■ CENTRAL AMERICA
186 C^NTXJRIES OF MAGDEBURG
Ated by simply and n«tiii«Uy asraming thmt this was a registration institated indeed bj the Roman empe- ror, but ef ecnted in accordance with the local usages (see Strong's Harmony of the Goapdi, notes to § viii). See Ctrenhts.
In the first place, an dwoypa^fi was properly only an enrolmeni t>f the inhabitants, which may have been set on foot for statistical purposes, in order to obtain a complete account of the population, perhaps as a basis for a levy of troops from this as a subject territory. The emperor Augustus caused such a roll or abstract to be made out (" breviarium totius imperii," Suetoni- us, Odav, 101), which included an account of the pro- vincial allies ("quantum sodorum in armis,*' Tacitus, Anaal. i, 11), and tnm this Palestine could not well have been excepted. The ordering of such a register was not inconsistent with the political relations of Herod (as thought by Hoven, OHa Uter. ii, 27 sq.), since he was himself but a dependent monarch ; and as the word in question has usually the sense of a list with a view to assessment, the probability of such a taxation in this instance can certainly not be denied. Similar examples are by no means wtmting in modem times among dependent countries. Moreover, Herod was so subject to the rule of Augustus that he did not even assume to judge two of his own sons, but referred the trial to the emperor (Josephus, Ant, xvi, 4, 1 ; comp. xvii, 5, 8) ; and he, in fiict, submitted to an oaUi of al- legiance to the emperor, which the Jews were required to take {Ant, xvii, 2, 4). The latter circumstance may indeed be naturally attributed to the vassalage of a na- tion, but the former was a voluntary act on the part of Herod, who nevertheless, without such ceremony, executed other members of his family (comp. how- ever, Josephus, Ant, xyi, 11, 1). At all events, it abundantly appears from Josephus that Augustus, in moments of passion, was capable of resolving to pro- ceed to extremities with Herod (Ant, xvi, 9, 8) ; and that, after Herod's death, he hesitated about transfer- ring the land to the sons of the latter (AnL xvi, 11). — Winer, ii, 898.
There are monogr^>hs in Latin on the census of Quirinus by Ammon (Erlang. 1810), Birch (Hafn. 1790), Bomitius (Viteb. 1660), Breithaupt (Helmst. 1787), Deylmg (Ob»erw, U, 826 sq.), Hasse (Regioro. 1796), Heumann (GoUing. 1782), Janus (Yiteb. 1715 ; also in Ikenii Thes, li, 424 sq.), Obrecht (Argentor. 1675)', Perizonius (ZXw. de Prastorio, s. f.), Pihlmann (Abose, 1786), Richard (Yiteb. 1704; also in Ikenii Thes, «, 434 sq.), Volborth (Getting. 1786), Wedel (Jen. 1703), Wemsdorf (Viteb. 1698, 1720) ; in Greek, by Fri- berg (Aboa, 1730); in German, by Kist (Utr. 1791), Pitschmann {Dub, vex. Hut, i, 1-26), Stockmann (Gr6n. 1766). See Nativity.
Central Amexloa comprised, in 1868, five sover- eign states, viz. Costa Rica, Nicaragua, Guatemala, Honduras, and San Salvador. The eastern coast of Central America was discovered by Columbus in 1502, the western by H. Ponce in 1616. The Spaniards soon subjected to their rule the greater part of the country ; but on the Mosquito coast the Indians main- tained their independence, and the district of Peten was not taken possession of until 1697. In 1821 the five states overthrew the Spanish rule by a bloodless revolution ; in 1822 they called a Constituent Assem- bly, and in 1828 they declared themselves an inde- pendent republic, under the name the United States of Central America. The new confederacy was con- tinually a prey to dvil war, arising principally from the mutual hostility of the three races : the white, which prevails in Costa Rica ; the Indian, to which in Guatemala almost 90 per cent, of the entire population belong ; and the mixed, which is predominant in the three other states. The year 1889 put an end to the union, and the confederacy was divided into five sover- eign and independent states. Together with the Span- Ish dominion, the ecclesiastical rule of the Roman Cath-
olic Church was established throughout the whole ex- tent of Central America. After the declaratian of in- dependence, the Central American confederacy showed itself favorable to ecclesiastical reforms and to relig- ious toleration. The Constituent Assembly forbade the proclamation of papal bulls, and the receiving of mon- ey for indulgences. From 1826 to 1881 all the con- vents of monks except those of the Bethlehemites (q. V.) were suppressed, and in 1885 an annual visitation of the female convents was ordered, in order to see tlAt no nun was retained in a convent against her will. In 1882 religious liberty was proclaimed, and Honduras even abrogated for some time the celibacy of priests. Since the dissolution of the union there has always been a fierce struggle between the clerical and the liberal parties. Some of the states, in partic- ular Guatemala, have recalled the priests, and re-en- forced the most odious laws of intolerance which ever disgraced a papal country ; others, in particular Hon- duras, have been more faithful to tiie principles of lib- eralism. The religious condition of the people, as in all the papal countries of America, is veiy low. The gross- est superstition prevails, especially among the Indiana. In the Indian villages the rule of the priest is almoet absolute. Worship consists mostly in proceeaions and in the veneration of the images of the saints. Every Indian endeavors to possess a saint's image, which ia preserved in the church, and which he carries abont at 1 processions on a gilded pole. At the festival of the saint the possessor of the image givea a great banquet, and the priest receives for the mass which be says, in honor of the saint, money and fowL If the poeaessor of the image dies without heirs, it is bought by anoth- er Indian, lest it be rejected from the church ; for the church rejects eveiy image that has no owner, and ev- ery such rejection is expected to forbode a calami^ to the village. The processions are attended by flutes and other instruments, by immense clouds of frankincense, and by a great display of fireworks. A peculiar custom is observed on the day of Pentecost, when a white dove, ornamented witlrflowers, is placed on the head of the priest who stands before the altar, and flowers aie showered upon him from all sides. Marriages are cm- ducted in the villages before snnrise, a custom proba- bly transmitted from the times of Indian pasaniEin. Efforts to esUblish Protestantism in Central America have been repeatedly made, especially by missioiia- ries sent out by the venerable Mr.Gossner (q. v.), but thus far without great permanent fhiit. The Ifora- vians, however, have had (since 1848) some flourishing missions on the Mosquito Coast, an independent district of Central America inhabited by aliout 20,000 Indians. Their missionary statistics in 1860 were as follows: stations, 8; missionaries, 7; converts, 219. The Ro- man Catholic Church in the five statea of Central America is under the jurisdiction of the archbishop of Guatemala (who is asdsted in his diocese by two bish- ops inpartibus injiddhtm) and four bishops, at San Sal- vador, Nicaragua, Comayagua (the capital of Hondu- ras), and St. Jos6 (in the state of Costa Rica). The ag^ e^gate number of perishes in the five states, accord- ing to the last accounts, is 248, with 4 missions, and the number of churches 716. See Reichaid, CentrO' America (Brunsw. 1861) ; Frdbel, Seven Tear$' Travel in Centra-America (Lend. 1868) ; Marr, JMse ntuk Cce- traUAvierioa (Hamb. 1868, 2 vola.); Squier, The Statet of Central A merica (N. Y. 1858). See AmcRiCA.