title: Moore–Penrose inverse

text: formula_46 and formula_47 are orthogonal projection operators, that is, they are Hermitian (formula_48, formula_49) and idempotent (formula_50 and formula_51). The following hold:


title: Moore–Penrose inverse

text: Another property is the following: if is Hermitian and idempotent (true if and only if it represents an orthogonal projection), then, for any matrix the following equation holds:


title: Moore–Penrose inverse

text: This can be proven by defining matrices formula_59, formula_60, and checking that is indeed a pseudoinverse for by verifying that the defining properties of the pseudoinverse hold, when is Hermitian and idempotent.


title: Moore–Penrose inverse

text: Finally, if is an orthogonal projection matrix, then its pseudoinverse trivially coincides with the matrix itself, that is, formula_62.


title: Moore–Penrose inverse

text: If we view the matrix as a linear map over the field then can be decomposed as follows. We write for the direct sum, for the orthogonal complement, for the kernel of a map, and for the image of a map. Notice that formula_63 and formula_64. The restriction formula_65 is then an isomorphism. This implies that on is the inverse of this isomorphism, and is zero on formula_66


title: Moore–Penrose inverse

text: In other words: To find for given in , first project orthogonally onto the range of , finding a point in the range. Then form , that is, find those vectors in that sends to . This will be an affine subspace of parallel to the kernel of . The element of this subspace that has the smallest length (that is, is closest to the origin) is the answer we are looking for. It can be found by taking an arbitrary member of and projecting it orthogonally onto the orthogonal complement of the kernel of .


title: Moore–Penrose inverse

text: In contrast to ordinary matrix inversion, the process of taking pseudoinverses is not continuous: if the sequence converges to the matrix (in the maximum norm or Frobenius norm, say), then need not converge to . However, if all the matrices have the same rank as , will converge to .


title: Moore–Penrose inverse

text: The derivative of a real valued pseudoinverse matrix which has constant rank at a point may be calculated in terms of the derivative of the original matrix:


title: Moore–Penrose inverse

text: Since for invertible matrices the pseudoinverse equals the usual inverse, only examples of non-invertible matrices are considered below.


title: Moore–Penrose inverse

text: It is also possible to define a pseudoinverse for scalars and vectors. This amounts to treating these as matrices. The pseudoinverse of a scalar is zero if is zero and the reciprocal of otherwise:


title: Moore–Penrose inverse

text: The pseudoinverse of the null (all zero) vector is the transposed null vector. The pseudoinverse of a non-null vector is the conjugate transposed vector divided by its squared magnitude:


title: Moore–Penrose inverse

text: If the rank of is identical to its column rank, , (for ,) there are linearly independent columns, and is invertible. In this case, an explicit formula is:


title: Moore–Penrose inverse

text: If the rank of is identical to its row rank, , (for ,) there are linearly independent rows, and is invertible. In this case, an explicit formula is:


title: Moore–Penrose inverse

text: This is a special case of either full column rank or full row rank (treated above). If has orthonormal columns (formula_76) or orthonormal rows (formula_77), then:


title: Moore–Penrose inverse

text: If is normal; that is, it commutes with its conjugate transpose, then its pseudoinverse can be computed by diagonalizing it, mapping all nonzero eigenvalues to their inverses, and mapping zero eigenvalues to zero. A corollary is that commuting with its transpose implies that it commutes with its pseudoinverse.


title: Moore–Penrose inverse

text: This is a special case of a Normal matrix with eigenvalues 0 and 1. If is an orthogonal projection matrix, that is, formula_79 and formula_80, then the pseudoinverse trivially coincides with the matrix itself:


title: Moore–Penrose inverse

text: For a circulant matrix , the singular value decomposition is given by the Fourier transform, that is, the singular values are the Fourier coefficients. Let be the Discrete Fourier Transform (DFT) matrix; then


title: Moore–Penrose inverse

text: For formula_85 computing the product or and their inverses explicitly is often a source of numerical rounding errors and computational cost in practice. An alternative approach using the QR decomposition of may be used instead.


title: Moore–Penrose inverse

text: Consider the case when is of full column rank, so that formula_86. Then the Cholesky decomposition formula_87, where is an upper triangular matrix, may be used. Multiplication by the inverse is then done easily by solving a system with multiple right-hand sides,


title: Moore–Penrose inverse

text: The Cholesky decomposition may be computed without forming explicitly, by alternatively using the QR decomposition of formula_89, where formula_90 has orthonormal columns, formula_91, and is upper triangular. Then


title: Moore–Penrose inverse

text: The case of full row rank is treated similarly by using the formula formula_93 and using a similar argument, swapping the roles of and .


title: Moore–Penrose inverse

text: A computationally simple and accurate way to compute the pseudoinverse is by using the singular value decomposition. If formula_94 is the singular value decomposition of , then formula_95. For a rectangular diagonal matrix such as , we get the pseudoinverse by taking the reciprocal of each non-zero element on the diagonal, leaving the zeros in place, and then transposing the matrix. In numerical computation, only elements larger than some small tolerance are taken to be nonzero, and the others are replaced by zeros. For example, in the MATLAB or GNU Octave function , the tolerance is taken to be , where ε is the machine epsilon.


title: Moore–Penrose inverse

text: The computational cost of this method is dominated by the cost of computing the SVD, which is several times higher than matrix–matrix multiplication, even if a state-of-the art implementation (such as that of LAPACK) is used.


title: Moore–Penrose inverse

text: The above procedure shows why taking the pseudoinverse is not a continuous operation: if the original matrix has a singular value 0 (a diagonal entry of the matrix above), then modifying slightly may turn this zero into a tiny positive number, thereby affecting the pseudoinverse dramatically as we now have to take the reciprocal of a tiny number.


title: Moore–Penrose inverse

text: which is sometimes referred to as hyper-power sequence. This recursion produces a sequence converging quadratically to the pseudoinverse of if it is started with an appropriate satisfying formula_97. The choice formula_98 (where formula_99, with denoting the largest singular value of ) has been argued not to be competitive to the method using the SVD mentioned above, because even for moderately ill-conditioned matrices it takes a long time before enters the region of quadratic convergence. However, if started with already close to the Moore–Penrose inverse and formula_97, for example formula_101, convergence is fast (quadratic).


title: Moore–Penrose inverse

text: For the cases where has full row or column rank, and the inverse of the correlation matrix ( for with full row rank or for full column rank) is already known, the pseudoinverse for matrices related to can be computed by applying the Sherman–Morrison–Woodbury formula to update the inverse of the correlation matrix, which may need less work. In particular, if the related matrix differs from the original one by only a changed, added or deleted row or column, incremental algorithms exist that exploit the relationship.


title: Moore–Penrose inverse

text: Similarly, it is possible to update the Cholesky factor when a row or column is added, without creating the inverse of the correlation matrix explicitly. However, updating the pseudoinverse in the general rank-deficient case is much more complicated.


title: Moore–Penrose inverse

text: High-quality implementations of SVD, QR, and back substitution are available in standard libraries, such as LAPACK. Writing one's own implementation of SVD is a major programming project that requires a significant numerical expertise. In special circumstances, such as parallel computing or embedded computing, however, alternative implementations by QR or even the use of an explicit inverse might be preferable, and custom implementations may be unavoidable.


title: Moore–Penrose inverse

text: The Python package NumPy provides a pseudoinverse calculation through its functions codice_1 and codice_2; its codice_3 uses the SVD-based algorithm. SciPy adds a function codice_4 that uses a least-squares solver.


title: Moore–Penrose inverse

text: The MASS package for R provides a calculation of the Moore–Penrose inverse through the codice_5 function. The codice_5 function calculates a pseudoinverse using the singular value decomposition provided by the codice_7 function in the base R package. An alternative is to employ the codice_3 function available in the pracma package.


title: Moore–Penrose inverse

text: The Octave programming language provides a pseudoinverse through the standard package function codice_3 and the codice_10 method.


title: Moore–Penrose inverse

text: In Julia (programming language), the LinearAlgebra package of the standard library provides an implementation of the Moore–Penrose inverse codice_11 implemented via singular-value decomposition.


title: Moore–Penrose inverse

text: in general, a vector that solves the system may not exist, or if one does exist, it may not be unique. The pseudoinverse solves the "least-squares" problem as follows:


title: Moore–Penrose inverse

text: This result is easily extended to systems with multiple right-hand sides, when the Euclidean norm is replaced by the Frobenius norm. Let .


title: Moore–Penrose inverse

text: for arbitrary vector . Solution(s) exist if and only if formula_112. If the latter holds, then the solution is unique if and only if has full column rank, in which case is a zero matrix. If solutions exist but does not have full column rank, then we have an indeterminate system, all of whose infinitude of solutions are given by this last equation.


title: Moore–Penrose inverse

text: For linear systems formula_113 with non-unique solutions (such as under-determined systems), the pseudoinverse may be used to construct the solution of minimum Euclidean norm


title: Moore–Penrose inverse

text: A large condition number implies that the problem of finding least-squares solutions to the corresponding system of linear equations is ill-conditioned in the sense that small errors in the entries of can lead to huge errors in the entries of the solution.


title: Moore–Penrose inverse

text: Besides for matrices over real and complex numbers, the conditions hold for matrices over biquaternions, also called "complex quaternions".


title: Moore–Penrose inverse

text: In order to solve more general least-squares problems, one can define Moore–Penrose inverses for all continuous linear operators between two Hilbert spaces and , using the same four conditions as in our definition above. It turns out that not every continuous linear operator has a continuous linear pseudoinverse in this sense. Those that do are precisely the ones whose range is closed in .


title: Moore–Penrose inverse

text: A notion of pseudoinverse exists for matrices over an arbitrary field equipped with an arbitrary involutive automorphism. In this more general setting, a given matrix doesn't always have a pseudoinverse. The necessary and sufficient condition for a pseudoinverse to exist is that formula_122, where formula_28 denotes the result of applying the involution operation to the transpose of formula_26. When it does exist, it is unique. Example: Consider the field of complex numbers equipped with the identity involution (as opposed to the involution considered elsewhere in the article); do there exist matrices that fail to have pseudoinverses in this sense? Consider the matrix formula_125. Observe that formula_126 while formula_127. So this matrix doesn't have a pseudoinverse in this sense.


title: Moore–Penrose inverse

text: In abstract algebra, a Moore–Penrose inverse may be defined on a *-regular semigroup. This abstract definition coincides with the one in linear algebra.


title: Escort carrier

text: The escort carrier or escort aircraft carrier (U.S. hull classification symbol CVE), also called a "jeep carrier" or "baby flattop" in the United States Navy (USN) or "Woolworth Carrier" by the Royal Navy, was a small and slow type of aircraft carrier used by the Royal Navy, the United States Navy, the Imperial Japanese Navy and Imperial Japanese Army Air Force in World War II. They were typically half the length and a third the displacement of larger fleet carriers, slower, more-lightly armed and armored, and carried fewer planes. Escort carriers were most often built upon a commercial ship hull, so they were cheaper and could be built quickly. This was their principal advantage as they could be completed in greater numbers as a stop-gap when fleet carriers were scarce. However, the lack of protection made escort carriers particularly vulnerable, and several were sunk with great loss of life. The light carrier (U.S. hull classification symbol CVL) was a similar concept to the escort carrier in most respects, but was fast enough to operate alongside fleet carriers.


