ARIMASPI, an ancient people in the extreme N.E. of Scythia (q.v.),
probably the eastern Altai. All accounts of them go back to a poem by
Aristeas of Proconnesus, from whom Herodotus (iii. 116, iv. 27) drew his
information. They were supposed to be one-eyed (hence their Scythian
name), and to steal gold from the griffins that guarded it. In art they
are usually represented as richly dressed Asiatics, picturesquely
grouped with their griffin foes; the subject is often described by poets
from Aeschylus to Milton. They are so nearly mythical that it is
impossible to insist on the usual identification with the ancestors of
the Huns. Their gold was probably real, as gold still comes from the
Altai.
ARIMINUM (mod. _Rimini_), a city of Aemilia, on the N.E. coast of Italy,
69 m. S.E. of Bononia. It was founded by the Umbrians, but in 268 B.C.
became a Roman colony with Latin rights. It was reached from Rome by the
Via Flaminia, constructed in 220 B.C., and from that time onwards was
the bulwark of the Roman power in Cisalpine Gaul, to which province it
even gave its name. Its harbour was of some importance, but is now
silted up, the sea having receded. The remains of its moles were
destroyed in 1807-1809. Ariminum became a place of considerable traffic
owing to the construction of the Via Aemilia (187 B.C.) and the Via
Popilia (132 B.C.), and is frequently mentioned by ancient authors. In
90 B.C. it acquired Roman citizenship, but in 82 B.C. having been held
by the partisans of Marius, it was plundered by those of Sulla (who
probably made the Rubicon the frontier of Italy instead of the Aesis),
and a military colony settled there. Caesar occupied it in 49 B.C. after
his crossing of the Rubicon. It was one of the eighteen richest cities
of Italy which the triumviri selected as a reward for their troops. In
27 B.C. Augustus planted new colonists there, and divided the city into
seven _vici_ after the model of Rome, from which the names of the _vici_
were borrowed. He also restored the Via Flaminia (_Mon. Ancyr._ c. 20)
from Rome to Ariminum. At the entrance to the latter the senate erected,
in his honour, a triumphal arch which is still extant--a fine simple
monument with a single opening. At the other end of the _decumanus
maximus_ or main street (3000 Roman ft. in length) is a fine bridge over
the Ariminus (mod. Marecchia) begun by Augustus and completed by
Tiberius in A.D. 20. It has five wide arches, the central one having a
span of 35 ft., and is well preserved. Both it and the arch are built of
Istrian stone. The present Piazza Giulio Cesare marks the site of the
ancient forum. The remains of the amphitheatre are scanty; many of its
stones have gone to build the city wall, which must, therefore, at the
earliest belong to the end of the classical period. In A.D. 1 Augustus's
grandson Gaius Caesar had all the streets of Ariminum paved. In A.D. 69
the town was attacked by the partisans of Vespasian, and was frequently
besieged in the Gothic wars. It was one of the five seaports which
remained Byzantine until the time of Pippin. (See RIMINI.)
See A. Tonini, _Storia della Citta di Rimini_ (Rimini, 1848-1862).
(T. As.)
ARIOBARZANES, the name of three ancient kings or satraps of Pontus, and
of three kings of Cappadocia and a Persian satrap.
Of the Pontic rulers two are most famous, (1) The son of Mithradates I.,
who revolted against Artaxerxes in 362 B.C. and may be regarded as the
founder of the kingdom of Pontus (q.v.). According to Demosthenes he and
his three sons received from the Athenians the honour of citizenship.
(2) The son of Mithradates III., who reigned c. 266-240 B.C., and was
one of those who enlisted the help of the invading Gauls (see GALATIA).
Of the Cappadocian rulers the best-known one ("Philo-Romaeus" on the
coins) reigned nominally from 93 to 63 B.C., but was three times
expelled by Mithradates the Great and as often reinstated by Roman
generals. Soon after the third occasion he formally abdicated in favour
of his son Ariobarzanes "Philopator," of whom we gather only that he was
murdered some time before 51. His son Ariobarzanes, called "Eusebes" and
"Philo-Romaeus," earned the gratitude of Cicero during his proconsulate
in Cilicia, and fought for Pompey in the civil wars, but was afterwards
received with honour by Julius Caesar, who subsequently reinstated him
when expelled by Pharnaces of Pontus. In 42 B.C. Brutus and Cassius
declared him a traitor, invaded his territory and put him to death.
The Persian satrap of this name unsuccessfully opposed Alexander the
Great on his way to Persepolis (331 B.C.).
ARION, of Methymna, in Lesbos, a semi-legendary poet and musician,
friend of Periander, tyrant of Corinth. He flourished about 625 B.C.
Several of the ancients ascribe to him the invention of the dithyramb
and of dithyrambic poetry; it is probable, however, that his real
service was confined to the organization of that verse, and the
conversion of it from a mere drunken song, used in the Dionysiac revels,
to a measured antistrophic hymn, sung by a trained body of performers.
The name Cycleus given to his father indicates the connexion of the son
with the "cyclic" or circular chorus which was the origin of tragedy.
According to Suidas he composed a number of songs and proems; none of
these is extant; the fragment of a hymn to Poseidon attributed to him
(Aelian, _Hist. An._ xii. 45) is spurious and was probably written in
Attica in the time of Euripides. Nothing is known of the life of Arion,
with the exception of the beautiful story first told by Herodotus (i.
