Chapter LI: Part 51

=Ring-mail.= A kind of mail composed of small rings of steel sewed edgewise upon a strong garment of leather or of quilted cloth.

=Ring-wads.= See GROMMET.

=Rio Janeiro=, or =Rio de Janeiro=, often called simply Rio. The capital of Brazil, and the largest and most important city of South America. The harbor, which is strongly fortified, is one of the best in the world, and large enough for all its navies. The city of Rio was founded by the Portuguese in 1567. In 1831, it was the theatre of a revolution, in which 6000 armed citizens were joined by the troops of the line in their opposition to the government, and in consequence of which Dom Pedro abdicated the throne in favor of his son Pedro II.

=Riot and Tumult.= Sedition, civil insurrection, disturbance, etc. A breach of the peace committed by an assembled multitude. Some degree of violence is incidental to a riot, and a degree of intimidation to the neighborhood. According to law a riot cannot take place unless three persons act in concert. When a riot becomes formidable, it is usual for the authorities to take active measures to disperse it.

=Rioters.= Disturbers of the public peace; persons acting in open violation of good order; raising or creating sedition, etc.

=Ripon.= An ancient town of England, in Yorkshire, 23 miles northwest of York. It suffered much by the ravages of the Danes and the Normans (1069), and the Scots (1319 and 1323).

=Risban= (_Fr._). In fortification, a flat piece of ground upon which a fort is constructed for the defense and security of a port or harbor. It likewise means the fort itself.

=Risberme= (_Fr._). A work composed of fascines, such as is sometimes constructed at the bottom of a town-wall. A sort of glacis of fascine-work used in jetties, the sides of which, towards the sea, are so formed as to withstand its violence.

=Rise.= In a military sense, is to make hostile attack; as, the soldiers rose against their officers. It also means to obtain promotion. _To rise from the ranks_, is to obtain a commission by degrees, after having been in the ranks as a private soldier.

=Rising.= In heraldry, a term applied to a bird when represented opening his wings as if about to take flight.

=Riveting-plates.= In gun-carriages, are small, square, thin pieces of iron, through which the ends of the bolts pass, and are riveted upon them.

=Rivoli.= A town of Italy on the right of the river Dora, and 8 miles west of Turin. It possesses a royal castle, which was sacked by the French in 1690. In 1797 a battle was fought here between the French and Austrians, in which the former were victorious.

=Rizamedar.= In the East Indies, is an officer commanding a small body of horse.

=Roanoke.= A river of Virginia and North Carolina; empties into Albemarle Sound. In 1861, Albemarle Island, at its mouth, and Plymouth were taken by the Federal gunboats.

=Robinet.= An ancient military machine for throwing darts and stones.

=Rochelle, La.= A fortified seaport of France, capital of the department of Charente-Inférieure, on an inlet of the Bay of Biscay, 300 miles southwest of Paris by railway. It was taken from the English by the troops of the French king Louis XIII. in 1224; was ceded to England at the treaty of Bretigny in 1360; in the subsequent wars it was retaken by France, under whose sway it has remained since 1372. As a stronghold of the Huguenot party, it underwent various attacks and sieges during the religious wars of the Henries, in the latter half of the 16th century; and on its final and unconditional surrender to the royal troops in the time of Louis XIII., its old fortifications were destroyed, and new lines of defenses subsequently erected by the great Vauban.

=Rock Island.= An island in the Mississippi River, the southern extremity of which is nearly opposite the town of Rock Island, Ill. This island is about 3 miles in length, and presents a perpendicular front of limestone 20 or 30 feet high. During the Blackhawk war a garrison was kept on Rock Island, and a part of it was used during the late civil war (1861-65) as a military prison. The U. S. government has a splendid arsenal and armory here.

=Rocket.= A rocket is a projectile which is set in motion by a force residing within itself; it therefore performs the twofold function of piece and projectile. See PYROTECHNY.

_History._--Rockets were used in India and China for war purposes before the discovery of gunpowder; some writers fix the date of their invention about the close of the 9th century. Their inferior force and accuracy limited the sphere of their operations to incendiary purposes, until the year 1804, when Sir William Congreve turned his attention to their improvement. This officer substituted sheet-iron cases for those made of paper, which enabled him to use a more powerful composition; he made the guide-stick shorter and lighter, and removed a source of inaccuracy of flight by attaching the stick to the centre of the base instead of the side of the case. The advantages claimed for rockets over cannon are, unlimited size of projectile, portability, freedom from recoil, rapidity of discharge, and the terror which their noise and fiery trail produce on mounted troops.

_Structure._--A rocket is essentially composed of a strong case of paper or wrought iron, inclosing a composition of nitre, charcoal, and sulphur,--the same as gunpowder, except that the ingredients are proportioned for a slower rate of combustion. If penetration and range be required, its head is surmounted by a solid shot; if explosion and incendiary effect, by a shell or spherical case-shot, to which is attached a fuze, which is set on fire when it is reached by the flame of the burning composition. The base is perforated by one or more vents for the escape of the gas generated within, and sometimes with a screw-hole to which a guide-stick is fastened.

_Motion._--A rocket is set in motion by the reaction of a rapid stream of gas escaping through its vents. If it be surrounded by a resisting medium, the atmosphere, for instance, the particles of gas as they issue from the vent will impinge against and set in motion certain particles of air, and the force expended on the inertia of these particles will react and increase the propelling force of the rocket. It follows, therefore, that, though a rocket will move _in vacuo_, its propelling force will be increased by the presence of a resisting medium. Whether the effect will be to accelerate the rocket depends upon the relation between the resistance which the medium offers to the motion of the gas and that which it offers to the motion of the rocket.

