AUG 



to liis relations; and from the reign of Adrian, at leafl, 

 was appropriated to the fecond perfon of the Rate, who was 

 confidered as the prefumptive heir of the empire. Accord- 

 ingly, the perlon, who was deftiiied to fucceed to the dignity, 

 was firll created Cacfar ; which was aftep neceffary to arrive 

 at that of Aiigvjlns or emperor.— Yet F. Pagi maintains the 

 reverfc ; viz. "that it was neceffary to be Augujlus previoully 

 to the being Cttfor ; and alleges the inftance of Valenti- 

 nian I., who proclaimed iiis brother Vakns Augujlus before 

 he was created Cti:Jar ; but this fingle faft is not fufficient 

 to invalidate the evidence of common practice. 



The emprcires alfo took the quality of Aitgnjlx ; and even 

 fome ladies of the imperial family, who had never been 

 wives of emperors, but mothers or daughters. 



On medals and coins, fome of the ancient kings of France 

 are alfo found with the appellation Augi'fti i particularly 

 Childebert, Clothaire, and Clovis ; add, that the wife of this 

 laft, Chrotechilda, is alfo called by Herric, in his book of 

 the miracles of St. Germain, indiS'erently either Jvgujla, or 

 queen. 



August, in refpeft of Chrsnohgy, denotes the eighth 

 month of the Julian year. 



This was called in the ancient Roman calendar, fex/iJ/s, 

 as being the fixth from March, from which the Romans 

 began their computation. The emperor Augtiftus changed 

 the name, and gave it his own ; not that it was the month 

 in which he was born, which was September, and which was 

 firft propofed for bearing his name, but becaufe it had been 

 fortunate to him by feveral vidlorie^ which he had gained 

 in it. 



He preferred this month to September for the reafons 

 mentioned in the deliberations of the fenate, prcfenxd by 

 Macrobius. Tlie tenor of them is as follows : " As it was 

 in the month, hitherto called fextUls, that the emperor 

 Cxfar Auguftus took pofTeffion of his firll confulrtiip ; that 

 he celebrated three triumphs ; that he received the oath of 

 allegiance of the legions that occupied the janiculum ; that 

 he reduced Egypt under the power of the Roman people ; 

 that he put an end to all civil wars ; it appears that this 

 month is and has been a mod happy month to this empire ; 

 the fenate therefore ordains, that this month (hall henceforth 

 be called Auguftus. This decree of the fenate was ratified 

 by an order of the people. 



Our Saxon anceilors called it IVeod-tiioiiath, that is ivecJ- 

 month, on account of the plenty of weeds in this feafon. 

 Spelman. 



This month is efteemed one of the richeft in the whole 

 year, becaufe of the harveft of the feveral forts of grain 

 which is produced in that feafon. Hence is to be derived 

 the French proverb, a man has made his Augujl ^ which 

 proverb is much ufed among merchants, to fignify that a 

 man has been fuccefsful in trade, and got an eftate. 



August is alfo ufed, in Middle Age Writers, for a power 

 or licence, of going out of a city in harveft-time, to reap, 

 &c. Du-Cange. 



AUGUSTA, mAncieni Geography, a name given fnigly,or 

 in connexion with fome epithets, to feveral towns in honour 

 of Augujlus the Roman emperor. Thus, Augujla was a town 

 of Gallia Naibonnenfis, founded by Auguftus, with the title 

 of a colony ; ficuate I5 league from the Rhone, and having 

 a temple of Jupiter, a circus, and an amphitheatre. — Alfo, 

 a town o! Cillcia, feated on mount Tauius, live or fix leagues 

 rorth from Adana. Pliny, 1. v. c. 27. It became fubjeft 

 to Rome in the reign of Auguftus. — Alfo, a town of Dacia 



Ripenfis Alfo, a town of Rhstia. — Alio, a port of Sicily, 



nearly north of Syracufe. Avgujla AJlurica, /ijlorga, an 

 ancient town of Spain, in Afturia. — A. Aujciomm, a town 

 cf Aquitania, originally called Climlerrxim, which name it 



AUG 



afterwards refumed. In the middle age it took the name 

 of the people Aiijci, and is now Auch. — A. Eatcniorum, 

 or Baciintwruin, an ancient town of Italy, in Liguria ; called 



alfo A, Vagiennorum A. Bracarum, Braga, an ancient 



town of Hifpania Citerior. Pliny. — A. Emerita, a town of 

 Lufitania, on the river Anas, the capital of the province : 

