Without wishing to throw tho blame of some of these
faults on the manuscript itself, which is in so deplora-
ble a sUte that many passages remain incapable of be-
ing deciphered, notwithstanding all tho efforts of the
commentators, may we not suppose that these pretend-
ed solecisms have been purposely put by the author in
the mouths of individuals of the lower class, and that
the unusual words employed by him only appear such
to us, because we are unacquainted with the language of
?
faults on the manuscript itself, which is in so deplora-
ble a sUte that many passages remain incapable of be-
ing deciphered, notwithstanding all tho efforts of the
commentators, may we not suppose that these pretend-
ed solecisms have been purposely put by the author in
the mouths of individuals of the lower class, and that
the unusual words employed by him only appear such
to us, because we are unacquainted with the language of
?
Charles - 1867 - Classical Dictionary
PER
PES
! y, and his father's patronus, he was promoted to a
comma' id. He was sent to Syria at the head of n co-
hort, ai d served with distinction against the Parthians,
nnder L Verus, the colleague of Marcus Aurelius.
lie was afterward sent to Britain, where he remained
for sumo time. He subsequently served in Mcesia,
fJcrruany, and Dacia, but, upon some suspicion of his
tdclity, he was recalled by Marcus Aurelius. Having
rleared himself, he was made praetor, and commander
of the first legion, and obtained the rank of senator.
Being sent to Rhaetia and Noricum, he drove away the
hoatile German tribes. His next promotion was to the
consulate, and he publicly received the praise of Mar-
cus Aurelius, in the senate and in the camp, for his
distinguished services. In Syria he assisted in re-
pressing the revolt of Avitus Cassius. He was next
removed to the command of the legions on the Dan-
ube, arid was made governor of Mcesia and Dacia, and
afterward returned to Syria as governor, where he re-
mained until the death of Marcus. Capitolinus says,
that his conduct was irreprehensible till the time of his
? Syrian government, when he enriched himself, and his
sonduct became the subject of popular censure. On
his return to Home, be was banished by Perennis, the
favourite of Commodus, to his native country, Ligu-
ria. Here he adorned Villa Martis with sumptuous
buildings, in the midst of which, however, he left his
humble, paternal cottage untouched. He remained
throe years in Liguria. After the death of Perennis,
Commodus commissioned him to proceed to Britain,
where the licentiousness of the troops had degenerated
into mutiny. On his arrival, the soldiers wished to sa-
lute him as emperor, and were with difficulty prevent-
ed by Pcrtinax, who seems to have found the disci-
pline of the legions in a most deplorable state. One of
the legions revolted against him; and, in trying to re-
press the revolt, he was wounded and left among the
dead. On his recovery he punished the mutineers,
and solicited the emperor for his recall, as his attempts
it restoring discipline had rendered him obnoxious to
the army. He was then sent as proconsul to Africa,
and was afterward made prefect of Home, in which of-
fice he showed much moderation and humanity. Af-
ter the murder of Commodus, (wo of the conspirators,
Lntus and Electus, went to Pertinax and offered him
the empire, which the latter at first refused, but after-
ward accepted, and was proclaimed emperor by the
senate on the night previous to the first of January,
A. D. 193. In the speech which Pertinax delivered
on the occasion, he said something complimentary to
Lastus, to whom he owed the empire, on which Q.
Sosius Falco, one of the consuls, observed, tl. " it was
easy to foresee what kind of an emperor he vould
make, if he allowed the ministers of the atrocit -s of
Commodus to retain their places. Pertinax mildly re-
plied, " You are but a young consul, and do not yet
know the necessity of forgiving. These men have
obeyed the orders of their master Commodus, but they
did it reluctantly, as they have shown whenever they
had an opportunity. " He then repaired to the impe-
rial palace, where he gave a banquet to the magistrates
and principal senators, according to ancient custom.
The historian Dio Cassius was one of the guests.
Pertinax recalled those who had been exiled for trea-
son under Commodus, arid cleared from obloquy the
saencry of those who bad been unjustly put to death.
But his attempts to restore discipline in the army alien-
? ? ited the affections of the soldiers, who had been ac-
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? PET
PET
6*j: , s r. 'A,)<<9ufn. ) Herodiau and Ainmianus give
various derivations of the name of Pessinus, which are
not worth repeating. {Herod. , 1, 11. --Ammian. Mar-
cell. , 22. 22. --Compare Steph. Byz. , s. v. Ueontvovc. )
It would seem that the inhabitants of Pessinus, after
parting with the image of their goddess to the Ro-
mans, had still another one in store, for we learn from
Livy, that the worship of Cybele was still observi i in
tins city after its occupation by the Gauls, since the
priests of the goddess are said to have sent a deputa-
tion to the army of Manlius, when on the banks of the
Sangaxius. {Livy, 38, 18. ) Polybius mentions the
names of the individuals who then presided over the
worship and temple of Cybele. {Polyb. , fragm. , 20,
4. ) In the fourth century, also, the Emperor Julian
turned away from his line of march against the Per-
sians, for the purpose of visiting the shrine. {Amm.
Marccll. , 22, 9. )--Pessinus was the chief city of the
Tolistoboii, who settled in this part of the country,
and, according to Strabo's account, was a place of
considerable trade. It sank in importance under the
Romans; and although Constantino the Great, in his
new arrangement of the provinces, made Pessinus the
capital of Western Galatia {Galatia Sal u tans. --Hicr-
oclcs, p. 697), yet the city gradually disappeared from
notice after the commencement of the sixth century. --
Great uncertainty exists with regard to the site of this
place, since its ruins have not been explored by any
modern traveller. From the Antonine Itinerary we
know that it was ninety-three miles from Ancyra, with
which it communicated through Germa, Vindia, and
Papiria. Germa, the first of these stations, is known
to answer to Ycrma, on the modern road leading from
Eskr clur to Ancyra: the Itinerary would lead us to
place t sixteen miles from that site, towards the San-
garius The Table Itinerary, on the other hand, gives
a rouu from DoryUeum to Pessinus, by Midasum and
Tricon^ i, and allows seventy-seven miles for the whole
distance. But the road from Dorylaaum to Ancyra
did not pass by Pessinus, but by Archelaiutn and Gcr-
xoa, as appears from another route in the Antoninc
Itinerary (p. 202), so that it is evident that Pessinus
could not have been situated where Colonel Leake
would place it, beyond Juliopolis, or Gordium, on the
right bank of the Sangarius, and near its junction with
the Hierus, as it would then have been exactly on the
road to Ancyra, and such a route as that by Germa
would never have been given in the Antonine Itine-
rary. We ought therefore, perhaps, to look for the
ruins of Pessinus not far from the left bank of the
Sangarius, somewhere in the great angle it makes be-
tween its junction with the Ycrma and the Pursek.
