The bishopric of Strasbourg existed in the days of the Mero vingian kings, being probably founded in the 4th century, and embraced a large territory on both banks of the Rhine, which was afterwards diminished by the creation of the bishoprics of Spires and Basel. The bishopric was in the archdiocese of Mainz and the bishop was a prince of the empire. The episcopal lands were annexed by France in 1789 and the subsequent Roman Catholic bishops of Strasbourg discharged spiritual duties only.
Strasbourg is the seat of a bishop, of a prefect and of the de partmental organization, and of the special Government offices for the territories returned to France after 1918. Kehl, with a popula tion (1925) of 9,467, on the German bank of the Rhine, opposite Strasbourg, was constituted one with the port of Strasbourg for purposes of exploitation for a period of seven years from 1919. Extensive improvement schemes were approved in 1924, including the creation of a large port above Strasbourg, connecting with the harbour by canal, and a petroleum harbour below the town.
(X.) Battle of Strasbourg (A.D. 357).—A rising of the Sarmatians, Suevi and Quadi on the Danube compelled the Emperor Constan tius to hasten there in 357. Julian, the Caesar, was at Sens with an army 13,00o strong, and as the emperor was unable to assist him he despatched Barbatio, magister peditum and 25,000 troops to Gaul. Julian was to march north, and Barbatio to co-operate with him with Basel as his base of operations. The forces of the barbarians were to be enclosed between them.
Moving to Reims, Julian concentrated his forces. Thence he marched to Zabern. Meanwhile Barbatio who had refused to obey his orders was surprised by the Germans and driven back to Basel. Julian's position was now an extremely dangerous one ; he was far distant from the emperor, and Barbatio's defeat had raised the moral of the Germans who, under the leadership of Chnodo mar, crossed the Rhine and encamped on its left bank near Stras bourg. Undaunted by this mishap Julian set out from Zabern to meet the horde, which was some 35,00o strong. The Romans marched in close order and in two columns, the cavalry on the right and the infantry on the left, and as evening was approaching Julian was desirous of deferring the battle until the following day. His men, in spite of the heat and the long march, urged him to lead them on. This Julian agreed to, and took command of the right wing consisting of heavy cavalry and archers. This wing coming into contact with the barbarians was fiercely charged by light horse and driven back. A panic was only stayed by the Caesar riding amongst his men and exhorting them to rally. The brunt of the attack was borne by the Roman centre and the left, and it was a struggle of footmen against footmen. In spite of the valour of the barbarians, the discipline of the Roman infantry carried the day, the Germans being driven into the Rhine where large numbers perished; 6,000 dead were also left on the field. Chnodo mar was captured and sent a prisoner to Constantius.
This victory resulted in the recovery of the upper Rhine, and the freeing of Gaul from barbarian invasions.
See E. Gibbon, The Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire, cnap.
xix. ; The Cambridge Medieval History, vol. i. (J. F. C. F.) (Y stradflur), the ruins of a Cistercian abbey of Cardiganshire, Wales, near the river Teifi, 2 m. from the village of Pontrhydfendigaid (bridge of the blessed ford) on the Teifi. Excavations have brought to light encaustic tiles.
The elaborate western portal is a fine specimen of transitional Norman-Irish i 2th century architecture. A silver seal of the abbey is in the British Museum. Founded and endowed in 1164 by Rhys ap Griffith, prince of South Wales, the Cistercian abbey of St. Mary (which was probably a revival of an older monastic house on or near the same site) was much favoured by Welsh bards, nobles and princes. In 1138 Llewelyn ap Iorwerth, "the Great," summoned his vassals to this spot to do homage to his heir, Prince David II. The abbey suffered severely during the Edwardian wars, and in or about I294 a large portion of its build ings was destroyed by fire. Edward I. helped to restore the fabric. STRATEGUS, strictly a general, but frequently the name of a state officer with much wider functions parn'yOs) found in many Greek states. The best known is the Athenian strategus, originally a military official, who, in the latter half of the 5th century B.C., became the most important executive magistrate in the state : it is certain that until the end of the 6th century the archon (q.v.) was the most important state official. The Strategia (board of ten generals) was a result of the tribal system of Cleis thenes. Some maintain that Cleisthenes himself created it, but the evidence (Ath. Pol. xxii.) is against this. At all events, as late as the battle of Marathon the head of the army was the polemarch. (See ARCHON.) It follows that the strategus was, until 487 B.C., subordinate to the polemarch, the story of successive days of command in Herodotus being due to a misunderstanding of the powers of the strategi at the time (cf. G. B. Grundy, The Great Persian War). The tribal unit was represented in the army by the taxis, and each taxis was led by a strategus. After the Persian wars the command of the taxis passed to officers called taxiarchs, who acted as colonels under the strategi. It was the customary practice in the 5th century to appoint a certain number of the generals, usually three or five, for a particular field of oper ations, and to assign the chief command to one of them. Excep tions to this rule are found in the well-known instances of the Sicilian expedition (when the three commanders, Nicias, Alcibiades and Lamachus were given co-ordinate powers), and the battle of Arginusae, when the command was divided among the whole board. In crises such as the Samian revolt, the outbreak of the Peloponnesian War, or that which led to the recall of Alcibiades, we find the whole board subordinated to a single member (e.g., Pericles or Alcibiades). Originally each strategus was elected by and out of the tribe he commanded (Ath. Pol. lxi.). In the 4th century, however, the strategi were elected out of all the citizen body irrespective of tribes; in 433, one of Pericles' colleagues was Diotimus, a member of his own tribe (cf. Alcibiades and Adei mantus in 408 B.c.). But from Xenophon (M emorab. iii. 4) we learn that one strategus was still elected by each tribe, i.e., each strategus represented a tribe, though he might not be a member of it. Though the strategi were the nominal heads of the army, they had no power to choose their taxiarchs, who were elected by the tribes. It was only the lochagoi (commanders of X6xot, companies) that the Ecclesia allowed them to select.