Eustace
describes
Avernus at the present day as a
circular sheet of water, about a mile and a half in cir-
cumference, and of great depth (in some places 180
feet).
circular sheet of water, about a mile and a half in cir-
cumference, and of great depth (in some places 180
feet).
Charles - 1867 - Classical Dictionary
The mountain pine is
found on the slopes of Laurium; the steeps of Parnes
and Pentelicus are sprinkled over with the dwarf oak,
the lentisk, the arbutus, and the bay. But the hills
of this country can boast few timber trees; they serve
to afford pasture to numerous flocks of sheep and
goats, which browse upon their meagre herbage and
climb among their steep rocks, and to furnish fuel to
the inhabitants of the pL-ilh. While such is the char-
acter of the mountainous districts of the province, its
plains and lowlands cannot lay a much better claim to
the merit of fertility. In many parts of them, as in
the city of Athens itself, the calcareous rock projects
above the surface, or is scarcely concealed beneath a
light covering of soil: in no instance do they pos-
sess any considerable deposite of alluvial earth. The
plains of this country are irrigated by few streams,
which are rather to be called torrents than rivers, and
on none of them can it depend for a perennial supply
of water. There is no lake within its limits. It is
unnecessary to suggest the reason where such was
the nature of the soil, that the olive was the most
common, and also the most valuable, production of
Attica. Such, then, were some of the physical defects
of the land. But these disadvantages were abundant-
ly compensated by the beneficial effects which they
produced. The sterility of Attica drove its inhabi-
tants from their own country. It carried them abroad.
It filled them with a spirit of activity, which loved to
grapple with danger and difficulty: it told them, that,
if they would maintain themselves in the dignity
which became them, they must regard the resources
of their own land as nothing, and those of other coun-
tries as their own. It arose also from the barrenness
of her soil, that Attica had been always exempt from
the revolutions which in early times agitated the oth-
? ? er countries of Greece; and hence Attica, secure in
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? ATTICUS.
most fashionable accomplishment, became his princi-
pal study; and he prosecuted it under the first masters
of the ;tiri' with such success as to acquire great repu-
tation as an orator. After travelling abroad, he settled
at Athens, and gave public lectures on eloquence, which
were attended by sophists and rhetoricians, whose ad-
miration of hia talents was, perhaps, not altogether dis-
interested, as his hospitality and munificence were lav-
ishly extended to his followers. The fame of Herodci
reached from Athens to Rome, and he was invited by
the Emperor Antoninus Pius to become rhetorical tu-
tor to Marcus Aurelius and Lucius Verus, the adopted
sons and destined successors of Antoninus. This pro-
motion led to his being created consul A. D. 143. He
was also made prefect of the free cities of Asia Minor!
and president of the Panhellenic and Panathenaean
games, at which he was crowned. He testified his
sense of this honour by building a marble stadium, or
course for running matches, one of the grandest works
ever executed by a private individual. He also erect-
ed a new theatre at Athens, and repaired and embel-
lished the Odeon of Pericles. These and other splen-
did monuments of his wealth and liberality have per-
petuated his name, while his literary productions have
perished. The latter part of the life of Herodes was
embittered by the ingratitude of his fellow-citizens,
who preferred accusations against him in his public ca-
pacity; but these were quashed by the friendship of
his pupil Marcus Aurelius, then emperor. Ho passed
his latter days at Marathon, his birthplace, where he
died about A. D. 185, aged seventy-five. His remains
were interred at Athens with public honours. (Gor-
ton's Biogr. Diet. , vol. 1, p. 134. )
ArrlLjt (in German, Etsel), the son of Mundzuck,
or, as he is less correctly called. Mandras, a Hun of
royal descent, who succeeded his uncle Rugilas (A. D.
433), and shared the supreme authority with his broth-
er Bleda. These two leaders of the barbarians, who
had settled in Scythia and Hungary, threatened the
Eastern empire, and twice compelled the weak Theo-
dosius II. to purchase an inglorious peace. Their
power was feared by all the nations of Europe InJ
Asia. The Huns themselves esteemed Attila their
bravest warrior and most skilful general. Their re-
gard for his person soon amounted to superstitious rev-
erence. He gave out that he had found the sword of
their tutelar god, the Scythian Mars, the possession of
which was supposed to convey a title to the whole
earth; and, proud of this weapon, which added dignity
to his power, he designed to extend his rule over the
world. He caused his brother Blcda to be murdered
(A. D. 444), and, when he announced that it was done
by the command of God, this murder was celebrated
like a victory. Being now sole master of a warlike
people, his unbounded ambition made him the terror
of all nations; and he became, as he called himself,
the Scourge of God for the chastisement of the human
race. In a short time he extended his dominion over
all the people of Germany and Scythia, and the East-
ern and Western emperors paid him tribute. The
Vandals, the Ostrogoths, the Gcpidae, and a part of the
Franks, united under his banners. Some historians
assure us that his army amounted to 700,000 men. --
His portrait, as given by Jornandes, was that of a mod-
em Calinuc, with a large head, swarthy complexion,
fiat nose, small sunken eyes, and a short, square body.
