ROME 



planing mill products, and cotton- 

 seed oil are leading industries. 

 Rome was settled in 1834, and be- 

 came a city in 1847. Pop. 13,300. 



Rome. City of New York, 

 U.S. A., a co. seat of Oneida co. It 

 stands on the Mohawk river, 16 m. 

 N.W. of Utica, and is served by the 

 New York Central and the New 

 York, Ontario, and Western Rlys., 

 and the Erie, New York State 

 Barge, and Black River canals. It 

 contains the Rome Free Academy 

 and the Jervis library. Among its 

 manufactured products are brass, 

 iron, and copper ware, canned 

 goods, motor vehicles, locomotives, 

 and knitted goods, and cheese and 

 butter are also produced. Founded 

 in 1796, Rome was incorporated in 

 1819, and became a city in 1870. 

 Pop. 26,300. 



The spot where Rome stands 

 was, in the 18th century, an im- 

 portant portage on the route from 

 the valley of the Mohawk to Lake 

 Ontario. The Indians used and 

 named it, and early in the century 

 the English built forts hereabouts, 

 which were attacked by the French. 

 In 1756 a new fort, called, after its 

 builder, Fort Stanwix, was erected, 

 its name being afterwards changed 

 to Fort Schuyler. Held by the 

 colonists on the outbreak of the 

 war of independence, it was be- 

 sieged in 1776 by a British force, 



ico and Juliet. The meeting of the lovers on the 

 balcony o! Juliet's home 



From the painting by Frank Dicktee, R.A. 



eeae 



but this was compelled to retire. 

 The defence made was a great en- 

 couragement to the Americans, and 

 it is said that the name of Rome 

 was given to the town that sprang 

 up on the spot because the republic 

 had been defended heroically here. 

 Rome-Fee OR ROME-SCOT. 

 Name for the hearth tax imposed 

 by the pope on England and other 

 countries, subsequently known as 

 Peter's Pence (q.v.). 



Romeo and Juliet. Tragedy by 

 Shakespeare. Romeo, a Montague, 

 and Juliet, a Capulet, fall in love 

 and are secretly married. Romeo's 

 friend, Mercutio, being killed by 

 Juliet's cousin Tybalt, in a brawl 

 arising from the rivalry of the Mon- 

 tagues and the Capulets, Romeo 

 kills Tybalt, and is banished from 

 Verona. Her people plan to marry 

 Juliet to Count Paris, while she, 

 seeking advice from Friar Lau- 

 rence, who married her to Romeo, 

 swallows a powerful sleeping po- 

 tion, and is laid, as dead, in the 

 family tomb. A message sent to 

 Romeo miscarries, Romeo and 

 Count Paris meet at the tomb, 

 Romeo kills the count, and, think- 

 ing Juliet dead, poisons himself by 

 her side. Juliet awakens, and, see- 

 ing the dead Romeo, fatally stabs 

 herself with his dagger. The family 

 feud ends over the dead bodies of 

 the lovers. The tragedy is light- 

 ened by the char- 

 1 acters of Mercutio 

 and Juliet's old 

 nurse. The scenes 

 are laid in Verona 

 and Mantua. 



The story ap- 

 peared in the 

 Novellino of 

 Masuccio di Sa- 

 lerno, 1476 ; was 

 told by Luigi di 

 Porto, as The 

 Story of Two 

 Noble Lovers, 

 printed at Venice, 

 1535 ; was retold 

 by Bandello, 

 1 554 ; told again, 

 in French, b y 

 Boaistuau, whose 

 version formed 

 the basis of a 

 poem by Arthur 

 Broke, 1562, and 

 was tra^Hted in 

 Painter* "?' Palace 

 of Pleasure, 1567. 

 Shakespeare's 

 play was written 

 and probably 

 acted in its first 

 form as early as 

 1591, was first 

 pub lished in a 

 mutilated form in 

 1597, other 



ROMFORD 



quartos following in 1599 and 1609, 

 the last named supplying the basis 

 of the folio text of 1623. Of its 

 3,002 lines, 405 are prose, 2,111 

 blank verse, and 486 pentameter 

 rhymes. A notable modern re- 

 vival was that at The Lyceum, 

 London, Sept. 21, 1895, when 

 J. Forbes-Robertson played Romeo 

 and Mrs. Patrick Campbell Juliet. 

 See Anderson, Mary. 



Romer, OLE, OLA*, OR OLATJS 

 (1644-1710). Danish astronomer 

 and mathematician. Born at Aar- 

 hus, Jutland, Feb. 25, 1644, and 

 educated at Copenhagen Univer- 

 sity, he went to Paris in 1671, 

 where he became teacher of the 

 dauphin and a member of the 

 Academy. He was appointed pro- 

 fessor of mathematics and director 

 of the observatory at Copenhagen, 

 1681, and died there, as burgo- 

 master, Sept. 19, 1710. Romer was 

 the first man to discover that light 

 was not instantaneous, and he cal- 

 culated its speed from observing an 

 eclipse of the first moon of Jupiter. 

 He was the inventor of the astrono- 

 mical instrument known as the 

 meridian circle. 



Romer, SmRoBERT ( 1840-1918). 

 British lawyer. Born Dec. 23, 1840, 

 his father, Frank Romer, was a 

 music composer. Educated at 

 Trinity Hall, Cambridge, he was 

 senior wrangler in 1863. Fellow of 

 Trinity Hall, he was professor of 

 mathematics at Queen's College, 

 Cork, 1865-66, but this he quickly 

 abandoned for the law. Called to 

 the bar in 1867, he earned a great 

 reputation as a chancery lawyer, 

 and in 1890 was made a judge. In 

 1899 he was chosen a lord justice of 

 appeal. Romer married a daughter 

 of Mark Lemon. He retired in 

 1906 and died March 19, 1918. 



Romford. Urban dist. and 

 market town of Essex, England. It 

 stands on the Rom, a small tribu- 

 tary of the Thames, 12 m. N.E. of 

 London, and is served by the G.E. 



Romford, Esses. Parish church of 

 S. Edward 



