{"collection":"myth-cosmogony","full_text_available":true,"graph_url":"https://unchartedknowledge.5gfusion.net/v2/api/page/gutenberg_20734/graph","html_url":"https://unchartedknowledge.5gfusion.net/v2/page/gutenberg_20734","id":"gutenberg_20734","license":"Public Domain (US)","rights_basis":"gutenberg_metadata_copyright_false","source":"gutenberg","source_url":"https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/20734","summary":null,"tags":["Category: History - Ancient","Category: Mythology, Legends & Folklore","Mythology, Classical","Rome -- Antiquities"],"text":"Produced by Barbara Tozier, V. L. Simpson, Bill Tozier and\nthe Online Distributed Proofreading Team at\nhttp://www.pgdp.net\n\n\n\n\n\n\n [Transcribers' Note:\n\n A detailed listing of changes and anomalies is at the end\n of this file.]\n\n\n\n [Illustration: Pl. 1.]\n\n\n\nROMAN ANTIQUITIES,\n\nAND\n\nANCIENT MYTHOLOGY;\n\nFOR CLASSICAL SCHOOLS.\n\n\nBY\n\nCHARLES K. DILLAWAY,\n\nPRINCIPAL OF THE PUBLIC LATIN SCHOOL IN BOSTON.\n\n\n\n\n\nSECOND EDITION.\n\n\n\n\n\nBOSTON:\nLINCOLN, EDMANDS & CO.\n\nCARTER, HENDEE AND CO. BOSTON; COLLINS AND HANNAY,\nNEW YORK; KEY AND MEILKE, PHILADELPHIA;\nCUSHING AND SONS, BALTIMORE.\n\n1833.\n\n\n\n\nEntered, according to Act of Congress, in the year 1833, By Lincoln,\nEdmands & Co. In the Clerk's office of the District Court of\nMassachusetts.\n\n\n\n\n POSITION OF THE PLATES.\n\n No. 1, before the title page.\n 2, before page 27.\n 3, \" \" 71.\n 4, \" \" 78.\n 5, \" \" 82.\n 6, \" \" 90.\n 7, \" \" 106.\n 8, \" \" 133.\n\n\n\n\n\nPREFACE.\n\n\nThe editor has endeavored in the following pages to give some account of\nthe customs and institutions of the Romans and of ancient Mythology in a\nform adapted to the use of classical schools.\n\nIn making the compilation he has freely drawn from all creditable\nsources of information within his reach, but chiefly from the following:\nSketches of the institutions and domestic customs of the Romans,\npublished in London a few years since; from the works of Adams, Kennett,\nLanktree, Montfaucon, Middleton and Gesner: upon the subject of\nMythology, from Bell, Spense, Pausanias, La Pluche, Plutarch, Pliny,\nHomer, Horace, Virgil, and many others to whom reference has been\noccasionally made.\n\n _Boston, July, 1832._\n\n * * * * *\n\nIn the second edition now offered to the public much has been added to\nthe department of Antiquities. A more comprehensive chapter upon the\nweights, measures and coins of the Romans has been substituted in the\nplace of the former one, and many other improvements made which it is\nhoped will be found acceptable. As it was not thought expedient to\nincrease the size of the volume, the additions have been made by\nexcluding the questions.\n\n_Boston, May, 1833._\n\n\n\nCONTENTS.\n\nChap. Page.\n\n1. Foundation of Rome and division of inhabitants 9\n2. The Senate 13\n3. Other divisions of the Roman people 18\n4. Gentes and Famili\u00e6, Names of the Romans 19\n5. Private rights of Roman citizens 21\n6. Public rights of Roman citizens 23\n7. Places of worship 24\n8. Other public buildings 26\n9. Porticos, arches, columns, and trophies 30\n10. Bagnios, aqueducts, sewers, and public ways 32\n11. Augurs and Auguries 33\n12. Aruspices, Pontifices, Quindecemviri, Vestals, &c. 34\n13. Religious ceremonies of the Romans 37\n14. The Roman year 39\n15. Roman games 42\n16. Magistrates 44\n17. Of military affairs 49\n18. Assemblies, judicial proceedings, and punishments of the Romans 53\n19. Roman dress 57\n20. Fine arts and literature 59\n21. Roman houses 61\n22. Marriages and funerals 63\n23. Customs at meals 66\n24. Weights, measures, and coins 67\n\n\nMYTHOLOGY.\n\n1. Celestial Gods 71\n2. Celestial Goddesses 77\n3. Terrestrial Gods 82\n4. Terrestrial Goddesses 87\n5. Gods of the woods 94\n6. Goddesses of the woods 101\n7. Gods of the sea 106\n8. Tartarus and its Deities 111\n9. The condemned in Hell 123\n10. Monsters of Hell 126\n11. Dii Indigites, or heroes who received divine honors after death 128\n12. Other fabulous personages 146\n\n\n\nCHAPTER I.\n\n_Foundation of Rome and Division of its Inhabitants._\n\n\nAncient Italy was separated, on the north, by the Alps, from Germany. It\nwas bounded, on the east and north-east, by the Adriatic Sea, or _Mare\nSuperum_; on the south-west, by a part of the Mediterranean, called the\nTuscan Sea, or _Mare Inferum_; and on the south, by the _Fretum\nSiculum_, called at present the strait of Messina.\n\nThe south of Italy, called _Gr\u00e6cia Magna_, was peopled by a colony from\nGreece. The middle of Italy contained several states or confederacies,\nunder the denominations of Etrurians, Samnites, Latins, Volsci,\nCampanians, Sabines, &c. And the north, containing _Gallia Cisalpina_\nand _Liguria_, was peopled by a race of Gauls.\n\nThe principal town of the Latin confederacy was Rome. It was situated on\nthe river Tiber, at the distance of sixteen miles from its mouth.\n\nRomulus is commonly reported to have laid its foundations on Mount\nPalatine, A. M. 3251, B. C. 753, in the third year of the 6th Olympiad.\n\nRome was at first only a small fortification; under the kings and the\nrepublic, it greatly increased in size; but it could hardly be called\nmagnificent before the time of Augustus C\u00e6sar. In the reign of the\nEmperor Valerian, the city, with its suburbs, covered a space of fifty\nmiles; at present it is scarcely thirteen miles round.\n\nRome was built on seven hills, viz. the Palatine, Capitoline, Quirinal,\nEsquiline, Viminal, C\u00e6lian, and Aventine; hence it was poetically styled\n\"_Urbs Septicollis_,\"--the seven-hilled city.\n\nThe greatest number of inhabitants in Rome was four millions; but its\naverage population was not more than two millions.\n\nThe people were divided into three tribes, and each tribe into ten\ncuri\u00e6. The number of tribes was afterwards increased to thirty-five.\n\nThe people were at first only separated into two ranks; the Patrician\nand Plebeian; but afterwards the Equites or Knights were added; and at a\nlater period, slavery was introduced--making in all, four classes:\nPatricians, Knights, Plebeians, and Slaves.\n\nThe Patrician order consisted of those families whose ancestors had been\nmembers of the Senate. Those among them who had filled any superior\noffice, were considered noble, and possessed the right of making images\nof themselves, which were transmitted to their descendants, and formed\npart of their domestic worship.\n\nThe Plebeian order was composed of the lowest class of freemen. Those\nwho resided in the city, were called \"_Plebs urbana_;\" those who lived\nin the country, \"_Plebs rustica_.\" But the distinction did not consist\nin name only--the latter were the most respectable.\n\nThe _Plebs urbana_ consisted not only of the poorer mechanics and\nlaborers, but of a multitude of idlers who chiefly subsisted on the\npublic bounty, and whose turbulence was a constant source of disquietude\nto the government. There were leading men among them, kept in pay by the\nseditious magistrates, who used for hire to stimulate them to the most\ndaring outrages.\n\nTrade and manufactures being considered as servile employments, they had\nno encouragement to industry; and the numerous spectacles which were\nexhibited, particularly the shows of gladiators, served to increase\ntheir natural ferocity. To these causes may be attributed the final ruin\nof the republic.\n\nThe Equestrian order arose out of an institution ascribed to Romulus,\nwho chose from each of the three tribes, one hundred young men, the most\ndistinguished for their rank, wealth, and other accomplishments, who\nshould serve on horseback and guard his person.\n\nTheir number was afterwards increased by Tullus Hostilius, who chose\nthree hundred from the Albans. They were chosen promiscuously from the\nPatricians and Plebeians. The age requisite was eighteen, and the\nfortune four hundred sestertia; that is, about 14,000 dollars. Their\nmarks of distinction, were a horse given them at the public expense, and\na gold ring. Their office, at first, was only to serve in the army; but\nafterwards, to act as judges or jurymen, and take charge of the public\nrevenues.\n\nA great degree of splendor was added to the Equites by a procession\nwhich they made throughout the city every year, on the 15th day of July,\nfrom the temple of honor, without the city to the Capitol, riding on\nhorseback, with wreaths of olives on their heads, dressed in the Tog\u00e6\npalmat\u00e6 or trabe\u00e6, of a scarlet color, and bearing in their hands the\nmilitary ornaments, which they had received from their general, as a\nreward for their valor. At this time they could not be summoned before a\ncourt of justice.\n\nIf any Eques was corrupt in his morals, or had diminished his fortune,\nthe censor ordered him to be removed from the order by selling his\nhorse.\n\nMen became slaves among the Romans, by being taken in war, by way of\npunishment, or were born in a state of servitude. Those enemies who\nvoluntarily surrendered themselves, retained the rights of freedom, and\nwere called '_Dedititii_.'\n\nThose taken in the field, or in the storming of cities, were sold at\nauction--\"_sub corona_,\" as it was called, because they wore a crown\nwhen sold; or \"_sub hasta_,\" because a spear was set up where the\nauctioneer stood. These were called Servi or Mancipia. Those who dealt\nin the slave trade were called _Mangones_ or _Venalitii_: they were\nbound to promise for the soundness of their slaves, and not to conceal\ntheir faults; hence they were commonly exposed for sale naked, and\ncarried a scroll hanging to their necks, on which their good and bad\nqualities were specified.\n\nFree-born citizens could not be sold for slaves. Parents might sell\ntheir children; but they did not on that account entirely lose the right\nof citizens, for, when freed from slavery, they were called _ingenui_\nand _libertini_. The same was the case with insolvent debtors, who were\ngiven up to their creditors.\n\nThere was no regular marriage among slaves, but their connexion was\ncalled contubernium. The children of any female slave became the\nproperty of her master.\n\nSuch as had a genius for it were sometimes instructed in literature and\nliberal arts. Some of these were sold at a great price. Hence arose a\nprincipal part of the wealth of Crassus.\n\nThe power of the master over his slave was absolute. He might scourge or\nput him to death at pleasure. This right was often exercised with great\ncruelty.\n\nThe lash was the common punishment; but for certain crimes they were to\nbe branded in the forehead, and sometimes were forced to carry a piece\nof wood round their necks, wherever they went, which was called _furca_;\nand whoever had been subjected to the punishment was ever afterwards\ncalled _furcifer_.\n\nSlaves also, by way of punishment, were often confined in a work-house,\nor bridewell, where they were obliged to turn a mill for grinding corn.\nWhen slaves were beaten, they were suspended with a weight tied to their\nfeet, that they might not move them. When punished for any capital\noffence, they were commonly crucified; but this was afterwards\nprohibited under Constantine.\n\nIf the master of a family was slain at his own house, and the murderer\nnot discovered, all his domestic slaves were liable to be put to death.\nHence we find no less than four hundred in one family punished on this\naccount.\n\nSlaves were not esteemed as persons, but as things, and might be\ntransferred from one owner to another, like any other effects. They\ncould not appear in a court of justice as witnesses, nor make a will, or\ninherit anything, or serve as soldiers, unless first made free.\n\nAt certain times they were allowed the greatest freedom, as at the feast\nof Saturn, in the month of December, when they were served at table by\ntheir masters, and on the Ides of August.\n\nThe number of slaves in Rome and through Italy, was immense. Some rich\nindividuals are said to have had several thousands.\n\nAnciently, they were freed in three different ways:--1st, _Per censum_,\nwhen a slave with his master's knowledge inserted his name in the\ncensor's roll. 2d, _Per vindictam_, when a master, taking his slave to\nthe pr\u00e6tor, or consul, and in the provinces to the pro-consul or\npro-pr\u00e6tor, said, \"I desire that this man be free, according to the\ncustom of the Romans\"--and the pr\u00e6tor, if he approved, putting a rod on\nthe head of the slave, pronounced,--\"I say that this man is free, after\nthe manner of the Romans.\" Wherefore, the lictor or master turning him\nround in a circle, and giving him a blow on the cheek, let him go;\nsignifying that leave was granted him to go, wherever he pleased. 3d,\n_Per testamentum_, when a master gave his slaves their liberty by his\nwill.\n\n\n\n\nCHAPTER II.\n\n_The Senate._\n\n\nThe Senate was instituted by Romulus, to be the perpetual council of the\nrepublic, and at first consisted only of one hundred, chosen from the\nPatricians. They were called Patres, either on account of their age or\nthe paternal care they had of the state. After the Sabines were taken\ninto the city, another one hundred was chosen from them by the suffrages\nof the curi\u00e6.\n\nSuch as were chosen into the Senate by Brutus, after the expulsion of\nTarquin the proud, to supply the place of those whom that king had\nslain, were called Conscripti; that is, persons written or enrolled\ntogether with the Senators, who alone were properly called patres.\n\nPersons were chosen into the Senate first by the kings, and after their\nexpulsion, by the consuls, and by the military tribunes; but from the\nyear of the city 310, by the censors. At first, only from the\nPatricians, but afterwards, also from the Plebeians--chiefly, however,\nfrom the Equites.\n\nBesides an estate of 400, or after Augustus, of 1200 sestertia, no\nperson was admitted to this dignity but one who had already borne some\nmagistracy in the Commonwealth. The age is not sufficiently ascertained,\nprobably not under 30.\n\nThe dictator, consuls, pr\u00e6tors, tribunes of the commons and interrex,\nhad the power of assembling the Senate.\n\nThe places where they assembled were only such as had formerly been\nconsecrated by the augurs--and most commonly within the city. They made\nuse of the temple of Bellona, without the walls, for the giving audience\nto foreign ambassadors, and to such provincial magistrates as were to be\nheard in open Senates, before they entered the city, as when they\npetitioned for a triumph, and in similar cases. When the augurs reported\nthat an ox had spoken, which we often meet with among the ancient\nprodigies, the Senate was presently to sit, sub dio, or in the open air.\n\nThe regular meetings (_senatus legitimus_) were on the Kalends, Nones,\nand Ides in every month, until the time of Augustus, who confined them\nto the Kalends and Ides. The _senatus indictus_ was called for the\ndispatch of business upon any other day except the dies Comitialis, when\nthe Senate were obliged to be present at the Comitia.\n\nThe Senate was summoned anciently by a public officer, named viator,\nbecause he called the Senators from the country--or by a public crier,\nwhen anything had happened about which the Senators were to be consulted\nhastily and without delay: but in latter times by an edict, appointing\nthe time and place, and published several days before. The cause of\nassembling was also added.\n\nIf any one refused or neglected to attend, he was punished by a fine,\nand by distraining his goods, unless he had a just excuse. The fine was\nimposed by him who held the Senate, and pledges were taken till it was\npaid--but after 60 years of age, Senators might attend or not, as they\npleased.\n\nNo decree could be made unless there was a quorum. What that was is\nuncertain. If any one wanted to hinder the passing of a decree, and\nsuspected there was not a quorum, he said to the magistrate presiding,\n\"_Numera Senatum_,\" count the Senate.\n\nThe magistrate who was to preside offered a sacrifice, and took the\nauspices before he entered the Senate house. If they were not favorable,\nor not rightly taken, the business was deferred to another day. Augustus\nordered that each Senator, before he took his seat, should pay his\ndevotions with an offering of frankincense and wine, at the altar of\nthat god in whose temple the Senate were assembled, that they might\ndischarge their duty the more religiously. When the consuls entered, the\nSenators commonly rose up to do them honor.\n\nThe consuls elect were first asked their opinion, and the pr\u00e6tors,\ntribunes, &c. elect, seem to have had the same preference before the\nrest of their order. He who held the Senate, might consult first any one\nof the same order he thought proper.\n\nNothing could be laid before the Senate against the will of the consuls,\nunless by the tribunes of the people, who might also give their negative\nagainst any decree by the solemn word \"_Veto_,\" which was called\ninterceding. This might also be done by all who had an equal or greater\nauthority than the magistrate presiding. If any person interceded, the\nsentence was called \"_Senatus auctoritas_,\" their judgment or opinion.\n\nThe Senators delivered their opinions standing; but when they only\nassented to the opinion of another, they continued sitting.\n\nIt was not lawful for the consuls to interrupt those who spoke, although\nthey introduced in their speeches many things foreign to the subject,\nwhich they sometimes did, that they might waste the day in speaking. For\nno new reference could be made after the tenth hour, that is, four\no'clock in the afternoon, according to our mode of reckoning.\n\nThis privilege was often abused, but they were forced to stop by the\nnoise and clamour of the other Senators. Sometimes magistrates, when\nthey made a disagreeable motion, were silenced in this manner.\n\nThe Senators usually addressed the house by the title of \"_patres\nconscripti_:\" sometimes to the consul, or person who presided, sometimes\nto both.\n\nA decree of the Senate was made, by a separation of the Senators, to\ndifferent parts of the house. He who presided, said, \"Let those who are\nof such an opinion pass over to that side, those who think differently,\nto this.\" Those Senators who only voted, but did not speak, or as some\nsay, had the right of voting, but not of speaking, were called\n_pedarii_, because they signified their opinion by their feet, and not\nby their tongues. When a decree was made without any opinion being asked\nor given, it was called \"_senatus consultum per discessionem_.\" But if\nthe contrary, it was simply called \"_Senatus consultum_.\"\n\nIn decreeing a supplication to any general, the opinion of the Senators\nwas always asked. Hence Cicero blames Antony for omitting this in the\ncase of Lepidus. Before the vote was put, and while the debate was going\non, the members used to take their seats near that person whose opinion\nthey approved, and the opinion of him who was joined by the greatest\nnumber was called \"_Sententia maxime frequens_.\"\n\nWhen affairs requiring secrecy were discussed, the clerks and other\nattendants were not admitted: but what passed, was written out by some\nof the Senators, and the decree was called tacitum.\n\nPublic registers were kept of what was done in the Senate, in the\nassemblies of the people, and courts of justice; also of births and\nfunerals, of marriages and divorces, &c. which served as a fund of\ninformation for historians.\n\nIn writing a decree, the time and place were put first; then, the names\nof those who were present at the engrossing of it; after that, the\nmotion with the name of the magistrate who proposed it; to all which was\nsubjoined what the Senate decreed.\n\nThe decrees were kept in the public treasury with the laws and other\nwritings, pertaining to the republic. Anciently they were kept in the\ntemple of Ceres. The place where the public records were kept was called\n\"_Tabularium_.\" The decrees of the Senate concerning the honors\nconferred on C\u00e6sar were inscribed in golden letters, on columns of\nsilver. When not carried to the treasury, they were reckoned invalid.\nHence it was ordained under Tiberius, that the decrees of the Senate,\nespecially concerning the capital punishment of any one, should not be\ncarried there before the tenth day, that the emperor, if absent from the\ncity, might have an opportunity of considering them, and if he thought\nproper of mitigating them.\n\nDecrees of the Senate were rarely reversed. While a question was under\ndebate, every one was at freedom to express his dissent; but when once\ndetermined, it was looked upon as the common concern of each member to\nsupport the opinion of the majority.\n\nThe power of the Senate was different at different times. Under the\nregal government, the Senate deliberated upon such affairs as the king\nproposed to them, and the kings were said to act according to their\ncounsel as the consuls did afterwards according to their decrees.\n\nTarquin the proud, dropped the custom handed down from his predecessors,\nof consulting the Senate about everything; banished or put to death the\nchief men of that order, and chose no others in their room; but he was\nexpelled from the throne for his tyranny, and the regal government\nabolished, A. U. 243. Afterwards the power of the Senate was raised to\nthe highest. Everything was done by its authority. The magistrates were\nin a manner only its ministers. But when the Patricians began to abuse\ntheir power, and to exercise cruelty on the Plebeians, especially after\nthe death of Tarquin, the multitude took arms in their own defence, made\na secession from the city, seized on Mons Sacer, and created tribunes\nfor themselves, who attacked the authority of the Senate, and in process\nof time greatly diminished it.\n\nAlthough the supreme power at Rome belonged to the people, yet they\nseldom enacted anything without the authority of the Senate. In all\nweighty matters, the method usually observed was that the Senate should\nfirst deliberate and decree, and then the people order.\n\nThe Senate assumed to themselves exclusively, the guardianship of the\npublic religion; so that no new god could be introduced, nor altar\nerected, nor the Sybiline books consulted without their order. They had\nthe direction of the treasury, and distributed the public money at\npleasure. They appointed stipends to their generals and officers, and\nprovisions and clothing to the armies. They settled the provinces which\nwere annually assigned to the consuls and pr\u00e6tors, and when it seemed\nfit, they prolonged their command. They nominated, out of their own\nbody, all ambassadors sent from Rome, and gave to foreign ambassadors\nwhat answers they thought proper. They decreed all public thanksgivings\nfor victories obtained, and conferred the honor of an ovation or triumph\nwith the title of imperator on their victorious generals. They could\ndecree the title of king to any prince whom they pleased, and declare\nany one an enemy by a vote. They inquired into all public crimes or\ntreasons, either in Rome or other parts of Italy; and adjusted all\ndisputes among the allied and dependent cities. They exercised a power\nnot only of interpreting the laws, but of absolving men from the\nobligation of them. They could postpone the assemblies of the people,\nand prescribe a change of habit to the city, in cases of any imminent\ndanger or calamity.\n\nBut their power was chiefly conspicuous in civil dissension or dangerous\ntumults within the city, in which that solemn decree used to be passed;\n\"That the consuls should take care that the republic should receive no\nharm.\" By which decree an absolute power was granted to them to punish\nand put to death whom they pleased without a trial; to raise forces and\ncarry on war, without the order of the people.\n\nAlthough the decrees of the Senate had not properly the force of laws,\nand took place chiefly in those matters which were not provided for by\nthe laws, yet they were understood always to have a binding force, and\nwere therefore obeyed by all orders. The consuls themselves were obliged\nto submit to them. They could be annulled or cancelled only by the\nSenate itself. In the last ages of the republic, the authority of the\nSenate was little regarded by the leading men and their creatures, who\nby means of bribery obtained from a corrupted populace what they\ndesired, in spite of the Senate.\n\nAugustus, when he became master of the empire, retained the forms of the\nancient republic, and the same names of the magistrates; but left\nnothing of the ancient virtue and liberty. While he pretended always to\nact by the authority of the Senate, he artfully drew everything to\nhimself.\n\nThe Senators were distinguished by an oblong stripe of purple sewed on\nthe forepart of their Senatorial gown, and black buskins reaching to the\nmiddle of the leg, with the letter C in silver on the top of the foot.\n\nThe chief privilege of the Senators was their having a particular place\nat the public spectacles, called orchestra. It was next the stage in the\ntheatre, or next the arena or open space in the amphitheatre.\n\nThe messages sent by the emperor to the Senate were called epistol\u00e6 or\nlibelli, because they were folded in the form of a letter or little\nbook. C\u00e6sar was said to have first introduced these libelli, which\nafterwards were used on almost every occasion.\n\n\n\n\nCHAPTER III.\n\n_Other Divisions of the Roman People._\n\n\nThat the Patricians and Plebeians might be connected together by the\nstrictest bonds, Romulus ordained that every Plebeian should choose from\nthe Patricians any one he pleased, for his patron or protector, whose\nclient he was called.\n\nIt was the duty of the patron to advise and defend his client, and to\nassist him with his interest and substance. The client was obliged to\npay the greatest respect to his patron, and to serve him with his life\nand fortune in any extremity.\n\nIt was unlawful for patrons and clients to accuse or bear witness\nagainst each other, and whoever was found to have done so, might be\nslain by any one with impunity as a victim to Pluto, and the infernal\ngods.\n\nIt was esteemed highly honorable for a Patrician to have numerous\nclients, both hereditary and acquired by his own merit. In after times,\neven cities and whole nations were under the protection of illustrious\nRoman families.\n\nThose whose ancestors or themselves had borne any curule magistracy,\nthat is, had been Consul, Pr\u00e6tor, Censor or Curule Edile, were called\nnobiles, and had the right of making images of themselves, which were\nkept with great care by their posterity, and carried before them at\nfunerals.\n\nThese images were merely the busts of persons down to the shoulders,\nmade of wax, and painted, which they used to place in the courts of\ntheir houses, enclosed in wooden cases, and seem not to have brought\nout, except on solemn occasions. There were titles or inscriptions\nwritten below them, pointing out the honors they had enjoyed, and the\nexploits they had performed. Anciently, this right of images was\npeculiar to the Patricians; but afterwards, the Plebeians also acquired\nit, when admitted to curule offices.\n\nThose who were the first of their family, that had raised themselves to\nany curule office, were called _homines novi_, new men or upstarts.\nThose who had no images of themselves, or of their ancestors, were\ncalled _ignobiles_.\n\nThose who favored the interests of the Senate were called optimates, and\nsometimes proc{)}eres or principes. Those who studied to gain the favor\nof the multitude, were called populares, of whatever order they were.\nThis was a division of factions, and not of rank or dignity. The\ncontests between these two parties, excited the greatest commotions in\nthe state, which finally terminated in the extinction of liberty.\n\n\n\n\nCHAPTER IV.\n\n_Gentes and Famili\u00e6; Names of the Romans, &c._\n\n\nThe Romans were divided into various clans, (gentes,) and each clan into\nseveral families. Those of the same gens were called gentiles, and those\nof the same family, agnati. But relations by the father's side were also\ncalled agnati, to distinguish them from cognati, relations only by the\nmother's side.\n\nThe Romans had three names, to mark the different clans and families,\nand distinguish the individuals of the same family--the pr\u00e6nomen, nomen\nand cognomen.\n\nThe pr\u00e6nomen was put first, and marked the individual. It was commonly\nwritten with one letter; as A. for Aulus: C. for Caius--sometimes with\ntwo; as Ap. for Appius.\n\nThe nomen was put after the pr\u00e6nomen, to mark the gens, and commonly\nended in ius; as Cornelius, Fabius. The cognomen was put last, and\nmarked the family; as Cicero, C\u00e6sar.\n\nSometimes there was also a fourth name, called the agnomen, added from\nsome illustrious action, or remarkable event. Thus, Scipio was called\nAfricanus, from the conquest of Carthage and Africa: for a similar\nreason, his brother was called Asiaticus.\n\nThese names were not always used; commonly two, and sometimes only the\nsirname. But in speaking to any one, the pr\u00e6nomen was generally used as\nbeing peculiar to citizens, for slaves had no pr\u00e6nomen.\n\nThe sirnames were derived from various circumstances, either from some\nquality of the mind; as Cato, from catus, wise: or from the habit of the\nbody; as Calvus, Crassus, &c.: or from cultivating particular fruits; as\nLentulus, Piso, &c. Quintus Cincinnatus was called Serranus, because the\nambassadors from the senate found him sowing, when they brought him word\nthat he was made dictator.\n\nThe pr\u00e6nomen was given to boys on the ninth day, which was called _dies\nlustr{)i}cus_, or the day of purification, when certain religious\nceremonies were performed. The eldest son of the family usually received\nthe pr\u00e6nomen of his father. The rest were named from their uncles or\nother relations.\n\nWhen there was only one daughter in the family, she was called by the\nname of the gens: thus, Tullia, the daughter of Cicero; and retained the\nsame after marriage. When there were two daughters, one was called\nmajor, and the other minor. If there were more than two, they were\ndistinguished by their number; thus--prima, secunda, tertia, &c.\n\nThose were called _liberi_, free, who had the power of doing what they\npleased. Those who were born of parents who had been always free, were\ncalled _ingenui_. Slaves made free were called _liberti_, in relation to\ntheir masters; and _libertini_, in relation to free born citizens.\n\n\n\n\nCHAPTER V.\n\n_Private Rights of Roman Citizens._\n\n\nThe right of liberty comprehended not only liberty from the power of\nmasters, but also from the dominion of tyrants, the severity of\nmagistrates, the cruelty of creditors, and the insolence of more\npowerful citizens. After the expulsion of Tarquin, a law was made by\nBrutus, that no one should be king at Rome, and that whoever should form\na design of making himself a king, might be slain with impunity. At the\nsame time the people were bound by an oath that they would never suffer\na king to be created.\n\nCitizens could appeal from the magistrates to the people, and the\npersons who appealed could in no way be punished, until the people\ndetermined the matter; but they were chiefly secured by the assistance\nof the tribunes.\n\nNone but the whole Roman people in the _comitia centuriata_ could pass\nsentence on the life of a Roman citizen. No magistrate could punish him\nby stripes or capitally. The single expression, \"I am a Roman citizen,\"\nchecked their severest decrees.\n\nBy the laws of the twelve tables, it was ordained, that insolvent\ndebtors should be given up to their creditors, to be bound in fetters\nand cords, and although they did not entirely lose the rights of\nfreemen, yet they were in actual slavery, and often more harshly treated\nthan even slaves themselves.\n\nTo check the cruelty of usurers, a law was afterwards made that no\ndebtors should be kept in irons, or in bonds; that the goods of the\ndebtor, not his person, should be given up to his creditors.\n\nThe people, not satisfied with this, as it did not free them from\nprison, demanded an entire abolition of debt, which they used to call\nnew tables; but this was never granted.\n\nEach clan and family had certain sacred rights, peculiar to itself,\nwhich were inherited in the same manner as effects. When heirs by the\nfather's side of the same family failed, those of the same gens\nsucceeded in preference to relations by the mother's side of the same\nfamily. No one could pass from a Patrician family to a Plebeian, or from\na Plebeian to a Patrician, unless by that form of adoption which could\nonly be made at the _comitia curiata_.\n\nNo Roman citizen could marry a slave, barbarian or foreigner, unless by\nthe permission of the people.\n\nA father among the Romans had the power of life and death over his\nchildren. He could not only expose them when infants, but when grown up\nhe might imprison, scourge, send them bound to work in the country, and\nalso put them to death by any punishment he pleased.\n\nA son could acquire no property but with his father's consent, and what\nhe thus acquired was called his _peculium_ as of a slave.\n\nThings with respect to property among the Romans were variously divided.\nSome were said to be of divine right, and were held sacred, as altars,\ntemples, or any thing publicly consecrated to the gods, by the authority\nof the Pontiffs; or religious, as sepulchres--or inviolable, as the\nwalls and gates of a city.\n\nOthers were said to be of human right, and called profane. These were\neither public and common, as the air, running water, the sea and its\nshores; or private, which might be the property of individuals.\n\nNone but a Roman citizen could make a will, or be witnesses to a\ntestament, or inherit any thing by it.\n\nThe usual method of making a will after the laws of the twelve tables\nwere enacted, was by brass and balance, as it was called. In the\npresence of five witnesses, a weigher and witness, the testator by an\nimaginary sale disposed of his family and property to one who was called\n_famili\u00e6 emptor_, who was not the heir as some have thought, but only\nadmitted for the sake of form, that the testator might seem to have\nalienated his effects in his life time. This act was called _famili\u00e6\nmancipatio_.\n\nSometimes the testator wrote his will wholly with his own hand, in which\ncase it was called _hologr{)a}phum_--sometimes it was written by a\nfriend, or by others. Thus the testament of Augustus was written partly\nby himself, and partly by two of his freedmen.\n\nTestaments were always subscribed by the testator, and usually by the\nwitnesses, and sealed with their seals or rings. They were likewise tied\nwith a thread drawn thrice through holes and sealed; like all other\ncivil deeds, they were always written in Latin. A legacy expressed in\nGreek was not valid.\n\nThey were deposited either privately in the hands of a friend, or in a\ntemple with the keeper of it. Thus Julius C\u00e6sar is said to have\nintrusted his testament to the oldest of the vestal virgins.\n\nA father might leave whom he pleased as guardian to his children;--but\nif he died, this charge devolved by law on the nearest relation by the\nfather's side. When there was no guardian by testament, nor a legal one,\nthe pr\u00e6tor and the majority of the tribunes of the people appointed a\nguardian. If any one died without making a will, his goods devolved on\nhis nearest relations.\n\nWomen could not transact any business of importance without the\nconcurrence of their parents, husbands, or guardians.\n\n\n\n\nCHAPTER VI.\n\n_Public Rights of Roman Citizens._\n\n\nThe _jus militi\u00e6_, was the right of serving in the army, which was at\nfirst peculiar to the higher order of citizens only, but afterwards the\nemperor took soldiers not only from Italy and the provinces, but also\nfrom barbarous nations.\n\nThe _jus tributorum_ was the payment of a tax by each individual through\nthe tribes, in proportion to the valuation of his estates.\n\nThere were three kinds of tribute, one imposed equally on each person;\nanother according to his property; and a third exacted in cases of\nemergency. There were three other kinds of taxes, called _portorium_,\n_decum\u00e6_ and _scriptura_.\n\nThe _portorium_ was paid for goods exported and imported, the collectors\nof which were called portitores, or for carrying goods over a bridge.\n\nThe _decum\u00e6_ were the tenth part of corn and the fifth part of other\nfruit, exacted from the cultivators of the public lands, either in Italy\nor without it.\n\nThe _scriptura_ was paid by those who pastured their cattle upon the\npublic lands. The _jus saffragii_ was the right of voting in the\ndifferent assemblies of the people.\n\nThe _jus honorum_ was the right of being priests or magistrates, at\nfirst enjoyed only by the Patricians. Foreigners might live in the city\nof Rome, but they enjoyed none of the rights of citizens; they were\nsubject to a peculiar jurisdiction, and might be expelled from the city\nby a magistrate. They were not permitted to wear the Roman dress.\n\n\n\n\nCHAPTER VII.\n\n_Places of Worship._\n\n\n_Templum_ was a place which had been dedicated to the worship of some\ndeity, and consecrated by the augurs.\n\n_\u00c6des sacr\u00e6_ were such as wanted that consecration, which, if they\nafterwards received, they changed their names to temples.\n\n_Delubrum_ comprehended several deities under one roof. The most\ncelebrated temples were the capitol and pantheon.\n\nThe capitol or temple of Jupiter Capitolinus, was the effect of a vow\nmade by Tarquinius Priscus, in the Sabine war. But he had scarcely laid\nthe foundation before his death. His nephew Tarquin the proud, finished\nit with the spoils taken from the neighboring nations.\n\nThe structure stood on a high ridge, taking in four acres of ground. The\nfront was adorned with three rows of pillars, the other sides with two.\nThe ascent from the ground was by a hundred steps. The prodigious gifts\nand ornaments with which it was at several times endowed, almost exceed\nbelief. Augustus gave at one time two thousand pounds weight of gold,\nand in jewels and precious stones to the value of five hundred\nsestertia.\n\nLivy and Pliny surprise us with accounts of the brazen thresholds, the\nnoble pillars that Scylla removed thither from Athens, out of the temple\nof Jupiter Olympius; the gilded roof, the gilded shields, and those of\nsolid silver; the huge vessels of silver, holding three measures--the\ngolden chariot, &c.\n\nThis temple was first consumed by fire in the Marian war, and then\nrebuilt by Sylla. This too was demolished in the Vitellian sedition.\nVespasian undertook a third, which was burnt about the time of his\ndeath. Domitian raised the last and most glorious of all, in which the\nvery gilding amounted to twelve thousand talents--on which Plutarch has\nobserved of that emperor, that he was, like Midas, desirous of turning\nevery thing into gold. There are very little remains of it at present,\nyet enough to make a Christian church.\n\nThe capitol contained in it three temples: one to Jupiter, one to Juno,\nand one to Minerva. Jupiter's was in the centre, whence he was\npoetically called \"_Media qui sedet \u00e6de Deus_\"--the god who sits in the\nmiddle temple.\n\nThe pantheon was built by Marcus Agrippa, son-in-law to Augustus C\u00e6sar,\nand dedicated most probably to all the gods in general, as the name\nimplies. The structure is a hundred and fifty-eight feet high, and about\nthe same breadth. The roof is curiously vaulted, void places being here\nand there for the greater strength. The rafters were pieces of brass of\nforty feet in length. There are no windows in the whole edifice, only a\nround hole at the top of the roof, which serves very well for the\nadmission of light. The walls on the inside are either solid marble or\nincrusted. The front, on the outside, was covered with brazen plates,\ngilt, the top with silver plates, which are now changed to lead. The\ngates were brass, of extraordinary work and magnitude.