In Lapic's map. the ruins of Pessinus are laid down in
the direction which we have just mentioned, on a site
called Kahi, but the authority for this is not given.
{Cramer'i Asia Minor, vol. 2, p. 86, seqq. --Leake's
Tour, p. 88, seqq. )--The temple of Cybele at Pessi-
nus, as also its porticoes, were of white marble, and
? urrounded by a beautiful grove. The city was in-
debted for these decorations to the kings of Perga-
mus. The priests of the goddess were at one time
high in rank and dignity, and possessed of great privi-
leges and emoluments. {Strab. , 567. )
Pbtilu, I. a town of Italy, in the territory of the
Bruttii, or. the coast of the Tarentine Gulf, and to the
north of Crotona. It was fabled to have been sett Ted
by Philoctctes after the Trojan war. {Virg. , Mn. ,
? ? 8, 401. ) In the opinion of the most judicious and
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? PET
PET
Hua'nai,, l't ja not only belonged to t,e >>lonaj . -way,
but had also adopted the name of its ci. qiuror. yiiis
Cats. , 68, 14 1 The Syrians (and tht, Church fathers)
;all this place Rhckem ('Pctci/i) which also denotes
"a rock ;" and Arhckeme ('Apeite/in. --Joscphus, Ant.
luil. , 4, 7). Josephus states that Aaron died in its
neighbourhood; he calls it in this passage Arke ('ApKv)
by contraction. (Ant. Jud. , 4, 4. ) St. Jerome makes
it the same with the Sela of Scripture (2 Kings, 14,
7). Traces of the Syrian name remained at a late
period, and we find the place mentioned by Abulfeda
under the appellation of Ar Hakim, with the remark
that there were dwellings here cut out of the rock.
D'AnvilIc names it incorrectly Kara! :. Petra seems
not to have continued a place of trade for any very long
lime; at least Ammianus Marcellinus is silent re-
specting it, though he enumerates very carefully the
important places in this region. Petra lay, according
to Diodorus (19, 108), at the distance of 300 stadia
from the Dead Sea; and, according to Slrabo (779),
three or four days' journey, or from twelve to sixteen
geographical miles in a southern direction from Jeri-
cno. --The remains of the ancient city were for a long
time undiscovered by modern travellers. Burckhardt
and Bane, at last, discovered them at Viady Moussa,
in 1812, but could not give them a close examination
through fear of the Arabs. In 1828, two French
travellers, De la Borde and Linant, visited the spot,
and gave a description of the ruins; but the best and
fullest account is that afforded by the pages of Mr.
Stephens, who was at Petra in 1836. {Incidents of
Travel, vol. 2, p. 50, seqq. --Mannert, Geogr. , vol.
6, pt. 1, p. 137, 2d cd. )--\l. A fortress of Macedo-
nia, among the mountains beyond Libethra, the pos-
session of which was disputed by the Perrhxbi of
Thessaly and the kings of Macedonia. (Liv. , 39, 26.
--Id. , 44, 32. ) It commanded a p>>ss which led to
Pythium in Thessaly by the back of Olympus. --III.
A fortress on Mount Hremus. (Liv. , 40, 22. )--IV.
A Corinthian borough or village, of which Ection, the
father of Cypselus, was a native. {Herod. , 5, 91. )--
V. A rock-fortress in Sogdiana, taken by Alexander.
(Quint. Curt. , 7, 11. ) It was also called Oxi Petra,
probably from its being near the river Oxus.
Pktk. -b\, one of the divisions of Arabia, so called,
not, as is commonly supposed, from its stony or rocky
character (nerpa, " a rock," " a stone"), but from its
celebrated emporium Petra. ( Vul. Petra, I. ) It was
bounded on the east by Arabia Dcserta, on the west
by Egypt and the Mediterranean, on'the south by the
Red Sea, which here divides and runs north in two
branches, and on the north by Palestine. This coun-
try contained the southern Edomites, the Amalckites,
the Cushites, who are improperly called the Ethiopi-
ans, the Hivites, &c. Their descendants are at pres-
ent known by the general name of Arabians; but it ia
of consequence to notice the ancient inhabitants as they
are mentioned in the text of Scripture. (Vid. Arabia. )
Petreius, Marcus, a Roman commander. He was
lieutenant to the consul C. Antonius, and was intrust-
ed by the latter, who feigned indisposition, with the
command of the Roman forces against the army cf
Catiline, whom he totally defeated. (Sail. , Bell. Cat. ,
c. 59, sea. ) Faithful to the cause of the republic, he
became one of Pompey'a lieutenants in Spain during
the civil contest, and endeavoured, in conjunction with
Afranius, to oppose the progress of Cesar in that coun-
? ? try. They were both, however, compelled to surren-
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? PETRONIUS.
PETRONIUS.
ry to Icate a world which he loved. He opened hia
rams and closed them again, at intervals losing a small
quantity of blood, then binding up the orifice, as his
own inclinations prompted. He conversed during the
whole time with his usual gayety, never changing his
habitual manner, nor talking sentences to show his
contempt of death He listened to his friends, who
endeavoured to entertain him, not with grave discour-
ses on tho immortality of the soul or the moral wisdom
of philosophers, but with strains of poetry, and verses
of a gay and natural turn. He distributed presents to
some of his servants, and ordered others to be chastised.
