an Athenian colony. As Virgil has applied the epithet _Navifragum_
to Scylaceum, some suppose that either the poet was mistaken in his
knowledge of the place, because there are no apparent dangers to
navigation there, or that he confounds this place with a promontory
of the same name on the Tuscan sea. Servius explains this passage by
supposing that the houses of the place were originally built with the
shipwrecked vessels of Ulysses’ fleet――a most puerile explanation!
_Virgil_, _Æneid_, bk. 3, li. 553.――_Strabo_, bk. 6.
=Scylax=, a geographer and mathematician of Caria, in the age of Darius
son of Hystaspes, about 550 years before Christ. He was commissioned
by Darius to make discoveries in the east, and after a journey of
30 months he visited Egypt. Some suppose that he was the first who
invented geographical tables. The latest edition of the _Periplus_ of
Scylax, is that of Gronovius, 4to, Leiden, 1597. _Herodotus_, bk. 4,
ch. 44.――_Strabo._――――A river of Cappadocia.
=Scylla=, a daughter of Nisus king of Megara, who became enamoured
of Minos, as that monarch besieged her father’s capital. To make
him sensible of her passion, she informed him that she would deliver
Megara into his hands if he promised to marry her. Minos consented,
and as the prosperity of Megara depended on a golden hair, which was
on the head of Nisus, Scylla cut it off as her father was asleep, and
from that moment the sallies of the Megareans were unsuccessful, and
the enemy easily became master of the place. Scylla was disappointed
in her expectations, and Minos treated her with such contempt and
ridicule, that she threw herself from a tower into the sea, or,
according to other accounts, she was changed into a lark by the
gods, and her father into a hawk. _Ovid_, _Tristia_, bk. 2, li. 393.
――_Pausanias_, bk. 2, ch. 34.――_Propertius_, bk. 3, poem 19, li. 21.
――_Hyginus_, fable 198.――_Virgil_, _Georgics_, bk. 1, li. 405, &c.
――――A daughter of Typhon, or, as some say, of Phorcys, who was
greatly loved by Glaucus, one of the deities of the sea. Scylla
scorned the addresses of Glaucus, and the god, to render her
more propitious, applied to Circe, whose knowledge of herbs and
incantations was universally admired. Circe no sooner saw him than
she became enamoured of him, and instead of giving him the required
assistance, she attempted to make him forget Scylla, but in vain. To
punish her rival, Circe poured the juice of some poisonous herbs into
the waters of the fountain where Scylla bathed, and no sooner had the
nymph touched the place than she found every part of her body below
the waist changed into frightful monsters like dogs, which never
ceased barking. The rest of her body assumed an equally hideous form.
She found herself supported by 12 feet, and she had six different
heads, each with three rows of teeth. This sudden metamorphosis so
terrified her, that she threw herself into that part of the sea which
separates the coast of Italy and Sicily, where she was changed into
rocks, which continued to bear her name, and which were universally
deemed by the ancients as very dangerous to sailors, as well as
the whirlpool of Charybdis on the coast of Sicily. During a tempest
the waves are described by modern navigators as roaring dreadfully
when driven into the rough and uneven cavities of the rock. _Homer_,
_Odyssey_, bk. 12, li. 85.――_Ovid_, _Metamorphoses_, bk. 14, li. 66,
&c.――_Pausanias_, bk. 2, ch. 34.――_Hyginus_, fable 199. Some authors,
as _Propertius_, bk. 4, poem 4, li. 39, and _Virgil_, eclogue 6,
li. 74, with _Ovid_, _Fasti_, bk. 4, li. 500, have confounded the
daughter of Typhon with the daughter of Nisus. _Virgil_, _Æneid_,
bk. 3, li. 424, &c.――――A ship in the fleet of Æneas, commanded by
Cloanthus, &c. _Virgil_, _Æneid_, bk. 5, li. 122.
=Scyllæum=, a promontory of Peloponnesus on the coast of Argolis.――――A
promontory of the Brutii in Italy, supposed to be the same as
Scylaceum, near which was the famous whirlpool Scylla, from which the
name is derived.
