the 17th, or, according to others, the 18th of December. They were
instituted long before the foundation of Rome, in commemoration of
the freedom and equality which prevailed on earth in the golden reign
of Saturn. Some, however, suppose that the Saturnalia were first
observed at Rome in the reign of Tullus Hostilius, after a victory
obtained over the Sabines; while others support that Janus first
instituted them in gratitude to Saturn, from whom he had learnt
agriculture. Others suppose that they were first celebrated in the
year of Rome 257, after a victory obtained over the Latins by the
dictator Posthumius. The Saturnalia were originally celebrated only
for one day, but afterwards the solemnity continued for three, four,
five, and at last for seven days. The celebration was remarkable for
the liberty which universally prevailed. The slaves were permitted
to ridicule their masters, and to speak with freedom upon every
subject. It was usual for friends to make presents one to another;
all animosity ceased, no criminals were executed, schools were shut,
war was never declared, but all was mirth, riot, and debauchery.
In the sacrifices the priests made their offerings with their heads
uncovered, a custom which was never observed at other festivals.
_Seneca_, ltr. 18.――_Cato_, _de Re Rustica_, bk. 57.――_Suetonius_,
_Vespasian_, ch. 19.――_Cicero_, _Letters to Atticus_, bk. 5, ltr. 20.
=Saturnia=, a name given to Italy, because Saturn had reigned there
during the golden age. _Virgil_, _Georgics_, bk. 2, li. 173.――――A
name given to Juno, as being the daughter of Saturn. _Virgil_,
_Georgics_, bk. 2, li. 173; _Æneid_, bk. 3, li. 80.――――An ancient
town of Italy, supposed to be built by Saturn, on the Tarpeian rock.
_Virgil_, _Æneid_, bk. 8, li. 358.――――A colony of Etruria. _Livy_,
bk. 39, ch. 55.
=Saturnīnus Publius Sempronius=, a general of Valerian, proclaimed
emperor in Egypt by his troops after he had rendered himself
celebrated by his victories over the barbarians. His integrity, his
complaisance and affability, had gained him the affection of the
people, but his fondness for ancient discipline provoked his soldiers,
who wantonly murdered him in the 43rd year of his age, A.D. 262.
――――Sextius Julius, a Gaul, intimate with Aurelian. The emperor
esteemed him greatly, not only for his virtues, but for his abilities
as a general, and for the victories which he had obtained in
different parts of the empire. He was saluted emperor at Alexandria,
and compelled by the clamorous army to accept of the purple, which
he rejected with disdain and horror. Probus, who was then emperor,
marched his forces against him, and besieged him in Apamea, where
he destroyed himself when unable to make head against his powerful
adversary.――――Appuleius, a tribune of the people who raised a
sedition at Rome, intimidated the senate, and tyrannized for three
years. Meeting at last with opposition, he seized the capitol, but
being induced by the hopes of a reconciliation to trust himself
amidst the people, he was suddenly torn to pieces. His sedition
has received the name of _Appuleiana_ in the Roman annals. _Florus._
――――Lucius, a seditious tribune, who supported the oppression of
Marius. He was at last put to death on account of his tumultuous
disposition. _Plutarch_, _Caius Marius_.――_Florus_, bk. 3, ch. 16.
――――An officer in the court of Theodosius, murdered for obeying the
emperor’s orders, &c.――――Pompeius, a writer in the reign of Trajan.
He was greatly esteemed by Pliny, who speaks of him with great
warmth and approbation, as an historian, a poet, and an orator.
Pliny always consulted the opinion of Saturninus before he published
his compositions.――――Sentius, a friend of Augustus and Tiberius. He
succeeded Agrippa in the government of the provinces of Syria and
Phœnicia.――――Vitellius, an officer among the friends of the emperor
Otho.
=Saturnius=, a name given to Jupiter, Pluto, and Neptune, as being the
sons of Saturn.
=Saturnus=, a son of Cœlus, or Uranus, by Terra, called also Titea,
Thea, or Titheia. He was naturally artful, and by means of his mother,
he revenged himself on his father, whose cruelty to his children had
provoked the anger of Thea. The mother armed her son with a scythe,
which was fabricated with the metals drawn from her bowels, and as
Cœlus was going to unite himself to Thea, Saturn mutilated him, and
for ever prevented him from increasing the number of his children,
whom he treated with unkindness, and confined in the infernal regions.
