PATMOS (pat'rnos), (Gr. 11dr/sof, tat' mos).
A rocky and bare island of the !Egean Sea, about fifteen miles in circumference, and reckoned as one of the Sporadcs (Plitt. Hist. tVat. iv, 23; Strabo, x, 48o). On account of its stern and deso late character, the island was used, under the Roman empire, as a place of banishment, which accounts for the exile of John thither 'for the tcstitnony of Jesus' (Rev. i :9). (See Joilx, 3.) He was here favored with those visions which are contained in the Apocalypse, and to which the place owes its Scriptural interest.
only for those of great moment, in which our dearest interests are concerned: patience, when compared with resignation, is somewhat nega tive; it consists in the abstaining from all complaint or indication of what one suffers: but resignation consists in a positive sentiment of con formity to the existing circumstances, be they what they may. There are perpetual occurrences which are apt to harass the temper, unless one regards them with patience,.. the misfortunes of some men are of so calamitous a nature, that if they have not acquired the resignation of Chris tians, they must inevitably sink under them. Patience applies only to the evils that actually hang over us; but there is a resignation connected with a firm trust in Providence which extends its views to futurity, and prepares us for the worst that may happen. (Crabbe's Synonyms.) 2. The "patience" of the saints is that grace whereby they meekly endure injuries and with a continucd calmness of temper, and submission of spirit to the will of God, bear afflictions. and humbly wait for the accomplishment of his prom ises (Rom.v :3; viii :25). It is called the "patience" of Jesus Christ, as he exemplifies it and bestows it: it is exercised in the way of waiting, and honoring- him, and in a patient waiting for his coining in the power of his Spirit, and to judge the world (2 Thess. i :4; Rev. i :9) ; and the "word of his patience," are those truths which On approaching the island the coast is found to be high, and to consist of a succession of capes, which form so many ports, some of which are excellent. The only one in DSC is. however,a deep
bay, sheltered by high inountains on every side but one, where it is protected by a projectin-g cape. The town attached to this port is situated upon a high rocky mountain, rising immediately from the sea ; and this, with the Scala below upon the shore, consisting of some shops and houses, forms the only inhabited site of the is land.
Pattnos is deficient in trees, but abounds in flowering plants and shrubs. Walnuts and other fruit trees are grown in the orchards; and the wine of Patmos is the strongest and best flavored of any in the Greek islands. Maize and barley are cultivated, but not in a quantity suffi cient for the use of the inhabitants, and for the supply of their own vessels and others which often put in at the great harbor for provisions. The island now bears the names of Patin° and Palmosa, and the inhabitants do not exceed 4.000 or 5,000, many of whom are einigrants from the neighboring continent. Kitt°.
The monastery of St. John's contains a poor remnant of the valuable library which was once there. Mai, in his Nora Bibliotheco, VI, ii, 537. has published from a Vatican MS. a list of the books preserved there in the t3th century. It was here that the English traveler, E. D Clark, purchased of the monks, in October, 1814, the great 9th century codex of Plato now in the Bod leian. It remains to add that, according to an un certain tradition preserved in Tremens, v, 3o, Eusebius. HE iii. 18, Hieronymus, de Scr. III. ch. 9, and others, S-t. John was exiled to Patmos in the 14th year of the emperor Dornitian, and returned thence to Ephesus A. D. 96 under Nerva. A modern traveler, Mr. Theodore Bent, has sug gested that the natural scenery of the island de termined some features of the imagery of the Apocalypse: a suggestion which Dean Stanley in his Sermons in the East had already made. (Hast ings' Bib. Dia.)