and was involved in some disputes with
the Christian writers, particularly John Philoponus, on
the subject of the eternity of the world.
the Christian writers, particularly John Philoponus, on
the subject of the eternity of the world.
Charles - 1867 - Classical Dictionary
?
stream is the Silaro.
(Cramer's Ancient Italy, vol.
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? t
S1L1US ITALICUS.
SILIOS ITALICUS, C. a Latin poet, born about the
25th year of the Christian era. He has been sup-
;used to have been a native of Italica, in Spain; but
is not being claimed as a fellow-countryman by Mar-
tial, who has bestowed upon him the highest praises,
renders this improbable. Some make him to have been
t native of Corfinium, a city of the Peligni, in Italy,
which, according to Strabo, was called Italica in the
time of the Social war; but Velleius Paterculus in-
forms us that Corfinium merely intended to change its
Dame to Italica, and that the project was never car-
ried into effect. Whether, however, he were a native
of Italica in Spain, or of an Italica elsewhere, his sur-
name certainly does not show it; for i. << that event it
would have been Italicemia. It is most probable that
Italictw was a family name; and it may have been
given to one of his ancestors, when residing in some
province, to show that he was of Italian origin. --
Silius Italicus applied himself with great ardour to the
stiiily of eloquence and poetry. In the former of these
pursuits he took Cicero for his model, and acquired at
the bar the reputation of an eminent speaker. In po-
etry ho gave the preference to Virgil. His predilec-
tion for these two great writers led him to purchase
two estates which had belonged to them, that of Ci-
cero at Tusculum, and that of Virgil near Nap'. es, on
which the poet had been interred. Silius often visited
the tomb of the latter, and celebrated his birthday
annually with great solemnities. --Our poet passed
through all the public employments which led to the
consulship. He is said also to have insinuated him-
r It into the favour of Nero by following the vile trade
of an informer. Pliny the younger, who mentions
(his fact, which, for the honour of literature, one could
wish might be impugned, adds, that if it be true that
Silius was thus guilty, he made amends for his fault
by a long course of subsequent virtue, and enjoyed at
Rome a high degree of consideration. The first con-
lulship of Silius (for it is thought, on no very suffi-
cient grounds, however, that he thrice held this ma-
gisincy) was in the famous year 68, when Nero died.
--Silius enjoyed the favour of Vitellius and Vespa-
sian: under the latter he was proconsul of Asia.
Loaded with honours,-and having accumulated an am-
ple fortune, he retired in his old age to Campania, and
ihere passed the rest of his days in the society of the
Muses. Attacked, at the age of 75 years, with an in-
curable malady, he starved himself to death, in the
reign of Trajan, A. D. 100. --Silius, through all his
life, had a strong attachment for poetry and literature,
and devoted to them all the leisure moments which
his public employments allowed. It was only, how-
ever, in his later years, and during his retreat at Na-
ples, that he formed the serious idea of aiming at a
place in the list of poets. He then composed an epic,
or, rather, historical poem, in seventeen cantos, the sub-
ject of which was the second Punic war. This poem,
entitled Punica, has come down to our times. It con-
firms the judgment which Pliny passed upon its au-
thor when he said that he wrote with more diligence
than genius. (Ep. , 3. 7, 5. ) It appears that Silius
was one of those men to whom Nature has granted a
certain facility, which makes them succeed in some
degree in whatever they undertake, and which, when
it is seconded by learning and taste, may, to a certain
degree, occupy the place of genius. The subject
which he chjse for his poem was one that possessed
? ? in unusual share of interest to the Romans. Three
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? SIM
SIM
mlh verse, thirty-three other verses which he said he
tad found in a MS. at Paris, and which exist, with
some slight changes, in the Bixth book of Petrarch's
Latin poem entitled Africa. More recent critics, how-
ever, and especially Hoync, in a review written by
him on Villebrune's edition, think that the thirty-three
verses in question are rather from the pun of Petrarch
than from that of Silius. --The best editions of Silius
Italicus are, that of Ruperti, Getting. , 1795-98, 2 vols.
8vo, and that of Lemaire, Paris, 1823, 2 vols. 8vo.
The following editions are also valuable: that of Dra-
kenborch, Traject. ad Rhcn. , 1717, 4to; that of Ville-
brune, Paris, 1781, 8vo; and that of Ernesti, Lips. ,
1791-92, 2 vols. 8vo. (Schbll, Hist. Lit. Rom. , vol.
2, p. 4*6, seqq. -- Compare lidhr, Gesch. Rom. Lit. ,
vol. 1, p. 151, seqq. )
Silvanus, a deity among the Romans who had the
care of fields and cattle (Virg. , JEn. , 8, 601), and
who also presided over boundaries. (Horat. , Epod. ,
2, 22. ) Groves were consecrated to him, whence per-
haps his name. He was usually represented as old,
and bearing a cypress plucked up by the roots {Virg. ,
Gcorg. , 1, 20); and the legend of Apollo and Cypa-
rissus was transferred to him. (Scrv ad Virg. , Geor-
gica, 1, 20. ) The usual offering to Silvanus was milk.
{Horat. , Epist. , 2, 1, 143. )--According to the Agri-
mensors, every possession should have three Silvani:
one domestic, for the possession itself; one agrestic,
for the herdsman; a third oriental, for whom there
should be a grove on the boundary. (Seal, ad Fest. ,
s. v. Marspedis. ) The meaning of this obscure pas-
sage probably is, that Silvanus was to be worshipped
under three different titles: as protector of the family,
for we meet with an inscription Silvano Larum; of
the cattle, perhaps those on the publio pastures; and
of the boundaries, that is, of the whole possession.
