Battus in Harpers Dictionary of Classical Antiquities

A Lacedaemonian who, in B.C. 631, built the town of Cyrené with a colony from the island of Thera. His proper name was Aristoteles, but he received the name of Battus from his having an impediment in his speech (βατταρίζω=to stutter), though Herodotus (iv. 155) says that βάττος is a derivative from a Libyan dialect, and means "king." He reigned over Cyrené for about thirty years, and was succeeded by his son Arcesilaüs. See Battiadae; Cyrené. A shepherd of Pylos, who promised Hermes that he would not expose his theft of the flocks of Admetus, which were in charge of Apollo. Having broken his promise, he was turned into a stone (Ovid, Met. ii. 702).