Columbia Encyclopedia

(Encyclopedia) Catullus (Caius Valerius Catullus) kətŭlˈəs [key], 84? b.c.–54? b.c., Roman poet, b. Verona. Of a well-to-do family, he went c.62 b.c. to Rome. He fell deeply in love, probably with Clodia, sist...

(Encyclopedia) Catulus kăchˈo͝oləs [key], family of ancient Rome, of the Lutatian gens. Caius Lutatius Catulus was consul in 242 b.c. He won the great Roman naval victory over Carthage off the Aegates (modern Ae...

(Encyclopedia) Grimald, Grimalde, or Grimoald, Nicholas all: grĭmˈôld [key], 1519?–1562?, English poet. He contributed 40 poems to the first edition (1557) of Tottel's miscellany, of which “A Funeral Song upo...

(Encyclopedia) Hadrian hāˈdrēən [key], a.d. 76–138, Roman emperor (117–138), b. Spain. His name in full was Publius Aelius Hadrianus. An orphan, he became the ward of Trajan. Hadrian distinguished himself as...

(Encyclopedia) Juno, in Roman religion and mythology, wife and sister of Jupiter. In early Roman times she, like the Greek Hera (with whom she was later identified), was goddess and protector of women, concerned esp...

(Encyclopedia) oratory, the art of swaying an audience by eloquent speech. In ancient Greece and Rome oratory was included under the term rhetoric, which meant the art of composing as well as delivering a speech. Or...

(Encyclopedia) Otto III, 980–1002, Holy Roman emperor (996–1002) and German king (983–1002), son of Holy Roman Emperor Otto II and the Byzantine princess Theophano. On Otto's accession Henry the Wrangler, the ...

(Encyclopedia) Ferdinand III, 1608–57, Holy Roman emperor (1637–57), king of Hungary (1626–57) and of Bohemia (1627–57), son and successor of Holy Roman Emperor Ferdinand II. After the dismissal and assassin...

(Encyclopedia) Louis IV or Louis the Bavarian, 1287?–1347, Holy Roman emperor (1328–47) and German king (1314–47), duke of Upper Bavaria. After the death of Holy Roman Emperor Henry VII the Luxemburg party amo...

(Encyclopedia) Aeschines ĕˈskĭnēz [key], c.390–314? b.c., Athenian orator, rival of Demosthenes. Aeschines rose from humble circumstances and became powerful in politics because of his oratorical gifts. At fir...