HIEMPSAL

hiempsal, the name of the two kings of numidia. for hiempsal i. see under jugurtha. hiempsal ii. was the son of gauda, the half-brother of jugurtha. in 88 b.c., after the triumph of sulla, when the younger marius fled from rome to africa, hiempsal received him with apparent friendliness, his real intention being to detain him as a prisoner. marius discovered this intention in time and made good his escape with the assistance of the king's daughter. in 81 hiempsal was driven from his throne by the numidians themselves, or by hiarbas, ruler of part of the kingdom, supported by cn. domitius ahenobarbus, the leader of the marian party in africa. soon afterwards pompey was sent to africa by sulla to reinstate hiempsal, whose territory was subsequently increased by the addition of some land on the coast in accordance with a treaty concluded with l. aurelius cotta. when the tribune p. servilius rullus introduced his agrarian law (63), these lands, which had been originally assigned to the roman people by scipio africanus, were expressly exempted from sale, which roused the indignation of cicero (_de lege agraria_, i. 4, ii. 22). from suetonius (_caesar_, 71) it is evident that hiempsal was alive in 62. according to sallust (_jugurtha_, 17), he was the author of an historical work in the punic language. plutarch, _marius_, 40, _pompey_, 12; appian, _bell. civ._, i. 62. 80; dio cassius xli. 41. hierapolis. 1. (arabic _manbij_ or _mumbij_) an ancient syrian town occupying one of the finest sites in northern syria, in a fertile district about 16 m. s.w. of the confluence of the sajur and euphrates. there is abundant water supply from large springs. in 1879, after the russo-turkish war, a colony of circassians from vidin (widdin) was planted in the ruins, and the result has been the constant discovery of antiquities, which find their way into the bazaars of aleppo and aintab. the place first appears in greek as _bambyce_, but pliny (v. 23) tells us its syrian name was _mabog_. it was doubtless an ancient commagenian sanctuary; but history knows it first under the seleucids, who made it the chief station on their main road between antioch and seleucia-on-tigris; and as a centre of the worship of the syrian nature goddess, atargatis (q.v.), it became known to the greeks as the city of the sanctuary [greek: hieropolis], and finally as the holy city [greek: hierapolis]. lucian, a native of commagene (or some anonymous writer) has immortalized this worship in the tract _de dea syria_, wherein are described the orgiastic luxury of the shrine and the tank of sacred fish, of which aelian also relates marvels. according to the _de dea syria_, the worship was of a phallic character, votaries offering little male figures of wood and bronze. there were also huge _phalli_ set up like obelisks before the temple, which were climbed once a year with certain ceremonies, and decorated. for the rest the temple was of ionic character with golden plated doors and roof and much gilt decoration. inside was a holy chamber into which priests only were allowed to enter. here were statues of a goddess and a god in gold, but the first seems to have been the more richly decorated with gems and other ornaments. between them stood a gilt _xoanon_, which seems to have been carried outside in sacred processions. other rich furniture is described, and a mode of divination by movements of a _xoanon_ of apollo. a great bronze altar stood in front, set about with statues, and in the forecourt lived numerous sacred animals and birds (but not swine) used for sacrifice. some three hundred priests served the shrine and there were numerous minor ministrants. the lake was the centre of sacred festivities and it was customary for votaries to swim out and decorate an altar standing in the middle of the water. self-mutilation and other orgies went on in the temple precinct, and there was an elaborate ritual on entering the city and first visiting the shrine under the conduct of local guides, which reminds one of the meccan pilgrimage. the temple was sacked by crassus on his way to meet the parthians (53 b.c.); but in the 3rd century of the empire the city was the capital of the euphratensian province and one of the great cities of syria. procopius called it the greatest in that part of the world. it was, however, ruinous when julian collected his troops there ere marching to his defeat and death in mesopotamia, and chosroes i. held it to ransom after justinian had failed to put it in a state of defence. harun restored it at the end of the 8th century and it became a bone of contention between byzantines, arabs and turks. the crusaders captured it from the seljuks in the 12th century, but saladin retook it (1175), and later it became the headquarters of hulagu and his mongols, who completed its ruin. the remains are extensive, but almost wholly of late date, as is to be expected in the case of a city which survived into moslem times. the walls are arab, and no ruins of the great temple survive. the most noteworthy relic of antiquity is the sacred lake, on two sides of which can still be seen stepped quays and water-stairs. the first modern account of the site is in a short narrative appended by h. maundrell to his _journey from aleppo to jerusalem_. he was at mumbij in 1699. the coinage of the city begins in the 4th century b.c. with an aramaic series, showing the goddess, either as a bust with mural crown or as riding on a lion. she continues to supply the chief type even during imperial times, being generally shown seated with the _tympanum_ in her hand. other coins substitute the legend [greek: theas surias hieropoliton], within a wreath. it is interesting to note that from _bambyce_ (near which much silk was produced) were derived the _bombycina vestis_ of the romans and, through the crusaders, the bombazine of modern commerce. see f. r. chesney, _euphrates expedition_ (1850); w. f. ainsworth, _personal narrative of the euphrates expedition_ (1888); e. sachau, _reise in syrien_, &c. (1883); d. g. hogarth in _journal of hellenic studies_ (1909). 