Cadmus In Greek mythology, the son of the king of Phoenicia, brother of Europa, and founder of Thebes. When Zeus carried off Europa, Cadmus was sent to find her. The Delphic oracle ordered him to end his search, follow a cow, and build a town where it lay down. That town became Thebes. He built the citadel of Thebes with the help of fierce armed men who sprang up where he sowed the teeth of a dragon he had slain. He married Harmonia, daughter of Ares and Aphrodite, and their five children included Semele. Cadmus was said to have brought the alphabet to Greece.
Cadogan \k9-'d9g-9n\, William, 1st Earl (b. 1672, Liscarton, County Meath, Ire.—d. July 17, 1726, Kensington, near London, Eng.) British soldier. He served as a trusted colleague with the duke of Marl¬ borough in the War of the Spanish Succession. Later he became involved in intrigues to secure the succession for the Hanoverian George I (1714). He crushed a Jacobite rebellion in 1716, was granted an earldom in 1718, and was promoted to commander in chief in 1722.
caduceus \k9-'du-se-9s\ Staff carried by Hermes as a symbol of peace. It served as a badge of protection for ancient Greek and Roman heralds and ambassadors. It was originally depicted as a rod or olive branch ending in two shoots and decorated with garlands or ribbons; in later iconography the garlands became two snakes and a pair of wings was attached to the staff to represent Hermes’ speed. The caduceus was adopted as a symbol of physicians because of its similarity to the staff of Asclepius.
caecilian \si-'sil-y9n\ Any of 155 species of wormlike amphibians found in humid regions from Mexico to northern Argentina and in Africa, South¬ east Asia, and the Seychelles. The elongate, ringed, limbless body is 4-60 in. (10-150 cm) long. Colour ranges from blackish to pinkish tan. The tiny eyes are covered by skin and often by bone. A chemosensory projection lies between the eye and nostril. Some species lay eggs, which are guarded by the female and hatch into free-living larvae; other species bear live young. Caecilians spend their lives underground and eat worms and insects.
Caecus, Appius Claudius See Appius Claudius Caecus
Caedmon Ykad-msnX (fl. 658-680) Earliest known Old English Chris¬ tian poet. According to Bede, he was a herdsman who received a divine call in a dream to sing of “the beginning of things” and began to utter “verses which he had never heard.” He entered a monastery, where he produced vernacular poetry on sacred themes expounded to him by more learned brethren. Only the nine-line original dream hymn can be confi¬ dently attributed to him, but it set the pattern for almost all of Anglo- Saxon religious verse.
Caen Vka n \ City (pop., 1999: 113,987), northwestern France. Situated on the Orne River, it was the capital of lower Normandy in the 11th cen-
Incised redware cat effigy bowl, Cad¬ doan from Louisiana; in the Museum of the American Indian, Heye Foundation, New York City
COURTESY OF THE NATIONAL MUSEUM OF THE AMERICAN INDIAN, NEW YORK CITY
© 2006 Encyclopaedia Britannica, Inc.
Caere ► Cagney I 309
tury. The English took it in 1346 and 1417 and held it until 1450. It suf¬ fered in the Wars of Religion and fell to the Protestants in 1562. During the French Revolution it was a centre for the Girondin movement. The city was severely damaged in the Allied Normandy Campaign (1944), but it was rebuilt. Notable structures include the 11th-century abbey and the university. Caen is a transportation centre and manufactures automobiles and electrical equipment.
Caere \'k!-ra\ Ancient city, Etruria. Located northwest of Rome near the modern city of Ceveteri, it was an important trading centre. Brought under Roman control in 253 bc, it prospered as part of the empire but declined in later centuries. The derived Latin word caeremonium (source of English ceremony) reflects the Etruscan fascination with divina¬ tion and prophecy. Tomb chambers have yielded gold and silver objects, which show an Orientalizing ten¬ dency in the Etruscan art of the 7th century bc.
