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Themistocles

(Encyclopedia)Themistocles thəmĭsˈtəklēz [key], c.525–462 b.c., Athenian statesman and naval commander. He was elected one of the three archons in 493 b.c. In succeeding years many of his rivals were elimina...

Darius I

(Encyclopedia)Darius I (Darius the Great) dərīˈəs [key], d. 486 b.c., king of ancient Persia (521–486 b.c.), called also Dariavaush and Darius Hystaspis (after his father, Hystaspes or Vishtaspa). A distant c...

Bozcaada

(Encyclopedia)Bozcaada tĕnˈədŏs [key], island, 15 sq mi (39 sq km), NW Turkey, in the Aegean Sea. Bozcaada produces wines, figs, and herbs. The strategically located island was a station of the Greek fleet duri...

Esther

(Encyclopedia)Esther ĕsˈtər [key], book of the Bible. It is the tale of the beautiful Jewish woman Esther [Heb.,= Hadassah], who is chosen as queen by the Persian King Ahasuerus (Xerxes I or II) after he has rep...

Artemisia, ruler of Caria

(Encyclopedia)Artemisia ärˌtəmĭˈshēə [key], fl. 4th cent. b.c., ruler of the ancient region of Caria. She was the sister, wife, and successor of Mausolus and erected the mausoleum at Halicarnassus in his mem...

Antenor, Greek sculptor

(Encyclopedia)Antenor ăntēˈnôr [key], fl. last half of 6th cent. b.c., Greek sculptor who executed the bronze statues of the tyrannicides Harmodius and Aristogiton. In 480 b.c., Xerxes carried these statues awa...

Sestos

(Encyclopedia)Sestos sĕsˈtŏs [key], ancient town on the Thracian shore of the Hellespont (now Dardanelles) opposite Abydos (in present-day Turkey). It was the scene of the story of Hero and Leander. It was there...

Leonidas

(Encyclopedia)Leonidas lēŏnˈĭdəs [key], d. 480 b.c., king of Sparta. He succeeded (c.491 b.c.) his half-brother, Cleomenes I. When the Persians invaded Greece under Xerxes (480 b.c.), Leonidas with 300 Spartan...

Persia

(Encyclopedia)CE5 Persian Empire (c.500 b.c.) Persia pûrˈzhə, –shə [key], old alternate name for the Asian country Iran. The article Iran contains a description of the geography and economy of the modern ...

Michael II, Byzantine emperor

(Encyclopedia)Michael II (Michael the Stammerer), d. 829, Byzantine emperor (820–29). A native of Phrygia, he fought with Emperor Leo V, whom he had helped gain the throne. Leo had him arrested for heading a cons...