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Trogus

(Encyclopedia)Trogus (Cnaeus Pompeius Trogus) trōˈgəs [key], fl. a.d. 5, Roman historian of Gallic origin. His history of the world, which survives only in excerpts by Justin, dealt with Assyria, Persia, Greece,...

emperor

(Encyclopedia)emperor [Lat. imperator=one holding supreme power, especially applied to generals], the sovereign head of an empire. In the Roman republic the term imperator referred to the chief military commander a...

Cumae

(Encyclopedia)Cumae kyo͞oˈmē [key], ancient city of Campania, Italy, near Naples. According to Strabo, it was the earliest Greek colony in Italy or Sicily, and it seems to have been founded c.750 b.c. by Chalcis...

gens

(Encyclopedia)gens jĕnz [key], ancient Roman kinship group. It was the counterpart of what is known in other societies as a patrilineal clan or sib, and the word has been used in social science as a generic term f...

German Catholics

(Encyclopedia)German Catholics, religious groups founded in 1844 by dissidents from the Roman Catholic Church. They were led by two excommunicated priests, Johann Czerski of Schneidemühl, Posen, and Johann Ronge o...

Honorius III

(Encyclopedia)Honorius III, d. 1227, pope (1216–27), a Roman named Cencio Savelli; successor of Innocent III. He was created cardinal in 1197 and was an able administrator of the papal treasury. He authored the o...

Plunket, Saint Oliver

(Encyclopedia)Plunket orPlunkett, Saint Oliver, 1629–81, Irish Roman Catholic churchman and martyr, b. Co. Meath. He was educated at Rome and named Roman Catholic archbishop of Armagh and primate of all Ireland i...

vespers

(Encyclopedia)vespers vĕsˈpərz [key] [Lat.,=evening], in the Christian Church, principal evening office. In the Roman rite, vespers have consisted since the 6th cent. of a few prayers, five psalms, a lesson, the...

Tarpeia

(Encyclopedia)Tarpeia tärpēˈyə [key], in Roman legend, a Roman woman who betrayed her city to the Sabines for what they wore on their left arms (their gold bracelets). As they entered Rome they crushed her unde...

Anastasia, Saint

(Encyclopedia)Anastasia, Saint ănəstāˈshə [key], 4th cent., Roman noblewoman, kind to the poor, martyred under Diocletian. Her cult can be traced back to 5th-century Rome. In the Roman Catholic Church, her fea...