=Asbestæ= and =Asbystæ=, a people of Libya above Cyrene, where the temple of Ammon is built. Jupiter is sometimes called, on that account, _Asbystius_. _Herodotus_, bk. 4, ch. 170.――_Ptolemy_, bk. 4, ch. 3. =Asbŏlus= (_black hair_), one of Actæon’s dogs. _Ovid_, _Metamorphoses_, bk. 3. =Ascalăphus=, a son of Mars and Astyoche, who was among the Argonauts, and went to the Trojan war at the head of the Ochomenians, with his brother Ialmenus. He was killed by Deiphobus. _Homer_, _Iliad_, bk. 2, li. 13; bk. 9, li. 82; bk. 13, li. 518.――――A son of Acheron by Gorgyra or Orphne, stationed by Pluto to watch over Proserpine in the Elysian fields. When Ceres had obtained from Jupiter her daughter’s freedom and return upon earth, provided she had eaten nothing in the kingdom of Pluto, Ascalaphus discovered that she had eaten some pomegranates from a tree; upon which Proserpine was ordered by Jupiter to remain six months with Pluto, and the rest of the year with her mother. Proserpine was so displeased with Ascalaphus, that she sprinkled water on his head, and immediately turned him into an owl. _Apollodorus_, bk. 1, ch. 5; bk. 2, ch. 5. ――_Ovid_, _Metamorphoses_, bk. 5, fable 8. =Ascălon=, a town of Syria, near the Mediterranean, about 520 stadia from Jerusalem, still in being. It was anciently famous for its onions. _Josephus_, _The Jewish War_, bk. 3, ch. 2.――_Theophrastus_, _Enquiry into Plants_, bk. 7, ch. 4. =Ascania=, an island of the Ægean sea.――――A city of Troas, built by Ascanius. =Ascănius=, son of Æneas by Creusa, was saved from the flames of Troy by his father, whom he accompanied in his voyage to Italy. He was afterwards called Iulus. He behaved with great valour in the war which his father carried on against the Latins, and succeeded Æneas in the kingdom of Latinus, and built Alba, to which he transferred the seat of his empire from Lavinium. The descendants of Ascanius reigned in Alba for above 420 years, under 14 kings, till the age of Numitor. Ascanius reigned 38 years; 30 at Lavinium, and eight at Alba; and was succeeded by Sylvius Posthumus son of Æneas by Lavinia. Iulus the son of Ascanius disputed the crown with him; but the Latins gave it in favour of Sylvius, as he was descended from the family of Latinus, and Iulus was invested with the office of high priest, which remained a long while in his family. _Livy_, bk. 1, ch. 3.――_Virgil_, _Æneid_, bk. 1, &c.――――According to _Dionysius of Halicarnassus_, bk. 1, ch. 15, &c., the son of Æneas by Lavinia was also called Ascanius.――――A river of Bithynia. _Virgil_, _Georgics_, bk. 3, li. 270. =Ascii=, a nation of India, in whose country objects at noon have no shadow. _Pliny_, bk. 2. =Asclēpia=, festivals in honour of Asclepius, or Æsculapius, celebrated all over Greece, when prizes for poetical and musical compositions were honourably distributed. At Epidaurus they were called by a different name.