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name was Precius, and that he was adopted by Tusc. i. 35). Previous to the outbreak of the war
a member of another gens.
of the Greeks against his kingdom, he is said to
L. PRE'CIUS, a distinguished Roman eques, have supported the Phrygians in their war against
who carried on business at Panormus, when Verres the Amazons (Hom. Il. ii. 184). When the
was governor of Sicily (Cic. Verr. v. 62, 65). A Greeks landed on the Trojan coast Priam was
certain Precius left some property to Cicero, which already advanced in years, and took do active part
is mentioned two or three times in his correspond in the war (xxiv. 487, 500). Only once did be
ence under the name of Preciana hereditas (adventure upon the field of battle, to conclude the
Fam. xiv, 6. & 2, ad Aut. vi. 9. & 2, vii. 1. & 9); agreement respecting the single combat between
but who this Precius was is not known.
Paris and Menelaus (ü. 250, &c. ). After the
PREPELAUS (Tlpené aos), a general in the death of his son Hector, Priam, accompanied by
service of Cassander, king of Macedonia. He is Hermes, went to the tent of Achilles to ransom
first mentioned in B. C. 315, when he was sent by Hector's body for burial, and obtained it (xxiv.
Cassander on a secret mission to Alexander the son 470). His death is not mentioned by Homer, but
of Polysperchon, whom he succeeded in detaching later poets have filled up this gap in the legend.
from the cause of Antigonus and inducing to join When the Greeks entered the city of Troy, the
his arms with those of Cassander (Diod. xix. 64). aged king, it is said, put on his armour, and was
Shortly after we find him commanding an army on the point of rushing into the crowd of the enemy,
which was sent to support Asander in Caria, and but he was prevailed on by Hecabe to take refuge
co-operating with that general against Ptolemy, the with herself and her daughters, as a suppliant at
nephew of Antigonus (Id. ib. 68). From this the altar of Zeus Herceius. While he was tarry-
time we hear no more of him till B. C. 303, when ing in the temple, his son Polites, pursued by
held the important fortress of Corinth with a Pyrrhus, rushed into the temple, and expired at
large force, but was unable to prevent its falling the feet of his father, whereupon Priam aimed at
into the hands of Demetrius, and only saved himself Pyrrhus, but was killed by him. (Virg. Aen. ii.
by a hasty flight (Id. xx. 103). In the following 512, &c. ; Eurip. Troad. 17 ; Paus ii. 24. & 5, iv.
summer (B. c. 302) he was sent by Cassander, with 17. $ 3. ) His body remained unburied. (Virg.
a considerable army, to co-operate with Lysimachus Aen. ii. 558 ; Senec. Troad. 50, &c. ; Q. Smym.
in Asia, where his arms were crowned with the xiii. 240, &c. )
most brilliant successes ; he reduced in a short Another Priam is mentioned by Virgil (Aen. V.
space of time the important cities of Adramyttium, 564), as a son of Polites, and is accordingly a
Ephesus, and Sardes, and made himself master of grandson of king Priam.
(L. S. )
almost the whole of Aeolia and Ionia. But he was PRI'AMUS, a Greek by birth, and a Roman
unable to prevent the recovery of a great part of freedman, whose name occurs in an inscription as
these conquests by Demetrius, before the close of Sicinius Priamus, with the designation Aurif,
the same autumn (Id. xx. 107, 11l). After this that is, a worker in gold. (Muratori, Thes.
we hear no more of him.
[E. H. B. ) vol. ii. p. cmlxxvii. n. 9; R. Rochette, Lettre à M.
PRESBON (Tipéo6wv), a son of Phrixus, by a Schorn, p. 393. )
[P. S. ]
daughter of Aeetes, king of Colchis. He him- PRIAPA'TIUS, a king of Parthia. (ARSACES,
self was the father of Clymenus, who is hence IV. )
called Presboniades. (Paus. ix. 34. § 5, 37. § 2 ; PRIA'PUS (nplatos), a son of Dionysus and
Schol. ad Apollon. Rhod. ii. 1125. ) A son of Aphrodite (Paus. ix. 31. § 2 ; Diod. iv. 6 ; Tibull.
Minyas was likewise called Presbon. (Schol. ad i. 4. 7 ; Schol. ad Apollon. Rhod. i. 932). Aphro-
Apollon. Rhod. i. 230. )
(L. S. ] dite, it is said, had yielded to the embraces of
P. PRESENTEIUS, one of the commanders of Dionysus, but during his expedition to India, she
the allies in the Marsic war, defeated the legate became faithless to him, and lived with Adonis.
