His genius, however,
triumphed
over every
obstacle, and he eventually compelled the two lieu-
tenants of Pompey to submit without a second encoun-
ter.
obstacle, and he eventually compelled the two lieu-
tenants of Pompey to submit without a second encoun-
ter.
Charles - 1867 - Classical Dictionary
, in the libraries of Vienna and
Paris. Various editions have been published of the
Latin translation of the entire work by Janus Coma-
rius, under the title of Contracts ex vetenbus Mcdi-
etna telralriblis, at Venisc, 1543, in 8vo; at Basle,
1542, 1549, in fol. ; another at Basle, 1535, fol, of
which the first seven and the last three books were trans-
lated by Montanus; twoatLyons, 1549, fol. ,and 1560,
I vols. 12nio, with notes of but little value, by Hugo de
? ? Soleriis; and one at Paris, 1567, fol. , among the Mcd-
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? -ETOLIA.
. ETOLIA.
case of . (Etna, is said to be eighty-one, of which the
following may be regarded as an accurate enumeration.
Those mentioned by Thucydides amount to three.
In 122 B. C. there was one. In 44 A. D. one. In
352 A. D. one. During the 12th century, two hap-
pened. During the 13th, one. During the 14th, two
During the 15th, four. During the lbth,/our. Du-
ring the 17th, twenty-two. During the 18th, thirty-
two. Since the commencement of the 19th, nine.
(Malte-Brun, Geogr. , vol. 4, p. 293, Brussels ed. )
That the Greeks did not suffer this mountain to re-
main unemployed in their mythological legends may
easily be imagined, and hence the fable that . /Etna
lay on part of the giant form of Typhon, enemy of the
fods. (Pindar, Pyth. , I. c. -- Compare JEschylus,
'rom. Vmct. , v. 365. -- Hyginus, c. 152. -- Apollod ,
1, 6, 3, and Heyne, ad loc. , where the different tradi-
tions respecting Typhon are collected. ) According
to Virgil (Jin , 3, 578), Enceladus lay beneath this
mountain. Another class of mythographers placed the
Cyclopes of Homeric fable on . Etna, though the poet
never dreamed of assigning the island Thnnakia as an
abode for his giant creations. (Mannerl, vol 3, p. 9,
seqq. ) When the Cyclopes were regarded as the aids
of Vulcan in the labours of the forge, they were trans-
lated, by the wand of fable, from the surface to the
bowels of the mountain, though the Lipari islands
were more commonly regarded as the scene of Vul-
can's art. (Manner! , 9, pt. 2, p. 297. )--II. A small
city on the southern declivity of . Etna. The first
name of the place was Inessa, or Inessos, and Thucyd-
ides (6, 94) speaks of the inhabitants under the ap-
pellation of InesssH ('Ivnooaiot). The form of the
name, therefore, as given by Strabo (268), namely, In-
nesa ('\vvnoa), as well as that found in Diodorus Sic-
ulus (14, 14), Ennesia ('Ewnoia), are clearly errone-
ous. The name of the place was changed to . Etna
by the remains of the colony which Hiero had settled
at Catana, and which the Siculi had driven out from
that place. Hiero had called Catana by the name of
. Etna, and the new-comers applied it to the citv which
now furnished them with an abode. This migration
to Inessa happened 01. 79, 4. At a subsequent pe-
riod (01. 94, 2) we find the elder Dionysius master of
the place, a possession of muc! i importance to him,
since it commanded the road from Catana to the west-
ern parts of the island. The ancient site is now
marked by ruins, and the place bears the name of Cas-
tro. (Mannert, 10, pt. 2, p. 291, seqq. )
-Etolia, a country of Greece, situate to the east of
Acamania. The most ancient accounts which can be
traced respecting this region, represent it as formerly
possessed by the Curetes, and from them it first re-
ceived the name of Curetis. (Strab. , 465. ) A change
was subsequently effected by jEtolus, the son of En-
dymion, who arrived from Elis in the Peloponnesus,
at the head of a band of followers, and, having defeat-
ed the Curetes in several actions, forced them to aban-
don their country (mrf. Acamania), and gave the ter-
ritories which they had left the name of ^Etolia.
(Ephor. ap. Strab. , 463. -- Pausan. , 5, I. ) Homer
represents the . Etolians as a hardy and warlike race,
engaged in frequent conflicts with the Curetes. He
informs us, also, that they took part in the siege of
Troy, under the command of Thoas their chief, and
often alludes to their prowess in the field. (11. , 9,
527; 2, 638, &c. ) Mythology has conferred a de-
? ? gree of celebrity and interest on this portion of Greece,
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? ^ETOLIA.
AFE
nle war, then raging in Italy, found themselves threat-
ened on the side of Greece by the secret treaty con-
cluded by the King of Macedon with Hannibal, they
saw the advantage of an alliance with the . Etolians in
order to avert the storm ; and, though it might reflect
wit little credit on their policy, in a moral point of
view, to form a league with a people of such question-
able character, the soundness of judgment which dic-
tated the measure cannot be doubted; since they were
thus enabled, with a small fleet and an army under the
command of M. Valerius Lsvinus, to keep in check
the whole of the Macedonian force, and effectually to
preclude Philip from affording aid to the Carthagin-
ians in Italy. (L*ry, 26, 24. ) The . -Etolians also
proved very useful allies to the Romans in the Mace-
donian war. during wHich they displayed much zeal
ind activity, particularly in the battle of Cynoscepha-
ls? , where their cavalry greatly distinguished itself, and
contributed essentially to that decisive victory. (Lh. ,
33, 7 ) On the conclusion of peace, the jEtolians flat-
tered themselves that their exertions in favour of the
Romans would be rewarded with a share of the prov-
inces taken from the enemy. But the crafty Romans
considered . C. olia already sufficiently powerful to ren-
der any considerable addition to its territory impolitic.
