Of the Mythology of the Antient Ger­mans and Saxons.

THey represented the Sun under many Mystical Signatures and other Mytho­logical Descriptions; they pourtraied him like an old man standing on a Fish, wear­ing a Coat girt about his Body with a linnen Girdle, but having his Head and Feet naked, sustaining a Wheel and a Basket full of Corn, Fruit and Roses: By his old Age and Coat girt to him was signified Winter, by his bare Head and Feet Summer, by the Corn Harvest, by the Fruit Autumn, and by Roses was in­timated the Spring; his standing on a Fish, which is silent but yet slippery and swift in its motion, denoted the slipperiness, silence and swiftness of Time, who never forgot [Page 11] his pace, though we his Footsteps numbered not. The Wheel suggests the roundness of the Sun, and the Revolution of the Year, and the linnen Girdle might import the Zodi­ack or Ecliptick Line, within which the Sun contains and fetters himself: When they did express the Sun to be King of the Planets, and principal Arbiter of the World, they de­cyphered him placed on a Throne, supporting a Scepter in his left Hand, and sustaining a Sword in his right; out of the right side of his Mouth broke Thunder, out of his left issued Lightning; on his Head sate an Eagle, and his Feet rested on a Dragon, and round about him sate twelve Deities; the Throne, Scepter, and Sword, did insinuate the Majesty, Power, and Influence of the Sun, who by his Heat is the Parent of Thunder and Lightning; the Eagle intimates the swiftness of his motion, and his piercing Eye that unvails all things by his Light; his treading on a Dragon imports that by his Heat, he subdues the most poyso­nous, noxious and destructive Vapours; the twelve Gods may either denote the twelve Signs of the Zodiack, or else the twelve Months of the Year: When they did describe the Heat, Light, and Motion of the Sun, they painted him like a Man, holding with both his Hands a flaming Wheel; and when they did pourtray the courage and military Heat [Page 12] of Martial men, excited as they conjectured by the Sun, they represented him under the signature of an armed man, holding in one Hand a Banner with a Rose on it, and in the other a pair of Scales; on his Breast was the Picture of a Bear, on his Target the Pourtrai­cture of a Lyon; the Field about him was em­broidered with Flowers, by which they de­signed Valour complicated with Eloquence, both in their Vogue essential to a Command­er; the Arms, Bear, and Lyon did intimate the fierceness, courage, and defence, that should be resident in Martial men; the Rose and Field enamel'd with Flowers, did represent the sweetness and obligingness of Eloquence; the Scales were to suggest how words should be weighed in the Ballance of Discretion, be­fore they are divulged; when they discove­red how the Sun by his Heat and Influence excited venereal Love in Creatures subservi­ent to his Dominion, they then varied his Sex, and painted him like a Woman, because in them that Passion is most impotent, and yet impetuous; on her Head they placed a Myrtle Crown or Garland to denote her Do­minion, and that Love should be alwaies ver­dant as the Myrtle; in one hand she supported the World, and in the other three golden Apples, to represent that the World and its wealth are both sustained by Love; the three [Page 13] Golden Apples signified the threefold Beauty of the Sun, exemplified in the Morning, Meridian, and Evening; on her Breast was lodged a Burning Torch, to insi­nuate to us the violence of the flame of Love which scorches humane Hearts. When they would express the Sun's operation upon the Moon, they delineated him like a man with long Ears, holding the Moon in his Hand, to suggest to us that she entitles her Light and Power to his Beams and Influence; his long Ears did signifie his promptness to receive the Supplications of all Persons, though divided from him by never so remote and considera­ble a Distance. He that would see this Sub­ject more amply discoursed on, may peruse Schedius de Diis Germanis, where he shall re­ceive more copious and plenary satisfaction, and to him I refer the Reader.

I should now unravel the Mythology of the Antient Greeks and Romans; but this I shall annex to the Conclusion of this Treatise, and proceed to represent a brief Discourse or De­scription of the Egyptian Hieroglyphicks.

I shall now descend to unvail that Mytho­logical Learning, which lay wrapped up in the dark and cloudy complications of Hie­roglyphicks, which indeed may seem to be the Basis on which all Heraldry is esta­blished.

[Page 14] In the Hieroglyphical Tables of Cardinal Bembus, so often mentioned by Athanasius, Kircherus in his Oedipus Copticus, there is set down the Figure of the Scarabaeus or Bee­tle for the Trunk, but with the Head and Face of a man, supporting a little Table with this Inscription [...]. About the Neck a num­ber of Concentrick Circles to express the Orbes and Motions of the Heavens; upon the top of the Head a Face of the encreasing Moon, to intimate her Monethly Revolution; within that a cross mark, for the four Ele­ments weaving together all things above a winged Globe, and wreathed about with two Serpents.

The meaning of this last, is told you by Barachias Albenephi in his Book of the Anti­ent Egyptian Learning, and in that part of it where he treats of Pharaoh's Obelisques. He affirms the winged Sphear wreathed about with Serpents to be the Hieroglyphick of the Soul and Spirit of the Universe. The Hu­mane Face is understood of the Sun and his Courses. For the Holy Beetle (which an old Egyptian durst not tread on) Horus Apollo asserts, it signifies the Figure of the World, and he subjoyns this reason and secret for it.

The Beetle (saies he) when it hath a mind to bring forth, takes the Excrement of an Ox, which having wrought into small pellets [Page 15] round as the World, it turns them about from East to West, it self in the mean time (as if she intended to summon great Nature to these Travels) turning to the East.

The Egyptian Word [...] held out in the Table, is the same with the Greek Word [...], to intimate that the whole Frame of the World hangs together by a true magnetick Love, that invisible Harmony that cements and solders together the Discord of its di­vided and estranged Parts.

The Egyptians when they would represent the Hieroglyphick of Nature, pictured the Fi­gure of a Boy involved and inveloped with a Net; by the first they would insinuate to us her constant and uninterrupted vigour, re­scued from Decay, and the increasing Imper­fections and Infirmities of Age; and by the second the variety of Causes and multiplici­ty of Effects, the weavings of whose compli­cated Contexture made up the Net with which the Boy appeared to be covered.

The Fig-tree was the Hieroglyphick of mu­tual vicissitude, for here the old Figs never fall off until the new ones appear, which as­serts the Justice of our Saviour's curse infli­cted on the Fig-tree in the Gospel, and which hath so distorted and perplexed Commenta­tors to abett; for if the Time of Figs was not yet come, as the Pages of Holy Writ in that [Page 16] Story do aver, there was then a greater Rea­son that Figs should appear, and if the Time of Figs was come, yet still the old ones did remain for some interval of Time, after the new ones had given Evidence of their Ap­pearance and Being.

And it is observable that Julian the Apo­state, that like an industrious Spider, did with a curious and diligent Malice spin out any thing out of Scripture with which he might weave together the least Pretence of Absur­dity or Impossibility, did from his Inspection into natural Causes never quarrel the truth of what is above asserted.

A Lion Rampant amongst the Egyptians was the Hieroglyphick of Magnanimity; Regardant of Circumspection and Caution; Salient of Expedition or celerity; Sejant of Counsel; Passant of Prudence; Gardant of Defence.

A Bee making Hony was the Hieroglyphick of a Prince, managing the Administration and Conduct of his Kingdom and Publick Affairs.

An Elephant amongst the elder Persians, Egyptians, and Indians was the Symbol of Fi­delity, Justice and Piety; and amongst the Modern Arabs, Siamites and Sumatrans, is the Emblem of Magnanimity, Memory and Pro­vidence.

[Page 17] A Griffin being a complicated mixture, of Eagle and Lyon, was the Hieroglyphick of perspicacity and courage; its Wings denoted its celerity, its Beake its tenacity, and its Tallons its fury and rapacity.

A Boare and Lyon yoak'd together were the Hieroglyphick of strength and magnani­mity.

A Dogs Head was the Hieroglyphick of sa­gacity, and a Dogs tongue did mythologi­cally represent both Physick and Physicians.

The Hieroglyphick of an abominable thing was a Fish, because custome and prescription interdicted the use of it in the Aegyptian Sa­crifices.

An Infant was the Hieroglyphick of those who enter into the World, as an old Man was of those who go out. A Sea-Horse a­mongst the Aegyptians was made the Hiero­gliphick of Murder, Impudence, Violence, and Injustice, because they asserted, that he destroy'd his Sire and ravish'd his Damme. A Falcon from his perspicacity, and sublimity in his flight towards Heaven, was affirm'd to be the Hieroglyphick of God: All which being compacted together import thus much; All you that enter into the world, and you that go out, God hates Injustice.

As the Hawke was by the Aegyptians re­presented to be the Hieroglyphick of the Sun, [Page 18] because of his excellent sight and quick mo­tion: So the Moon was pourtray'd under the Figure of a white skin'd Man with a Hawks head; for her whiteness, that is her light, does not result from her self, but from her Hawks head the Sun. Apuleius shews that the Aegyptians worshipped Mercury, under the denomination of Anubis pourtray'd with a Dogs head, supporting his Caduceus in one hand, and a Palm in the other; by which is conjectur'd they might insinuate that a Princes Embassador should not only be elo­quent, but likewise vigilant, faithful and sa­gacious, which three qualities are resident in the Dog; prudent also, as the Serpents wrea­thed about his Caduceus may suggest; and justly inexpugnable as the Palm, which sinks not under the pressure of any burden. In­deed Eusebius affirms, that not only those Captains were honour'd and adorn'd, who had enhauns'd and aggrandiz'd their Fame by subduing the Enemies of their Countrey, but likewise those Beasts whose pourtraictures did embellish their Helmets, or Targets, as being great improvements to their Victories, by infusing terrours and Panick astonishments into the breasts of their Adversaries.

A Palm Tree amongst the Aegyptians was made the Hieroglyphick of a moneth, be­cause, as their sentiments engag'd them [Page 19] to believe, that monethly shoots forth fresh leaves.

For Eternity, the Aegyptians painted the Sun and Moon, as entitling themselves (in their vogue and estimate) neither to begin­ning nor end.

Fire and Water were made the Hierogly­phicks of Integrity.

A Snake with his tail lodg'd in his mouth, did amongst the Aegyptians represent the year.

The Peach Tree was the Hieroglyphick of silence, whose leaf did represent the tongue in form, and the fruit the heart; to intimate, the heart and tongue should be of one piece, and never to speak without premeditation; there­fore this Tree was dedicated to Harpocrates, God of Silence, who was painted with the Leaves and Fruit of the Peach Tree in one hand, and the other pressing his lip. The Wolf did likewise signifie Silence, because the assertion of the Aegyptians was, that a Wolf did super-induce Silence through ter­rour and amazement in the man that saw him; and therefore Harpocrates abovesaid was pi­ctur'd in a Wolf's skin, beset with eyes and ears, to intimate that we should hear and see much but speak little.

A Scepter with an eye insculp'd upon it, was by the Aegyptians made the Hierogly­phick [Page 20] of God, to suggest to us his Know­ledge, Power and Providence, by which the World is manag'd and supported.

The Swan and Grass-hopper were the Hie­roglyphicks of Musick, and therefore dedica­ted to Apollo, who was Patron and Protector of it.

Three Heads conjoyn'd were the Hiero­glyphick of the combination of Counsells. Three Hearts concenter'd of confederacy of Courage. Three Legs embraced of Union in Expedition; and Three Arms conjoyn'd, was the Hieroglyphick of concourse or con­sent in Action.

An Husband-Man with a measuring Rod in his hand, and a Bushel on his head, was the Hieroglyphick of Joseph, call'd corruptly by the Aegyptians Osiris, Mnevis, Apis, & Se­rapis, and us'd as a Monument to preserve his Remembrance, who when Aegypt suffer'd under a publick Dearth, had rescued the People from the onsets and ravage of that common Calamity, and therefore they a­dor'd him likewise under the pourtracture of an Oxe, the ancient Hieroglyphick of an Husband-man

Others again Assert, that by Osiris, the Aegyptians understood the Nile, and by Isis the Genius or Soil of Aegypt; For Isis as Vi­ves asserts in his Notes upon Augustine de Civ. [Page 21] Dei. Lib. 15. c. 3. signifies the Earth; and there­fore the ancient Aegyptians pictur'd Her mo­ving a Sistrum or Timbrell with Her right hand, to intimate the return of the Inunda­tion of Nile, and Her left supporting a Buc­ket, to signifie the Repletion of all the Cha­nels; and by Typhon the Sea, and therefore they brought in Isis deploring the ruine of Osiris torn to pieces by Typhon, that is, swal­lowed up by the Sea; but afterwards they represented Her collecting his torn and scat­ter'd limbs, that is, the new and reiterated Inundation of the River Nile; only his Ge­nitals she could not retrive, which were swal­low'd and devour'd by Fish, to intimate that that Fertility which was caus'd by Nile on the Earth, was yet more visibly and emi­nently manifest in the water, and exempli­fied in the pregnant and fertile spawn, and numerous productions of fishes.

Lastly, Others affirm, that by Osiris the Aegyptians meant the Sun, because they usu­ally painted him with an Hawks Head, and by Isis the Moon, whom they sometimes cloath'd in White, sometimes in Red, and sometimes in a Black Garment, by which they did suggest, that the Moon put on a White Aspect in clear weather, and a Red Complexion against windy, her Black Gar­ment was to represent her Duskie colour af­ter [Page 22] her Change and in Eclipses, and by Ty­phon they signified the Earth, for they gave him a vast Body, stretching forth his hands from East to West, and his head as high as the tallest hills, by which they intimated the Longitude, Latitude and Height of the Earth: his upper part had the signature of a man cover'd with feathers, whilst the lower part was arm'd or cloathed with scales, and wound about with Serpents; to declare, that Men, Birds and Beasts inhabited the upper part of the Earth, and Serpents and Fishes the lower: his belching out of smoak, and spitting of fire, signifies, those vapours, exhalations, and fiery eruptions out of many parts of the Earth, make the Gods obscure themselves, that is, darken the Sun, Moon and Stars; but Osiris or Horus (for under those two Ap­pellations they represented the Sun)^• subdued this Monster, that is, by dissolving and dis­sipating those vapours which skreen'd his beams from the World, which was expressed tacitly and gloomily by the Hawk's flying violently upon, and beating the Hippopota­mos or Sea-Horse. The seeking or lament­ing of Osiris or Orus by Isis, was to intimate the frequent sadness incumbent upon the Moon resulting from those Eclipses which are occasion'd by the interposition of the shadow of the Earth; the bushel on the Head of Osi­ris [Page 23] or Orus may import that the Sun is the cause of fertility; and the streaker or measu­ring Rod in one hand, may intimate, that the Sun measures all things by his progres­sive motion; the Wolves, the Dogs, the Lyons▪ and Serpents heads grasp'd in the o­ther hand, may represent the four parts of the year: The Winter is the rapacious Wolf, the Spring is the fawning or flattering Dog, the Summer the flaming angry Lyon, the Au­tumn is the Serpent distilling into the bodies of men, the venome of destructive diseases. The Aegyptians, farther to improve this Hie­roglyphick, painted Osiris or Orus wing'd with a Scepter in his hand, and a round Dis­cus by him, to represent the swiftness of the Suns motion, his Dominion over the World, and his round body, as also his circular pro­gress or perambulation.

The Goose and Dog were the Hierogly­phicks of Vigilance, and therefore by the Aegyptians devoted to the Moon, as Prote­ctress of the Night, which was by their Alarums secur'd from danger and preju­dice.

Proteus was both a Prophet and King of Aegypt, whom that people Hieroglyphically represented under the several resemblances of Bull, Serpent, Boar, Tyger, Lyon and Dra­gon, which occasion'd the fiction of his wind­ing [Page 24] and transforming himself into various shapes, when indeed if we shall disrobe these mysterious signatures of their cloudy vesture, we shall discover, that he was a Prince who manag'd the interest of his people with that dexterity, that he could proportion his Go­vernment to every Genius, having the strength of the Bull, the prudence of the Ser­pent, the courage of the Boar, the fierceness of the Tyger, the magnanimity of the Lyon, and the celerity and vigilance of the Dra­gon. Or secondly, because he was accustom'd to use or bear the several portractures of these Creatures in his Banners or Ensigns when he was alive, the Aegyptians to inforce and perpetuate the Remembrance of so ex­cellent a Prince, pourtrai'd him under the resemblances of those Creatures when he was dead.

The Pellican was by the Aegyptians made the Hieroglyphick of maternal Affection, for she, when her young ones have been bitten by Serpents that secretly invade their Nest, launces her bosome, and with the purple balsome that streams from that opened sluce, not only expells the infused venome, but likewise cements and cures the wounds in­flicted by those noxious adversaries.

The Bird Ibis or Ichneumon, or the Aegy­ptian Rat, were by that people represented [Page 25] as the Hieroglyphicks of Safety and Preser­vation; for the first by pricking with her sharp feathers those various Serpents, which are the progeny or product of the mud of Nile, causes them to expire and die, and the last, by rolling himself in sand, and gliding into the belly of the Crocodile, whilst he is engag'd in sleep, and his jaws are open, cor­rodes and gnaws out his entrails, and be­comes to that Amphibious Monster both pu­nishment and executioner.

Indeed Heresies are the Serpents of the Church, which are engender'd by the Mud of noysome and unsavoury Opinions, which being prick'd by the Pens of Orthodox Wri­ters languish away, and find their fate in an early Sepulcher.

A Tortoise was the Hieroglyphick of an in­dustrious Hou-sewife, who is alwayes employ­ing her self within her house, in managing those affairs that are subservient to the inter­est of the family, as that is alwayes resident in its shell.

Indeed there were no Nations ever so re­mote or barbarous, but in times either of an­cient or a more modern inscription, muffel'd up their knowledge in the cloudy garment of Hieroglyphicks. The Coronation of the King of Pegu (if we may credit Vincent le Blanc as He relates it in his Travels) is wholly Hiero­glyphical; [Page 26] for he is invested or inaugurated with a Diadem of Lead, to signifie that all things should be perform'd in weight and measure, and an Axe is put into his hand, to denote that he should administer Justice; he takes his Oath upon a small vessel of Eme­rald, in which some of the ashes of the first Kings of Pegu lie enshrin'd, to put into him a remembrance of Humane Frailty; he is at­tir'd or adorn'd with a Turkish Robe, lin'd or furr'd with the skins of white hairs, to intimate his subsequent innocence.

