no, or De situ or-
bis terra, is an imitation rather than strict version
of the Greek original, and consists of 1087 verses.
bis terra, is an imitation rather than strict version
of the Greek original, and consists of 1087 verses.
Charles - 1867 - Classical Dictionary
,
4, 3. --Cramer's Arte. Greece, vol. 1, p. 244, seqq. )
PotitIus. Vid. Pinariua.
PotnI. *, a city of Bceotia, about ten stadia to the
southwest of Thebes. It had a sacred grove dedica-
ted to Ceres and Proserpina. (Xen. , Hist. Gr. , 5,
451. ) Itwas here that Glaucus was said to have been
torn in pieces by his infuriated mares. (Slrabo, 409.
--Virg. , Georg. , 3, 267. ) The site of this place, al-
ready in ruins when Pausanius wrote, corresponds
nearly with that occupied by the village of Taki.
(GeWs hin. , p. 110. ) Strabo informs us, that some
authors regarded PotnieB as the Hypothetic of Homer.
(//. , 2, 505. )
Pr. s:nestr-, now Palestrina, an ancient city of La-
tium, southeast of Rome. Strabo makes the interve-
ning distance 25 miles (200 stadia); but the Itiner-
aries give, more correctly, 23 miles. Its citadel is de-
scribed by Strabo as remarkable for its strength of po-
? ? sition. It stood on the brow of a lofty hill which
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? PRA
PRI
Ar< wg the productions of the territory of Prseneste,
iior i arc so often remarked as its walnuts. (Cat. , R.
R. , H. ) Henco the Pranestini are sometimes nick-
nanrtd Nucula, especially by Cicero, who quotes Lu-
cilius as his authority for so doing. {Dc Orat. , 2,262. )
But Fcstus accounts for the name in another manner;
he says, the Prseneslini were so called from their coun-
trymen having subsisted on walnuts when besieged
by Hannibal in Casilinum, the garrison of which they
fjrueii, in the second Punic war. (Lit. , 23,17. --L. ,
19. ) It may be observed, that the Pranestini appear
to have had some peculiarities of idioms which distin-
guished them from their neighbours. This is seen from
Festus (s. v. Tammodo. -- Plaulus, True. , 3. 2. --
Quintil. , Inst. Or. , 1, 5. --Cramer'* Anc. Italy, vol.
2, p. 66, seqq).
Pretoria, or Augusta Pk. ktoria, a city of Cisal-
pine Gaul, in the territory of the Salassi. It was built
on the site occupied by the camp of Tcrentius Varro,
when that commander was sent by Augustus to re-
press the plundering movements of the Salassi and to
seize upon their country. Augustus honoured the
rising colony by giving it the name of Augusta Pre-
toria. (Strabo, 205. ) It is now known as Aostc,
which gives its name to the fine valley in which it
lies, and where several remains of the ancient city are
still to be seen. According to Pliny (5, 10), Augusta
Pretoria was reckoned the extreme point of Italy to
the north. (Cramer's Anc. Italy, vol. 1, p. 50. )
Pratinas, a native of Phlius, contemporary with
-Eschylus, and a dramatic poet of considerable talent.
He once obtained a tragic victory. But the manifest
pre-eminence of the youthful /Eschylus probably de-
terred the Phliasian from continuing to cultivate the
graver form of the art, and led him to contrive a novel
and mixed kind of play. Borrowing from tragedy its
external form and mythological materials, Pratinas
added a chorus of Satyrs, with their lively songs, ges-
tures, and movements. This new composition* was
called the Satyric Drama, of which he must therefore
be regarded as the inventor. (Suid. , s. v. Hparivac.
