SOL 
25 silver denarii down to Alexander Severus, is clear; and 
supposing that standard to remain, as we have no authority 
for a change till the time of Constantine I., the double 
aureus will have borne 50 silver denarii, and the aureus 25. 
The “ triens” must have had eight silver denarii, and two 
denarii aurei; and the double triens, 16 silver denarii or 
argentei, and four denarii aurei. The denarius was not then 
worth above 14s. English. The only change Aurelian 
made in the money, was probably restricted to the gold; 
for it is certain that under him, and his successor Probus, 
the common gold piece, or aureus, is of 100 grains, a 
size confined to these two emperors. There are also halves 
of about 50 grains; and double aurei, commonly of very 
fine workmanship, of upward of 200 grains. Down to 
Constantine T., the aureus stands at between 80 and 70 
grains. This prince, who seems not to have altered the 
size of the coin, instead of the “ aureus,” gave the 
“ solidus” of six in the ounce of gold, and caused it to 
pass for 14 of his new silver coins, called “ Milliarenses,” 
and 25 denarii, as before; gold being to silver as about 
14 to 1. The solidus, or chief gold coin, continued of the 
same standard to the very close of the Byzantine empire; 
for gold was common in Constantinople, while silver be¬ 
came more and more scarce. The solidus was worth 12s. 
sterling. In the days of the first emperors the aureus was 
worth 25 denarii, and gold to silver about 13J to 1. The 
medial aureus was 110 grains, the denarius 60. That 
standard remained the same till the time of Alexander 
Severus, after which we have no data; but it is probable 
that Constantine took the value as he found it, and that 
from Alexander Severus to Constantine, if we except the 
short interval of the end of Aurelian’s reign, and beginning 
of that of Probus, gold was rising in value till it exceeded 
14 to 1. The gold coins, called “Bezants” in Europe, 
because they were sent from Byzantium, or Constantinople, 
were solidi of the old scale, six to the ounce. In Byzantine 
writers, the solidus is also called “ Nomisma,” or the coin ; 
“ Crysinos,” because of gold; “ Hyperperos,” from its 
being refined with fire, or from its being of bright gold 
flaming like fire. The solidi also, like the aurei formerly, 
received names from the princes whose portraits they bore ; 
as “ Michelati,” “ Manuelati.” Solidus is a term used for 
the aureus by Apuleius (Met. lib. 10.) who lived in the 
time of Antoninus the philosopher; nay, so early as in the 
Praetorian edicts of the time of Trajan; being thus distin¬ 
guished from the semissis or half. In the time of Valerian, 
when aurei of different sizes had been introduced, it be¬ 
came necessary to distinguish the particular aurei that were 
meant. 
In the first gold coinage at Rome, the aureus was divided 
into four inferior parts : the semissis, or half, of 60 sestertii; 
the tremissis, or third, of 40; the fourth, the name of which 
is not known, of 30 ; and the sixth, or scrupulum, of 20. 
But soon afterwards all these were dropped, except the 
semissis or half, which occurs in the times of the consuls, 
and of some emperors, but is extremely scarce, so that few 
must have been struck. This gold semissis, or half aureus, 
is termed “ quinarius” by medallists with great propriety, 
and is very uncommon in all the consular and imperial 
times; but continued the only division of the aureus till the 
time of Alexander Severus. This prince, as Lampridius 
informs us, coined semisses and tremisses of gold; but none 
have yet been found. It is likely they were all recoined by 
his immediate successors, who again raised the tributes. He 
also proposed to issue quartarii, but did not live to accomplish 
his purpose. Trientes, or tremisses, of gold are, however, 
mentioned in rescripts of Valerian I., and actually exist, both 
of him and of his son Gallienus, weighing about 30 grains. 
The gold tremissis was the pattern of the early French and 
Spanish gold coins; as the silver denarius, in its diminished 
state, was that of the Gothic and Saxon penny. Pinker¬ 
ton’s Medals, vol. i. 
SOLIEK ELSEID, a village of Upper Egypt, on the left 
bank of the Nile; 10 miles south of Girge. 
