The
crown of this new universal empire continued in the
family of Nimrod for many ages, probably till its over-
throw by Arbaces, which introduced a Median dynas-
ty; while Babel remained in a neglected state until
the same era, when Nabonassar became its first king.
crown of this new universal empire continued in the
family of Nimrod for many ages, probably till its over-
throw by Arbaces, which introduced a Median dynas-
ty; while Babel remained in a neglected state until
the same era, when Nabonassar became its first king.
Charles - 1867 - Classical Dictionary
Asia may therefore
be divided into Northern Asia, the country north of
the Altai range: Middle Asia, the country between
the ranges of Altai and Taurus: and Southern Asia,
the country south of Taurus--Northern Asia lies be-
tween 76? and 50? of latitude (Asiatic Russia and
SiAerui). This in antiquity was very little known, yet
not entirely unknown. Darx but true traditions re-
specting it may be found in the father of history, He-
rodotus. --Middle Asia, the country between 50? and
40a north latitude, comprehending Scythia and Sar-
matia Asiatics (the Great Turtary and Mongolia), is
almost one immeasurable unproductive prairie, with-
out agriculture and forests, and, therefore, a mere pas-
ture-land. The inhabitants leading pastoral lives (No-
mades). are without cities and fixed places of abode;
and therefore, instead of political union, have merely
the constitution of tribes. --Southern Asia, comprising
the lands from 40? north latitude to near the equator,
is entirely different in its character from the countries
of Middle Asia: it is, both in soil and climate, pos-
sessed of advantages for agriculture, and, in compari-
son with the other countries of the earth, it is rich in
the costliest and most various products. --The early
commerce of the world, especially of the east, was
originally through Asia. The natural places of de-
put in the interior were on tho banks of the large
rivers; on the Oius, in Bactria; on the Euphrates,
at Babylon. The natural places of depot on the coast
were the western coast of Asia Minor and Phoenicia,
where arose the series of Grecian and Phoenician cit-
ies. --Asia from the first, as at present, contained in
its interior empires of immense extent, by which they
are distinguished from those of cultivated Europe, as
well as by their constitution. They often underwent
revolutions, but their form remained the same. For
this causes must have existed, lying deep and of wide
influence, and which, notwithstanding these frequent
revolutions, still continued to operate, and always gave
to the new empires of Asia the organization of the
old ones. The great revolutions of Asia (with the
exception of that of Alexander) were occasioned by
the numerous and powerful nomadic nations which oc-
cupied a great part of that continent. Compelled by
accident or necessity, they left their places of abode,
and founded new empires, while they passed through
and subjected the fruitful and cultivated countries of
Southern Asia, until, unnerved by luxury and effemi-
nacy, consequent on the change in their habits of life,
they in their turn were in like manner subjected.
From this common origin may be explained in part
the great extent, in part the rapid rise and the usually
short continuance of these empires. The develop-
ment of their national form of government must, for
the same reason, have had great resemblance; and
the constant reappearance of despotism in them is to
be explained partly from the rights of conquerors, and
partly from their great extent, which rendered a gov-
ernment of satraps necessary. To this we must add,
that the custom of polygamy, prevailing among all the
great nations of inner Asia, mined the mutual rela-
tions and obligations of domestic life, and thus ren-
dered a good constitution impossible. For a domes-
tic tyrant is formed instead of a father of a family,
and despotism at once gains its foundation in private
? ? hfe. (Heeren'm History of the States of Antiquity,
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? ASI
ASP
meant by Asia in the legal sense of the term as em-
ployed by the Romans, and is the same with what the
Greek writers of the Roman era call Asia Proper, or
V liiuc Katov/Uvti 'kaia (Strab. , 626), in which sense
wc find the word Asia used in the New Testament.
(Acts, 2, 9. ) In another passage, however (Acts, 16,
6), we find a distinction made between Phrygia and
Asia. So, again, in the Book of Revelations, which
is addressed to the seven churches of Asia, the name
appears to be confined to that portion of ancient Lydia
which contained Ephesus, Smyrna, Pergamus, Sardis,
&c. (Ccllarius, de Sept. Ecclcs. Asia, inter Dis-
sert. Acad. , p. 412. -- Cramer's Asia Minor, vol. 1,
p. 3. )--III. One of the Occanides. She married Iap-
etus, and became by him the mother of Atlas, Pro-
metheus, Epimetheus, and Mcncctius. (Apollod. , 1,
%. --Heyne, ad he. )
Asia Palus (the "\aioc /. ti/iuv of Homer), a marsh
in Lydia, formed by the river Cayster, near its mouth.
It was the favourite haunt of swans and other water-
fowl. (Horn. , II. , 2, 470. --Virg. , Georg. , 1, 483. --
Id. , &n. , 7, 699. --Ovid, Met. , 5, 386. ) Near it was
another marsh or lake, formed in like manner by the
river, and called Sclinusia Palus. Both belonged to
the temple of Ephesus, and were a source of consid-
erable revenue. (Cramer's Asia Minor, vol. 1, p.
