about conquered cities or the Medici. The Florentines were willing to pay him a large sum of money, but in settling the amount further disagreements arose. Charles, who was full of the Medici’s promises, made exorbitant demands, and finally presented an ultimatum to the signory, who rejected it. “Then we shall sound our trumpets,” said the king, to which Capponi replied “And we shall toll our bells,” and tore up the ultimatum in the king’s face. Charles, who did not relish the idea of house-to-house fighting, was forced to moderate his claims, and concluded a more equitable treaty with the republic. On the 28th of November he departed, and Capponi was appointed to reform the government of Florence. But being more at home in the camp than in the council chamber, he was glad of the opportunity of leading the armies of the republic against the Pisan rebels. He proved a most capable general, but while besieging the castle of Soiana, he was killed on the 25th of September 1496. His death was greatly regretted, for the Florentines recognized in him their ablest statesman and warrior.
See under Savonarola, Florence, Medici, Charles VIII. The “Vita di Piero di Gino Capponi,” by V. Acciaiuoli (published in the Archivio Storico Italiano, series 1, vol. iv. part 2a, 1853), is the chief contemporary authority; see also P. Villari, Savonarola, vol. i. (Florence, 1887), and Gino Capponi, Storia delta Repubblica di Firenze, vol. ii. (Florence, 1875). (L. V.*)
CAPRAIA (anc. Capraria, from Lat. capra, wild-goat), an island of Italy, off the N.W. coast (the highest point 1466 ft. above sea-level), belonging to the province of Genoa, 42 m. S.S.E. of Leghorn by sea. Pop. (1901) 547. It is of volcanic origin, and is partly occupied by a penal agricultural colony. It produces wine, and is a centre of the anchovy fishery. It became Genoese in 1527 and was strongly fortified. In 1796 it was occupied for a short time by Nelson. About 20 m. to the north is the island of Gorgona (highest point 836 ft.), also famous for its anchovies.
CAPRERA, an island off the N.E. coast of Sardinia, about 1 m. in length. It is connected by a bridge with La Maddalena. Its chief interest lies in its connexion with Garibaldi, who first established himself there in 1854, and died there on the 2nd of June 1882. His tomb is visited on this anniversary by Italians from all parts. Roman remains, including a bust of Maximian, have been found upon the island.
CAPRI (anc. Capreae), an island on the S. side of the Bay of Naples, of which it commands a fine view; it forms part of the province of Naples, and is distant about 20 m. S. of the town of Naples. Pop. (1901) of the commune of Capri, 3890, of Anacapri, 2316. It divides the exits from the bay into two, the Bocca Grande, about 16 m. wide, between Capri and Ischia, and the Bocca Piccola, 3 m. wide between Capri and the extreme south-west point of the peninsula of Sorrento. It is 4 m. in length and the greatest width is 112 m., the total area being 512 sq. m. The highest point is the Monte Solaro (1920 ft.) on the west, while at the east end the cliffs rise to a height of 900 ft. sheer from the sea. The only safe landing-place is on the north side. There are two small towns, Capri (450 ft.) and Anacapri (980 ft.), which until the construction of a carriage road in 1874 were connected only by a flight of 784 steps (the substructures of which at least are ancient). The island lacks water, and is dusty during drought, but is fertile, producing fruit, wine and olive oil; the indigenous flora comprises 800 species. The fishing industry also is important. But the prosperity of the island depends mainly upon foreign visitors (some 30,000 annually), who are attracted by the remarkable beauty of the scenery (that of the coast being especially fine), the views of the sea and of the Bay of Naples, and the purity of the air. The famous Blue Grotto, the most celebrated of the many caves in the rocky shores of the island, was known in Roman times, but lost until 1826, when it was rediscovered. Another beautiful grotto has green instead of blue refractions; the effect in both cases is due to the light entering by a small entrance.