He walked out for his amusement, and even lay down
to sleep. In his last scene of life he acted with such
calm tranquillity, that his death, though an act of ne-
cessity, seemed no more than the decline of nature.
In his will, he scorned to follow tho example of others,
who, like himself, died under the tyrant's stroke: he
neither 8attered the emperor, nor Tigellinus, not any
of the creatures of the court; but having written, under
the fictitious names of profligate men and women, a nar-
rative of Nero's debauchery, and his new modes of vice,
he had the spirit to send to the emperor the tablets,
sealed with his own seal, which he took care to break,
that, after his death, it might not be used for the destruc-
tion of any person whatever. " (Tacitus, Ann. , 16,18,
eeqq. )--Some critics have thought that the Petronius
'. o whom this passage refers is not the same with the
author of the work that has come down to us, entitled
Satyricon. Their chief argument is, that the work
which, according to Tacitus, Petronius, when dying,
caused to be sent to Nero, was written on portable
tablets (codicilli), a circumstance that militates against
the idea of its being a production of any length. It is
urged, moreover, that the accomplices in the tyrant's
debaucheries and crimes were named in the work,
whereas the actors in the Satyricon bear fictitious
names. It is evident, indeed, that the Satyricon ia
not tho piece of which Tacit ? -nakes mention, and
that Nero caused the latter mi be destroyed; but it
would seem that the critics who advocate this opinion
go toe far when they deny also the identity of the wri-
ters. What is there to prevent our supposing that
Filroniiss, having now no measure to keep with the
world, amused himself with tracing on his testament-
ary tablets the scandalous lives of the individuals,
whose general manners he was content with depict-
ing in his larger work 1 Those critics, on the other
hand, who do not sec in the author of tho Satyricon
the friend and intimate companion of Nero, arc divided
in opinion as to the period when be lived. Some car-
ry him up as high as the era of Augustus, while others
place him under the Antonines, or even in the fourth
century. Both parties ground their respective argu-
ments on his style. The former discover in it the
purity of the golden age, while the latter find it mark-
ed with many low and trivial expressions, and with
many solecisms that indicate the decline of the language.
Without wishing to throw tho blame of some of these
faults on the manuscript itself, which is in so deplora-
ble a sUte that many passages remain incapable of be-
ing deciphered, notwithstanding all tho efforts of the
commentators, may we not suppose that these pretend-
ed solecisms have been purposely put by the author in
the mouths of individuals of the lower class, and that
the unusual words employed by him only appear such
to us, because we are unacquainted with the language of
? ? debauchery and intoxication among the Romans 1 --
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? PHi:
P HJE
or Pet onius, found, according to him, in the library
at St. Gall. (Repertoire de Litter. Arte. , vol. 1, p.
239. )--A poem in 295 verses, on the fall of the Ro-
man republic, forms a fine episode to the Satyricon of
Petronius. The Satyricon itself, it may be remarked,
in concluding, is admirable for the truth with which
the author delineates the characters of his personages.
It contains many pleasing pictures, full of irony; and
it is characterized by great spirit and gayety of man-
ner; but it is to be regretted that the author has cm-
ployed his abilities on a subject so truly immoral and
disgusting. The style is rich, picturesque, and ener-
gelic; but often obscure and difficult, cither from the
unusual words which we meet with in it, or by reason
of the corrupt state of the text. The best edition is
that of Burman, 4to, Ultra. ). , 1709; to which may be
added that of Reinesius, 1731, Svo, and that of C. G.
Anton, Lips. , 1781, 8vo. (Scholl, Hist. Lit. Rom. ,
vol. 2, p. 416, seqq. --B'ahr, Gcseh. Rom. Lit. , vol. 1,
p. 577, scqq. )
PgucK, a name applied to the land insulated by the
two principal arms of the Danube at its mouth. The
ancient appellation still partly remains in that of Pic-
ana. It was called Peuce from rrevKri, a pine-tree,
with which species of tree it abounded. From this
island the Peucini, who dwelt in and adjacent to it, de-
rived their name. We find them reappearing in the
Lower Empire, under the names of Piezinigcs and
Patzinaeiles. (Lucan, 3, 202-- Plin. , 4, 12 )
Peuce riv, a region of Apulia, on the coast, below
Daunia. The Peucetii, according to Dionysius of
Halicarnassus, derived their name from Peucetius, son
of Lycaon, king of Arcadia, who, with his brother CEno-
trus, migrated to Italy seventeen generations before
the siege of Troy. But modern critics have felt little
disposed to give credit to a story, the improbability of
which is so very apparent, whether we look to the
country whence these pretended settlers are said to
have come, or the state of navigation at so remote a
period. (Vreret, Mem. de VAcad. , dec. , vol. 18, p.
8J. ) Had the Peucetii and the CEnotri really been of
Grecian origin, Dionysius might have adduced better
evidence of the fact than the genealogies of the Arca-
dian chiefs, cited from Pherecydes. The most re-
spectable authority he could have brought forward on
this point would unquestionably have been that of An-
tiochus the Syracusan; but this historian is only quo-
ted by him in proof of the antiquity of the CEnotri, not
of their Grecian descent. (Dion. Hal. , 1, 2. --Strabo,
283. --Plin. , 3, 11. ) The Peucetii are always spoken
of in history, even by the Greeks themselves, as bar-
barians, who differed in no essential respect from
the Daunii, Iapygcs, and other neighbouring nations.
fCramer's Anc. Italy, vol. 2, p. 296. )
Pbuciki. Viil. Peuce.
Phacusa, a town of Egypt, on the Pelusiac arm of
the Nile. The ruins are found near the modern Tell
Phakus (hill of Phacusa). (Steph. Byz. , s. v. )
Phacussa, one of the Sporaces, now Gaiphonisi.
