Phocion. Demosthenes and he could not well agree. The former was always warm, his language copious, and his designs extensive; and Phocion, on the other hand, was of a mild temper, delivered his opinion in very few words, and proposed schemes at once necessary and easy to be effected. Yet he seldom or never concurred with the people, but spoke as poignantly against their vices as Demosthenes himself; insomuch, that this orator once told him, The Athenians, Phocion, in some of their mad fits, will murder thee.' The same (answered he) may fall to thee, Demosthenes, if ever they come to be sober.'

He was afterwards appointed to command the army which was sent to assist the Byzantines against Philip, whom he obliged to return to his own dominions. This truly great man, whom (though extremely poor) no sum could bribe to betray his country, and who at every risk on all occasions gave them sound advice, was at length accused by his ungrateful countrymen. This event happened in the year before Christ 318. He was sent to Athens by Polysperchon head of a faction in Macedonia, together with his friends, chained in carts, with this message, "That though he was convinced they were traitors, yet he left them to be judged by the Athenians as a free people." Phocion demanded whether they intended to proceed against him by form of law; and some crying out that they would, Phocion demanded how that could be if they were not allowed a fair bearing but perceiving, by the clamour of the people, that no such thing was to be expected, he exclaimed, "As for myself, I confess the crime objected to me, and submit to the judgment of the law; but consider, O ye Athenians, what have these poor innocent men done that they should be involved in the same calamity with me?" The people replied with great vociferation, "They are your accomplices, and that is enough." Then the decree was read, adjudging them all to death, viz. Phocion, Nicocles, Aheudippus, Agamon, and Pythocles; these were present: Demetrius Phalereus, Callimedon, Charicles, and others, were condemned in their absence. Some moved that Phocion might be tortured before he was put to death; nay, they were for bringing the rack into the assembly, and torturing him there. The majority, however, thought it enough if he was put to death, for which the decree was carried unanimously; some putting on garlands of flowers when they gave their votes. As he was going to execution, a person who was his intimate friend asked him if he had any message for his son? "Yes," replied Phocion; "tell him it is my last command that he forget how ill the Athenians treated his father."

The spleen of his enemies was not extinguished with his life they passed a decree whereby his corpse was banished the Athenian territories; they likewise forbade any Athenians to furnish fire for his funeral pile. One Conopian took up the corpse, and carried it beyond Eleusina, where he borrowed some fire of a Megarian woman and burned it. A Megarian matron, who attended with her maid, raised on the place an honorary monument; and having gathered up the bones, carried them home, and buried them under her own hearth; praying at the same time thus to the Penates: "To you, O ye gods, guardians of this place, I commit the precious remains of the most excellent Phocion. Protect them, I beseech you, from all insults; and deliver

then one day to be reposited in the sepulchre of his an- Phocion, cestors, when the Athenians shall become wiser." It Phocis. was not long before this opportunity occurred. When the Athenians began to cool a little, and remember the many services they had received from Phocion, they decreed him a statue of brass; ordered his bones to be brought back at the public expence; and decreed that his accusers should be put to death. Agnonides, who was principally concerned in that tragedy, suffered; but Epicurus and Demophilus, who were also accomplices in it, fled. However, Phocion's son met with them, and executed his revenge upon them; which was almost the only good action he ever performed, as he had a very small share of his father's abilities, and not of any his virtues. Such is the fickleness and such the injustice of popular governments; failings which, if we are to judge from universal experience, are absolutely inseparable from them.

PHOCIS, (Demosthenes, Strabo, Pausanias); a country of Greece, contained between Boeotia to the east and Locris to the west, but extending formerly from the Sinus Corinthiacus on the south to the sea of Euboea on the north, and, according to Dionysius, as far as Thermopyla; but reduced afterwards to narrower bounds. Phocenses, the people; Phocicus, the epithet, (Justin); Bellum Phocicum, the sacred war which the Thebans and Philip of Macedon carried on against them for plundering the temple at Delphi; and by which Philip paved the way to the sovereignty of all Greece, (Justin). It greatest length was from north to south, that is, from 38° 45′ to 39° 20′, or about 35 miles; but very narrow from east to west, not extending to 30 miles, that is, from 23° 10' to 23° 40′ at the widest, but about 23 miles towards the Corinthian bay and much narrower still towards the north. This coun- Ancient Univ. Hist. try is generally allowed to have taken its name from Phocus the son of Ornytion, a native of Corinth; but having been soon after invaded by the Eginetæ, under the conduct of another Phocus, who was the son of Eacus king of Enopia, the memory of the first insensibly gave way to that of the second.