The Mars Silvanus, to whom Cato directs prayer to be
made for the health of the oxen, is probably the second
(R. R. , 80), and the third is the tutor finium of Hor-
des. (Keightley's Mythology, p. 536. )
Sinks'! , ihe people of South Wales in Britain, oc-
cupying the counties of Hereford, Monmouth, Rad-
nor, Brecon, and Glamorgan. Their capital was Isca
Sili,nun, now Carlton, on the river Isca or Vske, in
Glamorganshire. Caractacus was a prince of the Si-
iures. {Tac, Ann. , 12, 32-- Plin. , 4, 16. )
Simkthus, a river of Sicily, rising in the Herman
Mountains, and falling into the sea below Catana. It
receives a number of small tributaries, and is now the
Giaretta. {Thucyd. , 2, 65 --Plin. , 3, 8. )
SimmIas, I. a native of Rhodes, who flourished be-
tween the 120th and 170th Olympiad. The period
when he existed cannot be ascertained with more pre-
cision. He published a collection of poems, in four
nooks, entitled L\id<popa -oif/fiara. Aihensus cites
one of these pieces, entitled Gorgo. which appears to
have been of an epic character. Simmias is perhaps
the inventor of a kind of sport, which we do not find'
to have existed before him, and which could only have
been conceived of at a period when the public taste
had become extremely corrupt. It consisted in so
arranging verses of different length as to represent an
altar, an axe, a pair of wings, etc , the several verses
at the same time making one poem. A production of
this kind, forming a 2vpry! j, or Pandean pipe, has been
jfien ascribed to Theocritus. It consists of twenty
rerses, every two of the same size, and each pair less
? ? n length than the preceding; thus representing an in-
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? SIM
S IN
was trequently employed by the slates which had fought
? gainat the Persians, to sdorn with inscriptions the
? nmbs of their fallen warriors. The best and most
celebrated of these epigrams is the inimitable inscrip-
tion on the Spartans who died at Thermopylae, and
which actually existed on the spot: "Stranger, tell
the Laccdamonians that we are tying here in obedience
to their laws" Never was heroic courage expressed
with such calm and unadorned grandeur. With the
epitaphs are naturally connected the inscriptions on
sacred offerings, especially where both refer to the Per-
sist! war; the former being the discharge of a debt to
the dead, the latter a thanksgiving of the survivors to
the gods. A mong these, one of the best refers to the
battle of Marathon, which, from the neatness and ele-
gance of the expression, loses its chief beauty in a
prose translation (fragm. , 25, ed. Gait/. ). --The form
of nearly all the epigrams of Simonidcs is elegiac.
When, however, a name (on account of a short be-
tween two long syllables) could not be adapted to the
dactylic metre (as 'Ap^tvaiirf/f, 'In-jron/coc), he em-
ployed trochaic measures. (Mullcr, Hut. Lit. Gr. ,
p. 125, seqq. )-- Simonides became avaricious and
mercenary towards the close of his life; and it is men-
tioned as a aubject of dispraise, that he was the first
who wrote verses for money. Plutarch relates, that
some one having reproached him with his sordid ava-
rice, he relumed for answer that age, being deprived
of all other sources of enjoyment, the love of money
was the only passion left for it to gratify. (Plpt. , An
eeni sit gerenda respuil. --Opp. , ed Reiskc, vol. 9, p.
142. )--To Simonides the Greek alphabet is indebted
for four of its letters, ? , T, H, Q; and to him, also, is
attributed the invention of a system of Mnemonic*, or
artificial memory. (Compare Cic. , de Oral. , 2, 84 --
Plin. , 7, U. --Quintil. , 11,2, 11. )--It was Simonides
that gave the celebrated answer, when Hiero of Syra-
cuse inquired of him concerning the nature of God.
The poet requested one day for deliberating on the
rjbject; and when Hiero repeated his question on the
morrow, tho poet asked for two days. As be still
went on doubling the number of days, and the mon-
arch, lost in wonder, asked him why he did so, " Be-
cause, the longer I reflect on the subject, the more
obscure does it appear to me to be. " 'Cic. , N. D. , I,
22. )--The remains of the poetry of Simonides are
given in the collections of Stephens, Brunck, Gaisford,
Boissonsde, and others. The latest separate edition is
that of Schneidcwin, Brum. , 1835, 8vo. (Scholl, Hist.
Gr. Lit. , vol. 1, p. 242 -- Id ib. , vol. 2, p. 129 --
Compare Bode, Gesch. der Lyrischtn Dichtkunst, vol.
2, p. 122, eeqq. )--III. A son of the daughter of the
preceding. Being also a native of Ceos, he was dis-
tinguished from the former by the appellation of the
"Younger" He wrolo "on Inventions" (nepl eiipn-
uun. iv). and a work in three books on Genealogies.
