Their
tribunes
are spoken of as a college of priests
(Dim.
(Dim.
Charles - 1867 - Classical Dictionary
,
vol. 7, p. 350).
EpidIum, I. one of the Ebuds Insula;, supposed by
Mannert to be the same with the modern Ha. (Geogr. ,
vol. 2, p. 231. )--II. A promontory of Caledonia, cor-
responding to the southern extremity of the peninsula
? >f Canlyre. (Mannert, Geogr. , vol. 2, p. 204. )
Epigoni ('Ein'yovot, descendant! ), the sons of the
Grecian heroes who were killed in the first Theban
war. (Vid. Polynices. ) The war of the Epigoni is
famous in ancient history. It was undertaken ten years
after the first. The sons of those who had perished
in the first war resolved to avenge the death of their
fathers. The god, when consulted, promised them vic-
tory, if led by Alcmaeon, the son of Amphiaraus. Alc-
nwon accordingly took the command. Another ac-
count, however, given by Pausanias (9, 9, 2), makes
Thersa::der, son of Polynices, to have been at the head
of the expedition. The other leaders were Amphilo-
chns, brother of Alcmaeon; -Kgialcus, son of Adras-
tus; Diomedcs, of Tydeus; Promachus, of Parthe-
nopaeus; Slhenelus, of Capaneus; and Eurypylus, of
Mecisteus. The Argives were assisted by the Mes-
senians. Arcadians, Corinthians,and Megarians. The
Thcbans obtained aid from the neighbouring states.
The invaders ravaged the villages about Thebes. A
battle ensued, in which Laodamas, the son of Eteoclcs,
slew . /Egialcus, and fell himself by the spear of Alc-
mseon. The Thebans then fled; and, by the advice of
Tiresias, they secretly left their city, which was en-
tered and plundered by the Argives, and Tht-rsander
was placed on the throne. --With the exception of the
events of the Trojan war and the return of the Greeks,
nothing was so closely connected with the Hied and
Odyssey as the war of the Argives against Thebes,
since many of the principal heroes of Greece, particu-
larly Diomede and Sthenelus, were themselves among
the conquerors of Thebes, and their fathers before
them, a bolder and wilder race, had fought on the same
spot, in a contest which, although unattended with
victory, was still far from inglorious. Hence, also, re-
puted Homeric poems on the subject of this war were
extant, which perhaps really bore a great affinity to the
Homeric time and school. For we do not find, as in
the other poems of the cycle, the name of one, or
those of several later poets, placed in connexion with
these compositions, but they are either attributed to
Homer, as the earlier Greeks in general appear to have
done; or if the authorship of Homer is doubted, they
are usually attributed to no author <<t all. Thus the
second part of the Thebais, which related to the ex-
ploits of the Epigoni, was, according to Pausanias (9,
9. 2), ascribed by some to Homer. The true reading
? ? in Pausanias, in the passage just referred to, is un-
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? KPI
EP1
Eist one ot the moat magnificent cities in the world,
naving been founded, as they imagined, by Hamath,
one of the sons of Canaan. Allusion is frequently
made to Hamath in the Old Testament. (Compare
Genesis, 10, 18. --2 Samuel, 8, 9. -8 Kings, 48, 34.
--Jerenu, 49, 23. --Amos, 6,2. ) Its name was chan-
ged to Epiphanea, in honour of Antiochus Epiphanes.
It u now Homo, and was in modern times the seat of
an Arabian dynasty, to which the geographer Abulfeda
belonged. {Abulfeda, Tab. Syr. , p. 108 Pococke,
vol. 2, p. 210. --Mannert, vol. 6, pt. 1, p. 461. )
Epiphanes (illustrious), I. a surname of Antiochus
IV. , King of Syria. --II. A surname of Ptolemy V. ,
King of Egypt.
Epiphanius, a bishop of Salamis in Cyprus, in the
fourth century. He was bom of Jewish parents, at a
village called Besanducan, near Elcutheropolis, in Pal-
estine, about A. D. 320, and appears to have been edu-
cated in Egypt, where he imbibed the principles of the
Gnostics. At length he left those heretics, and, be-
coming an ascetic, returned to Palestine and adopted
the discipline of St. Hilarion, the founder of monachism
in that country. Epi^nanius erected a monastery near
the place of his birth, over which he presided till he
was made bishop of Salamis in 367. Here he remain-
ed about 36 years, and composed most of his writings.
In 391 he commenced a controversy with John, bishop
of Jerusalem, relative to the Platonic doctrines of the
learned and laborious Origcn, against which he wrote
and preached with implacable bitterness. John fa-
voured Origen's views, but Epiphanius found in The-
ophilus, the violent bishop of Alcxandrea, a worthy
coadjutor, who, in 399, convened a council, and con-
demned all the works of Origen. Epiphanius himself
then called a council in Cyprus, A. D. 401, and reit-
erated this condemnation, after which he wrote to St.
Chrysostom, then bishop of Constantinople, requesting
him to do the same. On finding this prelate disin-
clined to sanction his violent proceedings, he forthwith
repaired to Constantinople, for the purpose of exciting
the bishops of that diocese to join in executing the de-
crees which his Cyprian council had issued; but, hav-
vig entered a church in the city in order to repeat his
tnathemas, he was forewarned by Chrysostom of the
Uegality of his conduct, and was obliged to desist.
