PA'RIAL

PA'RIAN, adjective Pertaining to Paros, an isle in the Egean sea; as Parian marble.

Parian chronicle, a chronicle of the city of Athens, engraved on marble in capital letters in the isle of Paros. It contains a chronological account of events from Cecrops, 1582 years before Christ, to the archonship of Diognetus, 264 years before that era; but the chronicle of the last 90 years is lost. This marble was procured from Asia Minor in 1627, by the earl of Arundel, and being broken, the pieces are called Arundelian marbles. They are now deposited in the university of Oxford. The antiquity of the inscription has been disputed.