At an early age he distinguished himself in the field of battle, at the
same time appearing fond of agriculture and a country life. He adopted
Epaminondas as his model, and was not unsuccessful in imitating the
prudence and other good qualities of the famous Theban. When Megalopolis
was attacked by the Spartans, Philopoemen, then in his thirtieth year,
gave the most decisive proofs of his valor. Raised to the rank of
commander, he showed his ability to discharge that important trust, by
killing with his own hand Mechanidas, the tyrant of Sparta, and
defeating his army. Sparta having become, after its conquest, tributary
to the Achæans, Philopoemen enjoyed the triumph of having subdued one of
the most powerful states of Greece. He was at length made prisoner by
the Messenians, and was treated by their general, Dinocrates, with great
severity. He was poisoned in his seventieth year, about 183 years before
the Christian era.
=Philos´tratus.= A famous Sophist, born at Lemnos, or, according to some,
at Athens. He came to Rome, where he was patronized by Julia, the wife
of the emperor Severus. She intrusted him with some papers referring to
Apollonius, whose life he wrote. This biography is written with
elegance, but contains many exaggerated descriptions and improbable
stories.
=Phi´neus.= A son of Agenor, king of Phoenicia, or, according to some, a
son of Neptune, who became king of Thrace. He married Cleopatra (called
by some Cleobula), the daughter of Boreas, their children being
Plexippus and Pandion. After the death of Cleopatra, he married Idæa,
the daughter of Dardanus, who, jealous of Cleopatra's children, accused
them of an attempt on their father's life, and they were condemned by
Phineus to have their eyes put out. This cruelty was punished by the
gods, Phineus being made blind, and the Harpies were sent by Jupiter to
keep him in continual alarm. He recovered his sight by means of the
Argonauts, whom he received with great hospitality.
=Phleg´ethon.= A river in the infernal regions, between the banks of which
flames of fire flowed instead of water.
=Phle´gon.= One of the emperor Adrian's freedmen. He wrote a historical
account of Sicily, an account of the principal places in Rome, and
treatises on different subjects. His style was inelegant, and he evinced
a want of judgment in his writings.
=Pho´cion.= An Athenian celebrated for his public and private virtues. He
was distinguished for his zeal for the general good, and for his
military abilities. The fickleness of the Athenians, however, caused
them to lose sight of his virtues, and being accused of treason, he was
condemned to drink poison, which he took with the greatest heroism. His
death occurred about 318 years before the Christian era.
=Phoe´nix=, son of Amyntor, king of Argos, and Cleobule or Hippodamia,
was preceptor to Achilles. He accompanied his pupil to the Trojan war,
and Achilles was ever grateful for the precepts he had received from
him. After the fall of Troy he died in Thrace, and, according to Strabo,
was buried near Trachinia, where his name was given to a river.
=Phry´ne.= A beautiful woman who lived at Athens about 328 years before
the Christian era. She was beloved by Praxiteles, who painted her
portrait. It is said that Apelles painted his Venus Anadyomene after he
had seen Phryne on the sea-shore with disheveled hair. There was another
woman of the same name, who was accused of impiety. When her judges were
about to condemn her she unveiled her bosom, and her beauty so
captivated them that they acquitted her.
=Phryx´us.= A son of Athamas, king of Thebes, and Nephele. On the plea of
insanity, Nephele was repudiated by Athamas, who then married Ino, who
persecuted Phryxus with inveterate hatred, because he was to succeed to
the throne in preference to one of her own children. Being apprised that
Ino had designs on his life, he started with his sister Helle to go to
Ætes, king of Colchis. According to the poets they mounted on a ram,
whose fleece was gold, which soared into the air, directing its course
to Colchis. Helle became giddy, and falling into the sea (afterwards
called the Hellespont), was drowned. Phryxus arrived at the court of
Ætes, whose daughter Chalciope he married. Sometime afterwards he was
killed by his father-in-law. The murder of Phryxus gave rise to the
famous Argonautic expedition under Jason, the object being to recover
the Golden Fleece, which Jason succeeded in obtaining.
=Phyl´lis.= A daughter of Sithon, or, according to other writers, of
Lycurgus, king of Thrace. She received Demophoon, who landed on her
coasts on his return from the Trojan war, and fell in love with him, and
he reciprocated her affection; but afterwards proving faithless, Phyllis
hanged herself, and according to an old tradition, was changed into an
almond tree.
=Pi´cus.= King of Latium, son of Saturn, who married Venilia. As he was
hunting he was met by Circe, who became enamored with him. She changed
him into a woodpecker.
