Part 43

Meanwhile, the Hauran, the old seat of the Shehab family and Hermon Druses, had been steadily receiving a Druse influx, since the day of Ain Dara (see above). Towards the close of the 18th century some 600 families left Lebanon for the Hauran, in discontent with the rule of the Shehab dynasty, and their place and property were taken by 1500 families driven out of Jebel Ansarieh by Topal Ali in 1811. The Hauran Druses increased by the middle of the 19th century to 7000 souls. They had successfully resisted Ibrahim, the Egyptian, in 1839 in the Lija, and asserted complete independence of the Turks, living under a theocratic government directed by the chief Akil in Suweda. A great effort, made by Kibrisli Pasha in 1852 to subdue the Hauran, came to nothing. In 1879 the population numbered 20,000, and by a murderous raid attracted the attention of Midhat Pasha, then vali of the province of Syria. After experiencing one disaster he defeated their forces and imposed a _kaimakam_, at first drawn from the Talhuks, but subsequently chosen from the Atrash family of Kunawat. But the Druses still refused to pay taxes, to serve in the Ottoman army, or to recognize the _kaimakam_, and maintained their contumacy under the lead of the Jumblat, till 1896; when, as the result of a military expedition under Tahir Pasha and a great defeat at Ijun, a compromise was arrived at, under which the Druses agreed to pay taxes, but to serve in their own territory only as a frontier guard. The government was put into the hands of a mutessarif resident at Sheikh Saad, under whom are _kaimakams_ at Suweda and Salkhad. Since that epoch there has been comparative peace between the Druses and the government, largely because the latter, having learned wisdom, leaves the people very much to itself, maintaining only a small garrison of regular troops, and enlisting Druse police for service in Jebel Druz itself. The Druses are allowed to carry on their feuds with the Bedouins of the E. Desert as they will, so long as they do not disturb western districts. With the recent opening out of the W. Hauran by railway, the Druse sheikhs are beginning to acquire commercial ambitions, and to desire peace.

The Hauran Druses are a vigorous, independent folk, with a well-deserved reputation for courage, very astute, and hospitable to Europeans, especially the British, with whom they have an old tradition of friendship. But, like most persecuted but semi-independent peoples, they are both cruel, and, by our standards, treacherous. They are a handsome race, the women being often beautiful. The latter no longer carry the head-horn which used to support the veil dropped over the face out of doors. But their dress is still black with the exception of red slippers, and the veil is never abandoned, not even, it is said, during sleep. An English lady, who has been much among them, states that the Druse women of the Hauran never unveiled before her. The men wear a _tarbush_ with white roll, a black under-robe with white girdle, a short loose jacket, and when necessary an _aba_ or parti-coloured cloak over all. They go habitually armed with scimitar and half-moon axe, besides gun or rifle.

Polygamy is forbidden. Marriage retains certain traces of the original system of capture; but Druse women enjoy much consideration, and are comparatively well educated, dignified and free in their bearing in spite of their close veiling. As has been stated above, they join the men in religious functions. Divorce is easy and can be initiated by the woman; but remarriage of the pair can only be effected by the good offices of a proxy (as in Moslem societies, after a third divorce). Burial takes place in family mausoleums, walled up after each interment; but Akils are buried in their own houses. The body is laid on its side, with its face to the south (Mecca).

Education is widely spread, and there is a considerable religious literature, much of which is known in Europe. A copy of the _Book of the Testimonies to the Mysteries of the Unity_, consisting of seventy treatises in four folio volumes, was found in the house of the chief Akil at Bakhlin, and presented in 1700 to Louis XIV. by Nusralla ibn Gilda, a Syrian doctor. Other manuscripts are to be found at Rome in the Vatican, at Oxford in the Bodleian, at Vienna, at Leiden, at Upsala and at Munich; and Dr J. L. Porter got possession of seven standard works of Druse theology while at Damascus. The Munich collection was presented to the king of Bavaria by Clot Bey, the chief physician in the Egyptian army during its occupation of Syria; and for a number of the other manuscripts we are indebted to the elder Niebuhr. A history of the Druse nation by the amir Haidar Shehab is quoted by Urquhart.