After this the sons of Cœlus were restored to liberty, and Saturn
obtained his father’s kingdom by the consent of his brother, provided
he did not bring up any male children. Pursuant to this agreement,
Saturn always devoured his sons as soon as born, because, as some
observe, he dreaded from them a retaliation of his unkindness to his
father, till his wife Rhea, unwilling to see her children perish,
concealed from her husband the birth of Jupiter, Neptune, and Pluto,
and instead of the children she gave him large stones, which he
immediately swallowed without perceiving the deceit. Titan was some
time after informed that Saturn had concealed his male children,
therefore he made war against him, dethroned and imprisoned him with
Rhea; and Jupiter, who was secretly educated in Crete, was no sooner
grown up, than he flew to deliver his father, and to replace him
on the throne. Saturn, unmindful of his son’s kindness, conspired
against him, when he heard that he raised cabals against him, but
Jupiter banished him from his throne, and the father fled for safety
into Italy, where the country retained the name of _Latium_, as being
the place of his _concealment_ (_lateo_). Janus, who was then king
of Italy, received Saturn with marks of attention; he made him his
partner on the throne; and the king of heaven employed himself in
civilizing the barbarous manners of the people of Italy, and in
teaching them agriculture and the useful and liberal arts. His reign
there was so mild and popular, so beneficent and virtuous, that
mankind have called it the _golden age_, to intimate the happiness
and tranquillity which the earth then enjoyed. Saturn was father
of Chiron the centaur by Philyra, whom he had changed into a mare,
to avoid the importunities of Rhea. The worship of Saturn was not
so solemn or so universal as that of Jupiter. It was usual to offer
human victims on his altars, but this barbarous custom was abolished
by Hercules, who substituted small images of clay. In the sacrifices
of Saturn, the priest always performed the ceremony with his head
uncovered, which was unusual at other solemnities. The god is
generally represented as an old man, bent through age and infirmity.
He holds a scythe in his right hand, with a serpent which bites its
own tail, which is an emblem of time and of the revolution of the
year. In his left hand he holds a child, which he raises up as if
instantly to devour it. Tatius king of the Sabines first built a
temple to Saturn on the Capitoline hill, a second was afterwards
added by Tullus Hostilius, and a third by the first consuls. On his
statues were generally hung fetters in commemoration of the chains
he had worn when imprisoned by Jupiter. From this circumstance, all
slaves that obtained their liberty generally dedicated their fetters
him. During the celebration of the Saturnalia, the chains were taken
from the statues to intimate the freedom and the independence which
mankind enjoyed during the golden age. One of his temples at Rome
was appropriated for the public treasury, and it was there also that
the names of foreign ambassadors were enrolled. _Hesiod_, _Theogony_.
――_Apollodorus_, bk. 1, ch. 1.――_Virgil_, _Æneid_, bk. 8, li. 319.
――_Pausanias_, bk. 8, ch. 8.――_Tibullus_, poem 3, li. 35.――_Homer_,
_Iliad_.――_Ovid_, _Fasti_, bk. 4, li. 197; _Metamorphoses_, bk. 1,
li. 123.
=Satŭrum=, a town of Calabria, where stuffs of all kinds were dyed in
different colours with great success. _Virgil_, _Georgics_, bk. 2,
li. 197; bk. 4, li. 335.
=Săty̆ri=, demigods of the country, whose origin is unknown. They are
represented like men, but with the feet and the legs of goats, short
horns on the head, and the whole body covered with thick hair. They
chiefly attended upon Bacchus, and rendered themselves known in
his orgies by their riot and lasciviousness. The first fruits of
everything were generally offered to them. The Romans promiscuously
called them _Fauni_, _Panes_, and _Sylvani_. It is said that a
Satyr was brought to Sylla as that general returned from Thessaly.
The monster had been surprised asleep in a cave; but his voice was
inarticulate when brought into the presence of the Roman general, and
Sylla was so disgusted with it, that he ordered it to be instantly
removed. The monster answered in every degree the description which
the poets and painters have given of the Satyrs. _Pausanias_, bk. 1,
ch. 23.――_Plutarch_, _Sulla_.――_Virgil_, eclogue 5, li. 13.――_Ovid_,
_Heroides_, poem 4, li. 171.
