=Plu´tus=, the god of riches, was the son of Jason, or Jasius, and Ceres. =Pol´lio, C. Asin´ius.= A Roman consul in the reign of Augustus, who distinguished himself equally by his eloquence and exploits in war. He wrote a history and some tragedies, and died in his eightieth year, A.D. 4. =Pol´lux.= A son of Jupiter and Leda, brother to Castor. =Polyb´ius.= A native of Megalopolis. He distinguished himself by his valor against the Romans in Macedonia, He wrote an universal history in Greek, and died about 124 years B.C. =Polydec´tes.= A son of Magnes, king of Seriphos. He received with kindness Danae and her son Perseus, who had been exposed on the sea. Polydectes was turned into stone by being shown Medusa's head by Perseus. =Polyhym´nia.= One of the Muses, daughter of Jupiter and Mnemosyne. She presided over singing and rhetoric. =Polyni´ces.= A son of OEdipus, king of Thebes, and Jocasta. He inherited his father's throne with his brother Eteocles, and it was agreed that they should reign a year alternately. Eteocles first ascended the throne, but refused to resign the crown. Polynices upon this fled to Argos, where he married Argia, the daughter of Adrastus, the king of the country, and levied an army with which he marched on Thebes. The battle was decided by a combat between the brothers, who killed each other. =Polyphe´mus.= A celebrated Cyclops, son of Neptune and Thoosa, the daughter of Phorcys. He is represented as a monster with one eye in the middle of his forehead. Ulysses was his captive, but escaped by putting a firebrand in the monster's eye. =Pomo´na.= A nymph at Rome, who was supposed to preside over gardens and to be the goddess of fruit trees. =Pompe´ii or Pompei´um.= A town of Campania. It was partly destroyed by an earthquake, A.D. 63, and sixteen years afterwards it was swallowed up by another earthquake. Herculaneum, in its vicinity, shared the same fate. =Pompe´ius, Cnei´us=, surnamed Magnus from his exploits, was son of Pompeius Strabo and Lucilia. In the contentions which existed between Marius and Sylla, Pompey linked himself with the latter. Subsequently he united his interest with that of Cæsar and Crassus, thus forming the first triumvirate. A breach soon occurred, and at the great battle of Pharsalia, where the forces of Cæsar and Pompey met, the latter was totally defeated, and fled to Egypt, where he was assassinated in the fifty-eighth year of his age, B.C. 48. He left two sons, Cneius and Sextus, who at their father's death were masters of a powerful army, with which they opposed Cæsar, but were defeated at the battle of Munda, where Cneius was slain. Sextus escaped, and was put to death by Antony about thirty-five years before the Christian era.