128. For agates in general see Max Bauer's Precious Stones,
translated by L. J. Spencer (London, 1904). (F. W. R.n)
AGATHA, SAINT, the patron saint of Catania, Sicily, where
her festival is celebrated on the 5th of February. The legend
is that she was a native of Sicily (probably of Catania,
though Palermo also claims her), of noble birth and great
beauty. She repelled the advances of the Roman prefect sent
by the emperor Decius to govern Sicily, and was by his orders
brutally tortured and finally sent to the stake. As soon as
the fire was lighted, an earthquake occurred, and the people
insisted on her release. She died in prison on the 5th
of February 251. The rescue of Catania from fire during an
eruption of Mount Etna was later attributed to St Agatha's veil.
AGATHANGELUS, AGATHANGE or AKATHANKELOS, Armenian
historian, lived during the 4th century, and wrote a History
of the Reign of Dertad, or Tiridates, and of the Preaching
of St Gregory the Illuminator. The text of this history
has been considerably altered, but it has always been in
high favour with the Armenians. It has been translated
into several languages, and Greek and Latin translations
are found in the Acta Sanctorum Bollandistarum, tome
viii. As known to us the history consists of three parts,
a history of St Gregory and his companions, the doctrine of
Gregory, and the conversion of Armenia to Christianity.
See V. Langlois, Collection des historiens
anciens et modernes de l'Armenie (Paris, 1868).
AGATHARCHIDES, or AGATHARCHUS, of Cnidus, Greek historian
and geographer, lived in the time of Ptolemy Philometor
(181-146 B.C.) and his successors. Amongst other works,
he wrote treatises on Asia, Europe and The Red Sea.
Interesting extracts from the last, of some length, are
preserved in Photius (cod. 213), who praises the style
of the author, which was modelled on that of Thucydides.
See H. Leopoldi, De Agatharchide Cnidio Dissertatio
(1892); C. W. Muller, Fragmenta Historicorum Graecorum,
iii., and Geographi Graeci Minores, i.; E. H.
Bunbury, Hist. of Ancient Geography, ii. (1879).
AGATHARCHUS, an Athenian painter of the 5th century B.C.
He is said by Vitruvius to have been the first to paint a scene
for the acting of tragedies. Hence some writers, such as Karl
Woermann, have supposed that he introduced perspective and
illusion into painting. This is a mistaken view, for ancient
writers know nothing of canvas scenes; the background painted
by Agatharchus was the wooden front of the stage building,
and it was painted, not with reference to any particular
play, but as a permanent decorative background, representing
no doubt a palace or temple. Agatharchus is said to have
been seized by Alcibiades and compelled by him to paint the
interior of his house, which shows that at the time (about
435 B.C.) decorative painting of rooms was the fashion.
AGATHIAS (c. A.D. 536-582), of Myrina in Aeolis,
Greek poet and historian. He studied law at Alexandria,
completed his training at Constantinople and practised as
an advocate (scholasticus) in the courts. Literature,
however, was his favourite pursuit. He wrote a number of
short love-poems in epic metre, called Daphniaca. He next
put together a kind of anthology, containing epigrams by
earlier and contemporary poets and himself, under the title
of a Cycle of new Epigrams. About a hundred epigrams by
Agathias have been preserved in the Greek Anthology and
show considerable taste and elegance. After the death of
Justinian (565), some of Agathias's friends persuaded him
to write the history of his own times. This work, in five
books, begins where Procopius ends, and is the chief authority
for the period 552-558. It deals chiefly with the struggles
of the Byzantine army, under the command of the eunuch
Narses, against the Goths, Vandals, Franks and Persians. The
author prides himself on his honesty and impartiality, but
he is lacking in judgment and knowledge of facts; the work,
however, is valuable from the importance of the events of
which it treats. Gibbon contrasts Agathias as ``a poet and
rhetorician'' with Procopius ``a statesman and soldier.''
AUTHORITIES.--Editio princeps, by B. Vulcanius (1594); in
the Bonn Corpus Scriptorum Byz. Hist., by B. G. Niebuhr
(1828); in Migne, Patrologia Graeca, lxxxviii.; L. Dindorf,
Historici Graeci Minores (1871); W. S. Teuffel, ``Agathias
von Myrine,'' in Philolegus (i. 1846); C. Krumbacher,
Geschichte der byzantinischen Litteratur (2nd ed. 1897).
AGATHO, pope from 678 to 681, was born in Sicily. He is
noteworthy as the pope who ordered St Wilfrid to be restored
to his bishopric at York in 679, and as the first to cease
payment of the tribute hitherto paid on election to the
emperor at Constantinople. It was during his pontificate
that the 6th oecumenical council was held at Constantinople,
to which he sent his legates and those from a Roman council
held in 679. Agatho died on the 10th of January 681.
AGATHOCLES (361-289 B.C.), tyrant of Syracuse, was
born at Thermae Himeraeae (mod. Termini Imerese) in
Sicily. The son of a potter who had removed to Syracuse,
he learned his father's trade, but afterwards entered the
army. In 333 he married the widow of his patron Damas, a
distinguished and wealthy citizen. He was twice banished for
attempting to overthrow the oligarchical party in Syracuse
(q.v.); in 317 he returned with an army of mercenaries under
a solemn oath to observe the democratic constitution which
was then set up. Having banished or murdered some 10,000
citizens, and thus made himself master of Syracuse, he created
a strong army and fleet and subdued the greater part of
Sicily. War with Carthage followed. In 310 Agathocles,
defeated and besieged in Syracuse, took the desperate resolve
of breaking through the blockade and attacking the enemy in
Africa. After several victories he was at last completely
defeated (306) and fled secretly to Sicily. After concluding
peace with Carthage, Agathocles styled himself king of
Sicily, and established his rule over the Greek cities of
the island more firmly than ever. Even in his old age he
displayed the same restless energy, and is said to have been
meditating a fresh attack on Carthage at the time of his
death. His last years were harassed by ill-health and the
turbulence of his grandson Archagathus, at whose instigation
he is said to have been poisoned; according to others, he
died a natural death. He was a born leader of mercenaries,
and, although he did not shrink from cruelty to gain his ends,
he afterwards showed himself a mild and popular ``tyrant.''
