This extraordinary
phenomenon
excited my uncle's
philosophical curiosity to take a nearer view of it.
philosophical curiosity to take a nearer view of it.
Charles - 1867 - Classical Dictionary
lien they were, in fact, named not Plautina from
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? PLAUTUS.
PL. K
easing and artless to those Romans who lived in an
ge of excessive refinement and cultivation; but this
apparent merit was rather accidental than the effect
of poetic art. Making, however, some allowance for
this, there can be no doubt that Plautus wonderfully
improved and refined the Latin language Irom the rude
form to which it ha<<" been moulded by Ennius. That
he should have effected such an alteration is not a little
remarkable. Plautus was nearly contemporary with
the Father of Roman song; according to most ac-
counts, he was bom a slave; he was condemned, du-
ring a great part of his life, to the drudgery of the low-
est manual labour; and, as far as we leam, he was
not distinguished by the patronage of the great, nor
admitted into patrician society. Ennius, on the other
hand, if he did not pass his life in affluence, spent it
in the exercise of an honourable profession, and was
the chosen and familiar friend of Cato, Scipio Africa-
nus, Fulvius Nobilior, and Lslius, the most learned
and polished citizens of the Roman republic, whose
unrestrained conversation and intercourse must have
bestowed on him advantages which Plautus never en-
joyed. But perhaps the circumstance of his Greek
original, which contributed so much to his learning
and refinement, and qualified him for such exalted so-
ciety, may have been unfavourable to that native pu-
rity of Latin diction, which the Umbrian slave imbibed
from the unmixed fountains of conversation and na-
ture. --The chief excellence of Plautus is generally
reputed to consist in the wit and comic force of his
dialogue; and, accordingly, the lines in Horace's Art
of Poetry, in which he derides the ancient Romans for
having foolishly admired the "Plautmos sales," have
been the subject of much reprehension among critics.
That tho wit of Plautus often degenerates into buf-
foonery, scurrility, and quibbles, sometimes even into
obscenity; and that, in his constant attempts at mer-
riment, he too often tries to excite laughter by exag-
gerated expressions as well as by extravagant actions,
cannot, indeed, he denied. This was partly owing to
the '. :. . . ncnaity of the Roman theatres and to the masks
sf the actors, which must have rendered caricature
and grotesque inventions essential to the production
of that due effect which, with such scenic apparatus,
could not be created unless by overstepping the mod-
esty of nature. It must always be recollected, that
the plays of Plautus were written solely to be repre-
sented, and not to be read. Even in modern times,
and subsequent to the invention of printing, the great-
est dramatists, Shakspeare, for example, cared little
about the publication of their plays; and in every age
or country in which dramatic poetry has flourished, it
has been intended for public representation, and adapt-
ed to the tastes of a promiscuous audience. In the
days of Plautus, the smiles of the polite critic were
not enough for a Latin comedian, because in those
daye there were few polite critics at Rome; he re-
quired the shouts and laughter of the multitude, who
could be fully gratified only by the broadest grins of
comedy. Accordingly, many of the jests of Plautus
are such as might be expected from a writer anxious
to accommodate himself to the taste of the times, and
naturally catching the spirit of ribaldry which then
prevailed. It being, then, the great object of Plautus
to excite the merriment of the rabble, he, of course,
was little anxious about the strict preservation of the
dramatic unities; and it was a greater object with him
? ? to bring a striking scene into view, than to preserve
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? PLI
PLiNIUS.
B question moved away from its own constellation,
and became the third or middle one in the tail of the
Greater Bear, where it received the name of'AAwmjf,
"the Fox. " (Ideler, Sternnamcn, p. 145. )--From
their rising in the spring, the Pleiades were called by
the Romans Vergilia. (Feslus. -- Isidor. , Orig. ,3,
70. ) This constellation appears to have been one of
the earliest that were observed b) . nc Greeks. It is
mentioned by Homer (II. , 18, 483, seqq. -- 0(2. , 5,
272, seqq. ); and in Hesiod an acquaintance with it is
supposed to be so widely spread, that the daily la-
bours of the farmer can be determined by its rising
and setting. (He:, Op. et IK 383, 615. ) The met-
rical form of the name is UTj/. tjidicc and ttckcitldee,
and hence some have been led into the erroneous opin-
ion, that the name of the constellation was derived
from xt'Acia, a "pigeon" or "dove," in allusion to the
fancied appearance of the cluster. (Schwcnk, Mylhol.
Skixx. ,p. 2. )--The Pleiades are assigned on the ce-
lestial sphere to a position in the rear of Taurus. (Hy-
gin. . Poet. Astron. , 20. ) Proclus and Geminus, how-
ever, place them on the back of the animal; while
Hipparchus makes them belong, not to Taurus, but to
the foot of Perseus. (TA<<on. ad Aral. , Pkan. , 254.
-- Vblckcr, Mylhol. der lap. Geschl. , p. 78. )--II. The
name of Pleiades was also given to seven tragic wri-
ters, and the same appellation to seven other poets, of
the Alexandrcan school. (Vid. Alexandrina Schola,
near the conclusion of the article. )
Pleionk, one of the Oceanides, who married Atlas,
king of Mauritania, by whom she had twelve daughters,
and a son called Hyas. Seven of the daughters were
changed into a constellation called Pleiades, and the
rest into another called Hyades. (Ovid, Fast. , 5,84. )
Plemmyiuum, a promontory of Sicily, in the imme-
diate neighbourhood of Syracuse, and facing the island
of Ortygia, forming with this island the entrance to the
groat harbour of that city. Its modern name is Mas-
sa tTOlivera. (Dorvill. Sic. , p. 191. -- Thucyd. , 7, 4.
-- Wesscling, ad Diod. Sic. , vol. 8, p. 555, ed. Bip. )
It was fortified by Nicias during the siege of Syracuse
by the Athenians, as being well adapted by its situa-
tion for receiving supplies by sea; and here also he
erected three forts or castles, the largest of which con-
tained all the warlike implements, and the provisions
of the army. At a subsequent period of the v. ar, the
Athenians were compelled to abandon this post, and
fortified themselves near Dascon, in its vicinity. (Thu-
cyd. , 1. e. --Id. , 7, 23. ) The position of Plemmyrium
may be regarded as one of the early causes of the fail-
ure of the expedition against Syracuse; for, as the
place was destitute of freshwater, and the soldiers had
to go to a distance for it, numbers of them were cut
off from day to day by the Syracusans. (Letronne, ad
Thueyd. , 7, 4, p. 76. --G'iUer, de situ et origine Syr-
icusarum, p. 76, seqq. )
Pr. KtiMiixii. a people of Gallia Belgica, tributary to
the Nervii. Their precise situation is unknown. Le-
maire places them in the vicinity of Tornacum, now
Tournay. (Ind. Geogr. ,ad C<w. , p. 339. --Cas. , B.
G. , 5, 39. )
Plinius, I. f ecundus, C, surnamed the Elder, and
also the Naturalist, a distinguished Roman writer,
bam of a noble family, in the ninth year of the reign
of Tiberius, A. D. 23. St. Jerome, in his Chronicle
of Eusebius, and a Life of Pliny ascribed to Sueto-
nius, make him to have been a native of Comum; but
? ? since, in the dedicatory epistle prefixed to his Natural
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? H. INIC9.
