transplanted by the Romans to this part of Campania after the conquest of Picenum, B.O. 268, at which time they founded the town of Picentia. PICENTINI. [PICENTIA.] PICENUM (-i), a country in central Italy, was a narrow strip of land along the coast of the Adriatic, and was bounded on the N. by Umbria, on the W. by Umbria and the territory of the Sabines, and on the S. by the territory of the Marsi and Vestini. It is said to have derived its name from the bird picus, which directed the Sabine immigrants into the land. They were conquered by the Romans in B.O. 268, when a portion of them was transplanted to the coast of the Sinus Paestanus, where they founded the town of Picentia. [PIOENTIA.] PICTI (-ōrum), a people inhabiting the northern part of Britain, appear to have been either a tribe of the Caledonians, or the same people as the Caledonians, though under another name. They were called Picti by the Romans, from their practice of painting their bodies. They are first mentioned in A.D. 296; and after this time their name frequently occurs in the Roman writers, and often in connection with that of the Scoti. PICTONES (-um), subsequently PICTAVI (-orum), a powerful people on the coast of Gallia Aquitanica. Their chief town was Limonnm, subsequently Pictăvi (Poitiers). PICUMNUS and PILUMNUS (i), two gods of matrimony in the rustic religion of the ancient Romans. Pilumnus was considered the ancestor of Turnus. PINDENISSUS. PIERIDES (-um). (1) A surname of the Muses. [PIERIA, No. 1.]-(2) The nine daughters of Pierus, king of Emathia (Macedonia), to whom he gave the names of the niue Muses. They afterwards entered into a contest with morphosed into birds. the Muses, and, being conquered, were meta PIERUS. (1) Mythological. [PIERIDES.](2) A mountain. [PIERIA, No. 1.] PILUMNUS. [PIOUMNUS.] PIMPLEA (-ae), a town in the Macedonian province of Pieria, sacred to the Muses, who were hence called Pimplerdes. Horace uses the form Pimplea in the singular, and not Pimpleis. PINARA (-ōrum), an inland city of Lycia. PINARII and POTITII (-ōrum), the name of two ancient Roman families, who presided over the worship of Hercules at Rome. PINĂRUS (-i), a river of Cilicia, rising in Mount Amanus, and falling into the gulf of Issus. PINDARUS (-i), the greatest lyric poet of Greece, was born at Cynoscephalae, a village MINAAPOC Pindar. in the territory of Thebes, about 1.0 522. He commenced his career as a poet at an early age, and was soon employed by different states and princes in all parts of the Hellenic world to compose for them choral songs for special occasions. He received money and presents for his works; but he never degenerated into a common mercenary poet, and he continued to preserve to his lat The praises which he bestowed upon Alexan- PICUS (-i), a Latin prophetic divinity, son of Saturnus, husband of Canens, and father of Faunus. The legend of Picus is founded on the notion that the woodpecker is a prophetic bird, sacred to Mars. Pomona was beloved by him; and when Circe's love for him was not requited, she changed him into a wood-est days the respect of all parts of Greece. pecker, who retained the prophetic powers which he had formerly possessed as a man. PIERIA (-e). (1) A narrow slip of country on the S. E. coast of Macedonia, extending from the mouth of the Penens in Thessaly to the Haliacmon, and bounded on the W. by Mount Olympus and its offshoots. A portion of these mountains was called by the ancient writers PIERUS, or the Pierian mountain. The inhabitants of this country were a Thracian people, and are celebrated in the early history of Greek poetry and music, since their country was one of the earliest seats of the worship of the Muses, who are hence called Pierides. After the establishment of the Macedonian kingdom in Emathia in the 7th century B.O., Pieria was conquered by the Macedonians, and the inhabitants were driven out of the country.-(2) A district in Macedonia, E. of the Strymon, near Mount Pangaeum, where the Pierians settled who had been driven out of their original abodes by the Macedonians, as already related.-(3) A district on the N. coast of Syria, so called from the mountain Pieria, a branch of the Amanus, a name given to it by the Macedonians after their conquest of the East. Seu deos (hymns and paeans) regesve (encomia) Sive quos Elea domum reducit But his only poems which have come down PINDENISSUS (-i), a fortified town of Cilicia, which was taken by Cicero when he was proconsul of Cilicia. PINDUS (-i). (1) A lofty range of mountains in northern Greece, a portion of the great backbone which runs through the centre of Greece from N. to S. The name of Pindus was confined to that part of the chain which separates Thessaly and Epirus; and its most N.