Page:Imperial Dictionary of Universal Biography Volume 1.pdf/237

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ARI
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guage, and to his dramatic pieces, he composed sonnets, canzones, &c., and several Latin poems which, though of considerable merit, are little known. The editions of the Orlando are numerous; the latest by Signor Panizzi, in 1834, is perhaps the best. It has been translated into English by many hands, the last being that of Mr. Rose.—(Vita di Ar. Pizna—Garofalo Tiraboschio.)—J. F. W.

ARIOSTO, Orazio, a son of Gabriello Ariosto, was born at Ferrara in 1555. Like his uncle and father, he was possessed of poetic genius. He was a secular priest, and canon of the cathedral of Ferrara; and the intimate friend of Angelo Grillo, a poet of some celebrity. He was also a friend of Tasso, for whom he wrote the arguments prefixed to the several cantos of the "Jerusalem Delivered." On the dispute which arose between the admirers of Lodovico Ariosto and Tasso, Orazio wrote a work entitled a "Defence of the Orlando Furioso," but he exhibited in it nevertheless the greatest admiration for Tasso. He had undertaken a great poem, called "Alfio," of which he had composed sixteen cantos at the time of his death, which occurred 19th April, 1593, in his thirty-eighth year. He is said also to have written a comedy entitled "La Striga," but it was never printed.—(Mazzuchelli, Biog. Universelle.)—J. F. W.

ARIOVISTUS or EHRENVEST, a chief of the Suevi or Swabians, who entered Gaul in the first century b.c., at the invitation of the Sequani and Averni. He soon afterwards defeated the Gauls, who had formed a league against him, and became so formidable as to alarm the Romans. He was at last defeated by Julius Cæsar, and compelled to evacuate Gaul.

ARIPHRON, a Greek poet, who lived about b.c. 550, the author of a beautiful ode to Hygiea.

ARISI, Francesco, a lawyer of Cremona, was born in 1657, and died in 1743, leaving a great number of works, legal, historical, and poetical.

ARISTÆNETUS, a Greek writer of the fourth century, who was a native of Nicæa in Bithynia, and a friend of the sophist Libanius. He perished in an earthquake at Nicomedia, a.d. 358. He left two books of elegant love epistles, the best edition of which is that of Boissonade, Paris, 1822.

ARISTÆNUS of Megalopolis, was a Greek commander, who took a prominent part in the affairs of Achaia, in the time of Philopœmen, b.c. 198.

ARISTÆON, a Greek author who is known to have written a treatise on Harmony, of which a fragment only has been preserved by Stobæus.

ARISTÆUS, a sculptor of the second century before the Christian era, who executed two marble statues of the centaurs, f ound at Tivoli in 1746.

ARISTÆUS. Two ancient geometers were thus called. Of the first we know only the name; the second, on the other hand, stands out very boldly, and still enjoys a renown. According to Pappus, Aristæus contributed very greatly to the advancement of the higher Greek geometry. He wrote a treatise on the Conics in five books, comprehending nearly all that Apollonius subsequently included in his first four books: and, in another work, he discussed, also in five books, the difficult subject of solid Loci. Pappus places this book immediately after the Conics of Apollonius, in the course of study he recommends. Euclid seems to have cherished for Aristæus a special regard; nor are facts wanting which indicate that he had at one time been his pupil. The works of Aristæus were attempted to be restored by Viviani.—J. P. N.

ARISTAGORAS, a native of Miletus, son of Molpagoras, having been temporarily intrusted with the government of his native city, instigated the Persian satraps of Asia Minor to attempt the conquest of Naxos and the Cyclades. His advice was taken, but finding himself overlooked, he incited the Ionians to revolt, and obtained assistance from Athens. He was finally defeated, and died in Thrace about 498 b.c.—J. W. S.

ARISTAGORAS, a Greek, who lived about 350 b.c., and wrote on the geography of Egypt.

ARISTANDROS of Paros, a Greek brass-caster, flourishing about 410 b.c.

ARISTANDROS, a soothsayer of Lycia, who attended Alexander in his Persian expedition. He had previously been in the service of Philip, and it was he who interpreted his famous dream before Olympia gave birth to Alexander. He appears to have written a work on omens and portents; some books on agriculture have also been ascribed to him, but it is far more likely that these were written by another Aristandros, whom Varro surnames "The Athenian."—J. B.

ARISTARCHUS, an Athenian, who flourished about the latter part of the Peloponnesian war, and was one of the most violent of the oligarchic party.

