HERACLEA 



3945 



HERALD 



Carthaginians. It rose again from 

 its ashes, and became a Cartha- 

 ginian naval station in 314 B.C. 

 It finally decayed, and few traces 

 of its buildings remain. 



Heraclea Pontica. Ancient 

 Greek city of Bithynia, on the S. 

 coast of the Black Sea. It was 

 founded about 550 B.C. by colonists 

 from Megara and Tanagra. It grew 

 prosperous, but its power declined 

 after Alexander's conquests, and it 

 was sacked by the Romans after 

 the Mithradatic wars. On its site 

 is the modern Bender Eregli, noted 

 for its lignite coal mines. 



Heracleidae. In Greek legend, 

 the sons and descendants of 

 Heracles or Hercules. Zeus had 

 willed that the sons of Hercules 

 should rule in Peloponnesus, but 

 Hyllus, the eldest son, and his 

 brothers were expelled by Eurys- 

 theus, king of Argos, and forced 

 to seek refuge at Athens. After 

 several attempts the Heracleidae 

 regained possession of their inherit- 

 ance, and founded the kingdoms of 

 Argos, Lacedaemon, and Messenia. 

 The legend has a basis of historical 

 fact, the conquest of Peloponnesus 

 by invading Dorians, probably led 

 by Achaean chiefs. This invasion 

 is known as the return of the 

 Heracleidae. 



Heracleopolis. Greek name of 

 the ancient city Henen-suten at 

 Ahnas, Upper Egypt. Situated on 

 the right bank of the Bahr Yusuf, 

 10 m. W. of the Nile at Beni Suef, 

 71i m. above Cairo, it was the capi- 

 tafof Middle Egypt during the IXth 

 and Xth dynasties. It was sacred 

 to the ram-headed god Hershef, 

 whose correlation with Heracles 

 occasioned its Greek name. Exca- 

 vations were conducted by Naville 

 in 1891 and Petrie in 1904. 



Heraclian (d. A.D. 413). Roman 

 general and usurper. For the 

 murder of Stilicho (408), he was 

 made count of Africa by the 

 emperor Honorius, to whom he 

 rendered valuable assistance in 

 putting down the usurper Attalus 

 set up in Rome by Alaric. Having 

 been raised to the consulship he 

 proclaimed himself emperor and 

 landed in Italy, but after a severe 

 defeat returned to Carthage, where 

 he was put to death by the 

 emperor's orders. 



Heraclitus (c. 540-480 B.C.). 

 Greek philosopher. A citizen of 

 Ephesus, he was known as the 

 weeping philosopher from his 

 pessimistic view of human life, 

 and as the Dark from the obscurity 

 of his style. Like his predecessors 

 of the Milesian school, he referred 

 all substances composing the 

 material world to one element, but 

 whereas Thales held that one 

 element to be water and Anaxi- 



menes held it to be air, Heraclitus 

 believed that all things were 

 variants of fire, typical of absolute 

 unrest, the perpetual dissolution 

 of continuance. He also held that 

 everything was in a state of flux 

 or movement, like the stream of 

 a river, and that any idea of 

 permanency about anything was 

 an illusion of the senses. Nothing 

 exists, but only becomes, and all 

 becoming is the result of the con- 

 junction of opposites ; " strife is the 

 father of all things." The only per- 

 manency is to be found in the reason 

 underlying all movement ; this 

 reason he identifies with Zeus. Be- 

 coming, the principle of Heraclitus, 

 is the exact opposite of Being, the 

 principle of the Eleatics. See 

 Philosophy. Pron. He-ra-cly-tus. 



Heraclius (575-641). East 

 Roman emperor 610-641. Born in 

 Cappadocia, son of the governor of 

 Africa, he seized the throne at 

 a critical period, the empire being 

 threatened by the Persians in the 

 E. and by the Avars and Slavs in 

 the W. At length, having re- 

 organized the army and borrowed 

 money from the Church, Heraclius, 

 after defeating the Avars, under- 

 took a series of campaigns against 

 Persia, and gained a decisive victory 

 near Nineveh ( 627 ) over Chosroes II. 



This success, however, was 

 counterbalanced by serious losses of 

 territory in the W. For the rest of 

 his reign, Heraclius was chiefly oc- 

 cupied with religious disputes as to 

 the nature of Christ, and issued an 

 Ecthesis (edict) asserting that in 

 spite of two natures there was only 

 one will in Christ (Monothelitism). 

 While thus engaged, a new foe had 

 arisen the Arabs, who made them- 

 selves masters of Syria and Egypt. 

 Overwhelmed by anxieties, Hera- 

 clius left the empire at his death in 

 a deplorable condition. 



Heraeum (Gr. H&raion). Tem- 

 ple of Hera, about 6 m. from 

 Argos, in Peloponnesus, ancient 

 Greece. This temple was the centre 

 of the worship of Hera for the 

 whole Greek world. Burned down 

 in .423 B.C., it was rebuilt with 

 great splendour. Especially famous 

 was the great statue of the goddess 

 in ivory and gold by the sculptor 

 Polycleitus. Considerable excava- 

 tions have been made on the site, 

 as a result of which terra-cotta 

 figurines, vases, and other objects 

 of art have been found. See Argive 

 Heraeum, C. Waldstein, 1902-5. 



Herald (old Fr. herault). Name, 

 of doubtful etymology, given to 

 certain officials in ancient and 

 modern times. In the Homeric age 

 of ancient Greece, the herald or 

 keryx (one who proclaims) acted 

 as confidential servant to the kings 

 and princes, waited upon them at 



Herald in his tabard reading the 



proclamation of the accession of 



George V 



table, and acted as their repre- 

 sentative. In historical times his 

 functions were religious, political, 

 and judicial. He examined the vic- 

 tims for sacrifice, recited prayers 

 before any public business was 

 undertaken, convened the public 

 assemblies, summoned litigants to 

 the court, instructed the proper 

 officials to carry out its sentence, 

 proclaimed the lists of those public- 

 ly honoured and of the victors of 

 the Olympic games. The herald's 

 person was sacred; he had free 

 meals in the Prytaneum, a seat of 

 honour in the theatre, and received 

 a salary. His special badge of office 

 was the staff, kerykeion, latinised 

 as caduceus (q.v.). 



In Rome, the herald (praeco, ca- 

 duceator) was a less important per- 

 son, no religious character being at- 

 tached to his office. He was a public 

 or private crier, who gave notice 

 when anything was lost in the 

 streets,and played a part at auctions 

 like that of the modern auctioneer. 

 There were also heralds in the ser- 

 vice of the state and attached to 

 the higher magistrates whose duties 

 more or less corresponded to those 

 of the Greek kerykes. The praeco 

 and caduceator were distinguished 

 as the messengers of peace from the 

 fetiales, upon whom lay the re- 

 sponsibility of declaring war with 

 certain solemn formalities. 



In early medieval times the 

 heralds acted as messengers of 

 sovereign princes, and had, among 

 other duties, to convey challenges, 

 open negotiations for armistices 

 and peace, and take part in matri- 

 momial and other ceremonies. 

 Thus they gradually assumed 

 largely the functions of masters of 

 the ceremonies and recorders of 

 pedigrees and alliances. Hence, 



