Physcon. After a reign of 20 years he died; and as he had no children,
he made the Romans heirs of his dominions. The Romans presented his
subjects with their independence. _Livy_, bk. 70.――――Ceraunus, a
son of Ptolemy Soter by Eurydice the daughter of Antipater. Unable
to succeed to the throne of Egypt, Ceraunus fled to the court of
Seleucus, where he was received with friendly marks of attention.
Seleucus was then king of Macedonia, an empire which he had lately
acquired by the death of Lysimachus in a battle in Phrygia; but his
reign was short, and Ceraunus perfidiously murdered him and ascended
his throne, 280 B.C. The murderer, however, could not be firmly
established in Macedonia, as long as Arsinoe the widow and the
children of Lysimachus were alive, and entitled to claim his kingdom
as the lawful possession of their father. To remove these obstacles,
Ceraunus made offers of marriage to Arsinoe, who was his own sister.
The queen at first refused, but the protestations and solemn promises
of the usurper at last prevailed upon her to consent. The nuptials,
however, were no sooner celebrated, than Ceraunus murdered the two
young princes, and confirmed his usurpation by rapine and cruelty.
But now three powerful princes claimed the kingdom of Macedonia
as their own: Antiochus the son of Seleucus; Antigonus the son of
Demetrius; and Pyrrhus the king of Epirus. These enemies, however,
were soon removed; Ceraunus conquered Antigonus in the field of
battle, and stopped the hostilities of his two other rivals by
promises and money. He did not long remain inactive; a barbarian
army of Gauls claimed a tribute from him, and the monarch immediately
marched to meet them in the field. The battle was long and bloody.
The Macedonians might have obtained the victory, if Ceraunus had
shown more prudence. He was thrown down from his elephant, and taken
prisoner by the enemy, who immediately tore his body to pieces.
Ptolemy had been king of Macedonia only 18 months. _Justin_, bk. 24,
&c.――_Pausanias_, bk. 10, ch. 10.――――An illegitimate son of Ptolemy
Lathyrus king of Cyprus, of which he was tyrannically dispossessed
by the Romans. Cato was at the head of the forces which were sent
against Ptolemy by the senate, and the Roman general proposed to
the monarch to retire from the throne, and to pass the rest of his
days in the obscure office of high priest in the temple of Venus at
Paphos. This offer was rejected with the indignation which it merited,
and the monarch poisoned himself at the approach of the enemy.
The treasures found in the island amounted to the enormous sum of
1,356,250_l._ sterling, which were carried to Rome by the conquerors.
_Plutarch_, _Cato_.――_Valerius Maximus_, bk. 9.――_Florus_, bk. 3.
――――A man who attempted to make himself king of Macedonia, in
opposition to Perdiccas. He was expelled by Pelopidas.――――A son of
Pyrrhus king of Epirus, by Antigone the daughter of Berenice. He was
left governor of Epirus, when Pyrrhus went to Italy to assist the
Tarentines against the Romans, where he presided with great prudence
and moderation. He was killed, bravely fighting in the expedition
which Pyrrhus undertook against Sparta and Argos.――――A eunuch, by
whose friendly assistance Mithridates the Great saved his life after
a battle with Lucullus.――――A king of Epirus, who died very young as
he was marching an army against the Ætolians, who had seized part of
his dominions. _Justin_, bk. 28.――――A king of Chalcidica in Syria,
about 30 years before Christ. He opposed Pompey when he invaded Syria,
but he was defeated in the attempt, and the conqueror spared his life
only upon receiving 1000 talents. _Josephus_, _Antiquities_, bk. 13.
――――A nephew of Antigonus, who commanded an army in the Peloponnesus.
He revolted from his uncle to Cassander, and some time after he
attempted to bribe the soldiers of Ptolemy Lagus king of Egypt, who
had invited him to his camp. He was seized and imprisoned for his
treachery, and the Egyptian monarch at last ordered him to drink
hemlock.――――A son of Seleucus, killed in the celebrated battle which
was fought at Issus, between Darius and Alexander the Great.――――A
son of Juba, made king of Mauritania. He was son of Cleopatra Selene
the daughter of Marcus Antony, and the celebrated Cleopatra. He was
put to death by Caius Caligula. _Dio Cassius._――_Tacitus_, _Annals_,
bk. 11.――――A friend of Otho.――――A favourite of Antiochus king of
Syria. He was surnamed _Macron_.――――A Jew, famous for his cruelty and
avarice. He was for some time governor of Jericho, about 135 years
before Christ.――――A powerful Jew during the troubles which disturbed
the peace of Judæa, in the reign of Augustus.――――A son of Antony by
Cleopatra, surnamed _Philadelphus_ by his father, and made master of
Phœnicia, Syria, and all the territories of Asia Minor, which were
situated between the Ægean and the Euphrates. _Plutarch_, _Antonius_.
――――A general of Herod king of Judæa.――――A son of Chrysermus, who
visited Cleomenes king of Sparta, when imprisoned in Egypt.――――A
governor of Alexandria, put to death by Cleomenes.――――Claudius,
a celebrated geographer and astrologer in the reign of Adrian and
Antoninus. He was a native of Alexandria, or, according to others, of
Pelusium, and on account of his great learning, he received the name
of most wise, and most divine, among the Greeks. In his system of the
world, he places the earth in the centre of the universe, a doctrine
universally believed and adopted till the 16th century, when it was
confuted and rejected by Copernicus. His geography is valued for its
learning, and the very useful information which he gives. Besides his
system and his geography Ptolemy wrote other books, in one of which
he gives an account of the fixed stars, of 1022 of which he mentions
the certain and definite longitude and latitude. The best edition of
Ptolemy’s geography is that of Bertius, folio, Amsterdam, 1618, and
that of his treatise _de Judiciis Astrologicis_ by Camerarii, 4to,
1555; and of the _Harmonica_, 4to, Wallis, Oxford, 1683.
=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.