Page:The American Cyclopædia (1879) Volume IV.djvu/69

 CASSANDER had laid siege to Tegea, he received news that Eurydice and her husband, with Cassander's brother Nicanor and 100 of his friends, had been murdered by the orders of Olympias. He at once 'hastened homeward, cut off Olym- pias from her allies, besieged her in Pydna during the winter of 317, captured her in the spring, and at once had her put to death, in violation, it is said, of his special agreement. He now imprisoned Alexander's son, Alexan- der ^Egus, and his mother Roxana, and further prepared his way to the royal power by mar- rying Thessalonica, Alexander's half sister. It was probably within a year of his marriage that he rebuilt the two cities of Therma and Potidsea, naming them Thessalonica and Cas- sandria. In 315 he returned to Greece, and began the rebuilding of Thebes, which Alex- ander had destroyed 20 years before. Poly- sperchon and his son had during his absence retaken some of the towns of the Peloponne- sus, but Cassander regained possession of them without difficulty ; and within the next year he and Polysperchon ended their rivalry by form- ing an alliance with several other leaders against the now formidable power of Antigonus. War was begun in 313; but Antigonns by spe- cious promises gained the allegiance of nearly all the Greek states, and two years' conflict which followed was unfavorable to Cassander and his friends. In 311 peace was declared; and during that year Cassander made further way for his ambition by ordering the murder of his two prisoners, Roxana and Alexander -$J?us. In 310 war again broke out, and now Polysperchon once more opposed his old enemy, putting forward Hercules, another son of Alex- ander, as the proper heir to the throne; but Cassander won him over by bribes, and induced him in 309 to put to death his prot6g6 and his mother. The ambitious ruler nevertheless lost ground rapidly ; Corinth, Sicyon, and Ath- ens, the only towns now subject to him in Greece, fell into the hands of the enemy in 308 and 307; a long series of defeats and indecisive battles followed ; the war was carried into Asia without much change in its aspects ; and it was only through the mistaken action of Demetrius, the son of Antigonus, who by going to his father's aid in Asia left Greece exposed, that affairs suddenly changed, and Cassander ac- quired a lasting advantage. The battle of Ipsus, in 301, in which Antigonus was killed, gave the allies a final victory ; and Cassander, Ptolemy, Seleucus, and Lysimachus divided the dominion of the dead king among them, Cas- sander receiving Macedonia and Greece. His remaining years were occupied with schemes for wider conquest. He invaded the island of Corcyra about 299, but was almost immediately driven from it by Agathocles of Syracuse. In 298 he began the carrying out of plans for gain- ing complete possession of those cities of south- ern Greece which still held out against him; but his death occurred before he had gained any considerable success.

CASSANO 61 CASSANDER, George, a Flemish theologian, born in the island of Cadsand, Zealand, in 1515, died Feb. 3, 1S66. He officiated for some time as professor of divinity at Bruges and Ghent, and gained a high reputation by his various attainments. In 1561 he published a treatise designed to reconcile the Catholic and Protestant theologians, which was attacked by Calvin, but favorably received by the emperor Ferdinand and other German princes, the em- peror encouraging him to persist in his concilia- tory task. In 1565 he published a famous work entitled Comultatio de Articulis Fidei inter Papistas et Protestantes Controversis, in which he reviewed the controverted articles of the Augsburg confession. He was sincerely attached to the Roman Catholic faith ; but he was accused of taking too favorable a view of the points brought forward by the Protestants, and several of his writings were condemned by the council of Trent. His collected works were published in Paris in 1616. CASSANDRA (called also ALEXANDRA), a Tro- jan princess, daughter of Priam and Hecuba. Apollo, enamored of her, permitted her to ask of him whatever she desired as a reward for her complaisance. She begged for the gift of prophecy ; but when the god had bestowed it upon her, she refused to keep her promise to him. Thereupon Apollo, unable to withdraw from her the prophetic art, ordained that her predictions should never be believed. In vain she foretold that the abduction of Helen would cause the ruin of Troy, counselled the making of peace with the Atridae, announced to Priam, Paris, and the Trojan people the fate which awaited them, and opposed the reception of the wooden horse. On the night of the cap- ture of Troy she took refuge in the temple of Pallas, but was torn away from the statue of the goddess by Ajax, son of Oi'leus. She fell by lot as a slave to Agamemnpn, who carried her to Greece; and, after fruitlessly advising that prince of the fate reserved for him, she perished with him in the massacre plotted by Clytemnestra. She is an important personage in Greek poetry, and is the heroine of a poem by Lycophron, celebrated for its obscurity. CASSANO. I. A town of S. Italy, in the prov- ince of Cosenza, 10 m. W. of the gulf of Ta- rento, on the railroad which skirts the E. shore of Calabria; pop. about 8,000. It is built in the concave recess of a steep mountain, round an isolated rock, on which are the ruins of an ancient castle. It is the see of a bishop, and contains a cathedral, four convents, and an episcopal seminary ; hot sulphurous springs and plaster and stone quarries are in the vicinity. The inhabitants are principally employed in th<? manufacture of macaroni, leather, table linens, and fabrics of cotton and silk. It is supposed to stand on the site of the ancient Cosa ; ac- cording to some authorities, however, the neigh- boring village of Civitd occupies the real site of the ancient town. II. A town of N. Italy, on the Adda, 16 m. N". E. of Milan; pop. about