Alexander, and at last accused of conspiring against his life. He was
tortured and stoned to death, or, according to some, struck through
with darts by the soldiers, B.C. 330. _Curtius_, bk. 6, ch. 11.
――_Plutarch._――_Arrian._――――An officer in the army of Alexander.
――――Another, who was made master of Cilicia, after Alexander’s death.
――――A physician in the age of Antony. He ridiculed the expenses and
the extravagance of this celebrated Roman. _Plutarch._
=Philotĕra=, the mother of Mylo, &c. _Polyænus_, bk. 8.
=Philotĭmus=, a freedman of Cicero. _Cicero_, _De Divinatione_, bk. 3,
ch. 9.
=Philōtis=, a servant-maid at Rome, who saved her countrymen from
destruction. After the siege of Rome by the Gauls, the Fidenates
assembled an army, under the command of Lucius Posthumius, and
marched against the capital, demanding all the wives and daughters
in the city, as the conditions of peace. This extraordinary demand
astonished the senators, and when they refused to comply, Philotis
advised them to send all their female slaves disguised in matron’s
clothes, and she offered to march herself at the head. Her advice was
followed, and when the Fidenates had feasted late in the evening, and
were quite intoxicated, and fallen asleep, Philotis lighted a torch
as a signal for her countrymen to attack the enemy. The whole was
successful, the Fidenates were conquered, and the senate, to reward
the fidelity of the female slaves, permitted them to appear in the
dress of the Roman matrons. _Plutarch_, _Romulus_.――_Varro_, _de
Lingua Latina_, bk. 5.――_Ovid_, _de Ars Amatoria_, bk. 2.
=Philoxĕnus=, an officer of Alexander, who received Cilicia, at the
general division of the provinces.――――A son of Ptolemy, who was given
to Pelopidas as a hostage.――――A dithyrambic poet of Cythera, who
enjoyed the favour of Dionysius tyrant of Sicily for some time, till
he offended him by seducing one of his female singers. During his
confinement, Philoxenus composed an allegorical poem, called Cyclops,
in which he had delineated the character of the tyrant under the
name of Polyphemus, and represented his mistress under the name of
Galatæa, and himself under that of Ulysses. The tyrant, who was fond
of writing poetry, and of being applauded, removed Philoxenus from
his dungeon, but the poet refused to purchase his liberty, by saying
things unworthy of himself, and applauding the wretched verses of
Dionysius, and therefore he was sent to the quarries. When he was
asked his opinion at a feast about some verses which Dionysius had
just repeated, and which the courtiers had received with the greatest
applause, Philoxenus gave no answer, but he ordered the guards that
surrounded the tyrant’s table to take him back to the quarries.
Dionysius was pleased with his pleasantry and with his firmness,
and immediately forgave him. Philoxenus died at Ephesus, about 380
years before Christ. _Plutarch._――――A celebrated musician of Ionia.
――――A painter of Eretria, who made for Cassander an excellent
representation of the battle of Alexander with Darius. He was pupil
to Nicomachus. _Pliny_, bk. 31, ch. 10.――――A philosopher, who wished
to have the neck of a crane, that he might enjoy the taste of his
aliments longer, and with more pleasure. _Aristotle_, _Eudemian
Ethics_, bk. 3.
=Philyllius=, a comic poet. _Athenæus._
=Phily̆ra=, one of the Oceanides, who was met by Saturn in Thrace. The
god, to escape from the vigilance of Rhea, changed himself into a
horse, to enjoy the company of Philyra by whom he had a son, half a
man and half a horse, called Chiron. Philyra was so ashamed of giving
birth to such a monster, that she entreated the gods to change her
nature. She was metamorphosed into the linden tree, called by her
name among the Greeks. _Hyginus_, fable 138.――――The wife of Nauplius.
=Philyres=, a people near Pontus.
=Phily̆rĭdes=, a patronymic of Chiron the son of Philyra. _Ovid_, _Ars
Amatoria_.――_Virgil_, _Georgics_, bk. 3, li. 550.
