pers for a church festival, when he was less harshly treated by the public. Attacked by consumption, a consequence of the extreme dissipation of his life, he was ordered to Puzzuoli by his physicians for the benefit of the genial air. There he wrote his celebrated "Stabat Mater," his cantata of "Orfeo," and his "Salve Regina," which were the latest emanations of his genius. The early death of this composer awakened the world to a sense of his worth, which had been cruelly unappreciated during his life. "L'Olimpiade" was reproduced at Rome, with great splendour, and received with acclamations by the same public that had recently condemned it; other of his operas were given with applause at different theatres in Italy, and "La Serva Padrona" in a French version, made his name popular in Paris. Retributive justice has trenched somewhat upon the domain of generosity, in ranking Pergolese among the very first of Italian musicians; but much of his church music is still performed and greatly admired.—G. A. M.
PERI, Jacopo, a celebrated musician, was born at Florence about 1570. He studied music under Christopher Malvezzi, and became famous as a singer, a performer on keyed instruments, and a composer. In 1601 he entered the service of the Duke de Ferrari in the quality of chapel-master, and his skill is supposed to have exercised considerable influence over the first formation of the Italian opera. His opera of "Dafne" was performed in the house of Signor Corsi, a distinguished Florentine dilettante. The applause which it received induced Rinuccini, the poet and the composer, to bring out in succession two other operas, "Euridice" and "Ariadne." "Euridice" was the first opera which was performed in public. It formed part of the entertainments given at Florence on the occasion of the marriage of Mary of Medicis to Henry IV. of France, in the year 1600; and the poem and music were published separately the same year. Dr. Burney found a copy of the music in the library of the Marchese Rinuccini (a descendant of the author of the poem) at Florence. He says that the music was printed in score and barred; that the recitative seemed to have been not only the model of subsequent composers of Italian operas, but of the French opera of Lulli; but though the word aria sometimes occurred, it was difficult to distinguish air from recitative. The orchestra, as at the performance of Cavaliere's oratorio, was placed behind the scenes, and consisted of the same instruments. The date of Peri's death is not recorded.—E. F. R.
PERIANDER, son of Cypselus and tyrant of Corinth, succeeded his father about 625 b.c. At first his sway was mild and beneficent, but it soon became arbitrary, oppressive, and tyrannical. Many obnoxious persons were expelled from the city; noble citizens were checked or banished; clubs and similar associations were suppressed; excessive accumulation of wealth on the part of individuals was prevented; and all practicable means taken to hinder rebellion on the part of the people and maintain his own power. He also entered into alliances with tyrants in other parts of Greece, and even with foreign potentates. He maintained a considerable navy, and is said to have projected a canal through the isthmus of Corinth for the advancement of commerce. The city, however, was very prosperous in his time, and its trade exceedingly lucrative; so that he had wealth enough to spend in public works, such as temples and ornamental buildings. Periander was a patron of the fine arts generally. He encouraged literature and philosophy. But though munificent and generous in some directions, his general conduct was selfish and tyrannical. Most of his attention seems to have been given to the strengthening of his power at home. His military skill was shown, as well as his vengeance, by the taking of Epidaurus, of which place his father-in-law, Procles, was tyrant. He also subdued Corcyra; and in revenge for the Corcyrean murder of his son Lycophron, sent three hundred youths of the island to the king of Lydia to be made eunuchs. Dreadful stories are related of Periander's private life, but suspicion attaches to some of them. He married Melissa, and is said to have killed her during pregnancy by a blow in anger. She bore him two sons, the younger of whom, Lycophron, became permanently alienated from him on account of his mother's murder. Remorse for his savage deed and grief for his son's estrangement preyed upon the tyrant's mind. He died of despondency at the age of eighty, having reigned about forty years, leaving an unenviable name in the annals of Greece.—S. D.
