Page:The American Cyclopædia (1879) Volume I.djvu/490

 458 ANASTASIUS of St. Peter and St. Paul. Her festival day is April 15. II. Anastasia the Younger, of an eminent Roman family, was brought up in the Christian faith by her mother Flavia, perse- cuted by her heathen husband Publius, and finally burned in Aquileia, in 303. Her day is Dec. 25. III. Anastasia, the daughter of an eminent Greek family of Constantinople, at- tracted by her beauty the attention of the em- peror Justinian. She resisted his dishonorable proposals and retired to Alexandria, where she lived for 28 years as a monk, her sex remain- ing unknown till her death in 567. Her day is March 10. ANASTASIUS, the name of four popes. I. Saint, occupied the Roman see 398-402. He was contemporary with Jerome, Chrysostom, and Augustine, and is remarkable for having condemned various axioms and writings of Ori- gen. Several letters by him are extant. II. Saint, pope from 496 to 498. A letter from him to Clovis on his conversion and some frag- ments on the eastern schism are preserved. III. From 911 to 913. His rule was gentle, but no details of his life are known. IV. From July 9, 1153, to Dec. 2, 1154. He had pre- viously been greatly distinguished as governor of Rome, and as pope favored the knights of St. John of Jerusalem. AA AST ASH'S, the name of two emperors of Constantinople. I. Surnamed Dicorus, born about 430, died in 51 8. He was a member of the lifeguard (silentiarii) of the emperor Zeno, on whose death in 491 he was proclaimed emperor through an intrigue with the empress Ariadne, whom he soon afterward married. Though more than 60 years of age, he began his stormy reign by suppressing with great ability a rebel- lion organized against him by Longinus, Zeno's brother, who had aspired to the throne, and by two other natives of the Isaurian province, whose names were also Longinus. Rebellions, plagues, earthquakes, and a severe famine filled the next years of his reign with hardship for the people and difficulty for the emperor ; and finally the Persians under their king Cabades invaded the empire with such success, that Anastasius was compelled to purchase peace by an enormous tribute (505). In the opening years of the 6th century Anastasius became in- volved in the religious disputes of the time, and was anathematized by Pope Symmachus for favoring the Eutychian heresy. II. Originally named Artemius, chosen emperor in 713 as successor to Philippicus, whose minister he had been. He began his reign by punishing Rufus, the traitor who had deposed Philippicus. In 715 he undertook an expedition .gainst the Arabs, but it was rendered futile by ttoe mutiny of many of the sailors pf his fleet. Tue muti- neers proclaimed as emperor one Theodosius, a government official, who Besieged Constantino- ple and Nicasa, in which latter place Anastasius was when attacked. The latter was driven from the throne (716), and retired to a moxas- tery, while the rebel became emperor as Th- ANATHEMA dosius III. In the reign of Leo III. Anastasius endeavored to regain the throne, but was de- feated and put to death (721). ANASTOMOSIS (Gr. owi, through, and ar6fia, mouth), the communication or inosculation of different blood vessels by opening one into the other. In the arteries it is comparatively rare, as these vessels divide and separate from each other, for the purpose of distributing the blood to different organs. Nevertheless, it always exists in certain situations, where the principal trunk is liable to compression, and where this compression would have the effect of shutting off all nourishment from the parts beyond were there no other means of vascular communica- tion. Thus the arterial branches situated above and below the principal joints anastomose with each other ; and if the main artery of the limb is compressed or tied, the blood still finds its way to the parts below by this circuitous route of communication. The arteries supplying the intestines also communicate freely with each other, so that the circulation is not interrupted by the folding or bending of the parts upon each other. The most remarkable instance of arterial anastomosis is that at the base of the brain, where the two principal arteries entering the skull from behind, namely, the right and left vertebral, unite in a single trunk, which afterward divides and sends branches forward on each side to inosculate with the two internal carotid arteries, which themselves afterward communicate with each other by a transverse anastomosis at the anterior part of the brain. Thus there is at the base a continuous vascular circle or ring, called the "circle of Willis," sup- plied with blood at the same time from four different arteries, the two carotids and the two vertebrals, and from which branches are sent off to the various parts of the cerebral sub- stance. In the veins anastomosis is much more frequent, even the larger veins of the upper and lower limbs seldom continuing far in their course without giving and receiving branches of communication with adjacent veins. Thus a passage for the blood from the extremities to- ward the heart is constantly kept open, notwith- standing the compression to which these vessels are liable by the contraction of the muscles and accidental pressure. In the capillary blood vessels, finally, anastomosis is abundant and constant. All the capillary blood vessels, in fact, inosculate with each other in every direc- tion, and in such profusion as to form a net- work or plexus of minute vessels, with corre- sponding interspaces or islets included between the meshes. This provides for a continuous and uniform supply of blood to every part of the organ, and brings the blood into close con- tact with the substance of its tissue. ANATA. See ANATHOTH. ANATHEMA (Gr. avdOt/fia, from <zv<m'%, I set apart), in the Greek classics, anything set apart as an offering to the gods, applied to the numerous votive gifts which were suspended upon the walls of temples or exposed upon