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senate, Roman

(Encyclopedia)senate, Roman, governing council of the Roman republic. It was the outgrowth of the council of the kings. By the 3d cent. b.c. the senate was a group of 300 men with a high degree of political, legisl...

Roman Catholic Church

(Encyclopedia)Roman Catholic Church, Christian church headed by the pope, the bishop of Rome (see papacy and Peter, Saint). Its commonest title in official use is Holy Catholic and Apostolic Church. “Roman Cathol...

Constantine I, Roman emperor

(Encyclopedia)Constantine I or Constantine the Great kŏnˈstəntēn, –tīn [key], 288?–337, Roman emperor, b. Naissus (present-day Niš, Serbia). He was the son of Constantius I and Helena and was named in ful...

Paradise, in religion

(Encyclopedia)Paradise: see Eden, Garden of; heaven. ...

nun, in religion

(Encyclopedia)nun: see monasticism.

archangel, in religion

(Encyclopedia)archangel ärkˈānjəl [key], chief angel. They are four to seven in number. Sometimes specific functions are ascribed to them. The four best known in Christian tradition are Michael, Gabriel, Raphae...

religion, freedom of

(Encyclopedia)religion, freedom of: see Constitution of the United States. ...

Religion, Wars of

(Encyclopedia)Religion, Wars of, 1562–98, series of civil wars in France, also known as the Huguenot Wars. The immediate issue was the French Protestants' struggle for freedom of worship and the right of establis...

Eros, in Greek religion and mythology

(Encyclopedia)Eros ērˈŏs, ĕrˈ– [key], in Greek religion and mythology, god of love. He was the personification of love in all its manifestations, including physical passion at its strongest, tender, romantic...

Pan, in Greek religion and mythology

(Encyclopedia)Pan păn [key], in Greek religion and mythology, pastoral god of fertility. He was worshiped principally in Arcadia, and one legend states that he was the son of Hermes, another Arcadian god. Pan was ...