ALARCON, Hernando de, a Spanish navigator of the 16th century, known only in connection with the expedition to the coast of California, of which he was leader. He set sail on the 9th May 1540, with orders from the Spanish court to await at a certain point on the coast the arrival of an expedition by land under the command of Vasquez de Coronado. The junction was not effected, though Alarcon reached the appointed place and left letters, which were afterwards found by Diaz, another explorer. Alarcon was the first to determine with certainty that California was a peninsula and not an island, as had been supposed. He made a careful and exact survey of the coast, sailed a considerable distance up the Rio del Tizon (Colorado), and was thus able, on his return to New Spain in 1541, to construct a map of California, which, according to M. Duflot de Mofras, scarcely differs from one of the present day.

ALARCON Y MENDOZA, Juan Ruiz de, one of the most distinguished Spanish dramatists, born at Tasco in Mexico about the close of the 16th century, was descended from a noble family belonging to Alarcon in Cuença. Nothing is known with certainty of his early life, but it is probable that he was educated at one of the Spanish universities. In 1622 he had taken up his residence at Madrid, and in 1628 he was appointed to the office of relator (reporter) of the royal council of the Indies, which afforded him a competency. In the same year he published the first volume of his comedies, dedicating it to “the rabble” in a daringly contemptuous address. A second volume of comedies appeared at Barcelona in 1634, in which he brought charges against several poets of appropriating his productions. About the same time he was successful in an open competition for a dramatic libretto to be played at ths fêtes in honour of Philip IV. These two facts, combined with his haughty disdain both of the public and of his literary brethren, made Alarcon very unpopular; and he was scur-rilously lampooned by most of the poets and dramatists of the day, Calderon honourably distinguishing himself by his silence. A further injustice was done him in the piracy of his works by other and better known authors than himself. To such an extent was this carried that Alarcon’s reputa-, tion as a dramatist was almost extinct even before the close of his life, and it is only quite recently that it has been revived. The date of his death is given, on doubtful authority, as 1639. Alarcon holds a foremost place among Spanish dramatists, being surpassed only, if at all, by Lope de Vega and Calderon. He is distinguished by the correctness of his language, the harmony of his verse, and the elevation of his ...

ALARIC(Al-ric, i.e., All rich), a chief, and afterwards king of the Visigoths, was born of the noble family of Balti (baltha, bold). He first appears in history (394 a.d.) as a commander in the army of subjugated Goths whom the Emperor Theodosius employed in his war with Eugenius. On the death of Theodosius in 395 the Goths asserted their independence, and under the leadership of Alaric made an incursion from Thrace, where they had been located, into the Morea. Athens yielded to them without resistance, and Alaric enriched himself with the movable treasures of the city, though he did not, as some habe asserted, destroy buildings and works of art. Rufinus, the crafty minister of Arcadius, did nothing to check the advance of the barbarians, and it has even been said that he had a secret understanding with Alaric. Opposition came, however, from the Western Empire. Stilicho, the famous general, landed at Corinth, and drove the Goths to Mount Pholoe, on the frontiers of Elis, where he besieged their camp. With proper vigilance, the siege could not have been raised; but the Romans were careless, and Alaric with his army contrived to escape to Epirus. Stilicho was prevented from following him by an order from the Emperor Arcadius, who conferred upon Alaric the prefecture of eastern Illyricum. About the same time the Gothic chief was chosen king by his people. It was natural that Alaric’s desire of conquest should increase with the increase of his power, and accordingly about the year 400 a.d. he set out to invade the Empire of the West. His march was exceedingly slow, and it was not until the spring of 403 that he appeared before Milan, from which the Emperor Honorius instantly fled to the fortress of Asta in Liguria. Being besieged there, he was on the point of capitulating ...

ALARIC II., eighth king of the Goths in Spain, succeeded his father Euric or Evaric about 484. His dominions not only included the greater part of Spain (Hispania Tarraconensis and Baetica), but extended into Gaul as far as the rivers Rhone and Loire. In religion Alaric was an Arian, but that he was tolerant of the orthodox Catholics is shown by the decrees of the Council of Agde, summoned by him in 506. He displayed similar wisdom and liberality in political affairs by appointing a commission to prepare an abstract of the Roman laws and imperial decrees, which should form the authoritative code for his dominions. This is generally known as the Breviarium Alaricianum. It contains six books of the code of Theodosius, and is therefore sometimes called the Corpus Theodosii. The full text has been given by Savigny. Alaric was of a peaceful disposition, and endeavoured strictly to maintain the treaty which his father had concluded with the Franks. Clovis, however, desiring to obtain the Gothic province in Gaul, found a pretext for war in the Arianism of Alaric. The intervention of Theodoric, king of the Ostrogoths and father-in-law of Alaric, proved unavailing. The two armies met in 507 at Voglade (V ouillé), near Poitiers, where the Goths were defeated, and their king, who took to flight, was overtaken and slain by Clovis himself.