BIBLIOGRAPHY.--Adler, "Druze Catechism," in _Museum Cuficum Borgianum_ (1782); Silvestre de Sacy, _Exposé de la religion des Druses_ (1838); Ph. Wolff, _Reise in das gelobte Land_, and _Die Drusen und ihre Vorläufer_ (1842); C. H. Churchill, _Ten Years' Residence in Mount Lebanon_ (3 vols., 1853); G. W. Chasseaud, _The Druzes of the Lebanon_ (1855); E. G. Ray, _Voyage dans le Haouran, exécuté pendant les années 1857 et 1858_; C. H. Churchill, _The Druzes and Maronites under the Turkish Rule from 1840 to 1860_ (London, 1862); H. Guys, _Le Théogonie des Druses_ (1863), and _La Nation Druse_ (1864); M. von Oppenheim, _Vom Mittelmeer_, &c. (1899); Gertrude L. Bell, _The Desert and the Sown_ (1907). (D. G. H.; G. BE.)

FOOTNOTE:

[1] Sophisticated Druses still sometimes claim connexion with Rosicrucians, and a special relation to Scottish freemasons.

DRUSIUS (or VAN DEN DRIESCHE), JOHANNES (1550-1616), Protestant divine, distinguished specially as an Orientalist and exegete, was born at Oudenarde, in Flanders, on the 28th of June 1550. Being designed for the church, he studied Greek and Latin at Ghent, and philosophy at Louvain; but his father having been outlawed for his religion, and deprived of his estate, retired to England, where the son followed him in 1567. He found an admirable teacher of Hebrew in Chevalier, the celebrated Orientalist, with whom he resided for some time at Cambridge. In 1572 he became professor of Oriental languages at Oxford. Upon the pacification of Ghent (1576) he returned with his father to their own country, and was appointed professor of Oriental languages at Leiden in the following year. In 1585 he removed to Friesland, and was admitted professor of Hebrew in the university of Franeker, an office which he discharged with great honour till his death, which happened in February 1616. He acquired so extended a reputation as a professor that his class was frequented by students from all the Protestant countries in Europe. His works prove him to have been well skilled in Hebrew and in Jewish antiquities; and in 1600 the states-general employed him, at a salary of 400 florins a year, to write notes on the most difficult passages in the Old Testament; but this work was not published until after his death. As the friend of Arminius, he was charged by the orthodox and dominant party with unfairness in the execution of the task, and the last sixteen years of his life were therefore somewhat embittered by controversy. He carried on an extensive correspondence with the learned in different countries; for, besides letters in Hebrew, Greek and other languages, there were found amongst his papers upwards of 2000 written in Latin. He had a son, John, who died in England at the age of twenty-one, and was accounted a prodigy of learning. He had mastered Hebrew at the age of nine, and Scaliger said that he was a better Hebrew scholar than his father. He wrote a large number of letters in Hebrew, besides notes on the Proverbs of Solomon and other works.

Paquot states the number of the printed works and treatises of the elder Drusius at forty-eight, and of the unprinted at upwards of twenty. Of the former more than two-thirds were inserted in the collection entitled _Critici sacri, sive annolata doctissimorum virorum in Vetus et Novum Testamentum_ (Amsterdam, 1698, in 9 vols. folio, or London, 1660, in 10 vols. folio). Amongst the works of Drusius not to be found in this collection may be mentioned--(1) _Alphabetum Hebraicum vetus_ (1584, 4to); (2) _Tabulae in grammaticam Chaldaicam ad usum juventutis_ (1602, 8vo); (3) An edition of Sulpicius Severus (Franeker, 1807, 12mo); (4) _Opuscula quae ad grammaticam spectant omnia_ (1609, 4to); (5) _Lacrymae in obitum J. Scaligeri_ (1609, 4to); and (6) _Grammatica linguae sanctae nova_ (1612, 4to).