(Beureite, Mem. de I'Acad, dee Inter. , dec , vol. 13,
p. 257. -- Van Goent, De Simonidc Ceo et philotopho,
Traj. ad Rhen, 1768, 4to )
SiMPLicius, a native of Cilicia, the clearest and most
intelligent of the commentators on Aristotle. His
commentaries are extremely valuable, from their con-
taining numerous fragments of the works of previous
philosophers. He flourished in the seventh century
of our era.
and was involved in some disputes with
the Christian writers, particularly John Philoponus, on
the subject of the eternity of the world. His com-
? ? mentary on the Manual or Enchiridion of Epictetus is
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? S IPf
SIP
inhabitants of the place divine honours- Ii the my-
thology of the Greeks he became one of the compan-
ions of Jason. Various accounts, too, are given of
the origin of the city's name, one of which traces it to
Sinope, (laughter of the Asopua. (Compare Apoll.
Rhod. , 2, 946. --Schot. , ad loe. --Plut. , Vit. Lucull --
Val. Flacc, 5, 108 ) -- The situation of Sinope waa
extremely well chosen. It was built on the neck of a
peninsula; and, as this peninsula waa secure j from any
hostile landing along its outer shores by high cliffs, the
city only needed defending on the narrow isthmus
connecting it with the mainland, while at the same
time it had two convenient harbours, one on either
side. The outer part of the peninsula afforded room
for spacious suburbs, for gardens and fields, on which
the city could easily rely for support in case of any
scarcity produced by a siege. (Polyb. , 4, 66. -- Stra-
ta, 545. ) Sinope soon increased in wealth and pow-
er, and became possessed of a dependant territory
which reached as far as the Halys, and which was in-
habited by the Leucosyrii; it became also the parent
city of many colonies along the coast. So flourishing
a place could not but excite the envy of the people in
the interior; and accordingly we find, from scattered
hints, that it was occasionally besieged by the neigh-
bouring satraps of Paphlagonia and Cappadocia; and
yet at other times, we are informed by Xenophon (An-
ab. , lib. 5 et 6), it stood on a very friendly fooling with
them. It encountered more danger from the monarchs
that arose subsequently to the time of Alexander.
Against open attacks from these, however, it was able
to make a successful stand (Polyb. , 4, 56); but it
could not defend itself against a surprise on the part
of Pharnaces. (Strabo, I. c. ) It lost its freedom, but
nut its commerce and prosperity, and from this time
forward became the residence of the monarchs of Pon-
tus, until Lucullus took it from the last Mithradates.
[t suffered severely on this occasion, and the Koinan
commander stripped it of many fine statues and valu-
able works of art. Among the articles carried off on
this occasion Strabo makes mention of the sphere of
Billarus. From this period Sinope remained subject
to the Roman power, and received, according to Stra-
bo and Pliny (Plin. , 6, 2), a Roman colony. Thia
colony was settled there in the year of Julius Caesar's
assassination. Strabo found the city in his time well
fortified, and adorned with many handsome edifices
both public and private. The commerce of the place,
indeed, had somewhat declined, having been drawn off
parti? to Byzantium, and in part to the cities of the
Tauric Chersonese. Still the thunny-fisheries in its
immediate vicinity continued to afford a very lucra-
tive branch of trade to Sinope. The city, however,
had begun to decline in political importance, and we
find, not it, but the city of Amasea the capital of the
later province of Hellenopontus. In the middle ages
Sinope made part of the petty Greek kingdom of Tra-
pezus; and after this it had independent Christian
monarchs of its own, who became conspicuous for their
naval power and their piracies. (Abul/eda, p. 318. )
The last of this dynasty surrendered his city and pow-
er to Mohammed II. in 1461. The modern Sinub is
still one of the most important Turkish cities along
this cDast. --Sinope was the birthplace of the Cynic Di-
ogenes. (Manner! , Geogr. , vol. 6, pt. 3. p. \\,eeqq. )
-- III. An ancient Greek city of Campania. (Vid.
Sinuessa. )
? ? Sinti, a Thracian community, who appear to have
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? S 1R
S I ft
greet quantities of cuttle-fish (in Greek onxia) bejng
thrown up by the sea on its shore. (Strab. , 284. )
Little is known of the history of Sipontum before its
name appears in the annals of Rome. We are told
by Livy that it was occupied by Alexander, king of
"pirus, when he was invited into Italy to aid the Ta-
rentines against the Bruttii and Lucani (8, 24). Sev-
eral years after, that is, A. U. C. 558, the same histo-
rian informs us that a colony was sent to Sipontum;
but it does not appear to have prospered; for, after
the lapse of a few years, it was reported to the senate
that the town had fallen into a state of complete des-
olation, upon which a fresh supply of colonists was
sent there (34, 45; 39, 22). Sipontum is said to
have been once dependant upon the city of Arpi. In
Strabo's time its harbour could still boast of some
trade, particularly in corn, which was conveyed from
the interior by means of a considerable stream, which
formed a lake near its mouth. (Strab. , 284. ) This
river, which Strabo does not name, is probably the
Cerbalus of Pliny (3, 11), now Cervaro. The ruins
of Sipontum are said to exist about two miles to the
west of Manfredonin, the foundation of which led to
the final desertion of Sipontum by its inhabitants, as
they were transferred by King Manfred to this modern
town, which is known to have risen under his au-
spices. {Cramer's Anc. Italy, vol. 2, p. 279. )
Sir-vi. es, I. a mountain in Lvdia, rising to the
south of Magnesia, and separated by a small valley
from the chain of Tinolus to the southeast, and by
another from Mount Mastinsia to the south. Sipylus
is celebrated in Grecian mythology as the residence
of Tantalus and Niobe, and the cradle of Pelops.
