The
individuals
most worthy of notice in this family
are the following: I.
are the following: I.
Charles - 1867 - Classical Dictionary
950, at Ccelat, a village of Ionia at
the foot of Mouit Tmolus. He was attached, by vir-
tue of his office . if Atuxovor, to the court of the Greek
emperors, which is nearly all that we know of his per-
sonal history. He wrote, in ten books, a history of
the emperors Romanus II. the younger, Nicephorus
Phocas, and John Zimisces, that is, of the years in-
cluded between 959 and 975. His object in compo-
sing this work was to give a histoire raisonnie of the
events which took place under his own eyes. Such an
undertaking, however, was beyond his strength. His
style is neither elegant nor clear, and we are often
startled at the introduction of Latin words in a Greek
garb. His work abounds with specimens of false elo-
quence and bad taste: occasionally, however, we meet
with agreeable and pleasing details. The best edi-
tion at present is that of Hase, Paris, 1819, folio.
The work will form a part, however, of the new edi-
tion of Byzantine writers now in a course of publica-
tion. --IV. Magentcnus or Magentinus, a metropolitan
of Mytilenc, flourished about 1340 A. D. He wrote
commentaries on the works of Aristotle "On Inter-
pretation," and the " first Analytics. " The first of
these commentaries is given in the Aldine collection
of the Peripatetic writers, 1503; the second at the
end of the Venice edition (1536) of John Philoponus.
--V. The First, surnamed the Great, an emperor of
the East, born in Thrace of an obscure family, and who
awed his advancement through the various gradations
of the Roman army to the powerful favour of Aspar,
a Gothic chief who commanded the auxiliaries, and
his son Ardaburius. Leo was in cor. is&nd of . : body
ef trojps encamped at Selymbrie, whan his ambi-
tious protectors made him ascend the throne left va-
cant by the death of the virtuous Mercian. The
senate confirmed this choice; and Leo was acknowl-
edged as emperor at the head of the forces, Feb.
7, A. D. 457, and crowned by Anatolius, patriarch
of Constantinople. It is believed to have been the
first example given of this sacred sanction in the ele-
vation of a monarch to the throne. Aspar soon per-
ceived that Leo would not long support the yoke im-
posed upon him. A quarrel arose between them rel-
ative to the party of the Eutychians who had massa-
cred their bishop and appointed another in his stead.
Aspar espoused the cause of the latter, but Leo drove
'iim from his see, and nominated an orthodox prelate
to the vacant place. Leo had already before this ob-
tained some signal successes over the barbarians, and
had restored peace to the empire of the East. He
wished also to put an end to the troubles of the West-
ern Empire, torn by the ambition and fury of Ricimer,
desolated by Genseric, and governed by mere phan-
toms of emperors. Genseric braved the menaces of
Leo. The latter, whose armies had just repelled the
Huns, and slain one of the sons of Attila, united all
his forces, and aent them into Africa against the Van-
dal prince; but the inexperience, or, according to
Procopius, the tr-achery of Basiliscus saved Genseric,
>>nd tho Roman army returned ingloriously home.
? ? Aspar and his so;: were suspected of having contribu-
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? LEO.
LEO
with scarcely any resistance. Leo was . rowned
emperor March 25, A. D. 717. The Saracens, whom
be had amused by false pretences, now advanced to
'. he capital, and besieged it by sea and land. In this
extremity Leo redoubled his exertions and courage,
and, after long and obstinate conflicts, he succeeded in
repelling his dangerous assailants. In 719, an attempt
or the part of Anastasius to regain the throne failed
tlrough the activity of Leo, and the unsuccessful aspi-
rant lost his head. He sustained also, with varied
success, the repeated attacks of the Saracens in Sicily,
Italy, and Sardinia. So many services rendered to
the empire would have placed Leo in the rank of
great monarchs, had not his fondness for theological
quarrels, too common in those ages of ignorance, in-
volved him in long and dangerous collisions. He es-
poused the cause of the Iconoclasts, and his severity
drove many of the inhabitants into open rebellion.
After a stormy conflict, marked by the most cruel per-
secutions, Leo died, A. D. 741, leaving the throne to
bis son Constantine Copronymus. (Biogr. Univ. ,
vol. 24, p. 136, tegq. )--VIII. The fourth, an emperor
of the east, the son of Constantine Copronymus. He
ascended the throne A. D. 775, and died A. D. 780,
after an unimportant reign. --IX. The fifth, surnamed
the Armenian, an emperor of the East, who rose from
an obscure station to the throne. He succeeded the
emperor Michael Rhanga. be, whom the soldiers re-
jected in a mutiny secretly fomented by the ambi-
tious Leo. His reign continued for seven years and
t half, and was remarkable for the rigid military disci-
pline introduced by him into the civil government.
