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Calpurnia

(Encyclopedia)Calpurnia kălpûrˈnēə [key], d. after 44 b.c., Roman matron. The daughter of Lucius Calpurnicus Piso Caesoninus (see under Piso, family), she was married to Julius Caesar in 59 b.c. She was loyal ...

Gallio

(Encyclopedia)Gallio (Junius Annaeus Gallio) gălˈēō [key], d. a.d. 65?, Roman proconsul in Achaea; brother of the philosopher Seneca. His name was originally Lucius Annaeus Novatus. The “Gallio Inscription,�...

Conrad IV, ruler of the Holy Roman Empire

(Encyclopedia)Conrad IV, 1228–54, German king (1237–54), king of Sicily and of Jerusalem (1250–54), son of Holy Roman Emperor Frederick II. He was elected (1237) king of the Romans at his father's instigation...

Vesta, in Roman religion and mythology

(Encyclopedia)Vesta, in Roman religion and mythology, hearth goddess. She was highly honored in every household from early times to the beginning of Christianity. Her public cult maintained a sacred building in whi...

Vulcan, in Roman religion and mythology

(Encyclopedia)Vulcan, in Roman religion and mythology, fire god. Chiefly a god of destructive fire, Vulcan seems to have originated as a god of volcanoes. His festival, the Volcanalia, was held on Aug. 23. He was l...

Neptune, in Roman religion and mythology

(Encyclopedia)Neptune, in Roman religion and mythology, god of water. He was presumably an indigenous god of fertility, but in later times he was identified with the Greek Poseidon, god of the sea. At his festival,...

Alexander III, pope

(Encyclopedia)Alexander III, d. 1181, pope (1159–81), a Sienese named Rolandus [Bandinelli?], successor of Adrian IV. He was a canonist who had studied law under Gratian and had taught at Bologna. He came to Rome...

Cincinnatus

(Encyclopedia)Cincinnatus (Lucius or Titus Quinctius Cincinnatus) sĭnsĭnāˈtəs, –nătˈəs [key], fl. 5th cent. b.c., Roman patriot. He was consul in 460 b.c. and dictator twice (458 and 439). According to tr...

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