Page:Encyclopædia Britannica, Ninth Edition, v. 9.djvu/299

 F L A F L A 287 stretched out in a continuous straight line. When feeding or at rest, a flock of these birds, owing to their red plum age, has often been likened to a body of British soldiers. The young appear to be a long time in arriving at the full beauty of their plumage, and as the sexes are said to differ greatly in size, some of the difficulties which the determina tion of species in this genus presents may be excused. No fewer than four species of Pkoenicopterus have been described as inhabiting the Old World. There is the large bird known to the ancients, Temminck s P. antiquorum, which cer tainly ranges from the Cape Verd Islands to the Caspian and to India, if not further. The P. erytkrceus of Jules Verreaux has been described as differing in its brighter plumage, and is supposed to be a native of Southern and Western Africa, but it is also said to have strayed to Europe. Then two smaller species (P. minor, Geoffroy, and P. rubidiiSi Feilden) the one from Africa the other from India, have also been described, but whether their existence can bs substantiated remains to be seen. Four species have likewise been indicated as belonging to the New World. There is first a large and very brilliantly-coloured bird to which the Linnsean name P. ruber 1 has been con tinued, inhabiting suitable localities from Florida soiith- wards to an undetermined latitude. To this species Mr Salvin (Trans. Zool. Soc., ix. p. 498) refers the P. glyphorhynchm of G. II. Gray, founded on a specimen from the Galapagos. Then there is the P. chilensis of Gmslin (P. iynipalliatus of later writers) which in colour ing more resembles the European species, and is found in various parts of South America. Lastly comes the P. andimis of Philippi, which is easily distinguished from all others through the want of a back-toe, and was regarded by Bonaparte as meriting generic separation under the name of Phoenicoparrus. This appears to have its home on the salt-lakes of the elevated desert of Atacama. The fossil remains of a Flamingo have been recognized from Lower and Middle Tertiary beds in France, and the species, which appears to have been very close to that com monly called P. antiquorum, has received the name of P. croizeti from Professor Gervais. But a more interesting discovery is that by Professor A. Milne-Edwards of no fewer than five species of an extinct form of PJioenicopteridce, named by him Pcdcelodus (Ois. Foss. de la France, ii. p, 58). These are from lacustrine deposits of the Miocene epoch. The same distinguished zoologist also refers to this family remains designated by him Agnopterus, and thoso of the &quot; Elornis &quot; (properly Helornis) of M. Aymard. (A. N.) FLAMININQS, TITUS QUINCTIUS, a Roman general and statesman, well known as the liberator of Greece, was born about 228, and died about 174 B.C. The patrician family of the Quinctii had already made their mark in Roman history, but of Titus s immediate ancestors nothing is known except that, according to the Fasti Capitolini, his father bore the same name. He began his public life as a military tribuno under Marcellus. On the death of his commander he was appointed propraetor of Tarentum and the neighbouring district. His administrative abilities were recognized even in this subordinate post, and in 202 B.C. he was appointed one of a commission of three to sup plement the colony of Venusium, whose numbers had been drained by the war with Hannibal. In 199 B.C. lie was made quaestor, and the next year, skipping the regular stages of sedile and praetor, he obtained the consulship, notwithstanding the opposition of the tribunes on account 1 Linnaeus referred all the accounts of Flamingoes known to him to a sin^lfl species, P. ruber. Hero he was decidedly wrong, since those of the Old World and of the New are entirely distinct ; but the rea son for assigning this trivial name to one of the latter has yet to be explained by ornithologists. of his youth. The scanty records of his early years furnish nothing which will adequately account for this marvellously rapid promotion, but it is explained and justified by his subsequent career. Flamininus was one of the first and most successful of the rising school of Roman statesmen, the opponents of the narrow and almost provincial patriot ism of which Cato was the type, the disciples of Greek culture, and the advocates of a wide imperial policy. His winning manners, his polished address, his knowledge of men, and the personal fascination which was mainly owing to these qualities, and lastly his knowledge of Greek, which, according to &quot;Plutarch, he spoke like his native lan guage, all marked him out as the fittest representative of Rome in the East, and it was an auspicious lot for Rome which assigned to the consul the province of Macedonia, and the conduct of the war with Philip. No sooner was he appointed than he set to work to collect new levies, selecting the picked veterans who had served in the Spanish and African campaigns. His predecessors in the province, Sulpicius and Publius, had been dilatory and incompetent, not quitting Rome till their year of office had nearly expired. Flamininus sailed in the early spring, and, leaving his troops at Corcyra to follow him, crossed in a single galley to the mainland and hurried to the Roman camp in Epirus, dismissed his predecessor Publius Villius, and in a council of war determined to storm the pass of Antigonea, a narrow gorge a little below Clissoura, which was occupied by the enemy. Repulsed in the direct attack, he consented to parley with Philip, and the two commanders met on the banks of the Aous and conversed across the narrow stream. Flamininus at once revealed his intended policy, and in stern and uncompromising terms demanded the liberation of Greece and Thessaly. Philip indignantly broke up the conference, exclaiming that harder terms could not have been proposed to him had he been conquered. This bold attitude of defiance and assertion of the claims of oppressed nationalities was in a great measure the secret of Flamin- inus s success. The news soon spread that a Roman had come, not to transfer the yoke of slavery, but to vindicate the liberties of Greece. Charops, an Epirot chieftain, re vealed to Flamininus a by-path across the mountains by which the pass could be turned ; a signal fire showed that the expedition had succeeded; and a simultaneous attack in front and rear completely routed the Macedonians, who were only saved from total destruction by the nature of the ground, which rendered pursuit impossible. Flamininus found himself master of Epirus, and he cemented a lasting friendship with the Epirots by his mildness and moderation, which contrasted with the extortions and ravages of Philip. From Epirus he passed into Thessaly, and took Phaloria, though he was obliged to raise the siege of Atrax on the Peneus. Thence he marched into Locris, where Anticyra served him as a basis for further operations, and enabled him to communicate with the fleet, which was commanded by his brother Lucius. Many towns in Phocis opened their gates to him, and Elatea the capital was taken after a long resistance. His principal efforts were now directed to win over the Achaean league, and in this he was so far success ful that a conference of the Greeks was held near Nicrca on the Meliac gulf, under his presidency, to treat with Philip. A truce of two months was agreed to, on condition of the evacuation of all the towns of Phocis and Locris, to enable both parties to send deputies to Rome. The Greek deputies were instructed to demand the expulsion of Macedonian garrisons from Demetrias, Chalcis, and Corinth, as the only guarantee for the freedom of Greece. When the senate demanded of Philip s ambassadors whether he was ready t&amp;lt;&amp;gt; grant these terms, they replied that they had no instruc tions, and were sent back and told to treat directly with Flamininus, whose command, which was just expiring, they