A complete dictionary of the Greek and Roman antiquities explaining the obscure places in classic authors and ancient historians relating to the religion, mythology, history, geography and chronology of the ancient Greeks and Romans, their ... rites and customs, laws, polity, arts and engines of war : also an account of their navigations, arts and sciences and the inventors of them : with the lives and opinions of their philosophers / compiled originally in French ... by Monsieur Danet ; made English, with the addition of very useful mapps.

LITERA;

a Letter; Figure, Character, or Stroak of the Pen, which Men have agreed upon to signifie something, and the Joyning whereof makes their Thoughts known to one another: From these Letters, are, as I may say, miracu∣lously sprung a Million of different Words: They may be called the Elements of Speech, the Sacred Atoms, out of which is formed the vast World of Sciences; and the faithful Gar∣dians of what is most precious amongst Men. Without them the Original of the World would have been but confusedly known, and the most celebrated Actions would be buried in profound Oblivion.

The Alphabet of every Language is composed of a certain Number of these Letters or Cha∣racters, which have a different Sound, Form and Signification: The English and Greek have each 24 Letters; the Latin commonly 23, and the Hebrew 22 without Points. The Art of Writing has not been perfected all at once, several Ages were required to supply what was defective in those Shapes of Animals, the Ancients used, as may appear by Tacitus. The Egyptians, accord∣ing to his Account, believed themselves to be the Inventers of it; but 'tis more likely that the Hebrews, or as almost all the Ancients call them, the Chaldeans or Phaenicians, were their Masters, as we learn from that Verse in Lucan:

Phaenices primi, famae si creditur, Ausi Mansuram rudibus vocem signare Figuris.

Whence it was that those Letters were called Phaenician ones by the Greeks. Yet Diodorus Si∣culus reports, that that was certain, and that it was only believed, that they did not invent, but change the Form of Letters; which is not unlikely, since Quintus Curtius says of them, if the Relation is to be believed, that they were the first that invented Letters, and shewed the Use of them: St. Augustine also, with many

others, is of Opinion, that the People of God had learned them of the first Fathers, as of Moses: And that before the Deluge it self, the first Characters, according to Josephus, had been engraven upon Pillars, which Seth caused to be erected in Syria, for the Preservation of the Sciences he had discovered: This agrees with what Pliny says concerning the Assyrian Letters, that they are no other than the Hebrew or Chal∣dean; As for my self, says that Author, I be∣lieve the Assyrian Letters were always in being. Hyginus attributes to the Distinies the Inventi∣on of the following Greek Letters, A, B, H, I, T, Γ. And 'tis for that Reason Martianus Capella calls them the Secretaries of Heaven.

Josephus, in the Beginning of his Jewish An∣tiquities, rejecting the Opinion of the Greeks and Egyptians, will have us to believe, that the Gre∣cians came very late to the Knowledge of Let∣ters, that they received them from the Phaenici∣ans, and not from Cadmus, seeing at that time there were no Inscriptions found in the Temples of their Gods, nor in the publick Places; it be∣ing certain, the Greeks had nothing of greater Antiquity, than the Works of Homer; tho' Ci∣cero in his Orator, entituled Brutus, tells us, they had Poets more ancient than Homer, who con∣tented themselves with rehearsing their Poems by heart, because they had not yet found out the Use of Writing, or of Letters. Pliny, Lib. 7. Chap. ••6. will have the most ancient Letters to have been the Assyrian, and that Cadmus about the Year of the World 2520, above 250 Years before the Trojan War, brought Sixteen of them from Phaenicia into Greece, viz. A, B, C, D, E, G, I, L, M, N, O, P, R, S, T, Ʋ, to which Palamedes, du∣ring the Trojan War, had added Four, Θ, Ξ, φ, T. Herodotus will have it, That the Phaenicians, who came with Cadmus into Greece, brought Writing Characters thither; which Diodorus Si∣mulus also affirms; but at the same time he shews these Letters were not the same which Cadmus brought with him, seeing they had had them there before the Deluge of Deucalion, and that he did no more than revive the Use of them. Eupolemius attributes the first Invention of Let∣ters to Moses, who gave them to the Jews long before Cadmus his Time, and the Jews to the Phaenicians, who were their Neighbours: Philo the Jew ascribes them to Abraham a long Time before Moses; and Josephus in the First Book of his Antiquities, carries the Matter still farther, as high as Adam's Children, even to Seth, who engraved the Characters thereof upon Two Pillars.

