Mars and Ilia, and was twin brother of Remus. The twins were thrown into
the Tiber, but were saved and suckled by a she-wolf till they were found
by Fautulus, a shepherd, who brought them up. Disputes arising between
the brothers in reference to the building of the city, Romulus caused
Remus to be slain.
=Ros´cius.= A celebrated Roman actor. He died about 60 years B.C.
=Ru´bicon.= A small river in Italy. By crossing it, and thus transgressing
the boundaries of his province, Cæsar declared war against the senate
and Pompey. "Passing the Rubicon" has become a proverbial expression,
indicating an irrevocable step taken in any weighty matter.
=Sa´cra, Vi´a.= An important street in Rome, where a treaty of peace was
made between Romulus and Tatius.
=Sal´amis.= An island of Attica celebrated for a battle fought there
between the fleets of the Greeks and the Persians, in which the latter
suffered defeat.
=Sallus´tius Cris´pus.= A celebrated Latin historian. He wrote a history
of the Catalinian conspiracy, and died thirty-five years before the
Christian era.
=Sanchoni´athon.= A Phoenician historian born at Berytus, or, as some
say, at Tyre. He lived a few years before the Trojan war; and wrote on
the antiquities of Phoenicia.
=Sa´por.= A king of Persia, who succeeded to the throne about the 238th
year of the Christian era. He wished to increase his dominions by
conquest, but was defeated by Odenatus, who defeated his army with great
slaughter. He was assassinated A.D. 273.
=Sa´por.= The second king of Persia of that name. He fought against the
Romans, and obtained several victories over them. Died A.D. 380.
=Sap´pho=, celebrated for her beauty and poetical talents, was born at
Lesbos about 600 years before Christ. She became enamored with Phaon, a
youth of Mitylene, but he not reciprocating her passion, she threw
herself into the sea from the rock of Leucadia.
=Sardanapa´lus.= The last king of Assyria, celebrated for his luxury and
indolence. His effeminacy induced his subjects to conspire against him
with success, on which he set fire to his palace and perished in the
flames, B.C. 820.
=Satur´nus.= The son of Coelus, or Uranus, by Terra. It was customary to
offer human victims on his altars till this custom was abolished by
Hercules. He is generally represented as an old man bent with age, and
holding a scythe in his right hand.
=Sat´yri.= Demigods whose origin is unknown. They had the feet and legs of
a goat, their body bearing the human form.
=Scævola, Mu´tius=, surnamed Cordus, was famous for his courage. He
attempted to assassinate Porsenna, but was seized; and to show his
fortitude when confronted with Porsenna, he thrust his hand into the
fire, on which the king pardoned him.
=Scip´io.= The name of a celebrated family at Rome, the most conspicuous
of which was Publius Cornelius, afterwards called Africanus. He was the
son of Publius Scipio, and commanded an army against the Carthaginians.
After obtaining some victories he encountered Hannibal at the famous
battle of Zama, in which he obtained a decisive victory. He died about
184 years before Christ, in his forty-eighth year.
=Scip´io, Lu´cius Corne´lius=, surnamed Asiaticus, accompanied his brother
Africanus in his expedition in Africa. He was made consul A.U.C. 562,
and sent to attack Antiochus, king of Syria, whom he completely routed.
He was accused of receiving bribes of Antiochus, and was condemned to
pay large fines which reduced him to poverty.
=Scip´io, P. Æmilia´nus.= Called Africanus the younger. He finished the
war with Carthage, the total submission of which occurred B.C. 147. The
captive city was set on fire, and Scipio was said to have wept bitterly
over the melancholy scene. On his return to Rome he was appointed to
conclude the war against Numantia, the fall of which soon occurred, and
Scipio had Numantinus added to his name. He was found dead in his bed,
and was presumed to have been strangled, B.C. 128.
=Sem´ele.= A daughter of Cadmus and Hermione, the daughter of Mars and
Venus. She was the mother of Bacchus. After death she was made immortal
under the name of Thyone.
=Semir´amis.= A celebrated queen of Assyria, who married the governor of
Nineveh, and at his death she became the wife of King Ninus. She caused
many improvements to be effected in her kingdom, as well as
distinguishing herself as a warrior. She is supposed to have lived 1965
years before the Christian era.
=Sen´eca, L. Annæ´us=, at an early period of his life, was distinguished
by his talents. He became preceptor to Nero, in which capacity he gained
general approbation. The tyrant, however, determined to put him to
death, and he chose to have his veins opened in a hot bath, but death
not ensuing, he swallowed poison, and was eventually suffocated by the
soldiers who were in attendance. This occurred in his fifty-third year,
and in the sixty-fifth of the Christian era. His works, which were
numerous, were chiefly on moral subjects.