2. a phrygian city, altitude 1200 ft. on the right bank of the churuk su (lycus), about 8 m. above its junction with the menderes (maeander), situated on a broad terrace, 200 ft. above the valley and 6 m. n. of laodicea. on the terrace rise calcareous springs, that have deposited vast incrustations of snowy whiteness. to these springs, which are warm and slightly sulphureous, and to the "plutonium"--a hole reaching deep into the earth, from which issued a mephitic vapour--the place owed its celebrity and sanctity. here, at an early date, a religious establishment (_hieron_) existed in connexion with the old phrygian kydrara, a settlement of the tribe hydrelitae; and the town which grew round it became one of the greatest centres of phrygian native life but of non-political importance. the chief religious festival was the letoia, named after the goddess leto, a local variety of the mother goddess (cybele), who was honoured with orgiastic rites in which elements of the original anatolian matriarchate and nature-cult survived: there was also a worship of apollo lairbenos. hierapolis was the seat of an early church (col. iv. 13), with which tradition closely connects the apostle philip. epictetus, the philosopher, and papias, a disciple of st john and author of a lost work on the sayings of jesus, were born there. hierapolis is now easily reached from gonjeli, a station on the dineir railway about 7 m. distant. a village of yuruks has gradually grown below the site. the native name for the place is apparently _pambuk kale_ (though doubt has been thrown on the statement), and this has always been explained by the cotton-like appearance of the white incrustations. it should be noted, however, that this name, if genuine, is curiously like that given by the syrians to the commagenian hierapolis (above), _bambyce_, the origin of which it has been suggested was a native name of the goddess pambe or mambe (whence mabog). considering that cotton is a comparatively modern phenomenon in anatolia, it is worth suggesting that _pambuk_ in this case may be a survival of a primitive name, derived from the same goddess, pambe. the goddesses of the two hierapoleis were in any case closely akin. if an old native name has reappeared here after the decline of greek influence, and been given a meaning in modern turkish, it affords another instance of a very common feature of west asian nomenclature. combined with the petrified terraces, the ruins of hierapolis present the most attractive of the easily accessible spectacles in asia minor. they are remarkable for the long avenue of tombs, mostly inscribed sarcophagi on plinths, by which the city is approached from the w., and for a very perfect theatre partly excavated in the hill at the n. side of the site. stage buildings as well as auditorium are well preserved. on the s., just above the white terraces and largely blocked with petrified deposit, stand large baths, into which the natural warm spring was once conducted. behind these is a fine triumphal arch, whence runs a colonnade. ruins of several churches survive, and also of a large basilica. there is a sulphureous pool which may represent the "plutonium," but it has no such deadly power as was ascribed to that pond. ramsay thinks that the "plutonium" was obliterated by christians in the 4th century. over 300 inscriptions have been collected, mostly sepulchral, whence ramsay has deduced interesting facts about the very early christian community which existed here. the site has been often visited and described, and was systematically examined in 1887 by parties under w. m. ramsay and k. humann respectively. see k. humann, _altertumer v. hierapolis_ (1888); sir w. m. ramsay, _cities and bishoprics of phrygia_, vol. i. (1895). (c. w. w.; d. g. h.) hierarchy (gr. [greek: hieros], holy, and [greek: archein], to rule), the office of a steward or guardian of holy things, not a "ruler of priests" or "priestly ruler" (see boeckh, _corp. inscr. gr._ no. 1570), a term commonly used in ecclesiastical language to denote the aggregate of those persons who exercise authority within the christian church, the patriarchate, episcopate or entire three-fold order of the clergy. the word [greek: hierarchia], which does not occur in any classical greek writer, owes its present extensive currency to the celebrated writings of dionysius areopagiticus. of these the most important are the two which treat of the celestial and of the ecclesiastical hierarchy respectively. defining hierarchy as the "function which comprises all sacred things," or, more fully, as "a sacred order and science and activity, assimilated as far as possible to the godlike, and elevated to the imitation of god proportionately to the divine illuminations conceded to it," the author proceeds to enumerate the nine orders of the heavenly host, which are subdivided again into hierarchies or triads, in descending order, thus: seraphim, cherubim, thrones; dominations, virtues, powers; principalities, archangels, angels. these all exist for the common object of raising men through ascending stages of purification and illumination to perfection. the ecclesiastical or earthly hierarchy is the counterpart of the other. in it the first or highest triad is formed by baptism, communion and chrism. the second triad consists of the three orders of the ministry, bishop or hierarch, priest and minister or deacon ([greek: hierarches, hiereus, leitourgos]); this is the earliest known instance in which the title hierarch is applied to a bishop. the third or lowest triad is made up of monks, "initiated" and catechumens. to dionysius may be traced, through thomas aquinas and other catholic writers of the intervening period, the definition of the term usually given by roman catholic writers--"coetus seu ordo praesidum et sacrorum ministrorum ad regendam ecclesiam gignendamque in hominibus sanctitatem divinitus institutus"[1]--although it immediately rests upon the authority of the sixth canon of the twenty-third session of the council of trent, in which anathema is pronounced upon all who deny the existence within the catholic church of a hierarchy instituted by divine appointment, and consisting of bishops, priests and ministers.[2] (see order, holy). footnotes: [1] perrone, _de locis theologicis_, pt. i., sec. i. cap. 2. [2] si quis dixerit in ecclesia catholica non esse hierarchiam divina ordinatione institutam, quae constat ex episcopis, presbyteris, et ministris: anathema sit.