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omphalos

(Encyclopedia)omphalos ōmˈfəlŏs [key], in Greek and Roman religion, navel-shaped stone used in the rites of many cults. The most famous omphalos was at Delphi; it was supposed to mark the center of the earth. ...

Manilius, Marcus

(Encyclopedia)Manilius, Marcus mənĭlˈēəs [key], fl. a.d. 10, Roman poet. Of his didactic poem on astrology, the Astronomica, five books remain. These may or may not have constituted the whole work. ...

lemures

(Encyclopedia)lemures lĕmˈərāsˌ, –yərēzˌ [key], in Roman religion, vampirelike ghosts of the dead; also called larvae. To exorcise these malevolent spirits from the home, the Romans held rites, the Lemuri...

Pax

(Encyclopedia)Pax păks [key], in Roman religion, goddess of peace. Vespasian erected a temple to her at Rome. Her attributes were similar to those of the Greek Irene, the olive branch and the horn of plenty. ...

Robbers, Herman

(Encyclopedia)Robbers, Herman hĕrˈmän rôˈbərs [key], 1868–1937, Dutch novelist. A representative of descriptive realism, he wrote De Roman van een Gezin (1909–10; tr. The Fortunes of a Household, 1924). ...

Bitterroot, river, United States

(Encyclopedia)Bitterroot, river, c.120 mi (190 km) long, rising in SW Mont. and flowing north to join the Clark Fork River near Missoula. A Roman Catholic mission was established on the river in 1841, and missionar...

Bad Reichenhall

(Encyclopedia)Bad Reichenhall bät rīˈkhənhäl [key] or Reichenhall, town, Bavaria, S central Germany, on ...

Censorinus

(Encyclopedia)Censorinus sĕnsōrīˈnəs [key], fl. c.238, Roman grammarian. He wrote De die natali [on the day of birth], an essay partly astrological, partly chronological, which affords much information on anci...

Peter's pence

(Encyclopedia)Peter's pence, in the Roman Catholic Church, the annual voluntary laymen's contribution to the support of the pope. Formerly Peter's pence was a yearly tax of a penny levied by the Holy See on every h...

Venite

(Encyclopedia)Venite vēnīˈtē [key] [Lat.,=come], Psalm 95, so called from its opening, “O come, let us sing unto the Lord.” It is the opening psalm of the Roman Catholic matins and of the Anglican morning p...