to yield, and for a fifth time went forth into exile. This time, however, his banishment was of short duration. For some unexplained reason Valens himself recalled him, and with this his persecution ended. He continued from this time forward in the unmolested discharge of his duties till the year 373, when he expired on the second of May, after holding the primacy for forty-six years.
With little in his outward appearance to command admiration, Athanasius was endowed with qualities of mind and spirit which justly entitled him to be called Great. To much acuteness he added great force and depth of intellect; his temper was earnest, constant, and fearless; and his life, though spent amidst incessant broils, persecutions, and accusations, appears to have been without a stain. His zeal for truth was such as to overcome all selfish considerations, and make him willing to endure the heaviest toil, to encounter constant danger, to submit to the severest privations, and to brave the fury of imperial indignation, rather than yield one jot or tittle of what he believed to be God's truth. His works, which amply attest his ability as a writer, furnish also the best representation of the whole man in his opinions, his labours, his sufferings, and his general character. As they are amongst the earliest, so they are amongst the most perfect specimens of purely theological polemics. The author takes his stand on the words of scripture, and, regardless of all philosophic or rationalistic considerations, contends with unfaltering boldness and uncompromising severity for what he conceives to be the doctrine therein taught. His name is identified chiefly with the defence of the doctrine of the Trinity, including that of the supreme divinity of Jesus Christ and of the Holy Spirit; these doctrines he maintained against the Arians, but his arguments have been found of equal avail in more recent times against the Socinians and Humanitarians: indeed, it is remarkable how little the learning, the reflection, and the disputations of subsequent ages have been able to add to what the writings of Athanasius contain on this subject. The best edition of his works is that published at Padua in 1777, in four vols. folio; and next to this stands the edition of Montfaucon (the Benedictine), in three vols. folio, Paris, 1698. An excellent edition of his principal dogmatic works has recently appeared in one vol. royal octavo at Leipsic, edited by J. C. Thilo. Several of his writings have been translated into English, viz., his "Four Orations against the Arians," by Samuel Parker, Oxford, 1713; his "Treatise of the Incarnation of the Word;" and his "Life of Anthony the Monk," by William Whiston, in his "Collection of Ancient Monuments relating to the Trinity and Incarnation," London, 1713; his "Select Treatises against the Arians," and his "Historical Tracts," in "The Library of the Fathers," Oxford, 1842-3. A curious and valuable addition has recently been made to the works of Athanasius by the discovery, in the library of the monastery of St. Mary Deipara in the Lybian desert, of MSS. containing a Syriac version of fifteen of his festal letters: these have been secured for the British Museum, have been edited by the most eminent Syriac scholar in Britain, the Rev. W. Cureton (London, 1848), and have been translated by another eminent Syriac scholar, the Rev. Dr. Burgess, and published as part of "The Library of the Fathers." The possession of these has enabled us to correct some dates hitherto erroneously given in lives of Athanasius. It remains only to add, that, by the common consent of scholars, the creed which bears the name of Athanasius is not his production; its real author is unknown, and it has by some been thought to have been produced in Spain in the seventh or eight century. (See Gieseler's Church History, vol. ii., page 278.) The life of Athanasius has been written by Gregory of Nazianzen (Orat. 21); by Montfaucon, in the edition of his works; and most fully by Möhler (Athanasius der Grosse, &c., 2 vols., Mainz, 1827); see also Cave's Historia Litteraria, vol. i., page 141; the Memoires of Tillemont, vol. viii.; the Church Histories of Neander, Milman, and Waddington: Ritter's Geschichte der Christ. Philos., vol. ii., p. 30; and Dorner's Entwickelungsgesch d. Lehre von d. Person Christi.—W. L. A.
ATHANASIUS, a bishop of Ancyra in the fourth century.
ATHANASIUS, a priest of Alexandria in the latter part of the fifth century, persecuted by Bishop Dioscurus.
ATHANASIUS, a Greek lawyer of the sixth century.
ATHANASIUS, a bishop of Naples, who usurped the government of the city from his brother Sergius, the reigning duke, in 878, and died in 900, having been excommunicated for entering into a league with the Saracens.
