Allectus, a
praetorian
prefect, who slew Carausius
in Britain, and took possession of his throne, holding
it for three years, from 294 to 297 AD.
in Britain, and took possession of his throne, holding
it for three years, from 294 to 297 AD.
Charles - 1867 - Classical Dictionary
This route, however, was not much used, on
mount of the dangerous navigation of the higher parts
of the Red Sea. The second point was the harbour
ofMyo* Honnus, in latitude 27? . The third was
Berenice, south of Myos Hormus, in latitude 23? 30'.
What the ships deposited at either of the last two
pUcei, the caravans brought to Coptos on the Nile,
whence the; were conveyed to Alexandrea by a canal
connecting this capital with the Canopic branch. Be-
tween Coptos and Berenice a road was constructed by
Ptolemj Philadelphias, 258 miles in length. Ptolemy,
the ion of Lagus, who received Egypt in the general
division, improved what Alexander had begun. On
the long, narrow island of Pharos, which is very near
the coast, and formed a port with a double entrance,
a magnificent tower of white marble was erected, to
jer. e? as a beacon and guide for navigators. The ar-
chitect was Sostratus of Cnidus. --The first inhabi-
tantiof Aleiandrea were a mixture of Egyptians and
Greeks, to whom must be added numerous colonies of
Jew<<, transplanted thither in 336, 320, and 312 B. C. ,
t: increase the population of the city. It was they
who made the well-known Greek translation of the
Old Testament, under the name of Septuaginta or
the Sepluagint. --The most beautiful part of the city,
near the great harbour, where stood the royal palaces,
magnificently built, was called Bruchion. There was
the large and splendid edifice, belonging to the acad-
emy and Museum, where the greater portion of the
royal library (400,000 volumes) was placed; the rest,
imounting to 300,000, were in the Serapion, or temple
of Jupiter Serapis. The larger portion was burned
daring the siege of Alexandrea by Julius Cmsar, but
was afterward in part replaced by the library of Per-
gamus, which Antony presented to Cleopatra. The
Museum, where many scholars lived and were sup-
ported, ate together, studied, and instructed others, re-
mained unhurt till the reign of Aurelian, when it was
destroyed in a period of civil commotion. The libra-
rf in the Serapion was preserved to the time of The-
odoaius the Great. He caused all the heathen tem-
ples throughout the Roman empire to be destroyed;
and even the splendid temple of Jupiter Serapis was
not spared. A crowd of fanatic Christians, headed by
their archbishop, Theodosius, stormed and destroyed it.
At that time, the library, it is said, was partly burned,
partly dispersed; and the historian Orosius, towards
the close of the fourth century, saw only the empty
? helves. The common account, therefore, is <in erro-
neous one. which makes the library in question to have
been destroyed by the Saracens at the command of
the Calif Omar, A. I). 642, and to have furnished fuel
during six months to the 4000 baths of Alexandrea.
This narrative rests merely on the authority of the
historian Abulpharagius, and has no other proof at all
to support it. But, whatever may have been the cause
of this disastrous event, the loss resulting to science
was irreparable. The Alexandrean library, called by
livy "Elegantitf regum curotque cgregium opus," em-
braced the whole Greek and Latin literature, of which
we possess bat simple fragments. -- In the divis-
ion of the Roman dominions, Alexandrea, with the
rest of Egypt, was comprehended in the Eastern em-
pire. The Arabs possessed themselves of it in 640;
the Calif Motawakc I, in 845, restored the library and
? ? academy; but the Turks took the city in 868, and it
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? ALEXANDRINA SCHOLA.
ALEXANDRINA SCHOLA.
(Mannert, 4, p. 159 and 256. ) For the true Alexan-
dri Arte, vid. Hyphasis.
Alexandri castra (7 'kfa! ;av6pov nape/iio^y), a
place in Marmarica, at the Oasis of Amnion, where
the Macedonian forces were encamped while Alexan-
der was consulting the oracle. (Ptol. )
Alexandri insula, an island in the Sinus Persi-
cus, on the Persian coast. (Ptol. --Plin. , 6, 25. )
Alexandri portus, a harbour of Gedrosia, where
the fleet of Nearchus was detained four weeks by ad-
verse winds. (Arrian, Indie, 22. ) It was in the
immediate vicinity of Kims Promontorium, or Cape
Monze. (Compare Vincent's Commerce of the An-
cients, vol. 1, p. 197. )
Alexandrine Aqu^E, baths in Rome, built by the
Emperor Alexander Scverus.
AlexandrTna schola. When the flourishing pe-
riod of Greek poetry was past, study was called in to
supply what nature no longer furnished. Alexandrea
in Egypt was made the scat of learning by the Ptole-
mies, admirers of the arts, whence this age of liter-
ature took the name of the Alcxandrcan. Ptolemy
Philadelphus founded the famous library of Alexan-
drea, the largest and most valuable one of antiquity,
which attracted many scholars from all countries; and
also the Museum, which may justly be considered the
first academy of sciences and arts. (Vid. Alexandrea. )
The grammarians and poets arc the most important
among the scholars of Alexandrea. These gramma-
rians were philologists and literati, who explained
things as well as words, and may be considered a kind
of encyclopedists. Such were Zenodotus the Ephe-
sian, who established the first grammar-school in Alex-
andrea, Eratosthenes of Cyrenc, Aristophanes of By-
zantium, Aristarchus of Samothrace, Crates of Malius,
Dionysius the Thracian, Apollonius the Sophist, and
Zoilus. Their merit is to have collected, examined,
reviewed, and preserved the existing monuments of
intellectual culture. To them we are indebted for
what is called the Alcxandrcan Canon, a list of the
authors whose works were to be regarded as models
in the respective departments of Grecian literature.
