Columbia Encyclopedia

(Encyclopedia) Antiphilus ăntĭfˈĭləs [key], fl. 4th cent. b.c., Greek painter, of Alexandrian origin. Pliny and Quintilian wrote about his paintings of gryllos, a creature part man, part animal or bird. Pliny f...

(Encyclopedia) Heliogabalus ĕləgăbˈələs [key], c.205–222, Roman emperor (218–22). He was a priest of the local sun god, Elagabalus, at Emesa and was named Varius Avitus Bassianus. He was a cousin of Caraca...

(Encyclopedia) Lee, Nathaniel, 1653–92, English dramatist. After failing as an actor, he turned to writing plays. Lee confined himself entirely to tragedy, turning often to the classical historians for the backgro...

(Encyclopedia) Wheeler, Benjamin Ide, 1854–1927, American educator and classical scholar, b. Randolph, Mass. Wheeler was a professor of Greek and comparative philology at Cornell before serving as president of the...

(Encyclopedia) Catargiu, Lascar kätärjo͝oˈ [key], 1823–99, Romanian statesman, of an ancient Walachian family. Unsuccessful as Conservative candidate (1859) against Alexander John Cuza for the rule of Moldavia...

(Encyclopedia) Arbela ärbēˈlə [key], town of ancient Assyria. Its name is sometimes given to the battle fought at Gaugamela, some 60 mi (100 km) away, in which Alexander the Great defeated (331 b.c.) Darius III....

(Encyclopedia) Pasolini, Pier Paolo pyĕr päˈōlō päsōlēˈnē [key], 1922–75, Italian writer and film director. A former Roman Catholic and a Marxist, Pasolini brought to his work a combination of religious ...

(Encyclopedia) Mark, Gospel according to, 2d book of the New Testament. The shortest of the four Gospels and probably the earliest, it is usually thought to have been composed shortly before the destruction of the T...

(Encyclopedia) Blackstone, Sir William, 1723–80, English jurist. At first unsuccessful in legal practice, he turned to scholarship and teaching. He became (1758) the first Vinerian professor of law at Oxford, wher...

(Encyclopedia) Clough, Arthur Hugh klŭf [key], 1819–61, English poet. He was educated at Rugby and Balliol College, Oxford, where he became friends with Matthew Arnold. After graduation (1841) he was fellow and t...