_Vent._--As the rate of combustion of the composition is independent of the pressure of the gas in the bore, it follows, that if the size of the vent be contracted, the flow of gas through it will be accelerated. The strength of the case, and the friction of the gas, which increases as the vent diminishes, alone limit the reduction of the size of the vent. For vents of the same size, but of different shapes, that one which allows the gas to escape most freely will be most favorable to the flight of the rocket. A conical form of vent, with the larger orifice next to the bore, will allow the gas to escape more rapidly than one of cylindrical form.

_Bore._--As the composition of a rocket burns in parallel layers of uniform thickness, the amount of gas generated in a given time, or the velocity of its exit from the case, depends on the extent of the inflamed surface. Experience shows that to obtain the required surface of inflammation, it is necessary to form a long cavity in the mass of the composition. This cavity is called the bore. In all rockets the bore should be concentric with the case; its shape should be made conical to diminish the strain on the case near its head, by reducing the amount of surface where the pressure on the unit of surface is greatest.

_Nature of Movement._--Suppose the rocket in a state of rest, and the composition ignited; the flame immediately spreads over the surface of the bore, forming gas which issues from the vent. The escape is slow in the first moments, as the density of the gas is slight; but as the surface of inflammation is large compared to the size of the vent, the gas accumulates rapidly, and its density is increased until the velocity of the escape is sufficient to overcome the resistance which the rocket offers to motion. These resistances are, inertia, friction, the component of weight in the direction of motion, and, after motion takes place, the resistance of the air. The constant pressure on the head of the bore accelerates the motion of the rocket until the resistance of the air equals the propelling force; after this, it will remain constant until the burning surface is sensibly diminished. When the gas ceases to flow, the rocket loses its distinctive character, and becomes, so far as its movement is concerned, an ordinary projectile. The increase in the surface of combustion whereby more gas is developed in the same time, and the diminution in the weight of the remaining composition, cause the point of maximum velocity to be reached with increased rapidity. If the weight of the rocket be increased, the instant of maximum velocity will be prolonged, but the amount will remain the same. A change in the form of the rocket which increases the resistance of the air, will have the effect to diminish the maximum velocity.

_Guiding Principle._--The propelling force of a rocket changes its direction with the axis along which it acts; it follows, therefore, that without some means of giving stability to this axis, the path described will be very irregular, so much so, at times, as to fold upon itself; and instances have been known where these projectiles have returned to the point whence they started. The two means now used to give steadiness to the flight of a rocket are, rotation, as in the case of a rifle-ball, and the resistance of the air, as in an arrow.

_Hale’s System._--The first is exemplified in Hale’s rocket, where rotation is produced around the long axis by the escape of the gas through five small vents situated obliquely to it. In his first arrangement, the inventor placed the small vents in the base, surrounding the central vent, so that the resultant of the tangential forces acted around the posterior extremity of the axis of rotation. In 1855, this arrangement was changed by reducing the number of the small vents to three, and placing them at the base of the head of the rocket. The rocket thus modified is the one now used by the U. S. government for war purposes. A still later improvement in Hale’s rocket consists in screwing a cast-iron piece into the bottom of the case, which is perforated with three vents. A corresponding side of each vent is surrounded with a fence, the opposite sides being open. The gas in its efforts to expand after issuing from the vents, presses against the fences and rotates the rocket around its long axis.

_Congreve’s System._--A Congreve rocket is guided by a long wooden stick attached to its base. If any cause act to turn it from its proper direction, it will be opposed by resistances equal to its moment of inertia and the lateral action of the air against the stick. The effect of these resistances will be increased by placing the centre of gravity near the head of the rocket, and by increasing the surface of the stick. In signal-rockets, where the case is made of paper, the stick is attached to the side, and there is but one large vent, which is in the centre of the case. In war-rockets the stick is attached to the centre of the base, and the large central vent is replaced by several small ones near its circumference. The former arrangement is not so favorable to accuracy as the latter, inasmuch as rotation will be produced if the force of propulsion and the resistance of the air do not act in the same line.

_How Fired._--Rockets are generally fired from tubes or gutters; but should occasion require it, they may be fired directly from the ground, care being taken to raise the forward end by propping it up with a stick or stone. As the motion is slow in the first moments of its flight, it is more liable to be deviated from its proper direction at this time than any other; for this reason the conducting-tube should be as long as practicable.

_Form of Trajectory._--Take that portion of the trajectory where the velocity is uniform. The weight of the rocket applied at its centre of gravity, and acting in a vertical direction, and the propelling force acting in the direction of its length, are two forces the oblique resultant of which moves the rocket parallel to itself; but the resistance of the air is oblique to this direction, and acting at the centre of figure, a point situated between the centre of gravity and extremity of the guide-stick, produces a rotation which raises the stick, and thereby changes the direction in which the gas acts. As these forces are constantly acting, it follows that each element of the trajectory has less inclination to the horizon than the element of an ordinary trajectory in which the velocity is equal. When the velocity is not _uniform_, the position of the centre of gravity has a certain influence on the form of the trajectory. To understand this, it is necessary to consider that the component of the resistance of the air which acts on the head of the rocket is greater than that which acts on the side of the stick. It is also necessary to consider that the pressure of the inflamed gas acts in a direction opposite to the resistance of the air, that is to say, from the rear to the front, and that the centre of gravity is near the rear extremity of the case. At the beginning of the trajectory, when the motion of the rocket is accelerated, its inertia is opposed to motion, and being applied at the centre of gravity, which is in rear of the vent, the point of application of the moving force, it acts to prevent the rocket from turning over in its flight. But when the composition is consumed, the centre of gravity is thrown farther to the rear, and the velocity of the rocket is retarded, the inertia acts in the opposite direction, and the effect will be, if the centre of gravity or inertia is sufficiently far to the rear, to cause it to turn over in the direction of its length. If the rocket be directed toward the earth, this turning over will be counteracted by the acceleration of velocity due to the weight, and the form of the trajectory will be preserved.

