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The History Channel - Encyclopedia Category: History and Culture > History Date & country: 02/12/2007, UK Words: 25833

Apollinopolis Magna
Ancient name of Edfu, the town in Upper Egypt. ...

Apollo
In Greek and Roman mythology, the god of sun, music, poetry, prophecy, agriculture, and pastoral life, and leader of the Muses. He was the twin child (with Apollo Belvedere
Ancient Roman sculpture, unearthed in Rome in the late 15th century. Like the Laocoon, it became part of Pope Julius II's collections of antiquities and was similarly studied by artists at the turn...

Apollo of Rhodes
Greek statue of Apollo generally known as the Colossus of Rhodes. ...

Apollo poets
Group of poets associated with Apollo, a literary periodical published in Cairo 1932-34. The group was strongly influenced by French and English Romantic poetry, and most of its members' work was...

Apollodoros
(lived late 5th century BC) Greek painter, active in Athens. He introduced some innovations in perspective and seems to have been the first Greek painter to study light and shade. His works included an Odysseus and Ajax Struck...

Apollodorus
(lived AD 97-130) Greek architect. A native of Damascus, he built Trajan's Forum, the Basilica Ulpiana, Hadrian's Temple of Venus and Rome (all in the Imperial capital), and the triumphal arch in honour of Trajan at...

Apollonia
Ancient city of Illyria, near the mouth of the Aous, founded by Corinthians and Corcyreans. It was important as a link between Brundisium and northern Greece, and subsequently as a terminus of the...

Apollonia
Ancient town of Cyrenaica and harbour of Cyrene, 20 km/12 mi northeast of the latter. It was the birthplace of the Greek geographer and mathematician Eratosthenes. ...

Apollonian
Relating to the individuating, rationalizing, and conscious principle in human society. The term was used by German philosopher Friedrich Nietzsche. In The Birth of Tragedy (1872), his study of the...

Apollonius
(lived 2nd century BC) Greek sculptor. He and his brother Tauriscus, both active in Rhodes, made the marble group known as the Farnese Bull (Roman copy National Museum, Naples), based on the legend of Amphion. The...

Apollonius of Tyana
(lived 1st century AD) Greek ascetic philosopher of the neo-Pythagorean school. He travelled in Babylonia and India, where he acquired a wide knowledge of oriental religions and philosophies, and taught at Ephesus. He...

Apollonius of Tyre
Medieval tale, supposedly of Greek origin. Apollonius of Tyre reveals the incest of King Antiochus with his daughter and flees from Antioch, returning after the king's death. On the voyage his wife...

Apollos
(lived 1st century AD) Alexandrian Jew, described in the New Testament (Acts 18:24-28). Until his `conversion` by Aquila and Priscilla at Ephesus about AD 54, he appears to have preached only the baptism of John....

Apollyon
Name given to the devil (Revelation 9.11) as a translation of the Hebrew Abaddon (the angel of the bottomless pit). ...

apologetics
Philosophical writings that attempt to refute attacks on the Christian faith. Apologists include St Justin, Origen, St Augustine, Thomas Aquinas, Blaise Pascal, and Joseph Butler. The questions...

apostasy
Public rejection of one's faith or taking up of another faith. An example of this is Julian the Apostate, a Roman emperor who rejected his Christian upbringing and the growth of Christianity in the...

apostle
In the New Testament, any of the chosen 12 disciples sent out by Jesus, after his resurrection, to preach the gospel. In the earliest days of Christianity, the term was extended to include some who...

Apostles
Discussion group founded in 1820 at Cambridge University, England; members have included the poet Tennyson, the philosophers G E Moore and Bertrand Russell, the writers Lytton Strachey and Leonard...

Apostles' Creed
In the Christian church, the oldest of the creeds (Latin credo`I believe`), a l ...

apostles' days
Feasts of commemoration of the apostles. In the Roman and Anglican churches these are: Matthew, 21 September; John, 27 December; Peter, 29 June (and in the Roman Catholic Church, Paul, who is...