--Casaub. , Sat. I'oes. , p. 122, seqq. ) Pratinas, ac-
cording to Suidas, exhibited fifty dramas, of which
thirty-two were satyric. On one occasion, when he
was acting, his wooden stage gave away, and, in con-
sequence of that accident, the Athenians built a stone
theatre. The Phliasians seem to have taken great de-
light in the dramatic performances of their country-
man (Schneider, dc Orig. Trag. , p. 90), and, accord-
ing to Pausanias (2, 13), erected a monument in their
market-place in honour of "Arisiias, the son of Pra-
tinas, who, with his father, excelled all except jEschy-
lus in writing satyric dramas. " Pratinas wrote also
Hvporchcmes. (Athenaus, 14, p. 617, c. -- Theatre
of the Greeks, p. 61, ilhed. )
Praxagoras, an Athenian, who flourished about
345 A. D. At the age of nineteen, he published a
History of the Kings of Attica, and, three years after,
the Life of Constantino, in which he speaks favourably
of that prince, a circumstance which would show that
Praxagoras was not a very bigoted pagan. He wrote
also a Life of Alexander the Great. Kis works are
a>>t. (SchSU, Hist. Lit. Gr. , vol. 6, p. 335. )
Praxiteles, a statuary and sculptor of the greatest
eminence, who flourished together with Euphranor,
about Olympiad 104, B. C. 364. The city of his
birth is uncertain. Cedrenus (Annal. , 265) notices
? ? him as a native of Cuidus; but this is evidently a mis-
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? Plv,
PRI
ner husband This violation of Hospitality kindled the
flames of war. All the suiters of Helen, at the request
of Menelaiis (vid. Menelaus), assembled to avenge the
abduction of his spouse, and the combined armament
set sail for Troy. Priam might have averted the im-
pending blow by the restoration of Helen; but this he
refused to do when the ambassadors of the Greeks
came to him for that purpose. Troy was accordingly
beleaguered, and frequent skirmishes took place, in
which the success was various. The siege was con-
tinued for ten successive years, and Priam had the
misfortune to see the greater part of his sons fall in
defence of their native city. Hector, the eldest of
these, was the onlv one upon whom now the Trojans
looked for protection and support; but be, too, fell a
sacrifice to his own courage, and was slain by Achil-
les. The father thereupon resolved to go in person to
the Grecian camp, and ransom the body of the bravest
of his children. The gods interested themselves in his
behalf, and Mercury was directed to guide the aged
monarch in safety amid the dangers of the way, and
conduct him to the tent of Achilles. The meeting of
Priam and Achilles was solemn and affecting. The
conqueror paid to the Trojan monarch that attention
and reverence which was due to his dignity, his years,
and his misfortunes; and Priam, in a suppliant man-
ner, addressed the prince whose hands had robbed him
3f the greatest and best of his sons. Achilles was
moved by his tears and entreaties. He restored Hec-
tor, and permitted Priam a truce of 12 days for the
funeral of his son. Some time after, Troy was betray-
ed into the hands of the Greeks by Antenor and jEne-
as, and Priam wg slain by Neoptolemus, the son of
Achilles, at the foot of the altar of Jupiter Hcrcnsus, at
which that prince had killed the wounded Polites, one
sf the sons of Priam, who, after the example of his fa-
ther and mother, had fled thither for protection during
tho burning of the city. (Horn. , P. , 24, 139, seqq. --
Virg. , Mn. , 2, 507, &c. --Horat. , Od. , 10, U--Hy-
(in. ,fab. , 110. --Q. Smyrn. , 15, 226. )
Priapos, I. a deity introduced at a comparatively
it'e per sd into the Grecian mythology. He was a ru-
ral god, worshipped by the people of Lampsacus, a
:ity on tho Hellespont famous for its vineyards. Pri-
ipus was not, as is supposed, from the employment
usually assigned him by the Romans after they had
adopted his worship, merely the god of gardens, but of
fruitfulness in general. "This god," says Pausanias,
"is honoured elsewhere by those who keep sheep and
goats, or stocks of bees, calling him the son of Bac-
chus and Venus. " (Pausan. , 9, 31. ) Fishermen also
made offerings to him, as the deity presiding over the
fisheries (Anthol. , 6, 33,190,192); and in the Anthol-
ogy, Priapus of the haven (Ai/zfvirac) is introduced,
giving a pleasing description of the spring, and inviting
the mariners to put to sea. It was fabled that Priapus
was the son of Venus by Bacchus, whom she met on
his return from his Indian expedition at the Lampsa-
cene town Apamis. Owing to the malignity of Juno,
he was born so deformed that his mother was struck
with horror and renounced (annpvetTo) him. (Sehol.
ad ApoU. Rhoit , 1, 932. ) Others said that he was the
son of Bacchus by Chione, or a Naiad (Sehol. ad
Theoer. , 1, 21); others, that he had a long-eared fa-
ther, Pan or a satyr, perhaps, or it may be his own
sacred beast, the ass. (A/ran. , ap. Macrob. , Sat. , 6,
5-- (Hid, Fast. , 1,391. --Id. ib. , 6, 345); others gave
? ? him Mercury or Adonis (Hygin. , fab. , 160. --Eudocia,
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? PRI
PRO
llic first sixteen books, which are commonly >>tyl id
"the Great Priscian," real of the eight parts of
speech; the last two, generally called "the Little Pris-
cian," are occupied with the Syntax. {Putsch. , p.
992. ) This is not, however, the only grammatical
work of Priscian; we have also from liim treatises
on accents; on the declension of nouns; on comic me-
tres , on numbers, rules, and measures (" De figuris
U nomimbus numerorum, el de normis ac ponderi-
but"), dec. He is probably, too, the author of three
potim, erroneously ascribed to Khamnius Farmius.
One of these is a version of the Itinerary of Diony-
tfius of Charax. the second is on weights and meas-
ures, and the third on the stars. The first of these
poems, entitled Periegesis e Diony.
no, or De situ or-
bis terra, is an imitation rather than strict version
of the Greek original, and consists of 1087 verses.
Priscian follows, in general, the author's train of ideas;
but he makes, at the same time, certain alterations
which he deems necessary, especially in substituting
Christian ideas for what related in the original to the
worship of the heathen gods. To the description of
places he adds various remarkable particulars, gener-
ally obtained from Solinus. The object being the in-
struction of the young, to whom he wished to present
a general summary of geography, he writes in a very
clear and simple style, without even venturing on any
flight of poetry. The poem on weights and measures
is incomplete; we have only 162 verses. In the first
55, the author treats briefly of weights, probably be-
cause he had already discussed this branch of his sub-
ject more fully in his prose work already mentioned.