PLINITJ3
without doubt, a grammatical treatise on the precise
signification and use of words. And yet it is difficult,
if we follow chronological computation, not to believe
that Nero named him his procurator in Spain; for it
is certain, from the words of his nephew, that be filled
this office: he himself mentions certain observations
made by him in this country, and we find no other
period in his life in which he could have gone thither.
We may presume that he continued in Spain during
the civil wars of Galba, Otho, and Vitellius, and even
during the first years of the reign of Vespasian. It
was during this period that he lost his brother-in-law;
and, being unable, by reason of his absence abroad, to
become his nephew's guardian, the care of the latter
was intrusted to Virginius Rufus. On his return,
Pliny would seem to nave stopped for a time in the
south of Gaul; for he describes, with remarkable ex-
actness, the province of Narbonensis, and, in particular,
the fountain of Vaucluse. He informs us that he saw
in this quarter a atone said to have fallen from heaven.
Vespasian, with whom he had been on intimate terms
during the wars in Germany, gave him a very favour-
able reception, and was in the habit of calling him to
him every morning before sunrise; which, according
to Suetonius and Xiphilinus, was a privilege reserved
by that emperor only for his particular friends. It
cannot be affirmed, with any great degree of certainty,
that Vespasian elevated Pliny to the rank of senator.
Some writers state, moreover, though without any
proof, that Pliny served in the war of Titus against the
Jews. What he remarks concerning Judaea is not
sufficiently exact to induce us to believe that he speaks
from personal observal;on; and, besides, we can hard-
ly assign to any other part of his life except this, the
composition of his work on the History of his own
Times, in thirty-one books, and forming a continua-
tion of that of Aufidius Bassus. If Pliny, however,
did not serve in the Jewish war, he was not less the
friend of Titus on that account, having been his com-
panion in the course of other contests; and it was to
'his prince that he dedicated the last and most impor-
ant of his writings, his Natural History, in thirty-seven
jocks. The titles given to Titus in the dedication
show that this laborious work was concluded in the
78th year of our era; and it is evident that it must
have occupied the greater part of his life to collect
together the materials. This great work is the only
me of Pliny's that has come down to us. It forms,
<<t the same time, one of th<> most valuable monuments
left us by antiquity, and is a proof of the most aston-
shing industry in a man whose time was so much oc-
:upied, first by military affairs, and subsequently by
those of a civil nature. In order fully to appreciate
this vast and celebrated work, we must regard it un-
der three different aspects; its plan, its facts, and its
style. The plan is an immense one. Pliny does not
propose to himself to write merely a natural history, in
,he restricted sense in which we employ the phrase
at the present day, that is, a treatise, more or less de-
'ailed, respecting animals, plants, and minerals; he
embraces in his plan astronomy, physics, geography,
agriculture, commerce, medicine, and the arts, as well
as natural history properly so called; and he contin-
ually mingles with his remarks on these subjects a
variety of observations relative to the moral constitu-
tion of man and the history of nations: so that, in
many respects, his work may be regarded as having
? ? been in its day a sort of encyclopedia. After having
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? PLI HL'S
PLINIV8.
nting, or the ir;ictches hj is in the habit of making
? g. iinst Providence. He docs not, it ia true, extend
? n equal degree of credence to everything that he re-
lates, but it is at mere random that he wither doubts or
affirms, and the most puerile tales are i. ot always those
which most excite his incredulity. There is not, for
example, > "ingle fable of the Greek travellers, con-
cerning men without heads, others without mouths,
concerning men with only one foot, or very long ears,
which ho does not place in his seventh book, and that,
too, with so much confidence as to terminate this cat-
alogue of wonders with the following remark: "Htrr
alque tnlia ex hominum genere, ludibria aibi, nobis
niracula, ingeniosa fecit nalwra. " We may without
difficulty, therefore, after observing this facility in giv-
ing credence to ridiculous stories about the human
species, form an idea of the degree of discernment
which Pliny has exercised in his selection of authori-
ties respecting animals either entirely new or but little
known. Hence the most fabulous creations, niarti-
chori with human heads and the tails of eccrpions,
winged horses, the catoblcpas whose sight alone was
able to kill, play their part in his work by the side of
the elephant and lion. And yet all is not false, even
in those narratives thil are most replete with falsities.
We may sometimes detect the truth which has served
them for a basis, by recalling to mind that these are
extracts from ihe works of travellers, and by supposing
that ignorance, and the love of the marvellous, on the
part of ancient travellers, have led them into these
exaggerations, and have dictated to them those vague
and superficial descriptions, of which we find so great
a number even in modern books of travels. Another
very important defect in Pliny is that he docs not al-
ways give the true sense of the authors whom he trans-
lates, especially when designating different species of
animals. Notwithstanding the very limited means
possessed by us at the present day of judging with any
degree of certainty respecting this kind of error, it is
. easy to prove that on many occasions he has substi-
tuted for the Greek word, which in Aristotle desig-
nates one kind of animal, a Latin word which belongs
to one entirely different. It is true, indeed, that one
of the greatest difficulties experienced by the ancient
naturalists was that of fixing a nomenclature, and their
vicious and defective method shows itself in Pliny
more than in any other. The descriptions, or, rather,
imperfect indications, which he gives, are almost al-
ways insufficient for recognising the several species,
when tradition has failed to preserve the particular
name; and there is even a large number whose names
alone are given, witnout any characteristic mark, or
any means of distinguishing them from one another.
If it were possible still to doubt respecting the advan-
tages enjoyed by the modern over the ancient meth-
ods, these doubts would be completely dispelled, on
discovering that almost all the ancient writers have
said relative to the virtues of their plants is com-
pletely valueless for us, from the impossibility of dis-
tinguishing the individual plants to which they refer.
Our regret, however, on this account, will be great-
ly diminished, if we call to mind with how little care
the ancients, and Pliny in particular, have designa-
ted the medical virtues of plants. They attribute so
many false and even absurd properties to those plants
which we know, that we may be allowed to be very
. ndifferent respecting the virtues of those which we
? ? do not know. If we believe that part of Pliny's work
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? PLINIUS.
PLINIUS.
pearod of a very unusual size and shape. He had just
returned from taking the benefit of the sun, and. after
bathing himself in cold water, and taking a slight re-
past, had retired to his stud;. He immediately arose
and went out upon an eminence, from whence he might
more distinctly view this very uncommon appearance.
It was not, at that distance, discernible from what
mountain this cloud issued, but it was found afterward
10 ascend from Vesuvius. I cannot give you a more
exact description of its figure than by resembling it to
;hat of a pine-tree, for it shot up to a great height in
the form of a trunk, which extended itself at the top
into a eort of branches; occasioned, I imagine, either
by a sudden gust of air that impelled it, the force of
which decreased as it advanced upward, or the cloud
itself, being pressed back again by its own weight,
expanded in this manner: it appeared sometimes
bright, and sometimes dark and spotted, as it was either
more or less impregnated with earth and cinders.
This extraordinary phenomenon excited my uncle's
philosophical curiosity to take a nearer view of it. He
ordered a light vessel to be got ready, and gave me
the liberty, if I thought proper, to attend him. I rath-
er chose to continue my studies, for, as it had hap-
pened, he had given me employment of that kind.