The names composing this Canon, with some remarks
upon its claims to attention, will be given at the close
of the present article. --To the poets of the Alexan-
drean age belong Apollonius the Rhodian, Lyco-
phron, Aratus, Nicander, Euphorion, Callimachus,
Theocritus, Philctas, Phanocles, Timon the Phliasian,
Scymnus, Dionysius, and seven tragic poets, who were
called the Alcxandrean Pleiades. The Alexandrean
age of literature differed entirely, in spirit and charac-
ter, from the one that preceded. Great attention was
paid to the study of language; correctness, purity,
and elegance were cultivated; and several writers of
this period excel in these respects. But that which
no study can give, the spirit which filled the earlier
poetry of the Greeks, is not to be found in most of
their works. Greater art in composition took its
place; criticism was now to perform what genius had
accomplished before. But this was impossible. Ge-
nius was the gift of only a few, and they soared far
above their contemporaries. The rest did what may
be done by criticism and study; but their works arc
tame, without soul and life, and those of their disci-
ples, of course, still more so. Perceiving the want of
originality, but appreciating its value, and striving af-
ter it, they arrived the sooner at the point where poe-
? ? try is lost. Their criticism degenerated into a dispo-
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? ALF.
for-which precedent might not be found; and as there
were tar more bail than good writers, the authority
and weight of numbers was likely to prevail, and the
language, consequently,to grow more and more cor-
rupt. It was thought necessary, therefore, to draw a
line between those classic writers, to whose authority
an appeal in matter of language might be made, and
the common herd of inferior authors. In the most cul-
tivated modern tongues, it seems to have been found
expedient to erect some such barrier against the in-
roads of corruption; and to this preservative caution
are we indebted for the vocabulary of the Academi-
cians delia Crusca, and the list of authors therein cited
as affording l'lesti di lingua. " To this we owe the
Dictionaries of the Royal Academies of France and
Spain, of their respective languages ; and Johnson's
Dictionary of our own. But, as for the example first
set in this matter by the Alexandtean critics, its effects
upon their own literature have been of a doubtful na-
ture In so far as the canon has contributed to pre-
serve to us some of the best authors included in it, we
cannot but rejoice. On the other hand, there is rea-
son to believe, that the comparative neglect into which
those not received into it were sure to fall, has been
the occasion of the loss of a vast number of writers,
who would have been, if not for their language, yet for
their matter, very precious; and who, perhaps, in many
eases, were not easily to be distinguished, even on the
score of style, from those that were preferred. (Moore's
Lectures, p. 55, seqq. ) The details of the canon are
as follows: I. Epic Poets. Homer, Hesiod, Pisan-
der. Panyasis, Antimachus. 2. Iambic Poets. Ar-
chitochus. Simonides, Hipponax. 3. Lyric Poets.
Alcraan, Alcsus, Sappho, Stesichorus, Pindar, Bac-
ehylides, Ibveus, Anacreon, Simonides. 4. Elegiac
Poets. Caliinus, Mtmnermus, Philetas, Callimachus.
5. Tramc Poets. (First Class): ? Eschylus, Sopho-
cles. Euripides, Ton. Achteus, Agathon. (Second
Ciasi, or Tragic Pleiades): Alexander the . 'Etolian,
P. iiliscus of Corcyra, Sositheus, Homer the younger,
-Exnlidcs, Sosiphanea or Sosiclcs, Lycophron. 6.
Coauc Poets. (Old Comedy) : Epicharmus, Cratinus,
En p . 1;-. Aristophanes, Pherccrates, Piato. (Middle
Comedy): Antiphanes, Alexis. (New Comedy): Me-
ander. Phiiippides, Diphilus. Philemon, Apollodorus.
7. Historians. Herodotus, Thucydides, Xenophon,
Theopompus, Ephorus, Philistus, Anaximenes, Cal-
bsthenes. 8. Orator*. (The ten Attic Orators):
Antiphon, Andocides, Lysias, Isocrates. Ismus, /Es-
chines, Lycurgus, Demosthenes, Hyperides, Dinar-
ehas. 9. Philosophers. Plato, Xenophon, . Eschines,
Aristotle, Theophraatus. 10. Poetic Pleiades. (Sev-
iea poets of the same epoch with one another): Apol-
lonius the Rhodian, Aratus, Philiscus, Homer the
younger, Lycophron, Nicander, Theocritus. (Schiill,
Hist. Lit. Gr. , vol. 3, p. 186, seqq. )
Aieiindropolis, a city of Parthia, probably east
of Xisaea, built by Alexander the Great. (Plin. , 6, 25. )
Alexabchus, a Greek historian. Vid Supplement.
Alexicacus, an epithet applied to various deities,
particularly to Jupiter, Apollo, Hercules, Sec. It means
"m arerler of evil," and is derived from <Uef<i, " to
atert," or " -ward o/T," and kokov, "evil. " Another
Greek term of the same import is uTrorpoTraioc, and
analogous to both is the Latin acerruncus. (Consult
Fischer, ad Anstoph . Plul. . 359. )
Alexias, a Greek physician. Vid. Supplement.