=Phineus=, a son of Agenor king of Phœnicia, or, according to some, of
Neptune, who became king of Thrace, or, as the greater part of the
mythologists support, of Bithynia. He married Cleopatra the daughter
of Boreas, whom some call Cleobula, by whom he had Plexippus and
Pandion. After the death of Cleopatra, he married Idæa the daughter
of Dardanus. Idæa, jealous of Cleopatra’s children, accused them of
attempts upon their father’s life and crown, or, according to some,
of attempts upon her virtue, and they were immediately condemned by
Phineus to be deprived of their eyes. This cruelty was soon after
punished by the gods. Phineus suddenly became blind, and the Harpies
were sent by Jupiter to keep him under continual alarm, and to spoil
the meats which were placed on his table. He was some time after
delivered from these dangerous monsters by his brothers-in-law
Zetes and Calais, who pursued them as far as the Strophades. He
also recovered his sight by means of the Argonauts, whom he had
received with great hospitality, and instructed in the easiest and
speediest way by which they could arrive in Colchis. The causes of
the blindness of Phineus are a matter of dispute among the ancients,
some supposing that this was inflicted by Boreas, for his cruelty
to his grandson, whilst others attribute it to the anger of Neptune,
because he had directed the sons of Phryxus how to escape from
Colchis to Greece. Many, however, think that it proceeded from his
having rashly attempted to develop futurity, while others assert that
Zetes and Calais put out his eyes on account of his cruelty to their
nephews. The second wife of Phineus is called by some Dia, Eurytia,
Danae, and Idothea. Phineus was killed by Hercules. _Argonautica_,
bk. 2.――_Apollodorus_, bk. 1, ch. 9; bk. 3, ch. 15.――_Diodorus_,
bk. 4.――_Hyginus_, fable 19.――_Orpheus._――_Flaccus._――――The brother
of Cepheus king of Æthiopia. He was going to marry his niece
Andromeda, when her father Cepheus was obliged to give her up to be
devoured by a sea monster, to appease the resentment of Neptune. She
was, however, delivered by Perseus, who married her by the consent
of her parents, for having destroyed the sea monster. This marriage
displeased Phineus; he interrupted the ceremony, and, with a number
of attendants, attacked Perseus and his friends. Perseus defended
himself, and turned into stone Phineus and his companions, by showing
them the Gorgon’s head. _Apollodorus_, bk. 2, chs. 1 & 4.――_Ovid_,
_Metamorphoses_, bk. 5, fables 1 & 2.――_Hyginus_, fable 64.――――A son
of Melas.――――A son of Lycaon king of Arcadia.――――A son of Belus and
Anchinoe.
=Phinta=, a king of Messenia, &c. _Pausanias_, bk. 4, ch. 4.
=Phinthias=, a fountain where it is said nothing could sink. _Pliny_,
bk. 31, ch. 2.
=Phintia=, a town of Sicily, at the mouth of the Himera. _Cicero_,
_Against Verres_, bk. 3, ch. 83.
=Phintias=, called also Pithias, Pinthias, and Phytias, a man famous
for his unparalleled friendship for Damon. _See:_ Damon. _Cicero_,
_de Officiis_, bk. 3, bk. 10; _Tusculanæ Disputationes_, bk. 5,
ch. 22.――_Diodorus_, bk. 6.――――A tyrant of Agrigentum, B.C. 282.
=Phinto=, a small island between Sardinia and Corsica, now _Figo_.
=Phla=, a small island in the lake Tritonis. _Herodotus_, bk. 4,
ch. 178.
=Phlegelas=, an Indian king beyond the Hydaspes, who surrendered to
Alexander. _Curtius_, bk. 9, ch. 1.
=Phlegĕthon=, a river of hell, whose waters were _burning_, as the word
φλεγεθω, from which the name is derived, seems to indicate. _Virgil_,
_Æneid_, bk. 6, li. 550.――_Ovid_, _Metamorphoses_, bk. 15, li. 532.
――_Seneca_, Thyestes _Hippolytus_.――_Silius Italicus_, bk. 13,
li. 564.
=Phlegias=, a man of Cyzicus when the Argonauts visited it, &c.
_Flaccus._
=Phlegon=, a native of Tralles in Lydia, one of the emperor Adrian’s
freedmen. He wrote different treatises on the long-lived, on
wonderful things, besides an historical account of Sicily, 16 books
on the olympiads, an account of the principal places in Rome, three
books of fasti, &c. Of these some fragments remain. His style was not
elegant, and he wrote without judgment or precision. His works have
been edited by Meursius, 4to, Leiden, 1620.――――One of the horses of
the sun. The word signifies _burning_. _Ovid_, _Metamorphoses_, bk. 2.
=Phlegra=, or =Phlegræus Campus=, a place of Macedonia, afterwards
called _Pallene_, where the giants attacked the gods and were
defeated by Hercules. The combat was afterwards renewed in Italy, in
a place of the same name near Cumæ. _Silius Italicus_, bk. 8, li. 538;
bk. 9, li. 305.――_Strabo_, bk. 5.――_Diodorus_, bks. 4 & 5.――_Ovid_,
_Metamorphoses_, bk. 10, li. 151; bk. 12, li. 378; bk. 15, li. 532.