In Phocis there were many celebrated mountains, such as Cytheron, HELICON, and PARNASSUS. The last two we have already noticed in the order of the alphabet. Cytheron was consecrated to the muses as well as the other two, and was consequently much celebrated by the poets. Both it and Helicon contend with Mount Parnassus for height and magnitude. There were no remarkable rivers in Phocis except Cephisus, which runs from the foot of Parnassus northward, and empties itself into the Pindus, which was near the boundary of that kingdom. It had several very considerable cities; such as Cyrra, Crissa, and Antecyra, which, according to Ptolemy, were on the sea coasts; and Pythia, Delphi, Daulis, Elatia, Ergosthenia, and Baulia, which were inland towns. Elatia was the largest and richest after Delphi.

Deucalion was king of that part of Phocis which lies about Parnassus, at the time that Cecrops flourished in Attica; but the Phocians afterwards formed themselves into a commonwealth, to be governed by their general assemblies, the members of which were chosen from among themselves, and were changed as often as occasion required. Of the history of the Phocians but little is known till the time of the holy war, of which 3 E 2

vol. v.

Phocis Phoenicia.

we have the following account in the Ancient Universal History.

"The Phocians having presumed to plough the territories of the city of Cyrra, consecrated to the Delphic god, were summoned by the other Grecians states before the court of the Amphictyons, where a considerable fine was imposed upon them for their sacrilege. They refused to pay it, on pretence that it was too large; and at the next assembly their dominions were adjudged confiscated to the use of the temple. This second sentence exasperated the Phocians still more; who, at the instigation of one Philomelus, or, as he is called by Plutarch, Philomedes, seized upon the temple, plundered it of its treasure, and held the sacred depositum for a considerable time. This second crime occasioned another assembly of the Amphictyons, the result of which was a formal declaration of war against the Phocians. The quarrel being become more general, the several states took part in it according to their inclinations or interest. Athens, Sparta, and some others of the Peloponnesians, declared for the Phocians; and the Thebans, Thessalians, Locrians, and other neighbouring states, against them. A war was commenced with great fury on both sides, and styled the holy war, which lasted ten years; during which the Phocians, having hired a number of foreign troops, made an obstinate defence, and would in all probability have held out much longer had not Philip of Macedon given the finishing stroke to their total defeat and punishment. The war being ended, the grand council assembled again, and imposed an annual fine of 60 talents upon the Phocians, to be paid to the temple, and continued till they had fully repaired the damage it had sustained from them; and, till this reparation should be made, they were excluded from dwelling in walled towns, and from having any vote in the grand assembly. They did not, however, continue long under this heavy sentence: their known bravery made their assistance so necessary to the rest, that they were glad to remit it; after which remission they continued to behave with their usual courage and resolution, and soon obliterated their former guilt."

We cannot finish this article without mentioning more particularly Daulis, rendered famous, not so much for its extent or richness, as for the stature and prowess of its inhabitants; but still more for the inhuman repast which was served up to Tereus king of Thrace by the women of this city, by whom he was soon after murdered for the double injury he had done to his sister-in law Philomela, daughter of Pandion king of Athens. See PHILOMELA.

PHOEBUS, one of the names given by ancient mythologists to the Sun, Sol, or Apollo. See APOLLO.

