Page:The American Cyclopædia (1879) Volume V.djvu/283

 CONSTELLATIONS CONSTITUTIONAL CONVENTION 279 part in the struggles between his brothers in the West. Constantine was killed in 340 and Oonstans in 350. Constantius thereupon march- ed against Magnentius, who had been proclaim- ed in Gaul and Italy, and against Vetranio in Illyricum. They offered to compromise by acknowledging him as emperor of the East, with the preeminence in rank. He refused, having been, as he said, directed to do so by a vision of his father, the great Constantine. He offered, however, to acknowledge Vetranio as his colleague and equal, on condition that he would abandon Magnentius. A conference was appointed, but the soldiers of Vetranio deserted him, whereupon he abandoned all his claims, and was assigned an honorable abode at Prusa. Constantius then marched against Magnentius, whom he encountered and defeated in the bloody battle of Mursa (now Eszek) in Pannonia (Sept. 28, 351), and thus became sole emperor. He had in the mean time given the title of Caesar to his cousin Gallus, and sent him to Antioch to govern the East; but in 354 he caused him to be beheaded, appointed Julian, the brother of Gallus, as Caesar, and sent him to Gaul, where he waged a successful war against the Ale- manni and Franks. Growing jealous of the renown of Julian, he ordered the recall of the legions from Gaul. A revolt ensued, and the troops proclaimed Julian emperor. Con- stantius moved against him, but died on the way, and Julian, afterward known as "the Apostate," whom it is said he appointed his heir on his deathbed, was peacefully acknowl- edged by the whole empire. Constantius is known for his zealous endeavors to establish a uniformity of faith throughout the empire. He favored the Arians, expelled Athanasius from Alexandria, persecuted the Catholics and the Novatians, and endeavored to put down pagan rites and ceremonies. III. A general of the Roman emperor Honorius, died in 421. He defeated Gerontius and a soldier named Constantine who had revolted and been pro- claimed as emperor in Britain in 411; was made consul of Rome in 414 and 417 ; married Placidia, sister of Honorius, and was proclaim- ed joint emperor with him in 421, but died seven months after. His son became the em- peror Valentinian III. CONSTELLATIONS, the name given by astron- omers to the conventional divisions of the stars. Some of these are very ancient, and would seem to have been based on actual resemblances between certain star groups and the objects with which they were originally associated. But probably the real extent of the ancient constellation figures differed very much from that at present assigned to them. Many of the 48 constellations enumerated by Ptolemy must be regarded as comparatively modern. They are as follows : 12 zodiacal constellations, Aries, Taurus, Gemini, Cancer, Leo, Virgo, Li- bra, Scorpio, Sagittarius, Capricornus, Aqua- rius, and Pisces ; 20 constellations north of the zodiac, Ursa Major, Ursa Minor, Draco, Ce- pheus, Bootes, Corona Borealis, Hercules, Lyra, Cygnus, Cassiopeia, Perseus, Auriga, Ophiu- chus, Serpens, Sagitta, Delphinus. Eqnuleus, Pe- gasus, Andromeda, Triangulum Boreale; and 16 constellations south of the zodiac, Antinous, Cetus, Orion, Eridanus, Lepus, Canis Major, Canis Minor, Argo, Hydra, Crater, Corvus, Centaurus, Lupus, Ara, Corona Australis, and Piscis Australis. To this list Tycho Brahe added one, Coma Berenices; Hevelius added 13 constellations, Bayer 12, Lacaille 14, Royer 5, and Bode, Lemonnier, Poczobut, and others, some score more. Only 36 of these new con- stellations are, however, admitted into the British association catalogue of stars. The leading stars in the constellations are named by Greek letters, numbers, and so on. CONSTITUENT ASSEMBLY. See CONSTITU- TIONAL CONVENTION. CONSTITUTIONAL CONVENTION, a term ap- plied to a convention of delegates of the peo- ple assembled to frame a constitution for the st&te, which may or may not be submitted to the people for ratification. When the British American colonies took up arms against the crown, the revolutionary congress which had been chosen as an advisory body assumed the general direction of military and foreign affairs, and continued by common consent to possess it after independence was declared. The ex- tent of its authority, however, was wholly un- defined, and it was without the means of en- forcing its will except through state action and state officers. The necessity for some clear spe- cification of the congressional powers soon be- came very urgent, and led to the adoption of the articles of confederation, which were pro- posed in congress and assented to by the states severally. Those articles, however, did not concede the full measure of authority essential to the vigor and efficiency of the government, the establishment of the public credit, or the preservation of faith with the public creditors ; and a convention of delegates from the states was therefore called on the recommendation of congress to propose amendments. This convention met at Philadelphia in May, 1787, and organized by the choice of George Wash- ington as its president. Being satisfied that something beyond mere amendments to the articles of confederation was required, the members proceeded to frame a new constitu- tion, which was completed and agreed upon Sept. 17, 1787, and submitted to a convention of delegates in each state for ratification ; it being provided therein that the ratification by nine states should be sufficient for its establish- ment between the states so ratifying. Favor- able action having been obtained in the con- ventions of eleven states, the government was fully organized and put in operation under the constitution in March, 1789 ; and the two re- maining states signified their assent in due form afterward. The constitution thus adopt- ed contains within itself a provision for the calling of future conventions for amendment