726 
PERSIA. 
Taxes, how railed, 699, 700. 
Teheran, the prelent metropolis of Perfia, 
692. 
Teribazus, his ftratagem with the Cadufian 
kings, 662; confpires againft Artaxerxes, 
663. 
Turks, their charafter contrafted with that of 
the Perfians, 712, 13. 
Vaca-neviz, or writer of occurrences, a 
very ancient poft, 698. 
Valens, king of Perfia, 667. 
Valerian emperor of Rome, taken prifoner 
by Sapor king of Perfia, and dies in cap¬ 
tivity, 664. 
Varanes I. II, and III. 665. IV. 666. 
Varanes V. caufe of his perfecuting the 
Chriftians, 666 ; his prudent behaviour 
in war and peace, 667. 
Varanes VI. 667. 
Well-digging, &c. 722, 3. 
Willock, lieut. charge d’affaires at the court 
of Teheran, 691. 
Women, charafler and occupations of, 713, 
14 ; drefs, 715 ; education, 718 ; mar¬ 
riages, 721, 2. 
Xerxes, his reign and death, 661. 
Xerxes II. his Ihort reign, 661. 
Zambades, king fora Ihort time, 667. 
Zika Khan, an ufurper at the death of Ke¬ 
rim, 689. 
Zopyrus, his ftratagem to put Darius in pof- 
feflion of Babylon, 660, 1. 
P E R 
PER'SIAH, a town of Hindooftan, in Baglana: eigh¬ 
teen miles eaft-fouth-eaft of Baffeen. 
PER'SIAN, f. A native of Perfia. The language of the 
Perfians. A kind of filk. 
PER'SIAN, or Persic, ailj. Belonging to Perfia ; diftin- 
guifiiing that order in archite&ure in which the llatuesof 
men are introduced inllead of columns, as the Caryatic or¬ 
der has the figures of women for the fame purpofe. This 
was firft ufed by the Athenians in token of a vidlory which 
their general Paufanias gained over the Perfians. Le 
Clerc fays, that Perfian columns are not always made 
with the marks of flavery; but are frequently ufed as 
lymbols of virtues and vices, of joy, ftrength, valour, &c. 
See the article Architecture, vol. ii. p. 72. 
PERSIAN GUL'F, a fea or inland lake, bounded on 
the north by Perfia, and elfewhere by Arabia, except at 
the eaftern extremity, where it communicates with the 
Arabian Sea: about 500 miles from eaft to weft, and from 
120 to 250 in breadth, from north to fouth ; the principal 
river which runs into it is the Euphrates. The fouthern 
coaft in particular is celebrated for its pearl-fiftiery. 
Moll part of the coafts, both on the north and fouth, be¬ 
long to colonies of Arabians. 
PERSIAN LIL'Y. See Fritillaria. 
PERSIAN WHEE'L. See the article Mechanics, vol. 
xiv. p. 761. 
PER'SICA, f in botany. See Amygdalus. 
PER'SICA TER'RAjyi An earth of the ochre kind, 
known in the colour-lhops of London by the name of 
Indian red. It is a very fine purple ochre, of a confide- 
rably compact texture, and great weight: while in the 
earth, it is of a pure blood-colour, and i3 not to be cut 
with the fpade, but is dug with iron crows, and falls in 
irregular maffes. It is of a rough dully furface, and full 
of confiderably-large bright glittering particles : thefe 
are white, and of a fine luftre. It adheres firmly to the 
tongue, is rough and harlh to the touch, ftains the hands 
very deeply, and is of a rough aftringent tafte, and makes 
a very violent effervefcence with acid menftruums. It is 
dug in the ifland of Ormus, in the Perfian gulf, and in 
fome parts of the Eaft Indies. 
PER'SICE SIM'ILIS. See Mangifera. 
PERSICA'RIA. See Polygonum. 
PERSICA'RIA SILOQUO'SA. See Impatiens. 
PER'SIMON. See Diospyros. 
PER'SIS, a Roman lady, whom St. Paul falutes in his 
Epiftle to the Romans (xvi. 12.) and whom he calls the 
beloved. He fay? Die has laboured much in the Lord. No¬ 
thing elfe of her life is come to our knowledge, nor do we 
know that Ihe is honoured by any church 5 which is fome- 
thing lingular. 