=Pier´ides.= A name given to the Muses, because they were born in Pieria,
or, as some say, because they were supposed to be the daughters of
Pierus, a king of Macedonia, who settled in Boeotia.
=Pin´darus.= A celebrated lyric poet of Thebes. When he was young it is
said that a swarm of bees settled on his lips and left on them some
honey, which was regarded as a prognostic of his future greatness. After
his death great respect was shown to his memory, and a statue was
erected in his honor in one of the most public places in Thebes. Pindar
is said to have died at the age of eighty-six, B.C. 435. Of his works,
the odes only are extant; they are admired for sublimity of sentiment
and grandeur of expression.
=Piræ´us.= A celebrated harbor at Athens about three miles from the city.
It was joined to the town by two walls, one built by Pericles, and the
other by Themistocles.
=Pirith´ous.= Son of Ixion and Dia, the daughter of Deioneus. He was king
of the Lapithæ, and wished to become acquainted with Theseus, king of
Athens, of whose fame and exploits he had heard. They became cordial
friends. Pirithous married Hippodamia, and invited the Centaurs to
attend his nuptials, where, having become intoxicated, they behaved with
great rudeness, on which they were attacked and overcome by Theseus,
Pirithous, Hercules, and the rest of the Lapithæ. Many of the Centaurs
were slain, and the rest saved their lives by flight.
=Pisan´der.= A commander in the Spartan fleet during the Peloponnesian
war. He was greatly opposed to democracy at Athens. He was killed in a
naval battle near Cnidus, B.C. 394.
=Pisis´tratus.= A celebrated Athenian who distinguished himself by valor
in the field and by eloquence at home. He obtained a bodyguard of fifty
men to defend his person, and having thus got a number of armed men on
whom he could rely, he seized the citadel of Athens, and soon made
himself absolute. After this a conspiracy was formed against him, and he
was banished from the city. He soon, however, re-established himself in
power, and married the daughter of Megacles, one of his greatest
enemies, whom he afterwards repudiated. On this his popularity waned,
and he fled from Athens, but after an absence of eleven years he
returned, and was received by the people with acclamation. He died about
527 years before the Christian era.
=Pi´so.= A celebrated family at Rome, eleven of whom had obtained the
consulship, and some of whom had been honored with triumphs for their
victories. Of this family the most famous were--LUCIUS CALPURNIUS, who
was tribune of the people about 149 years before Christ, and afterwards
consul. He gained honor as an orator, a statesman, and a historian.
CAIUS, another of the family, distinguished himself during his
consulship by his firmness in resisting the tumults raised by the
tribunes and the clamors of the people. CENIUS, who was consul under
Augustus, rendered himself odious by his cruelty. He was accused of
poisoning Germanicus, and, being shunned by his friends, destroyed
himself. LUCIUS, a governor of Spain, who was assassinated by a peasant.
LUCIUS, a governor of Rome for twenty years, during which time he
discharged his duties with moderation and justice. CAIUS, who was at the
head of a conspiracy against Nero. He committed suicide by venesection.
=Pit´tacus=, a native of Mitylene in Lesbos, was one of the seven wise men
of Greece. He died in the eighty-second year of his age, about 570 years
B.C., the latter part of his life being spent in retirement. Many of
his maxims were inscribed on the walls of Apollo's temple at Delphi, to
show how high an opinion his countrymen entertained of his abilities as
a moralist and philosopher.
=Plau´cus L. Muna´tius.= A Roman conspicuous for his follies and
extravagance. He had been consul, and had presided over a province, but
he forgot his dignity, and became one of the most servile flatterers of
Antony and Cleopatra.
=Platæ´a.= A town of Boeotia, near Mount Citheron, celebrated as the
scene of a battle between Mardonius, the general of Xerxes, king of
Persia, and Pausanias, who commanded the Athenians. The Persians were
defeated with great slaughter.
=Pla´to.= A celebrated philosopher of Athens. He was educated carefully,
his mind being cultivated by the study of poetry and geometry, whilst
his body was invigorated by the practice of gymnastics. He began his
literary career by writing poetry and tragedies. At the age of twenty he
was introduced to Socrates, with whom he was for some time a pupil.
After traveling in various countries, he retired to the neighborhood of
Athens, where his lectures were attended by a crowd of learned, noble,
and illustrious pupils. He died on his birthday in the eighty-first year
of his age, about 348 years before the Christian era. His writings were
so celebrated, and his opinions so highly regarded, that he was called
the Divine.
