a Saxon king of England, natural son of Edward the Elder, and grandson of the great Alfred. He succeeded to the crown in 925, and reigned 16 years. There was a remarkable law passed by this prince, which shows his just sentiments of the advantages of commerce, as well as the early attention to it in this country. It declared, that any merchant who made three voyages on his own account beyond the British channel or narrow seas, should be entitled to the privilege of a thane or gentleman.

ATHENÆUM, in Antiquity, a public place wherein the professors of the liberal arts held their assemblies, the rhetoricians declaimed, and the poets rehearsed their performances. The three most celebrated Athenæa were those at Athens, at Rome, and at Lyons; the second of which was built by the emperor Adrian. ATHENÆUS, a Greek grammarian, born at Naucratis in Egypt in the third century, one of the most learned men of his time. Of all his works we have none extant but his *Deipnosophi*, i.e. the Sophists at Table. There is an infinity of facts and quotations in this work, without which we should have been ignorant of many curious circumstances regarding the ancients. The first edition was printed by Aldus in 1514, in folio. The best edition is that by Schweighausen, published in 1801-7, in 14 vols. 8vo. There is a French translation of Athenæus, in 5 vols. 4to.