Page:Collier's New Encyclopedia v. 01.djvu/307

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ABISTJET7S 247 ARISTOLOCHIA fame rests mainly on his great romantic heroic poem "Orlando Furioso." It is really a continuation of Bojardo's "Or- lando Inamorato." Of his other poetical efforts the most noteworthy are his seven epistolary satires, conceived in the spirit of Horace, which contain sundry bits of autobiographical information and rank among the treasures of Italian litera- ture. He died at Ferrara, June 6, 1533. ARIST^US (ar-is-te'us) , son of Apollo and Cyrene, was brought up by the Nymphs. The introduction of the use of bees is ascribed to him (hence he is called Mellisoeus), and gained for him divine honors. ARISTARCHUS ( ar-is-tar'kus ) , a Greek grammarian, who criticized Hom- er's poems with the greatest severity, and established a new text; for which reason severe and just critics are often called Aristarchi. He was born in the island of Samothrace, and lived at Alex- andria, about 750 B. c. He died at Cy- prus, aged 72. ARISTIDES (a-ris-ti'dez) , a states- man of ancient Greece, for his strict in- tegrity surnamed "The Just." He was one of the 10 generals of the Athenians when they fought with the Persians at Marathon B. c. 490. Next year he was eponymous archon, and enjoyed such popularity that he excited the jealousy of Themistocles, who procured his ban- ishment about 483. When Xerxes in- vaded Greece with a large army, the Athenians hastened to recall him, and Themistocles now admitted him to his confidence and councils. In the battle of Plataea (479) he commanded the Athenians, and had a great share in gaining the victory. He died at an ad- vanced age about B. C. 468, so poor that he was buried at the public expense. ARISTIPPUS (ar-is-tip'us), a disciple of Socrates, and founder of a philosoph- ical school among the Greeks, which was called the Cyrenaic, from his native city Cyrene, in Africa; flourished in 380 B. C. His moral philosophy differed widely from that of Socrates, and was a science of refined voluptuousness. His funda- mental principles were — that all human sensations may be reduced to two, pleas- ure and pain. Pleasure is a gentle, and pain a violent emotion. All living beings seek the former, and avoid the latter. Happiness is nothing but a continued pleasure, composed of separate gratifica- tions; and as it is the object of all hu- man exertions, we should abstain from no kind of pleasure. Still we should al- ways be governed by taste and reason in our enjoyments. His doctrines were* taught only by his daughter Arete, and by his grandson Aristippus the younger, by whom they were systematized. Other Cyrenaics compounded them into a par- ticular doctrine of pleasure, and are hence called Hedonici. The time of his death is unknown. His writings are lost. ARISTOBULUS (ar-is-to-bu'lus), name of several royal personages of Judea: Aristobulus I., son of John Hyrcanus, high priest of the Jews; from 105-104 B. c. King of Judea. He is supposed to have been the first of the Hasmoneans to take the title of king. In the single year of his reign he conquered portions of Iturea and Trachonitis, and compelled the people to accept Judaism. Aristo- bulus II., son of Alexander Jannsenus, was named as high priest by his mother. Queen Regent Alexandra, while to Hyr- canus II., his elder brother, the throne was given. In a contest for the throne, he was defeated by Pompey in 63 b. C, and carried captive to Rome. He died about 30 B. c. Aristobulus III. was the grandson of Hyrcanus II.; his sister, Mariamne, was the wife of Herod I., who appointed him high priest, but, fear- ing his popularity, had him assassinated about 30 B. c. Aristobulus III. was the last male of the Hasmonean family. AmSTOCRACY, a form of govern- ment by which the wealthy and noble, or any small privileged class, rules over the rest of the citizens; now mostly ap- plied to the nobility or chief persons in a state. ARISTOGEITON (-gl'ton), a citizen of Athens, whose name is rendered famous by a conspiracy (514 B. C.) formed in conjunction with his friend Harmodius against the tyrants Hippias and Hipparchus, the sons of Pisistratus. Both Aristogeiton and Harmodius lost their lives through their attempts to free the country and were reckoned martyrs of liberty. ARISTOLOCHIA (-lo'ke-a), a genus of plants, the typical one of the order aristolochiacess, or birthworts. They have curiously inflated irregular flowers, in some cases of large size. One species, the A. clematis, or common birthwort, a plant with pale yellow tubular flowers, swollen at the base, is common among old ruins. Most of the aristolochias are emmenagogue, especially the European species, A. rotunda, longa, and clematitis, and the Indian A. Indica; the last-named species is also antarthritic. A. hracteata is anthelmintic; when bruised and mixed with castor-oil, it is used in cases of ob-