As he was coming out of the house, he received a note
from Rectina, the wife of Bassus, who was in the ut-
most alarm at the imminent danger which threatened
her; for the villa being situated at the foot of Mount
Vesuvius, there was no way to escape but by the sea;
she earnestly entreated him, therefore, to come to her
assistance. He accordingly changed his first design,
and what he began with a philosophical, he pursued
with a heroic, turn of mind. He ordered the galleys
to put to sea, and went himself on board with an in-
tention of assisting not only Rectina, but several oth-
ers; for the villas stand extremely thick on that beau-
tiful coast. When hastening to the place from'whence
others fled with the utmost terror, he steered his di-
rect course to the point of danger, and with so much
calmness and presence of mind as to be able to make
and dictate his observations upon the motion and
figure of that dreadful scene. He was now so nigh
the mountain, that the cinders, which grew thicker and
hotter the nearer he approached, fell into' the ships,
together with pumice-stones, and black pieces of burn-
ing rock. They were likewise in danger, not only of
being aground by the sudden retreat of the sea, but
also from the vast fragments which rolled down from
the mountain, and obstructed all the shore. Here he
stopped to consider whether he should return back
again; to which the pilot advising him, 'Fortune,'
said he, 'befriends the brave; carry me to Pomponi-
inut. ' Pomponianus was then at Stubiaa, separated
by a gulf, which the sea, after several insensible wind-
ings, forms upon the shore. He had already sent his
haggage ? n board; for, though he was not at that time
in actual danger, yet, being within the view of it, and,
indeed, extremely near, if it should in the least increase,
he was determined to put to sea as soon as the wind
should change. It was favourable, however, for car-
rying my uncle to Pomponianus, whom he found in
the greatest consternation. He embraced him with
eagerness, encouraging and exhorting him to keep up
his spirits; and, the more to dissipate his fears, he or-
dered the baths to be got ready with an air of com-
plete unconcern. After having bathed, he sat down
? ? to supper with great cheerfulness, or, at least (what is
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? PLINIUS.
PLiNR'S.
old custom of our ancestors), he would frequently, in
! ha summer, if he was disengaged from business, re-
pose himself in tin1 sun; during which time some au-
thor was read to him, from which he made extracts
snd observations, as, indeed, was his constant method,
whatever book he read: for it was a maxim of his,
that 'no book was so bad but something might be
. earned from it. ' When this was over, lie generally
went into the cold bath, and, as soon as he came out
of it, just look some slight refreshment, and then re-
,jn-i:d himself for a little while. Thus, as if it had
been a new day, he immediately resumed his studies
till rjpper-time, when a book was again read to him,
upon which he would make some hasty remarks. I
remember once, his reader having pronounced some
word wrong, a person at table made him repeat it
again, upon which my uncle asked his friend if he un-
derstood it. The other acknowledging that he did,
Why, then, said he, would yon make him go back
again 1 We hate lost ly this interruption above ten
tinei: so covetous was this great man of his time.
ID summer he always rose from supper by daylight,
and in winter as soon as it was dark: and this was
an invariable rule with him. Such was his manner of
life amid the noise and hurry of the city; but in the
"ouniry his whole time was devoted 10 study without
intermission, excepting only when he bathed. But in
this exception I include no more than the time he was
actually in the bath, for all the time he was rubbed
and wiped he was employed either in hearing some
book read to him, or in dictating himself. In his
journeys he lost no time from Ins studies, but his mind
it those seasons being disengaged from all other
though! *, applied itself wholly to that single pursuit.
A secretary constantly attended him in his chariot,
who, in the winter, wore a particular sort of warm
gloves, that the sharpness of the weather might not
occasion any interruption to his studies; and, for the
same reason, my uncle always used a chair in Rome.
I remember he once reproved me for walking: 'You
might,' said he, 'employ those hours to more advan-
tage :' for he thought all time lost not given to study.
By this extraordinary application he found time to
write so many vclumes, besides one hundred and sixty
which he left me, consisting of a kind of common-
place, written on both sides, in a very small character;
so that one might fairly reckon the number consider-
ably more. " (Cuvier, Biogr. Univ. , vol. 35, p. 67,
teqq. ) The best edition of Pliny is that forming part
of the collection of Lemaire, Paris, 1827-32, 11 voli.
flvo. The following editions are also valuable: that
of Dalechamp, farts, 1587, fol. ; that of Hardouin,
I'firix. 1723, 3 vols. fol (reprinted with additions and
improvements from the edition of 1685, in 5 vols.
4to); and more particularly that of Franzius, Lips. ,
1778-91, 10 vols. 8vo. There is also a French trans-
lation, in 20 vols. 8vo. , Pan's, 1829-33. by De Grand-
ngne, with annotation* by some of the most eminent
scientific men in France. It is an excellent work. --
II. 0. Plinius Caicilius Secundus, surnamed, for dis-
tinction' sake, the " Younger," was born at or near
Comum, about the sixth year of the reign of Nero, or
A. D. 61. His mother was a sister of the elder Pliny;
and as he lost his father, Lucius Cxcilius, at an early
age, he removed, with his surviving parent, to the
house of his uncle. Here he resided for some years,
? nd. having been adopted by his uncle, took the name
? ? of the latter in addition to his parental one of Cascilius.
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? TLO
PLU
genious and eloquent, but by its very nature affords
no room for the exercise of the higher faculties of the
mind; nor will its readers, excepting those who are
fond of historical researches, derive from it any more
substantial benefit than the pleasure which a mere el-
egant composition can impart. To those, however,
who are curious in matters of history, it will certainly
prove interesting, since, although it only covers the
early years of Trajan's sway, it nevertheless furnishes
us with a number of facts, of which we should other-
wise be ignorant; for what Suetonius and Tacitus wrote
concerning Trajan is lost, as is the case, also, with this
same portion of the history of Dio Cassius, and with
the different accounts of Trajan's reign that are cited
by Lampridius, in his life of Alexander Severus. --
Pliny is also known to modern times by his letters.
Theso consist of ten books, and were published by
himself. From the first to the ninth book inclusive,
we have letters addressed to individuals of all descrip-
tions. The tenth book contains the letters and reports
lent by Pliny to Trajan, together with some answers
of that prince. The Letters of Pliny are valuable to
us, as all original letters of other times must be, be-
cause they necessarily throw much light on the period
at which they were written. But many of tbein are
ridiculously studied, and leave the impression, so fatal
to our interest in the perusal of such compositions,
that they were written for the express purpose of pub-
lication. Among the letters of Pliny that have ob-
tained the greatest celebrity, are the two in which he
gives an account of the elder Pliny's mode of life, and
of the circumstances connected with his death; two
others, whicli contain a description of villas of his own;
and one in whicli he gives an account of his proceed-
ings against the Christians, and to which we have al-
ready referred. The authenticity of this last mention-
ed letter has been attacked by Seinler, an eminent
German divine (Histories Ecclesiastical Select* Capi-
ta, Hat. , 1/67, 3 vols. 8vo. --Xeue Versuche dii Kirch-
cn-Iliitorie der erslen Jahrhunderte ms. hr aufziikla-
ren, Leipz. , 1787, 8vo). This critic maintains that
the letter in question was forged by Tertullian; but
his arguments, if they deserve the name, would inval-
idate the authority of almost every literary monument
of ancient times. This same letter of Pliny's gave
rise to an absurd legend at a later date, according to
which, Pliny having met, in the island of Crete, with
Titus, the disciple of St. Paul, was converted by him,
and afterward suffered martyrdom. --The design of
writing a history, which Pliny at one time entertained,
he never carried into execution. (Kpist. , 5, 8. ) The
work "IM Viris lllwtribua" has been erroneously
ascribed to him, as has also the dialogue " De Caus'is
cmrupta eloquentia. " (Masson, Vit. Plin. -- SchOll,
Hit. IM. Htm. , vol. 2, p. 408, seqq. --Bdhr, Gesch.
