His suc-
cessor, Constantine XI.
cessor, Constantine XI.
Charles - 1867 - Classical Dictionary
234.
)
? ? Byzantium, a celebrated city of Thrace, on the shore
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? BYZANTIUM.
nortant additions from them, that Ammianus Marcel-
linus, in a later age, calls it on Attic colony (22, 8).
The city, however, was a Doric one, in language,
customs, and laws, and remained so even after the
Athenians had the control of it. The maintenance of
this military post became of great importance to the
Greeks during their -warfare with the Persians in sub-
sequent years, and this circumstance, together with
the advantages of a lucrative and now continually in-
creasing commerce, gave Byzantium a high rank
among Grecian cities. After Athens and Sparta had
weakened the power of each other by national rivalry,
and neither could lay claim to the empire of the sea,
Byzantium became an independent city, and turned its
whole attention to commerce. Its strong situation
enabled it. at a subsequent period, to resist successfully
the arms of Philip of Maccdon; nor did Alexander, in
his eagerness to inarch into Asia, make any attempt
upon the place. It preserved also a neutral character
under his successors. The great evil to which the
city of Byzantium was exposed came from the inland
country, the Thracian tribes continually making incur-
<<ions into the fertile territory around the place, and
carrying off more or less of the products of the fields.
The city suffered severely also from the Gauls; being
compelled to pay a yearly tribute, amounting at least
t) eighty talents. After the departure of the Gauls it
again became a flourishing place, but its most prosper-
ous period was daring the Roman sway. It had
thrown itself into the arms of the Romans as early as
the war against the younger Philip of Macedon, and
enjoyed from this people not only complete protection,
bat iiso many valuable commercial privileges. It was
allowed, moreover, to lay a toll on all vessels passing
through the straits, a thing which had been attempted
before without success, and this toll it shared with the
Romans. (Strabo, 320. --Hcrodian, 3, 1. ) But the
day of misfortune at length came. In the contest for
the empire between Severus and Niger, Byzantium
declared for the latter, and stdbd a siege in conse-
quence, which continued long after Niger's overthrow
and death. After three years of almost incredible ex-
ertions, the place surrendered to Severus. The few
remaining inhabitants whom famine had spared were
? old as slaves, the city was razed to the ground, its
territory given to Perinthus, and a small village took
the place of the great commercial emporium. Re-
penting soon after of what he had done, Severus re-
built Byzantium, and adorned it with numerous and
splendid buildings, which in a later age still bore his
name, bat it never recovered its former rank until the
days of Constantino. (Herodian, 3, 6. --Dio Cass. ,
74, \Q. --Spu-tun. , Caraca. ll. , c. 1. --Zosimus, 2, 30.
-- Suidaj, <<. t>. 2e67/pof. -- Trcb. Pollio, Gallicn. , c.
6. --ClaaA. ,c. 9. )--Constantine had no great affection
for Rome as a city, nor had the inhabitants any great
regard for him. He felt the necessity, moreover, of
having the capital of the empire in some more central
quarter, from which the movements of the German
tribes on the one hand, and those of the Persians on
the other, might be observed. Ho long sought for
each a locality, and believed at one time that he had
found it in the neighbourhood of the Sigffian promonto-
ry, on the coast of Troas. He had even commenced
building here, when the superior advantages of Byzan-
tium as a centre of empire attracted his attention,
and he finally resolved to make this the capital of the
Roman world. For a monarchy possessing the west-
? ? ern portion of Asia, and the largest part of Europe,
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? BYZANTINUM
IMPERIUM.
the same time by the Romans and the Persians, be-
came now an apple of contention between the two
nations (A. D 440). Attila laid waste the dominions
of Theodosius, and obliged him to pay tribute. After
the death of her brother, Pulcheriawas acknowledged
empress (A. D. 450) She was the first female who at-
tained this dignity. She gave her hand to the senator
Marcian, and raised him to the throne. His wisdom
and valour averted the attacks of the Huns from the
frontiers, but he did not support the Western Empire
in its wars against the Huns and Vandals with suffi-
cient energy He afforded shelter to a part of the
Germans and Sarmatians, who were driven to the Ro-
man frontiers by the incursions of the Huns. Pulchc-
ria died before him in 453. Leo I. (A. D. 457), a
prince praised by contemporary authors, was chosen
successor of Marcian. His expeditions against the
Vandals (A. D. 467) were unsuccessful. His grand-
son Leo would have succeeded him, but died a minor
shortly after him, having named his father Zeno his
colleague (A. D. 474). The government of this weak
emperor, who was hated by his subjects, was disturbed
by rebellions and internal disorders of the empire.
The Goths depopulated their provinces till their king,
Theodoric, turned his arms against Italy (A. D. 489).
Ariadne, widow of Zeno, raised the minister Anasta-
sius, whom she married, to the throne (A. D. 491).
The nation, once excited to discontents and tumults,
could not be entirely appeased by the alleviation of
their burdens and by wise decrees. The forces of the
empire, being thus weakened, could not offer an ef-
fectual resistance to the Persians and the barbarians
along the Danube. To prevent their incursions into
the peninsula of Constantinople, Anastasius built the
long mill, as it is called. After the death of Anasta-
sius, the soldiers proclaimed Justin emperor (A. D.
