and Sicily, and carrying on intrigues in France, England, and Turkey; but the alliance of France and England against him defeated his projects, and led to his dismissal and exile.

Alboin, (561-573,) king of the Lombards in the 6th century. He invaded Italy in 568, and reached Rome without encountering resistance. He took Pavia after a siege of three years, and made it the seat of government. His valor as a soldier was equalled by his justice and moderation as a sovereign. But at a festival at Verona, he incurred the just resentment of his wife, by sending her wine in a cup wrought from the skull of her own father; and forcing her to drink from it, she had him assassinated A. D. 573.

Albuquerque, Alfonso d', (1452-1515,) Portuguese Viceroy of the Indies, who by his wise and just government did much to establish the power of the Portuguese there. The Indians long remembered his just and humane rule, and used to go to his tomb to pray for help against the injustice of his successors.

Alcibiades. (B. c. 450-404.) Rich, handsome, profligate, and clever, Alcibiades was the very model of an Athenian man of fashion. In lineage he was a striking contrast to the plebeian orators of the day. The Athenian public, in spite of its excessive democracy, was anything but insensible to the prestige of high birth; and Alcibiades traced his paternal descent from Ajax, whilst on his mother's side he claimed relationship with Pericles, who on the death of his father had become his guardian. From early youth the conduct of Alcibiades was marked by violence, recklessness, and vanity. He delighted in astonishing the more sober portions of the citizens by his capricious and extravagant feats. Nothing, not even the sacredness of the laws, was secure from his petulance. His beauty, his wit, and his escapades, had made him the darling of all the Athenian ladies, nor did the men regard him with less admiration. But he was utterly destitute of morality, whether public or private. The lion's whelp, as he is termed by Aristophanes, was even suspected, in his boundless ambition, of a design to enslave his fellow-citizens. His vices, however, were partly redeemed by some brilliant qualities. He possessed both boldness of design and vigor of action. Such was the man who 415 B. C.

incited the Athenians to undertake an expedition into Sicily. The majority of people in Athens had no idea of Sicily, but listened to the account given them by Alcibiades, who was well informed. He, eager for fame, and full of the feeling of his innate powers, thought the resources of the republic sufficient for conducting this war. It seemed to him that such a conquest must naturally give his nation the preponderance over its enemies in the Peloponnesus, and over the barbarians not only of Persia, but of Africa. If the Attic government had been better administered, a power comparable to that of Rome or Carthage might have been founded. But scarcely had Alcibiades set sail with Nicias and Lamachus, at the head of the finest fleet which had hitherto appeared on the Egean Sea, when a combination was formed against him at Athens by all those who either were jealous of his fame, or had to complain of his youthful licentiousness and imprudence. He was publicly accused of sacrilege. Even the Athenians, who in their comic theatre laughed at all their gods, recalled on this accusation their best general from the greatest enterprise that any Grecian people had ever undertaken. Alcibiades took refuge in Lacedæmon. The consequence of this war was not only the utter failure of the expedition (see PELOPONNESIAN WAR), but also renewed war with Sparta. The Spartans, led by Alcibiades, invaded Attica, and seized upon Decelia, whence they molested the whole territory; the defection of the allies became no longer doubtful, but Athens, powerful in her self, held out till the seventh year. Alcibiades was now recalled, and, 407 B. C., he returned to Athens, where he was received with great enthusiasm. The records of the proceedings against him were sunk in the sea, his property was restored, and he was appointed commander-in-chief of all the land and sea forces. But his unsuccessful expedition against Andros and the defeat at Notium, furnished his enemies with a handle against him, and he was superseded in his command. Thinking that Athens would scarcely be a safe place for him, Alcibiades went into voluntary exile, to his fortified domain at Bisanthe in the Thracian Chersonesus. He collected a band of mercenaries, and made war upon the neighboring Thracian tribes, by which means he afforded protection to the neighboring Greek cities. Before the fatal battle of Ægos-Potami (B. C. 405), he gave an ineffectual warning to the Athenian generals. After the establishment of the tyranny of the Thirty (B. C. 404), he was condemned to banishment. Upon this he took refuge

