Vienna at the invitation of the
emperor Leopold II. Here he produced his masterpiece, _Il Matrimonio
segreto_, which ranks amongst the highest achievements of light operatic
music. In 1793 Cimarosa returned to Naples, where _Il Matrimonio
segreto_ and other works were received with great applause. Amongst the
works belonging to his last stay in Naples may be mentioned the charming
opera _Le Astuzie feminili_. This period of his life is said to have
been embittered by the intrigues of envious and hostile persons, amongst
whom figured his old rival Paisiello. During the occupation of Naples by
the troops of the French Republic, Cimarosa joined the liberal party,
and on the return of the Bourbons, was, like many of his political
friends, condemned to death. By the intercession of influential admirers
his sentence was commuted into banishment, and he left Naples with the
intention of returning to St Petersburg. But his health was broken, and
after much suffering he died at Venice on the 11th of January 1801, of
inflammation of the intestines. The nature of his disease led to the
rumour of his having been poisoned by his enemies, which, however, a
formal inquest proved to be unfounded. He worked till the last moment of
his life, and one of his operas, _Artemizia_, remained unfinished at his
death.

CIMBRI, a Teutonic tribe who made their first appearance in Roman
history in the year 113 B.C., when they defeated the consul Gnaeus
Papirius Carbo near Noreia in the modern Carinthia. It was the common
belief that they had been driven from their homes on the North Sea by
inundations, but, whatever the cause of their migration, they had been
wandering along the Danube for some years warring with the Celtic tribes
on either bank. After the victory of 113 they passed westwards over the
Rhine, threatening the territory of the Allobroges. Their request for
land was not granted, and in 109 B.C. they defeated the consul Marcus
Junius Silanus in southern Gaul, but did not at once follow up the
victory. In 105 they returned to the attack under their king Boiorix,
and favoured by the dissensions of the Roman commanders Gnaeus Mallius
Maximus and Caepio, defeated them in detail and annihilated their armies
at Arausio (Orange). Again the victorious Cimbri turned away from Italy,
and, after attempting to reduce the Arverni, moved into Spain, where
they failed to overcome the desperate resistance of the Celtiberian
tribes. In 103 they ma