His looks were fierce, his gait proud, and his deport-
ment stern and haughty; yet he was merciful to a
? ? suppliant foe. and ruled his own people with justice
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? ATT
ATY
The Emperor Theodosius collected an army to oppose
his progress; but in three bloody battles fortune de-
clared herself for the barbarians, and Constantinople
was indebted to the strength of its walls, and to the
ignorance of the enemy in the art of besieging, for its
preservation. Thrace, Macedonia, and Greece all
submitted to the savage invader, Who destroyed sev-
enty flourishing cities. Theodosius was at the mercy
of the victor, and was compelled to purchase a peace.
A scheme was laid in the court of Theodosius to as-
sassinate him under the cover of a solemn embassy,
which intention he discovered; and, without violating
the laws of hospitality in the persons of the ambassa-
dors, wisely preferred a heavy ransom for the principal
htrent in the plot, and a new treaty at the expense of
fresh payments. On the accession of Marcian, Attila
demanded tribute, which was refused; and, although
much exasperated, he resolved first to turn his arms
against the Western Emperor Valentinian, whose li-
centious sister Honoria, in revenge for being banished
for an intrigue with her chamberlain, sent an offer of
herself to Attila. The Hun, perceiving the pretence
this proposal supplied, preceded his irruptions into
Gaul by demanding Honoria in marriage, with a share
of the imperial patrimony. Being of course refused,
he affected to be satisfied, and pretended he was only
about to enter Gaul to make war upon Theodoric, king
of the Ostrogoths. He accordingly crossed the Rhine,
A. D. 450, with a prodigious host, and marked his way
through Gaul with pillage and desolation, until com-
pletely defeated by Theodoric and the famous Aetius,
in the bloody battle of Chalons. He was, however,
allowed to retreat, and, having recruited his forces, he
passed the Alps the next year and invaded Italy, spread-
ing his ravages over all Lombardy. This visitation
was the origin of the famous republic of Venice, which
was founded by the fugitives who fled at the terror of
bis name. Valentinian, unable to avert the storm, re-
paired from Ravenna to Rome, whence he sent the
prelate Leo with a solemn deputation, to avert the
wrath of Attila, who consented to quit'Italy on receiv-
ing*a vast sum as the dowry of Honoria, and an annual
tribute. He did not much longer survive these transac-
tions; and his death was singular, he being found dead,
in consequence of suffocation from a broken blood-
vessel, on the night of his marriage with a beautiful
young virgin named Ildegund. This event took place
in 453. The news of his death spread sorrow and terror
in the army. His body was enclosed in three coffins:
the first was of gold, the second of silver, and the
third of iron. The captives who had made the grave
were strangled, in order that the place of interment
might be kept concealed from his foes. (Mcnzel,
Gcseh. der Daitschcn, p. 93, seqq. -- Gorton's Biogr.
Diet. , vol. 1, p. 135. -- Encyclop. Americ, vol. 1, p.
457, seqq. )
Attilius, I. one of the first three military tribunes
with consular power, chosen by the people, B. C. 444,
in place of the regular consuls. (Lib. , 4, 7. )--II. Reg-
ulus. (Vid. Regulus). -- III. Calatinus, consul B. C.
258, in which year he took the city of Mylistratus,
in Sicily. Chosen consul again B. C. 256, he cap-
tured Panormus and many other cities. In B. C. 249
he was appointed dictator. --IV. A Roman poet, who
translated into Latin verse the Electra of Sophocles.
From the allusion made to him by Cicero, he appears
to have been a very harsh and rugged writer. (Ctc. ,
? ? ie Fin. , 1, 2 -- Ep. ad Alt. , 14, 20. )--V. A freed-
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? AVA
Hindu Menu, the Egyptian Mrncs, the Greek Minos,
ind even the Latin mens. On the other hand, Cotys
or Khodo is the same as the Boda of the Persians.
(Yorhaile, p. 365. ) -- II. A son of Croesus, king of
Lydia. His father dreamed that Atys was to be killed
by the point of a spear, and therefore, in order to frus-
trate the prediction, kept his son at home, and care-
fully avoided exposing him to any danger. Meanwhile,
a large wild boar infested the country around the Mysi-
an Olympus, and the inhabitants of the adjacent territo-
ry applied to Croesus for assistance against the animal.
After urgent entreaties on the part of the young prince,
his father allowed him to accompany the hunters sent
out from Lydia to the aid of the Mysians, but gave him
in charge to Adrast us, a Phrygian of royal birth, who
had slain by accident his own brother, and had been
purified of the homicide by Croesus. The party en-
countered the boar, and, in making the onset, Atys
was killed by an accidental blow from the javelin of
Adrastus, the very one who had been appointed by
Croesus to guard him from danger. Such is the ac-
count of Herodotus (I, 34, seqq. ). Ptolemy, the son
of Hephsstion, calls the son of Croesus, whom Adras-
tus slew, by the name of Agathon. He also states,
that the young prince had a dispute with Adrastus
about a quail, in which he fell by the hand of the
latter. (Photiua, Bibl. , vol. 1, p. 146, ed. Bekker. )
--III. A Trojan who came to Italy with ^Eneas, and
was fabled to have been the progenitor of the fami-
ly of the Attii at Rome. (Virg. , Mn. , 5, 568. ) --
IV. A beautiful shepherd of Phrygia, beloved by Cyb-
ele. and to whom she intrusted the care of her altars
and the superintendence of her religious ceremonies.