PHOENICIA, or more properly PHOENICE, the ancient name of a country lying between the 34th and

36th degrees of north latitude; bounded by Syria on Phoenicia. the north and east, by Judæa on the south, and by the Mediterranean on the west. Whence it borrowed its name is not absolutely certain. Some derive it from Ancient one Phoenix; others from the Greek word phonix, sig- Univ. Hist nifying a palm or dute, as that tree :emarkably abound. vol. ii. ed in this country. Some again suppose that Phoenice is originally a translation of the Hebrew word Edom, from the Edomites who fled thither in the days of David. By the contraction of Canaan it was also called Chna, and anciently Rhabbothin and Colpitis (A). The Jews commonly named it Canaan; though some part of it, at least, they knew by the name of Syrophonice (B). Bochart tells us that the most probable etymology is Phene Anak, i. e. "the descendants of Anak." Such were the names peculiar to this small country; though Phoenice was sometimes extended to all the maritime countries of Syria and Judea, and Canaan to the Philistines, and even to the Amalekites. On the contrary, these two names, and the rest, were most generally swal lowed up by those of Palestine and Syria (c).

There is some disagreement among authors with respect to the northern limits of this country. Ptolemy makes the river Eleutherus the boundary of Phoenice to the north; but Pliny, Mela, and Stephanus, place it in the island of Aradus, lying north of that river. Strabo observes, that some will have the river Eleutherus to be the boundary of Seleucis, on the side of Phonice and Colesyria. On the coast of Phoenice, and south of the river Eleutherus, stood the following cities: SIMYRA, Orthosia, TRIPOLIS, Botrys, Byblus, Palæbyblus, Berytus, SIDON, SAREPTA, TYRUS, Paletyrus.

Phoenice extended, according to Ptolemy, even beyond Mount Carmel; for that geographer places in Phoenice not only Ecdippa and Ptolemais, but Sycaminum and Dæra, which stand south of that mountain. These, however, properly speaking, belonged to Palestine. We will not take upon us to mark out the bounds of the midland Phoenice. Ptolemy reckons in it the following towns; Arca, Palæbyblus (Old Byblus), Gabala, and Cæsaria Paniæ. This province was considerably extended in the times of Christianity; when, being considered as a province of Syria, it included not only Damascus but Palmyra also.

The soil of this country is good, and productive of many necessaries for food and clothing. The air is wholesome, and the climate agreeable. It is plentifully. watered by small rivers; which, running down from. Mount Libanus, sometimes swell to an immoderate de gree, either increased by the melting of the snows on. that mountain, or by heavy rains. Upon these occasions they overflow, to the great danger and hinderance of the traveller and damage of the country. Among these rivers is that of ADONIS.

It

It is universally allowed that the Phoenicians were Canaanites (D) by descent: nothing is plainer or less contested, and therefore it were time lost to prove it. We shall only add, that their blood must have been mixed with that of foreigners in process of time, as it happens in all trading places; and that many strange families must have settled among them, who could consequently lay no claim to this remote origin, how much soever they may have been called Phoenicians, and reckoned of the same descent with the ancient proprietors.

The Phoenicians were governed by kings; and their territory, as small a slip as it was, included several kingdoms; namely, those of Sidon, Tyre, Aradus, Berytus, and Byblus. In this particular they imitated and adhered to the primitive government of their forefathers; who, like the other Canaanites, were under many petty princes, to whom they allowed the sovereign dignity, reserving to themselves the natural rights and liberties of mankind. Of their civil laws we have no particuJar system.

With regard to religion, the Phoenicians were the most gross and abominable idolaters. The Baal-berith, Baalzebub, Baalsamen, &c. mentioned in Scripture, were some of the Phoenician gods; as were also the Moloch, Ashtaroth, and Thammuz, mentioned in the sacred writings.-The word Baal, in itself an appellative, was no doubt applied to the true God, until he rejected it on account of its being so much profaned by the idolaters. The name was not appropriated to any particular deity among the idolatrous nations, but was common to many; however, it was generally imagined that one great God presided over all the rest. Among the Phoenicians this deity was named Baal-samen; whom the Hebrews would have called Baal-shemim, or the God of heaven. In all probability this was also the principal Carthaginian deity, though his Punic name is unknown. We have many religious rites of the Carthaginians handed down to us by the Greek and Roman writers; but they all bestowed names of their own gods upon those of the Carthaginians, which leads us to a knowledge of the correspondence between the characters of the Phoenician and European deities. The principal deity of Carthage, according to Diodorus Siculus, was Chronus or Saturn. The sacrifices offered up to him were children of the best families. Our author also tells us, that the Carthaginians had a brazen statue or colossus of this god, the hands of which were extended in act to receive, and bent downwards in such a manner, that the child laid thereon immediately fell down into a bollow where there was a fiery furnace. He adds also, that this inhuman practice seemed to confirm a tradition handed down to the Greeks from very early antiquity, viz. that Saturn devoured his own chil dren.

