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Tarquin

(Encyclopedia)Tarquin tärˈkwĭn [key] [Etruscan,=lord], in Roman tradition, an Etruscan family that ruled Rome. According to the historian Livy, when the rule of the Bacchiadae in Corinth was overthrown (c.657 b....

circus

(Encyclopedia)circus [Lat.,=ring, circle], historically, the arena associated with the horse and chariot races and athletic contests known in ancient Rome as the Circensian games. The Roman circus was a round or ov...

arsenic

(Encyclopedia)arsenic ärˈsənĭk [key], a semimetallic chemical element; symbol As; at. no. 33; at. wt. 74.92160; m.p. 817℃ (at 28 atmospheres pressure); sublimation point 613℃; sp. gr. (stable form) 5.73; va...

Kitchener, Horatio Herbert Kitchener, 1st Earl

(Encyclopedia)Kitchener, Horatio Herbert Kitchener, 1st Earl kĭchˈənər, kĭchˈnər [key], 1850–1916, British field marshal and statesman. Trained at the Royal Military Academy, Woolwich (1868–70), he had a...

Cologne

(Encyclopedia)Cologne kəlōnˈ [key], Ger. Köln, city (2021 est. metro area pop. 1,129,000), North Rhine�...

Hannibal, Carthaginian general

(Encyclopedia)Hannibal hănˈəbəl [key], b. 247 b.c., d. 183 or 182 b.c. Carthaginian general, an implacable and formidable enemy of Rome. Although knowledge of him is based primarily on the reports of his enemie...

Burke, Edmund

(Encyclopedia)Burke, Edmund, 1729–97, British political writer and statesman, b. Dublin, Ireland. Burke left, in his many and diverse writings, a monumental construction of British political thought that had fa...

Metellus

(Encyclopedia)Metellus mētĕlˈəs [key], ancient Roman family of the plebeian gens Caecilia. Lucius Caecilius Metellus, d. c.221 b.c., consul (251 b.c.), fought in the First Punic War. He was pontifex maximus (fr...

Norwegian literature

(Encyclopedia)Norwegian literature, early flourished as Old Norse literature. In 1380, Norway was united with Denmark, and Danish culture began a long dominance in Norway; Norwegian culture sank to its nadir in the...

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...