Page:Encyclopædia Britannica, Ninth Edition, v. 1.djvu/305

Rh A G I A G N 283 circumstances, the victory could not be followed up. Henry and his army returned at once by Calais to England, and entered London with a pageant of unprecedented splendour. , The number slain in the battle is variously stated. The loss to the conquerors is generally reckoned at 1600 men, 1 and the French are said to have left 10,000 slain on the field, including the constable, three dukes, five counts, and ninety barons. (See the Histories of Britain ; and Battle of Agincourt, by Sir Harris Nicolas.) AGIO (Ital. aggio, exchange, discount), a term used in commerce to denote the difference between the real and the nominal value of money. In some states the coinage is so debased, owing to the wear of circulation, that the real is greatly reduced below the nominal value. Where this reduction amounts, e.g., to 5 per cent., if 100 sove reigns were offered as payment of a debt in England while such sovereigns were current there at their nominal value, they would be received as just payment ; but if they were offered as payment of the same amount of debt in a foreign state, they would be received only at their intrinsic value of 95, the additional 5 constituting the agio. Where the state keeps its coinage up to a standard value, no agio is required. The same principle is applied to the paper currency of a country when reduced below the bullion value which it professes to represent. According as there is more demand for gold or for paper money for the pur poses of commerce, it often becomes necessary, in order to procure the one of the higher current value, to pay a premium for it, which is called the agio. In countries where silver coinage is the legal tender, agio is sometimes allowed for payment in the more convenient form of gold. AGIS. Four kings of this name reigned at different periods in Sparta. The first of the name was the son of Eurysthenes, and is supposed to have reigned about 1032 B. c. The designation of Helots is said to have had its rise in his time, from the unsuccessful revolt of the inhabitants of Helos, and their final enthralment by the Spartans. AGIS II. succeeded his father Archidamus, and reigned from 427 to 399 B.c. He distinguished himself during the Peloponnesian war as an able and successful general, and headed the Spartans at the great and decisive battle of Mantinea. AGIS III. succeeded his father Archidamus III., 338 B.C. He took an active part in the league of the Grecian states against Alexander the Great, and at the head of their forces defeated a Macedonian army under Corragus. He was slain, about 331 B.C., in a battle with Antipatcr, under the walls of Megalopolis. AGIS IV., son of Eudamidas II., and lineally descended from Agesilaus II., succeeded his father 244 B.C., and reigned four years. He was more distinguished for the social reforms he attempted to introduce at Sparta than for his success as a general. The degenerate state of the Spartan commonwealth led him to attempt a reformation by restoring the institutions of Lycurgus, and, in the spirit of a true reformer, he set the example in his own person and household. His excellent intentions were seconded by all the younger and poorer portion of the community ; but the rich and luxurious were vehemently opposed to measures which threatened to interfere so seriously with their influence and pleasures. His colleague, Leonidas, headed the opposition, and busily propagated the suspicion that Agis aspired to tyranny, by obliterating; the distinc tions of society and increasing the power of the multi tude. Agis was supported by the influence of his uncle Agesilaus, who, being deeply in debt, was highly favour able to the proposed changes, Lysander and Mandroc- lides, two of the ephori, were also strenuous promoters of the reform. When the time came for Agis to proposs in the senate a general discharge of debts and a new division of lands, the measure was lost by a minority of one. The triumph of Leonidas, however, was short. Being accused by Lysander of having violated the laws, he took refuge in the temple of Minerva, and refusing to appear in his own defence, was degraded from his dignity and banished to Tegcea. His son-in-law, Cleombrotus, was elected in his stead. The next election of ephori proved unfavourable to the party of Agis. Lysander and Mandroclides were tried for innovation, but succeeded in persuading the two kings to eject the new magistrates from office, which was effected in the midst of much tumult. The reformation might now have been established but for the intrigues of Agesi laus, whose selfish schemes counteracted the good inten tions of the two kings. At this time the Achseans sent to Sparta for assistance in the war with the ^Etolians, which was granted. Agis received the command of tho troops, and though he gained no advantage over the cau tious Aratus, the Achaean general, he conducted the campaign with considerable credit from the good discipline he maintained in his army. On his return he found that the misconduct of Argesilaus had resulted in a revolution and the recall of Leonidas. He took refuge in the temple of Minerva, Cleombrotus in that of Neptune. Leonidas contented himself with banishing his son-in-law, but re solved on the ruin of Agis. The unfortunate king was accordingly seized and cast into prison, where, after a mock trial, he was sentenced to be strangled. His mother and grandmother in vain entreated to gain him a public hearing : they were insidiously permitted to visit him in prison, where they shared his fate. AGISTMENT (from the old French gesir or gir, to lie ; see Edin. Rev., vol. cxxviii. p. 79), the profit arising from taking in cattle to lie and pasture in one s lands, applied more particularly, in the first instance, to the proceeds of pasturage in the king s forests. The tithe of agistment, or &quot; tithe of cattle and other produce of grass lands,&quot; was formally abolished by the Act of Union, on a motion sub mitted with a view to defeat that measure. (See Edin. Rev., vol. xxxiv. p. 73.) AGNANO, LAGO D, a small circular lake near Naples, about two miles in circumference, and evidently situated in the crater of an extinct volcano. On its banks are the stufe, or natural vapour-baths of San Germano, beneficial in cases of rheumatic disease; and on its opposite shore is the famous Grotta del Cane, from the floor of which car bonic acid is continually evolved, rising to a height of about 18 inches, in such quantity as to kill dogs that enter it, while a man, on account of his erect posture, wholly escapes the effects of the gas. (See Spallanzani s Travels.) The grotto is a small artificial excavation, 12 feet long by 4 or 5 wide and 6 feet high, seemingly made for obtaining puzzolano, or earthy volcanic tufa. AGNATES (Agnati], in Roman Law, are persons related through males only, as opposed to cognates. Relationship by agnation was founded on the idea of the family held together by the patria potestas; cognatio involves simply the modern idea of kindred. AGNESI, MARIA GAETANA, an Italian lady pre eminently distinguished for her scientific attainments, was born at Milan on the 16th of May 1718, her father being professor of mathematics in the university of Bologna. When only nine years old, she had such command of Latin as to be able to publish an elaborate address in that language, maintaining that the pursuit of liberal studies was not improper for her sex. By her thirteenth year she had acquired Greek, Hebrew, French, Spanish, Ger man, and other languages. She was in consequence gene rally known as &quot; the Walking Polyglot.&quot; Two years later her father began to assemble in his house at stated in tervals a circle of the most learned men in Bologna, before-