and even dangerous. The . Etolians were, at this
lime, no longer confined within the narrow limits
which the early history of Greece assigns to them, but
had extended their dominions on the west and north-
west as far as Epirus, where they were in possession
>>f Ambracia. leaving to Acamania a few towns only
on the coast: towards the north, they occupied the dis-
tricts of Amphilochia and Apcrantia, a great portion of
Doktpia, and, from their connexion with Athamantia,
their influence in that direction was felt even to the
Borden* of Macedonia. On the side of Thessaly they
had made themselves masters of the country of the
Enianes. a large portion of Phthiotis, with the can-
tons of the Melians and Trachinians. On the coast
they had gained the whole of the Locrian shore to the
'. -? --:? . -. n Gulf, including Naupactus. In short, they
wanted but little to give them the dominion over the
whole of Northern Greece. The Romans, therefore,
tatbned with having humbled and weakened the Ma-
cedonian prince, still left him power enough to check
and curb the arrogant and ambitious projects of this
people The -fStolians appear to have keenly felt the
disappointment of their expectations. (Lm. , 33, 13
mad 31. ) They now saw all the consequences of the
Ui. t thev had committed, in opening for the Romans
a way to" Greece; but, too weak of themselves to eject
these formidable intruders, they turned their thoughts
towards Antiochus, king of Syria, whom they induced
to come over into that country, this monarch having
been already urged to the same course by Hannibal
{La-, 35. 33. ) With the assistance of this new ally,
thev made a bold attempt to seize at once the three
important towns of Demetrias, Lacedajmon, and Chai-
ns, in which they partly succeeded; and, had Antio-
chus prosecuted the war as vigorously as it was com-
imf ml Greece, in all probability, would have been
saved, and Italy might again have seen Hannibal in
her territories at the head of a victorious army; but a
? ingle defeat at Thermopylae crushed the hopes of the
'? . Tti- and drove the feeble Antiochus back into
Asia. (Lit. . 36, 19. ) The . Etolians, deserted by
their ally, remained alone exposed to the vengeance of
? ? the fbe. Heraclea, Naupactus. and Ambracia were
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? AFRICA.
AFRICA.
Aprawia. Vid. Supplement.
Afrania Gens. Vid. Supplement.
Afranius, I. a Latin comic poet, who flourished
about 100 B. C. Cicero (Brut. , 45) says that he imita-
ted C. Titius, and praises him for acuteness of percep-
tion, as well as for an easy style. (" Homo perargutus,
in fabults quidem cliam, ut salts, disertus") Horace
speaks of him as an imitator of Menander. (Epist. ,
2, 1, 57. --Compare Cic. , de Fin, 1, 3. ) Afranius
himself admits, in his Compitalcs, that he derived
many even of his plots from Menander and other
Greek writers. In other instances, however, he made
the manners and customs of his own country the basis
of his pieces. Quintilian (10, 1, 100) praises the tal-
ents of Afranius, but censures him, at the same time,
for his frequent and disgusting obscenities. Of all his
works, only some titles, and 266 verses remain, which
are to be found in the Corpus Poctarum of Maittaire,
and have also been published by Bothc and Neukirch.
(Bahr, Gcsch. Rom. Lit. , vol. 1, p. 111. --Schbll, Hist.
Lit. Horn. , vol. 1, p. 139. )--II. Nepos, a commander
who had served under Pompey, and was named by him
consul, A. U. C. 694, a period when Pompey was l>e-
ginning to dread the power and ambition of Cassar.
Afranius, however, performed nothing remarkable at
this particular time, having a distaste for public allairs.
Fourteen years later, when Pompey and Cicsar had
come to an open rupture, Afranius was in Spain, as the
lieutenant of the former, along with Petreius, who held
a similar appointment. Cesar entered the country at
this period, and the two lieutenants, uniting their for-
ces, awaited his approach in an advantageous position
near Ilerda (the modern Lcrida). Cajsar was defeat-
ed in the first action, and two days afterward saw
himself blockaded, as it were, in his very camp, by the
sudden rise of the two rivers between which it was
situate.
His genius, however, triumphed over every
obstacle, and he eventually compelled the two lieu-
tenants of Pompey to submit without a second encoun-
ter. They disbanded their troops and returned to It-
aly, after having promised never to bear arms against
Cffisar for the future. Afranius, however, either for-
fetful of his word, or having in some way released
imself from the obligation he had assumed, took part
with Pompey in the battle of Pharsalia, being intrust-
ed with the command of the right wing, although his
capitulation in Spain had laid him open to the charge
of having betrayed the interests of his chief. After the
battle of Thapsus, Afranius and Faustus Sylla moved
along the coast of Africa, with a small body of troops,
in the design of passing over to Spain, and joining the
remains of Pompey's party in that quarter. They were
encountered, however, by Sittius, one of the partisans
of Cffisar, who defeated and made them prisoners. It
was the intention of Sittius to have saved their lives,
but they were both massacred by his soldiers. (Cits. ,
Bell. Civ. , 1, 38. --Ctc. ep. ad Alt. , 1, 18-- Plut. , Vu.
Fomp. --Sueton. , Vtt. Cas. , 3i. --Florus, 4, 2. )-- III.
Potitus, a plebeian, in the reign of Caligula, who, in a
spirit of foolish flattery, bound himself by an oath that
he would depart from existence in case the emperor
recovered from a dangerous malady under which he
was labouring. Caligula was restored to health, and
Potitus compelled to fulfil his oath. (Dio Cass. , 59,
8. --Compare the remarks of Keimar, ad loc, on the
belief prevalent throughout the ancient world that the
life of an individual could be prolonged if another
? ? rould lay down his own in its stead. )
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? >
I
AFRICA.