Moses his first Characters were not those He∣brew ones used now, which were invented by Ezra after the Babilonish Captivity, but those which were called Samaritan, according to St. Jerome, in his Preface to the Book of Kings: And this is agreeable to the Sentiments of some Rabbins, who ground the same upon the Sama∣ritans, having always the Law of Moses written in the Five Books, called the Pentateuch, in their own Characters, and that the same were inscri∣bed upon ancient Medals of Gold and Silver, which were found in Jerusalem, and divers other Parts of Palesline. But this Opinion is not without its Difficulty; as may be seen by the Talmud, where Marsuka says, that the Law was first given to the Children of Israel in Hebrew Characters, but that afterwards Ezra put it in∣to the Aramean Tongue, and Assyrian Characters. There are some Authors who maintain, that Moses made use of two sorts of Characters, one, which is the Hebrew, for Sacred Things, and the other, which is the Samaritan, for pro∣phane Matters, and of which last the Chaldeans made use, and that the Greek and Latin Cha∣racters were formed of these; the last of which being no other than the Greek Capitals, accord∣ing to the Testimony of Pliny, who proves it by an ancient Inscription engraven upon Brass, and brought from Delphos to Rome.

〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉.

And he says in Chap. 56. These were Assyrian Letters, or according to some Authors, Syriac: But they are rather Samaritan, which, besides the Aleph and Jod, are so like the Greek and La∣tin ones, if they be considered and taken upside down, that they are almost the same thing. Eu∣sebius confirms the same Matter by the Greeks own Denomination, or Imitation of Caldaism therein, by their adding an A, as in Alpha in∣stead of Aleph, Beta for Beth, Gamma for Gimel, Delta for Deleth, &c.

Simonides, Evander and Demaratus were the first that brought Letters into Italy, the one from Arcadia, and the other from Corinth, the last into Tuscany, and the other to that Part of the Country where he settled: In a Word, the ancient Greek Letters were very like ours, but we had but a very few of them at first; the rest were since added. The Emperor Claudins, in Imitation of the Ancients, invented Three Let∣ters, that continued in Use during his Reign, and were abolish'd after his Death: The Form of them are still to be seen in the Temples, and other publick Places of Rome, upon the Copper Plates, whereon the Decrees of the Senate were engraven.

The Hebrews made a Division of their Let∣ters into Guttural, viz. ab, cb, gn, Dental z, s, r, Labial b, m, n, p, and those of the Tongue, viz. d, t, l, n. Crinitus says, Moses in∣vented the Hebrew Letters, Abraham the Sy∣riac and Chaldee; the Phaenicians those of Attica, (••ighteen whereof Cadmus brought into Greece, and which the Pelasgi carried into Italy) and Ni∣costrates the Latin Letters.

The Egyptians instead of Letters used the Fi∣gures of Animals, and of Birds, which they cal∣led Hieroglyphicks, and were invented by Isis.

The Gothick or Toledo Letters were invented by Guesila, Bishop of the Goths.

The Letters, F, G, H, K, Q, X, Y, Z, were formerly not known to the Romans, as is proved by Claudius Dausquias in his Orthogra∣phy, wherein he shews the Origin of Letters.

The Grammarians distinguish Letters into Vowels and Consonants; into Mutes, double Letters, Liquids, and Characteristicks. They reckon Six Vowels, A, E, I, O, Ʋ, and Y, they are thus called, because they have a distinct Sound of themselves, and can alone form a Syllable, There are Eighteen Consonants, who require the Help of a Vowel in order to the Forming of an Articulate Sound, and Compo∣sing a Syllable. Of the Eighteen Consonants the X and the Z, according to the Ancients Way of Pronouncing them, are properly no more than Abbreviations; the X, being no∣thing else but a C, and an S; and the Z, a D, and an S; and for this Reason, they are called double Letters.

King Chilperic had a Mind to introduce all the double Greek Letters into the French Alphabet, that so by one single Character they might express the th, ch, ph, ps; and this was put in Practise during his Reign, according to the Testimony of Gregory of Tours.

Of the Sixteen Consonants which remain, there are Four which they called Liquids or Fluent ones, viz. L, R, M, N; tho' strictly speaking, there are no more than the L and the R, which deserve this Name: the other two especially the M, being but very little liquid: There are Ten of them which may be called Mutes, and may be divided into Three Clas∣seles, according to the Affinity they have one to another.

