"The [Roman] unit of capacity was the Amphora or Quadrantal, which contained a cubic foot ... equal to 5.687 imperial gallons, or 5 gallons, 2 quarts, 1 pint, 2 gills, nearly. The Amphora was the unit for both liquid and dry measures, but the latter was generally referred to the Modius, which contained one-third of an Amphora. ... The Culeus was equal to 20 Amphoræ." _W. Ramsay, Manual of Roman Antiquity, chapter 13._ AMRITSAR. See SIKHS. AMSTERDAM: The rise of the city. "In 1205 a low and profitless marsh upon the coast of Holland, not far from the confines of Utrecht, had been partially drained by a dam raised upon the hitherto squandered stream of the Amstel. Near this dam a few huts were tenanted by poor men who earned a scanty livelihood by fishing in the Zuyder Sea; but so uninviting seemed that barren and desolate spot, that a century later Amstel-dam was still an obscure seafaring town, or rather hamlet. Its subsequent progress was more rapid. The spirit of the land was stirring within it, and every portion of it thrilled with new energy and life. Some of the fugitive artizans from Flanders saw in the thriving village safety and peace, and added what wealth they had, and, what was better, their manufacturing intelligence and skill, to the humble hamlet's store. Amsteldam was early admitted to the fellowship of the Hanse League; and, in 1342, having outgrown its primary limits, required to be enlarged. For this an expensive process, that of driving piles into the swampy plain, was necessary; and to this circumstance, no doubt, it is owing that the date of each successive enlargement has been so accurately recorded." _W. T. McCullagh, Industrial History of Three Nations, volume 2, chapter 9._ {111} AMT.--AMTER. See SCANDINAVIAN STATES (DENMARK-ICELAND): A. D. 1849-1874; and SCANDINAVIAN STATES (NORWAY): A. D. 1814-1815. AMURATH I., Turkish Sultan, A. D. 1359-1389. Amurath II., A. D. 1421-1451. Amurath III., A. D. 1574-1595. Amurath IV., A. D. 1623-1640. AMYCLÆ, The Silence of.- Amyclæ was the chief city of Laconia while that district of Peloponnesus was occupied by the Achæans, before the Doric invasion and before the rise of Sparta. It maintained its independence against the Doric Spartans for a long period, but succumbed at length under circumstances which gave rise to a proverbial saying among the Greeks concerning "the silence of Amyclæ." "The peace of Amyclæ, we are told, had been so often disturbed by false alarms of the enemy's approach, that at length a law was passed forbidding such reports, and the silent city was taken by surprise." _C. Thirlwall, History of Greece, chapter 7._ AMYTHAONIDÆ, The. See ARGOS.--ARGOLIS. AN, The City of. See ON. ANABAPTISTS OF MÜNSTER.