A L iV, 



A L A 



aiid eontainiiig fic>;n one to tlircc- ftcc!^. TliCic is ont ipe- 

 ci.v. ■!•'"— t!iv; A.pu!(^.ns of Juiricr.. 



AT^APOULI, in Jj/Jmiy, tho name of an rail-Indian 

 tioc, a fpecics of the billr.ibi, wl.ieli is iifa! in iiHilieine as 

 a pnigf and vorrit, mixt with the fctils of niullard. 



ALAPTA, in /ludaU Gi0^ni/>/.>y, a town oi Mace- 

 donia, near Ae.inthiis. 



ALAQ^UECA, a medicinal Uone hroi'ght fiom the 

 Indies, in fniall glofTy fraijnients ; nuieh praifcd by fmiic 

 for its efticaLviii Iixnunrhages, wlau appHed txt^nially. 



ALAR, in Cio^niphy, a river of I'erfui, uhicii runs 

 into the Caljiian fta. 



AL-ARAF, formed from the Arabic verb arafa, to 

 /ti/linriiljl-, in the Malionietan T/jti,/o;^y, the p.irtition wall 

 that feparates heaven from hclh 



Alaraf gives tlie denomination to the feventh chapter of 

 the Alcoran, wherein mention is made of tliis wall. Some 

 take it for a fort of Unihus for the patriarchs, prophets, &c. 

 oihers place here fach whofc good and evil works io exactly 

 balance each other, that they neither deferve reward nor 

 pnnifliment. Others again appr(!priate this intermediate 

 fpace to thofe who goto war withont the leave of their 

 parents and die, and arc excluded paradiie for their dif- 

 obeiiicncc, bnt efcape hell as martyrs. Sale's Prcl. Dif- 

 Courfe to the Koran, p. 95. 



ALARBE6, a name given to thofe Arabians who 

 dwell in tents, and who are dillinguillicd by their drels 

 from otliers w ho live in towns. 



ALARCON, in Geography, a town of Spain, in the 

 wellern part of New Callile, on the river Xucar. It was 

 mined in 117S, under the reign of the Moors, and re- 

 eitablinied by Alphonlus IX. N. lat. 39'= 40'. W. 

 long. 3°. 



ALARES, in ylnt'iquity, are fuppofed by fome authors 

 to have been a kind of mllilia, or foldiery, among the 

 Romans ; fo called from ala, a wing, becaufe of their light- 

 nefs and fwiftnefs in the combat. 



Others make them a people of Pannonia ; bnt others, 

 with more probability, take alares for an adjective, or epi- 

 thet, and apply it to the Roman cavalry ; becaufe they 

 were placed in the two wings, or aU, of the army ; for 

 which reafon, .a body of liorfe was called ala. 



An ala, or wing of auxiliary horfe, conlifted of 400, 

 and there were two of tlicfe wings annexed lo each legion ; 

 and therefore, the wliole number of cavalry belonging to 

 a legion was 1 200, of which 400 were Romans, and 800 

 auxiliarlei. 



AtAKiS mufiuli, m /Jnatomy. See Ptervcoideus. 



ALARIC I., in B'wgraphy and Hijlory, king of the 

 Vifigoths, was defcendcd from the noble race of the Balti, 

 or bold, the moft illulhious of the Gothic nation, next to 

 that of the Amali. With his countrvmen, who were ex- 

 pelled by the Huns, and whofe number is faid to have 

 amounted to near a million of perfons, of both fexes and of 

 all ages, and of whom about 200,000 men were Gothic 

 warriors, Alaric paffed tlie Danube, A. D. 376 ; and ferved 

 with great reputation in the war between tlie Romans and 

 the Goths, which laded from that time to the year ^82, 

 when they all fubmitttd to Theodoluis, and were allowed 

 to fettle in Thrace, on coHditiim of ferving in the Roman 

 armies. Accordingly, he attended Theodofius in his ex- 

 pedition againll the ufurper Eugenius, with a body of his 

 countrymen under his command. But being refufed that 

 preferment to which he afpired, he was diffatisfied ; and 

 after the death of Theodofius, and, as it is faid, at the in- 

 Aigation of his miniller Rufinus, he affembled a numerous 

 arro^', confifting chiefly of his countrymen, and having firll 



ravaged rai.minia and Dacia, he proceeded in 7f;fj to mnke 

 an in ujition into Greece. Having riarehed throtigh Mar 

 cediiii and Thtlfaly, he padVd through tlie llvaits of Ther- 

 ino])yl;e without oppofition on the part of Antiochus, pio- 

 conlnl of Aehaia, or Gai-ontius, who was appointed to giui'd 

 tluin, ard laid waitc tiie faireil realms of ancient Greece. 