Itom. IM. , vol. 1, p. 56G, seq. )--The best edition of
Pliny is that of Lemaire, Paris, 1823, 2 vols. 8vo.
It is the edition of Gesner, improved by Schaeffer
(Lips. , 1803, 8vo), with additions by Lemaire.
Pusthenes, a son of Atreus, king of Argos, fa-
ther of Menelaus and Agamemnon. (Vid. Agamem-
non, and Atrida). )
Pi-otinopolis, a city of Thrace, to the south of
Hanrianopolis, founded and named in honor of the
Empress Plotina. On its site, at a later period, ap-
peared the city of Didymotichos, now Demotion, (/tin.
Ant. , 322. --Procop. , de ^Ed. , 4, 11. )
? ? PlotT. vus, a philosopher of the New-Platonic school,
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? PLUTARCHUS.
PLUTARCHUS.
ute the decline of national literature, bui which was
mora than once rendered illustrious at Rome by great
talents and the effects of persecution. It is well
known, that, under the bad emperors, and amid the
universal slavery that then prevailed, philosophy was
the only asylum to which liberty fled when banished
from the forum and the ser. atc. Philosophy, in earlier
days, had effected the ruin of the republic; it was
then only a vain scepticism, abused to their own bad
purposes by the ambitious and the corrupting. Adopt-
ing a better vocation, it became, at a later period, a
? pecies of religion, embraced by men of resolute spirit;
they needed a wisdom that might teach them how to
escape, by death, the cruelty of the oppressor, and they
called, for this purpose, stoicism to their aid. Plutarch,
the most constant and the most contemptuous opposer
of the Epicurean doctrines; Plutarch, the admirer of
Plato, and a disciple of his in the belief of the soul's
immortality, of divine justice, and of moral good,
taught his hearers truths, less pure, indeed, than those
of Christianity, but which, nevertheless, in some de-
gree adapted themselves to the pressing wants of he-
roic and elevated minds. --It is not known whether
Plutarch prolonged his stay in Italy until that period
when Domitian, by a public decree, banished all phi-
losophers from that country. Some critics have sup-
posed that he made many visits to Rome, but none
after the reign of this emperor. One thing, however,
appears well ascertained, that he returned, when still.
young, to his native country, and that he remained
there for the rest of his days. During this his long
sojourn in tbe land of his fathers, Plutarch was con-
tinually occupied with plans for the benefit of his
countrymen; and, to give but a single instance of his
xeal in the public service, be not only filled the of-
fice of archon, the chief dignity in his native city,
but even discharged with great exactness, and without
the least reluctance, the duties of an inferior office, that
of inspector of public works, which compelled him, he
tells us, to measure tile, and keep a register of the
loads of stone that were brought to him. AH this ac-
cords but ill with the statement of Suidas, that Plu-
tarch was honoured with the consulship by Trajan.
Such a supposition is contradicted both by the silence
of history and the usuages of the Romans. Another
and more recent tradition, which makes Plutarch to
have been the preceptor of Trajan, appears to rest on
:io better foundation, and can derive no support what-
ever from any of the genuine works of the philosopher.
An employment, however, which Plutarch does seem
to have filled, was that of priest of Apollo, which con-
nected him with the sacerdotal corporation at Delphi.
The period of his death is not known; but the proba-
bility is that he lived and philosophized until an advan-
ced age, as would appear both from the tone of some
of his writings and various anecdotes that arc related
of him. --The several productions of this writer will
now be briefly examined. The work to which he owes
his chief celebrity ia that which bears the title of Bioi
? rrapu? . Ai/? . ot {"Parallel law"). In this he gives bi-
ographical sketches of forty-four individuals, distin-
guished for their virtues, their talents, and their ad-
ventures, some Greek, others Roman, and gives them
>n such a way that a Roman is always compared with
a Greek. Five other biographies are isolated ones;
twelve or fourteen are lost. The five isolated lives
are those of Artaxerxea Mnemon, Aratus, Galba, Otbo,
? ? and Homer, though this last is probably not Plutarch's.
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? PLUTARCHUS
PLTJ
biographical ske ches of Plutarch, though our limits
jrbid our entering on the detail. It may be said, in
* few words, that Plutarch, in the composition of his
Liven, consulted all the existing historians; that he
did rot, however, blindly follow them, but weighed
their respective statements in the balance of justice,
and, when their accounts were contradictory, adopted
such as seemed to him most probable. --'ljic other
historical works of Plutarch are the following: 1. 'Vu-
uatxa, y Atrial 'PuuaiKai (" Roman Questions'\
These are researches on certain Roman usages: for
example, Why, in the ceremony of marriage, the bride
is required to touch water and fire 1 Why, in the same
ceremony, they light five tapers 7 Why travellers, who,
having been considered dead, return eventually home,
cannot enter into their houses by the door, but must
descend through the roof, &c. --2. 'EMt/vtKu, 7 Ai-
riai 'EM. nviKai (" Hellenica, or Grecian Qius-
Horn"). We have here similar discourses on points of
Grecian antiquity. --3. lb pi rtapaMJi'Kuv 'EUijvi-
k<jv koI 'PupatKuv (" Parallels drawn from Grecian
and Roman History"). In order to show that certain
events in Grecian history, which appear fabulous, are
entitled to full confidence. Plutarch opposes to them
certain analogous events from Roman history. This
production is unworthy of Plutarch, and very probably
supposititious. It possesses no other merit thai that
of having preserved a large number of fragments of
Greek historians, who are either otherwise unknown,
or whose works have not come down to us. --4. Ilcpt
ttjs Tu/iaiuv rixnc (" Of the Fortune of the Ro-
mans"). --5. and 6. Two discourses -. Tcpl rfjc 'AXef-
dvfpov TVXVC V aptrijc (" On the Fortune or Valour
of Alexander"). In one of these Plutarch undertakes
*. o chow that Alexander owed his success to himself,
not to Fortune. In the other, he attempts to prove, that
bis virtues were not the offspring of a blind and capri-
cious Fortune, and that his talents and the resources of
his intellect cannot be regarded as favours bestowed
by this same Fortune. These two discourses are pre-
ceded by one (No. 4) which shows the true object of
the others. Plutarch, in this, endeavours to prove,
that the Roman exploits are less the effect of valour
and wisdom, than the result of the influence of For-
tune; and, among the favours-conferred by this god-
dess, he enumerates the unexpected death of Alexan-
der, at the very time that he was menacing Italy with
his victorious arms. In all this we clearly see the
jealousy and vanity of the Greeks, who, from the time
that they first fell under the Roman yoke, lever ceased
detracting from the glory of this republic, and ascribing
its rapid progress to some blind and unknown cause.