<<M. )
Asia. va, one of the later divisions of Asia Minor.
Towards the decline of the Roman empire, Asia Minor
was divided into two dioceses or provinces, called
Asiana and Pontica, each governed by a lieutenant
named Vicaritu. (Notil. Imper. , 1. --Cod. Thcod. , 5,
tit. 2. )
AsiatTcu8, I. the surname of one of the Scipios
(Lucius Cornelius), obtained by him for his conquests
in Asia. (Yid. Scipio V. ) -- II. A senator, put to
death by Claudius, on a false charge made at the in-
stigation of Messalina, who was desirous of seizing
upon the gardens of Lucullua, which were in his pos-
session. (Tac, Ann. , 11, 1, seqq. )
Asinarus, a river of Sicily, running into the sea to
the north of Helorum. It is now called Fiume di
Noti, from the little town of Nolo on its northern
bank. (Mannert, Geogr. , vol. 9, pt. 2, p. 240. )
Asine, I. a town of Argolis, northwest of Her-
mione, on the Sinus Argolicus, or Gulf of Nauplia.
-- II. Another in Messcuia, southwest of Messene,
founded by the inhabitants of the former place, when
driven from their city by the Argives.
Asinius, I. Pollio. (Vid. Pollio. )--II. Gallus, son
of Asinius Pollio, was consul A. U. C. 748. He mar-
ried Vipsania, the repudiated wife of Tiberius, a step
which gave rise to a secret enmity on the part of the
latter towards him. He starved himself to death, ci-
ther voluntarily, or, what is more probable, having
been ordered by the emperor to destroy himself.
Asinius published in his lifetime a parallel between
his father and Cicero, in which he assigned to the for-
mer a marked superiority over the latter. (Tac, Ann ,
1, 76-- Id. ib. , 6, 23-- Plin. , Ep. , 7, 4. )--III. Quad-
ratus, an historian of the third century of our era, who
wrote a history of the Greeks, Romans, and Par-
thians, down to the time of Philip the Arabian, under
whose reign he lived. -- IV. Capito, a grammarian,
who wrote a book of Epistles. Some read Smnius
for Asinius. (Aul. Gell. , 5, 20. )
Asius, I. a son of Dvmas, brother of Hecuba. He
? ? assisted Priam in the Trojan war, and was slain by
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? ASPASIA.
u t against Pericles, this is that which it is the
most difficult clearly to refute. But we are inclined
lo believe that it may have arisen from the peculiar
niture of Aspasia's private circles, which, with a bold
neglect of established usage, were composed not only
of the most intelligent and accomplished men to be
fund at Athens, but also of matrons, who, it is said,
wtre brought by their husbands to listen to her con-
versation. This must have been highly instructive
as well as brilliant, since Plato did not hesitate to de-
scribe her as the preceptress of Socrates, and to as-
sert that she both formed the rhetoric of Pericles, and
composed one of his most admired harangues, the
celebrated funeral oration. (Plot. , Menez. , 4--vol. 6,
p. 148. ti. Bekk. ) The innovation, which drew wom-
en of free birth and good condition into her company
for such 3 purpose, must, even where the truth was
understood, have surprised and olfended many; and
it was liable to the grossest misconstruction. And if
her female friends were sometimes seen watching the
progress of the works of Phidias, it was easy, through
his intimacy with Pericles, to connect this fact with a
calumny of the same kind. There was another ru-
mour still more dangerous, which grew out of the
character of the persons who were admitted to the so-
ciety of Pericles and Aspasia. No persons were more
welcome at the house of Pericles than such as were
distinguished by philosophical studies, and especially
by the profession of new philosophical tenets. The
mere presence of Anaxagoras, Zeno, Protagoras, and
other celebrated men, who were known to hold doc-
trines very remote from the religious conceptions of
the vulgar, was sufficient to make a circle in which
they were familiar pass for a school of impiety. Such
were the materials out of which the comic poet Her-
mippus. laving aside the mask, formed a criminal pros-
ecution against Aspasia. His indictment included
two heads: an offence against religion, and that of
corrupting Athenian women to gratify the passions
of Pericles. The danger was averted; but it seems
that Pericles, who pleaded her cause, found need of
his mwt strenuous exertions to save Aspasia, and
that he even descended, in her behalf, to tears and en-
treaties, which no similar emergency of his own could
ever draw from him. (Athen. , 12, p. 589. )--After the
death of Pericles, Aspasia attached herself to a young
man of obscure birth, named Lysicles, who rose
through her influence in moulding his character to
some of the highest employments in the republic.