23) and elaborated and embellished by subsequent writers. According to
Herodotus, Arion being desirous of exhibiting his skill in foreign
countries left Corinth, and travelled through Sicily and parts of Italy,
where he gained great fame and amassed a large sum of money. At Taras
(Tarentum) he embarked for his homeward voyage in a Corinthian vessel.
The sight of his treasure roused the cupidity of the sailors, who
resolved to possess themselves of it by putting him to death. In answer
to his entreaties that they would spare his life, they insisted that he
should either die by his own hand on shipboard or cast himself into the
sea. Arion chose the latter, and as a last favour begged permission to
sing a parting song. The sailors, desirous of hearing so famous a
musician, consented, and the poet, standing on the deck of the ship, in
full minstrel's attire, sang a dirge accompanied by his lyre. He then
threw himself overboard; but instead of perishing, he was miraculously
borne up in safety by a dolphin, supposed to have been charmed by the
music. Thus he was conveyed to Taenarum, whence he proceeded to Corinth,
arriving before the ship from Tarentum. Immediately on his arrival Arion
related his story to Periander, who was at first incredulous, but
eventually learned the truth by a stratagem. Summoning the sailors, he
demanded what had become of the poet. They affirmed that he had remained
behind at Tarentum; upon which they were suddenly confronted by Arion
himself, arrayed in the same garments in which he had leapt overboard.
The sailors confessed their guilt and were punished. Arion's lyre and
the dolphin were translated to the stars. Herodotus and Pausanias (iii.
25. 7) both refer to a brass figure at Taenarum which was supposed to
represent Arion seated on the dolphin's back. But this story is only one
of several in which the dolphin appears as saving the lives of favoured
heroes. For instance, it is curious that Taras, the mythical founder of
Tarentum, is said to have been conveyed in this manner from Taenarum to
Tarentum. On Tarentine coins a man and dolphin appear, and hence it may
be thought that the monument at Taenarum represented Taras and not
Arion. At the same time the connexion of Apollo with the dolphin must
not be forgotten. Under this form the god appeared when he founded the
celebrated oracle at Delphi, the name of which commemorates the
circumstance. He was also the god of music, the special preserver of
poets, and to him the lyre was sacred.
Among the numerous modern versions of the story, particular mention
may be made of the pretty ballad by A.W. Schlegel; see also Lehrs,
_Populare Aufsatze aus dem Alterthum_ (1844-1846); Clement, _Arion_
(1898).
ARIOSTO, LODOVICO (1474-1533) Italian poet, was born at Reggio, in
Lombardy, on the 8th of September 1474. His father was Niccolo Ariosto,
commander of the citadel of Reggio. He showed a strong inclination to
poetry from his earliest years, but was obliged by his father to study
the law--a pursuit in which he lost five of the best years of his life.
Allowed at last to follow his inclination, he applied himself to the
study of the classics under Gregorio da Spoleto. But after a short time,
during which he read the best Latin authors, he was deprived of his
teacher by Gregorio's removal to France as tutor of Francesco Sforza.
Ariosto thus lost the opportunity of learning Greek, as he intended. His
father dying soon after, he was compelled to forego his literary
occupations to undertake the management of the family, whose affairs
were embarrassed, and to provide for his nine brothers and sisters, one
of whom was a cripple. He wrote, however, about this time some comedies
in prose and a few lyrical pieces. Some of these attracted the notice of
the cardinal Ippolito d'Este, who took the young poet under his
patronage and appointed him one of the gentlemen of his household. This
prince usurped the character of a patron of literature, whilst the only
reward which the poet received for having dedicated to him the _Orlando
Furioso_, was the question, "Where did you find so many stories, Master
Ludovic?" The poet himself tells us that the cardinal was ungrateful;
deplores the time which he spent under his yoke; and adds, that if he
received some niggardly pension, it was not to reward him for his
poetry, which the prelate despised, but to make some just compensation
for the poet's running like a messenger, with the risk of his life, at
his eminence's pleasure. Nor was even this miserable pittance regularly
paid during the period that the poet enjoyed it. The cardinal went to
Hungary in 1518, and wished Ariosto to accompany him. The poet excused
himself, pleading ill health, his love of study, the care of his private
affairs and the age of his mother, whom it would have been disgraceful
to leave. His excuses were not received, and even an interview was
denied him. Ariosto then boldly said, that if his eminence thought to
have bought a slave by assigning him the scanty pension of 75 crowns a
year, he was mistaken and might withdraw his boon--which it seems the
cardinal did.
The cardinal's brother, Alphonso, duke of Ferrara, now took the poet
under his patronage. This was but an act of simple justice, Ariosto
having already distinguished himself as a diplomatist, chiefly on the
occasion of two visits to Rome as ambassador to Pope Julius II. The
fatigue of one of these hurried journeys brought on a complaint from
which he never recovered; and on his second mission he was nearly killed
by order of the violent pope, who happened at the time to be much
incensed against the duke of Ferrara. On account of the war, his salary
of only 84 crowns a year was suspended, and it was withdrawn altogether
after the peace; in consequence of which Ariosto asked the duke either
to provide for him, or to allow him to seek employment elsewhere. A
province, situated on the wildest heights of the Apennines, being then
without a governor, Ariosto received the appointment, which he held for
three years. The office was no sinecure. The province was distracted by
factions and banditti, the governor had not the requisite means to
enforce his authority and the duke did little to support his minister.
