The short duration of thia sect was owing, in part, to
the remote distance of Cyrene from Greece, the chief
scat of learning and philosophy; in part to the un-
bounded latitude which these philosophers allowed
themselves in practice as well as opinion; and in part
to the rise of the Epicurean sect, which taught the doc-
trine of pleasure in a more philosophical form (En-
ht'J's History of Philosophy, vol.
the remote distance of Cyrene from Greece, the chief
scat of learning and philosophy; in part to the un-
bounded latitude which these philosophers allowed
themselves in practice as well as opinion; and in part
to the rise of the Epicurean sect, which taught the doc-
trine of pleasure in a more philosophical form (En-
ht'J's History of Philosophy, vol.
Charles - 1867 - Classical Dictionary
der
? ? Phil, p. 113. )
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? C VP
C YP
Diomjs was sacrificing to Hercules, snatched away
pan of the victim. It was adorned with several tem-
ples; that of Hercules was the most splendid. The
most remarkable thing in it, however, was the Gym-
nasium, where all strangers, who had but one parent
an Athenian, had to perforin their exercises, because
Hercules, to whom it was consecrated, had a mortal
for his mother, and was not properly one of the im-
mortal*. Cynosarges is supposed to have been situ-
ated at the foot of Mount Anchesmus, now the hill of
St. George. [Potter, Gr. Ant. , 1, 8. --Cramer's Anc.
Greece, vol. 2, p. 342. )
Cynossema (Me dog's tomb), a promontory of the
Thracian Chersonesus, where Hecuba was changed
into a dog, and buried. (Ovid, Met. , 13, 569. --
Strabo, 595. --SM. Lye, 315, et 1176. ) Here the
Athenian fleet, under the command of Thrasybulus
and Thrasyllus, gained an important victory over the
allied squadron of the Peloponnesus, towards the close
of the war with that country. (Thucyd. ,8,I03,seqq. )
The site is said to be now occupied by the Turkish
fortress of the Dardanelles, called Kclidil-Bahar.
{Chevalier, Voyage dans la Troade, pt. 1, p. 5. )
Cvnosuba, I. a nymph of Ida in Crete, one of the
nurses of Jove. She was changed into a constellation.
(Consult remarks under the article Arctos, near its
close. )--II. A promontory of Attica, formed by the
range. of Pentelicus. It is now Cape Cavala. (I'tol. ,
p. 86. --Suid. , s. r. )--III. A promontory of Attica,
lacing the northeastern extremity of Salamis. It is
mentioned in the oracle delivered to the Athenians,
prior to the battle of Salamis. (Herod. , 8, 76. --GeWs
//in, p. 103. )
Cynthia, I. a female name, occurring in some of
the ancient poets. (Propert. , 2, 33, 1. --(hid. Rem.
Am. , 764, etc )--II. A surname of Diana, from Mount
Cynthus, in the island of Delos, where she was born.
--III. A name given to the island of Delos itself.
(Plin. , 4, 12. )
CynthIus, a surname of Apollo, from Mount Cyn-
thus, in the island of Delos, where he was born. (Vid.
Cynthus. )
Cynthus, a mountain of Delos, which raises its
barren summit to a considerable height above the plain.
At its base was the city of Delos. The modern name
is Monte Cintio. On this mountain, according to the
poets, Apollo and Diana were bom, and hence the
epithets of Cynthius and Cynthia, respectively applied
to the. n. (Strab , 485. --Plin. , 4,12. --Virg. , Gcogr. ,
3, 36. --Ooid, Met. , 6, 304-- Id. , Fast. , 3,"346, etc. )
CynurI:, a small tribe of the Peloponnesus, on the
shore of the Sinus Argolicus, and bordering on I. aco-
uia, Arcadia, and Argolis properly so called. They
were an ancient race, accounted indigenous by He-
rodotus (8, 73), who alao styles them lonians. The
possession of the tract of country which they occupied
led to frequent disputes and hostilities between the
Spartans and Argivea. (Pausan. , 3, 2, 7. --Slepk.
Byz. , s. v. Kvvovpa. ) As early as the time of Eches-
tratus the son of Agis, the first king of Sparta, the
Cynurians were expelled from their homes by the La-
cedaemonians, under pretence that they committed
depredations on the Spartan territory. (Pausan, loc.
cit. )
Cvpariss. t; or Cyparissia, I. a town of Messcnia,
aear the mouth of the river Cyparissus, and on the
S;ni:s Cyparissius. The river and gulf are now called
? ? Arcadia and Gulf of Arcadia respectively, from the
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? CTP
:0, p. 3>>7, sc. qq. --Rettbtrg, Cyprian dcrgestclll, &c.
Gating. , 1831, 8vo--Bdhr, Christlieh-Rom. TheoL,
p. 50, seqq. )
Ctpkds, a Urge island of the Mediterranean, south
of Cihcia and west of Syria. Like every other isle in
the Grecian seas, it appears to have borne several ap-
pellations in remote ages, but many of these are only
poetical, and rest on dubious and obscure authority.
Those which occur most commonly are Sphecia, Ce-
rastis, and Cryptus, for which fanciful etymologies are
adduced by Stephanus of Byzantium, Euatathius, and
other authorities compiled by Meursius: that of Cy-
prus, which finally prevailed over every other, is also
uncertain; but the notion which derives it from the
shrub cypress is probably the most correct; and Bo-
chart, whose Phoenician analogies rest here on safer
ground, insists strongly on its validity. (Geogr. Sacr. ,
p. 37a) Cyprus is reckoned by Strabo (654), or,
rather, Timzus, whom he quotes, as the third in extent
of the seven Mediterranean isles, which he classes in
the following order; Sardinia, Sicily, Cyprus, Crete,
Eubcea, Corsica, and Lesbos. According to ancient
measurements, its circuit amounted to 3420 stadia,
including the sinuosities of the coast. Its greatest
length from west to east, between Cape Acamas and
the little islands called Clides, was reckoned at 1400
stadia. The interior of Cyprus is mountainous; a
ndge being drawn across the entire length of the island,
from Cape Acamas on the west, to that of Dinsretum
in the opposite direction ; it attains the highest eleva-
tion near the central region, and was anciently called
Olympus. This physical conformation precludes the
existence of any considerable rivers. There are no
lakes, bat some salt marshes on the coast. Cyprus
yielded to no other island in fertility, since it produced
excellent wine and oil, and abundance of wheat and
various fruits. There was also a great supply of timber
for building ships. (Strabo, 68*. ) h, mineral pro-
ductions were likewise very rich, especially copper,
found at Tamasus, and supposed to be alluded to in
the Odyssey. The first inhabitants of this island are
generally supposed to have come from Phoenicia; and
yet, that the Cyprians spoke a language different from
*e Phoenicians and peculiar to themselves, is evident
from the scattered glosses preserved by the lexicog-
raphers ind grammarians. One thing is certain, how-
ever, that the whole of the ceremonies and religious
ntes observed by the Cyprians, with respect to Venus
and Adonis, were without doubt borrowed from Phoe-
nicia. Venus, in fact, was the principal deity of the
island, and, as might be expected, the Cyprians were,
in consequence, a sensual and licentious people. Pros-
titution was sanctioned by the laws (Herod,, 1, 199
--Atktnttus, 12, p. 516), and hired flatterers and pro-
fessed sycophants attended on the luxurious princes of
the land. (ClearcK. ap. Alhen , 6, p. 255. ) Never-
theless, literature and the arts nourished here to a con-
siderable extent, even at an early period, as the name
of the Cypria Carmina, ascribed by some to Homer,
efficiently attests. (Herod, 2, 118--Athcmtus, 15,
p. 682. ) The island of Cyprus is still famed for its
fertility. The most valuable production at preser. t is
cotton. The French also send thither for turpentine,
building timber, oranges, and particularly Cyprus wine.