=Plau´tus, M. Ac´cius.= A dramatic poet born in Umbria. He wrote
twenty-five comedies, of which only nineteen are extant. He died about
184 years before the Christian era.
=Plei´ades.= A name given to seven daughters of Atlas and Pleione. They
were placed after death in the heavens, and formed a constellation.
=Plin´ius, C. Secun´dus=, called the Elder, was born at Verona, of a noble
family. He distinguished himself in the field, and was appointed
governor of Spain. When at Misenum in command of the Roman fleet, Pliny
observed the appearance of a cloud of dust and ashes, which was the
commencement of the famous eruption of Mount Vesuvius which overwhelmed
Herculaneum and Pompeii. He sailed for the scene of the eruption, where
he was suffocated by the vapors emitted. This occurred in the
seventy-ninth year of the Christian era.
=Plin´ius, C. Cæcil´ius Secun´dus=, surnamed the Younger Pliny, was son of
L. Cæcilius by the sister of Pliny the Elder. At the age of nineteen he
distinguished himself at the bar. When Trajan was invested with the
purple Pliny was created consul. He died in the fifty-second year of his
age, A.D. 113. Pliny had much to do with the persecutions of the
Christians in the early promulgation of the Christian religion. The Rev.
James Copland, M. A., in an admirable little work entitled "Reasons why
we Believe the Bible," gives a very interesting letter from Pliny to the
emperor Trajan, asking instructions how to deal with the Christians when
they were cited to appear before him.
=Plutar´chus=, the celebrated biographer, was born at Chæronea, his father
being distinguished for his learning and virtues. After traveling in
quest of knowledge, he retired to Rome, where he opened a school.
Subsequently he removed to Chæronea, where he died at an advanced age
about the 140th year of the Christian era. His most esteemed work is the
Lives of Illustrious Men.
=Plu´to=, son of Saturn and Ops, inherited his father's kingdom with his
brothers, Jupiter and Neptune. He received as his portion the kingdom of
the infernal regions, of death, and funerals. He seized Proserpine as
she was gathering flowers, and carrying her away on his chariot, she
became his wife and queen of the infernal regions.
=Plu´tus=, the god of riches, was the son of Jason, or Jasius, and Ceres.
=Pol´lio, C. Asin´ius.= A Roman consul in the reign of Augustus, who
distinguished himself equally by his eloquence and exploits in war. He
wrote a history and some tragedies, and died in his eightieth year, A.D.
4.
=Pol´lux.= A son of Jupiter and Leda, brother to Castor.
=Polyb´ius.= A native of Megalopolis. He distinguished himself by his
valor against the Romans in Macedonia, He wrote an universal history in
Greek, and died about 124 years B.C.
=Polydec´tes.= A son of Magnes, king of Seriphos. He received with
kindness Danae and her son Perseus, who had been exposed on the sea.
Polydectes was turned into stone by being shown Medusa's head by
Perseus.
=Polyhym´nia.= One of the Muses, daughter of Jupiter and Mnemosyne. She
presided over singing and rhetoric.
=Polyni´ces.= A son of OEdipus, king of Thebes, and Jocasta. He
inherited his father's throne with his brother Eteocles, and it was
agreed that they should reign a year alternately. Eteocles first
ascended the throne, but refused to resign the crown. Polynices upon
this fled to Argos, where he married Argia, the daughter of Adrastus,
the king of the country, and levied an army with which he marched on
Thebes. The battle was decided by a combat between the brothers, who
killed each other.
=Polyphe´mus.= A celebrated Cyclops, son of Neptune and Thoosa, the
daughter of Phorcys. He is represented as a monster with one eye in the
middle of his forehead. Ulysses was his captive, but escaped by putting
a firebrand in the monster's eye.
=Pomo´na.= A nymph at Rome, who was supposed to preside over gardens and
to be the goddess of fruit trees.
=Pompe´ii or Pompei´um.= A town of Campania. It was partly destroyed by an
earthquake, A.D. 63, and sixteen years afterwards it was swallowed up by
another earthquake. Herculaneum, in its vicinity, shared the same fate.
=Pompe´ius, Cnei´us=, surnamed Magnus from his exploits, was son of
Pompeius Strabo and Lucilia. In the contentions which existed between
Marius and Sylla, Pompey linked himself with the latter. Subsequently he
united his interest with that of Cæsar and Crassus, thus forming the
first triumvirate. A breach soon occurred, and at the great battle of
Pharsalia, where the forces of Cæsar and Pompey met, the latter was
totally defeated, and fled to Egypt, where he was assassinated in the
fifty-eighth year of his age, B.C. 48. He left two sons, Cneius and
Sextus, who at their father's death were masters of a powerful army,
with which they opposed Cæsar, but were defeated at the battle of Munda,
where Cneius was slain. Sextus escaped, and was put to death by Antony
about thirty-five years before the Christian era.
