FA'BUL.E. 



ATHEISM. 



The word Atabek is of Turkish origin, and properly signifies 'The 

 Father of U Prince.' or, as A bulled, explains it ( Ann. Mosl.' t. iii. 

 p. SC, ed. Make). a faithful Parent.' Four dynastios of Atabeks ar 

 particularly noticed in eastern history ; those of Syria (and Irak), those 

 of Aasrbijan. those of Persia, and those of Laristan : but none of them 

 acquired any historical importance. 



ATELLA'X.E FA'BlTL.fi, a species of comedy which was common 

 among the people of Campania, and was thance introduced at Rome, 

 where it met with much favour. The name of Atellana), or Atellanicsc, 

 was derived from Atella, an ancient town of Campania, now ruined, 

 the site of which is about two miles S.E. of the modem town of A versa, 

 and Mar the village of Bant Elpidio. The Atollonm were also known 

 by the name of Ludi Osoi,' on account of the name of the people 

 among whom they originated. The Roman writers have transmitted 

 to us a few brief detached traits of the nature of these plays, of which 

 no specimen hat reached us. The Atellana Beam to have somewhat 

 resembled the Greek Satyric drama, with this difference, that, instead 

 of satyrs and other fantastic characters, they had real Oscan characters, 

 or actors, speaking their own dialect, and who were the representatives 

 of nine ppMlfar class or description of people of that country, much 

 iu the same manner as the BrigheUa, Arieochino, Polecinella, Ac., of 

 the modern Italian stage, who are meant as caricatures of the pecu- 

 liarities of certain rliesM in their respective provinces, and who speak 

 each his own dialect in all its native humour. Indeed these modern 

 mmtrlttn, as the Italians call them, may be considered as the descend- 

 ants of toe old Qeoan characters in the Atellamc. One of these Oscan 

 characters was Macchus, a sort of clown or fool There were others 

 called Buecones, that is, babblers, empty talkers. (Diomedes ' de Gram- 

 lib, i. and iii.) The Atellana! differed from the eomudia 

 which represented high characters, as well as from the 

 , which exhibited vulgar ones ; the Atellana) were a mixture 

 of high and low, pathetic and burlesque, without however degenerating 

 into trivialities or buffoonery. They seem to have been a union of 

 high comedy and its parody. They were also distinct from the per- 

 formances of the MIMI, who indulged in scurrilities and in obscene 

 joke* and natures. (Cicero, ' Epistola ad Papirium.') Macrobius 

 (' Saturn. III.') draws the distinction between the Atellana; and the 

 mimi ; " the latter made use of the Roman language, and not of the 

 Osoan, like the AtelUruc ; the performances of the mimi consisted of 

 one act, while the Atellana) and other comedies had five, with tjcodia 

 (interludes consisting of songs) between the acts ; lastly, the mimi had 

 not the accompaniment of the tibicina, nor of vocal music like the 

 others." Valerius Maximus (lib. ii. ch. 4), speaking of the Atellana), 

 says, that their jests were tempered by Italian strictness of taste ; and 

 Donatus extols their antique natural elegance. Even in their satirical 

 allusions their object was to provoke joyous laughter, rather than 

 excite feelings of hatred or contempt. It would appear that their 

 humour dealt chiefly in ingenious allusions and equivocations clothed 

 in decent words, the meaning of which could only be caught by the 

 better-educated and more refined classes. In their plots they did not 

 aim at any intricate development, or embody an intrigue, but seem 

 rather to have depended on farcical situations, which gave a freer scope 

 to the jointleas and satirical dialogue. The Atellana! were performed 

 by Roman citizens, who were not thereby disgraced, like the common 

 katruaut, or actors ; their names were not erased from the roll of their 

 tribes, and they were not obliged to take off their masks at the will of 

 the audience. In course of time, however, and in the general corrup- 

 tion of morals under the empire, the Atellana! degenerated ; common 

 mercenary players appeared in them, and they became as loose in their 

 language as the performances of the mimi. This may explain the 

 different judgments given of the Atellana! by different writers. The 

 exodia, or interludes played between the act* of the Atellana!, are 

 mentioned by Juvenal (' Sat. VI.'), and Suetonius quotes from one of 

 them a line in which Tiberius was alluded to as an old goat ; the pun 

 resting on the word caprii, which means goats as well as the island 

 (Capress) noted as the scene of Tiberius's depravity. When Galba 

 entered Rome, an actor in one of the Atellana; began singing the first 

 line of a familiar tune : Vi-nit io Simius a villa,' that is, the baboon i 

 come Io Itnen, which the audience immediately took up, and continued 

 the song in chorus, repeating the first line as a burthen. 



The Atellana; were written in verse, chiefly iambic, with a frequent 

 recurrence of tribrachs and other trisyllabic feet Lucius Sylla, the 

 famous dictator, is said to have written Atellouo. Quintus Novius, 

 who flourished soon after Sylla's abdication, wrote about fifty plays of 

 this kind; the titles of some of them have come down to us; as 

 ' Macchus Exul,' that is, Macchus in Exile; ' Vindemiatores,' or the 

 Vintagers ; ' Oallinaria,' or the Poulterer ; ' Surdus,' the Deaf Man, &c. 

 Lucius Potnponius of Bononia, who lived about the same time, wrote 

 ' Macchus Miles,' that is, Macchus Soldier, the ' Pseudo Agamemnon,' 

 Ac. The AteUanaj afterwards fell into neglect, but were revived by a 

 certain Mummius, mentioned by Macrobius, who however does not 

 state the epoch of the revival. They were, as we have seen, in full 

 vigour under the emperors. (Munk, ' De Fabulis AteUanis,' Lips. 

