Piso was thirty-one at the time of his death, and enjoyed a reputation for the strictest integrity, uprightness, and morality. (Tac. Hist. i. 14, 15, 34, 43, 48; Dion Cass. Ixiv. 5, 6; Suet. Galb. 17; Plut. Galb. 23, 28; Plin. Ep. ii. 20.) 32. Piso, consul with Julianus A. D. 175 in the reign of Commodus (Lamprid. Commod. 12).

33. Piso, one of the Thirty Tyrants, who assumed the imperial purple after the capture of Valerian, A. D. 260. He traced his descent from the ancient family of the same name, and was a man of unblemished character. After the capture of Valerian, he was sent by Macrianus with orders for the death of Valens, proconsul of Achaia; but upon learning that the latter in anticipation of the danger had assumed the purple, he withdrew into Thessaly, and was there himself saluted emperor by a small body of supporters, who bestowed on him the title of Thessalicus. His career was soon, however, brought to a close by Valens, who, in giving orders for his death, did not scruple to pay a tribute to his conspicuous merit. The proceed ings in the senate, when intelligence arrived of the death of both Piso and Valens, as chronicled by Pollio, are scarce credible, although he professes to give the very words of the first speaker. (Trebell. Pollio, Trig. Tyr. 20.)

fidelity, occurs as a surname of Zeus, and, according to some, answers to the Latin Fidius or Medius Fidius. (Dionys. ii. 49; Eurip. Med. 170.) [L. S.]

PISTON, a statuary, who added the figure of a woman to the biga made by Tisicrates. (Plin. H. N. xxxiv. 8. s. 19. § 32.) Tisicrates flourished about B. c. 300, and Piston of course lived about the same time or later. He also made statues of Mars and Mercury, which, in Pliny's time, stood in the temple of Concord. (Plin. l. c.) [P.S.]

PISTOR, that is, the baker, a surname of Jupiter at Rome, where its origin was thus related: when the Gauls were besieging Rome, the god suggested to the besieged the idea of throwing loaves of bread among the enemies, to make them believe that the Romans had plenty of provisions, and thus cause them to give up the siege. (Ov. Fast. vi. 350, 394; Lactant. i. 20.) This surname shows that there existed a connection between Jupiter, Vesta, and the Penates, for an altar had been dedicated to Jupiter Pistor on the very day which was sacred to Vesta. [L. S.]

PISTO'XENUS, a vase-maker, known by a single vase found at Ceri, and now in the possession of M. Capranesi at Rome, bearing the inscription FISTO+SENOX ETOIESEN. (R. Rochette, Lettre à M. Schorn, p. 56, 2d ed.) [P.S.]

PITANA'TIS (Пiтavâтis), a surname of Artemis, derived from the little town of Pitana in Laconia, where she had a temple. (Callim. Hymn. in Dian. 172; Paus. iii. 16. § 9; Eurip. Troad. 1101.) [L. S.]

COIN OF PISO AND CAEPIO, QUAESTORS. PISON (Пiowv), a statuary of Calaureia, in the territory of Troezen, was the pupil of Amphion. He made one of the statues in the great group which the Athenians dedicated at Delphi in memory of the battle of Aegospotami, namely, the statue of the seer Abas, who predicted the victory to Lysander. He therefore flourished at the end of the fifth century B. C. (Paus. vi. 3. § 2, x. 9. § 2.) [P.S.] PI'STIUS (Пiorios), i. e. the god of faith and

PITHOLA'US, or PEITHOLA'US, or PYTHOLA'US (Пóλaos, Пv¤óλaos), was one of the three brothers-in-law and murderers of Alex ander of Pherae. In B. c. 352 Peitholaus and his brother Lycophron were expelled from Pherae by Philip of Macedon [LYCOPHRON, No. 5]; but Peitholaus re-established himself in the tyranny, and was again driven out by Philip in B. c. 349 (Diod. xvi. 52). He was honoured at one time with the Athenian franchise, but was afterwards deprived of it on the ground that it had been obtained by false pretences. (Dem. c. Neaer. p. 1376.) For Peitholaus, see also Arist. Rhet. iii. 9. § 8, 10. §7; Plut. Amat. 23. [E. E.] PITHOLA US, OTACI'LIUS. [OTACILIUS, p. 64, b.]

