The Daughters having performed his Command I went in eat and drank with him and then with all Submission entreated him to give me his Daughter Sephora to Wife which he promised to do provided I could bring to him a Rod which was in his Garden to which I agreed went to see for the Rod and when I found it I plucked it out of the Ground and carried it to him Jethro was surprized hereat and reflecting upon what I had done he cried out and said This is certainly that Prophet of whom the Seers of Israel have spoken who is to lay Egypt waste and to destroy its People and being thus possest he all in a Rage took me and threw me into a deep Pit that was in his Garden Sephora was not a little concerned at this Adventure no more than my self and she studied at the same time how she might save a Man's Life who had obliged her Hereupon she prayed her Father that he would let her tarry at home to look after the House and send her Sisters to the Fields to keep his Cattle Her Father in answer told her Daughter It shall be so that thy Sisters shall go and look after the Cattle but thou shalt tarry here and take Care of Matters at home Thus Sephora finding her self alone she fed me every Day with the daintiest Victuals and the same whereof her Father Jethro eat and that for Seven Years which was the time I tarried in the said Pit But at the End of that time Sephora spoke to her Father in this manner Father 'T is a long time since you have thrown into this Ditch that Egyptian who brought the Rod to you from the Place in the Garden wherein you had put it suffer now the Pit to be opened and let us see what will come of it for if he be dead let his Carcase be taken away that your House may not be polluted and if he be still alive he must be a holy Man Jethro made answer Daughter You have spoke well Can you still remember what his Name was Yes Father said she his Name was Moses the Son of Amram Jethro at the same time commanded the Pit to be opened and called me twice Moses Moses I answered him and presently he took me out kissed and told me Blessed be God who hath preserved thee for Seven Years in this Pit I bear him witness this Day that he has Power to kill and Power to make alive I will testifie aloud and every-where that thou art a right good Man that thou shalt one Day lay Egypt waste that thou art the Person who shall drown the Egyptians in the Sea and by thy means Pharaoh and his Army shall run the same Fate And at the same time he gave me Money and Sephora his Daughter to Wife Abarbinel a Jewish Doctor whose Works are highly esteemed by that People commenting upon the 2d Chapter of Exodus explains that History in this manner After Moses had been entertained by Jethro and that he came to know him to be a Man of much Understanding and deep Knowledge he was desirous to enter into a nearer and more particular Alliance with him because of the great Wisdom he had observed in his Conversation and gave his Consent he should live with him And this is that which Moses says in Exodus And Moses consented to live with Jethro not for the Love he bore to Sephora whom he married but because of Jetbro's Wisdom It is says he the Opinion of our Doctors since they say in the Commentary that the Rod of God was planted in the Garden and that no Man could pull it from thence but Moses and that for the said Reason he took Sephora to Wife for by it they meant the Tree of Life which was in the midst of the Garden that is the Wisdom of Moses upon the Account of which he was honoured with the Gift of Prophecy Jetbro gave also to Moses his Daughter Sephora to Wife by reason of his wondrous Wisdom Moses lead the People of God into the Wilderness and talked divers times with God He died upon Mount Nebo from whence God had shewed him the Land of Promise he being then 120 Years old The Pagans made him to be their Bacchus as you may see under that Word Numerinus says Plato and Pythagoras had drawn their Doctrine out of his Books and that the first of them was the Moses of Athens He is ancienter than all the Greek Writers and even than their Mercurius Trismegistus Tatian who was one of those Ancients that Apologized for the Christian Religion against the Persecutions of the first Centuries tell us That Moses was before the Heroes and even the Gods themselves of the Greeks and that the Grecians wrote nothing good but what they took from our Scriptures and that their Defign by partly corrupting them was no other than that themselves might be entituled Authors Theodoretus says Moses was ancienter by a Thousand Years than Orpheus and that he was like the Ocean or Head-spring of Theology from whence they took their Origin as so many Streams and whereunto the most ancient Philosophers had Recourse The Learned are agreed that the Two ancientest Writers of the World whose Writings are transmitted unto us are Moses and Homer and that Moses lived several Ages before the other Moses wrote much in Verse and in the Book of Numbers he has set down a Canaanitish Poet's Song of Victory MULCIBER one of the Names given to Vulcan being derived from Mulceo because the Fire softens and qualifies all Things MUNDUS PATENS The open World a Solemnity performed in a little Temple or Chappel that was of a round Form like the World and dedicated to Dis and the Infernal Gods it was opened but thrice a Year viz. on the Day after the Vulcanalia the 4th of October and the 7th of the Ides of November during which Days the Romans believed Hell was open wherefore they never offered Battle on those Days lifted no Soldiers never put out to Sea nor married according to Varro as Macrobius witnesses L. Saturn C. 16. Mundus cùm patet Deorum tristium atque Inferûm quasi janua patet proptereà non modò pralium committ◠verum etiam delectum rei militaris cansâ habere ac militem proficisci navem solvere uxorem ducere religiosum est MURTIA a Surname of Venus taken from the Myrtle-Tree which was consecrated to her She was formerly called Myrtea and corruptly Murtia Festus says there was a Temple built for the Goddess Murtia upon Mount Aventine as to a Goddess of Idleness who made People idle and lazy MUS a Rat Mouse the Phrygians held Rats in great Veneration according to Clemens Alexandrinus Polemo relates says he that the Trojans gave Religious Adoration to Rats which they called Smintheus because they once gnawed to pieces the Bow-strings of their Enemies and this was the Reason why they gave to Apollo the Epithet of Smyntheus And Straho speaking of the