( T/urlitilCs Greece, vol. 3, p. 87, seqq. -- Compare
Ptut. , Vit Pencl. -- Xen. , Mem. , 2, 6 --Max. Tyr. ,
24, p. 461. --Harpoer. , p. 79. --Antlid. , 2, p. 131. )--
II. Daughter of Hermotimus. and a native of Phocasa
in Asia Minor. She was so remarkable for her beauty,
that a satrap of Persia carried her off and made her a
present to Cyrus the Younger. Her modest deport-
ment soon won the affections of the prince, who lived
with her as with a lawful spouse, and their union be-
came celebrated throughout all Greece. Her name
at first was Milto (vermilion), which had been given
her in early life on account of the brilliancy of her
complexion. Cyrus, however, changed it to Aspasia,
calling her thus after the female companion of Peri-
cles. (Vid. Aspasia 1. ) After the death of the prince,
she fell into the hands of Artaxerxes, who for a long
time vainly sought to gain her affections. She only
yielded at last to his suit through absolute necessity.
When the monarch declared his son Darius his suc-
? ? cessor, the latter, as it was customary in Persia for
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? AST
Bochart adopts the marginal translation, which, in-
stead of " Out of that land went forth Assur and build-
ed Nineveh,'' reads "Out of that land he (Nimrod)
went forth into Assur (or Assyria) and built Nineveh. "
The opinion of Bochart is espoused by Faber, the con-
verso by Michaelis and Bryant. The decision of the
point is, indeed, a difficult one; but, if weight of au-
thority can avail, the question will be speedily deter-
mined in favour of the marginal translation of the Bi-
ble, which represents Nimrod as the founder of Nin-
oveh. This translation is supported by the Targums
of Onkelos and Jerusalem ? by Theophilus, bishop of
Antioeh, and Jerome, among the ancients; and, in
addition to Bochart and Faber, by Hyde, Marsham,
Wells, the writers of the Universal History, and Hales,
among the moderns. Admitting, then, the force of
these united authorities, Nimrod, when driven from
Babel, still attended by a strong party of military fol-
lowers, founded a new empire at Nineveh; which, as
it was seated in a country almost exclusively peopled
by the descendants of Ashur, was called Assyria.
The
crown of this new universal empire continued in the
family of Nimrod for many ages, probably till its over-
throw by Arbaces, which introduced a Median dynas-
ty; while Babel remained in a neglected state until
the same era, when Nabonassar became its first king.
Whether there was an uninterrupted line of kings
from Assur or Nimrod to Sardanapalus, or not, is un-
known. --According to Herodotus, an Assyrian empire
lasted 520 years, from 1237 to 717. Catalogues of
the Assyrian kinga are found in Syncellus and Euse-
bius. (Mansford's Scripture Gazetteer, p. 38, scqq. --
Compare Hecren's History of the States of Antiquity,
p. 25, seqq. , Bancroft's transl. )
ASTABORAS, a river of Ethiopia, falling into the
Nile. It is now called the Tacazse. (Vid. Nilus. )
ASTACUS, a city of Bithynia, on the Sinus Astace-
nus, founded, according to Strabo (563), by the Mega-
rians and Athenians. This account is confirmed by
Memnon (ap. Phot. , p. 722), who says, that the Me-
garians settled here in the 17th Olympiad, and that,
some years after this, an Athenian colony joined them.
Astacus was subsequently seized by Dtedalsus, a na-
tive chief, who became the founder of the Bithynian
monarchy. In the war waged by his successor Xipoe-
tes with Lysimachus, Astacus was ruined, and the in-
habitants' were transferred by Nicomedes to the city
which he founded and named, after himself, Nicome-
dia. (Strab. , 1. c. --StepH. Byz. , s. n. --Cramer's Asia
Minor, vol. 1, p. 186. )
AsT. ii",. a town of Hispania Btetica, east of Hispa-
lis, famed for its vigorous defence against the Romans,
A. U. C. 546. It is now Estepa La Vicja. (Lin. , 38,
20. )
ASTAPCS, a river of Ethiopia, falling into the Nile.
It is now the Abawi, or Bahr-el-Azac, and flows through
Nubia, rising in a place called Coloe Palus, now Bahr
Dembea. This is the river which Bruce mistook for
the Nile. (Joseph. , Ant. , 2, 5. --Strab. , 565. )
ABTARTE, a powerful divinity of Syria, the daugh-
ter of Ccelus and Terra. She had . 1 famous temple at
Hierapolis in Syria, which was served by 300 priests.
