In the New Testament the term (σπεῖρος, cohors) is not always used in a strictly technical sense. Jesus is arrested by a cohort, according to Jn 18:3; this should be understood as a small detachment of the garrison (similarly in Mt 27:27; Mk 15:16). In Acts 10:1 the cohort to which the centurion Cornelius belonged is mentioned; in Acts 27:1 the Augustan cohort. The first seems to have been the II Italica cohort, whose presence in Syria is attested by other sources (cf. Pauly-Wissowa, IV, col. 304). The second must also have been stationed in Syria, as evidenced by an inscription from Batanea and the report of its commander’s connection with the famous P. Sulpicius Quirinius.
COPENHAGEN (KOBENHAVN). — Etymologically “merchants’ port,” royal and governmental seat, capital city and seat of the Apostolic Vicar of Denmark (v.). It has 617,000 inhabitants, and with the suburbs the figure rises to 432,777. Situated 37 meters above sea level in the eastern part of the very fertile island of Zealand, opposite the Swedish coast, it dominates the Sound and is one of the most beautiful cities in northern Europe, with a lagoon-like appearance owing to the numerous canals that traverse II.
As a settled place it is recorded from 1043, when a fishing village called Havn (=port) existed on the site, in Latin Hafnia. In 1165 Bishop Axel of Roskilde built a castle there. The university was founded in 1479. It is Denmark’s principal port, handling about 6 million tons of cargo; its shipyards and factories for machinery, gloves, porcelain (the city is home to a Royal porcelain manufactory), textiles, alcohol, preserved foods, and sugar refineries are highly efficient. Banking and stock exchange activity is considerable. Regular shipping lines connect it with the Baltic, the North Sea, Iceland, America, and the Far East. The inhabitants, who represent one-fifth of the Danish population, are distributed among the three municipalities of the true city of C.: Christianshavn, Frederiksberg, and Gentofte. The old part of the city lies on the island of Amager; the houses are four or five stories high, with gardens and broad streets. Among the monumental buildings are the City Hall, Amalienborg Palace, the Round Tower, the Bourse, the Prince’s Palace, Frederick’s Church, Rosenborg Castle, an important library, the Academy of Arts, and the Ny Carlsberg Museum.