Page:Encyclopædia Britannica, Ninth Edition, v. 8.djvu/496

Rh 476 E P truths, and attracts most natures in some of its parts, espe cially in an age of religious scepticism. Besides, Epicure anism resembled a church more than a philosophical school. It was not very systematic, but very dogmatic. To develop it would have been to destroy it, for its great point was to hold fast to certain principles of common sense. The dogmas of Epicurus became to his followers a creed em bodying the truths on which .salvation depended; and they passed on from one generation to another with scarcely a change or addition. The immediate disciples of Epicurus have been already mentioned, with the exception of Colotes. In the 2nd century B.C. Apollodorus and Zeno of Sidon taught at Athens. About 150 B.C. Epicureanism established itself at Rome. Beginning with C. Amafinius, we find the names of Ph&amp;lt;edrus and Philodemus as distinguished Epi cureans in the time of Cicero. But the greatest of its Roman names was Lucretius, whose De fterum Natura embodies the main teaching of Epicurus with great exact ness, and with a beauty which the subject seemed scarcely to allow. Lucretius is a proof, if any were needed, that Epicureanism is compatible with nobility of soul. In the 1st century of the Christian era, the nature of the time, with its active political struggles, naturally called Stoicism more into the foreground, yet Seneca, though nominally a Stoic, draws nearly all his suavity and much of his paternal wisdom from the writings of Epicurus. The position of Epicureanism as a recognized school in the 2nd century is best seen in the fact that it was one of the four schools (the others were the Stoic, Piatonist, and Peri patetic) which were placed on a footing of equal endow ment when Marcus Aurelius founded chairs of philosophy at Athens. The evidence of Diogenes proves that it still subsisted as a school a century later, but its spirit lasted longer than its formal organisation as a school. A great deal of the best of the Renaissance was founded on Epi cureanism. The chief ancient account of Epicurus is to be found in the 10th book of Diogenes Laertius, in Lucretius, and in several treatises of Cicero and Plutarch. Gassendi, in his DC Vita, Moribus, et Doclmvi Epicuri (Lyons. 1647), and his Syntagma Philosophise- Epicuri, has systematized the doctrine. The Volu ni im Hermla.ner.sin, the first series of which in 11 vols. fol. was published between 1793 and 1855 at Naples, and the second series of which, begun in 1861, is still going on, contain numerous fragments of treatises by Epi- curus, and several members of his school. The fragments of the second and eleventh books have been edited after Rosini, by Orelli. T. Oompertz, in his HfirkuJain sche St utie/i, and in recent contributions to the Vienna Academy (Monatsbericktc) has tried to evolve from the fragments more approximation to modern empiricism than they seem to contain. Cf. also G. Trezza, Ejritwo e FJEpicureismo, Florence, 1877, and Zeller s Philosophy of the Stoics, Epicm cans, and Scf.pt ics translated by Reichel. (W. W.) EPI DAMN US, an ancient city of Illyricnm, was founded by a joint colony of Corcyreans and Corinthians towards the close of the 7th century B.C., and from its admirable position and the fertility of the surrounding country soon rose into very considerable importance. The dissolution of its original oligarchical government by the increasing power of the democrats was one of the causes that contributed to bring about the Peloponnesian war, in the course of which it soon sank into a secondary position, and ultimately disappeared altogether from the contest. In 312 B.C. it was seized by Glaucias, king of the Illyrians ; and about the close of the war it was attacked by pirates, who were twice driven back on the second occasion by the timely arrival of assistance from Rome. As the name Epidamnus sounded to Roman ears like an evil omen, the alternative name of Dyrrachium, which it probably received from the rugged nature of the adjoining sea-coast, came into general use. In the later history of the Roman republic Dyrrachium became famous an the place where Pompey made the last successful resist ance to the rising fortunes of Caesar, who was at length E P I compelled to transfer the theatre of war to another quarter. At the end of the struggle between Antony and Augustus it fell into the hands of the latter, and was by him made over to a colony of his veteran troops. Under the Lower Empire it became the capital of Epirus Nova, and attained remarkable prosperity. In 481 it was besieged by Theodoric, the king of the East Goths ; and in the 10th and llth centuries it frequently had to defend itbelf against the Bulgarians. The emperor Ducas bestowed it as a duchy on Bryennius. In 1082 it was stormed by the Norman Guiscard, who in the previous year had defeated the Greeks under their emperor Alexius : and in 1185 it fell into the hands of King William of Sicily. Surrendered to Venice on the division of the Byzantine kingdom, it afterwards broke loose from the republic. In 1273 it was laid in ruins by an earthquake, but it soon recovered from the disaster, and in the beginning of the next century it appears as an independent duchy under Philip of Otranto. The Turks obtained possession in 1503. See DURAZZO, vol. vii. p. 553. EPIDAURUS, a maritime city of ancient Greece, on the eastern coast of Argolis, sometimes distinguished as fj lepa En-tSai pos, or Epidaurus the Holy. It stood on a small rocky peninsula with a natural harbour on the northern side and an open but serviceable bay on the southern ; and from this position acquired the epithet of SIO-TO/AO?, or the two-mouthed. Its narrow but fertile territory consisted of a plain shut in on all sides except towards the sea by con siderable elevations, among which the most remarkable were Mount Arachnscon (the modern Arna) and Titthion. The conterminous states were Corinth, Argos, Trcezen, and Hermione. Its proximity tc Athens and the islands of the Saronic gulf, the commeicial advantages of its position, and the fame of its temple of /Esculapius combined to make Epidaurus a place of no small importance. Its origin was ascribed to a Carian colony, whose memory was possibly preserved in Epicarus, the eailier name of the city ; it was afterwards occupied by lonians, and appears to have incorporated a body of Phlegyans from Thessaly. The lonians in turn succumbed to the Dorians of Argos, who, according to the legend, were led by Deiphontes : and from that time the city continued to preserve its Dorian charac ter. It not only colonized the neighbouring islands, and founded the city of yEgina, by which it was ultimately out stripped in wealth and power, but also took part with the people of Argos and Troezen in their settlements in the south of Asia Minor. The monarchical government intro duced by Deiphontes gave way to an oligarchy, and the oligarchy degenerated into a despotism. When Procles the tyrant was carried captive by Periander of Corinth, the oligarchy was restored ; and the people of Epidaurus con tinued ever afterwards close allies of the Spartan power. The governing body consisted of 180 members, chosen from certain influential families, and the executive was entrusted to a select committee of artynw. The rural population, who had no share in the affairs of the city, were called KoviTToSes, or dusty feet. Among the objects of interest described by Pausanias as extant in Epidaurus are the image of Athena Cissaea in the Acropolis, the temple, of Dionysus and Artemis, a shrine of Aphrodite, statues of yEsculapius and his wife Epione, and a temple of Hera. The site of the last is identified with the chapel of St Nicolas ; a few portions of the outer walls of the city can be traced ; and the name Epidaurus is still preserved by the little village of Nea-Epidavros, or Pidhavro. About five miles from the city stood a famous temple of /Esculapius, in a beautiful valley in the heart of the mountains ; and in its neighbourhood were buildings for the accommodation and recreation of the patients who flocked thither in quest of health ; so that the spot was