Hyacinths, anemonies, ranunculuses, and the sirHc
sod double narcissus, grow here without cultivation"
They deck the mountains, and give the country the
appearance of an immense flower-garden. But agri-
? ? culture is neglected, and an unwholesome atmosphere
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? i;yr
cykenk.
country, and pasturage was more attended to. Cap-
tain Beechy, in the course of his travels through thi3
region, noticed a plant about three feet in height, very
much resembling the hemlock or wild carrot. He waa
told, that it was usually fatal to the camels who ate of
it, and that its juice was so acrid as to fester the flesh,
if at all excoriated. He supposes it to be the silphium.
Delia Cells describes, apparently, the same production
as ar. umbelliferous plant, with compound, indented
leaves, fleshy, delicate, and shining, without any invotu-
cri'm; the fruit being somewhat flattened, surmounted
by three ribs, and furnished all round with a membrane
>s glossy as silk (p. 128). Captain Smith succeeded
i! bringing ever a specimen of the plant, which is said
to be now thriving in Devonshire. (Beechy, p. 410,
str/'/ ) M. Pacho says, that the Arabs call it derias;
and he proposes to class the plant as a species of la-
serwort, under the name of laserpitium derias. It
seems to resemble the laserpitium Jerulaceum of J. m-
nasus. --Cyrcnaica was called Pentapolis, from its hav-
ing five cities of note in it, Cyrene, Barce, Ptolemais,
Berenice, and Tauchira. All of these exist at the
present day under the form of towns or villages, and,
what is remarkable, their names are scarcely changed
from what we may suppose the pronunciation to have
been among the Greeks. They are now called Ku-
rin, Barca, Tollamata, hemic, and Tauter*--Some
farther remarks upon the district of Cyrcnaica will be
found under the head of Cyrene, being blended with
the history of that city as its capital. For a full ac-
count of Lhe silphium, see the 36th volume of the
W/mi'-zc. it VAcadem. des Belles Leltres, p. 18, and
lor cmto valuable observations respecting Cyrcnaica,
consult i! ie work of M. Pacho, Relation d'un Voy-
age da. is la Marmariquc, la Cyrtnaique, etc. , I'aris,
1828,4to.
Cvrenaici, a sect of philosophers who followed the
doctrines of Aristippus, and whose name was derived
from trsir founder's having been a native of Cyrene,
and from their school's having been established in this
place. Aristippus made the summumbonum and the
t:? . oc of man to consist in enjoyment, accompanied by
good taste and freedom of mind, to xpareiv Kai /"/
qrrasrOai iiftbvuv upiarov, ov to ftrj xpvot/ai. (Diog.
Lae-i , 2, 75. ) Happiness, said the Cyrenai'cs. con-
sists, not in tranquillity or indolence, but in a pleas-
ing agitation of the mind or in active enjoyment.
Pleasure is the ultimate object of human pursuit; it
is only in subserviency to this that fame, friendship,
and even virtue are to be desired All crimes are
venial, because never committed but through the im-
mediate impulse of passion. Nothing is just or un-
just by nature, but by custom and law. The business
of philosophy is to regulate the senses in that manner
which will render them most productive of pleasure.
Since, then, pleasure is to be derived, not from the past
or the future, but the present, a wise man will take care
to enjoy the present hour, and will be indifferent to life
or death. Such were the tenets of the Oyrenvc school.
The short duration of thia sect was owing, in part, to
the remote distance of Cyrene from Greece, the chief
scat of learning and philosophy; in part to the un-
bounded latitude which these philosophers allowed
themselves in practice as well as opinion; and in part
to the rise of the Epicurean sect, which taught the doc-
trine of pleasure in a more philosophical form (En-
ht'J's History of Philosophy, vol. 1, p. 197. --Tenne-
? ? manii's Manual, p. 101, Johnson's transl)
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? CVR
UtfUILLtiS.
me sophist. Numbers ol Jews, appeaf to have settled
in Cvrenaica, even prior to the Christian era. It was
>> Jew of Cyrcne whom the Roman soldiers compell-
ed to bear one end of our Saviour's cross. (Matt. ,
27,32--Mark, 15, 21. ) Cyrenean Jews were pres-
ent at Jerusalem on the day of the Pentecost; some
of them took part with their Alexandrean brethren in
disputing against the proto-martyr Stephen ; and Chris-
tian Jews of Cyprus and Cyrene, fleeing from the per-
secution of their intolerant brethren, were the first
preachers of Christianity to the Greeks of Antioch.
(Acta, 2,10; 6, 9; 11,20. ) That Cyrene continued
to flourish under the Romans, may be inferred as well
from some Latin inscriptions as from the style of many
of the architectural remains To what circumstance
its desertion is attributable, does not appear; but in
the fifth century it had become a mass of ruin. It is
to described by Syncsius, who lived in the time of
Theodosius the younger. The wealth and honours of
Cyrene were transferred to the episcopal city of Ptol-
emais. The final extirpation of the Greek colonies of
Cyrcnaica dates, however, from the destructive inva-
sion of the Persian Chosroes, who, about 616, overran
Syria and Egypt, and he advanced as far westward as
the neighbourhood of Tripoli. The Saracens comple-
ted the work of destruction, and for seven centuries
this once fertile and populous region has been lost to
civilization, to commerce, and almost to geographical
knowledge. For three parts of the year Cyrene is
untenanted, except by jackals and hyenas, and during
the fourth, wandering Bedouins, too indolent to as-
cend the higher range of hills, pitch their tents chiefly
on lite low grounds to the southward of the summit on
which the city is built. The situation of Cyrene is
described by modern travellers as singularly beautiful.