\n\nThis temple is still standing, with little alteration, besides the loss\nof the old ornaments, being converted into a Christian church by Pope\nBoniface III. The most remarkable difference is that where they before\nascended by twelve steps, they now go down as many to the entrance.\n\nThere are two other temples, particularly worth notice, not so much for\nthe magnificence of the structure, as for the customs that depend upon\nthem, and the remarkable use to which they were put. These are the\ntemples of Saturn and Janus.\n\nThe first was famous on account of serving for the public treasury--the\nreason of which some fancy to have been because Saturn first taught the\nItalians to coin money; but most probably it was because this was the\nstrongest place in the city. Here were preserved all the public\nregisters and records, among which were the _libri elephantini_, or\ngreat ivory tables, containing a list of all the tribes and the schemes\nof the public accounts.\n\nThe other was a square building, some say of entire brass, so large as\nto contain a statue of Janus, five feet high, with brazen gates on each\nside, which were kept open in war, and shut in time of peace.\n\n\n\n\nCHAPTER VIII.\n\n_Of other public Buildings._\n\n\nTheatres, so called from the Greek {theaomai}, to see, owe their origin\nto Bacchus.\n\nThat the theatres and amphitheatres were two different sorts of\nedifices, was never questioned, the former being built in the shape of a\nsemicircle; the other generally oval, so as to make the same figure as\nif two theatres should be joined together. Yet the same place is often\ncalled by these names in several authors. They seem, too, to have been\ndesigned for quite different ends: the theatres for stage plays, the\namphitheatres for the greater shows of gladiators, wild beasts, &c. The\nfollowing are the most important parts of both.\n\n_Scena_ was a partition reaching quite across the theatre, being made\neither to turn round or draw up, to present a new prospect to the\nspectators.\n\n_Proscenium_ was the space of ground just before the scene, where the\n_pulpitum_ stood, into which the actors came from behind the scenes to\nperform.\n\nThe middle part, or area of the amphitheatre, was called _cav\u00e6_, because\nit was considerably lower than the other parts, whence perhaps, the name\nof pit in our play houses was borrowed; and arena, because it used to be\nstrown with sand, to hinder the performers from slipping.\n\nThere was a threefold distinction of the seats, according to the\nordinary division of the people into senators, knights, and commons. The\nfirst range was called orchestra, from {orcheisthai}, because in that\npart of the Grecian theatres, the dances were performed; the second\n_equestria_; and the other _popularia_.\n\n\n [Illustration:\n\n Ruins of the Flavian Amphitheatre, commonly called\n the Colis\u00e6um. Pl. 2.]\n\n\nThe Flavian amphitheatre, now better known by the name of the\n_Colis\u00e6um_, from its stupendous magnitude, excites the astonishment of\nthe world. It was five hundred fifty feet in length, and four hundred\nseventy in breadth, and one hundred sixty in height. It was surrounded\nto the top by a portico resting on eighty arches, and divided into four\nstories. The arrangement of the seats was similar to that in the\ntheatres; but there was a large box projecting from one side, and\ncovered with a canopy of state for the accommodation of the emperor and\nthe magistrates, who were surrounded with all the insignia of office.\n\nAs combats of wild beasts formed a chief part of the amusements, they\nwere secured in dens around the arena or stage, which was strongly\nencircled by a canal, to guard the spectators against their attacks.\nThese precautions, however, were not always sufficient, and instances\noccurred in which the animals sprung across the barrier.\n\nThis huge pile was commenced by Vespasian, and was reared with a portion\nof the materials of Nero's golden palace: its form was oval, and it is\nsupposed to have contained upwards of eighty thousand persons. A large\npart of this vast edifice still remains.\n\nTheatres, in the first ages of the commonwealth, were only temporary,\nand composed of wood. Of these, the most celebrated was that of Marcus\nScaurus--the scenes of which were divided into three partitions, one\nabove another, the first consisting of one hundred and twenty pillars of\nmarble; the next, of the like number of pillars, curiously wrought in\nglass. The top of all had the same number of pillars adorned with gilded\ntablets. Between the pillars were set three thousand statues and images\nof brass. The _cavca_ would hold eighty thousand men.\n\nPompey the great was the first who undertook the raising of a fixed\ntheatre, which he built nobly of square stone. Some of the remains of\nthis theatre are still to be seen at Rome.\n\nThe _circi_ were places set apart for the celebration of several sorts\nof games:--they were generally oblong or almost in the shape of a bow,\nhaving a wall quite round, with ranges of seats for the convenience of\nspectators. At the entrance of the circus stood the _carceres_ or lists,\nwhence they started, and just by them, one of the _met\u00e6_ or marks--the\nother standing at the farther end to conclude the race.\n\nThe most remarkable, was the _circus maximus_, built by Tarquinius\nPriscus:--the length of it was four _stadia_, or furlongs, the breadth\nthe same number of acres, with a trench of ten feet deep, and as many\nbroad, to receive the water, and seats enough for one hundred fifty\nthousand men. It was extremely beautiful and adorned by succeeding\nprinces, and enlarged to such a prodigious extent as to be able to\ncontain in their proper seats two hundred and sixty thousand spectators.\n\nThe _naumachi\u00e6_ or places for the shows of sea-engagements are no where\nparticularly described; but we may suppose them similar to the _circi_\nand amphitheatres.\n\nThe _stadia_ were places in the form of _circi_, for the running of men\nand horses. A beautiful one was built by Domitian. The _xysti_ were\nplaces constructed like porticos, in which the wrestlers exercised.\n\nThe _Campus Martius_, famous on so many accounts, was a large plain\nfield, lying near the Tiber, whence we find it sometimes under the name\nof _Tiberinus_:--it was called _Martius_, because it had been\nconsecrated by the old Romans to the god Mars. Besides the pleasant\nsituation and other natural ornaments, the continual sports and\nexercises performed there, made it one of the most interesting sights\nnear the city. Here the young noblemen practised all kinds of feats of\nactivity, and learned the use of arms. Here were the races either with\nchariots or single horses. Besides this, it was nobly adorned with the\nstatues of famous men, with arches, columns and porticos, and other\nmagnificent structures. Here stood the _villa publica_ or palace, for\nthe reception and entertainment of ambassadors from foreign states, who\nwere not allowed to enter the city.\n\nThe Roman _curi\u00e6_ were of two sorts, divine and civil. In the former,\nthe priests and religious orders met for the regulation of the rites and\nceremonies belonging to the worship of the gods. In the other, the\nsenate used to assemble, to consult about the public concerns of the\ncommonwealth. The senate could not meet in such a place, unless it had\nbeen solemnly consecrated by the augurs, and made of the same nature as\na temple.\n\nThe Roman forums were public buildings about three times as long as they\nwere broad. All the compass of the forum was surrounded by arched\nporticos, some passages being left as places of entrance.\n\nThere were two kinds, _fora civilia_ and _fora venalia_. The first were\ndesigned for the ornaments of the city, and for the use of public courts\nof justice. The others were erected for the necessities and conveniences\nof the inhabitants, and were no doubt equivalent to our markets. The\nmost remarkable were the Roman forum, built by Romulus, and adorned with\nporticos on all sides, by Tarquinius Priscus: This was the most ancient\nand most frequently used in public affairs.\n\nThe Julian forum, built by Julius C\u00e6sar, with the spoils taken in the\nGallic war; the area alone, cost one hundred thousand _sesterces_, equal\nto 3570 dollars.\n\nThe Augustan forum, built by Augustus C\u00e6sar, containing statues in the\ntwo porticos, on each side of the main building. In one were all the\nLatin kings, beginning with \u00c6neas: in the other all the Roman kings,\nbeginning with Romulus, and most of the eminent persons in the\ncommonwealth, and Augustus himself among the rest, with an inscription\nupon the pedestal of every statue, expressing the chief actions and\nexploits of the person it represented.\n\nThe forum of Trajan, erected by the emperor Trajan, with the foreign\nspoils he had taken in the wars; the covering was all brass, and the\nporticos exceedingly beautiful.\n\nThe chief _fora venalia_ or markets, were _boarium_, for oxen and beef,\n_suarium_, for swine, _pistorium_, for bread, _cupedinarium_, for\ndainties, and _holitorium_, for roots, sallads and similar things.\n\nThe _comitium_ was only a part of the Roman forum, which served\nsometimes for the celebration of the _comitia_; here stood the _rostra_,\na kind of pulpit, adorned with the beaks of ships taken in a sea fight,\nfrom the inhabitants of Antium in Italy; here causes were pleaded,\norations made, and funeral panegyrics delivered.\n\n\n\n\nCHAPTER IX.\n\n_Porticos, Arches, Columns and Trophies._\n\n\nThe porticos are worthy of observation: they were structures of curious\nwork and extraordinary beauty annexed to public edifices, sacred and\ncivil, as well for ornament as use.\n\nThey generally took their names either from the temples which they stood\nnear, from the builders, from the nature and form of the building, or\nfrom the remarkable paintings in them.\n\nThey were sometimes used for the assemblies of the senate; sometimes the\njewellers and such as dealt in the most precious wares took their stand\nhere to expose their goods for sale; but the general use they were put\nto, was the pleasure of walking or riding in them, like the present\npiazzas in Italy.\n\nArches were public buildings designed for the encouragement and reward\nof noble enterprises, erected generally to the honor of such eminent\npersons as had either won a victory of extraordinary consequence abroad,\nor had rescued the commonwealth, at home, from any considerable danger.\n\nAt first they were plain and rude structures, by no means remarkable for\nbeauty or taste: but in latter times no expense was thought too great to\nrender them in the highest manner splendid and magnificent. The arches\nbuilt by Romulus were only of brick, that of Camillus of plain square\nstone, but those of C\u00e6sar, Drusus, Titus, &c. were all of marble.\n\nTheir figure was at first semicircular, whence probably they took their\nnames; afterwards they were built four square, with a spacious arched\ngate in the middle, and small ones on each side. Upon the vaulted part\nof the middle gate, hung little winged images representing victory, with\ncrowns in their hands, which, when they were let down, they put upon the\nconqueror's head, as he passed under the triumphal arch.\n\nThe columns or pillars, over the sepulchres of distinguished men, were\ngreat ornaments to the city: they were at last converted to the same\ndesign as the arches, for the honorable memorial of some noble victory\nor exploit. The pillars of the emperors Trajan and Antoninus deserve\nparticular attention for their beauty and curious workmanship.\n\nThe former was set up in the middle of Trajan's forum, being composed of\ntwenty-four great stones of marble, but so skilfully cemented as to\nappear one entire stone. The height was one hundred forty-four feet; it\nis ascended on the inside by one hundred eighty-five winding stairs, and\nhas forty little windows for the admission of light. The whole pillar is\nincrusted with marble, in which are expressed all the noble actions of\nthe emperor, and particularly the Decian war.\n\nBut its noblest ornament was the gigantic statue of Trajan on the top,\nbeing no less than twenty feet high; he was represented in a coat of\narmour proper to the general, holding in his left hand a sceptre, in his\nright a hollow globe of fire, in which his own ashes were deposited\nafter his death.\n\nThe column of Antoninus was raised in imitation of this, which it\nexceeded only in one respect, that it was one hundred seventy six feet\nhigh--for the work was much inferior to the former, being undertaken in\nthe declining age of the empire. The ascent on the inside was by one\nhundred six steps, and the windows, in the sides, fifty-six; the\nsculpture and the other ornaments were of the same nature as those of\nthe first, and on the top stood a colossal statue of the emperor, naked,\nas appears from his coins.\n\nBoth of these columns are still standing at Rome; the former almost\nentire: but Pope Sixtus the first, instead of the two statues of the\nemperors, set up St. Peter's on the column of Trajan, and St. Paul's on\nthat of Antoninus.\n\nThere was likewise a gilded pillar in the forum, called the _milliarium\naureum_, erected by Augustus C\u00e6sar, at which all the highways of Italy\nmet and were concluded; from this they counted their miles, at the end\nof every mile setting up a stone, whence came the phrase _primus ab urbe\npisla_.\n\nBut the most remarkable was the _columna rostrata_, set up to the honor\nof Caius Duilius, when he had gained a victory over the Carthaginian and\nSicilian fleets, four hundred ninety-three years from the foundation of\nthe city, and adorned with the beaks of the vessels taken in the\nengagement. This is still to be seen at Rome; the inscription on the\nbasis is a noble example of the old way of writing, in the early times\nof the commonwealth.\n\nTrophies were spoils taken from the enemy, and fixed upon any thing as\nsigns or monuments of victory: they were erected usually in the place\nwhere it was gained and consecrated to some divinity, with an\ninscription.\n\n\n\n\nCHAPTER X.\n\n_Bagnios, Aqueducts, Sewers and public Ways._\n\n\nThe Romans expended immense sums of money on their bagnios. The most\nremarkable were those of the emperors Dioclesian and Antonius\nCaracalla--great part of which are standing at this time, and with the\nhigh arches, the beautiful and stately pillars, the abundance of foreign\nmarble, the curious vaulting of the roofs, and the prodigious number of\nspacious apartments, may be considered among the greatest curiosities of\nRome.\n\nThe first invention of aqueducts, is attributed to Appius Claudius, four\nhundred forty-one years from the foundation of the city, who brought\nwater into the city, by a channel of eleven miles in length--but\nafterwards several others of greater magnitude were built: several of\nthem were cut through the mountains, and all other impediments for about\nforty miles together, and of such a height that a man on horseback might\nride through them without the least difficulty. But this is meant only\nof the constant course of the channel, for the vaults and arches were in\nsome places one hundred and nine feet high. It is said that Rome was\nsupplied with five hundred thousand hogsheads every twenty-four hours by\nmeans of these aqueducts.\n\nThe _cloac\u00e6_ or sewers were constructed by undermining and cutting\nthrough the seven hills upon which Rome stood, making the city hang, as\nit were, between heaven and earth, and capable of being sailed under.\n\nMarcus Agrippa in his edileship, made no less than seven streams meet\ntogether under ground, in one main channel, with such a rapid current,\nas to carry all before them, that they met with in their passage.\nSometimes in a flood, the waters of the Tiber opposed them in their\ncourse, and the two streams encountered each other with great fury: yet\nthe works preserved their old strength, without any sensible damage:\nsometimes the ruins of whole buildings, destroyed by fire or other\ncasualties, pressed heavily upon the frame: sometimes terrible\nearthquakes shook the foundation: yet they still continued impregnable.\n\nThe public ways were built with extraordinary care to a great distance\nfrom the city on all sides; they were generally paved with flint, though\nsometimes, and especially without the city, with pebbles and gravel.\n\nThe most noble was the Appian way, the length of which was generally\ncomputed at three hundred and fifty miles: it was twelve feet broad,\nmade of huge stones, most of them blue. Its strength was so great, that\nafter it had been built two thousand years, it was, in most places, for\nseveral miles together, perfectly sound.\n\n\n\n\nCHAPTER XI.\n\n_Of Augurs and Auguries._\n\n\nThe business of the augurs or soothsayers was to interpret dreams,\noracles, prodigies, &c. and to tell whether any action should be\nfortunate or prejudicial to any particular persons, or to the whole\ncommonwealth.\n\nThere are five kinds of auguries mentioned in authors--1st. From the\nappearances in heaven,--as thunder, lightning, comets and other meteors;\nas, for instance, whether the thunder came from the right or left,\nwhether the number of strokes was even or odd, &c.\n\n2d. From birds, whence they had the name of _auspices_, from _avis_ and\n_specio_; some birds furnished them with observations from their\nchattering and singing,--such as crows, owls, &c.--others from their\nflying, as eagles, vultures, &c.\n\nTo take both these kind of auguries, the observer stood upon a tower\nwith his head covered in a gown, peculiar to his office, and turning his\nface towards the east, marked out the heavens into four quarters, with a\nshort, straight rod, with a little turning at one end: this done, he\nstaid waiting for the omen, which never signified anything, unless\nconfirmed by another of the same sort.\n\n3d. From chickens kept in a coop for this purpose. The manner of\ndivining from them was as follows:--early in the morning, the augur,\ncommanding a general silence, ordered the coop to be opened, and threw\ndown a handful of crumbs or corn: if the chickens did not immediately\nrun to the food, if they scattered it with their wings, if they went by\nwithout taking notice of it, or if they flew away, the omen was reckoned\nunfortunate, and to portend nothing but danger or mischance; but if they\nleaped directly from the pen, and eat voraciously, there was great\nassurance of happiness and success.\n\n4th. From beasts, such as foxes, wolves, goats, heifers, &c.; the\ngeneral observations about these, were, whether they appeared in a\nstrange place, or crossed the way, or whether they ran to the right or\nthe left, &c.\n\nThe last kind of divination was from unusual accidents, such as\nsneezing, stumbling, seeing apparations, hearing strange voices, the\nfalling of salt upon the table, &c.\n\n\n\n\nCHAPTER XII.\n\n_Of the Aruspices, Pontifices, Quindecemviri, Vestals, &c._\n\n\nThe business of aruspices was to look upon the beasts offered in\nsacrifices, and by them to divine the success of any enterprise.\n\nThey took their observations, 1st. From the beasts before they were cut\nup. 2d. From the entrails of those beasts after they were cut up. 3d.\nFrom the flame that used to rise when they were burning. 4th. From the\nflour of bran, from the frankincense, wine and water, which they used in\nthe sacrifice.\n\nThe offices of the pontifices were to give judgment in all cases\nrelating to religion, to inquire into the lives of the inferior priests,\nand to punish them if they saw occasion; to prescribe rules for public\nworship; to regulate the feasts, sacrifices, and all other sacred\ninstitutions. The master or superintendent of the pontifices was one of\nthe most honorable offices in the commonwealth.\n\nThe _quindecemviri_ had the charge of the sibylline books; inspected\nthem by the appointment of the senate in dangerous junctures, and\nperformed the sacrifices which they enjoined.\n\nThey are said to have been instituted on the following occasion: A\ncertain woman called Amalth{=e}a is said to have come to Tarquin the\nproud, wishing to sell nine books of sibylline or prophetic oracles: but\nupon Tarquin's refusal to give her the price she asked, she went away\nand burnt three of them. Returning soon after, she asked the same price\nfor the remaining six: whereupon, being ridiculed by the king, she went\nand burnt three more; and coming back, still demanded the same price for\nthose which remained. Tarquin, surprised at this strange conduct of the\nwoman, consulted the augurs what to do; they, regretting the loss of the\nbooks which had been destroyed, advised the king to give the price\nrequired. The woman therefore, having delivered the books and directed\nthem to be carefully kept, disappeared, and was never afterwards seen.\n\nThese books were supposed to contain the fate of the Roman empire, and\ntherefore, in public danger or calamity, they were frequently inspected;\nthey were kept with great care in a chest under ground, in the capitol.\n\nThe institution of the vestal virgins is generally attributed to Numa;\ntheir office was to attend upon the rites of Vesta, the chief part of it\nbeing the preservation of the holy fire: they were obliged to keep this\nwith the greatest care, and if it happened to go out, it was thought\nimpiety to light it by any common flame, but they made use of the pure\nrays of the sun.\n\nThe famous palladium brought from Troy by \u00c6neas, was likewise guarded by\nthem, for Ulysses and Diomedes stole only a counterfeit one, a copy of\nthe other, which was kept with less care.\n\nThe number of the vestals was six, and they were admitted between the\nyears of six and ten. The chief rules prescribed by their founder, were\nto vow the strictest chastity for the space of thirty years;--the first\nten they were only novices, being obliged to learn the ceremonies and\nperfect themselves in the duties of their religion; the next ten years\nthey discharged the duties of priestesses, and spent the remaining ten\nin instructing others.\n\nIf they broke their vow of virginity, they were buried alive in a place\nwithout the city wall, allotted for that purpose.\n\nThis severe condition was recompensed with several privileges and\nprerogatives: their persons were sacred: in public they usually appeared\non a magnificent car, drawn by white horses, followed by a numerous\nretinue of female slaves, and preceded by lictors; and if they met a\nmalefactor going to punishment, they had the power to remit his\nsentence.\n\nThe _septemviri_ were priests among the Romans, who prepared the sacred\nfeasts at games, processions, and other solemn occasions: they were\nlikewise assistants to the pontifices.\n\nThe _fratres ambarvales_, twelve in number, were those priests who\noffered up sacrifices for the fertility of the ground. The _curiones_\nperformed the rites in each curia.\n\n_Feciales_ (_Heralds_) were a college of sacred persons, into whose\ncharge all concerns relating to the declaration of war or conclusion of\npeace, were committed.\n\nTheir first institution was in so high a degree laudable and beneficial,\nas to reflect great honour on Roman justice and moderation. It was the\nprimary and especial duty of the heralds, to inquire into the equity of\na proposed war: and if the grounds of it seemed to them trivial or\nunjust, the war was declined--if otherwise, the senate concerted the\nbest measures to carry it on with spirit.\n\nFeciales were supreme judges in every thing relating to treaties. The\nhead of their college was called Pater Patratus.\n\nAll the members of this college, while in the discharge of their duty,\nwore a wreath of vervain around their heads; and bore a branch of it in\ntheir hands, when they made peace, of which it was an emblem.\n\nTheir authority and respectability continued until the lust of dominion\nhad corrupted the policy of the Romans; after which their situations\nwere comparative sinecures, and their solemn deliberations dwindled into\nuseless or contemptible formalities.\n\nAmong the flamines or priests of particular gods, were, 1st. _flamen\ndialis_ the priest of Jupiter. This was an office of great dignity, but\nsubjected to many restrictions; as that he should not ride on horseback,\nnor stay one night without the city, nor take an oath, and several\nothers.\n\n2d. The _salii_, priests of Mars, so called, because on solemn occasions\nthey used to go through the city dancing, dressed in an embroidered\ntunic, bound with a brazen belt, and a _toga pretexta_ or _trabea_;\nhaving on their head a cap rising to a considerable height in the form\nof a cone, with a sword by their side, in their right hand a spear or\nrod, and in their left, one of the ancilia or shields of Mars.--The most\nsolemn procession of the salii was on the first of March, in\ncommemoration of the time when the sacred shield was believed to have\nfallen from heaven in the reign of Numa.\n\n3d. The _luperci_, priests of Pan, were so called, from a wolf, because\nthat god was supposed to keep the wolves from the sheep. Hence the place\nwhere he was worshipped was called lupercal, and his festival\nlupercalia, which was celebrated in February, at which the luperci ran\nup and down the city naked, having only a girdle of goat skin round\ntheir waists, and thongs of the same in their hands, with which they\nstruck those they met.\n\nIt is said that Antony, while chief of the luperci, went according to\nconcert, it is believed, almost naked into the forum, attended by his\nlictors, and having made an harangue to the people from the rostra,\npresented a crown to C\u00e6sar, who was sitting there, surrounded by the\nwhole senate and people. He attempted frequently to put the crown upon\nhis head, addressing him by the title of king, and declaring that what\nhe said and did was at the desire of his fellow citizens; but C\u00e6sar\nperceiving the strongest marks of aversion in the people, rejected it,\nsaying, that Jupiter alone was king of Rome, and therefore sent the\ncrown to the capitol to be presented to that God.\n\n\n\n\nCHAPTER XIII.\n\n_Religious Ceremonies of the Romans._\n\n\nThe Romans were, as a people, remarkably attached to the religion they\nprofessed; and scrupulously attentive in discharging the rites and\nceremonies which it enjoined.\n\nTheir religion was Idolatry, in its grossest and widest acceptation. It\nacknowledged a few general truths, but greatly darkened these by fables\nand poetical fiction.\n\nAll the inhabitants of the invisible world, to which the souls of people\ndeparted after death, were indiscriminately called _Inferi_. _Elysium_\nwas that part of hell (_apud Inferos_,) in which the good spent a\nspiritual existence of unmingled enjoyment, and _Tartarus_ (pl. -ra) was\nthe terrible prison-house of the damned.\n\nThe worship of the gods consisted chiefly in prayers, vows, and\nsacrifices. No act of religious worship was performed without prayer;\nwhile praying, they stood usually with their heads covered, looking\ntowards the east; a priest pronounced the words before them;--they\nfrequently touched the altars or knees of the images of the gods;\nturning themselves round in a circle towards the right, sometimes\nputting their right hand to their mouth, and also prostrating themselves\non the ground.\n\nThey vowed temples, games, sacrifices, gifts, &c. Sometimes they used to\nwrite their vows on paper or waxen tablets, to seal them up, and fasten\nthem with wax to the knees of the images of the gods, that being\nsupposed to be the seat of mercy.\n\nLustrations were necessary to be made before entrance on any important\nreligious duty, viz. before setting out to the temples, before the\nsacrifice, before initiation into the mysteries, and before solemn vows\nand prayers.\n\nLustrations were also made after acts by which one might be polluted; as\nafter murder, or after having assisted at a funeral.\n\nIn sacrifices it was requisite that those who offered them, should come\nchaste and pure; that they should bathe themselves, be dressed in white\nrobes, and crowned with the leaves of the tree which was thought most\nacceptable to the god whom they worshipped.\n\nSacrifices were made of victims whole and sound (_Integr\u00e6 et san\u00e6_.) But\nall victims were not indifferently offered to all gods.\n\nA white bull was an acceptable sacrifice to Jupiter; an ewe to Juno;\nblack victims, bulls especially, to Pluto; a bull and a horse to\nNeptune; the horse to Mars; bullocks and lambs to Apollo, &c. Sheep and\ngoats were offered to various deities.\n\nThe victim was led to the altar with a loose rope, that it might not\nseem to be brought by force, which was reckoned a bad omen. After\nsilence was proclaimed, a salted cake was sprinkled on the head of the\nbeast, and frankincense and wine poured between his horns, the priest\nhaving first tasted the wine himself, and given it to be tasted by those\nthat stood next him, which was called _libatio_--the priest then plucked\nthe highest hairs between the horns, and threw them into the fire--the\nvictim was struck with an axe or mall, then stabbed with knives, and the\nblood being caught in goblets, was poured on the altar--it was then\nflayed and dissected; then the entrails were inspected by the aruspices,\nand if the signs were favorable, they were said to have offered up an\nacceptable sacrifice, or to have pacified the gods; if not, another\nvictim was offered up, and sometimes several. The parts which fell to\nthe gods were sprinkled with meal, wine, and frankincense, and burnt on\nthe altar. When the sacrifice was finished, the priest, having washed\nhis hands, and uttered certain prayers, again made a libation, and the\npeople were dismissed.\n\nHuman sacrifices were also offered among the Romans: persons guilty of\ncertain crimes, as treachery or sedition, were devoted to Pluto and the\ninfernal gods, and therefore any one might slay them with impunity.\n\nAltars and temples afforded an asylum or place of refuge among the\nGreeks and Romans, as well as among the Jews, chiefly to slaves from the\ncruelty of their masters, and to insolvent debtors and criminals, where\nit was considered impious to touch them; but sometimes they put fire and\ncombustible materials around the place, that the person might appear to\nbe forced away, not by men, but by a god: or shut up the temple and\nunroofed it, that he might perish in the open air.\n\n\n\n\nCHAPTER XIV.\n\n_The Roman Year._\n\n\nRomulus divided the year into ten months; the first of which was called\nMarch from Mars, his supposed father; the 2d April, either from the\nGreek name of Venus, ({Aphrodita}) or because trees and flowers open\ntheir buds, during that month; the 3d, May, from Maia, the mother of\nMercury; the 4th, June, from the goddess Juno; 5th, July, from Julius\nC\u00e6sar; 6th, August, from Augustus C\u00e6sar; the rest were called from their\nnumber, September, October, November, December.\n\nNuma added two months--January from Janus, and February because the\npeople were then purified, (_februabatur_) by an expiatory sacrifice\nfrom the sin of the whole year: for this anciently was the last month in\nthe year.\n\nNuma in imitation of the Greeks divided the year into twelve lunar\nmonths, according to the course of the moon, but as this mode of\ndivision did not correspond with the course of the sun, he ordained that\nan intercalary month should be added every other year.\n\nJulius C\u00e6sar afterwards abolished this month, and with the assistance of\nSosig{)e}nes, a skilful astronomer of Alexandria, in the year of Rome\n707, arranged the year according to the course of the sun, commencing\nwith the first of January, and assigned to each month the number of days\nwhich they still retain. This is the celebrated Julian or solar year\nwhich has been since maintained without any other alteration than that\nof the new style, introduced by pope Gregory, A. D. 1582, and adopted in\nEngland in 1752, when eleven days were dropped between the second and\nfourteenth of September.\n\nThe months were divided into three parts, _kalends_, _nones_ and _ides_.\nThey commenced with the _kalends_; the _nones_ occurred on the fifth,\nand the _ides_ on the thirteenth, except in March, May, July, and\nOctober, when they fell on the seventh and fifteenth.\n\nIn marking the days of the month they went backwards: thus, January\nfirst was the first of the _kalends_ of January--December thirty-first\nwas _pridie kalendas_, or the day next before the _kalends_ of\nJanuary--the day before that, or the thirtieth of December, _tertio\nkalendas Januarii_, or the third day before the _kalends_ of January,\nand so on to the thirteenth, when came the ides of December.\n\nThe day was either civil or natural; the civil day was from midnight to\nmidnight; the natural day was from the rising to the setting of the sun.\n\nThe use of clocks and watches was unknown to the Romans--nor was it till\nfour hundred and forty-seven years after the building of the city, that\nthe sun dial was introduced: about a century later, they first measured\ntime by a water machine, which served by night, as well as by day.\n\nTheir days were distinguished by the names of _festi_, _profesti_, and\n_intercisi_. The _festi_ were dedicated to religious worship, the\n_profesti_ were allotted to ordinary business, the days which served\npartly for one and partly for the other were called _intercisi_, or half\nholy days.\n\nThe manner of reckoning by weeks was not introduced until late in the\nsecond century of the christian era: it was borrowed from the Egyptians,\nand the days were named after the planets: thus, Sunday from the Sun,\nMonday from the Moon, Tuesday from Mars, Wednesday from Mercury,\nThursday from Jupiter, Friday from Venus, Saturday from Saturn.\n\n\n_A Table of the Kalends, Nones, and Ides._\n\n Days of| Apr, June, | Jan, August, | March, May, |\n Month. | Sept, Nov. | December. | July, Oct. | February.\n\n 1 Kalend\u00e6. Kalend\u00e6. Kalend\u00e6. Kalend\u00e6.\n 2 IV. Nonas. IV. Nonas VI. IV. Nonas.\n 3 III. III. V. III.\n 4 Pridie. Pridie. IV. Pridie.\n 5 Non\u00e6. Non\u00e6. III. Non\u00e6.\n 6 VIII. Idus VIII. Idus. Pridie. VIII. Idus.\n 7 VII. VII. Non\u00e6. VII.\n 8 VI. VI. VIII. Idus. VI.\n 9 V. V. VII. V.\n 10 IV. IV. VI. IV.\n 11 III. III. V. III.\n 12 Pridie. Pridie. IV. Pridie.\n 13 Idus. Idus. III. Idus.\n 14 XVIII. Kal. XIX. Kal. Pridie. XVI. Kal.\n 15 XVII. XVIII. Idus. XV.\n 16 XVI. XVII. XVII. Kal. XIV\n 17 XV. XVI. XVI. XIII.\n 18 XIV. XV. XV. XII.\n 19 XIII. XIV. XIV. XI.\n 20 XII. XIII. XIII. X.\n 21 XI. XII. XII. IX.\n 22 X. XI. XI. VIII.\n 23 IX. X. X. VII.\n 24 VIII. IX. IX. VI.\n 25 VII. VIII. VIII. V.\n 26 VI. VII. VII. IV.\n 27 V. VI. VI. III.\n 28 IV. V. V. Prid. Kal.\n 29 III. IV. IV. Martii.\n 30 Prid. Kal. III. III.\n 31 Mens. seq. Prid. Kal. Prid. Kal.\n Mens. seq. Mens. seq.\n\n\n\n\nCHAPTER XV.\n\n_Roman Games._\n\n\nThe Roman Games formed a part of religious worship, and were always\nconsecrated to some god: they were either stated or vowed by generals in\nwar, or celebrated on extraordinary occasions; the most celebrated were\nthose of the circus.\n\nAmong them were first, chariot and horse races, of which the Romans were\nextravagantly fond. The charioteers were distributed into four parties\nor factions from the different colours of their dresses. The spectators\nfavored one or other of the colours, as humor or caprice inclined them.\nIt was not the swiftness of their horses, nor the art of the men that\ninclined them, but merely the dress. In the times of Justinian, no less\nthan thirty thousand men are said to have lost their lives at\nConstantinople, in a tumult raised by contention among the partizans of\nthe several colours.\n\nThe order in which the chariots or horses stood, was determined by lot,\nand the person who presided at the games gave the signal for starting,\nby dropping a cloth; then the chain of the _hermuli_ being withdrawn,\nthey sprung forward, and whoever first ran seven times round the course,\nwas declared the victor; he was then crowned, and received a prize in\nmoney of considerable value.\n\nSecond; contests of agility and strength, of which there were five\nkinds; running, leaping, boxing, wrestling and throwing the _discus_ or\nquoit. Boxers covered their hands with a kind of gloves, which had lead\nor iron sewed into them, to make the strokes fall with greater weight;\nthe combatants were previously trained in a place of exercise, and\nrestricted to a particular diet.\n\nThird; what was called _venatio_, or the fighting of wild beasts with\none another, or with men, called _bestiarii_, who were either forced to\nthis by way of punishment, as the primitive christians often were, or\nfought voluntarily, either from a natural ferocity of disposition, or\ninduced by hire. An incredible number of animals of various kinds, were\nbrought from all quarters, for the entertainment of the people, at an\nimmense expense; and were kept in enclosures called _vivaria_, till the\nday of exhibition. Pompey, in his second consulship, exhibited at once\nfive hundred lions, and eighteen elephants, who were all despatched in\nfive days.\n\nFourth; _naumachia_, or the representation of a sea fight; those who\nfought, were usually composed of captives or condemned malefactors, who\nfought to death, unless saved by the clemency of the emperors.\n\nIn the next class of games were the shows of gladiators; they were first\nexhibited at Rome by two brothers called Bruti, at the funeral of their\nfather, and for some time they were only exhibited on such occasions;\nbut afterwards, also by the magistrates, to entertain the people,\nchiefly at the _saturnalia_ and feasts of Minerva.\n\nIncredible numbers of men were destroyed in this manner; after the\ntriumph of Trajan over the Dacians, spectacles were exhibited for one\nhundred twenty-three days, in which eleven thousand animals, of\ndifferent kinds, were killed, and ten thousand gladiators fought, whence\nwe may judge of other instances. The emperor Claudius, although\nnaturally of a gentle disposition, is said to have been rendered cruel\nby often attending these spectacles.\n\nGladiators were at first composed of slaves and captives, or of\ncondemned malefactors, but afterwards also of free born citizens,\ninduced by hire or inclination.\n\nWhen any gladiator was wounded, he lowered his arms as a sign of his\nbeing vanquished, but his fate depended on the pleasure of the people,\nwho, if they wished him to be saved, pressed down their thumbs; if to be\nslain, they turned them up, and ordered him to receive the sword, which\ngladiators usually submitted to with amazing fortitude.\n\nSuch was the spirit engendered by these scenes of blood, that\nmalefactors and unfortunate christians, during the period of the\npersecution against them, were compelled to risk their lives in these\nunequal contests; and in the time of Nero, christians were dressed in\nskins, and thus distinguished, were hunted by dogs, or forced to contend\nwith ferocious animals, by which they were devoured.\n\nThe next in order were the dramatic entertainments, of which there were\nthree kinds. First; comedy, which was a representation of common life,\nwritten in a familiar style, and usually with a happy issue: the design\nof it was, to expose vice and folly to ridicule.\n\nSecond; tragedy, or the representation of some one serious and important\naction; in which illustrious persons are introduced as heroes, kings,\n&c. written in an elevated style, and generally with an unhappy issue.\n\nThe great end of tragedy was to excite the passions; chiefly pity and\nhorror: to inspire a love of virtue, and an abhorrence of vice.\n\nThe Roman tragedy and comedy differed from ours only in the chorus: this\nwas a company of actors who usually remained on the stage singing and\nconversing on the subject in the intervals of the acts.