――_Statius_, bk. 5, _Sylvæ_, poem 3, li. 196.
=Phlegyæ=, a people of Thessaly. Some authors place them in Bœotia.
They received their name from Phlegyas the son of Mars, with whom
they plundered and burned the temple of Apollo at Delphi. Few of them
escaped to Phocis, where they settled. _Pausanias_, bk. 9, ch. 36.
――_Homer_, _Iliad_, bk. 13, li. 301.――_Strabo_, bk. 9.
=Phlegyas=, a son of Mars by Chryse daughter of Halmus, was king of
the Lapithæ in Thessaly. He was father of Ixion and Coronis, to whom
Apollo offered violence. When the father heard that his daughter
had been so wantonly abused, he marched an army against Delphi, and
reduced the temple of the god to ashes. This was highly resented.
Apollo killed Phlegyas and placed him in hell, where a huge stone
hangs over his head, and keeps him in continual alarms, by its
appearance of falling every moment. _Pausanias_, bk. 9, ch. 36.
――_Apollodorus_, bk. 3, ch. 5.――_Pindar_, _Pythian_, bk. 3.――_Ovid_,
_Metamorphoses_, bk. 5, li. 87.――_Servius_, _Commentary on the Aeneid
of Vergil_, bk. 6, li. 618.
=Phlias=, one of the Argonauts, son of Bacchus and Ariadne. _Pausanias_,
bk. 2, ch. 12.
=Phliasia=, a country of Peloponnesus, near Sicyon, of which Phlius was
the capital.
=Phlius=, (genitive, untis), a town in Peloponnesus, now _Staphlica_,
in the territory of Sicyon.――――Another, in Elis.――――Another, in
Argolis, now _Drepano_.
=Phlœus=, a surname of Bacchus, expressive of his youth and vigour.
_Plutarch_, _Quæstiones Convivales_, bk. 5, qu. 8.
=Phobētor=, one of the sons of Somnus, and his principal minister.
His office was to assume the shape of serpents and wild beasts, to
inspire terror into the minds of men, as his name intimates (φοβεω).
The other two ministers of Somnus were Phantasia and Morpheus. _Ovid_,
_Metamorphoses_, bk. 11, li. 640.
=Phobos=, son of Mars, and god of terror among the ancients, was
represented with a lion’s head, and sacrifices were offered to him
to deprecate his appearance in armies. _Plutarch_, _Amatorius_.
=Phocæa=, now _Fochia_, a maritime town of Ionia, in Asia Minor, with
two harbours, between Cumæ and Smyrna, founded by an Athenian colony.
It received its name from Phocus the leader of the colony, or from
_phocæ_, _sea calves_, which are found in great abundance in the
neighbourhood. The inhabitants, called _Phocæi_ and _Phocæenses_,
were expert mariners, and founded many cities in different parts of
Europe. They left Ionia, when Cyrus attempted to reduce them under
his power, and they came after many adventures into Gaul, where they
founded _Massilia_, now Marseilles. The town of Marseilles is often
distinguished by the epithet of _Phocaica_, and its inhabitants
called _Phocæenses_. Phocæa was declared independent by Pompey,
and under the first emperors of Rome it became one of the most
flourishing cities of Asia Minor. _Livy_, bk. 5, ch. 34; bk. 37, ch.
31; bk. 38, ch. 39.――_Mela_, bk. 1, ch. 17.――_Pausanias_, bk. 7, ch.
3.――_Herodotus_, bk. 1, ch. 165.――_Strabo_, bk. 14.――_Horace_, epode
16.――_Ovid_, _Metamorphoses_, bk. 6, li. 9.――_Pliny_, bk. 3, ch. 4.
=Phocenses= and =Phocĭci=, the inhabitants of Phocis in Greece.
=Phocilides=, a Greek poet and philosopher of Miletus, about 540
years before the christian era. The poetical piece now extant called
νουθετικον, and attributed to him, is not of his composition, but of
another poet who lived in the reign of Adrian.
