diff options
| -rw-r--r-- | .gitattributes | 3 | ||||
| -rw-r--r-- | 20734-0.txt | 6357 | ||||
| -rw-r--r-- | 20734-0.zip | bin | 0 -> 129817 bytes | |||
| -rw-r--r-- | 20734-8.txt | 6410 | ||||
| -rw-r--r-- | 20734-8.zip | bin | 0 -> 129906 bytes | |||
| -rw-r--r-- | 20734-h.zip | bin | 0 -> 2083972 bytes | |||
| -rw-r--r-- | 20734-h/20734-h.htm | 6806 | ||||
| -rw-r--r-- | 20734-h/images/fig001-fs.png | bin | 0 -> 50086 bytes | |||
| -rw-r--r-- | 20734-h/images/fig001-th.png | bin | 0 -> 11658 bytes | |||
| -rw-r--r-- | 20734-h/images/fig024.png | bin | 0 -> 444911 bytes | |||
| -rw-r--r-- | 20734-h/images/fig024th.png | bin | 0 -> 253054 bytes | |||
| -rw-r--r-- | 20734-h/images/fig072.png | bin | 0 -> 78703 bytes | |||
| -rw-r--r-- | 20734-h/images/fig072th.png | bin | 0 -> 49688 bytes | |||
| -rw-r--r-- | 20734-h/images/fig079.png | bin | 0 -> 62813 bytes | |||
| -rw-r--r-- | 20734-h/images/fig079th.png | bin | 0 -> 38674 bytes | |||
| -rw-r--r-- | 20734-h/images/fig088.png | bin | 0 -> 74240 bytes | |||
| -rw-r--r-- | 20734-h/images/fig088th.png | bin | 0 -> 22630 bytes | |||
| -rw-r--r-- | 20734-h/images/fig095.png | bin | 0 -> 480069 bytes | |||
| -rw-r--r-- | 20734-h/images/fig095th.png | bin | 0 -> 210629 bytes | |||
| -rw-r--r-- | 20734-h/images/fig113.png | bin | 0 -> 65245 bytes | |||
| -rw-r--r-- | 20734-h/images/fig113th.png | bin | 0 -> 23949 bytes | |||
| -rw-r--r-- | 20734-h/images/fig143.png | bin | 0 -> 58750 bytes | |||
| -rw-r--r-- | 20734-h/images/fig143th.png | bin | 0 -> 21363 bytes | |||
| -rw-r--r-- | 20734-page-images.zip | bin | 0 -> 12139604 bytes | |||
| -rw-r--r-- | 20734.txt | 6410 | ||||
| -rw-r--r-- | 20734.zip | bin | 0 -> 129851 bytes | |||
| -rw-r--r-- | LICENSE.txt | 11 | ||||
| -rw-r--r-- | README.md | 2 |
28 files changed, 25999 insertions, 0 deletions
diff --git a/.gitattributes b/.gitattributes new file mode 100644 index 0000000..6833f05 --- /dev/null +++ b/.gitattributes @@ -0,0 +1,3 @@ +* text=auto +*.txt text +*.md text diff --git a/20734-0.txt b/20734-0.txt new file mode 100644 index 0000000..7595392 --- /dev/null +++ b/20734-0.txt @@ -0,0 +1,6357 @@ +The Project Gutenberg EBook of Roman Antiquities, and Ancient Mythology, by +Charles K. Dillaway + +This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with +almost no restrictions whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or +re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included +with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org + + +Title: Roman Antiquities, and Ancient Mythology + For Classical Schools (2nd ed) + +Author: Charles K. Dillaway + +Release Date: March 3, 2007 [EBook #20734] + +Language: English + +Character set encoding: UTF-8 + +*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK ROMAN ANTIQUITIES *** + + + + +Produced by Barbara Tozier, V. L. Simpson, Bill Tozier and +the Online Distributed Proofreading Team at +http://www.pgdp.net + + + + + + + + + [Illustration: Pl. 1.] + + + +ROMAN ANTIQUITIES, + +AND + +ANCIENT MYTHOLOGY; + +FOR CLASSICAL SCHOOLS. + + +BY + +CHARLES K. DILLAWAY, + +PRINCIPAL OF THE PUBLIC LATIN SCHOOL IN BOSTON. + + + + + +SECOND EDITION. + + + + + +BOSTON: +LINCOLN, EDMANDS & CO. + +CARTER, HENDEE AND CO. BOSTON; COLLINS AND HANNAY, +NEW YORK; KEY AND MEILKE, PHILADELPHIA; +CUSHING AND SONS, BALTIMORE. + +1833. + + + + +Entered, according to Act of Congress, in the year 1833, By Lincoln, +Edmands & Co. In the Clerk's office of the District Court of +Massachusetts. + + + + + POSITION OF THE PLATES. + + No. 1, before the title page. + 2, before page 27. + 3, " " 71. + 4, " " 78. + 5, " " 82. + 6, " " 90. + 7, " " 106. + 8, " " 133. + + + + + +PREFACE. + + +The editor has endeavored in the following pages to give some account of +the customs and institutions of the Romans and of ancient Mythology in a +form adapted to the use of classical schools. + +In making the compilation he has freely drawn from all creditable +sources of information within his reach, but chiefly from the following: +Sketches of the institutions and domestic customs of the Romans, +published in London a few years since; from the works of Adams, Kennett, +Lanktree, Montfaucon, Middleton and Gesner: upon the subject of +Mythology, from Bell, Spense, Pausanias, La Pluche, Plutarch, Pliny, +Homer, Horace, Virgil, and many others to whom reference has been +occasionally made. + +_Boston, July, 1832._ + + * * * * * + +In the second edition now offered to the public much has been added to +the department of Antiquities. A more comprehensive chapter upon the +weights, measures and coins of the Romans has been substituted in the +place of the former one, and many other improvements made which it is +hoped will be found acceptable. As it was not thought expedient to +increase the size of the volume, the additions have been made by +excluding the questions. + +_Boston, May, 1833._ + + + +CONTENTS. + +Chap. Page. + +1. Foundation of Rome and division of inhabitants 9 +2. The Senate 13 +3. Other divisions of the Roman people 18 +4. Gentes and Familiæ, Names of the Romans 19 +5. Private rights of Roman citizens 21 +6. Public rights of Roman citizens 23 +7. Places of worship 24 +8. Other public buildings 26 +9. Porticos, arches, columns, and trophies 30 +10. Bagnios, aqueducts, sewers, and public ways 32 +11. Augurs and Auguries 33 +12. Aruspices, Pontifices, Quindecemviri, Vestals, &c. 34 +13. Religious ceremonies of the Romans 37 +14. The Roman year 39 +15. Roman games 42 +16. Magistrates 44 +17. Of military affairs 49 +18. Assemblies, judicial proceedings, and punishments of the Romans 53 +19. Roman dress 57 +20. Fine arts and literature 59 +21. Roman houses 61 +22. Marriages and funerals 63 +23. Customs at meals 66 +24. Weights, measures, and coins 67 + + +MYTHOLOGY. + +1. Celestial Gods 71 +2. Celestial Goddesses 77 +3. Terrestrial Gods 82 +4. Terrestrial Goddesses 87 +5. Gods of the woods 94 +6. Goddesses of the woods 101 +7. Gods of the sea 106 +8. Tartarus and its Deities 111 +9. The condemned in Hell 123 +10. Monsters of Hell 126 +11. Dii Indigites, or heroes who received divine honors after death 128 +12. Other fabulous personages 146 + + + +CHAPTER I. + +_Foundation of Rome and Division of its Inhabitants._ + + +Ancient Italy was separated, on the north, by the Alps, from Germany. It +was bounded, on the east and north-east, by the Adriatic Sea, or _Mare +Superum_; on the south-west, by a part of the Mediterranean, called the +Tuscan Sea, or _Mare Inferum_; and on the south, by the _Fretum +Siculum_, called at present the strait of Messina. + +The south of Italy, called _Græcia Magna_, was peopled by a colony from +Greece. The middle of Italy contained several states or confederacies, +under the denominations of Etrurians, Samnites, Latins, Volsci, +Campanians, Sabines, &c. And the north, containing _Gallia Cisalpina_ +and _Liguria_, was peopled by a race of Gauls. + +The principal town of the Latin confederacy was Rome. It was situated on +the river Tiber, at the distance of sixteen miles from its mouth. + +Romulus is commonly reported to have laid its foundations on Mount +Palatine, A. M. 3251, B. C. 753, in the third year of the 6th Olympiad. + +Rome was at first only a small fortification; under the kings and the +republic, it greatly increased in size; but it could hardly be called +magnificent before the time of Augustus Cæsar. In the reign of the +Emperor Valerian, the city, with its suburbs, covered a space of fifty +miles; at present it is scarcely thirteen miles round. + +Rome was built on seven hills, viz. the Palatine, Capitoline, Quirinal, +Esquiline, Viminal, Cælian, and Aventine; hence it was poetically styled +"_Urbs Septicollis_,"--the seven-hilled city. + +The greatest number of inhabitants in Rome was four millions; but its +average population was not more than two millions. + +The people were divided into three tribes, and each tribe into ten +curiæ. The number of tribes was afterwards increased to thirty-five. + +The people were at first only separated into two ranks; the Patrician +and Plebeian; but afterwards the Equites or Knights were added; and at a +later period, slavery was introduced--making in all, four classes: +Patricians, Knights, Plebeians, and Slaves. + +The Patrician order consisted of those families whose ancestors had been +members of the Senate. Those among them who had filled any superior +office, were considered noble, and possessed the right of making images +of themselves, which were transmitted to their descendants, and formed +part of their domestic worship. + +The Plebeian order was composed of the lowest class of freemen. Those +who resided in the city, were called "_Plebs urbana_;" those who lived +in the country, "_Plebs rustica_." But the distinction did not consist +in name only--the latter were the most respectable. + +The _Plebs urbana_ consisted not only of the poorer mechanics and +laborers, but of a multitude of idlers who chiefly subsisted on the +public bounty, and whose turbulence was a constant source of disquietude +to the government. There were leading men among them, kept in pay by the +seditious magistrates, who used for hire to stimulate them to the most +daring outrages. + +Trade and manufactures being considered as servile employments, they had +no encouragement to industry; and the numerous spectacles which were +exhibited, particularly the shows of gladiators, served to increase +their natural ferocity. To these causes may be attributed the final ruin +of the republic. + +The Equestrian order arose out of an institution ascribed to Romulus, +who chose from each of the three tribes, one hundred young men, the most +distinguished for their rank, wealth, and other accomplishments, who +should serve on horseback and guard his person. + +Their number was afterwards increased by Tullus Hostilius, who chose +three hundred from the Albans. They were chosen promiscuously from the +Patricians and Plebeians. The age requisite was eighteen, and the +fortune four hundred sestertia; that is, about 14,000 dollars. Their +marks of distinction, were a horse given them at the public expense, and +a gold ring. Their office, at first, was only to serve in the army; but +afterwards, to act as judges or jurymen, and take charge of the public +revenues. + +A great degree of splendor was added to the Equites by a procession +which they made throughout the city every year, on the 15th day of July, +from the temple of honor, without the city to the Capitol, riding on +horseback, with wreaths of olives on their heads, dressed in the Togæ +palmatæ or trabeæ, of a scarlet color, and bearing in their hands the +military ornaments, which they had received from their general, as a +reward for their valor. At this time they could not be summoned before a +court of justice. + +If any Eques was corrupt in his morals, or had diminished his fortune, +the censor ordered him to be removed from the order by selling his +horse. + +Men became slaves among the Romans, by being taken in war, by way of +punishment, or were born in a state of servitude. Those enemies who +voluntarily surrendered themselves, retained the rights of freedom, and +were called '_Dedititii_.' + +Those taken in the field, or in the storming of cities, were sold at +auction--"_sub corona_," as it was called, because they wore a crown +when sold; or "_sub hasta_," because a spear was set up where the +auctioneer stood. These were called Servi or Mancipia. Those who dealt +in the slave trade were called _Mangones_ or _Venalitii_: they were +bound to promise for the soundness of their slaves, and not to conceal +their faults; hence they were commonly exposed for sale naked, and +carried a scroll hanging to their necks, on which their good and bad +qualities were specified. + +Free-born citizens could not be sold for slaves. Parents might sell +their children; but they did not on that account entirely lose the right +of citizens, for, when freed from slavery, they were called _ingenui_ +and _libertini_. The same was the case with insolvent debtors, who were +given up to their creditors. + +There was no regular marriage among slaves, but their connexion was +called contubernium. The children of any female slave became the +property of her master. + +Such as had a genius for it were sometimes instructed in literature and +liberal arts. Some of these were sold at a great price. Hence arose a +principal part of the wealth of Crassus. + +The power of the master over his slave was absolute. He might scourge or +put him to death at pleasure. This right was often exercised with great +cruelty. + +The lash was the common punishment; but for certain crimes they were to +be branded in the forehead, and sometimes were forced to carry a piece +of wood round their necks, wherever they went, which was called _furca_; +and whoever had been subjected to the punishment was ever afterwards +called _furcifer_. + +Slaves also, by way of punishment, were often confined in a work-house, +or bridewell, where they were obliged to turn a mill for grinding corn. +When slaves were beaten, they were suspended with a weight tied to their +feet, that they might not move them. When punished for any capital +offence, they were commonly crucified; but this was afterwards +prohibited under Constantine. + +If the master of a family was slain at his own house, and the murderer +not discovered, all his domestic slaves were liable to be put to death. +Hence we find no less than four hundred in one family punished on this +account. + +Slaves were not esteemed as persons, but as things, and might be +transferred from one owner to another, like any other effects. They +could not appear in a court of justice as witnesses, nor make a will, or +inherit anything, or serve as soldiers, unless first made free. + +At certain times they were allowed the greatest freedom, as at the feast +of Saturn, in the month of December, when they were served at table by +their masters, and on the Ides of August. + +The number of slaves in Rome and through Italy, was immense. Some rich +individuals are said to have had several thousands. + +Anciently, they were freed in three different ways:--1st, _Per censum_, +when a slave with his master's knowledge inserted his name in the +censor's roll. 2d, _Per vindictam_, when a master, taking his slave to +the prætor, or consul, and in the provinces to the pro-consul or +pro-prætor, said, "I desire that this man be free, according to the +custom of the Romans"--and the prætor, if he approved, putting a rod on +the head of the slave, pronounced,--"I say that this man is free, after +the manner of the Romans." Wherefore, the lictor or master turning him +round in a circle, and giving him a blow on the cheek, let him go; +signifying that leave was granted him to go, wherever he pleased. 3d, +_Per testamentum_, when a master gave his slaves their liberty by his +will. + + + + +CHAPTER II. + +_The Senate._ + + +The Senate was instituted by Romulus, to be the perpetual council of the +republic, and at first consisted only of one hundred, chosen from the +Patricians. They were called Patres, either on account of their age or +the paternal care they had of the state. After the Sabines were taken +into the city, another one hundred was chosen from them by the suffrages +of the curiæ. + +Such as were chosen into the Senate by Brutus, after the expulsion of +Tarquin the proud, to supply the place of those whom that king had +slain, were called Conscripti; that is, persons written or enrolled +together with the Senators, who alone were properly called patres. + +Persons were chosen into the Senate first by the kings, and after their +expulsion, by the consuls, and by the military tribunes; but from the +year of the city 310, by the censors. At first, only from the +Patricians, but afterwards, also from the Plebeians--chiefly, however, +from the Equites. + +Besides an estate of 400, or after Augustus, of 1200 sestertia, no +person was admitted to this dignity but one who had already borne some +magistracy in the Commonwealth. The age is not sufficiently ascertained, +probably not under 30. + +The dictator, consuls, prætors, tribunes of the commons and interrex, +had the power of assembling the Senate. + +The places where they assembled were only such as had formerly been +consecrated by the augurs--and most commonly within the city. They made +use of the temple of Bellona, without the walls, for the giving audience +to foreign ambassadors, and to such provincial magistrates as were to be +heard in open Senates, before they entered the city, as when they +petitioned for a triumph, and in similar cases. When the augurs reported +that an ox had spoken, which we often meet with among the ancient +prodigies, the Senate was presently to sit, sub dio, or in the open air. + +The regular meetings (_senatus legitimus_) were on the Kalends, Nones, +and Ides in every month, until the time of Augustus, who confined them +to the Kalends and Ides. The _senatus indictus_ was called for the +dispatch of business upon any other day except the dies Comitialis, when +the Senate were obliged to be present at the Comitia. + +The Senate was summoned anciently by a public officer, named viator, +because he called the Senators from the country--or by a public crier, +when anything had happened about which the Senators were to be consulted +hastily and without delay: but in latter times by an edict, appointing +the time and place, and published several days before. The cause of +assembling was also added. + +If any one refused or neglected to attend, he was punished by a fine, +and by distraining his goods, unless he had a just excuse. The fine was +imposed by him who held the Senate, and pledges were taken till it was +paid--but after 60 years of age, Senators might attend or not, as they +pleased. + +No decree could be made unless there was a quorum. What that was is +uncertain. If any one wanted to hinder the passing of a decree, and +suspected there was not a quorum, he said to the magistrate presiding, +"_Numera Senatum_," count the Senate. + +The magistrate who was to preside offered a sacrifice, and took the +auspices before he entered the Senate house. If they were not favorable, +or not rightly taken, the business was deferred to another day. Augustus +ordered that each Senator, before he took his seat, should pay his +devotions with an offering of frankincense and wine, at the altar of +that god in whose temple the Senate were assembled, that they might +discharge their duty the more religiously. When the consuls entered, the +Senators commonly rose up to do them honor. + +The consuls elect were first asked their opinion, and the prætors, +tribunes, &c. elect, seem to have had the same preference before the +rest of their order. He who held the Senate, might consult first any one +of the same order he thought proper. + +Nothing could be laid before the Senate against the will of the consuls, +unless by the tribunes of the people, who might also give their negative +against any decree by the solemn word "_Veto_," which was called +interceding. This might also be done by all who had an equal or greater +authority than the magistrate presiding. If any person interceded, the +sentence was called "_Senatus auctoritas_," their judgment or opinion. + +The Senators delivered their opinions standing; but when they only +assented to the opinion of another, they continued sitting. + +It was not lawful for the consuls to interrupt those who spoke, although +they introduced in their speeches many things foreign to the subject, +which they sometimes did, that they might waste the day in speaking. For +no new reference could be made after the tenth hour, that is, four +o'clock in the afternoon, according to our mode of reckoning. + +This privilege was often abused, but they were forced to stop by the +noise and clamour of the other Senators. Sometimes magistrates, when +they made a disagreeable motion, were silenced in this manner. + +The Senators usually addressed the house by the title of "_patres +conscripti_:" sometimes to the consul, or person who presided, sometimes +to both. + +A decree of the Senate was made, by a separation of the Senators, to +different parts of the house. He who presided, said, "Let those who are +of such an opinion pass over to that side, those who think differently, +to this." Those Senators who only voted, but did not speak, or as some +say, had the right of voting, but not of speaking, were called +_pedarii_, because they signified their opinion by their feet, and not +by their tongues. When a decree was made without any opinion being asked +or given, it was called "_senatus consultum per discessionem_." But if +the contrary, it was simply called "_Senatus consultum_." + +In decreeing a supplication to any general, the opinion of the Senators +was always asked. Hence Cicero blames Antony for omitting this in the +case of Lepidus. Before the vote was put, and while the debate was going +on, the members used to take their seats near that person whose opinion +they approved, and the opinion of him who was joined by the greatest +number was called "_Sententia maxime frequens_." + +When affairs requiring secrecy were discussed, the clerks and other +attendants were not admitted: but what passed, was written out by some +of the Senators, and the decree was called tacitum. + +Public registers were kept of what was done in the Senate, in the +assemblies of the people, and courts of justice; also of births and +funerals, of marriages and divorces, &c. which served as a fund of +information for historians. + +In writing a decree, the time and place were put first; then, the names +of those who were present at the engrossing of it; after that, the +motion with the name of the magistrate who proposed it; to all which was +subjoined what the Senate decreed. + +The decrees were kept in the public treasury with the laws and other +writings, pertaining to the republic. Anciently they were kept in the +temple of Ceres. The place where the public records were kept was called +"_Tabularium_." The decrees of the Senate concerning the honors +conferred on Cæsar were inscribed in golden letters, on columns of +silver. When not carried to the treasury, they were reckoned invalid. +Hence it was ordained under Tiberius, that the decrees of the Senate, +especially concerning the capital punishment of any one, should not be +carried there before the tenth day, that the emperor, if absent from the +city, might have an opportunity of considering them, and if he thought +proper of mitigating them. + +Decrees of the Senate were rarely reversed. While a question was under +debate, every one was at freedom to express his dissent; but when once +determined, it was looked upon as the common concern of each member to +support the opinion of the majority. + +The power of the Senate was different at different times. Under the +regal government, the Senate deliberated upon such affairs as the king +proposed to them, and the kings were said to act according to their +counsel as the consuls did afterwards according to their decrees. + +Tarquin the proud, dropped the custom handed down from his predecessors, +of consulting the Senate about everything; banished or put to death the +chief men of that order, and chose no others in their room; but he was +expelled from the throne for his tyranny, and the regal government +abolished, A. U. 243. Afterwards the power of the Senate was raised to +the highest. Everything was done by its authority. The magistrates were +in a manner only its ministers. But when the Patricians began to abuse +their power, and to exercise cruelty on the Plebeians, especially after +the death of Tarquin, the multitude took arms in their own defence, made +a secession from the city, seized on Mons Sacer, and created tribunes +for themselves, who attacked the authority of the Senate, and in process +of time greatly diminished it. + +Although the supreme power at Rome belonged to the people, yet they +seldom enacted anything without the authority of the Senate. In all +weighty matters, the method usually observed was that the Senate should +first deliberate and decree, and then the people order. + +The Senate assumed to themselves exclusively, the guardianship of the +public religion; so that no new god could be introduced, nor altar +erected, nor the Sybiline books consulted without their order. They had +the direction of the treasury, and distributed the public money at +pleasure. They appointed stipends to their generals and officers, and +provisions and clothing to the armies. They settled the provinces which +were annually assigned to the consuls and prætors, and when it seemed +fit, they prolonged their command. They nominated, out of their own +body, all ambassadors sent from Rome, and gave to foreign ambassadors +what answers they thought proper. They decreed all public thanksgivings +for victories obtained, and conferred the honor of an ovation or triumph +with the title of imperator on their victorious generals. They could +decree the title of king to any prince whom they pleased, and declare +any one an enemy by a vote. They inquired into all public crimes or +treasons, either in Rome or other parts of Italy; and adjusted all +disputes among the allied and dependent cities. They exercised a power +not only of interpreting the laws, but of absolving men from the +obligation of them. They could postpone the assemblies of the people, +and prescribe a change of habit to the city, in cases of any imminent +danger or calamity. + +But their power was chiefly conspicuous in civil dissension or dangerous +tumults within the city, in which that solemn decree used to be passed; +"That the consuls should take care that the republic should receive no +harm." By which decree an absolute power was granted to them to punish +and put to death whom they pleased without a trial; to raise forces and +carry on war, without the order of the people. + +Although the decrees of the Senate had not properly the force of laws, +and took place chiefly in those matters which were not provided for by +the laws, yet they were understood always to have a binding force, and +were therefore obeyed by all orders. The consuls themselves were obliged +to submit to them. They could be annulled or cancelled only by the +Senate itself. In the last ages of the republic, the authority of the +Senate was little regarded by the leading men and their creatures, who +by means of bribery obtained from a corrupted populace what they +desired, in spite of the Senate. + +Augustus, when he became master of the empire, retained the forms of the +ancient republic, and the same names of the magistrates; but left +nothing of the ancient virtue and liberty. While he pretended always to +act by the authority of the Senate, he artfully drew everything to +himself. + +The Senators were distinguished by an oblong stripe of purple sewed on +the forepart of their Senatorial gown, and black buskins reaching to the +middle of the leg, with the letter C in silver on the top of the foot. + +The chief privilege of the Senators was their having a particular place +at the public spectacles, called orchestra. It was next the stage in the +theatre, or next the arena or open space in the amphitheatre. + +The messages sent by the emperor to the Senate were called epistolæ or +libelli, because they were folded in the form of a letter or little +book. Cæsar was said to have first introduced these libelli, which +afterwards were used on almost every occasion. + + + + +CHAPTER III. + +_Other Divisions of the Roman People._ + + +That the Patricians and Plebeians might be connected together by the +strictest bonds, Romulus ordained that every Plebeian should choose from +the Patricians any one he pleased, for his patron or protector, whose +client he was called. + +It was the duty of the patron to advise and defend his client, and to +assist him with his interest and substance. The client was obliged to +pay the greatest respect to his patron, and to serve him with his life +and fortune in any extremity. + +It was unlawful for patrons and clients to accuse or bear witness +against each other, and whoever was found to have done so, might be +slain by any one with impunity as a victim to Pluto, and the infernal +gods. + +It was esteemed highly honorable for a Patrician to have numerous +clients, both hereditary and acquired by his own merit. In after times, +even cities and whole nations were under the protection of illustrious +Roman families. + +Those whose ancestors or themselves had borne any curule magistracy, +that is, had been Consul, Prætor, Censor or Curule Edile, were called +nobiles, and had the right of making images of themselves, which were +kept with great care by their posterity, and carried before them at +funerals. + +These images were merely the busts of persons down to the shoulders, +made of wax, and painted, which they used to place in the courts of +their houses, enclosed in wooden cases, and seem not to have brought +out, except on solemn occasions. There were titles or inscriptions +written below them, pointing out the honors they had enjoyed, and the +exploits they had performed. Anciently, this right of images was +peculiar to the Patricians; but afterwards, the Plebeians also acquired +it, when admitted to curule offices. + +Those who were the first of their family, that had raised themselves to +any curule office, were called _homines novi_, new men or upstarts. +Those who had no images of themselves, or of their ancestors, were +called _ignobiles_. + +Those who favored the interests of the Senate were called optimates, and +sometimes procĕres or principes. Those who studied to gain the favor of +the multitude, were called populares, of whatever order they were. This +was a division of factions, and not of rank or dignity. The contests +between these two parties, excited the greatest commotions in the state, +which finally terminated in the extinction of liberty. + + + + +CHAPTER IV. + +_Gentes and Familiæ; Names of the Romans, &c._ + + +The Romans were divided into various clans, (gentes,) and each clan into +several families. Those of the same gens were called gentiles, and those +of the same family, agnati. But relations by the father's side were also +called agnati, to distinguish them from cognati, relations only by the +mother's side. + +The Romans had three names, to mark the different clans and families, +and distinguish the individuals of the same family--the prænomen, nomen +and cognomen. + +The prænomen was put first, and marked the individual. It was commonly +written with one letter; as A. for Aulus: C. for Caius--sometimes with +two; as Ap. for Appius. + +The nomen was put after the prænomen, to mark the gens, and commonly +ended in ius; as Cornelius, Fabius. The cognomen was put last, and +marked the family; as Cicero, Cæsar. + +Sometimes there was also a fourth name, called the agnomen, added from +some illustrious action, or remarkable event. Thus, Scipio was called +Africanus, from the conquest of Carthage and Africa: for a similar +reason, his brother was called Asiaticus. + +These names were not always used; commonly two, and sometimes only the +sirname. But in speaking to any one, the prænomen was generally used as +being peculiar to citizens, for slaves had no prænomen. + +The sirnames were derived from various circumstances, either from some +quality of the mind; as Cato, from catus, wise: or from the habit of the +body; as Calvus, Crassus, &c.: or from cultivating particular fruits; as +Lentulus, Piso, &c. Quintus Cincinnatus was called Serranus, because the +ambassadors from the senate found him sowing, when they brought him word +that he was made dictator. + +The prænomen was given to boys on the ninth day, which was called _dies +lustrĭcus_, or the day of purification, when certain religious +ceremonies were performed. The eldest son of the family usually received +the prænomen of his father. The rest were named from their uncles or +other relations. + +When there was only one daughter in the family, she was called by the +name of the gens: thus, Tullia, the daughter of Cicero; and retained the +same after marriage. When there were two daughters, one was called +major, and the other minor. If there were more than two, they were +distinguished by their number; thus--prima, secunda, tertia, &c. + +Those were called _liberi_, free, who had the power of doing what they +pleased. Those who were born of parents who had been always free, were +called _ingenui_. Slaves made free were called _liberti_, in relation to +their masters; and _libertini_, in relation to free born citizens. + + + + +CHAPTER V. + +_Private Rights of Roman Citizens._ + + +The right of liberty comprehended not only liberty from the power of +masters, but also from the dominion of tyrants, the severity of +magistrates, the cruelty of creditors, and the insolence of more +powerful citizens. After the expulsion of Tarquin, a law was made by +Brutus, that no one should be king at Rome, and that whoever should form +a design of making himself a king, might be slain with impunity. At the +same time the people were bound by an oath that they would never suffer +a king to be created. + +Citizens could appeal from the magistrates to the people, and the +persons who appealed could in no way be punished, until the people +determined the matter; but they were chiefly secured by the assistance +of the tribunes. + +None but the whole Roman people in the _comitia centuriata_ could pass +sentence on the life of a Roman citizen. No magistrate could punish him +by stripes or capitally. The single expression, "I am a Roman citizen," +checked their severest decrees. + +By the laws of the twelve tables, it was ordained, that insolvent +debtors should be given up to their creditors, to be bound in fetters +and cords, and although they did not entirely lose the rights of +freemen, yet they were in actual slavery, and often more harshly treated +than even slaves themselves. + +To check the cruelty of usurers, a law was afterwards made that no +debtors should be kept in irons, or in bonds; that the goods of the +debtor, not his person, should be given up to his creditors. + +The people, not satisfied with this, as it did not free them from +prison, demanded an entire abolition of debt, which they used to call +new tables; but this was never granted. + +Each clan and family had certain sacred rights, peculiar to itself, +which were inherited in the same manner as effects. When heirs by the +father's side of the same family failed, those of the same gens +succeeded in preference to relations by the mother's side of the same +family. No one could pass from a Patrician family to a Plebeian, or from +a Plebeian to a Patrician, unless by that form of adoption which could +only be made at the _comitia curiata_. + +No Roman citizen could marry a slave, barbarian or foreigner, unless by +the permission of the people. + +A father among the Romans had the power of life and death over his +children. He could not only expose them when infants, but when grown up +he might imprison, scourge, send them bound to work in the country, and +also put them to death by any punishment he pleased. + +A son could acquire no property but with his father's consent, and what +he thus acquired was called his _peculium_ as of a slave. + +Things with respect to property among the Romans were variously divided. +Some were said to be of divine right, and were held sacred, as altars, +temples, or any thing publicly consecrated to the gods, by the authority +of the Pontiffs; or religious, as sepulchres--or inviolable, as the +walls and gates of a city. + +Others were said to be of human right, and called profane. These were +either public and common, as the air, running water, the sea and its +shores; or private, which might be the property of individuals. + +None but a Roman citizen could make a will, or be witnesses to a +testament, or inherit any thing by it. + +The usual method of making a will after the laws of the twelve tables +were enacted, was by brass and balance, as it was called. In the +presence of five witnesses, a weigher and witness, the testator by an +imaginary sale disposed of his family and property to one who was called +_familiæ emptor_, who was not the heir as some have thought, but only +admitted for the sake of form, that the testator might seem to have +alienated his effects in his life time. This act was called _familiæ +mancipatio_. + +Sometimes the testator wrote his will wholly with his own hand, in which +case it was called _hologrăphum_--sometimes it was written by a friend, +or by others. Thus the testament of Augustus was written partly by +himself, and partly by two of his freedmen. + +Testaments were always subscribed by the testator, and usually by the +witnesses, and sealed with their seals or rings. They were likewise tied +with a thread drawn thrice through holes and sealed; like all other +civil deeds, they were always written in Latin. A legacy expressed in +Greek was not valid. + +They were deposited either privately in the hands of a friend, or in a +temple with the keeper of it. Thus Julius Cæsar is said to have +intrusted his testament to the oldest of the vestal virgins. + +A father might leave whom he pleased as guardian to his children;--but +if he died, this charge devolved by law on the nearest relation by the +father's side. When there was no guardian by testament, nor a legal one, +the prætor and the majority of the tribunes of the people appointed a +guardian. If any one died without making a will, his goods devolved on +his nearest relations. + +Women could not transact any business of importance without the +concurrence of their parents, husbands, or guardians. + + + + +CHAPTER VI. + +_Public Rights of Roman Citizens._ + + +The _jus militiæ_, was the right of serving in the army, which was at +first peculiar to the higher order of citizens only, but afterwards the +emperor took soldiers not only from Italy and the provinces, but also +from barbarous nations. + +The _jus tributorum_ was the payment of a tax by each individual through +the tribes, in proportion to the valuation of his estates. + +There were three kinds of tribute, one imposed equally on each person; +another according to his property; and a third exacted in cases of +emergency. There were three other kinds of taxes, called _portorium_, +_decumæ_ and _scriptura_. + +The _portorium_ was paid for goods exported and imported, the collectors +of which were called portitores, or for carrying goods over a bridge. + +The _decumæ_ were the tenth part of corn and the fifth part of other +fruit, exacted from the cultivators of the public lands, either in Italy +or without it. + +The _scriptura_ was paid by those who pastured their cattle upon the +public lands. The _jus saffragii_ was the right of voting in the +different assemblies of the people. + +The _jus honorum_ was the right of being priests or magistrates, at +first enjoyed only by the Patricians. Foreigners might live in the city +of Rome, but they enjoyed none of the rights of citizens; they were +subject to a peculiar jurisdiction, and might be expelled from the city +by a magistrate. They were not permitted to wear the Roman dress. + + + + +CHAPTER VII. + +_Places of Worship._ + + +_Templum_ was a place which had been dedicated to the worship of some +deity, and consecrated by the augurs. + +_Ædes sacræ_ were such as wanted that consecration, which, if they +afterwards received, they changed their names to temples. + +_Delubrum_ comprehended several deities under one roof. The most +celebrated temples were the capitol and pantheon. + +The capitol or temple of Jupiter Capitolinus, was the effect of a vow +made by Tarquinius Priscus, in the Sabine war. But he had scarcely laid +the foundation before his death. His nephew Tarquin the proud, finished +it with the spoils taken from the neighboring nations. + +The structure stood on a high ridge, taking in four acres of ground. The +front was adorned with three rows of pillars, the other sides with two. +The ascent from the ground was by a hundred steps. The prodigious gifts +and ornaments with which it was at several times endowed, almost exceed +belief. Augustus gave at one time two thousand pounds weight of gold, +and in jewels and precious stones to the value of five hundred +sestertia. + +Livy and Pliny surprise us with accounts of the brazen thresholds, the +noble pillars that Scylla removed thither from Athens, out of the temple +of Jupiter Olympius; the gilded roof, the gilded shields, and those of +solid silver; the huge vessels of silver, holding three measures--the +golden chariot, &c. + +This temple was first consumed by fire in the Marian war, and then +rebuilt by Sylla. This too was demolished in the Vitellian sedition. +Vespasian undertook a third, which was burnt about the time of his +death. Domitian raised the last and most glorious of all, in which the +very gilding amounted to twelve thousand talents--on which Plutarch has +observed of that emperor, that he was, like Midas, desirous of turning +every thing into gold. There are very little remains of it at present, +yet enough to make a Christian church. + +The capitol contained in it three temples: one to Jupiter, one to Juno, +and one to Minerva. Jupiter's was in the centre, whence he was +poetically called "_Media qui sedet æde Deus_"--the god who sits in the +middle temple. + +The pantheon was built by Marcus Agrippa, son-in-law to Augustus Cæsar, +and dedicated most probably to all the gods in general, as the name +implies. The structure is a hundred and fifty-eight feet high, and about +the same breadth. The roof is curiously vaulted, void places being here +and there for the greater strength. The rafters were pieces of brass of +forty feet in length. There are no windows in the whole edifice, only a +round hole at the top of the roof, which serves very well for the +admission of light. The walls on the inside are either solid marble or +incrusted. The front, on the outside, was covered with brazen plates, +gilt, the top with silver plates, which are now changed to lead. The +gates were brass, of extraordinary work and magnitude. + +This temple is still standing, with little alteration, besides the loss +of the old ornaments, being converted into a Christian church by Pope +Boniface III. The most remarkable difference is that where they before +ascended by twelve steps, they now go down as many to the entrance. + +There are two other temples, particularly worth notice, not so much for +the magnificence of the structure, as for the customs that depend upon +them, and the remarkable use to which they were put. These are the +temples of Saturn and Janus. + +The first was famous on account of serving for the public treasury--the +reason of which some fancy to have been because Saturn first taught the +Italians to coin money; but most probably it was because this was the +strongest place in the city. Here were preserved all the public +registers and records, among which were the _libri elephantini_, or +great ivory tables, containing a list of all the tribes and the schemes +of the public accounts. + +The other was a square building, some say of entire brass, so large as +to contain a statue of Janus, five feet high, with brazen gates on each +side, which were kept open in war, and shut in time of peace. + + + + +CHAPTER VIII. + +_Of other public Buildings._ + + +Theatres, so called from the Greek θεαομαι, to see, owe their origin to +Bacchus. + +That the theatres and amphitheatres were two different sorts of +edifices, was never questioned, the former being built in the shape of a +semicircle; the other generally oval, so as to make the same figure as +if two theatres should be joined together. Yet the same place is often +called by these names in several authors. They seem, too, to have been +designed for quite different ends: the theatres for stage plays, the +amphitheatres for the greater shows of gladiators, wild beasts, &c. The +following are the most important parts of both. + +_Scena_ was a partition reaching quite across the theatre, being made +either to turn round or draw up, to present a new prospect to the +spectators. + +_Proscenium_ was the space of ground just before the scene, where the +_pulpitum_ stood, into which the actors came from behind the scenes to +perform. + +The middle part, or area of the amphitheatre, was called _cavæ_, because +it was considerably lower than the other parts, whence perhaps, the name +of pit in our play houses was borrowed; and arena, because it used to be +strown with sand, to hinder the performers from slipping. + +There was a threefold distinction of the seats, according to the +ordinary division of the people into senators, knights, and commons. The +first range was called orchestra, from ορχειςθαι, because in that part +of the Grecian theatres, the dances were performed; the second +_equestria_; and the other _popularia_. + + + [Illustration: + + Ruins of the Flavian Amphitheatre, commonly called + the Colisæum. Pl. 2.] + + +The Flavian amphitheatre, now better known by the name of the +_Colisæum_, from its stupendous magnitude, excites the astonishment of +the world. It was five hundred fifty feet in length, and four hundred +seventy in breadth, and one hundred sixty in height. It was surrounded +to the top by a portico resting on eighty arches, and divided into four +stories. The arrangement of the seats was similar to that in the +theatres; but there was a large box projecting from one side, and +covered with a canopy of state for the accommodation of the emperor and +the magistrates, who were surrounded with all the insignia of office. + +As combats of wild beasts formed a chief part of the amusements, they +were secured in dens around the arena or stage, which was strongly +encircled by a canal, to guard the spectators against their attacks. +These precautions, however, were not always sufficient, and instances +occurred in which the animals sprung across the barrier. + +This huge pile was commenced by Vespasian, and was reared with a portion +of the materials of Nero's golden palace: its form was oval, and it is +supposed to have contained upwards of eighty thousand persons. A large +part of this vast edifice still remains. + +Theatres, in the first ages of the commonwealth, were only temporary, +and composed of wood. Of these, the most celebrated was that of Marcus +Scaurus--the scenes of which were divided into three partitions, one +above another, the first consisting of one hundred and twenty pillars of +marble; the next, of the like number of pillars, curiously wrought in +glass. The top of all had the same number of pillars adorned with gilded +tablets. Between the pillars were set three thousand statues and images +of brass. The _cavca_ would hold eighty thousand men. + +Pompey the great was the first who undertook the raising of a fixed +theatre, which he built nobly of square stone. Some of the remains of +this theatre are still to be seen at Rome. + +The _circi_ were places set apart for the celebration of several sorts +of games:--they were generally oblong or almost in the shape of a bow, +having a wall quite round, with ranges of seats for the convenience of +spectators. At the entrance of the circus stood the _carceres_ or lists, +whence they started, and just by them, one of the _metæ_ or marks--the +other standing at the farther end to conclude the race. + +The most remarkable, was the _circus maximus_, built by Tarquinius +Priscus:--the length of it was four _stadia_, or furlongs, the breadth +the same number of acres, with a trench of ten feet deep, and as many +broad, to receive the water, and seats enough for one hundred fifty +thousand men. It was extremely beautiful and adorned by succeeding +princes, and enlarged to such a prodigious extent as to be able to +contain in their proper seats two hundred and sixty thousand spectators. + +The _naumachiæ_ or places for the shows of sea-engagements are no where +particularly described; but we may suppose them similar to the _circi_ +and amphitheatres. + +The _stadia_ were places in the form of _circi_, for the running of men +and horses. A beautiful one was built by Domitian. The _xysti_ were +places constructed like porticos, in which the wrestlers exercised. + +The _Campus Martius_, famous on so many accounts, was a large plain +field, lying near the Tiber, whence we find it sometimes under the name +of _Tiberinus_:--it was called _Martius_, because it had been +consecrated by the old Romans to the god Mars. Besides the pleasant +situation and other natural ornaments, the continual sports and +exercises performed there, made it one of the most interesting sights +near the city. Here the young noblemen practised all kinds of feats of +activity, and learned the use of arms. Here were the races either with +chariots or single horses. Besides this, it was nobly adorned with the +statues of famous men, with arches, columns and porticos, and other +magnificent structures. Here stood the _villa publica_ or palace, for +the reception and entertainment of ambassadors from foreign states, who +were not allowed to enter the city. + +The Roman _curiæ_ were of two sorts, divine and civil. In the former, +the priests and religious orders met for the regulation of the rites and +ceremonies belonging to the worship of the gods. In the other, the +senate used to assemble, to consult about the public concerns of the +commonwealth. The senate could not meet in such a place, unless it had +been solemnly consecrated by the augurs, and made of the same nature as +a temple. + +The Roman forums were public buildings about three times as long as they +were broad. All the compass of the forum was surrounded by arched +porticos, some passages being left as places of entrance. + +There were two kinds, _fora civilia_ and _fora venalia_. The first were +designed for the ornaments of the city, and for the use of public courts +of justice. The others were erected for the necessities and conveniences +of the inhabitants, and were no doubt equivalent to our markets. The +most remarkable were the Roman forum, built by Romulus, and adorned with +porticos on all sides, by Tarquinius Priscus: This was the most ancient +and most frequently used in public affairs. + +The Julian forum, built by Julius Cæsar, with the spoils taken in the +Gallic war; the area alone, cost one hundred thousand _sesterces_, equal +to 3570 dollars. + +The Augustan forum, built by Augustus Cæsar, containing statues in the +two porticos, on each side of the main building. In one were all the +Latin kings, beginning with Æneas: in the other all the Roman kings, +beginning with Romulus, and most of the eminent persons in the +commonwealth, and Augustus himself among the rest, with an inscription +upon the pedestal of every statue, expressing the chief actions and +exploits of the person it represented. + +The forum of Trajan, erected by the emperor Trajan, with the foreign +spoils he had taken in the wars; the covering was all brass, and the +porticos exceedingly beautiful. + +The chief _fora venalia_ or markets, were _boarium_, for oxen and beef, +_suarium_, for swine, _pistorium_, for bread, _cupedinarium_, for +dainties, and _holitorium_, for roots, sallads and similar things. + +The _comitium_ was only a part of the Roman forum, which served +sometimes for the celebration of the _comitia_; here stood the _rostra_, +a kind of pulpit, adorned with the beaks of ships taken in a sea fight, +from the inhabitants of Antium in Italy; here causes were pleaded, +orations made, and funeral panegyrics delivered. + + + + +CHAPTER IX. + +_Porticos, Arches, Columns and Trophies._ + + +The porticos are worthy of observation: they were structures of curious +work and extraordinary beauty annexed to public edifices, sacred and +civil, as well for ornament as use. + +They generally took their names either from the temples which they stood +near, from the builders, from the nature and form of the building, or +from the remarkable paintings in them. + +They were sometimes used for the assemblies of the senate; sometimes the +jewellers and such as dealt in the most precious wares took their stand +here to expose their goods for sale; but the general use they were put +to, was the pleasure of walking or riding in them, like the present +piazzas in Italy. + +Arches were public buildings designed for the encouragement and reward +of noble enterprises, erected generally to the honor of such eminent +persons as had either won a victory of extraordinary consequence abroad, +or had rescued the commonwealth, at home, from any considerable danger. + +At first they were plain and rude structures, by no means remarkable for +beauty or taste: but in latter times no expense was thought too great to +render them in the highest manner splendid and magnificent. The arches +built by Romulus were only of brick, that of Camillus of plain square +stone, but those of Cæsar, Drusus, Titus, &c. were all of marble. + +Their figure was at first semicircular, whence probably they took their +names; afterwards they were built four square, with a spacious arched +gate in the middle, and small ones on each side. Upon the vaulted part +of the middle gate, hung little winged images representing victory, with +crowns in their hands, which, when they were let down, they put upon the +conqueror's head, as he passed under the triumphal arch. + +The columns or pillars, over the sepulchres of distinguished men, were +great ornaments to the city: they were at last converted to the same +design as the arches, for the honorable memorial of some noble victory +or exploit. The pillars of the emperors Trajan and Antoninus deserve +particular attention for their beauty and curious workmanship. + +The former was set up in the middle of Trajan's forum, being composed of +twenty-four great stones of marble, but so skilfully cemented as to +appear one entire stone. The height was one hundred forty-four feet; it +is ascended on the inside by one hundred eighty-five winding stairs, and +has forty little windows for the admission of light. The whole pillar is +incrusted with marble, in which are expressed all the noble actions of +the emperor, and particularly the Decian war. + +But its noblest ornament was the gigantic statue of Trajan on the top, +being no less than twenty feet high; he was represented in a coat of +armour proper to the general, holding in his left hand a sceptre, in his +right a hollow globe of fire, in which his own ashes were deposited +after his death. + +The column of Antoninus was raised in imitation of this, which it +exceeded only in one respect, that it was one hundred seventy six feet +high--for the work was much inferior to the former, being undertaken in +the declining age of the empire. The ascent on the inside was by one +hundred six steps, and the windows, in the sides, fifty-six; the +sculpture and the other ornaments were of the same nature as those of +the first, and on the top stood a colossal statue of the emperor, naked, +as appears from his coins. + +Both of these columns are still standing at Rome; the former almost +entire: but Pope Sixtus the first, instead of the two statues of the +emperors, set up St. Peter's on the column of Trajan, and St. Paul's on +that of Antoninus. + +There was likewise a gilded pillar in the forum, called the _milliarium +aureum_, erected by Augustus Cæsar, at which all the highways of Italy +met and were concluded; from this they counted their miles, at the end +of every mile setting up a stone, whence came the phrase _primus ab urbe +pisla_. + +But the most remarkable was the _columna rostrata_, set up to the honor +of Caius Duilius, when he had gained a victory over the Carthaginian and +Sicilian fleets, four hundred ninety-three years from the foundation of +the city, and adorned with the beaks of the vessels taken in the +engagement. This is still to be seen at Rome; the inscription on the +basis is a noble example of the old way of writing, in the early times +of the commonwealth. + +Trophies were spoils taken from the enemy, and fixed upon any thing as +signs or monuments of victory: they were erected usually in the place +where it was gained and consecrated to some divinity, with an +inscription. + + + + +CHAPTER X. + +_Bagnios, Aqueducts, Sewers and public Ways._ + + +The Romans expended immense sums of money on their bagnios. The most +remarkable were those of the emperors Dioclesian and Antonius +Caracalla--great part of which are standing at this time, and with the +high arches, the beautiful and stately pillars, the abundance of foreign +marble, the curious vaulting of the roofs, and the prodigious number of +spacious apartments, may be considered among the greatest curiosities of +Rome. + +The first invention of aqueducts, is attributed to Appius Claudius, four +hundred forty-one years from the foundation of the city, who brought +water into the city, by a channel of eleven miles in length--but +afterwards several others of greater magnitude were built: several of +them were cut through the mountains, and all other impediments for about +forty miles together, and of such a height that a man on horseback might +ride through them without the least difficulty. But this is meant only +of the constant course of the channel, for the vaults and arches were in +some places one hundred and nine feet high. It is said that Rome was +supplied with five hundred thousand hogsheads every twenty-four hours by +means of these aqueducts. + +The _cloacæ_ or sewers were constructed by undermining and cutting +through the seven hills upon which Rome stood, making the city hang, as +it were, between heaven and earth, and capable of being sailed under. + +Marcus Agrippa in his edileship, made no less than seven streams meet +together under ground, in one main channel, with such a rapid current, +as to carry all before them, that they met with in their passage. +Sometimes in a flood, the waters of the Tiber opposed them in their +course, and the two streams encountered each other with great fury: yet +the works preserved their old strength, without any sensible damage: +sometimes the ruins of whole buildings, destroyed by fire or other +casualties, pressed heavily upon the frame: sometimes terrible +earthquakes shook the foundation: yet they still continued impregnable. + +The public ways were built with extraordinary care to a great distance +from the city on all sides; they were generally paved with flint, though +sometimes, and especially without the city, with pebbles and gravel. + +The most noble was the Appian way, the length of which was generally +computed at three hundred and fifty miles: it was twelve feet broad, +made of huge stones, most of them blue. Its strength was so great, that +after it had been built two thousand years, it was, in most places, for +several miles together, perfectly sound. + + + + +CHAPTER XI. + +_Of Augurs and Auguries._ + + +The business of the augurs or soothsayers was to interpret dreams, +oracles, prodigies, &c. and to tell whether any action should be +fortunate or prejudicial to any particular persons, or to the whole +commonwealth. + +There are five kinds of auguries mentioned in authors--1st. From the +appearances in heaven,--as thunder, lightning, comets and other meteors; +as, for instance, whether the thunder came from the right or left, +whether the number of strokes was even or odd, &c. + +2d. From birds, whence they had the name of _auspices_, from _avis_ and +_specio_; some birds furnished them with observations from their +chattering and singing,--such as crows, owls, &c.--others from their +flying, as eagles, vultures, &c. + +To take both these kind of auguries, the observer stood upon a tower +with his head covered in a gown, peculiar to his office, and turning his +face towards the east, marked out the heavens into four quarters, with a +short, straight rod, with a little turning at one end: this done, he +staid waiting for the omen, which never signified anything, unless +confirmed by another of the same sort. + +3d. From chickens kept in a coop for this purpose. The manner of +divining from them was as follows:--early in the morning, the augur, +commanding a general silence, ordered the coop to be opened, and threw +down a handful of crumbs or corn: if the chickens did not immediately +run to the food, if they scattered it with their wings, if they went by +without taking notice of it, or if they flew away, the omen was reckoned +unfortunate, and to portend nothing but danger or mischance; but if they +leaped directly from the pen, and eat voraciously, there was great +assurance of happiness and success. + +4th. From beasts, such as foxes, wolves, goats, heifers, &c.; the +general observations about these, were, whether they appeared in a +strange place, or crossed the way, or whether they ran to the right or +the left, &c. + +The last kind of divination was from unusual accidents, such as +sneezing, stumbling, seeing apparations, hearing strange voices, the +falling of salt upon the table, &c. + + + + +CHAPTER XII. + +_Of the Aruspices, Pontifices, Quindecemviri, Vestals, &c._ + + +The business of aruspices was to look upon the beasts offered in +sacrifices, and by them to divine the success of any enterprise. + +They took their observations, 1st. From the beasts before they were cut +up. 2d. From the entrails of those beasts after they were cut up. 3d. +From the flame that used to rise when they were burning. 4th. From the +flour of bran, from the frankincense, wine and water, which they used in +the sacrifice. + +The offices of the pontifices were to give judgment in all cases +relating to religion, to inquire into the lives of the inferior priests, +and to punish them if they saw occasion; to prescribe rules for public +worship; to regulate the feasts, sacrifices, and all other sacred +institutions. The master or superintendent of the pontifices was one of +the most honorable offices in the commonwealth. + +The _quindecemviri_ had the charge of the sibylline books; inspected +them by the appointment of the senate in dangerous junctures, and +performed the sacrifices which they enjoined. + +They are said to have been instituted on the following occasion: A +certain woman called Amalthēa is said to have come to Tarquin the proud, +wishing to sell nine books of sibylline or prophetic oracles: but upon +Tarquin's refusal to give her the price she asked, she went away and +burnt three of them. Returning soon after, she asked the same price for +the remaining six: whereupon, being ridiculed by the king, she went and +burnt three more; and coming back, still demanded the same price for +those which remained. Tarquin, surprised at this strange conduct of the +woman, consulted the augurs what to do; they, regretting the loss of the +books which had been destroyed, advised the king to give the price +required. The woman therefore, having delivered the books and directed +them to be carefully kept, disappeared, and was never afterwards seen. + +These books were supposed to contain the fate of the Roman empire, and +therefore, in public danger or calamity, they were frequently inspected; +they were kept with great care in a chest under ground, in the capitol. + +The institution of the vestal virgins is generally attributed to Numa; +their office was to attend upon the rites of Vesta, the chief part of it +being the preservation of the holy fire: they were obliged to keep this +with the greatest care, and if it happened to go out, it was thought +impiety to light it by any common flame, but they made use of the pure +rays of the sun. + +The famous palladium brought from Troy by Æneas, was likewise guarded by +them, for Ulysses and Diomedes stole only a counterfeit one, a copy of +the other, which was kept with less care. + +The number of the vestals was six, and they were admitted between the +years of six and ten. The chief rules prescribed by their founder, were +to vow the strictest chastity for the space of thirty years;--the first +ten they were only novices, being obliged to learn the ceremonies and +perfect themselves in the duties of their religion; the next ten years +they discharged the duties of priestesses, and spent the remaining ten +in instructing others. + +If they broke their vow of virginity, they were buried alive in a place +without the city wall, allotted for that purpose. + +This severe condition was recompensed with several privileges and +prerogatives: their persons were sacred: in public they usually appeared +on a magnificent car, drawn by white horses, followed by a numerous +retinue of female slaves, and preceded by lictors; and if they met a +malefactor going to punishment, they had the power to remit his +sentence. + +The _septemviri_ were priests among the Romans, who prepared the sacred +feasts at games, processions, and other solemn occasions: they were +likewise assistants to the pontifices. + +The _fratres ambarvales_, twelve in number, were those priests who +offered up sacrifices for the fertility of the ground. The _curiones_ +performed the rites in each curia. + +_Feciales_ (_Heralds_) were a college of sacred persons, into whose +charge all concerns relating to the declaration of war or conclusion of +peace, were committed. + +Their first institution was in so high a degree laudable and beneficial, +as to reflect great honour on Roman justice and moderation. It was the +primary and especial duty of the heralds, to inquire into the equity of +a proposed war: and if the grounds of it seemed to them trivial or +unjust, the war was declined--if otherwise, the senate concerted the +best measures to carry it on with spirit. + +Feciales were supreme judges in every thing relating to treaties. The +head of their college was called Pater Patratus. + +All the members of this college, while in the discharge of their duty, +wore a wreath of vervain around their heads; and bore a branch of it in +their hands, when they made peace, of which it was an emblem. + +Their authority and respectability continued until the lust of dominion +had corrupted the policy of the Romans; after which their situations +were comparative sinecures, and their solemn deliberations dwindled into +useless or contemptible formalities. + +Among the flamines or priests of particular gods, were, 1st. _flamen +dialis_ the priest of Jupiter. This was an office of great dignity, but +subjected to many restrictions; as that he should not ride on horseback, +nor stay one night without the city, nor take an oath, and several +others. + +2d. The _salii_, priests of Mars, so called, because on solemn occasions +they used to go through the city dancing, dressed in an embroidered +tunic, bound with a brazen belt, and a _toga pretexta_ or _trabea_; +having on their head a cap rising to a considerable height in the form +of a cone, with a sword by their side, in their right hand a spear or +rod, and in their left, one of the ancilia or shields of Mars.--The most +solemn procession of the salii was on the first of March, in +commemoration of the time when the sacred shield was believed to have +fallen from heaven in the reign of Numa. + +3d. The _luperci_, priests of Pan, were so called, from a wolf, because +that god was supposed to keep the wolves from the sheep. Hence the place +where he was worshipped was called lupercal, and his festival +lupercalia, which was celebrated in February, at which the luperci ran +up and down the city naked, having only a girdle of goat skin round +their waists, and thongs of the same in their hands, with which they +struck those they met. + +It is said that Antony, while chief of the luperci, went according to +concert, it is believed, almost naked into the forum, attended by his +lictors, and having made an harangue to the people from the rostra, +presented a crown to Cæsar, who was sitting there, surrounded by the +whole senate and people. He attempted frequently to put the crown upon +his head, addressing him by the title of king, and declaring that what +he said and did was at the desire of his fellow citizens; but Cæsar +perceiving the strongest marks of aversion in the people, rejected it, +saying, that Jupiter alone was king of Rome, and therefore sent the +crown to the capitol to be presented to that God. + + + + +CHAPTER XIII. + +_Religious Ceremonies of the Romans._ + + +The Romans were, as a people, remarkably attached to the religion they +professed; and scrupulously attentive in discharging the rites and +ceremonies which it enjoined. + +Their religion was Idolatry, in its grossest and widest acceptation. It +acknowledged a few general truths, but greatly darkened these by fables +and poetical fiction. + +All the inhabitants of the invisible world, to which the souls of people +departed after death, were indiscriminately called _Inferi_. _Elysium_ +was that part of hell (_apud Inferos_,) in which the good spent a +spiritual existence of unmingled enjoyment, and _Tartarus_ (pl. -ra) was +the terrible prison-house of the damned. + +The worship of the gods consisted chiefly in prayers, vows, and +sacrifices. No act of religious worship was performed without prayer; +while praying, they stood usually with their heads covered, looking +towards the east; a priest pronounced the words before them;--they +frequently touched the altars or knees of the images of the gods; +turning themselves round in a circle towards the right, sometimes +putting their right hand to their mouth, and also prostrating themselves +on the ground. + +They vowed temples, games, sacrifices, gifts, &c. Sometimes they used to +write their vows on paper or waxen tablets, to seal them up, and fasten +them with wax to the knees of the images of the gods, that being +supposed to be the seat of mercy. + +Lustrations were necessary to be made before entrance on any important +religious duty, viz. before setting out to the temples, before the +sacrifice, before initiation into the mysteries, and before solemn vows +and prayers. + +Lustrations were also made after acts by which one might be polluted; as +after murder, or after having assisted at a funeral. + +In sacrifices it was requisite that those who offered them, should come +chaste and pure; that they should bathe themselves, be dressed in white +robes, and crowned with the leaves of the tree which was thought most +acceptable to the god whom they worshipped. + +Sacrifices were made of victims whole and sound (_Integræ et sanæ_.) But +all victims were not indifferently offered to all gods. + +A white bull was an acceptable sacrifice to Jupiter; an ewe to Juno; +black victims, bulls especially, to Pluto; a bull and a horse to +Neptune; the horse to Mars; bullocks and lambs to Apollo, &c. Sheep and +goats were offered to various deities. + +The victim was led to the altar with a loose rope, that it might not +seem to be brought by force, which was reckoned a bad omen. After +silence was proclaimed, a salted cake was sprinkled on the head of the +beast, and frankincense and wine poured between his horns, the priest +having first tasted the wine himself, and given it to be tasted by those +that stood next him, which was called _libatio_--the priest then plucked +the highest hairs between the horns, and threw them into the fire--the +victim was struck with an axe or mall, then stabbed with knives, and the +blood being caught in goblets, was poured on the altar--it was then +flayed and dissected; then the entrails were inspected by the aruspices, +and if the signs were favorable, they were said to have offered up an +acceptable sacrifice, or to have pacified the gods; if not, another +victim was offered up, and sometimes several. The parts which fell to +the gods were sprinkled with meal, wine, and frankincense, and burnt on +the altar. When the sacrifice was finished, the priest, having washed +his hands, and uttered certain prayers, again made a libation, and the +people were dismissed. + +Human sacrifices were also offered among the Romans: persons guilty of +certain crimes, as treachery or sedition, were devoted to Pluto and the +infernal gods, and therefore any one might slay them with impunity. + +Altars and temples afforded an asylum or place of refuge among the +Greeks and Romans, as well as among the Jews, chiefly to slaves from the +cruelty of their masters, and to insolvent debtors and criminals, where +it was considered impious to touch them; but sometimes they put fire and +combustible materials around the place, that the person might appear to +be forced away, not by men, but by a god: or shut up the temple and +unroofed it, that he might perish in the open air. + + + + +CHAPTER XIV. + +_The Roman Year._ + + +Romulus divided the year into ten months; the first of which was called +March from Mars, his supposed father; the 2d April, either from the +Greek name of Venus, (Aφροδιτα) or because trees and flowers open their +buds, during that month; the 3d, May, from Maia, the mother of Mercury; +the 4th, June, from the goddess Juno; 5th, July, from Julius Cæsar; 6th, +August, from Augustus Cæsar; the rest were called from their number, +September, October, November, December. + +Numa added two months--January from Janus, and February because the +people were then purified, (_februabatur_) by an expiatory sacrifice +from the sin of the whole year: for this anciently was the last month in +the year. + +Numa in imitation of the Greeks divided the year into twelve lunar +months, according to the course of the moon, but as this mode of +division did not correspond with the course of the sun, he ordained that +an intercalary month should be added every other year. + +Julius Cæsar afterwards abolished this month, and with the assistance of +Sosigĕnes, a skilful astronomer of Alexandria, in the year of Rome 707, +arranged the year according to the course of the sun, commencing with +the first of January, and assigned to each month the number of days +which they still retain. This is the celebrated Julian or solar year +which has been since maintained without any other alteration than that +of the new style, introduced by pope Gregory, A. D. 1582, and adopted in +England in 1752, when eleven days were dropped between the second and +fourteenth of September. + +The months were divided into three parts, _kalends_, _nones_ and _ides_. +They commenced with the _kalends_; the _nones_ occurred on the fifth, +and the _ides_ on the thirteenth, except in March, May, July, and +October, when they fell on the seventh and fifteenth. + +In marking the days of the month they went backwards: thus, January +first was the first of the _kalends_ of January--December thirty-first +was _pridie kalendas_, or the day next before the _kalends_ of +January--the day before that, or the thirtieth of December, _tertio +kalendas Januarii_, or the third day before the _kalends_ of January, +and so on to the thirteenth, when came the ides of December. + +The day was either civil or natural; the civil day was from midnight to +midnight; the natural day was from the rising to the setting of the sun. + +The use of clocks and watches was unknown to the Romans--nor was it till +four hundred and forty-seven years after the building of the city, that +the sun dial was introduced: about a century later, they first measured +time by a water machine, which served by night, as well as by day. + +Their days were distinguished by the names of _festi_, _profesti_, and +_intercisi_. The _festi_ were dedicated to religious worship, the +_profesti_ were allotted to ordinary business, the days which served +partly for one and partly for the other were called _intercisi_, or half +holy days. + +The manner of reckoning by weeks was not introduced until late in the +second century of the christian era: it was borrowed from the Egyptians, +and the days were named after the planets: thus, Sunday from the Sun, +Monday from the Moon, Tuesday from Mars, Wednesday from Mercury, +Thursday from Jupiter, Friday from Venus, Saturday from Saturn. + + +_A Table of the Kalends, Nones, and Ides._ + + Days of| Apr, June, | Jan, August, | March, May, | + Month. | Sept, Nov. | December. | July, Oct. | February. + + 1 Kalendæ. Kalendæ. Kalendæ. Kalendæ. + 2 IV. Nonas. IV. Nonas VI. IV. Nonas. + 3 III. III. V. III. + 4 Pridie. Pridie. IV. Pridie. + 5 Nonæ. Nonæ. III. Nonæ. + 6 VIII. Idus VIII. Idus. Pridie. VIII. Idus. + 7 VII. VII. Nonæ. VII. + 8 VI. VI. VIII. Idus. VI. + 9 V. V. VII. V. + 10 IV. IV. VI. IV. + 11 III. III. V. III. + 12 Pridie. Pridie. IV. Pridie. + 13 Idus. Idus. III. Idus. + 14 XVIII. Kal. XIX. Kal. Pridie. XVI. Kal. + 15 XVII. XVIII. Idus. XV. + 16 XVI. XVII. XVII. Kal. XIV + 17 XV. XVI. XVI. XIII. + 18 XIV. XV. XV. XII. + 19 XIII. XIV. XIV. XI. + 20 XII. XIII. XIII. X. + 21 XI. XII. XII. IX. + 22 X. XI. XI. VIII. + 23 IX. X. X. VII. + 24 VIII. IX. IX. VI. + 25 VII. VIII. VIII. V. + 26 VI. VII. VII. IV. + 27 V. VI. VI. III. + 28 IV. V. V. Prid. Kal. + 29 III. IV. IV. Martii. + 30 Prid. Kal. III. III. + 31 Mens. seq. Prid. Kal. Prid. Kal. + Mens. seq. Mens. seq. + + + + +CHAPTER XV. + +_Roman Games._ + + +The Roman Games formed a part of religious worship, and were always +consecrated to some god: they were either stated or vowed by generals in +war, or celebrated on extraordinary occasions; the most celebrated were +those of the circus. + +Among them were first, chariot and horse races, of which the Romans were +extravagantly fond. The charioteers were distributed into four parties +or factions from the different colours of their dresses. The spectators +favored one or other of the colours, as humor or caprice inclined them. +It was not the swiftness of their horses, nor the art of the men that +inclined them, but merely the dress. In the times of Justinian, no less +than thirty thousand men are said to have lost their lives at +Constantinople, in a tumult raised by contention among the partizans of +the several colours. + +The order in which the chariots or horses stood, was determined by lot, +and the person who presided at the games gave the signal for starting, +by dropping a cloth; then the chain of the _hermuli_ being withdrawn, +they sprung forward, and whoever first ran seven times round the course, +was declared the victor; he was then crowned, and received a prize in +money of considerable value. + +Second; contests of agility and strength, of which there were five +kinds; running, leaping, boxing, wrestling and throwing the _discus_ or +quoit. Boxers covered their hands with a kind of gloves, which had lead +or iron sewed into them, to make the strokes fall with greater weight; +the combatants were previously trained in a place of exercise, and +restricted to a particular diet. + +Third; what was called _venatio_, or the fighting of wild beasts with +one another, or with men, called _bestiarii_, who were either forced to +this by way of punishment, as the primitive christians often were, or +fought voluntarily, either from a natural ferocity of disposition, or +induced by hire. An incredible number of animals of various kinds, were +brought from all quarters, for the entertainment of the people, at an +immense expense; and were kept in enclosures called _vivaria_, till the +day of exhibition. Pompey, in his second consulship, exhibited at once +five hundred lions, and eighteen elephants, who were all despatched in +five days. + +Fourth; _naumachia_, or the representation of a sea fight; those who +fought, were usually composed of captives or condemned malefactors, who +fought to death, unless saved by the clemency of the emperors. + +In the next class of games were the shows of gladiators; they were first +exhibited at Rome by two brothers called Bruti, at the funeral of their +father, and for some time they were only exhibited on such occasions; +but afterwards, also by the magistrates, to entertain the people, +chiefly at the _saturnalia_ and feasts of Minerva. + +Incredible numbers of men were destroyed in this manner; after the +triumph of Trajan over the Dacians, spectacles were exhibited for one +hundred twenty-three days, in which eleven thousand animals, of +different kinds, were killed, and ten thousand gladiators fought, whence +we may judge of other instances. The emperor Claudius, although +naturally of a gentle disposition, is said to have been rendered cruel +by often attending these spectacles. + +Gladiators were at first composed of slaves and captives, or of +condemned malefactors, but afterwards also of free born citizens, +induced by hire or inclination. + +When any gladiator was wounded, he lowered his arms as a sign of his +being vanquished, but his fate depended on the pleasure of the people, +who, if they wished him to be saved, pressed down their thumbs; if to be +slain, they turned them up, and ordered him to receive the sword, which +gladiators usually submitted to with amazing fortitude. + +Such was the spirit engendered by these scenes of blood, that +malefactors and unfortunate christians, during the period of the +persecution against them, were compelled to risk their lives in these +unequal contests; and in the time of Nero, christians were dressed in +skins, and thus distinguished, were hunted by dogs, or forced to contend +with ferocious animals, by which they were devoured. + +The next in order were the dramatic entertainments, of which there were +three kinds. First; comedy, which was a representation of common life, +written in a familiar style, and usually with a happy issue: the design +of it was, to expose vice and folly to ridicule. + +Second; tragedy, or the representation of some one serious and important +action; in which illustrious persons are introduced as heroes, kings, +&c. written in an elevated style, and generally with an unhappy issue. + +The great end of tragedy was to excite the passions; chiefly pity and +horror: to inspire a love of virtue, and an abhorrence of vice. + +The Roman tragedy and comedy differed from ours only in the chorus: this +was a company of actors who usually remained on the stage singing and +conversing on the subject in the intervals of the acts. + +Pantomimes, or representations of dumb show, where the actors expressed +every thing by their dancing and gestures, without speaking. + +Those who were most approved, received crowns, &c. as at other games; at +first composed of leaves or flowers, tied round the head with strings, +afterwards of thin plates of brass gilt. + +The scenery was concealed by a curtain, which, contrary to the modern +custom, was drawn down when the play began, and raised when it was over. + + + + +CHAPTER XVI. + +_Magistrates._ + + +Rome was at first governed by kings, chosen by the people; their power +was not absolute, but limited; their badges were the _trabea_ or white +robe adorned with stripes of purple, a golden crown and ivory sceptre; +the _curule_ chair and twelve _lictors_ with the _fasces_, that is, +carrying each a bundle of rods, with an axe in the middle of them. + +The regal government subsisted at Rome for two hundred and forty-three +years, under seven kings--Romulus, Numa Pompilius, Tullus Hostilius, +Ancus Marcius, Lucius Tarquinius Priscus, Servius Tullius, and Lucius +Tarquinius Superbus, all of whom, except the last, may be said to have +laid the foundation of Roman greatness by their good government. + +Tarquin being universally detested for his tyranny and cruelty, was +expelled the city, with his wife and family, on account of the violence +offered by his son Sextus to Lucretia, a noble lady, the wife of +Collatinus. + +This revolution was brought about chiefly by means of Lucius Junius +Brutus. The haughtiness and cruelty of Tarquin inspired the Romans with +the greatest aversion to regal government, which they retained ever +after. + +In the two hundred and forty-fourth year from the building of the city, +they elected two magistrates, of equal authority, and gave them the name +of consuls. They had the same badges as the kings, except the crown, and +nearly the same power; in time of war they possessed supreme command, +and usually drew lots to determine which should remain in Rome--they +levied soldiers, nominated the greater part of the officers, and +provided what was necessary for their support. + +In dangerous conjunctures, they were armed by the senate with absolute +power, by the solemn decree that the consuls should take care the +Republic receives no harm. In any serious tumult or sedition they called +the Roman citizens to arms in these words, "Let those who wish to save +the republic follow me"--by which they easily checked it. + +Although their authority was very much impaired, first by the tribunes +of the people, and afterwards upon the establishment of the empire, yet +they were still employed in consulting the senate, administering +justice, managing public games and the like, and had the honor to +characterize the year by their own names. + +To be a candidate for the consulship, it was requisite to be forty-three +years of age: to have gone through the inferior offices of _quæstor_, +_ædile_, and _prætor_--and to be present in a private station. + +The office of prætor was instituted partly because the consuls being +often wholly taken up with foreign wars, found the want of some person +to administer justice in the city; and partly because the nobility, +having lost their appropriation of the consulship, were ambitious of +obtaining some new honor in its room. He was attended in the city by two +_lictors_, who went before him with the _fasces_, and six _lictors_ +without the city; he wore also, like the consuls, the _toga pretexta_, +or white robe fringed with purple. + +The power of the prætor, in the administration of justice, was expressed +in three words, _do_, _dico_, _addico_. By the word _do_, he expressed +his power in giving the form of a writ for trying and redressing a +wrong, and in appointing judges or jury to decide the cause: by _dico_, +he meant that he declared right, or gave judgment; and by _addico_, that +he adjudged the goods of the debtor to the creditor. The prætor +administered justice only in private or trivial cases: but in public and +important causes, the people either judged themselves, or appointed +persons called _quæsitores_ to preside. + +The _censors_ were appointed to take an account of the number of the +people, and the value of their fortunes, and superintend the public +morals. They were usually chosen from the most respectable persons of +consular dignity, at first only from among the Patricians, but +afterwards likewise from the Plebeians. + +They had the same ensigns as the consuls, except the _lictors_, and were +chosen every five years, but continued in office only a year and a half. +When any of the senators or equites committed a dishonorable action, the +censors could erase the name of the former from the list, and deprive +the knight of his horse and ring; any other citizen, they degraded or +deprived of all the privileges of a Roman citizen, except liberty. + +As the sentence of censors (_Animadversio Censoria_,) only affected a +person's character, it was therefore properly called _Ignominia_. Yet +even this was not unchangeable; the people or next censors might reverse +it. + +In addition to the revision of morals, censors had the charge of paving +the streets--making roads, bridges, and aqueducts--preventing private +persons from occupying public property--and frequently of imposing +taxes. + +A census was taken by these officers, every five years, of the number of +the people, the amount of their fortunes, the number of slaves, &c. +After this census had been taken, a sacrifice was made of a sow, a +sheep, and a bull--hence called _suove-taurilia_. As this took place +only every five years, that space of time was called a _lustrum_, +because the sacrifice was a lustration offered for all the people; and +therefore _condere lustrum_, means to finish the census. + +The title of censor was esteemed more honorable than that of consul, +although attended by less power: no one could be elected a second time, +and they who filled it were remarkable for leading an irreproachable +life; so that it was considered the chief ornament of nobility to be +sprung from a censorian family. + +The appointment of tribunes of the people, may be attributed to the +following cause; the Plebeians being oppressed by the Patricians, on +account of debt, made a secession to a mountain afterwards called _mons +sacer_, three miles from Rome, nor could they be prevailed on to return, +till they obtained from the Patricians a remission of debts for those +who were insolvent, and liberty to such as had been given up to serve +their creditors: and likewise that the Plebeians should have proper +magistrates of their own, to protect their rights, whose person should +be sacred and inviolable. + +They were at first five in number, but afterwards increased to ten; they +had no external mark of dignity, except a kind of beadle, called +_viator_, who went before them. + +The word _veto_, I forbid it, was at first the extent of their power; +but it afterwards increased to such a degree, that under pretence of +defending the rights of the people, they did almost whatever they +pleased. If any one hurt a tribune in word or deed, he was held +accursed, and his property confiscated. + +The _ediles_ were so called from their care of the public buildings; +they were either Plebeian or _curule_; the former, two in number, were +appointed to be, as it were, the assistants of the tribunes of the +commons, and to determine certain lesser causes committed to them; the +latter, also two in number, were chosen from the Patricians and +Plebeians, to exhibit certain public games. + +The _quæstors_ were officers elected by the people, to take care of the +public revenues; there were at first only two of them, but two others +were afterwards added to accompany the armies; and upon the conquest of +all Italy, four more were created, who remained in the provinces. + +The principal charge of the city quæstors was the care of the treasury; +they received and expended the public money, and exacted the fines +imposed by the people: they kept the military standards, entertained +foreign ambassadors, and took charge of the funerals of those who were +buried at the public expense. + +Commanders returning from war, before they could obtain a triumph, were +obliged to take an oath before the quæstors, that they had written to +the senate a true account of the number of the enemy they had slain, and +of the citizens who were missing. + +The office of the provincial quæstors was to attend the consuls or +prætors into their provinces; to furnish the provisions and pay for the +army; to exact the taxes and tribute of the empire, and sell the spoils +taken in war. + +The quæstorship was the first step of preferment to the other public +offices, and to admission into the senate: its continuation was for but +one year, and no one could be a candidate for it until he had completed +his twenty-seventh year. + +_Legati_ were those next in authority to the quæstors, and appointed +either by the senate or president of the province, who was then said to +_aliquem sibi legare_. + +The office of the legati was very dignified and honorable. They acted as +lieutenants or deputies in any business for which they were appointed, +and were sometimes allowed the honor of lictors. + +The _dictator_ was a magistrate invested with royal authority, created +in perilous circumstances, in time of pestilence, sedition, or when the +commonwealth was attacked by dangerous enemies. + +His power was supreme both in peace and war, and was even above the +laws; he could raise and disband armies, and determine upon the life and +fortune of Roman citizens, without consulting the senate or people; when +he was appointed, all other magistrates resigned their offices except +the tribunes of the commons. + +The dictator could continue in office only six months; but he usually +resigned when he had effected the business for which he had been +created. He was neither permitted to go out of Italy, nor ride on +horseback, without the permission of the people; but the principal check +against any abuse of power, was that he might be called to an account +for his conduct, when he resigned his office. + +A master of horse was nominated by the dictator immediately after his +creation, usually from those of consular or prætorian rank, whose office +was to command the cavalry, and execute the orders of the dictator. + +The _decemviri_ were ten men invested with supreme power, who were +appointed to draw up a code of laws, all the other magistrates having +first resigned their offices. + +They at first behaved with great moderation, and administered justice to +the people every tenth day. Ten tables of laws were proposed by them, +and ratified by the people at the _comitia centuriata_. + +As two other tables seemed to be wanting, _decemviri_ were again +appointed for another year, to make them. But as these new magistrates +acted tyrannically, and seemed disposed to retain their command beyond +the legal time, they were compelled to resign, chiefly on account of the +base passion of Appius Claudius, one of their number, for Virginia, a +virgin of plebeian rank, who was slain by her father to prevent her +falling into the decemvir's hands. The _decemviri_ all perished, either +in prison or in banishment. + +The consuls and all the chief magistrates, except the censors and the +tribunes of the people, were preceded in public by a certain number, +according to their rank of office, called lictors, each bearing on his +shoulders as the insignia of office, the _fasces_ and _securis_, which +were a bundle of rods, with an axe in the centre of one end; but the +lictors in attendance on an inferior magistrate, carried the _fasces_ +only, without the axe, to denote that he was not possessed of the power +of capital punishments. + +They opened a way through the crowd for the consul, saying words like +these--"_cedite, Consul venit_," or "_date viam Consuli_." It was their +duty also to inflict punishment on the condemned. + + + + +CHAPTER XVII. + +_Of Military Affairs._ + + +According to the Roman constitution, every free-born citizen was a +soldier, and bound to serve if called upon, in the armies of the state +at any period, from the age of seventeen to forty-six. + +When the Romans thought themselves injured by any nation, they sent one +or more of the priests, called _feciales_, to demand redress, and if it +was not immediately given, thirty-three days were granted to consider +the matter, after which war might be justly declared; then the feciales +again went to their confines, and having thrown a bloody spear into +them, formally declared war against that nation. + +The levy of the troops, the encampment, and much of the civil +discipline, as well as the temporary command of the army, was intrusted +to the military tribunes, six of whom were appointed to each legion. + +During the early period of the republic, the standing army in time of +peace usually consisted of only four legions, two of which were +commanded by each consul, and they were relieved by new levies every +year, the soldiers then serving without any pay beyond their mere +subsistence. But this number was afterwards greatly augmented, and the +inconvenience of raw troops having been experienced, a fixed stipend in +money was allowed to the men, and they were constantly retained in the +service. + +The legion usually consisted of three hundred horse, and three thousand +foot: the different kinds of infantry which composed it were three, the +_hastati_, _principes_, and _triarii_. The first were so called because +they fought with spears: they consisted of young men in the flower of +life, and formed the first line in battle. The _principes_ were men of +middle age who occupied the second line. The _triarii_ were old soldiers +of approved valor, who formed the third line. + +There was a fourth kind of troops, called _velĭtes_ from their swiftness +and agility: these did not form a part of the legion, and had no certain +post assigned them, but fought in scattered parties, wherever occasion +required, usually before the lines. + +The imperial eagle was the common standard of the legion; it was of gilt +metal, borne on a spear by an officer of rank, styled, from his office, +_aquilifer_, and was regarded by the soldiery with the greatest +reverence. There were other ensigns, as A. B. C. D. in the frontispiece. + +The only musical instruments used in the Roman army, were brazen +trumpets of different forms, adapted to the various duties of the +service. + +The arms of the soldiery varied according to the battalion in which they +served. Some were equipped with light javelins, and others with a +missile weapon, called _pilum_, which they flung at the enemy; but all +carried shields and short swords of that description, usually styled cut +and thrust, which they wore on the right side, to prevent its +interfering with the buckler, which they bore on the left arm. + +The shield was of an oblong or oval shape, with an iron boss jutting out +in the middle, to glance off stones or darts; it was four feet long and +two and a half broad, made of pieces of wood joined together with small +plates of iron, and the whole covered with a bull's hide. + +They were partly dressed in a metal cuirass with an under covering of +cloth; on the head they wore helmets of brass, either fastened under the +chin, with plates of the same metal, or reaching to the shoulders, which +they covered and ornamented on the top with flowing tufts of horse hair. + +The light infantry were variously armed with slings and darts as well as +swords, and commonly wore a shaggy cap, in imitation of the head of some +wild beast, of which the skirt hung over their shoulders. The troops of +the line wore greaves on the legs and heavy iron-bound sandals on the +feet. These last were called _caligæ_, from which the emperor Caius +Cæsar obtained the name of Caligula, in consequence of having worn them +in his youth among the soldiery. + +The cavalry were armed with spears and wore a coat of mail of chain +work, or scales of brass or steel, often plated with gold, under which +was a close garment that reached to their buskins. The helmet was +surmounted with a plume, and with an ornament distinctive of each rank, +or with some device according to the fancy of the wearers, and which was +then, as now in heraldry, denominated the crest. This term was _crista_, +derived from the resemblance of the ornament to the comb of a cock. + +The Romans made no use of saddles or stirrups, but merely cloths folded +according to the convenience of the rider. + +Among the instruments used in war were towers consisting of different +stories, from which showers of darts were discharged on the townsmen by +means of engines called _catapultæ_, _balistæ_, and _scorpiones_. + +But the most dreadful machine of all was the battering ram: this was a +long beam like the mast of a ship, and armed at one end with iron, in +the form of a ram's head, whence it had its name. It was suspended by +the middle, with ropes or chains fastened to a beam which lay across two +posts, and hanging thus equally balanced, it was violently thrust +forward, drawn back, and again pushed forward, until by repeated strokes +it had broken down the wall. + +The discipline of the army was maintained with great severity; officers +were exposed to degradation for misconduct, and the private soldier to +corporal punishment. Whole legions who had transgressed their military +duty were exposed to decimation, which consisted in drawing their names +by lot, and putting every tenth man to the sword. + +The most common rewards were crowns of different forms; the mural crown +was presented to him who in the assault first scaled the rampart of a +town; the castral, to those who were foremost in storming the enemy's +entrenchments; the civic chaplet of oak leaves, to the soldier who saved +his comrade's life in battle, and the triumphal laurel wreath to the +general who commanded in a successful engagement. The radial crown was +that worn by the emperors. + +When an army was freed from a blockade, the soldiers gave their +deliverer a crown called _obsidionalis_, made of the grass which grew in +the besieged place; and to him who first boarded the ship of an enemy, a +naval crown. + +But the greatest distinction that could be conferred on a commander, was +a triumph; this was granted only by the senate, on the occasion of a +great victory. When decreed, the general returned to Rome, and was +appointed by a special edict to the supreme command in the city; on the +day of his entry, a triumphal arch was erected of sculptured masonry, +under which the procession passed. + +First came a detachment of cavalry, with a band of military music +preceding a train of priests in their robes, who were followed by a +hecatomb of the whitest oxen with gilded horns entwined with flowers; +next were chariots, laden with the spoils of the vanquished; and after +them, long ranks of chained captives conducted by files of lictors. Then +came the conqueror, clothed in purple and crowned with laurel, having an +ivory sceptre in his hand; a band of children followed dressed in white, +who threw perfumes from silver censors, while they chanted the hymns of +victory and the praises of the conqueror. The march was closed by the +victorious troops, with their weapons wreathed with laurel; the +procession marched to the temple of Jupiter, where the victor descended +and dedicated his spoils to the gods. + +When the objects of the war had been obtained by a bloodless victory, a +minor kind of triumph was granted, in which the general appeared on +horseback, dressed in white, and crowned with myrtle, while in his hand +he bore a branch of olive. No other living sacrifice was offered but +sheep, from the name of which the ceremony was called an ovation. + +In consequence of the continual depredations to which the coast of Italy +was subject, the Romans commenced the building of a number of vessels, +to establish a fleet, taking for their model a Carthaginian vessel, +which was formerly stranded on their coast. + +Their vessels were of two kinds, _naves onerariæ_, ships of burden, and +_naves longæ_, ships of war: the former served to carry provisions, &c.: +they were almost round, very deep, and impelled by sails. + +The ships of war received their name from the number of banks of oars, +one above another, which they contained: thus a ship with three banks of +oars was called _triremis_, one with four, _quadriremis_, &c.; in these, +sails were not used. + + + + +CHAPTER XVIII. + +_Assemblies, Judicial Proceedings, and Punishments of the Romans._ + + +The assemblies of the whole Roman people, to give their vote on any +subject, were called _comitia_. There were three kinds, the _curiata_, +_centuriata_, and _tributa_. + +The _comitia curiata_ were assemblies of the resident Roman citizens, +who were divided into thirty _curiæ_, a majority of which determined all +matters of importance that were laid before them, such as the election +of magistrates, the enacting of laws and judging of capital causes. + +_Comitia centuriata_ were assemblies of the various centuries into which +the six classes of the people were divided. + +Those who belonged to the first class were termed _classici_, by way of +pre-eminence--hence _auctores classici_, respectable or standard +authors; those of the last class, who had no fortune, were called +_capite censi_, or _proletarii_; and those belonging to the middle +classes were all said to be _infra classem_--below the class. + +_Comitia centuriata_ were the most important of all the assemblies of +the people. In these, laws were enacted, magistrates elected, and +criminals tried. Their meeting was in the Campus Martius. + +It was necessary that these assemblies should have been summoned +seventeen days previously to their meeting, in order that the people +might have time to reflect on the business which was to be transacted. + +Candidates for any public office, who were to be elected here, were +obliged to give in their names before the _comitia_ were summoned. Those +who did so, were said to _petere consulatum vel præturam_, &c.; and they +wore a white robe called _toga candida_, to denote the purity of their +motives; on which account they were called _candidati_. + +Candidates went about to solicit votes (_ambire_,) accompanied by a +nomenclator, whose duty it was to whisper the names of those whose votes +they desired; for it was supposed to be an insult not to know the name +of a Roman citizen. + +_Centuria prærogativa_ was that century which obtained by ballot the +privilege of voting first. + +When the _centuria prærogativa_ had been elected, the presiding +magistrate sitting in a tent (_tabernaculum_,) called upon it to come +and vote. All that century then immediately separated themselves from +the rest, and entered into that place of the Campus Martius, called +_septa_ or _ovilia_. Going into this, they had to cross over a little +bridge (_pons_;) hence the phrase _de ponte dejici_--to be deprived of +the elective franchise. + +At the farther end of the _septa_ stood officers, called _diribitores_, +who handed waxen tablets to the voters, with the names of the candidates +written upon them. The voter then putting a mark (_punctus_) on the name +of him for whom he voted, threw the tablet into a large chest; and when +all were done, the votes were counted. + +If the votes of a century for different magistrates, or respecting any +law, were equal when counted, the vote of the entire century was not +reckoned among the votes of the other centuries; but in trials of life +and death, if the tablets pro and con were equal, the criminal was +acquitted. + +The candidate for whom the greatest number of centuries voted, was duly +elected, (_renunciatus est_:) when the votes were unanimous, he was said +_ferre omne punctum_--to be completely successful. + +When a law was proposed, two ballots were given to each voter: one with +U. R. written upon it, _Uti Rogas_--as you propose; and the other with +A. for _Antiquo_--I am for the old one. + +In voting on an impeachment, one tablet was marked with A. for +_Absolvo_--I acquit; hence this letter was called _litera salutaris_; +the other with C. for _condemno_--I condemn; hence C. was called _litera +tristis_. + +In the _comitia tributa_, the people voted, divided into tribes, +according to their regions or wards; they were held to create inferior +magistrates, to elect certain priests, to make laws, and to hold trials. + +The _comitia_ continued to be assembled for upwards of seven hundred +years, when that liberty was abridged by Julius Cæsar, and after him by +Augustus, each of whom shared the right of creating magistrates with the +people. Tiberius the second emperor, deprived the people altogether of +the right of election. + +The extension of the Roman empire, the increase of riches, and +consequently of crime, gave occasion to a great number of new laws, +which were distinguished by the name of the person who proposed them, +and by the subject to which they referred. + +Civil trials, or differences between private persons were tried in the +forum by the prætor. If no adjustment could be made between the two +parties, the plaintiff obtained a writ from the prætor, which required +the defendant to give bail for his appearance on the third day, at which +time, if either was not present when cited, he lost his cause, unless he +had a valid excuse. + +Actions were either real, personal, or mixed. Real, was for obtaining a +thing to which one had a real right, but was possessed by another. +Personal, was against a person to bind him to the fulfilment of a +contract, or to obtain redress for wrongs. Mixed, was when the actions +had relation to persons and things. + +After the plaintiff had presented his case for trial, judges were +appointed by the prætor, to hear and determine the matter, and fix the +number of witnesses, that the suit might not be unreasonably protracted. +The parties gave security that they would abide by the judgment, and the +judges took a solemn oath to decide impartially; after this the cause +was argued on both sides, assisted by witnesses, writings, &c. In giving +sentence, the votes of a majority of the judges were necessary to decide +against the defendant; but if the number was equally divided, it was +left to the prætor to determine. + +Trial by jury, as established with us, was not known, but the mode of +judging in criminal cases, seems to have resembled it. A certain number +of senators and knights, or other citizens of respectability, were +annually chosen by the prætor, to act as his assessors, and some of +these were appointed to sit in judgment with him. They decided by a +majority of voices, and returned their verdict, either guilty, not +guilty, or uncertain, in which latter instance the case was deferred; +but if the votes for acquittal and condemnation were equal, the culprit +was discharged. + +There were also officers called _centumviri_, to the number at first of +100, but afterwards of 180, who were chosen equally, from the 35 tribes, +and together with the prætor constituted a court of justice. + +Candidates for office wore a white robe, rendered shining by the art of +the fuller. They did not wear tunics, or waist-coats, either that they +might appear more humble, or might more easily show the scars they had +received on the breast. + +For a long time before the election, they endeavored to gain the favor +of the people, by every popular art, by going to their houses, by +shaking hands with those they met, by addressing them in a kindly +manner, and calling them by name, on which occasion they commonly had +with them a monitor, who whispered in their ears every body's name. + +Criminal law was in many instances more severe than it is at the present +day. Thus adultery, which now only subjects the offender to a civil +suit, was by the Romans, as well as the ancient Jews, punished +corporally. + +Forgery was not punished with death, unless the culprit was a slave; but +freemen guilty of that crime were subject to banishment, which deprived +them of their property and privileges; and false testimony, coining, and +those offences which we term misdemeanors, exposed them to an +interdiction from fire and water, or in fact an excommunication from +society, which necessarily drove them into banishment. + +The punishments inflicted among the Romans, were--fine, (_damnum_,) +bonds, (_vincula_,) stripes, (_verbera_,) retaliation, (_talio_,) +infamy, (_ignominia_,) banishment, (_exilium_,) slavery, (_servitus_,) +and death. + +The methods of inflicting death were various; the chief were--beheading +(_percussio securi_), strangling in prison (_strangulatio_), throwing a +criminal from that part of the prison called Robur (_precipitatio de +robore_), throwing a criminal from the Tarpeian rock (_dejectio e rupe +Tarpeia_), crucifixion (_in crucem actio_), and throwing into the river +(_projectio in profluentem_). + +The last-mentioned punishment was inflicted upon parricides, or the +murderers of any relation. So soon as any one was convicted of such +crimes, he was immediately blindfolded as unworthy of the light, and in +the next place whipped with rods. He was then sewed up in a sack, and +thrown into the sea. In after times, to add to the punishment, a serpent +was put in the sack; and still later, an ape, a dog, and a cock. The +sack which held the malefactor was called _Culeus_, on which account the +punishment itself is often signified by the same name. + +In the time of Nero, the punishment for treason was, to be stripped +stark naked, and with the head held up by a fork to be whipped to death. + + + + +CHAPTER XIX. + +_The Roman Dress._ + + +The ordinary garments of the Romans were the _toga_ and the _tunic_. + +The _toga_ was a loose woollen robe, of a semicircular form, without +sleeves, open from the waist upwards, but closed from thence downwards, +and surrounding the limbs as far as the middle of the leg. The upper +part of the vest was drawn under the right arm, which was thus left +uncovered, and, passing over the left shoulder, was there gathered in a +knot, whence it fell in folds across the breast: this flap being tucked +into the girdle, formed a cavity which sometimes served as a pocket, and +was frequently used as a covering for the head. Its color was white, +except in case of mourning, when a black or dark color was worn. The +Romans were at great pains to adjust the toga and make it hang +gracefully. + +It was at first worn by women as well as men--but afterwards matrons +wore a different robe, called _stola_, with a broad border or fringe, +reaching to the feet. Courtezans, and women condemned for adultery, were +not permitted to wear the _stola_--hence called _togatæ_. + +Roman citizens only were permitted to wear the _toga_, and banished +persons were prohibited the use of it. The _toga picta_ was so termed +from the rich embroidery with which it was covered:--the _toga palmata_ +from its being wrought in figured palm leaves--this last was the +triumphal habit. + +Young men, until they were seventeen years of age, and young women until +they were married, wore a gown bordered with purple, called the _toga +prætexta_. + +After they had arrived at the age of seventeen, young men assumed the +_toga virilis_. + +The _tunic_ was a white woollen vest worn below the _toga_, coming down +a little below the knees before, and to the middle of the leg behind, at +first without sleeves. _Tunics_ with sleeves were reckoned effeminate: +but under the emperors, these were used with fringes at the hands. The +_tunic_ was fastened by a girdle or belt about the waist, to keep it +tight, which also served as a purse. + +The women wore a _tunic_ which came down to their feet and covered their +arms. + +Senators had a broad stripe of purple, sewed on the breast of their +tunic, called _latus clavus_, which is sometimes put for the _tunic_ +itself, or the dignity of a senator. + +The _equites_ were distinguished by a narrow stripe called _angustus +clavus_. + +The Romans wore neither stockings nor breeches, but used sometimes to +wrap their legs and thighs with pieces of cloth called from the parts +which they covered, _tibialia_ and _feminalia_. + +The chief coverings for the feet were the _calceus_, which covered the +whole foot, somewhat like our shoes, and was tied above with a _latchet_ +or lace, and the _solea_, a slipper or sandal which covered only the +sole of the foot, and was fastened on with leather thongs or strings. + +The shoes of the senators came up to the middle of their legs, and had a +golden or silver crescent on the top of the foot. The shoes of the +soldiery were called _caligæ_, sometimes shod with nails. Comedians wore +the _socci_ or slippers, and tragedians the _cothurni_. + +The ancient Romans went with their heads bare except at sacred rites, +games, festivals, on journey or in war.--Hence, of all the honors +decreed to Cæsar by the senate, he is said to have been chiefly pleased +with that of always wearing a laurel crown, because it covered his +baldness, which was reckoned a deformity. At games and festivals a +woollen cap or bonnet was worn. + +The head-dress of women was at first very simple. They seldom went +abroad, and when they did they almost always had their faces veiled. But +when riches and luxury increased, dress became, with many, the chief +object of attention. They anointed their hair with the richest perfumes, +and sometimes gave it a bright yellow color, by means of a composition +or wash. It was likewise adorned with gold and pearls and precious +stones: sometimes with garlands and chaplets of flowers. + + + + +CHAPTER XX. + +_Of the Fine Arts and Literature._ + + +The Romans invented short or abridged writing, which enabled their +secretaries to collect the speeches of orators, however rapidly +delivered. The characters used by such writers were called notes. They +did not consist in letters of the alphabet, but certain marks, one of +which often expressed a whole word, and frequently a phrase. The same +description of writing is known at the present day by the word +_stenography_. From notes came the word _notary_, which was given to all +who professed the art of quick writing. + +The system of note-writing was not suddenly brought to perfection: it +only came into favor when the professors most accurately reported an +excellent speech which Cato pronounced in the senate. The orators, the +philosophers, the dignitaries, and nearly all the rich patricians then +took for secretaries note-writers, to whom they allowed handsome pay. It +was usual to take from their slaves all who had intellect to acquire a +knowledge of that art. + +The fine arts were unknown at Rome, until their successful commanders +brought from Syracuse, Asia, Macedonia and Corinth, the various +specimens which those places afforded. So ignorant, indeed, were they of +their real worth, that when the victories of Mummius had given him +possession of some of the finest productions of Grecian art, he +threatened the persons to whom he intrusted the carriage of some antique +statues and rare pictures, "that if they lost those, they should give +him new ones." A taste by degrees began to prevail, which they gratified +at the expense of every liberal feeling of public justice and private +right. + +The art of printing being unknown, books were sometimes written on +parchment, but more generally on a paper made from the leaves of a plant +called _papyrus_, which grew and was prepared in Egypt. This plant was +about ten cubits high, and had several coats or skins, one above +another, which they separated with a needle. + +The instrument used for writing was a reed, sharpened and split at the +point, like our pens, called _calamus_. Their ink was sometimes composed +of a black liquid emitted by the cuttle fish. + +The Romans commonly wrote only on one side of the paper, and joined one +sheet to the end of another, till they finished what they had to write, +and then rolled it on a cylinder or staff, hence called _volumen_. + +But _memoranda_ or other unimportant matters, not intended to be +preserved, were usually written on tablets spread with wax. This was +effected by means of a metal pencil called _stylus_, pointed at one end +to scrape the letters, and flat at the other to smooth the wax when any +correction was necessary. + +Julius Cæsar introduced the custom of folding letters in a flat square +form, which were then divided into small pages, in the manner of a +modern book. When forwarded for delivery, they were usually perfumed and +tied round with a silken thread, the ends of which were sealed with +common wax. + +Letters were not subscribed; but the name of the writer, and that of the +person to whom they were addressed, were inserted at the +commencement--thus, Julius Cæsar to his friend Antony, health. At the +end was written a simple, Farewell! + +The Romans had many private and public libraries. Adjoining to some of +them were museums for the accommodation of a college or society of +learned men, who were supported there at the public expense, with a +covered walk and seats, where they might dispute. + +The first public library at Rome, and probably in the world, was erected +by Asinius Pollio, in the temple of liberty, on Mount Aventine. This was +adorned by the statues of the most celebrated men. + + + + +CHAPTER XXI. + +_Roman Houses._ + + +The houses of the Romans are supposed at first to have been nothing more +than thatched cottages. After the city was burnt by the Gauls, it was +rebuilt in a more solid and commodious manner; but the streets were very +irregular. + +In the time of Nero the city was set on fire, and more than two-thirds +of it burnt to the ground. That tyrant himself is said to have been the +author of this conflagration. He beheld it from the tower of Mæcenas, +and being delighted, as he said, with the beauty of the flames, played +the taking of Troy, dressed like an actor. + +The city was then rebuilt with greater regularity and splendor--the +streets were widened, the height of the houses was limited to seventy +feet, and each house had a portico before it, fronting the street. + +Nero erected for himself a palace of extraordinary extent and +magnificence. The enclosure extended from the Palatine to the Esquiline +mount, which was more than a mile in breadth, and it was entirely +surrounded with a spacious portico embellished with sculpture and +statuary, among which stood a colossal statue of Nero himself, one +hundred and twenty feet in height. The apartments were lined with +marble, enriched with jasper, topaz, and other precious gems: the timber +works and ceilings were inlaid with gold, ivory and mother of pearl. + +This noble edifice, which from its magnificence obtained the appellation +of the golden house, was destroyed by Vespasian as being too gorgeous +for the residence even of a Roman emperor. + +The lower floors of the houses of the great were, at this time, either +inlaid marble or mosaic work. Every thing curious and valuable was used +in ornament and furniture. The number of stories was generally two, with +underground apartments. On the first, were the reception-rooms and +bed-chamber; on the second, the dining-room and apartments of the women. + +The Romans used portable furnaces in their rooms, on which account they +had little use for chimneys, except for the kitchen. + +The windows of some of their houses were glazed with a thick kind of +glass, not perfectly transparent; in others, isinglass split into thin +plates was used. Perfectly transparent glass was so rare and valuable at +Rome, that Nero is said to have given a sum equal to £50,000 for two +cups of such glass with handles. + +Houses not joined with the neighboring ones were called _Insulæ_, as +also lodgings or houses to let. The inhabitants of rented houses or +lodgings, _Insularii_ or _Inquilini_. + +The principal parts of a private house were the _vestibulum_, or court +before the gate, which was ornamented towards the street with a portico +extending along the entire front. + +The _atrium_ or hall, which was in the form of an oblong square, +surrounded by galleries supported on pillars. It contained a hearth on +which a fire was kept constantly burning, and around which were ranged +the _lares_, or images of the ancestors of the family. + +These were usually nothing more than waxen busts, and, though held in +great respect, were not treated with the same veneration as the +_penates_, or household gods, which were considered of divine origin, +and were never exposed to the view of strangers, but were kept in an +inner apartment, called _penetralia_. + +The outer door was furnished with a bell: the entrance was guarded by a +slave in chains: he was armed with a staff, and attended by a dog. + +The houses had high sloping roofs, covered with broad tiles, and there +was usually an open space in the centre to afford light to the inner +apartments. + +The Romans were unacquainted with the use of chimnies, and were +consequently much annoyed by smoke. To remedy this, they sometimes +anointed the wood of which their fuel was composed, with lees of oil. + +The windows were closed with blinds of linen or plates of horn, but more +generally with shutters of wood. During the time of the emperors, a +species of transparent stone, cut into plates, was used for the purpose. +Glass was not used for the admission of light into the apartments until +towards the fifth century of the christian era. + +A villa was originally a farm-house of an ordinary kind, and occupied by +the industrious cultivator of the soil; but when increasing riches +inspired the citizens with a taste for new pleasures, it became the +abode of opulence and luxury. + +Some villas were surrounded with large parks, in which deer and various +foreign wild animals were kept, and in order to render the sheep that +pastured on the lawn ornamental, we are told that they often dyed their +fleeces with various colours. + +Large fish ponds were also a common appendage to the villas of persons +of fortune, and great expense was often incurred in stocking them. In +general, however, country houses were merely surrounded with gardens, of +which the Romans were extravagantly fond. + + + + +CHAPTER XXII. + +_Marriages and Funerals._ + + +A marriage ceremony was never solemnized without consulting the +auspices, and offering sacrifices to the gods, particularly to Juno; and +the animals offered up on the occasion were deprived of their gall, in +allusion to the absence of every thing bitter and malignant in the +proposed union. + +A legal marriage was made in three different ways, called +_confarreatio_, _usus_ and _coemptio_. + +The first of these was the most ancient. A priest, in the presence of +ten witnesses, made an offering to the gods, of a cake composed of salt +water, and that kind of flour called "_far_," from which the name of the +ceremony was derived. The bride and bridegroom mutually partook of this, +to denote the union that was to subsist between them, and the sacrifice +of a sheep ratified the interchange of their vows. + +When a woman, with the consent of her parents or guardian, lived an +entire year with a man, with the intention of becoming his wife, it was +called _usus_. + +_Coemptio_ was an imaginary purchase which the husband and wife made of +each other, by the exchange of some pieces of money. + +A plurality of wives was forbidden among the Romans. The marriageable +age was from fourteen for men, and twelve for girls. + +On the wedding day the bride was dressed in a simple robe of pure white, +bound with a zone of wool, which her husband alone was to unloose: her +hair was divided into six locks, with the point of a spear, and crowned +with flowers; she wore a saffron colored veil, which enveloped the +entire person: her shoes were yellow, and had unusually high heels to +give her an appearance of greater dignity. + +Thus attired she waited the arrival of the bridegroom, who went with a +party of friends and carried her off with an appearance of violence, +from the arms of her parents, to denote the reluctance she was supposed +to feel at leaving her paternal roof. + +The nuptial ceremony was then performed; in the evening she was +conducted to her future home, preceded by the priests, and followed by +her relations, friends, and servants, carrying presents of various +domestic utensils. + +The door of the bridegroom's house was hung with garlands of flowers. +When the bride came hither, she was asked who she was; she answered, +addressing the bridegroom, "Where thou art Caius, there shall I be +Caia," intimating that she would imitate the exemplary life of Caia, the +wife of Tarquinius Priscus. She was then lifted over the threshold, or +gently stepped over, it being considered ominous to touch it with her +feet, because it was sacred to Vesta the goddess of Virgins. + +Upon her entrance, the keys of the house were delivered to her, to +denote her being intrusted with the management of the family, and both +she and her husband touched fire and water to intimate that their union +was to last through every extremity. The bridegroom then gave a great +supper to all the company. This feast was accompanied with music and +dancing, and the guests sang a nuptial song in praise of the new married +couple. + +The Romans paid great attention to funeral rites, because they believed +that the souls of the unburied were not admitted into the abodes of the +dead; or at least wandered a hundred years along the river Styx before +they were allowed to cross it. + +When any one was at the point of death, his nearest relation present +endeavored to catch his last breath with his mouth, for they believed +that the soul or living principle thus went out at the mouth. The corpse +was then bathed and perfumed; dressed in the richest robes of the +deceased, and laid upon a couch strewn with flowers, with the feet +towards the outer door. + +The funeral took place by torch light. The corpse was carried with the +feet foremost on an open bier covered with the richest cloth, and borne +by the nearest relatives and friends. It was preceded by the image of +the deceased, together with those of his ancestors. + +The procession was attended by musicians, with wind instruments of a +larger size and a deeper tone than those used on less solemn occasions; +mourning women were likewise hired to sing the praises of the deceased. + +On the conclusion of the ceremony the sepulchre was strewed with +flowers, and the mourners took a last farewell of the remains of the +deceased. Water was then thrown upon the attendants, by a priest, to +purify them from the pollution which the ancients supposed to be +communicated by any contact with a corpse. + +The manes of the dead were supposed to be propitiated by blood:--on this +account a custom prevailed of slaughtering, on the tomb of the deceased, +those animals of which he was most fond when living. + +When the custom of burning the dead was introduced, a funeral pile was +constructed in the shape of an altar, upon which the corpse was laid; +the nearest relative then set fire to it:--perfumes and spices were +afterwards thrown into the blaze, and when it was extinguished, the +embers were quenched with wine. The ashes were then collected and +deposited in an urn, to be kept in the mausoleum of the family. + + + + +CHAPTER XXIII. + +_Customs at Meals._ + + +The food of the ancient Romans was of the simplest kind; they rarely +indulged in meat, and wine was almost wholly unknown. So averse were +they to luxury, that epicures were expelled from among them. But when +riches were introduced by the extension of conquest, the manners of the +people were changed, and the pleasures of the table became the chief +object of attention. + +Their principal meal was what they called _cœna_ or supper. The usual +time for it was the ninth hour, or about three o'clock in the afternoon. + +While at meals, they reclined on sumptuous couches of a semicircular +form, around a table of the same shape. This custom was introduced from +the nations of the east, and was at first adopted only by the men, but +afterwards allowed also to the women. + +The dress worn at table differed from that in use on other occasions, +and consisted merely of a loose robe of a slight texture, and generally +white. + +Before supper the Romans bathed themselves, and took various kinds of +exercise, such as tennis, throwing the discus or quoit, riding, running, +leaping, &c. + +Small figures of Mercury, Hercules and the penates, were placed upon the +table, of which they were deemed the presiding genii; and a small +quantity of wine was poured upon the board, at the commencement and end +of the feast, as a libation in honor of them, accompanied by a prayer. + +As the ancients had not proper inns for the accommodation of travellers, +the Romans, when they were in foreign countries, or at a distance from +home, used to lodge at the houses of certain persons whom they in return +entertained at their houses in Rome. This was esteemed a very intimate +connexion, and was called _hospitium_, or _jus hospitii_: hence _hospes_ +is put both for a host and a guest. + + + + +CHAPTER XXIV. + +_Weights, Measures and Coins._ + + +The principal Weight in use among the Romans, was the pound, called _As_ +or _Libra_, which was equal to 12 oz. avoirdupoise, or 16 oz. 18 pwts. +and 13-3/4 grains, troy weight. It was divided into twelve ounces, the +names of which were as follow: _Uncia_, 1 oz.--_Sextans_, 2 +oz.--_Triens_, 3 oz.--_Quadrans_, 4 oz.--_Quincunx_, 5 oz.--_Semis_, 1/2 +lb.--_Septunx_, 7 oz--_Bes_, 8 oz.--_Dodrans_, 9 oz.--_Dextans_, 10 +oz.--_Deunx_, 11 oz. + +The As and its divisions were applied to anything divided into twelve +parts, as well as to a pound weight. The twelth part of an acre was +called Uncia and half a foot, Semis, &c. + +The Measures for Things Dry.--_Modius_, a peck--_Semimodius_, a +gallon--_Sextanus_, a pint--_Hemina_, one-half pint, and 3 smaller +measures, for which we have not equivalent names in English. One Modius +contained 2 _Semimodii_--each Semimodius contained 8 _Sextarii_--each +Sextarius, 2 _Heminæ_--each Hemina, 4 _Acetabula_--each Acetabulum, +1-1/2 _Cyathi_--each Cyathus--4 _Ligulæ_. + +The Liquid Measures of Capacity were the _Culeus_, which was equal to +144-1/2 gallons--it contained 20 _Amphoræ_ or _Quadrantales_--each +Amphora, 2 _Urnæ_--each Urna, 4 _Congii_--each Congius, 6 +_Sextarii_--and each Sextarius, 2 _Quartarii_ or naggins--each +Quartarius, 2 _Heminæ_--each Hemina, 3 _Acetabula_ or glasses--each +Acetabulum, 1-1/2 _Cyathi_--and each Cyathus, 4 _Ligulæ_. + +The Measures of Length in use among the Romans were, _Millarium_ or +_Mille_, a mile--each mile contained 8 _Stadia_, or furlongs--each +Stadium, 125 _Passus_--each Pace, 5 feet. + +The _Pes_, or foot, was variously divided. It contained 4 _Palmi_ or +handbreadths, each of which was therefore 3 inches long--and it +contained 16 _Digiti_, or finger breadths, each of which was therefore +three-quarters of an inch long--and it contained 12 _Unciæ_, or inches: +any number of which was used to signify the same number of ounces. + +_Cubitus_, a cubit, was 1-1/2 feet long--_Pollex_, a thumb's breadth, 1 +inch--_Palmipes_, a foot and hand's breadth, i.e. 15 inches +long--_Pertica_, a perch, 10 feet long--the lesser _Actus_ was a space +of ground 120 feet long by four broad--the greater Actus was 120 feet +square--two square Actus made a _Jugerum_, or acre, which contained +therefore 28,000 square feet. + +The first money in use among the Romans was nothing more than unsightly +lumps of brass, which were valued according to their weight. Servius +Tullius stamped these, and reduced them to a fixed standard. After his +reign, the Romans improved the old, and added some new coins. Those in +most frequent use, were the _As_, _Sestertius_, _Victoriatus_, +_Denarius_, _Aureus_. + +The As was a brass coin, stamped on one side with the beak of a ship, +and on the other with the double head of Janus. It originally weighed +one pound; but was afterwards reduced to half an ounce, without +suffering, however, any diminution of value. It was worth one cent and +forty-three hundredths. + +Sestertius was a silver coin, stamped on one side with Castor and +Pollux, and on the opposite with the city. This was so current a coin, +that the word _Nummus_, money, is often used absolutely to express it. +It was worth three cents and fifty-seven hundredths. + +Denarius was a silver coin, valued at ten asses; that is, fourteen cents +and thirty-five hundredths of our money. It was stamped with the figure +of a carriage drawn by four beasts, and on the other side, with a head +covered with a helmet, to represent Rome. + +Victoriatus was a silver coin, half the value of a Denarius. It was +stamped with the figure of Victory, from whence its name was derived. +Being worth five Asses, it was called _Quinarius_. + +_Libella_, _Sembella_, _Teruncius_, were also silver coins, but of less +value than the above. Libella was of the same worth as the As--Sembella +was half a Libella, equal to seventy-one hundredths of a cent--and the +Teruncius was half of a Sembella. + +Aureus Denarius was a gold coin, about the size of a silver Denarius, +and probably stamped in a similar manner. At first, forty Aurei were +made out of a pound of gold; but under the Emperors it was not so +intrinsically valuable, being mixed with alloy. + +The value of the Aureus, which was also called _Solidus_, varied at +different times. According to Tacitus, it was valued and exchanged for +25 Denarii, which amounted to three dollars, fifty-eight cents and +seventy-five hundredths. + +The Abbreviations used by the Romans to express these various kinds of +money, were, for the As, L.--for the Sesterce, L. L. S. or H. S.--for +the Quinary, V. or λ.--for the Denarius, X. or :!: + +Sesterces were the kind of money in which the Romans usually made their +computations.--1,000 Sesterces made up a sum called _Sestertium_, the +value of which in our money, was thirty-five dollars and seventy cents. + +The art of reckoning by Sesterces was regulated by these rules: + +First--If a numeral adjective were joined to Sestertii, and agreed with +it in case, it signified just so many Sesterces; as _decem Sestertii_, +10 Sesterces--thirty-five cents and seven tenths. + +Second--If a numeral adjective, of a different case, were joined to the +genitive plural of Sestertius, it signified so many thousand Sesterces; +as _decem Sestertium_, 10,000 Sesterces--$357. + +Third--If a numeral adverb were placed by itself, or joined to +Sestertium, it signified so many hundred thousand Sesterces; as +_Decies_, or _decies Sestertium_, 1,000,000 _Sesterces_--$35,700. + +Fourth--When the sums are expressed by letters, if the letters have a +line over them, they signify also so many hundred thousand Sesterces: +thus, H. S. M̅. C̅.--denotes the sum of 1,100 times 100,000 Sesterces, +i.e. 110,000,000--nearly $4,000,000. + + + + +MYTHOLOGY. + + + + +CHAPTER I. + +Celestial Gods. + + +JUPITER, the supreme god of the Pagans, though set forth by historians +as the wisest of princes, is described by his worshippers as infamous +for his vices. There were many who assumed the name of Jupiter; the most +considerable, however, and to whom the actions of the others are +ascribed, was the Jupiter of Crete, son to Saturn and Rhea, who is +differently said to have had his origin in Crete, at Thebes in Bœotia, +and among the Messenians. + +His first warlike exploit, and, indeed, the most memorable of his +actions, was his expedition against the Titans, to deliver his parents, +who had been imprisoned by these princes, because Saturn, instead of +observing an oath he had sworn, to destroy his male children, permitted +his son Jupiter, by a stratagem of Rhea, to be educated. Jupiter, for +this purpose, raised a gallant army of Cretans, and engaged the Cecrŏpes +as auxiliaries in this expedition; but these, after taking his money, +having refused their services, he changed into apes. The valor of +Jupiter so animated the Cretans, that by their aid he overcame the +Titans, released his parents, and, the better to secure the reign of his +father, made all the gods swear fealty to him upon an altar, which has +since gained a place among the stars. + +This exploit of Jupiter, however, created jealousy in Saturn, who, +having learnt from an oracle, that he should be dethroned by one of his +sons, secretly meditated the destruction of Jupiter as the most +formidable of them. The design of Saturn being discovered by one of his +council, Jupiter became the aggressor, deposed his father, threw him +into Tartarus, ascended the throne, and was acknowledged as supreme by +the rest of the gods. + +The reign of Jupiter being less favorable to his subjects than that of +Saturn, gave occasion to the name of the silver age, by which is meant +an age inferior in happiness to that which preceded, though superior to +those which followed. + +The distinguishing character of his person is majesty, and every thing +about him carries dignity and authority with it; his look is meant to +strike sometimes with terror, and sometimes with gratitude, but always +with respect. The Capitoline Jupiter, or the Jupiter Optimus Maximus, +(him now spoken of,) was the great guardian of the Romans, and was +represented, in his chief temple, on the Capitoline hill, as sitting on +a curule chair, with the lightning in his right hand, and a sceptre in +his left. + +The poets describe him as standing amidst his rapid horses, or his +horses that make the thunder; for as the ancients had a strange idea of +the brazen vault of heaven, they seem to have attributed the noise in a +thunder storm to the rattling of Jupiter's chariot and horses on that +great arch of brass all over their heads, as they supposed that he +himself flung the flames out of his hand, which dart at the same time +out of the clouds, beneath this arch. + +APOLLO was son of Jupiter and Latona, and brother of Diana, and of all +the divinities in the pagan world, the chief cherisher and protecter of +the polite arts, and the most conspicuous character in heathen theology; +nor unjustly, from the glorious attributes ascribed to him, for he was +the god of light, medicine, eloquence, music, poetry and prophecy. + + + [Illustration: + + THE GODS DESCENDING TO BATTLE + + IN AID OF TROY, LATONA, PHŒBUS CAME, + MARS FIERY HELM'D, THE LAUGHTER LOVING DAME, + XANTHUS, WHOSE STREAMS IN GOLDEN CURRENTS FLOW, + AND THE CHASTE HUNTRESS OF THE SILVER BOW. + + Pope's Homer's Iliad. B. 20. L. 51. + Pl. 3. ] + + +Amongst the most remarkable adventures of this god, was his quarrel with +Jupiter, on account of the death of his son Æsculapius, killed by that +deity on the complaint of Pluto, that he decreased the number of the +dead by his cures. Apollo, to revenge this injury, killed the Cyclops +who forged the thunder-bolts. For this he was banished heaven, and +endured great sufferings on earth, being forced to hire himself as a +shepherd to Admetus, king of Thessaly. During his pastoral servitude, he +is said to have invented the lyre to sooth his troubles. He was so +skilled in the bow, that his arrows were always fatal. Python and the +Cyclops experienced their force. + +He became enamored of Daphne, daughter of the river Peneus of Thessaly. +The god pursued her, but she flying to preserve her chastity, was +changed into a laurel, whose leaves Apollo immediately consecrated to +bind his temples, and become the reward of poetry. + +His temple at Delphi became so frequented, that it was called the oracle +of the earth; all nations and princes vieing in their munificence to it. +The Romans erected to him many temples. + +The animals sacred to him were the wolf, from his acuteness of sight, +and because he spared his flocks when the god was a shepherd; the crow +and the raven, because these birds were supposed to have, by instinct, +the faculty of prediction; the swan, from its divining its own death; +the hawk, from its boldness in flight; and the cock, because he +announces the rising of the sun. + +As to the signification of this fabulous divinity, all are agreed that, +by Apollo, the sun is understood in general, though several poetical +fictions have relation only to the sun, and not to Apollo. The great +attributes of this deity were divination, healing, music, and archery, +all which manifestly refer to the sun. Light dispelling darkness, is a +strong emblem of truth dissipating ignorance;--the warmth of the sun +conduces greatly to health; and there can be no juster symbol of the +planetary harmony, than Apollo's lyre, the seven strings of which are +said to represent the seven planets. As his darts are reported to have +destroyed the monster Python, so his rays dry up the noxious moisture +which is pernicious to vegetation and fertility. + +Apollo was very differently represented in different countries and +times, according to the character he assumed. In general he is described +as a beardless youth, with long flowing hair floating as it were in the +wind, comely and graceful, crowned with laurel, his garments and sandals +shining with gold. In one hand he holds a bow and arrows, in the other a +lyre; sometimes a shield and the graces. At other times he is invested +in a long robe, and carries a lyre and a cup of nectar, the symbol of +his divinity. + +He has a threefold authority: in heaven, he is the Sun; and by the lyre +intimates, that he is the source of harmony: upon earth he is called +_Liber Pater_, and carries a shield to show he is the protector of +mankind, and their preserver in health and safety. In the infernal +regions he is styled _Apollo_, and his arrows show his authority; +whosoever is stricken with them being immediately sent thither. As the +Sun, Apollo was represented in a chariot, drawn by the four horses, +_Eöus_, _Æthon_, _Phlegon_, and _Pyröeis_. + +Considered in his poetical character, he is called indifferently either +_Vates_ or _Lyristes_; music and poetry, in the earliest ages of the +world, having made but one and the same profession. + +MERCURY was the offspring of Jupiter and Maia, the daughter of Atlas. +Cyllëne, in Arcadia, is said to have been the scene of his birth and +education, and a magnificent temple was erected to him there. + +That adroitness which formed the most distinguishing trait in his +character, began very early to render him conspicuous. Born in the +morning, he fabricated a lyre, and played on it by noon; and, before +night, filched from Apollo his cattle. The god of light demanded instant +restitution, and was lavish of menaces, the better to insure it. But his +threats were of no avail, for it was soon found that the same thief had +disarmed him of his quiver and bow. Being taken up into his arms by +Vulcan, he robbed him of his tools, and whilst Venus caressed him for +his superiority to Cupid in wrestling, he slipped off her cestus +unperceived. From Jupiter he purloined his sceptre, and would have made +as free with his thunder-bolt, had it not proved too hot for his +fingers. + +From being usually employed on Jupiter's errands, he was styled the +messenger of the gods. The Greeks and Romans considered him as presiding +over roads and cross-ways, in which they often erected busts of him. He +was esteemed the god of orators and eloquence, the author of letters and +oratory. The _caduceus_, or rod, which he constantly carried, was +supposed to be possessed of an inherent charm that could subdue the +power of enmity: an effect which he discovered by throwing it to +separate two serpents found by him fighting on Mount Cytheron: each +quitted his adversary, and twined himself on the rod, which Mercury, +from that time, bore as the symbol of concord. His musical skill was +great, for to him is ascribed the discovery of the three tones, treble, +bass, and tenor. + +It was part of his function to attend on the dying, detach their souls +from their bodies, and conduct them to the infernal regions. In +conjunction with Hercules, he patronized wrestling and the gymnastic +exercises; to show that address upon these occasions should always be +united with force. The invention of the art of thieving was attributed +to him, and the ancients used to paint him on their doors, that he, as +god of thieves, might prevent the intrusion of others. For this reason +he was much adored by shepherds, who imagined he could either preserve +their own flocks from thieves, or else help to compensate their losses, +by dexterously stealing from their neighbors. + +At Rome on the fifteenth of May, the month so named from his mother, a +festival was celebrated to his honor, by merchants, traders, &c. in +which they sacrificed a sow, sprinkled themselves, and the goods they +intended for sale, with water from his fountain, and prayed that he +would both blot out all the frauds and perjuries they had already +committed, and enable them to impose again on their buyers. + +Mercury is usually described as a beardless young man, of a fair +complexion, with yellow hair, quick eyes, and a cheerful countenance, +having wings annexed to his hat and sandals, which were distinguished by +the names of _petăsus_ and _talaria_: the _caduceus_, in his hand, is +winged likewise, and bound round with two serpents: his face is +sometimes exhibited half black, on account of his intercourse with the +infernal deities: he has often a purse in his hand, and a goat or cock, +or both, by his side. + +The epithets applied to Mercury by the ancients were Εναγωνιος, the +presider over combats; Στροφαιος, the guardian of doors; Εμπολαιος, the +merchant; Εριουνιος, beneficial to mortals; Δολιος, subtle; Ἡγεμονιος, +the guide, or conductor. + +As to his origin, it must be looked for amongst the Phœnicians. The bag +of money which he held signified the gain of merchandise; the wings +annexed to his head and his feet were emblematic of their extensive +commerce and navigation; the caduceus, with which he was said to conduct +the spirit of the deceased to Hades, pointing out the immortality of the +soul, a state of rewards and punishments after death, and a +resuscitation of the body: it is described as producing three leaves +together, whence it was called by Homer, the _golden three-leaved wand_. + +BACCHUS was the son of Jupiter, by Semĕle, daughter of Cadmus, king of +Thebes, in which city he is said to have been born. He was the god of +good-cheer, wine, and hilarity; and of him, as such, the poets have not +been sparing in their praises: on all occasions of mirth and jollity, +they constantly invoked his presence, and as constantly thanked him for +the blessings he bestowed. To him they ascribed the forgetfulness of +cares, and the delights of social converse. + +He is described as a youth of a plump figure, and naked, with a ruddy +face, and an effeminate air; he is crowned with ivy and vine leaves, and +bears in his hand a thyrsus, or javelin with an iron head, encircled +with ivy and vine leaves: his chariot is sometimes drawn by lions, at +others by tigers, leopards, or panthers; and surrounded by a band of +Satyrs, Bacchæ, and Nymphs, in frantic postures; whilst old Silēnus, his +preceptor, follows on an ass, which crouches with the weight of his +burden. + +The women who accompained him as his priestesses, were called Mænădes, +from their madness; Thyădes, from their impetuosity; Bacchæ, from their +intemperate depravity; and Mimallōnes, or Mimallonĭdes, from their +mimicking their leaders. + +The victims agreeable to him were the goat and the swine; because these +animals are destructive to the vine. Among the Egyptians they sacrificed +a swine to him before their doors; and the dragon, and the pye on +account of its chattering: the trees and plants used in his garlands +were the fir, the oak, ivy, the fig, and vine; as also the daffodil, or +narcissus. Bacchus had many temples erected to him by the Greeks and the +Romans. + +Whoever attentively reads Horace's inimitable ode to this god, will see +that Bacchus meant no more than the improvement of the world by tillage, +and the culture of the vine. + + + [Illustration: + + JUNO & MINERVA GOING TO ASSIST THE GREEKS. + + SATURNIA LENDS THE LASH, THE COURSERS FLY. + + Pope's Homer's Illiad, B. 8. L. 47. + Pl. 4.] + + +MARS was the son of Jupiter and Juno, or of Jupiter and Erys. He was +held in high veneration among the Romans, both on account of his being +the father of Romulus, their founder, and because of their own genius, +which always inclined them to war. Numa, though otherwise a pacific +prince, having, during a great pestilence, implored the favor of the +gods, received a small brass buckler, called _ancīle_ from heaven, which +the nymph Egeria advised him to keep with the utmost care, as the fate +of the people and empire depended upon it. To secure so valuable a +pledge, Numa caused eleven others of the same form to be made, and +intrusted the preservation of these to an order of priests, which he +constituted for the purpose, called _Salii_, or priests of Mars, in +whose temple the twelve ancilia were deposited. + +The fiercest and most ravenous creatures were consecrated to Mars: the +horse, for his vigor; the wolf, for his rapacity and quickness of sight; +the dog, for his vigilance; and he delighted in the pye, the cock, and +the vulture. He was the reputed enemy of Minerva, the goddess of wisdom +and arts, because in time of war they are trampled on, without respect, +as well as learning and justice. + +Ancient monuments represent this deity as of unusual stature, armed with +a helmet, shield, and spear, sometimes naked, sometimes in a military +habit; sometimes with a beard, and sometimes without. He is often +described riding in a chariot, drawn by furious horses, completely +armed, and extending his spear with one hand, while, with the other, he +grasps a sword imbued with blood. Sometimes Bellona, the goddess of war, +(whether she be his sister, wife or daughter, is uncertain,) is +represented as driving his chariot, and inciting the horses with a +bloody whip. Sometimes Discord is exhibited as preceding his chariot, +while Clamor, Fear, Terror, with Fame, full of eyes, ears, and tongues, +appear in his train. + + + + +CHAPTER II. + +_Celestial Goddesses._ + + +JUNO, daughter of Saturn and Rhea, was sister and wife of Jupiter. +Though the poets agree that she came into the world at the same birth +with her husband, yet they differ as to the place. Some fix her nativity +at Argos, others at Samos, near the river Imbrasus. The latter opinion +is, however, the more generally received. Samos, was highly honored, and +received the name of Parthenia, from the consideration that so eminent a +_virgin_ as Juno was educated and dwelt there till her marriage. + +As queen of heaven, Juno was conspicuous for her state. Her usual +attendants were Terror, Boldness--Castor and Pollux, accompanied by +fourteen nymphs; but her most inseparable adherent was Iris, who was +always ready to be employed in her most important affairs: she acted as +messenger to Juno, like Mercury to Jupiter. When Juno appeared as the +majesty of heaven, with her sceptre and diadem beset with lilies and +roses, her chariot was drawn by peacocks, birds sacred to her; for which +reason, in her temple at Eubœa, the emperor Adrian made her a most +magnificent offering of a golden crown, a purple mantle, with an +embroidery of silver, describing the marriage of Hercules and Hebe, and +a large peacock, whose body was of gold, and his train of most valuable +jewels. There never was a wife more jealous than Juno; and few who have +had so much reason: on which account we find from Homer that the most +absolute exertions of Jupiter were barely sufficient to preserve his +authority. + +There was none except Apollo whose worship was more solemn or extensive. +The history of the prodigies she had wrought, and of the vengeance she +had taken upon persons who had vied with, or slighted her, had so +inspired the people with awe, that, when supposed to be angry, no means +were omitted to mitigate her anger; and had Paris adjudged to her the +prize of Beauty, the fate of Troy might have been suspended. In +resentment of this judgment, and to wreak her vengeance on Paris, the +house of Priam, and the Trojan race, she appears in the Iliad to be +fully employed. Minerva is commissioned by her to hinder the Greeks from +retreating; she quarrels with Jupiter; she goes to battle; cajoles +Jupiter with the cestus of Venus; carries the orders of Jupiter to +Apollo and Iris; consults the gods on the conflict between Æneas and +Achilles; sends Vulcan to oppose Xanthus; overcomes Diana, &c. + +She is generally pictured like a matron, with a grave and majestic air, +sometimes with a sceptre in her hand, and a veil on her head: she is +represented also with a spear in her hand, and sometimes with a +_patĕra_, as if she were about to sacrifice: on some medals she has a +peacock at her feet, and sometimes holds the Palladium. Homer represents +her in a chariot adorned with gems, having wheels of ebony, nails of +silver, and horses with reins of gold, though more commonly her chariot +is drawn by peacocks, her favourite birds. The most obvious and striking +character of Juno, and that which we are apt to imbibe the most early of +any, from the writings of Homer and Virgil, is that of an imperious and +haughty wife. In both of these poets we find her much oftener scolding +at Jupiter than caressing him, and in the tenth Æneid in particular, +even in the council of the gods, we have a remarkable instance of this. + +If, in searching out the meaning of this fable, we regard the account of +Varro, we shall find, that by Juno was signified the earth; by Jupiter, +the heavens; but if we believe the Stoics, by Juno is meant the air and +its properties, and by Jupiter the ether: hence Homer supposes she was +nourished by Oceănus and Tethys: that is, by the sea; and agreeable to +this mythology, the poet makes her shout aloud in the army of the +Greeks, the air being the cause of the sound. + +MINERVA, or Pallas, was one of the most distinguished of the heathen +deities, as being the goddess of wisdom and science. She is supposed to +have sprung, fully grown and completely armed, from the head of Jupiter. + +One of the most remarkable of her adventures, was her contest with +Neptune. When Cecrops founded Athens, it was agreed that whoever of +these two deities could produce the most beneficial gift to mankind, +should have the honor of giving their name to the city. Neptune, with a +stroke of his trident, formed a horse, but Minerva causing an olive-tree +to spring from the ground, obtained from the god the prize. She was the +goddess of war, wisdom, and arts, such as spinning, weaving, music, and +especially of the pipe. In a word, she was patroness of all those +sciences which render men useful to society and themselves, and entitle +them to the esteem of posterity. + +She is described by the poets, and represented by the sculptors and +painters in a standing attitude, completely armed, with a composed but +smiling countenance, bearing a golden breast-plate, a spear in her right +hand, and the ægis in her left, having on it the head of Medusa, +entwined with snakes. Her helmet was usually encompassed with olives, to +denote that peace is the end of war, or rather because that tree was +sacred to her: at her feet is generally placed the owl or the cock, the +former being the emblem of wisdom, and the latter of war. + +Minerva represents wisdom, that is, skilful knowledge joined with +discreet practice, and comprehends the understanding of the noblest +arts, the best accomplishments of the mind, together with all the +virtues, but more especially that of chastity. She is said to be born of +Jupiter's brain, because the ingenuity of man did not invent the useful +arts and sciences, which, on the contrary, were derived from the +fountain of all wisdom. She was born armed, because the human soul, +fortified with wisdom and virtue, is invincible; in danger, intrepid; +under crosses, unbroken; in calamities, impregnable. + +The owl, a bird seeing in the dark, was sacred to Minerva; this is +symbolical of a wise man, who, scattering and dispelling the clouds of +error, is clear-sighted where others are blind. + +VENUS was one of the most celebrated deities of the ancients. She was +the goddess of beauty, the mother of love, and the queen of laughter. +She is said to have sprung from the froth of the sea, near the island +Cyprus, after the mutilated part of the body of Urănus had been thrown +there by Saturn. Hence she obtained the name of Aphrodite, from Αφρος, +_froth_. As soon as Venus was born, she is said to have been laid in a +beautiful couch or shell, embellished with pearls, and by the assistance +of Zephyrus wafted first to Cythēræ, an island in the Ægæan, and thence +to Cyprus; where she arrived in the month of April. Here, immediately on +her landing, flowers sprung beneath her feet, the Horæ or Seasons +awaited her arrival, and having braided her hair with fillets of gold, +she was thence wafted to heaven. As she was born laughing, an emanation +of pleasure beamed from her countenance, and her charms were so +attractive, in the assembly of the gods, that most of them desired to +obtain her in marriage. Vulcan, however, the most deformed of the +celestials, became the successful competitor. + +One of the most remarkable adventures of this goddess was her contest +with Juno and Minerva for the superiority of beauty. At the marriage of +Peleus and Thetis, the goddess Discordia, resenting her not being +invited, threw a golden apple among the company, with this inscription, +_Let the fairest take it_. The competitors for this prize were Juno, +Venus, and Minerva. Jupiter referred them to Paris, who then led a +shepherd's life on Mount Ida. Before him the goddesses appeared. Juno +offered him empire or power, Minerva wisdom, and Venus promised him the +possession of the most beautiful woman in the world. Fatally for himself +and family, the shepherd, more susceptible of love than of ambition or +virtue, decided the contest in favor of Venus. + +The sacrifices usually offered to Venus, were white goats and swine, +with libations of wine, milk and honey. The victims were crowned with +flowers, or wreaths of myrtle, the rose and myrtle being sacred to +Venus. The birds sacred to her were the swan, the dove, and the sparrow. + +It were endless to enumerate the variety of attitudes in which Venus is +represented on antique gems and medals; sometimes she is clothed in +purple, glittering with diamonds, her head crowned with myrtle +intermixed with roses, and drawn in her car of ivory by swans, doves, or +sparrows: at other times she is represented standing with the Graces +attending her, and in all positions Cupid is her companion. In general +she has one of the prettiest, as Minerva has sometimes one of the +handsomest faces that can be conceived. Her look, as she is represented +by the ancient artists and poets, has all the enchanting airs and graces +that they could give it. + +LATONA. This goddess was daughter of Cæus the Titan and Phœbe, or, +according to Homer, of Saturn. As she grew up extremely beautiful, +Jupiter fell in love with her; but Juno, discovering their intercourse, +not only expelled her from heaven, but commanded the serpent Python to +follow and destroy both her and her children. The earth also was caused +by the jealous goddess to swear that she would afford her no place in +which to bring forth. It happened, however, at this period, that the +island Delos, which had been broken from Sicily, lay under water, and +not having taken the oath, was commanded by Neptune to rise in the Ægean +sea, and afford her an asylum. Latona, being changed by Jupiter into a +quail, fled thither, and from this circumstance occasioned it to be +called Ortygia, from the name in Greek of that bird. She here gave birth +to Apollo and Diana. Niŏbe, daughter of Tantălus, and wife of Amphīon, +king of Thebes, experienced the resentment of Latona, whose children +Apollo and Diana, at her instigation, destroyed. Her beauty became fatal +to Tityus, the giant, who was put to death also by the same divinities. +After having been long persecuted by Juno, she became a powerful deity, +beheld her children exalted to divine honors, and received adoration +where they were adored. + +In explanation of the fable, it may be observed, that as Jupiter is +taken for the maker of all things, so Latona is physically understood to +be the _matter_ out of which all things were made, which, according to +Plato, is called Λητω or Latona, from ληθειν to lie _hid_ or +_concealed_, because all things originally lay hid in darkness till the +production of _light_, or birth of Apollo. + +AURORA, goddess of the morning, was the youngest daughter of Hyperion +and Theia, or, according to some, of Titan and Terra. Orpheus calls her +the harbinger of Titan, for she is the personification of that light +which precedes the appearance of the sun. The poets describe this +goddess as rising out of the ocean in a saffron robe, seated in a +flame-colored car, drawn by two or four horses, expanding with her rosy +fingers the gates of light, and scattering the pearly dew. Virgil +represents her horses as of flame color, and varies their number from +two to four, according as she rises slower or faster. + +She is said to have been daughter of Titan and the earth, because the +light of the morning seems to rise out of the earth, and to proceed from +the sun, which immediately follows it. She is styled mother of the four +winds, because, after a calm in the night, the winds rise in the +morning, as attendant upon the sun, by whose heat and light they are +begotten. There is no other goddess of whom we have so many beautiful +descriptions in the poets. + + + + +CHAPTER III. + +_Terrestrial Gods._ + + +SATURN was the son of Cœlus and Titæa or Terra, and married his sister +Vesta. She, with her other sisters, persuaded their mother to join them +in a plot, to exclude Titan, their elder brother, from his birthright, +and raise Saturn to his father's throne. Their design so far succeeded, +that Titan was obliged to resign his claim, though on condition, that +Saturn brought up no male children, and thus the succession might revert +to the Titans again. Saturn, it is said, observed this covenant so +faithfully, that he devoured, as soon as they were born, his legitimate +sons. His punctuality, however, in this respect, was at last frustrated +by the artifice of Vesta, who, being delivered of twins, Jupiter and +Juno, presented the latter to her husband, and concealing the former, +sent him to be nursed on Mount Ida in Crete, committing the care of him +to the Curētes and Corybantes. + +The reign of Saturn was so mild and happy, that the poets have given it +the name of the golden age. The people, who before wandered about like +beasts, were then reduced to civil society; laws were enacted, and the +art of tilling and sowing the ground introduced; whence Varro tells us, +that Saturn had his name _a satu_, from _sowing_. + +He was usually represented as an old man, bare-headed and bald, with all +the marks of infirmity in his eyes, countenance, and figure. In his +right hand they sometimes placed a sickle or scythe; at others, a key, +and a circumflexed serpent biting its tail, in his left. He sometimes +was pictured with six wings, and feet of wool, to show how insensibly +and swiftly time passes. The scythe denoted his cutting down and +subverting all things, and the serpent the revolution of the year, _quod +in sese volvitur annus_. + +JANUS was a pagan deity, particularly of the ancient Romans. He was +esteemed the wisest sovereign of his time, and because he was supposed +to know what was past, and what was to come, they feigned that he had +two faces, whence the Latins gave him the epithets of Biceps, Bifrons, +and Biformis. + +He is introduced by Ovid as describing his origin, office and form: he +was the ancient Chaos, or confused mass of matter before the formation +of the world, the reduction of which into order and regularity, gave him +his divinity. Thus deified, he had the power of _opening_ and _shutting_ +every thing in the universe: he was arbiter of peace and war, and keeper +of the door of heaven. He was the god who presided over the beginning of +all undertakings; the first libations of wine and wheat were offered to +him, and the preface of all prayers directed to him. The first month of +the year took its denomination from Janus. + +It is certain that Janus early obtained divine honors among the Romans. +Numa ordained that his temple should be shut in time of peace, and +opened in time of war, from which ceremony Janus was called Clusius and +Patulcius. + +The peculiar offerings to Janus were cakes of new meal and salt, with +new wine and frankincense. In the feasts instituted by Numa, the +sacrifice was a ram, and the solemnities were performed by men, in the +manner of exercises and combats. Then all artificers and tradesmen began +their works, and the Roman consuls for the new year solemnly entered on +their office: all quarrels were laid aside, mutual presents were made, +and the day concluded with joy and festivity. Janus was seated in the +centre of twelve altars, in allusion to the twelve months of the year, +and had on his hands fingers to the amount of the days in the year. +Sometimes his image had four faces, either in regard to the four seasons +of the year, or to the four quarters of the world: he held in one hand a +key, and in the other a sceptre; the former may denote his opening, as +it were, and shutting the world, by the admission and exclusion of +light; and the latter his dominion over it. + +VULCAN was the offspring of Jupiter and Juno. He was so remarkably +deformed that Jupiter threw him down from heaven to the isle of Lemnos. +In this fall he broke his leg, as he also would have broken his neck, +had he not been caught by the Lemnians. It is added that he was a day in +falling from heaven to earth. Some report that Juno herself, disgusted +at his deformity, hurled down Vulcan into the sea, where he was nursed +by Thetis and her nymphs, whilst others contend that he fell upon land, +and was brought up by apes. It is probable that Juno had some hand in +his disgrace, since Vulcan, afterwards, in resentment of the injury, +presented his mother with a golden chair, which was so contrived by +springs unseen, that being seated in it she was unable to rise, till the +inventor was prevailed upon to grant her deliverance. + +The first abode of Vulcan on earth was in the isle of Lemnos. There he +set up his forges, and taught men the malleability and polishing of +metals. Thence he removed to the Liparean islands, near Sicily, where, +with the assistance of the Cyclops, he made Jupiter fresh thunder-bolts +as the old ones decayed. He also wrought an helmet for Pluto, which +rendered him invisible; a trident for Neptune, which shook both land and +sea; and a dog of brass for Jupiter, which he animated so as to perform +the functions of nature. At the request of Thetis he fabricated the +divine armor of Achilles, whose shield is so beautifully described by +Homer; as also the invincible armor of Æneas, at the entreaty of Venus. +However disagreeable the person of Vulcan might be, he was susceptible +notwithstanding of love. His first passion was for Minerva, having +Jupiter's consent to address her; but his courtship, in this instance, +failed of success, not only on account of his person, but also because +the goddess had vowed perpetual virginity. He afterwards became the +husband of Venus. + + + [Illustration: + + AURORA. + + HERE THE GAY MORN RESIDES IN RADIANT BOWERS, + HERE KEEPS HER REVELS WITH THE DANCING HOURS. + + Pope's Homer's Odyssey. B. 12. L. 2. + Pl. 5.] + + +He was reckoned among the gods presiding over marriage, from the torches +lighted by him to grace that solemnity. It was the custom in several +nations, after gaining a victory, to pile the arms of the enemy in a +heap on the field of battle, and make a sacrifice of them to Vulcan. As +to his worship, Vulcan had an altar in common with Prometheus, who first +invented fire, as did Vulcan the use of it, in making arms and utensils. +His principal temple was in a consecrated grove at the foot of mount +Ætna, in which was a fire continually burning. This temple was guarded +by dogs, which had the discernment to distinguish his votaries by +tearing the vicious, and fawning upon the virtuous. + +He was highly honored at Rome. Romulus built him a temple without the +walls of the city, the augurs being of opinion that the god of fire +ought not to be admitted within. But the highest mark of respect paid +him by the Romans was, that those assemblies were kept in his temple +where the most important concerns of the republic were debated, the +Romans thinking they could invoke nothing more sacred to confirm their +treaties and decisions, than the avenging fire of which that god was the +symbol. + +This deity, as the god of fire, was represented differently in different +nations: the Egyptians depicted him proceeding from an egg, placed in +the mouth of Jupiter, to denote the radical or natural heat diffused +through all created beings. In ancient gems and medals he is figured as +a lame, deformed and squalid man, with a beard, and hair neglected; half +naked; his habit reaching down to his knee only, and having a round +peaked cap on his head, a hammer in his right hand, and a smith's tongs +in his left, working at the anvil, and usually attended by the Cyclops, +or by some of the gods or goddesses for whom he is employed. + +The poets described him as blackened and hardened from the forge, with a +face red and fiery whilst at his work, and tired and heated after it. He +is almost always the subject either of pity or ridicule. In short, the +great celestial deities seem to have admitted Vulcan among them as great +men used to keep buffoons at their tables, to make them laugh, and to be +the butt of the whole company. + +If we wish to come at the probable meaning of this fable, we must have +recourse to Egyptian antiquities. The Horus of the Egyptians was the +most mutable figure on earth, for he assumed shapes suitable to all +seasons, and to all ranks. To direct the husbandman he wore a rural +dress; by a change of attributes he became the instructer of smiths and +other artificers, whose instruments he appeared adorned with. This Horus +of the smiths had a short or lame leg, to signify that agriculture or +husbandry will halt without the assistance of the handicraft or mechanic +arts. In this apparatus he was called _Mulciber_, (from _Mulci_, to +direct and manage, and _ber_ or _beer_, a cave or mine, comes Mulciber, +the king of the mines or forges;) he was called also Hephaistos, (from +_Aph_, _father_, and _Esto_, _fire_, comes Ephaisto, or Hephaiston, the +father of fire; and from _Wall_, to work, and Canan, to _hasten_, comes +_Wolcon_, Vulcan, or _work furnished_;) all which names the Greeks and +Romans adopted with the figure, and, as usual, converted from a _symbol_ +to a _god_. + +ÆOLUS, god of the winds, is said to have been the son of Jupiter by +Acasta or Sigesia, daughter of Hippotas. His residence was, according to +most authors, at Rhegium in Italy; but wherever it was, he is +represented as holding the winds, enchained in a vast cave, to prevent +their committing any more such devastations as they had before +occasioned; for, to their violence was imputed not only the disjunction +of Sicily from Italy, but also the separation of Europe from Africa, by +which a passage was opened for the ocean to form the Mediterranean sea. +According to some, the Æolian, or