\n\nPantomimes, or representations of dumb show, where the actors expressed\nevery thing by their dancing and gestures, without speaking.\n\nThose who were most approved, received crowns, &c. as at other games; at\nfirst composed of leaves or flowers, tied round the head with strings,\nafterwards of thin plates of brass gilt.\n\nThe scenery was concealed by a curtain, which, contrary to the modern\ncustom, was drawn down when the play began, and raised when it was over.\n\n\n\n\nCHAPTER XVI.\n\n_Magistrates._\n\n\nRome was at first governed by kings, chosen by the people; their power\nwas not absolute, but limited; their badges were the _trabea_ or white\nrobe adorned with stripes of purple, a golden crown and ivory sceptre;\nthe _curule_ chair and twelve _lictors_ with the _fasces_, that is,\ncarrying each a bundle of rods, with an axe in the middle of them.\n\nThe regal government subsisted at Rome for two hundred and forty-three\nyears, under seven kings--Romulus, Numa Pompilius, Tullus Hostilius,\nAncus Marcius, Lucius Tarquinius Priscus, Servius Tullius, and Lucius\nTarquinius Superbus, all of whom, except the last, may be said to have\nlaid the foundation of Roman greatness by their good government.\n\nTarquin being universally detested for his tyranny and cruelty, was\nexpelled the city, with his wife and family, on account of the violence\noffered by his son Sextus to Lucretia, a noble lady, the wife of\nCollatinus.\n\nThis revolution was brought about chiefly by means of Lucius Junius\nBrutus. The haughtiness and cruelty of Tarquin inspired the Romans with\nthe greatest aversion to regal government, which they retained ever\nafter.\n\nIn the two hundred and forty-fourth year from the building of the city,\nthey elected two magistrates, of equal authority, and gave them the name\nof consuls. They had the same badges as the kings, except the crown, and\nnearly the same power; in time of war they possessed supreme command,\nand usually drew lots to determine which should remain in Rome--they\nlevied soldiers, nominated the greater part of the officers, and\nprovided what was necessary for their support.\n\nIn dangerous conjunctures, they were armed by the senate with absolute\npower, by the solemn decree that the consuls should take care the\nRepublic receives no harm. In any serious tumult or sedition they called\nthe Roman citizens to arms in these words, \"Let those who wish to save\nthe republic follow me\"--by which they easily checked it.\n\nAlthough their authority was very much impaired, first by the tribunes\nof the people, and afterwards upon the establishment of the empire, yet\nthey were still employed in consulting the senate, administering\njustice, managing public games and the like, and had the honor to\ncharacterize the year by their own names.\n\nTo be a candidate for the consulship, it was requisite to be forty-three\nyears of age: to have gone through the inferior offices of _qu\u00e6stor_,\n_\u00e6dile_, and _pr\u00e6tor_--and to be present in a private station.\n\nThe office of pr\u00e6tor was instituted partly because the consuls being\noften wholly taken up with foreign wars, found the want of some person\nto administer justice in the city; and partly because the nobility,\nhaving lost their appropriation of the consulship, were ambitious of\nobtaining some new honor in its room. He was attended in the city by two\n_lictors_, who went before him with the _fasces_, and six _lictors_\nwithout the city; he wore also, like the consuls, the _toga pretexta_,\nor white robe fringed with purple.\n\nThe power of the pr\u00e6tor, in the administration of justice, was expressed\nin three words, _do_, _dico_, _addico_. By the word _do_, he expressed\nhis power in giving the form of a writ for trying and redressing a\nwrong, and in appointing judges or jury to decide the cause: by _dico_,\nhe meant that he declared right, or gave judgment; and by _addico_, that\nhe adjudged the goods of the debtor to the creditor. The pr\u00e6tor\nadministered justice only in private or trivial cases: but in public and\nimportant causes, the people either judged themselves, or appointed\npersons called _qu\u00e6sitores_ to preside.\n\nThe _censors_ were appointed to take an account of the number of the\npeople, and the value of their fortunes, and superintend the public\nmorals. They were usually chosen from the most respectable persons of\nconsular dignity, at first only from among the Patricians, but\nafterwards likewise from the Plebeians.\n\nThey had the same ensigns as the consuls, except the _lictors_, and were\nchosen every five years, but continued in office only a year and a half.\nWhen any of the senators or equites committed a dishonorable action, the\ncensors could erase the name of the former from the list, and deprive\nthe knight of his horse and ring; any other citizen, they degraded or\ndeprived of all the privileges of a Roman citizen, except liberty.\n\nAs the sentence of censors (_Animadversio Censoria_,) only affected a\nperson's character, it was therefore properly called _Ignominia_. Yet\neven this was not unchangeable; the people or next censors might reverse\nit.\n\nIn addition to the revision of morals, censors had the charge of paving\nthe streets--making roads, bridges, and aqueducts--preventing private\npersons from occupying public property--and frequently of imposing\ntaxes.\n\nA census was taken by these officers, every five years, of the number of\nthe people, the amount of their fortunes, the number of slaves, &c.\nAfter this census had been taken, a sacrifice was made of a sow, a\nsheep, and a bull--hence called _suove-taurilia_. As this took place\nonly every five years, that space of time was called a _lustrum_,\nbecause the sacrifice was a lustration offered for all the people; and\ntherefore _condere lustrum_, means to finish the census.\n\nThe title of censor was esteemed more honorable than that of consul,\nalthough attended by less power: no one could be elected a second time,\nand they who filled it were remarkable for leading an irreproachable\nlife; so that it was considered the chief ornament of nobility to be\nsprung from a censorian family.\n\nThe appointment of tribunes of the people, may be attributed to the\nfollowing cause; the Plebeians being oppressed by the Patricians, on\naccount of debt, made a secession to a mountain afterwards called _mons\nsacer_, three miles from Rome, nor could they be prevailed on to return,\ntill they obtained from the Patricians a remission of debts for those\nwho were insolvent, and liberty to such as had been given up to serve\ntheir creditors: and likewise that the Plebeians should have proper\nmagistrates of their own, to protect their rights, whose person should\nbe sacred and inviolable.\n\nThey were at first five in number, but afterwards increased to ten; they\nhad no external mark of dignity, except a kind of beadle, called\n_viator_, who went before them.\n\nThe word _veto_, I forbid it, was at first the extent of their power;\nbut it afterwards increased to such a degree, that under pretence of\ndefending the rights of the people, they did almost whatever they\npleased. If any one hurt a tribune in word or deed, he was held\naccursed, and his property confiscated.\n\nThe _ediles_ were so called from their care of the public buildings;\nthey were either Plebeian or _curule_; the former, two in number, were\nappointed to be, as it were, the assistants of the tribunes of the\ncommons, and to determine certain lesser causes committed to them; the\nlatter, also two in number, were chosen from the Patricians and\nPlebeians, to exhibit certain public games.\n\nThe _qu\u00e6stors_ were officers elected by the people, to take care of the\npublic revenues; there were at first only two of them, but two others\nwere afterwards added to accompany the armies; and upon the conquest of\nall Italy, four more were created, who remained in the provinces.\n\nThe principal charge of the city qu\u00e6stors was the care of the treasury;\nthey received and expended the public money, and exacted the fines\nimposed by the people: they kept the military standards, entertained\nforeign ambassadors, and took charge of the funerals of those who were\nburied at the public expense.\n\nCommanders returning from war, before they could obtain a triumph, were\nobliged to take an oath before the qu\u00e6stors, that they had written to\nthe senate a true account of the number of the enemy they had slain, and\nof the citizens who were missing.\n\nThe office of the provincial qu\u00e6stors was to attend the consuls or\npr\u00e6tors into their provinces; to furnish the provisions and pay for the\narmy; to exact the taxes and tribute of the empire, and sell the spoils\ntaken in war.\n\nThe qu\u00e6storship was the first step of preferment to the other public\noffices, and to admission into the senate: its continuation was for but\none year, and no one could be a candidate for it until he had completed\nhis twenty-seventh year.\n\n_Legati_ were those next in authority to the qu\u00e6stors, and appointed\neither by the senate or president of the province, who was then said to\n_aliquem sibi legare_.\n\nThe office of the legati was very dignified and honorable. They acted as\nlieutenants or deputies in any business for which they were appointed,\nand were sometimes allowed the honor of lictors.\n\nThe _dictator_ was a magistrate invested with royal authority, created\nin perilous circumstances, in time of pestilence, sedition, or when the\ncommonwealth was attacked by dangerous enemies.\n\nHis power was supreme both in peace and war, and was even above the\nlaws; he could raise and disband armies, and determine upon the life and\nfortune of Roman citizens, without consulting the senate or people; when\nhe was appointed, all other magistrates resigned their offices except\nthe tribunes of the commons.\n\nThe dictator could continue in office only six months; but he usually\nresigned when he had effected the business for which he had been\ncreated. He was neither permitted to go out of Italy, nor ride on\nhorseback, without the permission of the people; but the principal check\nagainst any abuse of power, was that he might be called to an account\nfor his conduct, when he resigned his office.\n\nA master of horse was nominated by the dictator immediately after his\ncreation, usually from those of consular or pr\u00e6torian rank, whose office\nwas to command the cavalry, and execute the orders of the dictator.\n\nThe _decemviri_ were ten men invested with supreme power, who were\nappointed to draw up a code of laws, all the other magistrates having\nfirst resigned their offices.\n\nThey at first behaved with great moderation, and administered justice to\nthe people every tenth day. Ten tables of laws were proposed by them,\nand ratified by the people at the _comitia centuriata_.\n\nAs two other tables seemed to be wanting, _decemviri_ were again\nappointed for another year, to make them. But as these new magistrates\nacted tyrannically, and seemed disposed to retain their command beyond\nthe legal time, they were compelled to resign, chiefly on account of the\nbase passion of Appius Claudius, one of their number, for Virginia, a\nvirgin of plebeian rank, who was slain by her father to prevent her\nfalling into the decemvir's hands. The _decemviri_ all perished, either\nin prison or in banishment.\n\nThe consuls and all the chief magistrates, except the censors and the\ntribunes of the people, were preceded in public by a certain number,\naccording to their rank of office, called lictors, each bearing on his\nshoulders as the insignia of office, the _fasces_ and _securis_, which\nwere a bundle of rods, with an axe in the centre of one end; but the\nlictors in attendance on an inferior magistrate, carried the _fasces_\nonly, without the axe, to denote that he was not possessed of the power\nof capital punishments.\n\nThey opened a way through the crowd for the consul, saying words like\nthese--\"_cedite, Consul venit_,\" or \"_date viam Consuli_.\" It was their\nduty also to inflict punishment on the condemned.\n\n\n\n\nCHAPTER XVII.\n\n_Of Military Affairs._\n\n\nAccording to the Roman constitution, every free-born citizen was a\nsoldier, and bound to serve if called upon, in the armies of the state\nat any period, from the age of seventeen to forty-six.\n\nWhen the Romans thought themselves injured by any nation, they sent one\nor more of the priests, called _feciales_, to demand redress, and if it\nwas not immediately given, thirty-three days were granted to consider\nthe matter, after which war might be justly declared; then the feciales\nagain went to their confines, and having thrown a bloody spear into\nthem, formally declared war against that nation.\n\nThe levy of the troops, the encampment, and much of the civil\ndiscipline, as well as the temporary command of the army, was intrusted\nto the military tribunes, six of whom were appointed to each legion.\n\nDuring the early period of the republic, the standing army in time of\npeace usually consisted of only four legions, two of which were\ncommanded by each consul, and they were relieved by new levies every\nyear, the soldiers then serving without any pay beyond their mere\nsubsistence. But this number was afterwards greatly augmented, and the\ninconvenience of raw troops having been experienced, a fixed stipend in\nmoney was allowed to the men, and they were constantly retained in the\nservice.\n\nThe legion usually consisted of three hundred horse, and three thousand\nfoot: the different kinds of infantry which composed it were three, the\n_hastati_, _principes_, and _triarii_. The first were so called because\nthey fought with spears: they consisted of young men in the flower of\nlife, and formed the first line in battle. The _principes_ were men of\nmiddle age who occupied the second line. The _triarii_ were old soldiers\nof approved valor, who formed the third line.\n\nThere was a fourth kind of troops, called _vel{)i}tes_ from their\nswiftness and agility: these did not form a part of the legion, and had\nno certain post assigned them, but fought in scattered parties, wherever\noccasion required, usually before the lines.\n\nThe imperial eagle was the common standard of the legion; it was of gilt\nmetal, borne on a spear by an officer of rank, styled, from his office,\n_aquilifer_, and was regarded by the soldiery with the greatest\nreverence. There were other ensigns, as A. B. C. D. in the frontispiece.\n\nThe only musical instruments used in the Roman army, were brazen\ntrumpets of different forms, adapted to the various duties of the\nservice.\n\nThe arms of the soldiery varied according to the battalion in which they\nserved. Some were equipped with light javelins, and others with a\nmissile weapon, called _pilum_, which they flung at the enemy; but all\ncarried shields and short swords of that description, usually styled cut\nand thrust, which they wore on the right side, to prevent its\ninterfering with the buckler, which they bore on the left arm.\n\nThe shield was of an oblong or oval shape, with an iron boss jutting out\nin the middle, to glance off stones or darts; it was four feet long and\ntwo and a half broad, made of pieces of wood joined together with small\nplates of iron, and the whole covered with a bull's hide.\n\nThey were partly dressed in a metal cuirass with an under covering of\ncloth; on the head they wore helmets of brass, either fastened under the\nchin, with plates of the same metal, or reaching to the shoulders, which\nthey covered and ornamented on the top with flowing tufts of horse hair.\n\nThe light infantry were variously armed with slings and darts as well as\nswords, and commonly wore a shaggy cap, in imitation of the head of some\nwild beast, of which the skirt hung over their shoulders. The troops of\nthe line wore greaves on the legs and heavy iron-bound sandals on the\nfeet. These last were called _calig\u00e6_, from which the emperor Caius\nC\u00e6sar obtained the name of Caligula, in consequence of having worn them\nin his youth among the soldiery.\n\nThe cavalry were armed with spears and wore a coat of mail of chain\nwork, or scales of brass or steel, often plated with gold, under which\nwas a close garment that reached to their buskins. The helmet was\nsurmounted with a plume, and with an ornament distinctive of each rank,\nor with some device according to the fancy of the wearers, and which was\nthen, as now in heraldry, denominated the crest. This term was _crista_,\nderived from the resemblance of the ornament to the comb of a cock.\n\nThe Romans made no use of saddles or stirrups, but merely cloths folded\naccording to the convenience of the rider.\n\nAmong the instruments used in war were towers consisting of different\nstories, from which showers of darts were discharged on the townsmen by\nmeans of engines called _catapult\u00e6_, _balist\u00e6_, and _scorpiones_.\n\nBut the most dreadful machine of all was the battering ram: this was a\nlong beam like the mast of a ship, and armed at one end with iron, in\nthe form of a ram's head, whence it had its name. It was suspended by\nthe middle, with ropes or chains fastened to a beam which lay across two\nposts, and hanging thus equally balanced, it was violently thrust\nforward, drawn back, and again pushed forward, until by repeated strokes\nit had broken down the wall.\n\nThe discipline of the army was maintained with great severity; officers\nwere exposed to degradation for misconduct, and the private soldier to\ncorporal punishment. Whole legions who had transgressed their military\nduty were exposed to decimation, which consisted in drawing their names\nby lot, and putting every tenth man to the sword.\n\nThe most common rewards were crowns of different forms; the mural crown\nwas presented to him who in the assault first scaled the rampart of a\ntown; the castral, to those who were foremost in storming the enemy's\nentrenchments; the civic chaplet of oak leaves, to the soldier who saved\nhis comrade's life in battle, and the triumphal laurel wreath to the\ngeneral who commanded in a successful engagement. The radial crown was\nthat worn by the emperors.\n\nWhen an army was freed from a blockade, the soldiers gave their\ndeliverer a crown called _obsidionalis_, made of the grass which grew in\nthe besieged place; and to him who first boarded the ship of an enemy, a\nnaval crown.\n\nBut the greatest distinction that could be conferred on a commander, was\na triumph; this was granted only by the senate, on the occasion of a\ngreat victory. When decreed, the general returned to Rome, and was\nappointed by a special edict to the supreme command in the city; on the\nday of his entry, a triumphal arch was erected of sculptured masonry,\nunder which the procession passed.\n\nFirst came a detachment of cavalry, with a band of military music\npreceding a train of priests in their robes, who were followed by a\nhecatomb of the whitest oxen with gilded horns entwined with flowers;\nnext were chariots, laden with the spoils of the vanquished; and after\nthem, long ranks of chained captives conducted by files of lictors. Then\ncame the conqueror, clothed in purple and crowned with laurel, having an\nivory sceptre in his hand; a band of children followed dressed in white,\nwho threw perfumes from silver censors, while they chanted the hymns of\nvictory and the praises of the conqueror. The march was closed by the\nvictorious troops, with their weapons wreathed with laurel; the\nprocession marched to the temple of Jupiter, where the victor descended\nand dedicated his spoils to the gods.\n\nWhen the objects of the war had been obtained by a bloodless victory, a\nminor kind of triumph was granted, in which the general appeared on\nhorseback, dressed in white, and crowned with myrtle, while in his hand\nhe bore a branch of olive. No other living sacrifice was offered but\nsheep, from the name of which the ceremony was called an ovation.\n\nIn consequence of the continual depredations to which the coast of Italy\nwas subject, the Romans commenced the building of a number of vessels,\nto establish a fleet, taking for their model a Carthaginian vessel,\nwhich was formerly stranded on their coast.\n\nTheir vessels were of two kinds, _naves onerari\u00e6_, ships of burden, and\n_naves long\u00e6_, ships of war: the former served to carry provisions, &c.:\nthey were almost round, very deep, and impelled by sails.\n\nThe ships of war received their name from the number of banks of oars,\none above another, which they contained: thus a ship with three banks of\noars was called _triremis_, one with four, _quadriremis_, &c.; in these,\nsails were not used.\n\n\n\n\nCHAPTER XVIII.\n\n_Assemblies, Judicial Proceedings, and Punishments of the Romans._\n\n\nThe assemblies of the whole Roman people, to give their vote on any\nsubject, were called _comitia_. There were three kinds, the _curiata_,\n_centuriata_, and _tributa_.\n\nThe _comitia curiata_ were assemblies of the resident Roman citizens,\nwho were divided into thirty _curi\u00e6_, a majority of which determined all\nmatters of importance that were laid before them, such as the election\nof magistrates, the enacting of laws and judging of capital causes.\n\n_Comitia centuriata_ were assemblies of the various centuries into which\nthe six classes of the people were divided.\n\nThose who belonged to the first class were termed _classici_, by way of\npre-eminence--hence _auctores classici_, respectable or standard\nauthors; those of the last class, who had no fortune, were called\n_capite censi_, or _proletarii_; and those belonging to the middle\nclasses were all said to be _infra classem_--below the class.\n\n_Comitia centuriata_ were the most important of all the assemblies of\nthe people. In these, laws were enacted, magistrates elected, and\ncriminals tried. Their meeting was in the Campus Martius.\n\nIt was necessary that these assemblies should have been summoned\nseventeen days previously to their meeting, in order that the people\nmight have time to reflect on the business which was to be transacted.\n\nCandidates for any public office, who were to be elected here, were\nobliged to give in their names before the _comitia_ were summoned. Those\nwho did so, were said to _petere consulatum vel pr\u00e6turam_, &c.; and they\nwore a white robe called _toga candida_, to denote the purity of their\nmotives; on which account they were called _candidati_.\n\nCandidates went about to solicit votes (_ambire_,) accompanied by a\nnomenclator, whose duty it was to whisper the names of those whose votes\nthey desired; for it was supposed to be an insult not to know the name\nof a Roman citizen.\n\n_Centuria pr\u00e6rogativa_ was that century which obtained by ballot the\nprivilege of voting first.\n\nWhen the _centuria pr\u00e6rogativa_ had been elected, the presiding\nmagistrate sitting in a tent (_tabernaculum_,) called upon it to come\nand vote. All that century then immediately separated themselves from\nthe rest, and entered into that place of the Campus Martius, called\n_septa_ or _ovilia_. Going into this, they had to cross over a little\nbridge (_pons_;) hence the phrase _de ponte dejici_--to be deprived of\nthe elective franchise.\n\nAt the farther end of the _septa_ stood officers, called _diribitores_,\nwho handed waxen tablets to the voters, with the names of the candidates\nwritten upon them. The voter then putting a mark (_punctus_) on the name\nof him for whom he voted, threw the tablet into a large chest; and when\nall were done, the votes were counted.\n\nIf the votes of a century for different magistrates, or respecting any\nlaw, were equal when counted, the vote of the entire century was not\nreckoned among the votes of the other centuries; but in trials of life\nand death, if the tablets pro and con were equal, the criminal was\nacquitted.\n\nThe candidate for whom the greatest number of centuries voted, was duly\nelected, (_renunciatus est_:) when the votes were unanimous, he was said\n_ferre omne punctum_--to be completely successful.\n\nWhen a law was proposed, two ballots were given to each voter: one with\nU. R. written upon it, _Uti Rogas_--as you propose; and the other with\nA. for _Antiquo_--I am for the old one.\n\nIn voting on an impeachment, one tablet was marked with A. for\n_Absolvo_--I acquit; hence this letter was called _litera salutaris_;\nthe other with C. for _condemno_--I condemn; hence C. was called _litera\ntristis_.\n\nIn the _comitia tributa_, the people voted, divided into tribes,\naccording to their regions or wards; they were held to create inferior\nmagistrates, to elect certain priests, to make laws, and to hold trials.\n\nThe _comitia_ continued to be assembled for upwards of seven hundred\nyears, when that liberty was abridged by Julius C\u00e6sar, and after him by\nAugustus, each of whom shared the right of creating magistrates with the\npeople. Tiberius the second emperor, deprived the people altogether of\nthe right of election.\n\nThe extension of the Roman empire, the increase of riches, and\nconsequently of crime, gave occasion to a great number of new laws,\nwhich were distinguished by the name of the person who proposed them,\nand by the subject to which they referred.\n\nCivil trials, or differences between private persons were tried in the\nforum by the pr\u00e6tor. If no adjustment could be made between the two\nparties, the plaintiff obtained a writ from the pr\u00e6tor, which required\nthe defendant to give bail for his appearance on the third day, at which\ntime, if either was not present when cited, he lost his cause, unless he\nhad a valid excuse.\n\nActions were either real, personal, or mixed. Real, was for obtaining a\nthing to which one had a real right, but was possessed by another.\nPersonal, was against a person to bind him to the fulfilment of a\ncontract, or to obtain redress for wrongs. Mixed, was when the actions\nhad relation to persons and things.\n\nAfter the plaintiff had presented his case for trial, judges were\nappointed by the pr\u00e6tor, to hear and determine the matter, and fix the\nnumber of witnesses, that the suit might not be unreasonably protracted.\nThe parties gave security that they would abide by the judgment, and the\njudges took a solemn oath to decide impartially; after this the cause\nwas argued on both sides, assisted by witnesses, writings, &c. In giving\nsentence, the votes of a majority of the judges were necessary to decide\nagainst the defendant; but if the number was equally divided, it was\nleft to the pr\u00e6tor to determine.\n\nTrial by jury, as established with us, was not known, but the mode of\njudging in criminal cases, seems to have resembled it. A certain number\nof senators and knights, or other citizens of respectability, were\nannually chosen by the pr\u00e6tor, to act as his assessors, and some of\nthese were appointed to sit in judgment with him. They decided by a\nmajority of voices, and returned their verdict, either guilty, not\nguilty, or uncertain, in which latter instance the case was deferred;\nbut if the votes for acquittal and condemnation were equal, the culprit\nwas discharged.\n\nThere were also officers called _centumviri_, to the number at first of\n100, but afterwards of 180, who were chosen equally, from the 35 tribes,\nand together with the pr\u00e6tor constituted a court of justice.\n\nCandidates for office wore a white robe, rendered shining by the art of\nthe fuller. They did not wear tunics, or waist-coats, either that they\nmight appear more humble, or might more easily show the scars they had\nreceived on the breast.\n\nFor a long time before the election, they endeavored to gain the favor\nof the people, by every popular art, by going to their houses, by\nshaking hands with those they met, by addressing them in a kindly\nmanner, and calling them by name, on which occasion they commonly had\nwith them a monitor, who whispered in their ears every body's name.\n\nCriminal law was in many instances more severe than it is at the present\nday. Thus adultery, which now only subjects the offender to a civil\nsuit, was by the Romans, as well as the ancient Jews, punished\ncorporally.\n\nForgery was not punished with death, unless the culprit was a slave; but\nfreemen guilty of that crime were subject to banishment, which deprived\nthem of their property and privileges; and false testimony, coining, and\nthose offences which we term misdemeanors, exposed them to an\ninterdiction from fire and water, or in fact an excommunication from\nsociety, which necessarily drove them into banishment.\n\nThe punishments inflicted among the Romans, were--fine, (_damnum_,)\nbonds, (_vincula_,) stripes, (_verbera_,) retaliation, (_talio_,)\ninfamy, (_ignominia_,) banishment, (_exilium_,) slavery, (_servitus_,)\nand death.\n\nThe methods of inflicting death were various; the chief were--beheading\n(_percussio securi_), strangling in prison (_strangulatio_), throwing a\ncriminal from that part of the prison called Robur (_precipitatio de\nrobore_), throwing a criminal from the Tarpeian rock (_dejectio e rupe\nTarpeia_), crucifixion (_in crucem actio_), and throwing into the river\n(_projectio in profluentem_).\n\nThe last-mentioned punishment was inflicted upon parricides, or the\nmurderers of any relation. So soon as any one was convicted of such\ncrimes, he was immediately blindfolded as unworthy of the light, and in\nthe next place whipped with rods. He was then sewed up in a sack, and\nthrown into the sea. In after times, to add to the punishment, a serpent\nwas put in the sack; and still later, an ape, a dog, and a cock. The\nsack which held the malefactor was called _Culeus_, on which account the\npunishment itself is often signified by the same name.\n\nIn the time of Nero, the punishment for treason was, to be stripped\nstark naked, and with the head held up by a fork to be whipped to death.\n\n\n\n\nCHAPTER XIX.\n\n_The Roman Dress._\n\n\nThe ordinary garments of the Romans were the _toga_ and the _tunic_.\n\nThe _toga_ was a loose woollen robe, of a semicircular form, without\nsleeves, open from the waist upwards, but closed from thence downwards,\nand surrounding the limbs as far as the middle of the leg. The upper\npart of the vest was drawn under the right arm, which was thus left\nuncovered, and, passing over the left shoulder, was there gathered in a\nknot, whence it fell in folds across the breast: this flap being tucked\ninto the girdle, formed a cavity which sometimes served as a pocket, and\nwas frequently used as a covering for the head. Its color was white,\nexcept in case of mourning, when a black or dark color was worn. The\nRomans were at great pains to adjust the toga and make it hang\ngracefully.\n\nIt was at first worn by women as well as men--but afterwards matrons\nwore a different robe, called _stola_, with a broad border or fringe,\nreaching to the feet. Courtezans, and women condemned for adultery, were\nnot permitted to wear the _stola_--hence called _togat\u00e6_.\n\nRoman citizens only were permitted to wear the _toga_, and banished\npersons were prohibited the use of it. The _toga picta_ was so termed\nfrom the rich embroidery with which it was covered:--the _toga palmata_\nfrom its being wrought in figured palm leaves--this last was the\ntriumphal habit.\n\nYoung men, until they were seventeen years of age, and young women until\nthey were married, wore a gown bordered with purple, called the _toga\npr\u00e6texta_.\n\nAfter they had arrived at the age of seventeen, young men assumed the\n_toga virilis_.\n\nThe _tunic_ was a white woollen vest worn below the _toga_, coming down\na little below the knees before, and to the middle of the leg behind, at\nfirst without sleeves. _Tunics_ with sleeves were reckoned effeminate:\nbut under the emperors, these were used with fringes at the hands. The\n_tunic_ was fastened by a girdle or belt about the waist, to keep it\ntight, which also served as a purse.\n\nThe women wore a _tunic_ which came down to their feet and covered their\narms.\n\nSenators had a broad stripe of purple, sewed on the breast of their\ntunic, called _latus clavus_, which is sometimes put for the _tunic_\nitself, or the dignity of a senator.\n\nThe _equites_ were distinguished by a narrow stripe called _angustus\nclavus_.\n\nThe Romans wore neither stockings nor breeches, but used sometimes to\nwrap their legs and thighs with pieces of cloth called from the parts\nwhich they covered, _tibialia_ and _feminalia_.\n\nThe chief coverings for the feet were the _calceus_, which covered the\nwhole foot, somewhat like our shoes, and was tied above with a _latchet_\nor lace, and the _solea_, a slipper or sandal which covered only the\nsole of the foot, and was fastened on with leather thongs or strings.\n\nThe shoes of the senators came up to the middle of their legs, and had a\ngolden or silver crescent on the top of the foot. The shoes of the\nsoldiery were called _calig\u00e6_, sometimes shod with nails. Comedians wore\nthe _socci_ or slippers, and tragedians the _cothurni_.\n\nThe ancient Romans went with their heads bare except at sacred rites,\ngames, festivals, on journey or in war.--Hence, of all the honors\ndecreed to C\u00e6sar by the senate, he is said to have been chiefly pleased\nwith that of always wearing a laurel crown, because it covered his\nbaldness, which was reckoned a deformity. At games and festivals a\nwoollen cap or bonnet was worn.\n\nThe head-dress of women was at first very simple. They seldom went\nabroad, and when they did they almost always had their faces veiled. But\nwhen riches and luxury increased, dress became, with many, the chief\nobject of attention. They anointed their hair with the richest perfumes,\nand sometimes gave it a bright yellow color, by means of a composition\nor wash. It was likewise adorned with gold and pearls and precious\nstones: sometimes with garlands and chaplets of flowers.\n\n\n\n\nCHAPTER XX.\n\n_Of the Fine Arts and Literature._\n\n\nThe Romans invented short or abridged writing, which enabled their\nsecretaries to collect the speeches of orators, however rapidly\ndelivered. The characters used by such writers were called notes. They\ndid not consist in letters of the alphabet, but certain marks, one of\nwhich often expressed a whole word, and frequently a phrase. The same\ndescription of writing is known at the present day by the word\n_stenography_. From notes came the word _notary_, which was given to all\nwho professed the art of quick writing.\n\nThe system of note-writing was not suddenly brought to perfection: it\nonly came into favor when the professors most accurately reported an\nexcellent speech which Cato pronounced in the senate. The orators, the\nphilosophers, the dignitaries, and nearly all the rich patricians then\ntook for secretaries note-writers, to whom they allowed handsome pay. It\nwas usual to take from their slaves all who had intellect to acquire a\nknowledge of that art.\n\nThe fine arts were unknown at Rome, until their successful commanders\nbrought from Syracuse, Asia, Macedonia and Corinth, the various\nspecimens which those places afforded. So ignorant, indeed, were they of\ntheir real worth, that when the victories of Mummius had given him\npossession of some of the finest productions of Grecian art, he\nthreatened the persons to whom he intrusted the carriage of some antique\nstatues and rare pictures, \"that if they lost those, they should give\nhim new ones.\" A taste by degrees began to prevail, which they gratified\nat the expense of every liberal feeling of public justice and private\nright.\n\nThe art of printing being unknown, books were sometimes written on\nparchment, but more generally on a paper made from the leaves of a plant\ncalled _papyrus_, which grew and was prepared in Egypt. This plant was\nabout ten cubits high, and had several coats or skins, one above\nanother, which they separated with a needle.\n\nThe instrument used for writing was a reed, sharpened and split at the\npoint, like our pens, called _calamus_. Their ink was sometimes composed\nof a black liquid emitted by the cuttle fish.\n\nThe Romans commonly wrote only on one side of the paper, and joined one\nsheet to the end of another, till they finished what they had to write,\nand then rolled it on a cylinder or staff, hence called _volumen_.\n\nBut _memoranda_ or other unimportant matters, not intended to be\npreserved, were usually written on tablets spread with wax. This was\neffected by means of a metal pencil called _stylus_, pointed at one end\nto scrape the letters, and flat at the other to smooth the wax when any\ncorrection was necessary.\n\nJulius C\u00e6sar introduced the custom of folding letters in a flat square\nform, which were then divided into small pages, in the manner of a\nmodern book. When forwarded for delivery, they were usually perfumed and\ntied round with a silken thread, the ends of which were sealed with\ncommon wax.\n\nLetters were not subscribed; but the name of the writer, and that of the\nperson to whom they were addressed, were inserted at the\ncommencement--thus, Julius C\u00e6sar to his friend Antony, health. At the\nend was written a simple, Farewell!\n\nThe Romans had many private and public libraries. Adjoining to some of\nthem were museums for the accommodation of a college or society of\nlearned men, who were supported there at the public expense, with a\ncovered walk and seats, where they might dispute.\n\nThe first public library at Rome, and probably in the world, was erected\nby Asinius Pollio, in the temple of liberty, on Mount Aventine. This was\nadorned by the statues of the most celebrated men.\n\n\n\n\nCHAPTER XXI.\n\n_Roman Houses._\n\n\nThe houses of the Romans are supposed at first to have been nothing more\nthan thatched cottages. After the city was burnt by the Gauls, it was\nrebuilt in a more solid and commodious manner; but the streets were very\nirregular.\n\nIn the time of Nero the city was set on fire, and more than two-thirds\nof it burnt to the ground. That tyrant himself is said to have been the\nauthor of this conflagration. He beheld it from the tower of M\u00e6cenas,\nand being delighted, as he said, with the beauty of the flames, played\nthe taking of Troy, dressed like an actor.\n\nThe city was then rebuilt with greater regularity and splendor--the\nstreets were widened, the height of the houses was limited to seventy\nfeet, and each house had a portico before it, fronting the street.\n\nNero erected for himself a palace of extraordinary extent and\nmagnificence. The enclosure extended from the Palatine to the Esquiline\nmount, which was more than a mile in breadth, and it was entirely\nsurrounded with a spacious portico embellished with sculpture and\nstatuary, among which stood a colossal statue of Nero himself, one\nhundred and twenty feet in height. The apartments were lined with\nmarble, enriched with jasper, topaz, and other precious gems: the timber\nworks and ceilings were inlaid with gold, ivory and mother of pearl.\n\nThis noble edifice, which from its magnificence obtained the appellation\nof the golden house, was destroyed by Vespasian as being too gorgeous\nfor the residence even of a Roman emperor.\n\nThe lower floors of the houses of the great were, at this time, either\ninlaid marble or mosaic work. Every thing curious and valuable was used\nin ornament and furniture. The number of stories was generally two, with\nunderground apartments. On the first, were the reception-rooms and\nbed-chamber; on the second, the dining-room and apartments of the women.\n\nThe Romans used portable furnaces in their rooms, on which account they\nhad little use for chimneys, except for the kitchen.\n\nThe windows of some of their houses were glazed with a thick kind of\nglass, not perfectly transparent; in others, isinglass split into thin\nplates was used. Perfectly transparent glass was so rare and valuable at\nRome, that Nero is said to have given a sum equal to \u00a350,000 for two\ncups of such glass with handles.\n\nHouses not joined with the neighboring ones were called _Insul\u00e6_, as\nalso lodgings or houses to let. The inhabitants of rented houses or\nlodgings, _Insularii_ or _Inquilini_.