SOL 



SOL 



Conftanlinc I., the aureus Hands at between So and 70 

 grains. This prince, who feems not to have altered the 

 fize of the coin, inftead of the " aureus," gave the 

 " fohdus" of fix in the ounce of gold, and caufed it to 

 pafii for 14 of his new fdver coins, called " Milliarenfes," 

 and 25 denarii, as befoi-e ; gold being to filver as about 

 14 to I. Tlie folidus, or chief gold coin, continued of the 

 fame Itandard to the very clofe of the Byzantine empire ; 

 for gold was common in Conllantinople, while filver be- 

 came more and more icarce. The folidus was worth 12s. 

 ilerling. In the days of the firll emperors the aureus was 

 worth 25 denarii, and gold to fdver about 134 to i. The 

 medial aureus was no grains, the denarius 60. That 

 ftandard remained the fame till the time of Alexander 

 Severus, after which we have no data ; but it is probable 

 that Conftantine took the value as he found it, and that 

 from Alexander Severus to Conitantine, if we except the 

 fhort interval of the end of Aureiian's reign, and beginning 

 of that of Probus, gold was rifing in value till it exceeded 

 14 to I. The gold coins, called " Bezants" in Europe, 

 becaufe they were fent from Byzantium, or Conltantinople, 

 were folidi of the old fcale, lisjto the ounce. In Byzantine 

 writers, the folidus is alfo called " Nomifma," or the coin j 

 " Crylmos," becaufe of gold ; " Hyperperos," from its 

 being refined with fire, or from its being of bright gold 

 flammg like fire. The folidi alfo, like the aurei formerly, 

 received names from the princes whofe portraits they bore ; 

 as " Michelati," " Manuelati." Solidus is a term ufed for 

 the aureus by Apuleius (Met. lib. 10.) who lived in the 

 time of Antoninus the philofopher ; nay, fo early as in the 

 Pra;torian edifls of the time of Trajan ; bting thus diftin- 

 guilhed from the femiHis or half. In the time of Valerian, 

 when aurti of di.fcrent fizes had been introduced, it be- 

 came necelTary to diilinguidi the particular aurei that were 

 meant. 



In the firft gold coinage at Rome, the aureus v.-as divided 

 into four inferior parts : the femifiis, or half, of 60 feftertii ; 

 the tremiflis, or third, of 40 ; the fourth, the name of which 

 is not known, of 30 ; and the fixth, or fcrupulum, of 20. 

 But foon afterwards all thefe were dropped, except the 

 femiffis or half, which occurs in the times of the confuls, 

 and of fome emperors, but is extremely fcarce, fo that few 

 mufl have been itruck. This gold femifiis, or half aureus, 

 is termed " quinarius" by medallifts with great propriety, 

 and is vt-ry uncommon in all the confular and imperial times ; 

 but continued the only divifion of the aureus till the time of 

 Alexander Severus. This prince, as Lampridiu;; informs 

 us, coined lemifTes and trcmiiies of gold ; but none have yet 

 been found. It is likely they were all recoined by his im- 

 mediate fuccelfors, who again railed the tributes. He alfo 

 propoled to iiine quartarii, but did not live to accomplilh 

 his purpofe. Triente-;, or tremill'es, of gold are, however, 

 mentioned in refcripts of Valerian I., and aftually exiil, both 

 of him ^nd of his Ion Gallienus, weighing about 30 grains. 

 The gold tremidi- was the pattern of the early French and 

 Spanilh gold coins ; as the filver denarius, in its diminiflied 

 Hate, was that of the Gothic and Saxon penny. Pinker- 

 ton's Medals, vol. i. 



SOLIEK Ei.sEiD, in Geography, a town of Egypt, on 

 the left bank of the Nile ; 10 miles S. of Girgc. 



SOLIFO, a town of Naples, in the province of Otranto ; 

 9 miles E. of Nardo. 



SOLIGNAC-y»r-/,wVc-, a town of France, in the de- 

 partment of the Upper Loire, and chief place of a canton, 

 m the diftria of Le Puy ; 13 miles S. of Le Puy. Tlie 

 town contains SiJo, and the canton 4455 inhabitants, on a 

 territory of 150 kiliometrcs, in 6 commuaes. 



