Page:A new and general biographical dictionary; containing an historical and critical account of the lives and writings of the most eminent persons in every nation v1.djvu/139

 S O P. birds proceeded, as Mr. Bayle observes, from i r. He did not make a dun of" them becaufc they > I:, this motive being only by accident, but bccauK: of ; x- traoruinary price. If there had been any ,.u c. ul i not fpeak, and y^t more fcarcc and ilc:ir thin thdr, he v, o il<l have procured fuch for his table. /Efop'c (on u.i, no }<, luxurious than his father, for he diflblved carls for i to fwallovv. Some (peak ot this <is a common pr. .! v a i. Mi*. his, buc others mention his falling into this excel , unly on a 1 particular day, when he was treating his friends. Horace" fpeaks only of one pear] of great value, which he diilolvcd in vinegar, and drank. Films JECopi detra&am aure Metellac (Scilicet ut decies folidum exforbcrtt) aceto Diluit infignem baccam : qui fanicir, ac fi Illud idem in rapidum flumen jaceretve cloacam ? Hor. Sat. III. lib. ii. ver. 232. An a&ot's fon diflblv'd a wealthy pearl {The precious ear-ring of his fav'nte girl) In vinegar, and thus luxurious quart 'd A thouiand folid talents at a draught. Had he net equally his wil'dom ilicwn, Into the link or liver were it thrown ? Franci?. /Efop, nptwithftanding his expenses, is f.inl to have dicd^ worth above a hundred and fixty thoufand pounds. When V^p^Q/ he was upon the ftage, he entered into his part to fuch a d - gree, as fometimes to be feized with a perfect extafy. Piu- tarch mentions it as reported of him, that whilft he was rc- prefenting Atreus deliberating how h^ fliould revenge, himfelf on Thyeites, he wasfo tranfported beyond himfelf in the heat of action, that with his truncheon he fmote one of the fcr- p |; ati!r vants eroding the (tage, and laid him dcud on the place. AETION, a celebrated painter, who has left us an ex- cellent pidlure of Roxana and Alexander, which he exhibited at the Olympic Games: it reprefents a magnificent charr.tvr, where Roxana is fitting on a bed of a m Al Kk-iuiid appear- ance, which is rendered dill more brilliant by her bcau^ She looks downwards, in a kind of confufion, being (t;uck vith_ the prcfenre of Alexander ftanding I KT. n.prnjbsr of liulc Cupids flutter about, fume holding up t; curtain, as if tofhew Jioxma to the prince, wi'ilii oihi-rs are "bufisd in undreffing the lady; fome pull Alexander by t H