The Chinese, a people thrust into the re­motest angle of the World, at this day rowle up all their learning in Hieroglyphical signa­tures, and other Emblematical Allusions, which they extract, first from Dragons and Serpents, and their various complications; secondly, from things relating to Husbandry; thirdly, from the wings of Birds, according to the position of their feathers; fourthly, from shell-fish and worms; fifthly, from the roots of herbs; sixthly, from the prints of the feet of beasts; seventhly, from Tortoises; eightly, from the bodies of birds; ninthly, from Stars; tenthly, from fishes; eleventhly, from herbs and water-flags; and lastly, from ropes, threads and lines, either olique or streight: for example, the streight line mar­ked with A signifies One, crossed with ano­ther [Page 27] line, as at B, expresses Ten, made with another at the bottom, as at C, it denotes the Earth, and with another at the top, as at D, standeth for a King; by adding a touch on the left side between the two first strokes, as at E, it is taken for a Pearl; but that which is marked with F, signifies Creation or Life; and lastly, by the Character under G is in­tended Sir.

ABCDEFG [...]

Having taken a brief prospect of that knowledge that lay treasured up in the dark Exchequers of Hieroglyphicks, I shall as com­pendiously as may be unravel the principal of those Emblems, behind whose traverse the Graecians lay'd up that learning they desir'd to skreen from vulgar inspection, which I have glean'd out of Causin's Christian Hiero­glyphicks; and consequently make some short reflections on the Reverses of the antient Coins, so far as they may have an aspect up­on Heraldry; a Catalogue of the first out of [...] here ensues as it is by him re­corded in Latin, and which in another Co­lumne I have indu [...] to speak English.

[Page 28]

I shall now advance to make some reflecti­ons on Coins of a very high and antient ascent: but before I treat of those, by common acce­ptation stil'd Consular, or those that fell under the denomination of Imperial, I shall discourse of those that related to Provin­ces, Cities, and Colonies, whether Greek or Roman.

The several Signatures insculped upon the Reverse of the Greek Coyns, do declare to what Cities they owe their Original; as for example. The Pegasus impress'd upon the Syracusian Coin did intimate it entitled its Original to Corinth, upon whose Coyn a Pegasus was usually represented. The Palm Tree figur'd on the Coyn of the antient Ci­ties of Carthage, and Hierapitna and Lapythae in Creet, do suggest to us, that they acknow­ledged their extraction from Tyre, whose pecuniary Symbol was a Palm Tree. An Owle, whose impress did adorn the Reverse of the Coyn of Megara, a City of Sicily, as a Monument of their Original from Athens. [Page 34] A Quadrangular Area was a Symbol insculp­ed on the Coyn of Dyrrachium and Andrios (though Spanhemius asserts the Sculpture impress'd on the last relating to Andrios was a Representation of an Arcula or little Chest, wherein it is possible the Image of Diana, or some other deity was treasured up) from which we may conclude that they were a Colony of Corcyra. Diana was insculp'd on the Reverse of the Coyn of Massilium, now stiled Marseilles; to intimate that that City extracted its Original from Phocea or Phocis. Alexandria, Troas, Neapolis, now Napoli in Romagnia, Germa, and other Colonies had the Impress of a Wolf suckling two young ones insculp'd on the Reverse of their Coyn; from which we may conclude, that these Cities were Colonies fill'd with Inha­bitants deduced and transplanted even from Rome it self. Antiochia, (as the learned Spanhemius hath discovered to us) had the Signature of a Ram and a Star, which was the proper Symbol of that City: the Star did signify its Easterly situation, and the Ram Salient, its ascent and elevation. Ni­comedia in Bythinia, had the Sculpture of a Triremis, and two little Aediculae or Turrets on the Reverse, to intimate its Fences, or Fortifications, and likewise to design to us its near Situation to the Sea. A Sphynx [Page 35] did adorn the Reverse of the Coyn impress'd at Chios or Sio, and likewise the Medals of Augustus; to insinuate to us, that it it was the Embleme of Fortitude, Industry, and Clemency. Neptune sitting on a rocky Throne between two Tritons, was impress'd on the Reverse of the Coyn of the City of Brusa or Prusa in Bythinia; and did tacitly design (as the learned Seguinus does affirm) its Em­pire over the adjacent Ocean. A Star and an antiquated Helmet was insculp'd on the Reverse of the Medals of that bloody Usur­per Triphon; the Helmet did design his Cou­rage and Magnanimity, and the Star his be­ing one of the Kings of the East. Messina in Sicily, Tarentum or Tarento in the King­dom of Naples, and other Maritime Cities, had the Beaks of Ships, the Acroficia or the very Snouts of those Beaks, Triremes, and Dolphins pourtray'd on the Reverse of their Coyns, whose Signature did declare their Maritime situation. Naples in Italy had not only a Dolphin insculped on the Reverse of its Coyn; but likewise a Syren (whose Feet resembled the Fins of a Fish) sounding a Trumpet; to intimate not only the Situation, but the Fame and Celebrity (decyphered by the Trumpet) of that Ci­ty. Syracusa had not only a Dolphin em­bowed in Chief; but a Strobilos or Pine-Apple [Page 36] in Base insculp'd on the Reverse of their Coyns; not only to decypher to us its Maritime position, but likewise to sug­gest to us the plentiful growth of those Trees about that City; which were always reput­ed a Symbol of Fertility. A Star fixed on a Luna Falcata or half Moon was insculp'd on the Reverse of several Grecian Coyns, espe­cially of that of Byzantium, and might signi­ficantly denote both the increase and growth, or else the restitution of a City decay'd (de­scrib'd by the Star) to its primitive Light and Splendour.

Some Cities in Creet had an Eagle insculp­ed on their Coin, perch'd upon a Labyrinth, between two Stars in Chief, and two Pi­leus's on each side the Labyrinth in Base; the two Stars were Castor and Pollux, or the Dioscuri; the two Pileus's designed that Li­berty they enjoyed under the Tuition and Protection of Jupiter, intimated by the Eagle, and the two Stars the Twins of Leda. So Pergamus had describ'd on the Reverse of its Coyn, Aesculapius standing on a Pede­stal or Cippus of stone, the solemn Prote­ctor of that City, and between two demi­naked Figures, presenting the Image with two Sprigs or Branches of water Smallage, which certainly did denote the two Rivers that glided at no far distance from this Ci­ty, [Page 37] namely Selinus, and Ceteius; their two Garlands likewise under the Pedestal, which did declare that those did adorn the Neo­coroi or Sacrists, at the Celebration of those Solemnities that were devoted to the Honor of this eminent Deity. Nice in Bythinia had the Image of Bacchus lying in a reclining po­sture, and leaning on a Panther, the signal Symbol of those Cities which were entitu­led to his protection, and holding in his right hand the Image of Victory; from whence the City, it is probable, might extract the Name of [...], that is, Victoria. On the antient Numismata of Damascus was stampt the Signature of a Woman, whose right hand grasped a Prunum Damascenum or Damsen Prune, of which the Country was abun­dantly fruitful: and at her Feet was placed a Wheel; which, it is probable might inti­mate, that this was the Effigies of Nemesis, who was Patroness (as Seguinus asserts from antient Coyns) of several Cities in the lesser Asia: Now a Wheel was customarily placed by her, for these two reasons; first to de­clare the celerity of Divine Revenge, and secondly to discover to us the Vicissitudes and Revolutions of it. There is another Coyn relating to Nice abovementioned, pub­lished by Seguinus; on the Reverse of it sits Bacchus, representing a youthful Counte­nance; [Page 38] to declare the Vigour and Refresh­ment the Spirits receive from Wine: his head is embellish'd with Rays; to intimate, that he was the first Inventor of Lights. Hence it was, that he was pourtray'd by the Aegyptians with a Torch in his Hand, and worship'd under the Notion of Bacchus Lampterios; his right Hand grasps a Thir­sus, whose Top is bound about with I­vy, to suggest to us, that the furious Sallies of Lust or Anger should be bound in and re­press'd with the Cords of Moderation and Patience. By him is placed Isis, with a Bush­el on her Head, and a Cornucopia in her right hand; both the Hieroglyphicks of Plenty and Fertility. Upon the sides of whose Cha­riot are impress'd the Signatures of a Pan­thers and a Tiger; to discover to us, that Wine debauches Humane Nature, into the disordered and impetuous Passions of Pan­therr and Tigers. His Chariot is drawn by two Centaurs; to intimate that Wine ren­ders Men a complicated mixture of Man and Beast. Before them dances the Boy Lis­sus, to demonstrate to us, what childish and ridiculous Agitations of Body are superindu­ced upon us by the Efforts of Wine: at the left side of Isis, is placed Cupid, in his right hand brandishing a Torch; to decypher, that both Love and its Flame are fomented [Page 39] and improv'd by the Heat of Wine: about the Top and Base of the Medal is insculp'd [...]. Upon the Reverse of an an­tient Coyn of the City Tyrus, stamp'd under the Reign of Antoninus Pius, and transmit­ted to the publick view by Seguinus, there is the portraicture of Hercules, in his right hand holding a Dish over a flaming Altar, to denote his Divinity; before him is pla­ced a Stony Mass, distinguished into two Columns, resembling in their mode or por­traicture two Butts; from whose lower part there is an efflux of water, which empties it self upon a Shell in the Base of the Coyn; by which may be meant, they understood either Hercules Pillars; fixed near Gades, which was a Tyrian Colony; or else it is more probable they may design those Rocks lurking under the water, upon which Tyre was erected; and this is inforced from the waters descending upon the Shell, which cer­tainly was the Exchequer or Repository of the Tyrian Purple.

Upon the Reverse of the Samian Coyn, there was the portraicture of a Temple, and Juno standing before the Portal, and at the Base of one of the Pillars, on the left side of it, issued out the Vitex or Agnus Castus; which may denote to us, that this Island was under the protection of Juno, who was [Page 40] born near the River Imbrasius, under this shrub or plant stil'd Agnus Castus, with which the Banks of this River were abun­dantly embroider'd: and about the Reverse was insculp'd [...]. Although upon the Reverse of the Ephesian Coyn an Hart was usually insculp'd; as a Beast particularly de­voted to Diana: yet Seguinus in his Selecta Numismata hath discovered to us another Coyn of Ephesus, on whose Reverse (stamp­ed under the Reign of Antoninus Pius) is exhibited the Effigies of Jupiter sitting on a Rock, to declare his stability; having his Thunder lodg'd on the Palme of his left Hand, to intimate his Clemency; and from a Cornucopia in his right Hand distilling some Aspersions either resembling Rain or Dew, to demonstrate his Benignity: Upon a Fi­gure Crown'd that lies beneath, near his Feet, is a Temple, and an adjacent Cypress Tree: Both which discover to us the indul­gent Beneficence of the Emperour above­said, by refreshing and repairing the Ruines not only of the confining Province (design­ed by the prostrate Crowned Figure) which possibly had been torn with the Concussi­ons of an Earthquake, or empair'd with Fa­min; but Ephesus likewise (decyphered by the Temple and Tree) which had been as­salted by the same Calamities. Upon the [Page 41] Reverse of the Coyn of Laodicea, within a Crown, whose Intexture was of the Leaves and Berries of Ivy, there was a Chest plac'd, out of whose Aperture a Serpent issued, to intimate, that this City was entitled to the Guardianship of Bacchus; or that the cir­cumambient Region was plentifully produ­ctive of Wine, discovered by the Serpent; which by Tristan is made either to signifie the Genius, or else the Power and Fertility of a Province: and this Coyn gives light to that of Catullus;

Upon the Reverse of the Coyn both of Cyzicum and Sardis were insculp'd two Ser­pents, wreathed about two erected Torches, in the midst of which was placed a Flaming Altar, to intimate, that these two Cities did with the highest Veneration prosecute and adore both Proserpine and Ceres; the last of which was frequently portraicted sitting in a Chariot drawn by two Serpents, brandish­ing two flaming Torches. Upon the Reverse of the Coyn of Philippopolis, there was the Signature of a Woman half naked, which did signifie the City it self, sitting on a Rocky [Page 42] Hill, which did design the Mountain Rho­dope; which with the Herb Nymphaea or Water-Lilly, which her left hand grasp'd, and the shrub of Willow or Osier that issued out of the Base or Foot of the Mountain, did demonstrate its situation to be not far distant from the River Strymon. About the middle of the Coyn was impress'd [...]. Upon the Reverse of an antient Coyn of Thessalonica, was insculp'd the Figure of one of the Cabeiri half naked, to specifie his In­nocence; supporting in his right Hand a little Vessel, in his left he wields a Mallet; to in­timate that these Cabeiri were the first Inven­tors of the managing the use of (which the little Vessel seems to comprize) Agriculture, Hunting, and other Mechanick Artifices: a­bout the Margin of the Reverse is engraven [...]. Upon the Reverse of a very antient Coyn of Catana in Sicily, conveigh'd to Seguinus by Du Fresne, is impress'd a wing­ed Scepter between two Paterae or sacrificing Platters; the first did signifie the dominion, Power and Swiftness of Eloquence: the Pa­tenae were the Symbols of Religion, as being the Instruments employ'd in all the Heathen Oblations. And therefore Occo does well define it, when he says that Patera was Divi­nitatis & Aeternitatis Symbolum, or a Sym­bol of Eternity, from its Circular or Sphaeri­cal [Page 43] figure. Upon the Reverse of the The­ban Coyn, was impress'd a Cantharus or Flag­gon, and a Clypeus or Shield; the first being used in Sacrifices, was an Embleme of Re­ligion, and the other a Type of Strength and Fortitude.

And as Cities, so had Provinces and King­doms their particular Symbols too impressed on the Reverse of their Coyn; as two Snakes embracing a Quiver and a Bow, on each side of which was placed a Caduceus, was the Symbol of Asia, as being under the Guar­dianship and Protection of those two eminent Deities Hercules and Mercury. Thessaly and Thrace had an Horse, and sometimes an Hors­man and Horse in full Career engraven on the Reverse of their Coyn; to intimate the dextrous skill in Horsemanship that was as­scrib'd, in elder Ages, to the Inhabitants of those two Provinces. A Camel insculp'd on some antient Coyn, did represent Arabia, as a Beast peculiar to that Country. So the Signa­ture of a Lion, or an Elephant, insculp'd on the African Medals, did typifie Africa, as being Creatures likewise proper to that Region; though Mr. Selden in his Mare Clausum asserts, that the Sculpture of a Woman, whose Head was adorn'd with a Wreath of Sprigs of Corn and Ivory was the Embleme of that Coun­trey; as that of a Woman, whose Head was-encircled [Page 44] with a Wreath of Palme Leaves, and whose Garment was interlaced with the River of Tagus, was of that of Spain. But the learned Spanhemius, in his Tract De usu & praestantia Numismatum, does discover to us, that a Woman sitting, and holding an Olive Branch, with a Coney placed by her, insculp'd on some antient Coyn, was the proper Symbol of that Country, it being a­bundantly productive of Olive Trees and Coneys. A Palm Branch was the Embleme of Assyria, Parthia, Armenia, and other Ea­stern Provinces: and therefore on the Re­verse of some antient Coyn, published by Spanheimius, the Kings of those Regions are represented sitting, and holding a Palm Branch. An Hart, whose Neck was sur­rounded with a Wreath of Ivy Leaves, was insculp'd on the Coyn of Pontus and other Provinces, that obeyed the Scepter of Mi­thridates, who gloried to be stiled Liber or Bacchus; as affirming himself extracted from that eminent Deity, to whom the Hart, as well as to Apollo and Diana, was sacred. The Corybantes or Curetes, insculp'd on an antient Medal, clashing their Swords and Shields together (from whence the Pyrrhica and Saltatio Enoplea extracted its original) and in the midst of them Cybele vail'd, (the Embleme of Divinity) supporting an Infant [Page 45] with her left hand upon her Knee, prote­cted from the Rage of Saturn by their suc­cour, was (as Seguinus discourses) the proper Symbol of Creet: As the sculpture of an Armed Vonus, in her right hand supporting an Apple, and in her left hand a Spear, was the Symbolical representation of Cyprus. A Rose engraven on the Coyn of Rhodes, was the Embleme of that Island. An Eagle with expanded wings, and lodging both his Tal­lons upon Thunder, was insculp'd on the Reverse of the Aegyptian Coyn, as a solemn Symbol of that Kingdom; and was assumed by its Princes to intimate, not only their Latitude of Dominion, but likewise the Dreadfulness of their Power: as some of the Seleuci, Kings of Syria, had a winged Thun­der-bolt insculp'd on the Reverse of their Coyn; to shew not only the formidablenes, but the Celerity of their Justice. As some of the Kings of Macedon likewise did impress on the Reverse of their Coyn, a Lions Head Ca­bosed; to signifie they were extracted from Hercules, who destroyed the Nemaean Li­on.

Nor did Colonies want their particular Symbols also, as may appear from the Re­verses of several antient Coyns. I shall be­gin with one of Gordianus; on the Reverse sits a Woman with a Crown embattel'd on [Page 46] head, the common Embleme of Cities; her right hand grasps some Sprigs of Corn, the Index of Fertility: over her Head hangs a Sagittarius; which intimates that the City Singara (of which this Woman was a re­presentation) was not far distant from Par­thia, whose Inhabitants were so eminent for Archery. At her Feet lies prostrate a na­ked Figure, seeming to cut the Water with his Labouring Arms; which, it is probable, is the Representation of the River Tigris, not far remov'd from Singara. About the Edge or Limb of the Reverse is this Greek Inscription, [...]. [...]. To intimate, that it was begun by the in­fluence of Marcus Aurelius; but perfected by the concurrent aid of Septimius Severus. The second is a Coyn, stamp'd under the Rule of Macrinus; on the Reverse sits a Woman, armed with a Helmet on a Shield (the Em­bleme of Rome) leaning her left Hand upon a Spear; whilst her right Hand supports an Eagle, (the Representation of the Roman Empire) within whose expanded Wings, are two little Images; who certainly design the Inhabitants of the new erected Colony Phi­lippolis. About the Border of the Reverse is in­scrib'd in Greek [...], On the Reverse of a Coyn of Au­gustus, is the Impress of two Figures standing [Page 47] and reaching out their Hands, as if they summon'd and invited Inhabitants to come and reside in the new establish'd Colony. A­bout the Fringe of the Reverse is inscrib'd Col. Aug. Juli. Philipp. To intimate that Philippos, the chief City of Macedonia, was a Colony of Augustus's Institution. Upon the Reverse of a Coyn of Alexander Severus, there is a Ship under sail, the common Sym­bol of good success amongst the Romans; and on each side a Dolphin Naiant, the Em­blem of Maritime Colonies; and about the Reverse superscrib'd [...]. From whence we may determine, that Tarsus, the Metropolis of Ci­licia, had been re-edified by Adrian, having peradventure been shaken and distorted with the Convulsions of Earthquakes, refreshed by Severus, and adorned or repaired by the Emperour abovesaid. Upon the Reverse of a Coyn of Diocletianus and Maximianus, there is the Figure of a Woman standing; holding in her right Hand Sprigs of Corn, the indis­putable emblem of Fertility; and in her left grasping Poppy, the Symbol of Repose and Quiet; and about the Reverse is inscribed, Foelix Carthago, to intimate, that the Bene­ficence of these Emperours, by new Supple­ments and Reparations, had buoyd up Car­thage, that had lain so long sunk amongst its [Page 48] antient Ruines. He that will see this Dis­course more dilated, let him peruse Goltsius, Angeloni, Seguinus, Tristan; but above all, the second late Edition of the most learned Span­heimius.