Perperna in B. C. 90. (Appian, B. C. i. 41. ) On Dionysus' return from India, she indeed went
PRI'AMUS (nplanos), the famous king of to meet him, but soon left him again, and went to
Troy, at the time of the Trojan war. He was a Lampsacus on the Hellespont, to give birth to the
son of Laomedon and Strymo or Placia. His ori-child of the god. But Hera, dissatisfied with her
ginal name is said to have been Podarces, i. e. “ the conduct, touched her, and, by her magic power,
swift-footed,” which was changed into Priamus, caused Aphrodite to give birth to a child of extreme
" the ransomed” (from aplauai), because he was ugliness, and with unusually large genitals. This
the only surviving son of Laomedon and was ran- child was Priapus. According to others, however,
somed by his sister Hesione, after he had fallen Priapus was a son of Dionysus and a Naiad or
into the hands of Heracles (Apollod. ii. 6. § 4, iii. Chione, and gave his name to the town of Priapus
12. & 3). He is said to have been first married to (Strab. xiii. p. 587 ; Schol. ad Theocr, i. 21), while
Arisbe, the daughter of Merops, by whom he be others again describe him as a son of Adonis, by
came the father of Aesacus; but afterwards he Aphrodite (Tzetz. ad Lyc. 831), as a son of Hermes
gave up Arisbe to Hyrtacus, and married Hecabe (Hygin. Fab. 160), or as the son of a long-eared
(Hecuba), by whom he had the following children: father, that is, of Pan or a Satyr (Macrob. Sat. vi.
Hector, Alexander or Paris, Deſphobus, Helenus, 5). The earliest Greek poets, such as Homer,
Pammon, Polites, Antiphus, Hipponous, Polydorus, Hesiod, and others, do not mention this divinity,
Trožius, Creusa, Laodice, Polyxena, and Cassandra. and Strabo (xiii. p. 558) expressly states, that it
By other women he had a great many children be- was only in later times that he was honoured with
sides (Apollod. iii
. 12. & 5). According to the Ho- divine worsbip, and that he was worshipped more
meric tradition, he was the father of fifty sons, especially at Lampsacus on the Hellespont, whence
nineteen of whom were children of Hecabe, to he is sometimes called Hellespontiucus (Ov. Fust. i.
whom others add an equal number of daughters 440, vi. 341 ; Arnob. ii. 10). We have every
(llom. Il. xxiv. 495, &c. , with the note of Eustath. ; reason to believe that he was regarded as the pro-


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PRIMUS.
523
PRIMUS.
moter of fertility both of the vegetation and of all | latter began to decline (A. D. 65), Antonius was
animals connected with an agricultural life, and in one of the first generals in Europe who declared in
this capacity he was worshipped as the protector favour of Vespasian ; and he rendered him the
of flocks of sheep and goats, of bees, the vine, all most important services. He was well fitted to
garden-produce, and even of fishing (Paus. ix. 31. play a conspicuous part in a civil war, being bold
Š ? ; Virg. Ed. vii. 33, Georg. iv. 110, with the in action, ready in speech, unscrupulous in the use
commentators). Like other divinities presiding over of means, equally ready to plunder and to bribe,
agricultural pursuits, he was believed to be pos- and possessing considerable military abilities.