\n\nThe principal parts of a private house were the _vestibulum_, or court\nbefore the gate, which was ornamented towards the street with a portico\nextending along the entire front.\n\nThe _atrium_ or hall, which was in the form of an oblong square,\nsurrounded by galleries supported on pillars. It contained a hearth on\nwhich a fire was kept constantly burning, and around which were ranged\nthe _lares_, or images of the ancestors of the family.\n\nThese were usually nothing more than waxen busts, and, though held in\ngreat respect, were not treated with the same veneration as the\n_penates_, or household gods, which were considered of divine origin,\nand were never exposed to the view of strangers, but were kept in an\ninner apartment, called _penetralia_.\n\nThe outer door was furnished with a bell: the entrance was guarded by a\nslave in chains: he was armed with a staff, and attended by a dog.\n\nThe houses had high sloping roofs, covered with broad tiles, and there\nwas usually an open space in the centre to afford light to the inner\napartments.\n\nThe Romans were unacquainted with the use of chimnies, and were\nconsequently much annoyed by smoke. To remedy this, they sometimes\nanointed the wood of which their fuel was composed, with lees of oil.\n\nThe windows were closed with blinds of linen or plates of horn, but more\ngenerally with shutters of wood. During the time of the emperors, a\nspecies of transparent stone, cut into plates, was used for the purpose.\nGlass was not used for the admission of light into the apartments until\ntowards the fifth century of the christian era.\n\nA villa was originally a farm-house of an ordinary kind, and occupied by\nthe industrious cultivator of the soil; but when increasing riches\ninspired the citizens with a taste for new pleasures, it became the\nabode of opulence and luxury.\n\nSome villas were surrounded with large parks, in which deer and various\nforeign wild animals were kept, and in order to render the sheep that\npastured on the lawn ornamental, we are told that they often dyed their\nfleeces with various colours.\n\nLarge fish ponds were also a common appendage to the villas of persons\nof fortune, and great expense was often incurred in stocking them. In\ngeneral, however, country houses were merely surrounded with gardens, of\nwhich the Romans were extravagantly fond.\n\n\n\n\nCHAPTER XXII.\n\n_Marriages and Funerals._\n\n\nA marriage ceremony was never solemnized without consulting the\nauspices, and offering sacrifices to the gods, particularly to Juno; and\nthe animals offered up on the occasion were deprived of their gall, in\nallusion to the absence of every thing bitter and malignant in the\nproposed union.\n\nA legal marriage was made in three different ways, called\n_confarreatio_, _usus_ and _coemptio_.\n\nThe first of these was the most ancient. A priest, in the presence of\nten witnesses, made an offering to the gods, of a cake composed of salt\nwater, and that kind of flour called \"_far_,\" from which the name of the\nceremony was derived. The bride and bridegroom mutually partook of this,\nto denote the union that was to subsist between them, and the sacrifice\nof a sheep ratified the interchange of their vows.\n\nWhen a woman, with the consent of her parents or guardian, lived an\nentire year with a man, with the intention of becoming his wife, it was\ncalled _usus_.\n\n_Coemptio_ was an imaginary purchase which the husband and wife made of\neach other, by the exchange of some pieces of money.\n\nA plurality of wives was forbidden among the Romans. The marriageable\nage was from fourteen for men, and twelve for girls.\n\nOn the wedding day the bride was dressed in a simple robe of pure white,\nbound with a zone of wool, which her husband alone was to unloose: her\nhair was divided into six locks, with the point of a spear, and crowned\nwith flowers; she wore a saffron colored veil, which enveloped the\nentire person: her shoes were yellow, and had unusually high heels to\ngive her an appearance of greater dignity.\n\nThus attired she waited the arrival of the bridegroom, who went with a\nparty of friends and carried her off with an appearance of violence,\nfrom the arms of her parents, to denote the reluctance she was supposed\nto feel at leaving her paternal roof.\n\nThe nuptial ceremony was then performed; in the evening she was\nconducted to her future home, preceded by the priests, and followed by\nher relations, friends, and servants, carrying presents of various\ndomestic utensils.\n\nThe door of the bridegroom's house was hung with garlands of flowers.\nWhen the bride came hither, she was asked who she was; she answered,\naddressing the bridegroom, \"Where thou art Caius, there shall I be\nCaia,\" intimating that she would imitate the exemplary life of Caia, the\nwife of Tarquinius Priscus. She was then lifted over the threshold, or\ngently stepped over, it being considered ominous to touch it with her\nfeet, because it was sacred to Vesta the goddess of Virgins.\n\nUpon her entrance, the keys of the house were delivered to her, to\ndenote her being intrusted with the management of the family, and both\nshe and her husband touched fire and water to intimate that their union\nwas to last through every extremity. The bridegroom then gave a great\nsupper to all the company. This feast was accompanied with music and\ndancing, and the guests sang a nuptial song in praise of the new married\ncouple.\n\nThe Romans paid great attention to funeral rites, because they believed\nthat the souls of the unburied were not admitted into the abodes of the\ndead; or at least wandered a hundred years along the river Styx before\nthey were allowed to cross it.\n\nWhen any one was at the point of death, his nearest relation present\nendeavored to catch his last breath with his mouth, for they believed\nthat the soul or living principle thus went out at the mouth. The corpse\nwas then bathed and perfumed; dressed in the richest robes of the\ndeceased, and laid upon a couch strewn with flowers, with the feet\ntowards the outer door.\n\nThe funeral took place by torch light. The corpse was carried with the\nfeet foremost on an open bier covered with the richest cloth, and borne\nby the nearest relatives and friends. It was preceded by the image of\nthe deceased, together with those of his ancestors.\n\nThe procession was attended by musicians, with wind instruments of a\nlarger size and a deeper tone than those used on less solemn occasions;\nmourning women were likewise hired to sing the praises of the deceased.\n\nOn the conclusion of the ceremony the sepulchre was strewed with\nflowers, and the mourners took a last farewell of the remains of the\ndeceased. Water was then thrown upon the attendants, by a priest, to\npurify them from the pollution which the ancients supposed to be\ncommunicated by any contact with a corpse.\n\nThe manes of the dead were supposed to be propitiated by blood:--on this\naccount a custom prevailed of slaughtering, on the tomb of the deceased,\nthose animals of which he was most fond when living.\n\nWhen the custom of burning the dead was introduced, a funeral pile was\nconstructed in the shape of an altar, upon which the corpse was laid;\nthe nearest relative then set fire to it:--perfumes and spices were\nafterwards thrown into the blaze, and when it was extinguished, the\nembers were quenched with wine. The ashes were then collected and\ndeposited in an urn, to be kept in the mausoleum of the family.\n\n\n\n\nCHAPTER XXIII.\n\n_Customs at Meals._\n\n\nThe food of the ancient Romans was of the simplest kind; they rarely\nindulged in meat, and wine was almost wholly unknown. So averse were\nthey to luxury, that epicures were expelled from among them. But when\nriches were introduced by the extension of conquest, the manners of the\npeople were changed, and the pleasures of the table became the chief\nobject of attention.\n\nTheir principal meal was what they called _coena_ or supper. The usual\ntime for it was the ninth hour, or about three o'clock in the afternoon.\n\nWhile at meals, they reclined on sumptuous couches of a semicircular\nform, around a table of the same shape. This custom was introduced from\nthe nations of the east, and was at first adopted only by the men, but\nafterwards allowed also to the women.\n\nThe dress worn at table differed from that in use on other occasions,\nand consisted merely of a loose robe of a slight texture, and generally\nwhite.\n\nBefore supper the Romans bathed themselves, and took various kinds of\nexercise, such as tennis, throwing the discus or quoit, riding, running,\nleaping, &c.\n\nSmall figures of Mercury, Hercules and the penates, were placed upon the\ntable, of which they were deemed the presiding genii; and a small\nquantity of wine was poured upon the board, at the commencement and end\nof the feast, as a libation in honor of them, accompanied by a prayer.\n\nAs the ancients had not proper inns for the accommodation of travellers,\nthe Romans, when they were in foreign countries, or at a distance from\nhome, used to lodge at the houses of certain persons whom they in return\nentertained at their houses in Rome. This was esteemed a very intimate\nconnexion, and was called _hospitium_, or _jus hospitii_: hence _hospes_\nis put both for a host and a guest.\n\n\n\n\nCHAPTER XXIV.\n\n_Weights, Measures and Coins._\n\n\nThe principal Weight in use among the Romans, was the pound, called _As_\nor _Libra_, which was equal to 12 oz. avoirdupoise, or 16 oz. 18 pwts.\nand 13-3/4 grains, troy weight. It was divided into twelve ounces, the\nnames of which were as follow: _Uncia_, 1 oz.--_Sextans_, 2\noz.--_Triens_, 3 oz.--_Quadrans_, 4 oz.--_Quincunx_, 5 oz.--_Semis_, 1/2\nlb.--_Septunx_, 7 oz--_Bes_, 8 oz.--_Dodrans_, 9 oz.--_Dextans_, 10\noz.--_Deunx_, 11 oz.\n\nThe As and its divisions were applied to anything divided into twelve\nparts, as well as to a pound weight. The twelth part of an acre was\ncalled Uncia and half a foot, Semis, &c.\n\nThe Measures for Things Dry.--_Modius_, a peck--_Semimodius_, a\ngallon--_Sextanus_, a pint--_Hemina_, one-half pint, and 3 smaller\nmeasures, for which we have not equivalent names in English. One Modius\ncontained 2 _Semimodii_--each Semimodius contained 8 _Sextarii_--each\nSextarius, 2 _Hemin\u00e6_--each Hemina, 4 _Acetabula_--each Acetabulum,\n1-1/2 _Cyathi_--each Cyathus--4 _Ligul\u00e6_.\n\nThe Liquid Measures of Capacity were the _Culeus_, which was equal to\n144-1/2 gallons--it contained 20 _Amphor\u00e6_ or _Quadrantales_--each\nAmphora, 2 _Urn\u00e6_--each Urna, 4 _Congii_--each Congius, 6\n_Sextarii_--and each Sextarius, 2 _Quartarii_ or naggins--each\nQuartarius, 2 _Hemin\u00e6_--each Hemina, 3 _Acetabula_ or glasses--each\nAcetabulum, 1-1/2 _Cyathi_--and each Cyathus, 4 _Ligul\u00e6_.\n\nThe Measures of Length in use among the Romans were, _Millarium_ or\n_Mille_, a mile--each mile contained 8 _Stadia_, or furlongs--each\nStadium, 125 _Passus_--each Pace, 5 feet.\n\nThe _Pes_, or foot, was variously divided. It contained 4 _Palmi_ or\nhandbreadths, each of which was therefore 3 inches long--and it\ncontained 16 _Digiti_, or finger breadths, each of which was therefore\nthree-quarters of an inch long--and it contained 12 _Unci\u00e6_, or inches:\nany number of which was used to signify the same number of ounces.\n\n_Cubitus_, a cubit, was 1-1/2 feet long--_Pollex_, a thumb's breadth, 1\ninch--_Palmipes_, a foot and hand's breadth, i.e. 15 inches\nlong--_Pertica_, a perch, 10 feet long--the lesser _Actus_ was a space\nof ground 120 feet long by four broad--the greater Actus was 120 feet\nsquare--two square Actus made a _Jugerum_, or acre, which contained\ntherefore 28,000 square feet.\n\nThe first money in use among the Romans was nothing more than unsightly\nlumps of brass, which were valued according to their weight. Servius\nTullius stamped these, and reduced them to a fixed standard. After his\nreign, the Romans improved the old, and added some new coins. Those in\nmost frequent use, were the _As_, _Sestertius_, _Victoriatus_,\n_Denarius_, _Aureus_.\n\nThe As was a brass coin, stamped on one side with the beak of a ship,\nand on the other with the double head of Janus. It originally weighed\none pound; but was afterwards reduced to half an ounce, without\nsuffering, however, any diminution of value. It was worth one cent and\nforty-three hundredths.\n\nSestertius was a silver coin, stamped on one side with Castor and\nPollux, and on the opposite with the city. This was so current a coin,\nthat the word _Nummus_, money, is often used absolutely to express it.\nIt was worth three cents and fifty-seven hundredths.\n\nDenarius was a silver coin, valued at ten asses; that is, fourteen cents\nand thirty-five hundredths of our money. It was stamped with the figure\nof a carriage drawn by four beasts, and on the other side, with a head\ncovered with a helmet, to represent Rome.\n\nVictoriatus was a silver coin, half the value of a Denarius. It was\nstamped with the figure of Victory, from whence its name was derived.\nBeing worth five Asses, it was called _Quinarius_.\n\n_Libella_, _Sembella_, _Teruncius_, were also silver coins, but of less\nvalue than the above. Libella was of the same worth as the As--Sembella\nwas half a Libella, equal to seventy-one hundredths of a cent--and the\nTeruncius was half of a Sembella.\n\nAureus Denarius was a gold coin, about the size of a silver Denarius,\nand probably stamped in a similar manner. At first, forty Aurei were\nmade out of a pound of gold; but under the Emperors it was not so\nintrinsically valuable, being mixed with alloy.\n\nThe value of the Aureus, which was also called _Solidus_, varied at\ndifferent times. According to Tacitus, it was valued and exchanged for\n25 Denarii, which amounted to three dollars, fifty-eight cents and\nseventy-five hundredths.\n\nThe abbreviations used by the Romans to express these various kinds of\nmoney, were, for the As, L.--for the Sesterce, L. L. S. or H. S.--for\nthe Quinary, V. or {lambda}.--for the Denarius, X. or :!:\n\nSesterces were the kind of money in which the Romans usually made their\ncomputations.--1,000 Sesterces made up a sum called _Sestertium_, the\nvalue of which in our money, was thirty-five dollars and seventy cents.\n\nThe art of reckoning by Sesterces was regulated by these rules:\n\nFirst--If a numeral adjective were joined to Sestertii, and agreed with\nit in case, it signified just so many Sesterces; as _decem Sestertii_,\n10 Sesterces--thirty-five cents and seven tenths.\n\nSecond--If a numeral adjective, of a different case, were joined to the\ngenitive plural of Sestertius, it signified so many thousand Sesterces;\nas _decem Sestertium_, 10,000 Sesterces--$357.\n\nThird--If a numeral adverb were placed by itself, or joined to\nSestertium, it signified so many hundred thousand Sesterces; as\n_Decies_, or _decies Sestertium_, 1,000,000 _Sesterces_--$35,700.\n\nFourth--When the sums are expressed by letters, if the letters have a\nline over them, they signify also so many hundred thousand Sesterces:\nthus, H. S. {=[M.C.]}--denotes the sum of 1,100 times 100,000 Sesterces,\ni.e. 110,000,000--nearly $4,000,000.\n\n\n\n\nMYTHOLOGY.\n\n\n\n\nCHAPTER I.\n\nCelestial Gods.\n\n\nJUPITER, the supreme god of the Pagans, though set forth by historians\nas the wisest of princes, is described by his worshippers as infamous\nfor his vices. There were many who assumed the name of Jupiter; the most\nconsiderable, however, and to whom the actions of the others are\nascribed, was the Jupiter of Crete, son to Saturn and Rhea, who is\ndifferently said to have had his origin in Crete, at Thebes in Boeotia,\nand among the Messenians.\n\nHis first warlike exploit, and, indeed, the most memorable of his\nactions, was his expedition against the Titans, to deliver his parents,\nwho had been imprisoned by these princes, because Saturn, instead of\nobserving an oath he had sworn, to destroy his male children, permitted\nhis son Jupiter, by a stratagem of Rhea, to be educated. Jupiter, for\nthis purpose, raised a gallant army of Cretans, and engaged the\nCecr{)o}pes as auxiliaries in this expedition; but these, after taking\nhis money, having refused their services, he changed into apes. The\nvalor of Jupiter so animated the Cretans, that by their aid he overcame\nthe Titans, released his parents, and, the better to secure the reign of\nhis father, made all the gods swear fealty to him upon an altar, which\nhas since gained a place among the stars.\n\nThis exploit of Jupiter, however, created jealousy in Saturn, who,\nhaving learnt from an oracle, that he should be dethroned by one of his\nsons, secretly meditated the destruction of Jupiter as the most\nformidable of them. The design of Saturn being discovered by one of his\ncouncil, Jupiter became the aggressor, deposed his father, threw him\ninto Tartarus, ascended the throne, and was acknowledged as supreme by\nthe rest of the gods.\n\nThe reign of Jupiter being less favorable to his subjects than that of\nSaturn, gave occasion to the name of the silver age, by which is meant\nan age inferior in happiness to that which preceded, though superior to\nthose which followed.\n\nThe distinguishing character of his person is majesty, and every thing\nabout him carries dignity and authority with it; his look is meant to\nstrike sometimes with terror, and sometimes with gratitude, but always\nwith respect. The Capitoline Jupiter, or the Jupiter Optimus Maximus,\n(him now spoken of,) was the great guardian of the Romans, and was\nrepresented, in his chief temple, on the Capitoline hill, as sitting on\na curule chair, with the lightning in his right hand, and a sceptre in\nhis left.\n\nThe poets describe him as standing amidst his rapid horses, or his\nhorses that make the thunder; for as the ancients had a strange idea of\nthe brazen vault of heaven, they seem to have attributed the noise in a\nthunder storm to the rattling of Jupiter's chariot and horses on that\ngreat arch of brass all over their heads, as they supposed that he\nhimself flung the flames out of his hand, which dart at the same time\nout of the clouds, beneath this arch.\n\nAPOLLO was son of Jupiter and Latona, and brother of Diana, and of all\nthe divinities in the pagan world, the chief cherisher and protecter of\nthe polite arts, and the most conspicuous character in heathen theology;\nnor unjustly, from the glorious attributes ascribed to him, for he was\nthe god of light, medicine, eloquence, music, poetry and prophecy.\n\n\n [Illustration:\n\n THE GODS DESCENDING TO BATTLE\n\n IN AID OF TROY, LATONA, PHOEBUS CAME,\n MARS FIERY HELM'D, THE LAUGHTER LOVING DAME,\n XANTHUS, WHOSE STREAMS IN GOLDEN CURRENTS FLOW,\n AND THE CHASTE HUNTRESS OF THE SILVER BOW.\n\n Pope's Homer's Iliad. B. 20. L. 51.\n Pl. 3. ]\n\n\nAmongst the most remarkable adventures of this god, was his quarrel with\nJupiter, on account of the death of his son \u00c6sculapius, killed by that\ndeity on the complaint of Pluto, that he decreased the number of the\ndead by his cures. Apollo, to revenge this injury, killed the Cyclops\nwho forged the thunder-bolts. For this he was banished heaven, and\nendured great sufferings on earth, being forced to hire himself as a\nshepherd to Admetus, king of Thessaly. During his pastoral servitude, he\nis said to have invented the lyre to sooth his troubles. He was so\nskilled in the bow, that his arrows were always fatal. Python and the\nCyclops experienced their force.\n\nHe became enamored of Daphne, daughter of the river Peneus of Thessaly.\nThe god pursued her, but she flying to preserve her chastity, was\nchanged into a laurel, whose leaves Apollo immediately consecrated to\nbind his temples, and become the reward of poetry.\n\nHis temple at Delphi became so frequented, that it was called the oracle\nof the earth; all nations and princes vieing in their munificence to it.\nThe Romans erected to him many temples.\n\nThe animals sacred to him were the wolf, from his acuteness of sight,\nand because he spared his flocks when the god was a shepherd; the crow\nand the raven, because these birds were supposed to have, by instinct,\nthe faculty of prediction; the swan, from its divining its own death;\nthe hawk, from its boldness in flight; and the cock, because he\nannounces the rising of the sun.\n\nAs to the signification of this fabulous divinity, all are agreed that,\nby Apollo, the sun is understood in general, though several poetical\nfictions have relation only to the sun, and not to Apollo. The great\nattributes of this deity were divination, healing, music, and archery,\nall which manifestly refer to the sun. Light dispelling darkness, is a\nstrong emblem of truth dissipating ignorance;--the warmth of the sun\nconduces greatly to health; and there can be no juster symbol of the\nplanetary harmony, than Apollo's lyre, the seven strings of which are\nsaid to represent the seven planets. As his darts are reported to have\ndestroyed the monster Python, so his rays dry up the noxious moisture\nwhich is pernicious to vegetation and fertility.\n\nApollo was very differently represented in different countries and\ntimes, according to the character he assumed. In general he is described\nas a beardless youth, with long flowing hair floating as it were in the\nwind, comely and graceful, crowned with laurel, his garments and sandals\nshining with gold. In one hand he holds a bow and arrows, in the other a\nlyre; sometimes a shield and the graces. At other times he is invested\nin a long robe, and carries a lyre and a cup of nectar, the symbol of\nhis divinity.\n\nHe has a threefold authority: in heaven, he is the Sun; and by the lyre\nintimates, that he is the source of harmony: upon earth he is called\n_Liber Pater_, and carries a shield to show he is the protector of\nmankind, and their preserver in health and safety. In the infernal\nregions he is styled _Apollo_, and his arrows show his authority;\nwhosoever is stricken with them being immediately sent thither. As the\nSun, Apollo was represented in a chariot, drawn by the four horses,\n_E\u00f6us_, _\u00c6thon_, _Phlegon_, and _Pyr\u00f6eis_.\n\nConsidered in his poetical character, he is called indifferently either\n_Vates_ or _Lyristes_; music and poetry, in the earliest ages of the\nworld, having made but one and the same profession.\n\nMERCURY was the offspring of Jupiter and Maia, the daughter of Atlas.\nCyll\u00ebne, in Arcadia, is said to have been the scene of his birth and\neducation, and a magnificent temple was erected to him there.\n\nThat adroitness which formed the most distinguishing trait in his\ncharacter, began very early to render him conspicuous. Born in the\nmorning, he fabricated a lyre, and played on it by noon; and, before\nnight, filched from Apollo his cattle. The god of light demanded instant\nrestitution, and was lavish of menaces, the better to insure it. But his\nthreats were of no avail, for it was soon found that the same thief had\ndisarmed him of his quiver and bow. Being taken up into his arms by\nVulcan, he robbed him of his tools, and whilst Venus caressed him for\nhis superiority to Cupid in wrestling, he slipped off her cestus\nunperceived. From Jupiter he purloined his sceptre, and would have made\nas free with his thunder-bolt, had it not proved too hot for his\nfingers.\n\nFrom being usually employed on Jupiter's errands, he was styled the\nmessenger of the gods. The Greeks and Romans considered him as presiding\nover roads and cross-ways, in which they often erected busts of him. He\nwas esteemed the god of orators and eloquence, the author of letters and\noratory. The _caduceus_, or rod, which he constantly carried, was\nsupposed to be possessed of an inherent charm that could subdue the\npower of enmity: an effect which he discovered by throwing it to\nseparate two serpents found by him fighting on Mount Cytheron: each\nquitted his adversary, and twined himself on the rod, which Mercury,\nfrom that time, bore as the symbol of concord. His musical skill was\ngreat, for to him is ascribed the discovery of the three tones, treble,\nbass, and tenor.\n\nIt was part of his function to attend on the dying, detach their souls\nfrom their bodies, and conduct them to the infernal regions. In\nconjunction with Hercules, he patronized wrestling and the gymnastic\nexercises; to show that address upon these occasions should always be\nunited with force. The invention of the art of thieving was attributed\nto him, and the ancients used to paint him on their doors, that he, as\ngod of thieves, might prevent the intrusion of others. For this reason\nhe was much adored by shepherds, who imagined he could either preserve\ntheir own flocks from thieves, or else help to compensate their losses,\nby dexterously stealing from their neighbors.\n\nAt Rome on the fifteenth of May, the month so named from his mother, a\nfestival was celebrated to his honor, by merchants, traders, &c. in\nwhich they sacrificed a sow, sprinkled themselves, and the goods they\nintended for sale, with water from his fountain, and prayed that he\nwould both blot out all the frauds and perjuries they had already\ncommitted, and enable them to impose again on their buyers.\n\nMercury is usually described as a beardless young man, of a fair\ncomplexion, with yellow hair, quick eyes, and a cheerful countenance,\nhaving wings annexed to his hat and sandals, which were distinguished by\nthe names of _pet{)a}sus_ and _talaria_: the _caduceus_, in his hand, is\nwinged likewise, and bound round with two serpents: his face is\nsometimes exhibited half black, on account of his intercourse with the\ninfernal deities: he has often a purse in his hand, and a goat or cock,\nor both, by his side.\n\nThe epithets applied to Mercury by the ancients were {Enag\u00f4nios}, the\npresider over combats; {Strophaios}, the guardian of doors; {Empolaios},\nthe merchant; {Eriounios}, beneficial to mortals; {Dolios}, subtle;\n{H\u00eagemonios}, guide, or conductor.\n\nAs to his origin, it must be looked for amongst the Phoenicians. The bag\nof money which he held signified the gain of merchandise; the wings\nannexed to his head and his feet were emblematic of their extensive\ncommerce and navigation; the caduceus, with which he was said to conduct\nthe spirit of the deceased to Hades, pointing out the immortality of the\nsoul, a state of rewards and punishments after death, and a\nresuscitation of the body: it is described as producing three leaves\ntogether, whence it was called by Homer, the _golden three-leaved wand_.\n\nBACCHUS was the son of Jupiter, by Sem{)e}le, daughter of Cadmus, king\nof Thebes, in which city he is said to have been born. He was the god of\ngood-cheer, wine, and hilarity; and of him, as such, the poets have not\nbeen sparing in their praises: on all occasions of mirth and jollity,\nthey constantly invoked his presence, and as constantly thanked him for\nthe blessings he bestowed. To him they ascribed the forgetfulness of\ncares, and the delights of social converse.\n\nHe is described as a youth of a plump figure, and naked, with a ruddy\nface, and an effeminate air; he is crowned with ivy and vine leaves, and\nbears in his hand a thyrsus, or javelin with an iron head, encircled\nwith ivy and vine leaves: his chariot is sometimes drawn by lions, at\nothers by tigers, leopards, or panthers; and surrounded by a band of\nSatyrs, Bacch\u00e6, and Nymphs, in frantic postures; whilst old Sil{=}enus,\nhis preceptor, follows on an ass, which crouches with the weight of his\nburden.\n\nThe women who accompained him as his priestesses, were called\nM\u00e6n{)a}des, from their madness; Thy{)a}des, from their impetuosity;\nBacch\u00e6, from their intemperate depravity; and Mimall{=o}nes, or\nMimallon{)i}des, from their mimicking their leaders.\n\nThe victims agreeable to him were the goat and the swine; because these\nanimals are destructive to the vine. Among the Egyptians they sacrificed\na swine to him before their doors; and the dragon, and the pye on\naccount of its chattering: the trees and plants used in his garlands\nwere the fir, the oak, ivy, the fig, and vine; as also the daffodil, or\nnarcissus. Bacchus had many temples erected to him by the Greeks and the\nRomans.\n\nWhoever attentively reads Horace's inimitable ode to this god, will see\nthat Bacchus meant no more than the improvement of the world by tillage,\nand the culture of the vine.\n\n\n [Illustration:\n\n JUNO & MINERVA GOING TO ASSIST THE GREEKS.\n\n SATURNIA LENDS THE LASH, THE COURSERS FLY.\n\n Pope's Homer's Illiad, B. 8. L. 47.\n Pl. 4.]\n\n\nMARS was the son of Jupiter and Juno, or of Jupiter and Erys. He was\nheld in high veneration among the Romans, both on account of his being\nthe father of Romulus, their founder, and because of their own genius,\nwhich always inclined them to war. Numa, though otherwise a pacific\nprince, having, during a great pestilence, implored the favor of the\ngods, received a small brass buckler, called _anc{=i}le_ from heaven,\nwhich the nymph Egeria advised him to keep with the utmost care, as the\nfate of the people and empire depended upon it. To secure so valuable a\npledge, Numa caused eleven others of the same form to be made, and\nintrusted the preservation of these to an order of priests, which he\nconstituted for the purpose, called _Salii_, or priests of Mars, in\nwhose temple the twelve ancilia were deposited.\n\nThe fiercest and most ravenous creatures were consecrated to Mars: the\nhorse, for his vigor; the wolf, for his rapacity and quickness of sight;\nthe dog, for his vigilance; and he delighted in the pye, the cock, and\nthe vulture. He was the reputed enemy of Minerva, the goddess of wisdom\nand arts, because in time of war they are trampled on, without respect,\nas well as learning and justice.\n\nAncient monuments represent this deity as of unusual stature, armed with\na helmet, shield, and spear, sometimes naked, sometimes in a military\nhabit; sometimes with a beard, and sometimes without. He is often\ndescribed riding in a chariot, drawn by furious horses, completely\narmed, and extending his spear with one hand, while, with the other, he\ngrasps a sword imbued with blood. Sometimes Bellona, the goddess of war,\n(whether she be his sister, wife or daughter, is uncertain,) is\nrepresented as driving his chariot, and inciting the horses with a\nbloody whip. Sometimes Discord is exhibited as preceding his chariot,\nwhile Clamor, Fear, Terror, with Fame, full of eyes, ears, and tongues,\nappear in his train.\n\n\n\n\nCHAPTER II.\n\n_Celestial Goddesses._\n\n\nJUNO, daughter of Saturn and Rhea, was sister and wife of Jupiter.\nThough the poets agree that she came into the world at the same birth\nwith her husband, yet they differ as to the place. Some fix her nativity\nat Argos, others at Samos, near the river Imbrasus. The latter opinion\nis, however, the more generally received. Samos, was highly honored, and\nreceived the name of Parthenia, from the consideration that so eminent a\n_virgin_ as Juno was educated and dwelt there till her marriage.\n\nAs queen of heaven, Juno was conspicuous for her state. Her usual\nattendants were Terror, Boldness--Castor and Pollux, accompanied by\nfourteen nymphs; but her most inseparable adherent was Iris, who was\nalways ready to be employed in her most important affairs: she acted as\nmessenger to Juno, like Mercury to Jupiter. When Juno appeared as the\nmajesty of heaven, with her sceptre and diadem beset with lilies and\nroses, her chariot was drawn by peacocks, birds sacred to her; for which\nreason, in her temple at Euboea, the emperor Adrian made her a most\nmagnificent offering of a golden crown, a purple mantle, with an\nembroidery of silver, describing the marriage of Hercules and Hebe, and\na large peacock, whose body was of gold, and his train of most valuable\njewels. There never was a wife more jealous than Juno; and few who have\nhad so much reason: on which account we find from Homer that the most\nabsolute exertions of Jupiter were barely sufficient to preserve his\nauthority.\n\nThere was none except Apollo whose worship was more solemn or extensive.\nThe history of the prodigies she had wrought, and of the vengeance she\nhad taken upon persons who had vied with, or slighted her, had so\ninspired the people with awe, that, when supposed to be angry, no means\nwere omitted to mitigate her anger; and had Paris adjudged to her the\nprize of Beauty, the fate of Troy might have been suspended. In\nresentment of this judgment, and to wreak her vengeance on Paris, the\nhouse of Priam, and the Trojan race, she appears in the Iliad to be\nfully employed. Minerva is commissioned by her to hinder the Greeks from\nretreating; she quarrels with Jupiter; she goes to battle; cajoles\nJupiter with the cestus of Venus; carries the orders of Jupiter to\nApollo and Iris; consults the gods on the conflict between \u00c6neas and\nAchilles; sends Vulcan to oppose Xanthus; overcomes Diana, &c.\n\nShe is generally pictured like a matron, with a grave and majestic air,\nsometimes with a sceptre in her hand, and a veil on her head: she is\nrepresented also with a spear in her hand, and sometimes with a\n_pat{)e}ra_, as if she were about to sacrifice: on some medals she has a\npeacock at her feet, and sometimes holds the Palladium. Homer represents\nher in a chariot adorned with gems, having wheels of ebony, nails of\nsilver, and horses with reins of gold, though more commonly her chariot\nis drawn by peacocks, her favourite birds. The most obvious and striking\ncharacter of Juno, and that which we are apt to imbibe the most early of\nany, from the writings of Homer and Virgil, is that of an imperious and\nhaughty wife. In both of these poets we find her much oftener scolding\nat Jupiter than caressing him, and in the tenth \u00c6neid in particular,\neven in the council of the gods, we have a remarkable instance of this.\n\nIf, in searching out the meaning of this fable, we regard the account of\nVarro, we shall find, that by Juno was signified the earth; by Jupiter,\nthe heavens; but if we believe the Stoics, by Juno is meant the air and\nits properties, and by Jupiter the ether: hence Homer supposes she was\nnourished by Oce{)a}nus and Tethys: that is, by the sea; and agreeable\nto this mythology, the poet makes her shout aloud in the army of the\nGreeks, the air being the cause of the sound.\n\nMINERVA, or Pallas, was one of the most distinguished of the heathen\ndeities, as being the goddess of wisdom and science. She is supposed to\nhave sprung, fully grown and completely armed, from the head of Jupiter.\n\nOne of the most remarkable of her adventures, was her contest with\nNeptune. When Cecrops founded Athens, it was agreed that whoever of\nthese two deities could produce the most beneficial gift to mankind,\nshould have the honor of giving their name to the city. Neptune, with a\nstroke of his trident, formed a horse, but Minerva causing an olive-tree\nto spring from the ground, obtained from the god the prize. She was the\ngoddess of war, wisdom, and arts, such as spinning, weaving, music, and\nespecially of the pipe. In a word, she was patroness of all those\nsciences which render men useful to society and themselves, and entitle\nthem to the esteem of posterity.\n\nShe is described by the poets, and represented by the sculptors and\npainters in a standing attitude, completely armed, with a composed but\nsmiling countenance, bearing a golden breast-plate, a spear in her right\nhand, and the \u00e6gis in her left, having on it the head of Medusa,\nentwined with snakes. Her helmet was usually encompassed with olives, to\ndenote that peace is the end of war, or rather because that tree was\nsacred to her: at her feet is generally placed the owl or the cock, the\nformer being the emblem of wisdom, and the latter of war.\n\nMinerva represents wisdom, that is, skilful knowledge joined with\ndiscreet practice, and comprehends the understanding of the noblest\narts, the best accomplishments of the mind, together with all the\nvirtues, but more especially that of chastity. She is said to be born of\nJupiter's brain, because the ingenuity of man did not invent the useful\narts and sciences, which, on the contrary, were derived from the\nfountain of all wisdom. She was born armed, because the human soul,\nfortified with wisdom and virtue, is invincible; in danger, intrepid;\nunder crosses, unbroken; in calamities, impregnable.\n\nThe owl, a bird seeing in the dark, was sacred to Minerva; this is\nsymbolical of a wise man, who, scattering and dispelling the clouds of\nerror, is clear-sighted where others are blind.\n\nVENUS was one of the most celebrated deities of the ancients. She was\nthe goddess of beauty, the mother of love, and the queen of laughter.\nShe is said to have sprung from the froth of the sea, near the island\nCyprus, after the mutilated part of the body of Ur{)a}nus had been\nthrown there by Saturn. Hence she obtained the name of Aphrodite, from\n{Aphros}, _froth_. As soon as Venus was born, she is said to have been\nlaid in a beautiful couch or shell, embellished with pearls, and by the\nassistance of Zephyrus wafted first to Cyth{=e}r\u00e6, an island in the\n\u00c6g\u00e6an, and thence to Cyprus; where she arrived in the month of April.\nHere, immediately on her landing, flowers sprung beneath her feet, the\nHor\u00e6 or Seasons awaited her arrival, and having braided her hair with\nfillets of gold, she was thence wafted to heaven. As she was born\nlaughing, an emanation of pleasure beamed from her countenance, and her\ncharms were so attractive, in the assembly of the gods, that most of\nthem desired to obtain her in marriage. Vulcan, however, the most\ndeformed of the celestials, became the successful competitor.\n\nOne of the most remarkable adventures of this goddess was her contest\nwith Juno and Minerva for the superiority of beauty. At the marriage of\nPeleus and Thetis, the goddess Discordia, resenting her not being\ninvited, threw a golden apple among the company, with this inscription,\n_Let the fairest take it_. The competitors for this prize were Juno,\nVenus, and Minerva. Jupiter referred them to Paris, who then led a\nshepherd's life on Mount Ida. Before him the goddesses appeared. Juno\noffered him empire or power, Minerva wisdom, and Venus promised him the\npossession of the most beautiful woman in the world. Fatally for himself\nand family, the shepherd, more susceptible of love than of ambition or\nvirtue, decided the contest in favor of Venus.\n\nThe sacrifices usually offered to Venus, were white goats and swine,\nwith libations of wine, milk and honey. The victims were crowned with\nflowers, or wreaths of myrtle, the rose and myrtle being sacred to\nVenus. The birds sacred to her were the swan, the dove, and the sparrow.\n\nIt were endless to enumerate the variety of attitudes in which Venus is\nrepresented on antique gems and medals; sometimes she is clothed in\npurple, glittering with diamonds, her head crowned with myrtle\nintermixed with roses, and drawn in her car of ivory by swans, doves, or\nsparrows: at other times she is represented standing with the Graces\nattending her, and in all positions Cupid is her companion. In general\nshe has one of the prettiest, as Minerva has sometimes one of the\nhandsomest faces that can be conceived. Her look, as she is represented\nby the ancient artists and poets, has all the enchanting airs and graces\nthat they could give it.\n\nLATONA. This goddess was daughter of C\u00e6us the Titan and Phoebe, or,\naccording to Homer, of Saturn. As she grew up extremely beautiful,\nJupiter fell in love with her; but Juno, discovering their intercourse,\nnot only expelled her from heaven, but commanded the serpent Python to\nfollow and destroy both her and her children. The earth also was caused\nby the jealous goddess to swear that she would afford her no place in\nwhich to bring forth. It happened, however, at this period, that the\nisland Delos, which had been broken from Sicily, lay under water, and\nnot having taken the oath, was commanded by Neptune to rise in the \u00c6gean\nsea, and afford her an asylum. Latona, being changed by Jupiter into a\nquail, fled thither, and from this circumstance occasioned it to be\ncalled Ortygia, from the name in Greek of that bird. She here gave birth\nto Apollo and Diana. Ni{)o}be, daughter of Tant{)a}lus, and wife of\nAmph{=i}on, king of Thebes, experienced the resentment of Latona, whose\nchildren Apollo and Diana, at her instigation, destroyed. Her beauty\nbecame fatal to Tityus, the giant, who was put to death also by the same\ndivinities. After having been long persecuted by Juno, she became a\npowerful deity, beheld her children exalted to divine honors, and\nreceived adoration where they were adored.