With nothing to support him
but the resources of his own mind, he created a pow-
erful kingdom among strangers, and defended it lor
more than ten years against the arms of Rome, al-
though wielded by the ablest generals of his time; and
he displayed public and private virtues which would
have rendered a people happy under his rule at a less
turbulent period.
but the resources of his own mind, he created a pow-
erful kingdom among strangers, and defended it lor
more than ten years against the arms of Rome, al-
though wielded by the ablest generals of his time; and
he displayed public and private virtues which would
have rendered a people happy under his rule at a less
turbulent period.
Charles - 1867 - Classical Dictionary
ibf, a<j>' oi
veKvia)j>{ 6vo/ia^6uevoc. -- Dr. Vincent unites these
two passages together, making the one supply what is
defective in the other, and gives the following transla-
tion of them : "There is a worm which issues from [an
egg as small as] the nit of lice: it is of a large size,
and has [protuberances, bearing the resemblance of]
horns, [in which respect] it diners from other worms.
The first change which it undergoes is by the conver-
sion of the worm into a caterpillar; it then becomes a
grub or chrysalis, and at length a moth. The whole
of this transformation is completed in six months.
? ? There are women who wind off a thread from this an-
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? SERES
8ERES.
tnerales two distinct races, the eastern and western
/Ethiopians. It is easy to perceive, from his descrip-
tion of the former, and their "long, straight hair,"
that none other are meant than the people of India.
if this deduction be correct, the Seres of Virgil will,
>>f course, be the people of China. As to their comb-
ing fleeces from the leave* of trees, the allusion is
manifestly to silk, which many of the ancients be-
lieved to be a sort of down gathered from the leaves
>>f trees. Thus Piiny (Ptin. , 6, 17), in a subsequent
age, remarks, "I'nmi aunt hominum qui noscantur
Seres, lanicio sylzarum nobilcs, perfusam aqua depec-
tentes frondium camciem. "--The moment silk be-
came known among the western nations, it was ea-
gerly purchased as an article of luxury, and began to
form a conspicuous part of Greek and Roman attire.
At that period of growing corruption, it was no won-
der that such an invention should be hailed with trans-
port, which, while it supplied the person with a cov-
ering, still, like our gauze, exposed every limb to the
eye of the beholder in almost perfect nudity. The
Emperor Hcliogabalus, it is true, in a later age, was
Ihe first who disgraced himself by appearing in a dress
wholly of silk ; yet Seric and Coan vestments are fre-
quently mentioned by the Roman writers either con-
temporary with, or not long subsequent to, the time
of Virgil. (Tibullus, 2, 4, 29 --1,1. , 2, 6. 35-- Pro-
pert. , 1, 4, 22. --Id. , 4, 8, 23-- Ovid, Am. , 1, 4, 16. )
About the period of which we are speaking, it would
appear that Seric vestments found their way to Rome
also from foreign nations. Florus (Florus, 4, 12, 16)
states, that in the reign of Augustus, an embassy
from the Seres came to Rome, with presents of pre-
cious stones, elephants, and other gifts. Among
these last, Seric vestments, or else raw silk, were no
doubt included. If we glance at the Greek writers
who flourished about this period, we shall be surprised
to find Strabo passing over, in almost total silence,
both the nation of the Seres as well as their singular
manufacture, the more especially as his contemporary,
Dionysius Periegetes, makes such full mention of it.
Thus we find Dionysius describing the Seres as a na-
tion of the farthest East, who paid no attention to cat-
tle or sheep, but occupied themselves in combing the
variegated flome'rs produced from their otherwise neg-
lected land, and in making vestments of an ingenious
and costly kind, resembling in hue the meadow-flow-
ers, and with which even spiders' techs could not com-
pare as to the fineness of texture. (Dionysii Perie-
gesis, v. 752, et seqq. ) Eustathius, archbishop of
Thessalonica, who flourished about 1160 A. D. , and
wrote a learned commentary on the work whence this
extract is taken, gives a very curious account of the
Seres, which would tend still more strongly to con-
firm the belief that they were identical with the Chi-
nese. He describes them (Eustath. , in Dionys. Pe-
rieg. , p. 239, ed. Oxon. ) as an unsocial nation, refu-
sing all intercourse with strangers (uirpoopiyeic av-
dfw-oi Kni (ivnui? . rjToi). They marked the price on
the articles which they wished to sell, and, having,
left them in a particular place, retired. The traders
then came, and placed by the side of the goods the
amount demanded, or else so much as they were will-
ing to give. Upon this they withdrew in their turn,
and the Seres coming back, either took what was of-
fered, or carried away the goods again. We have here
the same cautious system of commercial dealing which
? ? characterizes the Chinese of our own days, only in a
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? SERES.
SERES.
! rom repletion The Seres obtain a quantity of thread
from its bowels. '' What Pausanias adds, however,
respecting the situation of Serica, that it is "an island
in the recess of the Indian Ocean," probably refers to
Ceylon, and is grounded upon the mistaken idea (Hit-
ters Vprhalle, p. 113) that the silk, which formed a chief
article of export from that island, was likewise manu-
factured there. Tcrtulliau (de Pallio, c. 3) and Cle-
mens Alexandrinus (in l'adagog. , 2, 10) also speak
of the silkworm, and appear better acquainted with
the several changes which it undergoes than Pausani-
as. The principal points in which they differ from the
correct accounts of modern times are, their making the
insect in question resemble the spider in the mode of
forming its thread, and their assigning a different leaf
from that of the mulberry for its food. (Mcmoircs dc
VAcademie del Inscription*, vol. 7, p. 342. ) Dio
Cassius and Hcrodian both make mention of the Seric
manufactures. The former describes the ancient or/p-
? jtov in the following language (Dio Cassius, ed. Hci-
mar, 43, 24, p. 358, I. 25): Toiro ie to vtfaaua ,yXj-
iijc (iapbupov iariv Ipyov, Kai nap' ixeivuv mil itpoc
iuac, be Tpvtfiv Tuv mmi ywautwv ixeptTTijv. "This
species of tissue is a work of barbarian luxury, and
has found its way from that distant quarter even unto
us, in order to furnish our higher class of females with
the materials for excessive extravagance. " Herodian
speaks of Seric vestments as fitter for females than
for men (Herodian, ed. Irmisch. , 5, 5, 9, vol. 3, p.
144): Td roiavra KaXKuniouara owe uvdpaoiv cl/t? . u
GnMiatc rrpineiv. Vopiscus (Vit. Aurcl. , c. 45) in-
forms us, " Vestem holosericam neque ipse (Aurelia-
nus) in testiario suo habuit, neque alteri utendam dedtt.