AlexTnus, a native of Elis, the disciple of Eubuli-
? ? iti. and a member of the Alegaric <<ect. He set him-
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? ALL
AT. O
Alimentcs, C, a Roman historian, who flourished
during the period of the second Punic war, of which
he wrote an account in Greek. He was the author
also of a biographical sketch, in Latin, of the Sicilian
rhetorician Ciorgias of Leontini, and of a work De Re
Mihtan. This last-mentioned production is cited by
Aulus Gellius, and is acknowledged by Vegetius as
the foundation of his more elaborate commentaries on
the same subject. (Dunlop's Roman Lit, vol 2, p
25, in notis. )
Alinpa, a city of Caria, southeast of Stratonicea
It was a place of some note and strength, and was held
by Ada, queen of Caria, at the time that Alexander
undertook the siege of Halicarnassus. (Arrian, Exp.
Al,\, 23. --Strab, 657. ) The site has been iden-
tified by many antiquaries with the modem Moglah,
the principal town of modern Caria, but on what au-
thority is not apparent. Another traveller, from the
similarity of names, places it at Ateina, between
Mot'lah and Tshina. (Renncll's Geogr. of Western
Asia, vol. 2, p. 53. --Cramer's Asia Minor, vol. 2,
p 208. J
Aupius. Vid. Alypius.
Ai. iKROTHius. Vtd. Halirrothius.
Allectus, a praetorian prefect, who slew Carausius
in Britain, and took possession of his throne, holding
it for three years, from 294 to 297 AD. He was at
last defeated and slain by Asclcpiodotus, a general of
Constantius Chlorus, who landed on the coast of the
island with an army. (Aurcl. Kir/. , 39. )
AllTa, a river of Italy, running down, according to
Livy, from the mountains of Crustumium, at the
eleventh milestone, and flowing into the Tiber. It
was crossed by the Via Salaria, about four miles beyond
the modern Marctgliano, and is now the Aia. Cluve-
rius (Ital. Ant. , vol. 1, p. 707) is mistaken when he
identifies the Allia with the Rio di Mosso, as that riv-
ulet is much beyond the given distance from Rome.
(Niblnj, dellc Vie degtt Antichi, p. 87. ) On its banks
the Unmans were defeated by the Gauls under Bren-
nus, July 17th, B. C. 387. Forty thousand Romans
were cither killed or put to flight. Hence in the Ro-
man calendar, " Allicnsis dies" was marked as a most
unlucky day. (Livy, 5, 37. -- Floras, 1,13. -- Pint. ,
Vit. Cam. ) The true name of the river is Alia, with
the first vowel short. Our mode of pronouncing and
writing the name is derived from the poets, who length-
ened the initial vowel by the duplication of the con-
sonant. (Niebuhr, Roman Hist. , vol. 2, p. 291, Wal-
ter's transl. , in notis. )
Alliem forth. Vid. Forum II.
Allh-a:, a town of Samnium, northwest of the Vul-
tumus, the name of which often occurs in Livy. It
was taken, according to that historian, bv the consul
Pctilius, A. U. C. 429; and again by Rutilius. (Liu. .
8. 25. --Id. , 9, 38. ) This place was famous for the
large-sized drinking-cups made there. (Horat. , Serm. ,
2, 8, 39. ) ^ The ancient site is occupied by the modern
Allifc. For a description of the numerous antiquities
existing at Allife. consult Trulta, Diss. sopr. le An-
tich. Alif. {Cramer's Ant. Italy, vol. 2, p. 233. )
Allobrooes, a people of Gallia, between the Isara
or here, and the Rhodantis or Rhone, in the country
answering to Dauphine. Piedmont, and Savoy. Their
chief city was Vienna, now Vienne. on the left hank
of the Rhodanus, thirteen miles below Lngdiinum or
Lyons. They were finally reduced beneath the Roman
? ? power by Fabius Maximus. who hence was honoured
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? ALO
*pace? of *^irteen months, until Mercury "stole him
away" foxAt^fi. ). Later writers add, of course,
many other particulars. Apollodorus makes Ephialtes
to have aspired to a union with Juno, and Otus with
Diana. (Compare Nonnus, Dionys. , 48, 402. -- Hy-
gin. Fab. , 28. ) He farther states, that Diana effected
their destruction in the island of Naxos. She changed
herself, it seems, into a hind, and bounded between
the two brothers, who, in their eagerness each to slay
the animal, pierced one another with their weapons
{if tavroyr r,KvvTiaav). Diodorus Siculus (6, 51)
gives an historical air to the narrative, making the two
brothers to have held sway in Naxos, and to have fallen
in a quarrel by each other's hand. (Compare Pind. ,
Py'h-,4, 88. ed. Bor. kh. and the scholiast, ad loc) Vir-
gil assigns the Aloidse a place of punishment in Tarta-
rus(J-B<<. , 6,582), and some of the ancient fabulistsmake
them to have been hurled thither by Jupiter, others by
Apollo. So in the Odyssey (/. c. ) they are spoken of
u inhabiting- the lower world, though no reason is as-
signed by the poet for their being there, except what
we may infer from the \egend itself, that they were cut
off" in early life, lest, if they had been allowed to attain
their full growth, they might have obtained the empire
of the skies. (Hey net. ad Apollod. , I. c. ) Pausanias
makes the Aloide to have founded Ascra in Boeotia,
and to have been the first that sacrificed to the Muses
on Mount Helicon (>>, 29). Midler regards the Aloidsj
as the mythic leaders of the oldThracian colonies, he-
roes by land and sea. . They appear in Pieria (at
Aloium, near Tempe) and at Mount Helicon, and in
both quarters have reference to the digging of canals
and the draining of mountain-dales. (Orekomenus, p.