Ho enters, however, into very full details respecting
the measures of liquids and fruits, to which the rest of
the poem is entirely devoted. The third poem of
Priscian's contains no more than 200 verses; it is a
dry nomenclature of the stars and planets, and is en-
titled " Epitome phanomendn," or "De Sidcribus. "
These three poems arc given in the fifth volume of
Weri:sdorrf 's l'oetx Latini Minores, and the third also
in Burmann's Anthology (vol. 2, p. 333). The gram-
matical works of Priscian are given by Putschius
among the Grammatiei Latini, 1605. The latest edi-
tion of the Grammatical Commentaries is that of
Krehl, Lips. , 1819. 2 vols. 8vo; and of the minor
works, that of Lindemann, Lugd. Hat. , 1818. (Schbll,
Hist. Lit. Rom. , vol. 3, p. 113, 329. -- Bohr, Gesch.
Rom. Lit. , p. 541. )
Pkiveksum, a city of Latium, in the territory of the
Volsci; the ancient name of which is but partially lost
in that of the modern Piperno, which marks its situa-
tion. Virgil makes it the birthplace of Camilla (Mn. ,
11, 539). We have the authority of the same poet
(/. c. ) for ascribing it to the Volsci; but Strabo (231)
would seem to consider the Privemates as a distinct
people from the Volsci, for he particularizes them
among the petty nations conquered by the Romans
and incorporated in Latium. The same geographer
elsewhere points out the situation of Privernum be-
tween the Latin and Appian Ways. (Strabo, 237. )
This apparently insignificant place, trusting, as it would
seem, to its natural strength and remote situation, pre-
sumed to brave the vengeance of Rome by making
incursions on the neighbouring colonies of Setia and
Norba. (Liv. , 7, 15. ) A consul was immediately
despatched to chastise the offenders, and in the sub-
mission of the town obtained the honours of a triumph.
? ? The Privernates again, however, renewed their hostile
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? PRO
j-roclus.
fired . tears were exposed to the archers; and a hun-
dred lions, transfixed by the javelins of the hunters,
lay stretched between Isaurian robbers and Blemmyan
captive*; of the latter tradition tells us, perhaps from
some peculiarity in their armour, that they were head-
less, and that their eyes and mouths were seated in
(heir breasts. --It was the favourite maxim of Probus,
ifter he had secured peace by his victories, that in a
ihort time soldiers would be unnecessary. With the
wisdom of a statesman and the policy of a general, he
employed them, during the intervals of war, in the
construction of bridges and aqueducts, and in the
planting of Mount Alma, at Sirmium, with vines.
The draining of a marsh, at the latter place, which
was the place of his birth, proved fatal to him. The
soldiers, impatient of their labours, aggravated by a
hot sun, rose in mutiny, and, pursuing their emperor
into an iron turret, which he had erected for the more
convenient inspection of the workmen, put him to
death, in the 50th year of his age, after a reign of six
years and four months, AD. 282. The deed was no
sooner executed than they repented. They raised a
monument to his memory, and inscribed on the mar-
ble, " Probus, emperor, a man of real probity, the con-
queror of the barbarians and the usurpers. " A weapon
or a piece of armour was the sole share which Probus
could be prevailed upon to receive of the booty of the
field. On the soldiers pressing upon him an Alan
horse, which was said to run a hundred miles in a day,
he said, " it was fitter for a runaway soldier than for
a fighting one. " The simplicity of his manners stri-
kingly contrasted with the pride and spirit of his bear-
ing as a Roman general. An embassy from the Per-
sians entered his camp with a pompous retinue, bear-
ing presents to the Emperor of Rome. They found
him seated on the grass at the hour of his repast, hard
pease and coarse bacon forming his only viand*. Look-
ing up at the astonished and half-incredulous envoy,
he spoke lightly of their presents, saying " that all their
king possessed was already his, and that he should
come for the rest whenever he chose. " Then, remo-
ving the cap which he wore, and exposing the crown
of his head, he added, " Tell your master that, if he
does not submit to Rome, I will make his kingdom as
bare as this head is bald. " The threat was believed,
and the submission was tendered. (Vopisc, Vit.
Prob. --Zosim . l,6i,seqq. -- Ellon's Hainan Empcr-
or>>, p. 181. )--II. -tmilius, a grammarian in the age
of Theodosius. The lives of excellent commanders,
written by Cornelius Nepos, have been falsely attrib-
uted to him by some authors. (Vid. Nepos. )
Pbocas, a king of Alba, after his father Aventinus.
He was father of Amulius and Numitor. (Liv. , 1, 3.
-Odd, Met. , 14. 622-- Virg , Mn. , 6, 767. )
Prochyta, an island off the coast of Campania, and
adjacent to yEnaria. It is now Procida. (Virg. ,
JEn. , 9, 714-- Sil. Ital. , 8, 642. ) The poet last
quoted makes Prochyta to have been placed on the
giant Mimas, as Inarime was on Iapetus or Typhoeus
(12, 147).
PaotLKs, a son of Aristodemus and Argia, and
twin-brother of Eurysthenes. (Kid. Eurysthenes. )
PKoci. in. ii, the descendants of Procles, who sat on
the throne of Sparta together with the Eurysthenidte.
