790 



CAERPHILLY CJESAK. 



in various parts of the county, art- the olil Welsh 

 castles at Dolwydellan, Crickaeth, niul Uollxidern ; 

 ami the stately English structures nf Caernarvon ami 

 Conway Castles, reared by Kdwanl I. Ilonian anti- 

 quities also are constantly discovered here. Popula- 

 tion of the county in 1831 , 65,753. 



CAKRPHILLY, or CAERPHILI ; a small market-town 

 in the county of Glamorgan, distinguished for the 

 ruins of one of the most magnificent castles in Great 

 Hritain. The date of its foundation is unknown ; but, 

 till the time of Henry III., it was called the castle of 

 Senghenydd. The great hall, seventy feet by thirty, 

 and the hanging tower, nearly eighty feet high, and 

 inclining about eleven feet from the perpendicular, 

 are remarkable objects. The position of the latter 

 was produced hy the steam of a quantity of water 

 which was thrown upon a furnace of melted iron 

 beneath the tower. Distant 158 miles west from 

 London. 



CAKKWENT ; a village of Wales, supposed to have 

 been the / 'enta Silurum of Antoninus. The vestiges 

 of a large Roman camp are visible. A mosaic pave- 

 ment ot blue, white, yellow, and red was discovered 

 here some years ago. Distant 17 miles N. W. of 

 Bristol. Population in 1831, 444. 



CAERWVS, a small town of North Wales, is noted 

 for tlie celebration of the. Eisteddfod, or competition 

 of the bards (q. v.). They recited their odes, or per- 

 formed on the harp, in presence of judges appointed 

 by the native princes. The prize was a small silver 

 harp. Distant 212 miles N. W. from London. Po- 

 pulation in 1831, 985. 



C.fSAR was the family name of the first five Roman 

 emperors. With Nero the imperial family became 

 extinct (A. D. 68), and Ccesar became merely a title 

 of dignity. The emperor, who bore the title of Au- 

 gustus, appointed his successor, with the title of 

 t'asar. On medals and monuments we find the title 

 Caesar preceding the name of the emperor, as, Imp. 

 Caesar Nerva Trajanus Augustus, and following that 

 of the designated successor, as, Marc. Aurel. Antonin. 

 Casar. In the lower Greek empire, a new dignity 

 of Sebastocrator was conferred, and that of Cecsar be- 

 came the third rank in the state. 



CESAR, Caius Julius, a great Roman general, states- 

 man, and historian, was born July 10th (Quinctilis), 



B. C. 100. He was the son of the pretor Caius Ju- 

 lius Caesar, and of Aurelia, a daughter of Aurelius 

 Cotta. From his earliest boyhood, he discovered ex- 

 traordinary talents. He had a penetrating intellect, 

 a remarkably strong memory, and a lively imagina- 

 tion ; was indefatigable in business, and able, as we 

 are told by Pliny, to read, write, hear, and dictate at 

 the same time, from four to seven different letters. 

 When the party of Marius gained the ascendency in 

 Rome, Cinna gave his daughter Cornelia in marriage 

 to C., with the view thereby to establish his own 

 power more firmly. Sylla, when he came to Rome, 

 tried to prevail on him to repudiate her. His refusal 

 provoked the anger of the usurper, who was prevent- 

 ed only by the earnest entreaties of his friends from 

 putting him under proscription. The saying of Sylla, 

 that "he saw in this stripling many a Marius," hastened 

 the departure of C. from Rome. He travelled into 

 the Sabine territory, was seized by the soldiers of 

 Sylla, and was obliged to procure his release by a 

 bribe of two talents. He then proceeded to the court 

 of Nicomedes, king of Bithynia. Thence he went to 

 M. Minucius Thermus, the pretor in Asia, who in- 

 trusted him with the command of the fleet which was 

 to blockade Mitylene. In the execution of this trust, 



C. distinguished himself liighly, although but twenty- 

 two years old. He next visited Rhodes, and placed 

 himself under the instruction of Apollonius, to fit him- 

 self for speaking at the bar. On the way, he was 



taken by pirates, and compelled to pay fifty talents 

 for his release. To revenge himself, he fitted out 

 ^.'ine vessels at Miletus, overtook the pirates, made 

 the greatest part of them prisoners, and had them 

 crucified before Pergamus. He now returned to 

 Rouie,and became military tribune, questor, ami rdile. 