originally applied by the Romans to the country aroum
Cottage, the first part of the continent with which
thy became acquainted, anil the appellation a said to
hive been derived from a small Carthaginian district
on the northern coast, called frigi. (Ritter, Erdkun-
ie, \, p. 955, 24 ed. ) Hence, even when the name
M become applied to the whole continent, there still
feaained, in Roman geography, the district of Africa
hvpet, oa the Mediterranean coast, corresponding to
tAeaoJern kingdom of Tunis, with part of that of Tnp-
cii. The term Libya, on the other hand, though used
by the Greeks to designate the entire country, became
limited with the Romans to a part merely; and thus
we have with the latter, the region of Libya, extending
along the coast from the Greater Syrtis to Egypt, and
stretching inland to the deserts. --The knowledge
v. iii. . 'u Herodotus possessed of this continent was far
Iran extensive. He considered Africa as terminating
north of the equinoctial line; and, even in these nar-
row limits. Egypt alone, ranking it as a part of Africa
infect, ie clearly described. Jf we exclude Egypt, the
acquaintance possessed by the historian relative to the
other parts of the continent, and which is founded on
the information imparted by others, follows merely
three lines of direction: one proceeds along the Nile,
and reaches probably the limit of modern discoveries
in that quarter; another, leaving the temple and Oasis
of Ammon, loses itself in the great desert; while a
thud advances along the Mediterranean coast as far as
the environs of Carthage. (Malle-Brun, 1, p. 26,
Bnssel* ed. ) The natives of Africa are divided by
Herodotus into two races, the Africans, or, to adopt
(he Greek phraseology, I^ibyans, and the . 'Ethiopians;
one possessing the northern, the other the southern
{art (4, 197). By these appear to be meant the
Moors, and the Nejrroes, or the darker-coloured nations
of the interior. "The common boundary of the Afri-
cans and Ethiopians in ancient times may be placed
at the southern border of the Great Desert. Hanno
found the . Ethiopians in possession of the western
coast, about the parallel of 19? ; and Pliny (5, 31)
places them at five journeys beyond Cenie. At pres-
ent the negroes are not found higher up than the Sen-
egal river, or about 17? , and that only in the inland
pats. (Renncll, Geography of Herodottu, p. 427,
t*nn. ) Nothing, however, can be more indeterminate
than the terms . Ethiopia and /Ethiopian; and it is
certain that many distinct races were included under
the latter denomination. (VuJ. . Ethiopia. ) The whole
of Africa, except where it is joined to Asia, was known
by the ancients in general to be surrounded by the sea;
but of Hs general figure and extension towards the south
they had no accurate knowledge. There is strong rea-
son, however, to believe, that, at an era anterior to the
earliest records of history, the circumnavigation of Af-
rica was accomplished by the Phoenicians in the ser-
vice of Necho, king of Egypt- Herodotus, to whom
we ire indebted for the knowledge of this interesting
fact, speaking of the peninsular figure of the continent
of . Uhra. says (4, 42): "This discovery was first
made by Necho, king of Egypt, as far as we are able
to judge. When he had desisted from opening the
canal that leads from the Nile to the Arabian Gulf, he
seat certain Phoenicians in ships, with orders to pass
by the Columns of Hercules into the sea that lies to
the north of Africa, and then to return to Egypt.
? ? Tbe*e Phoenicians thereupon set sail from the Red
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? AFRICA.
AFRICA.
the way to India to those whom the monarch should
charge with this commission. Euergetes assented, and
Eudoxus was one of those directed to go on this er-
rand. He sailed with a cargo of various articles calcu-
lated for presents, and brought back in exchange aro-
matics and precious stones. He was disappointed,
however, in the expectations of profit which he had en-
tertained, since the king appropriated all the return-
cargo to himself. After the death of Euergetes, Cleo-
patra, his widow, assumed the reins of government, and
sent Eudoxus on a second voyage to India with a rich-
er supply of merchandise than before. On his return,
he was carried by the winds to the coast of . 'Ethiopia,
where, landing at several points, he conciliated the na-
tives by distributing among them com, wine, and dried
figs, things of which until then they had been ignorant.
He received in exchange water and guides. He noted
down also some words of their language; and found,
moreover, in this quarter, theextremity of a ship's prow,
carved in the shape of a horse's head. This fragment,
he was told, had belonged to a shipwrecked vessel that
came from the west. Having reached Egypt, he found
the son of Cleopatra on the throne, and he was again
despoiled of the fruits of his voyage, being charged
with having converted many things to his own use.
As regards the fragment of the shipwrecked vessel
brought home with him, he exposed it in the market-
place for the examination of pilots and masters of ves-
sels, who informed him that it must have belonged to
a ship from Gades (Cadiz). The grounds of their be-
lief were as follows: the traders of Gades, according
to them, had large vessels; but the less wealthy, small-
er ones, which they called horses, from the ornament
on their prows, and which they used in lishing along
the coasts of Mauritania as far as the river Lixus.
Some shipmasters even recognized the fragment as hav-
ing belonged to a certain vessel of this class, which,
with many others, had attempted to advance beyond
the Lixus, and had never after been heard of. From
these statements Eudoxus conceived the possibility of
circumnavigating Africa. He returned home, disposed
of all his effects, and put to sea again with the money
thus obtained, intending to attempt the enterprise in
question. Having visited Dicearchia, Massilia, and
other commercial cities, he everywhere announced his
project, and collected funds and adventurers. He was
at length enabled to equip one large and two small ves-
sels, well-stored with provisions and merchandise, man-
ned chiefly by volunteers, and carrying, moreover, a
pompous train of artisans, physicians, and young slaves
skilled in music. Having set sail, he wascarried on his
way at first by favourable breezes from the west. The
crews, however, became fatigued, and he was compell-
ed, though reluctantly, to keep nearer the shore, and
soon experienced the disaster which he had dreaded,
his ship grounding on a sandbank. As the vessel did
not immediately go to pieces, he was enabled to save
the cargo and great part of her timbers. With the
latter he constructed another vessel of the size of one
of fifty oars. Resuming his route, he came to a part
inhabited by nations who spoke the same language, as
he thought, with those on the eastern coast whom he
had visited in his second voyage from India, and of
whose tongue he had noted down some words. Hence
he inferred that these were a part of the great /Ethio-
pian race. The smallness of his vessels, however, in-
duced him at length to return, and he remarked on his
? ? way back a deserted island, well supplied with wood
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? aJqnteioiarasthe Carthaginian navigator had done,
-lit us now turn our attention, fora moment, to the
intniorofthe country. "We have already alluded in
ffncral terms to the knowledge possessed by Herodo-
lu of Africa. To what ? we have stated on this sub-
jot nay be added the following curious narrative
? kith we receive front the historian himself (2, 32).
