The blood of younc
persons was believed to possess peculiar attractions
for them, and for the purpose of quaffing this they
were wont to take the form of a beautiful female.
persons was believed to possess peculiar attractions
for them, and for the purpose of quaffing this they
were wont to take the form of a beautiful female.
Charles - 1867 - Classical Dictionary
t-.
tratcd for some time his applications for the con-
1u. Ub. 1p-, notwithstanding the efforts of Scipio in his be-
half, until B. C. 140, when his merit triumphed over
every obstacle. He was consul with C Servilius
C>>[i:o, and conducted himself in this high office with
1 moderation well calculated to conciliate all minds.
? Still, however, he could not obtain a re-election, a cir-
cumstance to which Cicero alludes, who blames the
people for depriving themselves of the services of so
wise & . magistrate. (Cic, Tusc, 5, 19. ) Loelius liv-
ed a country life, and, when there, divided his time be-
tween study and agriculture. He appears to have
been of a cheerful and equable temper, and to have
looked with philosophic calmness on both the favours
and the frowns of fortune. Hence Horace (Scrm. , 2,
1, 72) alludes to the "rmtis sapicntia Lalii. " He
numbered among his friends Pacuvtus and Terence,
and it was thought that, in conjunction with Scipio,
he aided Terence in the composition of his dramas.
(But consult the article Tercntius ) The friendship
that subsisted between Lselius and Scipio was cele-
brated throughout Home, and it was this which in-
duced Cicero to place the name of the former at the
head of his beautiful dialogue " Dc Amicitia," the in-
terlocutors in which are Lslius and his two sons-in-
law, C. Fannius and Q. Mulius Scsevola. Quintilian
mentions a daughter of Lneliu: who was celebrated for
her eloquence. (Quint. , 1, 1, R )
Laertes, I. king of Ithaca and father of Ulysses.
He was one of the Argonauts. He ceded the crown
to his son and retired to the country, where he spent
bia time in the cultivation of the earth. Ulysses found
aim thus employed on his return, enfeebled by age and
sorrow. (Kid. Ulysses. )--It. A town and harbour of
Cilicia, on the confines of Painphylia, and west of
Selinus. Strabo makes it to have been a fortified post
on a hill, with a harbour below (669). It was the birth-
place of Diogenes Laertius. (Kid. Diogenes III. )
Laertius, Diogenes, a Greek writer. (Vid. Di-
ogenes III. )
Ii. tsTRvnoNEs, a gigantic and androphagous race,
mentioned by Homer in his description of the wander-
ings of Ulysses. The country of the Lajstrygones,
according to the poet, lay very far to the west, since
Ulysses, when driven from the island of /Uolus, Bailed
on farther for six days and nights, at the end of which
time he reached the land of the Lajstrygonians. Many
expounders of mythology, therefore, place the Lass-
trygencs in Sicily. But for this there is no good rea-
son whatever, since Homer makes this race and that
of the Cyclopes to dwell at a wide distance from each
other. Equally fabulous is the account given by some
of the ancient writers, that a colony of Lsestrygoncs
passed over into Italy with Lamus at their head, and
built the city of Formia? . When once the respective
situations of Circe's island and that of . -F. olus were
thought to have been ascertained, it became no very
difficult matter to advance a step farther, and, as the
Lastrygoncs lay, according to Homer, between these
? ? two islands, to make Formic on the Italian coast a
Generated for (University of Chicago) on 2014-12-26 09:11 GMT / http://hdl. handle. net/2027/uva. x001045523 Public Domain, Google-digitized / http://www. hathitrust. org/access_use#pd-google
? LAI
LAM
mil b<! i out for ihe Carthaginians. lis reduction
Brought with it the submission of the whole of Sicily
jo toe Roman arms. Having been continued in com-
mand for another year, he collected all his naval forces,
made a descent on the coast of Africa, and, encoun-
tering on his return the Carthaginian fleet, gained a
splendid naval victory. He was afterward deputed to
via:: lie court of Attalus, king of Pcrgamus, and ob-
tair. the statue of Cybele. ( Vid. Cybele. ) In A. U. C.
653, B. C. 201, Laavinus was sent as proprietor to Ma-
eed:nia, against King Philip; but he died the follow-
ing year. His sons Publius and Marcus celebrated
funeral games in honour of their father, which were
continued for the space of four days. {Liv. , 24, 10,
seqq. --Id. , 24, 40, seqq. --Id. , 26, 40, seqq. --Id. , 29,
11. --Id. , 31, 3. --Id. , 31, 60. )--III. - P. Valerius, a
descendant of the preceding, despised at Rome for his
vices. (Horat. , Sera. , 1, 8, 12. --Schoi, ad lot. )
Laous, a Macedonian, father of Ptolemy I. , of
Egypt (Consult remarks at the beginning of the ar-
ticle Ptolemaeua I. )
LagQsa, I. an island in the Sinus Glaucus,near the
northern coast of Lycia, now Pan. igia di Cordialissa,
? r, according to some, Christian! . --II. or Lagusss,
tn island, or, mora properly, a cluster of islands off
the coast of Troas, to the north of Tonedos, now Tao-
. kan Adisi. (Plm, 6, Zl. --Binktij ini Mbller,
Worterb. dcr Gcogr. , p. 676 )
Laiades, a patronymic of CEdipu. i. *M if Laius.
