Page:The New International Encyclopædia 1st ed. v. 03.djvu/894

From Wikisource
Jump to navigation Jump to search
This page needs to be proofread.
*
786
*

C^SAR. 786 CESAREAN OPERATION. C4sar (Paris, 1865-66); Stoffel, id., Ln Guerre civile {Paris, 1888) ; Froude, Cwsar (London, 1870) ; Dodge, "Cae-sar," in Great Captains Series (Boston, 1892) ; and Fowler, Julius C(Esar and the Foundation of the Roman Im- jierial System (New York, 1892). On the Gallic campaigns, consult Holmes, Cwsar's Conquest of Gaul (London, 1899). C.SSAR, Gardens of. A tract on the south- ern slope of the Janieulum at Rome, laid out by Julius Caesar in terraces supported by colon- nades, with artificial glens and waterfalls. The site commanded an extended view. No remains above ground are now extant, but the spot has yielded a number of important works of art. The gardens were given to the people by Csesar's will. C^S'ARE'A IN CAPPADOCIA, kap'pa- do'shi-a. Sec Kaisakieii. CffiS'ARE'A (Gk.Kaiadpcia,Kaisareia) PAL'- ESTI'N.ffi. An ancient seacoast tom of Pales- tine, on the site of which is the modern El- Kaisariyeh, 32 miles north of Jafl'a (Map: Pales- tine, B 2). It was built by Herod the Great and named in honor of Augustus Csesar. The site was originally called Strato's Tower. Herod made here a magnificent harbor by construct- ing a strong breakwater (the ruins of which still remain) on which he lavished vast sums of money. The town was built at great ex- pense, with an amphitheatre, temples, and other like structures ( Josephus, Ant. xv. 3-5 : 9-G ; xvi. 5-1). Its water-supply and drainage system were of unusual excellence. It became the mili- tary capital of Palestine, where the Roman pro- curators had their headquarters. It is noted in New Testament history as the place where Peter preached the Gospel to Cornelius, the first Gentile convert to Christianity (Acts x.), and as the scene of Paul's two years' imprisonment (Acts xxiii. 33, xxvi. 32) . In the great war with Rome, A.D. 60-70, Csesarea suffered the almost total extermination of its Jewish inhabitants. Here Vespasian had his headquarters and was proclaimed Emperor, a.d. 69. Soon after he con- stituted it a Roman colony. After the fall of Jerusalem (a.d. 70) it became the metropolis of Palestine. During the early Christian cen- turies Cipsarea continued to be a place of impor- tance. Pamphilus, pupil and friend of Origen, had here a famous library (Third Century). Eusebius, the father of Church history, was Bishop of the place 315-318, The town was con- quered by the Moslems in the Seventh Century. The Crusaders captured and plundered it in 1101. Among the booty they found, it was claimed, the Holy Grail. ( See Grail, The Holt, ) After va- rious fortunes at the hands of the Crusaders, who rebuilt it on a smaller scale, it was finally de- stroyed by the Sultan Bibars in 12G5, The modern place is only a village on the ancient site. CffiSAREA PHILIP'PI. An ancient town of Palestine, near the foot of the southern slope of Mount liermon. On its site is the modern village of Banias, formerly Paneas. Close by the place is a cavern whence issues one of the main sources of the river Jordan. In the Greek period this spring was consecrated to the god Pan. About B.C. 20 the Emperor Augustus gave this region to Herod the Great, who built a beautiful temple of white stone near the old Greek sanctuary, dedicating it to Augustus. On Herod's death "the place became a part of the tetrarehy of his son Philip, who built here a town, calling it Ca-sarea. It became known as the Ca^sarea of Philip (Coesarea Philippi) (Jo- sephus, Ant, XV. 10-3, xviii. 2-1; Wars of the Jews, i. 21-3, ii. 9-1). Jesus visited the neigh- borhood for a short period of rest, at which time he more fully disclosed his Messiahship to the disciples (Matt. xvi. 13ff. and parallels). The name of the town was later changed to Neronias in honor of Nero. But the old name Paneas per- sisted, and outlived the others, since the modern Banias is but a corruption of Paneaa. CjffiSAREAN (se-za're-an), or C^SARI- AN, OPERATION (Lat. p.p. cwsus, from cwdere, to cut. Popularly, but in all likelihood erroneously, connected with Ceesar) . A name which has from very ancient times been applied to the operation of delivering a child tlirough an abdominal incision into the pregiuint uterus instead of by way of the natural passages. The operation is of very ancient date. It is supposed to have been practiced by the Greeks, and Pliny mentions that Scipio Africanus and Manlius were born in this way. Children delivered in this manner were known as Cssones, and from this the name Ciesar was subsequently derived as a family name, A number of noted persons in history have had their names associated with the operation, as -Eseulapius, Julius Caesar, and Edward VI, of England. In the case of the latter two, however, there seems to be very good evidence that birth was not accomplished in this manner. There can be no question, however, that the operation was frequently practiced, and its performance was from tjme to time made a mat- ter of statutory enforcement. Numa Pompilius decreed that every pregnant woman who died should be opened, and the Senate of Venice in 1608 decreed that practitioners should perform the operation, under heavy penalties, on pregnant women supposed to be dead. In 1749 the King of Sicily imposed the punishment of death upon a medical man who neglected to operate on a dying woman advanced in pregnancy. During these earlier days in the history of the operation it seems to have been practiced almost solely upon women just dead or at the point of death, and to have had for its purpose the saving of the infant alone. The first case in which the operation was performed on a living woman oc- curred in 1491. Since tiiis date many cases have from time to time been reported of both mother and child having survived the operation, and some of these under the most adverse circum- stances. It is only since 1890, however, that the operation has come to take its place as a well- recognized surgical procedure in certain cases where delivery is impossible by natural means. In brief, the operation is performed by making a vertical incision six or seven inches long in the mid-line of the abdomeji over the pregnant uterus. When the uterus is exposed it is drawn into the wound, incised from above downward, and the child and placenta rapidly removed. After this the incision in the uterus is carefully closed by sutures, and it is allowed to fall back into its place. The abdominal wall is then brought together after the usual methods of suture and a suitable dressing applied. A very small death-rate attends the operation as at present practiced.