a very remote Country and if we believe what Strabo says they are in Spain And Proteus King and Prophet of Aegypt foretold to Menelaus that the Gods will send you to the Elysian Fields where is Rhadamanihus and where Men livevery pleasantly there falls neither Snow nor Rain and there is no Winter but Zephirs cool Men with their sweet breath Strabo applies this description to Spain and affirms that the Fortnnate Islands are so called because they are in the Neighbourhood of Spain Diodorus Siculus has made a description of them which is yet extant Horace speaks of these Islands famous for their Riches Ereptum Stygiis fluctibus Aeacum Virtus favor lingua potentiam Vatum divitibus consecrat insulis Hesiod placed the Heroes in the Isle of the Blessed which lies in the Ocean therefore the ancient Geographers have placed an Elysian Field and a River Lethe there The Phaenicians found abundance of Riches in Spain and that it was a very pleasant Country wherefore they called it a Paradice But after the Fortunate Islands were discovered and the Treasures of Spain were almost wasted there they placed the Elysian Fields and called those Islands the Isles of the Blessed Plato gave that name to the Paradice or Dwelling-place of Just Men. Hesychius discovers some other places that were accounted the abode of Felicity Elysium Beatorum Insula Some Authors say that this place is in Egypt others in the Isle of Lesbos and many others in a place stricken with a Thunderbolt and inaccessible to Men. Dionysius who has made the description of the World mentions the white Island in the black Sea called also the Isle of the Heroes where Achilles and the other Heroes dwell since their death by the favour of Jupiter who rewards Virtue Italy had also her Elysian Fields as Virgil relates in the 6th Book of the Aeneid where he places the Elysian Fields in Italy and says that Aeneas went to see them and there met Anchisos his Father Plutarch places the Elysian Fields in the Moon And when Hesychius said that some Writers thought the Elysian Fields were in a place inaccessible to Men because of the Thunderbolts and stormy weather it seems that he makes allusion to the Terrestrial Paradice mentioned in the Holy Scripture from whence Adam was driven away after his Sin and the entry whereof was guarded by a Cherubim armed with a Flaming Sword Pindarus makes a very fine description of the Paradice and Happiness of just Men But he seems to allow two Paradices for just Men and the most excellent of these Paradices is granted to them after they have kept their Innocency during three several Lives and in three several Bodies Statius is also for two Paradices one in Heaven and the other in the Elysian Fields upon the Earth Lucian has left us a very pleasant description of the Elysian Fields which may be deservedly inserted here We were conducted to the City of the Isle of the Blessed to assist at their Feasts we were ravished at our entrance to see a City of Gold and Walls of Emerald the Pavement all in-laid work of Ebony and Ivory The Temples of Rubies and Diamonds with great Altars raised upon one single precious Stone on which Hecatombs were seen to smoak They have seven Gates all of Cinnamon and a Moat of sweet scented Lustral Water a hundred yards broad which was only as deep as was necessary to bath in at ones ease Yet they have publick Baths of admirable Artifice wherein they burn nothing but Faggots of Cinnamon The Edifice was of Crystal and the Basins or Bathing Tubs great Vessels of Porcelain full of Dew Now the Blessed have no Body and are inpalpable yet they drink and eat and perform the other natural functions they never grow old but remain continually at the Age they dye in being that old Men there recover their Beauty and Vigour Of all the Seasons they know none but the Spring and feel no oother Wind but Zephirus but the Earth is covered with Flowers and Fruits all the Year long which are gathered every month and they are said to bear twice in the Month called Minos Their Ears instead of Corn are loaded with little Loaves like Mushrooms There are three hundred sixty five Fountains of fresh Water and as many of Honey and four hundred of sweet Oyntment but smaller than the others with several Rivers of Milk and Wine They keep their Feasts without the City in the Elysian Fields under the shade of a Wood which surrounded it there they sat upon Beds of Flowers and have their Meat brought by the Winds They are at no pains to make Garlands for the little Birds which hop round singing scatter Flowers upon them which they have pillaged in the neighbouring Meadows they never cease singing during the Meal and rehearsing curious fine Verses Their Dances are compos'd of Boys and Virgins and their Musick-Masters are Eunomus Arion Anaereon and Stesichorus When they have finished their Songs appears a second Quire of Musicians composed of Swans and Nightingales which with the Zephirs make up a most pleasant Consort But what furnishes most to the felicity of the Blessed is that there are two Springs the one of Laughter and the other of Joy of which each Man drinks a whetting Brusher before he sets down to Table which renders him gay and chearful all the rest of the day ELPENOR One of