No More Learning

PRO
Propertitia a house in his own gardens on the
Esquiline Hill. He also procured for him the patron-
ige of Volcatius Tullus, who was consul with Augus-
tus in the year 721, and became, after the death of
Maecenas, the general protector of learning and the
<rts. It appears that the patrons of those days teased
their dependant poets with pressing solicitations to
accompany them on military expeditions and embas-
sies. An invitation of this sort from Tullus, request-
ing Properlius to attend him to Egypt and Asia Minor,
teems to have been declined (lib. 1, el. 6). But it
would appear that he at length undertook a journey
to Athens, probably as a follower of Maecenas, when
DC attended Augustus in his progress through Greece
(3, 21). Little farther is known concerning the events
if his life, and even the precise period of his death
>> uncertain. He was alive in 736, when the em-
peror promulgated a law concerning marriage, in
which severe penalties were imposed on celibacy.
His death is generally placed about the year 740,
when he had not exceeded thu age of 40. But there
seems no sufficient proof that he died earlier than 760,
<<i which time Ovid,during his banishment, wrote an el-
egy, where he speaks of him as deceased. --The whole
life of Propertius was devoted to female attachments.
He was first enticed, in early youth, by Lycinna, an
inful slave; but subsequently Cynthia became the
more permanent object of his affections. The lady
ffhoni he lias celebrated under this name was the
laughter of the poet Hostius, and her real name was
Hostia (3, 13). This fascinating object of his ruling
and permanent attachment had received an education
equal to that of the most distinguished Roman ladies
of the day. She was skilled in music, poetry, and
every other accomplishment calculated to make an im-
pression on a youthful and susceptible mind. But with
? II these advantages, she shared no small portion of the
artifice and extravagance which characterized the do-
Biestic manners of the Roman fair in the age of Au-
gustus. Hence our poet was the constant sport of the
varying humours of his Cynthia. But, notwithstand-
ing occasional jealousies and estrangements of affec-
tion, this female, until her death (which happened when
the poet was about thirty years of age), continued to
be his reigning passion, and the chief theme of his el-
egies. --These productions, which- are nearly one hun-
dred in number, are divided into four books. The
first book is almost exclusively devoted to the celebra-
tion of the poet's love for Cynthia. In the second and
third books, also, she is still his principal theme, but
his strain becomes moral and didactic. He now de-
claims against the extravagance of his age; against that
love of pomp and luxury, which, in his time, dishon-
oured the Roman fair, and which he beautifully con-
trasts with the simple manners of a distant period, con-
cluding with a pathetic prediction of the fall of Rome,
Accelerated by its own overgrown wealth, and the per-
nicious thirst of gold. The elegies of the fourth book,
which were not made public till after the death of the
poet, are entirely of a different description from those
by which they are preceded. They are chiefly hcroi-
eal and didactic, comprehending the praises of Augus-
tus, and long narrations drawn frnm Ko. nan fable and
Italian antiquities. -- In point of general composition,
the elegies of Propertius are almost pe/fect. He flour-
? >hed at a period and in a capital in which style had
attained its greatest purity. He li,- <1 in the society
? ? of Gallus, Ovid, and Mecenas, and under the sway
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? PRO
PRU
eutal etymologies, is remembered only to be condemn-
ed. (Asiatic Researches, vol. 5, p. 298. ) On the
supposition that Proserpina was regarded as the daugh-
ter of Mother Earth, and a personification of the corn,
her name will signify Food-shower (from o(pu, iiptu,
"to feed," and Qau, e)aivu, "to show. " -- VSlcker,
Myth, der lap. , p. 201, seq. ) Regarded, however, as
the queen of the monarch of Erebus, the appellation
will mcar. Light-destroyer, the first part of the name
bsing akin to nip, "fire," and to the Pers in Perse
and Perseus. (Sehwenck, Andeut. , p. 247. ) The
common explanation o! the term is Death-bearer, from
O'/hj. " to bear," and Qovoc, "destruction," "death. "
The Persephatta of the Dramatists seems to be only
x corruption of Persephone, and the same remark may
be made of the Latin Proserpina. Vossiue is right in
condemning the etymology given by Arnobius: "l)i-
eitis quod sola in lucem proserpant, eognominatam
esse Proserpinam. " (Arnob. , 3, p. 119. ) According
to Knight, Proserpina was in reality the personification
of the heat or fire supposed to pervade the earth, which
was held to be at once the cause and effect of fertility
and destruction, as being at once the cause and effect
of fermentation, from which both proceed. (Knight's
Inquiry, 117. --Class. Journ. , vol. 25, p. 39. )
Protagoras, a Greek philosopher, a native of Ab-
dera, and disciple of Democritus. In his youth, his
poverty obliged him to perform the servile offices of a
porter; and he was frequently employed in carrying
logs of wood from the neighbouring fields of Abdera.