"I was also informed," Bays Herodotus, '? by some
Cyreneans, that in a journey they took to the oracle of
Ammon, they had conferred with Etearehus, king of
the Ammonians; and that, among other things, dis-
coursing with him concerning the sources of the Nile,
as of a thins altogether unknown, Etearchus acquaint-
ed them, that certain Nasamoncs, a nation of Libya in-
habiting tfce Syrtis, and a tract of land of no great ex-
tent eastward of the Syrtis, came into his country, and,
beingasked by him if they had learned anything touch-
la; the Libyan deserts, answered that some petulant
tjunj men, sons to diners persons of great power
among them, had, after many extravagant actions, re-
? olTcJ to send five of their number to the coast of
Libya, to see if they could make any farther discov-
eries than others had done. The young men chosen
by their companions to make this expedition, having
famished themselves with -water and other necessary
provisions, first passed through the inhabited country;
<<nd when they had likewise traversed that region which
abounds in wild beasts, they entered the deserts, ma-
king their way towards the west. A fter they had trav-
elled many days through the sands, they at length saw
tome trees growing in a plain, and they approached,
mdbeean to gather the fruit which was on them ; and
while tkey were gathering, several little men, less than
men of middle size, came up, and, having seized them,
carried them away. The Nasamones did not at all
understand what they said, neither did they understand
the speech of the Nasamones. However, they conduct-
ed them over vast morasses to acity built on a great river
running from the west to the east, and abounding in
crocodiles; where the Nasamones found all the inhab-
itants black, and of no larger size than their guides.
To this relation Etearchus added, as the Cyreneans
assured me, that the Nasamones returned safe to their
own country, and that the men to whom they had thus
come were all enchanters. " (Compare the remarks
under the article Nasamones. ) Rennell (Geogr. of
Herod. , p. 432) observes, that it is extremely probable
that the river seen by the Nasamones was that which,
according to the present state of our geography, is
known to pass by Tombuctoo, and thence eastward
through the centre of Africa (in effect, the river com-
monly known by the name of Niger). What is called
the inhabited country in this narrative, he makes the
same with the modern Fe-zzan, in which also he finds
the sandy and desert region traversed by the Nasa-
mones. It appears certain to him, as well as to Larcher,
that the city in question was the modem Tombuctoo.
Malte-Brun^ however (1, p. 28, Brussels e/l. ), thinks it
impossible that Tombuctoo can be the place alluded
to, since it is separated from the country of the Nasa-
raones by so many deserts, rivers, and mountains. --In
the days of Strabo, the knowledge possessed by the
ancients of Africa was little, if at all, improved. The
Mediterranean coast and the banks of the Nile were
the only ports frequented by the Greeks. Their opin-
ion respecting the continent itself was that it formed
a trapezium, or else that the coast from the Columns
of Hercoles to Pelasium might be considered as the
base of a right-angled triangle (Strabo, 17, p. 825, ed.
? ? dumb), of which the Nile formed the perpendicular
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? AFRICA.
AFRICA.
? to give rise, one thing is sufficiently evident, that the
Romans knew only a third part of Africa. Pliny,
moreover, gives us an account of two Roman expedi-
tions into the interior of Africa. The first is that of
Suetonius PauUnus. (Plin. , 5, 1. ) This officer, hav-
ing set out from the river Lixus with some Roman
troops, arrived in ten days at Mount Atlas, passed over
some miles of the chain, and met, in a desert of black
sand, with a river called Ger. This appears to have
been the Gyr of Segelmessa. The second expedition
was that of Cornelius Balbus. "Wo have subdued,"
says Pliny (5, 5), "the nation of the Phazanii, together
with their cities Alcle and Cillaba: and likewise Cyd-
amus. From these a chain of mountains, called the
Black by reason of their colour, extends in a direction
from east to west. Then come deserts, and afterward
Matclgs, a town of the Garamantcs, the celebrated
fountain of Debris, whose waters are hot from midday
to midnight, and cold from midnight to midday; and
also Garama, the capital of the nation. All these
countries have been subjugated by the Roman arms,
and over them did Cornelius Balbus triumph. " Pliny
then enumerates a large crowd of cities and tribes,
whose names were said to have adorned' the triumph.
Maitc-Brun, after a fair discussion of this subject, is
of opinion that Balbus must have penetrated as far as
Bornou and Dongala, which appear to coincide with
the Boin and Daunagi of Pliny. The black mountains
were probably those of Tibesti. (lHalle-Brun, 1, p.
85, Brussels ed. )--Marinus of Tyre, who came before
Ptolemy, pretended to have read the itinerary of a Ro-
man expedition under Septimius Flaccus and Julius
Matcrnus. (Plot. , 1, 8, seqq. ) These officers set
out from Leptis Magna for Garama, the capital of the
Garamantes, which they found to be 5400 stadia from
the former city. Septimius, after this, marched di-
rectly south for the space of three months, and came
to a country called Agyzimba, inhabited by negroes.
Marinus, after some reasoning, fixes the position of
the country at 24? south of the equator. A strict
application of the laws of historical criticism will con-
sign to the regions of fable this Roman expedition, un-
known even to the Romans themselves. How can we
possibly admit, that a general executed a march more
astonishing than even that of Alexander, and that no
contemporary writer has preserved the least mention
of it! At what epoch, or under what reign, are we
to place this event! How, moreover, could an army,
in three months, traverse a space equal to eleven hun-
dred French leagues \ (Malle-Brun, 1, p. 128, Brus-
sels ed. )--The form of Africa was totally changed by
Ptolemy. We have seen that Strabo and Pliny re-
garded this part of the world as an island, terminating
within the equinoctial line. The Atlantic Ocean was
thought to join the Indian Sea under the torrid zone,
the heats of wjiich were regarded as the most powerful
barrier to the circumnavigation of Africa. Ptolemy,
who did not admit the communication of the Atlantic
with the Erythrean or Indian Sea, thought, on the
contrary, that the western coast of Africa, after having
formed a gulf of moderate depth, which he calls Hes-
perkus ('EoTtptKoc), extended indefinitely between
south and west, while he believed that the eastern
coast, after Cape Prasum, proceeded to join the coast
of Asia below Catigara. (Ptol. . 7, 3. ) This opinion,
which made the Atlantic and Indian Oceans only large
basins, separated the one from the other, had been
? ? supported by Hipparchus. The interior of Africa pre-
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? AGAMEMNON.
KM the shape of any animal, or even the form of the
human visage; how to produce pomegranates without
<<wk figs of two colours, &c. (SckoU, Hut. Lit.