El quum ab eo uxor sua petcret, ut unico pallio blatteo
serico uterelur, ills respondit: absit ut auro lib pen-
sentur; libra enim awri tunc libra serici fuit. " The
extravagant price which is here mentioned, a pound
of gold for a pound of silk, may easily be accounted
for by the circumstance of the overland trade to Seri-
es being rendered more precarious by the rapid rise
of the second Persian E. -npire. Passing by the sev-
tral authors who mention the Seric vestments without
any accompanying circumstances sufficiently impor-
tant to merit a quotation, wo come to Lampridius,
who devotes to infamy the Emperor Heliogabalus
(lampridius, Vit. Heliogab. . c. 26) for having first
dared to appear in a dress wholly of silk. St. Basil
(S. Basil, in exam, homil. , 8) makes a curious appli-
cation of the knowledge that appears to have been
generally diffused, about this period, respecting the
transformations of the silkworm, by exhorting the
rich, who could not be induced to dispense with gar-
ments of silk, to remember, at least, in putting them
on, that the worm, of whoso substance they were
made, is a type of the resurrection. Julius Pollux
(c. 384, 31, cap. 17, lib. 7) also alludes to this insect:
SkwAij/ci'c tiaiv ol (}6/i6vkcc, d0' im to. vr/para ivvov-
rai, bemep 6 apaxvrir biioi 6i km tovc Zqpac urra
Toiovrov irepuv (uuv uOpoi&iv <paoi ra itbdouara.
Ammianus Marcellinus (Arnmian. Marccll. , 23,6) next
follows, who gives the following narrative: "They
(the Seres) weave a delicate and tender thread, form-
ed from moistened wool, combining it into a kind ? >(
fleece by frequently sprinkling with water the pods of
the trees; spinning this into inner garments, they
manufacture that celebrated ailk which anciently com-
posed the dress of the (Roman) nobility, but in my
? ? age is the indiscriminate and extravagant clothing of
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? SER
SERTOKIUS.
Eastern neighbours. Hence their territory t jd capi-
tal took the name of Serinda (Ser-Ind), and even at
Che present day the name continues to be Serhend, or
"the land where the Hindus i-iture the silkworm. ''
It was to this quarter, very probably, that the monks
of Justinian came. Gibbon, however, boldly asserts
that these monks were missionaries, who had pre-
viously penetrated to China, and resided at Nan-kin.
Decline and Fall, ch. 40. )
Seriphus, an island of the ^Egean, south of Cyth-
nus, and now Serpho. It was celebrated in mytholo-
gy as the scene of some of the most remarkable ad-
ventures of Perseus, who changed Polydectes, king of
the island, and his subjects, into stones, to avenge the
wrongs offered to his mother Danae. (Pind. , Pyth. ,
12, 19. ) Strabo seems to account for this fable from
the rocky nature of ihe island. (Strab. , 487. ) Pliny
makes its circuit twelve miles. In Juvenal's time
state-prisoners were sent there (10, 169). The frogs
of this island were said to be mute, but to utter their
usual note when carried elsewhere; and hence the
proverbial saying, Barpaxoc Ik Zrpiioti (Rana Seri-
phia), applied to dull and silent persons, who on a sud-
den became loquacious. (Compare, however, the re-
marks of Erasmus, Chil. 1, cent. 5, ad. 31, id.
Stepk. , p. 166. )
Serranus, I. a surname given to C. Atilius, from
his having been engaged in sowing his field {severe,
"to sow") when intelligence was- brought him of his
having been appointed to the dictatorship. (Plin. , 18,
4. --Pertion. , Animadv. Hut. , c. 1. --Liv. , 3, 26. --
Virg , &n. , 6, 844. )--II. A poet in the time of Nero,
to whom Sarpe has ascribed the eclogues that pass un-
der the name of Calpurnius. (Quttst. Philolog. , c.
2, p. II, seqq. -- Bahr, Gesch. Rom. Lit. , vol. I, p.
303. )
Sertorius, Quintus, a distinguished Roman gen-
eral, born at Nursia. He made his first campaign
under Caepio, when the Cimbri and Teutones broke
into Gaul; and he distinguished himself subsequently
? ruler Marius, when the same enemy made their mem-
orable irruption into Italy. After the termination of
this war he was sent as a legionary tribune, undor Did-
lua, into Spain, and soon gained for himself a high
teputation in this country. On his return to Rome he
was appointed quaestor for Cisalpine Gaul; and the
Marsian war soon after breaking out, and Sertorius
being employed to levy troops and provide arms, he
made himself eatremely useful in that capacity, and
performed important services for the state. On the
ruin of the Marian party, to which he himself belong-
ed, Sertorius hastened back to Spain, and found no
difficulty in resuming possession of that province. As
soon as Sylla was informed of this act of rebellion, he
sent into Spain a considerable army under Caius An-
nuls, with orders to crush the insurgent forces. Ser-
torius, compelled to yield to the powerful force thus
brought against him, was induced to seek for safoty in
Africa. Pursued by bad fortune even to the wilds of
Mauritania, he was reduced to the necessity of again
putting to sea; but, being unable to effect a re-landing
in Spain, he strengthened bis little fleet by the addi-
tion of some of the Cilician pirates, and made a de-
scent upon the island of Ebusus (now /pica), in which
Annius had placed a small garrison. The lieutenant
of Sylla made haste to succour this insular colony,
and, sailing to Ebusus with a strong squadron, was re-
? ? solved to brirg Sertorius to battle. A storm prevent-
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? SER
SERVIUS.
luet the conspiratcts began to open their intentions by
? peaking with freedom and licentiousness in the pres-
ence of Sertorius, whose age and character had hith-
erto claimed deference from others. Perpenna over-
turned a glass of wine as a signal to the rest, and im-
mediately Antonius, one of his officers, stabbed Ser-
torius, and the example was followed by all the other
conspirators (B. C. 73). --No sooner had Perpenna ac-
complished his nefarious object, than he announced
himself as the successor of Sertorius. But he soon
proved as unfit for the duties as he was unworthy of
the honour attached to that high office. Pompey,
upon hearing that his formidable antagonist was no
more, attacked the traitor, whom he easily defeated.
