" (Thierry,
Histoirc
des Gau-
lois.
lois.
Charles - 1867 - Classical Dictionary
It is sur-
prising that the. critic did not carry his censure farther
than this, and therefore Spalding well remarks of the
omission, " Debebat autem nosier sordium quoque in-
cusare banc mctaphorom" To render his parody
more severe, Horace substitutes Furius himself for the
monarch of the skies, and, to prevent all mistake, ap-
plies to the former a laughable species of designation,
drawn directly from his personal appearance, "pmgui
? ? lentus omaso," "distended with his fat paunch. "
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? BIT
Bistoxis, a lake of Thrace, near Abdera. It <lc-
ritfi its name from the Bistones, who inhabited its
shores, and held dominion over the surrounding dis-
trict. (Herod. , 7, 110. --Set/mm. , Ch. ,673. )
Bithvnia, a country of Asia Minor, bounded by
the Euxine on the north, on the south by Phrygia and
Galatia. on the east by Paphlagonia, and on tiie west
by the Propontis and Mysia. One of the earlier names
of this region, more particularly along the shores of the
Propontis and Euxine, was Bebrycia, derived from
the Bcbryces, who are said to have been the primitive
settlers in the land. Homer nowhere mentions the
people of this country by the appellation of Bithynians,
but invariably designates them as Mysians and Phrygi-
ans. (J7. ,2,*862. --lb. , 13, 792. --Strab. , 565. ) Stra-
ta has also proved, that the Mysians not only occupied
the shores of the Lake Ascauius and the plains of Ni-
i. 'x. i. but that they extended as far as Chalcedon and
the Thracian Bosporus. (Strab. , 566. ) Though we
cannot precisely fix the period at which the Bithyni
settled in the fertile district to which they communi-
cated their name, we can have no doubt as to the
rountry whence they came, since the testimony of an-
tiquity is unanimous in ascribing to them a Thracian
origin. Herodotus, in particular, asserts that, occord-
iag to their own traditions, they came from the banks
of the Strymon, and, having been driven from their
country by the Teucri and Mysi, crossed over into
Asia. (Herod. , 7, 75. ) Thucydides also and Xcn-
ophon expressly style them Bithynian Thracians.
[Thun/d. , 4, 75 -- Xcn. , Hist. Gr. , 1, 3, l. -- Ii. ib. ,
3, 2. 2. ) Same geographers have noticed a distinction
to be observed in regard to this people, namely, that
the appellation of Bithyni was properly applicable to
the inland population, while that of the coast took the
mme of Thyni. (Apollod. Jihad. , 2, 462 -- Eustath.
ad Dionys. Pcrieg. , 793 --I'lin. , 5, 32. ) But, his-
torically speaking, it is of little value. --The Bithyni-
ans, as Herodotus informs us (1, 28), were first sub-
jected by Crcesus On the dissolution of the Lydian
c:npirc they passed under that of Persia, and their
country became the seat of a satrapy sometimes known
in history by the title of Dascylium, sometimes of
the Hellespont, but more commonly of Bithynia.
The people lived principally in villages; the only con-
siderable towns being situate on the coast, and inhab-
ited by Greek colonists. This state of things lasted
till the death of Alexander, who had taken military
possession of the country after the defeat and expul-
sion of the Persians from the peninsula. On the de-
cease of the King of Macedon, we find Botirus, the son
of Dydalsus, a Thracian chief, seizing upon Astacus,
a Greek town on the seacoast, and, after defeating
Calantus. the officer who commanded the Grecian
forces in that country, establishing an independent
principality, which he transmitted, through his lineal
descendants Bas and Xipcetcs, to Nicomedes, son of
the latter, who, after the death of Lysimachus, first
assumed the title of King of Bithynia. He gave his
name to the city of Astacus, which from henceforth
was called Nicoraedia, and became the capital of the
new kingdom. (Mcmn. excerpt, ap. Phot. , p. 720,
tea. --Pausan. , 5, 12. ) An account of the succession
in this family will be found under the articles Nicom-
edes and Pnisias. -- Like other Asiatic sovereigns,
the kings of Bithynia arc said to have been sensual
and effeminate (Polyb. , 37, 2. --Cie. , Verr. , 5, 11. )
The interior of the country was mountainous and
? ? woody (. Tea. , Anab. , 6, 15. -- Nicet. , Ohon , p. 128),
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? BCEO
BCET
appellation given to the festival is derived <<to tov fton-
ilpo/tciv, fromcoming to help. (Etymol Map. ,s. v. --
Sutd. ,s. i^Catltm. , H. in Apoll. , v 69 -- Pint, Thcs. ,
c 27. -- Wachsmuth, Hellcn. All. , vol. 4, p. 143. )
BoedronTon, the name of one of the Attic months.
