Acragas, or Agrigentum, one of the youngest of the Greek colonies in Sicily, founded about B. C. 582 by the older colony of Gela, became one of the largest and most splendid cities of the age, in the fifth century B. C., as is testified by its ruins to this day. It was the scene of the notorious tyranny of Phalaris, as well as that of Theron. Agrigentum was destroyed by the Carthagenians, B. C. 405, and rebuilt by Timoleon, but never recovered its former importance and grandeur. _E. Curtius, History of Greece, book 4, chapter 3._ See, also, PHALARIS, BRAZEN BULL OF. Agrigentum was destroyed by the Carthagenians in 406 B. C. See SICILY: B. C. 409-405. Rebuilt by Timoleon, it was the scene of a great defeat of the Carthagenians by the Romans, in 262 B. C. See PUNIC WAR, THE FIRST. AGRIPPINA AND HER SON NERO. See ROME: A. D. 47-54, and 54-64. AHMED KHEL, Battle of (1880). See AFGHANISTAN: A. D. 1869-1881. AIGINA. See ÆGINA. AIGOSPOTAMOI, Battle of. See GREECE: B. C. 405. AIGUILLON, Siege of. A notable siege in the "Hundred Years' War," A. D. 1346. An English garrison under the famous knight, Sir Walter Manny, held the great fortress of Aiguillon, near the confluence of the Garonne and the Lot, against a formidable French army. _J. Froissart, Chronicles, volume 1, book 1, chapter 120._ AIX, Origin of. See SALYES. AIX-LA-CHAPELLE: The Capital of Charlemagne. The favorite residence and one of the two capitals of Charlemagne was the city which the Germans call Aachen and the French have named Aix-la-Chapelle. "He ravished the ruins of the ancient world to restore the monumental arts. A new Rome arose in the depths of the forests of Austrasia--palaces, gates, bridges, baths, galleries, theatres, churches,--for the erection of which the mosaics and marbles of Italy were laid under tribute, and workmen summoned from all parts of Europe. It was there that an extensive library was gathered, there that the school of the palace was made permanent, there that foreign envoys were pompously welcomed, there that the monarch perfected his plans for the introduction of Roman letters and the improvement of music." _P. Godwin, History of France: Ancient Gaul, book 4, chapter 17._ AIX-LA-CHAPELLE, Treaty of (A. D. 803). See VENICE: A. D. 697-810. AIX-LA-CHAPELLE, Treaty of (A. D. 1668). See NETHERLANDS (HOLLAND): A. D. 1668. AIX-LA-CHAPELLE, The Congress and Treaty which ended the War of the Austrian Succession (1748).