Columbia Encyclopedia

Search results

118 results found

Tarquin

(Encyclopedia)Tarquin tärˈkwĭn [key] [Etruscan,=lord], in Roman tradition, an Etruscan family that ruled Rome. According to the historian Livy, when the rule of the Bacchiadae in Corinth was overthrown (c.657 b....

Scipio

(Encyclopedia)Scipio sĭpˈēō [key], ancient Roman family of the Cornelian gens. They were patricians. During the 3d and 2d cent. b.c. they were distinguished by their love of Greek culture and learning. Their we...

arsenic

(Encyclopedia)arsenic ärˈsənĭk [key], a semimetallic chemical element; symbol As; at. no. 33; at. wt. 74.92160; m.p. 817℃ (at 28 atmospheres pressure); sublimation point 613℃; sp. gr. (stable form) 5.73; va...

Cologne

(Encyclopedia)Cologne kəlōnˈ [key], Ger. Köln, city (2021 est. metro area pop. 1,129,000), North Rhine�...

Kitchener, Horatio Herbert Kitchener, 1st Earl

(Encyclopedia)Kitchener, Horatio Herbert Kitchener, 1st Earl kĭchˈənər, kĭchˈnər [key], 1850–1916, British field marshal and statesman. Trained at the Royal Military Academy, Woolwich (1868–70), he had a...

Hannibal, Carthaginian general

(Encyclopedia)Hannibal hănˈəbəl [key], b. 247 b.c., d. 183 or 182 b.c. Carthaginian general, an implacable and formidable enemy of Rome. Although knowledge of him is based primarily on the reports of his enemie...

Burke, Edmund

(Encyclopedia)Burke, Edmund, 1729–97, British political writer and statesman, b. Dublin, Ireland. Burke left, in his many and diverse writings, a monumental construction of British political thought that had fa...

Metellus

(Encyclopedia)Metellus mētĕlˈəs [key], ancient Roman family of the plebeian gens Caecilia. Lucius Caecilius Metellus, d. c.221 b.c., consul (251 b.c.), fought in the First Punic War. He was pontifex maximus (fr...

Norwegian literature

(Encyclopedia)Norwegian literature, early flourished as Old Norse literature. In 1380, Norway was united with Denmark, and Danish culture began a long dominance in Norway; Norwegian culture sank to its nadir in the...

horse racing

(Encyclopedia)horse racing, trials of speed involving two or more horses. It includes races among harnessed horses with one of two particular gaits, among saddled Thoroughbreds (or, less frequently, quarterhorses) ...