Page 493 : CYPRUS — CZAR
Individual articles:
in Mexico, the third (T. distichum), the bald cypress, in southeastern United States. This last species grows in swamps and along rivers, is a large tree, often reaching 150 feet in height, and gives the name to the so-called cypress-swamps.
Cy′prus, an island of the [[../Mediterranean, The|Mediterranean]], south of Asia Minor and west of Syria. It is about 140 miles long and 60 miles wide, and covers 3,584 square miles. There are two main ranges of mountains; the highest peak is Mt. Troödes, 6,352 feet above the sea. There are no harbors, rivers or lakes worthy of the name. It is governed by Great Britain by treaty (1878) with Turkey. The capital and seat of government is Nicosia (population, 16,052); the two chief ports are Larnaca and Limasol.
Cyprus was colonized very early by the [[../Phœnicia|Phœnicians]] and afterward by the Greeks. It came under the sway successively of the Egyptians, Persians, Macedonians and Romans. The Cypriotes were one of the first Gentile people to become Christians, and were visited by [[../Paul, Saint|St. Paul]]. The island was afterward taken by the Saracens; by Richard I on his way to Syria during the third crusade; by Venice; and lastly by the Turks in 1570. In 1878 Cyprus was occupied by the British, with the understanding that it is to keep it until Batum, Kars and Erzerum are restored by Russia to Turkey.
Cyprus produces [[../Wheat|wheat]], [[../Barley|barley]], [[../Cotton|cotton]], [[../Silk|silk]], [[../Flax|flax]], [[../Tobacco|tobacco]], [[../Wool|wool]], [[../Orange|oranges]], [[../Olive|olives]], [[../Grape|grapes]], etc. and great quantities of [[../Wine|wine]]. Cyprus was once noted for its copper-mines, and [[../Copper|copper]] got its name from that of the island, but it is only mined now at one place. The [[../Forest|forests]] have mostly disappeared. The great scourges of the country are [[../Locust|locusts]] and [[../Goat|goats]]. The Cypriotes are peaceable, orderly and easily ruled. They are healthy and well-grown; the men, as a rule, are handsome, but the women are rarely so. Modern Greek and Turkish are spoken on the island. Population, 274,108.
Cy′rus the Great, founder of the Persian empire, is first known to us from the record on the [[../Cuneiform|cuneiform]], clay tablet-and-cylinder, which recounts his reign, his conquest and capture of Astyages, king of [[../Medes|Media]], in 549 B. C. At this time Cyrus was called king of Elam. Year after year was idly spent by Nabonidas, king of Babylonia, at Terma, a suburb of the capital, Babylon, while his son—doubtless Belshazzar—was with his army in Akkad (northern Babylonia). In 538 Cyrus, favored by a revolt of the tribes on the Persian Gulf, advanced on Babylon from the southeast, and, after giving battle to the army of Akkad, took Sippona and lastly Babylon “without fighting.” Cyrus at once originated a friendly policy in religion. The nations who had been carped captive to Babylon, along with the Jews, were restored to their countries and allowed to take their gods with them. The empire of Crœsus in Lydia had been taken two years before; and Cyrus was now master of all Asia from the [[../Mediterranean, The|Mediterranean]] to the Hindu-Kush. The conqueror’s hold over Asia Minor and Syria was much strengthened by his friendly relations with the [[../Phœnicia|Phœnicians]] and the Jews, who received the news of his triumphs with joy. After the great king had widened his dominions from the Arabian Desert and the Persian Gulf to the Black Sea, Caucasus and [[../Caspian Sea|Caspian]], he died in 529 B. C. Cyrus ranks high among Asiatic conquerors. He was a wise ruler, whose aim was to soften by kindness the harsh rule which his sword was constantly extending.
Cy′rus the Younger, (moved)
Cy′toplasm (in plants), the name applied to the general protoplasm of a cell as distinct from the nucleus. See Cell.
Czar (zär) or Tsar, a title of the ruler, the autocrat of [[../Russia, Empire of|all the Russias]]. The word comes from an old Slav word cesar, which the Poles spelled as czar, meaning king or emperor. The Russians use the Latin word imperator to express the idea of emperor. The first independent Russian monarch to use the title was Ivan IV, “the Terrible,” who was crowned at Moscow in 1547. The Empress of Russia is styled the Czarina. The following have been the czars and emperors of Russia, from the era of the election of Michael Romanoff. Czar [[../Peter the Great|Peter I]] was the first ruler who adopted, in 1721, the title of emperor.
| House of Romanoff—Male Line. | |||
| Michael . . . . . . . . . . . . . | 1613 | Ivan and Peter I . . . . | 1682 |
| Alexis . . . . . . . . . . . . . . | 1645 | Peter I . . . . . . . . . . . . | 1689 |
| Feodor . . . . . . . . . . . . . | 1676 | Catherine I . . . . . . . . . | 1725 |
| Peter II . . . . . . . . . . . . 1727 | |||
| House of Romanoff—Female Line. | |||
| Anne . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . | 1730 | Elizabeth . . . . . . . . . . . | 1741 |
| Ivan VI . . . . . . . . . . . . | 1740 | ||
