FALUN

falun, a town of sweden, capital of the district (_lan_) of kopparberg, 153 m. n.w. of stockholm by rail. pop. (1900) 9606. it is situated in a bare and rocky country near the western shore of lake runn. here are the oldest and most celebrated copper mines in europe. their produce has gradually decreased since the 17th century, and is now unimportant, but sulphate of copper, iron pyrites, and some gold, silver, sulphur and sulphuric acid, and red ochre are also produced. the mines belong to the kopparberg mining company (_stora kopparbergs bergslags aktiebolag_, formerly _kopparbergslagen_). this is the oldest industrial corporation in sweden, and perhaps the oldest still existing in the world; it is known to have been established before 1347. since its reorganization as a joint-stock company in 1890 many of the shares have been held by the crown, philanthropic institutions and other public bodies. the company also owns iron mines, limestone and quartz quarries, large iron-works at domnarfvet and elsewhere, a great extent of forests and saw-mills, and besides the output of the copper mines it produces manufactured iron and steel, timber, wood-pulp, bricks and charcoal. falun has also railway rolling-stock factories. there are museums of mineralogy and geology, a lower school of mining, model room and scientific library. the so-called "gothenburg system" of municipal control over the sale of spirits was actually devised at falun as early as 1850. fama (gr. [greek: pheme, ossa]), in classical mythology, the personification of rumour. the homeric equivalent _ossa_ (_iliad_, ii. 93) is represented as the messenger of zeus, who spreads reports with the rapidity of a conflagration. homer does not personify _pheme_, which is merely a presage drawn from human utterances, whereas ossa (until later times) is associated with the idea of divine origin. a more definite character is given to pheme by hesiod (_works and days_, 764), who calls her a goddess; in sophocles (_oed. tyr._ 158) she is the immortal daughter of golden hope and is styled by the orator aeschines (_contra timarchum_, s 128) one of the mightiest of goddesses. according to pausanias (i. 17. 1) there was a temple of pheme at athens, and at smyrna (ib. ix. 11, 7), whose inhabitants were especially fond of seeking the aid of divination, there was a sanctuary of cledones (sounds or rumours supposed to convey omens). there does not seem to have been any cult of fama among the romans, by whom she was regarded merely as "a figure of poetical religion." the temple of fame and omen (pheme and cledon) mentioned by plutarch (_moralia_, p. 319) is due to a confusion with aius locutius, the divinity who warned the romans of the coming attack of the gauls. there are well-known descriptions of fame in virgil (_aeneid_, iv. 173) and ovid (_metam._ xii. 39); see also valerius flaccus (ii. 116), statius (_thebais_, iii. 425). an unfavourable idea gradually became attached to the name; thus ennius speaks of fama as the personification of "evil" reputation and the opposite of gloria (cp. the adjective _famosus_, which is not used in a good sense till the post-augustan age). chaucer in his _house of fame_ is obviously imitating virgil and ovid, although he is also indebted to dante's _divina commedia_. famagusta (gr. _ammochostos_), a town and harbour on the east cost of cyprus, 2-1/2 m. s. of the ruins of salamis. the population in 1901 was 818, nearly all being moslems who live within the walls of the fortress; the christian population has migrated to a suburb called varosia (pop. 2948). the foundation of salamis (q.v.) was ascribed to teucer: it was probably the most important town in early cyprus. the revolt of the jews under trajan, and earthquakes in the time of constantius and constantine the great helped in turn to destroy it. it was restored by fl. constantius ii. (a.d. 337-361) as constantia. another town a little to the south, built by ptolemy philadelphus in 274 b.c., and called arsinoe in honour of his sister, received the refugees driven from constantia by the arabs under mu'awiyah, became the seat of the orthodox archbishopric, and was eventually known as famagusta. it received a large accession of population at the fall of acre in 1291; was annexed by the genoese in 1376; reunited to the throne of cyprus in 1464; and surrendered, after an investment of nearly a year, to the turks in 1571. the fortifications, remodelled by the venetians after 1489, the castle, the grand cathedral church of st nicolas, and the remains of the palace and many other churches make famagusta a place of unique interest. acts ii. and v. of shakespeare's _othello_ pass there. in 1903 measures were taken to develop the fine natural harbour of famagusta. basins were dredged to give depths of 15 and 24 ft. respectively at ordinary low tides, and commodious jetties and quays were constructed. familiar (through the fr. _familier_, from lat. _familiaris_, of or belonging to the _familia_, family), an adjective, properly meaning belonging to the family or household, but in this sense the word is rare. the more usual meanings are: friendly, intimate, well known; and from its application to the easy relations of intimate friends the term may be used in an invidious sense of "free and easy" conduct on the part of any one not justified by any close relationship, friendship or intimacy. "familiar" is, however, also used as a substantive, especially of the spirit or demon which attended on a wizard or magician, and was summoned to execute his master's wishes. the idea underlies the notion of the christian guardian angel and of the roman _genius natalis_ (see demonology; witchcraft). in the roman church the term is applied to persons attached to the household of the pope or of bishops. these must actually do some domestic service. they are supported by their patron, and enjoy privileges which in the case of the papal familiars are considerable. "familiars of the holy office" were lay officers of the inquisition, whose functions were chiefly those of police, in making arrests, &c., of persons charged.