Chapter 12

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Bibliography.—1.General Authorities:—C. Texier,Asie Mineure(1843); P. Tchihatcheff,Asie Mineure(1853-1860); C. Ritter,Erdkunde, vols. xviii. xix. (1858-1859); W.J. Hamilton,Researches in Asia Minor(1843); E. Reclus.Nouv. Géog. Univ.vol. ix. (1884); V. Cuinet,La Turquie d’Asie(1890); W.M. Ramsay,Hist. Geog. of A. M.(1890); Murray’sHandbook for A. M. &c., ed. by Sir C. Wilson (1895). ForGeologysee Tchihatcheff,Asie Mineure, Géologie(Paris, 1867-1869); Schaffer,Cilicia, Peterm. Mitt. Ergänzungsheft, 141 (1903); Philippson,Sitz. k. preuss. Akad. Wiss.(1903), pp. 112-124; English,Quart. Journ. Geol. Soc.(London, 1904), pp. 243-295; see also Suess,Das Antlitz der Erde, vol. iii. pp. 402-412, and the accompanying references.2. A.Western Asia Minor.—J. Spon and G. Wheler,Voyage du Levant(1679); P. de Tournefort,Voyage du Levant(1718); F. Beaufort,Ionian Antiquities(1811); R. Chandler,Travels(1817); W.M. Leake,Journal of a Tour in A. M.(1820); F.V.J. Arundell,Visit to the Seven Churches(1828), andDiscoveries, &c.(1834); C. Fellows,Excursion in A. M.(1839); C.T. Newton,Travels(1867), andDiscoveries at Halicarnassus, &c.(1863); Dilettanti Society,Ionian Antiquities(1769-1840); J.R.S. Sterrett,Epigr. JourneyandWolfe Exped.(Papers, Amer. Arch. Inst. ii. iii.) (1888); J.H. Skene,Anadol(1853); G. Radet,Lydie(1893); O. Rayet and A. Thomas,Milet et le Golfe Latmique(1872); K. Buresch,Aus Lydien(1898); W.M. Ramsay,Cities and Bishoprics of Phrygia(1895), andImpressions of Turkey(1898).B.Eastern Asia Minor.—W.F. Ainsworth,Travels in A. M.(1842); G. Perrot and E. Guillaume,Expl. arch, de la Galatie(1862-1872); E.J. Davis,Anatolica(1874); H.F. Tozer,Turkish Armenia(1881); H.J. v. Lennep,Travels(1870); D.G. Hogarth,Wandering Scholar(1896); Lord Warkworth,Notes of a Diary, &c.(1898); E. Sarre,Reise(1896); D.G. Hogarth and J.A.R. Munro,Mod. and Anc. Roads(R.G.S. Supp. Papers iii.) (1893); H.C. Barkley,A Ride through A. M. and Armenia(1891); M. Sykes,Dar ul-Islam(1904); E. Chantre,Mission en Cappadocie(1898).C.Southern Asia Minor.—F. Beaufort,Karamania(1817); C. Fellows,Discoveries in Lycia(1841); T.A.B. Spratt and E. Forbes,Travels in Lycia(1847); V. Langlois,Voy. dans la Cilicie(1861); E.J. Davis,Life in Asiatic Turkey(1879); O. Benndorf and E. Niemann,Lykien(1884); C. Lanckoronski,Villes de la Pamphylie et de la Pisidie(1890); F. v. Luschan,Reisen in S.W. Kleinasien(1888); E. Petersen and F. v. Luschan,Lykien(1889); K. Humann and O. Puchstein,Reisen in Kleinasien und Nordsyrien(1890).D.Northern Asia Minor.—J.M. Kinneir,Journey through A. M.(1818); J.G.C. Anderson and F. Cumont,Studia Pontica(1903); E. Naumann,Vom Goldenen Horn, &c.(1893).See also G. Perrot and C. Chipiez,Hist. de l’art dans l’antiquité, vols. iv. v. (1886-1890); J. Strzygowski,Kleinasien, &c.(1903). Also numerous articles in all leading archaeological periodicals, theGeographical Journal,Deutsche Rundschau,Petermann’s Geog. Mitteilungen, &c. &c.3.Maps.—H. Kiepert,Nouv. carte gén. des prov. asiat. de l’Emp. ottoman(1894), andSpezialkarte v. Westkleinasien(1890); W. von Diest,Karte des Nordwestkleinasien(1901); R. Kiepert,Karte von Kleinasien(1901); E. Friederich,Handels- und Produktenkarte von Kleinasien(1898); J.G.C. Anderson,Asia Minor(Murray’s Handy Class. Maps) (1903).

2. A.Western Asia Minor.—J. Spon and G. Wheler,Voyage du Levant(1679); P. de Tournefort,Voyage du Levant(1718); F. Beaufort,Ionian Antiquities(1811); R. Chandler,Travels(1817); W.M. Leake,Journal of a Tour in A. M.(1820); F.V.J. Arundell,Visit to the Seven Churches(1828), andDiscoveries, &c.(1834); C. Fellows,Excursion in A. M.(1839); C.T. Newton,Travels(1867), andDiscoveries at Halicarnassus, &c.(1863); Dilettanti Society,Ionian Antiquities(1769-1840); J.R.S. Sterrett,Epigr. JourneyandWolfe Exped.(Papers, Amer. Arch. Inst. ii. iii.) (1888); J.H. Skene,Anadol(1853); G. Radet,Lydie(1893); O. Rayet and A. Thomas,Milet et le Golfe Latmique(1872); K. Buresch,Aus Lydien(1898); W.M. Ramsay,Cities and Bishoprics of Phrygia(1895), andImpressions of Turkey(1898).