Having proved unfaithful to the goddess, she inspired
him with phrensy to such a degree, that, in a paroxysm
of his malady, he deprived himself of his virility. Ovid,
however, makes him to have been changed by the god-
dess into a pine-tree. (Met, 10, 104). According to
Diodorus. on the other hand, who assigns Miron, king
of Phrygia, as the mortal father of Cybele, Atys was
put to death by her parent on discovering the intimacy
subsisting between the parties. (Diod. Sic, 3, 53. )
Another, and wilder legend, of I. ydiau origin, may be
found in Pausanias (7, 17. -- Compare Catull. , de
All/, ccc,-- Ovid, Fast. , 4, 223. --Lucian, de Dea Sy-
ra). The fable of Atys is astronomical in its origin.
Atys, deprived of his virility, is a symbol of the sun,
shorn of its generative powers in the season of winter,
and movino in the lower hemisphere : the luminary of
day resumes its energies on ascending into the upper
hemisphere. Atys, an incarnation of the sun, is him-
self the first of the Galli; and his priests, by a volun-
tary mutilation, celebrate the period of his weakness
and impotence. But as, in accordance with a decree
of the gods, not a single member of Atys is to perish,
every year he returns to the upper world, and cele-
brates anew his union with Cybele. This return, this
renewal of the productive powers and the fecundity of
nature, gave rise to all those demonstrations of savage
joy which are so well described in the verses of Lu-
cretius (2, 618, seqq. ). For farther remarks illustra-
tive of this curious portion of ancient mythology, con-
sult Creuzer's Symbolik, par Guigniaut, vol. 2, page
69, seqq. As regards the different forms of the name,
Atys, Altis, or Attes, consult the remarks of Hemster-
hms (ad Lucian, D. D. , 12), and of Grrevius (ad Lu-
cian, it Dea Syr a, 15). Diodorus says that Atys was
subsequently called Papas (ria n-af), which is, no doubt,
? ? the same with the old Greek word iruTOf or irujnrao,
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? AUG
AUG
? ca and the Luerine basin. (Vid. Portus Julius. )
The rao'lem name of the lake is Lago d'Avcrno.
Eustace describes Avernus at the present day as a
circular sheet of water, about a mile and a half in cir-
cumference, and of great depth (in some places 180
feet). It is surrounded with grounds on one side low,
on the other high but steep, cultivated all around, but
not much wooded; a scene, on the whole, light, airy,
and exhilarating. {Classical Tour, vol. 2, page 394,
Land, ill )
Aufidena, a city of Samnium, and the capital of
the Caraceni, situate on the Sagrus or Sangro. It is
now Alfidena. (Liu , 10, \2. --Plin. , 3, 12. )
Aueidia lex, was enacted by the tribune Aufidius
Lurco, A. U. C. 692. It contained this singular clause,
that if any candidate, in canvassing for an office,
promised money to a tribe, and failed in the perform-
ance, he should be excused; but if he actually paid it,
he should be compelled to pay every tribe a yearly
fine of 3000 sesterces as long as he lived. (Cic. ad
Att. , 1, 13. ) This law, however, soon became a dead
letter, as is apparent from what Suetonius states re-
specting the bribery practised by Cesar and Bibulus.
(Suet. , Vit. Jul. , 19. --Compare Heineec. , Antiq. Rem. ,
p. 807, cd. Haubold. )
Aufidius, I. Bassus, an historian in the Augustan
age, and in part of the reign of Tiberius. He wrote
a history of the Roman civil wars, and another of the
war in Germany. This latter work was continued by
the elder Pliny. (PHn. , Min. Ep. , 3, 5, 6. --Quintil. ,
10, 1, 103. ) -- II. Cffisius Bassus, a lyric poet, to
whom Pcreius addressed his 6ixth Satire. He per-
ished during the same eruption of Vesuvius that
proved fatal to the elder Pliny. (Quinttl. , 10, 1, 96.
-- Schol. ad Pers. , Sat. , 6, 1. -- Voss, dc poet. Lai. ,
c. 3 )--III. Saleius Bassus, a poet in the time of Ves-
pasian. He is highly praised by Quintilian (10, 1,
90), and by the author of the Dialogue "de caus. cor-
rupt c/oq. " (c. 5). --IV. Luscus, a recorder in the town
of Fundi, ridiculed by Horace. (Serm. , 1, 5, 24. )
AuriDUSi a river of Apulia, now the Ofanto. It
was on the banks of this stream that the battle of Can-
nes was fought. Polybius (3, 110) remarks of the
Aufidus, that it is the only river which, rising on the
western side of the Apennines, finds its way through
that continuous chain into the Adriatic. But it may
be doubted whether the historian speaks with his usu-
al accuracy. It is certain that the Aufidus cannot be
said to penetrate entirely through the chain of those
mountains, since it rises on one side of it, while the
Silarus flows from the other. The Aufidus was re-
markable for the rapidity of its course. (Horat. , Od. ,
4, 14. -- Id. , Od. , 30, 3-- Id. , Od. , 4, 9. --' Cramer's
Arte. Italy, vol. 2, p. 295. )
Auoe, daughter of Aleus, king of Tcgea. She be-
came a mother by Hercules, and secretly laid her off-
spring, a son, in the sacred enclosure (ri/ievo() of Mi-
nerva. A famine coming on the land, Aleus went to
the re/ievoc of the goddess; and, searching about,
found his daughter's infant, which he exposed on
Mount Parthenion. But the babe was protected by
the care of the gods, for a hind which had just brought
forth came and suckled him; and the shepherds,
finding him thus nursed, named him Telcphus from
that circumstance (Wo^oc, a hind). Aleus gave his
daughter Augc to Nauplius, the son of Neptune, to
sell her out of the country; and he disposed of her to
? ? Tcuthras, king of Teuthrania, on the Cayster, in My-
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? AITGURES.