Ovid, Met. , 6,/oi. 18)
Lais, I. the most celebrated hetacriot of Greece.
She was born at Hyccara in Sicily, and a as made
captive when her native city was taken by the Athe-
nians, in the course of the expedition against Syracuse,
and was conveyed to Athens. She was at this time
leven years of age, and the property of a common sol-
dier Having been subsequently sold by her first
? wner, she was conveyed by her purchaser to Corinth,
at that period the most dissolute city of Greece,
where, after the lapse of a few years, she became one
of those females who consecrated themselves in that
city to the service of Venus. (Vid. Corinthus, to-
wards the close of the article. ) The fame of her ex-
traordinary beauty drew together strangers from every
part of Greece, while the extravagance of her demands
gave rise to the well-known proverb, that "it was not
for every one to go to Corinth. " (Oi 7r<<vrof uvSpbc
tc KoptvSov ioff d nXoic. Erasm. , Chil. , col. 131.
--"Non cuivis homini continsit adire Corinthum. "
Horal. , Epist. , 1, 17, 36. ) Pausanias speaks of a
tomb of Lais at Corinth, near the temple of Venus
Melaenis, on which was placed a stone lioness, holding
a ram with her front paws, an evident allusion to the
unprincipled rapacity of the hetserist. The same wri-
ter makes mention also of a tomb of Lai's inThessaly,
whither, according to one account, she had gone,
through attachment for a youth named Hippostratus;
and the females of which country, dreading her evil
influence, had assassinated her in the temple of Venus.
--Numismatica! writers refer to certain coins of an-
cient Corinth, which have on one side a lioness hold-
ing down a ram, and on the other a femalo head; and
they think that these were struck in honour of Lais,
the female head being intended as her portrait. (Con-
sult Viseonli, leonogr. Gr. , vol. 1, p. 411. ) A full
account of Lais is given by Bayle (Diet. Hist. , s. >>. ).
--II. Another hetasrist, often confounded with the for-
? ? mer, but who lived fifty or sixty years later. She was
Generated for (University of Chicago) on 2014-12-26 09:11 GMT / http://hdl. handle. net/2027/uva. x001045523 Public Domain, Google-digitized / http://www. hathitrust. org/access_use#pd-google
? LAM
LAM
una, figure which he afterward made in hisiory suffi-
ciently proves. {Mitchell, ad A tistoph. , Aeharn. , 510. )
Lambros or Ljimber, a riv,r of Cisalpine Gaul, is-
suing from the Eupilis Lacjs, and falling into the
Olona, one of the tributaries of the Po. It is now
tho Lambro or Lambrone. (Plin. , 3, 19. )
Lamia, a city of Thcssaly situate inland from the
head waters of the Sinus Maliacus, and, according to
Strabo (433), about thirty stadia from the Sperchius.
It is celebrated in history as the principal scene of the
mar which was carried on between the Macedonians
under Antipater, and the Athenians, with other con-
federate Greeks, commanded by Leosthenes; from
which circumstance it is generally known by the name
of the Lamiac war. Antipater, having been defeated
in the first instance, retired to Lamia, where he was
besieged by the all. es; but he afterward contrived to
escape from this place, and retire to the north of
Thessaly. Soon after, with the assistance of the army
of Craterus, brought for that purpose from Asia, he
gave battle to and defeated his opponents at Cranon,
and compelled them to sue for peace. This was
granted them on severe terms. The Athenians were
required to pjy the same tribute as before, to receive
a Macedonian garrison, defray the expenses of the
war, and deliver up their orators, whose appeals to the
feelings of the Athenian people had always occasioned
so much difficulty for the Macedonians. Demosthenes
and Hypjridcs were particularly aimed at. (Vid. De-
mosthcr. es and Hypcrides. )--Livy reports (27,' 30)
that Philip, the son of Demetrius, twice defeated the
-Ktoliiiis, supported by Attalus and some Roman
troopj, near this place. Antiochus was afterward
received there wilh acclamations. (Livy, 35, 43. )
The place was subsequently retaken by the Romans.
(Lir. , 37, 5--Polyb. ,Ezee'rpt. , 20, II, scqq. --Pliny,
4. 7. ) According to Dr. Holland (vol. 2, p. 107),
mere is very little doubt that the site of Zeitoun
corresponds with that of the ancient Lamia. -- II.
Alius, a Roman of distinguished family, claiming de-
scent from Lamua. the most ancient monarch of the
Lsestrygoncs. He signalized himself in the war wilh
the Cantabri as one of the lieutenants of Augustus.
(Hmat. , Od. , 3, 17. )--HI. The mistress of Deme-
trius Poliorcetes, who rendered herself celebrated by
her extravagances, her intrigues, and her ascendancy
over that prince. (Plut. , Vit. Dcmelr. --JElian, V.
H. . 1, 13. )
Lami. c, fabulous monsters, commonly represented
with the head and breast of a female, and the body of
a serpent. According to some, they changed their
forms at pleasure, and, when about to ensnare their
prey, assumed such appearances as were most seduc-
tive and calculated to please.
The blood of younc
persons was believed to possess peculiar attractions
for them, and for the purpose of quaffing this they
were wont to take the form of a beautiful female.