 it was a colony of the Emeriti, or of fuch foldiers as had 

 fcrved out their legal time, were men of experience, or had 

 received marks ot favour, founded by Auguftus ; adorned 

 by him with ftately buildings, a long and magnficcnt 

 brMge over the Gaudiana, and two aqueducts. It is now 

 called Merida. — A. Euphralejia, a town of Afia, in Coma- 

 gene, on the banks of the Euphrates. — A. Gemclla, a town 

 of Boetica in Spain, in the country of the Turduli. — A. 

 Magna, a town of Afia, fituate at the confluence of the 

 Apfar and Phafis. Ptolemy. — Augujlamica, a divifion of 

 Egypt, which commenced about the time of Theodore II. 

 comprehending that part of Lower Egypt, which extends 

 from the right arm of the Nile to the ealt of Delta, to the 

 frontier of Arabia. — A. Nova, a town of Hiipaiiia Tarra- 

 gonenfis, on the river Areva, in the country of the Arevaci ; 

 called by Ptolemy Porta Augujla. — A. Prdeloria, a town of 

 Gallia Cifalpina, at the foot of the Alpes Graix, in Duria, 

 fo called becaufe Auguftus fent thither a colony of the 

 praetorian foldiers : inhabited by the Salafli ; now Aouste. 

 —A. Rauracorum,<i town of Helvetia, now called Augst. 

 A. Suejfonum, a town of Gallia Belgica, on the Axona, now 

 SoissONS. — K. Taurinorum, a town of the Taurini, at the 

 foot of the Alps, where the Duria Minor falls into the Po, 

 fo called becaui'c Auguftus eftablifliedherea Roman colony ; 

 now Turin. — A. Tiberii, a town upon the Danube, on 

 the confines of Rhsetia and Dorica ; now Ratisbon. — 

 A. Treba, a town of the JEqui, near the fprings of 



the river Anio in Italy, now Trevi, in Umbria A. 



J'revlrorum, a town of Gallia Btlgica, belonging to the 

 Treviri, a people inhabiting the territory between the 

 Rhine and the Mofelle, now Treves or Triers. — A. Tri- 

 nobantum, a town of the Trinobantes, in the ifie of Albion^ 

 called Augufta from its grandeur ; now London. — A. Fa- 

 gicnnorum, the feat of a Roman colony, among the mouB» 

 tains, now Vice near Mondovi. — A. Veromanduorum, a 

 town of Gallia Belgica, now St.QviNTiN. — A. Valeria, a 

 town ot Hifpania Tarragonenfis, belonging to the Celtibe- 

 rians. Ptoiemy. — A. Vindelicorum, a town of Vindelicia, 

 now Augsburg. 



Augusta, in Geography, a town of Sicily, eighteen- 

 miles by land, and nine by lea, diftant from Syracufe, was built 

 by the emperor Frederick II. near the ruins of the Greek 

 city of Megara ; and covered a fmall low peninfula, joined to 

 Sicily on the north fide by a long caufeway, having on each 

 fide extenfive falt-ponds. This projeftion forms a very fine 

 harbour, the largeft and moft eafy of accefs in Sicily, opening 

 to a fouthern expofure, but fiieltered by the points of the 

 coaft from both wind and fwell, with nine fathoms of water 

 in almoft every part. A ruinous citadel guards the land 

 gate ; and three forts, built on little iflands, defend the en- 

 trance of the port. The country along the oppofite (hore 

 is beautifully diverfified in its culture. The order of Malta 

 has eftablilhed at Augufta magazines of fait meat, bifcuit, 

 and flour, for the fupply of their (hips that are continually 

 paiTing between the iflands. The town is fcarcely recovered 

 from the devaftation caufed by the earthquake in 1653, 

 which deftroyed by the falling of the houfes about one 

 third of the inhabitants, fet fire to the powder magazine in 

 the citadel, which blew up, and threw the light-houfe pre- 

 cipitately into the fea. Since that time the town has been re- 

 built on a regular plan, with low houfes to prevent injury 

 from another Ihock if it fliould occur. The number of in- 

 habitants 



