ZEN 



thread, hath been loft by the contaminations of unlawful 

 afts, as from accidental defilements. Of this, fee under our 

 article Yon'i. 



ZENO, in Biography, called the Eleatic, in order to dif- 

 tinguifh him from Zeno the Stoic, was a native of Elea, in 

 Magna Graecia, and faid to have been the adopted fon of 

 Parmenides, whofe difciple he was, flourifhed about the 

 year 463, B.C. and chofe to live in his native city rather 

 than at Athens, for the fake of maintaining his i^idependence. 

 He is reprefented as a zealous friend of civil hberty, and as 

 having loft his life in his oppofuion to a tyrant. It is faid, 

 that having been detefted in a cowfpiracy againft the petty 

 tyrant of the place of his nativity, he endured the moft 

 cruel torments, becaufe he would not betray his accom- 

 plices ; and that at length his countrymen, roufcd by his 

 fortitude, fell upon the ufurper and ftoned him to death. 

 To him the invention of the dialettical art has been erro- 

 neoufly afcribed. 



According to Ariftotle, Zeno taught that nothing can be 

 produced either from that which is fimilar or diffimilar ; 

 that there is only one being, and that is God ; that this 

 being is eternal, homogeneous, and fpherical, neither finite 

 nor infinite, neither quiefcent nor moveable ; that there are 

 many worlds ; that there is in nature no vacuum ; that all 

 bodies are compofed of four elements, heat and xnoifture, 

 cold and drynefs ; and that the body of man is from the 

 earth, and his foul an equal mixture of thefe four elements. 

 He argued with great fubtlety againil the poffibility of 

 motion. If Seneca's account of this philofopher deferves 

 credit, he reached the higheft point of fcepticifm, and de- 

 nied the real exiftence of external objefts. 



Upon the whole, his fentiments feem to have been fo fluc- 

 tuating and unftable, and his method of arguing fo verfatile, 

 that it is not certain whether he allowed or denied a pro- 

 perly divine nature. Mofheim, not improperly, applied to 

 the doftrine of Zeno the words of Terence : 



Incerta hsc, fi tu poftules 



Ratione certa facere, nihilo plus agas, 



Quam fi des operam, ut cum ratione infanias." 



" Things thus uncertain, if by reafon's rules 

 You'd certain make ; it were as wife a tafli 

 To try with reafon to run mad." Colman. 



Bayle depreciates the praftical philofophy of Zeno, on 

 account of his vindication of the warmth with which he 

 refented reproach, by faying, " If I were indifferent to cen- 

 fure, I ftiould alfo be indifferent to praife." His works, 

 though unknown to the moderns, were held in high eftima- 

 tion among the ancients. Diog. Laert. Bayle. Brucker 

 by Enfield, vol. i. 



Zeno, the founder of the Stoic feft, was bom about the 

 year 366, before Chrift, and died, as it is faid, in the ift 

 year of the 129th Olympiad, or 264 B.C. For an account 

 of him, fee the article Stoics. 



Zeno, Roman emperor of the Eaft, was a defcendant 

 of an Ifaurian family of diftinftion, and at firft bore the 

 name of " Trafcaliffxus." Being a commander of the 

 Ifaurian troops in the ferviceof Leo I., he married Ariadne, 

 a daughter of the emperor, who created him a patrician, 

 and raifed him to the chief command of all the armies in 

 the Eaft. Upon the death of Leo in the year 474, the 

 empire was tranfmitted to his grandfon by Zeno and Ari- 

 adne, and Zeno, by the influence of the dowager-emprefs 

 Verina, was appointed his colleague, and when the young 

 emperor died, Zeno poffeffed the whole imperial power. 

 But Verina, being incenfed by his fcandalous condufl, 



ZEN 



formed a confpiracy againft him, fo that Zeno was obliged 

 to feek refuge, firft at Chalcedon, and afterwards in Ifauria, 

 his native country. Bafihfcus, the emprefs's brother, who 

 had affumed the empire, became fo unpopular, that Zeno 

 was reftored, and the degraded emperor pen'hed in prifon. 