The Lamia; possessed also another means of accom-
plishing their object. This was a species of hissing
sound emitted by them, so soothing and attractive in
its nature, that persons found themselves irresistibly
allured by it. When not in disguise, and when they
had sated their horrid appetites, their form was hide-
ous, their visages glowed like fire, their bodies were
besmeared with blood, and their feet appeared of iron
or of lead. Sometimes they showed themselves com-
pletely blind, at other times they had a single eye,
? ? either in the forehead or on one side of the visage.
Generated for (University of Chicago) on 2014-12-26 09:11 GMT / http://hdl. handle. net/2027/uva. x001045523 Public Domain, Google-digitized / http://www. hathitrust. org/access_use#pd-google
? LAN
T. A O
eo (his city and given it its name, being directed by
the oracle to settle wherever they saw lightning first.
This took place in the district Pityusa, and hence the
name of the city, from Xa/iiru, to shine forth. {Mela,
1, 19. --Etym. Mag. --Holstcn. , ad Steph. Byz. , p.
608. ) Strabo calls Lampsacus a Milesian colony:
very probably it was only enlarged by a colony from
Miletus. (Strab. , 588. --Mannert, Geogr. , vol. 6, pt.
3, p. 518. ) Another account, however, makes the
city to have axisted prior to the arrival of the Pho-
casans, and merely the name to have been changed by
Ihem. They aided, according to this version of the
story, a king of the Bebryces, named Mandro, against
the neighbouring barbarians, and were persuaded by
him to occupy a part of his territory. Their successes
in war, however, and the spoils they had obtained, ex-
cited the envy of the Bebrycians, and the Phocaeans
would have been secretly destroyed, had not Lamp-
ssce, the king's daughter, apprized them of the plot.
Out of gratitude to her, they called the city Lampsa-
cus, having destroyed the former inhabitants. (Pol-
y<rn. , 8, 37. --Steph. Byz. , s. v. ) The neighbouring
country was termed Abarnis or Abarnus, because Ve-
nos, who here was delivered of Priapus, was so disgust-
ed with his appearance, that she disowned him (a-r/p-
vttro) for her offspring. (Steph. Byz. , s. v. 'AfJapvof.
--Holslenius, ad Steph. Byz. , I. c. ) Priapus was the
chief deity of the place. His temple there was the
asylum of lewdness and debauchery; and hence the
epithet Lampsucius is used to express immodesty and
wantonness. Alexander resolved to destroy the city
on account of the vices of its inhabitants, or more
probably for its 6rm adherence to the interest of Per-
sia. It was, however, saved from ruin by the artifice
of Anaximenes. (Vid. Anaximenes. ) The name of
Lamsaki is still attached to a small town, near which
Lampsacus probably stood, as Lamsaki itself contains
no remains or vestiges of antiquity. A modern trav-
eller assures us besides, that "its wine, once so cele-
brated, is now among the worst that is made in this
part of Anatolia. " (Sibthorpe, in Walpole's Collec-
tion, vol. 1. p. 91. )
1,ami's, I. a fabled king of the Lestrygones, said to
have founded Formiae. (rid. Laestrygones. ) The La-
mian family at Rome pretended to claim descent from
him. (Horat , Od. , 3, 17. )--II. A son of Hercules
and Omphale, fabled to have succeeded his mother on
the throne of Lydia. --III. A river in the western part
of Cilicia Camnestris, now the Lamas. It gave to
the adjacent district the name of Lamotis. (Cramer's
Asia Minor, vol. 2, p. 338. )
Lancia, the name of two towns in Lusitania, dis-
tinguished by the appellations of Oppidana and Trans-
cudana. The first was on the frontiers of the Lusi-
tani, near the sources of the river Munda or Mondego.
It is now La Guarda. The latter lay to the east of
the former, and is now Ciudad Rodrigo. It was called
Transcudana, because it lay beyond the Cuda. (Bis-
choff und Miller, Worterb. der Geogr. , p. 679. )
Lanuob<koi, a people of Germany, located by most
writers on the Albis or Elbe, and the Viadrus or Oder,
in part of what is now called Brandenburg. Accord-
ing to the account, however, of Paulus Diaconus, him-
self one of this nation, they originally came from Scan-
dinavia, under the name of Wilini, and were called by
(he German nations Long Beards, from their appear-
ance. (Paul Diae. , the Warnefrid, de Gest. Lon-
? ? foi, 1, 9. ) The German term Lang Baerdt, Latin-
Generated for (University of Chicago) on 2014-12-26 09:11 GMT / http://hdl. handle. net/2027/uva. x001045523 Public Domain, Google-digitized / http://www. hathitrust. org/access_use#pd-google
? LAOCOON.