It was the third in the order of the Attic year, and
corresponded nearly to our September. It derived its
name from the festival called Boedromia being cele-
brated during it. (Wrf. Boedromia. )
Bceotarch^e, the chief magistrates in Boeotia. They
presided in the national councils, and commandad the
forces. They were, in later times at least, elected
annually, and rigidly restricted to their term of office.
Their number is supposed to have been originally
fourteen, the primitive number of the confederate Boeo-
tian states. It was afterward reduced, and underwent
many variations. Thebes appears to have had the
privilege of appointing two, one of whom was supe-
rior in authority to the rest, and probably acted as
president of the board. (Thueyd. , 2,2 -- I'd , 4, 91 --
Arnold, ad Thueyd. , I. c. --Thirlxcall'sHist. Gr. , vol. 1,
j,. 434-- Lit;. , 42, 43. )
Bceotia, a country of Greece Proper, lying to the
northwest of Attica, and shut in by the chains of Hel-
icon, Cithairon, Parnassus, and, towards the sea,
Ptous ; which mountains enclosed a large plain, con-
stituting the chief part of the country. Numerous
rivers, of which the Ccphissus was the most important,
descending from the heights, had probably stagnated
for a long time, and formed lakes, of which the Copais
was the largest These same rivers appear to have
formed the soil of Boeotia, which is among the most
fruitful in Greece. Boeotia was also perhaps the most
thickly settled part of Greece; for no other could
show an equal number of important cities. This
country, as we leam from the concurrent testimony of
Strabo, Pausanias, and other ancient writers, was first
occupied by several barbarous clans, under the various
names of Aoncs, Ectcnes, Temmices, and Hyantcs.
{Strabo, 401. --Pausan. , 9, 5. ) To these succeeded,
according to the common account, Cadmus and his
followers, who, after expelling some of the indigenous
tribes above mentioned, and conciliating others, found-
ed a city, which became afterward so celebrated under
the name of Thebes, and to which he gave the name
of Cadmca. The descendants of Cadmus were com-
pelled, subsequently, to evacuate Boeotia, after the
capture of Thebes by the Epigoni, and to seek ref-
uge in the country of the Illyrian Enchclccs. (Hcroil-
otus, 5, 61. --Pausanias, 9, 5. ) They regained, how-
ever, possession of their former territory, but were once
more expelled, as we learn from Strabo, by a numer-
ous horde of Thracians and others. On this occasion,
having withdrawn into Thessaly, they united them-
selves with the people of Arnc, a district of that prov-
ince, and for the first time assumed the name of Boeo-
tians. (Strabo, 401. ) After a lapse of some years,
they were compelled to abandon Thessaly, when they
once more succeeded in re-establishing themselves in
their original abode, to which they now communicated
the name of Boeotia. This event, according to Thu-
cydides, occurred about sixty years after the capture
of Troy; but, in order to reconcile this account with
the statement of Homer, who distinctly names the
Boeotians among the Grecian forces assembled at that
memorable siege, the historian admits that a Boeotian
division (uxotiaa/iuc) had already settled in this prov-
? ? ince prior to the migration of the great body of the
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? BOL
BOO
executed, A. D. 524 or 526. --While he was at the
helm of state, he found recreation from his toilsome
occupation in the construction of mathematical and
musical instruments, some ot which he sent to Clo-
thaire, king of France. He was also much given to
the study of the old Greek philosophers and mathema-
ticians, and wrote Latin translations of several of them.
His most celebrated -work is that composed during his
imprisonment, " On the consolation alio riled by Philos-
ophy. " It is written in prose and verse intermixed.
The elevation of thought, the nobleness of feeling, the
ease and distinctness of style which it exhibits, make
this composition, short as it is, far superior to any of
the age. The principal edition is that of Basle, 1570,
fol. A more modern one, of some value, appeared at
Glasgow, 1751,4to. (Encyclop. Amcric, vol. 2, p. 153,
Boethus, I. a Stoic philosopher, referred to by
Diogenes Lacrtius and Cicero. (Dwg. L. , 7, 143. --
Cic. , de Div. , 1, 8. --Id. ib. , 2, 20. ) His opinions
differed so far from those of his school, in that ho did
not regard the world as animated, and in his admit-
ting four principles as the basis of judgment; name-
ly, thought, sensation, appetite, and participation.
(ifenag. ad Diug. , I. c. ) -- II. A peripatetic philoso-
pher, a native of Sidon. He acquired so high a repu-
tation, that Strabo, who had been his fellow-disciple,
ranks him among the most illustrious philosophers of
his time, and Simplicius styles him tfav/icicnor, " the
wonderful. " (Mcnag. ad Diog. Laert. , 7, 143. ) --
III. A statuary, and engraver on plate, born at Car-
thage. (Paitsan. , 5, 17. ) He appears to have flour-
ished before the destruction of the city by the Romans,
but we cannot, with any certainty, ascertain the age
in which he lived. (Si/lig, Diet. Art. , s. r. )
Bon, a people of Celtic Gaul, who inhabited the
country watered by the river Sigmanus, Signatus, or
Igmanus, now the Sollac. From Gaul they passed
into Germany, and settled in the present Bohemia
(Boicrheim, i. e. , the residence of the Boii), until they
were expelled by the Marcomauni. Abandoning this
quarter, they carried their name with them into Boia-
ria, Bayaria, or Bavaria. The name Boii is thought
to denote " the terrible ones," and to be derived from
the Celtic Bo, "fear.
