Page:Dictionary of Greek and Roman Biography and Mythology (1870) - Volume 3.djvu/254

Rh 242 PHARNASPES. For some time Phamaces appears to have re- mained contented with the limits thus assigned him ; and we know no events of his reign during this period, except that he entered into extensive relations, both hostile and friendly, with the sur- rounding Scythian tribes. (Strab. xi. p. 495, 506.) But the increasing dissensions among the Romans themselves emboldened him to turn his arms against the free city of Phanagoria, which had been expressly excepted from the grant of Pompey, but which he now reduced under his subjection. Not long afterwards, the civil war having actually broken out between Caesar and Pompey, he determinsd to seize the opportunity to reinstate himself in his father's dominions, and made himself master, almost without opposition, of the whole of Colchis and the lesser Armenia. Hereupon Deiotarus, the king of the latter country, applied to Domitius Calvinus, the lieutenant of Caesar in Asia, for his support, which was readily granted ; but the combined forces of the Roman general and the Galatian king Avere totally de- feated by Phamaces near Nicopolis in Armenia, and the latter was now enabled to occupy the whole of Pontus, including the important cities of Amisus and Sinope. (Appian. Miilir. 120 ; Dion Cass. xiii. 45, 46 ; Hirt. B. Alex. 34—41 ; Strab. xii. p. 547.) He now received intelligence of the revolt of Asander, to whom he had entrusted the government of Bosporus during his absence, and was preparing to return to chastise his rebel officer, when the approach of Caesar himself com. pelled him to turn all his attention towards a more formidable enemy. Phamaces at first endeavoured to conciliate the conqueror by peaceful messages and oifers of submission, with the view of gaining time until the affairs of Rome should compel the dictator to return thither. But the rapidity and decision of Caesar's movements quickly disconcerted these plans, and brought on a decisive action near Zela, in which the army of Pharnaces was utterly de- feated, and he himself with difficulty made his escape with a small body of horsemen to Sinope. From thence he proceeded by sea to the Bos- porus, where he assembled a force of Scythian and Sarmatian troops, with which he regained posses- sion of the cities of Theodosia and Panticapaeum, but was ultimately defeated and slain by Asander. According to Appian, he died in the field fighting bravely ; Dion Cassius, on the contrary, states that he was taken prisoner, and subsequently put to death. (Appian, Mithr. 120 ; Dion Cass. xlii. 45—48 ; Hirt. Bell, Alex. 65—77 ; Plut Cues. 50 ; Suet. Jul. 35.) Pharnaces was about fifty years old at the time of his death (Appian, /. c), of which he had reigned nearly sixteen. It appears that he left several sons, one of whom, named Dareius, was for a short time established by Antony on the throne of Pontus. (Appian, B. C. v. 75 ; Strab. xii. p. 560.) His daughter Dynamis was married to Polemon I. king of Bospoms. (Dion Cass. liv. 24.) [E. H. B.] PH A'RN ACES, an engraver of precious stones, two of whose gems are extant. (Stosch, pi. 50 ; Braoci, vol. ii. No. 93 ; Spilsbury Geins, No. 1 1 ; J. C. de Jonge, Notice sur le Cabinet des Medailles ^c. du Roides Pays Bus, 1823.) [P. S.] PHARNAPATES. [Arsaces, p. 357, b.] PHARNASPES i^apvd(T7rrjs), a Persian, of the feimily of the Achaemenidae, was the father of Cas- PHAYLLUS. sandane, a favourite wife of Cyrus the Great. (Her. ii. 1, iii. 2.) [E. E.] PHARNU'CHUS or PHARNU'CHKS (^-ap- uovxos,^apvo}Jxv^). 1. An officer of Cyrus the Elder, and one of the chiliarchs of his cavalry in the war with Croesus. After the conquest of Babylon he was made satrap of the Hellespontine Phrygia and Aeolis. (Xen. Cyrop. vi. 3. § 32, vii. 1. § 22, viii. 6. § 7.) 2. One of the three commanders of the cavalry in the army of Xerxes. A fall from his horse brought on an illness, which prevented him from proceeding with the expedition into Greece, and obliged him to remain behind at Sardis. By his order the horse's legs were cut off at the knees on the spot where he had thrown his master (Herod, vii. 88). The name Pharnuchus occurs also as that of a Persian com- mander in the Persae of Aeschylus (305, 928). 3. A Lycian, was appointed by Alexander the Great to command the force sent into Sogdiana against Spitamenes in B, c. 329. The result of the expedition Avas disastrous. [Caranus, No. 3.] Pharnuches had been entrusted with its superin- tendence, because he was acquainted with the lan- guage of the barbarians of the region, and had shown much dexterity in his intercourse with them. According to Aristobulus he was conscious of his deficiency in military skill, and wished to cede the command to the three Macedonian officers who were acting under him, but they refused to accept it. ( Arr. Anab. iv. 3, 5, 6 ; Curt. vii. 6, 7.) [E. E.J PHARNU'CHUS (^apvovxos), an historian of uncertain date, who wrote a history of Persia. He was a native of Antioch in Mesopotamia, and, as this town was called Asibe or Nasibe by its in- habitants, Pharnuchus received the name of Asi- benus orNasibenus. (Steph. Byz. s.v. 'Avxioxeia; Voss. de Hist. Grace, p. 483, ed. Westermann ; comp. Fabr. Bibl. Grace, vol. iii. p. 540.) [E. E.] PHARUS {^apos)., the helmsman of Menelaus, from whom the island of Pharos, at the mouth of the Nile, was believed to have derived its name. (Steph. Byz. s. v. ^dpos.) [L. S.j PHARYGAEA {^apvyaia), a surname of Hera, derived from the town of Pharygae, in Locris, where she had a temple. (Steph. Byz. s. v. ^ap6- yai ; comp. Strab. ix. p. 426.) ' [L. S.] PHASELITES. [Theodectes.] PHASIS (*a(rts), a painter, who is only known by an epigram of Cornelius Longinus, in which he is praised for having painted the great Athenian general Cynegeirus, not, as he was usually repre- sented, with one hand cut off (see Herod, vi, 114), but with both his hands still unmutilated ; it being but fair, according to the conceit of the epigram- matist, that the hero should not be deprived of those hands which had won him immortal fame ! (Brunck,^«a/. vol. ii. p. 200, Anth.Plan. iv. 117.) We have no indication of the painter's age ; he was perhaps contemporary with the poet. [P. S.] PHAVORPNUS. [Favorinus.] PHAYLLUS {UiiWos). 1. An athlete of Crotona, who had thrice gained the victory at the Pythian games. At the time of the Persian invasion of Greece, Phayllus fitted out a ship at his own expense, with which he joined the Greek fleet assembled at Salamis, and took part in the memorable battle that ensued, b. c. 480. This was the only assistance furnished by the Greeks of Italy or Sicily to their coimtrymen upon that occa- sion. (Herod, viii. 47 ; Paus. x. 9. § 2 ; Plut.