It is built on the edge of a range of hills, rising about
80t) feet above a fine sweep of high table-land, form-
ing the summit of a lower chain, to which it descends
bv a series of terraces. The elevation of the lower
chain may be estimated at 1000 feet; so that Cyrene
stands about 1800 feet above the level of the sea, of
which it commands an extensive view over the table-
land, which, extending east and west as far as the eye
". an reach, stretches about five miles to the northward,
and then descends abruptly to the coast. The view
from the brow of the height, extending over the rocks,
and woods, and distant ocean, is described by Capt.
Becchy as almost unrivalled in magnificence. Ad-
vantage has been taken of the natural terraces of the
declivity, to shape the ledges into practicable roads,
leading along the face of the mountain, and communi-
cating, in some instances, by narrow flights of steps
cut in the rock. These roads, which may be supposed
to have been the favourite drives of the citizens of Cy-
rene, are very plainly indented with the marks of char-
iot-wheels, deeply furrowing the smooth, stony sur-
face. The rock, in most instances rising perpendicu-
larly from these galleries, has been excavated into in-
numerable tombs, formed with great labour and taste,
and generally adorned with architectural facades. In
several of the excavated tombs were discovered re-
mains of paintings, representing historical, allegorical,
ind pastoral subjects, executed in the manner of those
of Herculaneum and Pompeii: some of them by no
means inferior to the best that have been found in
those cities. (For some remarks on these paintings,
consult Beeehy, p. 451, ttqq. )
? ? Cvxeschata. Vid. Cyropolis.
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? CYR
CYR
or ot A. axandrea, who feared that the bishop's author-
ity, if rot checked, might infringe upon that of the
magisUkte. Parties were formed to support the rival
claunr, and battles were fought in the streets of Alex-
andre* ^ and Orestes himself was one day suddenly
surrounded by 500 monks, by whom he would have
r>een murdered had not the people interfered. One of
these assailants, being seized, was put to the torture
so severely that he died under the operation, on which
Cyrill had him immediately canonized, and on every
occasion commended his constancy and zeal. There
alio lived in Alexandrea a learned pagan lady, named
Hypatia, with whom Orestes was intimate, and who
was supposed to have encouraged his resistance to the
claims of the bishop. This accomplished female was
one day seized by a band of zealots, who dragged her
through the streets, and concluded by tearing her limb
from limb, a piece of atrocity attributed to the instiga-
tion of Cyrill, and from which his memory has never
been absolved. He next engaged in a furious contro-
versy with Nestorius, bishop of Constantinople, who
maintained that the Virgin Mary ought not to be called
the Mother of God, but the mother of our Lord or of
Christ, since the Deity can neither be born nor die.
These homilies, falling into the hands of the Egyptian
monks, caused a great commotion among them, and
Cyrill wrote a pastoral letter to them, in which he
maintained that the Virgin Mary ought to be called
the Mother of God, and denounced bitter censures
against all who supported an opposite opinion. A con-
troversial correspondence between the two bishops en-
sued, which ended in an open war of excommunica-
tions and anathemas. To put an end to this contro-
versy, in 431 a council was held at Ephcsus by the
Emperor Theodosius; and Cyrill, by his precipitation
and violence, and not waiting for a number cf Eastern
bishops, obtained the condemnation of Nestorius with-
out his being heard in his own defence, and that prelate
was deprived of his bishopric and banished to the
Egyptian deserts. When John, bishop of Antioch,
and the other Eastern bishops, however, appeared, they
avenged Nestorius, and, deposing Cyrill, put him in
prison. In a subsequent meeting of the council, he
was liberated and absolved from the sentence of de-
position, but had the mortification cf seeing the doc-
trine which he had condemned spreading rapidly through
the Roman empire, Assyria, and Persia. He died at
Alexandrea in the year 444. Cyrill was undoubtedly
a man of learning, but overbearing, ambitious, cruel,
and intolerant in the highest degree. He is much ex-
tolled by Catholic writers for his great zeal and piety,
of which the particulars thus specified are proofs. He
was the author of a number of works, treatises, &c,
the best edition of which was published at Paris in
1630, in 7 vols, fol. , under the care of Jean Aubert,
canon of Laon. (Biogr. Univ. , vol. 10, p. 406. )
CvKHOs(Kvpvor), the Greek name of Corsica. (Vid.
Corsica. )
Cvropolis, a large city of Asia, on the banks of
the Iaxartes, founded by Cyrus. (CcUarius, Geogr.
Ant. , vol. 2. p. 715. --Salnuu. , in Sol in. , p. 480. ) It
was also called Cyreschata. Both of these names,
however, are Greek translations of the true Persian
terms. The termination of tho laat is the Greek to-
Xarn, expressing, as did the Persian one, the remote
situation of the place. Alexander destroyed it, and
built in its stead a city, called by the Roman geogra-
? ? phers Alexandrea Ultima, by the Greeks, however, 'AX-
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? CYRUS.
CYRUS.
Hi one of his vassals. Amorges, king of the Sacav vho
earns a decisive victory over the Derhices, and ai icx-
tt their land to the Persian empire. This account is
to far confirmed by Herodotus, that we do not hear
from him of any consequences that followed the sua-
tes>> of the Massagetse, or that the attention of Cam-
jyses, the son and heir of Cyrus, was called away to-
wards the North. The first recorded measure of his
reign, on the contrary, was the invasion of Egypt.
;Thtrlicairt Greece, vol. 2, p. 172, teq. )--Thus much
icr the history of Cyrus, according to the generally re-
ceived account. It is more than probable, however, that
many and conflicting statements respecting his birth,
parentage, early life, attainment to sovereign power,
and subsequent career, were circulated throughout the
East, since we find discrepances between the narra-
tives of Herodotus, Ctesias, and Xenophon in these
several particulars, that can in no other way be ac-
counted for. It has been customary with most schol-
ars to decry the testimony of Ctesias, and to regard
him as a writer of hut slender pretensions to the char-
acter of veracity. As far, however, as the history of
Cyrus was concerned, to say nothing of other parts of
his narrative, this opinion is evidently unjust, and its
injustice will be placed in the clearest light if we com-
pare together the two rival statements of Ctesias and
Herodotus. The account of the latter teems with fa-
bles, from which that of the former appears to be entire-
ly free. It is far more consistent with reason, to be-
lieve with Ctesias that there was no affinity whatever
between Cyrus and Astyages, than with Herodotus, that
the latter was his maternal grandfather. Neither does
Ctesias make any mention of that moat palpable fable,
the exposure of the infant; nor of the equallv fabulous
story respecting the cruel punishment of Harpagus.