\n\nIn explanation of the fable, it may be observed, that as Jupiter is\ntaken for the maker of all things, so Latona is physically understood to\nbe the _matter_ out of which all things were made, which, according to\nPlato, is called {L\u00eat\u00f4} or Latona, from {l\u00eathein} to lie _hid_ or\n_concealed_, because all things originally lay hid in darkness till the\nproduction of _light_, or birth of Apollo.\n\nAURORA, goddess of the morning, was the youngest daughter of Hyperion\nand Theia, or, according to some, of Titan and Terra. Orpheus calls her\nthe harbinger of Titan, for she is the personification of that light\nwhich precedes the appearance of the sun. The poets describe this\ngoddess as rising out of the ocean in a saffron robe, seated in a\nflame-colored car, drawn by two or four horses, expanding with her rosy\nfingers the gates of light, and scattering the pearly dew. Virgil\nrepresents her horses as of flame color, and varies their number from\ntwo to four, according as she rises slower or faster.\n\nShe is said to have been daughter of Titan and the earth, because the\nlight of the morning seems to rise out of the earth, and to proceed from\nthe sun, which immediately follows it. She is styled mother of the four\nwinds, because, after a calm in the night, the winds rise in the\nmorning, as attendant upon the sun, by whose heat and light they are\nbegotten. There is no other goddess of whom we have so many beautiful\ndescriptions in the poets.\n\n\n\n\nCHAPTER III.\n\n_Terrestrial Gods._\n\n\nSATURN was the son of Coelus and Tit\u00e6a or Terra, and married his sister\nVesta. She, with her other sisters, persuaded their mother to join them\nin a plot, to exclude Titan, their elder brother, from his birthright,\nand raise Saturn to his father's throne. Their design so far succeeded,\nthat Titan was obliged to resign his claim, though on condition, that\nSaturn brought up no male children, and thus the succession might revert\nto the Titans again. Saturn, it is said, observed this covenant so\nfaithfully, that he devoured, as soon as they were born, his legitimate\nsons. His punctuality, however, in this respect, was at last frustrated\nby the artifice of Vesta, who, being delivered of twins, Jupiter and\nJuno, presented the latter to her husband, and concealing the former,\nsent him to be nursed on Mount Ida in Crete, committing the care of him\nto the Cur{=e}tes and Corybantes.\n\nThe reign of Saturn was so mild and happy, that the poets have given it\nthe name of the golden age. The people, who before wandered about like\nbeasts, were then reduced to civil society; laws were enacted, and the\nart of tilling and sowing the ground introduced; whence Varro tells us,\nthat Saturn had his name _a satu_, from _sowing_.\n\nHe was usually represented as an old man, bare-headed and bald, with all\nthe marks of infirmity in his eyes, countenance, and figure. In his\nright hand they sometimes placed a sickle or scythe; at others, a key,\nand a circumflexed serpent biting its tail, in his left. He sometimes\nwas pictured with six wings, and feet of wool, to show how insensibly\nand swiftly time passes. The scythe denoted his cutting down and\nsubverting all things, and the serpent the revolution of the year, _quod\nin sese volvitur annus_.\n\nJANUS was a pagan deity, particularly of the ancient Romans. He was\nesteemed the wisest sovereign of his time, and because he was supposed\nto know what was past, and what was to come, they feigned that he had\ntwo faces, whence the Latins gave him the epithets of Biceps, Bifrons,\nand Biformis.\n\nHe is introduced by Ovid as describing his origin, office and form: he\nwas the ancient Chaos, or confused mass of matter before the formation\nof the world, the reduction of which into order and regularity, gave him\nhis divinity. Thus deified, he had the power of _opening_ and _shutting_\nevery thing in the universe: he was arbiter of peace and war, and keeper\nof the door of heaven. He was the god who presided over the beginning of\nall undertakings; the first libations of wine and wheat were offered to\nhim, and the preface of all prayers directed to him. The first month of\nthe year took its denomination from Janus.\n\nIt is certain that Janus early obtained divine honors among the Romans.\nNuma ordained that his temple should be shut in time of peace, and\nopened in time of war, from which ceremony Janus was called Clusius and\nPatulcius.\n\nThe peculiar offerings to Janus were cakes of new meal and salt, with\nnew wine and frankincense. In the feasts instituted by Numa, the\nsacrifice was a ram, and the solemnities were performed by men, in the\nmanner of exercises and combats. Then all artificers and tradesmen began\ntheir works, and the Roman consuls for the new year solemnly entered on\ntheir office: all quarrels were laid aside, mutual presents were made,\nand the day concluded with joy and festivity. Janus was seated in the\ncentre of twelve altars, in allusion to the twelve months of the year,\nand had on his hands fingers to the amount of the days in the year.\nSometimes his image had four faces, either in regard to the four seasons\nof the year, or to the four quarters of the world: he held in one hand a\nkey, and in the other a sceptre; the former may denote his opening, as\nit were, and shutting the world, by the admission and exclusion of\nlight; and the latter his dominion over it.\n\nVULCAN was the offspring of Jupiter and Juno. He was so remarkably\ndeformed that Jupiter threw him down from heaven to the isle of Lemnos.\nIn this fall he broke his leg, as he also would have broken his neck,\nhad he not been caught by the Lemnians. It is added that he was a day in\nfalling from heaven to earth. Some report that Juno herself, disgusted\nat his deformity, hurled down Vulcan into the sea, where he was nursed\nby Thetis and her nymphs, whilst others contend that he fell upon land,\nand was brought up by apes. It is probable that Juno had some hand in\nhis disgrace, since Vulcan, afterwards, in resentment of the injury,\npresented his mother with a golden chair, which was so contrived by\nsprings unseen, that being seated in it she was unable to rise, till the\ninventor was prevailed upon to grant her deliverance.\n\nThe first abode of Vulcan on earth was in the isle of Lemnos. There he\nset up his forges, and taught men the malleability and polishing of\nmetals. Thence he removed to the Liparean islands, near Sicily, where,\nwith the assistance of the Cyclops, he made Jupiter fresh thunder-bolts\nas the old ones decayed. He also wrought an helmet for Pluto, which\nrendered him invisible; a trident for Neptune, which shook both land and\nsea; and a dog of brass for Jupiter, which he animated so as to perform\nthe functions of nature. At the request of Thetis he fabricated the\ndivine armor of Achilles, whose shield is so beautifully described by\nHomer; as also the invincible armor of \u00c6neas, at the entreaty of Venus.\nHowever disagreeable the person of Vulcan might be, he was susceptible\nnotwithstanding of love. His first passion was for Minerva, having\nJupiter's consent to address her; but his courtship, in this instance,\nfailed of success, not only on account of his person, but also because\nthe goddess had vowed perpetual virginity. He afterwards became the\nhusband of Venus.\n\n\n [Illustration:\n\n AURORA.\n\n HERE THE GAY MORN RESIDES IN RADIANT BOWERS,\n HERE KEEPS HER REVELS WITH THE DANCING HOURS.\n\n Pope's Homer's Odyssey. B. 12. L. 2.\n Pl. 5.]\n\n\nHe was reckoned among the gods presiding over marriage, from the torches\nlighted by him to grace that solemnity. It was the custom in several\nnations, after gaining a victory, to pile the arms of the enemy in a\nheap on the field of battle, and make a sacrifice of them to Vulcan. As\nto his worship, Vulcan had an altar in common with Prometheus, who first\ninvented fire, as did Vulcan the use of it, in making arms and utensils.\nHis principal temple was in a consecrated grove at the foot of mount\n\u00c6tna, in which was a fire continually burning. This temple was guarded\nby dogs, which had the discernment to distinguish his votaries by\ntearing the vicious, and fawning upon the virtuous.\n\nHe was highly honored at Rome. Romulus built him a temple without the\nwalls of the city, the augurs being of opinion that the god of fire\nought not to be admitted within. But the highest mark of respect paid\nhim by the Romans was, that those assemblies were kept in his temple\nwhere the most important concerns of the republic were debated, the\nRomans thinking they could invoke nothing more sacred to confirm their\ntreaties and decisions, than the avenging fire of which that god was the\nsymbol.\n\nThis deity, as the god of fire, was represented differently in different\nnations: the Egyptians depicted him proceeding from an egg, placed in\nthe mouth of Jupiter, to denote the radical or natural heat diffused\nthrough all created beings. In ancient gems and medals he is figured as\na lame, deformed and squalid man, with a beard, and hair neglected; half\nnaked; his habit reaching down to his knee only, and having a round\npeaked cap on his head, a hammer in his right hand, and a smith's tongs\nin his left, working at the anvil, and usually attended by the Cyclops,\nor by some of the gods or goddesses for whom he is employed.\n\nThe poets described him as blackened and hardened from the forge, with a\nface red and fiery whilst at his work, and tired and heated after it. He\nis almost always the subject either of pity or ridicule. In short, the\ngreat celestial deities seem to have admitted Vulcan among them as great\nmen used to keep buffoons at their tables, to make them laugh, and to be\nthe butt of the whole company.\n\nIf we wish to come at the probable meaning of this fable, we must have\nrecourse to Egyptian antiquities. The Horus of the Egyptians was the\nmost mutable figure on earth, for he assumed shapes suitable to all\nseasons, and to all ranks. To direct the husbandman he wore a rural\ndress; by a change of attributes he became the instructer of smiths and\nother artificers, whose instruments he appeared adorned with. This Horus\nof the smiths had a short or lame leg, to signify that agriculture or\nhusbandry will halt without the assistance of the handicraft or mechanic\narts. In this apparatus he was called _Mulciber_, (from _Mulci_, to\ndirect and manage, and _ber_ or _beer_, a cave or mine, comes Mulciber,\nthe king of the mines or forges;) he was called also Hephaistos, (from\n_Aph_, _father_, and _Esto_, _fire_, comes Ephaisto, or Hephaiston, the\nfather of fire; and from _Wall_, to work, and Canan, to _hasten_, comes\n_Wolcon_, Vulcan, or _work furnished_;) all which names the Greeks and\nRomans adopted with the figure, and, as usual, converted from a _symbol_\nto a _god_.\n\n\u00c6OLUS, god of the winds, is said to have been the son of Jupiter by\nAcasta or Sigesia, daughter of Hippotas. His residence was, according to\nmost authors, at Rhegium in Italy; but wherever it was, he is\nrepresented as holding the winds, enchained in a vast cave, to prevent\ntheir committing any more such devastations as they had before\noccasioned; for, to their violence was imputed not only the disjunction\nof Sicily from Italy, but also the separation of Europe from Africa, by\nwhich a passage was opened for the ocean to form the Mediterranean sea.\nAccording to some, the \u00c6olian, or Lip{)a}ri islands were uninhabited\ntill Lip{)a}rus, son of Auson, settled a colony there, and gave one of\nthem his name. \u00c6{)o}lus married his daughter Cy{)a}ne, peopled the rest\nand succeeded him on the throne. He was a generous and good prince, who\nhospitably entertained Ulysses, and as a proof of his kindness, bestowed\non him several skins, in which he had enclosed the winds. The companions\nof Ulysses, unable to restrain their curiosity, having opened the skins,\nthe winds in consequence were set free, and occasioned the wildest\nuproar; insomuch that Ulysses lost all his vessels, and was himself\nalone saved by a plank. It may not be improper to remark, that over the\nrougher winds the poets have placed \u00c6{)o}lus; over the milder, Juno; and\nthe rain, thunder and lightning they have committed to Jupiter himself.\n\nMOMUS, son of Somnus and Nox, was the god of pleasantry and wit, or\nrather the jester of the celestial assembly; for, like other monarchs,\nit was but reasonable that Jupiter too should have his fool. We have an\ninstance of Momus's fantastic humor in the contest between Neptune,\nMinerva, and Vulcan, for skill. The first had made a bull, the second a\nhouse, and the third a man. Momus found fault with them all. He disliked\nthe bull because his horns were not placed before his eyes, that he\nmight give a surer blow: he condemned Minerva's house because it was\nimmovable, and could not therefore be taken away if placed in a bad\nneighborhood; and in regard to Vulcan's man, he said he ought to have\nmade a window in his breast, by which his heart might be seen, and his\nsecrets discovered.\n\n\n\n\nCHAPTER IV.\n\n_Terrestrial Goddesses._\n\n\nCYBELE, _or_ VESTA _the elder_. It is highly necessary, in tracing the\ngenealogy of the heathen deities, to distinguish between this goddess\nand Vesta the _younger_, her daughter, because the poets have been\nfaulty in confounding them, and ascribing the attributes and actions of\nthe one to the other. The elder Vesta, or Cyb{)e}le, was daughter of\nCoelus and Terra, and wife of her brother Saturn, to whom she bore a\nnumerous offspring. She had a variety of names besides that of\nCyb{)e}le, under which she is most generally known, and which she\nobtained from Mount Cyb{)e}lus, in Phrygia, where sacrifices to her were\nfirst instituted. Her sacrifices and festivals, like those of Bacchus,\nwere celebrated with a confused noise of timbrels, pipes, and cymbals;\nthe sacrificants howling as if mad, and profaning both the temple of the\ngoddess, and the ears of their hearers with the most obscene language\nand abominable gestures.\n\nUnder the character of Vesta, she is generally represented upon ancient\ncoins in a sitting posture, with a lighted torch in one hand, and a\nsphere or drum in the other. As Cyb{)e}le, she makes a more magnificent\nappearance, being seated in a lofty chariot drawn by lions, crowned with\ntowers, and bearing in her hand a key. Being goddess, not of cities\nonly, but of all things which the earth sustains, she was crowned with\nturrets, whilst the key implies not only her custody of cities, but also\nthat in winter the earth locks those treasures up, which she brings\nforth and dispenses in summer: she rides in a chariot, because\n(fancifully) the earth hangs suspended in the air, balanced and poised\nby its own weight; and that the chariot is supported by wheels, because\nthe earth is a voluble body and turns round. Her being drawn by lions,\nmay imply that nothing is too fierce and intractable for a motherly\npiety and tenderness to tame and subdue. Her garments are painted with\ndivers colors, but chiefly green, and figured with the images of several\ncreatures, because such a dress is suitable to the variegated and more\nprevalent appearance of the earth.\n\nVESTA was the daughter of Vesta the elder, by Saturn, and sister of\nCeres, Juno, Pluto, Neptune and Jupiter. She was so fond of a single\nlife, that when her brother Jupiter ascended the throne, and offered to\ngrant whatever she asked, her only desires were the preservation of her\nvirginity, and the first oblation in all sacrifices. Numa Pompilius, the\ngreat founder of religion among the Romans, is said first to have\nrestored the ancient rites and worship of this goddess, to whom he\nerected a circular temple, which in succeeding ages was not only much\nembellished, but also, as the earth was supposed to retain a constant\nfire within, a perpetual fire was kept up in the temple of Vesta, the\ncare of which was intrusted to a select number of young females\nappointed from the first families in Rome, and called _Vestal virgins_.\n\n\n [Illustration:\n\n APOLLO AND THE MUSES.\n Pl. 6.]\n\n\nAs this Vesta was the goddess of fire, the Romans had no images of her\nin her temple; the reason for which, assigned by Ovid, is that fire has\nno representative, as no bodies are produced from it: yet as Vesta was\nthe guardian of houses or hearths, her image was usually placed in the\nporch or entry, and daily sacrifices were offered up to her. It is\ncertain nothing could be a stronger or more lively symbol of the supreme\nbeing than fire; accordingly we find this emblem in early use throughout\nthe east. The Romans looked upon Vesta as one of the tutelar deities of\ntheir empire; and they so far made the safety and fate of Rome depend on\nthe preservation of the sacred fire in the temple of Vesta, that they\nthought the extinction of it foreboded the most terrible misfortune.\n\nCERES was daughter of Saturn and Ops, or Vesta. Sicily, Attica, Crete,\nand Egypt, claim the honor of her birth, each country producing the\nground of its claims, though general suffrage favors the first. In her\nyouth, being extremely beautiful, Jupiter fell in love with her, and by\nhim she had Pereph{)a}ta, called afterwards Proserpine. For some time\nshe took up her residence in Corc{=y}ra, so called in later times, from\na daughter of As{=o}pus, there buried, but anciently _Drep{)a}num_, from\nthe sickle used by the goddess in reaping, which had been presented her\nby Vulcan. Thence she removed to Sicily, where the violence of Pluto\ndeprived her of Proserpine. Disconsolate at her loss, she importuned\nJupiter for redress; but obtaining little satisfaction, she lighted\ntorches at the volcano of Mount \u00c6tna, and mounting her car, drawn by\nwinged dragons, set out in search of her beloved daughter. This\ntransaction the Sicilians annually commemorated by running about in the\nnight with lighted torches and loud exclamations.\n\nIt is disputed, by several nations, who first informed Ceres where her\ndaughter was, and thence acquired the reward, which was the art of\nsowing corn. Some ascribe the intelligence to Triptol{)e}mus, and his\nbrother Eubul{)e}us; but the generality of writers agree in conferring\nthe honor on the nymph Areth{=u}sa, daughter of Nereus and Doris, and\ncompanion of Diana, who, flying from the pursuit of the river\nAlph{=e}us, saw Proserpine in the infernal regions.\n\nIt must be owned that Ceres was not undeserving the highest titles\nbestowed upon her, being considered as the deity who had blessed men\nwith the art of cultivating the earth, having not only taught them to\nplough and sow, but also to reap, harvest, and thresh out their grain;\nto make flour and bread, and fix limits or boundaries to ascertain their\npossessions. The garlands used in her sacrifices were of myrtle, or\nrape-weed; but flowers were prohibited, Proserpine being carried off as\nshe gathered them. The poppy alone was sacred to her, not only because\nit grows amongst corn, but because, in her distress, Jupiter gave it her\nto eat, that she might sleep and forget her troubles. Cicero mentions an\nancient temple dedicated to her at Catania, in Sicily in which the\noffices were performed by matrons and virgins only, no man being\nadmitted.\n\nIf to explain the fable of Ceres, we have recourse to Egypt; it will be\nfound, that the goddess of Sicily and Eleusis, or of Rome and Greece, is\nno other than the Egyptian Isis, brought by the Phoenicians into those\ncountries. The very name of _mystery_, from _mistor_, a _veil_ or\n_covering_, given to the Eleusinian rites, performed in honor of Ceres,\nshows them to have been of Egyptian origin. The Isis, or the\nemblematical figure exhibited at the feast appointed for the\ncommemoration of the state of mankind after the flood, bore the name of\nCeres, from Cerets, _dissolution_ or _overthrow_. She was represented in\nmourning, and with torches, to denote the grief she felt for the loss of\nher favorite daughter _Perseph{)o}ne_ (which word, translated, signifies\ncorn lost) and the pains she was at to recover her. The poppies with\nwhich this Isis was crowned, signified the joy men received at their\nfirst abundant crop, the word which signifies a _double crop_, being\nalso a name for the _poppy_. Perseph{)o}ne or Proserpine found again,\nwas a lively symbol of the recovery of corn, and its cultivation, almost\nlost in the deluge. Thus, emblems of the most important events which\never happened in the world, simple in themselves, became when\ntransplanted to Greece and Rome, sources of fable and idolatry.\n\nCeres was usually represented of a tall majestic stature, fair\ncomplexion, languishing eyes, and yellow or flaxen hair; her head\ncrowned with a garland of poppies, or ears of corn; holding in her right\nhand a bunch of the same materials with her garland, and in her left a\nlighted torch. When in a car or chariot, she is drawn by lions, or\nwinged dragons.\n\nMUS\u00c6, the _Muses_. This celebrated sisterhood is said to have been the\ndaughters of Jupiter and Mn{=e}m{)o}syne. They were believed to have\nbeen born on Mount Pi{)e}rus, and educated by Euph{=e}me. In general\nthey were considered as the tutelar goddesses of sacred festivals and\nbanquets, and the patronesses of polite and useful arts. They supported\nvirtue in distress, and preserved worthy actions from oblivion. Homer\ncalls them superintendants and correctors of manners. In respect to the\nsciences, these sisters had each their separate province; though poetry\nseemed more immediately under their united protection.\n\nThese divinities, formerly called Mos\u00e6, were so named from a Greek word\nsignifying _to inquire_; because, by inquiring of them, the sciences\nmight be learnt. Others say they had their name from their resemblance,\nbecause there is a similitude, an infinity, and relation, betwixt all\nthe sciences, in which they agree together, and are united with each\nother; for which reason they are often painted with their hands joined,\ndancing in a circle round Apollo their leader.\n\nThey were represented crowned with flowers, or wreaths of palm, each\nholding some instrument, or emblem of the science or art over which she\npresided. They were depicted as in the bloom of youth; and the bird\nsacred to them was the swan, probably because that bird was consecrated\nto their sovereign Apollo. There was a fountain of the Muses near Rome,\nin the meadow where Numa used to meet the goddess Egeria; the care of\nwhich and of the worship paid to the Muses, was intrusted to the Vestal\nvirgins.\n\nTheir names were as follows: Clio, who presided over _history_. Her name\nis derived from {kleios}, _glory_, or from {klei\u00f4}, to _celebrate_. She\nis generally represented under the form of a young woman crowned with\nlaurel, holding in her right hand a trumpet, and in her left a book:\nothers describe her with a lute in one hand, and in the other a\n_plectrum_, or quill.\n\nEuterpe is distinguished by _tibi\u00e6_ or pipes whence she was called also\nTib{=i}c{=i}na. Some say logic was invented by her. It was very common\nwith the musicians of old to play on two pipes at once, agreeably to the\nremarks before Terence's plays, and as we often actually find them\nrepresented in the remains of the artists. It was over this species of\nmusic that Euterpe presided, as we learn from the first ode of Horace.\n\nTh{)a}l{=i}a presided over comedy, and whatever was gay, amiable, and\npleasant. She holds a mask in her right hand, and on medals she is\nrepresented leaning against a pillar. She was the Muse of comedy, of\nwhich they had a great mixture on the Roman stage in the earliest ages\nof their poetry, and long after. She is distinguished from the other\nMuses in general by a mask, and from Melpom{)e}ne, the tragic Muse, by\nher shepherd's crook, not to speak of her look, which is meaner than\nthat of Melpom{)e}ne, or her dress, which is shorter, and consequently\nless noble, than that of any other of the Muses.\n\nMelpom{)e}ne was so styled from the dignity and excellence of her song.\nShe presided over epic and lyric poetry. To her the invention of all\nmournful verses, and, particularly, of tragedy, was ascribed; for which\nreason Horace invokes her when he laments the death of Quintilius Varus.\nShe is usually represented of a sedate countenance, and richly habited,\nwith sceptres and crowns in one hand, and in the other a dagger. She has\nher mask on her head, which is sometimes placed so far backward that it\nhas been mistaken for a second face. Her mask shows that she presided\nover the stage; and she is distinguished from Th{)a}l{=i}a, or the comic\nMuse, by having more of dignity in her look, stature, and dress.\nMelpom{)e}ne was supposed to preside over all melancholy subjects, as\nwell as tragedy; as one would imagine at least from Horace's invoking\nher in one of his odes, and his desiring her to crown him with laurel in\nanother.\n\nTerps{)i}ch{)o}re; that is, _the sprightly_. Some attribute her name to\nthe pleasure she took in dancing; others represent her as the\nprotectress of music, particularly the flute; and add, that the chorus\nof the ancient drama was her province, to which also logic has been\nannexed. She is further said to be distinguished by the flutes which she\nholds, as well on medals as on other monuments.\n\nEr{)a}to, presided over elegiac or amorous poetry, and dancing, whence\nshe was sometimes called Saltatrix. She is represented as young, and\ncrowned with myrtle and roses, having a lyre in her right hand, and a\nbow in her left, with a little winged Cupid placed by her, armed with\nhis bow and arrows.\n\nPolyhymnia. Her name, which is of Greek origin, and signifies _much\nsinging_, seems to have been given her for the number of her songs,\nrather than her faithfulness of memory. To Polyhymnia belonged that\nharmony of voice and gesture which gives a perfection to oratory and\npoetry. She presided over rhetoric, and is represented with a crown of\npearls and a white robe, in the act of extending her right hand, as if\nharanguing, and holding in her left a scroll, on which the word\n_Suadere_ is written; sometimes, instead of the scroll, she appears\nholding a _caduceus_ or sceptre.\n\nUrania, or Coelestis. She is the Muse who extended her care to all\ndivine or celestial subjects, such as the hymns in praise of the gods,\nthe motions of the heavenly bodies, and whatever regarded philosophy or\nastronomy. She is represented in an azure robe, crowned with stars and\nsupporting a large globe with both hands: on medals this globe stands\nupon a tripod.\n\nCalli{)o}pe, who presides over eloquence and heroic poetry; so called\nfrom the ecstatic harmony of her voice. The poets, who are supposed to\nreceive their inspirations from the Muses, chiefly invoked Calli{)o}pe,\nas she presided over the hymns made in honor of the gods. She is spoken\nof by Ovid, as the chief of all the Muses. Under the same idea, Horace\ncalls her _Regina_, and attributes to her the skill of playing on what\ninstrument she pleases.\n\nASTR\u00c6A, or ASTREA, goddess of justice, was daughter of Astr\u00e6us, one of\nthe Titans; or according to Ovid, of Jupiter and Themis. She descended\nfrom heaven in the golden age, and inspired mankind with principles of\njustice and equity, but the world growing corrupt, she re-ascended\nthither, where she became the constellation in the Zodiac called Virgo.\n\nThis goddess is represented with a serene countenance, her eyes bound or\nblinded, having a sword in one hand, and in the other a pair of\nbalances, equally poised, or rods with a bundle of axes, and sitting on\na square stone. Among the Egyptians, she is described with her left hand\nstretched forth and open, but without a head. According to the poets,\nshe was conversant on earth during the golden and silver ages, but in\nthose of brass and iron, was forced by the wickedness of mankind to\nabandon the earth and retire to heaven. Virgil hints that she first\nquitted courts and cities, and betook herself to rural retreats before\nshe entirely withdrew.\n\nNEMESIS, daughter of Jupiter and Necessity, or, according to some, of\nOce{)a}nus and Nox, had the care of revenging the crimes which human\njustice left unpunished. The word Nem{)e}sis is of Greek origin, nor was\nthere any Latin word that expressed it, therefore the Latin poets\nusually styled this goddess Rhamnusia, from a famous statue of\nNem{)e}sis at Rhamnus in Attica. She is likewise called Adrastea,\nbecause Adrastus, king of Argos, first raised an altar to her.\nNem{)e}sis is plainly divine vengeance, or the eternal justice of God,\nwhich severely punishes the wicked actions of men. She is sometimes\nrepresented with wings, to denote the celerity with which she follows\nmen to observe their actions.\n\n\n\n\nCHAPTER V.\n\n_Gods of the Woods._\n\n\n_Pan_, the god of shepherds and hunters, leader of the nymphs, president\nof the mountains, patron of a country life, and guardian of flocks and\nherds, was likewise adored by fishermen, especially those who lived\nabout the promontories washed by the sea. There is scarcely any of the\ngods to whom the poets have given a greater diversity of parents. The\nmost common opinion is, that he was the son of Mercury and Penel{)o}pe.\nAs soon as he was born, his father carried him in a goat's skin to\nheaven, where he charmed all the gods with his pipe, so that they\nassociated him with Mercury in the office of their messenger. After this\nhe was educated on Mount M\u00e6n{)a}lus, in Arcadia, by Si{)o}ne and the\nother nymphs, who, attracted by his music, followed him as their\nconductor.\n\nPan, though devoted to the pleasures of rural life, distinguished\nhimself by his valor. In the war of the giants he entangled Typhon in\nhis nets. Bacchus, in his Indian expedition, was accompanied by him with\na body of Satyrs, who rendered Bacchus great service. When the Gauls\ninvaded Greece, and were just going to pillage Delphi, Pan struck them\nwith such a sudden consternation by night, that they fled without being\npursued: hence the expression of a _Panic fear_, for a sudden terror.\nThe Romans adopted him among their deities, by the names of Lupercus and\nLyc\u00e6us, and built a temple to him at the foot of Mount Palatine.\n\nHe is represented with a smiling, ruddy face, and thick beard covering\nhis breast, two horns on his head, a star on his bosom, legs and thighs\nhairy, and the nose, feet, and tail of a goat. He is clothed in a\nspotted skin, having a shepherd's crook in one hand, and his pipe of\nunequal reeds in the other, and is crowned with pine, that tree being\nsacred to him.\n\nPan probably signifies the universal nature, proceeding from the divine\nmind and providence, of which the heaven, earth, sea, and the eternal\nfire, are so many members. Mythologists are of opinion that his upper\nparts are like a man, because the superior and celestial part of the\nworld is beautiful, radiant, and glorious: his horns denote the rays of\nthe sun, as they beam upwards, and his long beard signifies the same\nrays, as they have an influence upon the earth: the ruddiness of his\nface resembles the splendor of the sky, and the spotted skin which he\nwears is the image of the starry firmament: his lower parts are rough,\nhairy, and deformed, to represent the shrubs, wild creatures, trees, and\nmountains here below: his goat's feet signify the solidity of the earth;\nand his pipe of seven reeds, that celestial harmony which is made by the\nseven planets; lastly, his sheep-hook denotes that care and providence\nby which he governs the universe.\n\nSILENUS. As Bacchus was the god of good humor and fellowship, so none of\nthe deities appeared with a more numerous or splendid retinue, in which\nSil{=e}nus was the principal person; of whose descent, however, we have\nno accounts to be relied on. Some say he was born at Malea, a city of\nSparta; others at Nysa in Arabia; but the most probable conjecture is,\nthat he was a prince of Caria, noted for his equity and wisdom. But\nwhatever be the fate of these different accounts, Sil{=e}nus is said to\nhave been preceptor to Bacchus, and was certainly a very suitable one\nfor such a deity, the old man being heartily attached to wine. He\nhowever distinguished himself greatly in the war with the giants, by\nappearing in the conflict on an ass, whose braying threw them into\nconfusion; for which reason, or because, when Bacchus engaged the\nIndians, their elephants were put to flight by the braying of the ass,\nit was raised to the skies, and there made a constellation.\n\nThe historian tells us that Sil{=e}nus was the first of all the kings\nthat reigned at Nysa; that his origin is not known, it being beyond the\nmemory of mortals: it is likewise said that he was a Phrygian, who lived\nin the reign of Midas, and that the shepherds having caught him, by\nputting wine into the fountain he used to drink of, brought him to\nMidas, who gave him his long ears; a fable intended to intimate that\nthis extraordinary loan signified the faculty of receiving universal\nintelligence. Virgil makes Sil{=e}nus deliver a very serious and\nexcellent discourse concerning the creation of the world, when he was\nscarcely recovered from a fit of drunkenness, which renders it probable\nthat the sort of drunkenness with which Sil{=e}nus is charged, had\nsomething in it mysterious, and approaching to inspiration.\n\nHe is described as a short, corpulent old man, bald-headed, with a flat\nnose, prominent forehead and long ears. He is usually exhibited as\nover-laden with wine, and seated on a saddled ass, upon which he\nsupports himself with a long staff in the one hand, and in the other\ncarries a _cantharus_ or jug, with the handle almost worn out with\nfrequent use.\n\nSYLVANUS. The descent of Sylv{=a}nus is extremely obscure. Some think\nhim son of Faunus, some say he was the same with Faunus, whilst others\nsuppose him the same deity with Pan, which opinion Pliny seems to adopt\nwhen he says that the \u00c6gipans were the same with the Sylvans. He was\nunknown to the Greeks; but the Latins received the worship of him from\nthe Pelasgi, upon their migration into Italy, and his worship seems\nwholly to have arisen out of the ancient sacred use of woods and groves,\nit being introduced to inculcate a belief that there was no place\nwithout the presence of a deity. The Pelasgi consecrated groves, and\nappointed solemn festivals, in honor of Sylv{=a}nus. The hog and milk\nwere the offerings tendered him. A monument consecrated to this deity,\nby one Laches, gives him the epithet of Littor{=a}lis, whence it would\nseem that he was worshipped upon the sea-coasts.\n\nThe priests of Sylv{=a}nus constituted one of the principal colleges of\nRome, and were in great reputation, a sufficient evidence of the fame of\nhis worship. Many writers confound the Sylv{=a}ni, Fauni, Satyri, and\nSil{=e}ni, with Pan.\n\nSome monuments represent him as little of stature, with the face of a\nman, and the legs and feet of a goat, holding a branch of cypress in his\nhand, in token of his regard for Cyparissus, who was transformed into\nthat tree. The pineapple, a pruning-knife in his hand, a crown coarsely\nmade, and a dog, are the ordinary attributes of the representations of\nthis rural deity. He appears sometimes naked, sometimes covered with a\nrustic garb which reaches down to his knee.\n\nSylv{=a}nus, as his name imports, presided over woods, and the fruits\nthat grew in them; agreeable to which, (in some figures) he has a lap\nfull of fruit, his pruning-hook in one hand, and a young cypress tree in\nthe other. Virgil mentions the latter as a distinguishing attribute of\nthis god: the same poet, on another occasion, describes him as crowned\nwith wild flowers, and mentions his presiding over the cornfields as\nwell as the woods.\n\nSATYRI, _or_ SATYRS, a sort of demi-gods, who with the Fauns and\nSylvans, presided over groves and forests under the direction of Pan.\nThey made part of the _dramatis pers{=o}n\u00e6_ in the ancient Greek\ntragedies, which gave rise to the species of poetry called satirical.\n\nThere is a story that Euph{=e}mus, passing from Caria to the extreme\nparts of the ocean, discovered many desert islands, and being forced by\ntempestuous weather to land upon one of them, called Satyr{)i}da, he\nfound inhabitants covered with yellow hair, having tails not much less\nthan horses. We are likewise told, that in the expedition which Hanno\nthe Carthaginian made to the parts of Lybia lying beyond Hercules'\npillars, they came to a great bay called the Western Horn, in which was\nan island where they could find or see nothing by day-light but woods,\nand yet in the night they observed many fires, and heard an incredible\nand astonishing noise of drums and trumpets; whence they concluded that\na number of Satyrs abode there.\n\nIt is pretended there really were such monsters as the pagans deified\nunder the name of Satyrs; and one of them, it is said, was brought to\nSylla, having been surprised in his sleep. Sylla ordered him to be\ninterrogated by people of different countries, to know what language he\nspoke; but the Satyr only answered with cries, not unlike those of goats\nand the neighing of horses. This monster had a human body, but the\nthighs, legs, and feet of a goat. To the above stories may be added that\nof the Satyr who passed the Rubicon in presence of C\u00e6sar and his whole\narmy.\n\nThe Satyrs of the ancients were the ministers and attendants of Bacchus.\nTheir form was not the most inviting; for though their countenances were\nhuman, they had horns on their foreheads, crooked hands, rough and hairy\nbodies, feet and legs like a goat's, and tails which resembled those of\nhorses. The shepherds sacrificed to them the firstlings of their flocks,\nbut more especially grapes and apples; and they addressed to them songs\nin their forests by which they endeavored to conciliate their favor.\nWhen Satyrs arrived at an advanced age they were called Sil{=e}ni.\n\nFAUNI, _or_ FAUNS, a species of demi-gods, inhabiting the forests,\ncalled also _Sylv{=a}ni_. They were sons of Faunus and Fauna, or Fatua,\nking and queen of the Latins, and though accounted demi-gods, were\nsupposed to die after a long life. Arnobius, indeed, has shown that\ntheir father, or chief, lived only one hundred and twenty years. The\nFauns were Roman deities, unknown to the Greeks. The Roman Faunus was\nthe same with the Greek Pan; and as in the poets we find frequent\nmention of _Fauns_, and _Pans_, or _Panes_, in the plural number, most\nprobable the Fauns were the same with the Pans, and all descended from\none progenitor.\n\nThe Romans called them _Fauni_ and _Ficarii_. The denomination _Ficarii_\nwas not derived from the Latin _ficus_ a _fig_, as some have imagined,\nbut from _ficus_, _fici_, a sort of fleshy tumor or excrescence growing\non the eyelids and other parts of the body, which the Fauns were\nrepresented as having. They were called Fauni, _a fando_, from\n_speaking_, because they were wont to speak and converse with men; an\ninstance of which is given in the voice that was heard from the wood, in\nthe battle between the Romans and Etrurians for the restoration of the\nTarquins, and which encouraged the Romans to fight. We are told that the\nFauni were husbandmen, the Satyrs vine-dressers, and the Sylv{=a}ni\nthose who cut down wood in the forests.\n\nThey were represented with horns on their heads, pointed ears, and\ncrowned with branches of the pine, which was a tree sacred to them,\nwhilst their lower extremities resembled those of a goat.