 1, ch. 9.――――An adulterer of Ægiale.――――A son
of Orestes.
=Cometho=, a daughter of Pterilaus, who deprived her father of a golden
hair in his head, upon which depended his fate. She was put to death
by Amphitryon for her perfidy. _Apollodorus_, bk. 2, ch. 4.
=Quintus Cominius=, a Roman knight, who wrote some illiberal verses
against Tiberius. _Tacitus_, _Annals_, bk. 4, ch. 31.
=Comitia= (orum), an assembly of the Roman people. The word is derived
from _Comitium_, the place where they were convened, _quasi a cum
eundo_. The Comitium was a large hall, which was left uncovered at
the top, in the first ages of the republic; so that the assembly
was often dissolved in rainy weather. The Comitia were called, some
_consularia_, for the election of the consuls; others _prætoria_,
for the election of pretors, &c. These assemblies were more generally
known by the name of _Comitia_, _Curiata_, _Centuriata_, and
_Tributa_. The _Curiata_ was when the people gave their votes
by curiæ. _Centuriata_ were not convened in later times. _See:_
Centuria. Another assembly was called _Comitia Tributa_, where
the votes were received from the whole tribes together. At first
the Roman people were divided only into three tribes; but as their
numbers increased, the tribes were at last swelled to 35. The object
of these assemblies was the electing of magistrates, and all the
public officers of state. They could be dissolved by one of the
tribunes, if he differed in opinion from the rest of his colleagues.
If one among the people was taken with the falling sickness, the
whole assembly was immediately dissolved, whence that disease is
called _morbus comitialis_. After the custom of giving their votes
_vivâ voce_ had been abolished, every one of the assembly, in the
enacting of a law, was presented with two ballots, on one of which
were the letters U. R., that is, _uti rogas_, be it as is required;
on the other was an A., that is, _antiquo_, which bears the same
meaning as _antiquam volo_, I forbid it; the old law is preferable.
If the number of ballots with U. R. was superior to the A.’s,
the law was approved constitutionally; if not, it was rejected.
Only the chief magistrates, and sometimes the pontifices, had the
privilege of convening these assemblies. There were only these
eight of the magistrates who had the power of proposing a law, the
consuls, the dictator, the pretor, the interrex, the decemvirs, the
military tribunes, the kings, and the triumvirs. These were called
_majores magistratus_; to whom one of the _minores magistratus_ was
added, the tribune of the people.
=Comius=, a man appointed king over the Attrebates, by Julius Cæsar,
for his services. _Cæsar_, _Gallic War_, bk. 4, ch. 21.
=Commagēne.= _See:_ Comagena.
=Commodus Lucius Aurelius Antoninus=, son of Marcus Antoninus,
succeeded his father in the Roman empire. He was naturally cruel,
and fond of indulging his licentious propensities; and regardless
of the instructions of philosophers, and of the decencies of nature,
he corrupted his own sisters, and kept 300 women, and as many boys,
for his illicit pleasures. Desirous to be called Hercules, like
that hero he adorned his shoulders with a lion’s skin, and armed his
hands with a knotted club. He showed himself naked in public, and
fought with the gladiators, and boasted of his dexterity in killing
the wild beasts in the amphitheatre. He required divine honours
from the senate, and they were granted. He was wont to put such an
immense quantity of gold dust in his hair, that when he appeared
bare-headed in the sunshine, his head glittered as if surrounded
with sunbeams. Martia, one of his concubines, whose death he had
prepared, poisoned him; but as the poison did not quickly operate,
he was strangled by a wrestler. He died in the 31st year of his age,
and the 13th of his reign, A.D. 192. It has been observed, that he
never trusted himself to a barber, but always burnt his beard, in
imitation of the tyrant Dionysius. _Herodian._
=Commoris=, a village of Cilicia. _Cicero_, _Letters to his Friends_,
bk. 15, ltr. 4.
=Comon=, a general of Messenia. _Pausanias_, bk. 4, ch. 26.
