Page:Imperial Dictionary of Universal Biography Volume 1.pdf/67

AGA brethren in Judea. We find him at a later period at Cæsarea, warning St. Paul against his last journey to Jerusalem.  AGA-MAHMED, one of the most powerful tyrants of Persia during the last century, and founder of the present Persian dynasty, born. 1734; murdered by two slaves, whom he had ordered to be put to death, at Theesha, 14th May, 1797. His grandfather, governor of the Mazanderan, was put to death by Thamas Kouli-Khan. After the death of his father, who had made himself master of the countries south of the Caspian, and was slain, 1758, his mother married again, and her children became determined foes of their brother. In spite of all his rivals, Aga-Mahmed ultimately became master of Persia, and, notwithstanding the determination, intrigues, and arms of Russia, successfully opposed her progress in the East during his lifetime; the better to watch and resist her movements, he established his residence at Teheran, which is now the capital of Persia. Though accustomed to the cruel and sanguinary policy of his times, he appears on the whole to have been the friend of order and of justice; and to have contributed materially to the consolidation, tranquillity, and commercial prosperity of Persia.—J. F.  AGAME´DES and TROPHO´NIUS, two brothers, the most ancient Greek architects we read of. They are said to have lived before Homer's time, to have built the fourth temple of Apollo at Delphi, a temple to Neptune in Arcadia, and a treasury for Hyrieus, a king in Bœotia; but much that is evidently mythical is mingled with their history.—J. B.  AGAMEMNON, called by Homer "King of Men," was the commander-in-chief of all the Greek forces that went to besiege Troy. He accordingly occupies a prominent position in the Iliad. He is there said to be the son of Atreus, while other writers represent him as the grandson of that hero. At the time of the expedition to Troy, he was king of Mycenæ, and his territories were probably very extensive, as he is called the "wide-ruler," and is said to reign over Argos, which, in Homeric language, means Peloponnesus. Though he was under the special protection of Jove, and though, as being the leader of the Greeks, he boasts his superiority to Achilles, yet Homer assigns him a character very much inferior to those of several of the Greek chiefs, and other traditions coincide with the poet's statements. When the Greek fleet was about to set sail for Troy, the sea became perfectly calm. The cause of this was found to be the anger of Artemis, which Agamemnon had excited by killing a stag, an animal sacred to the goddess, and by the use of irreverent language. The goddess was appeased, only after Iphigenia, Agamemnon's daughter, had been wiled into the camp and laid on the altar. When on the very point of being sacrificed, however, the goddess carried the maiden off to Tauris. In the Iliad, the wrath of Achilles is the result of the insolence and stubbornness of Agamemnon, who seized a female slave, Briseis, from Achilles, in lieu of another, Chryseis, whom he had been forced to give up. In this transaction, we find Agamemnon guilty of insolence towards a priest of Apollo, overweening in his estimate of himself, haughty towards others, and not very solicitous about his absent wife, for he positively declares that he prefers Chryseis to Clytemnestra. Shortly after this Agamemnon is introduced, deliberately telling lies to the people, seemingly for mere fun. Several times he becomes despondent and would fain return to Greece, were not other chiefs strongly set against such a step. At the same time he is declared to be both a good king and a brave soldier; his appearance is described as imposing and king-like, and when he fights in person, he generally slays a number of Trojans. The manner of his death is described in the Odyssey. On his return from Troy he was murdered by Ægisthus, who had seduced Clytemnestra, and taken possession of the kingdom. Æschylus, and several other writers, as well as some paintings on vases, represent Clytemnestra as throwing a net over her husband, and then murdering him with an axe.—J. D.  AGANDURU,, a Spanish missionary to the natives of Loochoo and Japan about the end of the sixteenth century.  AGAPETUS, a deacon of Constantinople, lived about. 527. He addressed to the Emperor Justinian a work in seventy-two chapters, entitled "Charta Regia," containing counsels on the duties of a Christian prince. In his youth, Louis XIII. of France caused it to be translated into French.—S.  