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Cicero, Roman orator

(Encyclopedia)Cicero (Marcus Tullius Cicero) sĭsˈərō [key] or Tully, 106 b.c.–43 b.c., greatest Roman orator, famous also as a politician and a philosopher. To the modern reader probably the most interesti...

Augustus

(Encyclopedia)Augustus ôgŭsˈtəs, əgŭsˈ– [key], 63 b.c.–a.d. 14, first Roman emperor, a grandson of the sister of Julius Caesar. Named at first Caius Octavius, he became on adoption by the Julian gens (44...

Triumvirate

(Encyclopedia)Triumvirate trīŭmˈvĭrĭt, –vĭrātˌ [key], in ancient Rome, ruling board or commission of three men. Triumvirates were common in the Roman republic. The First Triumvirate was the alliance of Ju...

Henry VII, king of England

(Encyclopedia)Henry VII, 1457–1509, king of England (1485–1509) and founder of the Tudor dynasty. Henry was an astute political leader. He established the Tudor tradition of strong rule tempered by a sense ...

Caesar

(Encyclopedia)Caesar sēˈzər [key], ancient Roman patrician family of the Julian gens. There are separate articles on its two most distinguished members, Julius Caesar and Augustus. Another distinguished member o...

Dolabella

(Encyclopedia)Dolabella (Publius Cornelius Dolabella) dŏləbĕlˈə [key], c.70 b.c.–43 b.c., Roman general, notorious for his unscrupulousness. He divorced his wife Fabia and married (50 b.c.) Tullia, daughter ...

North, Sir Thomas

(Encyclopedia)North, Sir Thomas, 1535?–1601?, English translator. He is famous for his translation of Plutarch, entitled Lives of the Noble Grecians and Romans (1579), which he made from the French of Jacques Amy...

Agrippa, Marcus Vipsanius

(Encyclopedia)Agrippa, Marcus Vipsanius əgrĭpˈə [key], c.63 b.c.–12 b.c., Roman general. A close friend of Octavian (later Emperor Augustus), he won a name in the wars in Gaul before becoming consul in 37 b....

Cleveland, John

(Encyclopedia)Cleveland, John, 1613–58, English poet and political satirist. He served the royalist cause both as soldier and poet. His best-known work was The Rebel Scot (1644). Though his contemporary fame was ...

Philippi

(Encyclopedia)Philippi fĭlĭpˈī [key], ancient city of Macedon and Macedonia, now in Greece, in E Macedonia. Inhabited by Thracians and then Thasians, it was renamed (probably 356 b.c.) by Philip II of Macedon, ...