LAO
? culptors whi executed it are also recorded. They
are Agesander, Polydorus, and Athenodorus, natives
of HI. /i. is. Pliny (36, 5) says, " Laocoon, which is in
the palace (domo) of the Emperor Titus, is a work to
be preferred to all others either in painting or sculp-
ture. Tho :;e great artists, Agesander, and Polydorus,
and Athcnodorus, Rhodians, executed the principal
figure (turn), and ihe sons, and the wonderful folds of
the serpents, out of one block of marble. "--There
has been much difference ot opinion among antiqua-
ries on aevenl points connected with this group:
first, as to the date of the artists; Winckelmann con-
tending that they are of a good period of Grecian art,
ami as early as l. ysippus. A considerably later date,
however, is now attributed to them. The next ques-
tion discussed has been, whether the sculptor was in-
debted fur the subject to Virgil's fine description (Ain. ,
2, 200, seqq. ), or whether the poet was indebted to
the artist. With respect to date, the most careful
consideration seems to fix these sculptors as late as
the early emperors; and Leasing, whose work on the
Laocoon deserves the attention of all who take an in-
terest in the philosophy and capabilities of art, believes
they lived in the reign of Titus. With regard to the
subject, it is most probable that the story, being well
known, offered advantages for illustration to the sculp-
tor, as it did for description to the poet. As Virgil's
priest was habited in his robes during the exercise of
hie priestly functions, and the group under considera-
tion is entirely naked, the argument is additionally
strengthened against the assumption that the artist
borrowed from the poet. It is more natural to believe
that each drew from a common source, and treated
tho subject in the way best adapted to the different
artn they exercised; the sculptor's object being con-
centration of effect, the poet's amplification and brill-
iant description. --T'his group is justly considered, by
all competent judges, to be a master-piece of art. It
combines, in its class, all '. hat sculpture requires, and,
we may say, admits of, and may truly be studied as a
canon. The sutj'sct is of the most affecting and in-
teiesting kind ', and the expression in every part < i
the figures reaches, but does not exceed, the limits of
propriety. Intense mental suffering is portrayed in
the countenances, while the physical strength of all
the three figures is evidently sinking under the irresist-
ible power of the huge reptiles wreathed around their
exhausted limbs. One son, in whose side a serpent
nas fixed his deadly fangs, seems to be fainting; the
other, not yet bitten, tries (and the futility of the at-
tempt is faithfully shown) to disengage one foot from
the serpent's embrace. The father, Laocoon, himself,
is mighty in his sufferings: every muscle is in extreme
action, and his hands and feet are convulsed with pain-
ful energy. Yet there is nothing frightful, disgusting,
or contrary to beauty in the countenance. Suffering
is faithfully and strongly depicted there, but it is rather
the exhibition of mental anguish than of the repul-
sive and undignified contortions of mere physical pain.
THe whole of this figure displays the most intimate
knowledge of anatomy and of outward form; the lat-
ter selected with care, and freed from any vulgarity
of common individual nature: indeed, the single figure
of Laocoon may be fairly referred to, as one of the
finest specimens existing of that combination of truth
and beauty, which is so essential to the production of
perfect sculpture, and which can alone ensure for it
? ? lasting admiration. The youths are of a smaller
Generated for (University of Chicago) on 2014-12-26 09:11 GMT / http://hdl. handle. net/2027/uva. x001045523 Public Domain, Google-digitized / http://www. hathitrust. org/access_use#pd-google
? LAO
LA R
Km--Ckalcond. , p. 85. ) The ruins of Laodicea are
now called by the Turks Eski Hissar. (Manncrt,
Geogr. , vol. 6, pt. 3, p. 131. -- Leake's Journal, p.
154, seqq. )--II. Scabiosa, a city of Syria, southwest
of Emesa and of the Orontes. It is sometimes, though
erroneously, styled Cabiosa. Tho epithet Scabiosa
mast have reference to the leprosy, or some cutaneous
complaint, very prevalent here in the time of the Ro-
man power. Its previous name under the Greeks was
XaodtKt'-a rj irpoo AiCuvu), Laxdicta ad Libanum
(Strabo, 753. --Plin. ,5,23;, and it must have been sit-
uate, therefore, near the northeastern port of the chain
of Libanus, in the plain Marsyas, which Pococke (2,
p. 204) mentions, though he is silent respecting its
ancient name. Its site must bo looked for to the
west of the modern Hasseiah, a day's journey to the
southwest of the modern Hems, the ancient Emesa.
(Marmert, Geogr. , irol. 6, pt. 1, p. 428. )--HI. A mar-
itime city of Syria, on an eminence near the coast,
called, for distinction' sake, Aaodtxeta im ry ? ddXdr-
rj, Laodicea ad Mare. <Strab. , 751. --Plin. , 21, 5. )
It was built by Seleucus Nicator, and named in hon-
our of his mother; and Strabo ranks it among the
four principal cities of the country. (Compare Ap-
pian, B. Syr. , c. 27. ) The fruitfulness of the adja-
cent country, and the quantity of good wine made in
this quarter, which furnished a great article of trade
with Alexandres, were the chief reasons that induced
Seleucus to found this city. Laodicea may, in fact,
be regarded as the harbour of Antiochia. The an-
cient writers praise its excellent port, and it would
seem, even at the present day, to show traces of the
works constructed to give security and convenience
to the harbour. (Pococke, 2, p. 287. --Walpole's Me-
moirs, vol. 2, p. 138. ) In the civil war after Caesar's
death, Dolabella stood a long siege in this place; it
was finally taken, and suffered severely. (Dio Cass. ,
47, 30. --Appian, B. Civ. , 4, 62. ) Hence Antony
leclared it independent, and freed it from all tribute.
{Appian, B. Civ. , 5, 7. ) It again suffered from Pes-
eennius Niger (Malala, Ckron. , 11, p. 125), and there-
fore his more successful competitor Severus did all in
his power to restore it to its former condition. Among
other favours shown it, he made the place a colony
with the Juj lialicum. (Ulpian, 1. 50, Digest. Tit. ,
15, (fe censtMS. ) The modern name is Ladikii.