The goddess. Coelestis, or Urania, was held in the

highest veneration by the Carthaginians. She is Phoenicia, thought to have been the same with the queen of heaven mentioned in Jeremiah, the Juno Olympia of the Greeks. According to Hesychius, the same word applied in the Punic language both to Juno and Venus: Nay, the ancient Greeks frequently confound Juno, Venus, and Diana or the moon, all together; which is to be attributed to the Egyptians and Phoenicians, from whom they received their system of religion; who seem in the most ancient times to have bad but one name for them all. Besides these there were several other deities of later date, who were worshipped among the Phonicians, particularly those of Tyre, and consequently among the Carthaginians also. These were Jupiter, Apollo, Mars, and Bacchus. Jupiter was worshipped under the name of Belus or Baal. To bim they addressed their oaths; and placed him for the most part, as. there is reason to believe, at the head of their treaties. The same name was also given to the other two, whence they were frequently mistaken for one another. Apollo or the sun, went either by this name simply, or by others of which this made a part.

The Carthaginian superstition, however, was not confined to these deities alone. They worshipped also the fire, air, and other elements; and had gods of rivers, meads, &c. Nay, they paid divine honours to the spi rits of their heroes, and even to men and women themselves while yet in life; and in this adoration Hannibal the Great had for some time a share, notwithstanding the infamous conduct of his countrymen towards him at last. In order to worship those gods with more conveniency on all occasions, the Carthaginians had a kind of portable temples. These were only covered chariots, in which were some small images representing their favourite deities; and which were drawn by oxen. They were also a kind of oracle; and their responses were understood by the motion impressed upon the vehicle. This was likewise an Egyptian or Libyan custom; and Tacitus informs us that the ancient Germans had something of the same kind. The tabernacle of Moloch is thought to have been a machine of this kind; and it is not improbable that the whole was derived from the tabernacle of the Jews in the wilderness.

Besides all the deities above mentioned, we still find another, named the Damon or Genius of Carthage, mentioned in the treaty made by Philip of Macedon and Hannibal. What this deity might be, we know not; however, it may be observed, that the pagan worldin general believed in the existence of dæmons, or intelligences who had a kind of middle nature between gods and men, and to whom the administration of the world was in a great measure committed. Hence it is no wonder that they should have received religious honours. For when once mankind were possessed with the opinion that they were the ministers of the gods, and trusted with the dispensation of their favours, as well as the infliction

preserved in this last way are much the best. Dates Phoenix. have always been esteemed moderately strengthening and astringent.

Phoenicia posed at a small distance from each other in the wings, or in the van and the rear: their triremes were conPhoenix. tracted together in the centre. If, at any time, they observed that a stranger kept them company in their voyage, or followed in their track, they were sure to get rid of him if they could, or deceive him if possible; in which policy they went so far, as to venture the loss of their ships, and even their lives; so jealous were they of foreigners, and so tenaciously bent on keeping the whole trade to themselves. In order to discourage other nations from engaging in commerce, they practised piracy, or pretended to be at war with such as they met when they thought themselves strongest. This was but a natural stroke of policy in people who grasped at the whole commerce of the then known world. We must not forget here the famous fishery of Tyre, which so remarkably enriched that city. See ASTRONOMY, No 7. OPHIR, and TYRE.

PHOENICOPTERUS, or FLAMINGO, a genus of birds belonging to the order of grallæ. See ORNITHOLOGY Inder.

