937 



PORCIA. 



PORSENA. 



938 



PO'RCIA. [BKUTUS.] 



PORDENO'NE. GIOVANNI ANTONIO LICINIO, or LICINO, called 

 ' II Pordenone,' was born at Pordenone in Friuli, in 1483. From the 

 vigour of conception, the elevation of mind, and the style of execution 

 which distinguish his works, it has been presumed, though it is not 

 certain, that he frequented the school of Giorgione. Though on the 

 whole inferior to Titian, he was his rival, and not always without 

 success. He was an able colourist in oil, hut chiefly excelled in 

 fresco. Aa he principally painted frescoes in North or Upper Italy, 

 he was known in Lower Italy only by his fine oil paintings. His most 

 splendid work in oil is the altar-piece of Santa Maria dell' Orto, at 

 Venice, representing a San Lorenzo Giustiniani, surrounded by other 

 saints, among whom are St. John the Baptist and St. Augustin. The 

 frescoes of Pordenone are spread over the towns and castles of Friuli ; 

 tome are at Genoa, Mantua, and Venice, but the best preserved are 

 at Piacenzi and Cremona. He was highly esteemed by the Emperor 

 Charles V., who ennobled him. Hercules II., duke of Mantua, called 

 him to Mantua to paint cartoons for tapestry to be made in Flanders, 

 but he soon afterwards died (in ] 539), aa it was suspected, of poison. 

 It must be observed that he adopted the name of ' Regillo.' 



Several of Pordenone's pictures are in England. In the National 

 Gallery is a colossal figure of ' An Apostle ; ' at Hampton Court, a large 

 rich picture of himself and family, and two other pictures ; and several 

 others are in private collections. 



PO'RPHYRY was born A.D. 233, either at Tyre, whence he is 

 called Tyrius, or at Batansea (Basan), a town of Syria, whence he is 

 called Eataneotes. His original name was Melech, the Hebrew and 

 Syriac for king, a circumstance which occasioned Suidas to say that 

 his real name was Baeileus. His preceptor Louginus changed his 

 Syriac name into Porphyrius (a man ' in purple," the adornment of a 

 king.) While he was yet a boy, he repaired to Origen, who was then 

 probably living at Csesarea in Palestine, certainly not at his native city, 

 Alexandria, as Hulsteuius represents, following Vincent of Lerins. 

 Whether Porphyry became the pupil of Origcn, or how long he con- 

 tinued with him is uncertain. He afterwards went to Athens, where 

 for borne time he studied under Longinus, the celebrated philosopher 

 and critic. We find him next at Rome, where in the thirtieth year of 

 his age he was a scholar of Plotiuus, whose Life he has written, and 

 in it he has stated tome particulars concerning himself. After a few 

 years he went to Lilybacum in Sicily, and dwelt there till after the 

 death of Plotiuus in '270, whence he is sometimes called Siculus. 

 Here, according to Eusebius and Jerome, he composed his fifteen books 

 against the Christians; which books, with more zeal than wisdom, 

 were about a century afterwards ordered to be publicly burnt by the 

 Emperor Theodusius the Elder. Porphyry died at Rome, towards 

 the end of Diocletian's reign, about 304. 



Porphyry has been usually called 'the philosopher.' He distin- 

 guished himself as an acute aud learned man, and wrote in the Greek 

 language upon a great variety of subjects, in a simple and graceful 

 style. It U to be lamented tbat he employed hi." talents in opposing 

 Christianity ; but it was mistaken policy to destroy any of his writings. 

 Christiana of modern times would have been able to turn the argu- 

 ments of Porphyry to good account in further establishing the truth 

 of their religion. Fabricius has given a list of Porphyry's works 

 amounting to sixty-one, divided into three classes, published, unpub- 

 lished, and lost ; the last class consists of forty-three distinct per- 

 formances. A neat edition of his ' Life of Pythagoras ' and three 

 other works was published at Cambridge in 1655, with the Dissertation 

 of Holoteuius on the life and writings of Porphyry subjoined. Others 

 of bis works have been printed at different times; but no complete 

 edition of all that are extant has appeared. The four books 'On 

 Abstinence from Animal Food ' are one of Porphyry's best works, and 

 contain a great deal of curious matter applicable to illustrate the 

 history of philosophy. His ' Introduction to the Categories of Aris- 

 totle,' which is a useful little treatise, is prefixed to the editions of 

 the ' Organon.' He wrote also a ' Commentary on the Categories of 

 Aristotle ' in question and answer, which was edited by Bogard, 1543, 

 4to. The Commentary of Porphyry on the ' Harmonica' of Ptolemy, 

 in printed in the collection of Wallis : unfortunately, only the first 

 book and the first aesen chapters of the second are extant. 



One of the works of Porphyry, and a fragment of another enume- 

 rated among the lost, were discovered by Mai, in the Ambrosian 

 Library at Milan, aud published by him in 1816. The former is 

 styled 'Ad Marcellam.' If seems that Porphyry had married 

 Marcella, the widow of a friend who was a Christian, and that at the 

 end of ten months, upon taking a journey, he addressed this little 

 work to her. The fragment, which is in ver=e, belongs to a work 

 in ten books, known by the name of 'De Philosophia ex Oraculia 

 Librt' 



(Suidaa, Lexicon; Lardner, Credibility; Holstenius, De Vita ct 

 Scripti* Porphyrii IHuertatio ; Fabriciun, Bibl. Grcaca ; Ritter, 

 Ottchichtc der Philosophic.) 



PORSE'NA or PORSE'NNA, a Lar (or mighty lord) of the Etruscan 

 town of Cluaium, with whom we are made acquainted in the early 

 history of Rome. When the Tarquins, in the second year after their 

 expulsion (B.C. 08), bad been defeated near the forest of A rsia, they 

 ought, as we are told, the assistance of Lar Porseua (lav., ii. 9.) 