One of the motives that induced Polybius, moreover,
to write his history, was to undeceive his countrymen
on this point, and prove to them that the prosperity of
Rome was owing, not to the caprices of Fortune, but
to good conduct and^valour. --7.
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? PLAUTUS.
PL. K
easing and artless to those Romans who lived in an
ge of excessive refinement and cultivation; but this
apparent merit was rather accidental than the effect
of poetic art. Making, however, some allowance for
this, there can be no doubt that Plautus wonderfully
improved and refined the Latin language Irom the rude
form to which it ha<<" been moulded by Ennius. That
he should have effected such an alteration is not a little
remarkable. Plautus was nearly contemporary with
the Father of Roman song; according to most ac-
counts, he was bom a slave; he was condemned, du-
ring a great part of his life, to the drudgery of the low-
est manual labour; and, as far as we leam, he was
not distinguished by the patronage of the great, nor
admitted into patrician society. Ennius, on the other
hand, if he did not pass his life in affluence, spent it
in the exercise of an honourable profession, and was
the chosen and familiar friend of Cato, Scipio Africa-
nus, Fulvius Nobilior, and Lslius, the most learned
and polished citizens of the Roman republic, whose
unrestrained conversation and intercourse must have
bestowed on him advantages which Plautus never en-
joyed. But perhaps the circumstance of his Greek
original, which contributed so much to his learning
and refinement, and qualified him for such exalted so-
ciety, may have been unfavourable to that native pu-
rity of Latin diction, which the Umbrian slave imbibed
from the unmixed fountains of conversation and na-
ture. --The chief excellence of Plautus is generally
reputed to consist in the wit and comic force of his
dialogue; and, accordingly, the lines in Horace's Art
of Poetry, in which he derides the ancient Romans for
having foolishly admired the "Plautmos sales," have
been the subject of much reprehension among critics.
That tho wit of Plautus often degenerates into buf-
foonery, scurrility, and quibbles, sometimes even into
obscenity; and that, in his constant attempts at mer-
riment, he too often tries to excite laughter by exag-
gerated expressions as well as by extravagant actions,
cannot, indeed, he denied. This was partly owing to
the '. :. . . ncnaity of the Roman theatres and to the masks
sf the actors, which must have rendered caricature
and grotesque inventions essential to the production
of that due effect which, with such scenic apparatus,
could not be created unless by overstepping the mod-
esty of nature. It must always be recollected, that
the plays of Plautus were written solely to be repre-
sented, and not to be read. Even in modern times,
and subsequent to the invention of printing, the great-
est dramatists, Shakspeare, for example, cared little
about the publication of their plays; and in every age
or country in which dramatic poetry has flourished, it
has been intended for public representation, and adapt-
ed to the tastes of a promiscuous audience. In the
days of Plautus, the smiles of the polite critic were
not enough for a Latin comedian, because in those
daye there were few polite critics at Rome; he re-
quired the shouts and laughter of the multitude, who
could be fully gratified only by the broadest grins of
comedy. Accordingly, many of the jests of Plautus
are such as might be expected from a writer anxious
to accommodate himself to the taste of the times, and
naturally catching the spirit of ribaldry which then
prevailed. It being, then, the great object of Plautus
to excite the merriment of the rabble, he, of course,
was little anxious about the strict preservation of the
dramatic unities; and it was a greater object with him
? ? to bring a striking scene into view, than to preserve
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? PLI
PLiNIUS.
B question moved away from its own constellation,
and became the third or middle one in the tail of the
Greater Bear, where it received the name of'AAwmjf,
"the Fox. " (Ideler, Sternnamcn, p. 145. )--From
their rising in the spring, the Pleiades were called by
the Romans Vergilia. (Feslus. -- Isidor. , Orig. ,3,
70. ) This constellation appears to have been one of
the earliest that were observed b) . nc Greeks. It is
mentioned by Homer (II. , 18, 483, seqq. -- 0(2. , 5,
272, seqq. ); and in Hesiod an acquaintance with it is
supposed to be so widely spread, that the daily la-
bours of the farmer can be determined by its rising
and setting. (He:, Op. et IK 383, 615. ) The met-
rical form of the name is UTj/. tjidicc and ttckcitldee,
and hence some have been led into the erroneous opin-
ion, that the name of the constellation was derived
from xt'Acia, a "pigeon" or "dove," in allusion to the
fancied appearance of the cluster. (Schwcnk, Mylhol.
Skixx. ,p. 2. )--The Pleiades are assigned on the ce-
lestial sphere to a position in the rear of Taurus. (Hy-
gin. . Poet. Astron. , 20. ) Proclus and Geminus, how-
ever, place them on the back of the animal; while
Hipparchus makes them belong, not to Taurus, but to
the foot of Perseus. (TA<<on. ad Aral. , Pkan. , 254.
-- Vblckcr, Mylhol. der lap. Geschl. , p. 78. )--II. The
name of Pleiades was also given to seven tragic wri-
ters, and the same appellation to seven other poets, of
the Alexandrcan school. (Vid. Alexandrina Schola,
near the conclusion of the article. )
Pleionk, one of the Oceanides, who married Atlas,
king of Mauritania, by whom she had twelve daughters,
and a son called Hyas. Seven of the daughters were
changed into a constellation called Pleiades, and the
rest into another called Hyades. (Ovid, Fast. , 5,84. )
Plemmyiuum, a promontory of Sicily, in the imme-
diate neighbourhood of Syracuse, and facing the island
of Ortygia, forming with this island the entrance to the
groat harbour of that city. Its modern name is Mas-
sa tTOlivera. (Dorvill. Sic. , p. 191. -- Thucyd. , 7, 4.
-- Wesscling, ad Diod. Sic. , vol. 8, p. 555, ed. Bip. )
It was fortified by Nicias during the siege of Syracuse
by the Athenians, as being well adapted by its situa-
tion for receiving supplies by sea; and here also he
erected three forts or castles, the largest of which con-
tained all the warlike implements, and the provisions
of the army. At a subsequent period of the v. ar, the
Athenians were compelled to abandon this post, and
fortified themselves near Dascon, in its vicinity. (Thu-
cyd. , 1. e. --Id. , 7, 23. ) The position of Plemmyrium
may be regarded as one of the early causes of the fail-
ure of the expedition against Syracuse; for, as the
place was destitute of freshwater, and the soldiers had
to go to a distance for it, numbers of them were cut
off from day to day by the Syracusans. (Letronne, ad
Thueyd. , 7, 4, p. 76. --G'iUer, de situ et origine Syr-
icusarum, p. 76, seqq. )
Pr. KtiMiixii. a people of Gallia Belgica, tributary to
the Nervii. Their precise situation is unknown. Le-
maire places them in the vicinity of Tornacum, now
Tournay. (Ind. Geogr. ,ad C<w. , p. 339. --Cas. , B.
G. , 5, 39. )
Plinius, I. f ecundus, C, surnamed the Elder, and
also the Naturalist, a distinguished Roman writer,
bam of a noble family, in the ninth year of the reign
of Tiberius, A. D. 23. St. Jerome, in his Chronicle
of Eusebius, and a Life of Pliny ascribed to Sueto-
nius, make him to have been a native of Comum; but
? ? since, in the dedicatory epistle prefixed to his Natural
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? H. INIC9.
