In order to break down the powerful house of Maro- zia in Italy, Agapetus favored the claims of Otho to the imperial dignity, and was about to summon him to Rome, when the pope himself died, A.D. 955. His successor, John XII, placed the crown of Charlemagne on Otho's head. — Baronius, Annul. 951 ; Mosheim, Ch. Hist. cent, x, pt. ii, ch. ii.
A'gar C'Ayap), a Grcecized form (Gal. iv, 24, 25) of the name Hagak (q. v.).
Agard, Horace, an esteemed Methodist Episcopal minister, entered the itinerancy in the Genesee Con- ference in 1819. In 1821 he was ordained deacon, and in 1823 elder. In 1826 he was made presiding elder of the Susquehanna district, which he served for seven years, and then was transferred to Berkshire district. He filled the various posts to which he was called with great credit and success. In 1838 he was superannu- ated. His later years were clouded by nervous disease, which abated, so as to leave his mind clear and hap- py, a few days before his death in 1850. — Minutes of Conferences, iv, 498 ; Peck, Early Methodism, p. 457.
Agareue (ul6g "Ay«p), a Graecized form (Baruch iii, 23) of the name Hagarene (q. v.).
Agate (1l3tt5, shebo', signif. unknown ; Sept. a\d- tt]c, Vulg. achates), a precious, or rather ornamental stone, which was one of those in the breastplate (see Braunii Vest. Sacerd. Heb. ii, 15) of the high-priest (Exod. xxviii, 19; xxxix, 12). The word agate, in- deed, occurs also in Isa. liv, 12, and Ezek. xxvii, 6, in our translation ; but in the original the word is 13*7?, kadkod' . See Ruby. Theophrastus describes the agate as "an elegant stone, which took its name from the river Achates (now the Drillo, in the Val di Noto), in Sicily, and was sold at a great price" (58). But it must have been known long before in the East, and, in fact, there are few countries in which agates of some quality or other are not produced. The finest are those of India ; they are plentiful, and sometimes fine, in Italy, Spain, and Germany. We have no evi- dence that agates were found in Palestine. Those used in the desert were doubtless brought from Egypt. Pliny says that those found in the neighborhood of
Thebes were usually red veined with white. He adds that these, as well as most other agates, were deemed to be effectual against scorpions, and gives some curi- ous accounts -of the pictorial delineations which the variegations of agates occasionally assumed. Agate is one of the numerous modifications of form under which silica presents itself, almost in a state of purity, forming 98 per cent, of the entire mineral. The sili- cious particles are not so arranged as to produce the transparency of rock crystal, but a semi-pellucid, some- times almost opaque substance, with a resinous or waxy fracture, and the various shades of color arise from minute quantities of iron. The same stone some- times contains parts of different degrees of translucen- cy, and of various shades of color; and the endless combinations of these produce the beautiful and sin- gular internal forms, from which, together with the high polish they are capable of receiving, agates ac- quire their value as precious stones. Agates are usually found in detached rounded nodules in that variety of the trap rocks called amygdaloid or man- delstein, and occasionally in other rocks. Some of the most marvellous specimens on record were proba- bly merely fancied, and possibly some were the work of art, as it is known that agates may be artificially stained. From Pliny we learn that in his time agates were less valued than they had been in more ancient times (Hist. Nat. xxxvii, 10). The varieties of the agate are numerous, and are now, as in the time of Pliny, arranged according to the color of their ground. The Scripture text shows the early use of this stone for engraving ; and several antique agates, engraved with exquisite beauty, are still preserved in the cab- inets of the curious. (For a further account of the modern agate, see the Penny Cyclopadia, b. v.) — Kit- to, s. v. See Gem.
Agatha, a female Christian martyr, horn at Paler- mo, in the third century. Quint: nus, the pagan governor of Sicily (A.D. 251), captivated with her charms, and incensed by her rejection of his illicit overtures, tortured her in the most brutal manner. By his order she was first scourged with rods, then burnt with red-hot irons and cruelly torn with sharp hooks ; after which she was laid upon a bed of live coals mingled with glass. She died in prison Febru- ary 5, A.D. 251. The history of Agatha, however, given by the Bollandists, is suspected of corruption. — Tillemont, iii, 209; Butler, Lives of Saints, Feb. 5.
Agatho, Pope, surnamed Thaumaturgus, on ac- count of his pretended gift of working miracles. He was a native of Palermo, in Sicily. On the 27th of June, 678, he was elected pope on the death of Donus. He is remembered mainly for his efforts against the Monothelite heresy. Chiefly by his instrumentality the 6th and last (Ecumenical Council was assembled in 680 at Constantinople against these opinions, to which he sent four legates ; and at that council the doctrine sanctioned by Pope Honorius was renounced by Pope Agatho — infallibility against infallibility. He died January 10th, 682. His letters against the Monothelites are preserved in the records of the 6th council (Hardouin, Concilia, torn. iii).