\n\nHorace makes Faunus the guardian and protector of men of wit, and\nVirgil, a god of oracles and predictions; but this is, perhaps, founded\non the etymology of his name, for {ph\u00f4nein} in Greek, and _Fari_ in\nLatin, of which it has been supposed a derivative, signify to _speak_;\nand it was, perhaps, for the same reason, they called his wife _Fauna_,\nthat is, _Fatidica_, _prophetess_. Faunus is described by Ovid with\nhorns on his head, and crowned with the pine tree.\n\nPRIAPUS is said, by some, to have been the son of Bacchus and Nais, or\nas others will have it, of Chi{)o}ne; but the generality of authors\nagree, that he was son of Bacchus and Venus. He was born at\nLamps{)a}chus, a city of Mysia, at the mouth of the Hellespont, but in\nso deformed a state, that his mother, through shame, abandoned him. On\nhis growing up to maturity, the inhabitants of the place banished him\ntheir territories, on account of his vicious habits; but being soon\nafter visited with an epidemic disease, the Lampsacans consulted the\noracle of Dod{=o}na, and Pri{=a}pus was in consequence recalled. Temples\nwere erected to him as the tutelar deity of vineyards and gardens, to\ndefend them from thieves and from birds.\n\nHe is usually represented naked and obscene, with a stern countenance,\nmatted hair, crowned with garden herbs, and holding a wooden sword, or\nscythe, whilst his body terminates in a shapeless trunk. His figures are\ngenerally erected in gardens and orchards to serve as scarecrows.\nPri{=a}pus held a pruning-hook in his hands, when he had hands, for he\nwas sometimes nothing more than a mere log of wood, as Martial somewhat\nhumorously calls him. Indeed the Roman poets in general seem to have\nlooked on him as a ridiculous god, and are all ready enough either to\ndespise or abuse him.\n\nTrimalchio, in his ridiculous feasts described by Petronius, had a\nfigure of this god to be held up during his dessert: it was made of\npaste, and, as Horace observes on another occasion, that he owed all his\ndivinity to the carpenter, Petronius seems to hint that he was wholly\nobliged for it to the pastry cook in this. Some mythologists make the\nbirth of Pri{=a}pus allude to that radical moisture which supports all\nvegetable productions, and which is produced by Bacchus and Venus, that\nis, the solar heat, and the fluid whence Venus is said to have sprung.\nSome affirm that he was the same with the Baal of the Phoenicians,\nmentioned in scripture.\n\nARIST\u00c6US, son of Apollo, by the nymph Cyrene, daughter of Hypseus, king\nof the Lap{)i}th\u00e6, was born in Lybia, and in that part of it where the\ncity Cyrene was built. He received his education from the nymphs, who\ntaught him to extract oil from olives, and to make honey, cheese, and\nbutter; all which arts he communicated to mankind. Going to Thebes, he\nthere married Auton{)o}e, daughter of Cadmus, and, by her, was father to\nAct\u00e6on, who was torn in pieces by his own dogs. At length he passed into\nThrace, where Bacchus initiated him into the mysteries of the Orgia, and\ntaught him many things conducive to the happiness of life. Having dwelt\nsome time near Mount Hemus, he disappeared, and not only the barbarous\npeople of that country, but the Greeks likewise decreed him divine\nhonors.\n\nIt is remarked by Bayle, that Arist\u00e6us found out the solstitial rising\nof Sirius, or the dog-star; and he adds, it is certain that this star\nhad a particular relation to Arist\u00e6us; for this reason, when the heats\nof the dog-star laid waste the Cycl{)a}des, and occasioned there a\npestilence, Arist\u00e6us was entreated to put a stop to it. He went directly\ninto the isle of Cea, and built an altar to Jupiter, offered sacrifices\nto that deity, as well to the malignant star, and established an\nanniversary for it. These produced a very good effect, for it was from\nthence that the Etesian winds had their origin, which continue forty\ndays, and temper the heat of the summer. On his death, for the services\nhe had rendered mankind, he was placed among the stars, and is the\nAquarius of the Zodiac.\n\nTERMINUS was a very ancient deity among the Romans, whose worship was\nfirst instituted by Numa Pompilius, he having erected in his honor on\nthe Tarpeian hill a temple which was open at the top. This deity was\nthought to preside over the stones or land-marks, called Term{)i}ni,\nwhich were so highly venerated, that it was sacrilege to move them, and\nthe criminal becoming devoted to the gods, it was lawful for any man to\nkill him. The Roman Term{)i}ni were square stones or posts, much\nresembling our mile-stones, erected to show that no force or violence\nshould be used in settling mutual boundaries; they were sometimes\ncrowned with a human head, but had seldom any inscriptions; one,\nhowever, is mentioned to this effect, \"Whosoever shall take away this,\nor shall order it to be taken away, may he die the last of his family.\"\n\nVERTUMNUS, the Proteus of the Roman ritual, was the god of tradesmen,\nand, from the power he had of assuming any shape, was believed to\npreside over the thoughts of mankind. His courtship of Pom{=o}na makes\none of the most elegant and entertaining stories in Ovid. The Romans\nesteemed him the god of tradesmen, from the turns and changes which\ntraffic effects. There was no god had a greater variety of\nrepresentations than Vertumnus. He is painted with a garland of flowers\non his head, a pruning hook in one hand, and ripe fruits in the other.\nPom{=o}na has a pruning hook in her right hand, and a branch in her\nleft. Pliny introduces this goddess personally, even in his prose, to\nmake her speak in praise of the fruits committed to her care. We learn\nfrom Ovid that this goddess was of that class which they anciently\ncalled Hamadryads.\n\nBoth these deities were unknown to the Greeks, and only honored by the\nRomans. Some imagine Vertumnus an emblem of the year, which, though it\nassume different dresses according to the different seasons, is at no\ntime so luxuriant as in autumn, when the harvest is crowned, and the\nfruits appear in their full perfection and lustre; but historians say\nthat Vertumnus was an ancient king of the Tuscans, who first taught his\npeople the method of planting orchards, gardens, and vineyards, and the\nmanner of cultivating, pruning, and grafting fruit-trees; whence he is\nreported to have married Pom{=o}na. Some think he was called Vertumnus,\nfrom turning the lake Curtus into the Tiber.\n\n\n\n\nCHAPTER VI.\n\n_Goddesses of the Woods._\n\n\nDIANA, daughter of Jupiter and Lat{=o}na, and sister of Apollo, was born\nin the island of Delos. She had a threefold divinity, being styled\nDi{=a}na on earth, Luna, or the moon, in heaven, and Hec{)a}te, or\nProserpine, in hell. The poets say she had three heads, one of a horse,\nanother of a woman, and the third of a dog. Hesiod makes Di{=a}na, Luna,\nand Hec{)a}te, three distinguished goddesses.\n\nOf all the various characters of this goddess, there is no one more\nknown than that of her presiding over woods, and delighting in hunting.\nThe Di{=a}na Venatrix, or goddess of the chase, is frequently\nrepresented as running on, with her vest flying back with the wind,\nnotwithstanding its being shortened, and girt about her for expedition.\nShe is tall of stature, and her face, though so very handsome, is\nsomething manly. Her feet are sometimes bare, and sometimes adorned with\na sort of buskin, which was worn by the huntresses of old. She often has\na quiver on her shoulder, and sometimes holds a javelin, but more\nusually her bow, in her right hand. It is thus she makes her appearance\nin several of her statues, and it is thus the Roman poets describe her,\nparticularly in the epithets they give this goddess, in the use of which\nthey are so happy that they often bring the idea of whole figures of her\ninto your mind by a single word. The statues of this Di{=a}na were very\nfrequent in woods: she was represented there in all the different ways\nthey could think of; sometimes as hunting, sometimes as bathing, and\nsometimes as resting herself after her fatigue. The height of Di{=a}na's\nstature is frequently marked out in the poets, and that, generally, by\ncomparing her with her nymphs.\n\nAnother great character of Di{=a}na is that under which she is\nrepresented as the intelligence which presides over the planet of the\nmoon; in which she is depicted in her car as directing that planet. Her\nfigure under this character is frequently enough to be met with on gems\nand medals, which generally exhibit her with a lunar crown, or crescent\non her forehead, and sometimes as drawn by stags, sometimes by does,\nbut, more commonly than either, by horses. The poets speak of her\nchariot and her horses; they agree with the artists in giving her but\ntwo, and show, that the painters of old generally drew them of a perfect\nwhite color.\n\nA third remarkable way of representing Di{=a}na was with three bodies;\nthis is very common among the ancient figures of the goddess, and it is\nhence the poets call her the triple, the three-headed, and the\nthree-bodied Di{=a}na. Her distinguishing name under this triple\nappearance is Hec{)a}te, or Trivia; a goddess frequently invoked in\nenchantments, and fit for such black operations; for this is the\ninfernal Di{=a}na, and as such is represented with the characteristics\nof a fury, rather than as one of the twelve great celestial deities: all\nher hands hold instruments of terror, and generally grasp either cords,\nor swords, or serpents, or fire-brands.\n\nThere are various conjectures concerning the name _Hec{)a}te_, which is\nsupposed to come from a Greek word signifying an _hundred_, either\nbecause an hundred victims at a time used to be offered to her, or else\nbecause by her edicts the ghosts of those who die without burial, wander\nan hundred years upon the banks of the Styx. Mythologists say that\nHec{)a}te is the _order_ and _force_ of the Fates, who obtained from the\ndivine power that influence which they have over human bodies; that the\noperation of the Fates are hidden, but descend by the means and\ninterposition of the stars, wherefore it is necessary that all inferior\nthings submit to the cares, calamities, and death which the Fates bring\nupon them, without any possibility of resisting the divine will.\n\nHesiod relates of Hec{)a}te, to show the extent of her power, that\nJupiter had heaped gifts and honors upon her far above all the other\ndeities; that she was empress of the earth and sea, and all things which\nare comprehended in the compass of the heavens; that she was a goddess\neasy to be entreated, kind, and always ready to do good, bountiful of\ngold and riches, which are wholly in her power; that whatever springs\nfrom seed, whether in heaven, or on earth, is subject to her, and that\nshe governs the fates of all things.\n\nPALES was a rural goddess of the Romans. She was properly the divinity\nof shepherds, and the tutelar deity and protectress of their flocks. Her\nvotaries had usually wooden images of her. A feast called Palilia or\nParilia was celebrated on the twenty-first of April, or, according to\nsome, in May, in the open fields. The offerings were milk and cakes of\nmillet, in order to engage her to defend their flocks from wild beasts\nand infectious diseases. As part of the ceremony, they burned heaps of\nstraw, and leaped over them. Some make Pales the same with Vesta or\nCyb{)e}le. This goddess is represented as an old woman.\n\nFLORA, the goddess of flowers, was a Roman deity. The ancients made her\nthe wife of Zephyrus, to intimate that Flora, or the natural heat of the\nplant, must concur with the influence of the warmest wind for the\nproduction of flowers. Varro reckons Flora among the ancient deities of\nthe Sabines, which were received into Rome on the union of the Sabines\nwith the Romans. Ovid says, that her Greek name was Chloris, and that\nthe Latins changed it into Flora.\n\nFERONIA was the goddess of woods and orchards. She is called Feronia\nfrom the verb _fero, to bring forth_, because she _produced_ and\n_propagated_ trees, or from Fer{=o}n{)i}ci, a town situated near the\nfoot of Mount Soracte, in Italy, where was a wood, and a temple\ndedicated to her; which town and wood are mentioned by Virgil, in his\ncatalogue of the forces of Turnus. The Lacedemonians first introduced\nher worship into Italy under Evander; for these people, being offended\nat the rigor of the laws of Lycurgus, resolved to seek out some new\nplantation, and arriving, after a long and dangerous voyage, in Italy,\nthey, to show their gratitude for their preservation, built a temple to\nFeronia, so called from their _bearing patiently_ all the fatigues and\ndangers they had encountered in their voyage. This edifice casually\ntaking fire, the people ran to remove and preserve the image of the\ngoddess, when on a sudden the fire became extinguished, and the grove\nassumed a native and flourishing verdure.\n\nHorace mentions the homage that was paid to this deity, by washing the\nface and hands, according to custom, in the sacred fountain which flowed\nnear her temple. Slaves received the cap of liberty at her shrine, on\nwhich account they regarded her as their patroness. How Feronia was\ndescended, where born, or how educated, is not transmitted to us; but\nshe is said to have been wife to Jupiter Anxur, so called, because he\nwas worshipped in that place.\n\n\n [Illustration:\n\n NEPTUNE RISING FROM THE SEA\n\n HE SITS SUPERIOR & THE CHARIOT FLIES.\n\n Pope's Homer's Iliad. B. 13. L. 41\n Pl. 7.]\n\n\nNYMPH\u00c6, _the_ NYMPHS, were certain inferior goddesses, inhabiting the\nmountains, woods, valleys, rivers, seas, &c. said to be daughters of\nOceanus and Tethys. According to ancient mythology, the whole universe\nwas full of these nymphs, who are distinguished into several ranks and\nclasses, though the general division of them is into celestial and\nterrestrial. I. The Celestial Nymphs, called _Urani\u00e6_, were supposed to\ngovern the heavenly bodies or spheres. II. The Terrestrial Nymphs,\ncalled _Epigei\u00e6_, presided over the several parts of the inferior world;\nthese were again subdivided into those of the water, and those of the\nearth.\n\nThe Nymphs of the water were ranged under several classes: 1. The\nOcean{)i}des, or Nymphs of the ocean. 2. The Nereids, daughters of\nNereus and Doris. 3. The Naiads, Nymphs of the fountains. 4. The\nEphydri{)a}des, also Nymphs of the fountains; and 5. The Limni{)a}des,\nNymphs of the lakes. The Nymphs of the earth were likewise divided into\ndifferent classes; as, 1. The Ore{)a}des, or Nymphs of the mountains. 2.\nThe Nap\u00e6\u00e6, Nymphs of the meadows; and 3. The Dryads and Hamadryads,\nNymphs of the woods and forests. Besides these, there were Nymphs who\ntook their names from particular countries, rivers, &c. as the\nDardan{)i}des, Tiber{)i}des, Ismen{)i}des, &c.\n\nPausanias reports it as the opinion of the ancient poets that the Nymphs\nwere not altogether free from death, or immortal, but that their years\nwore in a manner innumerable; that prophecies were inspired by the\nNymphs, as well as the other deities; and that they had foretold the\ndestruction of several cities: they were likewise esteemed as the\nauthors of divination.\n\nMeursius is of opinion, that the Greeks borrowed their notion of these\ndivinities from the Phoenicians, for _nympha_, in their language,\nsignifying _soul_, the Greeks imagined that the souls of the ancient\ninhabitants of Greece had become Nymphs; particularly that the souls of\nthose who had inhabited the woods were called Dryads; those who\ninhabited the mountains, Ore{)a}des; those who dwelt on the sea-coasts,\nNereids; and, lastly, those who had their place of abode near rivers or\nfountains, Naiads. Though goats were sometimes sacrificed to the Nymphs,\nyet their stated offerings were milk, oil, honey and wine. They were\nrepresented as young and beautiful virgins, and dressed in conformity to\nthe character ascribed to them.\n\n\n\n\n\nCHAPTER VII.\n\n_Gods of the Sea._\n\n\nNEPTUNE was the son of Saturn, and Rhea or Ops, and brother of Jupiter.\nWhen arrived at maturity, he assisted his brother Jupiter in his\nexpeditions, for which that god, on attaining to supreme power, assigned\nhim the sea and the islands for his empire. Whatever attachment Neptune\nmight have had to his brother at one period, he was at another expelled\nheaven for entering into a conspiracy against him, in conjunction with\nseveral other deities; whence he fled, with Apollo, to Laomedon, king of\nTroy, where Neptune having assisted in raising the walls of the city,\nand being dismissed unrewarded, in revenge, sent a sea-monster to lay\nwaste the country.\n\nOn another occasion, this deity had a contest with Vulcan and Minerva,\nin regard to their skill. The goddess, as a proof of her's, made a\nhorse, Vulcan a man, and Neptune a bull, whence that animal was used in\nthe sacrifices to him, though it is probable that, as the victim was to\nbe black, the design was to point out the raging quality and fury of the\nsea, over which he presided. The Greeks make Neptune to have been the\ncreator of the horse, which he produced from out of the earth with a\nblow of his trident, when disputing with Minerva who should give the\nname to Cecropia, which was afterwards called Athens, from the name in\nGreek of Minerva, who made an olive tree spring up suddenly, and thus\nobtained the victory.\n\nIn this fable, however, it is evident that the horse could signify\nnothing but a ship; for the two things in which that region excelled\nbeing ships and olive-trees, it was thought politic by this means to\nbring the citizens over from too great a fondness for sea affairs, to\nthe cultivation of their country, by showing that Pallas was preferable\nto Neptune, or, in other words, _husbandry to sailing_, which, without\nsome further meaning, the production of a horse could never have done.\nIt notwithstanding appears that Neptune had brought the management of\nthe horse, as likewise the art of building ships, to very great\nperfection; insomuch that Pamphus, who was the most ancient writer of\nhymns to the gods, calls him the benefactor of mankind, in bestowing\nupon them horses and ships which had stems and decks that resembled\ntowers.\n\nIf Neptune created the horse, he was likewise the inventor of\nchariot-races; hence Mithrid{=a}tes, king of Pontus, threw chariots,\ndrawn by four horses, into the sea, in honor of Neptune: and the Romans\ninstituted horse-races in the circus during his festival, at which time\nall horses ceased from working, and the mules were adorned with wreaths\nof flowers.\n\nNeptune, represented as a god of the sea, makes a considerable figure:\nhe is described with black or dark hair, his garment of an azure or\nsea-green color, seated in a large shell drawn by whales, or sea-horses,\nwith his trident in his hand, attended by the sea-gods Pal\u00e6mon, Glaucus,\nand Phorcys; the sea-goddesses Thetis, Melita, and Panop{=e}a, and a\nlong train of Tritons and sea-nymphs.\n\nThe inferior artists represent him sometimes with an angry and disturbed\nair; and we may observe the same difference in this particular between\nthe great and inferior poets as there is between the bad and the good\nartists. Thus Ovid describes Neptune with a sullen look, whereas Virgil\nexpressly tells us that he has a mild face, even where he is\nrepresenting him in a passion. Even at the time that he is provoked, and\nmight be expected to have appeared disturbed, and in a passion, there is\nserenity and majesty in his face.\n\nOn some medals he treads on the beak of a ship, to show that he presided\nover the seas, or more particularly over the Mediterranean sea, which\nwas the great, and almost the only scene for navigation among the old\nGreeks and Romans. He is standing, as he generally was represented; he\nmost commonly, too, has his trident in his right hand: this was his\npeculiar sceptre, and seems to have been used by him chiefly to rouse up\nthe waters; for we find sometimes that he lays it aside when he is to\nappease them, but he resumes it when there is occasion for violence.\nVirgil makes him shake Troy from its foundation with it; and in Ovid it\nis with the stroke of this that the waters of the earth are let loose\nfor the general deluge. The poets have generally delighted in describing\nthis god as passing over the calm surface of the waters, in his chariot\ndrawn by sea-horses. The fine original description of this is in Homer,\nfrom whom Virgil and Statius have copied it.\n\nIn searching for the mythological sense of the fable, we must again have\nrecourse to Egypt, that kingdom which, above all others, has furnished\nthe most ample harvest for the reaper of mysteries. The Egyptians, to\ndenote navigation, and the return of the Phoenician fleet, which\nannually visited their coast, used the figure of an Osiris borne on a\nwinged horse, and holding a three-forked spear, or harpoon. To this\nimage they gave the name of Poseidon, or Neptune, which, as the Greeks\nand Romans afterwards adopted, sufficiently proves this deity had his\nbirth here. Thus the maritime Osiris of the Egyptians became a new deity\nwith those who knew not the meaning of the symbol.\n\nTRITON. It is not agreed who were the parents of Triton; but he was a\nsea-deity, the herald and trumpeter of Oceanus and Neptune. He sometimes\ndelighted in mischief, for he carried off the cattle from the Tanagrian\nfields, and destroyed the smaller coasting vessels; so that to appease\nhis resentment, the Tanagrians offered him libations of new wine.\nPleased with its flavor and taste, he drank so freely that he fell\nasleep, and tumbling from an eminence, one of the natives cut of his\nhead. He left a daughter called Tristia.\n\nThe poets ordinarily attribute to Triton, the office of calming the sea,\nand stilling of tempests: thus in the Metamorphoses we read, that\nNeptune desiring to recall the waters of the deluge, commanded Triton to\nsound his trumpet, at the noise of which they retired to their\nrespective channels, and left the earth again habitable, having swept\noff almost the whole human race.\n\nThis god is exhibited in the human form from the waist upwards, with\nblue eyes, a large mouth, and hair matted like wild parsley; his\nshoulders covered with a purple skin, variegated with small scales, his\nfeet resembling the fore feet of a horse, and his lower parts\nterminating in a double forked tail: sometimes he is seen in a car, with\nhorses of a bright cerulean. His trumpet is a large conch, or sea-shell.\nThere were several Tritons, but one chief over all, the distinguished\nmessenger of Neptune, as Mercury was of Jupiter, and Iris of Juno.\n\nOCEANUS, oldest son of Coelus and Terra, or Vesta. He married Tethys,\nand besides her had many other wives. He had several sisters, all\nNymphs, each of whom possessed an hundred woods and as many rivers.\nOceanus was esteemed by the ancients as the father both of gods and men,\nwho were said to have taken their beginning from him, on account of the\nocean's encompassing the earth with its waves, and because he was the\nprincipal of that radical moisture diffused through universal matter,\nwithout which, according to Thales, nothing could either be produced or\nsubsist.\n\nHomer makes Juno visit Oceanus at the remotest limits of the earth, and\nacknowledge him and Tethys as the parents of the gods, adding, that she\nherself had been brought up under their tuition. Many of his children\nare mentioned in poetical story, whose names it would be endless to\nenumerate, and, indeed, they are only the appellations of the principal\nrivers of the world. Oceanus was described with a bull's head, to\nrepresent the rage and bellowing of the ocean when agitated by storms.\nOceanus and Tethys are ranked in the highest classes of sea-deities, and\nas governors in chief over the whole world of waters.\n\nNEREUS, a sea-deity, was son of Oceanus, by Tethys. Apollodorus gives\nhim Terra for his mother. His education and authority were in the\nwaters, and his residence, more particularly, the \u00c6gean seas. He had the\nfaculty of assuming what form he pleased. He was regarded as a prophet;\nand foretold to Paris the war which the rape of Helen would bring upon\nhis country. When Hercules was ordered to fetch the golden apples of the\nHesperides, he went to the Nymphs inhabiting the grottoes of Eridanus,\nto know where he might find them; the Nymphs sent him to Nereus, who, to\nelude the inquiry, perpetually varied his form, till Hercules having\nseized him, resolved to hold him till he resumed his original shape, on\nwhich he yielded the desired information. Nereus had, by his sister\nDoris, fifty daughters called Nereids. Hesiod highly celebrates him as a\nmild and peaceful old man, a lover of justice and moderation. Nereus and\nDoris, with their descendants the Nereids, or Oceaniads, so called from\nOceanus, are ranked in the third class of water deities.\n\nPAL\u00c6MON, _or_ MELICERTES, was son of Athamas, king of Thebes and Ino.\nThe latter fearing the rage of her husband, who in his madness had\nkilled his son Learchus, took Melicertes in her arms, and leaped with\nhim from the rock Molyris into the sea. Neptune received them with open\narms, and gave them a place among the marine gods, only changing their\nnames, Ino being called Leucothea, or Leucothoe, and Melicertes,\nPal\u00e6mon. Ino, under the name Leucothea, is supposed, by some, to be the\nsame with Aurora: the Romans gave her the name of Matuta, she being\nreputed the goddess that ushers in the morning; and Pal\u00e6mon, they called\nPortumnus, or Portunnus, and painted him with a key in his hand, to\ndenote that he was the guardian of harbors. Adorations were paid to him\nchiefly at Tenedos, and the sacrifice offered to him was an infant.\n\nPausanias says that the body of Melicertes was thrown on the Isthmus of\nCorinth where Sisyphus, his uncle, who reigned in that city, instituted\nthe Isthmian games in his honor. For this fable we are indebted to the\nfertile invention of the Greeks, Melicertes being no other than the\nMelcarthus or the Hercules of Tyre, who, from having been drowned in the\nsea, was called a god of it, and from his many voyages, the guardian of\nharbors.\n\nGLAUCUS, a sea-deity. His story, which is very fanciful, shows the\nextravagance of poetical fiction amongst the ancients. Before his\ndeification, Glaucus is said to have been a fisherman of Anthedon, who\nhaving one day remarked that the fishes which he laid on a particular\nherb revived and threw themselves into the sea, resolved himself to\ntaste it, and immediately followed their example: the consequence was,\nthat he became a Triton, and ever after was reputed a marine deity,\nattending with the rest on the car of Neptune.\n\nThe descent of this deity is exceeding dubious. He is said to have\ncarried off Ariadne from the island Dia, for which Bacchus bound him\nfast with vine-twigs. The ship Argo is said to have been constructed by\nhim, and he is not only mentioned as commanding her, when Jason fought\nwith the Tyrrhenians, but as being the only one of her crew that came\noff without a wound. He dwelt some time at Delos, and, besides\nprophesying with the Nereids, is affirmed to have instructed Apollo in\nthe art.\n\nSCYLLA was the daughter of Phorcus, or Phorcys, by Ceto. Glaucus, being\npassionately fond of Scylla, after vainly endeavoring to gain her\naffections, applied to Circe, and besought her, by her art, to induce\nher to return his affection. On this, Circe disclosed to him her\npassion, but Glaucus remaining inexorable, the enchantress vowed\nrevenge, and by her magic charms so infected the fountain in which\nScylla bathed, that on entering it, her lower parts were turned into\ndogs; at which the nymph, terrified at herself, plunged into the sea,\nand there was changed to a rock, notorious for the shipwrecks it\noccasioned.\n\nAuthors are disagreed as to Scylla's form; some say she retained her\nbeauty from the neck downwards, but had six dog's heads: others\nmaintain, that her upper parts continued entire, but that she had below\nthe body of a wolf, and the tail of a serpent. The rock named Scylla,\nlies between Italy and Sicily, and the noise of the waves beating on it\nis supposed to have occasioned the fable of the barking of dogs, and\nhowling of wolves, ascribed to the imaginary monster.\n\nCHARYBDIS was a rapacious woman, a female robber, who, it is said, stole\nthe oxen of Hercules, for which she was thunder-struck by Jupiter, and\nturned into a whirlpool, dangerous to sailors. This whirlpool was\nsituated opposite the rock Scylla, at the entrance of the Faro from\nMessina, and occasioned the proverb of running into one danger to avoid\nanother. Some affirm that Hercules killed her himself; others, that\nScylla committed this robbery, and was killed for it by Hercules.\n\n\n\n\nCHAPTER VIII.\n\n_Tartarus and its Deities._\n\n\nTARTARUS _or_ HELL, the region of punishment after death. The whole\nimaginary world, which we call Hell, though according to the ancients it\nwas the receptacle of all departed persons, of the good as well as the\nbad, is divided by Virgil into five parts: the first may be called the\nprevious region; the second is the region of waters, or the river which\nthey were all to pass; the third is what we may call the gloomy region,\nand what the ancients called Erebus; the fourth is Tartarus, or the\nregion of torments; and the fifth the region of joy and bliss, or what\nwe still call Elysium.\n\nThe first part in it Virgil has stocked with two sorts of beings; first,\nwith those which make the real misery of mankind upon earth, such as\nwar, discord, labor, grief, cares, distempers, and old age; and,\nsecondly, with fancied terrors, and all the most frightful creatures of\nour own imagination, such as Gorgons, Harpies, Chim\u00e6ras and the like.\n\nThe next is the water which all the departed were supposed to pass, to\nenter into the other world; this was called Styx, or the hateful\npassage: the imaginary personages of this division are the souls of the\ndeparted, who are either passing over, or suing for a passage, and the\nmaster of a vessel who carries them over, one freight after another,\naccording to his will and pleasure.\n\nThe third division begins immediately with the bank on the other side\nthe river, and was supposed to extend a great way in: it is subdivided\nagain into several particular districts; the first seems to be the\nreceptacle for infants. The next for all such as have been put to death\nwithout a cause; next is the place for those who have put a period to\ntheir own lives, a melancholy region, and situated amidst the marshes\nmade by the overflowings of the Styx, or hateful river, or passage into\nthe other world: after this are the fields of mourning, full of dark\nwoods and groves, and inhabited by those who died of love: last of all\nspreads an open champaign country, allotted for the souls of departed\nwarriors; the name of this whole division is Erebus: its several\ndistricts seem to be disposed all in a line, one after the other, but\nafter this the great line or road divides into two, of which the right\nhand road leads to Elysium, or the place of the blessed, and the left\nhand road to Tartarus, or the place of the tormented.\n\nThe fourth general division of the subterraneous world is this Tartarus,\nor the place of torments: there was a city in it, and a prince to\npreside over it: within this city was a vast deep pit, in which the\ntortures were supposed to be performed: in this horrid part Virgil\nplaces two sorts of souls; first, of such as have shown their impiety\nand rebellion toward the gods; and secondly, of such as have been vile\nand mischievous among men: those, as he himself says of the latter more\nparticularly, who hated their brethren, used their parents ill, or\ncheated their dependants, who made no use of their riches, who committed\nincest, or disturbed the marriage union of others, those who were\nrebellious subjects, or knavish servants, who were despisers of justice,\nor betrayers of their country, and who made and unmade laws not for the\ngood of the public, but only to get money for themselves; all these, and\nthe despisers of the gods, Virgil places in this most horrid division of\nhis subterraneous world, and in the vast abyss, which was the most\nterrible part even of that division.\n\nThe fifth division is that of Elysium, or the place of the blessed; here\nVirgil places those who died for their country, those of pure lives,\ntruly inspired poets, the inventors of arts, and all who have done good\nto mankind: he does not speak of any particular districts for these, but\nsupposes that they have the liberty of going where they please in that\ndelightful region, and conversing with whom they please; he only\nmentions one vale, towards the end of it, as appropriated to any\nparticular use; this is the vale of Lethe or forgetfulness, where many\nof the ancient philosophers, and the Platonists in particular, supposed\nthe souls which had passed through some periods of their trial, were\nimmersed in the river which gave its name to it, in order to be put into\nnew bodies, and to fill up the whole course of their probation, in an\nupper world.\n\nIn each of these three divisions, on the other side of the river Styx,\nwhich perhaps were comprehended under the name of Ades, as all the five\nmight be under that of Orcus, was a prince or judge: Minos for the\nregions of Erebus; Rhadamanthus for Tartarus; and \u00c6acus for Elysium,\nPluto and Proserpine had their palace at the entrance of the road to the\nElysian fields, and presided as sovereigns over the whole subterraneous\nworld.\n\nPLUTO, son of Saturn and Ops, assisted Jupiter in his wars, and after\nvictory had crowned their exertions in placing his brother on the\nthrone, be obtained a share of his father's dominions, which, as some\nauthors say, was the eastern continent, and lower regions of Asia; but,\naccording to the common opinion, Pluto's division lay in the west. He\nfixed his residence in Spain, and lived in Iberia, near the Pyrren\u00e6an\nmountains: Spain being a fertile country, and abounding in minerals and\nmines, Pluto was esteemed the god of wealth; for it must be here\nobserved, that the poets confound Pluto, god of hell, with Plutus, god\nof riches, though they were distinct deities, and always so considered\nby the ancients.\n\nPluto's regions being supposed to lie under ground; and as he was the\nfirst who taught men to bury their dead, it was thence inferred that he\nwas king of the infernal regions, whence sprung a belief, that as all\nsouls descended to him, so when they were in his possession, he bound\nthem with inevitable chains, and delivered them to be tried by judges,\nafter which he dispensed rewards and punishments according to their\nseveral deserts. Pluto was therefore called the infernal Jupiter, and\noblations were made to him by the living, for the souls of their friends\ndeparted.\n\nAlthough Pluto was brother of Jupiter, yet none of the goddesses would\ncondescend to marry him, owing to the deformity of his person, joined to\nthe darkness of his mansions. Enraged at this reluctance in the\ngoddesses, and mortified at his want of issue, Pluto ascended his\nchariot, and drove to Sicily, where chancing to discover Proserpine with\nher companions gathering flowers in a valley of Enna, near mount \u00c6tna,\nthe grisly god, struck with her charms, instantly seized her, and\nforcing her into his chariot, went rapidly off to the river Chemarus,\nthrough which he opened himself a passage to the realms of night.\nOrpheus says, this descent was made through the Cecropian cave in\nAttica, not far from Eleusis.\n\nHis whole domains are washed with vast and rapid rivers, whose peculiar\nqualities strike horror into mortals. Cocytus falls with an impetuous\nroaring; Phlegethon rages with a torrent of flames; the Acharusian fen\nis dreadful for its stench and filth: nor does Charon, the ferryman, who\nwafts souls over, occasion any less horror; Cerberus, the triple-headed\ndog, stands ready with open mouths to receive them; and the Furies shake\nat them their serpentine locks.\n\nThus far the common fable; but the following seems the true foundation\nof the story which has been so much disguised; Pluto having retired into\nSpain, applied himself to the working of the mines of silver and gold,\nwhich in that country, were very common, especially on the side of\nCadiz, where he fixed his abode. Boetica, his residence, was that\nprovince now called Andalusia, and the river Boetis, now Guadalquiver,\ngave that name to it. This river formed of old, at its mouth, a small\nisland, called Tartessus, which was the Tartessus of the ancients, and\nwhence Tartarus was formed.\n\nIt may be remarked, that though Spain be not now fertile in mines, yet\nthe ancients speak of it as a country where they abounded. Posidonius\nsays, that its mountains and hills were almost all mountains of gold;\nArienus, that near Tartessus was a mountain of silver; and Aristotle,\nthat the first Phoenicians who landed there, found such quantities of\ngold and of silver, that they made anchors for their ships of those\nprecious metals. This, doubtless, is what determined Pluto, who was\ningenius in such operations, to fix himself near to Tartessus; and this\nmaking him pass also for a wealthy prince, procured for him the name of\nPluto, instead of that of Agelestus.\n\nThe situation of Pluto's kingdom, which was low in respect to Greece,\noccasioned him to be looked on as the god of hell; and as he continually\nemployed laborers for his mines, who chiefly resided in the bowels of\nthe earth, and there commonly died, Pluto was reputed the king of the\ndead. The ocean, likewise, upon whose coasts he reigned, was supposed to\nbe covered with darkness. These circumstances united, appear to have\nbeen the foundation of the fables afterwards invented concerning Pluto\nand his realms of night. It is probable, for example, that the famous\nTartarus, the place so noted in the empire of this god, comes from\nTartessus, near Cadiz: the river Lethe not unlikely from the\nGuada-Lethe, which flows over against that city; and the lake Avernus,\nor the Acheronian fen, from the word Aharona, importing, _at the\nextremities_, a name given to that lake, which is near the ocean.\n\nPluto was extremely revered both by the Greeks and Romans. He had a\nmagnificent temple at Pylos. Near the river Corellus, in Boeotia, he had\nalso an altar, for some mystical reason, in common with Pallas. His\nchief festival was in February, and called Charistia, because their\noblations were made for the dead. Black bulls were the victims offered\nup, and the ceremonies were performed in the night, it not being lawful\nto sacrifice to him in the day time, on account of his aversion to the\nlight. The cypress tree was sacred to Pluto, boughs of which were\ncarried at funerals.\n\nHe is usually represented in an ebony chariot, drawn by his four black\nhorses, Orphn\u00e6us, \u00c6thon, Nycteus, and Alastor. As god of the dead, keys\nwere the ensigns of his authority, because there is no possibility of\nreturning when the gates of his palace are locked. Sometimes he holds a\nsceptre, to denote his power; at other times a wand, with which he\ndirects the movements of his subject ghosts. Homer speaks of his hemlet\nas having the quality of rendering the wearer invisible; and tells us\nthat Minerva borrowed it when she fought against the Trojans, that she\nmight not be discovered by Mars. Perseus also used this hemlet when he\ncut off Medusa's head.\n\nMythologists pretend that Pluto is the earth, the natural powers and\nfaculties of which are under his direction, so that he is monarch not\nonly of all riches which come from thence, and are at length swallowed\nup by it, but likewise of the dead; for as all living things spring from\nthe earth, so are they resolved into the principles whence they arose.