337. ) Creuzer, on the other hand, sees in the fable
of the Aloids a figurative allusion to a contest, as it
were, between the water and the land. Aloeus is
"the man of the threshing-floor" (d^wr), whose efforts
are ail useless on account of the infidelity of his spouse
(the Earth, " the very raise one," Ift and /lT/thc). She
unites against him with Neptune, and the sea there-
upon begets the mighty energies of the tempests (Otus
and Ephialtes). which darken the day ("tlror, from
iirir, " the horned oiel,"* the bird of night), which brood
heavily over the earth, and cause the waves of ocean
to leap and dash upon the cultivated regions along the
? bore ('E^aXnjc, from ? *i, and uXknpai, "to leap," as
indicating "the one that attacks" or "leaps upon,"
the spirit that oppresses and torments, "the night-
mare"). At last the god of day (Apollo) comes forth,
and the storm ceases, first along the mountain-tops,
and at last even on the shore. {Creuzer, Symbolik,
vol. t, p. 388. ) If we adopt the other version of the
feble, that the AloidsB -were destroyed by Diana, the
storm will then bo hushed by the influence and chang-
ing of the moon.
Alouts, a town of Thessaly, near Tempe. {Steph.
By? . , >>. v. 'AXtijoi'. )
Alopk. I. daughter of Cercyon, king of Eleusis, and
mother of Hippothoon by Neptune. She was put to
death bT her father, and her tomb is spoken of by Pau-
traias (1. 29). Hyginus says that Neptune, not being
able to save her life, changed her corpse into a fountain
(Fib, 187). The son. on having been exposed by or-
der of its mother, was at first suckled by a mare (wtoc),
whence his name Hippothoon ; and was afterward ta-
ken care of and brought up by some shepherds. When
he had attained to manhood, he was placed on his grand-
frher*s throne by Theseus, who had slain Cercyon.
? ? (Pnni. 1, 5. et 39. Hygin. . I. e. )--II. A town of
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? ALP
a J. r
into Italy by this path, and who, therefore, make the
orthography Poenina, from Pocnus. 5. The Rhietic
or Tridentine Alps (Alpes Khreticse sive Tridentinie),
from the St. Gothard, whose numerous peaks bore the
name of Adula, to Mont Brenner in the Tyrol. 6.
The Noric Alps (Alpes Norica? ), from the latter point
to the head of the river Plavis, or la Piavc. 7. The
Carnic or Julian AlpB (Alpes Camicae sive Julia;), ter-
minating in the Mons Albius on the confines of Illyri-
cum. --It was not till the reign of Augustus that the
Alps became well known. That emperor finally sub-
dued the numerous and savage clans which inhabited
the Alpine valleys, and cleared the passes of the ban-
ditti that infested them. He improved the old roads
and constructed new ones; and finally succeeded in
establishing a free and easy communication through
ihese mountains. (Strab. , 204. ) It was then that
the whole of this great chain was divided into the seven
portions which have just been mentioned. Among the
Pennine Alps is Mont Blanc, 14,676 feet high. The
principal passes at the present day are, that over the
Great St. Bernard, that over Mont Simplon, and that
over Mont St. Gothard. The manner in which Han-
nibal is said to have effected his passage over these
mountains is now generally regarded as a fiction.
(Vid. Hannibal, under which article some remarks will
also be offered upon the route of the Carthaginian com-
mander in crossing the Alps. ) Besides the divisions
of the Alps already mentioned, we sometimes meet
with others, such as the Lepontinc Alps (Alpes Lepon-
tia;), between the sources of the Rhine and the Lacus
Verbanus (Logo Maggiore); the Alpes Summee
(Cits. , B. G. , 3, 1, and 4, 10), running off from the
Pennine Alps, and reaching as far as the Lake Verba-
nus, &c.
Ai. i'he8ibce\, daughter of Phygeus, or Phegcus,
kins' of Psophis in Arcadia, married Alcmteon, son of
Amphiaraus, who had fled to her father's court after
the murder of his mother. She received, as a bridal
present, the fatal collar and robe which had been given
to Eriphylc, to induce her to betray her husband Am-
phiaraus. The ground, however, becoming barren on
his account, Alcmieon left Arcadia and nis newly-
married wife, in obedience to an oracle, and came, first
to Calydon unto king GSneus, then to the Thesprotii,
and finally to the Achelous. Here he was purified by
the river-god from the stain of his mother's blood, and
married Callirrhoe, the daughter of the stream. Cal-
lirrhoe had two sons by him, and begged of him, as a
present, the collar and robe, which were then in the
hands of Alphesibcea. Hcendeavoured to obtain them,
under the pretence that he wished to consecrate them
at Delphi; but the deception being discovered, he was
slain by the two brothers of Alphesiboea, who had lain
in wait for him. Alphcsibopa, showing too much sor-
row for the loss of her former husband, was conveyed
by her brothers to Tegea, and given into the hands of
Agapenor. The more usual name by which Alphe-
sibrea is known among the ancient fabulists is Arsinoe.
(Apollod. , 3, 7--Hcyne. ad he. )
AlpkEcs and Alpheus ('MQcmc, and 'A^rof. the
short penult marking the earlier, the long one the later
and more usual, pronunciation), I. a river of Pelopon-
nesus, flowing through Arcadia and Elis. It rose in
the Laconian border of Arcadia, about five stadia from
Asea, and mingled its waters, at its source, with those
of the Eurotas. The united streams continued their
? ? course for the space of twenty stadia, when they dis-
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? ALT
i Bibaeu-
alludcs. under the name of Alpinus, to Furius Bi
jus; and lienlley thinks that the appellation was given
hiia hy Horace, either on account oi'his being a native of
Uaul.
mount of the dangerous navigation of the higher parts
of the Red Sea. The second point was the harbour
ofMyo* Honnus, in latitude 27? . The third was
Berenice, south of Myos Hormus, in latitude 23? 30'.
