revolted, whom he had subdued, they were put to flight by the simple act of showing them his shield. (Virg. Aen. iii. 286; Serv. ad loc.) It was from this Abas that the kings of Argos were called by the patronymic Abantiads. [Abantiades.] [L. S.]
ABAS (Ἄβας) 1. A Greek sophist and rhetorician about whose life nothing is known. Suidas (s. v. Ἄβας: compare Eudocia, p. 51) ascribes to him ἱστορικὰ ἀπομνήματικα and a work on rhetoric (τέχνη ῤητορική). What Photius (Cod. 190. p. 150, b. ed. Bekker) quotes from him, belongs probably to the former work. (Compare Walz, Rhetor. Graec. vii. 1. p. 203.)
2. A writer of a work called Troica, from which Servius (ad Aen. ix. 264) has preserved a fragment. [L. S.]
ABASCANTUS (Ἀβάσκαντος), a physician of Lugdunum (Lyons), who probably lived in the second century after Christ. He is several times mentioned by Galen (De Compos. Medicam. secund. Locos, ix. 4. vol. xiii. p. 278), who has also preserved an antidote invented by him against the bite of serpents. (De Antid. ii. 12. vol. xiv. p. 177.) The name is to be met with in numerous Latin inscriptions in Gruter's collection, five of which refer to a freedman of Augustus, who is supposed by Kühn (Additam. ad Elench. Medic. Vet. a J. A. Fabricio in " Bibl. Gr." Exhib.) to be the same person that is mentioned by Galen. This however is quite uncertain, as also whether Παρακλήτιος Ἀβάσκανθος in Galen (De Compos. Medicam. secund. Locos. vii. 3. vol. xiii. p. 71) refers to the subject of this article. [W. A. G.]
ABDOLO'NIMUS or ABDALO'NIMUS, a gardener, but of royal descent, was made king of Sidon by Alexander the Great. (Curt. iv. 1; Just, xi. 10.) He is called Ballonymus by Diodorus. (xvii. 46.)
ABDE'RUS (Ἄβὸηρος), a son of Hermes, or according to others of Thromius the Locrian. (Apollod. ii. 5. § 8; Strab. vii. p. 331.) He was a favourite of Heracles, and was torn to pieces by the mares of Diomedes, which Heracles had given him to pursue the Bistones. Heracles is said to have built the town of Abdera to honour him. According to Hyginus, (Fab. 30,) Abderus was a servant of Diomedes, the king of the Thracian Bistones, and was killed by Heracles together with his master and his four men-devouring horses. (Compare Philostrat. Heroic. 3. § 1; 19. § 2.) [L. S.]
ABDIAS (Ἀβδίας), the pretended author of an Apocryphal book, entitled The History of the Apostolical contest. This work claims to have been written in Hebrew, to have been translated into Greek by Eutropius, and thence into Latin by Julius Africanus. It was however originally written in Latin, about A. D. 910. It is printed in Fabricius, Codex Apocryphus Novi Test. p. 402. 8vo. Hamb. 1703. Abdias was called too the first Bishop of Babylon. [A. J. C.]
ABE'LLIO, is the name of a divinity found in inscriptions which were discovered at Comminges in France. (Grater, Inscr. p. 37, 4; J. Scaliger, Lectiones Ausonianae, i. 9.) Buttmann (Mythologus, i. p. 167, &c.) considers Abellio to be the same name as Apollo, who in Crete and elsewhere was called Ἀβέλιος, and by the Italians and some Dorians Apello (Fest. s. v. Apellinem; Eustath. ad Il. ii. 99), and that the deity is the same as the Gallic Apollo mentioned by Caesar (Bell. Gall. vi. 17), and also the same as Belis or Belenus mentioned by Tertullian (Apologet. 23) and Herodian (viii. 3; comp. Capitol. Maximin. 22). As the root of the word he recognises the Spartan Βέλα, i.e. the sun (Hesych. s. v.), which appears in the Syriac and Chaldaic Belus or Baal. [L. S.]
ABE'RCIUS, ST, (Ἄβέρκιος), the supposed successor of St. Papias in the see of Hierapolis, flourished a. d. 150. There are ascribed to him, 1. An Epistle to the Emperor Marcus Aurelius, of which Baronius speaks as extant, but he does not produce it; and, 2. A Book of Discipline (βίβλος διδασκαλίας) addressed to his Clergy; this too is lost. See Illustr. Eccles. Orient. Script. Vitae, à P. Halloix. Duac. 1636. [A. J. C.]
A'BGARUS, A'CBARUS, or AU'GARUS (Ἄβγαρος, Ἄκβαρος, Ἀυγαρος), a name common to many rulers of Edessa, the capital of the district of Osrhoëne in Mesopotamia. It seems to have been a title and not a proper name. (Procop. Bell. Pers. ii. 12.) For the history of these kings see Bayer, " Historia Osrhoëna et Edessena ex nummis illustrata," Petrop. 1734. Of these the most important are:
1. The ally of the Romans under Pompey, who treacherously drew Crassus into an unfavorable position before his defeat. He is called Augarus by Dion Cassius (xl. 20), Acbarus the phylarch of the Arabians in the Parthian history ascribed to Appian (p. 34. Schw.), and Ariamnes by Plutarch. (Crass. 2.)
2. The contemporary of Christ. See the following article.
3. The chief, who resisted Meherdates, whom Claudius wished to place on the Parthian throne: he is called a king of the Arabians by Tacitus (Tac. Ann. xii. 12. 14), but was probably an Osrhoënian.
4. The contemporary of Trajan, who sent presents to that emperor when he invaded the east, and subsequently waited upon him and became his ally. (Dion. Cass. lxviii. 18. 21.)
5. The contemporary of Caracalla, who acted cruelly towards his nation, and was deposed by Caracalla. (Dion Cass. lxxvii. 12.)
A'BGARUS, Toparch of Edessa, supposed by Eusebius to have been the author of a letter written to our Saviour, which he found in a church at Edessa and translated from the Syriac. The letter is believed to be spurious. It is given by Eusebius. (Hist. Eccl. i. 13.) [A. J. C.]
A'BIA (Ἀβία), the nurse of Hyllus, a son of Heracles. She built a temple of Heracles at Ira in Messenia, for which the Heraclid Cresphontes afterwards honoured her in various other ways, and also by changing the name of the town of Ira into Abia. (Paus. iv. 30. § 1.) [L. S.]
ABELOX, ABELUX or ABILYX（Ἀβίλυξ), a noble Spaniard, originally a friend of Carthage, betrayed the Spanish hostages at Saguntum, who were in the power of the Carthaginians, to the Roman generals, the two Scipios, after deceiving Bostar, the Carthaginian commander. (Liv. xxii. 22; Polyb. iii. 98, &c.)
ABI'SARES or ABI'SSARES (Ἀβισάρης), called Embisarus (Ἐμβίσαρος) by Diodorus (xvii. 90), an Indian king beyond the river Hydaspes, whose territory lay in the mountains, sent embassies to Alexander the Great both before and after the conquest of Porus, although inclined to espouse the side of the latter. Alexander not only allowed him to retain his kingdom, but increased it, and