Lipări islands were uninhabited till +Lipărus, son of Auson, settled a colony there, and gave one of them his +name. Æŏlus married his daughter Cyăne, peopled the rest and succeeded +him on the throne. He was a generous and good prince, who hospitably +entertained Ulysses, and as a proof of his kindness, bestowed on him +several skins, in which he had enclosed the winds. The companions of +Ulysses, unable to restrain their curiosity, having opened the skins, +the winds in consequence were set free, and occasioned the wildest +uproar; insomuch that Ulysses lost all his vessels, and was himself +alone saved by a plank. It may not be improper to remark, that over the +rougher winds the poets have placed Æŏlus; over the milder, Juno; and +the rain, thunder and lightning they have committed to Jupiter himself. + +MOMUS, son of Somnus and Nox, was the god of pleasantry and wit, or +rather the jester of the celestial assembly; for, like other monarchs, +it was but reasonable that Jupiter too should have his fool. We have an +instance of Momus's fantastic humor in the contest between Neptune, +Minerva, and Vulcan, for skill. The first had made a bull, the second a +house, and the third a man. Momus found fault with them all. He disliked +the bull because his horns were not placed before his eyes, that he +might give a surer blow: he condemned Minerva's house because it was +immovable, and could not therefore be taken away if placed in a bad +neighborhood; and in regard to Vulcan's man, he said he ought to have +made a window in his breast, by which his heart might be seen, and his +secrets discovered. + + + + +CHAPTER IV. + +_Terrestrial Goddesses._ + + +CYBELE, _or_ Vesta _the elder_. It is highly necessary, in tracing the +genealogy of the heathen deities, to distinguish between this goddess +and Vesta the _younger_, her daughter, because the poets have been +faulty in confounding them, and ascribing the attributes and actions of +the one to the other. The elder Vesta, or Cybĕle, was daughter of Cœlus +and Terra, and wife of her brother Saturn, to whom she bore a numerous +offspring. She had a variety of names besides that of Cybĕle, under +which she is most generally known, and which she obtained from Mount +Cybĕlus, in Phrygia, where sacrifices to her were first instituted. Her +sacrifices and festivals, like those of Bacchus, were celebrated with a +confused noise of timbrels, pipes, and cymbals; the sacrificants howling +as if mad, and profaning both the temple of the goddess, and the ears of +their hearers with the most obscene language and abominable gestures. + +Under the character of Vesta, she is generally represented upon ancient +coins in a sitting posture, with a lighted torch in one hand, and a +sphere or drum in the other. As Cybĕle, she makes a more magnificent +appearance, being seated in a lofty chariot drawn by lions, crowned with +towers, and bearing in her hand a key. Being goddess, not of cities +only, but of all things which the earth sustains, she was crowned with +turrets, whilst the key implies not only her custody of cities, but also +that in winter the earth locks those treasures up, which she brings +forth and dispenses in summer: she rides in a chariot, because +(fancifully) the earth hangs suspended in the air, balanced and poised +by its own weight; and that the chariot is supported by wheels, because +the earth is a voluble body and turns round. Her being drawn by lions, +may imply that nothing is too fierce and intractable for a motherly +piety and tenderness to tame and subdue. Her garments are painted with +divers colors, but chiefly green, and figured with the images of several +creatures, because such a dress is suitable to the variegated and more +prevalent appearance of the earth. + +VESTA was the daughter of Vesta the elder, by Saturn, and sister of +Ceres, Juno, Pluto, Neptune and Jupiter. She was so fond of a single +life, that when her brother Jupiter ascended the throne, and offered to +grant whatever she asked, her only desires were the preservation of her +virginity, and the first oblation in all sacrifices. Numa Pompilius, the +great founder of religion among the Romans, is said first to have +restored the ancient rites and worship of this goddess, to whom he +erected a circular temple, which in succeeding ages was not only much +embellished, but also, as the earth was supposed to retain a constant +fire within, a perpetual fire was kept up in the temple of Vesta, the +care of which was intrusted to a select number of young females +appointed from the first families in Rome, and called _Vestal virgins_. + + + [Illustration: + + APOLLO AND THE MUSES. + Pl. 6.] + + +As this Vesta was the goddess of fire, the Romans had no images of her +in her temple; the reason for which, assigned by Ovid, is that fire has +no representative, as no bodies are produced from it: yet as Vesta was +the guardian of houses or hearths, her image was usually placed in the +porch or entry, and daily sacrifices were offered up to her. It is +certain nothing could be a stronger or more lively symbol of the supreme +being than fire; accordingly we find this emblem in early use throughout +the east. The Romans looked upon Vesta as one of the tutelar deities of +their empire; and they so far made the safety and fate of Rome depend on +the preservation of the sacred fire in the temple of Vesta, that they +thought the extinction of it foreboded the most terrible misfortune. + +CERES was daughter of Saturn and Ops, or Vesta. Sicily, Attica, Crete, +and Egypt, claim the honor of her birth, each country producing the +ground of its claims, though general suffrage favors the first. In her +youth, being extremely beautiful, Jupiter fell in love with her, and by +him she had Perephăta, called afterwards Proserpine. For some time she +took up her residence in Corcyra, so called in later times, from a +daughter of Asōpus, there buried, but anciently _Drepănum_, from the +sickle used by the goddess in reaping, which had been presented her by +Vulcan. Thence she removed to Sicily, where the violence of Pluto +deprived her of Proserpine. Disconsolate at her loss, she importuned +Jupiter for redress; but obtaining little satisfaction, she lighted +torches at the volcano of Mount Ætna, and mounting her car, drawn by +winged dragons, set out in search of her beloved daughter. This +transaction the Sicilians annually commemorated by running about in the +night with lighted torches and loud exclamations. + +It is disputed, by several nations, who first informed Ceres where her +daughter was, and thence acquired the reward, which was the art of +sowing corn. Some ascribe the intelligence to Triptolĕmus, and his +brother Eubulĕus; but the generality of writers agree in conferring the +honor on the nymph Arethūsa, daughter of Nereus and Doris, and companion +of Diana, who, flying from the pursuit of the river Alphēus, saw +Proserpine in the infernal regions. + +It must be owned that Ceres was not undeserving the highest titles +bestowed upon her, being considered as the deity who had blessed men +with the art of cultivating the earth, having not only taught them to +plough and sow, but also to reap, harvest, and thresh out their grain; +to make flour and bread, and fix limits or boundaries to ascertain their +possessions. The garlands used in her sacrifices were of myrtle, or +rape-weed; but flowers were prohibited, Proserpine being carried off as +she gathered them. The poppy alone was sacred to her, not only because +it grows amongst corn, but because, in her distress, Jupiter gave it her +to eat, that she might sleep and forget her troubles. Cicero mentions an +ancient temple dedicated to her at Catania, in Sicily in which the +offices were performed by matrons and virgins only, no man being +admitted. + +If to explain the fable of Ceres, we have recourse to Egypt; it will be +found, that the goddess of Sicily and Eleusis, or of Rome and Greece, is +no other than the Egyptian Isis, brought by the Phœnicians into those +countries. The very name of _mystery_, from _mistor_, a _veil_ or +_covering_, given to the Eleusinian rites, performed in honor of Ceres, +shows them to have been of Egyptian origin. The Isis, or the +emblematical figure exhibited at the feast appointed for the +commemoration of the state of mankind after the flood, bore the name of +Ceres, from Cerets, _dissolution_ or _overthrow_. She was represented in +mourning, and with torches, to denote the grief she felt for the loss of +her favorite daughter _Persephŏne_ (which word, translated, signifies +corn lost) and the pains she was at to recover her. The poppies with +which this Isis was crowned, signified the joy men received at their +first abundant crop, the word which signifies a _double crop_, being +also a name for the _poppy_. Persephŏne or Proserpine found again, was a +lively symbol of the recovery of corn, and its cultivation, almost lost +in the deluge. Thus, emblems of the most important events which ever +happened in the world, simple in themselves, became when transplanted to +Greece and Rome, sources of fable and idolatry. + +Ceres was usually represented of a tall majestic stature, fair +complexion, languishing eyes, and yellow or flaxen hair; her head +crowned with a garland of poppies, or ears of corn; holding in her right +hand a bunch of the same materials with her garland, and in her left a +lighted torch. When in a car or chariot, she is drawn by lions, or +winged dragons. + +MUSÆ, the _Muses_. This celebrated sisterhood is said to have been the +daughters of Jupiter and Mnēmŏsyne. They were believed to have been born +on Mount Piĕrus, and educated by Euphēme. In general they were +considered as the tutelar goddesses of sacred festivals and banquets, +and the patronesses of polite and useful arts. They supported virtue in +distress, and preserved worthy actions from oblivion. Homer calls them +superintendants and correctors of manners. In respect to the sciences, +these sisters had each their separate province; though poetry seemed +more immediately under their united protection. + +These divinities, formerly called Mosæ, were so named from a Greek word +signifying _to inquire_; because, by inquiring of them, the sciences +might be learnt. Others say they had their name from their resemblance, +because there is a similitude, an infinity, and relation, betwixt all +the sciences, in which they agree together, and are united with each +other; for which reason they are often painted with their hands joined, +dancing in a circle round Apollo their leader. + +They were represented crowned with flowers, or wreaths of palm, each +holding some instrument, or emblem of the science or art over which she +presided. They were depicted as in the bloom of youth; and the bird +sacred to them was the swan, probably because that bird was consecrated +to their sovereign Apollo. There was a fountain of the Muses near Rome, +in the meadow where Numa used to meet the goddess Egeria; the care of +which and of the worship paid to the Muses, was intrusted to the Vestal +virgins. + +Their names were as follows: Clio, who presided over history. Her name +is derived from κλειος, _glory_, or from κλειω, to _celebrate_. She is +generally represented under the form of a young woman crowned with +laurel, holding in her right hand a trumpet, and in her left a book: +others describe her with a lute in one hand, and in the other a +_plectrum_, or quill. + +Euterpe is distinguished by _tibiæ_ or pipes whence she was called also +Tibīcĭna. Some say logic was invented by her. It was very common with +the musicians of old to play on two pipes at once, agreeably to the +remarks before Terence's plays, and as we often actually find them +represented in the remains of the artists. It was over this species of +music that Euterpe presided, as we learn from the first ode of Horace. + +Thălīa presided over comedy, and whatever was gay, amiable, and +pleasant. She holds a mask in her right hand, and on medals she is +represented leaning against a pillar. She was the Muse of comedy, of +which they had a great mixture on the Roman stage in the earliest ages +of their poetry, and long after. She is distinguished from the other +Muses in general by a mask, and from Melpomĕne, the tragic Muse, by her +shepherd's crook, not to speak of her look, which is meaner than that of +Melpomĕne, or her dress, which is shorter, and consequently less noble, +than that of any other of the Muses. + +Melpomĕne was so styled from the dignity and excellence of her song. She +presided over epic and lyric poetry. To her the invention of all +mournful verses, and, particularly, of tragedy, was ascribed; for which +reason Horace invokes her when he laments the death of Quintilius Varus. +She is usually represented of a sedate countenance, and richly habited, +with sceptres and crowns in one hand, and in the other a dagger. She has +her mask on her head, which is sometimes placed so far backward that it +has been mistaken for a second face. Her mask shows that she presided +over the stage; and she is distinguished from Thălīa, or the comic Muse, +by having more of dignity in her look, stature, and dress. Melpomĕne was +supposed to preside over all melancholy subjects, as well as tragedy; as +one would imagine at least from Horace's invoking her in one of his +odes, and his desiring her to crown him with laurel in another. + +Terpsĭchŏre; that is, the _sprightly_. Some attribute her name to the +pleasure she took in dancing; others represent her as the protectress of +music, particularly the flute; and add, that the chorus of the ancient +drama was her province, to which also logic has been annexed. She is +further said to be distinguished by the flutes which she holds, as well +on medals as on other monuments. + +Erăto, presided over elegiac or amorous poetry, and dancing, whence she +was sometimes called Saltatrix. She is represented as young, and crowned +with myrtle and roses, having a lyre in her right hand, and a bow in her +left, with a little winged Cupid placed by her, armed with his bow and +arrows. + +Polyhymnia. Her name, which is of Greek origin, and signifies _much +singing_, seems to have been given her for the number of her songs, +rather than her faithfulness of memory. To Polyhymnia belonged that +harmony of voice and gesture which gives a perfection to oratory and +poetry. She presided over rhetoric, and is represented with a crown of +pearls and a white robe, in the act of extending her right hand, as if +haranguing, and holding in her left a scroll, on which the word +_Suadere_ is written; sometimes, instead of the scroll, she appears +holding a _caduceus_ or sceptre. + +Urania, or Cœlestis. She is the Muse who extended her care to all divine +or celestial subjects, such as the hymns in praise of the gods, the +motions of the heavenly bodies, and whatever regarded philosophy or +astronomy. She is represented in an azure robe, crowned with stars and +supporting a large globe with both hands: on medals this globe stands +upon a tripod. + +Calliŏpe, who presides over eloquence and heroic poetry; so called from +the ecstatic harmony of her voice. The poets, who are supposed to +receive their inspirations from the Muses, chiefly invoked Calliŏpe, as +she presided over the hymns made in honor of the gods. She is spoken of +by Ovid, as the chief of all the Muses. Under the same idea, Horace +calls her _Regina_, and attributes to her the skill of playing on what +instrument she pleases. + +ASTRÆA, or ASTREA, goddess of justice, was daughter of Astræus, one of +the Titans; or according to Ovid, of Jupiter and Themis. She descended +from heaven in the golden age, and inspired mankind with principles of +justice and equity, but the world growing corrupt, she re-ascended +thither, where she became the constellation in the Zodiac called Virgo. + +This goddess is represented with a serene countenance, her eyes bound or +blinded, having a sword in one hand, and in the other a pair of +balances, equally poised, or rods with a bundle of axes, and sitting on +a square stone. Among the Egyptians, she is described with her left hand +stretched forth and open, but without a head. According to the poets, +she was conversant on earth during the golden and silver ages, but in +those of brass and iron, was forced by the wickedness of mankind to +abandon the earth and retire to heaven. Virgil hints that she first +quitted courts and cities, and betook herself to rural retreats before +she entirely withdrew. + +NEMESIS, daughter of Jupiter and Necessity, or, according to some, of +Oceănus and Nox, had the care of revenging the crimes which human +justice left unpunished. The word Nemĕsis is of Greek origin, nor was +there any Latin word that expressed it, therefore the Latin poets +usually styled this goddess Rhamnusia, from a famous statue of Nemĕsis +at Rhamnus in Attica. She is likewise called Adrastea, because Adrastus, +king of Argos, first raised an altar to her. Nemĕsis is plainly divine +vengeance, or the eternal justice of God, which severely punishes the +wicked actions of men. She is sometimes represented with wings, to +denote the celerity with which she follows men to observe their actions. + + + + +CHAPTER V. + +_Gods of the Woods._ + + +_Pan_, the god of shepherds and hunters, leader of the nymphs, president +of the mountains, patron of a country life, and guardian of flocks and +herds, was likewise adored by fishermen, especially those who lived +about the promontories washed by the sea. There is scarcely any of the +gods to whom the poets have given a greater diversity of parents. The +most common opinion is, that he was the son of Mercury and Penelŏpe. As +soon as he was born, his father carried him in a goat's skin to heaven, +where he charmed all the gods with his pipe, so that they associated him +with Mercury in the office of their messenger. After this he was +educated on Mount Mænălus, in Arcadia, by Siŏne and the other nymphs, +who, attracted by his music, followed him as their conductor. + +Pan, though devoted to the pleasures of rural life, distinguished +himself by his valor. In the war of the giants he entangled Typhon in +his nets. Bacchus, in his Indian expedition, was accompanied by him with +a body of Satyrs, who rendered Bacchus great service. When the Gauls +invaded Greece, and were just going to pillage Delphi, Pan struck them +with such a sudden consternation by night, that they fled without being +pursued: hence the expression of a _Panic fear_, for a sudden terror. +The Romans adopted him among their deities, by the names of Lupercus and +Lycæus, and built a temple to him at the foot of Mount Palatine. + +He is represented with a smiling, ruddy face, and thick beard covering +his breast, two horns on his head, a star on his bosom, legs and thighs +hairy, and the nose, feet, and tail of a goat. He is clothed in a +spotted skin, having a shepherd's crook in one hand, and his pipe of +unequal reeds in the other, and is crowned with pine, that tree being +sacred to him. + +Pan probably signifies the universal nature, proceeding from the divine +mind and providence, of which the heaven, earth, sea, and the eternal +fire, are so many members. Mythologists are of opinion that his upper +parts are like a man, because the superior and celestial part of the +world is beautiful, radiant, and glorious: his horns denote the rays of +the sun, as they beam upwards, and his long beard signifies the same +rays, as they have an influence upon the earth: the ruddiness of his +face resembles the splendor of the sky, and the spotted skin which he +wears is the image of the starry firmament: his lower parts are rough, +hairy, and deformed, to represent the shrubs, wild creatures, trees, and +mountains here below: his goat's feet signify the solidity of the earth; +and his pipe of seven reeds, that celestial harmony which is made by the +seven planets; lastly, his sheep-hook denotes that care and providence +by which he governs the universe. + +SILENUS. As Bacchus was the god of good humor and fellowship, so none of +the deities appeared with a more numerous or splendid retinue, in which +Silēnus was the principal person; of whose descent, however, we have no +accounts to be relied on. Some say he was born at Malea, a city of +Sparta; others at Nysa in Arabia; but the most probable conjecture is, +that he was a prince of Caria, noted for his equity and wisdom. But +whatever be the fate of these different accounts, Silēnus is said to +have been preceptor to Bacchus, and was certainly a very suitable one +for such a deity, the old man being heartily attached to wine. He +however distinguished himself greatly in the war with the giants, by +appearing in the conflict on an ass, whose braying threw them into +confusion; for which reason, or because, when Bacchus engaged the +Indians, their elephants were put to flight by the braying of the ass, +it was raised to the skies, and there made a constellation. + +The historian tells us that Silēnus was the first of all the kings that +reigned at Nysa; that his origin is not known, it being beyond the +memory of mortals: it is likewise said that he was a Phrygian, who lived +in the reign of Midas, and that the shepherds having caught him, by +putting wine into the fountain he used to drink of, brought him to +Midas, who gave him his long ears; a fable intended to intimate that +this extraordinary loan signified the faculty of receiving universal +intelligence. Virgil makes Silēnus deliver a very serious and excellent +discourse concerning the creation of the world, when he was scarcely +recovered from a fit of drunkenness, which renders it probable that the +sort of drunkenness with which Silēnus is charged, had something in it +mysterious, and approaching to inspiration. + +He is described as a short, corpulent old man, bald-headed, with a flat +nose, prominent forehead and long ears. He is usually exhibited as +over-laden with wine, and seated on a saddled ass, upon which he +supports himself with a long staff in the one hand, and in the other +carries a _cantharus_ or jug, with the handle almost worn out with +frequent use. + +SYLVANUS. The descent of Sylvānus is extremely obscure. Some think him +son of Faunus, some say he was the same with Faunus, whilst others +suppose him the same deity with Pan, which opinion Pliny seems to adopt +when he says that the Ægipans were the same with the Sylvans. He was +unknown to the Greeks; but the Latins received the worship of him from +the Pelasgi, upon their migration into Italy, and his worship seems +wholly to have arisen out of the ancient sacred use of woods and groves, +it being introduced to inculcate a belief that there was no place +without the presence of a deity. The Pelasgi consecrated groves, and +appointed solemn festivals, in honor of Sylvānus. The hog and milk were +the offerings tendered him. A monument consecrated to this deity, by one +Laches, gives him the epithet of Littorālis, whence it would seem that +he was worshipped upon the sea-coasts. + +The priests of Sylvānus constituted one of the principal colleges of +Rome, and were in great reputation, a sufficient evidence of the fame of +his worship. Many writers confound the Sylvāni, Fauni, Satyri, and +Silēni, with Pan. + +Some monuments represent him as little of stature, with the face of a +man, and the legs and feet of a goat, holding a branch of cypress in his +hand, in token of his regard for Cyparissus, who was transformed into +that tree. The pineapple, a pruning-knife in his hand, a crown coarsely +made, and a dog, are the ordinary attributes of the representations of +this rural deity. He appears sometimes naked, sometimes covered with a +rustic garb which reaches down to his knee. + +Sylvānus, as his name imports, presided over woods, and the fruits that +grew in them; agreeable to which, (in some figures) he has a lap full of +fruit, his pruning-hook in one hand, and a young cypress tree in the +other. Virgil mentions the latter as a distinguishing attribute of this +god: the same poet, on another occasion, describes him as crowned with +wild flowers, and mentions his presiding over the cornfields as well as +the woods. + +SATYRI, _or_ SATYRS, a sort of demi-gods, who with the Fauns and +Sylvans, presided over groves and forests under the direction of Pan. +They made part of the _dramatis persōnæ_ in the ancient Greek tragedies, +which gave rise to the species of poetry called satirical. + +There is a story that Euphēmus, passing from Caria to the extreme parts +of the ocean, discovered many desert islands, and being forced by +tempestuous weather to land upon one of them, called Satyrĭda, he found +inhabitants covered with yellow hair, having tails not much less than +horses. We are likewise told, that in the expedition which Hanno the +Carthaginian made to the parts of Lybia lying beyond Hercules' pillars, +they came to a great bay called the Western Horn, in which was an island +where they could find or see nothing by day-light but woods, and yet in +the night they observed many fires, and heard an incredible and +astonishing noise of drums and trumpets; whence they concluded that a +number of Satyrs abode there. + +It is pretended there really were such monsters as the pagans deified +under the name of Satyrs; and one of them, it is said, was brought to +Sylla, having been surprised in his sleep. Sylla ordered him to be +interrogated by people of different countries, to know what language he +spoke; but the Satyr only answered with cries, not unlike those of goats +and the neighing of horses. This monster had a human body, but the +thighs, legs, and feet of a goat. To the above stories may be added that +of the Satyr who passed the Rubicon in presence of Cæsar and his whole +army. + +The Satyrs of the ancients were the ministers and attendants of Bacchus. +Their form was not the most inviting; for though their countenances were +human, they had horns on their foreheads, crooked hands, rough and hairy +bodies, feet and legs like a goat's, and tails which resembled those of +horses. The shepherds sacrificed to them the firstlings of their flocks, +but more especially grapes and apples; and they addressed to them songs +in their forests by which they endeavored to conciliate their favor. +When Satyrs arrived at an advanced age they were called Silēni. + +FAUNI, _or_ FAUNS, a species of demi-gods, inhabiting the forests, +called also _Sylvāni_. They were sons of Faunus and Fauna, or Fatua, +king and queen of the Latins, and though accounted demi-gods, were +supposed to die after a long life. Arnobius, indeed, has shown that +their father, or chief, lived only one hundred and twenty years. The +Fauns were Roman deities, unknown to the Greeks. The Roman Faunus was +the same with the Greek Pan; and as in the poets we find frequent +mention of _Fauns_, and _Pans_, or _Panes_, in the plural number, most +probable the Fauns were the same with the Pans, and all descended from +one progenitor. + +The Romans called them _Fauni_ and _Ficarii_. The denomination _Ficarii_ +was not derived from the Latin _ficus_ a _fig_, as some have imagined, +but from _ficus_, _fici_, a sort of fleshy tumor or excrescence growing +on the eyelids and other parts of the body, which the Fauns were +represented as having. They were called Fauni, _a fando_, from +_speaking_, because they were wont to speak and converse with men; an +instance of which is given in the voice that was heard from the wood, in +the battle between the Romans and Etrurians for the restoration of the +Tarquins, and which encouraged the Romans to fight. We are told that the +Fauni were husbandmen, the Satyrs vine-dressers, and the Sylvāni those +who cut down wood in the forests. + +They were represented with horns on their heads, pointed ears, and +crowned with branches of the pine, which was a tree sacred to them, +whilst their lower extremities resembled those of a goat. + +Horace makes Faunus the guardian and protector of men of wit, and +Virgil, a god of oracles and predictions; but this is, perhaps, founded +on the etymology of his name, for φωνειν in Greek, and _Fari_ in Latin, +of which it has been supposed a derivative, signify to _speak_; and it +was, perhaps, for the same reason, they called his wife _Fauna_, that +is, _Fatidica_, _prophetess_. Faunus is described by Ovid with horns on +his head, and crowned with the pine tree. + +PRIAPUS is said, by some, to have been the son of Bacchus and Nais, or +as others will have it, of Chiŏne; but the generality of authors agree, +that he was son of Bacchus and Venus. He was born at Lampsăchus, a city +of Mysia, at the mouth of the Hellespont, but in so deformed a state, +that his mother, through shame, abandoned him. On his growing up to +maturity, the inhabitants of the place banished him their territories, +on account of his vicious habits; but being soon after visited with an +epidemic disease, the Lampsacans consulted the oracle of Dodōna, and +Priāpus was in consequence recalled. Temples were erected to him as the +tutelar deity of vineyards and gardens, to defend them from thieves and +from birds. + +He is usually represented naked and obscene, with a stern countenance, +matted hair, crowned with garden herbs, and holding a wooden sword, or +scythe, whilst his body terminates in a shapeless trunk. His figures are +generally erected in gardens and orchards to serve as scarecrows. +Priāpus held a pruning-hook in his hands, when he had hands, for he was +sometimes nothing more than a mere log of wood, as Martial somewhat +humorously calls him. Indeed the Roman poets in general seem to have +looked on him as a ridiculous god, and are all ready enough either to +despise or abuse him. + +Trimalchio, in his ridiculous feasts described by Petronius, had a +figure of this god to be held up during his dessert: it was made of +paste, and, as Horace observes on another occasion, that he owed all his +divinity to the carpenter, Petronius seems to hint that he was wholly +obliged for it to the pastry cook in this. Some mythologists make the +birth of Priāpus allude to that radical moisture which supports all +vegetable productions, and which is produced by Bacchus and Venus, that +is, the solar heat, and the fluid whence Venus is said to have sprung. +Some affirm that he was the same with the Baal of the Phœnicians, +mentioned in scripture. + +ARISTÆUS, son of Apollo, by the nymph Cyrene, daughter of Hypseus, king +of the Lapĭthæ, was born in Lybia, and in that part of it where the city +Cyrene was built. He received his education from the nymphs, who taught +him to extract oil from olives, and to make honey, cheese, and butter; +all which arts he communicated to mankind. Going to Thebes, he there +married Autonŏe, daughter of Cadmus, and, by her, was father to Actæon, +who was torn in pieces by his own dogs. At length he passed into Thrace, +where Bacchus initiated him into the mysteries of the Orgia, and taught +him many things conducive to the happiness of life. Having dwelt some +time near Mount Hemus, he disappeared, and not only the barbarous people +of that country, but the Greeks likewise decreed him divine honors. + +It is remarked by Bayle, that Aristæus found out the solstitial rising +of Sirius, or the dog-star; and he adds, it is certain that this star +had a particular relation to Aristæus; for this reason, when the heats +of the dog-star laid waste the Cyclădes, and occasioned there a +pestilence, Aristæus was entreated to put a stop to it. He went directly +into the isle of Cea, and built an altar to Jupiter, offered sacrifices +to that deity, as well to the malignant star, and established an +anniversary for it. These produced a very good effect, for it was from +thence that the Etesian winds had their origin, which continue forty +days, and temper the heat of the summer. On his death, for the services +he had rendered mankind, he was placed among the stars, and is the +Aquarius of the Zodiac. + +TERMINUS was a very ancient deity among the Romans, whose worship was +first instituted by Numa Pompilius, he having erected in his honor on +the Tarpeian hill a temple which was open at the top. This deity was +thought to preside over the stones or land-marks, called Termĭni, which +were so highly venerated, that it was sacrilege to move them, and the +criminal becoming devoted to the gods, it was lawful for any man to kill +him. The Roman Termĭni were square stones or posts, much resembling our +mile-stones, erected to show that no force or violence should be used in +settling mutual boundaries; they were sometimes crowned with a human +head, but had seldom any inscriptions; one, however, is mentioned to +this effect, "Whosoever shall take away this, or shall order it to be +taken away, may he die the last of his family." + +VERTUMNUS, the Proteus of the Roman ritual, was the god of tradesmen, +and, from the power he had of assuming any shape, was believed to +preside over the thoughts of mankind. His courtship of Pomōna makes one +of the most elegant and entertaining stories in Ovid. The Romans +esteemed him the god of tradesmen, from the turns and changes which +traffic effects. There was no god had a greater variety of +representations than Vertumnus. He is painted with a garland of flowers +on his head, a pruning hook in one hand, and ripe fruits in the other. +Pomōna has a pruning hook in her right hand, and a branch in her left. +Pliny introduces this goddess personally, even in his prose, to make her +speak in praise of the fruits committed to her care. We learn from Ovid +that this goddess was of that class which they anciently called +Hamadryads. + +Both these deities were unknown to the Greeks, and only honored by the +Romans. Some imagine Vertumnus an emblem of the year, which, though it +assume different dresses according to the different seasons, is at no +time so luxuriant as in autumn, when the harvest is crowned, and the +fruits appear in their full perfection and lustre; but historians say +that Vertumnus was an ancient king of the Tuscans, who first taught his +people the method of planting orchards, gardens, and vineyards, and the +manner of cultivating, pruning, and grafting fruit-trees; whence he is +reported to have married Pomōna. Some think he was called Vertumnus, +from turning the lake Curtus into the Tiber. + + + + +CHAPTER VI. + +_Goddesses of the Woods._ + + +Diana, daughter of Jupiter and Latōna, and sister of Apollo, was born in +the island of Delos. She had a threefold divinity, being styled Diāna on +earth, Luna, or the moon, in heaven, and Hecăte, or Proserpine, in hell. +The poets say she had three heads, one of a horse, another of a woman, +and the third of a dog. Hesiod makes Diāna, Luna, and Hecăte, three +distinguished goddesses. + +Of all the various characters of this goddess, there is no one more +known than that of her presiding over woods, and delighting in hunting. +The Diāna Venatrix, or goddess of the chase, is frequently represented +as running on, with her vest flying back with the wind, notwithstanding +its being shortened, and girt about her for expedition. She is tall of +stature, and her face, though so very handsome, is something manly. Her +feet are sometimes bare, and sometimes adorned with a sort of buskin, +which was worn by the huntresses of old. She often has a quiver on her +shoulder, and sometimes holds a javelin, but more usually her bow, in +her right hand. It is thus she makes her appearance in several of her +statues, and it is thus the Roman poets describe her, particularly in +the epithets they give this goddess, in the use of which they are so +happy that they often bring the idea of whole figures of her into your +mind by a single word. The statues of this Diāna were very frequent in +woods: she was represented there in all the different ways they could +think of; sometimes as hunting, sometimes as bathing, and sometimes as +resting herself after her fatigue. The height of Diāna's stature is +frequently marked out in the poets, and that, generally, by comparing +her with her nymphs. + +Another great character of Diāna is that under which she is represented +as the intelligence which presides over the planet of the moon; in which +she is depicted in her car as directing that planet. Her figure under +this character is frequently enough to be met with on gems and medals, +which generally exhibit her with a lunar crown, or crescent on her +forehead, and sometimes as drawn by stags, sometimes by does, but, more +commonly than either, by horses. The poets speak of her chariot and her +horses; they agree with the artists in giving her but two, and show, +that the painters of old generally drew them of a perfect white color. + +A third remarkable way of representing Diāna was with three bodies; this +is very common among the ancient figures of the goddess, and it is hence +the poets call her the triple, the three-headed, and the three-bodied +Diāna. Her distinguishing name under this triple appearance is Hecăte, +or Trivia; a goddess frequently invoked in enchantments, and fit for +such black operations; for this is the infernal Diana, and as such is +represented with the characteristics of a fury, rather than as one of +the twelve great celestial deities: all her hands hold instruments of +terror, and generally grasp either cords, or swords, or serpents, or +fire-brands. + +There are various conjectures concerning the name _Hecăte_, which is +supposed to come from a Greek word signifying an _hundred_, either +because an hundred victims at a time used to be offered to her, or else +because by her edicts the ghosts of those who die without burial, wander +an hundred years upon the banks of the Styx. Mythologists say that +Hecăte is the _order_ and _force_ of the Fates, who obtained from the +divine power that influence which they have over human bodies; that the +operation of the Fates are hidden, but descend by the means and +interposition of the stars, wherefore it is necessary that all inferior +things submit to the cares, calamities, and death which the Fates bring +upon them, without any possibility of resisting the divine will. + +Hesiod relates of Hecate, to show the extent of her power, that Jupiter +had heaped gifts and honors upon her far above all the other deities; +that she was empress of the earth and sea, and all things which are +comprehended in the compass of the heavens; that she was a goddess easy +to be entreated, kind, and always ready to do good, bountiful of gold +and riches, which are wholly in her power; that whatever springs from +seed, whether in heaven, or on earth, is subject to her, and that she +governs the fates of all things. + +PALES was a rural goddess of the Romans. She was properly the divinity +of shepherds, and the tutelar deity and protectress of their flocks. Her +votaries had usually wooden images of her. A feast called Palilia or +Parilia was celebrated on the twenty-first of April, or, according to +some, in May, in the open fields. The offerings were milk and cakes of +millet, in order to engage her to defend their flocks from wild beasts +and infectious diseases. As part of the ceremony, they burned heaps of +straw, and leaped over them. Some make Pales the same with Vesta or +Cybĕle. This goddess is represented as an old woman. + +FLORA, the goddess of flowers, was a Roman deity. The ancients made her +the wife of Zephyrus, to intimate that Flora, or the natural heat of the +plant, must concur with the influence of the warmest wind for the +production of flowers. Varro reckons Flora among the ancient deities of +the Sabines, which were received into Rome on the union of the Sabines +with the Romans. Ovid says, that her Greek name was Chloris, and that +the Latins changed it into Flora. + +FERONIA was the goddess of woods and orchards. She is called Feronia +from the verb _fero, to bring forth_, because she _produced_ and +_propagated_ trees, or from _Ferōnĭci_, a town situated near the foot of +Mount Soracte, in Italy, where was a wood, and a temple dedicated to +her; which town and wood are mentioned by Virgil, in his catalogue of +the forces of Turnus. The Lacedemonians first introduced her worship +into Italy under Evander; for these people, being offended at the rigor +of the laws of Lycurgus, resolved to seek out some new plantation, and +arriving, after a long and dangerous voyage, in Italy, they, to show +their gratitude for their preservation, built a temple to Feronia, so +called from their _bearing patiently_ all the fatigues and dangers they +had encountered in their voyage. This edifice casually taking fire, the +people ran to remove and preserve the image of the goddess, when on a +sudden the fire became extinguished, and the grove assumed a native and +flourishing verdure. + +Horace mentions the homage that was paid to this deity, by washing the +face and hands, according to custom, in the sacred fountain which flowed +near her temple. Slaves received the cap of liberty at her shrine, on +which account they regarded her as their patroness. How Feronia was +descended, where born, or how educated, is not transmitted to us; but +she is said to have been wife to Jupiter Anxur, so called, because he +was worshipped in that place. + + [Illustration: + + NEPTUNE RISING FROM THE SEA + + HE SITS SUPERIOR & THE CHARIOT FLIES. + + Pope's Homer's Iliad. B. 13. L. 41 + Pl. 7.] + + +NYMPHÆ, _the_ NYMPHS, were certain inferior goddesses, inhabiting the +mountains, woods, valleys, rivers, seas, &c. said to be daughters of +Oceanus and Tethys. According to ancient mythology, the whole universe +was full of these nymphs, who are distinguished into several ranks and +classes, though the general division of them is into celestial and +terrestrial. I. The Celestial Nymphs, called _Uraniæ_, were supposed to +govern the heavenly bodies or spheres. II. The Terrestrial Nymphs, +called _Epigeiæ_, presided over the several parts of the inferior world; +these were again subdivided into those of the water, and those of the +earth. + +The Nymphs of the water were ranged under several classes: 1. The +Oceanĭdes, or Nymphs of the ocean. 2. The Nereids, daughters of Nereus +and Doris. 3. The Naiads, Nymphs of the fountains. 4. The Ephydriădes, +also Nymphs of the fountains; and 5. The Limniădes, Nymphs of the lakes. +The Nymphs of the earth were likewise divided into different classes; +as, 1. The Oreădes, or Nymphs of the mountains. 2. The Napææ, Nymphs of +the meadows; and 3. The Dryads and Hamadryads, Nymphs of the woods and +forests. Besides these, there were Nymphs who took their names from +particular countries, rivers, &c. as the Dardanĭdes, Tiberĭdes, +Ismenĭdes, &c. + +Pausanias reports it as the opinion of the ancient poets that the Nymphs +were not altogether free from death, or immortal, but that their years +wore in a manner innumerable; that prophecies were inspired by the +Nymphs, as well as the other deities; and that they had foretold the +destruction of several cities: they were likewise esteemed as the +authors of divination. + +Meursius is of opinion, that the Greeks borrowed their notion of these +divinities from the Phœnicians, for _nympha_, in their language, +signifying _soul_, the Greeks imagined that the souls of the ancient +inhabitants of Greece had become Nymphs; particularly that the souls of +those who had inhabited the woods were called Dryads; those who +inhabited the mountains, Oreădes; those who dwelt on the sea-coasts, +Nereids; and, lastly, those who had their place of abode near rivers or +fountains, Naiads. Though goats were sometimes sacrificed to the Nymphs, +yet their stated offerings were milk, oil, honey and wine. They were +represented as young and beautiful virgins, and dressed in conformity to +the character ascribed to them. + + + + + +CHAPTER VII. + +_Gods of the Sea._ + + +NEPTUNE was the son of Saturn, and Rhea or Ops, and brother of Jupiter. +When arrived at maturity, he assisted his brother Jupiter in his +expeditions, for which that god, on attaining to supreme power, assigned +him the sea and the islands for his empire. Whatever attachment Neptune +might have had to his brother at one period, he was at another expelled +heaven for entering into a conspiracy against him, in conjunction with +several other deities; whence he fled, with Apollo, to Laomedon, king of +Troy, where Neptune having assisted in raising the walls of the city, +and being dismissed unrewarded, in revenge, sent a sea-monster to lay +waste the country. + +On another occasion, this deity had a contest with Vulcan and Minerva, +in regard to their skill. The goddess, as a proof of her's, made a +horse, Vulcan a man, and Neptune a bull, whence that animal was used in +the sacrifices to him, though it is probable that, as the victim was to +be black, the design was to point out the raging quality and fury of the +sea, over which he presided. The Greeks make Neptune to have been the +creator of the horse, which he produced from out of the earth with a +blow of his trident, when disputing with Minerva who should give the +name to Cecropia, which was afterwards called Athens, from the name in +Greek of Minerva, who made an olive tree spring up suddenly, and thus +obtained the victory. + +In this fable, however, it is evident that the horse could signify +nothing but a ship; for the two things in which that region excelled +being ships and olive-trees, it was thought politic by this means to +bring the citizens over from too great a fondness for sea affairs, to +the cultivation of their country, by showing that Pallas was preferable +to Neptune, or, in other words, _husbandry to sailing_, which, without +some further meaning, the production of a horse could never have done. +It notwithstanding appears that Neptune had brought the management of +the horse, as likewise the art of building ships, to very great +perfection; insomuch that Pamphus, who was the most ancient writer of +hymns to the gods, calls him the benefactor of mankind, in bestowing +upon them horses and ships which had stems and decks that resembled +towers. + +If Neptune created the horse, he was likewise the inventor of +chariot-races; hence Mithridātes, king of Pontus, threw chariots, drawn +by four horses, into the sea, in honor of Neptune: and the Romans +instituted horse-races in the circus during his festival, at which time +all horses ceased from working, and the mules were adorned with wreaths +of flowers. + +Neptune, represented as a god of the sea, makes a considerable figure: +he is described with black or dark hair, his garment of an azure or +sea-green color, seated in a large shell drawn by whales, or sea-horses, +with his trident in his hand, attended by the sea-gods Palæmon, Glaucus, +and Phorcys; the sea-goddesses Thetis, Melita, and Panopēa, and a long +train of Tritons and sea-nymphs. + +The inferior artists represent him sometimes with an angry and disturbed +air; and we may observe the same difference in this particular between +the great and inferior poets as there is between the bad and the good +artists. Thus Ovid describes Neptune with a sullen look, whereas Virgil +expressly tells us that he has a mild face, even where he is +representing him in a passion. Even at the time that he is provoked, and +might be expected to have appeared disturbed, and in a passion, there is +serenity and majesty in his face. + +On some medals he treads on the beak of a ship, to show that he presided +over the seas, or more particularly over the Mediterranean sea, which +was the great, and almost the only scene for navigation among the old +Greeks and Romans. He is standing, as he generally was represented; he +most commonly, too, has his trident in his right hand: this was his +peculiar sceptre, and seems to have been used by him chiefly to rouse up +the waters; for we find sometimes that he lays it aside when he is to +appease them, but he resumes it when there is occasion for violence. +Virgil makes him shake Troy from its foundation with it; and in Ovid it +is with the stroke of this that the waters of the earth are let loose +for the general deluge. The poets have generally delighted in describing +this god as passing over the calm surface of the waters, in his chariot +drawn by sea-horses. The fine original description of this is in Homer, +from whom Virgil and Statius have copied it. + +In searching for the mythological sense of the fable, we must again have +recourse to Egypt, that kingdom which, above all others, has furnished +the most ample harvest for the reaper of mysteries. The Egyptians, to +denote navigation, and the return of the Phœnician fleet, which annually +visited their coast, used the figure of an Osīris borne on a winged +horse, and holding a three-forked spear, or harpoon. To this image they +gave the name of Poseidon, or Neptune, which, as the Greeks and Romans +afterwards adopted, sufficiently proves this deity had his birth here. +Thus the maritime Osīris of the Egyptians became a new deity with those +who knew not the meaning of the symbol. + +TRITON. It is not agreed who were the parents of Triton; but he was a +sea-deity, the herald and trumpeter of Oceănus and Neptune. He sometimes +delighted in mischief, for he carried off the cattle from the Tanagrian +fields, and destroyed the smaller coasting vessels; so that to appease +his resentment, the Tanagrians offered him libations of new wine. +Pleased with its flavor and taste, he drank so freely that he fell +asleep, and tumbling from an eminence, one of the natives cut of his +head. He left a daughter called Tristia. + +The poets ordinarily attribute to Triton, the office of calming the sea, +and stilling of tempests: thus in the Metamorphoses we read, that +Neptune desiring to recall the waters of the deluge, commanded Triton to +sound his trumpet, at the noise of which they retired to their +respective channels, and left the earth again habitable, having swept +off almost the whole human race. + +This god is exhibited in the human form from the waist upwards, with +blue eyes, a large mouth, and hair matted like wild parsley; his +shoulders covered with a purple skin, variegated with small scales, his +feet resembling the fore feet of a horse, and his lower parts +terminating in a double forked tail: sometimes he is seen in a car, with +horses of a bright cerulean. His trumpet is a large conch, or sea-shell. +There were several Tritons, but one chief over all, the distinguished +messenger of Neptune, as Mercury was of Jupiter, and Iris of Juno. + +OCEANUS, oldest son of Cœlus and Terra, or Vesta. He married Tethys, and +besides her had many other wives. He had several sisters, all Nymphs, +each of whom possessed an hundred woods and as many rivers. Oceănus was +esteemed by the ancients as the father both of gods and men, who were +said to have taken their beginning from him, on account of the ocean's +encompassing the earth with its waves, and because he was the principal +of that radical moisture diffused through universal matter, without +which, according to Thales, nothing could either be produced or subsist. + +Homer makes Juno visit Oceănus at the remotest limits of the earth, and +acknowledge him and Tethys as the parents of the gods, adding, that she +herself had been brought up under their tuition. Many of his children +are mentioned in poetical story, whose names it would be endless to +enumerate, and, indeed, they are only the appellations of the principal +rivers of the world. Oceănus was described with a bull's head, to +represent the rage and bellowing of the ocean when agitated by storms. +Oceănus and Tethys are ranked in the highest classes of sea-deities, and +as governors in chief over the whole world of waters. + +NEREUS, a sea-deity, was son of Oceănus, by Tethys. Apollodōrus gives +him Terra for his mother. His education and authority were in the +waters, and his residence, more particularly, the Ægean seas. He had the +faculty of assuming what form he pleased. He was regarded as a prophet; +and foretold to Paris the war which the rape of Helen would bring upon +his country. When Hercules was ordered to fetch the golden apples of the +Hesperĭdes, he went to the Nymphs inhabiting the grottoes of Eridănus, +to know where he might find them; the Nymphs sent him to Nereus, who, to +elude the inquiry, perpetually varied his form, till Hercules having +seized him, resolved to hold him till he resumed his original shape, on +which he yielded the desired information. Nereus had, by his sister +Doris, fifty daughters called Nereids. Hesiod highly celebrates him as a +mild and peaceful old man, a lover of justice and moderation. Nereus and +Doris, with their descendants the Nereids, or Oceaniads, so called from +Oceănus, are ranked in the third class of water deities. + +PALÆMON, _or_ MELICERTES, was son of Athămas, king of Thebes and Ino. +The latter fearing the rage of her husband, who in his madness had +killed his son Learchus, took Melicertes in her arms, and leaped with +him from the rock Molyris into the sea. Neptune received them with open +arms, and gave them a place among the marine gods, only changing their +names, Ino being called Leucothea, or Leucothŏe, and Melicertes, +Palæmon. Ino, under the name Leucothea, is supposed, by some, to be the +same with Aurora: the Romans gave her the name of Matuta, she being +reputed the goddess that ushers in the morning; and Palæmon, they called +Portumnus, or Portunnus, and painted him with a key in his hand, to +denote that he was the guardian of harbors. Adorations were paid to him +chiefly at Tenĕdos, and the sacrifice offered to him was an infant. + +Pausanias says that the body of Melicertes was thrown on the Isthmus of +Corinth where Sisyphus, his uncle, who reigned in that city, instituted +the Isthmian games in his honor. For this fable we are indebted to the +fertile invention of the Greeks, Melicertes being no other than the +Melcarthus or the Hercules of Tyre, who, from having been drowned in the +sea, was called a god of it, and from his many voyages, the guardian of +harbors. + +GLAUCUS, a sea-deity. His story, which is very fanciful, shows the +extravagance of poetical fiction amongst the ancients. Before his +deification, Glaucus is said to have been a fisherman of Anthēdon, who +having one day remarked that the fishes which he laid on a particular +herb revived and threw themselves into the sea, resolved himself to +taste it, and immediately followed their example: the consequence was, +that he became a Triton, and ever after was reputed a marine deity, +attending with the rest on the car of Neptune. + +The descent of this deity is exceeding dubious. He is said to have +carried off Ariadne from the island Dia, for which Bacchus bound him +fast with vine-twigs. The ship Argo is said to have been constructed by +him, and he is not only mentioned as commanding her, when Jason fought +with the Tyrrhenians, but as being the only one of her crew that came +off without a wound. He dwelt some time at Delos, and, besides +prophesying with the Nereids, is affirmed to have instructed Apollo in +the art. + +SCYLLA was the daughter of Phorcus, or Phorcys, by Ceto. Glaucus, being +passionately fond of Scylla, after vainly endeavoring to gain her +affections, applied to Circe, and besought her, by her art, to induce +her to return his affection. On this, Circe disclosed to him her +passion, but Glaucus remaining inexorable, the enchantress vowed +revenge, and by her magic charms so infected the fountain in which +Scylla bathed, that on entering it, her lower parts were turned into +dogs; at which the nymph, terrified at herself, plunged into the sea, +and there was changed to a rock, notorious for the shipwrecks it +occasioned. + +Authors are disagreed as to Scylla's form; some say she retained her +beauty from the neck downwards, but had six dog's heads: others +maintain, that her upper parts continued entire, but that she had below +the body of a wolf, and the tail of a serpent. The rock named Scylla, +lies between Italy and Sicily, and the noise of the waves beating on it +is supposed to have occasioned the fable of the barking of dogs, and +howling of wolves, ascribed to the imaginary monster. + +CHARYBDIS was a rapacious woman, a female robber, who, it is said, stole +the oxen of Hercules, for which she was thunder-struck by Jupiter, and +turned into a whirlpool, dangerous to sailors. This whirlpool was +situated opposite the rock Scylla, at the entrance of the Faro from +Messina, and occasioned the proverb of running into one danger to avoid +another. Some affirm that Hercules killed her himself; others, that +Scylla committed this robbery, and was killed for it by Hercules. + + + + +CHAPTER VIII. + +_Tartarus and its Deities._ + + +TARTARUS _or_ HELL, the region of punishment after death. The whole +imaginary world, which we call Hell, though according to the ancients it +was the receptacle of all departed persons, of the good as well as the +bad, is divided by Virgil into five parts: the first may be called the +previous region; the second is the region of waters, or the river which +they were all to pass; the third is what we may call the gloomy region, +and what the ancients called Erĕbus; the fourth is Tartărus, or the +region of torments; and the fifth the region of joy and bliss, or what +we still call Elysium. + +The first part in it Virgil has stocked with two sorts of beings; first, +with those which make the real misery of mankind upon earth, such as +war, discord, labor, grief, cares, distempers, and old age; and, +secondly, with fancied terrors, and all the most frightful creatures of +our own imagination, such as Gorgons, Harpies, Chimæras and the like. + +The next is the water which all the departed were supposed to pass, to +enter into the other world; this was called Styx, or the hateful +passage: the imaginary personages of this division are the souls of the +departed, who are either passing over, or suing for a passage, and the +master of a vessel who carries them over, one freight after another, +according to his will and pleasure. + +The third division begins immediately with the bank on the other side +the river, and was supposed to extend a great way in: it is subdivided +again into several particular districts; the first seems to be the +receptacle for infants. The next for all such as have been put to death +without a cause; next is the place for those who have put a period to +their own lives, a melancholy region, and situated amidst the marshes +made by the overflowings of the Styx, or hateful river, or passage into +the other world: after this are the fields of mourning, full of dark +woods and groves, and inhabited by those who died of love: last of all +spreads an open champaign country, allotted for the souls of departed +warriors; the name of this whole division is Erĕbus: its several +districts seem to be disposed all in a line, one after the other, but +after this the great line or road divides into two, of which the right +hand road leads to Elysium, or the place of the blessed, and the left +hand road to Tartărus, or the place of the tormented. + +The fourth general division of the subterraneous world is this Tartărus, +or the place of torments: there was a city in it, and a prince to +preside over it: within this city was a vast deep pit, in which the +tortures were supposed to be performed: in this horrid part Virgil +places two sorts of souls; first, of such as have shown their impiety +and rebellion toward the gods; and secondly, of such as have been vile +and mischievous among men: those, as he himself says of the latter more +particularly, who hated their brethren, used their parents ill, or +cheated their dependants, who made no use of their riches, who committed +incest, or disturbed the marriage union of others, those who were +rebellious subjects, or knavish servants, who were despisers of justice, +or betrayers of their country, and who made and unmade laws not for the +good of the public, but only to get money for themselves; all these, and +the despisers of the gods, Virgil places in this most horrid division of +his subterraneous world, and in the vast abyss, which was the most +terrible part even of that division. + +The fifth division is that of Elysium, or the place of the blessed; here +Virgil places those who died for their country, those of pure lives, +truly inspired poets, the inventors of arts, and all who have done good +to mankind: he does not speak of any particular districts for these, but +supposes that they have the liberty of going where they please in that +delightful region, and conversing with whom they please; he only +mentions one vale, towards the end of it, as appropriated to any +particular use; this is the vale of Lethe or forgetfulness, where many +of the ancient philosophers, and the Platonists in particular, supposed +the souls which had passed through some periods of their trial, were +immersed in the river which gave its name to it, in order to be put into +new bodies, and to fill up the whole course of their probation, in an +upper world. + +In each of these three divisions, on the other side of the river Styx, +which perhaps were comprehended under the name of Ades, as all the five +might be under that of Orcus, was a prince or judge: Minos for the +regions of Erĕbus; Rhadamanthus for Tartărus; and Æăcus for Elysium, +Pluto and Proserpine had their palace at the entrance of the road to the +Elysian fields, and presided as sovereigns over the whole subterraneous +world. + +PLUTO, son of Saturn and Ops, assisted Jupiter in his wars, and after +victory had crowned their exertions in placing his brother on the +throne, be obtained a share of his father's dominions, which, as some +authors say, was the eastern continent, and lower regions of Asia; but, +according to the common opinion, Pluto's division lay in the west. He +fixed his residence in Spain, and lived in Iberia, near the Pyrrenæan +mountains: Spain being a fertile country, and abounding in minerals and +mines, Pluto was esteemed the god of wealth; for it must be here +observed, that the poets confound Pluto, god of hell, with Plutus, god +of riches, though they were distinct deities, and always so considered +by the ancients. + +Pluto's regions being supposed to lie under ground; and as he was the +first who taught men to bury their dead, it was thence inferred that he +was king of the infernal regions, whence sprung a belief, that as all +souls descended to him, so when they were in his possession, he bound +them with inevitable chains, and delivered them to be tried by judges, +after which he dispensed rewards and punishments according to their +several deserts. Pluto was therefore called the infernal Jupiter, and +oblations were made to him by the living, for the souls of their friends +departed. + +Although Pluto was brother of Jupiter, yet none of the goddesses would +condescend to marry him, owing to the deformity of his person, joined to +the darkness of his mansions. Enraged at this reluctance in the +goddesses, and mortified at his want of issue, Pluto ascended his +chariot, and drove to Sicily, where chancing to discover Proserpine with +her companions gathering flowers in a valley of Enna, near mount Ætna, +the grisly god, struck with her charms, instantly seized her, and +forcing her into his chariot, went rapidly off to the river Chemarus, +through which he opened himself a passage to the realms of night. +Orpheus says, this descent was made through the Cecropian cave in +Attica, not far from Eleusis. + +His whole domains are washed with vast and rapid rivers, whose peculiar +qualities strike horror into mortals. Cocytus falls with an impetuous +roaring; Phlegĕthon rages with a torrent of flames; the Acharusian fen +is dreadful for its stench and filth: nor does Charon, the ferryman, who +wafts souls over, occasion any less horror; Cerbĕrus, the triple-headed +dog, stands ready with open mouths to receive them; and the Furies shake +at them their serpentine locks. + +Thus far the common fable; but the following seems the true foundation +of the story which has been so much disguised; Pluto having retired into +Spain, applied himself to the working of the mines of silver and gold, +which in that country, were very common, especially on the side of +Cadiz, where he fixed his abode. Bœtica, his residence, was that +province now called Andalusia, and the river Bœtis, now Guadalquiver, +gave that name to it. This river formed of old, at its mouth, a small +island, called Tartessus, which was the Tartessus of the ancients, and +whence Tărtarus was formed. + +It may be remarked, that though Spain be not now fertile in mines, yet +the ancients speak of it as a country where they abounded. Posidonius +says, that its mountains and hills were almost all mountains of gold; +Arienus, that near Tartessus was a mountain of silver; and Aristotle, +that the first Phœnicians who landed there, found such quantities of +gold and of silver, that they made anchors for their ships of those +precious metals. This, doubtless, is what determined Pluto, who was +ingenius in such operations, to fix himself near to Tartessus; and this +making him pass also for a wealthy prince, procured for him the name of +Pluto, instead of that of Agelestus. + +The situation of Pluto's kingdom, which was low in respect to Greece, +occasioned him to be looked on as the god of hell; and as he continually +employed laborers for his mines, who chiefly resided in the bowels of +the earth, and there commonly died, Pluto was reputed the king of the +dead. The ocean, likewise, upon whose coasts he reigned, was supposed to +be covered with darkness. These circumstances united, appear to have +been the foundation of the fables afterwards invented concerning Pluto +and his realms of night. It is probable, for example, that the famous +Tartărus, the place so noted in the empire of this god, comes from +Tartessus, near Cadiz: the river Lethe not unlikely from the +Guada-Lethe, which flows over against that city; and the lake Avernus, +or the Acheronian fen, from the word Aharona, importing, _at the +extremities_, a name given to that lake, which is near the ocean. + +Pluto was extremely revered both by the Greeks and Romans. He had a +magnificent temple at Pylos. Near the river Corellus, in Bœotia, he had +also an altar, for some mystical reason, in common with Pallas. His +chief festival was in February, and called Charistia, because their +oblations were made for the dead. Black bulls were the victims offered +up, and the ceremonies were performed in the night, it not being lawful +to sacrifice to him in the day time, on account of his aversion to the +light. The cypress tree was sacred to Pluto, boughs of which were +carried at funerals. + +He is usually represented in an ebony chariot, drawn by his four black +horses, Orphnæus, Æthon, Nycteus, and Alastor. As god of the dead, keys +were the ensigns of his authority, because there is no possibility of +returning when the gates of his palace are locked. Sometimes he holds a +sceptre, to denote his power; at other times a wand, with which he +directs the movements of his subject ghosts. Homer speaks of his hemlet +as having the quality of rendering the wearer invisible; and tells us +that Minerva borrowed it when she fought against the Trojans, that she +might not be discovered by Mars. Perseus also used this hemlet when he +cut off Medusa's head. + +Mythologists pretend that Pluto is the earth, the natural powers and +faculties of which are under his direction, so that he is monarch not +only of all riches which come from thence, and are at length swallowed +up by it, but likewise of the dead; for as all living things spring from +the earth, so are they resolved into the principles whence they arose. +Proserpine is by them reputed to be the seed or grain of fruits or corn, +which must be taken into the earth, and hid there before it can be +nourished by it. + +PLUTUS, the god of riches. Though Plutus be not an infernal god, yet as +his name and office were similar to Pluto's, we shall here distinguish +them, although both were gods of riches. Pluto was born of Saturn and +Ops, or Rhea, and was brother of Jupiter and Neptune; but Plutus, the +god of whom we here speak, was son of Jason or Jasion by Ceres. He is +represented blind and lame, injudicious and fearful. Being lame, he +confers estates but slowly: for want of judgment, his favors are +commonly bestowed on the unworthy; and as he is timorous, so he obliges +rich men to watch their treasures with fear. Plutus is painted with +wings, to signify the swiftness of his retreat, when he takes his +departure. Little more of him remains in story, than that he had a +daughter named Euribœa; unless the comedy of Aristophănes, called by his +name, be taken into the account. + +Aristophănes says that this deity, having at first a very clear sight, +bestowed his favors only on the just and good: but that after Jupiter +deprived him of vision, riches fell indifferently to the good and the +bad. A design being formed for the recovery of his sight, Penia or +poverty opposed it, making it appear that poverty is the mistress of +arts, sciences, and virtues, which would be in danger of perishing if +all men were rich; but no credit being given to her remonstrance, Plutus +recovered his sight in the temple of Æsculapius, whence the temples and +altars of other gods, and those of Jupiter himself, were abandoned, the +whole world sacrificing to Plutus alone. + +PROSERPINE, the daughter of Jupiter and Ceres, was educated with Minerva +and Diāna. By reason of this familiar intercourse, each chose a place in +the island of Sicily for her particular residence. Minerva look the +parts near Himĕra; Diāna those about Syracuse; and Proserpine, in common +with her sister goddesses, enjoyed the pleasant fields of Enna. Near at +hand are groves and gardens, surrounded with morasses and a deep cave, +with a passage under ground, opening towards the north. In this happy +retirement was Proserpine situated, when Pluto, passing in his chariot +through the cave, discovered her whilst busy in gathering flowers, with +her attendants, the daughters of Oceănus. Proserpine he seized, and +having placed her in his chariot, carried her to Syracuse, where the +earth opening, they both descended to the infernal regions. + +She had not been long there when the fame of her charms induced Theseus +and Pirithŏus to combine for the purpose of carrying her thence; but in +this they failed. When Ceres, who was disconsolate for the loss of her +daughter, discovered where she was, Jupiter upon her repeated +solicitations, promised that Proserpine should be restored, provided she +had not yet tasted any thing in hell. Ceres joyfully descended, and +Proserpine, full of triumph, prepared for her return, when lo! +Ascalăphus, son of Achēron and Gorgyra, discovered that he saw +Proserpine, as she walked in the garden of Pluto, eat some grains of a +pomegranate, upon which her departure was stopped. At last, by the +repeated importunity of her mother to Jupiter, she extorted as a favor, +in mitigation of her grief, that Proserpine should live half the year in +heaven, and the other half in hell. + +Proserpine is represented under the form of a beautiful woman, +enthroned, having something stern and melancholy in her aspect. Statius +has found out a melancholy employment for her, which is, to keep a sort +of register of the dead, and to mark down all that should be added to +that number. The same poet mentions another of her offices of a more +agreeable nature: he says, when any woman dies who had been a remarkably +good wife in this world, Proserpine prepares the spirits of the best +women in the other to make a procession to welcome her into Elysium with +joy, and to strew all the way with flowers where she is to pass. + +Some represent Proserpine, Luna, Hecăte, and Diāna, as one; the same +goddess being called Luna in heaven, Diāna on earth, and Hecăte in hell: +and they explain the fable of the moon, which is hidden from us in the +hemisphere of the countries beneath, just so long as it shines in our +own. As Proserpine was to stay six months with her mother, and six with +her husband, she was the emblem of the seed corn, which lies in the +earth during the winter, but in spring sprouts forth, and in summer +bears fruit. + +The mythological sense of the fable is this: the name of Proserpine, or +Persephŏne, among the Egyptians, was used to denote the change produced +in the earth by the deluge, which destroyed its former fertility, and +rendered tillage and agriculture necessary to mankind. + +PARCÆ, _or_ FATES, were goddesses supposed to preside over the accidents +and events, and to determine the date or period of human life. They were +reckoned by the ancients to be three in number, because all things have +a beginning, progress, and end. They were the daughters of Jupiter and +Themis, and sisters to the Horæ, or Hours. + +Their names, amongst the Greeks, were Atrŏpos, Clotho, and Lachĕsis, and +among the Latins, Nona, Decĭma, Morta. They are called Parcæ, because, +as Varro thinks, they distributed to mankind good and bad things at +their birth; or, as the common and received opinion is, because they +spare nobody. They were always of the same mind, so that though +dissensions sometimes arose among the other gods, no difference was ever +known to subsist among these three sisters, whose decrees were +immutable. To them was intrusted the spinning and management of the +thread of life; Clotho held the distaff, Lachĕsis turned the wheel, and +Atrŏpos cut the thread. + +Plutarch tells us they represented the three parts of the world, viz. +the firmament of the fixed stars, the firmament of the planets, and the +space of air between the moon and the earth; Plato says they represented +time past, present, and to come. There were no divinities in the pagan +world who had a more absolute power than the Fates. They were looked +upon as the dispensers of the eternal decrees of Jupiter, and were all +of them sometimes supposed to spin the party-colored thread of each +man's life. Thus are they represented on a medal, each with a distaff in +her hand. The fullest and best description of them in any of the poets, +is in Catullus: he represents them as all spinning, and at the same time +singing, and foretelling the birth and fortunes of Achilles, at Peleus' +wedding. + +An ingenious writer, in giving the true mythology of these characters, +apprehends them to have been, originally, nothing more than the mystical +figure or symbols which represented the months of January, February, and +March, among the Egyptians, who depicted them in female dresses, with +the instruments of spinning and weaving, which was the great business +carried on in that season. These images they called _Parc_, which +signifies _linen cloth_, to denote the manufacture produced by this +temporary industry. The Greeks, ever fertile in invention, and knowing +nothing of the true sense of these allegorical figures, gave them a turn +suitable to their genius. + +FURIES, EUMENIDES _or_ DIRÆ, were the daughters of Nox and Achĕron. +Their names were Alecto, Megæra, and Tisiphŏne. As many crimes were +committed in secret, which could not be discovered from a deficiency of +proof, it was necessary for the judges to have such officers as by +wonderful and various tortures should force from the criminals a +confession of their guilt. To this end the Furies, being messengers both +of the celestial and terrestrial Jupiter, were always attendant on their +sentence. + +In heaven they were called Diræ, (_quasi Deorum iræ_) or ministers of +divine vengeance, in punishing the guilty after death; on earth +_Furies_, from that madness which attends the consciousness of guilt; +_Erynnis_, from the indignation and perturbations they raise in the +mind; _Eumenĭdes_, from their placability to such as supplicate them, as +in the instance of Orestes, and Argos, upon his following the advice of +Pallas, and in hell, _Stygian dogs_. + +The furies were so dreaded that few dared so much as to name them. They +were supposed to be constantly hovering about those who had been guilty +of any enormous crime. Thus Orestes, having murdered his mother +Clytemnestra, was haunted by the Furies. Œdipus, indeed, when blind and +raving, went into their grove, to the astonishment of all the Athenians, +who durst not so much as behold it. The Furies were reputed so +inexorable, that if any person polluted with murder, incest, or any +flagrant impiety, entered the temple which Orestes had dedicated to them +in Cyrenæ, a town of Arcadia, he immediately became mad, and was hurried +from place to place, with the most restless and dreadful tortures. + +Mythologists have assigned to each of these tormentresses their proper +department. Tisiphŏne is said to punish the sins arising from hatred and +anger; Megæra those occasioned by envy; and Alecto the crimes of +ambition and lust. The statues of the Furies had nothing in them +originally different from the other divinities. It was the poet Æschylus +who, in one of his tragedies, represented them in that hideous manner +which proved fatal to many of the spectators. The description of these +deities by the poet passed from the theatre to the temple: from that +time they were exhibited as objects of the utmost horror, with Terror, +Rage, Paleness, and Death, for their attendants; and thus seated about +Pluto's throne, whose ministers they were, they awaited his orders with +an impatience congenial to their natures. + +The Furies are described with snakes instead of hair, and eyes inflamed +with madness, brandishing in one hand whips and iron chains, and in the +other torches, with a smothering flame. Their robes are black, and their +feet of brass, to show that their pursuit, though slow, is steady and +certain. As they attended at the thrones of the Stygian and celestial +Jupiter, they had wings to accelerate their progress through the air, +when bearing the commands of the gods: they struck terror into mortals, +either by war, famine, pestilence, or the numberless calamities incident +to human life. + +NOX, _or_ NIGHT, the oldest of the deities, was held in great esteem +among the ancients. She was even reckoned older than Chaos. Orpheus +ascribes to her the generation of gods and men, and says, that all +things had their beginning from her. Pausanias has left us a description +of a remarkable statue of this goddess. "We see," says he, "a woman +holding in her right hand a white child sleeping, and in her left a +black child likewise asleep, with both its legs distorted; the +inscription tells us what they are, though we might easily guess without +it: the two children are Death and Sleep, and the woman is Night, the +nurse of them both." + +The poets fancied her to be drawn in a chariot with two horses, before +which several stars went as harbingers; that she was crowned with +poppies, and her garments were black, with a black veil over her +countenance, and that stars followed in the same manner as they preceded +her; that upon the departure of the day she arose from the ocean, or +rather from Erĕbus, and encompassed the earth with her sable wings. The +sacrifice offered to Night was a cock because of its enmity to darkness, +and rejoicing at the light. + +SOMNUS, _or_ SLEEP, one of the blessings to which the pagans erected +altars, was said to be son of Erĕbus and, Night, and brother of Death. +Orpheus calls Somnus the happy king of gods and men; and Ovid, who gives +a very beautiful description of his abode, represents him dwelling in a +deep cave in the country of the Cimmerians. Into this cavern the sun +never enters, and a perpetual stillness reigns, no noise being heard but +the soft murmur caused by a stream of the river Lethe, which creeps over +the pebbles, and invites to slumber; at its entrance grow poppies, and +other soporiferous herbs. The drowsy god lies reclined on a bed stuffed +with black plumes, the bedstead is of ebony, the covering is also black, +and his head is surrounded by fantastic visions. + +We learn from Statius, that the attendants and guards before the gates +of this palace were Rest, Ease, Indolence, Silence, and Oblivion; as the +ministers or attendants within are a vast multitude of Dreams in +different shapes and attitudes. Ovid teaches us who were the supposed +governors over these, and what their particular districts or offices +were. The three chiefs of all are Morpheus, Phobētor, and Phantăsos, who +inspire dreams into great persons only: Morpheus inspires such dreams as +relate to men, Phobētor such as relate to other animals, and Phantăsos +such as relate to inanimate things. They have each their particular +legions under them, to inspire the common people with the sort of dreams +which belong to their province. + +MINOS was son of Jupiter and Eurōpa, and brother of Rhadamanthus and +Sarpēdon. After the death of his father, the Cretans, who thought him +illegitimate, would not admit him as a successor to the kingdom, till he +persuaded them it was the divine pleasure he should reign, by praying +Neptune to give him a sign, which being granted, the god caused a horse +to rise out of the sea, upon which he ascended the throne. + +Nothing so much distinguished him as the laws he enacted for the +Cretans, which obtained him the name of one of the greatest legislators +of antiquity. To confer the more authority on these laws, Minos retired +to a cave of Mount Ida, where he feigned that Jupiter, his father, +dictated them to him; and every time he returned thence a new injunction +was promulgated by him. Homer calls him Jupiter's disciple; and Horace +says he was admitted to the secrets of that god. Strabo and Ephŏrus +contend, that Minos dwelt nine years in retirement in this cave, and +that it was afterwards called the cave of Jupiter. + +Antiquity entertained the highest esteem for the institutes of Minos: +and the testimonies of ancient authors on this head are endless. It +will, therefore, suffice to observe that Lycurgus travelled to Crete on +purpose to collect the laws of Minos for the benefit of the +Lacedemonians; and that Josephus, partial as he was to his own nation, +has owned, that Minos was the only one among the ancients who deserved +to be compared to Moses. He was reputed the judge of the supreme court +of Pluto, Æăcus judged the Europeans; the Asiatics and Africans fell to +the lot of Rhadamanthus; and Minos, as president of the infernal court, +decided the differences which arose between these two judges. He sat on +a throne by himself, and wielded a golden sceptre. + +RHADAMANTHUS was the son of Jupiter and Eurōpa, and brother of Minos. He +was one of the three judges of hell. It is said that Rhadamanthus, +having killed his brother, fled to Œchalia in Bœotia, where he married +Alcmēna, widow of Amphitryon. Some make Rhadamanthus a king of Lycia, +who on account of his severity and strict regard to justice, was said to +have been one of the three judges of hell, where his province was to +judge such as died impenitent. It is agreed, that he was the most +temperate man of his time, and was exalted amongst the law-givers of +Crete, who were renowned as good and just men. The division assigned to +Rhadamanthus in the infernal regions was Tartărus. + +ÆACUS, son of Jupiter and Ægīna, was king of Œnopia, which, from his +mother's name, he called Ægīna. The inhabitants of that country being +destroyed by a plague, Æăcus prayed to his father that by some means he +would repair the loss of his subjects, upon which Jupiter, in compassion +changed all the ants within a hollow tree into men and women, who, from +a Greek word signifying _ants_, were called _Myrmidons_, and actually +were so industrious a people as to become famous for their ships and +navigation. + +The meaning of which fable is this: The pirates having destroyed the +inhabitants of the island, excepting a few, who hid themselves in caves +and holes for fear of a like fate, Æăcus drew them out of their retreats +and encouraged them to build houses, and sow corn; taught them military +discipline, and how to fit out and navigate fleets, and to appear not +like ants in holes, but on the theatre of the world, like men. His +character for justice was such, that in a time of universal drought he +was nominated by the Delphic oracle to intercede for Greece, and his +prayers were heard. The pagan world also believed that Æăcus, on account +of his impartial justice, was chosen by Pluto, with Minos and +Rhadamanthus, one of the three judges of the dead, and that it was his +province to judge the Europeans, in which capacity he held a plain rod +as a badge of his office. + + + + +CHAPTER IX. + +_The condemned in Hell._ + + +TYPHŒUS, a giant of enormous size, was, according to Hesiod, son of +Erĕbus, or Tartărus and Terra. His stature was prodigious. With one hand +he touched the east, and with the other the west, while his head reached +to the stars. Hesiod has given him an hundred heads of dragons, uttering +dreadful sounds, and eyes which darted fire; flame proceeded from his +mouths and nostrils, his body was encircled with serpents, and his +thighs and legs were of a serpentine form. When he had almost +discomfited the gods, who fled from him into Egypt, Jupiter alone stood +his ground, and pursued the monster to Mount Caucăsus in Syria, where he +wounded him with his thunder; But Typhœus, turning upon him, took the +god prisoner, and after having cut, with his own sickle, the muscles of +his hands and feet, threw him on his shoulders, carried him into +Cilicia, and there imprisoned him in a cave, whence he was delivered by +Mercury, who restored him to his former vigor. Typhœus afterwards fled +into Sicily, where the god overwhelmed him with the enormous mass of +mount Ætna. + +Historians report, that Typhœus was brother of Osīris, king of Egypt, +who in the absence of that monarch, formed a conspiracy to dethrone him; +and that having accordingly put Osīris to death, Isis, in revenge of her +husband, raised an army, the command of which she gave to Orus her son, +who vanquished and slew the usurper: hence the Egyptians, in abhorrence +of his memory, painted him under their hieroglyphic characters in so +frightful a manner. The length of his arms signified his power, the +serpents about him denoted his address and cunning, the scales which +covered his body, expressed his cruelty and dissimulation, and the +flight of the gods into Egypt showed the precautions taken by the great +to screen themselves from his fury and resentment. Mythologists take +Typhœus and the other giants, to have been the winds; especially the +subterraneous, which cause earthquakes to break forth with fire, +occasioned by the sulphur enkindled in the caverns under Campania, +Sicily, and the Æolian islands. + +TITYOS, _or_ TITYUS, was son of Jupiter and Elara. He resided in +Panopea, where he became formidable for rapine and cruelty, till Apollo +killed him for offering violence to his mother Latona. After this he was +thrown into Tartărus, and chained down on his back, his body taking up +such a compass as to cover nine acres. In this posture two vultures +continually preyed upon his liver, which constantly grew with the +increase of the moon, that there might never be wanting matter for +eternal punishment. + +PHLEGYAS, son of Mars and Chryse, daughter of Halmus, was king of +Lapithæ, a people of Thessaly. Apollo having seduced his daughter +Coronis, Phlegyas, in revenge, set fire to the temple of that god at +Delphi, for which sacrilege the deity killed him with his arrows, and +then cast him into Tartărus; where he was sentenced to sit under a huge +rock, which threatened him with perpetual destruction. + +IXION was son of Phlegyas, king of the Lapithæ in Thessaly. He married +Dia, daughter of Deioneus, whose consent he obtained by magnificent +promises, but, failing afterwards to perform them, Deioneus seized on +his horses. Ixion dissembled his resentment, and inviting Deioneus to a +banquet, received him in an apartment previously prepared, from which, +by withdrawing a door, his father-in-law was thrown into a furnace of +fire. Stung, however, with remorse, and universally despised, Ixion was +overpowered with frenzy, till Jupiter at length re-admitted him to +favor, and not only took him into heaven, but intrusted him also with +his counsels. So ungrateful, notwithstanding, did Ixion become, as to +attempt the chastity of Juno herself. This so incensed Jupiter that the +angry deity hurled him into Tartărus, and fixed him on a wheel +encompassed with serpents, which was doomed to revolve without +intermission. + +SALMONEUS, king of Elis, was son of Æolus, (not he who was king of the +winds, but another of the name) and Anarete. Not satisfied with an +earthly crown, Salmoneus panted after divine honors; and, in order that +the people might esteem him a god, he built a brazen bridge over the +city, and drove his chariot along it, imitating, by this noise, +Jupiter's thunder; at the same time throwing flaming torches among the +spectators below, to represent his lightning, by which many were killed. +Jupiter, in resentment of this insolence, precipitated the ambitious +mortal into hell, where, according to Virgil, Æneas saw him. + +SISIPHUS, _or_ SISYPHUS, a descendant of Æŏlus, married Merope, one of +the Pleiades, who bore him Glaucus. He resided at Ephyra, in +Peloponnesus, and was conspicuous for his craft. Some say he was a +Trojan secretary, who was punished for discovering secrets of state; +whilst others contend that he was a notorious robber killed by Theseus. +However, all the poets agree that he was punished in Tartărus for his +crimes, by rolling a great stone to the top of a hill, which constantly +recoiling and rolling down again, incessantly renewed his fatigue, and +rendered his labor endless. + +Ovid, in one passage, seems to describe Sisyphus as bending under the +weight of a vast stone; "but the more common way of speaking of his +punishment," says the author of Polymetis, "agrees with the fine +description of him in Homer, where we see him laboring to heave the +stone that lies on his shoulders up against the side of a steep +mountain, and which always rolls precipitately down again before he can +get it to rest upon the top. Lucretius makes him only an emblem of the +ambitious; as Horace too seems to make Tantălus only an emblem of the +covetous." + +BELIDES, _or_ DANAIDES: They were the fifty daughters of Danăus, son of +Belus, surnamed the _ancient_. Some quarrel having arisen between him +and Egyptus his brother, it determined Danăus on his voyage into Greece; +but Egyptus having fifty sons, proposed a reconciliation, by marrying +them to his brother's daughters. The proposal was agreed to, and the +nuptials were to be celebrated with singular splendor, when Danăus, +either in resentment of former injuries, or being told by the oracle +that one of his sons-in-law should destroy him, gave to each of his +daughters a dagger, with an injunction to stab her husband. They all +executed the order but Hypermnestra, the eldest, who spared the life of +Lyncæus. These Belĭdes, for their cruelty, were consigned to the +infernal regions, there to draw water in sieves from a well, till they +had filled, by that means, a vessel full of holes. + +TANTALUS, king of Phrygia, was the son of Jupiter and Plota. Whether it +was for this cause, the violation of hospitality, or for his pride, his +boasting, his want of secrecy, his insatiable covetousness, his +imparting nectar and ambrosia to mortals, or for all of them together, +since he has been accused of them all, Tantălus was thrown into +Tartărus, where the poets have assigned him a variety of torments. Some +represent a great stone as hanging over his head, which he apprehended +to be continually falling, and was ever in motion to avoid it. Others +describe him as afflicted with constant thirst and hunger, though the +most delicious banquets were exposed to his view; one of the Furies +terrifying him with her torch whenever he approached towards them. Some +exhibit him standing to the chin in water, and whenever he stooped to +quench his thirst, the water as constantly eluding his lip. Others, with +fruits luxuriously growing around him, which he no sooner advanced to +touch, than the wind blew them into the clouds. + + + + +CHAPTER X. + +_Monsters of Hell._ + + +HARPYIÆ, _or_ HARPIES, were three in number, their names, Celæno, Aëllo, +and Ocypĕte. The ancients looked on them as a sort of Genii, or Dæmons. +They had the faces of virgins, the ears of bears, the bodies of +vultures, human arms and feet, and long claws, hooked like the talons of +carnivorous birds. Phineas, king of Arcadia, being a prophet, and +revealing the mysteries of Jupiter to mortals, was by that deity struck +blind, and so tormented by the Harpies that he was ready to perish for +hunger; they devouring whatever was set before him, till the sons of +Boreas, who attended Jason in his expedition to Colchis, delivered the +good old king, and drove these monsters to the islands called +Strophădes: compelling them to swear never more to return. + +The Harpies, according to the ingenious Abbé la Pluche, had their origin +in Egypt. He further observes, in respect to them, that during the +months of April, May, and June, especially the two latter, Egypt being +very subject to tempests, which laid waste their olive grounds, and +carried thither numerous swarms of grasshoppers, and other troublesome +insects from the shores of the Red Sea, the Egyptians gave to their +emblematic figures of these months a female face, with the bodies and +claws of birds, calling them _Harop_, or winged destroyers. This +solution of the fable corresponds with the opinion of Le Clerc, who +takes the harpies to have been a swarm of locusts, the word _Arbi_, +whence Harpy is formed, signifying, in their language, a locust. + +GORGONS were three in number, and daughters of Phorcus or Porcys, by his +sister Ceto. Their names were Medūsa, Euryăle, and Stheno, and they are +represented as having scales on their bodies, brazen hands, golden +wings, tusks like boars, and snakes for hair. The last distinction, +however, is confined by Ovid to Medūsa. + +According to some mythologists, Perseus having been sent against Medūsa +by the gods, was supplied by Mercury with a falchion, by Minerva with a +mirror, and by Pluto with a helmet, which rendered the wearer invisible. +Thus equipped, through the aid of winged sandals, he steered his course +towards Tartessus, where, finding the object of his search, by the +reflection of his mirror, he was enabled to aim his weapon, without +meeting her eye, (for her look would have turned him to stone) and at +one blow struck off her head. When Perseus had slain Medūsa, the other +sisters pursued him, but he escaped from their sight by means of his +helmet. They were afterwards thrown into hell. + +SPHINX was a female monster, daughter of Typhon and Echidna. She had the +head, face, and breasts of a woman, the wings of a bird, the claws of a +lion, and the body of a dog. She lived on mount Sphincius, infested the +country about Thebes, and assaulted passengers, by proposing dark and +enigmatical questions to them, which if they did not explain, she tore +them in pieces. Sphinx made horrible ravages in the neighborhood of +Thebes, till Creon, then king of that city, published an edict over all +Greece, promising that if any one should explain the riddle of Sphinx, +he would give him his own sister Iocasta in marriage. + +The riddle was this, "What animal is that which goes upon four feet in +the morning, upon two at noon, and upon three at night?" Many had +endeavored to explain this riddle, but failing in the attempt, were +destroyed by the monster; till Œdipus undertook the solution, and thus +explained it: "The animal is man, who in his infancy creeps, and so may +be said to go on four feet; when he gets into the noon of life, he walks +on two feet; but when he grows old, or declines into the evening of his +days, he uses the support of a staff, and thus may be said to walk on +three feet." The Sphinx being enraged at this explanation, cast herself +headlong from a rock and died. + + + + +CHAPTER XI. + +_Dii indigĕtes, or Heroes who received divine Honors after Death._ + + +HERCULES was the son of Jupiter by Alcmena, wife of Amphitryon, king of +Thebes, and is said to have been born in that city about 1280 years +before the Christian era. During his infancy Juno sent two serpents to +kill him in his cradle, but the undaunted child grasping one in either +hand, immediately strangled them both. As he grew up, he discovered an +uncommon degree of vigor both of body and of mind. Nor were his +extraordinary endowments neglected; for his education was intrusted to +the greatest masters. The tasks imposed on him by Eurystheus, on account +of the danger and difficulty which attended their execution, received +the name of the _Labors of Hercules_, and are commonly reckoned, (at +least the most material of them) to have been twelve. + +The first was his engagement with Cleonæan lion, which furious animal, +it is said, fell from the orb of the moon by Juno's direction, and was +invunerable. It infested the woods between Phlius and Cleōne, and +committed uncommon ravages. The hero attacked it both with his arrows +and club, but in vain, till, perceiving his error, he tore asunder its +jaws with his hands. + +The second labor was his conquest of the Lernæan hydra, a formidable +serpent or monster which harbored in the fens of Lerna, and infected the +region of Argos with his poisonous exhalations. This seems to have been +one of the most difficult tasks in which Hercules was ever engaged. The +number of heads assigned the hydra is various; some give him seven, some +nine, others fifty, and Ovid an hundred; but all authors agree that when +one was cut off, another sprung forth in its place, unless the wound was +immediately cauterized. Hercules, not discouraged, attacked him, and +having ordered Iŏlas, his friend and companion, to cut down wood +sufficient for fire-brands, he no sooner had cut off a head than he +applied these brands to the wounds; by which means searing them up, he +obtained a complete victory. + +The third labor was to bring alive to Eurystheus an enormous wild boar +which ravaged the forest of Erymanthus in Arcadia, and had been sent to +Phocis by Diāna to punish Ænēas, for neglecting her sacrifices. Hercules +brought him bound to Eurystheus. There is nothing descriptive of this +exploit in any of the Roman poets. + +The fourth labor was the capture of the Mænalæan stag. Eurystheus, after +repeated proofs of the strength and valor of Hercules, resolved to try +his agility, and commanded him to take a wild stag that frequented mount +Mænălus, which had brazen feet and golden horns. As this animal was +sacred to Diāna, Hercules durst not wound him; but though it were no +easy matter to run him down, yet this, after pursuing him on foot for a +year, the hero at last effected. + +The fifth labor of Hercules consisted in killing the Stymphalĭdes, birds +so called from frequenting the lake Stymphālis in Arcadia, which preyed +upon human flesh, having wings, beaks, and talons of iron. Some say +Hercules destroyed these birds with his arrows, others that Pallas sent +him brazen rattles, made by Vulcan, the sound of which so terrified +them, that they took shelter in the island of Aretia. There are authors +who suppose these birds called Stymphalĭdes, to have been a gang of +desperate banditti who had their haunts near the lake Stymphālis. + +The sixth labor was his cleansing the stable of Augeas. This Augeas, +king of Elis, had a stable intolerable from the stench occasioned by the +filth it contained, which may be readily imagined from the fact that it +sheltered three thousand oxen, and had not been cleansed for thirty +years. This place Eurystheus ordered Hercules to clear in one day, and +Augeas promised, if he performed the task, to give him a tenth part of +the cattle. Hercules, by turning the course of the river Alphēus through +the stable, executed his design, which Augeas seeing, refused to fulfil +his promise. The hero, to punish his perfidy, slew Augeas with his +arrows, and gave his kingdom to his son Phyleus, who abhorred his +father's treachery. + +The seventh labor was the capture of the Cretan bull. Minos, king of +Crete, having acquired the dominion of the Grecian seas, paid no greater +honor to Neptune than to the other gods, wherefore the deity, in +resentment of this ingratitude, sent a bull, which breathed fire from +his nostrils, to destroy the people of Crete. Hercules took this furious +animal, and brought him to Eurystheus, who, because the bull was sacred, +let him loose into the country of Marathon, where he was afterwards +slain by Theseus. + +The eighth labor of Hercules, was the killing of Diomēdes and his +horses. That infamous tyrant was king of Thrace, and son of Mars and +Cyrēne. Among other things he is said to have driven in his war-chariot +four furious horses, which, to render the more impetuous, he used to +feed on the flesh and blood of his subjects. Hercules is said to have +freed the world from this barbarous prince, and to have killed both him +and his horses, as is signified in some drawings, and said expressly by +some of the poets. Some report that the tyrant was given by Hercules as +a prey to his own horses. + +The ninth labor of Hercules was his combat with Geryon, king of Spain. +Geryon is generally represented with three bodies agreeable to the +expressions used of him by the poets, and sometimes with three heads. He +had a breed of oxen of a purple color, (which devoured all strangers +cast to them) guarded by a dog with two heads, a dragon with seven, +besides a very watchful and severe keeper. Hercules, however, killed the +monarch and all his guards, and carried the oxen to Gades, whence he +brought them to Eurystheus. Some mythologists explain this fable by +saying that Geryon was king of three islands, now called Majorca, +Minorca, and Ivica, on which account he was fabled to be triple bodied +and headed. + +The tenth labor of Hercules was his conquest of Hippolyte queen of the +Amazons. His eleventh labor consisted in dragging Cerebus from the +infernal regions into day. The twelfth and last was killing the serpent, +and gaining the golden fruit in the gardens of the Hesperides. + +Hercules, after his conquests in Spain, having made himself famous in +the country of the Celtæ or Gauls, is said to have there founded a large +and populous city, which he called Alesia. His favorite wife was +Dejanira, whose jealousy most fatally occasioned his death. Hercules +having subdued Œchalia and killed Eurytus the king, carried off the fair +Iŏle, his daughter, with whom Dejanira suspecting him to be in love, +sent him the garment of Nessus, the Centaur, as a remedy to recover his +affections; this garment, however, having been pierced with an arrow +dipped in the blood of the Lernæan hydra, whilst worn by Nessus, +contracted a poison from his blood incurable by art. No sooner, +therefore, was it put on by Hercules than he was seized with a delirious +fever, attended with the most excruciating torments. Unable to support +his pains, he retired to mount Œta, where, raising a pile, and setting +it on fire, he threw himself upon it, and was consumed in the flames, +after having killed in his phrenzy Lycus his friend. His arrows he +bequeathed to Philoctētes, who interred his remains. + +After his death he was deified by his father Jupiter. Diōdorus Siculus +relates that he was no sooner ranked amongst the gods than Juno, who had +so violently persecuted him whilst on earth, adopted him for her son, +and loved him with the tenderness of a mother. Hercules was afterwards +married to Hebe, goddess of youth, his half sister, with all the +splendor of a celestial wedding; but he refused the honor which Jupiter +designed him, of being ranked with the twelve gods, alleging there was +no vacancy; and that it would be unreasonable to degrade any other god +for the purpose of admitting him. + +Both the Greeks and Romans honored him as a god, and as such erected to +him temples. His victims were bulls and lambs, on account of his +preserving the flocks from wolves; that is, delivering men from tyrants +and robbers. He was worshipped by the ancient Latins under the name of +Dius, or Divus Fidius, that is, the guarantee or protector of faith +promised or sworn. They had a custom of calling this deity to witness by +a sort of oath expressed in these terms, _Me Dius Fidius!_ that is, so +help me the god Fidius! or Hercules. + +PERSEUS was the son of Jupiter and Danăe, daughter of Acrisius king of +Argos. When Perseus was grown up, Polydectes, who was enamored of his +mother, finding him an obstacle to their union, contrived to send him on +an exploit, which he hoped would be fatal to him. This was to bring him +the head of Medūsa, one of the Gorgons. In his expedition Perseus was +favored by the gods; Mercury equipped him with a scymetar, and the wings +from his heels; Pallas lent him a shield which reflected objects like a +mirror; and Pluto granted him his helmet, which rendered him invisible. +In this manner he flew to Tartessus in Spain, where, directed by the +reflection of Medūsa in his mirror, he cut off her head, and brought it +to Pallas. From the blood arose the winged horse Pegăsus. + +After this the hero passed into Mauritania, where repairing to the court +of Atlas, that monarch ordered him to retire, with menaces, in case of +disobedience; but Perseus, presenting his shield, with the dreadful head +of Medūsa, changed him into the mountain which still bears his name. In +his return to Greece he visited Ethiopia, mounted on Pegăsus, and +delivered Andromĕda, daughter of Cepheus, (who was exposed on a rock of +that coast to be devoured by a monster of the deep) on condition he +might make her his wife: but Phineas, her uncle, sought to prevent him, +by attempting, with a party, to carry off the bride. The attempt, +notwithstanding, was rendered abortive; for the hero, by showing them +the head of the Gorgon, at once turned them to stone. + +Perseus having completed these exploits, was desirous of revisiting +home, and accordingly set off for that purpose with his wife and his +mother. Arriving on the coast of Peloponnesus, and learning that +Teutamias, king of Larissa, was then celebrating games in honor of his +father, Perseus, wishing to exhibit his skill at the quoit, of which he +has been deemed the inventor, resolved to go thither. In this contest, +however, he was so unfortunate as to kill Acrisius, the father of his +mother, who, on the report that Perseus was returning to the place of +his nativity, had fled to the court of Teutamias his friend, to avoid +the denunciation of the oracle, which had induced him to exercise such +cruelty on his offspring. At what time Perseus died is unknown; but all +agree that divine honors were paid him. He had statues at Mycēnæ and in +Seriphos. A temple was erected to him in Athens, and an altar in it +consecrated to Dictys. + + + [Illustration: + + HECTOR'S BODY DRAGGED AT THE CAR OF ACHILLES. + Pl. 8.] + + +ACHILLES was the offspring of a goddess. Thetis bore him to Peleus, king +of Thessaly, and was so fond of him, that she charged herself with his +education. By day she fed him with ambrosia, and by night covered him +with celestial fire, to render him immortal. She also dipped him in the +waters of Styx, by which his whole body became invulnerable, except that +part of his heel by which she held him. He was afterwards committed to +the care of Chiron the Centaur, who fed him with honey, and the marrow +of lions and wild boars; whence he obtained that strength of body and +greatness of soul which qualified him for martial toil. + +When the Greeks undertook the siege of Troy, Calchas the diviner, and +priest of Apollo, foretold that the city should not be taken without the +help of Achilles. Thetis, his mother, who knew that Achilles, if he went +to the siege of Troy, would never return, clothed him in female apparel, +and concealed him among the maidens at the court of Lycomēdes, king of +the island of Scyros. But this stratagem proved ineffectual; for Calchas +having informed the Greeks where Achilles lay in disguise, they sent +Ulysses to the court of Lycomēdes, where, under the appearance of a +merchant, he was introduced to the king's daughters, and while they were +studiously intent on viewing his toys, Achilles employed himself in +examining an helmet, which the cunning politician had thrown in his way. + +Achilles thus detected, was prevailed on to go to Troy, after Thetis had +furnished him with impenetrable armor made by Vulcan. Thither he led the +troops of Thessaly, in fifty ships, and distinguished himself by a +number of heroic actions; but being disgusted with Agamemnon for the +loss of Briseis, he retired from the camp, and resolved to have no +further concern in the war. In this resolution he continued inexorable, +till news was brought him that Hector had killed his friend Patrōclus; +to avenge his death he not only slew Hector, but fastened the corpse to +his chariot, dragged it round the walls of Troy, offered many +indignities to it, and sold it at last to Priam his father. + +Authors are much divided on the manner of Achilles' death; some relate +that he was slain by Apollo, or that this god enabled Paris to kill him, +by directing the arrow to his heel, the only part in which he was +vulnerable. Others again say, that Paris murdered him treacherously, in +the temple of Apollo, whilst treating about his marriage with Polyxĕna, +daughter to king Priam. + +Though this tradition concerning his death be commonly received, yet +Homer plainly enough insinuates that Achilles died fighting for his +country, and represents the Greeks as maintaining a bloody battle about +his body, which lasted a whole day. Achilles having been lamented by +Thetis, the Nereids, and the Muses, was buried on the promontory of +Sigæum; and after Troy was captured, the Greeks endeavored to appease +his manes by sacrificing Polyxĕna, on his tomb, as his ghost had +requested. + +The oracle at Dodōna decreed him divine honors, and ordered annual +victims to be offered at the place of his sepulture. In pursuance of +this, the Thessalians brought hither yearly two bulls, one black, the +other white, crowned with wreaths of flowers, and water from the river +Sperchius. It is said that Alexander, seeing his tomb, honored it by +placing a crown upon it, at the same time crying out "that Achilles was +happy in having, during his life, such a friend as Patrōclus, and after +his death, a poet like Homer." + +ATLAS was son of Japĕtus and Clymĕne, and brother of Prometheus, +according to most authors; or, as others relate, son of Japĕtus by Asia, +daughter of Oceănus. He had many children. Of his sons, the most famous +were Hespĕrus (whom some call his brother) and Hyas. By his wife Pleione +he had seven daughters, who went by the general names of Atlantĭdes, or +Pleiădes; and by his wife Æthra he had also seven other daughters, who +bore the common appellation of the Hyădes. + +According to Hygīnus, Atlas having assisted the giants in their war +against Jupiter, was doomed by the victorious god, as a punishment, to +sustain the weight of the heavens. Ovid, however, represents him as a +powerful and wealthy monarch, proprietor of the gardens of the +Hesperĭdes, which bore golden fruit; but that being warned by the oracle +of Themis that he should suffer some great injury from a son of Jupiter, +he strictly forbade all foreigners access to his presence. Perseus, +however, having the courage to appear before him, was ordered to retire, +with strong menaces in case of disobedience; but the hero presenting his +shield, with the dreadful head of Medūsa, turned him into the mountain +which still bears his name. + +The Abbé la Pluche has given a very clear and ingenious explication of +this fable. Of all nations the Egyptians had, with the greatest +assiduity, cultivated astronomy. To point out the difficulties attending +the study of this science, they represented it by an image bearing a +globe or sphere on its back, which they called _Atlas_, a word +signifying _great toil or labor_; but the word also signifying +_support_, the Phœnicians, led by the representation, took it in this +sense, and in their voyages to Mauritania, seeing the high mountains of +that country covered with snow, and losing their tops in the clouds, +gave them the name of _Atlas_, and thus produced the fable by which the +symbol of astronomy used among the Egyptians became a Mauritanian king, +transformed into a mountain, whose head supports the heavens. + +The rest of the fable is equally obvious to explanation. The annual +inundations of the Nile obliged the Egyptians to be very exact in +observing the motions of the heavenly bodies. The Hyades, or Huades, +took their name from the figure V, which they form in the head of +Taurus. The Pleiades were a remarkable constellation and of great use to +the Egyptians in regulating the seasons: hence they became the daughters +of Atlas; and Orion, who arose just as they set, was called their lover. + +By the golden apples that grew in the gardens of the Hesperides, the +Phœnicians expressed the rich and beneficial commerce they had in the +Mediterranean, which being carried on during three months only of the +year, gave rise to the fable of the Hesperian sisters. The most usual +way of representing Atlas, among the ancient artists, was as supporting +a globe; for the old poets commonly refer to this attitude in speaking +of him. + +PROMETHEUS was son of Japĕtus, but it is doubtful whether his mother +were Asia, or Themis. Having incurred the displeasure of Jupiter, either +for stealing some of the celestial fire, or for forming a man of clay, +Jupiter, in resentment, commanded Vulcan to make a woman of clay, which, +when finished, was introduced into the assembly of the gods, each of +whom bestowed on her some additional charm or perfection. Venus gave her +beauty, Pallas wisdom, Juno riches, Mercury taught her eloquence, and +Apollo music. From all these accomplishments she was styled Pandōra, +that is, loaded with gifts and accomplishments, and was the first of her +sex. + +Jupiter, to complete his designs, presented her a box, in which he had +enclosed age, disease, war, famine, pestilence, discord, envy, calumny, +and, in short, all the evils and vices with which he intended to afflict +the world. Thus equipped, Pandōra was sent to Prometheus, who, being on +his guard against the mischief designed him, declined accepting the box; +but Epimetheus, his brother, though forewarned of the danger, had less +resolution; for, being enamored of the beauty of Pandōra, he married +her, and opened the fatal treasure, when immediately flew abroad the +contents, which soon overspread the world, hope only remaining at the +bottom. + +Prometheus escaping the evil which the god designed him, and Jupiter not +being appeased, Mercury and Vulcan were despatched by him to seize +Prometheus, and chain him on Mount Caucasus, where a vulture, the +offspring of Typhon and Echidna, was commissioned to prey upon his +liver, which, that his torment might be endless, was constantly renewed +by night in proportion to its increase by day; but the vulture being +soon destroyed by Hercules, Prometheus was released. Others say, that +Jupiter restored Prometheus to freedom, for discovering the conspiracy +of Saturn, his father, and dissuading his intended marriage with Thetis. + +Nicander, to this fable, offers an additional one. He tells us, that +when mankind had received the fire from Prometheus, some ungrateful men +discovered the theft to Jupiter, who rewarded them with the gift of +_perpetual youth_. This present they put on the back of an ass, which +stopping at a fountain to quench his thirst, was prevented by a +water-snake which would not suffer him to drink till he gave him his +burden; hence the serpent renews his youth upon changing his skin. + +Prometheus was esteemed the inventor of many useful arts. He made man of +the mixture and temperament of all the elements, gave him strength of +body, vigor of mind, and the peculiar qualities of all creatures, as the +craft of the fox, the courage of the lion, &c. He had an altar in the +academy of Athens in common with Vulcan and Pallas. In his statues he +holds a sceptre in the right hand. + +Several explanations have been given of this fable. Prometheus, whose +name is derived from a Greek word, signifying foresight and providence, +was conspicuous for that quality; and because he reduced mankind, before +rude and savage, to a state of culture and improvement, he was feigned +to have made them from clay: being a diligent observer of the motions of +the heavenly bodies from Mount Caucasus, it was fabled that he was +chained there: having discovered the method of striking fire from the +flint, or perhaps, the nature of lightning, it was pretended that he +stole fire from the gods: and, because he applied himself to study with +intenseness, they imagined that a vulture preyed continually on his +liver. + +There is another solution of this fable, analogous to the preceding. +According to Pliny, Prometheus was the first who instituted sacrifices. +Being expelled his dominions by Jupiter, he fled to Scythia, where he +retired to Mount Caucasus, either to make astronomical calculations or +to indulge his melancholy for the loss of his dominions, which +occasioned the fable of the vulture or eagle feeding on his liver. As he +was the first inventor of forging metals by fire, he was said to have +stolen that element from heaven; and, as the first introduction of +agriculture and navigation had been ascribed to him, he was celebrated +as forming a living man from an inanimate substance. + +AMPHION, king of Thebes, son of Jupiter and Antiŏpe, was instructed in +the use of the lyre by Mercury, and became so great a proficient, that +he is reported to have built the walls of Thebes by the power of his +harmony, which caused the listening stones to ascend voluntarily. He +married Niŏbe, daughter of Tantălus, whose insult to Diāna occasioned +the loss of their children by the arrows of Apollo and Diāna. The +unhappy father, attempting to revenge himself by the destruction of the +temple of Apollo, was punished with the loss of his sight and skill, and +thrown into the infernal regions. + +ORPHEUS, son of Apollo by the Muse Calliŏpe, was born in Thrace, and +resided near Mount Rhodŏpe, where he married Eurydice, a princess of +that country. Aristæus, a neighboring prince, fell desperately in love +with her, but she flying from his violence, was killed by the bite of a +serpent. Her disconsolate husband was so affected at his loss, that he +descended by the way of Tænărus to hell, in order to recover his beloved +wife. As music and poetry were to Orpheus hereditary talents, he exerted +them so powerfully in the infernal regions, that Pluto and Proserpine, +touched with compassion, restored to him his consort on condition that +he should not look back upon her till they came to the light of the +world. His impatience, however, prevailing, he broke the condition, and +lost Eurydice forever. + +Whilst Orpheus was among the shades, he sang the praises of all the gods +but Bacchus, whom he accidentally omitted; to revenge this affront, +Bacchus inspired the Mænădes, his priestesses, with such fury, that they +tore Orpheus to pieces, and scattered his limbs about the fields. His +head was cast into the river Hebrus, and (together with his harp) was +carried by the tide to Lesbos, where it afterwards delivered oracles. +The harp, with seven strings, representing the seven planets, which had +been given him by Apollo, was taken up into heaven, and graced with nine +stars by the nine Muses. Orpheus himself was changed into a swan. He +left a son called Methon, who founded in Thrace a city of his own name. + +It is certain that Orpheus may be placed as the earliest poet of Greece, +where he first introduced astronomy, divinity, music and poetry; all +which he had learned in Egypt. He introduced also the rites of Bacchus, +which from him were called Orphica. He was a person of most consummate +knowledge, and the wisest, as well as the most diligent scholar of +Linus. + +If we search for the origin of this fable, we must again have recourse +to Egypt, the mother-country of fiction. In July, when the sun entered +Leo, the Nile overflowed all the plains. To denote the public joy at +seeing the inundation rise to its due height, the Egyptians exhibited a +youth playing on the lyre, or the sistrum, and sitting by a tame lion. +When the waters did not increase as they should, the Horus was +represented stretched on the back of a lion, as dead. This symbol they +called Oreph, or Orpheus, (from _oreph_, the back part of the head) to +signify that agriculture was then quite unseasonable and dormant. + +The songs with which the people amused themselves during this period of +inactivity, for want of exercise, were called the hymns of Orpheus; and +as husbandry revived immediately after, it gave rise to the fable of +Orpheus's returning from hell. The Isis placed near this Horus, they +called Eurydice, (from _eri_, a _lion_, and _daca_, _tamed_, is formed +_Eridica_, _Eurydice_, or the lion tamed, _i.e._ the violence of the +inundation overcome), and as the Greeks took all these figures in the +literal, not in the emblematical sense, they made Eurydice the wife of +Orpheus. + +OSIRIS, son of Jupiter and Niŏbe, was king of the Argives many years; +but, being instigated by the desire of glory, he left his kingdom to his +brother Ægiălus, and went into Egypt, in search of a new name and +kingdom there. The Egyptians were not so much overcome by the valor of +Osīris, as obliged to him for his kindness towards them. Having +conferred the greatest benefits on his subjects, by civilizing their +manners, and instructing them in husbandry and other useful arts, he +made the necessary disposition of his affairs, committed the regency to +Isis, and set out with a body of forces in order to civilize the rest of +mankind. This he performed more by the power of persuasion, and the +soothing arts of music and poetry, than by the terror of his arms. + +In his absence, Typhœus, the giant, whom historians call the brother of +Osīris, formed a conspiracy to dethrone him; for which end, at the +return of Osīris into Egypt, he invited him to a feast, at the +conclusion of which a chest of exquisite workmanship was brought in, and +offered to him who, when laid down in it, should be found to fit it the +best. Osīris, not suspecting a trick to be played him, got into the +chest, and the cover being immediately shut upon him, this good but +unfortunate prince was thus thrown into the Nile. + +When the news of this transaction reached Coptus, where Isis his wife +then was, she cut her hair, and in deep mourning went every where in +search of the dead body. This was at length discovered, and concealed by +her at Butus; but Typhœus, while hunting by moonlight, having found it +there, tore it into many pieces, which he scattered abroad. Isis then +traversed the lakes and watery places in a boat made of the _papyrus_, +seeking the mangled parts of Osīris, and where she found any, there she +buried them; hence the many tombs ascribed to Osīris. + +Plutarch seems evidently to prove that the Egyptians worshipped the Sun +under the name of Osīris. His reasons are: 1. Because the images of +Osīris were always clothed in a shining garment, to represent the rays +and light of the sun. 2. In their hymns, composed in honor of Osīris, +they prayed to him who reposes himself in the bosom of the sun. 3. After +the autumnal equinox, they celebrated a feast called, _The disappearing +of Osīris_, by which is plainly meant the absence and distance of the +sun. 4. In the month of November they led a cow seven times round the +temple of Osīris, intimating thereby, that in seven months the sun would +return to the summer solstice. + +He is represented sitting upon a throne, crowned with a mitre full of +small orbs, to intimate his superiority over all the globe. The gourd +upon the mitre implies his action and influence upon moisture, which, +and the Nile particularly, was termed by the Egyptians, the efflux of +Osīris. The lower part of his habit is made up of descending rays, and +his body is surrounded with orbs. His right hand is extended in a +commanding attitude, and his left holds a _thyrsus_ or staff of the +_papyrus_, pointing out the principle of humidity, and the fertility +thence flowing, under his direction. + +ÆSCULAPIUS. The name of Æsculapius, whom the Greeks called Ασκληπιος, +appears to have been foreign, and derived from the oriental languages. +Being honored as a god in Phœnicia and Egypt, his worship passed into +Greece, and was established, first at Epidaurus, a city of Peloponnesus, +bordering on the sea, where, probably, some colonies first settled; a +circumstance sufficient for the Greeks to give out that this god was a +native of Greece. + +Not to mention all we are told of his parents, it will be enough to +observe, that the opinion generally received in Greece, made him the son +of Apollo by Corōnis, daughter of Phlegyas; and indeed the Messenians, +who consulted the oracle of Delphi to know where Æsculapius was born, +and of what parents, were told by the oracle, or more properly Apollo, +that he himself was his father; that Corōnis was his mother, and that +their son was born at Epidaurus. + +Phlegyas, the most warlike man of his age, having gone into Peloponnesus +under pretence of travelling, but, in truth, to spy into the condition +of the country, carried his daughter Corōnis thither, who, to conceal +her situation from her father, went to Epidaurus: there she was +delivered of a son, whom she exposed upon a mountain, called to this day +Mount Titthion, or _of the breast_; but before this adventure, Myrthion, +from the myrtles that grew upon it. + +The reason of this change of name was, that the child, having been here +abandoned, was suckled by one of those goats of the mountain, which the +dog of Aristhĕnes the goat-herd guarded. When Aristhĕnes came to review +his flock, he found a she-goat and his dog missing, and going in search +of them discovered the child. Upon approaching to lift him from the +earth, he perceived his head encircled with fiery rays, which made him +believe the child to be of divine origin. + +As Κορωνη in the Greek language signifies a crow, hence another fable +arose importing, as we see in Lucian, that Æsculapius had sprung from an +egg of a bird, under the figure of a serpent. Whatever these fictions +may mean, Æsculapius being removed from the mount on which he was +exposed, was nursed by Trigo or Trigone, who was probably the wife of +the goat-herd that found him; and when he was capable of improving by +Chiron, Phlegyas (to whom he had doubtless been returned) put him under +the Centaur's tuition. + +Being of a quick and lively genius, he made such progress as soon to +become not only a great physician, but at length to be reckoned the god +and inventor of medicine; though the Greeks, not very consistent in the +history of those early ages, gave to Apis, son of Phoroneus, the glory +of having discovered the healing art. Æsculapius accompanied Jason in +his expedition to Colchis, and in his medical capacity was of great +service to the Argonauts. Within a short time after his death he was +deified, and received divine honors: some add, that he formed the +celestial sign, Serpentarius. + +As the Greeks always carried the encomiums of their great men beyond the +truth, they feigned that Æsculapius was so expert in medicine, as not +only to cure the sick, but even to raise the dead. Ovid says he did this +by Hippolĭtus, and Julian says the same of Tyndărus: that Pluto cited +him before the tribunal of Jupiter, and complained that his empire was +considerably diminished and in danger of becoming desolate, from the +cures Æsculapius performed; so that Jupiter in wrath slew Æsculapius +with a thunder-bolt; to which they added that Apollo, enraged at the +death of his son, killed the Cyclops who forged Jupiter's thunder-bolts: +a fiction which obviously signifies only, that Æsculapius had carried +his art very far, and that he cured diseases believed to be desperate. + +Æsculapius is always represented under the figure of a grave old man +wrapped up in a cloak, having sometimes upon his head the _calăthus_ of +Serāpis, with a staff in his hand, which is commonly wreathed about with +a serpent; sometimes again with a serpent in one hand, and a _patĕra_ in +the other; sometimes leaning upon a pillar, round which a serpent also +twines. The cock, a bird consecrated to this god, whose vigilance +represents that quality which physicians ought to have, is sometimes at +the feet of his statues. Socrates, we know, when dying, said to those +who stood around him in his last moments, "We owe a cock to Æsculapius; +give it without delay." + +ULYSSES, king of Ithăca, was the son of Laertes, or Laertius and +Anticlēa. His wife Penelŏpe, daughter of Icarius brother of Tyndărus +king of Sparta, was highly famed for her prudence and virtue; and being +unwilling that the Trojan war should part them, Ulysses to avoid the +expedition, pretended to be mad, and not only joined different beasts to +the same plough, but sowed also the furrows with salt. + +Palamēdes, however, suspecting the frenzy to be assumed, threw +Telemachus, then an infant, in the way of the plough, to try if his +father would alter its course. This stratagem succeeded; for when +Ulysses came to the child he turned off from the spot, in consequence of +which Palamēdes compelled him to take part in the war. He accordingly +sailed with twelve ships, and was signally serviceable to the Greeks. + +To him the capture of Troy is chiefly to be ascribed, since by him the +obstacles were removed, which had so long prevented it. For as Ulysses +himself was detected by Palamēdes, so he in his turn detected Achilles, +who, to avoid engaging in the same war, had concealed himself in the +habits of a woman, at the court of Lycomēdes, king of Scyros. Ulysses +there discovered him, and as it had been foretold that without Achilles +Troy could not be taken, thence drew him to the siege. + +He also obtained the arrows of Hercules, from Philoctētes, and carried +off that hero from the scene of his retreat. He brought away also the +ashes of Laomĕdon, which were preserved in Troy on the Scœan gate. By +him the Palladium was stolen from the same city; Rhesus, king of Thrace, +killed, and his horses taken before they had drank of the Xanthus. These +exploits involved in them the destiny of Troy; for had the Trojans +preserved them, their city could never have been conquered. + +Ulysses contended afterwards with Telamonian Ajax, the stoutest of all +the Grecians, except Achilles, for the arms of that hero, which were +awarded to him by the judges, who were won by the charms of his +eloquence. His other enterprises before Troy were numerous and +brilliant, and are particularly related in the Iliad. When Ulysses +departed for Greece, he sailed backwards and forwards for twenty years, +contrary winds and severe weather opposing his return to Ithăca. + +During this period, he extinguished, with a firebrand, the eye of +Polyphēmus; then sailing to Æolia, he obtained from Æŏlus all the winds +which were contrary to him, and put them into leathern bags; his +companions, however, believing these bags to be full of money, entered +into a plot to rob him, and accordingly, when they came on the coast of +Ithăca, untied the bags, upon which the wind rushing out, he was again +blown back to Æolia. + +When Circe had turned his companions into swine and other brutes, he +first fortified himself against her charms with the herb Moly, an +antidote Mercury had given him; and then rushing into her cave with his +drawn sword, compelled her to restore his associates to their original +shape. + +He is said to have gone down into hell, to know his future fortune, from +the prophet Tiresias. When he sailed to the islands of the Sirens, he +stopped the ears of his companions, and bound himself with strong ropes +to the ship's mast, that he might secure himself against the snares into +which, by their charming voices, passengers were habitually allured. +Lastly, after his ship was wrecked, he escaped by swimming, and came +naked and alone, to the port of Phæacia, in the island of Corcyra, where +Nausicăa, daughter of king Alcinŏus, found him in a profound sleep, into +which he was thrown by the indulgence of Minerva. + +When his companions were found, and his ship refitted, he bent his +course toward Ithăca, where arriving, and having put on the habit of a +beggar, he went to his neatherds, with whom he found his son Telemachus, +and with them went home in disguise. After having received several +affronts from the suitors of Penelŏpe, with the assistance of his son +Telemachus and the neatherds, to whom he had discovered himself, he +killed Antinŏus, and the other princes who were competitors for her +favor. After reigning some time, he resigned the government of his +kingdom to Telemachus. + +CASTOR and POLLUX were the twin sons of Jupiter and Leda. These brothers +entered into an inviolable friendship, and when they grew up, cleared +the Archipelago of pirates, on which account they were esteemed deities +of the sea, and accordingly were invoked by mariners in tempests. They +went with the other noble youths of Greece in the expedition to Colchis, +in search of the golden fleece, and on all occasions signalized +themselves by their courage. + +In this expedition Pollux slew Amycus, son of Neptune, and king of +Bebrycia, who had challenged all the Argonauts to box with him. This +victory, and that which he gained afterwards at the Olympic games which +Hercules celebrated in Elis, caused him to be considered the hero and +patron of wrestlers, while his brother Castor distinguished himself in +the race, and in the management of horses. + +Cicero relates a wonderful judgment which happened to one Scopas, who +had spoken disrespectfully of these divinities: he was crushed to death +by the fall of a chamber, whilst Simonĭdes, who was in the same room, +was rescued from the danger, being called out a little before, by two +persons unknown, supposed to be Castor and Pollux. + +The Greek and Roman histories are full of the miraculous appearance of +these brethren; particularly we are told they were seen fighting upon +two white horses, at the head of the Roman army, in the battle between +the Romans and Latins, near the lake Regillus, and brought the news of +the decisive victory of Paulus Æmilius to Rome, the very day it was +obtained. + +Frequent representations of these deities occur on ancient monuments, +and particularly on consular medals. They are exhibited together, each +having a helmet, out of which issues a flame, and each a pike in one +hand, and in the other a horse held by the bridle: sometimes they are +represented as two beautiful youths, completely armed, and riding on +white horses, with stars over their helmets. + +AJAX, son of Telămon, king of Salămis, by Beribœa, was, next to +Achilles, the most valiant among the Greeks at the seige of Troy. He +commanded the troops of Salămis in that expedition, and performed the +various heroic actions mentioned by Homer, and Ovid, in the speech of +Ajax contending for the armor of Achilles. This armor, however, being +adjudged to his competitor Ulysses, his disappointment so enraged him, +that he immediately became mad, and rushed furiously upon a flock of +sheep, imagining he was killing those who had offended him: but at +length perceiving his mistake, he became still more furious, and stabbed +himself with the fatal sword he had received from Hector, with whom he +had fought. Ajax resembled Achilles in several respects; like him he was +violent, and impatient of contradiction; and, like him, invulnerable in +every part of the body except one. + +He has been charged with impiety; not that he denied the gods a very +extensive power, but he imagined that, as the greatest cowards might +conquer through their assistance, there was no glory in conquering by +such aids; and scorned to owe his victory to aught but his own prowess. +Accordingly, we are told that when he was setting out for Troy, his +father recommended him always to join the assistance of the gods to his +own valor; to which Ajax replied, that cowards themselves were often +victorious by such helps, but for his own part he would make no reliance +of the kind, being assured he should be able to conquer without. + +It is further added, upon the head of his irreligion, that to Minerva, +who once offered him her advice, he replied with indignation: "Trouble +not yourself about my conduct; of that I shall give a good account; you +have nothing to do but reserve your favor and assistance for the other +Greeks." Another time she offered to guide his chariot in the battle, +but he would not suffer her. Nay, he even defaced the owl, her favorite +bird, which was engraven on his shield, lest that figure should be +considered as an act of reverence to Minerva, and hence as indicating +distrust in himself. + +Homer, however, does not represent him in this light, for though he does +not pray to Jupiter himself when he prepares to engage the valiant +Hector, yet he desires others to pray for him, either in a low voice, +lest the Trojans should hear, or louder if they pleased; for, says he, I +fear no person in the world. + +The poets give to Ajax the same commendation that the holy scripture +gives to king Saul, with regard to his stature. He has been the subject +of several tragedies, as well in Greek as Latin; and it is related that +the famous comedian, Æsop, refused to act that part. The Greeks paid +great honor to him after his death, and erected to him a noble monument +upon the promontory of Rhœteum, which was one of those Alexander desired +to see and honor. + +JASON was son of Æson, king of Thessaly, and Alcimĕde. He was an infant +when Pelias, his uncle, who was left his guardian, sought to destroy +him; but being, to avoid the danger, conveyed by his relations to a +cave, he was there instructed by Chiron in the art of physic; whence he +took the name of Jason, or the healer, his former name being Diomēdes. +Arriving at years of maturity, he returned to his uncle, who, probably +with no favorable intention to Jason, inspired him with the notion of +the Colchian expedition and agreeably flattered his ambition with the +hopes of acquiring the golden fleece. + +Jason having resolved on the voyage, built a vessel at Iolchos in +Thessaly, for the expedition, under the inspection, of Argos, a famous +workman, which, from him, was called Argo: it was said to have been +executed by the advice of Pallas, who pointed out a tree in the Dodonæan +forest for a mast, which was vocal, and had the gift of prophecy. + +The fame of the vessel, the largest that had ever been heard of, but +particularly the design itself, soon induced the bravest and most +distinguished youths of Greece to become adventurers in it, and brought +together about fifty of the most accomplished young persons of the age +to accompany Jason in this expedition; authors, however, are not agreed +on the precise names or numbers of the Argonauts; some state them to +have been forty-nine; others more, and amongst them several were of +divine origin. + +On his arrival at Colchis he repaired to the court of Æētes, from whom +he demanded the golden fleece. The monarch acceded to his request, +provided he could overcome the difficulties which lay in his way, and +which appeared not easily surmountable; these were bulls with brazen +feet, whose nostrils breathed fire, and a dragon which guarded the +fleece. The teeth of the latter, when killed, Jason was enjoined to sow, +and, after they had sprung up into armed men, to destroy them. + +Though success attended the enterprise, it was less owing to valor, than +to the assistance of Medēa, daughter of Æētes, who, by her enchantments, +laid asleep the dragon, taught Jason to subdue the bulls, and when he +had obtained the prize, accompanied him in the night time, unknown to +her brother. + +The return of the Argonauts is variously related; some contend it was by +the track in which they came, and say that the brother of Medēa pursued +them as far as the Adriatic, and was overcome by Jason; which occasioned +the story that his sister had cut him in pieces, and strewed his limbs +in the way, that her father, from solicitude to collect them, might be +delayed in the pursuit. + + + + +CHAPTER XII. + +_Other fabulous personages._ + + +GRACES _or_ CHARITES. Among the multitude of ancient divinities, none +had more votaries that the Graces. Particular nations and countries had +appropriate and local deities, but their empire was universal. To their +influence was ascribed all that could please in nature and in art; and +to them every rank and profession concurred in offering their vows. + +Their number was generally limited, by the ancient poets, to three: +_Euphrosyne_, _Thalīa_, and _Aglaia_; but they differed concerning their +origin. Some suppose them to have been the offspring of Jupiter and +Eunomia, daughter of Oceănus; but the most prevalent opinion is, that +they were descended from Bacchus and Venus. According to Homer, Aglaia, +the youngest, was married to Vulcan, and another of them to the god of +Sleep. The Graces were companions of _Mercury_, _Venus_, and the +_Muses_. + +Festivals were celebrated in honor of them throughout the whole year. +They were esteemed the dispensers of liberality, eloquence, and wisdom; +and from them were derived simplicity of manners, a graceful deportment, +and gaiety of disposition. From their inspiring acts of gratitude and +mutual kindness they were described as uniting hand in hand with each +other. The ancients partook of but few repasts without invoking them, as +well as the Muses. + +SIRENS were a kind of fabulous beings represented by some as +sea-monsters, with the faces of women and the tails of fishes, answering +the description of mermaids; and by others said to have the upper parts +of a woman, and the under parts of a bird. Their number is not +determined; Homer reckons only two; others five, namely, Leucosia, +Ligeia, Parthenŏpe, Aglaŏphon, and Molpe; others admit only the three +first. + +The poets represent them as beautiful women inhabiting the rocks on the +sea-shore, whither having allured passengers by the sweetness of their +voices, they put them to death. Virgil places them on rocks where +vessels are in danger of shipwreck; Pliny makes them inhabit the +promontory of Minerva, near the island Capreæ; others fix them in +Sicily, near cape Pelōrus. + +Claudian says they inhabited harmonious rocks, that they were charming +monsters, and that sailors were wrecked on their coasts without regret, +and even expired in rapture. This description is doubtless founded on a +literal explication of the fable, that the Sirens were women who +inhabited the shores of Sicily, and who, by the allurements of pleasure, +stopped passengers, and made them forget their course. + +Ovid says they accompanied Proserpine when she was carried off, and that +the gods granted them wings to go in quest of that goddess. Homer places +the Sirens in the midst of a meadow drenched in blood, and tells us that +fate had permitted them to reign till some person should over-reach +them; that the wise Ulysses accomplished their destiny, having escaped +their snares, by stopping the ears of his companions with wax, and +causing himself to be fastened to the mast of his ship, which, he adds, +plunged them into so deep despair, that they drowned themselves in the +sea, where they were transformed into fishes from the waist downwards. + +Others, who do not look for so much mystery in this fable, maintain that +the Sirens were nothing but certain straits in the sea, where the waves +whirling furiously around seized and swallowed up vessels that +approached them. Lastly, some hold the Sirens to have been certain +shores and promontories, where the winds, by various reverberations and +echoes, cause a kind of harmony that surprises and stops passengers. +This probably might be the origin of the Sirens' song, and the occasion +of giving the name of Sirens to those rocks. + +Some interpreters of the ancient fables contend, that the number and +names of the three Sirens were taken from the triple pleasure of the +senses, wine, love, and music, which are the three most powerful means +of seducing mankind; and hence so many exhortations to avoid the Sirens' +fatal song; and probably it was hence that the Greeks obtained their +etymology of Siren from a Greek word signifying a _chain_, as if there +were no getting free from their enticement. + +But if in tracing this fable to its source, we take Servius as our +guide, he tells us that it derived its origin from certain princesses +who reigned of old upon the coasts of the Tuscan sea, near Pelōrus and +Caprea, or in three small islands of Sicily which Aristotle calls the +isles of the Sirens. These women were very debauched, and by their +charms allured strangers, who were ruined in their court, by pleasure +and prodigality. + +This seems evidently the foundation of all that Homer says of the +Sirens, in the twelfth book of the Odyssey; that they bewitched those +who unfortunately listened to their songs; that they detained them in +capacious meadows, where nothing was to be seen but bones and carcasses +withering in the sun; that none who visit them ever again enjoy the +embraces and congratulations of their wives and children; and that all +who dote upon their charms are doomed to perish. What Solomon says in +the ninth chapter of Proverbs, of the miseries to which those are +exposed who abandon themselves to sensual pleasures, well justifies the +idea given us of the Sirens by the Greek poets, and by Virgil's +commentator. + + + + + + +End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of Roman Antiquities, and Ancient +Mythology, by Charles K. Dillaway + +*** END OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK ROMAN ANTIQUITIES *** + +***** This file should be named 20734-0.txt or 20734-0.zip ***** +This and all associated files of various formats will be found in: + http://www.gutenberg.org/2/0/7/3/20734/ + +Produced by Barbara Tozier, V. L. Simpson, Bill Tozier and +the Online Distributed Proofreading Team at +http://www.pgdp.net + + +Updated editions will replace the previous one--the old editions +will be renamed. + +Creating the works from public domain print editions means that no +one owns a United States copyright in these works, so the Foundation +(and you!) can copy and distribute it in the United States without +permission and without paying copyright royalties. Special rules, +set forth in the General Terms of Use part of this license, apply to +copying and distributing Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works to +protect the PROJECT GUTENBERG-tm concept and trademark. Project +Gutenberg is a registered trademark, and may not be used if you +charge for the eBooks, unless you receive specific permission. If you +do not charge anything for copies of this eBook, complying with the +rules is very easy. You may use this eBook for nearly any purpose +such as creation of derivative works, reports, performances and +research. They may be modified and printed and given away--you may do +practically ANYTHING with public domain eBooks. Redistribution is +subject to the trademark license, especially commercial +redistribution. + + + +*** START: FULL LICENSE *** + +THE FULL PROJECT GUTENBERG LICENSE +PLEASE READ THIS BEFORE YOU DISTRIBUTE OR USE THIS WORK + +To protect the Project Gutenberg-tm mission of promoting the free +distribution of electronic works, by using or distributing this work +(or any other work associated in any way with the phrase "Project +Gutenberg"), you agree to comply with all the terms of the Full Project +Gutenberg-tm License (available with this file or online at +http://gutenberg.org/license). + + +Section 1. General Terms of Use and Redistributing Project Gutenberg-tm +electronic works + +1.A. By reading or using any part of this Project Gutenberg-tm +electronic work, you indicate that you have read, understand, agree to +and accept all the terms of this license and intellectual property +(trademark/copyright) agreement. If you do not agree to abide by all +the terms of this agreement, you must cease using and return or destroy +all copies of Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works in your possession. +If you paid a fee for obtaining a copy of or access to a Project +Gutenberg-tm electronic work and you do not agree to be bound by the +terms of this agreement, you may obtain a refund from the person or +entity to whom you paid the fee as set forth in paragraph 1.E.8. + +1.B. "Project Gutenberg" is a registered trademark. It may only be +used on or associated in any way with an electronic work by people who +agree to be bound by the terms of this agreement. There are a few +things that you can do with most Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works +even without complying with the full terms of this agreement. See +paragraph 1.C below. There are a lot of things you can do with Project +Gutenberg-tm electronic works if you follow the terms of this agreement +and help preserve free future access to Project Gutenberg-tm electronic +works. See paragraph 1.E below. + +1.C. The Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation ("the Foundation" +or PGLAF), owns a compilation copyright in the collection of Project +Gutenberg-tm electronic works. Nearly all the individual works in the +collection are in the public domain in the United States. If an +individual work is in the public domain in the United States and you are +located in the United States, we do not claim a right to prevent you from +copying, distributing, performing, displaying or creating derivative +works based on the work as long as all references to Project Gutenberg +are removed. Of course, we hope that you will support the Project +Gutenberg-tm mission of promoting free access to electronic works by +freely sharing Project Gutenberg-tm works in compliance with the terms of +this agreement for keeping the Project Gutenberg-tm name associated with +the work. You can easily comply with the terms of this agreement by +keeping this work in the same format with its attached full Project +Gutenberg-tm License when you share it without charge with others. + +1.D. The copyright laws of the place where you are located also govern +what you can do with this work. Copyright laws in most countries are in +a constant state of change. If you are outside the United States, check +the laws of your country in addition to the terms of this agreement +before downloading, copying, displaying, performing, distributing or +creating derivative works based on this work or any other Project +Gutenberg-tm work. The Foundation makes no representations concerning +the copyright status of any work in any country outside the United +States. + +1.E. Unless you have removed all references to Project Gutenberg: + +1.E.1. The following sentence, with active links to, or other immediate +access to, the full Project Gutenberg-tm License must appear prominently +whenever any copy of a Project Gutenberg-tm work (any work on which the +phrase "Project Gutenberg" appears, or with which the phrase "Project +Gutenberg" is associated) is accessed, displayed, performed, viewed, +copied or distributed: + +This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with +almost no restrictions whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or +re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included +with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org + +1.E.2. If an individual Project Gutenberg-tm electronic work is derived +from the public domain (does not contain a notice indicating that it is +posted with permission of the copyright holder), the work can be copied +and distributed to anyone in the United States without paying any fees +or charges. If you are redistributing or providing access to a work +with the phrase "Project Gutenberg" associated with or appearing on the +work, you must comply either with the requirements of paragraphs 1.E.1 +through 1.E.7 or obtain permission for the use of the work and the +Project Gutenberg-tm trademark as set forth in paragraphs 1.E.8 or +1.E.9. + +1.E.3. If an individual Project Gutenberg-tm electronic work is posted +with the permission of the copyright holder, your use and distribution +must comply with both paragraphs 1.E.1 through 1.E.7 and any additional +terms imposed by the copyright holder. Additional terms will be linked +to the Project Gutenberg-tm License for all works posted with the +permission of the copyright holder found at the beginning of this work. + +1.E.4. Do not unlink or detach or remove the full Project Gutenberg-tm +License terms from this work, or any files containing a part of this +work or any other work associated with Project Gutenberg-tm. + +1.E.5. Do not copy, display, perform, distribute or redistribute this +electronic work, or any part of this electronic work, without +prominently displaying the sentence set forth in paragraph 1.E.1 with +active links or immediate access to the full terms of the Project +Gutenberg-tm License. + +1.E.6. You may convert to and distribute this work in any binary, +compressed, marked up, nonproprietary or proprietary form, including any +word processing or hypertext form. However, if you provide access to or +distribute copies of a Project Gutenberg-tm work in a format other than +"Plain Vanilla ASCII" or other format used in the official version +posted on the official Project Gutenberg-tm web site (www.gutenberg.org), +you must, at no additional cost, fee or expense to the user, provide a +copy, a means of exporting a copy, or a means of obtaining a copy upon +request, of the work in its original "Plain Vanilla ASCII" or other +form. Any alternate format must include the full Project Gutenberg-tm +License as specified in paragraph 1.E.1. + +1.E.7. Do not charge a fee for access to, viewing, displaying, +performing, copying or distributing any Project Gutenberg-tm works +unless you comply with paragraph 1.E.8 or 1.E.9. + +1.E.8. You may charge a reasonable fee for copies of or providing +access to or distributing Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works provided +that + +- You pay a royalty fee of 20% of the gross profits you derive from + the use of Project Gutenberg-tm works calculated using the method + you already use to calculate your applicable taxes. The fee is + owed to the owner of the Project Gutenberg-tm trademark, but he + has agreed to donate royalties under this paragraph to the + Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation. Royalty payments + must be paid within 60 days following each date on which you + prepare (or are legally required to prepare) your periodic tax + returns. Royalty payments should be clearly marked as such and + sent to the Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation at the + address specified in Section 4, "Information about donations to + the Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation." + +- You provide a full refund of any money paid by a user who notifies + you in writing (or by e-mail) within 30 days of receipt that s/he + does not agree to the terms of the full Project Gutenberg-tm + License. You must require such a user to return or + destroy all copies of the works possessed in a physical medium + and discontinue all use of and all access to other copies of + Project Gutenberg-tm works. + +- You provide, in accordance with paragraph 1.F.3, a full refund of any + money paid for a work or a replacement copy, if a defect in the + electronic work is discovered and reported to you within 90 days + of receipt of the work. + +- You comply with all other terms of this agreement for free + distribution of Project Gutenberg-tm works. + +1.E.9. If you wish to charge a fee or distribute a Project Gutenberg-tm +electronic work or group of works on different terms than are set +forth in this agreement, you must obtain permission in writing from +both the Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation and Michael +Hart, the owner of the Project Gutenberg-tm trademark. Contact the +Foundation as set forth in Section 3 below. + +1.F. + +1.F.1. Project Gutenberg volunteers and employees expend considerable +effort to identify, do copyright research on, transcribe and proofread +public domain works in creating the Project Gutenberg-tm +collection. Despite these efforts, Project Gutenberg-tm electronic +works, and the medium on which they may be stored, may contain +"Defects," such as, but not limited to, incomplete, inaccurate or +corrupt data, transcription errors, a copyright or other intellectual +property infringement, a defective or damaged disk or other medium, a +computer virus, or computer codes that damage or cannot be read by +your equipment. + +1.F.2. LIMITED WARRANTY, DISCLAIMER OF DAMAGES - Except for the "Right +of Replacement or Refund" described in paragraph 1.F.3, the Project +Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation, the owner of the Project +Gutenberg-tm trademark, and any other party distributing a Project +Gutenberg-tm electronic work under this agreement, disclaim all +liability to you for damages, costs and expenses, including legal +fees. YOU AGREE THAT YOU HAVE NO REMEDIES FOR NEGLIGENCE, STRICT +LIABILITY, BREACH OF WARRANTY OR BREACH OF CONTRACT EXCEPT THOSE +PROVIDED IN PARAGRAPH F3. YOU AGREE THAT THE FOUNDATION, THE +TRADEMARK OWNER, AND ANY DISTRIBUTOR UNDER THIS AGREEMENT WILL NOT BE +LIABLE TO YOU FOR ACTUAL, DIRECT, INDIRECT, CONSEQUENTIAL, PUNITIVE OR +INCIDENTAL DAMAGES EVEN IF YOU GIVE NOTICE OF THE POSSIBILITY OF SUCH +DAMAGE. + +1.F.3. LIMITED RIGHT OF REPLACEMENT OR REFUND - If you discover a +defect in this electronic work within 90 days of receiving it, you can +receive a refund of the money (if any) you paid for it by sending a +written explanation to the person you received the work from. If you +received the work on a physical medium, you must return the medium with +your written explanation. The person or entity that provided you with +the defective work may elect to provide a replacement copy in lieu of a +refund. If you received the work electronically, the person or entity +providing it to you may choose to give you a second opportunity to +receive the work electronically in lieu of a refund. If the second copy +is also defective, you may demand a refund in writing without further +opportunities to fix the problem. + +1.F.4. Except for the limited right of replacement or refund set forth +in paragraph 1.F.3, this work is provided to you 'AS-IS' WITH NO OTHER +WARRANTIES OF ANY KIND, EXPRESS OR IMPLIED, INCLUDING BUT NOT LIMITED TO +WARRANTIES OF MERCHANTIBILITY OR FITNESS FOR ANY PURPOSE. + +1.F.5. Some states do not allow disclaimers of certain implied +warranties or the exclusion or limitation of certain types of damages. +If any disclaimer or limitation set forth in this agreement violates the +law of the state applicable to this agreement, the agreement shall be +interpreted to make the maximum disclaimer or limitation permitted by +the applicable state law. The invalidity or unenforceability of any +provision of this agreement shall not void the remaining provisions. + +1.F.6. INDEMNITY - You agree to indemnify and hold the Foundation, the +trademark owner, any agent or employee of the Foundation, anyone +providing copies of Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works in accordance +with this agreement, and any volunteers associated with the production, +promotion and distribution of Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works, +harmless from all liability, costs and expenses, including legal fees, +that arise directly or indirectly from any of the following which you do +or cause to occur: (a) distribution of this or any Project Gutenberg-tm +work, (b) alteration, modification, or additions or deletions to any +Project Gutenberg-tm work, and (c) any Defect you cause. + + +Section 2. Information about the Mission of Project Gutenberg-tm + +Project Gutenberg-tm is synonymous with the free distribution of +electronic works in formats readable by the widest variety of computers +including obsolete, old, middle-aged and new computers. It exists +because of the efforts of hundreds of volunteers and donations from +people in all walks of life. + +Volunteers and financial support to provide volunteers with the +assistance they need, is critical to reaching Project Gutenberg-tm's +goals and ensuring that the Project Gutenberg-tm collection will +remain freely available for generations to come. In 2001, the Project +Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation was created to provide a secure +and permanent future for Project Gutenberg-tm and future generations. +To learn more about the Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation +and how your efforts and donations can help, see Sections 3 and 4 +and the Foundation web page at http://www.pglaf.org. + + +Section 3. Information about the Project Gutenberg Literary Archive +Foundation + +The Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation is a non profit +501(c)(3) educational corporation organized under the laws of the +state of Mississippi and granted tax exempt status by the Internal +Revenue Service. The Foundation's EIN or federal tax identification +number is 64-6221541. Its 501(c)(3) letter is posted at +http://pglaf.org/fundraising. Contributions to the Project Gutenberg +Literary Archive Foundation are tax deductible to the full extent +permitted by U.S. federal laws and your state's laws. + +The Foundation's principal office is located at 4557 Melan Dr. S. +Fairbanks, AK, 99712., but its volunteers and employees are scattered +throughout numerous locations. Its business office is located at +809 North 1500 West, Salt Lake City, UT 84116, (801) 596-1887, email +business@pglaf.org. Email contact links and up to date contact +information can be found at the Foundation's web site and official +page at http://pglaf.org + +For additional contact information: + Dr. Gregory B. Newby + Chief Executive and Director + gbnewby@pglaf.org + + +Section 4. Information about Donations to the Project Gutenberg +Literary Archive Foundation + +Project Gutenberg-tm depends upon and cannot survive without wide +spread public support and donations to carry out its mission of +increasing the number of public domain and licensed works that can be +freely distributed in machine readable form accessible by the widest +array of equipment including outdated equipment. Many small donations +($1 to $5,000) are particularly important to maintaining tax exempt +status with the IRS. + +The Foundation is committed to complying with the laws regulating +charities and charitable donations in all 50 states of the United +States. Compliance requirements are not uniform and it takes a +considerable effort, much paperwork and many fees to meet and keep up +with these requirements. We do not solicit donations in locations +where we have not received written confirmation of compliance. To +SEND DONATIONS or determine the status of compliance for any +particular state visit http://pglaf.org + +While we cannot and do not solicit contributions from states where we +have not met the solicitation requirements, we know of no prohibition +against accepting unsolicited donations from donors in such states who +approach us with offers to donate. + +International donations are gratefully accepted, but we cannot make +any statements concerning tax treatment of donations received from +outside the United States. U.S. laws alone swamp our small staff. + +Please check the Project Gutenberg Web pages for current donation +methods and addresses. Donations are accepted in a number of other +ways including checks, online payments and credit card donations. +To donate, please visit: http://pglaf.org/donate + + +Section 5. General Information About Project Gutenberg-tm electronic +works. + +Professor Michael S. Hart is the originator of the Project Gutenberg-tm +concept of a library of electronic works that could be freely shared +with anyone. For thirty years, he produced and distributed Project +Gutenberg-tm eBooks with only a loose network of volunteer support. + + +Project Gutenberg-tm eBooks are often created from several printed +editions, all of which are confirmed as Public Domain in the U.S. +unless a copyright notice is included. Thus, we do not necessarily +keep eBooks in compliance with any particular paper edition. + + +Most people start at our Web site which has the main PG search facility: + + http://www.gutenberg.org + +This Web site includes information about Project Gutenberg-tm, +including how to make donations to the Project Gutenberg Literary +Archive Foundation, how to help produce our new eBooks, and how to +subscribe to our email newsletter to hear about new eBooks. diff --git a/20734-0.zip b/20734-0.zip Binary files differnew file mode 100644 index 0000000..c4087b9 --- /dev/null +++ b/20734-0.zip diff --git a/20734-8.txt b/20734-8.txt new file mode 100644 index 0000000..59b8564 --- /dev/null +++ b/20734-8.txt @@ -0,0 +1,6410 @@ +The Project Gutenberg EBook of Roman Antiquities, and Ancient Mythology, by +Charles K. Dillaway + +This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with +almost no restrictions whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or +re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included +with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org + + +Title: Roman Antiquities, and Ancient Mythology + For Classical Schools (2nd ed) + +Author: Charles K. Dillaway + +Release Date: March 3, 2007 [EBook #20734] + +Language: English + +Character set encoding: ISO-8859-1 + +*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK ROMAN ANTIQUITIES *** + + + + +Produced by Barbara Tozier, V. L. Simpson, Bill Tozier and +the Online Distributed Proofreading Team at +http://www.pgdp.net + + + + + + + [Transcribers' Note: + + A detailed listing of changes and anomalies is at the end + of this file.] + + + + [Illustration: Pl. 1.] + + + +ROMAN ANTIQUITIES, + +AND + +ANCIENT MYTHOLOGY; + +FOR CLASSICAL SCHOOLS. + + +BY + +CHARLES K. DILLAWAY, + +PRINCIPAL OF THE PUBLIC LATIN SCHOOL IN BOSTON. + + + + + +SECOND EDITION. + + + + + +BOSTON: +LINCOLN, EDMANDS & CO. + +CARTER, HENDEE AND CO. BOSTON; COLLINS AND HANNAY, +NEW YORK; KEY AND MEILKE, PHILADELPHIA; +CUSHING AND SONS, BALTIMORE. + +1833. + + + + +Entered, according to Act of Congress, in the year 1833, By Lincoln, +Edmands & Co. In the Clerk's office of the District Court of +Massachusetts. + + + + + POSITION OF THE PLATES. + + No. 1, before the title page. + 2, before page 27. + 3, " " 71. + 4, " " 78. + 5, " " 82. + 6, " " 90. + 7, " " 106. + 8, " " 133. + + + + + +PREFACE. + + +The editor has endeavored in the following pages to give some account of +the customs and institutions of the Romans and of ancient Mythology in a +form adapted to the use of classical schools. + +In making the compilation he has freely drawn from all creditable +sources of information within his reach, but chiefly from the following: +Sketches of the institutions and domestic customs of the Romans, +published in London a few years since; from the works of Adams, Kennett, +Lanktree, Montfaucon, Middleton and Gesner: upon the subject of +Mythology, from Bell, Spense, Pausanias, La Pluche, Plutarch, Pliny, +Homer, Horace, Virgil, and many others to whom reference has been +occasionally made. + + _Boston, July, 1832._ + + * * * * * + +In the second edition now offered to the public much has been added to +the department of Antiquities. A more comprehensive chapter upon the +weights, measures and coins of the Romans has been substituted in the +place of the former one, and many other improvements made which it is +hoped will be found acceptable. As it was not thought expedient to +increase the size of the volume, the additions have been made by +excluding the questions. + +_Boston, May, 1833._ + + + +CONTENTS. + +Chap. Page. + +1. Foundation of Rome and division of inhabitants 9 +2. The Senate 13 +3. Other divisions of the Roman people 18 +4. Gentes and Famili, Names of the Romans 19 +5. Private rights of Roman citizens 21 +6. Public rights of Roman citizens 23 +7. Places of worship 24 +8. Other public buildings 26 +9. Porticos, arches, columns, and trophies 30 +10. Bagnios, aqueducts, sewers, and public ways 32 +11. Augurs and Auguries 33 +12. Aruspices, Pontifices, Quindecemviri, Vestals, &c. 34 +13. Religious ceremonies of the Romans 37 +14. The Roman year 39 +15. Roman games 42 +16. Magistrates 44 +17. Of military affairs 49 +18. Assemblies, judicial proceedings, and punishments of the Romans 53 +19. Roman dress 57 +20. Fine arts and literature 59 +21. Roman houses 61 +22. Marriages and funerals 63 +23. Customs at meals 66 +24. Weights, measures, and coins 67 + + +MYTHOLOGY. + +1. Celestial Gods 71 +2. Celestial Goddesses 77 +3. Terrestrial Gods 82 +4. Terrestrial Goddesses 87 +5. Gods of the woods 94 +6. Goddesses of the woods 101 +7. Gods of the sea 106 +8. Tartarus and its Deities 111 +9. The condemned in Hell 123 +10. Monsters of Hell 126 +11. Dii Indigites, or heroes who received divine honors after death 128 +12. Other fabulous personages 146 + + + +CHAPTER I. + +_Foundation of Rome and Division of its Inhabitants._ + + +Ancient Italy was separated, on the north, by the Alps, from Germany. It +was bounded, on the east and north-east, by the Adriatic Sea, or _Mare +Superum_; on the south-west, by a part of the Mediterranean, called the +Tuscan Sea, or _Mare Inferum_; and on the south, by the _Fretum +Siculum_, called at present the strait of Messina. + +The south of Italy, called _Grcia Magna_, was peopled by a colony from +Greece. The middle of Italy contained several states or confederacies, +under the denominations of Etrurians, Samnites, Latins, Volsci, +Campanians, Sabines, &c. And the north, containing _Gallia Cisalpina_ +and _Liguria_, was peopled by a race of Gauls. + +The principal town of the Latin confederacy was Rome. It was situated on +the river Tiber, at the distance of sixteen miles from its mouth. + +Romulus is commonly reported to have laid its foundations on Mount +Palatine, A. M. 3251, B. C. 753, in the third year of the 6th Olympiad. + +Rome was at first only a small fortification; under the kings and the +republic, it greatly increased in size; but it could hardly be called +magnificent before the time of Augustus Csar. In the reign of the +Emperor Valerian, the city, with its suburbs, covered a space of fifty +miles; at present it is scarcely thirteen miles round. + +Rome was built on seven hills, viz. the Palatine, Capitoline, Quirinal, +Esquiline, Viminal, Clian, and Aventine; hence it was poetically styled +"_Urbs Septicollis_,"--the seven-hilled city. + +The greatest number of inhabitants in Rome was four millions; but its +average population was not more than two millions. + +The people were divided into three tribes, and each tribe into ten +curi. The number of tribes was afterwards increased to thirty-five. + +The people were at first only separated into two ranks; the Patrician +and Plebeian; but afterwards the Equites or Knights were added; and at a +later period, slavery was introduced--making in all, four classes: +Patricians, Knights, Plebeians, and Slaves. + +The Patrician order consisted of those families whose ancestors had been +members of the Senate. Those among them who had filled any superior +office, were considered noble, and possessed the right of making images +of themselves, which were transmitted to their descendants, and formed +part of their domestic worship. + +The Plebeian order was composed of the lowest class of freemen. Those +who resided in the city, were called "_Plebs urbana_;" those who lived +in the country, "_Plebs rustica_." But the distinction did not consist +in name only--the latter were the most respectable. + +The _Plebs urbana_ consisted not only of the poorer mechanics and +laborers, but of a multitude of idlers who chiefly subsisted on the +public bounty, and whose turbulence was a constant source of disquietude +to the government. There were leading men among them, kept in pay by the +seditious magistrates, who used for hire to stimulate them to the most +daring outrages. + +Trade and manufactures being considered as servile employments, they had +no encouragement to industry; and the numerous spectacles which were +exhibited, particularly the shows of gladiators, served to increase +their natural ferocity. To these causes may be attributed the final ruin +of the republic. + +The Equestrian order arose out of an institution ascribed to Romulus, +who chose from each of the three tribes, one hundred young men, the most +distinguished for their rank, wealth, and other accomplishments, who +should serve on horseback and guard his person. + +Their number was afterwards increased by Tullus Hostilius, who chose +three hundred from the Albans. They were chosen promiscuously from the +Patricians and Plebeians. The age requisite was eighteen, and the +fortune four hundred sestertia; that is, about 14,000 dollars. Their +marks of distinction, were a horse given them at the public expense, and +a gold ring. Their office, at first, was only to serve in the army; but +afterwards, to act as judges or jurymen, and take charge of the public +revenues. + +A great degree of splendor was added to the Equites by a procession +which they made throughout the city every year, on the 15th day of July, +from the temple of honor, without the city to the Capitol, riding on +horseback, with wreaths of olives on their heads, dressed in the Tog +palmat or trabe, of a scarlet color, and bearing in their hands the +military ornaments, which they had received from their general, as a +reward for their valor. At this time they could not be summoned before a +court of justice. + +If any Eques was corrupt in his morals, or had diminished his fortune, +the censor ordered him to be removed from the order by selling his +horse. + +Men became slaves among the Romans, by being taken in war, by way of +punishment, or were born in a state of servitude. Those enemies who +voluntarily surrendered themselves, retained the rights of freedom, and +were called '_Dedititii_.' + +Those taken in the field, or in the storming of cities, were sold at +auction--"_sub corona_," as it was called, because they wore a crown +when sold; or "_sub hasta_," because a spear was set up where the +auctioneer stood. These were called Servi or Mancipia. Those who dealt +in the slave trade were called _Mangones_ or _Venalitii_: they were +bound to promise for the soundness of their slaves, and not to conceal +their faults; hence they were commonly exposed for sale naked, and +carried a scroll hanging to their necks, on which their good and bad +qualities were specified. + +Free-born citizens could not be sold for slaves. Parents might sell +their children; but they did not on that account entirely lose the right +of citizens, for, when freed from slavery, they were called _ingenui_ +and _libertini_. The same was the case with insolvent debtors, who were +given up to their creditors. + +There was no regular marriage among slaves, but their connexion was +called contubernium. The children of any female slave became the +property of her master. + +Such as had a genius for it were sometimes instructed in literature and +liberal arts. Some of these were sold at a great price. Hence arose a +principal part of the wealth of Crassus. + +The power of the master over his slave was absolute. He might scourge or +put him to death at pleasure. This right was often exercised with great +cruelty. + +The lash was the common punishment; but for certain crimes they were to +be branded in the forehead, and sometimes were forced to carry a piece +of wood round their necks, wherever they went, which was called _furca_; +and whoever had been subjected to the punishment was ever afterwards +called _furcifer_. + +Slaves also, by way of punishment, were often confined in a work-house, +or bridewell, where they were obliged to turn a mill for grinding corn. +When slaves were beaten, they were suspended with a weight tied to their +feet, that they might not move them. When punished for any capital +offence, they were commonly crucified; but this was afterwards +prohibited under Constantine. + +If the master of a family was slain at his own house, and the murderer +not discovered, all his domestic slaves were liable to be put to death. +Hence we find no less than four hundred in one family punished on this +account. + +Slaves were not esteemed as persons, but as things, and might be +transferred from one owner to another, like any other effects. They +could not appear in a court of justice as witnesses, nor make a will, or +inherit anything, or serve as soldiers, unless first made free. + +At certain times they were allowed the greatest freedom, as at the feast +of Saturn, in the month of December, when they were served at table by +their masters, and on the Ides of August. + +The number of slaves in Rome and through Italy, was immense. Some rich +individuals are said to have had several thousands. + +Anciently, they were freed in three different ways:--1st, _Per censum_, +when a slave with his master's knowledge inserted his name in the +censor's roll. 2d, _Per vindictam_, when a master, taking his slave to +the prtor, or consul, and in the provinces to the pro-consul or +pro-prtor, said, "I desire that this man be free, according to the +custom of the Romans"--and the prtor, if he approved, putting a rod on +the head of the slave, pronounced,--"I say that this man is free, after +the manner of the Romans." Wherefore, the lictor or master turning him +round in a circle, and giving him a blow on the cheek, let him go; +signifying that leave was granted him to go, wherever he pleased. 