" (Thierry, Histoirc des Gau-
lois. vol. 1, p. 48. --Cos. , B. <? . , 1, 28; 7, 17. )
Boca, a town of the -Equi in Italy. It is thought
to correspond with the small town of I'oli, situate in
the mountains between Tivoli and Palastrina, the an-
cient Tibur and Prseneste. It was a colony of Alba.
(Virg. , Ma, 1, 675. )
Boi. be, I. a lake of Macedonia, in the territory of
My-glioma, and emptying into the sea near Aulon and
Bormiscus. (Thucyd. , 1, 58. ) Dr. Clarke, who visited
the shores of this fake in his travels, observes, " it is
now called Beshek; it is about 12 miles in length,
and 6 or 8 in breadth. We can find no notice that
has been taken of this magnificent piece of water by
any modem writer. " (Travels, vol. 8, p. G. y--II. A
town near the Lake Bolbe. (Stcph. By:. , s. c. llo'/. ljat. )
BolbitTxuh, one of the mouths of the Nile, in the
vicinity of what is now the town of Rosclta. (Vid.
Nilus. )
Bolixe, a town of Achaia, between Drepanum and
Patne, which no longer existed in the time of Pausa-
nias (7, 23). Near it ran a river called Bolimsus.
(Stcph. Byz. , s. v. )
Bolissus, a town in the island of Chios, situate on
? ? the coast, and the site of which is occupied by the
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? BOS
BRA
southwestern coast. Venus had an ancient temple
here.
Bootes, a northern constellation, near the Ursa Ma-
jor. The name is Greek, Bouttjc, and means "the
Oxen-driver," Bootes being regarded in this sense as
the driver of the Wain ('Afial-a. ), another appellation
for the "Greater Bear. " (Aratus, 91. --Manilius, 1,
313. ) The Greeks generally saw in Bootes, Areas
son of Callisto. Ovid, however, calls him on one oc-
casion Lycaon, after the father of Callisto. {Fast. , 6,
235. ) Others regarded him as Icarus, the father of
Erigone. (Vid. Icarus. ) Propertius hence calls the
seven stars of the Greater Bear, " botes Icarii. " (EL,
2, 24, 24. )
Boreas, the North wind, regarded in the Grecian
mythology as a deity. According to the poets, he was
the son of Astrreus and Aurora, but others make him
the son of the Strymon. He loved Orithyia, the daugh-
ter of Ercchthcus, king of Athens, and carried her off
to Thrace, where she bore him the winged youths
Zctes and Calais; and two daughters, Chione and
Cleopatra. (Plat. , Phadr. , 229. --Apollod. , 3, 15, 2.
--Apoll. Rhod. , 1, 211. ) The Athenians ascribed the
destruction of tho fleet of Xerxes by a storm to the
partiality of Boreas for the country of Orithyia, and
built a temple to him after that event. (Herod. , 7,
189. ) Boreas is also said by Homer to havo turned
himself into a horse, out of love to the mares of Erich-
thonius, and to have begotten on them twelve foals re-
markable for their fleetness. (//. , 20, 223. --Keight-
ley's Mythology, p. 255, seqq. )
Borysthenes, I. a large river of Scythia, falling
into the Euxinc Sea, now called the Dnieper. Herod-
otus considers it the greatest of the Scythian rivers
after the Ister, and as surpassing all others except the
Nile. He does not appear, however, to have known
much about its course, and seems not to have been
apprized of the famous cataracts of this river, which
occur at the height of 200 miles above its mouth, and
arc said to extend 40 miles, being 13 in number. (Vid.
Danaparis. )--II. There was a city on the banks of this
river called Borysthenis, and also Ollria. (Vid. 01-
bia. )--III. A favourite steed of the Emperor Hadri-
an's, to whom he erected a monument after death.
Bosporus, I. a name applied to a strait of the sea.
There were two straits known in antiquity by this ap-
pellation, namely, the Thracian and the Cimmerian
Bosporus; the former now known by the name of the
Straits or Channel of Constantinople, tho latter the
Stratts of Caffa or Theodosia, or, according to a later
denomination, the Straits of Zabache. By the Rus-
sians, however, it is commonly called the Bosporus.
Various reasons have been assigned for the name.