AGAPETUS, the name born by two popes:—. was elected 3rd June, 535; died 22nd April, 536. He pawned the sacred vessels of St. Peter, in order to travel to Constantinople for the purpose of endeavouring to divert the emperor from carrying the war into Italy, in which he was unsuccessful. . was a Roman by birth. He was elected pope in 946, and died in 956. He has left a reputation for wonderful sanctity.—S.  AGAPIUS, various persons of this name are known; one, a physician of Alexandria, who wrote commentaries on medicine; another, a Manichee of the fourth century, spoken of by Photius as composing an account of his sect; a third, a bishop of Cæsarea, who wrote a life of Eusebius; and a fourth, a Greek monk of Mount Athos, who was the author of a book called ""—"Salvation of Sinners"—which was printed at Venice, 1641, and which at a subsequent period was translated into Arabic.—J. E. <section end="67H" /> <section begin="67I" />AGARD,, a goldsmith and antiquary, who lived at Aries, towards the close of the sixteenth or beginning of the seventeenth century. He was a great collector of medals and other articles of archæological research. <section end="67I" /> <section begin="67J" />AGARDE,, a celebrated antiquarian who lived in the reign of Elizabeth, was born at Foston in Derbyshire in 1540. He studied law, and for forty years held the office of deputy-chamberlain in the Exchequer, in which capacity he had charge of many of the national records. Of this he took advantage, and formed large collections of facts calculated to throw light on the history of England. He was a distinguished member of the first society of antiquaries, instituted by Archbishop Parker in 1572, and was the friend of Sir Robert Cotton and most of the learned men of his age. He died in 1615.—J. B. <section end="67J" /> <section begin="67K" />AGARDH,, professor of botany and rural economy in the university of Lund in Sweden, and Protestant bishop of Carlstadt, was born on 23d January, 1785, at Bostad, a town in Scania, where his father was a merchant. In 1799 he entered upon his studies at the university of Lund, and was appointed professor of mathematics in 1807. His favourite pursuit, however, was natural history, which he prosecuted with vigour. He devoted his attention in a special manner to the department of cryptogamic botany, and published several valuable works on algæ. He also contributed numerous important papers to the Transactions of scientific societies. Among his other works may be mentioned, "A Manual of Botany;" "Treatises on the Organography and Physiology of Plants;" and "A Life of Linnæus;" besides several papers on mathematical and theological subjects. He also, on several occasions, represented his native district in the Swedish chamber of deputies. His son, James George Agardh, has also distinguished himself as a botanist by his works on algæ, ferns, and other cognate subjects.—J. H. B. <section end="67K" /> <section begin="67L" />AGAS or AGGAS,, an English land-surveyor and engraver, who lived in the sixteenth century. He published a treatise on surveying, also plans of Oxford and Cambridge; but his chief work was a large view of London, with the Thames and adjacent country, published by Vertue in 1748. <section end="67L" /> <section begin="67M" />AGASIAS, the name of a family of Greek sculptors at Ephesus. They were flourishing between 200 and 100 ., and are considered amongst the best artists of the Ephesian school. Three of them are particularly recorded in the history of art. , father of Heraclides;, son of Monophilos; and , son of Doritheos,—this last being the most celebrated. He is the author of the great masterpiece, known as the "Borghese Gladiator," now in the Louvre collection. This statue is one of the best relics of Greek art still in existence. Although not possessing the matchless grandeur and simplicity of the Phidian period, yet the work of Agasias fully deserves the universal admiration it has obtained, on account of the liveliness of conception and exquisite carefulness of execution, that render it equal, if not superior, to the best productions of the Lysippian school. The anatomical knowledge displayed in this statue is one of the most perfect of antiquity, and it is owing to its completeness that the extreme instantaneousness of the pose never becomes tiresome or obtrusive.—R. M. <section end="67M" /> <section begin="67Zcontin" />* AGASSIZ,, an eminent naturalist, son of a protestant pastor, was born at Orbe in Waatlande in 1807. After distinguishing himself at the gymnasium of Biel and academy of Lausanne, he studied successively at Zurich, Heidelberg, and Munich, medicine and natural science, for which he had, from boyhood, manifested an ardent predilection. While he resided at Heidelberg, his attention was chiefly directed to comparative anatomy. Editing, in 1826, Spix's description of the fishes of <section end="67Zcontin" />