PERICLES, the most illustrious of Athenian statesmen, was born about the close of the sixth or the beginning of the fifth century b.c. He was descended from a noble family, and was the son of Xanthippus who defeated the Persians at Mycale, and of Agarise, niece of the celebrated Cleisthenes, who assisted in the expulsion of the Pisistratidæ. Pericles received an excellent education from a succession of accomplished instructors, among whom were Zeno the Eleatic, and the subtle and profound philosopher Anaxagoras—the Intelligence, as he was called. He acquired from the latter not only moral culture, but such a knowledge of physical science as raised him above many of the prevailing superstitions of his age. He began his public career while still very young—about the year 467 b.c., shortly after the overthrow of Themistocles and the death of Aristides. Notwithstanding his aristocratic connections he joined the democratic party, of which he soon became the recognized leader, and consequently the great opponent of Cimon, the chief of the aristocracy. Pericles, however, had nothing of the demagogue in his character, and scorned the low arts by which the leaders of the mob usually acquire and maintain their ascendancy. His manner was reserved and stately. He went little into society, and was sober and recluse in his habits. He made no attempt to cultivate popularity or to ingratiate himself with the people. Though a kind and benevolent man, he was not, like his rival, prodigal either of the public money or his own. He was sparing even of his eloquence, reserving himself for great occasions worthy of his transcendant genius. His foreign policy was cautious and moderate. It was he who brought to a close the long-continued war against the Persians by an honourable and advantageous treaty of peace, improperly attributed to Cimon; and, carefully discountenancing all distant enterprises and precarious acquisitions, he made it his great object to maintain unimpaired the Hellenic ascendancy of Athens. The ostracism of Cimon, 461 b.c., greatly increased the power of the democratic party; but after the unsuccessful battle of Tanagra, in which Pericles displayed the most reckless bravery, his generous sympathy with the unshaken patriotism of his rival, who had offered to fight as a common soldier in the ranks of his tribe, induced him to prepare and carry a decree permitting Cimon's immediate return. This noble policy was productive of the best effect on the prosperity of Athens. Her citizens, thus cordially united, soon wiped off the stain of their defeat. They gained a decisive victory over the aggregate Theban-Bœotian forces, made themselves masters of Thebes and the chief Bœotian towns, added Phocis and Locris to the list of their dependent allies, and extended their influence from the borders of the Corinthian territory to the strait of Thermopylæ. The reduction of Ægina followed these important acquisitions, and rendered Athens mistress of the sea on the Peloponnesian not less than on the Ægean coast. After the death of Cimon and the ostracism of Thucydides, his successor in the leadership of the oligarchy, 444 b.c., the power of Pericles became almost absolute, and he employed it with unwearied assiduity in carrying out his magnificent scheme of policy—to render Athens the imperial state of Greece. With this view he induced the other members of the Hellenic confederacy to pay a sum of money to the Athenians in lieu of military service, and thus not only accumulated a great treasure, but confirmed their warlike power and transformed their allies into mere tribute-payers. The common fund of the confederates, originally deposited at Delos, was transferred to the Acropolis at Athens. In pursuance of the same far-seeing policy, Pericles planted colonies in various places to extend the commerce and influence of the state, and pertinaciously maintained the right of Athens to arbitrate in all disputes among her allies. He constructed a third long wall to the Piræus, for the purpose of rendering secure the communication between the city and its harbour—a stupendous undertaking, which was deemed of vast importance both by friends and enemies. He strove also to render Athens not only an impregnable fortress, but the abode of refinement and splendour. He covered the Acropolis with magnificent buildings, and adorned them with the masterpieces of Grecian painting and sculpture. He threw open the theatres to the people, and sought to refine and elevate their characters by accustoming them to witness the best dramas of Æschylus, Sophocles, and Euripides. By these great works and vast and successful enterprises, he succeeded in raising Athens to the greatest height of power and glory which she ever attained. The changes which he made on the internal constitution of his native city were not less important. In conjunction with Ephialtes, he deprived the archons of all their judicial power except that of imposing a small fine, and the