title: Escort carrier

text: Escort carriers were too slow to keep up with the main forces consisting of fleet carriers, battleships, and cruisers. Instead, they were used to escort convoys, defending them from enemy threats such as submarines and planes. In the invasions of mainland Europe and Pacific islands, escort carriers provided air support to ground forces during amphibious operations. Escort carriers also served as backup aircraft transports for fleet carriers, and ferried aircraft of all military services to points of delivery.


title: Escort carrier

text: In the Battle of the Atlantic, escort carriers were used to protect convoys against U-boats. Initially escort carriers accompanied the merchant ships and helped to fend off attacks from aircraft and submarines. As numbers increased later in the war, escort carriers also formed part of hunter-killer groups that sought out submarines instead of being attached to a particular convoy.


title: Escort carrier

text: In the Pacific theater, CVEs provided air support of ground troops in the Battle of Leyte Gulf. They lacked the speed and weapons to counter enemy fleets, relying on the protection of a Fast Carrier Task Force. However, at the Battle off Samar, one U.S. task force of escort carriers and destroyers managed to successfully defend itself against a much larger Japanese force of battleships and cruisers. The Japanese met a furious defense of carrier aircraft, screening destroyers, and destroyer escorts.


title: Escort carrier

text: Of the 151 aircraft carriers built in the U.S. during World War II, 122 were escort carriers, though no examples survive. The was the most numerous class of aircraft carrier, with 50 launched. Second was the , with 45 launched.


title: Escort carrier

text: In the early 1920s, the Washington Naval Treaty imposed limits on the maximum size and total tonnage of aircraft carriers for the five main naval powers. Later treaties largely kept these provisions. As a result, construction between the World Wars had been insufficient to meet operational needs for aircraft carriers as World War II expanded from Europe. Too few fleet carriers were available to simultaneously transport aircraft to distant bases, support amphibious invasions, offer carrier landing training for replacement pilots, conduct anti-submarine patrols, and provide defensive air cover for deployed battleships and cruisers. The foregoing mission requirements limited use of fleet carriers' unique offensive strike capability demonstrated at the Battle of Taranto and the Attack on Pearl Harbor. Conversion of existing ships (and hulls under construction for other purposes) provided additional aircraft carriers until new construction became available.


title: Escort carrier

text: Conversions of cruisers and passenger liners with speed similar to fleet carriers were identified by the U.S. as "light aircraft carriers" (hull classification symbol CVL) able to operate at battle fleet speeds. Slower conversions were classified as "escort carriers" and were considered naval auxiliaries suitable for pilot training and transport of aircraft to distant bases.


title: Escort carrier

text: The Royal Navy had recognized a need for carriers to defend its trade routes in the 1930s. While designs had been prepared for "trade protection carriers" and five suitable liners identified for conversion, nothing further was done mostly because there were insufficient aircraft for even the fleet carriers under construction at the time. However, by 1940 the need had become urgent and was converted from the captured German merchant ship MV "Hannover" and commissioned in July 1941. For defense from German aircraft, convoys were supplied first with fighter catapult ships and CAM ships that could carry a single (disposable) fighter. In the interim, before escort carriers could be supplied, they also brought in merchant aircraft carriers that could operate four aircraft.


title: Escort carrier

text: In 1940, U.S. Admiral William Halsey recommended construction of naval auxiliaries for pilot training. In early 1941 the British asked the U.S. to build on their behalf six carriers of an improved "Audacity" design, but the U.S. had already begun their own escort carrier. On 1 February 1941, the United States Chief of Naval Operations gave priority to construction of naval auxiliaries for aircraft transport. U.S. ships built to meet these needs were initially referred to as auxiliary aircraft escort vessels (AVG) in February 1942 and then auxiliary aircraft carrier (ACV) on 5 August 1942. The first U.S. example of the type was . Operation Torch and North Atlantic anti-submarine warfare proved these ships capable aircraft carriers for ship formations moving at the speed of trade or amphibious invasion convoys. U.S. classification revision to escort aircraft carrier (CVE) on 15 July 1943 reflected upgraded status from auxiliary to combatant. They were informally known as "Jeep carriers" or "baby flattops". It was quickly found that the escort carriers had better performance than light carriers, which tended to pitch badly in moderate to high seas. The was designed to incorporate the best features of American CVLs on a more stable hull with a less expensive propulsion system.


title: Escort carrier

text: Among their crews, CVE was sarcastically said to stand for "Combustible, Vulnerable, and Expendable", and the CVEs were called “Kaiser coffins" in honor of Casablanca-class manufacturer Henry J. Kaiser. Magazine protection was minimal in comparison to fleet aircraft carriers. was sunk within minutes by a single torpedo, and exploded from undetermined causes with very heavy loss of life. Three escort carriers—, and —were destroyed by kamikazes, the largest ships to meet such a fate.


title: Escort carrier

text: Allied escort carriers were typically around long, not much more than half the length of the almost fleet carriers of the same era, but were less than of the weight. A typical escort carrier displaced about , as compared to almost for a full-size fleet carrier. The aircraft hangar typically ran only of the way under the flight deck and housed a combination of 24–30 fighters and bombers organized into one single "composite squadron". By comparison, a late "Essex"-class fleet carrier of the period could carry 103 aircraft organized into separate fighter, bomber and torpedo-bomber squadrons.


title: Escort carrier

text: The island (superstructure) on these ships was small and cramped, and located well forward of the funnels (unlike on a normal-sized carrier, where the funnels were integrated into the island). Although the first escort carriers had only one aircraft elevator, having two elevators (one fore and one aft), along with the single aircraft catapult, quickly became standard. The carriers employed the same system of arresting cables and tail hooks as on the big carriers, and procedures for launch and recovery were the same as well.


title: Escort carrier

text: The crew size was less than of that of a large carrier, but this was still a bigger complement than most naval vessels. U.S. escort carriers were large enough to have facilities such as a permanent canteen or snack bar, called a gedunk bar, in addition to the mess. The bar was open for longer hours than the mess and sold several flavors of ice cream, along with cigarettes and other consumables. There were also several vending machines available on board.


title: Escort carrier

text: In all, 130 Allied escort carriers were launched or converted during the war. Of these, six were British conversions of merchant ships: , , , , and . The remaining escort carriers were U.S.-built. Like the British, the first U.S. escort carriers were converted merchant vessels (or in the , converted military oilers). The "Bogue"-class carriers were based on the hull of the Type C3 cargo ship. The last 69 escort carriers of the and "Commencement Bay" classes were purpose-designed and purpose-built carriers drawing on the experience gained with the previous classes.


title: Escort carrier

text: Originally developed at the behest of the United Kingdom to operate as part of a North Atlantic convoy escort, rather than as part of a naval strike force, many of the escort carriers produced were assigned to the Royal Navy for the duration of the war under the Lend-Lease act. They supplemented and then replaced the converted merchant aircraft carriers that were put into service by the British and Dutch as an emergency measure until dedicated escort carriers became available. As convoy escorts, they were used by the Royal Navy to provide air scouting, to ward off enemy long-range scouting aircraft and, increasingly, to spot and hunt submarines. Often additional escort carriers joined convoys, not as fighting ships but as transporters, ferrying aircraft from the U.S. to Britain; twice as many aircraft could be carried by storing aircraft on the flight deck as well as in the hangar.


title: Escort carrier

text: The ships sent to the Royal Navy were slightly modified, partly to suit the traditions of that service. Among other things the ice-cream making machines were removed, since they were considered unnecessary luxuries on ships which provided a grog ration. The heavy duty washing machines of the laundry room were removed, since "all a British sailor needs to keep clean is a bucket and a bar of soap" (quoted from Warrilow).


title: Escort carrier

text: Other modifications were due to the need for a completely enclosed hangar when operating in the North Atlantic and in support of the Arctic convoys.


title: Escort carrier

text: The attack on Pearl Harbor brought up an urgent need for aircraft carriers, so some T3 tankers were converted to escort carriers; is an example of how a T3 tanker hull, AO-33, was rebuilt to be an escort carrier. The T3 tanker size and speed made the T3 a useful escort carrier. There were two classes of T3 hull carriers: "Sangamon" class and "Commencement Bay" class.


title: Escort carrier

text: The U.S. discovered their own uses for escort carriers. In the North Atlantic, they supplemented the escorting destroyers by providing air support for anti-submarine warfare. One of these escort carriers, , was instrumental in the capture of off North Africa in 1944.


title: Escort carrier

text: In the Pacific theater, escort carriers lacked the speed to sail with fast carrier attack groups, so were often tasked to escort the landing ships and troop carriers during the island-hopping campaign. In this role they provided air cover for the troopships and flew the first wave of attacks on beach fortifications in amphibious landing operations. On occasion, they even escorted the large carriers, serving as emergency airstrips and providing fighter cover for their larger sisters while these were busy readying or refueling their own planes. They also transported aircraft and spare parts from the U.S. to remote island airstrips.


title: Escort carrier

text: A battle in which escort carriers played a major role was the Battle off Samar in the Philippines on 25 October 1944. The Japanese lured Admiral William Halsey, Jr. into chasing a decoy fleet with his powerful 3rd Fleet. This left about 450 aircraft from 16 small and slow escort carriers in three task units ("Taffies"), armed primarily to bomb ground forces, and their protective screen of destroyers and slower destroyer escorts to protect undefended troop and supply ships in Leyte Gulf. No Japanese threat was believed to be in the area, but a force of four battleships, including the formidable , eight cruisers, and 11 destroyers, appeared, sailing towards Leyte Gulf. Only the Taffies were in the way of the Japanese attack.


title: Escort carrier

text: The slow carriers could not outrun cruisers. They launched their aircraft and maneuvered to avoid shellfire, helped by smoke screens, for over an hour. "Taffy 3" bore the brunt of the fight. The Taffy ships took dozens of hits, mostly from armor-piercing rounds that passed right through their thin, unarmored hulls without exploding. , sunk in this action, was the only U.S. carrier lost to enemy surface gunfire in the war; the Japanese concentration of fire on this one carrier assisted the escape of the others. The carriers' only substantial armament—aside from their aircraft—was a single dual-purpose gun mounted on the stern, but the pursuing Japanese cruisers closed to within range of these guns. One of the guns damaged the burning Japanese heavy cruiser , and a subsequent bomb dropped by an aircraft hit the cruiser's forward machinery room, leaving her dead in the water. A "kamikaze" attack sank ; "kamikaze" aircraft attacking other ships were shot down. Ultimately the superior Japanese surface force withdrew, believing they were confronted by a stronger force than was the case. Most of the damage to the Japanese fleet was inflicted by torpedoes fired by destroyers, and bombs from the carriers' aircraft.


