Leyser. See Lyskr.
L'Hopital. See HorixAL.
Liar. See Lie.
Libanius, a celebrated sophist of the 4th centurj-, noted as a friend of the emperor Julian, was bom about A.D. 314 at Antioch, where he studied in early youth, devoting his attention to the purest classic models. Af- ter a stay of four years at Athens, where he attracted nuich attention, he pursued his studies at Constantino- ])le, and here entered upon a brilliant career as teacher, which excited the envy of others, especially of the soph- ist Bemarchius, liis former instructor. The latter falsely charged him with the practice of sorcery and many vices, so that the prefect was persuaded to expel him from the city, A.D. 346. He went to Nice, and shortly after to Nicomedia, and there pleasantly passed five years with great success as an instructor, and returned, by invitation of emperor Julian, who had frequentlv at- tended his lectures, to Constantiuojjle, only to leave it, however, shortly after, on account of the opposititm still existing. He retired, by permission of Cajsar Gallus, to his native city. Here he continued to reside till hisdeath, which is supposed to have occurred after the accession of Arcadius, A.D. 395. In the death of Julian, Libanius lost much of his hope for the restoration of paganism. He complains to the gods that they liad granted so long a life to Constantius, and only so brief a career to Julian. He interchanged many letters with Julian. Under Va- lens he defended himself successfully against a charge of treason, and seems to have obtained the emperor's fa\or. He besought from him a law, in wliich Libanius himself, on account of his own natural offspring by a mistress, was personally interested, granting to natural chikh-en a share in their father's property at his death. Liljanius was the preceptor of Basil and Chrysostom ; and, although himself a pagan to the end,iilways main- tained friendly relations with these Christian fathers. He was a warm advocate for tolerance, and sought to defend the Manichajans of the East from the violent
measures directed against them. He addressed Theo- dosius in one oiXm, Discourses in defence of the heathen temjiles, which the monks were eager to despoil. He lived long enough to see Christianity everywhere tri- umphant, and his personal efforts no longer applauded. Separate works of Libanius have from time to time been discovered and edited, but many yet lie in MS. only in difierent libraries. His style is rhetorically correct, but, in accordance with the spirit of his times, highly artiti- cial. Gibbon's criticism may be considered too severe {Decline and Full, ch. xxiv). Among the writings of Libanius are his Progipnnasmata, or Examples of Rhe- torical Exercises, divided into thirteen sections; and Discourses, many of which were never pronounced, nor designed for that purpose. Some of the latter are moral dissertations, after the fashion of the times, on such sub- jects as Friendship, Riches, Poverty. One is entitled MovifjOLa, a lament on the death of Julian. Another, the most interesting of aU his writings, is his autobiog- raphy, which he first wrote at the age of sixty years, entitled Biof,- »"/ Xoyoc TTipi rj/c hivtov rvxrjg. A frag- ment of his Discourses, addressed to Theodosius in de- fense of the heathen temples, was discovered by Mai in 1823 in the Vatican. The Declamations, exceeding fjrtj- in number, are exercises on imaginary suljjects. There are not less than 2000 Letters addressed to over 500 persons, among whom are Athanasius, Basil, Greg- ory of Nyssa, and Chrysostom. He wrote also a Life of Demosthenes, and A rguments to the Orations of De- mosthenes. There is no comjjlete edition of Libanius. His Discourses and Declamations were edited by Reiske (Lips. 1791-97, 4 vols. 8vo). The most copious edition of his Letters (1G05 in the Greek, and 522 translated into Latin) is that by J. C.Wolf (Amsterd. 1738, fol.). See Herzog, Real-FncyJdop. vol. viii, s. v.; Wetzer n. Welte, Kirchen-Lexikon, vol. vi, s. v. ; Smith, Diet, of Gr. and Rom. Biog. vol. ii, s. v. ; Gibbon, Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire, ch. xxiii, xxiv; Sievers, Leben des Li- banius (Berl. 1868). (E. B. O.)
Lib'anus (Ai/Saroc), the Graecized form of the name of Mount Lebanon (q. v.), used in the Apocrypha (1 Esdr. i\-, 48 ; v, 55 ; 2 Esdr. xv, 20 ; Judith i, 7 ;" Ec- clus. xxiv, 13 ; 1, 12) and by classical writers. See also Antilibanus.
Libation (Lat. libatio, from libare, " to pour out ;" lit- erally any thing poured out) is used, in the sacrificial lan- guage of the ancients, to express an affusion of liquors poured upon victims to be sacrificed to a deity. The quantity of wine for a libation among the Hebrews was the fourth part of a hin, rather more than two pints. Li- bations were poured on the victim after it was killed, and the several pieces of it were laid on the altar, ready to be consumed by the flames (Lev. vi, 20 ; viii, 25, 26 ; ix, 4 ; xvi, 12, 20). These libations usually consisted of un- mixed wine {iv(7TTOvCoc, mer-um), but sometimes also of milk, honey, and other fluids, either pure or diluted with water. The libations offered to the Furies were always without wine. The Greeks and Latins offered libations with the sacrifices, but they were poured on the victim's head while it was living. So Sinon, relating the man- ner in which he was to be sacrificed, says, he was in the priest's hands ready to be slain, was loaded with bands and garlands; that they were preparing to pour u]3on him the libations of grain and salted meal {^Fn. ii, 130, 131). Likewise Dido, beginning to sacrifice, pours wine between the horns of the victim (^En. iv). The wine was usually poured out in three separate streams. Li- bations alwaj-s accompanied a sacrifice which was of- fered in concluding a treaty with a foreign nation, and that here they formed a prominent part of the solemni- ty is clear from the fact that the treaty itself was called anovooi. But libations were also made independent of any other sacrifice, as in solemn prayers, and on many other occasions of public and private life, as before drink- ing at meals, and the like. St. Paul describes himself, as it were, a victim about to be sacrificed, and that the accustomed libations of meal and wine were already, in