CARABINIERS, originally mounted troops of the French army, armed with the carabine (carbine). In 1690 one company of carabiniers was maintained in each regiment of cavalry. Their duties were analogous to those of grenadiers in infantry regiments—scouting, detached work, and, in general, all duties requiring special activity and address. They fought mounted and dismounted alike, and even took part in siege warfare in the trenches. At the battle of Neerwinden in 1693 all the carabinier companies present were united in one body, and after the action Louis XIV. consolidated them into a permanent regiment with the name Royal Carabiniers. This was one of the old regiments which survived the French Revolution, at which time the title was changed to “horse grenadiers”; it is represented in the French army of to-day by the 11th Cuirassiers. The carabiniers (6th Dragoon Guards) of the British army date from 1685, and received the title from being armed with the carabine in 1692. Regimentally therefore they were one year senior to the French regiment of Royal Carabiniers, and as a matter of fact they took part as a regiment in the battle of Neerwinden. Up to 1745 their title was “The King’s Carabiniers”; from 1745 to 1788 they were called the 3rd Irish Horse, and from 1788 they have borne their present title. In the German army, one carabinier regiment alone (2nd Saxon Reiter regiment) remains of the cavalry corps which formerly in various states bore the title. In Italy the gendarmerie are called carabinieri.
CARABOBO, the smallest of the thirteen states of Venezuela, bounded N. by the Caribbean Sea, E. by the state of Aragua, S. by Zamora and W. by Lara. Its area is 2985 sq. m., and its population, according to an official estimate of 1905, is 221,891. The greater part of its surface is mountainous with moderately elevated valleys of great fertility and productiveness, but south of the Cordillera there are extensive grassy plains conterminous with those of Guárico and Zamora, on which large herds of cattle are pastured. The principal products of the state are cattle, hides and cheese from the southern plains, coffee and cereals from the higher valleys, sugar and aguardiente from the lower valleys about Lake Valencia, and cacao, coco-nuts and coco-nut fibre from the coast. Various minerals are also found in its south-west districts, about Nirgua. The capital is Valencia, and its principal towns are Puerto Cabello, Montalbán (estimated pop. in 1904 7500), 30 m. W.S.W. of Valencia; Nirgua (pop. in 1891 8394), an important commercial and mining town 36½ m. S.W. of Valencia, 2500 ft. above sea level; and Ocumare (pop. in 1891 7493), near the coast 18½ m. E. of Puerto Cabello, celebrated for the fine quality of its cacao. Carabobo is best known for the battle fought on the 24th of June 1821 on a plain at the southern exit from the passes through the Cordillera in this state, between the revolutionists under Bolívar and the Spanish forces under La Torre. It was one of the four decisive battles of the war, though the forces engaged were only a part of the two armies and numbered 2400 revolutionists (composed of 1500 mounted llaneros known as the “Apure legion,” and 900 British), and 3000 Spaniards. The day was won by the British, who drove the Spaniards from the field at the point of the bayonet, although at a terrible loss of life. The British legion was afterwards acclaimed by Bolívar as “Salvadores de mi Patria.” The Spanish forces continued the war until near the end of 1823, but their operations were restricted to the districts on the coast.
CARACAL, the capital of the department of Romanatzi, Rumania; situated in the plains between the lower reaches of the Jiu and Olt rivers, and on the railway from Corabia, beside the Danube, to Hermannstadt in Transylvania. Pop. (1900) 12,055. Caracal has little trade, except in grain. Its chief buildings are the prefecture, school of arts and crafts and several churches. There are some ruins of a tower, built in a.d. 217 by the Roman emperor Caracalla, after whom the place is named. In 1596 Michael the Brave of Walachia defeated the Turks near Caracal.
CARACAL (Lynx caracal), sometimes called Persian lynx, an animal widely distributed throughout south-western Asia, and over a large portion of Africa. It is somewhat larger than a fox, of a uniform reddish brown colour above, and whitish beneath, with two white spots above each of the eyes, and a tuft of long black hair at the tip of the ears; to these it owes its name, which is derived from Turkish words signifying “black-ear.” There is little information as to the habits of this animal in a wild state. Dr W.T. Blanford considers that it dwells among grass and bushes rather than in forests. Its prey is said to consist largely of gazelles, small deer, hares and peafowl and other birds. The caracal is easily tamed, and in some parts of India is trained to capture the smaller antelopes and deer and such birds as the crane and pelican. According to Blyth, it is a favourite amusement among the natives to let loose a couple of tame caracals among a flock of pigeons feeding on the ground, when each will strike down a number of birds before the flock can escape. Frequent reference is made in Greek and Roman literature to the lynx, and from such descriptions as are given of it there is little doubt that the caracal, and not the European lynx, was referred to. In South Africa, where the caracal abounds, its hide is made by the Zulus into skin-cloaks, known as karosses. According to W.L. Sclater, these when used as blankets are said to be beneficial in cases of rheumatism; an ointment prepared from the fat of the animal being employed for the same purpose. The North African caracal has been separated as Lynx, or Caracal, berberorum, but it is best regarded as a local race.
CARACALLA (or Caracallus), MARCUS AURELIUS ANTONINUS (186-217), Roman emperor, eldest son of the emperor Septimius Severus, was born at Lugdunum (Lyons) on the 4th of April 186. His original name was Bassianus; his nickname Caracalla was derived from the long Gallic tunic which he wore and introduced into the army. He further received the imperial title of Marcus Aurelius Antoninus at the time when his father declared himself the adopted son of M. Aurelius. After the death of Severus (211) at Eboracum (York) in Britain, Caracalla and his brother Geta, who had accompanied their father, returned to Rome as colleagues in the supreme power. In order to secure the sole authority, Caracalla barbarously murdered his brother in his mother’s arms, and at the same time put to death some 20,000 persons, who were suspected of favouring him, amongst them the jurist Papinianus. An important act of his reign (212) was the bestowal of the rights of Roman citizenship upon all free inhabitants of the empire, although the main object of Caracalla was doubtless to increase the amount of revenue derived from the tax on inheritances or legacies to which only Roman citizens were liable. His own extravagances and the demands of the soldiery were a perpetual drain upon his resources, to meet which he resorted to taxes and extortion of every description. He spent the remainder of his reign wandering from place to place, a mode of life to which he was said to have been driven by the pangs of remorse. Handing over the reins of government to his mother, he set out in 213 for Raetia, where he carried on war against the Alamanni; in 214 he attacked the Goths in Dacia, whence he proceeded by way of Thrace to Asia Minor, and in 215 crossed to Alexandria. Here he took vengeance for the bitter sarcasms of the inhabitants against himself and his mother by ordering a general massacre of the youths capable of bearing arms. In 216 he ravaged Mesopotamia because Artabanus, the Parthian king, refused to give him his daughter in marriage. He spent the winter at Edessa, and in 217, when he recommenced his campaign, he was murdered between Edessa and Carrhae on the 8th of April at the instigation of Opellius (Opilius) Macrinus, praefect of the praetorian guard, who succeeded him. Amongst the numerous buildings with which Caracalla adorned the city, the most famous are the thermae, and the triumphal arch of Septimius Severus in the forum.