Mutes,

• B, P, F, V,
• C, Q, G, I,
• D, T,

As for the other two, the S makes a Class by it self, unless the two double ones X and Z be joined thereunto, because it makes up the principal Part of them: As for the H 'tis no more than an Aspiration, altho' for that Rea∣son it ought not to be struck out of the Num∣ber of Letters.

Of Vowels in general.

There is nothing wherein we have more changed the Pronunciation of the Ancients, than in them, for we do not continue to take Notice of the Distinction between long and short Vowels, whereon depends all the Quantities of Syllables, excepting those who are long by Position; thus in pronouncing of Amabamm and Circumdabam, one may easily see that mā is long in the first Word, and dā short in the se∣cond: But in pronouncing Dabam or Stabem, you cannot conceive whether the first Syllable of either of them be long or short: but the Ancients in their Pronounciation made an ex∣act Distinction between all the long and all the short Vowels, where-ever they met with them. They also observed this Distinction in their Writing, between long and short Vowels, wherein they often doubled the Vowel to de∣note a long Syllable: Which is testified by Quintilian to have continued in Use to the Time of Attius. They also sometimes placed the Letter H between the said double Vowel, to render the Pronounciation thereof the stron∣ger, as Abala was put for Ala; and 'tis for this Reason, that we likewise find among the An∣cients Mehe put for mee or me; and mebecum put for mecum, and the same we do when we say, vehemens for veemens, and mihi for mi and mii of the Ancients. But afterwards in order to abridge the same, they have thought it e∣nough to draw a Line only above the said Vo∣wel, to shew it was long; which being not un∣derstood by the Transcribers, they have taken this Line for the Abbreviation of a Letter, which is the Cause, that we meet with totiens for toties, vicensimus for vicesimus, formonsus for formosus, aquonsus for aquosus, and the like; they being ignorant that among the Ancients the said Line was of no other Use than to de∣note the Quantity of the Syllable.

Of Vowels in particular.

The Three first, viz. A, E, I, are called o∣pen Vowels, because they are pronounced with a more open and full Mouth than the others. The Three last Vowels are O, V, and the Greek T, and are named close Vowels, because they are pronounced with a closer and smaller Mouth than the foregoing ones.

The Dipthongs, which Lipsius calls Bivocales, double Vowels, are pronounced with a double Sound, as their Names do import; altho' both the Vowels are not heard equally or alike, be∣cause the one is sometimes weaker and the other stronger. They reckon Eight of them in La∣tin, viz. Ae, Ai, Au, Ei, Eu, Oe, Oi, Ʋi.

Of Consonants.

They reckon Eighteen Consonants in all who require a Vowel to be joined to them in order to the Forming of an Articulate Sound and com∣posing a Syllable; they are divided into Liquids and Mutes, into hissing and aspirated Con∣sonants.

There are Four Liquid or Fluent Letters, that is, such as pass quickly and easily, viz. L, R, M, N. L and R have so great an Affinity be∣tween them, that those, who would pronounce the R, cannot do it, because 'tis very harsh, and falls naturally into the L: From whence pro∣ceeds the mutual Change that has been between these Two Letters, for 'twas not the Athenians

alone that said 〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉 for 〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉; but the Latins used Cantherus for 〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉, and con∣slacuit for confracuit. The M has a dull Sound, and is pronounced with the outermost Parts of the Lips, from whence it has been called Mu∣giens Littera; it is drown'd often in Prose, as also sometimes in Verse. In the Law Restitutu' iri is put for Restitutum iri: The N on the Con∣trary was called Tinnieus Littera, because it had a clearer and sharper Sound, and sounded against the ••allate of the Mouth.