518). Nothwithstanding his low birth, he maintained
possession of the throne. Religious persecutions,
which he undertook at the instigation of the clergy,
and various crimes into which he was seduced by his
nephew Justinian, disgrace his reign. After his early
death, in 521, he was succeeded by the same Justin-
ian, to whom, though he deserves not the name of
the Great, many virtues of a ruler cannot be dented.
He was renowned as a legislator, and his reign was
distinguished by the victories of his general Belisa-
rius; but how unable he was to revive the strength
of his empire was proved by its rapid decay after his
death. Justin II. , his successor (A. D. 565), was an
avaricious, cruel, weak prince, gpverned by his wife.
The Lombards tore from him part of Italy (A D.
568). His war with Persia, for the possession of Ar-
menia, was unsuccessful; the Avari plundered the
provinces on the Danube, and the violence of his grief
at these misfortunes deprived him of reason Tibe-
rius, his minister, a man of merit, was declared Cie-
sar, and the general Justinian conducted the war
against Persia with success. The Greeks now al-
lied themselves, for the first time, with the Turks.
Against his successor, Tiberius II. (A. D. 578), the
Empress Sophia and the general Justinian conspired in
vain. From the Avari the emperor purchased peace;
from the Persians it was extorted by his general Mau-
ritius or Maurice (A. D. 582). This commander Ti-
berius declared Cesar in the same year. Mauritius,
under other circumstances, would have made an ex-
cellent monarch, but for the times he wanted prudence
? ? and resolution. He was indebted for the tranquillity
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? BYZANTINUM
Bulgarians, against whom he had been long unsuc-
cessful. He died (A D. 775), and was succeeded by
his son Leo III. , who fought successfully against the
Arabians; and this latter, by his son Constantine VI. ,
whose imperious mother Irene, his guardian and as-
sociate in the government, raised a powerful party by
the restoration of the worship of images He en-
deavoured in vain to free himself from dependance on
her and her favourite Stauratius, and died in 796, after
having had his eyes put out The war against the Ara-
bians and Bulgarians was long continued; against the
former it was unsuccessful The design of the em-
press to marry Charlemagno excited the discontent of
the patricians, who placed one of their own order, Ni-
cephoms, upon the throne (AD 802) Irene died in
a monastery. Nicephorus became tributary to the
Arabians, and fell in the war against the Bulgarians
(A. D. 811). Stauratius, his son, was deprived of tho
crown by Michael I. , and he in turn by Leo IV (A. D.
813). Leo was dethroned and put to death by Michael
II (A. D 826) During the reign of the latter, the
Arabians conquered Sicily, Lower Italy, Crete, and
other countries. Michael prohibited the worship of
images; as did also his son Thcophilus. Theodora,
guardian of his son Michael III. , put a stop to the dis-
pute about images (A. D. 841). During a cruel per-
secution of the Manichsans, the Arabians devastated
the Asiatic provinces. The dissolute and extravagant
Michael confined his mother in a monastery. The
government was administered in his name by Bardas,
his uncle, and after the death of Bardas by Basil, who
was put to death by Michael (A. D. 867). Basil I. ,
who came to the throne in 867, was not altogether a
contemptible monarch. He died A. D. 886. The
reign of his learned son. Leo V. , was not very happy.
He died A. D. 911. His son, Constantino VIII. , Por-
phyrogenitus, a minor when he succeeded his father,
was placed under the guardianship of his colleague
Alexander, and after Alexander's death in 912, under
that of his mother Zoe. Komanus LahopenuB, his
general, obliged him, in 919, to share the throne with
him and his children. Constantine subsequently took
sole possession of it again, and reigned mildly but
weakly. His son Komanus II. succeeded him in 959,
and fought successfully against the Arabians. To
him succeeded, in 963, his general Nicephorus. who
was put to death by his own general, John Zimisccs
(A. D. 970), who carried, on a successful war against
the Russians. Basil II. , son of Komanus. succeeded
this good prince. He vanquished the Bulgarians and
the Arabians. His brother, Constantine IX. (A. D.
1025), was not equal to him. komanus III. became
emperor (A. D. 1028) by a marriage with Zoe, daugh-
ter of Constantine. This dissolute but able princess
caused her husband to be executed, and successively
raised to the throne Michael IV. (A. D. 1034), Mi-
chael V. (A. D. 1041), and Constantine X. (A. D.
1042). Russians and Arabians meanwhile devastated
the empire. Her sister Theodora succeeded her on
the throne (A. D. 1053). Her successor, Michael VI.
(A. D. 1056), was dethroned by Isaac Comnenus in
1057, who became a monk (A. D. 1059).
His suc-
cessor, Constantine XI. , Ducas, fought successfully
against the Uzes Eudocia, his wife, guardian of his
sons Michael, Andronicus, and Constantine, was in-
trusted with the administration (A. D. 1067), married
Romanus IV. , and brought him the crown. He car-
ried on an unsuccessful war against the Turks, who
? ? kept him for some time prisoner. Michael VII. , son of
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? CAB
CAB
territories except Constantinople, and extorted from
him a tribute (A D 1444) To the emperor John
succeeded his brother Constantino With the assist-
ance of his general, the Genoese Justinian, he with-
stood the superior forces of the enemy with fruitless
courage, and fell in the defence of Constantinople, by
the conquest of which, May 29, A. D. 1453, Moham-
med II. put an end to the Greek or Byzantine empire.
