CYPRUS                                                            493                                                                   CZAR

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, 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, 14,752); the two chief ports are Larnaca and Limasol.

Cyprus was colonized very early by the Phoenicians 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 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, barley, cotton, silk, flax, tobacco, wool, oranges, olives, grapes, etc. and great quantities of wine. Cyprus was once noted for its copper-mines, and copper got its name from that of the island, but it is only mined now at one place. The forests have mostly disappeared. The great scourges of the country are locusts and 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, 237,022.

Cy'rus the Great, founder of the Persian empire, is first known to us from the record on the cuneiform, clay tablet-and-cylinder, which recounts his reign, his conquest and capture of Astyages, king of 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 carried captive to Babylon, along with the Jews, were restored to their

countries and allowed to take their gods with them. The empire of Croesus in Lydia had been taken two years before ; and Cyrus was now master of all Asia from the Mediterranean to the Hindu-Kush. The conqueror's hold over Asia Minor and Syria was much strengthened by his friendly relations with the Phoenicians 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, Caucusus and Caspian, he died in 52g 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, the second son of the Persian king, Darius Nothus, was born in 424 B. C. He headed a conspiracy against his brother Artaxerxes Mnemon, who had succeeded to the throne in 404 B. C. The plot was discovered, and he was sentenced to death, but afterward pardoned and even restored to his office as satrap of Asia Minor. Here he planned a war against his brother, but hid his purpose till the last. In the spring of 401 B. C. he left Sardis at the head of 100,000 Asiatic and 13,000 Greek hired troops, under pretense of punishing the robbers of Pisidia. Artaxerxes, warned of his treachery, was ready to meet him. The battle was fough; on the plains of Cunaxa. Cyrus was defeated and slain, although the Greeks fought with the greatest courage and even drove back that part of the enemy in front of them. Xenophon's Anabasis gives an account of the expedition. It showed that the Persian empire was a shell, and inspired Agesilaus and Alexander to assail it.

Cy'toplasm (in plants), the name applied to the general protoplasm of a cell as distinct from the nucleus. See Cell.

Czar (zăr) or Tsar, a title of the ruler, the autocrat 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 I was the first ruler who adopted, in 1721, the title of emperor.

House of Romanoff—Male Line.

Michael.............1613 I Ivan and Peter I. .. . 1ŎS2

Alexis..............1645 Peter I............i68q

Feodor.............1676 | Catherine 1.........1725

Peter II............1727

House of Romanoff—Female Line.

Anne...............1730I Elizabeth...........1741

Ivan VI............1740 I