The best is that which makes the appellation refer to
the early passage of agricultural knowledge from East
to West (jiovc, an ox, and nopoc, a passage). Nym-
phius tells us, on the authority of Accarion, that the
Phrygians, desiring to pass the Thracian strait, built
a vessel, on whose prow was the figure of an ox, call-
ing the strait over which it carried them, jio&c iropoc,
Bosporus, or the ox's passage. Dionysius of Halicar-
nassus, Valerius Flaccus, and others of the ancient
writers, refer tho name to the history of Io, who, when
transformed into a cow (ftovc) by Juno, swam across
this strait to avoid her tormentor. Arrian says that
the Phrygians were directed by an oracle to follow the
route which an ox would point out to them, and that
? ? one being roused by them for this purpose, it swam
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? BRE
ly settled by Greek colonics, a large number of which
he brought under the contrul of Sparta by his anna or
personal influence. He lout his life at the taking of
Amphipolis. (Vid. Amphipolis. ) The virtues of his
private character were worthy of the best days of
Sparta. (Tkucyd. , 2, 25--W. , 4, 11. --Id. , 4, 78. --
Id. . 4, 81. --Id. , 4. 102, dec--W. , 5,10. )
Bsasiiika, festivals at Larrdwinon, in honour of
-Brasidas. None but freemen born Spartans were pcr-
. mitted to enter the lists, and such as were absent were
fined.
Bbaubox, a town of Attica, celebrated in mytholo-
gy as the place where Iphigenia first landed after her
escape from Tauris with the statue of Diana. From
this circumstance, the goddess was here held in pecu-
liar veneration, under the title of Brauronia. (Pausan. ,
1, 33--Sterna. Byz. , s. v. Bpavpuv. -- Strabo, 398. )
The ruins of Brauron are pointed out by modern trav-
ellers near the spot called Palaio Braona. Chandler
calls the modern site Vronna. (Travels, vol. 2, ch.
*4. --Compare GelCs Itinerary, p. 77. )--Diana had
three festivals here, called Brauronia, celebrated once
every fifth year by ten men who were called itpmrotoi.
They sacrificed a goat to the goddess, and it was usual
to sing one of the books of Homer's Iliad. The most
remarkable that attended were young virgins in yellow
gowns, consecrated to Diana. They were about ten
years of age, and not under five, and therefore their
consecration was called dcKareveiv, from oexti, decern;
and sometimes tlpxreveiv, as the virgins themselves
bore the name of uparoi, bears, from this circumstance.
There was a bear in one of the villages of Attica so
tame, that he ate with the inhabitants, and played harm-
lessly with them. This familiarity lasted long, till a
young virgin treated tho animal too roughly, and was
killed by it. The virgin's brother killed the bear, and
the country was soon after visited by a pestilence.
The oracle was consulted, and the plague removed by
consecrating virgins to the service of Diana. This
was so faithfully observed, that no woman in Athens
was ever married before a previous consecration to
the goddess. The statue of Diana of Tauris, which
bad been brought into Greece by Iphigenia, was pre-
served in the town of Brauron. Xerxes carried it
away when ho invaded Greece. (Cramer's Ancient
Greece, vol. 2, p. 382. )
Bsexxi and Breuki, a people of Italy, occupying,
together with the Genauni, the present Val d'Agno
and Vol Braunta, to the east and northeast of the
Lacus Verbanus (Logo Maggxore). They, together
with the Genauni, were subdued by Drusus, whose
victory Horace celebrates. Strabo calls them Brenci
andGenaui; others terra the former Breuni. (Horal. ,
Od. , 4, 14, 16 )
Beexxus, I. a general of the Galli Scnoncs, who
entered Italy, defeated the Romans at the river Allia,
end entered their city without opposition. The Ro-
mans fled into the Capitol, and left the whole city in
the possession of their enemies. Tho Gauls climbed
the Tarpeian rock in the night, and the Capitol would
have been taken, had not the Romans been awakened
by the noise of the sacred geese in the temple of Juno,
sod immediately repelled the enemy. (Vid. Manlius. )
Camillus, who was in banishment, marched to the re-
lief of his country, and so totally defeated the Gauls,
that not one remained to carry home the news of their
destruction. --The destruction of the Gauls by Camil-
lus U the national account given by the Roman writers,
? ? and is replete with error and exaggeration. (Consult
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? DRI
BRI
given to Hecate, and chiefly employed to denote her
terrific appearance, especially when she came sum-
moned by magic arts. Apollonius describes her as
having her hoad surrounded by serpents twining
through branches of oak, while torches llanvd in her
bands, and the infernal dogs howled around her.
(Apoll. K. , 3, 1214, seqq. )
Ukiskis, a patronymic of Hippodamia, or Lyrncs-
seis, daughter of Urines, high-priest of Jupiter at Ped-
asus in Troas. She was remarkable for her beauty,
and was the wife of Mines, who was killed in the siege
carried on by Achilles against Lymessus. From Lyr-
nessus the Grecian warrior brought her away captive.