 Tiic Atlienians preferved their city by del!%ering to the em- 

 peror the greatcft part of their wealth ; but the whole ter« 

 ritory of Attica, from the promontory of Surium to the 

 town of Megara, was delolattd by the march of his anny ; 

 lo that Athens itfelf, according to the alluuve language of 

 a contemporary p'lilofophcr, refembled tlie bleeding and 

 em.pty fliin of a llanghtered victim. The Gothic prince, 

 having been liberally and fplendidly entertained at Athens, 

 penetrated without deiav into i'eloponuelus, and wherever 

 he came defolation and dillrtfs marked his footlUps. Thof? 

 only could be deemed happy, whofe premature death pre- 

 vented their witnelfing the diOionour of their females, the 

 (iavery of their families, the conflagration of their cities, and 

 the deilnnifion of every thing valuable and curious which 

 thty poffefled. In tliis peninfula, the famous general Sti- 

 lieho, with his fleet and army, came up with Alaric, and 

 obliged him to retreat to the mountain of Pholoe in Ar- 

 cadia, and there invcfted his camp : but either by negli- 

 gence or connivance permitted him to efcape acrofs the 

 gulf of Corinth, to. Epirus. Being in full polTeffion of 

 this important province, Alaric had fuffieient time to con- 

 clude the treaty, which he feeretly negotiated with the 

 miniilers of Conilantinople. In confequence of this treaty, 

 he was declared inaftcr-general of the eaflern Illyrictim, 

 which comprehended the cities and provinces he had fo 

 lately laid walle ; and the enemy of Rome became the ally 

 and fervant of the emperors of the eaft. Whilll the Go- 

 thic prince was thus preten-ed by Arcadius, Stilicho was 

 declared a public enemy, and his eaflern poflcffions feizcd 

 and confifeated. At the fame period, A. D. 39S, Alaric, 

 with the unanimous confent of the barbarian chieftains, 

 was elevated, according to ancient euitom, on a fliield, and 

 folemnly proclaimed king of the Vifigoths. In the pleni- 

 tude of power which he had thus acquired, by the grant 

 of Arcadius, and the fuiTrage of his own nation, he 

 avowed his refolution of invading the dominions of the 

 weft ; and having amufed both Arcadius the emperor of 

 the eaft, and Honorius the Roman emperor, by deceitful 

 promifes, till he was prepared tor the execution of his pur- 

 poie, he entered Italy in the year 400, laid wafle the 

 country, and carried off a great quantity of fpoll and an 

 incrediVile number of captives. In 402 he ravaged the 

 provinces of Venctia and l.,iguria : m 403, advanced to- 

 wards Milan, whence Honorius luiitily fled ; and purlued 

 the timid emperor to the fortrefs of Aila, a town of Li- 

 guria, on the banks of the Tanarns. In the mean while 

 Stilicho, at the head of a chofcn and intrepid vanguard, 

 inarched to the relief of the Imperial captive, and arrived 

 foon enough to prevent the indignity of a furrender by ca- 

 pitulation, which the barbarians had propofed. By a fuc- 

 eefsful action, in which he forced his way through the 

 Gothic camp to the walls of Alia, he revived the hopes, 

 and vindicated the honour of Rome. On this oecafion, a 

 militaiy council of the Gothic nation was affembled, in 

 which Alaric difplayed the fpirit of the conqueror of 

 Rome, and concluded an animating fpeceh, by the folemu 

 and pofitive affurance, that he was refolved to find in 

 Italy either a kingdom or a grave. WhiUl the Chrlllian 

 Goths were devoutly employed in celebrating the feltival 

 of Ealler, Stilicho determined to attack them. The 

 camp of the Goths, which Alaric had pitched in tiv.> 



neighbourhood 



\ 