AUG
to be done or not, and also in what way the omens
themselves were to be taken. (Compare Midler,
Etnuk. , \o\. 2, p. 117. )--The whole system of au-
gural science was of Etrurian origin. In this latter
country it served as a powerful engine of state in the
hands of the aristocracy, and the same result was for
a considerable time effected at Rome. Meetings of
the Comitia Centuriata, for example, could not be held
at all, if any augur declared the omens unpropitious;
or the Comitia were broken off if a magistrate, virtu-
ally invested with augural powers, declared that he had
heard thunder or seen lightning. So, again, all the
business transacted at any comitia, except the Tributa,
went for nothing, if, after the assembly had been held,
an augur declared that there had been some informal-
ity in taking the auspices before the meeting was con-
vened. --The augurs are supposed to have been first
instituted. by Romulus, who appointed three, one for
each tribe. This, however, was mere popular opin-
ion, and had no foundation in reality. A fourth augur
was added, it is thought, by Servius Tullius, when he
increased the number of tribes, and divided the city
into four tribes. The augurs were at first all patri-
cians, until A. U. C. 454, when five plebeians were ad-
ded. Sylla increased their number to fifteen. The
chief of the augurs was called Magis! er Collegii. The
augurs enjoyed this singular privilege, that of what-
ever crime they were guilty, they could not be de-
prived of their office; because, as Plutarch remarks,
they were intrusted with the secrets of the empire.
The laws of friendship were anciently observed with
great care among the augurs, and no one was admitted
into their college who was known to be inimical to
any of their number. --The augur mado his observa-
tions on the heavens usually in the dead of night, or
about twilight. He took his station on an elevated
place, where the view was open on all sides, and, to
make it so, buildings were sometimes pulled down.
Having first offered up sacrifices, and uttered a solemn
prayer, he sat down with his head covered, and with
his face turned to the east, so that he had the south on
his right and the north on his left. Then he deter-
mined with his litu us the regions of the heavens from
east to west, and marked in his mind some object
straightforward, at as great a distance as his eyes could
reach, within which boundaries he should make his
observations. There were generally five things from
which the augurs drew omens: the first consisted in
observing the phenomena of the heavens, such as thun-
der, lightning, comets, &c. The second kind of omen
was drawn from the chirping or flying of birds. The
third was from the sacred chickens, whose eagerness
or indifference in eating the food which was thrown
to them was looked upon as lucky or unlucky. The
fourth was from quadrupeds, from their crossing or
appearing in some unaccustomed place. The fifth
was from different casualties, which were called Dim,
such as spilling salt on the table, or wine upon one's
clothes, hearing ill-omened words or strange noises,
stumbling or sneezing, meeting a wolf, hare, fox, or
pregnant bitch, etc. These the augur explained, and
taught how they ought to be expiated. --In whatever
position the augur stood, omens on the left, among
the Romans, were reckoned lucky. But sometimes
omens on the left are called unlucky, in imitation of
the Greeks, among whom augurs stood with their faces
to the north, and then the east* which was the lucky
? ? quarter, was on the right. Thunder on the left was
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? AUG.
AUGUSTUS.
aries on Scripture; epistles on a great variety of sub-
jects, doctrinal, moral, and personal; sermons and
homilies; treatises on various points of discipline;
and elaborate arguments against heretics. With the
exception of those of Aristotle, no writings contributed
more than Augustine's to encourage the spirit of subtle
disputation which distinguished the scholastic ages.
They exhibit much facility of invention and strength
of reasoning, with more argument than eloquence, and
more wit than learning. Erasmus calls Augustine a
writer of obscure subtlety, who requires in the reader
acute penetration, close attention, and quick recollec-
tion, and by no means repays rum for the application
of all these requisites. His works are now almost
wholly neglected. (Encyclop. Americ. , vol. 1, p. 468. )
--Among the sources of information in modern times
respecting the life and productions of St. Augustine,
the following may be mentioned: CeiUier, Hist. Gen-
eral, des Aut. Eccles. (Paris, 1744, 4to), vols. 11 and
12. --Tiliemont, Memoircs, &c, vol. 13. -- Vit. August.
Vaillant, et Du Frische: ed. Op. Benedict. , vol. 11. --
Act. Sand. Mens. Aug. , vol. 6, p. 213, seqq. --L. Bcrti,
de rebus gestis S. August. (Venet. , 1746, 4to). --Ros-
ier, liild. der Kirchcnvdt. , vol. 9, p. 257. --Fabricms,
Bibl. Lot. , vol. 3, p. bVi,seqq. --Schrockh, Ktrchcng. ,
vol. 15, p. 219, seqq. --Biogr. Univ. , vol. 3, p. 54, scqq.
-- Wiggcrs, Versueh. einer pragmat. DarsteUung des
August, und Pelagianismus (Hamburg, 1822, 8vo),
vol. 1, p. 7, seqq.