B.Eastern Asia Minor.—W.F. Ainsworth,Travels in A. M.(1842); G. Perrot and E. Guillaume,Expl. arch, de la Galatie(1862-1872); E.J. Davis,Anatolica(1874); H.F. Tozer,Turkish Armenia(1881); H.J. v. Lennep,Travels(1870); D.G. Hogarth,Wandering Scholar(1896); Lord Warkworth,Notes of a Diary, &c.(1898); E. Sarre,Reise(1896); D.G. Hogarth and J.A.R. Munro,Mod. and Anc. Roads(R.G.S. Supp. Papers iii.) (1893); H.C. Barkley,A Ride through A. M. and Armenia(1891); M. Sykes,Dar ul-Islam(1904); E. Chantre,Mission en Cappadocie(1898).

C.Southern Asia Minor.—F. Beaufort,Karamania(1817); C. Fellows,Discoveries in Lycia(1841); T.A.B. Spratt and E. Forbes,Travels in Lycia(1847); V. Langlois,Voy. dans la Cilicie(1861); E.J. Davis,Life in Asiatic Turkey(1879); O. Benndorf and E. Niemann,Lykien(1884); C. Lanckoronski,Villes de la Pamphylie et de la Pisidie(1890); F. v. Luschan,Reisen in S.W. Kleinasien(1888); E. Petersen and F. v. Luschan,Lykien(1889); K. Humann and O. Puchstein,Reisen in Kleinasien und Nordsyrien(1890).

D.Northern Asia Minor.—J.M. Kinneir,Journey through A. M.(1818); J.G.C. Anderson and F. Cumont,Studia Pontica(1903); E. Naumann,Vom Goldenen Horn, &c.(1893).

See also G. Perrot and C. Chipiez,Hist. de l’art dans l’antiquité, vols. iv. v. (1886-1890); J. Strzygowski,Kleinasien, &c.(1903). Also numerous articles in all leading archaeological periodicals, theGeographical Journal,Deutsche Rundschau,Petermann’s Geog. Mitteilungen, &c. &c.

3.Maps.—H. Kiepert,Nouv. carte gén. des prov. asiat. de l’Emp. ottoman(1894), andSpezialkarte v. Westkleinasien(1890); W. von Diest,Karte des Nordwestkleinasien(1901); R. Kiepert,Karte von Kleinasien(1901); E. Friederich,Handels- und Produktenkarte von Kleinasien(1898); J.G.C. Anderson,Asia Minor(Murray’s Handy Class. Maps) (1903).

(C. W. W.; D. G. H.)

1The people, Moslem and Christian, are physically one and appear to be closely related to the modern Armenians. This relationship is noticeable in other districts, and the whole original population of Asia Minor has been characterized as Proto-Armenian or Armenoid.

ASIENTO,orAssiento(from the verbasentar, to place, or establish), a Spanish word meaning a farm of the taxes, or contract. The farmer or contractor is called anasentista. The word acquired a considerable notoriety in English and American history, on account of the “Asiento Treaty” of 1713. Until 1702 the Spanish government had given the contract for the supply of negroes to its colonies in America to the Genoese. But after the establishment of the Bourbon dynasty in 1700, a French company was formed which received the exclusive privilege of the Spanish-American slave trade for ten years—from September 1702 to 1712. When the peace of Utrecht was signed the British government insisted that the monopoly should be given to its own subjects. By the terms of the Asiento treaty signed on the 16th of March 1713, it was provided that British subjects should be authorized to introduce 144,000 slaves in the course of thirty years, at the rate of 4800 per annum. The privilege was to expire on the 1st of May 1743. British subjects were also authorized to send one ship of 500 tons per annum, laden with manufactured goods, to the fairs of Porto Bello and La Vera Cruz. Import duties were to be paid for the slaves and goods. This privilege was conveyed by the British government to the South Sea Company, formed to work it. The privilege, to which an exaggerated value was attached, formed the solid basis of the notorious fit of speculative fever called the South Sea Bubble. Until 1739 the trade in blacks went on without interruption, but amid increasingly angry disputes between the Spanish and the British governments. The right to send a single trading ship to the fairs of Porto Bello or La Vera Cruz was abused. Under pretence of renewing her provisions she was followed by tenders which in fact carried goods. Thus there arose what was in fact a vast contraband trade. The Spanish government established a service of revenue boats (guarda costas) which insisted on searching all English vessels approaching the shores of the Spanish colonies. There can be no doubt that the smugglers were guilty of many piratical excesses, and that theguarda costasoften acted with violence on mere suspicion. After many disputes, in which the claims of the British government were met by Spanish counterclaims, war ensued in 1739. When peace was made at Aix-la-Chapelle in 1748 Spain undertook to allow the asiento to be renewed for the four years which were to run when war broke out in 1739. But the renewal for so short a period was not considered advantageous, and by the treaty of El Retiro of 1750, the British government agreed to the recession of the Asiento treaty altogether on the payment by Spain of £100,000.

A very convenient account of the Asiento Treaty, and of the trade which arose under it, will be found in Malachy Postlethwayt’sUniversal Dictionary of Trade and Commerce(London, 1751),s.v.