She was taken from him by Agamemnon, during the
quarrel occasioned by the restoration of Chryseis, but
she was given back to him, when a reconciliation took
place. (Horn. , II. , 1, 336, &c. --Omd, A. A. , 3, 2. --
Proper! .
prising that the. critic did not carry his censure farther
than this, and therefore Spalding well remarks of the
omission, " Debebat autem nosier sordium quoque in-
cusare banc mctaphorom" To render his parody
more severe, Horace substitutes Furius himself for the
monarch of the skies, and, to prevent all mistake, ap-
plies to the former a laughable species of designation,
drawn directly from his personal appearance, "pmgui
? ? lentus omaso," "distended with his fat paunch. "
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? BIT
Bistoxis, a lake of Thrace, near Abdera. It <lc-
ritfi its name from the Bistones, who inhabited its
shores, and held dominion over the surrounding dis-
trict. (Herod. , 7, 110. --Set/mm. , Ch. ,673. )
Bithvnia, a country of Asia Minor, bounded by
the Euxine on the north, on the south by Phrygia and
Galatia. on the east by Paphlagonia, and on tiie west
by the Propontis and Mysia. One of the earlier names
of this region, more particularly along the shores of the
Propontis and Euxine, was Bebrycia, derived from
the Bcbryces, who are said to have been the primitive
settlers in the land. Homer nowhere mentions the
people of this country by the appellation of Bithynians,
but invariably designates them as Mysians and Phrygi-
ans. (J7. ,2,*862. --lb. , 13, 792. --Strab. , 565. ) Stra-
ta has also proved, that the Mysians not only occupied
the shores of the Lake Ascauius and the plains of Ni-
i. 'x. i. but that they extended as far as Chalcedon and
the Thracian Bosporus. (Strab. , 566. ) Though we
cannot precisely fix the period at which the Bithyni
settled in the fertile district to which they communi-
cated their name, we can have no doubt as to the
rountry whence they came, since the testimony of an-
tiquity is unanimous in ascribing to them a Thracian
origin. Herodotus, in particular, asserts that, occord-
iag to their own traditions, they came from the banks
of the Strymon, and, having been driven from their
country by the Teucri and Mysi, crossed over into
Asia. (Herod. , 7, 75. ) Thucydides also and Xcn-
ophon expressly style them Bithynian Thracians.
[Thun/d. , 4, 75 -- Xcn. , Hist. Gr. , 1, 3, l. -- Ii. ib. ,
3, 2. 2. ) Same geographers have noticed a distinction
to be observed in regard to this people, namely, that
the appellation of Bithyni was properly applicable to
the inland population, while that of the coast took the
mme of Thyni. (Apollod. Jihad. , 2, 462 -- Eustath.
ad Dionys. Pcrieg. , 793 --I'lin. , 5, 32. ) But, his-
torically speaking, it is of little value. --The Bithyni-
ans, as Herodotus informs us (1, 28), were first sub-
jected by Crcesus On the dissolution of the Lydian
c:npirc they passed under that of Persia, and their
country became the seat of a satrapy sometimes known
in history by the title of Dascylium, sometimes of
the Hellespont, but more commonly of Bithynia.
The people lived principally in villages; the only con-
siderable towns being situate on the coast, and inhab-
ited by Greek colonists. This state of things lasted
till the death of Alexander, who had taken military
possession of the country after the defeat and expul-
sion of the Persians from the peninsula. On the de-
cease of the King of Macedon, we find Botirus, the son
of Dydalsus, a Thracian chief, seizing upon Astacus,
a Greek town on the seacoast, and, after defeating
Calantus. the officer who commanded the Grecian
forces in that country, establishing an independent
principality, which he transmitted, through his lineal
descendants Bas and Xipcetcs, to Nicomedes, son of
the latter, who, after the death of Lysimachus, first
assumed the title of King of Bithynia. He gave his
name to the city of Astacus, which from henceforth
was called Nicoraedia, and became the capital of the
new kingdom. (Mcmn. excerpt, ap. Phot. , p. 720,
tea. --Pausan. , 5, 12. ) An account of the succession
in this family will be found under the articles Nicom-
edes and Pnisias. -- Like other Asiatic sovereigns,
the kings of Bithynia arc said to have been sensual
and effeminate (Polyb. , 37, 2. --Cie. , Verr. , 5, 11. )
The interior of the country was mountainous and
? ? woody (. Tea. , Anab. , 6, 15. -- Nicet. , Ohon , p. 128),
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? BCEO
BCET
appellation given to the festival is derived <<to tov fton-
ilpo/tciv, fromcoming to help. (Etymol Map. ,s. v. --
Sutd. ,s. i^Catltm. , H. in Apoll. , v 69 -- Pint, Thcs. ,
c 27. -- Wachsmuth, Hellcn. All. , vol. 4, p. 143. )
BoedronTon, the name of one of the Attic months.
It was the third in the order of the Attic year, and
corresponded nearly to our September. It derived its
name from the festival called Boedromia being cele-
brated during it. (Wrf. Boedromia. )
Bceotarch^e, the chief magistrates in Boeotia. They
presided in the national councils, and commandad the
forces. They were, in later times at least, elected
annually, and rigidly restricted to their term of office.
