Part 3

"Consul Plowden had been residing six years at Massowah when he heard that the Prince to whom he had been accredited, Ras Ali, had been defeated and dethroned by an adventurer, whose name, a few years before, had been unknown outside the boundaries of his native province. This was Lij Kâsa, better known by his adopted name of Theodore. He was born of an old family, in the mountainous region of Kwara, where the land begins to slope downwards towards the Blue Nile, and educated in a convent, where he learned to read, and acquired a considerable knowledge of the Scriptures. Kâsa's convent life was suddenly put an end to, when one of those marauding Galla bands, whose ravages are the curse of Abyssinia, attacked and plundered the monastery. From that time he himself took to the life of a freebooter. … Adventurers flocked to his standard; his power continually increased; and in 1854 he defeated Ras Ali in a pitched battle, and made himself master of central Abyssinia." In 1855 he overthrew the ruler of Tigre. "He now resolved to assume a title commensurate with the wide extent of his dominion. In the church of Derezgye he had himself crowned by the Abuna as King of the Kings of Ethiopia, taking the name of Theodore, because an ancient tradition declared that a great monarch would some day arise in Abyssinia." Mr. Plowden now visited the new monarch, was impressed with admiration of his talents and character, and became his counsellor and friend. But in 1860 the English consul lost his life, while on a journey, and Theodore, embittered by several misfortunes, began to give rein to a savage temper. "The British Government, on hearing of the death of Plowden, immediately replaced him at Massowah by the appointment of Captain Cameron." The new Consul was well received, and was entrusted by the Abyssinian King with a letter addressed to the Queen of England, soliciting her friendship. The letter, duly despatched to its destination, was pigeon-holed in the Foreign Office at London, and no reply to it was ever made. Insulted and enraged by this treatment, and by other evidences of the indifference of the British Government to his overtures, King Theodore, in January, 1864, seized and imprisoned Consul Cameron with all his suite. About the same time he was still further offended by certain passages in a book on Abyssinia that had been published by a missionary named Stern. Stern and a fellow missionary, Rosenthal with the latter's wife, were lodged in prison, and subjected to flogging and torture. The first step taken by the British Government, when news of Consul Cameron's imprisonment reached England, was to send out a regular mission to Abyssinia, bearing a letter signed by the Queen, demanding the release of the captives. The mission, headed by a Syrian named Rassam, made its way to the King's presence in January, 1866. Theodore seemed to be placated by the Queen's epistle and promised freedom to his prisoners. But soon his moody mind became filled with suspicions as to the genuineness of Rassam's credentials from the Queen, and as to the designs and intentions of all the foreigners who were in his power. He was drinking heavily at the time, and the result of his "drunken cogitations was a determination to detain the mission—at any rate until by their means he should have obtained a supply of skilled artisans and machinery from England." {5} Mr. Rassam and his companions were accordingly put into confinement, as Captain Cameron had been. But they were allowed to send a messenger to England, making their situation known, and conveying the demand of King Theodore that a man be sent to him "who can make cannons and muskets." The demand was actually complied with. Six skilled artisans and a civil engineer were sent out, together with a quantity of machinery and other presents, in the hope that they would procure the release of the unfortunate captives at Magdala. Almost a year was wasted in these futile proceedings, and it was not until September, 1867, that an expedition consisting of 4,000 British and 8,000 native troops, under General Sir Robert Napier, was sent from India to bring the insensate barbarian to terms. It landed in Annesley Bay, and, overcoming enormous difficulties with regard to water, food-supplies and transportation, was ready, about the middle of January, 1868, to start upon its march to the fortress of Magdala, where Theodore's prisoners were confined. The distance was 400 miles, and several high ranges of mountains had to be passed to reach the interior table-land. The invading army met with no resistance until it reached the Valley of the Beshilo, when it was attacked (April 10) on the plain of Aroge or Arogi, by the whole force which Theodore was able to muster, numbering a few thousands, only, of poorly armed men. The battle was simply a rapid slaughtering of the barbaric assailants, and when they fled, leaving 700 or 800 dead and 1,500 wounded on the field, the Abyssinian King had no power of resistance left. He offered at once to make peace, surrendering all the captives in his hands; but Sir Robert Napier required an unconditional submission, with a view to displacing him from the throne, in accordance with the wish and expectation which he had found to be general in the country. Theodore refused these terms, and when (April 13) Magdala was bombarded and stormed by the British troops—slight resistance being made—he shot himself at the moment of their entrance to the place. The sovereignty he had successfully concentrated in himself for a time was again divided. Between April and June the English army was entirely withdrawn, and "Abyssinia was sealed up again from intercourse with the outer world."

