ROO

495

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the republic till the battle of Aclium, when Octavianus , by the de-feat of Mark Antony, became sole monarch: but Julius Caesar having obtained both the title and the power of emperor, oughtcertainly to be reckoned the first of that dynasty, though his reignwas short.

ROMANCE, in matters of literature, is a fabulous relation ofcertain adventures designed for the entertainment and instructionof the readers, and differing from the novel, as it always exhibitsactions great, dangerous, and generally extravagant.

ROMANIA, a province of Turkey in Europe bounded on theN. by Bulgaria, K. by the Black Sea, S. by the Archipelago andthe sea of Marmora, and W. by Macedonia and Bulgaria ; being200 miles long, and 150 broad. It was formerly called Thrace ,.and is the principal and largest of all the provinces the Turks possessin Europe. It is a Iruitiul country in corn and pastures, and there,are mines of silver, lead, and alum'.

ROMANO, a town of Italy , in the department of the Serio,and district and late province of Bergamo .

Romano, a late district of Italy , in the Bergamasco, of which theabove town was the capital.

ROM A NS, an ancient town of France , in the department of theDrome , and late province of Dauphiny, twenty-two miles S. W.of Grenoble . Lon. 5. 12. E. Lat. 45. 2. N.

ROME, a very ancient and celebrated city of Italy , situated onthe river l iber; once the capital of the greatest empire in theworld ; and famous in modern history for being the centre of anecclesiastical tyranny, by which for many ages the greatest part ofthe world was held in subjection. Rome is 410 miles S. S. E. ofVienna; 600 S. E. of Paris: 730 E. by N. of Madrid ; 760 W.of Constantinople ; and 7S0 S. E. of London . . Lon. of St.Peter’s at Rome, 12° 27' 41" E. of Greenwich . Lat. 41° 53' 54" N.

ROM ELIA, the general name, given by the Turks to their do-minions in Europe .

ROMNEY, a town of England in Kent , one of the cinque-port-towns. It is seventeen miles S. E. of London . Lon. 1. 5.E. Lat. 51. 0. N.

ROMONT, a town of the Helvetic republic , in the canton ofFriburg, ten miles from Friburg. Lon. 7. 1. E. Lat. 46. 50. N.

ROMORENTIN, a town of France , in the department ofLoire and Cher, and late province of Blaisois; 45 miles E. ofTours, and 100 S. by W. of Paris . Lon. 1. 47. E. Lat 4722. N.

ROMPE'E, or ROMPU, in heraldry, is applied to ordinariesthat are represented as broken, and to chevrons, bends, or the likewhose upper points are cut off.

ROMULUS, the founder and first king of Rome .

RONA, one of the Hebrides , about 48 miles from the N. E.Point of Ness in Lewis; about a mile long, and half a mileBroad.

RONAY, an island of Scotland , in the county of Inverness,parish or Portree, between the continent of Scotland and theIsle of Sky. It is about four miles long and two broad ; andI’ es near Raasay. The surface is level and the soil pretty fertile.

RONCIGLIONE, a town of Italy, twelve miles S. of Viterbo ,und 24 N. of Rome .

RONDA, a handsome and strong town of Spain, in Grenada ,twenty miles N. W. of Gibraltar . Lon. 5. 12. W. Lat 36

40. N.

®f tL a . anclellt , P oet|, .V> commonly consisting

rteen verses; of which eight have one rhyme and fiveanother; it is divided into three couplets, and at the end of thesecond and third, the beginning of the rondeau is repeated in anequivocal sense, if possible.

RONDELETLY, in botany, a genus of the monogvnia order,pentandria class of plants. Corolla funnel-shaped ; capsule'“celled, inferior, many-seeded, roundish, crownedtourteen species.

, rood,

fourth

a quantity of land equal to forty square perches, or the°f an acre.

*ts ini■ ' n arc -h'tecture, the covering of a building, by which* , eath'- ai r S - 0r t,0lltenl ? are protected from the injuries of theoxnresQ 1 ’ ii 1 ** le csscl ‘Rial part of a house, and is often used tohisn,.1° come under a person’s roof, is to enjoy

protection and

society,

dwell with him.

d cclum was used

- same sense by the Remans.