Those Consonants are called Mutes, which have a duller and less distinct sound than the rest. The B and the P are so like one another, that in the Opinion of Quintilian, concerning the Word Obtinuit, Reason would have him use a B, but his Ears could hear no other Sound than a P, Optinuit; for which Cause we see both by anci∣ent Inscriptions, and old Glosses, that these Two Letters have been often confounded, as apsens has been put for absens, obtimus for optimus; and the Germans to this Day say, ponum vinum for bonum vinum; these Two Letters have always had that in common, that they often slip in∣to Words without any need of them, as absporto put for asporto. The Letter F was pronounced as the Greek φ, but not with so strong an Aspi∣ration, according to the Testimony of Terren∣tianus. The Vah or V Consonant had a more plain Pronunciation, but with less Respiration than we now use it. The C and the Q are so very like one another, that several Grammarians have been minded to reject the Q as a superflu∣ous Letter, pretending that the C and the Ʋ were sufficient to express what we intend by a Q; but there is no reason why they should reject the Q, as Varro does, according to the Relation of Censorinus, and Licinius Calvus according to that of Victorinus; for 'tis still useful since it serves to join the two Vowels that follow into one Syllable, whereas the C denotes their being divided; and this is that which makes a Diffe∣rence between the Nominative, Qui, and the Da∣tive, Cui. D is nothing but a Diminution of T, as the G is of C, according to Quintilian, and these two Letters are so very like, that by rea∣son thereof, they are often found to be put one for another, as at for ad; which gives Quintilian occasion to laugh at those who make a Scruple of writing one indifferently for the other, as set for sed, haut for haud, atque for adque are to be met with in Inscriptions, and elsewhere.

In the French Tongue they write voit with a t, tho' it be derived from the Word Videt, and as often as the D is in the End of a Word, and that the succeeding Word begins with a Vowel, or an H that is not pronounced by way of Aspi∣ration, they sound it as a T; for Example, they pronounce it un grant Homme, tho' they write it un grand Homme. In every Thing else, they, as well as the English, have almost intirely retained the Pronunciation of the said two Let∣ters, saving that they soften the T very much when 'tis joined with an I before another Vowel, where they make it to sound very near like un∣to the S of the Ancients, as Pronuntio is sound∣ed, as if it were written Pronunsio. The S they call an hissing Letter, by reason of the Sound it has. The same has been variously received among the Ancients, some having rejected it very much while others did as much affect it: Pindar in a manner lays it aside in all his Verses: Quintilian says, 'tis harsh, and makes an ill Sound in the Conjunction of Words, whence it came to pass that many times it was entirely rejected: Plautus, Terence, and others using to write in this manner, Dignu' omnibu', and the like: Some of the Latins changed this Letter into a T; in Imitation of the Athenians, using Mertare for Mersare: Whereas others on the Contrary af∣fected the Use of it every where, as Casmenae was put for Camenae, Dusmosae for Dumosae: And Quintilian bears witness, that from Cicero's Time, and so onward, the same Letter was of∣ten doubled in the middle of Words, as may be instanced in Caussa, Divissiones, &c. But be it as it will, 'tis certain, that this Letter is harsh, if it be hissed out too much, or have too great a Train to follow it, and this has obliged the French to soften it to that degree, that when the same happens to fall between two Vowels they pronounce it like an Z.

The X sometimes is put with the C, as in the Words vicxit, juncxit, and the like; and many times with S, as you see in Capadoxs, Conjunxs, &c. St. Isidore testifies, that this Letter was not in use before the Reign of Augustus, and Victorinus says, Nigidius would never make use of it; and for the Z it was pronounced much more softly than the X; tho' the said Pronunciation was not altogether the same as it is at this Day, where∣in we give it but one half of an S, as in the Word Mezentius.

There has been a Dispute among Gramma∣rians, whether the H should be reckoned in the Number of Letters or no; because, say they, 'tis no more than an Aspiration.

It must be confest, the H is no more than an Aspiration, yet that does not hinder it to be a real Letter, which may be seen by what has been said before concerning the H.

The Romans made use of the Letters of the Alphabet only to denote their proper Names, and to abridge divers Words in their Inscriptions and ancient Monuments. A alone signified Aulus, from the Verb alo, he having been born Diis alentibus: In Judicial Proceedings it stood for absolvo; I discharge the Person accused: In the Assemblies for antiquo, I reject the Law proposed to be passed. A stood for Augustus: A A for Augusti, &c. C stood for Caius, he being so called from the Joy conceived by his Parents

at his Birth. C was used for Caesar, coming from the Verb Caedo, because his Mother's Body was cut open to bring him forth: C stood also for Consul, and C C for Consules, &c. D signi∣fied Decimus or Decius; that is, one born on the Tenth Day. L stood for Lucius, the Light, because the first Person that bore this Name was born at break of Day. M exprest Marcus, being as much as to say, one born in the Month of March, and this Letter with an Acute marked thus M' or with a Comma thus M' sig∣nifies Manius, that is, one born in the Morning, or rather, one that is all Good; the Contrary whereof is, Immanis, wicked, cruel, &c. N signifies Nepos, a Grandson. P implies Publius, from the Word Pubes, or Populus People. Q stands for Quintus. that is, the fifth Son of the Family, or Quaestor, a Treasurer, or Quirites, Cit∣tizens of Rome. T stands for Titus, from the Word Tueri, being as much as to say, the De∣fender or Preserver of ones Country, and the same Letters also of the Alphabet turned topsie∣turvey denoted the proper Names of the Ro∣man Ladies, W being put for Marca, and C for Caia.

