Asclepiades, Pharmacion, lived about the end of the first century. He wrote on pharmacy in ten books, of which the first five treated of external remedies, and the last of internal. He is frequently quoted by Galen.
Asclepiades of Samos, a Greek epigrammatic poet, lived at Alexandria about 280 b.c. He is mentioned by Theocritus and Moschus, the former of whom is said to have been his pupil.
Asclepiades of Adramyttium, another Greek epigrammatic poet.
Asclepiades, a lyric poet, who gave his name to the Asclepiadic verse.
Asclepiades of Tragilos, a town in Thrace, wrote a treatise called "Τραγωδουμενα."
Asclepiades, ninth bishop of Antioch, distinguished as a commentator, lived about the year 211.
Asclepiades, bishop of Tralles about the year 484.—J. S., G.
ASCLEPIADIUS, a Latin poet, some of whose poems are preserved in MS. in the National Library at Paris.
ASCLEPIGENIA, daughter of the Neoplatonist, Plutarch of Athens. She taught the doctrines of the school to Proclus, during his residence at Athens under the care of her father.
ASCLEPIODORUS, one of the generals of Alexander the Great in 330 b.c.
ASCLEPIODORUS, a celebrated Greek painter, contemporary with Apelles, was a native of Athens.
ASCLEPIODOTUS, a Greek philosopher and naturalist of the Neoplatonic school, who lived about a.d. 450. He studied plants and animals, performed some surprising cures by means of white hellebore, drew up a classification of colours, and appears to have formed a museum of all the species of timber then known. His commentary upon the Timæus of Plato has perished.
ASCLEPIODOTUS, a Greek epigrammatic poet, appears to have lived about the end of the first century.
ASCLEPIUS, a Greek physician, placed by some in the second century b.c., and by others in the sixth century a.d. He commented upon Hippocrates, and records the first-known case of superfœtation.
ASCLEPIUS, a Greek philosopher, whose period is unknown, and to whom are attributed a dialogue with Hermes, and a work entitled "Definitions" (Ὁροι).
ASCLEPIUS of Tralles, a Greek philosopher of the fifth century, who studied under Ammonius, and whose unpublished commentary on the metaphysics of Aristotle is still extant.
ASCOLI, Cecco d'. See Cecco d' Ascoli.
ASCOLI, David di, a Jewish author of the sixteenth century, who was subjected to a long imprisonment for having written an "Apologia Hebræorum," in which he protested bravely, and with much learning, against the bull of Pope Paul IV., commanding all Jews to wear as a badge of their profession a yellow hat.
ASCONDO, Francisco, a Spanish architect, was born at Jurreta in Biscay in 1705; erected numerous monasteries in Castile, and died in 1781.
ASCONIUS PEDIANUS, Quintus, a Roman critic and grammarian, born at Padua, lived about a.d. 50. His commentaries on the orations of Cicero have been several times published.
ASDRUBALI, Francesco, an Italian physician, was born in the last century, and died in 1832 at Rome, where he had obtained the highest standing as an accoucheur.
ASEDY. See Asadi.
ASELLI, ASELLIO, or ASELLIUS, Gaspar, a celebrated Italian physician and surgeon, born at Cremona about 1581, and died in 1626. He served some time as a military surgeon, and was afterwards appointed professor of anatomy and surgery at Padua. He was the discoverer of the lacteal vessels, to which he assigned the function of conveying the chyle. His discovery, though now universally regarded by physiologists as genuine and important, was not generally received as true until fifteen or twenty years after it was made.—G. M.
ASELLIO, Publius Sempronius, a Roman historian and military tribune under Scipio Africanus, lived about the year 133 b.c. He wrote an historical account of public events which occurred between the Punic war and the time of the Gracchi.
ASELLUS, Claudius, a Roman soldier mentioned by Appian as having been at the siege of Capua, 202 b.c.
ASELLUS, Tiberius Claudius, a Roman knight, who lived about the year 142 b.c. He was degraded from his rank by Scipio Africanus, in the exercise of his office as censor, and reduced to the class of ærarii.