_Cassell's Illustrated History of England, volume 9, chapter 28._

"The task of permanently uniting Abyssinia, in which Theodore failed, proved equally impracticable to John, who came to the front, in the first instance, as an ally of the British, and afterwards succeeded to the sovereignty. By his fall (10th March, 1889) in the unhappy war against the Dervishes or Moslem zealots of the Soudan, the path was cleared for Menilek of Shoa, who enjoyed the support of Italy. The establishment of the Italians on the Red Sea littoral … promises a new era for Abyssinia."

_T. Nöldeke, Sketches from Eastern History, chapter 9._

ALSO IN _H. A. Stern, The Captive Missionary._

_H. M. Stanley, Coomassie and Magdala, part 2._

ACABA, the Pledges of.

See MAHOMETAN CONQUEST: A. D. 609-632.

ACADEMY, The Athenian.

"The Academia, a public garden in the neighbourhood of Athens, was the favourite resort of Plato, and gave its name to the school which he founded. This garden was planted with lofty plane-trees, and adorned with temples and statues; a gentle stream rolled through it."

_G. H. Lewes, Biog. History of Philosophy, 6th Epoch_.

The masters of the great schools of philosophy at Athens "chose for their lectures and discussions the public buildings which were called gymnasia, of which there were several in different quarters of the city. They could only use them by the sufferance of the State, which had built them chiefly for bodily exercises and athletic feats. … Before long several of the schools drew themselves apart in special buildings, and even took their most familiar names, such as the Lyceum and the Academy, from the gymnasia in which they made themselves at home. Gradually we find the traces of some material provisions, which helped to define and to perpetuate the different sects. Plato had a little garden, close by the sacred Eleusinian Way, in the shady groves of the Academy, which he bought, says Plutarch, for some 3,000 drachmæ. There lived also his successors, Xenocrates and Polemon. … Aristotle, as we know, in later life had taught in the Lyceum, in the rich grounds near the Ilissus, and there he probably possessed the house and garden which after his death came into the hands of his successor, Theophrastus."

_W. W. Capes, University life in Ancient Athens, pages. 31-33._

For a description of the Academy, the Lyceum, and other gymnasia of Athens.

See GYMNASIA GREEK.

Concerning the suppression of the Academy,

See ATHENS: A. D. 529.

ACADIA.

See NOVA SCOTIA.

ACADIANS, The, and the British Government. Their expulsion.

See NOVA SCOTIA: A. D. 1713-1730; 1749-1755, and 1755.

ACARNANIANS.

See AKARNANIANS.

ACAWOIOS, The.

See AMERICAN ABORIGINES: CARIBS AND THEIR KINDRED.

ACCAD. ACCADIANS.

See BABYLONIA, PRIMITIVE.

ACCOLADE.

"The concluding sign of being dubbed or adopted into the order of knighthood was a slight blow given by the lord to the cavalier, and called the accolade, from the part of the body, the neck, whereon it was struck. … Many writers have imagined that the accolade was the last blow which the soldier might receive with impunity: but this interpretation is not correct, for the squire was as jealous of his honour as the knight. The origin of the accolade it is impossible to trace, but it was clearly considered symbolical of the religious and moral duties of knighthood, and was the only ceremony used when knights were made in places (the field of battle, for instance), where time and circumstances did not allow of many ceremonies."

_C. Mills, History of Chivalry, page 1, 53, and foot-note_.

ACHÆAN CITIES, League of the.

This, which is not to be confounded with the "Achaian League" of Peloponnesus, was an early League of the Greek settlements in southern Italy, or Magna Græca. It was "composed of the towns of Siris, Pandosia, Metabus or Metapontum, Sybaris with its offsets Posidonia and Laus, Croton, Caulonia, Temesa, Terina and Pyxus. … The language of Polybius regarding the Achæan symmachy in the Peloponnesus may be applied also to these Italian Achæans; 'not only did they live in federal and friendly communion, but they made use of the same laws, and the same weights, measures and coins, as well as of the same magistrates, councillors and judges.'"

