_Manual of Ancient History, book 6, chapter 1._ See, also, JEWS: THE EARLY HEBREW HISTORY. HORMUZ, Battle of. The decisive battle, fought A. D. 226, on the plain of Hormuz, in Persia Proper, in which the Parthian monarchy was overthrown, its last king, Artabanus, slain, and the New Persian, or Sassanian empire established by Artaxerxes I. _G. Rawlinson, Seventh Great Oriental Monarchy, chapter 3._ HORN, Count, and the struggle in the Netherlands. See NETHERLANDS: A. D. 1566-1568. HORN, Cape. Discovered by Drake (1578). See AMERICA: A. D. 1572-1580. HORTENSIAN LAWS, The. See ROME: B. C. 286. HOSEIN, The martyrdom of. See MAHOMETAN CONQUEST: A. D. 680. HOSPES. HOSPITES. HOSPITIUM. "In the earlier stages of society, especially in Greece and Italy, where the population consisted of numerous independent tribes constantly at variance with each other, every stranger was looked upon with suspicion. … Hence it became common for a person who was engaged in commerce, or any other occupation which might compel him to visit a foreign country, to form previously a connection with a citizen of that country, who might be ready to receive him as a friend and act as his protector. Such a connection was always strictly reciprocal. … An alliance of this description was termed Hospitium, the parties who concluded it were termed Hospites in relation to each other, and thus the word Hospes bore a double signification, denoting, according to circumstances, either an entertainer or a guest. The obligations imposed by the covenant were regarded as of the most sacred character. … The league of Hospitium, when once formed, was hereditary. … The parties interchanged tokens, by which they or their descendants might recognise each other. This token, called 'tessera hospitalis,' was carefully preserved. … In process of time, among both the Greeks and Romans, it became common for a state, when it desired to pay a marked compliment to any individual, to pass a resolution declaring him the Hospes of the whole community." _W. Ramsay, Manual of Roman Antiquity, chapter 3._ ----------HOSPITALLERS: Start-------- HOSPITALLERS OF ST. JOHN OF JERUSALEM, The Knights: A. D. 1115-1310. The origin and rise of the order.