HISTORY 



Abdication is the act of giving up an of- 

 fice. It is sometimes compulsory, and some- 

 times the result of vexation and disappointment. 

 The following monarchs have abdicated : 



Amadeus I. (duke of Aosta) Spain 1873 



Charles IV. of Spain (forced) 1808 



Charles V. of Spain and Germany looo 



Charles X. of France (forced) 1830 



Charles Albert of Sardinia (forced) 1849 



Charles Emmanuel of Sardinia 1802 



Christina of Sweden 1654 



Diocletian and Maximian 305,308 



Felipe V. of Spain, 1724 



Francis II. of the ^wo Sicilies (forced^ 1860 



James II. of England (forced) 1689 



Louis Bonaparte of Holland 1810 



Louis Philippe of France (forced) 1848 



I.u.lwiR of Bavaria (forced) 1848 



Matilda (Lady of England) 1154 



Milan of Servia 1889 



Napoleon I. of France (forced) 1814 



Napoleon III. of France (forced > 1870 



Otho of Greece (forced) 1862 



Pedro II. of Brazil (forced) 1889 



Poniatowski of Poland (forced) 1795 



Richard II. of England (force. 1) 1399 



Stanislaus Leszczinski (forced) 1735 



Victor . \madeus of Sardinia 1730 



Victor Emmanuel 1821 



Charles X 1830 



Louis Philippe 1848 



Ferdinand of Austria 1848 



Amadeus of Spain 1873 



Oscar II. of Sweden 1907 



Emperor of Cores 1907 



Several dethroned without even the mocking show 

 of abdication, like Edward II. of England (1327); 

 H.-nry VI. of England (1471); Emperor of Corea (1907), 

 etc. 



Achaean League, The. A confeder- 

 <>f the twelve towns of Achsea. It was dis- 

 solved by Alexander the Great, but reorganized 

 B. C. 280, and again dissolved B. C. 147. The 

 second of those leagues, founded at Megalopolis, 

 contained all the chief cities of Peloponnesus. 

 It rout. -nili-d with the Macedonians and the Ro- 

 mans for the liberty of Greece; but, being beaten 

 at Scarphea by Metellus, and at Leucopetra by 

 Munmiius. it dissolved soon after the taking of 

 Corinth. 



The twelve cities of Acha?a, in Ionia, were 



founded by the Heracllda-. 



Achaean War, The. Roman am- 

 bassadors a t Corinth enjoin the dismemberment 

 \cheean League and are insulted i B. C. 

 i<>8, general of the league, at once 

 eged Heracleia (B. C. 146), but wn^ 

 at Scarphea by Metellus. and slew him-eli. 

 DijeoH, successor of Kritolaos, was defeated at 

 opetra by Mummius (B. C. 146); Corinth 

 was then destroyed ; and all Greece was erected 

 into a Roman Province. September I Hi. 



Actlac War, The. This arose out of 

 the rupture between Octavian and Antony, two 

 of the Triumvirs (B. C. 33). Octavian declared 

 against Cleopatra, Queen of Egypt, and de- 

 feated Antony at Actium. I'd September. B. C. 

 Both Cleopatra and Antony killed them- 

 selves. Alexandria was taken by Octavian. 

 A u mist 30th (B. C. :), and Egypt was made a 

 >an Province, B. C. 30. 



.Etoliaii Confederacy, The, B. C. 



323, called into existence by the Lamian War. 

 The states used to assemble annually in the 

 autumn at Therm um, and the assembly was 

 called the Panaetolicon. B. C. 189, the .l! t ol ian 

 states were subjected to the Romans. 



The object of the Lamian War was (pu the 

 death of Alexander the Great) to liberate Greece 

 from Macedonia. The Athenians were the prin- 

 cipal insurgents, but were defeated in 322 at 

 Cranon, by Antipater. 



I : i < > I ia n League, The. ^Etolia joined 

 the Greek confederates in the Lamian War, 

 B. C. 313, but the ^Etolian League rose into no 

 great prominence till the Macedonian War (B. C. 

 214), when Sparta joined it, and it became the 

 antagonist of the Achaean League, which sided 

 with Philip V. of Macedon. It was the unwise 

 policy of the ^Etolian League which made Rome 

 master of Greece. 



Abyssinia. The oldest accounts of the 

 Abyssinians are full of fables, but seem sufficient 

 to prove that they attained some degree of civili- 

 zation even in remote antiquity. Christianity 

 was introduced about the middle of the Fourth 

 Century, and soon prevailed extensively. A x u m 

 was at that time the capital. Two centuries 

 later the Abyssinians were powerful enough to 

 invade Arabia, and conquer part of Yemen. 

 In the Tenth Century a Jewish Princess over- 

 threw the reigning dynasty, the surviving repre- 

 sentative of which fled to Shoa. After three 

 centuries of confusion the empire was restored 

 under Icon Amlac, and some progress was made 

 in improvement. Early in the l-'ifteenth Cen- 

 tury the Abyssinians entered into close relations 

 with the Portuguese. Under the influence of 

 the Portuguese missionaries the royal family 

 adopted the Roman Catholic faith, and the old 

 Coptic Church was formally united to the See 

 of Rome. The people and ecclesiastics obsti- 

 nately resisted the innovation ; the emperor gave 

 way; and ultimately, in 163L'. the Romish 

 priests were e\j>elled or put to death. Though 

 Christianity is still the professed religion of 

 Abyssinia, it exists only in its lowest form, and 

 is fit tie more than ceremonial. The Church is 

 national and inde|>endent. but the visible head, 

 or Abuna ("our father"), is ordained by the Cop- 

 tic Patriarch of Alexandria. The doctr 

 the AbyMUUHl coincide with those of the Coptic 

 Church', especially in the monophy-itc ! 

 but several jM-euliar rites are oliM-rved. including 

 the rite of circumcision ami observance of the 

 Mosaic laws ; food, etc.; love-feasts, 



and adult baptism. The oldest Abyssinian 

 churches are hewn out of rocks. The modern 

 churches are m-.-dy round or conical buildings, 

 thatched with straw and surrounded by pillars 

 of cedar. Statues and bas-reliefs are not toler- 

 ated in churches, but paintings are numerous. 

 In I860. King Theodore (born 1818, crowned 

 It insulted by the British Con 

 sul. whom hi- imprisoned with some missionaries. 