Yet it is said that Ariosto's government satisfied both the sovereign
and the people confided to his care; and a story is added of his having,
when walking out alone, fallen in with a party of banditti, whose chief,
on discovering that his captive was the author of _Orlando Furioso_,
humbly apologized for not having immediately shown him the respect which
was due to his rank. Although he had little reason to be satisfied with
his office, he refused an embassy to Pope Clement VII. offered to him by
the secretary of the duke, and spent the remainder of his life at
Ferrara, writing comedies, superintending their performance as well as
the construction of a theatre, and correcting his _Orlando Furioso_, of
which the complete edition was published only a year before his death.
He died of consumption on the 6th of June 1533.
That Ariosto was honoured and respected by the first men of his age is a
fact; that most of the princes of Italy showed him great partiality is
equally true; but it is not less so that their patronage was limited to
kind words. It is not known that he ever received any substantial mark
of their love for literature; he lived and died poor. He proudly wrote
on the entrance of a house built by himself,
"Parva, sed apta mihi, sed nulli obnoxia, sed non
Sordida, parta meo sed tamen aere domus;"
which serves to show the incorrectness of the assertion of flatterers,
followed by Tiraboschi, that the duke of Ferrara built that house for
him. The only one who seems to have given anything to Ariosto as a
reward for his poetical talent was the marquess del Vasto, who assigned
him an annuity of 100 crowns on the revenues of Casteleone in Lombardy;
but it was only paid, if ever, from the end of 1531. That he was crowned
as poet by Charles V. seems untrue, although a diploma may have been
issued to that effect by the emperor.
The character of Ariosto seems to have been fully and justly delineated
by Gabriele, his brother:--
"Ornabat pietas et grata modestia Vatem,
Sancta fides, dictique memor, munitaque recto
Justitia, et nullo patientia victa labore,
Et constans virtus animi, et clementia mitis,
Ambitione procul pulsa, fastusque tumore."
His satires, in which we see him before us such as he was, show that
there was no flattery in this portrait. In these compositions we are
struck with the noble independence of the poet. He loved liberty with a
most jealous fondness. His disposition was changeable withal, as he
himself very frankly confesses in his Latin verses, as well as in the
satires.
"Hoc olim ingenio vitales hausimus auras,
Multa cito ut placeant, displicitura brevi.
Non in amore modo mens haec, sed in omnibus impar
Ipsa sibi longa non retinenda mora."
Hence he never would bind himself, either by going into orders, or by
marrying, till towards the end of his life, when he espoused Alessandra,
widow of Tito Strozzi. He had no issue by his wife, but he left two
natural sons by different mothers.
His Latin poems do not perhaps deserve to be noticed: in the age of
Flaminio, Vida, Fracastoro and Sannazaro, better things were due from a
poet like Ariosto. His lyrical compositions show the poet, although they
do not seem worthy of his powers. His comedies, of which he wrote four,
besides one which he left unfinished, are avowedly imitated from Plautus
and Terence; and although native critics may admire in them the elegance
of the diction, the liveliness of the dialogue and the novelty of some
scenes, few will feel interest either in the subject or in the
characters, and it is hard to approve the immoral passages by which they
are disfigured, however grateful these might be to the audiences and
patrons of theatrical representations in Ariosto's own day.
Of all the works of Ariosto, the most solid monument of his fame is the
_Orlando Furioso_, the extraordinary merits of which have cast into
oblivion the numberless romance poems which inundated Italy during the
15th, 16th and 17th centuries.
The popularity which an earlier poem on the same theme, _Orlando
Innamorato_, by Boiardo, enjoyed in Ariosto's time, cannot be well
conceived, now that the enthusiasm of the crusades, and the interest
which was attached to a war against the Moslems, have passed away.
Boiardo wrote and read his poem at the court of Ferrara, but died before
he was able to finish it. Many poets undertook the difficult task of its
completion; but it was reserved for Ariosto both to finish and to
surpass, his original. Boiardo did not, perhaps, yield to Ariosto either
in vigour or in richness of imagination, but he lived in a less refined
age, and died before he was able to recast or even finish the poetical
romance which he had written under the impulse of his exuberant fancy.
Ariosto, on the other hand, united to a powerful imagination an elegant
and cultivated taste. He began to write his great poem about 1503, and
after having consulted the first men of the age of Leo X., he published
it in 1516, in only 40 cantos (extended afterwards to 46); and up to the
moment of his death never ceased to correct and improve both the subject
and the style. It is in this latter quality that he excels, and for
which he had assigned him the name of _Divino Lodovico_. Even when he
jests, he never compromises his dignity; and in pathetic description or
narrative he excites the reader's deepest feelings. In his machinery he
displays a vivacity of fancy with which no other poet can vie; but he
never lets his fancy carry him so far as to omit to employ, with an art
peculiar to himself, those simple and natural pencil-strokes which, by
imparting to the most extraordinary feats a colour of reality, satisfy
the reason without disenchanting the imagination. The death of Zerbino,
the complaints of Isabella, the effects of discord among the Saracens,
the flight of Astolfo to the moon, the passion which causes Orlando's
madness, teem with beauties of every variety. The supposition that the
poem is not connected throughout is wholly unfounded; there is a
connexion which, with a little attention, will become evident. The love
of Ruggero and Bradamante forms the main subject of the _Furioso_; every
part of it, except some episodes, depend upon this subject; and the poem
ends with their marriage.
The first complete edition of the _Orlando Furioso_ was published at
Ferrara in 1532, as noted above. The edition of Morali (Milan, 1818)
follows the text of the 1532 edition with great correctness. Of
editions published in England, those of Baskerville (Birmingham, 1773)
and Panizzi (London, 1834) are the most important. The indifferent
translations into English of Sir John Harrington (1591) and John Hoole
(1783) have been superseded by the spirited rendering of W. Stewart
Rose (1823). See also E. Gardner, _Ariosto: the Prince of Court Poets_
(1906).
