A Dictionary of Greek and Roman biography and mythology. By various writers. Ed. by William Smith. Illustrated by numerous engravings on wood.

240 GEMISrUS. GEMISTUS.
account of thie extraordinary amount'of kndwledge With a Latin translation, and BessarionTs ejpistle
which he possessed in nearly all the branches of on the same subject, by H. S. Reimarus, Leiden)
science; and the great number of writings which 1722, 8vo.
he left prove that his surname was by no means 3. rIepl'Apercv, De Virtutibus. Editions:mere flattery. Gemistus was one of the deputies The text, together with some of the minor works
of the Greek church that were present at the of the author, Antwerp, 1552, fol.; with a Latin
council of Florence, held in 1438, under pope Eu- translation, by Adolphus Orcanus, Basel, 1552,
genius IV., for the purpose of effecting a union 8vo.; by H. Wolphius, Jena, 1590, 8vo.
between the Latin and Greek churches. Gemistus 4. Orationes duae de Rebus Peloponnesiacis conat first was rather opposed to that union, since his stituendis, one addressed to the emperor Manuel
opinion on the nature of the Holy Ghost differed Palaeologus, and the other to the despot Theodogreatly from the belief of the Romish church, but rus. Ed. with a Latin translation, together with
he afterwards gave way, and, without changing the Editio Princeps of the Eclogae of Stobaeus, by
his opinion on that subject, was active in pro- G. Canterns, Antwerp, 1.575, fol.
moting the great object of the council. The union, 5. Ileplt v'ApLieo0'A77s crpis I'Adrwva &alp&
however, was not accomplished. Gemistus was peTal, De Platonicae atque Aristotelicae Plilosophide
still more renowned as a philosopher than as a DiTerentia. Ed.:-The Greek text, with a Latin
divine. In those times the philosophy of Aristotle paraphrase, by Bernardinus Donatus,Venice, 1532,
was prevalent, but it had degenerated into a mere 8vo.; the same, with a dissertation of Donatus on
science of words. Disgusted with scholastic phi- the same subject, ib. 1540, 8vo.; the same, with
losophy,,Gemistus made Plato the subject of long the same dissertation, Paris, 1541, 8vo.; a Latin
and deep study, and the propagation of the Plato- translation, by' G. Chariandrus, Basel, 1574, 4to.
nic philosophy became henceforth his principal This is one of his most remarkable works.
aim: the celebrated cardinal Bessarion was one of 5. MayrKuc Aoyla'rci dard Zwpodc-rpou 4?y1his numerous disciples. During his stay at Flo- O v&Ta. The Greek title differs in the MSS.: the
rence he was introduced to Cosmo de Medici; and work is best known under its Latin title, Oracula
having succeeded in persuading this distinguished Magica Zoroastris, and is an essay on the religion
man of the superiority of the system of Plato over of the ancient Persians. Ed.:-The text, with a
that of Aristotle, he became the leader of a new Latin translation, by T. Opsopoeus, Paris, 1599,
school of philosophy in the West. Plato's phi- 8vo.; by Thryllitsch, Leipzig, 1719, 4to.
losophy became fashionable at Florence, and had Besides these works, Gemistus made extracts of
soon gained so much popularity in Italy as to over- Appian's Syriaca, his object being to elucidate the
shadow entirely the philosophy of Aristotle. But history of the Macedonian kings of Syria; of
Gemistus and his disciples went too far: it was Theophrastus (History of Plants); Aristotle (Hiseven said that he had attempted to substitute Pla- tory of Animals, &c.); Diodorus Siculus (with
tonism for Christianism; and before the end of the regard to the kingdoms of Assyria and Media);
century Plato had ceased to be the model of Xenophon, Dionysits Halicarnasseus, and several
Italian philosophers. Gemistus is, nevertheless, other writers, whose works are either partly or
justly considered as the restorer of Platonic phi- entirely lost. He further wrote Prolegomena Artis
losophy in Europe. He was, of course, involved Rhetoricae, Funeral Orations (G. Gemistii sive
in numberless controversies with the Aristotelians, Plethonis et Michaelis Apostolii Orationes Funein the West as well as in the East, among whom bres Duae, in quibus de Immortalitate Animae exGeorgius, of Trebizond, held a- high rank, and ponitur, nunc primum ex MSS. editae, by Professor
much bitterness and violence were displayed on Fiilleborn, Leipzig, 1793, 8vo.); Essays on
each side. In 1441 Gemistus was again in the Music, Letters to Cardinal Bessarion, and other
Peloponnesus as an officer of the emperor: he was celebrated contemporaries, &c. &c., which are exthen advanced in years. He is said to have lived tant in MS. in different libraries of Europe. His
one hundred years, but we do not know when he geographical labours deserve particular notice. The
died. Royal Library at Munich has a MS. of Gemistus,
Gemistus wrote a surprising number of scientific entitled ALaypa4np airacnr~s felXorovvcrov 7rapaAfov
works, dissertations, treatises, compilations, &c. IKal eaorefiov, being a description of the Peloponconcerning divinity, history, geography, philosophy, nesus, in which he fixes the positions according to
and miscellaneous subjects. Several of them have the system of Ptolemy, with the writer's own corbeen printed. The principal are: — rections and additions. Gemistus wrote also a
1.'EK TWV ILO&cJpoV Kal HAov'rdpXov, ~repI rv Topography of Thessaly, and two small treatises,
PeTC r),v?V MUaPveica UAdX71r, lv ieqarpAatous 8sd- the one on the form and size of the globe, and the
AWkq+s, being extracts of Diodorus Siculus and Plu- other on some geographical errors of Strabo, which
tarchus, which are better known under their Latin are contained in the Anecdota of Siebenkees. Latitle, De Gestis Graecorums post pugnam ad Man- porte Dutheil, the translator of Strabo, derived
tineam Duobus Libris Diyesta. Editions: —The considerable advantage from extracts of Gemistus,
Greek text, Venice, 1503, fol.; a Latin translation, from the 7th, 8th, and 11th book of Strabo; and
by Marcus Antonius Antimachus,'Basel, 1540, the celebrated Latin edition of Ptolemy, published
4to.; the Greek text, together with Herodotus. in 1478, and dedicated to pope Sixtus IV., by
Basel, 1541;-the Greek text, by Zacharias Orthus, Calderino, was revised after an ancient Greek MS.
professor at the university of Greifswald, Rostock, of Ptolemy, in which Gemistus had written his
1575, 8vo.; the same by professor Reichard, under corrections. A publication of all the different inthe title rewoptov repaorov'o00 Kal 1IA0jwvos edited MSS. of Gemistus extant in various libraries'ETAAhrlcfv B&lAia B, Leipzig, 1770, 8vo. There in Europe would be most desirable: the classical
are French, Italian, and Spanish translations of no less than the Oriental scholar would derive
this book. equal advantage from such an undertaking. (Fa.
2. nepl Elapaefirvsr, De Fato. Edition: - bric. Bibl. Graec vol. viii. p, 79, not. dd, xii. p. 85