Gr.
Paris. Various editions have been published of the
Latin translation of the entire work by Janus Coma-
rius, under the title of Contracts ex vetenbus Mcdi-
etna telralriblis, at Venisc, 1543, in 8vo; at Basle,
1542, 1549, in fol. ; another at Basle, 1535, fol, of
which the first seven and the last three books were trans-
lated by Montanus; twoatLyons, 1549, fol. ,and 1560,
I vols. 12nio, with notes of but little value, by Hugo de
? ? Soleriis; and one at Paris, 1567, fol. , among the Mcd-
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? -ETOLIA.
. ETOLIA.
case of . (Etna, is said to be eighty-one, of which the
following may be regarded as an accurate enumeration.
Those mentioned by Thucydides amount to three.
In 122 B. C. there was one. In 44 A. D. one. In
352 A. D. one. During the 12th century, two hap-
pened. During the 13th, one. During the 14th, two
During the 15th, four. During the lbth,/our. Du-
ring the 17th, twenty-two. During the 18th, thirty-
two. Since the commencement of the 19th, nine.
(Malte-Brun, Geogr. , vol. 4, p. 293, Brussels ed. )
That the Greeks did not suffer this mountain to re-
main unemployed in their mythological legends may
easily be imagined, and hence the fable that . /Etna
lay on part of the giant form of Typhon, enemy of the
fods. (Pindar, Pyth. , I. c. -- Compare JEschylus,
'rom. Vmct. , v. 365. -- Hyginus, c. 152. -- Apollod ,
1, 6, 3, and Heyne, ad loc. , where the different tradi-
tions respecting Typhon are collected. ) According
to Virgil (Jin , 3, 578), Enceladus lay beneath this
mountain. Another class of mythographers placed the
Cyclopes of Homeric fable on . Etna, though the poet
never dreamed of assigning the island Thnnakia as an
abode for his giant creations. (Mannerl, vol 3, p. 9,
seqq. ) When the Cyclopes were regarded as the aids
of Vulcan in the labours of the forge, they were trans-
lated, by the wand of fable, from the surface to the
bowels of the mountain, though the Lipari islands
were more commonly regarded as the scene of Vul-
can's art. (Manner! , 9, pt. 2, p. 297. )--II. A small
city on the southern declivity of . Etna. The first
name of the place was Inessa, or Inessos, and Thucyd-
ides (6, 94) speaks of the inhabitants under the ap-
pellation of InesssH ('Ivnooaiot). The form of the
name, therefore, as given by Strabo (268), namely, In-
nesa ('\vvnoa), as well as that found in Diodorus Sic-
ulus (14, 14), Ennesia ('Ewnoia), are clearly errone-
ous. The name of the place was changed to . Etna
by the remains of the colony which Hiero had settled
at Catana, and which the Siculi had driven out from
that place. Hiero had called Catana by the name of
. Etna, and the new-comers applied it to the citv which
now furnished them with an abode. This migration
to Inessa happened 01. 79, 4. At a subsequent pe-
riod (01. 94, 2) we find the elder Dionysius master of
the place, a possession of muc! i importance to him,
since it commanded the road from Catana to the west-
ern parts of the island. The ancient site is now
marked by ruins, and the place bears the name of Cas-
tro. (Mannert, 10, pt. 2, p. 291, seqq. )
-Etolia, a country of Greece, situate to the east of
Acamania. The most ancient accounts which can be
traced respecting this region, represent it as formerly
possessed by the Curetes, and from them it first re-
ceived the name of Curetis. (Strab. , 465. ) A change
was subsequently effected by jEtolus, the son of En-
dymion, who arrived from Elis in the Peloponnesus,
at the head of a band of followers, and, having defeat-
ed the Curetes in several actions, forced them to aban-
don their country (mrf. Acamania), and gave the ter-
ritories which they had left the name of ^Etolia.
(Ephor. ap. Strab. , 463. -- Pausan. , 5, I. ) Homer
represents the . Etolians as a hardy and warlike race,
engaged in frequent conflicts with the Curetes. He
informs us, also, that they took part in the siege of
Troy, under the command of Thoas their chief, and
often alludes to their prowess in the field. (11. , 9,
527; 2, 638, &c. ) Mythology has conferred a de-
? ? gree of celebrity and interest on this portion of Greece,
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? ^ETOLIA.
AFE
nle war, then raging in Italy, found themselves threat-
ened on the side of Greece by the secret treaty con-
cluded by the King of Macedon with Hannibal, they
saw the advantage of an alliance with the . Etolians in
order to avert the storm ; and, though it might reflect
wit little credit on their policy, in a moral point of
view, to form a league with a people of such question-
able character, the soundness of judgment which dic-
tated the measure cannot be doubted; since they were
thus enabled, with a small fleet and an army under the
command of M. Valerius Lsvinus, to keep in check
the whole of the Macedonian force, and effectually to
preclude Philip from affording aid to the Carthagin-
ians in Italy. (L*ry, 26, 24. ) The . -Etolians also
proved very useful allies to the Romans in the Mace-
donian war. during wHich they displayed much zeal
ind activity, particularly in the battle of Cynoscepha-
ls? , where their cavalry greatly distinguished itself, and
contributed essentially to that decisive victory. (Lh. ,
33, 7 ) On the conclusion of peace, the jEtolians flat-
tered themselves that their exertions in favour of the
Romans would be rewarded with a share of the prov-
inces taken from the enemy. But the crafty Romans
considered . C. olia already sufficiently powerful to ren-
der any considerable addition to its territory impolitic.