 At the same time, he had the address to win the fa- 

 vour of the people by affability, by splendid enter- 

 tainments, and public shows ; ami, trusting to his 

 popularity, he ventured to erect again the statues ami 

 trophies of Marius, who was hated by the senate and 

 the patricians. 13y means of one of his relations, L. 

 Julius Caesar, whom he had aided in obtaining the 

 consulship, he caused many of Sylla's followers to be 

 banished or put to death. In the conspiracy of Cati- 

 line he certainly had a secret part. He defended the 

 conspirators, who were arrested, and succeeded in 

 raising a tumult against Cato, who strongly opposed 

 him, so that he was obliged to quit the rostrum, and 

 even his life was endangered. Cato, however, pre- 

 vailed, and C. was for a time kept out of the pretor- 

 ship ; but he was soon after chosen pontifex maxi- 

 mus, and WES about to go as governor to Farther 

 Spain. His creditors refusing to let him depart, 

 Crassus became his bondsman for the enormous sum 

 of 830 talents. K was on his journey to Spain, that 

 lie expressed, on seeing a miserable village, the well- 

 known sentiment, that " he would rather be first there, 

 than second at Rome." In Spain, he made several 

 conquests, and returned to Rome with money enough 

 to pay off his debts. 



In order to gain the consulship, he now found it 

 expedient to bring about a reconciliation between 

 Pompey and Crassus, whose enmity had divided 

 Rome into two parties. He succeeded in his design, 

 and all three agreed to divide the sovereign power 

 between them. This was the first triumvirate in Uo- 

 man'history (B. C. CO). C. then became consul with 

 M. Calpurnius Bibulus, confirmed the measures of 

 Pompey, and procured the passage of a law, in oppo- 

 sition to the senate and his colleague, to distribute 

 certain lands among the poor citizens. This brought 

 him into the highest favour with the people. With 

 Pompey he formed a still more intimate connexion by 

 giving him his daughter Julia in marriage, and gained 

 the favour of the equestrian order by remitting a third 

 part of their taxes. In vain did the heads of the pa- 

 triotic party, Cicero and Cato, raise their voices 

 against the triumvirate; they only drew upon them- 

 selves their vengeance. When the year of his consul- 

 ship had expired, C. obtained the government of 

 Gaul for five years, with the command of four legions. 

 After his marriage with the accomplished Calpurnia, 

 the daughter of one of the new consuls, Calpurnius 

 Piso, he repaired to Gaul, compelled the Helvetians, 

 who had invaded that province, to retreat to their 

 native country, subdued Ariovistus, who at the head 

 of a German tribe, intended to settle in the country of 

 the jdui, and conquered the Belgians. In nine 

 years, he reduced all Gaul, crossed the Rhine twice 

 (B. C. 55 and 53), and twice passed over to Britain, 

 defeated the gallant natives of this island in se- 

 veral battles, and compelled them to give him host- 

 ages. The senate had continued his government in 

 Gaul for another period of five years, while Pompey 

 was to have the command of Spain, and Crassus that 

 of Syria, Egypt, and Macedonia for five years also. 

 But the death of Crassus, in his campaign against the 

 Parthians, dissolved the triumvirate ; and the death 

 of Julia, which took place about the same time, cool- 

 ed the friendship between C. and Pompey. 



Meanwhile the power and authority of Pompey 

 were constantly increasing. C., too, strove to strength- 

 en and enlarge his own party in the capital by enor- 

 mous bribes. He made Gaul a Roman province, and 