=Sera´pis.= One of the Egyptian deities, supposed to be the same as
Osiris. He had a magnificent temple at Memphis, another at Alexandria,
and a third at Canopus.
=Sesos´tris.= A celebrated king of Egypt, who lived long prior to the
Trojan war. He was ambitious of military fame, and achieved many
conquests. On his return from his victories he employed himself in
encouraging the fine arts. He destroyed himself after a reign of
forty-four years.
=Seve´rus, Lu´cius Septim´ius.= A Roman emperor, born in Africa,
noticeable for his ambition. He invaded Britain, and built a wall in the
north as a check to the incursions of the Caledonians. He died at York
in the 211th year of the Christian era.
=Sile´nus.= A demigod, who is represented generally as a fat old man
riding on an ass, with flowers crowning his head.
=Sil´ius Ital´icus, C.= A Latin poet who retired from the bar to
consecrate his time to study. He imitated Virgil, but with little
success. His poetry, however, is commended for its purity.
=Simon´ides.= A celebrated poet of Cos, who lived B.C. 538 years. He wrote
elegies, epigrams, and dramatic pieces, esteemed for their beauty.
=Sire´nes.= The Sirens. They lured to destruction those who listened to
their songs. When Ulysses sailed past their island he stopped the ears
of his companions with wax, and had himself tied to the mast of his
ship. Thus he passed with safety, and the Sirens, disappointed of their
prey, drowned themselves.
=Sis´yphus.= Son of Æolus and Enaretta. After death he was condemned, in
the infernal regions, to roll a stone to the summit of a hill, which
always rolled back, and rendered his punishment eternal.
=Soc´rates.= The most celebrated philosopher of antiquity, born near
Athens, whose virtues rendered his name venerated. His independence of
spirit created for him many enemies, and he was accused of making
innovations in the religion of the Greeks. He was condemned to death by
drinking hemlock, and expired a few moments after imbibing the poison,
in his seventieth year, B.C. 400. His wife was Xanthippe, remarkable
for her shrewish disposition, for which her name has become proverbial.
=So´lon=, one of the wise men of Greece, was born at Salamis, and educated
at Athens. After traveling over Greece he returned, and was elected
archon and sovereign legislator, in which capacity he effected numerous
reforms in the state, binding the Athenians by a solemn oath to observe
the laws he enacted for one hundred years. After this he visited Egypt,
and on returning to Athens after ten years' absence, he found most of
his regulations disregarded by his countrymen. On this he retired to
Cyprus, where he died in his eightieth year, 558 years before the
Christian era.
=Som´nus=, son of Nox and Erebus, was one of the infernal deities and
presided over sleep.
=Soph´ocles.= A celebrated tragic poet of Athens. He was distinguished
also as a statesman, and exercised the office of archon with credit and
honor. He wrote for the stage, and obtained the poetical prize on twenty
different occasions. He was the rival of Euripides for public applause,
each having his admirers. He died at the age of ninety-one, 406 years
before Christ.
=Sophonis´ba.= A daughter of Hasdrubal, the Carthaginian, celebrated for
her beauty. She married Syphax, prince of Numidia, and when he was
conquered by the Romans she became a captive to their ally, the Numidian
general Masinissa, whom she married. This displeased the Romans, and
Scipio ordered Masinissa to separate from Sophonisba, and she, urged to
this by Masinissa, took poison, about 203 years before Christ.
=Soz´omen.= A historian who died 450 A.D. He wrote an important work on
ecclesiastical history.
=Sphinx.= A monster, having the head and breasts of a woman, the body of a
dog, the tail of a serpent, the wings of a bird, and the paws of a lion.
The Sphinx was sent into the neighborhood of Thebes by Juno, where she
propounded enigmas, devouring those who were unable to solve them. One
of the riddles proposed was--What animal walked on four legs in the
morning, two at noon, and three in the evening? OEdipus solved it,
giving as the meaning--A man, who when an infant crawled on his hands
and feet, walking erect in manhood, and in the evening of life
supporting himself with a stick. On hearing the solution the Sphinx
destroyed herself.
=Stagi´ra.= A town on the borders of Macedonia, where Aristotle was born;
hence he is called the Stagirite.
=Sta´tius, P. Papin´us.= A poet, born at Naples in the reign of Domitian.
He was the author of two epic poems, the Thebais, in twelve books, and
the Achilleis, in two books.
=Sten´tor.= One of the Greeks who went to the Trojan war. He was noted for
the loudness of his voice, and from him the term "stentorian" has become
proverbial.
