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Serapis

(Encyclopedia)Serapis säräˈpĭs [key], Egyptian god whose devotees united the worship of the Apis bull and the god Osiris. His cult, which originated at Memphis, rose to its greatest significance at Alexandria d...

Pappus

(Encyclopedia)Pappus păpˈəs [key], fl. c.300, Greek mathematician of Alexandria. He recorded and enlarged on the results of his predecessors, including Euclid and Apollonius of Perga, in his Mathematical Collect...

Ferdinand II, Spanish king of León

(Encyclopedia)Ferdinand II, d. 1188, Spanish king of León (1157–88), son and successor of Alfonso VII. He invaded Castile and set up a protectorate during the minority (1158–66) of his nephew Alfonso VIII. He ...

Antiochus III

(Encyclopedia)Antiochus III (Antiochus the Great), d. 187 b.c., king of Syria (223–187 b.c.), son of Seleucus II and younger brother of Seleucus III, whom he succeeded. At his accession the Seleucid empire was in...

Philip V, king of Macedon

(Encyclopedia)Philip V, 238–179 b.c., king of Macedon (221–179), son of Demetrius II, successor of Antigonus III. He won fame in a war in Greece (220–217), in which he sided with the Achaean League against th...

Heracleopolis

(Encyclopedia)Heracleopolis hərăkˌlēŏpˈəlĭs [key], ancient city, N Egypt, just S of El Faiyum. One of the oldest Egyptian cities, it was in existence before 3000 b.c. and was the capital (c.2155–c.2050) o...

Nicholas II, pope

(Encyclopedia)Nicholas II (c.1010–61), pope (1058–61), a Roman named Gerard, b. Lorraine, France; successor to Pope Stephen IX. A strong proponent of papal reform, he issued (1059) the Papal Election Decree in ...

Salamanca, University of

(Encyclopedia)Salamanca, University of, at Salamanca, Spain; founded 1218 by Alfonso IX of León, reorganized 1254 by Alfonso X of Castile and León. It has faculties of philosophy, philology, geography and history...

Pharos

(Encyclopedia)Pharos fârˈŏs [key], peninsula, extending into the Mediterranean Sea, N Egypt, NE Africa, forming two harbors at Alexandria. Originally an island, it was joined to the mainland by a mole, construct...

Valerius Maximus

(Encyclopedia)Valerius Maximus vəlērˈēəs măkˈsĭməs [key], c.20 b.c.–c.a.d. 50, Roman author. Little is known of his life. His Factorum ac dictorum memorabilium libri IX [nine books of memorable deeds and...