318 



ATHKLSTAN ATHENS. 



; n r.riisl from his work, and governing it as un artist 

 directs a machine. Others liave asked whether there 

 ever existed a re.il atl.f.-i, Ix-causc sm-h a one could 

 not believe in any dilVcr-.-nce between the gocxl ami 

 the luil. the noble and the buse ; and ii is indrcd 

 doubtful whether one could be found, though some 

 persons may pretend to this eniire disbelief. 



ATHEIXTAX, king of England, succeeded liis father, 

 Edward the Elder, in il&i. Though of illegitimate 

 birth, his age and talenis caused linn to be preferred 

 to the Inwiul children of Edward. He was victorious 

 in his wars with the Danes of Northumberland, and 

 the Scots, by whom they were assisted. After a 

 signal overthrow of his enemies at Hrunshury, he go- 

 verned in peace and with great ability. In liis reign 

 a law was passed conferring the rank of thane on 

 every merchant who had made three sea voyages on 

 his own account. 



ATHEIATANKFORD ; a parish and village in Had- 

 dingtonshire, Scotland, intersected by the Cogtal 

 burn, having the river Peffer on the north, and Lug- 

 down burn on the south. The parish also includes 

 the villages of Drem and Gilmerton. The soil is 

 light and gravelly, but well cultivated and fruitful. 

 The inhabitants are chiefly employed in agriculture ; 

 and at the new and flourishing village of Gilmerton 

 there is a woollen manufacture of variegated cloth 

 bearing the same name. Garleton House, though 

 in a ruinous state, was once a magnificent residence, 

 and commands a noble prospect over East Lothian. 

 Home, the author of " Douglas," and Blair, author 

 of" The Grave," were ministers, and the latter a na- 

 tive of this parish. Here are vestiges of an exten- 

 sive Danish camp, and the ruins of a chapel built by 

 the Knights Templars, and dedicated to St John. 

 Population in 1831, 931. 



A ni KN A. See Minerva. 



ATHENJEUM (\i***m). 1. The name of several 

 places in Greece. 2. The celebrated school which 

 Adrian established on the Capitoline mount. Many 

 learned men received ample salaries for giving in- 

 struction in this institution, and that they might be 

 enabled to study at leisure. Here, also, learned 

 men assembled to exchange ideas on their writings. 

 In fact, it was what is now called a scientific academy. 

 3. A gymnasium, at Athens, dedicated to Minerva, 

 and destined for assemblies of poets and orators. In- 

 struction was also given there to the youth, and, in 

 later times, the name was applied to all places of 

 education for the young. 4. In modern times, the 

 name given to different establishments which are 

 connected with the sciences, as the Athenee in Paris. 

 Public libraries frequented for the purpose of reading 

 are also frequently called Athenaeums. 



ATHEN.EUS ; a Greek rhetorician and grammarian, 

 who lived at Naucratis, in Egypt, at the end of the 

 second and beginning of the third century after 

 Christ. He has left an encyclopaedian work, in the 

 form of conversation, called the Feast of the Sophists, 

 which is a rich, but ill -arranged treasure of histori- 

 cal, antiquarian, philosophical, grammatical, &c., 

 knowledge. The principal edition is by Schweighaeu- 

 ser, Strasburg, 1801-7, in 14 volumes. 



ATHENAGORAS ; a platonic philosopher of Athens, a 

 convert to Christianity, who wrote a Greek Apology 

 for the Christians, addressed to the emperor Marcus 

 Aurelius, in 177, one of the earliest tliat appeared. 

 This legatio or deprecatio pro Christ, defends the 

 Christians from the accusations brought against them 

 by the heathens (of atheism, of incest, and of eating 

 murdered children), with a philosophical spirit, and 

 a lively and forcible style. Linder published, in 1774, 

 the latest edition of this Apology ; also a treatise on 

 the resurrection of the dead, an able philosophical 

 vnirk on the possibility and fitness of a resurrection. 