3d, +_Per testamentum_, when a master gave his slaves their liberty by his +will. + + + + +CHAPTER II. + +_The Senate._ + + +The Senate was instituted by Romulus, to be the perpetual council of the +republic, and at first consisted only of one hundred, chosen from the +Patricians. They were called Patres, either on account of their age or +the paternal care they had of the state. After the Sabines were taken +into the city, another one hundred was chosen from them by the suffrages +of the curi. + +Such as were chosen into the Senate by Brutus, after the expulsion of +Tarquin the proud, to supply the place of those whom that king had +slain, were called Conscripti; that is, persons written or enrolled +together with the Senators, who alone were properly called patres. + +Persons were chosen into the Senate first by the kings, and after their +expulsion, by the consuls, and by the military tribunes; but from the +year of the city 310, by the censors. At first, only from the +Patricians, but afterwards, also from the Plebeians--chiefly, however, +from the Equites. + +Besides an estate of 400, or after Augustus, of 1200 sestertia, no +person was admitted to this dignity but one who had already borne some +magistracy in the Commonwealth. The age is not sufficiently ascertained, +probably not under 30. + +The dictator, consuls, prtors, tribunes of the commons and interrex, +had the power of assembling the Senate. + +The places where they assembled were only such as had formerly been +consecrated by the augurs--and most commonly within the city. They made +use of the temple of Bellona, without the walls, for the giving audience +to foreign ambassadors, and to such provincial magistrates as were to be +heard in open Senates, before they entered the city, as when they +petitioned for a triumph, and in similar cases. When the augurs reported +that an ox had spoken, which we often meet with among the ancient +prodigies, the Senate was presently to sit, sub dio, or in the open air. + +The regular meetings (_senatus legitimus_) were on the Kalends, Nones, +and Ides in every month, until the time of Augustus, who confined them +to the Kalends and Ides. The _senatus indictus_ was called for the +dispatch of business upon any other day except the dies Comitialis, when +the Senate were obliged to be present at the Comitia. + +The Senate was summoned anciently by a public officer, named viator, +because he called the Senators from the country--or by a public crier, +when anything had happened about which the Senators were to be consulted +hastily and without delay: but in latter times by an edict, appointing +the time and place, and published several days before. The cause of +assembling was also added. + +If any one refused or neglected to attend, he was punished by a fine, +and by distraining his goods, unless he had a just excuse. The fine was +imposed by him who held the Senate, and pledges were taken till it was +paid--but after 60 years of age, Senators might attend or not, as they +pleased. + +No decree could be made unless there was a quorum. What that was is +uncertain. If any one wanted to hinder the passing of a decree, and +suspected there was not a quorum, he said to the magistrate presiding, +"_Numera Senatum_," count the Senate. + +The magistrate who was to preside offered a sacrifice, and took the +auspices before he entered the Senate house. If they were not favorable, +or not rightly taken, the business was deferred to another day. Augustus +ordered that each Senator, before he took his seat, should pay his +devotions with an offering of frankincense and wine, at the altar of +that god in whose temple the Senate were assembled, that they might +discharge their duty the more religiously. When the consuls entered, the +Senators commonly rose up to do them honor. + +The consuls elect were first asked their opinion, and the prtors, +tribunes, &c. elect, seem to have had the same preference before the +rest of their order. He who held the Senate, might consult first any one +of the same order he thought proper. + +Nothing could be laid before the Senate against the will of the consuls, +unless by the tribunes of the people, who might also give their negative +against any decree by the solemn word "_Veto_," which was called +interceding. This might also be done by all who had an equal or greater +authority than the magistrate presiding. If any person interceded, the +sentence was called "_Senatus auctoritas_," their judgment or opinion. + +The Senators delivered their opinions standing; but when they only +assented to the opinion of another, they continued sitting. + +It was not lawful for the consuls to interrupt those who spoke, although +they introduced in their speeches many things foreign to the subject, +which they sometimes did, that they might waste the day in speaking. For +no new reference could be made after the tenth hour, that is, four +o'clock in the afternoon, according to our mode of reckoning. + +This privilege was often abused, but they were forced to stop by the +noise and clamour of the other Senators. Sometimes magistrates, when +they made a disagreeable motion, were silenced in this manner. + +The Senators usually addressed the house by the title of "_patres +conscripti_:" sometimes to the consul, or person who presided, sometimes +to both. + +A decree of the Senate was made, by a separation of the Senators, to +different parts of the house. He who presided, said, "Let those who are +of such an opinion pass over to that side, those who think differently, +to this." Those Senators who only voted, but did not speak, or as some +say, had the right of voting, but not of speaking, were called +_pedarii_, because they signified their opinion by their feet, and not +by their tongues. When a decree was made without any opinion being asked +or given, it was called "_senatus consultum per discessionem_." But if +the contrary, it was simply called "_Senatus consultum_." + +In decreeing a supplication to any general, the opinion of the Senators +was always asked. Hence Cicero blames Antony for omitting this in the +case of Lepidus. Before the vote was put, and while the debate was going +on, the members used to take their seats near that person whose opinion +they approved, and the opinion of him who was joined by the greatest +number was called "_Sententia maxime frequens_." + +When affairs requiring secrecy were discussed, the clerks and other +attendants were not admitted: but what passed, was written out by some +of the Senators, and the decree was called tacitum. + +Public registers were kept of what was done in the Senate, in the +assemblies of the people, and courts of justice; also of births and +funerals, of marriages and divorces, &c. which served as a fund of +information for historians. + +In writing a decree, the time and place were put first; then, the names +of those who were present at the engrossing of it; after that, the +motion with the name of the magistrate who proposed it; to all which was +subjoined what the Senate decreed. + +The decrees were kept in the public treasury with the laws and other +writings, pertaining to the republic. Anciently they were kept in the +temple of Ceres. The place where the public records were kept was called +"_Tabularium_." The decrees of the Senate concerning the honors +conferred on Csar were inscribed in golden letters, on columns of +silver. When not carried to the treasury, they were reckoned invalid. +Hence it was ordained under Tiberius, that the decrees of the Senate, +especially concerning the capital punishment of any one, should not be +carried there before the tenth day, that the emperor, if absent from the +city, might have an opportunity of considering them, and if he thought +proper of mitigating them. + +Decrees of the Senate were rarely reversed. While a question was under +debate, every one was at freedom to express his dissent; but when once +determined, it was looked upon as the common concern of each member to +support the opinion of the majority. + +The power of the Senate was different at different times. Under the +regal government, the Senate deliberated upon such affairs as the king +proposed to them, and the kings were said to act according to their +counsel as the consuls did afterwards according to their decrees. + +Tarquin the proud, dropped the custom handed down from his predecessors, +of consulting the Senate about everything; banished or put to death the +chief men of that order, and chose no others in their room; but he was +expelled from the throne for his tyranny, and the regal government +abolished, A. U. 243. Afterwards the power of the Senate was raised to +the highest. Everything was done by its authority. The magistrates were +in a manner only its ministers. But when the Patricians began to abuse +their power, and to exercise cruelty on the Plebeians, especially after +the death of Tarquin, the multitude took arms in their own defence, made +a secession from the city, seized on Mons Sacer, and created tribunes +for themselves, who attacked the authority of the Senate, and in process +of time greatly diminished it. + +Although the supreme power at Rome belonged to the people, yet they +seldom enacted anything without the authority of the Senate. In all +weighty matters, the method usually observed was that the Senate should +first deliberate and decree, and then the people order. + +The Senate assumed to themselves exclusively, the guardianship of the +public religion; so that no new god could be introduced, nor altar +erected, nor the Sybiline books consulted without their order. They had +the direction of the treasury, and distributed the public money at +pleasure. They appointed stipends to their generals and officers, and +provisions and clothing to the armies. They settled the provinces which +were annually assigned to the consuls and prtors, and when it seemed +fit, they prolonged their command. They nominated, out of their own +body, all ambassadors sent from Rome, and gave to foreign ambassadors +what answers they thought proper. They decreed all public thanksgivings +for victories obtained, and conferred the honor of an ovation or triumph +with the title of imperator on their victorious generals. They could +decree the title of king to any prince whom they pleased, and declare +any one an enemy by a vote. They inquired into all public crimes or +treasons, either in Rome or other parts of Italy; and adjusted all +disputes among the allied and dependent cities. They exercised a power +not only of interpreting the laws, but of absolving men from the +obligation of them. They could postpone the assemblies of the people, +and prescribe a change of habit to the city, in cases of any imminent +danger or calamity. + +But their power was chiefly conspicuous in civil dissension or dangerous +tumults within the city, in which that solemn decree used to be passed; +"That the consuls should take care that the republic should receive no +harm." By which decree an absolute power was granted to them to punish +and put to death whom they pleased without a trial; to raise forces and +carry on war, without the order of the people. + +Although the decrees of the Senate had not properly the force of laws, +and took place chiefly in those matters which were not provided for by +the laws, yet they were understood always to have a binding force, and +were therefore obeyed by all orders. The consuls themselves were obliged +to submit to them. They could be annulled or cancelled only by the +Senate itself. In the last ages of the republic, the authority of the +Senate was little regarded by the leading men and their creatures, who +by means of bribery obtained from a corrupted populace what they +desired, in spite of the Senate. + +Augustus, when he became master of the empire, retained the forms of the +ancient republic, and the same names of the magistrates; but left +nothing of the ancient virtue and liberty. While he pretended always to +act by the authority of the Senate, he artfully drew everything to +himself. + +The Senators were distinguished by an oblong stripe of purple sewed on +the forepart of their Senatorial gown, and black buskins reaching to the +middle of the leg, with the letter C in silver on the top of the foot. + +The chief privilege of the Senators was their having a particular place +at the public spectacles, called orchestra. It was next the stage in the +theatre, or next the arena or open space in the amphitheatre. + +The messages sent by the emperor to the Senate were called epistol or +libelli, because they were folded in the form of a letter or little +book. Csar was said to have first introduced these libelli, which +afterwards were used on almost every occasion. + + + + +CHAPTER III. + +_Other Divisions of the Roman People._ + + +That the Patricians and Plebeians might be connected together by the +strictest bonds, Romulus ordained that every Plebeian should choose from +the Patricians any one he pleased, for his patron or protector, whose +client he was called. + +It was the duty of the patron to advise and defend his client, and to +assist him with his interest and substance. The client was obliged to +pay the greatest respect to his patron, and to serve him with his life +and fortune in any extremity. + +It was unlawful for patrons and clients to accuse or bear witness +against each other, and whoever was found to have done so, might be +slain by any one with impunity as a victim to Pluto, and the infernal +gods. + +It was esteemed highly honorable for a Patrician to have numerous +clients, both hereditary and acquired by his own merit. In after times, +even cities and whole nations were under the protection of illustrious +Roman families. + +Those whose ancestors or themselves had borne any curule magistracy, +that is, had been Consul, Prtor, Censor or Curule Edile, were called +nobiles, and had the right of making images of themselves, which were +kept with great care by their posterity, and carried before them at +funerals. + +These images were merely the busts of persons down to the shoulders, +made of wax, and painted, which they used to place in the courts of +their houses, enclosed in wooden cases, and seem not to have brought +out, except on solemn occasions. There were titles or inscriptions +written below them, pointing out the honors they had enjoyed, and the +exploits they had performed. Anciently, this right of images was +peculiar to the Patricians; but afterwards, the Plebeians also acquired +it, when admitted to curule offices. + +Those who were the first of their family, that had raised themselves to +any curule office, were called _homines novi_, new men or upstarts. +Those who had no images of themselves, or of their ancestors, were +called _ignobiles_. + +Those who favored the interests of the Senate were called optimates, and +sometimes proc{)}eres or principes. Those who studied to gain the favor +of the multitude, were called populares, of whatever order they were. +This was a division of factions, and not of rank or dignity. The +contests between these two parties, excited the greatest commotions in +the state, which finally terminated in the extinction of liberty. + + + + +CHAPTER IV. + +_Gentes and Famili; Names of the Romans, &c._ + + +The Romans were divided into various clans, (gentes,) and each clan into +several families. Those of the same gens were called gentiles, and those +of the same family, agnati. But relations by the father's side were also +called agnati, to distinguish them from cognati, relations only by the +mother's side. + +The Romans had three names, to mark the different clans and families, +and distinguish the individuals of the same family--the prnomen, nomen +and cognomen. + +The prnomen was put first, and marked the individual. It was commonly +written with one letter; as A. for Aulus: C. for Caius--sometimes with +two; as Ap. for Appius. + +The nomen was put after the prnomen, to mark the gens, and commonly +ended in ius; as Cornelius, Fabius. The cognomen was put last, and +marked the family; as Cicero, Csar. + +Sometimes there was also a fourth name, called the agnomen, added from +some illustrious action, or remarkable event. Thus, Scipio was called +Africanus, from the conquest of Carthage and Africa: for a similar +reason, his brother was called Asiaticus. + +These names were not always used; commonly two, and sometimes only the +sirname. But in speaking to any one, the prnomen was generally used as +being peculiar to citizens, for slaves had no prnomen. + +The sirnames were derived from various circumstances, either from some +quality of the mind; as Cato, from catus, wise: or from the habit of the +body; as Calvus, Crassus, &c.: or from cultivating particular fruits; as +Lentulus, Piso, &c. Quintus Cincinnatus was called Serranus, because the +ambassadors from the senate found him sowing, when they brought him word +that he was made dictator. + +The prnomen was given to boys on the ninth day, which was called _dies +lustr{)i}cus_, or the day of purification, when certain religious +ceremonies were performed. The eldest son of the family usually received +the prnomen of his father. The rest were named from their uncles or +other relations. + +When there was only one daughter in the family, she was called by the +name of the gens: thus, Tullia, the daughter of Cicero; and retained the +same after marriage. When there were two daughters, one was called +major, and the other minor. If there were more than two, they were +distinguished by their number; thus--prima, secunda, tertia, &c. + +Those were called _liberi_, free, who had the power of doing what they +pleased. Those who were born of parents who had been always free, were +called _ingenui_. Slaves made free were called _liberti_, in relation to +their masters; and _libertini_, in relation to free born citizens. + + + + +CHAPTER V. + +_Private Rights of Roman Citizens._ + + +The right of liberty comprehended not only liberty from the power of +masters, but also from the dominion of tyrants, the severity of +magistrates, the cruelty of creditors, and the insolence of more +powerful citizens. After the expulsion of Tarquin, a law was made by +Brutus, that no one should be king at Rome, and that whoever should form +a design of making himself a king, might be slain with impunity. At the +same time the people were bound by an oath that they would never suffer +a king to be created. + +Citizens could appeal from the magistrates to the people, and the +persons who appealed could in no way be punished, until the people +determined the matter; but they were chiefly secured by the assistance +of the tribunes. + +None but the whole Roman people in the _comitia centuriata_ could pass +sentence on the life of a Roman citizen. No magistrate could punish him +by stripes or capitally. The single expression, "I am a Roman citizen," +checked their severest decrees. + +By the laws of the twelve tables, it was ordained, that insolvent +debtors should be given up to their creditors, to be bound in fetters +and cords, and although they did not entirely lose the rights of +freemen, yet they were in actual slavery, and often more harshly treated +than even slaves themselves. + +To check the cruelty of usurers, a law was afterwards made that no +debtors should be kept in irons, or in bonds; that the goods of the +debtor, not his person, should be given up to his creditors. + +The people, not satisfied with this, as it did not free them from +prison, demanded an entire abolition of debt, which they used to call +new tables; but this was never granted. + +Each clan and family had certain sacred rights, peculiar to itself, +which were inherited in the same manner as effects. When heirs by the +father's side of the same family failed, those of the same gens +succeeded in preference to relations by the mother's side of the same +family. No one could pass from a Patrician family to a Plebeian, or from +a Plebeian to a Patrician, unless by that form of adoption which could +only be made at the _comitia curiata_. + +No Roman citizen could marry a slave, barbarian or foreigner, unless by +the permission of the people. + +A father among the Romans had the power of life and death over his +children. He could not only expose them when infants, but when grown up +he might imprison, scourge, send them bound to work in the country, and +also put them to death by any punishment he pleased. + +A son could acquire no property but with his father's consent, and what +he thus acquired was called his _peculium_ as of a slave. + +Things with respect to property among the Romans were variously divided. +Some were said to be of divine right, and were held sacred, as altars, +temples, or any thing publicly consecrated to the gods, by the authority +of the Pontiffs; or religious, as sepulchres--or inviolable, as the +walls and gates of a city. + +Others were said to be of human right, and called profane. These were +either public and common, as the air, running water, the sea and its +shores; or private, which might be the property of individuals. + +None but a Roman citizen could make a will, or be witnesses to a +testament, or inherit any thing by it. + +The usual method of making a will after the laws of the twelve tables +were enacted, was by brass and balance, as it was called. In the +presence of five witnesses, a weigher and witness, the testator by an +imaginary sale disposed of his family and property to one who was called +_famili emptor_, who was not the heir as some have thought, but only +admitted for the sake of form, that the testator might seem to have +alienated his effects in his life time. This act was called _famili +mancipatio_. + +Sometimes the testator wrote his will wholly with his own hand, in which +case it was called _hologr{)a}phum_--sometimes it was written by a +friend, or by others. Thus the testament of Augustus was written partly +by himself, and partly by two of his freedmen. + +Testaments were always subscribed by the testator, and usually by the +witnesses, and sealed with their seals or rings. They were likewise tied +with a thread drawn thrice through holes and sealed; like all other +civil deeds, they were always written in Latin. A legacy expressed in +Greek was not valid. + +They were deposited either privately in the hands of a friend, or in a +temple with the keeper of it. Thus Julius Csar is said to have +intrusted his testament to the oldest of the vestal virgins. + +A father might leave whom he pleased as guardian to his children;--but +if he died, this charge devolved by law on the nearest relation by the +father's side. When there was no guardian by testament, nor a legal one, +the prtor and the majority of the tribunes of the people appointed a +guardian. If any one died without making a will, his goods devolved on +his nearest relations. + +Women could not transact any business of importance without the +concurrence of their parents, husbands, or guardians. + + + + +CHAPTER VI. + +_Public Rights of Roman Citizens._ + + +The _jus militi_, was the right of serving in the army, which was at +first peculiar to the higher order of citizens only, but afterwards the +emperor took soldiers not only from Italy and the provinces, but also +from barbarous nations. + +The _jus tributorum_ was the payment of a tax by each individual through +the tribes, in proportion to the valuation of his estates. + +There were three kinds of tribute, one imposed equally on each person; +another according to his property; and a third exacted in cases of +emergency. There were three other kinds of taxes, called _portorium_, +_decum_ and _scriptura_. + +The _portorium_ was paid for goods exported and imported, the collectors +of which were called portitores, or for carrying goods over a bridge. + +The _decum_ were the tenth part of corn and the fifth part of other +fruit, exacted from the cultivators of the public lands, either in Italy +or without it. + +The _scriptura_ was paid by those who pastured their cattle upon the +public lands. The _jus saffragii_ was the right of voting in the +different assemblies of the people. + +The _jus honorum_ was the right of being priests or magistrates, at +first enjoyed only by the Patricians. Foreigners might live in the city +of Rome, but they enjoyed none of the rights of citizens; they were +subject to a peculiar jurisdiction, and might be expelled from the city +by a magistrate. They were not permitted to wear the Roman dress. + + + + +CHAPTER VII. + +_Places of Worship._ + + +_Templum_ was a place which had been dedicated to the worship of some +deity, and consecrated by the augurs. + +_des sacr_ were such as wanted that consecration, which, if they +afterwards received, they changed their names to temples. + +_Delubrum_ comprehended several deities under one roof. The most +celebrated temples were the capitol and pantheon. + +The capitol or temple of Jupiter Capitolinus, was the effect of a vow +made by Tarquinius Priscus, in the Sabine war. But he had scarcely laid +the foundation before his death. His nephew Tarquin the proud, finished +it with the spoils taken from the neighboring nations. + +The structure stood on a high ridge, taking in four acres of ground. The +front was adorned with three rows of pillars, the other sides with two. +The ascent from the ground was by a hundred steps. The prodigious gifts +and ornaments with which it was at several times endowed, almost exceed +belief. Augustus gave at one time two thousand pounds weight of gold, +and in jewels and precious stones to the value of five hundred +sestertia. + +Livy and Pliny surprise us with accounts of the brazen thresholds, the +noble pillars that Scylla removed thither from Athens, out of the temple +of Jupiter Olympius; the gilded roof, the gilded shields, and those of +solid silver; the huge vessels of silver, holding three measures--the +golden chariot, &c. + +This temple was first consumed by fire in the Marian war, and then +rebuilt by Sylla. This too was demolished in the Vitellian sedition. +Vespasian undertook a third, which was burnt about the time of his +death. Domitian raised the last and most glorious of all, in which the +very gilding amounted to twelve thousand talents--on which Plutarch has +observed of that emperor, that he was, like Midas, desirous of turning +every thing into gold. There are very little remains of it at present, +yet enough to make a Christian church. + +The capitol contained in it three temples: one to Jupiter, one to Juno, +and one to Minerva. Jupiter's was in the centre, whence he was +poetically called "_Media qui sedet de Deus_"--the god who sits in the +middle temple. + +The pantheon was built by Marcus Agrippa, son-in-law to Augustus Csar, +and dedicated most probably to all the gods in general, as the name +implies. The structure is a hundred and fifty-eight feet high, and about +the same breadth. The roof is curiously vaulted, void places being here +and there for the greater strength. The rafters were pieces of brass of +forty feet in length. There are no windows in the whole edifice, only a +round hole at the top of the roof, which serves very well for the +admission of light. The walls on the inside are either solid marble or +incrusted. The front, on the outside, was covered with brazen plates, +gilt, the top with silver plates, which are now changed to lead. The +gates were brass, of extraordinary work and magnitude. + +This temple is still standing, with little alteration, besides the loss +of the old ornaments, being converted into a Christian church by Pope +Boniface III. The most remarkable difference is that where they before +ascended by twelve steps, they now go down as many to the entrance. + +There are two other temples, particularly worth notice, not so much for +the magnificence of the structure, as for the customs that depend upon +them, and the remarkable use to which they were put. These are the +temples of Saturn and Janus. + +The first was famous on account of serving for the public treasury--the +reason of which some fancy to have been because Saturn first taught the +Italians to coin money; but most probably it was because this was the +strongest place in the city. Here were preserved all the public +registers and records, among which were the _libri elephantini_, or +great ivory tables, containing a list of all the tribes and the schemes +of the public accounts. + +The other was a square building, some say of entire brass, so large as +to contain a statue of Janus, five feet high, with brazen gates on each +side, which were kept open in war, and shut in time of peace. + + + + +CHAPTER VIII. + +_Of other public Buildings._ + + +Theatres, so called from the Greek {theaomai}, to see, owe their origin +to Bacchus. + +That the theatres and amphitheatres were two different sorts of +edifices, was never questioned, the former being built in the shape of a +semicircle; the other generally oval, so as to make the same figure as +if two theatres should be joined together. Yet the same place is often +called by these names in several authors. They seem, too, to have been +designed for quite different ends: the theatres for stage plays, the +amphitheatres for the greater shows of gladiators, wild beasts, &c. The +following are the most important parts of both. + +_Scena_ was a partition reaching quite across the theatre, being made +either to turn round or draw up, to present a new prospect to the +spectators. + +_Proscenium_ was the space of ground just before the scene, where the +_pulpitum_ stood, into which the actors came from behind the scenes to +perform. + +The middle part, or area of the amphitheatre, was called _cav_, because +it was considerably lower than the other parts, whence perhaps, the name +of pit in our play houses was borrowed; and arena, because it used to be +strown with sand, to hinder the performers from slipping. + +There was a threefold distinction of the seats, according to the +ordinary division of the people into senators, knights, and commons. The +first range was called orchestra, from {orcheisthai}, because in that +part of the Grecian theatres, the dances were performed; the second +_equestria_; and the other _popularia_. + + + [Illustration: + + Ruins of the Flavian Amphitheatre, commonly called + the Colisum. Pl. 2.] + + +The Flavian amphitheatre, now better known by the name of the +_Colisum_, from its stupendous magnitude, excites the astonishment of +the world. It was five hundred fifty feet in length, and four hundred +seventy in breadth, and one hundred sixty in height. It was surrounded +to the top by a portico resting on eighty arches, and divided into four +stories. The arrangement of the seats was similar to that in the +theatres; but there was a large box projecting from one side, and +covered with a canopy of state for the accommodation of the emperor and +the magistrates, who were surrounded with all the insignia of office. + +As combats of wild beasts formed a chief part of the amusements, they +were secured in dens around the arena or stage, which was strongly +encircled by a canal, to guard the spectators against their attacks. +These precautions, however, were not always sufficient, and instances +occurred in which the animals sprung across the barrier. + +This huge pile was commenced by Vespasian, and was reared with a portion +of the materials of Nero's golden palace: its form was oval, and it is +supposed to have contained upwards of eighty thousand persons. A large +part of this vast edifice still remains. + +Theatres, in the first ages of the commonwealth, were only temporary, +and composed of wood. Of these, the most celebrated was that of Marcus +Scaurus--the scenes of which were divided into three partitions, one +above another, the first consisting of one hundred and twenty pillars of +marble; the next, of the like number of pillars, curiously wrought in +glass. The top of all had the same number of pillars adorned with gilded +tablets. Between the pillars were set three thousand statues and images +of brass. The _cavca_ would hold eighty thousand men. + +Pompey the great was the first who undertook the raising of a fixed +theatre, which he built nobly of square stone. Some of the remains of +this theatre are still to be seen at Rome. + +The _circi_ were places set apart for the celebration of several sorts +of games:--they were generally oblong or almost in the shape of a bow, +having a wall quite round, with ranges of seats for the convenience of +spectators. At the entrance of the circus stood the _carceres_ or lists, +whence they started, and just by them, one of the _met_ or marks--the +other standing at the farther end to conclude the race. + +The most remarkable, was the _circus maximus_, built by Tarquinius +Priscus:--the length of it was four _stadia_, or furlongs, the breadth +the same number of acres, with a trench of ten feet deep, and as many +broad, to receive the water, and seats enough for one hundred fifty +thousand men. It was extremely beautiful and adorned by succeeding +princes, and enlarged to such a prodigious extent as to be able to +contain in their proper seats two hundred and sixty thousand spectators. + +The _naumachi_ or places for the shows of sea-engagements are no where +particularly described; but we may suppose them similar to the _circi_ +and amphitheatres. + +The _stadia_ were places in the form of _circi_, for the running of men +and horses. A beautiful one was built by Domitian. The _xysti_ were +places constructed like porticos, in which the wrestlers exercised. + +The _Campus Martius_, famous on so many accounts, was a large plain +field, lying near the Tiber, whence we find it sometimes under the name +of _Tiberinus_:--it was called _Martius_, because it had been +consecrated by the old Romans to the god Mars. Besides the pleasant +situation and other natural ornaments, the continual sports and +exercises performed there, made it one of the most interesting sights +near the city. Here the young noblemen practised all kinds of feats of +activity, and learned the use of arms. Here were the races either with +chariots or single horses. Besides this, it was nobly adorned with the +statues of famous men, with arches, columns and porticos, and other +magnificent structures. Here stood the _villa publica_ or palace, for +the reception and entertainment of ambassadors from foreign states, who +were not allowed to enter the city. + +The Roman _curi_ were of two sorts, divine and civil. In the former, +the priests and religious orders met for the regulation of the rites and +ceremonies belonging to the worship of the gods. In the other, the +senate used to assemble, to consult about the public concerns of the +commonwealth. The senate could not meet in such a place, unless it had +been solemnly consecrated by the augurs, and made of the same nature as +a temple. + +The Roman forums were public buildings about three times as long as they +were broad. All the compass of the forum was surrounded by arched +porticos, some passages being left as places of entrance. + +There were two kinds, _fora civilia_ and _fora venalia_. The first were +designed for the ornaments of the city, and for the use of public courts +of justice. The others were erected for the necessities and conveniences +of the inhabitants, and were no doubt equivalent to our markets. The +most remarkable were the Roman forum, built by Romulus, and adorned with +porticos on all sides, by Tarquinius Priscus: This was the most ancient +and most frequently used in public affairs. + +The Julian forum, built by Julius Csar, with the spoils taken in the +Gallic war; the area alone, cost one hundred thousand _sesterces_, equal +to 3570 dollars. + +The Augustan forum, built by Augustus Csar, containing statues in the +two porticos, on each side of the main building. In one were all the +Latin kings, beginning with neas: in the other all the Roman kings, +beginning with Romulus, and most of the eminent persons in the +commonwealth, and Augustus himself among the rest, with an inscription +upon the pedestal of every statue, expressing the chief actions and +exploits of the person it represented. + +The forum of Trajan, erected by the emperor Trajan, with the foreign +spoils he had taken in the wars; the covering was all brass, and the +porticos exceedingly beautiful. + +The chief _fora venalia_ or markets, were _boarium_, for oxen and beef, +_suarium_, for swine, _pistorium_, for bread, _cupedinarium_, for +dainties, and _holitorium_, for roots, sallads and similar things. + +The _comitium_ was only a part of the Roman forum, which served +sometimes for the celebration of the _comitia_; here stood the _rostra_, +a kind of pulpit, adorned with the beaks of ships taken in a sea fight, +from the inhabitants of Antium in Italy; here causes were pleaded, +orations made, and funeral panegyrics delivered. + + + + +CHAPTER IX. + +_Porticos, Arches, Columns and Trophies._ + + +The porticos are worthy of observation: they were structures of curious +work and extraordinary beauty annexed to public edifices, sacred and +civil, as well for ornament as use. + +They generally took their names either from the temples which they stood +near, from the builders, from the nature and form of the building, or +from the remarkable paintings in them. + +They were sometimes used for the assemblies of the senate; sometimes the +jewellers and such as dealt in the most precious wares took their stand +here to expose their goods for sale; but the general use they were put +to, was the pleasure of walking or riding in them, like the present +piazzas in Italy. + +Arches were public buildings designed for the encouragement and reward +of noble enterprises, erected generally to the honor of such eminent +persons as had either won a victory of extraordinary consequence abroad, +or had rescued the commonwealth, at home, from any considerable danger. + +At first they were plain and rude structures, by no means remarkable for +beauty or taste: but in latter times no expense was thought too great to +render them in the highest manner splendid and magnificent. The arches +built by Romulus were only of brick, that of Camillus of plain square +stone, but those of Csar, Drusus, Titus, &c. were all of marble. + +Their figure was at first semicircular, whence probably they took their +names; afterwards they were built four square, with a spacious arched +gate in the middle, and small ones on each side. Upon the vaulted part +of the middle gate, hung little winged images representing victory, with +crowns in their hands, which, when they were let down, they put upon the +conqueror's head, as he passed under the triumphal arch. + +The columns or pillars, over the sepulchres of distinguished men, were +great ornaments to the city: they were at last converted to the same +design as the arches, for the honorable memorial of some noble victory +or exploit. The pillars of the emperors Trajan and Antoninus deserve +particular attention for their beauty and curious workmanship. + +The former was set up in the middle of Trajan's forum, being composed of +twenty-four great stones of marble, but so skilfully cemented as to +appear one entire stone. The height was one hundred forty-four feet; it +is ascended on the inside by one hundred eighty-five winding stairs, and +has forty little windows for the admission of light. The whole pillar is +incrusted with marble, in which are expressed all the noble actions of +the emperor, and particularly the Decian war. + +But its noblest ornament was the gigantic statue of Trajan on the top, +being no less than twenty feet high; he was represented in a coat of +armour proper to the general, holding in his left hand a sceptre, in his +right a hollow globe of fire, in which his own ashes were deposited +after his death. + +The column of Antoninus was raised in imitation of this, which it +exceeded only in one respect, that it was one hundred seventy six feet +high--for the work was much inferior to the former, being undertaken in +the declining age of the empire. The ascent on the inside was by one +hundred six steps, and the windows, in the sides, fifty-six; the +sculpture and the other ornaments were of the same nature as those of +the first, and on the top stood a colossal statue of the emperor, naked, +as appears from his coins. + +Both of these columns are still standing at Rome; the former almost +entire: but Pope Sixtus the first, instead of the two statues of the +emperors, set up St. Peter's on the column of Trajan, and St. Paul's on +that of Antoninus. + +There was likewise a gilded pillar in the forum, called the _milliarium +aureum_, erected by Augustus Csar, at which all the highways of Italy +met and were concluded; from this they counted their miles, at the end +of every mile setting up a stone, whence came the phrase _primus ab urbe +pisla_. + +But the most remarkable was the _columna rostrata_, set up to the honor +of Caius Duilius, when he had gained a victory over the Carthaginian and +Sicilian fleets, four hundred ninety-three years from the foundation of +the city, and adorned with the beaks of the vessels taken in the +engagement. This is still to be seen at Rome; the inscription on the +basis is a noble example of the old way of writing, in the early times +of the commonwealth. + +Trophies were spoils taken from the enemy, and fixed upon any thing as +signs or monuments of victory: they were erected usually in the place +where it was gained and consecrated to some divinity, with an +inscription. + + + + +CHAPTER X. + +_Bagnios, Aqueducts, Sewers and public Ways._ + + +The Romans expended immense sums of money on their bagnios. The most +remarkable were those of the emperors Dioclesian and Antonius +Caracalla--great part of which are standing at this time, and with the +high arches, the beautiful and stately pillars, the abundance of foreign +marble, the curious vaulting of the roofs, and the prodigious number of +spacious apartments, may be considered among the greatest curiosities of +Rome. + +The first invention of aqueducts, is attributed to Appius Claudius, four +hundred forty-one years from the foundation of the city, who brought +water into the city, by a channel of eleven miles in length--but +afterwards several others of greater magnitude were built: several of +them were cut through the mountains, and all other impediments for about +forty miles together, and of such a height that a man on horseback might +ride through them without the least difficulty. But this is meant only +of the constant course of the channel, for the vaults and arches were in +some places one hundred and nine feet high. It is said that Rome was +supplied with five hundred thousand hogsheads every twenty-four hours by +means of these aqueducts. + +The _cloac_ or sewers were constructed by undermining and cutting +through the seven hills upon which Rome stood, making the city hang, as +it were, between heaven and earth, and capable of being sailed under. + +Marcus Agrippa in his edileship, made no less than seven streams meet +together under ground, in one main channel, with such a rapid current, +as to carry all before them, that they met with in their passage. +Sometimes in a flood, the waters of the Tiber opposed them in their +course, and the two streams encountered each other with great fury: yet +the works preserved their old strength, without any sensible damage: +sometimes the ruins of whole buildings, destroyed by fire or other +casualties, pressed heavily upon the frame: sometimes terrible +earthquakes shook the foundation: yet they still continued impregnable. + +The public ways were built with extraordinary care to a great distance +from the city on all sides; they were generally paved with flint, though +sometimes, and especially without the city, with pebbles and gravel. + +The most noble was the Appian way, the length of which was generally +computed at three hundred and fifty miles: it was twelve feet broad, +made of huge stones, most of them blue. Its strength was so great, that +after it had been built two thousand years, it was, in most places, for +several miles together, perfectly sound. + + + + +CHAPTER XI. + +_Of Augurs and Auguries._ + + +The business of the augurs or soothsayers was to interpret dreams, +oracles, prodigies, &c. and to tell whether any action should be +fortunate or prejudicial to any particular persons, or to the whole +commonwealth. + +There are five kinds of auguries mentioned in authors--1st. From the +appearances in heaven,--as thunder, lightning, comets and other meteors; +as, for instance, whether the thunder came from the right or left, +whether the number of strokes was even or odd, &c. + +2d. From birds, whence they had the name of _auspices_, from _avis_ and +_specio_; some birds furnished them with observations from their +chattering and singing,--such as crows, owls, &c.--others from their +flying, as eagles, vultures, &c. + +To take both these kind of auguries, the observer stood upon a tower +with his head covered in a gown, peculiar to his office, and turning his +face towards the east, marked out the heavens into four quarters, with a +short, straight rod, with a little turning at one end: this done, he +staid waiting for the omen, which never signified anything, unless +confirmed by another of the same sort. + +3d. From chickens kept in a coop for this purpose. The manner of +divining from them was as follows:--early in the morning, the augur, +commanding a general silence, ordered the coop to be opened, and threw +down a handful of crumbs or corn: if the chickens did not immediately +run to the food, if they scattered it with their wings, if they went by +without taking notice of it, or if they flew away, the omen was reckoned +unfortunate, and to portend nothing but danger or mischance; but if they +leaped directly from the pen, and eat voraciously, there was great +assurance of happiness and success. + +4th. From beasts, such as foxes, wolves, goats, heifers, &c.; the +general observations about these, were, whether they appeared in a +strange place, or crossed the way, or whether they ran to the right or +the left, &c. + +The last kind of divination was from unusual accidents, such as +sneezing, stumbling, seeing apparations, hearing strange voices, the +falling of salt upon the table, &c. + + + + +CHAPTER XII. + +_Of the Aruspices, Pontifices, Quindecemviri, Vestals, &c._ + + +The business of aruspices was to look upon the beasts offered in +sacrifices, and by them to divine the success of any enterprise. + +They took their observations, 1st. From the beasts before they were cut +up. 2d. From the entrails of those beasts after they were cut up. 3d. +From the flame that used to rise when they were burning. 4th. From the +flour of bran, from the frankincense, wine and water, which they used in +the sacrifice. + +The offices of the pontifices were to give judgment in all cases +relating to religion, to inquire into the lives of the inferior priests, +and to punish them if they saw occasion; to prescribe rules for public +worship; to regulate the feasts, sacrifices, and all other sacred +institutions. The master or superintendent of the pontifices was one of +the most honorable offices in the commonwealth. + +The _quindecemviri_ had the charge of the sibylline books; inspected +them by the appointment of the senate in dangerous junctures, and +performed the sacrifices which they enjoined. + +They are said to have been instituted on the following occasion: A +certain woman called Amalth{=e}a is said to have come to Tarquin the +proud, wishing to sell nine books of sibylline or prophetic oracles: but +upon Tarquin's refusal to give her the price she asked, she went away +and burnt three of them. Returning soon after, she asked the same price +for the remaining six: whereupon, being ridiculed by the king, she went +and burnt three more; and coming back, still demanded the same price for +those which remained. Tarquin, surprised at this strange conduct of the +woman, consulted the augurs what to do; they, regretting the loss of the +books which had been destroyed, advised the king to give the price +required. The woman therefore, having delivered the books and directed +them to be carefully kept, disappeared, and was never afterwards seen. + +These books were supposed to contain the fate of the Roman empire, and +therefore, in public danger or calamity, they were frequently inspected; +they were kept with great care in a chest under ground, in the capitol. + +The institution of the vestal virgins is generally attributed to Numa; +their office was to attend upon the rites of Vesta, the chief part of it +being the preservation of the holy fire: they were obliged to keep this +with the greatest care, and if it happened to go out, it was thought +impiety to light it by any common flame, but they made use of the pure +rays of the sun. + +The famous palladium brought from Troy by neas, was likewise guarded by +them, for Ulysses and Diomedes stole only a counterfeit one, a copy of +the other, which was kept with less care. + +The number of the vestals was six, and they were admitted between the +years of six and ten. The chief rules prescribed by their founder, were +to vow the strictest chastity for the space of thirty years;--the first +ten they were only novices, being obliged to learn the ceremonies and +perfect themselves in the duties of their religion; the next ten years +they discharged the duties of priestesses, and spent the remaining ten +in instructing others. + +If they broke their vow of virginity, they were buried alive in a place +without the city wall, allotted for that purpose. + +This severe condition was recompensed with several privileges and +prerogatives: their persons were sacred: in public they usually appeared +on a magnificent car, drawn by white horses, followed by a numerous +retinue of female slaves, and preceded by lictors; and if they met a +malefactor going to punishment, they had the power to remit his +sentence. + +The _septemviri_ were priests among the Romans, who prepared the sacred +feasts at games, processions, and other solemn occasions: they were +likewise assistants to the pontifices. + +The _fratres ambarvales_, twelve in number, were those priests who +offered up sacrifices for the fertility of the ground. The _curiones_ +performed the rites in each curia. + +_Feciales_ (_Heralds_) were a college of sacred persons, into whose +charge all concerns relating to the declaration of war or conclusion of +peace, were committed. + +Their first institution was in so high a degree laudable and beneficial, +as to reflect great honour on Roman justice and moderation. It was the +primary and especial duty of the heralds, to inquire into the equity of +a proposed war: and if the grounds of it seemed to them trivial or +unjust, the war was declined--if otherwise, the senate concerted the +best measures to carry it on with spirit. + +Feciales were supreme judges in every thing relating to treaties. The +head of their college was called Pater Patratus. + +All the members of this college, while in the discharge of their duty, +wore a wreath of vervain around their heads; and bore a branch of it in +their hands, when they made peace, of which it was an emblem. + +Their authority and respectability continued until the lust of dominion +had corrupted the policy of the Romans; after which their situations +were comparative sinecures, and their solemn deliberations dwindled into +useless or contemptible formalities. + +Among the flamines or priests of particular gods, were, 1st. _flamen +dialis_ the priest of Jupiter. This was an office of great dignity, but +subjected to many restrictions; as that he should not ride on horseback, +nor stay one night without the city, nor take an oath, and several +others. + +2d. The _salii_, priests of Mars, so called, because on solemn occasions +they used to go through the city dancing, dressed in an embroidered +tunic, bound with a brazen belt, and a _toga pretexta_ or _trabea_; +having on their head a cap rising to a considerable height in the form +of a cone, with a sword by their side, in their right hand a spear or +rod, and in their left, one of the ancilia or shields of Mars.--The most +solemn procession of the salii was on the first of March, in +commemoration of the time when the sacred shield was believed to have +fallen from heaven in the reign of Numa. + +3d. The _luperci_, priests of Pan, were so called, from a wolf, because +that god was supposed to keep the wolves from the sheep. Hence the place +where he was worshipped was called lupercal, and his festival +lupercalia, which was celebrated in February, at which the luperci ran +up and down the city naked, having only a girdle of goat skin round +their waists, and thongs of the same in their hands, with which they +struck those they met. + +It is said that Antony, while chief of the luperci, went according to +concert, it is believed, almost naked into the forum, attended by his +lictors, and having made an harangue to the people from the rostra, +presented a crown to Csar, who was sitting there, surrounded by the +whole senate and people. He attempted frequently to put the crown upon +his head, addressing him by the title of king, and declaring that what +he said and did was at the desire of his fellow citizens; but Csar +perceiving the strongest marks of aversion in the people, rejected it, +saying, that Jupiter alone was king of Rome, and therefore sent the +crown to the capitol to be presented to that God. + + + + +CHAPTER XIII. + +_Religious Ceremonies of the Romans._ + + +The Romans were, as a people, remarkably attached to the religion they +professed; and scrupulously attentive in discharging the rites and +ceremonies which it enjoined. + +Their religion was Idolatry, in its grossest and widest acceptation. It +acknowledged a few general truths, but greatly darkened these by fables +and poetical fiction. + +All the inhabitants of the invisible world, to which the souls of people +departed after death, were indiscriminately called _Inferi_. _Elysium_ +was that part of hell (_apud Inferos_,) in which the good spent a +spiritual existence of unmingled enjoyment, and _Tartarus_ (pl. -ra) was +the terrible prison-house of the damned. + +The worship of the gods consisted chiefly in prayers, vows, and +sacrifices. No act of religious worship was performed without prayer; +while praying, they stood usually with their heads covered, looking +towards the east; a priest pronounced the words before them;--they +frequently touched the altars or knees of the images of the gods; +turning themselves round in a circle towards the right, sometimes +putting their right hand to their mouth, and also prostrating themselves +on the ground. + +They vowed temples, games, sacrifices, gifts, &c. Sometimes they used to +write their vows on paper or waxen tablets, to seal them up, and fasten +them with wax to the knees of the images of the gods, that being +supposed to be the seat of mercy. + +Lustrations were necessary to be made before entrance on any important +religious duty, viz. before setting out to the temples, before the +sacrifice, before initiation into the mysteries, and before solemn vows +and prayers. + +Lustrations were also made after acts by which one might be polluted; as +after murder, or after having assisted at a funeral. + +In sacrifices it was requisite that those who offered them, should come +chaste and pure; that they should bathe themselves, be dressed in white +robes, and crowned with the leaves of the tree which was thought most +acceptable to the god whom they worshipped. + +Sacrifices were made of victims whole and sound (_Integr et san_.) But +all victims were not indifferently offered to all gods. + +A white bull was an acceptable sacrifice to Jupiter; an ewe to Juno; +black victims, bulls especially, to Pluto; a bull and a horse to +Neptune; the horse to Mars; bullocks and lambs to Apollo, &c. Sheep and +goats were offered to various deities. + +The victim was led to the altar with a loose rope, that it might not +seem to be brought by force, which was reckoned a bad omen. After +silence was proclaimed, a salted cake was sprinkled on the head of the +beast, and frankincense and wine poured between his horns, the priest +having first tasted the wine himself, and given it to be tasted by those +that stood next him, which was called _libatio_--the priest then plucked +the highest hairs between the horns, and threw them into the fire--the +victim was struck with an axe or mall, then stabbed with knives, and the +blood being caught in goblets, was poured on the altar--it was then +flayed and dissected; then the entrails were inspected by the aruspices, +and if the signs were favorable, they were said to have offered up an +acceptable sacrifice, or to have pacified the gods; if not, another +victim was offered up, and sometimes several. The parts which fell to +the gods were sprinkled with meal, wine, and frankincense, and burnt on +the altar. When the sacrifice was finished, the priest, having washed +his hands, and uttered certain prayers, again made a libation, and the +people were dismissed. + +Human sacrifices were also offered among the Romans: persons guilty of +certain crimes, as treachery or sedition, were devoted to Pluto and the +infernal gods, and therefore any one might slay them with impunity. + +Altars and temples afforded an asylum or place of refuge among the +Greeks and Romans, as well as among the Jews, chiefly to slaves from the +cruelty of their masters, and to insolvent debtors and criminals, where +it was considered impious to touch them; but sometimes they put fire and +combustible materials around the place, that the person might appear to +be forced away, not by men, but by a god: or shut up the temple and +unroofed it, that he might perish in the open air. + + + + +CHAPTER XIV. + +_The Roman Year._ + + +Romulus divided the year into ten months; the first of which was called +March from Mars, his supposed father; the 2d April, either from the +Greek name of Venus, ({Aphrodita}) or because trees and flowers open +their buds, during that month; the 3d, May, from Maia, the mother of +Mercury; the 4th, June, from the goddess Juno; 5th, July, from Julius +Csar; 6th, August, from Augustus Csar; the rest were called from their +number, September, October, November, December. + +Numa added two months--January from Janus, and February because the +people were then purified, (_februabatur_) by an expiatory sacrifice +from the sin of the whole year: for this anciently was the last month in +the year. + +Numa in imitation of the Greeks divided the year into twelve lunar +months, according to the course of the moon, but as this mode of +division did not correspond with the course of the sun, he ordained that +an intercalary month should be added every other year. + +Julius Csar afterwards abolished this month, and with the assistance of +Sosig{)e}nes, a skilful astronomer of Alexandria, in the year of Rome +707, arranged the year according to the course of the sun, commencing +with the first of January, and assigned to each month the number of days +which they still retain. This is the celebrated Julian or solar year +which has been since maintained without any other alteration than that +of the new style, introduced by pope Gregory, A. D. 1582, and adopted in +England in 1752, when eleven days were dropped between the second and +fourteenth of September. + +The months were divided into three parts, _kalends_, _nones_ and _ides_. +They commenced with the _kalends_; the _nones_ occurred on the fifth, +and the _ides_ on the thirteenth, except in March, May, July, and +October, when they fell on the seventh and fifteenth. + +In marking the days of the month they went backwards: thus, January +first was the first of the _kalends_ of January--December thirty-first +was _pridie kalendas_, or the day next before the _kalends_ of +January--the day before that, or the thirtieth of December, _tertio +kalendas Januarii_, or the third day before the _kalends_ of January, +and so on to the thirteenth, when came the ides of December. + +The day was either civil or natural; the civil day was from midnight to +midnight; the natural day was from the rising to the setting of the sun. + +The use of clocks and watches was unknown to the Romans--nor was it till +four hundred and forty-seven years after the building of the city, that +the sun dial was introduced: about a century later, they first measured +time by a water machine, which served by night, as well as by day. + +Their days were distinguished by the names of _festi_, _profesti_, and +_intercisi_. The _festi_ were dedicated to religious worship, the +_profesti_ were allotted to ordinary business, the days which served +partly for one and partly for the other were called _intercisi_, or half +holy days. + +The manner of reckoning by weeks was not introduced until late in the +second century of the christian era: it was borrowed from the Egyptians, +and the days were named after the planets: thus, Sunday from the Sun, +Monday from the Moon, Tuesday from Mars, Wednesday from Mercury, +Thursday from Jupiter, Friday from Venus, Saturday from Saturn. + + +_A Table of the Kalends, Nones, and Ides._ + + Days of| Apr, June, | Jan, August, | March, May, | + Month. | Sept, Nov. | December. | July, Oct. | February. + + 1 Kalend. Kalend. Kalend. Kalend. + 2 IV. Nonas. IV. Nonas VI. IV. Nonas. + 3 III. III. V. III. + 4 Pridie. Pridie. IV. Pridie. + 5 Non. Non. III. Non. + 6 VIII. Idus VIII. Idus. Pridie. VIII. Idus. + 7 VII. VII. Non. VII. + 8 VI. VI. VIII. Idus. VI. + 9 V. V. VII. V. + 10 IV. IV. VI. IV. + 11 III. III. V. III. + 12 Pridie. Pridie. IV. Pridie. + 13 Idus. Idus. III. Idus. + 14 XVIII. Kal. XIX. Kal. Pridie. XVI. Kal. + 15 XVII. XVIII. Idus. XV. + 16 XVI. XVII. XVII. Kal. XIV + 17 XV. XVI. XVI. XIII. + 18 XIV. XV. XV. XII. + 19 XIII. XIV. XIV. XI. + 20 XII. XIII. XIII. X. + 21 XI. XII. XII. IX. + 22 X. XI. XI. VIII. + 23 IX. X. X. VII. + 24 VIII. IX. IX. VI. + 25 VII. VIII. VIII. V. + 26 VI. VII. VII. IV. + 27 V. VI. VI. III. + 28 IV. V. V. Prid. Kal. + 29 III. IV. IV. Martii. + 30 Prid. Kal. III. III. + 31 Mens. seq. Prid. Kal. Prid. Kal. + Mens. seq. Mens. seq. + + + + +CHAPTER XV. + +_Roman Games._ + + +The Roman Games formed a part of religious worship, and were always +consecrated to some god: they were either stated or vowed by generals in +war, or celebrated on extraordinary occasions; the most celebrated were +those of the circus. + +Among them were first, chariot and horse races, of which the Romans were +extravagantly fond. The charioteers were distributed into four parties +or factions from the different colours of their dresses. The spectators +favored one or other of the colours, as humor or caprice inclined them. +It was not the swiftness of their horses, nor the art of the men that +inclined them, but merely the dress. In the times of Justinian, no less +than thirty thousand men are said to have lost their lives at +Constantinople, in a tumult raised by contention among the partizans of +the several colours. + +The order in which the chariots or horses stood, was determined by lot, +and the person who presided at the games gave the signal for starting, +by dropping a cloth; then the chain of the _hermuli_ being withdrawn, +they sprung forward, and whoever first ran seven times round the course, +was declared the victor; he was then crowned, and received a prize in +money of considerable value. + +Second; contests of agility and strength, of which there were five +kinds; running, leaping, boxing, wrestling and throwing the _discus_ or +quoit. Boxers covered their hands with a kind of gloves, which had lead +or iron sewed into them, to make the strokes fall with greater weight; +the combatants were previously trained in a place of exercise, and +restricted to a particular diet. + +Third; what was called _venatio_, or the fighting of wild beasts with +one another, or with men, called _bestiarii_, who were either forced to +this by way of punishment, as the primitive christians often were, or +fought voluntarily, either from a natural ferocity of disposition, or +induced by hire. An incredible number of animals of various kinds, were +brought from all quarters, for the entertainment of the people, at an +immense expense; and were kept in enclosures called _vivaria_, till the +day of exhibition. Pompey, in his second consulship, exhibited at once +five hundred lions, and eighteen elephants, who were all despatched in +five days. + +Fourth; _naumachia_, or the representation of a sea fight; those who +fought, were usually composed of captives or condemned malefactors, who +fought to death, unless saved by the clemency of the emperors. + +In the next class of games were the shows of gladiators; they were first +exhibited at Rome by two brothers called Bruti, at the funeral of their +father, and for some time they were only exhibited on such occasions; +but afterwards, also by the magistrates, to entertain the people, +chiefly at the _saturnalia_ and feasts of Minerva. + +Incredible numbers of men were destroyed in this manner; after the +triumph of Trajan over the Dacians, spectacles were exhibited for one +hundred twenty-three days, in which eleven thousand animals, of +different kinds, were killed, and ten thousand gladiators fought, whence +we may judge of other instances. The emperor Claudius, although +naturally of a gentle disposition, is said to have been rendered cruel +by often attending these spectacles. + +Gladiators were at first composed of slaves and captives, or of +condemned malefactors, but afterwards also of free born citizens, +induced by hire or inclination. + +When any gladiator was wounded, he lowered his arms as a sign of his +being vanquished, but his fate depended on the pleasure of the people, +who, if they wished him to be saved, pressed down their thumbs; if to be +slain, they turned them up, and ordered him to receive the sword, which +gladiators usually submitted to with amazing fortitude. + +Such was the spirit engendered by these scenes of blood, that +malefactors and unfortunate christians, during the period of the +persecution against them, were compelled to risk their lives in these +unequal contests; and in the time of Nero, christians were dressed in +skins, and thus distinguished, were hunted by dogs, or forced to contend +with ferocious animals, by which they were devoured. + +The next in order were the dramatic entertainments, of which there were +three kinds. First; comedy, which was a representation of common life, +written in a familiar style, and usually with a happy issue: the design +of it was, to expose vice and folly to ridicule. + +Second; tragedy, or the representation of some one serious and important +action; in which illustrious persons are introduced as heroes, kings, +&c. written in an elevated style, and generally with an unhappy issue. + +The great end of tragedy was to excite the passions; chiefly pity and +horror: to inspire a love of virtue, and an abhorrence of vice. + +The Roman tragedy and comedy differed from ours only in the chorus: this +was a company of actors who usually remained on the stage singing and +conversing on the subject in the intervals of the acts. + +Pantomimes, or representations of dumb show, where the actors expressed +every thing by their dancing and gestures, without speaking. + +Those who were most approved, received crowns, &c. as at other games; at +first composed of leaves or flowers, tied round the head with strings, +afterwards of thin plates of brass gilt. + +The scenery was concealed by a curtain, which, contrary to the modern +custom, was drawn down when the play began, and raised when it was over. + + + + +CHAPTER XVI. + +_Magistrates._ + + +Rome was at first governed by kings, chosen by the people; their power +was not absolute, but limited; their badges were the _trabea_ or white +robe adorned with stripes of purple, a golden crown and ivory sceptre; +the _curule_ chair and twelve _lictors_ with the _fasces_, that is, +carrying each a bundle of rods, with an axe in the middle of them. + +The regal government subsisted at Rome for two hundred and forty-three +years, under seven kings--Romulus, Numa Pompilius, Tullus Hostilius, +Ancus Marcius, Lucius Tarquinius Priscus, Servius Tullius, and Lucius +Tarquinius Superbus, all of whom, except the last, may be said to have +laid the foundation of Roman greatness by their good government. + +Tarquin being universally detested for his tyranny and cruelty, was +expelled the city, with his wife and family, on account of the violence +offered by his son Sextus to Lucretia, a noble lady, the wife of +Collatinus. + +This revolution was brought about chiefly by means of Lucius Junius +Brutus. The haughtiness and cruelty of Tarquin inspired the Romans with +the greatest aversion to regal government, which they retained ever +after. + +In the two hundred and forty-fourth year from the building of the city, +they elected two magistrates, of equal authority, and gave them the name +of consuls. They had the same badges as the kings, except the crown, and +nearly the same power; in time of war they possessed supreme command, +and usually drew lots to determine which should remain in Rome--they +levied soldiers, nominated the greater part of the officers, and +provided what was necessary for their support. + +In dangerous conjunctures, they were armed by the senate with absolute +power, by the solemn decree that the consuls should take care the +Republic receives no harm. In any serious tumult or sedition they called +the Roman citizens to arms in these words, "Let those who wish to save +the republic follow me"--by which they easily checked it. + +Although their authority was very much impaired, first by the tribunes +of the people, and afterwards upon the establishment of the empire, yet +they were still employed in consulting the senate, administering +justice, managing public games and the like, and had the honor to +characterize the year by their own names. + +To be a candidate for the consulship, it was requisite to be forty-three +years of age: to have gone through the inferior offices of _qustor_, +_dile_, and _prtor_--and to be present in a private station. + +The office of prtor was instituted partly because the consuls being +often wholly taken up with foreign wars, found the want of some person +to administer justice in the city; and partly because the nobility, +having lost their appropriation of the consulship, were ambitious of +obtaining some new honor in its room. He was attended in the city by two +_lictors_, who went before him with the _fasces_, and six _lictors_ +without the city; he wore also, like the consuls, the _toga pretexta_, +or white robe fringed with purple. + +The power of the prtor, in the administration of justice, was expressed +in three words, _do_, _dico_, _addico_. By the word _do_, he expressed +his power in giving the form of a writ for trying and redressing a +wrong, and in appointing judges or jury to decide the cause: by _dico_, +he meant that he declared right, or gave judgment; and by _addico_, that +he adjudged the goods of the debtor to the creditor. The prtor +administered justice only in private or trivial cases: but in public and +important causes, the people either judged themselves, or appointed +persons called _qusitores_ to preside. + +The _censors_ were appointed to take an account of the number of the +people, and the value of their fortunes, and superintend the public +morals. They were usually chosen from the most respectable persons of +consular dignity, at first only from among the Patricians, but +afterwards likewise from the Plebeians. + +They had the same ensigns as the consuls, except the _lictors_, and were +chosen every five years, but continued in office only a year and a half. +When any of the senators or equites committed a dishonorable action, the +censors could erase the name of the former from the list, and deprive +the knight of his horse and ring; any other citizen, they degraded or +deprived of all the privileges of a Roman citizen, except liberty. + +As the sentence of censors (_Animadversio Censoria_,) only affected a +person's character, it was therefore properly called _Ignominia_. Yet +even this was not unchangeable; the people or next censors might reverse +it. + +In addition to the revision of morals, censors had the charge of paving +the streets--making roads, bridges, and aqueducts--preventing private +persons from occupying public property--and frequently of imposing +taxes. + +A census was taken by these officers, every five years, of the number of +the people, the amount of their fortunes, the number of slaves, &c. +After this census had been taken, a sacrifice was made of a sow, a +sheep, and a bull--hence called _suove-taurilia_. As this took place +only every five years, that space of time was called a _lustrum_, +because the sacrifice was a lustration offered for all the people; and +therefore _condere lustrum_, means to finish the census. + +The title of censor was esteemed more honorable than that of consul, +although attended by less power: no one could be elected a second time, +and they who filled it were remarkable for leading an irreproachable +life; so that it was considered the chief ornament of nobility to be +sprung from a censorian family. + +The appointment of tribunes of the people, may be attributed to the +following cause; the Plebeians being oppressed by the Patricians, on +account of debt, made a secession to a mountain afterwards called _mons +sacer_, three miles from Rome, nor could they be prevailed on to return, +till they obtained from the Patricians a remission of debts for those +who were insolvent, and liberty to such as had been given up to serve +their creditors: and likewise that the Plebeians should have proper +magistrates of their own, to protect their rights, whose person should +be sacred and inviolable. + +They were at first five in number, but afterwards increased to ten; they +had no external mark of dignity, except a kind of beadle, called +_viator_, who went before them. + +The word _veto_, I forbid it, was at first the extent of their power; +but it afterwards increased to such a degree, that under pretence of +defending the rights of the people, they did almost whatever they +pleased. If any one hurt a tribune in word or deed, he was held +accursed, and his property confiscated. + +The _ediles_ were so called from their care of the public buildings; +they were either Plebeian or _curule_; the former, two in number, were +appointed to be, as it were, the assistants of the tribunes of the +commons, and to determine certain lesser causes committed to them; the +latter, also two in number, were chosen from the Patricians and +Plebeians, to exhibit certain public games. + +The _qustors_ were officers elected by the people, to take care of the +public revenues; there were at first only two of them, but two others +were afterwards added to accompany the armies; and upon the conquest of +all Italy, four more were created, who remained in the provinces. + +The principal charge of the city qustors was the care of the treasury; +they received and expended the public money, and exacted the fines +imposed by the people: they kept the military standards, entertained +foreign ambassadors, and took charge of the funerals of those who were +buried at the public expense. + +Commanders returning from war, before they could obtain a triumph, were +obliged to take an oath before the qustors, that they had written to +the senate a true account of the number of the enemy they had slain, and +of the citizens who were missing. + +The office of the provincial qustors was to attend the consuls or +prtors into their provinces; to furnish the provisions and pay for the +army; to exact the taxes and tribute of the empire, and sell the spoils +taken in war. + +The qustorship was the first step of preferment to the other public +offices, and to admission into the senate: its continuation was for but +one year, and no one could be a candidate for it until he had completed +his twenty-seventh year. + +_Legati_ were those next in authority to the qustors, and appointed +either by the senate or president of the province, who was then said to +_aliquem sibi legare_. + +The office of the legati was very dignified and honorable. They acted as +lieutenants or deputies in any business for which they were appointed, +and were sometimes allowed the honor of lictors. + +The _dictator_ was a magistrate invested with royal authority, created +in perilous circumstances, in time of pestilence, sedition, or when the +commonwealth was attacked by dangerous enemies. + +His power was supreme both in peace and war, and was even above the +laws; he could raise and disband armies, and determine upon the life and +fortune of Roman citizens, without consulting the senate or people; when +he was appointed, all other magistrates resigned their offices except +the tribunes of the commons. + +The dictator could continue in office only six months; but he usually +resigned when he had effected the business for which he had been +created. He was neither permitted to go out of Italy, nor ride on +horseback, without the permission of the people; but the principal check +against any abuse of power, was that he might be called to an account +for his conduct, when he resigned his office. + +A master of horse was nominated by the dictator immediately after his +creation, usually from those of consular or prtorian rank, whose office +was to command the cavalry, and execute the orders of the dictator. + +The _decemviri_ were ten men invested with supreme power, who were +appointed to draw up a code of laws, all the other magistrates having +first resigned their offices. + +They at first behaved with great moderation, and administered justice to +the people every tenth day. Ten tables of laws were proposed by them, +and ratified by the people at the _comitia centuriata_. + +As two other tables seemed to be wanting, _decemviri_ were again +appointed for another year, to make them. But as these new magistrates +acted tyrannically, and seemed disposed to retain their command beyond +the legal time, they were compelled to resign, chiefly on account of the +base passion of Appius Claudius, one of their number, for Virginia, a +virgin of plebeian rank, who was slain by her father to prevent her +falling into the decemvir's hands. The _decemviri_ all perished, either +in prison or in banishment. + +The consuls and all the chief magistrates, except the censors and the +tribunes of the people, were preceded in public by a certain number, +according to their rank of office, called lictors, each bearing on his +shoulders as the insignia of office, the _fasces_ and _securis_, which +were a bundle of rods, with an axe in the centre of one end; but the +lictors in attendance on an inferior magistrate, carried the _fasces_ +only, without the axe, to denote that he was not possessed of the power +of capital punishments. + +They opened a way through the crowd for the consul, saying words like +these--"_cedite, Consul venit_," or "_date viam Consuli_." It was their +duty also to inflict punishment on the condemned. + + + + +CHAPTER XVII. + +_Of Military Affairs._ + + +According to the Roman constitution, every free-born citizen was a +soldier, and bound to serve if called upon, in the armies of the state +at any period, from the age of seventeen to forty-six. + +When the Romans thought themselves injured by any nation, they sent one +or more of the priests, called _feciales_, to demand redress, and if it +was not immediately given, thirty-three days were granted to consider +the matter, after which war might be justly declared; then the feciales +again went to their confines, and having thrown a bloody spear into +them, formally declared war against that nation. + +The levy of the troops, the encampment, and much of the civil +discipline, as well as the temporary command of the army, was intrusted +to the military tribunes, six of whom were appointed to each legion. + +During the early period of the republic, the standing army in time of +peace usually consisted of only four legions, two of which were +commanded by each consul, and they were relieved by new levies every +year, the soldiers then serving without any pay beyond their mere +subsistence. But this number was afterwards greatly augmented, and the +inconvenience of raw troops having been experienced, a fixed stipend in +money was allowed to the men, and they were constantly retained in the +service. + +The legion usually consisted of three hundred horse, and three thousand +foot: the different kinds of infantry which composed it were three, the +_hastati_, _principes_, and _triarii_. The first were so called because +they fought with spears: they consisted of young men in the flower of +life, and formed the first line in battle. The _principes_ were men of +middle age who occupied the second line. The _triarii_ were old soldiers +of approved valor, who formed the third line. + +There was a fourth kind of troops, called _vel{)i}tes_ from their +swiftness and agility: these did not form a part of the legion, and had +no certain post assigned them, but fought in scattered parties, wherever +occasion required, usually before the lines. + +The imperial eagle was the common standard of the legion; it was of gilt +metal, borne on a spear by an officer of rank, styled, from his office, +_aquilifer_, and was regarded by the soldiery with the greatest +reverence. There were other ensigns, as A. B. C. D. in the frontispiece. + +The only musical instruments used in the Roman army, were brazen +trumpets of different forms, adapted to the various duties of the +service. + +The arms of the soldiery varied according to the battalion in which they +served. Some were equipped with light javelins, and others with a +missile weapon, called _pilum_, which they flung at the enemy; but all +carried shields and short swords of that description, usually styled cut +and thrust, which they wore on the right side, to prevent its +interfering with the buckler, which they bore on the left arm. + +The shield was of an oblong or oval shape, with an iron boss jutting out +in the middle, to glance off stones or darts; it was four feet long and +two and a half broad, made of pieces of wood joined together with small +plates of iron, and the whole covered with a bull's hide. + +They were partly dressed in a metal cuirass with an under covering of +cloth; on the head they wore helmets of brass, either fastened under the +chin, with plates of the same metal, or reaching to the shoulders, which +they covered and ornamented on the top with flowing tufts of horse hair. + +The light infantry were variously armed with slings and darts as well as +swords, and commonly wore a shaggy cap, in imitation of the head of some +wild beast, of which the skirt hung over their shoulders. The troops of +the line wore greaves on the legs and heavy iron-bound sandals on the +feet. These last were called _calig_, from which the emperor Caius +Csar obtained the name of Caligula, in consequence of having worn them +in his youth among the soldiery. + +The cavalry were armed with spears and wore a coat of mail of chain +work, or scales of brass or steel, often plated with gold, under which +was a close garment that reached to their buskins. The helmet was +surmounted with a plume, and with an ornament distinctive of each rank, +or with some device according to the fancy of the wearers, and which was +then, as now in heraldry, denominated the crest. This term was _crista_, +derived from the resemblance of the ornament to the comb of a cock. + +The Romans made no use of saddles or stirrups, but merely cloths folded +according to the convenience of the rider. + +Among the instruments used in war were towers consisting of different +stories, from which showers of darts were discharged on the townsmen by +means of engines called _catapult_, _balist_, and _scorpiones_. + +But the most dreadful machine of all was the battering ram: this was a +long beam like the mast of a ship, and armed at one end with iron, in +the form of a ram's head, whence it had its name. It was suspended by +the middle, with ropes or chains fastened to a beam which lay across two +posts, and hanging thus equally balanced, it was violently thrust +forward, drawn back, and again pushed forward, until by repeated strokes +it had broken down the wall. + +The discipline of the army was maintained with great severity; officers +were exposed to degradation for misconduct, and the private soldier to +corporal punishment. Whole legions who had transgressed their military +duty were exposed to decimation, which consisted in drawing their names +by lot, and putting every tenth man to the sword. + +The most common rewards were crowns of different forms; the mural crown +was presented to him who in the assault first scaled the rampart of a +town; the castral, to those who were foremost in storming the enemy's +entrenchments; the civic chaplet of oak leaves, to the soldier who saved +his comrade's life in battle, and the triumphal laurel wreath to the +general who commanded in a successful engagement. The radial crown was +that worn by the emperors. + +When an army was freed from a blockade, the soldiers gave their +deliverer a crown called _obsidionalis_, made of the grass which grew in +the besieged place; and to him who first boarded the ship of an enemy, a +naval crown. + +But the greatest distinction that could be conferred on a commander, was +a triumph; this was granted only by the senate, on the occasion of a +great victory. When decreed, the general returned to Rome, and was +appointed by a special edict to the supreme command in the city; on the +day of his entry, a triumphal arch was erected of sculptured masonry, +under which the procession passed. + +First came a detachment of cavalry, with a band of military music +preceding a train of priests in their robes, who were followed by a +hecatomb of the whitest oxen with gilded horns entwined with flowers; +next were chariots, laden with the spoils of the vanquished; and after +them, long ranks of chained captives conducted by files of lictors. Then +came the conqueror, clothed in purple and crowned with laurel, having an +ivory sceptre in his hand; a band of children followed dressed in white, +who threw perfumes from silver censors, while they chanted the hymns of +victory and the praises of the conqueror. The march was closed by the +victorious troops, with their weapons wreathed with laurel; the +procession marched to the temple of Jupiter, where the victor descended +and dedicated his spoils to the gods. + +When the objects of the war had been obtained by a bloodless victory, a +minor kind of triumph was granted, in which the general appeared on +horseback, dressed in white, and crowned with myrtle, while in his hand +he bore a branch of olive. No other living sacrifice was offered but +sheep, from the name of which the ceremony was called an ovation. + +In consequence of the continual depredations to which the coast of Italy +was subject, the Romans commenced the building of a number of vessels, +to establish a fleet, taking for their model a Carthaginian vessel, +which was formerly stranded on their coast. + +Their vessels were of two kinds, _naves onerari_, ships of burden, and +_naves long_, ships of war: the former served to carry provisions, &c.: +they were almost round, very deep, and impelled by sails. + +The ships of war received their name from the number of banks of oars, +one above another, which they contained: thus a ship with three banks of +oars was called _triremis_, one with four, _quadriremis_, &c.; in these, +sails were not used. + + + + +CHAPTER XVIII. + +_Assemblies, Judicial Proceedings, and Punishments of the Romans._ + + +The assemblies of the whole Roman people, to give their vote on any +subject, were called _comitia_. There were three kinds, the _curiata_, +_centuriata_, and _tributa_. + +The _comitia curiata_ were assemblies of the resident Roman citizens, +who were divided into thirty _curi_, a majority of which determined all +matters of importance that were laid before them, such as the election +of magistrates, the enacting of laws and judging of capital causes. + +_Comitia centuriata_ were assemblies of the various centuries into which +the six classes of the people were divided. + +Those who belonged to the first class were termed _classici_, by way of +pre-eminence--hence _auctores classici_, respectable or standard +authors; those of the last class, who had no fortune, were called +_capite censi_, or _proletarii_; and those belonging to the middle +classes were all said to be _infra classem_--below the class. + +_Comitia centuriata_ were the most important of all the assemblies of +the people. In these, laws were enacted, magistrates elected, and +criminals tried. Their meeting was in the Campus Martius. + +It was necessary that these assemblies should have been summoned +seventeen days previously to their meeting, in order that the people +might have time to reflect on the business which was to be transacted. + +Candidates for any public office, who were to be elected here, were +obliged to give in their names before the _comitia_ were summoned. Those +who did so, were said to _petere consulatum vel prturam_, &c.; and they +wore a white robe called _toga candida_, to denote the purity of their +motives; on which account they were called _candidati_. + +Candidates went about to solicit votes (_ambire_,) accompanied by a +nomenclator, whose duty it was to whisper the names of those whose votes +they desired; for it was supposed to be an insult not to know the name +of a Roman citizen. + +_Centuria prrogativa_ was that century which obtained by ballot the +privilege of voting first. + +When the _centuria prrogativa_ had been elected, the presiding +magistrate sitting in a tent (_tabernaculum_,) called upon it to come +and vote. All that century then immediately separated themselves from +the rest, and entered into that place of the Campus Martius, called +_septa_ or _ovilia_. Going into this, they had to cross over a little +bridge (_pons_;) hence the phrase _de ponte dejici_--to be deprived of +the elective franchise. + +At the farther end of the _septa_ stood officers, called _diribitores_, +who handed waxen tablets to the voters, with the names of the candidates +written upon them. The voter then putting a mark (_punctus_) on the name +of him for whom he voted, threw the tablet into a large chest; and when +all were done, the votes were counted. + +If the votes of a century for different magistrates, or respecting any +law, were equal when counted, the vote of the entire century was not +reckoned among the votes of the other centuries; but in trials of life +and death, if the tablets pro and con were equal, the criminal was +acquitted. + +The candidate for whom the greatest number of centuries voted, was duly +elected, (_renunciatus est_:) when the votes were unanimous, he was said +_ferre omne punctum_--to be completely successful. + +When a law was proposed, two ballots were given to each voter: one with +U. R. written upon it, _Uti Rogas_--as you propose; and the other with +A. for _Antiquo_--I am for the old one. + +In voting on an impeachment, one tablet was marked with A. for +_Absolvo_--I acquit; hence this letter was called _litera salutaris_; +the other with C. for _condemno_--I condemn; hence C. was called _litera +tristis_. + +In the _comitia tributa_, the people voted, divided into tribes, +according to their regions or wards; they were held to create inferior +magistrates, to elect certain priests, to make laws, and to hold trials. + +The _comitia_ continued to be assembled for upwards of seven hundred +years, when that liberty was abridged by Julius Csar, and after him by +Augustus, each of whom shared the right of creating magistrates with the +people. Tiberius the second emperor, deprived the people altogether of +the right of election. + +The extension of the Roman empire, the increase of riches, and +consequently of crime, gave occasion to a great number of new laws, +which were distinguished by the name of the person who proposed them, +and by the subject to which they referred. + +Civil trials, or differences between private persons were tried in the +forum by the prtor. If no adjustment could be made between the two +parties, the plaintiff obtained a writ from the prtor, which required +the defendant to give bail for his appearance on the third day, at which +time, if either was not present when cited, he lost his cause, unless he +had a valid excuse. + +Actions were either real, personal, or mixed. Real, was for obtaining a +thing to which one had a real right, but was possessed by another. +Personal, was against a person to bind him to the fulfilment of a +contract, or to obtain redress for wrongs. Mixed, was when the actions +had relation to persons and things. + +After the plaintiff had presented his case for trial, judges were +appointed by the prtor, to hear and determine the matter, and fix the +number of witnesses, that the suit might not be unreasonably protracted. +The parties gave security that they would abide by the judgment, and the +judges took a solemn oath to decide impartially; after this the cause +was argued on both sides, assisted by witnesses, writings, &c. In giving +sentence, the votes of a majority of the judges were necessary to decide +against the defendant; but if the number was equally divided, it was +left to the prtor to determine. + +Trial by jury, as established with us, was not known, but the mode of +judging in criminal cases, seems to have resembled it. A certain number +of senators and knights, or other citizens of respectability, were +annually chosen by the prtor, to act as his assessors, and some of +these were appointed to sit in judgment with him. They decided by a +majority of voices, and returned their verdict, either guilty, not +guilty, or uncertain, in which latter instance the case was deferred; +but if the votes for acquittal and condemnation were equal, the culprit +was discharged. + +There were also officers called _centumviri_, to the number at first of +100, but afterwards of 180, who were chosen equally, from the 35 tribes, +and together with the prtor constituted a court of justice. + +Candidates for office wore a white robe, rendered shining by the art of +the fuller. They did not wear tunics, or waist-coats, either that they +might appear more humble, or might more easily show the scars they had +received on the breast. + +For a long time before the election, they endeavored to gain the favor +of the people, by every popular art, by going to their houses, by +shaking hands with those they met, by addressing them in a kindly +manner, and calling them by name, on which occasion they commonly had +with them a monitor, who whispered in their ears every body's name. + +Criminal law was in many instances more severe than it is at the present +day. Thus adultery, which now only subjects the offender to a civil +suit, was by the Romans, as well as the ancient Jews, punished +corporally. + +Forgery was not punished with death, unless the culprit was a slave; but +freemen guilty of that crime were subject to banishment, which deprived +them of their property and privileges; and false testimony, coining, and +those offences which we term misdemeanors, exposed them to an +interdiction from fire and water, or in fact an excommunication from +society, which necessarily drove them into banishment. + +The punishments inflicted among the Romans, were--fine, (_damnum_,) +bonds, (_vincula_,) stripes, (_verbera_,) retaliation, (_talio_,) +infamy, (_ignominia_,) banishment, (_exilium_,) slavery, (_servitus_,) +and death. + +The methods of inflicting death were various; the chief were--beheading +(_percussio securi_), strangling in prison (_strangulatio_), throwing a +criminal from that part of the prison called Robur (_precipitatio de +robore_), throwing a criminal from the Tarpeian rock (_dejectio e rupe +Tarpeia_), crucifixion (_in crucem actio_), and throwing into the river +(_projectio in profluentem_). + +The last-mentioned punishment was inflicted upon parricides, or the +murderers of any relation. So soon as any one was convicted of such +crimes, he was immediately blindfolded as unworthy of the light, and in +the next place whipped with rods. He was then sewed up in a sack, and +thrown into the sea. In after times, to add to the punishment, a serpent +was put in the sack; and still later, an ape, a dog, and a cock. The +sack which held the malefactor was called _Culeus_, on which account the +punishment itself is often signified by the same name. + +In the time of Nero, the punishment for treason was, to be stripped +stark naked, and with the head held up by a fork to be whipped to death. + + + + +CHAPTER XIX. + +_The Roman Dress._ + + +The ordinary garments of the Romans were the _toga_ and the _tunic_. + +The _toga_ was a loose woollen robe, of a semicircular form, without +sleeves, open from the waist upwards, but closed from thence downwards, +and surrounding the limbs as far as the middle of the leg. The upper +part of the vest was drawn under the right arm, which was thus left +uncovered, and, passing over the left shoulder, was there gathered in a +knot, whence it fell in folds across the breast: this flap being tucked +into the girdle, formed a cavity which sometimes served as a pocket, and +was frequently used as a covering for the head. Its color was white, +except in case of mourning, when a black or dark color was worn. The +Romans were at great pains to adjust the toga and make it hang +gracefully. + +It was at first worn by women as well as men--but afterwards matrons +wore a different robe, called _stola_, with a broad border or fringe, +reaching to the feet. Courtezans, and women condemned for adultery, were +not permitted to wear the _stola_--hence called _togat_. + +Roman citizens only were permitted to wear the _toga_, and banished +persons were prohibited the use of it. The _toga picta_ was so termed +from the rich embroidery with which it was covered:--the _toga palmata_ +from its being wrought in figured palm leaves--this last was the +triumphal habit. + +Young men, until they were seventeen years of age, and young women until +they were married, wore a gown bordered with purple, called the _toga +prtexta_. + +After they had arrived at the age of seventeen, young men assumed the +_toga virilis_. + +The _tunic_ was a white woollen vest worn below the _toga_, coming down +a little below the knees before, and to the middle of the leg behind, at +first without sleeves. _Tunics_ with sleeves were reckoned effeminate: +but under the emperors, these were used with fringes at the hands. The +_tunic_ was fastened by a girdle or belt about the waist, to keep it +tight, which also served as a purse. + +The women wore a _tunic_ which came down to their feet and covered their +arms. + +Senators had a broad stripe of purple, sewed on the breast of their +tunic, called _latus clavus_, which is sometimes put for the _tunic_ +itself, or the dignity of a senator. + +The _equites_ were distinguished by a narrow stripe called _angustus +clavus_. + +The Romans wore neither stockings nor breeches, but used sometimes to +wrap their legs and thighs with pieces of cloth called from the parts +which they covered, _tibialia_ and _feminalia_. + +The chief coverings for the feet were the _calceus_, which covered the +whole foot, somewhat like our shoes, and was tied above with a _latchet_ +or lace, and the _solea_, a slipper or sandal which covered only the +sole of the foot, and was fastened on with leather thongs or strings. + +The shoes of the senators came up to the middle of their legs, and had a +golden or silver crescent on the top of the foot. The shoes of the +soldiery were called _calig_, sometimes shod with nails. Comedians wore +the _socci_ or slippers, and tragedians the _cothurni_. + +The ancient Romans went with their heads bare except at sacred rites, +games, festivals, on journey or in war.--Hence, of all the honors +decreed to Csar by the senate, he is said to have been chiefly pleased +with that of always wearing a laurel crown, because it covered his +baldness, which was reckoned a deformity. At games and festivals a +woollen cap or bonnet was worn. + +The head-dress of women was at first very simple. They seldom went +abroad, and when they did they almost always had their faces veiled. But +when riches and luxury increased, dress became, with many, the chief +object of attention. They anointed their hair with the richest perfumes, +and sometimes gave it a bright yellow color, by means of a composition +or wash. It was likewise adorned with gold and pearls and precious +stones: sometimes with garlands and chaplets of flowers. + + + + +CHAPTER XX. + +_Of the Fine Arts and Literature._ + + +The Romans invented short or abridged writing, which enabled their +secretaries to collect the speeches of orators, however rapidly +delivered. The characters used by such writers were called notes. They +did not consist in letters of the alphabet, but certain marks, one of +which often expressed a whole word, and frequently a phrase. The same +description of writing is known at the present day by the word +_stenography_. From notes came the word _notary_, which was given to all +who professed the art of quick writing. + +The system of note-writing was not suddenly brought to perfection: it +only came into favor when the professors most accurately reported an +excellent speech which Cato pronounced in the senate. The orators, the +philosophers, the dignitaries, and nearly all the rich patricians then +took for secretaries note-writers, to whom they allowed handsome pay. It +was usual to take from their slaves all who had intellect to acquire a +knowledge of that art. + +The fine arts were unknown at Rome, until their successful commanders +brought from Syracuse, Asia, Macedonia and Corinth, the various +specimens which those places afforded. So ignorant, indeed, were they of +their real worth, that when the victories of Mummius had given him +possession of some of the finest productions of Grecian art, he +threatened the persons to whom he intrusted the carriage of some antique +statues and rare pictures, "that if they lost those, they should give +him new ones." A taste by degrees began to prevail, which they gratified +at the expense of every liberal feeling of public justice and private +right. + +The art of printing being unknown, books were sometimes written on +parchment, but more generally on a paper made from the leaves of a plant +called _papyrus_, which grew and was prepared in Egypt. This plant was +about ten cubits high, and had several coats or skins, one above +another, which they separated with a needle. + +The instrument used for writing was a reed, sharpened and split at the +point, like our pens, called _calamus_. Their ink was sometimes composed +of a black liquid emitted by the cuttle fish. + +The Romans commonly wrote only on one side of the paper, and joined one +sheet to the end of another, till they finished what they had to write, +and then rolled it on a cylinder or staff, hence called _volumen_. + +But _memoranda_ or other unimportant matters, not intended to be +preserved, were usually written on tablets spread with wax. This was +effected by means of a metal pencil called _stylus_, pointed at one end +to scrape the letters, and flat at the other to smooth the wax when any +correction was necessary. + +Julius Csar introduced the custom of folding letters in a flat square +form, which were then divided into small pages, in the manner of a +modern book. When forwarded for delivery, they were usually perfumed and +tied round with a silken thread, the ends of which were sealed with +common wax. + +Letters were not subscribed; but the name of the writer, and that of the +person to whom they were addressed, were inserted at the +commencement--thus, Julius Csar to his friend Antony, health. At the +end was written a simple, Farewell! + +The Romans had many private and public libraries. Adjoining to some of +them were museums for the accommodation of a college or society of +learned men, who were supported there at the public expense, with a +covered walk and seats, where they might dispute. + +The first public library at Rome, and probably in the world, was erected +by Asinius Pollio, in the temple of liberty, on Mount Aventine. This was +adorned by the statues of the most celebrated men. + + + + +CHAPTER XXI. + +_Roman Houses._ + + +The houses of the Romans are supposed at first to have been nothing more +than thatched cottages. After the city was burnt by the Gauls, it was +rebuilt in a more solid and commodious manner; but the streets were very +irregular. + +In the time of Nero the city was set on fire, and more than two-thirds +of it burnt to the ground. That tyrant himself is said to have been the +author of this conflagration. He beheld it from the tower of Mcenas, +and being delighted, as he said, with the beauty of the flames, played +the taking of Troy, dressed like an actor. + +The city was then rebuilt with greater regularity and splendor--the +streets were widened, the height of the houses was limited to seventy +feet, and each house had a portico before it, fronting the street. + +Nero erected for himself a palace of extraordinary extent and +magnificence. The enclosure extended from the Palatine to the Esquiline +mount, which was more than a mile in breadth, and it was entirely +surrounded with a spacious portico embellished with sculpture and +statuary, among which stood a colossal statue of Nero himself, one +hundred and twenty feet in height. The apartments were lined with +marble, enriched with jasper, topaz, and other precious gems: the timber +works and ceilings were inlaid with gold, ivory and mother of pearl. + +This noble edifice, which from its magnificence obtained the appellation +of the golden house, was destroyed by Vespasian as being too gorgeous +for the residence even of a Roman emperor. + +The lower floors of the houses of the great were, at this time, either +inlaid marble or mosaic work. Every thing curious and valuable was used +in ornament and furniture. The number of stories was generally two, with +underground apartments. On the first, were the reception-rooms and +bed-chamber; on the second, the dining-room and apartments of the women. + +The Romans used portable furnaces in their rooms, on which account they +had little use for chimneys, except for the kitchen. + +The windows of some of their houses were glazed with a thick kind of +glass, not perfectly transparent; in others, isinglass split into thin +plates was used. Perfectly transparent glass was so rare and valuable at +Rome, that Nero is said to have given a sum equal to 50,000 for two +cups of such glass with handles. + +Houses not joined with the neighboring ones were called _Insul_, as +also lodgings or houses to let. The inhabitants of rented houses or +lodgings, _Insularii_ or _Inquilini_. + +The principal parts of a private house were the _vestibulum_, or court +before the gate, which was ornamented towards the street with a portico +extending along the entire front. + +The _atrium_ or hall, which was in the form of an oblong square, +surrounded by galleries supported on pillars. It contained a hearth on +which a fire was kept constantly burning, and around which were ranged +the _lares_, or images of the ancestors of the family. + +These were usually nothing more than waxen busts, and, though held in +great respect, were not treated with the same veneration as the +_penates_, or household gods, which were considered of divine origin, +and were never exposed to the view of strangers, but were kept in an +inner apartment, called _penetralia_. + +The outer door was furnished with a bell: the entrance was guarded by a +slave in chains: he was armed with a staff, and attended by a dog. + +The houses had high sloping roofs, covered with broad tiles, and there +was usually an open space in the centre to afford light to the inner +apartments. + +The Romans were unacquainted with the use of chimnies, and were +consequently much annoyed by smoke. To remedy this, they sometimes +anointed the wood of which their fuel was composed, with lees of oil. + +The windows were closed with blinds of linen or plates of horn, but more +generally with shutters of wood. During the time of the emperors, a +species of transparent stone, cut into plates, was used for the purpose. +Glass was not used for the admission of light into the apartments until +towards the fifth century of the christian era. + +A villa was originally a farm-house of an ordinary kind, and occupied by +the industrious cultivator of the soil; but when increasing riches +inspired the citizens with a taste for new pleasures, it became the +abode of opulence and luxury. + +Some villas were surrounded with large parks, in which deer and various +foreign wild animals were kept, and in order to render the sheep that +pastured on the lawn ornamental, we are told that they often dyed their +fleeces with various colours. + +Large fish ponds were also a common appendage to the villas of persons +of fortune, and great expense was often incurred in stocking them. In +general, however, country houses were merely surrounded with gardens, of +which the Romans were extravagantly fond. + + + + +CHAPTER XXII. + +_Marriages and Funerals._ + + +A marriage ceremony was never solemnized without consulting the +auspices, and offering sacrifices to the gods, particularly to Juno; and +the animals offered up on the occasion were deprived of their gall, in +allusion to the absence of every thing bitter and malignant in the +proposed union. + +A legal marriage was made in three different ways, called +_confarreatio_, _usus_ and _coemptio_. + +The first of these was the most ancient. A priest, in the presence of +ten witnesses, made an offering to the gods, of a cake composed of salt +water, and that kind of flour called "_far_," from which the name of the +ceremony was derived. The bride and bridegroom mutually partook of this, +to denote the union that was to subsist between them, and the sacrifice +of a sheep ratified the interchange of their vows. + +When a woman, with the consent of her parents or guardian, lived an +entire year with a man, with the intention of becoming his wife, it was +called _usus_. + +_Coemptio_ was an imaginary purchase which the husband and wife made of +each other, by the exchange of some pieces of money. + +A plurality of wives was forbidden among the Romans. The marriageable +age was from fourteen for men, and twelve for girls. + +On the wedding day the bride was dressed in a simple robe of pure white, +bound with a zone of wool, which her husband alone was to unloose: her +hair was divided into six locks, with the point of a spear, and crowned +with flowers; she wore a saffron colored veil, which enveloped the +entire person: her shoes were yellow, and had unusually high heels to +give her an appearance of greater dignity. + +Thus attired she waited the arrival of the bridegroom, who went with a +party of friends and carried her off with an appearance of violence, +from the arms of her parents, to denote the reluctance she was supposed +to feel at leaving her paternal roof. + +The nuptial ceremony was then performed; in the evening she was +conducted to her future home, preceded by the priests, and followed by +her relations, friends, and servants, carrying presents of various +domestic utensils. + +The door of the bridegroom's house was hung with garlands of flowers. +When the bride came hither, she was asked who she was; she answered, +addressing the bridegroom, "Where thou art Caius, there shall I be +Caia," intimating that she would imitate the exemplary life of Caia, the +wife of Tarquinius Priscus. She was then lifted over the threshold, or +gently stepped over, it being considered ominous to touch it with her +feet, because it was sacred to Vesta the goddess of Virgins. + +Upon her entrance, the keys of the house were delivered to her, to +denote her being intrusted with the management of the family, and both +she and her husband touched fire and water to intimate that their union +was to last through every extremity. The bridegroom then gave a great +supper to all the company. This feast was accompanied with music and +dancing, and the guests sang a nuptial song in praise of the new married +couple. + +The Romans paid great attention to funeral rites, because they believed +that the souls of the unburied were not admitted into the abodes of the +dead; or at least wandered a hundred years along the river Styx before +they were allowed to cross it. + +When any one was at the point of death, his nearest relation present +endeavored to catch his last breath with his mouth, for they believed +that the soul or living principle thus went out at the mouth. The corpse +was then bathed and perfumed; dressed in the richest robes of the +deceased, and laid upon a couch strewn with flowers, with the feet +towards the outer door. + +The funeral took place by torch light. The corpse was carried with the +feet foremost on an open bier covered with the richest cloth, and borne +by the nearest relatives and friends. It was preceded by the image of +the deceased, together with those of his ancestors. + +The procession was attended by musicians, with wind instruments of a +larger size and a deeper tone than those used on less solemn occasions; +mourning women were likewise hired to sing the praises of the deceased. + +On the conclusion of the ceremony the sepulchre was strewed with +flowers, and the mourners took a last farewell of the remains of the +deceased. Water was then thrown upon the attendants, by a priest, to +purify them from the pollution which the ancients supposed to be +communicated by any contact with a corpse. + +The manes of the dead were supposed to be propitiated by blood:--on this +account a custom prevailed of slaughtering, on the tomb of the deceased, +those animals of which he was most fond when living. + +When the custom of burning the dead was introduced, a funeral pile was +constructed in the shape of an altar, upon which the corpse was laid; +the nearest relative then set fire to it:--perfumes and spices were +afterwards thrown into the blaze, and when it was extinguished, the +embers were quenched with wine. The ashes were then collected and +deposited in an urn, to be kept in the mausoleum of the family. + + + + +CHAPTER XXIII. + +_Customs at Meals._ + + +The food of the ancient Romans was of the simplest kind; they rarely +indulged in meat, and wine was almost wholly unknown. So averse were +they to luxury, that epicures were expelled from among them. But when +riches were introduced by the extension of conquest, the manners of the +people were changed, and the pleasures of the table became the chief +object of attention. + +Their principal meal was what they called _coena_ or supper. The usual +time for it was the ninth hour, or about three o'clock in the afternoon. + +While at meals, they reclined on sumptuous couches of a semicircular +form, around a table of the same shape. This custom was introduced from +the nations of the east, and was at first adopted only by the men, but +afterwards allowed also to the women. + +The dress worn at table differed from that in use on other occasions, +and consisted merely of a loose robe of a slight texture, and generally +white. + +Before supper the Romans bathed themselves, and took various kinds of +exercise, such as tennis, throwing the discus or quoit, riding, running, +leaping, &c. + +Small figures of Mercury, Hercules and the penates, were placed upon the +table, of which they were deemed the presiding genii; and a small +quantity of wine was poured upon the board, at the commencement and end +of the feast, as a libation in honor of them, accompanied by a prayer. + +As the ancients had not proper inns for the accommodation of travellers, +the Romans, when they were in foreign countries, or at a distance from +home, used to lodge at the houses of certain persons whom they in return +entertained at their houses in Rome. This was esteemed a very intimate +connexion, and was called _hospitium_, or _jus hospitii_: hence _hospes_ +is put both for a host and a guest. + + + + +CHAPTER XXIV. + +_Weights, Measures and Coins._ + + +The principal Weight in use among the Romans, was the pound, called _As_ +or _Libra_, which was equal to 12 oz. avoirdupoise, or 16 oz. 18 pwts. +and 13-3/4 grains, troy weight. It was divided into twelve ounces, the +names of which were as follow: _Uncia_, 1 oz.--_Sextans_, 2 +oz.--_Triens_, 3 oz.--_Quadrans_, 4 oz.--_Quincunx_, 5 oz.--_Semis_, 1/2 +lb.--_Septunx_, 7 oz--_Bes_, 8 oz.--_Dodrans_, 9 oz.--_Dextans_, 10 +oz.--_Deunx_, 11 oz. + +The As and its divisions were applied to anything divided into twelve +parts, as well as to a pound weight. The twelth part of an acre was +called Uncia and half a foot, Semis, &c. + +The Measures for Things Dry.--_Modius_, a peck--_Semimodius_, a +gallon--_Sextanus_, a pint--_Hemina_, one-half pint, and 3 smaller +measures, for which we have not equivalent names in English. One Modius +contained 2 _Semimodii_--each Semimodius contained 8 _Sextarii_--each +Sextarius, 2 _Hemin_--each Hemina, 4 _Acetabula_--each Acetabulum, +1-1/2 _Cyathi_--each Cyathus--4 _Ligul_. + +The Liquid Measures of Capacity were the _Culeus_, which was equal to +144-1/2 gallons--it contained 20 _Amphor_ or _Quadrantales_--each +Amphora, 2 _Urn_--each Urna, 4 _Congii_--each Congius, 6 +_Sextarii_--and each Sextarius, 2 _Quartarii_ or naggins--each +Quartarius, 2 _Hemin_--each Hemina, 3 _Acetabula_ or glasses--each +Acetabulum, 1-1/2 _Cyathi_--and each Cyathus, 4 _Ligul_. + +The Measures of Length in use among the Romans were, _Millarium_ or +_Mille_, a mile--each mile contained 8 _Stadia_, or furlongs--each +Stadium, 125 _Passus_--each Pace, 5 feet. + +The _Pes_, or foot, was variously divided. It contained 4 _Palmi_ or +handbreadths, each of which was therefore 3 inches long--and it +contained 16 _Digiti_, or finger breadths, each of which was therefore +three-quarters of an inch long--and it contained 12 _Unci_, or inches: +any number of which was used to signify the same number of ounces. + +_Cubitus_, a cubit, was 1-1/2 feet long--_Pollex_, a thumb's breadth, 1 +inch--_Palmipes_, a foot and hand's breadth, i.e. 15 inches +long--_Pertica_, a perch, 10 feet long--the lesser _Actus_ was a space +of ground 120 feet long by four broad--the greater Actus was 120 feet +square--two square Actus made a _Jugerum_, or acre, which contained +therefore 28,000 square feet. + +The first money in use among the Romans was nothing more than unsightly +lumps of brass, which were valued according to their weight. Servius +Tullius stamped these, and reduced them to a fixed standard. After his +reign, the Romans improved the old, and added some new coins. Those in +most frequent use, were the _As_, _Sestertius_, _Victoriatus_, +_Denarius_, _Aureus_. + +The As was a brass coin, stamped on one side with the beak of a ship, +and on the other with the double head of Janus. It originally weighed +one pound; but was afterwards reduced to half an ounce, without +suffering, however, any diminution of value. It was worth one cent and +forty-three hundredths. + +Sestertius was a silver coin, stamped on one side with Castor and +Pollux, and on the opposite with the city. This was so current a coin, +that the word _Nummus_, money, is often used absolutely to express it. +It was worth three cents and fifty-seven hundredths. + +Denarius was a silver coin, valued at ten asses; that is, fourteen cents +and thirty-five hundredths of our money. It was stamped with the figure +of a carriage drawn by four beasts, and on the other side, with a head +covered with a helmet, to represent Rome. + +Victoriatus was a silver coin, half the value of a Denarius. It was +stamped with the figure of Victory, from whence its name was derived. +Being worth five Asses, it was called _Quinarius_. + +_Libella_, _Sembella_, _Teruncius_, were also silver coins, but of less +value than the above. Libella was of the same worth as the As--Sembella +was half a Libella, equal to seventy-one hundredths of a cent--and the +Teruncius was half of a Sembella. + +Aureus Denarius was a gold coin, about the size of a silver Denarius, +and probably stamped in a similar manner. At first, forty Aurei were +made out of a pound of gold; but under the Emperors it was not so +intrinsically valuable, being mixed with alloy. + +The value of the Aureus, which was also called _Solidus_, varied at +different times. According to Tacitus, it was valued and exchanged for +25 Denarii, which amounted to three dollars, fifty-eight cents and +seventy-five hundredths. + +The abbreviations used by the Romans to express these various kinds of +money, were, for the As, L.--for the Sesterce, L. L. S. or H. S.--for +the Quinary, V. or {lambda}.--for the Denarius, X. or :!: + +Sesterces were the kind of money in which the Romans usually made their +computations.--1,000 Sesterces made up a sum called _Sestertium_, the +value of which in our money, was thirty-five dollars and seventy cents. + +The art of reckoning by Sesterces was regulated by these rules: + +First--If a numeral adjective were joined to Sestertii, and agreed with +it in case, it signified just so many Sesterces; as _decem Sestertii_, +10 Sesterces--thirty-five cents and seven tenths. + +Second--If a numeral adjective, of a different case, were joined to the +genitive plural of Sestertius, it signified so many thousand Sesterces; +as _decem Sestertium_, 10,000 Sesterces--$357. + +Third--If a numeral adverb were placed by itself, or joined to +Sestertium, it signified so many hundred thousand Sesterces; as +_Decies_, or _decies Sestertium_, 1,000,000 _Sesterces_--$35,700. + +Fourth--When the sums are expressed by letters, if the letters have a +line over them, they signify also so many hundred thousand Sesterces: +thus, H. S. {=[M.C.]}--denotes the sum of 1,100 times 100,000 Sesterces, +i.e. 110,000,000--nearly $4,000,000. + + + + +MYTHOLOGY. + + + + +CHAPTER I. + +Celestial Gods. + + +JUPITER, the supreme god of the Pagans, though set forth by historians +as the wisest of princes, is described by his worshippers as infamous +for his vices. There were many who assumed the name of Jupiter; the most +considerable, however, and to whom the actions of the others are +ascribed, was the Jupiter of Crete, son to Saturn and Rhea, who is +differently said to have had his origin in Crete, at Thebes in Boeotia, +and among the Messenians. + +His first warlike exploit, and, indeed, the most memorable of his +actions, was his expedition against the Titans, to deliver his parents, +who had been imprisoned by these princes, because Saturn, instead of +observing an oath he had sworn, to destroy his male children, permitted +his son Jupiter, by a stratagem of Rhea, to be educated. Jupiter, for +this purpose, raised a gallant army of Cretans, and engaged the +Cecr{)o}pes as auxiliaries in this expedition; but these, after taking +his money, having refused their services, he changed into apes. The +valor of Jupiter so animated the Cretans, that by their aid he overcame +the Titans, released his parents, and, the better to secure the reign of +his father, made all the gods swear fealty to him upon an altar, which +has since gained a place among the stars. + +This exploit of Jupiter, however, created jealousy in Saturn, who, +having learnt from an oracle, that he should be dethroned by one of his +sons, secretly meditated the destruction of Jupiter as the most +formidable of them. The design of Saturn being discovered by one of his +council, Jupiter became the aggressor, deposed his father, threw him +into Tartarus, ascended the throne, and was acknowledged as supreme by +the rest of the gods. + +The reign of Jupiter being less favorable to his subjects than that of +Saturn, gave occasion to the name of the silver age, by which is meant +an age inferior in happiness to that which preceded, though superior to +those which followed. + +The distinguishing character of his person is majesty, and every thing +about him carries dignity and authority with it; his look is meant to +strike sometimes with terror, and sometimes with gratitude, but always +with respect. The Capitoline Jupiter, or the Jupiter Optimus Maximus, +(him now spoken of,) was the great guardian of the Romans, and was +represented, in his chief temple, on the Capitoline hill, as sitting on +a curule chair, with the lightning in his right hand, and a sceptre in +his left. + +The poets describe him as standing amidst his rapid horses, or his +horses that make the thunder; for as the ancients had a strange idea of +the brazen vault of heaven, they seem to have attributed the noise in a +thunder storm to the rattling of Jupiter's chariot and horses on that +great arch of brass all over their heads, as they supposed that he +himself flung the flames out of his hand, which dart at the same time +out of the clouds, beneath this arch. + +APOLLO was son of Jupiter and Latona, and brother of Diana, and of all +the divinities in the pagan world, the chief cherisher and protecter of +the polite arts, and the most conspicuous character in heathen theology; +nor unjustly, from the glorious attributes ascribed to him, for he was +the god of light, medicine, eloquence, music, poetry and prophecy. + + + [Illustration: + + THE GODS DESCENDING TO BATTLE + + IN AID OF TROY, LATONA, PHOEBUS CAME, + MARS FIERY HELM'D, THE LAUGHTER LOVING DAME, + XANTHUS, WHOSE STREAMS IN GOLDEN CURRENTS FLOW, + AND THE CHASTE HUNTRESS OF THE SILVER BOW. + + Pope's Homer's Iliad. B. 20. L. 51. + Pl. 3. ] + + +Amongst the most remarkable adventures of this god, was his quarrel with +Jupiter, on account of the death of his son sculapius, killed by that +deity on the complaint of Pluto, that he decreased the number of the +dead by his cures. Apollo, to revenge this injury, killed the Cyclops +who forged the thunder-bolts. For this he was banished heaven, and +endured great sufferings on earth, being forced to hire himself as a +shepherd to Admetus, king of Thessaly. During his pastoral servitude, he +is said to have invented the lyre to sooth his troubles. He was so +skilled in the bow, that his arrows were always fatal. Python and the +Cyclops experienced their force. + +He became enamored of Daphne, daughter of the river Peneus of Thessaly. +The god pursued her, but she flying to preserve her chastity, was +changed into a laurel, whose leaves Apollo immediately consecrated to +bind his temples, and become the reward of poetry. + +His temple at Delphi became so frequented, that it was called the oracle +of the earth; all nations and princes vieing in their munificence to it. +The Romans erected to him many temples. + +The animals sacred to him were the wolf, from his acuteness of sight, +and because he spared his flocks when the god was a shepherd; the crow +and the raven, because these birds were supposed to have, by instinct, +the faculty of prediction; the swan, from its divining its own death; +the hawk, from its boldness in flight; and the cock, because he +announces the rising of the sun. + +As to the signification of this fabulous divinity, all are agreed that, +by Apollo, the sun is understood in general, though several poetical +fictions have relation only to the sun, and not to Apollo. The great +attributes of this deity were divination, healing, music, and archery, +all which manifestly refer to the sun. Light dispelling darkness, is a +strong emblem of truth dissipating ignorance;--the warmth of the sun +conduces greatly to health; and there can be no juster symbol of the +planetary harmony, than Apollo's lyre, the seven strings of which are +said to represent the seven planets. As his darts are reported to have +destroyed the monster Python, so his rays dry up the noxious moisture +which is pernicious to vegetation and fertility. + +Apollo was very differently represented in different countries and +times, according to the character he assumed. In general he is described +as a beardless youth, with long flowing hair floating as it were in the +wind, comely and graceful, crowned with laurel, his garments and sandals +shining with gold. In one hand he holds a bow and arrows, in the other a +lyre; sometimes a shield and the graces. At other times he is invested +in a long robe, and carries a lyre and a cup of nectar, the symbol of +his divinity. + +He has a threefold authority: in heaven, he is the Sun; and by the lyre +intimates, that he is the source of harmony: upon earth he is called +_Liber Pater_, and carries a shield to show he is the protector of +mankind, and their preserver in health and safety. In the infernal +regions he is styled _Apollo_, and his arrows show his authority; +whosoever is stricken with them being immediately sent thither. As the +Sun, Apollo was represented in a chariot, drawn by the four horses, +_Eus_, _thon_, _Phlegon_, and _Pyreis_. + +Considered in his poetical character, he is called indifferently either +_Vates_ or _Lyristes_; music and poetry, in the earliest ages of the +world, having made but one and the same profession. + +MERCURY was the offspring of Jupiter and Maia, the daughter of Atlas. +Cyllne, in Arcadia, is said to have been the scene of his birth and +education, and a magnificent temple was erected to him there. + +That adroitness which formed the most distinguishing trait in his +character, began very early to render him conspicuous. Born in the +morning, he fabricated a lyre, and played on it by noon; and, before +night, filched from Apollo his cattle. The god of light demanded instant +restitution, and was lavish of menaces, the better to insure it. But his +threats were of no avail, for it was soon found that the same thief had +disarmed him of his quiver and bow. Being taken up into his arms by +Vulcan, he robbed him of his tools, and whilst Venus caressed him for +his superiority to Cupid in wrestling, he slipped off her cestus +unperceived. From Jupiter he purloined his sceptre, and would have made +as free with his thunder-bolt, had it not proved too hot for his +fingers. + +From being usually employed on Jupiter's errands, he was styled the +messenger of the gods. The Greeks and Romans considered him as presiding +over roads and cross-ways, in which they often erected busts of him. He +was esteemed the god of orators and eloquence, the author of letters and +oratory. The _caduceus_, or rod, which he constantly carried, was +supposed to be possessed of an inherent charm that could subdue the +power of enmity: an effect which he discovered by throwing it to +separate two serpents found by him fighting on Mount Cytheron: each +quitted his adversary, and twined himself on the rod, which Mercury, +from that time, bore as the symbol of concord. His musical skill was +great, for to him is ascribed the discovery of the three tones, treble, +bass, and tenor. + +It was part of his function to attend on the dying, detach their souls +from their bodies, and conduct them to the infernal regions. In +conjunction with Hercules, he patronized wrestling and the gymnastic +exercises; to show that address upon these occasions should always be +united with force. The invention of the art of thieving was attributed +to him, and the ancients used to paint him on their doors, that he, as +god of thieves, might prevent the intrusion of others. For this reason +he was much adored by shepherds, who imagined he could either preserve +their own flocks from thieves, or else help to compensate their losses, +by dexterously stealing from their neighbors. + +At Rome on the fifteenth of May, the month so named from his mother, a +festival was celebrated to his honor, by merchants, traders, &c. in +which they sacrificed a sow, sprinkled themselves, and the goods they +intended for sale, with water from his fountain, and prayed that he +would both blot out all the frauds and perjuries they had already +committed, and enable them to impose again on their buyers. + +Mercury is usually described as a beardless young man, of a fair +complexion, with yellow hair, quick eyes, and a cheerful countenance, +having wings annexed to his hat and sandals, which were distinguished by +the names of _pet{)a}sus_ and _talaria_: the _caduceus_, in his hand, is +winged likewise, and bound round with two serpents: his face is +sometimes exhibited half black, on account of his intercourse with the +infernal deities: he has often a purse in his hand, and a goat or cock, +or both, by his side. + +The epithets applied to Mercury by the ancients were {Enagnios}, the +presider over combats; {Strophaios}, the guardian of doors; {Empolaios}, +the merchant; {Eriounios}, beneficial to mortals; {Dolios}, subtle; +{Hgemonios}, guide, or conductor. + +As to his origin, it must be looked for amongst the Phoenicians. The bag +of money which he held signified the gain of merchandise; the wings +annexed to his head and his feet were emblematic of their extensive +commerce and navigation; the caduceus, with which he was said to conduct +the spirit of the deceased to Hades, pointing out the immortality of the +soul, a state of rewards and punishments after death, and a +resuscitation of the body: it is described as producing three leaves +together, whence it was called by Homer, the _golden three-leaved wand_. + +BACCHUS was the son of Jupiter, by Sem{)e}le, daughter of Cadmus, king +of Thebes, in which city he is said to have been born. He was the god of +good-cheer, wine, and hilarity; and of him, as such, the poets have not +been sparing in their praises: on all occasions of mirth and jollity, +they constantly invoked his presence, and as constantly thanked him for +the blessings he bestowed. To him they ascribed the forgetfulness of +cares, and the delights of social converse. + +He is described as a youth of a plump figure, and naked, with a ruddy +face, and an effeminate air; he is crowned with ivy and vine leaves, and +bears in his hand a thyrsus, or javelin with an iron head, encircled +with ivy and vine leaves: his chariot is sometimes drawn by lions, at +others by tigers, leopards, or panthers; and surrounded by a band of +Satyrs, Bacch, and Nymphs, in frantic postures; whilst old Sil{=}enus, +his preceptor, follows on an ass, which crouches with the weight of his +burden. + +The women who accompained him as his priestesses, were called +Mn{)a}des, from their madness; Thy{)a}des, from their impetuosity; +Bacch, from their intemperate depravity; and Mimall{=o}nes, or +Mimallon{)i}des, from their mimicking their leaders. + +The victims agreeable to him were the goat and the swine; because these +animals are destructive to the vine. Among the Egyptians they sacrificed +a swine to him before their doors; and the dragon, and the pye on +account of its chattering: the trees and plants used in his garlands +were the fir, the oak, ivy, the fig, and vine; as also the daffodil, or +narcissus. Bacchus had many temples erected to him by the Greeks and the +Romans. + +Whoever attentively reads Horace's inimitable ode to this god, will see +that Bacchus meant no more than the improvement of the world by tillage, +and the culture of the vine. + + + [Illustration: + + JUNO & MINERVA GOING TO ASSIST THE GREEKS. + + SATURNIA LENDS THE LASH, THE COURSERS FLY. + + Pope's Homer's Illiad, B. 8. L. 47. + Pl. 4.] + + +MARS was the son of Jupiter and Juno, or of Jupiter and Erys. He was +held in high veneration among the Romans, both on account of his being +the father of Romulus, their founder, and because of their own genius, +which always inclined them to war. Numa, though otherwise a pacific +prince, having, during a great pestilence, implored the favor of the +gods, received a small brass buckler, called _anc{=i}le_ from heaven, +which the nymph Egeria advised him to keep with the utmost care, as the +fate of the people and empire depended upon it. To secure so valuable a +pledge, Numa caused eleven others of the same form to be made, and +intrusted the preservation of these to an order of priests, which he +constituted for the purpose, called _Salii_, or priests of Mars, in +whose temple the twelve ancilia were deposited. + +The fiercest and most ravenous creatures were consecrated to Mars: the +horse, for his vigor; the wolf, for his rapacity and quickness of sight; +the dog, for his vigilance; and he delighted in the pye, the cock, and +the vulture. He was the reputed enemy of Minerva, the goddess of wisdom +and arts, because in time of war they are trampled on, without respect, +as well as learning and justice. + +Ancient monuments represent this deity as of unusual stature, armed with +a helmet, shield, and spear, sometimes naked, sometimes in a military +habit; sometimes with a beard, and sometimes without. He is often +described riding in a chariot, drawn by furious horses, completely +armed, and extending his spear with one hand, while, with the other, he +grasps a sword imbued with blood. Sometimes Bellona, the goddess of war, +(whether she be his sister, wife or daughter, is uncertain,) is +represented as driving his chariot, and inciting the horses with a +bloody whip. Sometimes Discord is exhibited as preceding his chariot, +while Clamor, Fear, Terror, with Fame, full of eyes, ears, and tongues, +appear in his train. + + + + +CHAPTER II. + +_Celestial Goddesses._ + + +JUNO, daughter of Saturn and Rhea, was sister and wife of Jupiter. +Though the poets agree that she came into the world at the same birth +with her husband, yet they differ as to the place. Some fix her nativity +at Argos, others at Samos, near the river Imbrasus. The latter opinion +is, however, the more generally received. Samos, was highly honored, and +received the name of Parthenia, from the consideration that so eminent a +_virgin_ as Juno was educated and dwelt there till her marriage. + +As queen of heaven, Juno was conspicuous for her state. Her usual +attendants were Terror, Boldness--Castor and Pollux, accompanied by +fourteen nymphs; but her most inseparable adherent was Iris, who was +always ready to be employed in her most important affairs: she acted as +messenger to Juno, like Mercury to Jupiter. When Juno appeared as the +majesty of heaven, with her sceptre and diadem beset with lilies and +roses, her chariot was drawn by peacocks, birds sacred to her; for which +reason, in her temple at Euboea, the emperor Adrian made her a most +magnificent offering of a golden crown, a purple mantle, with an +embroidery of silver, describing the marriage of Hercules and Hebe, and +a large peacock, whose body was of gold, and his train of most valuable +jewels. There never was a wife more jealous than Juno; and few who have +had so much reason: on which account we find from Homer that the most +absolute exertions of Jupiter were barely sufficient to preserve his +authority. + +There was none except Apollo whose worship was more solemn or extensive. +The history of the prodigies she had wrought, and of the vengeance she +had taken upon persons who had vied with, or slighted her, had so +inspired the people with awe, that, when supposed to be angry, no means +were omitted to mitigate her anger; and had Paris adjudged to her the +prize of Beauty, the fate of Troy might have been suspended. In +resentment of this judgment, and to wreak her vengeance on Paris, the +house of Priam, and the Trojan race, she appears in the Iliad to be +fully employed. Minerva is commissioned by her to hinder the Greeks from +retreating; she quarrels with Jupiter; she goes to battle; cajoles +Jupiter with the cestus of Venus; carries the orders of Jupiter to +Apollo and Iris; consults the gods on the conflict between neas and +Achilles; sends Vulcan to oppose Xanthus; overcomes Diana, &c. + +She is generally pictured like a matron, with a grave and majestic air, +sometimes with a sceptre in her hand, and a veil on her head: she is +represented also with a spear in her hand, and sometimes with a +_pat{)e}ra_, as if she were about to sacrifice: on some medals she has a +peacock at her feet, and sometimes holds the Palladium. Homer represents +her in a chariot adorned with gems, having wheels of ebony, nails of +silver, and horses with reins of gold, though more commonly her chariot +is drawn by peacocks, her favourite birds. The most obvious and striking +character of Juno, and that which we are apt to imbibe the most early of +any, from the writings of Homer and Virgil, is that of an imperious and +haughty wife. In both of these poets we find her much oftener scolding +at Jupiter than caressing him, and in the tenth neid in particular, +even in the council of the gods, we have a remarkable instance of this. + +If, in searching out the meaning of this fable, we regard the account of +Varro, we shall find, that by Juno was signified the earth; by Jupiter, +the heavens; but if we believe the Stoics, by Juno is meant the air and +its properties, and by Jupiter the ether: hence Homer supposes she was +nourished by Oce{)a}nus and Tethys: that is, by the sea; and agreeable +to this mythology, the poet makes her shout aloud in the army of the +Greeks, the air being the cause of the sound. + +MINERVA, or Pallas, was one of the most distinguished of the heathen +deities, as being the goddess of wisdom and science. She is supposed to +have sprung, fully grown and completely armed, from the head of Jupiter. + +One of the most remarkable of her adventures, was her contest with +Neptune. When Cecrops founded Athens, it was agreed that whoever of +these two deities could produce the most beneficial gift to mankind, +should have the honor of giving their name to the city. Neptune, with a +stroke of his trident, formed a horse, but Minerva causing an olive-tree +to spring from the ground, obtained from the god the prize. She was the +goddess of war, wisdom, and arts, such as spinning, weaving, music, and +especially of the pipe. In a word, she was patroness of all those +sciences which render men useful to society and themselves, and entitle +them to the esteem of posterity. + +She is described by the poets, and represented by the sculptors and +painters in a standing attitude, completely armed, with a composed but +smiling countenance, bearing a golden breast-plate, a spear in her right +hand, and the gis in her left, having on it the head of Medusa, +entwined with snakes. Her helmet was usually encompassed with olives, to +denote that peace is the end of war, or rather because that tree was +sacred to her: at her feet is generally placed the owl or the cock, the +former being the emblem of wisdom, and the latter of war. + +Minerva represents wisdom, that is, skilful knowledge joined with +discreet practice, and comprehends the understanding of the noblest +arts, the best accomplishments of the mind, together with all the +virtues, but more especially that of chastity. She is said to be born of +Jupiter's brain, because the ingenuity of man did not invent the useful +arts and sciences, which, on the contrary, were derived from the +fountain of all wisdom. She was born armed, because the human soul, +fortified with wisdom and virtue, is invincible; in danger, intrepid; +under crosses, unbroken; in calamities, impregnable. + +The owl, a bird seeing in the dark, was sacred to Minerva; this is +symbolical of a wise man, who, scattering and dispelling the clouds of +error, is clear-sighted where others are blind. + +VENUS was one of the most celebrated deities of the ancients. She was +the goddess of beauty, the mother of love, and the queen of laughter. +She is said to have sprung from the froth of the sea, near the island +Cyprus, after the mutilated part of the body of Ur{)a}nus had been +thrown there by Saturn. Hence she obtained the name of Aphrodite, from +{Aphros}, _froth_. As soon as Venus was born, she is said to have been +laid in a beautiful couch or shell, embellished with pearls, and by the +assistance of Zephyrus wafted first to Cyth{=e}r, an island in the +gan, and thence to Cyprus; where she arrived in the month of April. +Here, immediately on her landing, flowers sprung beneath her feet, the +Hor or Seasons awaited her arrival, and having braided her hair with +fillets of gold, she was thence wafted to heaven. As she was born +laughing, an emanation of pleasure beamed from her countenance, and her +charms were so attractive, in the assembly of the gods, that most of +them desired to obtain her in marriage. Vulcan, however, the most +deformed of the celestials, became the successful competitor. + +One of the most remarkable adventures of this goddess was her contest +with Juno and Minerva for the superiority of beauty. At the marriage of +Peleus and Thetis, the goddess Discordia, resenting her not being +invited, threw a golden apple among the company, with this inscription, +_Let the fairest take it_. The competitors for this prize were Juno, +Venus, and Minerva. Jupiter referred them to Paris, who then led a +shepherd's life on Mount Ida. Before him the goddesses appeared. Juno +offered him empire or power, Minerva wisdom, and Venus promised him the +possession of the most beautiful woman in the world. Fatally for himself +and family, the shepherd, more susceptible of love than of ambition or +virtue, decided the contest in favor of Venus. + +The sacrifices usually offered to Venus, were white goats and swine, +with libations of wine, milk and honey. The victims were crowned with +flowers, or wreaths of myrtle, the rose and myrtle being sacred to +Venus. The birds sacred to her were the swan, the dove, and the sparrow. + +It were endless to enumerate the variety of attitudes in which Venus is +represented on antique gems and medals; sometimes she is clothed in +purple, glittering with diamonds, her head crowned with myrtle +intermixed with roses, and drawn in her car of ivory by swans, doves, or +sparrows: at other times she is represented standing with the Graces +attending her, and in all positions Cupid is her companion. In general +she has one of the prettiest, as Minerva has sometimes one of the +handsomest faces that can be conceived. Her look, as she is represented +by the ancient artists and poets, has all the enchanting airs and graces +that they could give it. + +LATONA. This goddess was daughter of Cus the Titan and Phoebe, or, +according to Homer, of Saturn. As she grew up extremely beautiful, +Jupiter fell in love with her; but Juno, discovering their intercourse, +not only expelled her from heaven, but commanded the serpent Python to +follow and destroy both her and her children. The earth also was caused +by the jealous goddess to swear that she would afford her no place in +which to bring forth. It happened, however, at this period, that the +island Delos, which had been broken from Sicily, lay under water, and +not having taken the oath, was commanded by Neptune to rise in the gean +sea, and afford her an asylum. Latona, being changed by Jupiter into a +quail, fled thither, and from this circumstance occasioned it to be +called Ortygia, from the name in Greek of that bird. She here gave birth +to Apollo and Diana. Ni{)o}be, daughter of Tant{)a}lus, and wife of +Amph{=i}on, king of Thebes, experienced the resentment of Latona, whose +children Apollo and Diana, at her instigation, destroyed. Her beauty +became fatal to Tityus, the giant, who was put to death also by the same +divinities. After having been long persecuted by Juno, she became a +powerful deity, beheld her children exalted to divine honors, and +received adoration where they were adored. + +In explanation of the fable, it may be observed, that as Jupiter is +taken for the maker of all things, so Latona is physically understood to +be the _matter_ out of which all things were made, which, according to +Plato, is called {Lt} or Latona, from {lthein} to lie _hid_ or +_concealed_, because all things originally lay hid in darkness till the +production of _light_, or birth of Apollo. + +AURORA, goddess of the morning, was the youngest daughter of Hyperion +and Theia, or, according to some, of Titan and Terra. Orpheus calls her +the harbinger of Titan, for she is the personification of that light +which precedes the appearance of the sun. The poets describe this +goddess as rising out of the ocean in a saffron robe, seated in a +flame-colored car, drawn by two or four horses, expanding with her rosy +fingers the gates of light, and scattering the pearly dew. Virgil +represents her horses as of flame color, and varies their number from +two to four, according as she rises slower or faster. + +She is said to have been daughter of Titan and the earth, because the +light of the morning seems to rise out of the earth, and to proceed from +the sun, which immediately follows it. She is styled mother of the four +winds, because, after a calm in the night, the winds rise in the +morning, as attendant upon the sun, by whose heat and light they are +begotten. There is no other goddess of whom we have so many beautiful +descriptions in the poets. + + + + +CHAPTER III. + +_Terrestrial Gods._ + + +SATURN was the son of Coelus and Tita or Terra, and married his sister +Vesta. She, with her other sisters, persuaded their mother to join them +in a plot, to exclude Titan, their elder brother, from his birthright, +and raise Saturn to his father's throne. Their design so far succeeded, +that Titan was obliged to resign his claim, though on condition, that +Saturn brought up no male children, and thus the succession might revert +to the Titans again. Saturn, it is said, observed this covenant so +faithfully, that he devoured, as soon as they were born, his legitimate +sons. His punctuality, however, in this respect, was at last frustrated +by the artifice of Vesta, who, being delivered of twins, Jupiter and +Juno, presented the latter to her husband, and concealing the former, +sent him to be nursed on Mount Ida in Crete, committing the care of him +to the Cur{=e}tes and Corybantes. + +The reign of Saturn was so mild and happy, that the poets have given it +the name of the golden age. The people, who before wandered about like +beasts, were then reduced to civil society; laws were enacted, and the +art of tilling and sowing the ground introduced; whence Varro tells us, +that Saturn had his name _a satu_, from _sowing_. + +He was usually represented as an old man, bare-headed and bald, with all +the marks of infirmity in his eyes, countenance, and figure. In his +right hand they sometimes placed a sickle or scythe; at others, a key, +and a circumflexed serpent biting its tail, in his left. He sometimes +was pictured with six wings, and feet of wool, to show how insensibly +and swiftly time passes. The scythe denoted his cutting down and +subverting all things, and the serpent the revolution of the year, _quod +in sese volvitur annus_. + +JANUS was a pagan deity, particularly of the ancient Romans. He was +esteemed the wisest sovereign of his time, and because he was supposed +to know what was past, and what was to come, they feigned that he had +two faces, whence the Latins gave him the epithets of Biceps, Bifrons, +and Biformis. + +He is introduced by Ovid as describing his origin, office and form: he +was the ancient Chaos, or confused mass of matter before the formation +of the world, the reduction of which into order and regularity, gave him +his divinity. Thus deified, he had the power of _opening_ and _shutting_ +every thing in the universe: he was arbiter of peace and war, and keeper +of the door of heaven. He was the god who presided over the beginning of +all undertakings; the first libations of wine and wheat were offered to +him, and the preface of all prayers directed to him. The first month of +the year took its denomination from Janus. + +It is certain that Janus early obtained divine honors among the Romans. +Numa ordained that his temple should be shut in time of peace, and +opened in time of war, from which ceremony Janus was called Clusius and +Patulcius. + +The peculiar offerings to Janus were cakes of new meal and salt, with +new wine and frankincense. In the feasts instituted by Numa, the +sacrifice was a ram, and the solemnities were performed by men, in the +manner of exercises and combats. Then all artificers and tradesmen began +their works, and the Roman consuls for the new year solemnly entered on +their office: all quarrels were laid aside, mutual presents were made, +and the day concluded with joy and festivity. Janus was seated in the +centre of twelve altars, in allusion to the twelve months of the year, +and had on his hands fingers to the amount of the days in the year. +Sometimes his image had four faces, either in regard to the four seasons +of the year, or to the four quarters of the world: he held in one hand a +key, and in the other a sceptre; the former may denote his opening, as +it were, and shutting the world, by the admission and exclusion of +light; and the latter his dominion over it. + +VULCAN was the offspring of Jupiter and Juno. He was so remarkably +deformed that Jupiter threw him down from heaven to the isle of Lemnos. +In this fall he broke his leg, as he also would have broken his neck, +had he not been caught by the Lemnians. It is added that he was a day in +falling from heaven to earth. Some report that Juno herself, disgusted +at his deformity, hurled down Vulcan into the sea, where he was nursed +by Thetis and her nymphs, whilst others contend that he fell upon land, +and was brought up by apes. It is probable that Juno had some hand in +his disgrace, since Vulcan, afterwards, in resentment of the injury, +presented his mother with a golden chair, which was so contrived by +springs unseen, that being seated in it she was unable to rise, till the +inventor was prevailed upon to grant her deliverance. + +The first abode of Vulcan on earth was in the isle of Lemnos. There he +set up his forges, and taught men the malleability and polishing of +metals. Thence he removed to the Liparean islands, near Sicily, where, +with the assistance of the Cyclops, he made Jupiter fresh thunder-bolts +as the old ones decayed. He also wrought an helmet for Pluto, which +rendered him invisible; a trident for Neptune, which shook both land and +sea; and a dog of brass for Jupiter, which he animated so as to perform +the functions of nature. At the request of Thetis he fabricated the +divine armor of Achilles, whose shield is so beautifully described by +Homer; as also the invincible armor of neas, at the entreaty of Venus. +However disagreeable the person of Vulcan might be, he was susceptible +notwithstanding of love. His first passion was for Minerva, having +Jupiter's consent to address her; but his courtship, in this instance, +failed of success, not only on account of his person, but also because +the goddess had vowed perpetual virginity. He afterwards became the +husband of Venus. + + + [Illustration: + + AURORA. + + HERE THE GAY MORN RESIDES IN RADIANT BOWERS, + HERE KEEPS HER REVELS WITH THE DANCING HOURS. + + Pope's Homer's Odyssey. B. 12. L. 2. + Pl. 5.] + + +He was reckoned among the gods presiding over marriage, from the torches +lighted by him to grace that solemnity. It was the custom in several +nations, after gaining a victory, to pile the arms of the enemy in a +heap on the field of battle, and make a sacrifice of them to Vulcan. As +to his worship, Vulcan had an altar in common with Prometheus, who first +invented fire, as did Vulcan the use of it, in making arms and utensils. +His principal temple was in a consecrated grove at the foot of mount +tna, in which was a fire continually burning. This temple was guarded +by dogs, which had the discernment to distinguish his votaries by +tearing the vicious, and fawning upon the virtuous. + +He was highly honored at Rome. Romulus built him a temple without the +walls of the city, the augurs being of opinion that the god of fire +ought not to be admitted within. But the highest mark of respect paid +him by the Romans was, that those assemblies were kept in his temple +where the most important concerns of the republic were debated, the +Romans thinking they could invoke nothing more sacred to confirm their +treaties and decisions, than the avenging fire of which that god was the +symbol. + +This deity, as the god of fire, was represented differently in different +nations: the Egyptians depicted him proceeding from an egg, placed in +the mouth of Jupiter, to denote the radical or natural heat diffused +through all created beings. In ancient gems and medals he is figured as +a lame, deformed and squalid man, with a beard, and hair neglected; half +naked; his habit reaching down to his knee only, and having a round +peaked cap on his head, a hammer in his right hand, and a smith's tongs +in his left, working at the anvil, and usually attended by the Cyclops, +or by some of the gods or goddesses for whom he is employed. + +The poets described him as blackened and hardened from the forge, with a +face red and fiery whilst at his work, and tired and heated after it. He +is almost always the subject either of pity or ridicule. In short, the +great celestial deities seem to have admitted Vulcan among them as great +men used to keep buffoons at their tables, to make them laugh, and to be +the butt of the whole company. + +If we wish to come at the probable meaning of this fable, we must have +recourse to Egyptian antiquities. The Horus of the Egyptians was the +most mutable figure on earth, for he assumed shapes suitable to all +seasons, and to all ranks. To direct the husbandman he wore a rural +dress; by a change of attributes he became the instructer of smiths and +other artificers, whose instruments he appeared adorned with. This Horus +of the smiths had a short or lame leg, to signify that agriculture or +husbandry will halt without the assistance of the handicraft or mechanic +arts. In this apparatus he was called _Mulciber_, (from _Mulci_, to +direct and manage, and _ber_ or _beer_, a cave or mine, comes Mulciber, +the king of the mines or forges;) he was called also Hephaistos, (from +_Aph_, _father_, and _Esto_, _fire_, comes Ephaisto, or Hephaiston, the +father of fire; and from _Wall_, to work, and Canan, to _hasten_, comes +_Wolcon_, Vulcan, or _work furnished_;) all which names the Greeks and +Romans adopted with the figure, and, as usual, converted from a _symbol_ +to a _god_. + +OLUS, god of the winds, is said to have been the son of Jupiter by +Acasta or Sigesia, daughter of Hippotas. His residence was, according to +most authors, at Rhegium in Italy; but wherever it was, he is +represented as holding the winds, enchained in a vast cave, to prevent +their committing any more such devastations as they had before +occasioned; for, to their violence was imputed not only the disjunction +of Sicily from Italy, but also the separation of Europe from Africa, by +which a passage was opened for the ocean to form the Mediterranean sea. +According to some, the olian, or Lip{)a}ri islands were uninhabited +till Lip{)a}rus, son of Auson, settled a colony there, and gave one of +them his name. {)o}lus married his daughter Cy{)a}ne, peopled the rest +and succeeded him on the throne. He was a generous and good prince, who +hospitably entertained Ulysses, and as a proof of his kindness, bestowed +on him several skins, in which he had enclosed the winds. The companions +of Ulysses, unable to restrain their curiosity, having opened the skins, +the winds in consequence were set free, and occasioned the wildest +uproar; insomuch that Ulysses lost all his vessels, and was himself +alone saved by a plank. It may not be improper to remark, that over the +rougher winds the poets have placed {)o}lus; over the milder, Juno; and +the rain, thunder and lightning they have committed to Jupiter himself. + +MOMUS, son of Somnus and Nox, was the god of pleasantry and wit, or +rather the jester of the celestial assembly; for, like other monarchs, +it was but reasonable that Jupiter too should have his fool. We have an +instance of Momus's fantastic humor in the contest between Neptune, +Minerva, and Vulcan, for skill. The first had made a bull, the second a +house, and the third a man. Momus found fault with them all. He disliked +the bull because his horns were not placed before his eyes, that he +might give a surer blow: he condemned Minerva's house because it was +immovable, and could not therefore be taken away if placed in a bad +neighborhood; and in regard to Vulcan's man, he said he ought to have +made a window in his breast, by which his heart might be seen, and his +secrets discovered. + + + + +CHAPTER IV. + +_Terrestrial Goddesses._ + + +CYBELE, _or_ VESTA _the elder_. It is highly necessary, in tracing the +genealogy of the heathen deities, to distinguish between this goddess +and Vesta the _younger_, her daughter, because the poets have been +faulty in confounding them, and ascribing the attributes and actions of +the one to the other. The elder Vesta, or Cyb{)e}le, was daughter of +Coelus and Terra, and wife of her brother Saturn, to whom she bore a +numerous offspring. She had a variety of names besides that of +Cyb{)e}le, under which she is most generally known, and which she +obtained from Mount Cyb{)e}lus, in Phrygia, where sacrifices to her were +first instituted. Her sacrifices and festivals, like those of Bacchus, +were celebrated with a confused noise of timbrels, pipes, and cymbals; +the sacrificants howling as if mad, and profaning both the temple of the +goddess, and the ears of their hearers with the most obscene language +and abominable gestures. + +Under the character of Vesta, she is generally represented upon ancient +coins in a sitting posture, with a lighted torch in one hand, and a +sphere or drum in the other. As Cyb{)e}le, she makes a more magnificent +appearance, being seated in a lofty chariot drawn by lions, crowned with +towers, and bearing in her hand a key. Being goddess, not of cities +only, but of all things which the earth sustains, she was crowned with +turrets, whilst the key implies not only her custody of cities, but also +that in winter the earth locks those treasures up, which she brings +forth and dispenses in summer: she rides in a chariot, because +(fancifully) the earth hangs suspended in the air, balanced and poised +by its own weight; and that the chariot is supported by wheels, because +the earth is a voluble body and turns round. Her being drawn by lions, +may imply that nothing is too fierce and intractable for a motherly +piety and tenderness to tame and subdue. Her garments are painted with +divers colors, but chiefly green, and figured with the images of several +creatures, because such a dress is suitable to the variegated and more +prevalent appearance of the earth. + +VESTA was the daughter of Vesta the elder, by Saturn, and sister of +Ceres, Juno, Pluto, Neptune and Jupiter. She was so fond of a single +life, that when her brother Jupiter ascended the throne, and offered to +grant whatever she asked, her only desires were the preservation of her +virginity, and the first oblation in all sacrifices. Numa Pompilius, the +great founder of religion among the Romans, is said first to have +restored the ancient rites and worship of this goddess, to whom he +erected a circular temple, which in succeeding ages was not only much +embellished, but also, as the earth was supposed to retain a constant +fire within, a perpetual fire was kept up in the temple of Vesta, the +care of which was intrusted to a select number of young females +appointed from the first families in Rome, and called _Vestal virgins_. + + + [Illustration: + + APOLLO AND THE MUSES. + Pl. 6.] + + +As this Vesta was the goddess of fire, the Romans had no images of her +in her temple; the reason for which, assigned by Ovid, is that fire has +no representative, as no bodies are produced from it: yet as Vesta was +the guardian of houses or hearths, her image was usually placed in the +porch or entry, and daily sacrifices were offered up to her. It is +certain nothing could be a stronger or more lively symbol of the supreme +being than fire; accordingly we find this emblem in early use throughout +the east. The Romans looked upon Vesta as one of the tutelar deities of +their empire; and they so far made the safety and fate of Rome depend on +the preservation of the sacred fire in the temple of Vesta, that they +thought the extinction of it foreboded the most terrible misfortune. + +CERES was daughter of Saturn and Ops, or Vesta. Sicily, Attica, Crete, +and Egypt, claim the honor of her birth, each country producing the +ground of its claims, though general suffrage favors the first. In her +youth, being extremely beautiful, Jupiter fell in love with her, and by +him she had Pereph{)a}ta, called afterwards Proserpine. For some time +she took up her residence in Corc{=y}ra, so called in later times, from +a daughter of As{=o}pus, there buried, but anciently _Drep{)a}num_, from +the sickle used by the goddess in reaping, which had been presented her +by Vulcan. Thence she removed to Sicily, where the violence of Pluto +deprived her of Proserpine. Disconsolate at her loss, she importuned +Jupiter for redress; but obtaining little satisfaction, she lighted +torches at the volcano of Mount tna, and mounting her car, drawn by +winged dragons, set out in search of her beloved daughter. This +transaction the Sicilians annually commemorated by running about in the +night with lighted torches and loud exclamations. + +It is disputed, by several nations, who first informed Ceres where her +daughter was, and thence acquired the reward, which was the art of +sowing corn. Some ascribe the intelligence to Triptol{)e}mus, and his +brother Eubul{)e}us; but the generality of writers agree in conferring +the honor on the nymph Areth{=u}sa, daughter of Nereus and Doris, and +companion of Diana, who, flying from the pursuit of the river +Alph{=e}us, saw Proserpine in the infernal regions. + +It must be owned that Ceres was not undeserving the highest titles +bestowed upon her, being considered as the deity who had blessed men +with the art of cultivating the earth, having not only taught them to +plough and sow, but also to reap, harvest, and thresh out their grain; +to make flour and bread, and fix limits or boundaries to ascertain their +possessions. The garlands used in her sacrifices were of myrtle, or +rape-weed; but flowers were prohibited, Proserpine being carried off as +she gathered them. The poppy alone was sacred to her, not only because +it grows amongst corn, but because, in her distress, Jupiter gave it her +to eat, that she might sleep and forget her troubles. Cicero mentions an +ancient temple dedicated to her at Catania, in Sicily in which the +offices were performed by matrons and virgins only, no man being +admitted. + +If to explain the fable of Ceres, we have recourse to Egypt; it will be +found, that the goddess of Sicily and Eleusis, or of Rome and Greece, is +no other than the Egyptian Isis, brought by the Phoenicians into those +countries. The very name of _mystery_, from _mistor_, a _veil_ or +_covering_, given to the Eleusinian rites, performed in honor of Ceres, +shows them to have been of Egyptian origin. The Isis, or the +emblematical figure exhibited at the feast appointed for the +commemoration of the state of mankind after the flood, bore the name of +Ceres, from Cerets, _dissolution_ or _overthrow_. She was represented in +mourning, and with torches, to denote the grief she felt for the loss of +her favorite daughter _Perseph{)o}ne_ (which word, translated, signifies +corn lost) and the pains she was at to recover her. The poppies with +which this Isis was crowned, signified the joy men received at their +first abundant crop, the word which signifies a _double crop_, being +also a name for the _poppy_. Perseph{)o}ne or Proserpine found again, +was a lively symbol of the recovery of corn, and its cultivation, almost +lost in the deluge. Thus, emblems of the most important events which +ever happened in the world, simple in themselves, became when +transplanted to Greece and Rome, sources of fable and idolatry. + +Ceres was usually represented of a tall majestic stature, fair +complexion, languishing eyes, and yellow or flaxen hair; her head +crowned with a garland of poppies, or ears of corn; holding in her right +hand a bunch of the same materials with her garland, and in her left a +lighted torch. When in a car or chariot, she is drawn by lions, or +winged dragons. + +MUS, the _Muses_. This celebrated sisterhood is said to have been the +daughters of Jupiter and Mn{=e}m{)o}syne. They were believed to have +been born on Mount Pi{)e}rus, and educated by Euph{=e}me. In general +they were considered as the tutelar goddesses of sacred festivals and +banquets, and the patronesses of polite and useful arts. They supported +virtue in distress, and preserved worthy actions from oblivion. Homer +calls them superintendants and correctors of manners. In respect to the +sciences, these sisters had each their separate province; though poetry +seemed more immediately under their united protection. + +These divinities, formerly called