(Plin. , 4, 12. --Steph. Byz. , s. t>. ioKovoaa. )
Ph. *acTa, the Homeric name for the island of Cor-
eyra. (Vid. Corcyra. ) When visited by Ulysses, Al-
cinoiis was its king, and his gardens are beautifully
described by the poet. The Phaeacians are represent-
ed as an easy-tempered and luxurious race, but remark-
able for their skill in navigation. They were fabled
to have derived their name from Phajax, a son of Nep-
? ? tune. (Horn , Od. , 6, 1, scqq. --Id. ib. , 7, I, scqq. --
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? PILEDRUS.
PH. EDKUS
since liia retirement to the island of Capreae, was be-
come an object of general contempt, that Phaedrus
meant him, in the second fable of the first book, by
the log given to the frogs as their king. Bu', if Phae-
drus has indeed represented Tiberius under the alle-
gory of a log, the hydra, which takes its place, will in-
dicate the successor of the monarch, unless we sup-
pose Sejanus to be intended by the reptile: this inter-
pretation, however, appears extremely forced. Titze
thinks that Phxdrus may have been at first a favourite
? f Sejanus, and afterward involved in his disgrace;
and that Eutychus, in the reign of Caligula, had given
him hopes of a restoration to imperial patronage. This
theory, however, is contradicted by the prologue to the
third book of the fables (v. 41. --Titze, Inlroduct. in
Phadr. --Id. , it Phadri vita, scriplis, et vsu). --
Phssdrus composed five books of fables, containing, in
all, ninety fables, written in Iambic verse. He has the
merit of having first made the Romans acquainted with
the fables of /Esop; not that all his own fables are
merely translations of those of the latter, but because
the two thirds of them that appear original, or, at least,
with the originals of which we are unacquainted, are
written in the manner of . Esop. Phaedrus deserves
'. he praise of invention for the way in which he has ar-
ranged them; and he is quite as original a poet as
Fontaine, who, like him, has taken from other sources
besides the fables of vEsop the materials for a large
portion of hia own. He is distinguished for a precis-
ion, a gracefulness, and a naivete of style and manner
that have never been surpassed. The air of simplicity
which characterizes bis pieces is the surest guarantee
of their authenticity, which some critics have contest-
ed. His diction is at the same time remarkable for
its elegance, though this occasionally is pushed rather
too far into the regions of refinement. The manu-
scripts of Phsdrus are extremely rare. The one from
which Pithou (Pithceus) published, in 1596, the eduio
princeps of the fables, passed eventually, by marriage,
into the hands of the Lepelletier family; and is now
in the library of M. Lepelletier de Rosanbo {De Xi-
vrey, ad. Phadr. , p. 23, scqq. --Id. ib. , p. 40, nqq. ).
A second manuscript, which Rigalt used in his edition
of 1617, was destroyed by AYe at Rheims in 1774;
but we have remaining of this a very accurate colla-
tion. A third one, or, rather, the remains of one, is
now in the Vatican library, and is said to contain from
the first to the twenty-first fable of the first book.
'Noiit. Literar. de Codd. MSS. , Phadri, No. 3, de
Cod. Danielis. ) Thia rarity of manuscripts is one
cause of the doubts that have been entertained by some
respecting the authenticity of the fables ascribed to
him, and even the very existence of the poet. Some
other circumstances lend weight to these doubts: the
silence, namely, of the ancient writers concerning Phs-
drus, and the positive declaration of Seneca, who re-
marks {Contol. ad Polyb. , c. 27) that the Romans had
never attempted to compose after the manner of the
iEsopic fables. (" Non audco te usque eo produccre, ut
fabcltas quoque et Aisopcos logos, inlentalum Romanis
ingeniis opus, solita tibi venustatc conncclas. ") An-
other argument on this same side of the question is as
follows: Nicolas Perotti, who, about the middle of
the 15th century, was archbishop of Manfredonia, and
one of the patrons of Greek literature in Italy, cites
in his Cornu Copia a fable which he aays he took in
his early days from the fables of Avienus. (" Allusit
? ? ad fabulam, quam nos ex Avieno in fabcllas nostras
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? P HA
PHALARIS.
Vagi. Bad. , 1727, -Ito. and 1745, 8vo; that of Bent-
ley, at the end of his Terence, Cantab. , 1726, 4to,
and Anut. , 1727, 4to; that of Brotier, Paris, 1783,
12mo; that of Schwabe, Brunsv. , 1806, 2 vols. 8vo;
that of Gail, in Lemairc's collection, Paris, 1826, 2
vols. 8vo; and that of Orelli, Turici, 1831, 8vo.
(Schbll, Hist. Lit. Rom. , vol. 2, p. 343, scqq. --Bdhr,
Gesch. Rom. Lit. , vol. 1, p. 308, seqq. )
Phaethon (4>ae0ov), son of Helios and the Ocean-
nymph Clymene. His claims to a celestial origin
being disputed by Epaphus, son of Jupiter, Phaethon
journeyed to the palace of his sire, the sun-god, from
whom he extracted on unwary oath that he would
grant him whatever he asked. The ambitious youth
instantly demanded permission to guide the solar char-
iot for one day, to prove himself thereby the undoubted
progeny of the sun. Helios, aware of the conse-
quences, remonstrated, but to no purpose. The youth
persisted, and the god, bound by his oath, reluctantly
committed the reins to his hands, warning him of the
dangers of the road, and instructing him how to avoid
them. Phaethon grasped the reins, the flame-breath-
ing steeds sprang forward, but, soon aware that they
were not directed by the well-known hand, they ran
out of the course; the world was set on fire, and a
otal conflagration would have ensued, had not Jupiter,
at the prayer of Earth, launched his thunder, and hurled
the terrified driver from his seat. He fell into the river
Eridanus. His sisters, the Heliades, as they lament-
ed his fate, were turned into poplar-trees on its banks,
and their tears, which still continued to flow, became
amber as they dropped into the stream. Cycnus, the
friend of the ill-fated Phaethon, also abandoned him-
self to mourning, and at length was changed into a
? wan (kvkvoc). {Chid, Met, 1, 750, seqq. --Hygin. ,
fab. , 152, 154. --Nonnus, Dionys. , 38, 105, 439. --
Apoll. Rhod,A, 597, seqq. -- Virg, A3n. , 10, 190 --
la. , Kelog. , 6, 62.