_T. Mommsen, History of Rome, book 1, chapter 10._

{6}

ACHÆAN LEAGUE.

See GREECE: B. C. 280-146.

ACHÆMENIDS, The.

The family or dynastic name (in its Greek form) of the kings of the Persian Empire founded by Cyrus, derived from an ancestor, Achæmenes, who was probably a chief of the Persian tribe of the Pasargadæ. "In the inscription of Behistun, King Darius says: 'From old time we were kings; eight of my family have been kings, I am the ninth; from very ancient times we have been kings.' He enumerates his ancestors: 'My father was Vistaçpa, the father of Vistaçpa was Arsama; the father of Arsama was Ariyaramna, the father of Ariyaramna was Khaispis, the father of Khaispis was Hakhamanis; hence we are called Hakhamanisiya (Achæmenids).' In these words Darius gives the tree of his own family up to Khaispis; this was the younger branch of the Achæmenids. Teispes, the son of Achaemenes, had two sons; the elder was Cambyses (Kambujiya) the younger Ariamnes; the son of Cambyses was Cyrus (Kurus), the son of Cyrus was Cambyses II. Hence Darius could indeed maintain that eight princes of his family had preceded him; but it was not correct to maintain that they had been kings before him and that he was the ninth king."

_M. Duncker, History of Antiquity, volume 5, book 8, chapter 3._

ALSO IN _G. Rawlinson, Family of the Achæmenidæ, appendix to book 7 of Herodotus_.

See, also, PERSIA, ANCIENT.

ACHAIA:

"Crossing the river Larissus, and pursuing the northern coast of Peloponnesus south of the Corinthian Gulf, the traveller would pass into Achaia—a name which designated the narrow strip of level land, and the projecting spurs and declivities between that gulf and the northernmost mountains of the peninsula. … Achaean cities—twelve in number at least, if not more—divided this long strip of land amongst them, from the mouth of the Larissus and the northwestern Cape Araxus on one side, to the western boundary of the Sikyon territory on the other. According to the accounts of the ancient legends and the belief of Herodotus, this territory had been once occupied by Ionian inhabitants, whom the Achaeans had expelled."

_G. Grote, History of Greece, part 2, chapter 4 (volume 2)._

After the Roman conquest and the suppression of the Achaian League, the name Achaia was given to the Roman province then organized, which embraced all Greece south of Macedonia and Epirus.

See GREECE: B. C. 280-146.

"In the Homeric poems, where … the 'Hellenes' only appear in one district of Southern Thessaly, the name Achæans is employed by preference as a general appelation for the whole race. But the Achæans we may term, without hesitation, a Pelasgian people, in so far, that is, as we use this name merely as the opposite of the term 'Hellenes,' which prevailed at a later time, although it is true that the Hellenes themselves were nothing more than a particular branch of the Pelasgian stock. … [The name of the] Achæans, after it had dropped its earlier and more universal application, was preserved as the special name of a population dwelling in the north of the Peloponnese and the south of Thessaly."

_Georg Friedrich Schömann, Antiquity of Greece: The State, Introduction._

"The ancients regarded them [the Achæans] as a branch of the Æolians, with whom they afterwards reunited into one national body, i.e., not as an originally distinct nationality or independent branch of the Greek people. Accordingly, we hear neither of an Achæan language nor of Achæan art. A manifest and decided influence of the maritime Greeks, wherever the Achæans appear, is common to the latter with the Æolians. Achæans are everywhere settled on the coast, and are always regarded as particularly near relations of the Ionians. … The Achæans appear scattered about in localities on the coast of the Ægean so remote from one another, that it is impossible to consider all bearing this name as fragments of a people originally united in one social community; nor do they in fact anywhere appear, properly speaking, as a popular body, as the main stock of the population, but rather as eminent families, from which spring heroes; hence the use of the expression 'Sons of the Achæans' to indicate noble descent."