He was taken prisoner, and afterward executed as an
enemy to his country; and in this way ended a war
which at one time threatened the overthrow of the
whole fabric of the Roman power in Spain. --Of Ser-
torius it has justly been remarked, that his great quali-
ties and military talents would have undoubtedly raised
him to the first rank among the chiefs of his coun-
try, had be been, not the leader of a party, but the
commander of a state.
With nothing to support him
but the resources of his own mind, he created a pow-
erful kingdom among strangers, and defended it lor
more than ten years against the arms of Rome, al-
though wielded by the ablest generals of his time; and
he displayed public and private virtues which would
have rendered a people happy under his rule at a less
turbulent period. {Pint. , Vit. Sertor. --Veil. Palerc,
2, 30, seqq. --Flor. , 3, 31, seqq. )
ServilU Lei, I. de Peenniis repetundis, by C.
Servilius, the praetor, A. U. C. 653. It ordained se-
verer penalties than formerly against extortion; and
that the defendant should hare a second hearing.
(Cic. in Kerr. , 1, 9. )--II. Another, de Judicibus, by
Q. Servilius Caepio, the consul, A. U. C. 647. It di-
vided the right of judging between the senators and
'. he equites, a privilege which, though originally be-
longing to the senators, had been taken from them by
he Sempronian Law, and given to the equites, who
. iad exercised it, in consequence, for seventeen years.
{Ci%, Brut. , 43, acq--Toe. , Ann, 13, 60. )--III.
Another, de Civii&te, by C. Servilius Glaucia, ordained
that if a Latin accused a Roman senator so that he
was condemned, the accuser should be honoured with
'he name and the privileges of a Roman citizen. --IV.
Another, Agraria, by P. Servilius Rullus, the tribune,
A. U. C. 690. It ordained that ten commissioners
should be created, with absolute power, for five years,
over all the revenues of the republic; to buy and sell
what lands they saw fit, at what price and from whom
they chose; to distribute them at pleasure to the citi-
zens; to settle new colonies wherever they judged
proper, and particularly in Campania, &c. But this
law was prevented from being passed by the eloquence
)f Cicero, who was then consul. (Ctc. in Pi>>. , 2. )
Servilius, I. Publics Ahala, a master of horse to
he dictator Cincinnatus. When Maelius refused to
ippear before the dictator to answer the accusations
which were brought against him on suspicion of his
aspiring to tyranny, Ahala slew him in the midst of
the people whose protection he claimed. Ahala was
accused of this murder, and banished; but this sen-
tence was afterward repealed. He was raised to the
dictatorship. --II. Publius, a proconsul of Asia during
the age of Mithradatcs. He conquered Isauria, for
? ? which service he was surnamed Isaurim. i, and re-
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? SEKVIUS.
SE 8
eighty-nine (or ninety-three) centuries, the first class
? lone contained eighty, to which must be added the
eighteen centuries of cguites, and that the last class had
either only one voice or none at all, it is easy to see
that Servius, if in effect he made this arrangement,
substituted an aristocracy of wealth for the former pa-
trician preponderance in the curia. As in these times
the property of land was for the most part in the hands
of the patricians, they of course retained preponder-
ance in the new aristocracy likewise. But this was
re-. dental, and soon ceased to be the case. --The war-
like undertakings of Servius were principally directed
against the Etrurians. He is said to have carried on
war, for twenty years, with the citizens of Veii, Cere,
Tarquinii, and, lastly, with the collective force of the
Etruscans, till all allowed the pre-eminence of Home
and her king. --Servius enlarged the city, so as to
bring within its compass the Viminal and Esquiline
Hills; he finished the work begun by Tarquinius, by
building the walls of the city of hewn stone; and, for
the purpose of consolidating more firmly the union of
the races of which the nation was composed, he erect-
ed the temple of Diana on the Aventine Hill, which was
to be the chief abode of the Latin population recently
brought to Rome. --The horrible tale of the last Tar-
quin's accession to the throne might be regarded as
incredible, were it not that Italian history in the mid-
dle ages affords us many similar examples. The nar-
rative in question is as follows: The two daughters
of Sorvius were married to the two sons of the elder
Taiquin. The one murdered her husband Aruns, and
her sister, with the aid of the other son of Tarquin,
and paved the way to the throne for herself and her
new husband by the murder of her father. --The per-
sonal existence of Servius Tullius is regarded by
many recent writers as involved in considerable doubt.
The constitution of the classes and centuries is as
real as Magna Charta, or the Bill of Rights, in Eng-
jsh hUtorj , yet its pretended author seems scarcely
a more historical personage than King Arthur. We
do not iven know with certainty his name or his race;
atill less can we trust the pretended chronology of the
common story. The last three reigns, according to
Livy, occupied a space of 107 years; yet the king,
who, at the end of this period, is expelled in mature,
nut not in declining age, is the eon of the king who
ascends the throne a grown man, in the vigour of life,
at the beginning of it: Servius marries the daughter
of Tarquinius a short time before he is made king, ;et
immediately after his accession he is the father of two
grown-up daughters, whom he marries to the brothers
of his own wife. The sons of A ncus Marcius wait pa-
tiently cight-and-thirty years, and then murder Tar-
quinius to obtain a throne which they had seen him so
iong quietly occupy. Still, then, we are, in a manner,
upon enchanted ground; the unreal and the real are
strangely mixed up together; but, although some real
elements exist, yet the general picture before us is a
mere fantasy: single trees and buildings may bo cop-
ied from nature, but their grouping is ideal, and they
are placed in the midst of fairy palaces and fairy be-
ings, whose originals this earth never witnessed. (Liv. ,
1, 41, seqq. --Hethcrtngton's History of Rome, p. 23,
seqq. --Arnold's Roman History, vol. 1, p. 48, seqq. )
-- II. Sulpitius Rufus, an eminent Roman jurist and
statesman, descended from an illustrious family. He
was contemporary with Cicero, and probably born about
? ? ? century B. C. He cultivated polite literature from a
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? &KSOSTRIS.
SESOSTRIS.
edifice on the western side of the river, which corre-
sponds with singular, if not perfect, exactness to the
magnificent palace of Osymandyas described by Dio-
Jorus, is so covered with his legends as to bo named
by Chainpollion, without the least hesitation, the
Rhameseion. --The dale of the accession of Sesostris,
as the head of the nineteenth dynasty, is of great im-
portance, but, like all such points, involved in much
difficulty. M. Champollion Figeac, by an ingenious
argumen*. deduced from the celebrated Sothic period
T 1460 years, reckoned according to data furnished
by Censorinus, and a well-known fragment of Theon
of Alexandrea, makes out the date of 1473 B. C. Dr.