\nProserpine is by them reputed to be the seed or grain of fruits or corn,\nwhich must be taken into the earth, and hid there before it can be\nnourished by it.\n\nPLUTUS, the god of riches. Though Plutus be not an infernal god, yet as\nhis name and office were similar to Pluto's, we shall here distinguish\nthem, although both were gods of riches. Pluto was born of Saturn and\nOps, or Rhea, and was brother of Jupiter and Neptune; but Plutus, the\ngod of whom we here speak, was son of Jason or Jasion by Ceres. He is\nrepresented blind and lame, injudicious and fearful. Being lame, he\nconfers estates but slowly: for want of judgment, his favors are\ncommonly bestowed on the unworthy; and as he is timorous, so he obliges\nrich men to watch their treasures with fear. Plutus is painted with\nwings, to signify the swiftness of his retreat, when he takes his\ndeparture. Little more of him remains in story, than that he had a\ndaughter named Euriboea; unless the comedy of Aristophanes, called by\nhis name, be taken into the account.\n\nAristophanes says that this deity, having at first a very clear sight,\nbestowed his favors only on the just and good: but that after Jupiter\ndeprived him of vision, riches fell indifferently to the good and the\nbad. A design being formed for the recovery of his sight, Penia or\npoverty opposed it, making it appear that poverty is the mistress of\narts, sciences, and virtues, which would be in danger of perishing if\nall men were rich; but no credit being given to her remonstrance, Plutus\nrecovered his sight in the temple of \u00c6sculapius, whence the temples and\naltars of other gods, and those of Jupiter himself, were abandoned, the\nwhole world sacrificing to Plutus alone.\n\nPROSERPINE, the daughter of Jupiter and Ceres, was educated with Minerva\nand Di{=a}na. By reason of this familiar intercourse, each chose a place\nin the island of Sicily for her particular residence. Minerva look the\nparts near Himera; Di{=a}na those about Syracuse; and Proserpine, in\ncommon with her sister goddesses, enjoyed the pleasant fields of Enna.\nNear at hand are groves and gardens, surrounded with morasses and a deep\ncave, with a passage under ground, opening towards the north. In this\nhappy retirement was Proserpine situated, when Pluto, passing in his\nchariot through the cave, discovered her whilst busy in gathering\nflowers, with her attendants, the daughters of Oceanus. Proserpine he\nseized, and having placed her in his chariot, carried her to Syracuse,\nwhere the earth opening, they both descended to the infernal regions.\n\nShe had not been long there when the fame of her charms induced Theseus\nand Pirithous to combine for the purpose of carrying her thence; but in\nthis they failed. When Ceres, who was disconsolate for the loss of her\ndaughter, discovered where she was, Jupiter upon her repeated\nsolicitations, promised that Proserpine should be restored, provided she\nhad not yet tasted any thing in hell. Ceres joyfully descended, and\nProserpine, full of triumph, prepared for her return, when lo!\nAscalaphus, son of Acheron and Gorgyra, discovered that he saw\nProserpine, as she walked in the garden of Pluto, eat some grains of a\npomegranate, upon which her departure was stopped. At last, by the\nrepeated importunity of her mother to Jupiter, she extorted as a favor,\nin mitigation of her grief, that Proserpine should live half the year in\nheaven, and the other half in hell.\n\nProserpine is represented under the form of a beautiful woman,\nenthroned, having something stern and melancholy in her aspect. Statius\nhas found out a melancholy employment for her, which is, to keep a sort\nof register of the dead, and to mark down all that should be added to\nthat number. The same poet mentions another of her offices of a more\nagreeable nature: he says, when any woman dies who had been a remarkably\ngood wife in this world, Proserpine prepares the spirits of the best\nwomen in the other to make a procession to welcome her into Elysium with\njoy, and to strew all the way with flowers where she is to pass.\n\nSome represent Proserpine, Luna, Hec{)a}te, and Di{=a}na, as one; the\nsame goddess being called Luna in heaven, Di{=a}na on earth, and\nHec{)a}te in hell: and they explain the fable of the moon, which is\nhidden from us in the hemisphere of the countries beneath, just so long\nas it shines in our own. As Proserpine was to stay six months with her\nmother, and six with her husband, she was the emblem of the seed corn,\nwhich lies in the earth during the winter, but in spring sprouts forth,\nand in summer bears fruit.\n\nThe mythological sense of the fable is this: the name of Proserpine, or\nPersephone, among the Egyptians, was used to denote the change produced\nin the earth by the deluge, which destroyed its former fertility, and\nrendered tillage and agriculture necessary to mankind.\n\nPARC\u00c6, _or_ FATES, were goddesses supposed to preside over the accidents\nand events, and to determine the date or period of human life. They were\nreckoned by the ancients to be three in number, because all things have\na beginning, progress, and end. They were the daughters of Jupiter and\nThemis, and sisters to the Hor\u00e6, or Hours.\n\nTheir names, amongst the Greeks, were Atropos, Clotho, and Lachesis, and\namong the Latins, Nona, Decima, Morta. They are called Parc\u00e6, because,\nas Varro thinks, they distributed to mankind good and bad things at\ntheir birth; or, as the common and received opinion is, because they\nspare nobody. They were always of the same mind, so that though\ndissensions sometimes arose among the other gods, no difference was ever\nknown to subsist among these three sisters, whose decrees were\nimmutable. To them was intrusted the spinning and management of the\nthread of life; Clotho held the distaff, Lachesis turned the wheel, and\nAtropos cut the thread.\n\nPlutarch tells us they represented the three parts of the world, viz.\nthe firmament of the fixed stars, the firmament of the planets, and the\nspace of air between the moon and the earth; Plato says they represented\ntime past, present, and to come. There were no divinities in the pagan\nworld who had a more absolute power than the Fates. They were looked\nupon as the dispensers of the eternal decrees of Jupiter, and were all\nof them sometimes supposed to spin the party-colored thread of each\nman's life. Thus are they represented on a medal, each with a distaff in\nher hand. The fullest and best description of them in any of the poets,\nis in Catullus: he represents them as all spinning, and at the same time\nsinging, and foretelling the birth and fortunes of Achilles, at Peleus'\nwedding.\n\nAn ingenious writer, in giving the true mythology of these characters,\napprehends them to have been, originally, nothing more than the mystical\nfigure or symbols which represented the months of January, February, and\nMarch, among the Egyptians, who depicted them in female dresses, with\nthe instruments of spinning and weaving, which was the great business\ncarried on in that season. These images they called _Parc_, which\nsignifies _linen cloth_, to denote the manufacture produced by this\ntemporary industry. The Greeks, ever fertile in invention, and knowing\nnothing of the true sense of these allegorical figures, gave them a turn\nsuitable to their genius.\n\nFURIES, EUMENIDES _or_ DIR\u00c6, were the daughters of Nox and Acheron.\nTheir names were Alecto, Meg\u00e6ra, and Tisiphone. As many crimes were\ncommitted in secret, which could not be discovered from a deficiency of\nproof, it was necessary for the judges to have such officers as by\nwonderful and various tortures should force from the criminals a\nconfession of their guilt. To this end the Furies, being messengers both\nof the celestial and terrestrial Jupiter, were always attendant on their\nsentence.\n\nIn heaven they were called Dir\u00e6, (_quasi Deorum ir\u00e6_) or ministers of\ndivine vengeance, in punishing the guilty after death; on earth\n_Furies_, from that madness which attends the consciousness of guilt;\n_Erynnis_, from the indignation and perturbations they raise in the\nmind; _Eumenides_, from their placability to such as supplicate them, as\nin the instance of Orestes, and Argos, upon his following the advice of\nPallas, and in hell, _Stygian dogs_.\n\nThe furies were so dreaded that few dared so much as to name them. They\nwere supposed to be constantly hovering about those who had been guilty\nof any enormous crime. Thus Orestes, having murdered his mother\nClytemnestra, was haunted by the Furies. OEdipus, indeed, when blind and\nraving, went into their grove, to the astonishment of all the Athenians,\nwho durst not so much as behold it. The Furies were reputed so\ninexorable, that if any person polluted with murder, incest, or any\nflagrant impiety, entered the temple which Orestes had dedicated to them\nin Cyren\u00e6, a town of Arcadia, he immediately became mad, and was hurried\nfrom place to place, with the most restless and dreadful tortures.\n\nMythologists have assigned to each of these tormentresses their proper\ndepartment. Tisiphone is said to punish the sins arising from hatred and\nanger; Meg\u00e6ra those occasioned by envy; and Alecto the crimes of\nambition and lust. The statues of the Furies had nothing in them\noriginally different from the other divinities. It was the poet \u00c6schylus\nwho, in one of his tragedies, represented them in that hideous manner\nwhich proved fatal to many of the spectators. The description of these\ndeities by the poet passed from the theatre to the temple: from that\ntime they were exhibited as objects of the utmost horror, with Terror,\nRage, Paleness, and Death, for their attendants; and thus seated about\nPluto's throne, whose ministers they were, they awaited his orders with\nan impatience congenial to their natures.\n\nThe Furies are described with snakes instead of hair, and eyes inflamed\nwith madness, brandishing in one hand whips and iron chains, and in the\nother torches, with a smothering flame. Their robes are black, and their\nfeet of brass, to show that their pursuit, though slow, is steady and\ncertain. As they attended at the thrones of the Stygian and celestial\nJupiter, they had wings to accelerate their progress through the air,\nwhen bearing the commands of the gods: they struck terror into mortals,\neither by war, famine, pestilence, or the numberless calamities incident\nto human life.\n\nNOX, _or_ NIGHT, the oldest of the deities, was held in great esteem\namong the ancients. She was even reckoned older than Chaos. Orpheus\nascribes to her the generation of gods and men, and says, that all\nthings had their beginning from her. Pausanias has left us a description\nof a remarkable statue of this goddess. \"We see,\" says he, \"a woman\nholding in her right hand a white child sleeping, and in her left a\nblack child likewise asleep, with both its legs distorted; the\ninscription tells us what they are, though we might easily guess without\nit: the two children are Death and Sleep, and the woman is Night, the\nnurse of them both.\"\n\nThe poets fancied her to be drawn in a chariot with two horses, before\nwhich several stars went as harbingers; that she was crowned with\npoppies, and her garments were black, with a black veil over her\ncountenance, and that stars followed in the same manner as they preceded\nher; that upon the departure of the day she arose from the ocean, or\nrather from Erebus, and encompassed the earth with her sable wings. The\nsacrifice offered to Night was a cock because of its enmity to darkness,\nand rejoicing at the light.\n\nSOMNUS, _or_ SLEEP, one of the blessings to which the pagans erected\naltars, was said to be son of Erebus and, Night, and brother of Death.\nOrpheus calls Somnus the happy king of gods and men; and Ovid, who gives\na very beautiful description of his abode, represents him dwelling in a\ndeep cave in the country of the Cimmerians. Into this cavern the sun\nnever enters, and a perpetual stillness reigns, no noise being heard but\nthe soft murmur caused by a stream of the river Lethe, which creeps over\nthe pebbles, and invites to slumber; at its entrance grow poppies, and\nother soporiferous herbs. The drowsy god lies reclined on a bed stuffed\nwith black plumes, the bedstead is of ebony, the covering is also black,\nand his head is surrounded by fantastic visions.\n\nWe learn from Statius, that the attendants and guards before the gates\nof this palace were Rest, Ease, Indolence, Silence, and Oblivion; as the\nministers or attendants within are a vast multitude of Dreams in\ndifferent shapes and attitudes. Ovid teaches us who were the supposed\ngovernors over these, and what their particular districts or offices\nwere. The three chiefs of all are Morpheus, Phobetor, and Phantasos, who\ninspire dreams into great persons only: Morpheus inspires such dreams as\nrelate to men, Phobetor such as relate to other animals, and Phantasos\nsuch as relate to inanimate things. They have each their particular\nlegions under them, to inspire the common people with the sort of dreams\nwhich belong to their province.\n\nMINOS was son of Jupiter and Europa, and brother of Rhadamanthus and\nSarpedon. After the death of his father, the Cretans, who thought him\nillegitimate, would not admit him as a successor to the kingdom, till he\npersuaded them it was the divine pleasure he should reign, by praying\nNeptune to give him a sign, which being granted, the god caused a horse\nto rise out of the sea, upon which he ascended the throne.\n\nNothing so much distinguished him as the laws he enacted for the\nCretans, which obtained him the name of one of the greatest legislators\nof antiquity. To confer the more authority on these laws, Minos retired\nto a cave of Mount Ida, where he feigned that Jupiter, his father,\ndictated them to him; and every time he returned thence a new injunction\nwas promulgated by him. Homer calls him Jupiter's disciple; and Horace\nsays he was admitted to the secrets of that god. Strabo and Ephorus\ncontend, that Minos dwelt nine years in retirement in this cave, and\nthat it was afterwards called the cave of Jupiter.\n\nAntiquity entertained the highest esteem for the institutes of Minos:\nand the testimonies of ancient authors on this head are endless. It\nwill, therefore, suffice to observe that Lycurgus travelled to Crete on\npurpose to collect the laws of Minos for the benefit of the\nLacedemonians; and that Josephus, partial as he was to his own nation,\nhas owned, that Minos was the only one among the ancients who deserved\nto be compared to Moses. He was reputed the judge of the supreme court\nof Pluto, \u00c6acus judged the Europeans; the Asiatics and Africans fell to\nthe lot of Rhadamanthus; and Minos, as president of the infernal court,\ndecided the differences which arose between these two judges. He sat on\na throne by himself, and wielded a golden sceptre.\n\nRHADAMANTHUS was the son of Jupiter and Europa, and brother of Minos. He\nwas one of the three judges of hell. It is said that Rhadamanthus,\nhaving killed his brother, fled to OEchalia in Boeotia, where he married\nAlcmena, widow of Amphitryon. Some make Rhadamanthus a king of Lycia,\nwho on account of his severity and strict regard to justice, was said to\nhave been one of the three judges of hell, where his province was to\njudge such as died impenitent. It is agreed, that he was the most\ntemperate man of his time, and was exalted amongst the law-givers of\nCrete, who were renowned as good and just men. The division assigned to\nRhadamanthus in the infernal regions was Tartarus.\n\n\u00c6ACUS, son of Jupiter and \u00c6gina, was king of OEnopia, which, from his\nmother's name, he called \u00c6gina. The inhabitants of that country being\ndestroyed by a plague, \u00c6acus prayed to his father that by some means he\nwould repair the loss of his subjects, upon which Jupiter, in compassion\nchanged all the ants within a hollow tree into men and women, who, from\na Greek word signifying _ants_, were called _Myrmidons_, and actually\nwere so industrious a people as to become famous for their ships and\nnavigation.\n\nThe meaning of which fable is this: The pirates having destroyed the\ninhabitants of the island, excepting a few, who hid themselves in caves\nand holes for fear of a like fate, \u00c6acus drew them out of their retreats\nand encouraged them to build houses, and sow corn; taught them military\ndiscipline, and how to fit out and navigate fleets, and to appear not\nlike ants in holes, but on the theatre of the world, like men. His\ncharacter for justice was such, that in a time of universal drought he\nwas nominated by the Delphic oracle to intercede for Greece, and his\nprayers were heard. The pagan world also believed that \u00c6acus, on account\nof his impartial justice, was chosen by Pluto, with Minos and\nRhadamanthus, one of the three judges of the dead, and that it was his\nprovince to judge the Europeans, in which capacity he held a plain rod\nas a badge of his office.\n\n\n\n\nCHAPTER IX.\n\n_The condemned in Hell._\n\n\nTYPHOEUS, a giant of enormous size, was, according to Hesiod, son of\nErebus, or Tartarus and Terra. His stature was prodigious. With one hand\nhe touched the east, and with the other the west, while his head reached\nto the stars. Hesiod has given him an hundred heads of dragons, uttering\ndreadful sounds, and eyes which darted fire; flame proceeded from his\nmouths and nostrils, his body was encircled with serpents, and his\nthighs and legs were of a serpentine form. When he had almost\ndiscomfited the gods, who fled from him into Egypt, Jupiter alone stood\nhis ground, and pursued the monster to Mount Caucasus in Syria, where he\nwounded him with his thunder; But Typhoeus, turning upon him, took the\ngod prisoner, and after having cut, with his own sickle, the muscles of\nhis hands and feet, threw him on his shoulders, carried him into\nCilicia, and there imprisoned him in a cave, whence he was delivered by\nMercury, who restored him to his former vigor. Typhoeus afterwards fled\ninto Sicily, where the god overwhelmed him with the enormous mass of\nmount \u00c6tna.\n\nHistorians report, that Typhoeus was brother of Osiris, king of Egypt,\nwho in the absence of that monarch, formed a conspiracy to dethrone him;\nand that having accordingly put Osiris to death, Isis, in revenge of her\nhusband, raised an army, the command of which she gave to Orus her son,\nwho vanquished and slew the usurper: hence the Egyptians, in abhorrence\nof his memory, painted him under their hieroglyphic characters in so\nfrightful a manner. The length of his arms signified his power, the\nserpents about him denoted his address and cunning, the scales which\ncovered his body, expressed his cruelty and dissimulation, and the\nflight of the gods into Egypt showed the precautions taken by the great\nto screen themselves from his fury and resentment. Mythologists take\nTyphoeus and the other giants, to have been the winds; especially the\nsubterraneous, which cause earthquakes to break forth with fire,\noccasioned by the sulphur enkindled in the caverns under Campania,\nSicily, and the \u00c6olian islands.\n\nTITYOS, _or_ TITYUS, was son of Jupiter and Elara. He resided in\nPanopea, where he became formidable for rapine and cruelty, till Apollo\nkilled him for offering violence to his mother Latona. After this he was\nthrown into Tart{)a}rus, and chained down on his back, his body taking\nup such a compass as to cover nine acres. In this posture two vultures\ncontinually preyed upon his liver, which constantly grew with the\nincrease of the moon, that there might never be wanting matter for\neternal punishment.\n\nPHLEGYAS, son of Mars and Chryse, daughter of Halmus, was king of\nLapith\u00e6, a people of Thessaly. Apollo having seduced his daughter\nCoronis, Phlegyas, in revenge, set fire to the temple of that god at\nDelphi, for which sacrilege the deity killed him with his arrows, and\nthen cast him into Tart{)a}rus; where he was sentenced to sit under a\nhuge rock, which threatened him with perpetual destruction.\n\nIXION was son of Phlegyas, king of the Lapith\u00e6 in Thessaly. He married\nDia, daughter of Deioneus, whose consent he obtained by magnificent\npromises, but, failing afterwards to perform them, Deioneus seized on\nhis horses. Ixion dissembled his resentment, and inviting Deioneus to a\nbanquet, received him in an apartment previously prepared, from which,\nby withdrawing a door, his father-in-law was thrown into a furnace of\nfire. Stung, however, with remorse, and universally despised, Ixion was\noverpowered with frenzy, till Jupiter at length re-admitted him to\nfavor, and not only took him into heaven, but intrusted him also with\nhis counsels. So ungrateful, notwithstanding, did Ixion become, as to\nattempt the chastity of Juno herself. This so incensed Jupiter that the\nangry deity hurled him into Tart{)a}rus, and fixed him on a wheel\nencompassed with serpents, which was doomed to revolve without\nintermission.\n\nSALMONEUS, king of Elis, was son of \u00c6olus, (not he who was king of the\nwinds, but another of the name) and Anarete. Not satisfied with an\nearthly crown, Salmoneus panted after divine honors; and, in order that\nthe people might esteem him a god, he built a brazen bridge over the\ncity, and drove his chariot along it, imitating, by this noise,\nJupiter's thunder; at the same time throwing flaming torches among the\nspectators below, to represent his lightning, by which many were killed.\nJupiter, in resentment of this insolence, precipitated the ambitious\nmortal into hell, where, according to Virgil, \u00c6neas saw him.\n\nSISIPHUS, _or_ SISYPHUS, a descendant of \u00c6olus, married Merope, one of\nthe Pleiades, who bore him Glaucus. He resided at Ephyra, in\nPeloponnesus, and was conspicuous for his craft. Some say he was a\nTrojan secretary, who was punished for discovering secrets of state;\nwhilst others contend that he was a notorious robber killed by Theseus.\nHowever, all the poets agree that he was punished in Tart{)a}rus for his\ncrimes, by rolling a great stone to the top of a hill, which constantly\nrecoiling and rolling down again, incessantly renewed his fatigue, and\nrendered his labor endless.\n\nOvid, in one passage, seems to describe Sisyphus as bending under the\nweight of a vast stone; \"but the more common way of speaking of his\npunishment,\" says the author of Polymetis, \"agrees with the fine\ndescription of him in Homer, where we see him laboring to heave the\nstone that lies on his shoulders up against the side of a steep\nmountain, and which always rolls precipitately down again before he can\nget it to rest upon the top. Lucretius makes him only an emblem of the\nambitious; as Horace too seems to make Tant{)a}lus only an emblem of the\ncovetous.\"\n\nBELIDES, _or_ DANAIDES: They were the fifty daughters of Dan{)a}us, son\nof Belus, surnamed the _ancient_. Some quarrel having arisen between him\nand Egyptus his brother, it determined Dan{)a}us on his voyage into\nGreece; but Egyptus having fifty sons, proposed a reconciliation, by\nmarrying them to his brother's daughters. The proposal was agreed to,\nand the nuptials were to be celebrated with singular splendor, when\nDan{)a}us, either in resentment of former injuries, or being told by the\noracle that one of his sons-in-law should destroy him, gave to each of\nhis daughters a dagger, with an injunction to stab her husband. They all\nexecuted the order but Hypermnestra, the eldest, who spared the life of\nLync\u00e6us. These Bel{)i}des, for their cruelty, were consigned to the\ninfernal regions, there to draw water in sieves from a well, till they\nhad filled, by that means, a vessel full of holes.\n\nTANTALUS, king of Phrygia, was the son of Jupiter and Plota. Whether it\nwas for this cause, the violation of hospitality, or for his pride, his\nboasting, his want of secrecy, his insatiable covetousness, his\nimparting nectar and ambrosia to mortals, or for all of them together,\nsince he has been accused of them all, Tant{)a}lus was thrown into\nTart{)a}rus, where the poets have assigned him a variety of torments.\nSome represent a great stone as hanging over his head, which he\napprehended to be continually falling, and was ever in motion to avoid\nit. Others describe him as afflicted with constant thirst and hunger,\nthough the most delicious banquets were exposed to his view; one of the\nFuries terrifying him with her torch whenever he approached towards\nthem. Some exhibit him standing to the chin in water, and whenever he\nstooped to quench his thirst, the water as constantly eluding his lip.\nOthers, with fruits luxuriously growing around him, which he no sooner\nadvanced to touch, than the wind blew them into the clouds.\n\n\n\n\nCHAPTER X.\n\n_Monsters of Hell._\n\n\nHARPYI\u00c6, _or_ HARPIES, were three in number, their names, Cel\u00e6no, A\u00ebllo,\nand Ocyp{)e}te. The ancients looked on them as a sort of Genii, or\nD\u00e6mons. They had the faces of virgins, the ears of bears, the bodies of\nvultures, human arms and feet, and long claws, hooked like the talons of\ncarnivorous birds. Phineas, king of Arcadia, being a prophet, and\nrevealing the mysteries of Jupiter to mortals, was by that deity struck\nblind, and so tormented by the Harpies that he was ready to perish for\nhunger; they devouring whatever was set before him, till the sons of\nBoreas, who attended Jason in his expedition to Colchis, delivered the\ngood old king, and drove these monsters to the islands called\nStroph{)a}des: compelling them to swear never more to return.\n\nThe Harpies, according to the ingenious Abb\u00e9 la Pluche, had their origin\nin Egypt. He further observes, in respect to them, that during the\nmonths of April, May, and June, especially the two latter, Egypt being\nvery subject to tempests, which laid waste their olive grounds, and\ncarried thither numerous swarms of grasshoppers, and other troublesome\ninsects from the shores of the Red Sea, the Egyptians gave to their\nemblematic figures of these months a female face, with the bodies and\nclaws of birds, calling them _Harop_, or winged destroyers. This\nsolution of the fable corresponds with the opinion of Le Clerc, who\ntakes the harpies to have been a swarm of locusts, the word _Arbi_,\nwhence Harpy is formed, signifying, in their language, a locust.\n\nGORGONS were three in number, and daughters of Phorcus or Porcys, by his\nsister Ceto. Their names were Med{=u}sa, Eury{)a}le, and Stheno, and\nthey are represented as having scales on their bodies, brazen hands,\ngolden wings, tusks like boars, and snakes for hair. The last\ndistinction, however, is confined by Ovid to Med{=u}sa.\n\nAccording to some mythologists, Perseus having been sent against\nMed{=u}sa by the gods, was supplied by Mercury with a falchion, by\nMinerva with a mirror, and by Pluto with a helmet, which rendered the\nwearer invisible. Thus equipped, through the aid of winged sandals, he\nsteered his course towards Tartessus, where, finding the object of his\nsearch, by the reflection of his mirror, he was enabled to aim his\nweapon, without meeting her eye, (for her look would have turned him to\nstone) and at one blow struck off her head. When Perseus had slain\nMed{=u}sa, the other sisters pursued him, but he escaped from their\nsight by means of his helmet. They were afterwards thrown into hell.\n\nSPHINX was a female monster, daughter of Typhon and Echidna. She had the\nhead, face, and breasts of a woman, the wings of a bird, the claws of a\nlion, and the body of a dog. She lived on mount Sphincius, infested the\ncountry about Thebes, and assaulted passengers, by proposing dark and\nenigmatical questions to them, which if they did not explain, she tore\nthem in pieces. Sphinx made horrible ravages in the neighborhood of\nThebes, till Creon, then king of that city, published an edict over all\nGreece, promising that if any one should explain the riddle of Sphinx,\nhe would give him his own sister Iocasta in marriage.\n\nThe riddle was this, \"What animal is that which goes upon four feet in\nthe morning, upon two at noon, and upon three at night?\" Many had\nendeavored to explain this riddle, but failing in the attempt, were\ndestroyed by the monster; till OEdipus undertook the solution, and thus\nexplained it: \"The animal is man, who in his infancy creeps, and so may\nbe said to go on four feet; when he gets into the noon of life, he walks\non two feet; but when he grows old, or declines into the evening of his\ndays, he uses the support of a staff, and thus may be said to walk on\nthree feet.\" The Sphinx being enraged at this explanation, cast herself\nheadlong from a rock and died.\n\n\n\n\nCHAPTER XI.\n\n_Dii indig{)e}tes, or Heroes who received divine Honors after Death._\n\n\nHERCULES was the son of Jupiter by Alcmena, wife of Amphitryon, king of\nThebes, and is said to have been born in that city about 1280 years\nbefore the Christian era. During his infancy Juno sent two serpents to\nkill him in his cradle, but the undaunted child grasping one in either\nhand, immediately strangled them both. As he grew up, he discovered an\nuncommon degree of vigor both of body and of mind. Nor were his\nextraordinary endowments neglected; for his education was intrusted to\nthe greatest masters. The tasks imposed on him by Eurystheus, on account\nof the danger and difficulty which attended their execution, received\nthe name of the _Labors of Hercules_, and are commonly reckoned, (at\nleast the most material of them) to have been twelve.\n\nThe first was his engagement with Cleon\u00e6an lion, which furious animal,\nit is said, fell from the orb of the moon by Juno's direction, and was\ninvunerable. It infested the woods between Phlius and Cle{=o}ne, and\ncommitted uncommon ravages. The hero attacked it both with his arrows\nand club, but in vain, till, perceiving his error, he tore asunder its\njaws with his hands.\n\nThe second labor was his conquest of the Lern\u00e6an hydra, a formidable\nserpent or monster which harbored in the fens of Lerna, and infected the\nregion of Argos with his poisonous exhalations. This seems to have been\none of the most difficult tasks in which Hercules was ever engaged. The\nnumber of heads assigned the hydra is various; some give him seven, some\nnine, others fifty, and Ovid an hundred; but all authors agree that when\none was cut off, another sprung forth in its place, unless the wound was\nimmediately cauterized. Hercules, not discouraged, attacked him, and\nhaving ordered I{)o}las, his friend and companion, to cut down wood\nsufficient for fire-brands, he no sooner had cut off a head than he\napplied these brands to the wounds; by which means searing them up, he\nobtained a complete victory.\n\nThe third labor was to bring alive to Eurystheus an enormous wild boar\nwhich ravaged the forest of Erymanthus in Arcadia, and had been sent to\nPhocis by Di{=a}na to punish \u00c6n{=e}as, for neglecting her sacrifices.\nHercules brought him bound to Eurystheus. There is nothing descriptive\nof this exploit in any of the Roman poets.\n\nThe fourth labor was the capture of the M\u00e6nal\u00e6an stag. Eurystheus, after\nrepeated proofs of the strength and valor of Hercules, resolved to try\nhis agility, and commanded him to take a wild stag that frequented mount\nM\u00e6n{)a}lus, which had brazen feet and golden horns. As this animal was\nsacred to Di{=a}na, Hercules durst not wound him; but though it were no\neasy matter to run him down, yet this, after pursuing him on foot for a\nyear, the hero at last effected.\n\nThe fifth labor of Hercules consisted in killing the Stymphal{)i}des,\nbirds so called from frequenting the lake Stymph{=a}lis in Arcadia,\nwhich preyed upon human flesh, having wings, beaks, and talons of iron.\nSome say Hercules destroyed these birds with his arrows, others that\nPallas sent him brazen rattles, made by Vulcan, the sound of which so\nterrified them, that they took shelter in the island of Aretia. There\nare authors who suppose these birds called Stymphal{)i}des, to have been\na gang of desperate banditti who had their haunts near the lake\nStymph{=a}lis.\n\nThe sixth labor was his cleansing the stable of Augeas. This Augeas,\nking of Elis, had a stable intolerable from the stench occasioned by the\nfilth it contained, which may be readily imagined from the fact that it\nsheltered three thousand oxen, and had not been cleansed for thirty\nyears. This place Eurystheus ordered Hercules to clear in one day, and\nAugeas promised, if he performed the task, to give him a tenth part of\nthe cattle. Hercules, by turning the course of the river Alph{=e}us\nthrough the stable, executed his design, which Augeas seeing, refused to\nfulfil his promise. The hero, to punish his perfidy, slew Augeas with\nhis arrows, and gave his kingdom to his son Phyleus, who abhorred his\nfather's treachery.\n\nThe seventh labor was the capture of the Cretan bull. Minos, king of\nCrete, having acquired the dominion of the Grecian seas, paid no greater\nhonor to Neptune than to the other gods, wherefore the deity, in\nresentment of this ingratitude, sent a bull, which breathed fire from\nhis nostrils, to destroy the people of Crete. Hercules took this furious\nanimal, and brought him to Eurystheus, who, because the bull was sacred,\nlet him loose into the country of Marathon, where he was afterwards\nslain by Theseus.\n\nThe eighth labor of Hercules, was the killing of Diom{=e}des and his\nhorses. That infamous tyrant was king of Thrace, and son of Mars and\nCyr{=e}ne. Among other things he is said to have driven in his\nwar-chariot four furious horses, which, to render the more impetuous, he\nused to feed on the flesh and blood of his subjects. Hercules is said to\nhave freed the world from this barbarous prince, and to have killed both\nhim and his horses, as is signified in some drawings, and said expressly\nby some of the poets. Some report that the tyrant was given by Hercules\nas a prey to his own horses.\n\nThe ninth labor of Hercules was his combat with Geryon, king of Spain.\nGeryon is generally represented with three bodies agreeable to the\nexpressions used of him by the poets, and sometimes with three heads. He\nhad a breed of oxen of a purple color, (which devoured all strangers\ncast to them) guarded by a dog with two heads, a dragon with seven,\nbesides a very watchful and severe keeper. Hercules, however, killed the\nmonarch and all his guards, and carried the oxen to Gades, whence he\nbrought them to Eurystheus. Some mythologists explain this fable by\nsaying that Geryon was king of three islands, now called Majorca,\nMinorca, and Ivica, on which account he was fabled to be triple bodied\nand headed.\n\nThe tenth labor of Hercules was his conquest of Hippolyte queen of the\nAmazons. His eleventh labor consisted in dragging Cerebus from the\ninfernal regions into day. The twelfth and last was killing the serpent,\nand gaining the golden fruit in the gardens of the Hesperides.\n\nHercules, after his conquests in Spain, having made himself famous in\nthe country of the Celt\u00e6 or Gauls, is said to have there founded a large\nand populous city, which he called Alesia. His favorite wife was\nDejanira, whose jealousy most fatally occasioned his death. Hercules\nhaving subdued OEchalia and killed Eurytus the king, carried off the\nfair I{)o}le, his daughter, with whom Dejanira suspecting him to be in\nlove, sent him the garment of Nessus, the Centaur, as a remedy to\nrecover his affections; this garment, however, having been pierced with\nan arrow dipped in the blood of the Lern\u00e6an hydra, whilst worn by\nNessus, contracted a poison from his blood incurable by art. No sooner,\ntherefore, was it put on by Hercules than he was seized with a delirious\nfever, attended with the most excruciating torments. Unable to support\nhis pains, he retired to mount OEta, where, raising a pile, and setting\nit on fire, he threw himself upon it, and was consumed in the flames,\nafter having killed in his phrenzy Lycus his friend. His arrows he\nbequeathed to Philoct{=e}tes, who interred his remains.\n\nAfter his death he was deified by his father Jupiter. Di{=o}dorus\nSiculus relates that he was no sooner ranked amongst the gods than Juno,\nwho had so violently persecuted him whilst on earth, adopted him for her\nson, and loved him with the tenderness of a mother. Hercules was\nafterwards married to Hebe, goddess of youth, his half sister, with all\nthe splendor of a celestial wedding; but he refused the honor which\nJupiter designed him, of being ranked with the twelve gods, alleging\nthere was no vacancy; and that it would be unreasonable to degrade any\nother god for the purpose of admitting him.\n\nBoth the Greeks and Romans honored him as a god, and as such erected to\nhim temples. His victims were bulls and lambs, on account of his\npreserving the flocks from wolves; that is, delivering men from tyrants\nand robbers. He was worshipped by the ancient Latins under the name of\nDius, or Divus Fidius, that is, the guarantee or protector of faith\npromised or sworn. They had a custom of calling this deity to witness by\na sort of oath expressed in these terms, _Me Dius Fidius!_ that is, so\nhelp me the god Fidius! or Hercules.\n\nPERSEUS was the son of Jupiter and Dan{)a}e, daughter of Acrisius king\nof Argos. When Perseus was grown up, Polydectes, who was enamored of his\nmother, finding him an obstacle to their union, contrived to send him on\nan exploit, which he hoped would be fatal to him. This was to bring him\nthe head of Med{=u}sa, one of the Gorgons. In his expedition Perseus was\nfavored by the gods; Mercury equipped him with a scymetar, and the wings\nfrom his heels; Pallas lent him a shield which reflected objects like a\nmirror; and Pluto granted him his helmet, which rendered him invisible.\nIn this manner he flew to Tartessus in Spain, where, directed by the\nreflection of Med{=u}sa in his mirror, he cut off her head, and brought\nit to Pallas. From the blood arose the winged horse Peg{)a}sus.\n\nAfter this the hero passed into Mauritania, where repairing to the court\nof Atlas, that monarch ordered him to retire, with menaces, in case of\ndisobedience; but Perseus, presenting his shield, with the dreadful head\nof Med{=u}sa, changed him into the mountain which still bears his name.\nIn his return to Greece he visited Ethiopia, mounted on Peg{)a}sus, and\ndelivered Androm{)e}da, daughter of Cepheus, (who was exposed on a rock\nof that coast to be devoured by a monster of the deep) on condition he\nmight make her his wife: but Phineas, her uncle, sought to prevent him,\nby attempting, with a party, to carry off the bride. The attempt,\nnotwithstanding, was rendered abortive; for the hero, by showing them\nthe head of the Gorgon, at once turned them to stone.\n\nPerseus having completed these exploits, was desirous of revisiting\nhome, and accordingly set off for that purpose with his wife and his\nmother. Arriving on the coast of Peloponnesus, and learning that\nTeutamias, king of Larissa, was then celebrating games in honor of his\nfather, Perseus, wishing to exhibit his skill at the quoit, of which he\nhas been deemed the inventor, resolved to go thither. In this contest,\nhowever, he was so unfortunate as to kill Acrisius, the father of his\nmother, who, on the report that Perseus was returning to the place of\nhis nativity, had fled to the court of Teutamias his friend, to avoid\nthe denunciation of the oracle, which had induced him to exercise such\ncruelty on his offspring. At what time Perseus died is unknown; but all\nagree that divine honors were paid him. He had statues at Myc{=e}n\u00e6 and\nin Seriphos. A temple was erected to him in Athens, and an altar in it\nconsecrated to Dictys.\n\n\n [Illustration:\n\n HECTOR'S BODY DRAGGED AT THE CAR OF ACHILLES.\n Pl. 8.]\n\n\nACHILLES was the offspring of a goddess. Thetis bore him to Peleus, king\nof Thessaly, and was so fond of him, that she charged herself with his\neducation. By day she fed him with ambrosia, and by night covered him\nwith celestial fire, to render him immortal. She also dipped him in the\nwaters of Styx, by which his whole body became invulnerable, except that\npart of his heel by which she held him. He was afterwards committed to\nthe care of Chiron the Centaur, who fed him with honey, and the marrow\nof lions and wild boars; whence he obtained that strength of body and\ngreatness of soul which qualified him for martial toil.