_E. Curtius, History of Greece, book 1, chapter 3._

ALSO IN _M. Duncker, History of Greece, book 1, chapter 2, and book 2, chapter 2._

See, also, ACHAIA, and GREECE: THE MIGRATIONS.

ACHAIA: A. D. 1205-1387. Mediæval Principality.

Among the conquests of the French and Lombard Crusaders in Greece, after the taking of Constantinople, was that of a major part of the Peloponnesus—then beginning to be called the Morea—by William de Champlitte, a French knight, assisted by Geffrey de Villehardouin, the younger—nephew and namesake of the Marshal of Champagne, who was chronicler of the conquest of the Empire of the East. William de Champlitte was invested with this Principality of Achaia, or of the Morea, as it is variously styled. Geffrey Villehardouin represented him in the government, as his "bailly," for a time, and finally succeeded in supplanting him. Half a century later the Greeks, who had recovered Constantinople, reduced the territory of the Principality of Achaia to about half the peninsula, and a destructive war was waged between the two races. Subsequently the Principality became a fief of the crown of Naples and Sicily, and underwent many changes of possession until the title was in confusion and dispute between the houses of Anjou, Aragon and Savoy. Before it was engulfed finally in the Empire of the Turks, it was ruined by their piracies and ravages.

_G. Finlay, History of Greece from its Conquest by the Crusaders, chapter 8._

ACHMET I., Turkish Sultan, A. D. 1603-1617.

ACHMET II., 1691-1695.

ACHMET III., 1703-1730.

ACHRADINA.

A part of the ancient city of Syracuse, Sicily, known as the "outer city," occupying the peninsula north of Ortygia, the island, which was the "inner city."

ACHRIDA, Kingdom of.

After the death of John Zimisces who had reunited Bulgaria to the Byzantine Empire, the Bulgarians were roused to a struggle for the recovery of their independence, under the lead of four brothers of a noble family, all of whom soon perished save one, named Samuel. Samuel proved to be so vigorous and able a soldier and had so much success that he assumed presently the title of king. His authority was established over the greater part of Bulgaria, and extended into Macedonia, Epirus and Illyria. He established his capital at Achrida (modern Ochrida, in Albania), which gave its name to his kingdom. The suppression of this new Bulgarian monarchy occupied the Byzantine Emperor, Basil II., in wars from 981 until 1018, when its last strongholds, including the city of Achrida, were surrendered to him.

_G. Finlay, History of the Byzantine Empire from 716 to 1057, book 2, chapter 2, section 2._

{7}

ACKERMAN, Convention of (1826).

See TURKS: A. D. 1826-1829.

ACOLAHUS, The.

See MEXICO, ANCIENT: THE TOLTEC EMPIRE.

ACOLYTH, The.

See VARANGIAN or WARING GUARD.

ACRABA, Battle of, A. D. 633.

After the death of Mahomet, his successor, Abu Bekr, had to deal with several serious revolts, the most threatening of which was raised by one Moseilama, who had pretended, even in the life-time of the Prophet, to a rival mission of religion. The decisive battle between the followers of Moseilama and those of Mahomet was fought at Acraba, near Yemama. The pretender was slain and few of his army escaped.

_Sir W. Muir, Annals of the Early Caliphate, chapter 7._

ACRABATTENE, Battle of.

A sanguinary defeat of the Idumeans or Edomites by the Jews under Judas Maccabæus, B. C. 164.

_Josephus, Antiquity of the Jews, book 12, chapter 8._

ACRAGAS.

See AGRIGENTUM.

ACRE (St. Jean d'Acre, or Ptolemais): A. D. 1104. Conquest, Pillage and Massacre by the Crusaders and Genoese.

See CRUSADES: A. D. 1104-1111.

ACRE: A. D.1187. Taken from the Christians by Saladin.

See JERUSALEM: A. D. 1149-1187.

ACRE: A. D. 1189-1191. The great siege and reconquest by the Crusaders.

See CRUSADES: A. D. 1188-1192.

ACRE: A. D. 1256-1257. Quarrels and battles between the Genoese and Venetians.

See VENICE: A. D. 1256-1257.

ACRE: A. D. 1291. The Final triumph of the Moslems.

See JERUSALEM: A. D. 1291.

ACRE: 18th Century. Restored to Importance by Sheik Daher.