ASENATH, daughter of Poti-pherah, priest and governor of the city of On, near or the same as Heliopolis. She married Joseph, the illustrious son of the patriarch Jacob.
ASENSIO Y MEJORADA, Don Francisco, a Spanish engraver, celebrated for the extreme delicacy of his workmanship, was born, at what date is uncertain, at Fuente-la-Encina, and died at Madrid in 1794.—Another person of the same name was famous as a portrait painter at Saragossa, towards the end of the seventeenth century.
ASFANDIYAR or ASFUNDIYAR or ASFENDIAR, a renowned Persian hero, who lived between the fifth and sixth century b.c. He was the son of Gushtasp (Darius Hystaspes), and was the first to introduce the religion of Zoroaster into Persia. His learning and military skill contributed greatly to the victories obtained by his father over the neighbouring nations. He was killed in a contest with Rustam, who had refused to adopt the creed of Zoroaster.—(Malcolm, Hist. of Persia.)—G. M.
ASFELD, Bidal. There were four brothers of this name, sons of Bidal, Baron de Willenbruch and de Harsfoldt, minister of Queen Christina of Sweden at the court of Louis XIV.
Asfeld, Alexis Bidal, Baron d', born about the year 1648, and killed at Aix-la-Chapelle in the end of October, 1689, where he distinguished himself by his bravery and military skill, under the duke of Luxemburg and the marshal de Crequy.
Asfeld, Benoit Bidal, Baron d', born in 1658; died 29th April, 1715. He took part in many campaigns, and, after a brilliant career, died at last of his wounds.
Asfeld, Jacques-Vincent Bidal d', Abbé de la Vieuville, who wrote some treatises on religious topics, and was esteemed as a man of learning and piety, was born in 1664, and died at Paris in 1745.
Asfeld, Claude François, Marquis d', marshal of France, was born 2nd July, 1667, and died 7th March, 1743. As lieutenant of a regiment of dragoons, he took part, under his eldest brother, in the bombardment of Luxemburg. In 1689 he served in the army of Germany, commanded by the marshal d' Humieres. He took a prominent part in various sieges during the campaigns in the Netherlands. He afterwards distinguished himself as a commander in a great variety of battles, and rose to the highest military honours. He was particularly famous for his skill in the taking of fortresses. In a single campaign, in 1704, he compelled the surrender of Salvaterra, Segura, Idanha, Nova, Castelbranco, Montalvan, and other fortified places.—G. M.
ASGILL, Sir Charles, an English general, was born about the middle of the eighteenth century, and died in 1823. He entered the British army as an ensign in 1778, and afterwards went to America, where he joined the army under the command of the Marquis Cornwallis.
ASGILL, John, a writer on politics and theology, at the close of the seventeenth and beginning of the eighteenth century. The date of his birth is uncertain. He was sent early to Lincoln's Inn. He published, in 1698, two pamphlets which attracted very considerable attention—one entitled "Several assertions proved, in order to create another species of money than silver and gold;" the other, "An Essay on a Registry for Titles of Land." The tracts are very remarkable, when the period at which they were written is considered. In the first tract, he contends for the proposition so often advocated in our days, of having all taxes levied on land only. "What we call commodities is nothing but land severed from the soil. . . . Man deals in nothing but in earth. The merchants are the factors of the world, to exchange one part of the earth for another. . . . All must be paid for to the owner of the soil, as the ultimate receiver." The essay on the registry of lands, in the same way, anticipates much that has been urged within our own time. Asgill's own affairs were neglected while he sought to regulate those of others. However, he worked hard at the bar. One of his clients was Dr. Barebone, a projector, who built the new square of Lincoln's Inn. Barebone and Asgill were both embarrassed in their circumstances. Barebone died, angry with the world, and, most of all, with his creditors. He made a will, and appointed Asgill executor, assigning as a motive for his choice, that Asgill would be sure to pay no one. The executor called a meeting of Barebone's creditors, read the will, told them the motive which led to the appointment, and said with becoming solemnity, "I will religiously fulfil the will of the deceased." In 1700, Asgill published a tract, the object of which was to prove that physical death was altogether owing
