PHILÆ, an island in the river Nile, celebrated for its ancient ruins. (See EGYPT.)
PHILÆNI (Φιλαίνοι, lovers, of praise), two Carthaginian brothers, are celebrated in ancient legends for their patriotism. The following is the account of their exploits, as given by Sallust:—It happened that the Carthaginians and the Cyrenians were involved in a bloody and indecisive war regarding the boundary between their respective territories. At length, when they had nearly exterminated each other, without settling the dispute, they mutually consented to try a simpler mode. They agreed that, at the same moment of time, a pair of deputies should set out from Carthage to Cyrene, and another pair from Cyrene to Carthage, and that the spot where the two pairs should meet should be considered the boundary between the two countries. It was then that the Philæni, being chosen to represent Carthage, appeared in the characters of devoted patriots. Hastening eastward, and panting over the toilsome deserts with deathless ardour, they passed the middle distance, and meeting their opponents at a place far on the other side, claimed that advanced spot as the limit of their country's possessions. An altercation ensued; accusations of having started before their time were brought against them; but they remained immovable. Their determination at last became so invincible that, rather than bate a step of ground, they consented there and then to be buried alive in the sand, and to make their graves the land-marks between the two nations. The fearful proposal was carried into execution; and long afterwards, two altars erected over their resting-place, and called the "altars of the Philæni," preserved their memory, and formed the boundary of the territories of Carthage.