Vlysses's Companions whom Circe turned into a Hog and being restored to his former shape fell down along a Stair-case and killed himself ELYSIJ CAMPI See before after Elisa EMPEDOCLES A Philosopher and a Poet of Agrigentum who wrote Verses concerning natural things He taught that nothing living ought to be eaten and that the seat of the Soul was not the Head nor the Heart but the Blood and because he wore brass Slippers Lucian calls him in jest Mr Slipperman He cast himself into the mouth of the burning Mountain Aetna Diogenes Laertius ascribes his Death to pride and presumption that the People finding him no where might conceive he was taken up into Heaven other Writers ascribe it to Melancholy and some others to a meer Accident Lucian in his Icaromenippus introduces Menippus speaking thus to Empedocles Being at a great loss upon this account says he Empedocles appear'd to me black like a Collier as if he had been just then disembogued out of Mount Aetna I retired at first thinking it was a Fantome or some Daemon of the Lunar-Globe but he re-incouraged me by telling me his Name and informed me how the smoak which came out of that burning Mountain had carried him up thither where he now dwelt and skipt up and down feeding upon Dew ........... This having said he vanished out of my sight after I had promised to make him at my return effusions upon the tunnel of my Chimney and to invoke him three times at the New-Moon for which he thanked me and answered like a true Philosopher that he
the words that are meerly French as Hardiesse Hauteur c. As for the H after the Consonants Tully in his Book de Oratore affirms that the ancient Writers made no use of it but only before the Vowels which inclin'd him to pronounce Pulcros Triumpos Cartaginem But concealing his opinion he conferm'd himself to the custom of the people in his pronunciation and that yet they pronounced always Sepulcra Lacrimae without H because it did not offend the Ears Quintillian tells us that often ancient Writers put no H before the Vowels writing ircus but that in his time they were come to another excess pronouncing Chorona Praechones However the Language must be considered as it was in its purity Wherefore as this H after the Consonants was only introduced in the Latin Language but to supply the aspirated Letters of the Greeks it ought to be used but after four Consonants viz. C P T R. The Latins have taken their H from the Greek 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 as the Greeks had it of the Phaenicians and the Phaenicians of the Syrians who pronounced formerly Hetha instead of Heth which plainly shews that we ought to pronounce Eta in Greek and not Ita. But in the beginning this H was only us'd for an aspiration wherefore they wrote 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 instead of 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 instead of 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 HEKATON instead of 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 centum From whence it comes that the H formerly denoted one hundred in number H was also joined with weak Consonants instead of an aspiration for the aspirated Consonants were found out since by Palamedes they using to write 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 instead of 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 and the like The F is often written instead of the H as Faedum instead of Haedum Fircum instead of Hircum Fariolum instead of Hariolum Fostem instead of Hostem Heminas instead of Feminas Hebris instead of Febris HAMADRYADES Certain Divinities of Trees and Forests who lived and died with them as the fabulous Antiquity tells us Notwithstanding the respect the Pagans had for these Hamadryades was but a kind of worship render'd to some Intelligent Divinity or some Genius whom they fancied to be present or residing in these Trees HARMONIA Harmony the Daughter of Mars and Venus and Wife to Cadmus both turn'd into Serpents HARMONIA Harmony A consort of Voices or Musical Instruments The Platonists fancied that celestial Bodies made a real Harmony Vitruvius speaks of the harmonical Musick of Aristoxenes the Scholar of Aristotle opposite to that of the Pythagoreans because these Philosophers judged of the tones only by reasons of Proportions and the others were of opinion that the ears should also have their share in that judgment because it belonged especially to them to regulate what concerns Musick The same Writers give us also an account of three kinds of Songs which the Greeks call Enarmonick Chromatick and Diatonick the Enarmonick singing is a way of turning the voice and disposing the Intervals with such an art that the melody becomes more moving The Chromatick singing consists in keeping the Intervals close by a subtle artifice which makes the voice sweeter and softer and the Diatonick as the most natural makes easie Intervals which renders it more easie than the others HARPOCRATES The Son of Osiris and Isis the God of Silence who was commonly represented holding his finger upon his mouth to make a sign to hold the tongue and keep silence Varro protests that he will tell nothing else of this God lest he should break silence commanded by him The finger which he holds upon his mouth is the second finger called by the Latius Salutaris commonly used to command silence And Apuleius says Lay the Finger that is next the Thumb upon the Mouth and hold your Tongue Ausonius recommended Silence thus Aut tua Sigalion Aegyptius oscula signet The Statues of Harpacrates were placed in Temples and publick places and the Egyptian Sculpto represented him upon several precious Stones which they ingrav'd under certain Constellations and upon Metals proper to receive and keep the impression of each Star that they might use them to cure Distempers and preserve Men from