Mos, were so named from a Greek word +signifying _to inquire_; because, by inquiring of them, the sciences +might be learnt. Others say they had their name from their resemblance, +because there is a similitude, an infinity, and relation, betwixt all +the sciences, in which they agree together, and are united with each +other; for which reason they are often painted with their hands joined, +dancing in a circle round Apollo their leader. + +They were represented crowned with flowers, or wreaths of palm, each +holding some instrument, or emblem of the science or art over which she +presided. They were depicted as in the bloom of youth; and the bird +sacred to them was the swan, probably because that bird was consecrated +to their sovereign Apollo. There was a fountain of the Muses near Rome, +in the meadow where Numa used to meet the goddess Egeria; the care of +which and of the worship paid to the Muses, was intrusted to the Vestal +virgins. + +Their names were as follows: Clio, who presided over _history_. Her name +is derived from {kleios}, _glory_, or from {klei}, to _celebrate_. She +is generally represented under the form of a young woman crowned with +laurel, holding in her right hand a trumpet, and in her left a book: +others describe her with a lute in one hand, and in the other a +_plectrum_, or quill. + +Euterpe is distinguished by _tibi_ or pipes whence she was called also +Tib{=i}c{=i}na. Some say logic was invented by her. It was very common +with the musicians of old to play on two pipes at once, agreeably to the +remarks before Terence's plays, and as we often actually find them +represented in the remains of the artists. It was over this species of +music that Euterpe presided, as we learn from the first ode of Horace. + +Th{)a}l{=i}a presided over comedy, and whatever was gay, amiable, and +pleasant. She holds a mask in her right hand, and on medals she is +represented leaning against a pillar. She was the Muse of comedy, of +which they had a great mixture on the Roman stage in the earliest ages +of their poetry, and long after. She is distinguished from the other +Muses in general by a mask, and from Melpom{)e}ne, the tragic Muse, by +her shepherd's crook, not to speak of her look, which is meaner than +that of Melpom{)e}ne, or her dress, which is shorter, and consequently +less noble, than that of any other of the Muses. + +Melpom{)e}ne was so styled from the dignity and excellence of her song. +She presided over epic and lyric poetry. To her the invention of all +mournful verses, and, particularly, of tragedy, was ascribed; for which +reason Horace invokes her when he laments the death of Quintilius Varus. +She is usually represented of a sedate countenance, and richly habited, +with sceptres and crowns in one hand, and in the other a dagger. She has +her mask on her head, which is sometimes placed so far backward that it +has been mistaken for a second face. Her mask shows that she presided +over the stage; and she is distinguished from Th{)a}l{=i}a, or the comic +Muse, by having more of dignity in her look, stature, and dress. +Melpom{)e}ne was supposed to preside over all melancholy subjects, as +well as tragedy; as one would imagine at least from Horace's invoking +her in one of his odes, and his desiring her to crown him with laurel in +another. + +Terps{)i}ch{)o}re; that is, _the sprightly_. Some attribute her name to +the pleasure she took in dancing; others represent her as the +protectress of music, particularly the flute; and add, that the chorus +of the ancient drama was her province, to which also logic has been +annexed. She is further said to be distinguished by the flutes which she +holds, as well on medals as on other monuments. + +Er{)a}to, presided over elegiac or amorous poetry, and dancing, whence +she was sometimes called Saltatrix. She is represented as young, and +crowned with myrtle and roses, having a lyre in her right hand, and a +bow in her left, with a little winged Cupid placed by her, armed with +his bow and arrows. + +Polyhymnia. Her name, which is of Greek origin, and signifies _much +singing_, seems to have been given her for the number of her songs, +rather than her faithfulness of memory. To Polyhymnia belonged that +harmony of voice and gesture which gives a perfection to oratory and +poetry. She presided over rhetoric, and is represented with a crown of +pearls and a white robe, in the act of extending her right hand, as if +haranguing, and holding in her left a scroll, on which the word +_Suadere_ is written; sometimes, instead of the scroll, she appears +holding a _caduceus_ or sceptre. + +Urania, or Coelestis. She is the Muse who extended her care to all +divine or celestial subjects, such as the hymns in praise of the gods, +the motions of the heavenly bodies, and whatever regarded philosophy or +astronomy. She is represented in an azure robe, crowned with stars and +supporting a large globe with both hands: on medals this globe stands +upon a tripod. + +Calli{)o}pe, who presides over eloquence and heroic poetry; so called +from the ecstatic harmony of her voice. The poets, who are supposed to +receive their inspirations from the Muses, chiefly invoked Calli{)o}pe, +as she presided over the hymns made in honor of the gods. She is spoken +of by Ovid, as the chief of all the Muses. Under the same idea, Horace +calls her _Regina_, and attributes to her the skill of playing on what +instrument she pleases. + +ASTRA, or ASTREA, goddess of justice, was daughter of Astrus, one of +the Titans; or according to Ovid, of Jupiter and Themis. She descended +from heaven in the golden age, and inspired mankind with principles of +justice and equity, but the world growing corrupt, she re-ascended +thither, where she became the constellation in the Zodiac called Virgo. + +This goddess is represented with a serene countenance, her eyes bound or +blinded, having a sword in one hand, and in the other a pair of +balances, equally poised, or rods with a bundle of axes, and sitting on +a square stone. Among the Egyptians, she is described with her left hand +stretched forth and open, but without a head. According to the poets, +she was conversant on earth during the golden and silver ages, but in +those of brass and iron, was forced by the wickedness of mankind to +abandon the earth and retire to heaven. Virgil hints that she first +quitted courts and cities, and betook herself to rural retreats before +she entirely withdrew. + +NEMESIS, daughter of Jupiter and Necessity, or, according to some, of +Oce{)a}nus and Nox, had the care of revenging the crimes which human +justice left unpunished. The word Nem{)e}sis is of Greek origin, nor was +there any Latin word that expressed it, therefore the Latin poets +usually styled this goddess Rhamnusia, from a famous statue of +Nem{)e}sis at Rhamnus in Attica. She is likewise called Adrastea, +because Adrastus, king of Argos, first raised an altar to her. +Nem{)e}sis is plainly divine vengeance, or the eternal justice of God, +which severely punishes the wicked actions of men. She is sometimes +represented with wings, to denote the celerity with which she follows +men to observe their actions. + + + + +CHAPTER V. + +_Gods of the Woods._ + + +_Pan_, the god of shepherds and hunters, leader of the nymphs, president +of the mountains, patron of a country life, and guardian of flocks and +herds, was likewise adored by fishermen, especially those who lived +about the promontories washed by the sea. There is scarcely any of the +gods to whom the poets have given a greater diversity of parents. The +most common opinion is, that he was the son of Mercury and Penel{)o}pe. +As soon as he was born, his father carried him in a goat's skin to +heaven, where he charmed all the gods with his pipe, so that they +associated him with Mercury in the office of their messenger. After this +he was educated on Mount Mn{)a}lus, in Arcadia, by Si{)o}ne and the +other nymphs, who, attracted by his music, followed him as their +conductor. + +Pan, though devoted to the pleasures of rural life, distinguished +himself by his valor. In the war of the giants he entangled Typhon in +his nets. Bacchus, in his Indian expedition, was accompanied by him with +a body of Satyrs, who rendered Bacchus great service. When the Gauls +invaded Greece, and were just going to pillage Delphi, Pan struck them +with such a sudden consternation by night, that they fled without being +pursued: hence the expression of a _Panic fear_, for a sudden terror. +The Romans adopted him among their deities, by the names of Lupercus and +Lycus, and built a temple to him at the foot of Mount Palatine. + +He is represented with a smiling, ruddy face, and thick beard covering +his breast, two horns on his head, a star on his bosom, legs and thighs +hairy, and the nose, feet, and tail of a goat. He is clothed in a +spotted skin, having a shepherd's crook in one hand, and his pipe of +unequal reeds in the other, and is crowned with pine, that tree being +sacred to him. + +Pan probably signifies the universal nature, proceeding from the divine +mind and providence, of which the heaven, earth, sea, and the eternal +fire, are so many members. Mythologists are of opinion that his upper +parts are like a man, because the superior and celestial part of the +world is beautiful, radiant, and glorious: his horns denote the rays of +the sun, as they beam upwards, and his long beard signifies the same +rays, as they have an influence upon the earth: the ruddiness of his +face resembles the splendor of the sky, and the spotted skin which he +wears is the image of the starry firmament: his lower parts are rough, +hairy, and deformed, to represent the shrubs, wild creatures, trees, and +mountains here below: his goat's feet signify the solidity of the earth; +and his pipe of seven reeds, that celestial harmony which is made by the +seven planets; lastly, his sheep-hook denotes that care and providence +by which he governs the universe. + +SILENUS. As Bacchus was the god of good humor and fellowship, so none of +the deities appeared with a more numerous or splendid retinue, in which +Sil{=e}nus was the principal person; of whose descent, however, we have +no accounts to be relied on. Some say he was born at Malea, a city of +Sparta; others at Nysa in Arabia; but the most probable conjecture is, +that he was a prince of Caria, noted for his equity and wisdom. But +whatever be the fate of these different accounts, Sil{=e}nus is said to +have been preceptor to Bacchus, and was certainly a very suitable one +for such a deity, the old man being heartily attached to wine. He +however distinguished himself greatly in the war with the giants, by +appearing in the conflict on an ass, whose braying threw them into +confusion; for which reason, or because, when Bacchus engaged the +Indians, their elephants were put to flight by the braying of the ass, +it was raised to the skies, and there made a constellation. + +The historian tells us that Sil{=e}nus was the first of all the kings +that reigned at Nysa; that his origin is not known, it being beyond the +memory of mortals: it is likewise said that he was a Phrygian, who lived +in the reign of Midas, and that the shepherds having caught him, by +putting wine into the fountain he used to drink of, brought him to +Midas, who gave him his long ears; a fable intended to intimate that +this extraordinary loan signified the faculty of receiving universal +intelligence. Virgil makes Sil{=e}nus deliver a very serious and +excellent discourse concerning the creation of the world, when he was +scarcely recovered from a fit of drunkenness, which renders it probable +that the sort of drunkenness with which Sil{=e}nus is charged, had +something in it mysterious, and approaching to inspiration. + +He is described as a short, corpulent old man, bald-headed, with a flat +nose, prominent forehead and long ears. He is usually exhibited as +over-laden with wine, and seated on a saddled ass, upon which he +supports himself with a long staff in the one hand, and in the other +carries a _cantharus_ or jug, with the handle almost worn out with +frequent use. + +SYLVANUS. The descent of Sylv{=a}nus is extremely obscure. Some think +him son of Faunus, some say he was the same with Faunus, whilst others +suppose him the same deity with Pan, which opinion Pliny seems to adopt +when he says that the gipans were the same with the Sylvans. He was +unknown to the Greeks; but the Latins received the worship of him from +the Pelasgi, upon their migration into Italy, and his worship seems +wholly to have arisen out of the ancient sacred use of woods and groves, +it being introduced to inculcate a belief that there was no place +without the presence of a deity. The Pelasgi consecrated groves, and +appointed solemn festivals, in honor of Sylv{=a}nus. The hog and milk +were the offerings tendered him. A monument consecrated to this deity, +by one Laches, gives him the epithet of Littor{=a}lis, whence it would +seem that he was worshipped upon the sea-coasts. + +The priests of Sylv{=a}nus constituted one of the principal colleges of +Rome, and were in great reputation, a sufficient evidence of the fame of +his worship. Many writers confound the Sylv{=a}ni, Fauni, Satyri, and +Sil{=e}ni, with Pan. + +Some monuments represent him as little of stature, with the face of a +man, and the legs and feet of a goat, holding a branch of cypress in his +hand, in token of his regard for Cyparissus, who was transformed into +that tree. The pineapple, a pruning-knife in his hand, a crown coarsely +made, and a dog, are the ordinary attributes of the representations of +this rural deity. He appears sometimes naked, sometimes covered with a +rustic garb which reaches down to his knee. + +Sylv{=a}nus, as his name imports, presided over woods, and the fruits +that grew in them; agreeable to which, (in some figures) he has a lap +full of fruit, his pruning-hook in one hand, and a young cypress tree in +the other. Virgil mentions the latter as a distinguishing attribute of +this god: the same poet, on another occasion, describes him as crowned +with wild flowers, and mentions his presiding over the cornfields as +well as the woods. + +SATYRI, _or_ SATYRS, a sort of demi-gods, who with the Fauns and +Sylvans, presided over groves and forests under the direction of Pan. +They made part of the _dramatis pers{=o}n_ in the ancient Greek +tragedies, which gave rise to the species of poetry called satirical. + +There is a story that Euph{=e}mus, passing from Caria to the extreme +parts of the ocean, discovered many desert islands, and being forced by +tempestuous weather to land upon one of them, called Satyr{)i}da, he +found inhabitants covered with yellow hair, having tails not much less +than horses. We are likewise told, that in the expedition which Hanno +the Carthaginian made to the parts of Lybia lying beyond Hercules' +pillars, they came to a great bay called the Western Horn, in which was +an island where they could find or see nothing by day-light but woods, +and yet in the night they observed many fires, and heard an incredible +and astonishing noise of drums and trumpets; whence they concluded that +a number of Satyrs abode there. + +It is pretended there really were such monsters as the pagans deified +under the name of Satyrs; and one of them, it is said, was brought to +Sylla, having been surprised in his sleep. Sylla ordered him to be +interrogated by people of different countries, to know what language he +spoke; but the Satyr only answered with cries, not unlike those of goats +and the neighing of horses. This monster had a human body, but the +thighs, legs, and feet of a goat. To the above stories may be added that +of the Satyr who passed the Rubicon in presence of Csar and his whole +army. + +The Satyrs of the ancients were the ministers and attendants of Bacchus. +Their form was not the most inviting; for though their countenances were +human, they had horns on their foreheads, crooked hands, rough and hairy +bodies, feet and legs like a goat's, and tails which resembled those of +horses. The shepherds sacrificed to them the firstlings of their flocks, +but more especially grapes and apples; and they addressed to them songs +in their forests by which they endeavored to conciliate their favor. +When Satyrs arrived at an advanced age they were called Sil{=e}ni. + +FAUNI, _or_ FAUNS, a species of demi-gods, inhabiting the forests, +called also _Sylv{=a}ni_. They were sons of Faunus and Fauna, or Fatua, +king and queen of the Latins, and though accounted demi-gods, were +supposed to die after a long life. Arnobius, indeed, has shown that +their father, or chief, lived only one hundred and twenty years. The +Fauns were Roman deities, unknown to the Greeks. The Roman Faunus was +the same with the Greek Pan; and as in the poets we find frequent +mention of _Fauns_, and _Pans_, or _Panes_, in the plural number, most +probable the Fauns were the same with the Pans, and all descended from +one progenitor. + +The Romans called them _Fauni_ and _Ficarii_. The denomination _Ficarii_ +was not derived from the Latin _ficus_ a _fig_, as some have imagined, +but from _ficus_, _fici_, a sort of fleshy tumor or excrescence growing +on the eyelids and other parts of the body, which the Fauns were +represented as having. They were called Fauni, _a fando_, from +_speaking_, because they were wont to speak and converse with men; an +instance of which is given in the voice that was heard from the wood, in +the battle between the Romans and Etrurians for the restoration of the +Tarquins, and which encouraged the Romans to fight. We are told that the +Fauni were husbandmen, the Satyrs vine-dressers, and the Sylv{=a}ni +those who cut down wood in the forests. + +They were represented with horns on their heads, pointed ears, and +crowned with branches of the pine, which was a tree sacred to them, +whilst their lower extremities resembled those of a goat. + +Horace makes Faunus the guardian and protector of men of wit, and +Virgil, a god of oracles and predictions; but this is, perhaps, founded +on the etymology of his name, for {phnein} in Greek, and _Fari_ in +Latin, of which it has been supposed a derivative, signify to _speak_; +and it was, perhaps, for the same reason, they called his wife _Fauna_, +that is, _Fatidica_, _prophetess_. Faunus is described by Ovid with +horns on his head, and crowned with the pine tree. + +PRIAPUS is said, by some, to have been the son of Bacchus and Nais, or +as others will have it, of Chi{)o}ne; but the generality of authors +agree, that he was son of Bacchus and Venus. He was born at +Lamps{)a}chus, a city of Mysia, at the mouth of the Hellespont, but in +so deformed a state, that his mother, through shame, abandoned him. On +his growing up to maturity, the inhabitants of the place banished him +their territories, on account of his vicious habits; but being soon +after visited with an epidemic disease, the Lampsacans consulted the +oracle of Dod{=o}na, and Pri{=a}pus was in consequence recalled. Temples +were erected to him as the tutelar deity of vineyards and gardens, to +defend them from thieves and from birds. + +He is usually represented naked and obscene, with a stern countenance, +matted hair, crowned with garden herbs, and holding a wooden sword, or +scythe, whilst his body terminates in a shapeless trunk. His figures are +generally erected in gardens and orchards to serve as scarecrows. +Pri{=a}pus held a pruning-hook in his hands, when he had hands, for he +was sometimes nothing more than a mere log of wood, as Martial somewhat +humorously calls him. Indeed the Roman poets in general seem to have +looked on him as a ridiculous god, and are all ready enough either to +despise or abuse him. + +Trimalchio, in his ridiculous feasts described by Petronius, had a +figure of this god to be held up during his dessert: it was made of +paste, and, as Horace observes on another occasion, that he owed all his +divinity to the carpenter, Petronius seems to hint that he was wholly +obliged for it to the pastry cook in this. Some mythologists make the +birth of Pri{=a}pus allude to that radical moisture which supports all +vegetable productions, and which is produced by Bacchus and Venus, that +is, the solar heat, and the fluid whence Venus is said to have sprung. +Some affirm that he was the same with the Baal of the Phoenicians, +mentioned in scripture. + +ARISTUS, son of Apollo, by the nymph Cyrene, daughter of Hypseus, king +of the Lap{)i}th, was born in Lybia, and in that part of it where the +city Cyrene was built. He received his education from the nymphs, who +taught him to extract oil from olives, and to make honey, cheese, and +butter; all which arts he communicated to mankind. Going to Thebes, he +there married Auton{)o}e, daughter of Cadmus, and, by her, was father to +Acton, who was torn in pieces by his own dogs. At length he passed into +Thrace, where Bacchus initiated him into the mysteries of the Orgia, and +taught him many things conducive to the happiness of life. Having dwelt +some time near Mount Hemus, he disappeared, and not only the barbarous +people of that country, but the Greeks likewise decreed him divine +honors. + +It is remarked by Bayle, that Aristus found out the solstitial rising +of Sirius, or the dog-star; and he adds, it is certain that this star +had a particular relation to Aristus; for this reason, when the heats +of the dog-star laid waste the Cycl{)a}des, and occasioned there a +pestilence, Aristus was entreated to put a stop to it. He went directly +into the isle of Cea, and built an altar to Jupiter, offered sacrifices +to that deity, as well to the malignant star, and established an +anniversary for it. These produced a very good effect, for it was from +thence that the Etesian winds had their origin, which continue forty +days, and temper the heat of the summer. On his death, for the services +he had rendered mankind, he was placed among the stars, and is the +Aquarius of the Zodiac. + +TERMINUS was a very ancient deity among the Romans, whose worship was +first instituted by Numa Pompilius, he having erected in his honor on +the Tarpeian hill a temple which was open at the top. This deity was +thought to preside over the stones or land-marks, called Term{)i}ni, +which were so highly venerated, that it was sacrilege to move them, and +the criminal becoming devoted to the gods, it was lawful for any man to +kill him. The Roman Term{)i}ni were square stones or posts, much +resembling our mile-stones, erected to show that no force or violence +should be used in settling mutual boundaries; they were sometimes +crowned with a human head, but had seldom any inscriptions; one, +however, is mentioned to this effect, "Whosoever shall take away this, +or shall order it to be taken away, may he die the last of his family." + +VERTUMNUS, the Proteus of the Roman ritual, was the god of tradesmen, +and, from the power he had of assuming any shape, was believed to +preside over the thoughts of mankind. His courtship of Pom{=o}na makes +one of the most elegant and entertaining stories in Ovid. The Romans +esteemed him the god of tradesmen, from the turns and changes which +traffic effects. There was no god had a greater variety of +representations than Vertumnus. He is painted with a garland of flowers +on his head, a pruning hook in one hand, and ripe fruits in the other. +Pom{=o}na has a pruning hook in her right hand, and a branch in her +left. Pliny introduces this goddess personally, even in his prose, to +make her speak in praise of the fruits committed to her care. We learn +from Ovid that this goddess was of that class which they anciently +called Hamadryads. + +Both these deities were unknown to the Greeks, and only honored by the +Romans. Some imagine Vertumnus an emblem of the year, which, though it +assume different dresses according to the different seasons, is at no +time so luxuriant as in autumn, when the harvest is crowned, and the +fruits appear in their full perfection and lustre; but historians say +that Vertumnus was an ancient king of the Tuscans, who first taught his +people the method of planting orchards, gardens, and vineyards, and the +manner of cultivating, pruning, and grafting fruit-trees; whence he is +reported to have married Pom{=o}na. Some think he was called Vertumnus, +from turning the lake Curtus into the Tiber. + + + + +CHAPTER VI. + +_Goddesses of the Woods._ + + +DIANA, daughter of Jupiter and Lat{=o}na, and sister of Apollo, was born +in the island of Delos. She had a threefold divinity, being styled +Di{=a}na on earth, Luna, or the moon, in heaven, and Hec{)a}te, or +Proserpine, in hell. The poets say she had three heads, one of a horse, +another of a woman, and the third of a dog. Hesiod makes Di{=a}na, Luna, +and Hec{)a}te, three distinguished goddesses. + +Of all the various characters of this goddess, there is no one more +known than that of her presiding over woods, and delighting in hunting. +The Di{=a}na Venatrix, or goddess of the chase, is frequently +represented as running on, with her vest flying back with the wind, +notwithstanding its being shortened, and girt about her for expedition. +She is tall of stature, and her face, though so very handsome, is +something manly. Her feet are sometimes bare, and sometimes adorned with +a sort of buskin, which was worn by the huntresses of old. She often has +a quiver on her shoulder, and sometimes holds a javelin, but more +usually her bow, in her right hand. It is thus she makes her appearance +in several of her statues, and it is thus the Roman poets describe her, +particularly in the epithets they give this goddess, in the use of which +they are so happy that they often bring the idea of whole figures of her +into your mind by a single word. The statues of this Di{=a}na were very +frequent in woods: she was represented there in all the different ways +they could think of; sometimes as hunting, sometimes as bathing, and +sometimes as resting herself after her fatigue. The height of Di{=a}na's +stature is frequently marked out in the poets, and that, generally, by +comparing her with her nymphs. + +Another great character of Di{=a}na is that under which she is +represented as the intelligence which presides over the planet of the +moon; in which she is depicted in her car as directing that planet. Her +figure under this character is frequently enough to be met with on gems +and medals, which generally exhibit her with a lunar crown, or crescent +on her forehead, and sometimes as drawn by stags, sometimes by does, +but, more commonly than either, by horses. The poets speak of her +chariot and her horses; they agree with the artists in giving her but +two, and show, that the painters of old generally drew them of a perfect +white color. + +A third remarkable way of representing Di{=a}na was with three bodies; +this is very common among the ancient figures of the goddess, and it is +hence the poets call her the triple, the three-headed, and the +three-bodied Di{=a}na. Her distinguishing name under this triple +appearance is Hec{)a}te, or Trivia; a goddess frequently invoked in +enchantments, and fit for such black operations; for this is the +infernal Di{=a}na, and as such is represented with the characteristics +of a fury, rather than as one of the twelve great celestial deities: all +her hands hold instruments of terror, and generally grasp either cords, +or swords, or serpents, or fire-brands. + +There are various conjectures concerning the name _Hec{)a}te_, which is +supposed to come from a Greek word signifying an _hundred_, either +because an hundred victims at a time used to be offered to her, or else +because by her edicts the ghosts of those who die without burial, wander +an hundred years upon the banks of the Styx. Mythologists say that +Hec{)a}te is the _order_ and _force_ of the Fates, who obtained from the +divine power that influence which they have over human bodies; that the +operation of the Fates are hidden, but descend by the means and +interposition of the stars, wherefore it is necessary that all inferior +things submit to the cares, calamities, and death which the Fates bring +upon them, without any possibility of resisting the divine will. + +Hesiod relates of Hec{)a}te, to show the extent of her power, that +Jupiter had heaped gifts and honors upon her far above all the other +deities; that she was empress of the earth and sea, and all things which +are comprehended in the compass of the heavens; that she was a goddess +easy to be entreated, kind, and always ready to do good, bountiful of +gold and riches, which are wholly in her power; that whatever springs +from seed, whether in heaven, or on earth, is subject to her, and that +she governs the fates of all things. + +PALES was a rural goddess of the Romans. She was properly the divinity +of shepherds, and the tutelar deity and protectress of their flocks. Her +votaries had usually wooden images of her. A feast called Palilia or +Parilia was celebrated on the twenty-first of April, or, according to +some, in May, in the open fields. The offerings were milk and cakes of +millet, in order to engage her to defend their flocks from wild beasts +and infectious diseases. As part of the ceremony, they burned heaps of +straw, and leaped over them. Some make Pales the same with Vesta or +Cyb{)e}le. This goddess is represented as an old woman. + +FLORA, the goddess of flowers, was a Roman deity. The ancients made her +the wife of Zephyrus, to intimate that Flora, or the natural heat of the +plant, must concur with the influence of the warmest wind for the +production of flowers. Varro reckons Flora among the ancient deities of +the Sabines, which were received into Rome on the union of the Sabines +with the Romans. Ovid says, that her Greek name was Chloris, and that +the Latins changed it into Flora. + +FERONIA was the goddess of woods and orchards. She is called Feronia +from the verb _fero, to bring forth_, because she _produced_ and +_propagated_ trees, or from Fer{=o}n{)i}ci, a town situated near the +foot of Mount Soracte, in Italy, where was a wood, and a temple +dedicated to her; which town and wood are mentioned by Virgil, in his +catalogue of the forces of Turnus. The Lacedemonians first introduced +her worship into Italy under Evander; for these people, being offended +at the rigor of the laws of Lycurgus, resolved to seek out some new +plantation, and arriving, after a long and dangerous voyage, in Italy, +they, to show their gratitude for their preservation, built a temple to +Feronia, so called from their _bearing patiently_ all the fatigues and +dangers they had encountered in their voyage. This edifice casually +taking fire, the people ran to remove and preserve the image of the +goddess, when on a sudden the fire became extinguished, and the grove +assumed a native and flourishing verdure. + +Horace mentions the homage that was paid to this deity, by washing the +face and hands, according to custom, in the sacred fountain which flowed +near her temple. Slaves received the cap of liberty at her shrine, on +which account they regarded her as their patroness. How Feronia was +descended, where born, or how educated, is not transmitted to us; but +she is said to have been wife to Jupiter Anxur, so called, because he +was worshipped in that place. + + + [Illustration: + + NEPTUNE RISING FROM THE SEA + + HE SITS SUPERIOR & THE CHARIOT FLIES. + + Pope's Homer's Iliad. B. 13. L. 41 + Pl. 7.] + + +NYMPH, _the_ NYMPHS, were certain inferior goddesses, inhabiting the +mountains, woods, valleys, rivers, seas, &c. said to be daughters of +Oceanus and Tethys. According to ancient mythology, the whole universe +was full of these nymphs, who are distinguished into several ranks and +classes, though the general division of them is into celestial and +terrestrial. I. The Celestial Nymphs, called _Urani_, were supposed to +govern the heavenly bodies or spheres. II. The Terrestrial Nymphs, +called _Epigei_, presided over the several parts of the inferior world; +these were again subdivided into those of the water, and those of the +earth. + +The Nymphs of the water were ranged under several classes: 1. The +Ocean{)i}des, or Nymphs of the ocean. 2. The Nereids, daughters of +Nereus and Doris. 3. The Naiads, Nymphs of the fountains. 4. The +Ephydri{)a}des, also Nymphs of the fountains; and 5. The Limni{)a}des, +Nymphs of the lakes. The Nymphs of the earth were likewise divided into +different classes; as, 1. The Ore{)a}des, or Nymphs of the mountains. 2. +The Nap, Nymphs of the meadows; and 3. The Dryads and Hamadryads, +Nymphs of the woods and forests. Besides these, there were Nymphs who +took their names from particular countries, rivers, &c. as the +Dardan{)i}des, Tiber{)i}des, Ismen{)i}des, &c. + +Pausanias reports it as the opinion of the ancient poets that the Nymphs +were not altogether free from death, or immortal, but that their years +wore in a manner innumerable; that prophecies were inspired by the +Nymphs, as well as the other deities; and that they had foretold the +destruction of several cities: they were likewise esteemed as the +authors of divination. + +Meursius is of opinion, that the Greeks borrowed their notion of these +divinities from the Phoenicians, for _nympha_, in their language, +signifying _soul_, the Greeks imagined that the souls of the ancient +inhabitants of Greece had become Nymphs; particularly that the souls of +those who had inhabited the woods were called Dryads; those who +inhabited the mountains, Ore{)a}des; those who dwelt on the sea-coasts, +Nereids; and, lastly, those who had their place of abode near rivers or +fountains, Naiads. Though goats were sometimes sacrificed to the Nymphs, +yet their stated offerings were milk, oil, honey and wine. They were +represented as young and beautiful virgins, and dressed in conformity to +the character ascribed to them. + + + + + +CHAPTER VII. + +_Gods of the Sea._ + + +NEPTUNE was the son of Saturn, and Rhea or Ops, and brother of Jupiter. +When arrived at maturity, he assisted his brother Jupiter in his +expeditions, for which that god, on attaining to supreme power, assigned +him the sea and the islands for his empire. Whatever attachment Neptune +might have had to his brother at one period, he was at another expelled +heaven for entering into a conspiracy against him, in conjunction with +several other deities; whence he fled, with Apollo, to Laomedon, king of +Troy, where Neptune having assisted in raising the walls of the city, +and being dismissed unrewarded, in revenge, sent a sea-monster to lay +waste the country. + +On another occasion, this deity had a contest with Vulcan and Minerva, +in regard to their skill. The goddess, as a proof of her's, made a +horse, Vulcan a man, and Neptune a bull, whence that animal was used in +the sacrifices to him, though it is probable that, as the victim was to +be black, the design was to point out the raging quality and fury of the +sea, over which he presided. The Greeks make Neptune to have been the +creator of the horse, which he produced from out of the earth with a +blow of his trident, when disputing with Minerva who should give the +name to Cecropia, which was afterwards called Athens, from the name in +Greek of Minerva, who made an olive tree spring up suddenly, and thus +obtained the victory. + +In this fable, however, it is evident that the horse could signify +nothing but a ship; for the two things in which that region excelled +being ships and olive-trees, it was thought politic by this means to +bring the citizens over from too great a fondness for sea affairs, to +the cultivation of their country, by showing that Pallas was preferable +to Neptune, or, in other words, _husbandry to sailing_, which, without +some further meaning, the production of a horse could never have done. +It notwithstanding appears that Neptune had brought the management of +the horse, as likewise the art of building ships, to very great +perfection; insomuch that Pamphus, who was the most ancient writer of +hymns to the gods, calls him the benefactor of mankind, in bestowing +upon them horses and ships which had stems and decks that resembled +towers. + +If Neptune created the horse, he was likewise the inventor of +chariot-races; hence Mithrid{=a}tes, king of Pontus, threw chariots, +drawn by four horses, into the sea, in honor of Neptune: and the Romans +instituted horse-races in the circus during his festival, at which time +all horses ceased from working, and the mules were adorned with wreaths +of flowers. + +Neptune, represented as a god of the sea, makes a considerable figure: +he is described with black or dark hair, his garment of an azure or +sea-green color, seated in a large shell drawn by whales, or sea-horses, +with his trident in his hand, attended by the sea-gods Palmon, Glaucus, +and Phorcys; the sea-goddesses Thetis, Melita, and Panop{=e}a, and a +long train of Tritons and sea-nymphs. + +The inferior artists represent him sometimes with an angry and disturbed +air; and we may observe the same difference in this particular between +the great and inferior poets as there is between the bad and the good +artists. Thus Ovid describes Neptune with a sullen look, whereas Virgil +expressly tells us that he has a mild face, even where he is +representing him in a passion. Even at the time that he is provoked, and +might be expected to have appeared disturbed, and in a passion, there is +serenity and majesty in his face. + +On some medals he treads on the beak of a ship, to show that he presided +over the seas, or more particularly over the Mediterranean sea, which +was the great, and almost the only scene for navigation among the old +Greeks and Romans. He is standing, as he generally was represented; he +most commonly, too, has his trident in his right hand: this was his +peculiar sceptre, and seems to have been used by him chiefly to rouse up +the waters; for we find sometimes that he lays it aside when he is to +appease them, but he resumes it when there is occasion for violence. +Virgil makes him shake Troy from its foundation with it; and in Ovid it +is with the stroke of this that the waters of the earth are let loose +for the general deluge. The poets have generally delighted in describing +this god as passing over the calm surface of the waters, in his chariot +drawn by sea-horses. The fine original description of this is in Homer, +from whom Virgil and Statius have copied it. + +In searching for the mythological sense of the fable, we must again have +recourse to Egypt, that kingdom which, above all others, has furnished +the most ample harvest for the reaper of mysteries. The Egyptians, to +denote navigation, and the return of the Phoenician fleet, which +annually visited their coast, used the figure of an Osiris borne on a +winged horse, and holding a three-forked spear, or harpoon. To this +image they gave the name of Poseidon, or Neptune, which, as the Greeks +and Romans afterwards adopted, sufficiently proves this deity had his +birth here. Thus the maritime Osiris of the Egyptians became a new deity +with those who knew not the meaning of the symbol. + +TRITON. It is not agreed who were the parents of Triton; but he was a +sea-deity, the herald and trumpeter of Oceanus and Neptune. He sometimes +delighted in mischief, for he carried off the cattle from the Tanagrian +fields, and destroyed the smaller coasting vessels; so that to appease +his resentment, the Tanagrians offered him libations of new wine. +Pleased with its flavor and taste, he drank so freely that he fell +asleep, and tumbling from an eminence, one of the natives cut of his +head. He left a daughter called Tristia. + +The poets ordinarily attribute to Triton, the office of calming the sea, +and stilling of tempests: thus in the Metamorphoses we read, that +Neptune desiring to recall the waters of the deluge, commanded Triton to +sound his trumpet, at the noise of which they retired to their +respective channels, and left the earth again habitable, having swept +off almost the whole human race. + +This god is exhibited in the human form from the waist upwards, with +blue eyes, a large mouth, and hair matted like wild parsley; his +shoulders covered with a purple skin, variegated with small scales, his +feet resembling the fore feet of a horse, and his lower parts +terminating in a double forked tail: sometimes he is seen in a car, with +horses of a bright cerulean. His trumpet is a large conch, or sea-shell. +There were several Tritons, but one chief over all, the distinguished +messenger of Neptune, as Mercury was of Jupiter, and Iris of Juno. + +OCEANUS, oldest son of Coelus and Terra, or Vesta. He married Tethys, +and besides her had many other wives. He had several sisters, all +Nymphs, each of whom possessed an hundred woods and as many rivers. +Oceanus was esteemed by the ancients as the father both of gods and men, +who were said to have taken their beginning from him, on account of the +ocean's encompassing the earth with its waves, and because he was the +principal of that radical moisture diffused through universal matter, +without which, according to Thales, nothing could either be produced or +subsist. + +Homer makes Juno visit Oceanus at the remotest limits of the earth, and +acknowledge him and Tethys as the parents of the gods, adding, that she +herself had been brought up under their tuition. Many of his children +are mentioned in poetical story, whose names it would be endless to +enumerate, and, indeed, they are only the appellations of the principal +rivers of the world. Oceanus was described with a bull's head, to +represent the rage and bellowing of the ocean when agitated by storms. +Oceanus and Tethys are ranked in the highest classes of sea-deities, and +as governors in chief over the whole world of waters. + +NEREUS, a sea-deity, was son of Oceanus, by Tethys. Apollodorus gives +him Terra for his mother. His education and authority were in the +waters, and his residence, more particularly, the gean seas. He had the +faculty of assuming what form he pleased. He was regarded as a prophet; +and foretold to Paris the war which the rape of Helen would bring upon +his country. When Hercules was ordered to fetch the golden apples of the +Hesperides, he went to the Nymphs inhabiting the grottoes of Eridanus, +to know where he might find them; the Nymphs sent him to Nereus, who, to +elude the inquiry, perpetually varied his form, till Hercules having +seized him, resolved to hold him till he resumed his original shape, on +which he yielded the desired information. Nereus had, by his sister +Doris, fifty daughters called Nereids. Hesiod highly celebrates him as a +mild and peaceful old man, a lover of justice and moderation. Nereus and +Doris, with their descendants the Nereids, or Oceaniads, so called from +Oceanus, are ranked in the third class of water deities. + +PALMON, _or_ MELICERTES, was son of Athamas, king of Thebes and Ino. +The latter fearing the rage of her husband, who in his madness had +killed his son Learchus, took Melicertes in her arms, and leaped with +him from the rock Molyris into the sea. Neptune received them with open +arms, and gave them a place among the marine gods, only changing their +names, Ino being called Leucothea, or Leucothoe, and Melicertes, +Palmon. Ino, under the name Leucothea, is supposed, by some, to be the +same with Aurora: the Romans gave her the name of Matuta, she being +reputed the goddess that ushers in the morning; and Palmon, they called +Portumnus, or Portunnus, and painted him with a key in his hand, to +denote that he was the guardian of harbors. Adorations were paid to him +chiefly at Tenedos, and the sacrifice offered to him was an infant. + +Pausanias says that the body of Melicertes was thrown on the Isthmus of +Corinth where Sisyphus, his uncle, who reigned in that city, instituted +the Isthmian games in his honor. For this fable we are indebted to the +fertile invention of the Greeks, Melicertes being no other than the +Melcarthus or the Hercules of Tyre, who, from having been drowned in the +sea, was called a god of it, and from his many voyages, the guardian of +harbors. + +GLAUCUS, a sea-deity. His story, which is very fanciful, shows the +extravagance of poetical fiction amongst the ancients. Before his +deification, Glaucus is said to have been a fisherman of Anthedon, who +having one day remarked that the fishes which he laid on a particular +herb revived and threw themselves into the sea, resolved himself to +taste it, and immediately followed their example: the consequence was, +that he became a Triton, and ever after was reputed a marine deity, +attending with the rest on the car of Neptune. + +The descent of this deity is exceeding dubious. He is said to have +carried off Ariadne from the island Dia, for which Bacchus bound him +fast with vine-twigs. The ship Argo is said to have been constructed by +him, and he is not only mentioned as commanding her, when Jason fought +with the Tyrrhenians, but as being the only one of her crew that came +off without a wound. He dwelt some time at Delos, and, besides +prophesying with the Nereids, is affirmed to have instructed Apollo in +the art. + +SCYLLA was the daughter of Phorcus, or Phorcys, by Ceto. Glaucus, being +passionately fond of Scylla, after vainly endeavoring to gain her +affections, applied to Circe, and besought her, by her art, to induce +her to return his affection. On this, Circe disclosed to him her +passion, but Glaucus remaining inexorable, the enchantress vowed +revenge, and by her magic charms so infected the fountain in which +Scylla bathed, that on entering it, her lower parts were turned into +dogs; at which the nymph, terrified at herself, plunged into the sea, +and there was changed to a rock, notorious for the shipwrecks it +occasioned. + +Authors are disagreed as to Scylla's form; some say she retained her +beauty from the neck downwards, but had six dog's heads: others +maintain, that her upper parts continued entire, but that she had below +the body of a wolf, and the tail of a serpent. The rock named Scylla, +lies between Italy and Sicily, and the noise of the waves beating on it +is supposed to have occasioned the fable of the barking of dogs, and +howling of wolves, ascribed to the imaginary monster. + +CHARYBDIS was a rapacious woman, a female robber, who, it is said, stole +the oxen of Hercules, for which she was thunder-struck by Jupiter, and +turned into a whirlpool, dangerous to sailors. This whirlpool was +situated opposite the rock Scylla, at the entrance of the Faro from +Messina, and occasioned the proverb of running into one danger to avoid +another. Some affirm that Hercules killed her himself; others, that +Scylla committed this robbery, and was killed for it by Hercules. + + + + +CHAPTER VIII. + +_Tartarus and its Deities._ + + +TARTARUS _or_ HELL, the region of punishment after death. The whole +imaginary world, which we call Hell, though according to the ancients it +was the receptacle of all departed persons, of the good as well as the +bad, is divided by Virgil into five parts: the first may be called the +previous region; the second is the region of waters, or the river which +they were all to pass; the third is what we may call the gloomy region, +and what the ancients called Erebus; the fourth is Tartarus, or the +region of torments; and the fifth the region of joy and bliss, or what +we still call Elysium. + +The first part in it Virgil has stocked with two sorts of beings; first, +with those which make the real misery of mankind upon earth, such as +war, discord, labor, grief, cares, distempers, and old age; and, +secondly, with fancied terrors, and all the most frightful creatures of +our own imagination, such as Gorgons, Harpies, Chimras and the like. + +The next is the water which all the departed were supposed to pass, to +enter into the other world; this was called Styx, or the hateful +passage: the imaginary personages of this division are the souls of the +departed, who are either passing over, or suing for a passage, and the +master of a vessel who carries them over, one freight after another, +according to his will and pleasure. + +The third division begins immediately with the bank on the other side +the river, and was supposed to extend a great way in: it is subdivided +again into several particular districts; the first seems to be the +receptacle for infants. The next for all such as have been put to death +without a cause; next is the place for those who have put a period to +their own lives, a melancholy region, and situated amidst the marshes +made by the overflowings of the Styx, or hateful river, or passage into +the other world: after this are the fields of mourning, full of dark +woods and groves, and inhabited by those who died of love: last of all +spreads an open champaign country, allotted for the souls of departed +warriors; the name of this whole division is Erebus: its several +districts seem to be disposed all in a line, one after the other, but +after this the great line or road divides into two, of which the right +hand road leads to Elysium, or the place of the blessed, and the left +hand road to Tartarus, or the place of the tormented. + +The fourth general division of the subterraneous world is this Tartarus, +or the place of torments: there was a city in it, and a prince to +preside over it: within this city was a vast deep pit, in which the +tortures were supposed to be performed: in this horrid part Virgil +places two sorts of souls; first, of such as have shown their impiety +and rebellion toward the gods; and secondly, of such as have been vile +and mischievous among men: those, as he himself says of the latter more +particularly, who hated their brethren, used their parents ill, or +cheated their dependants, who made no use of their riches, who committed +incest, or disturbed the marriage union of others, those who were +rebellious subjects, or knavish servants, who were despisers of justice, +or betrayers of their country, and who made and unmade laws not for the +good of the public, but only to get money for themselves; all these, and +the despisers of the gods, Virgil places in this most horrid division of +his subterraneous world, and in the vast abyss, which was the most +terrible part even of that division. + +The fifth division is that of Elysium, or the place of the blessed; here +Virgil places those who died for their country, those of pure lives, +truly inspired poets, the inventors of arts, and all who have done good +to mankind: he does not speak of any particular districts for these, but +supposes that they have the liberty of going where they please in that +delightful region, and conversing with whom they please; he only +mentions one vale, towards the end of it, as appropriated to any +particular use; this is the vale of Lethe or forgetfulness, where many +of the ancient philosophers, and the Platonists in particular, supposed +the souls which had passed through some periods of their trial, were +immersed in the river which gave its name to it, in order to be put into +new bodies, and to fill up the whole course of their probation, in an +upper world. + +In each of these three divisions, on the other side of the river Styx, +which perhaps were comprehended under the name of Ades, as all the five +might be under that of Orcus, was a prince or judge: Minos for the +regions of Erebus; Rhadamanthus for Tartarus; and acus for Elysium, +Pluto and Proserpine had their palace at the entrance of the road to the +Elysian fields, and presided as sovereigns over the whole subterraneous +world. + +PLUTO, son of Saturn and Ops, assisted Jupiter in his wars, and after +victory had crowned their exertions in placing his brother on the +throne, be obtained a share of his father's dominions, which, as some +authors say, was the eastern continent, and lower regions of Asia; but, +according to the common opinion, Pluto's division lay in the west. He +fixed his residence in Spain, and lived in Iberia, near the Pyrrenan +mountains: Spain being a fertile country, and abounding in minerals and +mines, Pluto was esteemed the god of wealth; for it must be here +observed, that the poets confound Pluto, god of hell, with Plutus, god +of riches, though they were distinct deities, and always so considered +by the ancients. + +Pluto's regions being supposed to lie under ground; and as he was the +first who taught men to bury their dead, it was thence inferred that he +was king of the infernal regions, whence sprung a belief, that as all +souls descended to him, so when they were in his possession, he bound +them with inevitable chains, and delivered them to be tried by judges, +after which he dispensed rewards and punishments according to their +several deserts. Pluto was therefore called the infernal Jupiter, and +oblations were made to him by the living, for the souls of their friends +departed. + +Although Pluto was brother of Jupiter, yet none of the goddesses would +condescend to marry him, owing to the deformity of his person, joined to +the darkness of his mansions. Enraged at this reluctance in the +goddesses, and mortified at his want of issue, Pluto ascended his +chariot, and drove to Sicily, where chancing to discover Proserpine with +her companions gathering flowers in a valley of Enna, near mount tna, +the grisly god, struck with her charms, instantly seized her, and +forcing her into his chariot, went rapidly off to the river Chemarus, +through which he opened himself a passage to the realms of night. +Orpheus says, this descent was made through the Cecropian cave in +Attica, not far from Eleusis. + +His whole domains are washed with vast and rapid rivers, whose peculiar +qualities strike horror into mortals. Cocytus falls with an impetuous +roaring; Phlegethon rages with a torrent of flames; the Acharusian fen +is dreadful for its stench and filth: nor does Charon, the ferryman, who +wafts souls over, occasion any less horror; Cerberus, the triple-headed +dog, stands ready with open mouths to receive them; and the Furies shake +at them their serpentine locks. + +Thus far the common fable; but the following seems the true foundation +of the story which has been so much disguised; Pluto having retired into +Spain, applied himself to the working of the mines of silver and gold, +which in that country, were very common, especially on the side of +Cadiz, where he fixed his abode. Boetica, his residence, was that +province now called Andalusia, and the river Boetis, now Guadalquiver, +gave that name to it. This river formed of old, at its mouth, a small +island, called Tartessus, which was the Tartessus of the ancients, and +whence Tartarus was formed. + +It may be remarked, that though Spain be not now fertile in mines, yet +the ancients speak of it as a country where they abounded. Posidonius +says, that its mountains and hills were almost all mountains of gold; +Arienus, that near Tartessus was a mountain of silver; and Aristotle, +that the first Phoenicians who landed there, found such quantities of +gold and of silver, that they made anchors for their ships of those +precious metals. This, doubtless, is what determined Pluto, who was +ingenius in such operations, to fix himself near to Tartessus; and this +making him pass also for a wealthy prince, procured for him the name of +Pluto, instead of that of Agelestus. + +The situation of Pluto's kingdom, which was low in respect to Greece, +occasioned him to be looked on as the god of hell; and as he continually +employed laborers for his mines, who chiefly resided in the bowels of +the earth, and there commonly died, Pluto was reputed the king of the +dead. The ocean, likewise, upon whose coasts he reigned, was supposed to +be covered with darkness. These circumstances united, appear to have +been the foundation of the fables afterwards invented concerning Pluto +and his realms of night. It is probable, for example, that the famous +Tartarus, the place so noted in the empire of this god, comes from +Tartessus, near Cadiz: the river Lethe not unlikely from the +Guada-Lethe, which flows over against that city; and the lake Avernus, +or the Acheronian fen, from the word Aharona, importing, _at the +extremities_, a name given to that lake, which is near the ocean. + +Pluto was extremely revered both by the Greeks and Romans. He had a +magnificent temple at Pylos. Near the river Corellus, in Boeotia, he had +also an altar, for some mystical reason, in common with Pallas. His +chief festival was in February, and called Charistia, because their +oblations were made for the dead. Black bulls were the victims offered +up, and the ceremonies were performed in the night, it not being lawful +to sacrifice to him in the day time, on account of his aversion to the +light. The cypress tree was sacred to Pluto, boughs of which were +carried at funerals. + +He is usually represented in an ebony chariot, drawn by his four black +horses, Orphnus, thon, Nycteus, and Alastor. As god of the dead, keys +were the ensigns of his authority, because there is no possibility of +returning when the gates of his palace are locked. Sometimes he holds a +sceptre, to denote his power; at other times a wand, with which he +directs the movements of his subject ghosts. Homer speaks of his hemlet +as having the quality of rendering the wearer invisible; and tells us +that Minerva borrowed it when she fought against the Trojans, that she +might not be discovered by Mars. Perseus also used this hemlet when he +cut off Medusa's head. + +Mythologists pretend that Pluto is the earth, the natural powers and +faculties of which are under his direction, so that he is monarch not +only of all riches which come from thence, and are at length swallowed +up by it, but likewise of the dead; for as all living things spring from +the earth, so are they resolved into the principles whence they arose. +Proserpine is by them reputed to be the seed or grain of fruits or corn, +which must be taken into the earth, and hid there before it can be +nourished by it. + +PLUTUS, the god of riches. Though Plutus be not an infernal god, yet as +his name and office were similar to Pluto's, we shall here distinguish +them, although both were gods of riches. Pluto was born of Saturn and +Ops, or Rhea, and was brother of Jupiter and Neptune; but Plutus, the +god of whom we here speak, was son of Jason or Jasion by Ceres. He is +represented blind and lame, injudicious and fearful. Being lame, he +confers estates but slowly: for want of judgment, his favors are +commonly bestowed on the unworthy; and as he is timorous, so he obliges +rich men to watch their treasures with fear. Plutus is painted with +wings, to signify the swiftness of his retreat, when he takes his +departure. Little more of him remains in story, than that he had a +daughter named Euriboea; unless the comedy of Aristophanes, called by +his name, be taken into the account. + +Aristophanes says that this deity, having at first a very clear sight, +bestowed his favors only on the just and good: but that after Jupiter +deprived him of vision, riches fell indifferently to the good and the +bad. A design being formed for the recovery of his sight, Penia or +poverty opposed it, making it appear that poverty is the mistress of +arts, sciences, and virtues, which would be in danger of perishing if +all men were rich; but no credit being given to her remonstrance, Plutus +recovered his sight in the temple of sculapius, whence the temples and +altars of other gods, and those of Jupiter himself, were abandoned, the +whole world sacrificing to Plutus alone. + +PROSERPINE, the daughter of Jupiter and Ceres, was educated with Minerva +and Di{=a}na. By reason of this familiar intercourse, each chose a place +in the island of Sicily for her particular residence. Minerva look the +parts near Himera; Di{=a}na those about Syracuse; and Proserpine, in +common with her sister goddesses, enjoyed the pleasant fields of Enna. +Near at hand are groves and gardens, surrounded with morasses and a deep +cave, with a passage under ground, opening towards the north. In this +happy retirement was Proserpine situated, when Pluto, passing in his +chariot through the cave, discovered her whilst busy in gathering +flowers, with her attendants, the daughters of Oceanus. Proserpine he +seized, and having placed her in his chariot, carried her to Syracuse, +where the earth opening, they both descended to the infernal regions. + +She had not been long there when the fame of her charms induced Theseus +and Pirithous to combine for the purpose of carrying her thence; but in +this they failed. When Ceres, who was disconsolate for the loss of her +daughter, discovered where she was, Jupiter upon her repeated +solicitations, promised that Proserpine should be restored, provided she +had not yet tasted any thing in hell. Ceres joyfully descended, and +Proserpine, full of triumph, prepared for her return, when lo! +Ascalaphus, son of Acheron and Gorgyra, discovered that he saw +Proserpine, as she walked in the garden of Pluto, eat some grains of a +pomegranate, upon which her departure was stopped. At last, by the +repeated importunity of her mother to Jupiter, she extorted as a favor, +in mitigation of her grief, that Proserpine should live half the year in +heaven, and the other half in hell. + +Proserpine is represented under the form of a beautiful woman, +enthroned, having something stern and melancholy in her aspect. Statius +has found out a melancholy employment for her, which is, to keep a sort +of register of the dead, and to mark down all that should be added to +that number. The same poet mentions another of her offices of a more +agreeable nature: he says, when any woman dies who had been a remarkably +good wife in this world, Proserpine prepares the spirits of the best +women in the other to make a procession to welcome her into Elysium with +joy, and to strew all the way with flowers where she is to pass. + +Some represent Proserpine, Luna, Hec{)a}te, and Di{=a}na, as one; the +same goddess being called Luna in heaven, Di{=a}na on earth, and +Hec{)a}te in hell: and they explain the fable of the moon, which is +hidden from us in the hemisphere of the countries beneath, just so long +as it shines in our own. As Proserpine was to stay six months with her +mother, and six with her husband, she was the emblem of the seed corn, +which lies in the earth during the winter, but in spring sprouts forth, +and in summer bears fruit. + +The mythological sense of the fable is this: the name of Proserpine, or +Persephone, among the Egyptians, was used to denote the change produced +in the earth by the deluge, which destroyed its former fertility, and +rendered tillage and agriculture necessary to mankind. + +PARC, _or_ FATES, were goddesses supposed to preside over the accidents +and events, and to determine the date or period of human life. They were +reckoned by the ancients to be three in number, because all things have +a beginning, progress, and end. They were the daughters of Jupiter and +Themis, and sisters to the Hor, or Hours. + +Their names, amongst the Greeks, were Atropos, Clotho, and Lachesis, and +among the Latins, Nona, Decima, Morta. They are called Parc, because, +as Varro thinks, they distributed to mankind good and bad things at +their birth; or, as the common and received opinion is, because they +spare nobody. They were always of the same mind, so that though +dissensions sometimes arose among the other gods, no difference was ever +known to subsist among these three sisters, whose decrees were +immutable. To them was intrusted the spinning and management of the +thread of life; Clotho held the distaff, Lachesis turned the wheel, and +Atropos cut the thread. + +Plutarch tells us they represented the three parts of the world, viz. +the firmament of the fixed stars, the firmament of the planets, and the +space of air between the moon and the earth; Plato says they represented +time past, present, and to come. There were no divinities in the pagan +world who had a more absolute power than the Fates. They were looked +upon as the dispensers of the eternal decrees of Jupiter, and were all +of them sometimes supposed to spin the party-colored thread of each +man's life. Thus are they represented on a medal, each with a distaff in +her hand. The fullest and best description of them in any of the poets, +is in Catullus: he represents them as all spinning, and at the same time +singing, and foretelling the birth and fortunes of Achilles, at Peleus' +wedding. + +An ingenious writer, in giving the true mythology of these characters, +apprehends them to have been, originally, nothing more than the mystical +figure or symbols which represented the months of January, February, and +March, among the Egyptians, who depicted them in female dresses, with +the instruments of spinning and weaving, which was the great business +carried on in that season. These images they called _Parc_, which +signifies _linen cloth_, to denote the manufacture produced by this +temporary industry. The Greeks, ever fertile in invention, and knowing +nothing of the true sense of these allegorical figures, gave them a turn +suitable to their genius. + +FURIES, EUMENIDES _or_ DIR, were the daughters of Nox and Acheron. +Their names were Alecto, Megra, and Tisiphone. As many crimes were +committed in secret, which could not be discovered from a deficiency of +proof, it was necessary for the judges to have such officers as by +wonderful and various tortures should force from the criminals a +confession of their guilt. To this end the Furies, being messengers both +of the celestial and terrestrial Jupiter, were always attendant on their +sentence. + +In heaven they were called Dir, (_quasi Deorum ir_) or ministers of +divine vengeance, in punishing the guilty after death; on earth +_Furies_, from that madness which attends the consciousness of guilt; +_Erynnis_, from the indignation and perturbations they raise in the +mind; _Eumenides_, from their placability to such as supplicate them, as +in the instance of Orestes, and Argos, upon his following the advice of +Pallas, and in hell, _Stygian dogs_. + +The furies were so dreaded that few dared so much as to name them. They +were supposed to be constantly hovering about those who had been guilty +of any enormous crime. Thus Orestes, having murdered his mother +Clytemnestra, was haunted by the Furies. OEdipus, indeed, when blind and +raving, went into their grove, to the astonishment of all the Athenians, +who durst not so much as behold it. The Furies were reputed so +inexorable, that if any person polluted with murder, incest, or any +flagrant impiety, entered the temple which Orestes had dedicated to them +in Cyren, a town of Arcadia, he immediately became mad, and was hurried +from place to place, with the most restless and dreadful tortures. + +Mythologists have assigned to each of these tormentresses their proper +department. Tisiphone is said to punish the sins arising from hatred and +anger; Megra those occasioned by envy; and Alecto the crimes of +ambition and lust. The statues of the Furies had nothing in them +originally different from the other divinities. It was the poet schylus +who, in one of his tragedies, represented them in that hideous manner +which proved fatal to many of the spectators. The description of these +deities by the poet passed from the theatre to the temple: from that +time they were exhibited as objects of the utmost horror, with Terror, +Rage, Paleness, and Death, for their attendants; and thus seated about +Pluto's throne, whose ministers they were, they awaited his orders with +an impatience congenial to their natures. + +The Furies are described with snakes instead of hair, and eyes inflamed +with madness, brandishing in one hand whips and iron chains, and in the +other torches, with a smothering flame. Their robes are black, and their +feet of brass, to show that their pursuit, though slow, is steady and +certain. As they attended at the thrones of the Stygian and celestial +Jupiter, they had wings to accelerate their progress through the air, +when bearing the commands of the gods: they struck terror into mortals, +either by war, famine, pestilence, or the numberless calamities incident +to human life. + +NOX, _or_ NIGHT, the oldest of the deities, was held in great esteem +among the ancients. She was even reckoned older than Chaos. Orpheus +ascribes to her the generation of gods and men, and says, that all +things had their beginning from her. Pausanias has left us a description +of a remarkable statue of this goddess. "We see," says he, "a woman +holding in her right hand a white child sleeping, and in her left a +black child likewise asleep, with both its legs distorted; the +inscription tells us what they are, though we might easily guess without +it: the two children are Death and Sleep, and the woman is Night, the +nurse of them both." + +The poets fancied her to be drawn in a chariot with two horses, before +which several stars went as harbingers; that she was crowned with +poppies, and her garments were black, with a black veil over her +countenance, and that stars followed in the same manner as they preceded +her; that upon the departure of the day she arose from the ocean, or +rather from Erebus, and encompassed the earth with her sable wings. The +sacrifice offered to Night was a cock because of its enmity to darkness, +and rejoicing at the light. + +SOMNUS, _or_ SLEEP, one of the blessings to which the pagans erected +altars, was said to be son of Erebus and, Night, and brother of Death. +Orpheus calls Somnus the happy king of gods and men; and Ovid, who gives +a very beautiful description of his abode, represents him dwelling in a +deep cave in the country of the Cimmerians. Into this cavern the sun +never enters, and a perpetual stillness reigns, no noise being heard but +the soft murmur caused by a stream of the river Lethe, which creeps over +the pebbles, and invites to slumber; at its entrance grow poppies, and +other soporiferous herbs. The drowsy god lies reclined on a bed stuffed +with black plumes, the bedstead is of ebony, the covering is also black, +and his head is surrounded by fantastic visions. + +We learn from Statius, that the attendants and guards before the gates +of this palace were Rest, Ease, Indolence, Silence, and Oblivion; as the +ministers or attendants within are a vast multitude of Dreams in +different shapes and attitudes. Ovid teaches us who were the supposed +governors over these, and what their particular districts or offices +were. The three chiefs of all are Morpheus, Phobetor, and Phantasos, who +inspire dreams into great persons only: Morpheus inspires such dreams as +relate to men, Phobetor such as relate to other animals, and Phantasos +such as relate to inanimate things. They have each their particular +legions under them, to inspire the common people with the sort of dreams +which belong to their province. + +MINOS was son of Jupiter and Europa, and brother of Rhadamanthus and +Sarpedon. After the death of his father, the Cretans, who thought him +illegitimate, would not admit him as a successor to the kingdom, till he +persuaded them it was the divine pleasure he should reign, by praying +Neptune to give him a sign, which being granted, the god caused a horse +to rise out of the sea, upon which he ascended the throne. + +Nothing so much distinguished him as the laws he enacted for the +Cretans, which obtained him the name of one of the greatest legislators +of antiquity. To confer the more authority on these laws, Minos retired +to a cave of Mount Ida, where he feigned that Jupiter, his father, +dictated them to him; and every time he returned thence a new injunction +was promulgated by him. Homer calls him Jupiter's disciple; and Horace +says he was admitted to the secrets of that god. Strabo and Ephorus +contend, that Minos dwelt nine years in retirement in this cave, and +that it was afterwards called the cave of Jupiter. + +Antiquity entertained the highest esteem for the institutes of Minos: +and the testimonies of ancient authors on this head are endless. It +will, therefore, suffice to observe that Lycurgus travelled to Crete on +purpose to collect the laws of Minos for the benefit of the +Lacedemonians; and that Josephus, partial as he was to his own nation, +has owned, that Minos was the only one among the ancients who deserved +to be compared to Moses. He was reputed the judge of the supreme court +of Pluto, acus judged the Europeans; the Asiatics and Africans fell to +the lot of Rhadamanthus; and Minos, as president of the infernal court, +decided the differences which arose between these two judges. He sat on +a throne by himself, and wielded a golden sceptre. + +RHADAMANTHUS was the son of Jupiter and Europa, and brother of Minos. He +was one of the three judges of hell. It is said that Rhadamanthus, +having killed his brother, fled to OEchalia in Boeotia, where he married +Alcmena, widow of Amphitryon. Some make Rhadamanthus a king of Lycia, +who on account of his severity and strict regard to justice, was said to +have been one of the three judges of hell, where his province was to +judge such as died impenitent. It is agreed, that he was the most +temperate man of his time, and was exalted amongst the law-givers of +Crete, who were renowned as good and just men. The division assigned to +Rhadamanthus in the infernal regions was Tartarus. + +ACUS, son of Jupiter and gina, was king of OEnopia, which, from his +mother's name, he called gina. The inhabitants of that country being +destroyed by a plague, acus prayed to his father that by some means he +would repair the loss of his subjects, upon which Jupiter, in compassion +changed all the ants within a hollow tree into men and women, who, from +a Greek word signifying _ants_, were called _Myrmidons_, and actually +were so industrious a people as to become famous for their ships and +navigation. + +The meaning of which fable is this: The pirates having destroyed the +inhabitants of the island, excepting a few, who hid themselves in caves +and holes for fear of a like fate, acus drew them out of their retreats +and encouraged them to build houses, and sow corn; taught them military +discipline, and how to fit out and navigate fleets, and to appear not +like ants in holes, but on the theatre of the world, like men. His +character for justice was such, that in a time of universal drought he +was nominated by the Delphic oracle to intercede for Greece, and his +prayers were heard. The pagan world also believed that acus, on account +of his impartial justice, was chosen by Pluto, with Minos and +Rhadamanthus, one of the three judges of the dead, and that it was his +province to judge the Europeans, in which capacity he held a plain rod +as a badge of his office. + + + + +CHAPTER IX. + +_The condemned in Hell._ + + +TYPHOEUS, a giant of enormous size, was, according to Hesiod, son of +Erebus, or Tartarus and Terra. His stature was prodigious. With one hand +he touched the east, and with the other the west, while his head reached +to the stars. Hesiod has given him an hundred heads of dragons, uttering +dreadful sounds, and eyes which darted fire; flame proceeded from his +mouths and nostrils, his body was encircled with serpents, and his +thighs and legs were of a serpentine form. When he had almost +discomfited the gods, who fled from him into Egypt, Jupiter alone stood +his ground, and pursued the monster to Mount Caucasus in Syria, where he +wounded him with his thunder; But Typhoeus, turning upon him, took the +god prisoner, and after having cut, with his own sickle, the muscles of +his hands and feet, threw him on his shoulders, carried him into +Cilicia, and there imprisoned him in a cave, whence he was delivered by +Mercury, who restored him to his former vigor. Typhoeus afterwards fled +into Sicily, where the god overwhelmed him with the enormous mass of +mount tna. + +Historians report, that Typhoeus was brother of Osiris, king of Egypt, +who in the absence of that monarch, formed a conspiracy to dethrone him; +and that having accordingly put Osiris to death, Isis, in revenge of her +husband, raised an army, the command of which she gave to Orus her son, +who vanquished and slew the usurper: hence the Egyptians, in abhorrence +of his memory, painted him under their hieroglyphic characters in so +frightful a manner. The length of his arms signified his power, the +serpents about him denoted his address and cunning, the scales which +covered his body, expressed his cruelty and dissimulation, and the +flight of the gods into Egypt showed the precautions taken by the great +to screen themselves from his fury and resentment. Mythologists take +Typhoeus and the other giants, to have been the winds; especially the +subterraneous, which cause earthquakes to break forth with fire, +occasioned by the sulphur enkindled in the caverns under Campania, +Sicily, and the olian islands. + +TITYOS, _or_ TITYUS, was son of Jupiter and Elara. He resided in +Panopea, where he became formidable for rapine and cruelty, till Apollo +killed him for offering violence to his mother Latona. After this he was +thrown into Tart{)a}rus, and chained down on his back, his body taking +up such a compass as to cover nine acres. In this posture two vultures +continually preyed upon his liver, which constantly grew with the +increase of the moon, that there might never be wanting matter for +eternal punishment. + +PHLEGYAS, son of Mars and Chryse, daughter of Halmus, was king of +Lapith, a people of Thessaly. Apollo having seduced his daughter +Coronis, Phlegyas, in revenge, set fire to the temple of that god at +Delphi, for which sacrilege the deity killed him with his arrows, and +then cast him into Tart{)a}rus; where he was sentenced to sit under a +huge rock, which threatened him with perpetual destruction. + +IXION was son of Phlegyas, king of the Lapith in Thessaly. He married +Dia, daughter of Deioneus, whose consent he obtained by magnificent +promises, but, failing afterwards to perform them, Deioneus seized on +his horses. Ixion dissembled his resentment, and inviting Deioneus to a +banquet, received him in an apartment previously prepared, from which, +by withdrawing a door, his father-in-law was thrown into a furnace of +fire. Stung, however, with remorse, and universally despised, Ixion was +overpowered with frenzy, till Jupiter at length re-admitted him to +favor, and not only took him into heaven, but intrusted him also with +his counsels. So ungrateful, notwithstanding, did Ixion become, as to +attempt the chastity of Juno herself. This so incensed Jupiter that the +angry deity hurled him into Tart{)a}rus, and fixed him on a wheel +encompassed with serpents, which was doomed to revolve without +intermission. + +SALMONEUS, king of Elis, was son of olus, (not he who was king of the +winds, but another of the name) and Anarete. Not satisfied with an +earthly crown, Salmoneus panted after divine honors; and, in order that +the people might esteem him a god, he built a brazen bridge over the +city, and drove his chariot along it, imitating, by this noise, +Jupiter's thunder; at the same time throwing flaming torches among the +spectators below, to represent his lightning, by which many were killed. +Jupiter, in resentment of this insolence, precipitated the ambitious +mortal into hell, where, according to Virgil, neas saw him. + +SISIPHUS, _or_ SISYPHUS, a descendant of olus, married Merope, one of +the Pleiades, who bore him Glaucus. He resided at Ephyra, in +Peloponnesus, and was conspicuous for his craft. Some say he was a +Trojan secretary, who was punished for discovering secrets of state; +whilst others contend that he was a notorious robber killed by Theseus. +However, all the poets agree that he was punished in Tart{)a}rus for his +crimes, by rolling a great stone to the top of a hill, which constantly +recoiling and rolling down again, incessantly renewed his fatigue, and +rendered his labor endless. + +Ovid, in one passage, seems to describe Sisyphus as bending under the +weight of a vast stone; "but the more common way of speaking of his +punishment," says the author of Polymetis, "agrees with the fine +description of him in Homer, where we see him laboring to heave the +stone that lies on his shoulders up against the side of a steep +mountain, and which always rolls precipitately down again before he can +get it to rest upon the top. Lucretius makes him only an emblem of the +ambitious; as Horace too seems to make Tant{)a}lus only an emblem of the +covetous." + +BELIDES, _or_ DANAIDES: They were the fifty daughters of Dan{)a}us, son +of Belus, surnamed the _ancient_. Some quarrel having arisen between him +and Egyptus his brother, it determined Dan{)a}us on his voyage into +Greece; but Egyptus having fifty sons, proposed a reconciliation, by +marrying them to his brother's daughters. The proposal was agreed to, +and the nuptials were to be celebrated with singular splendor, when +Dan{)a}us, either in resentment of former injuries, or being told by the +oracle that one of his sons-in-law should destroy him, gave to each of +his daughters a dagger, with an injunction to stab her husband. They all +executed the order but Hypermnestra, the eldest, who spared the life of +Lyncus. These Bel{)i}des, for their cruelty, were consigned to the +infernal regions, there to draw water in sieves from a well, till they +had filled, by that means, a vessel full of holes. + +TANTALUS, king of Phrygia, was the son of Jupiter and Plota. Whether it +was for this cause, the violation of hospitality, or for his pride, his +boasting, his want of secrecy, his insatiable covetousness, his +imparting nectar and ambrosia to mortals, or for all of them together, +since he has been accused of them all, Tant{)a}lus was thrown into +Tart{)a}rus, where the poets have assigned him a variety of torments. +Some represent a great stone as hanging over his head, which he +apprehended to be continually falling, and was ever in motion to avoid +it. Others describe him as afflicted with constant thirst and hunger, +though the most delicious banquets were exposed to his view; one of the +Furies terrifying him with her torch whenever he approached towards +them. Some exhibit him standing to the chin in water, and whenever he +stooped to quench his thirst, the water as constantly eluding his lip. +Others, with fruits luxuriously growing around him, which he no sooner +advanced to touch, than the wind blew them into the clouds. + + + + +CHAPTER X. + +_Monsters of Hell._ + + +HARPYI, _or_ HARPIES, were three in number, their names, Celno, Allo, +and Ocyp{)e}te. The ancients looked on them as a sort of Genii, or +Dmons. They had the faces of virgins, the ears of bears, the bodies of +vultures, human arms and feet, and long claws, hooked like the talons of +carnivorous birds. Phineas, king of Arcadia, being a prophet, and +revealing the mysteries of Jupiter to mortals, was by that deity struck +blind, and so tormented by the Harpies that he was ready to perish for +hunger; they devouring whatever was set before him, till the sons of +Boreas, who attended Jason in his expedition to Colchis, delivered the +good old king, and drove these monsters to the islands called +Stroph{)a}des: compelling them to swear never more to return. + +The Harpies, according to the ingenious Abb la Pluche, had their origin +in Egypt. He further observes, in respect to them, that during the +months of April, May, and June, especially the two latter, Egypt being +very subject to tempests, which laid waste their olive grounds, and +carried thither numerous swarms of grasshoppers, and other troublesome +insects from the shores of the Red Sea, the Egyptians gave to their +emblematic figures of these months a female face, with the bodies and +claws of birds, calling them _Harop_, or winged destroyers. This +solution of the fable corresponds with the opinion of Le Clerc, who +takes the harpies to have been a swarm of locusts, the word _Arbi_, +whence Harpy is formed, signifying, in their language, a locust. + +GORGONS were three in number, and daughters of Phorcus or Porcys, by his +sister Ceto. Their names were Med{=u}sa, Eury{)a}le, and Stheno, and +they are represented as having scales on their bodies, brazen hands, +golden wings, tusks like boars, and snakes for hair. The last +distinction, however, is confined by Ovid to Med{=u}sa. + +According to some mythologists, Perseus having been sent against +Med{=u}sa by the gods, was supplied by Mercury with a falchion, by +Minerva with a mirror, and by Pluto with a helmet, which rendered the +wearer invisible. Thus equipped, through the aid of winged sandals, he +steered his course towards Tartessus, where, finding the object of his +search, by the reflection of his mirror, he was enabled to aim his +weapon, without meeting her eye, (for her look would have turned him to +stone) and at one blow struck off her head. When Perseus had slain +Med{=u}sa, the other sisters pursued him, but he escaped from their +sight by means of his helmet. They were afterwards thrown into hell. + +SPHINX was a female monster, daughter of Typhon and Echidna. She had the +head, face, and breasts of a woman, the wings of a bird, the claws of a +lion, and the body of a dog. She lived on mount Sphincius, infested the +country about Thebes, and assaulted passengers, by proposing dark and +enigmatical questions to them, which if they did not explain, she tore +them in pieces. Sphinx made horrible ravages in the neighborhood of +Thebes, till Creon, then king of that city, published an edict over all +Greece, promising that if any one should explain the riddle of Sphinx, +he would give him his own sister Iocasta in marriage. + +The riddle was this, "What animal is that which goes upon four feet in +the morning, upon two at noon, and upon three at night?" Many had +endeavored to explain this riddle, but failing in the attempt, were +destroyed by the monster; till OEdipus undertook the solution, and thus +explained it: "The animal is man, who in his infancy creeps, and so may +be said to go on four feet; when he gets into the noon of life, he walks +on two feet; but when he grows old, or declines into the evening of his +days, he uses the support of a staff, and thus may be said to walk on +three feet." The Sphinx being enraged at this explanation, cast herself +headlong from a rock and died. + + + + +CHAPTER XI. + +_Dii indig{)e}tes, or Heroes who received divine Honors after Death._ + + +HERCULES was the son of Jupiter by Alcmena, wife of Amphitryon, king of +Thebes, and is said to have been born in that city about 1280 years +before the Christian era. During his infancy Juno sent two serpents to +kill him in his cradle, but the undaunted child grasping one in either +hand, immediately strangled them both. As he grew up, he discovered an +uncommon degree of vigor both of body and of mind. Nor were his +extraordinary endowments neglected; for his education was intrusted to +the greatest masters. The tasks imposed on him by Eurystheus, on account +of the danger and difficulty which attended their execution, received +the name of the _Labors of Hercules_, and are commonly reckoned, (at +least the most material of them) to have been twelve. + +The first was his engagement with Cleonan lion, which furious animal, +it is said, fell from the orb of the moon by Juno's direction, and was +invunerable. It infested the woods between Phlius and Cle{=o}ne, and +committed uncommon ravages. The hero attacked it both with his arrows +and club, but in vain, till, perceiving his error, he tore asunder its +jaws with his hands. + +The second labor was his conquest of the Lernan hydra, a formidable +serpent or monster which harbored in the fens of Lerna, and infected the +region of Argos with his poisonous exhalations. This seems to have been +one of the most difficult tasks in which Hercules was ever engaged. The +number of heads assigned the hydra is various; some give him seven, some +nine, others fifty, and Ovid an hundred; but all authors agree that when +one was cut off, another sprung forth in its place, unless the wound was +immediately cauterized. Hercules, not discouraged, attacked him, and +having ordered I{)o}las, his friend and companion, to cut down wood +sufficient for fire-brands, he no sooner had cut off a head than he +applied these brands to the wounds; by which means searing them up, he +obtained a complete victory. + +The third labor was to bring alive to Eurystheus an enormous wild boar +which ravaged the forest of Erymanthus in Arcadia, and had been sent to +Phocis by Di{=a}na to punish n{=e}as, for neglecting her sacrifices. +Hercules brought him bound to Eurystheus. There is nothing descriptive +of this exploit in any of the Roman poets. + +The fourth labor was the capture of the Mnalan stag. Eurystheus, after +repeated proofs of the strength and valor of Hercules, resolved to try +his agility, and commanded him to take a wild stag that frequented mount +Mn{)a}lus, which had brazen feet and golden horns. As this animal was +sacred to Di{=a}na, Hercules durst not wound him; but though it were no +easy matter to run him down, yet this, after pursuing him on foot for a +year, the hero at last effected. + +The fifth labor of Hercules consisted in killing the Stymphal{)i}des, +birds so called from frequenting the lake Stymph{=a}lis in Arcadia, +which preyed upon human flesh, having wings, beaks, and talons of iron. +Some say Hercules destroyed these birds with his arrows, others that +Pallas sent him brazen rattles, made by Vulcan, the sound of which so +terrified them, that they took shelter in the island of Aretia. There +are authors who suppose these birds called Stymphal{)i}des, to have been +a gang of desperate banditti who had their haunts near the lake +Stymph{=a}lis. + +The sixth labor was his cleansing the stable of Augeas. This Augeas, +king of Elis, had a stable intolerable from the stench occasioned by the +filth it contained, which may be readily imagined from the fact that it +sheltered three thousand oxen, and had not been cleansed for thirty +years. This place Eurystheus ordered Hercules to clear in one day, and +Augeas promised, if he performed the task, to give him a tenth part of +the cattle. Hercules, by turning the course of the river Alph{=e}us +through the stable, executed his design, which Augeas seeing, refused to +fulfil his promise. The hero, to punish his perfidy, slew Augeas with +his arrows, and gave his kingdom to his son Phyleus, who abhorred his +father's treachery. + +The seventh labor was the capture of the Cretan bull. Minos, king of +Crete, having acquired the dominion of the Grecian seas, paid no greater +honor to Neptune than to the other gods, wherefore the deity, in +resentment of this ingratitude, sent a bull, which breathed fire from +his nostrils, to destroy the people of Crete. Hercules took this furious +animal, and brought him to Eurystheus, who, because the bull was sacred, +let him loose into the country of Marathon, where he was afterwards +slain by Theseus. + +The eighth labor of Hercules, was the killing of Diom{=e}des and his +horses. That infamous tyrant was king of Thrace, and son of Mars and +Cyr{=e}ne. Among other things he is said to have driven in his +war-chariot four furious horses, which, to render the more impetuous, he +used to feed on the flesh and blood of his subjects. Hercules is said to +have freed the world from this barbarous prince, and to have killed both +him and his horses, as is signified in some drawings, and said expressly +by some of the poets. Some report that the tyrant was given by Hercules +as a prey to his own horses. + +The ninth labor of Hercules was his combat with Geryon, king of Spain. +Geryon is generally represented with three bodies agreeable to the +expressions used of him by the poets, and sometimes with three heads. He +had a breed of oxen of a purple color, (which devoured all strangers +cast to them) guarded by a dog with two heads, a dragon with seven, +besides a very watchful and severe keeper. Hercules, however, killed the +monarch and all his guards, and carried the oxen to Gades, whence he +brought them to Eurystheus. Some mythologists explain this fable by +saying that Geryon was king of three islands, now called Majorca, +Minorca, and Ivica, on which account he was fabled to be triple bodied +and headed. + +The tenth labor of Hercules was his conquest of Hippolyte queen of the +Amazons. His eleventh labor consisted in dragging Cerebus from the +infernal regions into day. The twelfth and last was killing the serpent, +and gaining the golden fruit in the gardens of the Hesperides. + +Hercules, after his conquests in Spain, having made himself famous in +the country of the Celt or Gauls, is said to have there founded a large +and populous city, which he called Alesia. His favorite wife was +Dejanira, whose jealousy most fatally occasioned his death. Hercules +having subdued OEchalia and killed Eurytus the king, carried off the +fair I{)o}le, his daughter, with whom Dejanira suspecting him to be in +love, sent him the garment of Nessus, the Centaur, as a remedy to +recover his affections; this garment, however, having been pierced with +an arrow dipped in the blood of the Lernan hydra, whilst worn by +Nessus, contracted a poison from his blood incurable by art. No sooner, +therefore, was it put on by Hercules than he was seized with a delirious +fever, attended with the most excruciating torments. Unable to support +his pains, he retired to mount OEta, where, raising a pile, and setting +it on fire, he threw himself upon it, and was consumed in the flames, +after having killed in his phrenzy Lycus his friend. His arrows he +bequeathed to Philoct{=e}tes, who interred his remains. + +After his death he was deified by his father Jupiter. Di{=o}dorus +Siculus relates that he was no sooner ranked amongst the gods than Juno, +who had so violently persecuted him whilst on earth, adopted him for her +son, and loved him with the tenderness of a mother. Hercules was +afterwards married to Hebe, goddess of youth, his half sister, with all +the splendor of a celestial wedding; but he refused the honor which +Jupiter designed him, of being ranked with the twelve gods, alleging +there was no vacancy; and that it would be unreasonable to degrade any +other god for the purpose of admitting him. + +Both the Greeks and Romans honored him as a god, and as such erected to +him temples. His victims were bulls and lambs, on account of his +preserving the flocks from wolves; that is, delivering men from tyrants +and robbers. He was worshipped by the ancient Latins under the name of +Dius, or Divus Fidius, that is, the guarantee or protector of faith +promised or sworn. They had a custom of calling this deity to witness by +a sort of oath expressed in these terms, _Me Dius Fidius!_ that is, so +help me the god Fidius! or Hercules. + +PERSEUS was the son of Jupiter and Dan{)a}e, daughter of Acrisius king +of Argos. When Perseus was grown up, Polydectes, who was enamored of his +mother, finding him an obstacle to their union, contrived to send him on +an exploit, which he hoped would be fatal to him. This was to bring him +the head of Med{=u}sa, one of the Gorgons. In his expedition Perseus was +favored by the gods; Mercury equipped him with a scymetar, and the wings +from his heels; Pallas lent him a shield which reflected objects like a +mirror; and Pluto granted him his helmet, which rendered him invisible. +In this manner he flew to Tartessus in Spain, where, directed by the +reflection of Med{=u}sa in his mirror, he cut off her head, and brought +it to Pallas. From the blood arose the winged horse Peg{)a}sus. + +After this the hero passed into Mauritania, where repairing to the court +of Atlas, that monarch ordered him to retire, with menaces, in case of +disobedience; but Perseus, presenting his shield, with the dreadful head +of Med{=u}sa, changed him into the mountain which still bears his name. +In his return to Greece he visited Ethiopia, mounted on Peg{)a}sus, and +delivered Androm{)e}da, daughter of Cepheus, (who was exposed on a rock +of that coast to be devoured by a monster of the deep) on condition he +might make her his wife: but Phineas, her uncle, sought to prevent him, +by attempting, with a party, to carry off the bride. The attempt, +notwithstanding, was rendered abortive; for the hero, by showing them +the head of the Gorgon, at once turned them to stone. + +Perseus having completed these exploits, was desirous of revisiting +home, and accordingly set off for that purpose with his wife and his +mother. Arriving on the coast of Peloponnesus, and learning that +Teutamias, king of Larissa, was then celebrating games in honor of his +father, Perseus, wishing to exhibit his skill at the quoit, of which he +has been deemed the inventor, resolved to go thither. In this contest, +however, he was so unfortunate as to kill Acrisius, the father of his +mother, who, on the report that Perseus was returning to the place of +his nativity, had fled to the court of Teutamias his friend, to avoid +the denunciation of the oracle, which had induced him to exercise such +cruelty on his offspring. At what time Perseus died is unknown; but all +agree that divine honors were paid him. He had statues at Myc{=e}n and +in Seriphos. A temple was erected to him in Athens, and an altar in it +consecrated to Dictys. + + + [Illustration: + + HECTOR'S BODY DRAGGED AT THE CAR OF ACHILLES. + Pl. 8.] + + +ACHILLES was the offspring of a goddess. Thetis bore him to Peleus, king +of Thessaly, and was so fond of him, that she charged herself with his +education. By day she fed him with ambrosia, and by night covered him +with celestial fire, to render him immortal. She also dipped him in the +waters of Styx, by which his whole body became invulnerable, except that +part of his heel by which she held him. He was afterwards committed to +the care of Chiron the Centaur, who fed him with honey, and the marrow +of lions and wild boars; whence he obtained that strength of body and +greatness of soul which qualified him for martial toil. + +When the Greeks undertook the siege of Troy, Calchas the diviner, and +priest of Apollo, foretold that the city should not be taken without the +help of Achilles. Thetis, his mother, who knew that Achilles, if he went +to the siege of Troy, would never return, clothed him in female apparel, +and concealed him among the maidens at the court of Lycom{=e}des, king +of the island of Scyros. But this stratagem proved ineffectual; for +Calchas having informed the Greeks where Achilles lay in disguise, they +sent Ulysses to the court of Lycom{=e}des, where, under the appearance +of a merchant, he was introduced to the king's daughters, and while they +were studiously intent on viewing his toys, Achilles employed himself in +examining an helmet, which the cunning politician had thrown in his way. + +Achilles thus detected, was prevailed on to go to Troy, after Thetis had +furnished him with impenetrable armor made by Vulcan. Thither he led the +troops of Thessaly, in fifty ships, and distinguished himself by a +number of heroic actions; but being disgusted with Agamemnon for the +loss of Briseis, he retired from the camp, and resolved to have no +further concern in the war. In this resolution he continued inexorable, +till news was brought him that Hector had killed his friend +Patr{=o}clus; to avenge his death he not only slew Hector, but fastened +the corpse to his chariot, dragged it round the walls of Troy, offered +many indignities to it, and sold it at last to Priam his father. + +Authors are much divided on the manner of Achilles' death; some relate +that he was slain by Apollo, or that this god enabled Paris to kill him, +by directing the arrow to his heel, the only part in which he was +vulnerable. Others again say, that Paris murdered him treacherously, in +the temple of Apollo, whilst treating about his marriage with +Polyx{)e}na, daughter to king Priam. + +Though this tradition concerning his death be commonly received, yet +Homer plainly enough insinuates that Achilles died fighting for his +country, and represents the Greeks as maintaining a bloody battle about +his body, which lasted a whole day. Achilles having been lamented by +Thetis, the Nereids, and the Muses, was buried on the promontory of +Sigum; and after Troy was captured, the Greeks endeavored to appease +his manes by sacrificing Polyx{)e}na, on his tomb, as his ghost had +requested. + +The oracle at Dod{=o}na decreed him divine honors, and ordered annual +victims to be offered at the place of his sepulture. In pursuance of +this, the Thessalians brought hither yearly two bulls, one black, the +other white, crowned with wreaths of flowers, and water from the river +Sperchius. It is said that Alexander, seeing his tomb, honored it by +placing a crown upon it, at the same time crying out "that Achilles was +happy in having, during his life, such a friend as Patr{=o}clus, and +after his death, a poet like Homer." + +ATLAS was son of Jap{)e}tus and Clym{)e}ne, and brother of Prometheus, +according to most authors; or, as others relate, son of Jap{)e}tus by +Asia, daughter of Oce{)a}nus. He had many children. Of his sons, the +most famous were Hesp{)e}rus (whom some call his brother) and Hyas. By +his wife Pleione he had seven daughters, who went by the general names +of Atlant{)i}des, or Plei{)a}des; and by his wife thra he had also +seven other daughters, who bore the common appellation of the Hy{)a}des. + +According to Hyg{=i}nus, Atlas having assisted the giants in their war +against Jupiter, was doomed by the victorious god, as a punishment, to +sustain the weight of the heavens. Ovid, however, represents him as a +powerful and wealthy monarch, proprietor of the gardens of the +Hesper{)i}des, which bore golden fruit; but that being warned by the +oracle of Themis that he should suffer some great injury from a son of +Jupiter, he strictly forbade all foreigners access to his presence. +Perseus, however, having the courage to appear before him, was ordered +to retire, with strong menaces in case of disobedience; but the hero +presenting his shield, with the dreadful head of Med{=u}sa, turned him +into the mountain which still bears his name. + +The Abb la Pluche has given a very clear and ingenious explication of +this fable. Of all nations the Egyptians had, with the greatest +assiduity, cultivated astronomy. To point out the difficulties attending +the study of this science, they represented it by an image bearing a +globe or sphere on its back, which they called _Atlas_, a word +signifying _great toil or labor_; but the word also signifying +_support_, the Phoenicians, led by the representation, took it in this +sense, and in their voyages to Mauritania, seeing the high mountains of +that country covered with snow, and losing their tops in the clouds, +gave them the name of _Atlas_, and thus produced the fable by which the +symbol of astronomy used among the Egyptians became a Mauritanian king, +transformed into a mountain, whose head supports the heavens. + +The rest of the fable is equally obvious to explanation. The annual +inundations of the Nile obliged the Egyptians to be very exact in +observing the motions of the heavenly bodies. The Hyades, or Huades, +took their name from the figure V, which they form in the head of +Taurus. The Pleiades were a remarkable constellation and of great use to +the Egyptians in regulating the seasons: hence they became the daughters +of Atlas; and Orion, who arose just as they set, was called their lover. + +By the golden apples that grew in the gardens of the Hesperides, the +Phoenicians expressed the rich and beneficial commerce they had in the +Mediterranean, which being carried on during three months only of the +year, gave rise to the fable of the Hesperian sisters. The most usual +way of representing Atlas, among the ancient artists, was as supporting +a globe; for the old poets commonly refer to this attitude in speaking +of him. + +PROMETHEUS was son of Jap{)e}tus, but it is doubtful whether his mother +were Asia, or Themis. Having incurred the displeasure of Jupiter, either +for stealing some of the celestial fire, or for forming a man of clay, +Jupiter, in resentment, commanded Vulcan to make a woman of clay, which, +when finished, was introduced into the assembly of the gods, each of +whom bestowed on her some additional charm or perfection. Venus gave her +beauty, Pallas wisdom, Juno riches, Mercury taught her eloquence, and +Apollo music. From all these accomplishments she was styled Pand{=o}ra, +that is, loaded with gifts and accomplishments, and was the first of her +sex. + +Jupiter, to complete his designs, presented her a box, in which he had +enclosed age, disease, war, famine, pestilence, discord, envy, calumny, +and, in short, all the evils and vices with which he intended to afflict +the world. Thus equipped, Pand{=o}ra was sent to Prometheus, who, being +on his guard against the mischief designed him, declined accepting the +box; but Epimetheus, his brother, though forewarned of the danger, had +less resolution; for, being enamored of the beauty of Pand{=o}ra, he +married her, and opened the fatal treasure, when immediately flew abroad +the contents, which soon overspread the world, hope only remaining at +the bottom. + +Prometheus escaping the evil which the god designed him, and Jupiter not +being appeased, Mercury and Vulcan were despatched by him to seize +Prometheus, and chain him on Mount Caucasus, where a vulture, the +offspring of Typhon and Echidna, was commissioned to prey upon his +liver, which, that his torment might be endless, was constantly renewed +by night in proportion to its increase by day; but the vulture being +soon destroyed by Hercules, Prometheus was released. Others say, that +Jupiter restored Prometheus to freedom, for discovering the conspiracy +of Saturn, his father, and dissuading his intended marriage with Thetis. + +Nicander, to this fable, offers an additional one. He tells us, that +when mankind had received the fire from Prometheus, some ungrateful men +discovered the theft to Jupiter, who rewarded them with the gift of +_perpetual youth_. This present they put on the back of an ass, which +stopping at a fountain to quench his thirst, was prevented by a +water-snake which would not suffer him to drink till he gave him his +burden; hence the serpent renews his youth upon changing his skin. + +Prometheus was esteemed the inventor of many useful arts. He made man of +the mixture and temperament of all the elements, gave him strength of +body, vigor of mind, and the peculiar qualities of all creatures, as the +craft of the fox, the courage of the lion, &c. He had an altar in the +academy of Athens in common with Vulcan and Pallas. In his statues he +holds a sceptre in the right hand. + +Several explanations have been given of this fable. Prometheus, whose +name is derived from a Greek word, signifying foresight and providence, +was conspicuous for that quality; and because he reduced mankind, before +rude and savage, to a state of culture and improvement, he was feigned +to have made them from clay: being a diligent observer of the motions of +the heavenly bodies from Mount Caucasus, it was fabled that he was +chained there: having discovered the method of striking fire from the +flint, or perhaps, the nature of lightning, it was pretended that he +stole fire from the gods: and, because he applied himself to study with +intenseness, they imagined that a vulture preyed continually on his +liver. + +There is another solution of this fable, analogous to the preceding. +According to Pliny, Prometheus was the first who instituted sacrifices. +Being expelled his dominions by Jupiter, he fled to Scythia, where he +retired to Mount Caucasus, either to make astronomical calculations or +to indulge his melancholy for the loss of his dominions, which +occasioned the fable of the vulture or eagle feeding on his liver. As he +was the first inventor of forging metals by fire, he was said to have +stolen that element from heaven; and, as the first introduction of +agriculture and navigation had been ascribed to him, he was celebrated +as forming a living man from an inanimate substance. + +AMPHION, king of Thebes, son of Jupiter and Anti{)o}pe, was instructed +in the use of the lyre by Mercury, and became so great a proficient, +that he is reported to have built the walls of Thebes by the power of +his harmony, which caused the listening stones to ascend voluntarily. He +married Ni{)o}be, daughter of Tant{)a}lus, whose insult to Di{=a}na +occasioned the loss of their children by the arrows of Apollo and +Di{=a}na. The unhappy father, attempting to revenge himself by the +destruction of the temple of Apollo, was punished with the loss of his +sight and skill, and thrown into the infernal regions. + +ORPHEUS, son of Apollo by the Muse Calli{)o}pe, was born in Thrace, and +resided near Mount Rhod{)o}pe, where he married Eurydice, a princess of +that country. Aristus, a neighboring prince, fell desperately in love +with her, but she flying from his violence, was killed by the bite of a +serpent. Her disconsolate husband was so affected at his loss, that he +descended by the way of Tn{)a}rus to hell, in order to recover his +beloved wife. As music and poetry were to Orpheus hereditary talents, he +exerted them so powerfully in the infernal regions, that Pluto and +Proserpine, touched with compassion, restored to him his consort on +condition that he should not look back upon her till they came to the +light of the world. His impatience, however, prevailing, he broke the +condition, and lost Eurydice forever. + +Whilst Orpheus was among the shades, he sang the praises of all the gods +but Bacchus, whom he accidentally omitted; to revenge this affront, +Bacchus inspired the Mn{)a}des, his priestesses, with such fury, that +they tore Orpheus to pieces, and scattered his limbs about the fields. +His head was cast into the river Hebrus, and (together with his harp) +was carried by the tide to Lesbos, where it afterwards delivered +oracles. The harp, with seven strings, representing the seven planets, +which had been given him by Apollo, was taken up into heaven, and graced +with nine stars by the nine Muses. Orpheus himself was changed into a +swan. He left a son called Methon, who founded in Thrace a city of his +own name. + +It is certain that Orpheus may be placed as the earliest poet of Greece, +where he first introduced astronomy, divinity, music and poetry; all +which he had learned in Egypt. He introduced also the rites of Bacchus, +which from him were called Orphica. He was a person of most consummate +knowledge, and the wisest, as well as the most diligent scholar of +Linus. + +If we search for the origin of this fable, we must again have recourse +to Egypt, the mother-country of fiction. In July, when the sun entered +Leo, the Nile overflowed all the plains. To denote the public joy at +seeing the inundation rise to its due height, the Egyptians exhibited a +youth playing on the lyre, or the sistrum, and sitting by a tame lion. +When the waters did not increase as they should, the Horus was +represented stretched on the back of a lion, as dead. This symbol they +called Oreph, or Orpheus, (from _oreph_, the back part of the head) to +signify that agriculture was then quite unseasonable and dormant. + +The songs with which the people amused themselves during this period of +inactivity, for want of exercise, were called the hymns of Orpheus; and +as husbandry revived immediately after, it gave rise to the fable of +Orpheus's returning from hell. The Isis placed near this Horus, they +called Eurydice, (from _eri_, a _lion_, and _daca_, _tamed_, is formed +_Eridica_, _Eurydice_, or the lion tamed, _i.e._ the violence of the +inundation overcome), and as the Greeks took all these figures in the +literal, not in the emblematical sense, they made Eurydice the wife of +Orpheus. + +OSIRIS, son of Jupiter and Ni{)o}be, was king of the Argives many years; +but, being instigated by the desire of glory, he left his kingdom to his +brother gi{)a}lus, and went into Egypt, in search of a new name and +kingdom there. The Egyptians were not so much overcome by the valor of +Os{=i}ris, as obliged to him for his kindness towards them. Having +conferred the greatest benefits on his subjects, by civilizing their +manners, and instructing them in husbandry and other useful arts, he +made the necessary disposition of his affairs, committed the regency to +Isis, and set out with a body of forces in order to civilize the rest of +mankind. This he performed more by the power of persuasion, and the +soothing arts of music and poetry, than by the terror of his arms. + +In his absence, Typhoeus, the giant, whom historians call the brother of +Os{=i}ris, formed a conspiracy to dethrone him; for which end, at the +return of Os{=i}ris into Egypt, he invited him to a feast, at the +conclusion of which a chest of exquisite workmanship was brought in, and +offered to him who, when laid down in it, should be found to fit it the +best. Os{=i}ris, not suspecting a trick to be played him, got into the +chest, and the cover being immediately shut upon him, this good but +unfortunate prince was thus thrown into the Nile. + +When the news of this transaction reached Coptus, where Isis his wife +then was, she cut her hair, and in deep mourning went every where in +search of the dead body. This was at length discovered, and concealed by +her at Butus; but Typhoeus, while hunting by moonlight, having found it +there, tore it into many pieces, which he scattered abroad. Isis then +traversed the lakes and watery places in a boat made of the _papyrus_, +seeking the mangled parts of Os{=i}ris, and where she found any, there +she buried them; hence the many tombs ascribed to Os{=i}ris. + +Plutarch seems evidently to prove that the Egyptians worshipped the Sun +under the name of Os{=i}ris. His reasons are: 1. Because the images of +Os{=i}ris were always clothed in a shining garment, to represent the +rays and light of the sun. 2. In their hymns, composed in honor of +Os{=i}ris, they prayed to him who reposes himself in the bosom of the +sun. 3. After the autumnal equinox, they celebrated a feast called, _The +disappearing of Os{=i}ris_, by which is plainly meant the absence and +distance of the sun. 4. In the month of November they led a cow seven +times round the temple of Os{=i}ris, intimating thereby, that in seven +months the sun would return to the summer solstice. + +He is represented sitting upon a throne, crowned with a mitre full of +small orbs, to intimate his superiority over all the globe. The gourd +upon the mitre implies his action and influence upon moisture, which, +and the Nile particularly, was termed by the Egyptians, the efflux of +Os{=i}ris. The lower part of his habit is made up of descending rays, +and his body is surrounded with orbs. His right hand is extended in a +commanding attitude, and his left holds a _thyrsus_ or staff of the +_papyrus_, pointing out the principle of humidity, and the fertility +thence flowing, under his direction. + +SCULAPIUS. The name of sculapius, whom the Greeks called {Asklpios}, +appears to have been foreign, and derived from the oriental languages. +Being honored as a god in Phoenicia and Egypt, his worship passed into +Greece, and was established, first at Epidaurus, a city of Peloponnesus, +bordering on the sea, where, probably, some colonies first settled; a +circumstance sufficient for the Greeks to give out that this god was a +native of Greece. + +Not to mention all we are told of his parents, it will be enough to +observe, that the opinion generally received in Greece, made him the son +of Apollo by Cor{=o}nis, daughter of Phlegyas; and indeed the +Messenians, who consulted the oracle of Delphi to know where sculapius +was born, and of what parents, were told by the oracle, or more properly +Apollo, that he himself was his father; that Cor{=o}nis was his mother, +and that their son was born at Epidaurus. + +Phlegyas, the most warlike man of his age, having gone into Peloponnesus +under pretence of travelling, but, in truth, to spy into the condition +of the country, carried his daughter Cor{=o}nis thither, who, to conceal +her situation from her father, went to Epidaurus: there she was +delivered of a son, whom she exposed upon a mountain, called to this day +Mount Titthion, or _of the breast_; but before this adventure, Myrthion, +from the myrtles that grew upon it. + +The reason of this change of name was, that the child, having been here +abandoned, was suckled by one of those goats of the mountain, which the +dog of Aristh{)e}nes the goat-herd guarded. When Aristh{)e}nes came to +review his flock, he found a she-goat and his dog missing, and going in +search of them discovered the child. Upon approaching to lift him from +the earth, he perceived his head encircled with fiery rays, which made +him believe the child to be of divine origin. + +As {Korn} in the Greek language signifies a crow, hence another fable +arose importing, as we see in Lucian, that sculapius had sprung from an +egg of a bird, under the figure of a serpent. Whatever these fictions +may mean, sculapius being removed from the mount on which he was +exposed, was nursed by Trigo or Trigone, who was probably the wife of +the goat-herd that found him; and when he was capable of improving by +Chiron, Phlegyas (to whom he had doubtless been returned) put him under +the Centaur's tuition. + +Being of a quick and lively genius, he made such progress as soon to +become not only a great physician, but at length to be reckoned the god +and inventor of medicine; though the Greeks, not very consistent in the +history of those early ages, gave to Apis, son of Phoroneus, the glory +of having discovered the healing art. sculapius accompanied Jason in +his expedition to Colchis, and in his medical capacity was of great +service to the Argonauts. Within a short time after his death he was +deified, and received divine honors: some add, that he formed the +celestial sign, Serpentarius. + +As the Greeks always carried the encomiums of their great men beyond the +truth, they feigned that sculapius was so expert in medicine, as not +only to cure the sick, but even to raise the dead. Ovid says he did this +by Hippol{)i}tus, and Julian says the same of Tynd{)a}rus: that Pluto +cited him before the tribunal of Jupiter, and complained that his empire +was considerably diminished and in danger of becoming desolate, from the +cures sculapius performed; so that Jupiter in wrath slew sculapius +with a thunder-bolt; to which they added that Apollo, enraged at the +death of his son, killed the Cyclops who forged Jupiter's thunder-bolts: +a fiction which obviously signifies only, that sculapius had carried +his art very far, and that he cured diseases believed to be desperate. + +sculapius is always represented under the figure of a grave old man +wrapped up in a cloak, having sometimes upon his head the _cal{)a}thus_ +of Ser{=a}pis, with a staff in his hand, which is commonly wreathed +about with a serpent; sometimes again with a serpent in one hand, and a +_pat{)e}ra_ in the other; sometimes leaning upon a pillar, round which a +serpent also twines. The cock, a bird consecrated to this god, whose +vigilance represents that quality which physicians ought to have, is +sometimes at the feet of his statues. Socrates, we know, when dying, +said to those who stood around him in his last moments, "We owe a cock +to sculapius; give it without delay." + +ULYSSES, king of Ith{)a}ca, was the son of Laertes, or Laertius and +Anticl{=e}a. His wife Penel{)o}pe, daughter of Icarius brother of +Tynd{)a}rus king of Sparta, was highly famed for her prudence and +virtue; and being unwilling that the Trojan war should part them, +Ulysses to avoid the expedition, pretended to be mad, and not only +joined different beasts to the same plough, but sowed also the furrows +with salt. + +Palam{=e}des, however, suspecting the frenzy to be assumed, threw +Telemachus, then an infant, in the way of the plough, to try if his +father would alter its course. This stratagem succeeded; for when +Ulysses came to the child he turned off from the spot, in consequence of +which Palam{=e}des compelled him to take part in the war. He accordingly +sailed with twelve ships, and was signally serviceable to the Greeks. + +To him the capture of Troy is chiefly to be ascribed, since by him the +obstacles were removed, which had so long prevented it. For as Ulysses +himself was detected by Palam{=e}des, so he in his turn detected +Achilles, who, to avoid engaging in the same war, had concealed himself +in the habits of a woman, at the court of Lycom{=e}des, king of Scyros. +Ulysses there discovered him, and as it had been foretold that without +Achilles Troy could not be taken, thence drew him to the siege. + +He also obtained the arrows of Hercules, from Philoct{=e}tes, and +carried off that hero from the scene of his retreat. He brought away +also the ashes of Laom{)e}don, which were preserved in Troy on the +Scoean gate. By him the Palladium was stolen from the same city; Rhesus, +king of Thrace, killed, and his horses taken before they had drank of +the Xanthus. These exploits involved in them the destiny of Troy; for +had the Trojans preserved them, their city could never have been +conquered. + +Ulysses contended afterwards with Telamonian Ajax, the stoutest of all +the Grecians, except Achilles, for the arms of that hero, which were +awarded to him by the judges, who were won by the charms of his +eloquence. His other enterprises before Troy were numerous and +brilliant, and are particularly related in the Iliad. When Ulysses +departed for Greece, he sailed backwards and forwards for twenty years, +contrary winds and severe weather opposing his return to Ith{)a}ca. + +During this period, he extinguished, with a firebrand, the eye of +Polyph{=e}mus; then sailing to olia, he obtained from {)o}lus all the +winds which were contrary to him, and put them into leathern bags; his +companions, however, believing these bags to be full of money, entered +into a plot to rob him, and accordingly, when they came on the coast of +Ith{)a}ca, untied the bags, upon which the wind rushing out, he was +again blown back to olia. + +When Circe had turned his companions into swine and other brutes, he +first fortified himself against her charms with the herb Moly, an +antidote Mercury had given him; and then rushing into her cave with his +drawn sword, compelled her to restore his associates to their original +shape. + +He is said to have gone down into hell, to know his future fortune, from +the prophet Tiresias. When he sailed to the islands of the Sirens, he +stopped the ears of his companions, and bound himself with strong ropes +to the ship's mast, that he might secure himself against the snares into +which, by their charming voices, passengers were habitually allured. +Lastly, after his ship was wrecked, he escaped by swimming, and came +naked and alone, to the port of Phacia, in the island of Corcyra, where +Nausic{)a}a, daughter of king Alcin{)o}us, found him in a profound +sleep, into which he was thrown by the indulgence of Minerva. + +When his companions were found, and his ship refitted, he bent his +course toward Ith{)a}ca, where arriving, and having put on the habit of +a beggar, he went to his neatherds, with whom he found his son +Telemachus, and with them went home in disguise. After having received +several affronts from the suitors of Penel{)o}pe, with the assistance of +his son Telemachus and the neatherds, to whom he had discovered himself, +he killed Antin{)o}us, and the other princes who were competitors for +her favor. After reigning some time, he resigned the government of his +kingdom to Telemachus. + +CASTOR and POLLUX were the twin sons of Jupiter and Leda. These brothers +entered into an inviolable friendship, and when they grew up, cleared +the Archipelago of pirates, on which account they were esteemed deities +of the sea, and accordingly were invoked by mariners in tempests. They +went with the other noble youths of Greece in the expedition to Colchis, +in search of the golden fleece, and on all occasions signalized +themselves by their courage. + +In this expedition Pollux slew Amycus, son of Neptune, and king of +Bebrycia, who had challenged all the Argonauts to box with him. This +victory, and that which he gained afterwards at the Olympic games which +Hercules celebrated in Elis, caused him to be considered the hero and +patron of wrestlers, while his brother Castor distinguished himself in +the race, and in the management of horses. + +Cicero relates a wonderful judgment which happened to one Scopas, who +had spoken disrespectfully of these divinities: he was crushed to death +by the fall of a chamber, whilst Simon{)i}des, who was in the same room, +was rescued from the danger, being called out a little before, by two +persons unknown, supposed to be Castor and Pollux. + +The Greek and Roman histories are full of the miraculous appearance of +these brethren; particularly we are told they were seen fighting upon +two white horses, at the head of the Roman army, in the battle between +the Romans and Latins, near the lake Regillus, and brought the news of +the decisive victory of Paulus milius to Rome, the very day it was +obtained. + +Frequent representations of these deities occur on ancient monuments, +and particularly on consular medals. They are exhibited together, each +having a helmet, out of which issues a flame, and each a pike in one +hand, and in the other a horse held by the bridle: sometimes they are +represented as two beautiful youths, completely armed, and riding on +white horses, with stars over their helmets. + +AJAX, son of Tel{)a}mon, king of Sal{)a}mis, by Beriboea, was, next to +Achilles, the most valiant among the Greeks at the seige of Troy. He +commanded the troops of Sal{)a}mis in that expedition, and performed the +various heroic actions mentioned by Homer, and Ovid, in the speech of +Ajax contending for the armor of Achilles. This armor, however, being +adjudged to his competitor Ulysses, his disappointment so enraged him, +that he immediately became mad, and rushed furiously upon a flock of +sheep, imagining he was killing those who had offended him: but at +length perceiving his mistake, he became still more furious, and stabbed +himself with the fatal sword he had received from Hector, with whom he +had fought. Ajax resembled Achilles in several respects; like him he was +violent, and impatient of contradiction; and, like him, invulnerable in +every part of the body except one. + +He has been charged with impiety; not that he denied the gods a very +extensive power, but he imagined that, as the greatest cowards might +conquer through their assistance, there was no glory in conquering by +such aids; and scorned to owe his victory to aught but his own prowess. +Accordingly, we are told that when he was setting out for Troy, his +father recommended him always to join the assistance of the gods to his +own valor; to which Ajax replied, that cowards themselves were often +victorious by such helps, but for his own part he would make no reliance +of the kind, being assured he should be able to conquer without. + +It is further added, upon the head of his irreligion, that to Minerva, +who once offered him her advice, he replied with indignation: "Trouble +not yourself about my conduct; of that I shall give a good account; you +have nothing to do but reserve your favor and assistance for the other +Greeks." Another time she offered to guide his chariot in the battle, +but he would not suffer her. Nay, he even defaced the owl, her favorite +bird, which was engraven on his shield, lest that figure should be +considered as an act of reverence to Minerva, and hence as indicating +distrust in himself. + +Homer, however, does not represent him in this light, for though he does +not pray to Jupiter himself when he prepares to engage the valiant +Hector, yet he desires others to pray for him, either in a low voice, +lest the Trojans should hear, or louder if they pleased; for, says he, I +fear no person in the world. + +The poets give to Ajax the same commendation that the holy scripture +gives to king Saul, with regard to his stature. He has been the subject +of several tragedies, as well in Greek as Latin; and it is related that +the famous comedian, sop, refused to act that part. The Greeks paid +great honor to him after his death, and erected to him a noble monument +upon the promontory of Rhoeteum, which was one of those Alexander +desired to see and honor. + +JASON was son of son, king of Thessaly, and Alcim{)e}de. He was an +infant when Pelias, his uncle, who was left his guardian, sought to +destroy him; but being, to avoid the danger, conveyed by his relations +to a cave, he was there instructed by Chiron in the art of physic; +whence he took the name of Jason, or the healer, his former name being +Diom{=e}des. Arriving at years of maturity, he returned to his uncle, +who, probably with no favorable intention to Jason, inspired him with +the notion of the Colchian expedition and agreeably flattered his +ambition with the hopes of acquiring the golden fleece. + +Jason having resolved on the voyage, built a vessel at Iolchos in +Thessaly, for the expedition, under the inspection, of Argos, a famous +workman, which, from him, was called Argo: it was said to have been +executed by the advice of Pallas, who pointed out a tree in the Dodonan +forest for a mast, which was vocal, and had the gift of prophecy. + +The fame of the vessel, the largest that had ever been heard of, but +particularly the design itself, soon induced the bravest and most +distinguished youths of Greece to become adventurers in it, and brought +together about fifty of the most accomplished young persons of the age +to accompany Jason in this expedition; authors, however, are not agreed +on the precise names or numbers of the Argonauts; some state them to +have been forty-nine; others more, and amongst them several were of +divine origin. + +On his arrival at Colchis he repaired to the court of {=e}tes, from +whom he demanded the golden fleece. The monarch acceded to his request, +provided he could overcome the difficulties which lay in his way, and +which appeared not easily surmountable; these were bulls with brazen +feet, whose nostrils breathed fire, and a dragon which guarded the +fleece. The teeth of the latter, when killed, Jason was enjoined to sow, +and, after they had sprung up into armed men, to destroy them. + +Though success attended the enterprise, it was less owing to valor, than +to the assistance of Med{=e}a, daughter of {=e}tes, who, by her +enchantments, laid asleep the dragon, taught Jason to subdue the bulls, +and when he had obtained the prize, accompanied him in the night time, +unknown to her brother. + +The return of the Argonauts is variously related; some contend it was by +the track in which they came, and say that the brother of Med{=e}a +pursued them as far as the Adriatic, and was overcome by Jason; which +occasioned the story that his sister had cut him in pieces, and strewed +his limbs in the way, that her father, from solicitude to collect them, +might be delayed in the pursuit. + + + + +CHAPTER XII. + +_Other fabulous personages._ + + +GRACES _or_ CHARITES. Among the multitude of ancient divinities, none +had more votaries that the Graces. Particular nations and countries had +appropriate and local deities, but their empire was universal. To their +influence was ascribed all that could please in nature and in art; and +to them every rank and profession concurred in offering their vows. + +Their number was generally limited, by the ancient poets, to three: +_Euphrosyne_, _Thal{=i}a_, and _Aglaia_; but they differed concerning +their origin. Some suppose them to have been the offspring of Jupiter +and Eunomia, daughter of Oce{)a}nus; but the most prevalent opinion is, +that they were descended from Bacchus and Venus. According to Homer, +Aglaia, the youngest, was married to Vulcan, and another of them to the +god of Sleep. The Graces were companions of _Mercury_, _Venus_, and the +_Muses_. + +Festivals were celebrated in honor of them throughout the whole year. +They were esteemed the dispensers of liberality, eloquence, and wisdom; +and from them were derived simplicity of manners, a graceful deportment, +and gaiety of disposition. From their inspiring acts of gratitude and +mutual kindness they were described as uniting hand in hand with each +other. The ancients partook of but few repasts without invoking them, as +well as the Muses. + +SIRENS were a kind of fabulous beings represented by some as +sea-monsters, with the faces of women and the tails of fishes, answering +the description of mermaids; and by others said to have the upper parts +of a woman, and the under parts of a bird. Their number is not +determined; Homer reckons only two; others five, namely, Leucosia, +Ligeia, Parthen{)o}pe, Agla{)o}phon, and Molpe; others admit only the +three first. + +The poets represent them as beautiful women inhabiting the rocks on the +sea-shore, whither having allured passengers by the sweetness of their +voices, they put them to death. Virgil places them on rocks where +vessels are in danger of shipwreck; Pliny makes them inhabit the +promontory of Minerva, near the island Capre; others fix them in +Sicily, near cape Pel{=o}rus. + +Claudian says they inhabited harmonious rocks, that they were charming +monsters, and that sailors were wrecked on their coasts without regret, +and even expired in rapture. This description is doubtless founded on a +literal explication of the fable, that the Sirens were women who +inhabited the shores of Sicily, and who, by the allurements of pleasure, +stopped passengers, and made them forget their course. + +Ovid says they accompanied Proserpine when she was carried off, and that +the gods granted them wings to go in quest of that goddess. Homer places +the Sirens in the midst of a meadow drenched in blood, and tells us that +fate had permitted them to reign till some person should over-reach +them; that the wise Ulysses accomplished their destiny, having escaped +their snares, by stopping the ears of his companions with wax, and +causing himself to be fastened to the mast of his ship, which, he adds, +plunged them into so deep despair, that they drowned themselves in the +sea, where they were transformed into fishes from the waist downwards. + +Others, who do not look for so much mystery in this fable, maintain that +the Sirens were nothing but certain straits in the sea, where the waves +whirling furiously around seized and swallowed up vessels that +approached them. Lastly, some hold the Sirens to have been certain +shores and promontories, where the winds, by various reverberations and +echoes, cause a kind of harmony that surprises and stops passengers. +This probably might be the origin of the Sirens' song, and the occasion +of giving the name of Sirens to those rocks. + +Some interpreters of the ancient fables contend, that the number and +names of the three Sirens were taken from the triple pleasure of the +senses, wine, love, and music, which are the three most powerful means +of seducing mankind; and hence so many exhortations to avoid the Sirens' +fatal song; and probably it was hence that the Greeks obtained their +etymology of Siren from a Greek word signifying a _chain_, as if there +were no getting free from their enticement. + +But if in tracing this fable to its source, we take Servius as our +guide, he tells us that it derived its origin from certain princesses +who reigned of old upon the coasts of the Tuscan sea, near Pel{=o}rus +and Caprea, or in three small islands of Sicily which Aristotle calls +the isles of the Sirens. These women were very debauched, and by their +charms allured strangers, who were ruined in their court, by pleasure +and prodigality. + +This seems evidently the foundation of all that Homer says of the +Sirens, in the twelfth book of the Odyssey; that they bewitched those +who unfortunately listened to their songs; that they detained them in +capacious meadows, where nothing was to be seen but bones and carcasses +withering in the sun; that none who visit them ever again enjoy the +embraces and congratulations of their wives and children; and that all +who dote upon their charms are doomed to perish. What Solomon says in +the ninth chapter of Proverbs, of the miseries to which those are +exposed who abandon themselves to sensual pleasures, well justifies the +idea given us of the Sirens by the Greek poets, and by Virgil's +commentator. + + + + +[Transcriber's Note: + + Certain non-ASCII characters have been marked per the following. + The HTML and UTF-8 text files properly display these characters. + + {)a} a breve + {)e} e breve + {)i} i breve + {)o} o breve + {=a} a macron + {=e} e macron + {=i} i macron + {=o} o macron + {=u} u macron + {=y} y macron + + oe|OE are recorded as oe in the Latin-1 and ASCII texts. ae|AE + ligatures have been unpacked as ae for and ASCII. Greek words have + been transliterated and are marked with {word} form. + + Corrected typographical errors. The typographic error and + its corresponding line are listed. + + honoraable + The office of the legati was very dignified and honorable + + desposited + collected and deposited in an urn, to be kept in the mausoleum + + feats + Trimalchio, in his ridiculous feasts described by Petronius, + + End of Notes.] + + + + + +End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of Roman Antiquities, and Ancient +Mythology, by Charles K. Dillaway + +*** END OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK ROMAN ANTIQUITIES *** + +***** This file should be named 20734-8.txt or 20734-8.zip ***** +This and all associated files of various formats will be found in: + http://www.gutenberg.org/2/0/7/3/20734/ + +Produced by Barbara Tozier, V. L. Simpson, Bill Tozier and +the Online Distributed Proofreading Team at +http://www.pgdp.net + + +Updated editions will replace the previous one--the old editions +will be renamed. + +Creating the works from public domain print editions means that no +one owns a United States copyright in these works, so the Foundation +(and you!) can copy and distribute it in the United States without +permission and without paying copyright royalties. Special rules, +set forth in the General Terms of Use part of this license, apply to +copying and distributing Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works to +protect the PROJECT GUTENBERG-tm concept and trademark. Project +Gutenberg is a registered trademark, and may not be used if you +charge for the eBooks, unless you receive specific permission. If you +do not charge anything for copies of this eBook, complying with the +rules is very easy. You may use this eBook for nearly any purpose +such as creation of derivative works, reports, performances and +research. They may be modified and printed and given away--you may do +practically ANYTHING with public domain eBooks. Redistribution is +subject to the trademark license, especially commercial +redistribution. + + + +*** START: FULL LICENSE *** + +THE FULL PROJECT GUTENBERG LICENSE +PLEASE READ THIS BEFORE YOU DISTRIBUTE OR USE THIS WORK + +To protect the Project Gutenberg-tm mission of promoting the free +distribution of electronic works, by using or distributing this work +(or any other work associated in any way with the phrase "Project +Gutenberg"), you agree to comply with all the terms of the Full Project +Gutenberg-tm License (available with this file or online at +http://gutenberg.org/license). + + +Section 1. General Terms of Use and Redistributing Project Gutenberg-tm +electronic works + +1.A. By reading or using any part of this Project Gutenberg-tm +electronic work, you indicate that you have read, understand, agree to +and accept all the terms of this license and intellectual property +(trademark/copyright) agreement. If you do not agree to abide by all +the terms of this agreement, you must cease using and return or destroy +all copies of Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works in your possession. +If you paid a fee for obtaining a copy of or access to a Project +Gutenberg-tm electronic work and you do not agree to be bound by the +terms of this agreement, you may obtain a refund from the person or +entity to whom you paid the fee as set forth in paragraph 1.E.8. + +1.B. "Project Gutenberg" is a registered trademark. It may only be +used on or associated in any way with an electronic work by people who +agree to be bound by the terms of this agreement. There are a few +things that you can do with most Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works +even without complying with the full terms of this agreement. See +paragraph 1.C below. There are a lot of things you can do with Project +Gutenberg-tm electronic works if you follow the terms of this agreement +and help preserve free future access to Project Gutenberg-tm electronic +works. See paragraph 1.E below. + +1.C. The Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation ("the Foundation" +or PGLAF), owns a compilation copyright in the collection of Project +Gutenberg-tm electronic works. Nearly all the individual works in the +collection are in the public domain in the United States. If an +individual work is in the public domain in the United States and you are +located in the United States, we do not claim a right to prevent you from +copying, distributing, performing, displaying or creating derivative +works based on the work as long as all references to Project Gutenberg +are removed. Of course, we hope that you will support the Project +Gutenberg-tm mission of promoting free access to electronic works by +freely sharing Project Gutenberg-tm works in compliance with the terms of +this agreement for keeping the Project Gutenberg-tm name associated with +the work. You can easily comply with the terms of this agreement by +keeping this work in the same format with its attached full Project +Gutenberg-tm License when you share it without charge with others. + +1.D. The copyright laws of the place where you are located also govern +what you can do with this work. Copyright laws in most countries are in +a constant state of change. If you are outside the United States, check +the laws of your country in addition to the terms of this agreement +before downloading, copying, displaying, performing, distributing or +creating derivative works based on this work or any other Project +Gutenberg-tm work. The Foundation makes no representations concerning +the copyright status of any work in any country outside the United +States. + +1.E. Unless you have removed all references to Project Gutenberg: + +1.E.1. The following sentence, with active links to, or other immediate +access to, the full Project Gutenberg-tm License must appear prominently +whenever any copy of a Project Gutenberg-tm work (any work on which the +phrase "Project Gutenberg" appears, or with which the phrase "Project +Gutenberg" is associated) is accessed, displayed, performed, viewed, +copied or distributed: + +This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with +almost no restrictions whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or +re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included +with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org + +1.E.2. If an individual Project Gutenberg-tm electronic work is derived +from the public domain (does not contain a notice indicating that it is +posted with permission of the copyright holder), the work can be copied +and distributed to anyone in the United States without paying any fees +or charges. If you are redistributing or providing access to a work +with the phrase "Project Gutenberg" associated with or appearing on the +work, you must comply either with the requirements of paragraphs 1.E.1 +through 1.E.7 or obtain permission for the use of the work and the +Project Gutenberg-tm trademark as set forth in paragraphs 1.E.8 or +1.E.9. + +1.E.3. If an individual Project Gutenberg-tm electronic work is posted +with the permission of the copyright holder, your use and distribution +must comply with both paragraphs 1.E.1 through 1.E.7 and any additional +terms imposed by the copyright holder. Additional terms will be linked +to the Project Gutenberg-tm License for all works posted with the +permission of the copyright holder found at the beginning of this work. + +1.E.4. Do not unlink or detach or remove the full Project Gutenberg-tm +License terms from this work, or any files containing a part of this +work or any other work associated with Project Gutenberg-tm. + +1.E.5. Do not copy, display, perform, distribute or redistribute this +electronic work, or any part of this electronic work, without +prominently displaying the sentence set forth in paragraph 1.E.1 with +active links or immediate access to the full terms of the Project +Gutenberg-tm License. + +1.E.6. You may convert to and distribute this work in any binary, +compressed, marked up, nonproprietary or proprietary form, including any +word processing or hypertext form. However, if you provide access to or +distribute copies of a Project Gutenberg-tm work in a format other than +"Plain Vanilla ASCII" or other format used in the official version +posted on the official Project Gutenberg-tm web site (www.gutenberg.org), +you must, at no additional cost, fee or expense to the user, provide a +copy, a means of exporting a copy, or a means of obtaining a copy upon +request, of the work in its original "Plain Vanilla ASCII" or other +form. Any alternate format must include the full Project Gutenberg-tm +License as specified in paragraph 1.E.1. + +1.E.7. Do not charge a fee for access to, viewing, displaying, +performing, copying or distributing any Project Gutenberg-tm works +unless you comply with paragraph 1.E.8 or 1.E.9. + +1.E.8. You may charge a reasonable fee for copies of or providing +access to or distributing Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works provided +that + +- You pay a royalty fee of 20% of the gross profits you derive from + the use of Project Gutenberg-tm works calculated using the method + you already use to calculate your applicable taxes. The fee is + owed to the owner of the Project Gutenberg-tm trademark, but he + has agreed to donate royalties under this paragraph to the + Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation. Royalty payments + must be paid within 60 days following each date on which you + prepare (or are legally required to prepare) your periodic tax + returns. Royalty payments should be clearly marked as such and + sent to the Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation at the + address specified in Section 4, "Information about donations to + the Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation." + +- You provide a full refund of any money paid by a user who notifies + you in writing (or by e-mail) within 30 days of receipt that s/he + does not agree to the terms of the full Project Gutenberg-tm + License. You must require such a user to return or + destroy all copies of the works possessed in a physical medium + and discontinue all use of and all access to other copies of + Project Gutenberg-tm works. + +- You provide, in accordance with paragraph 1.F.3, a full refund of any + money paid for a work or a replacement copy, if a defect in the + electronic work is discovered and reported to you within 90 days + of receipt of the work. + +- You comply with all other terms of this agreement for free + distribution of Project Gutenberg-tm works. + +1.E.9. If you wish to charge a fee or distribute a Project Gutenberg-tm +electronic work or group of works on different terms than are set +forth in this agreement, you must obtain permission in writing from +both the Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation and Michael +Hart, the owner of the Project Gutenberg-tm trademark. Contact the +Foundation as set forth in Section 3 below. + +1.F. + +1.F.1. Project Gutenberg volunteers and employees expend considerable +effort to identify, do copyright research on, transcribe and proofread +public domain works in creating the Project Gutenberg-tm +collection. Despite these efforts, Project Gutenberg-tm electronic +works, and the medium on which they may be stored, may contain +"Defects," such as, but not limited to, incomplete, inaccurate or +corrupt data, transcription errors, a copyright or other intellectual +property infringement, a defective or damaged disk or other medium, a +computer virus, or computer codes that damage or cannot be read by +your equipment. + +1.F.2. LIMITED WARRANTY, DISCLAIMER OF DAMAGES - Except for the "Right +of Replacement or Refund" described in paragraph 1.F.3, the Project +Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation, the owner of the Project +Gutenberg-tm trademark, and any other party distributing a Project +Gutenberg-tm electronic work under this agreement, disclaim all +liability to you for damages, costs and expenses, including legal +fees. YOU AGREE THAT YOU HAVE NO REMEDIES FOR NEGLIGENCE, STRICT +LIABILITY, BREACH OF WARRANTY OR BREACH OF CONTRACT EXCEPT THOSE +PROVIDED IN PARAGRAPH F3. YOU AGREE THAT THE FOUNDATION, THE +TRADEMARK OWNER, AND ANY DISTRIBUTOR UNDER THIS AGREEMENT WILL NOT BE +LIABLE TO YOU FOR ACTUAL, DIRECT, INDIRECT, CONSEQUENTIAL, PUNITIVE OR +INCIDENTAL DAMAGES EVEN IF YOU GIVE NOTICE OF THE POSSIBILITY OF SUCH +DAMAGE. + +1.F.3. LIMITED RIGHT OF REPLACEMENT OR REFUND - If you discover a +defect in this electronic work within 90 days of receiving it, you can +receive a refund of the money (if any) you paid for it by sending a +written explanation to the person you received the work from. If you +received the work on a physical medium, you must return the medium with +your written explanation. The person or entity that provided you with +the defective work may elect to provide a replacement copy in lieu of a +refund. If you received the work electronically, the person or entity +providing it to you may choose to give you a second opportunity to +receive the work electronically in lieu of a refund. If the second copy +is also defective, you may demand a refund in writing without further +opportunities to fix the problem. + +1.F.4. Except for the limited right of replacement or refund set forth +in paragraph 1.F.3, this work is provided to you 'AS-IS' WITH NO OTHER +WARRANTIES OF ANY KIND, EXPRESS OR IMPLIED, INCLUDING BUT NOT LIMITED TO +WARRANTIES OF MERCHANTIBILITY OR FITNESS FOR ANY PURPOSE. + +1.F.5. Some states do not allow disclaimers of certain implied +warranties or the exclusion or limitation of certain types of damages. +If any disclaimer or limitation set forth in this agreement violates the +law of the state applicable to this agreement, the agreement shall be +interpreted to make the maximum disclaimer or limitation permitted by +the applicable state law. The invalidity or unenforceability of any +provision of this agreement shall not void the remaining provisions. + +1.F.6. INDEMNITY - You agree to indemnify and hold the Foundation, the +trademark owner, any agent or employee of the Foundation, anyone +providing copies of Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works in accordance +with this agreement, and any volunteers associated with the production, +promotion and distribution of Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works, +harmless from all liability, costs and expenses, including legal fees, +that arise directly or indirectly from any of the following which you do +or cause to occur: (a) distribution of this or any Project Gutenberg-tm +work, (b) alteration, modification, or additions or deletions to any +Project Gutenberg-tm work, and (c) any Defect you cause. + + +Section 2. Information about the Mission of Project Gutenberg-tm + +Project Gutenberg-tm is synonymous with the free distribution of +electronic works in formats readable by the widest variety of computers +including obsolete, old, middle-aged and new computers. It exists +because of the efforts of hundreds of volunteers and donations from +people in all walks of life. + +Volunteers and financial support to provide volunteers with the +assistance they need, is critical to reaching Project Gutenberg-tm's +goals and ensuring that the Project Gutenberg-tm collection will +remain freely available for generations to come. In 2001, the Project +Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation was created to provide a secure +and permanent future for Project Gutenberg-tm and future generations. +To learn more about the Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation +and how your efforts and donations can help, see Sections 3 and 4 +and the Foundation web page at http://www.pglaf.org. + + +Section 3. Information about the Project Gutenberg Literary Archive +Foundation + +The Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation is a non profit +501(c)(3) educational corporation organized under the laws of the +state of Mississippi and granted tax exempt status by the Internal +Revenue Service. The Foundation's EIN or federal tax identification +number is 64-6221541. Its 501(c)(3) letter is posted at +http://pglaf.org/fundraising. Contributions to the Project Gutenberg +Literary Archive Foundation are tax deductible to the full extent +permitted by U.S. federal laws and your state's laws. + +The Foundation's principal office is located at 4557 Melan Dr. S. +Fairbanks, AK, 99712., but its volunteers and employees are scattered +throughout numerous locations. Its business office is located at +809 North 1500 West, Salt Lake City, UT 84116, (801) 596-1887, email +business@pglaf.org. Email contact links and up to date contact +information can be found at the Foundation's web site and official +page at http://pglaf.org + +For additional contact information: + Dr. Gregory B. Newby + Chief Executive and Director + gbnewby@pglaf.org + + +Section 4. Information about Donations to the Project Gutenberg +Literary Archive Foundation + +Project Gutenberg-tm depends upon and cannot survive without wide +spread public support and donations to carry out its mission of +increasing the number of public domain and licensed works that can be +freely distributed in machine readable form accessible by the widest +array of equipment including outdated equipment. Many small donations +($1 to $5,000) are particularly important to maintaining tax exempt +status with the IRS. + +The Foundation is committed to complying with the laws regulating +charities and charitable donations in all 50 states of the United +States. Compliance requirements are not uniform and it takes a +considerable effort, much paperwork and many fees to meet and keep up +with these requirements. We do not solicit donations in locations +where we have not received written confirmation of compliance. To +SEND DONATIONS or determine the status of compliance for any +particular state visit http://pglaf.org + +While we cannot and do not solicit contributions from states where we +have not met the solicitation requirements, we know of no prohibition +against accepting unsolicited donations from donors in such states who +approach us with offers to donate. + +International donations are gratefully accepted, but we cannot make +any statements concerning tax treatment of donations received from +outside the United States. U.S. laws alone swamp our small staff. + +Please check the Project Gutenberg Web pages for current donation +methods and addresses. Donations are accepted in a number of other +ways including checks, online payments and credit card donations. +To donate, please visit: http://pglaf.org/donate + + +Section 5. General Information About Project Gutenberg-tm electronic +works. + +Professor Michael S. Hart is the originator of the Project Gutenberg-tm +concept of a library of electronic works that could be freely shared +with anyone. For thirty years, he produced and distributed Project +Gutenberg-tm eBooks with only a loose network of volunteer support. + + +Project Gutenberg-tm eBooks are often created from several printed +editions, all of which are confirmed as Public Domain in the U.S. +unless a copyright notice is included. Thus, we do not necessarily +keep eBooks in compliance with any particular paper edition. + + +Most people start at our Web site which has the main PG search facility: + + http://www.gutenberg.org + +This Web site includes information about Project Gutenberg-tm, +including how to make donations to the Project Gutenberg Literary +Archive Foundation, how to help produce our new eBooks, and how to +subscribe to our email newsletter to hear about new eBooks. diff --git a/20734-8.zip b/20734-8.zip Binary files differnew file mode 100644 index 0000000..1c6d64e --- /dev/null +++ b/20734-8.zip diff --git a/20734-h.zip b/20734-h.zip Binary files differnew file mode 100644 index 0000000..44d7b94 --- /dev/null +++ b/20734-h.zip diff --git a/20734-h/20734-h.htm b/20734-h/20734-h.htm new file mode 100644 index 0000000..f408031 --- /dev/null +++ b/20734-h/20734-h.htm @@ -0,0 +1,6806 @@ +<!DOCTYPE html PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD HTML 4.01//EN" + "http://www.w3.org/TR/html4/strict.dtd"> + +<html lang="en"> +<head> +<meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html;charset=utf-8"> +<meta http-equiv="Content-Style-Type" content="text/css"> +<title>The Project Gutenberg eBook of Roman Antiquities, And Ancient Mythology; For Classical Schools. By Charles K. Dillaway, +</title> + +<style type="text/css" media="screen"> +body {margin:5% 15%;} + +h1,h2,h3,h4,h5,h6 {text-align:center;} + +.bookcontent > p +{ +margin-top: 1em; +text-align: justify; +} + +hr {width:65%;margin:5% auto;} + +table { +border-collapse:collapse; +border:1px solid black; +} + +td {padding:0 0 0 .5em;} + +.smcap {font-variant:small-caps;} + +.pagenum +{ +/*visibility: hidden;*/ +position: absolute; +left:2%; +font-style:normal; +font-variant:normal; +font-weight:normal; +font-size:small; +} + +img {border:3px inset #000000;} + +.center +{ +margin:0 auto; +} + +.framed +{ +border: 3px outset black; +margin:2em auto; +padding:1em 2em 2em 1em; +background:#C3CCCC; +} + +.framed > h3,p {margin:0;padding:0;} + +div.poem +{ +text-align:left; +margin:0 auto; +width:70%; +position: relative; +} + +.poem .stanza +{ +margin-top: 1em; +} + +.poem .i0 {margin-left: 2em;} + +p.ralign {text-align:right;} + +span.ralign +{ +position: absolute; +right: 0; +top: auto; +} + + +.titlepage +{ +width:75%; +margin:0 auto; +padding:5% 1% 10%; +text-align:center; +} + +.titlepage > h1 {font-size:150%;} + +.byline +{ +margin:10% 0 15%; +padding:0; +font-weight:bold; +} + +.copyright +{ +text-align:center; +margin: 10% 0 15%; +} + +.smallfont {font-size:small;} + +.bookcontent +{ +margin:20% 0 10%; +} +.TN +{ +width:30%; +background:#CCCCCC; +margin:0% auto; +border:1px dotted black; +} + +.LOI ul {list-style-type: none;} +.LOI ul > li a {text-decoration:none;} +.TOC ol > li a {text-decoration:none;} + +.TOC, .LOI +{ +position: relative; +width: 55%; +margin:10% auto; +} + +</style> +</head> + +<body> + + +<pre> + +The Project Gutenberg EBook of Roman Antiquities, and Ancient Mythology, by +Charles K. Dillaway + +This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with +almost no restrictions whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or +re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included +with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org + + +Title: Roman Antiquities, and Ancient Mythology + For Classical Schools (2nd ed) + +Author: Charles K. Dillaway + +Release Date: March 3, 2007 [EBook #20734] + +Language: English + +Character set encoding: UTF-8 + +*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK ROMAN ANTIQUITIES *** + + + + +Produced by Barbara Tozier, V. L. Simpson, Bill Tozier and +the Online Distributed Proofreading Team at +http://www.pgdp.net + + + + + + +</pre> + + + +<div id="a1" class="framed" style="width:50%;"> +<p class="ralign"><i>Pl. 1.</i></p> +<a href="images/fig001-fs.png"> +<img src="images/fig001-th.png" alt="frontis"> +</a> +</div> + +<div class="titlepage"> +<h1>ROMAN ANTIQUITIES, AND ANCIENT MYTHOLOGY; FOR CLASSICAL SCHOOLS.</h1> + +<div class="byline"> +<p>BY</p> +<p>CHARLES K. DILLAWAY,</p> +<p class="smallfont">PRINCIPAL OF THE PUBLIC LATIN SCHOOL IN BOSTON.</p> +</div> + +<p class="smallfont">SECOND EDITION.</p> + +<div class="publisher"> +<p>BOSTON:</p> +<p>LINCOLN, EDMANDS & CO.</p> + +<div class="smallfont" style="margin:10% 0 0 0;"> +CARTER, HENDEE AND CO. BOSTON; COLLINS AND HANNAY,<br> +NEW YORK; KEY AND MEILKE, PHILADELPHIA;<br> +CUSHING AND SONS, BALTIMORE. +</div> + +<p>1833.</p> +</div> + +</div> + +<div class="copyright"> +Entered, according to Act of Congress, in the year 1833, By Lincoln,<br> +Edmands & Co. In the Clerk's office of the District Court of<br> +Massachusetts. +</div> + +<div class="TN"> +<p>[Transcribers' Note:</p> +<p>A detailed <a href="#tn">listing</a> of changes and anomalies is at +the end of this file.]</p> +</div> + +<div class="LOI"> +<h2>POSITION OF THE PLATES.</h2> + +<ul> +<li>No. 1, <span class="ralign"><a href="#a1">before the title page.</a></span></li> +<li>2, before page <span class="ralign"><a href="#a2">27.</a></span></li> +<li>3, "          "<span class="ralign"><a href="#a3">71.</a></span></li> +<li>4, "          "<span class="ralign"><a href="#a4">78.</a></span></li> +<li>5, "          "<span class="ralign"><a href="#a5">82.</a></span></li> +<li>6, "          "<span class="ralign"><a href="#a6">90.</a></span></li> +<li>7, "          "<span class="ralign"><a href="#a7">106.</a></span></li> +<li>8, "          "<span class="ralign"><a href="#a8">133.</a></span></li> +</ul> +</div> + +<hr> +<h2>PREFACE.</h2> + +<p>The editor has endeavored in the following pages to give some account +of the customs and institutions of the Romans and of ancient Mythology +in a form adapted to the use of classical schools.</p> + +<p>In making the compilation he has freely drawn from all creditable +sources of information within his reach, but chiefly from the following: +Sketches of the institutions and domestic customs of the Romans, +published in London a few years since; from the works of Adams, Kennett, +Lanktree, Montfaucon, Middleton and Gesner: upon the subject of +Mythology, from Bell, Spense, Pausanias, La Pluche, Plutarch, Pliny, +Homer, Horace, Virgil, and many others to whom reference has been +occasionally made.</p> + +<p><i>Boston, July, 1832.</i></p> + +<hr style="width:25%"> + +<p>In the second edition now offered to the public much has been added +to the department of Antiquities. A more comprehensive chapter upon the +weights, measures and coins of the Romans has been substituted in the +place of the former one, and many other improvements made which it is +hoped will be found acceptable. As it was not thought expedient to +increase the size of the volume, the additions have been made by +excluding the questions.</p> + +<p><i>Boston, May, 1833.</i></p> + +<hr> +<div class="TOC"> +<h2>CONTENTS.</h2> + +<p>Chap. <span class="ralign">Page.</span></p> +<ol> +<li>Foundation of Rome and division of inhabitants <span class="ralign"><a href="#chap_1_1">9</a></span></li> +<li>The Senate <span class="ralign"><a href="#chap_1_2">13</a></span></li> +<li>Other divisions of the Roman people <span class="ralign"><a href="#chap_1_3">18</a></span></li> +<li>Gentes and Familiæ, Names of the Romans <span class="ralign"><a href="#chap_1_4">19</a></span></li> +<li>Private rights of Roman citizens <span class="ralign"><a href="#chap_1_5">21</a></span></li> +<li>Public rights of Roman citizens <span class="ralign"><a href="#chap_1_6">23</a></span></li> +<li>Places of worship <span class="ralign"><a href="#chap_1_7">24</a></span></li> +<li>Other public buildings <span class="ralign"><a href="#chap_1_8">26</a></span></li> +<li>Porticos, arches, columns, and trophies <span class="ralign"><a href="#chap_1_9">30</a></span></li> +<li>Bagnios, aqueducts, sewers, and public ways <span class="ralign"><a href="#chap_1_10">32</a></span></li> +<li>Augurs and Auguries <span class="ralign"><a href="#chap_1_11">33</a></span></li> +<li>Aruspices, Pontifices, Quindecemviri, Vestals, &c. <span class="ralign"><a href="#chap_1_12">34</a></span></li> +<li>Religious ceremonies of the Romans <span class="ralign"><a href="#chap_1_13">37</a></span></li> +<li>The Roman year <span class="ralign"><a href="#chap_1_14">39</a></span></li> +<li>Roman games <span class="ralign"><a href="#chap_1_15">42</a></span></li> +<li>Magistrates <span class="ralign"><a href="#chap_1_16">44</a></span></li> +<li>Of military affairs <span class="ralign"><a href="#chap_1_17">49</a></span></li> +<li>Assemblies, judicial proceedings, and punishments of the Romans <span class="ralign"><a href="#chap_1_18">53</a></span></li> +<li>Roman dress <span class="ralign"><a href="#chap_1_19">57</a></span></li> +<li>Fine arts and literature <span class="ralign"><a href="#chap_1_20">59</a></span></li> +<li>Roman houses <span class="ralign"><a href="#chap_1_21">61</a></span></li> +<li>Marriages and funerals <span class="ralign"><a href="#chap_1_22">63</a></span></li> +<li>Customs at meals <span class="ralign"><a href="#chap_1_23">66</a></span></li> +<li>Weights, measures, and coins <span class="ralign"><a href="#chap_1_24">67</a></span></li> +</ol> +</div> + +<h2><a href="#mythology">MYTHOLOGY.</a></h2> +<div class="TOC"> +<ol> +<li>Celestial Gods <span class="ralign"><a href="#chap_2_1">71</a></span></li> +<li>Celestial Goddesses <span class="ralign"><a href="#chap_2_2">77</a></span></li> +<li>Terrestrial Gods <span class="ralign"><a href="#chap_2_3">82</a></span></li> +<li>Terrestrial Goddesses <span class="ralign"><a href="#chap_2_4">87</a></span></li> +<li>Gods of the woods <span class="ralign"><a href="#chap_2_5">94</a></span></li> +<li>Goddesses of the woods <span class="ralign"><a href="#chap_2_6">101</a></span></li> +<li>Gods of the sea <span class="ralign"><a href="#chap_2_7">106</a></span></li> +<li>Tartarus and its Deities <span class="ralign"><a href="#chap_2_8">111</a></span></li> +<li>The condemned in Hell <span class="ralign"><a href="#chap_2_9">123</a></span></li> +<li>Monsters of Hell <span class="ralign"><a href="#chap_2_10">126</a></span></li> +<li>Dii Indigites, or heroes who received divine honors after death <span class="ralign"><a href="#chap_2_11">128</a></span></li> +<li>Other fabulous personages <span class="ralign"><a href="#chap_2_12">146</a></span></li> +</ol> +</div> + +<hr> +<div class="bookcontent"> +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_9" id="Page_9">[9]</a></span></p> + +<h2 id="chap_1_1">CHAPTER I.</h2> + +<h3><i>Foundation of Rome and Division of its Inhabitants.</i></h3> + +<p>Ancient Italy was separated, on the north, by the Alps, from Germany. +It was bounded, on the east and north-east, by the Adriatic Sea, or +<i>Mare Superum</i>; on the south-west, by a part of the Mediterranean, +called the Tuscan Sea, or <i>Mare Inferum</i>; and on the south, by the +<i>Fretum Siculum</i>, called at present the strait of Messina.</p> + +<p>The south of Italy, called <i>Græcia Magna</i>, was peopled by a +colony from Greece. The middle of Italy contained several states or +confederacies, under the denominations of Etrurians, Samnites, Latins, +Volsci, Campanians, Sabines, &c. And the north, containing <i>Gallia +Cisalpina</i> and <i>Liguria</i>, was peopled by a race of Gauls.</p> + +<p>The principal town of the Latin confederacy +was <span class="smcap">Rome</span>. It was situated on the river Tiber, +at the distance of sixteen miles from its mouth.</p> + +<p>Romulus is commonly reported to have laid its foundations on Mount +Palatine, A. M. 3251, B. C. 753, in the third year of the 6th +Olympiad.</p> + +<p>Rome was at first only a small fortification; under the kings and the +republic, it greatly increased in size; but it could hardly be called +magnificent before the time of Augustus Cæsar. In the reign of the +Emperor Valerian, the city, with its suburbs, covered a space of fifty +miles; at present it is scarcely thirteen miles round.</p> + +<p>Rome was built on seven hills, viz. the Palatine, Capitoline, +Quirinal, Esquiline, Viminal, Cælian, and Aventine; hence it was +poetically styled “<i>Urbs Septicollis</i>,”—the seven-hilled city.</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_10" +id="Page_10">[10]</a></span>The greatest number of inhabitants in Rome +was four millions; but its average population was not more than two +millions.</p> + +<p>The people were divided into three tribes, and each tribe into ten +curiæ. The number of tribes was afterwards increased to thirty-five.</p> + +<p>The people were at first only separated into two ranks; the Patrician +and Plebeian; but afterwards the Equites or Knights were added; and at a +later period, slavery was introduced—making in all, four classes: +Patricians, Knights, Plebeians, and Slaves.</p> + +<p>The Patrician order consisted of those families whose ancestors had +been members of the Senate. Those among them who had filled any superior +office, were considered noble, and possessed the right of making images +of themselves, which were transmitted to their descendants, and formed +part of their domestic worship.</p> + +<p>The Plebeian order was composed of the lowest class of freemen. Those +who resided in the city, were called “<i>Plebs urbana</i>;” those who +lived in the country, “<i>Plebs rustica</i>.” But the distinction did +not consist in name only—the latter were the most respectable.</p> + +<p>The <i>Plebs urbana</i> consisted not only of the poorer mechanics +and laborers, but of a multitude of idlers who chiefly subsisted on the +public bounty, and whose turbulence was a constant source of disquietude +to the government. There were leading men among them, kept in pay by the +seditious magistrates, who used for hire to stimulate them to the most +daring outrages.</p> + +<p>Trade and manufactures being considered as servile employments, they +had no encouragement to industry; and the numerous spectacles which were +exhibited, particularly the shows of gladiators, served to increase +their natural ferocity. To these causes may be attributed the final ruin +of the republic.</p> + +<p>The Equestrian order arose out of an institution ascribed to Romulus, +who chose from each of the three tribes, one hundred young men, the most +distinguished for their rank, wealth, and other accomplishments, who +should serve on horseback and guard his person.</p> + +<p>Their number was afterwards increased by Tullus Hostilius, who chose +three hundred from the Albans. They were chosen promiscuously from the +Patricians and Plebeians. The age requisite was eighteen, and the +fortune <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_11" +id="Page_11">[11]</a></span>four hundred sestertia; that is, about +14,000 dollars. Their marks of distinction, were a horse given them at +the public expense, and a gold ring. Their office, at first, was only to +serve in the army; but afterwards, to act as judges or jurymen, and take +charge of the public revenues.</p> + +<p>A great degree of splendor was added to the Equites by a procession +which they made throughout the city every year, on the 15th day of July, +from the temple of honor, without the city to the Capitol, riding on +horseback, with wreaths of olives on their heads, dressed in the Togæ +palmatæ or trabeæ, of a scarlet color, and bearing in their hands the +military ornaments, which they had received from their general, as a +reward for their valor. At this time they could not be summoned before a +court of justice.</p> + +<p>If any Eques was corrupt in his morals, or had diminished his +fortune, the censor ordered him to be removed from the order by selling +his horse.</p> + +<p>Men became slaves among the Romans, by being taken in war, by way of +punishment, or were born in a state of servitude. Those enemies who +voluntarily surrendered themselves, retained the rights of freedom, and +were called '<i>Dedititii</i>.'</p> + +<p>Those taken in the field, or in the storming of cities, were sold at +auction—“<i>sub corona</i>,” as it was called, because they wore a +crown when sold; or “<i>sub hasta</i>,” because a spear was set up where +the auctioneer stood. These were called Servi or Mancipia. Those who +dealt in the slave trade were called <i>Mangones</i> +or <i>Venalitii</i>: they were bound to promise for the soundness of +their slaves, and not to conceal their faults; hence they were commonly +exposed for sale naked, and carried a scroll hanging to their necks, on +which their good and bad qualities were specified.</p> + +<p>Free-born citizens could not be sold for slaves. Parents might sell +their children; but they did not on that account entirely lose the right +of citizens, for, when freed from slavery, they were called +<i>ingenui</i> and <i>libertini</i>. The same was the case with insolvent +debtors, who were given up to their creditors.</p> + +<p>There was no regular marriage among slaves, but their connexion was +called contubernium. The children of any female slave became the +property of her master.</p> + +<p>Such as had a genius for it were sometimes instructed in literature +and liberal arts. Some of these were sold +at <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_12" id="Page_12">[12]</a></span>a +great price. Hence arose a principal part of the wealth of Crassus.</p> + +<p>The power of the master over his slave was absolute. He might scourge +or put him to death at pleasure. This right was often exercised with +great cruelty.