570 



PISO PITCAIKN'S ISLAND. 



his power, drew upon himself the reproach of 

 tyranny , his use of power was by no means tyran- 

 nical ; for no lawful prince ever showed more mode- 

 ration or more regard for the welfare of the people. 

 He made no attempt to abolish the wise laws of Solon, 

 but confirmed and extended their authority. He 

 always showed the greatest respect for the lawgiver, 

 but his endeavours to induce him to return to Athens 

 were ineffectual. The sovereignty of Pisistratus 

 was not, however, secure. Megacles, who was the 

 head of a hostile party, left Athens with his family, 

 and entered into a correspondence with a third party, 

 for the purpose of overthrowing the power of Pisis- 

 tratus. Their project succeeded, and Pisistratus was 

 compelled to leave the city. But Megacles soon 

 became dissatisfied with the party to which he had 

 united himself, and offered to reinstate Pisistratus if 

 he would marry his daughter. This proposition he 

 immediately accepted. His return was effected by a 

 stratagem which gives a striking proof of the credulity 

 of the. people. A female of a majestic stature was ar- 

 rayed in the armour oPMinerva, and it was proclaimed 

 that the goddess herself hail brought back Pisistratus. 

 He entered the city with her in a solemn procession, 

 seated in a magnificent car, and was again established 

 without opposition. This fact is related by Herodo- 

 tus, who calls it ridiculous. P.isistratus married, as 

 he had promised, the daughter of Megacles, but did 

 not live with her as his wife, as he had already a 

 family. To revenge this insult, Megacles again 

 formed a hostile party, which appeared so formida- 

 ble to Pisistratus that he retired voluntarily to Eret- 

 ria. Here he occupied himself with the education of 

 his sons, and took measures to recover his power. In 

 the eleventh year of his second banishment, he enter- 

 ed Attica at the head of an army. Many Athenians 

 who were dissatisfied with the democracy, and remem- 

 bered his early benefits, joined him. After having 

 surprised and dispersed the troops sent against him, 

 he entered the city, and made himself master, for 

 the third time, of the sovereignty, without bloodshed. 

 Pisistratus continued to rule with his former mild- 

 ness ; but, in order to weaken the popular party, he 

 adopted a measure which was very useful to the state. 

 He forced many of the idle inhabitants to leave the 

 city and cultivate the country around, which by these 

 means was covered with cornfields and olive planta- 

 tions. He exacted from every one the tenth part of 

 his income and earnings, and thus increased the reve- 

 nue of the state, which he expended in splendid pub- 

 lic buildings. He also endeavoured to advance the 

 intellectual cultivation of the Athenians. He estab- 

 lished a public library, and collected and arranged 

 the poems of Homer. As he well knew how tyran- 

 ny was hated, he carefully concealed his power under 

 the exterior of a private citizen. He submitted, like 

 others, to the sentence of the Areopagus, before 

 which he was accused of murder, and conducted 

 himself with as much prudence as clemency. In this 

 way Pisistratus exercised the sovereignty, not as the 

 oppressor but the father of his country, which scarce- 

 ly ever enjoyed a longer term of peace and prosper- 

 ity. He died 527 B. C., leaving two sons, Hippias 

 and Hipparchus, to inherit his power, who were not, 

 however, able to preserve it. 



PISO ; a surname common to many Romans ol 

 the Calpurnian family. Lucius Calpurnius Piso, when 

 consul, subdued the seditious slaves in Sicily, and 

 proposed the \awde repetundis, concerning restitutioi 

 in cases of extortion, in order to put limits to the 

 avarice of the magistrates in the administration of the 



Provinces. He distinguished himself, as praetor, ii 

 icily (where the purchase of provisions had beer 

 committed to him during a scarcity of corn at Rome, 

 by a rare disinterestedness, so that he received the 



lonourable appellation of Frugi (the honest). An- 

 ither Piso afterwards filled the office of consul with 

 iabinius, in Cicero's time, and showed himself parti- 

 ulurly hostile to that great man, who, in a speech 

 which still remains to us, spoke very violently against 



i. Still later lived the Piso who, under Tiberius, 

 was prefect of Syria, and distinguished himself for 

 lis pride, as well as for his odious conduct towards the 

 loble Germanicus, the adopted son of Tiberius, whom 

 if is said to have taken off by poison. 