(Compare Bahr, ad Ctes. , Pert. , c. Z, and the words
of Rtineccius, Famil. Reg. Med. tt Bactr. , Lips. ,
1572, p. 35, "ab Astyage usurpata in Curum el
Harpagi JUium erudelilatis decanlatam ab Herodoto
l -Jiulam plane rejicimun. ") Nor neos) this dissimilar-
ity between the statements of Ctesias and Herodotus
occasion any surprise. The latter historian confesses,
very ingenuously, that there were three different tradi-
tions in his time relative to the origin of Cyrus, and
that he selected the one which appeared to him most
probable (I, 96). How unfortunate this selection was
we need hardly say. Ctesias, then, chose another tra-
dition for his guide, and Xenophon, perhaps, may have
partially mingled a third with his narrative. jEschy-
ius (Persa, v. 767) appears to have followed a fourth.
(Compare Stanley, ad Alschyl. , I. c, and Larcher, ad
Ctes. , Pert. , c. 2. ) With these several accounts,
again, what the Armenian writers tell us respecting Cy-
rus is directly at variance;. (Compare Reeherehes Cu-
rieuses sur FHistoire Ancienne de VAsie, par Cirbied
tt Martin, p. 61, teqq. ) Among the modern scholars
who have espoused the cause of Ctesias, his recent ed-
itor, Bahr, stands most conspicuous. This writer re-
gards the narrative of Herodotus as savouring of tho
Greek love for the marvellous, and thinks it to have
been in some degree adumbrated from the story of the
Theban fEdipus and hia exposure on Githasroajx while,
on the other hand, Xenophon presents Cyrus to our
risw as a young man, imbued with the precepts of the
Socratic school, and exhibiting in his life and conduct
a model for the imitation of others. The same scholar
gives the following as what appears to him a near ap-
? ? proximation to the true history of Cyrua. He sup-
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? CYRUS.
? ion to the throne. He accompanied Artaxerxes,
whom the Greeks distinguished by the epithet of Mne-
mon, to Pasargadae, where the Persian kings went
through certain mystic ceremonies of inauguration, and
Tissaphernea took this opportunity of charging him
with a design against his brother's life. It would seem,
from Plutarch's account, that one of the officiating
priests was suoorned to support the charge; though it
w by no means certain that it was unfounded. Arta-
xerxes was convinced of its truth, and determined on
putting his brother to death; and Cyrus was only saved
by the passionate entreaties of Parysatis, in whose arms
he had sought refuge from tlte executioner. The char-
acter of Artaxerxes, though weak and timid, seems not
to have been naturally unamiable. The ascendency
which his mother, notwithstanding her undisscmblcd
predilection for her younger son, exercised over him,
was the source of the greater part of his crimes and
misfortunes. On this occasion he suffered it to over-
power both the suspicions suggested by Tissaphernes,
and the jealousy which the temper and situation of Cy-
rus might reasonably have excited. He not only par-
done' his brother, but permitted him to return to his
government. Cyrus felt himself not obliged, but hum-
bird, by his rival's clemency; and the danger he had
escaped only strengthened his resolution to make him-
self, as soon as possible, independent of the power to
which he owed his life. Immediately after his return
to Sardis, he began to make preparations for the exe-
cution of his design. The chief difficulty, was te keep
them concealed from Artaxerxes until they were fully
matured; for, though his mother, who was probably
from the beginning acquainted with his purpose, was
at court, always ready to put the most favourable con-
struction on his conduct, yet Tissaphernes was at hand
to watch it with malignant attention, and to send the
earliest information of any suspicious movement to the
king. Cyrus, towever, devised a variety of pretexts
'o blind Tissaphernes and the court, while he collected
an army for the expedition which he was meditating.
His main object was to raise as strong a body of Greek
troops as he could, for it was only with such aid that
he could hope to overpower an adversary, who had the
whole force of the empire at his command: and he
knew enough of the Greeks to believe, that their su-
periority over his countrymen, in skill and courage, was
sufficient to compensate for almost any inequality of
numbers. In the spring of 401 B. C. , Cyrus began
his march from Sardis. His whole Grecian force, a
part of which joined him on the route, amounted to
1 1,00X1 neavy infantry, and about 2000 targeteers. His
barbarian troops were 100,000 strong. After directing
his line of march through the whole extent of Asia Mi-
nor, he entered the BabT^r. ::? . territory; and it was
not untu ne reacnea the piain of Cunaxa, between
sixty and seventy miles from Babylon, that he became
certain of his brother's intention to hazard an engage-
ment. Artaxerxes met him in this spot at the head of
an army of 900,000 men. If we may believe Plutarch,
the Persian monarch had continued to waver almost to
the last, between the alternatives of fighting and re-
treating, and was only diverted from adopting the lat-
ter course by the energetic remonstrances of Tiriba-
zus. In the battle which ensued, the Greeks soon
routed the barbarians opposed to them, but committed
an error in pursuing them too far, and Cyrus was com-
pelled, in order to avoid being surrounded by the rest
of the king's army, to make an attack upon the centre,
? ? whero his brother was in person. He routed the
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? crz
DAC
Uie sea in its vicinity, means nothing more than that
her worship was introduced into the island by some
maritime people, probably the Phoenicians. Cythera
was a place of great importance to the Spartans, since
in enemy, if in possession'of it, would be thereby en-
abled to ravage the soutbern coast of Laconia. Its
"arbours also sheltered the Spartan fleets, and afforded
c-"otectiu:i to all merchant vessels against the attacks
? f pirates, whose depredations, on the other hand,
would have been greatly facilitated by its acquisition.
(Tkucyd. , 4, 53. ) Hence the Argives, who originally
netd it, were driven out eventually by the Spartans.