=Saty̆rus=, a king of Bosphorus, who reigned 14 years, &c. His father’s
name was Spartacus. _Diodorus_, bk. 20.――――An Athenian who attempted
to eject the garrison of Demetrius from the citadel, &c. _Polyænus._
――――A Greek actor who instructed Demosthenes, and taught him how to
have a good and strong delivery.――――A man who assisted in murdering
Timophanes, by order of his brother Timoleon.――――A Rhodian sent
by his countrymen to Rome, when Eumenes had accused some of the
allies of intentions to favour the interest of Macedonia against the
republic.――――A peripatetic philosopher and historian, who flourished
B.C. 148.――――A tyrant of Heraclea, 346 B.C.――――An architect who,
together with Petus, is said to have planned and built the celebrated
tomb which Artemisia erected to the memory of Mausolus, and which
became one of the wonders of the world. The honour of erecting it is
ascribed to others.
=Savera=, a village of Lycaonia.
=Saufeius Trogus=, one of Messalina’s favourites, punished by Claudius,
&c. _Tacitus_, _Annals_, bk. 11, ch. 35.――――Appius, a Roman, who died
on his return from the bath upon taking mead, &c. _Pliny_, bk. 7,
ch. 53.
=Savo=, or =Savona=, a town with a small river of the same name in
Campania. _Statius_, ♦_Sylvæ_, bk. 4.――_Pliny_, bk. 3, ch. 5.――――A
town of Liguria.
♦ Book name omitted in text.
=Sauromatæ=, a people in the northern parts of Europe and Asia. They
are called _Sarmatæ_ by the Latins. _See:_ Sarmatia.
=Saurus=, a famous robber of Elis, killed by Hercules. _Pausanias_,
bk. 6, ch. 21.――――A statuary. _Pliny_, bk. 36, ch. 5.
=Savus=, a river of Pannonia, rising in Noricum, at the north of
Aquileia, and falling into the Danube, after flowing through Pannonia,
in an eastern direction. _Claudian_, _De Consulatu Stilichonis_,
bk. 2.――――A small river of Numidia, falling into the Mediterranean.
=Saxŏnes=, a people of Germany, near the Chersonesus Cimbrica.
_Ptolemy_, bk. 3, ch. 11.――_Claudian_, bk. 1, _Against Eutropius_,
li. 392.
=Saziches=, an ancient legislator of Egypt.
=Scæa=, one of the gates of Troy, where the tomb of Laomedon was seen.
The name is derived by some from σκαιος (_sinster_), because it was
through this avenue that the fatal horse was introduced. _Homer_,
_Iliad_.――_Silius Italicus_, bk. 13, li. 73.――――One of the Danaides.
Her husband’s name was Dayphron. _Apollodorus._
=Scæva=, a soldier in Cæsar’s army, who behaved with great courage at
Dyrrachium. _Lucan_, bk. 6, li. 144.――――Memor, a Latin poet in the
reign of Titus and Domitian.――――A man who poisoned his own mother.
_Horace_, bk. 2, satire 1, li. 53.――――A friend of Horace, to whom the
poet addressed bk. 1, ltr. 17. He was a Roman knight.
=Scævŏla.= _See:_ Mutius.
=Scalabis=, now _St. Irene_, a town of ancient Spain.
=Scaldis=, or =Scaldium=, a river of Belgium, now called the _Scheld_,
and dividing the modern country of the Netherlands from Holland.
_Cæsar_, _Gallic War_, bk. 6, li. 33.――――Pons, a town on the same
river, now called _Condé_. _Cæsar._
=Scamander=, or =Scamandros=, a celebrated river of Troas, rising at
the east of mount Ida, and falling into the sea below Sigæum. It
receives the Simois in its course, and towards its mouth it is very
muddy, and flows through marshes. This river, according to Homer, was
called Xanthus by the gods, and Scamander by men. The waters of the
Scamander had the singular property of giving a beautiful colour to
the hair or the wool of such animals as bathed in them; and from this
circumstance the three goddesses, Minerva, Juno, and Venus, bathed
there before they appeared before Paris, to obtain the golden apple.
It was usual among all the virgins of Troas to bathe in the Scamander,
when they were arrived to nubile years, and to offer to the god their
virginity in these words, Λαβε μου, Σκαμανδρε, την παεθενιαν. The god
of the Scamander had a regular priest, and sacrifices offered to him.
Some suppose that the river received its name from Scamander the son
of Corybas. _Ælian_, _De Natura Animalium_, bk. 8, ch. 21.――_Strabo_,
bks. 1 & 13.――_Pliny_, bk. 5, ch. 30.――_Mela_, bk. 1, ch. 18.