"Astarte. " observes R. P. Knight, " was precisely the
same as the Cybele, or universal mother of the Phry-
gians. She was, as Appian remarks (Bell. Parth. ),
'by some called Juno, by others Venus, and by others
held up to be Nature, or the cause which produced the
beginnings and seeds of things from Humidity:' so
? ? that she comprehended in one personification both
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? AST
ACTI. EA, the goddess of Justice. Her origin is dif-
ferenilT given. She ia either a. Titan or a descend-
ant of the Titans; being in the former case the daugh-
ter of Jove and Themis (7/e*i<<2, Tkeog. , 135, 191,
Kijq. ). or of Astrseus and Hemera, or Astrseus and
Aurora (Eos). When the Titans took up arms
against Jupiter, she left her father Astreus, who, as
the eon of a Titan, fought on their side, and descended
to earth, and mingled with the human race. This in-
tercourse with mortals continued during the golden
age, but was interrupted when that of silver ensued,
far. during this latter age, aho came down from the
mountains, only amid the shades of evening, unseen by,
ind refraining from all communion with, men. When
the brazen age commenced she fled to the skies, hav-
ing left the earth the last of the immortals. Jove there-
upon made her the constellation Virgo, among the
signs of the zodiac. (A. rat. , Fh&n. , 102, seqq. --Sc/iol.
Tiuox. , ad loc. --Hesiody Op. et D. , 254. --Pind. , 01. ,
13, 6. -- Orph. , H. , 61. Hygin,, Aitron. , 2, 25. --
Eritiuth. , Cat. , 9. ) As the constellation Virgo, she
a identical with Erigone, having a place in the zodiac
between the Scorpion and the Lion. On the old star-
tabjes. or celestial planispheres, the Scorpion extended
orer two signs, filling with its claws the space be-
tween itself and Virgo. ( Voss. ad. Virg. , Georg. , 1,
33. --Erajtosth. , Cat. , 7. Ooul, Met. , 2. 197. ) Later
astronomers, as we are told by Theon (ad Aral. , 89),
named the sign occupied by the claws of Scorpio the
Balance (Libra), and this balance Astrtea (Virgo) held
in her hand as a symbol of justice. Others, however,
as in the case of the Famese marble, made it the mark
of the equality of the day and night at the equinox. It
Uvery probable that this latter explanation was the ear-
lier one of the two, especially as Astnca ranked among
the Hors, and that the moral idea succeeded the physi-
cal. (Vollmer, \Vorterb. der Myt. 'iol. , p. 354. -- Gru-
-Vr. ttV<<r6. der Altclass. Myt/iol. , vol. 1, p. 666. --
Iddtr, Stcrnnomfn, p. 169. )
ASTB^CS, I. a son of the Titan Crius and Eurybia
the daughter of Pontus. Hyginus, however, makes
him the offspring of Terra and Tartarus, and brother
of the giants Enceladus, Pallas, &c. (ffyg. , Prof. ,
p. 3, ed. Mu. nk. ) He was the father of Astnea, men-
tioned in the preceding article, and begat also bv Eos
(Aurora) the winds Boreas, Notus, Zephyrus, arid the
<<tars of heaven. (Hts. , Theog. , 378. ) Some assign
him also a son named Argestes, but this is merely an
epithet of Zephyrus, meaning "the swift. " Astraus
united with the Titans against Jupiter, and was hurl-
ed along with them to Tartarus. (Sere, ad JEn. , 1,
136. ) -- H. A river of Macedonia, running by Beroea,
and falling into the Erigonus, a tributary of the Axius.
(JElian^ Hat. An. , 15, 1. ) It is now thought to be the
Vastritza. (Consult, however, as to the course of this
river, the remarks of Cramer, Ancient Greece, vol. 1,
p. 222, who makes it fall into the lake Ludias. --
Coal pare also Bitcho/und Muller, Worterb. der Geogr. ,
P 123. )
AsxCK. t, a small river and village of Latium, near
the coast, below Antiiim. In the neighbourhood was
a villa of Cicero, to which he retired to vent his grief
fcr the loss of his beloved daughter, and where he
thought of raising a monument to her memory. (/? . '/'
ed Alt. , 12, 19. ) When proscribed by Antony, ho
withdrew to this same place from Tusculum, and
*oaght escape from thence, intending to join Brutus
in Macedonia. (Piut. , Vtt. Cic. ) Astura seems to
? ? bare been also the residence of Augustus, during an
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? ATA
ATA
(10, 25), on the authority of I. eschcs, to Pyrrhus.
Racine, in his "Amlromaque," has indulged in the
poetic license of making Astyanax survive the fall of
Troy, and accompany his mother to Epirus. (Con-
sult Racine, Pre/, de VAndrom. ) A beautiful lament
over the corpse of Astyanax, from the lips of Hecuba,
may be found in the Troades of Euripides (1146-1196),
and also some line lines, in the earlier part of the same
plav, where Andromache is taking leave of her son
(743 781).
Astydamas, an Athenian tragic writer, son of Mor-
simus, and grandson of Philocles, the nephew of. -Es-
chylus. He studied under Isocratcs, and composed,
according to Suidas, two hundred and forty tragedies;
a rather improbable number. He lived sixty years.