=Compĭtālia=, festivals celebrated by the Romans the 12th of January
and the 6th of March, in the cross ways, in honour of the household
gods called Lares. Tarquin the Proud, or, according to some, Servius
Tullius, instituted them on account of an oracle which ordered him
to offer heads to the Lares. He sacrificed to them human victims;
but Junius Brutus, after the expulsion of the Tarquins, thought it
sufficient to offer them only poppy heads, and men of straw. The
slaves were generally the ministers, and during the celebration they
enjoyed their freedom. _Varro_, _de Lingua Latina_, bk. 5, ch. 3.
――_Ovid_, _Fasti_, bk. 5, li. 140.――_Dionysius of Halicarnassus_,
bk. 4.
=Compsa=, now _Consa_, a town of the Hirpini in Italy, at the east of
Vesuvius.
=Compustus=, a river of Thrace, falling into the lake Bistonis.
_Herodotus_, bk. 7, ch. 109.
=Compusa=, a town of Bithynia.
=Comum=, now _Como_, a town at the north of Insubria, at the bottom
of the lake Como, in the modern duchy of Milan. It was afterwards
called _Novo Comum_ by Julius Cæsar, who transplanted a colony there,
though it resumed its ancient name. It was the birthplace of the
younger Pliny. _Pliny_, bk. 3, ch. 18.――_Livy_, bk. 34, chs. 36
& 37.――_Suetonius_, _Julius_, ch. 28.――_Pliny the Younger_, bk. 1,
ltr. 3.――_Cicero_, _Letters to his Friends_, bk. 13, ltr. 35.
=Comus=, the god of revelry, feasting, and nocturnal entertainments.
During his festivals, men and women exchanged each other’s dress.
He was represented as a young and drunken man, with a garland of
flowers on his head, and a torch in his hand, which seemed falling.
He is more generally seen sleeping upon his legs, and turning
himself when the heat of the falling torch scorched his side.
_Philostratus_, bk. 2, _Imagines_.――_Plutarch_, _Quæstiones romanæ_.
=Concăni=, a people of Spain, who lived chiefly on milk mixed
with horses’ blood. Their chief town, _Concana_, is now called
_Sanlinala_, or _Cangas de Onis_. _Virgil_, _Georgics_, bk. 3, li.
463.――_Silius Italicus_, bk. 3, li. 361.――_Horace_, bk. 3, ode 4,
li. 34.
=Concerda=, a town belonging to Venice in Italy.
=Concordia=, the goddess of peace and concord at Rome, to whom Camillus
first raised a temple in the Capitol, where the magistrates often
assembled for the transaction of public business. She had, besides
this, other temples and statues, and was addressed to promote the
peace and union of families and citizens. _Plutarch_, _Camillus_.
――_Pliny_, bk. 33, ch. 1.――_Cicero_, _On his House_.――_Ovid_, _Fasti_,
bk. 1, li. 639; bk. 6, li. 637.
=Condate=, a town of Gaul, now _Rennes_ (_Rhedonum urbs_), in Britany.
=Condlaus=, an avaricious officer, &c. _Aristotle_, _Politics_.
=Condivicnum=, a town of Gaul, now _Nantes_, in Britany.
=Condochātes=, a river of India, flowing into the Ganges.
=Condrūsi=, a people of Belgium, now _Condrotz_, in Liege. _Cæsar_,
_Gallic War_, bk. 4, ch. 6.
=Condy̆lia=, a town of Arcadia. _Pausanias_, bk. 8, ch. 23.
=Cone=, a small island at the mouth of the Ister, supposed to be the
same as the _insula Conopôn_ of _Pliny_, bk. 4, ch. 12.――_Lucan_,
bk. 3, li. 200.
=Conetōdūnus= and =Cotuatus=, two desperate Gauls, who raised their
countrymen against Rome, &c.――_Cæsar_, _Gallic War_, bk. 7, ch. 3.
=Confluentes=, a town at the confluence of the Moselle and Rhine, now
_Coblentz_.
=Confucius=, a Chinese philosopher, as much honoured among his
countrymen as a monarch. He died about 479 years B.C.
=Congēdus=, a river of Spain. _Martial_, bk. 1, ltr. 50, li. 9.
