11 o s 
R O S 
He distinguished himself by his proficiency in the literature 
of the times, particularly in logic and metaphysics, and 
acquired the character of a most profound dialectician. Having 
been presented to a canonry in the church of St. Cornelius, 
at Compeign, in the diocese of Soissons, he delivered lectures 
on scholastic philosophy, in which he maintained tenets at 
variance with the principles of the peripatetic school. For, 
on the subject of ideas, or the universal forms of things, in¬ 
stead of the opinion of Aristotle, that uhiversals subsist not 
prior to individual bodies, nor after them, but within them, 
and are the forms eternally united to matter, which make 
bodies to be such as they are, he adopted the stoic opinion, 
that universals have no real existence either by or in indivi¬ 
duals, but are mere names and words by which the kinds of 
individuals are expressed. Hence he and his followsrs ob¬ 
tained the name of Nominalists, while their opponents were 
distinguished from them by that of Realists. By applying 
his tenet to the doctrine of the Trinity, Rosceline brought 
upon himself a suspicion of heresy, and he was obliged to 
retract this opinion, in a council held at Soissons towards the 
close of the year 1092 ; but he resumed it when the council 
was dismissed, and all danger over. Persecuted anew for his 
doctrine, and compelled to quit France, he took refuge in 
England, where ho excited contests of another kind, by main¬ 
taining, among other things, that persons born out of lawful 
wedlock ought to be deemed incapable of admission to holy 
orders. This doctrine, which was by no means suited to the 
times, and could not but be alarming to some who were even 
possessed of the episcopal dignity, excited against Rosceline 
many enemies, and was in a great measure the occasion of his 
being obliged to withdraw from England. Returning to 
France, he chose Paris for the place of his retreat, and there 
revived his old dispute concerning the Trinity. Bysodoing 
he provoked a host of foes, who, by their attacks from all 
quarters, exposed him to much trouble and vexation. Fa¬ 
tigued at length with their persecutions, he retired into Aqui- 
tain, where he acquired universal esteem by his piety and 
extraordinary charity to the poor, and passed the rest of his 
days in tranquillity and repose. The time of his death is 
not known ; but there is reason for concluding that he did 
not live beyond the year 1107, or 1108. None of his 
writings are any longer extant. Morcri. 
ROSCHESTVENSK, a small town, or rather a village, of 
European Russia, on the river Oredisha; 32 miles south-by¬ 
west of St. Petersburgh. 
ROSCHILD, a small town of Denmark, in the island of 
Zealand, situated at the bottom of a small bay, about 15 miles 
west of Copenhagen. 
ROSCHUTZ, a market town of Lower Austria, on the 
river Bulka ; 2 miles south-west of Schrattentaal. 
RO'SCID, ad). [ roscidus , Lat.] Dewy: abounding 
with dew; consisting of dew.—The ends of rainbows fall 
more upon one kind of earth than upon another; for that 
earth is most roscid. Bacon. 
ROSCIUS (Quintus), a roman actor of great fame, was 
a native of Gaul, as some suppose, of the Narbonnensian 
province. He was contemporary at Rome with the cele¬ 
brated tragic actor Esopus. His own talents for the stage 
appear to have been universal; and such was the degree of 
perfection to which he had carried his art, that, according 
to Cicero, a complete master in any other art was popularly 
called the Roscius of it. Cicero also mentions him as being 
accustomed to say, “ that he had hitherto met with no dis¬ 
ciple whom he could approve; not that some of them were 
without qualities deserving of approbation, but that he could 
not tolerate any kind of defect.” Roscius was not less es¬ 
teemed for his morals and conduct, than admired for his pro¬ 
fessional talents. Cicero, in defending him from a pecuniary 
action brought against him by C. Fannius, after stating the 
vast profits he gained and might gain by his acting, says that 
lie was liberal and munificent even before he was rich, and 
that for ten years he had refused the public compensation of 
his labours, and yet continued to serve the Roman people. 