These princes, though more commonly referred to by
classical writers as belonging to Phrygia, must, in re-
ality, have reigned in Lydia if they occupied Sipvlus;
not the mountain merely, but a city of the same name,
situate on its slope. (Cramer's Asia Minor, vol. 1,
p. 437. ) "I. was growing dark," observes Mr.
Arundel. , 'or we might have seen, as the traveller by
daylight may, the abrupt termination of Mount Sipy-
lus at a considerable distance on the left, behind which
lies the town of Magnesia. " It is described by Chis-
huli as i stupendous precipice, consisting of a naked
mass of stone, and rising perpendicularly almost a fur-
long high It was here, too, that Chishull saw "a
certain cliff of the rock, representing an exact niche
and statue, with the due shape and proportion of a hu-
man body. " (ArundeU's Asia Minor, vol. 1, p. 18. )
The rock just mentioned as the termination of Sipy-
\us, and also the rock of the Acropolis behind the
town of Magnesia, have been supposed to contain
some magnetic iron; and the magnet is said to have
taken its name from this locality. Mr. Arundell and
some friends made experiments in this quarter, to test,
as far as it could be done, the truth of the story, and
found clear indications of considerable magnetic in-
fluence. (ArundeU's Asia Minor, I. c, in not. )--II.
A city of Lvdia, situate on the slope of Mount Sipy-
lus. According to traditions preserved in the country,
it was swallowed up at an early period by an earth-
quake, and was plunged into a crater afterward filled
by a lake. The existence of this lake, named Sale or
Sake, is attested hy Pausanias, who reports, that for
some time the ruins of the town, which he calls Idea,
if the word bo not corrupt, could be seen at tho bot-
tom. (Pausan , 7, 2i. --SiebcHs, ad loc. --Cramer's
? ? Asia Minor, vol. 1, p. 437. )
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? SIS
SIR
he was well acquainted with its beauties. In the pas-
sage of Atheneus where Archi'. ochus is cited, Alhe-
nxus represents the inhabitants of Siris as rivalling in
all respects the luxury and affluence of the Sybarites.
Siris and Sybaris had reached, about 500 B. C. , the
summit of their prosperity and opulence. Shortly af-
terward, according to Justin (30, 2), the former of the
two was almost destroyed in a war with Metapontum
and Sybaris. When the Tarentines settled at Hera-
clca they removed all tho Sirites to the new town, of
which Siris became the harbour. (Diod, Sic, 12, 36.
--Strabo, 203. ) No vestiges of this ancient colony
are now apparent; but it stood probably on the left
bank, and at the mouth of the Sinno. [Cramer's Anc.
Italy, vol. 2, p. 353. )
Sirius CSelptoc), a name given to the dog-star.
Homer, though he mentions the dog-star twice, docs
not employ the term. Hesiod, however, uses the ap-
pellation on several occasions (Op. el D. , 417, 587,
619. -- Scut. Here. , 397. ) But then, in the first of
these passages, he means by Sirius the sun. Nor is
this the only instance of such a utage. In Hesychius,
for example, wo have, Eripioc, 6 fjXioc, koi 6 roi kv-
viic aoTTjp, " Sinus, the sun, and also the dog-star. "
He then goes on to remark, Zo$ok/. ! jc rbv aorpuov
Kii-a- 6 de 'hpx&ox0? T0V fawv, 'IdvKOc 61 irdira ra
aorpa, "Sophocles calls the dog-star so; Archilochus
the sun; Ibycus, however,all the stars. " Eratosthenes,
moreover (c. 33), observes: "Such stars (as Sirius) as-
tronomers call ietpiovc (Sirios) dm ttjv rrjc fooybe
aivnaiv, "on account of the tremulous motion of their
light. " It would seem, therefore, that oeiptoc was
originally an appellative, in an adjective form, em-
ployed to indicate any bright and sparkling star; but
which originally became a proper name for the bright-
est of the fixed stars. The verb otiptaeiv, formed
from this, is, according to Proclus. a svnonyme of
? . 6fiKeiv, "to shine," "to be bright" (Idelcr, Slern-
Hamen, p. 239, seqq)
Sikiiio, a peninsula on the shores of tho Lacus
Benacus (Logo di Garda), now Sirmione, and the fa-
vourite residence, in former days, of tho poet Catullus.
(Catull. , 31. )
Sirhium, an important city of Pannonia Inferior,
on the northern side of the Saavus or Save, between
Ulmi and Bassiana. Under the Roman sway it waa
the metropolis of Pannonia. The Emperor Probus
was born here. The ruins of Sirmium may be seen at
the presenf day near the town of Milrowitz. (Plin. ,
3, 25. -- Zosim. , 2, 13 -- Herodian, 7, 2. -- Amm.
Marc, 21, 10. )
Sisapo, a town, or, rather, village of Hispania, in the
northern part of Bastica, supposed to answer to Alma-
den, on the southwestern limits of La Mancha. The
territory around this place not only yielded silver,
but excellent cinnabar; and even at the present day
large quantities of quicksilver are still obtained from
the mines at Almade. n. The Sisapone of Ptolemy
(probably the same with the Cissalone of Antoninus)
waa a different place, and lay more to the north-vest
of the former, among the Oretani. (Manner! , Q:?
ogr. , vol. I, p. 316 --Ulcert, vol. 2, p. 378. )
Sisenna, L , a Roman historian, the friend of Pom-
ponius Atticus. He wrote a history, from the taking
? f Rome by the Gauls down to the wars of Sylla, of
which some fragments are quoted in different authors.