1u. Ub. 1p-, notwithstanding the efforts of Scipio in his be-
half, until B. C. 140, when his merit triumphed over
every obstacle. He was consul with C Servilius
C>>[i:o, and conducted himself in this high office with
1 moderation well calculated to conciliate all minds.
? Still, however, he could not obtain a re-election, a cir-
cumstance to which Cicero alludes, who blames the
people for depriving themselves of the services of so
wise & . magistrate. (Cic, Tusc, 5, 19. ) Loelius liv-
ed a country life, and, when there, divided his time be-
tween study and agriculture. He appears to have
been of a cheerful and equable temper, and to have
looked with philosophic calmness on both the favours
and the frowns of fortune. Hence Horace (Scrm. , 2,
1, 72) alludes to the "rmtis sapicntia Lalii. " He
numbered among his friends Pacuvtus and Terence,
and it was thought that, in conjunction with Scipio,
he aided Terence in the composition of his dramas.
(But consult the article Tercntius ) The friendship
that subsisted between Lselius and Scipio was cele-
brated throughout Home, and it was this which in-
duced Cicero to place the name of the former at the
head of his beautiful dialogue " Dc Amicitia," the in-
terlocutors in which are Lslius and his two sons-in-
law, C. Fannius and Q. Mulius Scsevola. Quintilian
mentions a daughter of Lneliu: who was celebrated for
her eloquence. (Quint. , 1, 1, R )
Laertes, I. king of Ithaca and father of Ulysses.
He was one of the Argonauts. He ceded the crown
to his son and retired to the country, where he spent
bia time in the cultivation of the earth. Ulysses found
aim thus employed on his return, enfeebled by age and
sorrow. (Kid. Ulysses. )--It. A town and harbour of
Cilicia, on the confines of Painphylia, and west of
Selinus. Strabo makes it to have been a fortified post
on a hill, with a harbour below (669). It was the birth-
place of Diogenes Laertius. (Kid. Diogenes III. )
Laertius, Diogenes, a Greek writer. (Vid. Di-
ogenes III. )
Ii. tsTRvnoNEs, a gigantic and androphagous race,
mentioned by Homer in his description of the wander-
ings of Ulysses. The country of the Lajstrygones,
according to the poet, lay very far to the west, since
Ulysses, when driven from the island of /Uolus, Bailed
on farther for six days and nights, at the end of which
time he reached the land of the Lajstrygonians. Many
expounders of mythology, therefore, place the Lass-
trygencs in Sicily. But for this there is no good rea-
son whatever, since Homer makes this race and that
of the Cyclopes to dwell at a wide distance from each
other. Equally fabulous is the account given by some
of the ancient writers, that a colony of Lsestrygoncs
passed over into Italy with Lamus at their head, and
built the city of Formia? . When once the respective
situations of Circe's island and that of . -F. olus were
thought to have been ascertained, it became no very
difficult matter to advance a step farther, and, as the
Lastrygoncs lay, according to Homer, between these
? ? two islands, to make Formic on the Italian coast a
Generated for (University of Chicago) on 2014-12-26 09:11 GMT / http://hdl. handle. net/2027/uva. x001045523 Public Domain, Google-digitized / http://www. hathitrust. org/access_use#pd-google
? LAI
LAM
mil b<! i out for ihe Carthaginians. lis reduction
Brought with it the submission of the whole of Sicily
jo toe Roman arms. Having been continued in com-
mand for another year, he collected all his naval forces,
made a descent on the coast of Africa, and, encoun-
tering on his return the Carthaginian fleet, gained a
splendid naval victory. He was afterward deputed to
via:: lie court of Attalus, king of Pcrgamus, and ob-
tair. the statue of Cybele. ( Vid. Cybele. ) In A. U. C.
653, B. C. 201, Laavinus was sent as proprietor to Ma-
eed:nia, against King Philip; but he died the follow-
ing year. His sons Publius and Marcus celebrated
funeral games in honour of their father, which were
continued for the space of four days. {Liv. , 24, 10,
seqq. --Id. , 24, 40, seqq. --Id. , 26, 40, seqq. --Id. , 29,
11. --Id. , 31, 3. --Id. , 31, 60. )--III. - P. Valerius, a
descendant of the preceding, despised at Rome for his
vices. (Horat. , Sera. , 1, 8, 12. --Schoi, ad lot. )
Laous, a Macedonian, father of Ptolemy I. , of
Egypt (Consult remarks at the beginning of the ar-
ticle Ptolemaeua I. )
LagQsa, I. an island in the Sinus Glaucus,near the
northern coast of Lycia, now Pan. igia di Cordialissa,
? r, according to some, Christian! . --II. or Lagusss,
tn island, or, mora properly, a cluster of islands off
the coast of Troas, to the north of Tonedos, now Tao-
. kan Adisi. (Plm, 6, Zl. --Binktij ini Mbller,
Worterb. dcr Gcogr. , p. 676 )
Laiades, a patronymic of CEdipu. i. *M if Laius.
Ovid, Met. , 6,/oi. 18)
Lais, I. the most celebrated hetacriot of Greece.