PITHON (Howv). Great confusion exists in the MSS. editions of various authors between the different forms, Πείθων, Πίθων, and Πύθων, and it is frequently impossible to say which is the more correct form. (See Ellendt ad Arr. Anab. vi. 7. $ 4.)

1. Son of Agenor, a Macedonian officer in the service of Alexander the Great. It is not easy to distinguish the services rendered by him from those of his namesake, the son of Crateuas; but it is remarkable that no mention occurs of either, until the campaigns in India, though they then appear as holding important commands, and playing a prominent part. It is apparently the son of Agenor who is mentioned as commanding one division of the TESETαîpo, or foot-guards, in the campaign against the Malli, B. c. 327 (Arr. Anab. vi. 6. § 1, 7, 8), and it was certainly to him that Alexander shortly after confided the government of part of the

pus, ibid. p. 64, a.)

From this time we hear no more of him during the life of Alexander: he doubtless remained in his satrapy, the government of which was confirmed to him both in the first partition of the provinces immediately on the king's death, and in the subsequent arrangements at Triparadeisus, B. c. 321. (Diod. xviii. 3, 39: Dexippus ap. Phot. p. 64, b. ; Arrian, ibid. p. 71, b; Curt. x. 10. § 4; Justin. xiii. 4.) It is remarkable that we do not find him taking any part in the war between Eumenes and Antigonus, and it seems probable that he had at that period been dispossessed of his government by Eudemus, who had established his power over great part of the Indian satrapies. But it is clear that he was unfavourably disposed towards Eumenes, and after the fall of that general, B. c. 316, Pithon was rewarded by Antigonus with the important satrapy of Babylon. From thence how ever he was recalled in B. c. 314, in order to form one of the council of experienced officers who were selected by Antigonus to assist and control his son Demetrius, to whom he had for the first time entrusted the command of an army. Two years later we again find him filling a similar situation aud united with the youthful Demetrius in the command of the army in Syria. But he in vain opposed the impetuosity of the young prince, who gave battle to Ptolemy at Gaza, notwithstanding all the remonstrances of Pithon and the other old generals. A complete defeat was the consequence, and Pithon himself fell on the field of battle, B. C. 312. (Diod. xix. 56, 69, 82, 85.)

2. Son of Crateuas or Crateas, a Macedonian of Eordaea, in the service of Alexander, whom we find holding the important post of one of the seven select officers called Somatophylaces, the immediate guards of the king's person. (Arr. Anab. vi. 28.) But we have no information as to the time when he obtained, or the services by which he earned, this distinguished position, though, as already mentioned, it is not always possible to say whether he or the son of Agenor is the person spoken of during the campaigns of Alexander. He is mentioned among the officers in close attendance upon the king during his last illness (Id. vii. 26; Plut. Alex. 76), and took a considerable part in the events that followed his decease, B. C. 323. According to Curtius, he was the first to propose in the assembly of the officers that Perdiccas and Leonnatus should be appointed regents and guardians of the infant king, the expected child of Roxana and in the disputes between the cavalry and infantry he assumed a prominent place among the leaders of the former. (Curt. x. 7. §§ 4, 8; Arrian. ap. Phot. p. 69, a.) His services on this occasion were not forgotten by Perdiccas, who in the division of the provinces assigned to Pithon the important satrapy of Media. (Curt. x. 10. § 4; Diod. xviii. 3; Arrian. up. Phot. p. 69, a; Dexip

