Page:Dictionary of Greek and Roman Biography and Mythology (1870) - Volume 1.djvu/34

16 The history of Michael Palaeologus by Pachymeres may be considered as a continuation of the work of Acropolita. Besides this work, Acropolita wrote several orations, which he delivered in his capacity as great logotheta, and as director of the negotiations with the pope; but these orations have not been published. Fabricius (vol. vii. p. 471) speaks of a MS. which has the title Περὶ τῶν ἀπὸ κτίσεως κόσμον ἐτῶν καὶ περὶ τῶν βασιλευσάντων μέχρι ἁλώσεως Κωνσταντινουπόλεως. Georgius, or Gregorius Cyprius, who has written a short encomium of Acropolita, calls him the Plato and the Aristotle of his time. This "encomium" is printed with a Latin translation at the head of the edition of Acropolita by Th. Douza : it contains useful information concerning Acropolita, although it is full of adulation. Further information is contained in Acropolita's history, especially in the latter part of it, and in Pachymeres, 4.28, 6.26, 34, seq.

ACROREITES（Ἀκρωρείτης), a surname of Dionysus, under which he was worshipped at Sicyon, and which is synonymous with Eriphius, under which name he was worshipped at Metapontum in southern Italy. (Steph. Byz. s. v. Ἀκρωρεία.)

ACRO'TATUS (Ἀκρότατος). 1. The son of Cleomenes II. king of Sparta, incurred the displeasure of a large party at Sparta by opposing the decree, which was to release from infamy all who had fled from the battle, in which Antipater defeated Agis, B. C. 331. He was thus glad to accept the offer of the Agrigentines, when they sent to Sparta for assistance in B. C. 314 against Agathocles of Syracuse. He first sailed to Italy, and obtained assistance from Tarentum; but on his arrival at Agrigentum he acted with such cruelty and tyranny that the inhabitants rose against him, and compelled him to leave the city. He returned to Sparta, and died before the death of his father, which was in B. C. 309. He left a son, Areus, who succeeded Cleomenes. (Diod. 15.70, 71; Paus. 1.13.3, 3.6.1, 2; Plut. Agis 3.)

2. The grandson of the preceding, and the son of Areus I. king of Sparta. He had unlawful intercourse with Chelidonis, the young wife of Cleonymus, who was the uncle of his father Areus; and it was this, together with the disappointment of not obtaining the throne, which led Cleonymus to invite Pyrrhus to Sparta, B. C. 272. Areus was then absent in Crete, and the safety of Sparta was mainly owing to the valour of Acrotatts. He succeeded his father in B. C. 265, but was killed in the same year in battle against Aristodemus, the tyrant of Megalopolis. Pausanias, in speaking of his death, calls him the son of Cleonymus. but he has mistaken him for his grandfather, spoken of above. (Plut. Pyrrh. 26-28; Agis, 3; Paus. 3.6.3, 8.27.8, 30.3.) Areus and Acrotatus are accused by Phylarchus (apud Athen. iv. p. 142b.) of having corrupted the simplicity of Spartan manners.

ACTAEA (Ἀκταία), a daughter of Nereus and Doris. (Hom. Il. 18.41; Apollod. 1.2.7; Hygin. Fab. p. 7, ed. Staveren.)

ACTAEON (Ἀκταίων). 1. Son of Aristaeus and Autonoe, a daughter of Cadmus. He was trained in the art of hunting by the centaur Cheiron, and was afterwards torn to pieces by his own 50 hounds on mount Cithaeron. The names of these hounds are given by Ovid (Ov. Met. 3.206, &c.) and Hyginus. (Fab. 181; comp. Stat. Theb. 2.203.) The cause of this misfortune is differently stated: according to some accounts it was because he had seen Artemis while she was bathing in the vale of Gargaphia, on the discovery of which the goddess changed him into a stag, in which form he was torn to pieces by his own dogs. (Ov. Met. 3.155, &c.; Hyg. Fab. 181; Callim. h. in Pallad. 110.) Others relate that he provoked the anger of the goddess by his boasting that he excelled her in hunting, or by his using for a feast the game which was destined as a sacrifice to her. (Eur. Ba. 320; Diod. 4.81.) A third account stated that he was killed by his dogs at the command of Zeus, because he sued for the hand of Semele. (Acusilaus, apud Apollod. 3.4.4.) Pausanias (9.2.3) saw near Orchomenos the rock on which Actaeon used to rest when he was fatigued by hunting, and from which he had seen Artemis in the bath; but he is of opinion that the whole story arose from the circumstance that Actaeon was destroyed by his dogs in a natural fit of madness. Palaephatus (s. v. Actaeon) gives an absurd and trivial explanation of it. According to the Orchomenian tradition the rock of Actaeon was haunted by his spectre, and the oracle of Delphi commanded the Orchomenians to bury the remains of the hero, which they might happen to find, and fix an iron image of him upon the rock. This image still existed in the time of Pausanias (9.38.4), and the Orchomenians offered annual sacrifices to Actaeon in that place. The manner in which Actaeon and his mother were painted by Polygnotus in the Lesche of Delphi, is described by Pausanias. (10.30.2; comp. Muller, Orchom. p. 348, &c.)

2. A son of Melissus, and grandson of Abron, who had fled from Argos to Corinth for fear of the tyrant Pheidon. Archias, a Corinthian, enamoured with the beauty of Actaeon, endeavoured to carry him off; but in the struggle which ensued between Melissus and Archias, Actaeon was killed. Melissus brought his complaints forward at the Isthmian games, and praying to the gods for revenge, he threw himself from a rock. Hereupon Corinth was visited by a plague and drought, and the oracle ordered the Corinthians to propitiate Poseidon, and avenge the death of Actaeon. Upon this hint Archias emigrated to Sicily, where he founded the town of Syracuse. (Plut. Amat. Narr. p. 772; comp. Paus. 5.7.2; Thuc. 6.3; Strab. viii. p.380.)

ACTAEUS (Ἀκταῖος). A son of Erisichthon, and according to Pausanias (1.2.5), the earliest king of Attica. He had three daughters, Agraulos, Herse, and Pandrosus, and was succeeded by Cecrops, who married Agraulos. According to Apollodorus (3.14. 1.) on the other hand, Cecrops was the first king of Attica.

ACTE, the concubine of Nero, was a freedwoman, and originally a slave purchased from Asia Minor. Nero loved her far more than his wife Octavia, and at one time thought of marrying her; whence he pretended that she was descended from king Attalus. She survived Nero. (Tac. Ann. 13.12, 46, 14.2; Suet. Nero 28, 50; D. C. 61.7.)

ACTIACUS, a surname of Apollo, derived from Actium, one of the principal places of his worship. (Ov. Met. 13.715; Strab. x. p.451; compare Burmann, ad Propert. p. 434.)

ACTI'SANES (Ἀκτισάνης), a king of Ethiopia,