=Scyllias=, a celebrated swimmer who enriched himself by diving after
the goods which had been shipwrecked in the Persian ships near Pelium.
It is said that he could dive 80 stadia under the water. _Herodotus_,
bk. 8, ch. 8.――_Pausanias_, bk. 10, ch. 19.
=Scyllis= and =Dipœnus=, statuaries of Crete before the age of Cyrus
king of Persia. They were said to be sons and pupils of Dædalus, and
they established a school at Sicyon, where they taught the principles
of their profession. _Pausanias._――_Pliny_, bk. 36, ch. 4.
=Scyllus= (untis), a town of Achaia, given to Xenophon by the
Lacedæmonians. _Strabo._
=Scylūrus=, a monarch who left 80 sons. He called them to his bedside
as he expired, and by enjoining them to break a bundle of sticks tied
together, and afterwards separately, he convinced them that, when
altogether firmly united, their power would be insuperable, but,
if ever disunited, they would fail an easy prey to their enemies.
_Plutarch_, _de Garrulitate_.
=Scyppium=, a town in the neighbourhood of Colophon. _Pausanias_, bk. 7,
ch. 3.
=Scyras=, a river of Laconia. _Pausanias_, bk. 3, ch. 25.
=Scyrias=, a name applied to Deidamia as a native of Scyros. _Ovid_,
_Ars Amatoria_, ♦bk. 1, li. 682.
♦ Book number omitted from text.
=Scyros=, a rocky and barren island in the Ægean, at the distance
of about 28 miles north-east from Eubœa, 60 miles in circumference.
It was originally in the possession of the Pelasgians and Carians.
Achilles retired there not to go to the Trojan war, and became father
of Neoptolemus by Deidamia the daughter of king Lycomedes. Scyros was
conquered by the Athenians under Cimon. _Homer_, _Odyssey_, bk. 10,
li. 508.――_Ovid_, _Metamorphoses_, bk. 7, li. 464; bk. 13, li. 156.
――_Pausanias_, bk. 1, ch. 7.――_Strabo_, bk. 9.
=Scythæ=, the inhabitants of Scythia. _See:_ Scythia.
=Scythes=, or =Scytha=, a son of Jupiter by a daughter of Tellus.
Half his body was that of a man, and the rest that of a serpent. He
became king of a country which he called Scythia. _Diodorus_, bk. 2.
――――A son of Hercules and Echidna.
=Scythia=, a large country situate in the most northern parts of
Europe and Asia, from which circumstance it is generally denominated
European and Asiatic. The most northern parts of Scythia were
uninhabited on account of the extreme coldness of the climate. The
more southern parts in Asia that were inhabited were distinguished
by the name of Scythia _intra et extra Imaum_, &c. The boundaries of
Scythia were unknown to the ancients, as no traveller had penetrated
beyond the vast tracts of land which lay at the north, east, and west.
Scythia comprehended the modern kingdoms of Tartary, Russia in Asia,
Siberia, Muscovy, the Crimea, Poland, part of Hungary, Lithuania,
the northern parts of Germany, Sweden, Norway, &c. The Scythians
were divided into several nations or tribes; they had no cities, but
continually changed their habitations. They inured themselves to bear
labour and fatigue; they despised money, and lived upon milk, and
covered themselves with the skins of their cattle. The virtues seemed
to flourish among them, and that philosophy and moderation which
other nations wished to acquire by study, seemed natural to them.
Some authors, however, represent them as a savage and barbarous
people, who fed upon human flesh, who drank the blood of their
enemies, and used the skulls of travellers as vessels in their
sacrifices to their gods. The Scythians made several irruptions
upon the more southern provinces of Asia, especially B.C. 624, when
they remained in possession of Asia Minor for 28 years, and we find
them at different periods extending their conquests in Europe, and
penetrating as far as Egypt. Their government was monarchical, and
the deference which they paid to their sovereigns was ♦unparalleled.
When the king died, his body was carried through every province,
where it was received in solemn procession, and afterwards buried.
In the first centuries after Christ they invaded the Roman empire
with the Sarmatians. _See:_ Sarmatia. _Herodotus_, bk. 1, ch. 4, &c.
