JULIA,

DAUGHTER of Augustus and Scribonia, was the wife successively of Metellus, Agrippa, and Tiberius. She was banished for her debaucheries by ⚫ her father, and died of want in the beginning of the reign of Tiberius, A. D. 15. Her daughter, Julia, was equally licentious.

L.
LAIS,

A CELEBRATED Courtezan, was supposed to be the daughter of the courtezan Timandra and Alcibiades. She was born at Hyrcania, in Sicily, and being carried into Greece by Nicias, the Athenian general, began her conquests by music. Almost all the celebrated courtezans of antiquity were originally musicians; and that art was considered almost a necessary female accomplishment.

Lais spent most of her life at Corinth, and from that is often called the Corinthian. Diogenes the cynic was one of her admirers, and also Aristippus, another celebrated philosopher. This woman sometimes ridiculed the fidelity of the philosophers she had captivated. "I do not understand what is meant by the austerity of philosophers," | she said, "for with this fine name, they are as much in my power as the rest of the Athenians."

After having corrupted nearly all the youth of Corinth and Athens, she went into Thessaly, to see a lover of hers; where she is said to have been stoned by the women, jealous of her power over their husbands, B. C. 340, in the temple of Venus.

her beauty was in the decline, and Demetrius, the handsomest prince of his time, was much younger than herself.

At her instigation, he conferred such extraordinary benefits on the Athenians, that they renered him divine honours; and, as an acknowledgment of the influence Lamia had exercised in their favour, they dedicated a temple to her, under the name of "Venus Damia."

The celebrated Lamia was among the captives on this occasion, and Demetrius, who was said to have conquered as many hearts as cities, conceived so ardent a passion for her, that from a sovereign he was transformed into a slave-though

LAODICE,

DAUGHTER of Priam, king of Troy, and of his wife Hecuba, who fell in love with Acamas, son of Theseus, who came to Troy to demand the restoration of Helen to Menelaus. She had a son, called Munitus, by him. She afterwards married Helicaon, son of Antenor and Telephus, king of Mysia. She is said to have thrown herself from the top of a tower, when Troy was taken by the Greeks.

LAODICE,

A SISTER of Mithridates the Great, king of Pontus, flourished about B. C. 120. She first married Ariarthes VII., king of Cappadocia; but he being assassinated by order of Mithridates, she next married Nicomedes, king of Bithynia, who had taken possession of Cappadocia. She was put to death by Mithridates, for plotting his assassination. Laodice was also the name of a queen of Cappadocia, who was put to death by the people, for poisoning five of her children.

LAODICE,

A SISTER of Antiochus II., king of Syria, who also became his wife, and had two sons by him. She murdered Berenice, daughter of Ptolemy of Egypt, another wife of Antiochus, after having poisoned the king. She then suborned Artemon, who resembled Antiochus, to represent him. Artemon, accordingly, pretended to be indisposed, and, as king, called all the ministers, and recom

LAMIA,

THE most celebrated female flute-player of antiquity, was regarded as a prodigy-from her beauty, wit, and skill in her profession. The honours she received, which are recorded by several authors, particularly by Plutarch and Athe-mended to them Seleucus, surnamed Callamachus,

næus, are sufficient testimonies of her great power over the passions of her hearers. Her claim to admiration from her personal charms, does not entirely depend upon the fidelity of historians, since an exquisite engraving of her head, upon amethyst, is preserved in a collection at Paris, which authenticates the account of her beauty.

As she was a great traveller, her reputation soon became very extensive. Her first journey from Athens, the place of her birth, was into Egypt, whither she was drawn by the fame of a flute-player of that country. Her genius and beauty procured for her the notice of Ptolemy, and she became his mistress; but in the conflict between Ptolemy and Demetrius Poliorcetes, for the island of Cyprus, about B. C. 332, Ptolemy being defeated, his wives, domestics, and military stores fell into the hands of Demetrius.

son of Laodice, as his successor. It was then reported that the king had died suddenly, and Laodice placed her son on the throne, B. C. 246. She was put to death by command of Ptolemy Euergetes of Egypt. The city of Laodicea received its name in honour of this queen. There are several other women of that name mentioned in ancient history.

