LUC 



LUC 



OHt entire books. Virgil fluified him, and lias borrowed 

 much of his diclioii. This poem ,v.ss written and finiflicd 

 while the poet laboured under a violent delirium, occafioncd 

 by a philtre, which the jealoufy of his niillreis or his wile 

 had adniinillered. Tlie morality of Lucretius is generally 

 pure, but many of his deferiptions are licentious. The ab- 

 furdities and inipioty of his philofophy cannot in this coun- 

 try, and in this age, be accounted dangerous ; and pcrfons of 

 high integrity and thcgreatell refpeftability have become, in 

 modern times, the editors and commentators ef Lucretius'3 

 poem. The bell editions are thoie of Creech, 8i'o. 1695, 

 Oxon.; of Havercamp, Lugd. B. 4to. 1725, and of ihe 

 celebrated Gilbert Waktiield, Lond. 3 vols. 410. The la!l 

 is exceedingly rare, on account of the fire which detlroycd 

 the greater part of the imprclTion. Mr. Good, the tranf- 

 lator of the poem, and wliofe work was publifhed in iPoj, 

 has taken advantage of this circumftance, and has given tlie 

 ■entire text from NIr. Wakefield's edition, which had Lecn 

 collated and printed with the utmoll care by that learned and 

 much to-be-lamented cl.iffical fcholar. In the tranflation jult 

 referred to, there arc, befides elaborate annotations, a criti- 

 cal account of the principal editions and tranflations of liia 

 author, a hiflory of the poet, a vindication of his charafler 

 and pliilcifophy from vulgar mifreprefentation, and a compa- 

 rative llatcment of the rival fyitems of philoibphy that 

 flourifhedin the time of Lucretius. Tn this poem the tranf- 

 lator imagines he has difcovered the indiiclive method of the 

 illullrious Bacon ; part of the fublime phylics of fir I. New. 

 ton, and various chemical difcoveries of our own days, in 

 3 farprizing degree anticipated, as to their principles and 

 many important refults. 



LUCRINO, in Geography, a lake near Naples, anciently 

 celebrated for its green oylters and other fifh, feparated from 

 the fea by an artificial bank. In the year ijjS, an earth- 

 quake formed a mountain near two miles in circumference, 

 and 200 feet in height ; conlifling of lava, burned ftcnes, 

 fcoria, &c. which left no appearance of a lake, but a morafs 

 lilled with grafs .-'.nd rufhes. 



LUCULLEUM M.MtMon, in the Natural Hi/lory of 

 ih: Aiicisnts, the nam.e of a hard ttony kind of marble, of 

 a good fine black, and capable of an elegant polifh, but 

 little regarded from its want of variegations. When freflt 

 broken, it is feen to be full of fmali, but very bright ibining 

 particles, appearing like fo many fmall fpangles of tjlc. 

 It had its name from the lloman coniiil Lucui us, who firll 

 brought it into ufem that city. It is common in Italy, Ger- 

 many, and France. We have much of it imported, and 

 our artificers call it the Namur marble, the Spaniards call it 

 marble of Bu^a. 



LUCULLIAN G.VMF.s, in ^intiqu'Uy, were annual 

 games decreed by the province of Afia, about ;he year 70 

 before Chrill, in honour of the exploits of Lucullus. 



LUCULLUS, LlciL's Liciniis, in Biography, a Roman 

 commander, who has been celebrated for his tondnefs for lux- 

 ury, as well as for his miHtary talents, was born about the year 

 115 before the Chritlian era, and being well educated, he 

 foon dillinguifhed himfelf by his proficiency in the liberal 

 arts, particularly in eloquence and philofophy. As a mili- 

 tary man, he was firft noticed with applaufe in the Marfian 

 war, and was, on account of his good conduft, made an edile. 