(Vid. Eurysthenes. )
Proclus, a celebrated philosopher of the New-Pla-
tonic sect, born at Constantinople A. D. 412. He
? ? spent his srdent and enthusiastic youth at Xanthus, in
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? PRO
PRO
pertaining to the mythic and Trojan cycles, now lost.
--6. Eighteen Argument* against the Christians
('EmxelpyitaTa "I Kara Xpiemavov). In thin work
Proclus attempts to prove the eternity of the world,
that favourite thesis of Platonism. Tho treatise would
probably have been lost, had not Johannes Philoponus
written a refutation, in which he has literally inserted
the work which he attacks. --7. A Commentary on the
Timaus of Plato (Elf tov tov Tlkuruvoe Ti/iaiov
ino/ivi/uara), in five books. As these five books con-
tain no more than one third of the dialogue, it is pos-
sible that this work may not have reached us entire.
It is regarded as the best of the productions of Pro-
clus, and has, moreover, the accidental merit of having
preserved for us the work of Timeus of Locri, because,
viewing it as the source whence Plato derived his ma-
terials, he placed it at the head of his commentary. --
8. A Commentary on the First Alcibiades of Plato
(Eif tov XITmtuvoc rrpuTOv 'A2. Kt6iu6mi). The best
edition is that of Creuzer, Franeof, 1820, 8vo. --9.
Commentary on the Republic of Plato (Eif rjp> ITXu-
ruvoc mXtreiav), &c. (Sch'oll, Hut. Lit. Gr. , vol.
7, p. 104, seqq. )--Proclus was also the author of six
hymns, one to the Sun, another to the Muses, two to
Venus, one to Hecate and Janus, and one to Minerva.
They belong properly to the same class with the Or-
phic hymns. The latest edition of the H inns is that
of Boissonadc, Paris, 1884, 32mo.
Procnk. Vid. Philomela.
Pbocokncsds (or the Isle of Stags), at 'sland and
city of Asia Minor to the northeast of Cyzi is. It is
now Marmara, whence the modern name oi the Pro-
pontis is derived (Sea of Marmara). Protonnesus
was much celebrated for its marble quarries, which
supplied most of the public buildings in Cyzicus with
their materials. (Strabo, 588) The marble was
white, with black streaks intermixed. (Blasius, Ca-
ryoph. de Marm. Antiq. ) Aristeas, wHo wrote a po-
em on the Arimaspians, was a native of the city.
[Herod. , 4, 14. --Slrab. , 588 )
Procopios, one of tho most celebrated historians
of the Eastern empire. He was born at Caesarea in
Palestine, and exercised at Constantinople the profes-
sion of rhetorician and sophist. It has been disputed
whether he was a Christian or not. The indifference
and silence with which he passes over the religious
disputes that agitated the Church in his day have
caused him to be suspected of paganism, but it is
more than probable that he regarded these miserable
quarrels as unworthy to occupy a place in a political
history. Justin the elder assigned him to Belisarius
as his secretary and counsellor, with the charge of ac-
companying this general in his several expeditions.
This nomination took place a short time previous to
A. D. 537, the year when Justin died. Belisarius,
whom he had, in consequence of this appointment,
followed in his campaign in Africa against the Van-
dals, sent him to Syracuse, on some business relative
to tho army. In 556 he employed him usefully in his
campaign against the Goths in Italy. Subsequently
to 559 he was named a senator, and about 562 prefect
of Constantinople, a place which Justinian afterward
took from him. He died at an advanced age--In his
History of his own times (Tuv xaff avrov loroptuv
3t6? . ia OKrti), in eight books, of which the first four
bear the title of Persica, and the others that of Goth-
iea, Procopius describes the wars of the Byzantine
? ? Empire with the Persians, tho Vandals, the Moors,
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? PRO:
V RO
prompted Prodicus to open this echcol, and, indeed,
ne amassed considerable wealth bv his lectures. Phi-
lostratus also declares that Prodicus was fond of mon-
ey. He used to go from one city to another display-
ing his eloquence, and, though he did it in a merce-
nary wiiy he nevertheless had 'great honours pail to
i. ii. i in Thebes, and still greater in Lacedsmon. His
charge to a pupil was fifty drachmae. The style of
Prodirjs must have been very eloquent, since such
Humbert flocked to hear him, although he had a disa-
greeable voice. (Phiiostr. , Vit. Soph. ) It is related
that Xcnophon, when a prisoner in Bceotia, being de
sirous of hearing Prodicus, procured the requisite bail,
and went and gratified his curiosity. (Pkiloitr. , I. c. )
few pieces have been oftener referred to than that in
which Prodicus narrated what is termed "The Choice
? :f Hercules. " The original is lost; but we have the
substance of it in the Memorabilia of Xcnophon (2, 1,
21). Prodicus was at last put to death by the Athe-
nians, on the charge of corrupting their youth. Se. x-
tus Empiricus ranks him among the atheists, and Ci-
cero remarks that some of his doctrines were subver-
sive of all religion. (Cic. , N. D. , I, adfm. --Baylc,
Diet. , t. v. )
PR(ET! DES, the daughters of Pratus, king of Argo-
lis, were three in number, Lysippe, Iphinco, and Iphi-
anassa.