One of these, the wife of a king of Pontus, was renowned for her beauty, and the magnificence of her court. But losing her only child, a daughter, by death, Laodice retired to her inner apartments, shut herself up, and was never seen afterwards, except by her nearest friends.

LEAH,

ELDEST daughter of Laban, the Syrian, who deceived Jacob into an intercourse, then termed marriage, with this unsought, unloved woman. She became mother of six sons, named as heads of six of the tribes of Israel. Among these was Levi, whose posterity inherited' the priesthood, and Judah, the law-giver, from whom descended

"Shiloh," or the Messiah. These were great primediately resolved to

vileges, yet dearly did Leah pay the penalty of wife Scribonia, and, her. He divorced his

her high estate, obtained by selfish artifice, in which modesty, truth, and sisterly affection, were alluviolated:Jacobjcher/husband, hated her and she know it;¿ knew, too, his heart was wholly given to his other wife, her beautiful, virtuous sister; what earthly punishment could have been so intensely grievous to Leah? As her name implies, "tender-eyed,” she was probably affectionate, but unprincipled and of a weak mind, or she would never have taken the place of her sister, whom she knew Jacob had served seven years to gain. Leah loved her husband devotedly, but though she was submissive and tender, and bore him many sons, a great claim on his favour, yet he never appeared to have felt for her either esteem or affection.

Jacob had sought to unite himself with Rachel in the holy union of one man with one woman, which only is true marriage; but the artifice of Laban, and the passion of Leah, desecrated this union, and by introducing polygamy into the family of the chosen Founder of the house of Israel, opened the way for the worst of evils to that nation, the voluptuousness and idolatry which. finally destroyed it. A treacherous sister, a forward woman, an unloved wife, Leah has left a name unhonoured and unsung. She was married: about B. C. 1753. putol kommid ydtrol FEW SNORI

LEENA, PAW PROSİNDE

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A COURTEZAN of Athens, took an active part in the conspiracy of Harmodius and Aristogiton, against Hipparchus, son of Pisistratus. She was arrested, and put to, the torture by Hippias, the brother of Hipparchus, but she refused to betray her accomplices. However, fearful that her reso lution would not endure against the torments she was suffering, she bit through her tongue, and spat it in the face of her tormentor. When the Athenians recovered their liberty, they erected to her honour the statue of a lion without a tongue. She lived about B. C. 505.191152 mods diban 7 :[ 62521 110 LEONTIUM, ¦• js*1⁄2 · I AN Athenian courtezan, who lived about B. C. 350, became a convert to the philosophy of EpiShe married Metrodorus, one of the principal disciples of Epicurus, and had a son by him, whom Epicurus commended to the notice and regard of his executors. She wrote in defence of the Epicurean philosophy, against Theophrastus, one of the principal of the peripatetic sect. The book is said by Cicero to have been written in a polite and elegant style. From her love of letters, she was drawn by Theodorus, the painter, in a posture of meditation.

Type

curus.

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LIVIA,

DAUGHTER of Livius Drusus Calidianus, márried Tiberius Claudius Nero, by whom she had two sons, Drusus and the emperor Tiberius. Her husband was attached to the cause of Antony; and as he fled from the danger with which he was threatened by Octavianus, afterwards the emperor Augustus, Livia was seen by Octavianus, who im

1

approbation of the augurs, married Livia. She enjoyed, from this moment, the entire confidence of Augustus, and gained a complete ascendency over his mind by an implicit obedience to his will by never ex-t pressing a desire to learn his secrets and by seeming ignorant of his infidelities. Her children by Drusus she persuaded Augustus to adopt as his own; and after the death of Drusus the eldest son, Augustus appointed Tiberius his successor. The respect and love of Augustus for Livia ended only with his life. As he lay dying, he turned his gaze on her, drew her in the grasp of death towards him, and said “ Livia, be happy, and remember how we have loved." it to num.kodi Livia has been accused of having involved ind one common ruin the heirs and nearest relationsɗ of Augustus, and also of poisoning her husband that her son might receive the kingdom sooner; but these accusations seem to be unfounded. By her husband's will she was instituted co-heiress: with Tiberius, adopted as his daughter, and directed to assume the name of Livia Augustad On the deification of Augustus, she became the priestess of the new god. [Foto Holonga o8,4 Į