(Encyclop Amenc , vol 2, p 359, scqq )--The events
which have just been detailed are recorded by a series
of Greek authors, known by the general name of By-
zantine historians. Their works relate to the history
of the lower empire, from the fourth century to the
conquest of Constantinople by the Turks, and to the
Turkish history for some period later. They display
in their writings the faults of a degenerate age, but are
valuable for the information which they furnish, being
the principal source from which we obtain the history
of the decay of the Eastern empire. The most valua-
ble of the number are Zonaras, Ntcctas, Ntcephorus,
and Chalcondylas. These four form a continued his-
tory of the Byzantine empire to the year 1470. Of
die remaining authors, who give us histories of de-
tached portions of this same period, the following de-
serve particular mention, and are given in chronologi-
cal order: 1. Procojnus; 2. Agathias; 3 Thcophy-
lactus; 4. Ntcephorus, patriarch of Constantinople;
5. Johannes Scylitzcs; G. Anna Comncna; 7. Gcor-
gius Acropohta; 8. Georgia* Pachymcrcs; 9. Jo-
hannes Cantacuzcnus; 10. Gcorgius Codmus; 11.
Constanlinus Porphyrogcnitus; 12. Ducas; 13. An-
sclmus Bandunus; 14. Pctrus Gylltus; 15. Zos-
imus; 16. Gcorgius Phranza. --Besides editions of
individual works or of entire authors, we have the
united works of these writers in what is called the
Corpus Byzantmum, in 27 (counted sometimes as 23)
volumes folio. A much more correct edition, how-
ever, is that which was published at Paris, under the
title of Corpus Scriptorum Hisloria Byzanlina (from
the royal press, 23 vols. fol. ). This was reprinted at
Venice, with a different arrangement of the works, in
1729-1733. These collections, however, arc rarely to
be found complete. The best edition will undoubt-
edly be that, now in a course of publication, from the
press of Weber, at Bonn in Germany. It was com-
menced under the editorial care of the celebrated Nie-
buhr, aided by other eminent scholars, in the year
1828, and has been continued since his death. It is
of tho octavo form. (Picrcr, Lex. Unit. , vol. 4, p.
582. )
Byzas, a Thracian prince. (Consult remarks at the
commencement of the article Byzantium. )
Bvzia. Vtd. Bizya.
Cabalaca, a town of Albania, on the southeastern
declivity of Caucasus, near the Caspian Sea (Plin. , 4,
10). Ptolemy calls it Chabala (Xu6a*a). It is
thought to correspond to the modem Cablasvar, in
Georgia. (Bischoff und Miller, Wortcrb. dcr Gcogr. ,
p. 217. )
CabaixTnum, a town of the . Edui, in Gallia Lugdu-
nensis, southeast of Bibracte, now Chdlons-sur-Saonc.
Ptolemy gives Caballinum (KaGuMivov), as here writ-
ten. Cassar (B. G. , 7, 42, et 90) has Cabillonum;
the Itin. Ant. , Cabillio; and Ammianus Marcellinus,
Cabillo (14, 31).
CabTka, I. a wife of Vulcan. She was one of the
Oceanides. Her offspring, according to the Ionian
? ? school, were the deities called Cabiri. (Vid. Cabiri. )--
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? CABIRI.
ans. The same learned writer compares the names
Kiifapoi, Kd6apoe, KooaXoi (which, according to him,
are identical), with the German Kobold, "goblin," and
finds m them all a common idea. His theory respect-
ing the worship of the Cabiri, which he refers exclu-
sively to Phoenician, Hebrew, and Semitic sources, dif-
fers in several important points from that of Creuzer,
and has excited a great deal of attention on the conti-
nent of Europe. It is in following the footsteps of
Schelling that Pictet thinks he has found, in the my-
thology of the ancient Irish, the worship, and even the
very names, of the Cabiri of Samothrace. (Du Cultc
Acs Cabtrc* ckez Us anciens Irlandais, Geneve, 1824.