ASIR,a district in western Arabia, lying between 17° 30′ and 21° N., and 40° 30′ and 45° E.; bounded N. by Hejaz, E. by Nejd, S. by Yemen and W. by the Red Sea. Like Yemen, it consists of a lowland zone some 20 or 30 m. in width along the coast, and of a mountainous tract, falling steeply on the west and merging into a highland plateau which slopes gradually to the N.E. towards the Nejd steppes. Its length along the coast is about 230 m., and its breadth from the coast to El Besha about 180. The lowland, or Tehama, is hot and barren; the principal places in it are Kanfuda, the chief port of the district, Marsa Hali and El Itwad, smaller ports farther south. The mountainous tract has probably an average altitude of between 6000 and 7000 ft., with a temperate climate and regular rainfall, and is fertile and populous. The valleys are well watered and produce excellent crops of cereals and dates. The best-known are the Wadi Taraba and the W. Besha, both running north-east towards the W. Dawasir in Nejd. Taraba, according to John Lewis Burckhardt, is a considerable town, surrounded by palm groves and gardens, and watered by numerous rivulets, and tamous for its long resistance to Mehemet Ali’s forces in 1815. Five or six days’ journey to the south-east is the district of Besha, the most important position between Sana and Taif. Here Mehemet Ali’s army, amounting to 12,000 men, found sufficient provisions to supply it during a fortnight’s halt. The Wadi Besha is a broad valley abounding with streams containing numerous hamlets scattered over a tract some six or eight hours’ journey in length. Its principal affluent, the W. Shahran, rises 120 m. to the south and runs through the fertile district of Khamis Mishet, the highest in Asir. The Zahran district lies four days west of Besha on the crest of the main range: the principal place is Makhwa, a large town and market, from which grain is exported in considerable quantities to Mecca. Farther south is the district of Shamran. Throughout the mountainous country the valleys are well watered and cultivated, with fortified villages perched on the surrounding heights. Juniper forests are said to exist on the higher mountains. Three or four days’ journey east and south-east of Besha are the encampments of the Bani Kahtan, one of the most ancient tribes of Arabia; their pastures extend into the adjoining district of Nejd, where they breed camels in large numbers, as well as a few horses.

The inhabitants are a brave and warlike race of mountaineers, and aided by the natural strength of their country they havehitherto preserved their independence. Since the beginning of the 19th century they have been bigoted Wahhabis, though previously regarded by their neighbours as very lax Mahommedans; during Mehemet Ali’s occupation of Nejd their constant raids on the Egyptian communications compelled him to send several punitive expeditions into the district, which, however, met with little success. Since the reconquest of Yemen by the Turks, they have made repeated attempts to subjugate Asir, but beyond occupying Kanfuda, and holding one or two isolated points in the interior, of which Ibha and Manadir are the principal, they have effected nothing.

The chief sources of information regarding Asir are the notes made by J.L. Burckhardt at Taif in 1814 and those of the French officers with the Egyptian expeditions into the country from 1814 to 1837. No part of Arabia would better repay exploration.

Authorities.—J.L. Burckhardt,Travels in Arabia(London, 1829); F. Mengin,Histoire de l’Égypte, &c. (Paris, 1823); M.O. Tamisier,Voyage en Arabie(Paris, 1840).

(R. A. W.)

ASISIUM(mod.Assisi), an ancient town of Umbria, in a lofty situation about 15 m. E.S.E. of Perusia. As an independent community it had already begun to use Latin as well as Umbrian in its inscriptions (for one of these recording the chief magistrates—marones—seeC.I.L.xi. 5390). It became amunicipiumin 90B.C., but, though numerous inscriptions (C.I.L.xi. 5371-5606) testify to its importance in the Imperial period, it is hardly mentioned by our classical authorities. Scanty traces of the ancient city walls may be seen; within the town the best-preserved building is the so-called temple of Minerva, with six Corinthian columns of travertine, now converted into a church, erected by Gaius and Titus Caesius in the Augustan era. It fronted on to the ancient forum, part of the pavement of which, with a base for the equestrian statues of Castor and Pollux (as the inscription upon it records) has been laid bare beneath the present Piazza Vittorio Emanuele. The remains of the amphitheatre, inopus reticulatum, may be seen in the north-east corner of the town; and other ancient buildings have been discovered. Asisium was probably the birthplace of Propertius.

(T. As.)

ASKABAD,orAskhabad, a town of Russian central Asia, capital of the Transcaspian province, 345 m. by rail S.E. of Krasnovodsk and 594 from Samarkand, situated in a small oasis at the N. foot of the Kopet-dagh range. It has a public library and a technical railway school; also cotton-cleaning works, tanneries, brick-works, and a mineral-water factory. The trade is valued at £250,000 a year. The population, 2500 in 1881, when the Russians seized it, was 19,428 in 1897, one-third Persians, many of them belonging to the Babi sect.

ASKAULES(Gr.ἀσκαύλης[?] fromἀσκός, bag,αὐλός, pipe), probably the Greek word for bag-piper, although there is no documentary authority for its use. Neither it norἄσκαυλος(which would naturally mean the bag-pipe) has been found in Greek classical authors, though J.J. Reiske—in a note on Dio Chrysostom,Orat.lxxi.ad fin., where an unmistakable description of the bag-pipe occurs (“and they say that he is skilled to write, to work as an artist, and to play the pipe with his mouth, on the bag placed under his arm-pits”)—says thatἀσκαύληςwas the Greek word for bag-piper. The only actual corroboration of this is the use ofascaulesfor the pure Latinutriculariusin Martial x. 3. 8. Dio Chrysostom flourished aboutA.D.100; it is therefore only an assumption that the bag-pipe was known to the classical Greeks by the name ofἄσκαυλος. It need not, however, be a matter of surprise that among the highly cultured Greeks such an instrument as the bag-pipe should exist without finding a place in literature. It is significant that it is not mentioned by Pollux (Onomast.iv. 74) and Athenaeus (Deipnos.iv. 76) in their lists of the various kinds of pipes.

See articlesAulosandBag-pipe; art. “Askaules” in Pauly-Wissowa,Realencyclopadie.