and even dangerous. The . Etolians were, at this
lime, no longer confined within the narrow limits
which the early history of Greece assigns to them, but
had extended their dominions on the west and north-
west as far as Epirus, where they were in possession
>>f Ambracia. leaving to Acamania a few towns only
on the coast: towards the north, they occupied the dis-
tricts of Amphilochia and Apcrantia, a great portion of
Doktpia, and, from their connexion with Athamantia,
their influence in that direction was felt even to the
Borden* of Macedonia. On the side of Thessaly they
had made themselves masters of the country of the
Enianes. a large portion of Phthiotis, with the can-
tons of the Melians and Trachinians. On the coast
they had gained the whole of the Locrian shore to the
'. -? --:? . -. n Gulf, including Naupactus. In short, they
wanted but little to give them the dominion over the
whole of Northern Greece. The Romans, therefore,
tatbned with having humbled and weakened the Ma-
cedonian prince, still left him power enough to check
and curb the arrogant and ambitious projects of this
people The -fStolians appear to have keenly felt the
disappointment of their expectations. (Lm. , 33, 13
mad 31. ) They now saw all the consequences of the
Ui. t thev had committed, in opening for the Romans
a way to" Greece; but, too weak of themselves to eject
these formidable intruders, they turned their thoughts
towards Antiochus, king of Syria, whom they induced
to come over into that country, this monarch having
been already urged to the same course by Hannibal
{La-, 35. 33. ) With the assistance of this new ally,
thev made a bold attempt to seize at once the three
important towns of Demetrias, Lacedajmon, and Chai-
ns, in which they partly succeeded; and, had Antio-
chus prosecuted the war as vigorously as it was com-
imf ml Greece, in all probability, would have been
saved, and Italy might again have seen Hannibal in
her territories at the head of a victorious army; but a
? ingle defeat at Thermopylae crushed the hopes of the
'? . Tti- and drove the feeble Antiochus back into
Asia. (Lit. . 36, 19. ) The . Etolians, deserted by
their ally, remained alone exposed to the vengeance of
? ? the fbe. Heraclea, Naupactus. and Ambracia were
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? AFRICA.
AFRICA.
Aprawia. Vid. Supplement.
Afrania Gens. Vid. Supplement.
Afranius, I. a Latin comic poet, who flourished
about 100 B. C. Cicero (Brut. , 45) says that he imita-
ted C. Titius, and praises him for acuteness of percep-
tion, as well as for an easy style. (" Homo perargutus,
in fabults quidem cliam, ut salts, disertus") Horace
speaks of him as an imitator of Menander. (Epist. ,
2, 1, 57. --Compare Cic. , de Fin, 1, 3. ) Afranius
himself admits, in his Compitalcs, that he derived
many even of his plots from Menander and other
Greek writers. In other instances, however, he made
the manners and customs of his own country the basis
of his pieces. Quintilian (10, 1, 100) praises the tal-
ents of Afranius, but censures him, at the same time,
for his frequent and disgusting obscenities. Of all his
works, only some titles, and 266 verses remain, which
are to be found in the Corpus Poctarum of Maittaire,
and have also been published by Bothc and Neukirch.
(Bahr, Gcsch. Rom. Lit. , vol. 1, p. 111. --Schbll, Hist.
Lit. Horn. , vol. 1, p. 139. )--II. Nepos, a commander
who had served under Pompey, and was named by him
consul, A. U. C. 694, a period when Pompey was l>e-
ginning to dread the power and ambition of Cassar.
Afranius, however, performed nothing remarkable at
this particular time, having a distaste for public allairs.
Fourteen years later, when Pompey and Cicsar had
come to an open rupture, Afranius was in Spain, as the
lieutenant of the former, along with Petreius, who held
a similar appointment. Cesar entered the country at
this period, and the two lieutenants, uniting their for-
ces, awaited his approach in an advantageous position
near Ilerda (the modern Lcrida). Cajsar was defeat-
ed in the first action, and two days afterward saw
himself blockaded, as it were, in his very camp, by the
sudden rise of the two rivers between which it was
situate.
His genius, however, triumphed over every
obstacle, and he eventually compelled the two lieu-
tenants of Pompey to submit without a second encoun-
ter. They disbanded their troops and returned to It-
aly, after having promised never to bear arms against
Cffisar for the future. Afranius, however, either for-
fetful of his word, or having in some way released
imself from the obligation he had assumed, took part
with Pompey in the battle of Pharsalia, being intrust-
ed with the command of the right wing, although his
capitulation in Spain had laid him open to the charge
of having betrayed the interests of his chief. After the
battle of Thapsus, Afranius and Faustus Sylla moved
along the coast of Africa, with a small body of troops,
in the design of passing over to Spain, and joining the
remains of Pompey's party in that quarter. They were
encountered, however, by Sittius, one of the partisans
of Cffisar, who defeated and made them prisoners. It
was the intention of Sittius to have saved their lives,
but they were both massacred by his soldiers. (Cits. ,
Bell. Civ. , 1, 38. --Ctc. ep. ad Alt. , 1, 18-- Plut. , Vu.
Fomp. --Sueton. , Vtt. Cas. , 3i. --Florus, 4, 2. )-- III.
Potitus, a plebeian, in the reign of Caligula, who, in a
spirit of foolish flattery, bound himself by an oath that
he would depart from existence in case the emperor
recovered from a dangerous malady under which he
was labouring. Caligula was restored to health, and
Potitus compelled to fulfil his oath. (Dio Cass. , 59,
8. --Compare the remarks of Keimar, ad loc, on the
belief prevalent throughout the ancient world that the
life of an individual could be prolonged if another
? ? rould lay down his own in its stead. )
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? >
I
AFRICA.
