CARACAL

caracal, the capital of the department of romanatzi, rumania; situated in the plains between the lower reaches of the jiu and olt rivers, and on the railway from corabia, beside the danube, to hermannstadt in transylvania. pop. (1900) 12,055. caracal has little trade, except in grain. its chief buildings are the prefecture, school of arts and crafts and several churches. there are some ruins of a tower, built in a.d. 217 by the roman emperor caracalla, after whom the place is named. in 1596 michael the brave of walachia defeated the turks near caracal. caracal (_lynx caracal_), sometimes called persian lynx, an animal widely distributed throughout south-western asia, and over a large portion of africa. it is somewhat larger than a fox, of a uniform reddish brown colour above, and whitish beneath, with two white spots above each of the eyes, and a tuft of long black hair at the tip of the ears; to these it owes its name, which is derived from turkish words signifying "black-ear." there is little information as to the habits of this animal in a wild state. dr w.t. blanford considers that it dwells among grass and bushes rather than in forests. its prey is said to consist largely of gazelles, small deer, hares and peafowl and other birds. the caracal is easily tamed, and in some parts of india is trained to capture the smaller antelopes and deer and such birds as the crane and pelican. according to blyth, it is a favourite amusement among the natives to let loose a couple of tame caracals among a flock of pigeons feeding on the ground, when each will strike down a number of birds before the flock can escape. frequent reference is made in greek and roman literature to the lynx, and from such descriptions as are given of it there is little doubt that the caracal, and not the european lynx, was referred to. in south africa, where the caracal abounds, its hide is made by the zulus into skin-cloaks, known as karosses. according to w.l. sclater, these when used as blankets are said to be beneficial in cases of rheumatism; an ointment prepared from the fat of the animal being employed for the same purpose. the north african caracal has been separated as _lynx_, or _caracal, berberorum_, but it is best regarded as a local race. caracalla (or caracallus), marcus aurelius antoninus (186-217), roman emperor, eldest son of the emperor septimius severus, was born at lugdunum (lyons) on the 4th of april 186. his original name was bassianus; his nickname caracalla was derived from the long gallic tunic which he wore and introduced into the army. he further received the imperial title of marcus aurelius antoninus at the time when his father declared himself the adopted son of m. aurelius. after the death of severus (211) at eboracum (york) in britain, caracalla and his brother geta, who had accompanied their father, returned to rome as colleagues in the supreme power. in order to secure the sole authority, caracalla barbarously murdered his brother in his mother's arms, and at the same time put to death some 20,000 persons, who were suspected of favouring him, amongst them the jurist papinianus. an important act of his reign (212) was the bestowal of the rights of roman citizenship upon all free inhabitants of the empire, although the main object of caracalla was doubtless to increase the amount of revenue derived from the tax on inheritances or legacies to which only roman citizens were liable. his own extravagances and the demands of the soldiery were a perpetual drain upon his resources, to meet which he resorted to taxes and extortion of every description. he spent the remainder of his reign wandering from place to place, a mode of life to which he was said to have been driven by the pangs of remorse. handing over the reins of government to his mother, he set out in 213 for raetia, where he carried on war against the alamanni; in 214 he attacked the goths in dacia, whence he proceeded by way of thrace to asia minor, and in 215 crossed to alexandria. here he took vengeance for the bitter sarcasms of the inhabitants against himself and his mother by ordering a general massacre of the youths capable of bearing arms. in 216 he ravaged mesopotamia because artabanus, the parthian king, refused to give him his daughter in marriage. he spent the winter at edessa, and in 217, when he recommenced his campaign, he was murdered between edessa and carrhae on the 8th of april at the instigation of opellius (opilius) macrinus, praefect of the praetorian guard, who succeeded him. amongst the numerous buildings with which caracalla adorned the city, the most famous are the _thermae_, and the triumphal arch of septimius severus in the forum. authorities.--dio cassius lxxvii., lxxviii.; herodian iii. 10, iv. 14; lives of caracalla, severus and geta, in _scriptores historiae augustae_; eutropius viii. 19-22; aurelius victor, _de caesaribus_, 20-23; _epit._ 20-23; zosimus i. 9-10; h. schiller, _geschichte der romischen kaiserzeit_ (1883), 738 ff.; pauly-wissowa, _realencyclopadie_, ii. 2434 ff. (von rohden).