――_Strabo_, bk. 7.――_Diodorus_, bk. 2.――_Valerius Maximus_, bk. 5,
ch. 4.――_Justin_, bk. 2, ch. 1, &c.――_Ovid_, _Metamorphoses_, bk. 1,
li. 64; bk. 2, li. 224.
♦ ‘uuparalleled’ replaced with ‘unparalleled’
=Scythīnus=, a Greek poet of Teos in Ionia, who wrote iambics.
_Diogenes Laërtius_, _Heraclides_.――_Athenæus_, bk. 11.
=Scython=, a man changed into a woman. _Ovid_, _Metamorphoses_, bk. 4,
li. 280.
=Scythopŏlis=, a town of Syria, said to have been built by Bacchus.
_Strabo_, bk. 16.――_Pliny_, bk. 5, ch. 18.
=Scythotauri=, a people of Chersonesus Taurica. _Pliny_, bk. 4, ch. 12.
=Sebasta=, a town of Judæa.――――Another in Cilicia.――――The name was
common to several cities, as it was in honour of Augustus.
=Sebastīa=, a city of Armenia.
=Sebennȳtus=, a town of the Delta in Egypt. The branch of the Nile
which flows near it has been called the _Sebennytic_. _Pliny_, bk. 5,
ch. 10.
=Sebētus=, a small river of Campania, falling into the bay of Naples,
whence the epithet _Sebethis_, given to one of the nymphs who
frequented its borders, and became mother of Œbalus by Telon.
_Virgil_, _Æneid_, bk. 7, li. 734.
=Sebusiāni=, or =Segusiani=, a people of Celtic Gaul.
=Sectānus=, an infamous debauchee in the age of Horace, bk. 1, satire 4,
li. 112.
=Secundus Julius=, a man who published some harangues and orations in
the age of the emperor Titus.――――A favourite of Nero.――――One of the
associates of Sejanus.
=Seditāni=, or =Sedentāni=, a people of Spain. _Silius Italicus_, bk. 3,
li. 372.
=Sedūni=, an ancient nation of Belgic Gaul. _Cæsar_, _Gallic War_,
bk. 3.
=Sedusii=, a people of Germany near the Suevi. _Cæsar._
=Segesta=, a town of Sicily founded by Æneas, or, according to some, by
Crinisus. _See:_ Ægesta.
=Segestes=, a German, friendly to the Roman interest in the time of
Germanicus. His daughter married Arminius. _Tacitus_, _Annals_, bk. 1,
ch. 55.
=Segetia=, a divinity at Rome, invoked by the husbandmen that the
harvest might be plentiful. _Augustine_, _City of God_, bk. 4, ch. 8.
――_Macrobius_, bk. 1, ch. 16.――_Pliny_, bk. 18, ch. 2.
=Segni=, a people with a town of the same name in Belgic Gaul. _Cæsar_,
_Gallic War_, bk. 6.
=Segrobrica=, a town of Spain near Saguntum. _Pliny_, bk. 3, ch. 3.
=Segōnax=, a prince in the southern parts of Britain, who opposed Cæsar,
by order of Cassivelaunus, &c. _Cæsar_, _Gallic War_, bk. 5, ch. 22.
=Segontia=, or =Seguntia=, a town of Hispania Tarraconensis. _Livy_,
bk. 34, ch. 10.
=Segontiăci=, a people of Belgic Gaul, who submitted to Julius Cæsar.
=Segovia=, a town of Spain, of great power in the age of the Cæsars.
――――There was also another of the same name in Lusitania. Both had
been founded by the Celtiberi.
=Seguntium=, a town of Britain, supposed to be _Carnarvon_ in Wales.
_Cæsar_, _Gallic War_, bk. 5, ch. 21.
=Segusiāni=, a people of Gaul on the Loire. _Cæsar_, _Gallic War_,
bk. 1, ch. 10.――_Pliny_, bk. 4, ch. 18.
=Segusio=, a town of Piedmont on the Durias. _Pliny_, bk. 3, ch. 17.