See Justin xxii., xxiii.; Diodorus Siculus xix., xxi., xxii.
(follows generally Timaeus who had a special grudge against
Agathocles); Polybius ix. 23; Schubert, Geschichte des
Agathokles (1887); Grote, History of Greece, ch. 97; also
SICILY, History. AGATHODAEMON; in Greek mythology, the
``good spirit'' of cornfields and vineyards. It was the custom
of the Greeks to drink a cup of pure wine in his honour at
the end of each meal (Aristophanes, Equites, 106). He was
also regarded as the protecting spirit of the state and of
individuals. He was often accompanied by 'Agathe Tuche
(good fortune), and in this aspect may be compared with
the Roman Bonus Eventus (Pliny, Nat Hist. xxxvi. 23), and
Genius. He is represented in works of art in the form of a
serpent, or of a young man with a cornucopia and a bowl
in one hand, and a poppy and ears of corn in the other.
See Gerhard, Uber Agathodamon und Bona Dea (Berlin, 1849).
AGATHODAEMON, of Alexandria, map designer, probably lived
in the 2nd century A.D. Some MSS. of the Geography of
Ptolemy contain twenty-seven maps, which are stated to have
been drawn by Agathodaemon of Alexandria, who ``delineated
the whole world according to the eight books of Ptolemy's
geography.'' As Ptolemy speaks of IIinakes to accompany his
treatise, these maps were probably the work of a contemporary
acting under his instructions. About 1470 Nicolaus Doris,
a Benedictine monk, brought out a revised edition of
them, the names being inserted in Latin instead of Greek.
See Bunbury, History of Ancient Geography, ii.
AGATHON (c. 448-400 B.C.), Athenian tragic poet, friend of
Euripides and Plato, best known from his mention by Aristophanes
(Thesmophoriazusae) and in Plato's Symposium, which describes
the banquet given to celebrate his obtaining a prize for a tragedy
(416). He probably died at the court of Archelaus, king of
Macedonia. He introduced certain innovations, and Aristotle
(Poetica, 9) tells us that the plot of his 0Antho1 was
original, not, as usually, borrowed from mythological subjects.
See Aristophanes, Thesmoph. 59, 106, Eccles. 100; Plato, Symp.
198 c; Plutarch, Symp. 3; Aelian, Var. Hist. xiv. 13; Ritsch,
Opuscula, i.; fragments in Nauck, Tragicorum Graecorum Fragmenta.
AGATHYRSI, a people of Thracian origin, who in the earliest
historical times occupied the plain of the Maris (Maros), in
the region now known as Transylvania. Thyrsi is supposed to
be a Scythian form of Trausoi (Trausi), a Thracian tribe
mentioned by Stephanus of Byzantium. They are described
by Herodotus (iv. 104) as of luxurious habits, wearing gold
ornaments (the district is still auriferous) and having wives in
common. They tattooed their bodies (picti, Aeneid iv. 136),
degrees of rank being indicated by the manner in which this
was done, and coloured their hair dark blue. Like the Gallic
Druids, they recited their laws in a kind of sing-song to
prevent their being forgotten, a practice still in existence
in the days of Aristotle (Problemata, xix. 28). Valerius
Flaccus (Argonautica, vi. 135) calls them Thyrsagetae,
probably in reference to their celebration of orgiastic rites
in honour of some divinity akin to the Thracian Dionysus.
In later times the Agathyrsi were driven farther north, and
their name was unknown to the Romans in their original home.
[26]. 88; Pomponius Mela ii. 1. 10: W. Tomaschek, ``Die alten
Thraker,'' in Sitzungsber. der philosophisch-historischen
Klasse der kaiserl. Akad. der Wiss. cxxviii. (Vienna, 1893).
AGAVE, a large botanical genus of the natural order Amaryllidaceae,
chiefly Mexican, but occurring also in the southern and western
United States and in central and tropical South America. The
plants have a large rosette of thick fleshy leaves generally
ending in a sharp point and with a spiny margin; the stout
stem is usually short, the leaves apparently springing from the
root. They grow slowly and flower but once after a number of
years, when a tall stem or ``mast'' grows from the centre of
the leaf rosette and bears a large number of shortly tubular
flowers. After development of fruit the plant dies down,
but suckers are frequently produced from the base of the
stem which become new plants. The most familiar species is
Agave americana (see fig.), a native of tropical America,
the so-called century plant or American aloe (the maguey of
Mexico). The number of years before flowering occurs depends
on the vigour of the individual, the richness of the soil
and the climate; during these years the plant is storing in
its fleshy leaves the nourishment required for the effort of
flowering. During the development of the inflorescence there
is a rush of sap to the base of the young flowerstalk. In
the case of A. americana and other species this is used by
the Mexicans to make their national beverage, pulque; the
flower shoot is cut out and the sap collected and subsequently
fermented. By distillation a spirit called mescal is
prepared. The leaves of several species yield fibre, as for