ASKE, ROBERT(d. 1537), English rebel, was a country gentleman who belonged to an ancient family long settled in Yorkshire, his mother being a daughter of John, Lord Clifford. When in 1536 the insurrection called the “Pilgrimage of Grace” broke out in Yorkshire, Aske was made leader; and marching with the banner of St Cuthbert and with the badge of the “five wounds,” he occupied York on the 16th of October and on the 20th captured Pontefract Castle, with Lord Darcy and the archbishop of York, who took the oath of the rebels. He caused the monks and nuns to be reinstated, and refused to allow the king’s herald to read the royal proclamation, announcing his intention of marching to London to declare the grievances of the commons to the sovereign himself, secure the expulsion of counsellors of low birth, and obtain restitution for the church. The whole country was soon in the hands of the rebels, a military organization with posts from Newcastle to Hull was established, and Hull was provided with cannon. Subsequently Aske, followed by 30,000 or 40,000 men, proceeded towards Doncaster, where lay the duke of Norfolk with the royal forces, which, inferior in numbers, would probably have been overwhelmed had not Aske persuaded his followers to accept the king’s pardon, and the promise of a parliament at York and to disband. Soon afterwards he received a letter from the king desiring him to come secretly to London to inform him of the causes of the rebellion. Aske went under the guarantee of a safe-conduct and was well received by Henry. He put in writing a full account of the rising and of his own share in it; and, fully persuaded of the king’s good intentions, returned home on the 8th of January 1537, bringing with him promises of a visit from the king to Yorkshire, of the holding of a parliament at York, and of free elections. Shortly afterwards he wrote to the king warning him of the still unquiet state not only of the north but of the midlands, and stating his fear that more bloodshed was impending. The same month he received the king’s thanks for his action in pacifying Sir Francis Bigod’s rising. But his position was now a difficult and a perilous one, and a few weeks later the attitude of the government towards him was suddenly changed. The new rising had given the court an excuse for breaking off the treaty and sending another army under Norfolk into Yorkshire. Possibly in these fresh circumstances Aske may have given cause for further suspicions of his loyalty, and in his last confession he acknowledged that communications to obtain aid had been opened with the imperial ambassador and were contemplated with Flanders. But it is more probable that the government had from the first treacherously affected to treat him with confidence to secure the secrets of the rebels and to effect his destruction. In March Norfolk congratulated Cromwell on the successful accomplishment of his task, having persuaded Aske to go to London on false assurances of security. He was arrested in April, tried before a commission at Westminster, and sentenced to death for high treason on the 17th of May; and on the 28th of June he was taken back to Yorkshire, being paraded in the towns and country through which he passed. He was hanged at York in July, expressing repentance for breaking the king’s laws, but declaring that he had promise of pardon both from Cromwell and from Henry. It is related that his servant, Robert Wall, died of grief at the thought of his master’s approaching execution. Aske was a real leader, who gained the affection and confidence of his followers; and his sudden rise to greatness and his choice by the people point to abilities that have not been recorded.

SeeHenry VIII. and the English Monasteries, by F.A. Gasquet (1906);Letters and Papers of the Reign of Henry VIII., vols. xi. and xii.;English Histor. Review, v. 330, 550 (account of the rebellion, examination and answers to interrogations);Chronicle of Henry VIII., tr. by M.A.S. Hume (1889); Whitaker’sRichmondshire, i. 116 (pedigree of the Askes).

ASKEW,orAscue,ANNE(1521?-1546), English Protestant martyr, born at Stallingborough about 1521, was the second daughter of Sir William Askew (d. 1540) of South Kelsey, Lincoln, by his first wife Elizabeth, daughter of Thomas Wrottesley. Her elder sister, Martha, was betrothed by her parents to Thomas Kyme, a Lincolnshire justice of the peace, but she died before marriage, and Anne was induced or compelled to take her place. She is said to have had two children by Kyme, but religious differences and incompatibility of temperament soon estranged the couple. Kyme was apparently an unimaginative man of the world, while Anne took to Bible-reading with zeal, became convinced of the falsity of the doctrineof transubstantiation, and created some stir in Lincoln by her disputations. According to Bale and Foxe her husband turned her out of doors, but in the privy council register she is said to have “refused Kyme to be her husband without any honest allegation.” She had as good a reason for repudiating her husband as Henry VIII. for repudiating Anne of Cleves. In any case, she came to London and made friends with Joan Bocher, who was already known for heterodoxy, and other Protestants. She was examined for heresy in March 1545 by the lord mayor, and was committed to the Counter prison. Then she was examined by Bonner, the bishop of London, who drew up a form of recantation which he entered in his register. This fact led Parsons and other Catholic historians to state that she actually recanted but she refused to sign Bonner’s form without qualification. Two months later, on the 24th of May, the privy council ordered her arrest. On the 13th of June 1545, she was arraigned as a sacramentarian under the Six Articles at the Guildhall; but no witness appeared against her; she was declared not guilty by the jury and discharged after paying her fees.

The reactionary party, which, owing to the absence of Hertford and Lisle and to the presence of Gardiner, gained the upper hand in the council in the summer of 1546, were not satisfied with this repulse; they probably aimed at the leaders of the reforming party, such as Hertford and possibly Queen Catherine Parr, who were suspected of favouring Anne, and on the 18th of June 1546 Anne was again arraigned before a commission including the lord mayor, the duke of Norfolk, St John, Bonner and Heath. No jury was empanelled and no witnesses were called; she was condemned, simply on her confession, to be burnt. On the same day she was called before the privy council with her husband. Kyme was sent home into Lincolnshire, but Anne was committed to Newgate, “for that she was very obstinate and heady in reasoning of matters of religion.” On the following day she was taken to the Tower and racked; according to Anne’s own statement, as recorded by Bale, the lord chancellor, Wriothesley, and the solicitor-general, Rich, worked the rack themselves; but she “would not convert for all the pain” (Wriothesley,Chroniclei. 168). Her torture, disputed by Jardine, Lingard and others, is substantiated not only by her own narrative, but by two contemporary chronicles, and by a contemporary letter (ibid.;Narratives of the Reformation, p. 305; Ellis,Original Letters, 2nd Ser. ii. 177). For four weeks she was left in prison, and at length on the 16th of July, she was burnt at Smithfield in the presence of the same persecuting dignitaries who had condemned her to death.