She was born at Hyccara in Sicily, and a as made
captive when her native city was taken by the Athe-
nians, in the course of the expedition against Syracuse,
and was conveyed to Athens. She was at this time
leven years of age, and the property of a common sol-
dier Having been subsequently sold by her first
? wner, she was conveyed by her purchaser to Corinth,
at that period the most dissolute city of Greece,
where, after the lapse of a few years, she became one
of those females who consecrated themselves in that
city to the service of Venus. (Vid. Corinthus, to-
wards the close of the article. ) The fame of her ex-
traordinary beauty drew together strangers from every
part of Greece, while the extravagance of her demands
gave rise to the well-known proverb, that "it was not
for every one to go to Corinth. " (Oi 7r<<vrof uvSpbc
tc KoptvSov ioff d nXoic. Erasm. , Chil. , col. 131.
--"Non cuivis homini continsit adire Corinthum. "
Horal. , Epist. , 1, 17, 36. ) Pausanias speaks of a
tomb of Lais at Corinth, near the temple of Venus
Melaenis, on which was placed a stone lioness, holding
a ram with her front paws, an evident allusion to the
unprincipled rapacity of the hetserist. The same wri-
ter makes mention also of a tomb of Lai's inThessaly,
whither, according to one account, she had gone,
through attachment for a youth named Hippostratus;
and the females of which country, dreading her evil
influence, had assassinated her in the temple of Venus.
--Numismatica! writers refer to certain coins of an-
cient Corinth, which have on one side a lioness hold-
ing down a ram, and on the other a femalo head; and
they think that these were struck in honour of Lais,
the female head being intended as her portrait. (Con-
sult Viseonli, leonogr. Gr. , vol. 1, p. 411. ) A full
account of Lais is given by Bayle (Diet. Hist. , s. >>. ).
--II. Another hetasrist, often confounded with the for-
? ? mer, but who lived fifty or sixty years later. She was
Generated for (University of Chicago) on 2014-12-26 09:11 GMT / http://hdl. handle. net/2027/uva. x001045523 Public Domain, Google-digitized / http://www. hathitrust. org/access_use#pd-google
? LAM
LAM
una, figure which he afterward made in hisiory suffi-
ciently proves. {Mitchell, ad A tistoph. , Aeharn. , 510. )
Lambros or Ljimber, a riv,r of Cisalpine Gaul, is-
suing from the Eupilis Lacjs, and falling into the
Olona, one of the tributaries of the Po. It is now
tho Lambro or Lambrone. (Plin. , 3, 19. )
Lamia, a city of Thcssaly situate inland from the
head waters of the Sinus Maliacus, and, according to
Strabo (433), about thirty stadia from the Sperchius.
It is celebrated in history as the principal scene of the
mar which was carried on between the Macedonians
under Antipater, and the Athenians, with other con-
federate Greeks, commanded by Leosthenes; from
which circumstance it is generally known by the name
of the Lamiac war. Antipater, having been defeated
in the first instance, retired to Lamia, where he was
besieged by the all. es; but he afterward contrived to
escape from this place, and retire to the north of
Thessaly. Soon after, with the assistance of the army
of Craterus, brought for that purpose from Asia, he
gave battle to and defeated his opponents at Cranon,
and compelled them to sue for peace. This was
granted them on severe terms. The Athenians were
required to pjy the same tribute as before, to receive
a Macedonian garrison, defray the expenses of the
war, and deliver up their orators, whose appeals to the
feelings of the Athenian people had always occasioned
so much difficulty for the Macedonians. Demosthenes
and Hypjridcs were particularly aimed at. (Vid. De-
mosthcr. es and Hypcrides. )--Livy reports (27,' 30)
that Philip, the son of Demetrius, twice defeated the
-Ktoliiiis, supported by Attalus and some Roman
troopj, near this place. Antiochus was afterward
received there wilh acclamations. (Livy, 35, 43. )
The place was subsequently retaken by the Romans.
(Lir. , 37, 5--Polyb. ,Ezee'rpt. , 20, II, scqq. --Pliny,
4. 7. ) According to Dr. Holland (vol. 2, p. 107),
mere is very little doubt that the site of Zeitoun
corresponds with that of the ancient Lamia. -- II.
Alius, a Roman of distinguished family, claiming de-
scent from Lamua. the most ancient monarch of the
Lsestrygoncs. He signalized himself in the war wilh
the Cantabri as one of the lieutenants of Augustus.
(Hmat. , Od. , 3, 17. )--HI. The mistress of Deme-
trius Poliorcetes, who rendered herself celebrated by
her extravagances, her intrigues, and her ascendancy
over that prince. (Plut. , Vit. Dcmelr. --JElian, V.
H. . 1, 13. )
Lami. c, fabulous monsters, commonly represented
with the head and breast of a female, and the body of
a serpent. According to some, they changed their
forms at pleasure, and, when about to ensnare their
prey, assumed such appearances as were most seduc-
tive and calculated to please.
The blood of younc
persons was believed to possess peculiar attractions
for them, and for the purpose of quaffing this they
were wont to take the form of a beautiful female.