originally applied by the Romans to the country aroum
Cottage, the first part of the continent with which
thy became acquainted, anil the appellation a said to
hive been derived from a small Carthaginian district
on the northern coast, called frigi. (Ritter, Erdkun-
ie, \, p. 955, 24 ed. ) Hence, even when the name
M become applied to the whole continent, there still
feaained, in Roman geography, the district of Africa
hvpet, oa the Mediterranean coast, corresponding to
tAeaoJern kingdom of Tunis, with part of that of Tnp-
cii. The term Libya, on the other hand, though used
by the Greeks to designate the entire country, became
limited with the Romans to a part merely; and thus
we have with the latter, the region of Libya, extending
along the coast from the Greater Syrtis to Egypt, and
stretching inland to the deserts. --The knowledge
v. iii. . 'u Herodotus possessed of this continent was far
Iran extensive. He considered Africa as terminating
north of the equinoctial line; and, even in these nar-
row limits. Egypt alone, ranking it as a part of Africa
infect, ie clearly described. Jf we exclude Egypt, the
acquaintance possessed by the historian relative to the
other parts of the continent, and which is founded on
the information imparted by others, follows merely
three lines of direction: one proceeds along the Nile,
and reaches probably the limit of modern discoveries
in that quarter; another, leaving the temple and Oasis
of Ammon, loses itself in the great desert; while a
thud advances along the Mediterranean coast as far as
the environs of Carthage. (Malle-Brun, 1, p. 26,
Bnssel* ed. ) The natives of Africa are divided by
Herodotus into two races, the Africans, or, to adopt
(he Greek phraseology, I^ibyans, and the . 'Ethiopians;
one possessing the northern, the other the southern
{art (4, 197). By these appear to be meant the
Moors, and the Nejrroes, or the darker-coloured nations
of the interior. "The common boundary of the Afri-
cans and Ethiopians in ancient times may be placed
at the southern border of the Great Desert. Hanno
found the . Ethiopians in possession of the western
coast, about the parallel of 19? ; and Pliny (5, 31)
places them at five journeys beyond Cenie. At pres-
ent the negroes are not found higher up than the Sen-
egal river, or about 17? , and that only in the inland
pats. (Renncll, Geography of Herodottu, p. 427,
t*nn. ) Nothing, however, can be more indeterminate
than the terms . Ethiopia and /Ethiopian; and it is
certain that many distinct races were included under
the latter denomination. (VuJ. . Ethiopia. ) The whole
of Africa, except where it is joined to Asia, was known
by the ancients in general to be surrounded by the sea;
but of Hs general figure and extension towards the south
they had no accurate knowledge. There is strong rea-
son, however, to believe, that, at an era anterior to the
earliest records of history, the circumnavigation of Af-
rica was accomplished by the Phoenicians in the ser-
vice of Necho, king of Egypt- Herodotus, to whom
we ire indebted for the knowledge of this interesting
fact, speaking of the peninsular figure of the continent
of . Uhra. says (4, 42): "This discovery was first
made by Necho, king of Egypt, as far as we are able
to judge. When he had desisted from opening the
canal that leads from the Nile to the Arabian Gulf, he
seat certain Phoenicians in ships, with orders to pass
by the Columns of Hercules into the sea that lies to
the north of Africa, and then to return to Egypt.
? ? Tbe*e Phoenicians thereupon set sail from the Red
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? AFRICA.
AFRICA.
the way to India to those whom the monarch should
charge with this commission. Euergetes assented, and
Eudoxus was one of those directed to go on this er-
rand. He sailed with a cargo of various articles calcu-
lated for presents, and brought back in exchange aro-
matics and precious stones. He was disappointed,
however, in the expectations of profit which he had en-
tertained, since the king appropriated all the return-
cargo to himself. After the death of Euergetes, Cleo-
patra, his widow, assumed the reins of government, and
sent Eudoxus on a second voyage to India with a rich-
er supply of merchandise than before. On his return,
he was carried by the winds to the coast of . 'Ethiopia,
where, landing at several points, he conciliated the na-
tives by distributing among them com, wine, and dried
figs, things of which until then they had been ignorant.
He received in exchange water and guides. He noted
down also some words of their language; and found,
moreover, in this quarter, theextremity of a ship's prow,
carved in the shape of a horse's head. This fragment,
he was told, had belonged to a shipwrecked vessel that
came from the west. Having reached Egypt, he found
the son of Cleopatra on the throne, and he was again
despoiled of the fruits of his voyage, being charged
with having converted many things to his own use.
As regards the fragment of the shipwrecked vessel
brought home with him, he exposed it in the market-
place for the examination of pilots and masters of ves-
sels, who informed him that it must have belonged to
a ship from Gades (Cadiz). The grounds of their be-
lief were as follows: the traders of Gades, according
to them, had large vessels; but the less wealthy, small-
er ones, which they called horses, from the ornament
on their prows, and which they used in lishing along
the coasts of Mauritania as far as the river Lixus.
Some shipmasters even recognized the fragment as hav-
ing belonged to a certain vessel of this class, which,
with many others, had attempted to advance beyond
the Lixus, and had never after been heard of. From
these statements Eudoxus conceived the possibility of
circumnavigating Africa. He returned home, disposed
of all his effects, and put to sea again with the money
thus obtained, intending to attempt the enterprise in
question. Having visited Dicearchia, Massilia, and
other commercial cities, he everywhere announced his
project, and collected funds and adventurers. He was
at length enabled to equip one large and two small ves-
sels, well-stored with provisions and merchandise, man-
ned chiefly by volunteers, and carrying, moreover, a
pompous train of artisans, physicians, and young slaves
skilled in music. Having set sail, he wascarried on his
way at first by favourable breezes from the west. The
crews, however, became fatigued, and he was compell-
ed, though reluctantly, to keep nearer the shore, and
soon experienced the disaster which he had dreaded,
his ship grounding on a sandbank. As the vessel did
not immediately go to pieces, he was enabled to save
the cargo and great part of her timbers. With the
latter he constructed another vessel of the size of one
of fifty oars. Resuming his route, he came to a part
inhabited by nations who spoke the same language, as
he thought, with those on the eastern coast whom he
had visited in his second voyage from India, and of
whose tongue he had noted down some words. Hence
he inferred that these were a part of the great /Ethio-
pian race. The smallness of his vessels, however, in-
duced him at length to return, and he remarked on his
? ? way back a deserted island, well supplied with wood
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? aJqnteioiarasthe Carthaginian navigator had done,
-lit us now turn our attention, fora moment, to the
intniorofthe country. "We have already alluded in
ffncral terms to the knowledge possessed by Herodo-
lu of Africa. To what ? we have stated on this sub-
jot nay be added the following curious narrative
? kith we receive front the historian himself (2, 32).