His first exhibition was B. C. 398. (Diod. Sic, 14,
43. --Theatre of the Greeks, 2d ed. , p. 158. )
AstydamIa, daughter of Amyntor, king of Orcho-
menos in Li. Tolia, married Acastus, son of Pelias, who
was king of lolcos. She is called by some Hippolytc.
(Vid. Acastus. )
Astypai.
be divided into Northern Asia, the country north of
the Altai range: Middle Asia, the country between
the ranges of Altai and Taurus: and Southern Asia,
the country south of Taurus--Northern Asia lies be-
tween 76? and 50? of latitude (Asiatic Russia and
SiAerui). This in antiquity was very little known, yet
not entirely unknown. Darx but true traditions re-
specting it may be found in the father of history, He-
rodotus. --Middle Asia, the country between 50? and
40a north latitude, comprehending Scythia and Sar-
matia Asiatics (the Great Turtary and Mongolia), is
almost one immeasurable unproductive prairie, with-
out agriculture and forests, and, therefore, a mere pas-
ture-land. The inhabitants leading pastoral lives (No-
mades). are without cities and fixed places of abode;
and therefore, instead of political union, have merely
the constitution of tribes. --Southern Asia, comprising
the lands from 40? north latitude to near the equator,
is entirely different in its character from the countries
of Middle Asia: it is, both in soil and climate, pos-
sessed of advantages for agriculture, and, in compari-
son with the other countries of the earth, it is rich in
the costliest and most various products. --The early
commerce of the world, especially of the east, was
originally through Asia. The natural places of de-
put in the interior were on tho banks of the large
rivers; on the Oius, in Bactria; on the Euphrates,
at Babylon. The natural places of depot on the coast
were the western coast of Asia Minor and Phoenicia,
where arose the series of Grecian and Phoenician cit-
ies. --Asia from the first, as at present, contained in
its interior empires of immense extent, by which they
are distinguished from those of cultivated Europe, as
well as by their constitution. They often underwent
revolutions, but their form remained the same. For
this causes must have existed, lying deep and of wide
influence, and which, notwithstanding these frequent
revolutions, still continued to operate, and always gave
to the new empires of Asia the organization of the
old ones. The great revolutions of Asia (with the
exception of that of Alexander) were occasioned by
the numerous and powerful nomadic nations which oc-
cupied a great part of that continent. Compelled by
accident or necessity, they left their places of abode,
and founded new empires, while they passed through
and subjected the fruitful and cultivated countries of
Southern Asia, until, unnerved by luxury and effemi-
nacy, consequent on the change in their habits of life,
they in their turn were in like manner subjected.
From this common origin may be explained in part
the great extent, in part the rapid rise and the usually
short continuance of these empires. The develop-
ment of their national form of government must, for
the same reason, have had great resemblance; and
the constant reappearance of despotism in them is to
be explained partly from the rights of conquerors, and
partly from their great extent, which rendered a gov-
ernment of satraps necessary. To this we must add,
that the custom of polygamy, prevailing among all the
great nations of inner Asia, mined the mutual rela-
tions and obligations of domestic life, and thus ren-
dered a good constitution impossible. For a domes-
tic tyrant is formed instead of a father of a family,
and despotism at once gains its foundation in private
? ? hfe. (Heeren'm History of the States of Antiquity,
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? ASI
ASP
meant by Asia in the legal sense of the term as em-
ployed by the Romans, and is the same with what the
Greek writers of the Roman era call Asia Proper, or
V liiuc Katov/Uvti 'kaia (Strab. , 626), in which sense
wc find the word Asia used in the New Testament.
(Acts, 2, 9. ) In another passage, however (Acts, 16,
6), we find a distinction made between Phrygia and
Asia. So, again, in the Book of Revelations, which
is addressed to the seven churches of Asia, the name
appears to be confined to that portion of ancient Lydia
which contained Ephesus, Smyrna, Pergamus, Sardis,
&c. (Ccllarius, de Sept. Ecclcs. Asia, inter Dis-
sert. Acad. , p. 412. -- Cramer's Asia Minor, vol. 1,
p. 3. )--III. One of the Occanides. She married Iap-
etus, and became by him the mother of Atlas, Pro-
metheus, Epimetheus, and Mcncctius. (Apollod. , 1,
%. --Heyne, ad he. )
Asia Palus (the "\aioc /. ti/iuv of Homer), a marsh
in Lydia, formed by the river Cayster, near its mouth.
It was the favourite haunt of swans and other water-
fowl. (Horn. , II. , 2, 470. --Virg. , Georg. , 1, 483. --
Id. , &n. , 7, 699. --Ovid, Met. , 5, 386. ) Near it was
another marsh or lake, formed in like manner by the
river, and called Sclinusia Palus. Both belonged to
the temple of Ephesus, and were a source of consid-
erable revenue. (Cramer's Asia Minor, vol. 1, p.
<<M. )
Asia. va, one of the later divisions of Asia Minor.