</p> + +<p>The lash was the common punishment; but for certain crimes they were +to be branded in the forehead, and sometimes were forced to carry a +piece of wood round their necks, wherever they went, which was called +<i>furca</i>; and whoever had been subjected to the punishment was ever +afterwards called <i>furcifer</i>.</p> + +<p>Slaves also, by way of punishment, were often confined in a +work-house, or bridewell, where they were obliged to turn a mill for +grinding corn. When slaves were beaten, they were suspended with a +weight tied to their feet, that they might not move them. When punished +for any capital offence, they were commonly crucified; but this was +afterwards prohibited under Constantine.</p> + +<p>If the master of a family was slain at his own house, and the +murderer not discovered, all his domestic slaves were liable to be put +to death. Hence we find no less than four hundred in one family punished +on this account.</p> + +<p>Slaves were not esteemed as persons, but as things, and might be +transferred from one owner to another, like any other effects. They +could not appear in a court of justice as witnesses, nor make a will, or +inherit anything, or serve as soldiers, unless first made free.</p> + +<p>At certain times they were allowed the greatest freedom, as at the +feast of Saturn, in the month of December, when they were served at +table by their masters, and on the Ides of August.</p> + +<p>The number of slaves in Rome and through Italy, was immense. Some +rich individuals are said to have had several thousands.</p> + +<p>Anciently, they were freed in three different ways:—1st, <i>Per +censum</i>, when a slave with his master's knowledge inserted his name +in the censor's roll. 2d, <i>Per vindictam</i>, when a master, taking +his slave to the prætor, or consul, and in the provinces to the +pro-consul or pro-prætor, said, “I desire that this man be free, +according to the custom of the Romans”—and the prætor, if he approved, +putting a rod on the head of the slave, pronounced,—"I say that this +man is free, after the manner of the Romans." Wherefore, the lictor or +master turning him round in a cir<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_13" +id="Page_13">[13]</a></span>cle, and giving him a blow on the cheek, let +him go; signifying that leave was granted him to go, wherever he +pleased. 3d, <i>Per testamentum</i>, when a master gave his slaves their +liberty by his will.</p> + +<hr> +<h2 id="chap_1_2">CHAPTER II.</h2> + +<h3><i>The Senate.</i></h3> + +<p>The Senate was instituted by Romulus, to be the perpetual council of +the republic, and at first consisted only of one hundred, chosen from +the Patricians. They were called Patres, either on account of their age +or the paternal care they had of the state. After the Sabines were taken +into the city, another one hundred was chosen from them by the suffrages +of the curiæ.</p> + +<p>Such as were chosen into the Senate by Brutus, after the expulsion of +Tarquin the proud, to supply the place of those whom that king had +slain, were called Conscripti; that is, persons written or enrolled +together with the Senators, who alone were properly called patres.</p> + +<p>Persons were chosen into the Senate first by the kings, and after +their expulsion, by the consuls, and by the military tribunes; but from +the year of the city 310, by the censors. At first, only from the +Patricians, but afterwards, also from the Plebeians—chiefly, however, +from the Equites.</p> + +<p>Besides an estate of 400, or after Augustus, of 1200 sestertia, no +person was admitted to this dignity but one who had already borne some +magistracy in the Commonwealth. The age is not sufficiently ascertained, +probably not under 30.</p> + +<p>The dictator, consuls, prætors, tribunes of the commons and interrex, +had the power of assembling the Senate.</p> + +<p>The places where they assembled were only such as had formerly been +consecrated by the augurs—and most commonly within the city. They made +use of the temple of Bellona, without the walls, for the giving audience +to foreign ambassadors, and to such provincial magistrates as were to be +heard in open Senates, before they entered the city, as when they +petitioned for a triumph, and in similar cases. When the augurs reported +that an ox had spoken, <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_14" +id="Page_14">[14]</a></span>which we often meet with among the ancient +prodigies, the Senate was presently to sit, sub dio, or in the open +air.</p> + +<p>The regular meetings (<i>senatus legitimus</i>) were on the Kalends, +Nones, and Ides in every month, until the time of Augustus, who confined +them to the Kalends and Ides. The <i>senatus indictus</i> was called for +the dispatch of business upon any other day except the dies Comitialis, +when the Senate were obliged to be present at the Comitia.</p> + +<p>The Senate was summoned anciently by a public officer, named viator, +because he called the Senators from the country—or by a public crier, +when anything had happened about which the Senators were to be consulted +hastily and without delay: but in latter times by an edict, appointing +the time and place, and published several days before. The cause of +assembling was also added.</p> + +<p>If any one refused or neglected to attend, he was punished by a fine, +and by distraining his goods, unless he had a just excuse. The fine was +imposed by him who held the Senate, and pledges were taken till it was +paid—but after 60 years of age, Senators might attend or not, as they +pleased.</p> + +<p>No decree could be made unless there was a quorum. What that was is +uncertain. If any one wanted to hinder the passing of a decree, and +suspected there was not a quorum, he said to the magistrate presiding, +“<i>Numera Senatum</i>,” count the Senate.</p> + +<p>The magistrate who was to preside offered a sacrifice, and took the +auspices before he entered the Senate house. If they were not favorable, +or not rightly taken, the business was deferred to another day. Augustus +ordered that each Senator, before he took his seat, should pay his +devotions with an offering of frankincense and wine, at the altar of +that god in whose temple the Senate were assembled, that they might +discharge their duty the more religiously. When the consuls entered, the +Senators commonly rose up to do them honor.</p> + +<p>The consuls elect were first asked their opinion, and the prætors, +tribunes, &c. elect, seem to have had the same preference before the +rest of their order. He who held the Senate, might consult first any one +of the same order he thought proper.</p> + +<p>Nothing could be laid before the Senate against the will of the +consuls, unless by the tribunes of the people, who might also give their +negative against any decree by <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_15" +id="Page_15">[15]</a></span>the solemn word “<i>Veto</i>,” which was +called interceding. This might also be done by all who had an equal or +greater authority than the magistrate presiding. If any person +interceded, the sentence was called “<i>Senatus auctoritas</i>,” their +judgment or opinion.</p> + +<p>The Senators delivered their opinions standing; but when they only +assented to the opinion of another, they continued sitting.</p> + +<p>It was not lawful for the consuls to interrupt those who spoke, +although they introduced in their speeches many things foreign to the +subject, which they sometimes did, that they might waste the day in +speaking. For no new reference could be made after the tenth hour, that +is, four o'clock in the afternoon, according to our mode of +reckoning.</p> + +<p>This privilege was often abused, but they were forced to stop by the +noise and clamour of the other Senators. Sometimes magistrates, when +they made a disagreeable motion, were silenced in this manner.</p> + +<p>The Senators usually addressed the house by the title of “<i>patres +conscripti</i>:” sometimes to the consul, or person who presided, +sometimes to both.</p> + +<p>A decree of the Senate was made, by a separation of the Senators, to +different parts of the house. He who presided, said, “Let those who are +of such an opinion pass over to that side, those who think differently, +to this.” Those Senators who only voted, but did not speak, or as some +say, had the right of voting, but not of speaking, were +called <i>pedarii</i>, because they signified their opinion by their +feet, and not by their tongues. When a decree was made without any +opinion being asked or given, it was called “<i>senatus consultum per +discessionem</i>.” But if the contrary, it was simply called “<i>Senatus +consultum</i>.”</p> + +<p>In decreeing a supplication to any general, the opinion of the +Senators was always asked. Hence Cicero blames Antony for omitting this +in the case of Lepidus. Before the vote was put, and while the debate +was going on, the members used to take their seats near that person +whose opinion they approved, and the opinion of him who was joined by +the greatest number was called “<i>Sententia maxime frequens</i>.”</p> + +<p>When affairs requiring secrecy were discussed, the clerks and other +attendants were not admitted: but what passed, was written out by some +of the Senators, and the decree was called tacitum.</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_16" +id="Page_16">[16]</a></span>Public registers were kept of what was done +in the Senate, in the assemblies of the people, and courts of justice; +also of births and funerals, of marriages and divorces, &c. which served +as a fund of information for historians.</p> + +<p>In writing a decree, the time and place were put first; then, the +names of those who were present at the engrossing of it; after that, the +motion with the name of the magistrate who proposed it; to all which was +subjoined what the Senate decreed.</p> + +<p>The decrees were kept in the public treasury with the laws and other +writings, pertaining to the republic. Anciently they were kept in the +temple of Ceres. The place where the public records were kept was called +“<i>Tabularium</i>.” The decrees of the Senate concerning the honors +conferred on Cæsar were inscribed in golden letters, on columns of +silver. When not carried to the treasury, they were reckoned invalid. +Hence it was ordained under Tiberius, that the decrees of the Senate, +especially concerning the capital punishment of any one, should not be +carried there before the tenth day, that the emperor, if absent from the +city, might have an opportunity of considering them, and if he thought +proper of mitigating them.</p> + +<p>Decrees of the Senate were rarely reversed. While a question was +under debate, every one was at freedom to express his dissent; but when +once determined, it was looked upon as the common concern of each member +to support the opinion of the majority.</p> + +<p>The power of the Senate was different at different times. Under the +regal government, the Senate deliberated upon such affairs as the king +proposed to them, and the kings were said to act according to their +counsel as the consuls did afterwards according to their decrees.</p> + +<p>Tarquin the proud, dropped the custom handed down from his +predecessors, of consulting the Senate about everything; banished or put +to death the chief men of that order, and chose no others in their room; +but he was expelled from the throne for his tyranny, and the regal +government abolished, A. U. 243. Afterwards the power of the Senate was +raised to the highest. Everything was done by its authority. The +magistrates were in a manner only its ministers. But when the Patricians +began to abuse their power, and to exercise cruelty on the Plebeians, +especially after the death of Tarquin, the multitude took arms in their +own defence, made a secession from the city, seized on Mons Sacer, and +created tribunes for themselves, who +at<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_17" +id="Page_17">[17]</a></span>tacked the authority of the Senate, and in +process of time greatly diminished it.</p> + +<p>Although the supreme power at Rome belonged to the people, yet they +seldom enacted anything without the authority of the Senate. In all +weighty matters, the method usually observed was that the Senate should +first deliberate and decree, and then the people order.</p> + +<p>The Senate assumed to themselves exclusively, the guardianship of the +public religion; so that no new god could be introduced, nor altar +erected, nor the Sybiline books consulted without their order. They had +the direction of the treasury, and distributed the public money at +pleasure. They appointed stipends to their generals and officers, and +provisions and clothing to the armies. They settled the provinces which +were annually assigned to the consuls and prætors, and when it seemed +fit, they prolonged their command. They nominated, out of their own +body, all ambassadors sent from Rome, and gave to foreign ambassadors +what answers they thought proper. They decreed all public thanksgivings +for victories obtained, and conferred the honor of an ovation or triumph +with the title of imperator on their victorious generals. They could +decree the title of king to any prince whom they pleased, and declare +any one an enemy by a vote. They inquired into all public crimes or +treasons, either in Rome or other parts of Italy; and adjusted all +disputes among the allied and dependent cities. They exercised a power +not only of interpreting the laws, but of absolving men from the +obligation of them. They could postpone the assemblies of the people, +and prescribe a change of habit to the city, in cases of any imminent +danger or calamity.</p> + +<p>But their power was chiefly conspicuous in civil dissension or +dangerous tumults within the city, in which that solemn decree used to +be passed; “That the consuls should take care that the republic should +receive no harm.” By which decree an absolute power was granted to them +to punish and put to death whom they pleased without a trial; to raise +forces and carry on war, without the order of the people.</p> + +<p>Although the decrees of the Senate had not properly the force of +laws, and took place chiefly in those matters which were not provided +for by the laws, yet they were understood always to have a binding +force, and were therefore obeyed by all orders. The consuls themselves +were obliged to sub<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_18" +id="Page_18">[18]</a></span>mit to them. They could be annulled or +cancelled only by the Senate itself. In the last ages of the republic, +the authority of the Senate was little regarded by the leading men and +their creatures, who by means of bribery obtained from a corrupted +populace what they desired, in spite of the Senate.</p> + +<p>Augustus, when he became master of the empire, retained the forms of +the ancient republic, and the same names of the magistrates; but left +nothing of the ancient virtue and liberty. While he pretended always to +act by the authority of the Senate, he artfully drew everything to +himself.</p> + +<p>The Senators were distinguished by an oblong stripe of purple sewed +on the forepart of their Senatorial gown, and black buskins reaching to +the middle of the leg, with the letter C in silver on the top of the +foot.</p> + +<p>The chief privilege of the Senators was their having a particular +place at the public spectacles, called orchestra. It was next the stage +in the theatre, or next the arena or open space in the amphitheatre.</p> + +<p>The messages sent by the emperor to the Senate were called epistolæ +or libelli, because they were folded in the form of a letter or little +book. Cæsar was said to have first introduced these libelli, which +afterwards were used on almost every occasion.</p> + +<hr> +<h2 id="chap_1_3">CHAPTER III.</h2> + +<h3><i>Other Divisions of the Roman People.</i></h3> + +<p> +That the Patricians and Plebeians might be connected together by the +strictest bonds, Romulus ordained that every Plebeian should choose from +the Patricians any one he pleased, for his patron or protector, whose +client he was called.</p> + +<p>It was the duty of the patron to advise and defend his client, and to +assist him with his interest and substance. The client was obliged to +pay the greatest respect to his patron, and to serve him with his life +and fortune in any extremity.</p> + +<p>It was unlawful for patrons and clients to accuse or bear witness +against each other, and whoever was found to +have <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_19" +id="Page_19">[19]</a></span>done so, might be slain by any one with +impunity as a victim to Pluto, and the infernal gods.</p> + +<p>It was esteemed highly honorable for a Patrician to have numerous +clients, both hereditary and acquired by his own merit. In after times, +even cities and whole nations were under the protection of illustrious +Roman families.</p> + +<p>Those whose ancestors or themselves had borne any curule magistracy, +that is, had been Consul, Prætor, Censor or Curule Edile, were called +nobiles, and had the right of making images of themselves, which were +kept with great care by their posterity, and carried before them at +funerals.</p> + +<p>These images were merely the busts of persons down to the shoulders, +made of wax, and painted, which they used to place in the courts of +their houses, enclosed in wooden cases, and seem not to have brought +out, except on solemn occasions. There were titles or inscriptions +written below them, pointing out the honors they had enjoyed, and the +exploits they had performed. Anciently, this right of images was +peculiar to the Patricians; but afterwards, the Plebeians also acquired +it, when admitted to curule offices.</p> + +<p>Those who were the first of their family, that had raised themselves +to any curule office, were called <i>homines novi</i>, new men or +upstarts. Those who had no images of themselves, or of their ancestors, +were called <i>ignobiles</i>.</p> + +<p>Those who favored the interests of the Senate were called optimates, +and sometimes procĕres or principes. Those who studied to gain the favor +of the multitude, were called populares, of whatever order they were. +This was a division of factions, and not of rank or dignity. The +contests between these two parties, excited the greatest commotions in +the state, which finally terminated in the extinction of liberty.</p> + +<hr> +<h2 id="chap_1_4">CHAPTER IV.</h2> + +<h3><i>Gentes and Familiæ; Names of the Romans, &c.</i></h3> + +<p>The Romans were divided into various +clans, (gentes,) and each clan into several families. Those of the same +gens were called gentiles, and those of the same family, +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_20" id="Page_20">[20]</a></span>agnati. But relations by the father's side were also called agnati, +to distinguish them from cognati, relations only by the mother's +side.</p> + +<p>The Romans had three names, to mark the different clans and families, +and distinguish the individuals of the same family—the prænomen, nomen +and cognomen.</p> + +<p>The prænomen was put first, and marked the individual. It was +commonly written with one letter; as A. for Aulus: C. for +Caius—sometimes with two; as Ap. for Appius.</p> + +<p>The nomen was put after the prænomen, to mark the gens, and commonly +ended in ius; as Cornelius, Fabius. The cognomen was put last, and +marked the family; as Cicero, Cæsar.</p> + +<p>Sometimes there was also a fourth name, called the agnomen, added +from some illustrious action, or remarkable event. Thus, Scipio was +called Africanus, from the conquest of Carthage and Africa: for a +similar reason, his brother was called Asiaticus.</p> + +<p>These names were not always used; commonly two, and sometimes only +the sirname. But in speaking to any one, the prænomen was generally used +as being peculiar to citizens, for slaves had no prænomen.</p> + +<p>The sirnames were derived from various circumstances, either from +some quality of the mind; as Cato, from catus, wise: or from the habit +of the body; as Calvus, Crassus, &c.: or from cultivating particular +fruits; as Lentulus, Piso, &c. Quintus Cincinnatus was called Serranus, +because the ambassadors from the senate found him sowing, when they +brought him word that he was made dictator.</p> + +<p>The prænomen was given to boys on the ninth day, which was called +<i>dies lustrĭcus</i>, or the day of purification, when certain religious +ceremonies were performed. The eldest son of the family usually +received the prænomen of his father. The rest were named from their +uncles or other relations.</p> + +<p>When there was only one daughter in the family, she was called by the +name of the gens: thus, Tullia, the daughter of Cicero; and retained the +same after marriage. When there were two daughters, one was called +major, and the other minor. If there were more than two, they were +distinguished by their number; thus—prima, secunda, tertia, &c.</p> + +<p>Those were called <i>liberi</i>, free, who had the power of doing +what they pleased. Those who were born of +pa<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_21" +id="Page_21">[21]</a></span>rents who had been always free, were +called <i>ingenui</i>. Slaves made free were called <i>liberti</i>, in +relation to their masters; and <i>libertini</i>, in relation to free +born citizens.</p> + +<hr> +<h2 id="chap_1_5">CHAPTER V.</h2> + +<h3><i>Private Rights of Roman Citizens.</i></h3> + +<p> +The right of liberty comprehended not only liberty from the power of +masters, but also from the dominion of tyrants, the severity of +magistrates, the cruelty of creditors, and the insolence of more +powerful citizens. After the expulsion of Tarquin, a law was made by +Brutus, that no one should be king at Rome, and that whoever should form +a design of making himself a king, might be slain with impunity. At the +same time the people were bound by an oath that they would never suffer +a king to be created.</p> + +<p>Citizens could appeal from the magistrates to the people, and the +persons who appealed could in no way be punished, until the people +determined the matter; but they were chiefly secured by the assistance +of the tribunes.</p> + +<p>None but the whole Roman people in the <i>comitia centuriata</i> +could pass sentence on the life of a Roman citizen. No magistrate could +punish him by stripes or capitally. The single expression, “I am a Roman +citizen,” checked their severest decrees.</p> + +<p>By the laws of the twelve tables, it was ordained, that insolvent +debtors should be given up to their creditors, to be bound in fetters +and cords, and although they did not entirely lose the rights of +freemen, yet they were in actual slavery, and often more harshly treated +than even slaves themselves.</p> + +<p>To check the cruelty of usurers, a law was afterwards made that no +debtors should be kept in irons, or in bonds; that the goods of the +debtor, not his person, should be given up to his creditors.</p> + +<p>The people, not satisfied with this, as it did not free them from +prison, demanded an entire abolition of debt, which they used to call +new tables; but this was never granted.</p> + +<p>Each clan and family had certain sacred rights, peculiar to itself, +which were inherited in the same manner as +ef<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_22" +id="Page_22">[22]</a></span>fects. When heirs by the father's side of +the same family failed, those of the same gens succeeded in preference +to relations by the mother's side of the same family. No one could pass +from a Patrician family to a Plebeian, or from a Plebeian to a +Patrician, unless by that form of adoption which could only be made at +the <i>comitia curiata</i>.</p> + +<p>No Roman citizen could marry a slave, barbarian or foreigner, unless +by the permission of the people.</p> + +<p>A father among the Romans had the power of life and death over his +children. He could not only expose them when infants, but when grown up +he might imprison, scourge, send them bound to work in the country, and +also put them to death by any punishment he pleased.</p> + +<p>A son could acquire no property but with his father's consent, and +what he thus acquired was called his <i>peculium</i> as of a slave.</p> + +<p>Things with respect to property among the Romans were variously +divided. Some were said to be of divine right, and were held sacred, as +altars, temples, or any thing publicly consecrated to the gods, by the +authority of the Pontiffs; or religious, as sepulchres—or inviolable, +as the walls and gates of a city.</p> + +<p>Others were said to be of human right, and called profane. These were +either public and common, as the air, running water, the sea and its +shores; or private, which might be the property of individuals.</p> + +<p>None but a Roman citizen could make a will, or be witnesses to a +testament, or inherit any thing by it.</p> + +<p>The usual method of making a will after the laws of the twelve tables +were enacted, was by brass and balance, as it was called. In the +presence of five witnesses, a weigher and witness, the testator by an +imaginary sale disposed of his family and property to one who was +called <i>familiæ emptor</i>, who was not the heir as some have thought, +but only admitted for the sake of form, that the testator might seem to +have alienated his effects in his life time. This act was called +<i>familiæ mancipatio</i>.</p> + +<p>Sometimes the testator wrote his will wholly with his own hand, in +which case it was called <i>hologrăphum</i>—sometimes it was written by +a friend, or by others. Thus the testament of Augustus was written +partly by himself, and partly by two of his freedmen.</p> + +<p>Testaments were always subscribed by the testator, and usually by the +witnesses, and sealed with their seals +or <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_23" +id="Page_23">[23]</a></span>rings. They were likewise tied with a thread +drawn thrice through holes and sealed; like all other civil deeds, they +were always written in Latin. A legacy expressed in Greek was not +valid.</p> + +<p>They were deposited either privately in the hands of a friend, or in +a temple with the keeper of it. Thus Julius Cæsar is said to have +intrusted his testament to the oldest of the vestal virgins.</p> + +<p>A father might leave whom he pleased as guardian to his +children;—but if he died, this charge devolved by law on the nearest +relation by the father's side. When there was no guardian by testament, +nor a legal one, the prætor and the majority of the tribunes of the +people appointed a guardian. If any one died without making a will, his +goods devolved on his nearest relations.</p> + +<p>Women could not transact any business of importance without the +concurrence of their parents, husbands, or guardians.</p> + +<hr> +<h2 id="chap_1_6">CHAPTER VI.</h2> + +<h3><i>Public Rights of Roman Citizens.</i></h3> + +<p> +The <i>jus militiæ</i>, was the right of serving in the army, which was +at first peculiar to the higher order of citizens only, but afterwards +the emperor took soldiers not only from Italy and the provinces, but +also from barbarous nations.</p> + +<p>The <i>jus tributorum</i> was the payment of a tax by each individual +through the tribes, in proportion to the valuation of his estates.</p> + +<p>There were three kinds of tribute, one imposed equally on each +person; another according to his property; and a third exacted in cases +of emergency. There were three other kinds of taxes, +called <i>portorium</i>, +<i>decumæ</i> and <i>scriptura</i>.</p> + +<p>The <i>portorium</i> was paid for goods exported and imported, the +collectors of which were called portitores, or for carrying goods over a +bridge.</p> + +<p>The <i>decumæ</i> were the tenth part of corn and the fifth part of +other fruit, exacted from the cultivators of the public lands, either in +Italy or without it.</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_24" +id="Page_24">[24]</a></span>The <i>scriptura</i> was paid by those who +pastured their cattle upon the public lands. The <i>jus saffragii</i> +was the right of voting in the different assemblies of the people.</p> + +<p>The <i>jus honorum</i> was the right of being priests or magistrates, +at first enjoyed only by the Patricians. Foreigners might live in the +city of Rome, but they enjoyed none of the rights of citizens; they were +subject to a peculiar jurisdiction, and might be expelled from the city +by a magistrate. They were not permitted to wear the Roman dress.</p> + +<hr> +<h2 id="chap_1_7">CHAPTER VII.</h2> + +<h3><i>Places of Worship.</i></h3> + +<p><i>Templum</i> was a place which had been dedicated to the worship of +some deity, and consecrated by the augurs.</p> + +<p><i>Ædes sacræ</i> were such as wanted that consecration, which, if +they afterwards received, they changed their names to temples.</p> + +<p><i>Delubrum</i> comprehended several deities under one roof. The most +celebrated temples were the capitol and pantheon.</p> + +<p>The capitol or temple of Jupiter Capitolinus, was the effect of a vow +made by Tarquinius Priscus, in the Sabine war. But he had scarcely laid +the foundation before his death. His nephew Tarquin the proud, finished +it with the spoils taken from the neighboring nations.</p> + +<p>The structure stood on a high ridge, taking in four acres of ground. +The front was adorned with three rows of pillars, the other sides with +two. The ascent from the ground was by a hundred steps. The prodigious +gifts and ornaments with which it was at several times endowed, almost +exceed belief. Augustus gave at one time two thousand pounds weight of +gold, and in jewels and precious stones to the value of five hundred +sestertia.</p> + +<p>Livy and Pliny surprise us with accounts of the brazen thresholds, +the noble pillars that Scylla removed thither from Athens, out of the +temple of Jupiter Olympius; the gilded roof, the gilded shields, and +those of solid silver; the huge vessels of silver, holding three +measures—the golden chariot, &c.</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_25" +id="Page_25">[25]</a></span>This temple was first consumed by fire in +the Marian war, and then rebuilt by Sylla. This too was demolished in +the Vitellian sedition. Vespasian undertook a third, which was burnt +about the time of his death. Domitian raised the last and most glorious +of all, in which the very gilding amounted to twelve thousand +talents—on which Plutarch has observed of that emperor, that he was, +like Midas, desirous of turning every thing into gold. There are very +little remains of it at present, yet enough to make a Christian +church.</p> + +<p>The capitol contained in it three temples: one to Jupiter, one to +Juno, and one to Minerva. Jupiter's was in the centre, whence he was +poetically called “<i>Media qui sedet æde Deus</i>”—the god who sits in +the middle temple.</p> + +<p>The pantheon was built by Marcus Agrippa, son-in-law to Augustus +Cæsar, and dedicated most probably to all the gods in general, as the +name implies. The structure is a hundred and fifty-eight feet high, and +about the same breadth. The roof is curiously vaulted, void places being +here and there for the greater strength. The rafters were pieces of +brass of forty feet in length. There are no windows in the whole +edifice, only a round hole at the top of the roof, which serves very +well for the admission of light. The walls on the inside are either +solid marble or incrusted. The front, on the outside, was covered with +brazen plates, gilt, the top with silver plates, which are now changed +to lead. The gates were brass, of extraordinary work and magnitude.</p> + +<p>This temple is still standing, with little alteration, besides the +loss of the old ornaments, being converted into a Christian church by +Pope Boniface III. The most remarkable difference is that where they +before ascended by twelve steps, they now go down as many to the +entrance.</p> + +<p>There are two other temples, particularly worth notice, not so much +for the magnificence of the structure, as for the customs that depend +upon them, and the remarkable use to which they were put. These are the +temples of Saturn and Janus.</p> + +<p>The first was famous on account of serving for the public +treasury—the reason of which some fancy to have been because Saturn +first taught the Italians to coin money; but most probably it was +because this was the strongest place in the city. Here were preserved +all the public reg<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_26" +id="Page_26">[26]</a></span>isters and records, among which were +the <i>libri elephantini</i>, or great ivory tables, containing a list +of all the tribes and the schemes of the public accounts.</p> + +<p>The other was a square building, some say of entire brass, so large +as to contain a statue of Janus, five feet high, with brazen gates on +each side, which were kept open in war, and shut in time of peace.</p> + +<hr> +<h2 id="chap_1_8">CHAPTER VIII.</h2> + +<h3><i>Of other public Buildings.</i></h3> + +<p> +Theatres, so called from the Greek θεαομαι, to see, owe their origin to +Bacchus.</p> + +<p>That the theatres and amphitheatres were two different sorts of +edifices, was never questioned, the former being built in the shape of a +semicircle; the other generally oval, so as to make the same figure as +if two theatres should be joined together. Yet the same place is often +called by these names in several authors. They seem, too, to have been +designed for quite different ends: the theatres for stage plays, the +amphitheatres for the greater shows of gladiators, wild beasts, &c. The +following are the most important parts of both.</p> + +<p><i>Scena</i> was a partition reaching quite across the theatre, being +made either to turn round or draw up, to present a new prospect to the +spectators.</p> + +<p><i>Proscenium</i> was the space of ground just before the scene, +where the +<i>pulpitum</i> stood, into which the actors came from behind the scenes to +perform.</p> + +<p>The middle part, or area of the amphitheatre, was called <i>cavæ</i>, +because it was considerably lower than the other parts, whence perhaps, +the name of pit in our play houses was borrowed; and arena, because it +used to be strown with sand, to hinder the performers from slipping.</p> + +<div id="a2" class="center framed" style="width:100%;"> +<p class="ralign"><i>Pl. 2</i></p> +<a href="images/fig024.png"> +<img src="images/fig024th.png" alt="Ruins of the Flavian Amphitheatre"> +</a> +<h3><span class="smcap">Ruins of the Flavian Amphitheatre, commonly +called the Colisæum.</span></h3> +</div> + +<p>There was a threefold distinction of the seats, according to the +ordinary division of the people into senators, knights, and commons. The +first range was called orchestra, from ορχειςθαι, because in that part +of the Grecian theatres, the <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_27" +id="Page_27">[27]</a></span>dances were performed; the second +<i>equestria</i>; and the other <i>popularia</i>.</p> + +<p>The Flavian amphitheatre, now better known by the name of the +<i>Colisæum</i>, from its stupendous magnitude, excites the astonishment of +the world. It was five hundred fifty feet in length, and four hundred +seventy in breadth, and one hundred sixty in height. It was surrounded +to the top by a portico resting on eighty arches, and divided into +four stories. The arrangement of the seats was similar to that in the +theatres; but there was a large box projecting from one side, and +covered with a canopy of state for the accommodation of the emperor +and the magistrates, who were surrounded with all the insignia of +office.</p> + +<p>As combats of wild beasts formed a chief part of the amusements, they +were secured in dens around the arena or stage, which was strongly +encircled by a canal, to guard the spectators against their attacks. +These precautions, however, were not always sufficient, and instances +occurred in which the animals sprung across the barrier.</p> + +<p>This huge pile was commenced by Vespasian, and was reared with a +portion of the materials of Nero's golden palace: its form was oval, and +it is supposed to have contained upwards of eighty thousand persons. A +large part of this vast edifice still remains.</p> + +<p>Theatres, in the first ages of the commonwealth, were only temporary, +and composed of wood. Of these, the most celebrated was that of Marcus +Scaurus—the scenes of which were divided into three partitions, one +above another, the first consisting of one hundred and twenty pillars of +marble; the next, of the like number of pillars, curiously wrought in +glass. The top of all had the same number of pillars adorned with gilded +tablets. Between the pillars were set three thousand statues and images +of brass. The <i>cavca</i> would hold eighty thousand men.</p> + +<p>Pompey the great was the first who undertook the raising of a fixed +theatre, which he built nobly of square stone. Some of the remains of +this theatre are still to be seen at Rome.</p> + +<p>The <i>circi</i> were places set apart for the celebration of several +sorts of games:—they were generally oblong or almost in the shape of a +bow, having a wall quite round, with ranges of seats for the convenience +of spectators. At <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_28" +id="Page_28">[28]</a></span>the entrance of the circus stood +the <i>carceres</i> or lists, whence they started, and just by them, one +of the <i>metæ</i> or marks—the other standing at the farther end to +conclude the race.</p> + +<p>The most remarkable, was the <i>circus maximus</i>, built by +Tarquinius Priscus:—the length of it was four <i>stadia</i>, or +furlongs, the breadth the same number of acres, with a trench of ten +feet deep, and as many broad, to receive the water, and seats enough for +one hundred fifty thousand men. It was extremely beautiful and adorned +by succeeding princes, and enlarged to such a prodigious extent as to be +able to contain in their proper seats two hundred and sixty thousand +spectators.</p> + +<p>The <i>naumachiæ</i> or places for the shows of sea-engagements are +no where particularly described; but we may suppose them similar to the +<i>circi</i> and amphitheatres.</p> + +<p>The <i>stadia</i> were places in the form of <i>circi</i>, for the +running of men and horses. A beautiful one was built by Domitian. +The <i>xysti</i> were places constructed like porticos, in which the +wrestlers exercised.</p> + +<p>The <i>Campus Martius</i>, famous on so many accounts, was a large +plain field, lying near the Tiber, whence we find it sometimes under the +name of <i>Tiberinus</i>:—it was called <i>Martius</i>, because it had +been consecrated by the old Romans to the god Mars. Besides the pleasant +situation and other natural ornaments, the continual sports and +exercises performed there, made it one of the most interesting sights +near the city. Here the young noblemen practised all kinds of feats of +activity, and learned the use of arms. Here were the races either with +chariots or single horses. Besides this, it was nobly adorned with the +statues of famous men, with arches, columns and porticos, and other +magnificent structures. Here stood the <i>villa publica</i> or palace, +for the reception and entertainment of ambassadors from foreign states, +who were not allowed to enter the city.</p> + +<p>The Roman <i>curiæ</i> were of two sorts, divine and civil. In the +former, the priests and religious orders met for the regulation of the +rites and ceremonies belonging to the worship of the gods. In the other, +the senate used to assemble, to consult about the public concerns of the +commonwealth. The senate could not meet in such a place, unless it had +been solemnly consecrated by the augurs, and made of the same nature as +a temple.</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_29" +id="Page_29">[29]</a></span>The Roman forums were public buildings about +three times as long as they were broad. All the compass of the forum was +surrounded by arched porticos, some passages being left as places of +entrance.</p> + +<p>There were two kinds, <i>fora civilia</i> and <i>fora venalia</i>. +The first were designed for the ornaments of the city, and for the use +of public courts of justice. The others were erected for the necessities +and conveniences of the inhabitants, and were no doubt equivalent to our +markets. The most remarkable were the Roman forum, built by Romulus, and +adorned with porticos on all sides, by Tarquinius Priscus: This was the +most ancient and most frequently used in public affairs.</p> + +<p>The Julian forum, built by Julius Cæsar, with the spoils taken in the +Gallic war; the area alone, cost one hundred thousand <i>sesterces</i>, +equal to 3570 dollars.</p> + +<p>The Augustan forum, built by Augustus Cæsar, containing statues in +the two porticos, on each side of the main building. In one were all the +Latin kings, beginning with Æneas: in the other all the Roman kings, +beginning with Romulus, and most of the eminent persons in the +commonwealth, and Augustus himself among the rest, with an inscription +upon the pedestal of every statue, expressing the chief actions and +exploits of the person it represented.</p> + +<p>The forum of Trajan, erected by the emperor Trajan, with the foreign +spoils he had taken in the wars; the covering was all brass, and the +porticos exceedingly beautiful.</p> + +<p>The chief <i>fora venalia</i> or markets, were <i>boarium</i>, for +oxen and beef, <i>suarium</i>, for swine, <i>pistorium</i>, for +bread, <i>cupedinarium</i>, for dainties, and <i>holitorium</i>, for +roots, sallads and similar things.</p> + +<p>The <i>comitium</i> was only a part of the Roman forum, which served +sometimes for the celebration of the <i>comitia</i>; here stood the +<i>rostra</i>, a kind of pulpit, adorned with the beaks of ships taken in a +sea fight, from the inhabitants of Antium in Italy; here causes were +pleaded, orations made, and funeral panegyrics delivered.</p> + +<hr> +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_30" +id="Page_30">[30]</a></span></p> +<h2 id="chap_1_9">CHAPTER IX.</h2> + +<h3><i>Porticos, Arches, Columns and Trophies.</i></h3> + +<p> +The porticos are worthy of observation: they were structures of curious +work and extraordinary beauty annexed to public edifices, sacred and +civil, as well for ornament as use.</p> + +<p>They generally took their names either from the temples which they +stood near, from the builders, from the nature and form of the building, +or from the remarkable paintings in them.</p> + +<p>They were sometimes used for the assemblies of the senate; sometimes +the jewellers and such as dealt in the most precious wares took their +stand here to expose their goods for sale; but the general use they were +put to, was the pleasure of walking or riding in them, like the present +piazzas in Italy.</p> + +<p>Arches were public buildings designed for the encouragement and +reward of noble enterprises, erected generally to the honor of such +eminent persons as had either won a victory of extraordinary consequence +abroad, or had rescued the commonwealth, at home, from any considerable +danger.</p> + +<p>At first they were plain and rude structures, by no means remarkable +for beauty or taste: but in latter times no expense was thought too +great to render them in the highest manner splendid and magnificent. The +arches built by Romulus were only of brick, that of Camillus of plain +square stone, but those of Cæsar, Drusus, Titus, &c. were all of +marble.</p> + +<p>Their figure was at first semicircular, whence probably they took +their names; afterwards they were built four square, with a spacious +arched gate in the middle, and small ones on each side. Upon the vaulted +part of the middle gate, hung little winged images representing victory, +with crowns in their hands, which, when they were let down, they put +upon the conqueror's head, as he passed under the triumphal arch.</p> + +<p>The columns or pillars, over the sepulchres of distinguished men, +were great ornaments to the city: they were at last converted to the +same design as the arches, for the honorable memorial of some noble +victory or exploit. The <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_31" +id="Page_31">[31]</a></span>pillars of the emperors Trajan and Antoninus +deserve particular attention for their beauty and curious +workmanship.</p> + +<p>The former was set up in the middle of Trajan's forum, being composed +of twenty-four great stones of marble, but so skilfully cemented as to +appear one entire stone. The height was one hundred forty-four feet; it +is ascended on the inside by one hundred eighty-five winding stairs, and +has forty little windows for the admission of light. The whole pillar is +incrusted with marble, in which are expressed all the noble actions of +the emperor, and particularly the Decian war.</p> + +<p>But its noblest ornament was the gigantic statue of Trajan on the +top, being no less than twenty feet high; he was represented in a coat +of armour proper to the general, holding in his left hand a sceptre, in +his right a hollow globe of fire, in which his own ashes were deposited +after his death.</p> + +<p>The column of Antoninus was raised in imitation of this, which it +exceeded only in one respect, that it was one hundred seventy six feet +high—for the work was much inferior to the former, being undertaken in +the declining age of the empire. The ascent on the inside was by one +hundred six steps, and the windows, in the sides, fifty-six; the +sculpture and the other ornaments were of the same nature as those of +the first, and on the top stood a colossal statue of the emperor, naked, +as appears from his coins.</p> + +<p>Both of these columns are still standing at Rome; the former almost +entire: but Pope Sixtus the first, instead of the two statues of the +emperors, set up St. Peter's on the column of Trajan, and St. Paul's on +that of Antoninus.</p> + +<p>There was likewise a gilded pillar in the forum, called the +<i>milliarium aureum</i>, erected by Augustus Cæsar, at which all the +highways of Italy met and were concluded; from this they counted their +miles, at the end of every mile setting up a stone, whence came the +phrase <i>primus ab urbe pisla</i>.</p> + +<p>But the most remarkable was the <i>columna rostrata</i>, set up to +the honor of Caius Duilius, when he had gained a victory over the +Carthaginian and Sicilian fleets, four hundred ninety-three years from +the foundation of the city, and adorned with the beaks of the vessels +taken in the engagement. This is still to be seen at Rome; the +inscription on the basis is a noble example of the old way of writing, +in the early times of the commonwealth.</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_32" +id="Page_32">[32]</a></span>Trophies were spoils taken from the enemy, +and fixed upon any thing as signs or monuments of victory: they were +erected usually in the place where it was gained and consecrated to some +divinity, with an inscription.</p> + +<hr> +<h2 id="chap_1_10">CHAPTER X.</h2> + +<h3><i>Bagnios, Aqueducts, Sewers and public Ways.</i></h3> + +<p>The Romans expended immense sums of money on their bagnios. The most +remarkable were those of the emperors Dioclesian and Antonius +Caracalla—great part of which are standing at this time, and with the +high arches, the beautiful and stately pillars, the abundance of foreign +marble, the curious vaulting of the roofs, and the prodigious number of +spacious apartments, may be considered among the greatest curiosities of +Rome.</p> + +<p>The first invention of aqueducts, is attributed to Appius Claudius, +four hundred forty-one years from the foundation of the city, who +brought water into the city, by a channel of eleven miles in length—but +afterwards several others of greater magnitude were built: several of +them were cut through the mountains, and all other impediments for about +forty miles together, and of such a height that a man on horseback might +ride through them without the least difficulty. But this is meant only +of the constant course of the channel, for the vaults and arches were in +some places one hundred and nine feet high. It is said that Rome was +supplied with five hundred thousand hogsheads every twenty-four hours by +means of these aqueducts.</p> + +<p>The <i>cloacæ</i> or sewers were constructed by undermining and +cutting through the seven hills upon which Rome stood, making the city +hang, as it were, between heaven and earth, and capable of being sailed +under.</p> + +<p>Marcus Agrippa in his edileship, made no less than seven streams meet +together under ground, in one main channel, with such a rapid current, +as to carry all before them, that they met with in their passage. +Sometimes in a flood, the waters of the Tiber opposed them in their +course, and the two streams encountered each other with great fury: yet +the works preserved their old strength, without any sensible damage: +sometimes the ruins of whole +buildings, <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_33" +id="Page_33">[33]</a></span>destroyed by fire or other casualties, +pressed heavily upon the frame: sometimes terrible earthquakes shook the +foundation: yet they still continued impregnable.</p> + +<p>The public ways were built with extraordinary care to a great +distance from the city on all sides; they were generally paved with +flint, though sometimes, and especially without the city, with pebbles +and gravel.</p> + +<p>The most noble was the Appian way, the length of which was generally +computed at three hundred and fifty miles: it was twelve feet broad, +made of huge stones, most of them blue. Its strength was so great, that +after it had been built two thousand years, it was, in most places, for +several miles together, perfectly sound.</p> + +<hr> +<h2 id="chap_1_11">CHAPTER XI.</h2> + +<h3><i>Of Augurs and Auguries.</i></h3> + +<p>The business of the augurs or soothsayers was to interpret dreams, +oracles, prodigies, &c. and to tell whether any action should be +fortunate or prejudicial to any particular persons, or to the whole +commonwealth.</p> + +<p>There are five kinds of auguries mentioned in authors—1st. From the +appearances in heaven,—as thunder, lightning, comets and other meteors; +as, for instance, whether the thunder came from the right or left, +whether the number of strokes was even or odd, &c.</p> + +<p>2d. From birds, whence they had the name of <i>auspices</i>, +from <i>avis</i> and <i>specio</i>; some birds furnished them with +observations from their chattering and singing,—such as crows, owls, +&c.—others from their flying, as eagles, vultures, &c.</p> + +<p>To take both these kind of auguries, the observer stood upon a tower +with his head covered in a gown, peculiar to his office, and turning his +face towards the east, marked out the heavens into four quarters, with a +short, straight rod, with a little turning at one end: this done, he +staid waiting for the omen, which never signified anything, unless +confirmed by another of the same sort.</p> + +<p>3d. From chickens kept in a coop for this purpose. The manner of +divining from them was as +follows:—early <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_34" +id="Page_34">[34]</a></span>in the morning, the augur, commanding a +general silence, ordered the coop to be opened, and threw down a handful +of crumbs or corn: if the chickens did not immediately run to the food, +if they scattered it with their wings, if they went by without taking +notice of it, or if they flew away, the omen was reckoned unfortunate, +and to portend nothing but danger or mischance; but if they leaped +directly from the pen, and eat voraciously, there was great assurance of +happiness and success.</p> + +<p>4th. From beasts, such as foxes, wolves, goats, heifers, &c.; the +general observations about these, were, whether they appeared in a +strange place, or crossed the way, or whether they ran to the right or +the left, &c.</p> + +<p>The last kind of divination was from unusual accidents, such as +sneezing, stumbling, seeing apparations, hearing strange voices, the +falling of salt upon the table, &c.</p> + +<hr> +<h2 id="chap_1_12">CHAPTER XII.</h2> + +<h3><i>Of the Aruspices, Pontifices, Quindecemviri, Vestals, &c.</i></h3> + +<p>The business of aruspices was to look upon the beasts offered in +sacrifices, and by them to divine the success of any enterprise.</p> + +<p>They took their observations, 1st. From the beasts before they were +cut up. 2d. From the entrails of those beasts after they were cut up. +3d. From the flame that used to rise when they were burning. 4th. From +the flour of bran, from the frankincense, wine and water, which they +used in the sacrifice.</p> + +<p>The offices of the pontifices were to give judgment in all cases +relating to religion, to inquire into the lives of the inferior priests, +and to punish them if they saw occasion; to prescribe rules for public +worship; to regulate the feasts, sacrifices, and all other sacred +institutions. The master or superintendent of the pontifices was one of +the most honorable offices in the commonwealth.</p> + +<p>The <i>quindecemviri</i> had the charge of the sibylline books; +inspected them by the appointment of the senate in dangerous junctures, +and performed the sacrifices which they enjoined.</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_35" +id="Page_35">[35]</a></span>They are said to have been instituted on the +following occasion: A certain woman called Amalthēa is said to have come +to Tarquin the proud, wishing to sell nine books of sibylline or +prophetic oracles: but upon Tarquin's refusal to give her the price she +asked, she went away and burnt three of them. Returning soon after, she +asked the same price for the remaining six: whereupon, being ridiculed +by the king, she went and burnt three more; and coming back, still +demanded the same price for those which remained. Tarquin, surprised at +this strange conduct of the woman, consulted the augurs what to do; +they, regretting the loss of the books which had been destroyed, advised +the king to give the price required. The woman therefore, having +delivered the books and directed them to be carefully kept, disappeared, +and was never afterwards seen.</p> + +<p>These books were supposed to contain the fate of the Roman empire, +and therefore, in public danger or calamity, they were frequently +inspected; they were kept with great care in a chest under ground, in +the capitol.</p> + +<p>The institution of the vestal virgins is generally attributed to +Numa; their office was to attend upon the rites of Vesta, the chief part +of it being the preservation of the holy fire: they were obliged to keep +this with the greatest care, and if it happened to go out, it was +thought impiety to light it by any common flame, but they made use of +the pure rays of the sun.</p> + +<p>The famous palladium brought from Troy by Æneas, was likewise guarded +by them, for Ulysses and Diomedes stole only a counterfeit one, a copy +of the other, which was kept with less care.</p> + +<p>The number of the vestals was six, and they were admitted between the +years of six and ten. The chief rules prescribed by their founder, were +to vow the strictest chastity for the space of thirty years;—the first +ten they were only novices, being obliged to learn the ceremonies and +perfect themselves in the duties of their religion; the next ten years +they discharged the duties of priestesses, and spent the remaining ten +in instructing others.</p> + +<p>If they broke their vow of virginity, they were buried alive in a +place without the city wall, allotted for that purpose.</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_36" +id="Page_36">[36]</a></span>This severe condition was recompensed with +several privileges and prerogatives: their persons were sacred: in +public they usually appeared on a magnificent car, drawn by white +horses, followed by a numerous retinue of female slaves, and preceded by +lictors; and if they met a malefactor going to punishment, they had the +power to remit his sentence.</p> + +<p>The <i>septemviri</i> were priests among the Romans, who prepared the +sacred feasts at games, processions, and other solemn occasions: they +were likewise assistants to the pontifices.</p> + +<p>The <i>fratres ambarvales</i>, twelve in number, were those priests +who offered up sacrifices for the fertility of the ground. +The <i>curiones</i> performed the rites in each curia.</p> + +<p><i>Feciales</i> (<i>Heralds</i>) were a college of sacred persons, +into whose charge all concerns relating to the declaration of war or +conclusion of peace, were committed.</p> + +<p>Their first institution was in so high a degree laudable and +beneficial, as to reflect great honour on Roman justice and moderation. +It was the primary and especial duty of the heralds, to inquire into the +equity of a proposed war: and if the grounds of it seemed to them +trivial or unjust, the war was declined—if otherwise, the senate +concerted the best measures to carry it on with spirit.</p> + +<p>Feciales were supreme judges in every thing relating to treaties. The +head of their college was called Pater Patratus.</p> + +<p>All the members of this college, while in the discharge of their +duty, wore a wreath of vervain around their heads; and bore a branch of +it in their hands, when they made peace, of which it was an emblem.</p> + +<p>Their authority and respectability continued until the lust of +dominion had corrupted the policy of the Romans; after which their +situations were comparative sinecures, and their solemn deliberations +dwindled into useless or contemptible formalities.</p> + +<p>Among the flamines or priests of particular gods, were, +1st. <i>flamen dialis</i> the priest of Jupiter. This was an office of +great dignity, but subjected to many restrictions; as that he should not +ride on horseback, nor stay one night without the city, nor take an +oath, and several others.</p> + +<p>2d. The <i>salii</i>, priests of Mars, so called, because on solemn +occasions they used to go through the city +dancing, <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_37" +id="Page_37">[37]</a></span>dressed in an embroidered tunic, bound with +a brazen belt, and a <i>toga pretexta</i> or +<i>trabea</i>; having on their head a cap rising to a considerable height in +the form of a cone, with a sword by their side, in their right hand a +spear or rod, and in their left, one of the ancilia or shields of +Mars.—The most solemn procession of the salii was on the first of +March, in commemoration of the time when the sacred shield was believed +to have fallen from heaven in the reign of Numa.</p> + +<p>3d. The <i>luperci</i>, priests of Pan, were so called, from a wolf, +because that god was supposed to keep the wolves from the sheep. Hence +the place where he was worshipped was called lupercal, and his festival +lupercalia, which was celebrated in February, at which the luperci ran +up and down the city naked, having only a girdle of goat skin round +their waists, and thongs of the same in their hands, with which they +struck those they met.</p> + +<p>It is said that Antony, while chief of the luperci, went according to +concert, it is believed, almost naked into the forum, attended by his +lictors, and having made an harangue to the people from the rostra, +presented a crown to Cæsar, who was sitting there, surrounded by the +whole senate and people. He attempted frequently to put the crown upon +his head, addressing him by the title of king, and declaring that what +he said and did was at the desire of his fellow citizens; but Cæsar +perceiving the strongest marks of aversion in the people, rejected it, +saying, that Jupiter alone was king of Rome, and therefore sent the +crown to the capitol to be presented to that God.</p> + +<hr> +<h2 id="chap_1_13">CHAPTER XIII.</h2> + +<h3><i>Religious Ceremonies of the Romans.</i></h3> + +<p>The Romans were, as a people, remarkably attached to the religion +they professed; and scrupulously attentive in discharging the rites and +ceremonies which it enjoined.</p> + +<p>Their religion was Idolatry, in its grossest and widest acceptation. +It acknowledged a few general truths, but greatly darkened these by +fables and poetical fiction.</p> + +<p>All the inhabitants of the invisible world, to which the souls of +people departed after death, were +indiscriminately <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_38" +id="Page_38">[38]</a></span>called +<i>Inferi</i>. <i>Elysium</i> was that part of hell (<i>apud Inferos</i>,) in which the +good spent a spiritual existence of unmingled enjoyment, and <i>Tartarus</i> +(pl. -ra) was the terrible prison-house of the damned.</p> + +<p>The worship of the gods consisted chiefly in prayers, vows, and +sacrifices. No act of religious worship was performed without prayer; +while praying, they stood usually with their heads covered, looking +towards the east; a priest pronounced the words before them;—they +frequently touched the altars or knees of the images of the gods; +turning themselves round in a circle towards the right, sometimes +putting their right hand to their mouth, and also prostrating themselves +on the ground.</p> + +<p>They vowed temples, games, sacrifices, gifts, &c. Sometimes they used +to write their vows on paper or waxen tablets, to seal them up, and +fasten them with wax to the knees of the images of the gods, that being +supposed to be the seat of mercy.</p> + +<p>Lustrations were necessary to be made before entrance on any +important religious duty, viz. before setting out to the temples, before +the sacrifice, before initiation into the mysteries, and before solemn +vows and prayers.</p> + +<p>Lustrations were also made after acts by which one might be polluted; +as after murder, or after having assisted at a funeral.</p> + +<p>In sacrifices it was requisite that those who offered them, should +come chaste and pure; that they should bathe themselves, be dressed in +white robes, and crowned with the leaves of the tree which was thought +most acceptable to the god whom they worshipped.</p> + +<p>Sacrifices were made of victims whole and sound (<i>Integræ et +sanæ</i>.) But all victims were not indifferently offered to all +gods.</p> + +<p>A white bull was an acceptable sacrifice to Jupiter; an ewe to Juno; +black victims, bulls especially, to Pluto; a bull and a horse to +Neptune; the horse to Mars; bullocks and lambs to Apollo, &c. Sheep and +goats were offered to various deities.</p> + +<p>The victim was led to the altar with a loose rope, that it might not +seem to be brought by force, which was reckoned a bad omen. After +silence was proclaimed, a salted cake was sprinkled on the head of the +beast, and frankincense and wine poured between his horns, the priest +having first tasted the wine himself, and given it to be tasted +by <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_39" +id="Page_39">[39]</a></span>those that stood next him, which was +called <i>libatio</i>—the priest then plucked the highest hairs between +the horns, and threw them into the fire—the victim was struck with an +axe or mall, then stabbed with knives, and the blood being caught in +goblets, was poured on the altar—it was then flayed and dissected; then +the entrails were inspected by the aruspices, and if the signs were +favorable, they were said to have offered up an acceptable sacrifice, or +to have pacified the gods; if not, another victim was offered up, and +sometimes several. The parts which fell to the gods were sprinkled with +meal, wine, and frankincense, and burnt on the altar. When the sacrifice +was finished, the priest, having washed his hands, and uttered certain +prayers, again made a libation, and the people were dismissed.</p> + +<p>Human sacrifices were also offered among the Romans: persons guilty +of certain crimes, as treachery or sedition, were devoted to Pluto and +the infernal gods, and therefore any one might slay them with +impunity.</p> + +<p>Altars and temples afforded an asylum or place of refuge among the +Greeks and Romans, as well as among the Jews, chiefly to slaves from the +cruelty of their masters, and to insolvent debtors and criminals, where +it was considered impious to touch them; but sometimes they put fire and +combustible materials around the place, that the person might appear to +be forced away, not by men, but by a god: or shut up the temple and +unroofed it, that he might perish in the open air.</p> + +<hr> +<h2 id="chap_1_14">CHAPTER XIV.</h2> + +<h3><i>The Roman Year.</i></h3> + +<p>Romulus divided the year into ten months; the first of which was +called March from Mars, his supposed father; the 2d April, either from +the Greek name of Venus, (Aφροδιτα) or because trees and flowers open +their buds, during that month; the 3d, May, from Maia, the mother of +Mercury; the 4th, June, from the goddess Juno; 5th, July, from Julius +Cæsar; 6th, August, from Augustus Cæsar; the rest were called from their +number, September, October, November, December.</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_40" +id="Page_40">[40]</a></span>Numa added two months—January from Janus, +and February because the people were then purified, (<i>februabatur</i>) +by an expiatory sacrifice from the sin of the whole year: for this +anciently was the last month in the year.</p> + +<p>Numa in imitation of the Greeks divided the year into twelve lunar +months, according to the course of the moon, but as this mode of +division did not correspond with the course of the sun, he ordained that +an intercalary month should be added every other year.</p> + +<p>Julius Cæsar afterwards abolished this month, and with the assistance +of Sosigĕnes, a skilful astronomer of Alexandria, in the year of Rome +707, arranged the year according to the course of the sun, commencing +with the first of January, and assigned to each month the number of days +which they still retain. This is the celebrated Julian or solar year +which has been since maintained without any other alteration than that +of the new style, introduced by pope Gregory, A. D. 1582, and adopted in +England in 1752, when eleven days were dropped between the second and +fourteenth of September.</p> + +<p>The months were divided into three +parts, <i>kalends</i>, <i>nones</i> and +<i>ides</i>. They commenced with the <i>kalends</i>; the <i>nones</i> occurred on the +fifth, and the <i>ides</i> on the thirteenth, except in March, May, July, and +October, when they fell on the seventh and fifteenth.</p> + +<p>In marking the days of the month they went backwards: thus, January +first was the first of the <i>kalends</i> of January—December +thirty-first was <i>pridie kalendas</i>, or the day next before +the <i>kalends</i> of January—the day before that, or the thirtieth of +December, <i>tertio kalendas Januarii</i>, or the third day before +the <i>kalends</i> of January, and so on to the thirteenth, when came +the ides of December.</p> + +<p>The day was either civil or natural; the civil day was from midnight +to midnight; the natural day was from the rising to the setting of the +sun.</p> + +<p>The use of clocks and watches was unknown to the Romans—nor was it +till four hundred and forty-seven years after the building of the city, +that the sun dial was introduced: about a century later, they first +measured time by a water machine, which served by night, as well as by +day.</p> + +<p>Their days were distinguished by the names +of <i>festi</i>, <i>profesti</i>, and <i>intercisi</i>. The <i>festi</i> +were dedicated to religious worship, the +<i>profesti</i> were allotted to ordinary +busi<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_41" +id="Page_41">[41]</a></span>ness, the days which served partly for one +and partly for the other were called <i>intercisi</i>, or half holy +days.</p> + +<p>The manner of reckoning by weeks was not introduced until late in the +second century of the christian era: it was borrowed from the Egyptians, +and the days were named after the planets: thus, Sunday from the Sun, +Monday from the Moon, Tuesday from Mars, Wednesday from Mercury, +Thursday from Jupiter, Friday from Venus, Saturday from Saturn.</p> + + +<table border="1" summary="A Table of the Kalends, Nones, and Ides."> +<caption><i><b>A Table of the Kalends, Nones, and Ides.</b></i></caption> +<tr> +<th>Days of Month.</th> +<th>Apr, June, Sept, Nov.</th> +<th>Jan, August, December.</th> +<th>March, May, July, Oct.</th> +<th>February.</th> +</tr> +<tr><td>1</td><td>Kalendæ.</td><td>Kalendæ.</td><td>Kalendæ.</td><td>Kalendæ.</td></tr> +<tr><td>2</td><td>IV. Nonas.</td><td>IV. Nonas</td><td>VI.</td><td>IV. Nonas.</td></tr> +<tr><td>3</td><td>III.</td><td>III.</td><td>V.</td><td>III.</td></tr> +<tr><td>4</td><td>Pridie.</td><td>Pridie.</td><td>IV.</td><td>Pridie.</td></tr> +<tr><td>5</td><td>Nonæ.</td><td>Nonæ.</td><td>III.</td><td>Nonæ.</td></tr> +<tr><td>6</td><td>VIII. Idus.</td><td>VIII. Idus.</td><td>Pridie.</td><td>VIII. Idus.</td></tr> +<tr><td>7</td><td>VII.</td><td>VII.</td><td>Nonæ.</td><td>VII.</td></tr> +<tr><td>8</td><td>VI.</td><td>VI.</td><td>VIII. Idus.</td><td>VI.</td></tr> +<tr><td>9</td><td>V.</td><td>V.</td><td>VII.</td><td>V.</td></tr> +<tr><td>10</td><td>IV.</td><td>IV.</td><td>VI.</td><td>IV.</td></tr> +<tr><td>11</td><td>III.</td><td>III.</td><td>V.</td><td>III.</td></tr> +<tr><td>12</td><td>Pridie.</td><td>Pridie.</td><td>IV.</td><td>Pridie.</td></tr> +<tr><td>13</td><td>Idus.</td><td>Idus.</td><td>III.</td><td>Idus.</td></tr> +<tr><td>14</td><td>XVIII. Kal.</td><td>XIX. Kal.</td><td>Pridie.</td><td>XVI. Kal.</td></tr> +<tr><td>15</td><td>XVII.</td><td>XVIII.</td><td>Idus.</td><td>XV.</td></tr> +<tr><td>16</td><td>XVI.</td><td>XVII.</td><td>XVII. Kal.</td><td>XIV.</td></tr> +<tr><td>17</td><td>XV.</td><td>XVI.</td><td>XVI.</td><td>XIII.</td></tr> +<tr><td>18</td><td>XIV.</td><td>XV.</td><td>XV.</td><td>XII.</td></tr> +<tr><td>19</td><td>XIII.</td><td>XIV.</td><td>XIV.</td><td>XI.</td></tr> +<tr><td>20</td><td>XII.</td><td>XIII.</td><td>XIII.</td><td>X.</td></tr> +<tr><td>21</td><td>XI.</td><td>XII.</td><td>XII.</td><td>IX.</td></tr> +<tr><td>22</td><td>X.</td><td>XI.</td><td>XI.</td><td>VIII.</td></tr> +<tr><td>23</td><td>IX.</td><td>X.</td><td>X.</td><td>VII.</td></tr> +<tr><td>24</td><td>VIII.</td><td>IX.</td><td>IX.</td><td>VI.</td></tr> +<tr><td>25</td><td>VII.</td><td>VIII.</td><td>VIII.</td><td>V.</td></tr> +<tr><td>26</td><td>VI.</td><td>VII.</td><td>VII.</td><td>IV.</td></tr> +<tr><td>27</td><td>V.</td><td>VI.</td><td>VI.</td><td>III.</td></tr> +<tr><td>28</td><td>IV.</td><td>V.</td><td>V.</td><td>Prid. Kal.</td></tr> +<tr><td>29</td><td>III.</td><td>IV.</td><td>IV.</td><td>Martii.</td></tr> +<tr><td>30</td><td>Prid. Kal.</td><td>III.</td><td>III.</td><td> </td></tr> +<tr><td>31</td><td>Mens. seq.</td><td>Prid. Kal.<br>Mens. seq.</td><td>Prid. Kal.<br>Mens. seq.</td><td> </td></tr> +</table> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_42" +id="Page_42">[42]</a></span></p> +<hr> +<h2 id="chap_1_15">CHAPTER XV.</h2> + +<h3><i>Roman Games.</i></h3> + +<p>The Roman Games formed a part of religious worship, and were always +consecrated to some god: they were either stated or vowed by generals in +war, or celebrated on extraordinary occasions; the most celebrated were +those of the circus.</p> + +<p>Among them were first, chariot and horse races, of which the Romans +were extravagantly fond. The charioteers were distributed into four +parties or factions from the different colours of their dresses. The +spectators favored one or other of the colours, as humor or caprice +inclined them. It was not the swiftness of their horses, nor the art of +the men that inclined them, but merely the dress. In the times of +Justinian, no less than thirty thousand men are said to have lost their +lives at Constantinople, in a tumult raised by contention among the +partizans of the several colours.</p> + +<p>The order in which the chariots or horses stood, was determined by +lot, and the person who presided at the games gave the signal for +starting, by dropping a cloth; then the chain of the <i>hermuli</i> +being withdrawn, they sprung forward, and whoever first ran seven times +round the course, was declared the victor; he was then crowned, and +received a prize in money of considerable value.</p> + +<p>Second; contests of agility and strength, of which there were five +kinds; running, leaping, boxing, wrestling and throwing +the <i>discus</i> or quoit. Boxers covered their hands with a kind of +gloves, which had lead or iron sewed into them, to make the strokes fall +with greater weight; the combatants were previously trained in a place +of exercise, and restricted to a particular diet.</p> + +<p>Third; what was called <i>venatio</i>, or the fighting of wild beasts +with one another, or with men, called <i>bestiarii</i>, who were either +forced to this by way of punishment, as the primitive christians often +were, or fought voluntarily, either from a natural ferocity of +disposition, or induced by hire. An incredible number of animals of +various kinds, were brought from all quarters, for the entertainment of +the people, at an immense expense; and were kept in enclosures +called <i>vivaria</i>, till the day of exhibition. Pompey, in +his <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_43" +id="Page_43">[43]</a></span>second consulship, exhibited at once five +hundred lions, and eighteen elephants, who were all despatched in five +days.</p> + +<p>Fourth; <i>naumachia</i>, or the representation of a sea fight; those +who fought, were usually composed of captives or condemned malefactors, +who fought to death, unless saved by the clemency of the emperors.</p> + +<p>In the next class of games were the shows of gladiators; they were +first exhibited at Rome by two brothers called Bruti, at the funeral of +their father, and for some time they were only exhibited on such +occasions; but afterwards, also by the magistrates, to entertain the +people, chiefly at the <i>saturnalia</i> and feasts of Minerva.</p> + +<p>Incredible numbers of men were destroyed in this manner; after the +triumph of Trajan over the Dacians, spectacles were exhibited for one +hundred twenty-three days, in which eleven thousand animals, of +different kinds, were killed, and ten thousand gladiators fought, whence +we may judge of other instances. The emperor Claudius, although +naturally of a gentle disposition, is said to have been rendered cruel +by often attending these spectacles.</p> + +<p>Gladiators were at first composed of slaves and captives, or of +condemned malefactors, but afterwards also of free born citizens, +induced by hire or inclination.</p> + +<p>When any gladiator was wounded, he lowered his arms as a sign of his +being vanquished, but his fate depended on the pleasure of the people, +who, if they wished him to be saved, pressed down their thumbs; if to be +slain, they turned them up, and ordered him to receive the sword, which +gladiators usually submitted to with amazing fortitude.</p> + +<p>Such was the spirit engendered by these scenes of blood, that +malefactors and unfortunate christians, during the period of the +persecution against them, were compelled to risk their lives in these +unequal contests; and in the time of Nero, christians were dressed in +skins, and thus distinguished, were hunted by dogs, or forced to contend +with ferocious animals, by which they were devoured.</p> + +<p>The next in order were the dramatic entertainments, of which there +were three kinds. First; comedy, which was a representation of common +life, written in a familiar style, and usually with a happy issue: the +design of it was, to expose vice and folly to ridicule.</p> + +<p>Second; tragedy, or the representation of some one serious and +important action; in which illustrious +persons <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_44" +id="Page_44">[44]</a></span>are introduced as heroes, kings, &c. written +in an elevated style, and generally with an unhappy issue.</p> + +<p>The great end of tragedy was to excite the passions; chiefly pity and +horror: to inspire a love of virtue, and an abhorrence of vice.</p> + +<p>The Roman tragedy and comedy differed from ours only in the chorus: +this was a company of actors who usually remained on the stage singing +and conversing on the subject in the intervals of the acts.</p> + +<p>Pantomimes, or representations of dumb show, where the actors +expressed every thing by their dancing and gestures, without +speaking.</p> + +<p>Those who were most approved, received crowns, &c. as at other games; +at first composed of leaves or flowers, tied round the head with +strings, afterwards of thin plates of brass gilt.</p> + +<p>The scenery was concealed by a curtain, which, contrary to the modern +custom, was drawn down when the play began, and raised when it was +over.</p> + +<hr> +<h2 id="chap_1_16">CHAPTER XVI.</h2> + +<h3><i>Magistrates.</i></h3> + +<p>Rome was at first governed by kings, chosen by the people; their +power was not absolute, but limited; their badges were the <i>trabea</i> +or white robe adorned with stripes of purple, a golden crown and ivory +sceptre; the <i>curule</i> chair and twelve <i>lictors</i> with +the <i>fasces</i>, that is, carrying each a bundle of rods, with an axe +in the middle of them.</p> + +<p>The regal government subsisted at Rome for two hundred and +forty-three years, under seven kings—Romulus, Numa Pompilius, Tullus +Hostilius, Ancus Marcius, Lucius Tarquinius Priscus, Servius Tullius, +and Lucius Tarquinius Superbus, all of whom, except the last, may be +said to have laid the foundation of Roman greatness by their good +government.</p> + +<p>Tarquin being universally detested for his tyranny and cruelty, was +expelled the city, with his wife and family, on account of the violence +offered by his son Sextus to Lucretia, a noble lady, the wife of +Collatinus.</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_45" +id="Page_45">[45]</a></span>This revolution was brought about chiefly by +means of Lucius Junius Brutus. The haughtiness and cruelty of Tarquin +inspired the Romans with the greatest aversion to regal government, +which they retained ever after.</p> + +<p>In the two hundred and forty-fourth year from the building of the +city, they elected two magistrates, of equal authority, and gave them +the name of consuls. They had the same badges as the kings, except the +crown, and nearly the same power; in time of war they possessed supreme +command, and usually drew lots to determine which should remain in +Rome—they levied soldiers, nominated the greater part of the officers, +and provided what was necessary for their support.</p> + +<p>In dangerous conjunctures, they were armed by the senate with +absolute power, by the solemn decree that the consuls should take care +the Republic receives no harm. In any serious tumult or sedition they +called the Roman citizens to arms in these words, “Let those who wish to +save the republic follow me”—by which they easily checked it.</p> + +<p>Although their authority was very much impaired, first by the +tribunes of the people, and afterwards upon the establishment of the +empire, yet they were still employed in consulting the senate, +administering justice, managing public games and the like, and had the +honor to characterize the year by their own names.</p> + +<p>To be a candidate for the consulship, it was requisite to be +forty-three years of age: to have gone through the inferior offices of +<i>quæstor</i>, <i>ædile</i>, and <i>prætor</i>—and to be present in a private +station.</p> + +<p>The office of prætor was instituted partly because the consuls being +often wholly taken up with foreign wars, found the want of some person +to administer justice in the city; and partly because the nobility, +having lost their appropriation of the consulship, were ambitious of +obtaining some new honor in its room. He was attended in the city by two +<i>lictors</i>, who went before him with the <i>fasces</i>, and six +<i>lictors</i> without the city; he wore also, like the consuls, +the <i>toga pretexta</i>, or white robe fringed with purple.</p> + +<p>The power of the prætor, in the administration of justice, was +expressed in three words, <i>do</i>, <i>dico</i>, <i>addico</i>. By the +word <i>do</i>, he expressed his power in giving the form +of <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_46" id="Page_46">[46]</a></span>a +writ for trying and redressing a wrong, and in appointing judges or jury +to decide the cause: by <i>dico</i>, he meant that he declared right, or +gave judgment; and by <i>addico</i>, that he adjudged the goods of the +debtor to the creditor. The prætor administered justice only in private +or trivial cases: but in public and important causes, the people either +judged themselves, or appointed persons called <i>quæsitores</i> to +preside.</p> + +<p>The <i>censors</i> were appointed to take an account of the number of +the people, and the value of their fortunes, and superintend the public +morals. They were usually chosen from the most respectable persons of +consular dignity, at first only from among the Patricians, but +afterwards likewise from the Plebeians.</p> + +<p>They had the same ensigns as the consuls, except the <i>lictors</i>, +and were chosen every five years, but continued in office only a year +and a half. When any of the senators or equites committed a dishonorable +action, the censors could erase the name of the former from the list, +and deprive the knight of his horse and ring; any other citizen, they +degraded or deprived of all the privileges of a Roman citizen, except +liberty.</p> + +<p>As the sentence of censors (<i>Animadversio Censoria</i>,) only +affected a person's character, it was therefore properly +called <i>Ignominia</i>. Yet even this was not unchangeable; the people +or next censors might reverse it.</p> + +<p>In addition to the revision of morals, censors had the charge of +paving the streets—making roads, bridges, and aqueducts—preventing +private persons from occupying public property—and frequently of +imposing taxes.</p> + +<p>A census was taken by these officers, every five years, of the number +of the people, the amount of their fortunes, the number of slaves, &c. +After this census had been taken, a sacrifice was made of a sow, a +sheep, and a bull—hence called <i>suove-taurilia</i>. As this took +place only every five years, that space of time was called +a <i>lustrum</i>, because the sacrifice was a lustration offered for all +the people; and therefore <i>condere lustrum</i>, means to finish the +census.</p> + +<p>The title of censor was esteemed more honorable than that of consul, +although attended by less power: no one could be elected a second time, +and they who filled it were remarkable for leading an irreproachable +life; so that it was considered the chief ornament of nobility to be +sprung from a censorian family.</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_47" +id="Page_47">[47]</a></span>The appointment of tribunes of the people, +may be attributed to the following cause; the Plebeians being oppressed +by the Patricians, on account of debt, made a secession to a mountain +afterwards called +<i>mons sacer</i>, three miles from Rome, nor could they be prevailed on to +return, till they obtained from the Patricians a remission of debts for +those who were insolvent, and liberty to such as had been given up to +serve their creditors: and likewise that the Plebeians should have +proper magistrates of their own, to protect their rights, whose person +should be sacred and inviolable.</p> + +<p>They were at first five in number, but afterwards increased to ten; +they had no external mark of dignity, except a kind of beadle, called +<i>viator</i>, who went before them.</p> + +<p>The word <i>veto</i>, I forbid it, was at first the extent of their +power; but it afterwards increased to such a degree, that under pretence +of defending the rights of the people, they did almost whatever they +pleased. If any one hurt a tribune in word or deed, he was held +accursed, and his property confiscated.</p> + +<p>The <i>ediles</i> were so called from their care of the public +buildings; they were either Plebeian or <i>curule</i>; the former, two +in number, were appointed to be, as it were, the assistants of the +tribunes of the commons, and to determine certain lesser causes +committed to them; the latter, also two in number, were chosen from the +Patricians and Plebeians, to exhibit certain public games.</p> + +<p>The <i>quæstors</i> were officers elected by the people, to take care +of the public revenues; there were at first only two of them, but two +others were afterwards added to accompany the armies; and upon the +conquest of all Italy, four more were created, who remained in the +provinces.</p> + +<p>The principal charge of the city quæstors was the care of the +treasury; they received and expended the public money, and exacted the +fines imposed by the people: they kept the military standards, +entertained foreign ambassadors, and took charge of the funerals of +those who were buried at the public expense.</p> + +<p>Commanders returning from war, before they could obtain a triumph, +were obliged to take an oath before the quæstors, that they had written +to the senate a true account of the number of the enemy they had slain, +and of the citizens who were missing.</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_48" +id="Page_48">[48]</a></span>The office of the provincial quæstors was to +attend the consuls or prætors into their provinces; to furnish the +provisions and pay for the army; to exact the taxes and tribute of the +empire, and sell the spoils taken in war.</p> + +<p>The quæstorship was the first step of preferment to the other public +offices, and to admission into the senate: its continuation was for but +one year, and no one could be a candidate for it until he had completed +his twenty-seventh year.</p> + +<p><i>Legati</i> were those next in authority to the quæstors, and +appointed either by the senate or president of the province, who was +then said to +<i>aliquem sibi legare</i>.</p> + +<p>The office of the legati was very dignified and honorable. They acted +as lieutenants or deputies in any business for which they were +appointed, and were sometimes allowed the honor of lictors.</p> + +<p>The <i>dictator</i> was a magistrate invested with royal authority, +created in perilous circumstances, in time of pestilence, sedition, or +when the commonwealth was attacked by dangerous enemies.</p> + +<p>His power was supreme both in peace and war, and was even above the +laws; he could raise and disband armies, and determine upon the life and +fortune of Roman citizens, without consulting the senate or people; when +he was appointed, all other magistrates resigned their offices except +the tribunes of the commons.</p> + +<p>The dictator could continue in office only six months; but he usually +resigned when he had effected the business for which he had been +created. He was neither permitted to go out of Italy, nor ride on +horseback, without the permission of the people; but the principal check +against any abuse of power, was that he might be called to an account +for his conduct, when he resigned his office.</p> + +<p>A master of horse was nominated by the dictator immediately after his +creation, usually from those of consular or prætorian rank, whose office +was to command the cavalry, and execute the orders of the dictator.</p> + +<p>The <i>decemviri</i> were ten men invested with supreme power, who +were appointed to draw up a code of laws, all the other magistrates +having first resigned their offices.</p> + +<p>They at first behaved with great moderation, and administered justice +to the people every tenth day. Ten tables of laws were proposed by them, +and ratified by the people at the <i>comitia centuriata</i>.</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_49" +id="Page_49">[49]</a></span>As two other tables seemed to be +wanting, <i>decemviri</i> were again appointed for another year, to make +them. But as these new magistrates acted tyrannically, and seemed +disposed to retain their command beyond the legal time, they were +compelled to resign, chiefly on account of the base passion of Appius +Claudius, one of their number, for Virginia, a virgin of plebeian rank, +who was slain by her father to prevent her falling into the decemvir's +hands. The <i>decemviri</i> all perished, either in prison or in +banishment.</p> + +<p>The consuls and all the chief magistrates, except the censors and the +tribunes of the people, were preceded in public by a certain number, +according to their rank of office, called lictors, each bearing on his +shoulders as the insignia of office, the <i>fasces</i> +and <i>securis</i>, which were a bundle of rods, with an axe in the +centre of one end; but the lictors in attendance on an inferior +magistrate, carried the <i>fasces</i> only, without the axe, to denote +that he was not possessed of the power of capital punishments.</p> + +<p>They opened a way through the crowd for the consul, saying words like +these—“<i>cedite, Consul venit</i>,” or “<i>date viam Consuli</i>.” It +was their duty also to inflict punishment on the condemned.</p> + +<hr> +<h2 id="chap_1_17">CHAPTER XVII.</h2> + +<h3><i>Of Military Affairs.</i></h3> + +<p>According to the Roman constitution, every free-born citizen was a +soldier, and bound to serve if called upon, in the armies of the state +at any period, from the age of seventeen to forty-six.</p> + +<p>When the Romans thought themselves injured by any nation, they sent +one or more of the priests, called <i>feciales</i>, to demand redress, +and if it was not immediately given, thirty-three days were granted to +consider the matter, after which war might be justly declared; then the +feciales again went to their confines, and having thrown a bloody spear +into them, formally declared war against that nation.</p> + +<p>The levy of the troops, the encampment, and much of the civil +discipline, as well as the temporary command +of <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_50" +id="Page_50">[50]</a></span>the army, was intrusted to the military +tribunes, six of whom were appointed to each legion.</p> + +<p>During the early period of the republic, the standing army in time of +peace usually consisted of only four legions, two of which were +commanded by each consul, and they were relieved by new levies every +year, the soldiers then serving without any pay beyond their mere +subsistence. But this number was afterwards greatly augmented, and the +inconvenience of raw troops having been experienced, a fixed stipend in +money was allowed to the men, and they were constantly retained in the +service.</p> + +<p>The legion usually consisted of three hundred horse, and three +thousand foot: the different kinds of infantry which composed it were +three, the <i>hastati</i>, <i>principes</i>, and <i>triarii</i>. The +first were so called because they fought with spears: they consisted of +young men in the flower of life, and formed the first line in battle. +The <i>principes</i> were men of middle age who occupied the second +line. The <i>triarii</i> were old soldiers of approved valor, who formed +the third line.</p> + +<p>There was a fourth kind of troops, called <i>velĭtes</i> from their +swiftness and agility: these did not form a part of the legion, and had +no certain post assigned them, but fought in scattered parties, wherever +occasion required, usually before the lines.</p> + +<p>The imperial eagle was the common standard of the legion; it was of +gilt metal, borne on a spear by an officer of rank, styled, from his +office, <i>aquilifer</i>, and was regarded by the soldiery with the +greatest reverence. There were other ensigns, as A. B. C. D. in the +frontispiece.</p> + +<p>The only musical instruments used in the Roman army, were brazen +trumpets of different forms, adapted to the various duties of the +service.</p> + +<p>The arms of the soldiery varied according to the battalion in which +they served. Some were equipped with light javelins, and others with a +missile weapon, called <i>pilum</i>, which they flung at the enemy; but +all carried shields and short swords of that description, usually styled +cut and thrust, which they wore on the right side, to prevent its +interfering with the buckler, which they bore on the left arm.</p> + +<p>The shield was of an oblong or oval shape, with an iron boss jutting +out in the middle, to glance off stones or +darts; <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_51" +id="Page_51">[51]</a></span>it was four feet long and two and a half +broad, made of pieces of wood joined together with small plates of iron, +and the whole covered with a bull's hide.</p> + +<p>They were partly dressed in a metal cuirass with an under covering of +cloth; on the head they wore helmets of brass, either fastened under the +chin, with plates of the same metal, or reaching to the shoulders, which +they covered and ornamented on the top with flowing tufts of horse +hair.</p> + +<p>The light infantry were variously armed with slings and darts as well +as swords, and commonly wore a shaggy cap, in imitation of the head of +some wild beast, of which the skirt hung over their shoulders. The +troops of the line wore greaves on the legs and heavy iron-bound sandals +on the feet. These last were called <i>caligæ</i>, from which the +emperor Caius Cæsar obtained the name of Caligula, in consequence of +having worn them in his youth among the soldiery.</p> + +<p>The cavalry were armed with spears and wore a coat of mail of chain +work, or scales of brass or steel, often plated with gold, under which +was a close garment that reached to their buskins. The helmet was +surmounted with a plume, and with an ornament distinctive of each rank, +or with some device according to the fancy of the wearers, and which was +then, as now in heraldry, denominated the crest. This term +was <i>crista</i>, derived from the resemblance of the ornament to the +comb of a cock.</p> + +<p>The Romans made no use of saddles or stirrups, but merely cloths +folded according to the convenience of the rider.</p> + +<p>Among the instruments used in war were towers consisting of different +stories, from which showers of darts were discharged on the townsmen by +means of engines called <i>catapultæ</i>, <i>balistæ</i>, +and <i>scorpiones</i>.</p> + +<p>But the most dreadful machine of all was the battering ram: this was +a long beam like the mast of a ship, and armed at one end with iron, in +the form of a ram's head, whence it had its name. It was suspended by +the middle, with ropes or chains fastened to a beam which lay across two +posts, and hanging thus equally balanced, it was violently thrust +forward, drawn back, and again pushed forward, until by repeated strokes +it had broken down the wall.</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_52" +id="Page_52">[52]</a></span>The discipline of the army was maintained +with great severity; officers were exposed to degradation for +misconduct, and the private soldier to corporal punishment. Whole +legions who had transgressed their military duty were exposed to +decimation, which consisted in drawing their names by lot, and putting +every tenth man to the sword.</p> + +<p>The most common rewards were crowns of different forms; the mural +crown was presented to him who in the assault first scaled the rampart +of a town; the castral, to those who were foremost in storming the +enemy's entrenchments; the civic chaplet of oak leaves, to the soldier +who saved his comrade's life in battle, and the triumphal laurel wreath +to the general who commanded in a successful engagement. The radial +crown was that worn by the emperors.</p> + +<p>When an army was freed from a blockade, the soldiers gave their +deliverer a crown called <i>obsidionalis</i>, made of the grass which +grew in the besieged place; and to him who first boarded the ship of an +enemy, a naval crown.</p> + +<p>But the greatest distinction that could be conferred on a commander, +was a triumph; this was granted only by the senate, on the occasion of a +great victory. When decreed, the general returned to Rome, and was +appointed by a special edict to the supreme command in the city; on the +day of his entry, a triumphal arch was erected of sculptured masonry, +under which the procession passed.</p> + +<p>First came a detachment of cavalry, with a band of military music +preceding a train of priests in their robes, who were followed by a +hecatomb of the whitest oxen with gilded horns entwined with flowers; +next were chariots, laden with the spoils of the vanquished; and after +them, long ranks of chained captives conducted by files of lictors. Then +came the conqueror, clothed in purple and crowned with laurel, having an +ivory sceptre in his hand; a band of children followed dressed in white, +who threw perfumes from silver censors, while they chanted the hymns of +victory and the praises of the conqueror. The march was closed by the +victorious troops, with their weapons wreathed with laurel; the +procession marched to the temple of Jupiter, where the victor descended +and dedicated his spoils to the gods.</p> + +<p>When the objects of the war had been obtained by a bloodless victory, +a minor kind of triumph was granted, +in <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_53" +id="Page_53">[53]</a></span>which the general appeared on horseback, +dressed in white, and crowned with myrtle, while in his hand he bore a +branch of olive. No other living sacrifice was offered but sheep, from +the name of which the ceremony was called an ovation.</p> + +<p>In consequence of the continual depredations to which the coast of +Italy was subject, the Romans commenced the building of a number of +vessels, to establish a fleet, taking for their model a Carthaginian +vessel, which was formerly stranded on their coast.</p> + +<p>Their vessels were of two kinds, <i>naves onerariæ</i>, ships of +burden, and <i>naves longæ</i>, ships of war: the former served to carry +provisions, &c.: they were almost round, very deep, and impelled by +sails.</p> + +<p>The ships of war received their name from the number of banks of +oars, one above another, which they contained: thus a ship with three +banks of oars was called <i>triremis</i>, one with +four, <i>quadriremis</i>, &c.; in these, sails were not used.</p> + +<hr> +<h2 id="chap_1_18">CHAPTER XVIII.</h2> + +<h3><i>Assemblies, Judicial Proceedings, and Punishments of the Romans.</i></h3> + +<p>The assemblies of the whole Roman people, to give their vote on any +subject, were called <i>comitia</i>. There were three kinds, +the <i>curiata</i>, +<i>centuriata</i>, and <i>tributa</i>.</p> + +<p>The <i>comitia curiata</i> were assemblies of the resident Roman +citizens, who were divided into thirty <i>curiæ</i>, a majority of which +determined all matters of importance that were laid before them, such as +the election of magistrates, the enacting of laws and judging of capital +causes.</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_54" +id="Page_54">[54]</a></span><i>Comitia centuriata</i> were assemblies of +the various centuries into which the six classes of the people were +divided.</p> + +<p>Those who belonged to the first class were termed <i>classici</i>, by +way of pre-eminence—hence <i>auctores classici</i>, respectable or +standard authors; those of the last class, who had no fortune, were +called +<i>capite censi</i>, or <i>proletarii</i>; and those belonging to the middle +classes were all said to be <i>infra classem</i>—below the class.</p> + +<p><i>Comitia centuriata</i> were the most important of all the +assemblies of the people. In these, laws were enacted, magistrates +elected, and criminals tried. Their meeting was in the Campus +Martius.</p> + +<p>It was necessary that these assemblies should have been summoned +seventeen days previously to their meeting, in order that the people +might have time to reflect on the business which was to be +transacted.</p> + +<p>Candidates for any public office, who were to be elected here, were +obliged to give in their names before the <i>comitia</i> were summoned. +Those who did so, were said to <i>petere consulatum vel præturam</i>, +&c.; and they wore a white robe called <i>toga candida</i>, to denote +the purity of their motives; on which account they were +called <i>candidati</i>.</p> + +<p>Candidates went about to solicit votes (<i>ambire</i>,) accompanied +by a nomenclator, whose duty it was to whisper the names of those whose +votes they desired; for it was supposed to be an insult not to know the +name of a Roman citizen.</p> + +<p><i>Centuria prærogativa</i> was that century which obtained by ballot +the privilege of voting first.</p> + +<p>When the <i>centuria prærogativa</i> had been elected, the presiding +magistrate sitting in a tent (<i>tabernaculum</i>,) called upon it to +come and vote. All that century then immediately separated themselves +from the rest, and entered into that place of the Campus Martius, called +<i>septa</i> or <i>ovilia</i>. Going into this, they had to cross over a little +bridge (<i>pons</i>;) hence the phrase <i>de ponte dejici</i>—to be deprived of +the elective franchise.</p> + +<p>At the farther end of the <i>septa</i> stood officers, called +<i>diribitores</i>, who handed waxen tablets to the voters, with the names of +the candidates written upon them. The voter then putting a mark +(<i>punctus</i>) on the name of him for whom he voted, threw the tablet into +a large chest; and when all were done, the votes were counted.</p> + +<p>If the votes of a century for different magistrates, or respecting +any law, were equal when counted, the vote of the entire century was not +reckoned among the votes of the other centuries; but in trials of life +and death, if the tablets pro and con were equal, the criminal was +acquitted.</p> + +<p>The candidate for whom the greatest number of centuries voted, was +duly elected, (<i>renunciatus est</i>:) when the votes were unanimous, +he was said <i>ferre omne punctum</i>—to be completely successful.</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_55" +id="Page_55">[55]</a></span>When a law was proposed, two ballots were +given to each voter: one with U. R. written upon it, <i>Uti +Rogas</i>—as you propose; and the other with A. for <i>Antiquo</i>—I +am for the old one.</p> + +<p>In voting on an impeachment, one tablet was marked with A. for +<i>Absolvo</i>—I acquit; hence this letter was called <i>litera salutaris</i>; +the other with C. for <i>condemno</i>—I condemn; hence C. was called <i>litera +tristis</i>.</p> + +<p>In the <i>comitia tributa</i>, the people voted, divided into tribes, +according to their regions or wards; they were held to create inferior +magistrates, to elect certain priests, to make laws, and to hold +trials.</p> + +<p>The <i>comitia</i> continued to be assembled for upwards of seven +hundred years, when that liberty was abridged by Julius Cæsar, and after +him by Augustus, each of whom shared the right of creating magistrates +with the people. Tiberius the second emperor, deprived the people +altogether of the right of election.</p> + +<p>The extension of the Roman empire, the increase of riches, and +consequently of crime, gave occasion to a great number of new laws, +which were distinguished by the name of the person who proposed them, +and by the subject to which they referred.</p> + +<p>Civil trials, or differences between private persons were tried in +the forum by the prætor. If no adjustment could be made between the two +parties, the plaintiff obtained a writ from the prætor, which required +the defendant to give bail for his appearance on the third day, at which +time, if either was not present when cited, he lost his cause, unless he +had a valid excuse.</p> + +<p>Actions were either real, personal, or mixed. Real, was for obtaining +a thing to which one had a real right, but was possessed by another. +Personal, was against a person to bind him to the fulfilment of a +contract, or to obtain redress for wrongs. Mixed, was when the actions +had relation to persons and things.</p> + +<p>After the plaintiff had presented his case for trial, judges were +appointed by the prætor, to hear and determine the matter, and fix the +number of witnesses, that the suit might not be unreasonably protracted. +The parties gave security that they would abide by the judgment, and the +judges took a solemn oath to decide impartially; after this the cause +was argued on both sides, assisted by +witnesses, <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_56" +id="Page_56">[56]</a></span>writings, &c. In giving sentence, the votes +of a majority of the judges were necessary to decide against the +defendant; but if the number was equally divided, it was left to the +prætor to determine.</p> + +<p>Trial by jury, as established with us, was not known, but the mode of +judging in criminal cases, seems to have resembled it. A certain number +of senators and knights, or other citizens of respectability, were +annually chosen by the prætor, to act as his assessors, and some of +these were appointed to sit in judgment with him. They decided by a +majority of voices, and returned their verdict, either guilty, not +guilty, or uncertain, in which latter instance the case was deferred; +but if the votes for acquittal and condemnation were equal, the culprit +was discharged.</p> + +<p>There were also officers called <i>centumviri</i>, to the number at +first of 100, but afterwards of 180, who were chosen equally, from the +35 tribes, and together with the prætor constituted a court of +justice.</p> + +<p>Candidates for office wore a white robe, rendered shining by the art +of the fuller. They did not wear tunics, or waist-coats, either that +they might appear more humble, or might more easily show the scars they +had received on the breast.</p> + +<p>For a long time before the election, they endeavored to gain the +favor of the people, by every popular art, by going to their houses, by +shaking hands with those they met, by addressing them in a kindly +manner, and calling them by name, on which occasion they commonly had +with them a monitor, who whispered in their ears every body's name.</p> + +<p>Criminal law was in many instances more severe than it is at the +present day. Thus adultery, which now only subjects the offender to a +civil suit, was by the Romans, as well as the ancient Jews, punished +corporally.</p> + +<p>Forgery was not punished with death, unless the culprit was a slave; +but freemen guilty of that crime were subject to banishment, which +deprived them of their property and privileges; and false testimony, +coining, and those offences which we term misdemeanors, exposed them to +an interdiction from fire and water, or in fact an excommunication from +society, which necessarily drove them into banishment.</p> + +<p>The punishments inflicted among the Romans, were—fine, +(<i>damnum</i>,) bonds, (<i>vincula</i>,) stripes, (<i>verbera</i>,) +retaliation, (<i>talio</i>,) infamy, (<i>ignominia</i>,) banishment, +(<i>exilium</i>,) slavery, (<i>servitus</i>,) and death.</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_57" +id="Page_57">[57]</a></span>The methods of inflicting death were +various; the chief were—beheading (<i>percussio securi</i>), strangling +in prison (<i>strangulatio</i>), throwing a criminal from that part of +the prison called Robur (<i>precipitatio de robore</i>), throwing a +criminal from the Tarpeian rock (<i>dejectio e rupe Tarpeia</i>), +crucifixion (<i>in crucem actio</i>), and throwing into the river +(<i>projectio in profluentem</i>).</p> + +<p>The last-mentioned punishment was inflicted upon parricides, or the +murderers of any relation. So soon as any one was convicted of such +crimes, he was immediately blindfolded as unworthy of the light, and in +the next place whipped with rods. He was then sewed up in a sack, and +thrown into the sea. In after times, to add to the punishment, a serpent +was put in the sack; and still later, an ape, a dog, and a cock. The +sack which held the malefactor was called <i>Culeus</i>, on which +account the punishment itself is often signified by the same name.</p> + +<p>In the time of Nero, the punishment for treason was, to be stripped +stark naked, and with the head held up by a fork to be whipped to +death.</p> + +<hr> +<h2 id="chap_1_19">CHAPTER XIX.</h2> + +<h3><i>The Roman Dress.</i></h3> + +<p>The ordinary garments of the Romans were the <i>toga</i> and the +<i>tunic</i>.</p> + +<p>The <i>toga</i> was a loose woollen robe, of a semicircular form, +without sleeves, open from the waist upwards, but closed from thence +downwards, and surrounding the limbs as far as the middle of the leg. +The upper part of the vest was drawn under the right arm, which was thus +left uncovered, and, passing over the left shoulder, was there gathered +in a knot, whence it fell in folds across the breast: this flap being +tucked into the girdle, formed a cavity which sometimes served as a +pocket, and was frequently used as a covering for the head. Its color +was white, except in case of mourning, when a black or dark color was +worn. The Romans were at great pains to adjust the toga and make it hang +gracefully.</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_58" +id="Page_58">[58]</a></span>It was at first worn by women as well as +men—but afterwards matrons wore a different robe, called <i>stola</i>, +with a broad border or fringe, reaching to the feet. Courtezans, and +women condemned for adultery, were not permitted to wear +the <i>stola</i>—hence called +<i>togatæ</i>.</p> + +<p>Roman citizens only were permitted to wear the <i>toga</i>, and +banished persons were prohibited the use of it. The <i>toga picta</i> +was so termed from the rich embroidery with which it was +covered:—the <i>toga palmata</i> from its being wrought in figured palm +leaves—this last was the triumphal habit.</p> + +<p>Young men, until they were seventeen years of age, and young women +until they were married, wore a gown bordered with purple, called the +<i>toga prætexta</i>.</p> + +<p>After they had arrived at the age of seventeen, young men assumed the +<i>toga virilis</i>.</p> + +<p>The <i>tunic</i> was a white woollen vest worn below the <i>toga</i>, +coming down a little below the knees before, and to the middle of the +leg behind, at first without sleeves. <i>Tunics</i> with sleeves were +reckoned effeminate: but under the emperors, these were used with +fringes at the hands. The <i>tunic</i> was fastened by a girdle or belt +about the waist, to keep it tight, which also served as a purse.</p> + +<p>The women wore a <i>tunic</i> which came down to their feet and +covered their arms.</p> + +<p>Senators had a broad stripe of purple, sewed on the breast of their +tunic, called <i>latus clavus</i>, which is sometimes put for +the <i>tunic</i> itself, or the dignity of a senator.</p> + +<p>The <i>equites</i> were distinguished by a narrow stripe +called <i>angustus clavus</i>.</p> + +<p>The Romans wore neither stockings nor breeches, but used sometimes to +wrap their legs and thighs with pieces of cloth called from the parts +which they covered, <i>tibialia</i> and <i>feminalia</i>.</p> + +<p>The chief coverings for the feet were the <i>calceus</i>, which +covered the whole foot, somewhat like our shoes, and was tied above with +a +<i>latchet</i> or lace, and the <i>solea</i>, a slipper or sandal which covered +only the sole of the foot, and was fastened on with leather thongs or +strings.</p> + +<p>The shoes of the senators came up to the middle of their legs, and +had a golden or silver crescent on the top of the foot. The shoes of the +soldiery were called <i>caligæ</i>, sometimes shod with nails. Comedians +wore the <i>socci</i> or slippers, and tragedians +the <i>cothurni</i>.</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_59" +id="Page_59">[59]</a></span>The ancient Romans went with their heads +bare except at sacred rites, games, festivals, on journey or in +war.—Hence, of all the honors decreed to Cæsar by the senate, he is +said to have been chiefly pleased with that of always wearing a laurel +crown, because it covered his baldness, which was reckoned a deformity. +At games and festivals a woollen cap or bonnet was worn.</p> + +<p>The head-dress of women was at first very simple. They seldom went +abroad, and when they did they almost always had their faces veiled. But +when riches and luxury increased, dress became, with many, the chief +object of attention. They anointed their hair with the richest perfumes, +and sometimes gave it a bright yellow color, by means of a composition +or wash. It was likewise adorned with gold and pearls and precious +stones: sometimes with garlands and chaplets of flowers.</p> + +<hr> +<h2 id="chap_1_20">CHAPTER XX.</h2> + +<h3><i>Of the Fine Arts and Literature.</i></h3> + +<p>The Romans invented short or abridged writing, which enabled their +secretaries to collect the speeches of orators, however rapidly +delivered. The characters used by such writers were called notes. They +did not consist in letters of the alphabet, but certain marks, one of +which often expressed a whole word, and frequently a phrase. The same +description of writing is known at the present day by the word +<i>stenography</i>. From notes came the word <i>notary</i>, which was given to all +who professed the art of quick writing.</p> + +<p>The system of note-writing was not suddenly brought to perfection: it +only came into favor when the professors most accurately reported an +excellent speech which Cato pronounced in the senate. The orators, the +philosophers, the dignitaries, and nearly all the rich patricians then +took for secretaries note-writers, to whom they allowed handsome pay. It +was usual to take from their slaves all who had intellect to acquire a +knowledge of that art.</p> + +<p>The fine arts were unknown at Rome, until their successful commanders +brought from Syracuse, Asia, Macedonia and Corinth, the various +specimens which those <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_60" +id="Page_60">[60]</a></span>places afforded. So ignorant, indeed, were +they of their real worth, that when the victories of Mummius had given +him possession of some of the finest productions of Grecian art, he +threatened the persons to whom he intrusted the carriage of some antique +statues and rare pictures, “that if they lost those, they should give +him new ones.” A taste by degrees began to prevail, which they gratified +at the expense of every liberal feeling of public justice and private +right.</p> + +<p>The art of printing being unknown, books were sometimes written on +parchment, but more generally on a paper made from the leaves of a plant +called <i>papyrus</i>, which grew and was prepared in Egypt. This plant +was about ten cubits high, and had several coats or skins, one above +another, which they separated with a needle.</p> + +<p>The instrument used for writing was a reed, sharpened and split at +the point, like our pens, called <i>calamus</i>. Their ink was sometimes +composed of a black liquid emitted by the cuttle fish.</p> + +<p>The Romans commonly wrote only on one side of the paper, and joined +one sheet to the end of another, till they finished what they had to +write, and then rolled it on a cylinder or staff, hence called +<i>volumen</i>.</p> + +<p>But <i>memoranda</i> or other unimportant matters, not intended to be +preserved, were usually written on tablets spread with wax. This was +effected by means of a metal pencil called <i>stylus</i>, pointed at one +end to scrape the letters, and flat at the other to smooth the wax when +any correction was necessary.</p> + +<p>Julius Cæsar introduced the custom of folding letters in a flat +square form, which were then divided into small pages, in the manner of +a modern book. When forwarded for delivery, they were usually perfumed +and tied round with a silken thread, the ends of which were sealed with +common wax.</p> + +<p>Letters were not subscribed; but the name of the writer, and that of +the person to whom they were addressed, were inserted at the +commencement—thus, Julius Cæsar to his friend Antony, health. At the +end was written a simple, Farewell!</p> + +<p>The Romans had many private and public libraries. Adjoining to some +of them were museums for the accommodation of a college or society of +learned men, who were <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_61" +id="Page_61">[61]</a></span>supported there at the public expense, with +a covered walk and seats, where they might dispute.</p> + +<p>The first public library at Rome, and probably in the world, was +erected by Asinius Pollio, in the temple of liberty, on Mount Aventine. +This was adorned by the statues of the most celebrated men.</p> + +<hr> +<h2 id="chap_1_21">CHAPTER XXI.</h2> + +<h3><i>Roman Houses.</i></h3> + +<p>The houses of the Romans are supposed at first to have been nothing +more than thatched cottages. After the city was burnt by the Gauls, it +was rebuilt in a more solid and commodious manner; but the streets were +very irregular.</p> + +<p>In the time of Nero the city was set on fire, and more than +two-thirds of it burnt to the ground. That tyrant himself is said to +have been the author of this conflagration. He beheld it from the tower +of Mæcenas, and being delighted, as he said, with the beauty of the +flames, played the taking of Troy, dressed like an actor.</p> + +<p>The city was then rebuilt with greater regularity and splendor—the +streets were widened, the height of the houses was limited to seventy +feet, and each house had a portico before it, fronting the street.</p> + +<p>Nero erected for himself a palace of extraordinary extent and +magnificence. The enclosure extended from the Palatine to the Esquiline +mount, which was more than a mile in breadth, and it was entirely +surrounded with a spacious portico embellished with sculpture and +statuary, among which stood a colossal statue of Nero himself, one +hundred and twenty feet in height. The apartments were lined with +marble, enriched with jasper, topaz, and other precious gems: the timber +works and ceilings were inlaid with gold, ivory and mother of pearl.</p> + +<p>This noble edifice, which from its magnificence obtained the +appellation of the golden house, was destroyed by Vespasian as being too +gorgeous for the residence even of a Roman emperor.</p> + +<p>The lower floors of the houses of the great were, at this time, +either inlaid marble or mosaic work. Every +thing <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_62" +id="Page_62">[62]</a></span>curious and valuable was used in ornament +and furniture. The number of stories was generally two, with underground +apartments. On the first, were the reception-rooms and bed-chamber; on +the second, the dining-room and apartments of the women.</p> + +<p>The Romans used portable furnaces in their rooms, on which account +they had little use for chimneys, except for the kitchen.</p> + +<p>The windows of some of their houses were glazed with a thick kind of +glass, not perfectly transparent; in others, isinglass split into thin +plates was used. Perfectly transparent glass was so rare and valuable at +Rome, that Nero is said to have given a sum equal to £50,000 for two +cups of such glass with handles.</p> + +<p>Houses not joined with the neighboring ones were +called <i>Insulæ</i>, as also lodgings or houses to let. The inhabitants +of rented houses or lodgings, <i>Insularii</i> or <i>Inquilini</i>.</p> + +<p>The principal parts of a private house were the <i>vestibulum</i>, or +court before the gate, which was ornamented towards the street with a +portico extending along the entire front.</p> + +<p>The <i>atrium</i> or hall, which was in the form of an oblong square, +surrounded by galleries supported on pillars. It contained a hearth on +which a fire was kept constantly burning, and around which were ranged +the <i>lares</i>, or images of the ancestors of the family.</p> + +<p>These were usually nothing more than waxen busts, and, though held in +great respect, were not treated with the same veneration as the +<i>penates</i>, or household gods, which were considered of divine origin, +and were never exposed to the view of strangers, but were kept in an +inner apartment, called <i>penetralia</i>.</p> + +<p>The outer door was furnished with a bell: the entrance was guarded by +a slave in chains: he was armed with a staff, and attended by a dog.</p> + +<p>The houses had high sloping roofs, covered with broad tiles, and +there was usually an open space in the centre to afford light to the +inner apartments.</p> + +<p>The Romans were unacquainted with the use of chimnies, and were +consequently much annoyed by smoke. To remedy this, they sometimes +anointed the wood of which their fuel was composed, with lees of +oil.</p> + +<p>The windows were closed with blinds of linen or plates of horn, but +more generally with shutters of wood. +Dur<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_63" +id="Page_63">[63]</a></span>ing the time of the emperors, a species of +transparent stone, cut into plates, was used for the purpose. Glass was +not used for the admission of light into the apartments until towards +the fifth century of the christian era.</p> + +<p>A villa was originally a farm-house of an ordinary kind, and occupied +by the industrious cultivator of the soil; but when increasing riches +inspired the citizens with a taste for new pleasures, it became the +abode of opulence and luxury.</p> + +<p>Some villas were surrounded with large parks, in which deer and +various foreign wild animals were kept, and in order to render the sheep +that pastured on the lawn ornamental, we are told that they often dyed +their fleeces with various colours.</p> + +<p>Large fish ponds were also a common appendage to the villas of +persons of fortune, and great expense was often incurred in stocking +them. In general, however, country houses were merely surrounded with +gardens, of which the Romans were extravagantly fond.</p> + +<hr> +<h2 id="chap_1_22">CHAPTER XXII.</h2> + +<h3><i>Marriages and Funerals.</i></h3> + +<p>A marriage ceremony was never solemnized without consulting the +auspices, and offering sacrifices to the gods, particularly to Juno; and +the animals offered up on the occasion were deprived of their gall, in +allusion to the absence of every thing bitter and malignant in the +proposed union.</p> + +<p>A legal marriage was made in three different ways, called +<i>confarreatio</i>, <i>usus</i> and <i>coemptio</i>.</p> + +<p>The first of these was the most ancient. A priest, in the presence of +ten witnesses, made an offering to the gods, of a cake composed of salt +water, and that kind of flour called “<i>far</i>,” from which the name +of the ceremony was derived. The bride and bridegroom mutually partook +of this, to denote the union that was to subsist between them, and the +sacrifice of a sheep ratified the interchange of their vows.</p> + +<p>When a woman, with the consent of her parents +or <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_64" +id="Page_64">[64]</a></span>guardian, lived an entire year with a man, +with the intention of becoming his wife, it was called <i>usus</i>.</p> + +<p><i>Coemptio</i> was an imaginary purchase which the husband and wife +made of each other, by the exchange of some pieces of money.</p> + +<p>A plurality of wives was forbidden among the Romans. The marriageable +age was from fourteen for men, and twelve for girls.</p> + +<p>On the wedding day the bride was dressed in a simple robe of pure +white, bound with a zone of wool, which her husband alone was to +unloose: her hair was divided into six locks, with the point of a spear, +and crowned with flowers; she wore a saffron colored veil, which +enveloped the entire person: her shoes were yellow, and had unusually +high heels to give her an appearance of greater dignity.</p> + +<p>Thus attired she waited the arrival of the bridegroom, who went with +a party of friends and carried her off with an appearance of violence, +from the arms of her parents, to denote the reluctance she was supposed +to feel at leaving her paternal roof.</p> + +<p>The nuptial ceremony was then performed; in the evening she was +conducted to her future home, preceded by the priests, and followed by +her relations, friends, and servants, carrying presents of various +domestic utensils.</p> + +<p>The door of the bridegroom's house was hung with garlands of flowers. +When the bride came hither, she was asked who she was; she answered, +addressing the bridegroom, “Where thou art Caius, there shall I be +Caia.” intimating that she would imitate the exemplary life of Caia, the +wife of Tarquinius Priscus. She was then lifted over the threshold, or +gently stepped over, it being considered ominous to touch it with her +feet, because it was sacred to Vesta the goddess of Virgins.</p> + +<p>Upon her entrance, the keys of the house were delivered to her, to +denote her being intrusted with the management of the family, and both +she and her husband touched fire and water to intimate that their union +was to last through every extremity. The bridegroom then gave a great +supper to all the company. This feast was accompanied with music and +dancing, and the guests sang a nuptial song in praise of the new married +couple.</p> + +<p>The Romans paid great attention to funeral rites, because they +believed that the souls of the unburied +were <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_65" +id="Page_65">[65]</a></span>not admitted into the abodes of the dead; or +at least wandered a hundred years along the river Styx before they were +allowed to cross it.</p> + +<p>When any one was at the point of death, his nearest relation present +endeavored to catch his last breath with his mouth, for they believed +that the soul or living principle thus went out at the mouth. The corpse +was then bathed and perfumed; dressed in the richest robes of the +deceased, and laid upon a couch strewn with flowers, with the feet +towards the outer door.</p> + +<p>The funeral took place by torch light. The corpse was carried with +the feet foremost on an open bier covered with the richest cloth, and +borne by the nearest relatives and friends. It was preceded by the image +of the deceased, together with those of his ancestors.</p> + +<p>The procession was attended by musicians, with wind instruments of a +larger size and a deeper tone than those used on less solemn occasions; +mourning women were likewise hired to sing the praises of the +deceased.</p> + +<p>On the conclusion of the ceremony the sepulchre was strewed with +flowers, and the mourners took a last farewell of the remains of the +deceased. Water was then thrown upon the attendants, by a priest, to +purify them from the pollution which the ancients supposed to be +communicated by any contact with a corpse.</p> + +<p>The manes of the dead were supposed to be propitiated by blood:—on +this account a custom prevailed of slaughtering, on the tomb of the +deceased, those animals of which he was most fond when living.</p> + +<p>When the custom of burning the dead was introduced, a funeral pile +was constructed in the shape of an altar, upon which the corpse was +laid; the nearest relative then set fire to it:—perfumes and spices +were afterwards thrown into the blaze, and when it was extinguished, the +embers were quenched with wine. The ashes were then collected and +deposited in an urn, to be kept in the mausoleum of the family.</p> + +<hr> +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_66" +id="Page_66">[66]</a></span></p> + +<h2 id="chap_1_23">CHAPTER XXIII.</h2> + +<h3><i>Customs at Meals.</i></h3> + +<p>The food of the ancient Romans was of the simplest kind; they rarely +indulged in meat, and wine was almost wholly unknown. So averse were +they to luxury, that epicures were expelled from among them. But when +riches were introduced by the extension of conquest, the manners of the +people were changed, and the pleasures of the table became the chief +object of attention.</p> + +<p>Their principal meal was what they called <i>cœna</i> or supper. The +usual time for it was the ninth hour, or about three o'clock in the +afternoon.</p> + +<p>While at meals, they reclined on sumptuous couches of a semicircular +form, around a table of the same shape. This custom was introduced from +the nations of the east, and was at first adopted only by the men, but +afterwards allowed also to the women.</p> + +<p>The dress worn at table differed from that in use on other occasions, +and consisted merely of a loose robe of a slight texture, and generally +white.</p> + +<p>Before supper the Romans bathed themselves, and took various kinds of +exercise, such as tennis, throwing the discus or quoit, riding, running, +leaping, &c.</p> + +<p>Small figures of Mercury, Hercules and the penates, were placed upon +the table, of which they were deemed the presiding genii; and a small +quantity of wine was poured upon the board, at the commencement and end +of the feast, as a libation in honor of them, accompanied by a +prayer.</p> + +<p>As the ancients had not proper inns for the accommodation of +travellers, the Romans, when they were in foreign countries, or at a +distance from home, used to lodge at the houses of certain persons whom +they in return entertained at their houses in Rome. This was esteemed a +very intimate connexion, and was called <i>hospitium</i>, or <i>jus +hospitii</i>: hence <i>hospes</i> is put both for a host and a +guest.</p> + +<hr> +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_67" +id="Page_67">[67]</a></span></p> +<h2 id="chap_1_24">CHAPTER XXIV.</h2> + +<h3><i>Weights, Measures and Coins.</i></h3> + +<p>The principal <span class="smcap">Weight</span> in use among the +Romans, was the pound, called <i>As</i> or <i>Libra</i>, which was equal +to 12 oz. avoirdupoise, or 16 oz. 18 pwts. and 13¾ grains, troy +weight. It was divided into twelve ounces, the names of which were as +follow: <i>Uncia</i>, 1 oz.—<i>Sextans</i>, 2 oz.—<i>Triens</i>, 3 +oz.—<i>Quadrans</i>, 4 oz.—<i>Quincunx</i>, 5 oz.—<i>Semis</i>, ½ +lb.—<i>Septunx</i>, 7 oz—<i>Bes</i>, 8 oz.—<i>Dodrans</i>, 9 +oz.—<i>Dextans</i>, 10 oz.—<i>Deunx</i>, 11 oz.</p> + +<p>The As and its divisions were applied to anything divided into twelve +parts, as well as to a pound weight. The twelth part of an acre was +called Uncia and half a foot, Semis, &c.</p> + +<p><span class="smcap">The Measures for Things +Dry.</span>—<i>Modius</i>, a peck—<i>Semimodius</i>, a +gallon—<i>Sextanus</i>, a pint—<i>Hemina</i>, one-half pint, and 3 +smaller measures, for which we have not equivalent names in English. One +Modius contained 2 <i>Semimodii</i>—each Semimodius contained 8 +<i>Sextarii</i>—each Sextarius, 2 <i>Heminæ</i>—each Hemina, 4 <i>Acetabula</i>—each +Acetabulum, 1½ <i>Cyathi</i>—each Cyathus—4 <i>Ligulæ</i>.</p> + +<p><span class="smcap">The Liquid Measures of Capacity</span> were +the <i>Culeus</i>, which was equal to 144½ gallons—it contained +20 <i>Amphoræ</i> or +<i>Quadrantales</i>—each Amphora, 2 <i>Urnæ</i>—each Urna, 4 <i>Congii</i>—each +Congius, 6 <i>Sextarii</i>—and each Sextarius, 2 <i>Quartarii</i> or +naggins—each Quartarius, 2 <i>Heminæ</i>—each Hemina, 3 <i>Acetabula</i> or +glasses—each Acetabulum, 1½ <i>Cyathi</i>—and each Cyathus, 4 +<i>Ligulæ</i>.</p> + +<p><span class="smcap">The Measures of Length</span> in use among the +Romans were, +<i>Millarium</i> or <i>Mille</i>, a mile—each mile contained 8 <i>Stadia</i>, or +furlongs—each Stadium, 125 <i>Passus</i>—each Pace, 5 feet.</p> + +<p>The <i>Pes</i>, or foot, was variously divided. It contained +4 <i>Palmi</i> or handbreadths, each of which was therefore 3 inches +long—and it contained 16 <i>Digiti</i>, or finger breadths, each of +which was therefore three-quarters of an inch long—and it contained +12 <i>Unciæ</i>, or inches: any number of which was used to signify the +same number of ounces.</p> + +<p><i>Cubitus</i>, a cubit, was 1½ feet long—<i>Pollex</i>, a +thumb's breadth, 1 inch—<i>Palmipes</i>, a foot and hand's breadth, +i.e. 15 inches long—<i>Pertica</i>, a perch, 10 feet +long—the <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_68" +id="Page_68">[68]</a></span>lesser <i>Actus</i> was a space of ground +120 feet long by four broad—the greater Actus was 120 feet square—two +square Actus made a <i>Jugerum</i>, or acre, which contained therefore +28,000 square feet.</p> + +<p>The first money in use among the Romans was nothing more than +unsightly lumps of brass, which were valued according to their weight. +Servius Tullius stamped these, and reduced them to a fixed standard. +After his reign, the Romans improved the old, and added some new coins. +Those in most frequent use, were +the <i>As</i>, <i>Sestertius</i>, <i>Victoriatus</i>, +<i>Denarius</i>, <i>Aureus</i>.</p> + +<p>The <span class="smcap">As</span> was a brass coin, stamped on one +side with the beak of a ship, and on the other with the double head of +Janus. It originally weighed one pound; but was afterwards reduced to +half an ounce, without suffering, however, any diminution of value. It +was worth one cent and forty-three hundredths.</p> + +<p><span class="smcap">Sestertius</span> was a silver coin, stamped on +one side with Castor and Pollux, and on the opposite with the city. This +was so current a coin, that the word <i>Nummus</i>, money, is often used +absolutely to express it. It was worth three cents and fifty-seven +hundredths.</p> + +<p><span class="smcap">Denarius</span> was a silver coin, valued at ten +asses; that is, fourteen cents and thirty-five hundredths of our money. +It was stamped with the figure of a carriage drawn by four beasts, and +on the other side, with a head covered with a helmet, to represent +Rome.</p> + +<p><span class="smcap">Victoriatus</span> was a silver coin, half the +value of a Denarius. It was stamped with the figure of Victory, from +whence its name was derived. Being worth five Asses, it was +called <i>Quinarius</i>.</p> + +<p><i>Libella</i>, <i>Sembella</i>, <i>Teruncius</i>, were also silver +coins, but of less value than the above. Libella was of the same worth +as the As—Sembella was half a Libella, equal to seventy-one hundredths +of a cent—and the Teruncius was half of a Sembella.</p> + +<p><span class="smcap">Aureus Denarius</span> was a gold coin, about the +size of a silver Denarius, and probably stamped in a similar manner. At +first, forty Aurei were made out of a pound of gold; but under the +Emperors it was not so intrinsically valuable, being mixed with +alloy.</p> + +<p>The value of the Aureus, which was also called <i>Solidus</i>, varied +at different times. According to Tacitus, it was +val<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_69" +id="Page_69">[69]</a></span>ued and exchanged for 25 Denarii, which +amounted to three dollars, fifty-eight cents and seventy-five +hundredths.</p> + +<p>The Abbreviations used by the Romans to express these various kinds +of money, were, for the As, L.—for the Sesterce, L. L. S. or H. S.—for +the Quinary, V. or λ.—for the Denarius, X. or :!:</p> + +<p>Sesterces were the kind of money in which the Romans usually made +their computations.—1,000 Sesterces made up a sum +called <i>Sestertium</i>, the value of which in our money, was +thirty-five dollars and seventy cents.</p> + +<p>The art of reckoning by Sesterces was regulated by these rules:</p> + +<p>First—If a numeral adjective were joined to Sestertii, and agreed +with it in case, it signified just so many Sesterces; as +<i>decem Sestertii</i>, 10 Sesterces—thirty-five cents and seven tenths.</p> + +<p>Second—If a numeral adjective, of a different case, were joined to +the genitive plural of Sestertius, it signified so many thousand +Sesterces; as <i>decem Sestertium</i>, 10,000 Sesterces—$357.</p> + +<p>Third—If a numeral adverb were placed by itself, or joined to +Sestertium, it signified so many hundred thousand Sesterces; as +<i>Decies</i>, or <i>decies Sestertium</i>, 1,000,000 <i>Sesterces</i>—$35,700.</p> + +<p>Fourth—When the sums are expressed by letters, if the letters have a +line over them, they signify also so many hundred thousand Sesterces: +thus, H. S. M̅. C̅.—denotes the sum of 1,100 times 100,000 Sesterces, +i.e. 110,000,000—nearly +$4,000,000. <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_70" +id="Page_70">[70]</a></span></p> + +<div id="a3" class="center framed" style="width:100%"> +<h3>THE GODS DESCENDING TO BATTLE</h3> +<p class="ralign"><i>Pl. 3.</i></p> +<a href="images/fig072.png"> +<img src="images/fig072th.png" alt="THE GODS DESCENDING TO BATTLE"> +</a> +<div class="poem"> +<div class="stanza"> +<span class="i0">IN AID OF TROY, LATONA, PHŒBUS CAME,</span><br> +<span class="i0">MARS FIERY HELM'D, THE LAUGHTER LOVING DAME,</span><br> +<span class="i0">XANTHUS, WHOSE STREAMS IN GOLDEN CURRENTS FLOW,</span><br> +<span class="i0">AND THE CHASTE HUNTRESS OF THE SILVER BOW.</span><br> +</div> +</div> +<p class="ralign"><i>Pope's Homer's Iliad. B. 20. L. 51.</i></p> +</div> + +<hr> +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_71" +id="Page_71">[71]</a></span></p> +<h2><a name="mythology" id="mythology">MYTHOLOGY.</a></h2> + +<hr> +<h2 id="chap_2_1">CHAPTER I.</h2> + +<h3><i>Celestial Gods.</i></h3> + +<p>JUPITER, the supreme god of the Pagans, though set forth by +historians as the wisest of princes, is described by his worshippers as +infamous for his vices. There were many who assumed the name of Jupiter; +the most considerable, however, and to whom the actions of the others +are ascribed, was the Jupiter of Crete, son to Saturn and Rhea, who is +differently said to have had his origin in Crete, at Thebes in Bœotia, +and among the Messenians.</p> + +<p>His first warlike exploit, and, indeed, the most memorable of his +actions, was his expedition against the Titans, to deliver his parents, +who had been imprisoned by these princes, because Saturn, instead of +observing an oath he had sworn, to destroy his male children, permitted +his son Jupiter, by a stratagem of Rhea, to be educated. Jupiter, for +this purpose, raised a gallant army of Cretans, and engaged the Cecrŏpes +as auxiliaries in this expedition; but these, after taking his money, +having refused their services, he changed into apes. The valor of +Jupiter so animated the Cretans, that by their aid he overcame the +Titans, released his parents, and, the better to secure the reign of his +father, made all the gods swear fealty to him upon an altar, which has +since gained a place among the stars.</p> + +<p>This exploit of Jupiter, however, created jealousy in Saturn, who, +having learnt from an oracle, that he should +be <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_72" +id="Page_72">[72]</a></span>dethroned by one of his sons, secretly +meditated the destruction of Jupiter as the most formidable of them. The +design of Saturn being discovered by one of his council, Jupiter became +the aggressor, deposed his father, threw him into Tartarus, ascended the +throne, and was acknowledged as supreme by the rest of the gods.</p> + +<p>The reign of Jupiter being less favorable to his subjects than that +of Saturn, gave occasion to the name of the silver age, by which is +meant an age inferior in happiness to that which preceded, though +superior to those which followed.</p> + +<p>The distinguishing character of his person is majesty, and every +thing about him carries dignity and authority with it; his look is meant +to strike sometimes with terror, and sometimes with gratitude, but +always with respect. The Capitoline Jupiter, or the Jupiter Optimus +Maximus, (him now spoken of,) was the great guardian of the Romans, and +was represented, in his chief temple, on the Capitoline hill, as sitting +on a curule chair, with the lightning in his right hand, and a sceptre +in his left.</p> + +<p>The poets describe him as standing amidst his rapid horses, or his +horses that make the thunder; for as the ancients had a strange idea of +the brazen vault of heaven, they seem to have attributed the noise in a +thunder storm to the rattling of Jupiter's chariot and horses on that +great arch of brass all over their heads, as they supposed that he +himself flung the flames out of his hand, which dart at the same time +out of the clouds, beneath this arch.</p> + +<p>APOLLO was son of Jupiter and Latona, and brother of Diana, and of +all the divinities in the pagan world, the chief cherisher and protecter +of the polite arts, and the most conspicuous character in heathen +theology; nor unjustly, from the glorious attributes ascribed to him, +for he was the god of light, medicine, eloquence, music, poetry and +prophecy.</p> + +<p>Amongst the most remarkable adventures of this god, was his quarrel +with Jupiter, on account of the death of his son Æsculapius, killed by +that deity on the complaint of Pluto, that he decreased the number of +the dead by his cures. Apollo, to revenge this injury, killed the +Cyclops who forged the thunder-bolts. For this he was banished heaven, +and endured great sufferings on earth, being forced to hire himself as a +shepherd to Admetus, king of Thessaly. During his pastoral servitude, he +is said <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_73" +id="Page_73">[73]</a></span>to have invented the lyre to sooth his +troubles. He was so skilled in the bow, that his arrows were always +fatal. Python and the Cyclops experienced their force.</p> + +<p>He became enamored of Daphne, daughter of the river Peneus of +Thessaly. The god pursued her, but she flying to preserve her chastity, +was changed into a laurel, whose leaves Apollo immediately consecrated +to bind his temples, and become the reward of poetry.</p> + +<p>His temple at Delphi became so frequented, that it was called the +oracle of the earth; all nations and princes vieing in their munificence +to it. The Romans erected to him many temples.</p> + +<p>The animals sacred to him were the wolf, from his acuteness of sight, +and because he spared his flocks when the god was a shepherd; the crow +and the raven, because these birds were supposed to have, by instinct, +the faculty of prediction; the swan, from its divining its own death; +the hawk, from its boldness in flight; and the cock, because he +announces the rising of the sun.</p> + +<p>As to the signification of this fabulous divinity, all are agreed +that, by Apollo, the sun is understood in general, though several +poetical fictions have relation only to the sun, and not to Apollo. The +great attributes of this deity were divination, healing, music, and +archery, all which manifestly refer to the sun. Light dispelling +darkness, is a strong emblem of truth dissipating ignorance;—the warmth +of the sun conduces greatly to health; and there can be no juster symbol +of the planetary harmony, than Apollo's lyre, the seven strings of which +are said to represent the seven planets. As his darts are reported to +have destroyed the monster Python, so his rays dry up the noxious +moisture which is pernicious to vegetation and fertility.</p> + +<p>Apollo was very differently represented in different countries and +times, according to the character he assumed. In general he is described +as a beardless youth, with long flowing hair floating as it were in the +wind, comely and graceful, crowned with laurel, his garments and sandals +shining with gold. In one hand he holds a bow and arrows, in the other a +lyre; sometimes a shield and the graces. At other times he is invested +in a long robe, and carries a lyre and a cup of nectar, the symbol of +his divinity.</p> + +<p>He has a threefold authority: in heaven, he is +the <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_74" +id="Page_74">[74]</a></span>Sun; and by the lyre intimates, that he is +the source of harmony: upon earth he is called <i>Liber Pater</i>, and +carries a shield to show he is the protector of mankind, and their +preserver in health and safety. In the infernal regions he is +styled <i>Apollo</i>, and his arrows show his authority; whosoever is +stricken with them being immediately sent thither. As the Sun, Apollo +was represented in a chariot, drawn by the four +horses, <i>Eöus</i>, <i>Æthon</i>, <i>Phlegon</i>, +and <i>Pyröeis</i>.</p> + +<p>Considered in his poetical character, he is called indifferently +either <i>Vates</i> or <i>Lyristes</i>; music and poetry, in the +earliest ages of the world, having made but one and the same +profession.</p> + +<p>MERCURY was the offspring of Jupiter and Maia, the daughter of Atlas. +Cyllëne, in Arcadia, is said to have been the scene of his birth and +education, and a magnificent temple was erected to him there.</p> + +<p>That adroitness which formed the most distinguishing trait in his +character, began very early to render him conspicuous. Born in the +morning, he fabricated a lyre, and played on it by noon; and, before +night, filched from Apollo his cattle. The god of light demanded instant +restitution, and was lavish of menaces, the better to insure it. But his +threats were of no avail, for it was soon found that the same thief had +disarmed him of his quiver and bow. Being taken up into his arms by +Vulcan, he robbed him of his tools, and whilst Venus caressed him for +his superiority to Cupid in wrestling, he slipped off her cestus +unperceived. From Jupiter he purloined his sceptre, and would have made +as free with his thunder-bolt, had it not proved too hot for his +fingers.</p> + +<p>From being usually employed on Jupiter's errands, he was styled the +messenger of the gods. The Greeks and Romans considered him as presiding +over roads and cross-ways, in which they often erected busts of him. He +was esteemed the god of orators and eloquence, the author of letters and +oratory. The <i>caduceus</i>, or rod, which he constantly carried, was +supposed to be possessed of an inherent charm that could subdue the +power of enmity: an effect which he discovered by throwing it to +separate two serpents found by him fighting on Mount Cytheron: each +quitted his adversary, and twined himself on the rod, which Mercury, +from that time, bore as the symbol of concord. His musical skill was +great, for to him is as<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_75" +id="Page_75">[75]</a></span>cribed the discovery of the three tones, +treble, bass, and tenor.</p> + +<p>It was part of his function to attend on the dying, detach their +souls from their bodies, and conduct them to the infernal regions. In +conjunction with Hercules, he patronized wrestling and the gymnastic +exercises; to show that address upon these occasions should always be +united with force. The invention of the art of thieving was attributed +to him, and the ancients used to paint him on their doors, that he, as +god of thieves, might prevent the intrusion of others. For this reason +he was much adored by shepherds, who imagined he could either preserve +their own flocks from thieves, or else help to compensate their losses, +by dexterously stealing from their neighbors.</p> + +<p>At Rome on the fifteenth of May, the month so named from his mother, +a festival was celebrated to his honor, by merchants, traders, &c. in +which they sacrificed a sow, sprinkled themselves, and the goods they +intended for sale, with water from his fountain, and prayed that he +would both blot out all the frauds and perjuries they had already +committed, and enable them to impose again on their buyers.</p> + +<p>Mercury is usually described as a beardless young man, of a fair +complexion, with yellow hair, quick eyes, and a cheerful countenance, +having wings annexed to his hat and sandals, which were distinguished by +the names of <i>petăsus</i> and <i>talaria</i>: the <i>caduceus</i>, in +his hand, is winged likewise, and bound round with two serpents: his +face is sometimes exhibited half black, on account of his intercourse +with the infernal deities: he has often a purse in his hand, and a goat +or cock, or both, by his side.</p> + +<p>The epithets applied to Mercury by the ancients were Εναγωνιος, the +presider over combats; Στροφαιος, the guardian of doors; Εμπολαιος, the +merchant; Εριουνιος, beneficial to mortals; Δολιος, subtle; Ἡγεμονιος, +the guide, or conductor.</p> + +<p>As to his origin, it must be looked for amongst the Phœnicians. The +bag of money which he held signified the gain of merchandise; the wings +annexed to his head and his feet were emblematic of their extensive +commerce and navigation; the caduceus, with which he was said to conduct +the spirit of the deceased to Hades, pointing out the immortality of the +soul, a state of rewards and punishments after death, and a +resuscitation of the body: it is +described <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_76" +id="Page_76">[76]</a></span>as producing three leaves together, whence +it was called by Homer, the <i>golden three-leaved wand</i>.</p> + +<p>BACCHUS was the son of Jupiter, by Semĕle, daughter of Cadmus, king +of Thebes, in which city he is said to have been born. He was the god of +good-cheer, wine, and hilarity; and of him, as such, the poets have not +been sparing in their praises: on all occasions of mirth and jollity, +they constantly invoked his presence, and as constantly thanked him for +the blessings he bestowed. To him they ascribed the forgetfulness of +cares, and the delights of social converse.</p> + +<p>He is described as a youth of a plump figure, and naked, with a ruddy +face, and an effeminate air; he is crowned with ivy and vine leaves, and +bears in his hand a thyrsus, or javelin with an iron head, encircled +with ivy and vine leaves: his chariot is sometimes drawn by lions, at +others by tigers, leopards, or panthers; and surrounded by a band of +Satyrs, Bacchæ, and Nymphs, in frantic postures; whilst old Silēnus, his +preceptor, follows on an ass, which crouches with the weight of his +burden.</p> + +<p>The women who accompained him as his priestesses, were called +Mænădes, from their madness; Thyădes, from their impetuosity; Bacchæ, +from their intemperate depravity; and Mimallōnes, or Mimallonĭdes, from +their mimicking their leaders.</p> + +<p>The victims agreeable to him were the goat and the swine; because +these animals are destructive to the vine. Among the Egyptians they +sacrificed a swine to him before their doors; and the dragon, and the +pye on account of its chattering: the trees and plants used in his +garlands were the fir, the oak, ivy, the fig, and vine; as also the +daffodil, or narcissus. Bacchus had many temples erected to him by the +Greeks and the Romans.</p> + +<p>Whoever attentively reads Horace's inimitable ode to this god, will +see that Bacchus meant no more than the improvement of the world by +tillage, and the culture of the vine.</p> + +<p>MARS was the son of Jupiter and Juno, or of Jupiter and Erys. He was +held in high veneration among the Romans, both on account of his being +the father of Romulus, their founder, and because of their own genius, +which always inclined them to war. Numa, though otherwise a pacific +prince, having, during a great +pestilence, <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_77" +id="Page_77">[77]</a></span>implored the favor of the gods, received a +small brass buckler, called <i>ancīle</i> from heaven, which the nymph +Egeria advised him to keep with the utmost care, as the fate of the +people and empire depended upon it. To secure so valuable a pledge, Numa +caused eleven others of the same form to be made, and intrusted the +preservation of these to an order of priests, which he constituted for +the purpose, called <i>Salii</i>, or priests of Mars, in whose temple +the twelve ancilia were deposited.</p> + +<p>The fiercest and most ravenous creatures were consecrated to Mars: +the horse, for his vigor; the wolf, for his rapacity and quickness of +sight; the dog, for his vigilance; and he delighted in the pye, the +cock, and the vulture. He was the reputed enemy of Minerva, the goddess +of wisdom and arts, because in time of war they are trampled on, without +respect, as well as learning and justice.</p> + +<p>Ancient monuments represent this deity as of unusual stature, armed +with a helmet, shield, and spear, sometimes naked, sometimes in a +military habit; sometimes with a beard, and sometimes without. He is +often described riding in a chariot, drawn by furious horses, completely +armed, and extending his spear with one hand, while, with the other, he +grasps a sword imbued with blood. Sometimes Bellona, the goddess of war, +(whether she be his sister, wife or daughter, is uncertain,) is +represented as driving his chariot, and inciting the horses with a +bloody whip. Sometimes Discord is exhibited as preceding his chariot, +while Clamor, Fear, Terror, with Fame, full of eyes, ears, and tongues, +appear in his train.</p> + +<div id="a4" class="center framed" style="width:100%;"> +<h3>JUNO & MINERVA GOING TO ASSIST THE GREEKS.</h3> +<p class="ralign"><i>Pl. 4.</i></p> +<a href="images/fig079.png"> +<img src="images/fig079th.png" alt="SATURNIA LENDS THE LASH"> +</a> +<h4>SATURNIA LENDS THE LASH, THE COURSERS FLY.</h4> + +<p class="ralign"><i>Pope's Homer's Illiad, B. 8. L. 47.</i></p> +</div> + +<hr> +<h2 id="chap_2_2">CHAPTER II.</h2> + +<h3><i>Celestial Goddesses.</i></h3> + +<p>JUNO, daughter of Saturn and Rhea, was sister and wife of Jupiter. +Though the poets agree that she came into the world at the same birth +with her husband, yet they differ as to the place. Some fix her nativity +at Argos, others at Samos, near the river Imbrasus. The latter opinion +is, however, the more generally received. Samos, was highly honored, and +received the name of Parthenia, from the consideration that so eminent a +<i>vir<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_78" +id="Page_78">[78]</a></span>gin</i> as Juno was educated and dwelt there +till her marriage.</p> + +<p>As queen of heaven, Juno was conspicuous for her state. Her usual +attendants were Terror, Boldness—Castor and Pollux, accompanied by +fourteen nymphs; but her most inseparable adherent was Iris, who was +always ready to be employed in her most important affairs: she acted as +messenger to Juno, like Mercury to Jupiter. When Juno appeared as the +majesty of heaven, with her sceptre and diadem beset with lilies and +roses, her chariot was drawn by peacocks, birds sacred to her; for which +reason, in her temple at Eubœa, the emperor Adrian made her a most +magnificent offering of a golden crown, a purple mantle, with an +embroidery of silver, describing the marriage of Hercules and Hebe, and +a large peacock, whose body was of gold, and his train of most valuable +jewels. There never was a wife more jealous than Juno; and few who have +had so much reason: on which account we find from Homer that the most +absolute exertions of Jupiter were barely sufficient to preserve his +authority.</p> + +<p>There was none except Apollo whose worship was more solemn or +extensive. The history of the prodigies she had wrought, and of the +vengeance she had taken upon persons who had vied with, or slighted her, +had so inspired the people with awe, that, when supposed to be angry, no +means were omitted to mitigate her anger; and had Paris adjudged to her +the prize of Beauty, the fate of Troy might have been suspended. In +resentment of this judgment, and to wreak her vengeance on Paris, the +house of Priam, and the Trojan race, she appears in the Iliad to be +fully employed. Minerva is commissioned by her to hinder the Greeks from +retreating; she quarrels with Jupiter; she goes to battle; cajoles +Jupiter with the cestus of Venus; carries the orders of Jupiter to +Apollo and Iris; consults the gods on the conflict between Æneas and +Achilles; sends Vulcan to oppose Xanthus; overcomes Diana, &c.</p> + +<p>She is generally pictured like a matron, with a grave and majestic +air, sometimes with a sceptre in her hand, and a veil on her head: she +is represented also with a spear in her hand, and sometimes with a +<i>patĕra</i>, as if she were about to sacrifice: on some medals she has +a peacock at her feet, and sometimes holds the Palladium. Homer +represents her in a chariot adorned with gems, having wheels of ebony, +nails of silver, and horses with reins of +gold, <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_79" +id="Page_79">[79]</a></span>though more commonly her chariot is drawn by +peacocks, her favourite birds. The most obvious and striking character +of Juno, and that which we are apt to imbibe the most early of any, from +the writings of Homer and Virgil, is that of an imperious and haughty +wife. In both of these poets we find her much oftener scolding at +Jupiter than caressing him, and in the tenth Æneid in particular, even +in the council of the gods, we have a remarkable instance of this.</p> + +<p>If, in searching out the meaning of this fable, we regard the account +of Varro, we shall find, that by Juno was signified the earth; by +Jupiter, the heavens; but if we believe the Stoics, by Juno is meant the +air and its properties, and by Jupiter the ether: hence Homer supposes +she was nourished by Oceănus and Tethys: that is, by the sea; and +agreeable to this mythology, the poet makes her shout aloud in the army +of the Greeks, the air being the cause of the sound.</p> + +<p>MINERVA, or Pallas, was one of the most distinguished of the heathen +deities, as being the goddess of wisdom and science. She is supposed to +have sprung, fully grown and completely armed, from the head of +Jupiter.</p> + +<p>One of the most remarkable of her adventures, was her contest with +Neptune. When Cecrops founded Athens, it was agreed that whoever of +these two deities could produce the most beneficial gift to mankind, +should have the honor of giving their name to the city. Neptune, with a +stroke of his trident, formed a horse, but Minerva causing an olive-tree +to spring from the ground, obtained from the god the prize. She was the +goddess of war, wisdom, and arts, such as spinning, weaving, music, and +especially of the pipe. In a word, she was patroness of all those +sciences which render men useful to society and themselves, and entitle +them to the esteem of posterity.</p> + +<p>She is described by the poets, and represented by the sculptors and +painters in a standing attitude, completely armed, with a composed but +smiling countenance, bearing a golden breast-plate, a spear in her right +hand, and the ægis in her left, having on it the head of Medusa, +entwined with snakes. Her helmet was usually encompassed with olives, to +denote that peace is the end of war, or rather because that tree was +sacred to her: at her feet is generally placed the owl or the cock, the +former being the emblem of wisdom, and the latter of war.</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_80" +id="Page_80">[80]</a></span>Minerva represents wisdom, that is, skilful +knowledge joined with discreet practice, and comprehends the +understanding of the noblest arts, the best accomplishments of the mind, +together with all the virtues, but more especially that of chastity. She +is said to be born of Jupiter's brain, because the ingenuity of man did +not invent the useful arts and sciences, which, on the contrary, were +derived from the fountain of all wisdom. She was born armed, because the +human soul, fortified with wisdom and virtue, is invincible; in danger, +intrepid; under crosses, unbroken; in calamities, impregnable.</p> + +<p>The owl, a bird seeing in the dark, was sacred to Minerva; this is +symbolical of a wise man, who, scattering and dispelling the clouds of +error, is clear-sighted where others are blind.</p> + +<p>VENUS was one of the most celebrated deities of the ancients. She was +the goddess of beauty, the mother of love, and the queen of laughter. +She is said to have sprung from the froth of the sea, near the island +Cyprus, after the mutilated part of the body of Urănus had been thrown +there by Saturn. Hence she obtained the name of Aphrodite, from Αφρος, +<i>froth</i>. As soon as Venus was born, she is said to have been laid in a +beautiful couch or shell, embellished with pearls, and by the assistance +of Zephyrus wafted first to Cythēræ, an island in the Ægæan, and thence +to Cyprus; where she arrived in the month of April. Here, immediately on +her landing, flowers sprung beneath her feet, the Horæ or Seasons +awaited her arrival, and having braided her hair with fillets of gold, +she was thence wafted to heaven. As she was born laughing, an emanation +of pleasure beamed from her countenance, and her charms were so +attractive, in the assembly of the gods, that most of them desired to +obtain her in marriage. Vulcan, however, the most deformed of the +celestials, became the successful competitor.</p> + +<p>One of the most remarkable adventures of this goddess was her contest +with Juno and Minerva for the superiority of beauty. At the marriage of +Peleus and Thetis, the goddess Discordia, resenting her not being +invited, threw a golden apple among the company, with this inscription, +<i>Let the fairest take it</i>. The competitors for this prize were +Juno, Venus, and Minerva. Jupiter referred them to Paris, who then led a +shepherd's life on Mount Ida. Before him the goddesses appeared. Juno +offered him <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_81" +id="Page_81">[81]</a></span>empire or power, Minerva wisdom, and Venus +promised him the possession of the most beautiful woman in the world. +Fatally for himself and family, the shepherd, more susceptible of love +than of ambition or virtue, decided the contest in favor of Venus.</p> + +<p>The sacrifices usually offered to Venus, were white goats and swine, +with libations of wine, milk and honey. The victims were crowned with +flowers, or wreaths of myrtle, the rose and myrtle being sacred to +Venus. The birds sacred to her were the swan, the dove, and the +sparrow.</p> + +<p>It were endless to enumerate the variety of attitudes in which Venus +is represented on antique gems and medals; sometimes she is clothed in +purple, glittering with diamonds, her head crowned with myrtle +intermixed with roses, and drawn in her car of ivory by swans, doves, or +sparrows: at other times she is represented standing with the Graces +attending her, and in all positions Cupid is her companion. In general +she has one of the prettiest, as Minerva has sometimes one of the +handsomest faces that can be conceived. Her look, as she is represented +by the ancient artists and poets, has all the enchanting airs and graces +that they could give it.</p> + +<div id="a5" class="center framed" style="width:100%;"> +<h3>AURORA.</h3> +<p class="ralign"><i>Pl. 5.</i></p> +<a href="images/fig088.png"> +<img src="images/fig088th.png" alt="AURORA"> +</a> +<div class="poem"> +<div class="stanza"> +<span class="i0">HERE THE GAY MORN RESIDES IN RADIANT BOWERS,</span><br> +<span class="i0">HERE KEEPS HER REVELS WITH THE DANCING HOURS.</span><br> +</div> +</div> +<p class="ralign"><i>Pope's Homer's Odyssey. B. 12. L. 2.</i></p> +</div> + +<p>LATONA. This goddess was daughter of Cæus the Titan and Phœbe, or, +according to Homer, of Saturn. As she grew up extremely beautiful, +Jupiter fell in love with her; but Juno, discovering their intercourse, +not only expelled her from heaven, but commanded the serpent Python to +follow and destroy both her and her children. The earth also was caused +by the jealous goddess to swear that she would afford her no place in +which to bring forth. It happened, however, at this period, that the +island Delos, which had been broken from Sicily, lay under water, and +not having taken the oath, was commanded by Neptune to rise in the Ægean +sea, and afford her an asylum. Latona, being changed by Jupiter into a +quail, fled thither, and from this circumstance occasioned it to be +called Ortygia, from the name in Greek of that bird. She here gave birth +to Apollo and Diana. Niŏbe, daughter of Tantălus, and wife of Amphīon, +king of Thebes, experienced the resentment of Latona, whose children +Apollo and Diana, at her instigation, destroyed. Her beauty became fatal +to Tityus, the giant, who was put to death also by the same divinities. +After having been long persecuted +by <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_82" +id="Page_82">[82]</a></span>Juno, she became a powerful deity, beheld +her children exalted to divine honors, and received adoration where they +were adored.</p> + +<p>In explanation of the fable, it may be observed, that as Jupiter is +taken for the maker of all things, so Latona is physically understood to +be the <i>matter</i> out of which all things were made, which, according +to Plato, is called Λητω or Latona, from ληθειν to lie <i>hid</i> or +<i>concealed</i>, because all things originally lay hid in darkness till the +production of <i>light</i>, or birth of Apollo.</p> + +<p>AURORA, goddess of the morning, was the youngest daughter of Hyperion +and Theia, or, according to some, of Titan and Terra. Orpheus calls her +the harbinger of Titan, for she is the personification of that light +which precedes the appearance of the sun. The poets describe this +goddess as rising out of the ocean in a saffron robe, seated in a +flame-colored car, drawn by two or four horses, expanding with her rosy +fingers the gates of light, and scattering the pearly dew. Virgil +represents her horses as of flame color, and varies their number from +two to four, according as she rises slower or faster.</p> + +<p>She is said to have been daughter of Titan and the earth, because the +light of the morning seems to rise out of the earth, and to proceed from +the sun, which immediately follows it. She is styled mother of the four +winds, because, after a calm in the night, the winds rise in the +morning, as attendant upon the sun, by whose heat and light they are +begotten. There is no other goddess of whom we have so many beautiful +descriptions in the poets.</p> + +<hr> +<h2 id="chap_2_3">CHAPTER III.</h2> + +<h3><i>Terrestrial Gods.</i></h3> + +<p>SATURN was the son of Cœlus and Titæa or Terra, and married his +sister Vesta. She, with her other sisters, persuaded their mother to +join them in a plot, to exclude Titan, their elder brother, from his +birthright, and raise Saturn to his father's throne. Their design so far +succeeded, that Titan was obliged to resign his claim, though on +condition, that Saturn brought up no male children, and thus the +succession might revert to the Titans +again. <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_83" +id="Page_83">[83]</a></span>Saturn, it is said, observed this covenant +so faithfully, that he devoured, as soon as they were born, his +legitimate sons. His punctuality, however, in this respect, was at last +frustrated by the artifice of Vesta, who, being delivered of twins, +Jupiter and Juno, presented the latter to her husband, and concealing +the former, sent him to be nursed on Mount Ida in Crete, committing the +care of him to the Curētes and Corybantes.</p> + +<p>The reign of Saturn was so mild and happy, that the poets have given +it the name of the golden age. The people, who before wandered about +like beasts, were then reduced to civil society; laws were enacted, and +the art of tilling and sowing the ground introduced; whence Varro tells +us, that Saturn had his name <i>a satu</i>, from <i>sowing</i>.</p> + +<p>He was usually represented as an old man, bare-headed and bald, with +all the marks of infirmity in his eyes, countenance, and figure. In his +right hand they sometimes placed a sickle or scythe; at others, a key, +and a circumflexed serpent biting its tail, in his left. He sometimes +was pictured with six wings, and feet of wool, to show how insensibly +and swiftly time passes. The scythe denoted his cutting down and +subverting all things, and the serpent the revolution of the +year, <i>quod in sese volvitur annus</i>.</p> + +<p>JANUS was a pagan deity, particularly of the ancient Romans. He was +esteemed the wisest sovereign of his time, and because he was supposed +to know what was past, and what was to come, they feigned that he had +two faces, whence the Latins gave him the epithets of Biceps, Bifrons, +and Biformis.</p> + +<p>He is introduced by Ovid as describing his origin, office and form: +he was the ancient Chaos, or confused mass of matter before the +formation of the world, the reduction of which into order and +regularity, gave him his divinity. Thus deified, he had the power of +<i>opening</i> and <i>shutting</i> every thing in the universe: he was arbiter of +peace and war, and keeper of the door of heaven. He was the god who +presided over the beginning of all undertakings; the first libations of +wine and wheat were offered to him, and the preface of all prayers +directed to him. The first month of the year took its denomination from +Janus.</p> + +<p>It is certain that Janus early obtained divine honors among the +Romans. Numa ordained that his temple should be shut in time of peace, +and opened in time of <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_84" +id="Page_84">[84]</a></span>war, from which ceremony Janus was called +Clusius and Patulcius.</p> + +<p>The peculiar offerings to Janus were cakes of new meal and salt, with +new wine and frankincense. In the feasts instituted by Numa, the +sacrifice was a ram, and the solemnities were performed by men, in the +manner of exercises and combats. Then all artificers and tradesmen began +their works, and the Roman consuls for the new year solemnly entered on +their office: all quarrels were laid aside, mutual presents were made, +and the day concluded with joy and festivity. Janus was seated in the +centre of twelve altars, in allusion to the twelve months of the year, +and had on his hands fingers to the amount of the days in the year. +Sometimes his image had four faces, either in regard to the four seasons +of the year, or to the four quarters of the world: he held in one hand a +key, and in the other a sceptre; the former may denote his opening, as +it were, and shutting the world, by the admission and exclusion of +light; and the latter his dominion over it.</p> + +<p>VULCAN was the offspring of Jupiter and Juno. He was so remarkably +deformed that Jupiter threw him down from heaven to the isle of Lemnos. +In this fall he broke his leg, as he also would have broken his neck, +had he not been caught by the Lemnians. It is added that he was a day in +falling from heaven to earth. Some report that Juno herself, disgusted +at his deformity, hurled down Vulcan into the sea, where he was nursed +by Thetis and her nymphs, whilst others contend that he fell upon land, +and was brought up by apes. It is probable that Juno had some hand in +his disgrace, since Vulcan, afterwards, in resentment of the injury, +presented his mother with a golden chair, which was so contrived by +springs unseen, that being seated in it she was unable to rise, till the +inventor was prevailed upon to grant her deliverance.</p> + +<p>The first abode of Vulcan on earth was in the isle of Lemnos. There +he set up his forges, and taught men the malleability and polishing of +metals. Thence he removed to the Liparean islands, near Sicily, where, +with the assistance of the Cyclops, he made Jupiter fresh thunder-bolts +as the old ones decayed. He also wrought an helmet for Pluto, which +rendered him invisible; a trident for Neptune, which shook both land and +sea; and a dog of brass for Jupiter, which he animated so as to perform +the functions of nature. At the request of Thetis he fabricated the +divine <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_85" +id="Page_85">[85]</a></span>armor of Achilles, whose shield is so +beautifully described by Homer; as also the invincible armor of Æneas, +at the entreaty of Venus. However disagreeable the person of Vulcan +might be, he was susceptible notwithstanding of love. His first passion +was for Minerva, having Jupiter's consent to address her; but his +courtship, in this instance, failed of success, not only on account of +his person, but also because the goddess had vowed perpetual virginity. +He afterwards became the husband of Venus.</p> + +<p>He was reckoned among the gods presiding over marriage, from the +torches lighted by him to grace that solemnity. It was the custom in +several nations, after gaining a victory, to pile the arms of the enemy +in a heap on the field of battle, and make a sacrifice of them to +Vulcan. As to his worship, Vulcan had an altar in common with +Prometheus, who first invented fire, as did Vulcan the use of it, in +making arms and utensils. His principal temple was in a consecrated +grove at the foot of mount Ætna, in which was a fire continually +burning. This temple was guarded by dogs, which had the discernment to +distinguish his votaries by tearing the vicious, and fawning upon the +virtuous.</p> + +<p>He was highly honored at Rome. Romulus built him a temple without the +walls of the city, the augurs being of opinion that the god of fire +ought not to be admitted within. But the highest mark of respect paid +him by the Romans was, that those assemblies were kept in his temple +where the most important concerns of the republic were debated, the +Romans thinking they could invoke nothing more sacred to confirm their +treaties and decisions, than the avenging fire of which that god was the +symbol.