He was considered superior to all the Roman histo-
? ? rians that had preceded him, and hence Varro entitled
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?
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? t
S1L1US ITALICUS.
SILIOS ITALICUS, C. a Latin poet, born about the
25th year of the Christian era. He has been sup-
;used to have been a native of Italica, in Spain; but
is not being claimed as a fellow-countryman by Mar-
tial, who has bestowed upon him the highest praises,
renders this improbable. Some make him to have been
t native of Corfinium, a city of the Peligni, in Italy,
which, according to Strabo, was called Italica in the
time of the Social war; but Velleius Paterculus in-
forms us that Corfinium merely intended to change its
Dame to Italica, and that the project was never car-
ried into effect. Whether, however, he were a native
of Italica in Spain, or of an Italica elsewhere, his sur-
name certainly does not show it; for i. << that event it
would have been Italicemia. It is most probable that
Italictw was a family name; and it may have been
given to one of his ancestors, when residing in some
province, to show that he was of Italian origin. --
Silius Italicus applied himself with great ardour to the
stiiily of eloquence and poetry. In the former of these
pursuits he took Cicero for his model, and acquired at
the bar the reputation of an eminent speaker. In po-
etry ho gave the preference to Virgil. His predilec-
tion for these two great writers led him to purchase
two estates which had belonged to them, that of Ci-
cero at Tusculum, and that of Virgil near Nap'. es, on
which the poet had been interred. Silius often visited
the tomb of the latter, and celebrated his birthday
annually with great solemnities. --Our poet passed
through all the public employments which led to the
consulship. He is said also to have insinuated him-
r It into the favour of Nero by following the vile trade
of an informer. Pliny the younger, who mentions
(his fact, which, for the honour of literature, one could
wish might be impugned, adds, that if it be true that
Silius was thus guilty, he made amends for his fault
by a long course of subsequent virtue, and enjoyed at
Rome a high degree of consideration. The first con-
lulship of Silius (for it is thought, on no very suffi-
cient grounds, however, that he thrice held this ma-
gisincy) was in the famous year 68, when Nero died.
--Silius enjoyed the favour of Vitellius and Vespa-
sian: under the latter he was proconsul of Asia.
Loaded with honours,-and having accumulated an am-
ple fortune, he retired in his old age to Campania, and
ihere passed the rest of his days in the society of the
Muses. Attacked, at the age of 75 years, with an in-
curable malady, he starved himself to death, in the
reign of Trajan, A. D. 100. --Silius, through all his
life, had a strong attachment for poetry and literature,
and devoted to them all the leisure moments which
his public employments allowed. It was only, how-
ever, in his later years, and during his retreat at Na-
ples, that he formed the serious idea of aiming at a
place in the list of poets. He then composed an epic,
or, rather, historical poem, in seventeen cantos, the sub-
ject of which was the second Punic war. This poem,
entitled Punica, has come down to our times. It con-
firms the judgment which Pliny passed upon its au-
thor when he said that he wrote with more diligence
than genius. (Ep. , 3. 7, 5. ) It appears that Silius
was one of those men to whom Nature has granted a
certain facility, which makes them succeed in some
degree in whatever they undertake, and which, when
it is seconded by learning and taste, may, to a certain
degree, occupy the place of genius. The subject
which he chjse for his poem was one that possessed
? ? in unusual share of interest to the Romans. Three
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? SIM
SIM
mlh verse, thirty-three other verses which he said he
tad found in a MS. at Paris, and which exist, with
some slight changes, in the Bixth book of Petrarch's
Latin poem entitled Africa. More recent critics, how-
ever, and especially Hoync, in a review written by
him on Villebrune's edition, think that the thirty-three
verses in question are rather from the pun of Petrarch
than from that of Silius. --The best editions of Silius
Italicus are, that of Ruperti, Getting. , 1795-98, 2 vols.
8vo, and that of Lemaire, Paris, 1823, 2 vols. 8vo.
The following editions are also valuable: that of Dra-
kenborch, Traject. ad Rhcn. , 1717, 4to; that of Ville-
brune, Paris, 1781, 8vo; and that of Ernesti, Lips. ,
1791-92, 2 vols. 8vo. (Schbll, Hist. Lit. Rom. , vol.
2, p. 4*6, seqq. -- Compare lidhr, Gesch. Rom. Lit. ,
vol. 1, p. 151, seqq. )
Silvanus, a deity among the Romans who had the
care of fields and cattle (Virg. , JEn. , 8, 601), and
who also presided over boundaries. (Horat. , Epod. ,
2, 22. ) Groves were consecrated to him, whence per-
haps his name. He was usually represented as old,
and bearing a cypress plucked up by the roots {Virg. ,
Gcorg. , 1, 20); and the legend of Apollo and Cypa-
rissus was transferred to him. (Scrv ad Virg. , Geor-
gica, 1, 20. ) The usual offering to Silvanus was milk.
{Horat. , Epist. , 2, 1, 143. )--According to the Agri-
mensors, every possession should have three Silvani:
one domestic, for the possession itself; one agrestic,
for the herdsman; a third oriental, for whom there
should be a grove on the boundary. (Seal, ad Fest. ,
s. v. Marspedis. ) The meaning of this obscure pas-
sage probably is, that Silvanus was to be worshipped
under three different titles: as protector of the family,
for we meet with an inscription Silvano Larum; of
the cattle, perhaps those on the publio pastures; and
of the boundaries, that is, of the whole possession.