 According to Livy, the Etruscan prince immediately marched with his 



army against Rome, which was thrown into the greatest consternation. 

 The Tarquins themselves however are entirely lost sight of in the 

 narrative of the events which ensued. Porsena appeared with his 

 overwhelming forces before the Janiculum, aud the Romans, who had 

 fortified themselves here, fled back to the Tiber. The defence of the 

 bridge (Pons Sublicius) was intrusted to Horatius Codes, who bade 

 his companions retreat across the bridge and break down the part 

 behind him, while he resisted the hosts of the Etrurians at the western 

 end. His request was obeyed, and when the bridge was broken down, 

 Horatius, after having prayed to Father Tiberinus, threw himself into 

 the water, and swam across amidst the darts of the enemy. Porsena, 

 having thus failed in his attack, laid siege to the city, garrisoned the 

 Janiculum, and pitched his camp on the banks of the river. The 

 Romans at first kept within the city, and drove all their cattle within 

 the walls ; but the consuls P. Valerius and T. Lucretius devised a 

 stratagem by which the Etruscans were drawn into a snare and suffered 

 great loss. The siege however continued, and Rome suffered from 

 famine. A Roman youth of noble birth, C. Mucius, who was indignant 

 at the sufferings of his countrymen, went, with the approbation of the 

 senate, across the Tiber with the intention of killing the invading king. 

 Disguised and armed with a dagger, he found his way into the tent 

 of Porsena; but mistaking the secretary of the king for the king 

 himself, he killed him. Being seized by the king's attendants, he 

 frankly declared his intentions ; and added, that he was not the only 

 Roman youth that aimed at the king's life. Upon this the king 

 threatened to burn him alive, unless he revealed his associates ; but 

 Mucius, to show to the king that he did not fear bodily suffering, 

 thrust bis right hand into a fire which happened to be burning upon, 

 an altar. The king, admiring the intrepidity of the youug man, 

 ordered him to be removed from the altar, and gave him his liberty. 

 Mucius then told the king that there were three hundred noble 

 Romans who had bound themselves by an oath to kill him, and that 

 it had been his lot to make the first attempt. Upon this Porsena 

 offered peace to the Romans on condition that they should give back 

 to the Veientines their territory ; the Janiculum was also evacuated 

 upon the delivery of hostages. Porsena returned to Clusium, leaving 

 to the famished Romans his well-stored camp. 



The inconsistencies and incongruities of this story have been pointed 

 out by Beaufort and Niebuhr. We have however several statements 

 from which we may gather some glimpses of the real course of events 

 so much disfigured in the narrative of Livy. Tacitus (' Hist.,' Hi. 72) 

 says that the city was taken by Porsena, a fact which at once throws 

 light upon the whole transaction. From Pliny (' Hist. Nat.,' xxxiv. 39) 

 we learn that the Romans were prohibited by Porsena from using iron 

 for any other purpose than agriculture ; and another proof of the entire 

 submission of Rome to the foreign conqueror is implied in the story 

 (Dionys. Hal., v. 35) that the senate sent to him an ivory throne and 

 other insignia of royalty. These circumstances place it beyond doubt 

 that for a time the Etruscan kingwaa master of Rome. In the Roman 

 tradition the truth is entirely distorted, and the whole affair between 

 the Romans and Porsena is represented as a series of generous and 

 magnanimous actions on both sides. 



After Porseua had left Rome with his hostages, consisting of a 

 number of maidens and youths, Cloelia, one of the maidens, effected 

 her escape at the head of her female companions. The Romans, faith- 

 ful to their treaty, sent her back, but the king, no less generous than 

 the Romans, not only gave her liberty, but allowed her to select from 

 the young male prisoners all those whom she might wish to restore to 

 freedom. The accounts in Dionysius (v. 33), Plutarch (' Publ.,' 19), 

 and Pliny ('Hist. Nat.,' xxxiv. 13), are somewhat inconsistent with 

 one another. After his return to Clusium, continues the legend, Por- 

 sena sent his son Aruns with an army against Aricia, then the principal 

 town of Latium, that it might not appear as if his former campaign 

 had been entirely useless. The fact however seems to be, that being 

 in possession of Rome, he wished to make himself master of all 

 Latium. The Aricines were at first dismayed, but they asked and 

 obtained aid from other Latin towns, and from Cuma in Campania, 

 and thus gaining fresh confidence, they ventured on a battle. But the 

 first attack of the Etruscans was so violent that the Aricines them- 

 selves were put to flight ; the Cumans however attacked the enemy 

 from behind and defeated him. Aruus fell, and with him the greater 

 part of his army. Those who escaped sought a refuge at Rome, where 

 they were kindly received, and a district (Vicus Tuscus) was assigned 

 to those who wished to settle there. It was not until this event that 

 Porsena, according to the legend, sent envoys to Rome for the purpose 

 of restoring the Tarquius to their country. But receiving for answer 

 that the liberty which Rome had once gained could only cease with 

 the existence of the city, and that she would throw open her gates 

 rather to an enemy than to Tarquin, he did not urge his demand, sent 

 back those hostages who were still in his possession, aud restored to 

 the Romans the district of the Veientes, which had been taken from 

 them by the treaty of the Janiculum. The peace between Porsena 

 and the Romans was never interrupted, and from this moment we lose 

 sight of the Etruscan king in the history of Rome. It is highly pro- 

 bable that he retained the sovereignty of Rome till the defeat at Aricia, 

 when the Romans seem to have regained their independence. It must 

 therefore have been after this event that the property of the king which 

 was found in the city was publicly sold. This sale gave rise to the 