--Compare Bibliotheque Universelle, vol. 24. ) On the
other hand, C. O. Miiller, in a very remarkable disserta-
tion appended to his work on Orchomenus (Orchomenos
uttd du Mtnyer, Beilage 2, p. 450, scqq. --Gesch. der
HcUemseher Stdmmc, &c , vol. 1), and Welckcr (Tri-
logie der Prometheus, Darmstadt, 1824, 8vo), reject
the Phoenician, or, more properly speaking. Oriental
origin of the Cabiri. The first of these writers sees
in them a worship purely Pelasgic, and, up to a certain
point, the primitive religion of the Greeks entire, with
a distant relation, at the same time, to the Theogonies
of India; the second discovers a mixture of various
elements, successively amalgamated, and the most an-
cient of which would be the Dardan or Trojan Penates,
becoming, in process of time, the Dioscuri, or else con-
founded with them, and at an early period transported
to Rome. -- According to Constant (de la Religion,
vol. 2, p. 430), the Cabiri designated the two grand
opposing powers in each department of nature, and
represented by turns the earth and the heavens, moist-
ure. . ? ? <' dryness, the body and soul, inert matter and | is said'to have signified, in Egyptian, " the all-power-
vivifying intelligence. Their number was not fixed, | ful one," and he is supposed by some to be identical
but varied according to the necessity under which the I with Phtha or Vulcan. Axiokersus is made to denote
pnests found themselves of expressing the cosmogon- "the great fecundator," and is thought to have been the
leal powers. Their figures were at first excessively same with Mars, the planet named in Egyptian Ertosi,
? . rformed; they were represented under the guise of I a word which presents the same idea. Axiokersa is
distorted dwarfs, and under these forms were brought consequently "the great fecundatrix," Aphrodite or
CAC
they lost this triple origin: three of them remained hid-
den powers, sons of the cosmogonical Jove, and of
Proserpina, the passive principle of fecundity as well
as of destruction: the two others took the Greek names
of Castor and Pollux, and had Leila for a mother, the
mistress of Olympian Jove. (Cic, N. D. , 3, 21. )
For, in Egypt, their mother was not Leda, but Neme-
sis, one of tho appellations of Athyr, or the primitive
night. The amour of Jupiter also has here a fantastic
character, which is sensibly weakened in the Grecian
fable. Not only docs Jupiter change himself into a
swan, but he likewise directs Venus to pursue him un-
der the form of an eagle, and he takes refuge in the
bosom of Nemesis, whom slumber seizes, and who
offers an easy conquest to her divine lover. Hermes
thereupon conveys the egg to Sparta, and Leda incu-
bates it. The Greeks, rejecting altogether the cos-
mogonical personage Nemesis, made Leda the real
mother, and the ancient Cabiri became thus a compo-
nent part of the national mythology. The Ionian
school, however, faithful to the principles of a sacer-
dotal philosophy, continued to call them the offspring
of the eternal fire, Vulcan, and of the nymph Cabira,
one of the Oceanides, which recalls the generation by
fire and water. When astronomy was introduced into
the religion of Greece, they became the star of the
morning and the star of evening. It is possible to see
? ? an allusion to this idea in Homer. [11. , 3, 243 --Od ,
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? CAD
CADMUS.
cus, who, according to one version of tho fable, be-
came enamoured of Hercules, and showed the hero
where her brother had concealed his oxen. For this
she was deified. She had a chapel (sacellum) at Rome,
with a Bacred fire continually burning in it, and vestal
virgins to perform heT rites. (Lactant. , 1, 20, p. 110,
cd. Gall. --Sen. ad Virg. , JEn. , 8, 190. )
Cacus, a famous robber, son of Vulcan, represented
in fable as of gigantic size, and vomiting forth smoke
and fire. He inhabited the gloomy recesses of the
forest on Mount Aventine, and a deep cave there was
his dwelling-place, the entrance to which was hung
around with human heads and limbs. He plundered
and kept in continual alarm the neighbouring country;
and, when Hercules returned from the conquest of
Geryon, he stole some of his cows, and dragged them
backward into his cave to prevent discovery. Her-
cules, after having enjoyed the hospitality of Evander,
was preparing to depart, without being aware of the
theft; but his oxen, having lowed, were answered by
the cowb in the cave of Cacus, and the hero thus be-
came acquainted with the loss he had sustained. He
ran to the place, attacked Cacus, and strangled him in
his arms, though vomiting fire and smoke. Hercules
erected an altar to Jupiter, in commemoration of his
victory; and an annual festival was instituted by the
inhabitants in honour of the hero who had delivered
them from such a pest. (Ovid, Fast. , 1, 551. -- Virg. ,
JEn. , 8, 194. --Properl. , 4, 10. --Juv. , 5, 125. --Liv. ,
1, 7. --Dionys. Hal. , 1, 9. ) The allegorical charac-
ter of the fable here related is sufficiently indicated
by the names of the parties. Thus Evander, who re-
ceived Hercules on his return from the conquest of
Geryon, and Cacus (in Greek Evavdpoe and Kokoc),
seem to be nothing more than appellations intended
to characterize the individuals to whom they are ap-
plied: Evander, therefore, the leader of the Pelasgi,
the head and chief of the division of that great sacer-
dotal caBte which passed into Italy, and, consequently,
to apply a modern term, the high-priest of the order,
is the Good Man (evavdpoe), and Cacus, his opponent,
is the Bad Man (kokoc). Hercules destroys Cacus,
that is, the solar worship, or some other Oriental sys-
tem of belief professed by the Pelasgi, was made to
supplant some rude and probably cruel form of wor-
ship; and as Evander was high-priest of the one, so
Cacus, whoever he was, may be regarded as the head
of the other. (Compare Rittcr, Vorhallc, p. 343, scqq. )
CacOthis, a river in India; according to Mannert,
the Gumty, which falls into the Ganges, to the north
of Benares. (Geogr. , vol. 5, pt. 1, p. 93. )
Cadmea, the citadel of Thebes, fabled to have been
built by Cadmus. It represents very evidently the
early city, built upon a height, around which the later
city of Thebes was subsequently erected, and then the
former answered for a citadel, as in the case of the
Acropolis of Athens. Of the walls of the Cadmca, a
few fragments remain, which are regularly constructed.
These were probably erected by the Athenians, when
Cassander restored the city of Thebes. (DodieeU's
Travels, vol. l,p. 264. )
Cadhkis, an ancient name of Boeotia.
Cadmcs, I. son of Agcnor, king of Phoenicia, by
Tclcphassa, was sent by his father, along with his
brothers Phoenix and Cilix, in quest of their sister Eu-
ropa, who had been carried off by Jupiter, and they
were ordered not to return until they had found her.
? ? The brothers were accompanied by their mother, and
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? CAD
Phoenicians should have selected, as the site of their
Tery earliest foreign settlement, a place situated in a
rich fertile valley, away from the sea, and only adapted
fjr agriculture, without mines, or any of those objects
of trade which might tempt a people of that character.
