Page:Dictionary of Greek and Roman Biography and Mythology (1870) - Volume 1.djvu/494

Rh 476 BATTUS. is merely a dialectic form for Bassarus or Bassarcus, a surname of Bacchus. Naeke, lastly, conceives Battarus to be the name of a slave who was a skil- ful Hute-player, or perhaps a shepherd, and who had formerly lived with the author of the " Dirae" on his estate, and remained there after the poet had been driven from it. Each of these conflicting opinions is supported by something or other that occurs in the poem itself ; but it is impossible to elicit anything that would decide the question. (Wemsdorf, Poet. Lai. Min, iii. p. xlviii. &c.; Naeke, in the Rhein.Mus. ii. I, p. 113, «&c.) [L.S.] BATTUS (BoTTos), a shepherd of Neleus, who saw Hermes driving away the cattle he had stolen from Apollo. The god promised to reward him if he would not betray what he had seen. Battus promised on oath to keep the secret ; but as Hermes mistrusted him nevertheless, he assumed a different appearance, returned to Battus, and promised him a handsome present, if he would tell him who had stolen the cattle of Apollo. The shepherd was tempted, and related all he knew, whereupon Hermes touched him with his staff, and changed him into a stone. (Ovid, Met. ii. 688, &c.; Anton. Lib. 22.) [L. S.] BA'TTUS and the BATTI'ADAE (Bcittos, BttTTiaSai), kings of Cyrene during eight genera- tions. (Herod, iv. 163 ; comp. Thrige, Res Cyre- nensium^ § 42.) I. Battus I., the leader of the colony from Thera to Cyrene, was son of Polymnestus, a The- racan no])le, his mother, according to one account, being a Cretan princess. (Herod, iv. 150, 15.5.) By his father's side he was of the blood of the Minyae, and 1 7th in descent from Euphemus the Argonaut. (Herod, iv. 150; Pind. Ftfth. iv. 17, 311, 45.5, &c.; Apoll. Rhod. iv. 1750 ; Thrige, Res. Cyren. §§ 8, 11.) He is said to have been first called " Aristoteles" (Pind. Pyth. v. 116; Callim. Ilumn. in Apoll. 76) ; and we are left entirely to conjecture for the origin of the name dotus (iv. 155) tells us, that it was the Libyan word for " king," and believes that the oracle which commanded the colonization of Libya ap- plied it to him with reference to his future dignity. Others again have supposed Bottos to have been derived from Barrapi^u}, and to have been expres- sive of the alleged impediment in his speech. (Suid.and Hesvch. s. v. BaTrapi^eiu ; comp. Thrige, § 12 ; Strab. xiv. p. 662); while Thrige {I. c.) con- siders the name to be of kindred origin with Brjo-crot, the appellation of the oracular priests of Dionysus among the Satrae. (Herod, vii. 111.) No less doubt is there as to the cause which led to the colonization of Cyrene. According to the ac- count of the Cyrenaeans, Battus, having gone to consult the Delphic oracle about the removal of the physical defect above-mentioned, was enjoined to lead a colony into Libya ; while the story of the Theraeans was, that this injunction was laid on their king Grinus, and that he pointed to Battus as a younger and fitter man for the purpose. In either case, the command was not obeyed but with reluctance and after a long delay. (Herod, iv. 150 — 156.) According, again, to Menecles, an histo- rian, perhaps of Barca {ap.SchuL ad Pind. Pyth. iv. 10 ; comp. Thrige, §§ 3, 15), Battus was driven forth from Thcra by civil war, and was ordered by Apollo not to return to his country, but to betake himself to the continent. Lastly, the account of BATTUS. .Justin (xiii. 7) is a strange mixture of the two stories in Herodotus with the fable of Apollo's love for the nymph Cyrene. (Comp. Thrige, § 17.) Amidst these statements, the one thing certain is, that Battus led forth his colonists in obedience to the Delphic oracle, and under a belief in the pro- tection of Apollo 'Apxvy^TTjs. (Callim. Hyrnn. in Apoll. 65, &c., 55, &c.; Spanheim, ad loc. ; comp. MuUer, Dor. ii. 3. §§ 1, 7 ; Thrige, §§ 11, 16, 76.) Of the several opinions as to the period at which the colonists first sailed from Theni, the most pro- bable is that which places it about 640 B. c. (Miiller, OrcJmn. p. 344), and from this point ap- parently we must begin to reckon the 40 years assigned by Herodotus (iv. 159) to the 'reign of Battus L It was not, however, till after a settle- ment of two years in the island Platea, and be- tween six and seven at Aziris on the main-land, that Cyrene was actually founded, about 631 B. c. (Herod, iv. 157, 158 ; Thrige, §§ 22—24), whence Ovid (/6is, 541) calls Battus " conditor tanlae Cyrrhae." Little further is known of the life of Battus I. He appears to have been vigorous and successful in surmounting the difficulties which beset his in- fant colony, in making the most of the great natural advantages of the country, and in subjugating the native tribes, with the assistance, it is said, of the Lacedaemonian Anchionis. (Pind. Pyth. v. 72, «&c.; Aristot. ap. Schol. ad Aristoph. Pint. 925; Pans. iii. 14.) Diodorus tells us (Em. de Virt. ct Vit. p. 232), that he governed with the mildness and moderation befitting a constitutional king ; and Pindar {Pyth. v. 120, &c.) celebrates his pious works, and especially the road (aKupuTri 656s, comp. Bockh, Publ. Econ. of Athens^ bk. ii. c. 10) which he caused to be made for the sacred proces- sion to Apollo's temple, also built by him. (Callim. Hymn, in Apoll. 77.) Where this road joined the Agora, the tomb of Battus was placed, apart from that of the other kings. (Pind. Pyth. v. 125, &c. ; CatuU. vii. 6.) His subjects worshipped him as a hero, and we learn from Pausanias (x. 15), that they dedicated a statue of him at Delphi, re- presenting him in a chariot driven by the nymph Cvrene, with Libya in the act of crowning him. (See Thrige, §§ 26, 28.) 2. Arcesilaus I. ('ApKecrtAaos) was a son of the above (Herod, iv. 159); but nothing is recorded of him except that he reigned, and apparently in quiet, for 16 years, b. c. 599 — 583. 3. Battus II., suniamed "the Happy," prin- cipally from his victory over Apries {Birros 6 EuSai/iwr/), was the son of No. 2, and the third king of the dynasty ; for the opinion of those who consider that Herodotus has omitted two kings between Arcesilaus I. and the present Battus, is founded on an erroneous punctuation of iv. 159, and is otherwise encumbered with considerable chronological difficulties. (Thrige, §§ 29, 42, 43 ; comp, Plut. Cor. 11.) In this reign, Cyrene received a great accession of strength by the in- flux of a large number of colonists from various parts of Greece, principally perhaps from Pelopon- nesus and from Crete and the other islands, whom the state invited over under the promise of a new division of lands (probably to enable herself to make head against the neighbouring Libyans), and who were further urged to the migration by the Delphic oracle. (Herod, iv. 159, comp. c. 161.) This influx apparently giving rise to fuither en-
 * ' Battus," which he afterwards received. Hero-