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Latin literature

(Encyclopedia)Latin literature, the literature of ancient Rome and of that written in Latin in later eras. Very little remains of the ritualistic songs and the native poetry of the Romans and Latins before the rise...

Isocrates

(Encyclopedia)Isocrates īsŏkˈrətēz [key], 436–338 b.c., one of the Ten Attic Orators. He was a pupil of Socrates and of the Sophists. Perhaps the greatest teacher in Greek history, he taught every younger or...

Dio Chrysostom

(Encyclopedia)Dio Chrysostom krĭsˈəstəm, krĭsŏsˈ– [key], d. after a.d. 112, Greek Sophist and orator [Chrysostom=golden-mouthed], b. Prusa (modern Bursa) in Bithynia. He lived at Rome under Emperor Domitia...

Choate, Rufus

(Encyclopedia)Choate, Rufus chōt [key], 1799–1859, American lawyer and Congressman, b. Essex co., Mass.; uncle of Joseph Hodges Choate. Admitted to the bar in 1823, Rufus Choate gained national reputation as a l...

Innes, James

(Encyclopedia)Innes, James ĭnˈĭs [key], 1754–98, American lawyer, b. Caroline co., Va. As commander of a Virginia regiment, he took part in many battles of the American Revolution. He was president of the boar...

Barré, Isaac

(Encyclopedia)Barré, Isaac bârˈē [key], 1726–1802, British soldier and politician. He served under Gen. James Wolfe in the French and Indian Wars and was wounded at Quebec (1759). Entering Parliament in 1761,...

Decius Mus, Publius

(Encyclopedia)Decius Mus, Publius mŭs [key], name of three Romans, father, son, and grandson, who, according to legend, sacrificed themselves for their country. As a tribune, the father fought (343 b.c.) in the wa...

Middleton, Conyers

(Encyclopedia)Middleton, Conyers, 1683–1750, English clergyman, one of the earliest English rationalistic theologians. A fellow of Trinity College, Cambridge, he became known through his disputes with Richard Ben...

Lysias

(Encyclopedia)Lysias lĭsˈēəs [key], c.459–c.380 b.c., Attic orator; son of Cephalus, a Syracusan. After the capture (404 b.c.) of Athens by the Spartans, the Thirty Tyrants caused the arrest of Lysias and his...

Valencia, Guillermo

(Encyclopedia)Valencia, Guillermo gēyārˈmō välānˈsyä [key], 1873–1943, Colombian poet, one of the leaders of modernismo. He came from an aristocratic family, received solid classical training, and became ...