Page:The American Cyclopædia (1879) Volume XIII.djvu/559

 PISISTRATUS Pisidia are now inhabited by Oaramanians, a wild predatory people. The country, which is included in the Turkish vilayet of Konieh, is rarely visited and little known. PISISTRATUS, tyrant of Athens, born about 612 B. 0., died in 527. He was the kinsman and friend of Solon, and accompanied him in the expedition for the recovery of Sal amis. After the adoption of the constitution of So- lon, the old rivalry revived between the three parties in Attica : the proprietors of the plain, headed by Lycurgus; the party of the coast, headed by Megacles, the son of Alcmseon ; and the party of the highlands, consisting of the poorer classes, headed by Pisistratus. Having wounded himself, Pisistratus appeared one day in the agora, complaining that he had been at- tacked, and asking for a guard. A company of 50 club men was assigned him, which soon be- ing increased, he seized the acropolis (560), and compelled his leading opponents to flee. A coalition was formed against him, and he was driven from the city and remained in exile six years; but dissensions arose among his ene- mies, and Megacles offered him the sovereignty on condition that he should marry his daugh- ter. This was agreed to, and Pisistratus en- tered Athens in a chariot by the side of a state- ly woman named Phya, clothed in the costume of Minerva, heralds crying out : u Athenians, cordially receive Pisistratus, whom Athena has honored above all other men, and is now bring- ing back into her own acropolis." He thus gained possession of the government, and mar- ried the daughter of Megacles ; but not choos- ing to have children by a member of a family deemed accursed, he so incensed the Alcmseo- nidaa that they again united with the party of Lycurgus and expelled him. Ten years later he landed at Marathon with mercenaries and troops led by Lygdamis of Naxos, and reestab- lished himself in power. He now took into pay a body of foreign mercenaries, exiled some of his enemies, and kept the children of many of the principal citizens as hostages. His reign, however, seems to have been mild, and received the commendation of Herodotus, Thucydides, and Aristotle. Among other great works, he commenced the temple of the Olympian Jupi- ter on a plan so large that it was not finished till the time of Hadrian. He is said to have instituted the greater Panathenaic festival, and under his encouragement the poems of Homer were collected and written down. He is said to have been the first person in Greece who collected a library, to which he allowed the public access. He conquered Naxos, placing Lygdamis upon the throne, and wrested Sigeum from the Mytileneans. He was succeeded by his sons. (See HIPPIAS AND HIPPAECHUS.) PISSELEU, Anne de. See ETAMPES, DUCHESS D'. PISTACHIO (Gr. irtar&iuav), the name of an edi- ble nut and of the tree which bears it (pistacia vera), which is a native of western Asia, and is generally cultivated in southern Europe. The tree was formerly placed in the terebinthina- PISTOJA 543 eeas, but that order is now united with the ca- shew-nut family (anacardiaceai), of which we have several native examples in the sumachs The pistachio is a tree 20 or 30 ft. high, its leaves with three or five leaflets; the small flowers are dioecious, the males in close clus- ters, and the females in a loose raceme; the fruit is a sort of dry drupe, about the size and shape of an olive, the exterior portion some- what woody and enclosing the seed, which is known in commerce as the pistachio nut. The seeds are irregularly oval, about an inch long, of a reddish green externally, and within of a bright green, exceedingly pleasant to the taste, and in the countries where they grow largely eaten as a luxury. The great fondness of the Turks and Greeks for the seeds is said to be the reason why so few find their way into com- merce. In Europe they are candied, or coated with sugar in the same manner that almonds are sugared; they yield by expression an oil similar to that of almonds. In this country Pistachio (Pistacia lentiscus). their use is confined to the confectioners and pastry cooks, who find in their cotyledons a harmless green coloring matter which is used to color ices and similar articles; it gives a more pleasing green than spinach juice, which is often used for the same purpose. The tree is hardy in England, in sheltered localities, and in favorable portions of France ; it would no doubt succeed in our southern states. There are about five other species of pistacia, one of which, P. lentiscus, produces the resin mastic see MASTIC), and another, P. terebinthus, yields the Ohio turpentine, and also curious galls. PISTOJA, or Pistoia (anc. Pistoria or Pis- torium), a fortified city of Italy, in Tuscany, on Florence; pop. about 13,000. It is situated on the railway from Bologna to Florence, and is connected by another with Lucca and Pisa. 3n approaching the city from the north, the Bologna railway passes over the heights of
 * he left bank of the Ombrone, 21 m. N. W. of
 * he Apennines, presenting an extensive view of