AGO 



the defence and attack of towns, camps, &c. In which 

 fenfc it is the fame with wliat was othtnvife called vallum, 

 and in Istcr times ir^^e/lum, and among the moderns /inc ; 

 fonietimes caviiliifrs, Icrnijfcs, &c. 



The agger was ufuuln- a bank, or elevation of earth, or 

 other matter, bound and fiipported with timber ; having 

 fometimes turrets on the top, wherein the workmen, en- 

 gineers, and I'oldiery were placed. It was alfo accompanied 

 with a diteh, whicii fervcd as its chief defence. 



The ufual materials of wliich it was made, were earth, 

 boughs, fafcines, Hakes, and even trunks of trees, ropes, 

 &c. varioiifly crolTed, and interwoven fomcwhat in the 

 figure of liars ; whence they were called Jlellati axes. See 

 Liican iii. 45J, joi. Silius Ital. xiii. 109. Where thefe 

 were wanting, uones, brieks, tiles, fupplied the ofSce : on 

 fome occalions, amis, utenfils, pack-faddles, were thrown in 

 to fill up. What is more, we read of aggers formed of the 

 carcafes of the (lain ; fometimes of dead bones mixed with 

 lime, and even with the heads of flaughtered citizens. For 

 want of due binding, or folid materials, aggers have fome- 

 times tumbled down, witii infinite mifchief to the men. 



The beliegers ufcd to carry on a work of this kind nearer 

 and nearer towards the place, till at length they even reached 

 the wall. The methods taken, on the other lide, to defeat 

 them, were by fire, elpeeially if the agger were of wood ; 

 by fapping and undermining, if of earth ; and, in fome 

 cafes, by erecting a counter agger. Thus the inhabitants 

 of Gaza defended themfelves againft Alexander. Q. Cur- 

 tius iv. b. xxi. 



The height o^" the agger was frequentlv equal to that of 

 the wall of the place. C^far tells us of one he made, 

 which was 30 feet high, and 330 feet broad. Befides the 

 life of aggers before towns, the generals ufed to fortify their 

 camps with fuch works ; for want of this precaution divers 

 armies have been fui-prifed and ruined. 



There were valt aggers made in towns and places on the 

 fea-fide, fortified with towers, caflles, &c. Thofe made by 

 "Cxfar and Pompeyat Brnndufium, are famous. Sometimes 

 aggers were even built acrofs arms of the fea, lakes, and 

 morafles ; as was done by Alexander before Tyre, and by 

 M. Antony and CalTius. 



The WALL of Severus, in the north of England, may 

 be confidered as a grand agger, to which belong fevcral leffer 

 ones. Befides the principal agger or •vallum, on the brink 

 of the ditch, Mr. Horfley defcribes another agger on the 

 foiith fide of the former, about five paces diftant from it, 

 which he calls the fouth agg-er ; and another larger agger 

 on the north fide of the ditch, called the north agger. 

 This latter he conjeftures to have ferved as a military way ; 

 the former, probably, was made for an inner defence, in cafe 

 the enemy fhould beat them from any part of the principal 

 •vallum, or to protcft the foldiers againil any fudden attack 

 from the provincial Britons. 



Agger Tarquim'i, Tarquin^s agger, was a famous fence 

 built by Tarquinius Superbus, on the call fide of Rome, 

 to (top the incurfions of the Latins, and other enemies, 

 whereby the city might be infefted. See Plin. iii. 5. Cri- 

 minals were thrown down from the top of this rampart. 

 Juv. Sat. vi. 288, Sueton. in Cal. c. 27. n. 3, 



Agger is alfo ufed for the earth dug out of a trench, 

 Jind thrown upon the brink of it. 



In which fenfe, the chevalier Folard thinks the word to 

 'ht underftood, when ufed in the plural number, fince we 

 can hardly fuppofe they would raife a number of cavaliers, 

 or teirafles. 



Agger is alfo ufed for a bank, or wall, erefted againft the 

 fea, or fome great river, to confine or keep it within bounds. 