What the ships deposited at either of the last two
pUcei, the caravans brought to Coptos on the Nile,
whence the; were conveyed to Alexandrea by a canal
connecting this capital with the Canopic branch. Be-
tween Coptos and Berenice a road was constructed by
Ptolemj Philadelphias, 258 miles in length. Ptolemy,
the ion of Lagus, who received Egypt in the general
division, improved what Alexander had begun. On
the long, narrow island of Pharos, which is very near
the coast, and formed a port with a double entrance,
a magnificent tower of white marble was erected, to
jer. e? as a beacon and guide for navigators. The ar-
chitect was Sostratus of Cnidus. --The first inhabi-
tantiof Aleiandrea were a mixture of Egyptians and
Greeks, to whom must be added numerous colonies of
Jew<<, transplanted thither in 336, 320, and 312 B. C. ,
t: increase the population of the city. It was they
who made the well-known Greek translation of the
Old Testament, under the name of Septuaginta or
the Sepluagint. --The most beautiful part of the city,
near the great harbour, where stood the royal palaces,
magnificently built, was called Bruchion. There was
the large and splendid edifice, belonging to the acad-
emy and Museum, where the greater portion of the
royal library (400,000 volumes) was placed; the rest,
imounting to 300,000, were in the Serapion, or temple
of Jupiter Serapis. The larger portion was burned
daring the siege of Alexandrea by Julius Cmsar, but
was afterward in part replaced by the library of Per-
gamus, which Antony presented to Cleopatra. The
Museum, where many scholars lived and were sup-
ported, ate together, studied, and instructed others, re-
mained unhurt till the reign of Aurelian, when it was
destroyed in a period of civil commotion. The libra-
rf in the Serapion was preserved to the time of The-
odoaius the Great. He caused all the heathen tem-
ples throughout the Roman empire to be destroyed;
and even the splendid temple of Jupiter Serapis was
not spared. A crowd of fanatic Christians, headed by
their archbishop, Theodosius, stormed and destroyed it.
At that time, the library, it is said, was partly burned,
partly dispersed; and the historian Orosius, towards
the close of the fourth century, saw only the empty
? helves. The common account, therefore, is <in erro-
neous one. which makes the library in question to have
been destroyed by the Saracens at the command of
the Calif Omar, A. I). 642, and to have furnished fuel
during six months to the 4000 baths of Alexandrea.
This narrative rests merely on the authority of the
historian Abulpharagius, and has no other proof at all
to support it. But, whatever may have been the cause
of this disastrous event, the loss resulting to science
was irreparable. The Alexandrean library, called by
livy "Elegantitf regum curotque cgregium opus," em-
braced the whole Greek and Latin literature, of which
we possess bat simple fragments. -- In the divis-
ion of the Roman dominions, Alexandrea, with the
rest of Egypt, was comprehended in the Eastern em-
pire. The Arabs possessed themselves of it in 640;
the Calif Motawakc I, in 845, restored the library and
? ? academy; but the Turks took the city in 868, and it
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? ALEXANDRINA SCHOLA.
ALEXANDRINA SCHOLA.
(Mannert, 4, p. 159 and 256. ) For the true Alexan-
dri Arte, vid. Hyphasis.
Alexandri castra (7 'kfa! ;av6pov nape/iio^y), a
place in Marmarica, at the Oasis of Amnion, where
the Macedonian forces were encamped while Alexan-
der was consulting the oracle. (Ptol. )
Alexandri insula, an island in the Sinus Persi-
cus, on the Persian coast. (Ptol. --Plin. , 6, 25. )
Alexandri portus, a harbour of Gedrosia, where
the fleet of Nearchus was detained four weeks by ad-
verse winds. (Arrian, Indie, 22. ) It was in the
immediate vicinity of Kims Promontorium, or Cape
Monze. (Compare Vincent's Commerce of the An-
cients, vol. 1, p. 197. )
Alexandrine Aqu^E, baths in Rome, built by the
Emperor Alexander Scverus.
AlexandrTna schola. When the flourishing pe-
riod of Greek poetry was past, study was called in to
supply what nature no longer furnished. Alexandrea
in Egypt was made the scat of learning by the Ptole-
mies, admirers of the arts, whence this age of liter-
ature took the name of the Alcxandrcan. Ptolemy
Philadelphus founded the famous library of Alexan-
drea, the largest and most valuable one of antiquity,
which attracted many scholars from all countries; and
also the Museum, which may justly be considered the
first academy of sciences and arts. (Vid. Alexandrea. )
The grammarians and poets arc the most important
among the scholars of Alexandrea. These gramma-
rians were philologists and literati, who explained
things as well as words, and may be considered a kind
of encyclopedists. Such were Zenodotus the Ephe-
sian, who established the first grammar-school in Alex-
andrea, Eratosthenes of Cyrenc, Aristophanes of By-
zantium, Aristarchus of Samothrace, Crates of Malius,
Dionysius the Thracian, Apollonius the Sophist, and
Zoilus. Their merit is to have collected, examined,
reviewed, and preserved the existing monuments of
intellectual culture. To them we are indebted for
what is called the Alcxandrcan Canon, a list of the
authors whose works were to be regarded as models
in the respective departments of Grecian literature.