Exasperated at this disappointment, he applied to the
imperial court for assistance, where he soon embroiled
himself with the Empress Eudoxia; for, on the occa-
sion of her asking him to pray for the young Theodo-
nus, who was dangerously ill, he replied that her son
should not die, provided she would not patronise the
defenders of Origen. To this presumptuous message
the empress indignantly answered, that her son's life
was not in the power of Epiphanius, whose prayers
were unable to save that of his own archdeacon, who
had recently died. After thus vainly endeavouring to
gratify his sectarian animosity, he resolved to return
to CVurus; but he died at sea on the passage, A. D.
403. The principal works of Epiphanius are, 1. Ha- i
riipiov, or a Treatise on Heresies, that is, peculiar sects
(aJ(U<? eic). This is the most important of his writings.
It treats of eighty sects, from the time of Adam to the
? atter part of the 4th century. 2. 'AvaicepaXaiuote,
or an Epitome of the Panarion. 3. 'Aynvparuv, or
a Drsesarse on the Faith, explaining the doctrine of
the Trinity, Resurrection, dec. 4. A treatise on the
ancient weights, measures, and coins of the Jews. --
? ? Epiphanius was a. i austere and superstitious ascetic,
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? EPyRLJS.
EPO
Persian invasion, when the name of Admetus, king of
:he Molossi, occurs from ihe circumstance of his hav-
ing generously afforded shelter to Thcmistocles wlien
in exile and pursued by his enemies, although the in-
fluence of that celebrated statesman had previously
been exerted against him in some negotiations which
he had carried on at Athens. The details of this in-
cresting anecdote, as they are furnished by Thucyd-
ides, serve to prove the weakness as well as poverty
of the Molossian chiefs compared with the leading
powers of Greece at that time. (Thucyd. , 1, 130. )
Admetus was succeeded by his son Tharypas or Tha-
rymbas, who appears to have been a minor towards
the beginning of the Peloponncsian war, when we
find his subjects assisting the Ambraciots in their in-
vasion of Acarnania. Thucvdides, on that occasion,
reports, that Sabylinthus, prince of Atintania, was
guardian to Tharybas (2, 80). Tharybas is represent-
ed by Plutarch (Vit. Pyrrh. ) as a wise and able mon-
arch, and as encouraging science and literature. His
successor is not known; but some years after we hear
of a prince called Alcetas, who was dethroned by his
subjects, but restored by Dionysius of Syracuse.
(Diod. Sic. , 15, 13. --Pausan. , 1, 11. ) Neoptolcmus,
his son, reigned but for a short time, and left the
crown to his brother Arybas, together with the care of
his children. Alexander, the eldest cf these, succeed-
ed his uncle, and was the first sovereign of Epirns
who raised the character and fame of that country
among foreign nations by his talents and valour. His
sister Olympias had been married to Philip of Mace-
don, before his accession to the throne of Epirus; and
Ihe friendship thus cemented between the two mon-
archs was still farther strengthened by the union of
Alexander with Cleopatra, the daughter of Philip.
It was during the celebration of these nuptials at
Edessa that the King of Macedoi: was assassinated.
Alexander of Epirus seems to have oeen an ambitious
prince, desirous of conqu<rt and renown; and, though
re have no certain infoi. lation of the events which
occurred owing his reign, there is good reason for be-
lieving that he united the Chaonians, Thesprotians,
and other Epirotic clans, together with the Molossians,
under his sway; as we find the title of King of Epirus
first assumed by him. (Diod. Sic, 16, 72. --Strabo,
280. ) Having been applied to by the Tarentines to
aid them against the attacks of the Lucani and Brutii,
he eagerly seized this opportunity of adding to his
lame and enlarging his dominions. He therefore
. ? rosscd over into Italy with a considerable force, and,
nad he been properly seconded by the Tarentines
and the other colonies of Magna Grecia, the barba-
rians, after being defeated in several engagements,
must have been conquered. But Alexander, being left
to his own resources and exertions, was at length sur-
rounded by the enemy, and slain near the fated walls
of Pandosia, in the Brutian territory. (I*v. , 8, 24. --
Strabo, 255. ) On the death of Alexander the crown
devolved on his cousin ^Eacides, the son of Arybas
the former king, of whom little is known, except that,
having raised an army to assist Olympias against Cas-
sander, his soldiers mutinied and deposed him; not
long after, however, ha appears to have been reinstated.
{Diod. Sic, 19, 36. ) His brother Alcetas, who suc-
ceeded him, was engaged in a war with Cassander,
which proved unfortunate; for, being defeated, his do-
minions were overrun by the forces of his victorious en-
? ? emy, and he himself was put to death by his rebellious
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? EQU
EQU
men in their war with the Scquani, before Caesar's ar-
nta! in Gaul. (B. G. , 7, 67. ) He afterward went
over 10 the side of Vercingetorix, in the great insur-
rection against the Roman power, but was taken pris-
oner by Caesar. (B. G. , 7, 55. -/6. , 63. -/6. , 67. )
--II. Another -Eduan leader, mentioned by Cxsar.