ARISTAENETUS, Greek epistolographer, flourished in the 5th or 6th
century A.D. He was formerly identified with Aristaenetus of Nicaea (the
friend of Symmachus), who perished in an earthquake at Nicomedia, A.D.
358, but internal evidence points to a much later date. Under his name
two books of love stories, in the form of letters, are extant; the
subjects are borrowed from the erotic elegies of such Alexandrian
writers as Callimachus, and the language is a patchwork of phrases from
Plato, Lucian, Alciphron and others. The stories are feeble and insipid,
and full of strange and improbable incidents.
Text: Boissonade (1822); Hercher, _Epistolographi Graeci_ (1873).
English translations: Boyer (1701); Thomas Brown (1715); R.B.
Sheridan and Halked (1771 and later).
ARISTAEUS, a divinity whose worship was widely spread throughout ancient
Greece, but concerning whom the myths are somewhat obscure. The account
most generally received connects him specially with Thessaly. Apollo
carried off from Mount Pelion the nymph Cyrene, daughter or
granddaughter of the river-god Peneus, and conveyed her to Libya, where
she gave birth to Aristaeus. From this circumstance the town of Cyrene
took its name. The child was at first handed over to the care of the
Hours, or the nymph Melissa and the centaur Cheiron. He afterwards left
Libya and went to Thebes, where he received instruction from the Muses
in the arts of healing and prophecy, and married Autonoe, daughter of
Cadmus, by whom he had several children, among others, the unfortunate
Actaeon. He is said to have visited Ceos, where, by erecting a temple to
Zeus Icmaeus (the giver of moisture), he freed the inhabitants from a
terrible drought. The islanders worshipped him, and occasionally
identified him with Zeus, calling him Zeus Aristaeus. After travelling
through many of the Aegean islands, through Sicily, Sardinia and Magna
Graecia, everywhere conferring benefits and receiving divine honours,
Aristaeus reached Thrace, where he was initiated into the mysteries of
Dionysus, and finally disappeared near Mount Haemus. While in Thrace he
is said to have caused the death of Eurydice, who was bitten by a snake
while fleeing from him. Aristaeus was essentially a benevolent deity; he
was worshipped as the first who introduced the cultivation of bees
(Virgil, _Georg._ iv. 315-558), and of the vine and olive; he was the
protector of herdsmen and hunters; he warded off the evil effects of the
dog-star; he possessed the arts of healing and prophecy. He was often
identified with Zeus, Apollo and Dionysus. In ancient sculptures and
coins he is represented as a young man, habited like a shepherd, and
sometimes carrying a sheep on his shoulders. Coins of Ceos exhibit the
head of Aristaeus and Sirius in the form of a dog crowned with rays.
Pindar, _Pythia_, ix. 5-65; Apollonius Rhodius, schol. on ii. 498,
500; Diodorus, iv. 81.
ARISTAGORAS (d. 497 B.C.), brother-in-law and cousin of Histiaeus,
tyrant of Miletus. While Histiaeus was practically a prisoner at the
court of Darius, he acted as regent in Miletus. In 500 B.C. he
persuaded the Persians to join him in an attack upon Naxos, but he
quarrelled with Megabates, the Persian commander, who warned the
inhabitants of the island, and the expedition failed. Finding himself
the object of Persian suspicion, Aristagoras, instigated by a message
from Histiaeus, raised the standard of revolt in Miletus, though it
seems likely that this step had been under consideration for some time
(see IONIA). After the complete failure of the Ionian revolt he
emigrated to Myrcinus in Thrace. Here he fell in battle (497), while
attacking Ennea Hodoi (afterwards Amphipolis) on the Strymon, which
belonged to the Edonians, a Thracian tribe. The aid given to him by
Athens and Eretria, and the burning of Sardis, were the immediate cause
of the invasion of Greece by Darius.
See Herodotus v. 30-51, 97-126; Thucydides iv. 102; Diodorus xii. 68;
for a more favourable view see G.B. Grundy, _Great Persian War_
(London, 1901).
ARISTANDER, of Telmessus in Lycia, was the favourite soothsayer of
Alexander the Great, who consulted him on all occasions. After the death
of the monarch, when his body had lain unburied for thirty days,
Aristander procured its burial by foretelling that the country in which
it was interred would be the most prosperous in the world. He is
frequently mentioned by the historians who wrote about Alexander, and
was probably the author of a work on prodigies, which is referred to by
Pliny (_Nat. Hist_. xvii. 38) and Lucian.
_Philopatris_, 21; Arrian, _Anabasis_, ii. 26, iii. 2, iv. 4;
Plutarch, _Alexander_; Curtius iv. 2, 6, 15, vii. 7.
ARISTARCHUS, of Samos, Greek astronomer, flourished about 250 B.C. He is
famous as having been the first to maintain that the earth moves round
the sun. On this account he was accused of impiety by the Stoic
Cleanthes, just as Galileo, in later years, was attacked by the
theologians. His only extant work is a short treatise (with a commentary
by Pappus) _On the Magnitudes and Distances of the Sun and Moon_. His
method of estimating the relative lunar and solar distances is
geometrically correct, though the instrumental means at his command
rendered his data erroneous. Although the heliocentric system is not
mentioned in the treatise, a quotation in the _Arenarius_ of Archimedes
from a work of Aristarchus proves that he anticipated the great
discovery of Copernicus. Further, Copernicus could not have known of
Aristarchus's doctrine, since Archimedes's work was not published till
after Copernicus's death. Aristarchus is also said to have invented two
sun-dials, one hemispherical, the so-called _scaphion_, the other plane.
