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On this page: Annius – Antaea – Antagoras – Antalcidas


says, that Anniceris (probably the elder of the two) was distinguished for his skill as a cha­ rioteer. [G. E. L. C.]

ANNIUS. 1. L. Annius, of Setia, a Roman colony, was praetor of the Latins, b. c, 340, at the time of the great Latin war. He was sent as am­bassador to Rome to demand for the Latins perfect equality with the Romans. According to the Ro­man story, he dared to say, in the capitol, that he defied the Roman Jupiter; and as he hurried down the steps of the temple, he fell from the top to the bottom, and was taken up dead. (Liv. viii. 3-6.)

2. annius, a freedman, the father of Cn. Fla­vins, who was curule aedile in b. c. 304. (Gell. vi. 9 ; Liv. ix. 46.)

3. T. annius, a triumvir for founding colonies in Cisalpine Gaul, was obliged by a sudden rising of the Boii to take refuge in Mutina, b. c. 218. (Liv. xxi. 25.)

4. annius, a Campanian, who is said to have been sent as ambassador to Rome after the battle of Cannae, b.c. 216, to demand that one of the consuls should henceforth be a Campanian. (Val. Max. vi. 4. § 1; Liv. xxiii. 6, 22.)

5. L. annius, tribune of the plebs, b.c. 110, attempted with P. Lucullus to continue in office the next year, but was resisted by his other col­leagues. (Sail. Jug. 37.)

6. P. annius, tribune of the soldiers, was the murderer of M. Antonius, the orator, in b. c. 87, and brought his head to Marius. (Val. Max. ix. 2. § 2; Appian, B. C. i. 72.)

7. C. annius, sent into Spain by Sulla about b. c. 82 against Sertorius, whom he compelled to retire to Nova Carthago. (Plut. Sertor. 7.)

8. Q. annius, a senator, one of Catiline's con­spirators, b. c. 63. He was not taken with Cethe-gus and the others, and we do not know his future fate. (Sail. Cat. 17, 50; comp. Q. Cic. dePet. C. 3.) A'NNIUS BASSUS. [bassus.] A'NNIUS FAUSTUS. [faustus.] A'NNIUS GALLUS. [gallus.] A'NNIUS PO'LLIO. [pollio.] ANSER, a friend of the triumvir M. Antonius, and one of the detractors of Virgil. Ovid calls him jorocoa?. (Virg. Ed. ix. 36; Serv. ad loo. et ad Ed. vii. 21; Prop. ii. 25. 84 ; Ov. Trist. ii. 435 ; Cic. Pliilipp, xiii. 5 ; Weichert, Poetar. Lot. Reli­quiae, p. 160, &c., Lips. 1830.)

ANTAEA ('Aimua), a surname of Demeter, Rhea, and Cybele, probably signifies a goddess whom man may-approach in prayers. (Orph. Hymn. 40. 1 ; Apollon. i. 1141 ; Hesych. s. v.) [L. S.J ANTAEUS ('avtcuos). 1. A son of Poseidon and Ge, a mighty giant and wrestler in Libya, whose strength was invincible so long as he re­mained in contact with his mother earth. The strangers who came to his country were compelled to wrestle with him ; the conquered were slain, and out of their skulls he built a house to Poseidon. Heracles discovered the source of his strength, lifted him up from the earth, and crushed him in the air. (Apollod. ii. 5. § 11 ; Hygin. Fab. 31; Diod. iv. 17; Pind. Isthm. iv. 87, &c.; Lucan, •Pharsal. iv. 590, &c.; Juven. iii. 89 ; Ov. Ib. 397.) The tomb of Antaeus (Antoei collis], which formed a moderate hill in the shape of a man stretched out at full length, was shewn near the town of Tingis iii Mauretania down to a late period (Strab. xvii. p. 829 ; P. Mela, iii. 10. § 353 &c.), and it was be-



lieved that whenever a portion of the earth cover­ing it was taken away, it rained until the hole was filled up again. Sertorius is said to have opened the grave, but when he found the skeleton of sixty cubits in length, he was struck with horror and had it covered again immediately. (Strab. I.e.; Plut. Sertor. 9.)

2. A king of I rasa, a town in the territory of Cyrene, who was sometimes identified by the an­ cients with the giant Antaeus. He had a daughter Alceis or Barce, whom he promised to him who should conquer in the foot race. The prize was won by Alexidamus. (Find. Pytb. ix. 183, &c., with the Schol.) A third personage of this name occurs in Virg. A en. x. 561. [L. S.]

ANTAGORAS ('Avra-yopos), of Rhodes, a Greek epic poet who flourished about the year B. c. 270. He was a friend of Antigonus.Gonatas and a contemporary of Aratus. (Pans. i. 2. § 3 ; Plut. Apophtli. p. 182, e, Sympos. iv. p. 668, c.) He is said to have been, very fond of good living, respecting which Plutarch and Athenaeus (viii. p. 340, &c.) relate some facetious anecdotes. Antagoras wrote an epic poem entitled Thebais* (&ri€ais, Vila Arati, pp. 444, 446, ed. Buhle.) This poem he is said to have read to the Boeotians, to whom it appeared so tedious that they could not abstain from yawning. (Apostol. Proverb. Cent. v. 82 ; Maxim. Confess, ii. p. 580, ed. Combefisius.) He also composed some epigrams of which speci­ mens are still extant. (Diog. Laert, iy, 26 \ Anthol. Graec. ix. 147.) [L. S.]

ANTALCIDAS ('AvraAfctSas), the Spartan, appears to have been one of the ablest politicians ever called forth by the emergencies of his country, an apt pupil of the school of Lysander, and, like him, thoroughly versed in the arts of courtly diplo­macy. His father's name, as we learri from Plu­tarch (Artax. p. 1022, a.), was Leon—the same, possibly, who is recorded by Xenophon (Hell. ii. 3. § 10) as Ephor eTr&W/xos in the fourteenth year of the Peloponnesian war. At one of the most critical periods for Sparta, when, in addition to a strong confederacy against her of Grecian states assisted by Persian money, the successes of Phar-nabazus and Conon and the restoration of the long walls of Athens appeared to threaten the re-esta­blishment of Athenian dominion, Antalcidas was selected as ambassador to Tiribazus, satrap of western Asia, to negotiate through him a peace for Sparta with the Persian king, b. c. 393. (Hell. iv. 8. § 12.) Such a measure would of course deprive Athens and the hostile league of their chief re­sources, and, under the pretext of general peace and independence, might leave Sparta at liberty to consolidate her precarious supremacy among the Greeks of Europe. The Athenians, alarmed at this step, also despatched an embassy, with Conon at its head, to counteract the efforts of Antalcidas, and deputies for the same purpose accompanied them from Thebes, Argos, and Corinth. In con­sequence of the strong opposition made by these states, Tiribazus did not venture to close with Sparta without authority from Artaxerxes, but he secretly furnished Antalcidas with money for a navy, to harass the Athenians and their allies, and drive them into wishing for the peace. Moreover, he seized Conon, on the pretext that he had un­duly used the king's forces for the extension of Athenian dominion, and threw him into prison. [conon.] Tiribazus was detained at court by the

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