He was an Iconoclast, but his religious inconstancy
obtained for him, in fact, the name of Chameleon. He
was slain by a baud of conspirators at the very foot
? f the altar, during the morning celebration of the
festival of Christmas. {Gibbon, Decline and Fall, c.
18. )--X. The sixth, surnamed the Philosopher, an
emperor of the East. He was the son of Eudoxia,
wife of Basil I. The irregularities of his mother hare
left some doubt relative to his legitimacy; he was ac-
knowledged, however, by Basil, as his son and suc-
cessor. Already at the age of 19 years, the young
prince had made himself beloved by all the empire.
Santabaren, however, the favourite of Basil, an artful
and dangerous man, irritated at the contempt and ha-
tred which Leo testified for him, sought every means
to destroy him, and at last succeeded in having him
cast into prison on suspicion of plotting against his
father's life. A cruel punishment at first threatened
him; but the parent relented, and his son, being al-
lowed to justify his conduct, was restored to all his
former honours. A little while after, the death of
Basil left Leo master of the Eastern empire. He as-
cended the throne with his brother Alexander in 88G;
but the latter, given up to his pleasures, abandoned to
Leo the whole care of the government. Perhaps the
effeminacy and licentiousness of Alexander obtained
for Leo, by the mere force of flattering comparison,
the title of Philosopher, which his life in no degree
lustified. Scarcely had he ascended the throne when
he deposed Photius, the celebrated patriarch, who was
secretly connected with Santabaren in the plot for his
destruction. Santabaren mmself underwent a cruel
ounishment, and was then driven into exile. Leo
-eigned weakly, and the ill success of his generals
igamst the Bulgarians obliged him to submit to such
? ? terms of peace as those barbarians pleased to pro-
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? t. rco
LEP
frustrated l. r nis being slain in baltle. (Plut. , Vit.
AUx. --Id. , Vit. Phoc. --Id. , Vit. Eum. )
Lronidas, I. a celebrated king of Laccdtemon, of
the family of the Eurysthenid. e, sent by his countrymen
to maintain the pass of Thermopylae against the inva-
ding army of Xerxes, B. C. 430. A full narrative of
the whole affair, together with an examination of the
ancient statements on this subject, will be found under
the article Thermopylae. --II. Son of Cleonymus, of the
line of the Agida, succeeded Areus II. on the throne
>>f Sparta, B. C. 257. Agis, his colleague in the
sovereignty, having resolved to restore the institutions
o; Lycurgus to their former vigour, Leonidas opposed
his views, and became the main support of those who
were inclined to a relaxation of ancient strictness.
He was convicted, however, of having transgressed
the lawB, and was obliged to yield the supreme power
to Cleombrotus, his son-in-law. Not long after he
w<<s re-established on the Spartan throne, and avenged
the affront which he had received at the hands of Agis,
by impeaching him and effecting his condemnation.
(Pausan. , 2, 9. --Id. , 3, 6. )--III. A native of Alexan-
dres, who flourished at Rome as a grammarian to-
wards the close of the first century of the Christian
era. He wrote, among other things, epigrams denom-
inated ioCiftrjQa, arranged in such a manner, that the
uumeririi value of all the letters composing any one
disti-h is equal to that of the letters of any other. He
was very probably the inventor of this learned species of
Infling. (Scholl, Hist. Lit. , vol. 4, p. 60. --Compare
Jacobs, fatal. Poet. Epigramm. , s. t>. )--IV. A na-
"ive of Tarentum, who flourished about 275 B. C. He
tas left behind a hundred epigrams in the Doric dialect,
tnd which belong to the best of those that have been
|rcserved for us. (Jacobs, Catal. Poet. Epigramm. ,
Leontini, a town of Sicily, situate about five mites
torn the seashore, on the south of Catana, between two
email streams, the Lissus and Terias. Tlio place is
jometimes called by modern writers Leontium; this,
lowcver, is not only a deviation from Thucydidcs, who
always uses the form Acovrtvoi, but, in fact, is employ-
id by no ancient author except Ptolemy; and Clave-
rius there suspeots the reading to be a corruption for
\covrivov. (Bloomfield, ad Thucyd. , 6, 3. ) It was
founded by a colony of Chalcideans from Eubcea, who
had come to the island but six years before, and had
(hen settled Naxos, near Mount Taurus, where Tauro-
inenium was afterward founded. That they should have
settled Leontini only six years after their own coloniza-
tion may indeed aeem strange; but it may be accounted
for from the superior fertility of the plain of Leontini,
which has ever been accounted the richest tract in Si-
cily; for the very same reason they soon afterward
settled Catana. (Thucyd. , I. c. -- Bloomf. , ad loc. )
The Siculi were in possession of the territory where
Leontini was founded prior to the arrival of the col-
ony, and were driven out by force of arms. Leontini
for a time continued flourishing and powerful, but
eventually sank under the superior power and prosper-
ity of Syracuse. Its quarrel with this last-mentioned
city led to the unfortunate expedition of the Athenians,
whose aid Leontini has) solicited. The city ultimate-
ly fell under the Syracusan power. The celebrated
Gorgias was a native of this place. (Manner! , Geogr. ,
vol. 9, pt. 2, p. 301, scqq. )
Leontium, an Athenian female, originally an hetarist,
although aftcrv. -i. rd, as Gassendi maintains, the wife
? ? of Metrod&rcs, the most eminent friend and disciple
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? LEP
L EP
let of Autonim the y lunger, t>y Lucius Domitius . Eno-
barbus. She was the wife of Valerius Messala, and
mother of Messalina, and is described as having been
a woman of debauched and profligate manners, and of
a violent end impetuous spirit. In point of beauty
u<d vice, she was the rival of Agrippitia, Nero's moth-
B. She was condemned to death through the influ-
ence of the same Agrippina. (Tacit. , Ann. , 11, 37.