Towards the decline of the Roman empire, Asia Minor
was divided into two dioceses or provinces, called
Asiana and Pontica, each governed by a lieutenant
named Vicaritu. (Notil. Imper. , 1. --Cod. Thcod. , 5,
tit. 2. )
AsiatTcu8, I. the surname of one of the Scipios
(Lucius Cornelius), obtained by him for his conquests
in Asia. (Yid. Scipio V. ) -- II. A senator, put to
death by Claudius, on a false charge made at the in-
stigation of Messalina, who was desirous of seizing
upon the gardens of Lucullua, which were in his pos-
session. (Tac, Ann. , 11, 1, seqq. )
Asinarus, a river of Sicily, running into the sea to
the north of Helorum. It is now called Fiume di
Noti, from the little town of Nolo on its northern
bank. (Mannert, Geogr. , vol. 9, pt. 2, p. 240. )
Asine, I. a town of Argolis, northwest of Her-
mione, on the Sinus Argolicus, or Gulf of Nauplia.
-- II. Another in Messcuia, southwest of Messene,
founded by the inhabitants of the former place, when
driven from their city by the Argives.
Asinius, I. Pollio. (Vid. Pollio. )--II. Gallus, son
of Asinius Pollio, was consul A. U. C. 748. He mar-
ried Vipsania, the repudiated wife of Tiberius, a step
which gave rise to a secret enmity on the part of the
latter towards him. He starved himself to death, ci-
ther voluntarily, or, what is more probable, having
been ordered by the emperor to destroy himself.
Asinius published in his lifetime a parallel between
his father and Cicero, in which he assigned to the for-
mer a marked superiority over the latter. (Tac, Ann ,
1, 76-- Id. ib. , 6, 23-- Plin. , Ep. , 7, 4. )--III. Quad-
ratus, an historian of the third century of our era, who
wrote a history of the Greeks, Romans, and Par-
thians, down to the time of Philip the Arabian, under
whose reign he lived. -- IV. Capito, a grammarian,
who wrote a book of Epistles. Some read Smnius
for Asinius. (Aul. Gell. , 5, 20. )
Asius, I. a son of Dvmas, brother of Hecuba. He
? ? assisted Priam in the Trojan war, and was slain by
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? ASPASIA.
u t against Pericles, this is that which it is the
most difficult clearly to refute. But we are inclined
lo believe that it may have arisen from the peculiar
niture of Aspasia's private circles, which, with a bold
neglect of established usage, were composed not only
of the most intelligent and accomplished men to be
fund at Athens, but also of matrons, who, it is said,
wtre brought by their husbands to listen to her con-
versation. This must have been highly instructive
as well as brilliant, since Plato did not hesitate to de-
scribe her as the preceptress of Socrates, and to as-
sert that she both formed the rhetoric of Pericles, and
composed one of his most admired harangues, the
celebrated funeral oration. (Plot. , Menez. , 4--vol. 6,
p. 148. ti. Bekk. ) The innovation, which drew wom-
en of free birth and good condition into her company
for such 3 purpose, must, even where the truth was
understood, have surprised and olfended many; and
it was liable to the grossest misconstruction. And if
her female friends were sometimes seen watching the
progress of the works of Phidias, it was easy, through
his intimacy with Pericles, to connect this fact with a
calumny of the same kind. There was another ru-
mour still more dangerous, which grew out of the
character of the persons who were admitted to the so-
ciety of Pericles and Aspasia. No persons were more
welcome at the house of Pericles than such as were
distinguished by philosophical studies, and especially
by the profession of new philosophical tenets. The
mere presence of Anaxagoras, Zeno, Protagoras, and
other celebrated men, who were known to hold doc-
trines very remote from the religious conceptions of
the vulgar, was sufficient to make a circle in which
they were familiar pass for a school of impiety. Such
were the materials out of which the comic poet Her-
mippus. laving aside the mask, formed a criminal pros-
ecution against Aspasia. His indictment included
two heads: an offence against religion, and that of
corrupting Athenian women to gratify the passions
of Pericles. The danger was averted; but it seems
that Pericles, who pleaded her cause, found need of
his mwt strenuous exertions to save Aspasia, and
that he even descended, in her behalf, to tears and en-
treaties, which no similar emergency of his own could
ever draw from him. (Athen. , 12, p. 589. )--After the
death of Pericles, Aspasia attached herself to a young
man of obscure birth, named Lysicles, who rose
through her influence in moulding his character to
some of the highest employments in the republic.