=Phocion=, an Athenian, celebrated for his virtues, private as well as
public. He was educated in the school of Plato and Xenocrates, and as
soon as he appeared among the statesmen of Athens, he distinguished
himself by his prudence and moderation, his zeal for the public
good, and his military abilities. He often checked the violent and
inconsiderate measures of Demosthenes, and when the Athenians seemed
eager to make war against Philip king of Macedonia, Phocion observed
that war should never be undertaken without the strongest and most
certain expectations of success and victory. When Philip endeavoured
to make himself master of Eubœa, Phocion stopped his progress,
and soon obliged him to relinquish his enterprise. During the time
of his administration he was always inclined to peace, though he
never suffered his countrymen to become indolent, and to forget the
jealousy and rivalship of their neighbours. He was 45 times appointed
governor of Athens, and no greater encomium can be passed upon his
talents as a minister and statesman, than that he never solicited
that high, though dangerous, office. In his rural retreat, or at
the head of the Athenian armies, he always appeared barefooted, and
without a cloak, whence one of his soldiers had occasion to observe,
when he saw him dressed more warmly than usual during a severe winter,
that since Phocion wore his cloak it was a sign of the most inclement
weather. If he was the friend of temperance and discipline, he was
not a less brilliant example of true heroism. Philip, as well as
his son Alexander, attempted to bribe him, but to no purpose; and
Phocion boasted in being one of the poorest of the Athenians, and
in deserving the appellation of _the Good_. It was through him that
Greece was saved from an impending war, and he advised Alexander
rather to turn his arms against Persia, than to shed the blood of
the Greeks, who were either his allies or his subjects. Alexander
was so sensible of his merit and of his integrity, that he sent him
100 talents from the spoils which he had obtained from the Persians,
but Phocion was too great to suffer himself to be bribed; and when
the conqueror had attempted a second time to oblige him, and to
conciliate his favour, by offering him the government and possession
of five cities, the Athenian rejected the presents with the same
indifference, and with the same independent mind. But not totally to
despise the favours of the monarch, he begged Alexander to restore to
their liberty four slaves that were confined in the citadel of Sardis.
Antipater, who succeeded in the government of Macedonia after the
death of Alexander, also attempted to corrupt the virtuous Athenian,
but with the same success as his royal predecessor; and when a friend
had observed to Phocion, that if he could so refuse the generous
offers of his patrons, yet he should consider the good of his
children, and accept them for their sake, Phocion calmly replied,
that if his children were like him they could maintain themselves
as well as their father had done, but if they behaved otherwise he
declared that he was unwilling to leave them anything which might
either supply their extravagancies, or encourage their debaucheries.
But virtues like these could not long stand against the insolence
and fickleness of an Athenian assembly. When the Piræus was taken,
Phocion was accused of treason, and therefore, to avoid the public
indignation, he fled for safety to Polyperchon. Polyperchon sent
him back to Athens, where he was immediately condemned to drink the
fatal poison. He received the indignities of the people with uncommon
composure; and when one of his friends lamented his fate, Phocion
exclaimed, “This is no more than what I expected; this treatment
the most illustrious citizens of Athens have received before me.” He
took the cup with the greatest serenity of mind, and as he drank the
fatal draught, he prayed for the prosperity of Athens, and bade his
friends to tell his son Phocus not to remember the indignities which
his father had received from the Athenians. He died about 318 years
before the christian era. His body was deprived of a funeral by order
of the ungrateful Athenians, and if it was at last interred, it was
by stealth, under a hearth, by the hand of a woman who placed this
inscription over his bones: _Keep inviolate, O sacred hearth, the
precious remains of a good man, till a better day restores them to
the monument of their forefathers, when Athens shall be delivered of
her frenzy, and shall be more wise_. It has been observed of Phocion,
that he never appeared elated in prosperity, or dejected in adversity,
he never betrayed pusillanimity by a tear, nor joy by a smile. His
countenance was stern and unpleasant, but he never behaved with
severity; his expressions were mild, and his rebukes gentle. At the
age of 80 he appeared at the head of the Athenian armies like the
most active officer, and to his prudence and cool valour in every
period of life his citizens acknowledged themselves much indebted.
His merits were not buried in oblivion; the Athenians repented of
their ingratitude, and honoured his memory by raising him statues,
and putting to a cruel death his guilty accusers. _Plutarch_ &
_Cornelius Nepos_, _Lives_.――_Diodorus_, bk. 16.
=Phocis=, a country of Greece, bounded on the east by Bœotia, and by
Locris on the west. It originally extended from the bay of Corinth
to the sea of Eubœa, and reached on the north as far as Thermopylæ,
but its boundaries were afterwards more contracted. Phocis received
its name from Phocus, a son of Ornytion, who settled there. The
inhabitants were called _Phocenses_, and from thence the epithet
of _Phocicus_ was formed. Parnassus was the most celebrated of
the mountains of Phocis, and Delphi was the greatest of its towns.