--Id, Ann. , 12, 64. --Sutton. , Vil. Claud. , 26 -- Id. ,
Fit. Ner. , 7. )
Lepidi, the name of one of the most distinguished
families of the patrician gens, or houso, of the ^Emilii.
The individuals most worthy of notice in this family
are the following: I. M. -Emii. ius Lepidus, was sent
as an ambassador to Ptolemy, king of . Egypt, at the
close of the second Punic war, B. C. 201. (Polyb. ,
16,34. --Ln>. ,31,2. --Compare Tacittu,Ann. , 2, 67. )
He obtained the consulship B. C. 187 (Lit). , 39, 5.
-Polyb. , 23, 1), and again in B. C. 175. In B. C.
179 he was elected Pontifex Msximus and Censor.
(La. , 40, 42. --Aul. Gell. , 12,8. ) He was also Prin-
ceps Senatus aix times. (Liv. , Eptt. , 48. ) He died
B. C. 150. --II. M. jEhilius Lepidus, was praetor
B. C. 81; after which he obtained the province of
Sicily. (Cie. in Verr. , 3, 91. ) In his consulship,
B. C. 78, he endeavoured to rescind the measures of
Sylla, but was driven out of Italy by his colleague
Quintus Catulus and by Pompey, and retired to Sar-
dinia, where he died the following year, while making
preparations for a renewal of the war. (Appian, Bell.
Civ. , 1. 105. --Liu. , . Eptr. , 90. -- Plut. , Vil. Pomp. ,
16. }--III. M. -Emilius Lepidus, the triumvir, eon
of the preceding, was sedilc B. C. 52, and pnetorB. C.
49, in which year Cesar came to an open rupture
with the senatorian party. Lepidus, from his first
entrance into public life, opposed the party of the
senate; and though he dues not appear to havo pos-
sessed any of the talent and energy of character by
which Antony was distinguished, yet his great riches
and extensive family connexions made him an im-
portant accession to the popular causo. On the first
expedition of Ca;sar into Spain, Lepidus was left in
charge of the city, though the military command of
Italy was intrusted to Antony. During Caesar's ab-
sence, Lepidus proposed the law by which the former
was created dictator. In the following year, B. C.
48, he obtained the province of Hispania Citerior, with
the title of proconsul; and in B. C. 46 was made
consul along with Caesar, and at the same time his
mister of the horse, an appointment which again gave
him the chief power in Home during the absence of
the dictator in the African war. In B. C. 44 he was
again made master of the horse, and appointed to the
provinces of Gallia Narbonensis and Hispania Citerior;
but he did not immediately leave Rome, and wax prob-
ably in the senate house when Caesar was assassinated.
After the death of Caesar, Lepidus was courted by
both parties; and the senate, on the motion of Cice-
ro, decreed that an equestrian statue should be erect-
ed to him, in any part of the city he might fix upon.
Lepidus promised to assist the senate; but, at the
same time, carried on a secret negotiation with Antony.
On his arrival in his province, being ordered by the
senate to join Decimus Brutus, he at length found
it necessary to throw off the mask; and, instead of
Obeying their commands, united his forces with those
of Antony. In the autumn of this year, B. C. 43,
? ? the celebrated triumvirate was established between
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? i, E a
LESBOS
East 10 arrange the affairs of Syria. Hj was sent to
Home, to be delivered up along with Isocrates, who
was also a party to the murder, but tho senate refused
to receive him. (Died. Sic. ,fragm. , lib. 31. --Op. , ed.