Now the principal difference between persons of a Colony, and those of a Municipi­um, was this. In a Colony they were still drawn out of the Corporation it self of the people of Rome, as members; but in the other, they were not any part of that Imperial bo­dy, until favourably received by Municipal privilege into the Freedom; Men generally foreign, else only by admission capable. Those in a Colony likewise (as some Greek Inscri­ptions inform me, published by Spanheimi­us) were first [...], they were sui Juris, they had no dependence on any but the Empe­rour, and by consequence, lived under their own Jurisdiction. Secondly, they were [...], they had power to Institute by-Laws, and Ordinances, for the better sup­port and government of the established Co­lony. Thirdly, they were [...], they were secured with equal Freedom and Li­berty as the people of Rome. Fourthly they had Jus Asyli, the Right of Sanctuary hence those Colonies, that were invested with this privilege were stiled [...], or Sa­crae. Fifthly, they had Jus & Facultatem [Page 49] cudendae Monetae, they had the grant of a Mint and Coynage of Money. Sixthly, if any Jewes, or others were admitted to the Freedome of a Colony, they had a Roman Name, added to that Appellation he bore before; so Saul that was born at Tarsus, a Colony of the Romans, was likewise named Paul. Seventhly, Colonies had Curias Decu­rionum, Courts of the Docuriones (they were call'd so, sayes an antient Glossarie cited by D^r Hammond) because at first▪ when Colonies were sent out, the tenth part of them were appointed to sit as a standing Committee to guide and steer the Publick Interest. Eight­y, they had Jus Senatus, Colonies had a Priviledge to gather a Select number of Per­sons into the Order and Body of a Senate, that in the Managerie and Conduct of their Counsels, their Publick Weal, and more im­portant concerns, might be involv'd and wrap'd up.

I shall now make some Compendious Re­marks on the Consular Coyns, or the Roman Denarii, which were the Registers of Evi­dences of several eminent Roman Families, [...]nd of several Illustrious persons extracted [...]om them, who had improv'd and inlarg'd [...]heir Fame as well as the Dominion of Rome, [...]y diverse signal Actions commenc'd both by [...]ea and Land, and were likewise the Monu­ments [Page 50] and Index's of those Conspicuous Of­fices they had manag'd as Consuls, Censors, Praetors, Praefects of the City, Flamens, Ae­diles, Questors, and other Dignities of Princi­pal Importance on which was insculp'd some thing that represented their Triumphs, their censure of Manners, their Absolution or Con­viction and Condemnation of Criminals, their Dedication of Temples, Sports and Games (especially the Circensian) and Feasts, their shews of Fencing, repairing or securing the Wayes, establishing Aquae Ducts, erecting of Fabricks; and lastly, their defending of the Military Vallum or Trench, and the lines of Circumvallation, circumscribing the Ro­man Camp. Chains and Bracelets did adorn the Generals of those barbarous Nations that were in Hostility against the Romans: and a­mongst the Coins of Augustinus Tarraconen­sis, there is on the reverse of one, two Brace­lets in Chief, and two Serpents erected, noded by their tails, and cast into the figure of a Chain in Base, from whence in the ex­planation of the mystery of this Coin, he as­serts, It was usual for the Roman General, and other Eminent Officers, not only to wear the Bracelets and Chains of the opposite Ge­nerals, and other conspicuous Officers, who were slain or made Captive; but likewise to engrave the Figure of them on the Reverse [Page 51] of Medalls, which as a lasting evidence, might transport to posterity the memory of those signal Atchievements they had acquir'd for the people of Rome. If by their Prudence, Diligence or Fortitude they had secur'd the Roman Camp, from the Onsets and Im­pressions of the Adversary, either by personal Courage, or by opportune Fortifications, they stamp'd on those Denarii that had an aspect on their Families a Vallum or Castrum suis Clathris, septis seu clausuris munitum, a Trench or Camp fenc'd and circumscrib'd with its fortified Lines, Angles and Out-works. If any of the Illustrious Roman Families had been dignified with the Office, either of Dictator or Consul, they insculp'd on their Denarii, a Globe, the type of Empire, the Fasces, the emblem of Justice, the Caduceus, the Ensign of Felicity and Peace, or else the Cornucopia, the monument of Plenty, and two hands con­joyn'd and knit together, the Symbol of Con­cord. If any of them had undergone the Il­lustrious Office of Censor, to perpetuate the Memory of so signal an Employment, they insculp'd on their Denarii, and other Coins, a Censor plac'd or sitting on the seat of Judi­cature, with a Roman, accompanied with some other Citizens, reaching out, or pre­senting a bundle of some Lawes unto Him to be corrected, winnow'd or revis'd by his Ani­madversion [Page 52] or Censure, according to that of Tully, Acta ad Eos privata Deferunto. If any of the Roman Families had been Prae­tors, they stamp'd on the Reverse of their Denarii, some mark or character, that might as an Index inform Posterity they had been invested with this Office, from whence upon some of them there is imprest, the Bridge that lead to their Court of Judicature, the Septa or Pen that shut it in and inclos'd it, the Di­ [...]ibitorium or partition, that like a pleading Bar separated it and the Cista or Chest where­in the Praetor treasur'd up the publick Re­cords; others to testifie the same Dignity, they insculp'd, either little round Tablets, or Repositories, wherein their Suffrages were laid up▪ all which were either mark'd with the letter A, which signified Adjudico or Antiquo, that is, Antiquam volo; or else with the let­ters A C and A D, that is, Absolvo, or on the contrary, Condemno or Absolvo, and in oppo­sition to that Damno, or else they presented on them a Basilica, that is, their more Solemn and Majestick Court of Justice surrounded with Pillars and Cloysters for the Romans to walk in, a Praetorium or Judgement-Hall: And lastly, a Puteal, that is, an inferiour or more contracted Court of Justice, stil'd so, because the Tectum or Tegument of it, resem­bled the brim of a Hat, or cover of a Well. [Page 53] If any of their Families had been Aediles, and deputed to decide those Actions the Roman Lawes stiled Redhibitoriae, they insculp'd on their Denarii two Figures sitting upon a seat of Judicature; or again, if they had been Aediles Cereales, and employ'd by the Senate to buy Corn to support and refresh the peo­ple of Rome, they stamp'd on the Reverse of their Coyn, a ship, out of which seemed to issue out sprigs of Wheat, or else, a Modius or Roman Bushel plac'd between two ears of Corn; or lastly, a pair of Scales placed over a Sella Curulis, which impress was stamp'd on their Coyn, as well as the Denarii of the Prae­tors. If they had been Flamens they stamped likewise some signal Mark on the Reverse of their Denarii, to instruct future ages, that some of their Families had been honour'd with that Office, as if they had been Flamines Quirinales, or Flamens to Romulus, they in­sculp'd the Figure of a Woman arm'd with a Spear and Helmet (the Representation of Rome) sitting on a Shield, and holding in her right hand a sharp pointed Apex (the common Symbol of Priesthood) which was the Tassel or top of the Sacerdotal Pileus, or Flamens Bonnet. Now the Apex amongst the Antients was a Symbol of such Eminence and Dignity, that in Ages of an elder Inscri­ption, several Kings are pourtray'd and in­sculp'd [Page 54] on Antique Coyns, supporting it, to intimate, that in times of a very High Ascent amongst the Gentiles, the Priesthood was still entwin'd with the Scepter. I shall exhibit a brief Scheme of some Examples of it. Strabo asserts, Lib. 5. That in Aritia it was united to the Priesthood of Diana, and in Cappadocia, to the Temple of Bellona.

The Old Aegyptians and Aethiopians chose their Kings, out of their Colledges of Priests. Midas, King of Phrygia was consecrated to Orpheus. The Lacedemonian Kings did al­wayes sacrifice in person. Zenophon Records the like of Cambyses; and Curtius of Alexan­der. Halycarnasseus affirms, that Romulus ma­nag'd all that concern'd the Gods by himself. In the East Indies the Malabar Kings do not disdain the Office of the Brachmans: And it is sufficiently known, that amongst the Arabs and Saracens, the same person was both Prince and Caliph. And Diogenes in Stobaeus layes it down amongst the Qualifications and Characters of a compleat Prince, that he should be a good Souldier, a Judge and a Priest. And hence it is, that at the Inaugu­ration of the Kings of England, one of the Re­galia, that is an ingredient in that Solemnity, is the Collobium or Dalmatica, a Garment something resembling a Surplisse, to specifie, that the Regal and Sacerdotal Office were [Page 55] combin'd and twisted together in one person.

If they had been Flamens to Mars, they re­presented two Figures on their Coyn; one supported the Image of Victory, the other reached forth a Star, to intimate that he was Consecrated to the service of the Deity a­bovesaid. If they had been Flamens to Apollo, they insculped upon a Tripos a Simpu­lum or Ewer (the Emblem of Religion) pla­ced between two Stars, to signifie the Morn­ing and the Evening Star, or else the Rising and Setting of the Sun in the East and West. I had almost forgot that the Aediles and Prae­tors abovementioned were when the Ludi Appollinares, Saeculares, Cereales, Consuales or Circenses, and other solemn Sports or Games were celebrated, to provide▪ Bulls for sacrifice and baighting, and Hinds, and other Beasts for hunting; whence all those persons that had sustained those two Offices to perpetuate the Memory of that Employment, insculped on the Roman Denarii, either a Bulls head cabosed, or else a Hind, and a Bow bent and Quiver, which we may see in Fulvius Visinas does still adorn the reverse of the Consular Coyn. If any of the Roman Families had been Augurs to convey a Commemoratio to posterity they were adorned with that Dig­nity, they impressed on their Denarii a Simpu­lum or Ewer used in Sacrifices, a Tripos, and [Page 56] a Lituus or crooked Augurall staff; as the Consuls and Praetors stamped on their Coyn, (as appears in Fulvius Vrsinus) sometimes a Ri­der placed in a chariot drawn with two horses in full career, sometimes drawn with sour in the same posture, to intimate, that the Games dedicated to Apollo, or else the Ludi Circenses or Consuales, the Games devoted to Neptune were exhibited to the people, when they ma­maged the Offices abovesaid. If any of the Roman Families had obliged the people by the, combat of Gladiators by their Munifi­cence presented to them, they did engrave on their Denarii two crooked Engines, resem­bling two Shepherds crooks in Salteir, a wea­pon used by the Gladiators, called Thraces, and a Shield and a Laqueus or Halter, and sometimes a Net, destructive instruments em­ployed by the Gladiators, stiled the Laque­arii and Retiarii to entangle and ruine their Opponents. If they had at any time by a cautious retreat secured any part of the Ro­man Armies, they insculped on their Coyn a Pagurus or Crabb, supporting some Weapons and Ensigns. If again, they had by their prudence, and sober procrastination of affairs, destroyed the rash and precipitate onsets of the Enemy, they stamped on the reverse of their Denarii a Crabb grasping a Butterflie. If they had by any Noble and generous un­dertaking [Page 57] rescued their gasping Country, or saved the Lives of its Citizens, or at­chieved the Spolia opima; they insculp'd on the Reverse of their Denarii, either the Fi­gures of Amphinomus and Anapias, two Bre­thren of Catana in Sicily, who when a Deluge of fire had disembogued it self from the flaming Entrails of Aetna, and made an eru­ption upon some part of that Island, snatch­ed up their aged Parents, and after the de­molishing of many Difficulties, saved their lives by endangering their own: or else a Crown of Oaken leaves; or lastly, an arm­ed Figure on Horseback, supporting the Spoils and Trophies taken from the slaugh­tered Prince. Nor did they want some Re­presentations upon their Coin to discover from whence they were descended; as if they were descended from Sicily, they stamp'd on their Denarii three Legs, coupl­ed and embraced, or interlaced (the Symbol of that Island;) if from Chios or Sio, a Pitcher or Jarre with two ears was imprest; if from the Sabins, who boasted their Ex­traction to be from the Pelasgi, who first peopled Arcadia, they insculp'd one of the Stimphalides, a ravenous Bird arm'd with an Helmet, which the fictions of Poets made proper only to that Province: Nor did those who had the care of the Mint, nor those [Page 68] who kept Stakes at the Games stil'd Tali or Latrunculi, much resembling the sport of Cockall amongst Children, want some mo­nument engraven on the antient Denarii; which might declare that some of the Fa­mily had been Curatores Monetae, or Ludi Magistri; to perpetuate the memory of the first, they stamp'd a Forge, an Anvil, an Hammer, and a pair of Tongs or Pincers; and to inforce the memory of the last, they insculp'd a Temple devoted Deae Sorti, or else four Quadrilateral Bones, with this Inscription interwoven, Qui ludit, Arram det, quod satis est. Before I conclude this Discourse, I must observe out of Vrsinus, that if any of the Roman Families had been invested with any of those Offices, or all of them gradually or successively, that did merit the Sella Curulis, as an Ensign or Per­quisite of their Dignity or Dignities; they insculp'd on their Denarii a Sella Curulis, with one Crown as Ornament imposed up­on it, and sometimes with two, three, or four, to intimate the variety of those emi­nent Employments they had been engaged in: as Silla stamp'd on the Reverse of a Denarius, relating to his Family, four Crowns to declare his four Victories. Indeed this Sella Curulis was of so honourable estimate amongst the Romans, that when the Senate [Page 59] of Rome would testifie by some solemn e­vidences their Affection to those Kings that were in Amity with them, they usually en­dow'd them with a Sella Curulis, an Ivory Staff, a Tunica Palmata, a loose Coat or Tu­nic, embroider'd with Palm Branches; and lastly, Toga Picta, a Gown embellished and adorn'd with several Figures. And hence it is that on the Reverse of an antien Coin, Ariobarzanes King of Cappadocia is insculp'd, vested with a Roman Gown and Tunic, placed on a Sella Curulis, and supporting in his left Hand an Ivory Staff; to declare he was a Prince that held an Amicable cor­respondence with the Romans. Having had had occasion before to mention the Roman Crowns, I shall now exhibit in a compendi­ous Representation, the several Species of them, and so conclude.

And first there was Corona Triumphalis, or Aurea, which in elder times was com­posed of Lawrel, but in more modern Ages was fashioned of Gold. It was sent by the Senate to the Lord General, as a Trophie to adorn his Triumphs. Secondly Corona Obsidionalis or Graminea, which was given by the Soldiers to the General, when he had rescued them from a Siege, and was form­ed of the Grass of the place where they had been besieg'd. Now the Reason of this [Page 60] was, that by this Monument they might seem to yield up the right of that place to their Captain. And hence it was that an­tiently in Races and other Masteries, he that was subdued, did gather up some of the Grass of that place, and gave it to the Con­querour as an evidence of his acknowledg­ment that he was vanquished. Hence that Phrase, Herbam porrigere, is to confess a Vi­ctory. Thirdly Corona Civica or Quercea, the Civick Crown framed out of Oaken Leaves, which was given to him that had saved the life of a Roman Citizen, and in procedure of the subsequent Ages to the General himself, if he had spared the life of a Citizen, when it lay in his power to de­stroy him. Fourthly Corona Muralis, or a Crown Mural, that was given him that first scaled the Wall of any Town beleagured by the Romans; In memory of which, the Circlet of it was embellished with Trophies which resembled the Battlements of a Wall. Fifthly Corona Castrensis or Vallaris, which was given to him that first entred the Ene­mies Camp; in memory of which signal At­chievement, the Circle or Orbit of the Crown was adorn'd with something that represent­ed a Bulwark or Tenalia, or else the Mound (stil'd in Latin Vallum) that both supported and strengthen'd them. Sixthly Corona Na­valis, [Page 61] that was bestowed on him that first entred the Enemies Ships, the Top or Sum­mit of which resembled in its Figure the Beaks of Ships; from whence it was like­wise stil'd Corona Rostrata. Seventhly, Co­rona Ovalis, which was compos'd of Myr­tle Leaves, and was confer'd on those who only had merited an Ovation, not a Tri­umph. Now an Ovation was granted when the Adversaries that were subdued were Thieves and Pirates, that is, of no consider­able importance; or secondly, when the Vi­ctory was atchiev'd without much hazard, or effusion of Blood, the Enemies voluntari­ly submitting themselves to the mercy or dis­cretion of the Victor.

