EVAGORAS

evagoras, son of nicocles, king of salamis in cyprus 410-374 b.c. he claimed descent from teucer, half-brother of ajax, son of telamon, and his family had long been rulers of salamis until supplanted by a phoenician exile. when the usurper was in turn driven out by a cyprian noble, evagoras, fearing that his life was in danger, fled to cilicia. thence he returned secretly in 410, and with the aid of a small band of adherents regained possession of the throne. according to isocrates, whose panegyric must however be read with caution, evagoras was a model ruler, whose aim was to promote the welfare of his state and of his subjects by the cultivation of greek refinement and civilization, which had been almost obliterated in salamis by a long period of barbarian rule. he cultivated the friendship of the athenians, and after the defeat of conon at aegospotami he afforded him refuge and hospitality. for a time he also maintained friendly relations with persia, and secured the aid of artaxerxes ii. for athens against sparta. he took part in the battle of cnidus (394), in which the spartan fleet was defeated, and for this service his statue was placed by the athenians side by side with that of conon in the ceramicus. but the energy and enterprise of evagoras soon roused the jealousy of the great king, and relations between them became strained. from 391 they were virtually at war. aided by the athenians and the egyptian hakor (acoris), evagoras extended his rule over the greater part of cyprus, crossed over to asia minor, took several cities in phoenicia, and persuaded the cilicians to revolt. after the peace of antalcidas (387), to which he refused to agree, the athenians withdrew their support, since by its terms they recognized the lordship of persia over cyprus. for ten years evagoras carried on hostilities single-handed, except for occasional aid from egypt. at last he was totally defeated at citium, and compelled to flee to salamis. here, although closely blockaded, he managed to hold his ground, and took advantage of a quarrel between the persian generals to conclude peace (376). evagoras was allowed to remain nominally king of salamis, but in reality a vassal of persia, to which he was to pay a yearly tribute. the chronology of the last part of his reign is uncertain. in 374 he was assassinated by a eunuch from motives of private revenge. the chief authority for the life of evagoras is the panegyric of isocrates addressed to his son nicocles; see also diod. sic. xiv. 115, xv. 2-9; xenophon, _hellenica_, iv. 8; w. judeich, _kleinasiatische studien_ (marburg, 1892), and art. hellenism. evagrius (c. 536-600), surnamed scholasticus, church historian, was born at epiphania in coele-syria. his surname shows him to have been an advocate, and it is supposed that he practised at antioch. he was the legal adviser of gregory, patriarch of that city, whom he successfully defended at constantinople against certain serious charges. through this connexion he was brought under the notice of the emperor tiberius constantine, who honoured him with the rank of quaestorian; maurice tiberius made him master of the rolls. his influence and reputation were so considerable that on the occasion of his second marriage a public festival was celebrated in his honour, which was interrupted by a terrible earthquake. evagrius's name has been preserved by his _ecclesiastical history_ in six books, extending over the period from the third general council (that of ephesus, 431) to the year 593. it thus continues the work of eusebius, socrates, sozomen and theodoret. though not wholly trustworthy, and often very credulous, this work is on the whole impartial, and appears to have been compiled from original documents, from which many valuable excerpts are given. it is particularly helpful to the student of the history of dogma during the 5th and 6th centuries, while the political history of the time is by no means neglected. evagrius made use of the writings of eustathius, john of epiphania, john malalas, procopius, and (possibly) menander protector. the best edition of the history is that of l. parmentier and j. bidez (london, 1898), which contains the scholia; it is also included in migne's _patrologia graeca_, lxxxvi. there is an english translation in bohn's _ecclesiastical library_. see krumbacher, _geschichte der byzantinischen litteratur_ (1897); f.c. baur, _die epochen der kirchlichen geschichtsschreibung_ (1852); l. jeep, _quellenuntersuchungen zu den griechischen kirchenhistorikern_ (1884). evander (gr. [greek: euandros], "good man"), in roman legend, son of mercury and carmenta, or of echemus, king of arcadia. according to the story, evander left the arcadian town of pallantion about sixty years before the trojan war and founded pallanteum or palatium on the hill afterwards called the palatine. this is only one of the many greek legends adopted by the romans for the purpose of connecting places in italy with others of like-sounding name in greece. to evander was attributed the introduction of greek rites and customs into his new country; of writing, music and other arts; of the worship of pan (called faunus by the italians) and the festival of lupercalia. in virgil he receives aeneas hospitably, and assists him against turnus. probably evander was identical with the god faunus (the "favourer"), and the tale of his arcadian origin was due to the desire to establish connexion with greece; the name of his reputed mother (or wife) carmenta is genuinely italian. see livy i. 6. 7; ovid, _fasti_, i. 471, v. 99; dion. halic. i. 31-33; virgil, _aeneid_, viii. 335.