Hip. , vol. 10, p. 29, seqq. )
Lkptis, the name of two cities in Africa, distin-
guished by the epithets of JiiydXv (Magna) and
HiKj'i (Parva or Minor). --I. The first was situate
towards the great Syrtis, at the southeast extremity of
the district of Tripolis. Leptis Magna was founded
[>y the Phoenicians, and ranted next to Carthago and
Utica among their maritime cities. Under the Ro-
mans it was signalized, as Sallust informs us, by its
fidelity and obedience. On the occupation of Africa
by the Vandals, its fortifications appear to have been
destroyed; but they were probably restored under
Justinian, when the city became the residence of the
prefect Sergius. It was finally demolished by the
Saracens; after which it appears to have been wholly
abandoned, and its remains, according to Leo Afri-
cami8, were employed in the construction of the mod-
ern Tripoli. The modern name is Lcbida. An ac-
count of the remains of the ancient city will be found
in Bcecky's Travels, p. 74, seqq. , and in the Modern
Traveller, pt. 49, p. 61. Oapt. Becchy describes the
country around Lcbida as beautiful and highly pro-
ductive. (Mela, \,7. --Plin. , 5, 4. --Strab. , 574 )--
II. The latter was in the district of Byzacium or Em-
poria;, about 18 miles below Hadrumetum, on the
coast. It is now Lcmpla. It paid a talent a day to
Ihe Carthaginians as tribute. (Fid. Emporia;. ) The
Phoenicians, according to Sallust, were its founders.
(Lucan, 2, 251. --/'/in. , 5, 19. --Sallust, Jug. , 77. --
Mr la, 1, 8. )
Lerina or PlanasIi, a small island in the Med-
iterranean, on the coast of Gallia Narbonensis, south
of Nicesa. It is now St. Marguerite. Strabo gives
It the nameof Planasia, from its shape. (Tacit,, Ann. ,
1, 8. )
l. ERvi, a small lake in Argolis, near the western
rcoast of the Sinus Argolicus, rendered celebrated by
the fable of the many-headed hydra slain by Hercules,
and connected also with the legend of the Danaides,
who flung into its waters the heads of their murdered
husbands. (Vid. Hercules, Hydra, and Danaides. )
The Lernxan Lake was formed by several sources,
which discharged themselves into its basin. Minerva
is said to have purified the daughters of Danaus by
means of its waters; which circumstance subsequent-
ly gave rise to certain mystic rites called Lernxa, in-
stituted, as Pausanias affirms, by Philammon, son of
Apollo and father of Thamyris, in honour of Ceres.
(Pausan. , 2, 37. --Strab. , 371. -- Cramer's Ancient
Greece, vol. 3, p. 237. )
I. kros, a small island off the coast of Caria, and
forming one of the cluster called Sporades. (Pltn. ,
5, 31. ) It was peopled from Miletus, and very prob-
ably belonged to that cily. Strabo gives its inhabi-
tants a character for dishonesty. (Strab. , 635. )
Lassos, now Mctelin, an island of the jEgean, ly-
ing off the coast of Mysia, at the cnlranco of tho Gulf
of Adramyttium. It was first settled by a body of
Pclasgi, who, under the conduct of Xanthus their king,
having been driven from Argos, passed from Lvcia
into this islaud, then called Issa, and named by them
Pehugia. Seven generations after this, and a short
time subsequent to the deluge of Deucalion, Macareus
? ? passed from Attica, then denominated Ionia, with a
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? LEU
LEU
3u* hays of this island. The mountains of the inte-
nor are covered with mastic, turpentine-trees, pine*
of Aleppo, and the cistns. Rivulets flow under the
shades of the plane-tree. The island contains at pres-
ent about 35,000 inhabitants. (Mannert, Geogr. ,
>>oL 6, pt. 3, p. 433. -- Barthclcmy, Voyage d'Ana-
ktrttt, vol. 2, p. 59, teqq, 12mo ed. -- Encyclop.
Amtric. , vol. 7, p. 516. --Mallc-Brun, vol. 2, p. 85,
MM. )
Lesbos or Lesbos, a son of Lapithus, grandson
af . -Eolus. who married Melhymna, daughter of Ma-
careus. He succeeded his father-in-law, and gave his
name to the island over which he reigned. (Vid.
