GLACIS 



3542 



GLAQIOLUS 



Glacis (Fr. glace, ice). Ground 

 in front of a fortification which is 

 within close rifle range. In per- 

 manent fortresses the glacis are 

 frequently artificially constructed 



who engaged in comkat with others 

 or with wild beasts. Such combats 

 appear to have been a common fea- 

 ture of funeral ceremonies among 

 the Etruscans, being doubtless a 



Glacis formed of earth from the trench at its rear. The 



slopes of the glacis and trench must be exposed to rifle fire 



from the fortification, as indicated by dotted lines 



slopes, built at a considerable gra- 

 dient, so that the attackers "can 

 only proceed up them slowly, 

 whilst exposed to close range rifle 

 fire. The term is also used to de- 

 scribe a sloping protective plate on 

 a battleship, to deflect hostile shell 

 by causing them to ricochet instead 

 of exploding or penetrating. See 

 Fortification. 



Gladbach. Name of several 

 places in Germany. The most im- 

 portant is Munchen-Gladbach, in 

 the Prussian Rhine prov., 16 m. by 

 rly. W. of Diisseldorf. It had its 

 origin in a Benedictine abbey 

 founded here in 972, and sup- 

 pressed in 1802. The industries in- 

 clude textiles, iron, machinery, etc. 

 The principal church is the Miin- 

 ster Kirche, the ohoir of which is 

 attributed to Gerard, the designer 

 of Cologne Cathedral. There is a 

 museum of antiquities, and the nu- 

 cleus of a textile collection. Pop. 

 66,414. Bergisch-Gladbach is a 

 small town, also in the Rhine 

 prov., about 8 m. E.N.E. of 

 Cologne. It manufactures iron 

 goods, paper, and machinery. 

 Pop. 15,207. 



Gladden, WASHINGTON (b. 1836). 

 American author and preacher. 

 Born at Pottsgrove, Pennsylvania, 

 Feb. 11, 1836, 

 in 1860 he was 

 appointed 

 pastor (C o n- 

 gregational) at 

 Brooklyn, N.Y. 

 From 1882- 

 1914 he was 

 pastor of the 

 First Congrega- 

 Washington Gladden, tional Church, 

 American author Columbus, 

 Ohio. He was the author of many 

 books on life and conduct, includ- 

 ing Amusements: Their Uses and 

 Abuses, 1866 ; Plain Thoughts on 

 the Art of Living, 1868 ; Working- 

 men and Their Employers, 1876 ; 

 The Young Men and the Churches, 

 1885; Art and Morality, 1897; 

 The Forks of the Road, 1917. He 

 published his Recollections in 1909. 

 Gladiator (Lat. glad ins, sword). 

 Term applied among the ancient 

 Romans to a professional fighter 



reminiscence of human sacrifice. 

 The custom was introduced into 

 Rome in 264 B.C., and gladiatorial 

 combats in amphitheatres became 

 a recognized amusement, attaining 

 the zenith of popularity under the 

 Empire. Gladiators were recruited 

 from prisoners of war, criminals, 

 and volunteers, the latter chiefly 

 young men in financial difficulties. 

 Schools existed for training them, 

 and the wealthy men of fashion took 

 the same pride in maintaining a 

 school that his modern counterpart 

 takes in maintaining aracing stable. 

 There were several different 

 classes of gladiators, such as the 

 bestiarius, who fought with wild 

 beasts, and the retiarius, who was 

 armed with a trident and a net 

 (rete) in the meshes of which he en- 

 deavoured to entangle his op- 

 ponent. Other gladiators were 

 the mirmillo, whose helmet was 

 adorned with the figure of a fish, 

 and was usually opposed by the 

 Threx, wearing a Thracian equip- 

 ment, a round shield and a short 

 Sjyord; the andabaia, who fought 

 on horseback and wore a helmet 

 which entirely covered the face; 

 the laquearius, who carried a lasso 

 to catch his adversary. A gladia- 

 torial display in the amphitheatre 

 began with a procession of gladia- 



tors. As the procession passed the 

 Emperor's seat, the gladiators cried 

 A ve Caesar, morituri te salutant 

 (Hail, Caesar, those about to die 

 salute thee). When one combatant 

 was overcome but not killed by 

 another, the spectators, by turning 

 their thumbs up (or against the 

 breast) or down, determined the 

 fate of the beaten gladiator. The 

 exact significance of the action is 

 disputed. Lytton's Last Days of 

 Pompeii and Henryk Sienkiewicz's 

 Quo Vadis ? contain striking des- 

 criptions of gladiatorial combats. 

 See Amphitheatre. 



Gladiolus (Lat., little sword). 

 Beautiful flowering bulbs of the 

 natural order Iridaceae. Most of 



M 



Gladiolus. Flowers and leaves of 

 the garden variety 



them are natives of South Africa, 

 though some Turkish species were 

 introduced as long ago as 1596. 

 Thev flower from June to Oct., 



Gladiator. Scene in the arena, by J. L. Gerome, who adopted the view that 

 "thumbs down" was a signal for the dispatch of the vanquished 



Stewart Collection, fieu York 