Their number is supposed to have been originally
fourteen, the primitive number of the confederate Boeo-
tian states. It was afterward reduced, and underwent
many variations. Thebes appears to have had the
privilege of appointing two, one of whom was supe-
rior in authority to the rest, and probably acted as
president of the board. (Thueyd. , 2,2 -- I'd , 4, 91 --
Arnold, ad Thueyd. , I. c. --Thirlxcall'sHist. Gr. , vol. 1,
j,. 434-- Lit;. , 42, 43. )
Bceotia, a country of Greece Proper, lying to the
northwest of Attica, and shut in by the chains of Hel-
icon, Cithairon, Parnassus, and, towards the sea,
Ptous ; which mountains enclosed a large plain, con-
stituting the chief part of the country. Numerous
rivers, of which the Ccphissus was the most important,
descending from the heights, had probably stagnated
for a long time, and formed lakes, of which the Copais
was the largest These same rivers appear to have
formed the soil of Boeotia, which is among the most
fruitful in Greece. Boeotia was also perhaps the most
thickly settled part of Greece; for no other could
show an equal number of important cities. This
country, as we leam from the concurrent testimony of
Strabo, Pausanias, and other ancient writers, was first
occupied by several barbarous clans, under the various
names of Aoncs, Ectcnes, Temmices, and Hyantcs.
{Strabo, 401. --Pausan. , 9, 5. ) To these succeeded,
according to the common account, Cadmus and his
followers, who, after expelling some of the indigenous
tribes above mentioned, and conciliating others, found-
ed a city, which became afterward so celebrated under
the name of Thebes, and to which he gave the name
of Cadmca. The descendants of Cadmus were com-
pelled, subsequently, to evacuate Boeotia, after the
capture of Thebes by the Epigoni, and to seek ref-
uge in the country of the Illyrian Enchclccs. (Hcroil-
otus, 5, 61. --Pausanias, 9, 5. ) They regained, how-
ever, possession of their former territory, but were once
more expelled, as we learn from Strabo, by a numer-
ous horde of Thracians and others. On this occasion,
having withdrawn into Thessaly, they united them-
selves with the people of Arnc, a district of that prov-
ince, and for the first time assumed the name of Boeo-
tians. (Strabo, 401. ) After a lapse of some years,
they were compelled to abandon Thessaly, when they
once more succeeded in re-establishing themselves in
their original abode, to which they now communicated
the name of Boeotia. This event, according to Thu-
cydides, occurred about sixty years after the capture
of Troy; but, in order to reconcile this account with
the statement of Homer, who distinctly names the
Boeotians among the Grecian forces assembled at that
memorable siege, the historian admits that a Boeotian
division (uxotiaa/iuc) had already settled in this prov-
? ? ince prior to the migration of the great body of the
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? BOL
BOO
executed, A. D. 524 or 526. --While he was at the
helm of state, he found recreation from his toilsome
occupation in the construction of mathematical and
musical instruments, some ot which he sent to Clo-
thaire, king of France. He was also much given to
the study of the old Greek philosophers and mathema-
ticians, and wrote Latin translations of several of them.
His most celebrated -work is that composed during his
imprisonment, " On the consolation alio riled by Philos-
ophy. " It is written in prose and verse intermixed.
The elevation of thought, the nobleness of feeling, the
ease and distinctness of style which it exhibits, make
this composition, short as it is, far superior to any of
the age. The principal edition is that of Basle, 1570,
fol. A more modern one, of some value, appeared at
Glasgow, 1751,4to. (Encyclop. Amcric, vol. 2, p. 153,
Boethus, I. a Stoic philosopher, referred to by
Diogenes Lacrtius and Cicero. (Dwg. L. , 7, 143. --
Cic. , de Div. , 1, 8. --Id. ib. , 2, 20. ) His opinions
differed so far from those of his school, in that ho did
not regard the world as animated, and in his admit-
ting four principles as the basis of judgment; name-
ly, thought, sensation, appetite, and participation.
(ifenag. ad Diug. , I. c. ) -- II. A peripatetic philoso-
pher, a native of Sidon. He acquired so high a repu-
tation, that Strabo, who had been his fellow-disciple,
ranks him among the most illustrious philosophers of
his time, and Simplicius styles him tfav/icicnor, " the
wonderful. " (Mcnag. ad Diog. Laert. , 7, 143. ) --
III. A statuary, and engraver on plate, born at Car-
thage. (Paitsan. , 5, 17. ) He appears to have flour-
ished before the destruction of the city by the Romans,
but we cannot, with any certainty, ascertain the age
in which he lived. (Si/lig, Diet. Art. , s. r. )
Bon, a people of Celtic Gaul, who inhabited the
country watered by the river Sigmanus, Signatus, or
Igmanus, now the Sollac. From Gaul they passed
into Germany, and settled in the present Bohemia
(Boicrheim, i. e. , the residence of the Boii), until they
were expelled by the Marcomauni. Abandoning this
quarter, they carried their name with them into Boia-
ria, Bayaria, or Bavaria. The name Boii is thought
to denote " the terrible ones," and to be derived from
the Celtic Bo, "fear.