PES
! y, and his father's patronus, he was promoted to a
comma' id. He was sent to Syria at the head of n co-
hort, ai d served with distinction against the Parthians,
nnder L Verus, the colleague of Marcus Aurelius.
lie was afterward sent to Britain, where he remained
for sumo time. He subsequently served in Mcesia,
fJcrruany, and Dacia, but, upon some suspicion of his
tdclity, he was recalled by Marcus Aurelius. Having
rleared himself, he was made praetor, and commander
of the first legion, and obtained the rank of senator.
Being sent to Rhaetia and Noricum, he drove away the
hoatile German tribes. His next promotion was to the
consulate, and he publicly received the praise of Mar-
cus Aurelius, in the senate and in the camp, for his
distinguished services. In Syria he assisted in re-
pressing the revolt of Avitus Cassius. He was next
removed to the command of the legions on the Dan-
ube, arid was made governor of Mcesia and Dacia, and
afterward returned to Syria as governor, where he re-
mained until the death of Marcus. Capitolinus says,
that his conduct was irreprehensible till the time of his
? Syrian government, when he enriched himself, and his
sonduct became the subject of popular censure. On
his return to Home, be was banished by Perennis, the
favourite of Commodus, to his native country, Ligu-
ria. Here he adorned Villa Martis with sumptuous
buildings, in the midst of which, however, he left his
humble, paternal cottage untouched. He remained
throe years in Liguria. After the death of Perennis,
Commodus commissioned him to proceed to Britain,
where the licentiousness of the troops had degenerated
into mutiny. On his arrival, the soldiers wished to sa-
lute him as emperor, and were with difficulty prevent-
ed by Pcrtinax, who seems to have found the disci-
pline of the legions in a most deplorable state. One of
the legions revolted against him; and, in trying to re-
press the revolt, he was wounded and left among the
dead. On his recovery he punished the mutineers,
and solicited the emperor for his recall, as his attempts
it restoring discipline had rendered him obnoxious to
the army. He was then sent as proconsul to Africa,
and was afterward made prefect of Home, in which of-
fice he showed much moderation and humanity. Af-
ter the murder of Commodus, (wo of the conspirators,
Lntus and Electus, went to Pertinax and offered him
the empire, which the latter at first refused, but after-
ward accepted, and was proclaimed emperor by the
senate on the night previous to the first of January,
A. D. 193. In the speech which Pertinax delivered
on the occasion, he said something complimentary to
Lastus, to whom he owed the empire, on which Q.
Sosius Falco, one of the consuls, observed, tl. " it was
easy to foresee what kind of an emperor he vould
make, if he allowed the ministers of the atrocit -s of
Commodus to retain their places. Pertinax mildly re-
plied, " You are but a young consul, and do not yet
know the necessity of forgiving. These men have
obeyed the orders of their master Commodus, but they
did it reluctantly, as they have shown whenever they
had an opportunity. " He then repaired to the impe-
rial palace, where he gave a banquet to the magistrates
and principal senators, according to ancient custom.
The historian Dio Cassius was one of the guests.
Pertinax recalled those who had been exiled for trea-
son under Commodus, arid cleared from obloquy the
saencry of those who bad been unjustly put to death.
But his attempts to restore discipline in the army alien-
? ? ited the affections of the soldiers, who had been ac-
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? PET
PET
6*j: , s r. 'A,)<<9ufn. ) Herodiau and Ainmianus give
various derivations of the name of Pessinus, which are
not worth repeating. {Herod. , 1, 11. --Ammian. Mar-
cell. , 22. 22. --Compare Steph. Byz. , s. v. Ueontvovc. )
It would seem that the inhabitants of Pessinus, after
parting with the image of their goddess to the Ro-
mans, had still another one in store, for we learn from
Livy, that the worship of Cybele was still observi i in
tins city after its occupation by the Gauls, since the
priests of the goddess are said to have sent a deputa-
tion to the army of Manlius, when on the banks of the
Sangaxius. {Livy, 38, 18. ) Polybius mentions the
names of the individuals who then presided over the
worship and temple of Cybele. {Polyb. , fragm. , 20,
4. ) In the fourth century, also, the Emperor Julian
turned away from his line of march against the Per-
sians, for the purpose of visiting the shrine. {Amm.
Marccll. , 22, 9. )--Pessinus was the chief city of the
Tolistoboii, who settled in this part of the country,
and, according to Strabo's account, was a place of
considerable trade. It sank in importance under the
Romans; and although Constantino the Great, in his
new arrangement of the provinces, made Pessinus the
capital of Western Galatia {Galatia Sal u tans. --Hicr-
oclcs, p. 697), yet the city gradually disappeared from
notice after the commencement of the sixth century. --
Great uncertainty exists with regard to the site of this
place, since its ruins have not been explored by any
modern traveller. From the Antonine Itinerary we
know that it was ninety-three miles from Ancyra, with
which it communicated through Germa, Vindia, and
Papiria. Germa, the first of these stations, is known
to answer to Ycrma, on the modern road leading from
Eskr clur to Ancyra: the Itinerary would lead us to
place t sixteen miles from that site, towards the San-
garius The Table Itinerary, on the other hand, gives
a rouu from DoryUeum to Pessinus, by Midasum and
Tricon^ i, and allows seventy-seven miles for the whole
distance. But the road from Dorylaaum to Ancyra
did not pass by Pessinus, but by Archelaiutn and Gcr-
xoa, as appears from another route in the Antoninc
Itinerary (p. 202), so that it is evident that Pessinus
could not have been situated where Colonel Leake
would place it, beyond Juliopolis, or Gordium, on the
right bank of the Sangarius, and near its junction with
the Hierus, as it would then have been exactly on the
road to Ancyra, and such a route as that by Germa
would never have been given in the Antonine Itine-
rary. We ought therefore, perhaps, to look for the
ruins of Pessinus not far from the left bank of the
Sangarius, somewhere in the great angle it makes be-
tween its junction with the Ycrma and the Pursek.