PHOENIX, in Astronomy. See ASTRONOMY Index. PHOENIX, the Great Palm, or Date tree, a genus of plants belonging to the order of palmæ. See BOTANY Index. As the account of this valuable plant already given in its proper place, under BOTANY, is rather short to be satisfactory, we shall here enter a little more into the detail of its natural history. There is only one species, viz. the dactylifera, or common date-tree, a native of Africa and eastern countries, where it grows to 50, 60, and 100 feet high. The trunk is round, upright, and studded with protuberances, which are the vestiges of the decayed leaves. From the top issues forth a cluster of leaves or branches eight or nine feet long, extending all around like an umbrella, and bending a little towards the earth. The bottom part produces a number of stalks like those of the middle, but seldom shooting so high as four or five feet. These stalks, says Adanson, diffuse the tree very considerably; so that, wherever it naturally grows in forests, it is extremely difficult to open a passage through its prickly leaves. The date-tree was introduced into Jamaica soon after the conquest of the island by the Spaniards. There are, however, but few of them in Jamaica at this time. The fruit is somewhat in the shape of an acorn. It is composed of a thin, light, and glossy membrane, somewhat pellucid and yellowish; which contains a fine, soft, and pulpy fruit, which is firm, sweet, and somewhat vinous to the taste, esculent, and wholesome; and within this is inclosed a solid, tough, and hard kernel, of a pale gray colour on the outside, and finely marbled within like the nutmeg. For medicinal use dates are to be chosen large, full, fresh, yellow on the surface, soft and tender, not too much wrinkled; such as have a vinous taste, and do not rattle when shaken. They are produced in many parts of Europe, but never ripen perfectly there. The best are brought from Tunis; they are also very fine and good in Egypt and in many parts of the east. Those of Spain and France look well; but are never perfectly ripe, and very subject to decay. They are preserved three different ways; some pressed and dry; others pressed more moderately, and again moistened with their own juice; and others not pressed at all, but moistened with the juice of other dates, as they are packed up, which is done in baskets or skins. Those

Though the date tree grows everywhere indiscriminately on the northern coasts of Africa, it is not cultivated with care, except beyond Mount Atlas; because the heat is not sufficiently powerful along the coasts to bring the fruits to proper maturity. We shall here extract some observations from Mr Des Fontaines respecting the manner of cultivating it in Barbary, and on the different uses to which it is applied. All that part of the Zaara which is near Mount Atlas, and the only part of this vast desert which is inhabited, produces very little corn; the soil being sandy, and burnt up by the sun, is almost entirely unfit for the cultivation of grain, its only productions of that kind being a little barley, maize, and sorgo. The date-tree, however, supplies the deficiency of corn to the inhabitants of these countries, and furnishes them with almost the whole of their subsistence. They have flocks of sheep; but as they are not numerous, they preserve them for the sake of their wool; besides, the flesh of these animals is very unwholesome food in countries that are excessively warm; and these people, though ignorant, have probably been enabled by experience to know that it was salutary for them to abstain from it. The date trees are planted without any order, at the distance of 12 feet one from the other, in the neighbourhood of rivulets and streams which issue from the sand. Forests of them may be seen here and there, some of which are several leagues in circumference. The extent of these plantations depends upon the quantity of water which can be procured to water them for they require much moisture. these forests are intermixed with orange, almond, and pomegranate trees, and with vines which twist round the trunks of the date trees; and the heat is strong enough to ripen the fruit, though they are never exposed to the sun.

All

Along the rivulets and streams, dykes are erected to stop the course of their waters, in order that they may be distributed amongst the date trees by means of small canals. The number of canals is fixed for each individual; and in several cantons, to have a right to them, the proprietors are obliged to pay an annual sum proportionable to the number and extent of their plantations. Care is taken to till the earth well, and to raise a circular border around the root of each tree, that the water may remain longer and in larger quantity. The date trees are watered in every season, but more particularly during the great heats of summer.

It is generally in winter that new plantations of this tree are formed. For this purpose those who cultivate them take shoots of those which produce the best dates, and plant them at a small distance oue from the other. At the end of three or four years these shoots, if they have been properly taken care of, begin to bear fruit; but this fruit is as yet dry, without sweetness, and even without kernels; they never reach the highest degree of perfection of which they are susceptible till they are about 15 or 20 years old.

These plants are however produced from the seeds taken out of the fruit, provided they are fresh. They should be sown in pots filled with light rich earth, and plunged into a moderate hotbed of tanners bark, which

should