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ALARCON Y MENDOZA the very best Spanish dramatists, during the best period of the national theatre." Of his more important plays may further be mentioned : Las paredes oyen ("Walls Have Ears") and El texedor de Segovia ("The Weaver of Segovia"). The. best edition is that of J. E. de Hartzenbusch (Madrid, 1852: Volume XX. of the Biblioteca de Autores Espafwles). Consult: Ticknor, His- tory of Spanish Literature (New York, 1849; sixth American edition, Boston, 1888).

ALARD, a'liir', Jean Delphin (1815-88). A French violinist. He was born at Bayonne, March 8, 1815. the son of an amateur violinist: studied in Paris under Habeneck and F^tis, and won the notice of Paganini when he appeared in concerts. In 1840, Alard succeeded Baillot as first violinist to the king, and in 184.3 became professor of the violin at the Paris Conserva- toire, a post he held until 1875. Sarasate (q.y.) was among his pupils. He was a representative of the modern French school of violin playing, eompcsed nocturnes, duos, 4tudes, etc., for the violin, and was the author of an Ecotc dii I'iolon, which was adopted by the Conservatoire. He died in Paris. February 22, 1888.

AL'ABIC (Goth, from al. all + reiks, ruler). The great chieftain of the Visigoths. He makes • his first appearance in history in 394 a.d., as leader of the Gothic auxiliaries of Theodosius in his war with Eugenius; but after the death of the former he took advantage of the dissensions and weakness that prevailed in the Eastern Em- pire to invade (395) Thrace, Macedon, Thessaly, and Illyricum. devastating the country and threatening Constantinople itself. Rufinus. the minister of Arcadius, appears to have sacrificed Greece in order to rescue the capital, and Athens was obliged to secure its own safety by ransom. Alavic proceeded to plunder and devastate the Peloponnesus, but was interrupted by the land- ing of Stilicho in Elis with the troops of the West. Stilicho endeavored to hem in the Goths on the Peneus, but Alaric broke through his lines and escaped with his booty and prisoners to Illyricum, of which he was appointed governor by" the Emperor, Arcadius, who. frightened by his successes, hoped by conferring this dignity on him to make him a peaceful suliject instead of a lawless enemy (396)- In tOl he invaded upper Italy, and Honorius, the Emperor of the West, fled from Rome to the more strongly fortified Ravenna. On the way to Gaul, in 402 or 403, Alarie encountered Stilicho at Pollentia on the Tanarus; and soon after, the result of the battle of Verona forced him to retire into Illyricum. Through the mediation of Stilicho, Alaric con- cluded a treaty with Honorius, according to which he was to advance into Epirus. and thence attack Arcadius in conjunction with the troops of Stilicho. The projected expedition did not take place, yet Alaric demanded indemnification for having undertaken it, and Honorius, by the advice of Stilicho, promised him 4000 pounds of gold. When, after the death of Stilicho ((].v.), Honorius failed to fulfill his promise, Alaric ad- vanced with an army and invested Rome, which he refused to leave until lie had obtained the promise of 5000 pounds of gold and 30,000 of silver. But neither did this negotiation produce any satisfactory result, and Alaric again be- sieged Rome (409 A.D.). Famine soon rendered it necessary that some arrangement should be made, and in order to do it, the Senate pro- claimed Attains, the prefect of the city, emperor instead of Honorius. But Attains displayed so little discretion that Alaric obliged him publicly to abdicate. The renewed negotiations with Honorius proved equally fruitless with the form- er, and Alaric was so irritated at a perfidious attempt to fall upon him by surprise at Ravenna that he advanced on Rome for the third time. His victorious army entered the citj' August 14, 410, and continued to pillage it for three days, Alaric strictly forbidding his soldiers to dis- honor women or destroy religious buildings. When Alarie quitted Rome it was only to prose- cute the conquest of Sicily and Africa. The oc- currence of a storm, however, which his ill- constructed vessels were not able to resist, obliged him to abandon the project. He died before the close of the year at Consentia (Cosen- za), in Bruttium. Legend says that in order that his body might not be discovered by the Romans it was deposited in the bed of the river Busentinus, which was temporarily diverted from its course, and that the captives who had been employed in the work were put to death. Rome and :ill Italy celebrated the death of Alaric with public festivities. Consult: Hodgkin. /iaiy and Her Invaders (Oxford, 1885) : F. A. Grego- rovius. History of Rome in the Middle Ages, Eng- lish translation. Volume 1. (New York, 1892); I;. Lanciani, The Destruction of Ancient Rome (Boston, 1899).

ALARIC II. King of the Visigoths, 485- 507. He succeeded his father, Eurie. He was of a peaceful disposition, and wished to live on friendly terms with the Franks. His dominions were very extensive. Besides Hispania Tarra- conensis and Btetica. he possessed numerous rich provinces in Gaul, and formed an alliance, which still further increased his power, with Gonde- band and Theodoric, the latter of whom was his father-in-law and King of the East Goths. At length, however, he came into collision with the ti'rankish monarch. Clovis, whose cupidity had been excited by the extent and fertility of the territories over which Alaric II. ruled. An ex- cuse was found for breaking the peace which existed between the two nations in the fact that Alaric II. was a zealous Arian. This circum- stance had given great offense to many of his subjects, who were orthodox Catholics ; and osten- sibly to vindicate the true doctrine, the newly converted barbarian Clovis declared war against him. The result was fatal to Alaric II. He was slain by the hand of Clovis himself at Vouillg, near Poitiers, and his forces routed. Alarie II. is said to have been indolent and luxurious in his youth : but this may simply im- ply that he was not fond of those sanguinary pleasures which captivated his savage contem- poraries. He was tolerant in his religious con- victions. Though an Arian, he did not persecute the Catholics. He enacted several useful stat- utes, and kept a watchful eye on all parts of his kingdom. It was during his reign that the Bre- viarium Alaricianum, or Breviary of .laric II. (q.v. ), was drawn up. It is a selection of im- perial statutes and writings of the Roman juris- consults. Alaric II. sent copies of it to all his governors, ordering them to use it and no other. An edition of it was published by Hiinel (Leipzig, 1849).

ALARM' (Fr. alarme, It. all'arme. to arms, from Lat. pi. arma, arms). In military usage, a