It happened, that as he was going on briskly one day
towards the city under one of these loads, he was met
by Democritus, who was particularly struck with the
neatness and regularity of the bundle. Desiring him
to stop and rest himself, Democritus examined more
clusely the structure of the load, and found that it was
i/ov together with mathematical exactness. On this
he invited the youth to follow him, and, taking him to
his own house, maintained him at his own expense
and taught him philosophy. Protagoras afterward ac-
quired reputation at Athens, among the sophists, for
his eloquence, and among the philosophers for his wis-
dom. His public lectures were much frequented, and
re had many disciples, from whom he received the
most liberal rewards, so that, as Plato relates, he be-
tame exceedingly rich. At length, however, he brought
upon himself the displeasure of the Athenian state, by
teaching doctrines favourable to impiety. His wri-
tings were ordered to be diligently collected by the
common crier, and burned in the market-place, and he
himself was banished from Attica. He wrote many
pieces upon logic, metaphysics, ethics, and politics,
none of which are at present extant. After having
lived many years in Epirus, he was lost by sea on his
voyage from that country to Sicily. The tenets of
Protagoras, as far as they have been discovered, ap-
pear to have leaned towards scepticism. (Enfield's
History of Philosophy, vol. 1, p. 432, seqq. )
Protksii. aus, a king of part of Thessaly, son of
Iphiclus, originally called Iolaus, grandson of Phyla-
cus, and brother to Alcimede, the mother of Jason.
He married Laodamia, the daughter of Acastus, and,
some time after, departed with the rest of the Greeks
for the Trojan war. He was the first of the Greeks
who set foot on the Trojan shore, and was killed as
noon as he had leaped from his ship. Homer has not
mentioned the person who slew him. His wife Lao-
? ? damia destroyed herself when she heard of his death.
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? PROTOGENES.
PRU
wonderful precision, and then retired without disclo-
sing his name. Protogenes, on returning home, and
discovering what had been done, exclaimed that Apel-
les alone could have executed such'a sketch. Still,
however, he drew another himself, a line more perfect
than that of Apelles, and left directions with his do-
mestic, that, when the stranger should call again, he
should be shown what had been done by him. Apel-
es came accordingly, and perceiving that his line had
been excelled by Protogenes, drew a third one still
more perfect than the other two, and cutting both.
Protogenes now confessed himself vanquished; he
ran to the harbour, sought for Apelles, and the two ar-
tists became the warmest friends. (Consult, as re-
gards the question whether the story refers to a mere
number of separate lines having been drawn on this
occasion, or to entire outlines, the*remarks of Quatre-
mere de Quincy, Mem. de Plnstit. , vol. 7. --Joum.