Authorities.—Bale’s two tracts, printed at Marburg in November 1546 and January 1547, are the basis of Foxe’s account. See alsoActs of the Privy Council(1542-1547), pp. 424-462; Wriothesley’sChron.i. 155, 167-169;Narratives of the Reformation, passim; Gough’sIndex to Parker Soc. Publications; Burnet’sHist. of the Reformation; Dixon’sHist. of the Church of England;Dict. Nat. Biogr.

(A. F. P.)

AṢMA‘Ī[Abū Sa‘īd ‘Abd ul-Malik ibn Quraib] (c.739-831), Arabian scholar, was born of pure Arab stock in Basra and was a pupil there of Abū ‘Amr ibn ul-‘Alā. He seems to have been a poor man until by the influence of the governor of Basra he was brought to the notice of Harūn al-Rashīd, who enjoyed his conversation at court and made him tutor of his son. He became wealthy and acquired property in Basra, where he again settled for a time; but returned later to Bagdad, where he died in 831. Aṣma‘ī was one of the greatest scholars of his age. From his youth he stored up in his memory the sacred words of the Koran, the traditions of the Prophet, the verses of the old poets and the stories of the ancient wars of the Arabs. He was also a student of language and a critic. It was as a critic that he was the great rival of Abū ‘Ubaida (q.v.). While the latter followed (or led) the Shu‘ūbite movement and declared for the excellence of all things not Arabian, Aṣma‘ī was the pious Moslem and avowed supporter of the superiority of the Arabs over all peoples, and of the freedom of their language and literature from all foreign influence. Some of his scholars attained high rank as literary men. Of Aṣma‘ī’s many works mentioned in the catalogue known as theFihrist, only about half a dozen are extant. Of these theBook of Distinctionhas been edited by D.H. Müller (Vienna, 1876); theBook of the Wild Animalsby R. Geyer (Vienna, 1887); theBook of the Horse, by A. Haffner (Vienna, 1895); theBook of the Sheep, by A. Haffner (Vienna, 1896).

For life of Aṣma‘ī, see Ibn Khallikān,Biographical Dictionary, translated from the Arabic by McG. de Slane (Paris and London, 1842), vol. ii. pp. 123-127. For his work as a grammarian, G. Flügel,Die grammatischen Schulen der Araber(Leipzig, 1862), pp. 72-80.

(G. W. T.)

ASMARA,the capital of the Italian colony of Eritrea, N.E. Africa. It is built on the Hamasen plateau, near its eastern edge, at an elevation of 7800 ft., and is some 40 m. W.S.W. in a direct line of the seaport of Massawa. Pop. (1904) about 9000, including the garrison of 300 Italian soldiers, and some 1000 native troops. The European civil population numbers over 500; the rest of the inhabitants are chiefly Abyssinians. There is a small Mahommedan colony. The town is strongly fortified. The European quarter contains several fine public buildings, including the residence of the governor, club house, barracks and hospital. Fort Baldissera is built on a hill to the south-west of the town and is considered impregnable.

Asmara, an Amharic word signifying “good pasture place,” is a town of considerable antiquity. It was included in the maritime province of northern Abyssinia, which was governed by a viceroy who bore the title of Bahar-nagash (ruler of the sea). By the Abyssinians the Hamasen plateau was known as the plain of the thousand villages. Asmara appears to have been one of the most prosperous of these villages, and to have attained commercial importance through being on the high road from Axum to Massawa. When Werner Munzinger (q.v.) became French consul at Massawa, he entered into a scheme for annexing the Hamasen (of which Asmara was then the capital) to France, but the outbreak of the war with Germany in 1870 brought the project to nought (cf. A.B. Wylde,Modern Abyssinia, 1901). In 1872 Munzinger, now in Egyptian service, annexed Asmara to the khedivial dominions, but in 1884, owing to the rise of the mahdi, Egypt evacuated her Abyssinian provinces and Asmara was chosen by Ras Alula, the representative of the negus Johannes (King John), as his headquarters. Shortly afterwards the Italians occupied Massawa, and in 1889 Asmara (seeAbyssinia:History). In 1900 the seat of government was transferred from Massawa to Asmara, which in its modern form is the creation of the Italians. It is surrounded by rich agricultural lands, cultivated in part by Italian immigrants, and is a busy trading centre. A railway from Massawa to Asmara was completed as far as Ghinda, at the foot of the plateau, in 1904. At Medrizien, 6 m. north of Asmara, are gold-mines which have been partially worked.

See G. Dainelli,In Africa. Lettere dall’ Eritrea(Bergamo, 1908); R. Perini,Di qua dal Mareb(Florence, 1905).