-ly and also highest part was called LACMON.-(2) One of the 4 towns in Doris. PINNA (-ae), the chief town of the Vestini, at the foot of the Apennines. PIRAEEUS (-os) or PIRAEUS (1 Porto Leone or Porto Dracone), the most important of the harbors of Athens, was situated in the peninsula about 5 miles S. W. of Athens. This peninsula, which is sometimes called by the general name of Piraeens, contained 3 har bors: PIRAEECS proper, on the W. side, by far the largest of the 3; ZEA, on the E. side, separated from Piraeeus by a narrow isthmus; and MUNYCHIA (Pharnari), still farther to the E. It was through the suggestion of The The Piraeus restored. mistocles that the Athenians were induced to make use of the harbor of Piraeeus. Before the Persian wars their principal harbor was Phalerum, which was not situated in the Piraean peninsula at all, but lay to the E. of Munychia. [PHALERUM] The town or demus of Piraeeus was surrounded with strong fortifications by Themistocles, and was connected with Athens by means of the celebrated long walls under the administration of Pericles. (See p. 70.) The town possessed a considerable population, and many public and private buildings. PIRENE (-es), a celebrated fountain at Corinth, at which Bellerophon is said to have caught the horse Pegasus. It gushed forth from the rock in the Acrocorinthus, was conveyed down the hill by subterraneous conduits, and fell into a marble basin, from which the greater part of the town was supplied with water. The poets frequently used Prênis in the general sense of Corinthian. PIRITHŎUS (-i), son of Ixion and Dia, and king of the Lapithae in Thessaly. Pirithous once invaded Attica, but wheu Theseus came forth to oppose him, he conceived a warm admiration for the Athenian king; and from this time a most intimate friendship sprang up between the two heroes. When Pirithous was celebrating his marriage with Hippodamia, the intoxicated Centaur Eurytion or Eurytus carried her off, and this act occasioned the celebrated fight between the Centaurs and Lapithae, in which the Centaurs were defeated. Theseus, who was present at the wedding of Pirithous, assisted him in his battle against the Centaurs. Hippodamia afterwards died, and each of the two friends resolved to wed a daughter of Zeus (Jupiter). With the assistance of Pirithous, Theseus carried off Helen from Sparta. Pirithous was still more ambitious, and resolved to carry off Persephone (Proserpina), the wife of the king of the lower world. Theseus would not desert his friend in the enterprise, though he knew the risk which they ran. The two friends accordingly descended to the lower world; but they were seized by Pluto and fastened to a rock, where they both remained till Hercules visited the lower world. Hercules delivered Theseus, who had made the daring attempt only to please his friend; but Pirithous remained forever in torment. PISA (-ae), the capital of PĪSĀTIS (-idis), the middle portion of the province of Elis, in Peloponnesus. [ELIS.] Pisa itself was situated N. of the Alphaeus, at a very short distance E. of Olympia, and, in consequence of its proximity to the latter place, was frequently identified by the poets with it. The history of the Pisatae consists of their struggle with the Eleans, with whom they contended for the presidency of the Olympic games. The Pisatae obtained this honor in the 8th Olympiad (B.O. 748), with the assistance of Phidon, tyrant of Argos, and also a 2d time in the 34th Olympiad (644), by means of their own king Pantaleon. In the 52d Olympiad (572) the struggle between the 2 peoples was brought to a close by the conquest and destruction of Pisa by the Eleans. PISISTRATUS. PISAE (-arum: Pisa), an ancient city of Etruria, and one of the 12 cities of the confederation, was situated at the confluence of the Arnos and Ausar (Serchio), about 6 miles from the sea. According to some traditions, Pisae was founded by the companions of Nestor, the inhabitants of Pisa in Elis, who were driven upon the coast of Italy on their return from Troy; whence the Roman poets give the Etruscan town the surname of Alphea. In B.C. 180 it was made a Latin colony. Its harbor, called PORTUS PISANUS, at the mouth of the Arnus, was much used by the Romans. PISANDER (-dri), an Athenian, the