with Pharnabazus, and was about to proceed to the court of Artaxerxes, when one night his house was surrounded by a band of armed men, and set on fire. He rushed out sword in hand, but fell, pierced with arrows. (B. C. 404.) Alcuin (735-804). An English scholar of the 8th century, and the friend of the Emperor Charlemagne. Early distinguished for his piety and learning, he was sent on a mission to Rome, and being introduced to Charlemagne while in Italy, settled on his invitation in France. He earnestly supported the plans of his great master for the restoration of learning, and founded schools at several of the principal cities. His works include a large number of highly interesting letters, which give a life-like picture of the great events of his day. The wars of Charlemagne against the Saracens and the Saxons are there described; and there too we find a graphic account of the inner life of the imperial court. His poem on the bishops and saints of the Church of York is especially interesting for the account it gives us of the contents of the library collected by Archbishop Egbert at York, the benefit of which Alcuin had enjoyed in his early years, and which he speaks of as far superior to any collection then existing in France.

Alexander the Great. King of Macedonia, the renowned conqueror who made the language, arts, and literature of Greece the common property of mankind. He was the son of Philip of Macedon, and was born in the same year in which the temple of Diana at Ephesus was destroyed, (356 B. C.) His education was intrusted to the great philosopher Aristotle, who made him the most far-seeing man of his time, and developed those qualities which distinguish the real statesman from the reckless adventurer, that is the power to distinguish between what is possible and what is not possible. He was scarcely twenty years old when he ascended the throne, and one of the first acts of his reign was to force the Greeks, at a national council held at Corinth, to choose him as commanderin-chief of the forces destined to act against Persia. (See, for his campaigns, Appendix, page 177.) After having conquered Western Asia, he returned in triumphal progress to Babylon. At Susa he gave his army rest, and carried out one part of his great scheme for the permanent union of the conquerors and the conquered by intermarriage. The nuptial

festival lasted five days, and the example set by Alexander in marrying Statira, the daughter of Darius, was followed by about eighty of his generals, and ten thousand of his soldiers, who also took Asiatic wives. At length he reached Babylon, where he began to make preparations for future undertakings of great magnitude; but he was seized with an illness, the effect of which was probably aggravated by depression of spirits, and by intemperance, and died in the 13th year of his eventful reign, and the 33d of his life, (323 B. C.) When required to name his successor, he is said to have replied, “to the most worthy." Immediately before he died he gave his ring to Perdiccas. Pursuant to his own direction, his body was embalmed and conveyed to Alexandria. Nothing could exceed the magnificence of the funeral car, which was adorned with ornaments of massive gold, and so heavy, that it was more than a year in being conveyed from Babylon to Alexandria, though drawn by eighty-four mules. Alexander Severus (205-235). Roman Emperor. He was made Cæsar in 221, and succeeded Elagabalus in the following year. The principal event of his reign was the war with Artaxerxes, king of Persia, over whom he gained a great victory. He next marched against the Germans, who had invaded Gaul; and, while there, a sedition broke out in his army, and the emperor and his mother were murdered. Alexander Severus was a man of noble and religious character, admitted a bust of Christ among the images in his domestic place of worship, and showed a favorable disposition towards the Christians, without, however, formally recognizing the new faith as a tolerated religion.

Alexander III. (1100-1179.) A Pope of great ability, and the formidable rival of Emperor Frederick Barbarossa. (See BARBAROSSA.) At the demise of Adrian IV. (1159), the cardinals found themselves unable to agree in the choice of a successor. They, for the most part, united their endeavors in favor of Alexander III., a prelate of distinguished courage and experience, to whom others opposed Victor IV. A synod held by Emperor Barbarossa in Pavia, declared in favor of the latter. Alexander pronounced the ban of the Church against his opponent; declared the Emperor to have forfeited the crown; and endeavored to rouse in his own cause all the Christian courts. But the army of the Emperor marched towards Rome, and Alexander fled to France. In the mean time the prin