=Sto´ici.= A celebrated sect of philosophers founded by Zeno. They
preferred virtue to all other things, and regarded everything opposed to
it as an evil.
=Stra´bo.= A celebrated geographer, born at Amasia, on the borders of
Cappadocia. He flourished in the age of Augustus. His work on geography
consists of seventeen books, and is admired for its purity of diction.
=Styx.= A celebrated river of the infernal regions. The gods held it in
such veneration that they always swore by it, the oath being
inviolable.
=Sueto´nius, C. Tranquil´lus.= A Latin historian who became secretary to
Adrian. His best known work is his Lives of the Cæsars.
=Sul´la.= See SYLLA.
=Syb´aris.= A town on the bay of Tarentum. Its inhabitants were
distinguished by their love of ease and pleasure, hence the term
"Sybarite."
=Syl´la= (or =Sulla=), =L. Corne´lius=. A celebrated Roman, of a noble family,
who rendered himself conspicuous in military affairs; and became
antagonistic to Marius. In the zenith of his power he was guilty of the
greatest cruelty. His character is that of an ambitious, tyrannical, and
resolute commander. He died about seventy years before Christ, aged
sixty.
=Sy´phax.= A king of the Masæsyllii in Numidia, who married Sophonisba,
the daughter of Hasdrubal. He joined the Carthaginians against the
Romans, and was taken by Scipio as a prisoner to Rome, where he died in
prison.
=Tac´itus, C. Corne´lius.= A celebrated Latin historian, born in the reign
of Nero. Of all his works the "Annals" is the most extensive and
complete. His style is marked by force, precision, and dignity, and his
Latin is remarkable for being pure and classical.
=Tac´itus, M. Clau´dius.= A Roman, elected emperor by the Senate when he
was seventy years of age. He displayed military vigor, and as a ruler
was a pattern of economy and moderation. He died in the 276th year of
the Christian era.
=Tan´talus.= A king of Lydia, father of Niobe and Pelops. He is
represented by the poets as being, in the infernal regions, placed in a
pool of water which flowed from him whenever he attempted to drink, thus
causing him to suffer perpetual thirst; hence the origin of the term
"tantalizing."
=Tarquin´ius Pris´cus=, the fifth king of Rome, was son of Demaratus, a
native of Greece. He exhibited military talents in the victories he
gained over the Sabines. During peace he devoted attention to the
improvement of the capital. He was assassinated in his eightieth year,
578 years B.C.
=Tarquin´ius Super´bus.= He ascended the throne of Rome after Servius
Tullius, whom he murdered, and married his daughter Tullia. His reign
was characterized by tyranny, and eventually he was expelled from Rome,
surviving his disgrace for fourteen years, and dying in his ninetieth
year.
=Tar´tarus.= One of the regions of hell, where, according to Virgil, the
souls of those who were exceptionally depraved were punished.
=Telem´achus.= Son of Penelope and Ulysses. At the end of the Trojan war
he went in search of his father, whom, with the aid of Minerva, he
found. Aided by Ulysses he delivered his mother from the suitors that
beset her.
=Tem´pe.= A valley in Thessaly through which the river Peneus flows into
the Ægean. It is described by the poets as one of the most delightful
places in the world.
=Teren´tius Pub´lius= (=Terence=). A native of Africa, celebrated for the
comedies he wrote. He was twenty-five years old when his first play was
produced on the Roman stage. Terence is admired for the purity of his
language and the elegance of his diction. He is supposed to have been
drowned in a storm about 159 B.C.
=Te´reus.= A king of Thrace who married Procne, daughter of Pandion, king
of Athens. He aided Pandion in a war against Megara.
=Terpsich´ore.= One of the Muses, daughter of Jupiter and Mnemosyne. She
presided over dancing.
=Tertullia´nus, J. Septim´ius Flor´ens.= A celebrated Christian writer of
Carthage, who lived A.D. 196. He was originally a Pagan, but embraced
Christianity, of which faith he became an able advocate.
=Tha´is.= A celebrated woman of Athens, who accompanied Alexander the
Great in his Asiatic conquests.
=Tha´les.= One of the seven wise men of Greece, born at Miletus in Ionia.
His discoveries in astronomy were great, and he was the first who
calculated with accuracy a solar eclipse. He died about 548 years before
the Christian era.
=Thali´a.= One of the Muses. She presided over festivals and comic poetry.