In Lapic's map. the ruins of Pessinus are laid down in
the direction which we have just mentioned, on a site
called Kahi, but the authority for this is not given.
{Cramer'i Asia Minor, vol. 2, p. 86, seqq. --Leake's
Tour, p. 88, seqq. )--The temple of Cybele at Pessi-
nus, as also its porticoes, were of white marble, and
? urrounded by a beautiful grove. The city was in-
debted for these decorations to the kings of Perga-
mus. The priests of the goddess were at one time
high in rank and dignity, and possessed of great privi-
leges and emoluments. {Strab. , 567. )
Pbtilu, I. a town of Italy, in the territory of the
Bruttii, or. the coast of the Tarentine Gulf, and to the
north of Crotona. It was fabled to have been sett Ted
by Philoctctes after the Trojan war. {Virg. , Mn. ,
? ? 8, 401. ) In the opinion of the most judicious and
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? PET
PET
Hua'nai,, l't ja not only belonged to t,e >>lonaj . -way,
but had also adopted the name of its ci. qiuror. yiiis
Cats. , 68, 14 1 The Syrians (and tht, Church fathers)
;all this place Rhckem ('Pctci/i) which also denotes
"a rock ;" and Arhckeme ('Apeite/in. --Joscphus, Ant.
luil. , 4, 7). Josephus states that Aaron died in its
neighbourhood; he calls it in this passage Arke ('ApKv)
by contraction. (Ant. Jud. , 4, 4. ) St. Jerome makes
it the same with the Sela of Scripture (2 Kings, 14,
7). Traces of the Syrian name remained at a late
period, and we find the place mentioned by Abulfeda
under the appellation of Ar Hakim, with the remark
that there were dwellings here cut out of the rock.
D'AnvilIc names it incorrectly Kara! :. Petra seems
not to have continued a place of trade for any very long
lime; at least Ammianus Marcellinus is silent re-
specting it, though he enumerates very carefully the
important places in this region. Petra lay, according
to Diodorus (19, 108), at the distance of 300 stadia
from the Dead Sea; and, according to Slrabo (779),
three or four days' journey, or from twelve to sixteen
geographical miles in a southern direction from Jeri-
cno. --The remains of the ancient city were for a long
time undiscovered by modern travellers. Burckhardt
and Bane, at last, discovered them at Viady Moussa,
in 1812, but could not give them a close examination
through fear of the Arabs. In 1828, two French
travellers, De la Borde and Linant, visited the spot,
and gave a description of the ruins; but the best and
fullest account is that afforded by the pages of Mr.
Stephens, who was at Petra in 1836. {Incidents of
Travel, vol. 2, p. 50, seqq. --Mannert, Geogr. , vol.
6, pt. 1, p. 137, 2d cd. )--\l. A fortress of Macedo-
nia, among the mountains beyond Libethra, the pos-
session of which was disputed by the Perrhxbi of
Thessaly and the kings of Macedonia. (Liv. , 39, 26.
--Id. , 44, 32. ) It commanded a p>>ss which led to
Pythium in Thessaly by the back of Olympus. --III.
A fortress on Mount Hremus. (Liv. , 40, 22. )--IV.
A Corinthian borough or village, of which Ection, the
father of Cypselus, was a native. {Herod. , 5, 91. )--
V. A rock-fortress in Sogdiana, taken by Alexander.
(Quint. Curt. , 7, 11. ) It was also called Oxi Petra,
probably from its being near the river Oxus.
Pktk. -b\, one of the divisions of Arabia, so called,
not, as is commonly supposed, from its stony or rocky
character (nerpa, " a rock," " a stone"), but from its
celebrated emporium Petra. ( Vul. Petra, I. ) It was
bounded on the east by Arabia Dcserta, on the west
by Egypt and the Mediterranean, on'the south by the
Red Sea, which here divides and runs north in two
branches, and on the north by Palestine. This coun-
try contained the southern Edomites, the Amalckites,
the Cushites, who are improperly called the Ethiopi-
ans, the Hivites, &c. Their descendants are at pres-
ent known by the general name of Arabians; but it ia
of consequence to notice the ancient inhabitants as they
are mentioned in the text of Scripture. (Vid. Arabia. )
Petreius, Marcus, a Roman commander. He was
lieutenant to the consul C. Antonius, and was intrust-
ed by the latter, who feigned indisposition, with the
command of the Roman forces against the army cf
Catiline, whom he totally defeated. (Sail. , Bell. Cat. ,
c. 59, sea. ) Faithful to the cause of the republic, he
became one of Pompey'a lieutenants in Spain during
the civil contest, and endeavoured, in conjunction with
Afranius, to oppose the progress of Cesar in that coun-
? ? try. They were both, however, compelled to surren-
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? PETRONIUS.
PETRONIUS.
ry to Icate a world which he loved. He opened hia
rams and closed them again, at intervals losing a small
quantity of blood, then binding up the orifice, as his
own inclinations prompted. He conversed during the
whole time with his usual gayety, never changing his
habitual manner, nor talking sentences to show his
contempt of death He listened to his friends, who
endeavoured to entertain him, not with grave discour-
ses on tho immortality of the soul or the moral wisdom
of philosophers, but with strains of poetry, and verses
of a gay and natural turn. He distributed presents to
some of his servants, and ordered others to be chastised.
He walked out for his amusement, and even lay down
to sleep. In his last scene of life he acted with such
calm tranquillity, that his death, though an act of ne-
cessity, seemed no more than the decline of nature.