_Effect of Wind._--When the wind acts obliquely to the plane of fire, its component perpendicular to this flame acting at the centre of figure will cause the rocket to rotate around its centre of gravity. As the centre of figure is situated in rear of the centre of gravity, the point will be thrown toward the wind, and the propelling force acting always in the direction of the axis, the rocket will be urged toward the direction of the wind. To make an allowance for the wind in firing rockets, they should be pointed toward the opposite side from which the wind comes, or with the wind instead of against it. If the wind act in the plane of fire from front to rear, it will have the effect to depress the point, and with it the elements of the trajectory in the ascending branch, and elevate them in the descending branch; as the latter is shorter than the former, the effect of a front wind will be to diminish the range. The converse will be true for a rear wind.

_Kind Used._--The two sizes of Hale’s rockets in use in the American service are, the 2-inch (interior diameter of case), weighing 6 pounds, and 3-inch (interior diameter of case), weighing 16 pounds. Under an angle of from 4° to 5° the range of these rockets is from 500 to 600 yards. Under an angle of 47° the range of the former is 1760 yards, and the latter 2200.

=Rocroy=, or =Rocroi=. A small town of France, in the department of Ardennes, 15 miles northwest from Mézières. It is memorable for the victory gained by the great Condé (then duke of Enghien) over the Spaniards, May 19, 1643. The Spanish army was composed of veteran bands of Walloons, Spaniards, and Italians, and their general, Don Francisco de Mellos, was a commander worthy of his army. The French (22,000) were also good troops, but their general, Condé, was a young and inexperienced officer. At first the battle was unfavorable to the French, but at last the Spaniards were thrown into irretrievable rout. The Count of Fuentes, the commander of the redoubtable infantry, and 10,000 of his men were among the slain; and 5000 men, with all the cannon, many standards, and the baton of the Count de Mellos, were captured. But, far beyond all material losses, the renown of invincibility, first acquired by the Spanish infantry on the field of Pavia (1525), and confirmed at St. Quentin, Gravelines, and Prague, was destroyed.

=Rodman Gun.= See ORDNANCE, CONSTRUCTION OF.

=Roermond.= An old town in the Netherlands, province of Limburg, at the junction of the Roer and Maas. It has often endured the horrors of being besieged and taken.

=Rogue River Indians.= See INDIANS AND THEIR AGENCIES (Oregon).

=Rogue’s March.= Derisive music performed in driving away a person under popular indignation, or when a soldier is drummed out of a regiment.

=Rohilcund.= A region of Northeast India; was conquered by the Rohillas, an Afghan tribe, who settled here about 1747. After aiding the sovereign of Oude to overcome the Mahrattas, they were treated with much treachery by him, and nearly exterminated. Rohilcund was ceded to the British in 1801. After the great mutiny Rohilcund was tranquillized in July, 1858.

=Rohillas.= An East Indian tribe of Afghans inhabiting the country north of the Ganges, as far to the north as Oude.

=Roi d’Armes= (_Fr._). King-at-arms, an officer formerly of great authority in armies; he directed the heralds, presided at their chapters, and had the jurisdiction of armories.

=Roleia=, or =Rolica=. A village in Portugal, where on August 17, 1808, a British force under Sir Arthur Wellesley defeated a French army under Gen. Laborde.

=Roll.= A term of varied signification in reference to military matters. Thus, to _roll_ is to continue one uniform beat of the drum, without variations for a certain length of time.

=Roll, Long.= A prolonged roll of the drums, as a signal of an attack by the enemy, and for the troops to arrange themselves in line.

=Roll, Muster-.= See MUSTER-ROLL.

=Roll of Arms.= A heraldic record of arms, either verbally blazoned or illuminated, or both, on a long strip of vellum, rolled up, instead of being folded into leaves.

_Rolls of Arms_ are the most important and most authentic materials for the history of early heraldry. In England they go back to the reign of Henry III., the oldest being a copy of a roll of that reign, containing a list of the arms borne by the sovereign, the princes of the blood, and the principal barons and knights between 1216 and 1272, verbally blazoned without drawings.

=Roll, Squad.= Is a list containing the names of each particular squad in a company, etc.

=Roll, Size.= In the British service, is a list containing the names of all the men belonging to a troop or company, with the height or stature of each specifically marked.

=Roll-call.= The act or time of calling over a list of names; as, tattoo roll-call. _To call the roll_, to call off or recite a list or roll of names of soldiers belonging to a company or troop, in order to ascertain, from the responses, who are present and who are absent.

=Rollers, Friction.= See ORDNANCE, CARRIAGES FOR, SEA-COAST CARRIAGES.

=Rolling Barrels.= See CAKING.

=Rolling Fire.= A discharge of musketry by soldiers in line, in quick succession, and in the order in which they stand. See FIRE.

=Rolling-hitch.= Pass the end of a rope round a piece of timber; take it round a second time, riding the standing part; then carry it across and up through the bight.

=Romagna.= A province of the Papal States, comprised in the legations of Forli and Ravenna. It was conquered by the Lombards; but taken from them by Pepin, and given to the pope, 753. Cæsar Borgia held it as a duchy in 1501, but lost it in 1503. In 1859 the Romagna threw off the temporal authority of the pope, and declared itself subject to the king of Sardinia, who accepted it in March, 1860. It now forms part of the kingdom of Italy.