Tiberius, her son, and the successor to Augusÿ¿ tús, treated her with great neglect and ingrati-Į tude, and allowed her no share in the government." She died A. D. 29; and Tiberius would not allow any public or private honours to be paid to her: memory. Tacitus speaks of her as being strictly moral, but says she was "an imperious mother, a compliant wife, a match for her husband in art, and her son in dissimulation." But if she was "strictly moral," she must have been far worthier than her son or her husband.

LUCRETIA..

I Ĵ 297 THIS celebrated female was the daughter of Lucretius, and the wife of Collatinus, an officer of rank; who, at the siege of Ardes, in the course of conversation, unfortunately boasted of the virtues › she possessed. Several other young men likewise expressed an entire confidence in the chastity and virtue of their wives. A wager was the conse→→ quence of this conversation; and it was agreed. ! that Sextus, the son of Tarquin, should go to Rome, for the purpose of seeing how the different females were employed. Upon his arrival at the capital, he found all the other ladies occupied in paying visits, or receiving different guests; but, ! when he went to the house of Collatinus, Lucretia was bewailing the absence of her husband, and directing her household affairs. As Sextus was distantly related to Collatinus, and son of the monarch who reigned upon the throne, Lucretia entertained him with that elegance and hospitality due to a man of such elevated rank. If the person of this charming woman excited brutal passions

:

in his bosom, her conversation delighted and cap tivated his mind; and a short time after he had retired to the apartment prepared for him, the terrified Lucretia beheld him enter her room. In vain this detestable man pleaded the violence of his passion this breach of hospitality, and this deviation from what was right; for the alarmed Lucretia preserved her purity until the monster presented a dagger to her breast, and swore by all the gods that he was determined to gratify his inclinations; and, that he would then kill her and one of Collatinus's slaves, and afterwards place him by the side of the injured Lucretia, and inform her husband that he had murdered both, in consequence of having discovered them in the act of committing the crime, The dread of having her memory tarnished by so y vile an aspersion at length induced the terrified Lucretia to consent to his desires; but the next morning, she despatched a messenger to her father and her husband, requesting them immediately to repair to Rome. They obeyed the summons with pleasure and alacrity, at the same time they were anxious to know the cause of this singular request; but, when they beheld the object of their solicitude, a thousand apprehensions took possession of their breasts. Instead of being welcomed with smiles of pleasure, the countenance of Lucretia was bathed in tears, her hair was dishevelled, her garments of the deepest sable, and her whole figure displayed the image of despair. After describing, in the most eloquent terms, the outrage that had been committed upon her person, she implored them to avenge the insult she had received; and, at the same time drawing forth a dagger, which she had concealed for the purpose, declared her resolution of not surviving her shame; and, before they were able to prevent the horrid purpose, buried the weapon in her heart,big tid

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MAKEDA,
AT
OR, as she is called by the Arabians, BALKISĮ
queen of Sheba, famous for her visit to Solomon,
was probably queen of Abyssinia, or of that part
of Arabia Felix which was inhabited by the Sa-
beans, where women were admitted to governa
Josephus says that she reigned over Egypt and
Ethiopia According to the Abyssinian historians,
Balkis was a pagan when she undertook the jours
ney; but struck by the grandeur and wisdom of
Solomon, she became a convert to the true reli-
gion. They also state that she had a son by Solo-
mon, named David by his father, but called Meni-
lek, that is, another self, by his mother. This son
was sent to the court of Solomon to be educated,
and returned to his own country accompanied by
many doctors of the law, who introduced the Jew
ish religion into Abyssinia, where it continued till
the introduction of Christianity,