"Acre, or St. Jean d'Acre, celebrated under this name in the history of the Crusades, and in antiquity known by the name of Ptolemais, had, by the middle of the 18th century, been almost entirely forsaken, when Sheik Daher, the Arab rebel, restored its commerce and navigation. This able prince, whose sway comprehended the whole of ancient Galilee, was succeeded by the infamous tyrant, Djezzar-Pasha, who fortified Acre, and adorned it with a mosque, enriched with columns of antique marble, collected from all the neighbouring cities."

_M. Malte-Brun, System of Universal Geography, book 28 (volume 1)._

ACRE: A. D. 1799. Unsuccessful Siege by Bonaparte.

See FRANCE: A. D. 1798-1799 (AUGUST-AUGUST).

ACRE: A. D. 1831-1840. Siege and Capture by Mehemed Ali. Recovery for the Sultan by the Western Powers.

See TURKS: A. D.1831-1840.

ACROCERAUNIAN PROMONTORY.

See KORKYRA.

ACROPOLIS OF ATHENS, The.

"A road which, by running zigzag up the slope was rendered practicable for chariots, led from the lower city to the Acropolis, on the edge of the platform of which stood the Propylæa, erected by the architect Mnesicles in five years, during the administration of Pericles. … On entering through the gates of the Propylæa a scene of unparalleled grandeur and beauty burst upon the eye. No trace of human dwellings anywhere appeared, but on all sides temples of more or less elevation, of Pentelic marble, beautiful in design and exquisitely delicate in execution, sparkled like piles of alabaster in the sun. On the left stood the Erectheion, or fane of Athena Polias; to the right, that matchless edifice known as the Hecatompedon of old, but to later ages as the Parthenon. Other buildings, all holy to the eyes of an Athenian, lay grouped around these master structures, and, in the open spaces between, in whatever direction the spectator might look, appeared statues, some remarkable for their dimensions, others for their beauty, and all for the legendary sanctity which surrounded them. No city of the ancient or modern world ever rivalled Athens in the riches of art. Our best filled museums, though teeming with her spoils, are poor collections of fragments compared with that assemblage of gods and heroes which peopled the Acropolis, the genuine Olympos of the arts."

_J. A. St. John, The Hellenes, book 1, chapter 4._

"Nothing in ancient Greece or Italy could be compared with the Acropolis of Athens, in its combination of beauty and grandeur, surrounded as it was by temples and theatres among its rocks, and encircled by a city abounding with monuments, some of which rivalled those of the Acropolis. Its platform formed one great sanctuary, partitioned only by the boundaries of the … sacred portions. We cannot, therefore, admit the suggestion of Chandler, that, in addition to the temples and other monuments on the summit, there were houses divided into regular streets. This would not have been consonant either with the customs or the good taste of the Athenians. When the people of Attica crowded into Athens at the beginning of the Peloponnesian war, and religious prejudices gave way, in every possible case, to the necessities of the occasion, even then the Acropolis remained uninhabited. … The western end of the Acropolis, which furnished the only access to the summit of the hill, was one hundred and sixty eight feet in breadth, an opening so narrow that it appeared practicable to the artists of Pericles to fill up the space with a single building which should serve the purpose of a gateway to the citadel, as well as of a suitable entrance to that glorious display of architecture and sculpture which was within the inclosure. This work [the Propylæa], the greatest production of civil architecture in Athens, which rivalled the Parthenon in felicity of execution, surpassed it in boldness and originality of design. … It may be defined as a wall pierced with five doors, before which on both sides were Doric hexastyle porticoes."

_W. M. Leake, Topography of Athens, section 8._

See, also, ATTICA.

ACT OF ABJURATION, The.

See NETHERLANDS: A. D. 1577-1581.

ACT OF MEDIATION, The.

See SWITZERLAND: A. D. 1803-1848.

ACT OF SECURITY.

See SCOTLAND: A. D. 1703-1704.

ACT OF SETTLEMENT (English).

See ENGLAND: A. D. 1701.

ACT OF SETTLEMENT (Irish).

See IRELAND: A. D. 1660-1665.

{8}

ACT RESCISSORY.

See SCOTLAND; A. D. 1660-1666.

ACTIUM: B. C. 434. Naval Battle of the Greeks.