( T/urlitilCs Greece, vol. 3, p. 87, seqq. -- Compare
Ptut. , Vit Pencl. -- Xen. , Mem. , 2, 6 --Max. Tyr. ,
24, p. 461. --Harpoer. , p. 79. --Antlid. , 2, p. 131. )--
II. Daughter of Hermotimus. and a native of Phocasa
in Asia Minor. She was so remarkable for her beauty,
that a satrap of Persia carried her off and made her a
present to Cyrus the Younger. Her modest deport-
ment soon won the affections of the prince, who lived
with her as with a lawful spouse, and their union be-
came celebrated throughout all Greece. Her name
at first was Milto (vermilion), which had been given
her in early life on account of the brilliancy of her
complexion. Cyrus, however, changed it to Aspasia,
calling her thus after the female companion of Peri-
cles. (Vid. Aspasia 1. ) After the death of the prince,
she fell into the hands of Artaxerxes, who for a long
time vainly sought to gain her affections. She only
yielded at last to his suit through absolute necessity.
When the monarch declared his son Darius his suc-
? ? cessor, the latter, as it was customary in Persia for
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? AST
Bochart adopts the marginal translation, which, in-
stead of " Out of that land went forth Assur and build-
ed Nineveh,'' reads "Out of that land he (Nimrod)
went forth into Assur (or Assyria) and built Nineveh. "
The opinion of Bochart is espoused by Faber, the con-
verso by Michaelis and Bryant. The decision of the
point is, indeed, a difficult one; but, if weight of au-
thority can avail, the question will be speedily deter-
mined in favour of the marginal translation of the Bi-
ble, which represents Nimrod as the founder of Nin-
oveh. This translation is supported by the Targums
of Onkelos and Jerusalem ? by Theophilus, bishop of
Antioeh, and Jerome, among the ancients; and, in
addition to Bochart and Faber, by Hyde, Marsham,
Wells, the writers of the Universal History, and Hales,
among the moderns. Admitting, then, the force of
these united authorities, Nimrod, when driven from
Babel, still attended by a strong party of military fol-
lowers, founded a new empire at Nineveh; which, as
it was seated in a country almost exclusively peopled
by the descendants of Ashur, was called Assyria.
The
crown of this new universal empire continued in the
family of Nimrod for many ages, probably till its over-
throw by Arbaces, which introduced a Median dynas-
ty; while Babel remained in a neglected state until
the same era, when Nabonassar became its first king.
Whether there was an uninterrupted line of kings
from Assur or Nimrod to Sardanapalus, or not, is un-
known. --According to Herodotus, an Assyrian empire
lasted 520 years, from 1237 to 717. Catalogues of
the Assyrian kinga are found in Syncellus and Euse-
bius. (Mansford's Scripture Gazetteer, p. 38, scqq. --
Compare Hecren's History of the States of Antiquity,
p. 25, seqq. , Bancroft's transl. )
ASTABORAS, a river of Ethiopia, falling into the
Nile. It is now called the Tacazse. (Vid. Nilus. )
ASTACUS, a city of Bithynia, on the Sinus Astace-
nus, founded, according to Strabo (563), by the Mega-
rians and Athenians. This account is confirmed by
Memnon (ap. Phot. , p. 722), who says, that the Me-
garians settled here in the 17th Olympiad, and that,
some years after this, an Athenian colony joined them.
Astacus was subsequently seized by Dtedalsus, a na-
tive chief, who became the founder of the Bithynian
monarchy. In the war waged by his successor Xipoe-
tes with Lysimachus, Astacus was ruined, and the in-
habitants' were transferred by Nicomedes to the city
which he founded and named, after himself, Nicome-
dia. (Strab. , 1. c. --StepH. Byz. , s. n. --Cramer's Asia
Minor, vol. 1, p. 186. )
AsT. ii",. a town of Hispania Btetica, east of Hispa-
lis, famed for its vigorous defence against the Romans,
A. U. C. 546. It is now Estepa La Vicja. (Lin. , 38,
20. )
ASTAPCS, a river of Ethiopia, falling into the Nile.
It is now the Abawi, or Bahr-el-Azac, and flows through
Nubia, rising in a place called Coloe Palus, now Bahr
Dembea. This is the river which Bruce mistook for
the Nile. (Joseph. , Ant. , 2, 5. --Strab. , 565. )
ABTARTE, a powerful divinity of Syria, the daugh-
ter of Ccelus and Terra. She had . 1 famous temple at
Hierapolis in Syria, which was served by 300 priests.
"Astarte. " observes R. P. Knight, " was precisely the
same as the Cybele, or universal mother of the Phry-
gians. She was, as Appian remarks (Bell. Parth. ),
'by some called Juno, by others Venus, and by others
held up to be Nature, or the cause which produced the
beginnings and seeds of things from Humidity:' so
? ? that she comprehended in one personification both
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? AST
ACTI. EA, the goddess of Justice. Her origin is dif-
ferenilT given. She ia either a. Titan or a descend-
ant of the Titans; being in the former case the daugh-
ter of Jove and Themis (7/e*i<<2, Tkeog. , 135, 191,
Kijq. ). or of Astrseus and Hemera, or Astrseus and
Aurora (Eos). When the Titans took up arms
against Jupiter, she left her father Astreus, who, as
the eon of a Titan, fought on their side, and descended
to earth, and mingled with the human race. This in-
tercourse with mortals continued during the golden
age, but was interrupted when that of silver ensued,
far. during this latter age, aho came down from the
mountains, only amid the shades of evening, unseen by,
ind refraining from all communion with, men. When
the brazen age commenced she fled to the skies, hav-
ing left the earth the last of the immortals. Jove there-
upon made her the constellation Virgo, among the
signs of the zodiac. (A. rat. , Fh&n. , 102, seqq. --Sc/iol.
