P A', N 
the catechetical fchcol of Alexandria of whom there is any 
mention made in antiquity by writers of undoubted credit. 
His delcent, and the country of his birth, are both uncer¬ 
tain ; fome authors Hating him to have been of Jewilh 
extraction, others a native of Sicily, and others the de- 
Icendant of Sicilian parents, but born at Alexandria. Ac¬ 
cording to Cave, he ilourilhed about the year 182. He is 
generally thought to have been one of the mailers of 
Clement of Alexandria, who fpeaks of him with great re- 
fpeCl. He is alfo mentioned very refpe&fully by Alex¬ 
ander, bilhop of Jerufalem, in a fragment of a letter to 
Origen, preferved by Eufebius ; in which he particularly 
fays, that Panttenus was the perfon who introduced him 
to the acquaintance of that father. Of the high eftima- 
tion in which he was generally held we may form fome 
idea from the confideration, that Origen jullifies himfelf 
in the ftudy of heathen learning by the example of 
Pantsenus, wdiom he calls a very ufeful perfon, and well 
furnilhed with that part of knowledge. Photius fpeaks of 
him as a hearer of fome of thofe who had feen the apof- 
tles, and even of fome of the apollles themfeives ; but the 
latter llatement he does not poiitively alfert, and there are 
few moderns who will admit its probability. Upon the 
whole, Pantasnus was eminent for his learning, prudence, 
and piety ; and prefided over the catechetical fchool at 
Alexandria with great reputation and fuccefs. So great, 
likewife, was his zeal for the fuccefs of the Chriftian caufe, 
that, when the Ethiopians applied to Demetrius, bilhop 
of Alexandria, to fend them fome perfon who fhould in- 
ftruft them in the principles of Chriftianity, he readily 
undertook that million, and is faidto have acquitted him¬ 
felf in it with great ability. After his return to Alexan¬ 
dria Pantsenus refumed the precedency of the catechetical 
fchool, in which he continued to explain the Scriptures 
publicly under the reigns of the emperors Severus and 
Caracalla, rendering greater fervice to the church, fays St. 
Jerome, by his difcourfes than by his writings. The fame 
father informs us, that there were extant Commentaries 
of his upon the Scriptures 5 but there is now nothing re¬ 
maining of his writings, excepting a Ihort paflage in the 
Eclogas, afcribed to Clement of Alexandria, containing 
the following rule for the better underllanding of the 
prophetic language, which has been lince adopted by all 
the interpreters of the prophecies : “ That the prophets 
often exprefs themfeives in indefinite terms, and that the 
prefent tenfe is frequently ufed by them for both the pre¬ 
terite and future tenfes.” Cave places the death of 
Pantamus about the year 213. Cave's Hift. Lit. vol. i. 
PANTA'IA. See Pandaia. 
PANTAGRU'EL, the feigned name of a giant in 
Rabelais. 
PANTAGRU'ELIST,/ A good companion, imitating 
Pantagruel. Bailey. 
PANTAGY'AS, in ancient geography, a fmall river 
on the ealtern coaft of Sicily, which falls into the’fea, after 
running a Ihort fpace in rough calcades over rugged 
Hones and precipices. 
PANTALA'RIA, a fmall illand in the Mediterranean, 
lituated between the illand of Sicily and Cape Bon, on 
the coaft of Tunis; about twenty-five miles in circum¬ 
ference, and containing about 4000 inhabitants. The 
principal produdtions are olives, figs, raifins, capers, and 
cotton ; the cattle are numerous, but bread-corn is im¬ 
ported from Sicily. The language is a mixture of Afri¬ 
can and Italian. Lat. 36. 55. N. Ion. 12. 15. E. 
PANTALE'O, (St.) a town of the illand of Sardinia, 
the fcite of which was anciently that of the epifcopal city 
ofDolio: fixteen miles north of Cagliari. 
PANTALE'ON, a king of Pifa, who prefided at the 
Olympic games, B. C. 664, after excluding the Eleans, 
who on that account expunged the Olympiad from the 
Fafti, and called it the fecond Anolympiad. They had 
called for the famereafon the eighth the firft Anolympiad, 
becaufe the Pifasans prefided. 
