Columbia Encyclopedia

(Encyclopedia) Gelon jēˈlŏn [key], d. 478 b.c., Greek Sicilian ruler. As tyrant of Gela, his native city, he interfered in the struggle for power in Syracuse (485 b.c.) and made himself the leader of the popular ...

(Encyclopedia) Eudoxus of Cnidus yo͞odŏkˈsəs, nīˈdəs [key], 408?–355? b.c., Greek astronomer, mathematician, and physician. From the accounts of various ancient writers, he appears to have studied with Plat...

(Encyclopedia) Babism bäˈbĭzəm [key], system of doctrines proclaimed in Persia in 1844 by Ali Muhammad of Shiraz. Influenced by the Shaykhi Shiite theology that viewed the Twelve Imams as incarnations of the Div...

(Encyclopedia) More, Paul Elmer, 1864–1937, American critic, educator, and philosopher, b. St. Louis. More taught Sanskrit and classical literature and then was a newspaper editor until 1914, after which he wrote ...

(Encyclopedia) Graves, Frank Pierrepont, 1869–1956, American educator, b. Brooklyn, N.Y., grad. Columbia (B.A., 1890; Ph.D., 1912). He taught Greek and classical philology at Tufts College (1891–96), was preside...

(Encyclopedia) penates pənāˈtēz [key], in Roman religion, household gods, primarily guardians of the storeroom. Theirs was the chief cult of every Roman household, especially in early times. They were worshiped ...

(Encyclopedia) Coffin, Henry Sloane, 1877–1954, American Presbyterian clergyman, b. New York City. He was pastor of the Madison Ave. Presbyterian Church in New York City (1905–26), lecturer (1904–9), associate...

(Encyclopedia) column, vertical architectural support, circular or polygonal in plan. A column is generally at least four or five times as high as its diameter or width; stubbier freestanding masses of masonry are u...

(Encyclopedia) Diodorus Siculus dīədôrˈəs sĭkˈyo͞oləs [key], d. after 21 b.c., Sicilian historian. He wrote, in Greek, a world history in 40 books, ending with Caesar's Gallic Wars. Fully preserved are Book...

(Encyclopedia) R, 18th letter of the alphabet, corresponding to Greek rho. When in Latin alphabets the letters for p and r became similar in appearance, the rho form (P; which at first was used for the r sound) was ...