title: Escort carrier

text: The U.S. Navy lost a similar number of ships and more men than in the battles of the Coral Sea and Midway combined (though major fleet carriers were lost in the other battles).


title: Escort carrier

text: Many escort carriers were Lend-Leased to the United Kingdom, this list specifies the breakdown in service to each navy.


title: Escort carrier

text: The table below lists escort carriers and similar ships performing the same missions. The first four were built as early fleet aircraft carriers. Merchant aircraft carriers (MAC) carried trade cargo in addition to operating aircraft. Aircraft transports carried larger numbers of planes by eliminating accommodation for operating personnel and storage of fuel and ammunition.


title: Escort carrier

text: The years following World War II brought many revolutionary new technologies to naval aviation, most notably the helicopter and the jet fighter, and with this a complete rethinking of its strategies and ships' tasks. Although several of the latest "Commencement Bay"-class CVE were deployed as floating airfields during the Korean War, the main reasons for the development of the escort carrier had disappeared or could be dealt with better by newer weapons. The emergence of the helicopter meant that helicopter-deck equipped frigates could now take over the CVE's role in a convoy while also performing their usual role as submarine hunters. Ship-mounted guided missile launchers took over much of the aircraft protection role, and in-flight refueling eliminated the need for floating stopover points for transport or patrol aircraft. Consequently, after the "Commencement Bay" class, no new escort carriers were designed, and with every downsizing of the navy, the CVEs were the first to be mothballed.


title: Escort carrier

text: Several escort carriers were pressed back into service during the first years of the Vietnam War because of their ability to carry large numbers of aircraft. Redesignated AKV (air transport auxiliary), they were manned by a civilian crew and used to ferry whole aircraft and spare parts from the U.S. to Army, Air Force and Marine bases in South Vietnam. However, CVEs were useful in this role only for a limited period. Once all major aircraft were equipped with refueling probes, it became much easier to fly the aircraft directly to its base instead of shipping it.


title: Escort carrier

text: The last chapter in the history of escort carriers consisted of two conversions: as an experiment, was converted from an aircraft carrier into a pure helicopter carrier (CVHA-1) and used by the Marine Corps to carry assault helicopters for the first wave of amphibious warfare operations. Later, "Thetis Bay" became a full amphibious assault ship (LHP-6). Although in service only from 1955 (the year of her conversion) to 1964, the experience gained in her training exercises greatly influenced the design of today's amphibious assault ships.


title: Escort carrier

text: In the second conversion, in 1961, had all her aircraft handling equipment removed and four tall radio antennas installed on her long, flat deck. In lieu of aircraft, the hangar deck now had 24 military radio transmitter trucks bolted to its floor. Rechristened , the ship was used as a communication relay ship and served dutifully through the Vietnam War as a floating radio station, relaying transmissions between the forces on the ground and the command centers back home. Like "Thetis Bay", the experience gained before "Annapolis" was stricken in 1976 helped develop today's purpose-built amphibious command ships of the .


title: Escort carrier

text: Unlike almost all other major classes of ships and patrol boats from World War II, most of which can be found in a museum or port, no escort carrier or American light carrier has survived; all were destroyed during the war or broken up in the following decades. The Dictionary of American Naval Fighting Ships records that the last former escort carrier remaining in naval service—USS "Annapolis"—was sold for scrapping 19 December 1979. The last American light carrier (the escort carrier's faster sister type) was , which was broken up in 2002 after a decade-long attempt to preserve the vessel.


title: Escort carrier

text: Later in the Cold War the U.S.-designed Sea Control Ship was intended to serve a similar role; while none were actually built, the and the Thai are based on the concept.


title: Chamonix

text: Chamonix-Mont-Blanc (), more commonly known as Chamonix, is a commune in the Haute-Savoie department in the Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes region of southeastern France. It was the site of the first Winter Olympics in 1924. In 2019, it had a population of 8,640.


title: Chamonix

text: Situated to the north of Mont Blanc, between the peaks of the Aiguilles Rouges and the notable Aiguille du Midi, Chamonix is one of the oldest ski resorts in France. The Chamonix commune is popular with skiers and mountain enthusiasts. Via the cable car lift to the Aiguille du Midi it is possible to access the off-piste (backcountry) ski run of the "Vallée Blanche".


title: Chamonix

text: The name Campum munitum, meaning fortified plain or field, had been used as early as 1091. By 1283 the name had been abbreviated to a similar form to the modern Chamonis. Other forms through the ages include Chamouny in 1581, Chamony in 1652, Chamouni in 1786, and the particular spelling Chamonix from 1793.


title: Chamonix

text: Chamonix is the fourth-largest commune in metropolitan France, with an area of . Its population of around 8,900 ranks 1,089th within the country of France.


title: Chamonix

text: The valley was first mentioned in 1091, when it was granted by the Count of the Genevois to the great Benedictine house of St. Michel de la Cluse, near Turin, which by the early 13th century had established a priory there. However, in 1786 the inhabitants bought their freedom from the canons of Sallanches, to whom the priory had been transferred in 1519.


title: Chamonix

text: In 1530, the inhabitants obtained from the Count of the Genevois the privilege of holding two fairs a year, while the valley was often visited by the civil officials and by the bishops of Geneva (first recorded visit in 1411, while St. Francis de Sales came there in 1606). But travellers for pleasure were very rare.


title: Chamonix

text: Chamonix was part of the historical land of Savoy emerged as the feudal territory of the House of Savoy during the 11th to 14th centuries. The historical territory is shared between the modern countries of France, Italy and Switzerland. The House of Savoy became the longest surviving royal house in Europe. It ruled the County of Savoy to 1416 and then the Duchy of Savoy from 1416 to 1860.


title: Chamonix

text: The first party to publish (1744) an account of their visit was that of Richard Pococke, William Windham and others, such as the Englishmen who visited the Mer de Glace in 1741. In 1742 came P. Martel and several other Genevese, in 1760 Horace Bénédict de Saussure, as well as rather later Marc-Théodore Bourrit.


title: Chamonix

text: The growth of tourism in the early 19th century led to the formation of the "Compagnie des Guides de Chamonix" in 1821, to regulate access to the mountain slopes (which were communally or co-operatively owned), and this association held a monopoly of guiding from the town until it was broken by French government action in 1892; thereafter guides were required to hold a diploma issued by a commission dominated by civil servants and members of the French Alpine Club rather than local residents.


title: Chamonix

text: From the late 19th century on, tourist development was dominated by national and international initiatives rather than local entrepreneurs, though the local community was increasingly dependent upon and active in the tourist industry.


title: Chamonix

text: The commune successfully lobbied to change its name from Chamonix to Chamonix-Mont-Blanc in 1916. However, following the loss of its monopoly, the "Compagnie" reformed as an association of local guides, and retained an important role in local society; it provided the services of a friendly society to its members, and in the 20th century many of them were noted mountaineers and popularisers of mountain tourism, notably the novelist Roger Frison-Roche, the first member of the "Compagnie" not to be born in Chamonix.


title: Chamonix

text: The holding of the first Winter Olympic Games in Chamonix in 1924 further raised Chamonix's profile as an international tourist destination.


title: Chamonix

text: During the Second World War, a Children's Home operated in Chamonix, in which several dozens of Jewish children were hidden from the Nazis. Some of those who hid them were recognised as "Righteous Among the Nations".


title: Chamonix

text: By the 1960s, agriculture had been reduced to a marginal activity, while the number of tourist beds available rose to around 60,000 by the end of the 20th century, with about 5 million visitors a year.


title: Chamonix

text: The commune of Chamonix-Mont-Blanc includes 16 villages and hamlets. From north to south: Le Tour , Montroc, Le Planet, Argentière , Les Chosalets, Le Lavancher, Les Tines, Les Bois, Les-Praz-de-Chamonix , Chamonix-Mont-Blanc, Les Pècles, Les Mouilles, Les Barrats, Les Pélerins, Les Gaillands, and Les Bossons .


title: Chamonix

text: Due to its elevation, Chamonix has a humid continental climate ("Dfb," according to the Köppen climate classification")", with an average annual precipitation of . Summers are mild and winters are cold and snowy.


title: Chamonix

text: Chamonix is a winter sports resort town that still attracts skiers ready to test themselves both on the pistes in the official area and against the challenges of the backcountry skiing. As the highest European mountain west of Russia, Mont Blanc attracts mountain climbers. The Ultra-Trail du Mont-Blanc has been held every August since 2003.


title: Chamonix

text: There is a cable car up to the Aiguille du Midi. Constructed in 1955, it was then the highest cable car in the world and remains the highest vertical ascent cable car in the world.


title: Chamonix

text: Chamonix is divided into 3 separate ski areas (Les Grands Montets, Brévent - Flégère, le domaine de Balme) which run along the valley from Le Tour down to Les Houches. In addition to the 1924 Winter Olympic Games, the town hosts a round of the FIS Alpine Ski World Cup and the Arlberg-Kandahar. It previously hosted the FIS Nordic World Ski Championships 1937 and the 1984 and 1988 Biathlon World Championships for women.


title: Chamonix

text: The 1930 Ice Hockey World Championships was mostly held at Chamonix. The town also hosted the European Curling Championships in 1991 and 1999.


title: Chamonix

text: The town of Chamonix is served by French "Route Nationale" 205 (RN 205), nicknamed the "Route blanche", or "white route", due to its snowiness. This is an extension of French "autoroute" 40 (A40), similarly nicknamed the "autoroute blanche", which ends at Le Fayet, a village in the commune of Saint-Gervais-les-Bains. The 11.6-km Mont Blanc Tunnel, which opened in 1965, links Chamonix to Courmayeur in Italy. Chamonix is linked to Switzerland by what used to be RN 506a. In 2006, it was converted to a "Route Départementale" 1506, with a part of it integrated into RN 205.


title: Chamonix

text: Chamonix is served by the metre-gauge St Gervais-Vallorcine Line, operated by SNCF. The line from Saint Gervais (on the standard-gauge rail network) to Chamonix opened in 1901; it was extended to Vallorcine in 1908. The line holds the record for the steepest gradient on any standard (adhesion) railway. There are 10 stations on this line within the commune of Chamonix: Montroc-le-Planet, Argentière, La Joux, Les Tines, Les Praz-de-Chamonix, Chamonix-Mont-Blanc, Chamonix-Aiguille-du-Midi, Les Moussoux, Les Pélerins and Les Bossons.


title: Chamonix

text: From Vallorcine, the rail route continues over the border into Switzerland, meeting the SBB network at Martigny. This latter section, a metre-gauge cog railway, is operated by Transports de Martigny et Régions SA. The train service from Vallorcine to Martigny is known as the Mont Blanc Express. Timetables on the St Gervais-Vallorcine and Vallorcine-Martigny sections are synchronized.