4, 3. --Cramer's Arte. Greece, vol. 1, p. 244, seqq. )
PotitIus. Vid. Pinariua.
PotnI. *, a city of Bceotia, about ten stadia to the
southwest of Thebes. It had a sacred grove dedica-
ted to Ceres and Proserpina. (Xen. , Hist. Gr. , 5,
451. ) Itwas here that Glaucus was said to have been
torn in pieces by his infuriated mares. (Slrabo, 409.
--Virg. , Georg. , 3, 267. ) The site of this place, al-
ready in ruins when Pausanius wrote, corresponds
nearly with that occupied by the village of Taki.
(GeWs hin. , p. 110. ) Strabo informs us, that some
authors regarded PotnieB as the Hypothetic of Homer.
(//. , 2, 505. )
Pr. s:nestr-, now Palestrina, an ancient city of La-
tium, southeast of Rome. Strabo makes the interve-
ning distance 25 miles (200 stadia); but the Itiner-
aries give, more correctly, 23 miles. Its citadel is de-
scribed by Strabo as remarkable for its strength of po-
? ? sition. It stood on the brow of a lofty hill which
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? PRA
PRI
Ar< wg the productions of the territory of Prseneste,
iior i arc so often remarked as its walnuts. (Cat. , R.
R. , H. ) Henco the Pranestini are sometimes nick-
nanrtd Nucula, especially by Cicero, who quotes Lu-
cilius as his authority for so doing. {Dc Orat. , 2,262. )
But Fcstus accounts for the name in another manner;
he says, the Prseneslini were so called from their coun-
trymen having subsisted on walnuts when besieged
by Hannibal in Casilinum, the garrison of which they
fjrueii, in the second Punic war. (Lit. , 23,17. --L. ,
19. ) It may be observed, that the Pranestini appear
to have had some peculiarities of idioms which distin-
guished them from their neighbours. This is seen from
Festus (s. v. Tammodo. -- Plaulus, True. , 3. 2. --
Quintil. , Inst. Or. , 1, 5. --Cramer'* Anc. Italy, vol.
2, p. 66, seqq).
Pretoria, or Augusta Pk. ktoria, a city of Cisal-
pine Gaul, in the territory of the Salassi. It was built
on the site occupied by the camp of Tcrentius Varro,
when that commander was sent by Augustus to re-
press the plundering movements of the Salassi and to
seize upon their country. Augustus honoured the
rising colony by giving it the name of Augusta Pre-
toria. (Strabo, 205. ) It is now known as Aostc,
which gives its name to the fine valley in which it
lies, and where several remains of the ancient city are
still to be seen. According to Pliny (5, 10), Augusta
Pretoria was reckoned the extreme point of Italy to
the north. (Cramer's Anc. Italy, vol. 1, p. 50. )
Pratinas, a native of Phlius, contemporary with
-Eschylus, and a dramatic poet of considerable talent.
He once obtained a tragic victory. But the manifest
pre-eminence of the youthful /Eschylus probably de-
terred the Phliasian from continuing to cultivate the
graver form of the art, and led him to contrive a novel
and mixed kind of play. Borrowing from tragedy its
external form and mythological materials, Pratinas
added a chorus of Satyrs, with their lively songs, ges-
tures, and movements. This new composition* was
called the Satyric Drama, of which he must therefore
be regarded as the inventor. (Suid. , s. v. Hparivac.
--Casaub. , Sat. I'oes. , p. 122, seqq. ) Pratinas, ac-
cording to Suidas, exhibited fifty dramas, of which
thirty-two were satyric. On one occasion, when he
was acting, his wooden stage gave away, and, in con-
sequence of that accident, the Athenians built a stone
theatre. The Phliasians seem to have taken great de-
light in the dramatic performances of their country-
man (Schneider, dc Orig. Trag. , p. 90), and, accord-
ing to Pausanias (2, 13), erected a monument in their
market-place in honour of "Arisiias, the son of Pra-
tinas, who, with his father, excelled all except jEschy-
lus in writing satyric dramas. " Pratinas wrote also
Hvporchcmes. (Athenaus, 14, p. 617, c. -- Theatre
of the Greeks, p. 61, ilhed. )
Praxagoras, an Athenian, who flourished about
345 A. D. At the age of nineteen, he published a
History of the Kings of Attica, and, three years after,
the Life of Constantino, in which he speaks favourably
of that prince, a circumstance which would show that
Praxagoras was not a very bigoted pagan. He wrote
also a Life of Alexander the Great. Kis works are
a>>t. (SchSU, Hist. Lit. Gr. , vol. 6, p. 335. )
Praxiteles, a statuary and sculptor of the greatest
eminence, who flourished together with Euphranor,
about Olympiad 104, B. C. 364. The city of his
birth is uncertain. Cedrenus (Annal. , 265) notices
? ? him as a native of Cuidus; but this is evidently a mis-
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? Plv,
PRI
ner husband This violation of Hospitality kindled the
flames of war. All the suiters of Helen, at the request
of Menelaiis (vid. Menelaus), assembled to avenge the
abduction of his spouse, and the combined armament
set sail for Troy. Priam might have averted the im-
pending blow by the restoration of Helen; but this he
refused to do when the ambassadors of the Greeks