CaernarfonVklr-'nar-vo^kar-'nar- von\ Town (pop., 2001: 9,611), administrative centre of Gwynedd county and county seat of the historic county of Caernarvonshire, Wales.
Located near the west end of the Menai Strait, it was the site of a Roman fort, Segontium, built c. ad 75. After the Roman withdrawal (c.
380-390), it was the seat of local chieftains. The township was completely transformed by Edward I after his conquest of Wales in 1282-83. The imposing castle he built (birthplace of his son Edward II) has been pre¬ served, and since 1911 it has been the site of the investiture of the prince of Wales.
Caesar, Irving orig. Isidor Caesar (b. July 4, 1895, New York, N.Y., U.S.—d. Dec. 18, 1996, New York City) U.S. lyricist. Caesar worked with Henry Ford during World War I before turning to songwrit¬ ing. Working with various collaborators, he provided the lyrics for such standards as “Swanee,” “Sometimes I’m Happy,” “Crazy Rhythm,” and “Tea for Two,” one of the most frequently recorded tunes ever written.
Caesar, (Gaius) Julius (b. July 12/13, 100, Rome—d. March 15, 44 bc, Rome) Celebrated Roman general, statesman, and dictator. A patrician by birth, he held the prominent posts of quaestor and praetor before becoming governor of Farther Spain in 61-60. He formed the First Tri¬ umvirate with Pompey and Marcus Licinius Crassus in 60 and was elected consul in 59 and proconsul in Gaul and Illyria in 58. After conducting the Gallic Wars, during which he invaded Britain (55, 54) and crossed the Rhine (55, 53), he was instructed by the Senate to lay down his com¬ mand, Senate conservatives having grown wary of his increasing power, as had a suspicious Pompey. When the Senate would not command Pompey to give up his command simultaneously, Caesar, against regula¬ tions, led his forces across the Rubicon River (49) between Gaul and Italy, precipitating the Roman Civil War. Pompey fled from Italy but was pur¬ sued and defeated by Caesar in 48; he then fled to Egypt, where he was murdered. Having followed Pompey to Egypt, Caesar became lover to Cleopatra and supported her militarily. He defeated Pompey’s last sup¬ porters in 46-45. He was named dictator for life by the Romans. He was offered the crown (44) but refused it, knowing the Romans’ dislike for kings. He was in the midst of launching a series of political and social reforms when he was assassinated in the Senate House on the ides of March by conspirators led by Cassius and Brutus. His writings on the Gal¬ lic and Civil wars are considered models of classical historiography.
Caesar, Sid (b. Sept. 8, 1922, Yonkers, N.Y., U.S.) U.S. comedian. He began his career as a band musician but switched to comedy. Noted for his pantomime skills and his ability to mimic foreign languages at high speed, he performed comic routines in live television shows and costarred with Imogene Coca (1908-2001) and Carl Reiner in the popular comedy variety program Your Show of Shows (1950-54). He created his own Cae¬ sar’s Hour (1954-57) and later appeared in television specials.
Caesar Augustus See Caesar Augustus
Caesarea V.se-zo-'re-oX modern Horbat Qesari Vk6r-bat-'ka-sa-re\ Ancient seaport, Palestine. Located on the coast of present-day Israel south of the city of Haifa, it was originally a Phoenician settlement. Taken by the Romans and rebuilt in the 1st century bc by Herod the Great, it was renamed for his patron Augustus. The capital of the Roman province of Judaea in ad 6, it was the site of an early Christian church and was often visited by St. Paul. It later declined under Byzantine and Arab rule and was destroyed by the Mamluk sultan Baybars I in the 13th century.
caesaropapism X.se-zo-ro-'pa-.pi-zomX Political system in which the head of the state is also the head of the church and supreme judge in reli¬ gious matters. It is often associated with the Byzantine Empire, where emperors presided over church councils and appointed patriarchs. The term has also been applied to other historical eras, including the rule of Tsar Peter I, who made the Russian Orthodox Church a department of the state, and the reign of Henry VIII in England.