dangers The Romans adorn'd their fingers with them as Pliny has observ'd ' The Romans says he begin already to wear in their Rings Harpocrates and other Aegyptian Gods M. Spon in the seventh dissertation of the Inquiries after Antiquities has given us several Sculptures of Harpocrates p. 124. On one of these he is represented setting upon an Ostrich and on the reverse thereof the Sun and Moon are ingrav'd for Harpocrates was accounted their Son since Osiris and Isis the Father and Mother of Harpocrates were esteem'd by the Egyptians what the Son and the Moon were by other Nations And yet we may say that the Pagans rank'd Harpocrates the God of silence among the other Gods to silence those who should affirm that all their Gods were but mortal Men or else to shew us that all the Gods whom they ador'd were comprehended in an only one who commanded silence The Letters of the reverse of the Medal are fantastical Characters of Hereticks both Basilidians and Gnosticks who did mix the Mysteries of the Christian Religion with Pagan superstitions In another figure Serapis and Harpocrates are represented with these Letters Conservate me which shews that it was a kind of a Talisman which they wore about them to beg of these Divinities the conservation of their Health and their preservation from all Evils On another stone Harpocrates is represented setting upon the Flower called Lotus an Herb dedicated to the Sun because its flower opens of it self at the rising of the Sun and shuts again at his going down The Letters Ingraven on the reverse thereof are some Basilidian Mysteries Harpocrates is still drawn with the head of a Lion some Birds about him and the head of the Moon Alexander Hales tells us that these Birds were Angels whom the Basilidians ascribed to celestial Globes of the Planets and that they called Saturn Cassiel Jupiter Sachiel Mars Samuel the Sun and the Moon Michael Venus Anahel Mercury Raphael Likewise Harpocrates is figured setting on the head of an Ass the mouth whereof is turned upwards with these Letters on the reverse of the Medal 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 i. e. strong and invincible which Epithet the Basilidians gave to their Jao or Jehova to preserve them from dangers and protect them against their Enemies The same God is yet engraven with seven Greek Vowels signifying the word Jehova These are the representations of Harpocrates drawn from Sculptures and Medals But we shall describe the copies which were taken after the old small Statues of Brass kept in the Virtuoso's Closers The old Statues of Harpocrates were holding their Finger upon their Mouth but some are represented with a Horn of Plenty and a Basket on the head which was the common ornament of Serapis who according to the
Stuttering but God to confirm him in it gave him the Signs of a Rod's being turned into a Serpent and then re-assuming its former Shape and of his Hand turning Leprous and in a moment being restored to its natural Colour Then he went to see for Pharaob whom he charged from God to let his People go Three Days Journey into the Wilderness to offer Sacrifices unto him But he refused to obey and to let she Hebrews go notwithstanding all the Wonders performed by Moses in his Presence for he saw the Rod which Aaron Moses his Brother had in his Hand turned into a Serpent the Waters of the Nile and all the Springs in Egypt changed into Blood an innumerable Company of Frogs which covered the Face of the Land and entred into his very Palace and the Dust turned into Lice which filled the Air and extreamly tormented both Men and Beasts There came Swarms of large Flyes thither which destroyed whatever they touch'd a suddain Pestilence killed all the Cattle of Egypt without hurting those of the Israelites Men and Beasts were struck with terrible Boils a Storm of Hail accompanied with Thunder and Lightning fell over all Egypt which destroy'd all sorts of Beasts and Men that were in the Fields no other Land being spared but that of Goshen this Storm was succeeded by the largest Locusts that ever were seen in Egypt which destroyed all the Grass Fruits and Harvest A thick Darkness covered the whole Land saving that Part where the Children of Israel dwelt in short a destroying Angel having killed all the First-born of the Egyptians without sparing Pharaoh's own Son the Egyptians pressed the Israelites to go out of their Country and to sacrifice to their God under the Conduct of Moses and his Brother Aaron The Rabies assure us that the Wonders performed by Moses formerly in Egypt and elsewhere were done by means of his Rod which according to what they say was created by God between the Two Vespers of the Sabbath that is on the Evening of the Sixth Day of the World's Creation and upon which in an wonderful Manner the holy great and glorious Name of God was inscribed which they call Tetragrammaton wherefore it s said in the Zoar upon Exodus which is a Commentary upon the Five Books of Moses that the Miracles were graven thereon and that the most holy Name of God was also inscribed and Jonathan the Son of Vziel in his Targum that is in his Paraphrase upon Exodus relates the same Thing these are his Words Rehuel who was Jethro himself or his Father as Rabbi Jonathan seems to take him to be in his 18th Chapter having understood that Moses had made his Escape from Pharaoh put him into a deep Ditch where Sephora his Grand-Daughter fed him for 20 Years after which he took him out thence Moses going one Day into Rehuel's Garden went to Prayers and gave God Thanks for defending and delivering him by his own Power and for having wrought divers Miracles for his sake And perceiving in the said Garden a Rod or Staff which God had created between Sun and Sun that is on the Eve of the Sabbath or 6th Day of the Creation of the World whereon the great and glorious Name of