title: Chamonix

text: The 5.1-km Montenvers Railway is a cog railway that provides access to the tourist site of Montenvers. Opened in 1909, its rail station was built next to SNCF's Chamonix station on the St Gervais-Vallorcine Line. In fact the two stations are directly linked. Montenvers provides further tourist access to middle and high mountain areas.


title: Chamonix

text: Chamonix has one of the highest cable cars in the world, which links the town to the summit of the Aiguille du Midi at 3842 m. It is based on an older system built in 1920, rebuilt in the first half of the 1950s over five summer seasons, fully modernized in 1979, and upgraded again in 2008. On the other side of the valley, another cable car links Chamonix to the viewpoint of Planpraz. A second line links Planpraz to the summit of Le Brévent at 2525 meters. Many other cable cars exist in the valley, and are heavily used by skiers and residents. The Plan Joran chairlift at the base of Les Grands Montets is due to be replaced by a 10-person gondola for the Winter 2014/15 season.


title: Walter Pidgeon

text: Walter Davis Pidgeon (September 23, 1897 – September 25, 1984) was a Canadian-American actor. He earned two Academy Award for Best Actor nominations for his roles in "Mrs. Miniver" (1942) and "Madame Curie" (1943). Pidgeon also starred in many films such as "How Green Was My Valley" (1941), "The Bad and the Beautiful" (1952), "Forbidden Planet" (1956), "Voyage to the Bottom of the Sea" (1961), "Advise & Consent" (1962), "Funny Girl" (1968), and "Harry in Your Pocket" (1973).


title: Walter Pidgeon

text: He received a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame in 1960 and a Screen Actors Guild Life Achievement Award in 1975.


title: Walter Pidgeon

text: Born in Saint John, New Brunswick, Canada, Pidgeon was the son of Hannah (née Sanborn), a housewife, and Caleb Burpee Pidgeon, a haberdasher.


title: Walter Pidgeon

text: Pidgeon received his formal education in local schools and the University of New Brunswick, where he studied law and drama. His university education was interrupted by World War I when he volunteered with the 65th Battery, as a lieutenant in the Royal Regiment of Canadian Artillery. He never saw action, however, as he was severely injured in an accident when he was crushed between two gun carriages and spent seventeen months in a military hospital. His Officer Attestation states he was born in 1895 and further medical records state 1896. Following the war, he moved to Boston, Massachusetts, where he worked as a bank runner, at the same time studying voice at the Boston Conservatory of Music.


title: Walter Pidgeon

text: While he was performing in amateur theatricals in Boston, Pidgeon was recommended to Elsie Janis, a prominent producer-actor-singer and impresario who was looking for a male singer for her revue. She hired him and Pidgeon moved to New York City in 1923. There he "managed to get an interview with E. E. Clive," the British producer then working on Broadway. Though his Broadway debut is often reported as 1925, in his chapter on Pidgeon in "Once upon a time in paradise : Canadians in the Golden Age of Hollywood" (2003), Charles Foster quotes an interview with Pidgeon in which the actor corrects the date. "[Clive] was producing You Never Can Tell on Broadway, and despite my having a total lack of professional experience, he gave me a small role." Pidgeon made his first featured Broadway debut in Janis' 1925 revue, "Puzzles of 1925".


title: Walter Pidgeon

text: Pidgeon's success in Elsie Janis' shows created a rift between them, leading to Pidgeon's eventual dismissal—and his decision to head to Hollywood. After his first film, Mannequin, a silent drama (1925), Pidgeon went to make a number of silent films in the 1920s. Discouraged with the quality of the roles he was getting, Pidgeon returned to New York in 1928 to resume his theater career. It was the arrival of the talkies that Pidgeon's movie career began its ascent, thanks to his singing voice. He starred in extravagant early Technicolor musicals, including "Bride of the Regiment" (1930), "Sweet Kitty Bellairs" (1930), "Viennese Nights" (1930) and "Kiss Me Again" (1931). Pidgeon continued to be in demand in singing roles through the 1930s, before making the transition to dramatic roles. In 1935 he took a break from Hollywood and did a stint on Broadway, appearing in the plays "Something Gay", "Night of January 16th", and "There's Wisdom in Women".


title: Walter Pidgeon

text: When he returned to movies in 1937, it was as a dramatic actor, often cast in featured supporting roles in films like "Saratoga" (1937) and "The Girl of the Golden West" (1938). One of his better known roles was in "Dark Command" (1940), where he portrayed the villain (loosely based on American Civil War guerrilla William Quantrill) opposite John Wayne, Claire Trevor, and a young Roy Rogers.


title: Walter Pidgeon

text: It was not until he starred in the Academy Award-winning Best Picture "How Green Was My Valley" (1941) that his popularity reached its height. He then starred opposite Greer Garson in "Blossoms in the Dust" (1941), "Mrs. Miniver" (1942) (for which he was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Actor) and its sequel, "The Miniver Story" (1950). He was also nominated for "Madame Curie" (1943), again opposite Garson. His partnership with her continued throughout the 1940s and into the 1950s with "Mrs. Parkington" (1944), "Julia Misbehaves" (1948), "That Forsyte Woman" (1949), and finally "Scandal at Scourie" (1953). He also starred as Chip Collyer in the comedy "Week-End at the Waldorf" (1945) and later as Colonel Michael S. 'Hooky' Nicobar, who was given the difficult task of repatriating Russians in post-World War II Vienna in the drama film "The Red Danube" (1949).


title: Walter Pidgeon

text: Although he continued to make films, including "The Bad and the Beautiful" (1952) and "Forbidden Planet" (1956), Pidgeon returned to work on Broadway in the mid-1950s after a 20-year absence. He was featured in "Take Me Along" with Jackie Gleason and received a Tony Award nomination for the musical play. He continued making films, playing Admiral Harriman Nelson in 1961's "Voyage to the Bottom of the Sea", James Haggin in Walt Disney's "Big Red" (1962), and the Senate Majority Leader in Otto Preminger's "Advise & Consent". His role as Florenz Ziegfeld in "Funny Girl" (1968) was well received. Later, he played Casey, James Coburn's sidekick, in "Harry in Your Pocket" (1973).


title: Walter Pidgeon

text: Pidgeon guest-starred in the episode "King of the Valley" (November 26, 1959) of CBS's "Dick Powell's Zane Grey Theatre". Pidgeon played Dave King, a prosperous rancher who quarrels with his banker over a $10,000 loan.


title: Walter Pidgeon

text: His other television credits included "Rawhide" ("The Reunion", 1962). "Breaking Point", "The F.B.I.", "Marcus Welby, M.D.", and "Gibbsville". In 1963 he guest-starred as corporate attorney Sherman Hatfield in the fourth of four special episodes of "Perry Mason" while Raymond Burr was recovering from surgery. In 1965, he played the king in Rodgers and Hammerstein's CBS television production of "Cinderella", starring Lesley Ann Warren. Pidgeon retired from acting in 1977.


title: Walter Pidgeon

text: A Republican, in 1944, he joined other celebrity Republicans at a massive rally in the Los Angeles Coliseum arranged by David O. Selznick in support of the Dewey−Bricker ticket as well as Governor Earl Warren of California, who would be Dewey's running mate in 1948. The gathering drew 93,000, with Cecil B. DeMille as the master of ceremonies and short speeches by Hedda Hopper and Walt Disney.


title: Walter Pidgeon

text: Pidgeon married twice. In 1919, he wed the former Edna Muriel Pickles of Annapolis Royal, Nova Scotia, who died in 1926 during the birth of their daughter, also named Edna. In 1931, Pidgeon married his secretary, Ruth Walker, to whom he remained married until he died.


title: Walter Pidgeon

text: Pidgeon died on September 25, 1984, in Santa Monica, California, two days after his 87th birthday following a series of strokes. He died eight days after Richard Basehart (his TV counterpart in "Voyage to the Bottom of the Sea") did.


title: Corin Redgrave

text: Corin William Redgrave (16 July 19396 April 2010) was an English actor and left-wing socialist activist.


title: Corin Redgrave

text: Redgrave was born on 16 July 1939 in Marylebone, London, the only son and middle child of actors Michael Redgrave and Rachel Kempson. He was educated at Westminster School and King's College, Cambridge.


title: Corin Redgrave

text: On stage, he was known for performances by Shakespeare (such as "Much Ado About Nothing", "Henry IV, Part 1"," Antony and Cleopatra", and "The Tempest") and Noël Coward (a highly successful revival of "A Song At Twilight" co-starring his sister Vanessa Redgrave and his second wife, Kika Markham).


title: Corin Redgrave

text: For his role as the prison warden Boss Whalen in the Royal National Theatre production of Tennessee Williams's "Not About Nightingales", Redgrave was nominated for an Evening Standard Award, and after a successful transfer of the production to New York, he received a Tony Award nomination for Best Actor in a Play, in 1999. Two years later he starred in the original London production of "The General from America" as Benedict Arnold. When the play transferred to Broadway the following season Redgrave switched roles and portrayed George Washington .


title: Corin Redgrave

text: In 2005, Redgrave had just finished an engagement playing the lead in "King Lear" with the Royal Shakespeare Company in London when he suffered a severe heart attack. In 2008, he returned to the stage in a highly praised portrayal of Oscar Wilde in the one-man-play "De Profundis". In 2009, he starred in "Trumbo", which opened only hours after the death of his niece, Natasha Richardson.


title: Corin Redgrave

text: On screen, he was cast in such films as "A Man for All Seasons" (1966) as Thomas More's son-in-law, William Roper; "Excalibur" (1981) as the doomed Cornwall; "In the Name of the Father" (1993) as the corrupt lead police investigator; "Persuasion" (TV, 1995) as the foolish Sir Walter Eliot; and "Four Weddings and a Funeral" (1994) as Hamish, the fiancé of Andie MacDowell's character.


title: Corin Redgrave

text: Redgrave appeared in British television programmes such as "Ultraviolet", "The Vice", "Trial & Retribution", "Shameless", "Foyle's War", "The Relief of Belsen", "The Ice House" and the Emmy Award-winning telefilm "The Girl in the Cafe", in which he played the prime minister. He took the lead part of Sir George Grey in the New Zealand TV miniseries "The Governor" (1977).


title: Corin Redgrave

text: He wrote a play called "Blunt Speaking", in which he performed at the Minerva Theatre (a second stage of the Chichester Festival Theatre) between 23 July - 10 August 2002.


title: Corin Redgrave

text: Redgrave was a lifelong activist in far-left politics. With his elder sister Vanessa, he was a prominent member of the Workers' Revolutionary Party. After the WRP's collapse, he was involved with the Marxist Party, which the two siblings founded.


title: Corin Redgrave

text: Redgrave and his second wife, Kika Markham, expressed support for activist group Viva Palestina, led by British MP George Galloway, attempting to break the blockade of the Gaza Strip. He was also a defender of the interests of the Romani people.