came to him for that purpose. Troy was accordingly
beleaguered, and frequent skirmishes took place, in
which the success was various. The siege was con-
tinued for ten successive years, and Priam had the
misfortune to see the greater part of his sons fall in
defence of their native city. Hector, the eldest of
these, was the onlv one upon whom now the Trojans
looked for protection and support; but be, too, fell a
sacrifice to his own courage, and was slain by Achil-
les. The father thereupon resolved to go in person to
the Grecian camp, and ransom the body of the bravest
of his children. The gods interested themselves in his
behalf, and Mercury was directed to guide the aged
monarch in safety amid the dangers of the way, and
conduct him to the tent of Achilles. The meeting of
Priam and Achilles was solemn and affecting. The
conqueror paid to the Trojan monarch that attention
and reverence which was due to his dignity, his years,
and his misfortunes; and Priam, in a suppliant man-
ner, addressed the prince whose hands had robbed him
3f the greatest and best of his sons. Achilles was
moved by his tears and entreaties. He restored Hec-
tor, and permitted Priam a truce of 12 days for the
funeral of his son. Some time after, Troy was betray-
ed into the hands of the Greeks by Antenor and jEne-
as, and Priam wg slain by Neoptolemus, the son of
Achilles, at the foot of the altar of Jupiter Hcrcnsus, at
which that prince had killed the wounded Polites, one
sf the sons of Priam, who, after the example of his fa-
ther and mother, had fled thither for protection during
tho burning of the city. (Horn. , P. , 24, 139, seqq. --
Virg. , Mn. , 2, 507, &c. --Horat. , Od. , 10, U--Hy-
(in. ,fab. , 110. --Q. Smyrn. , 15, 226. )
Priapos, I. a deity introduced at a comparatively
it'e per sd into the Grecian mythology. He was a ru-
ral god, worshipped by the people of Lampsacus, a
:ity on tho Hellespont famous for its vineyards. Pri-
ipus was not, as is supposed, from the employment
usually assigned him by the Romans after they had
adopted his worship, merely the god of gardens, but of
fruitfulness in general. "This god," says Pausanias,
"is honoured elsewhere by those who keep sheep and
goats, or stocks of bees, calling him the son of Bac-
chus and Venus. " (Pausan. , 9, 31. ) Fishermen also
made offerings to him, as the deity presiding over the
fisheries (Anthol. , 6, 33,190,192); and in the Anthol-
ogy, Priapus of the haven (Ai/zfvirac) is introduced,
giving a pleasing description of the spring, and inviting
the mariners to put to sea. It was fabled that Priapus
was the son of Venus by Bacchus, whom she met on
his return from his Indian expedition at the Lampsa-
cene town Apamis. Owing to the malignity of Juno,
he was born so deformed that his mother was struck
with horror and renounced (annpvetTo) him. (Sehol.
ad ApoU. Rhoit , 1, 932. ) Others said that he was the
son of Bacchus by Chione, or a Naiad (Sehol. ad
Theoer. , 1, 21); others, that he had a long-eared fa-
ther, Pan or a satyr, perhaps, or it may be his own
sacred beast, the ass. (A/ran. , ap. Macrob. , Sat. , 6,
5-- (Hid, Fast. , 1,391. --Id. ib. , 6, 345); others gave
? ? him Mercury or Adonis (Hygin. , fab. , 160. --Eudocia,
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? PRI
PRO
llic first sixteen books, which are commonly >>tyl id
"the Great Priscian," real of the eight parts of
speech; the last two, generally called "the Little Pris-
cian," are occupied with the Syntax. {Putsch. , p.
992. ) This is not, however, the only grammatical
work of Priscian; we have also from liim treatises
on accents; on the declension of nouns; on comic me-
tres , on numbers, rules, and measures (" De figuris
U nomimbus numerorum, el de normis ac ponderi-
but"), dec. He is probably, too, the author of three
potim, erroneously ascribed to Khamnius Farmius.
One of these is a version of the Itinerary of Diony-
tfius of Charax. the second is on weights and meas-
ures, and the third on the stars. The first of these
poems, entitled Periegesis e Diony.
no, or De situ or-
bis terra, is an imitation rather than strict version
of the Greek original, and consists of 1087 verses.
Priscian follows, in general, the author's train of ideas;
but he makes, at the same time, certain alterations
which he deems necessary, especially in substituting
Christian ideas for what related in the original to the
worship of the heathen gods. To the description of
places he adds various remarkable particulars, gener-
ally obtained from Solinus. The object being the in-
struction of the young, to whom he wished to present
a general summary of geography, he writes in a very
clear and simple style, without even venturing on any
flight of poetry. The poem on weights and measures
is incomplete; we have only 162 verses. In the first
55, the author treats briefly of weights, probably be-
cause he had already discussed this branch of his sub-
ject more fully in his prose work already mentioned.
