Columbia Encyclopedia

Search results

247 results found

Ptolemy III

(Encyclopedia)Ptolemy III (Ptolemy Euergetes) yo͞oûrˈjĭtēz [key], d. 221 b.c., king of ancient Egypt (246–221 b.c.), of the Macedonian dynasty, son of Ptolemy II and the first Arsinoë. He plunged immediatel...

Ptolemy II

(Encyclopedia)Ptolemy II (Ptolemy Philadelphus) fĭlədĕlˈfəs [key], c.308–246 b.c., king of ancient Egypt (285–246 b.c.), of the Macedonian dynasty, son of Ptolemy I and Berenice (c.340–281 b.c.). He cont...

Ptolemy XIV

(Encyclopedia)Ptolemy XIV, d. 44 b.c., king of ancient Egypt (47–44 b.c.), the last of the Macedonian dynasty, but for his sister, Cleopatra. He was a child when his brother Ptolemy XIII drowned. Julius Caesar ma...

Ptolemy

(Encyclopedia)Ptolemy (Claudius Ptolemaeus), fl. 2d cent. a.d., celebrated Greco-Egyptian mathematician, astronomer, and geographer. He made his observations in Alexandria and was the last great astronomer of ancie...

Ptolemy XV

(Encyclopedia)Ptolemy XV (Ptolemy Caesarion), 47–30 b.c., son of Cleopatra and (almost certainly) Julius Caesar. He became joint ruler with his mother, but played no role in the great and tragic events that broug...

Innocent XII

(Encyclopedia)Innocent XII, 1615–1700, pope (1691–1700), a Neapolitan named Antonio Pignatelli; successor of Alexander VIII. He was frequently employed by his predecessors as a nuncio, and Innocent XI created h...

Pius XII

(Encyclopedia)Pius XII, 1876–1958, pope (1939–58), an Italian named Eugenio Pacelli, b. Rome; successor of Pius XI. Ordained a priest in 1899, he entered the Vatican's secretariat of state. He became (1912) und...

Gregory XII

(Encyclopedia)Gregory XII, c.1327–1417, pope (1406–15), a Venetian named Angelo Correr; successor of Innocent VII. As a condition of election, Gregory promised to do everything possible to end the Great Schism,...

John XII, pope

(Encyclopedia)John XII, c.937–964, pope (955–64), a Roman (count of Tusculum) named Octavian; successor of Agapetus II and predecessor of either Leo VIII or Benedict V. His father, Alberic, secured John's elect...

Alfonso XII, king of Spain

(Encyclopedia)Alfonso XII, 1857–85, king of Spain (1874–85), son of Isabella II. He went into exile with his parents at the time of the revolt of the Carlists in 1868 and was educated in Austria and England. In...