ATHANASIUS, a patriarch of Constantinople in the 13th century, who entered upon his office in 1289, abdicated in 1293, resumed the patriarchate in 1304, and resigned again in 1310.
ATHANASIUS, Petrus, a metaphysician and theologian of Cyprus, who died at Paris in 1638, leaving commentaries on the works of Aristotle and Jamblichus.
ATHEAS, a king of Scythia, contemporary of Philip of Macedon; bold, warlike, and politic; promised to proclaim Philip his successor, if that monarch would furnish him with supplies against his enemies. These supplies having arrived too late to be of use, Atheas sent them back, and refused to pay for them, declaring "that courage was the only wealth of the Scythians." When Philip desired to enter Scythia, Atheas said that he might come, but not with an army. On receiving this rebuff, the Macedonians waged war against the Scythians, but with little success; for while the latter avoided a pitched battle, they harassed their opponents with forays.—T. J.
ATHELSTAN, ADELSTAN, ÆTHELSTAN, or EALSTAN, an Anglo-Saxon king, the son and successor of Edward the Elder, and grandson of Alfred the Great. His mother Egwina was of unknown origin. Athelstan was born in 895, and on the death of Edward in 925, was chosen king by the people of Mercia and Wessex. Northumbria, Scotland, the British states of Cumberland, Wales, and Cornwall, acknowledged him as superior lord, and his alliance was courted by all the princes of Western Europe. Louis IV. of France was protected by him during the usurpation of Raoul, and recovered the throne by his aid. The Emperor Otho the Great married one of his sisters, Elgifa. In 937, Constantine of Scotland, with Anlaf, an exiled Northumbrian prince, and a number of petty chiefs, formed a league against him, but were totally defeated at Brunesburh or Brunanburh. Athelstan died at Gloucester a.d. 941, in the sixteenth year of his reign.—J. W. S.
ATHENÆUS of Naucratis in Egypt, the author of a work called "Deipnosophistæ." This name has been variously translated as "the feast of the learned," "men learned in the mysteries of the kitchen," or "contrivers of a feast." Athenæus describes to his friend Timocrates a banquet given by Laurentius, a distinguished Roman, to those of his friends most remarkable for their intelligence and learning. These discuss all kinds of subjects in a rambling way, sometimes giving learned dissertations on fishes or on herbs, sometimes telling anecdotes of poets and historians, then enlarging on the various kinds of musical instruments, or on the thousand forms of jests; in fact, taking up every conceivable subject. Though the book is thus a most incoherent medley, it is extremely valuable. For Athenæus being a very great reader, quotes very many passages from poets whose works are now lost; and his book is full of archæological information, and is a storehouse of facts relating to the literary history of Greece. He flourished most probably in the beginning of the third century of the Christian era.—J. D.
ATHENÆUS, a Greek author on the military art, who lived about 200 b.c.
ATHENÆUS, a Greek peripatetic philosopher of Seleucia, who lived about 50 b.c., and, coming to Rome, was implicated in the conspiracy of Muræna against the Emperor Augustus.
ATHENÆUS, a Greek physician of Tarsus or Attalia (it is uncertain which), who lived in the first century, practised medicine with success at Rome, and founded the medical sect of the Pneumatists. He maintained that the ovaries in female animals were useless, and existed only for symmetry.
ATHENÆUS of Cyzicus, a mathematician, quoted by Proclus.
ATHENÆUS of Byzantium, a military engineer employed by the Emperor Galienus.
ATHENAGORAS, one of the Greek fathers, is the author of two works, an apology for Christians, and a treatise on the resurrection of the dead. There is no reliable information with regard to his history, since he is not mentioned by any of the fathers or church historians. A writer of the time of Theodosius the Less, asserts that at first he was at the head of an Alexandrian school; that he confessed the Christian faith, while yet wearing the philosopher's robe; that he had intended to write against Christianity, but on reading the scriptures he had been subdued by the Holy Spirit, and from a persecutor became a disciple of Christ; and that he flourished in the reign of Hadrian, to whom he addressed his apology. Most of these assertions have been rejected as false by modern critics, and scholars are