=Themis´tocles.= A celebrated general born at Athens. When Xerxes invaded
Greece, Themistocles was intrusted with the care of the fleet, and at
the famous battle of Salamis, fought B.C. 480, the Greeks, instigated to
fight by Themistocles, obtained a complete victory over the formidable
navy of Xerxes. He died in the sixty-fifth year of his age, having, as
some writers affirm, poisoned himself by drinking bull's blood.
=Theoc´ritus.= A Greek poet who lived at Syracuse in Sicily, 282 B.C. He
distinguished himself by his poetical compositions, of which some are
extant.
=Theodo´sius, Fla´vius.= A Roman emperor surnamed _Magnus_ from the
greatness of his exploits. The first years of his reign were marked by
conquests over the Barbarians. In his private character Theodosius was
an example of temperance. He died in his sixtieth year, A.D. 395, after
a reign of sixteen years.
=Theodo´sius Second= became emperor of the Western Roman empire at an
early age. His territories were invaded by the Persians, but on his
appearance at the head of a large force they fled, losing a great number
of their army in the Euphrates. Theodosius was a warm advocate of the
Christian religion. He died, aged forty-nine, A.D. 450.
=Theophras´tus.= A native of Lesbos. Diogenes enumerates the titles of
more than 200 treatises which he wrote. He died in his 107th year, B.C.
288.
=Thermop´ylæ.= A narrow Pass leading from Thessaly into Locris and Phocis,
celebrated for a battle fought there, B.C. 480, between Xerxes and the
Greeks, in which three hundred Spartans, commanded by Leonidas, resisted
for three successive days an enormous Persian army.
=Thersi´tes.= A deformed Greek, in the Trojan war, who indulged in
ridicule against Ulysses and others. Achilles killed him because he
laughed at his grief for the death of Penthesilea. Shakspeare, who
introduced Thersites in his play of "Troilus and Cressida," describes
him as "a deformed and scurrilous Grecian."
=The´seus=, king of Athens and son of Ægeus by Æthra, was one of the most
celebrated heroes of antiquity. He caught the bull of Marathon and
sacrificed it to Minerva. After this he went to Crete amongst the seven
youths sent yearly by the Athenians to be devoured by the Minotaur, and
by the aid of Ariadne he slew the monster. He ascended his father's
throne B.C. 1235. Pirithous, king of the Lapithæ, invaded his
territories, but the two became firm friends. They descended into the
infernal regions to carry off Proserpine, but their intentions were
frustrated by Pluto. After remaining for some time in the infernal
regions, Theseus returned to his kingdom to find the throne filled by an
usurper, whom he vainly tried to eject. He retired to Scyros, where he
was killed by a fall from a precipice.
=Thes´pis.= A Greek poet of Attica, supposed to be the inventor of
tragedy, B.C. 536. He went from place to place upon a cart, on which he
gave performances. Hence the term "Thespians" as applied to wandering
actors.
=The´tis.= A sea deity, daughter of Nereus and Doris. She married Peleus,
their son being Achilles, whom she plunged into the Styx, thus rendering
him invulnerable in every part of his body except the heel by which she
held him.
=This´be.= A beautiful girl of Babylon, beloved by Pyramus.
=Thrasybu´lus.= A famous general of Athens, who, with the help of a few
associates, expelled the Thirty Tyrants, B.C. 401. He was sent with a
powerful fleet to recover the Athenian power on the coast of Asia, and
after gaining many advantages, was killed by the people of Aspendos.
=Thucid´ydes.= A celebrated Greek historian born at Athens. He wrote a
history of the events connected with the Peloponnesian war. He died at
Athens in his eightieth year, B.C. 391.
=Tibe´rius, Clau´dius Ne´ro.= A Roman emperor descended from the Claudii.
In his early years he entertained the people with magnificent shows and
gladiatorial exhibitions, which made him popular. At a later period of
his life he retired to the island of Capreæ, where he indulged in vice
and debauchery. He died aged seventy-eight, after a reign of twenty-two
years.
=Tibul´lus, Au´lus Al´bius.= A Roman knight celebrated for his poetical
compositions. His favorite occupation was writing love poems. Four books
of elegies are all that remain of his compositions.
=Timo´leon.= A celebrated Corinthian, son of Timodemus and Demariste. When
the Syracusans, oppressed with the tyranny of Dionysius the Younger,
solicited aid from the Corinthians, Timoleon sailed for Syracuse with a
small fleet. He was successful in the expedition, and Dionysius gave
himself up as a prisoner. Timoleon died at Syracuse, amidst universal
regret.
=Ti´mons.= A native of Athens, called the Misanthrope from his aversion to
mankind. He is the hero of Shakspeare's play of "Timon of Athens" in
which his churlish character is powerfully delineated.