I now proceed to take a view of the Ro­man Imperial Coyns; and first I find one of Julius Caesar's, on whose Reverse is insculp'd an armed Man supporting the Image of Vi­ctory; and on another's Reverse, an armed Man, sustaining in his right Hand a little Cell or Chappel, which some may conjecture contain'd the Image of Victory; though I rather believe it shrouded the portraicture of the Eagle, the only signal Trophy or Ban­ner of the Roman Empire: for whereas in times of an elder Inscription, the Romans bore on their Ensigns the Boar, the Wolf, the Minotaure, the Horse and the Eagle; [Page 62] they were reduced by Marius solely to the Eagle; which was established by him to be the solemn successive Standard of the Ro­man Armies, and was preserved in a little Cell of quadrangular Shrine, which was compos'd sometimes of Silver, and sometimes of Gold. After Augustus had atchiev'd his Victory at Actium, and reduced Aegypt by Conquest, he stamp'd on the Reverse of his Coyn a Crocodile, and sometimes a Crocodile Chain'd to a Palm Tree, with this Inscription, Aegyptia Capta. The like was observ'd by Titus, after his Conquest of Judaea and Jerusalem, who insculp'd on the Reverse of his Coyns, a Woman sit­ting under a Palm-Tree in a doleful and calamitous posture; and on others, a Wo­man leaning against a Palm Tree with her Hands bound (the Symbol or Hierogly­phick of Captivity) and this Inscription annex'd, Judaea Capta. On the Reverse of some of Tiberius his Coyns, I find the Arms in use among the antient Germans, lodg'd in a shuffled or confused Heap (the Embleme of some Rout or Overthrow) and this Mot­to affixed, Germania; the like Sculpture with little or no variation is represented on the Reverse of some Coyns of Domitian. After Corbulo had reduced Tigranocerta, the Me­tropolis of Armenia, Nero stamp'd on the [Page 63] Reverse of some of his Medals a Bull atta­qued, held or drag'd by the Horns, with these words subjoyn'd, Armenia Capta; by which was intimated his Conquest over that Country, which was so copiously productive of that sort of Cattle. In­deed when most of the Roman Emperours had obtain'd any solemn Conquest over any foreign Army or Province, they were ac­customed to preserve the Remembrance of that signal Atchivement, by representing on the Reverse of their Coyns a Sagum or Military Cassock, sometimes hanging on an Oak, and sometimes lodg'd on a Palm Tree. When they instituted or established any Co­lony, if it was erected on the Maritime parts of any Province, they used to insculp on the right side of their Coyn the Name of the designed Colony, and on the Reverse the Beak or Head of a Ship (the antient Hie­roglyphick of Naval Peregrinations.) But if again it were form'd or fix'd in the more In­land parts, they likewise stamp'd the name of the Colony on one side; but on the Re­verse, a Plough, or else two Oxen, to inti­mate that they had assign'd as much Land towards its support or establishment, as two Oxen could in one day plough up in a Cir­cular Figure. When they would manifest the Faith of their Armies, they stamp'd on [Page 64] the Reverse of their Medals two Hands clasped and lodg'd on a Sagum or Military Cassock, the Symbol of a Soldier; when they would represent their Concord, they insculp'd three Armed men in Fesse embra­cing each other. When they would exhi­bit a Representation of publick Peace or Tranquillity, they insculp'd a Woman sup­porting a Patera, a Platter or Dish used at the Rites of Sacrifices, in one Hand, and in the other a Horn fraught or laden with Corn, Fruit, and Flowers; to suggest to us, that both Religion and Plenty did most thrive and flourish under the calm and Serenity of a publick Peace. Hope was represented on their Medals by the Sculpture of a Woman grasping in her right Hand some Sprigs of Corn, as yet in its infancy or Minority. The Image of good Event, on the Reverse of some coyns of Trajan, is exhibited to us by the Figure of a Woman, reaching out in one Hand a sacrificing Dish or Platter, and sus­taining some mature Ears of Corn in the o­ther; to intimate, that we must never ex­pect any prosperous success or event of af­fairs, unless we first make our Application or Address to Heaven (typified by the sacri­ficing Patera) to improve the undertaking: and on the Reverse of another Medal of Trajan abovesaid, there is the Sculpture of a [Page 65] Thunderbolt repos'd on a Pillow, tacitly to insinuate to Princes, that the severity of Justice should be mollified and attempered with Mercy. When they express'd the pub­lick Security of the Empire, they insculp'd the Gate of a City on some of their Coyn, and on others the Impress of the Arches of a Bridge. Providence was represented on the Reverse of their Medals, by the Figure of a Temple, with six Eagles perch'd on the Top (the antient Embleme of Piety and pro­vidential Perspicacity) three respecting the Eastern, and three beholding the We­stern Situation of it. When the Youth of the Emperour was to be represented, and his Improvement in years, or rather indeed the Increase of the Empire in Dominion and Extent, and Gradation of power, upon the Reverse of some Roman Medals was stamp­ed the Impress of Jupiter bestriding a Goat, with this Motto affix'd, Jovi Crescenti. On other Reverses in insculp'd the Effigies of that Deity abovesaid, in an erect posture, grasping in his right hand his three-forked Thunder, and in another a Lance, with these words annex'd, Jovi Propugnatori; and on other Medals his Figure is exhibited to us, stretching out his right Hand armed and instructed with Thunder, and leaning his other on the Gate of a City, with this In­scription [Page 66] endors'd, Jovi Custodi. In Augu­stinus Tarraconensis his Numismata Antiqua, there is the Delineation of two infrequent Antique Coins; the first expresses the Scul­pture of the Body of an Eagle, and instead of an Head, there is lodged on the Trunk a Sun Raionce, or Refulgent in his Glory, with this Motto annex'd, Foelicitatis Repara­tio. By the Body of the Eagle was typifi­ed the Roman Empire, and by the resplen­dent Sun was intimated that Calmness and Serenity that succeeded those Tempests and Clouds of Calamitous infelicity that had darkned the Roman Grandeur. Indeed Clouds may obscure and eclipse the Rays of the Sun; but when that gloomy Skreen is resolved and dispelled, all things are refresh­ed by his Light, and reanimated and forti­fied with his Heat and Influence. On the Reverse of the second is the Signature of the Trunk of a Man, with an Anubis or Dog's Head, his right Hand supporting a Pot of Incense, and his left Hand grasping a Ca­duceus wreath'd about with two Serpents, with this Inscription adorning the Margin of the Medal, Vota Publica. The Caduceus encircled with the Serpents, was amongst the Romans always the Embleme of Religi­on, the Pot of Incense, of Prayer; and the Dog's Head intimated that the publick Vows [Page 67] were offered up to the Deities above by Mercury the Messenger of the Gods. When they would discover how they had supplied the people with Corn, both Emperour and Consuls pourtrai'd on their Medals a Man's Head with five Ears of Corn issuing out of it. When they would express that Reli­gion and Concord or Peace were support­ed in their security by Laws, they insculp­ed two Hands clasped in one, lodged up­on a Caduceus entwined with two Serpents, and beneath that the Figure of a Lictor's Axe. When any of the Emperors had been invested with the Office or Dignity of the chief Pontificate, they pourtray'd on the Reverse of their Numismata the several Re­presentations of a Pitcher, a Sacrificing Knife and Platter, a Simpulum, and other Instruments, subservient and ministerial in the Rites relating to the Sacrifice. The Li­berality of the Emperours was declared by the Effigies of a Woman, sustaining in her left Hand the Horn of Plenty, and in her right Hand the Roman Congius, which con­tained ten pounds, with this Motto inscri­bed, Liberalitas Augusti. When they would manifest their Triumphs, they represented the Signature of a Chaplet of Laurel, lodg­ed on the Top of a Sella Curulis; and sometimes more, if they had deserved to [Page 68] be dignified for their generous undertakings with several of those signal and pompous Solemnities. When Jupiter had in their Estimate supported and secured the Empire from the pressure of some incumbent Dis­aster, by some eminent preservation, they exhibited his Image on the Reverse of some Medals holding a Ball or Globe; on some supporting the Horn of Plenty, and on o­thers the Image of Victory; and expand­ing or stretching out his right Hand, as though with his Power and Providence he had co­vered both the Roman Territories and Armies; with this Inscription annexed, Jo­vi Conservatori. There is a Medal of Valerian's with this Motto endorsed on the Reverse, [...], which I rather menti­on because the word [...] frequently oc­currs both on the Reverse of the Greek and Roman Coyns: the Sculpture is three Temples, in the midst an Altar, the Fire kindled, and wreathed about with a Ser­pent (the antient Hieroglyphick of Reli­gion.) Upon the Face of the Coyn are three Heads correspondent to the three Temples; the first of the Emperour him­self, the other of Galienus and Valerian his two sons. Now the word [...] (as Mr. Gregory in his Notes and learned Disquisi­tions upon the word observes) imports as [Page 69] much as Aedituus, one that takes care of the Temples; and was an Office of such sacred Estimate both amongst Greeks and Romans, that the most Eminent Cities desired to have the Appellation of the [...], the Guardi­ans or Sacrists of the Temples of those prin­cipal Deities, whom they asserted to be their tutelary Protectors. The Consecration or devoting the Roman Temples to their respe­ctive Gods, was intimated by the Signature of a square Temple with Fire issuing from the top, with this Inscription affixed, Consecratio; to insinuate that Devotions exhaled in those consecrated Repositories should be like that Element, intense and fervent.

The Apotheosis or Deisication of the Em­perours was declared upon the Reverse of the Roman Medals by the Figure of an Eagle ascending up to Heaven out of the Flame of their Funeral Piles. There is one Coin pe­culiar to Nerva, which I had almost omitted; that is, four Horses unbridled on the Reverse, and running in a loose career, with this In­scription, Vehiculatione per Italiam remissâ; by which is intimated that he had remitted that severe pourveiance of Horses for his Use and Carriage, which had been before so general­ly disgustful to the Territories of Italy. Most of the Roman Games, especially the Circensi­an, had their Solemnization celebrated in Mea­dows, [Page 70] the Fringes of whose Banks confined on the Margent of some River; hence the Romans stamped (also Jos. Scalliger in his Manilian Exercitations observes) on their Antient Coins, by a River a Horseman in full career armed with a Lance with this Motto affixed, Decursio. On some Coins of Antoni­nus Pius the Emperour, the Reverse bears the Sculpture of a Woman attired in Blew, seat­ed on a Rock circumscribed and environed with the Sea, with this Inscription subjoyned, Britannia; by which was insinuated that Bri­tain was an Island; or else tacitly suggested that Dominion and Empire she was entitled to, over the circumambient Ocean. Upon the Reverse of an Antient Coin in my own possession, there is a Woman placed on a Rock, supporting a Pillar in one Hand, and leaning the other on a pan of Fire, with these Words annexed, Constantia Imperatoris: the Head is so defaced, that unless it be the Effigi­es of Pertinax, I know not whom to entitle it to. There is on the Reverse of a Medal of Antinous, who was Deified by the Emperour Adrian, the Effigies of a Man holding a wing­ed Horse; now Celebrity of Fame amongst the Graecians was typified by a Pegasus mount­ing up to Heaven, from whence we may con­clude that they only in the Vogue of Adrian were fit to be enrolled in the Register of [Page 71] Consecrations above, (as Antinous was) who had merited it by a Celebrity of Fame or Beauty below.

Having so often mentioned the Roman Coins and Medals, I shall take a brief Pro­spect of some Coins in Use amongst the Greeks and Romans; and first I shall discover that the Antients insculped several Signatures or Images on their Money from which Impressi­on they borrowed the Appellation of Nummi Philippei, Alexandrei, Berenicii, Demaretii, Darici, Ptolemaici, from the Faces or Aspects of those Kings or Queens; namely, Philip, Alexander, Berenice, Demaretus, Darius, Pto­lomy, whose Sculpture did adorn their Me­dals.

Hence was it that the Signature of an Owl did illustrate the Attick Money; that of a Pegasus was stamped on the Corinthian Coin; but the Impress of a Mouse was visible on that of Argos; the Image of a Horse was in­sculped on the Coin of Cephalonia; those of Mitylene did adorn theirs was the Image of Sappho; and the Coin of Chios or Gio, did represent the Pourtraicture of Homer; and in Imitation of these, the Romans antiently and originally did stamp on the Reverse of their Coins either a Ship, or else the Image of Ja­nus with two Faces.

Now the most minute and inconsiderable [Page 72] Coin, both for cheapness and matter, as being of Copper amongst the Romans, and I believe too amongst the Greeks, were the Siliquae and the Folles: the first were equivalent in weight to four Grains; the last both in their weight and value did not out-ballance or out-vie our English Halfpenny. The Roman Coin stiled Sestertium, contained two Asses and an Half. The Victoriatus or Quinarius was proportio­nate in its Estimate to five Asses. Now the Roman Asses were Coin of so contemptible an account, that by the suffrage of all, one of them did amount to but four fifths of a Penny.

The Roman Cistophori were a Species of Coin that were in value equal to half of the Attick Trinarnica. Now the Trinarnica did in their weight poise an Attick Dram, that is the Eighth part of an Ounce. The Drach­ma was the Denarius Consularis, or Consular Penny, as the Triobolus was the Semi-Drach­ma, or Semi-Denarius Consularis, the half Con­sular penny. Now the Aureus, a piece of Gold so stiled amongst the Romans, did when Rome was under the Government of Con­suls, weight two Denarii, that is fifteen Shil­lings Sterling; but under the Emperours its weight decreased to thirteen Shillings Ster­ling. The Roman Stater in Silver was valued at two Shillings four pence; but in Gold its [Page 73] Estimate was rated at sixteen Shillings four pence Sterling.

The Aureus under Severus was first called Solidus, because then it was divided into two Parts, viz. the Semisses and Tremisses, and so relatively to these the whole Aureus had the Appellation of Solidus imposed upon it.

The lesser Talent among the Romans weighed sixty pound, which was proportio­nate in its Estimate to one Hundred seventy nine pound Sterling; But the greater Talent amongst that people swelled in its Bulk and Volume to a weight of eighty pound; that is equivalent in its Value to two Hundred nine­ty nine pound and a Noble Sterling.

There were other Coins called Hypatia, Tre­misia aud Hemisia, which indeed were Medals scattered amongst the People at the Solemn Inauguration of the Roman Emperours. So amongst the Greeks there were Coins, or ra­ther Medals, which had the Title of Epicom­bia bestowed upon them; three of which be­ing of Silver, and three of Gold, accompa­nied with three little pieces of Brass, were treasured up in little Bundles fastned or tied about with linnen Ligatures, and to the Num­ber of ten Thousand were by the Injunction and Command of the Greek Emperours thrown and dispersed amongst the People near the Ascent or Threshold of the Pallace, [Page 74] after their Publick Unction and Inthronizati­on. Both which are more amply discovered to us by Mr. Selden in his Learned and Ela­borate Tract of Titles of Honour.

An Appendix to the former Discourses con­cerning Imperial Coins.

UPon the Reverse of several Consular Denarii and Imperial Coin also, there is the Figure of a Woman standing and reaching out a Patera or sacrificing Dish to a Serpent; By the Woman Vrsinus conjectures is understood Juno Sospita the Patroness of Rome, when she was afflicted with the incum­bent pressure of any Distemper; for my par­ticular, I rather believe the Figure represents the Genius of Rome it self, who offers up an Oblation to a Serpent, the Symbol of Aescula­pius to divert the Pestilence and other Di­seases that then perchance assaulted the City. On the Reverse of a Denarius of Mark An­thony published by Vrsinus, there is the Fi­gure of a Man standing in a Chariot drawn by four Sea Horses, which was imprest to signifie his Dominion over the Land and Sea. Upon the Reverse of a Coin of Augustus there is a Pileus stamped with this Inscription, Libertas Augusti. Now the Pileus or Bonnet, [Page 75] and a little Wand stiled Rudis or Vindicta, with which the Praetor softly touched Slaves on their Heads upon their Manumission, were ever the Ensigns of Freedom; hence it was that when Brutus had sacrificed Caesar to the Publick Liberty, he insculped on his Denarii a Pileus between two Daggers. After the Battle of Actium, Augustus did engrave on the Reverse of his Coyn, a Capricorn, to signifie he was born under the Auspicious Influence of that Sign, whose Feet leaned upon the Helm of a Ship, to intimate his Victory was Naval, and a Globe to declare the Empire that accrued to his Family by that Conquest, and a Cornucopia to discover that Plenty was likewise the Result of his Success. So Vespa­sian and Titus imprest on the Reverse of their Coyn two demy Capricorns rising Back to Back out of the Globe; the Globe signified their Empire, and the two demy Capricorns, the double Success that attended the Victori­ous Arms of those two Emperours. Upon another Coyn of Augustus is stamped an half Moon between five Stars; the Moon did de­note the Increase of his Empire, the five Stars did represent (as Vrsinus affirms) five eminent Games, as the Ludi Saeculares, and others that were celebrated under his Go­vernment; though I rather believe the two up­per did intimate that he was descended from [Page 76] Venus and Romulus, the two middlemost Stars did declare his Empire over the East and West, and the Star in Base the Consecration of Julius Caesar: And my Opinion is establi­shed by another Coyn of Augustus published by Seguinus, on whose Reverse a Cupid is mounted on a Dolphin between two Stars; the Cupid denoted Augustus himself, the Dol­phin (who amongst the Antients was the Symbol of Love) signified Venus to whom this Fish was peculiarly devoted; the two Stars were Phosphorus and Hesperus, which were still the Emblems of the East and West: So two Stars charged upon a Lion Passant, and engraven upon some Coyns of Leo the Empe­rour, signified his Dominion over the Eastern and Western Parts of the World: as a Star charged upon a Lyon Passant and insculped upon both the Antient Roman Denarii, and Imperial Coyn, was a Symbol either of en­creasing Youth, or augmented Empire. Upon the Reverse of a Coyn of Tiberius there is exhibited a pair of Scales in Sculpture, to in­timate the Justice and Equity of that Empe­rour; and the Inscription subjoyned is Aequitas Augusti, which affords Light to that Maxim of the Civil Law, which asserts, that Aequitas Legis est Convenientia Rerum in duobus Paribus. Pro­portionate to this is the Figure of a Wo­man insculped on some Imperial Coyns, [Page 77] holding a pair of Scales, with this Inscription added, Moneta; to insinuate that Money re­ceived its value from its weight: And to con­firm this Deduction; on the Reverse of a Coyn of Diocletian mentioned by Occo, there is the Figure of a Woman in her left Hand holding a pair of Scales, and in her right Hand a Cornucopia, to suggest that Justice and Equity are still the Parents of Peace and Plenty. Upon the Reverse of a Coyn of Claudius there is insculped the Sun in the Figure of a Colossus, placing a Crown upon a Trophy, to intimate that some of his Family had been Victors in the Ludi Apollinares, or the Games devoted to Apollo or the Sun. Upon the Re­verse of a Coyn of Nero's, published by Span­heimius, there is the Signature of the Sepia or Cuttlefish, the Polypus, the Pompilus, and lastly the Gammarus or Creyfish, all which amongst the Romans were the Representations of Pre­gnancy and Fertility: from whence it was that Nero upon the Birth of his Daughter Claudia by Poppea, which he received with most ve­hement exultation, insculped these Symbols as Index's of her Fecundity. Upon the Re­verse of a Coyn of Otho's there is an Eagle with expanded Wings, treading upon a Branch of Olive, whose Beak supports a Crown of Laurel, with an half Moon be­tween her Legs, and a Branch of Palm lodged [Page 78] upon her right Wing; the Eagle typifies the Roman Empire, the Olive Branch represents that Peace which he designed to restore by his Victories intimated by the Palm and Lau­rel to the People of Rome; the Crescent was the Emblem of his newly blooming Authori­ty. On a Coyn of Vitellius is stamped the Cortina or covering of the Tripus, at the Por­tal of which is placed a Crow, a Bird dedi­cated to Apollo, as being the Emblem of Saga­city; and on the top of it is lodged a Dolphin to shew the Maritime Situation of Delphos: All which were imprest to discover that the Father of this Emperour had exercised the Office of Augur, and one of the Quindecim viri, that preserved the Sibyls Books. On a Coyn of Vespasian, and likewise Domitian, there is the Sculpture of a Serpent incumbent on a Horse, to intimate that both Prudence and Celerity are exacted in the Managery of Affairs that are of Publick Concernment. On the Reverse of a Coyn of Trajan, there is an Owle perched upon a Pillar to intimate the perpetuity and fixed constancy of the vigilancy of that Emperour. On a Coyn of Marcus Aurelius there is a Cupid bestriding a Tyger, to suggest to us that Love does charm and mollifie the most savage and barbarous Affections. On the Coin of Caracalla and Maximianus there is a Lion passant, whose [Page 79] Head is adorned with Rayes, and whose Mouth contains a Thunderbolt; the Lion Passant is the Symbol of Prudence, the Rays either of Majesty or Divinity, and the Thun­derbolt both of Providence and Empire. And from hence it was that the Kings of Epire did stamp on their Coyn a Thunderbolt in Fesse, between a Star in Chief, and a Dart in Base; the Star did signifie the Splendor and flourishing condition of their Monarchy, or else their Descent from Hercules that was then Deified, the Thunderbolt their Power, and the Dart the celerity and suddenness ei­ther of their Revenge or Justice. On the Reverse of a Coyn of Pertinax there is the Figure of a Woman holding in her right Hand a Cornucopia, and in her left Hand a Tessera Frumentaria, or Ticket for Corn; And on a Coyn of Nerva there is the Emperour sitting on a Throne on a Sella Curulis, and issuing out his Tesseras Frumentarias to the People, who ascend by steps to receive them: the like Representation with some little va­riation is on a Coyn of Alexander Severus; all which Signatures do declare the Bounty of the Emperours abovesaid in their supply­ing the People of Rome with a stock of Corn, when they were afflicted with the Dan­ger of an approaching Famine.