=Ælius Sejānus=, a native of Vulsinum in Tuscany, who distinguished
himself in the court of Tiberius. His father’s name was Seuis Strabo,
a Roman knight, commander of the pretorian guards. His mother was
descended from the Junian family. Sejanus first gained the favours
of Caius Cæsar the grandson of Augustus, but afterwards he attached
himself to the interest and the views of Tiberius, who then sat on
the imperial throne. The emperor, who was naturally of a suspicious
temper, was free and open with Sejanus, and while he distrusted
others, he communicated his greatest secrets to this fawning
favourite. Sejanus improved this confidence, and when he had found
that he possessed the esteem of Tiberius, he next endeavoured to
become the favourite of the soldiers and the darling of the senate.
As commander of the pretorian guards he was the second man in Rome,
and in that important office he made use of insinuations and every
mean artifice to make himself beloved and revered. His affability and
condescension gained him the hearts of the common soldiers, and by
appointing his own favourites and adherents to places of trust and
honour, all the officers and centurions of the army became devoted
to his interest. The views of Sejanus in this were well known; yet
to advance with more success, he attempted to gain the affection of
the senators. In this he met with no opposition. A man who has the
disposal of places of honour and dignity, and who has the command
of the public money, cannot but be the favourite of those who are in
need of his assistance. It is even said that Sejanus gained to his
views all the wives of the senators, by a private and most secret
promise of marriage to each of them, whenever he had made himself
independent and sovereign of Rome. Yet however successful with
the best and noblest families in the empire, Sejanus had to combat
numbers in the house of the emperor; but these seeming obstacles were
soon removed. All the children and grandchildren of Tiberius were
sacrificed to the ambition of the favourite under various pretences;
and Drusus the son of the emperor, by striking Sejanus, made his
destruction sure and inevitable. Livia the wife of Drusus was gained
by Sejanus, and though the mother of many children, she was prevailed
upon to assist her adulterer in the murder of her husband, and she
consented to marry him when Drusus was dead. No sooner was Drusus
poisoned than Sejanus openly declared his wish to marry Livia. This
was strongly opposed by Tiberius; and the emperor, by recommending
Germanicus to the senators for his successor, rendered Sejanus bold
and determined. He was more urgent in his demands; and when he could
not gain the consent of the emperor, he persuaded him to retire to
solitude from the noise of Rome and the troubles of the government.
Tiberius, naturally fond of ease and luxury, yielded to his
representations, and retired to Campania, leaving Sejanus at the head
of the empire. This was highly gratifying to the favourite, and he
was now without a master. Prudence and moderation might have made him
what he wished to be; but Sejanus offended the whole empire when he
declared that he was emperor of Rome, and Tiberius only the dependent
prince of the island of Capreæ, where he had retired. Tiberius was
upon this fully convinced of the designs of Sejanus; and when he had
been informed that his favourite had had the meanness and audacity
to ridicule him by introducing him on the stage, the emperor ordered
him to be accused before the senate. Sejanus was deserted by all his
pretended friends, as soon as by fortune; and the man who aspired
to the empire, and who called himself the favourite of the people,
the darling of the pretorian guards, and the companion of Tiberius,
was seized without resistance, and the same day strangled in prison,
A.D. 31. His remains were exposed to the fury and insolence of the
populace, and afterwards thrown into the Tiber. His children and
all his relations were involved in his ruin, and Tiberius sacrificed
to his resentment and suspicions all those who were even connected
with Sejanus, or had shared his favours and enjoyed his confidence.
_Tacitus_, bk. 3, _Annals_, &c.――_Dio Cassius_, bk. 58.――_Suetonius_,
_Tiberias_.
=Cnæus Seius=, a Roman who had a famous horse of large size and
uncommon beauty. He was put to death by Antony, and it was observed,
that whoever obtained possession of his horse, which was supposed to
be of the same race as the horses of Diomedes destroyed by Hercules,
and which was called _Sejanus equus_, became unfortunate, and lost
all his property, with every member of his family. Hence arose the
proverb, _ille homo habet Sejanum equum_, applied to such as were
oppressed with misfortunes. _Aulus Gellius_, bk. 3, ch. 9.
=Seius Strabo=, the father of Sejanus, was a Roman knight, and
commander of the pretorian guards.