The names composing this Canon, with some remarks
upon its claims to attention, will be given at the close
of the present article. --To the poets of the Alexan-
drean age belong Apollonius the Rhodian, Lyco-
phron, Aratus, Nicander, Euphorion, Callimachus,
Theocritus, Philctas, Phanocles, Timon the Phliasian,
Scymnus, Dionysius, and seven tragic poets, who were
called the Alcxandrean Pleiades. The Alexandrean
age of literature differed entirely, in spirit and charac-
ter, from the one that preceded. Great attention was
paid to the study of language; correctness, purity,
and elegance were cultivated; and several writers of
this period excel in these respects. But that which
no study can give, the spirit which filled the earlier
poetry of the Greeks, is not to be found in most of
their works. Greater art in composition took its
place; criticism was now to perform what genius had
accomplished before. But this was impossible. Ge-
nius was the gift of only a few, and they soared far
above their contemporaries. The rest did what may
be done by criticism and study; but their works arc
tame, without soul and life, and those of their disci-
ples, of course, still more so. Perceiving the want of
originality, but appreciating its value, and striving af-
ter it, they arrived the sooner at the point where poe-
? ? try is lost. Their criticism degenerated into a dispo-
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? ALF.
for-which precedent might not be found; and as there
were tar more bail than good writers, the authority
and weight of numbers was likely to prevail, and the
language, consequently,to grow more and more cor-
rupt. It was thought necessary, therefore, to draw a
line between those classic writers, to whose authority
an appeal in matter of language might be made, and
the common herd of inferior authors. In the most cul-
tivated modern tongues, it seems to have been found
expedient to erect some such barrier against the in-
roads of corruption; and to this preservative caution
are we indebted for the vocabulary of the Academi-
cians delia Crusca, and the list of authors therein cited
as affording l'lesti di lingua. " To this we owe the
Dictionaries of the Royal Academies of France and
Spain, of their respective languages ; and Johnson's
Dictionary of our own. But, as for the example first
set in this matter by the Alexandtean critics, its effects
upon their own literature have been of a doubtful na-
ture In so far as the canon has contributed to pre-
serve to us some of the best authors included in it, we
cannot but rejoice. On the other hand, there is rea-
son to believe, that the comparative neglect into which
those not received into it were sure to fall, has been
the occasion of the loss of a vast number of writers,
who would have been, if not for their language, yet for
their matter, very precious; and who, perhaps, in many
eases, were not easily to be distinguished, even on the
score of style, from those that were preferred. (Moore's
Lectures, p. 55, seqq. ) The details of the canon are
as follows: I. Epic Poets. Homer, Hesiod, Pisan-
der. Panyasis, Antimachus. 2. Iambic Poets. Ar-
chitochus. Simonides, Hipponax. 3. Lyric Poets.
Alcraan, Alcsus, Sappho, Stesichorus, Pindar, Bac-
ehylides, Ibveus, Anacreon, Simonides. 4. Elegiac
Poets. Caliinus, Mtmnermus, Philetas, Callimachus.
5. Tramc Poets. (First Class): ? Eschylus, Sopho-
cles. Euripides, Ton. Achteus, Agathon. (Second
Ciasi, or Tragic Pleiades): Alexander the . 'Etolian,
P. iiliscus of Corcyra, Sositheus, Homer the younger,
-Exnlidcs, Sosiphanea or Sosiclcs, Lycophron. 6.
Coauc Poets. (Old Comedy) : Epicharmus, Cratinus,
En p . 1;-. Aristophanes, Pherccrates, Piato. (Middle
Comedy): Antiphanes, Alexis. (New Comedy): Me-
ander. Phiiippides, Diphilus. Philemon, Apollodorus.
7. Historians. Herodotus, Thucydides, Xenophon,
Theopompus, Ephorus, Philistus, Anaximenes, Cal-
bsthenes. 8. Orator*. (The ten Attic Orators):
Antiphon, Andocides, Lysias, Isocrates. Ismus, /Es-
chines, Lycurgus, Demosthenes, Hyperides, Dinar-
ehas. 9. Philosophers. Plato, Xenophon, . Eschines,
Aristotle, Theophraatus. 10. Poetic Pleiades. (Sev-
iea poets of the same epoch with one another): Apol-
lonius the Rhodian, Aratus, Philiscus, Homer the
younger, Lycophron, Nicander, Theocritus. (Schiill,
Hist. Lit. Gr. , vol. 3, p. 186, seqq. )
Aieiindropolis, a city of Parthia, probably east
of Xisaea, built by Alexander the Great. (Plin. , 6, 25. )
Alexabchus, a Greek historian. Vid Supplement.
Alexicacus, an epithet applied to various deities,
particularly to Jupiter, Apollo, Hercules, Sec. It means
"m arerler of evil," and is derived from <Uef<i, " to
atert," or " -ward o/T," and kokov, "evil. " Another
Greek term of the same import is uTrorpoTraioc, and
analogous to both is the Latin acerruncus. (Consult
Fischer, ad Anstoph . Plul. . 359. )
Alexias, a Greek physician. Vid. Supplement.