Phocis is rendered famous for a war which it maintained against
some of the Grecian republics, and which has received the name of
the _Phocian war_. This celebrated war originated in the following
circumstances: ――When Philip king of Macedonia had, by his intrigues
and well-concerted policy, fomented divisions in Greece, and
disturbed the peace of every republic, the Greeks universally became
discontented in their situation, fickle in their resolutions, and
jealous of the prosperity of the neighbouring states. The Amphictyons,
who were the supreme rulers of Greece, and who at that time were
subservient to the views of the Thebans, the inveterate enemies of
the Phocians, showed the same spirit of fickleness, and, like the
rest of their countrymen, were actuated by the same fears, the same
jealousy and ambition. As the supporters of religion, they accused
the Phocians of impiety for ploughing a small portion of land which
belonged to the god of Delphi. They immediately commanded that the
sacred field should be laid waste, and that the Phocians, to expiate
their crime, should pay a heavy fine to the community. The inability
of the Phocians to pay the fine, and that of the Amphictyons to
enforce their commands by violence, gave rise to new events. The
people of Phocis were roused by the eloquence and the popularity
of Philomelus, one of their countrymen, and when this ambitious
ringleader had liberally contributed the great riches he possessed
for the good of his countrymen, they resolved to oppose the
Amphictyonic council by force of arms. He seized the rich temple
of Delphi, and employed the treasures which it contained to raise a
mercenary army. During two years hostilities were carried on between
the Phocians and their enemies, the Thebans and the people of Locris,
but no decisive battles were fought; and it can only be observed,
that the Phocian prisoners were always put to an ignominious death,
as guilty of the most abominable sacrilege and impiety, a treatment
which was liberally retaliated on such of the army of the Amphictyons
as became the captives of the enemy. The defeat, however, and death
of Philomelus for a while checked their successes; but the deceased
general was soon succeeded in the command by his brother, called
Onomarchus, his equal in boldness and ambition, and his superior in
activity and enterprise. Onomarchus rendered his cause popular, the
Thessalians joined his army, and the neighbouring states observed at
least a strict neutrality, if they neither opposed nor favoured his
arms. Philip of Macedonia, who had assisted the Thebans, was obliged
to retire from the field with dishonour, but a more successful battle
was fought near Magnesia, and the monarch, by crowning the head of
his soldiers with laurel, and telling them that they fought in the
cause of Delphi and heaven, obtained a complete victory. Onomarchus
was slain, and his body exposed on a gibbet; 6000 shared his fate,
and their bodies were thrown into the sea, as unworthy of funeral
honours, and 3000 were taken alive. This fatal defeat, however,
did not ruin the Phocians; Phayllus, the only surviving brother of
Philomelus, took the command of their armies, and doubling the pay
of his soldiers, he increased his forces by the addition of 9000 men
from Athens, Lacedæmon, and Achaia. But all this numerous force at
last proved ineffectual; the treasures of the temple of Delphi, which
had long defrayed the expenses of the war, began to fail; dissensions
arose among the ringleaders of Phocis; and when Philip had crossed
the straits of Thermopylæ, the Phocians, relying on his generosity,
claimed his protection, and implored him to plead their cause before
the Amphictyonic council. His feeble intercession was not attended
with success, and the Thebans, the Locrians, and the Thessalians, who
then composed the Amphictyonic council, unanimously decreed that the
Phocians should be deprived of the privilege of sending members among
the Amphictyons. Their arms and their horses were to be sold, for the
benefit of Apollo; they were to pay the annual sum of 60,000 talents
till the temple of Delphi had been restored to its ancient splendour
and opulence; their cities were to be dismantled, and reduced to
distinct villages, which were to contain no more than 60 houses
each, at the distance of a furlong from one another, and all the
privileges and the immunities of which they were stripped, were to
be conferred on Philip king of Macedonia, for his eminent services
in the ♦prosecution of the Phocian war. The Macedonians were ordered
to put these cruel commands into execution. The Phocians were unable
to make resistance, and 10 years after they had undertaken the sacred
war, they saw their country laid desolate, their walls demolished,
and their cities in ruins, by the wanton jealousy of their enemies,
and the inflexible cruelty of the Macedonian soldiers, B.C. 348.
They were not, however, long under this disgraceful sentence; their
well-known valour and courage recommended them to favour, and they
gradually regained their influence and consequence by the protection
of the Athenians, and the favours of Philip. _Livy_, bk. 32, ch. 18.
――_Ovid_, bk. 2, _Amores_, poem 6, li. 15; _Metamorphoses_, bk. 5,
li. 276.――_Demosthenes._――_Justin_, bk. 8, &c.――_Diodorus_, bk. 16,
&c.――_Plutarch_, _Demosthenes_, _Lysander_, _Pericles_, &c.――_Strabo_,
bk. 5.――_Pausanias_, bk. 4, ch. 5.
♦ ‘prosetion’ replaced with ‘prosecution’