=Coniăci=, a people of Spain, at the head of the Iberus. _Strabo_,
bk. 3.
=Conimbrĭca=, a town of Spain, now _Coimbra_ of Portugal.
=Conisaltus=, a god worshipped at Athens, with the same ceremonies as
Priapus at Lampsacus. _Strabo_, bk. 3.
=Coniscī=, a people of Spain.
=Connīdas=, the preceptor of Theseus, in whose honour the Athenians
instituted a festival called _Connideia_. It was then usual to
sacrifice to him a ram. _Plutarch_, _Theseus_.
=Conon=, a famous general of Athens, son of Timotheus. He was made
governor of all the islands of the Athenians, and was defeated in
a naval battle by Lysander, near the Ægospotamos. He retired in
voluntary banishment to Evagoras king of Cyprus, and afterwards to
Artaxerxes king of Persia, by whose assistance he freed his country
from slavery. He defeated the Spartans near Cnidos, in an engagement,
where Pisander, the enemy’s admiral, was killed. By his means the
Athenians fortified their city with a strong wall, and attempted
to recover Ionia and Æolia. He was perfidiously betrayed by a
Persian, and died in prison, B.C. 393. _Cornelius Nepos_, _De Viris
Illustribus_.――_Plutarch_, _Lysander_ & _Artaxerxes_.――_Isocrates.
_――――A Greek astronomer of Samos, who, to gain the favour of Ptolemy
Evergetes, publicly declared that the queen’s locks, which had
been dedicated in the temple of Venus, and had since disappeared,
were become a constellation. He was intimate with Archimedes, and
flourished 247 B.C. _Catullus_, poem 67.――_Virgil_, _Eclogues_,
poem 3, li. 40.――――A Grecian mythologist in the age of Julius Cæsar,
who wrote a book which contained 40 fables, still extant, preserved
by Photius.――――There was a treatise written on Italy by a man of the
same name.
=Consentes=, the name which the Romans gave to the 12 superior
gods, the _Dii majorum gentium_. The word signifies as much as
_consentientes_, that is, who consented to the deliberations of
Jupiter’s council. They were 12 in number, whose names Ennius has
briefly expressed in these lines:
_Juno, Vesta, Minerva, Ceres, Diana, Venus, Mars,
Mercurius, Jovi, Neptunus, Vulcanus, Apollo._
_Varro_, _de Re Rustica_
=Consentia=, now _Cosenza_, a town in the country of the Brutii.
_Livy_, bk. 3, ch. 24; bk. 28, ch. 11.――_Cicero_, _de Finibus
Bonorum et Malorum_, bk. 1, ch. 3.
=Considius Æquus=, a Roman knight, &c. _Tacitus._――――Caius, one of
Pompey’s adherents, &c. _Cæsar_, _Civil War_, bk. 2, ch. 23.
=Consilinum=, a town of Italy. _Mela_, bk. 2, ch. 4.
=Constans=, a son of Constantine. _See:_ Constantius.
=Constantia=, a granddaughter of the great Constantine, who married
the emperor Gratian.
=Constantīna=, a princess, wife of the emperor Gallus.――――Another of
the imperial family.
=Constantinopŏlis=, now _Stamboul_, formerly Byzantium, the capital of
Thrace, a noble and magnificent city, built by Constantine the Great,
and solemnly dedicated A.D. 330. It was the capital of the eastern
Roman empire, and was called after its foundation, _Roma nova_, on
account of its greatness, which seemed to rival Rome. The beauty of
its situation, with all its conveniences, have been the admiration
of every age. Constantinople became long the asylum of science and
of learned men, but upon its conquest by Mahomet II., 28th May,
1453, the professors retired from the barbarity of their victors,
and found in Italy the protection which their learning deserved.
This migration was highly favourable to the cause of science, and
whilst the Pope, the head of the house of Medicis, and the emperor,
munificently supported the fugitives, other princes imitated their
example, and equally contributed to the revival of literature in
Europe.