Lesbos. )
Lesches, a Cyclic bard, a native of Mytilene, or
Pyrrha, in the island of Lesbos, and considerably later
than Arctinus. The best authorities concur in pla-
cing him in the time of Arcbilochus, or about the 18th
Olympiad (B. C. 70&V704).
the foot of Mouit Tmolus. He was attached, by vir-
tue of his office . if Atuxovor, to the court of the Greek
emperors, which is nearly all that we know of his per-
sonal history. He wrote, in ten books, a history of
the emperors Romanus II. the younger, Nicephorus
Phocas, and John Zimisces, that is, of the years in-
cluded between 959 and 975. His object in compo-
sing this work was to give a histoire raisonnie of the
events which took place under his own eyes. Such an
undertaking, however, was beyond his strength. His
style is neither elegant nor clear, and we are often
startled at the introduction of Latin words in a Greek
garb. His work abounds with specimens of false elo-
quence and bad taste: occasionally, however, we meet
with agreeable and pleasing details. The best edi-
tion at present is that of Hase, Paris, 1819, folio.
The work will form a part, however, of the new edi-
tion of Byzantine writers now in a course of publica-
tion. --IV. Magentcnus or Magentinus, a metropolitan
of Mytilenc, flourished about 1340 A. D. He wrote
commentaries on the works of Aristotle "On Inter-
pretation," and the " first Analytics. " The first of
these commentaries is given in the Aldine collection
of the Peripatetic writers, 1503; the second at the
end of the Venice edition (1536) of John Philoponus.
--V. The First, surnamed the Great, an emperor of
the East, born in Thrace of an obscure family, and who
awed his advancement through the various gradations
of the Roman army to the powerful favour of Aspar,
a Gothic chief who commanded the auxiliaries, and
his son Ardaburius. Leo was in cor. is&nd of . : body
ef trojps encamped at Selymbrie, whan his ambi-
tious protectors made him ascend the throne left va-
cant by the death of the virtuous Mercian. The
senate confirmed this choice; and Leo was acknowl-
edged as emperor at the head of the forces, Feb.
7, A. D. 457, and crowned by Anatolius, patriarch
of Constantinople. It is believed to have been the
first example given of this sacred sanction in the ele-
vation of a monarch to the throne. Aspar soon per-
ceived that Leo would not long support the yoke im-
posed upon him. A quarrel arose between them rel-
ative to the party of the Eutychians who had massa-
cred their bishop and appointed another in his stead.
Aspar espoused the cause of the latter, but Leo drove
'iim from his see, and nominated an orthodox prelate
to the vacant place. Leo had already before this ob-
tained some signal successes over the barbarians, and
had restored peace to the empire of the East. He
wished also to put an end to the troubles of the West-
ern Empire, torn by the ambition and fury of Ricimer,
desolated by Genseric, and governed by mere phan-
toms of emperors. Genseric braved the menaces of
Leo. The latter, whose armies had just repelled the
Huns, and slain one of the sons of Attila, united all
his forces, and aent them into Africa against the Van-
dal prince; but the inexperience, or, according to
Procopius, the tr-achery of Basiliscus saved Genseric,
>>nd tho Roman army returned ingloriously home.
? ? Aspar and his so;: were suspected of having contribu-
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? LEO.
LEO
with scarcely any resistance. Leo was . rowned
emperor March 25, A. D. 717. The Saracens, whom
be had amused by false pretences, now advanced to
'. he capital, and besieged it by sea and land. In this
extremity Leo redoubled his exertions and courage,
and, after long and obstinate conflicts, he succeeded in
repelling his dangerous assailants. In 719, an attempt
or the part of Anastasius to regain the throne failed
tlrough the activity of Leo, and the unsuccessful aspi-
rant lost his head. He sustained also, with varied
success, the repeated attacks of the Saracens in Sicily,
Italy, and Sardinia. So many services rendered to
the empire would have placed Leo in the rank of
great monarchs, had not his fondness for theological
quarrels, too common in those ages of ignorance, in-
volved him in long and dangerous collisions. He es-
poused the cause of the Iconoclasts, and his severity
drove many of the inhabitants into open rebellion.
After a stormy conflict, marked by the most cruel per-
secutions, Leo died, A. D. 741, leaving the throne to
bis son Constantine Copronymus. (Biogr. Univ. ,
vol. 24, p. 136, tegq. )--VIII. The fourth, an emperor
of the east, the son of Constantine Copronymus. He
ascended the throne A. D. 775, and died A. D. 780,
after an unimportant reign. --IX. The fifth, surnamed
the Armenian, an emperor of the East, who rose from
an obscure station to the throne. He succeeded the
emperor Michael Rhanga. be, whom the soldiers re-
jected in a mutiny secretly fomented by the ambi-
tious Leo. His reign continued for seven years and
t half, and was remarkable for the rigid military disci-
pline introduced by him into the civil government.