Young assumes 1424. Mr. Mure maintains that it
cannot be placed higher than 1410, nor lower than
1400. {Remarks on the Chronology of the Egyptian
Dynasties, Loud. , 1829. ) M. Champollion Figeac's
argument is unsatisfactory, and chiefly from the un-
certainty of fixing the reign of Menophres, which is the
basis of the whole system, and which is altogether a
gratuitous assumption. It appears, however, that the
question may be brought to a short, if not precise, con-
clusion. The first date which approximates to cer-
tainty is the capture of Jerusalem by Scsac or Se-
sonchosis; the first of the twenty-second dynasty, in
tho yr. ar 971, or, at the earliest, 975 B. C. What,
then, was the intervening time between this event and
the accession of the nineteenth dynasty 1 The reigns
of the three series, as given by Mr. Mure from the va-
rious authorities, stand thus: and fust from Euscbius
m the Latin text of Jerome:
Nineteenth Dynasty 1M
Twentieth" 178
Twenty first" IN
SOS
Add date of capture of Jerusalem . . 971
1473
Next from Eusebius, according to the Greek text
(Syncj'. hs--Scaliger):
Nineteenth Dynasty . . . . 209 (194)
Twentieth" 178
Twenty first" ISO
110
Add as Defers . . . 971
1481
Next from Eusebius, according lo the Armenian text:
Nineteenth Dynasty . . . . 194
Twentieth" 178
Twenty-flrst" 130
49ft
4,dd 971
1407
Next from Africanus (Syncellus):
Nineteenth Dynasty SIO (204)
Twentieth" 135
Twenty-first" . . . 130
475
Add . . . . . 971
1444
And, lastly, from the Old Chrc. cle:
Nineteenth Dynasty . . . . 194
Twentieth" <*>s
Twenty-first" m
MS
Wl . . 97|
1. M4
The question resolves itself into the relative degrees of
? ? weight attached to Africanus, Eusebius, or the Old
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? SESOSTRIS.
SESOSTRIS
lf>> the Great, curious vestiges of Egyptian conquest
in the Arabian peninsula have been brought to light,
ami Arabah (the Red Earth) is described as under the
feet of Rameses Meiamoun, in one of those curious
representation* of his conquests said to line th< walls
ti Medinet-Abou. It was on s height overlook/ ig the
narrow strait which divides Africa from Arabia that
Scsostlis, according to Strabo, erected one of his col-
nmni. The wars between the later Abyssinian kings
md the sovereigns of Yemen, in the centuries prece-
ding Mohammed, may illustrate these conquests. The
naUed or terror of the sea attributed 10 the later
Egyptians was either unknown to or disdained, as the
monuments clearly prove, by the great Theban kings;
more than one regular naval engagement, as well as
descents from invading fleets, being represented in
the sculptures. On the Red Sea, Sesostris, according
to history, fitted out a navy of four hundred sail; but
whither did he or his admirals sail! Did they com-
mit themselves to the trade-winds, and boldly stretch
across towards the land of gold and spice 1 Are some
of the hill-forts represented in the sculptures those of
India! Did his triumphant arms pass the Ganges 1
Do the Indian hunches on the cattle, noticed by Mr.
Hamilton, confirm the legend so constantly repeated
of his conquests in that land of ancient fable 1 Or,
according to the modest account of Herodotus, did
they coast cautiously along, and put back when they
encountered some formidable shoals 1 Did they fol-
low the course of the Persian Gulf, assail the rising
monarchies of the Assyrians and Medes, or press on
to that groat kingdom of Bactria, which dimly arises
? mid the gloom of the earliest ages, the native place
ol Zoroaster, rid the cradle of the Magian religion 1
Champollion boldly names Assyrians, Medes, and
Bactrians as exhibited on the monuments; but the
strange and barbarous appellations which he has read,
is fir as we remember, bear no resemblance to those
cf tr. j ci 'he Oriental tribes; earlier travellers, how-
>>ver, have observed that the features, costume, and
trms of the nations with which the Egyptians join
battle are clearly Asiatic; the long, flowing robes, the
line of facs, the beards, the shields, in many respects
ire remarkably similar to those on the Babylonian cyl-
inders and the sculptures of Persepolis. "The do-
minions of Sesostris," our legend proceeds, " spreads
orer Armenia and Asia Minor. His images were stilt
to be seen in the days of Herodotus, one on the road
between Ephesus and Phocsea, and another between
Smyrna and Sardis. They were five palms high,
armed in the Egyptian and Ethiopian manner, and
held a javelin in one hand and a bow in the other;
across the breast ran a line, with an inscription:
'This region I conquered by my strength (lit. my
? boulders). ' They were mistaken for statues of Mem-
non. " This universal conqueror spread his dominion
into Europe; but Thrace was th# limit of his victo-
ries. On the eastern shore of the Euxine he left, ac-
cording to tradition, a part of his army, the ances-
tors of the circumcised people, the Colchians. But
his most formidable enemies were the redoubted
Scythian-i. Pliny and other later writers assert that
he was vanquished by them, and fled. But Egyptian
pride either disguised or had reason to deny the defeat
of her hero. There is a striking story in Herodotus, that
when the victorious Darius commanded that his statue
should take the place of that of Sesostris, the priests
? ? boMly interfered, and asserted the superiority of their
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? SESOSTRIS.
SESOSTR1S.
t
basis ot this calculation. Our authors likewise adopt
M. Champollion Eigeac's date, 1473, for the access-
ion of Sesostris, and the common term of two hun-
dred and fifteen years for the residence of the Israel-
ites in Egyp*. Joseph might thus have been sold under
Mceris; Jacob and his family entered Egypt under his
successor, Miphre-Thoutmosis, and departed in the
third year of Ainenophis Rhamses, father of Sesostris.
Several curious incidental points make in favour of this
system. At a period assigned to the ministry of Jo-
seph, clearly, the native princes were on the throne;
tlie priesthood were in honour and power, particularly
those of Phre. The obelisk raised by Mceris Miphra,
at Heliopolis, will be remembered: his son likewise
bore the title of Miphre. Now Joseph was married to
the daughter of Pet-e-phre, the priest of Phre, at On or
Heliopolis. At this period, too, the shepherds were re-
cently expelled, and, therefore, an " abomination to the
Egyptians," and the land of Goahen was vacant by
their expulsion. Diodorus, it may be observed, gives
seven generations between Mceris and Sesostris, which,
at three for a century, amounts nearly to the date of
the residence of the Israelites in Egypt. Towards
the close of the period the race of Rhamses ascended
the throne; and Raamses is the name of one of the
cities built by the oppressed Israelites. Such are the
curious incidental illustrations of this system, the same,
we may observe, with that of Usher and Bishop Cum-
in-Hand; but we must not dissemble the difficulties.
veKvia)j>{ 6vo/ia^6uevoc. -- Dr. Vincent unites these
two passages together, making the one supply what is
defective in the other, and gives the following transla-
tion of them : "There is a worm which issues from [an
egg as small as] the nit of lice: it is of a large size,
and has [protuberances, bearing the resemblance of]
horns, [in which respect] it diners from other worms.