The Lamia; possessed also another means of accom-
plishing their object. This was a species of hissing
sound emitted by them, so soothing and attractive in
its nature, that persons found themselves irresistibly
allured by it. When not in disguise, and when they
had sated their horrid appetites, their form was hide-
ous, their visages glowed like fire, their bodies were
besmeared with blood, and their feet appeared of iron
or of lead. Sometimes they showed themselves com-
pletely blind, at other times they had a single eye,
? ? either in the forehead or on one side of the visage.
Generated for (University of Chicago) on 2014-12-26 09:11 GMT / http://hdl. handle. net/2027/uva. x001045523 Public Domain, Google-digitized / http://www. hathitrust. org/access_use#pd-google
? LAN
T. A O
eo (his city and given it its name, being directed by
the oracle to settle wherever they saw lightning first.
This took place in the district Pityusa, and hence the
name of the city, from Xa/iiru, to shine forth. {Mela,
1, 19. --Etym. Mag. --Holstcn. , ad Steph. Byz. , p.
608. ) Strabo calls Lampsacus a Milesian colony:
very probably it was only enlarged by a colony from
Miletus. (Strab. , 588. --Mannert, Geogr. , vol. 6, pt.
3, p. 518. ) Another account, however, makes the
city to have axisted prior to the arrival of the Pho-
casans, and merely the name to have been changed by
Ihem. They aided, according to this version of the
story, a king of the Bebryces, named Mandro, against
the neighbouring barbarians, and were persuaded by
him to occupy a part of his territory. Their successes
in war, however, and the spoils they had obtained, ex-
cited the envy of the Bebrycians, and the Phocaeans
would have been secretly destroyed, had not Lamp-
ssce, the king's daughter, apprized them of the plot.
Out of gratitude to her, they called the city Lampsa-
cus, having destroyed the former inhabitants. (Pol-
y<rn. , 8, 37. --Steph. Byz. , s. v. ) The neighbouring
country was termed Abarnis or Abarnus, because Ve-
nos, who here was delivered of Priapus, was so disgust-
ed with his appearance, that she disowned him (a-r/p-
vttro) for her offspring. (Steph. Byz. , s. v. 'AfJapvof.
--Holslenius, ad Steph. Byz. , I. c. ) Priapus was the
chief deity of the place. His temple there was the
asylum of lewdness and debauchery; and hence the
epithet Lampsucius is used to express immodesty and
wantonness. Alexander resolved to destroy the city
on account of the vices of its inhabitants, or more
probably for its 6rm adherence to the interest of Per-
sia. It was, however, saved from ruin by the artifice
of Anaximenes. (Vid. Anaximenes. ) The name of
Lamsaki is still attached to a small town, near which
Lampsacus probably stood, as Lamsaki itself contains
no remains or vestiges of antiquity. A modern trav-
eller assures us besides, that "its wine, once so cele-
brated, is now among the worst that is made in this
part of Anatolia. " (Sibthorpe, in Walpole's Collec-
tion, vol. 1. p. 91. )
1,ami's, I. a fabled king of the Lestrygones, said to
have founded Formiae. (rid. Laestrygones. ) The La-
mian family at Rome pretended to claim descent from
him. (Horat , Od. , 3, 17. )--II. A son of Hercules
and Omphale, fabled to have succeeded his mother on
the throne of Lydia. --III. A river in the western part
of Cilicia Camnestris, now the Lamas. It gave to
the adjacent district the name of Lamotis. (Cramer's
Asia Minor, vol. 2, p. 338. )
Lancia, the name of two towns in Lusitania, dis-
tinguished by the appellations of Oppidana and Trans-
cudana. The first was on the frontiers of the Lusi-
tani, near the sources of the river Munda or Mondego.
It is now La Guarda. The latter lay to the east of
the former, and is now Ciudad Rodrigo. It was called
Transcudana, because it lay beyond the Cuda. (Bis-
choff und Miller, Worterb. der Geogr. , p. 679. )
Lanuob<koi, a people of Germany, located by most
writers on the Albis or Elbe, and the Viadrus or Oder,
in part of what is now called Brandenburg. Accord-
ing to the account, however, of Paulus Diaconus, him-
self one of this nation, they originally came from Scan-
dinavia, under the name of Wilini, and were called by
(he German nations Long Beards, from their appear-
ance. (Paul Diae. , the Warnefrid, de Gest. Lon-
? ? foi, 1, 9. ) The German term Lang Baerdt, Latin-
Generated for (University of Chicago) on 2014-12-26 09:11 GMT / http://hdl. handle. net/2027/uva. x001045523 Public Domain, Google-digitized / http://www. hathitrust. org/access_use#pd-google
? LAOCOON.
