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 54:0 PISA Besancon, but had not the means to sustain himself in that profession. A licentious ode, which he composed in his 20th year, made him famous. In 1719 he went to Paris, where he led a precarious existence, first as a sec- retary of Belle-Isle, Fouquet's grandson, and next as a playwright. His reputation as a dramatist was firmly established in 1738 by his masterpiece La metromanie, an admirable comedy. But few of his tragedies were suc- cessful, though Piron regarded himself as equal to Voltaire, who never missed an opportunity to chastise his presumption. Piron was re- garded as one of the brilliant wits of his day ; and he was one of the founders of the cele- brated convivial society, le caveau. In 1753 he was elected to the academy, but the king refused his assent on account of the objec- tionable ode of his younger days, whereupon he suggested as his epitaph : Ci-git Piron. qui ne fut rien, Pas meme academicien. The king, however, gave him a pension of 1,000 livres. Eigoley de Juvigny published his works with a biography (7 vols., 1776); and in 1859 appeared his (Euvres inedites, by Honore" Bonhomme. His wife, MAEIE THERESE QTJENATJDON, known also as Mile, de Bar (1688- 1751), was almost as witty and accomplished as her husband, but she became insane in 1745. PISA, an ancient town in the Peloponnesus, capital of Pisatis or the middle district of Elis, situated in the lower valley of the Alpheus, between Harpina and Olympia, and near the latter place. In mythology it was known as the home of (Enomaus and Pelops. Subse- quently it became the head of a confederacy of eight states, and had the presidency of the Olympic festival, of which it was deprived by the neighboring Eleans, but recovered it in the 34th Olympiad, 644 B. 0. 'This privilege became a continual cause of war between Pisa and Elis, until in the 52d Olympiad (572 B. 0.) the Eleans were finally successful, and Pisa was so completely destroyed that in the time of Strabo its very existence was disputed. PISA. I. A province of Italy, in Tuscany, bordering on Leghorn, Lucca, Florence, Siena, Grosseto, and the Mediterranean ; area, 1,180 sq. m. ; pop. in 1872, 265,959. The principal river is the Arno. The surface presents great variations, consisting of fertile plains, swamps, hills, and mountains. The principal products are grain, oil, wine, fruit, timber, silk, hemp, and flax. It is divided into the districts of Pisa and Volterra. II. A city, capital of the province, on the Arno, 7 m. from its mouth, 12 m. N. ST. E. of Leghorn, and 42 in. W. of Flor- ence; pop. in 1872, 50,341. It is built on a plain, enclosed on the east by the Apennines, and open on the west to that part of the Medi- terranean known as the Tuscan sea. The city is surrounded by an ancient wall with five gates, and is protected by a citadel. The Arno is spanned by several bridges, the ponte del Mezzo, of white marble, with three arches, being one of the finest in Europe. . The ca- thedral, baptistery, leaning tower, and Campo Santo of Pisa are four of the most remarkable The Cathedral, Leaning Tower, and Baptistery, Pisa. structures in the world ; they are all built of white marble and in corresponding style. The cathedral, finished early in the 12th century, contains some celebrated works of art. It was greatly damaged by fire in 1569. The baptis- tery, finished later than the cathedral, is a cir-