=Timo´theus.= A famous musician in the time of Alexander the Great. Dryden
names him in his well-known ode, "Alexander's Feast."
=Tire´sias.= A celebrated prophet of Thebes. Juno deprived him of sight,
and, to recompense him for the loss, Jupiter bestowed on him the gift of
prophecy.
=Tisiph´one.= One of the Furies, daughter of Nox and Acheron.
=Tita´nes.= The Titans. A name given to the gigantic sons of Coelus and
Terra. The most conspicuous of them are Saturn, Hyperion, Oceanus,
Iapetus, Cottus, and Briareus.
=Ti´tus Vespasia´nus.= Son of Vespasian and Flavia Domitilla, known by
his valor, particularly at the siege of Jerusalem. He had been
distinguished for profligacy, but on assuming the purple, he became a
model of virtue. His death, which occasioned great lamentations,
occurred A.D. 81, in the forty-first year of his age.
=Traja´nus, M. Ul´pius Crini´tus.= A Roman emperor born at Ithaca. His
services to the empire recommended him to the notice of the emperor
Nerva, who adopted him as his son, and invested him with the purple. The
actions of Trajan were those of a benevolent prince. He died in Cilicia,
in August A.D. 117, in his sixty-fourth year, and his ashes were taken
to Rome and deposited under a stately column which he had erected.
=Tribu´ni Ple´bi.= Magistrates at Rome created in the year, U.C. 261. The
office of Tribune to the people was one of the first steps which led to
more honorable employments.
=Triptol´emus.= Son of Oceanus and Terra, or, according to some
authorities, son of Celeus, king of Attica, and Neæra. He was in his
youth cured of a severe illness by Ceres, with whom he became a great
favorite. She taught him agriculture, and gave him her chariot drawn by
dragons, in which he traveled over the earth, distributing corn to the
inhabitants.
=Tri´ton.= A sea deity, son of Neptune and Amphitrite. He was very
powerful, and could calm the sea and abate storms at his pleasure.
=Trium´viri.= Three magistrates appointed to govern the Roman state with
absolute power.
=Tul´lus Hostil´ius= succeeded Numa as king of Rome. He was of a warlike
disposition, and distinguished himself by his expedition against the
people of Alba, whom he conquered.
=Typhoe´us=, or =Ty´phon=. A famous giant, son of Tartarus and Terra, who
had a hundred heads. He made war against the gods, and was put to flight
by the thunderbolts of Jupiter, who crushed him under Mount Ætna.
=Tyrtæ´us.= A Greek elegiac poet born in Attica. Of his compositions none
are extant except a few fragments.
=Ulys´ses.= The famous king of Ithaca, son of Anticlea and Laertes (or,
according to some, of Sisyphus). He married Penelope, daughter of
Icarius, on which his father resigned to him the crown. He went to the
Trojan war, where he was esteemed for his sagacity. On the conclusion of
the war he embarked for Greece, but was exposed to numerous misfortunes
on his journey. In his wanderings, he, with some of his companions, was
seized by the Cyclops, Polyphemus, from whom he made his escape.
Afterwards he was thrown on the island of Æea, where he was exposed to
the wiles of the enchantress Circe. Eventually he was restored to his
own country, after an absence of twenty years. The adventures of Ulysses
on his return from the Trojan war form the subject of Homer's Odyssey.
=Ura´nia.= One of the Muses, daughter of Jupiter and Mnemosyne. She
presided over astronomy.
=Valentinia´nus= the First. Son of Gratian, raised to the throne by his
merit and valor. He obtained victories over the Barbarians in Gaul and
in Africa, and punished the Quadi with severity. He broke a blood-vessel
and died, A.D. 375. Immediately after his death, his son, Valentinian
the Second, was proclaimed emperor. He was robbed of his throne by
Maximus, but regained it by the aid of Theodosius, emperor of the East.
He was strangled by one of his officers. He was remarkable for
benevolence and clemency. The third Valentinian was made emperor in his
youth, and on coming to maturer age he disgraced himself by violence and
oppression. He was murdered A.D. 454.
=Valeria´nus, Pub´lius Licin´ius.= A celebrated Roman emperor, who, on
ascending the throne, lost the virtues he had previously possessed. He
made his son Gallienus his colleague in the empire. He made war against
the Goths and Scythians. He was defeated in battle and made prisoner by
Tapor, king of Persia, who put him to death by torture.
=Var´ro.= A Latin author, celebrated for his great learning. He wrote no
less than five hundred volumes, but all his works are lost except a
treatise De Re Rusticâ, and another De Linguâ Latinâ He died B.C. 28, in
his eighty-eighth year.