A magistrate was sent yearly from Sparta, styled Cy-
therodices, to administer justice, and to examine into
the state of the island; and so important a position
was it, that Demaratus expressly advised Xerxes to
seize it with a part of his fleet, since by that means he
would compel the Spartans to withdraw from the con-
federacy, and defend their own territories. Demara-
tus quoted, on this occasian, the opinion of Chilo, the
Lacedaemonian sage, who had declared it would be a
great benefit to Sparta if that island were sunk into
the sea. Cvthera (Cerigo) is now one of the Ionian
islands. {Virg. , ^n. , 1, 262; 10. 5. --Pauaan. , 3,
33-- Ovul. Met. , 4, 338; 15, 386.
? ? Phil, p. 113. )
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? C VP
C YP
Diomjs was sacrificing to Hercules, snatched away
pan of the victim. It was adorned with several tem-
ples; that of Hercules was the most splendid. The
most remarkable thing in it, however, was the Gym-
nasium, where all strangers, who had but one parent
an Athenian, had to perforin their exercises, because
Hercules, to whom it was consecrated, had a mortal
for his mother, and was not properly one of the im-
mortal*. Cynosarges is supposed to have been situ-
ated at the foot of Mount Anchesmus, now the hill of
St. George. [Potter, Gr. Ant. , 1, 8. --Cramer's Anc.
Greece, vol. 2, p. 342. )
Cynossema (Me dog's tomb), a promontory of the
Thracian Chersonesus, where Hecuba was changed
into a dog, and buried. (Ovid, Met. , 13, 569. --
Strabo, 595. --SM. Lye, 315, et 1176. ) Here the
Athenian fleet, under the command of Thrasybulus
and Thrasyllus, gained an important victory over the
allied squadron of the Peloponnesus, towards the close
of the war with that country. (Thucyd. ,8,I03,seqq. )
The site is said to be now occupied by the Turkish
fortress of the Dardanelles, called Kclidil-Bahar.
{Chevalier, Voyage dans la Troade, pt. 1, p. 5. )
Cvnosuba, I. a nymph of Ida in Crete, one of the
nurses of Jove. She was changed into a constellation.
(Consult remarks under the article Arctos, near its
close. )--II. A promontory of Attica, formed by the
range. of Pentelicus. It is now Cape Cavala. (I'tol. ,
p. 86. --Suid. , s. r. )--III. A promontory of Attica,
lacing the northeastern extremity of Salamis. It is
mentioned in the oracle delivered to the Athenians,
prior to the battle of Salamis. (Herod. , 8, 76. --GeWs
//in, p. 103. )
Cynthia, I. a female name, occurring in some of
the ancient poets. (Propert. , 2, 33, 1. --(hid. Rem.
Am. , 764, etc )--II. A surname of Diana, from Mount
Cynthus, in the island of Delos, where she was born.
--III. A name given to the island of Delos itself.
(Plin. , 4, 12. )
CynthIus, a surname of Apollo, from Mount Cyn-
thus, in the island of Delos, where he was born. (Vid.
Cynthus. )
Cynthus, a mountain of Delos, which raises its
barren summit to a considerable height above the plain.
At its base was the city of Delos. The modern name
is Monte Cintio. On this mountain, according to the
poets, Apollo and Diana were bom, and hence the
epithets of Cynthius and Cynthia, respectively applied
to the. n. (Strab , 485. --Plin. , 4,12. --Virg. , Gcogr. ,
3, 36. --Ooid, Met. , 6, 304-- Id. , Fast. , 3,"346, etc. )
CynurI:, a small tribe of the Peloponnesus, on the
shore of the Sinus Argolicus, and bordering on I. aco-
uia, Arcadia, and Argolis properly so called. They
were an ancient race, accounted indigenous by He-
rodotus (8, 73), who alao styles them lonians. The
possession of the tract of country which they occupied
led to frequent disputes and hostilities between the
Spartans and Argivea. (Pausan. , 3, 2, 7. --Slepk.
Byz. , s. v. Kvvovpa. ) As early as the time of Eches-
tratus the son of Agis, the first king of Sparta, the
Cynurians were expelled from their homes by the La-
cedaemonians, under pretence that they committed
depredations on the Spartan territory. (Pausan, loc.
cit. )
Cvpariss. t; or Cyparissia, I. a town of Messcnia,
aear the mouth of the river Cyparissus, and on the
S;ni:s Cyparissius. The river and gulf are now called
? ? Arcadia and Gulf of Arcadia respectively, from the
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? CTP
:0, p. 3>>7, sc. qq. --Rettbtrg, Cyprian dcrgestclll, &c.
Gating. , 1831, 8vo--Bdhr, Christlieh-Rom. TheoL,
p. 50, seqq. )
Ctpkds, a Urge island of the Mediterranean, south
of Cihcia and west of Syria. Like every other isle in
the Grecian seas, it appears to have borne several ap-
pellations in remote ages, but many of these are only
poetical, and rest on dubious and obscure authority.
Those which occur most commonly are Sphecia, Ce-
rastis, and Cryptus, for which fanciful etymologies are
adduced by Stephanus of Byzantium, Euatathius, and
other authorities compiled by Meursius: that of Cy-
prus, which finally prevailed over every other, is also
uncertain; but the notion which derives it from the
shrub cypress is probably the most correct; and Bo-
chart, whose Phoenician analogies rest here on safer
ground, insists strongly on its validity. (Geogr. Sacr. ,
p. 37a) Cyprus is reckoned by Strabo (654), or,
rather, Timzus, whom he quotes, as the third in extent
of the seven Mediterranean isles, which he classes in
the following order; Sardinia, Sicily, Cyprus, Crete,
Eubcea, Corsica, and Lesbos. According to ancient
measurements, its circuit amounted to 3420 stadia,
including the sinuosities of the coast. Its greatest
length from west to east, between Cape Acamas and
the little islands called Clides, was reckoned at 1400
stadia. The interior of Cyprus is mountainous; a
ndge being drawn across the entire length of the island,
from Cape Acamas on the west, to that of Dinsretum
in the opposite direction ; it attains the highest eleva-
tion near the central region, and was anciently called
Olympus. This physical conformation precludes the
existence of any considerable rivers. There are no
lakes, bat some salt marshes on the coast. Cyprus
yielded to no other island in fertility, since it produced
excellent wine and oil, and abundance of wheat and
various fruits. There was also a great supply of timber
for building ships. (Strabo, 68*. ) h, mineral pro-
ductions were likewise very rich, especially copper,
found at Tamasus, and supposed to be alluded to in
the Odyssey. The first inhabitants of this island are
generally supposed to have come from Phoenicia; and
yet, that the Cyprians spoke a language different from
*e Phoenicians and peculiar to themselves, is evident
from the scattered glosses preserved by the lexicog-
raphers ind grammarians. One thing is certain, how-
ever, that the whole of the ceremonies and religious
ntes observed by the Cyprians, with respect to Venus
and Adonis, were without doubt borrowed from Phoe-
nicia. Venus, in fact, was the principal deity of the
island, and, as might be expected, the Cyprians were,
in consequence, a sensual and licentious people. Pros-
titution was sanctioned by the laws (Herod,, 1, 199
--Atktnttus, 12, p. 516), and hired flatterers and pro-
fessed sycophants attended on the luxurious princes of
the land. (ClearcK. ap. Alhen , 6, p. 255. ) Never-
theless, literature and the arts nourished here to a con-
siderable extent, even at an early period, as the name
of the Cypria Carmina, ascribed by some to Homer,
efficiently attests. (Herod, 2, 118--Athcmtus, 15,
p. 682. ) The island of Cyprus is still famed for its
fertility. The most valuable production at preser. t is
cotton. The French also send thither for turpentine,
building timber, oranges, and particularly Cyprus wine.