DRUSUS, MARCUS LIVIUS, Roman statesman, was colleague of Gaius Gracchus in the tribuneship, 122 B.C. The proposal of Gracchus (q.v.) to confer the full franchise on the Latins had been opposed not only by the senate, but also by the mob, who imagined that their own privileges would thereby be diminished. Drusus threatened to veto the proposal. Encouraged by this, the senatorial party put up Drusus to outbid Gracchus. Gracchus had proposed to found colonies outside Italy; Drusus provided twelve in Italy, to each of which 3000 citizens were to be sent. Gracchus had proposed to distribute allotments to the poorer citizens subject to a state rent-charge; Drusus promised them free of all charge, and further that they should be inalienable. In addition to the franchise, immunity from corporal punishment (even in the field) was promised the Latins. The absence of Gracchus, and the inefficiency of his representative at Rome, led to the acceptance of these proposals, which were never intended to be carried. Drusus himself declined all responsibility in connexion with carrying them out. He was rewarded for his services by the consulship (112), and the title of _patronus senatus_. He received Macedonia for his province, where he distinguished himself in a campaign against the Scordisci, whom he drove across the Danube, being the first Roman general who reached that river. It is possible that he is the Drusus mentioned by Plutarch as having died in 109, the year of his censorship.

Appian, _Bell. Civ._ i. 23; Plutarch, _Gaius Gracchus_, 8-11; Florus iii. 4; A. H. J. Greenidge, _Hist. of Rome_, vol. i. (1904).

His son, MARCUS LIVIUS DRUSUS, became tribune of the people in 91 B.C. He was a thoroughgoing conservative, wealthy and generous, and a man of high integrity. With some of the more intelligent members of his party (such as Marcus Scaurus and L. Licinius Crassus the orator) he recognized the need of reform. At that time an agitation was going on for the transfer of the judicial functions from the equites to the senate; Drusus proposed as a compromise a measure which restored to the senate the office of judices, while its numbers were doubled by the admission of 300 equites. Further, a special commission was to be appointed to try and sentence all judices guilty of taking bribes. But the senate was lukewarm, and the equites, whose occupation was threatened, offered the most violent opposition. In order, therefore, to catch the popular votes, Drusus proposed the establishment of colonies in Italy and Sicily, and an increased distribution of corn at a reduced rate. By help of these riders the bill was carried. Drusus now sought a closer alliance with the Italians, promising them the long-coveted boon of the Roman franchise. The senate broke out into open opposition. His laws were abrogated as informal, and each party armed its adherents for the civil struggle which was now inevitable. Drusus was stabbed one evening as he was returning home. His assassin was never discovered.

See Rome: _History_, ii. "The Republic" (Period C); also Appian, _Bell. Civ._ i. 35; Florus iii. 17; Diod. Sic. xxxvii. 10; Livy, _Epit._ 70; Vell. Pat. ii. 13.

DRUSUS, NERO[1] CLAUDIUS (38-9 B.C.) Roman general, son of Tiberius Claudius Nero and Livia Drusilla, stepson of Augustus and younger brother of the emperor Tiberius. Having held the office of quaestor and acted as praetor for his brother during the latter's absence in Gaul, he began (in 15 B.C.) the military career which has made his name famous. In conjunction with Tiberius, he carried on a successful campaign against the Raeti and Vindelici, who, although repulsed from Italy, continued to threaten the frontiers of Gaul. The credit of the decisive victory, however, must be assigned to Tiberius. Two of the _Odes_ of Horace (iv. 4 and 14) were written to glorify the exploits of the brothers. In 13 Drusus was sent as governor to the newly organized province of the three Gauls, where considerable discontent had been aroused by the exactions of the Roman governor Licinius. Drusus made a fresh assessment for taxation purposes, and summoned the Gallic representatives to a meeting at Lugdunum to discuss their grievances. It was of great importance to pacify the Gauls, in order to have his hands free to deal with the German tribes, one of which, the Sugambri, on the right bank of the Rhine, had seized the opportunity, during the absence of Augustus, to cross the river (12). Drusus drove them back and pursued them through the island of the Batavi and the land of the Usipetes (Usipes, Usipii) to their own territory, which he devastated. Sailing down the Rhine, he subdued the Frisii and, in order to facilitate operations against the Chauci, dug a canal (Fossa Drusiana) leading from the Rhenus (Rhine) to the Isala (Yssel)[2] into the lacus Flevus (Zuidersee) and the German Ocean. Making his way along the Frisian coast, he conquered the island of Burchanis (_Borkum_), defeated the Bructeri in a naval engagement on the Amisia (_Ems_), and went on to the mouth of the Visurgis (_Weser_) to attack the Chauci. On the way back his vessels grounded on the shallows, and were only got off with the assistance of the Frisii. Winter being close at hand, the campaign was abandoned till the following spring, and Drusus returned to Rome with the honour of having been the first Roman general to reach the German Ocean.

