Page:Dictionary of Greek and Roman Biography and Mythology (1870) - Volume 2.djvu/728

Rh ■J4 LAMIA. (Philostr. Vit. Apollon. iv. 25; llorat. dc Art. Poet. 340 ; Isidor. Ori(j. viii. 1 1 ; Apulei. Met. i. p. 57 ; comp. Spanheim, ad Callini. Hymn, in Dian. 67 ; Empusa and Mormoltce.) [L. S.] LA'MI A (Act/um), a celebrated Athenian courte- zan, daughter of Cleanor. She commenced her career as a flute-player on the stage, in which pro- fession she attained considerable celebrity, but afterwards abandoned it for that of a hetaera. We know not by what accident she found herself on board of the fleet of Ptolemy at the great sea-fight off Salamis (b. c. 306), but it was on that occasion that she fell into the hands of the young Demetrius, over whom she quickly obtained the most un- bounded influence. Though then already past her prime, she so completely captivated the young prince, that her sway continued unbroken for many years, notwithstanding the numerous rivals with whom she had to contend. It was apparently not so much to her beauty as to her wit and talents that she owed her power : the latter were cele- brated by the comic writers as well as the historians of the period, and many anecdotes concerning her have been transmitted to us by Plutarch and Athenaeus. Like most persons of her class, she was noted for her profusion, and the magnificence of the banquets which she gave to Demetrius was celebrated even in those times of wanton extrava- gance. In one instance, however, she is recorded to have made a better use of the treasures which were lavished upon her by her lover with almost incredible profusion, and built a splendid portico for the citizens of Sicyon, probably at the period when their city was in great measure rebuilt by Demetrius. Among the various flatteries invented by the Athenians to please Demetrius was that of consecrating a temple in honour of Lamia, under the title of Aphrodite, and their example was fol- lowed by the Thebans. (Plut. Demetr. 16, 19, 24, 25, 27 ; Athen. iii. p. 101, iv. p. 128, vi. p. 253, xiii. p. 577, xiv. p. 615 ; Aelian. V. H. xii. 1 7, xiii. 9.) According to Athenaeus, she had a daughter by Demetrius, who received the name of Phila. Diogenes Laertius (v. 76) mentions that Demetrius Phalereus also cohabited with a woman named Lamia, whom he calls an Athenian of noble birth. If this story be not altogether a mistake, which seems not improbable, the Lamia meant must be distinct from the subject of the present article. [E. H.B.J LA'MIA, a family of the Aelia gens, which claimed a high antiquity, and pretended to be de- scended from the mythical hero, Lamus. [Lamus.] No member of this family is, however, mentioned till the end of the republic, but it was reckoned under the empire one of the noblest families in Rome. (Hor. Carm. iii. 17 ; Juv. iv. 154, vi. 385.) 1. L. Aelius Lamia, va8 of equestrian rank, and distinguished himself by the zealous support which he afforded to Cicero in the suppression of the Catilinarian conspiracy. So great were his services that he was marked out for vengeance by the popular party, and was accordingly banished (^relegatus) by the influence of the consuls Gabiuius and Piso in b. c. 58. He was subsequently re- called from exile ; and dViring the civil wars he appears to have espoused Caesar's party, since we find that he obtained the aedileship in B. c. 45. During this time he lived on intimate terms with Cicero, and there are two letters of the latter to L.MPAD1US. Brutus, intreating Brutus to use his influence to assist Lamia in his canvass for the praetorship. He seems to have carried his election, and would have been praetor in b. c. 43, the year in which Cicero was put to death. (Cic. pro Sest. 12, in Fison. IT., post Red. in Sen. 5, ad Att. xiii. 45, ad Fam. xi. 16, 17.) This Lamia seems to be the same as the L. Lamia., praetorius vtr, who is said to have been placed upon the funeral pile as if dead, and then to have recovered his senses, and to have spoken after the fire was lighted, when it was too late to save him from death. (Val. Max. i. 8. § 12 ; Plin. H. N. vii. 52.) Lamia was the founder of his family, to whom he appears to have bequeathed considerable wealth, which was acquired by his commercial speculations as a Roman eques. We see from a letter of Cicero to Q.'Comificius that Lamia must have had ex- tensive commercial transactions in Asia {ad Fam, xii. 29) ; and his gardens at Rome {Horti Lamiani which Cicero speaks of {ad Att. xii. 21), were a well-known spot even in the time of the emperor Caligula. (Suet. Calig. 59.) 2. L. Aelius Lamia, the son of the preceding, and the friend of Horace, was consul in a. d. 3. He was appointed by Tiberius governor of Syria, but was never allowed to enter upon the adminis- tration of his province. On the death of L. Piso in A. D. 32, Lamia succeeded him in the ofiice of praefectua urbi, but he died in the following year, A. D. 3.% and was honoured with accuser's funeral. (Dion Cass. Iviii. 19 ; Tac. Ann. vi. 27.) Two of Horace's odes are addressed to him. {Carm. i. 26, iii. 17.) 3. L. Aelius Lamia Aemilianus, belonged originally, as we see from the last name, to the gens Aemilia, and was adopted into the gens Aelia. He was consul suffectus in a. d. 80 in the reign of Titus, and was originally married to Dot- mitia Longina, the daughter of Corbulo ; but dur- ing the lifetime of Vespasian he was deprived of her by Doraitian, who first lived with her as his mistress and subsequently married her, [Domitia Longina.] Lamia was put to death by Domitian after his accession to the throne. (Dion Cass. Ixvi. 3 ; Suet. Dom. 1,10; Juv. iv. 154.) Lamia's full name was L. Aelius Plan tins Lamia. (Marini, Atti deyli fratr. arv. i. tav. xxiii. 25, p. cxxx. and 222.) LAMISCUS (Aa/uiffKoj), of Samos, is quoted by Palaephatus {De Incred. init. p. 268, ed. West- ermann) as a writer ir^pl aniaTwv. There is a Pythagorean of this name mentioned in a letter of Archytas to the tyrant Dionysius the younger. (Diog. Laert. iii. 22.) LA'MIUS or LAMUS {M(xios a son of He- racles and Omphale, from whom the Thessalian town of Lamia was believed to have derived its name. (Diod. iv. 31 ; Steph. Byz. s. vv. Aafxioy Bapyaaa ; Ov. Heroid. ix. 54.) [L. S.] LAMPA'DIO, C. OCTA'VIUS, aRoman gram- marian, who divided into seven books the poem of Naeviiis on the first Punic war, which had not been divided by its author into books. (Suet. De lUicstr. Grumm. 2.) LAMPA'DIUS, a Roman senator, who made himself conspicuous by the boldness of his patriotism and political principles, at a time when the Roman senate was renowned for its servility. In a. d. 408, the Gothic king Alaric offered his services to the emperor Ilonorius, on condition of receiving in