Editio princeps by Wallis (1688); Fortia d'Urban (1810); Nizze (1856).
See Bergk-Hinrichs, _Aristarchus van Samos_ (1883); Tannery,
_Aristarque de Samos_; also ASTRONOMY.
ARISTARCHUS, of Samothrace (c. 220-143 B.C.), Greek grammarian and
critic, flourished about 155. He settled early in Alexandria, where he
studied under Aristophanes of Byzantium, whom he succeeded as librarian
of the museum. On the accession of the tyrant Ptolemy Physcon (his
former pupil), he found his life in danger and withdrew to Cyprus, where
he died from dropsy, hastened, it is said, by voluntary starvation, at
the age of 72. Aristarchus founded a school of philologists, called
after him "Aristarcheans," which long flourished in Alexandria and
afterwards at Rome. He is said to have written 800 commentaries alone,
without reckoning special treatises. He edited Hesiod, Pindar,
Aeschylus, Sophocles and other authors; but his chief fame rests on his
critical and exegetical edition of Homer, practically the foundation of
our present recension. In the time of Augustus, two Aristarcheans,
Didymus and Aristonicus, undertook the revision of his work, and the
extracts from these two writers in the Venetian scholia to the _Iliad_
give an idea of Aristarchus's Homeric labours. To obtain a thoroughly
correct text, he marked with an obelus the lines he considered spurious;
other signs were used by him to indicate notes, varieties of reading,
repetitions and interpolations. He arranged the _Iliad_ and the
_Odyssey_ in twenty-four books as we now have them. As a commentator his
principle was that the author should explain himself, without recourse
to allegorical interpretation; in grammar, he laid chief stress on
analogy and uniformity of usage and construction. His views were opposed
by Crates of Mallus, who wrote a treatise [Greek: Heri Anomalias],
especially directed against them.
See Lehrs, _De Aristarchi Stud. Homericis_ (3rd ed., 1882); Ludwich,
_Aristarchs homerische Textcritik_ (1884); especially Sandys, _Hist.
of Class. Schol._ (ed. 1906), vol. i. with authorities; also HOMER.
ARISTEAS, a somewhat mythical personage in ancient Greece, said to have
lived in the time of Cyrus and Croesus, or, according to some, ca. 690
B.C. We are chiefly indebted to Herodotus (iv. 13-15) for our knowledge
of him and his poem _Arimaspeia_. He belonged to a noble family of
Proconnesus, an island colony from Miletus in the Propontis, and was
supposed to be inspired by Apollo. He travelled through the countries
north and east of the Euxine, and visited the Hyperboreans, Issedonians
and Arimaspians, who fought against the gold-guarding griffins. An
important historical fact which seems to be indicated in his poem is the
rush of barbarian hordes towards Europe under pressure from their
neighbours. Twelve lines of the poem are preserved in Tzetzes and
Longinus. Wonderful stories are told of Aristeas. At Proconnesus, he
fell dead in a shop; simultaneously a traveller declared he had spoken
with him near Cyzicus; his body vanished; six years afterwards, he
returned. Again disappearing, 240 years later he was at Metapontum, and
commanded the inhabitants to raise a statue to himself and an altar to
Apollo, whom he had accompanied in the form of a raven, at the founding
of the city. According to Suidas, Aristeas also wrote a prose theogony.
The genuineness of his works is disputed by Dionysius of Halicarnassus.
See Tournier, _De Aristea Proconneso_ (1863); Macan, _Hdt._ iv. 14
note.
ARISTEAS, the pseudonymous author of a famous _Letter_ in which is
described, in legendary form, the origin of the Greek translation of the
Old Testament known as the Septuagint (q.v.). Aristeas represents
himself as a Gentile Greek, but was really an Alexandrian Jew who lived
under one of the later Ptolemies. Though the _Letter_ is unauthentic, it
is now recognized as a useful source of information concerning both
Egyptian and Palestinian affairs in the 2nd and possibly in the 3rd
century B.C.
An English translation, based on a critical Greek text, was published
by H. St J. Thackeray in the _Jewish Quarterly Review_, vol. xv. There
are two modern editions of the Greek, one by the last named (in
Swete's _Introduction to the Old Testament in Greek_, Cambridge,
1900), the other by P. Wendland (Leipzig, 1900).
ARISTIDES [[Greek: Aristeides]] (c. 530-468 B.C.), Athenian statesman,
called "the Just," was the son of Lysimachus, and a member of a family
of moderate fortune. Of his early life we are told merely that he became
a follower of the statesman Cleisthenes and sided with the aristocratic
party in Athenian politics. He first comes into notice as strategus in
command of his native tribe Antiochis at Marathon, and it was no doubt
in consequence of the distinction which he then achieved that he was
elected chief archon for the ensuing year (489-488). In pursuance of his
conservative policy which aimed at maintaining Athens as a land power,
he was one of the chief opponents of the naval policy of Themistocles
(q.v.). The conflict between the two leaders ended in the ostracism of
Aristides, at a date variously given between 485 and 482. It is said
that, on this occasion, a voter, who did not know him, came up to him,
and giving him his sherd, desired him to write upon it the name of
Aristides. The latter asked if Aristides had wronged him. "No," was the
reply, "and I do not even know him, but it irritates me to hear him
everywhere called _the just_."