Auoustulus (Romulus Momyllus, surname. ! Au-
gustus, or, in derision, Augustulus), the last Roman
emperor of the West. He was the son of Orestes, a
patrician and commander of the Roman forces in
Gaul. Augustulus was crowned by his father A. D.
found on the slopes of Laurium; the steeps of Parnes
and Pentelicus are sprinkled over with the dwarf oak,
the lentisk, the arbutus, and the bay. But the hills
of this country can boast few timber trees; they serve
to afford pasture to numerous flocks of sheep and
goats, which browse upon their meagre herbage and
climb among their steep rocks, and to furnish fuel to
the inhabitants of the pL-ilh. While such is the char-
acter of the mountainous districts of the province, its
plains and lowlands cannot lay a much better claim to
the merit of fertility. In many parts of them, as in
the city of Athens itself, the calcareous rock projects
above the surface, or is scarcely concealed beneath a
light covering of soil: in no instance do they pos-
sess any considerable deposite of alluvial earth. The
plains of this country are irrigated by few streams,
which are rather to be called torrents than rivers, and
on none of them can it depend for a perennial supply
of water. There is no lake within its limits. It is
unnecessary to suggest the reason where such was
the nature of the soil, that the olive was the most
common, and also the most valuable, production of
Attica. Such, then, were some of the physical defects
of the land. But these disadvantages were abundant-
ly compensated by the beneficial effects which they
produced. The sterility of Attica drove its inhabi-
tants from their own country. It carried them abroad.
It filled them with a spirit of activity, which loved to
grapple with danger and difficulty: it told them, that,
if they would maintain themselves in the dignity
which became them, they must regard the resources
of their own land as nothing, and those of other coun-
tries as their own. It arose also from the barrenness
of her soil, that Attica had been always exempt from
the revolutions which in early times agitated the oth-
? ? er countries of Greece; and hence Attica, secure in
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? ATTICUS.
most fashionable accomplishment, became his princi-
pal study; and he prosecuted it under the first masters
of the ;tiri' with such success as to acquire great repu-
tation as an orator. After travelling abroad, he settled
at Athens, and gave public lectures on eloquence, which
were attended by sophists and rhetoricians, whose ad-
miration of hia talents was, perhaps, not altogether dis-
interested, as his hospitality and munificence were lav-
ishly extended to his followers. The fame of Herodci
reached from Athens to Rome, and he was invited by
the Emperor Antoninus Pius to become rhetorical tu-
tor to Marcus Aurelius and Lucius Verus, the adopted
sons and destined successors of Antoninus. This pro-
motion led to his being created consul A. D. 143. He
was also made prefect of the free cities of Asia Minor!
and president of the Panhellenic and Panathenaean
games, at which he was crowned. He testified his
sense of this honour by building a marble stadium, or
course for running matches, one of the grandest works
ever executed by a private individual. He also erect-
ed a new theatre at Athens, and repaired and embel-
lished the Odeon of Pericles. These and other splen-
did monuments of his wealth and liberality have per-
petuated his name, while his literary productions have
perished. The latter part of the life of Herodes was
embittered by the ingratitude of his fellow-citizens,
who preferred accusations against him in his public ca-
pacity; but these were quashed by the friendship of
his pupil Marcus Aurelius, then emperor. Ho passed
his latter days at Marathon, his birthplace, where he
died about A. D. 185, aged seventy-five. His remains
were interred at Athens with public honours. (Gor-
ton's Biogr. Diet. , vol. 1, p. 134. )
ArrlLjt (in German, Etsel), the son of Mundzuck,
or, as he is less correctly called. Mandras, a Hun of
royal descent, who succeeded his uncle Rugilas (A. D.
433), and shared the supreme authority with his broth-
er Bleda. These two leaders of the barbarians, who
had settled in Scythia and Hungary, threatened the
Eastern empire, and twice compelled the weak Theo-
dosius II. to purchase an inglorious peace. Their
power was feared by all the nations of Europe InJ
Asia. The Huns themselves esteemed Attila their
bravest warrior and most skilful general. Their re-
gard for his person soon amounted to superstitious rev-
erence. He gave out that he had found the sword of
their tutelar god, the Scythian Mars, the possession of
which was supposed to convey a title to the whole
earth; and, proud of this weapon, which added dignity
to his power, he designed to extend his rule over the
world. He caused his brother Blcda to be murdered
(A. D. 444), and, when he announced that it was done
by the command of God, this murder was celebrated
like a victory. Being now sole master of a warlike
people, his unbounded ambition made him the terror
of all nations; and he became, as he called himself,
the Scourge of God for the chastisement of the human
race. In a short time he extended his dominion over
all the people of Germany and Scythia, and the East-
ern and Western emperors paid him tribute. The
Vandals, the Ostrogoths, the Gcpidae, and a part of the
Franks, united under his banners. Some historians
assure us that his army amounted to 700,000 men. --
His portrait, as given by Jornandes, was that of a mod-
em Calinuc, with a large head, swarthy complexion,
fiat nose, small sunken eyes, and a short, square body.
His looks were fierce, his gait proud, and his deport-
ment stern and haughty; yet he was merciful to a
? ? suppliant foe. and ruled his own people with justice
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? ATT
ATY
The Emperor Theodosius collected an army to oppose
his progress; but in three bloody battles fortune de-
clared herself for the barbarians, and Constantinople
was indebted to the strength of its walls, and to the
ignorance of the enemy in the art of besieging, for its
preservation. Thrace, Macedonia, and Greece all
submitted to the savage invader, Who destroyed sev-
enty flourishing cities. Theodosius was at the mercy
of the victor, and was compelled to purchase a peace.