ATHENS ; called by the Turks Athhtiah, and also 

 Setines ; the celebrated city, whence the light of 

 intellectual cultivation has spread for thousands of 

 jear^. down to our own lime. This capital of the old 

 kingdom of Attica, and of the more modern demo- 

 cracy, was founded by Ci crops, 1550 years before 

 rhriM, and in the most ancient times, was called 

 Cecropia, which name, in after times, was retained 

 merely by the Acropolis. 1'nder the government of 

 Erichthonius, it lost its old name, and received that of 

 Athens, probably from Minerva, who was called by 

 the Greeks Athena. The old city was built on the. 

 summit of some rocks, which lie in the midst of a 

 wide and pleasant plain, which became filled with 

 buildings as the inhabitants incrcastd ; and this made, 

 the distinction between Acropolis, and Cabipolis, or 

 the upper and lower city. The citadel, or Acropolis, 

 was 60 stadia in circumference, and included many 

 extensive buildings. A. lies on the i-aronir gulf, 

 opposite the eastern coast of the Peloponnesus. It 

 is built on a peninsula formed by the junction of the 

 Cephissus and Ilissus. From the sea, where its real 

 power lay, it was distant about five leagues. Jt was 

 connected, by walls of great strength and extent, 

 with three harbours the Piraeus, Munychia, and 

 Phalerum. The first was considered the most con- 

 venient, and was one of the emporiums of Grecian 

 commerce. The surrounding coast was covered with 

 magnificent buildings, whose splendour vied with 

 those of the city. The walls of rough stone, which 

 connected the harbours with the city, were so broad, 

 that carriages could go on their top. The Acropolis 

 contained the most splendid works of art of which 

 A. could boast. Its chief ornament was the Parthe- 

 non, or temple of Minerva. This magnificent 

 building, which, even in ruins, has been the wonder 

 of the world, was 2 17 feet long, 98 broad, and 65 high. 

 Destroyed by the Persians, it was rebuilt in a noble 

 manner by Pericles, 444 years B. C. Here stood the 

 statue of Minerva by Phidias, a masterpiece of art, 

 formed of ivory, forty-six feet high, and richly deco- 

 rated with gold, whose weight was estimated at from 

 forty to forty-four talents (2000 to 2*00 pounds), 

 which, if we reckon, according to Barthelemy, the 

 silver talent at 5700 livres, and the ratio of gold to 

 silver as one to thirteen, would make a sum of 

 2,964,000, or 3,260,400 livres (123,500, or135,830 

 sterling). The Propylaeum, built of white marble, 

 formed the entrance to the Parthenon. This build- 

 ing lay on the north side of the Acropolis, close to 

 the Erectheum, also of white marble, consisting of 

 two temples, the one dedicated to Pallas Minerva, 

 and the other to Neptune ; besides another remarka- 

 ble building, called the Pandroseum. In the circle 

 of Minerva's temple stood the olive-tree, sacred to 

 that goddess. On the front part of the Acropolis, 

 and on each end, two theatres are visible, the one of 

 Bacchus, the other, the Odeum ; the former for 

 dramatic exhibitions, the latter for musical competi- 

 tions, also built with extraordinary splendour. The 

 treasury is also in the back part of the temple of 

 Mine'rva. In the lower city were many fine speci- 

 mens of architecture, viz. the Poikile, or the gallery 

 of historical paintings ; besides the temple of the 

 Winds, built by Andronicus Cyrrhestes, and the 

 monuments of celebrated men. But the greatest 

 pieces of architecture were without the city the 

 temples of Theseus and Jupiter Olympius, one of 

 which stood on the north, the other on the south 

 side of the city. The. first was of Doric architecture, 

 and resembled the Parthenon. On the metopes of 

 this temple the famous deeds of old heroes and kings 

 were excellently represented. The temple of Jupiter 

 Olympius was of Ionic architecture, and far surpassed 

 all the other buildings of Athens in splendour and 