1

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The horror and despair of these dear conneo- The compilers of the Universal History are of tions were indescribable. Brutus, one of her re- opinion, and so is Mr. Bruce, that the queen of lations, drew the reeking weapon from her bosom, Sheba was really sovereign of Ethiopia. They and, with all the energy of true feeling, swore he say that Ethiopia is more to the south of Judea, would avenge her fate! I swear by this blood, than the territory of the kingdom of Saba in Araonce so pure," said he, and which nothing but bia Felix; consequently had a better claim than the villany of a Tarquin could have polluted, that that country to be the dominions of the princess. I will pursue Lucius Tarquinius the Proud, his whom our S I Saviour calls "the Queen of the South." wicked wife and their children, with fire and One thing is certain-a queen came from a far sword; nor will I ever suffer any of that family, country to "hear the wisdom of Solomon;" while or any other, henceforward to reign in Rome! there is no record that any king sought to be inAnd I now call all the gods to witness, that I will strueted in the truths of his philosophy, or to be most sacredly fulfil my oath.", dini onnat enlightened by his wisdom. Why was this, unless If the most poignant grief had taken possession the mind of the woman was more in harmony with of the minds of those who witnessed the dreadful this wisdom than were the minds of ordinary men? catastrophe which had recently happened, astonish- So it should be, if our theory of the intuitive fament for a moment banished the impression, at culty of woman's soul be true; for Solomon's wisthe firmness and energy of the noble Roman's dom was thus intuitive; the gift of God, not the words; who, until that moment, had assumed the result of patient reflection and logical l reasoning. appearance of idiotism, to avoid the suspicions of The mind of the queen was was undoubtedly gifted Tarquin the Proud. Roused into action by the with that refined sensibility for the high subjects affecting scene before him, the hatred which he discussed which stood to her in place of the learnhad long nourished burst into a flame, and he ing of the schools. And as she came to prove executed the vengeance he had threatened. The Solomon with "hard questions," she might have Tarquins were expelled from Rome, the kingly been, also, a scholar. She has left proof of her government was overthrown, and the Republic genius and delicate tact in her beautiful address 47 Judas de e #5979.

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founded, in consequence of the outrage on the
chaste Lucretia and her heroic death.
52
An inscription is said to have been seen at
Rome, in the diocese of Viterbo, composed by
Collatinus, in honour of Lucretia, to the following
purport Collatinus Tarquinius, to his most
dear and incomparable wife, honour of chastity,
glory of women. She who was most dear to me,
lived two-and-twenty years, three months, and six
days? did di moda ovaj dle li

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A WOMAN famed by the ancients for her extraor
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before presenting her offering to the wise king. Herod's remorse and grief were so great, that he See I. Kings, chap. x.

became for a time insane.

MIRIAM,

SISTER of Aaron and Moses, was daughter of Amram and Jochebad. Her name-Miriam, "the star of the sea," (according to St. Jerome, "she who brightens or enlightens")—may have been given from a precocious exhibition of the great qualities which afterwards distinguished her. That it was rightly given, her history proves. Our first view of her is when she is keeping watch over the frail basket, among the flags on the banks of the Nile, where Moses, her baby-brother, lay concealed. Miriam was then thirteen years old, but her intelligence and discretion seem mature. Then, when the time came for the redemption of Israel from the house of bondage, Moses was not alone; Aaron his brother and Miriam his sister were his coadjutors.

N.
NAOMI,

AND her husband Elimelech, went to the land
of Moab, because of a famine in Canaan. After
about ten years, her husband and two sons died,
leaving no children. Naomi then returned with
Ruth, one of her daughters-in-law, to her own
country, poor and humble. Yet it speaks well for
the character and consistency of Naomi, that she
so thoroughly won the love and respect of her
daughters-in-law. And not only this, but she must
have convinced them, by the sanctity of her daily
life, that the Lord whom she worshipped was the
true God. Her name, Naomi, signifies beauty;
and we feel, when reading her story, that, in its
highest sense, she deserves to be thus character-
ized.

After Ruth married Boaz, which event was brought about, humanely speaking, by Naomi's wise counsel, she appears to have lived with them; and she took their first-born son as her own, “laid him in her bosom, and became nurse to him." This child was Obed, the grandfather of David. Well might the race be advanced which had such a nurse and instructress. These events occurred about 1312, B. C.

NITOCRIS,

MENTIONED by Herodotus, is supposed by some to have been the wife or at least the contemporary