title: Corin Redgrave

text: Redgrave was part of the third generation of a theatrical dynasty spanning four generations. His parents were Sir Michael Redgrave and Rachel Kempson; Vanessa and Lynn Redgrave were his sisters. His first marriage was to Deirdre Deline Hamilton-Hill (1939–1997). They had a daughter, actress Jemma Redgrave, and a son, Luke, a camera operator and production assistant. Redgrave and Hamilton-Hill divorced in 1975. Redgrave and Kika Markham married in 1985 in Wandsworth, London, and remained together until Redgrave's death. The couple had two sons, Harvey (born 1979) and Arden (born 1983).


title: Corin Redgrave

text: He wrote a memoir about his strained relationship with his father, "Michael Redgrave - My Father", which incorporates passages from Michael's diaries. It also reveals his father's bisexuality.


title: Corin Redgrave

text: Redgrave was diagnosed with prostate cancer in 2000, which continued to affect him until he died in 2010. In June 2005, his family said he was in critical but stable condition in hospital following a severe heart attack at a public meeting in Basildon, Essex. In March 2009, Redgrave returned to the London stage playing the title role in "Trumbo", based on the life of the blacklisted Hollywood screenwriter Dalton Trumbo. On the opening night, Redgrave dedicated his performance to the memory of his niece Natasha Richardson, who had died earlier that week in a skiing accident.


title: Corin Redgrave

text: He died on 6 April 2010 in St George's Hospital, Tooting, South West London. His funeral was held on 12 April 2010 at St Paul's, Covent Garden, London, and he was interred on the eastern side of Highgate Cemetery.


title: Corin Redgrave

text: His sister Lynn Redgrave died of breast cancer on 2 May 2010, less than a month after her brother. Markham's memoir of her husband, "Our Time of Day: My Life with Corin Redgrave", was published in 2014.


title: The Return of Jafar

text: The Return of Jafar (sometimes marketed as Aladdin: The Return of Jafar on re-release) is a 1994 American direct-to-video animated musical fantasy film produced by Walt Disney Pictures and Television. It is the first sequel to the 1992 film "Aladdin", and serves as the pilot to the "Aladdin" animated series (being an origin story of how the series began as it premiered before this film). Released on May 20, 1994 in North America, it was the second Disney animated film sequel after "The Rescuers Down Under" (1990) and the first Disney direct-to-video animated film, and marked the first American direct-to-video animated film. Gilbert Gottfried, Jonathan Freeman, Scott Weinger, Frank Welker, and Linda Larkin reprise their roles from the first film, with Jason Alexander, Val Bettin, Liz Callaway, and Dan Castellaneta joining in the cast.


title: The Return of Jafar

text: Though the film received mixed to negative reviews, it sold 15million VHS tapes, grossing more than on a budget of approximately $5 million, making it one of the best-selling films on home video.


title: The Return of Jafar

text: One year has passed since the events of the first film. Aladdin and Abu have settled in the palace of Agrabah with Princess Jasmine and her father, the Sultan. Still yearning for adventures, Aladdin foils a criminal group led by the dimwitted Abis Mal and returns their stolen loot to the people of Agrabah. Meanwhile, in the desert, Iago escapes from Jafar's lamp. Tired of being taken for granted, Iago refuses Jafar's demands to free him. After dropping the lamp into a well, Iago returns to Agrabah, hoping to befriend Aladdin and return to the palace. During a confrontation with Aladdin and Abu, the three are attacked by Abis Mal and his henchmen; Iago inadvertently saves Aladdin's life. In gratitude, Aladdin keeps Iago on the palace grounds, promising to speak with the Sultan on Iago's behalf.


title: The Return of Jafar

text: Meanwhile, Abis Mal finds Jafar's lamp in the well. Hindered by his incompetent new master, Jafar manipulates Abis Mal into wasting his first two wishes, then enlists his help in taking revenge on Aladdin. In exchange he will grant him a special third wish. Abis Mal agrees, also desiring revenge on Aladdin. Meanwhile, the Genie returns to the palace after traveling the world for one year, though his powers are diminished now that he is free from the lamp. At the evening banquet, the Sultan announces Aladdin as the new Royal Vizier. Abu and Rajah discover Iago in the garden and chase him into the banquet. Aladdin asks the Sultan to pardon Iago, but Jasmine is dismayed that Aladdin never confided in her. The Sultan remains suspicious, however, but issues Iago a temporary pardon, with the stipulation that Aladdin watch over him. Genie and Iago help persuade Jasmine to forgive Aladdin for keeping Iago a secret and agrees to give Iago a chance. However, Jafar sneaks into the palace and forces Iago to trick Aladdin and the Sultan to travel to a waterfall.


title: The Return of Jafar

text: During the trip, the Sultan eventually forgives Aladdin, but Jafar ambushes them, sending Aladdin into the waterfall and capturing the Sultan, with Jasmine, Genie and Abu also caught and locked in the dungeon. Aladdin eventually makes his way back to Agrabah to warn Razoul, but Jafar, posing as Jasmine, frames Aladdin for the Sultan's alleged murder and sentences him to execution. Feeling guilty for his betrayal, Iago frees the Genie, who saves Aladdin. Jafar now controls Agrabah, but Aladdin vows to stop him and Genie reveals Jafar can be killed by destroying his lamp. Iago decides to leave, but not before Aladdin thanks him.


title: The Return of Jafar

text: Aladdin and the group confront Jafar in the treasure room just before Abis Mal can wish him free. However, Jafar knocks both Aladdin and Abis Mal out the tower and sends them hurtling through the Palace trees; and Abis Mal drops Jafar's lamp. Aladdin frees himself, and the group attempts to get the lamp, but Jafar transforms into his Genie form, incapacitates the Genie, and shatters the Carpet. He splits open the Palace gardens, creating a pool of lava and traps Aladdin on a sinking rock. Iago, who has once again had a change of heart, returns and grabs the lamp, but is knocked out by Jafar. Though injured, he kicks the lamp into the lava, and Aladdin rescues Iago as Jafar's magic is undone, making Jafar self-destroy and restoring the Palace gardens and the Carpet. Everyone forgives Iago and he is officially accepted into the palace. Aladdin ultimately rejects the Sultan's offer to become the Vizier, instead opting to see the world with Jasmine, much to Iago's chagrin.


title: The Return of Jafar

text: In a post-credits scene, Abis Mal, still dangling from the tree, realizes he'll never get his third wish.


title: The Return of Jafar

text: Additional voices are provided by Jeff Bennett, Dan Castellaneta, Jim Cummings, B. J. Ward, and Frank Welker.


title: The Return of Jafar

text: Following the success of "The Little Mermaid" (1989), Walt Disney Television Animation subsequently produced an animated television series of the same name that aired on CBS. At the same time, The Disney Afternoon had become a success with television series such as "DuckTales" and "" airing in a syndicated two-hour time slot. Before the theatrical release of "Aladdin", Disney commissioned Tad Stones and Alan Zaslove to produce an animated series of "Aladdin" that would shepherd its transition from the movie into a television series.


title: The Return of Jafar

text: While conceiving the sequel, Stones became fascinated with the character Iago, commenting that "I said 'I want the parrot in there,' but he was trapped in the lamp [at the end of the "Aladdin" movie], so we came up with a story of how he got out and ended up with Aladdin." As common with half-hour animated television series at the time, Disney initially planned to begin the series with an hour-long television special, but Stones suggested that the film should instead be released on home video. The idea was initially met with some resistance from then-Disney Feature Animation president Peter Schneider and then-Disney CEO Michael Eisner who felt it would cheapen Disney's brand. Ultimately, layout designer Paul Felix conceived the film's opening with the gang of thieves entering into a cave, which was then later animated at Disney Animation Australia. Impressed with the animation dailies, then-Disney chairman Jeffrey Katzenberg allowed for the first half to be animated in Australia while the climax was animated in Japan.


title: The Return of Jafar

text: Due to a well publicized bitter fall-out over the use of his voice in the marketing campaign for "Aladdin", Robin Williams refused to reprise the role of the Genie, and was instead replaced by Dan Castellaneta (best known for voicing Homer Simpson). Stones also claimed that Williams participated in selecting Castellaneta to voice the Genie. It was also the first "Aladdin" full-length production without the original voice of Sultan, Douglas Seale. He was replaced by Val Bettin, who had previously worked with Disney on "The Great Mouse Detective" and who would reprise his role in the franchise's animated series and "Aladdin and the King of Thieves".


title: The Return of Jafar

text: Instead of the film receiving a theatrical release, Steve Feldstein, director of public relations for Disney's home video division, stated the decision to release "The Return of Jafar" on home video was due to time constraints claiming that "to put the film in the theatrical pipeline would have taken up to five years", but releasing it on home video would take "less than two years." In addition to that, Feldstein confirmed that financing was also a consideration since producing a direct-to-video feature would be "less costly to make than "Aladdin"." Likewise, due to an expanding video market, Disney claimed demand from theatrical and video audiences for Aladdin and other characters was another reason for a speedy follow-up.


title: The Return of Jafar

text: "The Return of Jafar" was first released on VHS and LaserDisc in the United States and Canada on May 20, 1994, being the first installment of Walt Disney Home Video collection series. In its first two days, it sold more than 1.5 million VHS copies; more than 4.6 million VHS copies were sold in less than a week. In the United States, more than ten million copies were sold, ranking among the top 15 top-selling videos of all time (at the time), earning $150 million in profits. The film eventually sold 15million units and grossed approximately $300million worldwide. The sequel's success removed what "Los Angeles Times" described as "the low-quality stigma" from direct-to-video, and caused Disney, Universal Pictures, and other studios to release more direct-to-video films.


title: The Return of Jafar

text: Originally released on VHS that year, "The Return of Jafar" was later reissued on Special Edition DVD and VHS (with ""Aladdin:"" added to the title) on January 18, 2005, the same day as its direct sequel, "Aladdin and the King of Thieves", also received a re-release, with digitally restored picture and remastered sound. The Special Edition DVD, along with the other two films in the series, were placed on moratorium ("placed back into the Disney Vault") on January 31, 2008, in the United States, and February 4, 2008, in the United Kingdom. "The Return of Jafar", along with "Aladdin and the King of Thieves" was released on Blu-ray/DVD/Digital HD Combo Pack on January 5, 2016, as a Disney Movie Club exclusive in North America.


title: The Return of Jafar

text: On the review aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes, the film has an overall approval rating of 33% based on 12 reviews collected, with a weighted average score of 4.3/10.


title: The Return of Jafar

text: David Nusair of Reelfilm.com summed up most of the negative feelings that contributed to this rating:


title: The Return of Jafar

text: Despite the mostly negative reception, on the television program "Siskel & Ebert", the film received a "two thumbs up" from Gene Siskel and Roger Ebert. Writing for "Entertainment Weekly", Steve Daly graded the sequel a C− criticizing it as a "knockoff" that "carries the Disney label and costs about as much as a tape of "Aladdin", but it's clear from the first jerky frame that the same time, care, and creativity didn't go into it."