cipal towns of Lombardy had embraced the cause of Alexander, who returned to Rome. Long and severe was the struggle of the Emperor against the Pope and the Lombard towns. At length he marched on Rome and appeared before the fortress of St. Angelo. The townsmen exerted themselves valiantly in its defence; the battering-ram shook the halls of St. Peter's, and the Metropolitan Church of Christendom was taken by storm. The Pope fled, and the Emperor made his entry into Rome. But a terrific pestilence soon drove him out of it. Never did the climate of Rome work with such awful force for the liberation of Italy. Nor was this the worst: all Lombardy was in arms, and Barbarossa was glad to be able to escape to Germany. With the flight of the Emperor rose the cause of Alexander. City after city declared their allegiance to him, who was now avowedly the head of the Lombard League. The great fortress which had been erected in the plains of Piedmont, as the impregnable place of arms for the League, was named after the Pope, Alexandria. It was not till the pride of Barbarossa had been humbled by his total defeat at Legnano (May 29, 1176), that Alexander could trust the earnest wishes of the Emperor for peace. They met on the 24th of July, 1177, in the Church of St. Mark at Venice. The Emperor prostrated himself and kissed the feet of the Pontiff, who raised him up and gave him the kiss of peace. The Anti-Pope and his party were overawed by the unity between Barbarossa and Alexander. Victor prostrated himself at Alexander's feet, confessed his sin of schism, and implored and received forgiveness. Soon afterwards (March, 1179) closed the long and eventful pontificate of Alexander III. Thus ended the first act of the great tragedy, the strife of the Popes with the imperial house of Hohenstauffen. Alexandria, the Hellenic capital of Egypt, was founded (B. C. 332) by Alexander the Great. On his voyage from Memphis to Canobus he was struck by the natural advantages of the little town of Rhacôtis, on the north-eastern angle of the Lake Mareotis. Here Alexander determined to construct the future capital of his western conquests. The groundplan was traced by Alexander himself; the building was commenced immediately, but the city was not completed till the reign of the second monarch of the Lagid line, Ptolemy Philadelphus. It was of an oblong figure, rounded at the N.E. and S. W. extremities. Its length from E. to W.

was nearly 4 miles; its breadth from S. to N. nearly a mile, and its circumference about 15 miles. The interior was laid out in parallelograms: the streets crossed one another at right angles. Two grand thoroughfares nearly bisected the city. They ran in straight lines to its four principal gates, and each was about 200 feet wide. On its northern side Alexandria was bounded by the sea; on the south by the Lake Mareotis; to the west were the Necropolis and its numerous gardens; to the east the Eleusinian Road and the Great Hippodrome. The tongue of land upon which it stood was singularly adapted to a commercial city. The island of Pharos broke the force of the north wind, and of the occasional high floods of the Mediterranean. The headland of Lochias sheltered its harbors to the east; the Lake Mareotis was both a wet-dock and the general haven of the inland navigation of the Nile valley, whether direct from Syene, or by the royal canal from Arsinoe on the Red Sea, while various other canals connected the lake with the Deltic branches of the river; an aqueduct conveyed the Nile water into the southern section of the city, and tanks, many of which are still in use, distributed fresh water to both public and private edifices. Its harbors were sufficiently capacious to admit of large fleets, and sufficiently contracted at their entrance to be defended by booms and chains. A number of small islands around the Pharos and the harbors were occupied with forts, and the approach from the north was further secured by the difficulty of navigating among the limestone reefs and mud banks which front the debouchure of the Nile. For the Alexandrian Library, see Appendix, page 225.

Alfieri, (1749-1803,) the Italian dramatist. Leaving college at 16, he led for some years a restless and dissipated life, travelling through Europe. A new epoch opened in his career in 1755, when he published his first drama, "Cleopatra," which was successful. Thenceforth he was a laborious student and dramatic author, composed fourteen tragedies in seven years, studied Latin, and even at the age of forty-eight made himself master of Greek. At Florence he met the Countess of Albany, wife of Prince Charles Edward, on whose death he married her. Among his tragedies are, "Saul,” "Antigone," "Agamemnon," "Mary Stuart," &c.