Now there were Tickets of Wood like­wise [Page 80] thrown amongst the People by the Ro­man Caesars, with the Name of Corn, Plate, Servants, and Garments superscribed upon them, which being caught up by any, and carried to an appointed Officer, brought him that whatsoever it was, which was written upon it. Something proportionate to this is what we find upon two Coyns of Galba; the first hath the Figure of a Man loaden with a Heap of Spoyls stamped on the Reverse; the second a Man with a Bow with this Inscripti­on added to both, Quadragesima Remissa: the meaning is, the fortieth part of mens Estates, which had been exacted by Amerciaments and Fines imposed upon their Goods, and violent­ly levied per Equites & Sagittarios, by Horse­men and Archers was remitted; and upon a Coyn of Adrian, on whose Reverse there are the Figures of three Romans engraven, of whom one seems to lift up his hand and re­joyce, and by them is placed the Emperour grasping a Scepter in his right Hand, and in his left Hand a Torch, with which he puts Fire to a Bundle of Papers; the Declaration of these Signatures is, that Adrian had re­mitted the Publick Debts and other Arrears which had accrued to be due to the Imperial Exchequer from the People of Rome and o­ther Provinces, by the Decursion of Sixteen years past, by burning the Original Obligati­ons. [Page 81] On a Coin of Severus, there is the Repre­sentation of a Gorgons Head, as it is pourtraied upon the Center point of Pallas's shield; to de­note not only the power of that Emperour, but likewise the Terrour that his Victorious Arms had infused into his Enemies. Upon the Reverse of a Coin of Gordianus, there is an armed Man mounted on an Horse, whose Dexter fore-leg instead of an Hoof concludes in an Hand, which grasps a Serpent wreathed about a staff (the Symbol of Aesculapius;) all which do signifie that that pious Emperour did like another Aesculapius, or rather like the Genius of the Province journey thorow the lesser Asia to relieve the Necessities of this Province, piece up the breaches, and repair the ruines that had been superinduced upon it by those two winding sheets of Nature, Earthquakes and Inundations. On another Coin of the Emperour abovesaid, there is an armed Man on Horseback, trampling on a chi­merical Monster, whose Head resembles that of a Lion; out of whose side issues out the Head of a Goat, and at his Tail the Head of a Dra­gon, to specifie that he had triumphed over the irregular Qualities of those three Crea­tures, that is, the Fierceness of the Lion, the Salacity of the Goat, and the Rapacity of the Dragon. So on a third Coin of his, there is imprest a Centaur; not that he ever exhibited [Page 82] a real Centaur to the Roman People, as Ange­loni conjectures, but to declare that the no­bler part of Man, his Reason, had subdued the more brutish, his sensual Affections. Up­on a Coin of Probus there is the Figure of a Woman sitting between two Naked Figures lying prostrate at her Feet with this Inscripti­on annexed, Siscia. Now the conjecture of Angeloni is, which is not improbable, that by the Woman sitting in a more elevated posture is signified some City of the Name abovesaid, that either had been erected by the Emperour abovesaid as a Fortress or Colony to repulse the eruptions of the Adjacent Barbarous Na­tions, or else had submitted to his successful Arms; and the two naked Figures two Rivers which glided by it. On the Reverse of several Imperial Coins represented to us by the Col­lection of Angeloni; there is the Figure of a Woman holding a Sistrum, which is an Instru­ment not unlike a Cymbal, with this Motto an­nexed, Providentia Augusti. Now the Sistrum a­mongst the Egyptians, as the Patera amongst the Romans, was the Hieroglyphick of Divinity because the Priests imployed the Noise of this Instrument in their Sacrifices, and other Di­vine Ministeries, to keep the people from sleep­ing.

There were other Sculptures which were common both to the Imperial Coin and to the [Page 83] sular Denarii; as namely a Scepter, Dolphin, and Trident; and secondly, the Image of vi­ctory placed on the Beak or prow of a Ship were the Customary Emblems of Naval Con­quests: Correspondent to which was the Sig­nature of an armed Figure in his Right Hand, holding a globe with this Superscription su­peradded, Securitas Orbis: and secondly, a Tro­phie placed between two Captives sitting in a disconsolate Representation, at the Pedestal of it were the assured Indexes and Evidences of Field successes.

A Brief Discourse or Digression of the Money in China, Japan, Persia, and other parts of the East-Indies.

Gold and Silver Money in China is Currant only by its Weight, not by any Mark, Stamp, or Signature impressed upon it: So that Mer­chants there, lest the Intercourse of Com­merce should meet with any Obstruction or Impediment, carry always Weights about them to ballance and poise those Lumps and Fragments of Gold and Silver they either re­ceive, or else issue out and disburse.

An Oeban of Gold in Japan swells to forty thousand Thayls or Crowns. A Cockien there is a Crown in Silver. A Thousand Caxias, make a Thayle, and sometimes three and a half.

[Page 84] They have three sorts of Gold Coin in Ja­pan; whereof the first weighs Six Spanish Ri­als, and is in Value Forty eight Thayls, ac­counting every Thayl Five Shillings Sterling. Ten of the second sort weigh a Rial and half a quarter, and are each of them in Value one Thayl and a fifth part. Ten of the third sort do weigh a Rial and an Half and half of a Quarter, and are in value each of them the sixth part of a Thayl.

The Silver Coin in Japan is of no determi­ned weight, but hath the form of a Lingot; but it is so ordered that as much as amounts to Fifty Tayls is to be of a just Weight, which they dispose into Rolls of Paper, in each as much as arrives to twenty Crowns. There is a lesser Silver Coin in Japan, which hath the Fi­gure of a French Bean; its Value is from Seven Pence to Six Shillings or better, which is of a fixed and certain Weight, when it swells to such a Summe.

A Coin made of a thin plate of Lead cal­led Catt and Pity, is currant at Bantam, and over all Java and China. A String of two Hundred Cattas compose the Coin stiled Sa [...]a; which is in Value three farthings sterling And five Satas tied together make a Sapo­coon; And thirteen Sapocoons amount to Crown.

Two Foangs in Siam and Pegu make [...] [Page 85] Mase, and four Mases compose a Ticol, in va­lue about Thirty Sols in French Mony. Four Ticols make a Tayl, and twenty Tayls, a­mount to a Catty in Silver.

Twenty Six Peyses or Tacques in Indostan, or the Territories of the great Mogul, make a Mamoudy or Shilling: A Ropia is in value half a Crown French Mony: A Lac amounts to an Hundred thousand Ropias: An hun­dred Lacs make a Crou or Carroa, and ten Carroas make an Areb: A Theil of Silver makes eleven, twelve, or thirteen Ropias cur­rant Mony: A Massas and an half make a Theil of Silver, ten whereof compose a Theil of Gold: A Xeraphin in Gold is in value thirteen Ropias and an half: Eight Persian Larees in Decan make a Pagod, that is a Noble currant Mony English, though sometimes it amounts to eight shillings, and sometimes to ten shillings; nine brass Basarniques make a Peiso, and eighteen Peisos or twelve oun­ces of Brass compose a Laree.

The Abas in Persia is in value about the third part of a Rix Doller, or one Shilling eightpence sterling: The Garem, Abas or half Abas is commonly stiled [...]hodobenda, because first Coined by Mahomet Chodobenda King of Persia. The Scahi are in value the fourth part of an Abas; and two Bisti and an half make a Scahi; A Persian Tomain in [Page 86] Gold amounts to fifty Abases. The Persians stile all Copper or Brass Mony, by the gene­ral Name of Pott. But there is one particular kind thereof, called by them Kasbeki, forty of which compose an Abas. Shach Ismael Coin­ed in his time a kind of Money named Larie, in Value ten pence English currant Money, and it was formed after the manner of a thick Latten Wire flatted in the midst to receive those Characters that discovered its Estimate or Value.

Of the Mythology of the Greeks and Romans.

Having unravelled the Mysteries that lay concealed in the Rituals of the Jews; I shall now unvail those that were muffled up in those Disguises and Vails the Ancients, either Greeks or Romans, had artificially, to skreen them from vulgar Inspection; put upon them: And first I shall begin with Adonis, in Memory of whose disastrous Fate the Athenians celebra­ted those Feasts stiled Adonia, at which the Women were accustomed to conduct on a Bier or Hearse the Image of a dead Youth to his Sepulchre, with much Regret and effusi­on of Tears, and therefore they painted Ve­nus in the Habit of a mournful Woman di­stilling of Tears; with a vail over her Head condoling the Loss of Adonis. By Venus may be understood the Earth, for that is the beau­tiful Mother of all living Productions. By [Page 87] Adonis (as Macrobius affirms) is implied the Sun, who is slain by the Boar, that is, the Winter; for then his Beams are faint and in­firm; and which is wild, untractable and rough, as that Creature, and deplored by Venus, that is, the Earth deprived at that Season of the more vigorous Influence and Impression of the Sun. In that he is said to be transformed into a flower, it insinuates to us the frailty and fading transitoriness of Beauty.

Achelous was a River, and all Rivers were anciently like Men with long Beards, and long Hair, leaning on their Elbows over a large Ear then Pitcher of Water; the Hair and Beard may signifie the Weeds and Sedge of the River; the leaning on the Elbow inti­mates that Water by its weight tends down­wards, and is supported by the Earth, and circumscribed within the Concavities of it. They were painted like men, because the fi­ctions of Poets asserted the supposed Deities of Rivers to have appeared in that shape and Signature. He was said to be the Son of Ter­ra and Sol, or of Oceanus and Terra, because all Rivers have their Increase or Improve­ment from the Sun, Sea and Earth: It was stiled a Serpent from its many windings; and a Bull, from its Noise and Bellowing: The two Horns are its two streams; one whereof was cut off by Hercules and dispersed into se­veral [Page 88] Rivulets; by which the Country was enriched, and the recompence of the labour of Hercules was a greater Increase.

Adnietus was a King of Thessaly, whose Sheep Apollo did both feed and keep. Every Mo­narch should be the Shepherd of his people; who without Apollo, that is Wisdome, can ne­ver guide and manage them justly, and there­fore he is said to marry Alceste, that is his king­dome, by the concurrent Aid of Hercules and Apollo, that is Strength and Prudence.

Aeacus, Minos and Rhadamanthus were sons of Jupiter, and when they were by him consti­tuted Judges in Hell, his directions obliged them to take their passage through a delight­ful Meadow stiled the Field of Truth. None were admitted into the presence of these Judg­es but naked souls disroabed of vesture; to intimate that Magistrates that possess the place of Judicature should not be warped to Partiality or Injustice by Beauty, Riches, Power, or any other Gandy or Pompous Appen­dages. These three Judges were so placed that Aeacus and Rhadamanthus who were the milder Brothers sat always together, but Minos the more morose and rigid by himself: this was as eminent for his severity, as the o­ther were for their Softness and Clemency; to intimate to us that Justice should be tempered with Mercy, but so that Mercy should be al­ways prevalent.

[Page 89] Aegeon, Briareus or Enceladus, (for by those different Names he is represented to us by the Fictions of Poets) is said to have had an Hundred Hands: the Original of which Fable, is that he lived in a City stiled Centochiria, which in the Greek hath a signification of the same Identity. Aegeon is affirmed to have the custody of Hell Gates, because the winds by which he is understood, are often imprisoned in the Entrails and Inclosures of the Earth and Sea. Aegeon commences a War against Jupi­ter, when the Winds obscure the Heavens with congested Clouds, which are broken and dis­pelled by Thunder, and the Winds appeased: And because Aetna never disgorges Fire, but when some Sulphurous Winds or Exhalations are collected or generated in the hollow Holes or Caverns thereof, therefore Aegeon is said to lie and move there.

Aeolus, Monarch of the Winds, is stiled Jupi­ters Son, because Winds are produced by the Motion and Influence of the Heavens: He was an Astronomer, and could presage storms and calms: It was conjectured he had the do­minion of the Winds. His City was affirmed to be walled with Brass, because it was secu­red with armed men. The Marriages between Aeolus and a Sea-Nymph intimate the relati­on that is between the Wind and the Ocean. He reigned over Islands because they are most [Page 90] exposed to the onsets of Storms. He impri­sons the Winds in a hollow Cave, because some Caves are replenished with Vapours, which often burst forth into the violence and disorder of a Tempest.

Aesculapius was by Antiquity painted like an Antient Man, with a long Beard, Crown­ned with Bays, having in one hand a knotty or knobbed Staff, with the other he leans up­on a Serpent, and hath a Dog at his feet; by which are represented to us the Endowments and Qualifications of a Physician; he ought to be Grave and Aged, prudent as the Ser­pent, vigilant as the Dog, and should be a subduer of Diseases, as his Laurel Garland suggests: The knotty Staff intimates the diffi­culty and intricacy of Distempers and Mala­dies in their several mixtures and complicati­ons; and therefore Hygiaea & Jaso, Health and Cure, are the Children of Aesculapius. His Mother was Coronis, derived from the Greek [...] Misceo & Tempero, or the just Mix­ture or Temper of the Aire, which because it depends on the influence of the Sun, there­fore Apollo is said to have begot Aesculapius of her; but when he slew her with his Arrows is understood, that the Sun with his Beams did first overheat, and then infect the Air with Pestilence; so that the Flame without cau­sed the natural heat within to degene­rate [Page 91] into Feavers and Inflammations. The Serpent, Cock, Raven and Goat were con­secrated to Aesculapius, to intimate that a Physician must be endued with the Ser­pents wisdome, the Cocks vigilancy, the Ravens eye and prescience, and the Goats ce­lerity.

Amphion was the Son of Jupiter; by which is intimated that Musick is the production of Air, for no sound either by voice, instru­ments or water, but is produced by that Ele­ment. Mercury instructed him and gave him the Lute, to declare the resemblance and equal Power of Eloquence and Musick. Elo­quence being a speaking Harmony and Mu­sick, a speechless Eloquence; the one by words, the other by sounds having an In­fluence on the Affections. The erecting of the Walls of Thebes by his Musick, declares that the rudest people are drawn to Religion, Policy and Civility by the Magick and forci­ble operation of Eloquence.

Antaeus is the Symbol of a Covetous Man; the more his Affections touch Earthly things the stronger is his Avarice, until he be raised from the Earth by celestial Cogitations, and then his covetous Thoughts expire and die.

Apollo may be the Hieroglyphick of the su­preme Divinity it self; for the Gentiles paint­ed him with his Harp and three Graces in one [Page 92] hand, and with a Shield and two Arrows in the other; by which, peradventure, they un­derstood that God was not only a punisher of Impiety, but a rewarder of Goodness; as he had two Arrows, so he had various pu­nishments, yet he hath reserved the melodi­ous Harp of his Mercy to sweeten them; and having but two Arrows hath three Graces, to intimate he hath a greater stock of Mercies than Punishments; and therefore the same Hand that grasps the Arrows, sustains also the Shield, to declare, that even then when his Ar­rows are levelled at us, his Shield secures and shelters us. Apollo, the same Deity with the Sun, was by Antiquity painted with Wings to signifie the swiftness of his Motion, and with one side of his Head shaved, and the o­ther hairy; by which was intimated, that whilst the Sun enlightned one Hemisphere, the other was dark; for by his hair they signi­fied his Beams, and by his baldness, Darkness produced by his absence: His Tripos may sig­nifie the three Circles in the Zodiack which e­very year he touches, namely the Ecliptick, and two Tropicks: His Shoes and Garments were of Gold, to discover to us the Reful­gency of his Beams. The Sun was sometimes painted by the Ancients adorned with a Crown, studded with twelve Jems, and some­times with four Urns, or Pitchers at his feet; [Page 93] by which was signified the year, with its twelve Moneths and four Seasons: Sometimes again they placed him on a Lion, with a Bas­ket on his head, and a Lance in his hand, with the Image of Victory on it, by which they intimated that the heat of the Sun subdues the wildest Creatures, and that all their plen­ty and filling of their baskets, resulted from his influence, who like a triumphant Conque­rour, rides in his Golden Chariot of light a­bout the world.

Neptune and Apollo were affirmed to build the Walls of Troy, because Morter and Brick are composed by the Aid of Water and Heat; or else because Laomedon either purloined or borrowed some Treasure out of the Temples of Apollo and Neptune, to erect them.

Asopus was the name of a River in Baeotia, stiled the Son of Jupiter or of Neptune; to in­timate, that all Rivers are either begot of the Air converted into Rain, or of the Sea. A­sopus was destroyed by Jupiters Thunder, whilst he pursued after him to rescue his Daughter Aegina from his intemperate em­braces; by which may be signified that the Ri­ver was dried up by the heat of the Air.

Atlas was a King of Mauritania, who from the eminency and bigness of his Stature was fabulously asserted to be transformed into a Mountain of that name: He was said likewise [Page 94] to have a Garden of Golden Apples because of the plenty of Golden Mines in his King­dome. Atlas was the name of an Hill, which from the height of it was affirmed to support Heaven; and to be begotten of Heaven and of Day because of the continual Light lodg­ed on the Top of it, as being not obscured with Mists, or disordered with Vapours and Clouds. This is the name of him who first discovered the learning of Astronomy, and the invention of the Sphere, and from this knowledge was said to support Heaven.

Aurora was asserted by Antiquity to be the Daughter of Hyperion which signifies to go a­bove, for it is from above we have the light of the Sun: her Mother was Thia, to intimate that it is by divine Gift that we enjoy Light; for nothing doth more exemplarily represent the Divinity than Light; her Charriot signifies her Motion, which sometimes hath two, sometimes four Horses, to declare that sometimes she rises slower and sometimes sooner. The restoring of antient Tithonus to youth by Physick, dis­covers to us that those Medicinal Drugs and Simples that are transported from the East, are powerful for the improvement of Health, and restitution of vigour to the body.