In his second campaign (11), Drusus defeated the Usipetes, threw a bridge over the Luppia (_Lippe_), attacked the Sugambri, and advanced through their territory and that of the Tencteri and Chatti as far as the Weser, where he gained a victory over the Cherusci. Lack of provisions, the approach of winter, and an inauspicious portent prevented him from crossing the Weser. While making his way back to the Rhine he fell into an ambuscade, but the carelessness of the enemy enabled him to inflict a crushing defeat upon them. In view of future operations, he built two castles, one at the junction of the Luppia and Aliso (_Alme_), the other in the territory of the Chatti on the Taunus, near Moguntiacum (_Mainz_).

The third campaign (10) was of little importance. The Chatti had joined the Sugambri in revolt; and, after some insignificant successes, Drusus returned with Augustus and Tiberius to Rome, and was elected consul for the following year. In spite of unfavourable portents at Rome, he determined to enter upon his fourth and last campaign (9) without delay. He attacked and defeated the Chatti, Suebi, Marcomanni and Cherusci, crossed the Weser and penetrated as far as the Albis (_Elbe_). Here trophies were set up to mark the farthest point ever reached by a Roman army. Various measures were taken to secure the possession of the conquered territory: fortresses were erected along the Elbe, Weser and Maas (_Meuse_, _Mosa_); a flotilla was placed upon the Rhine and a dam built upon the right arm of its estuary to increase the flow of water into the canal mentioned above. Drusus was said to have been deterred from crossing the Elbe by the sudden appearance of a woman of supernatural size, who predicted his approaching end. On his return, probably between the Elbe and the Saale (_Sala_), his horse stumbled and threw him. His leg was fractured and he died thirty days after the accident, on the 14th of September. Suetonius mentions an absurd rumour that he had been poisoned by order of Augustus, because he had refused to obey the order for his recall. The body was carried to the winter quarters of the army, whence it was escorted by Tiberius to Rome, the procession being joined by Augustus at Ticinum (Pavia). Tiberius delivered an oration over the remains in the Forum, whence they were conveyed to the Campus Martius and cremated, and ashes being deposited in the mausoleum of Augustus.

Drusus was one of the most distinguished men of his time. His agreeable manners, handsome person and brilliant military talents gained him the affection of the troops, while his sympathy with republican principles, endeared him to the people. It is not too much to say that, had he and his son lived long enough, they might have brought about the abolition of the monarchy. Although the successes of Drusus, resulting in the subjection of the German tribes from the Rhine to the Elbe, were too rapid to be lasting, they brought home the fact of the existence of the Romans to many who had never heard their name. For his victories he received the title of Germanicus. He married Antonia, the daughter of Marcus Antonius the triumvir, by whom he had three children: Germanicus, adopted by Tiberius; Claudius, afterwards emperor; and a daughter Livilla.