SOLIGNY, a town of France, in the department of the 

 Orne ; 6 miles N. of Mortagnc. 



SOLIGO, a town of Italy, in the Trevifan ; 6 miles 

 S.W. of Trevigio. 



SOLIHULL, commonly pronounced 5;7/j;7/, is fituated 

 in the divifion of the fame name, in the hundred of Hem- 

 lingford, and county of Warwick, England. It is con- 

 fidered as a market-town, but the market is now in abfolute 

 difufe. Itsdiltance from Birmingham is 7 miles, and from 

 London 108 miles. Dugdale conjeftures that the chief 

 parts of the dillrift, now included in the parifh of Solihull, 

 were known by the name of Ulvcrlei, at the time of the 

 Norman furvey. Here was formerly the principal feat of 

 the barony of Limefie ; and the refidence of the barons he 

 fuppofes to have occupied a fpot at prefent called Olton, a 

 fmall village about two miles north-well from Solihull. 

 From the ruins of this baronial refidence, and its dependent 

 habitations, the town of Solihull is conjeftured to have 

 arifen. Grants for an annual fair and a weekly market 

 were fpeedily procured ; but the town does not appear to 

 have obtained much diftinftion at any period. It bears the 

 tranquil appearance of a large village, and contains little to 

 attrad. tlie notice of travellers, except the church, which is 

 a fpacious edifice of the cruciform defcription. In the po- 

 pulation return of the year 18 11, the parifli is Hated to 

 contain 528 houfes, occupied by 2581 perlons. 



On an elevated fcite in the vicinity of Solihull, furrounded 

 by fpacious grounds, is Malvern-Hall, the manfion of 

 Henry Grcfwold Lewis, efq. Dugdale's Antiquities of 

 Warwicklhire. Beauties of England and Wales, vol. xv, 

 Warwickthire, by ,T. N. Brewer. 



SOLIKAMSK, a town of RufTia, in the government 

 of Perm, on the Kama, famous for its falt-w orks ; 112 

 miles N. of Perm. N. lat. 59' 36'. E. long. 56' 13'. 



SOLILOQUY, SoLiLOQUiu.M, a reafoning, or dif- 

 courfe, which a man holds with himfelf. 



Papias fays, that foliloquy is properly a difcourfe by way 

 of anfwer to a queftion that a man has propofed to himfelf. 



Soliloquies are become very common things on the mo- 

 dern ftage ; yet can nothing be more inartificial, or more 

 unnatural, than an aftor's making long fpeeches to himfelf, 

 to convey iiis intentions, &c. to the audience. 



Where fnch difcoveries are neceflary to be made, the poet 

 fliould rather take care to give the dramatic perfons fuch 

 confidants, as may neceffarily (hare their inmoll thoughts ; 

 by which means, they will be more naturally conveyed to the 

 audience. Yet is even this a Ihift an accurate poet would 

 not be found to have occafion for. 



The ufe and abufe of foliloquies is well delivered by the 

 duke of Buckingham, in the following lines : 



" Soliloquies had need be very few. 



Extremely fliort, and fpoke in paffion too. 

 Our lovers talking to themfelves, for want 

 Of others, make the pit their confidant; 

 Nor is the matter mended yet, if thus 

 They truft a friend, only to tell it us." 



SOLIMAGUE, in Geography, a fmall ifland near the 

 well coail of Lu^on. N. lat. 18^ 3'. E. long. 120' 36'. 



SOLIMAN, a country of Africa, near the fonrce of 

 the Gambia. — Alfo, a town of Tunis, the environs of 

 which are inhabited by the defcendants of the Moors, driven 

 out of Spain, who preferve their ancient manners and lan- 

 guage, and are more honeil than other Africans ; 20 milci 

 E.S.E. of Tunis. 



Soi.iM.w, Bay of, a bay on the well coall of Africa, in 

 the Itrait of Babcl-Mandcb. N- lat. i2^ 3'. 



Sf I . SOLIMENE, 



