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Phœnix Period

or Cycle, generally supposed to be 500 years; Tacitus tells us it was 250 years; R. Stuart Poole that it was 1,460 Julian years, like the Sothic Cycle; and Lipsius that it was 1,500 years. Now, the phœnix is said to have appeared in Egypt five times: (1) in the reign of Sesostris; (2) in the reign of Am-asis; (3) in the reign of Ptolemy Philadelphos; (4) a year or two prior to the death of Tiberius; and (5) in A.D. 334, during the reign of Constantine. These dates being accepted, a Phœnix Cycle consists of 300 years: thus, Sesostris, B.C. 866; Am-asis, B.C. 566; Ptolemy, B.C. 266; Tiberius, A.D. 34; Constantine, A.D. 334. In corroboration of this suggestion it must be borne in mind that Jesus Christ, who died A.D. 34, is termed the Phœnix by monastic writers. Tacitus mentions the first three of these appearances. (Annales, vi. 28.)

 

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Entry taken from Dictionary of Phrase and Fable, edited by the Rev. E. Cobham Brewer, LL.D. and revised in 1895.

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Phlegethon
Phlegra
Phlogiston
Phocensian Despair
Phocion
Phœbē
Phœbus
Phœnix
Phœnix Alley (London)
Phœnix Park (Dublin)
Phœnix Period
Phœnix Theatre
Phœnix Tree
Phooka or Pooka
Phorcos
Phormio
Phrygians
Phryne
Phylactery
Phyllis
Phyllis and Brunetta