A scheme was laid in the court of Theodosius to as-
sassinate him under the cover of a solemn embassy,
which intention he discovered; and, without violating
the laws of hospitality in the persons of the ambassa-
dors, wisely preferred a heavy ransom for the principal
htrent in the plot, and a new treaty at the expense of
fresh payments. On the accession of Marcian, Attila
demanded tribute, which was refused; and, although
much exasperated, he resolved first to turn his arms
against the Western Emperor Valentinian, whose li-
centious sister Honoria, in revenge for being banished
for an intrigue with her chamberlain, sent an offer of
herself to Attila. The Hun, perceiving the pretence
this proposal supplied, preceded his irruptions into
Gaul by demanding Honoria in marriage, with a share
of the imperial patrimony. Being of course refused,
he affected to be satisfied, and pretended he was only
about to enter Gaul to make war upon Theodoric, king
of the Ostrogoths. He accordingly crossed the Rhine,
A. D. 450, with a prodigious host, and marked his way
through Gaul with pillage and desolation, until com-
pletely defeated by Theodoric and the famous Aetius,
in the bloody battle of Chalons. He was, however,
allowed to retreat, and, having recruited his forces, he
passed the Alps the next year and invaded Italy, spread-
ing his ravages over all Lombardy. This visitation
was the origin of the famous republic of Venice, which
was founded by the fugitives who fled at the terror of
bis name. Valentinian, unable to avert the storm, re-
paired from Ravenna to Rome, whence he sent the
prelate Leo with a solemn deputation, to avert the
wrath of Attila, who consented to quit'Italy on receiv-
ing*a vast sum as the dowry of Honoria, and an annual
tribute. He did not much longer survive these transac-
tions; and his death was singular, he being found dead,
in consequence of suffocation from a broken blood-
vessel, on the night of his marriage with a beautiful
young virgin named Ildegund. This event took place
in 453. The news of his death spread sorrow and terror
in the army. His body was enclosed in three coffins:
the first was of gold, the second of silver, and the
third of iron. The captives who had made the grave
were strangled, in order that the place of interment
might be kept concealed from his foes. (Mcnzel,
Gcseh. der Daitschcn, p. 93, seqq. -- Gorton's Biogr.
Diet. , vol. 1, p. 135. -- Encyclop. Americ, vol. 1, p.
457, seqq. )
Attilius, I. one of the first three military tribunes
with consular power, chosen by the people, B. C. 444,
in place of the regular consuls. (Lib. , 4, 7. )--II. Reg-
ulus. (Vid. Regulus). -- III. Calatinus, consul B. C.
258, in which year he took the city of Mylistratus,
in Sicily. Chosen consul again B. C. 256, he cap-
tured Panormus and many other cities. In B. C. 249
he was appointed dictator. --IV. A Roman poet, who
translated into Latin verse the Electra of Sophocles.
From the allusion made to him by Cicero, he appears
to have been a very harsh and rugged writer. (Ctc. ,
? ? ie Fin. , 1, 2 -- Ep. ad Alt. , 14, 20. )--V. A freed-
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? AVA
Hindu Menu, the Egyptian Mrncs, the Greek Minos,
ind even the Latin mens. On the other hand, Cotys
or Khodo is the same as the Boda of the Persians.
(Yorhaile, p. 365. ) -- II. A son of Croesus, king of
Lydia. His father dreamed that Atys was to be killed
by the point of a spear, and therefore, in order to frus-
trate the prediction, kept his son at home, and care-
fully avoided exposing him to any danger. Meanwhile,
a large wild boar infested the country around the Mysi-
an Olympus, and the inhabitants of the adjacent territo-
ry applied to Croesus for assistance against the animal.
After urgent entreaties on the part of the young prince,
his father allowed him to accompany the hunters sent
out from Lydia to the aid of the Mysians, but gave him
in charge to Adrast us, a Phrygian of royal birth, who
had slain by accident his own brother, and had been
purified of the homicide by Croesus. The party en-
countered the boar, and, in making the onset, Atys
was killed by an accidental blow from the javelin of
Adrastus, the very one who had been appointed by
Croesus to guard him from danger. Such is the ac-
count of Herodotus (I, 34, seqq. ). Ptolemy, the son
of Hephsstion, calls the son of Croesus, whom Adras-
tus slew, by the name of Agathon. He also states,
that the young prince had a dispute with Adrastus
about a quail, in which he fell by the hand of the
latter. (Photiua, Bibl. , vol. 1, p. 146, ed. Bekker. )
--III. A Trojan who came to Italy with ^Eneas, and
was fabled to have been the progenitor of the fami-
ly of the Attii at Rome. (Virg. , Mn. , 5, 568. ) --
IV. A beautiful shepherd of Phrygia, beloved by Cyb-
ele. and to whom she intrusted the care of her altars
and the superintendence of her religious ceremonies.
