Lamia

• a surname in the gens Aelia, Cic. Sest. 12, 29; id. Fam. 12, 29, 3; id. Att. 11, 7, 2; Hor. C. 1, 26, 8; 3, 17, 2; Juv. 4, 154; 6, 385; Tac. A. 6, 27; Suet. Dom. 1.—Hence,
• II Lămĭānus, a, um, adj., of or belonging to a Lamia, Lamian: horti, Cic. Att. 12, 21, 2; Suet. Calig. 59.

• a city in Phthiotis, now Zeitun, Liv. 27, 30, 1; 32, 4, 3; Plin. 4, 7, 14, § 28.

(Λαμία).

1. A daughter of Poseidon, became by Zeus the mother of the Sibyl Herophile. (Paus. 10.12.1; Plut. de Pyth. Orac. 9.)

2. A female phantom, by which children were frightened. According to tradition, she was originally a Libyan queen, of great beauty, and a daughter of Belus. She was beloved by Zeus, and Hera in her jealousy robbed her of her children. Lamia, from revenge and despair, robbed others of their children, and murdered them; and the savage cruelty in which she now indulged rendered her ugly, and her face became fearfully distorted. Zeus gave her the power of taking her eyes out of her head, and putting them in again. (Diod. 20.41; Suidas, s.v. Plut. de Curios. 2; Schol. ad Aristoph. Pac. 757; Strab. i. p.19.) Some ancients called her the mother of Scylla. (Eustath. ad Hom. p. 1714; Arist. de Mor. 7.5.) In later times Lamiae were conceived as handsome ghostly women, who by voluptuous artifices attracted young men, in order to enjoy their fresh, youthful, and pure flesh and blood. They were thus in ancient times what the vampires are in modern legends. (Philostr. Vit. Apollon. 4.25; Horat. de Art. Poet. 340; Isidor. Orig. 8.11; Apulei. Met. i. p. 57; comp. Spanheim, ad Callim. Hymn. in Dian. 67; Empusa and Mormolyce.) [L.S]

(Λάμια), a celebrated Athenian courtezan, daughter of Cleanor. She commenced her career as a flute-player on the stage, in which profession she attained considerable celebrity, but afterwards abandoned it for that of a hetaera. We know not by what accident she found herself on board of the fleet of Ptolemy at the great sea-fight off Salamis (B. C. 306), but it was on that occasion that she fell into the hands of the young Demetrius, over whom she quickly obtained the most unbounded influence. Though then already past her prime, she so completely captivated the young prince, that her sway continued unbroken for many years, notwithstanding the numerous rivals with whom she had to contend. It was apparently not so much to her beauty as to her wit and talents that she owed her power: the latter were celebrated by the comic writers as well as the historians of the period, and many anecdotes concerning her have been transmitted to us by Plutarch and Athenaeus. Like most persons of her class, she was noted for her profusion, and the magnificence of the banquets which she gave to Demetrius was celebrated even in those times of wanton extravagance. In one instance, however, she is recorded to have made a better use of the treasures which were lavished upon her by her lover with almost incredible profusion, and built a splendid portico for the citizens of Sicyon, probably at the period when their city was in great measure rebuilt by Demetrius. Among the various flatteries invented by the Athenians to please Demetrius was that of consecrating a temple in honour of Lamia, under the title of Aphrodite, and their example was followed by the Thebans. (Plut. Demetr. 16, 19, 24, 25, 27; Athen. 3.101, iv. p. 128, vi. p. 253, xiii. p. 577, xiv. p. 615; Ael. VH 12.17, 13.9.) According to Athenaeus, she had a daughter by Demetrius, who received the name of Phila. Diogenes Laertius (5.76) mentions that Demetrius Phalereus also cohabited with a woman named Lamia, whom he calls an Athenian of noble birth. If this story be not altogether a mistake, which seems not improbable, the Lamia meant must be distinct from the subject of the present article. [E.H.B]

a family of the Aelia gens, which claimed a high antiquity, and pretended to be descended from the mythical hero, Lamus. [Lamus.] No member of this family is, however, mentioned till the end of the republic, but it was reckoned under the empire one of the noblest families in Rome. (Hor. Carm. 3.17; Juv. 4.154, 6.385.)

1. L. Aelius Lamia, was of equestrian rank, and distinguished himself by the zealous support which he afforded to Cicero in the suppression of the Catilinarian conspiracy. So great were his services that he was marked out for vengeance by the popular party, and was accordingly banished (relegatus) by the influence of the consuls Gabinius and Piso in B. C. 58. He was subsequently recalled from exile; and during the civil wars he appears to have espoused Caesar's party, since we find that he obtained the aedileship in B. C. 45. During this time he lived on intimate terms with Cicero, and there are two letters of the latter to Brutus, intreating Brutus to use his influence to assist Lamia in his canvass for the praetorship. He seems to have carried his election, and would have been praetor in B. C. 43, the year in which Cicero was put to death. (Cic. pro Sest. 12, in Prison. 27, post Red. in Sen. 5, ad Att. 13.45, ad Fam. 11.16, 17.) This Lamia seems to be the same as the L. Lamia, praetorius vir, who is said to have been placed upon the funeral pile as if dead, and then to have recovered his senses, land to have spoken after the fire was lighted, when it was too late to save him from death. (V. Max. 1.8.12; Plin. Nat. 7.52.)