(B. G. , 7, ~C. )
Epvtides, a patronymic given to Periphantes, the
sonofEpytus and the companion of Ascanius. (Virg. ,
? n. . 5, 547
Ef:iRiA, a festival established at Rome by Romu-
lus r\ honour of Mars, when horse-races and games
were exhibited in the Campus Martms. It took place
on tie 27th of February. (Varro, de L. L. , 5, 3. --
Ovid, Fait. , 2, 859. )
Equites, the name of an order in the Roman state.
Their origin, according to the old tradition, was this:
Romulus, having divided his subjects into three tribes,
chose from each 100 young men, whom he destined
to serve on horseback, and act as his body-guard. This
body of cavalry was called the Celeres, and afterward
the Eqv. Ua. (Dion. Hal. , 2,13. ) Niebuhr supposes
[Rom. Hut. , vol. 1, p. 325), that whereas Patr'a and
Patrir" were titles of honour for individuals, Cetera
wa> the name of the whole class as distinguished from
the rest of the nation. The three centuries of the Cc-
Itru were called by the same names as the three tribes
of die patricians, namely, Ramnes, Titles, and Luceres.
Their tribunes are spoken of as a college of priests
(Dim. Hal. , 2, 64), and it appears that the tribes of
the patricians had also tribunes. (Dion. Hal. , 2, 7. )
Moreover, when it is said that Tarquinius Priscus made
three new centuries, which he added to the former three,
anil that the whole went under the name of the Sex
Suffragia. or the Six Equestrian Centuries, we cannot
doubt that the alteration which he introduced was a con-
stitutional, and not merely a military one; that, in fact,
the centuries which he formed were, like the original
three, tribes of houses ; that his innovation was nothing
but a. i extension of the political division of Rome un-
der Romulus. (Nicbu. hr, Rom. Hist. , vol. 1, p. 391. )
When Scrvius Tullius established the comiua of the
centuries, be received the Sex Suffragia, which in-
cluded all the patricians, into his first class, and to
ihem he added twelve other equestrian centuries, made
up of the richest of the plebeian order. (Niebuhr,
vol. I, p. 427. ) The ancient writers appear to have
laboured under some great confusion with regard to
this arrangement. Li vy (1, 43) makes a proper dis-
tinction between the twelve equestrian centuries cre-
ated by Scrvius, and the six which existed before; but
when he states (1, 36) that the cavalry in the reign of
Tarquinius Priscus amounted to 1800, he appears to
be antedating the origin of the eighteen equestrian cen-
turies which formed part of the constitution of Scrvius.
To the establishment of the Comitia Centuriata, the cre-
ation of a body of Equites, as a distinct order, seems to
be due. The plan of Servius was, to a certain extent,
identical with that of Solon. The object of both legis-
lators was to break down the limits to which the old
aristocracy was confined, and to set tip an order of
wealth by the side of the order of birth; not, however,
that when a person could produce his 400,000 ses-
terces, he became ipso facto a knight, as was the case
iii after times. (Hot. , Epist. , 1, 1, 57. ) According
to the Servian constitution, good birth or the sanction
of the censors was necessary for gaining a place in the
? ? equestrian ordej. (Polyb. , 6, 20. --Zonarat, 7, 19. )
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? ERA
ERATOSTHENES.
inowH journey to lirundisium. He informs us, that
he passed the first night after having left Benevontum
at a villa close to Triricum, a place situated among
the mountains separating Samnium from Apulia. Hor-
ace, in speaking of Equus Tuticus, pleasantly alludes
10 the unmanageable nature of the name in verse:
"Mansuri oppidulo, quod vcrsu dicercnon est. " (Sat. ,
1, 6, 87. )
Erasistratus, a physician of Iulis, in the island of
Ceos, and grandson of Aristotle by a daughter of this
philosopher's. (Strabo, 486. --Stcph. Byzan , s. v.
'lovfac. '. After having frequented the schools of Chry-
sippus, Metrodorus, and Theophrastus, he passed some
time at the court of Seleucus Nicator, where he gained
great reputation by his discovering the secret malady
which preyed upon the young Antiochus, the son of
the king, who was in love with his mother-in-law,
Queen Stratonice. (Appian, Bell. Syr. , c. 126. --Lu-
cian, dc Dca Syr. , e. 17. ) It was at Alexandres, how-
ever, that he principally practised. At last he refused
altogether to visit the sick, and devoted himself en-
tirely to the study of anatomy. The branches of this
study which are indebted to him for new discoveries,
are, among others, the doctrine of the functions of the
brain, and that of the nervous system. He has im-
mortalized himself by the discovery of the via laclea;
and he would seem to have come very near that of the
circulation of the blood. Comparative anatomy fur-
nished him with the means of describing the brain
much better than had ever been done before him. He
also distinguished and gave names to the auricles of the
heart. (Galen, de Dogm. Hipp, et Plat. , lib. 7, p. 311,
seqq. --Id. , de Usu Pert. , lib. 8, p. 458. --Id. , de Ad-
mtnistr. Anal. , lib. 7, p. 184. --Id. , an Sanguis, &c. ,
p. 223. ) A singular doctrine of Erasistratus is that
of the irvtvua (pneuma), or the spiritual substance
which, according to him, fills the arteries, which we in-
hale in respiration, which from the lungs makes its way
in' > the arteries, and then becomes the vital principle
of the human system. As long as this spirit moves
about in the arteries, and the blood in the veins, man
enjoys health: but when, from some cause or other,
the veins become contracted, the blood then spreads
into the arteries and becomes the source of maladies:
it produces fever when it enters into some noble part
or into the great artery; and inflammations when it
is found in the less noble parts or in the extremities of
the arteries. (Galen, Comm. , 1, in lib. de Nat. Hum. ,
p. 3. ) Erasistratus rejected entirely blood-letting, as
well as cathartics: he supplied their place with dieting,
tepid bathing, vomiting, and exercise. In general, he
was attached to simple remedies: he recognised what
was subsequently termed Idiosyncrasy, or the pecu-
liar constitution of different individuals, which makes
the same remedy act differently on different persons.