The first change which it undergoes is by the conver-
sion of the worm into a caterpillar; it then becomes a
grub or chrysalis, and at length a moth. The whole
of this transformation is completed in six months.
? ? There are women who wind off a thread from this an-
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? SERES
8ERES.
tnerales two distinct races, the eastern and western
/Ethiopians. It is easy to perceive, from his descrip-
tion of the former, and their "long, straight hair,"
that none other are meant than the people of India.
if this deduction be correct, the Seres of Virgil will,
>>f course, be the people of China. As to their comb-
ing fleeces from the leave* of trees, the allusion is
manifestly to silk, which many of the ancients be-
lieved to be a sort of down gathered from the leaves
>>f trees. Thus Piiny (Ptin. , 6, 17), in a subsequent
age, remarks, "I'nmi aunt hominum qui noscantur
Seres, lanicio sylzarum nobilcs, perfusam aqua depec-
tentes frondium camciem. "--The moment silk be-
came known among the western nations, it was ea-
gerly purchased as an article of luxury, and began to
form a conspicuous part of Greek and Roman attire.
At that period of growing corruption, it was no won-
der that such an invention should be hailed with trans-
port, which, while it supplied the person with a cov-
ering, still, like our gauze, exposed every limb to the
eye of the beholder in almost perfect nudity. The
Emperor Hcliogabalus, it is true, in a later age, was
Ihe first who disgraced himself by appearing in a dress
wholly of silk ; yet Seric and Coan vestments are fre-
quently mentioned by the Roman writers either con-
temporary with, or not long subsequent to, the time
of Virgil. (Tibullus, 2, 4, 29 --1,1. , 2, 6. 35-- Pro-
pert. , 1, 4, 22. --Id. , 4, 8, 23-- Ovid, Am. , 1, 4, 16. )
About the period of which we are speaking, it would
appear that Seric vestments found their way to Rome
also from foreign nations. Florus (Florus, 4, 12, 16)
states, that in the reign of Augustus, an embassy
from the Seres came to Rome, with presents of pre-
cious stones, elephants, and other gifts. Among
these last, Seric vestments, or else raw silk, were no
doubt included. If we glance at the Greek writers
who flourished about this period, we shall be surprised
to find Strabo passing over, in almost total silence,
both the nation of the Seres as well as their singular
manufacture, the more especially as his contemporary,
Dionysius Periegetes, makes such full mention of it.
Thus we find Dionysius describing the Seres as a na-
tion of the farthest East, who paid no attention to cat-
tle or sheep, but occupied themselves in combing the
variegated flome'rs produced from their otherwise neg-
lected land, and in making vestments of an ingenious
and costly kind, resembling in hue the meadow-flow-
ers, and with which even spiders' techs could not com-
pare as to the fineness of texture. (Dionysii Perie-
gesis, v. 752, et seqq. ) Eustathius, archbishop of
Thessalonica, who flourished about 1160 A. D. , and
wrote a learned commentary on the work whence this
extract is taken, gives a very curious account of the
Seres, which would tend still more strongly to con-
firm the belief that they were identical with the Chi-
nese. He describes them (Eustath. , in Dionys. Pe-
rieg. , p. 239, ed. Oxon. ) as an unsocial nation, refu-
sing all intercourse with strangers (uirpoopiyeic av-
dfw-oi Kni (ivnui? . rjToi). They marked the price on
the articles which they wished to sell, and, having,
left them in a particular place, retired. The traders
then came, and placed by the side of the goods the
amount demanded, or else so much as they were will-
ing to give. Upon this they withdrew in their turn,
and the Seres coming back, either took what was of-
fered, or carried away the goods again. We have here
the same cautious system of commercial dealing which
? ? characterizes the Chinese of our own days, only in a
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? SERES.
SERES.
! rom repletion The Seres obtain a quantity of thread
from its bowels. '' What Pausanias adds, however,
respecting the situation of Serica, that it is "an island
in the recess of the Indian Ocean," probably refers to
Ceylon, and is grounded upon the mistaken idea (Hit-
ters Vprhalle, p. 113) that the silk, which formed a chief
article of export from that island, was likewise manu-
factured there. Tcrtulliau (de Pallio, c. 3) and Cle-
mens Alexandrinus (in l'adagog. , 2, 10) also speak
of the silkworm, and appear better acquainted with
the several changes which it undergoes than Pausani-
as. The principal points in which they differ from the
correct accounts of modern times are, their making the
insect in question resemble the spider in the mode of
forming its thread, and their assigning a different leaf
from that of the mulberry for its food. (Mcmoircs dc
VAcademie del Inscription*, vol. 7, p. 342. ) Dio
Cassius and Hcrodian both make mention of the Seric
manufactures. The former describes the ancient or/p-
? jtov in the following language (Dio Cassius, ed. Hci-
mar, 43, 24, p. 358, I. 25): Toiro ie to vtfaaua ,yXj-
iijc (iapbupov iariv Ipyov, Kai nap' ixeivuv mil itpoc
iuac, be Tpvtfiv Tuv mmi ywautwv ixeptTTijv. "This
species of tissue is a work of barbarian luxury, and
has found its way from that distant quarter even unto
us, in order to furnish our higher class of females with
the materials for excessive extravagance. " Herodian
speaks of Seric vestments as fitter for females than
for men (Herodian, ed. Irmisch. , 5, 5, 9, vol. 3, p.
144): Td roiavra KaXKuniouara owe uvdpaoiv cl/t? . u
GnMiatc rrpineiv. Vopiscus (Vit. Aurcl. , c. 45) in-
forms us, " Vestem holosericam neque ipse (Aurelia-
nus) in testiario suo habuit, neque alteri utendam dedtt.