God was graved and by Vertue of which he was one Day to perform great Miracles in Egypt to divide the Red-sea and to strike Water out of the Rock he presently put forth his Hand plucked it from the Earth into which it had been driven and as it were planted got it and carried it away with him The Sentiments of the Author of this Paraphrase are confirmed from what may be read concerning Aaron's Rod in the Pirke Eliezer which is a Book containing the History of the World to the Time of Gamaliel and from the Schaiseleth Hakabala which is another history-History-book or Chronology from the Beginning of the World But this may be more particularly seen in a very ancient and scarce Commentary entituled Medrasch Vaioscha printed at Constantinople which clears up what is related in the Chaldee Paraphrase and other Authors whereof I have spoken for Moses is there represented giving an Account at large of his Life after this manner When I went out of Egypt I was about 40 Years old and being one Day near unto the Water-pits Sephora who was one of Jeyhro's Daughters came thither and finding her to be modest and very handsom I told her if she pleased I would marry her her Answer consisted of an Account she gave me how her Father used such as sought any of his Daughters in Marriage which was to carry them to a Tree that was planted in the midst of his Graden that had so sad and peculiar a Quality that it presently struck such as came near it dead which when I understood I asked from whence the said Tree was brought she answered That God on the very Eve of the first Sabbath after the Creation of the World created a Rod which he gave to Adam Adam left it to Enoch Enoch to Noah Noah to Sem Sem to Abraham Abraham to Isaac Isaac to Jacob Jacob carried it into Egypt and gave it his Son Joseph after whose Death the Egyptians risted his House and finding the said Rod among the Spoils they carried it to Pharaoh's Court and Jethro who was one of the principal Magistrates of Egypt no sooner saw it but he was desirous to have it and having stole it away carried it to his own House The great Name of God Tetragrammaton was graven thereon with the Explications of it and the Ten Plagues wherewith God afflicted Egypt and as 't was all full of Wonders the same was kept in Jethro's House my Father-in-Law till that going on a Time into his Garden and holding the Rod in his Hand he stuck it in the Ground and endeavouring soon after to pull it out he found it had taken Root that it blossomed and that besides the Flowers it bore also bitter Almonds He left it there and by the Means of this Rod which grew to be a Tree he tried all such as had a Design to marry his Daughters When I was informed of all these Particulars and found the Shepherds would not let Jethro's Daughters draw Water I delivered Sephora and her Sister from the Hands of those rude Fellows took some Water and gave it their Cattle to drink after which they went towards their Father's House and I accompanied them Being come to the House they went in and I staid at the Door and as they were come back that Day sooner than ordinary Jethro asked them the Reason of it they answered That a courteous Egyptian had saved them from the Outrages of the Shepherds When the Daughters had thus acquainted their Father with the Adventure and told him that he who had delivered them was an Egyptian he asked them if they had not return'd him Thanks for his Kindness and bid them call me saying make him come in and let him dine with us
was most valuable in their Doctrine He divided his Philosophy into Three Parts viz. Moral which consisted principally in Action Physicks that related to Speculation and Logick which served to distinguish Truth from Falshood Of all the Philosophers his Doctrine comes nearest of any to Christianity It will surprize you when you read that Plato had Sentiments of God so conformable to the Truth of our Religion from whence some have thought that in his Travels to Egypt he was a Hearer of the Prophet Jeremy or that he had read the Books of the Prophets And I my self says St. Augustine have followed this Opinion in some of my Works but afterwards I came to understand by Cronology that Plato was not born till about 100 Years after the Prophecies of Jeremy and that the Greek Version of the Septuagint was not done by Ptolomy King of Egypt's Order till near 60 Years after Plato's Death insomuch that he could neither see Jeremy who was dead so long before nor read the Scriptures which were not yet translated into the Greek Tongue unless you will have it said that he took care to be instructed therein as he did in the Egyptian Books not by getting them translated but by conversing with the Jews viva voce What favours this Conjecture is that the Book of Genesis begins thus In the Beginning God created Heaven and Earth but the Earth was without Form and void and Darkness was upon the Face of the Deep and the Spirit of God moved upon the Face of the Waters And Plato in his Timeus where he speaks of the Creation of the World says That God did first join the Fire and Earth together It 's clear that by Fire he meant Heaven But what fully perswades me continues the same St. Augustine That Plato had some Knowledge of our Books is that Moses asking the Angel the Name of him who commanded him to go and deliver the Hebrews he received this Answer I am that I am thou shalt tell the Children of Israel I am hath sent me to you But this is that which Plato firmly establishes in his Works and I do not know it is to be found in any Book older than Plato except the holy Scriptures His Writings are almost all divided into Dialogues in which he introduces his Master Socrates He died of the Morbus Pedicularis and was burried in the Academy of Athens where he had taught Philosophy PLAUTUS a Comick Poet admired by all the Ancients for the Eloquence of