=Romainville and Belleville=. Heights near Paris, where Joseph Bonaparte, Mortier, and Marmont were defeated by the allies after a vigorous resistance, March 30, 1814. The next day Paris capitulated.

=Roman Candles.= See PYROTECHNY.

=Roman Walls.= One was erected by Agricola (79 to 85) to defend Britain from the incursions of the Picts and Scots; the first wall extended from the Tyne to the Solway Frith (80 miles); the second from the Frith of Forth, near Edinburgh, to the Frith of Clyde, near Dumbarton (36 miles). The former was renewed and strengthened by the emperor Adrian (121) and by Septimus Severus (208). It commenced at Bowness, near Carlisle, and ended at Wallsend, near Newcastle. It had battlements and towers to contain soldiers. The more northern wall was renewed by Lollius Urbicus in the reign of Antoninus Pius, about 140. Many remains of these walls still exist, particularly of the southern one.

=Romans.= See ROME.

=Rome= (anc. _Roma_). The most celebrated city of the world, either in ancient or modern times, the capital of the Pontifical States, and the ecclesiastical metropolis of Catholic Christendom, is situated on the Tiber, 17 miles northeast of its mouth in the Mediterranean. Rome is said to have been a colony from Alba Longa and to have been founded by Romulus about 753 B.C.; it grew rapidly in size and power. Regal Rome ruled the whole Latin coast, and the treaties made with powerful Carthage, with Massilia, and with the Greeks of Southern Italy bear witness to the respect it enjoyed abroad. Royalty was abolished, and an aristocratical commonwealth established by the patricians, 509 B.C.; the Latins and the Tarquins declared war against the republic, 501; were defeated at the Lake Regillus, 496 B.C. Military tribunes were first created in 444 B.C. Rome was engaged in war with the Tuscans, 434 B.C.; the Æqui and Volsci were defeated by Tubertus, 431 B.C.; Veii was taken by Camillus after ten years’ siege, 396 B.C. In 390 B.C. Rome was captured and burned by the Gauls; the vigilance of Marcus Manlius saved the Capitol. Again and again in the course of the 4th century B.C. the Gallic hordes repeated their incursions, but never again returned victorious. In 367 B.C. Camillus defeated them at Alba; in 360 B.C. they were routed at the Colline Gate; in 358 B.C. by the dictator G. Sulpicius Peticus; and in 350 B.C. by Lucius Furius Camillus. By the middle of the 4th century B.C. the whole of Southern Etruria had submitted to the supremacy of Rome, and was kept in check by a Roman garrison; as was also the land of the Volsci. Becoming alarmed at the increasing power of Rome, the Latins and Hernicans withdrew from their league with Rome, and a severe and protracted struggle took place between them and their former ally. Nearly thirty years elapsed before the Romans succeeded in crushing the malcontents, and restoring the league of Spurius Cassius. In the course of this war the old Latin confederacy of the “Thirty Cities” was broken up, 384 B.C. Rome made a treaty with Carthage to repress Greek piracy, 348 B.C. Now commenced a tremendous struggle between the Samnites and the Romans; the former fighting heroically for the preservation of their national freedom,--the latter warring with superb valor for dominion. The Samnite wars, of which three are reckoned, extended over 53 years (343-290). The victory of the Romans at Sentinum (295 B.C.) virtually ended the struggle. At the close of the first Samnite war, an insurrection burst out among the Latins and Volscians, but the defeat inflicted on the insurgents at Trifanum (340 B.C.), by the Roman consul Titus Manlius Imperiosus Torquatos, almost instantly crushed it, and in two years almost the last spark of rebellion was extinguished. The famous Latin League was now dissolved. A mighty coalition was formed against Rome, consisting of Etruscans, Umbrians, and Gauls, in the north, and of Lucanians, Bruttians, and Samnites, in the south, with a sort of tacit understanding on the part of the Tarentines that they would render assistance by and by. In the course of a single year the whole north was in arms, and once more the power and even the existence of Rome were in deadly peril. An entire Roman army of 13,000 men was annihilated at Arretium (284 B.C.); but Publius Cornelius Dolabella marched into the country of the Senones at the head of a large force, and literally extirpated the whole nation, which henceforth disappears from history. Shortly afterwards, the bloody overthrow of the Etrusco-Boian horde at Lake Vadimo (283 B.C.) shattered to pieces the northern confederacy. The Lucanians were quickly overpowered (282 B.C.); Samnium, by its long and luckless struggle, and overawed by the proximity of a Roman army, could do nothing. The Tarentines invited Pyrrhus over from Epirus, and appointed him commander of their mercenaries; he arrived in Italy with a small army of his own, 280 B.C. The war between Pyrrhus and the Romans, which lasted only six years, ended in his being obliged to return to Epirus without accomplishing anything; this war led to the complete subjugation of Peninsular Italy by Rome. In 264 B.C. war was formally declared between Rome and Carthage, and it was incomparably the most terrible contest in which Rome was ever engaged. For details of the Punic wars, see CARTHAGE, NUMIDIA, and PUNIC WARS. The leading feature of the _first_ was the creation of a Roman navy, which, after repeated and tremendous misfortune, finally wrested from Carthage the sovereignty of the seas. A lapse of twenty-three years occurred before the _second_ Punic war, during which interval the Romans bullied their weak and exhausted rival into surrendering Sardinia and Corsica. In addition they had carried on a series of Gallic wars in Northern Italy (231-222 B.C.), the result of which was the extension of Italy to the Alps. The Romans vigorously suppressed Illyrian piracy, 219 B.C. The grand events of the second Punic war were the crossing of the Alps by Hannibal, the terrible disasters of the Romans at Lake Trasimene (see TRASIMENUS LACUS) and Cannæ (which see), and the final overthrow of Hannibal at Zama (which see), 202 B.C., by Scipio. The _second_ war virtually sealed the fate of Carthage, and the _third_ displayed only the frantic heroism of despair. The imperial supremacy of Rome was now as unconditional in the western Mediterranean as on the mainland of Italy. During 201-196 B.C. the Celts in the valley of the Po were thoroughly subjugated. The Boii were finally extirpated about 193 B.C.; the Ligurians were subdued 180-177 B.C.; and the interior of Corsica and Sardinia about the same time. The wars in Spain were troublesome and of longer duration, but they were not at all serious. The Romans suffered frequent defeats, but in the end the superior discipline of the legions always prevailed. The Romans felt it necessary to hold Spain by military occupation, and hence arose the first Roman standing armies. The most distinguished successes were those achieved by Scipio himself, by Marcus Cato, by Lucius Æmilius Paulus, by Caius Calpurnius, by Quintus Fulvius Flaccus, and by Tiberius Gracchus. The Macedonian wars were owing immediately to the alliance formed by Philip V. of Macedon with Hannibal after the battle of Cannæ. The Macedonian wars were three in number. The _first_ (214-205 B.C.) was barren in results; but the _second_ (200-197 B.C.) taught Philip that another, not he, must rule in Greece. The battle of Cynoscephalæ was followed by a treaty which compelled him to withdraw his garrisons from the Greek cities, to surrender his fleet, and pay 1000 talents toward the expenses of the war. A similar fate befell Antiochus of Syria. Next the Ætolians were crushed, and a little later the quarrels between the Achaians and Spartans led to a general Roman protectorate over the whole of Greece. The _third_ and last Macedonian war began 172 B.C.; the result of which, after four years’ fighting, was the utter destruction of the Macedonian army at Pydna (168 B.C.), and the dismemberment of the Macedonian empire. The last Greek and Punic wars came to an end in the same year (146 B.C.). The former was virtually closed on the destruction of Corinth by the consul Mummius. For the results of the former, see CARTHAGE. The Celtiberian and Numantine war began 