It is probable that from this time Pithon had little attachment to the regent, but he made no show of discontent, and rejoined Perdiccas, whom he accompanied on his last expedition to Egypt, B. C. 321. Here, however, the dissatisfaction which soon arose in the army [PERDICCAS] offered a tempting opening to his ambition, and he was the first to put himself at the head of the mutineers, and break out into open insurrection. After the death of Perdiccas the regency was entrusted for a time by the advice of Ptolemy to Pithon and Arrhidaeus conjointly, but they soon showed themselves unworthy of so important a trust, and the intrigues of Eurydice compelled them to resign their office even before the arrival of Antipater. (Diod. xviii. 36, 39; Arrian. ap. Phot, p. 71, a.) In the distribution of the provinces that followed, Pithon retained his former government of Media, with which, however, he seems to have received, either at this time or shortly after, a more general command over the adjoining provinces of Upper Asia. (Arr. l. c. p. 71, b; Diod. xviii. 39, xix. 14; Droysen, Hellenism. vol. i. p. 152.) Here his ambitious and restless spirit soon led him to engage in fresh projects: and he took an opportunity, on what pretext we know not, to dispossess Philip of his satrapy of Parthia, and establish his brother Eudemus in his stead. But this act of aggression at once aroused against him a general confederacy of all the neighbouring satraps, who united their forces, defeated Pithon in a pitched battle, and drove him out of Parthia. Pithon hereupon took refuge with Seleucus at Babylon, who promised to support him, and the two parties were preparing for war, when the approach of Eumenes and Antigonus with their respective armies drew off their attention. The confederate satraps immediately espoused the cause of the former, while Pithon and Seleucus not only rejected all the overtures of Eumenes, but endeavoured to excite an insurrection among the troops of that leader. Failing in this, as well as in their attempts to prevent him from crossing the Tigris and effecting a junction with the satraps, they summoned Antigonus in all haste to their assistance, who advanced to Babylon, and there united his forces with those of Seleucus and Pithon in the spring of B. c. 317. (Diod. xix. 12, 14, 15, 17.)

During the following campaigns of Antigonus against Eumenes, Pithon rendered the most important services to the former general, who appears to have reposed the utmost confidence in his military abilities, and assigned him on all important occasions the second place in the command. Thus we find him commanding the whole left wing of the army of Antigonus in both the decisive actions;

and at another time charged with the main body while Antigonus himself advanced with the cavalry in pursuit of the enemy. Even more valuable perhaps were his services in raising fresh levies of troops, and collecting supplies of provisions and other necessaries, when the scene of war had been transferred to his own government of Media. It is probable that these circumstances called forth anew an overweening confidence in his own merits and abilities, and thus led Pithon after the fall of Eumenes to engage once more in intrigues for his own aggrandizement, which, if not directly treasonable, were sufficient to arouse the suspicions of Antigonus. The latter affected to disbelieve the rumours which had reached him on the subject, but he sent for Pithon to join him in his winterquarters at Ecbatana, under pretence of wishing to consult him concerning the future conduct of the war. Pithon obeyed the summons without suspicion, but as soon as he arrived he was arrested, brought to trial before a council of the friends of Antigonus, and immediately put to death, B. C. 316. (Diod. xix. 19, 20, 26, 29, 30, 38, 40, 43, 46; Polyaen. iv. 6. § 14.)

3. Son of Sosicles. [PEITHON.]

4. Son of Antigenes, an officer mentioned during the campaigns of Alexander in India. (Arr. Ind. 16.) [E. H. B.]

PITIO, a surname of the Sempronia gens, men

COIN OF L. SEMPRONIUS PITIO.

tioned only on coins, a specimen of which is annexed. The obverse represents a winged head of Pailas, with the legend PITIO, the reverse the Dioscuri, with the legend L. SEMP. and ROMA.

PITTACUS (ITτakós), one of those early cultivators of letters, who were designated as "the Seven Wise Men of Greece," was a native of Mytilene in Lesbos. His father was named Hyrrhadius, or Caicus, and, according to Duris, was a Thracian, but his mother was a Lesbian. (Diog. Laërt. i. 74; Suid. s. v.) According to Diogenes Laërtius (i. 80) he flourished at Ol. 42, B. c. 612. He was born, according to Suidas, about Ol. 32, B. C. 652. He was highly celebrated as a warrior, a statesman, a philosopher, and a poet. He is first mentioned, in public life, as an opponent of the tyrants, who in succession usurped the chief power in Mytilene. In conjunction with the brothers of Alcaeus, who were at the head of the aristocratic party, he overthrew and killed the tyrant Melanchrus. This revolution took place, according to Suidas, in Ol. 42, B.C. 612. About the same time, or, according to the more precise date of Eusebius, in B. c. 606, we find him commanding the Mytilenaeans, in their war with the Athenians for the possession of Sigeum, on the coast of the Troad. In this conflict the Mytilenaeans were defeated, and Alcaeus incurred the disgrace of leaving his shield on the field of battle; but Pittacus signalized himself by killing in single combat Phrynon, the commander of the Athenians, an