</p> + +<p>This deity, as the god of fire, was represented differently in +different nations: the Egyptians depicted him proceeding from an egg, +placed in the mouth of Jupiter, to denote the radical or natural heat +diffused through all created beings. In ancient gems and medals he is +figured as a lame, deformed and squalid man, with a beard, and hair +neglected; half naked; his habit reaching down to his knee only, and +having a round peaked cap on his head, a hammer in his right hand, and a +smith's tongs in his left, working at the anvil, and usually attended by +the Cyclops, or by some of the gods or goddesses for whom he is +employed.</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_86" +id="Page_86">[86]</a></span>The poets described him as blackened and +hardened from the forge, with a face red and fiery whilst at his work, +and tired and heated after it. He is almost always the subject either of +pity or ridicule. In short, the great celestial deities seem to have +admitted Vulcan among them as great men used to keep buffoons at their +tables, to make them laugh, and to be the butt of the whole company.</p> + +<p>If we wish to come at the probable meaning of this fable, we must +have recourse to Egyptian antiquities. The Horus of the Egyptians was +the most mutable figure on earth, for he assumed shapes suitable to all +seasons, and to all ranks. To direct the husbandman he wore a rural +dress; by a change of attributes he became the instructer of smiths and +other artificers, whose instruments he appeared adorned with. This Horus +of the smiths had a short or lame leg, to signify that agriculture or +husbandry will halt without the assistance of the handicraft or mechanic +arts. In this apparatus he was called <i>Mulciber</i>, +(from <i>Mulci</i>, to direct and manage, and <i>ber</i> or <i>beer</i>, +a cave or mine, comes Mulciber, the king of the mines or forges;) he was +called also Hephaistos, (from +<i>Aph</i>, <i>father</i>, and <i>Esto</i>, <i>fire</i>, comes Ephaisto, or Hephaiston, the +father of fire; and from <i>Wall</i>, to work, and Canan, to <i>hasten</i>, comes +<i>Wolcon</i>, Vulcan, or <i>work furnished</i>;) all which names the Greeks and +Romans adopted with the figure, and, as usual, converted from a <i>symbol</i> +to a <i>god</i>.</p> + +<p>ÆOLUS, god of the winds, is said to have been the son of Jupiter by +Acasta or Sigesia, daughter of Hippotas. His residence was, according to +most authors, at Rhegium in Italy; but wherever it was, he is +represented as holding the winds, enchained in a vast cave, to prevent +their committing any more such devastations as they had before +occasioned; for, to their violence was imputed not only the disjunction +of Sicily from Italy, but also the separation of Europe from Africa, by +which a passage was opened for the ocean to form the Mediterranean sea. +According to some, the Æolian, or Lipări islands were uninhabited till +Lipărus, son of Auson, settled a colony there, and gave one of them his +name. Æŏlus married his daughter Cyăne, peopled the rest and succeeded +him on the throne. He was a generous and good prince, who hospitably +entertained Ulysses, and as a +proof <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_87" +id="Page_87">[87]</a></span>of his kindness, bestowed on him several +skins, in which he had enclosed the winds. The companions of Ulysses, +unable to restrain their curiosity, having opened the skins, the winds +in consequence were set free, and occasioned the wildest uproar; +insomuch that Ulysses lost all his vessels, and was himself alone saved +by a plank. It may not be improper to remark, that over the rougher +winds the poets have placed Æŏlus; over the milder, Juno; and the rain, +thunder and lightning they have committed to Jupiter himself.</p> + +<p>MOMUS, son of Somnus and Nox, was the god of pleasantry and wit, or +rather the jester of the celestial assembly; for, like other monarchs, +it was but reasonable that Jupiter too should have his fool. We have an +instance of Momus's fantastic humor in the contest between Neptune, +Minerva, and Vulcan, for skill. The first had made a bull, the second a +house, and the third a man. Momus found fault with them all. He disliked +the bull because his horns were not placed before his eyes, that he +might give a surer blow: he condemned Minerva's house because it was +immovable, and could not therefore be taken away if placed in a bad +neighborhood; and in regard to Vulcan's man, he said he ought to have +made a window in his breast, by which his heart might be seen, and his +secrets discovered.</p> + +<hr> +<h2 id="chap_2_4">CHAPTER IV.</h2> + +<h3><i>Terrestrial Goddesses.</i></h3> + +<p>CYBELE, <i>or</i> Vesta <i>the elder</i>. It is highly necessary, in +tracing the genealogy of the heathen deities, to distinguish between +this goddess and Vesta the <i>younger</i>, her daughter, because the +poets have been faulty in confounding them, and ascribing the attributes +and actions of the one to the other. The elder Vesta, or Cybĕle, was +daughter of Cœlus and Terra, and wife of her brother Saturn, to whom she +bore a numerous offspring. She had a variety of names besides that of +Cybĕle, under which she is most generally known, and which she obtained +from Mount Cybĕlus, in Phrygia, where sacrifices to her were first +instituted. Her sacrifices and festivals, like those +of <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_88" +id="Page_88">[88]</a></span>Bacchus, were celebrated with a confused +noise of timbrels, pipes, and cymbals; the sacrificants howling as if +mad, and profaning both the temple of the goddess, and the ears of their +hearers with the most obscene language and abominable gestures.</p> + +<p>Under the character of Vesta, she is generally represented upon +ancient coins in a sitting posture, with a lighted torch in one hand, +and a sphere or drum in the other. As Cybĕle, she makes a more +magnificent appearance, being seated in a lofty chariot drawn by lions, +crowned with towers, and bearing in her hand a key. Being goddess, not +of cities only, but of all things which the earth sustains, she was +crowned with turrets, whilst the key implies not only her custody of +cities, but also that in winter the earth locks those treasures up, +which she brings forth and dispenses in summer: she rides in a chariot, +because (fancifully) the earth hangs suspended in the air, balanced and +poised by its own weight; and that the chariot is supported by wheels, +because the earth is a voluble body and turns round. Her being drawn by +lions, may imply that nothing is too fierce and intractable for a +motherly piety and tenderness to tame and subdue. Her garments are +painted with divers colors, but chiefly green, and figured with the +images of several creatures, because such a dress is suitable to the +variegated and more prevalent appearance of the earth.</p> + +<p>VESTA was the daughter of Vesta the elder, by Saturn, and sister of +Ceres, Juno, Pluto, Neptune and Jupiter. She was so fond of a single +life, that when her brother Jupiter ascended the throne, and offered to +grant whatever she asked, her only desires were the preservation of her +virginity, and the first oblation in all sacrifices. Numa Pompilius, the +great founder of religion among the Romans, is said first to have +restored the ancient rites and worship of this goddess, to whom he +erected a circular temple, which in succeeding ages was not only much +embellished, but also, as the earth was supposed to retain a constant +fire within, a perpetual fire was kept up in the temple of Vesta, the +care of which was intrusted to a select number of young females +appointed from the first families in Rome, and called <i>Vestal +virgins</i>.</p> + +<p>As this Vesta was the goddess of fire, the Romans had no images of +her in her temple; the reason for which, assigned by Ovid, is that fire +has no representative, as no <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_89" +id="Page_89">[89]</a></span>bodies are produced from it: yet as Vesta +was the guardian of houses or hearths, her image was usually placed in +the porch or entry, and daily sacrifices were offered up to her. It is +certain nothing could be a stronger or more lively symbol of the supreme +being than fire; accordingly we find this emblem in early use throughout +the east. The Romans looked upon Vesta as one of the tutelar deities of +their empire; and they so far made the safety and fate of Rome depend on +the preservation of the sacred fire in the temple of Vesta, that they +thought the extinction of it foreboded the most terrible misfortune.</p> + +<p>CERES was daughter of Saturn and Ops, or Vesta. Sicily, Attica, +Crete, and Egypt, claim the honor of her birth, each country producing +the ground of its claims, though general suffrage favors the first. In +her youth, being extremely beautiful, Jupiter fell in love with her, and +by him she had Perephăta, called afterwards Proserpine. For some time +she took up her residence in Corcyra, so called in later times, from a +daughter of Asōpus, there buried, but anciently <i>Drepănum</i>, from +the sickle used by the goddess in reaping, which had been presented her +by Vulcan. Thence she removed to Sicily, where the violence of Pluto +deprived her of Proserpine. Disconsolate at her loss, she importuned +Jupiter for redress; but obtaining little satisfaction, she lighted +torches at the volcano of Mount Ætna, and mounting her car, drawn by +winged dragons, set out in search of her beloved daughter. This +transaction the Sicilians annually commemorated by running about in the +night with lighted torches and loud exclamations.</p> + +<p>It is disputed, by several nations, who first informed Ceres where +her daughter was, and thence acquired the reward, which was the art of +sowing corn. Some ascribe the intelligence to Triptolĕmus, and his +brother Eubulĕus; but the generality of writers agree in conferring the +honor on the nymph Arethūsa, daughter of Nereus and Doris, and companion +of Diana, who, flying from the pursuit of the river Alphēus, saw +Proserpine in the infernal regions.</p> + +<div id="a6" class="centered framed" style="width:100%"> +<p class="ralign"><i>Pl. 6.</i></p> +<a href="images/fig095.png"> +<img src="images/fig095th.png" alt="APOLLO AND THE MUSES"> +</a> +<h3>APOLLO AND THE MUSES.</h3> + +</div> + +<p>It must be owned that Ceres was not undeserving the highest titles +bestowed upon her, being considered as the deity who had blessed men +with the art of cultivating the earth, having not only taught them to +plough and sow, but also to reap, harvest, and thresh out their grain; +to make flour and bread, and fix limits or boundaries to +ascertain <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_90" +id="Page_90">[90]</a></span>their possessions. The garlands used in her +sacrifices were of myrtle, or rape-weed; but flowers were prohibited, +Proserpine being carried off as she gathered them. The poppy alone was +sacred to her, not only because it grows amongst corn, but because, in +her distress, Jupiter gave it her to eat, that she might sleep and +forget her troubles. Cicero mentions an ancient temple dedicated to her +at Catania, in Sicily in which the offices were performed by matrons and +virgins only, no man being admitted.</p> + +<p>If to explain the fable of Ceres, we have recourse to Egypt; it will +be found, that the goddess of Sicily and Eleusis, or of Rome and Greece, +is no other than the Egyptian Isis, brought by the Phœnicians into those +countries. The very name of <i>mystery</i>, from <i>mistor</i>, +a <i>veil</i> or +<i>covering</i>, given to the Eleusinian rites, performed in honor of Ceres, +shows them to have been of Egyptian origin. The Isis, or the +emblematical figure exhibited at the feast appointed for the +commemoration of the state of mankind after the flood, bore the name of +Ceres, from Cerets, <i>dissolution</i> or <i>overthrow</i>. She was represented in +mourning, and with torches, to denote the grief she felt for the loss of +her favorite daughter <i>Persephŏne</i> (which word, translated, signifies +corn lost) and the pains she was at to recover her. The poppies with +which this Isis was crowned, signified the joy men received at their +first abundant crop, the word which signifies a <i>double crop</i>, being +also a name for the <i>poppy</i>. Persephŏne or Proserpine found again, was a +lively symbol of the recovery of corn, and its cultivation, almost lost +in the deluge. Thus, emblems of the most important events which ever +happened in the world, simple in themselves, became when transplanted to +Greece and Rome, sources of fable and idolatry.</p> + +<p>Ceres was usually represented of a tall majestic stature, fair +complexion, languishing eyes, and yellow or flaxen hair; her head +crowned with a garland of poppies, or ears of corn; holding in her right +hand a bunch of the same materials with her garland, and in her left a +lighted torch. When in a car or chariot, she is drawn by lions, or +winged dragons.</p> + +<p>MUSÆ, the <i>Muses</i>. This celebrated sisterhood is said to have +been the daughters of Jupiter and Mnēmŏsyne. They were believed to have +been born on Mount Piĕrus, <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_91" +id="Page_91">[91]</a></span>and educated by Euphēme. In general they +were considered as the tutelar goddesses of sacred festivals and +banquets, and the patronesses of polite and useful arts. They supported +virtue in distress, and preserved worthy actions from oblivion. Homer +calls them superintendants and correctors of manners. In respect to the +sciences, these sisters had each their separate province; though poetry +seemed more immediately under their united protection.</p> + +<p>These divinities, formerly called Mosæ, were so named from a Greek +word signifying <i>to inquire</i>; because, by inquiring of them, the +sciences might be learnt. Others say they had their name from their +resemblance, because there is a similitude, an infinity, and relation, +betwixt all the sciences, in which they agree together, and are united +with each other; for which reason they are often painted with their +hands joined, dancing in a circle round Apollo their leader.</p> + +<p>They were represented crowned with flowers, or wreaths of palm, each +holding some instrument, or emblem of the science or art over which she +presided. They were depicted as in the bloom of youth; and the bird +sacred to them was the swan, probably because that bird was consecrated +to their sovereign Apollo. There was a fountain of the Muses near Rome, +in the meadow where Numa used to meet the goddess Egeria; the care of +which and of the worship paid to the Muses, was intrusted to the Vestal +virgins.</p> + +<p>Their names were as follows: Clio, who presided over history. Her +name is derived from κλειος, <i>glory</i>, or from κλειω, +to <i>celebrate</i>. She is generally represented under the form of a +young woman crowned with laurel, holding in her right hand a trumpet, +and in her left a book: others describe her with a lute in one hand, and +in the other a +<i>plectrum</i>, or quill.</p> + +<p>Euterpe is distinguished by <i>tibiæ</i> or pipes whence she was +called also Tibīcĭna. Some say logic was invented by her. It was very +common with the musicians of old to play on two pipes at once, agreeably +to the remarks before Terence's plays, and as we often actually find +them represented in the remains of the artists. It was over this species +of music that Euterpe presided, as we learn from the first ode of +Horace.</p> + +<p>Thălīa presided over comedy, and whatever was +gay, <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_92" +id="Page_92">[92]</a></span>amiable, and pleasant. She holds a mask in +her right hand, and on medals she is represented leaning against a +pillar. She was the Muse of comedy, of which they had a great mixture on +the Roman stage in the earliest ages of their poetry, and long after. +She is distinguished from the other Muses in general by a mask, and from +Melpomĕne, the tragic Muse, by her shepherd's crook, not to speak of her +look, which is meaner than that of Melpomĕne, or her dress, which is +shorter, and consequently less noble, than that of any other of the +Muses.</p> + +<p>Melpomĕne was so styled from the dignity and excellence of her song. +She presided over epic and lyric poetry. To her the invention of all +mournful verses, and, particularly, of tragedy, was ascribed; for which +reason Horace invokes her when he laments the death of Quintilius Varus. +She is usually represented of a sedate countenance, and richly habited, +with sceptres and crowns in one hand, and in the other a dagger. She has +her mask on her head, which is sometimes placed so far backward that it +has been mistaken for a second face. Her mask shows that she presided +over the stage; and she is distinguished from Thălīa, or the comic Muse, +by having more of dignity in her look, stature, and dress. Melpomĕne was +supposed to preside over all melancholy subjects, as well as tragedy; as +one would imagine at least from Horace's invoking her in one of his +odes, and his desiring her to crown him with laurel in another.</p> + +<p>Terpsĭchŏre; that is, the <i>sprightly</i>. Some attribute her name +to the pleasure she took in dancing; others represent her as the +protectress of music, particularly the flute; and add, that the chorus +of the ancient drama was her province, to which also logic has been +annexed. She is further said to be distinguished by the flutes which she +holds, as well on medals as on other monuments.</p> + +<p>Erăto, presided over elegiac or amorous poetry, and dancing, whence +she was sometimes called Saltatrix. She is represented as young, and +crowned with myrtle and roses, having a lyre in her right hand, and a +bow in her left, with a little winged Cupid placed by her, armed with +his bow and arrows.</p> + +<p>Polyhymnia. Her name, which is of Greek origin, and signifies <i>much +singing</i>, seems to have been given her for the number of her songs, +rather than her faithfulness of memory. To Polyhymnia belonged that +har<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_93" +id="Page_93">[93]</a></span>mony of voice and gesture which gives a +perfection to oratory and poetry. She presided over rhetoric, and is +represented with a crown of pearls and a white robe, in the act of +extending her right hand, as if haranguing, and holding in her left a +scroll, on which the word <i>Suadere</i> is written; sometimes, instead +of the scroll, she appears holding a <i>caduceus</i> or sceptre.</p> + +<p>Urania, or Cœlestis. She is the Muse who extended her care to all +divine or celestial subjects, such as the hymns in praise of the gods, +the motions of the heavenly bodies, and whatever regarded philosophy or +astronomy. She is represented in an azure robe, crowned with stars and +supporting a large globe with both hands: on medals this globe stands +upon a tripod.</p> + +<p>Calliŏpe, who presides over eloquence and heroic poetry; so called +from the ecstatic harmony of her voice. The poets, who are supposed to +receive their inspirations from the Muses, chiefly invoked Calliŏpe, as +she presided over the hymns made in honor of the gods. She is spoken of +by Ovid, as the chief of all the Muses. Under the same idea, Horace +calls her <i>Regina</i>, and attributes to her the skill of playing on +what instrument she pleases.</p> + +<p>ASTRÆA, or ASTREA, goddess of justice, was daughter of Astræus, one +of the Titans; or according to Ovid, of Jupiter and Themis. She +descended from heaven in the golden age, and inspired mankind with +principles of justice and equity, but the world growing corrupt, she +re-ascended thither, where she became the constellation in the Zodiac +called Virgo.</p> + +<p>This goddess is represented with a serene countenance, her eyes bound +or blinded, having a sword in one hand, and in the other a pair of +balances, equally poised, or rods with a bundle of axes, and sitting on +a square stone. Among the Egyptians, she is described with her left hand +stretched forth and open, but without a head. According to the poets, +she was conversant on earth during the golden and silver ages, but in +those of brass and iron, was forced by the wickedness of mankind to +abandon the earth and retire to heaven. Virgil hints that she first +quitted courts and cities, and betook herself to rural retreats before +she entirely withdrew.</p> + +<p>NEMESIS, daughter of Jupiter and Necessity, or, according to some, of +Oceănus and Nox, had the care of <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_94" +id="Page_94">[94]</a></span>revenging the crimes which human justice +left unpunished. The word Nemĕsis is of Greek origin, nor was there any +Latin word that expressed it, therefore the Latin poets usually styled +this goddess Rhamnusia, from a famous statue of Nemĕsis at Rhamnus in +Attica. She is likewise called Adrastea, because Adrastus, king of +Argos, first raised an altar to her. Nemĕsis is plainly divine +vengeance, or the eternal justice of God, which severely punishes the +wicked actions of men. She is sometimes represented with wings, to +denote the celerity with which she follows men to observe their +actions.</p> + +<hr> +<h2 id="chap_2_5">CHAPTER V.</h2> + +<h3><i>Gods of the Woods.</i></h3> + +<p><i>Pan</i>, the god of shepherds and hunters, leader of the nymphs, +president of the mountains, patron of a country life, and guardian of +flocks and herds, was likewise adored by fishermen, especially those who +lived about the promontories washed by the sea. There is scarcely any of +the gods to whom the poets have given a greater diversity of parents. +The most common opinion is, that he was the son of Mercury and Penelŏpe. +As soon as he was born, his father carried him in a goat's skin to +heaven, where he charmed all the gods with his pipe, so that they +associated him with Mercury in the office of their messenger. After this +he was educated on Mount Mænălus, in Arcadia, by Siŏne and the other +nymphs, who, attracted by his music, followed him as their +conductor.</p> + +<p>Pan, though devoted to the pleasures of rural life, distinguished +himself by his valor. In the war of the giants he entangled Typhon in +his nets. Bacchus, in his Indian expedition, was accompanied by him with +a body of Satyrs, who rendered Bacchus great service. When the Gauls +invaded Greece, and were just going to pillage Delphi, Pan struck them +with such a sudden consternation by night, that they fled without being +pursued: hence the expression of a <i>Panic fear</i>, for a sudden +terror. The Romans adopted him among their deities, by the names +of <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_95" +id="Page_95">[95]</a></span>Lupercus and Lycæus, and built a temple to +him at the foot of Mount Palatine.</p> + +<p>He is represented with a smiling, ruddy face, and thick beard +covering his breast, two horns on his head, a star on his bosom, legs +and thighs hairy, and the nose, feet, and tail of a goat. He is clothed +in a spotted skin, having a shepherd's crook in one hand, and his pipe +of unequal reeds in the other, and is crowned with pine, that tree being +sacred to him.</p> + +<p>Pan probably signifies the universal nature, proceeding from the +divine mind and providence, of which the heaven, earth, sea, and the +eternal fire, are so many members. Mythologists are of opinion that his +upper parts are like a man, because the superior and celestial part of +the world is beautiful, radiant, and glorious: his horns denote the rays +of the sun, as they beam upwards, and his long beard signifies the same +rays, as they have an influence upon the earth: the ruddiness of his +face resembles the splendor of the sky, and the spotted skin which he +wears is the image of the starry firmament: his lower parts are rough, +hairy, and deformed, to represent the shrubs, wild creatures, trees, and +mountains here below: his goat's feet signify the solidity of the earth; +and his pipe of seven reeds, that celestial harmony which is made by the +seven planets; lastly, his sheep-hook denotes that care and providence +by which he governs the universe.</p> + +<p>SILENUS. As Bacchus was the god of good humor and fellowship, so none +of the deities appeared with a more numerous or splendid retinue, in +which Silēnus was the principal person; of whose descent, however, we +have no accounts to be relied on. Some say he was born at Malea, a city +of Sparta; others at Nysa in Arabia; but the most probable conjecture +is, that he was a prince of Caria, noted for his equity and wisdom. But +whatever be the fate of these different accounts, Silēnus is said to +have been preceptor to Bacchus, and was certainly a very suitable one +for such a deity, the old man being heartily attached to wine. He +however distinguished himself greatly in the war with the giants, by +appearing in the conflict on an ass, whose braying threw them into +confusion; for which reason, or because, when Bacchus engaged the +Indians, their elephants were put to flight by the braying of the ass, +it was raised to the skies, and there made a constellation.</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_96" +id="Page_96">[96]</a></span>The historian tells us that Silēnus was the +first of all the kings that reigned at Nysa; that his origin is not +known, it being beyond the memory of mortals: it is likewise said that +he was a Phrygian, who lived in the reign of Midas, and that the +shepherds having caught him, by putting wine into the fountain he used +to drink of, brought him to Midas, who gave him his long ears; a fable +intended to intimate that this extraordinary loan signified the faculty +of receiving universal intelligence. Virgil makes Silēnus deliver a very +serious and excellent discourse concerning the creation of the world, +when he was scarcely recovered from a fit of drunkenness, which renders +it probable that the sort of drunkenness with which Silēnus is charged, +had something in it mysterious, and approaching to inspiration.</p> + +<p>He is described as a short, corpulent old man, bald-headed, with a +flat nose, prominent forehead and long ears. He is usually exhibited as +over-laden with wine, and seated on a saddled ass, upon which he +supports himself with a long staff in the one hand, and in the other +carries a <i>cantharus</i> or jug, with the handle almost worn out with +frequent use.</p> + +<p>SYLVANUS. The descent of Sylvānus is extremely obscure. Some think +him son of Faunus, some say he was the same with Faunus, whilst others +suppose him the same deity with Pan, which opinion Pliny seems to adopt +when he says that the Ægipans were the same with the Sylvans. He was +unknown to the Greeks; but the Latins received the worship of him from +the Pelasgi, upon their migration into Italy, and his worship seems +wholly to have arisen out of the ancient sacred use of woods and groves, +it being introduced to inculcate a belief that there was no place +without the presence of a deity. The Pelasgi consecrated groves, and +appointed solemn festivals, in honor of Sylvānus. The hog and milk were +the offerings tendered him. A monument consecrated to this deity, by one +Laches, gives him the epithet of Littorālis, whence it would seem that +he was worshipped upon the sea-coasts.</p> + +<p>The priests of Sylvānus constituted one of the principal colleges of +Rome, and were in great reputation, a sufficient evidence of the fame of +his worship. Many writers confound the Sylvāni, Fauni, Satyri, and +Silēni, with Pan.</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_97" +id="Page_97">[97]</a></span>Some monuments represent him as little of +stature, with the face of a man, and the legs and feet of a goat, +holding a branch of cypress in his hand, in token of his regard for +Cyparissus, who was transformed into that tree. The pineapple, a +pruning-knife in his hand, a crown coarsely made, and a dog, are the +ordinary attributes of the representations of this rural deity. He +appears sometimes naked, sometimes covered with a rustic garb which +reaches down to his knee.</p> + +<p>Sylvānus, as his name imports, presided over woods, and the fruits +that grew in them; agreeable to which, (in some figures) he has a lap +full of fruit, his pruning-hook in one hand, and a young cypress tree in +the other. Virgil mentions the latter as a distinguishing attribute of +this god: the same poet, on another occasion, describes him as crowned +with wild flowers, and mentions his presiding over the cornfields as +well as the woods.</p> + +<p>SATYRI, <i>or</i> SATYRS, a sort of demi-gods, who with the Fauns and +Sylvans, presided over groves and forests under the direction of Pan. +They made part of the <i>dramatis persōnæ</i> in the ancient Greek +tragedies, which gave rise to the species of poetry called +satirical.</p> + +<p>There is a story that Euphēmus, passing from Caria to the extreme +parts of the ocean, discovered many desert islands, and being forced by +tempestuous weather to land upon one of them, called Satyrĭda, he found +inhabitants covered with yellow hair, having tails not much less than +horses. We are likewise told, that in the expedition which Hanno the +Carthaginian made to the parts of Lybia lying beyond Hercules' pillars, +they came to a great bay called the Western Horn, in which was an island +where they could find or see nothing by day-light but woods, and yet in +the night they observed many fires, and heard an incredible and +astonishing noise of drums and trumpets; whence they concluded that a +number of Satyrs abode there.</p> + +<p>It is pretended there really were such monsters as the pagans deified +under the name of Satyrs; and one of them, it is said, was brought to +Sylla, having been surprised in his sleep. Sylla ordered him to be +interrogated by people of different countries, to know what language he +spoke; but the Satyr only answered with cries, not unlike those of goats +and the neighing of horses. This +mon<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_98" +id="Page_98">[98]</a></span>ster had a human body, but the thighs, legs, +and feet of a goat. To the above stories may be added that of the Satyr +who passed the Rubicon in presence of Cæsar and his whole army.</p> + +<p>The Satyrs of the ancients were the ministers and attendants of +Bacchus. Their form was not the most inviting; for though their +countenances were human, they had horns on their foreheads, crooked +hands, rough and hairy bodies, feet and legs like a goat's, and tails +which resembled those of horses. The shepherds sacrificed to them the +firstlings of their flocks, but more especially grapes and apples; and +they addressed to them songs in their forests by which they endeavored +to conciliate their favor. When Satyrs arrived at an advanced age they +were called Silēni.</p> + +<p>FAUNI, <i>or</i> FAUNS, a species of demi-gods, inhabiting the +forests, called also <i>Sylvāni</i>. They were sons of Faunus and Fauna, +or Fatua, king and queen of the Latins, and though accounted demi-gods, +were supposed to die after a long life. Arnobius, indeed, has shown that +their father, or chief, lived only one hundred and twenty years. The +Fauns were Roman deities, unknown to the Greeks. The Roman Faunus was +the same with the Greek Pan; and as in the poets we find frequent +mention of <i>Fauns</i>, and <i>Pans</i>, or <i>Panes</i>, in the plural +number, most probable the Fauns were the same with the Pans, and all +descended from one progenitor.</p> + +<p>The Romans called them <i>Fauni</i> and <i>Ficarii</i>. The +denomination +<i>Ficarii</i> was not derived from the Latin <i>ficus</i> a <i>fig</i>, as some have +imagined, but from <i>ficus</i>, <i>fici</i>, a sort of fleshy tumor or +excrescence growing on the eyelids and other parts of the body, which +the Fauns were represented as having. They were called Fauni, <i>a fando</i>, +from <i>speaking</i>, because they were wont to speak and converse with men; +an instance of which is given in the voice that was heard from the wood, +in the battle between the Romans and Etrurians for the restoration of +the Tarquins, and which encouraged the Romans to fight. We are told that +the Fauni were husbandmen, the Satyrs vine-dressers, and the Sylvāni +those who cut down wood in the forests.</p> + +<p>They were represented with horns on their heads, pointed ears, and +crowned with branches of the pine, which +was <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_99" +id="Page_99">[99]</a></span>a tree sacred to them, whilst their lower +extremities resembled those of a goat.</p> + +<p>Horace makes Faunus the guardian and protector of men of wit, and +Virgil, a god of oracles and predictions; but this is, perhaps, founded +on the etymology of his name, for φωνειν in Greek, and <i>Fari</i> in +Latin, of which it has been supposed a derivative, signify +to <i>speak</i>; and it was, perhaps, for the same reason, they called +his wife <i>Fauna</i>, that is, <i>Fatidica</i>, <i>prophetess</i>. +Faunus is described by Ovid with horns on his head, and crowned with the +pine tree.</p> + +<p>PRIAPUS is said, by some, to have been the son of Bacchus and Nais, +or as others will have it, of Chiŏne; but the generality of authors +agree, that he was son of Bacchus and Venus. He was born at Lampsăchus, +a city of Mysia, at the mouth of the Hellespont, but in so deformed a +state, that his mother, through shame, abandoned him. On his growing up +to maturity, the inhabitants of the place banished him their +territories, on account of his vicious habits; but being soon after +visited with an epidemic disease, the Lampsacans consulted the oracle of +Dodōna, and Priāpus was in consequence recalled. Temples were erected to +him as the tutelar deity of vineyards and gardens, to defend them from +thieves and from birds.</p> + +<p>He is usually represented naked and obscene, with a stern +countenance, matted hair, crowned with garden herbs, and holding a +wooden sword, or scythe, whilst his body terminates in a shapeless +trunk. His figures are generally erected in gardens and orchards to +serve as scarecrows. Priāpus held a pruning-hook in his hands, when he +had hands, for he was sometimes nothing more than a mere log of wood, as +Martial somewhat humorously calls him. Indeed the Roman poets in general +seem to have looked on him as a ridiculous god, and are all ready enough +either to despise or abuse him.</p> + +<p>Trimalchio, in his ridiculous feasts described by Petronius, had a +figure of this god to be held up during his dessert: it was made of +paste, and, as Horace observes on another occasion, that he owed all his +divinity to the carpenter, Petronius seems to hint that he was wholly +obliged for it to the pastry cook in this. Some mythologists make the +birth of Priāpus allude to that radical moisture which supports all +vegetable productions, and which is +produced <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_100" +id="Page_100">[100]</a></span>by Bacchus and Venus, that is, the solar +heat, and the fluid whence Venus is said to have sprung. Some affirm +that he was the same with the Baal of the Phœnicians, mentioned in +scripture.</p> + +<p>ARISTÆUS, son of Apollo, by the nymph Cyrene, daughter of Hypseus, +king of the Lapĭthæ, was born in Lybia, and in that part of it where the +city Cyrene was built. He received his education from the nymphs, who +taught him to extract oil from olives, and to make honey, cheese, and +butter; all which arts he communicated to mankind. Going to Thebes, he +there married Autonŏe, daughter of Cadmus, and, by her, was father to +Actæon, who was torn in pieces by his own dogs. At length he passed into +Thrace, where Bacchus initiated him into the mysteries of the Orgia, and +taught him many things conducive to the happiness of life. Having dwelt +some time near Mount Hemus, he disappeared, and not only the barbarous +people of that country, but the Greeks likewise decreed him divine +honors.</p> + +<p>It is remarked by Bayle, that Aristæus found out the solstitial +rising of Sirius, or the dog-star; and he adds, it is certain that this +star had a particular relation to Aristæus; for this reason, when the +heats of the dog-star laid waste the Cyclădes, and occasioned there a +pestilence, Aristæus was entreated to put a stop to it. He went directly +into the isle of Cea, and built an altar to Jupiter, offered sacrifices +to that deity, as well to the malignant star, and established an +anniversary for it. These produced a very good effect, for it was from +thence that the Etesian winds had their origin, which continue forty +days, and temper the heat of the summer. On his death, for the services +he had rendered mankind, he was placed among the stars, and is the +Aquarius of the Zodiac.</p> + +<p>TERMINUS was a very ancient deity among the Romans, whose worship was +first instituted by Numa Pompilius, he having erected in his honor on +the Tarpeian hill a temple which was open at the top. This deity was +thought to preside over the stones or land-marks, called Termĭni, which +were so highly venerated, that it was sacrilege to move them, and the +criminal becoming devoted to the gods, it was lawful for any man to kill +him. The Roman Termĭni were square stones or posts, much resembling our +mile-stones, erected to show that no force or violence should be used in +settling mutual boun<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_101" +id="Page_101">[101]</a></span>daries; they were sometimes crowned with a +human head, but had seldom any inscriptions; one, however, is mentioned +to this effect, “Whosoever shall take away this, or shall order it to be +taken away, may he die the last of his family.”</p> + +<p>VERTUMNUS, the Proteus of the Roman ritual, was the god of tradesmen, +and, from the power he had of assuming any shape, was believed to +preside over the thoughts of mankind. His courtship of Pomōna makes one +of the most elegant and entertaining stories in Ovid. The Romans +esteemed him the god of tradesmen, from the turns and changes which +traffic effects. There was no god had a greater variety of +representations than Vertumnus. He is painted with a garland of flowers +on his head, a pruning hook in one hand, and ripe fruits in the other. +Pomōna has a pruning hook in her right hand, and a branch in her left. +Pliny introduces this goddess personally, even in his prose, to make her +speak in praise of the fruits committed to her care. We learn from Ovid +that this goddess was of that class which they anciently called +Hamadryads.</p> + +<p>Both these deities were unknown to the Greeks, and only honored by +the Romans. Some imagine Vertumnus an emblem of the year, which, though +it assume different dresses according to the different seasons, is at no +time so luxuriant as in autumn, when the harvest is crowned, and the +fruits appear in their full perfection and lustre; but historians say +that Vertumnus was an ancient king of the Tuscans, who first taught his +people the method of planting orchards, gardens, and vineyards, and the +manner of cultivating, pruning, and grafting fruit-trees; whence he is +reported to have married Pomōna. Some think he was called Vertumnus, +from turning the lake Curtus into the Tiber.</p> + +<hr> +<h2 id="chap_2_6">CHAPTER VI.</h2> + +<h3><i>Goddesses of the Woods.</i></h3> + +<p>Diana, daughter of Jupiter and Latōna, and sister of Apollo, was born +in the island of Delos. She had +a <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_102" +id="Page_102">[102]</a></span>threefold divinity, being styled Diāna on +earth, Luna, or the moon, in heaven, and Hecăte, or Proserpine, in hell. +The poets say she had three heads, one of a horse, another of a woman, +and the third of a dog. Hesiod makes Diāna, Luna, and Hecăte, three +distinguished goddesses.</p> + +<p>Of all the various characters of this goddess, there is no one more +known than that of her presiding over woods, and delighting in hunting. +The Diāna Venatrix, or goddess of the chase, is frequently represented +as running on, with her vest flying back with the wind, notwithstanding +its being shortened, and girt about her for expedition. She is tall of +stature, and her face, though so very handsome, is something manly. Her +feet are sometimes bare, and sometimes adorned with a sort of buskin, +which was worn by the huntresses of old. She often has a quiver on her +shoulder, and sometimes holds a javelin, but more usually her bow, in +her right hand. It is thus she makes her appearance in several of her +statues, and it is thus the Roman poets describe her, particularly in +the epithets they give this goddess, in the use of which they are so +happy that they often bring the idea of whole figures of her into your +mind by a single word. The statues of this Diāna were very frequent in +woods: she was represented there in all the different ways they could +think of; sometimes as hunting, sometimes as bathing, and sometimes as +resting herself after her fatigue. The height of Diāna's stature is +frequently marked out in the poets, and that, generally, by comparing +her with her nymphs.</p> + +<p>Another great character of Diāna is that under which she is +represented as the intelligence which presides over the planet of the +moon; in which she is depicted in her car as directing that planet. Her +figure under this character is frequently enough to be met with on gems +and medals, which generally exhibit her with a lunar crown, or crescent +on her forehead, and sometimes as drawn by stags, sometimes by does, +but, more commonly than either, by horses. The poets speak of her +chariot and her horses; they agree with the artists in giving her but +two, and show, that the painters of old generally drew them of a perfect +white color.</p> + +<p>A third remarkable way of representing Diāna was with three bodies; +this is very common among the an<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_103" +id="Page_103">[103]</a></span>cient figures of the goddess, and it is +hence the poets call her the triple, the three-headed, and the +three-bodied Diāna. Her distinguishing name under this triple appearance +is Hecăte, or Trivia; a goddess frequently invoked in enchantments, and +fit for such black operations; for this is the infernal Diana, and as +such is represented with the characteristics of a fury, rather than as +one of the twelve great celestial deities: all her hands hold +instruments of terror, and generally grasp either cords, or swords, or +serpents, or fire-brands.</p> + +<p>There are various conjectures concerning the name <i>Hecăte</i>, +which is supposed to come from a Greek word signifying +an <i>hundred</i>, either because an hundred victims at a time used to +be offered to her, or else because by her edicts the ghosts of those who +die without burial, wander an hundred years upon the banks of the Styx. +Mythologists say that Hecăte is the <i>order</i> and <i>force</i> of the +Fates, who obtained from the divine power that influence which they have +over human bodies; that the operation of the Fates are hidden, but +descend by the means and interposition of the stars, wherefore it is +necessary that all inferior things submit to the cares, calamities, and +death which the Fates bring upon them, without any possibility of +resisting the divine will.</p> + +<p>Hesiod relates of Hecate, to show the extent of her power, that +Jupiter had heaped gifts and honors upon her far above all the other +deities; that she was empress of the earth and sea, and all things which +are comprehended in the compass of the heavens; that she was a goddess +easy to be entreated, kind, and always ready to do good, bountiful of +gold and riches, which are wholly in her power; that whatever springs +from seed, whether in heaven, or on earth, is subject to her, and that +she governs the fates of all things.</p> + +<p>PALES was a rural goddess of the Romans. She was properly the +divinity of shepherds, and the tutelar deity and protectress of their +flocks. Her votaries had usually wooden images of her. A feast called +Palilia or Parilia was celebrated on the twenty-first of April, or, +according to some, in May, in the open fields. The offerings were milk +and cakes of millet, in order to engage her to defend their flocks from +wild beasts and infectious diseases. As part of the ceremony, they +burned heaps of straw, and leaped over them. Some make Pales the same +with Ves<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_104" +id="Page_104">[104]</a></span>ta or Cybĕle. This goddess is represented +as an old woman.</p> + +<p>FLORA, the goddess of flowers, was a Roman deity. The ancients made +her the wife of Zephyrus, to intimate that Flora, or the natural heat of +the plant, must concur with the influence of the warmest wind for the +production of flowers. Varro reckons Flora among the ancient deities of +the Sabines, which were received into Rome on the union of the Sabines +with the Romans. Ovid says, that her Greek name was Chloris, and that +the Latins changed it into Flora.</p> + +<p>FERONIA was the goddess of woods and orchards. She is called Feronia +from the verb <i>fero, to bring forth</i>, because she <i>produced</i> +and +<i>propagated</i> trees, or from <i>Ferōnĭci</i>, a town situated near the foot of +Mount Soracte, in Italy, where was a wood, and a temple dedicated to +her; which town and wood are mentioned by Virgil, in his catalogue of +the forces of Turnus. The Lacedemonians first introduced her worship +into Italy under Evander; for these people, being offended at the rigor +of the laws of Lycurgus, resolved to seek out some new plantation, and +arriving, after a long and dangerous voyage, in Italy, they, to show +their gratitude for their preservation, built a temple to Feronia, so +called from their <i>bearing patiently</i> all the fatigues and dangers they +had encountered in their voyage. This edifice casually taking fire, the +people ran to remove and preserve the image of the goddess, when on a +sudden the fire became extinguished, and the grove assumed a native and +flourishing verdure.</p> + +<p>Horace mentions the homage that was paid to this deity, by washing +the face and hands, according to custom, in the sacred fountain which +flowed near her temple. Slaves received the cap of liberty at her +shrine, on which account they regarded her as their patroness. How +Feronia was descended, where born, or how educated, is not transmitted +to us; but she is said to have been wife to Jupiter Anxur, so called, +because he was worshipped in that place.</p> + +<p> +NYMPHÆ, <i>the</i> NYMPHS, were certain inferior goddesses, inhabiting +the mountains, woods, valleys, rivers, seas, &c. said to be daughters of +Oceanus and Tethys. According to ancient mythology, the whole universe +was full of these nymphs, who are distinguished into several ranks and +classes, though the general division of them is +into <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_105" +id="Page_105">[105]</a></span>celestial and terrestrial. I. The +Celestial Nymphs, called <i>Uraniæ</i>, were supposed to govern the +heavenly bodies or spheres. II. The Terrestrial Nymphs, +called <i>Epigeiæ</i>, presided over the several parts of the inferior +world; these were again subdivided into those of the water, and those of +the earth.</p> + +<p>The Nymphs of the water were ranged under several classes: 1. The +Oceanĭdes, or Nymphs of the ocean. 2. The Nereids, daughters of Nereus +and Doris. 3. The Naiads, Nymphs of the fountains. 4. The Ephydriădes, +also Nymphs of the fountains; and 5. The Limniădes, Nymphs of the lakes. +The Nymphs of the earth were likewise divided into different classes; +as, 1. The Oreădes, or Nymphs of the mountains. 2. The Napææ, Nymphs of +the meadows; and 3. The Dryads and Hamadryads, Nymphs of the woods and +forests. Besides these, there were Nymphs who took their names from +particular countries, rivers, &c. as the Dardanĭdes, Tiberĭdes, +Ismenĭdes, &c.</p> + +<p>Pausanias reports it as the opinion of the ancient poets that the +Nymphs were not altogether free from death, or immortal, but that their +years wore in a manner innumerable; that prophecies were inspired by the +Nymphs, as well as the other deities; and that they had foretold the +destruction of several cities: they were likewise esteemed as the +authors of divination.</p> + +<p>Meursius is of opinion, that the Greeks borrowed their notion of +these divinities from the Phœnicians, for <i>nympha</i>, in their +language, signifying <i>soul</i>, the Greeks imagined that the souls of +the ancient inhabitants of Greece had become Nymphs; particularly that +the souls of those who had inhabited the woods were called Dryads; those +who inhabited the mountains, Oreădes; those who dwelt on the sea-coasts, +Nereids; and, lastly, those who had their place of abode near rivers or +fountains, Naiads. Though goats were sometimes sacrificed to the Nymphs, +yet their stated offerings were milk, oil, honey and wine. They were +represented as young and beautiful virgins, and dressed in conformity to +the character ascribed to them.</p> + +<div id="a7" class="center framed" style="width:100%"> +<h3>NEPTUNE RISING FROM THE SEA</h3> +<p class="ralign"><i>Pl. 7.</i></p> +<a href="images/fig113.png"> +<img src="images/fig113th.png" alt="HE SITS SUPERIOR"> +</a> +<h4>HE SITS SUPERIOR & THE CHARIOT FLIES.</h4> + +<p class="ralign"><i>Pope's Homer's Iliad. B. 13. L. 41</i></p> +</div> + +<hr> +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_106" +id="Page_106">[106]</a></span></p> +<h2 id="chap_2_7">CHAPTER VII.</h2> + +<h3><i>Gods of the Sea.</i></h3> + +<p>NEPTUNE was the son of Saturn, and Rhea or Ops, and brother of +Jupiter. When arrived at maturity, he assisted his brother Jupiter in +his expeditions, for which that god, on attaining to supreme power, +assigned him the sea and the islands for his empire. Whatever attachment +Neptune might have had to his brother at one period, he was at another +expelled heaven for entering into a conspiracy against him, in +conjunction with several other deities; whence he fled, with Apollo, to +Laomedon, king of Troy, where Neptune having assisted in raising the +walls of the city, and being dismissed unrewarded, in revenge, sent a +sea-monster to lay waste the country.</p> + +<p>On another occasion, this deity had a contest with Vulcan and +Minerva, in regard to their skill. The goddess, as a proof of her's, +made a horse, Vulcan a man, and Neptune a bull, whence that animal was +used in the sacrifices to him, though it is probable that, as the victim +was to be black, the design was to point out the raging quality and fury +of the sea, over which he presided. The Greeks make Neptune to have been +the creator of the horse, which he produced from out of the earth with a +blow of his trident, when disputing with Minerva who should give the +name to Cecropia, which was afterwards called Athens, from the name in +Greek of Minerva, who made an olive tree spring up suddenly, and thus +obtained the victory.</p> + +<p>In this fable, however, it is evident that the horse could signify +nothing but a ship; for the two things in which that region excelled +being ships and olive-trees, it was thought politic by this means to +bring the citizens over from too great a fondness for sea affairs, to +the cultivation of their country, by showing that Pallas was preferable +to Neptune, or, in other words, <i>husbandry to sailing</i>, which, +without some further meaning, the production of a horse could never have +done. It notwithstanding appears that Neptune had brought the management +of the horse, as likewise the art of building ships, to very great +perfection; insomuch that Pamphus, who was the +most <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_107" +id="Page_107">[107]</a></span>ancient writer of hymns to the gods, calls +him the benefactor of mankind, in bestowing upon them horses and ships +which had stems and decks that resembled towers.</p> + +<p>If Neptune created the horse, he was likewise the inventor of +chariot-races; hence Mithridātes, king of Pontus, threw chariots, drawn +by four horses, into the sea, in honor of Neptune: and the Romans +instituted horse-races in the circus during his festival, at which time +all horses ceased from working, and the mules were adorned with wreaths +of flowers.</p> + +<p>Neptune, represented as a god of the sea, makes a considerable +figure: he is described with black or dark hair, his garment of an azure +or sea-green color, seated in a large shell drawn by whales, or +sea-horses, with his trident in his hand, attended by the sea-gods +Palæmon, Glaucus, and Phorcys; the sea-goddesses Thetis, Melita, and +Panopēa, and a long train of Tritons and sea-nymphs.</p> + +<p>The inferior artists represent him sometimes with an angry and +disturbed air; and we may observe the same difference in this particular +between the great and inferior poets as there is between the bad and the +good artists. Thus Ovid describes Neptune with a sullen look, whereas +Virgil expressly tells us that he has a mild face, even where he is +representing him in a passion. Even at the time that he is provoked, and +might be expected to have appeared disturbed, and in a passion, there is +serenity and majesty in his face.</p> + +<p>On some medals he treads on the beak of a ship, to show that he +presided over the seas, or more particularly over the Mediterranean sea, +which was the great, and almost the only scene for navigation among the +old Greeks and Romans. He is standing, as he generally was represented; +he most commonly, too, has his trident in his right hand: this was his +peculiar sceptre, and seems to have been used by him chiefly to rouse up +the waters; for we find sometimes that he lays it aside when he is to +appease them, but he resumes it when there is occasion for violence. +Virgil makes him shake Troy from its foundation with it; and in Ovid it +is with the stroke of this that the waters of the earth are let loose +for the general deluge. The poets have generally delighted in describing +this god as passing over the calm surface of the waters, in his chariot +drawn by sea-horses. The fine <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_108" +id="Page_108">[108]</a></span>original description of this is in Homer, +from whom Virgil and Statius have copied it.</p> + +<p>In searching for the mythological sense of the fable, we must again +have recourse to Egypt, that kingdom which, above all others, has +furnished the most ample harvest for the reaper of mysteries. The +Egyptians, to denote navigation, and the return of the Phœnician fleet, +which annually visited their coast, used the figure of an Osīris borne +on a winged horse, and holding a three-forked spear, or harpoon. To this +image they gave the name of Poseidon, or Neptune, which, as the Greeks +and Romans afterwards adopted, sufficiently proves this deity had his +birth here. Thus the maritime Osīris of the Egyptians became a new deity +with those who knew not the meaning of the symbol.</p> + +<p>TRITON. It is not agreed who were the parents of Triton; but he was a +sea-deity, the herald and trumpeter of Oceănus and Neptune. He sometimes +delighted in mischief, for he carried off the cattle from the Tanagrian +fields, and destroyed the smaller coasting vessels; so that to appease +his resentment, the Tanagrians offered him libations of new wine. +Pleased with its flavor and taste, he drank so freely that he fell +asleep, and tumbling from an eminence, one of the natives cut of his +head. He left a daughter called Tristia.</p> + +<p>The poets ordinarily attribute to Triton, the office of calming the +sea, and stilling of tempests: thus in the Metamorphoses we read, that +Neptune desiring to recall the waters of the deluge, commanded Triton to +sound his trumpet, at the noise of which they retired to their +respective channels, and left the earth again habitable, having swept +off almost the whole human race.</p> + +<p>This god is exhibited in the human form from the waist upwards, with +blue eyes, a large mouth, and hair matted like wild parsley; his +shoulders covered with a purple skin, variegated with small scales, his +feet resembling the fore feet of a horse, and his lower parts +terminating in a double forked tail: sometimes he is seen in a car, with +horses of a bright cerulean. His trumpet is a large conch, or sea-shell. +There were several Tritons, but one chief over all, the distinguished +messenger of Neptune, as Mercury was of Jupiter, and Iris of Juno.</p> + +<p>OCEANUS, oldest son of Cœlus and Terra, or Vesta. He married Tethys, +and besides her had many other <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_109" +id="Page_109">[109]</a></span>wives. He had several sisters, all Nymphs, +each of whom possessed an hundred woods and as many rivers. Oceănus was +esteemed by the ancients as the father both of gods and men, who were +said to have taken their beginning from him, on account of the ocean's +encompassing the earth with its waves, and because he was the principal +of that radical moisture diffused through universal matter, without +which, according to Thales, nothing could either be produced or +subsist.</p> + +<p>Homer makes Juno visit Oceănus at the remotest limits of the earth, +and acknowledge him and Tethys as the parents of the gods, adding, that +she herself had been brought up under their tuition. Many of his +children are mentioned in poetical story, whose names it would be +endless to enumerate, and, indeed, they are only the appellations of the +principal rivers of the world. Oceănus was described with a bull's head, +to represent the rage and bellowing of the ocean when agitated by +storms. Oceănus and Tethys are ranked in the highest classes of +sea-deities, and as governors in chief over the whole world of +waters.</p> + +<p>NEREUS, a sea-deity, was son of Oceănus, by Tethys. Apollodōrus gives +him Terra for his mother. His education and authority were in the +waters, and his residence, more particularly, the Ægean seas. He had the +faculty of assuming what form he pleased. He was regarded as a prophet; +and foretold to Paris the war which the rape of Helen would bring upon +his country. When Hercules was ordered to fetch the golden apples of the +Hesperĭdes, he went to the Nymphs inhabiting the grottoes of Eridănus, +to know where he might find them; the Nymphs sent him to Nereus, who, to +elude the inquiry, perpetually varied his form, till Hercules having +seized him, resolved to hold him till he resumed his original shape, on +which he yielded the desired information. Nereus had, by his sister +Doris, fifty daughters called Nereids. Hesiod highly celebrates him as a +mild and peaceful old man, a lover of justice and moderation. Nereus and +Doris, with their descendants the Nereids, or Oceaniads, so called from +Oceănus, are ranked in the third class of water deities.</p> + +<p>PALÆMON, <i>or</i> MELICERTES, was son of Athămas, king of Thebes and +Ino. The latter fearing the rage of her husband, who in his madness had +killed his son Learchus, took Melicertes in her arms, and leaped with +him from the rock Molyris into the sea. Neptune +received <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_110" +id="Page_110">[110]</a></span>them with open arms, and gave them a place +among the marine gods, only changing their names, Ino being called +Leucothea, or Leucothŏe, and Melicertes, Palæmon. Ino, under the name +Leucothea, is supposed, by some, to be the same with Aurora: the Romans +gave her the name of Matuta, she being reputed the goddess that ushers +in the morning; and Palæmon, they called Portumnus, or Portunnus, and +painted him with a key in his hand, to denote that he was the guardian +of harbors. Adorations were paid to him chiefly at Tenĕdos, and the +sacrifice offered to him was an infant.</p> + +<p>Pausanias says that the body of Melicertes was thrown on the Isthmus +of Corinth where Sisyphus, his uncle, who reigned in that city, +instituted the Isthmian games in his honor. For this fable we are +indebted to the fertile invention of the Greeks, Melicertes being no +other than the Melcarthus or the Hercules of Tyre, who, from having been +drowned in the sea, was called a god of it, and from his many voyages, +the guardian of harbors.</p> + +<p>GLAUCUS, a sea-deity. His story, which is very fanciful, shows the +extravagance of poetical fiction amongst the ancients. Before his +deification, Glaucus is said to have been a fisherman of Anthēdon, who +having one day remarked that the fishes which he laid on a particular +herb revived and threw themselves into the sea, resolved himself to +taste it, and immediately followed their example: the consequence was, +that he became a Triton, and ever after was reputed a marine deity, +attending with the rest on the car of Neptune.</p> + +<p>The descent of this deity is exceeding dubious. He is said to have +carried off Ariadne from the island Dia, for which Bacchus bound him +fast with vine-twigs. The ship Argo is said to have been constructed by +him, and he is not only mentioned as commanding her, when Jason fought +with the Tyrrhenians, but as being the only one of her crew that came +off without a wound. He dwelt some time at Delos, and, besides +prophesying with the Nereids, is affirmed to have instructed Apollo in +the art.</p> + +<p>SCYLLA was the daughter of Phorcus, or Phorcys, by Ceto. Glaucus, +being passionately fond of Scylla, after vainly endeavoring to gain her +affections, applied to Circe, and besought her, by her art, to induce +her to return his affection. On this, Circe disclosed to him her +passion, but Glaucus remaining inexorable, the enchantress vowed +revenge, and by her magic charms so infected the fountain in which +Scylla bathed, that on entering it, her lower +parts <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_111" +id="Page_111">[111]</a></span>were turned into dogs; at which the nymph, +terrified at herself, plunged into the sea, and there was changed to a +rock, notorious for the shipwrecks it occasioned.</p> + +<p>Authors are disagreed as to Scylla's form; some say she retained her +beauty from the neck downwards, but had six dog's heads: others +maintain, that her upper parts continued entire, but that she had below +the body of a wolf, and the tail of a serpent. The rock named Scylla, +lies between Italy and Sicily, and the noise of the waves beating on it +is supposed to have occasioned the fable of the barking of dogs, and +howling of wolves, ascribed to the imaginary monster.</p> + +<p>CHARYBDIS was a rapacious woman, a female robber, who, it is said, +stole the oxen of Hercules, for which she was thunder-struck by Jupiter, +and turned into a whirlpool, dangerous to sailors. This whirlpool was +situated opposite the rock Scylla, at the entrance of the Faro from +Messina, and occasioned the proverb of running into one danger to avoid +another. Some affirm that Hercules killed her himself; others, that +Scylla committed this robbery, and was killed for it by Hercules.</p> + +<hr> +<h2 id="chap_2_8">CHAPTER VIII.</h2> + +<h3><i>Tartarus and its Deities.</i></h3> + +<p>TARTARUS <i>or</i> HELL, the region of punishment after death. The +whole imaginary world, which we call Hell, though according to the +ancients it was the receptacle of all departed persons, of the good as +well as the bad, is divided by Virgil into five parts: the first may be +called the previous region; the second is the region of waters, or the +river which they were all to pass; the third is what we may call the +gloomy region, and what the ancients called Erĕbus; the fourth is +Tartărus, or the region of torments; and the fifth the region of joy and +bliss, or what we still call Elysium.</p> + +<p>The first part in it Virgil has stocked with two sorts of beings; +first, with those which make the real misery of mankind upon earth, such +as war, discord, labor, grief, cares, distempers, and old age; and, +secondly, with fancied terrors, and all the most frightful creatures of +our own imagination, such as Gorgons, Harpies, Chimæras and the +like.</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_112" +id="Page_112">[112]</a></span>The next is the water which all the +departed were supposed to pass, to enter into the other world; this was +called Styx, or the hateful passage: the imaginary personages of this +division are the souls of the departed, who are either passing over, or +suing for a passage, and the master of a vessel who carries them over, +one freight after another, according to his will and pleasure.</p> + +<p>The third division begins immediately with the bank on the other side +the river, and was supposed to extend a great way in: it is subdivided +again into several particular districts; the first seems to be the +receptacle for infants. The next for all such as have been put to death +without a cause; next is the place for those who have put a period to +their own lives, a melancholy region, and situated amidst the marshes +made by the overflowings of the Styx, or hateful river, or passage into +the other world: after this are the fields of mourning, full of dark +woods and groves, and inhabited by those who died of love: last of all +spreads an open champaign country, allotted for the souls of departed +warriors; the name of this whole division is Erĕbus: its several +districts seem to be disposed all in a line, one after the other, but +after this the great line or road divides into two, of which the right +hand road leads to Elysium, or the place of the blessed, and the left +hand road to Tartărus, or the place of the tormented.</p> + +<p>The fourth general division of the subterraneous world is this +Tartărus, or the place of torments: there was a city in it, and a prince +to preside over it: within this city was a vast deep pit, in which the +tortures were supposed to be performed: in this horrid part Virgil +places two sorts of souls; first, of such as have shown their impiety +and rebellion toward the gods; and secondly, of such as have been vile +and mischievous among men: those, as he himself says of the latter more +particularly, who hated their brethren, used their parents ill, or +cheated their dependants, who made no use of their riches, who committed +incest, or disturbed the marriage union of others, those who were +rebellious subjects, or knavish servants, who were despisers of justice, +or betrayers of their country, and who made and unmade laws not for the +good of the public, but only to get money for themselves; all these, and +the despisers of the gods, Virgil places in this most horrid division of +his subterraneous world, and in the vast abyss, which was the most +terrible part even of that division.</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_113" +id="Page_113">[113]</a></span>The fifth division is that of Elysium, or +the place of the blessed; here Virgil places those who died for their +country, those of pure lives, truly inspired poets, the inventors of +arts, and all who have done good to mankind: he does not speak of any +particular districts for these, but supposes that they have the liberty +of going where they please in that delightful region, and conversing +with whom they please; he only mentions one vale, towards the end of it, +as appropriated to any particular use; this is the vale of Lethe or +forgetfulness, where many of the ancient philosophers, and the +Platonists in particular, supposed the souls which had passed through +some periods of their trial, were immersed in the river which gave its +name to it, in order to be put into new bodies, and to fill up the whole +course of their probation, in an upper world.</p> + +<p>In each of these three divisions, on the other side of the river +Styx, which perhaps were comprehended under the name of Ades, as all the +five might be under that of Orcus, was a prince or judge: Minos for the +regions of Erĕbus; Rhadamanthus for Tartărus; and Æăcus for Elysium, +Pluto and Proserpine had their palace at the entrance of the road to the +Elysian fields, and presided as sovereigns over the whole subterraneous +world.</p> + +<p>PLUTO, son of Saturn and Ops, assisted Jupiter in his wars, and after +victory had crowned their exertions in placing his brother on the +throne, be obtained a share of his father's dominions, which, as some +authors say, was the eastern continent, and lower regions of Asia; but, +according to the common opinion, Pluto's division lay in the west. He +fixed his residence in Spain, and lived in Iberia, near the Pyrrenæan +mountains: Spain being a fertile country, and abounding in minerals and +mines, Pluto was esteemed the god of wealth; for it must be here +observed, that the poets confound Pluto, god of hell, with Plutus, god +of riches, though they were distinct deities, and always so considered +by the ancients.</p> + +<p>Pluto's regions being supposed to lie under ground; and as he was the +first who taught men to bury their dead, it was thence inferred that he +was king of the infernal regions, whence sprung a belief, that as all +souls descended to him, so when they were in his possession, he bound +them with inevitable chains, and delivered them to be tried by judges, +after which he dispensed rewards and punishments according to their +several deserts. Pluto was +therefore <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_114" +id="Page_114">[114]</a></span>called the infernal Jupiter, and oblations +were made to him by the living, for the souls of their friends +departed.</p> + +<p>Although Pluto was brother of Jupiter, yet none of the goddesses +would condescend to marry him, owing to the deformity of his person, +joined to the darkness of his mansions. Enraged at this reluctance in +the goddesses, and mortified at his want of issue, Pluto ascended his +chariot, and drove to Sicily, where chancing to discover Proserpine with +her companions gathering flowers in a valley of Enna, near mount Ætna, +the grisly god, struck with her charms, instantly seized her, and +forcing her into his chariot, went rapidly off to the river Chemarus, +through which he opened himself a passage to the realms of night. +Orpheus says, this descent was made through the Cecropian cave in +Attica, not far from Eleusis.</p> + +<p>His whole domains are washed with vast and rapid rivers, whose +peculiar qualities strike horror into mortals. Cocytus falls with an +impetuous roaring; Phlegĕthon rages with a torrent of flames; the +Acharusian fen is dreadful for its stench and filth: nor does Charon, +the ferryman, who wafts souls over, occasion any less horror; Cerbĕrus, +the triple-headed dog, stands ready with open mouths to receive them; +and the Furies shake at them their serpentine locks.</p> + +<p>Thus far the common fable; but the following seems the true +foundation of the story which has been so much disguised; Pluto having +retired into Spain, applied himself to the working of the mines of +silver and gold, which in that country, were very common, especially on +the side of Cadiz, where he fixed his abode. Bœtica, his residence, was +that province now called Andalusia, and the river Bœtis, now +Guadalquiver, gave that name to it. This river formed of old, at its +mouth, a small island, called Tartessus, which was the Tartessus of the +ancients, and whence Tărtarus was formed.</p> + +<p>It may be remarked, that though Spain be not now fertile in mines, +yet the ancients speak of it as a country where they abounded. +Posidonius says, that its mountains and hills were almost all mountains +of gold; Arienus, that near Tartessus was a mountain of silver; and +Aristotle, that the first Phœnicians who landed there, found such +quantities of gold and of silver, that they made anchors for their ships +of those precious metals. This, doubtless, is what determined Pluto, who +was ingenius in such operations, +to <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_115" +id="Page_115">[115]</a></span>fix himself near to Tartessus; and this +making him pass also for a wealthy prince, procured for him the name of +Pluto, instead of that of Agelestus.</p> + +<p>The situation of Pluto's kingdom, which was low in respect to Greece, +occasioned him to be looked on as the god of hell; and as he continually +employed laborers for his mines, who chiefly resided in the bowels of +the earth, and there commonly died, Pluto was reputed the king of the +dead. The ocean, likewise, upon whose coasts he reigned, was supposed to +be covered with darkness. These circumstances united, appear to have +been the foundation of the fables afterwards invented concerning Pluto +and his realms of night. It is probable, for example, that the famous +Tartărus, the place so noted in the empire of this god, comes from +Tartessus, near Cadiz: the river Lethe not unlikely from the +Guada-Lethe, which flows over against that city; and the lake Avernus, +or the Acheronian fen, from the word Aharona, importing, <i>at the +extremities</i>, a name given to that lake, which is near the ocean.</p> + +<p>Pluto was extremely revered both by the Greeks and Romans. He had a +magnificent temple at Pylos. Near the river Corellus, in Bœotia, he had +also an altar, for some mystical reason, in common with Pallas. His +chief festival was in February, and called Charistia, because their +oblations were made for the dead. Black bulls were the victims offered +up, and the ceremonies were performed in the night, it not being lawful +to sacrifice to him in the day time, on account of his aversion to the +light. The cypress tree was sacred to Pluto, boughs of which were +carried at funerals.</p> + +<p>He is usually represented in an ebony chariot, drawn by his four +black horses, Orphnæus, Æthon, Nycteus, and Alastor. As god of the dead, +keys were the ensigns of his authority, because there is no possibility +of returning when the gates of his palace are locked. Sometimes he holds +a sceptre, to denote his power; at other times a wand, with which he +directs the movements of his subject ghosts. Homer speaks of his hemlet +as having the quality of rendering the wearer invisible; and tells us +that Minerva borrowed it when she fought against the Trojans, that she +might not be discovered by Mars. Perseus also used this hemlet when he +cut off Medusa's head.</p> + +<p>Mythologists pretend that Pluto is the earth, the natural powers and +faculties of which are under his direction, +so <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_116" +id="Page_116">[116]</a></span>that he is monarch not only of all riches +which come from thence, and are at length swallowed up by it, but +likewise of the dead; for as all living things spring from the earth, so +are they resolved into the principles whence they arose. Proserpine is +by them reputed to be the seed or grain of fruits or corn, which must be +taken into the earth, and hid there before it can be nourished by +it.</p> + +<p>PLUTUS, the god of riches. Though Plutus be not an infernal god, yet +as his name and office were similar to Pluto's, we shall here +distinguish them, although both were gods of riches. Pluto was born of +Saturn and Ops, or Rhea, and was brother of Jupiter and Neptune; but +Plutus, the god of whom we here speak, was son of Jason or Jasion by +Ceres. He is represented blind and lame, injudicious and fearful. Being +lame, he confers estates but slowly: for want of judgment, his favors +are commonly bestowed on the unworthy; and as he is timorous, so he +obliges rich men to watch their treasures with fear. Plutus is painted +with wings, to signify the swiftness of his retreat, when he takes his +departure. Little more of him remains in story, than that he had a +daughter named Euribœa; unless the comedy of Aristophănes, called by his +name, be taken into the account.</p> + +<p>Aristophănes says that this deity, having at first a very clear +sight, bestowed his favors only on the just and good: but that after +Jupiter deprived him of vision, riches fell indifferently to the good +and the bad. A design being formed for the recovery of his sight, Penia +or poverty opposed it, making it appear that poverty is the mistress of +arts, sciences, and virtues, which would be in danger of perishing if +all men were rich; but no credit being given to her remonstrance, Plutus +recovered his sight in the temple of Æsculapius, whence the temples and +altars of other gods, and those of Jupiter himself, were abandoned, the +whole world sacrificing to Plutus alone.</p> + +<p>PROSERPINE, the daughter of Jupiter and Ceres, was educated with +Minerva and Diāna. By reason of this familiar intercourse, each chose a +place in the island of Sicily for her particular residence. Minerva look +the parts near Himĕra; Diāna those about Syracuse; and Proserpine, in +common with her sister goddesses, enjoyed the pleasant fields of Enna. +Near at hand are groves and gardens, surrounded with morasses and a deep +cave, with a passage under ground, opening towards the north. In this +happy re<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_117" +id="Page_117">[117]</a></span>tirement was Proserpine situated, when +Pluto, passing in his chariot through the cave, discovered her whilst +busy in gathering flowers, with her attendants, the daughters of +Oceănus. Proserpine he seized, and having placed her in his chariot, +carried her to Syracuse, where the earth opening, they both descended to +the infernal regions.</p> + +<p>She had not been long there when the fame of her charms induced +Theseus and Pirithŏus to combine for the purpose of carrying her thence; +but in this they failed. When Ceres, who was disconsolate for the loss +of her daughter, discovered where she was, Jupiter upon her repeated +solicitations, promised that Proserpine should be restored, provided she +had not yet tasted any thing in hell. Ceres joyfully descended, and +Proserpine, full of triumph, prepared for her return, when lo! +Ascalăphus, son of Achēron and Gorgyra, discovered that he saw +Proserpine, as she walked in the garden of Pluto, eat some grains of a +pomegranate, upon which her departure was stopped. At last, by the +repeated importunity of her mother to Jupiter, she extorted as a favor, +in mitigation of her grief, that Proserpine should live half the year in +heaven, and the other half in hell.</p> + +<p>Proserpine is represented under the form of a beautiful woman, +enthroned, having something stern and melancholy in her aspect. Statius +has found out a melancholy employment for her, which is, to keep a sort +of register of the dead, and to mark down all that should be added to +that number. The same poet mentions another of her offices of a more +agreeable nature: he says, when any woman dies who had been a remarkably +good wife in this world, Proserpine prepares the spirits of the best +women in the other to make a procession to welcome her into Elysium with +joy, and to strew all the way with flowers where she is to pass.</p> + +<p>Some represent Proserpine, Luna, Hecăte, and Diāna, as one; the same +goddess being called Luna in heaven, Diāna on earth, and Hecăte in hell: +and they explain the fable of the moon, which is hidden from us in the +hemisphere of the countries beneath, just so long as it shines in our +own. As Proserpine was to stay six months with her mother, and six with +her husband, she was the emblem of the seed corn, which lies in the +earth during the winter, but in spring sprouts forth, and in summer +bears fruit.</p> + +<p>The mythological sense of the fable is this: the name of Proserpine, +or Persephŏne, among the Egyptians, was +used <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_118" +id="Page_118">[118]</a></span>to denote the change produced in the earth +by the deluge, which destroyed its former fertility, and rendered +tillage and agriculture necessary to mankind.</p> + +<p>PARCÆ, <i>or</i> FATES, were goddesses supposed to preside over the +accidents and events, and to determine the date or period of human life. +They were reckoned by the ancients to be three in number, because all +things have a beginning, progress, and end. They were the daughters of +Jupiter and Themis, and sisters to the Horæ, or Hours.</p> + +<p>Their names, amongst the Greeks, were Atrŏpos, Clotho, and Lachĕsis, +and among the Latins, Nona, Decĭma, Morta. They are called Parcæ, +because, as Varro thinks, they distributed to mankind good and bad +things at their birth; or, as the common and received opinion is, +because they spare nobody. They were always of the same mind, so that +though dissensions sometimes arose among the other gods, no difference +was ever known to subsist among these three sisters, whose decrees were +immutable. To them was intrusted the spinning and management of the +thread of life; Clotho held the distaff, Lachĕsis turned the wheel, and +Atrŏpos cut the thread.</p> + +<p>Plutarch tells us they represented the three parts of the world, viz. +the firmament of the fixed stars, the firmament of the planets, and the +space of air between the moon and the earth; Plato says they represented +time past, present, and to come. There were no divinities in the pagan +world who had a more absolute power than the Fates. They were looked +upon as the dispensers of the eternal decrees of Jupiter, and were all +of them sometimes supposed to spin the party-colored thread of each +man's life. Thus are they represented on a medal, each with a distaff in +her hand. The fullest and best description of them in any of the poets, +is in Catullus: he represents them as all spinning, and at the same time +singing, and foretelling the birth and fortunes of Achilles, at Peleus' +wedding.</p> + +<p>An ingenious writer, in giving the true mythology of these +characters, apprehends them to have been, originally, nothing more than +the mystical figure or symbols which represented the months of January, +February, and March, among the Egyptians, who depicted them in female +dresses, with the instruments of spinning and weaving, which was the +great business carried on in that season. These images they called +<i>Parc</i>, which signifies <i>linen cloth</i>, to denote +the <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_119" +id="Page_119">[119]</a></span>manufacture produced by this temporary +industry. The Greeks, ever fertile in invention, and knowing nothing of +the true sense of these allegorical figures, gave them a turn suitable +to their genius.</p> + +<p>FURIES, EUMENIDES <i>or</i> DIRÆ, were the daughters of Nox and +Achĕron. Their names were Alecto, Megæra, and Tisiphŏne. As many crimes +were committed in secret, which could not be discovered from a +deficiency of proof, it was necessary for the judges to have such +officers as by wonderful and various tortures should force from the +criminals a confession of their guilt. To this end the Furies, being +messengers both of the celestial and terrestrial Jupiter, were always +attendant on their sentence.</p> + +<p>In heaven they were called Diræ, (<i>quasi Deorum iræ</i>) or +ministers of divine vengeance, in punishing the guilty after death; on +earth +<i>Furies</i>, from that madness which attends the consciousness of guilt; +<i>Erynnis</i>, from the indignation and perturbations they raise in the +mind; <i>Eumenĭdes</i>, from their placability to such as supplicate them, as +in the instance of Orestes, and Argos, upon his following the advice of +Pallas, and in hell, <i>Stygian dogs</i>.</p> + +<p>The furies were so dreaded that few dared so much as to name them. +They were supposed to be constantly hovering about those who had been +guilty of any enormous crime. Thus Orestes, having murdered his mother +Clytemnestra, was haunted by the Furies. Œdipus, indeed, when blind and +raving, went into their grove, to the astonishment of all the Athenians, +who durst not so much as behold it. The Furies were reputed so +inexorable, that if any person polluted with murder, incest, or any +flagrant impiety, entered the temple which Orestes had dedicated to them +in Cyrenæ, a town of Arcadia, he immediately became mad, and was hurried +from place to place, with the most restless and dreadful tortures.</p> + +<p>Mythologists have assigned to each of these tormentresses their +proper department. Tisiphŏne is said to punish the sins arising from +hatred and anger; Megæra those occasioned by envy; and Alecto the crimes +of ambition and lust. The statues of the Furies had nothing in them +originally different from the other divinities. It was the poet Æschylus +who, in one of his tragedies, represented them in that hideous manner +which proved fatal to many of the spectators. The description of these +deities by the poet passed from the theatre to the temple: from that +time they Were <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_120" +id="Page_120">[120]</a></span>exhibited as objects of the utmost horror, +with Terror, Rage, Paleness, and Death, for their attendants; and thus +seated about Pluto's throne, whose ministers they were, they awaited his +orders with an impatience congenial to their natures.</p> + +<p>The Furies are described with snakes instead of hair, and eyes +inflamed with madness, brandishing in one hand whips and iron chains, +and in the other torches, with a smothering flame. Their robes are +black, and their feet of brass, to show that their pursuit, though slow, +is steady and certain. As they attended at the thrones of the Stygian +and celestial Jupiter, they had wings to accelerate their progress +through the air, when bearing the commands of the gods: they struck +terror into mortals, either by war, famine, pestilence, or the +numberless calamities incident to human life.</p> + +<p>NOX, <i>or</i> NIGHT, the oldest of the deities, was held in great +esteem among the ancients. She was even reckoned older than Chaos. +Orpheus ascribes to her the generation of gods and men, and says, that +all things had their beginning from her. Pausanias has left us a +description of a remarkable statue of this goddess. “We see,” says he, +“a woman holding in her right hand a white child sleeping, and in her +left a black child likewise asleep, with both its legs distorted; the +inscription tells us what they are, though we might easily guess without +it: the two children are Death and Sleep, and the woman is Night, the +nurse of them both.”</p> + +<p>The poets fancied her to be drawn in a chariot with two horses, +before which several stars went as harbingers; that she was crowned with +poppies, and her garments were black, with a black veil over her +countenance, and that stars followed in the same manner as they preceded +her; that upon the departure of the day she arose from the ocean, or +rather from Erĕbus, and encompassed the earth with her sable wings. The +sacrifice offered to Night was a cock because of its enmity to darkness, +and rejoicing at the light.</p> + +<p>SOMNUS, <i>or</i> SLEEP, one of the blessings to which the pagans +erected altars, was said to be son of Erĕbus and, Night, and brother of +Death. Orpheus calls Somnus the happy king of gods and men; and Ovid, +who gives a very beautiful description of his abode, represents him +dwelling in a deep cave in the country of the Cimmerians. Into this +cavern the sun never enters, and a perpetual +stillness <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_121" +id="Page_121">[121]</a></span>reigns, no noise being heard but the soft +murmur caused by a stream of the river Lethe, which creeps over the +pebbles, and invites to slumber; at its entrance grow poppies, and other +soporiferous herbs. The drowsy god lies reclined on a bed stuffed with +black plumes, the bedstead is of ebony, the covering is also black, and +his head is surrounded by fantastic visions.</p> + +<p>We learn from Statius, that the attendants and guards before the +gates of this palace were Rest, Ease, Indolence, Silence, and Oblivion; +as the ministers or attendants within are a vast multitude of Dreams in +different shapes and attitudes. Ovid teaches us who were the supposed +governors over these, and what their particular districts or offices +were. The three chiefs of all are Morpheus, Phobētor, and Phantăsos, who +inspire dreams into great persons only: Morpheus inspires such dreams as +relate to men, Phobētor such as relate to other animals, and Phantăsos +such as relate to inanimate things. They have each their particular +legions under them, to inspire the common people with the sort of dreams +which belong to their province.</p> + +<p>MINOS was son of Jupiter and Eurōpa, and brother of Rhadamanthus and +Sarpēdon. After the death of his father, the Cretans, who thought him +illegitimate, would not admit him as a successor to the kingdom, till he +persuaded them it was the divine pleasure he should reign, by praying +Neptune to give him a sign, which being granted, the god caused a horse +to rise out of the sea, upon which he ascended the throne.</p> + +<p>Nothing so much distinguished him as the laws he enacted for the +Cretans, which obtained him the name of one of the greatest legislators +of antiquity. To confer the more authority on these laws, Minos retired +to a cave of Mount Ida, where he feigned that Jupiter, his father, +dictated them to him; and every time he returned thence a new injunction +was promulgated by him. Homer calls him Jupiter's disciple; and Horace +says he was admitted to the secrets of that god. Strabo and Ephŏrus +contend, that Minos dwelt nine years in retirement in this cave, and +that it was afterwards called the cave of Jupiter.</p> + +<p>Antiquity entertained the highest esteem for the institutes of Minos: +and the testimonies of ancient authors on this head are endless. It +will, therefore, suffice to observe that Lycurgus travelled to Crete on +purpose to collect the laws of Minos for the benefit of the +Lacedemonians; and that <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_122" +id="Page_122">[122]</a></span>Josephus, partial as he was to his own +nation, has owned, that Minos was the only one among the ancients who +deserved to be compared to Moses. He was reputed the judge of the +supreme court of Pluto, Æăcus judged the Europeans; the Asiatics and +Africans fell to the lot of Rhadamanthus; and Minos, as president of the +infernal court, decided the differences which arose between these two +judges. He sat on a throne by himself, and wielded a golden sceptre.</p> + +<p>RHADAMANTHUS was the son of Jupiter and Eurōpa, and brother of Minos. +He was one of the three judges of hell. It is said that Rhadamanthus, +having killed his brother, fled to Œchalia in Bœotia, where he married +Alcmēna, widow of Amphitryon. Some make Rhadamanthus a king of Lycia, +who on account of his severity and strict regard to justice, was said to +have been one of the three judges of hell, where his province was to +judge such as died impenitent. It is agreed, that he was the most +temperate man of his time, and was exalted amongst the law-givers of +Crete, who were renowned as good and just men. The division assigned to +Rhadamanthus in the infernal regions was Tartărus.</p> + +<p>ÆACUS, son of Jupiter and Ægīna, was king of Œnopia, which, from his +mother's name, he called Ægīna. The inhabitants of that country being +destroyed by a plague, Æăcus prayed to his father that by some means he +would repair the loss of his subjects, upon which Jupiter, in compassion +changed all the ants within a hollow tree into men and women, who, from +a Greek word signifying <i>ants</i>, were called <i>Myrmidons</i>, and +actually were so industrious a people as to become famous for their +ships and navigation.</p> + +<p>The meaning of which fable is this: The pirates having destroyed the +inhabitants of the island, excepting a few, who hid themselves in caves +and holes for fear of a like fate, Æăcus drew them out of their retreats +and encouraged them to build houses, and sow corn; taught them military +discipline, and how to fit out and navigate fleets, and to appear not +like ants in holes, but on the theatre of the world, like men. His +character for justice was such, that in a time of universal drought he +was nominated by the Delphic oracle to intercede for Greece, and his +prayers were heard. The pagan world also believed that Æăcus, on account +of his impartial justice, was chosen by +Pluto, <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_123" +id="Page_123">[123]</a></span>with Minos and Rhadamanthus, one of the +three judges of the dead, and that it was his province to judge the +Europeans, in which capacity he held a plain rod as a badge of his +office.</p> + +<hr> +<h2 id="chap_2_9">CHAPTER IX.</h2> + +<h3><i>The condemned in Hell.</i></h3> + +<p>TYPHŒUS, a giant of enormous size, was, according to Hesiod, son of +Erĕbus, or Tartărus and Terra. His stature was prodigious. With one hand +he touched the east, and with the other the west, while his head reached +to the stars. Hesiod has given him an hundred heads of dragons, uttering +dreadful sounds, and eyes which darted fire; flame proceeded from his +mouths and nostrils, his body was encircled with serpents, and his +thighs and legs were of a serpentine form. When he had almost +discomfited the gods, who fled from him into Egypt, Jupiter alone stood +his ground, and pursued the monster to Mount Caucăsus in Syria, where he +wounded him with his thunder; But Typhœus, turning upon him, took the +god prisoner, and after having cut, with his own sickle, the muscles of +his hands and feet, threw him on his shoulders, carried him into +Cilicia, and there imprisoned him in a cave, whence he was delivered by +Mercury, who restored him to his former vigor. Typhœus afterwards fled +into Sicily, where the god overwhelmed him with the enormous mass of +mount Ætna.</p> + +<p>Historians report, that Typhœus was brother of Osīris, king of Egypt, +who in the absence of that monarch, formed a conspiracy to dethrone him; +and that having accordingly put Osīris to death, Isis, in revenge of her +husband, raised an army, the command of which she gave to Orus her son, +who vanquished and slew the usurper: hence the Egyptians, in abhorrence +of his memory, painted him under their hieroglyphic characters in so +frightful a manner. The length of his arms signified his power, the +serpents about him denoted his address and cunning, the scales which +covered his body, expressed his cruelty and dissimulation, and the +flight of the gods into Egypt showed the precautions taken by the great +to screen themselves from his fury and resentment. Mythologists take +Typhœus and <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_124" +id="Page_124">[124]</a></span>the other giants, to have been the winds; +especially the subterraneous, which cause earthquakes to break forth +with fire, occasioned by the sulphur enkindled in the caverns under +Campania, Sicily, and the Æolian islands.</p> + +<p>TITYOS, <i>or</i> TITYUS, was son of Jupiter and Elara. He resided in +Panopea, where he became formidable for rapine and cruelty, till Apollo +killed him for offering violence to his mother Latona. After this he was +thrown into Tartărus, and chained down on his back, his body taking up +such a compass as to cover nine acres. In this posture two vultures +continually preyed upon his liver, which constantly grew with the +increase of the moon, that there might never be wanting matter for +eternal punishment.</p> + +<p>PHLEGYAS, son of Mars and Chryse, daughter of Halmus, was king of +Lapithæ, a people of Thessaly. Apollo having seduced his daughter +Coronis, Phlegyas, in revenge, set fire to the temple of that god at +Delphi, for which sacrilege the deity killed him with his arrows, and +then cast him into Tartărus; where he was sentenced to sit under a huge +rock, which threatened him with perpetual destruction.</p> + +<p>IXION was son of Phlegyas, king of the Lapithæ in Thessaly. He +married Dia, daughter of Deioneus, whose consent he obtained by +magnificent promises, but, failing afterwards to perform them, Deioneus +seized on his horses. Ixion dissembled his resentment, and inviting +Deioneus to a banquet, received him in an apartment previously prepared, +from which, by withdrawing a door, his father-in-law was thrown into a +furnace of fire. Stung, however, with remorse, and universally despised, +Ixion was overpowered with frenzy, till Jupiter at length re-admitted +him to favor, and not only took him into heaven, but intrusted him also +with his counsels. So ungrateful, notwithstanding, did Ixion become, as +to attempt the chastity of Juno herself. This so incensed Jupiter that +the angry deity hurled him into Tartărus, and fixed him on a wheel +encompassed with serpents, which was doomed to revolve without +intermission.</p> + +<p>SALMONEUS, king of Elis, was son of Æolus, (not he who was king of +the winds, but another of the name) and Anarete. Not satisfied with an +earthly crown, Salmoneus panted after divine honors; and, in order that +the people might esteem him a god, he built a brazen bridge over the +city, and drove his chariot along it, imitating, +by <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_125" +id="Page_125">[125]</a></span>this noise, Jupiter's thunder; at the same +time throwing flaming torches among the spectators below, to represent +his lightning, by which many were killed. Jupiter, in resentment of this +insolence, precipitated the ambitious mortal into hell, where, according +to Virgil, Æneas saw him.</p> + +<p>SISIPHUS, <i>or</i> SISYPHUS, a descendant of Æŏlus, married Merope, +one of the Pleiades, who bore him Glaucus. He resided at Ephyra, in +Peloponnesus, and was conspicuous for his craft. Some say he was a +Trojan secretary, who was punished for discovering secrets of state; +whilst others contend that he was a notorious robber killed by Theseus. +However, all the poets agree that he was punished in Tartărus for his +crimes, by rolling a great stone to the top of a hill, which constantly +recoiling and rolling down again, incessantly renewed his fatigue, and +rendered his labor endless.</p> + +<p>Ovid, in one passage, seems to describe Sisyphus as bending under the +weight of a vast stone; “but the more common way of speaking of his +punishment,” says the author of Polymetis, “agrees with the fine +description of him in Homer, where we see him laboring to heave the +stone that lies on his shoulders up against the side of a steep +mountain, and which always rolls precipitately down again before he can +get it to rest upon the top. Lucretius makes him only an emblem of the +ambitious; as Horace too seems to make Tantălus only an emblem of the +covetous.”</p> + +<p>BELIDES, <i>or</i> DANAIDES: They were the fifty daughters of Danăus, +son of Belus, surnamed the <i>ancient</i>. Some quarrel having arisen +between him and Egyptus his brother, it determined Danăus on his voyage +into Greece; but Egyptus having fifty sons, proposed a reconciliation, +by marrying them to his brother's daughters. The proposal was agreed to, +and the nuptials were to be celebrated with singular splendor, when +Danăus, either in resentment of former injuries, or being told by the +oracle that one of his sons-in-law should destroy him, gave to each of +his daughters a dagger, with an injunction to stab her husband. They all +executed the order but Hypermnestra, the eldest, who spared the life of +Lyncæus. These Belĭdes, for their cruelty, were consigned to the +infernal regions, there to draw water in sieves from a well, till they +had filled, by that means, a vessel full of holes.</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_126" +id="Page_126">[126]</a></span>TANTALUS, king of Phrygia, was the son of +Jupiter and Plota. Whether it was for this cause, the violation of +hospitality, or for his pride, his boasting, his want of secrecy, his +insatiable covetousness, his imparting nectar and ambrosia to mortals, +or for all of them together, since he has been accused of them all, +Tantălus was thrown into Tartărus, where the poets have assigned him a +variety of torments. Some represent a great stone as hanging over his +head, which he apprehended to be continually falling, and was ever in +motion to avoid it. Others describe him as afflicted with constant +thirst and hunger, though the most delicious banquets were exposed to +his view; one of the Furies terrifying him with her torch whenever he +approached towards them. Some exhibit him standing to the chin in water, +and whenever he stooped to quench his thirst, the water as constantly +eluding his lip. Others, with fruits luxuriously growing around him, +which he no sooner advanced to touch, than the wind blew them into the +clouds.</p> + +<hr> +<h2 id="chap_2_10">CHAPTER X.</h2> + +<h3><i>Monsters of Hell.</i></h3> + +<p>HARPYIÆ, <i>or</i> HARPIES, were three in number, their names, +Celæno, Aëllo, and Ocypĕte. The ancients looked on them as a sort of +Genii, or Dæmons. They had the faces of virgins, the ears of bears, the +bodies of vultures, human arms and feet, and long claws, hooked like the +talons of carnivorous birds. Phineas, king of Arcadia, being a prophet, +and revealing the mysteries of Jupiter to mortals, was by that deity +struck blind, and so tormented by the Harpies that he was ready to +perish for hunger; they devouring whatever was set before him, till the +sons of Boreas, who attended Jason in his expedition to Colchis, +delivered the good old king, and drove these monsters to the islands +called Strophădes: compelling them to swear never more to return.</p> + +<p>The Harpies, according to the ingenious Abbé la Pluche, had their +origin in Egypt. He further observes, in respect to them, that during +the months of April, May, and June, especially the two latter, Egypt +being very subject to tempests, which laid waste their olive grounds, +and carried <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_127" +id="Page_127">[127]</a></span>thither numerous swarms of grasshoppers, +and other troublesome insects from the shores of the Red Sea, the +Egyptians gave to their emblematic figures of these months a female +face, with the bodies and claws of birds, calling them <i>Harop</i>, or +winged destroyers. This solution of the fable corresponds with the +opinion of Le Clerc, who takes the harpies to have been a swarm of +locusts, the word <i>Arbi</i>, whence Harpy is formed, signifying, in +their language, a locust.</p> + +<p>GORGONS were three in number, and daughters of Phorcus or Porcys, by +his sister Ceto. Their names were Medūsa, Euryăle, and Stheno, and they +are represented as having scales on their bodies, brazen hands, golden +wings, tusks like boars, and snakes for hair. The last distinction, +however, is confined by Ovid to Medūsa.</p> + +<p>According to some mythologists, Perseus having been sent against +Medūsa by the gods, was supplied by Mercury with a falchion, by Minerva +with a mirror, and by Pluto with a helmet, which rendered the wearer +invisible. Thus equipped, through the aid of winged sandals, he steered +his course towards Tartessus, where, finding the object of his search, +by the reflection of his mirror, he was enabled to aim his weapon, +without meeting her eye, (for her look would have turned him to stone) +and at one blow struck off her head. When Perseus had slain Medūsa, the +other sisters pursued him, but he escaped from their sight by means of +his helmet. They were afterwards thrown into hell.</p> + +<p>SPHINX was a female monster, daughter of Typhon and Echidna. She had +the head, face, and breasts of a woman, the wings of a bird, the claws +of a lion, and the body of a dog. She lived on mount Sphincius, infested +the country about Thebes, and assaulted passengers, by proposing dark +and enigmatical questions to them, which if they did not explain, she +tore them in pieces. Sphinx made horrible ravages in the neighborhood of +Thebes, till Creon, then king of that city, published an edict over all +Greece, promising that if any one should explain the riddle of Sphinx, +he would give him his own sister Iocasta in marriage.</p> + +<p>The riddle was this, “What animal is that which goes upon four feet +in the morning, upon two at noon, and upon three at night?” Many had +endeavored to explain this riddle, but failing in the attempt, were +destroyed by the monster; till Œdipus undertook the solution, and thus +ex<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_128" +id="Page_128">[128]</a></span>plained it: “The animal is man, who in his +infancy creeps, and so may be said to go on four feet; when he gets into +the noon of life, he walks on two feet; but when he grows old, or +declines into the evening of his days, he uses the support of a staff, +and thus may be said to walk on three feet.” The Sphinx being enraged at +this explanation, cast herself headlong from a rock and died.</p> + +<hr> +<h2 id="chap_2_11">CHAPTER XI.</h2> + +<h3><i>Dii indigĕtes, or Heroes who received divine Honors after Death.</i></h3> + +<p>HERCULES was the son of Jupiter by Alcmena, wife of Amphitryon, king +of Thebes, and is said to have been born in that city about 1280 years +before the Christian era. During his infancy Juno sent two serpents to +kill him in his cradle, but the undaunted child grasping one in either +hand, immediately strangled them both. As he grew up, he discovered an +uncommon degree of vigor both of body and of mind. Nor were his +extraordinary endowments neglected; for his education was intrusted to +the greatest masters. The tasks imposed on him by Eurystheus, on account +of the danger and difficulty which attended their execution, received +the name of the <i>Labors of Hercules</i>, and are commonly reckoned, +(at least the most material of them) to have been twelve.</p> + +<p>The first was his engagement with Cleonæan lion, which furious +animal, it is said, fell from the orb of the moon by Juno's direction, +and was invunerable. It infested the woods between Phlius and Cleōne, +and committed uncommon ravages. The hero attacked it both with his +arrows and club, but in vain, till, perceiving his error, he tore +asunder its jaws with his hands.</p> + +<p>The second labor was his conquest of the Lernæan hydra, a formidable +serpent or monster which harbored in the fens of Lerna, and infected the +region of Argos with his poisonous exhalations. This seems to have been +one of the most difficult tasks in which Hercules was ever engaged. The +number of heads assigned the hydra is various; some give him seven, some +nine, others fifty, and Ovid an hundred; but all authors agree that when +one was cut off, another sprung forth in its place, unless the wound was +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_129" +id="Page_129">[129]</a></span>immediately cauterized. Hercules, not +discouraged, attacked him, and having ordered Iŏlas, his friend and +companion, to cut down wood sufficient for fire-brands, he no sooner had +cut off a head than he applied these brands to the wounds; by which +means searing them up, he obtained a complete victory.</p> + +<p>The third labor was to bring alive to Eurystheus an enormous wild +boar which ravaged the forest of Erymanthus in Arcadia, and had been +sent to Phocis by Diāna to punish Ænēas, for neglecting her sacrifices. +Hercules brought him bound to Eurystheus. There is nothing descriptive +of this exploit in any of the Roman poets.</p> + +<p>The fourth labor was the capture of the Mænalæan stag. Eurystheus, +after repeated proofs of the strength and valor of Hercules, resolved to +try his agility, and commanded him to take a wild stag that frequented +mount Mænălus, which had brazen feet and golden horns. As this animal +was sacred to Diāna, Hercules durst not wound him; but though it were no +easy matter to run him down, yet this, after pursuing him on foot for a +year, the hero at last effected.</p> + +<p>The fifth labor of Hercules consisted in killing the Stymphalĭdes, +birds so called from frequenting the lake Stymphālis in Arcadia, which +preyed upon human flesh, having wings, beaks, and talons of iron. Some +say Hercules destroyed these birds with his arrows, others that Pallas +sent him brazen rattles, made by Vulcan, the sound of which so terrified +them, that they took shelter in the island of Aretia. There are authors +who suppose these birds called Stymphalĭdes, to have been a gang of +desperate banditti who had their haunts near the lake Stymphālis.</p> + +<p>The sixth labor was his cleansing the stable of Augeas. This Augeas, +king of Elis, had a stable intolerable from the stench occasioned by the +filth it contained, which may be readily imagined from the fact that it +sheltered three thousand oxen, and had not been cleansed for thirty +years. This place Eurystheus ordered Hercules to clear in one day, and +Augeas promised, if he performed the task, to give him a tenth part of +the cattle. Hercules, by turning the course of the river Alphēus through +the stable, executed his design, which Augeas seeing, refused to fulfil +his promise. The hero, to punish his perfidy, slew Augeas with his +arrows, and gave his kingdom to his son Phyleus, who abhorred his +father's treachery.</p> + +<p>The seventh labor was the capture of the Cretan +bull. <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_130" +id="Page_130">[130]</a></span>Minos, king of Crete, having acquired the +dominion of the Grecian seas, paid no greater honor to Neptune than to +the other gods, wherefore the deity, in resentment of this ingratitude, +sent a bull, which breathed fire from his nostrils, to destroy the +people of Crete. Hercules took this furious animal, and brought him to +Eurystheus, who, because the bull was sacred, let him loose into the +country of Marathon, where he was afterwards slain by Theseus.</p> + +<p>The eighth labor of Hercules, was the killing of Diomēdes and his +horses. That infamous tyrant was king of Thrace, and son of Mars and +Cyrēne. Among other things he is said to have driven in his war-chariot +four furious horses, which, to render the more impetuous, he used to +feed on the flesh and blood of his subjects. Hercules is said to have +freed the world from this barbarous prince, and to have killed both him +and his horses, as is signified in some drawings, and said expressly by +some of the poets. Some report that the tyrant was given by Hercules as +a prey to his own horses.</p> + +<p>The ninth labor of Hercules was his combat with Geryon, king of +Spain. Geryon is generally represented with three bodies agreeable to +the expressions used of him by the poets, and sometimes with three +heads. He had a breed of oxen of a purple color, (which devoured all +strangers cast to them) guarded by a dog with two heads, a dragon with +seven, besides a very watchful and severe keeper. Hercules, however, +killed the monarch and all his guards, and carried the oxen to Gades, +whence he brought them to Eurystheus. Some mythologists explain this +fable by saying that Geryon was king of three islands, now called +Majorca, Minorca, and Ivica, on which account he was fabled to be triple +bodied and headed.</p> + +<p>The tenth labor of Hercules was his conquest of Hippolyte queen of +the Amazons. His eleventh labor consisted in dragging Cerebus from the +infernal regions into day. The twelfth and last was killing the serpent, +and gaining the golden fruit in the gardens of the Hesperides.</p> + +<p>Hercules, after his conquests in Spain, having made himself famous in +the country of the Celtæ or Gauls, is said to have there founded a large +and populous city, which he called Alesia. His favorite wife was +Dejanira, whose jealousy most fatally occasioned his death. Hercules +having subdued Œchalia and killed Eurytus the king, carried off the fair +Iŏle, his daughter, with whom Dejanira +suspecting <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_131" +id="Page_131">[131]</a></span>him to be in love, sent him the garment of +Nessus, the Centaur, as a remedy to recover his affections; this +garment, however, having been pierced with an arrow dipped in the blood +of the Lernæan hydra, whilst worn by Nessus, contracted a poison from +his blood incurable by art. No sooner, therefore, was it put on by +Hercules than he was seized with a delirious fever, attended with the +most excruciating torments. Unable to support his pains, he retired to +mount Œta, where, raising a pile, and setting it on fire, he threw +himself upon it, and was consumed in the flames, after having killed in +his phrenzy Lycus his friend. His arrows he bequeathed to Philoctētes, +who interred his remains.</p> + +<p>After his death he was deified by his father Jupiter. Diōdorus +Siculus relates that he was no sooner ranked amongst the gods than Juno, +who had so violently persecuted him whilst on earth, adopted him for her +son, and loved him with the tenderness of a mother. Hercules was +afterwards married to Hebe, goddess of youth, his half sister, with all +the splendor of a celestial wedding; but he refused the honor which +Jupiter designed him, of being ranked with the twelve gods, alleging +there was no vacancy; and that it would be unreasonable to degrade any +other god for the purpose of admitting him.</p> + +<p>Both the Greeks and Romans honored him as a god, and as such erected +to him temples. His victims were bulls and lambs, on account of his +preserving the flocks from wolves; that is, delivering men from tyrants +and robbers. He was worshipped by the ancient Latins under the name of +Dius, or Divus Fidius, that is, the guarantee or protector of faith +promised or sworn. They had a custom of calling this deity to witness by +a sort of oath expressed in these terms, <i>Me Dius Fidius!</i> that is, +so help me the god Fidius! or Hercules.</p> + +<p>PERSEUS was the son of Jupiter and Danăe, daughter of Acrisius king +of Argos. When Perseus was grown up, Polydectes, who was enamored of his +mother, finding him an obstacle to their union, contrived to send him on +an exploit, which he hoped would be fatal to him. This was to bring him +the head of Medūsa, one of the Gorgons. In his expedition Perseus was +favored by the gods; Mercury equipped him with a scymetar, and the wings +from his heels; Pallas lent him a shield which reflected objects like a +mirror; and Pluto granted him his helmet, which rendered him invisible. +In this manner he flew to Tartessus in Spain, +where, <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_132" +id="Page_132">[132]</a></span>directed by the reflection of Medūsa in +his mirror, he cut off her head, and brought it to Pallas. From the +blood arose the winged horse Pegăsus.</p> + +<p>After this the hero passed into Mauritania, where repairing to the +court of Atlas, that monarch ordered him to retire, with menaces, in +case of disobedience; but Perseus, presenting his shield, with the +dreadful head of Medūsa, changed him into the mountain which still bears +his name. In his return to Greece he visited Ethiopia, mounted on +Pegăsus, and delivered Andromĕda, daughter of Cepheus, (who was exposed +on a rock of that coast to be devoured by a monster of the deep) on +condition he might make her his wife: but Phineas, her uncle, sought to +prevent him, by attempting, with a party, to carry off the bride. The +attempt, notwithstanding, was rendered abortive; for the hero, by +showing them the head of the Gorgon, at once turned them to stone.</p> + +<p>Perseus having completed these exploits, was desirous of revisiting +home, and accordingly set off for that purpose with his wife and his +mother. Arriving on the coast of Peloponnesus, and learning that +Teutamias, king of Larissa, was then celebrating games in honor of his +father, Perseus, wishing to exhibit his skill at the quoit, of which he +has been deemed the inventor, resolved to go thither. In this contest, +however, he was so unfortunate as to kill Acrisius, the father of his +mother, who, on the report that Perseus was returning to the place of +his nativity, had fled to the court of Teutamias his friend, to avoid +the denunciation of the oracle, which had induced him to exercise such +cruelty on his offspring. At what time Perseus died is unknown; but all +agree that divine honors were paid him. He had statues at Mycēnæ and in +Seriphos. A temple was erected to him in Athens, and an altar in it +consecrated to Dictys.</p> + +<div id="a8" class="center framed" style="width:100%;"> +<h3>HECTOR'S BODY DRAGGED AT THE CAR OF ACHILLES.</h3> +<p class="ralign"><i>Pl. 8.</i></p> +<a href="images/fig143.png"> +<img src="images/fig143th.png" alt="HECTOR'S BODY DRAGGED AT THE CAR OF ACHILLES"> +</a> +</div> + +<p>ACHILLES was the offspring of a goddess. Thetis bore him to Peleus, +king of Thessaly, and was so fond of him, that she charged herself with +his education. By day she fed him with ambrosia, and by night covered +him with celestial fire, to render him immortal. She also dipped him in +the waters of Styx, by which his whole body became invulnerable, except +that part of his heel by which she held him. He was afterwards committed +to the care of Chiron the Centaur, who fed him with honey, and the +marrow of lions and wild boars; whence he obtained that strength of body +and greatness of soul which qualified him for martial toil.</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_133" +id="Page_133">[133]</a></span>When the Greeks undertook the siege of +Troy, Calchas the diviner, and priest of Apollo, foretold that the city +should not be taken without the help of Achilles. Thetis, his mother, +who knew that Achilles, if he went to the siege of Troy, would never +return, clothed him in female apparel, and concealed him among the +maidens at the court of Lycomēdes, king of the island of Scyros. But +this stratagem proved ineffectual; for Calchas having informed the +Greeks where Achilles lay in disguise, they sent Ulysses to the court of +Lycomēdes, where, under the appearance of a merchant, he was introduced +to the king's daughters, and while they were studiously intent on +viewing his toys, Achilles employed himself in examining an helmet, +which the cunning politician had thrown in his way.</p> + +<p>Achilles thus detected, was prevailed on to go to Troy, after Thetis +had furnished him with impenetrable armor made by Vulcan. Thither he led +the troops of Thessaly, in fifty ships, and distinguished himself by a +number of heroic actions; but being disgusted with Agamemnon for the +loss of Briseis, he retired from the camp, and resolved to have no +further concern in the war. In this resolution he continued inexorable, +till news was brought him that Hector had killed his friend Patrōclus; +to avenge his death he not only slew Hector, but fastened the corpse to +his chariot, dragged it round the walls of Troy, offered many +indignities to it, and sold it at last to Priam his father.</p> + +<p>Authors are much divided on the manner of Achilles' death; some +relate that he was slain by Apollo, or that this god enabled Paris to +kill him, by directing the arrow to his heel, the only part in which he +was vulnerable. Others again say, that Paris murdered him treacherously, +in the temple of Apollo, whilst treating about his marriage with +Polyxĕna, daughter to king Priam.</p> + +<p>Though this tradition concerning his death be commonly received, yet +Homer plainly enough insinuates that Achilles died fighting for his +country, and represents the Greeks as maintaining a bloody battle about +his body, which lasted a whole day. Achilles having been lamented by +Thetis, the Nereids, and the Muses, was buried on the promontory of +Sigæum; and after Troy was captured, the Greeks endeavored to appease +his manes by sacrificing Polyxĕna, on his tomb, as his ghost had +requested.</p> + +<p>The oracle at Dodōna decreed him divine honors, and ordered annual +victims to be offered at the place of his +sep<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_134" +id="Page_134">[134]</a></span>ulture. In pursuance of this, the +Thessalians brought hither yearly two bulls, one black, the other white, +crowned with wreaths of flowers, and water from the river Sperchius. It +is said that Alexander, seeing his tomb, honored it by placing a crown +upon it, at the same time crying out “that Achilles was happy in having, +during his life, such a friend as Patrōclus, and after his death, a poet +like Homer.”</p> + +<p>ATLAS was son of Japĕtus and Clymĕne, and brother of Prometheus, +according to most authors; or, as others relate, son of Japĕtus by Asia, +daughter of Oceănus. He had many children. Of his sons, the most famous +were Hespĕrus (whom some call his brother) and Hyas. By his wife Pleione +he had seven daughters, who went by the general names of Atlantĭdes, or +Pleiădes; and by his wife Æthra he had also seven other daughters, who +bore the common appellation of the Hyădes.</p> + +<p>According to Hygīnus, Atlas having assisted the giants in their war +against Jupiter, was doomed by the victorious god, as a punishment, to +sustain the weight of the heavens. Ovid, however, represents him as a +powerful and wealthy monarch, proprietor of the gardens of the +Hesperĭdes, which bore golden fruit; but that being warned by the oracle +of Themis that he should suffer some great injury from a son of Jupiter, +he strictly forbade all foreigners access to his presence. Perseus, +however, having the courage to appear before him, was ordered to retire, +with strong menaces in case of disobedience; but the hero presenting his +shield, with the dreadful head of Medūsa, turned him into the mountain +which still bears his name.</p> + +<p>The Abbé la Pluche has given a very clear and ingenious explication +of this fable. Of all nations the Egyptians had, with the greatest +assiduity, cultivated astronomy. To point out the difficulties attending +the study of this science, they represented it by an image bearing a +globe or sphere on its back, which they called <i>Atlas</i>, a word +signifying <i>great toil or labor</i>; but the word also signifying +<i>support</i>, the Phœnicians, led by the representation, took it in this +sense, and in their voyages to Mauritania, seeing the high mountains of +that country covered with snow, and losing their tops in the clouds, +gave them the name of <i>Atlas</i>, and thus produced the fable by which the +symbol of astronomy used among the Egyptians became a Mauritanian king, +transformed into a mountain, whose head supports the heavens.</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_135" +id="Page_135">[135]</a></span>The rest of the fable is equally obvious +to explanation. The annual inundations of the Nile obliged the Egyptians +to be very exact in observing the motions of the heavenly bodies. The +Hyades, or Huades, took their name from the figure V, which they form in +the head of Taurus. The Pleiades were a remarkable constellation and of +great use to the Egyptians in regulating the seasons: hence they became +the daughters of Atlas; and Orion, who arose just as they set, was +called their lover.</p> + +<p>By the golden apples that grew in the gardens of the Hesperides, the +Phœnicians expressed the rich and beneficial commerce they had in the +Mediterranean, which being carried on during three months only of the +year, gave rise to the fable of the Hesperian sisters. The most usual +way of representing Atlas, among the ancient artists, was as supporting +a globe; for the old poets commonly refer to this attitude in speaking +of him.</p> + +<p>PROMETHEUS was son of Japĕtus, but it is doubtful whether his mother +were Asia, or Themis. Having incurred the displeasure of Jupiter, either +for stealing some of the celestial fire, or for forming a man of clay, +Jupiter, in resentment, commanded Vulcan to make a woman of clay, which, +when finished, was introduced into the assembly of the gods, each of +whom bestowed on her some additional charm or perfection. Venus gave her +beauty, Pallas wisdom, Juno riches, Mercury taught her eloquence, and +Apollo music. From all these accomplishments she was styled Pandōra, +that is, loaded with gifts and accomplishments, and was the first of her +sex.</p> + +<p>Jupiter, to complete his designs, presented her a box, in which he +had enclosed age, disease, war, famine, pestilence, discord, envy, +calumny, and, in short, all the evils and vices with which he intended +to afflict the world. Thus equipped, Pandōra was sent to Prometheus, +who, being on his guard against the mischief designed him, declined +accepting the box; but Epimetheus, his brother, though forewarned of the +danger, had less resolution; for, being enamored of the beauty of +Pandōra, he married her, and opened the fatal treasure, when immediately +flew abroad the contents, which soon overspread the world, hope only +remaining at the bottom.</p> + +<p>Prometheus escaping the evil which the god designed him, and Jupiter +not being appeased, Mercury and Vulcan were despatched by him to seize +Prometheus, and chain him on <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_136" +id="Page_136">[136]</a></span>Mount Caucasus, where a vulture, the +offspring of Typhon and Echidna, was commissioned to prey upon his +liver, which, that his torment might be endless, was constantly renewed +by night in proportion to its increase by day; but the vulture being +soon destroyed by Hercules, Prometheus was released. Others say, that +Jupiter restored Prometheus to freedom, for discovering the conspiracy +of Saturn, his father, and dissuading his intended marriage with +Thetis.</p> + +<p>Nicander, to this fable, offers an additional one. He tells us, that +when mankind had received the fire from Prometheus, some ungrateful men +discovered the theft to Jupiter, who rewarded them with the gift of +<i>perpetual youth</i>. This present they put on the back of an ass, which +stopping at a fountain to quench his thirst, was prevented by a +water-snake which would not suffer him to drink till he gave him his +burden; hence the serpent renews his youth upon changing his skin.</p> + +<p>Prometheus was esteemed the inventor of many useful arts. He made man +of the mixture and temperament of all the elements, gave him strength of +body, vigor of mind, and the peculiar qualities of all creatures, as the +craft of the fox, the courage of the lion, &c. He had an altar in the +academy of Athens in common with Vulcan and Pallas. In his statues he +holds a sceptre in the right hand.</p> + +<p>Several explanations have been given of this fable. Prometheus, whose +name is derived from a Greek word, signifying foresight and providence, +was conspicuous for that quality; and because he reduced mankind, before +rude and savage, to a state of culture and improvement, he was feigned +to have made them from clay: being a diligent observer of the motions of +the heavenly bodies from Mount Caucasus, it was fabled that he was +chained there: having discovered the method of striking fire from the +flint, or perhaps, the nature of lightning, it was pretended that he +stole fire from the gods: and, because he applied himself to study with +intenseness, they imagined that a vulture preyed continually on his +liver.</p> + +<p>There is another solution of this fable, analogous to the preceding. +According to Pliny, Prometheus was the first who instituted sacrifices. +Being expelled his dominions by Jupiter, he fled to Scythia, where he +retired to Mount Caucasus, either to make astronomical calculations or +to indulge his melancholy for the loss of his dominions, which +occasioned the fable of the vulture or eagle feeding +on <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_137" +id="Page_137">[137]</a></span>his liver. As he was the first inventor of +forging metals by fire, he was said to have stolen that element from +heaven; and, as the first introduction of agriculture and navigation had +been ascribed to him, he was celebrated as forming a living man from an +inanimate substance.</p> + +<p>AMPHION, king of Thebes, son of Jupiter and Antiŏpe, was instructed +in the use of the lyre by Mercury, and became so great a proficient, +that he is reported to have built the walls of Thebes by the power of +his harmony, which caused the listening stones to ascend voluntarily. He +married Niŏbe, daughter of Tantălus, whose insult to Diāna occasioned +the loss of their children by the arrows of Apollo and Diāna. The +unhappy father, attempting to revenge himself by the destruction of the +temple of Apollo, was punished with the loss of his sight and skill, and +thrown into the infernal regions.</p> + +<p>ORPHEUS, son of Apollo by the Muse Calliŏpe, was born in Thrace, and +resided near Mount Rhodŏpe, where he married Eurydice, a princess of +that country. Aristæus, a neighboring prince, fell desperately in love +with her, but she flying from his violence, was killed by the bite of a +serpent. Her disconsolate husband was so affected at his loss, that he +descended by the way of Tænărus to hell, in order to recover his beloved +wife. As music and poetry were to Orpheus hereditary talents, he exerted +them so powerfully in the infernal regions, that Pluto and Proserpine, +touched with compassion, restored to him his consort on condition that +he should not look back upon her till they came to the light of the +world. His impatience, however, prevailing, he broke the condition, and +lost Eurydice forever.</p> + +<p>Whilst Orpheus was among the shades, he sang the praises of all the +gods but Bacchus, whom he accidentally omitted; to revenge this affront, +Bacchus inspired the Mænădes, his priestesses, with such fury, that they +tore Orpheus to pieces, and scattered his limbs about the fields. His +head was cast into the river Hebrus, and (together with his harp) was +carried by the tide to Lesbos, where it afterwards delivered oracles. +The harp, with seven strings, representing the seven planets, which had +been given him by Apollo, was taken up into heaven, and graced with nine +stars by the nine Muses. Orpheus himself was changed into a swan. He +left a son called Methon, who founded in Thrace a city of his own +name.</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_138" +id="Page_138">[138]</a></span>It is certain that Orpheus may be placed +as the earliest poet of Greece, where he first introduced astronomy, +divinity, music and poetry; all which he had learned in Egypt. He +introduced also the rites of Bacchus, which from him were called +Orphica. He was a person of most consummate knowledge, and the wisest, +as well as the most diligent scholar of Linus.</p> + +<p>If we search for the origin of this fable, we must again have +recourse to Egypt, the mother-country of fiction. In July, when the sun +entered Leo, the Nile overflowed all the plains. To denote the public +joy at seeing the inundation rise to its due height, the Egyptians +exhibited a youth playing on the lyre, or the sistrum, and sitting by a +tame lion. When the waters did not increase as they should, the Horus +was represented stretched on the back of a lion, as dead. This symbol +they called Oreph, or Orpheus, (from <i>oreph</i>, the back part of the +head) to signify that agriculture was then quite unseasonable and +dormant.</p> + +<p>The songs with which the people amused themselves during this period +of inactivity, for want of exercise, were called the hymns of Orpheus; +and as husbandry revived immediately after, it gave rise to the fable of +Orpheus's returning from hell. The Isis placed near this Horus, they +called Eurydice, (from <i>eri</i>, a <i>lion</i>, +and <i>daca</i>, <i>tamed</i>, is formed +<i>Eridica</i>, <i>Eurydice</i>, or the lion tamed, <i>i.e.</i> the +violence of the inundation overcome), and as the Greeks took all these +figures in the literal, not in the emblematical sense, they made +Eurydice the wife of Orpheus.</p> + +<p>OSIRIS, son of Jupiter and Niŏbe, was king of the Argives many years; +but, being instigated by the desire of glory, he left his kingdom to his +brother Ægiălus, and went into Egypt, in search of a new name and +kingdom there. The Egyptians were not so much overcome by the valor of +Osīris, as obliged to him for his kindness towards them. Having +conferred the greatest benefits on his subjects, by civilizing their +manners, and instructing them in husbandry and other useful arts, he +made the necessary disposition of his affairs, committed the regency to +Isis, and set out with a body of forces in order to civilize the rest of +mankind. This he performed more by the power of persuasion, and the +soothing arts of music and poetry, than by the terror of his arms.</p> + +<p>In his absence, Typhœus, the giant, whom historians call the brother +of Osīris, formed a conspiracy to dethrone +him; <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_139" +id="Page_139">[139]</a></span>for which end, at the return of Osīris +into Egypt, he invited him to a feast, at the conclusion of which a +chest of exquisite workmanship was brought in, and offered to him who, +when laid down in it, should be found to fit it the best. Osīris, not +suspecting a trick to be played him, got into the chest, and the cover +being immediately shut upon him, this good but unfortunate prince was +thus thrown into the Nile.</p> + +<p>When the news of this transaction reached Coptus, where Isis his wife +then was, she cut her hair, and in deep mourning went every where in +search of the dead body. This was at length discovered, and concealed by +her at Butus; but Typhœus, while hunting by moonlight, having found it +there, tore it into many pieces, which he scattered abroad. Isis then +traversed the lakes and watery places in a boat made of +the <i>papyrus</i>, seeking the mangled parts of Osīris, and where she +found any, there she buried them; hence the many tombs ascribed to +Osīris.</p> + +<p>Plutarch seems evidently to prove that the Egyptians worshipped the +Sun under the name of Osīris. His reasons are: 1. Because the images of +Osīris were always clothed in a shining garment, to represent the rays +and light of the sun. 2. In their hymns, composed in honor of Osīris, +they prayed to him who reposes himself in the bosom of the sun. 3. After +the autumnal equinox, they celebrated a feast called, <i>The +disappearing of Osīris</i>, by which is plainly meant the absence and +distance of the sun. 4. In the month of November they led a cow seven +times round the temple of Osīris, intimating thereby, that in seven +months the sun would return to the summer solstice.</p> + +<p>He is represented sitting upon a throne, crowned with a mitre full of +small orbs, to intimate his superiority over all the globe. The gourd +upon the mitre implies his action and influence upon moisture, which, +and the Nile particularly, was termed by the Egyptians, the efflux of +Osīris. The lower part of his habit is made up of descending rays, and +his body is surrounded with orbs. His right hand is extended in a +commanding attitude, and his left holds a <i>thyrsus</i> or staff of the +<i>papyrus</i>, pointing out the principle of humidity, and the fertility +thence flowing, under his direction.</p> + +<p>ÆSCULAPIUS. The name of Æsculapius, whom the Greeks called Ασκληπιος, +appears to have been foreign, and derived from the oriental languages. +Being honored as a god in Phœnicia and Egypt, his worship passed into +Greece, <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_140" +id="Page_140">[140]</a></span>and was established, first at Epidaurus, a +city of Peloponnesus, bordering on the sea, where, probably, some +colonies first settled; a circumstance sufficient for the Greeks to give +out that this god was a native of Greece.</p> + +<p>Not to mention all we are told of his parents, it will be enough to +observe, that the opinion generally received in Greece, made him the son +of Apollo by Corōnis, daughter of Phlegyas; and indeed the Messenians, +who consulted the oracle of Delphi to know where Æsculapius was born, +and of what parents, were told by the oracle, or more properly Apollo, +that he himself was his father; that Corōnis was his mother, and that +their son was born at Epidaurus.</p> + +<p>Phlegyas, the most warlike man of his age, having gone into +Peloponnesus under pretence of travelling, but, in truth, to spy into +the condition of the country, carried his daughter Corōnis thither, who, +to conceal her situation from her father, went to Epidaurus: there she +was delivered of a son, whom she exposed upon a mountain, called to this +day Mount Titthion, or <i>of the breast</i>; but before this adventure, +Myrthion, from the myrtles that grew upon it.</p> + +<p>The reason of this change of name was, that the child, having been +here abandoned, was suckled by one of those goats of the mountain, which +the dog of Aristhĕnes the goat-herd guarded. When Aristhĕnes came to +review his flock, he found a she-goat and his dog missing, and going in +search of them discovered the child. Upon approaching to lift him from +the earth, he perceived his head encircled with fiery rays, which made +him believe the child to be of divine origin.</p> + +<p>As Κορωνη in the Greek language signifies a crow, hence another fable +arose importing, as we see in Lucian, that Æsculapius had sprung from an +egg of a bird, under the figure of a serpent. Whatever these fictions +may mean, Æsculapius being removed from the mount on which he was +exposed, was nursed by Trigo or Trigone, who was probably the wife of +the goat-herd that found him; and when he was capable of improving by +Chiron, Phlegyas (to whom he had doubtless been returned) put him under +the Centaur's tuition.</p> + +<p>Being of a quick and lively genius, he made such progress as soon to +become not only a great physician, but at length to be reckoned the god +and inventor of medicine; though the Greeks, not very consistent in the +history of those early ages, gave to Apis, son of Phoroneus, the glory +of having discovered the healing art. Æsculapius +accompa<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_141" +id="Page_141">[141]</a></span>nied Jason in his expedition to Colchis, +and in his medical capacity was of great service to the Argonauts. +Within a short time after his death he was deified, and received divine +honors: some add, that he formed the celestial sign, Serpentarius.</p> + +<p>As the Greeks always carried the encomiums of their great men beyond +the truth, they feigned that Æsculapius was so expert in medicine, as +not only to cure the sick, but even to raise the dead. Ovid says he did +this by Hippolĭtus, and Julian says the same of Tyndărus: that Pluto +cited him before the tribunal of Jupiter, and complained that his empire +was considerably diminished and in danger of becoming desolate, from the +cures Æsculapius performed; so that Jupiter in wrath slew Æsculapius +with a thunder-bolt; to which they added that Apollo, enraged at the +death of his son, killed the Cyclops who forged Jupiter's thunder-bolts: +a fiction which obviously signifies only, that Æsculapius had carried +his art very far, and that he cured diseases believed to be +desperate.</p> + +<p>Æsculapius is always represented under the figure of a grave old man +wrapped up in a cloak, having sometimes upon his head +the <i>calăthus</i> of Serāpis, with a staff in his hand, which is +commonly wreathed about with a serpent; sometimes again with a serpent +in one hand, and a <i>patĕra</i> in the other; sometimes leaning upon a +pillar, round which a serpent also twines. The cock, a bird consecrated +to this god, whose vigilance represents that quality which physicians +ought to have, is sometimes at the feet of his statues. Socrates, we +know, when dying, said to those who stood around him in his last +moments, “We owe a cock to Æsculapius; give it without delay.”</p> + +<p>ULYSSES, king of Ithăca, was the son of Laertes, or Laertius and +Anticlēa. His wife Penelŏpe, daughter of Icarius brother of Tyndărus +king of Sparta, was highly famed for her prudence and virtue; and being +unwilling that the Trojan war should part them, Ulysses to avoid the +expedition, pretended to be mad, and not only joined different beasts to +the same plough, but sowed also the furrows with salt.</p> + +<p>Palamēdes, however, suspecting the frenzy to be assumed, threw +Telemachus, then an infant, in the way of the plough, to try if his +father would alter its course. This stratagem succeeded; for when +Ulysses came to the child he turned off from the spot, in consequence of +which Palamēdes compelled him to take part in the war. He +accord<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_142" +id="Page_142">[142]</a></span>ingly sailed with twelve ships, and was +signally serviceable to the Greeks.</p> + +<p>To him the capture of Troy is chiefly to be ascribed, since by him +the obstacles were removed, which had so long prevented it. For as +Ulysses himself was detected by Palamēdes, so he in his turn detected +Achilles, who, to avoid engaging in the same war, had concealed himself +in the habits of a woman, at the court of Lycomēdes, king of Scyros. +Ulysses there discovered him, and as it had been foretold that without +Achilles Troy could not be taken, thence drew him to the siege.</p> + +<p>He also obtained the arrows of Hercules, from Philoctētes, and +carried off that hero from the scene of his retreat. He brought away +also the ashes of Laomĕdon, which were preserved in Troy on the Scœan +gate. By him the Palladium was stolen from the same city; Rhesus, king +of Thrace, killed, and his horses taken before they had drank of the +Xanthus. These exploits involved in them the destiny of Troy; for had +the Trojans preserved them, their city could never have been +conquered.</p> + +<p>Ulysses contended afterwards with Telamonian Ajax, the stoutest of +all the Grecians, except Achilles, for the arms of that hero, which were +awarded to him by the judges, who were won by the charms of his +eloquence. His other enterprises before Troy were numerous and +brilliant, and are particularly related in the Iliad. When Ulysses +departed for Greece, he sailed backwards and forwards for twenty years, +contrary winds and severe weather opposing his return to Ithăca.</p> + +<p>During this period, he extinguished, with a firebrand, the eye of +Polyphēmus; then sailing to Æolia, he obtained from Æŏlus all the winds +which were contrary to him, and put them into leathern bags; his +companions, however, believing these bags to be full of money, entered +into a plot to rob him, and accordingly, when they came on the coast of +Ithăca, untied the bags, upon which the wind rushing out, he was again +blown back to Æolia.</p> + +<p>When Circe had turned his companions into swine and other brutes, he +first fortified himself against her charms with the herb Moly, an +antidote Mercury had given him; and then rushing into her cave with his +drawn sword, compelled her to restore his associates to their original +shape.</p> + +<p>He is said to have gone down into hell, to know his future fortune, +from the prophet Tiresias. When he +sailed <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_143" +id="Page_143">[143]</a></span>to the islands of the Sirens, he stopped +the ears of his companions, and bound himself with strong ropes to the +ship's mast, that he might secure himself against the snares into which, +by their charming voices, passengers were habitually allured. Lastly, +after his ship was wrecked, he escaped by swimming, and came naked and +alone, to the port of Phæacia, in the island of Corcyra, where Nausicăa, +daughter of king Alcinŏus, found him in a profound sleep, into which he +was thrown by the indulgence of Minerva.</p> + +<p>When his companions were found, and his ship refitted, he bent his +course toward Ithăca, where arriving, and having put on the habit of a +beggar, he went to his neatherds, with whom he found his son Telemachus, +and with them went home in disguise. After having received several +affronts from the suitors of Penelŏpe, with the assistance of his son +Telemachus and the neatherds, to whom he had discovered himself, he +killed Antinŏus, and the other princes who were competitors for her +favor. After reigning some time, he resigned the government of his +kingdom to Telemachus.</p> + +<p>CASTOR and POLLUX were the twin sons of Jupiter and Leda. These +brothers entered into an inviolable friendship, and when they grew up, +cleared the Archipelago of pirates, on which account they were esteemed +deities of the sea, and accordingly were invoked by mariners in +tempests. They went with the other noble youths of Greece in the +expedition to Colchis, in search of the golden fleece, and on all +occasions signalized themselves by their courage.</p> + +<p>In this expedition Pollux slew Amycus, son of Neptune, and king of +Bebrycia, who had challenged all the Argonauts to box with him. This +victory, and that which he gained afterwards at the Olympic games which +Hercules celebrated in Elis, caused him to be considered the hero and +patron of wrestlers, while his brother Castor distinguished himself in +the race, and in the management of horses.</p> + +<p>Cicero relates a wonderful judgment which happened to one Scopas, who +had spoken disrespectfully of these divinities: he was crushed to death +by the fall of a chamber, whilst Simonĭdes, who was in the same room, +was rescued from the danger, being called out a little before, by two +persons unknown, supposed to be Castor and Pollux.</p> + +<p>The Greek and Roman histories are full of the miraculous appearance +of these brethren; particularly we are told they were seen fighting upon +two white horses, at the head <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_144" +id="Page_144">[144]</a></span>of the Roman army, in the battle between +the Romans and Latins, near the lake Regillus, and brought the news of +the decisive victory of Paulus Æmilius to Rome, the very day it was +obtained.</p> + +<p>Frequent representations of these deities occur on ancient monuments, +and particularly on consular medals. They are exhibited together, each +having a helmet, out of which issues a flame, and each a pike in one +hand, and in the other a horse held by the bridle: sometimes they are +represented as two beautiful youths, completely armed, and riding on +white horses, with stars over their helmets.</p> + +<p>AJAX, son of Telămon, king of Salămis, by Beribœa, was, next to +Achilles, the most valiant among the Greeks at the seige of Troy. He +commanded the troops of Salămis in that expedition, and performed the +various heroic actions mentioned by Homer, and Ovid, in the speech of +Ajax contending for the armor of Achilles. This armor, however, being +adjudged to his competitor Ulysses, his disappointment so enraged him, +that he immediately became mad, and rushed furiously upon a flock of +sheep, imagining he was killing those who had offended him: but at +length perceiving his mistake, he became still more furious, and stabbed +himself with the fatal sword he had received from Hector, with whom he +had fought. Ajax resembled Achilles in several respects; like him he was +violent, and impatient of contradiction; and, like him, invulnerable in +every part of the body except one.</p> + +<p>He has been charged with impiety; not that he denied the gods a very +extensive power, but he imagined that, as the greatest cowards might +conquer through their assistance, there was no glory in conquering by +such aids; and scorned to owe his victory to aught but his own prowess. +Accordingly, we are told that when he was setting out for Troy, his +father recommended him always to join the assistance of the gods to his +own valor; to which Ajax replied, that cowards themselves were often +victorious by such helps, but for his own part he would make no reliance +of the kind, being assured he should be able to conquer without.</p> + +<p>It is further added, upon the head of his irreligion, that to +Minerva, who once offered him her advice, he replied with indignation: +“Trouble not yourself about my conduct; of that I shall give a good +account; you have nothing to do but reserve your favor and assistance +for the other Greeks.” Another time she offered to guide +his <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_145" +id="Page_145">[145]</a></span>chariot in the battle, but he would not +suffer her. Nay, he even defaced the owl, her favorite bird, which was +engraven on his shield, lest that figure should be considered as an act +of reverence to Minerva, and hence as indicating distrust in +himself.</p> + +<p>Homer, however, does not represent him in this light, for though he +does not pray to Jupiter himself when he prepares to engage the valiant +Hector, yet he desires others to pray for him, either in a low voice, +lest the Trojans should hear, or louder if they pleased; for, says he, I +fear no person in the world.</p> + +<p>The poets give to Ajax the same commendation that the holy scripture +gives to king Saul, with regard to his stature. He has been the subject +of several tragedies, as well in Greek as Latin; and it is related that +the famous comedian, Æsop, refused to act that part. The Greeks paid +great honor to him after his death, and erected to him a noble monument +upon the promontory of Rhœteum, which was one of those Alexander desired +to see and honor.</p> + +<p>JASON was son of Æson, king of Thessaly, and Alcimĕde. He was an +infant when Pelias, his uncle, who was left his guardian, sought to +destroy him; but being, to avoid the danger, conveyed by his relations +to a cave, he was there instructed by Chiron in the art of physic; +whence he took the name of Jason, or the healer, his former name being +Diomēdes. Arriving at years of maturity, he returned to his uncle, who, +probably with no favorable intention to Jason, inspired him with the +notion of the Colchian expedition and agreeably flattered his ambition +with the hopes of acquiring the golden fleece.</p> + +<p>Jason having resolved on the voyage, built a vessel at Iolchos in +Thessaly, for the expedition, under the inspection, of Argos, a famous +workman, which, from him, was called Argo: it was said to have been +executed by the advice of Pallas, who pointed out a tree in the Dodonæan +forest for a mast, which was vocal, and had the gift of prophecy.</p> + +<p>The fame of the vessel, the largest that had ever been heard of, but +particularly the design itself, soon induced the bravest and most +distinguished youths of Greece to become adventurers in it, and brought +together about fifty of the most accomplished young persons of the age +to accompany Jason in this expedition; authors, however, are not agreed +on the precise names or numbers of the Argonauts; some state them to +have been forty-nine; others more, and amongst them several were of +divine origin.</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_146" +id="Page_146">[146]</a></span>On his arrival at Colchis he repaired to +the court of Æētes, from whom he demanded the golden fleece. The monarch +acceded to his request, provided he could overcome the difficulties +which lay in his way, and which appeared not easily surmountable; these +were bulls with brazen feet, whose nostrils breathed fire, and a dragon +which guarded the fleece. The teeth of the latter, when killed, Jason +was enjoined to sow, and, after they had sprung up into armed men, to +destroy them.</p> + +<p>Though success attended the enterprise, it was less owing to valor, +than to the assistance of Medēa, daughter of Æētes, who, by her +enchantments, laid asleep the dragon, taught Jason to subdue the bulls, +and when he had obtained the prize, accompanied him in the night time, +unknown to her brother.</p> + +<p>The return of the Argonauts is variously related; some contend it was +by the track in which they came, and say that the brother of Medēa +pursued them as far as the Adriatic, and was overcome by Jason; which +occasioned the story that his sister had cut him in pieces, and strewed +his limbs in the way, that her father, from solicitude to collect them, +might be delayed in the pursuit.</p> + +<hr> +<h2 id="chap_2_12">CHAPTER XII.</h2> + +<h3><i>Other fabulous personages.</i></h3> + +<p>GRACES <i>or</i> CHARITES. Among the multitude of ancient divinities, +none had more votaries that the Graces. Particular nations and countries +had appropriate and local deities, but their empire was universal. To +their influence was ascribed all that could please in nature and in art; +and to them every rank and profession concurred in offering their +vows.</p> + +<p>Their number was generally limited, by the ancient poets, to three: +<i>Euphrosyne</i>, <i>Thalīa</i>, and <i>Aglaia</i>; but they differed concerning their +origin. Some suppose them to have been the offspring of Jupiter and +Eunomia, daughter of Oceănus; but the most prevalent opinion is, that +they were descended from Bacchus and Venus. According to Homer, Aglaia, +the youngest, was married to Vulcan, and another of them to the god of +Sleep. The Graces were companions of <i>Mercury</i>, <i>Venus</i>, and the +<i>Muses</i>.</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_147" +id="Page_147">[147]</a></span>Festivals were celebrated in honor of them +throughout the whole year. They were esteemed the dispensers of +liberality, eloquence, and wisdom; and from them were derived simplicity +of manners, a graceful deportment, and gaiety of disposition. From their +inspiring acts of gratitude and mutual kindness they were described as +uniting hand in hand with each other. The ancients partook of but few +repasts without invoking them, as well as the Muses.</p> + +<p>SIRENS were a kind of fabulous beings represented by some as +sea-monsters, with the faces of women and the tails of fishes, answering +the description of mermaids; and by others said to have the upper parts +of a woman, and the under parts of a bird. Their number is not +determined; Homer reckons only two; others five, namely, Leucosia, +Ligeia, Parthenŏpe, Aglaŏphon, and Molpe; others admit only the three +first.</p> + +<p>The poets represent them as beautiful women inhabiting the rocks on +the sea-shore, whither having allured passengers by the sweetness of +their voices, they put them to death. Virgil places them on rocks where +vessels are in danger of shipwreck; Pliny makes them inhabit the +promontory of Minerva, near the island Capreæ; others fix them in +Sicily, near cape Pelōrus.</p> + +<p>Claudian says they inhabited harmonious rocks, that they were +charming monsters, and that sailors were wrecked on their coasts without +regret, and even expired in rapture. This description is doubtless +founded on a literal explication of the fable, that the Sirens were +women who inhabited the shores of Sicily, and who, by the allurements of +pleasure, stopped passengers, and made them forget their course.</p> + +<p>Ovid says they accompanied Proserpine when she was carried off, and +that the gods granted them wings to go in quest of that goddess. Homer +places the Sirens in the midst of a meadow drenched in blood, and tells +us that fate had permitted them to reign till some person should +over-reach them; that the wise Ulysses accomplished their destiny, +having escaped their snares, by stopping the ears of his companions with +wax, and causing himself to be fastened to the mast of his ship, which, +he adds, plunged them into so deep despair, that they drowned themselves +in the sea, where they were transformed into fishes from the waist +downwards.</p> + +<p>Others, who do not look for so much mystery in this fable, maintain +that the Sirens were nothing but +certain <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_148" +id="Page_148">[148]</a></span>straits in the sea, where the waves +whirling furiously around seized and swallowed up vessels that +approached them. Lastly, some hold the Sirens to have been certain +shores and promontories, where the winds, by various reverberations and +echoes, cause a kind of harmony that surprises and stops passengers. +This probably might be the origin of the Sirens' song, and the occasion +of giving the name of Sirens to those rocks.</p> + +<p>Some interpreters of the ancient fables contend, that the number and +names of the three Sirens were taken from the triple pleasure of the +senses, wine, love, and music, which are the three most powerful means +of seducing mankind; and hence so many exhortations to avoid the Sirens' +fatal song; and probably it was hence that the Greeks obtained their +etymology of Siren from a Greek word signifying a <i>chain</i>, as if +there were no getting free from their enticement.</p> + +<p>But if in tracing this fable to its source, we take Servius as our +guide, he tells us that it derived its origin from certain princesses +who reigned of old upon the coasts of the Tuscan sea, near Pelōrus and +Caprea, or in three small islands of Sicily which Aristotle calls the +isles of the Sirens. These women were very debauched, and by their +charms allured strangers, who were ruined in their court, by pleasure +and prodigality.</p> + +<p>This seems evidently the foundation of all that Homer says of the +Sirens, in the twelfth book of the Odyssey; that they bewitched those +who unfortunately listened to their songs; that they detained them in +capacious meadows, where nothing was to be seen but bones and carcasses +withering in the sun; that none who visit them ever again enjoy the +embraces and congratulations of their wives and children; and that all +who dote upon their charms are doomed to perish. What Solomon says in +the ninth chapter of Proverbs, of the miseries to which those are +exposed who abandon themselves to sensual pleasures, well justifies the +idea given us of the Sirens by the Greek poets, and by Virgil's +commentator.</p> +</div><!-- end .bookcontent --> + +<div id="tn" class="TN" style="width:70%; margin:0 auto;"> +<p>[Transcriber's Note:</p> + +<p>Certain non-ASCII characters have been marked per the following list. +The HTML and UTF-8 text files properly display these characters.</p> + +<ul> +<li>{)a} a breve</li> +<li>{)e} e breve</li> +<li>{)i} i breve</li> +<li>{)o} o breve</li> +<li>{=a} a macron</li> +<li>{=e} e macron </li> +<li>{=i} i macron </li> +<li>{=o} o macron </li> +<li>{=u} u macron </li> +<li>{=y} y macron</li> +</ul> + +<p>oe|OE are recorded as oe in the Latin-1 and ASCII texts. ae|AE +ligatures have been unpacked as ae for ASCII. Greek words have been +transliterated and are marked with {word} form.</p> + +<p style="margin:1% 0;">Corrected typographical errors. The typographic +error and its corresponding line are listed.</p> + +<dl> + <dt>honoraable</dt> + <dd>The office of the legati was very dignified and honorable</dd> + + <dt>desposited</dt> + <dd>collected and deposited in an urn, to be kept in the mausoleum</dd> + + <dt>feats</dt> + <dd>Trimalchio, in his ridiculous feasts described by Petronius,</dd> +</dl> + + <p>End of Notes.]</p> + +</div><!