A few fragments of the writings of Erasistratus have
been preserved by Galen. (Scholl, Hist. Lit. Gr. ,
'? ol. 3, p. 406, seqq. --Sprengel, Hist. Med. , vol. I, p.
439, seqq. )
Erato, one of the Muses, who presided over lyric,
tender, and amorous poetry. She is said to have in-
vented also hymns to the gods, and to have presided
likewise over pantomimic dancing. Hence Ausonius
? ays, " Plectra gerens Erato saltat pedc, carmine, vul-
tu. " (Idyi. ult. , v. 6. ) She is represented as crown-
ed with roses and myrtle, holding a lyre in her hand.
She appears with a thoughtful, and sometimes with a
? ? gay and animated, look. (Compare Mailer, Archaol.
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? ERE
ERE
tuned a history of geography, a critical notice of the
authorities used by nim, and the elements of phvsical
geography. The second book treated of malhjmtti-
cil geography. The third contained the political or
historical geography of the then known world. The
whole work was accompanied with a map. The geog-
raphy of Eratosthenes is iost; the fragments which
remain have been chiefly preserved by Strabo, who
was doubtless much indebted to them. --Eratosthenes
also busied himself with chronology. Some remarks
on his Greek chronology will be found in Clinton's
Fasti HcUemci (vol. 1, p. 3. --lb. , p. 408); and on
his list of Tbeban kings in Rask's work on the An-
cient Egyptian Chronology (Altona, 1830). --The prop-
erties ol numbers attracted the attention of philoso-
phers from the earliest period, and Eratosthenes also
distinguished himself in this branch. He wrote a work
on the "Duplication of the Cube," Kv6ov imtjiaiaa-
uic, which we only know by a sketch that Eudoxus
has given of it, in bis treatise on the Sphere and Cyl-
inder of Archimedes. Eratosthenes composed, also,
another work in ttus department, entitled Koamvov, or
"the Sieve," the object of which was to separate
prime from composite numbers, a curious memoir on
which was published by Horseley, in the " Philosophi-
cal Transactions," 1772. --Eratosthenes arrived at the
age of eighty years, and then, becoming weary of life,
died by voluntary starvation. (Suid. , s. v. ) Montu-
cla, with his usual naivete, says, it would have been
more philosophical to have awaited death "de pied
ferme. "--The best editions of the Catasterismi are
that of Schaubach, with notes by Heyne, Gbtt. , 1795,
and that of Matthias, in his Arams, Franco/. , 1817,
8vo. The fragments of Eratosthenes have been col-
lected by Bernhardy, Berol. , 1822. (Montucla, Hist,
ia ilitk. , p. 239. --Ddtimbrc, Hut. de I'Astron. Anc. ,
I %6. --Encycl. U*. Knmcl, vol. 9, p. 497. )
Esbess-js, a strongly-fortified town of Sicily, north-
ern of Ag. -igentum, which the Romans made their
principal place of arms in the siege of the last-men-
liooed city. It was soon after destroyed. (Polyb. , I,
18. )--When mention -is made, in other passages of the
ancient writers, of Erbessa, we must, no doubt, refer
it to the city of Herbessa, which lay nearer Syracuse.
(Mannert, Geogr. , vol. 9, pt. 2, p. 441. )
Esxbja, one of the boroughs of Attica, and be-
longing to the tribe ^Egeis. Its position has not been
clearly ascertained. This was the native demus of
Xenophon and Isocrates. (Diog. Laert. , 2, 48. )
Eeebus, I. a deity of the lower world, sprung from
Chaos. From him and his sister Nox (Night) came
jEthcr and the Day. (Hesiod, Theog. , 123, seqq. )--
11. A dark and gloomy region in the lower world,
where all is dreary and cheerless. According to the
Homeric notion, Erebus lay between the carti; and
Hades, beneath the latter of which was Tartarus. It
was therefore not an abode of the departed, but merely
a passage from the upper to the lower world. {Heyne,
ad Iliad, 8, 368. -- yassow, Lex. Gr. , s. v. ) This
mode of explaining is opposed, however, by some,
though on no sufficient grounds. (Keightley's My-
thology, p. 90. ) Oriental scholars derive the name
Erebus from the Hebrew ereb, evening.