" (Thierry, Histoirc des Gau-
lois. vol. 1, p. 48. --Cos. , B. <? . , 1, 28; 7, 17. )
Boca, a town of the -Equi in Italy. It is thought
to correspond with the small town of I'oli, situate in
the mountains between Tivoli and Palastrina, the an-
cient Tibur and Prseneste. It was a colony of Alba.
(Virg. , Ma, 1, 675. )
Boi. be, I. a lake of Macedonia, in the territory of
My-glioma, and emptying into the sea near Aulon and
Bormiscus. (Thucyd. , 1, 58. ) Dr. Clarke, who visited
the shores of this fake in his travels, observes, " it is
now called Beshek; it is about 12 miles in length,
and 6 or 8 in breadth. We can find no notice that
has been taken of this magnificent piece of water by
any modem writer. " (Travels, vol. 8, p. G. y--II. A
town near the Lake Bolbe. (Stcph. By:. , s. c. llo'/. ljat. )
BolbitTxuh, one of the mouths of the Nile, in the
vicinity of what is now the town of Rosclta. (Vid.
Nilus. )
Bolixe, a town of Achaia, between Drepanum and
Patne, which no longer existed in the time of Pausa-
nias (7, 23). Near it ran a river called Bolimsus.
(Stcph. Byz. , s. v. )
Bolissus, a town in the island of Chios, situate on
? ? the coast, and the site of which is occupied by the
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? BOS
BRA
southwestern coast. Venus had an ancient temple
here.
Bootes, a northern constellation, near the Ursa Ma-
jor. The name is Greek, Bouttjc, and means "the
Oxen-driver," Bootes being regarded in this sense as
the driver of the Wain ('Afial-a. ), another appellation
for the "Greater Bear. " (Aratus, 91. --Manilius, 1,
313. ) The Greeks generally saw in Bootes, Areas
son of Callisto. Ovid, however, calls him on one oc-
casion Lycaon, after the father of Callisto. {Fast. , 6,
235. ) Others regarded him as Icarus, the father of
Erigone. (Vid. Icarus. ) Propertius hence calls the
seven stars of the Greater Bear, " botes Icarii. " (EL,
2, 24, 24. )
Boreas, the North wind, regarded in the Grecian
mythology as a deity. According to the poets, he was
the son of Astrreus and Aurora, but others make him
the son of the Strymon. He loved Orithyia, the daugh-
ter of Ercchthcus, king of Athens, and carried her off
to Thrace, where she bore him the winged youths
Zctes and Calais; and two daughters, Chione and
Cleopatra. (Plat. , Phadr. , 229. --Apollod. , 3, 15, 2.
--Apoll. Rhod. , 1, 211. ) The Athenians ascribed the
destruction of tho fleet of Xerxes by a storm to the
partiality of Boreas for the country of Orithyia, and
built a temple to him after that event. (Herod. , 7,
189. ) Boreas is also said by Homer to havo turned
himself into a horse, out of love to the mares of Erich-
thonius, and to have begotten on them twelve foals re-
markable for their fleetness. (//. , 20, 223. --Keight-
ley's Mythology, p. 255, seqq. )
Borysthenes, I. a large river of Scythia, falling
into the Euxinc Sea, now called the Dnieper. Herod-
otus considers it the greatest of the Scythian rivers
after the Ister, and as surpassing all others except the
Nile. He does not appear, however, to have known
much about its course, and seems not to have been
apprized of the famous cataracts of this river, which
occur at the height of 200 miles above its mouth, and
arc said to extend 40 miles, being 13 in number. (Vid.
Danaparis. )--II. There was a city on the banks of this
river called Borysthenis, and also Ollria. (Vid. 01-
bia. )--III. A favourite steed of the Emperor Hadri-
an's, to whom he erected a monument after death.
Bosporus, I. a name applied to a strait of the sea.
There were two straits known in antiquity by this ap-
pellation, namely, the Thracian and the Cimmerian
Bosporus; the former now known by the name of the
Straits or Channel of Constantinople, tho latter the
Stratts of Caffa or Theodosia, or, according to a later
denomination, the Straits of Zabache. By the Rus-
sians, however, it is commonly called the Bosporus.
Various reasons have been assigned for the name.