ics Sav. , Avril, 1823, p. 219. --Magasin Encyclop. ,
1808, vol, 4, p. 153, 407. ) The canvass containing
this famous trial of skill became highly prized, and at
a later day was placed in the palace of the Caesars at
Rome. It was destroyed by a conflagration, together
with the edifice itself. Protogenes was employed for
seven years in finishing a picture of Ialysus, a cele-
brated huntsman, supposed to have been the son of
Apollo, and the founder of Rhodes. During all this
time the painter lived only upon lupines and water,
thinking that such aliments would leave him greater
Sights of fancy; but all this did not seem to make him
more successful in the perfection of his picture. He
was to represent in the piece a dog panting, and with
froth at his mouth; but this he never could do with
satisfaction to himself; and, when all his labours seem-
ed to be without success, he threw his sponge upon
the piece in a fit of anger. Chance alone brought to
perfection what the labours of art could not accom-
plish: the fall of the sponge upon the picture repre-
sented the froth at the mouth of the dog in the most
perfect and natural manner, and the piece was univer-
sally admired. The same story is told of Nealces
while engaged in painting a horse; and probably one
of these anecdotes has been copied from the other.
According to Pliny, Protogenes painted this picture
with four layers of colours, in such a way, that, when
one was destroyed by the hand of time, the layer un-
derneath would reproduce the piece in all its original
freshness and beauty. The account appears a diffi-
cult one to comprehend. Apelles, on seeing this pro-
duction of the pencil, is said to have broken out into
loud expressions of admiration; but what consoled
him was the reflection that his own pieces surpassed
those of Protogenes in grace. When Demetrius be-
sieged Rhodes, he refused to set fire to a part of the
city, which might have made him master of the whole,
because he was informed that this part contained some
of the finest productions of the pencil of the artist. Pro-
togenes himself occupied, during the siege, a house ir.
the suburbs, in the very midst of the enemy's lines;
and when Demetrius expressed his astonishment at the
feeling of security which the painter displayed, the lat-
ter replied, "I know very well that Demetrius is ma-
ting war upon the Rhodians, not upon the arts. " The
prince thereupon, for greater safety, posted a guard
? round his dwelling. --During the reign of Tiberius,
sketches and designs of Protogenes were to be seen at
Rome, which were regarded as models of the beau, ideal.
? ? His picture of Ialysus was brought from Greece, and
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? PR IT
PSA
dentins Amamus in a Strasburg manuscript. (Fabric,
Comment, ad Poet. , p. 7. --Leyser, Hist. Poet. , p.
10. )--The best editions of Prudentius are, that of
Weitzius, Hannov. , 1613, 8vo; that of Cellarius,
Hal. , 1703, 1739, 8vo; and that of Teollius, Parma,
1788, 2 vols. 4to. (Schbll, Hist. Lit. Horn. , vol. 3,
p. 72, seqq. -- Bohr, Gesch. Rom. lot. , vol. 2, p. 41,
MM. )
Prusa, a city of Bithynia, at the foot of Mount
Olympus, and hence called Prusa ad Olympum (Tlpov-
5u eiri r? 'OXi/my). Pliny asserts, without naming
his authority, that this town was founded by Hannibal
(6, 32). By which expression we are probably to un-
derstand that it was built at the instigation of -nis
great general, when he resided at the court of Pruaias,
from whom the name of the city seems evidently de-
rived. But Strabo, following a still more remote tra-
dition, affirms that it was founded by Prusias, who
made war against Croesus. (Slrah. , 5fii. ) InStepha-
nus, who copies Strabo, the latter name is altered to
Cyrus (s. v. Upovaa). But it is probable that both
readings are faulty, though it is not easy lo see what
substitution should be made. (Consult the French
Strabo, vol. 4, lib. 12, p. 82. ) Dio Chrysostom, who
was a native of Prusa, did not favour the tradition
which ascribed to it so early an origin as that author-
ized by the reading in Strabo. (Oral. , 43, p. 585. )
Stephanus informs us that Prusa was but a small
town. Strabo, however, states that it enjoyed a good
government. It continued to flourish under the Ro-
man empire, as may be seen from Pliny the younger
(10, 85); but under the Greek emperors it suffered
much from the wars carried on against the Turks.