Ekechthkis.
vol. 7, p. 350).
EpidIum, I. one of the Ebuds Insula;, supposed by
Mannert to be the same with the modern Ha. (Geogr. ,
vol. 2, p. 231. )--II. A promontory of Caledonia, cor-
responding to the southern extremity of the peninsula
? >f Canlyre. (Mannert, Geogr. , vol. 2, p. 204. )
Epigoni ('Ein'yovot, descendant! ), the sons of the
Grecian heroes who were killed in the first Theban
war. (Vid. Polynices. ) The war of the Epigoni is
famous in ancient history. It was undertaken ten years
after the first. The sons of those who had perished
in the first war resolved to avenge the death of their
fathers. The god, when consulted, promised them vic-
tory, if led by Alcmaeon, the son of Amphiaraus. Alc-
nwon accordingly took the command. Another ac-
count, however, given by Pausanias (9, 9, 2), makes
Thersa::der, son of Polynices, to have been at the head
of the expedition. The other leaders were Amphilo-
chns, brother of Alcmaeon; -Kgialcus, son of Adras-
tus; Diomedcs, of Tydeus; Promachus, of Parthe-
nopaeus; Slhenelus, of Capaneus; and Eurypylus, of
Mecisteus. The Argives were assisted by the Mes-
senians. Arcadians, Corinthians,and Megarians. The
Thcbans obtained aid from the neighbouring states.
The invaders ravaged the villages about Thebes. A
battle ensued, in which Laodamas, the son of Eteoclcs,
slew . /Egialcus, and fell himself by the spear of Alc-
mseon. The Thebans then fled; and, by the advice of
Tiresias, they secretly left their city, which was en-
tered and plundered by the Argives, and Tht-rsander
was placed on the throne. --With the exception of the
events of the Trojan war and the return of the Greeks,
nothing was so closely connected with the Hied and
Odyssey as the war of the Argives against Thebes,
since many of the principal heroes of Greece, particu-
larly Diomede and Sthenelus, were themselves among
the conquerors of Thebes, and their fathers before
them, a bolder and wilder race, had fought on the same
spot, in a contest which, although unattended with
victory, was still far from inglorious. Hence, also, re-
puted Homeric poems on the subject of this war were
extant, which perhaps really bore a great affinity to the
Homeric time and school. For we do not find, as in
the other poems of the cycle, the name of one, or
those of several later poets, placed in connexion with
these compositions, but they are either attributed to
Homer, as the earlier Greeks in general appear to have
done; or if the authorship of Homer is doubted, they
are usually attributed to no author <<t all. Thus the
second part of the Thebais, which related to the ex-
ploits of the Epigoni, was, according to Pausanias (9,
9. 2), ascribed by some to Homer. The true reading
? ? in Pausanias, in the passage just referred to, is un-
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? KPI
EP1
Eist one ot the moat magnificent cities in the world,
naving been founded, as they imagined, by Hamath,
one of the sons of Canaan. Allusion is frequently
made to Hamath in the Old Testament. (Compare
Genesis, 10, 18. --2 Samuel, 8, 9. -8 Kings, 48, 34.
--Jerenu, 49, 23. --Amos, 6,2. ) Its name was chan-
ged to Epiphanea, in honour of Antiochus Epiphanes.
It u now Homo, and was in modern times the seat of
an Arabian dynasty, to which the geographer Abulfeda
belonged. {Abulfeda, Tab. Syr. , p. 108 Pococke,
vol. 2, p. 210. --Mannert, vol. 6, pt. 1, p. 461. )
Epiphanes (illustrious), I. a surname of Antiochus
IV. , King of Syria. --II. A surname of Ptolemy V. ,
King of Egypt.
Epiphanius, a bishop of Salamis in Cyprus, in the
fourth century. He was bom of Jewish parents, at a
village called Besanducan, near Elcutheropolis, in Pal-
estine, about A. D. 320, and appears to have been edu-
cated in Egypt, where he imbibed the principles of the
Gnostics. At length he left those heretics, and, be-
coming an ascetic, returned to Palestine and adopted
the discipline of St. Hilarion, the founder of monachism
in that country. Epi^nanius erected a monastery near
the place of his birth, over which he presided till he
was made bishop of Salamis in 367. Here he remain-
ed about 36 years, and composed most of his writings.
In 391 he commenced a controversy with John, bishop
of Jerusalem, relative to the Platonic doctrines of the
learned and laborious Origcn, against which he wrote
and preached with implacable bitterness. John fa-
voured Origen's views, but Epiphanius found in The-
ophilus, the violent bishop of Alcxandrea, a worthy
coadjutor, who, in 399, convened a council, and con-
demned all the works of Origen. Epiphanius himself
then called a council in Cyprus, A. D. 401, and reit-
erated this condemnation, after which he wrote to St.
Chrysostom, then bishop of Constantinople, requesting
him to do the same. On finding this prelate disin-
clined to sanction his violent proceedings, he forthwith
repaired to Constantinople, for the purpose of exciting
the bishops of that diocese to join in executing the de-
crees which his Cyprian council had issued; but, hav-
vig entered a church in the city in order to repeat his
tnathemas, he was forewarned by Chrysostom of the
Uegality of his conduct, and was obliged to desist.