Having proved unfaithful to the goddess, she inspired
him with phrensy to such a degree, that, in a paroxysm
of his malady, he deprived himself of his virility. Ovid,
however, makes him to have been changed by the god-
dess into a pine-tree. (Met, 10, 104). According to
Diodorus. on the other hand, who assigns Miron, king
of Phrygia, as the mortal father of Cybele, Atys was
put to death by her parent on discovering the intimacy
subsisting between the parties. (Diod. Sic, 3, 53. )
Another, and wilder legend, of I. ydiau origin, may be
found in Pausanias (7, 17. -- Compare Catull. , de
All/, ccc,-- Ovid, Fast. , 4, 223. --Lucian, de Dea Sy-
ra). The fable of Atys is astronomical in its origin.
Atys, deprived of his virility, is a symbol of the sun,
shorn of its generative powers in the season of winter,
and movino in the lower hemisphere : the luminary of
day resumes its energies on ascending into the upper
hemisphere. Atys, an incarnation of the sun, is him-
self the first of the Galli; and his priests, by a volun-
tary mutilation, celebrate the period of his weakness
and impotence. But as, in accordance with a decree
of the gods, not a single member of Atys is to perish,
every year he returns to the upper world, and cele-
brates anew his union with Cybele. This return, this
renewal of the productive powers and the fecundity of
nature, gave rise to all those demonstrations of savage
joy which are so well described in the verses of Lu-
cretius (2, 618, seqq. ). For farther remarks illustra-
tive of this curious portion of ancient mythology, con-
sult Creuzer's Symbolik, par Guigniaut, vol. 2, page
69, seqq. As regards the different forms of the name,
Atys, Altis, or Attes, consult the remarks of Hemster-
hms (ad Lucian, D. D. , 12), and of Grrevius (ad Lu-
cian, it Dea Syr a, 15). Diodorus says that Atys was
subsequently called Papas (ria n-af), which is, no doubt,
? ? the same with the old Greek word iruTOf or irujnrao,
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? AUG
AUG
? ca and the Luerine basin. (Vid. Portus Julius. )
The rao'lem name of the lake is Lago d'Avcrno.
Eustace describes Avernus at the present day as a
circular sheet of water, about a mile and a half in cir-
cumference, and of great depth (in some places 180
feet). It is surrounded with grounds on one side low,
on the other high but steep, cultivated all around, but
not much wooded; a scene, on the whole, light, airy,
and exhilarating. {Classical Tour, vol. 2, page 394,
Land, ill )
Aufidena, a city of Samnium, and the capital of
the Caraceni, situate on the Sagrus or Sangro. It is
now Alfidena. (Liu , 10, \2. --Plin. , 3, 12. )
Aueidia lex, was enacted by the tribune Aufidius
Lurco, A. U. C. 692. It contained this singular clause,
that if any candidate, in canvassing for an office,
promised money to a tribe, and failed in the perform-
ance, he should be excused; but if he actually paid it,
he should be compelled to pay every tribe a yearly
fine of 3000 sesterces as long as he lived. (Cic. ad
Att. , 1, 13. ) This law, however, soon became a dead
letter, as is apparent from what Suetonius states re-
specting the bribery practised by Cesar and Bibulus.
(Suet. , Vit. Jul. , 19. --Compare Heineec. , Antiq. Rem. ,
p. 807, cd. Haubold. )
Aufidius, I. Bassus, an historian in the Augustan
age, and in part of the reign of Tiberius. He wrote
a history of the Roman civil wars, and another of the
war in Germany. This latter work was continued by
the elder Pliny. (PHn. , Min. Ep. , 3, 5, 6. --Quintil. ,
10, 1, 103. ) -- II. Cffisius Bassus, a lyric poet, to
whom Pcreius addressed his 6ixth Satire. He per-
ished during the same eruption of Vesuvius that
proved fatal to the elder Pliny. (Quinttl. , 10, 1, 96.
-- Schol. ad Pers. , Sat. , 6, 1. -- Voss, dc poet. Lai. ,
c. 3 )--III. Saleius Bassus, a poet in the time of Ves-
pasian. He is highly praised by Quintilian (10, 1,
90), and by the author of the Dialogue "de caus. cor-
rupt c/oq. " (c. 5). --IV. Luscus, a recorder in the town
of Fundi, ridiculed by Horace. (Serm. , 1, 5, 24. )
AuriDUSi a river of Apulia, now the Ofanto. It
was on the banks of this stream that the battle of Can-
nes was fought. Polybius (3, 110) remarks of the
Aufidus, that it is the only river which, rising on the
western side of the Apennines, finds its way through
that continuous chain into the Adriatic. But it may
be doubted whether the historian speaks with his usu-
al accuracy. It is certain that the Aufidus cannot be
said to penetrate entirely through the chain of those
mountains, since it rises on one side of it, while the
Silarus flows from the other. The Aufidus was re-
markable for the rapidity of its course. (Horat. , Od. ,
4, 14. -- Id. , Od. , 30, 3-- Id. , Od. , 4, 9. --' Cramer's
Arte. Italy, vol. 2, p. 295. )
Auoe, daughter of Aleus, king of Tcgea. She be-
came a mother by Hercules, and secretly laid her off-
spring, a son, in the sacred enclosure (ri/ievo() of Mi-
nerva. A famine coming on the land, Aleus went to
the re/ievoc of the goddess; and, searching about,
found his daughter's infant, which he exposed on
Mount Parthenion. But the babe was protected by
the care of the gods, for a hind which had just brought
forth came and suckled him; and the shepherds,
finding him thus nursed, named him Telcphus from
that circumstance (Wo^oc, a hind). Aleus gave his
daughter Augc to Nauplius, the son of Neptune, to
sell her out of the country; and he disposed of her to
? ? Tcuthras, king of Teuthrania, on the Cayster, in My-
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? AITGURES.