PANTALEO'NE, a fmall low illand in the Mediterra- 
P . A N . 343 
nean, near the weft coaft of Sicily ; formerly united to t; e 
continent by a neck of land, which was deftroyed by the 
inhabitants to keep off.- the enemy. In this peninfula 
flood the ancient Motya. Lat. 37. 56. N. Ion. 12. 28. E. 
PANTALE'ONE, a ftringed inllrument in Germany 
at the hitter end of the feventeenth century. The in¬ 
ventor’s name was Hebenftri6l; but, from the fuccefs of 
his inllrument, he afiumed that of Pantaleone. It was 
more than nine feet long, and had, when in order, 186 
firings. The tone was produced by two flicks, like the 
dulcimer ; it mull have been extremely difficult to the per¬ 
former, but feems to have been capable of great effedf. 
Mr. Binder, organill of the Duom Kirk, at Drefden, was 
the laft perfon who piayed upon it. It was this inllru- 
ment, and the performance upon it at Paris in 1705, which 
gave birth to a very ingenious little work, under the title 
of “ Dialogue fur la Mufique des Anciens,” by the abbe 
Chateauneuf. When we law the ruins of this inllrument 
at Drefden, foon after the feven years’war, the firings 
were almolt all broken, and the court was fo impoVe- 
rilhed as not to like to be at the charge of new mount¬ 
ing it. It ufed to be one of the mufical curiolities of that 
city, during the time that the eledtor of Saxony was king 
of Poland. Burney. 
PANTALOO'N, [ [ pantalon , Fr.] The name of an 
ancient garment frequent among our forefathers, confid¬ 
ing of breeches and ftockings all of a piece. A drefs 
fomewhat fimilar has been lately revived. The denomi¬ 
nation comes from the Venetians, who firft introduced 
this habit, and who are called Pantaloni, from St. 
Pantaleon, who was formerly their patron.—Whether 
the trunk-hofe fancy of queen Elizabeth’s days, or the 
; pantaloon genius of our’s be belt. Phillips's Theat. Poet. 
1675. 
The French, we conquer’d once, 
Now give us laws for pantaloons, 
The length of breeches and the gathers. Iluclibras . 
A charadler in the Italian comedy; a buffoon in 
the pantomimes of modern times: fo called from the 
clofe drefs which he ufually wears.—There are four Hand¬ 
ing charafilers, which enter into every piece that comes 
on the ftage; the Dodlor, Harlequin, Pantalone, and 
Coviello. Pantalone is generally an old cully, and 
Coviello a lharper. Addifon's Remarks on Italy. 
The fixth age Ihifts 
Into the lean and flipper’d pantaloon, 
With fpedlacles onnofe, and pouch on fide. Shakejpeare. 
PANTA'NO, a town of Sicily, in the valley of Noto : 
ten miles fouth of Modica. 
PANTA'NO, a town of Italy, fifteen miles fouth-weft 
of Modena. 
PANTA'NO, a town of Naples, in Calabria Ultra : nine 
miles eaft of Bova. 
PANTA'NO, a river of Naples, which runs into the 
fea ten miles eaft of Bova. 
PAN'TAR, an illand in the Eaftern Indian Sea, of a 
fquare form, about forty-eight miles in circumference, 
feparated from the eaft coaft of the illand of Lomablen by 
the ftrait of Alvo, and from the weft coaft of Ombay by 
a narrow channel, called the Strait of Pantar. Lat. 8. 10. 
S. Ion. 124. 30. E. 
PAN'TER, f. One who pants: 
Swiftly the gentle charmer flies, 
And to the tender grief foft air applies. 
Which, warbling myllic founds, 
Cements the bleeding panter's wounds. Congreve. 
PAN'TER, f. [from painter , Irifli, a net; paintealim, to 
enfnare. Lye.'] A kind of net; a pitfall. Objblete. 
To catche in his panters 
Thefedamofels and b-.chilers, 
Love will none othir birdis catche. Chaucer. 
PAN'TESS, /. The difficulty of breathing in a hawk. 
Ainjivorth, 
PANTHE'A, 