――_Homer_, _Iliad_, bk. 5.――_Plutarch._――_Æschines_, ltr. 10.――――A
son of Corybas and Demodice, who brought a colony from Crete into
Phrygia, and settled at the foot of mount Ida, where he introduced
the festivals of Cybele, and the dances of the Corybantes. He some
time after lost the use of his senses and threw himself into the
river Xanthus, which ever after bore his name. His son-in-law Teucer
succeeded him in the government of the colony. He had two daughters,
Thymo and Callirhoe. _Apollodorus_, bk. 3, ch. 12.――_Diodorus_, bk. 4.
=Scamandria=, a town on the Scamander. _Pliny_, bk. 4, ch. 30.
=Scamandrius=, one of the generals of Priam, son of Strophius. He was
killed by Menelaus. _Homer_, _Iliad_, bk. 5, li. 49.
=Scandaria=, a promontory in the island of Cos. _Strabo_, bk. 14.
=Scandinavia=, a name given by the ancients to that tract of territory
which contains the modern kingdoms of Norway, Sweden, Denmark,
Lapland, Finland, &c., supposed by them to be an island. _Pliny_,
bk. 4, ch. 13.
=Scantia Sylva=, a wood of Campania, the property of the Roman people.
_Cicero._
=Scantilla=, the wife of Didius Julianus. It was by her advice that her
husband bought the empire which was exposed to sale at the death of
Pertinax.
=Scantinia lex.= _See:_ Scatinia.
=Scaptesyle=, a town of Thrace, near Abdera, abounding in silver and
gold mines, belonging to Thucydides, who is supposed there to have
written his history of the Peloponnesian war. _Lucretius_, bk. 6,
li. 810.――_Plutarch_, _Cimon_.
=Scaptia=, a town of Latium. _Silius Italicus_, bk. 8, li. 396.
――_Pliny_, bk. 3, ch. 5.――_Livy_, bk. 8, ch. 17.
=Scaptius=, an intimate friend of Brutus. _Cicero_, _Letters to
Atticus_, bk. 5, &c. His brother was a merchant of Cappadocia.
=Scapŭla=, a native of Corduba, who defended that town against Cæsar,
after the battle of Munda. When he saw that all his efforts were
useless against the Roman general, he destroyed himself. _Cæsar_,
_Hispanic War_, ch. 33.――――A usurper. _Cicero_, _Letters to Atticus_,
bk. 12, ltr. 37.
=Scandon=, a town on the confines of Dalmatia.
=Scardii=, a ridge of mountains of Macedonia, which separates it from
Illyricum. _Livy_, bk. 43, ch. 20.
=Scarphia=, or =Scarphe=, a town near Thermopylæ, on the confines of
Phthiotis. _Seneca_, _Troades_.
=Scatinia lex=, _de pudicitiâ_, by Caius Scatinius Aricinus the
tribune, was enacted against those who kept catamites, and such as
prostituted themselves to any vile or unnatural service. The penalty
was originally a fine, but it was afterwards made a capital crime
under Augustus. It is sometimes called _Scantinia_, from a certain
_Scantinius_ upon whom it was first executed.
=Scaurus Marcus Æmylius=, a Roman consul who distinguished himself
by his eloquence at the bar, and by his successes in Spain in the
capacity of commander. He was sent against Jugurtha, and some time
after accused of suffering himself to be bribed by the Numidian
prince. Scaurus conquered the Ligurians, and in his censorship he
built the Milvian bridge at Rome, and began to pave the road, which
from him was called the Æmylian. He was originally very poor. He
wrote some books, and among these a history of his own life, all now
lost.――――His son, of the same name, made himself known by the large
theatre which he built during his edileship. This theatre, which
could contain 30,000 spectators, was supported by 360 columns of
marble, 38 feet in height, and adorned with 3000 brazen statues.
This celebrated edifice, according to Pliny, proved more fatal to
the manners and the simplicity of the Romans, than the proscriptions
and wars of Sylla had done to the inhabitants of the city. Scaurus
married Murcia. _Cicero_, _Brutus_.――_Valerius Maximus_, bk. 4,
ch. 4.――_Pliny_, bk. 34, ch. 7; bk. 36, ch. 2.――――A Roman of consular
dignity. When the Cimbri invaded Italy, the son of Scaurus behaved
with great cowardice, upon which the father sternly ordered him never
to appear again in the field of battle. The severity of this command
rendered young Scaurus melancholy, and he plunged a sword into his
own heart, to free himself from further ignominy.――――Aurelius, a
Roman consul taken prisoner by the Gauls. He was put to a cruel death
because he told the king of the enemy not to cross the Alps to invade
Italy, which was universally deemed unconquerable.――――Marcus Æmilius,
a man in the reign of Tiberius accused of adultery with Livia, and
put to death. He was an eloquent orator, but very lascivious and
debauched in his morals.――――Mamercus, a man put to death by Tiberius.
