the victory, and under the empire Marshal Masséna received the title of duke of Rivoli. The strong positions around Rivoli, which command the approaches from Tirol and the upper Adige into the Italian plain, have always been celebrated in military history as a formidable obstacle, and Charles V. and Prince Eugene of Savoy preferred to turn them by difficult mountain paths instead of attacking them directly. Minor engagements, such as rearguard actions and holding attacks, have consequently often taken place about them, notably in the campaign of 1796–97. An engagement of this character was fought here in 1848 between the Austrian and the Piedmontese troops.
RIXDORF, a town of Germany, lying immediately south
of Berlin, of which it practically forms a suburb, though
retaining its own civic administration. Pop. (1880) 18,729;
(1895) 59,495; (1905) 153,650. It is connected with the
metropolis by a railway (Ring-bahn) and by an electric tramway.
It contains no public buildings of any interest, and is almost
entirely occupied by a large industrial and artisan population,
engaged in the manufacture of linoleum, furniture, cloth,
pianos, beer, soap, &c.
Rixdorf is chiefly interesting as a foundation of Moravian Brethren from Bohemia, who settled here in 1737 under the protection of King Frederick William I. German Rixdorf, which is now united with Bohemian Rixdorf, was a much more ancient place, and appears as Richardsdorf in 1630 and as Riegenstorp in 1435. Before 1435 it belonged to the order of the Knights of St John.
RIZZIO, or Riccio, DAVID (c. 1533-1566), secretary of Mary (q.v.), queen of Scots, was a native of Turin, and came to Scotland in 1561 in the train of the Piedmontese ambassador. The queen wanted a bass singer, and he entered her service as a musician, becoming also her valet de chambre, and in 1564 private foreign secretary. After her marriage to Darnley in 1565 his influence with Mary became paramount, and he gave himself great airs and affected considerable state,
practically superseding Maitland of Lethington as secretary of state. His elevation aroused the active hostility of Darnley and the other nobles, and he was suspected of being the queen's lover. On the evening of the 9th of March 1566, the earls of Morton and Lindsay, with armed followers, entered Mary's supper chamber at Holyrood, seized Rizzio, hacked him to death with daggers, and threw his body into the courtyard.
See Ruthven's Narrative of Riccio's Murder (1836); and the articles on Mary, Queen of Scots, and allied biographies.
ROACH (Leuciscus rutilus), a small fish belonging to the
Cyprinid family, the genus Leuciscus having many representatives
in Europe, in which the rudd, the chub and the dace
are included. It may attain a length of over 12 in., but a
roach of 2 ℔ is an unusually large one. It is good sport for
anglers, but is not esteemed for the table. The general colour is
silvery, with reddish fins. It does not occur in Ireland. In
America, the “ golden shiner ” minnow (Abramis chrysoleucus) is
sometimes called a roach.
See Greville Fennell's Book of the Roach, 1870.
ROADS AND STREETS. These words embrace the two
divisions into which the lines of communication made by man for vehicular and pedestrian traffic between different places may be roughly classified. In current usage “ road ” is applied as a general term for all broad made ways from place to place, whether with separate side-paths for foot-passengers or not, while “ street ” is confined to the roads through towns, villages and other inhabited places, more or less lined by houses and other buildings on either side. The present article is confined to the methods adopted in making roads, from the first great road makers, the Romans, down to modern times. The roadways of times anterior to the Romans, at least in Europe, were merely
the tracks' worn by the feet of pedestrians and animals, and the wheels of vehicular traffic.
Etymologically considered, “ road ” in its current usageis late in its appearance. The first quotation in the New English Dictionary is from Shakespeare (1 Henry I V. 2, i. 16). The true O.E. word was weg, way, common to Teut. languages, and probably allied to Lat. via. The O.E. rad meant the act of riding, and is formed from ridan, to ride, and is thus used of a journey on horseback, and in compounds of a track or course, cf. swanrdd, the swan's track, a poetic word for the sea- or streamrdd, course of a stream, hwéolrad, wheel-track, &c. A special use of the word, occurring as early as the Anglo-Saxon Chron. c. 900, was for ahostile foray, an “ inroad, ” a “ raid, ” which is the N. Eng. doublet of “ road, ” and has superseded it in general use. Another use, which still survives, and shows the origin, is that of a space of water where ships may “ ride at anchor in security from stress of weather, a road stead.” “ Street ” (O.E. slrdél) represents the Lat. strata via, paved way (from sternere, to strew, pave). It is one of the few words adopted in 0.E..from the Romans.
The earliest roads about which anything definite is known, so far as construction is concerned, are those of ancient Rome; one of the oldest of which and the most celebrated for the grandeur of its works-the Appian Way-was commenced in 312 B.c. Roman roads are remarkable for preserving a straight course from point to point regardless of obstacles which might have been easily avoided. They appear to have been often laid out in a line with some prominent landmark, and their general straightness is perhaps due to convenience in setting them out. In solidity of construction they have never been excelled, and many of them still remain, often forming the foundation of a more modern road, and in some instances constituting the road surface now used. It is-consequently possible, with the help of allusions of ancient writers, to follow the ideal mode of construction, though this was not always adopted. Two parallel trenches were first cut to mark the breadth of the road; loose earth was removed until a solid foundation was reached; and it was replaced by proper material consolidated by ramming, or other means were taken to form a. solid foundation for the body of the road. This appears often to have been composed of four layers, generally of local materials, though sometimes they were brought from considerable distances. The lowest layer consisted of two or three courses of flat stones, or, when these were not obtainable, of 'other stones, generally laid in mortar; the second layer was composed of rubble masonry of smaller stones, or a coarse concrete; the third of a finer concrete, on which was laid a pavement of polygonal blocks of hard stone jointed with the greatest nicety. The four layers are found to be often 3 ft. or more in thickness, but the lower ones were dispensed with on rock, on which the paving stones were sometimes laid almost directly. The paved part of a great road appears to have been about 14 ft. wide, and on either side, and separated from it by raised stone edgings, were unpaved sideways, each of half the width of the paved road. Where, as on many roads, the surface was not paved, it was made of hard concrete, or pebbles or flints set in mortar. Sometimes clay and marl were used instead of mortar, and it would seem that where inferior materials were used the road was made higher above the ground and rounder in cross section. Streets were paved with large polygonal blocks laid as above described, and footways with rectangular slabs. Specimens are still to be seen in Rome and Pompeii, while in Britain many of the roads were of hard gravel or had a cobbled surface. There are no traces of Roman influence in the later roads in England, but in France the Roman method appears to have been followed to some extent when new roads were constructed about the beginning of the 18th century. A foundation of stones on the flat was laid, and over that two layers of considerable thickness, of larger and smaller stones, bordered by large stones on edge, which appeared on the surface of the road. In 1764 Trésaguet set the foundation-stones on edge and reduced the thickness of the upper layers, and his method was generally followed until the influence of John London McAdam (1756-1836) began to be felt. A French chaussée with accotements still retains some ' resemblance to the old Roman roads.
