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Cicero, Roman orator

(Encyclopedia)Cicero (Marcus Tullius Cicero) sĭsˈərō [key] or Tully, 106 b.c.–43 b.c., greatest Roman orator, famous also as a politician and a philosopher. To the modern reader probably the most interesti...

Eutropius, Roman historian

(Encyclopedia)Eutropius yo͞otrōˈpēəs [key], fl. 4th cent. a.d., Roman historian, a protégé of the emperors Julian and Valens. His Breviarium ab urbe condita (10 books) is a summary of Roman history. ...

Hadrian, Roman emperor

(Encyclopedia)Hadrian hāˈdrēən [key], a.d. 76–138, Roman emperor (117–138), b. Spain. His name in full was Publius Aelius Hadrianus. An orphan, he became the ward of Trajan. Hadrian distinguished himself as...

Gaius, Roman jurist

(Encyclopedia)Gaius gāˈəs, gīˈ– [key], fl. 2d cent., Roman jurist. He is known for the Institutes (repr., 2 vol., 1967; Vol. I is a translation of the text, Vol. II consists of commentaries), a legal textboo...

Orestes, Roman general

(Encyclopedia)Orestes ōrĕstˈēz [key], d. 476, Roman general. With the help of barbarians he deposed (475) the Roman emperor of the West, Julius Nepos, and raised his own son, Romulus Augustulus, to the throne. ...

Lusitania, Roman province

(Encyclopedia)Lusitania lo͞osĭtānˈēə [key], Roman province in the Iberian Peninsula. As constituted (c.a.d. 5) by Augustus it included all of modern central Portugal as well as much of W Spain. The province t...

Licinius, Roman emperor

(Encyclopedia)Licinius, 250–325, Roman emperor. He became coemperor with Galerius, being given the rule of Illyricum (308); after the death of Galerius he added Greece and Thrace to his territories. He allied him...

Philip, Roman emperor

(Encyclopedia)Philip or Philip the Arabian (Marcus Julius Philippus), 204?–249, Roman emperor (244–49). He served under Gordian III against the Persians, instigated the assassination of the emperor, and conclud...

Aetius, Roman general

(Encyclopedia)Aetius, c.396–454, Roman general. At first unfriendly to Valentinian III, he later made his peace with Valentinian's mother, Galla Placidia, and was given a command in Gaul. An ambitious general, he...

Tacitus, Roman emperor

(Encyclopedia)Tacitus (Marcus Claudius Tacitus) tăsˈĭtəs [key], d. 276, Roman emperor (275–76). An elderly senator with a reputation for honesty and vigor, he was chosen by the senate to succeed the murdered ...