=Selasia.= _See:_ Sellasia.
=Selemnus=, a river of Achaia. _Pausanias_, bk. 7, ch. 23. _See:_
Selimnus.
=Selēne=, the wife of Antiochus king of Syria, put to death by Tigranes
king of Armenia. She was daughter of Physcon king of Egypt, and had
first married her brother Lathurus, according to the custom of her
country, and afterwards, by desire of her mother, her other brother
Gryphus. At the death of Gryphus she had married Antiochus, surnamed
Eusebes, the son of Antiochus Cyzicenus, by whom she had two sons.
According to Appian, she first married the father, and after his
death, his son Eusebes. _Appian_, _Syrian Wars_, &c.
=Seleucēna=, or =Seleucis=, a country of Syria, in Asia. _See:_
Seleucis.
=Seleucīa=, a town of Syria, on the sea-shore, generally called
_Pieria_, to distinguish it from others of the same name. There were
no less than eight other cities which were called Seleucia, and which
had all received their name from Seleucus Nicator. They were all
situate in the kingdom of Syria, in Cilicia, and near the Euphrates.
_Florus_, bk. 3, ch. 11.――_Plutarch_, _Demosthenes_.――_Mela_, bk. 1,
ch. 12.――_Strabo_, bks. 11 & 15.――_Pliny_, bk. 6, ch. 26.――――Also
the residence of the Parthian kings. _Cicero_, bk. 8, _Letters to his
Friends_, ltr. 14.
=Seleucĭdæ=, a surname given to those monarchs who sat on the throne of
Syria, which was founded by Seleucus the son of Antiochus, from whom
the word is derived. The era of the Seleucidæ begins with the taking
of Babylon by Seleucus, B.C. 312, and ends at the conquest of Syria
by Pompey, B.C. 65. The order in which these monarchs reigned is
shown in the account of Syria. _See:_ Syria.
=Seleucis=, a division of Syria, which received its name from Seleucus,
the founder of the Syrian empire after the death of Alexander the
Great. It was also called _Tetrapolis_, from the four cities which it
contained, called also sister cities; Seleucia called after Seleucus,
Antioch called after his father, Laodicea after his mother, and
Apamea after his wife. _Strabo_, bk. 16.
=Seleucus I.=, one of the captains of Alexander the Great, surnamed
_Nicator_, or _Victorious_, was son of Antiochus. After the king’s
death, he received Babylon as his province; but his ambitious
views, and his attempt to destroy Eumenes as he passed through his
territories, rendered him so unpopular, that he fled for safety to
the court of his friend Ptolemy king of Egypt. He was soon after
enabled to recover Babylon, which Antigonus had seized in his absence,
and he increased his dominions by the immediate conquest of Media,
and some of the neighbouring provinces. When he had strengthened
himself in his empire, Seleucus imitated the example of the rest
of the generals of Alexander, and assumed the title of independent
monarch. He afterwards made war against Antigonus, with the united
forces of Ptolemy, Cassander, and Lysimachus; and after this monarch
had been conquered and slain, his territories were divided among his
victorious enemies. When Seleucus became master of Syria, he built a
city there, which he called Antioch in honour of his father, and made
it the capital of his dominions. He also made war against Demetrius
and Lysimachus, though he had originally married Stratonice the
daughter of the former, and had lived in the closest friendship with
the latter. Seleucus was at last murdered by one of his servants
called Ptolemy Ceraunus, a man on whom he bestowed the greatest
favours, and whom he had distinguished by acts of the most unbounded
confidence. According to Arrian, Seleucus was the greatest and most
powerful of the princes who inherited the Macedonian empire after the
death of Alexander. His benevolence has been commended; and it has
been observed, that he conquered not to enslave nations, but to make
them more happy. He founded no less than 34 cities in different parts
of his empire, which he peopled with Greek colonies, whose national
industry, learning, religion, and spirit, were communicated to
the indolent and luxurious inhabitants of Asia. Seleucus was a
great benefactor to the Greeks; he restored to the Athenians the
library and statues which Xerxes had carried away from their city
when he invaded Greece, and among them were those of Harmodius and
Aristogiton. Seleucus was murdered 280 years before the christian era,
in the 32nd year of his reign, and the 78th, or, according to others,
the 73rd year of his age, as he was going to conquer Macedonia,
where he intended to finish his days in peace and tranquillity in
that province where he was born. He was succeeded by Antiochus Soter.
