Page:Encyclopædia Britannica, Ninth Edition, v. 1.djvu/453

Rh A G R A G R 41 AORIGEXTTM, in Anritnt Geography, a city on the south coast of Sicily, part of Hi* site of which is now occupied by a town called GirgtHli, from the old name. (See GIEOE&amp;gt;*TL) It was founded by a colony from Gela, 582 B.C. An advantageous situation, a free govern ment, and an active commercial spirit raised the city to a decree of wealth and importance unknown to the otter Greek settlements, Syracuse alone exeepted. The pro- sj.erity of Agrigentum was interrupted by the usurpation of Phalaris which lasted about fifteen years. He met with the common fate of tyrants, and after his death the Agri- gentines enjoyed their liberty for sixty years ; at the expiration of -which term Theron usurped the sovereign authority. The moderation, justice, and valour of this prince preserved him from oppo:&amp;lt;r,io j- He joined his son- in-law Gelon, kins of Syracuse, in a victorious war against the Carthaginian?. Soon after his decease. 472 B.C.. his son Thrasydeus was deprived of the diadem, and Agri- gentum restored to her old democratical government, which she retained till the Carthaginian invasion in 4-06 E.C. During this interval of prosperity were executed most of those splendid public works which excited the admiration of succeeding ages, and caused Empedoeles to remark &quot; that the Argentines built their dwellings as though they were to live for ever, and indulged in luxury as if they were to die on the morrow.&quot; The total number of the inhabitants at this period was estimated by Diodorus at 200,000. The power of the Agrigentines now ex- ; perienced a terrible reverse. They were attacked by the i Carthaginians in 406 B.C., their armies routed, their city taken, and their race almost extirpated, scarcely a vestige of their material greatness being left Although some of the fugitive inhabitants availed themselves of permission to return to the ruined city, and after a few years were even able to shake off the yoke of Carthage, Agrigentuin never fully recovered from this fatal disaster. Such was the condition of the city 340 B.C. that Timoleon, after his triumph over the Carthaginians, found it necessary to re- colonise it with citizens from Velia in Italy. During the first Punic war Agrigentuin was the headquarters of the Carthaginians, and was besieged by the Roman consuls, who. after eight months blockade, took it by storm. It nevertheless changed masters several times during the contest, and in every instance suffered most cruel outrages, At the close of the war Agrigentuin finally fell under the dominion of Rome. The profuse luxury and display for which the Agrigen tines are celebrated in history were supported by a fertile territory and an extensive commerce, by means of which the commonwealth was able to resist many shocks of adversity. It was, however, crushed in the fall of the Eastern Empire, and the Saracens obtained possession of the city. Agrigentuin occupied a hill rising between the small rivers Agragas and Hypsas, and was remarkable for its strength as a fortress. The whole space comprehended within the walls of the ancient city abounds with traces of antiquity. Of its many celebrated edifices, the most magnificent was the temple of Olympian Jupiter. Of this vast structure nothing remains except the basement and a few fragments of the columns and entablature ; but these and many other monuments attest the ancient magnifi- cence of the Agrigentines, AGRIOXIA, festivals celebrated annually by the Boeo tians in honour of Dionysus, in which the women, after playfully pretending for some time to search for that god, desisted, saying that he had hidden himself among the Muses. They were solemnised at night by women and the priests only. The tradition is that the daughters of Minyas, having despised the rites of the god, were seized with frenzy and ate tie flesh of one of tkeir dulfesa, sni the Asrionia w&amp;lt;?re celebrated in -expiation of tihe oSe&oe. AGRIPPA, HZE.OD, the son erf AristC Vdu? aziC Berenice, ai,d grandson f Herod tie Crest, irw borr about 11 E.C. Josephus informs us tiat, after the aeatl of his father, Herod, his grar.ifi.tL^r. -~. . &quot;. ^ . ~- to the court of Tiberius. The emperor conceived * great affection for Agrippa, and placed i^m near his sc-n Drusua, whose favour he very soon won, as well as titst c*f t]he empress Antonia. On the deslh. of Iru?U5, Agrippa, who had been recklessly extravagant, was obliged to leave Rome, overwhelmed with debt, and retired to tike eastie &amp;lt;4 Malatha, After a brie: s--.&amp;gt;_-..^. Hr:. i tl- - -. i_s uncle, who had married Herodias. Li? sister, inad-e hrm principal magistrate of TD^erias, and presented brm witi a large sum of money; but his uncle grodginr tc* con tinue his support, and reproaching lmn with his bad economy, Agrippa left Judea, and soon after returned to Rome, There he was received with favour by Tilerxus, and commanded to attend Tiberius Xero, the son of Drusu?, Agrippa, however, diose rather tc- attach himself to Caius, who at that time was universally &quot;beloved, and s:&amp;gt; far won upon this prince that he kept hrm ec-ntinuaHy about hiir. Agrippa being one day overheard by Euty- ches, a slave whom he had&quot; made free, to express Ms wishes for Tiberius s death acd the advancement of Caius, was betrayed to the emperor and cast into prison. Tibe rius soon after died, and Caius Caligula ascended the throne 37 A.D. The new emperor heaped wealth axxi favours upon Agrippa, changed his iron fetters into a chain of gold, set a royal diadem npon his head, and gave him the tetrarchy of Ratanaea and Trachc nitis, whici Pinlip, the scn of Hercd the Great, had formerly possessed. To this he added that held by Lysanias: and Agrippa returned very soon into Judea to take possession of his new kingdom. On the assassination of Caligula, Agrippa, who was then at R.ome, contributed much by his sdvice to maintain Claudius in possession of the imperial dignity, to which h* had been advanced by the army ; and while he made & show of being in the interest of the senate, he secretly advised Claudius to maintain his position with firmness. The emperor, as an acknowledgment of his services, gave him the government of Judea; and the kingdom of Ch^lcds, at his request, was given to his brother Herci. Thus Agrippa became of a sudden one of the greatest princes of the East, the territory he possessed equalling in extent that held by Herod the Great, his grandfather. He returned to Judea, acd governed it to the great satisfac tion of the Jews, Rut the desire of pleasing them, and a mistaken zeal for their religion, impelled him to acts of cruelty, the memory of which n preserved in Scripture (Acts xiL 1, 2, &amp;lt;tc.) About the feast of the Passover. 44 JLD., James the elder, the son of Zebedee and brother of John the evangelist, was seized by his order and put to death. He proceeded also to lay hands on Peter, and imprisoned him, delaying his execution till the dose of the festival But God having miraculously delivered Peter from prison, the designs of Agrippa were frustrated. After the Passover, he went from Jerusalem to C^esarea, where he had games performed in honour of Claudia?, and the inhabitants of Tyre and Sidon waited on bim to sue for peace, Agrippa having come early in the morn ing to the theatre to give them audience, seated himself on his throne, dressed in a robe of silver tissue, which reflected the rays of the rising sun with such lustre as to dazzle the eyes of the spectators. When the king had delivered his address, the parasites around hrm shouted out that it was not the voice of a man but of a god. The vain Agrippa received the impious flattery with complacent satisfaction : but in the midst of his elation, looking upwards, he saw.