Ho enters, however, into very full details respecting
the measures of liquids and fruits, to which the rest of
the poem is entirely devoted. The third poem of
Priscian's contains no more than 200 verses; it is a
dry nomenclature of the stars and planets, and is en-
titled " Epitome phanomendn," or "De Sidcribus. "
These three poems arc given in the fifth volume of
Weri:sdorrf 's l'oetx Latini Minores, and the third also
in Burmann's Anthology (vol. 2, p. 333). The gram-
matical works of Priscian are given by Putschius
among the Grammatiei Latini, 1605. The latest edi-
tion of the Grammatical Commentaries is that of
Krehl, Lips. , 1819. 2 vols. 8vo; and of the minor
works, that of Lindemann, Lugd. Hat. , 1818. (Schbll,
Hist. Lit. Rom. , vol. 3, p. 113, 329. -- Bohr, Gesch.
Rom. Lit. , p. 541. )
Pkiveksum, a city of Latium, in the territory of the
Volsci; the ancient name of which is but partially lost
in that of the modern Piperno, which marks its situa-
tion. Virgil makes it the birthplace of Camilla (Mn. ,
11, 539). We have the authority of the same poet
(/. c. ) for ascribing it to the Volsci; but Strabo (231)
would seem to consider the Privemates as a distinct
people from the Volsci, for he particularizes them
among the petty nations conquered by the Romans
and incorporated in Latium. The same geographer
elsewhere points out the situation of Privernum be-
tween the Latin and Appian Ways. (Strabo, 237. )
This apparently insignificant place, trusting, as it would
seem, to its natural strength and remote situation, pre-
sumed to brave the vengeance of Rome by making
incursions on the neighbouring colonies of Setia and
Norba. (Liv. , 7, 15. ) A consul was immediately
despatched to chastise the offenders, and in the sub-
mission of the town obtained the honours of a triumph.
? ? The Privernates again, however, renewed their hostile
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? PRO
j-roclus.
fired . tears were exposed to the archers; and a hun-
dred lions, transfixed by the javelins of the hunters,
lay stretched between Isaurian robbers and Blemmyan
captive*; of the latter tradition tells us, perhaps from
some peculiarity in their armour, that they were head-
less, and that their eyes and mouths were seated in
(heir breasts. --It was the favourite maxim of Probus,
ifter he had secured peace by his victories, that in a
ihort time soldiers would be unnecessary. With the
wisdom of a statesman and the policy of a general, he
employed them, during the intervals of war, in the
construction of bridges and aqueducts, and in the
planting of Mount Alma, at Sirmium, with vines.
The draining of a marsh, at the latter place, which
was the place of his birth, proved fatal to him. The
soldiers, impatient of their labours, aggravated by a
hot sun, rose in mutiny, and, pursuing their emperor
into an iron turret, which he had erected for the more
convenient inspection of the workmen, put him to
death, in the 50th year of his age, after a reign of six
years and four months, AD. 282. The deed was no
sooner executed than they repented. They raised a
monument to his memory, and inscribed on the mar-
ble, " Probus, emperor, a man of real probity, the con-
queror of the barbarians and the usurpers. " A weapon
or a piece of armour was the sole share which Probus
could be prevailed upon to receive of the booty of the
field. On the soldiers pressing upon him an Alan
horse, which was said to run a hundred miles in a day,
he said, " it was fitter for a runaway soldier than for
a fighting one. " The simplicity of his manners stri-
kingly contrasted with the pride and spirit of his bear-
ing as a Roman general. An embassy from the Per-
sians entered his camp with a pompous retinue, bear-
ing presents to the Emperor of Rome. They found
him seated on the grass at the hour of his repast, hard
pease and coarse bacon forming his only viand*. Look-
ing up at the astonished and half-incredulous envoy,
he spoke lightly of their presents, saying " that all their
king possessed was already his, and that he should
come for the rest whenever he chose. " Then, remo-
ving the cap which he wore, and exposing the crown
of his head, he added, " Tell your master that, if he
does not submit to Rome, I will make his kingdom as
bare as this head is bald. " The threat was believed,
and the submission was tendered. (Vopisc, Vit.
Prob. --Zosim . l,6i,seqq. -- Ellon's Hainan Empcr-
or>>, p. 181. )--II. -tmilius, a grammarian in the age
of Theodosius. The lives of excellent commanders,
written by Cornelius Nepos, have been falsely attrib-
uted to him by some authors. (Vid. Nepos. )
Pbocas, a king of Alba, after his father Aventinus.
He was father of Amulius and Numitor. (Liv. , 1, 3.
-Odd, Met. , 14. 622-- Virg , Mn. , 6, 767. )
Prochyta, an island off the coast of Campania, and
adjacent to yEnaria. It is now Procida. (Virg. ,
JEn. , 9, 714-- Sil. Ital. , 8, 642. ) The poet last
quoted makes Prochyta to have been placed on the
giant Mimas, as Inarime was on Iapetus or Typhoeus
(12, 147).
PaotLKs, a son of Aristodemus and Argia, and
twin-brother of Eurysthenes. (Kid. Eurysthenes. )
PKoci. in. ii, the descendants of Procles, who sat on
the throne of Sparta together with the Eurysthenidte.
