Page:The American Cyclopædia (1879) Volume V.djvu/756

752 DECIUS MUS DECRETALS toward the end of 249. Philip was slain, and Decius ascended the throne. His short reign is remarkable for a severe persecution of the Christians, for an attempt to restore the ancient independent censorship, and with it the former virtuous manners and habits of the republic, and for the first invasion of 'the Goths from the neighborhood of the Black sea. To defend the northern provinces of the empire against this people, Decius hastened to the Danube, but fell with his son in battle. He was suc- ceeded by his general Gallus, to whose treach- ery the loss of the battle has been attributed. DECKS MUS, Pnblins, the name of three cele- brated Roman plebeian consuls, father, son, and grandson. The first distinguished himself, in the year 343 B. 0., in the war against the Sam- nites, and commanded in 340, with his colleague Titus Manlius Torquatus, against the Latins, who were then trying to shake off the yoke of the Romans. Before a decisive battle, it is said, both consuls had a vision informing them that the infernal gods required one of the contend- ing armies and the opposing commander to be devoted to them. The consuls agreed that he whose wing should first waver should devote himself and his enemies to death. The wing under Decius gave way ; he immediately caused the pontifex maximus to perform the consecra- ting rites, wrapped himself in his robe, rode into the thickest of the enemy, and perished. His legions rushed on anew, and were vic- torious. His son did likewise in the battle of Sentinum (295), where he was opposed to the Gauls. Similar heroism is attributed to the grandson in a campaign against Pyrrhus and the Tarentines (279), but he survived. DECIZE (anc. Decetia), a town of France, in the department of Nievre, 18 m. S. E. of Ne- vers ; pop. in 1866, 4,594. It is on an island in the Loire, at the junction of the Aron, and at the head of the Nivernais canal, connected with one bank of the Loire by a suspension, and with the other by an immense stone bridge. On a rock which forms the highest point of the isl- and stands an old castle formerly belonging to the dukes of Nevers, but used since 1849 as a hospital. Among the other buildings is a church of the 10th century. The country around De- cize contains some of the richest coal mines in France, and the town has large iron and tin works and an extensive manufactory of bottles. DEC REX, Rarl Rlaus von der, a German trav- eller, born at Kotzen, Prussia, Aug. 8, 1833, killed at Berderah, E. Africa, Oct. 3, 1865. He entered the Hanoverian army in 1850, but left the service in 1860, having begnn his trav- els in Africa as early as 1857. In May, 1861, be set out to explore the lake country of east- ern Africa, and returned to Zanzibar Dec. 31, 1862, having made the ascent of Mount Kili- manjaro to the height of 13,000 ft. In May, 1863, he made explorations on the coast, after which he returned to Europe. In October, 1864, he went again to Zanzibar, with two steamers constructed at his own expense in Hamburg. In August, 1865, he commenced the ascent of the river Juboo, in company with several other travellers. They were attacked on Oct. 1 by the. natives, and forced to take refuge in boats, Decken and Dr. Link, a physician of Berlin, losing their lives. The results of his explora- tions have been given by Kersten in Reisen in Ostafrilca in den Jahren 1859-'65 (4 vols., Leipsic, 1869-'71). DECRER, or Dekker, Jeremias de, a Dutch poet, born at Dort about 1610, died in Amsterdam in November, 1666. He wrote a paraphrase of the Lamentations of Jeremiah, translations and imitations of classic poets* and a great number of epigrams. His most celebrated poem, the "Praise of Avarice" (Lofder Geld- zucht), has earned a place beside the Morim Encomium of Erasmus. A first edition of his poems appeared in Amsterdam in 1656, anoth- er with additions in 1702, and a complete col- lection in 1726. Selections of his epigrams are in Geysbeck's Epigrammatische Aniholo- gie (1821), and of his poetry in Siegenbeck's Proeven van NederduitscJie Dichikunde (1823). DECRER, or Dekker, Thomas, an English dra- matic author, of the reign of James I., sup- posed to have died about 1638. He quarrelled with Ben Jonson, who, representing himself as Horace, satirized Decker as Crispinus in u The Poetaster," to which Decker replied by at- tacking Jonson in his " Satyromastix " under the name of " Young Horace." Decker wrote plays in conjunction with Massinger, "Webster, and Ford, and was the sole author of several, of which " The Honest Whore " is considered the best; Hazlitt says it " unites the simplicity of prose with the graces of poetry." He wrote also many small works of a humorous cast, in the most important of which, " Gull's Horn- book " (London, 1609; new ed. by Dr. Nott, 4to, 1812), he ridicules the follies of London fashionable life. He was very poor, and is said to have spent three years in prison. DECRETALS, letters sent by the early popes to different churches, containing decrees deemed necessary for the maintenance of discipline or the good of religion. The term relates to the Decretum of Gratian, consisting of decrees, and forming the chief body of church laws. The collection or code of Dionysius Exiguus, a learned Scythian monk (died about 540), was published in Rome. Its second part is made up of the decretals of several popes, the earliest of whom is Siricius (384). This code, with the additions made by successive pontiffs, was pre- sented to Charlemagne by Adrian I., and this copy is known as Codex Ganonum. About 845 appeared the false Isidorian decretals, a collec- tion made as some think in Spain, according to others in the west of Gaul. It was an attempt to codify scientifically the existing church laws, and contains three classes of documents : some perfectly genuine, and attributed to their real authors ; others substantially so, but published under the names of councils and popes to whom they did not belong; and others alto-