Exasperated at this disappointment, he applied to the
imperial court for assistance, where he soon embroiled
himself with the Empress Eudoxia; for, on the occa-
sion of her asking him to pray for the young Theodo-
nus, who was dangerously ill, he replied that her son
should not die, provided she would not patronise the
defenders of Origen. To this presumptuous message
the empress indignantly answered, that her son's life
was not in the power of Epiphanius, whose prayers
were unable to save that of his own archdeacon, who
had recently died. After thus vainly endeavouring to
gratify his sectarian animosity, he resolved to return
to CVurus; but he died at sea on the passage, A. D.
403. The principal works of Epiphanius are, 1. Ha- i
riipiov, or a Treatise on Heresies, that is, peculiar sects
(aJ(U<? eic). This is the most important of his writings.
It treats of eighty sects, from the time of Adam to the
? atter part of the 4th century. 2. 'AvaicepaXaiuote,
or an Epitome of the Panarion. 3. 'Aynvparuv, or
a Drsesarse on the Faith, explaining the doctrine of
the Trinity, Resurrection, dec. 4. A treatise on the
ancient weights, measures, and coins of the Jews. --
? ? Epiphanius was a. i austere and superstitious ascetic,
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? EPyRLJS.
EPO
Persian invasion, when the name of Admetus, king of
:he Molossi, occurs from ihe circumstance of his hav-
ing generously afforded shelter to Thcmistocles wlien
in exile and pursued by his enemies, although the in-
fluence of that celebrated statesman had previously
been exerted against him in some negotiations which
he had carried on at Athens. The details of this in-
cresting anecdote, as they are furnished by Thucyd-
ides, serve to prove the weakness as well as poverty
of the Molossian chiefs compared with the leading
powers of Greece at that time. (Thucyd. , 1, 130. )
Admetus was succeeded by his son Tharypas or Tha-
rymbas, who appears to have been a minor towards
the beginning of the Peloponncsian war, when we
find his subjects assisting the Ambraciots in their in-
vasion of Acarnania. Thucvdides, on that occasion,
reports, that Sabylinthus, prince of Atintania, was
guardian to Tharybas (2, 80). Tharybas is represent-
ed by Plutarch (Vit. Pyrrh. ) as a wise and able mon-
arch, and as encouraging science and literature. His
successor is not known; but some years after we hear
of a prince called Alcetas, who was dethroned by his
subjects, but restored by Dionysius of Syracuse.
(Diod. Sic. , 15, 13. --Pausan. , 1, 11. ) Neoptolcmus,
his son, reigned but for a short time, and left the
crown to his brother Arybas, together with the care of
his children. Alexander, the eldest cf these, succeed-
ed his uncle, and was the first sovereign of Epirns
who raised the character and fame of that country
among foreign nations by his talents and valour. His
sister Olympias had been married to Philip of Mace-
don, before his accession to the throne of Epirus; and
Ihe friendship thus cemented between the two mon-
archs was still farther strengthened by the union of
Alexander with Cleopatra, the daughter of Philip.
It was during the celebration of these nuptials at
Edessa that the King of Macedoi: was assassinated.
Alexander of Epirus seems to have oeen an ambitious
prince, desirous of conqu<rt and renown; and, though
re have no certain infoi. lation of the events which
occurred owing his reign, there is good reason for be-
lieving that he united the Chaonians, Thesprotians,
and other Epirotic clans, together with the Molossians,
under his sway; as we find the title of King of Epirus
first assumed by him. (Diod. Sic, 16, 72. --Strabo,
280. ) Having been applied to by the Tarentines to
aid them against the attacks of the Lucani and Brutii,
he eagerly seized this opportunity of adding to his
lame and enlarging his dominions. He therefore
. ? rosscd over into Italy with a considerable force, and,
nad he been properly seconded by the Tarentines
and the other colonies of Magna Grecia, the barba-
rians, after being defeated in several engagements,
must have been conquered. But Alexander, being left
to his own resources and exertions, was at length sur-
rounded by the enemy, and slain near the fated walls
of Pandosia, in the Brutian territory. (I*v. , 8, 24. --
Strabo, 255. ) On the death of Alexander the crown
devolved on his cousin ^Eacides, the son of Arybas
the former king, of whom little is known, except that,
having raised an army to assist Olympias against Cas-
sander, his soldiers mutinied and deposed him; not
long after, however, ha appears to have been reinstated.
{Diod. Sic, 19, 36. ) His brother Alcetas, who suc-
ceeded him, was engaged in a war with Cassander,
which proved unfortunate; for, being defeated, his do-
minions were overrun by the forces of his victorious en-
? ? emy, and he himself was put to death by his rebellious
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? EQU
EQU
men in their war with the Scquani, before Caesar's ar-
nta! in Gaul. (B. G. , 7, 67. ) He afterward went
over 10 the side of Vercingetorix, in the great insur-
rection against the Roman power, but was taken pris-
oner by Caesar. (B. G. , 7, 55. -/6. , 63. -/6. , 67. )
--II. Another -Eduan leader, mentioned by Cxsar.