The high land in the west of the island and the somewhat less elevated region in the east are formed of Upper Tithonian and Lower Cretaceous limestones, the latter containing Rudistes. The intervening depression, which seems to be bounded on the west by a fault, is filled to a large extent by sandstones and marls of Eocene age. A superficial layer of recent volcanic tuffs occurs in several parts of the island. The Blue Grotto is in the Tithonian limestones; it shows indications of recent changes of level.
The earliest mythical inhabitants (though some have localized the Sirens here) are the Teleboi from Acarnania under their king Telon. Neolithic remains were found in 1882 in the Grotta delle Felci, a cave on the south coast. In historical times we find the island occupied by Greeks. It subsequently fell into the hands of Neapolis, and remained so until the time of Augustus, who took it in exchange for Aenaria (Ischia) and often resided there. Tiberius, who spent the last ten years of his life at Capri, built no fewer than twelve villas there; to these the great majority of the numerous and considerable ancient remains on the island belong. All these villas can be identified with more or less certainty, the best preserved being those on the east extremity, consisting of a large number of vaulted substructures and the foundations perhaps of a pharos (lighthouse). One was known as Villa Jovis, and the other eleven were probably named after other deities. The existence of numerous ancient cisterns shows that in Roman as in modern times rain-water was largely used for lack of springs. After Tiberius’s death the island seems to have been little visited by the emperors, and we hear of it only as a place of banishment for the wife and sister of Commodus. The island, having been at first the property of Neapolis, and later of the emperors, never had upon it any community with civic rights. Even in imperial times Greek was largely spoken there, for about as many Greek as Latin inscriptions have been found. The medieval town was on the north side at the chief landing-place (Marina Grande), and to it belonged the church of S. Costanzo, an early Christian building. It was abandoned in the 15th century on account of the inroads of pirates, and the inhabitants took refuge higher up at the two towns of Capri and Anacapri.
In 1806 the island was taken by the English fleet under Sir Sidney Smith, and strongly fortified, but in 1808 it was retaken by the French under Lamarque. In 1813 it was restored to Ferdinand I. of the Two Sicilies.
See J. Beloch, Campanien (Breslau, 1890), 278 seq.; G. Feola, Rapporto sullo stato dei ruderi Augusto-Tiberiani—MS. inedito, publicato dal Dott. Ignazio Cerio (Naples, 1894); F. Furchheim, Bibliografia dell’ Isola di Capri e della provincia Sorrentina (Naples, 1899); C. Weichhardt, Das Schloss des Tiberius und andere Römerbauten auf Capri (Leipzig, 1900). (T. As.)
CAPRICCIO, Caprice (Ital. for a sudden motion or fancy), a musical term for a lively composition of an original and fantastic nature, not following a set musical form, although the first known, written for the harpsichord, partook of the nature of a fugue. The word is also used for pieces of a fanciful type, in the nature of transcriptions and variations.
CAPRICORNUS (“The Goat”), in astronomy, the tenth sign of the zodiac (q.v.), represented by the symbol ♑︎ intended to denote the crooked horns of this animal. The word is derived from Lat. caper, a goat, and cornu, a horn. It is also a constellation of the southern hemisphere, mentioned by Eudoxus (4th century B.C.) and Aratus (3rd century B.C.); Ptolemy and Tycho Brahe catalogued 28 stars, Hevelius gave 29. It was represented by the ancients as a creature having the forepart a goat, and the hindpart a fish, or sometimes simply as a goat. An interesting member of this constellation is α-Capricorni, a pair of stars of 3rd and 4th magnitudes, each of which has a companion of the 9th magnitude.
CAPRIFOLIACEAE, a natural order of plants belonging to the sympetalous or higher division of Dicotyledons, that namely which is characterized by having the petals of the flower united. The plants are mainly shrubs and trees; British representatives are Sambucus (elder), Viburnum (guelder-rose and wayfaring tree), Lonicera (honeysuckle) (see fig.); Adoxa (moschatel), a small herb with a creeping stem and small yellowish-green flowers, is occasionally found on damp hedge-banks; Linnaea, a slender creeping evergreen with a thread-like stem and pink bell-shaped