Lamia was the founder of his family, to whom he appears to have bequeathed considerable wealth, which was acquired by his commercial speculations as a Roman eques. We see from a letter of Cicero to Q. Cornificius that Lamia must have had extensive commercial transactions in Asia (ad Fam. 12.29); and his gardens at Rome (Horti Lamiani), which Cicero speaks of (ad Att. 12.21), were a well-known spot even in the time of the emperor Caligula. (Suet. Calig. 59.)

2. L. Aelius Lamia, the son of the preceding, and the friend of Horace, was consul in A. D. 3. He was appointed by Tiberius governor of Syria, but was never allowed to enter upon the administration of his province. On the death of L. Piso in A. D. 32, Lamia succeeded him in the office of praefectus urbi, but he died in the following year, A. D. 33, and was honoured with a censor's funeral. (D. C. 58.19; Tac. Ann. 6.27.) Two of Horace's odes are addressed to him. (Carm. 1.26, 3.17.)

3. L. Aelius Lamia Aemilianus, belonged originally, as we see from the last name, to the gens Aemilia, and was adopted into the gens Aelia. He was consul suffectus in A. D. 80 in the reign of Titus, and was originally married to Domitia Longina, the daughter of Corbulo; but during the lifetime of Vespasian he was deprived of her by Domitian, who first lived with her as his mistress and subsequently married her. [Domitia Longina.] Lamia was put to death by Domitian after his accession to the throne. (D. C. 66.3; Suet. Dom. 1, 10; Juv. 4.154.) Lamia's full name was L. Aelius Plautius Lamia. (Marini, Atti degli fratr. arv. i. tav. 23.25, p. cxxx. and 222.)

LA´MIA (Λαμία: Eth. Λαμιεύς: Zitúini), a town of the Malienses, though afterwards separated from them, situated in the district Phthiotis in Thessaly. Strabo describes Lamia as situated above the plain which lies at the foot of the Maliac gulf, at the distance of 30 stadia from the Spercheius, and 50 stadia from the sea (ix. pp. 433, 435). Livy says that it was placed on a height distant seven miles from Heracleia, of which it commnanded the prospect (36.25), and on the route which led from Thermopylae through the passes of Phthiotis to Thaumaci (32.4). Strabo further relates that it was subject to earthquakes (1. p. 60). Lamia is celebrated in history on account of the war which the Athenians and the confederate Greeks carried on against Antipater in B.C. 323. Antipater was at first unsuccessful, and took refuge in Lamia, where he was besieged for some time by the allies. From this circumstance this contest is usually called the Lamian war. Having afterwards received suecours from Graterus, Antipater retreated northwards, and defeated the allies at the battle of Crannon in the following year. (Diod. 18.9, seq.; Plb. 9.29.) In B.C. 208 Philip, son of Demetrius, defeated the Aetolians near Lamia. (Liv. 27.30.) In 192 Lamia opened its gates to Antiochus (Liv. 35.43), and was in consequence besieged in the following year by Philip, who was then acting in conjunction with the Romans. (Liv. 36.25.) On this occasion Livy mentions the difficulty which the Macedonians experienced in mining the rock, which was siliceous ( in asperis locis silex saepe impenetrabilis ferro occurrebat). In 190 the town was taken by the Romans. (Liv. 37.4,5.) Lamia is mentioned by Pliny (Plin. Nat. 4.7. s. 14), and was also in existence in the sixth century. (Hierocl. p. 642, ed. Wesseling.) The site of Lamia is fixed at Zitúni, both by the description of the ancient writers of the position of Lamia, and by an inscription which Paul Lucas copied at this place. Zitúni is situated on a hill, and is by nature a strongly fortified position. The only remains of the ancient city which Leake discovered were some pieces of the walls of the Acropolis, forming a part of those of the modern castle, and some small remains of the town walls at the foot of the hill, beyond the extreme modern houses to the eastward. On the opposite side of the town Leake noticed a small river, which, we learn from Strabo (9. p. 434, 450), was called Achelous. The port of Malia was named PHALARA (τὰ Φάλαρα, Strab. 9. p. 435; Plb. 20.11; Liv. 27.30, 35.43; Plin. Nat. 4.7. s. 12), now Stylídha. Zitúni has been compared to Athens, with its old castle, or acropolis, above, and its Peiraeeus at Stylídha, on the shore below. There is a fine view from the castle, commanding the whole country adjacent to the head of the Maliac gulf. (Lucas, Voyage dans la Grèce, vol. 1. p. 405; Leake, Northern Greece, vol. 2. p. 2; Stephani, Reise, &c. p. 39.) COIN OF LAMIA.

A town in Phthiotis, in Thessaly, situated on the small river Acheloüs, fifty stadia inland from the Maliac Gulf. It has given its name to the war which was carried on by the confederate Greeks against Antipater after the death of Alexander, B.C. 323. When Antipater was defeated by the confederates under the command of Leosthenes, the Athenian, he took refuge in Lamia, where he was besieged for some months. During the siege Leosthenes was killed, and soon after Antipater, being joined by Craterus, defeated the confederates at Cranon, ending the war (Polyb. ix. 29).

Aelius. A Roman family, which claimed descent from the mythical hero Lamus. L. Aelius Lamia, the friend of Horace (see Carm. i. 26, 8), was consul in A.D. 3, and the son of the Lamia who supported Cicero in the suppression of the Catilinarian conspiracy.

• Paus. 10.12.1

• siege of: Paus. 1.1.3
• battle of: Paus. 1.8.2, Paus. 7.10.4, 5
• Lamian war: Paus. 6.4.7, Paus. 7.6.5, Paus. 10.3.4
• Lamian Gulf: Paus. 1.4.3, Paus. 7.15.2, Paus. 10.1.2