153 B.C., and ended in the final overthrow of the undisciplined and uncivilized combatants, 133 B.C. Toward the conclusion of the Numantine war occurred the first of those horrible Social outbreaks known as “servile” or “slave” wars, which marked the later ages of the republic. The first slave insurrection broke out in Sicily, 134 B.C. The slaves overran the island, like demoniacs let loose, and routed one Roman army after another. In 132 B.C., the consul Publius Rupilius restored order. After a fierce struggle, the Romans obtained the kingdom of Pergamus, and formed it into the province of Asia, 129 B.C. In Africa, the overthrow of Jugurtha by the consul Marius added further to the renown and strength of the republic. In 105 B.C. a Roman army of 80,000 was annihilated at Arausio on the Rhone, by the Cimbri (see ARAUSIO and CIMBRI). Marius nearly exterminated the Teutones at Aqua-Sextiæ (Aix, in Dauphin), 102 B.C., and in 101 B.C. the Cimbri at the Campi Raudii near Vercellæ. (See CIMBRI and TEUTONIC.) In the same year a second insurrection of the slaves in Sicily was suppressed by the consul Marius Aquillius. Now followed the Social war, 90-88 B.C. Then followed the fearful years of the “civil wars” between the two chiefs, Sulla and Marius. In 87 B.C. Rome was besieged by four armies (viz.: those of Marius, Cinna, Carbo, and Sertorius) and taken. In 88 B.C. broke out the “Mithridatic wars,” which were three in number; begun by Sulla 88 B.C., they were brought to a successful close by Pompey, 65 B.C., although the general that had really broken the power of Mithridates was Lucullus. (See MITHRIDATIC WAR.) The result was the annexation of the sultanate of Pontus, which was formed into a Roman province. Then Pompey conquered Syria; reduced to a state of dependence Phœnicia, Cæle-Syria, and Palestine, 63 B.C. In the same year the conspiracy of Catiline was crushed by the consul Cicero. Then came the campaigns of Cæsar in Gaul (58-50 B.C.), by which the whole of the country was reduced to subjection; his rupture with Pompey; his defiance of the senate; the civil wars; his victory, dictatorship, and assassination; the second triumvirate, composed of Antony, Lepidus, and Octavian; the overthrow of the oligarchy at Philippi; the struggle between Antony and Octavian; the triumph of the latter, and his investment with absolute power for life as Augustus Cæsar, which put an end at least to civil dissensions that had raged so long. To keep the now enormous territory quiet which contained so many different races, an army of forty-seven legions and as many cohorts was maintained. The most notable incident during the reign of Tiberius was probably the concentration of the Prætorian guards in the vicinity of Rome, who, until their dissolution by Diocletian, were the real sovereigns of the empire. In Nero’s time Armenia was wrested from the Parthians; the Roman authority in England was likewise extended as far north as the Trent, and a great rebellion in Gaul, against Nero, headed by Julius Vindex, was crushed by T. Virginius Rufus, the commander of the Germanic legions. The chief military events from the days of Vespasian to those of Marcus Aurelius, are final conquests of Britain by Agricola, the final conquest of the Dacian monarchy, the victorious invasion of Parthia and Northern Arabia; and the conquest of the valley of the Nile, as far south as Upper Nubia, by Trajan; the chastisement of the Marcomanni, Quadi, Chatti, etc., by Marcus Aurelius. The reign of Alexander Severus is marked by the downfall of the Parthian dynasty of Persian kings, and the rise of the native Sassanidæ (which see), which proved far more formidable enemies than the Parthian rulers. After the assassination of Severus (235 A.D.) followed a period of confusion, bloodshed, and general mismanagement. The names of Maximin, Maximus, Balbinus, Gordianus, and Philip recall nothing but wretched quarrels, often ending in assassination. Then followed the “beginning of the end.” The whole of Europe beyond the Roman frontier--the mysterious North--began to ferment. The Franks appeared on the Lower Rhine, the Suabians on the Maine; while the Goths burst through Dacia, routed the forces of Decius, slew the emperor himself at Mount Hæmus, crossed the Euxine, and ravaged the whole northern coast of Asia Minor. A little later--during the reigns of Valerian, Gallienus, and the so-called Thirty Tyrants--the empire was nothing but a wild distracted chaos; Franks, Alemanni, Goths, and Persians rushing from their respective quarters like vultures scenting prey. The Goths swept over the whole of Achaia, while the Asiatic hordes of Sapor committed even greater havoc in Syria and Asia Minor. By Claudius Gothicus (268-270), and his successors, Aurelian, Probus, and Carus, the barbarians of the north and northwest, as well as the Persians in the East, were severely chastised. The division of the empire into East and West by Diocletian led to those labyrinthine confusions and civil wars, in which figure the names of Maximian, Constantius, Galerius, Maxentius, Maximin, Licinius, and Constantine, which were only brought to a close by the surpassing genius of the last mentioned. Julian’s efforts to repel the incessant incursions of the Franks and Alemanni displayed a fine valor and generalship, and were crowned with success. But after the death of Julian the signs of the approaching dissolution of the empire became more unmistakable. Swarms of ferocious Huns drove the Goths out of Dacia, and forced them to cross the Danube into the Roman territory, where they devastated the whole East from the Adriatic to the Euxine. They were subdued and disarmed by Theodosius. Hardly was Theodosius dead when they rose again, under their chief Alaric, against Honorius, emperor of the West. Three years earlier, hordes of Suevi, Burgundians, Alemanni, Vandals, and Alans burst into Gaul, which led to the invasion of Africa by Genseric. In the East the Huns had reduced vast regions to an utter desert; for nearly fifty years, indeed, the little ferocious demons had rioted in destruction. (See HUNS.) Eudoxia, the widow of Valentinian, to be revenged on Valentinian’s murderer and successor, Petronius Maximus, invited Genseric, the “scourge of God,” over from Africa, and exposed Rome to the horrors of pillage for fourteen days. Later, Odoacer, placing himself at the head of the barbarian mercenaries of the empire, overthrew the last, and the most ridiculous, occupant of the throne of the Cæsars (476), who, by a curious coincidence, bore the same name as the founder of the city,--Romulus. Rome was recovered for Justinian by Belisarius, 536; retaken by Totila the Goth, 546; recovered by Belisarius, 547; seized by Totila, 549; recovered by Narses and annexed to the Eastern empire, 553. Rome became independent under the popes about 728; was taken by Arnulf and the Germans, 896; taken by the emperor Henry IV., March, 1084. The pope removed to Avignon (1309-1377). Rome was then virtually left without a government, the Guelphs and the Ghibellines, Neapolitan and German armies, and the noble families of the Orsini and the Colonna being alternately masters. Cola di Rienzi, a man of the people, made himself master of Rome, 1347; it was captured and pillaged by the Constable of Bourbon, 1527; it was harassed by the French, German, and Spanish factions from the 16th to the 18th centuries; the French proclaimed a Roman republic, March 20, 1798; was recovered for the pope by the Neapolitans, 1799; retaken by the French, 1800; was restored to Pope Pius VII., 1801, and annexed by Napoleon to the kingdom of Italy, 1808. It was restored to the pope, January, 1814. In 1848 the people rose in rebellion, drove out Pius IX., and established a republic under the triumvirate of Mazzini, Armellini, and Saffi. An appeal to France brought once more a French army to the gates of the city, and the siege was begun. Rome was taken after a brave resistance in July, 1849. For twenty years French troops garrisoned the Eternal City, and when they were at last withdrawn (1870) Italy had become one great nation. After a brief resistance from the foreign papal troops, stopped by order of the pope, the Italian troops under Cadorna made a breach, and entered Rome amid enthusiastic acclamation of the people, September 20, 1870.