-- end TN --> + + + + + + + + +<pre> + + + + + +End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of Roman Antiquities, and Ancient +Mythology, by Charles K. Dillaway + +*** END OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK ROMAN ANTIQUITIES *** + +***** This file should be named 20734-h.htm or 20734-h.zip ***** +This and all associated files of various formats will be found in: + http://www.gutenberg.org/2/0/7/3/20734/ + +Produced by Barbara Tozier, V. L. Simpson, Bill Tozier and +the Online Distributed Proofreading Team at +http://www.pgdp.net + + +Updated editions will replace the previous one--the old editions +will be renamed. + +Creating the works from public domain print editions means that no +one owns a United States copyright in these works, so the Foundation +(and you!) can copy and distribute it in the United States without +permission and without paying copyright royalties. Special rules, +set forth in the General Terms of Use part of this license, apply to +copying and distributing Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works to +protect the PROJECT GUTENBERG-tm concept and trademark. Project +Gutenberg is a registered trademark, and may not be used if you +charge for the eBooks, unless you receive specific permission. If you +do not charge anything for copies of this eBook, complying with the +rules is very easy. You may use this eBook for nearly any purpose +such as creation of derivative works, reports, performances and +research. They may be modified and printed and given away--you may do +practically ANYTHING with public domain eBooks. Redistribution is +subject to the trademark license, especially commercial +redistribution. + + + +*** START: FULL LICENSE *** + +THE FULL PROJECT GUTENBERG LICENSE +PLEASE READ THIS BEFORE YOU DISTRIBUTE OR USE THIS WORK + +To protect the Project Gutenberg-tm mission of promoting the free +distribution of electronic works, by using or distributing this work +(or any other work associated in any way with the phrase "Project +Gutenberg"), you agree to comply with all the terms of the Full Project +Gutenberg-tm License (available with this file or online at +http://gutenberg.org/license). + + +Section 1. General Terms of Use and Redistributing Project Gutenberg-tm +electronic works + +1.A. By reading or using any part of this Project Gutenberg-tm +electronic work, you indicate that you have read, understand, agree to +and accept all the terms of this license and intellectual property +(trademark/copyright) agreement. If you do not agree to abide by all +the terms of this agreement, you must cease using and return or destroy +all copies of Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works in your possession. +If you paid a fee for obtaining a copy of or access to a Project +Gutenberg-tm electronic work and you do not agree to be bound by the +terms of this agreement, you may obtain a refund from the person or +entity to whom you paid the fee as set forth in paragraph 1.E.8. + +1.B. "Project Gutenberg" is a registered trademark. It may only be +used on or associated in any way with an electronic work by people who +agree to be bound by the terms of this agreement. There are a few +things that you can do with most Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works +even without complying with the full terms of this agreement. See +paragraph 1.C below. There are a lot of things you can do with Project +Gutenberg-tm electronic works if you follow the terms of this agreement +and help preserve free future access to Project Gutenberg-tm electronic +works. See paragraph 1.E below. + +1.C. The Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation ("the Foundation" +or PGLAF), owns a compilation copyright in the collection of Project +Gutenberg-tm electronic works. Nearly all the individual works in the +collection are in the public domain in the United States. If an +individual work is in the public domain in the United States and you are +located in the United States, we do not claim a right to prevent you from +copying, distributing, performing, displaying or creating derivative +works based on the work as long as all references to Project Gutenberg +are removed. Of course, we hope that you will support the Project +Gutenberg-tm mission of promoting free access to electronic works by +freely sharing Project Gutenberg-tm works in compliance with the terms of +this agreement for keeping the Project Gutenberg-tm name associated with +the work. You can easily comply with the terms of this agreement by +keeping this work in the same format with its attached full Project +Gutenberg-tm License when you share it without charge with others. + +1.D. The copyright laws of the place where you are located also govern +what you can do with this work. Copyright laws in most countries are in +a constant state of change. If you are outside the United States, check +the laws of your country in addition to the terms of this agreement +before downloading, copying, displaying, performing, distributing or +creating derivative works based on this work or any other Project +Gutenberg-tm work. The Foundation makes no representations concerning +the copyright status of any work in any country outside the United +States. + +1.E. Unless you have removed all references to Project Gutenberg: + +1.E.1. The following sentence, with active links to, or other immediate +access to, the full Project Gutenberg-tm License must appear prominently +whenever any copy of a Project Gutenberg-tm work (any work on which the +phrase "Project Gutenberg" appears, or with which the phrase "Project +Gutenberg" is associated) is accessed, displayed, performed, viewed, +copied or distributed: + +This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with +almost no restrictions whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or +re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included +with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org + +1.E.2. If an individual Project Gutenberg-tm electronic work is derived +from the public domain (does not contain a notice indicating that it is +posted with permission of the copyright holder), the work can be copied +and distributed to anyone in the United States without paying any fees +or charges. If you are redistributing or providing access to a work +with the phrase "Project Gutenberg" associated with or appearing on the +work, you must comply either with the requirements of paragraphs 1.E.1 +through 1.E.7 or obtain permission for the use of the work and the +Project Gutenberg-tm trademark as set forth in paragraphs 1.E.8 or +1.E.9. + +1.E.3. If an individual Project Gutenberg-tm electronic work is posted +with the permission of the copyright holder, your use and distribution +must comply with both paragraphs 1.E.1 through 1.E.7 and any additional +terms imposed by the copyright holder. Additional terms will be linked +to the Project Gutenberg-tm License for all works posted with the +permission of the copyright holder found at the beginning of this work. + +1.E.4. Do not unlink or detach or remove the full Project Gutenberg-tm +License terms from this work, or any files containing a part of this +work or any other work associated with Project Gutenberg-tm. + +1.E.5. Do not copy, display, perform, distribute or redistribute this +electronic work, or any part of this electronic work, without +prominently displaying the sentence set forth in paragraph 1.E.1 with +active links or immediate access to the full terms of the Project +Gutenberg-tm License. + +1.E.6. You may convert to and distribute this work in any binary, +compressed, marked up, nonproprietary or proprietary form, including any +word processing or hypertext form. However, if you provide access to or +distribute copies of a Project Gutenberg-tm work in a format other than +"Plain Vanilla ASCII" or other format used in the official version +posted on the official Project Gutenberg-tm web site (www.gutenberg.org), +you must, at no additional cost, fee or expense to the user, provide a +copy, a means of exporting a copy, or a means of obtaining a copy upon +request, of the work in its original "Plain Vanilla ASCII" or other +form. Any alternate format must include the full Project Gutenberg-tm +License as specified in paragraph 1.E.1. + +1.E.7. Do not charge a fee for access to, viewing, displaying, +performing, copying or distributing any Project Gutenberg-tm works +unless you comply with paragraph 1.E.8 or 1.E.9. + +1.E.8. You may charge a reasonable fee for copies of or providing +access to or distributing Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works provided +that + +- You pay a royalty fee of 20% of the gross profits you derive from + the use of Project Gutenberg-tm works calculated using the method + you already use to calculate your applicable taxes. The fee is + owed to the owner of the Project Gutenberg-tm trademark, but he + has agreed to donate royalties under this paragraph to the + Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation. Royalty payments + must be paid within 60 days following each date on which you + prepare (or are legally required to prepare) your periodic tax + returns. Royalty payments should be clearly marked as such and + sent to the Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation at the + address specified in Section 4, "Information about donations to + the Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation." + +- You provide a full refund of any money paid by a user who notifies + you in writing (or by e-mail) within 30 days of receipt that s/he + does not agree to the terms of the full Project Gutenberg-tm + License. You must require such a user to return or + destroy all copies of the works possessed in a physical medium + and discontinue all use of and all access to other copies of + Project Gutenberg-tm works. + +- You provide, in accordance with paragraph 1.F.3, a full refund of any + money paid for a work or a replacement copy, if a defect in the + electronic work is discovered and reported to you within 90 days + of receipt of the work. + +- You comply with all other terms of this agreement for free + distribution of Project Gutenberg-tm works. + +1.E.9. If you wish to charge a fee or distribute a Project Gutenberg-tm +electronic work or group of works on different terms than are set +forth in this agreement, you must obtain permission in writing from +both the Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation and Michael +Hart, the owner of the Project Gutenberg-tm trademark. Contact the +Foundation as set forth in Section 3 below. + +1.F. + +1.F.1. Project Gutenberg volunteers and employees expend considerable +effort to identify, do copyright research on, transcribe and proofread +public domain works in creating the Project Gutenberg-tm +collection. Despite these efforts, Project Gutenberg-tm electronic +works, and the medium on which they may be stored, may contain +"Defects," such as, but not limited to, incomplete, inaccurate or +corrupt data, transcription errors, a copyright or other intellectual +property infringement, a defective or damaged disk or other medium, a +computer virus, or computer codes that damage or cannot be read by +your equipment. + +1.F.2. LIMITED WARRANTY, DISCLAIMER OF DAMAGES - Except for the "Right +of Replacement or Refund" described in paragraph 1.F.3, the Project +Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation, the owner of the Project +Gutenberg-tm trademark, and any other party distributing a Project +Gutenberg-tm electronic work under this agreement, disclaim all +liability to you for damages, costs and expenses, including legal +fees. YOU AGREE THAT YOU HAVE NO REMEDIES FOR NEGLIGENCE, STRICT +LIABILITY, BREACH OF WARRANTY OR BREACH OF CONTRACT EXCEPT THOSE +PROVIDED IN PARAGRAPH F3. YOU AGREE THAT THE FOUNDATION, THE +TRADEMARK OWNER, AND ANY DISTRIBUTOR UNDER THIS AGREEMENT WILL NOT BE +LIABLE TO YOU FOR ACTUAL, DIRECT, INDIRECT, CONSEQUENTIAL, PUNITIVE OR +INCIDENTAL DAMAGES EVEN IF YOU GIVE NOTICE OF THE POSSIBILITY OF SUCH +DAMAGE. + +1.F.3. LIMITED RIGHT OF REPLACEMENT OR REFUND - If you discover a +defect in this electronic work within 90 days of receiving it, you can +receive a refund of the money (if any) you paid for it by sending a +written explanation to the person you received the work from. If you +received the work on a physical medium, you must return the medium with +your written explanation. The person or entity that provided you with +the defective work may elect to provide a replacement copy in lieu of a +refund. If you received the work electronically, the person or entity +providing it to you may choose to give you a second opportunity to +receive the work electronically in lieu of a refund. If the second copy +is also defective, you may demand a refund in writing without further +opportunities to fix the problem. + +1.F.4. Except for the limited right of replacement or refund set forth +in paragraph 1.F.3, this work is provided to you 'AS-IS' WITH NO OTHER +WARRANTIES OF ANY KIND, EXPRESS OR IMPLIED, INCLUDING BUT NOT LIMITED TO +WARRANTIES OF MERCHANTIBILITY OR FITNESS FOR ANY PURPOSE. + +1.F.5. Some states do not allow disclaimers of certain implied +warranties or the exclusion or limitation of certain types of damages. +If any disclaimer or limitation set forth in this agreement violates the +law of the state applicable to this agreement, the agreement shall be +interpreted to make the maximum disclaimer or limitation permitted by +the applicable state law. The invalidity or unenforceability of any +provision of this agreement shall not void the remaining provisions. + +1.F.6. INDEMNITY - You agree to indemnify and hold the Foundation, the +trademark owner, any agent or employee of the Foundation, anyone +providing copies of Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works in accordance +with this agreement, and any volunteers associated with the production, +promotion and distribution of Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works, +harmless from all liability, costs and expenses, including legal fees, +that arise directly or indirectly from any of the following which you do +or cause to occur: (a) distribution of this or any Project Gutenberg-tm +work, (b) alteration, modification, or additions or deletions to any +Project Gutenberg-tm work, and (c) any Defect you cause. + + +Section 2. Information about the Mission of Project Gutenberg-tm + +Project Gutenberg-tm is synonymous with the free distribution of +electronic works in formats readable by the widest variety of computers +including obsolete, old, middle-aged and new computers. It exists +because of the efforts of hundreds of volunteers and donations from +people in all walks of life. + +Volunteers and financial support to provide volunteers with the +assistance they need, is critical to reaching Project Gutenberg-tm's +goals and ensuring that the Project Gutenberg-tm collection will +remain freely available for generations to come. In 2001, the Project +Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation was created to provide a secure +and permanent future for Project Gutenberg-tm and future generations. +To learn more about the Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation +and how your efforts and donations can help, see Sections 3 and 4 +and the Foundation web page at http://www.pglaf.org. + + +Section 3. Information about the Project Gutenberg Literary Archive +Foundation + +The Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation is a non profit +501(c)(3) educational corporation organized under the laws of the +state of Mississippi and granted tax exempt status by the Internal +Revenue Service. The Foundation's EIN or federal tax identification +number is 64-6221541. Its 501(c)(3) letter is posted at +http://pglaf.org/fundraising. Contributions to the Project Gutenberg +Literary Archive Foundation are tax deductible to the full extent +permitted by U.S. federal laws and your state's laws. + +The Foundation's principal office is located at 4557 Melan Dr. S. +Fairbanks, AK, 99712., but its volunteers and employees are scattered +throughout numerous locations. Its business office is located at +809 North 1500 West, Salt Lake City, UT 84116, (801) 596-1887, email +business@pglaf.org. Email contact links and up to date contact +information can be found at the Foundation's web site and official +page at http://pglaf.org + +For additional contact information: + Dr. Gregory B. Newby + Chief Executive and Director + gbnewby@pglaf.org + + +Section 4. Information about Donations to the Project Gutenberg +Literary Archive Foundation + +Project Gutenberg-tm depends upon and cannot survive without wide +spread public support and donations to carry out its mission of +increasing the number of public domain and licensed works that can be +freely distributed in machine readable form accessible by the widest +array of equipment including outdated equipment. Many small donations +($1 to $5,000) are particularly important to maintaining tax exempt +status with the IRS. + +The Foundation is committed to complying with the laws regulating +charities and charitable donations in all 50 states of the United +States. Compliance requirements are not uniform and it takes a +considerable effort, much paperwork and many fees to meet and keep up +with these requirements. We do not solicit donations in locations +where we have not received written confirmation of compliance. To +SEND DONATIONS or determine the status of compliance for any +particular state visit http://pglaf.org + +While we cannot and do not solicit contributions from states where we +have not met the solicitation requirements, we know of no prohibition +against accepting unsolicited donations from donors in such states who +approach us with offers to donate. + +International donations are gratefully accepted, but we cannot make +any statements concerning tax treatment of donations received from +outside the United States. U.S. laws alone swamp our small staff. + +Please check the Project Gutenberg Web pages for current donation +methods and addresses. Donations are accepted in a number of other +ways including checks, online payments and credit card donations. +To donate, please visit: http://pglaf.org/donate + + +Section 5. General Information About Project Gutenberg-tm electronic +works. + +Professor Michael S. Hart is the originator of the Project Gutenberg-tm +concept of a library of electronic works that could be freely shared +with anyone. For thirty years, he produced and distributed Project +Gutenberg-tm eBooks with only a loose network of volunteer support. + + +Project Gutenberg-tm eBooks are often created from several printed +editions, all of which are confirmed as Public Domain in the U.S. +unless a copyright notice is included. Thus, we do not necessarily +keep eBooks in compliance with any particular paper edition. + + +Most people start at our Web site which has the main PG search facility: + + http://www.gutenberg.org + +This Web site includes information about Project Gutenberg-tm, +including how to make donations to the Project Gutenberg Literary +Archive Foundation, how to help produce our new eBooks, and how to +subscribe to our email newsletter to hear about new eBooks. + + +</pre> + +</body> +</html> diff --git a/20734-h/images/fig001-fs.png b/20734-h/images/fig001-fs.png Binary files differnew file mode 100644 index 0000000..68e814e --- /dev/null +++ b/20734-h/images/fig001-fs.png diff --git a/20734-h/images/fig001-th.png b/20734-h/images/fig001-th.png Binary files differnew file mode 100644 index 0000000..104783a --- /dev/null +++ b/20734-h/images/fig001-th.png diff --git a/20734-h/images/fig024.png b/20734-h/images/fig024.png Binary files differnew file mode 100644 index 0000000..0162031 --- /dev/null +++ b/20734-h/images/fig024.png diff --git a/20734-h/images/fig024th.png b/20734-h/images/fig024th.png Binary files differnew file mode 100644 index 0000000..1aa40fa --- /dev/null +++ b/20734-h/images/fig024th.png diff --git a/20734-h/images/fig072.png b/20734-h/images/fig072.png Binary files differnew file mode 100644 index 0000000..ed8c8d5 --- /dev/null +++ b/20734-h/images/fig072.png diff --git a/20734-h/images/fig072th.png b/20734-h/images/fig072th.png Binary files differnew file mode 100644 index 0000000..12310d7 --- /dev/null +++ b/20734-h/images/fig072th.png diff --git a/20734-h/images/fig079.png b/20734-h/images/fig079.png Binary files differnew file mode 100644 index 0000000..0e32156 --- /dev/null +++ b/20734-h/images/fig079.png diff --git a/20734-h/images/fig079th.png b/20734-h/images/fig079th.png Binary files differnew file mode 100644 index 0000000..280f1ed --- /dev/null +++ b/20734-h/images/fig079th.png diff --git a/20734-h/images/fig088.png b/20734-h/images/fig088.png Binary files differnew file mode 100644 index 0000000..53ff864 --- /dev/null +++ b/20734-h/images/fig088.png diff --git a/20734-h/images/fig088th.png b/20734-h/images/fig088th.png Binary files differnew file mode 100644 index 0000000..152b953 --- /dev/null +++ b/20734-h/images/fig088th.png diff --git a/20734-h/images/fig095.png b/20734-h/images/fig095.png Binary files differnew file mode 100644 index 0000000..33d36ff --- /dev/null +++ b/20734-h/images/fig095.png diff --git a/20734-h/images/fig095th.png b/20734-h/images/fig095th.png Binary files differnew file mode 100644 index 0000000..944f736 --- /dev/null +++ b/20734-h/images/fig095th.png diff --git a/20734-h/images/fig113.png b/20734-h/images/fig113.png Binary files differnew file mode 100644 index 0000000..19c5c8d --- /dev/null +++ b/20734-h/images/fig113.png diff --git a/20734-h/images/fig113th.png b/20734-h/images/fig113th.png Binary files differnew file mode 100644 index 0000000..66f2538 --- /dev/null +++ b/20734-h/images/fig113th.png diff --git a/20734-h/images/fig143.png b/20734-h/images/fig143.png Binary files differnew file mode 100644 index 0000000..8545a6c --- /dev/null +++ b/20734-h/images/fig143.png diff --git a/20734-h/images/fig143th.png b/20734-h/images/fig143th.png Binary files differnew file mode 100644 index 0000000..7e64c55 --- /dev/null +++ b/20734-h/images/fig143th.png diff --git a/20734-page-images.zip b/20734-page-images.zip Binary files differnew file mode 100644 index 0000000..630941e --- /dev/null +++ b/20734-page-images.zip diff --git a/20734.txt b/20734.txt new file mode 100644 index 0000000..d3fb870 --- /dev/null +++ b/20734.txt @@ -0,0 +1,6410 @@ +The Project Gutenberg EBook of Roman Antiquities, and Ancient Mythology, by +Charles K. Dillaway + +This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with +almost no restrictions whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or +re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included +with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org + + +Title: Roman Antiquities, and Ancient Mythology + For Classical Schools (2nd ed) + +Author: Charles K. Dillaway + +Release Date: March 3, 2007 [EBook #20734] + +Language: English + +Character set encoding: ASCII + +*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK ROMAN ANTIQUITIES *** + + + + +Produced by Barbara Tozier, V. L. Simpson, Bill Tozier and +the Online Distributed Proofreading Team at +http://www.pgdp.net + + + + + + + [Transcribers' Note: + + A detailed listing of changes and anomalies is at the end + of this file.] + + + + [Illustration: Pl. 1.] + + + +ROMAN ANTIQUITIES, + +AND + +ANCIENT MYTHOLOGY; + +FOR CLASSICAL SCHOOLS. + + +BY + +CHARLES K. DILLAWAY, + +PRINCIPAL OF THE PUBLIC LATIN SCHOOL IN BOSTON. + + + + + +SECOND EDITION. + + + + + +BOSTON: +LINCOLN, EDMANDS & CO. + +CARTER, HENDEE AND CO. BOSTON; COLLINS AND HANNAY, +NEW YORK; KEY AND MEILKE, PHILADELPHIA; +CUSHING AND SONS, BALTIMORE. + +1833. + + + + +Entered, according to Act of Congress, in the year 1833, By Lincoln, +Edmands & Co. In the Clerk's office of the District Court of +Massachusetts. + + + + + POSITION OF THE PLATES. + + No. 1, before the title page. + 2, before page 27. + 3, " " 71. + 4, " " 78. + 5, " " 82. + 6, " " 90. + 7, " " 106. + 8, " " 133. + + + + + +PREFACE. + + +The editor has endeavored in the following pages to give some account of +the customs and institutions of the Romans and of ancient Mythology in a +form adapted to the use of classical schools. + +In making the compilation he has freely drawn from all creditable +sources of information within his reach, but chiefly from the following: +Sketches of the institutions and domestic customs of the Romans, +published in London a few years since; from the works of Adams, Kennett, +Lanktree, Montfaucon, Middleton and Gesner: upon the subject of +Mythology, from Bell, Spense, Pausanias, La Pluche, Plutarch, Pliny, +Homer, Horace, Virgil, and many others to whom reference has been +occasionally made. + + _Boston, July, 1832._ + + * * * * * + +In the second edition now offered to the public much has been added to +the department of Antiquities. A more comprehensive chapter upon the +weights, measures and coins of the Romans has been substituted in the +place of the former one, and many other improvements made which it is +hoped will be found acceptable. As it was not thought expedient to +increase the size of the volume, the additions have been made by +excluding the questions. + +_Boston, May, 1833._ + + + +CONTENTS. + +Chap. Page. + +1. Foundation of Rome and division of inhabitants 9 +2. The Senate 13 +3. Other divisions of the Roman people 18 +4. Gentes and Familiae, Names of the Romans 19 +5. Private rights of Roman citizens 21 +6. Public rights of Roman citizens 23 +7. Places of worship 24 +8. Other public buildings 26 +9. Porticos, arches, columns, and trophies 30 +10. Bagnios, aqueducts, sewers, and public ways 32 +11. Augurs and Auguries 33 +12. Aruspices, Pontifices, Quindecemviri, Vestals, &c. 34 +13. Religious ceremonies of the Romans 37 +14. The Roman year 39 +15. Roman games 42 +16. Magistrates 44 +17. Of military affairs 49 +18. Assemblies, judicial proceedings, and punishments of the Romans 53 +19. Roman dress 57 +20. Fine arts and literature 59 +21. Roman houses 61 +22. Marriages and funerals 63 +23. Customs at meals 66 +24. Weights, measures, and coins 67 + + +MYTHOLOGY. + +1. Celestial Gods 71 +2. Celestial Goddesses 77 +3. Terrestrial Gods 82 +4. Terrestrial Goddesses 87 +5. Gods of the woods 94 +6. Goddesses of the woods 101 +7. Gods of the sea 106 +8. Tartarus and its Deities 111 +9. The condemned in Hell 123 +10. Monsters of Hell 126 +11. Dii Indigites, or heroes who received divine honors after death 128 +12. Other fabulous personages 146 + + + +CHAPTER I. + +_Foundation of Rome and Division of its Inhabitants._ + + +Ancient Italy was separated, on the north, by the Alps, from Germany. It +was bounded, on the east and north-east, by the Adriatic Sea, or _Mare +Superum_; on the south-west, by a part of the Mediterranean, called the +Tuscan Sea, or _Mare Inferum_; and on the south, by the _Fretum +Siculum_, called at present the strait of Messina. + +The south of Italy, called _Graecia Magna_, was peopled by a colony from +Greece. The middle of Italy contained several states or confederacies, +under the denominations of Etrurians, Samnites, Latins, Volsci, +Campanians, Sabines, &c. And the north, containing _Gallia Cisalpina_ +and _Liguria_, was peopled by a race of Gauls. + +The principal town of the Latin confederacy was Rome. It was situated on +the river Tiber, at the distance of sixteen miles from its mouth. + +Romulus is commonly reported to have laid its foundations on Mount +Palatine, A. M. 3251, B. C. 753, in the third year of the 6th Olympiad. + +Rome was at first only a small fortification; under the kings and the +republic, it greatly increased in size; but it could hardly be called +magnificent before the time of Augustus Caesar. In the reign of the +Emperor Valerian, the city, with its suburbs, covered a space of fifty +miles; at present it is scarcely thirteen miles round. + +Rome was built on seven hills, viz. the Palatine, Capitoline, Quirinal, +Esquiline, Viminal, Caelian, and Aventine; hence it was poetically styled +"_Urbs Septicollis_,"--the seven-hilled city. + +The greatest number of inhabitants in Rome was four millions; but its +average population was not more than two millions. + +The people were divided into three tribes, and each tribe into ten +curiae. The number of tribes was afterwards increased to thirty-five. + +The people were at first only separated into two ranks; the Patrician +and Plebeian; but afterwards the Equites or Knights were added; and at a +later period, slavery was introduced--making in all, four classes: +Patricians, Knights, Plebeians, and Slaves. + +The Patrician order consisted of those families whose ancestors had been +members of the Senate. Those among them who had filled any superior +office, were considered noble, and possessed the right of making images +of themselves, which were transmitted to their descendants, and formed +part of their domestic worship. + +The Plebeian order was composed of the lowest class of freemen. Those +who resided in the city, were called "_Plebs urbana_;" those who lived +in the country, "_Plebs rustica_." But the distinction did not consist +in name only--the latter were the most respectable. + +The _Plebs urbana_ consisted not only of the poorer mechanics and +laborers, but of a multitude of idlers who chiefly subsisted on the +public bounty, and whose turbulence was a constant source of disquietude +to the government. There were leading men among them, kept in pay by the +seditious magistrates, who used for hire to stimulate them to the most +daring outrages. + +Trade and manufactures being considered as servile employments, they had +no encouragement to industry; and the numerous spectacles which were +exhibited, particularly the shows of gladiators, served to increase +their natural ferocity. To these causes may be attributed the final ruin +of the republic. + +The Equestrian order arose out of an institution ascribed to Romulus, +who chose from each of the three tribes, one hundred young men, the most +distinguished for their rank, wealth, and other accomplishments, who +should serve on horseback and guard his person. + +Their number was afterwards increased by Tullus Hostilius, who chose +three hundred from the Albans. They were chosen promiscuously from the +Patricians and Plebeians. The age requisite was eighteen, and the +fortune four hundred sestertia; that is, about 14,000 dollars. Their +marks of distinction, were a horse given them at the public expense, and +a gold ring. Their office, at first, was only to serve in the army; but +afterwards, to act as judges or jurymen, and take charge of the public +revenues. + +A great degree of splendor was added to the Equites by a procession +which they made throughout the city every year, on the 15th day of July, +from the temple of honor, without the city to the Capitol, riding on +horseback, with wreaths of olives on their heads, dressed in the Togae +palmatae or trabeae, of a scarlet color, and bearing in their hands the +military ornaments, which they had received from their general, as a +reward for their valor. At this time they could not be summoned before a +court of justice. + +If any Eques was corrupt in his morals, or had diminished his fortune, +the censor ordered him to be removed from the order by selling his +horse. + +Men became slaves among the Romans, by being taken in war, by way of +punishment, or were born in a state of servitude. Those enemies who +voluntarily surrendered themselves, retained the rights of freedom, and +were called '_Dedititii_.' + +Those taken in the field, or in the storming of cities, were sold at +auction--"_sub corona_," as it was called, because they wore a crown +when sold; or "_sub hasta_," because a spear was set up where the +auctioneer stood. These were called Servi or Mancipia. Those who dealt +in the slave trade were called _Mangones_ or _Venalitii_: they were +bound to promise for the soundness of their slaves, and not to conceal +their faults; hence they were commonly exposed for sale naked, and +carried a scroll hanging to their necks, on which their good and bad +qualities were specified. + +Free-born citizens could not be sold for slaves. Parents might sell +their children; but they did not on that account entirely lose the right +of citizens, for, when freed from slavery, they were called _ingenui_ +and _libertini_. The same was the case with insolvent debtors, who were +given up to their creditors. + +There was no regular marriage among slaves, but their connexion was +called contubernium. The children of any female slave became the +property of her master. + +Such as had a genius for it were sometimes instructed in literature and +liberal arts. Some of these were sold at a great price. Hence arose a +principal part of the wealth of Crassus. + +The power of the master over his slave was absolute. He might scourge or +put him to death at pleasure. This right was often exercised with great +cruelty. + +The lash was the common punishment; but for certain crimes they were to +be branded in the forehead, and sometimes were forced to carry a piece +of wood round their necks, wherever they went, which was called _furca_; +and whoever had been subjected to the punishment was ever afterwards +called _furcifer_. + +Slaves also, by way of punishment, were often confined in a work-house, +or bridewell, where they were obliged to turn a mill for grinding corn. +When slaves were beaten, they were suspended with a weight tied to their +feet, that they might not move them. When punished for any capital +offence, they were commonly crucified; but this was afterwards +prohibited under Constantine. + +If the master of a family was slain at his own house, and the murderer +not discovered, all his domestic slaves were liable to be put to death. +Hence we find no less than four hundred in one family punished on this +account. + +Slaves were not esteemed as persons, but as things, and might be +transferred from one owner to another, like any other effects. They +could not appear in a court of justice as witnesses, nor make a will, or +inherit anything, or serve as soldiers, unless first made free. + +At certain times they were allowed the greatest freedom, as at the feast +of Saturn, in the month of December, when they were served at table by +their masters, and on the Ides of August. + +The number of slaves in Rome and through Italy, was immense. Some rich +individuals are said to have had several thousands. + +Anciently, they were freed in three different ways:--1st, _Per censum_, +when a slave with his master's knowledge inserted his name in the +censor's roll. 2d, _Per vindictam_, when a master, taking his slave to +the praetor, or consul, and in the provinces to the pro-consul or +pro-praetor, said, "I desire that this man be free, according to the +custom of the Romans"--and the praetor, if he approved, putting a rod on +the head of the slave, pronounced,--"I say that this man is free, after +the manner of the Romans." Wherefore, the lictor or master turning him +round in a circle, and giving him a blow on the cheek, let him go; +signifying that leave was granted him to go, wherever he pleased. 3d, +_Per testamentum_, when a master gave his slaves their liberty by his +will. + + + + +CHAPTER II. + +_The Senate._ + + +The Senate was instituted by Romulus, to be the perpetual council of the +republic, and at first consisted only of one hundred, chosen from the +Patricians. They were called Patres, either on account of their age or +the paternal care they had of the state. After the Sabines were taken +into the city, another one hundred was chosen from them by the suffrages +of the curiae. + +Such as were chosen into the Senate by Brutus, after the expulsion of +Tarquin the proud, to supply the place of those whom that king had +slain, were called Conscripti; that is, persons written or enrolled +together with the Senators, who alone were properly called patres. + +Persons were chosen into the Senate first by the kings, and after their +expulsion, by the consuls, and by the military tribunes; but from the +year of the city 310, by the censors. At first, only from the +Patricians, but afterwards, also from the Plebeians--chiefly, however, +from the Equites. + +Besides an estate of 400, or after Augustus, of 1200 sestertia, no +person was admitted to this dignity but one who had already borne some +magistracy in the Commonwealth. The age is not sufficiently ascertained, +probably not under 30. + +The dictator, consuls, praetors, tribunes of the commons and interrex, +had the power of assembling the Senate. + +The places where they assembled were only such as had formerly been +consecrated by the augurs--and most commonly within the city. They made +use of the temple of Bellona, without the walls, for the giving audience +to foreign ambassadors, and to such provincial magistrates as were to be +heard in open Senates, before they entered the city, as when they +petitioned for a triumph, and in similar cases. When the augurs reported +that an ox had spoken, which we often meet with among the ancient +prodigies, the Senate was presently to sit, sub dio, or in the open air. + +The regular meetings (_senatus legitimus_) were on the Kalends, Nones, +and Ides in every month, until the time of Augustus, who confined them +to the Kalends and Ides. The _senatus indictus_ was called for the +dispatch of business upon any other day except the dies Comitialis, when +the Senate were obliged to be present at the Comitia. + +The Senate was summoned anciently by a public officer, named viator, +because he called the Senators from the country--or by a public crier, +when anything had happened about which the Senators were to be consulted +hastily and without delay: but in latter times by an edict, appointing +the time and place, and published several days before. The cause of +assembling was also added. + +If any one refused or neglected to attend, he was punished by a fine, +and by distraining his goods, unless he had a just excuse. The fine was +imposed by him who held the Senate, and pledges were taken till it was +paid--but after 60 years of age, Senators might attend or not, as they +pleased. + +No decree could be made unless there was a quorum. What that was is +uncertain. If any one wanted to hinder the passing of a decree, and +suspected there was not a quorum, he said to the magistrate presiding, +"_Numera Senatum_," count the Senate. + +The magistrate who was to preside offered a sacrifice, and took the +auspices before he entered the Senate house. If they were not favorable, +or not rightly taken, the business was deferred to another day. Augustus +ordered that each Senator, before he took his seat, should pay his +devotions with an offering of frankincense and wine, at the altar of +that god in whose temple the Senate were assembled, that they might +discharge their duty the more religiously. When the consuls entered, the +Senators commonly rose up to do them honor. + +The consuls elect were first asked their opinion, and the praetors, +tribunes, &c. elect, seem to have had the same preference before the +rest of their order. He who held the Senate, might consult first any one +of the same order he thought proper. + +Nothing could be laid before the Senate against the will of the consuls, +unless by the tribunes of the people, who might also give their negative +against any decree by the solemn word "_Veto_," which was called +interceding. This might also be done by all who had an equal or greater +authority than the magistrate presiding. If any person interceded, the +sentence was called "_Senatus auctoritas_," their judgment or opinion. + +The Senators delivered their opinions standing; but when they only +assented to the opinion of another, they continued sitting. + +It was not lawful for the consuls to interrupt those who spoke, although +they introduced in their speeches many things foreign to the subject, +which they sometimes did, that they might waste the day in speaking. For +no new reference could be made after the tenth hour, that is, four +o'clock in the afternoon, according to our mode of reckoning. + +This privilege was often abused, but they were forced to stop by the +noise and clamour of the other Senators. Sometimes magistrates, when +they made a disagreeable motion, were silenced in this manner. + +The Senators usually addressed the house by the title of "_patres +conscripti_:" sometimes to the consul, or person who presided, sometimes +to both. + +A decree of the Senate was made, by a separation of the Senators, to +different parts of the house. He who presided, said, "Let those who are +of such an opinion pass over to that side, those who think differently, +to this." Those Senators who only voted, but did not speak, or as some +say, had the right of voting, but not of speaking, were called +_pedarii_, because they signified their opinion by their feet, and not +by their tongues. When a decree was made without any opinion being asked +or given, it was called "_senatus consultum per discessionem_." But if +the contrary, it was simply called "_Senatus consultum_." + +In decreeing a supplication to any general, the opinion of the Senators +was always asked. Hence Cicero blames Antony for omitting this in the +case of Lepidus. Before the vote was put, and while the debate was going +on, the members used to take their seats near that person whose opinion +they approved, and the opinion of him who was joined by the greatest +number was called "_Sententia maxime frequens_." + +When affairs requiring secrecy were discussed, the clerks and other +attendants were not admitted: but what passed, was written out by some +of the Senators, and the decree was called tacitum. + +Public registers were kept of what was done in the Senate, in the +assemblies of the people, and courts of justice; also of births and +funerals, of marriages and divorces, &c. which served as a fund of +information for historians. + +In writing a decree, the time and place were put first; then, the names +of those who were present at the engrossing of it; after that, the +motion with the name of the magistrate who proposed it; to all which was +subjoined what the Senate decreed. + +The decrees were kept in the public treasury with the laws and other +writings, pertaining to the republic. Anciently they were kept in the +temple of Ceres. The place where the public records were kept was called +"_Tabularium_." The decrees of the Senate concerning the honors +conferred on Caesar were inscribed in golden letters, on columns of +silver. When not carried to the treasury, they were reckoned invalid. +Hence it was ordained under Tiberius, that the decrees of the Senate, +especially concerning the capital punishment of any one, should not be +carried there before the tenth day, that the emperor, if absent from the +city, might have an opportunity of considering them, and if he thought +proper of mitigating them. + +Decrees of the Senate were rarely reversed. While a question was under +debate, every one was at freedom to express his dissent; but when once +determined, it was looked upon as the common concern of each member to +support the opinion of the majority. + +The power of the Senate was different at different times. Under the +regal government, the Senate deliberated upon such affairs as the king +proposed to them, and the kings were said to act according to their +counsel as the consuls did afterwards according to their decrees. + +Tarquin the proud, dropped the custom handed down from his predecessors, +of consulting the Senate about everything; banished or put to death the +chief men of that order, and chose no others in their room; but he was +expelled from the throne for his tyranny, and the regal government +abolished, A. U. 243. Afterwards the power of the Senate was raised to +the highest. Everything was done by its authority. The magistrates were +in a manner only its ministers. But when the Patricians began to abuse +their power, and to exercise cruelty on the Plebeians, especially after +the death of Tarquin, the multitude took arms in their own defence, made +a secession from the city, seized on Mons Sacer, and created tribunes +for themselves, who attacked the authority of the Senate, and in process +of time greatly diminished it. + +Although the supreme power at Rome belonged to the people, yet they +seldom enacted anything without the authority of the Senate. In all +weighty matters, the method usually observed was that the Senate should +first deliberate and decree, and then the people order. + +The Senate assumed to themselves exclusively, the guardianship of the +public religion; so that no new god could be introduced, nor altar +erected, nor the Sybiline books consulted without their order. They had +the direction of the treasury, and distributed the public money at +pleasure. They appointed stipends to their generals and officers, and +provisions and clothing to the armies. They settled the provinces which +were annually assigned to the consuls and praetors, and when it seemed +fit, they prolonged their command. They nominated, out of their own +body, all ambassadors sent from Rome, and gave to foreign ambassadors +what answers they thought proper. They decreed all public thanksgivings +for victories obtained, and conferred the honor of an ovation or triumph +with the title of imperator on their victorious generals. They could +decree the title of king to any prince whom they pleased, and declare +any one an enemy by a vote. They inquired into all public crimes or +treasons, either in Rome or other parts of Italy; and adjusted all +disputes among the allied and dependent cities. They exercised a power +not only of interpreting the laws, but of absolving men from the +obligation of them. They could postpone the assemblies of the people, +and prescribe a change of habit to the city, in cases of any imminent +danger or calamity. + +But their power was chiefly conspicuous in civil dissension or dangerous +tumults within the city, in which that solemn decree used to be passed; +"That the consuls should take care that the republic should receive no +harm." By which decree an absolute power was granted to them to punish +and put to death whom they pleased without a trial; to raise forces and +carry on war, without the order of the people. + +Although the decrees of the Senate had not properly the force of laws, +and took place chiefly in those matters which were not provided for by +the laws, yet they were understood always to have a binding force, and +were therefore obeyed by all orders. The consuls themselves were obliged +to submit to them. They could be annulled or cancelled only by the +Senate itself. In the last ages of the republic, the authority of the +Senate was little regarded by the leading men and their creatures, who +by means of bribery obtained from a corrupted populace what they +desired, in spite of the Senate. + +Augustus, when he became master of the empire, retained the forms of the +ancient republic, and the same names of the magistrates; but left +nothing of the ancient virtue and liberty. While he pretended always to +act by the authority of the Senate, he artfully drew everything to +himself. + +The Senators were distinguished by an oblong stripe of purple sewed on +the forepart of their Senatorial gown, and black buskins reaching to the +middle of the leg, with the letter C in silver on the top of the foot. + +The chief privilege of the Senators was their having a particular place +at the public spectacles, called orchestra. It was next the stage in the +theatre, or next the arena or open space in the amphitheatre. + +The messages sent by the emperor to the Senate were called epistolae or +libelli, because they were folded in the form of a letter or little +book. Caesar was said to have first introduced these libelli, which +afterwards were used on almost every occasion. + + + + +CHAPTER III. + +_Other Divisions of the Roman People._ + + +That the Patricians and Plebeians might be connected together by the +strictest bonds, Romulus ordained that every Plebeian should choose from +the Patricians any one he pleased, for his patron or protector, whose +client he was called. + +It was the duty of the patron to advise and defend his client, and to +assist him with his interest and substance. The client was obliged to +pay the greatest respect to his patron, and to serve him with his life +and fortune in any extremity. + +It was unlawful for patrons and clients to accuse or bear witness +against each other, and whoever was found to have done so, might be +slain by any one with impunity as a victim to Pluto, and the infernal +gods. + +It was esteemed highly honorable for a Patrician to have numerous +clients, both hereditary and acquired by his own merit. In after times, +even cities and whole nations were under the protection of illustrious +Roman families. + +Those whose ancestors or themselves had borne any curule magistracy, +that is, had been Consul, Praetor, Censor or Curule Edile, were called +nobiles, and had the right of making images of themselves, which were +kept with great care by their posterity, and carried before them at +funerals. + +These images were merely the busts of persons down to the shoulders, +made of wax, and painted, which they used to place in the courts of +their houses, enclosed in wooden cases, and seem not to have brought +out, except on solemn occasions. There were titles or inscriptions +written below them, pointing out the honors they had enjoyed, and the +exploits they had performed. Anciently, this right of images was +peculiar to the Patricians; but afterwards, the Plebeians also acquired +it, when admitted to curule offices. + +Those who were the first of their family, that had raised themselves to +any curule office, were called _homines novi_, new men or upstarts. +Those who had no images of themselves, or of their ancestors, were +called _ignobiles_. + +Those who favored the interests of the Senate were called optimates, and +sometimes proc{)}eres or principes. Those who studied to gain the favor +of the multitude, were called populares, of whatever order they were. +This was a division of factions, and not of rank or dignity. The +contests between these two parties, excited the greatest commotions in +the state, which finally terminated in the extinction of liberty. + + + + +CHAPTER IV. + +_Gentes and Familiae; Names of the Romans, &c._ + + +The Romans were divided into various clans, (gentes,) and each clan into +several families. Those of the same gens were called gentiles, and those +of the same family, agnati. But relations by the father's side were also +called agnati, to distinguish them from cognati, relations only by the +mother's side. + +The Romans had three names, to mark the different clans and families, +and distinguish the individuals of the same family--the praenomen, nomen +and cognomen. + +The praenomen was put first, and marked the individual. It was commonly +written with one letter; as A. for Aulus: C. for Caius--sometimes with +two; as Ap. for Appius. + +The nomen was put after the praenomen, to mark the gens, and commonly +ended in ius; as Cornelius, Fabius. The cognomen was put last, and +marked the family; as Cicero, Caesar. + +Sometimes there was also a fourth name, called the agnomen, added from +some illustrious action, or remarkable event. Thus, Scipio was called +Africanus, from the conquest of Carthage and Africa: for a similar +reason, his brother was called Asiaticus. + +These names were not always used; commonly two, and sometimes only the +sirname. But in speaking to any one, the praenomen was generally used as +being peculiar to citizens, for slaves had no praenomen. + +The sirnames were derived from various circumstances, either from some +quality of the mind; as Cato, from catus, wise: or from the habit of the +body; as Calvus, Crassus, &c.: or from cultivating particular fruits; as +Lentulus, Piso, &c. Quintus Cincinnatus was called Serranus, because the +ambassadors from the senate found him sowing, when they brought him word +that he was made dictator. + +The praenomen was given to boys on the ninth day, which was called _dies +lustr{)i}cus_, or the day of purification, when certain religious +ceremonies were performed. The eldest son of the family usually received +the praenomen of his father. The rest were named from their uncles or +other relations. + +When there was only one daughter in the family, she was called by the +name of the gens: thus, Tullia, the daughter of Cicero; and retained the +same after marriage. When there were two daughters, one was called +major, and the other minor. If there were more than two, they were +distinguished by their number; thus--prima, secunda, tertia, &c. + +Those were called _liberi_, free, who had the power of doing what they +pleased. Those who were born of parents who had been always free, were +called _ingenui_. Slaves made free were called _liberti_, in relation to +their masters; and _libertini_, in relation to free born citizens. + + + + +CHAPTER V. + +_Private Rights of Roman Citizens._ + + +The right of liberty comprehended not only liberty from the power of +masters, but also from the dominion of tyrants, the severity of +magistrates, the cruelty of creditors, and the insolence of more +powerful citizens. After the expulsion of Tarquin, a law was made by +Brutus, that no one should be king at Rome, and that whoever should form +a design of making himself a king, might be slain with impunity. At the +same time the people were bound by an oath that they would never suffer +a king to be created. + +Citizens could appeal from the magistrates to the people, and the +persons who appealed could in no way be punished, until the people +determined the matter; but they were chiefly secured by the assistance +of the tribunes. + +None but the whole Roman people in the _comitia centuriata_ could pass +sentence on the life of a Roman citizen. No magistrate could punish him +by stripes or capitally. The single expression, "I am a Roman citizen," +checked their severest decrees. + +By the laws of the twelve tables, it was ordained, that insolvent +debtors should be given up to their creditors, to be bound in fetters +and cords, and although they did not entirely lose the rights of +freemen, yet they were in actual slavery, and often more harshly treated +than even slaves themselves. + +To check the cruelty of usurers, a law was afterwards made that no +debtors should be kept in irons, or in bonds; that the goods of the +debtor, not his person, should be given up to his creditors. + +The people, not satisfied with this, as it did not free them from +prison, demanded an entire abolition of debt, which they used to call +new tables; but this was never granted. + +Each clan and family had certain sacred rights, peculiar to itself, +which were inherited in the same manner as effects. When heirs by the +father's side of the same family failed, those of the same gens +succeeded in preference to relations by the mother's side of the same +family. No one could pass from a Patrician family to a Plebeian, or from +a Plebeian to a Patrician, unless by that form of adoption which could +only be made at the _comitia curiata_. + +No Roman citizen could marry a slave, barbarian or foreigner, unless by +the permission of the people. + +A father among the Romans had the power of life and death over his +children. He could not only expose them when infants, but when grown up +he might imprison, scourge, send them bound to work in the country, and +also put them to death by any punishment he pleased. + +A son could acquire no property but with his father's consent, and what +he thus acquired was called his _peculium_ as of a slave. + +Things with respect to property among the Romans were variously divided. +Some were said to be of divine right, and were held sacred, as altars, +temples, or any thing publicly consecrated to the gods, by the authority +of the Pontiffs; or religious, as sepulchres--or inviolable, as the +walls and gates of a city. + +Others were said to be of human right, and called profane. These were +either public and common, as the air, running water, the sea and its +shores; or private, which might be the property of individuals. + +None but a Roman citizen could make a will, or be witnesses to a +testament, or inherit any thing by it. + +The usual method of making a will after the laws of the twelve tables +were enacted, was by brass and balance, as it was called. In the +presence of five witnesses, a weigher and witness, the testator by an +imaginary sale disposed of his family and property to one who was called +_familiae emptor_, who was not the heir as some have thought, but only +admitted for the sake of form, that the testator might seem to have +alienated his effects in his life time. This act was called _familiae +mancipatio_. + +Sometimes the testator wrote his will wholly with his own hand, in which +case it was called _hologr{)a}phum_--sometimes it was written by a +friend, or by others. Thus the testament of Augustus was written partly +by himself, and partly by two of his freedmen. + +Testaments were always subscribed by the testator, and usually by the +witnesses, and sealed with their seals or rings. They were likewise tied +with a thread drawn thrice through holes and sealed; like all other +civil deeds, they were always written in Latin. A legacy expressed in +Greek was not valid. + +They were deposited either privately in the hands of a friend, or in a +temple with the keeper of it. Thus Julius Caesar is said to have +intrusted his testament to the oldest of the vestal virgins. + +A father might leave whom he pleased as guardian to his children;--but +if he died, this charge devolved by law on the nearest relation by the +father's side. When there was no guardian by testament, nor a legal one, +the praetor and the majority of the tribunes of the people appointed a +guardian. If any one died without making a will, his goods devolved on +his nearest relations. + +Women could not transact any business of importance without the +concurrence of their parents, husbands, or guardians. + + + + +CHAPTER VI. + +_Public Rights of Roman Citizens._ + + +The _jus militiae_, was the right of serving in the army, which was at +first peculiar to the higher order of citizens only, but afterwards the +emperor took soldiers not only from Italy and the provinces, but also +from barbarous nations. + +The _jus tributorum_ was the payment of a tax by each individual through +the tribes, in proportion to the valuation of his estates. + +There were three kinds of tribute, one imposed equally on each person; +another according to his property; and a third exacted in cases of +emergency. There were three other kinds of taxes, called _portorium_, +_decumae_ and _scriptura_. + +The _portorium_ was paid for goods exported and imported, the collectors +of which were called portitores, or for carrying goods over a bridge. + +The _decumae_ were the tenth part of corn and the fifth part of other +fruit, exacted from the cultivators of the public lands, either in Italy +or without it. + +The _scriptura_ was paid by those who pastured their cattle upon the +public lands. The _jus saffragii_ was the right of voting in the +different assemblies of the people. + +The _jus honorum_ was the right of being priests or magistrates, at +first enjoyed only by the Patricians. Foreigners might live in the city +of Rome, but they enjoyed none of the rights of citizens; they were +subject to a peculiar jurisdiction, and might be expelled from the city +by a magistrate. They were not permitted to wear the Roman dress. + + + + +CHAPTER VII. + +_Places of Worship._ + + +_Templum_ was a place which had been dedicated to the worship of some +deity, and consecrated by the augurs. + +_AEdes sacrae_ were such as wanted that consecration, which, if they +afterwards received, they changed their names to temples. + +_Delubrum_ comprehended several deities under one roof. The most +celebrated temples were the capitol and pantheon. + +The capitol or temple of Jupiter Capitolinus, was the effect of a vow +made by Tarquinius Priscus, in the Sabine war. But he had scarcely laid +the foundation before his death. His nephew Tarquin the proud, finished +it with the spoils taken from the neighboring nations. + +The structure stood on a high ridge, taking in four acres of ground. The +front was adorned with three rows of pillars, the other sides with two. +The ascent from the ground was by a hundred steps. The prodigious gifts +and ornaments with which it was at several times endowed, almost exceed +belief. Augustus gave at one time two thousand pounds weight of gold, +and in jewels and precious stones to the value of five hundred +sestertia. + +Livy and Pliny surprise us with accounts of the brazen thresholds, the +noble pillars that Scylla removed thither from Athens, out of the temple +of Jupiter Olympius; the gilded roof, the gilded shields, and those of +solid silver; the huge vessels of silver, holding three measures--the +golden chariot, &c. + +This temple was first consumed by fire in the Marian war, and then +rebuilt by Sylla. This too was demolished in the Vitellian sedition. +Vespasian undertook a third, which was burnt about the time of his +death. Domitian raised the last and most glorious of all, in which the +very gilding amounted to twelve thousand talents--on which Plutarch has +observed of that emperor, that he was, like Midas, desirous of turning +every thing into gold. There are very little remains of it at present, +yet enough to make a Christian church. + +The capitol contained in it three temples: one to Jupiter, one to Juno, +and one to Minerva. Jupiter's was in the centre, whence he was +poetically called "_Media qui sedet aede Deus_"--the god who sits in the +middle temple. + +The pantheon was built by Marcus Agrippa, son-in-law to Augustus Caesar, +and dedicated most probably to all the gods in general, as the name +implies. The structure is a hundred and fifty-eight feet high, and about +the same breadth. The roof is curiously vaulted, void places being here +and there for the greater strength. The rafters were pieces of brass of +forty feet in length. There are no windows in the whole edifice, only a +round hole at the top of the roof, which serves very well for the +admission of light. The walls on the inside are either solid marble or +incrusted. The front, on the outside, was covered with brazen plates, +gilt, the top with silver plates, which are now changed to lead. The +gates were brass, of extraordinary work and magnitude. + +This temple is still standing, with little alteration, besides the loss +of the old ornaments, being converted into a Christian church by Pope +Boniface III. The most remarkable difference is that where they before +ascended by twelve steps, they now go down as many to the entrance. + +There are two other temples, particularly worth notice, not so much for +the magnificence of the structure, as for the customs that depend upon +them, and the remarkable use to which they were put. These are the +temples of Saturn and Janus. + +The first was famous on account of serving for the public treasury--the +reason of which some fancy to have been because Saturn first taught the +Italians to coin money; but most probably it was because this was the +strongest place in the city. Here were preserved all the public +registers and records, among which were the _libri elephantini_, or +great ivory tables, containing a list of all the tribes and the schemes +of the public accounts. + +The other was a square building, some say of entire brass, so large as +to contain a statue of Janus, five feet high, with brazen gates on each +side, which were kept open in war, and shut in time of peace. + + + + +CHAPTER VIII. + +_Of other public Buildings._ + + +Theatres, so called from the Greek {theaomai}, to see, owe their origin +to Bacchus. + +That the theatres and amphitheatres were two different sorts of +edifices, was never questioned, the former being built in the shape of a +semicircle; the other generally oval, so as to make the same figure as +if two theatres should be joined together. Yet the same place is often +called by these names in several authors. They seem, too, to have been +designed for quite different ends: the theatres for stage plays, the +amphitheatres for the greater shows of gladiators, wild beasts, &c. The +following are the most important parts of both. + +_Scena_ was a partition reaching quite across the theatre, being made +either to turn round or draw up, to present a new prospect to the +spectators. + +_Proscenium_ was the space of ground just before the scene, where the +_pulpitum_ stood, into which the actors came from behind the scenes to +perform. + +The middle part, or area of the amphitheatre, was called _cavae_, because +it was considerably lower than the other parts, whence perhaps, the name +of pit in our play houses was borrowed; and arena, because it used to be +strown with sand, to hinder the performers from slipping. + +There was a threefold distinction of the seats, according to the +ordinary division of the people into senators, knights, and commons. The +first range was called orchestra, from {orcheisthai}, because in that +part of the Grecian theatres, the dances were performed; the second +_equestria_; and the other _popularia_. + + + [Illustration: + + Ruins of the Flavian Amphitheatre, commonly called + the Colisaeum. Pl. 2.] + + +The Flavian amphitheatre, now better known by the name of the +_Colisaeum_, from its stupendous magnitude, excites the astonishment of +the world. It was five hundred fifty feet in length, and four hundred +seventy in breadth, and one hundred sixty in height. It was surrounded +to the top by a portico resting on eighty arches, and divided into four +stories. The arrangement of the seats was similar to that in the +theatres; but there was a large box projecting from one side, and +covered with a canopy of state for the accommodation of the emperor and +the magistrates, who were surrounded with all the insignia of office. + +As combats of wild beasts formed a chief part of the amusements, they +were secured in dens around the arena or stage, which was strongly +encircled by a canal, to guard the spectators against their attacks. +These precautions, however, were not always sufficient, and instances +occurred in which the animals sprung across the barrier. + +This huge pile was commenced by Vespasian, and was reared with a portion +of the materials of Nero's golden palace: its form was oval, and it is +supposed to have contained upwards of eighty thousand persons. A large +part of this vast edifice still remains. + +Theatres, in the first ages of the commonwealth, were only temporary, +and composed of wood. Of these, the most celebrated was that of Marcus +Scaurus--the scenes of which were divided into three partitions, one +above another, the first consisting of one hundred and twenty pillars of +marble; the next, of the like number of pillars, curiously wrought in +glass. The top of all had the same number of pillars adorned with gilded +tablets. Between the pillars were set three thousand statues and images +of brass. The _cavca_ would hold eighty thousand men. + +Pompey the great was the first who undertook the raising of a fixed +theatre, which he built nobly of square stone. Some of the remains of +this theatre are still to be seen at Rome. + +The _circi_ were places set apart for the celebration of several sorts +of games:--they were generally oblong or almost in the shape of a bow, +having a wall quite round, with ranges of seats for the convenience of +spectators. At the entrance of the circus stood the _carceres_ or lists, +whence they started, and just by them, one of the _metae_ or marks--the +other standing at the farther end to conclude the race. + +The most remarkable, was the _circus maximus_, built by Tarquinius +Priscus:--the length of it was four _stadia_, or furlongs, the breadth +the same number of acres, with a trench of ten feet deep, and as many +broad, to receive the water, and seats enough for one hundred fifty +thousand men. It was extremely beautiful and adorned by succeeding +princes, and enlarged to such a prodigious extent as to be able to +contain in their proper seats two hundred and sixty thousand spectators. + +The _naumachiae_ or places for the shows of sea-engagements are no where +particularly described; but we may suppose them similar to the _circi_ +and amphitheatres. + +The _stadia_ were places in the form of _circi_, for the running of men +and horses. A beautiful one was built by Domitian. The _xysti_ were +places constructed like porticos, in which the wrestlers exercised. + +The _Campus Martius_, famous on so many accounts, was a large plain +field, lying near the Tiber, whence we find it sometimes under the name +of _Tiberinus_:--it was called _Martius_, because it had been +consecrated by the old Romans to the god Mars. Besides the pleasant +situation and other natural ornaments, the continual sports and +exercises performed there, made it one of the most interesting sights +near the city. Here the young noblemen practised all kinds of feats of +activity, and learned the use of arms. Here were the races either with +chariots or single horses. Besides this, it was nobly adorned with the +statues of famous men, with arches, columns and porticos, and other +magnificent structures. Here stood the _villa publica_ or palace, for +the reception and entertainment of ambassadors from foreign states, who +were not allowed to enter the city. + +The Roman _curiae_ were of two sorts, divine and civil. In the former, +the priests and religious orders met for the regulation of the rites and +ceremonies belonging to the worship of the gods. In the other, the +senate used to assemble, to consult about the public concerns of the +commonwealth. The senate could not meet in such a place, unless it had +been solemnly consecrated by the augurs, and made of the same nature as +a temple. + +The Roman forums were public buildings about three times as long as they +were broad. All the compass of the forum was surrounded by arched +porticos, some passages being left as places of entrance. + +There were two kinds, _fora civilia_ and _fora venalia_. The first were +designed for the ornaments of the city, and for the use of public courts +of justice. The others were erected for the necessities and conveniences +of the inhabitants, and were no doubt equivalent to our markets. The +most remarkable were the Roman forum, built by Romulus, and adorned with +porticos on all sides, by Tarquinius Priscus: This was the most ancient +and most frequently used in public affairs. + +The Julian forum, built by Julius Caesar, with the spoils taken in the +Gallic war; the area alone, cost one hundred thousand _sesterces_, equal +to 3570 dollars. + +The Augustan forum, built by Augustus Caesar, containing statues in the +two porticos, on each side of the main building. In one were all the +Latin kings, beginning with AEneas: in the other all the Roman kings, +beginning with Romulus, and most of the eminent persons in the +commonwealth, and Augustus himself among the rest, with an inscription +upon the pedestal of every statue, expressing the chief actions and +exploits of the person it represented. + +The forum of Trajan, erected by the emperor Trajan, with the foreign +spoils he had taken in the wars; the covering was all brass, and the +porticos exceedingly beautiful. + +The chief _fora venalia_ or markets, were _boarium_, for oxen and beef, +_suarium_, for swine, _pistorium_, for bread, _cupedinarium_, for +dainties, and _holitorium_, for roots, sallads and similar things. + +The _comitium_ was only a part of the Roman forum, which served +sometimes for the celebration of the _comitia_; here stood the _rostra_, +a kind of pulpit, adorned with the beaks of ships taken in a sea fight, +from the inhabitants of Antium in Italy; here causes were pleaded, +orations made, and funeral panegyrics delivered. + + + + +CHAPTER IX. + +_Porticos, Arches, Columns and Trophies._ + + +The porticos are worthy of observation: they were structures of curious +work and extraordinary beauty annexed to public edifices, sacred and +civil, as well for ornament as use. + +They generally took their names either from the temples which they stood +near, from the builders, from the nature and form of the building, or +from the remarkable paintings in them. + +They were sometimes used for the assemblies of the senate; sometimes the +jewellers and such as dealt in the most precious wares took their stand +here to expose their goods for sale; but the general use they were put +to, was the pleasure of walking or riding in them, like the present +piazzas in Italy. + +Arches were public buildings designed for the encouragement and reward +of noble enterprises, erected generally to the honor of such eminent +persons as had either won a victory of extraordinary consequence abroad, +or had rescued the commonwealth, at home, from any considerable danger. + +At first they were plain and rude structures, by no means remarkable for +beauty or taste: but in latter times no expense was thought too great to +render them in the highest manner splendid and magnificent. The arches +built by Romulus were only of brick, that of Camillus of plain square +stone, but those of Caesar, Drusus, Titus, &c. were all of marble. + +Their figure was at first semicircular, whence probably they took their +names; afterwards they were built four square, with a spacious arched +gate in the middle, and small ones on each side. Upon the vaulted part +of the middle gate, hung little winged images representing victory, with +crowns in their hands, which, when they were let down, they put upon the +conqueror's head, as he passed under the triumphal arch. + +The columns or pillars, over the sepulchres of distinguished men, were +great ornaments to the city: they were at last converted to the same +design as the arches, for the honorable memorial of some noble victory +or exploit. The pillars of the emperors Trajan and Antoninus deserve +particular attention for their beauty and curious workmanship. + +The former was set up in the middle of Trajan's forum, being composed of +twenty-four great stones of marble, but so skilfully cemented as to +appear one entire stone. The height was one hundred forty-four feet; it +is ascended on the inside by one hundred eighty-five winding stairs, and +has forty little windows for the admission of light. The whole pillar is +incrusted with marble, in which are expressed all the noble actions of +the emperor, and particularly the Decian war. + +But its noblest ornament was the gigantic statue of Trajan on the top, +being no less than twenty feet high; he was represented in a coat of +armour proper to the general, holding in his left hand a sceptre, in his +right a hollow globe of fire, in which his own ashes were deposited +after his death. + +The column of Antoninus was raised in imitation of this, which it +exceeded only in one respect, that it was one hundred seventy six feet +high--for the work was much inferior to the former, being undertaken in +the declining age of the empire. The ascent on the inside was by one +hundred six steps, and the windows, in the sides, fifty-six; the +sculpture and the other ornaments were of the same nature as those of +the first, and on the top stood a colossal statue of the emperor, naked, +as appears from his coins. + +Both of these columns are still standing at Rome; the former almost +entire: but Pope Sixtus the first, instead of the two statues of the +emperors, set up St. Peter's on the column of Trajan, and St. Paul's on +that of Antoninus. + +There was likewise a gilded pillar in the forum, called the _milliarium +aureum_, erected by Augustus Caesar, at which all the highways of Italy +met and were concluded; from this they counted their miles, at the end +of every mile setting up a stone, whence came the phrase _primus ab urbe +pisla_. + +But the most remarkable was the _columna rostrata_, set up to the honor +of Caius Duilius, when he had gained a victory over the Carthaginian and +Sicilian fleets, four hundred ninety-three years from the foundation of +the city, and adorned with the beaks of the vessels taken in the +engagement. This is still to be seen at Rome; the inscription on the +basis is a noble example of the old way of writing, in the early times +of the commonwealth. + +Trophies were spoils taken from the enemy, and fixed upon any thing as +signs or monuments of victory: they were erected usually in the place +where it was gained and consecrated to some divinity, with an +inscription. + + + + +CHAPTER X. + +_Bagnios, Aqueducts, Sewers and public Ways._ + + +The Romans expended immense sums of money on their bagnios. The most +remarkable were those of the emperors Dioclesian and Antonius +Caracalla--great part of which are standing at this time, and with the +high arches, the beautiful and stately pillars, the abundance of foreign +marble, the curious vaulting of the roofs, and the prodigious number of +spacious apartments, may be considered among the greatest curiosities of +Rome. + +The first invention of aqueducts, is attributed to Appius Claudius, four +hundred forty-one years from the foundation of the city, who brought +water into the city, by a channel of eleven miles in length--but +afterwards several others of greater magnitude were built: several of +them were cut through the mountains, and all other impediments for about +forty miles together, and of such a height that a man on horseback might +ride through them without the least difficulty. But this is meant only +of the constant course of the channel, for the vaults and arches were in +some places one hundred and nine feet high. It is said that Rome was +supplied with five hundred thousand hogsheads every twenty-four hours by +means of these aqueducts. + +The _cloacae_ or sewers were constructed by undermining and cutting +through the seven hills upon which Rome stood, making the city hang, as +it were, between heaven and earth, and capable of being sailed under. + +Marcus Agrippa in his edileship, made no less than seven streams meet +together under ground, in one main channel, with such a rapid current, +as to carry all before them, that they met with in their passage. +Sometimes in a flood, the waters of the Tiber opposed them in their +course, and the two streams encountered each other with great fury: yet +the works preserved their old strength, without any sensible damage: +sometimes the ruins of whole buildings, destroyed by fire or other +casualties, pressed heavily upon the frame: sometimes terrible +earthquakes shook the foundation: yet they still continued impregnable. + +The public ways were built with extraordinary care to a great distance +from the city on all sides; they were generally paved with flint, though +sometimes, and especially without the city, with pebbles and gravel. + +The most noble was the Appian way, the length of which was generally +computed at three hundred and fifty miles: it was twelve feet broad, +made of huge stones, most of them blue. Its strength was so great, that +after it had been built two thousand years, it was, in most places, for +several miles together, perfectly sound. + + + + +CHAPTER XI. + +_Of Augurs and Auguries._ + + +The business of the augurs or soothsayers was to interpret dreams, +oracles, prodigies, &c. and to tell whether any action should be +fortunate or prejudicial to any particular persons, or to the whole +commonwealth. + +There are five kinds of auguries mentioned in authors--1st. From the +appearances in heaven,--as thunder, lightning, comets and other meteors; +as, for instance, whether the thunder came from the right or left, +whether the number of strokes was even or odd, &c. + +2d. From birds, whence they had the name of _auspices_, from _avis_ and +_specio_; some birds furnished them with observations from their +chattering and singing,--such as crows, owls, &c.--others from their +flying, as eagles, vultures, &c. + +To take both these kind of auguries, the observer stood upon a tower +with his head covered in a gown, peculiar to his office, and turning his +face towards the east, marked out the heavens into four quarters, with a +short, straight rod, with a little turning at one end: this done, he +staid waiting for the omen, which never signified anything, unless +confirmed by another of the same sort. + +3d. From chickens kept in a coop for this purpose. The manner of +divining from them was as follows:--early in the morning, the augur, +commanding a general silence, ordered the coop to be opened, and threw +down a handful of crumbs or corn: if the chickens did not immediately +run to the food, if they scattered it with their wings, if they went by +without taking notice of it, or if they flew away, the omen was reckoned +unfortunate, and to portend nothing but danger or mischance; but if they +leaped directly from the pen, and eat voraciously, there was great +assurance of happiness and success. + +4th. From beasts, such as foxes, wolves, goats, heifers, &c.; the +general observations about these, were, whether they appeared in a +strange place, or crossed the way, or whether they ran to the right or +the left, &c. + +The last kind of divination was from unusual accidents, such as +sneezing, stumbling, seeing apparations, hearing strange voices, the +falling of salt upon the table, &c. + + + + +CHAPTER XII. + +_Of the Aruspices, Pontifices, Quindecemviri, Vestals, &c._ + + +The business of aruspices was to look upon the beasts offered in +sacrifices, and by them to divine the success of any enterprise. + +They took their observations, 1st. From the beasts before they were cut +up. 2d. From the entrails of those beasts after they were cut up. 3d. +From the flame that used to rise when they were burning. 4th. From the +flour of bran, from the frankincense, wine and water, which they used in +the sacrifice. + +The offices of the pontifices were to give judgment in all cases +relating to religion, to inquire into the lives of the inferior priests, +and to punish them if they saw occasion; to prescribe rules for public +worship; to regulate the feasts, sacrifices, and all other sacred +institutions. The master or superintendent of the pontifices was one of +the most honorable offices in the commonwealth. + +The _quindecemviri_ had the charge of the sibylline books; inspected +them by the appointment of the senate in dangerous junctures, and +performed the sacrifices which they enjoined. + +They are said to have been instituted on the following occasion: A +certain woman called Amalth{=e}a is said to have come to Tarquin the +proud, wishing to sell nine books of sibylline or prophetic oracles: but +upon Tarquin's refusal to give her the price she asked, she went away +and burnt three of them. Returning soon after, she asked the same price +for the remaining six: whereupon, being ridiculed by the king, she went +and burnt three more; and coming back, still demanded the same price for +those which remained. Tarquin, surprised at this strange conduct of the +woman, consulted the augurs what to do; they, regretting the loss of the +books which had been destroyed, advised the king to give the price +required. The woman therefore, having delivered the books and directed +them to be carefully kept, disappeared, and was never afterwards seen. + +These books were supposed to contain the fate of the Roman empire, and +therefore, in public danger or calamity, they were frequently inspected; +they were kept with great care in a chest under ground, in the capitol. + +The institution of the vestal virgins is generally attributed to Numa; +their office was to attend upon the rites of Vesta, the chief part of it +being the preservation of the holy fire: they were obliged to keep this +with the greatest care, and if it happened to go out, it was thought +impiety to light it by any common flame, but they made use of the pure +rays of the sun. + +The famous palladium brought from Troy by AEneas, was likewise guarded by +them, for Ulysses and Diomedes stole only a counterfeit one, a copy of +the other, which was kept with less care. + +The number of the vestals was six, and they were admitted between the +years of six and ten. The chief rules prescribed by their founder, were +to vow the strictest chastity for the space of thirty years;--the first +ten they were only novices, being obliged to learn the ceremonies and +perfect themselves in the duties of their religion; the next ten years +they discharged the duties of priestesses, and spent the remaining ten +in instructing others. + +If they broke their vow of virginity, they were buried alive in a place +without the city wall, allotted for that purpose. + +This severe condition was recompensed with several privileges and +prerogatives: their persons were sacred: in public they usually appeared +on a magnificent car, drawn by white horses, followed by a numerous +retinue of female slaves, and preceded by lictors; and if they met a +malefactor going to punishment, they had the power to remit his +sentence. + +The _septemviri_ were priests among the Romans, who prepared the sacred +feasts at games, processions, and other solemn occasions: they were +likewise assistants to the pontifices. + +The _fratres ambarvales_, twelve in number, were those priests who +offered up sacrifices for the fertility of the ground. The _curiones_ +performed the rites in each curia. + +_Feciales_ (_Heralds_) were a college of sacred persons, into whose +charge all concerns relating to the declaration of war or conclusion of +peace, were committed. + +Their first institution was in so high a degree laudable and beneficial, +as to reflect great honour on Roman justice and moderation. It was the +primary and especial duty of the heralds, to inquire into the equity of +a proposed war: and if the grounds of it seemed to them trivial or +unjust, the war was declined--if otherwise, the senate concerted the +best measures to carry it on with spirit. + +Feciales were supreme judges in every thing relating to treaties. The +head of their college was called Pater Patratus. + +All the members of this college, while in the discharge of their duty, +wore a wreath of vervain around their heads; and bore a branch of it in +their hands, when they made peace, of which it was an emblem. + +Their authority and respectability continued until the lust of dominion +had corrupted the policy of the Romans; after which their situations +were comparative sinecures, and their solemn deliberations dwindled into +useless or contemptible formalities. + +Among the flamines or priests of particular gods, were, 1st. _flamen +dialis_ the priest of Jupiter. This was an office of great dignity, but +subjected to many restrictions; as that he should not ride on horseback, +nor stay one night without the city, nor take an oath, and several +others. + +2d. The _salii_, priests of Mars, so called, because on solemn occasions +they used to go through the city dancing, dressed in an embroidered +tunic, bound with a brazen belt, and a _toga pretexta_ or _trabea_; +having on their head a cap rising to a considerable height in the form +of a cone, with a sword by their side, in their right hand a spear or +rod, and in their left, one of the ancilia or shields of Mars.--The most +solemn procession of the salii was on the first of March, in +commemoration of the time when the sacred shield was believed to have +fallen from heaven in the reign of Numa. + +3d. The _luperci_, priests of Pan, were so called, from a wolf, because +that god was supposed to keep the wolves from the sheep. Hence the place +where he was worshipped was called lupercal, and his festival +lupercalia, which was celebrated in February, at which the luperci ran +up and down the city naked, having only a girdle of goat skin round +their waists, and thongs of the same in their hands, with which they +struck those they met. + +It is said that Antony, while chief of the luperci, went according to +concert, it is believed, almost naked into the forum, attended by his +lictors, and having made an harangue to the people from the rostra, +presented a crown to Caesar, who was sitting there, surrounded by the +whole senate and people. He attempted frequently to put the crown upon +his head, addressing him by the title of king, and declaring that what +he said and did was at the desire of his fellow citizens; but Caesar +perceiving the strongest marks of aversion in the people, rejected it, +saying, that Jupiter alone was king of Rome, and therefore sent the +crown to the capitol to be presented to that God. + + + + +CHAPTER XIII. + +_Religious Ceremonies of the Romans._ + + +The Romans were, as a people, remarkably attached to the religion they +professed; and scrupulously attentive in discharging the rites and +ceremonies which it enjoined. + +Their religion was Idolatry, in its grossest and widest acceptation. It +acknowledged a few general truths, but greatly darkened these by fables +and poetical fiction. + +All the inhabitants of the invisible world, to which the souls of people +departed after death, were indiscriminately called _Inferi_. _Elysium_ +was that part of hell (_apud Inferos_,) in which the good spent a +spiritual existence of unmingled enjoyment, and _Tartarus_ (pl. -ra) was +the terrible prison-house of the damned. + +The worship of the gods consisted chiefly in prayers, vows, and +sacrifices. No act of religious worship was performed without prayer; +while praying, they stood usually with their heads covered, looking +towards the east; a priest pronounced the words before them;--they +frequently touched the altars or knees of the images of the gods; +turning themselves round in a circle towards the right, sometimes +putting their right hand to their mouth, and also prostrating themselves +on the ground. + +They vowed temples, games, sacrifices, gifts, &c. Sometimes they used to +write their vows on paper or waxen tablets, to seal them up, and fasten +them with wax to the knees of the images of the gods, that being +supposed to be the seat of mercy. + +Lustrations were necessary to be made before entrance on any important +religious duty, viz. before setting out to the temples, before the +sacrifice, before initiation into the mysteries, and before solemn vows +and prayers. + +Lustrations were also made after acts by which one might be polluted; as +after murder, or after having assisted at a funeral. + +In sacrifices it was requisite that those who offered them, should come +chaste and pure; that they should bathe themselves, be dressed in white +robes, and crowned with the leaves of the tree which was thought most +acceptable to the god whom they worshipped. + +Sacrifices were made of victims whole and sound (_Integrae et sanae_.) But +all victims were not indifferently offered to all gods. + +A white bull was an acceptable sacrifice to Jupiter; an ewe to Juno; +black victims, bulls especially, to Pluto; a bull and a horse to +Neptune; the horse to Mars; bullocks and lambs to Apollo, &c. Sheep and +goats were offered to various deities. + +The victim was led to the altar with a loose rope, that it might not +seem to be brought by force, which was reckoned a bad omen. After +silence was proclaimed, a salted cake was sprinkled on the head of the +beast, and frankincense and wine poured between his horns, the priest +having first tasted the wine himself, and given it to be tasted by those +that stood next him, which was called _libatio_--the priest then plucked +the highest hairs between the horns, and threw them into the fire--the +victim was struck with an axe or mall, then stabbed with knives, and the +blood being caught in goblets, was poured on the altar--it was then +flayed and dissected; then the entrails were inspected by the aruspices, +and if the signs were favorable, they were said to have offered up an +acceptable sacrifice, or to have pacified the gods; if not, another +victim was offered up, and sometimes several. The parts which fell to +the gods were sprinkled with meal, wine, and frankincense, and burnt on +the altar. When the sacrifice was finished, the priest, having washed +his hands, and uttered certain prayers, again made a libation, and the +people were dismissed. + +Human sacrifices were also offered among the Romans: persons guilty of +certain crimes, as treachery or sedition, were devoted to Pluto and the +infernal gods, and therefore any one might slay them with impunity. + +Altars and temples afforded an asylum or place of refuge among the +Greeks and Romans, as well as among the Jews, chiefly to slaves from the +cruelty of their masters, and to insolvent debtors and criminals, where +it was considered impious to touch them; but sometimes they put fire and +combustible materials around the place, that the person might appear to +be forced away, not by men, but by a god: or shut up the temple and +unroofed it, that he might perish in the open air. + + + + +CHAPTER XIV. + +_The Roman Year._ + + +Romulus divided the year into ten months; the first of which was called +March from Mars, his supposed father; the 2d April, either from the +Greek name of Venus, ({Aphrodita}) or because trees and flowers open +their buds, during that month; the 3d, May, from Maia, the mother of +Mercury; the 4th, June, from the goddess Juno; 5th, July, from Julius +Caesar; 6th, August, from Augustus Caesar; the rest were called from their +number, September, October, November, December. + +Numa added two months--January from Janus, and February because the +people were then purified, (_februabatur_) by an expiatory sacrifice +from the sin of the whole year: for this anciently was the last month in +the year. + +Numa in imitation of the Greeks divided the year into twelve lunar +months, according to the course of the moon, but as this mode of +division did not correspond with the course of the sun, he ordained that +an intercalary month should be added every other year. + +Julius Caesar afterwards abolished this month, and with the assistance of +Sosig{)e}nes, a skilful astronomer of Alexandria, in the year of Rome +707, arranged the year according to the course of the sun, commencing +with the first of January, and assigned to each month the number of days +which they still retain. This is the celebrated Julian or solar year +which has been since maintained without any other alteration than that +of the new style, introduced by pope Gregory, A. D. 1582, and adopted in +England in 1752, when eleven days were dropped between the second and +fourteenth of September. + +The months were divided into three parts, _kalends_, _nones_ and _ides_. +They commenced with the _kalends_; the _nones_ occurred on the fifth, +and the _ides_ on the thirteenth, except in March, May, July, and +October, when they fell on the seventh and fifteenth. + +In marking the days of the month they went backwards: thus, January +first was the first of the _kalends_ of January--December thirty-first +was _pridie kalendas_, or the day next before the _kalends_ of +January--the day before that, or the thirtieth of December, _tertio +kalendas Januarii_, or the third day before the _kalends_ of January, +and so on to the thirteenth, when came the ides of December. + +The day was either civil or natural; the civil day was from midnight to +midnight; the natural day was from the rising to the setting of the sun. + +The use of clocks and watches was unknown to the Romans--nor was it till +four hundred and forty-seven years after the building of the city, that +the sun dial was introduced: about a century later, they first measured +time by a water machine, which served by night, as well as by day. + +Their days were distinguished by the names of _festi_, _profesti_, and +_intercisi_. The _festi_ were dedicated to religious worship, the +_profesti_ were allotted to ordinary business, the days which served +partly for one and partly for the other were called _intercisi_, or half +holy days. + +The manner of reckoning by weeks was not introduced until late in the +second century of the christian era: it was borrowed from the Egyptians, +and the days were named after the planets: thus, Sunday from the Sun, +Monday from the Moon, Tuesday from Mars, Wednesday from Mercury, +Thursday from Jupiter, Friday from Venus, Saturday from Saturn. + + +_A Table of the Kalends, Nones, and Ides._ + + Days of| Apr, June, | Jan, August, | March, May, | + Month. | Sept, Nov. | December. | July, Oct. | February. + + 1 Kalendae. Kalendae. Kalendae. Kalendae. + 2 IV. Nonas. IV. Nonas VI. IV. Nonas. + 3 III. III. V. III. + 4 Pridie. Pridie. IV. Pridie. + 5 Nonae. Nonae. III. Nonae. + 6 VIII. Idus VIII. Idus. Pridie. VIII. Idus. + 7 VII. VII. Nonae. VII. + 8 VI. VI. VIII. Idus. VI. + 9 V. V. VII. V. + 10 IV. IV. VI. IV. + 11 III. III. V. III. + 12 Pridie. Pridie. IV. Pridie. + 13 Idus. Idus. III. Idus. + 14 XVIII. Kal. XIX. Kal. Pridie. XVI. Kal. + 15 XVII. XVIII. Idus. XV. + 16 XVI. XVII. XVII. Kal. XIV + 17 XV. XVI. XVI. XIII. + 18 XIV. XV. XV. XII. + 19 XIII. XIV. XIV. XI. + 20 XII. XIII. XIII. X. + 21 XI. XII. XII. IX. + 22 X. XI. XI. VIII. + 23 IX. X. X. VII. + 24 VIII. IX. IX. VI. + 25 VII. VIII. VIII. V. + 26 VI. VII. VII. IV. + 27 V. VI. VI. III. + 28 IV. V. V. Prid. Kal. + 29 III. IV. IV. Martii. + 30 Prid. Kal. III. III. + 31 Mens. seq. Prid. Kal. Prid. Kal. + Mens. seq. Mens. seq. + + + + +CHAPTER XV. + +_Roman Games._ + + +The Roman Games formed a part of religious worship, and were always +consecrated to some god: they were either stated or vowed by generals in +war, or celebrated on extraordinary occasions; the most celebrated were +those of the circus. + +Among them were first, chariot and horse races, of which the Romans were +extravagantly fond. The charioteers were distributed into four parties +or factions from the different colours of their dresses. The spectators +favored one or other of the colours, as humor or caprice inclined them. +It was not the swiftness of their horses, nor the art of the men that +inclined them, but merely the dress. In the times of Justinian, no less +than thirty thousand men are said to have lost their lives at +Constantinople, in a tumult raised by contention among the partizans of +the several colours. + +The order in which the chariots or horses stood, was determined by lot, +and the person who presided at the games gave the signal for starting, +by dropping a cloth; then the chain of the _hermuli_ being withdrawn, +they sprung forward, and whoever first ran seven times round the course, +was declared the victor; he was then crowned, and received a prize in +money of considerable value. + +Second; contests of agility and strength, of which there were five +kinds; running, leaping, boxing, wrestling and throwing the _discus_ or +quoit. Boxers covered their hands with a kind of gloves, which had lead +or iron sewed into them, to make the strokes fall with greater weight; +the combatants were previously trained in a place of exercise, and +restricted to a particular diet. + +Third; what was called _venatio_, or the fighting of wild beasts with +one another, or with men, called _bestiarii_, who were either forced to +this by way of punishment, as the primitive christians often were, or +fought voluntarily, either from a natural ferocity of disposition, or +induced by hire. An incredible number of animals of various kinds, were +brought from all quarters, for the entertainment of the people, at an +immense expense; and were kept in enclosures called _vivaria_, till the +day of exhibition. Pompey, in his second consulship, exhibited at once +five hundred lions, and eighteen elephants, who were all despatched in +five days. + +Fourth; _naumachia_, or the representation of a sea fight; those who +fought, were usually composed of captives or condemned malefactors, who +fought to death, unless saved by the clemency of the emperors. + +In the next class of games were the shows of gladiators; they were first +exhibited at Rome by two brothers called Bruti, at the funeral of their +father, and for some time they were only exhibited on such occasions; +but afterwards, also by the magistrates, to entertain the people, +chiefly at the _saturnalia_ and feasts of Minerva. + +Incredible numbers of men were destroyed in this manner; after the +triumph of Trajan over the Dacians, spectacles were exhibited for one +hundred twenty-three days, in which eleven thousand animals, of +different kinds, were killed, and ten thousand gladiators fought, whence +we may judge of other instances. The emperor Claudius, although +naturally of a gentle disposition, is said to have been rendered cruel +by often attending these spectacles. + +Gladiators were at first composed of slaves and captives, or of +condemned malefactors, but afterwards also of free born citizens, +induced by hire or inclination. + +When any gladiator was wounded, he lowered his arms as a sign of his +being vanquished, but his fate depended on the pleasure of the people, +who, if they wished him to be saved, pressed down their thumbs; if to be +slain, they turned them up, and ordered him to receive the sword, which +gladiators usually submitted to with amazing fortitude. + +Such was the spirit engendered by these scenes of blood, that +malefactors and unfortunate christians, during the period of the +persecution against them, were compelled to risk their lives in these +unequal contests; and in the time of Nero, christians were dressed in +skins, and thus distinguished, were hunted by dogs, or forced to contend +with ferocious animals, by which they were devoured. + +The next in order were the dramatic entertainments, of which there were +three kinds. First; comedy, which was a representation of common life, +written in a familiar style, and usually with a happy issue: the design +of it was, to expose vice and folly to ridicule. + +Second; tragedy, or the representation of some one serious and important +action; in which illustrious persons are introduced as heroes, kings, +&c. written in an elevated style, and generally with an unhappy issue. + +The great end of tragedy was to excite the passions; chiefly pity and +horror: to inspire a love of virtue, and an abhorrence of vice. + +The Roman tragedy and comedy differed from ours only in the chorus: this +was a company of actors who usually remained on the stage singing and +conversing on the subject in the intervals of the acts. + +Pantomimes, or representations of dumb show, where the actors expressed +every thing by their dancing and gestures, without speaking. + +Those who were most approved, received crowns, &c. as at other games; at +first composed of leaves or flowers, tied round the head with strings, +afterwards of thin plates of brass gilt. + +The scenery was concealed by a curtain, which, contrary to the modern +custom, was drawn down when the play began, and raised when it was over. + + + + +CHAPTER XVI. + +_Magistrates._ + + +Rome was at first governed by kings, chosen by the people; their power +was not absolute, but limited; their badges were the _trabea_ or white +robe adorned with stripes of purple, a golden crown and ivory sceptre; +the _curule_ chair and twelve _lictors_ with the _fasces_, that is, +carrying each a bundle of rods, with an axe in the middle of them. + +The regal government subsisted at Rome for two hundred and forty-three +years, under seven kings--Romulus, Numa Pompilius, Tullus Hostilius, +Ancus Marcius, Lucius Tarquinius Priscus, Servius Tullius, and Lucius +Tarquinius Superbus, all of whom, except the last, may be said to have +laid the foundation of Roman greatness by their good government. + +Tarquin being universally detested for his tyranny and cruelty, was +expelled the city, with his wife and family, on account of the violence +offered by his son Sextus to Lucretia, a noble lady, the wife of +Collatinus. + +This revolution was brought about chiefly by means of Lucius Junius +Brutus. The haughtiness and cruelty of Tarquin inspired the Romans with +the greatest aversion to regal government, which they retained ever +after. + +In the two hundred and forty-fourth year from the building of the city, +they elected two magistrates, of equal authority, and gave them the name +of consuls. They had the same badges as the kings, except the crown, and +nearly the same power; in time of war they possessed supreme command, +and usually drew lots to determine which should remain in Rome--they +levied soldiers, nominated the greater part of the officers, and +provided what was necessary for their support. + +In dangerous conjunctures, they were armed by the senate with absolute +power, by the solemn decree that the consuls should take care the +Republic receives no harm. In any serious tumult or sedition they called +the Roman citizens to arms in these words, "Let those who wish to save +the republic follow me"--by which they easily checked it. + +Although their authority was very much impaired, first by the tribunes +of the people, and afterwards upon the establishment of the empire, yet +they were still employed in consulting the senate, administering +justice, managing public games and the like, and had the honor to +characterize the year by their own names. + +To be a candidate for the consulship, it was requisite to be forty-three +years of age: to have gone through the inferior offices of _quaestor_, +_aedile_, and _praetor_--and to be present in a private station. + +The office of praetor was instituted partly because the consuls being +often wholly taken up with foreign wars, found the want of some person +to administer justice in the city; and partly because the nobility, +having lost their appropriation of the consulship, were ambitious of +obtaining some new honor in its room. He was attended in the city by two +_lictors_, who went before him with the _fasces_, and six _lictors_ +without the city; he wore also, like the consuls, the _toga pretexta_, +or white robe fringed with purple. + +The power of the praetor, in the administration of justice, was expressed +in three words, _do_, _dico_, _addico_. By the word _do_, he expressed +his power in giving the form of a writ for trying and redressing a +wrong, and in appointing judges or jury to decide the cause: by _dico_, +he meant that he declared right, or gave judgment; and by _addico_, that +he adjudged the goods of the debtor to the creditor. The praetor +administered justice only in private or trivial cases: but in public and +important causes, the people either judged themselves, or appointed +persons called _quaesitores_ to preside. + +The _censors_ were appointed to take an account of the number of the +people, and the value of their fortunes, and superintend the public +morals. They were usually chosen from the most respectable persons of +consular dignity, at first only from among the Patricians, but +afterwards likewise from the Plebeians. + +They had the same ensigns as the consuls, except the _lictors_, and were +chosen every five years, but continued in office only a year and a half. +When any of the senators or equites committed a dishonorable action, the +censors could erase the name of the former from the list, and deprive +the knight of his horse and ring; any other citizen, they degraded or +deprived of all the privileges of a Roman citizen, except liberty. + +As the sentence of censors (_Animadversio Censoria_,) only affected a +person's character, it was therefore properly called _Ignominia_. Yet +even this was not unchangeable; the people or next censors might reverse +it. + +In addition to the revision of morals, censors had the charge of paving +the streets--making roads, bridges, and aqueducts--preventing private +persons from occupying public property--and frequently of imposing +taxes. + +A census was taken by these officers, every five years, of the number of +the people, the amount of their fortunes, the number of slaves, &c. +After this census had been taken, a sacrifice was made of a sow, a +sheep, and a bull--hence called _suove-taurilia_. As this took place +only every five years, that space of time was called a _lustrum_, +because the sacrifice was a lustration offered for all the people; and +therefore _condere lustrum_, means to finish the census. + +The title of censor was esteemed more honorable than that of consul, +although attended by less power: no one could be elected a second time, +and they who filled it were remarkable for leading an irreproachable +life; so that it was considered the chief ornament of nobility to be +sprung from a censorian family. + +The appointment of tribunes of the people, may be attributed to the +following cause; the Plebeians being oppressed by the Patricians, on +account of debt, made a secession to a mountain afterwards called _mons +sacer_, three miles from Rome, nor could they be prevailed on to return, +till they obtained from the Patricians a remission of debts for those +who were insolvent, and liberty to such as had been given up to serve +their creditors: and likewise that the Plebeians should have proper +magistrates of their own, to protect their rights, whose person should +be sacred and inviolable. + +They were at first five in number, but afterwards increased to ten; they +had no external mark of dignity, except a kind of beadle, called +_viator_, who went before them. + +The word _veto_, I forbid it, was at first the extent of their power; +but it afterwards increased to such a degree, that under pretence of +defending the rights of the people, they did almost whatever they +pleased. If any one hurt a tribune in word or deed, he was held +accursed, and his property confiscated. + +The _ediles_ were so called from their care of the public buildings; +they were either Plebeian or _curule_; the former, two in number, were +appointed to be, as it were, the assistants of the tribunes of the +commons, and to determine certain lesser causes committed to them; the +latter, also two in number, were chosen from the Patricians and +Plebeians, to exhibit certain public games. + +The _quaestors_ were officers elected by the people, to take care of the +public revenues; there were at first only two of them, but two others +were afterwards added to accompany the armies; and upon the conquest of +all Italy, four more were created, who remained in the provinces. + +The principal charge of the city quaestors was the care of the treasury; +they received and expended the public money, and exacted the fines +imposed by the people: they kept the military standards, entertained +foreign ambassadors, and took charge of the funerals of those who were +buried at the public expense. + +Commanders returning from war, before they could obtain a triumph, were +obliged to take an oath before the quaestors, that they had written to +the senate a true account of the number of the enemy they had slain, and +of the citizens who were missing. + +The office of the provincial quaestors was to attend the consuls or +praetors into their provinces; to furnish the provisions and pay for the +army; to exact the taxes and tribute of the empire, and sell the spoils +taken in war. + +The quaestorship was the first step of preferment to the other public +offices, and to admission into the senate: its continuation was for but +one year, and no one could be a candidate for it until he had completed +his twenty-seventh year. + +_Legati_ were those next in authority to the quaestors, and appointed +either by the senate or president of the province, who was then said to +_aliquem sibi legare_. + +The office of the legati was very dignified and honorable. They acted as +lieutenants or deputies in any business for which they were appointed, +and were sometimes allowed the honor of lictors. + +The _dictator_ was a magistrate invested with royal authority, created +in perilous circumstances, in time of pestilence, sedition, or when the +commonwealth was attacked by dangerous enemies. + +His power was supreme both in peace and war, and was even above the +laws; he could raise and disband armies, and determine upon the life and +fortune of Roman citizens, without consulting the senate or people; when +he was appointed, all other magistrates resigned their offices except +the tribunes of the commons. + +The dictator could continue in office only six months; but he usually +resigned when he had effected the business for which he had been +created. He was neither permitted to go out of Italy, nor ride on +horseback, without the permission of the people; but the principal check +against any abuse of power, was that he might be called to an account +for his conduct, when he resigned his office. + +A master of horse was nominated by the dictator immediately after his +creation, usually from those of consular or praetorian rank, whose office +was to command the cavalry, and execute the orders of the dictator. + +The _decemviri_ were ten men invested with supreme power, who were +appointed to draw up a code of laws, all the other magistrates having +first resigned their offices. + +They at first behaved with great moderation, and administered justice to +the people every tenth day. Ten tables of laws were proposed by them, +and ratified by the people at the _comitia centuriata_. + +As two other tables seemed to be wanting, _decemviri_ were again +appointed for another year, to make them. But as these new magistrates +acted tyrannically, and seemed disposed to retain their command beyond +the legal time, they were compelled to resign, chiefly on account of the +base passion of Appius Claudius, one of their number, for Virginia, a +virgin of plebeian rank, who was slain by her father to prevent her +falling into the decemvir's hands. The _decemviri_ all perished, either +in prison or in banishment. + +The consuls and all the chief magistrates, except the censors and the +tribunes of the people, were preceded in public by a certain number, +according to their rank of office, called lictors, each bearing on his +shoulders as the insignia of office, the _fasces_ and _securis_, which +were a bundle of rods, with an axe in the centre of one end; but the +lictors in attendance on an inferior magistrate, carried the _fasces_ +only, without the axe, to denote that he was not possessed of the power +of capital punishments. + +They opened a way through the crowd for the consul, saying words like +these--"_cedite, Consul venit_," or "_date viam Consuli_." It was their +duty also to inflict punishment on the condemned. + + + + +CHAPTER XVII. + +_Of Military Affairs._ + + +According to the Roman constitution, every free-born citizen was a +soldier, and bound to serve if called upon, in the armies of the state +at any period, from the age of seventeen to forty-six. + +When the Romans thought themselves injured by any nation, they sent one +or more of the priests, called _feciales_, to demand redress, and if it +was not immediately given, thirty-three days were granted to consider +the matter, after which war might be justly declared; then the feciales +again went to their confines, and having thrown a bloody spear into +them, formally declared war against that nation. + +The levy of the troops, the encampment, and much of the civil +discipline, as well as the temporary command of the army, was intrusted +to the military tribunes, six of whom were appointed to each legion. + +During the early period of the republic, the standing army in time of +peace usually consisted of only four legions, two of which were +commanded by each consul, and they were relieved by new levies every +year, the soldiers then serving without any pay beyond their mere +subsistence. But this number was afterwards greatly augmented, and the +inconvenience of raw troops having been experienced, a fixed stipend in +money was allowed to the men, and they were constantly retained in the +service. + +The legion usually consisted of three hundred horse, and three thousand +foot: the different kinds of infantry which composed it were three, the +_hastati_, _principes_, and _triarii_. The first were so called because +they fought with spears: they consisted of young men in the flower of +life, and formed the first line in battle. The _principes_ were men of +middle age who occupied the second line. The _triarii_ were old soldiers +of approved valor, who formed the third line. + +There was a fourth kind of troops, called _vel{)i}tes_ from their +swiftness and agility: these did not form a part of the legion, and had +no certain post assigned them, but fought in scattered parties, wherever +occasion required, usually before the lines. + +The imperial eagle was the common standard of the legion; it was of gilt +metal, borne on a spear by an officer of rank, styled, from his office, +_aquilifer_, and was regarded by the soldiery with the greatest +reverence. There were other ensigns, as A. B. C. D. in the frontispiece. + +The only musical instruments used in the Roman army, were brazen +trumpets of different forms, adapted to the various duties of the +service. + +The arms of the soldiery varied according to the battalion in which they +served. Some were equipped with light javelins, and others with a +missile weapon, called _pilum_, which they flung at the enemy; but all +carried shields and short swords of that description, usually styled cut +and thrust, which they wore on the right side, to prevent its +interfering with the buckler, which they bore on the left arm. + +The shield was of an oblong or oval shape, with an iron boss jutting out +in the middle, to glance off stones or darts; it was four feet long and +two and a half broad, made of pieces of wood joined together with small +plates of iron, and the whole covered with a bull's hide. + +They were partly dressed in a metal cuirass with an under covering of +cloth; on the head they wore helmets of brass, either fastened under the +chin, with plates of the same metal, or reaching to the shoulders, which +they covered and ornamented on the top with flowing tufts of horse hair. + +The light infantry were variously armed with slings and darts as well as +swords, and commonly wore a shaggy cap, in imitation of the head of some +wild beast, of which the skirt hung over their shoulders. The troops of +the line wore greaves on the legs and heavy iron-bound sandals on the +feet. These last were called _caligae_, from which the emperor Caius +Caesar obtained the name of Caligula, in consequence of having worn them +in his youth among the soldiery. + +The cavalry were armed with spears and wore a coat of mail of chain +work, or scales of brass or steel, often plated with gold, under which +was a close garment that reached to their buskins. The helmet was +surmounted with a plume, and with an ornament distinctive of each rank, +or with some device according to the fancy of the wearers, and which was +then, as now in heraldry, denominated the crest. This term was _crista_, +derived from the resemblance of the ornament to the comb of a cock. + +The Romans made no use of saddles or stirrups, but merely cloths folded +according to the convenience of the rider. + +Among the instruments used in war were towers consisting of different +stories, from which showers of darts were discharged on the townsmen by +means of engines called _catapultae_, _balistae_, and _scorpiones_. + +But the most dreadful machine of all was the battering ram: this was a +long beam like the mast of a ship, and armed at one end with iron, in +the form of a ram's head, whence it had its name. It was suspended by +the middle, with ropes or chains fastened to a beam which lay across two +posts, and hanging thus equally balanced, it was violently thrust +forward, drawn back, and again pushed forward, until by repeated strokes +it had broken down the wall. + +The discipline of the army was maintained with great severity; officers +were exposed to degradation for misconduct, and the private soldier to +corporal punishment. Whole legions who had transgressed their military +duty were exposed to decimation, which consisted in drawing their names +by lot, and putting every tenth man to the sword. + +The most common rewards were crowns of different forms; the mural crown +was presented to him who in the assault first scaled the rampart of a +town; the castral, to those who were foremost in storming the enemy's +entrenchments; the civic chaplet of oak leaves, to the soldier who saved +his comrade's life in battle, and the triumphal laurel wreath to the +general who commanded in a successful engagement. The radial crown was +that worn by the emperors. + +When an army was freed from a blockade, the soldiers gave their +deliverer a crown called _obsidionalis_, made of the grass which grew in +the besieged place; and to him who first boarded the ship of an enemy, a +naval crown. + +But the greatest distinction that could be conferred on a commander, was +a triumph; this was granted only by the senate, on the occasion of a +great victory. When decreed, the general returned to Rome, and was +appointed by a special edict to the supreme command in the city; on the +day of his entry, a triumphal arch was erected of sculptured masonry, +under which the procession passed. + +First came a detachment of cavalry, with a band of military music +preceding a train of priests in their robes, who were followed by a +hecatomb of the whitest oxen with gilded horns entwined with flowers; +next were chariots, laden with the spoils of the vanquished; and after +them, long ranks of chained captives conducted by files of lictors. Then +came the conqueror, clothed in purple and crowned with laurel, having an +ivory sceptre in his hand; a band of children followed dressed in white, +who threw perfumes from silver censors, while they chanted the hymns of +victory and the praises of the conqueror. The march was closed by the +victorious troops, with their weapons wreathed with laurel; the +procession marched to the temple of Jupiter, where the victor descended +and dedicated his spoils to the gods. + +When the objects of the war had been obtained by a bloodless victory, a +minor kind of triumph was granted, in which the general appeared on +horseback, dressed in white, and crowned with myrtle, while in his hand +he bore a branch of olive. No other living sacrifice was offered but +sheep, from the name of which the ceremony was called an ovation. + +In consequence of the continual depredations to which the coast of Italy +was subject, the Romans commenced the building of a number of vessels, +to establish a fleet, taking for their model a Carthaginian vessel, +which was formerly stranded on their coast. + +Their vessels were of two kinds, _naves onerariae_, ships of burden, and +_naves longae_, ships of war: the former served to carry provisions, &c.: +they were almost round, very deep, and impelled by sails. + +The ships of war received their name from the number of banks of oars, +one above another, which they contained: thus a ship with three banks of +oars was called _triremis_, one with four, _quadriremis_, &c.; in these, +sails were not used. + + + + +CHAPTER XVIII. + +_Assemblies, Judicial Proceedings, and Punishments of the Romans._ + + +The assemblies of the whole Roman people, to give their vote on any +subject, were called _comitia_. There were three kinds, the _curiata_, +_centuriata_, and _tributa_. + +The _comitia curiata_ were assemblies of the resident Roman citizens, +who were divided into thirty _curiae_, a majority of which determined all +matters of importance that were laid before them, such as the election +of magistrates, the enacting of laws and judging of capital causes. + +_Comitia centuriata_ were assemblies of the various centuries into which +the six classes of the people were divided. + +Those who belonged to the first class were termed _classici_, by way of +pre-eminence--hence _auctores classici_, respectable or standard +authors; those of the last class, who had no fortune, were called +_capite censi_, or _proletarii_; and those belonging to the middle +classes were all said to be _infra classem_--below the class. + +_Comitia centuriata_ were the most important of all the assemblies of +the people. In these, laws were enacted, magistrates elected, and +criminals tried. Their meeting was in the Campus Martius. + +It was necessary that these assemblies should have been summoned +seventeen days previously to their meeting, in order that the people +might have time to reflect on the business which was to be transacted. + +Candidates for any public office, who were to be elected here, were +obliged to give in their names before the _comitia_ were summoned. Those +who did so, were said to _petere consulatum vel praeturam_, &c.; and they +wore a white robe called _toga candida_, to denote the purity of their +motives; on which account they were called _candidati_. + +Candidates went about to solicit votes (_ambire_,) accompanied by a +nomenclator, whose duty it was to whisper the names of those whose votes +they desired; for it was supposed to be an insult not to know the name +of a Roman citizen. + +_Centuria praerogativa_ was that century which obtained by ballot the +privilege of voting first. + +When the _centuria praerogativa_ had been elected, the presiding +magistrate sitting in a tent (_tabernaculum_,) called upon it to come +and vote. All that century then immediately separated themselves from +the rest, and entered into that place of the Campus Martius, called +_septa_ or _ovilia_. Going into this, they had to cross over a little +bridge (_pons_;) hence the phrase _de ponte dejici_--to be deprived of +the elective franchise. + +At the farther end of the _septa_ stood officers, called _diribitores_, +who handed waxen tablets to the voters, with the names of the candidates +written upon them. The voter then putting a mark (_punctus_) on the name +of him for whom he voted, threw the tablet into a large chest; and when +all were done, the votes were counted. + +If the votes of a century for different magistrates, or respecting any +law, were equal when counted, the vote of the entire century was not +reckoned among the votes of the other centuries; but in trials of life +and death, if the tablets pro and con were equal, the criminal was +acquitted. + +The candidate for whom the greatest number of centuries voted, was duly +elected, (_renunciatus est_:) when the votes were unanimous, he was said +_ferre omne punctum_--to be completely successful. + +When a law was proposed, two ballots were given to each voter: one with +U. R. written upon it, _Uti Rogas_--as you propose; and the other with +A. for _Antiquo_--I am for the old one. + +In voting on an impeachment, one tablet was marked with A. for +_Absolvo_--I acquit; hence this letter was called _litera salutaris_; +the other with C. for _condemno_--I condemn; hence C. was called _litera +tristis_. + +In the _comitia tributa_, the people voted, divided into tribes, +according to their regions or wards; they were held to create inferior +magistrates, to elect certain priests, to make laws, and to hold trials. + +The _comitia_ continued to be assembled for upwards of seven hundred +years, when that liberty was abridged by Julius Caesar, and after him by +Augustus, each of whom shared the right of creating magistrates with the +people. Tiberius the second emperor, deprived the people altogether of +the right of election. + +The extension of the Roman empire, the increase of riches, and +consequently of crime, gave occasion to a great number of new laws, +which were distinguished by the name of the person who proposed them, +and by the subject to which they referred. + +Civil trials, or differences between private persons were tried in the +forum by the praetor. If no adjustment could be made between the two +parties, the plaintiff obtained a writ from the praetor, which required +the defendant to give bail for his appearance on the third day, at which +time, if either was not present when cited, he lost his cause, unless he +had a valid excuse. + +Actions were either real, personal, or mixed. Real, was for obtaining a +thing to which one had a real right, but was possessed by another. +Personal, was against a person to bind him to the fulfilment of a +contract, or to obtain redress for wrongs. Mixed, was when the actions +had relation to persons and things. + +After the plaintiff had presented his case for trial, judges were +appointed by the praetor, to hear and determine the matter, and fix the +number of witnesses, that the suit might not be unreasonably protracted. +The parties gave security that they would abide by the judgment, and the +judges took a solemn oath to decide impartially; after this the cause +was argued on both sides, assisted by witnesses, writings, &c. In giving +sentence, the votes of a majority of the judges were necessary to decide +against the defendant; but if the number was equally divided, it was +left to the praetor to determine. + +Trial by jury, as established with us, was not known, but the mode of +judging in criminal cases, seems to have resembled it. A certain number +of senators and knights, or other citizens of respectability, were +annually chosen by the praetor, to act as his assessors, and some of +these were appointed to sit in judgment with him. They decided by a +majority of voices, and returned their verdict, either guilty, not +guilty, or uncertain, in which latter instance the case was deferred; +but if the votes for acquittal and condemnation were equal, the culprit +was discharged. + +There were also officers called _centumviri_, to the number at first of +100, but afterwards of 180, who were chosen equally, from the 35 tribes, +and together with the praetor constituted a court of justice. + +Candidates for office wore a white robe, rendered shining by the art of +the fuller. They did not wear tunics, or waist-coats, either that they +might appear more humble, or might more easily show the scars they had +received on the breast. + +For a long time before the election, they endeavored to gain the favor +of the people, by every popular art, by going to their houses, by +shaking hands with those they met, by addressing them in a kindly +manner, and calling them by name, on which occasion they commonly had +with them a monitor, who whispered in their ears every body's name. + +Criminal law was in many instances more severe than it is at the present +day. Thus adultery, which now only subjects the offender to a civil +suit, was by the Romans, as well as the ancient Jews, punished +corporally. + +Forgery was not punished with death, unless the culprit was a slave; but +freemen guilty of that crime were subject to banishment, which deprived +them of their property and privileges; and false testimony, coining, and +those offences which we term misdemeanors, exposed them to an +interdiction from fire and water, or in fact an excommunication from +society, which necessarily drove them into banishment. + +The punishments inflicted among the Romans, were--fine, (_damnum_,) +bonds, (_vincula_,) stripes, (_verbera_,) retaliation, (_talio_,) +infamy, (_ignominia_,) banishment, (_exilium_,) slavery, (_servitus_,) +and death. + +The methods of inflicting death were various; the chief were--beheading +(_percussio securi_), strangling in prison (_strangulatio_), throwing a +criminal from that part of the prison called Robur (_precipitatio de +robore_), throwing a criminal from the Tarpeian rock (_dejectio e rupe +Tarpeia_), crucifixion (_in crucem actio_), and throwing into the river +(_projectio in profluentem_). + +The last-mentioned punishment was inflicted upon parricides, or the +murderers of any relation. So soon as any one was convicted of such +crimes, he was immediately blindfolded as unworthy of the light, and in +the next place whipped with rods. He was then sewed up in a sack, and +thrown into the sea. In after times, to add to the punishment, a serpent +was put in the sack; and still later, an ape, a dog, and a cock. The +sack which held the malefactor was called _Culeus_, on which account the +punishment itself is often signified by the same name. + +In the time of Nero, the punishment for treason was, to be stripped +stark naked, and with the head held up by a fork to be whipped to death. + + + + +CHAPTER XIX. + +_The Roman Dress._ + + +The ordinary garments of the Romans were the _toga_ and the _tunic_. + +The _toga_ was a loose woollen robe, of a semicircular form, without +sleeves, open from the waist upwards, but closed from thence downwards, +and surrounding the limbs as far as the middle of the leg. The upper +part of the vest was drawn under the right arm, which was thus left +uncovered, and, passing over the left shoulder, was there gathered in a +knot, whence it fell in folds across the breast: this flap being tucked +into the girdle, formed a cavity which sometimes served as a pocket, and +was frequently used as a covering for the head. Its color was white, +except in case of mourning, when a black or dark color was worn. The +Romans were at great pains to adjust the toga and make it hang +gracefully. + +It was at first worn by women as well as men--but afterwards matrons +wore a different robe, called _stola_, with a broad border or fringe, +reaching to the feet. Courtezans, and women condemned for adultery, were +not permitted to wear the _stola_--hence called _togatae_. + +Roman citizens only were permitted to wear the _toga_, and banished +persons were prohibited the use of it. The _toga picta_ was so termed +from the rich embroidery with which it was covered:--the _toga palmata_ +from its being wrought in figured palm leaves--this last was the +triumphal habit. + +Young men, until they were seventeen years of age, and young women until +they were married, wore a gown bordered with purple, called the _toga +praetexta_. + +After they had arrived at the age of seventeen, young men assumed the +_toga virilis_. + +The _tunic_ was a white woollen vest worn below the _toga_, coming down +a little below the knees before, and to the middle of the leg behind, at +first without sleeves. _Tunics_ with sleeves were reckoned effeminate: +but under the emperors, these were used with fringes at the hands. The +_tunic_ was fastened by a girdle or belt about the waist, to keep it +tight, which also served as a purse. + +The women wore a _tunic_ which came down to their feet and covered their +arms. + +Senators had a broad stripe of purple, sewed on the breast of their +tunic, called _latus clavus_, which is sometimes put for the _tunic_ +itself, or the dignity of a senator. + +The _equites_ were distinguished by a narrow stripe called _angustus +clavus_. + +The Romans wore neither stockings nor breeches, but used sometimes to +wrap their legs and thighs with pieces of cloth called from the parts +which they covered, _tibialia_ and _feminalia_. + +The chief coverings for the feet were the _calceus_, which covered the +whole foot, somewhat like our shoes, and was tied above with a _latchet_ +or lace, and the _solea_, a slipper or sandal which covered only the +sole of the foot, and was fastened on with leather thongs or strings. + +The shoes of the senators came up to the middle of their legs, and had a +golden or silver crescent on the top of the foot. The shoes of the +soldiery were called _caligae_, sometimes shod with nails. Comedians wore +the _socci_ or slippers, and tragedians the _cothurni_. + +The ancient Romans went with their heads bare except at sacred rites, +games, festivals, on journey or in war.--Hence, of all the honors +decreed to Caesar by the senate, he is said to have been chiefly pleased +with that of always wearing a laurel crown, because it covered his +baldness, which was reckoned a deformity. At games and festivals a +woollen cap or bonnet was worn. + +The head-dress of women was at first very simple. They seldom went +abroad, and when they did they almost always had their faces veiled. But +when riches and luxury increased, dress became, with many, the chief +object of attention. They anointed their hair with the richest perfumes, +and sometimes gave it a bright yellow color, by means of a composition +or wash. It was likewise adorned with gold and pearls and precious +stones: sometimes with garlands and chaplets of flowers. + + + + +CHAPTER XX. + +_Of the Fine Arts and Literature._ + + +The Romans invented short or abridged writing, which enabled their +secretaries to collect the speeches of orators, however rapidly +delivered. The characters used by such writers were called notes. They +did not consist in letters of the alphabet, but certain marks, one of +which often expressed a whole word, and frequently a phrase. The same +description of writing is known at the present day by the word +_stenography_. From notes came the word _notary_, which was given to all +who professed the art of quick writing. + +The system of note-writing was not suddenly brought to perfection: it +only came into favor when the professors most accurately reported an +excellent speech which Cato pronounced in the senate. The orators, the +philosophers, the dignitaries, and nearly all the rich patricians then +took for secretaries note-writers, to whom they allowed handsome pay. It +was usual to take from their slaves all who had intellect to acquire a +knowledge of that art. + +The fine arts were unknown at Rome, until their successful commanders +brought from Syracuse, Asia, Macedonia and Corinth, the various +specimens which those places afforded. So ignorant, indeed, were they of +their real worth, that when the victories of Mummius had given him +possession of some of the finest productions of Grecian art, he +threatened the persons to whom he intrusted the carriage of some antique +statues and rare pictures, "that if they lost those, they should give +him new ones." A taste by degrees began to prevail, which they gratified +at the expense of every liberal feeling of public justice and private +right. + +The art of printing being unknown, books were sometimes written on +parchment, but more generally on a paper made from the leaves of a plant +called _papyrus_, which grew and was prepared in Egypt. This plant was +about ten cubits high, and had several coats or skins, one above +another, which they separated with a needle. + +The instrument used for writing was a reed, sharpened and split at the +point, like our pens, called _calamus_. Their ink was sometimes composed +of a black liquid emitted by the cuttle fish. + +The Romans commonly wrote only on one side of the paper, and joined one +sheet to the end of another, till they finished what they had to write, +and then rolled it on a cylinder or staff, hence called _volumen_. + +But _memoranda_ or other unimportant matters, not intended to be +preserved, were usually written on tablets spread with wax. This was +effected by means of a metal pencil called _stylus_, pointed at one end +to scrape the letters, and flat at the other to smooth the wax when any +correction was necessary. + +Julius Caesar introduced the custom of folding letters in a flat square +form, which were then divided into small pages, in the manner of a +modern book. When forwarded for delivery, they were usually perfumed and +tied round with a silken thread, the ends of which were sealed with +common wax. + +Letters were not subscribed; but the name of the writer, and that of the +person to whom they were addressed, were inserted at the +commencement--thus, Julius Caesar to his friend Antony, health. At the +end was written a simple, Farewell! + +The Romans had many private and public libraries. Adjoining to some of +them were museums for the accommodation of a college or society of +learned men, who were supported there at the public expense, with a +covered walk and seats, where they might dispute. + +The first public library at Rome, and probably in the world, was erected +by Asinius Pollio, in the temple of liberty, on Mount Aventine. This was +adorned by the statues of the most celebrated men. + + + + +CHAPTER XXI. + +_Roman Houses._ + + +The houses of the Romans are supposed at first to have been nothing more +than thatched cottages. After the city was burnt by the Gauls, it was +rebuilt in a more solid and commodious manner; but the streets were very +irregular. + +In the time of Nero the city was set on fire, and more than two-thirds +of it burnt to the ground. That tyrant himself is said to have been the +author of this conflagration. He beheld it from the tower of Maecenas, +and being delighted, as he said, with the beauty of the flames, played +the taking of Troy, dressed like an actor. + +The city was then rebuilt with greater regularity and splendor--the +streets were widened, the height of the houses was limited to seventy +feet, and each house had a portico before it, fronting the street. + +Nero erected for himself a palace of extraordinary extent and +magnificence. The enclosure extended from the Palatine to the Esquiline +mount, which was more than a mile in breadth, and it was entirely +surrounded with a spacious portico embellished with sculpture and +statuary, among which stood a colossal statue of Nero himself, one +hundred and twenty feet in height. The apartments were lined with +marble, enriched with jasper, topaz, and other precious gems: the timber +works and ceilings were inlaid with gold, ivory and mother of pearl. + +This noble edifice, which from its magnificence obtained the appellation +of the golden house, was destroyed by Vespasian as being too gorgeous +for the residence even of a Roman emperor. + +The lower floors of the houses of the great were, at this time, either +inlaid marble or mosaic work. Every thing curious and valuable was used +in ornament and furniture. The number of stories was generally two, with +underground apartments. On the first, were the reception-rooms and +bed-chamber; on the second, the dining-room and apartments of the women. + +The Romans used portable furnaces in their rooms, on which account they +had little use for chimneys, except for the kitchen. + +The windows of some of their houses were glazed with a thick kind of +glass, not perfectly transparent; in others, isinglass split into thin +plates was used. Perfectly transparent glass was so rare and valuable at +Rome, that Nero is said to have given a sum equal to L50,000 for two +cups of such glass with handles. + +Houses not joined with the neighboring ones were called _Insulae_, as +also lodgings or houses to let. The inhabitants of rented houses or +lodgings, _Insularii_ or _Inquilini_. + +The principal parts of a private house were the _vestibulum_, or court +before the gate, which was ornamented towards the street with a portico +extending along the entire front. + +The _atrium_ or hall, which was in the form of an oblong square, +surrounded by galleries supported on pillars. It contained a hearth on +which a fire was kept constantly burning, and around which were ranged +the _lares_, or images of the ancestors of the family. + +These were usually nothing more than waxen busts, and, though held in +great respect, were not treated with the same veneration as the +_penates_, or household gods, which were considered of divine origin, +and were never exposed to the view of strangers, but were kept in an +inner apartment, called _penetralia_. + +The outer door was furnished with a bell: the entrance was guarded by a +slave in chains: he was armed with a staff, and attended by a dog. + +The houses had high sloping roofs, covered with broad tiles, and there +was usually an open space in the centre to afford light to the inner +apartments. + +The Romans were unacquainted with the use of chimnies, and were +consequently much annoyed by smoke. To remedy this, they sometimes +anointed the wood of which their fuel was composed, with lees of oil. + +The windows were closed with blinds of linen or plates of horn, but more +generally with shutters of wood. During the time of the emperors, a +species of transparent stone, cut into plates, was used for the purpose. +Glass was not used for the admission of light into the apartments until +towards the fifth century of the christian era. + +A villa was originally a farm-house of an ordinary kind, and occupied by +the industrious cultivator of the soil; but when increasing riches +inspired the citizens with a taste for new pleasures, it became the +abode of opulence and luxury. + +Some villas were surrounded with large parks, in which deer and various +foreign wild animals were kept, and in order to render the sheep that +pastured on the lawn ornamental, we are told that they often dyed their +fleeces with various colours. + +Large fish ponds were also a common appendage to the villas of persons +of fortune, and great expense was often incurred in stocking them. In +general, however, country houses were merely surrounded with gardens, of +which the Romans were extravagantly fond. + + + + +CHAPTER XXII. + +_Marriages and Funerals._ + + +A marriage ceremony was never solemnized without consulting the +auspices, and offering sacrifices to the gods, particularly to Juno; and +the animals offered up on the occasion were deprived of their gall, in +allusion to the absence of every thing bitter and malignant in the +proposed union. + +A legal marriage was made in three different ways, called +_confarreatio_, _usus_ and _coemptio_. + +The first of these was the most ancient. A priest, in the presence of +ten witnesses, made an offering to the gods, of a cake composed of salt +water, and that kind of flour called "_far_," from which the name of the +ceremony was derived. The bride and bridegroom mutually partook of this, +to denote the union that was to subsist between them, and the sacrifice +of a sheep ratified the interchange of their vows. + +When a woman, with the consent of her parents or guardian, lived an +entire year with a man, with the intention of becoming his wife, it was +called _usus_. + +_Coemptio_ was an imaginary purchase which the husband and wife made of +each other, by the exchange of some pieces of money. + +A plurality of wives was forbidden among the Romans. The marriageable +age was from fourteen for men, and twelve for girls. + +On the wedding day the bride was dressed in a simple robe of pure white, +bound with a zone of wool, which her husband alone was to unloose: her +hair was divided into six locks, with the point of a spear, and crowned +with flowers; she wore a saffron colored veil, which enveloped the +entire person: her shoes were yellow, and had unusually high heels to +give her an appearance of greater dignity. + +Thus attired she waited the arrival of the bridegroom, who went with a +party of friends and carried her off with an appearance of violence, +from the arms of her parents, to denote the reluctance she was supposed +to feel at leaving her paternal roof. + +The nuptial ceremony was then performed; in the evening she was +conducted to her future home, preceded by the priests, and followed by +her relations, friends, and servants, carrying presents of various +domestic utensils. + +The door of the bridegroom's house was hung with garlands of flowers. +When the bride came hither, she was asked who she was; she answered, +addressing the bridegroom, "Where thou art Caius, there shall I be +Caia," intimating that she would imitate the exemplary life of Caia, the +wife of Tarquinius Priscus. She was then lifted over the threshold, or +gently stepped over, it being considered ominous to touch it with her +feet, because it was sacred to Vesta the goddess of Virgins. + +Upon her entrance, the keys of the house were delivered to her, to +denote her being intrusted with the management of the family, and both +she and her husband touched fire and water to intimate that their union +was to last through every extremity. The bridegroom then gave a great +supper to all the company. This feast was accompanied with music and +dancing, and the guests sang a nuptial song in praise of the new married +couple. + +The Romans paid great attention to funeral rites, because they believed +that the souls of the unburied were not admitted into the abodes of the +dead; or at least wandered a hundred years along the river Styx before +they were allowed to cross it. + +When any one was at the point of death, his nearest relation present +endeavored to catch his last breath with his mouth, for they believed +that the soul or living principle thus went out at the mouth. The corpse +was then bathed and perfumed; dressed in the richest robes of the +deceased, and laid upon a couch strewn with flowers, with the feet +towards the outer door. + +The funeral took place by torch light. The corpse was carried with the +feet foremost on an open bier covered with the richest cloth, and borne +by the nearest relatives and friends. It was preceded by the image of +the deceased, together with those of his ancestors. + +The procession was attended by musicians, with wind instruments of a +larger size and a deeper tone than those used on less solemn occasions; +mourning women were likewise hired to sing the praises of the deceased. + +On the conclusion of the ceremony the sepulchre was strewed with +flowers, and the mourners took a last farewell of the remains of the +deceased. Water was then thrown upon the attendants, by a priest, to +purify them from the pollution which the ancients supposed to be +communicated by any contact with a corpse. + +The manes of the dead were supposed to be propitiated by blood:--on this +account a custom prevailed of slaughtering, on the tomb of the deceased, +those animals of which he was most fond when living. + +When the custom of burning the dead was introduced, a funeral pile was +constructed in the shape of an altar, upon which the corpse was laid; +the nearest relative then set fire to it:--perfumes and spices were +afterwards thrown into the blaze, and when it was extinguished, the +embers were quenched with wine. The ashes were then collected and +deposited in an urn, to be kept in the mausoleum of the family. + + + + +CHAPTER XXIII. + +_Customs at Meals._ + + +The food of the ancient Romans was of the simplest kind; they rarely +indulged in meat, and wine was almost wholly unknown. So averse were +they to luxury, that epicures were expelled from among them. But when +riches were introduced by the extension of conquest, the manners of the +people were changed, and the pleasures of the table became the chief +object of attention. + +Their principal meal was what they called _coena_ or supper. The usual +time for it was the ninth hour, or about three o'clock in the afternoon. + +While at meals, they reclined on sumptuous couches of a semicircular +form, around a table of the same shape. This custom was introduced from +the nations of the east, and was at first adopted only by the men, but +afterwards allowed also to the women. + +The dress worn at table differed from that in use on other occasions, +and consisted merely of a loose robe of a slight texture, and generally +white. + +Before supper the Romans bathed themselves, and took various kinds of +exercise, such as tennis, throwing the discus or quoit, riding, running, +leaping, &c. + +Small figures of Mercury, Hercules and the penates, were placed upon the +table, of which they were deemed the presiding genii; and a small +quantity of wine was poured upon the board, at the commencement and end +of the feast, as a libation in honor of them, accompanied by a prayer. + +As the ancients had not proper inns for the accommodation of travellers, +the Romans, when they were in foreign countries, or at a distance from +home, used to lodge at the houses of certain persons whom they in return +entertained at their houses in Rome. This was esteemed a very intimate +connexion, and was called _hospitium_, or _jus hospitii_: hence _hospes_ +is put both for a host and a guest. + + + + +CHAPTER XXIV. + +_Weights, Measures and Coins._ + + +The principal Weight in use among the Romans, was the pound, called _As_ +or _Libra_, which was equal to 12 oz. avoirdupoise, or 16 oz. 18 pwts. +and 13-3/4 grains, troy weight. It was divided into twelve ounces, the +names of which were as follow: _Uncia_, 1 oz.--_Sextans_, 2 +oz.--_Triens_, 3 oz.--_Quadrans_, 4 oz.--_Quincunx_, 5 oz.--_Semis_, 1/2 +lb.--_Septunx_, 7 oz--_Bes_, 8 oz.--_Dodrans_, 9 oz.--_Dextans_, 10 +oz.--_Deunx_, 11 oz. + +The As and its divisions were applied to anything divided into twelve +parts, as well as to a pound weight. The twelth part of an acre was +called Uncia and half a foot, Semis, &c. + +The Measures for Things Dry.--_Modius_, a peck--_Semimodius_, a +gallon--_Sextanus_, a pint--_Hemina_, one-half pint, and 3 smaller +measures, for which we have not equivalent names in English. One Modius +contained 2 _Semimodii_--each Semimodius contained 8 _Sextarii_--each +Sextarius, 2 _Heminae_--each Hemina, 4 _Acetabula_--each Acetabulum, +1-1/2 _Cyathi_--each Cyathus--4 _Ligulae_. + +The Liquid Measures of Capacity were the _Culeus_, which was equal to +144-1/2 gallons--it contained 20 _Amphorae_ or _Quadrantales_--each +Amphora, 2 _Urnae_--each Urna, 4 _Congii_--each Congius, 6 +_Sextarii_--and each Sextarius, 2 _Quartarii_ or naggins--each +Quartarius, 2 _Heminae_--each Hemina, 3 _Acetabula_ or glasses--each +Acetabulum, 1-1/2 _Cyathi_--and each Cyathus, 4 _Ligulae_. + +The Measures of Length in use among the Romans were, _Millarium_ or +_Mille_, a mile--each mile contained 8 _Stadia_, or furlongs--each +Stadium, 125 _Passus_--each Pace, 5 feet. + +The _Pes_, or foot, was variously divided. It contained 4 _Palmi_ or +handbreadths, each of which was therefore 3 inches long--and it +contained 16 _Digiti_, or finger breadths, each of which was therefore +three-quarters of an inch long--and it contained 12 _Unciae_, or inches: +any number of which was used to signify the same number of ounces. + +_Cubitus_, a cubit, was 1-1/2 feet long--_Pollex_, a thumb's breadth, 1 +inch--_Palmipes_, a foot and hand's breadth, i.e. 15 inches +long--_Pertica_, a perch, 10 feet long--the lesser _Actus_ was a space +of ground 120 feet long by four broad--the greater Actus was 120 feet +square--two square Actus made a _Jugerum_, or acre, which contained +therefore 28,000 square feet. + +The first money in use among the Romans was nothing more than unsightly +lumps of brass, which were valued according to their weight. Servius +Tullius stamped these, and reduced them to a fixed standard. After his +reign, the Romans improved the old, and added some new coins. Those in +most frequent use, were the _As_, _Sestertius_, _Victoriatus_, +_Denarius_, _Aureus_. + +The As was a brass coin, stamped on one side with the beak of a ship, +and on the other with the double head of Janus. It originally weighed +one pound; but was afterwards reduced to half an ounce, without +suffering, however, any diminution of value. It was worth one cent and +forty-three hundredths. + +Sestertius was a silver coin, stamped on one side with Castor and +Pollux, and on the opposite with the city. This was so current a coin, +that the word _Nummus_, money, is often used absolutely to express it. +It was worth three cents and fifty-seven hundredths. + +Denarius was a silver coin, valued at ten asses; that is, fourteen cents +and thirty-five hundredths of our money. It was stamped with the figure +of a carriage drawn by four beasts, and on the other side, with a head +covered with a helmet, to represent Rome. + +Victoriatus was a silver coin, half the value of a Denarius. It was +stamped with the figure of Victory, from whence its name was derived. +Being worth five Asses, it was called _Quinarius_. + +_Libella_, _Sembella_, _Teruncius_, were also silver coins, but of less +value than the above. Libella was of the same worth as the As--Sembella +was half a Libella, equal to seventy-one hundredths of a cent--and the +Teruncius was half of a Sembella. + +Aureus Denarius was a gold coin, about the size of a silver Denarius, +and probably stamped in a similar manner. At first, forty Aurei were +made out of a pound of gold; but under the Emperors it was not so +intrinsically valuable, being mixed with alloy. + +The value of the Aureus, which was also called _Solidus_, varied at +different times. According to Tacitus, it was valued and exchanged for +25 Denarii, which amounted to three dollars, fifty-eight cents and +seventy-five hundredths. + +The abbreviations used by the Romans to express these various kinds of +money, were, for the As, L.--for the Sesterce, L. L. S. or H. S.--for +the Quinary, V. or {lambda}.--for the Denarius, X. or :!: + +Sesterces were the kind of money in which the Romans usually made their +computations.--1,000 Sesterces made up a sum called _Sestertium_, the +value of which in our money, was thirty-five dollars and seventy cents. + +The art of reckoning by Sesterces was regulated by these rules: + +First--If a numeral adjective were joined to Sestertii, and agreed with +it in case, it signified just so many Sesterces; as _decem Sestertii_, +10 Sesterces--thirty-five cents and seven tenths. + +Second--If a numeral adjective, of a different case, were joined to the +genitive plural of Sestertius, it signified so many thousand Sesterces; +as _decem Sestertium_, 10,000 Sesterces--$357. + +Third--If a numeral adverb were placed by itself, or joined to +Sestertium, it signified so many hundred thousand Sesterces; as +_Decies_, or _decies Sestertium_, 1,000,000 _Sesterces_--$35,700. + +Fourth--When the sums are expressed by letters, if the letters have a +line over them, they signify also so many hundred thousand Sesterces: +thus, H. S. {=[M.C.]}--denotes the sum of 1,100 times 100,000 Sesterces, +i.e. 110,000,000--nearly $4,000,000. + + + + +MYTHOLOGY. + + + + +CHAPTER I. + +Celestial Gods. + + +JUPITER, the supreme god of the Pagans, though set forth by historians +as the wisest of princes, is described by his worshippers as infamous +for his vices. There were many who assumed the name of Jupiter; the most +considerable, however, and to whom the actions of the others are +ascribed, was the Jupiter of Crete, son to Saturn and Rhea, who is +differently said to have had his origin in Crete, at Thebes in Boeotia, +and among the Messenians. + +His first warlike exploit, and, indeed, the most memorable of his +actions, was his expedition against the Titans, to deliver his parents, +who had been imprisoned by these princes, because Saturn, instead of +observing an oath he had sworn, to destroy his male children, permitted +his son Jupiter, by a stratagem of Rhea, to be educated. Jupiter, for +this purpose, raised a gallant army of Cretans, and engaged the +Cecr{)o}pes as auxiliaries in this expedition; but these, after taking +his money, having refused their services, he changed into apes. The +valor of Jupiter so animated the Cretans, that by their aid he overcame +the Titans, released his parents, and, the better to secure the reign of +his father, made all the gods swear fealty to him upon an altar, which +has since gained a place among the stars. + +This exploit of Jupiter, however, created jealousy in Saturn, who, +having learnt from an oracle, that he should be dethroned by one of his +sons, secretly meditated the destruction of Jupiter as the most +formidable of them. The design of Saturn being discovered by one of his +council, Jupiter became the aggressor, deposed his father, threw him +into Tartarus, ascended the throne, and was acknowledged as supreme by +the rest of the gods. + +The reign of Jupiter being less favorable to his subjects than that of +Saturn, gave occasion to the name of the silver age, by which is meant +an age inferior in happiness to that which preceded, though superior to +those which followed. + +The distinguishing character of his person is majesty, and every thing +about him carries dignity and authority with it; his look is meant to +strike sometimes with terror, and sometimes with gratitude, but always +with respect. The Capitoline Jupiter, or the Jupiter Optimus Maximus, +(him now spoken of,) was the great guardian of the Romans, and was +represented, in his chief temple, on the Capitoline hill, as sitting on +a curule chair, with the lightning in his right hand, and a sceptre in +his left. + +The poets describe him as standing amidst his rapid horses, or his +horses that make the thunder; for as the ancients had a strange idea of +the brazen vault of heaven, they seem to have attributed the noise in a +thunder storm to the rattling of Jupiter's chariot and horses on that +great arch of brass all over their heads, as they supposed that he +himself flung the flames out of his hand, which dart at the same time +out of the clouds, beneath this arch. + +APOLLO was son of Jupiter and Latona, and brother of Diana, and of all +the divinities in the pagan world, the chief cherisher and protecter of +the polite arts, and the most conspicuous character in heathen theology; +nor unjustly, from the glorious attributes ascribed to him, for he was +the god of light, medicine, eloquence, music, poetry and prophecy. + + + [Illustration: + + THE GODS DESCENDING TO BATTLE + + IN AID OF TROY, LATONA, PHOEBUS CAME, + MARS FIERY HELM'D, THE LAUGHTER LOVING DAME, + XANTHUS, WHOSE STREAMS IN GOLDEN CURRENTS FLOW, + AND THE CHASTE HUNTRESS OF THE SILVER BOW. + + Pope's Homer's Iliad. B. 20. L. 51. + Pl. 3. ] + + +Amongst the most remarkable adventures of this god, was his quarrel with +Jupiter, on account of the death of his son AEsculapius, killed by that +deity on the complaint of Pluto, that he decreased the number of the +dead by his cures. Apollo, to revenge this injury, killed the Cyclops +who forged the thunder-bolts. For this he was banished heaven, and +endured great sufferings on earth, being forced to hire himself as a +shepherd to Admetus, king of Thessaly. During his pastoral servitude, he +is said to have invented the lyre to sooth his troubles. He was so +skilled in the bow, that his arrows were always fatal. Python and the +Cyclops experienced their force. + +He became enamored of Daphne, daughter of the river Peneus of Thessaly. +The god pursued her, but she flying to preserve her chastity, was +changed into a laurel, whose leaves Apollo immediately consecrated to +bind his temples, and become the reward of poetry. + +His temple at Delphi became so frequented, that it was called the oracle +of the earth; all nations and princes vieing in their munificence to it. +The Romans erected to him many temples. + +The animals sacred to him were the wolf, from his acuteness of sight, +and because he spared his flocks when the god was a shepherd; the crow +and the raven, because these birds were supposed to have, by instinct, +the faculty of prediction; the swan, from its divining its own death; +the hawk, from its boldness in flight; and the cock, because he +announces the rising of the sun. + +As to the signification of this fabulous divinity, all are agreed that, +by Apollo, the sun is understood in general, though several poetical +fictions have relation only to the sun, and not to Apollo. The great +attributes of this deity were divination, healing, music, and archery, +all which manifestly refer to the sun. Light dispelling darkness, is a +strong emblem of truth dissipating ignorance;--the warmth of the sun +conduces greatly to health; and there can be no juster symbol of the +planetary harmony, than Apollo's lyre, the seven strings of which are +said to represent the seven planets. As his darts are reported to have +destroyed the monster Python, so his rays dry up the noxious moisture +which is pernicious to vegetation and fertility. + +Apollo was very differently represented in different countries and +times, according to the character he assumed. In general he is described +as a beardless youth, with long flowing hair floating as it were in the +wind, comely and graceful, crowned with laurel, his garments and sandals +shining with gold. In one hand he holds a bow and arrows, in the other a +lyre; sometimes a shield and the graces. At other times he is invested +in a long robe, and carries a lyre and a cup of nectar, the symbol of +his divinity. + +He has a threefold authority: in heaven, he is the Sun; and by the lyre +intimates, that he is the source of harmony: upon earth he is called +_Liber Pater_, and carries a shield to show he is the protector of +mankind, and their preserver in health and safety. In the infernal +regions he is styled _Apollo_, and his arrows show his authority; +whosoever is stricken with them being immediately sent thither. As the +Sun, Apollo was represented in a chariot, drawn by the four horses, +_Eoeus_, _AEthon_, _Phlegon_, and _Pyroeeis_. + +Considered in his poetical character, he is called indifferently either +_Vates_ or _Lyristes_; music and poetry, in the earliest ages of the +world, having made but one and the same profession. + +MERCURY was the offspring of Jupiter and Maia, the daughter of Atlas. +Cyllene, in Arcadia, is said to have been the scene of his birth and +education, and a magnificent temple was erected to him there. + +That adroitness which formed the most distinguishing trait in his +character, began very early to render him conspicuous. Born in the +morning, he fabricated a lyre, and played on it by noon; and, before +night, filched from Apollo his cattle. The god of light demanded instant +restitution, and was lavish of menaces, the better to insure it. But his +threats were of no avail, for it was soon found that the same thief had +disarmed him of his quiver and bow. Being taken up into his arms by +Vulcan, he robbed him of his tools, and whilst Venus caressed him for +his superiority to Cupid in wrestling, he slipped off her cestus +unperceived. From Jupiter he purloined his sceptre, and would have made +as free with his thunder-bolt, had it not proved too hot for his +fingers. + +From being usually employed on Jupiter's errands, he was styled the +messenger of the gods. The Greeks and Romans considered him as presiding +over roads and cross-ways, in which they often erected busts of him. He +was esteemed the god of orators and eloquence, the author of letters and +oratory. The _caduceus_, or rod, which he constantly carried, was +supposed to be possessed of an inherent charm that could subdue the +power of enmity: an effect which he discovered by throwing it to +separate two serpents found by him fighting on Mount Cytheron: each +quitted his adversary, and twined himself on the rod, which Mercury, +from that time, bore as the symbol of concord. His musical skill was +great, for to him is ascribed the discovery of the three tones, treble, +bass, and tenor. + +It was part of his function to attend on the dying, detach their souls +from their bodies, and conduct them to the infernal regions. In +conjunction with Hercules, he patronized wrestling and the gymnastic +exercises; to show that address upon these occasions should always be +united with force. The invention of the art of thieving was attributed +to him, and the ancients used to paint him on their doors, that he, as +god of thieves, might prevent the intrusion of others. For this reason +he was much adored by shepherds, who imagined he could either preserve +their own flocks from thieves, or else help to compensate their losses, +by dexterously stealing from their neighbors. + +At Rome on the fifteenth of May, the month so named from his mother, a +festival was celebrated to his honor, by merchants, traders, &c. in +which they sacrificed a sow, sprinkled themselves, and the goods they +intended for sale, with water from his fountain, and prayed that he +would both blot out all the frauds and perjuries they had already +committed, and enable them to impose again on their buyers. + +Mercury is usually described as a beardless young man, of a fair +complexion, with yellow hair, quick eyes, and a cheerful countenance, +having wings annexed to his hat and sandals, which were distinguished by +the names of _pet{)a}sus_ and _talaria_: the _caduceus_, in his hand, is +winged likewise, and bound round with two serpents: his face is +sometimes exhibited half black, on account of his intercourse with the +infernal deities: he has often a purse in his hand, and a goat or cock, +or both, by his side. + +The epithets applied to Mercury by the ancients were {Enagonios}, the +presider over combats; {Strophaios}, the guardian of doors; {Empolaios}, +the merchant; {Eriounios}, beneficial to mortals; {Dolios}, subtle; +{Hegemonios}, guide, or conductor. + +As to his origin, it must be looked for amongst the Phoenicians. The bag +of money which he held signified the gain of merchandise; the wings +annexed to his head and his feet were emblematic of their extensive +commerce and navigation; the caduceus, with which he was said to conduct +the spirit of the deceased to Hades, pointing out the immortality of the +soul, a state of rewards and punishments after death, and a +resuscitation of the body: it is described as producing three leaves +together, whence it was called by Homer, the _golden three-leaved wand_. + +BACCHUS was the son of Jupiter, by Sem{)e}le, daughter of Cadmus, king +of Thebes, in which city he is said to have been born. He was the god of +good-cheer, wine, and hilarity; and of him, as such, the poets have not +been sparing in their praises: on all occasions of mirth and jollity, +they constantly invoked his presence, and as constantly thanked him for +the blessings he bestowed. To him they ascribed the forgetfulness of +cares, and the delights of social converse. + +He is described as a youth of a plump figure, and naked, with a ruddy +face, and an effeminate air; he is crowned with ivy and vine leaves, and +bears in his hand a thyrsus, or javelin with an iron head, encircled +with ivy and vine leaves: his chariot is sometimes drawn by lions, at +others by tigers, leopards, or panthers; and surrounded by a band of +Satyrs, Bacchae, and Nymphs, in frantic postures; whilst old Sil{=}enus, +his preceptor, follows on an ass, which crouches with the weight of his +burden. + +The women who accompained him as his priestesses, were called +Maen{)a}des, from their madness; Thy{)a}des, from their impetuosity; +Bacchae, from their intemperate depravity; and Mimall{=o}nes, or +Mimallon{)i}des, from their mimicking their leaders. + +The victims agreeable to him were the goat and the swine; because these +animals are destructive to the vine. Among the Egyptians they sacrificed +a swine to him before their doors; and the dragon, and the pye on +account of its chattering: the trees and plants used in his garlands +were the fir, the oak, ivy, the fig, and vine; as also the daffodil, or +narcissus. Bacchus had many temples erected to him by the Greeks and the +Romans. + +Whoever attentively reads Horace's inimitable ode to this god, will see +that Bacchus meant no more than the improvement of the world by tillage, +and the culture of the vine. + + + [Illustration: + + JUNO & MINERVA GOING TO ASSIST THE GREEKS. + + SATURNIA LENDS THE LASH, THE COURSERS FLY. + + Pope's Homer's Illiad, B. 8. L. 47. + Pl. 4.] + + +MARS was the son of Jupiter and Juno, or of Jupiter and Erys. He was +held in high veneration among the Romans, both on account of his being +the father of Romulus, their founder, and because of their own genius, +which always inclined them to war. Numa, though otherwise a pacific +prince, having, during a great pestilence, implored the favor of the +gods, received a small brass buckler, called _anc{=i}le_ from heaven, +which the nymph Egeria advised him to keep with the utmost care, as the +fate of the people and empire depended upon it. To secure so valuable a +pledge, Numa caused eleven others of the same form to be made, and +intrusted the preservation of these to an order of priests, which he +constituted for the purpose, called _Salii_, or priests of Mars, in +whose temple the twelve ancilia were deposited. + +The fiercest and most ravenous creatures were consecrated to Mars: the +horse, for his vigor; the wolf, for his rapacity and quickness of sight; +the dog, for his vigilance; and he delighted in the pye, the cock, and +the vulture. He was the reputed enemy of Minerva, the goddess of wisdom +and arts, because in time of war they are trampled on, without respect, +as well as learning and justice. + +Ancient monuments represent this deity as of unusual stature, armed with +a helmet, shield, and spear, sometimes naked, sometimes in a military +habit; sometimes with a beard, and sometimes without. He is often +described riding in a chariot, drawn by furious horses, completely +armed, and extending his spear with one hand, while, with the other, he +grasps a sword imbued with blood. Sometimes Bellona, the goddess of war, +(whether she be his sister, wife or daughter, is uncertain,) is +represented as driving his chariot, and inciting the horses with a +bloody whip. Sometimes Discord is exhibited as preceding his chariot, +while Clamor, Fear, Terror, with Fame, full of eyes, ears, and tongues, +appear in his train. + + + + +CHAPTER II. + +_Celestial Goddesses._ + + +JUNO, daughter of Saturn and Rhea, was sister and wife of Jupiter. +Though the poets agree that she came into the world at the same birth +with her husband, yet they differ as to the place. Some fix her nativity +at Argos, others at Samos, near the river Imbrasus. The latter opinion +is, however, the more generally received. Samos, was highly honored, and +received the name of Parthenia, from the consideration that so eminent a +_virgin_ as Juno was educated and dwelt there till her marriage. + +As queen of heaven, Juno was conspicuous for her state. Her usual +attendants were Terror, Boldness--Castor and Pollux, accompanied by +fourteen nymphs; but her most inseparable adherent was Iris, who was +always ready to be employed in her most important affairs: she acted as +messenger to Juno, like Mercury to Jupiter. When Juno appeared as the +majesty of heaven, with her sceptre and diadem beset with lilies and +roses, her chariot was drawn by peacocks, birds sacred to her; for which +reason, in her temple at Euboea, the emperor Adrian made her a most +magnificent offering of a golden crown, a purple mantle, with an +embroidery of silver, describing the marriage of Hercules and Hebe, and +a large peacock, whose body was of gold, and his train of most valuable +jewels. There never was a wife more jealous than Juno; and few who have +had so much reason: on which account we find from Homer that the most +absolute exertions of Jupiter were barely sufficient to preserve his +authority. + +There was none except Apollo whose worship was more solemn or extensive. +The history of the prodigies she had wrought, and of the vengeance she +had taken upon persons who had vied with, or slighted her, had so +inspired the people with awe, that, when supposed to be angry, no means +were omitted to mitigate her anger; and had Paris adjudged to her the +prize of Beauty, the fate of Troy might have been suspended. In +resentment of this judgment, and to wreak her vengeance on Paris, the +house of Priam, and the Trojan race, she appears in the Iliad to be +fully employed. Minerva is commissioned by her to hinder the Greeks from +retreating; she quarrels with Jupiter; she goes to battle; cajoles +Jupiter with the cestus of Venus; carries the orders of Jupiter to +Apollo and Iris; consults the gods on the conflict between AEneas and +Achilles; sends Vulcan to oppose Xanthus; overcomes Diana, &c. + +She is generally pictured like a matron, with a grave and majestic air, +sometimes with a sceptre in her hand, and a veil on her head: she is +represented also with a spear in her hand, and sometimes with a +_pat{)e}ra_, as if she were about to sacrifice: on some medals she has a +peacock at her feet, and sometimes holds the Palladium. Homer represents +her in a chariot adorned with gems, having wheels of ebony, nails of +silver, and horses with reins of gold, though more commonly her chariot +is drawn by peacocks, her favourite birds. The most obvious and striking +character of Juno, and that which we are apt to imbibe the most early of +any, from the writings of Homer and Virgil, is that of an imperious and +haughty wife. In both of these poets we find her much oftener scolding +at Jupiter than caressing him, and in the tenth AEneid in particular, +even in the council of the gods, we have a remarkable instance of this. + +If, in searching out the meaning of this fable, we regard the account of +Varro, we shall find, that by Juno was signified the earth; by Jupiter, +the heavens; but if we believe the Stoics, by Juno is meant the air and +its properties, and by Jupiter the ether: hence Homer supposes she was +nourished by Oce{)a}nus and Tethys: that is, by the sea; and agreeable +to this mythology, the poet makes her shout aloud in the army of the +Greeks, the air being the cause of the sound. + +MINERVA, or Pallas, was one of the most distinguished of the heathen +deities, as being the goddess of wisdom and science. She is supposed to +have sprung, fully grown and completely armed, from the head of Jupiter. + +One of the most remarkable of her adventures, was her contest with +Neptune. When Cecrops founded Athens, it was agreed that whoever of +these two deities could produce the most beneficial gift to mankind, +should have the honor of giving their name to the city. Neptune, with a +stroke of his trident, formed a horse, but Minerva causing an olive-tree +to spring from the ground, obtained from the god the prize. She was the +goddess of war, wisdom, and arts, such as spinning, weaving, music, and +especially of the pipe. In a word, she was patroness of all those +sciences which render men useful to society and themselves, and entitle +them to the esteem of posterity. + +She is described by the poets, and represented by the sculptors and +painters in a standing attitude, completely armed, with a composed but +smiling countenance, bearing a golden breast-plate, a spear in her right +hand, and the aegis in her left, having on it the head of Medusa, +entwined with snakes. Her helmet was usually encompassed with olives, to +denote that peace is the end of war, or rather because that tree was +sacred to her: at her feet is generally placed the owl or the cock, the +former being the emblem of wisdom, and the latter of war. + +Minerva represents wisdom, that is, skilful knowledge joined with +discreet practice, and comprehends the understanding of the noblest +arts, the best accomplishments of the mind, together with all the +virtues, but more especially that of chastity. She is said to be born of +Jupiter's brain, because the ingenuity of man did not invent the useful +arts and sciences, which, on the contrary, were derived from the +fountain of all wisdom. She was born armed, because the human soul, +fortified with wisdom and virtue, is invincible; in danger, intrepid; +under crosses, unbroken; in calamities, impregnable. + +The owl, a bird seeing in the dark, was sacred to Minerva; this is +symbolical of a wise man, who, scattering and dispelling the clouds of +error, is clear-sighted where others are blind. + +VENUS was one of the most celebrated deities of the ancients. She was +the goddess of beauty, the mother of love, and the queen of laughter. +She is said to have sprung from the froth of the sea, near the island +Cyprus, after the mutilated part of the body of Ur{)a}nus had been +thrown there by Saturn. Hence she obtained the name of Aphrodite, from +{Aphros}, _froth_. As soon as Venus was born, she is said to have been +laid in a beautiful couch or shell, embellished with pearls, and by the +assistance of Zephyrus wafted first to Cyth{=e}rae, an island in the +AEgaean, and thence to Cyprus; where she arrived in the month of April. +Here, immediately on her landing, flowers sprung beneath her feet, the +Horae or Seasons awaited her arrival, and having braided her hair with +fillets of gold, she was thence wafted to heaven. As she was born +laughing, an emanation of pleasure beamed from her countenance, and her +charms were so attractive, in the assembly of the gods, that most of +them desired to obtain her in marriage. Vulcan, however, the most +deformed of the celestials, became the successful competitor. + +One of the most remarkable adventures of this goddess was her contest +with Juno and Minerva for the superiority of beauty. At the marriage of +Peleus and Thetis, the goddess Discordia, resenting her not being +invited, threw a golden apple among the company, with this inscription, +_Let the fairest take it_. The competitors for this prize were Juno, +Venus, and Minerva. Jupiter referred them to Paris, who then led a +shepherd's life on Mount Ida. Before him the goddesses appeared. Juno +offered him empire or power, Minerva wisdom, and Venus promised him the +possession of the most beautiful woman in the world. Fatally for himself +and family, the shepherd, more susceptible of love than of ambition or +virtue, decided the contest in favor of Venus. + +The sacrifices usually offered to Venus, were white goats and swine, +with libations of wine, milk and honey. The victims were crowned with +flowers, or wreaths of myrtle, the rose and myrtle being sacred to +Venus. The birds sacred to her were the swan, the dove, and the sparrow. + +It were endless to enumerate the variety of attitudes in which Venus is +represented on antique gems and medals; sometimes she is clothed in +purple, glittering with diamonds, her head crowned with myrtle +intermixed with roses, and drawn in her car of ivory by swans, doves, or +sparrows: at other times she is represented standing with the Graces +attending her, and in all positions Cupid is her companion. In general +she has one of the prettiest, as Minerva has sometimes one of the +handsomest faces that can be conceived. Her look, as she is represented +by the ancient artists and poets, has all the enchanting airs and graces +that they could give it. + +LATONA. This goddess was daughter of Caeus the Titan and Phoebe, or, +according to Homer, of Saturn. As she grew up extremely beautiful, +Jupiter fell in love with her; but Juno, discovering their intercourse, +not only expelled her from heaven, but commanded the serpent Python to +follow and destroy both her and her children. The earth also was caused +by the jealous goddess to swear that she would afford her no place in +which to bring forth. It happened, however, at this period, that the +island Delos, which had been broken from Sicily, lay under water, and +not having taken the oath, was commanded by Neptune to rise in the AEgean +sea, and afford her an asylum. Latona, being changed by Jupiter into a +quail, fled thither, and from this circumstance occasioned it to be +called Ortygia, from the name in Greek of that bird. She here gave birth +to Apollo and Diana. Ni{)o}be, daughter of Tant{)a}lus, and wife of +Amph{=i}on, king of Thebes, experienced the resentment of Latona, whose +children Apollo and Diana, at her instigation, destroyed. Her beauty +became fatal to Tityus, the giant, who was put to death also by the same +divinities. After having been long persecuted by Juno, she became a +powerful deity, beheld her children exalted to divine honors, and +received adoration where they were adored. + +In explanation of the fable, it may be observed, that as Jupiter is +taken for the maker of all things, so Latona is physically understood to +be the _matter_ out of which all things were made, which, according to +Plato, is called {Leto} or Latona, from {lethein} to lie _hid_ or +_concealed_, because all things originally lay hid in darkness till the +production of _light_, or birth of Apollo. + +AURORA, goddess of the morning, was the youngest daughter of Hyperion +and Theia, or, according to some, of Titan and Terra. Orpheus calls her +the harbinger of Titan, for she is the personification of that light +which precedes the appearance of the sun. The poets describe this +goddess as rising out of the ocean in a saffron robe, seated in a +flame-colored car, drawn by two or four horses, expanding with her rosy +fingers the gates of light, and scattering the pearly dew. Virgil +represents her horses as of flame color, and varies their number from +two to four, according as she rises slower or faster. + +She is said to have been daughter of Titan and the earth, because the +light of the morning seems to rise out of the earth, and to proceed from +the sun, which immediately follows it. She is styled mother of the four +winds, because, after a calm in the night, the winds rise in the +morning, as attendant upon the sun, by whose heat and light they are +begotten. There is no other goddess of whom we have so many beautiful +descriptions in the poets. + + + + +CHAPTER III. + +_Terrestrial Gods._ + + +SATURN was the son of Coelus and Titaea or Terra, and married his sister +Vesta. She, with her other sisters, persuaded their mother to join them +in a plot, to exclude Titan, their elder brother, from his birthright, +and raise Saturn to his father's throne. Their design so far succeeded, +that Titan was obliged to resign his claim, though on condition, that +Saturn brought up no male children, and thus the succession might revert +to the Titans again. Saturn, it is said, observed this covenant so +faithfully, that he devoured, as soon as they were born, his legitimate +sons. His punctuality, however, in this respect, was at last frustrated +by the artifice of Vesta, who, being delivered of twins, Jupiter and +Juno, presented the latter to her husband, and concealing the former, +sent him to be nursed on Mount Ida in Crete, committing the care of him +to the Cur{=e}tes and Corybantes. + +The reign of Saturn was so mild and happy, that the poets have given it +the name of the golden age. The people, who before wandered about like +beasts, were then reduced to civil society; laws were enacted, and the +art of tilling and sowing the ground introduced; whence Varro tells us, +that Saturn had his name _a satu_, from _sowing_. + +He was usually represented as an old man, bare-headed and bald, with all +the marks of infirmity in his eyes, countenance, and figure. In his +right hand they sometimes placed a sickle or scythe; at others, a key, +and a circumflexed serpent biting its tail, in his left. He sometimes +was pictured with six wings, and feet of wool, to show how insensibly +and swiftly time passes. The scythe denoted his cutting down and +subverting all things, and the serpent the revolution of the year, _quod +in sese volvitur annus_. + +JANUS was a pagan deity, particularly of the ancient Romans. He was +esteemed the wisest sovereign of his time, and because he was supposed +to know what was past, and what was to come, they feigned that he had +two faces, whence the Latins gave him the epithets of Biceps, Bifrons, +and Biformis. + +He is introduced by Ovid as describing his origin, office and form: he +was the ancient Chaos, or confused mass of matter before the formation +of the world, the reduction of which into order and regularity, gave him +his divinity. Thus deified, he had the power of _opening_ and _shutting_ +every thing in the universe: he was arbiter of peace and war, and keeper +of the door of heaven. He was the god who presided over the beginning of +all undertakings; the first libations of wine and wheat were offered to +him, and the preface of all prayers directed to him. The first month of +the year took its denomination from Janus. + +It is certain that Janus early obtained divine honors among the Romans. +Numa ordained that his temple should be shut in time of peace, and +opened in time of war, from which ceremony Janus was called Clusius and +Patulcius. + +The peculiar offerings to Janus were cakes of new meal and salt, with +new wine and frankincense. In the feasts instituted by Numa, the +sacrifice was a ram, and the solemnities were performed by men, in the +manner of exercises and combats. Then all artificers and tradesmen began +their works, and the Roman consuls for the new year solemnly entered on +their office: all quarrels were laid aside, mutual presents were made, +and the day concluded with joy and festivity. Janus was seated in the +centre of twelve altars, in allusion to the twelve months of the year, +and had on his hands fingers to the amount of the days in the year. +Sometimes his image had four faces, either in regard to the four seasons +of the year, or to the four quarters of the world: he held in one hand a +key, and in the other a sceptre; the former may denote his opening, as +it were, and shutting the world, by the admission and exclusion of +light; and the latter his dominion over it. + +VULCAN was the offspring of Jupiter and Juno. He was so remarkably +deformed that Jupiter threw him down from heaven to the isle of Lemnos. +In this fall he broke his leg, as he also would have broken his neck, +had he not been caught by the Lemnians. It is added that he was a day in +falling from heaven to earth. Some report that Juno herself, disgusted +at his deformity, hurled down Vulcan into the sea, where he