Bacchus was worshipped with Ceres, and e­steemed her inseparable Companion; to insi­nuate, that our life is sustained jointly by Corn [Page 95] and Wine, and that one without the other will not support us long: Bacchus is said to be extracted out of his Mother Semeles Ashes, because they being hot, are esteemed good Compost for the Roots of Vines: and to be cherished in Jupiters Thigh; because the Vine prospers best in a warm Air. And since moi­sture is required to the increase and improve­ment of Wine, therefore Bacchus is said to be nursed and educated by the Nymphs and Hy­ades: He was painted sometimes with a bald Head, with a Sith or Sickle in one Hand, with a Jugge or Pitcher in the other, also with a Womans Garment, and a Chaplet of Roses about his head, which may denote the con­sequences or Effects of Wine; It produces Baldness, because its immoderate use or excess dries up the Radical Moisture of the Brain, and fills it with superfluous and adventitious humours which introduce Baldness: the Sith demonstrates that the disorderly taking in of Wine (typified by the Pitcher) is an effici­ent cause of the abbreviation and cutting off of humane life: the Womans vesture and gar­land of Roses represent the effeminacy of Drunkards, and that propension to Venery, to which Wine and Roses are powerful incen­tives and provocations. Bacchus was always represented naked, to intimate that wine dismantles the inclosures of the Soul, and o­pens [Page 96] secrets, and therefore the chattering Pie was as his own Bird peculiarly assigned and devoted unto him; and because Wine quick­ens and refines ingenuity, therefore the quick-sighted Dragon was consecrated to Bacchus likewise. His Chariot was drawn by Pan­thers, Tygers and Linxes, to suggest to us the Rage, Violence, disordered Passions, and o­ther variety of humours (noted by the Linx­es) that result from excess of Wine.

Boreas was the Son of Neptune and brother of Iris; for as Winds are the product of ma­ritime Vapours, so are Rains, Clouds, and Rainbows by the aid of the Sun. Boreas ra­vishes fair Orithia, or the North-Wind blasts and deflours beauty.

Zetis and Calaus the Sons of Boreas, that is Cold and Driness, dissipate the Harpies, that is Southern Pestilential Vapours which are so ruinous and destructive to living Creatures: For in the Southern Wind there are three pro­perties correspondent to the three names of the Harpies, sudden and swift blasts, that is O­cipite, storms Aello, and obscurity Celaeno.

Out of the fiction of Castor & Pollux we may collect the creation of the Sun and Moon, for in the Beginning the Spirit of God like a Swan moving upon the waters, out of a confused Egge, that is, out of the Chaos extracted these two refulgent Luminaries, whose jurisdicti­on [Page 97] is over the Sea; because by their Influence, Light and motion, storms and vapours are both excited and dispelled. They ride on white Horses, to intimate their Light; and they discover'd the Golden Fleece, because no Metals are produc'd but by their influence, nor can they be traced out but by their Light.

Cadmus, which in the Phoenician Dialect imports as much as Oriental, was the Son of Agenor, and his Wife Harmonia the daugh­ter of Mars and Venus; and they both (as the learned Bochartus conjectures) were Ca­naanites or Hivites; and he fortifies the e­vidence of this assertion from this, that Hi­vite in the Hebrew or Syriack Dialect hath a near cognation or alliance to a word that in that Language imports as much as a Serpent, into which the fabulous Legends of Anti­quity did affirm they were transform'd. Cad­mus is said to sow the Dragons Teeth that produced armed Men: Now in the Phoe­nician Language the Teeth of Serpents signi­fie also Spears of Brass, with which Cadmus first arm'd his Soldiers in Greece: and Higi­nus Cap. 2. pag. 74. testifies Cadmus first pu­rified Brass discovered at Thebes; hence the Ore it was extracted out of was stiled by the Antients Lapis Cadmius, and Terra Cadmia; and Hermonia, as the same Bochartus does [Page 98] believe, was descended from Mount Hermon, where Mars and Venus, it is possible, were a­dor'd by the antient Canaanites.

The Centaurs were said to be begot of Ixion and a Cloud; because they were Subjects of Ixion a King of Thessaly, and the Town where they dwelt was stil'd Nephele which imports as much as a Cloud: And because in Thessaly was first Managery of Horses, and use of Horsemanship; therefore the Centaurs were said to be half Men and half Beasts. Chiron the Centaur was the Son of Saturn and Phil­lira; to insinuate to us, that Astrononomie, Physick, Musick, and the Retinue of other Arts and Sciences are the result or product of Time and Experience, or of Time and Books; for Phillira is a think Skin or Parchment or Paper between the Bark and Wood of the Tree, and is stiled by Antiquity Tilia, on which they were accustomed to write.

By Charon the Antients understood Time, and asserted he was the Son of Erebus and Night; because the secret Decree of Hea­ven gave being to Time, before which it lay conceal'd behind the Skreen of Night or Darkness: his residence is said to be in Hell or here below; because in Heaven there is no use of Time, for there is Eternity: Charon is said to transport and ferry Souls over Styx▪ to the other Bank; to intimate that Time [Page 99] brought us in, and will conduct us out of this World, which are the two Banks of this troublesom River, the Embleme of our tem­poral condition: Charon's Garments were sordid and ragged; so is the state of this Life, if ballanced with Eternal happiness. If we understand Charon literally, then he is said to be that Ferriman that transported the Mumial Bodies from the City Memphis to the adjacent or opposite shoar of the Ri­ver Nilus, there to receive the last Rites of Enterrment.

By Cerberus likewise the Antients prefigur­ed Time, who with his three Heads, past, present, and future, destroys and devours all things; he lodges at the gates of Hell, that is the Grave; and therefore he is stiled Cerbe­rus; quasi [...] Flesh-eater, for all must pass through his Throat that go thither; that is, all must have a fixed time to die. He is said to be engendred of the Giant Typhon from his strength, and of the Snake Echidna from his winding Revolutions and Vicissi­tudes. But if we take this Fiction more li­terally, we shall discover that Cerberus was but a King of the Molossians's Dog, who devoured Men, and was subdued by Her­cules.

Ceres by the Gentiles was the Goddess to whom they entitled the protection of Corn; [Page 100] and therefore they painted her with Peace placed by her, holding in her hand Plutus the God of Wealth; to intimate that Corn and other Fruits of the Earth do flourish and increase, and Money also is redundant in the calm and serenity of Peace. Therefore Ce­res would not affiance her Daughter Proser­pina to Mars, though he made his addresses to her; for Husbandry, which is the improve­ment of Corn, is disordered and sub­verted by War; nor yet espouse her to Apollo, who had made the like amorous applications to her; because wise Men are fitter to guide and sway the Helm of State, than manage and conduct the Plough. Ceres is Corn, which Saturn and Ops, that is, Time and the Earth produce. Proserpina is the Seed which Pluto ravishes, because it lies some space concealed under ground. The lighting of Torches, is the Heat and Light of the Sun and Moon, by whose in­fluence the Corn is matur'd and generated. Therefore Ceres is said to obscure her self, that is, the Corn is not seen, until Pan, that is the Sun, by his Heat discovers and extracts it. The nourishing of Triptolemus by day with Milk, and by night with Fire, is the fomenting of the Corn with Rain by day, and the improving it with Heat in the Bow­els of the Earth by night. The tasting of [Page 101] Pluto's Fruit, is that Food and Nourishment which is imparted to the Corn by the Earth. Ceres was anciently depicted, riding in a Cha­riot drawn by two Dragons, or Winged Ser­pents; by which was intimated that both Corn, and Husbandry, receive their perfecti­on by Celerity, Vigilance and Prudence.

Cetus was a King of Asia, not far distant from Troy; which laid the Basis of that Ficti­on which affirmed him to be a Sea Monster: he was an adversary to the Trojans; and did them much prejudice by his naval strength; therefore he is stiled the Whale, or stupendous Fish, invading the Shore, and destroying the Trojans; who were forced to becalm his fury, by prostituting their Daughters to his lust. This is that Cetus, that in subsequent Times made an inroad into the Territories of Ce­pheus, and had defloured his Daughter An­dromeda, had he not been subdued, and destroyed by Perseus.

The Chimaera, that Bellerophon subdued, was a Monstrous Composition; having the head of a Lion, breathing Fire; the Belly of a Goat, and the Tail of a Dragon: By which some understand a Mountain, on whose top were Lions, and Vulcans of Fire; about the middle, Goats and Pasture; and at the Foot of it, Serpents or Dragons; which was by Bel­lerophon made habitable: other more pro­bable [Page 102] Conjectures suppose that there were three Princes discomfited and slain by Bellero­phon, who bore in their standards the Effi­gies of a Lion, disgorging of Fire, the Pour­traiture of a Goat, and the Resemblance of a Dragon or Serpent.

Circe (says Natalis Comes) is the mixture of the four Elements occasioned by heat & moisture; the four Elements are her four Handmaids: She is immortal, because this mixture is perpe­tual; and the strange shapes do discover the variety of Forms, introduced by Generation: She had no dominion over Vlysses; because the soul is not extracted out of the mixture of the Elements, or the product of Generation.

Coelus was the Son of Aether and Dies, and by his Intermarriage with the earth, became the Parent of the Titans, Cyclops, &c. By which is intimated that those Fiery Meteors in the upper Region of the Air do entitle their generation to his heat, motion & impression to those and hot dry exhalations that stream out of the bowels of the Earth. Saturn his son, that is Time, the Measurer of the Heavens Moti­on, is said to gold Coelus, that is the Hea­vens shall wax old, and lose their Power of Generation, when the Stars shall be rent into Threads of Light, and all things shall confess their Ashes.

The Ancients painted Cupid standing some­times [Page 103] close by fortune; to insinuate how pre­valent the concurrent Aid of that Deity is in the Managery of the affairs of Love: and sometimes they painted him standing by Mer­cury and Hercules, to declare that Love is most vigorous when he is attended by Elo­quence and Magnanimity: They puortrai'd him likewise young, for Love must never decay; with Wings, Love must be swift; Naked, for in the transactions of Love, the Heart and Tongue must be of one piece; and our Addresses are not to be attired with the spe­cious Vesture of Hypocrisy; Blind, for in the Mantle of Love are wrapped up many imper­fections: His Head was adorned with Roses, to declare the delectable complacence of Love; and those cast into the Figure of a Crown, to manifest his Empire, Sway and Dominion. The Image of a Lioness with lit­tle Cupids disporting about her, some tying her to a Pillar, others pouring drink into her Mouth with a Horn, do represent to us, that the most savage Creatures are reclaimed by Love. Therefore Cupid grasps a Rose in one hand, and supports a Dolphin in the other, to declare the Properties of Love, which are swift and officious like the Dolphin, and obli­gingly sweet as the Rose.

By the Cyclops some understand Water, for they are said to be begot of Neptune and Am­Phitrite, [Page 104] and yet they were subservient to Vulcan, that is Fire; to intimate that in Gene­ration, Moisture and Heat are complicated, that no productions can be compleat without their mixture. By the Cyclops, others do ap­prehend those Vapours which by the Influ­ence of Heaven are drawn out of the Earth and Sea, and lodging in the Air engender Thunder and Lightning to be ministerial to Jupiter. Therefore they are said to inhabit near the Hill Aetna in Sicily, because Heat is the Parent of Thunder; they were thrust down to Hell and came up again, because those Va­pours that in Winter lie treasured up in the Womb of the Earth, receive their Elevation by the Warmth of the Spring: Vlysses subdu­ed Polyphemus, that is, Man by his Wisdome and Inspection traced out the secrets of na­tural causes: Apollo is said to destroy these Cyclops, because the Sun dispels Vapours.

Diana, stiled Luna, Hecate, and Dictinna, from a Net, because she had the care and tuiti­on of those that related to Fishers and Hun­ters, was by Antiquity painted sitting in a Chariot drawn by two Horses, the one White and the other Black, by which was under­stood the swiftness of her Motion, and the di­versity of her Aspects; for the white Horse represented her brightness in the Full, and the Black her darkness in the Ebbe or Wain of [Page 105] Light. They pourtrai'd her likewise placed in a Silver Chariot to intimate her Splendor, drawn by Staggs to declare her swiftness, and attired her with Wings still, to manifest the Ce­lerity of her Progress, & armed her hand with Arrows to suggest to us the powerful operati­on of her Beams and Light: They painted her sometimes holding a Leopard and a Lion in her hand, and sometimes trampling or tread­ing upon the last; by which they represented that the raging Heat of the wildest creatures was composed and attempered by the moi­sture of the Moon; and because her increasing and decreasing Light hath the resemblance of Horns, therefore the Bull was sacrificed to her: Sometimes Antiquity depicted her sup­porting a Torch to demonstrate she was the great Taper of the Night; and sometimes co­vered with a Vail to intimate her Eclipses, and obscurity in the Conjunction, and some­times invested with a particoloured Garment to manifest her various Aspects: Her conver­sing in Woods and on Hills declares that her Operations and Effects are most visible there; for all Herbs, Plants and Trees are improved by her Influences and Impressions.

Palaephatus will have the Fiction of the Bull ravishing away Europa, understood of an e­minent Pirate, who forced away divers young Ladies, and in their Register was Europa, [Page 106] Daughter to King Agenor, and violently trans­ported them to Crete: But others with more probability conjecture that this was a Ship of Crete, on whose Stern was the pourtraiture of a Bull, in which Vessel were the Cretans embarked, who forcibly ravished away Eu­ropa.

The Ancients stiled Fortune the Daughter of the Sea, to intimate her instability, and that her Vicissitudes are typified by the Flux and Reflux of its Waters: Sometimes they painted her placed upon a Globe, to declare her Dominion over the World, and drawn with four Horses, by which they signified the four Branches of Divine Providence, by which the Love and Influence of the first and supream cause was communicated to the World, namely Creation, Conservation, Gu­bernation, and Ordination of things to their fixed and determined end. Sometimes they pourtrai'd her standing on a Wheel, to disco­ver to us the variety of her Revolutions, by which some are exalted to Glory, and others again depressed and crushed into a calamitous Ruine.

The Roman Genius was accustomed to be painted with the Horn of Plenty in one hand, and a Dish replenished with offerings, exten­ded towards the other; to intimate that not only the Roman, but all other Common­wealths [Page 107] were supported by outward plenty, and by Religion and Devotion towards God. The Figure of Serpents in which the Genii were adored, does discover to us the Prudent and Vigilant Care the Angels have over us: Therefore the Genii were pourtrai'd by the Romans with a Platter full of Garlands and Flowers in the one hand, and a Whip in the other, to declare the power they were in­vested with both to reward and chastise us.

By Gerion with three Bodies and one Head some understand a City stiled Tricarinia, e­rected upon three Hills, in which Gerion dwelt when he was destroyed by Hercules: Others by this Fiction affirm him to be King of three Islands annexed to Spain, named Cadiz, Erithia and Tartessus, which were three bodies politique united to one Head: But the gene­ral opinion is, that there were three brothers that ruled in Spain with that complaisant A­greement, Unanimity and Affection, that though they had three bodies yet their Counsels were so cimented, that they appear­ed to have but one Head; these were subdu­ed by Hercules, who Sailed to Spain in a Bra­zen Pot, that is, in a Powerful Fleet, fraught with Armor of Brass.

By the Giants that commenced a War a­gainst Heaven, the Ancients understood the Winds and Vapours which are the Children [Page 108] of the Earth and of Coelus, for they are bred in Subterraneous Caverns, and fomented by Rain, which may be stiled the Blood of Hea­ven; they are said to rebel against Jupiter when they discompose the Air, and are trans­pierc'd with Apollo's and Diana's Arrows, that is dispelled & exhausted by the Beams and In­fluences of the Sun and Moon: their hairy Feet denoted the Windings & Rollings of Vapours; their Hairiness, their Variety and Copiousness.

Venus and Cupid were said to accompany the Graces, to intimate that Humane Nature is preserved by Generation, represented by Venus and Cupid, and by Mutual Benevolence and Bounty expressed by the three Graces, which were Thalia a flourishing Estate, Aglaia Honour of Glory, Euphrosyne true Joy and Comfort, which are the Handmaids of Love. The Temple of the Graces was erected in the midst of the Street, that all persons might remember to be both Bountiful and Grateful. Apollo and Mercury are painted sometimes ushering the Graces to declare the Prudence and Celerity are requisite to that suppor­ting of Thanksgiving and Bounty. Seneca by the three Graces understands three sorts of Benefits, some given, some received, and some returned back upon the Benefactor; two look towards us, and one hath her Face from us, because Benefits are oftentimes dou­bly [Page 109] requited: They clasp each other by the Hand, because in beneficence there should be no Interruption: they are naked, or as some affirm they are attired with a thin and trans­parent Vesture, because Bounty should still combine with Sincerity: Their Smiling and serene Aspect discovers to us that Benefits should be given freely; they are still young, because the Remembrance of Benefits should never wax Old. They have Winged Feet, to insinuate that our Beneficence should be quick and active.

By Hercules some understand the Sun, who is the Glory of the Air, which then glitters most when it is gilt and enamelled with the Beams of the Sun. His twelve Labours are the twelve signs of the Zodiack which every year he passes thorough, and all those Vapours and Clouds which he dissipates and exhausts, are those Difficulties and Oppositions which Juno the Air casts before him, to obscure his Glory. He is married to Hebe the Goddess of Youth, because when he returns to us in the Spring, the World buds forth again in a renewed Youth. By Hercules the Ancients did not on­ly understand Magnanimity and Courage, but the power of Eloquence likewise; which they expressed, when they painted him with Chains proceeding from his Tongue, and ti­ed to the Ears of People, whom he drew af­ter [Page 110] him; by which they signified how power­ful Eloquence is to subdue the Affections of the Vulgar, and to attract them from far. The Romans were accustomed to worship Mercury within the City, and Hercules without, to sug­gest that their Common-wealth was supported by Strength and Industry abroad, and by E­loquence and Policy at home. Soldiers and Wrestlers used to consecrate their Devotions to Mercury and Hercules together, to intimate that in War and Wrestling, Policy and Strength should still unite in an equal Combi­nation.

Some by the golden Apples of the Atlanti­des or Hesperides understand Sheep of a yellow Fleece like Gold; for [...] in Greek, signifies both an Apple & a Sheep: These Sheep Hercules transported from Africa to Europe, after he had destroyed Draco the Shepherd: By these Gold­en Apples may be signified a Golden Mine near Mount Atlas in Africa, which Hercules first discovered. By this Garden guarded by a Dragon may be understood some rich Or­chard environed by a winding Branch of the Sea, which Hercules passed over, or by cutting it and diverting the Tide made the passage o­pen: Lastly by the three Daughters of Hespe­ria and the Golden Apples may be meant the Stars, which because they begin to appear in the Evening may be stiled the Daughters of [Page 111] Hesperia or Hesperus, and because the Stars are round like Apples and of a Golden Colour, therefore they fell under the notion of Gol­den Apples. By the Dragon may be under­stood the Zodiac, which winds about the Earth like a Dragon or Serpent: By the Con­quest of Hercules over the Dragon, and car­rying away the Golden Apples, may be meant the Sun, whose appearance takes away the sight of the Stars and Zodiac.