In his will, he scorned to follow tho example of others,
who, like himself, died under the tyrant's stroke: he
neither 8attered the emperor, nor Tigellinus, not any
of the creatures of the court; but having written, under
the fictitious names of profligate men and women, a nar-
rative of Nero's debauchery, and his new modes of vice,
he had the spirit to send to the emperor the tablets,
sealed with his own seal, which he took care to break,
that, after his death, it might not be used for the destruc-
tion of any person whatever. " (Tacitus, Ann. , 16,18,
eeqq. )--Some critics have thought that the Petronius
'. o whom this passage refers is not the same with the
author of the work that has come down to us, entitled
Satyricon. Their chief argument is, that the work
which, according to Tacitus, Petronius, when dying,
caused to be sent to Nero, was written on portable
tablets (codicilli), a circumstance that militates against
the idea of its being a production of any length. It is
urged, moreover, that the accomplices in the tyrant's
debaucheries and crimes were named in the work,
whereas the actors in the Satyricon bear fictitious
names. It is evident, indeed, that the Satyricon ia
not tho piece of which Tacit ? -nakes mention, and
that Nero caused the latter mi be destroyed; but it
would seem that the critics who advocate this opinion
go toe far when they deny also the identity of the wri-
ters. What is there to prevent our supposing that
Filroniiss, having now no measure to keep with the
world, amused himself with tracing on his testament-
ary tablets the scandalous lives of the individuals,
whose general manners he was content with depict-
ing in his larger work 1 Those critics, on the other
hand, who do not sec in the author of tho Satyricon
the friend and intimate companion of Nero, arc divided
in opinion as to the period when be lived. Some car-
ry him up as high as the era of Augustus, while others
place him under the Antonines, or even in the fourth
century. Both parties ground their respective argu-
ments on his style. The former discover in it the
purity of the golden age, while the latter find it mark-
ed with many low and trivial expressions, and with
many solecisms that indicate the decline of the language.
Without wishing to throw tho blame of some of these
faults on the manuscript itself, which is in so deplora-
ble a sUte that many passages remain incapable of be-
ing deciphered, notwithstanding all tho efforts of the
commentators, may we not suppose that these pretend-
ed solecisms have been purposely put by the author in
the mouths of individuals of the lower class, and that
the unusual words employed by him only appear such
to us, because we are unacquainted with the language of
? ? debauchery and intoxication among the Romans 1 --
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? PHi:
P HJE
or Pet onius, found, according to him, in the library
at St. Gall. (Repertoire de Litter. Arte. , vol. 1, p.
239. )--A poem in 295 verses, on the fall of the Ro-
man republic, forms a fine episode to the Satyricon of
Petronius. The Satyricon itself, it may be remarked,
in concluding, is admirable for the truth with which
the author delineates the characters of his personages.
It contains many pleasing pictures, full of irony; and
it is characterized by great spirit and gayety of man-
ner; but it is to be regretted that the author has cm-
ployed his abilities on a subject so truly immoral and
disgusting. The style is rich, picturesque, and ener-
gelic; but often obscure and difficult, cither from the
unusual words which we meet with in it, or by reason
of the corrupt state of the text. The best edition is
that of Burman, 4to, Ultra. ). , 1709; to which may be
added that of Reinesius, 1731, Svo, and that of C. G.
Anton, Lips. , 1781, 8vo. (Scholl, Hist. Lit. Rom. ,
vol. 2, p. 416, seqq. --B'ahr, Gcseh. Rom. Lit. , vol. 1,
p. 577, scqq. )
PgucK, a name applied to the land insulated by the
two principal arms of the Danube at its mouth. The
ancient appellation still partly remains in that of Pic-
ana. It was called Peuce from rrevKri, a pine-tree,
with which species of tree it abounded. From this
island the Peucini, who dwelt in and adjacent to it, de-
rived their name. We find them reappearing in the
Lower Empire, under the names of Piezinigcs and
Patzinaeiles. (Lucan, 3, 202-- Plin. , 4, 12 )
Peuce riv, a region of Apulia, on the coast, below
Daunia. The Peucetii, according to Dionysius of
Halicarnassus, derived their name from Peucetius, son
of Lycaon, king of Arcadia, who, with his brother CEno-
trus, migrated to Italy seventeen generations before
the siege of Troy. But modern critics have felt little
disposed to give credit to a story, the improbability of
which is so very apparent, whether we look to the
country whence these pretended settlers are said to
have come, or the state of navigation at so remote a
period. (Vreret, Mem. de VAcad. , dec. , vol. 18, p.
8J. ) Had the Peucetii and the CEnotri really been of
Grecian origin, Dionysius might have adduced better
evidence of the fact than the genealogies of the Arca-
dian chiefs, cited from Pherecydes. The most re-
spectable authority he could have brought forward on
this point would unquestionably have been that of An-
tiochus the Syracusan; but this historian is only quo-
ted by him in proof of the antiquity of the CEnotri, not
of their Grecian descent. (Dion. Hal. , 1, 2. --Strabo,
283. --Plin. , 3, 11. ) The Peucetii are always spoken
of in history, even by the Greeks themselves, as bar-
barians, who differed in no essential respect from
the Daunii, Iapygcs, and other neighbouring nations.
fCramer's Anc. Italy, vol. 2, p. 296. )
Pbuciki. Viil. Peuce.
Phacusa, a town of Egypt, on the Pelusiac arm of
the Nile. The ruins are found near the modern Tell
Phakus (hill of Phacusa). (Steph. Byz. , s. v. )
Phacussa, one of the Sporaces, now Gaiphonisi.
(Plin. , 4, 12. --Steph. Byz. , s. t>. ioKovoaa. )
Ph. *acTa, the Homeric name for the island of Cor-
eyra. (Vid. Corcyra. ) When visited by Ulysses, Al-
cinoiis was its king, and his gardens are beautifully
described by the poet. The Phaeacians are represent-
ed as an easy-tempered and luxurious race, but remark-
able for their skill in navigation. They were fabled
to have derived their name from Phajax, a son of Nep-
? ? tune. (Horn , Od. , 6, 1, scqq. --Id. ib. , 7, I, scqq. --
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? PILEDRUS.