The chief ancient authorities for the life of Drusus are Dio Cassius, the epitomes of Livy, Suetonius (_Claudius_), Tacitus (portions of the _Annals_), Florus (whose chief source is Livy), Velleius Paterculus, and the _Consolatio ad Liviam_. The German campaigns were described in the last books of Livy and the lost _Bella Germaniae_ of the elder Pliny. As would naturally be expected, they have produced an extensive literature in Germany, J. Asbach's "Die Feldzüge des Nero Claudius Drusus" (_Rhein. Jahrb._ lxxxv. 14-30) being especially recommended; see also Mommsen's _History of the Roman Provinces_, i.; Merivale, _History of the Romans under the Empire_, ch. 36; A. Stein in Pauly-Wissowa's _Realencyclopädie_ (1899), where other authorities are given; J. C. Tarver, _Tiberius the Tyrant_ (1902).

FOOTNOTES:

[1] Originally Decimus.

[2] The district extending from Westervoort to Doesborgh.

DRUSUS CAESAR (c. 15 B.C.-A.D. 23), commonly called Drusus junior, to distinguish him from his uncle Nero Claudius Drusus, was the only son of the emperor Tiberius by his first wife Vipsania Agrippina. After having held several curule offices, he was consul elect in A.D. 14, the year of Augustus's death. His father, on his accession to the throne, immediately sent him to put down a mutiny of the troops in Pannonia, a task which he successfully accomplished (Tacitus, _Annals_, i. 24-30). As governor of Illyricum (17), he set the Germanic tribes against one another, and encouraged Catualda, chief of the Gothones, to drive out Marbod (Maroboduus), king of the Marcomanni. On his return Drusus was consul a second time (21) and in the following year received the tribunician authority from Tiberius, which practically indicated him as heir to the throne. Sejanus, who also aspired to the supreme power, determined to remove Drusus. He endeavoured to poison Tiberius's mind against him, seduced Drusus's wife and persuaded her to assist him in murdering her husband. Her physician Eudemus prepared and the eunuch Lygdus administered a slow poison, from the effects of which Drusus died after a lingering illness. Although Tiberius is said to have received the news of his death with indifference, there is no reason to suppose that he had any hand in it; indeed, he seems to have entertained a genuine affection for his son. Drusus was a man of violent passions, a drunkard and a debauchee, but not entirely devoid of better feelings, as is shown by his undoubtedly sincere grief at the death of Germanicus. The cunning and reserve which he exhibited on occasion were probably due to the instructions or influence of Tiberius (_Annals_, iii. 8), since he was himself naturally frank and open, and for this reason, notwithstanding his vices, more popular than his father. He revelled in bloody gladiatorial displays, and the sharpest swords used on such occasions were called "Drusine."

See Tacitus, _Annals_, i. 76, iv. 8-11; Dio Cassius lvii. 13, 14; Suetonius, _Tiberius_, 62; J. C. Tarver, _Tiberius the Tyrant_ (1902).

DRYADES, or HAMADRYADES, in Greek mythology, nymphs of trees and woods. Each particular tree ([Greek: drus]) was the home of its own special Dryad, who was supposed to be born and to die with it ([Greek: hama]).

DRYANDER, JONAS (1748-1810), Swedish botanist, was born in 1748. By his uncle, Dr Lars Montin, to whom his education was entrusted, he was sent to the university of Gothenburg, whence he removed to Lund. After taking his degree there in 1776, he studied at Upsala under Linnaeus, and then became for a time tutor to a young Swedish nobleman. He next visited England, and, on the death of his friend Dr Daniel Charles Solander (1736-1782), succeeded him as librarian to Sir Joseph Banks. He was librarian to the Royal Society and also to the Linnean Society. Of the latter, in 1788, he was one of the founders, and, when it was incorporated by royal charter in 1802, he took a leading part in drawing up its laws and regulations. He was vice-president of the society till his death, which took place in London on the 19th of October 1810. Besides papers in the Transactions of the Linnean and other societies, Dryander published _Dissertatio gradualis fungos regno vegetabili vindicans_ (Lund, 1776), and _Catalogus bibliothecae historico-naturalis Josephi Banks, Bart._ (London, 1796-1800, 5 vols.). He also edited the first and part of the second edition of W. Aiton's _Hortus Kewensis_ and W. Roxburgh's _Plants of the Coast of Coromandel_.