? ? Byzantium, a celebrated city of Thrace, on the shore
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? BYZANTIUM.
nortant additions from them, that Ammianus Marcel-
linus, in a later age, calls it on Attic colony (22, 8).
The city, however, was a Doric one, in language,
customs, and laws, and remained so even after the
Athenians had the control of it. The maintenance of
this military post became of great importance to the
Greeks during their -warfare with the Persians in sub-
sequent years, and this circumstance, together with
the advantages of a lucrative and now continually in-
creasing commerce, gave Byzantium a high rank
among Grecian cities. After Athens and Sparta had
weakened the power of each other by national rivalry,
and neither could lay claim to the empire of the sea,
Byzantium became an independent city, and turned its
whole attention to commerce. Its strong situation
enabled it. at a subsequent period, to resist successfully
the arms of Philip of Maccdon; nor did Alexander, in
his eagerness to inarch into Asia, make any attempt
upon the place. It preserved also a neutral character
under his successors. The great evil to which the
city of Byzantium was exposed came from the inland
country, the Thracian tribes continually making incur-
<<ions into the fertile territory around the place, and
carrying off more or less of the products of the fields.
The city suffered severely also from the Gauls; being
compelled to pay a yearly tribute, amounting at least
t) eighty talents. After the departure of the Gauls it
again became a flourishing place, but its most prosper-
ous period was daring the Roman sway. It had
thrown itself into the arms of the Romans as early as
the war against the younger Philip of Macedon, and
enjoyed from this people not only complete protection,
bat iiso many valuable commercial privileges. It was
allowed, moreover, to lay a toll on all vessels passing
through the straits, a thing which had been attempted
before without success, and this toll it shared with the
Romans. (Strabo, 320. --Hcrodian, 3, 1. ) But the
day of misfortune at length came. In the contest for
the empire between Severus and Niger, Byzantium
declared for the latter, and stdbd a siege in conse-
quence, which continued long after Niger's overthrow
and death. After three years of almost incredible ex-
ertions, the place surrendered to Severus. The few
remaining inhabitants whom famine had spared were
? old as slaves, the city was razed to the ground, its
territory given to Perinthus, and a small village took
the place of the great commercial emporium. Re-
penting soon after of what he had done, Severus re-
built Byzantium, and adorned it with numerous and
splendid buildings, which in a later age still bore his
name, bat it never recovered its former rank until the
days of Constantino. (Herodian, 3, 6. --Dio Cass. ,
74, \Q. --Spu-tun. , Caraca. ll. , c. 1. --Zosimus, 2, 30.
-- Suidaj, <<. t>. 2e67/pof. -- Trcb. Pollio, Gallicn. , c.
6. --ClaaA. ,c. 9. )--Constantine had no great affection
for Rome as a city, nor had the inhabitants any great
regard for him. He felt the necessity, moreover, of
having the capital of the empire in some more central
quarter, from which the movements of the German
tribes on the one hand, and those of the Persians on
the other, might be observed. Ho long sought for
each a locality, and believed at one time that he had
found it in the neighbourhood of the Sigffian promonto-
ry, on the coast of Troas. He had even commenced
building here, when the superior advantages of Byzan-
tium as a centre of empire attracted his attention,
and he finally resolved to make this the capital of the
Roman world. For a monarchy possessing the west-
? ? ern portion of Asia, and the largest part of Europe,
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? BYZANTINUM
IMPERIUM.
the same time by the Romans and the Persians, be-
came now an apple of contention between the two
nations (A. D 440). Attila laid waste the dominions
of Theodosius, and obliged him to pay tribute. After
the death of her brother, Pulcheriawas acknowledged
empress (A. D. 450) She was the first female who at-
tained this dignity. She gave her hand to the senator
Marcian, and raised him to the throne. His wisdom
and valour averted the attacks of the Huns from the
frontiers, but he did not support the Western Empire
in its wars against the Huns and Vandals with suffi-
cient energy He afforded shelter to a part of the
Germans and Sarmatians, who were driven to the Ro-
man frontiers by the incursions of the Huns. Pulchc-
ria died before him in 453. Leo I. (A. D. 457), a
prince praised by contemporary authors, was chosen
successor of Marcian. His expeditions against the
Vandals (A. D. 467) were unsuccessful. His grand-
son Leo would have succeeded him, but died a minor
shortly after him, having named his father Zeno his
colleague (A. D. 474). The government of this weak
emperor, who was hated by his subjects, was disturbed
by rebellions and internal disorders of the empire.
The Goths depopulated their provinces till their king,
Theodoric, turned his arms against Italy (A. D. 489).
Ariadne, widow of Zeno, raised the minister Anasta-
sius, whom she married, to the throne (A. D. 491).
The nation, once excited to discontents and tumults,
could not be entirely appeased by the alleviation of
their burdens and by wise decrees. The forces of the
empire, being thus weakened, could not offer an ef-
fectual resistance to the Persians and the barbarians
along the Danube. To prevent their incursions into
the peninsula of Constantinople, Anastasius built the
long mill, as it is called. After the death of Anasta-
sius, the soldiers proclaimed Justin emperor (A. D.
518). Nothwithstanding his low birth, he maintained
possession of the throne. Religious persecutions,
which he undertook at the instigation of the clergy,
and various crimes into which he was seduced by his
nephew Justinian, disgrace his reign. After his early
death, in 521, he was succeeded by the same Justin-
ian, to whom, though he deserves not the name of
the Great, many virtues of a ruler cannot be dented.