\n\nWhen the Greeks undertook the siege of Troy, Calchas the diviner, and\npriest of Apollo, foretold that the city should not be taken without the\nhelp of Achilles. Thetis, his mother, who knew that Achilles, if he went\nto the siege of Troy, would never return, clothed him in female apparel,\nand concealed him among the maidens at the court of Lycom{=e}des, king\nof the island of Scyros. But this stratagem proved ineffectual; for\nCalchas having informed the Greeks where Achilles lay in disguise, they\nsent Ulysses to the court of Lycom{=e}des, where, under the appearance\nof a merchant, he was introduced to the king's daughters, and while they\nwere studiously intent on viewing his toys, Achilles employed himself in\nexamining an helmet, which the cunning politician had thrown in his way.\n\nAchilles thus detected, was prevailed on to go to Troy, after Thetis had\nfurnished him with impenetrable armor made by Vulcan. Thither he led the\ntroops of Thessaly, in fifty ships, and distinguished himself by a\nnumber of heroic actions; but being disgusted with Agamemnon for the\nloss of Briseis, he retired from the camp, and resolved to have no\nfurther concern in the war. In this resolution he continued inexorable,\ntill news was brought him that Hector had killed his friend\nPatr{=o}clus; to avenge his death he not only slew Hector, but fastened\nthe corpse to his chariot, dragged it round the walls of Troy, offered\nmany indignities to it, and sold it at last to Priam his father.\n\nAuthors are much divided on the manner of Achilles' death; some relate\nthat he was slain by Apollo, or that this god enabled Paris to kill him,\nby directing the arrow to his heel, the only part in which he was\nvulnerable. Others again say, that Paris murdered him treacherously, in\nthe temple of Apollo, whilst treating about his marriage with\nPolyx{)e}na, daughter to king Priam.\n\nThough this tradition concerning his death be commonly received, yet\nHomer plainly enough insinuates that Achilles died fighting for his\ncountry, and represents the Greeks as maintaining a bloody battle about\nhis body, which lasted a whole day. Achilles having been lamented by\nThetis, the Nereids, and the Muses, was buried on the promontory of\nSig\u00e6um; and after Troy was captured, the Greeks endeavored to appease\nhis manes by sacrificing Polyx{)e}na, on his tomb, as his ghost had\nrequested.\n\nThe oracle at Dod{=o}na decreed him divine honors, and ordered annual\nvictims to be offered at the place of his sepulture. In pursuance of\nthis, the Thessalians brought hither yearly two bulls, one black, the\nother white, crowned with wreaths of flowers, and water from the river\nSperchius. It is said that Alexander, seeing his tomb, honored it by\nplacing a crown upon it, at the same time crying out \"that Achilles was\nhappy in having, during his life, such a friend as Patr{=o}clus, and\nafter his death, a poet like Homer.\"\n\nATLAS was son of Jap{)e}tus and Clym{)e}ne, and brother of Prometheus,\naccording to most authors; or, as others relate, son of Jap{)e}tus by\nAsia, daughter of Oce{)a}nus. He had many children. Of his sons, the\nmost famous were Hesp{)e}rus (whom some call his brother) and Hyas. By\nhis wife Pleione he had seven daughters, who went by the general names\nof Atlant{)i}des, or Plei{)a}des; and by his wife \u00c6thra he had also\nseven other daughters, who bore the common appellation of the Hy{)a}des.\n\nAccording to Hyg{=i}nus, Atlas having assisted the giants in their war\nagainst Jupiter, was doomed by the victorious god, as a punishment, to\nsustain the weight of the heavens. Ovid, however, represents him as a\npowerful and wealthy monarch, proprietor of the gardens of the\nHesper{)i}des, which bore golden fruit; but that being warned by the\noracle of Themis that he should suffer some great injury from a son of\nJupiter, he strictly forbade all foreigners access to his presence.\nPerseus, however, having the courage to appear before him, was ordered\nto retire, with strong menaces in case of disobedience; but the hero\npresenting his shield, with the dreadful head of Med{=u}sa, turned him\ninto the mountain which still bears his name.\n\nThe Abb\u00e9 la Pluche has given a very clear and ingenious explication of\nthis fable. Of all nations the Egyptians had, with the greatest\nassiduity, cultivated astronomy. To point out the difficulties attending\nthe study of this science, they represented it by an image bearing a\nglobe or sphere on its back, which they called _Atlas_, a word\nsignifying _great toil or labor_; but the word also signifying\n_support_, the Phoenicians, led by the representation, took it in this\nsense, and in their voyages to Mauritania, seeing the high mountains of\nthat country covered with snow, and losing their tops in the clouds,\ngave them the name of _Atlas_, and thus produced the fable by which the\nsymbol of astronomy used among the Egyptians became a Mauritanian king,\ntransformed into a mountain, whose head supports the heavens.\n\nThe rest of the fable is equally obvious to explanation. The annual\ninundations of the Nile obliged the Egyptians to be very exact in\nobserving the motions of the heavenly bodies. The Hyades, or Huades,\ntook their name from the figure V, which they form in the head of\nTaurus. The Pleiades were a remarkable constellation and of great use to\nthe Egyptians in regulating the seasons: hence they became the daughters\nof Atlas; and Orion, who arose just as they set, was called their lover.\n\nBy the golden apples that grew in the gardens of the Hesperides, the\nPhoenicians expressed the rich and beneficial commerce they had in the\nMediterranean, which being carried on during three months only of the\nyear, gave rise to the fable of the Hesperian sisters. The most usual\nway of representing Atlas, among the ancient artists, was as supporting\na globe; for the old poets commonly refer to this attitude in speaking\nof him.\n\nPROMETHEUS was son of Jap{)e}tus, but it is doubtful whether his mother\nwere Asia, or Themis. Having incurred the displeasure of Jupiter, either\nfor stealing some of the celestial fire, or for forming a man of clay,\nJupiter, in resentment, commanded Vulcan to make a woman of clay, which,\nwhen finished, was introduced into the assembly of the gods, each of\nwhom bestowed on her some additional charm or perfection. Venus gave her\nbeauty, Pallas wisdom, Juno riches, Mercury taught her eloquence, and\nApollo music. From all these accomplishments she was styled Pand{=o}ra,\nthat is, loaded with gifts and accomplishments, and was the first of her\nsex.\n\nJupiter, to complete his designs, presented her a box, in which he had\nenclosed age, disease, war, famine, pestilence, discord, envy, calumny,\nand, in short, all the evils and vices with which he intended to afflict\nthe world. Thus equipped, Pand{=o}ra was sent to Prometheus, who, being\non his guard against the mischief designed him, declined accepting the\nbox; but Epimetheus, his brother, though forewarned of the danger, had\nless resolution; for, being enamored of the beauty of Pand{=o}ra, he\nmarried her, and opened the fatal treasure, when immediately flew abroad\nthe contents, which soon overspread the world, hope only remaining at\nthe bottom.\n\nPrometheus escaping the evil which the god designed him, and Jupiter not\nbeing appeased, Mercury and Vulcan were despatched by him to seize\nPrometheus, and chain him on Mount Caucasus, where a vulture, the\noffspring of Typhon and Echidna, was commissioned to prey upon his\nliver, which, that his torment might be endless, was constantly renewed\nby night in proportion to its increase by day; but the vulture being\nsoon destroyed by Hercules, Prometheus was released. Others say, that\nJupiter restored Prometheus to freedom, for discovering the conspiracy\nof Saturn, his father, and dissuading his intended marriage with Thetis.\n\nNicander, to this fable, offers an additional one. He tells us, that\nwhen mankind had received the fire from Prometheus, some ungrateful men\ndiscovered the theft to Jupiter, who rewarded them with the gift of\n_perpetual youth_. This present they put on the back of an ass, which\nstopping at a fountain to quench his thirst, was prevented by a\nwater-snake which would not suffer him to drink till he gave him his\nburden; hence the serpent renews his youth upon changing his skin.\n\nPrometheus was esteemed the inventor of many useful arts. He made man of\nthe mixture and temperament of all the elements, gave him strength of\nbody, vigor of mind, and the peculiar qualities of all creatures, as the\ncraft of the fox, the courage of the lion, &c. He had an altar in the\nacademy of Athens in common with Vulcan and Pallas. In his statues he\nholds a sceptre in the right hand.\n\nSeveral explanations have been given of this fable. Prometheus, whose\nname is derived from a Greek word, signifying foresight and providence,\nwas conspicuous for that quality; and because he reduced mankind, before\nrude and savage, to a state of culture and improvement, he was feigned\nto have made them from clay: being a diligent observer of the motions of\nthe heavenly bodies from Mount Caucasus, it was fabled that he was\nchained there: having discovered the method of striking fire from the\nflint, or perhaps, the nature of lightning, it was pretended that he\nstole fire from the gods: and, because he applied himself to study with\nintenseness, they imagined that a vulture preyed continually on his\nliver.\n\nThere is another solution of this fable, analogous to the preceding.\nAccording to Pliny, Prometheus was the first who instituted sacrifices.\nBeing expelled his dominions by Jupiter, he fled to Scythia, where he\nretired to Mount Caucasus, either to make astronomical calculations or\nto indulge his melancholy for the loss of his dominions, which\noccasioned the fable of the vulture or eagle feeding on his liver. As he\nwas the first inventor of forging metals by fire, he was said to have\nstolen that element from heaven; and, as the first introduction of\nagriculture and navigation had been ascribed to him, he was celebrated\nas forming a living man from an inanimate substance.\n\nAMPHION, king of Thebes, son of Jupiter and Anti{)o}pe, was instructed\nin the use of the lyre by Mercury, and became so great a proficient,\nthat he is reported to have built the walls of Thebes by the power of\nhis harmony, which caused the listening stones to ascend voluntarily. He\nmarried Ni{)o}be, daughter of Tant{)a}lus, whose insult to Di{=a}na\noccasioned the loss of their children by the arrows of Apollo and\nDi{=a}na. The unhappy father, attempting to revenge himself by the\ndestruction of the temple of Apollo, was punished with the loss of his\nsight and skill, and thrown into the infernal regions.\n\nORPHEUS, son of Apollo by the Muse Calli{)o}pe, was born in Thrace, and\nresided near Mount Rhod{)o}pe, where he married Eurydice, a princess of\nthat country. Arist\u00e6us, a neighboring prince, fell desperately in love\nwith her, but she flying from his violence, was killed by the bite of a\nserpent. Her disconsolate husband was so affected at his loss, that he\ndescended by the way of T\u00e6n{)a}rus to hell, in order to recover his\nbeloved wife. As music and poetry were to Orpheus hereditary talents, he\nexerted them so powerfully in the infernal regions, that Pluto and\nProserpine, touched with compassion, restored to him his consort on\ncondition that he should not look back upon her till they came to the\nlight of the world. His impatience, however, prevailing, he broke the\ncondition, and lost Eurydice forever.\n\nWhilst Orpheus was among the shades, he sang the praises of all the gods\nbut Bacchus, whom he accidentally omitted; to revenge this affront,\nBacchus inspired the M\u00e6n{)a}des, his priestesses, with such fury, that\nthey tore Orpheus to pieces, and scattered his limbs about the fields.\nHis head was cast into the river Hebrus, and (together with his harp)\nwas carried by the tide to Lesbos, where it afterwards delivered\noracles. The harp, with seven strings, representing the seven planets,\nwhich had been given him by Apollo, was taken up into heaven, and graced\nwith nine stars by the nine Muses. Orpheus himself was changed into a\nswan. He left a son called Methon, who founded in Thrace a city of his\nown name.\n\nIt is certain that Orpheus may be placed as the earliest poet of Greece,\nwhere he first introduced astronomy, divinity, music and poetry; all\nwhich he had learned in Egypt. He introduced also the rites of Bacchus,\nwhich from him were called Orphica. He was a person of most consummate\nknowledge, and the wisest, as well as the most diligent scholar of\nLinus.\n\nIf we search for the origin of this fable, we must again have recourse\nto Egypt, the mother-country of fiction. In July, when the sun entered\nLeo, the Nile overflowed all the plains. To denote the public joy at\nseeing the inundation rise to its due height, the Egyptians exhibited a\nyouth playing on the lyre, or the sistrum, and sitting by a tame lion.\nWhen the waters did not increase as they should, the Horus was\nrepresented stretched on the back of a lion, as dead. This symbol they\ncalled Oreph, or Orpheus, (from _oreph_, the back part of the head) to\nsignify that agriculture was then quite unseasonable and dormant.\n\nThe songs with which the people amused themselves during this period of\ninactivity, for want of exercise, were called the hymns of Orpheus; and\nas husbandry revived immediately after, it gave rise to the fable of\nOrpheus's returning from hell. The Isis placed near this Horus, they\ncalled Eurydice, (from _eri_, a _lion_, and _daca_, _tamed_, is formed\n_Eridica_, _Eurydice_, or the lion tamed, _i.e._ the violence of the\ninundation overcome), and as the Greeks took all these figures in the\nliteral, not in the emblematical sense, they made Eurydice the wife of\nOrpheus.\n\nOSIRIS, son of Jupiter and Ni{)o}be, was king of the Argives many years;\nbut, being instigated by the desire of glory, he left his kingdom to his\nbrother \u00c6gi{)a}lus, and went into Egypt, in search of a new name and\nkingdom there. The Egyptians were not so much overcome by the valor of\nOs{=i}ris, as obliged to him for his kindness towards them. Having\nconferred the greatest benefits on his subjects, by civilizing their\nmanners, and instructing them in husbandry and other useful arts, he\nmade the necessary disposition of his affairs, committed the regency to\nIsis, and set out with a body of forces in order to civilize the rest of\nmankind. This he performed more by the power of persuasion, and the\nsoothing arts of music and poetry, than by the terror of his arms.\n\nIn his absence, Typhoeus, the giant, whom historians call the brother of\nOs{=i}ris, formed a conspiracy to dethrone him; for which end, at the\nreturn of Os{=i}ris into Egypt, he invited him to a feast, at the\nconclusion of which a chest of exquisite workmanship was brought in, and\noffered to him who, when laid down in it, should be found to fit it the\nbest. Os{=i}ris, not suspecting a trick to be played him, got into the\nchest, and the cover being immediately shut upon him, this good but\nunfortunate prince was thus thrown into the Nile.\n\nWhen the news of this transaction reached Coptus, where Isis his wife\nthen was, she cut her hair, and in deep mourning went every where in\nsearch of the dead body. This was at length discovered, and concealed by\nher at Butus; but Typhoeus, while hunting by moonlight, having found it\nthere, tore it into many pieces, which he scattered abroad. Isis then\ntraversed the lakes and watery places in a boat made of the _papyrus_,\nseeking the mangled parts of Os{=i}ris, and where she found any, there\nshe buried them; hence the many tombs ascribed to Os{=i}ris.\n\nPlutarch seems evidently to prove that the Egyptians worshipped the Sun\nunder the name of Os{=i}ris. His reasons are: 1. Because the images of\nOs{=i}ris were always clothed in a shining garment, to represent the\nrays and light of the sun. 2. In their hymns, composed in honor of\nOs{=i}ris, they prayed to him who reposes himself in the bosom of the\nsun. 3. After the autumnal equinox, they celebrated a feast called, _The\ndisappearing of Os{=i}ris_, by which is plainly meant the absence and\ndistance of the sun. 4. In the month of November they led a cow seven\ntimes round the temple of Os{=i}ris, intimating thereby, that in seven\nmonths the sun would return to the summer solstice.\n\nHe is represented sitting upon a throne, crowned with a mitre full of\nsmall orbs, to intimate his superiority over all the globe. The gourd\nupon the mitre implies his action and influence upon moisture, which,\nand the Nile particularly, was termed by the Egyptians, the efflux of\nOs{=i}ris. The lower part of his habit is made up of descending rays,\nand his body is surrounded with orbs. His right hand is extended in a\ncommanding attitude, and his left holds a _thyrsus_ or staff of the\n_papyrus_, pointing out the principle of humidity, and the fertility\nthence flowing, under his direction.\n\n\u00c6SCULAPIUS. The name of \u00c6sculapius, whom the Greeks called {Askl\u00eapios},\nappears to have been foreign, and derived from the oriental languages.\nBeing honored as a god in Phoenicia and Egypt, his worship passed into\nGreece, and was established, first at Epidaurus, a city of Peloponnesus,\nbordering on the sea, where, probably, some colonies first settled; a\ncircumstance sufficient for the Greeks to give out that this god was a\nnative of Greece.\n\nNot to mention all we are told of his parents, it will be enough to\nobserve, that the opinion generally received in Greece, made him the son\nof Apollo by Cor{=o}nis, daughter of Phlegyas; and indeed the\nMessenians, who consulted the oracle of Delphi to know where \u00c6sculapius\nwas born, and of what parents, were told by the oracle, or more properly\nApollo, that he himself was his father; that Cor{=o}nis was his mother,\nand that their son was born at Epidaurus.\n\nPhlegyas, the most warlike man of his age, having gone into Peloponnesus\nunder pretence of travelling, but, in truth, to spy into the condition\nof the country, carried his daughter Cor{=o}nis thither, who, to conceal\nher situation from her father, went to Epidaurus: there she was\ndelivered of a son, whom she exposed upon a mountain, called to this day\nMount Titthion, or _of the breast_; but before this adventure, Myrthion,\nfrom the myrtles that grew upon it.\n\nThe reason of this change of name was, that the child, having been here\nabandoned, was suckled by one of those goats of the mountain, which the\ndog of Aristh{)e}nes the goat-herd guarded. When Aristh{)e}nes came to\nreview his flock, he found a she-goat and his dog missing, and going in\nsearch of them discovered the child. Upon approaching to lift him from\nthe earth, he perceived his head encircled with fiery rays, which made\nhim believe the child to be of divine origin.\n\nAs {Kor\u00f4n\u00ea} in the Greek language signifies a crow, hence another fable\narose importing, as we see in Lucian, that \u00c6sculapius had sprung from an\negg of a bird, under the figure of a serpent. Whatever these fictions\nmay mean, \u00c6sculapius being removed from the mount on which he was\nexposed, was nursed by Trigo or Trigone, who was probably the wife of\nthe goat-herd that found him; and when he was capable of improving by\nChiron, Phlegyas (to whom he had doubtless been returned) put him under\nthe Centaur's tuition.\n\nBeing of a quick and lively genius, he made such progress as soon to\nbecome not only a great physician, but at length to be reckoned the god\nand inventor of medicine; though the Greeks, not very consistent in the\nhistory of those early ages, gave to Apis, son of Phoroneus, the glory\nof having discovered the healing art. \u00c6sculapius accompanied Jason in\nhis expedition to Colchis, and in his medical capacity was of great\nservice to the Argonauts. Within a short time after his death he was\ndeified, and received divine honors: some add, that he formed the\ncelestial sign, Serpentarius.\n\nAs the Greeks always carried the encomiums of their great men beyond the\ntruth, they feigned that \u00c6sculapius was so expert in medicine, as not\nonly to cure the sick, but even to raise the dead. Ovid says he did this\nby Hippol{)i}tus, and Julian says the same of Tynd{)a}rus: that Pluto\ncited him before the tribunal of Jupiter, and complained that his empire\nwas considerably diminished and in danger of becoming desolate, from the\ncures \u00c6sculapius performed; so that Jupiter in wrath slew \u00c6sculapius\nwith a thunder-bolt; to which they added that Apollo, enraged at the\ndeath of his son, killed the Cyclops who forged Jupiter's thunder-bolts:\na fiction which obviously signifies only, that \u00c6sculapius had carried\nhis art very far, and that he cured diseases believed to be desperate.\n\n\u00c6sculapius is always represented under the figure of a grave old man\nwrapped up in a cloak, having sometimes upon his head the _cal{)a}thus_\nof Ser{=a}pis, with a staff in his hand, which is commonly wreathed\nabout with a serpent; sometimes again with a serpent in one hand, and a\n_pat{)e}ra_ in the other; sometimes leaning upon a pillar, round which a\nserpent also twines. The cock, a bird consecrated to this god, whose\nvigilance represents that quality which physicians ought to have, is\nsometimes at the feet of his statues. Socrates, we know, when dying,\nsaid to those who stood around him in his last moments, \"We owe a cock\nto \u00c6sculapius; give it without delay.\"\n\nULYSSES, king of Ith{)a}ca, was the son of Laertes, or Laertius and\nAnticl{=e}a. His wife Penel{)o}pe, daughter of Icarius brother of\nTynd{)a}rus king of Sparta, was highly famed for her prudence and\nvirtue; and being unwilling that the Trojan war should part them,\nUlysses to avoid the expedition, pretended to be mad, and not only\njoined different beasts to the same plough, but sowed also the furrows\nwith salt.\n\nPalam{=e}des, however, suspecting the frenzy to be assumed, threw\nTelemachus, then an infant, in the way of the plough, to try if his\nfather would alter its course. This stratagem succeeded; for when\nUlysses came to the child he turned off from the spot, in consequence of\nwhich Palam{=e}des compelled him to take part in the war. He accordingly\nsailed with twelve ships, and was signally serviceable to the Greeks.\n\nTo him the capture of Troy is chiefly to be ascribed, since by him the\nobstacles were removed, which had so long prevented it. For as Ulysses\nhimself was detected by Palam{=e}des, so he in his turn detected\nAchilles, who, to avoid engaging in the same war, had concealed himself\nin the habits of a woman, at the court of Lycom{=e}des, king of Scyros.\nUlysses there discovered him, and as it had been foretold that without\nAchilles Troy could not be taken, thence drew him to the siege.\n\nHe also obtained the arrows of Hercules, from Philoct{=e}tes, and\ncarried off that hero from the scene of his retreat. He brought away\nalso the ashes of Laom{)e}don, which were preserved in Troy on the\nScoean gate. By him the Palladium was stolen from the same city; Rhesus,\nking of Thrace, killed, and his horses taken before they had drank of\nthe Xanthus. These exploits involved in them the destiny of Troy; for\nhad the Trojans preserved them, their city could never have been\nconquered.\n\nUlysses contended afterwards with Telamonian Ajax, the stoutest of all\nthe Grecians, except Achilles, for the arms of that hero, which were\nawarded to him by the judges, who were won by the charms of his\neloquence. His other enterprises before Troy were numerous and\nbrilliant, and are particularly related in the Iliad. When Ulysses\ndeparted for Greece, he sailed backwards and forwards for twenty years,\ncontrary winds and severe weather opposing his return to Ith{)a}ca.\n\nDuring this period, he extinguished, with a firebrand, the eye of\nPolyph{=e}mus; then sailing to \u00c6olia, he obtained from \u00c6{)o}lus all the\nwinds which were contrary to him, and put them into leathern bags; his\ncompanions, however, believing these bags to be full of money, entered\ninto a plot to rob him, and accordingly, when they came on the coast of\nIth{)a}ca, untied the bags, upon which the wind rushing out, he was\nagain blown back to \u00c6olia.\n\nWhen Circe had turned his companions into swine and other brutes, he\nfirst fortified himself against her charms with the herb Moly, an\nantidote Mercury had given him; and then rushing into her cave with his\ndrawn sword, compelled her to restore his associates to their original\nshape.\n\nHe is said to have gone down into hell, to know his future fortune, from\nthe prophet Tiresias. When he sailed to the islands of the Sirens, he\nstopped the ears of his companions, and bound himself with strong ropes\nto the ship's mast, that he might secure himself against the snares into\nwhich, by their charming voices, passengers were habitually allured.\nLastly, after his ship was wrecked, he escaped by swimming, and came\nnaked and alone, to the port of Ph\u00e6acia, in the island of Corcyra, where\nNausic{)a}a, daughter of king Alcin{)o}us, found him in a profound\nsleep, into which he was thrown by the indulgence of Minerva.\n\nWhen his companions were found, and his ship refitted, he bent his\ncourse toward Ith{)a}ca, where arriving, and having put on the habit of\na beggar, he went to his neatherds, with whom he found his son\nTelemachus, and with them went home in disguise. After having received\nseveral affronts from the suitors of Penel{)o}pe, with the assistance of\nhis son Telemachus and the neatherds, to whom he had discovered himself,\nhe killed Antin{)o}us, and the other princes who were competitors for\nher favor. After reigning some time, he resigned the government of his\nkingdom to Telemachus.\n\nCASTOR and POLLUX were the twin sons of Jupiter and Leda. These brothers\nentered into an inviolable friendship, and when they grew up, cleared\nthe Archipelago of pirates, on which account they were esteemed deities\nof the sea, and accordingly were invoked by mariners in tempests. They\nwent with the other noble youths of Greece in the expedition to Colchis,\nin search of the golden fleece, and on all occasions signalized\nthemselves by their courage.\n\nIn this expedition Pollux slew Amycus, son of Neptune, and king of\nBebrycia, who had challenged all the Argonauts to box with him. This\nvictory, and that which he gained afterwards at the Olympic games which\nHercules celebrated in Elis, caused him to be considered the hero and\npatron of wrestlers, while his brother Castor distinguished himself in\nthe race, and in the management of horses.\n\nCicero relates a wonderful judgment which happened to one Scopas, who\nhad spoken disrespectfully of these divinities: he was crushed to death\nby the fall of a chamber, whilst Simon{)i}des, who was in the same room,\nwas rescued from the danger, being called out a little before, by two\npersons unknown, supposed to be Castor and Pollux.\n\nThe Greek and Roman histories are full of the miraculous appearance of\nthese brethren; particularly we are told they were seen fighting upon\ntwo white horses, at the head of the Roman army, in the battle between\nthe Romans and Latins, near the lake Regillus, and brought the news of\nthe decisive victory of Paulus \u00c6milius to Rome, the very day it was\nobtained.\n\nFrequent representations of these deities occur on ancient monuments,\nand particularly on consular medals. They are exhibited together, each\nhaving a helmet, out of which issues a flame, and each a pike in one\nhand, and in the other a horse held by the bridle: sometimes they are\nrepresented as two beautiful youths, completely armed, and riding on\nwhite horses, with stars over their helmets.\n\nAJAX, son of Tel{)a}mon, king of Sal{)a}mis, by Beriboea, was, next to\nAchilles, the most valiant among the Greeks at the seige of Troy. He\ncommanded the troops of Sal{)a}mis in that expedition, and performed the\nvarious heroic actions mentioned by Homer, and Ovid, in the speech of\nAjax contending for the armor of Achilles. This armor, however, being\nadjudged to his competitor Ulysses, his disappointment so enraged him,\nthat he immediately became mad, and rushed furiously upon a flock of\nsheep, imagining he was killing those who had offended him: but at\nlength perceiving his mistake, he became still more furious, and stabbed\nhimself with the fatal sword he had received from Hector, with whom he\nhad fought. Ajax resembled Achilles in several respects; like him he was\nviolent, and impatient of contradiction; and, like him, invulnerable in\nevery part of the body except one.\n\nHe has been charged with impiety; not that he denied the gods a very\nextensive power, but he imagined that, as the greatest cowards might\nconquer through their assistance, there was no glory in conquering by\nsuch aids; and scorned to owe his victory to aught but his own prowess.\nAccordingly, we are told that when he was setting out for Troy, his\nfather recommended him always to join the assistance of the gods to his\nown valor; to which Ajax replied, that cowards themselves were often\nvictorious by such helps, but for his own part he would make no reliance\nof the kind, being assured he should be able to conquer without.\n\nIt is further added, upon the head of his irreligion, that to Minerva,\nwho once offered him her advice, he replied with indignation: \"Trouble\nnot yourself about my conduct; of that I shall give a good account; you\nhave nothing to do but reserve your favor and assistance for the other\nGreeks.\" Another time she offered to guide his chariot in the battle,\nbut he would not suffer her. Nay, he even defaced the owl, her favorite\nbird, which was engraven on his shield, lest that figure should be\nconsidered as an act of reverence to Minerva, and hence as indicating\ndistrust in himself.\n\nHomer, however, does not represent him in this light, for though he does\nnot pray to Jupiter himself when he prepares to engage the valiant\nHector, yet he desires others to pray for him, either in a low voice,\nlest the Trojans should hear, or louder if they pleased; for, says he, I\nfear no person in the world.\n\nThe poets give to Ajax the same commendation that the holy scripture\ngives to king Saul, with regard to his stature. He has been the subject\nof several tragedies, as well in Greek as Latin; and it is related that\nthe famous comedian, \u00c6sop, refused to act that part. The Greeks paid\ngreat honor to him after his death, and erected to him a noble monument\nupon the promontory of Rhoeteum, which was one of those Alexander\ndesired to see and honor.\n\nJASON was son of \u00c6son, king of Thessaly, and Alcim{)e}de. He was an\ninfant when Pelias, his uncle, who was left his guardian, sought to\ndestroy him; but being, to avoid the danger, conveyed by his relations\nto a cave, he was there instructed by Chiron in the art of physic;\nwhence he took the name of Jason, or the healer, his former name being\nDiom{=e}des. Arriving at years of maturity, he returned to his uncle,\nwho, probably with no favorable intention to Jason, inspired him with\nthe notion of the Colchian expedition and agreeably flattered his\nambition with the hopes of acquiring the golden fleece.\n\nJason having resolved on the voyage, built a vessel at Iolchos in\nThessaly, for the expedition, under the inspection, of Argos, a famous\nworkman, which, from him, was called Argo: it was said to have been\nexecuted by the advice of Pallas, who pointed out a tree in the Dodon\u00e6an\nforest for a mast, which was vocal, and had the gift of prophecy.\n\nThe fame of the vessel, the largest that had ever been heard of, but\nparticularly the design itself, soon induced the bravest and most\ndistinguished youths of Greece to become adventurers in it, and brought\ntogether about fifty of the most accomplished young persons of the age\nto accompany Jason in this expedition; authors, however, are not agreed\non the precise names or numbers of the Argonauts; some state them to\nhave been forty-nine; others more, and amongst them several were of\ndivine origin.\n\nOn his arrival at Colchis he repaired to the court of \u00c6{=e}tes, from\nwhom he demanded the golden fleece. The monarch acceded to his request,\nprovided he could overcome the difficulties which lay in his way, and\nwhich appeared not easily surmountable; these were bulls with brazen\nfeet, whose nostrils breathed fire, and a dragon which guarded the\nfleece. The teeth of the latter, when killed, Jason was enjoined to sow,\nand, after they had sprung up into armed men, to destroy them.\n\nThough success attended the enterprise, it was less owing to valor, than\nto the assistance of Med{=e}a, daughter of \u00c6{=e}tes, who, by her\nenchantments, laid asleep the dragon, taught Jason to subdue the bulls,\nand when he had obtained the prize, accompanied him in the night time,\nunknown to her brother.\n\nThe return of the Argonauts is variously related; some contend it was by\nthe track in which they came, and say that the brother of Med{=e}a\npursued them as far as the Adriatic, and was overcome by Jason; which\noccasioned the story that his sister had cut him in pieces, and strewed\nhis limbs in the way, that her father, from solicitude to collect them,\nmight be delayed in the pursuit.\n\n\n\n\nCHAPTER XII.\n\n_Other fabulous personages._\n\n\nGRACES _or_ CHARITES. Among the multitude of ancient divinities, none\nhad more votaries that the Graces. Particular nations and countries had\nappropriate and local deities, but their empire was universal. To their\ninfluence was ascribed all that could please in nature and in art; and\nto them every rank and profession concurred in offering their vows.\n\nTheir number was generally limited, by the ancient poets, to three:\n_Euphrosyne_, _Thal{=i}a_, and _Aglaia_; but they differed concerning\ntheir origin. Some suppose them to have been the offspring of Jupiter\nand Eunomia, daughter of Oce{)a}nus; but the most prevalent opinion is,\nthat they were descended from Bacchus and Venus. According to Homer,\nAglaia, the youngest, was married to Vulcan, and another of them to the\ngod of Sleep. The Graces were companions of _Mercury_, _Venus_, and the\n_Muses_.\n\nFestivals were celebrated in honor of them throughout the whole year.\nThey were esteemed the dispensers of liberality, eloquence, and wisdom;\nand from them were derived simplicity of manners, a graceful deportment,\nand gaiety of disposition. From their inspiring acts of gratitude and\nmutual kindness they were described as uniting hand in hand with each\nother. The ancients partook of but few repasts without invoking them, as\nwell as the Muses.\n\nSIRENS were a kind of fabulous beings represented by some as\nsea-monsters, with the faces of women and the tails of fishes, answering\nthe description of mermaids; and by others said to have the upper parts\nof a woman, and the under parts of a bird. Their number is not\ndetermined; Homer reckons only two; others five, namely, Leucosia,\nLigeia, Parthen{)o}pe, Agla{)o}phon, and Molpe; others admit only the\nthree first.\n\nThe poets represent them as beautiful women inhabiting the rocks on the\nsea-shore, whither having allured passengers by the sweetness of their\nvoices, they put them to death. Virgil places them on rocks where\nvessels are in danger of shipwreck; Pliny makes them inhabit the\npromontory of Minerva, near the island Capre\u00e6; others fix them in\nSicily, near cape Pel{=o}rus.\n\nClaudian says they inhabited harmonious rocks, that they were charming\nmonsters, and that sailors were wrecked on their coasts without regret,\nand even expired in rapture. This description is doubtless founded on a\nliteral explication of the fable, that the Sirens were women who\ninhabited the shores of Sicily, and who, by the allurements of pleasure,\nstopped passengers, and made them forget their course.\n\nOvid says they accompanied Proserpine when she was carried off, and that\nthe gods granted them wings to go in quest of that goddess. Homer places\nthe Sirens in the midst of a meadow drenched in blood, and tells us that\nfate had permitted them to reign till some person should over-reach\nthem; that the wise Ulysses accomplished their destiny, having escaped\ntheir snares, by stopping the ears of his companions with wax, and\ncausing himself to be fastened to the mast of his ship, which, he adds,\nplunged them into so deep despair, that they drowned themselves in the\nsea, where they were transformed into fishes from the waist downwards.\n\nOthers, who do not look for so much mystery in this fable, maintain that\nthe Sirens were nothing but certain straits in the sea, where the waves\nwhirling furiously around seized and swallowed up vessels that\napproached them. Lastly, some hold the Sirens to have been certain\nshores and promontories, where the winds, by various reverberations and\nechoes, cause a kind of harmony that surprises and stops passengers.\nThis probably might be the origin of the Sirens' song, and the occasion\nof giving the name of Sirens to those rocks.\n\nSome interpreters of the ancient fables contend, that the number and\nnames of the three Sirens were taken from the triple pleasure of the\nsenses, wine, love, and music, which are the three most powerful means\nof seducing mankind; and hence so many exhortations to avoid the Sirens'\nfatal song; and probably it was hence that the Greeks obtained their\netymology of Siren from a Greek word signifying a _chain_, as if there\nwere no getting free from their enticement.\n\nBut if in tracing this fable to its source, we take Servius as our\nguide, he tells us that it derived its origin from certain princesses\nwho reigned of old upon the coasts of the Tuscan sea, near Pel{=o}rus\nand Caprea, or in three small islands of Sicily which Aristotle calls\nthe isles of the Sirens. These women were very debauched, and by their\ncharms allured strangers, who were ruined in their court, by pleasure\nand prodigality.\n\nThis seems evidently the foundation of all that Homer says of the\nSirens, in the twelfth book of the Odyssey; that they bewitched those\nwho unfortunately listened to their songs; that they detained them in\ncapacious meadows, where nothing was to be seen but bones and carcasses\nwithering in the sun; that none who visit them ever again enjoy the\nembraces and congratulations of their wives and children; and that all\nwho dote upon their charms are doomed to perish. What Solomon says in\nthe ninth chapter of Proverbs, of the miseries to which those are\nexposed who abandon themselves to sensual pleasures, well justifies the\nidea given us of the Sirens by the Greek poets, and by Virgil's\ncommentator.\n\n\n\n\n[Transcriber's Note:\n\n Certain non-ASCII characters have been marked per the following.\n The HTML and UTF-8 text files properly display these characters.\n\n {)a} a breve\n {)e} e breve\n {)i} i breve\n {)o} o breve\n {=a} a macron\n {=e} e macron\n {=i} i macron\n {=o} o macron\n {=u} u macron\n {=y} y macron\n\n oe|OE are recorded as oe in the Latin-1 and ASCII texts. ae|AE\n ligatures have been unpacked as ae for and ASCII. Greek words have\n been transliterated and are marked with {word} form.\n\n Corrected typographical errors. The typographic error and\n its corresponding line are listed.\n\n honoraable\n The office of the legati was very dignified and honorable\n\n desposited\n collected and deposited in an urn, to be kept in the mausoleum\n\n feats\n Trimalchio, in his ridiculous feasts described by Petronius,\n\n End of Notes.]","title":"Roman Antiquities, and Ancient Mythology: For Classical Schools (2nd ed)","tradition":"myth-cosmogony","translated_text":null,"word_count":53991}