(Meet. Ckon. , p. 180, D. , p. 339, A. ) It finally re-
mained in the hands of the descendants of Osman,
who made it the capital of their empire, under the cor-
rupted name of Brusa or Broussa. It is still one of
the most flourishing towns possessed by the infidels
in Anatolia. (Browne's Travels, in Walpole's Tur-
key, vol. 2, p. 108. -- Cramer's Asia Minor, vol. 1,
p. 178. )
Pkusias, I. king of Bithynia, son of Zielas, began
(o reign about B C. 228, and was still reigning B. C.
190, at the time of the war between the Romans and
Antiochus; for Polybius intimates that the Prusias
who was solicited by Antiochus had been reigning for
some time. (Polyb. , 21, 9. ) In B. C. 216'Prusias
defeated the Gauls in a great battle. (Polyb. , 5, 111. )
In B. C. 207 he invaded the territories of Attains I.
He was included in the treaty with Philip in B. C.
205. (Lit). , 29, 12. ) Strabo asserts that it was this,
the elder, Prusias with whom Hannibal sought refuge.
^Slrab. , 563. ) And the accounts of other writers
contain nothing to disprove this testimony. But if
the elder Prusias received Hannibal, he was still liv-
ing at the death of Hannibal in B. C. 183. (Clinton,
Fast. Hell. , vol. 2, p. 416, seq. )--II. The second of
the name appears to have ascended the throne of Bi-
thynia between B. C. 183 and B. C. 179. The two
reigns of Prusias I. and Prusias II. occupied a period
of about 79 years (B. C. 228-150). Prusias II. mar-
ried the sister of Perseus, king of Maccdon. (Appi-
an. Bell. Mithrad. , c. 2. ) He was surnamed 6 Ki>>>j/-
yoe. or The Hunter, and was long engaged in war
with Attalus, king of Pergamus. He is commonly
supposed to have been the monarch who abandoned
Hannibal when the latter was sought after by the Ro-1
? ? mans; though Strabo assigns this to Prusias I. This
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? PSO
f 8T
or paying them the suns of money which he had prom-
tied, but also in assigning them lands on the Syrian
frontier, where they formed, in fact, a military colony.
Psammitichus showed a great partiality for the Greeks
an all occasions; and, ifi a Syrian expedition, he gave
'. hem the place of honour on the right, while he as-
signed ihe left to the Egyptians. The discontent of
the national troops was so great at this, that a large
number of the military caste, amounting, it is said, to
340,000 men, left Egypt and retired to Ethiopia.
(Consult, on this subject, the learned note of St. Mar-
in, Biogr. Univ. , vol. 36, p. 180, seq. ) So strong
was the partiality of Psammitichus for everything
Greek, that he caused a number of children to be
trained up after the Grecian manner, and with these
he formed the caste of interpreters, whom Herodotus
found in his day existing in Egypt. Psammitichus
also embellished his capital with several beautiful
structures, and, among others, with the southern nro-
pylaia of the great temple of Vulcan. He carried on
a long war in Syria, and his forces are said to have
remained 29 years before the city of Azotus. It was
during this period, probably, that he arrested by pres-
ents the victorious career of the Scythians, who had
averrun Asia Minor, and were advancing upon Pales-
tine and Egypt. This event would seem to have
happened 626 B. C. , or in the 13lh year of the reign
of the Jewish king Josiah, when the prophet Isaiah
announced the approaching irruption of the Scythians
into the territories of Israel. Psammitichus died after
a reign of 54 years, leaving the crown to his son Ne-
cos. --Herodotus relates a very foolish story of Psam-
mitichus, who, it seems, was desirous of ascertaining
? vhat nation wis the most ancient in the world; or,
In ether words, what was the primitive language of
txen. In order to discover this, he took two newly-
bom children, and, having caused them to be placed
ia a lonely hut, directed a shepherd to nourish thorn
with the milk of goats, which animals were sent in to
them at stated times, and to take care himself never
to 'Jtter a word in their hearing. The object was to
ascertain what words they would first utter of them-
selves. At length, on one occasion, when the shep-
herd went in to them as usual, both the children, run-
ning up to him, called out Bckoa. Psammitichus, on
being informed of the circumstance, made inquiries
about the word, and found that it was the Phrygian
term for bread. He therefore concluded that th6
Phrygians were the most ancient of men! The truth
is, the cry which the children uttered (supposing the
story to be true) was bek (with the Greek termination
as given by Herodotus, bek-os), and the children had
learned it from the cry of the goats which suckled
hem. (Herod. , 3, 151, teqq. --St. Martin, in Biogr.