chief agent in effecting the revolution of the Four Hundred, B.C. 412. PISĀTIS. [PISA.] PISAURUM (-i: Pesara), an ancient town of Umbria, near the mouth of the river PISAURUS (Foglia), on the road to Ariminum. PİSİDİA (-ae), an inland district of Asia Minor, lying N. of Lycia and Pamphylia, was a mountainous region, inhabited by a warlike people, who maintained their independence against all the successive rulers of Asia Minor. PISISTRATIDAE (-ārum), a name given to Hippias and Hipparchus, as the sons of Pisistratus. PISISTRĀTUS (-i), an Athenian, son of HipHis mother was cousin-german to the mother pocrates, belonged to a noble family at Athens. of Solon. When Solon had retired from Athens, after the establishment of his constitution, the old rivalry between the parties of the Plain, the Coast, and the Highlands broke out into open feud. The first was headed by Lycurgus, the second by Megacles, the son of Alemaeon, and the third by Pisistratus, who had formed the design of making himself tyrant or despot of Athens. Solon, on his return, quickly saw through his designs, and attempted in vain to dissuade him from overthrowing the constitution. When Pisistratus found his plans sufficiently ripe for execution, he one day made his appearance in the agora, his mules and his own person exhibiting recent wounds, and pretended that he had been nearly assassinated by his enemies as he was riding into the country. An assembly of the people was forthwith called, in which one of his partisans proposed that a body-guard of 50 citizens, armed with clubs, should be granted to him. Pisistratus took the opportunity of raising a much larger force, with which he seized the citadel, B. c. 560, thus becoming tyrant of Athens. His first usurpation lasted but a short time. Before his power was firmly rooted, the factions headed by Megacles and Lycurgus combined, and Pisistratus was compelled to evacuate Athens. But Megacles and Lycurgus soon quarreled; whereupon the former offered to reinstate Pisistrains in the tyranny if he would marry his daughter. The proposal was accepted by Pisistratus, who thus became a second time tyrant of Athens. Pisistratus now married the daughter of Megacles; but in consequence of the insulting manner in which he treated his wife, Megacles again made common cause PISTORIA. with Lycurgus, and Pisistratus was a second of Rome from the earliest period to the age time compelled to evacuate Athens. He retired to Eretria, in Euboea; and after spend- NIUS PISO, consul B.C. 67, belonged to the in which Piso himself lived. ing 10 years in making preparations to re- aristocratical party. He afterwards adminis(3) C. CALPUR gain his power, he invaded Attica, and made tered the province of Narbonese Gaul as prohimself master of Athens for the third time. consul. In 63 he was accused of plundering He was not expelled again, but continued to the province, and was defended by Cicero. hold his power till his death. not oppressive. He maintained the form of His rule was The latter charge was brought against Piso at Solon's institutions, and not only exacted the instigation of Caesar; and Piso, in reobedience to the laws from his subjects and venge, implored Cicero, but without success, friends, but himself set the example of sub- of Catiline.-(4) M. CALPURNIUS PISO, usually to accuse Caesar as one of the conspirators mitting to them. He was a warm patron of called M. PUPIUS Piso, because he was adoptliterature; and it is to him that we owe the ed by M. Pupius. He was elected consul B.C. first written text of the whole of the poems 61, through the influence of Pompey.—(5) CN. of Homer, which, without his care, would CALPURNIUS Piso, a young noble who had dismost likely now exist only in a few disjointed sipated his fortune by his extravagance and fragments. [HOMERUS.] He died in B.c. 527, profligacy, and therefore joined Catiline in and was succeeded in the tyranny by his two what is usually called his first conspiracy (66). sons, Hippias and Hipparchus. They cou- The senate, anxious to get rid of Piso, sent tinued the government on the same principles him into Nearer Spain as quaestor, but with as their father. Hipparchus inherited his the rank and title of propraetor. His exacfather's literary tastes. Several distinguished tions in the province soon made him so hatepoets lived at Athens under the patronage of ful to the inhabitants that he was murdered Hipparchus, as, for example, Simonides of by them.