AUG
to be done or not, and also in what way the omens
themselves were to be taken. (Compare Midler,
Etnuk. , \o\. 2, p. 117. )--The whole system of au-
gural science was of Etrurian origin. In this latter
country it served as a powerful engine of state in the
hands of the aristocracy, and the same result was for
a considerable time effected at Rome. Meetings of
the Comitia Centuriata, for example, could not be held
at all, if any augur declared the omens unpropitious;
or the Comitia were broken off if a magistrate, virtu-
ally invested with augural powers, declared that he had
heard thunder or seen lightning. So, again, all the
business transacted at any comitia, except the Tributa,
went for nothing, if, after the assembly had been held,
an augur declared that there had been some informal-
ity in taking the auspices before the meeting was con-
vened. --The augurs are supposed to have been first
instituted. by Romulus, who appointed three, one for
each tribe. This, however, was mere popular opin-
ion, and had no foundation in reality. A fourth augur
was added, it is thought, by Servius Tullius, when he
increased the number of tribes, and divided the city
into four tribes. The augurs were at first all patri-
cians, until A. U. C. 454, when five plebeians were ad-
ded. Sylla increased their number to fifteen. The
chief of the augurs was called Magis! er Collegii. The
augurs enjoyed this singular privilege, that of what-
ever crime they were guilty, they could not be de-
prived of their office; because, as Plutarch remarks,
they were intrusted with the secrets of the empire.
The laws of friendship were anciently observed with
great care among the augurs, and no one was admitted
into their college who was known to be inimical to
any of their number. --The augur mado his observa-
tions on the heavens usually in the dead of night, or
about twilight. He took his station on an elevated
place, where the view was open on all sides, and, to
make it so, buildings were sometimes pulled down.
Having first offered up sacrifices, and uttered a solemn
prayer, he sat down with his head covered, and with
his face turned to the east, so that he had the south on
his right and the north on his left. Then he deter-
mined with his litu us the regions of the heavens from
east to west, and marked in his mind some object
straightforward, at as great a distance as his eyes could
reach, within which boundaries he should make his
observations. There were generally five things from
which the augurs drew omens: the first consisted in
observing the phenomena of the heavens, such as thun-
der, lightning, comets, &c. The second kind of omen
was drawn from the chirping or flying of birds. The
third was from the sacred chickens, whose eagerness
or indifference in eating the food which was thrown
to them was looked upon as lucky or unlucky. The
fourth was from quadrupeds, from their crossing or
appearing in some unaccustomed place. The fifth
was from different casualties, which were called Dim,
such as spilling salt on the table, or wine upon one's
clothes, hearing ill-omened words or strange noises,
stumbling or sneezing, meeting a wolf, hare, fox, or
pregnant bitch, etc. These the augur explained, and
taught how they ought to be expiated. --In whatever
position the augur stood, omens on the left, among
the Romans, were reckoned lucky. But sometimes
omens on the left are called unlucky, in imitation of
the Greeks, among whom augurs stood with their faces
to the north, and then the east* which was the lucky
? ? quarter, was on the right. Thunder on the left was
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? AUG.
AUGUSTUS.
aries on Scripture; epistles on a great variety of sub-
jects, doctrinal, moral, and personal; sermons and
homilies; treatises on various points of discipline;
and elaborate arguments against heretics. With the
exception of those of Aristotle, no writings contributed
more than Augustine's to encourage the spirit of subtle
disputation which distinguished the scholastic ages.
They exhibit much facility of invention and strength
of reasoning, with more argument than eloquence, and
more wit than learning. Erasmus calls Augustine a
writer of obscure subtlety, who requires in the reader
acute penetration, close attention, and quick recollec-
tion, and by no means repays rum for the application
of all these requisites. His works are now almost
wholly neglected. (Encyclop. Americ. , vol. 1, p. 468. )
--Among the sources of information in modern times
respecting the life and productions of St. Augustine,
the following may be mentioned: CeiUier, Hist. Gen-
eral, des Aut. Eccles. (Paris, 1744, 4to), vols. 11 and
12. --Tiliemont, Memoircs, &c, vol. 13. -- Vit. August.
Vaillant, et Du Frische: ed. Op. Benedict. , vol. 11. --
Act. Sand. Mens. Aug. , vol. 6, p. 213, seqq. --L. Bcrti,
de rebus gestis S. August. (Venet. , 1746, 4to). --Ros-
ier, liild. der Kirchcnvdt. , vol. 9, p. 257. --Fabricms,
Bibl. Lot. , vol. 3, p. bVi,seqq. --Schrockh, Ktrchcng. ,
vol. 15, p. 219, seqq. --Biogr. Univ. , vol. 3, p. 54, scqq.
-- Wiggcrs, Versueh. einer pragmat. DarsteUung des
August, und Pelagianismus (Hamburg, 1822, 8vo),
vol. 1, p. 7, seqq.
Auoustulus (Romulus Momyllus, surname. ! Au-
gustus, or, in derision, Augustulus), the last Roman
emperor of the West. He was the son of Orestes, a
patrician and commander of the Roman forces in
Gaul. Augustulus was crowned by his father A. D.