He was renowned as a legislator, and his reign was
distinguished by the victories of his general Belisa-
rius; but how unable he was to revive the strength
of his empire was proved by its rapid decay after his
death. Justin II. , his successor (A. D. 565), was an
avaricious, cruel, weak prince, gpverned by his wife.
The Lombards tore from him part of Italy (A D.
568). His war with Persia, for the possession of Ar-
menia, was unsuccessful; the Avari plundered the
provinces on the Danube, and the violence of his grief
at these misfortunes deprived him of reason Tibe-
rius, his minister, a man of merit, was declared Cie-
sar, and the general Justinian conducted the war
against Persia with success. The Greeks now al-
lied themselves, for the first time, with the Turks.
Against his successor, Tiberius II. (A. D. 578), the
Empress Sophia and the general Justinian conspired in
vain. From the Avari the emperor purchased peace;
from the Persians it was extorted by his general Mau-
ritius or Maurice (A. D. 582). This commander Ti-
berius declared Cesar in the same year. Mauritius,
under other circumstances, would have made an ex-
cellent monarch, but for the times he wanted prudence
? ? and resolution. He was indebted for the tranquillity
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? BYZANTINUM
Bulgarians, against whom he had been long unsuc-
cessful. He died (A D. 775), and was succeeded by
his son Leo III. , who fought successfully against the
Arabians; and this latter, by his son Constantine VI. ,
whose imperious mother Irene, his guardian and as-
sociate in the government, raised a powerful party by
the restoration of the worship of images He en-
deavoured in vain to free himself from dependance on
her and her favourite Stauratius, and died in 796, after
having had his eyes put out The war against the Ara-
bians and Bulgarians was long continued; against the
former it was unsuccessful The design of the em-
press to marry Charlemagno excited the discontent of
the patricians, who placed one of their own order, Ni-
cephoms, upon the throne (AD 802) Irene died in
a monastery. Nicephorus became tributary to the
Arabians, and fell in the war against the Bulgarians
(A. D. 811). Stauratius, his son, was deprived of tho
crown by Michael I. , and he in turn by Leo IV (A. D.
813). Leo was dethroned and put to death by Michael
II (A. D 826) During the reign of the latter, the
Arabians conquered Sicily, Lower Italy, Crete, and
other countries. Michael prohibited the worship of
images; as did also his son Thcophilus. Theodora,
guardian of his son Michael III. , put a stop to the dis-
pute about images (A. D. 841). During a cruel per-
secution of the Manichsans, the Arabians devastated
the Asiatic provinces. The dissolute and extravagant
Michael confined his mother in a monastery. The
government was administered in his name by Bardas,
his uncle, and after the death of Bardas by Basil, who
was put to death by Michael (A. D. 867). Basil I. ,
who came to the throne in 867, was not altogether a
contemptible monarch. He died A. D. 886. The
reign of his learned son. Leo V. , was not very happy.
He died A. D. 911. His son, Constantino VIII. , Por-
phyrogenitus, a minor when he succeeded his father,
was placed under the guardianship of his colleague
Alexander, and after Alexander's death in 912, under
that of his mother Zoe. Komanus LahopenuB, his
general, obliged him, in 919, to share the throne with
him and his children. Constantine subsequently took
sole possession of it again, and reigned mildly but
weakly. His son Komanus II. succeeded him in 959,
and fought successfully against the Arabians. To
him succeeded, in 963, his general Nicephorus. who
was put to death by his own general, John Zimisccs
(A. D. 970), who carried, on a successful war against
the Russians. Basil II. , son of Komanus. succeeded
this good prince. He vanquished the Bulgarians and
the Arabians. His brother, Constantine IX. (A. D.
1025), was not equal to him. komanus III. became
emperor (A. D. 1028) by a marriage with Zoe, daugh-
ter of Constantine. This dissolute but able princess
caused her husband to be executed, and successively
raised to the throne Michael IV. (A. D. 1034), Mi-
chael V. (A. D. 1041), and Constantine X. (A. D.
1042). Russians and Arabians meanwhile devastated
the empire. Her sister Theodora succeeded her on
the throne (A. D. 1053). Her successor, Michael VI.
(A. D. 1056), was dethroned by Isaac Comnenus in
1057, who became a monk (A. D. 1059).
His suc-
cessor, Constantine XI. , Ducas, fought successfully
against the Uzes Eudocia, his wife, guardian of his
sons Michael, Andronicus, and Constantine, was in-
trusted with the administration (A. D. 1067), married
Romanus IV. , and brought him the crown. He car-
ried on an unsuccessful war against the Turks, who
? ? kept him for some time prisoner. Michael VII. , son of
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? CAB
CAB
territories except Constantinople, and extorted from
him a tribute (A D 1444) To the emperor John
succeeded his brother Constantino With the assist-
ance of his general, the Genoese Justinian, he with-
stood the superior forces of the enemy with fruitless
courage, and fell in the defence of Constantinople, by
the conquest of which, May 29, A. D. 1453, Moham-
med II. put an end to the Greek or Byzantine empire.