El quum ab eo uxor sua petcret, ut unico pallio blatteo
serico uterelur, ills respondit: absit ut auro lib pen-
sentur; libra enim awri tunc libra serici fuit. " The
extravagant price which is here mentioned, a pound
of gold for a pound of silk, may easily be accounted
for by the circumstance of the overland trade to Seri-
es being rendered more precarious by the rapid rise
of the second Persian E. -npire. Passing by the sev-
tral authors who mention the Seric vestments without
any accompanying circumstances sufficiently impor-
tant to merit a quotation, wo come to Lampridius,
who devotes to infamy the Emperor Heliogabalus
(lampridius, Vit. Heliogab. . c. 26) for having first
dared to appear in a dress wholly of silk. St. Basil
(S. Basil, in exam, homil. , 8) makes a curious appli-
cation of the knowledge that appears to have been
generally diffused, about this period, respecting the
transformations of the silkworm, by exhorting the
rich, who could not be induced to dispense with gar-
ments of silk, to remember, at least, in putting them
on, that the worm, of whoso substance they were
made, is a type of the resurrection. Julius Pollux
(c. 384, 31, cap. 17, lib. 7) also alludes to this insect:
SkwAij/ci'c tiaiv ol (}6/i6vkcc, d0' im to. vr/para ivvov-
rai, bemep 6 apaxvrir biioi 6i km tovc Zqpac urra
Toiovrov irepuv (uuv uOpoi&iv <paoi ra itbdouara.
Ammianus Marcellinus (Arnmian. Marccll. , 23,6) next
follows, who gives the following narrative: "They
(the Seres) weave a delicate and tender thread, form-
ed from moistened wool, combining it into a kind ? >(
fleece by frequently sprinkling with water the pods of
the trees; spinning this into inner garments, they
manufacture that celebrated ailk which anciently com-
posed the dress of the (Roman) nobility, but in my
? ? age is the indiscriminate and extravagant clothing of
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? SER
SERTOKIUS.
Eastern neighbours. Hence their territory t jd capi-
tal took the name of Serinda (Ser-Ind), and even at
Che present day the name continues to be Serhend, or
"the land where the Hindus i-iture the silkworm. ''
It was to this quarter, very probably, that the monks
of Justinian came. Gibbon, however, boldly asserts
that these monks were missionaries, who had pre-
viously penetrated to China, and resided at Nan-kin.
Decline and Fall, ch. 40. )
Seriphus, an island of the ^Egean, south of Cyth-
nus, and now Serpho. It was celebrated in mytholo-
gy as the scene of some of the most remarkable ad-
ventures of Perseus, who changed Polydectes, king of
the island, and his subjects, into stones, to avenge the
wrongs offered to his mother Danae. (Pind. , Pyth. ,
12, 19. ) Strabo seems to account for this fable from
the rocky nature of ihe island. (Strab. , 487. ) Pliny
makes its circuit twelve miles. In Juvenal's time
state-prisoners were sent there (10, 169). The frogs
of this island were said to be mute, but to utter their
usual note when carried elsewhere; and hence the
proverbial saying, Barpaxoc Ik Zrpiioti (Rana Seri-
phia), applied to dull and silent persons, who on a sud-
den became loquacious. (Compare, however, the re-
marks of Erasmus, Chil. 1, cent. 5, ad. 31, id.
Stepk. , p. 166. )
Serranus, I. a surname given to C. Atilius, from
his having been engaged in sowing his field {severe,
"to sow") when intelligence was- brought him of his
having been appointed to the dictatorship. (Plin. , 18,
4. --Pertion. , Animadv. Hut. , c. 1. --Liv. , 3, 26. --
Virg , &n. , 6, 844. )--II. A poet in the time of Nero,
to whom Sarpe has ascribed the eclogues that pass un-
der the name of Calpurnius. (Quttst. Philolog. , c.
2, p. II, seqq. -- Bahr, Gesch. Rom. Lit. , vol. I, p.
303. )
Sertorius, Quintus, a distinguished Roman gen-
eral, born at Nursia. He made his first campaign
under Caepio, when the Cimbri and Teutones broke
into Gaul; and he distinguished himself subsequently
? ruler Marius, when the same enemy made their mem-
orable irruption into Italy. After the termination of
this war he was sent as a legionary tribune, undor Did-
lua, into Spain, and soon gained for himself a high
teputation in this country. On his return to Rome he
was appointed quaestor for Cisalpine Gaul; and the
Marsian war soon after breaking out, and Sertorius
being employed to levy troops and provide arms, he
made himself eatremely useful in that capacity, and
performed important services for the state. On the
ruin of the Marian party, to which he himself belong-
ed, Sertorius hastened back to Spain, and found no
difficulty in resuming possession of that province. As
soon as Sylla was informed of this act of rebellion, he
sent into Spain a considerable army under Caius An-
nuls, with orders to crush the insurgent forces. Ser-
torius, compelled to yield to the powerful force thus
brought against him, was induced to seek for safoty in
Africa. Pursued by bad fortune even to the wilds of
Mauritania, he was reduced to the necessity of again
putting to sea; but, being unable to effect a re-landing
in Spain, he strengthened bis little fleet by the addi-
tion of some of the Cilician pirates, and made a de-
scent upon the island of Ebusus (now /pica), in which
Annius had placed a small garrison. The lieutenant
of Sylla made haste to succour this insular colony,
and, sailing to Ebusus with a strong squadron, was re-
? ? solved to brirg Sertorius to battle. A storm prevent-
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? SER
SERVIUS.
luet the conspiratcts began to open their intentions by
? peaking with freedom and licentiousness in the pres-
ence of Sertorius, whose age and character had hith-
erto claimed deference from others. Perpenna over-
turned a glass of wine as a signal to the rest, and im-
mediately Antonius, one of his officers, stabbed Ser-
torius, and the example was followed by all the other
conspirators (B. C. 73). --No sooner had Perpenna ac-
complished his nefarious object, than he announced
himself as the successor of Sertorius. But he soon
proved as unfit for the duties as he was unworthy of
the honour attached to that high office. Pompey,
upon hearing that his formidable antagonist was no
more, attacked the traitor, whom he easily defeated.
He was taken prisoner, and afterward executed as an
enemy to his country; and in this way ended a war
which at one time threatened the overthrow of the
whole fabric of the Roman power in Spain. --Of Ser-
torius it has justly been remarked, that his great quali-
ties and military talents would have undoubtedly raised
him to the first rank among the chiefs of his coun-
try, had be been, not the leader of a party, but the
commander of a state.