=Constantīnus=, surnamed _the Great_, from the greatness of his
exploits, was son of Constantius. As soon as he became independent
he assumed the title of Augustus, and made war against Licinius,
his brother-in-law and colleague on the throne, because he was cruel
and ambitious. He conquered him, and obliged him to lay aside the
imperial power. It is said that as he was going to fight against
Maxentius, one of his rivals, he saw a cross in the sky, with this
inscription, ἐν τουτῳ νικα, _in hoc vince_. From this circumstance
he became a convert to christianity and obtained an easy victory,
ever after adopting a cross or _abarum_ as his standard. After the
death of Diocletian, Maximian, Maxentius, Maximinus, and Licinius,
who had reigned together, though in a subordinate manner, Constantine
became sole emperor, and began to reform the state. He founded a
city in the most eligible situation, where old Byzantium formerly
stood, and called it by his own name, _Constantinopolis_. Thither
he transported part of the Roman senate; and by keeping his court
there, he made it the rival of Rome, in population and magnificence,
and from that time the two imperial cities began to look upon each
other with an eye of envy; and soon after the age of Constantine,
a separation was made of the two empires, and Rome was called the
capital of the western, and Constantinopolis was called the capital
of the eastern, dominions of Rome. The emperor has been distinguished
for personal courage, and praised for the protection which he
extended to the christians. He at first persecuted the Arians, but
afterwards inclined to their opinions. His murder of his son Crispus
has been deservedly censured. By removing the Roman legions from the
garrisons on the rivers, he opened an easy passage to the barbarians,
and rendered his soldiers unwarlike. He defeated 100,000 Goths,
and received into his territories 300,000 Samartians, who had
been banished by their slaves, and allowed them land to cultivate.
Constantine was learned, and preached as well as composed many
sermons, one of which remains. He died A.D. 337, after a reign of
31 years of the greatest glory and success. He left three sons,
Constantinus, Constans, and Constantius, among whom he divided his
empire. The first, who had Gaul, Spain, and Britain for his portion,
was conquered by the armies of his brother Constans, and killed in
the 25th year of his age, A.D. 340. Magnentius, the governor of the
provinces of Rhætia, murdered Constans in his bed, after a reign
of 13 years over Italy, Africa, and Illyricum; and Constantius,
the only surviving brother, now become the sole emperor, A.D.
353, punished his brother’s murderer, and gave way to cruelty and
oppression. He visited Rome, where he displayed a triumph, and died
in his march against Julian, who had been proclaimed independent
emperor by his soldiers.――――The name of Constantine was very common
to the emperors of the east, in a later period.――――A private soldier
in Britain, raised on account of his name to the imperial dignity.
――――A general of Belisarius.
=Constantius Chlorus=, son of Eutropius and father of the great
Constantine, merited the title of Cæsar, which he obtained by
his victories in Britain and Germany. He became the colleague
of Galerius, on the abdication of Docletian; and after bearing
the character of a humane and benevolent prince, he died at York,
and made his son his successor, A.D. 306.――――The second son of
Constantine the Great. _See:_ Constantinus.――――The father of Julian
and Gallus, was son of Constantius by Theodora, and died A.D. 337.
――――A Roman general of Nyssa, who married Placidia the sister of
Honorius, and was proclaimed emperor, an honour he enjoyed only seven
months. He died universally regretted, 421 A.D., and was succeeded
by his son Valentinian in the west.――――One of the servants of Attila.
=Consuāles Ludi=, or =Consuālia=, festivals at Rome in honour of
Consus, the god of counsel, whose altar Romulus discovered under
the ground. This altar was always covered, except at the festival,
when a mule was sacrificed, and games and horse-races exhibited
in honour of Neptune. It was during these festivals that Romulus
carried away the Sabine women who had assembled to be spectators of
the games. They were first instituted by Romulus. Some say, however,
that Romulus only regulated and reinstituted them after they had
been before established by Evander. During the celebration, which
happened about the middle of August, horses, mules, and asses were
exempted from all labour, and were led through the streets adorned
with garlands and flowers. _Ausonius_, bk. 69, li. 9.――_Ovid_,
_Fasti_, bk. 3, li. 199.――_Livy_, bk. 1, ch. 9.――_Dionysius of
Halicarnassus._