-(-) L. CALPURNIUS PISO, consul B.O. Ceos, and Anacreon of Teos. After the mur- 58, was an unprincipled debauchee and a cruel der of Hipparchus, in B. o. 514, an account of which is given under HARMODIUS, a great league, Gabinius, supported Clodius in his and corrupt magistrate. Piso and his colchange ensued in the character of the government. Under the influence of revengeful the banishment of the orator. measures against Cicero, which resulted in feelings and fears for his own safety, Hippias wards governed Macedonia, and plundered now became a morose and suspicious tyrant. the province in the most shameless manner. Piso afterHis old enemies, the Alcmaeonidae, to whom On his return to Rome (55), Cicero attacked Megacles belonged, availed themselves of the him in a speech which is extant (In Pisonem). growing discontent of the citizens; and after Calpurnia, the daughter of Piso, was the last one or two unsuccessful attempts they at length succeeded, supported by a large force wife of the dictator Caesar.-(7) C. CALPURunder Cleomenes, in expelling Hippias from married his daughter Tullia, in B.C. 63. He NIUS PISO FRUGI, the son-in-law of Cicero, Attica. Hippias first retired to Sigeum, B. O. 510. He afterwards repaired to the court of pointed by Tiberius to the command of Syria died in 57.-(8) CN. CALPURNIUS PISO was apDarius, and looked forward to a restoration in A.D. 18, in order that he might thwart and to his country by the aid of the Persians. He oppose Germanicus, who had received from accompanied the expedition sent under Datis the emperor the government of all the eastern and Artaphernes, and pointed out to the Per- provinces. Plancina, the wife of Piso, was sians the plain of Marathon as the most suit- also urged on by Livia, the mother of the emable place for their landing. He was now peror, to vie with and annoy Agrippina. Ger(490) of great age. According to some ac-manicus and Agrippina were thus exposed to counts he fell in the battle of Marathon; according to others he died at Lemnos, on his return. PISO (-ōnis), the name of a distinguished family of the Calpurnia gens. connected with agriculture, the most honorThe name is able pursuit of the ancient Romans; it comes from the verb pisere or pinsere, and refers to the pounding or grinding of corn. The chief members of the family are:-(1) L. CALPERNIUS PISO CAESONINUS, Consul B.O. 112, served as legatus under L. Cassius Longinus, B.0. 107, and fell in battle against the Tigurini, in the territory of the Allobroges. This Piso was the grandfather of Caesar's father-in-law, a circumstance to which Caesar alludes in recording his own victory over the Tigurini at a later time. (2) L. CALPURNIUS PISO FRUGI, Consul B.O. 133, received, from his integrity and conscientiousness, the surname of Frugi, which is nearly equivalent to our "man of honor." He was a stanch supporter of the aristocratical party, and offered a strong opposition to the measures of C. Gracchus. He wrote Annals, which contained the history every species of insult and opposition from Piso and Plancina; and when Germanicus he had been poisoned by them. Piso, on his fell ill in the autumn of 19, he believed that ing Germanicus; the matter was investigated return to Rome (20), was accused of murderby the senate; but before the investigation in his room with his throat cut, and his sword came to an end Piso was found one morning lying by his side. The powerful influence of Livia secured the acquittal of Plancina. well-known conspiracy against Nero in A.D. (9) C. CALPURNIUS Piso, the leader of the 65. On the discovery of the plot he put an end to his life by opening his veins. Jupiter at Rome, because when the Ganls Pistoia), a small place in Etruria, on the road rable by the defeat of Catiline in its neighborhood. PITĂNE (-es), a sea-port town of Mysia, on the coast of the Elaitic gulf; the birthplace of the Academic philosopher Arcesilaus. PITHECUSA. [AENARIA.] PITHŌ (us), the Greek goddess of persuasion, called SUADA OF SUADELA by the Romans. Her worship was.closely connected with that of Aphrodite (Venus). PITTACUS (-i), one of "the Seven Wise Men" of Greece, was a native of Mytilene in Lesbos, and was highly celebrated as a warrior, a statesman, a philosopher, and a poet. In B.C. 606 he commanded the Mytilenaeans in their war with the Athenians for the possession of Sigeum, and signalized himself by killing in single combat Phrynon, the commander of the Athenians. The supreme power at Mytilene was fiercely disputed between a succession of tyrants and the aristocratic