mtr. , vol. 36, p. 178, teqq. )--II. A descendant of
the preceding, who came to the throne about 400 B. C. ,
-s a kind of vassal-king to Persia. (St. Martin, in
Hiogr. Unit. , vol. 36, p. 181. )
Psophis, a very ancient city in the northwestern
fart of Arcadia. Pausanias places it at the foot of the
chain of Erymanthus, from which descended a river
of the same name, which flowed near the city, and, af-
ter receiving another small stream called Aroanius,
rained the Alpheus on the borders of Elis (8, 84).
Psophis itself had previously borne the names of Ery-
wamthus and Phegea. At the time of the Social war,
was in tho possession of the Eleana, on whose ter-
? ? utory it bordered, as well as on that of the Achaans;
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? no
PTOI. EM. ELn.
L:rn in ner favour. Jupiter takes pity on her and en-
dows her with immortality: Venus in reconciled, and
the marriage of Psyche with Cupid takes place amid
great joy in the skies. The offspring of their union
was a child, whom hi<< parents named Pleasure. (Apu-
Uius, Mil. , 4, 83, seqq. --Op. , ed Oudend. , vol. 1, p.
300, seqq. -- Keighlley's Mythology, p. 148, seqq. --
Among the various explanations that have been given
of this beautiful legend, the following appears the
most satisfactory : 1 his fable, it is said, is a represent-
ation of the human soul (i/w^y). The soul, which is
of divine origin, is here below subjected to error in its
prison-house, the body. Hence trials and purifications
are set before it, that it may become capable of a
higher view of things, and of true desire. Two loves
meet it: the earthly, a deceiver, who draws it down to
earthly things; the heavenly, who directs its view to
the original, fair and divine, and who, gaining the vic-
tory over his rival, leads off the soul as his bride.
[Hilt, Berlin Akaci, 1816. --Creuser, Symbolik, vol.
3, p. 673. )
Psvlli, a people cf Libya near the Syrtes, very ex-
pen in curing the venomous bite of serpents, which
had no fatal effect upon them. They were destroyed
by the Nasamones, a neighbouring people. It seems
very probable that the Nasamones circulated the idle
story respecting the destruction of the Psylli, which
Herodotus relates, without, however, giving credit to
it. He states that a south wind had dried up all the
reservoirs of the Psylli, and that the whole country,
as far as the Syrtes, was destitute of water. They re-
solved, accordingly, after a public consultation, to
make an expedition against the south wind , but, hav-
ing reached the deserts, the south win<: overwhelmed
them beneath the sands. (Lucan, 9, 804, 937. --He-
-od. , 4, 172. --Pausan. , 9, 28. )
Pteria, a small territory, forming part of Cappa-
docia according to Herodotus (1, 76), or, more prop-
erly speaking, of Paphlagonia, and in the vicinity of
the city of Sinope. Here the first battle took place
oetween Crcesus and Cyrus. (Herod. , 1. c. -- Lar-
cher, Hist. Herod. , vol. 8, p. 468. )
Prot. EM. SiDs, I. surnamed Soter, and sometimes
Lagi (i. e. , son of Lagus), king of Egypt, and son of
Arsinoe, who, when pregnant by Philip of Macedonia,
married Lagus. (Vid. Lagus. ) Ptolemy was edu-
cated in the court of tho King of Macedonia. Ho be-
came one of the friends and associates of Alexander,
and, when that monarch invaded Asia, the son of Ar-
jinoe attended him as one of his generals. During
ihe expedition he behaved with uncommon valour;
ne killed one of the Indian monarchs in single com-
bat, and it was to his prudence and courage that Alex-
ander was indebted for thq reduction of the rock Aor-
nus. After the conqueror's death, in the general di-
vision of the Macedonian empire. Ptolemy obtained
as his share the government of Egypt, with Libya,
and part of the neighbouring territories of Arabia. In
this appointment the governor soon gained the esteem
of the people by acts of kindness, by benevolence and
clemency, though he did not assume the title of inde-
pendent monarch till seventeen years after. He made
himself master of Coelosyria, Phoenicia, and the neigh-
bouring coast of Syria; and when he had reduced Je-
rusalem, he carried above 100,000 prisoners to Egypt,
to people the extensive city of Alexandres, which be-
came the capital of his dominions. After he had ren-
? ? dered these prisoners the most attached and faithful of
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? PTOLEM^US.