=Por´cia.= A daughter of Cato of Utica, who married Bibulus, and after his
death Brutus. She was distinguished for her prudence and courage. After
her husband's death she killed herself by swallowing burning coals. She
is said to have given herself a severe wound to show that she could bear
pain.
=Porphyr´ius.= A Platonic philosopher of Tyre. He studied eloquence at
Athens under Longinus, and afterwards retired to Rome. His most
celebrated work was in reference to the Christian religion. Porphyry
died A.D. 304, aged seventy-one years.
=Porsen´na or Por´sena.= A king of Etruria, who declared war against the
Romans because they refused to restore Tarquin to the throne; He was
prevented from entering the gates of Rome by the valor of P. Horatius
Cocles, who at the head of a bridge kept back Porsenna's army, whilst
the bridge was being cut down by the Romans to prevent the entry of
their enemies into the city. Eventually Porsenna abandoned the cause of
Tarquin.
=Praxit´eles.= A famous sculptor of Greece, who lived about 324 years
before the Christian era. The most famous of his works was a Cupid,
which he gave to Phyrne. He executed a statue of Phyrne, and also one of
Venus.
=Pri´amus.= The last king of Troy was son of Laomedon, by Strymo, called
Placia by some writers. He married Arisba, whom he divorced in order to
marry Hecuba, by whom he had a number of children, the most celebrated
of whom were Hector, Paris, Deiphobus, Helenus, Laodice, and Cassandra.
After he had reigned some time, Priam was anxious to recover his sister
Hesione, who had been carried into Greece by Hercules, and to achieve
this, he manned a fleet, the command of which he gave to his son Paris,
who, instead of obeying the paternal instructions, carried away Helen,
the wife of Menelaus, king of Sparta. This caused the Trojan war, which
lasted for ten years. At the end of the war Priam was slain by
Neoptolemus, the son of Achilles.
=Pro´bus, M. Aure´lius.= A native of Pannonia. His father was a gardener,
who became a military tribune. His son obtained the same office in the
twenty-second year of his age, and distinguished himself so much by his
probity and valor that he was invested with the imperial purple. He
encouraged the arts, and by his victories added to the glory of his
country. He was slain by his soldiers in the fiftieth year of his age,
B.C. 282.
=Proco´pius=, born of a noble family in Cilicia, was related to the
emperor Julian. He signalized himself under Julian, and afterwards
retired to the Thracian Chersonesus, whence he made his appearance at
Constantinople, and proclaimed himself master of the Eastern Empire. He
was defeated in Phrygia, and beheaded A.D. 366. There was a famous Greek
historian of the same name, who wrote the history of the reign of
Justinian, and who was secretary to Belisarius.
=Prome´theus.= A son of Iapetus and Clymene, one of the Oceanides. He
ridiculed the gods and deceived Jupiter himself, who, to punish him and
the rest of mankind, took fire away from the earth; but Prometheus
climbed the heavens by the assistance of Minerva, and stole fire from
the chariot of the sun, which he brought down to the earth. This
provoked Jupiter, and he ordered Prometheus to be chained to a rock,
where a vulture was to feed on his liver, which was never exhausted. He
was delivered from his torture by Hercules, who killed the vulture.
=Proper´tius, Sex´tus Aure´lius.= A Latin poet born in Umbria. He came to
Rome, where his genius greatly recommended him to the great and
powerful. His works consist of four books of elegies which are marked by
much ability. He died about nineteen years B.C.
=Proser´pina=, a daughter of Ceres and Jupiter, called by the Greeks
Persephone. As she was gathering flowers Pluto carried her off to the
infernal regions, where he married her. Ceres, having learnt that her
daughter had been carried away by Pluto, demanded of Jupiter that Pluto
should be punished. As queen of hell, Proserpine presided over the death
of mankind. She was known by the names of Hecate, Juno Inferna,
Libitina, and several others.
=Protag´oras.= A Greek philosopher of Abdera in Thrace. He wrote a book in
which he denied the existence of a Supreme Being, which book was
publicly burnt at Athens, and its author was banished from the city.
