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BAtTUS.
is merely a dialectic form for Bassarus or Bassareus, a surname of Bacchus. Naeke, lastly, conceives Battarus to be the name of a slave who was a skilful flute-player, or perhaps a shepherd, and who had formerly lived with the author of the " Dirae" on his estate, and remained there after the poet had been driven from it. Each of these conflicting opinions is supported by something or other that occurs in the poem itself; but it is impossible to elicit anything that would decide the question. (Wernsdorf, Poet. Lat. Min. iii. p. xlviii. &c,; Naeke, in the Rhein.Mus. ii. 1, p. 113, &c.) [L. S.]
BATTUS (Barros), a shepherd of Neleus, who saw Hermes driving away the cattle he had stolen from Apollo. The god promised to reward him if he would not betray what he had seen. Battus promised on oath to keep the secret; but as Hermes mistrusted him nevertheless, he assumed a different appearance, returned to Battus, and promised him a handsome present, if he would tell him who had stolen the cattle of Apollo. The shepherd was tempted, and related all he knew, whereupon Hermes touched him with his staff, and changed him into a stone. (Ovid, Met. ii. 688, &c.; Anton. Lib. 22.) [L. S.]
BATTUS and the BATTI'ADAE (Barros, BaTTidScu), kings of Cyrene during eight generations. (Herod, iv. 163 ; comp. Thrige,, Res Cyre-nensium^ § 42.)
1. battus L, the leader of the colony from Thera to Gyrene, was son of Polymnestus, a The-
raean noble, his mother, according to one account, being a Cretan princess. (Herod, iv. 150, 155.) By his father's side he was of the blood of the Minyae, and 17th in descent from Euphemus the Argonaut. (Herod, iv. 150; Find. Pyth. iv. 17, 311, 455, &c.; Apoll. Rhod. iv. 1750 ; Thrige, Res. Cyren. §§ 8, 11.) He is said to have been first called " Aristoteles" (Find. Pyth. v. 116; Callim. Hymn, in Apoll. 76) ; and we are left entirely to conjecture for the origin of the name " Battus," which he afterwards received. Herodotus (iv. 155) tells us, that it was the Libyan word for " king,'' and believes that the oracle which commanded the colonization of Libya applied it to him with reference to his future dignity. Others again have supposed Edrros to have been derived from Barrapifu;, and to have been expressive of the alleged impediment in his speech. (Suid.and Hesych. s. v. Barrapi^eii/; comp. Thrige, § 12 ; Strab. xiv. p. 662); while Thrige (I. c.) considers the name to be of kindred origin with Brjcrcroi, the appellation of the oracular priests of Dionysus among the Satrae. (Herod, vii. 111.) No less doubt is there as to the cause which led to the colonization of Cyrene. According to the account of the Cyrenaeans, Battus, having gone to consult the Delphic oracle about the removal of the physical defect above-mentioned, was enjoined to lead a colony into Libya ; while the story of the Theraeans was, that this injunction was laid on their king Grinus, and that he pointed to Battus as a younger and fitter man for the purpose. In either case, the command was not obeyed but with reluctance and after a long delay. (Herod, iv. 150 •—156.) According, again, to Menecles, an historian, perhaps of Barca (ap.Schol. ad Pind. Pyth. iv. JO; comp. Thrige, §§ 3, 15), Battus was driven forth from Thera by civil war, and was ordered by Apollo not to return to his country, but to betake himself to the continent. Lastly, the account of
BATTUS.
Jnstin (xiii. 7) is a strange mixture of the tw6 stories in Herodotus with the fable of Apollo's- love for the nymph Gyrene. (Comp. Thrige, § 17.) Amidst these statements, the one thing certain is, that Battus led forth his colonists in obedience to the Delphic oracle, and under a belief in the protection of Apollo 'ApxTjyeT^s. (Callim. Hymn, in Apoll. 65, &c., 55, &c.; Spanheim, ad loc.; compi Mttller, Dor. ii. 3. §§ 1, 7; Thrige, §§ 11,16, 76.) Of the several opinions as to the period at which the colonists first sailed from Thera, the most probable is that which places' it about 640 b. c. (M tiller, Orchom. p. 344), and from this point apparently we must begin to reckon the 40 years assigned by Herodotus (iv. 159) to the reign of Battus I. It was not, however, till after a settlement of two years in the island Platea, and between six and seven at Aziris on the main-land, that Gyrene was actually founded, about 631 b. a (Herod, iv. 157,158; Thrige, §§ 22—24), whence Ovid (/fo's, 541) calls Battus " conditor tardae Cyrrhae."
Little further is known of the life of Battus I. He appears to have been vigorous and successful in surmounting the difficulties which beset his infant colony, in making the most of the great natural advantages of the country, and in subjugating the native tribes, with the assistance, it is said, of the Lacedaemonian Anchionis. (Find. Pyth. v. 72, &c.; Aristot. ap. Scliol. ad Aristoph. Pint. 925 ; Pans. iii. 14.) Diodorus tells us (Exc. de Virt. d Vit. p. 232), that he governed with the mildness and moderation befitting a constitutional king ; and Pindar (Pyth. v. 1*20, &c.) celebrates his pious works, and especially the road (ffKvpooTT) 686s, comp. Bb'ckh, Pub'. Econ. of Athens, bk. ii. c. 10) which he caused to be made for the sacred procession to Apollo's temple, also built by him. (Callim. Hymn, in Apoll. 77.) Where this road joined the Agora, the tomb of Battus was placed, apart from that of the other kings. (Find. Pyth. v. 125, &c.; Catull. vii. 6.) His subjects worshipped him as a hero, and we learn from Pausanias (x. 15), that they dedicated a statue of him at Delphi, representing him in a chariot driven by the nymph Gyrene, with Libya in the act of crowning him. (See Thrige, §§ 26, 28.)
2. arcesilaus I. ('Ap/cecriAaos1) was a son of the above (Herod, iv. 159); but nothing is recorded of him except that he reigned, and apparently in quiet, for 16 years, b. c. 599—583.
3. battus II., surnamed "the Happy," principally from his victory over Apries (Bdrros 6 EvBainow], was the son of No. 2, and the third king of the dynasty ; for the opinion of those who consider that Herodotus has omitted two kings between Arcesilaus I. and the present Battus, is founded on an erroneous punctuation of iv. 159, and is otherwise encumbered with considerable chronological difficulties. (Thrige, §§ 29, 42, 43; comp. Prut. Cor. 11.) In this reign, Gyrene received a great accession of strength by the influx of a large number of colonists from various parts of Greece, principally perhaps from Peloponnesus and from Crete and the other islands, whom the state invited over under the promise of a new division of lands (probably to enable herself to make head against the neighbouring Libyans), and who were further urged to the migration by the Delphic oracle. (Herod, iv. 159, comp. c. 161.) This influx apparently giving rise to further en-