Olympic victor celebrated for his strength and courage: this feat Pittacus performed by entangling his adversary in a net, and then despatching him with a trident and a dagger, exactly after the fashion in which the gladiators called retiarü long afterwards fought at Rome. For this achievement he received from the Mytilenaeans high honours and substantial rewards; but of the latter he would accept only as much land as he could cast his spear over; and this land he dedicated 'to sacred uses, and it was known in later ages as "the Pittaceian land." (Diog. Laërt. i. 75; Herod. v. 94, 95; Euseb. Chron. s. a. 1410; Strabo, xiii. p. 600; Suid. s. v.; Polyaen. i. 25; Plut. Mor. p. 858, a, b; Festus, s. v. Retiario; ALCAEUS.) This war was terminated by the mediation of Periander, who assigned, the disputed territory to the Athenians (Herod. Diog. l. cc.); but the internal troubles of Mytilene still continued. The supreme power was fiercely disputed between a succession of tyrants, such as Myrsilus, Megalagyrus, and the Cleanactids, and the aristocratic party, headed by Alcaeus and his brother Antimenidas; and the latter were driven into exile. (Strabo, xiii. p. 617.) It would seem that the city enjoyed some years of comparative tranquillity, until the exiles tried to effect their return by force of arms. To resist this attempt the popular party chose Pittacus as their ruler, with absolute power, under the title of alovuVτns, a position which differed from that of a Túpavvos, inasmuch as it depended on popular election, and was restricted in its prerogatives, and sometimes in the time for which it was held, though sometimes it was for life; in short, it was an elective tyranny, ὡς ἁπλῶς εἴπειν αἱρετὴ τυραννίς. (Aristot. Polit. iii. 9. s. 14.) Pittacus held this office for ten years, B. c. 589 to 579, and then voluntarily resigned it, having by his administration restored order to the state, and prepared it for the safe enjoyment of a republican form of government. The oligarchical party, however, represented him as an ordinary tyrant, and Alcaeus poured out invectives against him in the poems which he composed in his exile, calling him τὸν κακοπάτριδα ПTTakov, deriding the zeal and unanimity with which the people chose him for their tyrant, and even ridiculing his personal peculiarities (Fr. 37, 38, ed. Bergk; Aristot. l. c.; Diog. Laërt. i. 81): there is, however, some reason to suppose that Alcaeus was afterwards reconciled to Pittacus. [ALCAEUS.] He lived in great honour at Mytilene for ten years after the resignation of his government; and died in B. c. 569, at a very advanced age, upwards of 70 years according to Laertius (i. 79), upwards of 80 according to Suidas, and 100 according to Lucian. (Macrob. 18.)

There are other traditions respecting Pittacus, some of which are of very doubtful authority. Diogenes Laërtius mentions various communications between him and Croesus, and preserves a short letter, which was said to have been written by Pittacus, declining an invitation to Sardis to see the treasures of the Lydian king (i. 75. 77, 81); and Herodotus mentions a piece of sage advice which was given to Croesus, as some said, by Bias, or, according to others, by Pittacus (i. 27): but all these accounts are rendered doubtful by the fact, that Croesus was only 25 years old at the death of Pittacus. Other anecdotes of his clemency, wisdom, and contempt of riches, are related by Diogenes Laërtius, Plutarch, Aelian, and other writers.

Pittacus was very celebrated as an elegiac poet. According to Diogenes (i. 79), he composed as many as six hundred elegiac verses, forming a collection of didactic statements concerning the laws, addressed to his fellow-citizens. The only extant fragment of his poetry is the few lines preserved by Diogenes (i. 78), who says that they were the most celebrated of his verses :

Ἔχοντα δεῖ τόξον (or τόξα) καὶ ἰοδόκον φαρέτραν στείχειν ἐπὶ φῶτα κακόν·

πιστὸν γὰρ οὐδὲν γλῶσσα διὰ στόματος λαλεῖ διχόμυθον ἔχουσα καρδίη νόημα.

(Schneidewin, Delect. Poes. Graec. p. 260; Bergk, Poët. Lyr. Graec. p. 568.)