title: The Return of Jafar

text: When Disney was publishing their own comics in the mid-90s, they produced a two-issue "Aladdin" comic presenting an alternate version of "The Return of Jafar". It was titled "The Return of Aladdin". The comic is introduced by the Merchant from the first film.


title: The Return of Jafar

text: The story starts off showing that Aladdin has been particularly bored of palace life. Meanwhile, Jafar has escaped the Cave of Wonders. Iago is given the task of finding the right master for Jafar to manipulate. Their search seems hopeless as some people are able to enjoy all three wishes or messing up. They find someone to use the lamp, who is known as Isabella, a master magician. Isabella is similar in appearance to Jafar (except his clothing is green). His first wish is to return to Agrabah Palace (as he performed entertainment to the sultan in #1). His second wish is for an army of soldiers to pursue Aladdin and Jasmine when they catch on to Jafar's presence. He is persuaded to use his third wish to trap Jafar and Iago in the lamp again, sending them back to the cave. Due to persuasion by the Genie, the Sultan hires Isabella to a permanent entertainment job at the palace. The end of the story shows the merchant having a black lamp similar to Jafar's, but he claims it to be worthless.


title: The Return of Jafar

text: The plot of the film is loosely used in Agrabah, one of the worlds in "Kingdom Hearts II", and the Peddler appears from the first film. As in the film, Iago escapes from Jafar and does his best to respect Aladdin, Jasmine, Sora, Donald and Goofy, although Jafar coerces him into aiding him in his revenge, almost damaging Iago's friendship with Aladdin and Sora, but he redeems himself after taking a blow for Aladdin which almost claims his life. The Peddler, at the beginning, comes across Jafar's lamp, but sells it to Aladdin, Sora, Donald and Goofy for a rare artifact in the Cave of Wonders. Despite Aladdin sealing the lamp in the palace dungeon, the greedy Peddler breaks into the dungeon and frees Jafar, unleashing his fury on Agrabah until he is defeated by Sora and company. The Peddler's fate is left ambiguous. This was the first Disney sequel to have its plot adapted into a level in the "Kingdom Hearts" series, which was then followed by the Grid being an adaptation of "Tron Legacy", and the Caribbean being one of "".


title: The Return of Jafar

text: Furthermore, there is a mild allusion to the Agrabah boss battle in "Kingdom Hearts". Sora must fight Jafar in Genie form, surrounded by a lava pit with raising and lowering levels, while Iago flies above with Jafar's lamp. Only striking the lamp has any effect on Jafar's health. This fight also takes place in the second game, "", and its PlayStation 2 remake. In both versions of "Chain of Memories", the boss fight is due to the majority of the game being illusions created from Sora's memories. A second playable character, Riku, also fights the boss in his mode. The battle is once again visited in "Kingdom Hearts Coded" and "".


title: The Return of Jafar

text: The film was followed by a television series titled "Aladdin", which served as the overall third installment, and another direct-to-video sequel, "Aladdin and the King of Thieves", which was released in 1996. The franchise was later re-visited in "Hercules and the Arabian Night", a crossover episode with "Hercules", and in "".


title: Cross of Lorraine

text: The Cross of Lorraine (), known as the Cross of Anjou in the 16th century, is a heraldic two-barred cross, consisting of a vertical line crossed by two shorter horizontal bars. In most renditions, the horizontal bars are "graded" with the upper bar being the shorter, though variations with the bars of equal length are also seen. The "Lorraine" name has come to signify several cross variations, including the patriarchal cross with its bars near the top.


title: Cross of Lorraine

text: The Cross of Lorraine consists of one vertical and two horizontal bars. In most renditions, the horizontal bars are "graded" with the upper bar being the shorter, though variations with the bars of equal length are also seen.


title: Cross of Lorraine

text: The Cross of Lorraine came from the Kingdom of Hungary to the Duchy of Lorraine. In Hungary, Béla III was the first monarch to use the two-barred cross as the symbol of royal power in the late 12th century. He probably adopted it from the Byzantine Empire, according to historian Pál Engel. René II, Duke of Lorraine inherited the two-barred cross as a symbol from his distant ancestors from the House of Anjou of Hungary, which had inherited it as kings of Hungary from the country's first ruling dynasty, the Árpáds. René's grandfather, René the Good, who used it as his personal sigil, laid claim to four kingdoms, including Hungary. The cross was still known as the "Cross of Anjou" in the . René II placed the symbol on his flag before the Battle of Nancy in January 1477. In the battle, René defeated the army of Charles the Bold, Duke of Burgundy, who had occupied the Duchy of Lorraine, and regained his duchy. All coins struck for René bore the symbol thereafter.


title: Cross of Lorraine

text: The Cross of Lorraine is an emblem of Lorraine in eastern France. Between 1871 and 1918 (and again between 1940 and 1944), the north-eastern quarter of Lorraine (the Moselle department) was annexed to Germany, along with Alsace. During that period the Cross served as a rallying point for French ambitions to recover its lost provinces. This historical significance lent it considerable weight as a symbol of French patriotism. During World War II, "Capitaine de corvette" Thierry d'Argenlieu suggested the Cross of Lorraine as the symbol of the Free French Forces led by Charles de Gaulle as an answer to the Nazi swastika.


title: Cross of Lorraine

text: In France, the Cross of Lorraine was the symbol of Free France during World War II, the liberation of France from Nazi Germany and Vichy France along with the allies the United Kingdom and the United States, and Gaullism and includes several variations of a two-barred cross.


title: Cross of Lorraine

text: The Cross was displayed on the flags of Free French warships, and the fuselages of Free French aircraft. The medal of the Order of Liberation bears the Cross of Lorraine.


title: Cross of Lorraine

text: De Gaulle himself is memorialised by a high Cross of Lorraine in his home village of Colombey-les-Deux-Églises. The Cross of Lorraine was later adopted by Gaullist political groups such as the Rally for the Republic.


title: Cross of Lorraine

text: French Jesuit missionaries and settlers to the New World carried the Cross of Lorraine c. 1750–1810. The symbol was said to have helped the missionaries to convert the native peoples they encountered, because the two-armed cross resembled existing local imagery.


title: Cross of Lorraine

text: The coat of arms of Hungary depicts a double cross, which is often attributed to Byzantine influence as King Béla III of Hungary was raised in the Byzantine Empire in the 12th century, and it was during his rule when the double cross became a symbol of Hungary. Also the 'dual cross' is the consonant 'gy' in ancient Hungarian runic writing which reads "egy" (one) when it stands alone mostly, if not always, with "God" meaning.


title: Cross of Lorraine

text: A golden double cross with equal bars, known as the Cross of Jagiellons, was used by Grand Duke of Lithuania and King of Poland Jogaila since his conversion to Christianity in 1386, as a personal insignia and was introduced in the coat of arms of Lithuania. Initially, the lower bar of the cross was longer than the upper, since it originates from the Hungarian type of the double cross. It later became the symbol of Jagiellonian dynasty and is one of the national symbols of Lithuania, featured in the Order of the Cross of Vytis and the badge of the Lithuanian Air Force.


title: Cross of Lorraine

text: The double-barred cross is one of the national symbols in Belarus, both as the Jagiellon Cross and as the Cross of St. Euphrosyne of Polatsk, an important religious artifact. The symbol is supposed to have Byzantine roots and is used by the Belarusian Greek Catholic Church as a symbol uniting Eastern-Byzantine and Western-Latin church traditions. The Belarusian Cross can be found on the traditional coat of arms of Belarus, the Pahonia.


title: Cross of Lorraine

text: Silver double cross, on a mountain with three peaks, forms the coat of arms of the Slovak Republic. It is considered national symbol of Slovaks, and its history in present territory can be traced back to Great Moravia in 9th century.


title: Cross of Lorraine

text: The cross of Lorraine was previously used in the Sabre, Apollo, and Worldspan global distribution systems (GDS) as a delimiter in various input formats, however, the latest version of the graphical user interface for each system uses a different symbol: Apollo displays it as a plus sign, Worldspan as a number sign, and Sabre as a yen symbol.


title: Cross of Lorraine

text: For its defense of France in World War I, the American 79th Infantry Division was nicknamed the "Cross of Lorraine" Division; its insignia is the cross. The German 79th Infantry Division of World War II used the cross of Lorraine as its insignia because its first attack was in the Lorraine region. The insignia was redesignated effective December 1, 2009, for the 79th US Army Reserve Sustainment Support Command in Los Alamitos, California.


title: Cross of Lorraine

text: The cross is used as an emblem by the American Lung Association and related organizations through the world, and as such is familiar from their Christmas seals program. Its use was suggested in 1902 by Paris physician Gilbert Sersiron as a symbol for the "crusade" against tuberculosis.


title: Dave Thomas (actor)

text: David William Thomas (born May 20, 1949) is a Canadian actor, comedian and television writer. He is best known for being one half of the duo Bob and Doug McKenzie with Rick Moranis. He appeared as Doug McKenzie on "SCTV", for which he won a Primetime Emmy Award out of two nominations, and in the film "Strange Brew" (1983), which he also co-directed. As a duo, they made two albums, "The Great White North" and "Strange Brew", the former gaining them a Grammy Award nomination and a Juno Award.


title: Dave Thomas (actor)

text: His other notable acting credits include "Stripes" (1981), "Love at Stake" (1987), "Moving" (1988), "Coneheads" (1993) and "Rat Race" (2001). He provided the voice of Tuke in "Brother Bear" (2003), and "Brother Bear 2" (2006), and is also known for playing Russell Norton in the TV series Grace Under Fire (1993-1998).


title: Dave Thomas (actor)

text: David William Thomas was born May 20, 1949, in St. Catharines, Ontario. He is the eldest son of British parents, Moreen Duff Muir (May 4, 1928 - May 18, 2022), a church organist for thirty years originally from Glasgow, Scotland, and composer of church music, and John E. Thomas (1926–1996), a medical ethicist from Merthyr Tydfil, Wales who was head of the Philosophy Department at McMaster University, and the author of several books. Dave's younger brother, Ian, is a Canadian singer-songwriter.


title: Dave Thomas (actor)

text: The family moved temporarily to Durham, North Carolina, where his father attended Duke University and earned a PhD in philosophy. The family moved back to Dundas, Ontario, in 1961, where Dave Thomas attended Dundas District high school, and later graduated with an honours Bachelor of Arts degree in English literature from McMaster University in Hamilton, Ontario.


title: Dave Thomas (actor)

text: Starting his career as a copywriter at ad agency McCann Erickson in 1974, he became the head writer of the Coca-Cola account in Canada within a year. After watching a Second City stage show in Toronto, and while suffering from self-described "boredom" in his advertising work, he auditioned for the Second City troupe and was chosen as a performer. He was a cast member of the Toronto production of "Godspell", along with Victor Garber, Martin Short, Eugene Levy, Gilda Radner, and Andrea Martin. Paul Shaffer was the musical director.