AlexTnus, a native of Elis, the disciple of Eubuli-
? ? iti. and a member of the Alegaric <<ect. He set him-
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? ALL
AT. O
Alimentcs, C, a Roman historian, who flourished
during the period of the second Punic war, of which
he wrote an account in Greek. He was the author
also of a biographical sketch, in Latin, of the Sicilian
rhetorician Ciorgias of Leontini, and of a work De Re
Mihtan. This last-mentioned production is cited by
Aulus Gellius, and is acknowledged by Vegetius as
the foundation of his more elaborate commentaries on
the same subject. (Dunlop's Roman Lit, vol 2, p
25, in notis. )
Alinpa, a city of Caria, southeast of Stratonicea
It was a place of some note and strength, and was held
by Ada, queen of Caria, at the time that Alexander
undertook the siege of Halicarnassus. (Arrian, Exp.
Al,\, 23. --Strab, 657. ) The site has been iden-
tified by many antiquaries with the modem Moglah,
the principal town of modern Caria, but on what au-
thority is not apparent. Another traveller, from the
similarity of names, places it at Ateina, between
Mot'lah and Tshina. (Renncll's Geogr. of Western
Asia, vol. 2, p. 53. --Cramer's Asia Minor, vol. 2,
p 208. J
Aupius. Vid. Alypius.
Ai. iKROTHius. Vtd. Halirrothius.
Allectus, a praetorian prefect, who slew Carausius
in Britain, and took possession of his throne, holding
it for three years, from 294 to 297 AD. He was at
last defeated and slain by Asclcpiodotus, a general of
Constantius Chlorus, who landed on the coast of the
island with an army. (Aurcl. Kir/. , 39. )
AllTa, a river of Italy, running down, according to
Livy, from the mountains of Crustumium, at the
eleventh milestone, and flowing into the Tiber. It
was crossed by the Via Salaria, about four miles beyond
the modern Marctgliano, and is now the Aia. Cluve-
rius (Ital. Ant. , vol. 1, p. 707) is mistaken when he
identifies the Allia with the Rio di Mosso, as that riv-
ulet is much beyond the given distance from Rome.
(Niblnj, dellc Vie degtt Antichi, p. 87. ) On its banks
the Unmans were defeated by the Gauls under Bren-
nus, July 17th, B. C. 387. Forty thousand Romans
were cither killed or put to flight. Hence in the Ro-
man calendar, " Allicnsis dies" was marked as a most
unlucky day. (Livy, 5, 37. -- Floras, 1,13. -- Pint. ,
Vit. Cam. ) The true name of the river is Alia, with
the first vowel short. Our mode of pronouncing and
writing the name is derived from the poets, who length-
ened the initial vowel by the duplication of the con-
sonant. (Niebuhr, Roman Hist. , vol. 2, p. 291, Wal-
ter's transl. , in notis. )
Alliem forth. Vid. Forum II.
Allh-a:, a town of Samnium, northwest of the Vul-
tumus, the name of which often occurs in Livy. It
was taken, according to that historian, bv the consul
Pctilius, A. U. C. 429; and again by Rutilius. (Liu. .
8. 25. --Id. , 9, 38. ) This place was famous for the
large-sized drinking-cups made there. (Horat. , Serm. ,
2, 8, 39. ) ^ The ancient site is occupied by the modern
Allifc. For a description of the numerous antiquities
existing at Allife. consult Trulta, Diss. sopr. le An-
tich. Alif. {Cramer's Ant. Italy, vol. 2, p. 233. )
Allobrooes, a people of Gallia, between the Isara
or here, and the Rhodantis or Rhone, in the country
answering to Dauphine. Piedmont, and Savoy. Their
chief city was Vienna, now Vienne. on the left hank
of the Rhodanus, thirteen miles below Lngdiinum or
Lyons. They were finally reduced beneath the Roman
? ? power by Fabius Maximus. who hence was honoured
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? ALO
*pace? of *^irteen months, until Mercury "stole him
away" foxAt^fi. ). Later writers add, of course,
many other particulars. Apollodorus makes Ephialtes
to have aspired to a union with Juno, and Otus with
Diana. (Compare Nonnus, Dionys. , 48, 402. -- Hy-
gin. Fab. , 28. ) He farther states, that Diana effected
their destruction in the island of Naxos. She changed
herself, it seems, into a hind, and bounded between
the two brothers, who, in their eagerness each to slay
the animal, pierced one another with their weapons
{if tavroyr r,KvvTiaav). Diodorus Siculus (6, 51)
gives an historical air to the narrative, making the two
brothers to have held sway in Naxos, and to have fallen
in a quarrel by each other's hand. (Compare Pind. ,
Py'h-,4, 88. ed. Bor. kh. and the scholiast, ad loc) Vir-
gil assigns the Aloidse a place of punishment in Tarta-
rus(J-B<<. , 6,582), and some of the ancient fabulistsmake
them to have been hurled thither by Jupiter, others by
Apollo. So in the Odyssey (/. c. ) they are spoken of
u inhabiting- the lower world, though no reason is as-
signed by the poet for their being there, except what
we may infer from the \egend itself, that they were cut
off" in early life, lest, if they had been allowed to attain
their full growth, they might have obtained the empire
of the skies. (Hey net. ad Apollod. , I. c. ) Pausanias
makes the Aloide to have founded Ascra in Boeotia,
and to have been the first that sacrificed to the Muses
on Mount Helicon (>>, 29). Midler regards the Aloidsj
as the mythic leaders of the oldThracian colonies, he-
roes by land and sea. . They appear in Pieria (at
Aloium, near Tempe) and at Mount Helicon, and in
both quarters have reference to the digging of canals
and the draining of mountain-dales. (Orekomenus, p.