PLINITJ3
without doubt, a grammatical treatise on the precise
signification and use of words. And yet it is difficult,
if we follow chronological computation, not to believe
that Nero named him his procurator in Spain; for it
is certain, from the words of his nephew, that be filled
this office: he himself mentions certain observations
made by him in this country, and we find no other
period in his life in which he could have gone thither.
We may presume that he continued in Spain during
the civil wars of Galba, Otho, and Vitellius, and even
during the first years of the reign of Vespasian. It
was during this period that he lost his brother-in-law;
and, being unable, by reason of his absence abroad, to
become his nephew's guardian, the care of the latter
was intrusted to Virginius Rufus. On his return,
Pliny would seem to nave stopped for a time in the
south of Gaul; for he describes, with remarkable ex-
actness, the province of Narbonensis, and, in particular,
the fountain of Vaucluse. He informs us that he saw
in this quarter a atone said to have fallen from heaven.
Vespasian, with whom he had been on intimate terms
during the wars in Germany, gave him a very favour-
able reception, and was in the habit of calling him to
him every morning before sunrise; which, according
to Suetonius and Xiphilinus, was a privilege reserved
by that emperor only for his particular friends. It
cannot be affirmed, with any great degree of certainty,
that Vespasian elevated Pliny to the rank of senator.
Some writers state, moreover, though without any
proof, that Pliny served in the war of Titus against the
Jews. What he remarks concerning Judaea is not
sufficiently exact to induce us to believe that he speaks
from personal observal;on; and, besides, we can hard-
ly assign to any other part of his life except this, the
composition of his work on the History of his own
Times, in thirty-one books, and forming a continua-
tion of that of Aufidius Bassus. If Pliny, however,
did not serve in the Jewish war, he was not less the
friend of Titus on that account, having been his com-
panion in the course of other contests; and it was to
'his prince that he dedicated the last and most impor-
ant of his writings, his Natural History, in thirty-seven
jocks. The titles given to Titus in the dedication
show that this laborious work was concluded in the
78th year of our era; and it is evident that it must
have occupied the greater part of his life to collect
together the materials. This great work is the only
me of Pliny's that has come down to us. It forms,
<<t the same time, one of th<> most valuable monuments
left us by antiquity, and is a proof of the most aston-
shing industry in a man whose time was so much oc-
:upied, first by military affairs, and subsequently by
those of a civil nature. In order fully to appreciate
this vast and celebrated work, we must regard it un-
der three different aspects; its plan, its facts, and its
style. The plan is an immense one. Pliny does not
propose to himself to write merely a natural history, in
,he restricted sense in which we employ the phrase
at the present day, that is, a treatise, more or less de-
'ailed, respecting animals, plants, and minerals; he
embraces in his plan astronomy, physics, geography,
agriculture, commerce, medicine, and the arts, as well
as natural history properly so called; and he contin-
ually mingles with his remarks on these subjects a
variety of observations relative to the moral constitu-
tion of man and the history of nations: so that, in
many respects, his work may be regarded as having
? ? been in its day a sort of encyclopedia. After having
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? PLI HL'S
PLINIV8.
nting, or the ir;ictches hj is in the habit of making
? g. iinst Providence. He docs not, it ia true, extend
? n equal degree of credence to everything that he re-
lates, but it is at mere random that he wither doubts or
affirms, and the most puerile tales are i. ot always those
which most excite his incredulity. There is not, for
example, > "ingle fable of the Greek travellers, con-
cerning men without heads, others without mouths,
concerning men with only one foot, or very long ears,
which ho does not place in his seventh book, and that,
too, with so much confidence as to terminate this cat-
alogue of wonders with the following remark: "Htrr
alque tnlia ex hominum genere, ludibria aibi, nobis
niracula, ingeniosa fecit nalwra. " We may without
difficulty, therefore, after observing this facility in giv-
ing credence to ridiculous stories about the human
species, form an idea of the degree of discernment
which Pliny has exercised in his selection of authori-
ties respecting animals either entirely new or but little
known. Hence the most fabulous creations, niarti-
chori with human heads and the tails of eccrpions,
winged horses, the catoblcpas whose sight alone was
able to kill, play their part in his work by the side of
the elephant and lion. And yet all is not false, even
in those narratives thil are most replete with falsities.
We may sometimes detect the truth which has served
them for a basis, by recalling to mind that these are
extracts from ihe works of travellers, and by supposing
that ignorance, and the love of the marvellous, on the
part of ancient travellers, have led them into these
exaggerations, and have dictated to them those vague
and superficial descriptions, of which we find so great
a number even in modern books of travels. Another
very important defect in Pliny is that he docs not al-
ways give the true sense of the authors whom he trans-
lates, especially when designating different species of
animals. Notwithstanding the very limited means
possessed by us at the present day of judging with any
degree of certainty respecting this kind of error, it is
. easy to prove that on many occasions he has substi-
tuted for the Greek word, which in Aristotle desig-
nates one kind of animal, a Latin word which belongs
to one entirely different. It is true, indeed, that one
of the greatest difficulties experienced by the ancient
naturalists was that of fixing a nomenclature, and their
vicious and defective method shows itself in Pliny
more than in any other. The descriptions, or, rather,
imperfect indications, which he gives, are almost al-
ways insufficient for recognising the several species,
when tradition has failed to preserve the particular
name; and there is even a large number whose names
alone are given, witnout any characteristic mark, or
any means of distinguishing them from one another.
If it were possible still to doubt respecting the advan-
tages enjoyed by the modern over the ancient meth-
ods, these doubts would be completely dispelled, on
discovering that almost all the ancient writers have
said relative to the virtues of their plants is com-
pletely valueless for us, from the impossibility of dis-
tinguishing the individual plants to which they refer.
Our regret, however, on this account, will be great-
ly diminished, if we call to mind with how little care
the ancients, and Pliny in particular, have designa-
ted the medical virtues of plants. They attribute so
many false and even absurd properties to those plants
which we know, that we may be allowed to be very
. ndifferent respecting the virtues of those which we
? ? do not know. If we believe that part of Pliny's work
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? PLINIUS.
PLINIUS.
pearod of a very unusual size and shape. He had just
returned from taking the benefit of the sun, and. after
bathing himself in cold water, and taking a slight re-
past, had retired to his stud;. He immediately arose
and went out upon an eminence, from whence he might
more distinctly view this very uncommon appearance.
It was not, at that distance, discernible from what
mountain this cloud issued, but it was found afterward
10 ascend from Vesuvius. I cannot give you a more
exact description of its figure than by resembling it to
;hat of a pine-tree, for it shot up to a great height in
the form of a trunk, which extended itself at the top
into a eort of branches; occasioned, I imagine, either
by a sudden gust of air that impelled it, the force of
which decreased as it advanced upward, or the cloud
itself, being pressed back again by its own weight,
expanded in this manner: it appeared sometimes
bright, and sometimes dark and spotted, as it was either
more or less impregnated with earth and cinders.
This extraordinary phenomenon excited my uncle's
philosophical curiosity to take a nearer view of it. He
ordered a light vessel to be got ready, and gave me
the liberty, if I thought proper, to attend him. I rath-
er chose to continue my studies, for, as it had hap-
pened, he had given me employment of that kind.