his Stile he bore the Name of M. Accius with that of Plautus because of his splay Feet as Sextus Pompeius says He was born in a little Town of Vmbria called Sarcinas He was much in Esteem at Rome for the Stage at the same time that Publius Scipio and Marcus Cato were in great Reputation for their Politeness his Comedies are full of Jests and witty Railleries for which Cicero commends him and Varro assures us that if the Muses would have spoke Latin they had spoke like Plautus and Aulus Gellius in his Noctes Atticae calls him the Father and Prince of the Latin Eloquence He imitated the Greek Authors in his Comedies and amongst others Diphilus Epicharmus and Menander Horace says he made Money of his Comedies and when he had got a good deal he with that turn'd Merchant but proving unsuccessful that Way he was necessitated to turn a Mill and grind Corn to serve a Bakehouse He died during the Consulship of Publius Claudius and Lucius Portius while Cato was Censor in the 119 Olympaid and the Year of Rome 565. PLEIADES they were the Seven Daughters of Atlas and the Nymph Pleione who finding themselves pursued by Orion that would have ravished them they prayed to the Gods to preserve them from his Insults which they did by changing them into Stars and placing them in Heaven 'T is a Constellation formed of Seven Stars which are near together towards the 18th Degree of Taurus They are rainy and stormy Stars and very frightful to Mariners they call them in Latin Vergiliae à vere because they rise about the Vernal Equinox and set in Autumn PLEIONE the Daughter of Oceanus and Tethys and Atlas his Wife by whom he had Seven Daughters called Pleiades PLINIUS Pliny the Elder born at Verona was a Minister of State under the Emperor Vespatian he had a very great Knowledge of natural Things of which he wrote extraordinary Books but wherein divers Matters are to be met with that are false which he had by hear-say and took from the Relation of others he was suffocated by the Flames of Mount Vesuvius as he approached too near it to observe that Wonder PLINY the Younger his Nephew wrote a Book of Epistles a Treatise about illustrious Men and a Panegyrick dedicated to Trajan PLUTARCHUS Plutarch of Cheronea flourished under the Emperor Trajan and gain'd great Reputation by his Books The Lives of illustrious Men both among the Greeks and Romans which he compares with one another are the best of his Works and deserve Commendation above the rest Tho' he is every where agreeably instructive and shews he had a general Knowledge in all Things PLUTUS the God of Riches Aristophanes in a Comedy thus cailed says that this God having at first a good Eye-sight stuck to no Body but to the Just But Jupiter taking his Sight from him Riches afterwards fell indifferently to the Share of the Good and Bad They formed a Design for the recovering of Plutus his Sight but Penia which is Poverty opposed it and made it appear that Poverty was the Mistress of Arts Sciences and Vertues which would be in Danger of being lost if all Men were rich They gave her no Credit or seemed not to believe her so that Plutus recovered his Sight in Aeseulapius his Temple and from thence forward the Temples and Altars of other Gods and those of Jupiter himself were abandoned every Body sacrificing to no other than to God Plutus Lucian in Timon or Misanthropos brings Jupiter and Plutus talking together thus Jup. I am amazed to find you angry because you are left at Liberty seeing you formerly complain'd of Usurers who shut you up under Lock and Key without letting you as much as see the Light and made you endure a Thousand Torments You said that 't was it which made you pale and disfigured and was the Cause that you did endeavour to make your Escape You also blamed the Covetous who died for Love of you and in the mean time durst not enjoy you like the Dog in the Fable who being tied to the Rock could not himself eat Hay and would not suffer the Horse to do it You said that they were jealous and debarred themselves of all Recreations without considering that what they loved would one Day be the Prey of a Thief or some unworthy Heir Are not you ashamed thus to swerve from your old Maxims Plutus If you will hear me you shall find I have Reason for what I do For
worth two of the Greeks so that twenty Grecian Talents amounted only to ten of the Hebrews it s the same thing in respect to the Drachma's and Greek Minae for two Greek Drachma's go to make one Hebrew and two Grecian Minae the same TANTALUS King of Phrygia and Jupiter's Son who treating the Gods with a Supper drest his own Son Pelops for them in order to try whether they could perceive it or no there were none of them deceived but the Goddess Ceres who eat some of the Shoulder the Gods conceived such a Horror at this Cruelty that they condemned Tantalus to be tormented with Hunger and Thirst in the midst of Waters and plenty of all sorts of Fruits in Hell where all of them vanished as soon as ever he put forth his Hand to reach them Lucian in his Dialogue of the Dead makes him speak to Menippus in this manner Menippus Tantalus why do you weep and what Torment do you endure in this Lake where you dwell Tantalus Menippus I die with Thirst Men. Are you so lazy that you cannot stoop to drink or as much as take up some Water in the Hollow of your Hand Tant The Water disappears when I draw near it and when I fancy I have taken some in my Hand it presently glides away Men. That is strange But what occasion have you to drink since you have now no Body left you for that which was capable of Hunger and Thirst was buried in Lydia and the Soul hath no need of drinking and eating Tant 'T is my Punishment Menippus that my Soul should undergo the same Change as my Body Men. I believe it since you say it but tell me what is it you fear Are you afraid to die of Thirst as if there