brought to Spain by a merchant from the China seas (Abu Ḥāmid of Spain, in Damīrī, s.v.). The roc is hardly different from the Arabian 'ankā (see Phoenix); it is also identified with the Persian sīmurgh, the bird which figures in Firdausi's epic as the foster-father of the hero Zal, father of Rustam. When we go farther back into Persian antiquity we find an immortal bird, amru, or (in the Minōi-khiradh) sīnamrū, which shakes the ripe fruit from the mythical tree that bears the seed of all useful things. Sīnamrū and sīmurgh seem to be the same word. In Indian legend the garuḍa on which Vishnu rides is the king of birds (Benfey, Pantschatantra, iii. 98). In the Pahlavi translation of the Indian story as represented by the Syrian Kalīlag and Damnag (ed. Bickell, 1876), the sīmurgh takes the place of the garuda, while Ibn al-Moḳaffa' (Calila et Dimna, ed. De Sacy, p. 126) speaks instead of the 'anḳā. The later Syriac, curiously enough, has behmoth,—apparently the behemoth of Job transformed into a bird.
For a collection of legends about the roc, see Lane's Arabian Nights, chap. xx. notes 22, 62, and Yule, ut supra. Also see Bochart, Hieroz, bk. vi. ch. xiv.; Damīrī, i. 414, ii. 177 seq.; Kazwīnī, i. 51:19 geq.; Ibn Bațūța, iv. 305 seq.; Spiegel, Eran. Altertumsk. ii. 118.
ROCAMADOUR, a village of south-western France, in the
department of Lot, 36 m. N.N.E. of Cahors by road. Pop.
(1906) 296. Rocamadour, a famous place of pilgrimage, is
most strikingly situated. Its buildings rise in stages up the side
of a cliff on the right bank of the Alzou, which here runs between
rocky walls 400 ft. in height. Flights of steps ascend from the
lower Stown to the churches—a group of massive buildings
half-way up the cliff. The chief of them is the church of Notre-Dame
(1479), containing the wooden figure of the Madonna
reputed to have been carved by St Amadour. The church
opens on to a terrace called the Plateau of St Michel, where there
is a broken sword said to be a fragment of “ Durandal,” once
wielded by the hero Roland. The interior walls of the church
of St Sauveur are covered. with paintings and inscriptions
recalling the pilgrimages of celebrated persons. The subterranean
church of St Amadour (1166) extends beneath
St Sauveur and contains relics of the saint. On the summit
of the cliff stands the château built in the middle ages to
defend the sanctuaries.
Rocamadour owes its origin to St Amadour or Amateur, who, according to tradition, chose the place as a hermitage for his devotions to the Virgin Mary. The saint is identified with Zacchaeus the publican and disciple of Jesus, who is said to have journeyed to Gaul to preach the gospel. The renown of Rocamadour as a place of pilgrimage dates from the early middle ages.
ROCAMBOLE, Allium Scorodoprasum, a hardy bulbous
perennial occurring in a wild state in sandy pastures and waste
places throughout Europe, but not common in the south; in
Britain it is rare, and found in the north of England and the
south of Scotland. Its cultivation does not appear to be of
ancient date; it is not mentioned by Greek and Roman authors,
and there are only a small number of original common names
among ancient peoples (A. de Candolle, Origin of Cultivated
Plants, p. 72). The plant is grown for its bulbs, which are
smaller and milder than those of garlic, and consist of several
cloves chiefly produced at the roots. The cloves are planted
about the end of February or in March, and treated like garlic
or shallot. When mature, the bulbs are taken up, dried and
stored for use.
ROCH, ST (Lat. Rochus; Ital. Rocco; Span. Roque; Fr.