By Hyacinthus, a beautiful Youth, beloved by Apollo, and destroyed by Zephyrus, and af­ter transformed into a Flower; may be signi­fied that all Flowers, and especially the Hya­cinth, prosper when they are glanced upon and fomented by the Beams & calmer Influence of the Sun, but are destroyed by the ruder blasts & injurious Impressions of the Wind. By Apollos shooting his Arrows at Zephyrus and chasing him to the Mountains, to expiate the ruine of Hyacinthus, may be understood, that the beams of the Sun which are his Arrows, dispel and consume those Vapours, that are the matter that stock and ingender the Winds.

Hymen or Hymenaeus because he was the first composer of Wedding Songs, was by the Gentiles stiled the Deity of Marri­age: He was by Antiquity, painted with a Garland adorning his Head, composed of sweet Marjoram, and Roses, with a Torch in [Page 112] one hand, which if it did not burn clear was deemed ominous, and the Nuptial Veil in the other, by the Romans stiled Flammeum from the Colour of the Flame which represented the Virgins blushes; by which picture is inti­mated the Nature of Matrimonial Love, which ought to consist in sweetness typified by the mixed Chaplet abovesaid, in Chearful­ness designed by the clear burning Torch, and in Modesty signified by the Veil: As they u­sed to call upon Hymenaeus so they were accu­stomed to invoke the Goddess Concordia in their Marriages, and to abandon all Military Instruments, as the Trumpet &c. contenting themselves with the Harp, and other Musical Instruments subservient to the softer strains of peace; by which was intimated that in Ma­trimony, Love, Concord, Peace and Union of Affections should be entertained; and no­thing that might relish of Discord or Animo­sity.

By Iapetus the Gentiles understood Hea­ven, and the swift Motion of it; whose Sons are, Atlas, the Axis on which the Heavens rowl about and divides the lower from the upper Hemisphere; his second Son was Hespe­rus, for all the Stars being parts, may be sti­led the Sons of Heaven: His other Sons Pro­metheus and Epimetheus, may signify the Ra­tional Soul, whose Original is celestial, if [Page 113] provident, it may be stiled Prometheus, if neg­ligent, Epimetheus introducing Sorrow and Repentance with it: And Atlas may be deno­minated the Son of Heaven, if we under­stand the Mountain of that name; because of its near approach to the Firmament; from which it was judged to support it: His Daughters were the Pleiades and other knots of Stars.

By Janus, Macrobius understands the Sun: Therefore the Gentiles constituted him Guar­dian of the four Doors of Heaven; the East­ern is the Spring, out of which he seems to come; the Western is the Winter, into which he appears to return when he moves from us. They gave him two Faces, because the Sun looks backwards and forwards; and they placed in one of his hands a Scepter, and in the other a Key, to intimate both his Domi­nion over the World, and that by his light he opens it in the Morning, and shuts it up a­gain in the Evening: Janus his two Faces may signifie the two Principal seasons of the Year, the Winter and Spring; therefore one of the Faces appeared young and vigorous, the other shrivel'd and sad: Or they discover the two kinds of Life he managed, the one rude and Barbarous, the other cultivated and Civil.

Ino stiled Matuta and Leucothea was by the [Page 114] Gentiles esteemed a Deity of the Sea, and made likewise a Goddess of the Morning; peradventure because the Morning appears to rise out of the Sea: they maintained like­wise that she appeased Tempests, because the Winds that are tumultuous in the Night, are accustomed to be settled and composed to­wards the Morning: And because after a calm and serene Night the Winds usually break out in the Morning, and swell the Sea into Sedition and Disorder; therefore she and her Son Palaemon are affirmed to have fal­len into the Sea.

When Juno is stiled Jupiter's Sister, the Air is understood, which much resembles Hea­ven, that is Jupiter: when she hath the ap­pellation of his Wife, the Earth is signified, which like a fruitful Woman, conceives and produces the Creatures by the Celestial Influ­ences. Juno was by Antiquity painted in the Form of a Matron, in a long Robe, grasping a Lance in one Hand, and a Platter in the o­ther; peradventure to intimate the Power, Dominion and Extent of Riches; she was likewise painted, placed in a Charriot of Gold and Silver, drawn by Lions, her hand sup­porting a Scepter, to suggest to us that Riches add Beauty, Strength and Courage to men. By Juno may be signified the Air, which that Picture declares where she is pourtrai'd hold­ing [Page 115] Thunder in one Hand, and a Drum or Cymbal in the other: she wears a party-co­loured Garment, and is attended by Iris, the Rainbow, and Castor and Pollux, two Me­teors presaging Serenity. The fourteen Nymphs which are constituted her Retinue by Virgil, are but so many Exhalations engen­dered in the Air: Her grasping a Pomegranat in one hand, and a Scepter with a Cuckow placed upon it in the other, insinuates the tranquillity of the Air, in which the Cuckow delights, that chaunts only in the Spring; and that Fruits prosper best in a temperate Air. Juno had her education from the Hours, and was nourished by the Ocean, Thetis and the Sea Nymphs, to declare that Wealth is the product of Time or Opportunity, and Navi­gation; or that the Aiery exhalations are both engendered and fomented by Moisture. By a Law of Numa, Juno's Temple at Rome was to be open roofed, to discover that Marria­ges should be publickly solemnized, and not be performed in dark Corners and Recesses.

Antiquity, in Antient representations, pla­ced Jupiter on a Throne, to declare his Im­mutability; invested him with a Crown, to intimate his Authority; they attired him with a Vesture, representing Light, and Flames of Fire, and embellished with Stars, to discover his Divine Nature and eminent Glo­ry: [Page 116] they put a Pair of Globes in one hand, the one of Amber, the other of Gold, to signifie that both the Globes of Heaven and Earth are under his jurisdiction; in the other hand a Viol or Citron, to suggest to us, that he is the Original of that admirable Harmony which is in the World: His Throne is cove­red with a Garment of Peacocks Tails, to re­present his Providence and Omniscience; his Sandals or Shoes are of a Green Complexion, & he trod upon Neptune's Trident, to intimate that both Sea and Land are under his Do­minion; they painted him with Thunder in his hand, to discover he is the chastiser of Im­piety: sometimes they represented him with a Scepter in one hand, and a Circle in the o­ther, to intimate he is the Monarch that sways and controuls the Universe. They placed sometimes the Image of Victory in his hand, to manifest that all Victories and Conquests are but the results of his power and provi­dence: They painted him sometimes without Ears, sometimes with four Ears, to insinuate that Princes should have no Ears for Syco­phants or Slanderers, but many for com­plaints and advice: they gave him also three Eyes, whereof one was situated in his fore­head, to declare that the Knowledge of Prin­ces should be more eminent and sublime, by seeing farther and higher than any private [Page 117] speculation. Justice is always painted by Ju­piter, to signifie that the actions of Princes must be just and equitable. Jupiter subdued Aegeon and the remainder of the Giants, to manifest that Kings must not suffer Tyranny and Oppression to pass unchastised. Jupiter is said to have begot divers Daughters, stiled Prayers, to represent that Princes must have a paternal care of their peoples intreaties and addresses, and not reject or contemn them. Ju­piter espoused Metis which signifies Counsel, and after by swallowing her, conceived Pal­las in his Brain; so Princes must wed them­selves to sober Counsellors, and by swallow­ing their sage advice, their Heads shall be pregnant with Wisdome, and they shall pro­duce prudent Actions. Jupiter was Father of the Muses, to intimate that Princes should be Patrons and Guardians of learned men.

Ixion was tied to a Wheel with Snakes, which may denote he was a Man corroded with Malice and Envy, & that the Lives of Ty­rants are as unsteady and unstable as a Wheel.

Lycaon was a Bloody Prince of Arcadia, who was by Jupiter said to be changed in­to a Wolf; which fabulous Legend had its rise and growth either from his Barba­rous Tyranny and oppression, or from his being infested with the Disease stiled Lycanthropia which renders men melan­choly, [Page 118] sad, desolate, ravenous and savage, or else being expelled his Kingdome for his barbarous excesses in Government he retired into the Woods, where he lived the Life of a Wolf, by pillaging and destroying of Pas­sengers; or fourthly, because he wore a Wolfs Skin, and instructed his people to co­ver and secure their houses with the Skins of Wolves and other savage Beasts; or lastly he is affirmed to receive this transformation because he was the first that devoted the Feasts stiled Lycaea to the Honour of Jupiter, who gathered from thence the Appellation of Jupiter Lycaeus.

Lincus a King of Sicily is asserted by the fictions of Antiquity to be by Ceres for his Murder of Triptolemus transmuted into a Lynx; to intimate to us, that when Princes become Tyrants, they cease to be men, and degene­rate into the nature of the most savage Beasts: or else by this was suggested that he was a Prince of various, inconstant and unsteady resolutions, typified by the Spots and party-colour'd Skin of the Lynx. He was a Prince of that quick and active sight, that he is affirmed that he could see through the thickest bodies of Trees, the body of the Moon and that of the Earth, nay to take Cog­nizance of Ships in the remotest Harbours; but all these were Romances, which if we un­veil, [Page 119] we shall discover that they insinuate to us, that Princes standing upon the Battle­ments of Sovereignty see farther than other men; and because Lincus was the first that discovered those Mines that lie locked up in Subterraneous Recesses, he is said to see through the body of the Earth; and from his exact knowledge of the Nature of Trees, he is affirmed to have seen through the bodies of Oaks; and because he had made accurate ob­servations of the Changes of the Moon, there­fore he is asserted to have shot his visive beams thorough the body of that Planet; and from his inspection into the causes of Winds and Tides, he was said to take a view of Ships in the most distant Harbours.

Mars was stiled by the Antients the Deity of War, because he was the first that institu­ted Military Discipline: his Mother was Ju­no, to intimate that Riches ingender discords and hostile Animosities; and Thero or Fierce­ness was his Nurse; his Associates were Anger and Clamour, for these do inseparably ac­company War, therefore Fear and Terror were the two Horses which drew his Chariot, and Bellona his Sister, with a bloody Whip, still attended upon him: Fame with her Wings full of Eyes, Ears and Tongues, blew the Trumpet before him, to discover to us that Wars oftentimes had their first Efflux or [Page 120] Emanation from false rumors and ill establi­shed reports. The Romans to insinuate how much they detested Civil Wars or mutual Contests, interdicted the painting of the I­mage of Mars on the publick Gates of Cities or the private Doors of Houses, but permit­ted the pourtraying of it on those of Cotta­ges and Villages; but instead of that, adorned the entrances of their Cities and Mansions with the representation of Mercury, to sug­gest to us, that by maintaining War abroad, they preserved Peace at home: Vulcan bound Mars and Venus together, but Neptune disen­gaged them of that restraint, to intimate that Lust is improved by the heat and warmer Sal­lies of Youth, but congealed and mortified by Age, which is cold and moist, and was fit­ly designed by Neptune.

Mars likewise was stiled Necin or Necis by the Acitani, a People of Spain, and wor­shipped under that denomination; who pour­trai'd the head of his Image surrounded with a Circle of Rays; and it is very probable that the custome amongst the Antient and more Modern Christians of pourtraying the heads of Martyrs, Saints, and other Pious Men de­ceased, with a Glory Raionce or a Coronet of Beams encircling them, from hence extract­ed its first Original. See Macrob. Satur. Lib. 1. Cap. 9.

[Page 121] Mercury by the Antients was constituted the Deity of Eloquence, and therefore some assert he was stiled Mercurius, quasi medius Currens, for Speech is that which runs be­tween Man and Man: He was painted winged both in his head and feet, either to demon­strate the various motions of the Planet Mer­curie, or else the nimble acuteness of Elo­quence. He subdued and destroyed Argus, to insinuate that Princes by the concur­rent Aid of Orators charm and reduce the many ey'd Multitude, who are sooner re­claimed to obedience by Tongues than by Swords.

Mercury was likewise painted with a Rod in his Hand wrap'd about with two Serpents embracing each other, by which is signified the confederacy that is required between E­loquence and Wisdome, typified by the Ser­pent; & where Eloquence and Wisdome are en­twined, there the State is well managed, inti­mated by the Rod or Scepter, the Symbol of government: or else this discovers to us, that the most brutish and Serpentine Dispositions are suppled and made tame by Eloquence. He was pourtrai'd supporting a purse, to de­clare that gain of which he was the Deity was to be improved by diligence, expedition and ingenuity: hence he was painted with a Cock, and a Goat by him, to suggest that as vigi­lance [Page 122] is exacted in a Merchant of which the Cock was the Type; so he should demolish all Difficulties that should occur, as the Goat surmounts the most difficult and rag­ged precipices. By Mercury some of the An­tients understood the Sun, and then his Wings may signifie his Velocity; the killing of Ar­gus may represent that the appearance of the Sun puts out the light of the Stars, which are as so many Eyes of Heaven. The Sun seems to behold us with a threefold Aspect, Pale, Red and Blew; the first presages Rain, the second Winds, and the third serenity: and therefore it is probable they painted Mercury with three heads upon a square Stone, to demonstrate ei­ther the four parts of the World, or else the four Seasons of the year, or else to demon­strate the Constancy and Stability of Speech and Eloquence of which he was the Author; or lastly to discover that the knowledge of Letters, Vaulting, or Wrestling, Musick and Geometry, entitled their primary invention to Hermes or Mercury. And to declare that the Sun never languishes into age, or decays in vigour, they represented Mercury always young, Beardless and cheerful; and peradven­ture the Effigies of Mercury like a Youth car­rying a Ram, may declare that the Sun seems to appear young and makes the World look Youthful, when he enters into the Sign of the [Page 123] Ram in the Zodiack: He was painted still with his head covered, to denote that subtle and ingenious heads still wrap up their De­signs in dark, ambiguous and gloomy preten­ces.

Minerva was stiled Jupiter's Daughter, to declare that wisdome is a Signal Gift of Hea­ven: she was extracted from his Brain because that is the seat of Wisdome; without the Aid of Women, because Wisdome is improved, not by Generation, but by infusion, study and experience. Minerva's Target stiled Ae­gis was clear and polished like Glass, and had a Gorgons head on it enwreathed with Snakes, to intimate that Wisdome is terrible to impious men, and that that and sincerity expressed by the clearness of her Target should always combine together. Minerva was by Antiquity painted with a Helmet and Crest, with a Cockperched on the top of it, to suggest to us that Wisdome is the defence and Ornament of Mankind, and is still accompani­ed with Vigilancy. Therefore they likewise pourtrai'd her with an Owl by her side, a Crow in her hand, a Cock on her hand, and a Dragon at her feet, all which import the Sagacity, piercing sight and perspicacity of Wisdome: They represented her suppor­ting a round Target on her Arm and a long Spear in her hand, to demonstrate that Wis­dome [Page 124] both protects and sways the World, and that it can transpierce the most entangled and difficult Affairs, and attaque them at the re­motest distances. Minerva was painted some­times with an Helmet of Gold, with a Sphynx lodged on the top of it, to insinuate to us not only the Glory and Splendor of Wisdome, but the Intricacy and Mysteriousness of it. Whosoever beheld Minerva's Helmet was transformed into a Stone, to discover to us that Wisdome renders men solid, unamazed, unmoveable in times of the greatest perplexi­ty. As there were some Images consecrated to Pallas and Mercury, stiled Hermathenae, so there were some devoted to Mercury and Hercules, denominated Hermeracliae, to denote that Elo­quence, Wisdome and Strength support the World. The Romans sacrificed to Minerva and Vulcan on one Altar, to inculcate to us that Wisdome should be always complicated and mingled with Zeal.

By Midas's Ears may be understood the ex­traordinary height or procerity of them; or else that he was a man of a stupid or Asinine Condition or Capacity; or thirdly his long Ears being a Prince, might import he had those in every dark Recess, which gave him intelligence of what was acted or spoken; for Kings have long Hands and long Ears: or last­ly his Asinine Ears did insinuate, that though [Page 125] he heard many Complaints and Execrations against his arbitrary and Tyrannical Govern­ment, yet he no more resented those, than if he had been transformed into as Ass. Perad­venture being a Prince of vast opulency, and having much treasure, in cutting the River Pactolus into small Streams for fertilizing and enriching the Country, contributed Rise and Growth to this fiction, that he washed away his Golden Faculty in that River; which be­came thereby replenished with Golden Sands, for so Rivers may be stiled, that improve Countries by their overflowing, or by their Mud or Slime.

Nemesis, or the Deity of Revenge, stiled like­wise Rhamnusia and Adraste was by Antiquity affirmed to be the Daughter of Jupiter and Necessity, and therefore they painted her with a Bridle and a Ruler, to intimate divine Justice curbs and rules the World, in punish­ing the Guilty and protecting the Innocent. They painted her likewise in the shape of a Virgin of a truculent Aspect, sad, quicksigh­ted, sustaining a Ballance in one hand, and a Whip or Rod and an Hatchet in the other, to discover that Divine Justice is inexorable, quicksighted in unveiling of truth when it lies folded up in obscurity, and that it does not chastise delinquences with complacence or delight. The Ballance signifies its Impartiality [Page 126] in recompencing the good, and correcting the Impious; the Whip and Hatchet, the diver­sity of Punishments proportionate to the va­riety of Offences. They pourtrai'd her Na­ked, placed on a square stone, to shew that she is open to applications and complaints, and that she is square, stedfast and unvariable. She was likewise represented standing on a Wheel, to intimate her revolutions or vicissitudes in the world; with a Crown on her head, to denote her Dominion, which carried Staggs with small Images of Victory, supporting Palms, to manifest that Vengeance makes men fearful, because she is Victor over the World. Her hand grasped a Cup, on which were in­sculp'd Aethiopians, to suggest that Vengeance can overtake a Sinner, though he runs to the remotest Aethiopia, and therefore her pourtrai­cture was furnished with Wings to demon­strate her Celerity.

Neptune is by Antiquity affirmed to be the first inventor of Horsemanship, because he first instructed Men to manage Horses, or else be­cause he was the first that framed Ships, which appear to ride on the Sea. They were accustomed to paint Neptune, Nereus and the residue of the Sea Gods, with an Aspect some­times frowning, sometimes smiling, to declare that the Sea is sometimes tempestuous, some­times calm: They assigned him a Charriot, [Page 127] drawn with Horses, and as some have delive­red with vast and monstrous Fishes, to signifie the quick and swift Motion of the Sea. Instead of a Scepter, they furnished him with a Tri­dent, with which he sometimes makes a con­cussion in the Earth; that is the Sea, by some Subterraneous passages, often moves and shakes the neighbouring Shoars with Earth­quakes. He was represented Grey-hair'd and invested with a blew Garment, the first ex­pressed the foaming, the last the colour of the Sea: They pourtrai'd Neptune likewise with a Plow and a Cart behind him, to insi­nuate that by accident, the Sea is the cause of the fertility of the Earth, either by Rain en­gendred by Vapours extracted out of the Sea, or else with that Mud or Weeds collected from its Shoars, which in some places is an ex­cellent compost to manure the adjacent fields; or lastly, by its saltness, which by overflowing Tides or other secret Channels is transfused into the Entrails of the Earth. Some conje­cture that Neptune was stiled the Deity of the Sea, because he was Admiral to Saturn, and the first who rigged and launched out a Fleet of Ships; and then possibly his Trident may denote the three Squadrons into which he di­vided his Navy: But if by Neptune we under­stand the Sea it self, then it is probable the Trident may signifie its threefold motion, the [Page 128] one natural, as it is Water to tend down­wards; which results from its active form, the other natural likewise as it is Sea water, which proceeds from its passive form, that is to ebbe and flow; the third is violent as it is rolled into Tempest and Tumult by the impetuous agitation of the Winds. Neptune, Minerva and Vulcan were usually worshipped on one Al­tar, to manifest that Mechanical Artifices and Designs could not be improved or perfected without Wisdome, Fire and Water.