Hyacinths, anemonies, ranunculuses, and the sirHc
sod double narcissus, grow here without cultivation"
They deck the mountains, and give the country the
appearance of an immense flower-garden. But agri-
? ? culture is neglected, and an unwholesome atmosphere
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? i;yr
cykenk.
country, and pasturage was more attended to. Cap-
tain Beechy, in the course of his travels through thi3
region, noticed a plant about three feet in height, very
much resembling the hemlock or wild carrot. He waa
told, that it was usually fatal to the camels who ate of
it, and that its juice was so acrid as to fester the flesh,
if at all excoriated. He supposes it to be the silphium.
Delia Cells describes, apparently, the same production
as ar. umbelliferous plant, with compound, indented
leaves, fleshy, delicate, and shining, without any invotu-
cri'm; the fruit being somewhat flattened, surmounted
by three ribs, and furnished all round with a membrane
>s glossy as silk (p. 128). Captain Smith succeeded
i! bringing ever a specimen of the plant, which is said
to be now thriving in Devonshire. (Beechy, p. 410,
str/'/ ) M. Pacho says, that the Arabs call it derias;
and he proposes to class the plant as a species of la-
serwort, under the name of laserpitium derias. It
seems to resemble the laserpitium Jerulaceum of J. m-
nasus. --Cyrcnaica was called Pentapolis, from its hav-
ing five cities of note in it, Cyrene, Barce, Ptolemais,
Berenice, and Tauchira. All of these exist at the
present day under the form of towns or villages, and,
what is remarkable, their names are scarcely changed
from what we may suppose the pronunciation to have
been among the Greeks. They are now called Ku-
rin, Barca, Tollamata, hemic, and Tauter*--Some
farther remarks upon the district of Cyrcnaica will be
found under the head of Cyrene, being blended with
the history of that city as its capital. For a full ac-
count of Lhe silphium, see the 36th volume of the
W/mi'-zc. it VAcadem. des Belles Leltres, p. 18, and
lor cmto valuable observations respecting Cyrcnaica,
consult i! ie work of M. Pacho, Relation d'un Voy-
age da. is la Marmariquc, la Cyrtnaique, etc. , I'aris,
1828,4to.
Cvrenaici, a sect of philosophers who followed the
doctrines of Aristippus, and whose name was derived
from trsir founder's having been a native of Cyrene,
and from their school's having been established in this
place. Aristippus made the summumbonum and the
t:? . oc of man to consist in enjoyment, accompanied by
good taste and freedom of mind, to xpareiv Kai /"/
qrrasrOai iiftbvuv upiarov, ov to ftrj xpvot/ai. (Diog.
Lae-i , 2, 75. ) Happiness, said the Cyrenai'cs. con-
sists, not in tranquillity or indolence, but in a pleas-
ing agitation of the mind or in active enjoyment.
Pleasure is the ultimate object of human pursuit; it
is only in subserviency to this that fame, friendship,
and even virtue are to be desired All crimes are
venial, because never committed but through the im-
mediate impulse of passion. Nothing is just or un-
just by nature, but by custom and law. The business
of philosophy is to regulate the senses in that manner
which will render them most productive of pleasure.
Since, then, pleasure is to be derived, not from the past
or the future, but the present, a wise man will take care
to enjoy the present hour, and will be indifferent to life
or death. Such were the tenets of the Oyrenvc school.
The short duration of thia sect was owing, in part, to
the remote distance of Cyrene from Greece, the chief
scat of learning and philosophy; in part to the un-
bounded latitude which these philosophers allowed
themselves in practice as well as opinion; and in part
to the rise of the Epicurean sect, which taught the doc-
trine of pleasure in a more philosophical form (En-
ht'J's History of Philosophy, vol. 1, p. 197. --Tenne-
? ? manii's Manual, p. 101, Johnson's transl)
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? CVR
UtfUILLtiS.
me sophist. Numbers ol Jews, appeaf to have settled
in Cvrenaica, even prior to the Christian era. It was
>> Jew of Cyrcne whom the Roman soldiers compell-
ed to bear one end of our Saviour's cross. (Matt. ,
27,32--Mark, 15, 21. ) Cyrenean Jews were pres-
ent at Jerusalem on the day of the Pentecost; some
of them took part with their Alexandrean brethren in
disputing against the proto-martyr Stephen ; and Chris-
tian Jews of Cyprus and Cyrene, fleeing from the per-
secution of their intolerant brethren, were the first
preachers of Christianity to the Greeks of Antioch.
(Acta, 2,10; 6, 9; 11,20. ) That Cyrene continued
to flourish under the Romans, may be inferred as well
from some Latin inscriptions as from the style of many
of the architectural remains To what circumstance
its desertion is attributable, does not appear; but in
the fifth century it had become a mass of ruin. It is
to described by Syncsius, who lived in the time of
Theodosius the younger. The wealth and honours of
Cyrene were transferred to the episcopal city of Ptol-
emais. The final extirpation of the Greek colonies of
Cyrcnaica dates, however, from the destructive inva-
sion of the Persian Chosroes, who, about 616, overran
Syria and Egypt, and he advanced as far westward as
the neighbourhood of Tripoli. The Saracens comple-
ted the work of destruction, and for seven centuries
this once fertile and populous region has been lost to
civilization, to commerce, and almost to geographical
knowledge. For three parts of the year Cyrene is
untenanted, except by jackals and hyenas, and during
the fourth, wandering Bedouins, too indolent to as-
cend the higher range of hills, pitch their tents chiefly
on lite low grounds to the southward of the summit on
which the city is built. The situation of Cyrene is
described by modern travellers as singularly beautiful.