=Rompu.= In heraldry, a term applied to a chevron when the upper part is taken off, and remains above it in the field.

=Roncesvalles= (Fr. _Roncevaux_). A small Spanish village, province of Navarre, in a narrow valley inclosed by lofty mountains, through which one of the principal roads leads from France across the Pyrenees into Spain. Here Charlemagne was attacked in 778 by the Basques, and his whole rear-guard destroyed. In honor of those who had fallen he built a chapel on the spot where the battle took place, and among the names enumerated in the inscription was that of Roland. In the modern French-Spanish wars, several bloody encounters (in 1793, 1794, and 1813) occurred in the same valley, and in 1833, Don Carlos was first proclaimed king here.

=Rondache= (_Fr._). In ancient armory, a circular shield carried by foot-soldiers to protect the upper part of the person, having a slit in the upper part for seeing through, and another at the side for the point of the sword to pass through.

=Rondel.= In fortification, a round tower, sometimes erected at the foot of a bastion.

=Rondelle= (_Fr._). A small round shield which was formerly used by light-armed infantry.

=Rondellier= (_Fr._). Archer or pikeman who carried the _rondelle_.

=Rondells.= See ORDNANCE, CARRIAGES FOR, NOMENCLATURE OF ARTILLERY CARRIAGE.

=Ronfleurs= (_Fr._). Frederick the Great applied this name to some 12-pounders of 22 calibers, weighing 3200 pounds, which, before the battle of Leuthen, he had drawn from the neighboring fortress of Glogau. The charge for this gun was 5 pounds.