Early in 480 Aristides profited by the decree recalling the
post-Marathonian exiles to help in the defence of Athens against the
Persian invaders, and was elected strategus for the year 480-479. In the
campaign of Salamis he rendered loyal support to Themistocles, and
crowned the victory by landing Athenian infantry on the island of
Psyttaleia and annihilating the Persian garrison stationed there (see
SALAMIS). In 479 he was re-elected strategus, and invested with special
powers as commander of the Athenian contingent at Plataea; he is also
said to have judiciously suppressed a conspiracy among some oligarchic
malcontents in the army, and to have played a prominent part in
arranging for the celebration of the victory. In 478 or 477 Aristides
was in command of the Athenian squadron off Byzantium, and so far won
the confidence of the Ionian allies that, after revolting from the
Spartan admiral Pausanias, they offered him the chief command and left
him with absolute discretion in fixing the contributions of the newly
formed confederacy (see DELIAN LEAGUE). His assessment was universally
accepted as equitable, and continued as the basis of taxation for the
greater part of the league's duration; it was probably from this that he
won the title of "the Just." Aristides soon left the command of the
fleet to his friend Cimon (q.v.), but continued to hold a predominant
position in Athens. At first he seems to have remained on good terms
with Themistocles, whom he is said to have helped in outwitting the
Spartans over the rebuilding of the walls of Athens. But in spite of
statements in which ancient authors have represented Aristides as a
democratic reformer, it is certain that the period following the Persian
wars during which he shaped Athenian policy was one of conservative
reaction. (For the theory based on Plutarch, _Aristid._ 22, that
Aristides after Plataea threw open the archonship to all the citizens,
see ARCHON.)
He is said by some authorities to have died at Athens, by others on a
journey to the Euxine sea. The date of his death is given by Nepos as
468; at any rate he lived to witness the ostracism of Themistocles,
towards whom he always displayed a generous conduct, but had died before
the rise of Pericles. His estate seems to have suffered severely from
the Persian invasions, for apparently he did not leave enough money to
defray the expenses of his burial, and it is known that his descendants
even in the 4th century received state pensions. (See ATHENS;
THEMISTOCLES.)
AUTHORITIES.--Herodotus viii. 79-81, 95; ix. 28; "Constitution of
Athens" (_Ath. Pol._), 22-24, 41; Plutarch, _Aristides_; Cornelius
Nepos, _Vita Aristidis_. See also E. Meyer, _Geschichte des Altertums_
(Stuttgart, 1901), iii. pp. 481, 492. In the absence of positive
information the 4th-century writers (on whom Plutarch and Nepos mainly
rely) seized upon his surname of "Just," and wove round it a number of
anecdotes more picturesque than historical. Herodotus is practically
our only trustworthy authority. (M. O. B. C.)
ARISTIDES, of Miletus, generally regarded as the father of Greek prose
romance, flourished 150-100 B.C. He wrote six books of erotic _Milesian
Tales_ ([Greek: Milesiaka]), which enjoyed great popularity, and were
subsequently translated into Latin by Cornelius Sisenna (119-67 B.C.).
They are lost, with the exception of a few fragments, but the story of
the Ephesian matron in Petronius gives an idea of their nature. They
have been compared with the old French _fabliaux_ and the tales of
Boccaccio.
Plutarch, _Crassus_, 32; Ovid, _Tristia_, ii. 413, 443; Muller,
_Fragmenta Historicorum Graecorum_, iv.
ARISTIDES, of Thebes, a Greek painter of the 4th century B.C. He is said
to have excelled in expression. For example, a picture of his
representing a dying mother's fear lest her infant should suck death
from her breast was much celebrated. He also painted one of Alexander's
battles. One of his pictures is said to have been bought by King Attalus
for 100 talents (more than L20,000).
ARISTIDES, AELIUS, surnamed THEODORUS, Greek rhetorician and sophist,
son of Eudaemon, a priest of Zeus, was born at Hadriani in Mysia, A.D.
117 (or 129). He studied under Herodes Atticus of Athens, Polemon of
Smyrna, and Alexander of Cotyaeum, in whose honour he composed a funeral
oration still extant. In the practice of his calling he travelled
through Greece, Italy, Egypt and Asia, and in many places the
inhabitants erected statues to him in recognition of his talents. In 156
he was attacked by an illness which lasted thirteen years, the nature of
which has caused considerable speculation. However, it in no way
interfered with his studies; in fact, they were prescribed as part of
his cure. Aristides' favourite place of residence was Smyrna. In 178,
when it was destroyed by an earthquake, he wrote an account of the
disaster to Aurelius, which deeply affected the emperor and induced him
to rebuild the city. The grateful inhabitants set up a statue in honour
of Aristides, and styled him the "builder" of Smyrna. He refused all
honours from them except that of priest of Asclepius, which office he
held till his death, about 189. The extant works of Aristides consist of
two small rhetorical treatises and fifty-five declamations, some not
really speeches at all. The treatises are on _political_ and _simple
speech_, in which he takes Demosthenes and Xenophon as models for
illustration; some critics attribute these to a later compiler (Spengel,
_Rhetores Graeci_). The six _Sacred Discourses_ have attracted some
attention. They give a full account of his protracted illness, including
a mass of superstitious details of visions, dreams and wonderful cures,
which the god Asclepius ordered him to record. These cures, from his
account, offer similarities to the effects produced by hypnotism. The
speeches proper are epideictic or show speeches--on certain gods,
panegyrics of the emperor and individual cities (Smyrna, Rome);
justificatory--the attack on Plato's _Gorgias_ in defence of rhetoric
and the four statesmen, Thucydides, Miltiades, Pericles, Cimon;
symbouleutic or political, the subjects being taken from the past
history of free Greece--the Sicilian expedition, peace negotiations with
Sparta, the political situation after the battle of Leuctra. The
_Panathenaicus_ and _Encomium of Rome_ were actually delivered, the
former imitated from Isocrates. The _Leptinea_--the genuineness of which
is disputed--contrast unfavourably with the speech of Demosthenes.
