Columbia Encyclopedia

Search results

500 results found

Lars Porsena

(Encyclopedia)Lars Porsena or Lars Porsenna both: lärz pôrˈsənə, pôrsĕnˈə [key], semilegendary king of Clusium (modern Chiusi) in Etruria, who marched against Rome to reinstate the exiled Tarquinius Priscu...

Frundsberg, Georg von

(Encyclopedia)Frundsberg, Georg von gāˈôrkh fən fro͝ontsˈbĕrkh [key], 1473–1528, German commander in the service of Holy Roman emperors Maximilian I and Charles V. He was the principal organizer and comman...

baptistery

(Encyclopedia)baptistery băpˈtĭstrē [key], part of a church, or a separate building in connection with it, used for administering baptism. In the earliest examples it was merely a basin or pool set into the flo...

chariot

(Encyclopedia)chariot, earliest and simplest type of carriage and the chief vehicle of many ancient peoples. The chariot was known among the Babylonians before the introduction of horses c.2000 b.c. and was first d...

George of Trebizond

(Encyclopedia)George of Trebizond trĕbˈĭzŏnd [key], c.1396–1486, Greek scholar, b. Crete. Settling in Venice, he taught Greek, philosophy, and rhetoric there and in Vicenza before going to Rome in 1442. He be...

Dentatus

(Encyclopedia)Dentatus (Manius Curius Dentatus) dĕntāˈtəs; māˈnēəs kyo͝orˈēəs [key], d. 270 b.c., Roman general. As consul (290) he defeated the Samnites, Sabines, and Lucani; in his third consulship (2...

Encina, Juan del

(Encyclopedia)Encina or Enzina, Juan del both: hwän dĕl ānthēˈnä [key], 1469?–c.1530, Spanish dramatist, musician, and poet, b. Encino. He served as court musician to the duke of Alba in Italy, and in 1513 ...

Enna

(Encyclopedia)Enna ānˈnä [key], town, capital of Enna prov., central Sicily, Italy. It is an agricultura...

Castellani, Sir Aldo

(Encyclopedia)Castellani, Sir Aldo älˈdō käsˌtəläˈnē [key], 1877–1971, British-Italian bacteriologist, b. Florence, Italy. He demonstrated the cause and mode of transmission of sleeping sickness (with Si...

Aeneas, in Greek mythology

(Encyclopedia)Aeneas ĭnēˈəs [key], in Greek mythology, a Trojan, son of Anchises and Aphrodite. After the fall of Troy he escaped, bearing his aged father on his back. He stayed at Carthage with Queen Dido, the...