title: Dave Thomas (actor)

text: He first achieved fame as a cast member of the Canadian TV comedy series "SCTV", joining "Godspell" castmates Levy, Martin and later Short, plus Rick Moranis, John Candy, Harold Ramis, Catherine O'Hara and others. Notable characters on the show include Doug McKenzie of beer-swilling brothers Bob and Doug McKenzie, editorialist "Bill Needle", Scottish scone-chef/bluesman "Angus Crock", motor-mouthed TV ad announcer "Harvey K-Tel", Lowery organist/curio pitchman "Tex Boil" and the "Cruising Gourmet".


title: Dave Thomas (actor)

text: Thomas's first movie was "Home to Stay", directed by Delbert Mann, in which Thomas played in a scene with Hollywood legend Henry Fonda. He then wrote, co-directed, and starred in the Bob & Doug McKenzie feature film "Strange Brew". Soon after, he wrote for and acted in "The New Show", produced by Lorne Michaels during his hiatus from "Saturday Night Live". Short-lived, this show featured a powerhouse writing staff including Thomas along with Buck Henry, George Meyer, Jack Handey, Al Franken, Tom Davis, Valri Bromfield and Steve Martin. Thomas tried his hand at network television hour-long shows in 1986 when he wrote and co-executive produced "Steel Collar Man" for CBS. The pilot was produced but did not go to series.


title: Dave Thomas (actor)

text: In 1988, Thomas wrote another hour long show for CBS, "B Men", which was back ordered, but Thomas took a directing job at Paramount, which caused the network to drop the series. He reportedly introduced John Travolta and Kelly Preston while directing them in the Paramount film "The Experts".


title: Dave Thomas (actor)

text: He wrote for, produced, and starred in "The Dave Thomas Comedy Show" (1990). In 1991, he starred in the Showtime comedy, "Public Enemy #2". In 1992, he tried his hand at reality TV and co-executive produced ABC's "America's Funniest People" with Vin Di Bona, but left after thirteen weeks to appear in the film "Coneheads".


title: Dave Thomas (actor)

text: In 1993, he officially co-starred in ABC's "Grace Under Fire" with Brett Butler and Tom Poston and continued with the show for 5 seasons. In 1995 Thomas starred in ABC TV movie "Picture Perfect" with Mary Page Keller and Richard Karn. In 1995 Thomas tried his hand at TV Game shows, produced a pilot of a game show called "Family Challenge" for ABC. When ABC did not pick up the series, Thomas sold "Family Challenge" to the Family Channel, where he produced 144 episodes of the show spread over 2 seasons. In 1996, Thomas played the title role in the Fox TV movie "Mr. Foster's Field Trip" aka "Kidz in the Wood" with Julia Duffy.


title: Dave Thomas (actor)

text: In 1996, he wrote the book "SCTV: Behind the Scenes" (McClelland & Stewart, publishers). From 1999-2002, he voiced various roles on the animated series "Mission Hill".


title: Dave Thomas (actor)

text: Thomas co-starred in the Paramount feature "Rat Race". As of 2001, Thomas has been the Executive Creative Director of Animax Entertainment, an animation studio based officially in Culver City, California. In 2001-2002 Thomas appeared with Eugene Levy and Martin Short on Short's show "Primetime Glick" as Bob Hope (an impression he had first developed for "SCTV" with great success). In 2002, he co-starred with Jason Priestley, Dave Foley and Ewen Bremner in "Fancy Dancing". The next year he played a lead role in "Beethoven's 5th". In 2003, he directed a hospital comedy feature film entitled "Whitecoats", which he also wrote. As of 2004, Thomas was on the official Advisory Committee for the at Humber College, the only such diploma program in the world. In 2004, he and Moranis reprised the voices of the McKenzie Brothers in Disney's animated feature "Brother Bear".


title: Dave Thomas (actor)

text: Thomas has had a long career doing voices for animation including "Animaniacs", "Duckman", "CatDog", "The Adventures of Tarzan", "Justice League of America" and multiple roles on "The Simpsons," "King of the Hill" and "Family Guy". In 2005, he had a guest stint as Charlize Theron's "Uncle Trevor" on Fox's "Arrested Development". In 2006, he reprised his voice role in "Brother Bear 2" and appeared as himself in the feature film "The Aristocrats". He began production on "ArnoldSpeaks.com", a video blog, as the voice of Arnold Schwarzenegger; Animax Entertainment won an Emmy for a broadband animated series produced for ESPN, "Off Mikes".


title: Dave Thomas (actor)

text: In 2007, Thomas and Rick Moranis reprised their roles as Bob and Doug McKenzie in a one-hour special, "Bob & Doug McKenzie's Two-Four Anniversary", for CBC Television. The show featured cameos from McKenzie celeb fans like Ben Stiller, Dave Foley, Tom Green, Paul Shaffer, Andy Dick, Matt Groening, Barry Pepper, Martin Short, and Geddy Lee. Former Prime Minister of Canada Paul Martin was the host. In 2008, Thomas revived Bob and Doug McKenzie in a new animated series, "Bob & Doug". While Thomas reprises the character of Doug in the new series, Moranis chose not to voice the character of Bob, which instead is voiced by Dave Coulier. Moranis is, however, involved in the series as an executive producer.


title: Dave Thomas (actor)

text: In November 2009, Thomas received an Honorary Doctor of Letters from his alma mater McMaster University and gave the fall convocation speech. In 2010 Animax continued to produce branded entertainment, advertising and digital shorts for corporations like Disney, Warner Brothers, NBC Universal, and Kodak. In 2011, Thomas's company Animax produced another animated show for MTV entitled Big Box along with numerous Internet shorts such as "Life With Dad".


title: Dave Thomas (actor)

text: In 2012 and 2013 Thomas guest starred in the dramatic shows "Perception" and "Bones" as well as comedy shows "Comedy Bang! Bang!" and "How I Met Your Mother". In addition in 2013 Thomas voiced the recurring role of Jeff Foxworthy's father Jesco in the CMT show "Bounty Hunters".


title: Dave Thomas (actor)

text: Thomas joined the writing staff of the Fox crime drama television series "Bones" beginning in 2013. Thomas worked for two seasons on "Bones", writing several episodes and working on staff as consulting producer for two seasons.


title: Dave Thomas (actor)

text: In 2020 life-sized statues of Thomas and Rick Moranis as their characters Bob and Doug McKenzie was put in place at the ICE District Sports Arena in Edmonton, Alberta.


title: Dave Thomas (actor)

text: Also in 2020, the Governor-General of Canada announced that Thomas was being appointed to the Order of Canada, Canada's highest civilian award.


title: Dave Thomas (actor)

text: In 2021, Thomas and Max Allan Collins teamed to write the sci-fi mystery novel, "The Many Lives of Jimmy Leighton".


title: Second Triumvirate

text: The Second Triumvirate was an extraordinary commission and magistracy created for Mark Antony, Marcus Aemilius Lepidus, and Octavian to give them practically absolute power. It was formally constituted by law on 27 November 43 BC with a term of five years; it was renewed in 37 BC for another five years before expiring in 32 BC. Constituted by the "lex Titia", the triumvirs were given broad powers to make or repeal legislation, issue judicial punishments without due process or right of appeal, and appoint all other magistrates. The triumvirs also split the Roman world into three sets of provinces.


title: Second Triumvirate

text: The triumvirate, formed in the aftermath of a conflict between Antony and the senate, emerged as a force to reassert Caesarian control over the western provinces and wage war on the "liberatores" led by the men who assassinated Julius Caesar. After proscriptions, purging the senatorial and equestrian orders, and a brutal civil war, the "liberatores" were defeated at the Battle of Philippi. After Philippi, Antony and Octavian took the east and west, respectively, with Lepidus confined to Africa.


title: Second Triumvirate

text: Octavian and Antony were pushed to cooperation, in part by their soldiers, and the triumvirs had their legal arrangement renewed for another five years in 37 BC. Eventually, after Antony's defeat in Parthia and Octavian's victory over remnant Pompeians in Sicily, Octavian forced Lepidus from the triumvirate in 36 BC. Relations between the two remaining triumvirs broke down in the late 30s BC before they fought a final war, from which Octavian emerged the victor.


title: Second Triumvirate

text: The name "Second Triumvirate" is a modern misnomer derived from the branding of the political alliance between Pompey, Crassus, and Caesar (created ) as the "First" Triumvirate. This nomenclature was unknown during and before the Renaissance and was first attested to in the late 17th century, coming into widespread use only in the following century. Recent books have started to avoid the traditional nomenclature of "First" and "Second" Triumvirates. The "Oxford Classical Dictionary", for example, warns "'First' and 'Second Triumvirate' are modern and misleading terms".


title: Second Triumvirate

text: Following the assassination of Julius Caesar on 15 March 44 BC, there was initially a settlement reached between the tyrannicides, who styled themselves "liberatores", and remaining Caesarian supporters. This settlement included an amnesty for the tyrannicides, confirmation of Caesar's official actions, and abolition of the dictatorship. By late spring 44 BC, the provinces assigned by Caesar before his death – many to his later killers – were largely confirmed.


title: Second Triumvirate

text: Mark Antony was one of the consuls for 44 BC and on 2 June 44 BC, was able to push through illegal legislation assigning to himself the provinces of Cisalpine and Transalpine Gaul, displacing their existing governors. These governorships secured for Antony a political future where he would be able to intimidate the senate and Italy from across the river Rubicon. Antony also persuaded the senate to disarm Marcus Brutus and Cassius (the two leading tyrannicides) giving them corn supply assignments; both men viewed these assignments as insults, later compounded by their assignment to minor provinces after their praetorships.


title: Second Triumvirate

text: Relations between Antony and Caesar's legal heir, Octavian, also started to break down: Octavian was successful in attracting some of Caesar's veterans from Antony's camp, undercutting Antony's military support. Antony also sought later in the year to isolate Cicero politically, as the eloquent ex-consul was prestigious and on friendly terms with large portions of the aristocracy. Octavian, starting a bidding war for extreme Caesarians, broke with Antony and formed for himself a private army. In December 44 BC, Cicero induced the senate to honour Octavian's efforts and to support the existing governors of Cisalpine and Transalpine Gaul in retaining their provinces against Antony. The senate's forces, led by the two consuls and Octavian, put Antony to flight at the Battle of Mutina on 21 April 43 BC. After news of the victory, Cicero had the senate declare Antony a public enemy. But with both consuls dead, Octavian moved against the senate – both sides knew they were only using the other – and marched south to secure for himself the consulships opened by their deaths.