337. ) Creuzer, on the other hand, sees in the fable
of the Aloids a figurative allusion to a contest, as it
were, between the water and the land. Aloeus is
"the man of the threshing-floor" (d^wr), whose efforts
are ail useless on account of the infidelity of his spouse
(the Earth, " the very raise one," Ift and /lT/thc). She
unites against him with Neptune, and the sea there-
upon begets the mighty energies of the tempests (Otus
and Ephialtes). which darken the day ("tlror, from
iirir, " the horned oiel,"* the bird of night), which brood
heavily over the earth, and cause the waves of ocean
to leap and dash upon the cultivated regions along the
? bore ('E^aXnjc, from ? *i, and uXknpai, "to leap," as
indicating "the one that attacks" or "leaps upon,"
the spirit that oppresses and torments, "the night-
mare"). At last the god of day (Apollo) comes forth,
and the storm ceases, first along the mountain-tops,
and at last even on the shore. {Creuzer, Symbolik,
vol. t, p. 388. ) If we adopt the other version of the
feble, that the AloidsB -were destroyed by Diana, the
storm will then bo hushed by the influence and chang-
ing of the moon.
Alouts, a town of Thessaly, near Tempe. {Steph.
By? . , >>. v. 'AXtijoi'. )
Alopk. I. daughter of Cercyon, king of Eleusis, and
mother of Hippothoon by Neptune. She was put to
death bT her father, and her tomb is spoken of by Pau-
traias (1. 29). Hyginus says that Neptune, not being
able to save her life, changed her corpse into a fountain
(Fib, 187). The son. on having been exposed by or-
der of its mother, was at first suckled by a mare (wtoc),
whence his name Hippothoon ; and was afterward ta-
ken care of and brought up by some shepherds. When
he had attained to manhood, he was placed on his grand-
frher*s throne by Theseus, who had slain Cercyon.
? ? (Pnni. 1, 5. et 39. Hygin. . I. e. )--II. A town of
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? ALP
a J. r
into Italy by this path, and who, therefore, make the
orthography Poenina, from Pocnus. 5. The Rhietic
or Tridentine Alps (Alpes Khreticse sive Tridentinie),
from the St. Gothard, whose numerous peaks bore the
name of Adula, to Mont Brenner in the Tyrol. 6.
The Noric Alps (Alpes Norica? ), from the latter point
to the head of the river Plavis, or la Piavc. 7. The
Carnic or Julian AlpB (Alpes Camicae sive Julia;), ter-
minating in the Mons Albius on the confines of Illyri-
cum. --It was not till the reign of Augustus that the
Alps became well known. That emperor finally sub-
dued the numerous and savage clans which inhabited
the Alpine valleys, and cleared the passes of the ban-
ditti that infested them. He improved the old roads
and constructed new ones; and finally succeeded in
establishing a free and easy communication through
ihese mountains. (Strab. , 204. ) It was then that
the whole of this great chain was divided into the seven
portions which have just been mentioned. Among the
Pennine Alps is Mont Blanc, 14,676 feet high. The
principal passes at the present day are, that over the
Great St. Bernard, that over Mont Simplon, and that
over Mont St. Gothard. The manner in which Han-
nibal is said to have effected his passage over these
mountains is now generally regarded as a fiction.
(Vid. Hannibal, under which article some remarks will
also be offered upon the route of the Carthaginian com-
mander in crossing the Alps. ) Besides the divisions
of the Alps already mentioned, we sometimes meet
with others, such as the Lepontinc Alps (Alpes Lepon-
tia;), between the sources of the Rhine and the Lacus
Verbanus (Logo Maggiore); the Alpes Summee
(Cits. , B. G. , 3, 1, and 4, 10), running off from the
Pennine Alps, and reaching as far as the Lake Verba-
nus, &c.
Ai. i'he8ibce\, daughter of Phygeus, or Phegcus,
kins' of Psophis in Arcadia, married Alcmteon, son of
Amphiaraus, who had fled to her father's court after
the murder of his mother. She received, as a bridal
present, the fatal collar and robe which had been given
to Eriphylc, to induce her to betray her husband Am-
phiaraus. The ground, however, becoming barren on
his account, Alcmieon left Arcadia and nis newly-
married wife, in obedience to an oracle, and came, first
to Calydon unto king GSneus, then to the Thesprotii,
and finally to the Achelous. Here he was purified by
the river-god from the stain of his mother's blood, and
married Callirrhoe, the daughter of the stream. Cal-
lirrhoe had two sons by him, and begged of him, as a
present, the collar and robe, which were then in the
hands of Alphesibcea. Hcendeavoured to obtain them,
under the pretence that he wished to consecrate them
at Delphi; but the deception being discovered, he was
slain by the two brothers of Alphesiboea, who had lain
in wait for him. Alphcsibopa, showing too much sor-
row for the loss of her former husband, was conveyed
by her brothers to Tegea, and given into the hands of
Agapenor. The more usual name by which Alphe-
sibrea is known among the ancient fabulists is Arsinoe.
(Apollod. , 3, 7--Hcyne. ad he. )
AlpkEcs and Alpheus ('MQcmc, and 'A^rof. the
short penult marking the earlier, the long one the later
and more usual, pronunciation), I. a river of Pelopon-
nesus, flowing through Arcadia and Elis. It rose in
the Laconian border of Arcadia, about five stadia from
Asea, and mingled its waters, at its source, with those
of the Eurotas. The united streams continued their
? ? course for the space of twenty stadia, when they dis-
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? ALT
i Bibaeu-
alludcs. under the name of Alpinus, to Furius Bi
jus; and lienlley thinks that the appellation was given
hiia hy Horace, either on account oi'his being a native of
Uaul.