PISTACHIA TREE ; a small tree, with heavy, 

 crooked limbs, somewhat resembling the walnut in 

 Foliage, indigenous to Syria and the neighbouring 

 parts of Asia, and now cultivated in many parts of 

 the south of Europe. The fruit, which forms a con- 

 siderable article of commerce, is a thin-shelled, oval 

 and acuminate nut, about as large as an olive, and 

 has a very agreeable flavour. These nuts are dispos- 

 ed in racemes, and are usually produced in profusion. 

 Michaux recommends the introduction of this tree 

 into West Tennessee and the Southern States. It 

 flourishes in the same soil and climate as the olive 

 in dry, calcareous or stony grounds, and shuns a san- 

 dy and humid soil. As the plant is diaecious, care 

 should be taken, in forming plantations, to allot one 

 barren to five or six fertile plants ; and, to avoid mis- 

 take, young grafts, stocks, or suckers, from the root 

 of an old tree, may be employed. The flowers of 

 both sexes are small, greenish, and inconspicuous. 

 From a second species of pistachia is obtained the 

 mastic of commerce. See 'Mastic. 



PISTOIA (anciently Pistoria) ; a provincial town 

 of Tuscany, six and a half leagues north- west of Flor- 

 ence, a bishop's see, on a branch of the Arno; lat. 43 

 56' 5" N. ; Ion. 10 55' 12" E. ; with 9150 inhabit- 

 ants. In the neighbouring mountains copper is found, 

 also rock-crystal, called diamond of Pistoia ; and 

 inflammable gas issues from the earth. Pibtoia was a 

 republic in the middle ages, and lost its liberty with 

 'Pisa, in the beginning of the fifteenth century. It is 

 a place often mentioned in the history of Florence. 

 It is said that the first pistols were made here. Many 

 straw hats are manufactured in this place. 



PISTOL ; a small hand gun, of a structure too 

 well known to require particular description. Pistols 

 are of various sizes, some being so small that they 

 may be deposited in the waistcoat pocket. These 

 are called pocket pistols. Others, such as duelling 

 and horse pistols, are sometimes nearly half as long 

 as a carbine. Pistol barrels are oftentimes rifled, and 

 have frequently the addition of a sight. The best 

 pistols are manufactured at London ; those of an 

 inferior kind at Sheffield and Birmingham. The 

 stocks of the pistols intended for the Turkey trade 

 are usually inlaid with silver, gold, mother of pearl, 

 &c., and are, on the whole, far more costly than those 

 sent to any other part of the world. Pistols, if well 

 mounted, bring high prices at Constantinople and 

 Smyrna. For the origin of the name, see Pistoia. 



PISTOLE ; the name of a coin and imaginary 

 money, in use in several parts of Europe, more espe- 

 cially in Spain, Italy, and Switzerland. See Coins. 



PITCAIRN'S ISLAND; in the south Pacific 

 ocean, lat. 25 4" S., Ion. 133 W., six miles long 

 and three broad, covered with wood, of a fertile soil, 

 and fine climate, but having neither river nor har- 

 bour. It was discovered by Carteret in 1767, when 

 it was uninhabited, but was settled in 1789, by some 

 of the mutineers of the British ship Bounty. The 

 Bounty, under the command of lieutenant Bligh, had 

 been sent out to introduce -the bread-fruit tree from 

 Otaheite into the West Indies, but was taken posses- 

 sion of by the crew, who set their officers adrift in a 

 boat. Bligh and his companions arrived safely in 

 the island of Timor, after a voyage of 1200 leagues. 