With nothing to support him
but the resources of his own mind, he created a pow-
erful kingdom among strangers, and defended it lor
more than ten years against the arms of Rome, al-
though wielded by the ablest generals of his time; and
he displayed public and private virtues which would
have rendered a people happy under his rule at a less
turbulent period. {Pint. , Vit. Sertor. --Veil. Palerc,
2, 30, seqq. --Flor. , 3, 31, seqq. )
ServilU Lei, I. de Peenniis repetundis, by C.
Servilius, the praetor, A. U. C. 653. It ordained se-
verer penalties than formerly against extortion; and
that the defendant should hare a second hearing.
(Cic. in Kerr. , 1, 9. )--II. Another, de Judicibus, by
Q. Servilius Caepio, the consul, A. U. C. 647. It di-
vided the right of judging between the senators and
'. he equites, a privilege which, though originally be-
longing to the senators, had been taken from them by
he Sempronian Law, and given to the equites, who
. iad exercised it, in consequence, for seventeen years.
{Ci%, Brut. , 43, acq--Toe. , Ann, 13, 60. )--III.
Another, de Civii&te, by C. Servilius Glaucia, ordained
that if a Latin accused a Roman senator so that he
was condemned, the accuser should be honoured with
'he name and the privileges of a Roman citizen. --IV.
Another, Agraria, by P. Servilius Rullus, the tribune,
A. U. C. 690. It ordained that ten commissioners
should be created, with absolute power, for five years,
over all the revenues of the republic; to buy and sell
what lands they saw fit, at what price and from whom
they chose; to distribute them at pleasure to the citi-
zens; to settle new colonies wherever they judged
proper, and particularly in Campania, &c. But this
law was prevented from being passed by the eloquence
)f Cicero, who was then consul. (Ctc. in Pi>>. , 2. )
Servilius, I. Publics Ahala, a master of horse to
he dictator Cincinnatus. When Maelius refused to
ippear before the dictator to answer the accusations
which were brought against him on suspicion of his
aspiring to tyranny, Ahala slew him in the midst of
the people whose protection he claimed. Ahala was
accused of this murder, and banished; but this sen-
tence was afterward repealed. He was raised to the
dictatorship. --II. Publius, a proconsul of Asia during
the age of Mithradatcs. He conquered Isauria, for
? ? which service he was surnamed Isaurim. i, and re-
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? SEKVIUS.
SE 8
eighty-nine (or ninety-three) centuries, the first class
? lone contained eighty, to which must be added the
eighteen centuries of cguites, and that the last class had
either only one voice or none at all, it is easy to see
that Servius, if in effect he made this arrangement,
substituted an aristocracy of wealth for the former pa-
trician preponderance in the curia. As in these times
the property of land was for the most part in the hands
of the patricians, they of course retained preponder-
ance in the new aristocracy likewise. But this was
re-. dental, and soon ceased to be the case. --The war-
like undertakings of Servius were principally directed
against the Etrurians. He is said to have carried on
war, for twenty years, with the citizens of Veii, Cere,
Tarquinii, and, lastly, with the collective force of the
Etruscans, till all allowed the pre-eminence of Home
and her king. --Servius enlarged the city, so as to
bring within its compass the Viminal and Esquiline
Hills; he finished the work begun by Tarquinius, by
building the walls of the city of hewn stone; and, for
the purpose of consolidating more firmly the union of
the races of which the nation was composed, he erect-
ed the temple of Diana on the Aventine Hill, which was
to be the chief abode of the Latin population recently
brought to Rome. --The horrible tale of the last Tar-
quin's accession to the throne might be regarded as
incredible, were it not that Italian history in the mid-
dle ages affords us many similar examples. The nar-
rative in question is as follows: The two daughters
of Sorvius were married to the two sons of the elder
Taiquin. The one murdered her husband Aruns, and
her sister, with the aid of the other son of Tarquin,
and paved the way to the throne for herself and her
new husband by the murder of her father. --The per-
sonal existence of Servius Tullius is regarded by
many recent writers as involved in considerable doubt.
The constitution of the classes and centuries is as
real as Magna Charta, or the Bill of Rights, in Eng-
jsh hUtorj , yet its pretended author seems scarcely
a more historical personage than King Arthur. We
do not iven know with certainty his name or his race;
atill less can we trust the pretended chronology of the
common story. The last three reigns, according to
Livy, occupied a space of 107 years; yet the king,
who, at the end of this period, is expelled in mature,
nut not in declining age, is the eon of the king who
ascends the throne a grown man, in the vigour of life,
at the beginning of it: Servius marries the daughter
of Tarquinius a short time before he is made king, ;et
immediately after his accession he is the father of two
grown-up daughters, whom he marries to the brothers
of his own wife. The sons of A ncus Marcius wait pa-
tiently cight-and-thirty years, and then murder Tar-
quinius to obtain a throne which they had seen him so
iong quietly occupy. Still, then, we are, in a manner,
upon enchanted ground; the unreal and the real are
strangely mixed up together; but, although some real
elements exist, yet the general picture before us is a
mere fantasy: single trees and buildings may bo cop-
ied from nature, but their grouping is ideal, and they
are placed in the midst of fairy palaces and fairy be-
ings, whose originals this earth never witnessed. (Liv. ,
1, 41, seqq. --Hethcrtngton's History of Rome, p. 23,
seqq. --Arnold's Roman History, vol. 1, p. 48, seqq. )
-- II. Sulpitius Rufus, an eminent Roman jurist and
statesman, descended from an illustrious family. He
was contemporary with Cicero, and probably born about
? ? ? century B. C. He cultivated polite literature from a
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? &KSOSTRIS.
SESOSTRIS.
edifice on the western side of the river, which corre-
sponds with singular, if not perfect, exactness to the
magnificent palace of Osymandyas described by Dio-
Jorus, is so covered with his legends as to bo named
by Chainpollion, without the least hesitation, the
Rhameseion. --The dale of the accession of Sesostris,
as the head of the nineteenth dynasty, is of great im-
portance, but, like all such points, involved in much
difficulty. M. Champollion Figeac, by an ingenious
argumen*. deduced from the celebrated Sothic period
T 1460 years, reckoned according to data furnished
by Censorinus, and a well-known fragment of Theon
of Alexandrea, makes out the date of 1473 B. C. Dr.