(Encyclop Amenc , vol 2, p 359, scqq )--The events
which have just been detailed are recorded by a series
of Greek authors, known by the general name of By-
zantine historians. Their works relate to the history
of the lower empire, from the fourth century to the
conquest of Constantinople by the Turks, and to the
Turkish history for some period later. They display
in their writings the faults of a degenerate age, but are
valuable for the information which they furnish, being
the principal source from which we obtain the history
of the decay of the Eastern empire. The most valua-
ble of the number are Zonaras, Ntcctas, Ntcephorus,
and Chalcondylas. These four form a continued his-
tory of the Byzantine empire to the year 1470. Of
die remaining authors, who give us histories of de-
tached portions of this same period, the following de-
serve particular mention, and are given in chronologi-
cal order: 1. Procojnus; 2. Agathias; 3 Thcophy-
lactus; 4. Ntcephorus, patriarch of Constantinople;
5. Johannes Scylitzcs; G. Anna Comncna; 7. Gcor-
gius Acropohta; 8. Georgia* Pachymcrcs; 9. Jo-
hannes Cantacuzcnus; 10. Gcorgius Codmus; 11.
Constanlinus Porphyrogcnitus; 12. Ducas; 13. An-
sclmus Bandunus; 14. Pctrus Gylltus; 15. Zos-
imus; 16. Gcorgius Phranza. --Besides editions of
individual works or of entire authors, we have the
united works of these writers in what is called the
Corpus Byzantmum, in 27 (counted sometimes as 23)
volumes folio. A much more correct edition, how-
ever, is that which was published at Paris, under the
title of Corpus Scriptorum Hisloria Byzanlina (from
the royal press, 23 vols. fol. ). This was reprinted at
Venice, with a different arrangement of the works, in
1729-1733. These collections, however, arc rarely to
be found complete. The best edition will undoubt-
edly be that, now in a course of publication, from the
press of Weber, at Bonn in Germany. It was com-
menced under the editorial care of the celebrated Nie-
buhr, aided by other eminent scholars, in the year
1828, and has been continued since his death. It is
of tho octavo form. (Picrcr, Lex. Unit. , vol. 4, p.
582. )
Byzas, a Thracian prince. (Consult remarks at the
commencement of the article Byzantium. )
Bvzia. Vtd. Bizya.
Cabalaca, a town of Albania, on the southeastern
declivity of Caucasus, near the Caspian Sea (Plin. , 4,
10). Ptolemy calls it Chabala (Xu6a*a). It is
thought to correspond to the modem Cablasvar, in
Georgia. (Bischoff und Miller, Wortcrb. dcr Gcogr. ,
p. 217. )
CabaixTnum, a town of the . Edui, in Gallia Lugdu-
nensis, southeast of Bibracte, now Chdlons-sur-Saonc.
Ptolemy gives Caballinum (KaGuMivov), as here writ-
ten. Cassar (B. G. , 7, 42, et 90) has Cabillonum;
the Itin. Ant. , Cabillio; and Ammianus Marcellinus,
Cabillo (14, 31).
CabTka, I. a wife of Vulcan. She was one of the
Oceanides. Her offspring, according to the Ionian
? ? school, were the deities called Cabiri. (Vid. Cabiri. )--
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? CABIRI.
ans. The same learned writer compares the names
Kiifapoi, Kd6apoe, KooaXoi (which, according to him,
are identical), with the German Kobold, "goblin," and
finds m them all a common idea. His theory respect-
ing the worship of the Cabiri, which he refers exclu-
sively to Phoenician, Hebrew, and Semitic sources, dif-
fers in several important points from that of Creuzer,
and has excited a great deal of attention on the conti-
nent of Europe. It is in following the footsteps of
Schelling that Pictet thinks he has found, in the my-
thology of the ancient Irish, the worship, and even the
very names, of the Cabiri of Samothrace. (Du Cultc
Acs Cabtrc* ckez Us anciens Irlandais, Geneve, 1824.
--Compare Bibliotheque Universelle, vol. 24. ) On the
other hand, C. O. Miiller, in a very remarkable disserta-
tion appended to his work on Orchomenus (Orchomenos
uttd du Mtnyer, Beilage 2, p. 450, scqq. --Gesch. der
HcUemseher Stdmmc, &c , vol. 1), and Welckcr (Tri-
logie der Prometheus, Darmstadt, 1824, 8vo), reject
the Phoenician, or, more properly speaking. Oriental
origin of the Cabiri. The first of these writers sees
in them a worship purely Pelasgic, and, up to a certain
point, the primitive religion of the Greeks entire, with
a distant relation, at the same time, to the Theogonies
of India; the second discovers a mixture of various
elements, successively amalgamated, and the most an-
cient of which would be the Dardan or Trojan Penates,
becoming, in process of time, the Dioscuri, or else con-
founded with them, and at an early period transported
to Rome. -- According to Constant (de la Religion,
vol. 2, p. 430), the Cabiri designated the two grand
opposing powers in each department of nature, and
represented by turns the earth and the heavens, moist-
ure. . ? ? <' dryness, the body and soul, inert matter and | is said'to have signified, in Egyptian, " the all-power-
vivifying intelligence. Their number was not fixed, | ful one," and he is supposed by some to be identical
but varied according to the necessity under which the I with Phtha or Vulcan. Axiokersus is made to denote
pnests found themselves of expressing the cosmogon- "the great fecundator," and is thought to have been the
leal powers. Their figures were at first excessively same with Mars, the planet named in Egyptian Ertosi,
? . rformed; they were represented under the guise of I a word which presents the same idea. Axiokersa is
distorted dwarfs, and under these forms were brought consequently "the great fecundatrix," Aphrodite or
CAC
they lost this triple origin: three of them remained hid-
den powers, sons of the cosmogonical Jove, and of
Proserpina, the passive principle of fecundity as well
as of destruction: the two others took the Greek names
of Castor and Pollux, and had Leila for a mother, the
mistress of Olympian Jove. (Cic, N. D. , 3, 21. )
For, in Egypt, their mother was not Leda, but Neme-
sis, one of tho appellations of Athyr, or the primitive
night. The amour of Jupiter also has here a fantastic
character, which is sensibly weakened in the Grecian
fable. Not only docs Jupiter change himself into a
swan, but he likewise directs Venus to pursue him un-
der the form of an eagle, and he takes refuge in the
bosom of Nemesis, whom slumber seizes, and who
offers an easy conquest to her divine lover. Hermes
thereupon conveys the egg to Sparta, and Leda incu-
bates it. The Greeks, rejecting altogether the cos-
mogonical personage Nemesis, made Leda the real
mother, and the ancient Cabiri became thus a compo-
nent part of the national mythology. The Ionian
school, however, faithful to the principles of a sacer-
dotal philosophy, continued to call them the offspring
of the eternal fire, Vulcan, and of the nymph Cabira,
one of the Oceanides, which recalls the generation by
fire and water. When astronomy was introduced into
the religion of Greece, they became the star of the
morning and the star of evening. It is possible to see
? ? an allusion to this idea in Homer. [11. , 3, 243 --Od ,
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? CAD
CADMUS.