PH. EDKUS
since liia retirement to the island of Capreae, was be-
come an object of general contempt, that Phaedrus
meant him, in the second fable of the first book, by
the log given to the frogs as their king. Bu', if Phae-
drus has indeed represented Tiberius under the alle-
gory of a log, the hydra, which takes its place, will in-
dicate the successor of the monarch, unless we sup-
pose Sejanus to be intended by the reptile: this inter-
pretation, however, appears extremely forced. Titze
thinks that Phxdrus may have been at first a favourite
? f Sejanus, and afterward involved in his disgrace;
and that Eutychus, in the reign of Caligula, had given
him hopes of a restoration to imperial patronage. This
theory, however, is contradicted by the prologue to the
third book of the fables (v. 41. --Titze, Inlroduct. in
Phadr. --Id. , it Phadri vita, scriplis, et vsu). --
Phssdrus composed five books of fables, containing, in
all, ninety fables, written in Iambic verse. He has the
merit of having first made the Romans acquainted with
the fables of /Esop; not that all his own fables are
merely translations of those of the latter, but because
the two thirds of them that appear original, or, at least,
with the originals of which we are unacquainted, are
written in the manner of . Esop. Phaedrus deserves
'. he praise of invention for the way in which he has ar-
ranged them; and he is quite as original a poet as
Fontaine, who, like him, has taken from other sources
besides the fables of vEsop the materials for a large
portion of hia own. He is distinguished for a precis-
ion, a gracefulness, and a naivete of style and manner
that have never been surpassed. The air of simplicity
which characterizes bis pieces is the surest guarantee
of their authenticity, which some critics have contest-
ed. His diction is at the same time remarkable for
its elegance, though this occasionally is pushed rather
too far into the regions of refinement. The manu-
scripts of Phsdrus are extremely rare. The one from
which Pithou (Pithceus) published, in 1596, the eduio
princeps of the fables, passed eventually, by marriage,
into the hands of the Lepelletier family; and is now
in the library of M. Lepelletier de Rosanbo {De Xi-
vrey, ad. Phadr. , p. 23, scqq. --Id. ib. , p. 40, nqq. ).
A second manuscript, which Rigalt used in his edition
of 1617, was destroyed by AYe at Rheims in 1774;
but we have remaining of this a very accurate colla-
tion. A third one, or, rather, the remains of one, is
now in the Vatican library, and is said to contain from
the first to the twenty-first fable of the first book.
'Noiit. Literar. de Codd. MSS. , Phadri, No. 3, de
Cod. Danielis. ) Thia rarity of manuscripts is one
cause of the doubts that have been entertained by some
respecting the authenticity of the fables ascribed to
him, and even the very existence of the poet. Some
other circumstances lend weight to these doubts: the
silence, namely, of the ancient writers concerning Phs-
drus, and the positive declaration of Seneca, who re-
marks {Contol. ad Polyb. , c. 27) that the Romans had
never attempted to compose after the manner of the
iEsopic fables. (" Non audco te usque eo produccre, ut
fabcltas quoque et Aisopcos logos, inlentalum Romanis
ingeniis opus, solita tibi venustatc conncclas. ") An-
other argument on this same side of the question is as
follows: Nicolas Perotti, who, about the middle of
the 15th century, was archbishop of Manfredonia, and
one of the patrons of Greek literature in Italy, cites
in his Cornu Copia a fable which he aays he took in
his early days from the fables of Avienus. (" Allusit
? ? ad fabulam, quam nos ex Avieno in fabcllas nostras
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? P HA
PHALARIS.
Vagi. Bad. , 1727, -Ito. and 1745, 8vo; that of Bent-
ley, at the end of his Terence, Cantab. , 1726, 4to,
and Anut. , 1727, 4to; that of Brotier, Paris, 1783,
12mo; that of Schwabe, Brunsv. , 1806, 2 vols. 8vo;
that of Gail, in Lemairc's collection, Paris, 1826, 2
vols. 8vo; and that of Orelli, Turici, 1831, 8vo.
(Schbll, Hist. Lit. Rom. , vol. 2, p. 343, scqq. --Bdhr,
Gesch. Rom. Lit. , vol. 1, p. 308, seqq. )
Phaethon (4>ae0ov), son of Helios and the Ocean-
nymph Clymene. His claims to a celestial origin
being disputed by Epaphus, son of Jupiter, Phaethon
journeyed to the palace of his sire, the sun-god, from
whom he extracted on unwary oath that he would
grant him whatever he asked. The ambitious youth
instantly demanded permission to guide the solar char-
iot for one day, to prove himself thereby the undoubted
progeny of the sun. Helios, aware of the conse-
quences, remonstrated, but to no purpose. The youth
persisted, and the god, bound by his oath, reluctantly
committed the reins to his hands, warning him of the
dangers of the road, and instructing him how to avoid
them. Phaethon grasped the reins, the flame-breath-
ing steeds sprang forward, but, soon aware that they
were not directed by the well-known hand, they ran
out of the course; the world was set on fire, and a
otal conflagration would have ensued, had not Jupiter,
at the prayer of Earth, launched his thunder, and hurled
the terrified driver from his seat. He fell into the river
Eridanus. His sisters, the Heliades, as they lament-
ed his fate, were turned into poplar-trees on its banks,
and their tears, which still continued to flow, became
amber as they dropped into the stream. Cycnus, the
friend of the ill-fated Phaethon, also abandoned him-
self to mourning, and at length was changed into a
? wan (kvkvoc). {Chid, Met, 1, 750, seqq. --Hygin. ,
fab. , 152, 154. --Nonnus, Dionys. , 38, 105, 439. --
Apoll. Rhod,A, 597, seqq. -- Virg, A3n. , 10, 190 --
la. , Kelog. , 6, 62.
