AIDEb.
 

ALBANIA.
 

 lie is described di  small of stature, and wears

.a linen cuirass (XcvoBapnf), but is brave and in¬

 trepid, skilled in throwing  the spear, and,  next

 to Achilles,  the  most  swift-footed among  the

 Greeks.  On his return from Troy his vessel

 was wrecked on the Whirling Rocks (Tvpal ire-

 rpai); he himself got safe upon a rock through

 the assistance  of Neptune (Poseidon); but as

 he boasted that he  wbuld escape in defiance of

 fiie immortals,  Neptune  (Poseidon)  split  the

 ook  with his trident, and  Ajax was swallowed

 up by the sea.  This is the account of Homer,

 but his death is related  somewhat differently by

 Virgil and other writers, who  also tell  us  that

 the  anger of  Minerva  (Athena)  was  excited

 against him, because on the night of the  cap¬

 ture of Troy, he violated Cassandra in the  tem¬

 ple of the goddess, where she had taken refuge.

 The Opuntian Loerians worshipped Ajax as their

 national hero.

   Aides ('Aidng).   Vid. Hades.

   Aidoneus ('Aldavevg). 1. A lengthened  form

 of Aides.  Vid. Hades.—2. A mythical king of

 the Molossians  in Epirus, husband of Proserpina

 (Persephone), and father of Core.   When  The¬

 seus and Pirithous attempted  to carry off Core,

 Aidoneus had Pirithous killed by Cerberus, and

 kept Theseus in captivity till he was released by

 Hercules.

   Arus Locutius or Loquens, a Roman divinity.

 A short time before the Gauls took Rome  (B.C.

 890),  a  voice  was heard  at Rome in  the Via

 Nova, during the silence of night, announcing that

 the Gauls were approaching.  No attention was

 \t the time paid to the warning, but the  Romans

 ifterwards erected  on the  spot where the voice

 tad been heard, an altar  with a sacred inclos-

 ■,ire around it, to Aius Locutius, or the " Announc-

 >ng Speaker."

   Alabanda  (fi 'AXdBavSa  or ra  'AXdBavSa:

 AXaBavdevg  or 'AXdBavdog: now Arabissar), an

 inland town  of Caria, near the Marsyas, to the

 <outh of the Masander, was situated between two

 hills:  it was a prosperous place, but  one of the

 most corrupt and luxurious towns in Asia Minor.

 Under the Romans  it was the seat of a eonven-

 tus juridicus.

   [Alabastron ('AXaBaarpav ttbXtg), a  city in

 Upper or Middle Egypt, in the Arabian mountain

 chain, and famed for its  artists, who, from the ala¬

 baster dug  in Mons Alabastrinus, carved all

 kinds of vases and ornaments.]

   Alabon ('AXaBov), a  river  and town in Sicily,

 north of Syracuse.

   Alagonia ('AXayovta), a town of the Eleuthe-

 ro Laconians on the frontiers of Messenia.

   Alalcomen.e ('AXaXKO/ievai: 'AXaXnofievalog,

  kXaXitouevievg).  1. (Now Suiinari), an  ancient

  town of Bceotia, east of Coronea, with a temple

  ef Minerva (Athena), who  is said to have  been

  aorn in the town, and who was  hence called

  Alalcomeneis  ('AXaXico/ievnig,  ISog).  The  name

  of the town wap derived either from Alalcome-

  nia, a daughter of Ogyges, or  from the Bceotian

  hero Alaleomenes.—2. A  town in  Ithaca,  or in

  fee Island Asteria, between Ithaca and Cephal-

  lenia.

    Alalia.  Vid. Aleria.

    Alani ('AXavol, 'AXavvol, i. e,  mountaineers,

  from the Sarmatian  word ala), a great Asiatic

  people, included  under the  general  name of

              36
 

Scythians, but probably a branch of the Mas

sagetae.  They were  a nation of warlike hors»

men.   They are first found about the  eastern

part of the Caucasus, in the country called Al¬

bania,  which  appears to be only another form

of the  same name.   In the reign of Vespasian

they made incursions into Media and Armenia

and at a later time they pressed into Europe, as

far as  the  banks of  the Lower Danube, whera

toward the end of the fifth century, they wer«

routed by the  Huns, who then  compelled them

to become their allies.  In A.D. 406, some of the

Alani took part with the Vandals in their irrup¬

tion  into Gaul and Spain, where they gradually

disappear from history.

   Alaeicus, in German Al-rie, i. e.,  " All-rich,"

elected king of the  Visigoths in A J). 398, had

previously  commanded the Gothic auxiliaries of

Theodosius. He twice invaded Italy, first in A.D.

402-403, when he was defeated by  Stilicho at

the battle of Pollentia, and a second time in 408-

410; in his second invasion he took and plundered

Rome, 24th of August, 410.  He  died shortly

afterward,  at  Consentia in Bruttium, while pre¬

paring to invade Sicily.

   Alastor ('AXdoTup).  1. A surname of Jupi¬

ter (Zeus)  as  the avenger of evil, and also, in

general, any deity who avenges  wicked deeds.—

[2. Son of Neleus and Chloris, was  slain, toge¬

ther with his brothers, except Nestor, by Hercu¬

les, when  that hero took Pylos.]—3.  A Lycian,

and companion of Sarpedon, slam by Ulysses.—

[4. A Greek who rescued Teucer, the brother of

Ajax,  when wounded, and  also  Hypsenor  when

struck down by De'iphobus.]

   Alba  Silvius,  one of the mythical  kings of

Alba, son of Latinus, reigned thirty-nine yeare

   Alba.   1. (Now Abia), a town of the Bastitanj

in Spain.—2. (Now Alvanna), a town of the Bar-

duli in Spain.—3. Augusta (now Aulps, near Bit-

ranee), a town of the Elicoci in Gallia Narbon-

ensis.—4. FBoentia or Fuoentis (Albenses: now

Alba or Albi), a town of the Marsi, and subse¬

quently a Roman colony, was situated on a lofty

rock near the Lake Fucinus.  It  was a strong

fortress, and was used by the Romans as a state

prison.—5. Longa (Albani),  the most ancient

town in  Latium, is said to have been built by

Aseaniua, and to have  founded Rome.  It was

called Longa, from its  stretching in a  long linft

down  the Alban  Mount towards  the Albon

Lake,  perhaps near the modern convent of Pal-

azzolo.  It was destroyed by Tullus Hostilius,

and was  never rebuilt:  its inhabitants  were

removed to Rome. At a later time  the surround¬

ing  country, which was highly cultivated and

covered with  vineyards, was studded  with the

splendid villas of the  Roman aristocracy and

emperors (Pompey's, Domitian's, (fee),  each of

which was called Albanum, and out  of which a

new town at length  grew, also called Albanum

(now  Albano), on the  Appian Road,  ruins oi

which are extant.—6. Pompeia (Albenses Pom-

peiani: now Alba),  a town in  Liguria, founded

by Scipio  Afrieanus I, and colonized  by Pom-

peius  Magnus, the birth-place of  the  Emperor

 Pertinax.

   Albania ('AX6avia:  'AXBavoi, Albani r now

 Schirwan and part of Baghestan,  in the  south¬

 eastern part  of Georgia),  a country of Asia or

the weetem side of the Caspian, extendiisg fronr