Young assumes 1424. Mr. Mure maintains that it
cannot be placed higher than 1410, nor lower than
1400. {Remarks on the Chronology of the Egyptian
Dynasties, Loud. , 1829. ) M. Champollion Figeac's
argument is unsatisfactory, and chiefly from the un-
certainty of fixing the reign of Menophres, which is the
basis of the whole system, and which is altogether a
gratuitous assumption. It appears, however, that the
question may be brought to a short, if not precise, con-
clusion. The first date which approximates to cer-
tainty is the capture of Jerusalem by Scsac or Se-
sonchosis; the first of the twenty-second dynasty, in
tho yr. ar 971, or, at the earliest, 975 B. C. What,
then, was the intervening time between this event and
the accession of the nineteenth dynasty 1 The reigns
of the three series, as given by Mr. Mure from the va-
rious authorities, stand thus: and fust from Euscbius
m the Latin text of Jerome:
Nineteenth Dynasty 1M
Twentieth" 178
Twenty first" IN
SOS
Add date of capture of Jerusalem . . 971
1473
Next from Eusebius, according to the Greek text
(Syncj'. hs--Scaliger):
Nineteenth Dynasty . . . . 209 (194)
Twentieth" 178
Twenty first" ISO
110
Add as Defers . . . 971
1481
Next from Eusebius, according lo the Armenian text:
Nineteenth Dynasty . . . . 194
Twentieth" 178
Twenty-flrst" 130
49ft
4,dd 971
1407
Next from Africanus (Syncellus):
Nineteenth Dynasty SIO (204)
Twentieth" 135
Twenty-first" . . . 130
475
Add . . . . . 971
1444
And, lastly, from the Old Chrc. cle:
Nineteenth Dynasty . . . . 194
Twentieth" <*>s
Twenty-first" m
MS
Wl . . 97|
1. M4
The question resolves itself into the relative degrees of
? ? weight attached to Africanus, Eusebius, or the Old
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? SESOSTRIS.
SESOSTRIS
lf>> the Great, curious vestiges of Egyptian conquest
in the Arabian peninsula have been brought to light,
ami Arabah (the Red Earth) is described as under the
feet of Rameses Meiamoun, in one of those curious
representation* of his conquests said to line th< walls
ti Medinet-Abou. It was on s height overlook/ ig the
narrow strait which divides Africa from Arabia that
Scsostlis, according to Strabo, erected one of his col-
nmni. The wars between the later Abyssinian kings
md the sovereigns of Yemen, in the centuries prece-
ding Mohammed, may illustrate these conquests. The
naUed or terror of the sea attributed 10 the later
Egyptians was either unknown to or disdained, as the
monuments clearly prove, by the great Theban kings;
more than one regular naval engagement, as well as
descents from invading fleets, being represented in
the sculptures. On the Red Sea, Sesostris, according
to history, fitted out a navy of four hundred sail; but
whither did he or his admirals sail! Did they com-
mit themselves to the trade-winds, and boldly stretch
across towards the land of gold and spice 1 Are some
of the hill-forts represented in the sculptures those of
India! Did his triumphant arms pass the Ganges 1
Do the Indian hunches on the cattle, noticed by Mr.
Hamilton, confirm the legend so constantly repeated
of his conquests in that land of ancient fable 1 Or,
according to the modest account of Herodotus, did
they coast cautiously along, and put back when they
encountered some formidable shoals 1 Did they fol-
low the course of the Persian Gulf, assail the rising
monarchies of the Assyrians and Medes, or press on
to that groat kingdom of Bactria, which dimly arises
? mid the gloom of the earliest ages, the native place
ol Zoroaster, rid the cradle of the Magian religion 1
Champollion boldly names Assyrians, Medes, and
Bactrians as exhibited on the monuments; but the
strange and barbarous appellations which he has read,
is fir as we remember, bear no resemblance to those
cf tr. j ci 'he Oriental tribes; earlier travellers, how-
>>ver, have observed that the features, costume, and
trms of the nations with which the Egyptians join
battle are clearly Asiatic; the long, flowing robes, the
line of facs, the beards, the shields, in many respects
ire remarkably similar to those on the Babylonian cyl-
inders and the sculptures of Persepolis. "The do-
minions of Sesostris," our legend proceeds, " spreads
orer Armenia and Asia Minor. His images were stilt
to be seen in the days of Herodotus, one on the road
between Ephesus and Phocsea, and another between
Smyrna and Sardis. They were five palms high,
armed in the Egyptian and Ethiopian manner, and
held a javelin in one hand and a bow in the other;
across the breast ran a line, with an inscription:
'This region I conquered by my strength (lit. my
? boulders). ' They were mistaken for statues of Mem-
non. " This universal conqueror spread his dominion
into Europe; but Thrace was th# limit of his victo-
ries. On the eastern shore of the Euxine he left, ac-
cording to tradition, a part of his army, the ances-
tors of the circumcised people, the Colchians. But
his most formidable enemies were the redoubted
Scythian-i. Pliny and other later writers assert that
he was vanquished by them, and fled. But Egyptian
pride either disguised or had reason to deny the defeat
of her hero. There is a striking story in Herodotus, that
when the victorious Darius commanded that his statue
should take the place of that of Sesostris, the priests
? ? boMly interfered, and asserted the superiority of their
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? SESOSTRIS.
SESOSTR1S.
t
basis ot this calculation. Our authors likewise adopt
M. Champollion Eigeac's date, 1473, for the access-
ion of Sesostris, and the common term of two hun-
dred and fifteen years for the residence of the Israel-
ites in Egyp*. Joseph might thus have been sold under
Mceris; Jacob and his family entered Egypt under his
successor, Miphre-Thoutmosis, and departed in the
third year of Ainenophis Rhamses, father of Sesostris.
Several curious incidental points make in favour of this
system. At a period assigned to the ministry of Jo-
seph, clearly, the native princes were on the throne;
tlie priesthood were in honour and power, particularly
those of Phre. The obelisk raised by Mceris Miphra,
at Heliopolis, will be remembered: his son likewise
bore the title of Miphre. Now Joseph was married to
the daughter of Pet-e-phre, the priest of Phre, at On or
Heliopolis. At this period, too, the shepherds were re-
cently expelled, and, therefore, an " abomination to the
Egyptians," and the land of Goahen was vacant by
their expulsion. Diodorus, it may be observed, gives
seven generations between Mceris and Sesostris, which,
at three for a century, amounts nearly to the date of
the residence of the Israelites in Egypt. Towards
the close of the period the race of Rhamses ascended
the throne; and Raamses is the name of one of the
cities built by the oppressed Israelites. Such are the
curious incidental illustrations of this system, the same,
we may observe, with that of Usher and Bishop Cum-
in-Hand; but we must not dissemble the difficulties.