The Oreades, that is the Nymphs of the Hills; Napaeae, that is the Nymphs of Pastures; the Naides, Nymphs of Rivers and Springs; the Limiades, Nymphs of Pools, nourished Ce­res and Bacchus in their infancy, to intimate that Corn and Wine have their Growth and Improvement from Water.

Oceanus was stiled the Son of Coelum and Vesta, that is of Heaven and Earth, because the Sea entitles its preservation and motion to the Heavens, and by them is encompassed, and is supported by the Earth, as a Child is sustained by its Mother. Oceanus was denominated Fa­ther of all the Gods, to declare that all things ascribe and denote their Original to moisture, without whose concurrence, there could be neither Generation nor Corruption: Oceanus was likewise affirmed to be Father of all the Nymphs, because all Springs and Rivers attri­bute [Page 129] their first pedigree and extraction to the Ocean. All the Gods are said to be carressed and feasted by Oceanus; perchance this Ficti­on was established to confirm the Ancient O­pinion of the Stoicks who asserted that the Stars being of a fiery constitution, were not on­ly attempered, but likewise fed by those moist Vapours which were exhaled from the Sea: Oceanus was by Antiquity painted with a Bulls head, either to insi [...]ate the impetuous rush­ing of the Ocean against the adjacent shores, or else to manifest the Bellowing and Clamor of its Waters, when they are breathed upon and discomposed by intemperate and tumul­tuous Winds. Juno is said to be nourished and educated by Oceanus, to denote, that corres­pondence the Air maintains with the Oce­an, both by Situation and Nature; for the Water is easily converted into Air, and that again into Water; the Clouds are ingendered of marine Vapours, and those melt and dis­solve again into the Lap of the Ocean. Tethis, Wife to Oceanus, was anciently painted with Gray Hairs, and a white Garment, either to signifie the Antiquity of Navigation, or else to demonstrate the Fears and Cares of Navigators: and therefore Thetis is said to have been married to Peleus, who it is proba­ble was some Island Prince, and an experi­enced Navigator.

[Page 130] Orion is a constellation composed of seaven­teen Stars, which usually arises in Winter, at which season violent storms are excited, and Cataracts of Rain descend: therefore in rela­tion to that darkness of Air caused by Orion, by muffling it up in such a quantity of gloomy Exhalations that engender Tempests, Rain, and Thunder, he is said to obscure the Celestial powers themselves; and because much Rain entitles its production to his influence, there­fore he is affirmed to be engendered of the Urine of the Gods: He was destroyed by Di­ana's Arrows, because his fainter Beams are involved in the more refulgent light of the Moon. Others deliver he was slain by the Scorpion, for when this rises, the other sinks and is obscured.

Orpheus was an Astronomer who instructed the Graecians in that mystical knowledge, by discovering the Motion, Harmony and Or­der which is amongst the seaven Planets, ty­pified by his Harp whose Musick did result from seaven strings, for which cause they pla­ced it amongst the Stars; about which Anti­quity lodged the Bull, Lion and other Crea­tures, which afforded Original to that Fiction, that the most Savage Animals were charmed into softness by the entrauncing musick of his melodious Harp.

By Pan may be signified the Universe, as [Page 131] the word imports: therefore to improve the Fiction, Antiquity affirmed he was compacted of the Sperm of all Penelope's Woers, because the World is composed of the Seeds of all things; his red Face was to denote the Co­lour of Heaven; his being attired in the spot­ted Skin of a red Bear represented the Starry Firmament; his long Beard suggested the Masculine Vertue of the Fire and Air, in the production of things; his Rough and Hairy Thighs and Legs insinuated the roughness of the Earth, made rugged with Rocks, Trees, and Bushes. By his Shepherds Crook in one hand, may be intimated that Providence by which the World was swayed and managed: by the seaven Pipes in the other hand, may be typified the Harmonious Motion and Order of the seaven Planets. The Ancients painted him with Wings to discover the Celerity of the Motion of the Celestial Orbs. By Pan, some understand the Sun; his Horns intimate his Rays, his crooked Staff the Suns oblique Motion in the Zodiack; his prolixe Beard, his Light, which he casts downwards, as his Horns resembled his Beams which he darts upwards; with these he illuminates the upper Region, with those the lower: His Wings denote the swiftness of his Motion; his cloven feet signi­fie the two Hemispheres: He was by Antiqui­ty pourtrai'd invested with a flowry or bran­ched [Page 132] Garment to discover how the Earth is attired with Herbs and Flowers at the Suns approach. He is the Deity of Mountains, Woods and Groves, because in those recesses he was first adored: He was the Tutelary God of Shepherds, because they first admi­red the Suns Motion, Influence, Power and Beauty, and therefore attributed divine Ho­nours to him. Pan was the inventor of the Trumpet or Cornet for War, with the unac­quainted sound of which the Persian Army was so astonished that they fell into the dis­order of a Defeat, and gave up the Day, and themselves to a cheap Execution: Hence sprang the appellation of Panick Terrors to express sudden Fears. The Arcadians main­tained a perpetual Fire in the Temple of Pan, by which they represented the Sun, and his constant and uninterrupted Light.

By the three fatal Sisters stiled Lachesis, Clo­tho and Atropos, and by a more general Ti­tle denominated the Parcae, may be signified the secret decrees of Heaven concerning Mans Birth, Life and Death. Therefore Antiquity af­firmed them to be the Daughters of Jupiter & Themis or Justice, because nothing attends us in this Life, but by the Decree of the supream Cause established upon his Justice: and be­cause these Decrees should rather be adored than pried into, the Fictions of Antiquity as­serted [Page 133] these three Sisters to inhabit a gloomy Cave; and to be the Daughters of Erebus and Night, because the judegments of Heaven are inscrutable: and because the Eternal Decrees are immutable, therefore the Gentiles affir­med the Fates to be the Daughters of Necessi­ty, into whose Temple at Corinth, it was not lawful for any man to enter; insinuating that no man ought to scan or search the secret Decrees of Heaven.

Perseus was said to be engendered by Gold, either because his Hair was Yellow, or that his Mother was bribed by Gold to prostitute her body to Jupiter, or lastly because a vast Stock of Wealth devolved to him from his Predecessors. The Gorgons which Perseus de­stroyed are thought by some to be a Species of Serpents in Africa stiled Catoblepae, which kill with their Eyes looking still down­wards. If we will be like Perseus Christian Souldiers indeed, and merit a Place amongst the Stars like him, we must subdue the Cato­blepae or Gorgons within us, even those nar­row, covetous Affections, that are still look­ing downwards, and fastned on Earth and Earthly Affairs.

By Pluto the Ancients understood the Sun: he is stiled the God of Hell, in relation to his be­ing under the Earth, when he gilds the Anti­podes with his retired Light: he is said to ravish [Page 134] Proserpina, that is the seminal vertue which dwells in Plants, Trees, Herbs and Corn, which in Winter, when the Sun is in his re­cess or Apogaeum, lies folded up in the entrails of the Earth: Pluto or Plutus is painted with Wings when he abandons us, but halting when he approaches us, to intimate that Wealth is slow in coming, but swift in depar­ting. Pluto was denominated the Deity of the departed Manes or Ghosts, either because he first discovered the Method of burying the Deceased, who before lay uninterred; or it is probable the Rights, Obsequies and Cere­monies of Funerals, entitled themselves to his original Institution.

Priapus was stiled the God of Gardens, be­cause he was the Son of Bacchus, that is the Sun, and of Venus, that is Moisture; to de­monstrate that Fruits, Herbs, Flowers, Plants and Trees are engendred and improved by the Suns Heat, and their own radical Moi­sture: Some make Priapus the Son of the Nymph Nais, others of Chion, which signi­fies Snow; by which is insinuated that Moi­sture in Summer and Snow in Winter, by Cloistring up the natural Heat of Herbs and Plants, are the Causes of Fertility.

Prometheus it is probable was an Astrono­mer, who continually and curiously behold­ding the Celestial Fires, that is the Stars, and [Page 135] upon Caucasus observing the Suns Motion, was said to be chained to that Mountain, and to have his Heart corroded and gnawn by the Eagle of Care and Study. Prometheus was a Philosopher who diligently observing light­ning Comets and other flaming Meteors, was said to steal Fire from Heaven, and was the first that found out the use of Fire for the be­nefit of Mankind: for which after his decease he was honoured with Altars, Sacrifices and Festivals; in which to enhaunse the Memory of this Important Invention, Men in the Night traversed the Streets with lighted Tor­ches. Prometheus made up his Man of the parts of other Creatures, and by consequence of their qualities also, to intimate that Man a­lone hath in him the noxious dispositions of the wildest Beasts, the Foxes subtilty, the dis­simulation of the Crocodile, who is said to weep when Death lies bathing in his Tears, the Goats Salacity, the Bears or Wolves cruel­ty, the Lions fierceness and Anger, and the Ty­gers Rapacity.

By Rhea the Ancients understood the Earth, deduced from ( [...]) to flow, because she flows with all things, either necessary or superflu­ous; or rather because all Springs and Rivers are continually flowing in her and upon her: she was stiled Ops, either from Wealth or Help, either because she contributes Riches, or else [Page 136] is subservient to us under the pressure of Dan­ger or Necessity: Rhea was painted like an ancient Matron, attired in a branched or flow­ry Vesture, with a Crown like a Tower on her Head, with a Scepter in one Hand and a Key in the other; her visage did signifie the Earths Antiquity, her flowry Superficies her Circular or Orbicular Figure, the Castella­ted Crown her Strength in supporting so ma­ny Towers and Cities, as likewise her Domi­nion over all Creatures, for the Earth in their composition is most predominant; and her Key doth suggest that sometimes she is open, as in Summer and Spring when Plants and Trees bud out of her Entrails, and sometimes shut, as in Winter: her Chariot was drawn with Lions, which may denote either Earth­quakes or Inundations, which are indeed the two great winding Sheets of Nature.

Saturn was by Antiquity represented in the pourtraicture of an Ancient Man, bareheaded, in a ragged garment, holding a Hook and a Key in his Hand, and devouring his Children, by which they signified the Antiquity and long duration of time: his bare head intima­ted that Time unvails the most gloomy se­crets; his ragged Vesture insinuated that time corrodes and consumes all things, which was also understood by his devouring his Chil­dren, as also by his Hook and Sickle; his key [Page 137] declared that Time unlocked all those Myste­ries that lay wrapped up in the dark Cabinet of Fate: Saturn was likewise described with Six Wings and woollen feet, to suggest to us that time seems to glide away silently and slowly, whereas indeed he flies away swiftly. Saturn devoured all his Children, except Jupiter, Ju­no, Neptune and Pluto; to signifie that Time de­stroyed all compounded bodies, but the four Elements, to wit, Fire, Air, Water and Earth, which by reason of their simple Nature are not liable to corruption: Saturns Genitals were cut off by Jupiter, and cast into the Sea, and of them and of the Marine Froth was Venus engendered; by which may be discovered that the coldness of Saturn is attempered by the Heat of Jupiter, and so Venus was produ­ced; for there can be no procreation, where Heat does not qualifie Cold: or else by this was insinuated that Saturn, Jupiter and the Sea are required to the production of Venus; that is to say, that Time, the Influence of Hea­ven and Moisture are obliged to concur to the accomplishment of Generation.

By Scylla & Charybdis Palaephatus, understands two such Pyratical Ships and Gallies in the Tir­rhene Sea pillaging all Merchants that traded that way, which from their swiftness in sailing, and the Rapacity of the Pirats within them, were affirmed by Antiquity to be transformed [Page 138] into a Sea Monster composed of Dogs and Wolves: These Vessels Vlysses, by the conduct of a successful Gale of Wind outstript and so declined all prejudice. Natalis Comes and o­thers by Scylla and Charybdis assert two dan­gerous Rocks between Sicily and Italy to be signified, which being hollow, and the Tides gliding through them produced an horrid Noise, resembling the howling of Wolves or barking of Dogs; and because there were di­vers Monstrous Fishes, that lurked within their Cavities, and devoured the bodies of those who had suffered the angry Fate of Shipwrack, the luxuriant Fictions of Poets delivered that these were monstrous Women above, and Dogs and Wolves below.

Scylla Daughter to Nisus King of the Mega­renses, betrayed his fatal Hair to Minos; that is, her Fathers most intimate Counsels to his Capital Adversarie. In that Nisus was meta­morphosed into an Hawk, which still pursued Scylla transformed into a Lark; we may dis­cover the nature of a guilty Conscience, which abandons a Man not in Death, but is distor­ted with the Agonie and Torture of its own Conviction and affrightment wheresoever it resides.

Some understand Sphynx to be an Amazoni­an woman, but an eminent Robber infamous for her Rapine and Effusion of Blood, who lur­ked [Page 139] amongst in hospitable and almost inaccessi­ble Rocks, who with a collected body of Out­laws, made frequent excursions from the Hill Sphingius upon the Thebans, but at last was sub­dued, and destroyed by Oedipus. The Thebans were accustomed to bear the pourtraicture of Sphynx on their Ensigns: Minerva placed it on her Helmet, and the Aegyptians at the En­trance of their Temples; to intimate that wise men, Souldiers and Priests, should be cauti­ous and circumspect, and so involve their Words, and Actions, that they might not be too open, or despicable, to the prejudice of the State or Religion.

The Syrens were said to be the Daughters of Achelous the River, either in reference to that melodious murmur its Waters com­pose in their gliding, or else in relation to those Musical Instruments, or Water Organs, Antiquity stiled Hydraulae; and because of that Harmony that resulted from their Musick they were affirmed to be the Daughters of Calliope one of the Muses.

Styx, Acheron and Cocytus the three Infer­nal Rivers were affirmed to be the Daugh­ters of Oceanus and Terra, to intimate that they as all other Rivers ascribed their Pede­gree to the Sea, but particularly these had some secret passages under Ground. Styx sig­nifies Hatred, Acheron, Joyless, Cocytus, Com­plaint [Page 140] or Lamentation; because when we are deserting this Life, the Joy of all Sublunary Delights do untwist and determine, either in a detestation of them, or in Regret and La­mentation that we are abandoning them. These Rivers are said to flow from Pluto's Throne, because the remembrance of that Dominion that Death hath over Mankind, is the cause that inforces these Sorrows and Complaints.

By Tityus may be understood, the Corn which is by Jupiter, that is, the Air, and the Earth, fomented and extracted; this covers many Acres of Land and is killed by Apollo's Arrows, that is, by the Heat of the Sun is re­duced to Maturity, to be cut down by the Reaper: the Raven which devours his Heart, which grows again, is the Moisture which pu­trifies the injected Seed, which shoots up a­gain into new Growth and Verdure.

By Typhon may be signified Subterraneous Exhalations or Vapours engendring Earth­quakes, and sometimes Eruptions of Fire, A­shes, Stones and Pestilential Fumes, as if they designed to dislodge Jupiter from his Throne: He is asserted to be the Son of Titan and Terra, because they are produced by the Influence and heat of the Sun, in the hollow and spungy Caverns of the Earth.

Venus was by Antiquity painted rising out [Page 141] of the Sea, to signifie that those things that have a Tincture either of Volatile or fixed Salt, are apt to improve venery; and placed in a Shell in which she was transported to Paphos, to declare the Dangers and Difficulties Lo­vers are exposed to: she was also pourtrai'd naked, to intimate that all things should be open and unvailed amongst Lovers, and no­thing in the Heart muffled up in an affected Concealment. She was crowned with Roses, to discover the Empire, and yet sweetness and complacence of Love: her Chariot is said to be drawn sometimes with Doves, to manifest the Sincerity, want of Gall, or Malice in Love; sometimes with Swans and Sparrows, to insinuate that as sometimes there is nothing but Purity and Innocency in Love, so some­times again there is nothing but Salacity: Ve­nus was likewise represented sitting upon a Goat, and treading upon a Snail, to suggest that a modest Matron should subdue Goatish wantonness, and like the Snail, be constantly resident in her House, and consecrate her self to silence; for the Snail wants a Tongue. Ve­nus was espoused to Vulcan, because there can be no Generation, if there were not an Uni­on between the natural Heat expressed by Vulcan, and the radical Moisture signified by Venus. The Romans placed near to Venus Mercury, Pitho and the Graces, to denote that [Page 142] Love is procured and supported by Elo­quence, Perswasion and Bounty. Wine was offered in the Sacrifices devoted to the Ter­restrial Venus, but never in those, consecra­ted to the Celestial one; to suggest to us that Wine is destructive and ruinous to divine Contemplation or Love.

By Vesta the Ancients sometimes under­stood the Earth it self, and in this relation she is stiled the Mother of Saturn; and some­times they meant the Fire within the Entrails of the Earth, or that Natural Heat by which all Sublunary Creatures are generated and fo­mented, and so Vesta was said to be the Daugh­ter of Saturn and Rhea, because this Flame is produced in the Earth, and of the Earth. When all the other Deities wandred abroad in their Chariots, Vesta is said to continue un­moveable in Jupiter's House; that is, of all the simple bodies, the Earth only remains unmo­veable in the midst of Jupiter's House, intima­ted by the Air that encompasses it round about.

The Aegyptians were accustomed to paint Jupiter thrusting an Egge out of his Mouth, and out of that Vulcan issuing, to intimate that God created the World, and out of that extracted the Natural Heat which contributes Vegetation to all things. Vulcan was affirmed to shed his Seed upon the Earth, because he could not debauch Minerva by his Lustful on­sets; [Page 143] to insinuate that the natural Heat hath no Dominion over Heaven, which remains still a Virgin, that is pure from the Embraces of Elementary mixtures, but that it is the Earth that is pregnant and replenished with Seed, by the Aid and supply of this Natural Heat, by which all things are both generated and preserved.

He that would be more amply instru­cted in this discourse let him survey Nata­lis Comes, Palaephatus, Fulgentius his Mytho­logy, and Hyginus, where he shall discover this subject to be more diffusedly treated on.