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Orestes, Roman general

(Encyclopedia)Orestes ōrĕstˈēz [key], d. 476, Roman general. With the help of barbarians he deposed (475) the Roman emperor of the West, Julius Nepos, and raised his own son, Romulus Augustulus, to the throne. ...

Adrian, Roman emperor

(Encyclopedia)Adrian, Roman emperor: see Hadrian. ...

Licinius, Roman emperor

(Encyclopedia)Licinius, 250–325, Roman emperor. He became coemperor with Galerius, being given the rule of Illyricum (308); after the death of Galerius he added Greece and Thrace to his territories. He allied him...

Philip, Roman emperor

(Encyclopedia)Philip or Philip the Arabian (Marcus Julius Philippus), 204?–249, Roman emperor (244–49). He served under Gordian III against the Persians, instigated the assassination of the emperor, and conclud...

Tacitus, Roman emperor

(Encyclopedia)Tacitus (Marcus Claudius Tacitus) tăsˈĭtəs [key], d. 276, Roman emperor (275–76). An elderly senator with a reputation for honesty and vigor, he was chosen by the senate to succeed the murdered ...

Holy Roman Empire

(Encyclopedia)CE5 Holy Roman Empire (c.1100) CE5 Holy Roman Empire, designation for the political entity that originated at the coronation as emperor (962) of the German king Otto I and endured until the renu...

Tacitus, Roman historian

(Encyclopedia)Tacitus (Cornelius Tacitus), c.a.d. 55–c.a.d. 117, Roman historian. Little is known for certain of his life. He was a friend of Pliny the Younger and married the daughter of Agricola. In a.d. 97 he ...

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...

Hadrian, Roman emperor

(Encyclopedia)Hadrian hāˈdrēən [key], a.d. 76–138, Roman emperor (117–138), b. Spain. His name in full was Publius Aelius Hadrianus. An orphan, he became the ward of Trajan. Hadrian distinguished himself as...

Constance, Holy Roman empress

(Encyclopedia)Constance, 1154–98, Holy Roman empress, wife of Holy Roman Emperor Henry VI; daughter of King Roger II of Sicily. She was named heiress of Sicily by her nephew King William II. On his death, however...