ASMODEUS,orAshmedai, an evil demon who appears in later Jewish tradition as “king of demons.” He is sometimes identified with Beelzebub or Apollyon (Rev. ix. 11). In the Talmud he plays a great part in the legends concerning Solomon. In the apocryphal book of Tobit (iii. 8) occurs the well-known story of his love for Sara, the beautiful daughter of Raguel, whose seven husbands were slain in succession by him on their respective bridal nights. At last Tobias, by burning the heart and liver of a fish, drove off the demon, who fled to Egypt. From the part played by Asmodeus in this story, he has been often familiarly called the genius of matrimonial unhappiness or jealousy, and as such may be compared with Lilith. Le Sage makes him the principal character in his novelLe Diable boiteux. Both the word and the conception seem to have been derived originally from the Persian. The name has been taken to mean “covetous.” It is in any case no doubt identical with the demon Aeshma of the Zend-Avesta and the Pahlavi texts. But the meaning is not certain. It is generally agreed that the second part of the name Asmodeus is the same as the Zenddaēwa, dēw, “demon.” The first part may be equivalent to Aeshma, the impersonation of anger. But W. Baudissin (Herzog-Hauck,Realencyklopädie) prefers to derive it fromish, to drive, set in motion; whenceish-mīn, driving, impetuous.

The legend of Asmodeus is given fully in theJewish Encyclopaedia, s.v. See also the articles in theEncyclopaedia Biblica, Hastings’Dictionary of the Bible, and Herzog-Hauck,Realencyklopädie.

ASMONEUS,orAsamonaeus(so Josephus), great-grandfather of Mattathias, the father of Judas Maccabaeus. Nothing more is known of him, and the name is only given by Josephus (not in 1 Macc. ii. 1). But the dynasty was known to Josephus and the Mishna (once) as “the sons (race) of the Asamonaeans (of A.)”; and the Targum of 1 Sam. ii. 4 has “the house of the Hashmoneans who were weak, signs were wrought for them and strength.” If not the founder, Asmoneus was probably the home of the family (cf. Heshmon, Jos. xv. 27).

See Schurer,Geschichte des jüdischen Volkes, i. 248 N; art. “Maccabees,” § 2, inEncy. Biblica.

(J. H. A. H.)

ASNIÈRES,a town of northern France, in the department of Seine, on the left bank of the Seine, about 1½ m. N.N.W. of the fortifications of Paris. Pop. (1906) 35,883. The town, which has grown rapidly in recent years, is a favourite boating centre for the Parisians. The industries include boat-building and the manufacture of colours and perfumery.

ASOKA,a famous Buddhist emperor of India who reigned from 264 to 228 or 227B.C.Thirty-five of his inscriptions on rocks or pillars or in caves still exist (seeInscriptions:Indian), and they are among the most remarkable and interesting of Buddhist monuments (seeBuddhism). Asoka was the grandson of Chandragupta, the founder of the Maurya (Peacock) dynasty, who had wrested the Indian provinces of Alexander the Great from the hands of Seleucus, and he was the son of Bindusāra, who succeeded his father Chandragupta, by a lady from Champā. The Greeks do not mention him and the Brahmin books ignore him, but the Buddhist chronicles and legends tell us much about him. The inscriptions, which contain altogether about five thousand words, are entirely of religious import, and their references to worldly affairs are incidental. They begin in the thirteenth year of his reign, and tell us that in the ninth year he had invaded Kalinga, and had been so deeply impressed by the horrors involved in warfare that he had then given up the desire for conquest, and devoted himself to conquest by “religion.” What the religion was is explained in the edicts. It is purely ethical, independent alike of theology and ritual, and is the code of morals as laid down in the Buddhist sacred books for laymen. He further tells us that in the ninth year of his reign he formally joined the Buddhist community as a layman, in the eleventh year he became a member of the order, and in the thirteenth he “set out for the Great Wisdom” (theSambodhi), which is the Buddhist technical term for entering upon the well-known, eightfold path to Nirvana. One of the edicts is addressed to the order, and urges upon its members and the laity alike the learning and rehearsal of passages from the Buddhist scriptures. Two others are proclamations commemorating visits paid by the king, one to the dome erected over the ashes of Konāgamana, the Buddha, another to the birthplace of Gotama, the Buddha (q.v.). Three very short ones are dedications of caves to the use of an order of recluses. The rest either enunciate the religion as explained above, or describe the means adopted by the king for propagating it, or acting in accordance with it. These means are such as the digging of wells, planting medicinal herbs, and trees for shade, sending out of missionaries, appointment of special officers to supervise charities, and so on. The missionaries were sent to Kashmir, to the Himalayas, to the border lands on the Indus, to the coast of Burma, to south India and to Ceylon. And the king claims that missions sent by him to certain Greek kingdoms that he names had resulted in the folk there conforming themselves to his religion. The extent of Asoka’s dominion included all India from the thirteenth degree of latitude up to the Himalayas, Nepal, Kashmir, the Swat valley, Afghanistan as far as the Hindu Kush, Sind and Baluchistan. It was thus as large as, or perhaps somewhat larger than, British India before the conquest of Burma. He was undoubtedly the most powerful sovereign of his time and the most remarkable and imposing of the native rulers of India. “If a man’s fame,” says Köppen, “can be measured by the number of hearts who revere his memory, by the number of lips who have mentioned, and still mention him with honour, Asoka is more famous than Charlemagne or Caesar.” At the same time it is probable that, like Constantine’s patronage of Christianity, his patronage of Buddhism, then the most rising and influential faith in India, was not unalloyed with political motives, and it is certain that his vast benefactions to the Buddhist cause were at least one of the causes that led to its decline.

See alsoAsoka, by Vincent Smith (Oxford, 1901);Inscriptions de Piyadasi, by E. Senart (Paris, 1891); chapters on Asoka in T.W. Rhys Davids’sBuddhism(20th ed., London, 1903), andBuddhist India(London, 1903); V.A. Smith,Edicts of Asoka(1909).

(T. W. R. D.)