Aristides' works were highly esteemed by his contemporaries; they were
much used for school instruction, and distinguished rhetoricians wrote
commentaries upon them. His style, formed on the best models, is
generally clear and correct, though sometimes obscured by rhetorical
ornamentation; his subjects being mainly fictitious, the cause possessed
no living interest, and his attention was concentrated on form and
diction.
Editio princeps (52 declamations only) (1517); Dindorf (1829); Keil
(1899); Sandys, _Hist. of Class. Schol._ i. 312 (ed. 1906).
ARISTIDES, QUINTILIANUS, the author of an ancient treatise on music, who
lived probably in the third century A.D. According to Meibomius, in
whose collection (_Antiq. Musicae Auc. Septem_, 1652) this work is
printed, it contains everything on music that is to be found in
antiquity. (See Pauly-Wissowa, _Realencyc._ ii. 894.)
ARISTIDES, APOLOGY OF. Until 1878 our knowledge of the early Christian
writer Aristides was confined to the statement of Eusebius that he was
an Athenian philosopher, who presented an apology "concerning the faith"
to the emperor Hadrian. In that year, however, the Mechitharists of S.
Lazzaro at Venice published a fragment in Armenian[1] from the beginning
of the apology; and in 1889 Dr Rendel Harris found the whole of it in a
Syriac version on Mount Sinai. While his edition was passing through the
press, it was observed by the present writer that all the while the work
had been in our hands in Greek, though in a slightly abbreviated form,
as it had been imbedded as a speech in a religious novel written about
the 6th century, and entitled "The Life of Barlaam and Josaphat." The
discovery of the Syriac version reopened the question of the date of the
work. For although its title there corresponds to that given by the
Armenian fragment and by Eusebius, it begins with a formal inscription
to "the emperor Titus Hadrianus Antoninus Augustus Pius"; and Dr R.
Harris is followed by Harnack and others in supposing that it was only
through a careless reading of this inscription that the work was
supposed to have been addressed to Hadrian. If this be the case, it must
be placed somewhere in the long reign of Antoninus Pius (138-161). There
are, however, no internal grounds for rejecting the thrice-attested
dedication to Hadrian his predecessor, and the picture of primitive
Christian life which is here found points to the earlier rather than to
the later date. It is possible that the Apology was read to Hadrian in
person when he visited Athens, and that the Syriac inscription was
prefixed by a scribe on the analogy of Justin's Apology, a mistake being
made in the amplification of Hadrian's name.
The Apology opens thus: "I, O king, by the providence of God came into
the world; and having beheld the heaven, and the earth, and the sea, the
sun and moon, and all besides, I marvelled at their orderly
disposition; and seeing the world and all things in it, that it is moved
by compulsion, I understood that He that moveth and governeth it is God.
For whatsoever moveth is stronger than that which is moved, and
whatsoever governeth is stronger than that which is governed." Having
briefly spoken of the divine nature in the terms of Greek philosophy,
Aristides proceeds to ask which of all the races of men have at all
partaken of the truth about God. Here we have the first attempt at a
systematic comparison of ancient religions. For the purpose of his
inquiry he adopts an obvious threefold division into idolaters, Jews and
Christians. Idolaters, or, as he more gently terms them in addressing
the emperor, "those who worship what among you are said to be gods," he
subdivides into the three great world-civilizations--Chaldeans, Greeks
and Egyptians. He chooses this order so as to work up to a climax of
error and absurdity in heathen worship. The direct nature-worship of the
Chaldeans is shown to be false because its objects are works of the
Creator, fashioned for the use of men. They obey fixed laws and have no
power over themselves. "The Greeks have erred worse than the Chaldeans
... calling those gods who are no gods, according to their evil lusts,
in order that having these as advocates of their wickedness they may
commit adultery, and plunder and kill, and do the worst of deeds." The
gods of Olympus are challenged one by one, and shown to be either vile
or helpless, or both at once. A heaven of quarrelling divinities cannot
inspire a reasonable worship. These gods are not even respectable; how
can they be adorable? "The Egyptians have erred worse than all the
nations; for they were not content with the worships of the Chaldeans
and Greeks, but introduced, moreover, as gods even brute beasts of the
dry land and of the waters, and plants and herbs.... Though they see
their gods eaten by others and by men, and burned, and slain, and
rotting, they do not understand concerning them that they are no gods."
Throughout the whole of the argument there is strong common-sense and a
stern severity unrelieved by conscious humour. Aristides is engaged in a
real contest; he strikes hard blows, and gives no quarter. He cannot
see, as Justin and Clement see, a striving after truth, a feeling after
God, in the older religions, or even in the philosophies of Greece. He
has no patience with attempts to find a deeper meaning in the stories of
the gods. "Do they say that one nature underlies these diverse forms?