title: Second Triumvirate

text: After Octavian and his forces reached Rome on 19 August 43 BC, he secured for himself election to the consulship with his cousin Quintus Pedius. They moved quickly to enact legislation confirming Octavian's adoption as Caesar's heir and establishing courts to condemn Caesar's assassins "in absentia". They also repealed the declaration of Antony as a public enemy. Octavian then moved north to treat with Antony under Lepidus' protection. With the Caesarian soldiers' urging, Octavian and Antony reconciled; Octavian also would marry Antony's step-daughter Clodia. The three men then established themselves as the "triumviri rei publicae constituendae" (the latter words indicate a "causa" or commission for the reconstitution of the republic) for five years. This was confirmed by the "lex Titia", proposed by a friendly tribune at their bequest.


title: Second Triumvirate

text: The law was modelled on the "lex Valeria" in 82 BC which established Sulla's dictatorship. They received power to issue legally binding edicts, were granted "imperium maius" which permitted them to overrule the ordinary provincial governors and to take credit for their victories, and to act (without right of appeal). They also received powers to call the senate and directly appoint magistrates and provincial governors. The legal powers given, exceeding those of the ordinary consuls, were noted on the Capitoline Fasti, which list the triumvirs above the consuls.


title: Second Triumvirate

text: Octavian and Antony then prepared to wage war on the "liberatores" with forty total legions. They also divided the western Roman world:


title: Second Triumvirate

text: The triumvirs' powers were initially set to lapse on 31 December 38 BC, though the legal powers may have been retained (after their later renewal in 38 BC) all the way until 27 BC when Octavian abdicated his magistracy.


title: Second Triumvirate

text: In desperate need of money, the three men issued a declaration which – according to Appian – declared Caesar's "clementia" to have been a failure; it was appended with a death list. Some three hundred senators and 2,000 equites were then killed; some victims escaped to Macedonia or Sicily (held by Brutus and Sextus Pompey, respectively) or were able to plead successfully for clemency. Still without sufficient funds, the triumvirs seized eighteen rich Italian towns and redistributed them to their soldiers.


title: Second Triumvirate

text: The proscriptions claimed enemies and friends of the triumvirs. Cicero, whom Octavian had held in high esteem, was placed on the death lists along with his brother, nephew, and son; Cicero's activism against Antony in the Philippicae marked him for retribution. The triumvirs themselves also "sacrificed family members or friends to ensure the addition of a sworn enemy to the list". Persons on the proscription lists had their properties confiscated and sold; freelance assassins, bounty hunters, informers received cash rewards for aiding in the killings.


title: Second Triumvirate

text: Preparations for war on the tyrannicides started promptly. In Rome, the new year "began momentously" with the consecration of Julius Caesar as a god. With the triumvirs having slaughtered their political enemies in Italy, they moved with some forty legions against Brutus and Cassius in the east: Lepidus remained in Italy – supervised by two pro-Antony governors – while Antony and Octavian moved to cross the Adriatic for Macedonia.


title: Second Triumvirate

text: While some eight legions had crossed the Adriatic early in the year, the naval forces of the "liberatores" and of Sextus Pompey were able to interdict the triumvir's transports. Octavian dispatched Quintus Salvius Salvidienus Rufus against Sextus Pompey's base of operations in Sicily, resulting in a bloody but indecisive battle near Messana. It took until summer for the triumvirs to move all their armies into Macedonia. Through early 42 BC, Brutus and Cassius were active in Asia sacking cities and forcing tribute from the provincials to pay their own soldiers. The "liberatores", busy, delayed marching west (perhaps an error in retrospect); they moved to intercept Antony and Octavian only in mid-July.


title: Second Triumvirate

text: The triumvirs' advance forces reached Philippi first, but were outmanoeuvred and forced to retreat. Brutus and Cassius, hugely outnumbering the advance force, reached Philippi in early September, forcing the triumvirs' advance forces to retreat. Antony and Octavian arrived some days later. The "liberatores" first attempted to avoid battle in light of the triumvirs' weak supply situation. But Antony was successful in forcing battle with the construction of earthworks on Cassius' flank.


title: Second Triumvirate

text: The "liberatores" accepted battle, triggering the first battle: Brutus fought Octavian, Cassius fought Antony. Brutus' forces were successful and stormed Octavian's camp and destroying three of Octavian's legions. Cassius' forces, however, were less successful; Antony was able to storm Cassius' camp around the same time. Believing the battle was lost, Cassius committed suicide. In the aftermath, Cassius' forces were amalgamated into Brutus' army.


title: Second Triumvirate

text: Three weeks later, on 23 October 42 BC, Brutus offered battle again, fearing desertions and possible cutting of his supply lines. In this second battle, the combined forces of Antony and Octavian defeated Brutus' army. Antony was largely the victor – Octavian apparently spent most of the first battle hiding in a marsh – and had forced the "liberatores" to battle and defeat twice. In the aftermath, Brutus committed suicide.


title: Second Triumvirate

text: In the aftermath of Philippi, Antony moved to reorganise the wealthy eastern provinces. His provinces and legions were also adduced: retaining Transalpine Gaul, he took Narbonensis from Lepidus, though he gave up Cisalpine Gaul to Italy. Octavian's assignment was less easy: he would have the privilege of settling the veterans of Philippi in Italy and carrying on the war against Sextus Pompey in Sicily. Lepidus, however, not sharing in the glory, gave Spain to Octavian in return for Africa only. This new strategic position placed Antony at the head of an enormous advantage. His position in the east allowed him enormous resources with which he could overwhelm the west as Sulla had. His position in Gaul gave him easy access to Italy, just as Caesar had before his civil war. Moreover, while Antony would be in the east, his trusted lieutenants controlled the Gallic provinces. This strategic position placed him firmly at the head of the triumvirate.


title: Second Triumvirate

text: Antony moved first against Parthia, which had aided the "liberatores" and was harbouring the Pompeian command Quintus Labienus (son of the Titus Labienus who had served with Caesar during the Gallic wars and fought against him during the civil war). In the preparations for war, however, Antony found most of the east largely sucked dry by the previous armies of Dolabella, Cassius, and Brutus. Antony, however, was gentle with the areas that Brutus and Cassius had pillaged. He also displayed favour for great cultural centres and toured the eastern provinces seeking to buttress popular support.


title: Second Triumvirate

text: Moving down the Mediterranean coast, Antony confirmed a number of rulers – in spite of their previous support for the "liberatores" or for Parthia – in Palestine and called Cleopatra to attend to him in Cilicia. Cleopatra quickly entered into an affair with Antony, which proved useful to her: Antony helped her secure her throne with the death of Cleopatra's sister Arsinoe and against other Ptolemaic claimants. While ancient writers speculated on Antony being manipulated by the Egyptian queen, it is more likely in this period he was merely attempting to strengthen Cleopatra's position in Egypt as part of his policy of favouring strong allied monarchs. Regardless, he left her in the spring of 40 to embark on a campaign against Parthia.


title: Second Triumvirate

text: The Parthians, in the winter of 41 BC, knowing that Antony was preparing an offensive, struck first. Invading Asia Minor and Syria under the command of Pacorus and Quintus Labienus in the early spring of 40 BC, the Parthian forces were largely unchallenged: Pacorus moved south for Palestine while Labienus moved west through Cilicia for Ionia. Antony at the time was wholly distracted from the Parthian invasion due to the Perusine War.


title: Second Triumvirate

text: The veterans' demands for lands in Italy – in the midst of a famine, which itself was exacerbated by Sextus Pompey's naval blockade of Italy, – caused protests and unrest throughout the Italian countryside. Antony's brother, Lucius Antonius, serving as consul for 41 BC, and Antony's wife Fulvia fanned the flames of this unrest to undermine Octavian. They spread propaganda indicting Octavian's regime with stomping on citizen rights and favouring Octavian's veterans over Antony's. While these charges seemed either rank hypocrisy or "conspicuously untrue", they were largely able to build up support for a militant rising against Octavian.


title: Second Triumvirate

text: Antony attempted to remain largely aloof to the goings-on, probably so he could exploit the outcome, but his supporters in Italy were largely uninformed of his intentions and readied for conflict. The consul Lucius, in the summer of 41 BC, occupied Rome with an army; however, he was beaten back by Octavian's forces and besieged in Perusia. Unsure of Antony's intentions, the pro-Antony governors in the two Gauls and in southern Italy stood by. Eventually, Perusia was captured: Octavian let Lucius Antonius and Fulvia go and spared Lucius' soldiers when Octavian's own soldiers interceded; Octavian, however, sacked the town, massacred its councillors, and had it burnt to the ground.


title: Second Triumvirate

text: After the death of one of the pro-Antony governors in Gaul in the summer of 40 BC, Octavian occupied the province. He also gained the support of the legions in southern Italy. Antony, concerned, hurried back to Italy from the east that same summer with substantial forces.


title: Second Triumvirate

text: As relations deteriorated between Antony and Octavian, Octavian moved to woo Sextus Pompey over to his side. As part of this, he married Scribonia, Sextus' sister-in-law, in the summer of 40 BC. At the same time, however, Sextus was attempting to broker an agreement with Antony; receiving a positive response from Antony, he raided the Italian coast and took Sardinia from Octavian. Another ex-republican naval commander, Gnaeus Domitius Ahenobarbus, was also induced to join Antony's side.


title: Second Triumvirate

text: When Antony sailed to Brundisium, Octavian's garrison of five legions refused to admit him. It was then besieged. Octavian's lieutenant Marcus Vipsanius Agrippa arrived with reinforcements but was turned back after some skirmishing. The troops on both sides, however, urged their leaders to come to terms. Octavian and Antony conducted negotiations through intermediaries (the envoys were Gaius Maecenas and Gaius Asinius Pollio, respectively). Negotiations for the treaty completed in September 40 BC:


title: Second Triumvirate

text: The treaty would be sealed by another marriage: Antony would wend Octavian's biological sister Octavia. The announcement of peace was greatly celebrated by the people of Italy. Both dynasts celebrated ovations when entering Rome in October. But public opinion soured when they also announced new higher taxes amid further disruption of grain ships from Sextus' fleet. While in Rome, they also secured the senate's rubber stamp for a required dispensation for Octavia's marriage (she was not yet out of mourning for her previous husband) and for triumviral political and territorial settlements generally.


title: Second Triumvirate

text: The dynasts also negotiated peace with Sextus Pompey at Misenum in the summer of 39 BC: they confirmed him in Corsica, Sardinia, Sicily, and the Peloponnese for five years. They promised him the consulship in 33 BC on expiration of his commands and had him elected augur. In exchange, Sextus would guarantee free passage of Italian grain ships and suppress Mediterranean piracy; his supporters also would receive amnesty and compensation for seized properties; his soldiers received the same retirement benefits as those of the triumvirs and his runaway slaves were granted freedom. The last concessions to Sextus' soldiers and slave forces were especially important for the triumvirs: with the soldiers and slaves' main grievances resolved, Sextus "would not find it easy to recall them to arms" if war again loomed. After celebrations for this agreement, Antony departed for the east on 2 October 39 BC.