It
sessed of prophetic powers, and is sometimes men- was by bis influence that the legions in Moesia, as
tioned in the plural (Tibull. i. 4. 67 ; Moschus, iii. well as those in Pannonia, espoused the side of
27). As Priapus had many attributes in common Vespasian. When the other generals of Vespasian
with other gods of fertility, the Orphics identified were of opinion that they should remain in Pan-
him with their mystic Dionysus, Hermes, Helios, nonia, and await the arrival of Mucianus, who was
&c. (Schol. au Theocr. i. 21 ; Eustath. aul Nom. marching from the East at the head of a powerful
pp. 691, 242. ) The Attic legends connect Priapus body of Vespasian's troops, Antonius on the con-
with such sensual and licentious beings as Conisalus, trary urged an immediate invasion of Italy. His
Orthanes, and Tychon. (Strab. l. c. ; Aristoph. energy overruled all opposition. Without waiting
Lys. 902 ; comp. Diod. iv. 6). In like manner he till the army was ready, Antonius, with a smali
was confounded by the Italians with Mutunus or body of picked troops, and accompanied by Arrius
Muttunus, the personification of the fructifying Varus, who had gained great renown under Cor-
power in nature (Salmas, ad Solin. p. 219 ; Arnob. bulo in the Armenian war, crossed the Alps and
iv, 11). The sacrifices offered to him consisted of pushed forwards into Italy. Here he met with
the first-fruits of gardens, vineyards, and fields great success ; he obtained possession of several
(Anthol Palat. vi. 102), of milk, honey, cakes, towns in Transpadane Gaul, and at Patavium was
rams, asses, and fishes (Antbol. Palat. x. 14 ; Ov. joined by two legions which had followed him from
Fast. i. 391, 416 ; Serv. ad Virg. Georg. ii. 84). the north. At Patavium he allowed his troops a
He was represented in carved images, mostly in short time for repose, and then marched upon
the form of hermae, with very large genitals, carry- Verona, which also fell into his power. Meantime
ing fruit in his garment, and either a sickle or cor- Alienus Caecina, who had been sent by Vitellius
nucopia in his hand (Tibull. i. 1. 22, 4. 8 ; Virg. at the head of a large army to oppose Antonius,
Gcorg. iv, 110 ; Horat. Sat. i. 8 ; Hirt. Mythol. adopted no active measures against him, though
Bilderb. p. 172). The hermae of Priapus in Italy, with his superior forces he might easily have
like those of other rustic divinities, were usually driven him out of Italy. Shortly afterwards three
painted red, whence the god is called ruber or ru- more legions crossed the Alps and joined Antonius,
bicundus. (Ov. Fast. i. 415, vi. 319, 333). [L. S. ) who was now at the head of five legions. His au-
PRIA'PUS, a maker of fictile vases, whose thority however was shared by two generals of
name occurs on a cup in the Durand collection, consular rank, T. Ampius Flavianus, the governor
found at Vulci. (Cab. Durand. n. 882, p. 281 ; of Pannonia, and Aponius Saturninus, the go-
R. Rochette, Lettre à M. Schorn, p. 57. ) (P. S. ) vernor of Moesia ; but an insurrection of the sol-
PRIMIGENIA, a surname of Fortuna, under diers delivered him from these rivals, and obliged
which she had a celebrated sanctuary at Praeneste, them to flee from the camp. Antonius affected
and at Rome on the Quirinal. (Cic. de Div. ii. great indignation at these proceedings, but it was
41; Liv. xxxiv. 53. )
[L. S. ) believed by many that the mutiny had been insti-
PRIMUS, a Roman freedman, whose name gated by himself that he might obtain the sole
appears on ari inscription in the Museum at Naples, command. The army of Caecina meanwhile had
in the form M. ARTORIUS M. L. PRIMUS ARCH:- been thrown into great confusion by the treason of
M. Raoul-Rochette has copied and prib- their general Caecina, who had endeavoured to
lished the inscription ; and he states that he was persuade his troops to desert Vitellius and espouse
assured by M. C. Bonucci, that the stone came the cause of Vespasian ; but not succeeding in his
from the great theatre at Pompeii, of which, there attempt, he had been thrown into chains, and new
fore, if this statement be correct, Primus was the generals elected by the soldiers in his stead. An-
architect. (R. Rochette, Lettre à M. Schorn, p. tonius resolved to avail himself of these favourable
441. )
[P. S. ] circumstances for making an immediate attack
PRIMUS, M. ANTOʻNIUS, was born at To upon the army of Vitellius. He accordingly broke
losa in Gaul, and received in his boyhood the up from his quarters at Verona, and advanced as
surname of Becco, which signified in the Gallic lan- far as Bedriacum, a small town at no great distance
guage a cock's beak. (Suet. Vitell. 18; Martial, ix. from Cremona At Bedriacum the decisive battle
100. ) He afterwards went to Rome, and rose was fought. The imprudence of Arrius Varus, who
to the dignity of a senator ; but having been had charged the enemy too soon and was driven
condemned of forgery (falsum) under the lex back with loss, threw the army of Antonius into
Cornelia in the reign of Nero, he was expelled confusion, and nearly caused the loss of the battle.
from the senate, and banished from the city. Antonius only arrested the flight by killing one of
(Tac. Ann. xiv. 40; Dion Cass. lxv. 9). After his own standard-bearers who was in the act of
the death of Nero (A. D. 68), he was restored flying, and by leading the men against the enemy
to his former rank by Galba, and appointed to with the standard in his hand. Victory at length
the command of the seventh legion, which was declared for Antonius, and the enemy fed in core
stationed in Pannonia It was believed that he fusion to Cremona, from which town they had
subsequently wrote to Otho, offering to take the marched to Bedriacum. In the night Antonius
command of his forces ; but as Otho would was attacked by another army of Vitellius, consist-
not employ him, he gave him no support in his ing of six legions, which had been stationed at
struggle with Vitellius. When the fortunes of the Ilostilia, thirty miles distant and which had im-
TECTUS


## p. 524 (#540) ############################################

624
PRIMUS.