The best is that which makes the appellation refer to
the early passage of agricultural knowledge from East
to West (jiovc, an ox, and nopoc, a passage). Nym-
phius tells us, on the authority of Accarion, that the
Phrygians, desiring to pass the Thracian strait, built
a vessel, on whose prow was the figure of an ox, call-
ing the strait over which it carried them, jio&c iropoc,
Bosporus, or the ox's passage. Dionysius of Halicar-
nassus, Valerius Flaccus, and others of the ancient
writers, refer tho name to the history of Io, who, when
transformed into a cow (ftovc) by Juno, swam across
this strait to avoid her tormentor. Arrian says that
the Phrygians were directed by an oracle to follow the
route which an ox would point out to them, and that
? ? one being roused by them for this purpose, it swam
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? BRE
ly settled by Greek colonics, a large number of which
he brought under the contrul of Sparta by his anna or
personal influence. He lout his life at the taking of
Amphipolis. (Vid. Amphipolis. ) The virtues of his
private character were worthy of the best days of
Sparta. (Tkucyd. , 2, 25--W. , 4, 11. --Id. , 4, 78. --
Id. . 4, 81. --Id. , 4. 102, dec--W. , 5,10. )
Bsasiiika, festivals at Larrdwinon, in honour of
-Brasidas. None but freemen born Spartans were pcr-
. mitted to enter the lists, and such as were absent were
fined.
Bbaubox, a town of Attica, celebrated in mytholo-
gy as the place where Iphigenia first landed after her
escape from Tauris with the statue of Diana. From
this circumstance, the goddess was here held in pecu-
liar veneration, under the title of Brauronia. (Pausan. ,
1, 33--Sterna. Byz. , s. v. Bpavpuv. -- Strabo, 398. )
The ruins of Brauron are pointed out by modern trav-
ellers near the spot called Palaio Braona. Chandler
calls the modern site Vronna. (Travels, vol. 2, ch.
*4. --Compare GelCs Itinerary, p. 77. )--Diana had
three festivals here, called Brauronia, celebrated once
every fifth year by ten men who were called itpmrotoi.
They sacrificed a goat to the goddess, and it was usual
to sing one of the books of Homer's Iliad. The most
remarkable that attended were young virgins in yellow
gowns, consecrated to Diana. They were about ten
years of age, and not under five, and therefore their
consecration was called dcKareveiv, from oexti, decern;
and sometimes tlpxreveiv, as the virgins themselves
bore the name of uparoi, bears, from this circumstance.
There was a bear in one of the villages of Attica so
tame, that he ate with the inhabitants, and played harm-
lessly with them. This familiarity lasted long, till a
young virgin treated tho animal too roughly, and was
killed by it. The virgin's brother killed the bear, and
the country was soon after visited by a pestilence.
The oracle was consulted, and the plague removed by
consecrating virgins to the service of Diana. This
was so faithfully observed, that no woman in Athens
was ever married before a previous consecration to
the goddess. The statue of Diana of Tauris, which
bad been brought into Greece by Iphigenia, was pre-
served in the town of Brauron. Xerxes carried it
away when ho invaded Greece. (Cramer's Ancient
Greece, vol. 2, p. 382. )
Bsexxi and Breuki, a people of Italy, occupying,
together with the Genauni, the present Val d'Agno
and Vol Braunta, to the east and northeast of the
Lacus Verbanus (Logo Maggxore). They, together
with the Genauni, were subdued by Drusus, whose
victory Horace celebrates. Strabo calls them Brenci
andGenaui; others terra the former Breuni. (Horal. ,
Od. , 4, 14, 16 )
Beexxus, I. a general of the Galli Scnoncs, who
entered Italy, defeated the Romans at the river Allia,
end entered their city without opposition. The Ro-
mans fled into the Capitol, and left the whole city in
the possession of their enemies. Tho Gauls climbed
the Tarpeian rock in the night, and the Capitol would
have been taken, had not the Romans been awakened
by the noise of the sacred geese in the temple of Juno,
sod immediately repelled the enemy. (Vid. Manlius. )
Camillus, who was in banishment, marched to the re-
lief of his country, and so totally defeated the Gauls,
that not one remained to carry home the news of their
destruction. --The destruction of the Gauls by Camil-
lus U the national account given by the Roman writers,
? ? and is replete with error and exaggeration. (Consult
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? DRI
BRI
given to Hecate, and chiefly employed to denote her
terrific appearance, especially when she came sum-
moned by magic arts. Apollonius describes her as
having her hoad surrounded by serpents twining
through branches of oak, while torches llanvd in her
bands, and the infernal dogs howled around her.
(Apoll. K. , 3, 1214, seqq. )
Ukiskis, a patronymic of Hippodamia, or Lyrncs-
seis, daughter of Urines, high-priest of Jupiter at Ped-
asus in Troas. She was remarkable for her beauty,
and was the wife of Mines, who was killed in the siege
carried on by Achilles against Lymessus. From Lyr-
nessus the Grecian warrior brought her away captive.
She was taken from him by Agamemnon, during the
quarrel occasioned by the restoration of Chryseis, but
she was given back to him, when a reconciliation took
place. (Horn. , II. , 1, 336, &c. --Omd, A. A. , 3, 2. --
Proper! .
