PIOZZI, HESTER, a female friend of Johnson under the name of Mrs. Thrale, after her first husband, a brewer in Southwark, whose home for her sake was the rendezvous of all the literary celebrities of the period; married afterwards, to Johnson’s disgust, an Italian music-master, lived with him at Florence, and returned at his death to Clifton, where she died; left “Anecdotes of Johnson” and “Letters”; was authoress of “The Three Warnings” (1741-1821).

PIPE OF PEACE, a pipe offered by an American Indian to one whom he wishes to be on good terms with.

PIRAEUS (36), the port of Athens 5 m.  SW. of the city, planned by Themistocles, built in the time of Pericles, and afterwards connected with the city for safety by strong walls, which was destroyed by the Spartans at the end of the Peloponnesian War, but restored, to fall afterwards into neglect and ruins.

PIRANO (9), a seaport of Austria, on the Adriatic, 12 m.  SW. of Trieste; has salt-works in the neighbourhood, and manufactures glass, soap, &c.

PIRITHOUS, king of the Lapithae and friend of Theseus, on the occasion of whose marriage an intoxicated Centaur ran off with his bride Hippodamia, which gave rise to the famous fight between the Centaurs and the Lapithae, in which Theseus assisted, and the former were defeated; on the death of Hippodamia, Pirithous ran off with Persephone and Theseus with Helen, for which both had to answer in the lower world before Pluto; Hercules delivered the latter, but Pluto would not release the former.

PIRKE ABOTH (i. e. sayings of the Fathers), the name given to a collection of aphorisms in the manner of Jesus the Son of Sirach by 60 doctors learned in the Jewish law, representative of their teaching, and giving the gist of it; they inculcate the importance of familiarity with the words of the Law.

PIRNA (11), a town in Saxony, on the Elbe, 11 m.  SE. of Dresden; has sandstone quarries in the neighbourhood which employ 8000 quarrymen.

PISA (38), on the Arno, 49 m. by rail W. of Florence, is one of the oldest cities in Italy; formerly a port, the river has built up the land at its mouth so that the sea is now 4 m. off, and the ancient trade of Pisa has been transferred to Leghorn.  There are a magnificent cathedral, rich in art treasures, a peculiar campanile of white marble which deviates 14 ft. from the perpendicular, known as the leaning tower of Pisa, several old and beautiful churches, a university, school of art, and library.  Silks and ribbons are woven, and coral ornaments cut.  In the 11th century Pisa was at the zenith of its prosperity as a republic, with a great mercantile fleet, and commercial relations with all the world.  Its Ghibelline sympathies involved it in terrible struggles, in which it gradually sank till its fortunes were merged in those of Tuscany about 1550.  The council of Pisa, 1409, held to determine the long-standing rival claims of Gregory XII. and Benedict XII. to the Papal chair, ended by adding a third claimant, Alexander V. Pisa was one of the twelve cities of ancient Etruria.