――――Maximus, a man who conspired against Nero.――――Terentius, a Latin
grammarian. He had been preceptor to the emperor Adrian. _Aulus
Gellius_, bk. 11, ch. 15.
=Scedăsus=, a native of Leuctra in Bœotia. His two daughters, Meletia
and Molpia, whom some called Theano and Hippo, were ravished by some
Spartans, in the reign of Cleombrotus, and after this they killed
themselves, unable to survive the loss of their honour. The father
became so disconsolate, that when he was unable to obtain relief from
his country, he killed himself on their tomb. _Pausanias_, bk. 9,
ch. 13.――_Plutarch_, _Amatoriæ narrationes_, ch. 3.
=Scelerātus=, a plain of Rome near the Colline gate, where the vestal
Minucia was buried alive, when convicted of adultery. _Livy_, bk. 8,
ch. 15.――――One of the gates of Rome was called _Scelerata_, because
the 300 Fabii, who were killed at the river Cremera, had passed
through it when they went to attack the enemy. It was before named
_Carmentalis_.――――There was also a street at Rome formerly called
_Cyprius_, which received the name of the _Sceleratus vicus_, because
there Tullia ordered her postilion to drive her chariot over the body
of her father, king Servius. _Livy_, bk. 1, ch. 48.――_Ovid_, _Ibis_,
li. 365.
=Scena=, a town on the confines of Babylon. _Strabo_, bk. 16.――――A
river of Ireland, now the _Shannon_. _Orosius_, bk. 1, ch. 2.
=Scenitæ=, Arabians who live in tents. _Pliny_, bk. 5, ch. 11.
=Scepsis=, a town of Troas, where the works of Theophrastus and
Aristotle were long concealed underground, and damaged by the wet, &c.
_Strabo_, bk. 10.
=Schedia=, a small village of Egypt, with a dockyard between the
western mouths of the Nile and Alexandria. _Strabo._
=Schedius=, one of Helen’s suitors. _Pausanias_, bk. 10, chs. 4 & 30.
=Scheria=, an ancient name of Corcyra. _Pausanias_, bk. 2, ch. 5.
――_Pliny_, bk. 4, ch. 12.
=Schœneus=, a son of Athamas.――――The father of Atalanta.
=Schœnus=, or =Scheno=, a port of Peloponnesus, on the Saronicus sinus.
――――A village near Thebes, with a river of the same name.――――A river
of Arcadia.――――Another near Athens.
=Sciastes=, a surname of Apollo at Lacedæmon, from the village
Scias where he was particularly worshipped. _Lycophron_, li. 562.
――_Tzetzes_, on the same reference.
=Sciăthis=, a mountain of Arcadia. _Pausanias_, bk. 8, ch. 14.
=Sciăthos=, an island in the Ægean sea, opposite mount Pelion, on the
coast of Thessaly. _Valerius Flaccus_, bk. 2.
=Scidros=, a town of Magna Græcia.
=Scillus=, a town of Peloponnesus, near Olympia, where Xenophon wrote
his history.
=Scilūrus=, a king of Scythia, who had 80 sons. _See:_ Scylurus.
=Scinis=, a cruel robber who tied men to the boughs of trees, which
he had forcibly brought together, and which he afterwards unloosed,
so that their limbs were torn in an instant from their body. _Ovid_,
_Metamorphoses_, bk. 7, li. 440.
=Scinthi=, a people of Germany.
=Sciōne=, a town of Thrace, in the possession of the Athenians. It
revolted and passed into the hands of the Lacedæmonians during the
Peloponnesian war. It was built by a Grecian colony on their return
from the Trojan war. _Thucydides_, bk. 4.――_Mela_, bk. 2, ch. 2.
――_Pliny_, bk. 4, ch. 10.
=Scīpiădæ=, a name applied to the two Scipios, who obtained the surname
of _Africanus_, from the conquest of Carthage. _Virgil_, _Æneid_,
bk. 6, li. 843.