As he was coming out of the house, he received a note
from Rectina, the wife of Bassus, who was in the ut-
most alarm at the imminent danger which threatened
her; for the villa being situated at the foot of Mount
Vesuvius, there was no way to escape but by the sea;
she earnestly entreated him, therefore, to come to her
assistance. He accordingly changed his first design,
and what he began with a philosophical, he pursued
with a heroic, turn of mind. He ordered the galleys
to put to sea, and went himself on board with an in-
tention of assisting not only Rectina, but several oth-
ers; for the villas stand extremely thick on that beau-
tiful coast. When hastening to the place from'whence
others fled with the utmost terror, he steered his di-
rect course to the point of danger, and with so much
calmness and presence of mind as to be able to make
and dictate his observations upon the motion and
figure of that dreadful scene. He was now so nigh
the mountain, that the cinders, which grew thicker and
hotter the nearer he approached, fell into' the ships,
together with pumice-stones, and black pieces of burn-
ing rock. They were likewise in danger, not only of
being aground by the sudden retreat of the sea, but
also from the vast fragments which rolled down from
the mountain, and obstructed all the shore. Here he
stopped to consider whether he should return back
again; to which the pilot advising him, 'Fortune,'
said he, 'befriends the brave; carry me to Pomponi-
inut. ' Pomponianus was then at Stubiaa, separated
by a gulf, which the sea, after several insensible wind-
ings, forms upon the shore. He had already sent his
haggage ? n board; for, though he was not at that time
in actual danger, yet, being within the view of it, and,
indeed, extremely near, if it should in the least increase,
he was determined to put to sea as soon as the wind
should change. It was favourable, however, for car-
rying my uncle to Pomponianus, whom he found in
the greatest consternation. He embraced him with
eagerness, encouraging and exhorting him to keep up
his spirits; and, the more to dissipate his fears, he or-
dered the baths to be got ready with an air of com-
plete unconcern. After having bathed, he sat down
? ? to supper with great cheerfulness, or, at least (what is
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? PLINIUS.
PLiNR'S.
old custom of our ancestors), he would frequently, in
! ha summer, if he was disengaged from business, re-
pose himself in tin1 sun; during which time some au-
thor was read to him, from which he made extracts
snd observations, as, indeed, was his constant method,
whatever book he read: for it was a maxim of his,
that 'no book was so bad but something might be
. earned from it. ' When this was over, lie generally
went into the cold bath, and, as soon as he came out
of it, just look some slight refreshment, and then re-
,jn-i:d himself for a little while. Thus, as if it had
been a new day, he immediately resumed his studies
till rjpper-time, when a book was again read to him,
upon which he would make some hasty remarks. I
remember once, his reader having pronounced some
word wrong, a person at table made him repeat it
again, upon which my uncle asked his friend if he un-
derstood it. The other acknowledging that he did,
Why, then, said he, would yon make him go back
again 1 We hate lost ly this interruption above ten
tinei: so covetous was this great man of his time.
ID summer he always rose from supper by daylight,
and in winter as soon as it was dark: and this was
an invariable rule with him. Such was his manner of
life amid the noise and hurry of the city; but in the
"ouniry his whole time was devoted 10 study without
intermission, excepting only when he bathed. But in
this exception I include no more than the time he was
actually in the bath, for all the time he was rubbed
and wiped he was employed either in hearing some
book read to him, or in dictating himself. In his
journeys he lost no time from Ins studies, but his mind
it those seasons being disengaged from all other
though! *, applied itself wholly to that single pursuit.
A secretary constantly attended him in his chariot,
who, in the winter, wore a particular sort of warm
gloves, that the sharpness of the weather might not
occasion any interruption to his studies; and, for the
same reason, my uncle always used a chair in Rome.
I remember he once reproved me for walking: 'You
might,' said he, 'employ those hours to more advan-
tage :' for he thought all time lost not given to study.
By this extraordinary application he found time to
write so many vclumes, besides one hundred and sixty
which he left me, consisting of a kind of common-
place, written on both sides, in a very small character;
so that one might fairly reckon the number consider-
ably more. " (Cuvier, Biogr. Univ. , vol. 35, p. 67,
teqq. ) The best edition of Pliny is that forming part
of the collection of Lemaire, Paris, 1827-32, 11 voli.
flvo. The following editions are also valuable: that
of Dalechamp, farts, 1587, fol. ; that of Hardouin,
I'firix. 1723, 3 vols. fol (reprinted with additions and
improvements from the edition of 1685, in 5 vols.
4to); and more particularly that of Franzius, Lips. ,
1778-91, 10 vols. 8vo. There is also a French trans-
lation, in 20 vols. 8vo. , Pan's, 1829-33. by De Grand-
ngne, with annotation* by some of the most eminent
scientific men in France. It is an excellent work. --
II. 0. Plinius Caicilius Secundus, surnamed, for dis-
tinction' sake, the " Younger," was born at or near
Comum, about the sixth year of the reign of Nero, or
A. D. 61. His mother was a sister of the elder Pliny;
and as he lost his father, Lucius Cxcilius, at an early
age, he removed, with his surviving parent, to the
house of his uncle. Here he resided for some years,
? nd. having been adopted by his uncle, took the name
? ? of the latter in addition to his parental one of Cascilius.
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? TLO
PLU
genious and eloquent, but by its very nature affords
no room for the exercise of the higher faculties of the
mind; nor will its readers, excepting those who are
fond of historical researches, derive from it any more
substantial benefit than the pleasure which a mere el-
egant composition can impart. To those, however,
who are curious in matters of history, it will certainly
prove interesting, since, although it only covers the
early years of Trajan's sway, it nevertheless furnishes
us with a number of facts, of which we should other-
wise be ignorant; for what Suetonius and Tacitus wrote
concerning Trajan is lost, as is the case, also, with this
same portion of the history of Dio Cassius, and with
the different accounts of Trajan's reign that are cited
by Lampridius, in his life of Alexander Severus. --
Pliny is also known to modern times by his letters.
Theso consist of ten books, and were published by
himself. From the first to the ninth book inclusive,
we have letters addressed to individuals of all descrip-
tions. The tenth book contains the letters and reports
lent by Pliny to Trajan, together with some answers
of that prince. The Letters of Pliny are valuable to
us, as all original letters of other times must be, be-
cause they necessarily throw much light on the period
at which they were written. But many of tbein are
ridiculously studied, and leave the impression, so fatal
to our interest in the perusal of such compositions,
that they were written for the express purpose of pub-
lication. Among the letters of Pliny that have ob-
tained the greatest celebrity, are the two in which he
gives an account of the elder Pliny's mode of life, and
of the circumstances connected with his death; two
others, whicli contain a description of villas of his own;
and one in whicli he gives an account of his proceed-
ings against the Christians, and to which we have al-
ready referred. The authenticity of this last mention-
ed letter has been attacked by Seinler, an eminent
German divine (Histories Ecclesiastical Select* Capi-
ta, Hat. , 1/67, 3 vols. 8vo. --Xeue Versuche dii Kirch-
cn-Iliitorie der erslen Jahrhunderte ms. hr aufziikla-
ren, Leipz. , 1787, 8vo). This critic maintains that
the letter in question was forged by Tertullian; but
his arguments, if they deserve the name, would inval-
idate the authority of almost every literary monument
of ancient times. This same letter of Pliny's gave
rise to an absurd legend at a later date, according to
which, Pliny having met, in the island of Crete, with
Titus, the disciple of St. Paul, was converted by him,
and afterward suffered martyrdom. --The design of
writing a history, which Pliny at one time entertained,
he never carried into execution. (Kpist. , 5, 8. ) The
work "IM Viris lllwtribua" has been erroneously
ascribed to him, as has also the dialogue " De Caus'is
cmrupta eloquentia. " (Masson, Vit. Plin. -- SchOll,
Hit. IM. Htm. , vol. 2, p. 408, seqq. --Bdhr, Gesch.