were another Death after this Tant No but that is part of my Punishment to be thirsty and yet have no need to be so Men. Tantalus you rave and if you have any need to drink 't is of Hellebore to cure you of an Evil contrary to the Madness of feeling Thirst and not Water Tant I do not refuse to drink provided any be given me Men. Tantalus be satisfied you are not the only one of the Dead that does not drink for all of them who ever they be having no Bodies cannot drink but all of them are not so extreamly thirsty as you are so as not to be able to quench it TARPEIA the Daughter of Tarpeius As she was one Day upon the Walls of the Capitol and beheld the Sabines going by she was much taken with the rich Bracelets which those People wore on their Left Arms and this made her treat with Tatius King of the Sabines about delivering the Capitol up to him upon Condition they gave her their Bracelets Tarpeia gave up the Capitol but the Sabines crushed her to Death with the Weight of their Shields Some Authors impute the Surrendring of the said Place to Spurius Tarpeius who was Governour and affirm that Romulus caused him to be thrown down headlong over that famous Work which since bore his Name and was called the Tarpeian Rock TARQUINIUS PRISCUS before was called Lucumon who withall his Family came and settled at Rome and as he drew near the Janiculum an Eagle fell upon him and took away his Cap with which he play'd for some time in the Air and then put it upon his Head again Tanaquilla his â—ife who was a Tuscan by Descent and well skilled in the Art of Augury gave her Husband a favourable Interpretation of this Prodigy and assured him he should be King which came to pass accordingly for he succeeded Ancus Martius He defeated the Sabines and Tuscans the last of which submitted to him and as a Mark of their first Homage made him a Present of a Gold Crown and a Scepter at the Top of which there was an Eagle in Relievo an Ivory Throne a Purple Vest wrought with Gold and embrordered with Figures of various Colours and 12 Lictors acknowledging him for their King and rightful Lord of the Twelve Divisions of the Tuscans When he had consulted the Augur Acctus Naevius in order to know of him whether what he thought of might be put in Execution and the Augur having assured him of the fulfilling of it â—ook a Razor and cut a Stone with it in two He died when he was Eighty Years of Age by a Blow given him on the Head with an Ax by the Heirs of Ancus Martius TARQUINIUS LUCIUS Tarquinius surnamed Superbus the Son of Tarquinius Priseus and King of Rome As the Foundations of the Capitol were a digging up by his Order they found a Man's Head there newly cut off This Accident was taken for a Prodigy that prognosticated the City of Rome should one Day be the Mistress of the World another Prodigy also happened which was a strange Woman who came to Tarquin and presented him with Nine Volumes which she offered to sell him for a very great Sum of Money Tarquin refusing them at that extravagant Price the Woman burnt three of them in his Presence and asked him if he would take the six that remained at the same Price she had asked for the Nine Tarquin looked upon this Proposal to be ridiculous but the Woman again burnt three of the six Volumes and then applying her self to the King asked him still the same Price for the three that were left which she had done for the Nine Tarquin having consulted the Pontiffs thereupon paid her the whole Sum. Those Books were found to be full of Predictions in Verse which were thought to have been composed by Sibylla Cumaea and were so much esteemed at Rome that they created two Magistrates whose Business alone it was to keep these Books and to consult them as occasion required They were called Duumviri They had no recourse to these Books but when the Affairs of the Commonwealth were very urgent and that in order to find out a Way to expiate the Prodigies and avert publick Calamities Tarquin was expelled Rome after he had reigned 25 Years and they set up a popular Government in the Year of the World 3545. of the Julian Period 4205 509 before Christ's Nativity after the Building of Rome 244 Years in the 67 Olympiad TARTARA by this Name Hell was called by the Ancients and Homer names it 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 TAUROPOLIUM or TAUROPOLION Sacrifices of Bulls which were offered to Cybele the Mother of the Gods to render Thanks to the Goddess of the Earth for her teaching Men the Art to tame those Animals and fit them for Labour They also sacrificed black Bulls to Neptune to denote the Fury of the Sea Strabo L. 14. Of his History of the World says There stood a Temple of Diana in the Isle of Icaria named 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 and Livy L. 4. Dec. 5. calls this Temple Tauropolum and the Sacrifices offered therein to Diana Tauropolia In the mean time Dionysius in his Book de situ orbis says
the Testimony of Martial Has 〈◊〉 geminâ compede dedicat catenas Saturne tibi Zoâ—lus annulos prtores TEMPLUM CYBELES the Temple of Cybele the Mother of the Gods The Romans had no knowledge of this Deity till towards the Year 548 in the Consulship of Cornelius Scipio surnamed Africanus and P. Licinus when a Shower of Stones fell during the second Pâ—niâ—k War They had recourse to the Books of the Sibylls and found that in order to drive the Carthaginians out of Italy they must bring the Mother of the Gods from Pesinuntia to Rome wherefore they presently dispatched Ambassadors to King Attalus who delivered the Goddess to them that was represented by a thick shapeless rough Stone M. Valerius one of the Deputies being come to Terracina with this Stone sent Advice to the Senate of it and told them it was necessary together with the Ladies to send the richest Man in all the City to receive her The Senate pitched upon