PRISCIANUS.
à
:
1
mediately set out against Antonius upon hearing of, but his rule lasted only for a short time. Mucia-
the defeat of their comrades. The skill and valournus reached Rome soon after the death of Vitellius,
of Antonius again secured the victory for his and was immediately received by the senate and
troops after another hard-fought battle. In the the whole city, as their master. But though An-
morning he marched against Cremona, which was tonius was thus reduced to a subordinate position
at length obliged to submit to him after a vigorous in the state, Mucianus was still jealous of him.
defence. The unhappy city was given up to plun- He, therefore, would not allow him to accompany
der and flames ; and at the end of four days of in. Domitian in his expedition into Germany ; at which
cessant pillage, during which the most horrible Antonius was so indignant that he repaired to Ves-
atrocities were perpetrated, the entire city was le pasian, who was at Alexandria. He was not re-
velled to the ground.
ceived by Vespasian in the distinguished manner
Hitherto Antonius had acted with moderation which he had expected, and to which he thought
and caution ; but, as frequently happens, success that he was entitled ; for though the emperor
revealed his cruel character, and brought forth to treated him with kindness and consideration on
public view the avarice, pride, and other vices account of the great services he had rendered him,
which were inherent in his nature. Henceforth he secretly regarded him with dislike and sus-
he treated Italy like a conquered country ; and in picion, in consequence of the accusations of Mu-
order to maintain his popularity with the soldiers, cianus, and the haughty conduct of Antonius him-
allowed them every kind of licence. Mucianus, self. (Tac. Hist. ii. 86, libb. iii. -iv. ; Dion
who was jealous of his success, and who wished to Cass. Ixv. 9-18 ; Joseph. B. J. iv. 11. ) This is
reserve to himself the glory of putting an end to the last time that Antonius is mentioned by Ta-
the war, wrote to Antonius, recommending caution citus ; but we learn from Martial, who was a friend
and delay, though he worded his letters in such a of Antonius, that he was alive at the accession of
manner that the responsibility of all movements Trajan. In an epigram of the tenth book, which
was thrown upon Antonius. But to the officers of was probably published in A. D. 100, the second
Antonius he expressed himself with more openness, year of Trajan's reign (see Vol. II. p. 965, b. ),
and thus endeavoured to keep Antonius in the north Antonius is said to be in his sixtieth year. (Mart. s.
of Italy. Antonius, however, was not of a temper 23, comp. x. 32, ix. 100. )
to brook such interference, and he therefore wrote to PRISCA, MUTI'LIÁ, a friend of Livia, the
Vespasian, extolling his own exploits, and covertly mother of the emperor Tiberius, and the mistress
attacking Mucianus. Without troubling himself of Julius Postumus. (Tac. Ann. iv. 12. )
about the wishes of the latter, he crossed the PRISCA, PU'BLIA, the wife of C. Geminius
Apennines in the middle of winter, and marched Rufus, who was put to death in A. d. 31, in the
straight upon Rome. Upon reaching Ocriculum, reign of Tiberius. Prisca was also accused and
however, he halted for some days. His soldiers, summoned before the senate, but stabbed herself
whose appetites had been whetted by the plunder in the senate-house. (Dion Cass. lviii. 4. )
of Cremona, and who were patient to glut them- PRISCIANUS, one of the most celebrated
selves with the spoils of Rome, were indignant at grammarians of the later period of Roman litera-
this delay, and accused their general of treachery, ture. From the surname Caesariensis which is
It is probable that Antonius, who saw that it would given to him, we gather that he was either born at
be difficult to restrain his soldiers, feared the general Caesareia, or at least was educated there. The
odium, as well as the displeasure of Vespasian, if time at which he lived cannot be fixed with any
his troops were to sack the imperial city. But great precision. He is spoken of as a contempo-
whatever were his motives or intentions, circum- rary of Cassiodorus, who lived from A. D. 468 to
stances occurred which put an end to his inactivity. at least A. D. 562. (Paulus Diaconus, de Gest.
News arrived that Flavius Sabinus had taken re- Longob. i.