(B. G. , 7, ~C. )
Epvtides, a patronymic given to Periphantes, the
sonofEpytus and the companion of Ascanius. (Virg. ,
? n. . 5, 547
Ef:iRiA, a festival established at Rome by Romu-
lus r\ honour of Mars, when horse-races and games
were exhibited in the Campus Martms. It took place
on tie 27th of February. (Varro, de L. L. , 5, 3. --
Ovid, Fait. , 2, 859. )
Equites, the name of an order in the Roman state.
Their origin, according to the old tradition, was this:
Romulus, having divided his subjects into three tribes,
chose from each 100 young men, whom he destined
to serve on horseback, and act as his body-guard. This
body of cavalry was called the Celeres, and afterward
the Eqv. Ua. (Dion. Hal. , 2,13. ) Niebuhr supposes
[Rom. Hut. , vol. 1, p. 325), that whereas Patr'a and
Patrir" were titles of honour for individuals, Cetera
wa> the name of the whole class as distinguished from
the rest of the nation. The three centuries of the Cc-
Itru were called by the same names as the three tribes
of die patricians, namely, Ramnes, Titles, and Luceres.
Their tribunes are spoken of as a college of priests
(Dim. Hal. , 2, 64), and it appears that the tribes of
the patricians had also tribunes. (Dion. Hal. , 2, 7. )
Moreover, when it is said that Tarquinius Priscus made
three new centuries, which he added to the former three,
anil that the whole went under the name of the Sex
Suffragia. or the Six Equestrian Centuries, we cannot
doubt that the alteration which he introduced was a con-
stitutional, and not merely a military one; that, in fact,
the centuries which he formed were, like the original
three, tribes of houses ; that his innovation was nothing
but a. i extension of the political division of Rome un-
der Romulus. (Nicbu. hr, Rom. Hist. , vol. 1, p. 391. )
When Scrvius Tullius established the comiua of the
centuries, be received the Sex Suffragia, which in-
cluded all the patricians, into his first class, and to
ihem he added twelve other equestrian centuries, made
up of the richest of the plebeian order. (Niebuhr,
vol. I, p. 427. ) The ancient writers appear to have
laboured under some great confusion with regard to
this arrangement. Li vy (1, 43) makes a proper dis-
tinction between the twelve equestrian centuries cre-
ated by Scrvius, and the six which existed before; but
when he states (1, 36) that the cavalry in the reign of
Tarquinius Priscus amounted to 1800, he appears to
be antedating the origin of the eighteen equestrian cen-
turies which formed part of the constitution of Scrvius.
To the establishment of the Comitia Centuriata, the cre-
ation of a body of Equites, as a distinct order, seems to
be due. The plan of Servius was, to a certain extent,
identical with that of Solon. The object of both legis-
lators was to break down the limits to which the old
aristocracy was confined, and to set tip an order of
wealth by the side of the order of birth; not, however,
that when a person could produce his 400,000 ses-
terces, he became ipso facto a knight, as was the case
iii after times. (Hot. , Epist. , 1, 1, 57. ) According
to the Servian constitution, good birth or the sanction
of the censors was necessary for gaining a place in the
? ? equestrian ordej. (Polyb. , 6, 20. --Zonarat, 7, 19. )
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? ERA
ERATOSTHENES.
inowH journey to lirundisium. He informs us, that
he passed the first night after having left Benevontum
at a villa close to Triricum, a place situated among
the mountains separating Samnium from Apulia. Hor-
ace, in speaking of Equus Tuticus, pleasantly alludes
10 the unmanageable nature of the name in verse:
"Mansuri oppidulo, quod vcrsu dicercnon est. " (Sat. ,
1, 6, 87. )
Erasistratus, a physician of Iulis, in the island of
Ceos, and grandson of Aristotle by a daughter of this
philosopher's. (Strabo, 486. --Stcph. Byzan , s. v.
'lovfac. '. After having frequented the schools of Chry-
sippus, Metrodorus, and Theophrastus, he passed some
time at the court of Seleucus Nicator, where he gained
great reputation by his discovering the secret malady
which preyed upon the young Antiochus, the son of
the king, who was in love with his mother-in-law,
Queen Stratonice. (Appian, Bell. Syr. , c. 126. --Lu-
cian, dc Dca Syr. , e. 17. ) It was at Alexandres, how-
ever, that he principally practised. At last he refused
altogether to visit the sick, and devoted himself en-
tirely to the study of anatomy. The branches of this
study which are indebted to him for new discoveries,
are, among others, the doctrine of the functions of the
brain, and that of the nervous system. He has im-
mortalized himself by the discovery of the via laclea;
and he would seem to have come very near that of the
circulation of the blood. Comparative anatomy fur-
nished him with the means of describing the brain
much better than had ever been done before him. He
also distinguished and gave names to the auricles of the
heart. (Galen, de Dogm. Hipp, et Plat. , lib. 7, p. 311,
seqq. --Id. , de Usu Pert. , lib. 8, p. 458. --Id. , de Ad-
mtnistr. Anal. , lib. 7, p. 184. --Id. , an Sanguis, &c. ,
p. 223. ) A singular doctrine of Erasistratus is that
of the irvtvua (pneuma), or the spiritual substance
which, according to him, fills the arteries, which we in-
hale in respiration, which from the lungs makes its way
in' > the arteries, and then becomes the vital principle
of the human system. As long as this spirit moves
about in the arteries, and the blood in the veins, man
enjoys health: but when, from some cause or other,
the veins become contracted, the blood then spreads
into the arteries and becomes the source of maladies:
it produces fever when it enters into some noble part
or into the great artery; and inflammations when it
is found in the less noble parts or in the extremities of
the arteries. (Galen, Comm. , 1, in lib. de Nat. Hum. ,
p. 3. ) Erasistratus rejected entirely blood-letting, as
well as cathartics: he supplied their place with dieting,
tepid bathing, vomiting, and exercise. In general, he
was attached to simple remedies: he recognised what
was subsequently termed Idiosyncrasy, or the pecu-
liar constitution of different individuals, which makes
the same remedy act differently on different persons.
