Columbia Encyclopedia

Search results

500 results found

Decius

(Encyclopedia)Decius (Caius Messius Quintus Decius) dēˈshəs [key], 201–51, Roman emperor (249–51), b. Pannonia. He was sent by Philip (Philip the Arabian) to quell a mutiny, but when the soldiers hailed him ...

Gallus

(Encyclopedia)Gallus (Caius Vibius Trebonianus Gallus) gălˈəs [key], d. 253 or 254, Roman emperor after 251. He fought in the eastern campaign that proved fatal to Decius. Gallus became emperor and accepted Host...

Carinus

(Encyclopedia)Carinus (Marcus Aurelius Carinus) kərīˈnəs [key], d. 285, Roman emperor (283–85). He was the son of Carus, who left Carinus as ruler in the West when he went to the East on a campaign against th...

John XII, pope

(Encyclopedia)John XII, c.937–964, pope (955–64), a Roman (count of Tusculum) named Octavian; successor of Agapetus II and predecessor of either Leo VIII or Benedict V. His father, Alberic, secured John's elect...

John of Luxemburg

(Encyclopedia)John of Luxemburg, 1296–1346, king of Bohemia (1310–46). The son of Holy Roman Emperor Henry VII, he married Elizabeth, sister of Wenceslaus III of Bohemia, and in 1310 he was chosen king of Bohem...

Canova, Antonio

(Encyclopedia)Canova, Antonio äntôˈnyō känôˈvä [key], 1757–1822, Italian sculptor. He was a leading exponent of the neoclassical school whose influence on the art of his time was enormous. Canova's monume...

Seven Sleepers of Ephesus

(Encyclopedia)Seven Sleepers of Ephesus ĕfˈĭsəs [key], in a Christian version of a widespread story, martyrs immured in a cave near Ephesus during the persecutions by Decius (c.250). Long afterward, in the 5th ...

Timothy , epistles in the New Testament

(Encyclopedia)Timothy, two letters of the New Testament. With Titus they comprise the Pastoral Epistles, in which St. Paul addresses his coworkers as the guardians and transmitters of his teaching. Modern scholars ...

Odoacer

(Encyclopedia)Odoacer –vāˈkər [key], c.435–493, chieftain of the Heruli, the Sciri, and the Rugii (see Germans). He and his troops were mercenaries in the service of Rome, but in 476 the Heruli revolted and ...

Sickingen, Franz von

(Encyclopedia)Sickingen, Franz von fränts fən zĭˈkĭngən [key], 1481–1523, German knight. Placed under the ban of the Holy Roman Empire because of his profitable forays along the Rhine, he served King Franci...

Browse by Subject