PTOLEM. tX'S.
married wilh the consent of Phihdelphue. With the
most rapid success lie conquered Syria and Cilicia,
and advanced as far as Bactriana and the confines of
India; but a sedition at home stopped his progress,
and he retimed to Egypt loaded with the spoils of
conquered nations. Among the immense riches
which he brought, he had many statues of the Egyp-
tian gods, which Cambyscs had carried away into Per-
lia when he conquered Egypt. These were restored
to the temples, and the Egyptians called their sover-
eign Euergetes (or Benefactor), in acknowledgment
of his attention, beneficence, and religious zeal for the
gids of his country. The last years of Ptolemy's
reign were passed in peace if we except the refusal
of the Jews to pay the tribute of 20 silver talents
which their ancestors had always paid to the Egyptian
monarchs. Euergetes died 221 years before Christ,
after a reign of 25 years; and, like his two illustrious
predecessors, was the patron of learning. --IV. The
fourth, succeeded his father Euergetes on the throne of
Egypt, and received the surname of PhilopatoT, prob-
ably from the regard which he manifested for the mem-
ory of his father; though, according to some authori-
ties, he destroyed him by poison. He began his reign
with acts of the greatest cruelty, and he successively
sacrificed to his avarice his own mother, his wife, his
sister, and his brother. He received, in derision, the
name of Typhon. from his evil morals, and that of
Gollus, because he appeared in the streets of Alex-
andres with all the gestures of the priests of Cybele.
In the midst of his pleasures Philopator was called to
war against Antiochus, king of Syria, and at the head
of a powerful army he soon invaded his enemy's ter-
ritories, and might have added the kingdom of Syria to
Egypt if he had made a prudent use of the victories
which attended his arms. In the latter part of his
reign, the Romans, whom a dangerous war w'th Car-
tnagc had weakened, but, at the same time, roused to
superior activity, renewed, for political reasons, the
treaty of alliance which had been made with the
Egyptian monarchs. Philopator at last, weakened and
enervated by intemperance and continued debauchery,
died in the 37th year of his age, after a reign of 17
years, 204 years before the Christian era. --V. The
fifth, succeeded his father Philopator as king of Egypt,
though only in the fourth year of his age. During the
years of his minority he was under the protection of
Sosicius and of Aristomenes, by whose prudent ad-
ministration Antiochus was dispossessed of the prov-
inces of Ccelosyria and Palestine, which he had con-
quered in war. The Romans also renewed their al-
liance with him after their victories over Hinnibal,
and the conclusion of the second Punic war. This
flattering embassy induced Aristomenes to ofTtt the
care of the patronage of the young monarch to the
Romans; but the regent was confirmed in his honour-
able office, and, by making a treaty of alliance with
the people of Achaia, he convinced the Egyptians that
he was qualified to wield the sceptre and to govern
the nation. But, now that Ptolemy had reached his
14th year, according to the laws and customs of
Egypt, the years of his minority nod expired.