Alfonso X., (1221–1284,) surnamed the Wise and the Astronomer; king of

Castile and Leon. He was a competitor in 1257 with Richard, Earl of Cornwall, for the imperial dignity, and, though unsuccessful, assumed the title of emperor, which he was compelled to renounce in 1274, in favor of Rudolph of Hapsburg. He distinguished himself by his love of science and had the famous Alphonsine Tables prepared; published a collection of Laws, ordered the use of the vulgar tongue in public acts, and had a translation of the Bible prepared. These services he rendered to his country, though a large part of his reign was troubled by wars with the Moors, revolts of his subjects, and civil wars respecting the succession. Alfred the Great, (849-901,) king of England, succeeded to the throne in 871, in his 22d year, at a time when his kingdom was troubled by domestic dissensions, and the Danish invasion. But he finally secured the peace of his dominions, and struck terror into his enemies, after fifty-six battles by land and sea, in all of which he was personally engaged. His warlike exploits formed, perhaps, the least of the services he rendered his country. He was so exact in his government, that robbery was unheard of. The state of learning, in his time, had been so low, that, from the Thames to the Humber, scarcely a man could be found who understood the service of the Church. To remedy this evil, he invited men of learning from all quarters, and placed them at the head of schools in various parts of his kingdom. The laws published by Alfred were chiefly selections from those previously existing. Alfred himself wrote several works, and translated others from the Latin, particularly the General History of Orosius, and Boethius's "Consolations of Philosophy." To Alfred, England is indebted for the foundation of her fleet. Ambrose. See ST. AMBROSE.

Amiens, (Peace of.) It was concluded on March 25, 1802, and made an end to the War of the Second Coalition against France. (See Appendix, page 212.) England consented to all the Continental acquisitions of the French Republic, recognized the existence of the secondary republics (Batavian, Helvetian, Ligurian, and Cisalpine), and restored the French Colonies. Thus ended the first stage of the Great Revolution which had shaken Europe to its centre. England alone had sustained the shock with firmness; but England sought repose before the renewal of the struggle, which

all men felt to be inevitable, and which many foresaw would be a struggle for existence. Amphictyonic Council. A common worship and participation in the same religious ceremonies created at an early period in Greece; a relation between neighboring nations, even without reference to any affinity of race; and on this were founded the leagues known as amphictyonic leagues, or unions of neighboring states. The most renowned among those leagues was that which assembled at Thermopylæ, and at the Temple of the Pythian Apollo. By the extension of its original numbers this society obtained a great name throughout almost the whole of Greece, and acquired a certain degree of political importance, which it long retained. The origin of this league, which was styled preeminently "the Amphictyonic," is lost in mythical obscurity. The members formed twelve clans, all of which, in ancient times, resided in or near Thessaly, and down to the Macedonian period retained in name the same privileges. The objects of the league were the promulgation of certain precepts of civilization and humanity, the protection of the temple at Delphi, and latterly (from B. C. 586) the superintendence of the Pythian games. It was not, however, intended either for defence against foreign enemies, or for interference in the internal affairs of the States of which it was composed; consequently we find that the Amphictyonic Council was inoperative in the Peloponnesian War and the other quarrels of the Grecian States. On the other hand, its efficiency was shown in the so-called holy wars against violators of the Temple (against Phocis, 355-346; against Amphissa, 340-339, and against the Etolians, 280). In these wars, however, the more powerful members of the confederacy often employed it as an instrument for carrying out their own plans.

Amphipolis, a town of Macedonia, situated upon an eminence on the eastern bank of the Strymon, about three miles from the sea. The Strymon flowed almost round the town, whence its name Amphi-polis. It stands in the pass which traverses the mountains bordering the Strymonic Gulf; and it commands the only easy communication from the coast of that gulf into the great Macedonian plains. The city was founded in 437 B. C., by Athenian colonists. It soon became an important place, and was regarded by the Athenians as the "jewel of their empire." In 424 B. C. it

surrendered to the Spartans, and continued from that time independent of Athens. Amphipolis afterwards became closely allied with Olynthus, (see OLYNTHIAN WAR,) and with the assistance of the latter was able to defeat the attempts of the Athenians under Timotheus to reduce the place in 360 B. C. Philip of Macedon, upon his accession (359 B. C.), declared Amphipolis a free city, but in the following year he took the place by assault and annexed it permanently to the kingdom of Macedon.