LAO
? culptors whi executed it are also recorded. They
are Agesander, Polydorus, and Athenodorus, natives
of HI. /i. is. Pliny (36, 5) says, " Laocoon, which is in
the palace (domo) of the Emperor Titus, is a work to
be preferred to all others either in painting or sculp-
ture. Tho :;e great artists, Agesander, and Polydorus,
and Athcnodorus, Rhodians, executed the principal
figure (turn), and ihe sons, and the wonderful folds of
the serpents, out of one block of marble. "--There
has been much difference ot opinion among antiqua-
ries on aevenl points connected with this group:
first, as to the date of the artists; Winckelmann con-
tending that they are of a good period of Grecian art,
ami as early as l. ysippus. A considerably later date,
however, is now attributed to them. The next ques-
tion discussed has been, whether the sculptor was in-
debted fur the subject to Virgil's fine description (Ain. ,
2, 200, seqq. ), or whether the poet was indebted to
the artist. With respect to date, the most careful
consideration seems to fix these sculptors as late as
the early emperors; and Leasing, whose work on the
Laocoon deserves the attention of all who take an in-
terest in the philosophy and capabilities of art, believes
they lived in the reign of Titus. With regard to the
subject, it is most probable that the story, being well
known, offered advantages for illustration to the sculp-
tor, as it did for description to the poet. As Virgil's
priest was habited in his robes during the exercise of
hie priestly functions, and the group under considera-
tion is entirely naked, the argument is additionally
strengthened against the assumption that the artist
borrowed from the poet. It is more natural to believe
that each drew from a common source, and treated
tho subject in the way best adapted to the different
artn they exercised; the sculptor's object being con-
centration of effect, the poet's amplification and brill-
iant description. --T'his group is justly considered, by
all competent judges, to be a master-piece of art. It
combines, in its class, all '. hat sculpture requires, and,
we may say, admits of, and may truly be studied as a
canon. The sutj'sct is of the most affecting and in-
teiesting kind ', and the expression in every part < i
the figures reaches, but does not exceed, the limits of
propriety. Intense mental suffering is portrayed in
the countenances, while the physical strength of all
the three figures is evidently sinking under the irresist-
ible power of the huge reptiles wreathed around their
exhausted limbs. One son, in whose side a serpent
nas fixed his deadly fangs, seems to be fainting; the
other, not yet bitten, tries (and the futility of the at-
tempt is faithfully shown) to disengage one foot from
the serpent's embrace. The father, Laocoon, himself,
is mighty in his sufferings: every muscle is in extreme
action, and his hands and feet are convulsed with pain-
ful energy. Yet there is nothing frightful, disgusting,
or contrary to beauty in the countenance. Suffering
is faithfully and strongly depicted there, but it is rather
the exhibition of mental anguish than of the repul-
sive and undignified contortions of mere physical pain.
THe whole of this figure displays the most intimate
knowledge of anatomy and of outward form; the lat-
ter selected with care, and freed from any vulgarity
of common individual nature: indeed, the single figure
of Laocoon may be fairly referred to, as one of the
finest specimens existing of that combination of truth
and beauty, which is so essential to the production of
perfect sculpture, and which can alone ensure for it
? ? lasting admiration. The youths are of a smaller
Generated for (University of Chicago) on 2014-12-26 09:11 GMT / http://hdl. handle. net/2027/uva. x001045523 Public Domain, Google-digitized / http://www. hathitrust. org/access_use#pd-google
? LAO
LA R
Km--Ckalcond. , p. 85. ) The ruins of Laodicea are
now called by the Turks Eski Hissar. (Manncrt,
Geogr. , vol. 6, pt. 3, p. 131. -- Leake's Journal, p.
154, seqq. )--II. Scabiosa, a city of Syria, southwest
of Emesa and of the Orontes. It is sometimes, though
erroneously, styled Cabiosa. Tho epithet Scabiosa
mast have reference to the leprosy, or some cutaneous
complaint, very prevalent here in the time of the Ro-
man power. Its previous name under the Greeks was
XaodtKt'-a rj irpoo AiCuvu), Laxdicta ad Libanum
(Strabo, 753. --Plin. ,5,23;, and it must have been sit-
uate, therefore, near the northeastern port of the chain
of Libanus, in the plain Marsyas, which Pococke (2,
p. 204) mentions, though he is silent respecting its
ancient name. Its site must bo looked for to the
west of the modern Hasseiah, a day's journey to the
southwest of the modern Hems, the ancient Emesa.
(Marmert, Geogr. , irol. 6, pt. 1, p. 428. )--HI. A mar-
itime city of Syria, on an eminence near the coast,
called, for distinction' sake, Aaodtxeta im ry ? ddXdr-
rj, Laodicea ad Mare. <Strab. , 751. --Plin. , 21, 5. )
It was built by Seleucus Nicator, and named in hon-
our of his mother; and Strabo ranks it among the
four principal cities of the country. (Compare Ap-
pian, B. Syr. , c. 27. ) The fruitfulness of the adja-
cent country, and the quantity of good wine made in
this quarter, which furnished a great article of trade
with Alexandres, were the chief reasons that induced
Seleucus to found this city. Laodicea may, in fact,
be regarded as the harbour of Antiochia. The an-
cient writers praise its excellent port, and it would
seem, even at the present day, to show traces of the
works constructed to give security and convenience
to the harbour. (Pococke, 2, p. 287. --Walpole's Me-
moirs, vol. 2, p. 138. ) In the civil war after Caesar's
death, Dolabella stood a long siege in this place; it
was finally taken, and suffered severely. (Dio Cass. ,
47, 30. --Appian, B. Civ. , 4, 62. ) Hence Antony
leclared it independent, and freed it from all tribute.
{Appian, B. Civ. , 5, 7. ) It again suffered from Pes-
eennius Niger (Malala, Ckron. , 11, p. 125), and there-
fore his more successful competitor Severus did all in
his power to restore it to its former condition. Among
other favours shown it, he made the place a colony
with the Juj lialicum. (Ulpian, 1. 50, Digest. Tit. ,
15, (fe censtMS. ) The modern name is Ladikii.