[P.S.] PITTHEUS (70εús), a son of Pelops and Dia, was king of Troezene, father of Aethra, and grandfather and instructor of Theseus. (Schol. ad Pind. Ol. i. 144, Eurip. Hippol. 11, Med. 683; Paus. ii. 30. § 8, i. 27. § 8; Apollod. iii. 15. §7; Strab. viii. p. 374.) When Theseus married Phaedra, Pittheus took Hippolytus into his house. (Paus. i. 22. § 2.) His tomb and the chair on which he had sat in judgment were shown at Troezene down to a late time. (Paus. ii. 31. §3.) He is said to have taught the art of speaking, and even to have written a book upon it. (ii. 31. § 4; comp. THESEUs.) Aethra as his daughter is called Pittheis. (Ov. Heroid. x. 31.)

PITYREUS (ПTUρeús), a descendant of Ion and father of Procles, was the last king in Peloponnesus before the invasion of the Dorians. (Paus. ii. 26. § 2, vii. 4. § 3.) [L. S.]

PITYS (Пíтus), a nymph beloved by Pan, was changed into a fir tree. (Lucian, Dial. Deor. 22. 4; Virg. Eclog. vii. 24, with Voss's note.) [L. S.] PIUS, a surname of several Romans. 1. Of the emperor Antoninus [ANTONINUS]. 2. Of a senator Aurelius, who lived at the commencement of the reign of Tiberius (Tac. Ann. i. 75). 3. Of L. Cestius [CESTIUS]. 4. Of Q. Metellus, consul B. c. 80, by whom it was handed down to his adopted son Metellus Scipio. [METELLUS, Nos. 19, 22.]

PIXO'DARUS (Пiwdapos). 1. Son of Maussolus, a Carian of the city of Cindys, who was married to the daughter of Syennesis, king of Cilicia. Having taken part in the great revolt of his countrymen and the Ionians against the Persian king (B. C. 490), he advised the Carians boldly to cross the Macander, and engage the Persian general Daurises with that river in their rear: but this counsel, though regarded by Herodotus as the best that could be given, was not followed, and the Carians were defeated in two successive battles. (Herod. v. 118.)

2. Prince or king of Caria, was the youngest of the three sons of Hecatomnus, all of whom successively held the sovereignty of their native coun

gave his daughter in marriage to a Persian named Orontobates, whom he even seems to have admitted to some share in the sovereign power during his own lifetime. But he did not neglect to court the alliance of other powers also, and endeavoured to secure the powerful friendship of Philip king of Macedonia, by offering the hand of his eldest daughter in marriage to Arrhidaens, the bastard son of the Macedonian monarch. The discontent of the young Alexander at this period led him to offer himself as a suitor for the Carian princess instead of his natural brother-an overture which was eagerly embraced by Pixodarus, but the indignant interference of Philip put an end to the whole scheme. Pixodarus died apparently a natural death—some time before the landing of Alexander in Asia, B. c. 334: and was succeeded by his son-in-law Orontobates. (Diod. xvi. 74; Arr. Anab. i. 23. § 10; Strab. xiv. pp. 656, 657; Plut. Alex. 10.)

The name is very variously written in the MSS. and editions of Arrian and Plutarch: the latter, for the most part, have Пnçódwpos (Sintenis, ad Plut. l. c.; Ellendt, ad Arr. l. c.), but the correctness of the form Пadapos is attested both by his coins, which resemble those of his predecessors Maussolus and Idrieus in their type and general design, and by a fragment of the contemporary comic poet Epigenes (ap. Athen. xi. p. 472 f.), from which we learn that the penultima is short. It would appear from this fragment, that Pixodarus had been sent on an embassy to Athens during the lifetime of his father Hecatomnus. [E. H. B.]

COIN OF PIXODARUS.

FIZRAAPO

PLACI DIA, GALLA. [GALLA, No. 3.] PLACI'DIUS VALENTINIA'NUS. [VALENTINIANUS.]

PLA CIDUS, one of the generals of Vespasian in the war against the Jews, frequently mentioned by Josephus. (Vit. 43, 74, B. J. îîi. 7. §§ 3, 34, iv. 1. § 8, &c.)

PLA'CIDUS, JULIUS, the tribune of a cohort of Vespasian's army, who dragged Vitellius out of the lurking-place in which he had concealed himself. (Tac. Hist. iii. 85; comp. Dion Cass. Ixv. 20; Suet. Vitell. 16.)

