AUGUST.
AUGUST 1.
30 B. C. Defection of the entire fleet of Marc Antony, at Alexandria, which suddenly passed over to Octavius, afterwards Augustus Cæsar.
117. Marcus Ulpius Trajan, emperor of Rome, died. He admired and copied the virtues of Nerva, his predecessor, and reigned nearly twenty years in the hearts of his people, when Hadrian received his mantle.
432. Celestine I, pope, died. The doctrines of Nestorius were condemned by him.
643. Oswald, king of Northumberland, slain at Maserfield. Bede says he erected in the shape of a wooden cross the first altar to Christ among the Bernicians.
725. The old English tax called Peter's pence, was first laudably imposed by Ina, king of the west Saxons, for the support of an English college at Rome, but afterwards appropriated by the church for very different purposes.
1137. Louis VI, king of France, died. He was a wise and popular monarch, but during his reign, which continued nearly thirty years, the country was disturbed by external quarrels and internal factions.
1202. King John of England obtained a victory over his nephew Arthur, whom with his sister Eleanor he took prisoner.