A few fragments of the writings of Erasistratus have
been preserved by Galen. (Scholl, Hist. Lit. Gr. ,
'? ol. 3, p. 406, seqq. --Sprengel, Hist. Med. , vol. I, p.
439, seqq. )
Erato, one of the Muses, who presided over lyric,
tender, and amorous poetry. She is said to have in-
vented also hymns to the gods, and to have presided
likewise over pantomimic dancing. Hence Ausonius
? ays, " Plectra gerens Erato saltat pedc, carmine, vul-
tu. " (Idyi. ult. , v. 6. ) She is represented as crown-
ed with roses and myrtle, holding a lyre in her hand.
She appears with a thoughtful, and sometimes with a
? ? gay and animated, look. (Compare Mailer, Archaol.
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? ERE
ERE
tuned a history of geography, a critical notice of the
authorities used by nim, and the elements of phvsical
geography. The second book treated of malhjmtti-
cil geography. The third contained the political or
historical geography of the then known world. The
whole work was accompanied with a map. The geog-
raphy of Eratosthenes is iost; the fragments which
remain have been chiefly preserved by Strabo, who
was doubtless much indebted to them. --Eratosthenes
also busied himself with chronology. Some remarks
on his Greek chronology will be found in Clinton's
Fasti HcUemci (vol. 1, p. 3. --lb. , p. 408); and on
his list of Tbeban kings in Rask's work on the An-
cient Egyptian Chronology (Altona, 1830). --The prop-
erties ol numbers attracted the attention of philoso-
phers from the earliest period, and Eratosthenes also
distinguished himself in this branch. He wrote a work
on the "Duplication of the Cube," Kv6ov imtjiaiaa-
uic, which we only know by a sketch that Eudoxus
has given of it, in bis treatise on the Sphere and Cyl-
inder of Archimedes. Eratosthenes composed, also,
another work in ttus department, entitled Koamvov, or
"the Sieve," the object of which was to separate
prime from composite numbers, a curious memoir on
which was published by Horseley, in the " Philosophi-
cal Transactions," 1772. --Eratosthenes arrived at the
age of eighty years, and then, becoming weary of life,
died by voluntary starvation. (Suid. , s. v. ) Montu-
cla, with his usual naivete, says, it would have been
more philosophical to have awaited death "de pied
ferme. "--The best editions of the Catasterismi are
that of Schaubach, with notes by Heyne, Gbtt. , 1795,
and that of Matthias, in his Arams, Franco/. , 1817,
8vo. The fragments of Eratosthenes have been col-
lected by Bernhardy, Berol. , 1822. (Montucla, Hist,
ia ilitk. , p. 239. --Ddtimbrc, Hut. de I'Astron. Anc. ,
I %6. --Encycl. U*. Knmcl, vol. 9, p. 497. )
Esbess-js, a strongly-fortified town of Sicily, north-
ern of Ag. -igentum, which the Romans made their
principal place of arms in the siege of the last-men-
liooed city. It was soon after destroyed. (Polyb. , I,
18. )--When mention -is made, in other passages of the
ancient writers, of Erbessa, we must, no doubt, refer
it to the city of Herbessa, which lay nearer Syracuse.
(Mannert, Geogr. , vol. 9, pt. 2, p. 441. )
Esxbja, one of the boroughs of Attica, and be-
longing to the tribe ^Egeis. Its position has not been
clearly ascertained. This was the native demus of
Xenophon and Isocrates. (Diog. Laert. , 2, 48. )
Eeebus, I. a deity of the lower world, sprung from
Chaos. From him and his sister Nox (Night) came
jEthcr and the Day. (Hesiod, Theog. , 123, seqq. )--
11. A dark and gloomy region in the lower world,
where all is dreary and cheerless. According to the
Homeric notion, Erebus lay between the carti; and
Hades, beneath the latter of which was Tartarus. It
was therefore not an abode of the departed, but merely
a passage from the upper to the lower world. {Heyne,
ad Iliad, 8, 368. -- yassow, Lex. Gr. , s. v. ) This
mode of explaining is opposed, however, by some,
though on no sufficient grounds. (Keightley's My-
thology, p. 90. ) Oriental scholars derive the name
Erebus from the Hebrew ereb, evening.
Ekechthkis.