party, headed by Alcaeus, and the latter was driven into exile. As the exiles tried to effect their return by force of arms, the popular party chose Pittacus as their ruler, with absolute power, under the title of Aesymnetes, He held this office for 10 years (589-579), and then voluntarily resigned it, having restored order to the state. He died in 569, at an advanced age. PITTHEUS (-eōs and či), king of Troezene, was son of Pelops, father of Aethra, and grandfather and instructor of Theseus. Aethra as his daughter is called Pittheis. PLACENTIA (-ae: Piacenza), a Roman colony in Cisalpine Gaul, founded at the same time as Cremona, B.O. 219, and situated on the right bank of the Po, not far from the mouth of the Trebia. It was taken and destroyed by the Gauls in B.o. 200, but was soon rebuilt by the Romans, and became an important place. PLANASIA (-ae: Pianosa), an island between Corsica and the coast of Etruria, to which Augustus banished his grandson Agrippa Postumus. PLANCINA. [Piso, No. 9.] PLANCIUS (-i), CN., whom Cicero defended B.O. 54, in an oration still extant, when he was accused of having practiced bribery in order to gain his election as curule aedile. PLANCUS (-i), the name of a distinguished family of the Munatia gens. The surname Plancus signified a person having flat splay feet without any bend in them. (1) L. MUNATIUS PLANCUS, a friend of Julius Caesar, who nominated him to the government of Transalpine Gaul for B.C. 44. Here he joined Antony and Lepidus. He was consul in 42, and governed in succession the provinces of Asia and Syria. He deserted Antony and Augustus shortly before the breaking out of the civil war between the two in 31. Both the public and private life of Plancus was stained by numerous vices. One of Horace's odes (Carm., i., 7) is addressed to him.-(2) T. MUNATIUS PLANOUS BURSA, brother of the former, was tribune of the plebs B.C. 52, and was condemned to banishment on account of R PLATO. his proceedings in this year. He fought on Antony's side in the campaign of Mutina.(3) CN. MUNATIUS PLANOUS, brother of the two preceding, was praetor in 43.-(4) L. PLAUTIUS PLANOUS, brother of the three preceding, was adopted by an L. Plautius. He was included in the proscription of the triumvirs, 43, with the consent of his brother Lucius, and was put to death. PLATAEA (-ae), more commonly PLAon the N. slope of Mount Cithaeron, not far TAEAE (-arum), an ancient city of Boeotia, from the sources of the Asopus, and on the frontiers of Attica. It was said to have derived its name from Plataea, a daughter of Asopus. At an early period the Plataeans deserted the Boeotian confederacy and placed themselves under the protection of Athens; and when the Persians invaded Attica, B.o. 490, they sent 1000 men to the assistance of the Athenians, and fought on their side at the battle of Marathon. Ten years afterwards (480) their city was destroyed by the Persian army under Xerxes at the instigation of the Thebans; and the place was still in ruins in the following year (479), when the memorable battle was fought in their territory, in which Mardonius was defeated, and the independence of Greece secured. In consequence of this victory, the territory of Plataea was declared inviolable. It now enjoyed a prosperity of 50 years; but in the 3d year of the Peloponnesian war (429) the Thebans persuaded the Spartans to attack the town, and after a siege of 2 years at length succeeded in obtaining possession of the place (427). Plataea was now razed to the ground, but was again rebuilt after the peace of Antalcidas (387). It was destroyed the 3d time by its inveterate enemies the Thebans in 374. It was once more restored under the Macedonian supremacy, and continued in existence till a very late period. PLATO (-ōnis). (1) The Athenian comic poet, was a contemporary with Aristophanes, and flourished from B.C. 428 to 359. He ranked among the very best poets of the Old Comedy. (2) The philosopher, was the son of Ariston and Perictione or Potone, and was born at Athens either in B.O. 429 or 428. According to others, he was born in the neighboring island of Aegina. His paternal family boasted of having descended from Codrus; his maternal ancestors, of a relationship with Solon. He was instructed in grammar, music, and gymnastics by the most distinguished teachers of that time; and in his 20th year he became a follower of Socrates, and one of his most ardent admirers. After the death of Socrates (399) he withdrew to Megara, and ΠΛΑΤΩΝ Plato. |