The Mars Silvanus, to whom Cato directs prayer to be
made for the health of the oxen, is probably the second
(R. R. , 80), and the third is the tutor finium of Hor-
des. (Keightley's Mythology, p. 536. )
Sinks'! , ihe people of South Wales in Britain, oc-
cupying the counties of Hereford, Monmouth, Rad-
nor, Brecon, and Glamorgan. Their capital was Isca
Sili,nun, now Carlton, on the river Isca or Vske, in
Glamorganshire. Caractacus was a prince of the Si-
iures. {Tac, Ann. , 12, 32-- Plin. , 4, 16. )
Simkthus, a river of Sicily, rising in the Herman
Mountains, and falling into the sea below Catana. It
receives a number of small tributaries, and is now the
Giaretta. {Thucyd. , 2, 65 --Plin. , 3, 8. )
SimmIas, I. a native of Rhodes, who flourished be-
tween the 120th and 170th Olympiad. The period
when he existed cannot be ascertained with more pre-
cision. He published a collection of poems, in four
nooks, entitled L\id<popa -oif/fiara. Aihensus cites
one of these pieces, entitled Gorgo. which appears to
have been of an epic character. Simmias is perhaps
the inventor of a kind of sport, which we do not find'
to have existed before him, and which could only have
been conceived of at a period when the public taste
had become extremely corrupt. It consisted in so
arranging verses of different length as to represent an
altar, an axe, a pair of wings, etc , the several verses
at the same time making one poem. A production of
this kind, forming a 2vpry! j, or Pandean pipe, has been
jfien ascribed to Theocritus. It consists of twenty
rerses, every two of the same size, and each pair less
? ? n length than the preceding; thus representing an in-
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? SIM
S IN
was trequently employed by the slates which had fought
? gainat the Persians, to sdorn with inscriptions the
? nmbs of their fallen warriors. The best and most
celebrated of these epigrams is the inimitable inscrip-
tion on the Spartans who died at Thermopylae, and
which actually existed on the spot: "Stranger, tell
the Laccdamonians that we are tying here in obedience
to their laws" Never was heroic courage expressed
with such calm and unadorned grandeur. With the
epitaphs are naturally connected the inscriptions on
sacred offerings, especially where both refer to the Per-
sist! war; the former being the discharge of a debt to
the dead, the latter a thanksgiving of the survivors to
the gods. A mong these, one of the best refers to the
battle of Marathon, which, from the neatness and ele-
gance of the expression, loses its chief beauty in a
prose translation (fragm. , 25, ed. Gait/. ). --The form
of nearly all the epigrams of Simonidcs is elegiac.
When, however, a name (on account of a short be-
tween two long syllables) could not be adapted to the
dactylic metre (as 'Ap^tvaiirf/f, 'In-jron/coc), he em-
ployed trochaic measures. (Mullcr, Hut. Lit. Gr. ,
p. 125, seqq. )-- Simonides became avaricious and
mercenary towards the close of his life; and it is men-
tioned as a aubject of dispraise, that he was the first
who wrote verses for money. Plutarch relates, that
some one having reproached him with his sordid ava-
rice, he relumed for answer that age, being deprived
of all other sources of enjoyment, the love of money
was the only passion left for it to gratify. (Plpt. , An
eeni sit gerenda respuil. --Opp. , ed Reiskc, vol. 9, p.
142. )--To Simonides the Greek alphabet is indebted
for four of its letters, ? , T, H, Q; and to him, also, is
attributed the invention of a system of Mnemonic*, or
artificial memory. (Compare Cic. , de Oral. , 2, 84 --
Plin. , 7, U. --Quintil. , 11,2, 11. )--It was Simonides
that gave the celebrated answer, when Hiero of Syra-
cuse inquired of him concerning the nature of God.
The poet requested one day for deliberating on the
rjbject; and when Hiero repeated his question on the
morrow, tho poet asked for two days. As be still
went on doubling the number of days, and the mon-
arch, lost in wonder, asked him why he did so, " Be-
cause, the longer I reflect on the subject, the more
obscure does it appear to me to be. " 'Cic. , N. D. , I,
22. )--The remains of the poetry of Simonides are
given in the collections of Stephens, Brunck, Gaisford,
Boissonsde, and others. The latest separate edition is
that of Schneidcwin, Brum. , 1835, 8vo. (Scholl, Hist.
Gr. Lit. , vol. 1, p. 242 -- Id ib. , vol. 2, p. 129 --
Compare Bode, Gesch. der Lyrischtn Dichtkunst, vol.
2, p. 122, eeqq. )--III. A son of the daughter of the
preceding. Being also a native of Ceos, he was dis-
tinguished from the former by the appellation of the
"Younger" He wrolo "on Inventions" (nepl eiipn-
uun. iv). and a work in three books on Genealogies.
(Beureite, Mem. de I'Acad, dee Inter. , dec , vol. 13,
p. 257. -- Van Goent, De Simonidc Ceo et philotopho,
Traj. ad Rhen, 1768, 4to )
SiMPLicius, a native of Cilicia, the clearest and most
intelligent of the commentators on Aristotle. His
commentaries are extremely valuable, from their con-
taining numerous fragments of the works of previous
philosophers. He flourished in the seventh century
of our era.
and was involved in some disputes with
the Christian writers, particularly John Philoponus, on
the subject of the eternity of the world. His com-
? ? mentary on the Manual or Enchiridion of Epictetus is
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? S IPf
SIP
inhabitants of the place divine honours- Ii the my-
thology of the Greeks he became one of the compan-
ions of Jason. Various accounts, too, are given of
the origin of the city's name, one of which traces it to
Sinope, (laughter of the Asopua. (Compare Apoll.