 About this time the weftern empire terminated ; and Zeno, 

 receiving deputies from the Roman fenate, who recognized 

 Conftantinople as the feat of univerfal empire, and requefted 

 the title of patrician for O Joacer, proclaiu.ed king of Italy, 

 was flattered with the title of fole Roman emperor, and 

 commenced an amicable correfpondence with OJoacer. 

 The remaining period of his r;ign was both turbulent and 

 inglorious. The infurreftions againit his government were 

 numerous, and his temper, which was natiiraily fevere, was 

 thus rendered more hoftile and cruel towards tfiofe whom he 

 confidered as his enemies. The irritability of his difpofition 

 proved eventually a collateral caufe of his death, by aggravat- 

 ing a diforder in his bowels, which proved faLal in the year 

 491, at the age of 65, after a reign of feventeen years and 

 three months. His widow Ariadne married ver^ foon after 

 his death. His reign was famous for the confeffion of faith, 

 called the Henoticon, or Henoticun, ' which fee. ) Gib- 

 bon's Hift. Rom. Emp. vols. vi. vii. viii. 



Zexo, in Geography, a river of Italy, which runs into the 

 Taro, oppoflte Fornovo, in the duchy of Parma. 



ZENOBIA, Queen, in Biography, was a native of Syria, 

 in the third century, who claimed defcent from the Mace- 

 donian kings of Egypt. This female was celebrated for 

 the beauty of her perfon, the harmonioufnefs of her voice, 

 her mental talents and literary acquirements, and her diftin- 

 guifhed heroifm and valour, as well as her modefty and 

 chaftity. " Her manly underftanding," fays Gibbon, 

 after recounting her perfonal beauties and excellencies, 

 " was ftrengthened and adorned by ftudy. She was not 

 ignorant of the Latin tongue, but poffeffed in equal perfec- 

 tion, the Greek, the Syriac, and the Egyptian languages : 

 fhe had drawn up for her own ufe an epitome of oriental 

 hiftory, and familiarly compared the beauties of Homer and 

 Plato, under the tuition of the fubhme Longinus." She was 

 allied by marriage to Odonatus, king of Palmyra, and de- 

 lighted in thofe exercifes of war and the chace to which he 

 was devoted. Many of his victories have been afcribed to her 

 mihtary fl<ill and valour. After the death of her hufband, 

 about the year 267, fhe affumed the fovereignty of the Eaft, 

 and governed with equal vigour and policy ; fo that by 

 her fuccefs in warlike expeditions, as well as by the wifdom 

 and firmnefs of her adminiftration, fhe aggrandized herfelf in 

 Afia, and her authority was recognized both in Cappadocia 

 and Bithynia, when AureUan fucceeded to the Roman 

 empire. Envious of her power, and determined to difpoffefs 

 her of fome of the rich provinces that were comprehended 

 within the e^^tent of her dominion, he marched at the head 

 of a powerful army to Afia, and having defeated the queen's 

 general Zabdas, near Antioch, flie retreated to Emefa, 

 whither fhe was purfued by Aurehan. Under the walls 

 of that city another engagement with Zenobia, whidi was 

 commanded and animated by herfelf, took place, in which 

 the emperor was again victorious. The queen, thus un- 

 fortunate, withdrew the relics of her vanquifhed forces to 

 Palmyra, her capital ; and was purfued thither by Aurehan. 

 The favourable terms that were offered to Zenobia beuig re- 

 fufed, the city was befieged ; which, after long refiftance, 

 the queen determined not to furrender ; but as (he appre- 

 hended famine within the walls, fhe mounted a fwift drome- 

 dary, and haftened towards the Euphrates, with a new of 

 feeking an afylum in the Perfian territories. But being 

 overtaken in her flight, fhe was brought back to Aurehan, 



who 



