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Pliny the Elder

(Encyclopedia)Pliny the Elder (Caius Plinius Secundus) plĭˈnē [key], c.a.d. 23–a.d. 79, Roman naturalist, b. Cisalpine Gaul. He was a friend and fellow military officer of Vespasian, becoming eventually an arm...

Valla, Lorenzo

(Encyclopedia)Valla, Lorenzo lōrānˈtsō välˈlä [key], c.1407–57, Italian humanist. Valla knew Greek and Latin well and was chosen by Pope Nicholas V to translate Herodotus and Thucydides into Latin. From hi...

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...

Fléchier, Esprit

(Encyclopedia)Fléchier, Esprit ĕsprēˈ flāshyāˈ [key], 1632–1710, French writer. He was a famous pulpit orator and became bishop of Nîmes. His principal work is an account of special assizes held at Clermo...

Scaliger, Julius Caesar

(Encyclopedia)Scaliger, Julius Caesar, 1484–1558, Italian philologist and physician in France. Scaliger studied medicine and settled in France (1526), where he worked as a physician. A scholar of profound eruditi...

Kölcsey, Ferenc

(Encyclopedia)Kölcsey, Ferenc fĕˈrĕnts kölˈchĕĭ [key], 1790–1838, Hungarian writer and orator. A student of the Enlightenment, he aided his friend Krasiński in a reform of the Hungarian language, investi...

Grady, Henry Woodfin

(Encyclopedia)Grady, Henry Woodfin, 1850–89, American journalist and orator, b. Athens, Ga. In 1879 a gift from Cyrus W. Field enabled him to buy into the Atlanta Constitution. He gained fame with his editorials ...

Simpson, Matthew

(Encyclopedia)Simpson, Matthew, 1811–84, American Methodist bishop, b. Cadiz, Ohio. In 1839 he became the first president of Indiana Asbury Univ. (now DePauw Univ.). He edited (1848–52) the Western Christian Ad...

Bingham, Caleb

(Encyclopedia)Bingham, Caleb bĭngˈəm [key], 1757–1817, American textbook writer, b. Salisbury, Conn. He taught until 1796, then became a bookseller and publisher in Boston. He wrote and published some of the e...

Amyraut, Moïse

(Encyclopedia)Amyraut, Moïse ămĭrălˈdəs [key], 1596–1664, French Protestant theologian. As pastor of Saumur he won a reputation as a theologian and orator, and he was appointed (1631) to present to Louis XI...