 He was employed by Sylla in many important concerns, and 

 during the fiege of Athens was fent by that commander into 

 Egypt and Lyhia, to procure a fupply of (hips. With re- 

 fpeft to king Ptolemy he was unfuccefsful, but he pleaded 

 the caufe of his employer with more effeft in other places, 

 and coUeifled a fleet, with which he gave two defeats to that 



8 



of Mithridates, and convoyed Sylla's troops from the Thra- 

 cian Clierfonefus. After the peace he was appointed quteilor 

 in Afia, and prxtor in Africa, in which offices he rcndersd 

 himfelf illuftrious by his love of juftiee, moderation, and 

 humanity. He was raifed to the confulfliip when he was 

 about forty years of age, and entrufted with the care of the 

 Mithridatic war ; his firll prowefs was confpicuous in refcu- 

 iiig his colleague Cotta, whom the enemy had belieged in 

 Chalcedonia. This was foon followed by a celebrated vic- 

 tf ry over the forces of Mithridates, on the borders of the 

 Granicus, and by the conquell of all Bithynia. His viclo- 

 ries by fea were as great as tliofe by lard, and Mithridates 

 was driven with great lofs towards Armenia, to the court of 

 Tigrancf, his father-in-law. His flight was quickly difcovcr- 

 ed, and Lucullus crofled the Euphrates, and gave battle to 

 the vaft army which Tigranes had adembled to fupport the 

 caufe of his fen. It is not eafy to give entire credit to the 

 account of the numbers faid to have been flain on this occa- 

 fion, but the flaughter muft have been prodigious, when 

 Plutarch eflimates that not lefs than ico.coo foot, and 

 55,000 borfe foldiers loll their lives in this battle ; and this 

 at the expence of a very few Roman lives. Lucullus is re- 

 prefetited by Plutarch as having paid much attention to 

 dreams and auguries, yet he certainly exhibited, at the fame 

 time, an avowed contempt of vulgar fuperftition, for being 

 admoniflied by fome of his officers not to give battle on that 

 dav, being the anniverfary of a great defeat fullaincd by the 

 Romans from the Cimbri, he replied to the monitor, " I 

 alfo will make this a day to be remembered by after-ages." 

 The taking of Tigranocerta, the capital of Armenia, was 

 the confequence of the viclory, and Lucullus there obtained 

 the greater part of the royal Ircafures. This continued fuc- 

 ctfs rendered the commander haughty and imperious, and 

 hischanged manners were offei.five to the foldiers, and dif- 

 pleafing to tliofe who adhered to the caufe of Rome. He 

 was accufed in the fenate with defigiiedly protrafting the 

 war for his own emolument, and difconteiits proceeded fb 

 far that he was fupeifedcd, firll by the conful Glabrio ; af- 

 ter which Pompey was fent to fucceed him, and to ccr.t'nue 

 the Mithridatic war. His interview with Lucullus began 

 withafts of mutual kindnefs, and ended in the moll deter- 

 mined enmity. Lucullus was however permitted to retire to 

 Rome, and iCoo foldiers, who had (hared his fortune and 

 his glories, were allowed to acc<)mpany him. At Rome he 

 was coldly received, and he obtained with difliculty a triumph 

 which was claimed by his fame, his f'-ccelfes, and his vido- 

 ries. This was the term.ination t f his military glory, he 

 retired to the enjoyment of eafe and peaceful loeiety, and no 

 lunger interclled himfelf in the comm.otions which dillurbed 

 the tranquillity of Romie. He now adopted a life of luxu- 

 rious profufion, fcarcely parallelled by a private citizen in any 

 ^geor couiury, but under the direction of a refined talle, 

 and not excluding the rational pleafurcs of literature. He 

 coUeclcd a fplendid library, which he threw open to all pcr- 

 fons of learning and curiofity. It was particularly the re- 

 fort of the Greeks who vifited Rome, and whom he treated 

 with great hofpitality, delighting to converfe with tliem on 

 topics of philofophy, with all the dodlrines and lefts of which 

 he was thoroughly converfant. He was himfelf principally 

 attached to the doftrinesof the old academy, the defence of 

 which is put into his mouth by Cicero, in a dialogue enti- 

 tled " Lucullus." Toward tl:e clofe of his life, Lucul- 

 lus fell into a delirium, and he died in about the fixty-eightii 

 year of his age, and «as much regretted by the Roma'! peo- 

 ple, who doubtlefs had tailed the fruits of hia munificence : 

 they would willingly have given him an honourable funeral 



in 