Roch) (d. 1327), a confessor whose death is commemorated
on the 16th of August; he is specially invoked against the
plague. According to his Acta, he was born at Montpellier,
France, about 1295. He early began to manifest strict asceticism
and great devoutness, and on the death of his parents in
his twentieth year he gave all his substance to the poor. Coming
to Italy during an epidemic of plague, he was very diligent in
tending the sick in the public hospitals at Aquapendente,
Cesena and Rome, and effected many miraculous cures by
prayer and simple contact. After similar ministries at Piacenza
he himself fell ill. He was expelled from the town, and withdrew
into the forest, where he would have perished had not
a dog belonging to a nobleman named Gothardus supplied him
with bread. On his return to Montpellier he was arrested as
a spy and, thrown into prison, Where he died on the 16th of
August 1327, having previously obtained from God this favour—that
all plague-stricken persons invoking him should be
healed. His cult spread through Spain, France, Germany,
Belgium and Italy. A magnificent temple was raised to him
at Venice, where his body is believed to lie, and numerous
brotherhoods have been instituted in his honour. He is usually
represented in the garb of a pilgrim, with a wound in his thigh,
and with a dog near him carrying a loaf in its mouth.
See Acta sanctarum, August, iii. 380–415; Charles Cahier Les Caractéristiques des saints (Paris, 1867) pp. 216-217. (H. De.)
ROCHAMBEAU, JEAN BAPTISTE DONATIEN DE VIMEUR, Comte de (1725-1807), French soldier, was born at Vendôme (Loir-et-Cher) .on the 1st of July 1725. He was originally destined for the church and was brought up at the Jesuit college at Blois, but after the death of his elder brother he entered a cavalry regiment, served in Bohemia and Bavaria and on the Rhine, and in 1747 had attained the rank of colonel. He took part in the siege of Maestricht in 1748, became governor of Vendôme in 1749, and after distinguishing himself in 1756 in the Minorca expedition was promoted brigadier of infantry.
In 1757 and 1758 he fought in Germany, notably at Crefeld, received several wounds in the battle of Clostercamp (1760), was appointed maréchal de camp in 1761 and inspector of cavalry and was frequently consulted by the ministers on technical points. In 1780 he was sent, with the rank of lieutenant-general, in command of 6000 French troops to help the American colonists under Washington against the English. He landed at Newport, Rhode Island, on the 10th of July, but was held here inactive for a year, owing to his reluctance to abandon the French fleet, which was blockaded by the British in Narragansett Bay. At last, in July 1781, Rochambeau's force was able to leave Rhode Island and, marching across Connecticut, joined Washington on the Hudson. Then followed the celebrated march of the combined forces to Yorktown, where on the 22nd of September they formed a junction with the troops of Lafayette; as the result Cornwallis was forced to surrender on the 19th of October. Throughout, Rochambeau had displayed an admirable spirit, placing himself entirely under Washington's command and handling his troops as part of the American army. In recognition of his services, Congress voted him and his troops the thanks of the nation and presented him with two cannon taken from the English. These guns, which Rochambeau took back to Vendôme, were requisitioned in 1792. On his return to France he was loaded with favours by Louis XVI. and was made governor of Picardy. During the Revolution he commanded the Army of the North in 1790, but resigned in 1792. He was arrested during the Terror, and narrowly escaped the guillotine. He was subsequently pensioned by Bonaparte, and died at Thoré (Loire-et-Cher) on the 10th of May 1807.
A statue of Rochambeau by Ferdinand Hamar, the gift of France to the United States, was unveiled in Lafayette Square, Washington, by President Roosevelt on the 24th of May 1902. The ceremony was made the occasion of a great demonstration of friendship between the two nations. France was represented by her ambassador, M. Cambon, Admiral Fournier and General Brugère, a detachment of sailors and marines from the warship “ Gaulois ” being present. Representatives of the Lafayette and Rochambeau families also attended. Of the many speeches perhaps the most striking was that of Senator Henry C. Lodge, who, curiously enough in the circumstances, prefaced his eloquent appreciation of the services rendered to the American cause by France by a brilliant sketch of the way in which the French had been driven out of North America by England and her colonists combined. General Brugère, in his speech, quoted Rochambeau's words, uttered in 1781: “ Entre nous,