Tiuox. , ad loc. --Hesiody Op. et D. , 254. --Pind. , 01. ,
13, 6. -- Orph. , H. , 61. Hygin,, Aitron. , 2, 25. --
Eritiuth. , Cat. , 9. ) As the constellation Virgo, she
a identical with Erigone, having a place in the zodiac
between the Scorpion and the Lion. On the old star-
tabjes. or celestial planispheres, the Scorpion extended
orer two signs, filling with its claws the space be-
tween itself and Virgo. ( Voss. ad. Virg. , Georg. , 1,
33. --Erajtosth. , Cat. , 7. Ooul, Met. , 2. 197. ) Later
astronomers, as we are told by Theon (ad Aral. , 89),
named the sign occupied by the claws of Scorpio the
Balance (Libra), and this balance Astrtea (Virgo) held
in her hand as a symbol of justice. Others, however,
as in the case of the Famese marble, made it the mark
of the equality of the day and night at the equinox. It
Uvery probable that this latter explanation was the ear-
lier one of the two, especially as Astnca ranked among
the Hors, and that the moral idea succeeded the physi-
cal. (Vollmer, \Vorterb. der Myt. 'iol. , p. 354. -- Gru-
-Vr. ttV<<r6. der Altclass. Myt/iol. , vol. 1, p. 666. --
Iddtr, Stcrnnomfn, p. 169. )
ASTB^CS, I. a son of the Titan Crius and Eurybia
the daughter of Pontus. Hyginus, however, makes
him the offspring of Terra and Tartarus, and brother
of the giants Enceladus, Pallas, &c. (ffyg. , Prof. ,
p. 3, ed. Mu. nk. ) He was the father of Astnea, men-
tioned in the preceding article, and begat also bv Eos
(Aurora) the winds Boreas, Notus, Zephyrus, arid the
<<tars of heaven. (Hts. , Theog. , 378. ) Some assign
him also a son named Argestes, but this is merely an
epithet of Zephyrus, meaning "the swift. " Astraus
united with the Titans against Jupiter, and was hurl-
ed along with them to Tartarus. (Sere, ad JEn. , 1,
136. ) -- H. A river of Macedonia, running by Beroea,
and falling into the Erigonus, a tributary of the Axius.
(JElian^ Hat. An. , 15, 1. ) It is now thought to be the
Vastritza. (Consult, however, as to the course of this
river, the remarks of Cramer, Ancient Greece, vol. 1,
p. 222, who makes it fall into the lake Ludias. --
Coal pare also Bitcho/und Muller, Worterb. der Geogr. ,
P 123. )
AsxCK. t, a small river and village of Latium, near
the coast, below Antiiim. In the neighbourhood was
a villa of Cicero, to which he retired to vent his grief
fcr the loss of his beloved daughter, and where he
thought of raising a monument to her memory. (/? . '/'
ed Alt. , 12, 19. ) When proscribed by Antony, ho
withdrew to this same place from Tusculum, and
*oaght escape from thence, intending to join Brutus
in Macedonia. (Piut. , Vtt. Cic. ) Astura seems to
? ? bare been also the residence of Augustus, during an
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? ATA
ATA
(10, 25), on the authority of I. eschcs, to Pyrrhus.
Racine, in his "Amlromaque," has indulged in the
poetic license of making Astyanax survive the fall of
Troy, and accompany his mother to Epirus. (Con-
sult Racine, Pre/, de VAndrom. ) A beautiful lament
over the corpse of Astyanax, from the lips of Hecuba,
may be found in the Troades of Euripides (1146-1196),
and also some line lines, in the earlier part of the same
plav, where Andromache is taking leave of her son
(743 781).
Astydamas, an Athenian tragic writer, son of Mor-
simus, and grandson of Philocles, the nephew of. -Es-
chylus. He studied under Isocratcs, and composed,
according to Suidas, two hundred and forty tragedies;
a rather improbable number. He lived sixty years.
His first exhibition was B. C. 398. (Diod. Sic, 14,
43. --Theatre of the Greeks, 2d ed. , p. 158. )
AstydamIa, daughter of Amyntor, king of Orcho-
menos in Li. Tolia, married Acastus, son of Pelias, who
was king of lolcos. She is called by some Hippolytc.
(Vid. Acastus. )
Astypai.
