encompassed with foes. The Scythians and Turks were pouring dcmi from the north and northeast, the fierce Normans, who had violently effected a lodgment in Italy and Sicily, were menacing his western provinces ; and, finally, the myriad warriors of the First Crusade burst into his Empire on their way to Palestine, and encamped around the gates of his capital. Yet he contrived to avoid all perils and disgraces by the wisdom of his policy, the mingled pa- tience and promptitude of his character, and his discipline in the camp. He reigned for thii-ty- seven years, and if it had been possible to pre- serve the Byzantine Empire in its integrity, a ruler like Alexis might have done it.
Undoubtedly, the great interest which attaches to Alexis arises from his relations to the Cru- saders. Historians differ as to the purity and sincerity of his conduct toward them. His daughter Anna (q.v. ), who wTote his life, de- fends his "policy" with filial piety; but it is clear that he entertained a profound dread and suspicion of the half-civilized Franks, and, know- ing the weakness of his own Empire, was com- pelled to dissimulate. He promised them help, and persuaded them to go off into Asia : but he did not fulfill his promises, and simply used them as his instruments to reconquer from the Turks the islands and coasts of Asia Minor. Perhaps, however, little apology is needed for a monarch who "subdued the en'y of his equals, restored the laws of public and private order, caused the arts of wealth and science to be cultivated, and transmitted the sceptre to his children of the third and fourth generations."
ALEXIS, or ALEXIUS, II., COMNENUS (c.1168-83). Emperor of Constantinople. He
succeeded his father, Manuel I., about 1180, and
was deposed and strangled by his uncle, An-
dronicus (1183).
ALEXIS III., ANGELUS (?-1210). Brother
of Isaac Angelus, Emperor of Constantinople,
whose throne he usurped in 1195. In ]20.'i his
capital was besieged and taken by the Venetians
and an army of French Crusaders, who reinstated
Isaac II. On the capture of the city Alexis III.
fled, and died a few years afterward in exile.
ALEXIS IV., ANGELUS ( ?-1204). Byzantine emperor in 12011-04, son of Isaac II. (Angelus). After the flight of his uncle, Alexis III., he was associated with his father in the government. After reigning onlj- a few months,
liowever, he was deposed and put to death by
Alexis V.
ALEXIS V., surnamed Dukas Mtjetzxiphlos
(?-1204). Byzantine emperor in 1204. After
the murder of Alexis IV. ( 1204), he usurped the
throne, but at the end of a few weeks was de-
posed by the Crusaders, who had resolved on a
partition of the Empire of the East. He fled to
the Morea, where he was seized by the Latins,
tried for the murder of Alexis IV., and cast from
the top of Thcodosius's Pillar.
ALEXIS, or ALEXIUS, COMNENUS (c. 1180-1222). A grandson of Andronicu-s I. When Constantinople was captiired by the Crusaders in 1204, Alexis, taking advantage of the situation, captured Trebizond and some other cities on the Black Sea. He took the title of Em-
peror of Trebizond, and was obliged to carry on
a continuous war against the Turks.
ALEX'IS (Gk. 'Alilcfif) of Thurii. A Greek
comic poet of the third century B.C. He was
born at Thurii, in Magna Groecia, was uncle and
instructor of Menander, and wrote at Athens,
where, according to Plutarch, at the age of 106,
he died on the stage while being crowned as vic-
tor. Suidas assigns to him 245 comedies, of which
the remaining fragments exhibit elegance and
wit. His delineations of the parasite were
skillful. See the edition by Hirschig (1840) and
Meiiiike, in his Frngmcnta Comicorum, Volume I.
ALEXIS, Willibald (1797-1871). The as-
sumed name of ilhelm Hiiring, a German nov-
elist. He was born at Breslau, June 23, 1797,
and died at Arnstadt, December 16, 1871. He
was in his early works, an imitator of Walter
Scott, from whom his first romance, Wcdladmor
(1823) , and his second, Schloss Avulon, purport-
ed to be translations. Later Alexis took Prussia
for his scenes. His best novels are: Cabnitis
{ 1832) , Dcr falschc Waldcmar ( 1842) , and Ruhc
ist die erste Biir'jrr}>ficht (1852). Here the in-
terest is well maintained, the characters clearly
seen and firmly drawn, but the novels are marred
by mannerisms and over-elaboration. Through
all runs a vein of patriotic feeling that still sus-
tains their popularity. Alexis's poems, though
superficially attractive, lack depth and fertility
of invention.
ALEXISBAD, a-leks'es-biid. A watering-place
in the duchy of Anhalt, Germany (Map: Ger-
many. D 3). It has two kinds of springs. The
Selke spring is used for bathing, and contains
chloride and sulphate of iron, while the Alexis
spring contains carbonic acid, and is used for
drinking purposes. Alexisbad was established
as a watering-place by the Duke of Anhalt-Bern-
burg in 1810.
ALEX'IUS. A Roman saint of the fifth
century, patron of the society of Alexians or
Cellites. lie is said to have been a Roman
senator, but gave up the world for a life of pov-
erty and celibacy. His relies are said to have
accomplished marvelous cures. Alexius is hon-
ored in the calendars of the Latins, Greeks,
Syrians, Maronites, and Armenians. His fes-
tival occurs on .July 17. He was a favorite sub-
ject among the poets of the ]Iiddle-High-German
period. Consult: Massmann, Hankt Alexius Lcbcn
(Quedlinburg, 1843) : Paris and Pannier, La vie
de Saint Alexia (1872); Blau, Ziir Alcxis-
leqende, in the Germania (1888), Volume XXXIII., and A. Amiaud, La legende syriaque de Saint Alexis (1880).
AL'PA. One of the varieties of esparto
(q.v.), a plant which grows in North Africa.
Its filire is valuable for paper-making.
ALFAL'FA (Sp.. from Ar. al-farfaQah. the best feed), also called Lucerne. A leguminous plant, widely used in Europe and in parts of North and South America as a forage and hay crop for stock. The plant (Medicago
sativa) is a native of the valleys of central western Asia. It has been cultivated in Europe for more than 2000 years, and was introduced into Mexico and South America at the time of the Spanish conquests. In 1854, it was brought from Chile to California, whence it spread rapidly over the arid regions of the Pacific and Rocky Mountain States, where it is now more extensively grown than any other forage crop. The plant is an upright, branching perennial, one to three feet high, with triple parted leaves and