PLA CITUS, SEX., the author of a short Latin work, entitled "De Medicina (or Medicamentis) ex Animalibus," consisting of thirtyfour chapters, each of which treats of some animal whose body was supposed to possess certain medical properties. As might be expected, it contains numerous absurdities, and is of little or no value or interest. The author has been sometimes confounded with other persons of the name of Sextus (see Fabric. Bibl. Gr. vol. xii. p. 613,

ed. vet.), and is generally distinguished from them by the additional name of Papyriensis or Papiensis. He appears from various parts of his work (e. g. c. 27) to have been a physician, but nothing else is known of his personal history. His date is uncertain, but he is supposed to have lived in the fourth century after Christ. He is said to have borrowed much from Pliny's Natural History, and to have been copied in turn by Constantinus Africanus. The work has several times been published, both separately, and in different medical collections. It first appeared in 1538, 4to. Norimberg., ed. Fr. Emericus; and again in the same year, 8vo. Basil. ed. Alb. Torinus. It is inserted (after Oribasius) in the first volume of H. Stephani Medicae Artis Principes," Paris, fol. 1567; in the thirteenth volume of the old edition of Fabricii Bibl. Graeca; in Ackermann's "Parabilium Medicamentorum Scriptores Antiqui," Norimb. 1788, 8vo.; and elsewhere. (Choulant's Handb. der Bücherkunde für die Aeltere Medicin.) [W. A. G.]

PLAETO'RIA GENS, plebeian, did not produce any men of distinction, and none of its members obtained the consulship. On coins we find the surname Cestianus: see below.

PLAETO'RIUS. 1. C. PLAETORIUS, one of the three commissioners for founding a colony at Croton in southern Italy, B. c. 194. (Liv. xxxiv. 45.)

2. C. PLAETORIUS, perhaps the same as the preceding, a member of the embassy sent to Gentius, king of the Illyrians, B. c. 172. (Liv. xlii. 26.)

3. M. PLAETORIUS, slain by Sulla. (Val. Max. ix. 2. § 1.)

6. C. PLAETORIUS, served as quaestor in Asia in B. c. 47, under Domitius Calvinus, and belonged to Caesar's party. (Hirt. B. Alex. 34.)

B. C. 67 he was praetor with the same colleague as he had in his aedileship. In B. c. 51 he was condemned (incendio Plaetoriano, i. e. damnatione, Cic. ad Att. v. 20. § 8), but we do not know for what offence. We find him a neighbour of Atticus in B. C. 44, and this is the last that we hear of him (Cic. pro Font. 12, pro Cluent. 45, 53, ad Att. xv. 17). The following coins, struck by M. Plaetorius, a curule aedile, probably refer to the above-mentioned Plaetorius, as we know of no other Plaetorius who held this office. From these we learn that he was the son of Marcus, and that he bore the cognomen Cestianus. The first coin bears on the obverse a woman's head covered with a helmet, with the legend CESTIANVS s. c., and on the reverse an eagle standing on a thunderbolt, with the legend M. PLAETORIVS M. F. AED. CVR. The second coin represents on the obverse the head of Cybele, covered with a turreted coronet, with the legend CESTIANVS, and on the reverse a sella curulis, with the legend M. PLAETORIVS AED. CVR. EX S. C. The third coin has on the obverse the head of a youthful female, and on the reverse the bust of the goddess Sors, with the legend M. PLAETORI. CEST. 8. C.; but as it bears no reference to the aedileship of Plaetorius, it may belong to a different person. The eagle and the head of Cybele on the first and second coins have reference to the games sacred to

Regius, B. C. 46. (B. Afric. 96.)

8. L. PLAETORIUS L. F., is mentioned only on coins, from which we learn that he was quaestor. The obverse represents the head of Moneta, the reverse a man running, with the legend L. PLAETO

9. PLAETORIUS NEPOS, a senator and a friend of Hadrian, whom this emperor thought at one time of appointing as his successor. (Spartian. Hadr. 4, 23.)

PLAGULEIUS, one of the partizans of the tribune Clodius. (Cic. pro Dom. 33, comp. ad Att. x. 8.)

PLA'NCIUS, CN. 1. Defended by Cicero in an oration still extant, was descended from a respectable equestrian family at Atina, a praefectura not far from Arpinum in Latium. His father was a Roman eques, and one of the most important and influential farmers of the public revenue (publicani); he served under M. Crassus, who was consul B. C. 97, and he subsequently earned the hatred of the aristocracy by the energy with which he pressed for a reduction of the sum which the publicani had agreed to pay for the