A G G 



In which fenfe, agger amounts to the fame with tvhat the 

 ancients call tumulus and mules ; the Dutch, <lykc 5 we, dam, 

 Jca-ii'iill. 



Agger alfo denotes a heap of earth, raifed over the 

 graves of the ancients. 



In which fenfe, it amounts to the fame with tumulus ; and 

 is fometimes alfo called aggijlum. 



Agger, in Gc5it/-<7/!/^ji, a river of the circle of Weftphalia, 

 which waters the county of Marck and the duchy of Berg, 

 and falls into the Rhine. 



AGGERHUUS, or Christiania, the largeft diocefe 

 or general goveinment in the fouth part of Norway ; 

 and the richcft, as well as moft cor.fiderable, in the whole 

 kingdom. It was formerly called Hammerjlijl, and after- 

 wards known by the name of Opfeloe, Aggerhuus is alfo 

 the name of a fortrefs in this diocefe, on the weft fide 

 of the bay, near which lies the city of Christiania. It 

 is not known when it was built. It has been repeatedly be- 

 fieged by the Swedes, •via. in 1310, in 1567, and in 1717, 

 by Charles XII. without fuccel's. The governor of Ag- 

 gerhuus is the chief governor of Nonvay : he prefides in 

 the high court of juftice, called Overhofet, which judges in 

 the lail refort, all civil caufes above a certain value. In all 

 caufes furpaffing that value, an appeal hes to the fu- 

 preme court at Copenhagen. N. lat. 59° 6'. E. long, lo"* 

 26'. The oldeft church in this diocefe, faid to have been 

 built about 700 years ago, and called Jiggers, is fituated 

 about a quarter of a Norway mile north of the cattle. I'he 

 population of this diocefe is eftimated at 215,043 perfons. 



AGGERS-HERRED, a fief of Aggeriums, which 

 comprifcs three dillrifts, with as many courts of judicature, 

 wz. Afchn-, Eaft and Weft Barum, and Ager. Christiana 

 is fituated in this diftridl. 



AGGEROUT, or Aggeroud, fiippofcd to be the 

 ancient Arsinoe, is fituated at the extremity of the Red 

 Sea, about two leagues from the port of Suez. Here ter- 

 minated the famous canal, begun by Necos and finidied by 

 Ptolemy Philadelphus, for joini.ig the Nile to the Red Sea. 

 Between the time of Ptolemy and our days, the Red Sea 

 has retired two leagues, which is the diftance of Aggeroud 

 from Suez. 



AGGI, a river of Perfia, which runs into the Aras, 

 near Chainbe, in the province of Aiderbtitzan. 



AGGILE, a town of Pruflia ; 13 leagues eaft-north- 

 eaft of Konigfberg. 



AGGLESTONE, otherwife called Stone-Barrow, and 

 vulgarly the Devil's Night Cap, is a remarkable monument 

 of antiquity fituated in the north-eaft extremity of the ifle of 

 Purbeck. Its dimenfions are 60 feet in circumference oL. 

 the bottom, in the middle 80, and at or near the top 90 ; 

 and it is computed to contain 407 tons of ftone. The name 

 feems to have been derived from the Saxon halig, or hslig, 

 holy, and Jlan, Jlone, which expreffes its ancient ufe : as it 

 was probably a rock idol in the Britilh age. 



AGGLUTINANTS, in Pharmacy, a fpecies of ftrength- 

 ening medicines, whofe otRce and effeft are to adhere to the 

 folid parts of the body, and thus recruit and fupply the 

 place of what is worn off, and wafted, in the animal ac- 

 tions. 



Agglutinants are moft of them of the glutinous kind, or 

 fuch as eafily form themfelves into jellies, and gummy con- 

 fiftences ; \\'hence the name agglutinant, which is formed of 

 ad, to, and gluten, glue. 



For the operation and ufe of agglutinants, fee Strength- 

 en e r s . 



Tlie principal fimples which come under this clafs, found 

 in the fhops, are, ifinglafs, olibanum, gum arabic, dragon's 



blood, 