It is built on the edge of a range of hills, rising about
80t) feet above a fine sweep of high table-land, form-
ing the summit of a lower chain, to which it descends
bv a series of terraces. The elevation of the lower
chain may be estimated at 1000 feet; so that Cyrene
stands about 1800 feet above the level of the sea, of
which it commands an extensive view over the table-
land, which, extending east and west as far as the eye
". an reach, stretches about five miles to the northward,
and then descends abruptly to the coast. The view
from the brow of the height, extending over the rocks,
and woods, and distant ocean, is described by Capt.
Becchy as almost unrivalled in magnificence. Ad-
vantage has been taken of the natural terraces of the
declivity, to shape the ledges into practicable roads,
leading along the face of the mountain, and communi-
cating, in some instances, by narrow flights of steps
cut in the rock. These roads, which may be supposed
to have been the favourite drives of the citizens of Cy-
rene, are very plainly indented with the marks of char-
iot-wheels, deeply furrowing the smooth, stony sur-
face. The rock, in most instances rising perpendicu-
larly from these galleries, has been excavated into in-
numerable tombs, formed with great labour and taste,
and generally adorned with architectural facades. In
several of the excavated tombs were discovered re-
mains of paintings, representing historical, allegorical,
ind pastoral subjects, executed in the manner of those
of Herculaneum and Pompeii: some of them by no
means inferior to the best that have been found in
those cities. (For some remarks on these paintings,
consult Beeehy, p. 451, ttqq. )
? ? Cvxeschata. Vid. Cyropolis.
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? CYR
CYR
or ot A. axandrea, who feared that the bishop's author-
ity, if rot checked, might infringe upon that of the
magisUkte. Parties were formed to support the rival
claunr, and battles were fought in the streets of Alex-
andre* ^ and Orestes himself was one day suddenly
surrounded by 500 monks, by whom he would have
r>een murdered had not the people interfered. One of
these assailants, being seized, was put to the torture
so severely that he died under the operation, on which
Cyrill had him immediately canonized, and on every
occasion commended his constancy and zeal. There
alio lived in Alexandrea a learned pagan lady, named
Hypatia, with whom Orestes was intimate, and who
was supposed to have encouraged his resistance to the
claims of the bishop. This accomplished female was
one day seized by a band of zealots, who dragged her
through the streets, and concluded by tearing her limb
from limb, a piece of atrocity attributed to the instiga-
tion of Cyrill, and from which his memory has never
been absolved. He next engaged in a furious contro-
versy with Nestorius, bishop of Constantinople, who
maintained that the Virgin Mary ought not to be called
the Mother of God, but the mother of our Lord or of
Christ, since the Deity can neither be born nor die.
These homilies, falling into the hands of the Egyptian
monks, caused a great commotion among them, and
Cyrill wrote a pastoral letter to them, in which he
maintained that the Virgin Mary ought to be called
the Mother of God, and denounced bitter censures
against all who supported an opposite opinion. A con-
troversial correspondence between the two bishops en-
sued, which ended in an open war of excommunica-
tions and anathemas. To put an end to this contro-
versy, in 431 a council was held at Ephcsus by the
Emperor Theodosius; and Cyrill, by his precipitation
and violence, and not waiting for a number cf Eastern
bishops, obtained the condemnation of Nestorius with-
out his being heard in his own defence, and that prelate
was deprived of his bishopric and banished to the
Egyptian deserts. When John, bishop of Antioch,
and the other Eastern bishops, however, appeared, they
avenged Nestorius, and, deposing Cyrill, put him in
prison. In a subsequent meeting of the council, he
was liberated and absolved from the sentence of de-
position, but had the mortification cf seeing the doc-
trine which he had condemned spreading rapidly through
the Roman empire, Assyria, and Persia. He died at
Alexandrea in the year 444. Cyrill was undoubtedly
a man of learning, but overbearing, ambitious, cruel,
and intolerant in the highest degree. He is much ex-
tolled by Catholic writers for his great zeal and piety,
of which the particulars thus specified are proofs. He
was the author of a number of works, treatises, &c,
the best edition of which was published at Paris in
1630, in 7 vols, fol. , under the care of Jean Aubert,
canon of Laon. (Biogr. Univ. , vol. 10, p. 406. )
CvKHOs(Kvpvor), the Greek name of Corsica. (Vid.
Corsica. )
Cvropolis, a large city of Asia, on the banks of
the Iaxartes, founded by Cyrus. (CcUarius, Geogr.
Ant. , vol. 2. p. 715. --Salnuu. , in Sol in. , p. 480. ) It
was also called Cyreschata. Both of these names,
however, are Greek translations of the true Persian
terms. The termination of tho laat is the Greek to-
Xarn, expressing, as did the Persian one, the remote
situation of the place. Alexander destroyed it, and
built in its stead a city, called by the Roman geogra-
? ? phers Alexandrea Ultima, by the Greeks, however, 'AX-
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? CYRUS.
CYRUS.
Hi one of his vassals. Amorges, king of the Sacav vho
earns a decisive victory over the Derhices, and ai icx-
tt their land to the Persian empire. This account is
to far confirmed by Herodotus, that we do not hear
from him of any consequences that followed the sua-
tes>> of the Massagetse, or that the attention of Cam-
jyses, the son and heir of Cyrus, was called away to-
wards the North. The first recorded measure of his
reign, on the contrary, was the invasion of Egypt.
;Thtrlicairt Greece, vol. 2, p. 172, teq. )--Thus much
icr the history of Cyrus, according to the generally re-
ceived account. It is more than probable, however, that
many and conflicting statements respecting his birth,
parentage, early life, attainment to sovereign power,
and subsequent career, were circulated throughout the
East, since we find discrepances between the narra-
tives of Herodotus, Ctesias, and Xenophon in these
several particulars, that can in no other way be ac-
counted for. It has been customary with most schol-
ars to decry the testimony of Ctesias, and to regard
him as a writer of hut slender pretensions to the char-
acter of veracity. As far, however, as the history of
Cyrus was concerned, to say nothing of other parts of
his narrative, this opinion is evidently unjust, and its
injustice will be placed in the clearest light if we com-
pare together the two rival statements of Ctesias and
Herodotus. The account of the latter teems with fa-
bles, from which that of the former appears to be entire-
ly free. It is far more consistent with reason, to be-
lieve with Ctesias that there was no affinity whatever
between Cyrus and Astyages, than with Herodotus, that
the latter was his maternal grandfather. Neither does
Ctesias make any mention of that moat palpable fable,
the exposure of the infant; nor of the equallv fabulous
story respecting the cruel punishment of Harpagus.