_Justin_, bk. 13, ch. 4; bk. 15, ch. 4; bk. 16, ch. 3, &c.
――_Plutarch_, _Demosthenes_.――_Pliny_, bk. 6, ch. 17.――_Pausanias_,
bk. 8, ch. 51.――_Josephus_, _Antiquities_, bk. 12.
=Seleucus II.=, surnamed _Callinicus_, succeeded his father Antiochus
Theus on the throne of Syria. He attempted to make war against
Ptolemy king of Egypt, but his fleet was shipwrecked in a violent
storm, and his armies soon after conquered by his enemy. He was at
last taken prisoner by Arsaces, an officer who made himself powerful
by the dissensions which reigned in the house of the Seleucidæ,
between the two brothers Seleucus and Antiochus; and after he had
been a prisoner for some time in Parthia, he died of a fall from his
horse, B.C. 226, after a reign of 20 years. Seleucus had received the
surname of _Pogon_, from his long beard, and that of _Callinicus_,
ironically to express his very unfortunate reign. He had married
Laodice the sister of one of his generals, by whom he had two sons,
Seleucus and Antiochus, and a daughter whom he gave in marriage to
Mithridates king of Pontus. _Strabo_, bk. 16.――_Justin_, bk. 27.
――_Appian_, _Syrian Wars_.
=Seleucus III.=, succeeded his father Seleucus II. on the throne of
Syria, and received the surname of _Ceraunus_, by antiphrasis, as he
was a very weak, timid, and irresolute monarch. He was murdered by
two of his officers, after a reign of three years, B.C. 223, and his
brother Antiochus, though only 15 years old, ascended the throne, and
rendered himself so celebrated that he acquired the name of the Great.
_Appian._
=Seleucus IV.=, succeeded his father Antiochus the Great on the throne
of Syria. He was surnamed _Philopater_, or, according to Josephus,
_Soter_. His empire had been weakened by the Romans when he became
monarch, and the yearly tribute of 1000 talents to those victorious
enemies concurred in lessening his power and consequence among
nations. Seleucus was poisoned after a reign of 12 years, B.C. 175.
His son Demetrius had been sent to Rome, there to receive his
education, and he became a prince of great abilities. _Strabo_,
bk. 16.――_Justin_, bk. 32.――_Appian._
=Seleucus V.=, succeeded his father Demetrius Nicator on the throne of
Syria, in the 20th year of his age. He was put to death in the first
year of his reign by Cleopatra his mother, who had also sacrificed
her husband to her ambition. He is not reckoned by many historians in
the number of the Syrian monarchs.
=Seleucus VI.=, one of the Seleucidæ, son of Antiochus Gryphus, killed
his uncle Antiochus Cyzicenus, who wished to obtain the crown of
Syria. He was some time after banished from his kingdom by Antiochus
Pius son of Cyzicenus, and fled to Cilicia, where he was burnt in a
palace by the inhabitants, B.C. 93. _Appian._――_Josephus._
=Seleucus=, a prince of Syria, to whom the Egyptians offered the crown
of which they had robbed Auletes. Seleucus accepted it, but he soon
disgusted his subjects, and received the surname of _Cybiosactes_,
or _Scullion_, for his meanness and avarice. He was at last murdered
by Berenice, whom he had married.――――A servant of Cleopatra the
last queen of Egypt, who accused his mistress, before Octavianus, of
having secreted part of her jewels and treasures.――――A mathematician
intimate with Vespasian the Roman emperor.――――A part of the Alps.
――――A Roman consul.――――A celebrated singer. _Juvenal_, satire 10,
li. 211.――――A king of the Bosphorus, who died B.C. 429.
=Selge=, a town of Pamphylia, made a colony by the Lacedæmonians.
_Livy_, bk. 36, ch. 13.――_Strabo._