cus, who, according to one version of tho fable, be-
came enamoured of Hercules, and showed the hero
where her brother had concealed his oxen. For this
she was deified. She had a chapel (sacellum) at Rome,
with a Bacred fire continually burning in it, and vestal
virgins to perform heT rites. (Lactant. , 1, 20, p. 110,
cd. Gall. --Sen. ad Virg. , JEn. , 8, 190. )
Cacus, a famous robber, son of Vulcan, represented
in fable as of gigantic size, and vomiting forth smoke
and fire. He inhabited the gloomy recesses of the
forest on Mount Aventine, and a deep cave there was
his dwelling-place, the entrance to which was hung
around with human heads and limbs. He plundered
and kept in continual alarm the neighbouring country;
and, when Hercules returned from the conquest of
Geryon, he stole some of his cows, and dragged them
backward into his cave to prevent discovery. Her-
cules, after having enjoyed the hospitality of Evander,
was preparing to depart, without being aware of the
theft; but his oxen, having lowed, were answered by
the cowb in the cave of Cacus, and the hero thus be-
came acquainted with the loss he had sustained. He
ran to the place, attacked Cacus, and strangled him in
his arms, though vomiting fire and smoke. Hercules
erected an altar to Jupiter, in commemoration of his
victory; and an annual festival was instituted by the
inhabitants in honour of the hero who had delivered
them from such a pest. (Ovid, Fast. , 1, 551. -- Virg. ,
JEn. , 8, 194. --Properl. , 4, 10. --Juv. , 5, 125. --Liv. ,
1, 7. --Dionys. Hal. , 1, 9. ) The allegorical charac-
ter of the fable here related is sufficiently indicated
by the names of the parties. Thus Evander, who re-
ceived Hercules on his return from the conquest of
Geryon, and Cacus (in Greek Evavdpoe and Kokoc),
seem to be nothing more than appellations intended
to characterize the individuals to whom they are ap-
plied: Evander, therefore, the leader of the Pelasgi,
the head and chief of the division of that great sacer-
dotal caBte which passed into Italy, and, consequently,
to apply a modern term, the high-priest of the order,
is the Good Man (evavdpoe), and Cacus, his opponent,
is the Bad Man (kokoc). Hercules destroys Cacus,
that is, the solar worship, or some other Oriental sys-
tem of belief professed by the Pelasgi, was made to
supplant some rude and probably cruel form of wor-
ship; and as Evander was high-priest of the one, so
Cacus, whoever he was, may be regarded as the head
of the other. (Compare Rittcr, Vorhallc, p. 343, scqq. )
CacOthis, a river in India; according to Mannert,
the Gumty, which falls into the Ganges, to the north
of Benares. (Geogr. , vol. 5, pt. 1, p. 93. )
Cadmea, the citadel of Thebes, fabled to have been
built by Cadmus. It represents very evidently the
early city, built upon a height, around which the later
city of Thebes was subsequently erected, and then the
former answered for a citadel, as in the case of the
Acropolis of Athens. Of the walls of the Cadmca, a
few fragments remain, which are regularly constructed.
These were probably erected by the Athenians, when
Cassander restored the city of Thebes. (DodieeU's
Travels, vol. l,p. 264. )
Cadhkis, an ancient name of Boeotia.
Cadmcs, I. son of Agcnor, king of Phoenicia, by
Tclcphassa, was sent by his father, along with his
brothers Phoenix and Cilix, in quest of their sister Eu-
ropa, who had been carried off by Jupiter, and they
were ordered not to return until they had found her.
? ? The brothers were accompanied by their mother, and
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? CAD
Phoenicians should have selected, as the site of their
Tery earliest foreign settlement, a place situated in a
rich fertile valley, away from the sea, and only adapted
fjr agriculture, without mines, or any of those objects
of trade which might tempt a people of that character.