=Rope.= A large, stout, twisted cord, of not less, usually, than an inch in circumference. It differs from _cord_, _line_, and _string_ only in its size. Ropes are ranked under two descriptions, _cable-laid_ and _hawser-laid_; the former composed of nine strands, or three great strands, each consisting of three small ones; the latter made with three strands, each composed of a certain number of rope-yarns.

=Rope, Drag-.= See DRAG-ROPE.

=Rope-ferries.= See PONTONS.

=Rose.= In heraldry, is drawn in a conventional form, and never with a stalk, except when expressly directed by the words of blazon. Being sometimes argent and sometimes gules, it cannot be designated proper; but when blazoned “barbed and seeded proper,” it is meant that the barbs are to be green, and the seeds gold and yellow. The rose gules was the badge of the Plantagenets of the house of Lancaster, and the rose argent of that of York. The York rose was sometimes surrounded with rays as of the sun, and termed _rose en soleil_. As a mark of cadency, the rose has been used as the difference of the seventh son.

=Roses, Wars of the.= A disastrous civil contest which desolated England during thirty years, from 1455 to 1485, sacrificing 80 princes of the blood, and the larger proportion of the ancient nobility of the country. It was so called because the two factions into which the country was divided upheld the two several claims to the houses of York and Lancaster, whose badges were the white and red roses, respectively. After the house of Lancaster had possessed the throne for three generations (see PLANTAGENET), Richard, duke of York, whose title was superior to that of Henry VI., began to advance, at first somewhat covertly, his claim to the throne. In 1454, he was appointed protector of the realm during Henry’s illness, and on the king’s recovery he declined to give up his power, and levied an army to maintain it. The accession of Henry VII. may be said to have terminated the “wars of the roses,” although the reign of Henry was from time to time disturbed by the pretensions of Yorkist impostors.

=Rosetta.= A seaport city of Egypt, near the mouth of a branch of the Nile. It was built by one of the Saracen caliphs in the 9th century. In 1798 this place was taken by the French, and in 1807 it was besieged by the British, who were repulsed by the Turks. The battle of the Nile was fought near Rosetta, August 1, 1798.

=Rosettes.= Two small bunches of ribbons, that were attached to the loops by which the gorget of an officer was suspended on his chest.

=Roslin.= A village of Scotland, 7 miles south of Edinburgh, on the Esk. In this neighborhood the Scots gained three victories over the English on the same day in 1302.

=Ross, New.= A town of Ireland, situated partly in the county of Wexford, and partly in the county of Kilkenny, 27 miles northwest from Wexford. New Ross was taken by Cromwell in 1649, and in 1798 a severe battle was fought here between the king’s troops and the Irish insurgents.

=Rossbach.= A village of Prussian Saxony, in the government of Merseburg, celebrated for the victory here gained by the Prussians under Frederick the Great over the allied French and Austrian armies, November 5, 1757. The Prussians lost (according to a French account) only 300 men, while the loss of the allies was more than 1200 slain, 6000 prisoners, among whom were 11 generals and 300 officers, and 72 cannon, with many other trophies.

=Roster=, or =Rollster=. List of officers for duty. The principle which governs details for duty is from the eldest down; longest off duty first on duty. If an officer’s tour of duty for armed service, court-martial, or fatigue, happen when he is upon either duty, he is credited therewith. An officer returning from duty after sickness, takes the same place he had on the post roster before reporting sick; that being sick on the day of detail he gets the credit of the tour and awaits the return of his day, when, if well, he is again detailed. An officer returning from leave of absence is at once subject for detail. Customarily, an officer who returns from detached service is placed at the foot of the roster. The same rules should apply to non-commissioned officers and privates. A regiment or detachment detailed for any duty, receives credit for the duty when it marches off parade to perform the duty, but not if it is dismissed on parade. Officers on inlying pickets are subject to all details. In the British service, regiments proceed on foreign service according to the roster.

=Rotterdam.= An important commercial city in Holland, in the province of Southern Holland. Its importance dates from the 13th century; taken by the Spaniards by stratagem in 1572, and cruelly treated. It suffered much from the French revolutionary wars.

=Rouen.= A city in the north of France, the chief town of the department of the Lower Seine, and formerly the capital of Normandy, 68 miles northwest from Paris. It was held by the English till 1204; and was retaken by Henry V., January 19, 1419. Joan of Arc was burnt here, May 30, 1431. It was taken by Charles VII. of France in 1449; and by the Duke of Guise from the Huguenots, October, 1552, and in 1591.

=Rough Rider.= A non-commissioned officer in the British cavalry regiments, whose business it is to break in refractory horses, and assist the riding-master when required.

=Rouleaux.= Are round bundles of fascines, which are tied together. They serve to cover men when the works are pushed close to a besieged town, or to mask the head of a work.

=Round.= A general discharge of fire-arms by a body of troops, in which each soldier fires once. _Round of cartridges_, one cartridge to each man; as, to supply a regiment with a single round, or with twelve rounds.

=Round, Gentleman of the.= A gentleman soldier, but of low rank, only above the lance-pesade, whose office it was to visit and inspect the sentinels and advanced guards; also, one of a number of disbanded soldiers who had betaken themselves to the trade of begging.

=Round Robin.= This term is a corruption of _ruban rond_, which signifies a round ribbon. It was usual among French officers, when they signed a remonstrance, to write their names in a circular form, so that it was impossible to ascertain who signed first. Hence to sign a round robin against any person, was for any specific number of men to sign, one and all, a remonstrance against him.