1 o be within our walls rather

expresses the being in our possession a roof therefore is not only anessential part of a house, but it even seems to be its characteristicfeature. The form of roofs is various : sometimes it is pointed, inwhich case the most beautiful proportion is to have its profile anequilateral triangle; sometimes it is square, that is, the pitch orangle of the ridge is a right angle, which therefore is a mean pro-portion, between the pointed and fiat roof, which last is in- thesame proportion as a triangular pediment: this is chiefly used in Italy #and the hot countries where there is but little snow. Sometimes-roofs are made in the pinnacle-form : sometimes they have adouble ridge, and sometimes they are mutilated, that is, consistof a true and a false roof, which is laid over the former : sometimesagain they are in the form of a platform, as most of the eastern-buildings are ; and sometimes they are truncated, that is, insteadof terminating in a ridge, the roof is cut square off at a certainheight, covered with a terrass, and encompassed with a ballustradeand sometimes, again, a roof is made in the manner of a dome.When the walls have been raised to their designed height, thevaults made, the joists laid, the stairs, &c. brought up, then theroof is to he raised, which embracing every part of the building,and with its weight equally pressing upon the walls, is a band toall the work ; and besides, defends the inhabitants from rain orsnow, the burning heat of the sun, and the moisture of the night,and is of no small advantage to the building, in casting off the rain-water from the walls.

ROOK, in ornithology. See Corvus.

ROOKE, Sir George, a naval commander, descended of are-ancient and honourable family in Kent , in 1650, His merit raisedhim to be vice-admiral of the blue; in which station he served irethe battle of La Hogue, on the 19th of May 1692 ; when it wasowing to his vigorous behaviour, that the last stroke was given orethat important day, which threw the French entirely into confusion.But the next day he obtained still more glory by going into LaHogue, and burning the enemy’s fleet, which he completely de-stroyed, together with most of the transports and ammunition-vessels ; and this under the fire of all the French batteries, and insight of all the French and Irish troops: yet this bold action costthe lives of only ten men. The vice-admiral’s behaviour on thisoccasion appeared so great to King William, that, having no op-portunity at that time of promoting him, he settled a pension of1000/. per annum on him for life ; and afterwards going to Ports-mouth to view the fleet, went on board Mr. Rooke’s ship, dined-with him, and then conferred on him the honour of knighthood,he having a little before made him vice-admiral of the red. Inconsequence of other services he was in 1694 raised to the rank ofadmiral of the blue: towards the close of the next year,- he wasmade admiral of the white ; and was also appointed admiral andconnnander-in-chief in the Mediterranean. During King Wil-liam’s reign, Sir George was twice elected M. P. for Portsmouth ;and upon the accession of Queen Anne , in 1702, he was constitut-ed vice-admiral and lieutenant of the admiralty of England, as alsolieutenant of the fleets and seas of this kingdom. Upon the decla-ration of war against France , he was ordered to command a fleetsent against Cadiz , the duke of Ormond having the command ofthe land-forces. On his passage home, receiving an account thatthe galleons, under the escort of a strong French squadron, weregot into the harbour of Vigo, he resolved to attack them ; and on-the 11th October, came before the harbour of Rondondello, wherethe French commander had neglected nothing necessary tor put-ting the place into the best posture ot defence. But notwithstand-ing this, a detachment of fifteen English and ten Dutch men ofwar, of the line of battle, with all the fire-ships, were ordered in ;the frigates and bomb-vessels followed; the great ships movedafter them, and the army landed near Rondondello. 1 he wdioleservice was performed under Sir George’s directions, with admir-able conduct and bravery ; for all the ships were destroyed ortaken, prodigious damage done to the enemy, and vast wealth ac-quired by the allies, in this memorable battle. For this actionSir George received the thanks of the House of Commons , a dayof thanksgiving was appointed both by the queen and the states-general, and Sir George was promoted to a seat in the priVy-council; yet, notwithstanding this, the House of Lords resolvedto inquire into his conduct at Cadiz . But he so fully justifiedhimself, that a vote was passed, approving his behaviour. In.spring 1704, Sir George commanded the ships of war which con-voyed