was nursed +by Thetis and her nymphs, whilst others contend that he fell upon land, +and was brought up by apes. It is probable that Juno had some hand in +his disgrace, since Vulcan, afterwards, in resentment of the injury, +presented his mother with a golden chair, which was so contrived by +springs unseen, that being seated in it she was unable to rise, till the +inventor was prevailed upon to grant her deliverance. + +The first abode of Vulcan on earth was in the isle of Lemnos. There he +set up his forges, and taught men the malleability and polishing of +metals. Thence he removed to the Liparean islands, near Sicily, where, +with the assistance of the Cyclops, he made Jupiter fresh thunder-bolts +as the old ones decayed. He also wrought an helmet for Pluto, which +rendered him invisible; a trident for Neptune, which shook both land and +sea; and a dog of brass for Jupiter, which he animated so as to perform +the functions of nature. At the request of Thetis he fabricated the +divine armor of Achilles, whose shield is so beautifully described by +Homer; as also the invincible armor of AEneas, at the entreaty of Venus. +However disagreeable the person of Vulcan might be, he was susceptible +notwithstanding of love. His first passion was for Minerva, having +Jupiter's consent to address her; but his courtship, in this instance, +failed of success, not only on account of his person, but also because +the goddess had vowed perpetual virginity. He afterwards became the +husband of Venus. + + + [Illustration: + + AURORA. + + HERE THE GAY MORN RESIDES IN RADIANT BOWERS, + HERE KEEPS HER REVELS WITH THE DANCING HOURS. + + Pope's Homer's Odyssey. B. 12. L. 2. + Pl. 5.] + + +He was reckoned among the gods presiding over marriage, from the torches +lighted by him to grace that solemnity. It was the custom in several +nations, after gaining a victory, to pile the arms of the enemy in a +heap on the field of battle, and make a sacrifice of them to Vulcan. As +to his worship, Vulcan had an altar in common with Prometheus, who first +invented fire, as did Vulcan the use of it, in making arms and utensils. +His principal temple was in a consecrated grove at the foot of mount +AEtna, in which was a fire continually burning. This temple was guarded +by dogs, which had the discernment to distinguish his votaries by +tearing the vicious, and fawning upon the virtuous. + +He was highly honored at Rome. Romulus built him a temple without the +walls of the city, the augurs being of opinion that the god of fire +ought not to be admitted within. But the highest mark of respect paid +him by the Romans was, that those assemblies were kept in his temple +where the most important concerns of the republic were debated, the +Romans thinking they could invoke nothing more sacred to confirm their +treaties and decisions, than the avenging fire of which that god was the +symbol. + +This deity, as the god of fire, was represented differently in different +nations: the Egyptians depicted him proceeding from an egg, placed in +the mouth of Jupiter, to denote the radical or natural heat diffused +through all created beings. In ancient gems and medals he is figured as +a lame, deformed and squalid man, with a beard, and hair neglected; half +naked; his habit reaching down to his knee only, and having a round +peaked cap on his head, a hammer in his right hand, and a smith's tongs +in his left, working at the anvil, and usually attended by the Cyclops, +or by some of the gods or goddesses for whom he is employed. + +The poets described him as blackened and hardened from the forge, with a +face red and fiery whilst at his work, and tired and heated after it. He +is almost always the subject either of pity or ridicule. In short, the +great celestial deities seem to have admitted Vulcan among them as great +men used to keep buffoons at their tables, to make them laugh, and to be +the butt of the whole company. + +If we wish to come at the probable meaning of this fable, we must have +recourse to Egyptian antiquities. The Horus of the Egyptians was the +most mutable figure on earth, for he assumed shapes suitable to all +seasons, and to all ranks. To direct the husbandman he wore a rural +dress; by a change of attributes he became the instructer of smiths and +other artificers, whose instruments he appeared adorned with. This Horus +of the smiths had a short or lame leg, to signify that agriculture or +husbandry will halt without the assistance of the handicraft or mechanic +arts. In this apparatus he was called _Mulciber_, (from _Mulci_, to +direct and manage, and _ber_ or _beer_, a cave or mine, comes Mulciber, +the king of the mines or forges;) he was called also Hephaistos, (from +_Aph_, _father_, and _Esto_, _fire_, comes Ephaisto, or Hephaiston, the +father of fire; and from _Wall_, to work, and Canan, to _hasten_, comes +_Wolcon_, Vulcan, or _work furnished_;) all which names the Greeks and +Romans adopted with the figure, and, as usual, converted from a _symbol_ +to a _god_. + +AEOLUS, god of the winds, is said to have been the son of Jupiter by +Acasta or Sigesia, daughter of Hippotas. His residence was, according to +most authors, at Rhegium in Italy; but wherever it was, he is +represented as holding the winds, enchained in a vast cave, to prevent +their committing any more such devastations as they had before +occasioned; for, to their violence was imputed not only the disjunction +of Sicily from Italy, but also the separation of Europe from Africa, by +which a passage was opened for the ocean to form the Mediterranean sea. +According to some, the AEolian, or Lip{)a}ri islands were uninhabited +till Lip{)a}rus, son of Auson, settled a colony there, and gave one of +them his name. AE{)o}lus married his daughter Cy{)a}ne, peopled the rest +and succeeded him on the throne. He was a generous and good prince, who +hospitably entertained Ulysses, and as a proof of his kindness, bestowed +on him several skins, in which he had enclosed the winds. The companions +of Ulysses, unable to restrain their curiosity, having opened the skins, +the winds in consequence were set free, and occasioned the wildest +uproar; insomuch that Ulysses lost all his vessels, and was himself +alone saved by a plank. It may not be improper to remark, that over the +rougher winds the poets have placed AE{)o}lus; over the milder, Juno; and +the rain, thunder and lightning they have committed to Jupiter himself. + +MOMUS, son of Somnus and Nox, was the god of pleasantry and wit, or +rather the jester of the celestial assembly; for, like other monarchs, +it was but reasonable that Jupiter too should have his fool. We have an +instance of Momus's fantastic humor in the contest between Neptune, +Minerva, and Vulcan, for skill. The first had made a bull, the second a +house, and the third a man. Momus found fault with them all. He disliked +the bull because his horns were not placed before his eyes, that he +might give a surer blow: he condemned Minerva's house because it was +immovable, and could not therefore be taken away if placed in a bad +neighborhood; and in regard to Vulcan's man, he said he ought to have +made a window in his breast, by which his heart might be seen, and his +secrets discovered. + + + + +CHAPTER IV. + +_Terrestrial Goddesses._ + + +CYBELE, _or_ VESTA _the elder_. It is highly necessary, in tracing the +genealogy of the heathen deities, to distinguish between this goddess +and Vesta the _younger_, her daughter, because the poets have been +faulty in confounding them, and ascribing the attributes and actions of +the one to the other. The elder Vesta, or Cyb{)e}le, was daughter of +Coelus and Terra, and wife of her brother Saturn, to whom she bore a +numerous offspring. She had a variety of names besides that of +Cyb{)e}le, under which she is most generally known, and which she +obtained from Mount Cyb{)e}lus, in Phrygia, where sacrifices to her were +first instituted. Her sacrifices and festivals, like those of Bacchus, +were celebrated with a confused noise of timbrels, pipes, and cymbals; +the sacrificants howling as if mad, and profaning both the temple of the +goddess, and the ears of their hearers with the most obscene language +and abominable gestures. + +Under the character of Vesta, she is generally represented upon ancient +coins in a sitting posture, with a lighted torch in one hand, and a +sphere or drum in the other. As Cyb{)e}le, she makes a more magnificent +appearance, being seated in a lofty chariot drawn by lions, crowned with +towers, and bearing in her hand a key. Being goddess, not of cities +only, but of all things which the earth sustains, she was crowned with +turrets, whilst the key implies not only her custody of cities, but also +that in winter the earth locks those treasures up, which she brings +forth and dispenses in summer: she rides in a chariot, because +(fancifully) the earth hangs suspended in the air, balanced and poised +by its own weight; and that the chariot is supported by wheels, because +the earth is a voluble body and turns round. Her being drawn by lions, +may imply that nothing is too fierce and intractable for a motherly +piety and tenderness to tame and subdue. Her garments are painted with +divers colors, but chiefly green, and figured with the images of several +creatures, because such a dress is suitable to the variegated and more +prevalent appearance of the earth. + +VESTA was the daughter of Vesta the elder, by Saturn, and sister of +Ceres, Juno, Pluto, Neptune and Jupiter. She was so fond of a single +life, that when her brother Jupiter ascended the throne, and offered to +grant whatever she asked, her only desires were the preservation of her +virginity, and the first oblation in all sacrifices. Numa Pompilius, the +great founder of religion among the Romans, is said first to have +restored the ancient rites and worship of this goddess, to whom he +erected a circular temple, which in succeeding ages was not only much +embellished, but also, as the earth was supposed to retain a constant +fire within, a perpetual fire was kept up in the temple of Vesta, the +care of which was intrusted to a select number of young females +appointed from the first families in Rome, and called _Vestal virgins_. + + + [Illustration: + + APOLLO AND THE MUSES. + Pl. 6.] + + +As this Vesta was the goddess of fire, the Romans had no images of her +in her temple; the reason for which, assigned by Ovid, is that fire has +no representative, as no bodies are produced from it: yet as Vesta was +the guardian of houses or hearths, her image was usually placed in the +porch or entry, and daily sacrifices were offered up to her. It is +certain nothing could be a stronger or more lively symbol of the supreme +being than fire; accordingly we find this emblem in early use throughout +the east. The Romans looked upon Vesta as one of the tutelar deities of +their empire; and they so far made the safety and fate of Rome depend on +the preservation of the sacred fire in the temple of Vesta, that they +thought the extinction of it foreboded the most terrible misfortune. + +CERES was daughter of Saturn and Ops, or Vesta. Sicily, Attica, Crete, +and Egypt, claim the honor of her birth, each country producing the +ground of its claims, though general suffrage favors the first. In her +youth, being extremely beautiful, Jupiter fell in love with her, and by +him she had Pereph{)a}ta, called afterwards Proserpine. For some time +she took up her residence in Corc{=y}ra, so called in later times, from +a daughter of As{=o}pus, there buried, but anciently _Drep{)a}num_, from +the sickle used by the goddess in reaping, which had been presented her +by Vulcan. Thence she removed to Sicily, where the violence of Pluto +deprived her of Proserpine. Disconsolate at her loss, she importuned +Jupiter for redress; but obtaining little satisfaction, she lighted +torches at the volcano of Mount AEtna, and mounting her car, drawn by +winged dragons, set out in search of her beloved daughter. This +transaction the Sicilians annually commemorated by running about in the +night with lighted torches and loud exclamations. + +It is disputed, by several nations, who first informed Ceres where her +daughter was, and thence acquired the reward, which was the art of +sowing corn. Some ascribe the intelligence to Triptol{)e}mus, and his +brother Eubul{)e}us; but the generality of writers agree in conferring +the honor on the nymph Areth{=u}sa, daughter of Nereus and Doris, and +companion of Diana, who, flying from the pursuit of the river +Alph{=e}us, saw Proserpine in the infernal regions. + +It must be owned that Ceres was not undeserving the highest titles +bestowed upon her, being considered as the deity who had blessed men +with the art of cultivating the earth, having not only taught them to +plough and sow, but also to reap, harvest, and thresh out their grain; +to make flour and bread, and fix limits or boundaries to ascertain their +possessions. The garlands used in her sacrifices were of myrtle, or +rape-weed; but flowers were prohibited, Proserpine being carried off as +she gathered them. The poppy alone was sacred to her, not only because +it grows amongst corn, but because, in her distress, Jupiter gave it her +to eat, that she might sleep and forget her troubles. Cicero mentions an +ancient temple dedicated to her at Catania, in Sicily in which the +offices were performed by matrons and virgins only, no man being +admitted. + +If to explain the fable of Ceres, we have recourse to Egypt; it will be +found, that the goddess of Sicily and Eleusis, or of Rome and Greece, is +no other than the Egyptian Isis, brought by the Phoenicians into those +countries. The very name of _mystery_, from _mistor_, a _veil_ or +_covering_, given to the Eleusinian rites, performed in honor of Ceres, +shows them to have been of Egyptian origin. The Isis, or the +emblematical figure exhibited at the feast appointed for the +commemoration of the state of mankind after the flood, bore the name of +Ceres, from Cerets, _dissolution_ or _overthrow_. She was represented in +mourning, and with torches, to denote the grief she felt for the loss of +her favorite daughter _Perseph{)o}ne_ (which word, translated, signifies +corn lost) and the pains she was at to recover her. The poppies with +which this Isis was crowned, signified the joy men received at their +first abundant crop, the word which signifies a _double crop_, being +also a name for the _poppy_. Perseph{)o}ne or Proserpine found again, +was a lively symbol of the recovery of corn, and its cultivation, almost +lost in the deluge. Thus, emblems of the most important events which +ever happened in the world, simple in themselves, became when +transplanted to Greece and Rome, sources of fable and idolatry. + +Ceres was usually represented of a tall majestic stature, fair +complexion, languishing eyes, and yellow or flaxen hair; her head +crowned with a garland of poppies, or ears of corn; holding in her right +hand a bunch of the same materials with her garland, and in her left a +lighted torch. When in a car or chariot, she is drawn by lions, or +winged dragons. + +MUSAE, the _Muses_. This celebrated sisterhood is said to have been the +daughters of Jupiter and Mn{=e}m{)o}syne. They were believed to have +been born on Mount Pi{)e}rus, and educated by Euph{=e}me. In general +they were considered as the tutelar goddesses of sacred festivals and +banquets, and the patronesses of polite and useful arts. They supported +virtue in distress, and preserved worthy actions from oblivion. Homer +calls them superintendants and correctors of manners. In respect to the +sciences, these sisters had each their separate province; though poetry +seemed more immediately under their united protection. + +These divinities, formerly called Mosae, were so named from a Greek word +signifying _to inquire_; because, by inquiring of them, the sciences +might be learnt. Others say they had their name from their resemblance, +because there is a similitude, an infinity, and relation, betwixt all +the sciences, in which they agree together, and are united with each +other; for which reason they are often painted with their hands joined, +dancing in a circle round Apollo their leader. + +They were represented crowned with flowers, or wreaths of palm, each +holding some instrument, or emblem of the science or art over which she +presided. They were depicted as in the bloom of youth; and the bird +sacred to them was the swan, probably because that bird was consecrated +to their sovereign Apollo. There was a fountain of the Muses near Rome, +in the meadow where Numa used to meet the goddess Egeria; the care of +which and of the worship paid to the Muses, was intrusted to the Vestal +virgins. + +Their names were as follows: Clio, who presided over _history_. Her name +is derived from {kleios}, _glory_, or from {kleio}, to _celebrate_. She +is generally represented under the form of a young woman crowned with +laurel, holding in her right hand a trumpet, and in her left a book: +others describe her with a lute in one hand, and in the other a +_plectrum_, or quill. + +Euterpe is distinguished by _tibiae_ or pipes whence she was called also +Tib{=i}c{=i}na. Some say logic was invented by her. It was very common +with the musicians of old to play on two pipes at once, agreeably to the +remarks before Terence's plays, and as we often actually find them +represented in the remains of the artists. It was over this species of +music that Euterpe presided, as we learn from the first ode of Horace. + +Th{)a}l{=i}a presided over comedy, and whatever was gay, amiable, and +pleasant. She holds a mask in her right hand, and on medals she is +represented leaning against a pillar. She was the Muse of comedy, of +which they had a great mixture on the Roman stage in the earliest ages +of their poetry, and long after. She is distinguished from the other +Muses in general by a mask, and from Melpom{)e}ne, the tragic Muse, by +her shepherd's crook, not to speak of her look, which is meaner than +that of Melpom{)e}ne, or her dress, which is shorter, and consequently +less noble, than that of any other of the Muses. + +Melpom{)e}ne was so styled from the dignity and excellence of her song. +She presided over epic and lyric poetry. To her the invention of all +mournful verses, and, particularly, of tragedy, was ascribed; for which +reason Horace invokes her when he laments the death of Quintilius Varus. +She is usually represented of a sedate countenance, and richly habited, +with sceptres and crowns in one hand, and in the other a dagger. She has +her mask on her head, which is sometimes placed so far backward that it +has been mistaken for a second face. Her mask shows that she presided +over the stage; and she is distinguished from Th{)a}l{=i}a, or the comic +Muse, by having more of dignity in her look, stature, and dress. +Melpom{)e}ne was supposed to preside over all melancholy subjects, as +well as tragedy; as one would imagine at least from Horace's invoking +her in one of his odes, and his desiring her to crown him with laurel in +another. + +Terps{)i}ch{)o}re; that is, _the sprightly_. Some attribute her name to +the pleasure she took in dancing; others represent her as the +protectress of music, particularly the flute; and add, that the chorus +of the ancient drama was her province, to which also logic has been +annexed. She is further said to be distinguished by the flutes which she +holds, as well on medals as on other monuments. + +Er{)a}to, presided over elegiac or amorous poetry, and dancing, whence +she was sometimes called Saltatrix. She is represented as young, and +crowned with myrtle and roses, having a lyre in her right hand, and a +bow in her left, with a little winged Cupid placed by her, armed with +his bow and arrows. + +Polyhymnia. Her name, which is of Greek origin, and signifies _much +singing_, seems to have been given her for the number of her songs, +rather than her faithfulness of memory. To Polyhymnia belonged that +harmony of voice and gesture which gives a perfection to oratory and +poetry. She presided over rhetoric, and is represented with a crown of +pearls and a white robe, in the act of extending her right hand, as if +haranguing, and holding in her left a scroll, on which the word +_Suadere_ is written; sometimes, instead of the scroll, she appears +holding a _caduceus_ or sceptre. + +Urania, or Coelestis. She is the Muse who extended her care to all +divine or celestial subjects, such as the hymns in praise of the gods, +the motions of the heavenly bodies, and whatever regarded philosophy or +astronomy. She is represented in an azure robe, crowned with stars and +supporting a large globe with both hands: on medals this globe stands +upon a tripod. + +Calli{)o}pe, who presides over eloquence and heroic poetry; so called +from the ecstatic harmony of her voice. The poets, who are supposed to +receive their inspirations from the Muses, chiefly invoked Calli{)o}pe, +as she presided over the hymns made in honor of the gods. She is spoken +of by Ovid, as the chief of all the Muses. Under the same idea, Horace +calls her _Regina_, and attributes to her the skill of playing on what +instrument she pleases. + +ASTRAEA, or ASTREA, goddess of justice, was daughter of Astraeus, one of +the Titans; or according to Ovid, of Jupiter and Themis. She descended +from heaven in the golden age, and inspired mankind with principles of +justice and equity, but the world growing corrupt, she re-ascended +thither, where she became the constellation in the Zodiac called Virgo. + +This goddess is represented with a serene countenance, her eyes bound or +blinded, having a sword in one hand, and in the other a pair of +balances, equally poised, or rods with a bundle of axes, and sitting on +a square stone. Among the Egyptians, she is described with her left hand +stretched forth and open, but without a head. According to the poets, +she was conversant on earth during the golden and silver ages, but in +those of brass and iron, was forced by the wickedness of mankind to +abandon the earth and retire to heaven. Virgil hints that she first +quitted courts and cities, and betook herself to rural retreats before +she entirely withdrew. + +NEMESIS, daughter of Jupiter and Necessity, or, according to some, of +Oce{)a}nus and Nox, had the care of revenging the crimes which human +justice left unpunished. The word Nem{)e}sis is of Greek origin, nor was +there any Latin word that expressed it, therefore the Latin poets +usually styled this goddess Rhamnusia, from a famous statue of +Nem{)e}sis at Rhamnus in Attica. She is likewise called Adrastea, +because Adrastus, king of Argos, first raised an altar to her. +Nem{)e}sis is plainly divine vengeance, or the eternal justice of God, +which severely punishes the wicked actions of men. She is sometimes +represented with wings, to denote the celerity with which she follows +men to observe their actions. + + + + +CHAPTER V. + +_Gods of the Woods._ + + +_Pan_, the god of shepherds and hunters, leader of the nymphs, president +of the mountains, patron of a country life, and guardian of flocks and +herds, was likewise adored by fishermen, especially those who lived +about the promontories washed by the sea. There is scarcely any of the +gods to whom the poets have given a greater diversity of parents. The +most common opinion is, that he was the son of Mercury and Penel{)o}pe. +As soon as he was born, his father carried him in a goat's skin to +heaven, where he charmed all the gods with his pipe, so that they +associated him with Mercury in the office of their messenger. After this +he was educated on Mount Maen{)a}lus, in Arcadia, by Si{)o}ne and the +other nymphs, who, attracted by his music, followed him as their +conductor. + +Pan, though devoted to the pleasures of rural life, distinguished +himself by his valor. In the war of the giants he entangled Typhon in +his nets. Bacchus, in his Indian expedition, was accompanied by him with +a body of Satyrs, who rendered Bacchus great service. When the Gauls +invaded Greece, and were just going to pillage Delphi, Pan struck them +with such a sudden consternation by night, that they fled without being +pursued: hence the expression of a _Panic fear_, for a sudden terror. +The Romans adopted him among their deities, by the names of Lupercus and +Lycaeus, and built a temple to him at the foot of Mount Palatine. + +He is represented with a smiling, ruddy face, and thick beard covering +his breast, two horns on his head, a star on his bosom, legs and thighs +hairy, and the nose, feet, and tail of a goat. He is clothed in a +spotted skin, having a shepherd's crook in one hand, and his pipe of +unequal reeds in the other, and is crowned with pine, that tree being +sacred to him. + +Pan probably signifies the universal nature, proceeding from the divine +mind and providence, of which the heaven, earth, sea, and the eternal +fire, are so many members. Mythologists are of opinion that his upper +parts are like a man, because the superior and celestial part of the +world is beautiful, radiant, and glorious: his horns denote the rays of +the sun, as they beam upwards, and his long beard signifies the same +rays, as they have an influence upon the earth: the ruddiness of his +face resembles the splendor of the sky, and the spotted skin which he +wears is the image of the starry firmament: his lower parts are rough, +hairy, and deformed, to represent the shrubs, wild creatures, trees, and +mountains here below: his goat's feet signify the solidity of the earth; +and his pipe of seven reeds, that celestial harmony which is made by the +seven planets; lastly, his sheep-hook denotes that care and providence +by which he governs the universe. + +SILENUS. As Bacchus was the god of good humor and fellowship, so none of +the deities appeared with a more numerous or splendid retinue, in which +Sil{=e}nus was the principal person; of whose descent, however, we have +no accounts to be relied on. Some say he was born at Malea, a city of +Sparta; others at Nysa in Arabia; but the most probable conjecture is, +that he was a prince of Caria, noted for his equity and wisdom. But +whatever be the fate of these different accounts, Sil{=e}nus is said to +have been preceptor to Bacchus, and was certainly a very suitable one +for such a deity, the old man being heartily attached to wine. He +however distinguished himself greatly in the war with the giants, by +appearing in the conflict on an ass, whose braying threw them into +confusion; for which reason, or because, when Bacchus engaged the +Indians, their elephants were put to flight by the braying of the ass, +it was raised to the skies, and there made a constellation. + +The historian tells us that Sil{=e}nus was the first of all the kings +that reigned at Nysa; that his origin is not known, it being beyond the +memory of mortals: it is likewise said that he was a Phrygian, who lived +in the reign of Midas, and that the shepherds having caught him, by +putting wine into the fountain he used to drink of, brought him to +Midas, who gave him his long ears; a fable intended to intimate that +this extraordinary loan signified the faculty of receiving universal +intelligence. Virgil makes Sil{=e}nus deliver a very serious and +excellent discourse concerning the creation of the world, when he was +scarcely recovered from a fit of drunkenness, which renders it probable +that the sort of drunkenness with which Sil{=e}nus is charged, had +something in it mysterious, and approaching to inspiration. + +He is described as a short, corpulent old man, bald-headed, with a flat +nose, prominent forehead and long ears. He is usually exhibited as +over-laden with wine, and seated on a saddled ass, upon which he +supports himself with a long staff in the one hand, and in the other +carries a _cantharus_ or jug, with the handle almost worn out with +frequent use. + +SYLVANUS. The descent of Sylv{=a}nus is extremely obscure. Some think +him son of Faunus, some say he was the same with Faunus, whilst others +suppose him the same deity with Pan, which opinion Pliny seems to adopt +when he says that the AEgipans were the same with the Sylvans. He was +unknown to the Greeks; but the Latins received the worship of him from +the Pelasgi, upon their migration into Italy, and his worship seems +wholly to have arisen out of the ancient sacred use of woods and groves, +it being introduced to inculcate a belief that there was no place +without the presence of a deity. The Pelasgi consecrated groves, and +appointed solemn festivals, in honor of Sylv{=a}nus. The hog and milk +were the offerings tendered him. A monument consecrated to this deity, +by one Laches, gives him the epithet of Littor{=a}lis, whence it would +seem that he was worshipped upon the sea-coasts. + +The priests of Sylv{=a}nus constituted one of the principal colleges of +Rome, and were in great reputation, a sufficient evidence of the fame of +his worship. Many writers confound the Sylv{=a}ni, Fauni, Satyri, and +Sil{=e}ni, with Pan. + +Some monuments represent him as little of stature, with the face of a +man, and the legs and feet of a goat, holding a branch of cypress in his +hand, in token of his regard for Cyparissus, who was transformed into +that tree. The pineapple, a pruning-knife in his hand, a crown coarsely +made, and a dog, are the ordinary attributes of the representations of +this rural deity. He appears sometimes naked, sometimes covered with a +rustic garb which reaches down to his knee. + +Sylv{=a}nus, as his name imports, presided over woods, and the fruits +that grew in them; agreeable to which, (in some figures) he has a lap +full of fruit, his pruning-hook in one hand, and a young cypress tree in +the other. Virgil mentions the latter as a distinguishing attribute of +this god: the same poet, on another occasion, describes him as crowned +with wild flowers, and mentions his presiding over the cornfields as +well as the woods. + +SATYRI, _or_ SATYRS, a sort of demi-gods, who with the Fauns and +Sylvans, presided over groves and forests under the direction of Pan. +They made part of the _dramatis pers{=o}nae_ in the ancient Greek +tragedies, which gave rise to the species of poetry called satirical. + +There is a story that Euph{=e}mus, passing from Caria to the extreme +parts of the ocean, discovered many desert islands, and being forced by +tempestuous weather to land upon one of them, called Satyr{)i}da, he +found inhabitants covered with yellow hair, having tails not much less +than horses. We are likewise told, that in the expedition which Hanno +the Carthaginian made to the parts of Lybia lying beyond Hercules' +pillars, they came to a great bay called the Western Horn, in which was +an island where they could find or see nothing by day-light but woods, +and yet in the night they observed many fires, and heard an incredible +and astonishing noise of drums and trumpets; whence they concluded that +a number of Satyrs abode there. + +It is pretended there really were such monsters as the pagans deified +under the name of Satyrs; and one of them, it is said, was brought to +Sylla, having been surprised in his sleep. Sylla ordered him to be +interrogated by people of different countries, to know what language he +spoke; but the Satyr only answered with cries, not unlike those of goats +and the neighing of horses. This monster had a human body, but the +thighs, legs, and feet of a goat. To the above stories may be added that +of the Satyr who passed the Rubicon in presence of Caesar and his whole +army. + +The Satyrs of the ancients were the ministers and attendants of Bacchus. +Their form was not the most inviting; for though their countenances were +human, they had horns on their foreheads, crooked hands, rough and hairy +bodies, feet and legs like a goat's, and tails which resembled those of +horses. The shepherds sacrificed to them the firstlings of their flocks, +but more especially grapes and apples; and they addressed to them songs +in their forests by which they endeavored to conciliate their favor. +When Satyrs arrived at an advanced age they were called Sil{=e}ni. + +FAUNI, _or_ FAUNS, a species of demi-gods, inhabiting the forests, +called also _Sylv{=a}ni_. They were sons of Faunus and Fauna, or Fatua, +king and queen of the Latins, and though accounted demi-gods, were +supposed to die after a long life. Arnobius, indeed, has shown that +their father, or chief, lived only one hundred and twenty years. The +Fauns were Roman deities, unknown to the Greeks. The Roman Faunus was +the same with the Greek Pan; and as in the poets we find frequent +mention of _Fauns_, and _Pans_, or _Panes_, in the plural number, most +probable the Fauns were the same with the Pans, and all descended from +one progenitor. + +The Romans called them _Fauni_ and _Ficarii_. The denomination _Ficarii_ +was not derived from the Latin _ficus_ a _fig_, as some have imagined, +but from _ficus_, _fici_, a sort of fleshy tumor or excrescence growing +on the eyelids and other parts of the body, which the Fauns were +represented as having. They were called Fauni, _a fando_, from +_speaking_, because they were wont to speak and converse with men; an +instance of which is given in the voice that was heard from the wood, in +the battle between the Romans and Etrurians for the restoration of the +Tarquins, and which encouraged the Romans to fight. We are told that the +Fauni were husbandmen, the Satyrs vine-dressers, and the Sylv{=a}ni +those who cut down wood in the forests. + +They were represented with horns on their heads, pointed ears, and +crowned with branches of the pine, which was a tree sacred to them, +whilst their lower extremities resembled those of a goat. + +Horace makes Faunus the guardian and protector of men of wit, and +Virgil, a god of oracles and predictions; but this is, perhaps, founded +on the etymology of his name, for {phonein} in Greek, and _Fari_ in +Latin, of which it has been supposed a derivative, signify to _speak_; +and it was, perhaps, for the same reason, they called his wife _Fauna_, +that is, _Fatidica_, _prophetess_. Faunus is described by Ovid with +horns on his head, and crowned with the pine tree. + +PRIAPUS is said, by some, to have been the son of Bacchus and Nais, or +as others will have it, of Chi{)o}ne; but the generality of authors +agree, that he was son of Bacchus and Venus. He was born at +Lamps{)a}chus, a city of Mysia, at the mouth of the Hellespont, but in +so deformed a state, that his mother, through shame, abandoned him. On +his growing up to maturity, the inhabitants of the place banished him +their territories, on account of his vicious habits; but being soon +after visited with an epidemic disease, the Lampsacans consulted the +oracle of Dod{=o}na, and Pri{=a}pus was in consequence recalled. Temples +were erected to him as the tutelar deity of vineyards and gardens, to +defend them from thieves and from birds. + +He is usually represented naked and obscene, with a stern countenance, +matted hair, crowned with garden herbs, and holding a wooden sword, or +scythe, whilst his body terminates in a shapeless trunk. His figures are +generally erected in gardens and orchards to serve as scarecrows. +Pri{=a}pus held a pruning-hook in his hands, when he had hands, for he +was sometimes nothing more than a mere log of wood, as Martial somewhat +humorously calls him. Indeed the Roman poets in general seem to have +looked on him as a ridiculous god, and are all ready enough either to +despise or abuse him. + +Trimalchio, in his ridiculous feasts described by Petronius, had a +figure of this god to be held up during his dessert: it was made of +paste, and, as Horace observes on another occasion, that he owed all his +divinity to the carpenter, Petronius seems to hint that he was wholly +obliged for it to the pastry cook in this. Some mythologists make the +birth of Pri{=a}pus allude to that radical moisture which supports all +vegetable productions, and which is produced by Bacchus and Venus, that +is, the solar heat, and the fluid whence Venus is said to have sprung. +Some affirm that he was the same with the Baal of the Phoenicians, +mentioned in scripture. + +ARISTAEUS, son of Apollo, by the nymph Cyrene, daughter of Hypseus, king +of the Lap{)i}thae, was born in Lybia, and in that part of it where the +city Cyrene was built. He received his education from the nymphs, who +taught him to extract oil from olives, and to make honey, cheese, and +butter; all which arts he communicated to mankind. Going to Thebes, he +there married Auton{)o}e, daughter of Cadmus, and, by her, was father to +Actaeon, who was torn in pieces by his own dogs. At length he passed into +Thrace, where Bacchus initiated him into the mysteries of the Orgia, and +taught him many things conducive to the happiness of life. Having dwelt +some time near Mount Hemus, he disappeared, and not only the barbarous +people of that country, but the Greeks likewise decreed him divine +honors. + +It is remarked by Bayle, that Aristaeus found out the solstitial rising +of Sirius, or the dog-star; and he adds, it is certain that this star +had a particular relation to Aristaeus; for this reason, when the heats +of the dog-star laid waste the Cycl{)a}des, and occasioned there a +pestilence, Aristaeus was entreated to put a stop to it. He went directly +into the isle of Cea, and built an altar to Jupiter, offered sacrifices +to that deity, as well to the malignant star, and established an +anniversary for it. These produced a very good effect, for it was from +thence that the Etesian winds had their origin, which continue forty +days, and temper the heat of the summer. On his death, for the services +he had rendered mankind, he was placed among the stars, and is the +Aquarius of the Zodiac. + +TERMINUS was a very ancient deity among the Romans, whose worship was +first instituted by Numa Pompilius, he having erected in his honor on +the Tarpeian hill a temple which was open at the top. This deity was +thought to preside over the stones or land-marks, called Term{)i}ni, +which were so highly venerated, that it was sacrilege to move them, and +the criminal becoming devoted to the gods, it was lawful for any man to +kill him. The Roman Term{)i}ni were square stones or posts, much +resembling our mile-stones, erected to show that no force or violence +should be used in settling mutual boundaries; they were sometimes +crowned with a human head, but had seldom any inscriptions; one, +however, is mentioned to this effect, "Whosoever shall take away this, +or shall order it to be taken away, may he die the last of his family." + +VERTUMNUS, the Proteus of the Roman ritual, was the god of tradesmen, +and, from the power he had of assuming any shape, was believed to +preside over the thoughts of mankind. His courtship of Pom{=o}na makes +one of the most elegant and entertaining stories in Ovid. The Romans +esteemed him the god of tradesmen, from the turns and changes which +traffic effects. There was no god had a greater variety of +representations than Vertumnus. He is painted with a garland of flowers +on his head, a pruning hook in one hand, and ripe fruits in the other. +Pom{=o}na has a pruning hook in her right hand, and a branch in her +left. Pliny introduces this goddess personally, even in his prose, to +make her speak in praise of the fruits committed to her care. We learn +from Ovid that this goddess was of that class which they anciently +called Hamadryads. + +Both these deities were unknown to the Greeks, and only honored by the +Romans. Some imagine Vertumnus an emblem of the year, which, though it +assume different dresses according to the different seasons, is at no +time so luxuriant as in autumn, when the harvest is crowned, and the +fruits appear in their full perfection and lustre; but historians say +that Vertumnus was an ancient king of the Tuscans, who first taught his +people the method of planting orchards, gardens, and vineyards, and the +manner of cultivating, pruning, and grafting fruit-trees; whence he is +reported to have married Pom{=o}na. Some think he was called Vertumnus, +from turning the lake Curtus into the Tiber. + + + + +CHAPTER VI. + +_Goddesses of the Woods._ + + +DIANA, daughter of Jupiter and Lat{=o}na, and sister of Apollo, was born +in the island of Delos. She had a threefold divinity, being styled +Di{=a}na on earth, Luna, or the moon, in heaven, and Hec{)a}te, or +Proserpine, in hell. The poets say she had three heads, one of a horse, +another of a woman, and the third of a dog. Hesiod makes Di{=a}na, Luna, +and Hec{)a}te, three distinguished goddesses. + +Of all the various characters of this goddess, there is no one more +known than that of her presiding over woods, and delighting in hunting. +The Di{=a}na Venatrix, or goddess of the chase, is frequently +represented as running on, with her vest flying back with the wind, +notwithstanding its being shortened, and girt about her for expedition. +She is tall of stature, and her face, though so very handsome, is +something manly. Her feet are sometimes bare, and sometimes adorned with +a sort of buskin, which was worn by the huntresses of old. She often has +a quiver on her shoulder, and sometimes holds a javelin, but more +usually her bow, in her right hand. It is thus she makes her appearance +in several of her statues, and it is thus the Roman poets describe her, +particularly in the epithets they give this goddess, in the use of which +they are so happy that they often bring the idea of whole figures of her +into your mind by a single word. The statues of this Di{=a}na were very +frequent in woods: she was represented there in all the different ways +they could think of; sometimes as hunting, sometimes as bathing, and +sometimes as resting herself after her fatigue. The height of Di{=a}na's +stature is frequently marked out in the poets, and that, generally, by +comparing her with her nymphs. + +Another great character of Di{=a}na is that under which she is +represented as the intelligence which presides over the planet of the +moon; in which she is depicted in her car as directing that planet. Her +figure under this character is frequently enough to be met with on gems +and medals, which generally exhibit her with a lunar crown, or crescent +on her forehead, and sometimes as drawn by stags, sometimes by does, +but, more commonly than either, by horses. The poets speak of her +chariot and her horses; they agree with the artists in giving her but +two, and show, that the painters of old generally drew them of a perfect +white color. + +A third remarkable way of representing Di{=a}na was with three bodies; +this is very common among the ancient figures of the goddess, and it is +hence the poets call her the triple, the three-headed, and the +three-bodied Di{=a}na. Her distinguishing name under this triple +appearance is Hec{)a}te, or Trivia; a goddess frequently invoked in +enchantments, and fit for such black operations; for this is the +infernal Di{=a}na, and as such is represented with the characteristics +of a fury, rather than as one of the twelve great celestial deities: all +her hands hold instruments of terror, and generally grasp either cords, +or swords, or serpents, or fire-brands. + +There are various conjectures concerning the name _Hec{)a}te_, which is +supposed to come from a Greek word signifying an _hundred_, either +because an hundred victims at a time used to be offered to her, or else +because by her edicts the ghosts of those who die without burial, wander +an hundred years upon the banks of the Styx. Mythologists say that +Hec{)a}te is the _order_ and _force_ of the Fates, who obtained from the +divine power that influence which they have over human bodies; that the +operation of the Fates are hidden, but descend by the means and +interposition of the stars, wherefore it is necessary that all inferior +things submit to the cares, calamities, and death which the Fates bring +upon them, without any possibility of resisting the divine will. + +Hesiod relates of Hec{)a}te, to show the extent of her power, that +Jupiter had heaped gifts and honors upon her far above all the other +deities; that she was empress of the earth and sea, and all things which +are comprehended in the compass of the heavens; that she was a goddess +easy to be entreated, kind, and always ready to do good, bountiful of +gold and riches, which are wholly in her power; that whatever springs +from seed, whether in heaven, or on earth, is subject to her, and that +she governs the fates of all things. + +PALES was a rural goddess of the Romans. She was properly the divinity +of shepherds, and the tutelar deity and protectress of their flocks. Her +votaries had usually wooden images of her. A feast called Palilia or +Parilia was celebrated on the twenty-first of April, or, according to +some, in May, in the open fields. The offerings were milk and cakes of +millet, in order to engage her to defend their flocks from wild beasts +and infectious diseases. As part of the ceremony, they burned heaps of +straw, and leaped over them. Some make Pales the same with Vesta or +Cyb{)e}le. This goddess is represented as an old woman. + +FLORA, the goddess of flowers, was a Roman deity. The ancients made her +the wife of Zephyrus, to intimate that Flora, or the natural heat of the +plant, must concur with the influence of the warmest wind for the +production of flowers. Varro reckons Flora among the ancient deities of +the Sabines, which were received into Rome on the union of the Sabines +with the Romans. Ovid says, that her Greek name was Chloris, and that +the Latins changed it into Flora. + +FERONIA was the goddess of woods and orchards. She is called Feronia +from the verb _fero, to bring forth_, because she _produced_ and +_propagated_ trees, or from Fer{=o}n{)i}ci, a town situated near the +foot of Mount Soracte, in Italy, where was a wood, and a temple +dedicated to her; which town and wood are mentioned by Virgil, in his +catalogue of the forces of Turnus. The Lacedemonians first introduced +her worship into Italy under Evander; for these people, being offended +at the rigor of the laws of Lycurgus, resolved to seek out some new +plantation, and arriving, after a long and dangerous voyage, in Italy, +they, to show their gratitude for their preservation, built a temple to +Feronia, so called from their _bearing patiently_ all the fatigues and +dangers they had encountered in their voyage. This edifice casually +taking fire, the people ran to remove and preserve the image of the +goddess, when on a sudden the fire became extinguished, and the grove +assumed a native and flourishing verdure. + +Horace mentions the homage that was paid to this deity, by washing the +face and hands, according to custom, in the sacred fountain which flowed +near her temple. Slaves received the cap of liberty at her shrine, on +which account they regarded her as their patroness. How Feronia was +descended, where born, or how educated, is not transmitted to us; but +she is said to have been wife to Jupiter Anxur, so called, because he +was worshipped in that place. + + + [Illustration: + + NEPTUNE RISING FROM THE SEA + + HE SITS SUPERIOR & THE CHARIOT FLIES. + + Pope's Homer's Iliad. B. 13. L. 41 + Pl. 7.] + + +NYMPHAE, _the_ NYMPHS, were certain inferior goddesses, inhabiting the +mountains, woods, valleys, rivers, seas, &c. said to be daughters of +Oceanus and Tethys. According to ancient mythology, the whole universe +was full of these nymphs, who are distinguished into several ranks and +classes, though the general division of them is into celestial and +terrestrial. I. The Celestial Nymphs, called _Uraniae_, were supposed to +govern the heavenly bodies or spheres. II. The Terrestrial Nymphs, +called _Epigeiae_, presided over the several parts of the inferior world; +these were again subdivided into those of the water, and those of the +earth. + +The Nymphs of the water were ranged under several classes: 1. The +Ocean{)i}des, or Nymphs of the ocean. 2. The Nereids, daughters of +Nereus and Doris. 3. The Naiads, Nymphs of the fountains. 4. The +Ephydri{)a}des, also Nymphs of the fountains; and 5. The Limni{)a}des, +Nymphs of the lakes. The Nymphs of the earth were likewise divided into +different classes; as, 1. The Ore{)a}des, or Nymphs of the mountains. 2. +The Napaeae, Nymphs of the meadows; and 3. The Dryads and Hamadryads, +Nymphs of the woods and forests. Besides these, there were Nymphs who +took their names from particular countries, rivers, &c. as the +Dardan{)i}des, Tiber{)i}des, Ismen{)i}des, &c. + +Pausanias reports it as the opinion of the ancient poets that the Nymphs +were not altogether free from death, or immortal, but that their years +wore in a manner innumerable; that prophecies were inspired by the +Nymphs, as well as the other deities; and that they had foretold the +destruction of several cities: they were likewise esteemed as the +authors of divination. + +Meursius is of opinion, that the Greeks borrowed their notion of these +divinities from the Phoenicians, for _nympha_, in their language, +signifying _soul_, the Greeks imagined that the souls of the ancient +inhabitants of Greece had become Nymphs; particularly that the souls of +those who had inhabited the woods were called Dryads; those who +inhabited the mountains, Ore{)a}des; those who dwelt on the sea-coasts, +Nereids; and, lastly, those who had their place of abode near rivers or +fountains, Naiads. Though goats were sometimes sacrificed to the Nymphs, +yet their stated offerings were milk, oil, honey and wine. They were +represented as young and beautiful virgins, and dressed in conformity to +the character ascribed to them. + + + + + +CHAPTER VII. + +_Gods of the Sea._ + + +NEPTUNE was the son of Saturn, and Rhea or Ops, and brother of Jupiter. +When arrived at maturity, he assisted his brother Jupiter in his +expeditions, for which that god, on attaining to supreme power, assigned +him the sea and the islands for his empire. Whatever attachment Neptune +might have had to his brother at one period, he was at another expelled +heaven for entering into a conspiracy against him, in conjunction with +several other deities; whence he fled, with Apollo, to Laomedon, king of +Troy, where Neptune having assisted in raising the walls of the city, +and being dismissed unrewarded, in revenge, sent a sea-monster to lay +waste the country. + +On another occasion, this deity had a contest with Vulcan and Minerva, +in regard to their skill. The goddess, as a proof of her's, made a +horse, Vulcan a man, and Neptune a bull, whence that animal was used in +the sacrifices to him, though it is probable that, as the victim was to +be black, the design was to point out the raging quality and fury of the +sea, over which he presided. The Greeks make Neptune to have been the +creator of the horse, which he produced from out of the earth with a +blow of his trident, when disputing with Minerva who should give the +name to Cecropia, which was afterwards called Athens, from the name in +Greek of Minerva, who made an olive tree spring up suddenly, and thus +obtained the victory. + +In this fable, however, it is evident that the horse could signify +nothing but a ship; for the two things in which that region excelled +being ships and olive-trees, it was thought politic by this means to +bring the citizens over from too great a fondness for sea affairs, to +the cultivation of their country, by showing that Pallas was preferable +to Neptune, or, in other words, _husbandry to sailing_, which, without +some further meaning, the production of a horse could never have done. +It notwithstanding appears that Neptune had brought the management of +the horse, as likewise the art of building ships, to very great +perfection; insomuch that Pamphus, who was the most ancient writer of +hymns to the gods, calls him the benefactor of mankind, in bestowing +upon them horses and ships which had stems and decks that resembled +towers. + +If Neptune created the horse, he was likewise the inventor of +chariot-races; hence Mithrid{=a}tes, king of Pontus, threw chariots, +drawn by four horses, into the sea, in honor of Neptune: and the Romans +instituted horse-races in the circus during his festival, at which time +all horses ceased from working, and the mules were adorned with wreaths +of flowers. + +Neptune, represented as a god of the sea, makes a considerable figure: +he is described with black or dark hair, his garment of an azure or +sea-green color, seated in a large shell drawn by whales, or sea-horses, +with his trident in his hand, attended by the sea-gods Palaemon, Glaucus, +and Phorcys; the sea-goddesses Thetis, Melita, and Panop{=e}a, and a +long train of Tritons and sea-nymphs. + +The inferior artists represent him sometimes with an angry and disturbed +air; and we may observe the same difference in this particular between +the great and inferior poets as there is between the bad and the good +artists. Thus Ovid describes Neptune with a sullen look, whereas Virgil +expressly tells us that he has a mild face, even where he is +representing him in a passion. Even at the time that he is provoked, and +might be expected to have appeared disturbed, and in a passion, there is +serenity and majesty in his face. + +On some medals he treads on the beak of a ship, to show that he presided +over the seas, or more particularly over the Mediterranean sea, which +was the great, and almost the only scene for navigation among the old +Greeks and Romans. He is standing, as he generally was represented; he +most commonly, too, has his trident in his right hand: this was his +peculiar sceptre, and seems to have been used by him chiefly to rouse up +the waters; for we find sometimes that he lays it aside when he is to +appease them, but he resumes it when there is occasion for violence. +Virgil makes him shake Troy from its foundation with it; and in Ovid it +is with the stroke of this that the waters of the earth are let loose +for the general deluge. The poets have generally delighted in describing +this god as passing over the calm surface of the waters, in his chariot +drawn by sea-horses. The fine original description of this is in Homer, +from whom Virgil and Statius have copied it. + +In searching for the mythological sense of the fable, we must again have +recourse to Egypt, that kingdom which, above all others, has furnished +the most ample harvest for the reaper of mysteries. The Egyptians, to +denote navigation, and the return of the Phoenician fleet, which +annually visited their coast, used the figure of an Osiris borne on a +winged horse, and holding a three-forked spear, or harpoon. To this +image they gave the name of Poseidon, or Neptune, which, as the Greeks +and Romans afterwards adopted, sufficiently proves this deity had his +birth here. Thus the maritime Osiris of the Egyptians became a new deity +with those who knew not the meaning of the symbol. + +TRITON. It is not agreed who were the parents of Triton; but he was a +sea-deity, the herald and trumpeter of Oceanus and Neptune. He sometimes +delighted in mischief, for he carried off the cattle from the Tanagrian +fields, and destroyed the smaller coasting vessels; so that to appease +his resentment, the Tanagrians offered him libations of new wine. +Pleased with its flavor and taste, he drank so freely that he fell +asleep, and tumbling from an eminence, one of the natives cut of his +head. He left a daughter called Tristia. + +The poets ordinarily attribute to Triton, the office of calming the sea, +and stilling of tempests: thus in the Metamorphoses we read, that +Neptune desiring to recall the waters of the deluge, commanded Triton to +sound his trumpet, at the noise of which they retired to their +respective channels, and left the earth again habitable, having swept +off almost the whole human race. + +This god is exhibited in the human form from the waist upwards, with +blue eyes, a large mouth, and hair matted like wild parsley; his +shoulders covered with a purple skin, variegated with small scales, his +feet resembling the fore feet of a horse, and his lower parts +terminating in a double forked tail: sometimes he is seen in a car, with +horses of a bright cerulean. His trumpet is a large conch, or sea-shell. +There were several Tritons, but one chief over all, the distinguished +messenger of Neptune, as Mercury was of Jupiter, and Iris of Juno. + +OCEANUS, oldest son of Coelus and Terra, or Vesta. He married Tethys, +and besides her had many other wives. He had several sisters, all +Nymphs, each of whom possessed an hundred woods and as many rivers. +Oceanus was esteemed by the ancients as the father both of gods and men, +who were said to have taken their beginning from him, on account of the +ocean's encompassing the earth with its waves, and because he was the +principal of that radical moisture diffused through universal matter, +without which, according to Thales, nothing could either be produced or +subsist. + +Homer makes Juno visit Oceanus at the remotest limits of the earth, and +acknowledge him and Tethys as the parents of the gods, adding, that she +herself had been brought up under their tuition. Many of his children +are mentioned in poetical story, whose names it would be endless to +enumerate, and, indeed, they are only the appellations of the principal +rivers of the world. Oceanus was described with a bull's head, to +represent the rage and bellowing of the ocean when agitated by storms. +Oceanus and Tethys are ranked in the highest classes of sea-deities, and +as governors in chief over the whole world of waters. + +NEREUS, a sea-deity, was son of Oceanus, by Tethys. Apollodorus gives +him Terra for his mother. His education and authority were in the +waters, and his residence, more particularly, the AEgean seas. He had the +faculty of assuming what form he pleased. He was regarded as a prophet; +and foretold to Paris the war which the rape of Helen would bring upon +his country. When Hercules was ordered to fetch the golden apples of the +Hesperides, he went to the Nymphs inhabiting the grottoes of Eridanus, +to know where he might find them; the Nymphs sent him to Nereus, who, to +elude the inquiry, perpetually varied his form, till Hercules having +seized him, resolved to hold him till he resumed his original shape, on +which he yielded the desired information. Nereus had, by his sister +Doris, fifty daughters called Nereids. Hesiod highly celebrates him as a +mild and peaceful old man, a lover of justice and moderation. Nereus and +Doris, with their descendants the Nereids, or Oceaniads, so called from +Oceanus, are ranked in the third class of water deities. + +PALAEMON, _or_ MELICERTES, was son of Athamas, king of Thebes and Ino. +The latter fearing the rage of her husband, who in his madness had +killed his son Learchus, took Melicertes in her arms, and leaped with +him from the rock Molyris into the sea. Neptune received them with open +arms, and gave them a place among the marine gods, only changing their +names, Ino being called Leucothea, or Leucothoe, and Melicertes, +Palaemon. Ino, under the name Leucothea, is supposed, by some, to be the +same with Aurora: the Romans gave her the name of Matuta, she being +reputed the goddess that ushers in the morning; and Palaemon, they called +Portumnus, or Portunnus, and painted him with a key in his hand, to +denote that he was the guardian of harbors. Adorations were paid to him +chiefly at Tenedos, and the sacrifice offered to him was an infant. + +Pausanias says that the body of Melicertes was thrown on the Isthmus of +Corinth where Sisyphus, his uncle, who reigned in that city, instituted +the Isthmian games in his honor. For this fable we are indebted to the +fertile invention of the Greeks, Melicertes being no other than the +Melcarthus or the Hercules of Tyre, who, from having been drowned in the +sea, was called a god of it, and from his many voyages, the guardian of +harbors. + +GLAUCUS, a sea-deity. His story, which is very fanciful, shows the +extravagance of poetical fiction amongst the ancients. Before his +deification, Glaucus is said to have been a fisherman of Anthedon, who +having one day remarked that the fishes which he laid on a particular +herb revived and threw themselves into the sea, resolved himself to +taste it, and immediately followed their example: the consequence was, +that he became a Triton, and ever after was reputed a marine deity, +attending with the rest on the car of Neptune. + +The descent of this deity is exceeding dubious. He is said to have +carried off Ariadne from the island Dia, for which Bacchus bound him +fast with vine-twigs. The ship Argo is said to have been constructed by +him, and he is not only mentioned as commanding her, when Jason fought +with the Tyrrhenians, but as being the only one of her crew that came +off without a wound. He dwelt some time at Delos, and, besides +prophesying with the Nereids, is affirmed to have instructed Apollo in +the art. + +SCYLLA was the daughter of Phorcus, or Phorcys, by Ceto. Glaucus, being +passionately fond of Scylla, after vainly endeavoring to gain her +affections, applied to Circe, and besought her, by her art, to induce +her to return his affection. On this, Circe disclosed to him her +passion, but Glaucus remaining inexorable, the enchantress vowed +revenge, and by her magic charms so infected the fountain in which +Scylla bathed, that on entering it, her lower parts were turned into +dogs; at which the nymph, terrified at herself, plunged into the sea, +and there was changed to a rock, notorious for the shipwrecks it +occasioned. + +Authors are disagreed as to Scylla's form; some say she retained her +beauty from the neck downwards, but had six dog's heads: others +maintain, that her upper parts continued entire, but that she had below +the body of a wolf, and the tail of a serpent. The rock named Scylla, +lies between Italy and Sicily, and the noise of the waves beating on it +is supposed to have occasioned the fable of the barking of dogs, and +howling of wolves, ascribed to the imaginary monster. + +CHARYBDIS was a rapacious woman, a female robber, who, it is said, stole +the oxen of Hercules, for which she was thunder-struck by Jupiter, and +turned into a whirlpool, dangerous to sailors. This whirlpool was +situated opposite the rock Scylla, at the entrance of the Faro from +Messina, and occasioned the proverb of running into one danger to avoid +another. Some affirm that Hercules killed her himself; others, that +Scylla committed this robbery, and was killed for it by Hercules. + + + + +CHAPTER VIII. + +_Tartarus and its Deities._ + + +TARTARUS _or_ HELL, the region of punishment after death. The whole +imaginary world, which we call Hell, though according to the ancients it +was the receptacle of all departed persons, of the good as well as the +bad, is divided by Virgil into five parts: the first may be called the +previous region; the second is the region of waters, or the river which +they were all to pass; the third is what we may call the gloomy region, +and what the ancients called Erebus; the fourth is Tartarus, or the +region of torments; and the fifth the region of joy and bliss, or what +we still call Elysium. + +The first part in it Virgil has stocked with two sorts of beings; first, +with those which make the real misery of mankind upon earth, such as +war, discord, labor, grief, cares, distempers, and old age; and, +secondly, with fancied terrors, and all the most frightful creatures of +our own imagination, such as Gorgons, Harpies, Chimaeras and the like. + +The next is the water which all the departed were supposed to pass, to +enter into the other world; this was called Styx, or the hateful +passage: the imaginary personages of this division are the souls of the +departed, who are either passing over, or suing for a passage, and the +master of a vessel who carries them over, one freight after another, +according to his will and pleasure. + +The third division begins immediately with the bank on the other side +the river, and was supposed to extend a great way in: it is subdivided +again into several particular districts; the first seems to be the +receptacle for infants. The next for all such as have been put to death +without a cause; next is the place for those who have put a period to +their own lives, a melancholy region, and situated amidst the marshes +made by the overflowings of the Styx, or hateful river, or passage into +the other world: after this are the fields of mourning, full of dark +woods and groves, and inhabited by those who died of love: last of all +spreads an open champaign country, allotted for the souls of departed +warriors; the name of this whole division is Erebus: its several +districts seem to be disposed all in a line, one after the other, but +after this the great line or road divides into two, of which the right +hand road leads to Elysium, or the place of the blessed, and the left +hand road to Tartarus, or the place of the tormented. + +The fourth general division of the subterraneous world is this Tartarus, +or the place of torments: there was a city in it, and a prince to +preside over it: within this city was a vast deep pit, in which the +tortures were supposed to be performed: in this horrid part Virgil +places two sorts of souls; first, of such as have shown their impiety +and rebellion toward the gods; and secondly, of such as have been vile +and mischievous among men: those, as he himself says of the latter more +particularly, who hated their brethren, used their parents ill, or +cheated their dependants, who made no use of their riches, who committed +incest, or disturbed the marriage union of others, those who were +rebellious subjects, or knavish servants, who were despisers of justice, +or betrayers of their country, and who made and unmade laws not for the +good of the public, but only to get money for themselves; all these, and +the despisers of the gods, Virgil places in this most horrid division of +his subterraneous world, and in the vast abyss, which was the most +terrible part even of that division. + +The fifth division is that of Elysium, or the place of the blessed; here +Virgil places those who died for their country, those of pure lives, +truly inspired poets, the inventors of arts, and all who have done good +to mankind: he does not speak of any particular districts for these, but +supposes that they have the liberty of going where they please in that +delightful region, and conversing with whom they please; he only +mentions one vale, towards the end of it, as appropriated to any +particular use; this is the vale of Lethe or forgetfulness, where many +of the ancient philosophers, and the Platonists in particular, supposed +the souls which had passed through some periods of their trial, were +immersed in the river which gave its name to it, in order to be put into +new bodies, and to fill up the whole course of their probation, in an +upper world. + +In each of these three divisions, on the other side of the river Styx, +which perhaps were comprehended under the name of Ades, as all the five +might be under that of Orcus, was a prince or judge: Minos for the +regions of Erebus; Rhadamanthus for Tartarus; and AEacus for Elysium, +Pluto and Proserpine had their palace at the entrance of the road to the +Elysian fields, and presided as sovereigns over the whole subterraneous +world. + +PLUTO, son of Saturn and Ops, assisted Jupiter in his wars, and after +victory had crowned their exertions in placing his brother on the +throne, be obtained a share of his father's dominions, which, as some +authors say, was the eastern continent, and lower regions of Asia; but, +according to the common opinion, Pluto's division lay in the west. He +fixed his residence in Spain, and lived in Iberia, near the Pyrrenaean +mountains: Spain being a fertile country, and abounding in minerals and +mines, Pluto was esteemed the god of wealth; for it must be here +observed, that the poets confound Pluto, god of hell, with Plutus, god +of riches, though they were distinct deities, and always so considered +by the ancients. + +Pluto's regions being supposed to lie under ground; and as he was the +first who taught men to bury their dead, it was thence inferred that he +was king of the infernal regions, whence sprung a belief, that as all +souls descended to him, so when they were in his possession, he bound +them with inevitable chains, and delivered them to be tried by judges, +after which he dispensed rewards and punishments according to their +several deserts. Pluto was therefore called the infernal Jupiter, and +oblations were made to him by the living, for the souls of their friends +departed. + +Although Pluto was brother of Jupiter, yet none of the goddesses would +condescend to marry him, owing to the deformity of his person, joined to +the darkness of his mansions. Enraged at this reluctance in the +goddesses, and mortified at his want of issue, Pluto ascended his +chariot, and drove to Sicily, where chancing to discover Proserpine with +her companions gathering flowers in a valley of Enna, near mount AEtna, +the grisly god, struck with her charms, instantly seized her, and +forcing her into his chariot, went rapidly off to the river Chemarus, +through which he opened himself a passage to the realms of night. +Orpheus says, this descent was made through the Cecropian cave in +Attica, not far from Eleusis. + +His whole domains are washed with vast and rapid rivers, whose peculiar +qualities strike horror into mortals. Cocytus falls with an impetuous +roaring; Phlegethon rages with a torrent of flames; the Acharusian fen +is dreadful for its stench and filth: nor does Charon, the ferryman, who +wafts souls over, occasion any less horror; Cerberus, the triple-headed +dog, stands ready with open mouths to receive them; and the Furies shake +at them their serpentine locks. + +Thus far the common fable; but the following seems the true foundation +of the story which has been so much disguised; Pluto having retired into +Spain, applied himself to the working of the mines of silver and gold, +which in that country, were very common, especially on the side of +Cadiz, where he fixed his abode. Boetica, his residence, was that +province now called Andalusia, and the river Boetis, now Guadalquiver, +gave that name to it. This river formed of old, at its mouth, a small +island, called Tartessus, which was the Tartessus of the ancients, and +whence Tartarus was formed. + +It may be remarked, that though Spain be not now fertile in mines, yet +the ancients speak of it as a country where they abounded. Posidonius +says, that its mountains and hills were almost all mountains of gold; +Arienus, that near Tartessus was a mountain of silver; and Aristotle, +that the first Phoenicians who landed there, found such quantities of +gold and of silver, that they made anchors for their ships of those +precious metals. This, doubtless, is what determined Pluto, who was +ingenius in such operations, to fix himself near to Tartessus; and this +making him pass also for a wealthy prince, procured for him the name of +Pluto, instead of that of Agelestus. + +The situation of Pluto's kingdom, which was low in respect to Greece, +occasioned him to be looked on as the god of hell; and as he continually +employed laborers for his mines, who chiefly resided in the bowels of +the earth, and there commonly died, Pluto was reputed the king of the +dead. The ocean, likewise, upon whose coasts he reigned, was supposed to +be covered with darkness. These circumstances united, appear to have +been the foundation of the fables afterwards invented concerning Pluto +and his realms of night. It is probable, for example, that the famous +Tartarus, the place so noted in the empire of this god, comes from +Tartessus, near Cadiz: the river Lethe not unlikely from the +Guada-Lethe, which flows over against that city; and the lake Avernus, +or the Acheronian fen, from the word Aharona, importing, _at the +extremities_, a name given to that lake, which is near the ocean. + +Pluto was extremely revered both by the Greeks and Romans. He had a +magnificent temple at Pylos. Near the river Corellus, in Boeotia, he had +also an altar, for some mystical reason, in common with Pallas. His +chief festival was in February, and called Charistia, because their +oblations were made for the dead. Black bulls were the victims offered +up, and the ceremonies were performed in the night, it not being lawful +to sacrifice to him in the day time, on account of his aversion to the +light. The cypress tree was sacred to Pluto, boughs of which were +carried at funerals. + +He is usually represented in an ebony chariot, drawn by his four black +horses, Orphnaeus, AEthon, Nycteus, and Alastor. As god of the dead, keys +were the ensigns of his authority, because there is no possibility of +returning when the gates of his palace are locked. Sometimes he holds a +sceptre, to denote his power; at other times a wand, with which he +directs the movements of his subject ghosts. Homer speaks of his hemlet +as having the quality of rendering the wearer invisible; and tells us +that Minerva borrowed it when she fought against the Trojans, that she +might not be discovered by Mars. Perseus also used this hemlet when he +cut off Medusa's head. + +Mythologists pretend that Pluto is the earth, the natural powers and +faculties of which are under his direction, so that he is monarch not +only of all riches which come from thence, and are at length swallowed +up by it, but likewise of the dead; for as all living things spring from +the earth, so are they resolved into the principles whence they arose. +Proserpine is by them reputed to be the seed or grain of fruits or corn, +which must be taken into the earth, and hid there before it can be +nourished by it. + +PLUTUS, the god of riches. Though Plutus be not an infernal god, yet as +his name and office were similar to Pluto's, we shall here distinguish +them, although both were gods of riches. Pluto was born of Saturn and +Ops, or Rhea, and was brother of Jupiter and Neptune; but Plutus, the +god of whom we here speak, was son of Jason or Jasion by Ceres. He is +represented blind and lame, injudicious and fearful. Being lame, he +confers estates but slowly: for want of judgment, his favors are +commonly bestowed on the unworthy; and as he is timorous, so he obliges +rich men to watch their treasures with fear. Plutus is painted with +wings, to signify the swiftness of his retreat, when he takes his +departure. Little more of him remains in story, than that he had a +daughter named Euriboea; unless the comedy of Aristophanes, called by +his name, be taken into the account. + +Aristophanes says that this deity, having at first a very clear sight, +bestowed his favors only on the just and good: but that after Jupiter +deprived him of vision, riches fell indifferently to the good and the +bad. A design being formed for the recovery of his sight, Penia or +poverty opposed it, making it appear that poverty is the mistress of +arts, sciences, and virtues, which would be in danger of perishing if +all men were rich; but no credit being given to her remonstrance, Plutus +recovered his sight in the temple of AEsculapius, whence the temples and +altars of other gods, and those of Jupiter himself, were abandoned, the +whole world sacrificing to Plutus alone. + +PROSERPINE, the daughter of Jupiter and Ceres, was educated with Minerva +and Di{=a}na. By reason of this familiar intercourse, each chose a place +in the island of Sicily for her particular residence. Minerva look the +parts near Himera; Di{=a}na those about Syracuse; and Proserpine, in +common with her sister goddesses, enjoyed the pleasant fields of Enna. +Near at hand are groves and gardens, surrounded with morasses and a deep +cave, with a passage under ground, opening towards the north. In this +happy retirement was Proserpine situated, when Pluto, passing in his +chariot through the cave, discovered her whilst busy in gathering +flowers, with her attendants, the daughters of Oceanus. Proserpine he +seized, and having placed her in his chariot, carried her to Syracuse, +where the earth opening, they both descended to the infernal regions. + +She had not been long there when the fame of her charms induced Theseus +and Pirithous to combine for the purpose of carrying her thence; but in +this they failed. When Ceres, who was disconsolate for the loss of her +daughter, discovered where she was, Jupiter upon her repeated +solicitations, promised that Proserpine should be restored, provided she +had not yet tasted any thing in hell. Ceres joyfully descended, and +Proserpine, full of triumph, prepared for her return, when lo! +Ascalaphus, son of Acheron and Gorgyra, discovered that he saw +Proserpine, as she walked in the garden of Pluto, eat some grains of a +pomegranate, upon which her departure was stopped. At last, by the +repeated importunity of her mother to Jupiter, she extorted as a favor, +in mitigation of her grief, that Proserpine should live half the year in +heaven, and the other half in hell. + +Proserpine is represented under the form of a beautiful woman, +enthroned, having something stern and melancholy in her aspect. Statius +has found out a melancholy employment for her, which is, to keep a sort +of register of the dead, and to mark down all that should be added to +that number. The same poet mentions another of her offices of a more +agreeable nature: he says, when any woman dies who had been a remarkably +good wife in this world, Proserpine prepares the spirits of the best +women in the other to make a procession to welcome her into Elysium with +joy, and to strew all the way with flowers where she is to pass. + +Some represent Proserpine, Luna, Hec{)a}te, and Di{=a}na, as one; the +same goddess being called Luna in heaven, Di{=a}na on earth, and +Hec{)a}te in hell: and they explain the fable of the moon, which is +hidden from us in the hemisphere of the countries beneath, just so long +as it shines in our own. As Proserpine was to stay six months with her +mother, and six with her husband, she was the emblem of the seed corn, +which lies in the earth during the winter, but in spring sprouts forth, +and in summer bears fruit. + +The mythological sense of the fable is this: the name of Proserpine, or +Persephone, among the Egyptians, was used to denote the change produced +in the earth by the deluge, which destroyed its former fertility, and +rendered tillage and agriculture necessary to mankind. + +PARCAE, _or_ FATES, were goddesses supposed to preside over the accidents +and events, and to determine the date or period of human life. They were +reckoned by the ancients to be three in number, because all things have +a beginning, progress, and end. They were the daughters of Jupiter and +Themis, and sisters to the Horae, or Hours. + +Their names, amongst the Greeks, were Atropos, Clotho, and Lachesis, and +among the Latins, Nona, Decima, Morta. They are called Parcae, because, +as Varro thinks, they distributed to mankind good and bad things at +their birth; or, as the common and received opinion is, because they +spare nobody. They were always of the same mind, so that though +dissensions sometimes arose among the other gods, no difference was ever +known to subsist among these three sisters, whose decrees were +immutable. To them was intrusted the spinning and management of the +thread of life; Clotho held the distaff, Lachesis turned the wheel, and +Atropos cut the thread. + +Plutarch tells us they represented the three parts of the world, viz. +the firmament of the fixed stars, the firmament of the planets, and the +space of air between the moon and the earth; Plato says they represented +time past, present, and to come. There were no divinities in the pagan +world who had a more absolute power than the Fates. They were looked +upon as the dispensers of the eternal decrees of Jupiter, and were all +of them sometimes supposed to spin the party-colored thread of each +man's life. Thus are they represented on a medal, each with a distaff in +her hand. The fullest and best description of them in any of the poets, +is in Catullus: he represents them as all spinning, and at the same time +singing, and foretelling the birth and fortunes of Achilles, at Peleus' +wedding. + +An ingenious writer, in giving the true mythology of these characters, +apprehends them to have been, originally, nothing more than the mystical +figure or symbols which represented the months of January, February, and +March, among the Egyptians, who depicted them in female dresses, with +the instruments of spinning and weaving, which was the great business +carried on in that season. These images they called _Parc_, which +signifies _linen cloth_, to denote the manufacture produced by this +temporary industry. The Greeks, ever fertile in invention, and knowing +nothing of the true sense of these allegorical figures, gave them a turn +suitable to their genius. + +FURIES, EUMENIDES _or_ DIRAE, were the daughters of Nox and Acheron. +Their names were Alecto, Megaera, and Tisiphone. As many crimes were +committed in secret, which could not be discovered from a deficiency of +proof, it was necessary for the judges to have such officers as by +wonderful and various tortures should force from the criminals a +confession of their guilt. To this end the Furies, being messengers both +of the celestial and terrestrial Jupiter, were always attendant on their +sentence. + +In heaven they were called Dirae, (_quasi Deorum irae_) or ministers of +divine vengeance, in punishing the guilty after death; on earth +_Furies_, from that madness which attends the consciousness of guilt; +_Erynnis_, from the indignation and perturbations they raise in the +mind; _Eumenides_, from their placability to such as supplicate them, as +in the instance of Orestes, and Argos, upon his following the advice of +Pallas, and in hell, _Stygian dogs_. + +The furies were so dreaded that few dared so much as to name them. They +were supposed to be constantly hovering about those who had been guilty +of any enormous crime. Thus Orestes, having murdered his mother +Clytemnestra, was haunted by the Furies. OEdipus, indeed, when blind and +raving, went into their grove, to the astonishment of all the Athenians, +who durst not so much as behold it. The Furies were reputed so +inexorable, that if any person polluted with murder, incest, or any +flagrant impiety, entered the temple which Orestes had dedicated to them +in Cyrenae, a town of Arcadia, he immediately became mad, and was hurried +from place to place, with the most restless and dreadful tortures. + +Mythologists have assigned to each of these tormentresses their proper +department. Tisiphone is said to punish the sins arising from hatred and +anger; Megaera those occasioned by envy; and Alecto the crimes of +ambition and lust. The statues of the Furies had nothing in them +originally different from the other divinities. It was the poet AEschylus +who, in one of his tragedies, represented them in that hideous manner +which proved fatal to many of the spectators. The description of these +deities by the poet passed from the theatre to the temple: from that +time they were exhibited as objects of the utmost horror, with Terror, +Rage, Paleness, and Death, for their attendants; and thus seated about +Pluto's throne, whose ministers they were, they awaited his orders with +an impatience congenial to their natures. + +The Furies are described with snakes instead of hair, and eyes inflamed +with madness, brandishing in one hand whips and iron chains, and in the +other torches, with a smothering flame. Their robes are black, and their +feet of brass, to show that their pursuit, though slow, is steady and +certain. As they attended at the thrones of the Stygian and celestial +Jupiter, they had wings to accelerate their progress through the air, +when bearing the commands of the gods: they struck terror into mortals, +either by war, famine, pestilence, or the numberless calamities incident +to human life. + +NOX, _or_ NIGHT, the oldest of the deities, was held in great esteem +among the ancients. She was even reckoned older than Chaos. Orpheus +ascribes to her the generation of gods and men, and says, that all +things had their beginning from her. Pausanias has left us a description +of a remarkable statue of this goddess. "We see," says he, "a woman +holding in her right hand a white child sleeping, and in her left a +black child likewise asleep, with both its legs distorted; the +inscription tells us what they are, though we might easily guess without +it: the two children are Death and Sleep, and the woman is Night, the +nurse of them both." + +The poets fancied her to be drawn in a chariot with two horses, before +which several stars went as harbingers; that she was crowned with +poppies, and her garments were black, with a black veil over her +countenance, and that stars followed in the same manner as they preceded +her; that upon the departure of the day she arose from the ocean, or +rather from Erebus, and encompassed the earth with her sable wings. The +sacrifice offered to Night was a cock because of its enmity to darkness, +and rejoicing at the light. + +SOMNUS, _or_ SLEEP, one of the blessings to which the pagans erected +altars, was said to be son of Erebus and, Night, and brother of Death. +Orpheus calls Somnus the happy king of gods and men; and Ovid, who gives +a very beautiful description of his abode, represents him dwelling in a +deep cave in the country of the Cimmerians. Into this cavern the sun +never enters, and a perpetual stillness reigns, no noise being heard but +the soft murmur caused by a stream of the river Lethe, which creeps over +the pebbles, and invites to slumber; at its entrance grow poppies, and +other soporiferous herbs. The drowsy god lies reclined on a bed stuffed +with black plumes, the bedstead is of ebony, the covering is also black, +and his head is surrounded by fantastic visions. + +We learn from Statius, that the attendants and guards before the gates +of this palace were Rest, Ease, Indolence, Silence, and Oblivion; as the +ministers or attendants within are a vast multitude of Dreams in +different shapes and attitudes. Ovid teaches us who were the supposed +governors over these, and what their particular districts or offices +were. The three chiefs of all are Morpheus, Phobetor, and Phantasos, who +inspire dreams into great persons only: Morpheus inspires such dreams as +relate to men, Phobetor such as relate to other animals, and Phantasos +such as relate to inanimate things. They have each their particular +legions under them, to inspire the common people with the sort of dreams +which belong to their province. + +MINOS was son of Jupiter and Europa, and brother of Rhadamanthus and +Sarpedon. After the death of his father, the Cretans, who thought him +illegitimate, would not admit him as a successor to the kingdom, till he +persuaded them it was the divine pleasure he should reign, by praying +Neptune to give him a sign, which being granted, the god caused a horse +to rise out of the sea, upon which he ascended the throne. + +Nothing so much distinguished him as the laws he enacted for the +Cretans, which obtained him the name of one of the greatest legislators +of antiquity. To confer the more authority on these laws, Minos retired +to a cave of Mount Ida, where he feigned that Jupiter, his father, +dictated them to him; and every time he returned thence a new injunction +was promulgated by him. Homer calls him Jupiter's disciple; and Horace +says he was admitted to the secrets of that god. Strabo and Ephorus +contend, that Minos dwelt nine years in retirement in this cave, and +that it was afterwards called the cave of Jupiter. + +Antiquity entertained the highest esteem for the institutes of Minos: +and the testimonies of ancient authors on this head are endless. It +will, therefore, suffice to observe that Lycurgus travelled to Crete on +purpose to collect the laws of Minos for the benefit of the +Lacedemonians; and that Josephus, partial as he was to his own nation, +has owned, that Minos was the only one among the ancients who deserved +to be compared to Moses. He was reputed the judge of the supreme court +of Pluto, AEacus judged the Europeans; the Asiatics and Africans fell to +the lot of Rhadamanthus; and Minos, as president of the infernal court, +decided the differences which arose between these two judges. He sat on +a throne by himself, and wielded a golden sceptre. + +RHADAMANTHUS was the son of Jupiter and Europa, and brother of Minos. He +was one of the three judges of hell. It is said that Rhadamanthus, +having killed his brother, fled to OEchalia in Boeotia, where he married +Alcmena, widow of Amphitryon. Some make Rhadamanthus a king of Lycia, +who on account of his severity and strict regard to justice, was said to +have been one of the three judges of hell, where his province was to +judge such as died impenitent. It is agreed, that he was the most +temperate man of his time, and was exalted amongst the law-givers of +Crete, who were renowned as good and just men. The division assigned to +Rhadamanthus in the infernal regions was Tartarus. + +AEACUS, son of Jupiter and AEgina, was king of OEnopia, which, from his +mother's name, he called AEgina. The inhabitants of that country being +destroyed by a plague, AEacus prayed to his father that by some means he +would repair the loss of his subjects, upon which Jupiter, in compassion +changed all the ants within a hollow tree into men and women, who, from +a Greek word signifying _ants_, were called _Myrmidons_, and actually +were so industrious a people as to become famous for their ships and +navigation. + +The meaning of which fable is this: The pirates having destroyed the +inhabitants of the island, excepting a few, who hid themselves in caves +and holes for fear of a like fate, AEacus drew them out of their retreats +and encouraged them to build houses, and sow corn; taught them military +discipline, and how to fit out and navigate fleets, and to appear not +like ants in holes, but on the theatre of the world, like men. His +character for justice was such, that in a time of universal drought he +was nominated by the Delphic oracle to intercede for Greece, and his +prayers were heard. The pagan world also believed that AEacus, on account +of his impartial justice, was chosen by Pluto, with Minos and +Rhadamanthus, one of the three judges of the dead, and that it was his +province to judge the Europeans, in which capacity he held a plain rod +as a badge of his office. + + + + +CHAPTER IX. + +_The condemned in Hell._ + + +TYPHOEUS, a giant of enormous size, was, according to Hesiod, son of +Erebus, or Tartarus and Terra. His stature was prodigious. With one hand +he touched the east, and with the other the west, while his head reached +to the stars. Hesiod has given him an hundred heads of dragons, uttering +dreadful sounds, and eyes which darted fire; flame proceeded from his +mouths and nostrils, his body was encircled with serpents, and his +thighs and legs were of a serpentine form. When he had almost +discomfited the gods, who fled from him into Egypt, Jupiter alone stood +his ground, and pursued the monster to Mount Caucasus in Syria, where he +wounded him with his thunder; But Typhoeus, turning upon him, took the +god prisoner, and after having cut, with his own sickle, the muscles of +his hands and feet, threw him on his shoulders, carried him into +Cilicia, and there imprisoned him in a cave, whence he was delivered by +Mercury, who restored him to his former vigor. Typhoeus afterwards fled +into Sicily, where the god overwhelmed him with the enormous mass of +mount AEtna. + +Historians report, that Typhoeus was brother of Osiris, king of Egypt, +who in the absence of that monarch, formed a conspiracy to dethrone him; +and that having accordingly put Osiris to death, Isis, in revenge of her +husband, raised an army, the command of which she gave to Orus her son, +who vanquished and slew the usurper: hence the Egyptians, in abhorrence +of his memory, painted him under their hieroglyphic characters in so +frightful a manner. The length of his arms signified his power, the +serpents about him denoted his address and cunning, the scales which +covered his body, expressed his cruelty and dissimulation, and the +flight of the gods into Egypt showed the precautions taken by the great +to screen themselves from his fury and resentment. Mythologists take +Typhoeus and the other giants, to have been the winds; especially the +subterraneous, which cause earthquakes to break forth with fire, +occasioned by the sulphur enkindled in the caverns under Campania, +Sicily, and the AEolian islands. + +TITYOS, _or_ TITYUS, was son of Jupiter and Elara. He resided in +Panopea, where he became formidable for rapine and cruelty, till Apollo +killed him for offering violence to his mother Latona. After this he was +thrown into Tart{)a}rus, and chained down on his back, his body taking +up such a compass as to cover nine acres. In this posture two vultures +continually preyed upon his liver, which constantly grew with the +increase of the moon, that there might never be wanting matter for +eternal punishment. + +PHLEGYAS, son of Mars and Chryse, daughter of Halmus, was king of +Lapithae, a people of Thessaly. Apollo having seduced his daughter +Coronis, Phlegyas, in revenge, set fire to the temple of that god at +Delphi, for which sacrilege the deity killed him with his arrows, and +then cast him into Tart{)a}rus; where he was sentenced to sit under a +huge rock, which threatened him with perpetual destruction. + +IXION was son of Phlegyas, king of the Lapithae in Thessaly. He married +Dia, daughter of Deioneus, whose consent he obtained by magnificent +promises, but, failing afterwards to perform them, Deioneus seized on +his horses. Ixion dissembled his resentment, and inviting Deioneus to a +banquet, received him in an apartment previously prepared, from which, +by withdrawing a door, his father-in-law was thrown into a furnace of +fire. Stung, however, with remorse, and universally despised, Ixion was +overpowered with frenzy, till Jupiter at length re-admitted him to +favor, and not only took him into heaven, but intrusted him also with +his counsels. So ungrateful, notwithstanding, did Ixion become, as to +attempt the chastity of Juno herself. This so incensed Jupiter that the +angry deity hurled him into Tart{)a}rus, and fixed him on a wheel +encompassed with serpents, which was doomed to revolve without +intermission. + +SALMONEUS, king of Elis, was son of AEolus, (not he who was king of the +winds, but another of the name) and Anarete. Not satisfied with an +earthly crown, Salmoneus panted after divine honors; and, in order that +the people might esteem him a god, he built a brazen bridge over the +city, and drove his chariot along it, imitating, by this noise, +Jupiter's thunder; at the same time throwing flaming torches among the +spectators below, to represent his lightning, by which many were killed. +Jupiter, in resentment of this insolence, precipitated the ambitious +mortal into hell, where, according to Virgil, AEneas saw him. + +SISIPHUS, _or_ SISYPHUS, a descendant of AEolus, married Merope, one of +the Pleiades, who bore him Glaucus. He resided at Ephyra, in +Peloponnesus, and was conspicuous for his craft. Some say he was a +Trojan secretary, who was punished for discovering secrets of state; +whilst others contend that he was a notorious robber killed by Theseus. +However, all the poets agree that he was punished in Tart{)a}rus for his +crimes, by rolling a great stone to the top of a hill, which constantly +recoiling and rolling down again, incessantly renewed his fatigue, and +rendered his labor endless. + +Ovid, in one passage, seems to describe Sisyphus as bending under the +weight of a vast stone; "but the more common way of speaking of his +punishment," says the author of Polymetis, "agrees with the fine +description of him in Homer, where we see him laboring to heave the +stone that lies on his shoulders up against the side of a steep +mountain, and which always rolls precipitately down again before he can +get it to rest upon the top. Lucretius makes him only an emblem of the +ambitious; as Horace too seems to make Tant{)a}lus only an emblem of the +covetous." + +BELIDES, _or_ DANAIDES: They were the fifty daughters of Dan{)a}us, son +of Belus, surnamed the _ancient_. Some quarrel having arisen between him +and Egyptus his brother, it determined Dan{)a}us on his voyage into +Greece; but Egyptus having fifty sons, proposed a reconciliation, by +marrying them to his brother's daughters. The proposal was agreed to, +and the nuptials were to be celebrated with singular splendor, when +Dan{)a}us, either in resentment of former injuries, or being told by the +oracle that one of his sons-in-law should destroy him, gave to each of +his daughters a dagger, with an injunction to stab her husband. They all +executed the order but Hypermnestra, the eldest, who spared the life of +Lyncaeus. These Bel{)i}des, for their cruelty, were consigned to the +infernal regions, there to draw water in sieves from a well, till they +had filled, by that means, a vessel full of holes. + +TANTALUS, king of Phrygia, was the son of Jupiter and Plota. Whether it +was for this cause, the violation of hospitality, or for his pride, his +boasting, his want of secrecy, his insatiable covetousness, his +imparting nectar and ambrosia to mortals, or for all of them together, +since he has been accused of them all, Tant{)a}lus was thrown into +Tart{)a}rus, where the poets have assigned him a variety of torments. +Some represent a great stone as hanging over his head, which he +apprehended to be continually falling, and was ever in motion to avoid +it. Others describe him as afflicted with constant thirst and hunger, +though the most delicious banquets were exposed to his view; one of the +Furies terrifying him with her torch whenever he approached towards +them. Some exhibit him standing to the chin in water, and whenever he +stooped to quench his thirst, the water as constantly eluding his lip. +Others, with fruits luxuriously growing around him, which he no sooner +advanced to touch, than the wind blew them into the clouds. + + + + +CHAPTER X. + +_Monsters of Hell._ + + +HARPYIAE, _or_ HARPIES, were three in number, their names, Celaeno, Aello, +and Ocyp{)e}te. The ancients looked on them as a sort of Genii, or +Daemons. They had the faces of virgins, the ears of bears, the bodies of +vultures, human arms and feet, and long claws, hooked like the talons of +carnivorous birds. Phineas, king of Arcadia, being a prophet, and +revealing the mysteries of Jupiter to mortals, was by that deity struck +blind, and so tormented by the Harpies that he was ready to perish for +hunger; they devouring whatever was set before him, till the sons of +Boreas, who attended Jason in his expedition to Colchis, delivered the +good old king, and drove these monsters to the islands called +Stroph{)a}des: compelling them to swear never more to return. + +The Harpies, according to the ingenious Abbe la Pluche, had their origin +in Egypt. He further observes, in respect to them, that during the +months of April, May, and June, especially the two latter, Egypt being +very subject to tempests, which laid waste their olive grounds, and +carried thither numerous swarms of grasshoppers, and other troublesome +insects from the shores of the Red Sea, the Egyptians gave to their +emblematic figures of these months a female face, with the bodies and +claws of birds, calling them _Harop_, or winged destroyers. This +solution of the fable corresponds with the opinion of Le Clerc, who +takes the harpies to have been a swarm of locusts, the word _Arbi_, +whence Harpy is formed, signifying, in their language, a locust. + +GORGONS were three in number, and daughters of Phorcus or Porcys, by his +sister Ceto. Their names were Med{=u}sa, Eury{)a}le, and Stheno, and +they are represented as having scales on their bodies, brazen hands, +golden wings, tusks like boars, and snakes for hair. The last +distinction, however, is confined by Ovid to Med{=u}sa. + +According to some mythologists, Perseus having been sent against +Med{=u}sa by the gods, was supplied by Mercury with a falchion, by +Minerva with a mirror, and by Pluto with a helmet, which rendered the +wearer invisible. Thus equipped, through the aid of winged sandals, he +steered his course towards Tartessus, where, finding the object of his +search, by the reflection of his mirror, he was enabled to aim his +weapon, without meeting her eye, (for her look would have turned him to +stone) and at one blow struck off her head. When Perseus had slain +Med{=u}sa, the other sisters pursued him, but he escaped from their +sight by means of his helmet. They were afterwards thrown into hell. + +SPHINX was a female monster, daughter of Typhon and Echidna. She had the +head, face, and breasts of a woman, the wings of a bird, the claws of a +lion, and the body of a dog. She lived on mount Sphincius, infested the +country about Thebes, and assaulted passengers, by proposing dark and +enigmatical questions to them, which if they did not explain, she tore +them in pieces. Sphinx made horrible ravages in the neighborhood of +Thebes, till Creon, then king of that city, published an edict over all +Greece, promising that if any one should explain the riddle of Sphinx, +he would give him his own sister Iocasta in marriage. + +The riddle was this, "What animal is that which goes upon four feet in +the morning, upon two at noon, and upon three at night?" Many had +endeavored to explain this riddle, but failing in the attempt, were +destroyed by the monster; till OEdipus undertook the solution, and thus +explained it: "The animal is man, who in his infancy creeps, and so may +be said to go on four feet; when he gets into the noon of life, he walks +on two feet; but when he grows old, or declines into the evening of his +days, he uses the support of a staff, and thus may be said to walk on +three feet." The Sphinx being enraged at this explanation, cast herself +headlong from a rock and died. + + + + +CHAPTER XI. + +_Dii indig{)e}tes, or Heroes who received divine Honors after Death._ + + +HERCULES was the son of Jupiter by Alcmena, wife of Amphitryon, king of +Thebes, and is said to have been born in that city about 1280 years +before the Christian era. During his infancy Juno sent two serpents to +kill him in his cradle, but the undaunted child grasping one in either +hand, immediately strangled them both. As he grew up, he discovered an +uncommon degree of vigor both of body and of mind. Nor were his +extraordinary endowments neglected; for his education was intrusted to +the greatest masters. The tasks imposed on him by Eurystheus, on account +of the danger and difficulty which attended their execution, received +the name of the _Labors of Hercules_, and are commonly reckoned, (at +least the most material of them) to have been twelve. + +The first was his engagement with Cleonaean lion, which furious animal, +it is said, fell from the orb of the moon by Juno's direction, and was +invunerable. It infested the woods between Phlius and Cle{=o}ne, and +committed uncommon ravages. The hero attacked it both with his arrows +and club, but in vain, till, perceiving his error, he tore asunder its +jaws with his hands. + +The second labor was his conquest of the Lernaean hydra, a formidable +serpent or monster which harbored in the fens of Lerna, and infected the +region of Argos with his poisonous exhalations. This seems to have been +one of the most difficult tasks in which Hercules was ever engaged. The +number of heads assigned the hydra is various; some give him seven, some +nine, others fifty, and Ovid an hundred; but all authors agree that when +one was cut off, another sprung forth in its place, unless the wound was +immediately cauterized. Hercules, not discouraged, attacked him, and +having ordered I{)o}las, his friend and companion, to cut down wood +sufficient for fire-brands, he no sooner had cut off a head than he +applied these brands to the wounds; by which means searing them up, he +obtained a complete victory. + +The third labor was to bring alive to Eurystheus an enormous wild boar +which ravaged the forest of Erymanthus in Arcadia, and had been sent to +Phocis by Di{=a}na to punish AEn{=e}as, for neglecting her sacrifices. +Hercules brought him bound to Eurystheus. There is nothing descriptive +of this exploit in any of the Roman poets. + +The fourth labor was the capture of the Maenalaean stag. Eurystheus, after +repeated proofs of the strength and valor of Hercules, resolved to try +his agility, and commanded him to take a wild stag that frequented mount +Maen{)a}lus, which had brazen feet and golden horns. As this animal was +sacred to Di{=a}na, Hercules durst not wound him; but though it were no +easy matter to run him down, yet this, after pursuing him on foot for a +year, the hero at last effected. + +The fifth labor of Hercules consisted in killing the Stymphal{)i}des, +birds so called from frequenting the lake Stymph{=a}lis in Arcadia, +which preyed upon human flesh, having wings, beaks, and talons of iron. +Some say Hercules destroyed these birds with his arrows, others that +Pallas sent him brazen rattles, made by Vulcan, the sound of which so +terrified them, that they took shelter in the island of Aretia. There +are authors who suppose these birds called Stymphal{)i}des, to have been +a gang of desperate banditti who had their haunts near the lake +Stymph{=a}lis. + +The sixth labor was his cleansing the stable of Augeas. This Augeas, +king of Elis, had a stable intolerable from the stench occasioned by the +filth it contained, which may be readily imagined from the fact that it +sheltered three thousand oxen, and had not been cleansed for thirty +years. This place Eurystheus ordered Hercules to clear in one day, and +Augeas promised, if he performed the task, to give him a tenth part of +the cattle. Hercules, by turning the course of the river Alph{=e}us +through the stable, executed his design, which Augeas seeing, refused to +fulfil his promise. The hero, to punish his perfidy, slew Augeas with +his arrows, and gave his kingdom to his son Phyleus, who abhorred his +father's treachery. + +The seventh labor was the capture of the Cretan bull. Minos, king of +Crete, having acquired the dominion of the Grecian seas, paid no greater +honor to Neptune than to the other gods, wherefore the deity, in +resentment of this ingratitude, sent a bull, which breathed fire from +his nostrils, to destroy the people of Crete. Hercules took this furious +animal, and brought him to Eurystheus, who, because the bull was sacred, +let him loose into the country of Marathon, where he was afterwards +slain by Theseus. + +The eighth labor of Hercules, was the killing of Diom{=e}des and his +horses. That infamous tyrant was king of Thrace, and son of Mars and +Cyr{=e}ne. Among other things he is said to have driven in his +war-chariot four furious horses, which, to render the more impetuous, he +used to feed on the flesh and blood of his subjects. Hercules is said to +have freed the world from this barbarous prince, and to have killed both +him and his horses, as is signified in some drawings, and said expressly +by some of the poets. Some report that the tyrant was given by Hercules +as a prey to his own horses. + +The ninth labor of Hercules was his combat with Geryon, king of Spain. +Geryon is generally represented with three bodies agreeable to the +expressions used of him by the poets, and sometimes with three heads. He +had a breed of oxen of a purple color, (which devoured all strangers +cast to them) guarded by a dog with two heads, a dragon with seven, +besides a very watchful and severe keeper. Hercules, however, killed the +monarch and all his guards, and carried the oxen to Gades, whence he +brought them to Eurystheus. Some mythologists explain this fable by +saying that Geryon was king of three islands, now called Majorca, +Minorca, and Ivica, on which account he was fabled to be triple bodied +and headed. + +The tenth labor of Hercules was his conquest of Hippolyte queen of the +Amazons. His eleventh labor consisted in dragging Cerebus from the +infernal regions into day. The twelfth and last was killing the serpent, +and gaining the golden fruit in the gardens of the Hesperides. + +Hercules, after his conquests in Spain, having made himself famous in +the country of the Celtae or Gauls, is said to have there founded a large +and populous city, which he called Alesia. His favorite wife was +Dejanira, whose jealousy most fatally occasioned his death. Hercules +having subdued OEchalia and killed Eurytus the king, carried off the +fair I{)o}le, his daughter, with whom Dejanira suspecting him to be in +love, sent him the garment of Nessus, the Centaur, as a remedy to +recover his affections; this garment, however, having been pierced with +an arrow dipped in the blood of the Lernaean hydra, whilst worn by +Nessus, contracted a poison from his blood incurable by art. No sooner, +therefore, was it put on by Hercules than he was seized with a delirious +fever, attended with the most excruciating torments. Unable to support +his pains, he retired to mount OEta, where, raising a pile, and setting +it on fire, he threw himself upon it, and was consumed in the flames, +after having killed in his phrenzy Lycus his friend. His arrows he +bequeathed to Philoct{=e}tes, who interred his remains. + +After his death he was deified by his father Jupiter. Di{=o}dorus +Siculus relates that he was no sooner ranked amongst the gods than Juno, +who had so violently persecuted him whilst on earth, adopted him for her +son, and loved him with the tenderness of a mother. Hercules was +afterwards married to Hebe, goddess of youth, his half sister, with all +the splendor of a celestial wedding; but he refused the honor which +Jupiter designed him, of being ranked with the twelve gods, alleging +there was no vacancy; and that it would be unreasonable to degrade any +other god for the purpose of admitting him. + +Both the Greeks and Romans honored him as a god, and as such erected to +him temples. His victims were bulls and lambs, on account of his +preserving the flocks from wolves; that is, delivering men from tyrants +and robbers. He was worshipped by the ancient Latins under the name of +Dius, or Divus Fidius, that is, the guarantee or protector of faith +promised or sworn. They had a custom of calling this deity to witness by +a sort of oath expressed in these terms, _Me Dius Fidius!_ that is, so +help me the god Fidius! or Hercules. + +PERSEUS was the son of Jupiter and Dan{)a}e, daughter of Acrisius king +of Argos. When Perseus was grown up, Polydectes, who was enamored of his +mother, finding him an obstacle to their union, contrived to send him on +an exploit, which he hoped would be fatal to him. This was to bring him +the head of Med{=u}sa, one of the Gorgons. In his expedition Perseus was +favored by the gods; Mercury equipped him with a scymetar, and the wings +from his heels; Pallas lent him a shield which reflected objects like a +mirror; and Pluto granted him his helmet, which rendered him invisible. +In this manner he flew to Tartessus in Spain, where, directed by the +reflection of Med{=u}sa in his mirror, he cut off her head, and brought +it to Pallas. From the blood arose the winged horse Peg{)a}sus. + +After this the hero passed into Mauritania, where repairing to the court +of Atlas, that monarch ordered him to retire, with menaces, in case of +disobedience; but Perseus, presenting his shield, with the dreadful head +of Med{=u}sa, changed him into the mountain which still bears his name. +In his return to Greece he visited Ethiopia, mounted on Peg{)a}sus, and +delivered Androm{)e}da, daughter of Cepheus, (who was exposed on a rock +of that coast to be devoured by a monster of the deep) on condition he +might make her his wife: but Phineas, her uncle, sought to prevent him, +by attempting, with a party, to carry off the bride. The attempt, +notwithstanding, was rendered abortive; for the hero, by showing them +the head of the Gorgon, at once turned them to stone. + +Perseus having completed these exploits, was desirous of revisiting +home, and accordingly set off for that purpose with his wife and his +mother. Arriving on the coast of Peloponnesus, and learning that +Teutamias, king of Larissa, was then celebrating games in honor of his +father, Perseus, wishing to exhibit his skill at the quoit, of which he +has been deemed the inventor, resolved to go thither. In this contest, +however, he was so unfortunate as to kill Acrisius, the father of his +mother, who, on the report that Perseus was returning to the place of +his nativity, had fled to the court of Teutamias his friend, to avoid +the denunciation of the oracle, which had induced him to exercise such +cruelty on his offspring. At what time Perseus died is unknown; but all +agree that divine honors were paid him. He had statues at Myc{=e}nae and +in Seriphos. A temple was erected to him in Athens, and an altar in it +consecrated to Dictys. + + + [Illustration: + + HECTOR'S BODY DRAGGED AT THE CAR OF ACHILLES. + Pl. 8.] + + +ACHILLES was the offspring of a goddess. Thetis bore him to Peleus, king +of Thessaly, and was so fond of him, that she charged herself with his +education. By day she fed him with ambrosia, and by night covered him +with celestial fire, to render him immortal. She also dipped him in the +waters of Styx, by which his whole body became invulnerable, except that +part of his heel by which she held him. He was afterwards committed to +the care of Chiron the Centaur, who fed him with honey, and the marrow +of lions and wild boars; whence he obtained that strength of body and +greatness of soul which qualified him for martial toil. + +When the Greeks undertook the siege of Troy, Calchas the diviner, and +priest of Apollo, foretold that the city should not be taken without the +help of Achilles. Thetis, his mother, who knew that Achilles, if he went +to the siege of Troy, would never return, clothed him in female apparel, +and concealed him among the maidens at the court of Lycom{=e}des, king +of the island of Scyros. But this stratagem proved ineffectual; for +Calchas having informed the Greeks where Achilles lay in disguise, they +sent Ulysses to the court of Lycom{=e}des, where, under the appearance +of a merchant, he was introduced to the king's daughters, and while they +were studiously intent on viewing his toys, Achilles employed himself in +examining an helmet, which the cunning politician had thrown in his way. + +Achilles thus detected, was prevailed on to go to Troy, after Thetis had +furnished him with impenetrable armor made by Vulcan. Thither he led the +troops of Thessaly, in fifty ships, and distinguished himself by a +number of heroic actions; but being disgusted with Agamemnon for the +loss of Briseis, he retired from the camp, and resolved to have no +further concern in the war. In this resolution he continued inexorable, +till news was brought him that Hector had killed his friend +Patr{=o}clus; to avenge his death he not only slew Hector, but fastened +the corpse to his chariot, dragged it round the walls of Troy, offered +many indignities to it, and sold it at last to Priam his father. + +Authors are much divided on the manner of Achilles' death; some relate +that he was slain by Apollo, or that this god enabled Paris to kill him, +by directing the arrow to his heel, the only part in which he was +vulnerable. Others again say, that Paris murdered him treacherously, in +the temple of Apollo, whilst treating about his marriage with +Polyx{)e}na, daughter to king Priam. + +Though this tradition concerning his death be commonly received, yet +Homer plainly enough insinuates that Achilles died fighting for his +country, and represents the Greeks as maintaining a bloody battle about +his body, which lasted a whole day. Achilles having been lamented by +Thetis, the Nereids, and the Muses, was buried on the promontory of +Sigaeum; and after Troy was captured, the Greeks endeavored to appease +his manes by sacrificing Polyx{)e}na, on his tomb, as his ghost had +requested. + +The oracle at Dod{=o}na decreed him divine honors, and ordered annual +victims to be offered at the place of his sepulture. In pursuance of +this, the Thessalians brought hither yearly two bulls, one black, the +other white, crowned with wreaths of flowers, and water from the river +Sperchius. It is said that Alexander, seeing his tomb, honored it by +placing a crown upon it, at the same time crying out "that Achilles was +happy in having, during his life, such a friend as Patr{=o}clus, and +after his death, a poet like Homer." + +ATLAS was son of Jap{)e}tus and Clym{)e}ne, and brother of Prometheus, +according to most authors; or, as others relate, son of Jap{)e}tus by +Asia, daughter of Oce{)a}nus. He had many children. Of his sons, the +most famous were Hesp{)e}rus (whom some call his brother) and Hyas. By +his wife Pleione he had seven daughters, who went by the general names +of Atlant{)i}des, or Plei{)a}des; and by his wife AEthra he had also +seven other daughters, who bore the common appellation of the Hy{)a}des. + +According to Hyg{=i}nus, Atlas having assisted the giants in their war +against Jupiter, was doomed by the victorious god, as a punishment, to +sustain the weight of the heavens. Ovid, however, represents him as a +powerful and wealthy monarch, proprietor of the gardens of the +Hesper{)i}des, which bore golden fruit; but that being warned by the +oracle of Themis that he should suffer some great injury from a son of +Jupiter, he strictly forbade all foreigners access to his presence. +Perseus, however, having the courage to appear before him, was ordered +to retire, with strong menaces in case of disobedience; but the hero +presenting his shield, with the dreadful head of Med{=u}sa, turned him +into the mountain which still bears his name. + +The Abbe la Pluche has given a very clear and ingenious explication of +this fable. Of all nations the Egyptians had, with the greatest +assiduity, cultivated astronomy. To point out the difficulties attending +the study of this science, they represented it by an image bearing a +globe or sphere on its back, which they called _Atlas_, a word +signifying _great toil or labor_; but the word also signifying +_support_, the Phoenicians, led by the representation, took it in this +sense, and in their voyages to Mauritania, seeing the high mountains of +that country covered with snow, and losing their tops in the clouds, +gave them the name of _Atlas_, and thus produced the fable by which the +symbol of astronomy used among the Egyptians became a Mauritanian king, +transformed into a mountain, whose head supports the heavens. + +The rest of the fable is equally obvious to explanation. The annual +inundations of the Nile obliged the Egyptians to be very exact in +observing the motions of the heavenly bodies. The Hyades, or Huades, +took their name from the figure V, which they form in the head of +Taurus. The Pleiades were a remarkable constellation and of great use to +the Egyptians in regulating the seasons: hence they became the daughters +of Atlas; and Orion, who arose just as they set, was called their lover. + +By the golden apples that grew in the gardens of the Hesperides, the +Phoenicians expressed the rich and beneficial commerce they had in the +Mediterranean, which being carried on during three months only of the +year, gave rise to the fable of the Hesperian sisters. The most usual +way of representing Atlas, among the ancient artists, was as supporting +a globe; for the old poets commonly refer to this attitude in speaking +of him. + +PROMETHEUS was son of Jap{)e}tus, but it is doubtful whether his mother +were Asia, or Themis. Having incurred the displeasure of Jupiter, either +for stealing some of the celestial fire, or for forming a man of clay, +Jupiter, in resentment, commanded Vulcan to make a woman of clay, which, +when finished, was introduced into the assembly of the gods, each of +whom bestowed on her some additional charm or perfection. Venus gave her +beauty, Pallas wisdom, Juno riches, Mercury taught her eloquence, and +Apollo music. From all these accomplishments she was styled Pand{=o}ra, +that is, loaded with gifts and accomplishments, and was the first of her +sex. + +Jupiter, to complete his designs, presented her a box, in which he had +enclosed age, disease, war, famine, pestilence, discord, envy, calumny, +and, in short, all the evils and vices with which he intended to afflict +the world. Thus equipped, Pand{=o}ra was sent to Prometheus, who, being +on his guard against the mischief designed him, declined accepting the +box; but Epimetheus, his brother, though forewarned of the danger, had +less resolution; for, being enamored of the beauty of Pand{=o}ra, he +married her, and opened the fatal treasure, when immediately flew abroad +the contents, which soon overspread the world, hope only remaining at +the bottom. + +Prometheus escaping the evil which the god designed him, and Jupiter not +being appeased, Mercury and Vulcan were despatched by him to seize +Prometheus, and chain him on Mount Caucasus, where a vulture, the +offspring of Typhon and Echidna, was commissioned to prey upon his +liver, which, that his torment might be endless, was constantly renewed +by night in proportion to its increase by day; but the vulture being +soon destroyed by Hercules, Prometheus was released. Others say, that +Jupiter restored Prometheus to freedom, for discovering the conspiracy +of Saturn, his father, and dissuading his intended marriage with Thetis. + +Nicander, to this fable, offers an additional one. He tells us, that +when mankind had received the fire from Prometheus, some ungrateful men +discovered the theft to Jupiter, who rewarded them with the gift of +_perpetual youth_. This present they put on the back of an ass, which +stopping at a fountain to quench his thirst, was prevented by a +water-snake which would not suffer him to drink till he gave him his +burden; hence the serpent renews his youth upon changing his skin. + +Prometheus was esteemed the inventor of many useful arts. He made man of +the mixture and temperament of all the elements, gave him strength of +body, vigor of mind, and the peculiar qualities of all creatures, as the +craft of the fox, the courage of the lion, &c. He had an altar in the +academy of Athens in common with Vulcan and Pallas. In his statues he +holds a sceptre in the right hand. + +Several explanations have been given of this fable. Prometheus, whose +name is derived from a Greek word, signifying foresight and providence, +was conspicuous for that quality; and because he reduced mankind, before +rude and savage, to a state of culture and improvement, he was feigned +to have made them from clay: being a diligent observer of the motions of +the heavenly bodies from Mount Caucasus, it was fabled that he was +chained there: having discovered the method of striking fire from the +flint, or perhaps, the nature of lightning, it was pretended that he +stole fire from the gods: and, because he applied himself to study with +intenseness, they imagined that a vulture preyed continually on his +liver. + +There is another solution of this fable, analogous to the preceding. +According to Pliny, Prometheus was the first who instituted sacrifices. +Being expelled his dominions by Jupiter, he fled to Scythia, where he +retired to Mount Caucasus, either to make astronomical calculations or +to indulge his melancholy for the loss of his dominions, which +occasioned the fable of the vulture or eagle feeding on his liver. As he +was the first inventor of forging metals by fire, he was said to have +stolen that element from heaven; and, as the first introduction of +agriculture and navigation had been ascribed to him, he was celebrated +as forming a living man from an inanimate substance. + +AMPHION, king of Thebes, son of Jupiter and Anti{)o}pe, was instructed +in the use of the lyre by Mercury, and became so great a proficient, +that he is reported to have built the walls of Thebes by the power of +his harmony, which caused the listening stones to ascend voluntarily. He +married Ni{)o}be, daughter of Tant{)a}lus, whose insult to Di{=a}na +occasioned the loss of their children by the arrows of Apollo and +Di{=a}na. The unhappy father, attempting to revenge himself by the +destruction of the temple of Apollo, was punished with the loss of his +sight and skill, and thrown into the infernal regions. + +ORPHEUS, son of Apollo by the Muse Calli{)o}pe, was born in Thrace, and +resided near Mount Rhod{)o}pe, where he married Eurydice, a princess of +that country. Aristaeus, a neighboring prince, fell desperately in love +with her, but she flying from his violence, was killed by the bite of a +serpent. Her disconsolate husband was so affected at his loss, that he +descended by the way of Taen{)a}rus to hell, in order to recover his +beloved wife. As music and poetry were to Orpheus hereditary talents, he +exerted them so powerfully in the infernal regions, that Pluto and +Proserpine, touched with compassion, restored to him his consort on +condition that he should not look back upon her till they came to the +light of the world. His impatience, however, prevailing, he broke the +condition, and lost Eurydice forever. + +Whilst Orpheus was among the shades, he sang the praises of all the gods +but Bacchus, whom he accidentally omitted; to revenge this affront, +Bacchus inspired the Maen{)a}des, his priestesses, with such fury, that +they tore Orpheus to pieces, and scattered his limbs about the fields. +His head was cast into the river Hebrus, and (together with his harp) +was carried by the tide to Lesbos, where it afterwards delivered +oracles. The harp, with seven strings, representing the seven planets, +which had been given him by Apollo, was taken up into heaven, and graced +with nine stars by the nine Muses. Orpheus himself was changed into a +swan. He left a son called Methon, who founded in Thrace a city of his +own name. + +It is certain that Orpheus may be placed as the earliest poet of Greece, +where he first introduced astronomy, divinity, music and poetry; all +which he had learned in Egypt. He introduced also the rites of Bacchus, +which from him were called Orphica. He was a person of most consummate +knowledge, and the wisest, as well as the most diligent scholar of +Linus. + +If we search for the origin of this fable, we must again have recourse +to Egypt, the mother-country of fiction. In July, when the sun entered +Leo, the Nile overflowed all the plains. To denote the public joy at +seeing the inundation rise to its due height, the Egyptians exhibited a +youth playing on the lyre, or the sistrum, and sitting by a tame lion. +When the waters did not increase as they should, the Horus was +represented stretched on the back of a lion, as dead. This symbol they +called Oreph, or Orpheus, (from _oreph_, the back part of the head) to +signify that agriculture was then quite unseasonable and dormant. + +The songs with which the people amused themselves during this period of +inactivity, for want of exercise, were called the hymns of Orpheus; and +as husbandry revived immediately after, it gave rise to the fable of +Orpheus's returning from hell. The Isis placed near this Horus, they +called Eurydice, (from _eri_, a _lion_, and _daca_, _tamed_, is formed +_Eridica_, _Eurydice_, or the lion tamed, _i.e._ the violence of the +inundation overcome), and as the Greeks took all these figures in the +literal, not in the emblematical sense, they made Eurydice the wife of +Orpheus. + +OSIRIS, son of Jupiter and Ni{)o}be, was king of the Argives many years; +but, being instigated by the desire of glory, he left his kingdom to his +brother AEgi{)a}lus, and went into Egypt, in search of a new name and +kingdom there. The Egyptians were not so much overcome by the valor of +Os{=i}ris, as obliged to him for his kindness towards them. Having +conferred the greatest benefits on his subjects, by civilizing their +manners, and instructing them in husbandry and other useful arts, he +made the necessary disposition of his affairs, committed the regency to +Isis, and set out with a body of forces in order to civilize the rest of +mankind. This he performed more by the power of persuasion, and the +soothing arts of music and poetry, than by the terror of his arms. + +In his absence, Typhoeus, the giant, whom historians call the brother of +Os{=i}ris, formed a conspiracy to dethrone him; for which end, at the +return of Os{=i}ris into Egypt, he invited him to a feast, at the +conclusion of which a chest of exquisite workmanship was brought in, and +offered to him who, when laid down in it, should be found to fit it the +best. Os{=i}ris, not suspecting a trick to be played him, got into the +chest, and the cover being immediately shut upon him, this good but +unfortunate prince was thus thrown into the Nile. + +When the news of this transaction reached Coptus, where Isis his wife +then was, she cut her hair, and in deep mourning went every where in +search of the dead body. This was at length discovered, and concealed by +her at Butus; but Typhoeus, while hunting by moonlight, having found it +there, tore it into many pieces, which he scattered abroad. Isis then +traversed the lakes and watery places in a boat made of the _papyrus_, +seeking the mangled parts of Os{=i}ris, and where she found any, there +she buried them; hence the many tombs ascribed to Os{=i}ris. + +Plutarch seems evidently to prove that the Egyptians worshipped the Sun +under the name of Os{=i}ris. His reasons are: 1. Because the images of +Os{=i}ris were always clothed in a shining garment, to represent the +rays and light of the sun. 2. In their hymns, composed in honor of +Os{=i}ris, they prayed to him who reposes himself in the bosom of the +sun. 3. After the autumnal equinox, they celebrated a feast called, _The +disappearing of Os{=i}ris_, by which is plainly meant the absence and +distance of the sun. 4. In the month of November they led a cow seven +times round the temple of Os{=i}ris, intimating thereby, that in seven +months the sun would return to the summer solstice. + +He is represented sitting upon a throne, crowned with a mitre full of +small orbs, to intimate his superiority over all the globe. The gourd +upon the mitre implies his action and influence upon moisture, which, +and the Nile particularly, was termed by the Egyptians, the efflux of +Os{=i}ris. The lower part of his habit is made up of descending rays, +and his body is surrounded with orbs. His right hand is extended in a +commanding attitude, and his left holds a _thyrsus_ or staff of the +_papyrus_, pointing out the principle of humidity, and the fertility +thence flowing, under his direction. + +AESCULAPIUS. The name of AEsculapius, whom the Greeks called {Asklepios}, +appears to have been foreign, and derived from the oriental languages. +Being honored as a god in Phoenicia and Egypt, his worship passed into +Greece, and was established, first at Epidaurus, a city of Peloponnesus, +bordering on the sea, where, probably, some colonies first settled; a +circumstance sufficient for the Greeks to give out that this god was a +native of Greece. + +Not to mention all we are told of his parents, it will be enough to +observe, that the opinion generally received in Greece, made him the son +of Apollo by Cor{=o}nis, daughter of Phlegyas; and indeed the +Messenians, who consulted the oracle of Delphi to know where AEsculapius +was born, and of what parents, were told by the oracle, or more properly +Apollo, that he himself was his father; that Cor{=o}nis was his mother, +and that their son was born at Epidaurus. + +Phlegyas, the most warlike man of his age, having gone into Peloponnesus +under pretence of travelling, but, in truth, to spy into the condition +of the country, carried his daughter Cor{=o}nis thither, who, to conceal +her situation from her father, went to Epidaurus: there she was +delivered of a son, whom she exposed upon a mountain, called to this day +Mount Titthion, or _of the breast_; but before this adventure, Myrthion, +from the myrtles that grew upon it. + +The reason of this change of name was, that the child, having been here +abandoned, was suckled by one of those goats of the mountain, which the +dog of Aristh{)e}nes the goat-herd guarded. When Aristh{)e}nes came to +review his flock, he found a she-goat and his dog missing, and going in +search of them discovered the child. Upon approaching to lift him from +the earth, he perceived his head encircled with fiery rays, which made +him believe the child to be of divine origin. + +As {Korone} in the Greek language signifies a crow, hence another fable +arose importing, as we see in Lucian, that AEsculapius had sprung from an +egg of a bird, under the figure of a serpent. Whatever these fictions +may mean, AEsculapius being removed from the mount on which he was +exposed, was nursed by Trigo or Trigone, who was probably the wife of +the goat-herd that found him; and when he was capable of improving by +Chiron, Phlegyas (to whom he had doubtless been returned) put him under +the Centaur's tuition. + +Being of a quick and lively genius, he made such progress as soon to +become not only a great physician, but at length to be reckoned the god +and inventor of medicine; though the Greeks, not very consistent in the +history of those early ages, gave to Apis, son of Phoroneus, the glory +of having discovered the healing art. AEsculapius accompanied Jason in +his expedition to Colchis, and in his medical capacity was of great +service to the Argonauts. Within a short time after his death he was +deified, and received divine honors: some add, that he formed the +celestial sign, Serpentarius. + +As the Greeks always carried the encomiums of their great men beyond the +truth, they feigned that AEsculapius was so expert in medicine, as not +only to cure the sick, but even to raise the dead. Ovid says he did this +by Hippol{)i}tus, and Julian says the same of Tynd{)a}rus: that Pluto +cited him before the tribunal of Jupiter, and complained that his empire +was considerably diminished and in danger of becoming desolate, from the +cures AEsculapius performed; so that Jupiter in wrath slew AEsculapius +with a thunder-bolt; to which they added that Apollo, enraged at the +death of his son, killed the Cyclops who forged Jupiter's thunder-bolts: +a fiction which obviously signifies only, that AEsculapius had carried +his art very far, and that he cured diseases believed to be desperate. + +AEsculapius is always represented under the figure of a grave old man +wrapped up in a cloak, having sometimes upon his head the _cal{)a}thus_ +of Ser{=a}pis, with a staff in his hand, which is commonly wreathed +about with a serpent; sometimes again with a serpent in one hand, and a +_pat{)e}ra_ in the other; sometimes leaning upon a pillar, round which a +serpent also twines. The cock, a bird consecrated to this god, whose +vigilance represents that quality which physicians ought to have, is +sometimes at the feet of his statues. Socrates, we know, when dying, +said to those who stood around him in his last moments, "We owe a cock +to AEsculapius; give it without delay." + +ULYSSES, king of Ith{)a}ca, was the son of Laertes, or Laertius and +Anticl{=e}a. His wife Penel{)o}pe, daughter of Icarius brother of +Tynd{)a}rus king of Sparta, was highly famed for her prudence and +virtue; and being unwilling that the Trojan war should part them, +Ulysses to avoid the expedition, pretended to be mad, and not only +joined different beasts to the same plough, but sowed also the furrows +with salt. + +Palam{=e}des, however, suspecting the frenzy to be assumed, threw +Telemachus, then an infant, in the way of the plough, to try if his +father would alter its course. This stratagem succeeded; for when +Ulysses came to the child he turned off from the spot, in consequence of +which Palam{=e}des compelled him to take part in the war. He accordingly +sailed with twelve ships, and was signally serviceable to the Greeks. + +To him the capture of Troy is chiefly to be ascribed, since by him the +obstacles were removed, which had so long prevented it. For as Ulysses +himself was detected by Palam{=e}des, so he in his turn detected +Achilles, who, to avoid engaging in the same war, had concealed himself +in the habits of a woman, at the court of Lycom{=e}des, king of Scyros. +Ulysses there discovered him, and as it had been foretold that without +Achilles Troy could not be taken, thence drew him to the siege. + +He also obtained the arrows of Hercules, from Philoct{=e}tes, and +carried off that hero from the scene of his retreat. He brought away +also the ashes of Laom{)e}don, which were preserved in Troy on the +Scoean gate. By him the Palladium was stolen from the same city; Rhesus, +king of Thrace, killed, and his horses taken before they had drank of +the Xanthus. These exploits involved in them the destiny of Troy; for +had the Trojans preserved them, their city could never have been +conquered. + +Ulysses contended afterwards with Telamonian Ajax, the stoutest of all +the Grecians, except Achilles, for the arms of that hero, which were +awarded to him by the judges, who were won by the charms of his +eloquence. His other enterprises before Troy were numerous and +brilliant, and are particularly related in the Iliad. When Ulysses +departed for Greece, he sailed backwards and forwards for twenty years, +contrary winds and severe weather opposing his return to Ith{)a}ca. + +During this period, he extinguished, with a firebrand, the eye of +Polyph{=e}mus; then sailing to AEolia, he obtained from AE{)o}lus all the +winds which were contrary to him, and put them into leathern bags; his +companions, however, believing these bags to be full of money, entered +into a plot to rob him, and accordingly, when they came on the coast of +Ith{)a}ca, untied the bags, upon which the wind rushing out, he was +again blown back to AEolia. + +When Circe had turned his companions into swine and other brutes, he +first fortified himself against her charms with the herb Moly, an +antidote Mercury had given him; and then rushing into her cave with his +drawn sword, compelled her to restore his associates to their original +shape. + +He is said to have gone down into hell, to know his future fortune, from +the prophet Tiresias. When he sailed to the islands of the Sirens, he +stopped the ears of his companions, and bound himself with strong ropes +to the ship's mast, that he might secure himself against the snares into +which, by their charming voices, passengers were habitually allured. +Lastly, after his ship was wrecked, he escaped by swimming, and came +naked and alone, to the port of Phaeacia, in the island of Corcyra, where +Nausic{)a}a, daughter of king Alcin{)o}us, found him in a profound +sleep, into which he was thrown by the indulgence of Minerva. + +When his companions were found, and his ship refitted, he bent his +course toward Ith{)a}ca, where arriving, and having put on the habit of +a beggar, he went to his neatherds, with whom he found his son +Telemachus, and with them went home in disguise. After having received +several affronts from the suitors of Penel{)o}pe, with the assistance of +his son Telemachus and the neatherds, to whom he had discovered himself, +he killed Antin{)o}us, and the other princes who were competitors for +her favor. After reigning some time, he resigned the government of his +kingdom to Telemachus. + +CASTOR and POLLUX were the twin sons of Jupiter and Leda. These brothers +entered into an inviolable friendship, and when they grew up, cleared +the Archipelago of pirates, on which account they were esteemed deities +of the sea, and accordingly were invoked by mariners in tempests. They +went with the other noble youths of Greece in the expedition to Colchis, +in search of the golden fleece, and on all occasions signalized +themselves by their courage. + +In this expedition Pollux slew Amycus, son of Neptune, and king of +Bebrycia, who had challenged all the Argonauts to box with him. This +victory, and that which he gained afterwards at the Olympic games which +Hercules celebrated in Elis, caused him to be considered the hero and +patron of wrestlers, while his brother Castor distinguished himself in +the race, and in the management of horses. + +Cicero relates a wonderful judgment which happened to one Scopas, who +had spoken disrespectfully of these divinities: he was crushed to death +by the fall of a chamber, whilst Simon{)i}des, who was in the same room, +was rescued from the danger, being called out a little before, by two +persons unknown, supposed to be Castor and Pollux. + +The Greek and Roman histories are full of the miraculous appearance of +these brethren; particularly we are told they were seen fighting upon +two white horses, at the head of the Roman army, in the battle between +the Romans and Latins, near the lake Regillus, and brought the news of +the decisive victory of Paulus AEmilius to Rome, the very day it was +obtained. + +Frequent representations of these deities occur on ancient monuments, +and particularly on consular medals. They are exhibited together, each +having a helmet, out of which issues a flame, and each a pike in one +hand, and in the other a horse held by the bridle: sometimes they are +represented as two beautiful youths, completely armed, and riding on +white horses, with stars over their helmets. + +AJAX, son of Tel{)a}mon, king of Sal{)a}mis, by Beriboea, was, next to +Achilles, the most valiant among the Greeks at the seige of Troy. He +commanded the troops of Sal{)a}mis in that expedition, and performed the +various heroic actions mentioned by Homer, and Ovid, in the speech of +Ajax contending for the armor of Achilles. This armor, however, being +adjudged to his competitor Ulysses, his disappointment so enraged him, +that he immediately became mad, and rushed furiously upon a flock of +sheep, imagining he was killing those who had offended him: but at +length perceiving his mistake, he became still more furious, and stabbed +himself with the fatal sword he had received from Hector, with whom he +had fought. Ajax resembled Achilles in several respects; like him he was +violent, and impatient of contradiction; and, like him, invulnerable in +every part of the body except one. + +He has been charged with impiety; not that he denied the gods a very +extensive power, but he imagined that, as the greatest cowards might +conquer through their assistance, there was no glory in conquering by +such aids; and scorned to owe his victory to aught but his own prowess. +Accordingly, we are told that when he was setting out for Troy, his +father recommended him always to join the assistance of the gods to his +own valor; to which Ajax replied, that cowards themselves were often +victorious by such helps, but for his own part he would make no reliance +of the kind, being assured he should be able to conquer without. + +It is further added, upon the head of his irreligion, that to Minerva, +who once offered him her advice, he replied with indignation: "Trouble +not yourself about my conduct; of that I shall give a good account; you +have nothing to do but reserve your favor and assistance for the other +Greeks." Another time she offered to guide his chariot in the battle, +but he would not suffer her. Nay, he even defaced the owl, her favorite +bird, which was engraven on his shield, lest that figure should be +considered as an act of reverence to Minerva, and hence as indicating +distrust in himself. + +Homer, however, does not represent him in this light, for though he does +not pray to Jupiter himself when he prepares to engage the valiant +Hector, yet he desires others to pray for him, either in a low voice, +lest the Trojans should hear, or louder if they pleased; for, says he, I +fear no person in the world. + +The poets give to Ajax the same commendation that the holy scripture +gives to king Saul, with regard to his stature. He has been the subject +of several tragedies, as well in Greek as Latin; and it is related that +the famous comedian, AEsop, refused to act that part. The Greeks paid +great honor to him after his death, and erected to him a noble monument +upon the promontory of Rhoeteum, which was one of those Alexander +desired to see and honor. + +JASON was son of AEson, king of Thessaly, and Alcim{)e}de. He was an +infant when Pelias, his uncle, who was left his guardian, sought to +destroy him; but being, to avoid the danger, conveyed by his relations +to a cave, he was there instructed by Chiron in the art of physic; +whence he took the name of Jason, or the healer, his former name being +Diom{=e}des. Arriving at years of maturity, he returned to his uncle, +who, probably with no favorable intention to Jason, inspired him with +the notion of the Colchian expedition and agreeably flattered his +ambition with the hopes of acquiring the golden fleece. + +Jason having resolved on the voyage, built a vessel at Iolchos in +Thessaly, for the expedition, under the inspection, of Argos, a famous +workman, which, from him, was called Argo: it was said to have been +executed by the advice of Pallas, who pointed out a tree in the Dodonaean +forest for a mast, which was vocal, and had the gift of prophecy. + +The fame of the vessel, the largest that had ever been heard of, but +particularly the design itself, soon induced the bravest and most +distinguished youths of Greece to become adventurers in it, and brought +together about fifty of the most accomplished young persons of the age +to accompany Jason in this expedition; authors, however, are not agreed +on the precise names or numbers of the Argonauts; some state them to +have been forty-nine; others more, and amongst them several were of +divine origin. + +On his arrival at Colchis he repaired to the court of AE{=e}tes, from +whom he demanded the golden fleece. The monarch acceded to his request, +provided he could overcome the difficulties which lay in his way, and +which appeared not easily surmountable; these were bulls with brazen +feet, whose nostrils breathed fire, and a dragon which guarded the +fleece. The teeth of the latter, when killed, Jason was enjoined to sow, +and, after they had sprung up into armed men, to destroy them. + +Though success attended the enterprise, it was less owing to valor, than +to the assistance of Med{=e}a, daughter of AE{=e}tes, who, by her +enchantments, laid asleep the dragon, taught Jason to subdue the bulls, +and when he had obtained the prize, accompanied him in the night time, +unknown to her brother. + +The return of the Argonauts is variously related; some contend it was by +the track in which they came, and say that the brother of Med{=e}a +pursued them as far as the Adriatic, and was overcome by Jason; which +occasioned the story that his sister had cut him in pieces, and strewed +his limbs in the way, that her father, from solicitude to collect them, +might be delayed in the pursuit. + + + + +CHAPTER XII. + +_Other fabulous personages._ + + +GRACES _or_ CHARITES. Among the multitude of ancient divinities, none +had more votaries that the Graces. Particular nations and countries had +appropriate and local deities, but their empire was universal. To their +influence was ascribed all that could please in nature and in art; and +to them every rank and profession concurred in offering their vows. + +Their number was generally limited, by the ancient poets, to three: +_Euphrosyne_, _Thal{=i}a_, and _Aglaia_; but they differed concerning +their origin. Some suppose them to have been the offspring of Jupiter +and Eunomia, daughter of Oce{)a}nus; but the most prevalent opinion is, +that they were descended from Bacchus and Venus. According to Homer, +Aglaia, the youngest, was married to Vulcan, and another of them to the +god of Sleep. The Graces were companions of _Mercury_, _Venus_, and the +_Muses_. + +Festivals were celebrated in honor of them throughout the whole year. +They were esteemed the dispensers of liberality, eloquence, and wisdom; +and from them were derived simplicity of manners, a graceful deportment, +and gaiety of disposition. From their inspiring acts of gratitude and +mutual kindness they were described as uniting hand in hand with each +other. The ancients partook of but few repasts without invoking them, as +well as the Muses. + +SIRENS were a kind of fabulous beings represented by some as +sea-monsters, with the faces of women and the tails of fishes, answering +the description of mermaids; and by others said to have the upper parts +of a woman, and the under parts of a bird. Their number is not +determined; Homer reckons only two; others five, namely, Leucosia, +Ligeia, Parthen{)o}pe, Agla{)o}phon, and Molpe; others admit only the +three first. + +The poets represent them as beautiful women inhabiting the rocks on the +sea-shore, whither having allured passengers by the sweetness of their +voices, they put them to death. Virgil places them on rocks where +vessels are in danger of shipwreck; Pliny makes them inhabit the +promontory of Minerva, near the island Capreae; others fix them in +Sicily, near cape Pel{=o}rus. + +Claudian says they inhabited harmonious rocks, that they were charming +monsters, and that sailors were wrecked on their coasts without regret, +and even expired in rapture. This description is doubtless founded on a +literal explication of the fable, that the Sirens were women who +inhabited the shores of Sicily, and who, by the allurements of pleasure, +stopped passengers, and made them forget their course. + +Ovid says they accompanied Proserpine when she was carried off, and that +the gods granted them wings to go in quest of that goddess. Homer places +the Sirens in the midst of a meadow drenched in blood, and tells us that +fate had permitted them to reign till some person should over-reach +them; that the wise Ulysses accomplished their destiny, having escaped +their snares, by stopping the ears of his companions with wax, and +causing himself to be fastened to the mast of his ship, which, he adds, +plunged them into so deep despair, that they drowned themselves in the +sea, where they were transformed into fishes from the waist downwards. + +Others, who do not look for so much mystery in this fable, maintain that +the Sirens were nothing but certain straits in the sea, where the waves +whirling furiously around seized and swallowed up vessels that +approached them. Lastly, some hold the Sirens to have been certain +shores and promontories, where the winds, by various reverberations and +echoes, cause a kind of harmony that surprises and stops passengers. +This probably might be the origin of the Sirens' song, and the occasion +of giving the name of Sirens to those rocks. + +Some interpreters of the ancient fables contend, that the number and +names of the three Sirens were taken from the triple pleasure of the +senses, wine, love, and music, which are the three most powerful means +of seducing mankind; and hence so many exhortations to avoid the Sirens' +fatal song; and probably it was hence that the Greeks obtained their +etymology of Siren from a Greek word signifying a _chain_, as if there +were no getting free from their enticement. + +But if in tracing this fable to its source, we take Servius as our +guide, he tells us that it derived its origin from certain princesses +who reigned of old upon the coasts of the Tuscan sea, near Pel{=o}rus +and Caprea, or in three small islands of Sicily which Aristotle calls +the isles of the Sirens. These women were very debauched, and by their +charms allured strangers, who were ruined in their court, by pleasure +and prodigality. + +This seems evidently the foundation of all that Homer says of the +Sirens, in the twelfth book of the Odyssey; that they bewitched those +who unfortunately listened to their songs; that they detained them in +capacious meadows, where nothing was to be seen but bones and carcasses +withering in the sun; that none who visit them ever again enjoy the +embraces and congratulations of their wives and children; and that all +who dote upon their charms are doomed to perish. What Solomon says in +the ninth chapter of Proverbs, of the miseries to which those are +exposed who abandon themselves to sensual pleasures, well justifies the +idea given us of the Sirens by the Greek poets, and by Virgil's +commentator. + + + + +[Transcriber's Note: + + Certain non-ASCII characters have been marked per the following. + The HTML and UTF-8 text files properly display these characters. + + {)a} a breve + {)e} e breve + {)i} i breve + {)o} o breve + {=a} a macron + {=e} e macron + {=i} i macron + {=o} o macron + {=u} u macron + {=y} y macron + + oe|OE are recorded as oe in the Latin-1 and ASCII texts. ae|AE + ligatures have been unpacked as ae for and ASCII. Greek words have + been transliterated and are marked with {word} form. + + Corrected typographical errors. The typographic error and + its corresponding line are listed. + + honoraable + The office of the legati was very dignified and honorable + + desposited + collected and deposited in an urn, to be kept in the mausoleum + + feats + Trimalchio, in his ridiculous feasts described by Petronius, + + End of Notes.] + + + + + +End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of Roman Antiquities, and Ancient +Mythology, by Charles K. Dillaway + +*** END OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK ROMAN ANTIQUITIES *** + +***** This file should be named 20734.txt or 20734.zip ***** +This and all associated files of various formats will be found in: + http://www.gutenberg.org/2/0/7/3/20734/ + +Produced by Barbara Tozier, V. L. Simpson, Bill Tozier and +the Online Distributed Proofreading Team at +http://www.pgdp.net + + +Updated editions will replace the previous one--the old editions +will be renamed. + +Creating the works from public domain print editions means that no +one owns a United States copyright in these works, so the Foundation +(and you!) can copy and distribute it in the United States without +permission and without paying copyright royalties. Special rules, +set forth in the General Terms of Use part of this license, apply to +copying and distributing Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works to +protect the PROJECT GUTENBERG-tm concept and trademark. Project +Gutenberg is a registered trademark, and may not be used if you +charge for the eBooks, unless you receive specific permission. If you +do not charge anything for copies of this eBook, complying with the +rules is very easy. You may use this eBook for nearly any purpose +such as creation of derivative works, reports, performances and +research. They may be modified and printed and given away--you may do +practically ANYTHING with public domain eBooks. Redistribution is +subject to the trademark license, especially commercial +redistribution. + + + +*** START: FULL LICENSE *** + +THE FULL PROJECT GUTENBERG LICENSE +PLEASE READ THIS BEFORE YOU DISTRIBUTE OR USE THIS WORK + +To protect the Project Gutenberg-tm mission of promoting the free +distribution of electronic works, by using or distributing this work +(or any other work associated in any way with the phrase "Project +Gutenberg"), you agree to comply with all the terms of the Full Project +Gutenberg-tm License (available with this file or online at +http://gutenberg.org/license). + + +Section 1. General Terms of Use and Redistributing Project Gutenberg-tm +electronic works + +1.A. By reading or using any part of this Project Gutenberg-tm +electronic work, you indicate that you have read, understand, agree to +and accept all the terms of this license and intellectual property +(trademark/copyright) agreement. If you do not agree to abide by all +the terms of this agreement, you must cease using and return or destroy +all copies of Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works in your possession. +If you paid a fee for obtaining a copy of or access to a Project +Gutenberg-tm electronic work and you do not agree to be bound by the +terms of this agreement, you may obtain a refund from the person or +entity to whom you paid the fee as set forth in paragraph 1.E.8. + +1.B. "Project Gutenberg" is a registered trademark. It may only be +used on or associated in any way with an electronic work by people who +agree to be bound by the terms of this agreement. There are a few +things that you can do with most Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works +even without complying with the full terms of this agreement. See +paragraph 1.C below. There are a lot of things you can do with Project +Gutenberg-tm electronic works if you follow the terms of this agreement +and help preserve free future access to Project Gutenberg-tm electronic +works. See paragraph 1.E below. + +1.C. The Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation ("the Foundation" +or PGLAF), owns a compilation copyright in the collection of Project +Gutenberg-tm electronic works. Nearly all the individual works in the +collection are in the public domain in the United States. If an +individual work is in the public domain in the United States and you are +located in the United States, we do not claim a right to prevent you from +copying, distributing, performing, displaying or creating derivative +works based on the work as long as all references to Project Gutenberg +are removed. Of course, we hope that you will support the Project +Gutenberg-tm mission of promoting free access to electronic works by +freely sharing Project Gutenberg-tm works in compliance with the terms of +this agreement for keeping the Project Gutenberg-tm name associated with +the work. You can easily comply with the terms of this agreement by +keeping this work in the same format with its attached full Project +Gutenberg-tm License when you share it without charge with others. + +1.D. The copyright laws of the place where you are located also govern +what you can do with this work. Copyright laws in most countries are in +a constant state of change. If you are outside the United States, check +the laws of your country in addition to the terms of this agreement +before downloading, copying, displaying, performing, distributing or +creating derivative works based on this work or any other Project +Gutenberg-tm work. The Foundation makes no representations concerning +the copyright status of any work in any country outside the United +States. + +1.E. Unless you have removed all references to Project Gutenberg: + +1.E.1. The following sentence, with active links to, or other immediate +access to, the full Project Gutenberg-tm License must appear prominently +whenever any copy of a Project Gutenberg-tm work (any work on which the +phrase "Project Gutenberg" appears, or with which the phrase "Project +Gutenberg" is associated) is accessed, displayed, performed, viewed, +copied or distributed: + +This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with +almost no restrictions whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or +re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included +with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org + +1.E.2. If an individual Project Gutenberg-tm electronic work is derived +from the public domain (does not contain a notice indicating that it is +posted with permission of the copyright holder), the work can be copied +and distributed to anyone in the United States without paying any fees +or charges. If you are redistributing or providing access to a work +with the phrase "Project Gutenberg" associated with or appearing on the +work, you must comply either with the requirements of paragraphs 1.E.1 +through 1.E.7 or obtain permission for the use of the work and the +Project Gutenberg-tm trademark as set forth in paragraphs 1.E.8 or +1.E.9. + +1.E.3. If an individual Project Gutenberg-tm electronic work is posted +with the permission of the copyright holder, your use and distribution +must comply with both paragraphs 1.E.1 through 1.E.7 and any additional +terms imposed by the copyright holder. Additional terms will be linked +to the Project Gutenberg-tm License for all works posted with the +permission of the copyright holder found at the beginning of this work. + +1.E.4. Do not unlink or detach or remove the full Project Gutenberg-tm +License terms from this work, or any files containing a part of this +work or any other work associated with Project Gutenberg-tm. + +1.E.5. Do not copy, display, perform, distribute or redistribute this +electronic work, or any part of this electronic work, without +prominently displaying the sentence set forth in paragraph 1.E.1 with +active links or immediate access to the full terms of the Project +Gutenberg-tm License. + +1.E.6. You may convert to and distribute this work in any binary, +compressed, marked up, nonproprietary or proprietary form, including any +word processing or hypertext form. However, if you provide access to or +distribute copies of a Project Gutenberg-tm work in a format other than +"Plain Vanilla ASCII" or other format used in the official version +posted on the official Project Gutenberg-tm web site (www.gutenberg.org), +you must, at no additional cost, fee or expense to the user, provide a +copy, a means of exporting a copy, or a means of obtaining a copy upon +request, of the work in its original "Plain Vanilla ASCII" or other +form. Any alternate format must include the full Project Gutenberg-tm +License as specified in paragraph 1.E.1. + +1.E.7. Do not charge a fee for access to, viewing, displaying, +performing, copying or distributing any Project Gutenberg-tm works +unless you comply with paragraph 1.E.8 or 1.E.9. + +1.E.8. You may charge a reasonable fee for copies of or providing +access to or distributing Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works provided +that + +- You pay a royalty fee of 20% of the gross profits you derive from + the use of Project Gutenberg-tm works calculated using the method + you already use to calculate your applicable taxes. The fee is + owed to the owner of the Project Gutenberg-tm trademark, but he + has agreed to donate royalties under this paragraph to the + Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation. Royalty payments + must be paid within 60 days following each date on which you + prepare (or are legally required to prepare) your periodic tax + returns. Royalty payments should be clearly marked as such and + sent to the Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation at the + address specified in Section 4, "Information about donations to + the Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation." + +- You provide a full refund of any money paid by a user who notifies + you in writing (or by e-mail) within 30 days of receipt that s/he + does not agree to the terms of the full Project Gutenberg-tm + License. You must require such a user to return or + destroy all copies of the works possessed in a physical medium + and discontinue all use of and all access to other copies of + Project Gutenberg-tm works. + +- You provide, in accordance with paragraph 1.F.3, a full refund of any + money paid for a work or a replacement copy, if a defect in the + electronic work is discovered and reported to you within 90 days + of receipt of the work. + +- You comply with all other terms of this agreement for free + distribution of Project Gutenberg-tm works. + +1.E.9. If you wish to charge a fee or distribute a Project Gutenberg-tm +electronic work or group of works on different terms than are set +forth in this agreement, you must obtain permission in writing from +both the Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation and Michael +Hart, the owner of the Project Gutenberg-tm trademark. Contact the +Foundation as set forth in Section 3 below. + +1.F. + +1.F.1. Project Gutenberg volunteers and employees expend considerable +effort to identify, do copyright research on, transcribe and proofread +public domain works in creating the Project Gutenberg-tm +collection. Despite these efforts, Project Gutenberg-tm electronic +works, and the medium on which they may be stored, may contain +"Defects," such as, but not limited to, incomplete, inaccurate or +corrupt data, transcription errors, a copyright or other intellectual +property infringement, a defective or damaged disk or other medium, a +computer virus, or computer codes that damage or cannot be read by +your equipment. + +1.F.2. LIMITED WARRANTY, DISCLAIMER OF DAMAGES - Except for the "Right +of Replacement or Refund" described in paragraph 1.F.3, the Project +Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation, the owner of the Project +Gutenberg-tm trademark, and any other party distributing a Project +Gutenberg-tm electronic work under this agreement, disclaim all +liability to you for damages, costs and expenses, including legal +fees. YOU AGREE THAT YOU HAVE NO REMEDIES FOR NEGLIGENCE, STRICT +LIABILITY, BREACH OF WARRANTY OR BREACH OF CONTRACT EXCEPT THOSE +PROVIDED IN PARAGRAPH F3. YOU AGREE THAT THE FOUNDATION, THE +TRADEMARK OWNER, AND ANY DISTRIBUTOR UNDER THIS AGREEMENT WILL NOT BE +LIABLE TO YOU FOR ACTUAL, DIRECT, INDIRECT, CONSEQUENTIAL, PUNITIVE OR +INCIDENTAL DAMAGES EVEN IF YOU GIVE NOTICE OF THE POSSIBILITY OF SUCH +DAMAGE. + +1.F.3. LIMITED RIGHT OF REPLACEMENT OR REFUND - If you discover a +defect in this electronic work within 90 days of receiving it, you can +receive a refund of the money (if any) you paid for it by sending a +written explanation to the person you received the work from. If you +received the work on a physical medium, you must return the medium with +your written explanation. The person or entity that provided you with +the defective work may elect to provide a replacement copy in lieu of a +refund. If you received the work electronically, the person or entity +providing it to you may choose to give you a second opportunity to +receive the work electronically in lieu of a refund. If the second copy +is also defective, you may demand a refund in writing without further +opportunities to fix the problem. + +1.F.4. Except for the limited right of replacement or refund set forth +in paragraph 1.F.3, this work is provided to you 'AS-IS' WITH NO OTHER +WARRANTIES OF ANY KIND, EXPRESS OR IMPLIED, INCLUDING BUT NOT LIMITED TO +WARRANTIES OF MERCHANTIBILITY OR FITNESS FOR ANY PURPOSE. + +1.F.5. Some states do not allow disclaimers of certain implied +warranties or the exclusion or limitation of certain types of damages. +If any disclaimer or limitation set forth in this agreement violates the +law of the state applicable to this agreement, the agreement shall be +interpreted to make the maximum disclaimer or limitation permitted by +the applicable state law. The invalidity or unenforceability of any +provision of this agreement shall not void the remaining provisions. + +1.F.6. INDEMNITY - You agree to indemnify and hold the Foundation, the +trademark owner, any agent or employee of the Foundation, anyone +providing copies of Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works in accordance +with this agreement, and any volunteers associated with the production, +promotion and distribution of Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works, +harmless from all liability, costs and expenses, including legal fees, +that arise directly or indirectly from any of the following which you do +or cause to occur: (a) distribution of this or any Project Gutenberg-tm +work, (b) alteration, modification, or additions or deletions to any +Project Gutenberg-tm work, and (c) any Defect you cause. + + +Section 2. Information about the Mission of Project Gutenberg-tm + +Project Gutenberg-tm is synonymous with the free distribution of +electronic works in formats readable by the widest variety of computers +including obsolete, old, middle-aged and new computers. It exists +because of the efforts of hundreds of volunteers and donations from +people in all walks of life. + +Volunteers and financial support to provide volunteers with the +assistance they need, is critical to reaching Project Gutenberg-tm's +goals and ensuring that the Project Gutenberg-tm collection will +remain freely available for generations to come. In 2001, the Project +Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation was created to provide a secure +and permanent future for Project Gutenberg-tm and future generations. +To learn more about the Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation +and how your efforts and donations can help, see Sections 3 and 4 +and the Foundation web page at http://www.pglaf.org. + + +Section 3. Information about the Project Gutenberg Literary Archive +Foundation + +The Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation is a non profit +501(c)(3) educational corporation organized under the laws of the +state of Mississippi and granted tax exempt status by the Internal +Revenue Service. The Foundation's EIN or federal tax identification +number is 64-6221541. Its 501(c)(3) letter is posted at +http://pglaf.org/fundraising. Contributions to the Project Gutenberg +Literary Archive Foundation are tax deductible to the full extent +permitted by U.S. federal laws and your state's laws. + +The Foundation's principal office is located at 4557 Melan Dr. S. +Fairbanks, AK, 99712., but its volunteers and employees are scattered +throughout numerous locations. Its business office is located at +809 North 1500 West, Salt Lake City, UT 84116, (801) 596-1887, email +business@pglaf.org. Email contact links and up to date contact +information can be found at the Foundation's web site and official +page at http://pglaf.org + +For additional contact information: + Dr. Gregory B. Newby + Chief Executive and Director + gbnewby@pglaf.org + + +Section 4. Information about Donations to the Project Gutenberg +Literary Archive Foundation + +Project Gutenberg-tm depends upon and cannot survive without wide +spread public support and donations to carry out its mission of +increasing the number of public domain and licensed works that can be +freely distributed in machine readable form accessible by the widest +array of equipment including outdated equipment. Many small donations +($1 to $5,000) are particularly important to maintaining tax exempt +status with the IRS. + +The Foundation is committed to complying with the laws regulating +charities and charitable donations in all 50 states of the United +States. Compliance requirements are not uniform and it takes a +considerable effort, much paperwork and many fees to meet and keep up +with these requirements. We do not solicit donations in locations +where we have not received written confirmation of compliance. To +SEND DONATIONS or determine the status of compliance for any +particular state visit http://pglaf.org + +While we cannot and do not solicit contributions from states where we +have not met the solicitation requirements, we know of no prohibition +against accepting unsolicited donations from donors in such states who +approach us with offers to donate. + +International donations are gratefully accepted, but we cannot make +any statements concerning tax treatment of donations received from +outside the United States. U.S. laws alone swamp our small staff. + +Please check the Project Gutenberg Web pages for current donation +methods and addresses. Donations are accepted in a number of other +ways including checks, online payments and credit card donations. +To donate, please visit: http://pglaf.org/donate + + +Section 5. General Information About Project Gutenberg-tm electronic +works. + +Professor Michael S. Hart is the originator of the Project Gutenberg-tm +concept of a library of electronic works that could be freely shared +with anyone. For thirty years, he produced and distributed Project +Gutenberg-tm eBooks with only a loose network of volunteer support. + + +Project Gutenberg-tm eBooks are often created from several printed +editions, all of which are confirmed as Public Domain in the U.S. +unless a copyright notice is included. Thus, we do not necessarily +keep eBooks in compliance with any particular paper edition. + + +Most people start at our Web site which has the main PG search facility: + + http://www.gutenberg.org + +This Web site includes information about Project Gutenberg-tm, +including how to make donations to the Project Gutenberg Literary +Archive Foundation, how to help produce our new eBooks, and how to +subscribe to our email newsletter to hear about new eBooks. diff --git a/20734.zip b/20734.zip Binary files differnew file mode 100644 index 0000000..a5f6d87 --- /dev/null +++ b/20734.zip diff --git a/LICENSE.txt b/LICENSE.txt new file mode 100644 index 0000000..6312041 --- /dev/null +++ b/LICENSE.txt @@ -0,0 +1,11 @@ +This eBook, including all associated images, markup, improvements, +metadata, and any other content or labor, has been confirmed to be +in the PUBLIC DOMAIN IN THE UNITED STATES. + +Procedures for determining public domain status are described in +the "Copyright How-To" at https://www.gutenberg.org. + +No investigation has been made concerning possible copyrights in +jurisdictions other than the United States. Anyone seeking to utilize +this eBook outside of the United States should confirm copyright +status under the laws that apply to them. diff --git a/README.md b/README.md new file mode 100644 index 0000000..aaa921b --- /dev/null +++ b/README.md @@ -0,0 +1,2 @@ +Project Gutenberg (https://www.gutenberg.org) public repository for +eBook #20734 (https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/20734) |