(Compare Bahr, ad Ctes. , Pert. , c. Z, and the words
of Rtineccius, Famil. Reg. Med. tt Bactr. , Lips. ,
1572, p. 35, "ab Astyage usurpata in Curum el
Harpagi JUium erudelilatis decanlatam ab Herodoto
l -Jiulam plane rejicimun. ") Nor neos) this dissimilar-
ity between the statements of Ctesias and Herodotus
occasion any surprise. The latter historian confesses,
very ingenuously, that there were three different tradi-
tions in his time relative to the origin of Cyrus, and
that he selected the one which appeared to him most
probable (I, 96). How unfortunate this selection was
we need hardly say. Ctesias, then, chose another tra-
dition for his guide, and Xenophon, perhaps, may have
partially mingled a third with his narrative. jEschy-
ius (Persa, v. 767) appears to have followed a fourth.
(Compare Stanley, ad Alschyl. , I. c, and Larcher, ad
Ctes. , Pert. , c. 2. ) With these several accounts,
again, what the Armenian writers tell us respecting Cy-
rus is directly at variance;. (Compare Reeherehes Cu-
rieuses sur FHistoire Ancienne de VAsie, par Cirbied
tt Martin, p. 61, teqq. ) Among the modern scholars
who have espoused the cause of Ctesias, his recent ed-
itor, Bahr, stands most conspicuous. This writer re-
gards the narrative of Herodotus as savouring of tho
Greek love for the marvellous, and thinks it to have
been in some degree adumbrated from the story of the
Theban fEdipus and hia exposure on Githasroajx while,
on the other hand, Xenophon presents Cyrus to our
risw as a young man, imbued with the precepts of the
Socratic school, and exhibiting in his life and conduct
a model for the imitation of others. The same scholar
gives the following as what appears to him a near ap-
? ? proximation to the true history of Cyrua. He sup-
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? CYRUS.
? ion to the throne. He accompanied Artaxerxes,
whom the Greeks distinguished by the epithet of Mne-
mon, to Pasargadae, where the Persian kings went
through certain mystic ceremonies of inauguration, and
Tissaphernea took this opportunity of charging him
with a design against his brother's life. It would seem,
from Plutarch's account, that one of the officiating
priests was suoorned to support the charge; though it
w by no means certain that it was unfounded. Arta-
xerxes was convinced of its truth, and determined on
putting his brother to death; and Cyrus was only saved
by the passionate entreaties of Parysatis, in whose arms
he had sought refuge from tlte executioner. The char-
acter of Artaxerxes, though weak and timid, seems not
to have been naturally unamiable. The ascendency
which his mother, notwithstanding her undisscmblcd
predilection for her younger son, exercised over him,
was the source of the greater part of his crimes and
misfortunes. On this occasion he suffered it to over-
power both the suspicions suggested by Tissaphernes,
and the jealousy which the temper and situation of Cy-
rus might reasonably have excited. He not only par-
done' his brother, but permitted him to return to his
government. Cyrus felt himself not obliged, but hum-
bird, by his rival's clemency; and the danger he had
escaped only strengthened his resolution to make him-
self, as soon as possible, independent of the power to
which he owed his life. Immediately after his return
to Sardis, he began to make preparations for the exe-
cution of his design. The chief difficulty, was te keep
them concealed from Artaxerxes until they were fully
matured; for, though his mother, who was probably
from the beginning acquainted with his purpose, was
at court, always ready to put the most favourable con-
struction on his conduct, yet Tissaphernes was at hand
to watch it with malignant attention, and to send the
earliest information of any suspicious movement to the
king. Cyrus, towever, devised a variety of pretexts
'o blind Tissaphernes and the court, while he collected
an army for the expedition which he was meditating.
His main object was to raise as strong a body of Greek
troops as he could, for it was only with such aid that
he could hope to overpower an adversary, who had the
whole force of the empire at his command: and he
knew enough of the Greeks to believe, that their su-
periority over his countrymen, in skill and courage, was
sufficient to compensate for almost any inequality of
numbers. In the spring of 401 B. C. , Cyrus began
his march from Sardis. His whole Grecian force, a
part of which joined him on the route, amounted to
1 1,00X1 neavy infantry, and about 2000 targeteers. His
barbarian troops were 100,000 strong. After directing
his line of march through the whole extent of Asia Mi-
nor, he entered the BabT^r. ::? . territory; and it was
not untu ne reacnea the piain of Cunaxa, between
sixty and seventy miles from Babylon, that he became
certain of his brother's intention to hazard an engage-
ment. Artaxerxes met him in this spot at the head of
an army of 900,000 men. If we may believe Plutarch,
the Persian monarch had continued to waver almost to
the last, between the alternatives of fighting and re-
treating, and was only diverted from adopting the lat-
ter course by the energetic remonstrances of Tiriba-
zus. In the battle which ensued, the Greeks soon
routed the barbarians opposed to them, but committed
an error in pursuing them too far, and Cyrus was com-
pelled, in order to avoid being surrounded by the rest
of the king's army, to make an attack upon the centre,
? ? whero his brother was in person. He routed the
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? crz
DAC
Uie sea in its vicinity, means nothing more than that
her worship was introduced into the island by some
maritime people, probably the Phoenicians. Cythera
was a place of great importance to the Spartans, since
in enemy, if in possession'of it, would be thereby en-
abled to ravage the soutbern coast of Laconia. Its
"arbours also sheltered the Spartan fleets, and afforded
c-"otectiu:i to all merchant vessels against the attacks
? f pirates, whose depredations, on the other hand,
would have been greatly facilitated by its acquisition.
(Tkucyd. , 4, 53. ) Hence the Argives, who originally
netd it, were driven out eventually by the Spartans.
A magistrate was sent yearly from Sparta, styled Cy-
therodices, to administer justice, and to examine into
the state of the island; and so important a position
was it, that Demaratus expressly advised Xerxes to
seize it with a part of his fleet, since by that means he
would compel the Spartans to withdraw from the con-
federacy, and defend their own territories. Demara-
tus quoted, on this occasian, the opinion of Chilo, the
Lacedaemonian sage, who had declared it would be a
great benefit to Sparta if that island were sunk into
the sea. Cvthera (Cerigo) is now one of the Ionian
islands. {Virg. , ^n. , 1, 262; 10. 5. --Pauaan. , 3,
33-- Ovul. Met. , 4, 338; 15, 386.