Amru (A. D. 662), one of the greatest Mussulman commanders, and the conqueror of Egypt. He invaded it in June, 639; took Pelusium and Memphis; obtained the aid of the Coptic Christians, and after a siege of fourteen months took Alexandria. He is reproached, but on untrustworthy evidence, with having burnt, by order of the Caliph Omar, the famous library of Alexandria. Amru was named governor of Egypt, which

flourished under his wise administration.

Amsterdam. See NEW AMSTERDAM.

Anabasis. After the humiliation of Athens, the Spartans resolved to restore liberty to the Greek States on the coast of Asia. Lysander and the other generals forwarded this undertaking, in which there was much to gain, and which afforded them a long respite from the severe pressure of their domestic laws. Too late the king of Persia perceived that he had erred in not maintaining a balance of power between Athens and Sparta. The Greeks were now so much the more dangerous, as many young men had grown up during the long Peloponnesian war, who were acquainted with arms only, and who were the first soldiers properly so called, as they followed warfare for hire. Ten thousand of these mercenaries shook the throne of the second Artaxerxes, and after his brother (the younger Cyrus) had fallen in battle (Cunaxa, 401 B. C.), formed the bold attempt of forcing their way back to their country through the midst of Asia, and at the distance of nearly 2,500 miles; and though in the greatest want of provisions, pursued by the best generals of the king through roads often scarcely passable, and treated as enemies by a multitude of Asiatic nations, they completed their enterprise under the conduct of Xenophon the Athenian. (See XENOPHON.) The history of this remarkable expedition has been handed down to us by Xenophon in his Anabasis. This title is strictly

appropriate only to the first book, which contains an account of the "going up" (meaning of the word anabasis) of Cyrus towards Babylon. The remaining books are a narrative of "going down" (katabasis) of the Greeks from Babylonia to the coast of Asia Minor. The Anabasis, unquestionably the most attractive of Xenophon's writings, resembles a landscape in full sunlight. Everything lies bright and open before our eyes: nothing stands in the shade; everything appears in its proper stature and coloring; nothing is exaggerated, nothing is presented in too brilliant hues. Anaxagoras, (500-428,) a celebrated Greek philosopher. He inherited a considerable estate in his own country, which he relinquished to indulge his thirst for knowledge at Athens, where he studied poetry and eloquence, and taught philosophy, having among his pupils Euripides and Pericles. (See these.) His reputation, however, created him enemies, and he was condemned to death on a charge of Atheism, but the sentence was commuted into banishment. Anaxagoras is celebrated as the first of the Greek philosophers, who taught the existence of a Supreme Spirit, distant from, yet pervading and governing, the Universe. Anglo-Dutch War. See Appendix, page 203.

Annus Mirabilis, the year of wonders, 1666. The title of an historical poem of Dryden, in which he describes "the motives, the beginning, progress, and successes of a most necessary war," (the second Anglo-Dutch War, 1665-1667,) etc., and also the great fire which destroyed two-thirds of London. It broke out on Sunday, Sept. 2, 1666, and lasted until Sept. 7. During the first day, the wind, which blew from the east, hourly augmented in violence, and finally changed into a storm. While the storm continued, the conflagration bade defiance to all the exertions of human ingenuity and power. On the evening of Wednesday, the violence of the wind began to abate, and on Thursday evening the weather became calm. This, added to the demolition of many houses, put at length a stop to the conflagration, though months elapsed before the immense accumulation of ruins ceased to present appearances of internal heat and combustion. In Dryden's Annus Mirabilis, his genius breaks forth for the first time with any promise of that full effulgence at which it ultimately arrived.