Rhod. , 2, 946. --Schot. , ad loe. --Plut. , Vit. Lucull --
Val. Flacc, 5, 108 ) -- The situation of Sinope waa
extremely well chosen. It was built on the neck of a
peninsula; and, as this peninsula waa secure j from any
hostile landing along its outer shores by high cliffs, the
city only needed defending on the narrow isthmus
connecting it with the mainland, while at the same
time it had two convenient harbours, one on either
side. The outer part of the peninsula afforded room
for spacious suburbs, for gardens and fields, on which
the city could easily rely for support in case of any
scarcity produced by a siege. (Polyb. , 4, 66. -- Stra-
ta, 545. ) Sinope soon increased in wealth and pow-
er, and became possessed of a dependant territory
which reached as far as the Halys, and which was in-
habited by the Leucosyrii; it became also the parent
city of many colonies along the coast. So flourishing
a place could not but excite the envy of the people in
the interior; and accordingly we find, from scattered
hints, that it was occasionally besieged by the neigh-
bouring satraps of Paphlagonia and Cappadocia; and
yet at other times, we are informed by Xenophon (An-
ab. , lib. 5 et 6), it stood on a very friendly fooling with
them. It encountered more danger from the monarchs
that arose subsequently to the time of Alexander.
Against open attacks from these, however, it was able
to make a successful stand (Polyb. , 4, 56); but it
could not defend itself against a surprise on the part
of Pharnaces. (Strabo, I. c. ) It lost its freedom, but
nut its commerce and prosperity, and from this time
forward became the residence of the monarchs of Pon-
tus, until Lucullus took it from the last Mithradates.
[t suffered severely on this occasion, and the Koinan
commander stripped it of many fine statues and valu-
able works of art. Among the articles carried off on
this occasion Strabo makes mention of the sphere of
Billarus. From this period Sinope remained subject
to the Roman power, and received, according to Stra-
bo and Pliny (Plin. , 6, 2), a Roman colony. Thia
colony was settled there in the year of Julius Caesar's
assassination. Strabo found the city in his time well
fortified, and adorned with many handsome edifices
both public and private. The commerce of the place,
indeed, had somewhat declined, having been drawn off
parti? to Byzantium, and in part to the cities of the
Tauric Chersonese. Still the thunny-fisheries in its
immediate vicinity continued to afford a very lucra-
tive branch of trade to Sinope. The city, however,
had begun to decline in political importance, and we
find, not it, but the city of Amasea the capital of the
later province of Hellenopontus. In the middle ages
Sinope made part of the petty Greek kingdom of Tra-
pezus; and after this it had independent Christian
monarchs of its own, who became conspicuous for their
naval power and their piracies. (Abul/eda, p. 318. )
The last of this dynasty surrendered his city and pow-
er to Mohammed II. in 1461. The modern Sinub is
still one of the most important Turkish cities along
this cDast. --Sinope was the birthplace of the Cynic Di-
ogenes. (Manner! , Geogr. , vol. 6, pt. 3. p. \\,eeqq. )
-- III. An ancient Greek city of Campania. (Vid.
Sinuessa. )
? ? Sinti, a Thracian community, who appear to have
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? S 1R
S I ft
greet quantities of cuttle-fish (in Greek onxia) bejng
thrown up by the sea on its shore. (Strab. , 284. )
Little is known of the history of Sipontum before its
name appears in the annals of Rome. We are told
by Livy that it was occupied by Alexander, king of
"pirus, when he was invited into Italy to aid the Ta-
rentines against the Bruttii and Lucani (8, 24). Sev-
eral years after, that is, A. U. C. 558, the same histo-
rian informs us that a colony was sent to Sipontum;
but it does not appear to have prospered; for, after
the lapse of a few years, it was reported to the senate
that the town had fallen into a state of complete des-
olation, upon which a fresh supply of colonists was
sent there (34, 45; 39, 22). Sipontum is said to
have been once dependant upon the city of Arpi. In
Strabo's time its harbour could still boast of some
trade, particularly in corn, which was conveyed from
the interior by means of a considerable stream, which
formed a lake near its mouth. (Strab. , 284. ) This
river, which Strabo does not name, is probably the
Cerbalus of Pliny (3, 11), now Cervaro. The ruins
of Sipontum are said to exist about two miles to the
west of Manfredonin, the foundation of which led to
the final desertion of Sipontum by its inhabitants, as
they were transferred by King Manfred to this modern
town, which is known to have risen under his au-
spices. {Cramer's Anc. Italy, vol. 2, p. 279. )
Sir-vi. es, I. a mountain in Lvdia, rising to the
south of Magnesia, and separated by a small valley
from the chain of Tinolus to the southeast, and by
another from Mount Mastinsia to the south. Sipylus
is celebrated in Grecian mythology as the residence
of Tantalus and Niobe, and the cradle of Pelops.
These princes, though more commonly referred to by
classical writers as belonging to Phrygia, must, in re-
ality, have reigned in Lydia if they occupied Sipvlus;
not the mountain merely, but a city of the same name,
situate on its slope. (Cramer's Asia Minor, vol. 1,
p. 437. ) "I. was growing dark," observes Mr.