He was an Iconoclast, but his religious inconstancy
obtained for him, in fact, the name of Chameleon. He
was slain by a baud of conspirators at the very foot
? f the altar, during the morning celebration of the
festival of Christmas. {Gibbon, Decline and Fall, c.
18. )--X. The sixth, surnamed the Philosopher, an
emperor of the East. He was the son of Eudoxia,
wife of Basil I. The irregularities of his mother hare
left some doubt relative to his legitimacy; he was ac-
knowledged, however, by Basil, as his son and suc-
cessor. Already at the age of 19 years, the young
prince had made himself beloved by all the empire.
Santabaren, however, the favourite of Basil, an artful
and dangerous man, irritated at the contempt and ha-
tred which Leo testified for him, sought every means
to destroy him, and at last succeeded in having him
cast into prison on suspicion of plotting against his
father's life. A cruel punishment at first threatened
him; but the parent relented, and his son, being al-
lowed to justify his conduct, was restored to all his
former honours. A little while after, the death of
Basil left Leo master of the Eastern empire. He as-
cended the throne with his brother Alexander in 88G;
but the latter, given up to his pleasures, abandoned to
Leo the whole care of the government. Perhaps the
effeminacy and licentiousness of Alexander obtained
for Leo, by the mere force of flattering comparison,
the title of Philosopher, which his life in no degree
lustified. Scarcely had he ascended the throne when
he deposed Photius, the celebrated patriarch, who was
secretly connected with Santabaren in the plot for his
destruction. Santabaren mmself underwent a cruel
ounishment, and was then driven into exile. Leo
-eigned weakly, and the ill success of his generals
igamst the Bulgarians obliged him to submit to such
? ? terms of peace as those barbarians pleased to pro-
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? t. rco
LEP
frustrated l. r nis being slain in baltle. (Plut. , Vit.
AUx. --Id. , Vit. Phoc. --Id. , Vit. Eum. )
Lronidas, I. a celebrated king of Laccdtemon, of
the family of the Eurysthenid. e, sent by his countrymen
to maintain the pass of Thermopylae against the inva-
ding army of Xerxes, B. C. 430. A full narrative of
the whole affair, together with an examination of the
ancient statements on this subject, will be found under
the article Thermopylae. --II. Son of Cleonymus, of the
line of the Agida, succeeded Areus II. on the throne
>>f Sparta, B. C. 257. Agis, his colleague in the
sovereignty, having resolved to restore the institutions
o; Lycurgus to their former vigour, Leonidas opposed
his views, and became the main support of those who
were inclined to a relaxation of ancient strictness.
He was convicted, however, of having transgressed
the lawB, and was obliged to yield the supreme power
to Cleombrotus, his son-in-law. Not long after he
w<<s re-established on the Spartan throne, and avenged
the affront which he had received at the hands of Agis,
by impeaching him and effecting his condemnation.
(Pausan. , 2, 9. --Id. , 3, 6. )--III. A native of Alexan-
dres, who flourished at Rome as a grammarian to-
wards the close of the first century of the Christian
era. He wrote, among other things, epigrams denom-
inated ioCiftrjQa, arranged in such a manner, that the
uumeririi value of all the letters composing any one
disti-h is equal to that of the letters of any other. He
was very probably the inventor of this learned species of
Infling. (Scholl, Hist. Lit. , vol. 4, p. 60. --Compare
Jacobs, fatal. Poet. Epigramm. , s. t>. )--IV. A na-
"ive of Tarentum, who flourished about 275 B. C. He
tas left behind a hundred epigrams in the Doric dialect,
tnd which belong to the best of those that have been
|rcserved for us. (Jacobs, Catal. Poet. Epigramm. ,
Leontini, a town of Sicily, situate about five mites
torn the seashore, on the south of Catana, between two
email streams, the Lissus and Terias. Tlio place is
jometimes called by modern writers Leontium; this,
lowcver, is not only a deviation from Thucydidcs, who
always uses the form Acovrtvoi, but, in fact, is employ-
id by no ancient author except Ptolemy; and Clave-
rius there suspeots the reading to be a corruption for
\covrivov. (Bloomfield, ad Thucyd. , 6, 3. ) It was
founded by a colony of Chalcideans from Eubcea, who
had come to the island but six years before, and had
(hen settled Naxos, near Mount Taurus, where Tauro-
inenium was afterward founded. That they should have
settled Leontini only six years after their own coloniza-
tion may indeed aeem strange; but it may be accounted
for from the superior fertility of the plain of Leontini,
which has ever been accounted the richest tract in Si-
cily; for the very same reason they soon afterward
settled Catana. (Thucyd. , I. c. -- Bloomf. , ad loc. )
The Siculi were in possession of the territory where
Leontini was founded prior to the arrival of the col-
ony, and were driven out by force of arms. Leontini
for a time continued flourishing and powerful, but
eventually sank under the superior power and prosper-
ity of Syracuse. Its quarrel with this last-mentioned
city led to the unfortunate expedition of the Athenians,
whose aid Leontini has) solicited. The city ultimate-
ly fell under the Syracusan power. The celebrated
Gorgias was a native of this place. (Manner! , Geogr. ,
vol. 9, pt. 2, p. 301, scqq. )
Leontium, an Athenian female, originally an hetarist,
although aftcrv. -i. rd, as Gassendi maintains, the wife
? ? of Metrod&rcs, the most eminent friend and disciple
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? LEP
L EP
let of Autonim the y lunger, t>y Lucius Domitius . Eno-
barbus. She was the wife of Valerius Messala, and
mother of Messalina, and is described as having been
a woman of debauched and profligate manners, and of
a violent end impetuous spirit. In point of beauty
u<d vice, she was the rival of Agrippitia, Nero's moth-
B. She was condemned to death through the influ-
ence of the same Agrippina. (Tacit. , Ann. , 11, 37.