Then why does god hate god, or god kill god? Do they say that the
histories are mythical? Then the gods themselves are myths, and nothing
more."
The Jews are briefly treated. After a reference to their descent from
Abraham and their sojourn in Egypt, Aristides praises them for their
worship of the one God, the Almighty Creator; but blames them as
worshipping angels, and observing "sabbaths and new moons, and the
unleavened bread, and the great fast, and circumcision, and cleanness of
meats." He then proceeds to the description of the Christians. He begins
with a statement which, when purged of glosses by a comparison of the
three forms in which it survives, reads thus: "Now the Christians reckon
their race from the Lord Jesus Christ; and He is confessed to be the Son
of God Most High. Having by the Holy Spirit come down from heaven, and
having been born of a Hebrew virgin, He took flesh and appeared unto
men, to call them back from their error of many gods; and having
completed His wonderful dispensation, He was pierced by the Jews, and
after three days He revived and went up to heaven. And the glory of His
coming thou canst learn, O king, from that which is called among them
the evangelic scripture, if thou wilt read it. He bad twelve disciples,
who after His ascent into heaven went forth into the provinces of the
world and taught His greatness; whence they who at this day believe
their preaching are called Christians." This passage contains striking
correspondences with the second section of the Apostles' Creed. The
attribution of the Crucifixion to the Jews appears in several
2nd-century documents; Justin actually uses the words "He was pierced by
you" in his dialogue with Trypho the Jew.
"These are they," he proceeds, "who beyond all the nations of the earth
have found the truth: for they know God as Creator and Maker of all
things, and they worship no other god beside Him; for they have His
commandments graven on their hearts, and these they keep in expectation
of the world to come.... Whatsoever they would not should be done unto
them, they do not to another.... He that hath supplieth him that hath
not without grudging: if they see a stranger they bring him under their
roof, and rejoice over him, as over a brother indeed, for they call not
one another brethren after the flesh, but after the spirit. They are
ready for Christ's sake to give up their own lives; for His commandments
they securely keep, living holily and righteously, according as the Lord
their God hath commanded them, giving thanks to Him at all hours, over
all their food and drink, and the rest of their good things." This
simple description is fuller in the Syriac, but the additional details
must be accepted with caution: for while it is likely that the monk who
appropriated the Greek may have cut it down to meet the exigencies of
his romance, it is the habit of certain Syriac translators to elaborate
their originals. After asserting that "this is the way of truth," and
again referring for further information to "the writings of the
Christians," he says: "And truly this is a new race, and there is
something divine mingled with it." At the close we have a passage which
is found only in the Syriac, but which is shown by internal evidence to
contain original elements: "The Greeks, because they practise foul
things ... turn the ridicule of their foulness upon the Christians."
This is an allusion to the charges of Thyestean banquets and other
immoralities, which the early apologists constantly rebut. "But the
Christians offer up prayers for them, that they may turn from their
error; and when one of them turns, he is ashamed before the Christians
of the deeds that were done by him, and he confesses to God saying: 'In
ignorance I did these things'; and he cleanses his heart, and his sins
are forgiven him, because he did them in ignorance in former time, when
he was blaspheming the true knowledge of the Christians."
These last words point to the use in the composition of this Apology of
a lost apocryphal work of very early date, _The Preaching of Peter_.
This book is known to us chiefly by quotations in Clement of Alexandria:
it was widely circulated, and at one time claimed a place within the
Canon. It was used by the Gnostic Heracleon and probably by the unknown
writer of the epistle to Diognetus. From the fragments which survive we
see that it contained: (1) a description of the nature of God, which
closely corresponds with Arist. i., followed by (2) a warning not to
worship according to the Greeks, with an exposure of various forms of
idolatry; (3) a warning not to worship according to the Jews--although
they alone think they know the true God--for they worship angels and are
superstitious about moons and sabbaths, and feasts, comp. Arist. xiv.;
(4) a description of the Christians as being "a third race," and
worshipping God in "a new way" through Christ; (5) a proof of
Christianity from Jewish prophecy; (6) a promise of forgiveness to Jews
and Gentiles who should turn to Christ, because they had sinned "in
ignorance" in the former time. Now all these points, except the proof
from Jewish prophecy, are taken up and worked out by Aristides with a
frequent use of the actual language of _The Preaching of Peter_. A
criterion is thus given us for the reconstruction of the Apology, where
the Greek which we have has been abbreviated, and we are enabled to
claim with certainty some passages of the Syriac which might otherwise
be suspected as interpolations.
The style of the Apology is exceedingly simple. It is curiously
misdescribed by Jerome, who never can have seen it, as "Apologeticum pro
Christianis contextum philosophorum sententiis." Its merits are its
recognition of the helplessness of the old heathenism to satisfy human
aspiration after the divine, and the impressive simplicity with which it
presents the unfailing argument of the lives of Christians.
The student may consult _The Apology of Aristides_, Syriac text and
translation (J.R. Harris), with an appendix containing the Greek
text, _Texts and Studies_, i. 1 (1891), and a critical discussion by
R. Seeberg in Zahn's _Forschungen_, v. 2 (1893); also, brief
discussions by A. Harnack, _Altchristl. Litteratur_, i. 96 ff.,
_Chronologie_, i. 271 ff., where references to other writers may be
found. The _Epistola ad omnes philosophos_ and the _Homily on the
Penitent Thief_, ascribed by Armenian tradition to Aristides, are
really of 5th-century origin. Trans. of _Apology_ by W.S. Walford
(1909). (J. A. R.)