"I was also informed," Bays Herodotus, '? by some
Cyreneans, that in a journey they took to the oracle of
Ammon, they had conferred with Etearehus, king of
the Ammonians; and that, among other things, dis-
coursing with him concerning the sources of the Nile,
as of a thins altogether unknown, Etearchus acquaint-
ed them, that certain Nasamoncs, a nation of Libya in-
habiting tfce Syrtis, and a tract of land of no great ex-
tent eastward of the Syrtis, came into his country, and,
beingasked by him if they had learned anything touch-
la; the Libyan deserts, answered that some petulant
tjunj men, sons to diners persons of great power
among them, had, after many extravagant actions, re-
? olTcJ to send five of their number to the coast of
Libya, to see if they could make any farther discov-
eries than others had done. The young men chosen
by their companions to make this expedition, having
famished themselves with -water and other necessary
provisions, first passed through the inhabited country;
<<nd when they had likewise traversed that region which
abounds in wild beasts, they entered the deserts, ma-
king their way towards the west. A fter they had trav-
elled many days through the sands, they at length saw
tome trees growing in a plain, and they approached,
mdbeean to gather the fruit which was on them ; and
while tkey were gathering, several little men, less than
men of middle size, came up, and, having seized them,
carried them away. The Nasamones did not at all
understand what they said, neither did they understand
the speech of the Nasamones. However, they conduct-
ed them over vast morasses to acity built on a great river
running from the west to the east, and abounding in
crocodiles; where the Nasamones found all the inhab-
itants black, and of no larger size than their guides.
To this relation Etearchus added, as the Cyreneans
assured me, that the Nasamones returned safe to their
own country, and that the men to whom they had thus
come were all enchanters. " (Compare the remarks
under the article Nasamones. ) Rennell (Geogr. of
Herod. , p. 432) observes, that it is extremely probable
that the river seen by the Nasamones was that which,
according to the present state of our geography, is
known to pass by Tombuctoo, and thence eastward
through the centre of Africa (in effect, the river com-
monly known by the name of Niger). What is called
the inhabited country in this narrative, he makes the
same with the modern Fe-zzan, in which also he finds
the sandy and desert region traversed by the Nasa-
mones. It appears certain to him, as well as to Larcher,
that the city in question was the modem Tombuctoo.
Malte-Brun^ however (1, p. 28, Brussels e/l. ), thinks it
impossible that Tombuctoo can be the place alluded
to, since it is separated from the country of the Nasa-
raones by so many deserts, rivers, and mountains. --In
the days of Strabo, the knowledge possessed by the
ancients of Africa was little, if at all, improved. The
Mediterranean coast and the banks of the Nile were
the only ports frequented by the Greeks. Their opin-
ion respecting the continent itself was that it formed
a trapezium, or else that the coast from the Columns
of Hercoles to Pelasium might be considered as the
base of a right-angled triangle (Strabo, 17, p. 825, ed.
? ? dumb), of which the Nile formed the perpendicular
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? AFRICA.
AFRICA.
? to give rise, one thing is sufficiently evident, that the
Romans knew only a third part of Africa. Pliny,
moreover, gives us an account of two Roman expedi-
tions into the interior of Africa. The first is that of
Suetonius PauUnus. (Plin. , 5, 1. ) This officer, hav-
ing set out from the river Lixus with some Roman
troops, arrived in ten days at Mount Atlas, passed over
some miles of the chain, and met, in a desert of black
sand, with a river called Ger. This appears to have
been the Gyr of Segelmessa. The second expedition
was that of Cornelius Balbus. "Wo have subdued,"
says Pliny (5, 5), "the nation of the Phazanii, together
with their cities Alcle and Cillaba: and likewise Cyd-
amus. From these a chain of mountains, called the
Black by reason of their colour, extends in a direction
from east to west. Then come deserts, and afterward
Matclgs, a town of the Garamantcs, the celebrated
fountain of Debris, whose waters are hot from midday
to midnight, and cold from midnight to midday; and
also Garama, the capital of the nation. All these
countries have been subjugated by the Roman arms,
and over them did Cornelius Balbus triumph. " Pliny
then enumerates a large crowd of cities and tribes,
whose names were said to have adorned' the triumph.
Maitc-Brun, after a fair discussion of this subject, is
of opinion that Balbus must have penetrated as far as
Bornou and Dongala, which appear to coincide with
the Boin and Daunagi of Pliny. The black mountains
were probably those of Tibesti. (lHalle-Brun, 1, p.
85, Brussels ed. )--Marinus of Tyre, who came before
Ptolemy, pretended to have read the itinerary of a Ro-
man expedition under Septimius Flaccus and Julius
Matcrnus. (Plot. , 1, 8, seqq. ) These officers set
out from Leptis Magna for Garama, the capital of the
Garamantes, which they found to be 5400 stadia from
the former city. Septimius, after this, marched di-
rectly south for the space of three months, and came
to a country called Agyzimba, inhabited by negroes.
Marinus, after some reasoning, fixes the position of
the country at 24? south of the equator. A strict
application of the laws of historical criticism will con-
sign to the regions of fable this Roman expedition, un-
known even to the Romans themselves. How can we
possibly admit, that a general executed a march more
astonishing than even that of Alexander, and that no
contemporary writer has preserved the least mention
of it! At what epoch, or under what reign, are we
to place this event! How, moreover, could an army,
in three months, traverse a space equal to eleven hun-
dred French leagues \ (Malle-Brun, 1, p. 128, Brus-
sels ed. )--The form of Africa was totally changed by
Ptolemy. We have seen that Strabo and Pliny re-
garded this part of the world as an island, terminating
within the equinoctial line. The Atlantic Ocean was
thought to join the Indian Sea under the torrid zone,
the heats of wjiich were regarded as the most powerful
barrier to the circumnavigation of Africa. Ptolemy,
who did not admit the communication of the Atlantic
with the Erythrean or Indian Sea, thought, on the
contrary, that the western coast of Africa, after having
formed a gulf of moderate depth, which he calls Hes-
perkus ('EoTtptKoc), extended indefinitely between
south and west, while he believed that the eastern
coast, after Cape Prasum, proceeded to join the coast
of Asia below Catigara. (Ptol. . 7, 3. ) This opinion,
which made the Atlantic and Indian Oceans only large
basins, separated the one from the other, had been
? ? supported by Hipparchus. The interior of Africa pre-
Generated for (University of Chicago) on 2014-12-26 09:04 GMT / http://hdl. handle. net/2027/uva. x001045523 Public Domain, Google-digitized / http://www. hathitrust. org/access_use#pd-google
? AGAMEMNON.
KM the shape of any animal, or even the form of the
human visage; how to produce pomegranates without
<<wk figs of two colours, &c. (SckoU, Hut. Lit.
Gr.