--Id, Ann. , 12, 64. --Sutton. , Vil. Claud. , 26 -- Id. ,
Fit. Ner. , 7. )
Lepidi, the name of one of the most distinguished
families of the patrician gens, or houso, of the ^Emilii.
The individuals most worthy of notice in this family
are the following: I. M. -Emii. ius Lepidus, was sent
as an ambassador to Ptolemy, king of . Egypt, at the
close of the second Punic war, B. C. 201. (Polyb. ,
16,34. --Ln>. ,31,2. --Compare Tacittu,Ann. , 2, 67. )
He obtained the consulship B. C. 187 (Lit). , 39, 5.
-Polyb. , 23, 1), and again in B. C. 175. In B. C.
179 he was elected Pontifex Msximus and Censor.
(La. , 40, 42. --Aul. Gell. , 12,8. ) He was also Prin-
ceps Senatus aix times. (Liv. , Eptt. , 48. ) He died
B. C. 150. --II. M. jEhilius Lepidus, was praetor
B. C. 81; after which he obtained the province of
Sicily. (Cie. in Verr. , 3, 91. ) In his consulship,
B. C. 78, he endeavoured to rescind the measures of
Sylla, but was driven out of Italy by his colleague
Quintus Catulus and by Pompey, and retired to Sar-
dinia, where he died the following year, while making
preparations for a renewal of the war. (Appian, Bell.
Civ. , 1. 105. --Liu. , . Eptr. , 90. -- Plut. , Vil. Pomp. ,
16. }--III. M. -Emilius Lepidus, the triumvir, eon
of the preceding, was sedilc B. C. 52, and pnetorB. C.
49, in which year Cesar came to an open rupture
with the senatorian party. Lepidus, from his first
entrance into public life, opposed the party of the
senate; and though he dues not appear to havo pos-
sessed any of the talent and energy of character by
which Antony was distinguished, yet his great riches
and extensive family connexions made him an im-
portant accession to the popular causo. On the first
expedition of Ca;sar into Spain, Lepidus was left in
charge of the city, though the military command of
Italy was intrusted to Antony. During Caesar's ab-
sence, Lepidus proposed the law by which the former
was created dictator. In the following year, B. C.
48, he obtained the province of Hispania Citerior, with
the title of proconsul; and in B. C. 46 was made
consul along with Caesar, and at the same time his
mister of the horse, an appointment which again gave
him the chief power in Home during the absence of
the dictator in the African war. In B. C. 44 he was
again made master of the horse, and appointed to the
provinces of Gallia Narbonensis and Hispania Citerior;
but he did not immediately leave Rome, and wax prob-
ably in the senate house when Caesar was assassinated.
After the death of Caesar, Lepidus was courted by
both parties; and the senate, on the motion of Cice-
ro, decreed that an equestrian statue should be erect-
ed to him, in any part of the city he might fix upon.
Lepidus promised to assist the senate; but, at the
same time, carried on a secret negotiation with Antony.
On his arrival in his province, being ordered by the
senate to join Decimus Brutus, he at length found
it necessary to throw off the mask; and, instead of
Obeying their commands, united his forces with those
of Antony. In the autumn of this year, B. C. 43,
? ? the celebrated triumvirate was established between
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? i, E a
LESBOS
East 10 arrange the affairs of Syria. Hj was sent to
Home, to be delivered up along with Isocrates, who
was also a party to the murder, but tho senate refused
to receive him. (Died. Sic. ,fragm. , lib. 31. --Op. , ed.