To PERSIS'T, v. 11. [ perfijlo , Lat. perfijler, Fr.] to per- 
fevere ; to continue firm; not to give over.—Nothing can 
make a man happy, but that which lhall lad as long as he 
lafts ; for an immortal foul lhall perfijl in being, not only 
when profit, pleafure, and honour, but when time itfelf, 
lhall ceafe. South. 
PERSIS'TANCE, or Persistency, f. [from perjift. 
Persistence feems more proper.] The Hate of perfifting; 
fteadinefs ; conftancy; perfeverance in good or bad.— 
The love of God better can confift with the indeliberate 
PER 
commifiions of many fins, than with an allowed perfijlance 
in any one. Gov. of the Tongue. —Obftinacy; obduracy; 
contumacy.—Thou think’ft me as far in the devil’s book, 
as thou and Falftaff, for obduracy and perfejlency. Shake- 
fpeare. 
PERSIS'TANT, or Persistent, adj. [perjijlens, Lat.] 
In botany; continuing a long while green with refpe6l to 
the other parts of the fame flower or plant. 
PERSIS'TIVE, adj. Steady ; not receding from a pur¬ 
pofe ; perfevering: 
The protraftive tryals of great Jove, 
To find perfijlive conftancy in men. Shakefpeare. 
PER'SIUS, orAuLUS Persius Flaccus, a Roman poet, 
is faid to have'been born at Volterra, in Tufcany, A. D. 
34. Others have fuppofed Liguria to have been his na¬ 
tive country, where he had a houfe at the Portus Lunae. 
His family was of equeftrian rank, and his education was 
that of a perfon of birth and fortune. He ltudied at Rome 
under the grammarian Palaemon, the rhetorican Virgi- 
nius Flaccus, and the lloic philofopher Cornutus. He 
lived in intimacy with feveral of the molt eminent perfons 
of his time, and was generally beloved for the modefty of 
his difpofition, and the fuavity of his manners. He died 
at the early age of 28, and bequeathed to his preceptor 
Cornutus his library of 700 volumes, with a confiderable 
fum of money; but the philofopher accepted only the 
books, and divided the money among Perfius’s fillers. 
Thefe are all the circumftances of his life with which we 
are acquainted, and which are chiefly derived from a 
brief notice of him aferibed to Suetonius. 
As a poet, Perlius is only known by his Satires, fix in 
number, which were in high reputation among his coun¬ 
trymen ; for both Martial and Quintilian mention the 
applaufe he acquired by his Jingle book. They are of 
the grave and fententious kind, chiefly turning upon to¬ 
pics of general morals. The philofophy of his excellent 
preceptor Cornutus, to whom one of them is dedicated, 
has given them an elevation and purity of fentiment, 
which in fome parts places them in the firft rank of mo¬ 
ral poetry; but their extreme obfeurity almoft deftroys 
the pleafure of a perufal. This may undoubtedly be 
partly aferibed to our incapacity of entering into many 
aliufions to perfons and things which would be plain 
enough to his contemporaries, but it is alfo to be impu¬ 
ted to his harfli and abrupt ftyle, and extreme concifenefs. 
There are fuppofed to be feveral ftrokes againft Nero in 
his latires, and four bombaft lines are thought by critics 
to be tranferibed from that imperial poetafter; but this 
is mere conjedlure, and not very probable. Perlius is 
generally edited with Juvenal. Ifaac Cafaubon is his 
bell commentator: his editions are Paris 1605, and Lon¬ 
don 1647, 8vo. Brewfter’s metrical Englilh verfion is 
much elteemed. 
PER'SKENSTEIN, a town of Silefia, in the principa¬ 
lity of Neiffe : three miles north-north-eaft of Ottmuchau. 
PER'SO, a town of Italy, in the country of Friuli: ten 
miles north-weft of Udina. 
PF.RSOLA'TA, J\ in botany, a word ufed by Pliny, 
as the name of a kind of burdock, different from the per - 
J’onata. He has, in the beginning of the chapter, fpo- 
ken 