Arundel. , 'or we might have seen, as the traveller by
daylight may, the abrupt termination of Mount Sipy-
lus at a considerable distance on the left, behind which
lies the town of Magnesia. " It is described by Chis-
huli as i stupendous precipice, consisting of a naked
mass of stone, and rising perpendicularly almost a fur-
long high It was here, too, that Chishull saw "a
certain cliff of the rock, representing an exact niche
and statue, with the due shape and proportion of a hu-
man body. " (ArundeU's Asia Minor, vol. 1, p. 18. )
The rock just mentioned as the termination of Sipy-
\us, and also the rock of the Acropolis behind the
town of Magnesia, have been supposed to contain
some magnetic iron; and the magnet is said to have
taken its name from this locality. Mr. Arundell and
some friends made experiments in this quarter, to test,
as far as it could be done, the truth of the story, and
found clear indications of considerable magnetic in-
fluence. (ArundeU's Asia Minor, I. c, in not. )--II.
A city of Lvdia, situate on the slope of Mount Sipy-
lus. According to traditions preserved in the country,
it was swallowed up at an early period by an earth-
quake, and was plunged into a crater afterward filled
by a lake. The existence of this lake, named Sale or
Sake, is attested hy Pausanias, who reports, that for
some time the ruins of the town, which he calls Idea,
if the word bo not corrupt, could be seen at tho bot-
tom. (Pausan , 7, 2i. --SiebcHs, ad loc. --Cramer's
? ? Asia Minor, vol. 1, p. 437. )
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? SIS
SIR
he was well acquainted with its beauties. In the pas-
sage of Atheneus where Archi'. ochus is cited, Alhe-
nxus represents the inhabitants of Siris as rivalling in
all respects the luxury and affluence of the Sybarites.
Siris and Sybaris had reached, about 500 B. C. , the
summit of their prosperity and opulence. Shortly af-
terward, according to Justin (30, 2), the former of the
two was almost destroyed in a war with Metapontum
and Sybaris. When the Tarentines settled at Hera-
clca they removed all tho Sirites to the new town, of
which Siris became the harbour. (Diod, Sic, 12, 36.
--Strabo, 203. ) No vestiges of this ancient colony
are now apparent; but it stood probably on the left
bank, and at the mouth of the Sinno. [Cramer's Anc.
Italy, vol. 2, p. 353. )
Sirius CSelptoc), a name given to the dog-star.
Homer, though he mentions the dog-star twice, docs
not employ the term. Hesiod, however, uses the ap-
pellation on several occasions (Op. el D. , 417, 587,
619. -- Scut. Here. , 397. ) But then, in the first of
these passages, he means by Sirius the sun. Nor is
this the only instance of such a utage. In Hesychius,
for example, wo have, Eripioc, 6 fjXioc, koi 6 roi kv-
viic aoTTjp, " Sinus, the sun, and also the dog-star. "
He then goes on to remark, Zo$ok/. ! jc rbv aorpuov
Kii-a- 6 de 'hpx&ox0? T0V fawv, 'IdvKOc 61 irdira ra
aorpa, "Sophocles calls the dog-star so; Archilochus
the sun; Ibycus, however,all the stars. " Eratosthenes,
moreover (c. 33), observes: "Such stars (as Sirius) as-
tronomers call ietpiovc (Sirios) dm ttjv rrjc fooybe
aivnaiv, "on account of the tremulous motion of their
light. " It would seem, therefore, that oeiptoc was
originally an appellative, in an adjective form, em-
ployed to indicate any bright and sparkling star; but
which originally became a proper name for the bright-
est of the fixed stars. The verb otiptaeiv, formed
from this, is, according to Proclus. a svnonyme of
? . 6fiKeiv, "to shine," "to be bright" (Idelcr, Slern-
Hamen, p. 239, seqq)
Sikiiio, a peninsula on the shores of tho Lacus
Benacus (Logo di Garda), now Sirmione, and the fa-
vourite residence, in former days, of tho poet Catullus.
(Catull. , 31. )
Sirhium, an important city of Pannonia Inferior,
on the northern side of the Saavus or Save, between
Ulmi and Bassiana. Under the Roman sway it waa
the metropolis of Pannonia. The Emperor Probus
was born here. The ruins of Sirmium may be seen at
the presenf day near the town of Milrowitz. (Plin. ,
3, 25. -- Zosim. , 2, 13 -- Herodian, 7, 2. -- Amm.
Marc, 21, 10. )
Sisapo, a town, or, rather, village of Hispania, in the
northern part of Bastica, supposed to answer to Alma-
den, on the southwestern limits of La Mancha. The
territory around this place not only yielded silver,
but excellent cinnabar; and even at the present day
large quantities of quicksilver are still obtained from
the mines at Almade. n. The Sisapone of Ptolemy
(probably the same with the Cissalone of Antoninus)
waa a different place, and lay more to the north-vest
of the former, among the Oretani. (Manner! , Q:?
ogr. , vol. I, p. 316 --Ulcert, vol. 2, p. 378. )
Sisenna, L , a Roman historian, the friend of Pom-
ponius Atticus. He wrote a history, from the taking
? f Rome by the Gauls down to the wars of Sylla, of
which some fragments are quoted in different authors.
He was considered superior to all the Roman histo-
? ? rians that had preceded him, and hence Varro entitled
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?