 LSU 



A TEMPO, in music, signifies that after any change in motion, by 

 retardation or acceleration, the original movement is to be restored. 



ATHAMANTIN (C M H,.0,), is a crystalline, fatty body, obtained 

 from the root of AlfamaMa w*cti*tun. It contains valerianic acid. 



united to a base called Oreoteione (C,,H,0,). Athamantin combines 

 with hydrochloric acid, and the compound, when boiled, deposit* 

 crystals of oreoaeloM combined with water (C U H,OJ, a compound 

 that is isomerio with benioio acid. 



c.,11,,0, - C,,H,,O, + c,,n,o,. 



Athamanlln. Valcrlanie acid. Ormclone. 



tm, which u 



ATHANASIAN CREED, or Symbol** A 

 also called from the words of its beginning the Symbolum 

 is not extant in the works of Athanasius (which contain, vol. i. part i. 

 p. 98, MO. another creed, stating the same doctrine, but dill. 

 expressed), and is not quoted by contemporary writers ; it seems to 

 refer to the later Nestorian and Eutychiau controversies has a 

 Latinised character, or it sounds in Greek like a translation fmin a 

 Latin original, and apixtars to contain phrases taken from the writings 

 of Augustine, the bishop of Hippo. Hence we conclude that it was 

 <MIII| ><l about the middle of the 6th century. Some have supposed 

 that Viiiccntius Lerinensis ; others, that Venantius Fortunatus ; others 

 again, that Hilarius Arelatensis wrote what is now called the Athana- 

 sian creed. According to Paschasius Quesnel, Virgilius of Tapsus, who 

 has been considered to have interpolated the passage, 1 John v. 7, was 

 also the author of the Athanasian creed. 



From the 7th century we find that the Athanasian creed has been 

 considered in the western churches to be the most genuine docmmnt 

 of the ecclesiastical trinity. It is remarkable that the Athanasian 

 creed was not introduced by the authority of ecclesiastical councils, 

 nor by any external compulsion, but was generally received by the free 

 conviction of the churches that it contained a correct exposition of 

 Christian doctrine, and that it was necessary to give some ecclesiastical 

 detinitions of the statements of the New Testament. This important 

 document may illustrate the difference between the solution of an 

 historical question concerning authenticity, and one involving the 

 internal truth of doctrinal contents. (See Cave, ' Historic Littc-r.,' 

 vol. i. p. 189 ; Oudin, ' de Scriptor Eccles.,' vol. i. p. 312 ; FabriciuR, 

 ' Biblioth. Or.,' vol. v. p. 297 ; Montfaueou, ' Prtef. ad Op. Athanasii ;' 

 and Schrockh, ' Kirchengesch.' vol. xii. pp. 93-252.) Sherlock has also 

 written on the Athouasian creed. Dr. Waterland supposed it, without 

 much foundation, to have been made by Hilary, bishop of Aries. 

 Hooker (' Eccles. Polity,' B. xlii. c. 11-13) at considerable length 

 defends its use by the Church of England ; on the other h.-unl. An li 

 bishop Tillotson said, " The church were well rid of it ;" (see Clarke's 

 'Succession of Sacred Literature,' London, 1830, p. 274.) A defence 

 of the Athanagian creed on physiological principles, by Thomas William 

 Chevalier, Esq., was printed in the ' Morning- Watch,' and published 

 separately, London, 1830. In this dissertation a surgeon refill 

 attack of some clergymen. 



Before the close of the 6th century, the Athanasian creed had 

 become BO well known, that comments were written upon it ; it was 

 not, however, then styled the Athanasian Creed, but simply the Catholic 

 Faith. Before the expiration of another century, it had obtained the 

 appellation which it has since preserved. It is supposed to !,,.> 

 received the epithet ' Athanasian,' on account of its reference to the 

 subjects of the controversy between the orthodox and the Arians. 

 But Athanasius himself confined his exertions to the establishment of 

 the doctrine of incarnation, and seems not to have insisted much upon 

 the doctrines relative to the Spirit. 



This creed was used in France about the year 850 ; was receive'. 1 iu 

 Spain about a hundred years later, and in Germany about the same 

 time. It was both said and sung in) England iu the 10th century ; 

 was commonly used in Italy at the expiration of that century, and at 

 Rome a little later. In the English church it is ordered to be read 

 only on certain feast days. 



Many learned men, especially Cardinal Bona, Petavius, Bellartuine, 

 and Rivet, are of opinion that the creed which bears the name of 

 Athanaxius was really the production of that bishop. Baronius main- 

 tains this opinion, and suggest* that it was composed by Athanasius 

 when at Rome, and offered to Julius as a confession of his i.-iitli. 

 Bishop Pearson, Dr. Cave, and others, believe that it was not known 

 in the Christian church before the 5th century, and that it was com- 

 posed by Vigilius, the African bishop. Binghom says, " Whoever was 

 the author, there never was any question made of its orthodoxy, except 

 by the Samoeatenians and Arians, in these latter ages of tin- clmreh." 

 The damnatory clauses have been objected to, but in the Articles of 

 the English church, it is said of the three creeds (the Nicene, Athana- 

 sian, and that commonly called the Apostles'), that they " ought 

 thoroughly to be received and believed," adding, however, no anathema; 

 and Jeremy Taylor says, " I am most heartily persuaded of the truth 

 of them, and yet I dare not say all that ore not so are irrevocably 

 damned ;" an opinion in which other divines of unquestionable ortho- 

 doxy coincide. 



The controversy on the Athanasian creed has produced in En 

 a great number of works; the most learned and impartial work on 

 this subject is, 'A Critical History of the Athanasian Creed,' by 

 Daniel Waterland, D.D. ; the second edition, corrected and improved, 

 Cambridge, 1728. 



ATHEISM. [Mt 



