R03TOPCHINE 



manufactured, 

 and there are 

 breweries and dis- 

 tilleries, vinegar, 

 soap, and colour 

 factories.and ship 

 yards. There is 

 a large trade in 

 grain, cloth, 

 horses, and cattle. 

 Its outport i s 

 Warnemunde. 

 The city has a 

 university, and 

 was the birth- 

 place of Blucher. 

 Rostock was 

 burnt by the 

 Danish king Wai- 

 denmr I in 1161, and besieged by 

 the Danes and Russians in 1715- 

 16. In the 14th century it joined 

 the Hanseatic League, of which 

 it became one of the most impor- 

 tant members. Pop. 65,000. 



Rostopchine, FEODOR VASI- 

 LiEvrrcH, COUNT (1763-1826). 

 Russian soldier. He was born 

 March 23, 1763, and entered the 

 army. After holding various 

 military and civil offices, and win- 

 ning the favour of Paul I, he was 

 appointed, early in 1812, governor- 

 general of Moscow. In this 

 capacity he was publicly charged 

 with the responsibility of setting 

 fire to the city when the French 

 occupied it in 1812. In 1823 he 

 issued a vindication of himself 

 entitled The Truth About the 

 Burning of Moscow, but afterwards 

 recanted a good deal of his denial. 

 He attended the Congress of Vienna, 

 but retired soon afterwards. He 

 died in Moscow, Feb. 12, 1826. 



Rostov. Town of Central 

 Russia, also called Great Rostov. 

 It is in the govt., and 35 m. S., of 

 Yaroslav, on Lake Nero and the 

 Moscow-Yaroslav rly. It is a very 

 old town, mentioned by the 

 chronicler Nestor as early as 862, 

 and famous for its antiquities, 

 chief of which are the Kremlin and 

 the Uspenski cathedral. The 

 prominent industry is the manu- 

 facture of ikons. Pop. 18,000. 



Rostov-on-the-Don. Town of 

 Russia. It stands on the right bank 

 of the Don, in Don Cossack terri- 

 tory, and owes its importance to 

 its facilities for navigation and its 

 position at the junction of three 

 rly. systems. Of its many indus- 

 tries the most flourishing is the 

 manufacture of tobacco. The chief 

 exports are grain and wool, Rostov 

 being the centre of the grain trade 

 in that part of Russia. It was 

 captured by the Germans in May. 

 1918. Pop. 205,000. 



Rostrum. In mouern usage, 

 any raised platform from which a 

 speaker addresses an audience. 



Rostock, Germany. University buildings and statue 

 of Blucher in the foreground 



In ancient Rome, only in the plural 

 form, rostra, the word was used to 

 indicate the tribunal or platform 

 in the Forum. From it magis- 



ROSYTH 



and Chatham. Rosyth was one of 

 the principal bases, and very im- 

 portant in particular as a docking 

 and repairing base of the Grand 

 Fleet during the Great War, v.ml 

 the headquarters of the cruiser 

 squadrons. Its inception coincided 

 with the change of the naval front 

 from the Channel to the N. Sea. 

 The intention to establish the base 

 was announced in March, 1903, but 

 arrangements for taking over the 

 land and the making of plans oc- 

 cupied several years, and actual 

 work did not begin until March, 

 1909. The position is above the 

 Forth Bridge at St. Margaret's 

 Hope on the N. side of the estuary, 

 where the depth in the middle was 

 45 or 50 fathoms. 



The plan provided for the con- 

 struction of a main basin covering 

 an area of 55 acres, enclosed by a 



Rosyth, Scotland. Blackmarcb Crescent and, top, Road D.27 and Road D.31 



trates addressed the assembly of 

 the people. It was so named be- 

 cause it was ornamented with the 

 beaks or rams (rostra) of ships 

 captured from the enemy in naval 

 battles. See Forum ; Rome. 



Rosyth. British naval base on 

 the Firth of Forth. It has been de- 

 veloped into a dockyard ranking 

 with the older naval yards of the 

 country Portsmouth, Devonport, 



Rostrum. 



Reconstruction of the rostra in the Forum 

 of Ancient Rome 



sea-wall, and entered through a 

 lock which would enable the big- 

 gest ships to pass in and out in all 

 states of the tide. There was to be 

 a dry dock, 750 ft. in length and 

 1 10 ft. in width, but a second dock 

 was added to the scheme, and in 

 1913 a third, these admitting the 

 longest ships in the navy. These 

 docks are closed by sliding caissons, 

 and the pumping plant is of enor- 

 mous capacity. 

 There were also 

 planned a large 

 submarine tidal 

 basin, and ranges 

 of workshops, 

 stores, offices, in 

 addition to exten 

 sive electrical 

 power and pump 

 ing stations. 



The Great War 

 found the dock- 

 yard, in its main 

 features, com- 

 pleted or approach- 

 i n g completion. 