Itom. IM. , vol. 1, p. 56G, seq. )--The best edition of
Pliny is that of Lemaire, Paris, 1823, 2 vols. 8vo.
It is the edition of Gesner, improved by Schaeffer
(Lips. , 1803, 8vo), with additions by Lemaire.
Pusthenes, a son of Atreus, king of Argos, fa-
ther of Menelaus and Agamemnon. (Vid. Agamem-
non, and Atrida). )
Pi-otinopolis, a city of Thrace, to the south of
Hanrianopolis, founded and named in honor of the
Empress Plotina. On its site, at a later period, ap-
peared the city of Didymotichos, now Demotion, (/tin.
Ant. , 322. --Procop. , de ^Ed. , 4, 11. )
? ? PlotT. vus, a philosopher of the New-Platonic school,
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? PLUTARCHUS.
PLUTARCHUS.
ute the decline of national literature, bui which was
mora than once rendered illustrious at Rome by great
talents and the effects of persecution. It is well
known, that, under the bad emperors, and amid the
universal slavery that then prevailed, philosophy was
the only asylum to which liberty fled when banished
from the forum and the ser. atc. Philosophy, in earlier
days, had effected the ruin of the republic; it was
then only a vain scepticism, abused to their own bad
purposes by the ambitious and the corrupting. Adopt-
ing a better vocation, it became, at a later period, a
? pecies of religion, embraced by men of resolute spirit;
they needed a wisdom that might teach them how to
escape, by death, the cruelty of the oppressor, and they
called, for this purpose, stoicism to their aid. Plutarch,
the most constant and the most contemptuous opposer
of the Epicurean doctrines; Plutarch, the admirer of
Plato, and a disciple of his in the belief of the soul's
immortality, of divine justice, and of moral good,
taught his hearers truths, less pure, indeed, than those
of Christianity, but which, nevertheless, in some de-
gree adapted themselves to the pressing wants of he-
roic and elevated minds. --It is not known whether
Plutarch prolonged his stay in Italy until that period
when Domitian, by a public decree, banished all phi-
losophers from that country. Some critics have sup-
posed that he made many visits to Rome, but none
after the reign of this emperor. One thing, however,
appears well ascertained, that he returned, when still.
young, to his native country, and that he remained
there for the rest of his days. During this his long
sojourn in tbe land of his fathers, Plutarch was con-
tinually occupied with plans for the benefit of his
countrymen; and, to give but a single instance of his
xeal in the public service, be not only filled the of-
fice of archon, the chief dignity in his native city,
but even discharged with great exactness, and without
the least reluctance, the duties of an inferior office, that
of inspector of public works, which compelled him, he
tells us, to measure tile, and keep a register of the
loads of stone that were brought to him. AH this ac-
cords but ill with the statement of Suidas, that Plu-
tarch was honoured with the consulship by Trajan.
Such a supposition is contradicted both by the silence
of history and the usuages of the Romans. Another
and more recent tradition, which makes Plutarch to
have been the preceptor of Trajan, appears to rest on
:io better foundation, and can derive no support what-
ever from any of the genuine works of the philosopher.
An employment, however, which Plutarch does seem
to have filled, was that of priest of Apollo, which con-
nected him with the sacerdotal corporation at Delphi.
The period of his death is not known; but the proba-
bility is that he lived and philosophized until an advan-
ced age, as would appear both from the tone of some
of his writings and various anecdotes that arc related
of him. --The several productions of this writer will
now be briefly examined. The work to which he owes
his chief celebrity ia that which bears the title of Bioi
? rrapu? . Ai/? . ot {"Parallel law"). In this he gives bi-
ographical sketches of forty-four individuals, distin-
guished for their virtues, their talents, and their ad-
ventures, some Greek, others Roman, and gives them
>n such a way that a Roman is always compared with
a Greek. Five other biographies are isolated ones;
twelve or fourteen are lost. The five isolated lives
are those of Artaxerxea Mnemon, Aratus, Galba, Otbo,
? ? and Homer, though this last is probably not Plutarch's.
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? PLUTARCHUS
PLTJ
biographical ske ches of Plutarch, though our limits
jrbid our entering on the detail. It may be said, in
* few words, that Plutarch, in the composition of his
Liven, consulted all the existing historians; that he
did rot, however, blindly follow them, but weighed
their respective statements in the balance of justice,
and, when their accounts were contradictory, adopted
such as seemed to him most probable. --'ljic other
historical works of Plutarch are the following: 1. 'Vu-
uatxa, y Atrial 'PuuaiKai (" Roman Questions'\
These are researches on certain Roman usages: for
example, Why, in the ceremony of marriage, the bride
is required to touch water and fire 1 Why, in the same
ceremony, they light five tapers 7 Why travellers, who,
having been considered dead, return eventually home,
cannot enter into their houses by the door, but must
descend through the roof, &c. --2. 'EMt/vtKu, 7 Ai-
riai 'EM. nviKai (" Hellenica, or Grecian Qius-
Horn"). We have here similar discourses on points of
Grecian antiquity. --3. lb pi rtapaMJi'Kuv 'EUijvi-
k<jv koI 'PupatKuv (" Parallels drawn from Grecian
and Roman History"). In order to show that certain
events in Grecian history, which appear fabulous, are
entitled to full confidence. Plutarch opposes to them
certain analogous events from Roman history. This
production is unworthy of Plutarch, and very probably
supposititious. It possesses no other merit thai that
of having preserved a large number of fragments of
Greek historians, who are either otherwise unknown,
or whose works have not come down to us. --4. Ilcpt
ttjs Tu/iaiuv rixnc (" Of the Fortune of the Ro-
mans"). --5. and 6. Two discourses -. Tcpl rfjc 'AXef-
dvfpov TVXVC V aptrijc (" On the Fortune or Valour
of Alexander"). In one of these Plutarch undertakes
*. o chow that Alexander owed his success to himself,
not to Fortune. In the other, he attempts to prove, that
bis virtues were not the offspring of a blind and capri-
cious Fortune, and that his talents and the resources of
his intellect cannot be regarded as favours bestowed
by this same Fortune. These two discourses are pre-
ceded by one (No. 4) which shows the true object of
the others. Plutarch, in this, endeavours to prove,
that the Roman exploits are less the effect of valour
and wisdom, than the result of the influence of For-
tune; and, among the favours-conferred by this god-
dess, he enumerates the unexpected death of Alexan-
der, at the very time that he was menacing Italy with
his victorious arms. In all this we clearly see the
jealousy and vanity of the Greeks, who, from the time
that they first fell under the Roman yoke, lever ceased
detracting from the glory of this republic, and ascribing
its rapid progress to some blind and unknown cause.
One of the motives that induced Polybius, moreover,
to write his history, was to undeceive his countrymen
on this point, and prove to them that the prosperity of
Rome was owing, not to the caprices of Fortune, but
to good conduct and^valour. --7.