P. Cornelius Scipio Nasica who with the Roman Ladies went to receive her to the Port of Ostia and brought her to Rome where they placed her in the Temple of Victory upon Mount Palatine Next Year M. Livius and Claudius the Censors built a Temple on purpose for her and M. Junius Brutus dedicated the same 13 Years after TEMPLUM JOVIS Jupiter's Temple the most famous was that of Jupiter Opt. Max. built at the Capitol who from the Capitol was surnamed Capitolinus as may be seen by a Medal of Aurelia Quirina a Vestal Virgin where Jupiter is represented sitting in the middle of his Temple that was of a Square Form he holds his Thunderbolt in one Hand and his Scepter in the other with this Title Jupiter Optimus Maximus Capitolinus This Temple was first devoted by Tarquinius Priscus and afterwards built by Tarquinius Superbus Upon the Frontispiece of it were the Trophies of Arms and Triumphant Chariots represented Historians say Tarquinius Superbus expended in the Building of this Temple above 3000 l. Sterl Here the Statue of that God was set up of massy Gold 10 Foot high with several Vessels of Emeralds and other precious Stones The Sibylls Books were kept in this Temple They built him also other Temples under various Names as that of Jupiter Vindex which I. Papyrius Cursor vowed to build him in a Fight against the Samnites and which Fabius built after the Defeat of that People That of Vâ—-Jovis or Jupiter Tonans which Augustus caused to be built on Mons Capitolinus and that of Jupiter Vltor or Vindex which M. Agrippa dedicated to him TEMPLUM JUNONIS the Temple of Juno which Camilla dedicated upon Mount Aventine after the taking of Veii TEMPLUM APOLLINIS Apollo's Temple that doubtless was the chiefest and most Famous of all which was built by Augustus upon Mount Palatine after his Victory over Antony and Cleopatra at Actium In this Temple he erected a fine and spacious Portico for a Greek and Latin Library the Daughters of Danaus were placed according to their Order in this Portico and over against them the Statues of Egyptus his Sons a Horse-back in the Court before the Temple were Four brazen Cows which were made by Myron and by Propertius are called Armenta Myronis The Flock of Myron which represented the Daughters of Proetus King of Argos who were transformed into Cows for preferring themselves before Juno The Gates of this Temple were made of Ivory upon one of which might be seen the Gauls who fell off the Capitol and on the other the Fourteen Children of Niobe the Daughter of Tantalus who died miserably for the Pride of their Mother who had incurred the Displeasure of Latona and Apollo Upon the top of the Temple the Sun appear'd sitting in a Chariot of massy Gold that gave so lively and bright a Light that Men could not bear the Splendor of it Propertius gives a Description of this Temple L. 2. Eleg. 31. where he speaks to Cynthia In this Temple there was a Brass Candlestick of wonderful Workmanship It resembled a Tree and its Branches to which there hung lighted Lamps instead of Fruit to these Branches the Poets fastned their Works after they had got them approved by the Publick TEMPLUM DIANAE the Temple of Diana the first Temple built her at Rome was upon Mount Aventine in the Reign of Servius Tullius by whose Perswasion the Romans and the Latins erected her a Temple at a common Charge and there met every Year to offer Sacrifice in the Name of all the People and to terminate all their Differences and to the End they might have an eternal Monument of this Confederacy they graved the Conditions of this Alliance upon a Pillar of Brass with the Names of all the Cities comprized therein and of the Deputies that had signed them This Temple was adorned with Cows-horns the Reason whereof Plutarch and Livy relate unto us They say that a certain Sabine whose Name was Autro Coratius having an extraordinary beautiful Cow an Augur told him if he offer'd the said Cow to Diana in her Temple upon Mount Aventine he should never want and that his City should bring all Italy under Subjection Autro upon this Occasion coming to Rome one of his Servants acquainted King Servius with the Augur's Prediction who consulting the Pontiff Cornelius thereupon Autro was ordered to go and wash himself in the Tiber before he sacrificed the Cow and in the mean time King Servius offered the same in Sacrifice and affixed her Horns to the Walls of the Temple Augustus built her a Temple in Sicily after the Defeating of Sextus Pompeius and the Recovery of Sicily on the Frontispiece of the said Temple he caused three Legs to be graven as a Symbol of Trinacria or Sicily with this Inscription Imperator Caesar Strabo L. 14. of his Description of the World says there was a Temple of Diana named 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 in the Isle of Icaria And Livy L. 4. Dec. 5. calls the said Temple Tauropolium and the Sacrifices offered there Tauropolia however Dionysius in his Book de situ Orbis says that Diana was not named Tauropola from the People but from the Bulls which were very numerous in that Country TEMPLUM MINERVAE the Temple of Minerva The Rhodians were the first People that built Temples to Minerva for having taught them the Art to make Colossus's but having not prepared Fire for a Sacrifice they made to her she in Spight withdrew to Athens where she was worshipped under the Name of 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 that is a Virgin They built a very magnificent Temple for her and got her Statue to be made by Phidias all of Gold and Ivory 39 Feet high They graved upon her Buskins the Fight between the Centaurs and Lapithae round her Shield was represented the Battel fought by the Amazons against the Athenians and on the inside the Battel of the Giants with the Gods She had also several Temples and Chappels at Rome but the most famous was that which