Athenæum, Athene

'UM, n.; pl. Lat. ATHENEA; pl. Eng. ATHENEUMS. [Lat.; from Gr. A then a i on, the temple of Minerva at Athens; from A then a i, Athens.] ( Antiq.) A public place frequented by profe ors of the liberal arts, and where rhetoricians declaimed, and the poets read aloud their works. At Athens these a emblies first took place in the temple of Minerva, whence the name. The A. at Rome was founded upon the Capitoline Hill, by the Emperor Adrian. It was a school or college, furnished with a complete staff of profe ors for the several branches of study. Like its A then i an prototypes, this establishment was frequented by the Roman orators, poets, and other learned men, who there de claimed their compositions, the emperors themselves frequently honoring the a emblies by their presence. At a subsequent period, another celebrated A. was erected at Lyons. These institutions, generally, appear to have retained their high reputation until the 5th century. At the present time, the term has been revived as a name for certain establishments connected with learning, as well as for clubs and libraries. It is also the not inappropriate title of several literary journals published in various countries. Athenæ'us, a Greek grammarian, of Naucrates, Egypt, who wrote a work entitled Table - Talk of the Sophists . published by Casaubon, in 1657. A the nagor as, one of the Greek fathers, is the author of two works, an Apology for Christians, and a treatise on the Resurrection of the Dead. There is no reliable information as to his history, but he is believed to have flourished about A. D. 170. Athena'is. See EUDOCIA. Athen'ian, a. Pertaining to Athens. -n. A native or inhabitant of Athens. A the no do'rus, the son of Age sander, a Greek sculptor of the Rhodian school, who, with his father, and Polydorus, executed the celebrated group of the Lao coon, the best specimen now extant of the 3d stage of sculpture in Greece, during which the highest display of execution was succe fully coupled with the utmost pathos of conception. A. is supposed to have lived about 220 в. с.