(Vid. Eurysthenes. )
Proclus, a celebrated philosopher of the New-Pla-
tonic sect, born at Constantinople A. D. 412. He
? ? spent his srdent and enthusiastic youth at Xanthus, in
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? PRO
PRO
pertaining to the mythic and Trojan cycles, now lost.
--6. Eighteen Argument* against the Christians
('EmxelpyitaTa "I Kara Xpiemavov). In thin work
Proclus attempts to prove the eternity of the world,
that favourite thesis of Platonism. Tho treatise would
probably have been lost, had not Johannes Philoponus
written a refutation, in which he has literally inserted
the work which he attacks. --7. A Commentary on the
Timaus of Plato (Elf tov tov Tlkuruvoe Ti/iaiov
ino/ivi/uara), in five books. As these five books con-
tain no more than one third of the dialogue, it is pos-
sible that this work may not have reached us entire.
It is regarded as the best of the productions of Pro-
clus, and has, moreover, the accidental merit of having
preserved for us the work of Timeus of Locri, because,
viewing it as the source whence Plato derived his ma-
terials, he placed it at the head of his commentary. --
8. A Commentary on the First Alcibiades of Plato
(Eif tov XITmtuvoc rrpuTOv 'A2. Kt6iu6mi). The best
edition is that of Creuzer, Franeof, 1820, 8vo. --9.
Commentary on the Republic of Plato (Eif rjp> ITXu-
ruvoc mXtreiav), &c. (Sch'oll, Hut. Lit. Gr. , vol.
7, p. 104, seqq. )--Proclus was also the author of six
hymns, one to the Sun, another to the Muses, two to
Venus, one to Hecate and Janus, and one to Minerva.
They belong properly to the same class with the Or-
phic hymns. The latest edition of the H inns is that
of Boissonadc, Paris, 1884, 32mo.
Procnk. Vid. Philomela.
Pbocokncsds (or the Isle of Stags), at 'sland and
city of Asia Minor to the northeast of Cyzi is. It is
now Marmara, whence the modern name oi the Pro-
pontis is derived (Sea of Marmara). Protonnesus
was much celebrated for its marble quarries, which
supplied most of the public buildings in Cyzicus with
their materials. (Strabo, 588) The marble was
white, with black streaks intermixed. (Blasius, Ca-
ryoph. de Marm. Antiq. ) Aristeas, wHo wrote a po-
em on the Arimaspians, was a native of the city.
[Herod. , 4, 14. --Slrab. , 588 )
Procopios, one of tho most celebrated historians
of the Eastern empire. He was born at Caesarea in
Palestine, and exercised at Constantinople the profes-
sion of rhetorician and sophist. It has been disputed
whether he was a Christian or not. The indifference
and silence with which he passes over the religious
disputes that agitated the Church in his day have
caused him to be suspected of paganism, but it is
more than probable that he regarded these miserable
quarrels as unworthy to occupy a place in a political
history. Justin the elder assigned him to Belisarius
as his secretary and counsellor, with the charge of ac-
companying this general in his several expeditions.
This nomination took place a short time previous to
A. D. 537, the year when Justin died. Belisarius,
whom he had, in consequence of this appointment,
followed in his campaign in Africa against the Van-
dals, sent him to Syracuse, on some business relative
to tho army. In 556 he employed him usefully in his
campaign against the Goths in Italy. Subsequently
to 559 he was named a senator, and about 562 prefect
of Constantinople, a place which Justinian afterward
took from him. He died at an advanced age--In his
History of his own times (Tuv xaff avrov loroptuv
3t6? . ia OKrti), in eight books, of which the first four
bear the title of Persica, and the others that of Goth-
iea, Procopius describes the wars of the Byzantine
? ? Empire with the Persians, tho Vandals, the Moors,
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? PRO:
V RO
prompted Prodicus to open this echcol, and, indeed,
ne amassed considerable wealth bv his lectures. Phi-
lostratus also declares that Prodicus was fond of mon-
ey. He used to go from one city to another display-
ing his eloquence, and, though he did it in a merce-
nary wiiy he nevertheless had 'great honours pail to
i. ii. i in Thebes, and still greater in Lacedsmon. His
charge to a pupil was fifty drachmae. The style of
Prodirjs must have been very eloquent, since such
Humbert flocked to hear him, although he had a disa-
greeable voice. (Phiiostr. , Vit. Soph. ) It is related
that Xcnophon, when a prisoner in Bceotia, being de
sirous of hearing Prodicus, procured the requisite bail,
and went and gratified his curiosity. (Pkiloitr. , I. c. )
few pieces have been oftener referred to than that in
which Prodicus narrated what is termed "The Choice
? :f Hercules. " The original is lost; but we have the
substance of it in the Memorabilia of Xcnophon (2, 1,
21). Prodicus was at last put to death by the Athe-
nians, on the charge of corrupting their youth. Se. x-
tus Empiricus ranks him among the atheists, and Ci-
cero remarks that some of his doctrines were subver-
sive of all religion. (Cic. , N. D. , I, adfm. --Baylc,
Diet. , t. v. )
PR(ET! DES, the daughters of Pratus, king of Argo-
lis, were three in number, Lysippe, Iphinco, and Iphi-
anassa.