=Round Table, Knights of.= Known in early English history as knights belonging to a celebrated order instituted by King Arthur, and whose exploits and adventures form the subjects of many ballads, and much of the early romantic poetry of England. The members of the order are said to have been 40 in number, and to have derived their name from their custom of sitting about a large, round, marble table, in order to avoid all distinction of rank.

=Roundel=, or =Roundelle=. Was a shield used by the Norman soldiers. The word is also applied to the semicircular bastions in early fortification, as introduced by Albert Dürer. This bastion consisted of a semicircle of masonry about 300 feet in diameter, containing roomy casemates for the troops, and for artillery and musketry, with which the ditch and curtains were flanked.

=Roundheads, The.= In English history, a nickname given, in the reign of Charles I., to the Puritans, or Parliamentary party, who were accustomed to wear their hair cut close to the head. They were so called in opposition to the Cavaliers, or Royalists, who wore their hair in long ringlets.

=Roundle=, or =Roundlet=. In heraldry, a general name given to charges of a circular form, which in English heraldry have more special names indicative of their tinctures. A roundle or is called a _Bezant_; a roundle argent, a _Plate_; a roundle gules, a _Torteaux_; a roundle azure, a _Hurt_; a roundle sable, an _Ogress_, or _Pellet_; a roundle purpure, a _Golpe_; a roundle sanguine, a _Guze_; a roundle tenney, an _Orange_. In the heraldry of Scotland and of the continent, it is, on the other hand, usual to design all roundles of metal bezants, and those of color, torteaux, adding the tincture. Thus the coat blazoned in England azure three plates, would be in the Scottish mode of blazon, azure three bezants argent.

=Rounds.= An officer or non-commissioned officer who, attended by one or more men, visits the sentinels in barracks, in order to ascertain whether they are vigilant. There are two sorts of rounds, _grand_ and _visiting_. Grand rounds are the rounds which are gone by general officers, commandants, or field-officers. When there are no officers of the day, the officer of the main guard may go the grand rounds. The grand rounds generally go at midnight; the visiting rounds at intermediate periods, between sunset and reveille. The grand rounds receive the parole, and all other rounds give it to the guards. In officers’ rounds the officer guarding is preceded by a drummer carrying a lantern, and followed by a sergeant and a file of men. Ordinary rounds consist of a sergeant and a file of men. Both ordinary and officers’ rounds are termed visiting rounds. The design of _rounds_ is not only to visit the guards, and keep the sentinels alert, but likewise to discover what passes in the outworks, and beyond them.

=Rout.= The confusion created in an army or body of troops when defeated or dispersed. _To put to the rout_, is to defeat and throw into confusion. The term expresses more than a defeat, because it implies a dispersion of the enemy’s forces; for a defeated enemy may retreat in good order; but when routed, order and discipline are at an end.

=Route.= An open road; the course of march of troops. Instructions for the march of detachments, specifying daily marches, means of supply, etc., are given from the headquarters of an army in the field, and are called marching routes.

=Route Step.= In tactics, is a style of march whereby the men carry their arms at will, keeping the muzzles elevated; they are not required to preserve silence, or to keep the step, but each man covers the file in his front. The ranks preserve the distance of 32 inches from each other. The route step is at the rate of from 2¹⁄₂ to 3 miles per hour.

=Routine.= This word has been adopted by us in the same sense that it is familiarly used by the French. It signifies capacity, or the faculty of arranging; a certain method in business, civil or military, which is as much acquired by habit and practice as by regular study and rule. We say familiarly the routine of business.

=Rowel.= The pointed part of a riding spur, which is made in a circular form, with rays or points like a star.

=Royal.= A small mortar which carries a shell whose diameter is 5.5 inches. It is mounted on a bed the same as other mortars.

=Royal.= In England, one of the soldiers of the first regiment of foot, called the _Royals_, and supposed to be the oldest regular corps in Europe.

=Rubicon.= A small stream of Central Italy, falling into the Adriatic, has obtained a proverbial celebrity from the well-known story of its passage by Cæsar, who by crossing this river--which, at the outbreak of the civil war between him and Pompey, formed the southern boundary of his province--virtually declared war against the republic. Hence the phrase to “cross the Rubicon” has come to mean, to take an irrevocable step.

=Rudiments.= The first principles, the elements of any particular science; as, the rudiments of war, which are the first principles or elements of war; as, marching, facing, wheeling; the drill, manual, and platoon exercises, manœuvres, etc.

=Ruffle.= Is a low vibrating sound, less loud than a roll, produced by drummers. It is used as a compliment to general officers and at military funerals.

=Rugen.= The largest of the islands of Germany, belongs to Prussia, and lies in the Baltic, off the coast of Pomerania. In 1169 it was conquered by the Danish king Waldemar I. By the peace of Westphalia it was ceded to Sweden, but in 1815 it was transferred to Prussia.

=Rules and Articles of War.= See APPENDIX, ARTICLES OF WAR.

=Run.= The greatest degree of swiftness in marching. It is executed upon the same principles as the _double-quick_, but with greater speed.

=Run the Gantlope.= See GANTLOPE.

=Running Fight.= A battle in which one party flees and the other pursues, but the party fleeing keeps up the contest.

=Running Fire.= A constant fire of musketry or cannon.

=Rupture.= This word signifies the commencement of hostilities between any two or more powers.

=Rusellæ= (_Rusellanus_; ruins near _Grosseto_). One of the most ancient cities of Etruria. It was taken by the Romans in 294 B.C., when 2000 of its inhabitants were slain, and as many more were made prisoners.

=Rush.= To move or drive forward with impetuosity, violence, and tumultuous rapidity; as, armies rush to battle. Also, a driving forward with eagerness and haste; as, a rush of troops.