Hip. , vol. 10, p. 29, seqq. )
Lkptis, the name of two cities in Africa, distin-
guished by the epithets of JiiydXv (Magna) and
HiKj'i (Parva or Minor). --I. The first was situate
towards the great Syrtis, at the southeast extremity of
the district of Tripolis. Leptis Magna was founded
[>y the Phoenicians, and ranted next to Carthago and
Utica among their maritime cities. Under the Ro-
mans it was signalized, as Sallust informs us, by its
fidelity and obedience. On the occupation of Africa
by the Vandals, its fortifications appear to have been
destroyed; but they were probably restored under
Justinian, when the city became the residence of the
prefect Sergius. It was finally demolished by the
Saracens; after which it appears to have been wholly
abandoned, and its remains, according to Leo Afri-
cami8, were employed in the construction of the mod-
ern Tripoli. The modern name is Lcbida. An ac-
count of the remains of the ancient city will be found
in Bcecky's Travels, p. 74, seqq. , and in the Modern
Traveller, pt. 49, p. 61. Oapt. Becchy describes the
country around Lcbida as beautiful and highly pro-
ductive. (Mela, \,7. --Plin. , 5, 4. --Strab. , 574 )--
II. The latter was in the district of Byzacium or Em-
poria;, about 18 miles below Hadrumetum, on the
coast. It is now Lcmpla. It paid a talent a day to
Ihe Carthaginians as tribute. (Fid. Emporia;. ) The
Phoenicians, according to Sallust, were its founders.
(Lucan, 2, 251. --/'/in. , 5, 19. --Sallust, Jug. , 77. --
Mr la, 1, 8. )
Lerina or PlanasIi, a small island in the Med-
iterranean, on the coast of Gallia Narbonensis, south
of Nicesa. It is now St. Marguerite. Strabo gives
It the nameof Planasia, from its shape. (Tacit,, Ann. ,
1, 8. )
l. ERvi, a small lake in Argolis, near the western
rcoast of the Sinus Argolicus, rendered celebrated by
the fable of the many-headed hydra slain by Hercules,
and connected also with the legend of the Danaides,
who flung into its waters the heads of their murdered
husbands. (Vid. Hercules, Hydra, and Danaides. )
The Lernxan Lake was formed by several sources,
which discharged themselves into its basin. Minerva
is said to have purified the daughters of Danaus by
means of its waters; which circumstance subsequent-
ly gave rise to certain mystic rites called Lernxa, in-
stituted, as Pausanias affirms, by Philammon, son of
Apollo and father of Thamyris, in honour of Ceres.
(Pausan. , 2, 37. --Strab. , 371. -- Cramer's Ancient
Greece, vol. 3, p. 237. )
I. kros, a small island off the coast of Caria, and
forming one of the cluster called Sporades. (Pltn. ,
5, 31. ) It was peopled from Miletus, and very prob-
ably belonged to that cily. Strabo gives its inhabi-
tants a character for dishonesty. (Strab. , 635. )
Lassos, now Mctelin, an island of the jEgean, ly-
ing off the coast of Mysia, at the cnlranco of tho Gulf
of Adramyttium. It was first settled by a body of
Pclasgi, who, under the conduct of Xanthus their king,
having been driven from Argos, passed from Lvcia
into this islaud, then called Issa, and named by them
Pehugia. Seven generations after this, and a short
time subsequent to the deluge of Deucalion, Macareus
? ? passed from Attica, then denominated Ionia, with a
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? LEU
LEU
3u* hays of this island. The mountains of the inte-
nor are covered with mastic, turpentine-trees, pine*
of Aleppo, and the cistns. Rivulets flow under the
shades of the plane-tree. The island contains at pres-
ent about 35,000 inhabitants. (Mannert, Geogr. ,
>>oL 6, pt. 3, p. 433. -- Barthclcmy, Voyage d'Ana-
ktrttt, vol. 2, p. 59, teqq, 12mo ed. -- Encyclop.
Amtric. , vol. 7, p. 516. --Mallc-Brun, vol. 2, p. 85,
MM. )
Lesbos or Lesbos, a son of Lapithus, grandson
af . -Eolus. who married Melhymna, daughter of Ma-
careus. He succeeded his father-in-law, and gave his
name to the island over which he reigned. (Vid.
Lesbos. )
Lesches, a Cyclic bard, a native of Mytilene, or
Pyrrha, in the island of Lesbos, and considerably later
than Arctinus. The best authorities concur in pla-
cing him in the time of Arcbilochus, or about the 18th
Olympiad (B. C. 70&V704).