He is said not to have been favoured by nature in his features, 
?.nd to have had some obliquity of vision, yet his speech and 
379 
action were so pleasing that he had no occasion to use a 
mask. The greatest men in the state were his intimate friends, 
and his loss was universally lamented. “ Which of us (says 
Cicero in his oration for Archias) was so rude and unfeeling 
as not to be affected by the recent death of Roscius, who, 
though he died at an advanced age, appeared, on account of 
his excellence in his art, and the gracef ulness of his manners, 
worthy of Immortal life.” His death took place at Rome, 
B. C. 61. He composed a “ Parallel between theatrical 
and oratorical action,” which, unhappily, is not come down 
to modern times. Cieeronis Oper. Pliny. Moreri. 
ROSCOEA, (so named by Sir J. E. Smith, in honour of 
his friend, William Roscoe), in Botany, a genus of the class 
monandria, order monogynia, natural order Scitamineae, 
Cannae, (Juss .)—Generic Character. Calyx: perianth 
superior, of one leaf, tubular cylindrical, its limb sheath¬ 
ing, erect, undivided, membranous at the edge. Corolla: 
of one petal, irregular; tube scarcely longer than the calyx, 
erect, straight, triangular upwards: outer limb ringent, 
two-lipped; its upper lip broadest, erect, obovate, acute, 
concave; lower about as long, in two deep, linear-lanceolate, 
acute, reflexed lobes: inner limb ringent, two-lipped; the 
upper lip erect, shorter than the outer limb, of two cohering, 
half-ovate lobes, tapering at the base, and embracing the 
organs of fructification; lower, much longer, and broader, 
spreading, cloven. Stamina: filament one, inserted into the top 
of the tube, short, linear, channelled, erect; anther much longer 
than the filament, linear, channelled, greatly incurved, bearing 
pollen in the upper part only, its base extended in the form 
of two lanceolate, horizontal, ascending, acute, membra¬ 
nous lobes. Pistil: germen inferior, oval, very small; style 
thread-shaped, lodged in the groove of the filament, and of 
the anther, to whose curvature it conforms ; stigma obtuse, 
concave, downy, just projecting beyond the anther. Peri¬ 
carp: capsule—analagous to that of other Scitamineae.— 
Essential Character. Anther two-lobed, incurved, ter¬ 
minal, embracing the style, with a cloven appendage at 
its base. Outer limb of the corolla irregular; upper lip 
vaulted; lower deeply divided : inner limb in three parts, 
two-lipped. 
Roscoea purpurea, or purple Roscoea.—This plant was 
found at Narainhetty, in the mountains of Upper Nepaul, 
by Dr. Francis Buchanan, flowering in April, 1802. It is 
the only species hitherto discovered of this very well-defined 
genus, which should be arranged near Hedychium and 
Kaempferia, to both of which genera it has some points of 
affinity; but Roscoea is distinguished from other known plants 
of the Scitamineae, by the irregularity of its two-lipped outer 
limb, and the peculiar appendages to the base of the anther. 
The root is perennial, of several clustered, spreading, oblong, 
tapering knobs, producing branched fibres. No aromatic or 
pungent flavour is perceptible in our specimens. Stem soli¬ 
tary, erect, a foot or more in height, simple, leafy, com¬ 
pressed. Leaves spreading in two ranks, alternate, oblong, 
pointed, folded, wavy, entire, smooth, with many oblique 
parallel veins; pale at the under side; somewhat rounded 
and heart shaped at the base, running down into broad, 
sheathing, compressed, furrowed, purplish, footstalks, which 
embrace and conceal the stem. Stipula crowning the inside 
of the footstalk, very short, entire. Flowers several, open¬ 
ing in succession, terminal, clustered, sessile, erect, large, 
and handsome, of a violet-purple, with whitish organs of 
impregnation ; the tube of the calyx of each concealed by 
the sheaths of the upper leaves. 
ROSCOF, a small town in the north-west of France, de- - 
partment of Finisterre, situated on the coast, between the bay 
and a small island called Bas. Population 2500. It has a 
small harbour and a fine roadstead. It has a considerable 
traffic in wine and brandy with Great Britain, and in linen 
with Spain ; 3 miles north of St. Pol. de Leon. 
ROSCOLYN, a parish ot Wales, in Anglesey; 6 miles 
from Caernarvon. Population 504. 
ROSCOMMON. See Dillon. 
ROSCOMMON, a county of Ireland, in the province of 
Connaught, separated from the counties of Longford and 
Westmeath, 