ASOLO(anc.Acelum), a town of Venetia, Italy, in the province of Treviso, about 19 m. N.W. direct from the town of Treviso, and some 10 m. E. of Bassanoby road. Pop. (1901) 5847. It is well situated on a hill, 690 ft. above sea-level. Remains of Roman baths and of a theatre have been discovered in the course of excavation (Notizie degli scavi, 1877, 235; 1881, 205; 1882, 289), and the town was probably amunicipium. It became an episcopal see in the 6th century. It was to Asolo that Catherine Cornaro, queen of Cyprus, retired on her abdication. Here she was visited by Pietro Bembo, who conceived here hisDialoghi degli Asolani, and by Andrea Navagero (Naugerius). Paulus Manutius was born here. The village of Maser is 4½ m. to the E., and near it is the Villa Giacomelli, erected by Palladio, containing frescoes by Paolo Veronese, executed in 1566-1568 for Marcantonio Barbaro of Venice, and ranking among his best works.

ASOR(Hebr. for “ten”), an instrument “of ten strings” mentioned in the Bible, about which authors are not agreed. The word occurs only three times in the Bible, and has not been traced elsewhere. In Psalm xxxiii. 2 the reference is to “kinnor, nebel and asor”; in Psalm xcii. 3, to “nebel and asor”; in Psalm cxliv. to “nebel-asor.” In the English versionasoris translated “an instrument of ten strings,” with a marginal note “omit” applied to “instrument.” In the Septuagint, the word being derived from a root signifying “ten,” the Greek isἐν δεκαχορδῷorψαλτήριον δεκάχορδον, in the Vulgatein decachordo psalterio. Each time the wordasoris used it follows the wordnebel(seePsaltery), and probably merely indicates a variant of the nebel, having ten strings instead of the customary twelve assigned to it by Josephus (Antiquities, vii. 12. 3).

See also Mendel and Reissmann,Musikalisches Conversations-Lexikon, vol. i. (Berlin, 1881); Sir John Stainer,The Music of the Bible, pp. 35-37; Forkel,Allgemeine Geschichte der Musik, Bd. i. p. 133 (Leipzig, 1788).

(K. S.)

ASP(Vipera aspis), a species of venomous snake, closely allied to the common adder of Great Britain, which it represents throughout the southern parts of Europe, being specially abundant in the region of the Alps. It differs from the adder in having the head entirely covered with scales, shields being absent, and in having the snout somewhat turned up. The term “Asp”ἀσπίςseems to have been employed by Greek and Roman writers, and by writers generally down to comparatively recent times, to designate more than one species of serpent; thus the asp, by means of which Cleopatra is said to have ended her life, and so avoided the disgrace of entering Rome a captive, is now generally supposed to have been the cerastes, or horned viper (Cerastes cornutus), of northern Africa and Arabia, a snake about 15 in. long, exceedingly venomous, and provided with curious horn-like protuberances over each eye, which give it a decidedly sinister appearance. The snake, however, to which the word “asp” has been most commonly applied is undoubtedly the haje of Egypt, thespy-slangeor spitting snake of the Boers (Naja haje), one of the very poisonousElarinae, from 3 to 4 ft. long, with the skin of its neck loose, so as to render it dilatable at the will of the animal, as in the cobra of India, a species from which it differs only in the absence of the spectacle-like mark on the back of the neck. Like the cobra, also, the haje has its fangs extracted by the jugglers of the country, who afterwards train it to perform various tricks. The asp (Pethen, פתן) is mentioned in various parts of the Old Testament. This name is twice translated “adder,” but as nothing is told of it beyond its poisonous character and the intractability of its disposition, it is impossible accurately to determine the species.

ASPARAGINE,C4H3N2O3, a naturally occurring base, found in plants belonging to the natural orders Leguminosae andCruciferae. It occurs in two optically active forms, namely, as laevo-asparagine and dextro-asparagine. Laevo-asparagine was isolated in 1805 by L.N. Vauquelin. A. Piutti (Gazz. chim. Ital., 1887, 17, p. 126; 1888, 18, p. 457) synthesized the asparagines from the monomethyl ester of inactive aspartic acid by heating it with alcoholic ammonia. In this way a mixture of the two asparagines was obtained, which were separated by picking out the hemihedral crystals.

HOOC·CH·NH2·CH2·COOC2H5+ NH3= C2H5OH + HOOC·CH·NH2·CH2·CONH2.

Laevo-asparagine is slightly soluble in cold water and readily soluble in hot water. It crystallizes in prisms, containing one molecule of water of crystallization, the anhydrous form melting at 234-235° C. Nitrous acid converts it into malic acid, HOOC·CHOH·CH2·COOH. It is laevo-rotatory in aqueous or in alkaline solution, and dextro-rotatory in acid solution (L. Pasteur,Ann. Chim. Phys., 1851 [2], 31, p. 67). Dextro-asparagine was first found in 1886 in the shoots of the vetch (Piutti). It forms rhombic crystals possessing a sweet taste. It is dextro-rotatory in aqueous or alkaline solution, and laevo-rotatory in acid solution.

Hydrolysis by means of acids or alkalis converts the asparagines into aspartic acid; whilst on heating with water in a sealed tube they are converted into ammonium aspartate. The constitution of the asparagines has been determined by A. Piutti (Gazz. chim. Ital., 1888, 18, p. 457).

ASPARAGUS,a genus of plants (nat. ord. Liliaceae) containing more than 100 species, and widely distributed in the temperate and warmer parts of the Old World; it was introduced from Europe into America with the early settlers. The name is derived from the Greekἀσπάραγοςorἀσφάραγος, the origin of which is obscure.Sperageorsparagewas the form in use from the 16th to 18th centuries, cf. the modern Italiansparagio. The vulgar corruptionsparrow-grassorsparagrasswas in accepted popular use during the 18th century, “asparagus” being considered pedantic. The plants have a short, creeping, underground stem from which spring slender, branched, aerial shoots. The leaves are reduced to minute scales bearing in their axils tufts of green, needle-like branches (the so-calledcladodes), which simulate, and perform the functions of, leaves. In one section of the genus, sometimes regarded as a distinct genusMyrsiphyllum, the cladodes are flattened. The plants often climb or scramble, in which they are helped by the development of the scale-leaves into persistent spines. The flowers are small, whitish and pendulous; the fruit is a berry.

