Columbia Encyclopedia

(Encyclopedia) Chiusi kyo͞oˈsē [key], Lat. Clusium, Etruscan Chamars, town, in Tuscany, central Italy, in...

(Encyclopedia) Vignola, Giacomo da jäˈkōmō dä vēnyōˈlä [key], 1507–73, one of the foremost late Renaissance architects in Italy. His real name was Giacomo Barozzi or Barocchio. Appointed (1550) papal arch...

(Encyclopedia) villa. Although used to designate any country residence, especially in Italy and S France, the term villa particularly refers to a type of pleasure residence with extensive grounds favored by the Roma...

(Encyclopedia) Soracte sōrăkˈtē [key], isolated mountain, 2,267 ft (691 m) high, in Latium, central Italy, N of Rome. It was celebrated in the poetry of Vergil and Horace. In ancient times it was crowned with a ...

(Encyclopedia) Alba Longa ălˈbə lôngˈgə [key], city of ancient Latium, in the Alban Hills near Lake Albano, c.12 mi (19 km) SE of Rome. It was a city before 1100 b.c. and apparently the most powerful in Latium...

(Encyclopedia) Roman roads, ancient system of highways linking Rome with its provinces. Their primary purpose was military, but they also were of great commercial importance and brought the distant provinces in touc...

(Encyclopedia) Villa d'Este vēˈlä dĕˈstā [key], name of two famous villas in Italy. One lies near Tivoli, c.20 mi (30 km) E of Rome. Built in 1550 by Pirro Ligorio for Cardinal Ippolito II d'Este, it is decora...

(Encyclopedia) mint, place where legal coinage is manufactured. The name is derived from the temple of Juno Moneta, Rome, where silver coins were made as early as 269 b.c. Mints existed earlier elsewhere, as in Lydi...

(Encyclopedia) Anzio änˈtsyō [key], Lat. Antium, town, in Latium, central Italy, on the Tyrrhenian Sea. It is a seaside resort with a fishing industry. A Volscian town, it was capture...

(Encyclopedia) Gregory I, Saint (Saint Gregory the Great), c.540–604, pope (590–604), a Roman; successor of Pelagius II. A Doctor of the Church, he was distinguished for his spiritual and temporal leadership. Hi...