SOL 339 
SOLIFI'DIAN, s. [solus and fides, Lat.J One who sup¬ 
poses only faith, not works, necessary to justification.—It 
may be justly feared, that the title of fundamentals, being 
ordinarily confined to the doctrines of faith, hath occasioned 
that great scandal in the church of God, at which so manv 
myriads of solijidians have stumbled, and fallen irreversi¬ 
bly, by conceiving heaven a reward of true opinions. Ham¬ 
mond. 
SOLIFI'DIAN, ad). Professing the tenets of a solifidian. 
SOLIFI'DIANISM, s. The tenets of solifidians. 
SOLIGNAC, a town in the south of France, department 
of the Upper Loire, with 900 inhabitants; 5 miles south of 
Le Puy. 
SOLIGNY, a town in the north of France, department of 
the Orne, on the small river Cosne. Population nearly 
900. 
SOLIHULL, a parish, and formerly a market town of 
England; 7 miles south-east of Birmingham. Population 
2581. 
SOLIKAMSK, an old town of European Russia, in the 
government of Perm, with several salt springs and copper 
mines in the neighbourhood. Population 3800; 130 miles 
north of Perm. 
To SOLI'LOQUIZE, v. n. To utter a soliloquy. 
SOLI'LOQUY, s. [soliloque , Fr., solus and loquor, Lat.] 
A discourse made by one in solitude to himself.—The whole 
poem is a soliloquy : Soloman is the person that speaks : he 
he is at once the hero and the author; but he tells us very 
often what others say to him. Prior. 
SOLIMAGUE, a small island near the west coast of Lucon. 
Lat. 18. 3. N. long. 120. 36. E. 
SOLIMAN, a seaport on the south-eastern coast of the bay 
of Tunis. The inhabitants consist of the Moors who were 
driven out of Spain, and still preserve their manners and lan¬ 
guage unaltered. They are accounted also more honest than 
the natives of Africa ; 20 miles east-south-east of Tunis. 
SOL1MANA, a high and mountainous district of interior 
Africa, in, or bordering on which, are the sources both of 
the Gambia and Senegal. It has Jallonkadoo on the north, 
and Foota Jallo on the west and south, but the interior is not 
at all known. 
SOLIMENE (Francesco, called also L’Abate Ciccio), 
was born at Nocera de Pagani, near Naples, in 1637. He 
was the son of a painter, Angelo Solimene, who at first edu¬ 
cated him in literary pursuits, in which he was exceedingly 
assiduous, and made considerable progress; whilst at the 
same time he indulged himself in cultivating an inherent 
taste for design. By the advice of Cardinal Orsini, Fran¬ 
cesco was permitted by his father to change the object of 
his principal pursuit, and, instead of the law, to adopt the 
pencil, as the ground-work of his future fame. He became 
the disciple of Francesco Maria, and afterwards of Giacomo 
del Po ; but soon left Naples, to go to Rome, where the free¬ 
dom and brilliancy of Pietro da Cortona’s execution and 
design attracted his admiration, and fixed his attention. To 
what he acquired of Cortona, he attempted to add the sweet¬ 
ness of Guido Rhani; and thus framed for himself a style 
remarkable for its ease and suavity, more than for its grace 
or truth. A very beautiful production of his is at Hampton 
Court, of the Pool of Bethesda; but his most celebrated works 
are the sacristy of S. Paulo Maggiore, and the Last Supper, 
in the refectory of the conventuali at Assissi. Solimene 
possessed a vivid invention, and consequently a ready pencil; 
so much so, that his execution is always spirited and mas¬ 
terly, equally adapted to almost all kinds of subjects; and 
his colouring unites brilliancy and force. He died at Naples 
in 1747, aged 90. 
SOLINGEN, a town of Prussian Westphalia, in the county 
of Berg, on the river Wipper. It has 4100 inhabitants, who 
are of mixed religion, Lutherans, Calvinists, Catholics, and 
Jews. Coal and iron ore being both found in the vicinity, 
the chief employment is the manufacturing of swords, knives, 
and, in time of war, of bayonets and other military equip¬ 
ments: the swords in particular, have long been in repute. 
The 