ARISTARCHUS, a Lacedaimonian of whom we read in the Anabasis. He succeeded Oleander as harmostes of Byzantium in 400 b.c.

ARISTARCHUS of Tegea, a writer of tragedy, who was cotemporary with Euripides. The whole of his seventy plays have perished, but we learn from Suidas that he was the first to introduce the cothurnus on the stage.

ARISTARCHUS of Samos; a Greek astronomer with unusual claims to notice; lived about 280-264 b.c. Concerning the incidents of his life nothing of importance is known; but what we have learnt of his works establishes his title to lasting honour. He seems to have been an exact geometer, and deeply impressed with the idea that the study of the physical universe ought not to be mixed up with metaphysical speculation. The only work bearing his name that has reached us, is the one in which he determines the relative distances of the sun and moon from the earth. His method is geometrically correct, but he could not establish the requisite data with sufficient accuracy—his results were in error therefore. He had discerned also the cause of the phases of the moon. But undoubtedly his greatest achievement is this: first of all he discovered the true character of the system of the world, and alone really anticipated Copernicus. This memorable fact is placed beyond reach of question by Archimedes in his Arenarius. As the passage is a classical one in its relation to philosophical history, we think it right to reproduce the precise words of the Syracusan—ταῦτα γὰρ ἐν ταῖς γραφομέναις παρά τῶν αστρόλογων διακρονσας. Ἀρίσταρχος ὁ Σάμιος ὑποθεσιῶν ἐξεδωκεν γραψας, . . . . ὑποτίθεται γὰρ τὰ μὲν ἀπλανῆ τῶν ἄσρων, και τὸν ἅλιον μένειν ἀκίνητον, τὰν δὲ γᾶν περιφέρεσθαι περὶ τὸν ἅλιον κατὰ κυκλου περιφέρειαν, ὅς ἐσιν ἐν μέςῳ τῷ δρόμω κείμενος. Archimedes quotes from a work by Aristarchus in opposition to astrology or astrologers; but though the work is lost, there cannot be a doubt as to the meaning or authority of the latter part of the foregoing paragraph. "He (Aristarchus) lays it down that the fixed stars and the sun are motionless; but that the earth is carried in a circular orbit around the sun, the sun being in the centre of that circle." Had Copernicus been acquainted with the Arenarius of Archimedes, which he was not, (the "Editio Princeps" not appearing until after his death), he could have claimed no originality in reference to the fundamental idea that led to the great reformation of astronomy; and it ought to be understood, that the honour of this clear geometrical anticipation, belongs to Aristarchus alone; as neither in any ancient philosophy, nor in the glosses of subsequent commentators, is there one shadow of evidence that the simple truth had ever before been suspected. Notions, indeed, did float among the ancient systems (see Plutarch's Numa and other such authorities), that Fire is the centre of the universe; but this fire was some mythological person or substance, and had nothing to do with the sun. Take in evidence the following notices of the scheme of Philolaus. Plutarch writes as follows: "The general opinion is that the earth is at rest. Philolaus, the Pythagorean, on the contrary, assumed that it, as well as the sun and moon, revolve in an oblique circle around Fire." So also Stobæus: "Philolaus admitted a double fire—one in the centre of the universe, which he named 'Host of Heaven,' 'Dwelling of Jupiter,' 'Mother of the Gods,' 'Altar,' 'Unity,' and 'Sum of all Nature;' and a second, surrounding the whole on the outside. 'The one in the midst,' he says, 'is, from its nature, the most excellent. Around it, in circular dance, move ten godlike bodies,—the starry sphere, and in transverse orbits the five planets, the sun, the moon, the earth, and the antipodal earth. After and within all follows Fire, which, like a blazing star, is placed in the centre.'"—The scheme of Philolaus had reference to the supposed perfection of the Pythagorean Δεκα, or Ten, and to the fancied purity and nobility of the element Fire. It partook, therefore, of the folly of all early Greek physics; while the conjecture of Aristarchus rested on the power it contained to explain actual phenomena.—J. P. N.

ARISTARCHUS, the greatest critic of antiquity, was born in Samothrace, and flourished in the reign of Ptolemy Philadelphus. He was a pupil of Aristophanes of Byzantium, a grammarian, to whom is due the credit of inventing the Greek accentual marks. He afterwards founded a grammatical or critical school, first at Alexandria, and then at Rome. He died in Cyprus, at an ad-