rld, now converted into schools and barracks. Formerly the monastery
of S. Nicola was occupied by 40 monks, all members of noble families; it
is sufficiently large to hold 400.

CHAPTER V.

ERUPTIONS OF THE MOUNTAIN.

Their frequency within the historical period.--525 B.C.--477 B.C.--
426 B.C.--396 B.C.--140 B.C.--134 B.C.--126 B.C.--122 B.C.--49 B.C.
--43 B.C.--38 B.C.--32 B.C.--40 A.D.--72.--253.--420.--812.--1169.
--1181.--1285.--1329.--1333.--1371.--1408.--1444.--1446.--1447.--
Close of the Fifteenth Century.--1536.--1537--1566.--1579.--1603.--
1607.--1610.--1614.--1619.--1633.--1646.--1651.--1669.--1682.--1688.
--1689.--1693.--1694.--1702.--1723.--1732.--1735.--1744.--1747.--
1755.--Flood of 1755.--1759.--1763.--1766.--1780.--1781.--1787.--
1792.--1797.--1798.--1799.--1800.--1802.--1805.--1808.--1809.--1811.
--1819.--1831.--1832.--1838.--1842.--1843.--1852.--1865.--1874.--
General character of the Eruptions.

A list of all the eruptions of Etna from the earliest times has been
given by several writers, notably by Ferrara in his _Descrizione
dell' Etna_, and by Gemellaro. The latter places the first eruption in
1226 B.C. in the time of the Sicani; the second in 1170 B.C.; and of the
third he says, "In 1149 B.C. there was an eruption, and Hercules in
consequence fled from the island." Of course these dates are worthless,
and the statements are no doubt based upon the assertion of Diodorus,
that before the Trojan war the Sicani were driven from the east side of
Sicily by the eruptions of the volcano.

1. The first eruption appears to have occurred in the time of
Pythagoras; we have no details as to its nature.

2. The second eruption occurred in 477 B.C. It is mentioned by
Thucydides, and it must be the eruption to which Pindar and AEschylus
allude. The former visited the tomb of Hiero I. of Syracuse in 473 B.C.,
and the latter was in Sicily in 471 B.C. On the occasion of this
eruption, two heroic youths named Anapias and Amphinomus,
performed a deed to which Seneca and other writers allude with
enthusiasm. While the lava was rapidly overwhelming the city of Katana,
they placed their aged parents on their shoulders, and, at the risk of
their lives, bore them through the flaming streets, and succeeded in
placing them in safety. It was said that the fiery stream of lava parted
to make way for them. Statues were raised to the honour of the _Pii
Fratres_, and thei