They sometimes doubled the Letters of their Alphabet with the same Design, as A. P. signified Appius, which is derived from the Sabine Word Attius; for Attius Claudius was the first that was banished out of his Country that came to Rome, and changed his Name from Attius, to that of Appius Claudius. Cn signified as much as Cneus, that is, Naevus, from some Mark or Mole upon his Body. M F signified Marci Filius, the Son of Marck. M N denoted Marci Nepos; the Grandson of Marcus. P C signified Patres Conscripti; the Senators of Rome. P Q signi∣fied Populus Romanus; the Romans. R P was put for Respubiica; the Common-wealth. S C was used for Senatûs Consultum, the Order or Decree of the Senate. S P stands for Spurius, which denotes somewhat that was base in ones Birth, or that the Person was not legitimate. Ti, is put for Tiberius, as having been born near the Tiber. Cos. is put for Consul. Coss. for Consules in the Plural Number. S. P. Q. R. stands for Senatus, Populusque Romanus; the Senate and People of Rome. It is also found that the same Letter doubled serves to increase the Sig∣nification of a Word, or to signifie a Superlative Degree. Thus B. B. stands for bene bene: F. F. for fortissimè or felicissimè. L. L. for Iubentissimè, &c.

The Ancients, before Parchment was invent∣ed, wrote only on one fide, because the Leaves of the Tree, which they called Papyrus, whereon they wrote, were so thin, that the Back-side could not bear Ink: They did the same Thing, when they began to use Parchment, and as the Leaves thereof were very long and large, they were obliged to roll them up, and close them with a Boss made of Bone, Horn, or Ivory, like a Navel: And from thence came the Word Volume, from the Verb volvo, and this other La∣tin Phrase, ad umbilicum opus perductum; that is, a Business finish'd; for the same was closed up with this Boss or Stud: To write otherwise, was so very contrary to Custom; that when they were minded to ridicule any one, who was te∣dious, they said he wrote on both sides, and ne∣ver made an end. This Invention of Parchment is older than some Authors make it to be; since Herodotus relates, that the Ionians, who recei∣ved the Use of Letters from the Phoenicians, cal∣led the Skins of Beasts, Books; because they made use of them sometimes to write upon, and because a Treaty made between the old Ro∣mans and the Gabii, a People of Latium, was written in Antique Letters, upon an Ox his Hide, wherewith they covered a Wooden Shield, as Dionysius of Halicarnassus, informs us; they made use almost of all sorts of Things to write upon, as the Barks of Trees, Boards covered with Wax, or the like: Brass was also used on which the Spartans wrote to Simon, High Priest of the Jews; scripserunt ad cum, saith the Scripture, in Tabulis aereis: They wrote also up∣on Ivory, as Ʋlpian informs us, Libris Elephanti∣nis; upon Goat-skins, and the Entraiis of Animals, according to Herodotus, Cedrenus, and Zonaras; who relate, that there was in the Library at Constantinople, Homer's Iliads wrote in Gold Characters upon the Intestine of a Dragon, an 120 Foot in length. The Lombards, after their Irruption into Italy, wrote upon Wooden Ta∣bles, or Boards, that were very thin, whereon they drew Letters, as easily as upon Wax: Apuleius, in divers places, speaks of Linnea Books, Libri lintei, which were so valuable that they made no use of them but to record the Actions of the Roman Emperors; which were deposited in the Temple of Juno Moneta: They at first made use of a Stile to draw the Letters with; but afterwards Ink came in Fashion and the same was of divers Colours, even of Gold and Enamel. Pliny speaks of a Kind of pecu∣liar Ink for Books, which was mixt with some Wormwood-Juice to preserve them from Rats.

The Custom of using Gold is very ancient, seeing a certain Author hath given us an Ac∣count, that one of Pindar's Odes, which was the Seventh, was writ in Gold Characters, and kept in the Temple of Minerva: Silver was also in Use; but Purple was reserved for the Em∣perors only.