=Pro´tesila´us.= A king of part of Thessaly, who married Laodamia, and
shortly afterwards went to the Trojan war. He was the first of the
Greeks who entered the Trojan domain, and on that account, in accordance
with the prediction of the oracle, was killed by his countrymen.
=Pro´teus.= A sea deity, son of Oceanus and Tethys, or, according to some
writers, of Neptune and Phenice. He had received the gift of prophecy
from Neptune, but when consulted he often refused to give answers, and
puzzled those who consulted him by assuming different shapes.
=Psy´che.= A nymph who married Cupid. Venus put her to death because of
this, but Jupiter, at the request of Cupid, granted immortality to her.
=Ptolemæ´us= First, called Ptolemy, surnamed Lagus. A king of Egypt, son
of Arsinoe and Lagus. He was educated in the court of the king of
Macedonia, and when Alexander invaded Asia Ptolemy attended him. After
Alexander's death Ptolemy obtained the government of Egypt, where he
gained the esteem of the people by acts of kindness. He made himself
master of Phoenicia and Syria, and rendered assistance to the people
of Rhodes against their enemies, for which he received the name of
_Soter_. He laid the foundation of a library, which became the most
celebrated in the world. He died in his eighty-fourth year, about 284
years B.C. He was succeeded by his son, Ptolemy Philadelphus, who showed
himself to be a worthy successor of his father. His palace was an asylum
for learned men, and he greatly increased the library his father had
founded. Ptolemy Third succeeded his father Philadelphus on the Egyptian
throne. He conquered Syria and Cilicia, and returned home laden with
spoils. He was, like his predecessors, a patron of learning and the
arts. Ptolemy Fourth, called Philopater, succeeded to the throne, his
reign being marked by acts of cruelty and oppression. He died in his
thirty-seventh year, after a reign of seventeen years, 204 years B.C.
Numerous members of this celebrated family in succession occupied the
throne, not, however, approaching to the greatness of the founders of
the family.
=Ptolemæ´us.= A celebrated geographer and astronomer in the reign of
Adrian and Antoninus. He was a native of Alexandria, or, as some say, of
Pelusium. In his system of the world, designated the Ptolemaic system,
he places the earth in the center of the universe, which was generally
received as correct till it was confuted by Copernicus.
=Pyr´rhus.= A famous king of Epirus, son of Æacides and Phthia. He is
celebrated for his military talents; and not only his friends, but his
enemies, have been warm in extolling him. He is said to have had no
superior in the art of war. He wrote several books on encampments and
the ways of training an army. He fought against the Romans with much
valor, and they passed encomiums on his great military skill. He was
killed in an attack on Argos, by a tile thrown on his head from a
housetop.
=Pyr´rhus.= See NEOPTOLEMUS.
=Pythag´oras.= A celebrated philosopher born at Samos. He first made
himself known in Greece at the Olympic games, where, when he was
eighteen years old, he obtained the prize for wrestling. He also
distinguished himself by his discoveries in geometry, astronomy, and
mathematics. He was the first who supported the doctrine of
metempsychosis, or transmigration of the soul into different bodies. He
believed that the universe was created from a shapeless mass of passive
matter by the hands of a powerful Being, who was the mover and soul of
the world, and of whose substance the souls of mankind were a portion.
The time and place of death of this great philosopher are unknown, but
some suppose that he died at Metapontum about 497 years B.C.
=Py´thon.= A celebrated serpent sprung from the mud and stagnated waters
which remained on the surface of the earth after the deluge of
Deucalion. Apollo killed the monster.
=Quintilia´nus, Mar´cus Fa´bius=, a celebrated rhetorician, born in Spain.
He opened a school of rhetoric at Rome, and was the first who obtained a
salary from the State as a public teacher. He died A.D. 95.
=Quin´tus Cur´tius Ru´fus.= A Latin historian supposed to have lived in
the reign of Vespasian. He wrote a history of the reign of Alexander the
Great. This work is admired for the elegance of its diction.
=Regil´lus.= A small lake in Latium, famous as being the scene of a great
Roman victory, which forms the subject of a fine poem by Lord Macaulay,
called "The Battle of the Lake Regillus," included in his "Lays of
Ancient Rome."
=Reg´ulus, M. Attil´ius.= A consul during the first Punic war. He reduced
Brundusium, and in his second consulship he captured a great portion of
the Carthaginian fleet. After further successes he was taken prisoner by
the Carthaginians, who put him to death with refined tortures.
=Rhadaman´thus.= A son of Jupiter and Europa. He reigned in the Cyclades,
where his rule was characterized by marked justice and impartiality.