Several of the climbing species are grown in greenhouses for their delicate, often feathery branches, which are also valuable for cutting; the South AfricanAsparagus plumosusis an especially elegant species. The so-called smilax, much used for decoration, is a species of theMyrsiphyllumsection,A. medeoloides, also known asMyrsiphyllum asparagoides. The young shoots ofAsparagus officinalishave from very remote times been in high repute as a culinary vegetable, owing to their delicate flavour and diuretic virtues. The plant, which is a native of the north temperate zone of the Old World, grows wild on the south coast of England; and on the waste steppes of Russia it is so abundant that it is eaten by cattle like grass. In common with the marsh-mallow and some other plants, it contains asparagine or aspartic acidamide. The roots of asparagus were formerly used as an aperient medicine, and the fruits were likewise employed as a diuretic. Under the name of Prussian asparagus, the spikes of an allied plant,Ornithogalum pyrenaicum, are used in some places. The diuretic action is extremely feeble, and neither the plant nor asparagine is now used medicinally.

Asparagus is grown extensively in private gardens as well as for market. The asparagus prefers a loose, light, deep, sandy soil; the depth should be 3 ft., the soil being well trenched, and all surplus water got away. A considerable quantity of well-rotted dung or of recent seaweed should be laid in the bottom of the trench, and another top-dressing of manure should be dug in preparatory to planting or sowing. The beds should be 3 ft. or 5 ft. wide, with intervening alleys of 2 ft., the narrower beds taking two rows of plants, the wider ones three rows. The beds should run east and west, so that the sun’s rays may strike against the side of the bed. In some cases the plants are grown in equidistant rows 3 to 4 ft. apart. Where the beds are made with plants already prepared, either one-year-old or two-year-old plants may be used, for which a trench should be cut sufficient to afford room for spreading out the roots, the crowns being all kept at about 2 in. below the surface. Planting is best done in April, after the plants have started into growth. To prevent injury to the roots, it is, however, perhaps the better plan to sow the seeds in the beds where the plants are to remain. To experience the finest flavour of asparagus, it should be eaten immediately after having been gathered; if kept longer than one day, or set into water, its finer flavour is altogether lost. If properly treated, asparagus beds will continue to bear well for many years. The asparagus grown at Argenteuil, near Paris, has acquired much notoriety for its large size and excellent quality. The French growers plant in trenches instead of raised beds. The most common method of forcing asparagus is to prepare, early in the year, a moderate hot-bed of stable litter with a bottom heat of 70°, and to cover it with a common frame. After the heat of fermentation has somewhat subsided, the surface of the bed is covered with a layer of light earth or exhausted tan-bark, and in this the roots of strong mature plants are closely placed. The crowns of the roots are then covered with 3 to 6 in. of soil. A common three-light frame may hold 500 or 600 plants, and will afford a supply for several weeks. After planting, linings are applied when necessary to keep up the heat, but care must be taken not to scorch the roots; air must be occasionally admitted. Where there are pits heated by hot water or by the tank system, they may be advantageously applied to this purpose. A succession of crops must be maintained by annually sowing or planting new beds.

The “asparagus-beetle” is the popular name for two beetles, the “common asparagus beetle” (Crioceris asparagi) and the “twelve-spotted” (C. duodecimpunctata), which feed on the asparagus plant.C. asparagihas been known in Europe since early times, and was introduced into America about 1856; the rarerC. duodecimpunctata(sometimes called the “red” to distinguish it from the “blue” species) was detected in America in 1881. For an admirable account of these pests see F.H. Chittenden,Circular 102 of the U.S. Dep. of Agriculture, Bureau of Entomology, May 1908.

The “asparagus-stone” is a form of apatite, simulating asparagus in colour.

ASPASIA,an Athenian courtesan of the 5th centuryB.C., was born either at Miletus or at Megara, and settled in Athens, where her beauty and her accomplishments gained for her a great reputation. Pericles, who had divorced his wife (445), made her his mistress, and, after the death of his two legitimate sons, procured the passing of a law under which his son by her was recognized as legitimate. It was the fashion, especially among the comic poets, to regard her as the adviser of Pericles in all his political actions, and she is even charged with having caused the Samian and Peloponnesian wars (Aristoph.Acharn. 497). Shortly before the latter war, she was accused of impiety, and nothing but the tears and entreaties of Pericles procured her acquittal. On the death of Pericles she is said to have become the mistress of one Lysicles, whom, though of ignoble birth, she raised to a high position in the state; but, as Lysicles died a year after Pericles (428), the story is unconvincing. She was the chief figure in the dialogueAspasiaby Aeschines the Socratic, in which she was represented as criticizing the manners and training of the women of her time (for an attempted reconstruction of the dialogue see P. Natorp inPhilologus, li. p. 489, 1892); in theMenexenus(generally ascribed to Plato) she is a teacher of rhetoric, the instructress of Socrates and Pericles, and a funeral oration in honour of those Athenians who had given their lives for their country (the authorship of which is attributed to Aspasia) is repeated by Socrates; Xenophon (Oecon.lii. 14) also speaks of her in favourable terms, but she is not mentioned by Thucydides. In opposition to this view, Wilamowitz-Möllendorff(Hermes, xxxv. 1900) regards her simply as a courtesan, whose personality would readily become the subject of rumour, favourable or unfavourable. There is a bust bearing her name in the Pio Clementino Museum in the Vatican.

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