Apostolic Age
Early period in the Christian church dominated by those personally known to Jesus or his disciples. ...

Apostolic Fathers
Christian writers intermediate between the apostles and the later apologists (see apologetics). Strictly, the name belongs only to those believed to have had actual contact with the apostles, for...

apostolic succession
Doctrine in the Christian church that certain spiritual powers were received by the first apostles directly from Jesus, and have been handed down in the ceremony of `laying on of hands` from...

Apostolius, Michael
(died c. 1480) Greek theologian, a native of Constantinople. When the Turks conquered the city he fled to Italy, where his defence of Plato against Aristotle lost him the protection of his patron Cardinal...

apotheosis
Another word for deification, the recognition of a mortal as a god. Canonization of saints has sometimes been regarded as a form of apotheosis. Some Christians use the word to refer to human...

apparatchik
In a communist political system, an employee of the apparat, or state bureaucracy; that is, a full-time, senior party official. ...

apparition
Supernatural appearance in the image of a living or dead person or animal, or an inanimate object. A ghost is specifically the apparition of a deceased human or animal. In its widest sense, the...

apparitor
In Roman times, an attendant on magistrates who saw to the execution of their orders; in the modern English ecclesiastical courts, the officer who serves processes of the court and causes defendants...

appeal
In law, an application for a rehearing of all or part of an issue that has already been dealt with by a lower court or tribunal. The outcome can be a new decision on all or part of the points...

appearance
In philosophy, what is visible, or manifest to the senses, but is ultimately illusory. Hence, appearance is usually contrasted with reality, and so the term often occurs in idealism and scepticism. ...

appeasement
Historically, the conciliatory policy adopted by the British government, in particular under Neville Chamberlain, towards the Nazi and fascist dictators in Europe in the 1930s in an effort to...

apperception
In philosophy, a term introduced by Gottfried Leibniz to denote the process by which the mind gets hold of the `perceptions` of sense and turns them into conscious knowledge. Immanuel Kant...

Apperley, Charles James
(1779-1843) Welsh sporting writer, who used the pseudonym `Nimrod`. His best-known works include Nimrod's Hunting Tours (1835), The Chase, the Turf and the Road (1837), Memoirs of the Life of the Late...

Appia, Adolphe
(1862-1928) Swiss stage designer and theorist. A proponent of symbolic design, he advocated reducing the importance of the actor as well as developing the atmospheric use of theatrical lighting. His theories...

Appian Way
Ancient Roman road, running southeast from Rome. Work on it began in 312 BC, ordered by the censor Appius Claudius Caecus. By 244 BC the road had been extended to Brundisium (modern Brindisi, on the...

Applegate, Jesse
(1811-1888) US colonist and cattleman. Applegate raised beef cattle in the Umpqua valley and wrote the Western classic A Day with the Cow Column in 1843 (1876). He was an influential supporter of President...

Appleseed, Johnny
Character in US folk legend based on the US pioneer John Chapman. ...

applied arts
Arts used in the design or decoration of functional objects such as glassware, furniture, and pottery. They are distinguished from the fine arts, whose main purpose is predominantly aesthetic,...

appliqué
Embroidery used to create pictures or patterns by `applying` pieces of material onto a background fabric. The pieces are cut into the appropriate shapes and sewn on, providing decoration for...

Appomattox Court House
Former town in Virginia, USA, scene of the surrender on 9 April 1865 of the Confederate army under Robert E Lee to the Union army under Ulysses S Grant, which ended the American Civil War. The house...

Apponyi, Albert
(1846-1933) Hungarian statesman. He became a member of parliament in 1872, established the National party in 1892 in opposition, joined the Liberals (the government party) in 1899, and defected in 1903. He...

apport
In spiritualism, the term used for an object materialized in the presence of a medium. Apports have included flowers, jewellery, and live animals. According to spiritualists, such objects are first...

appropriation
In law, the setting aside of money or other property to be applied exclusively to one use. In English civil law, a debtor who owes separate amounts to the same creditor is entitled when making a...

appropriation account
An account that shows how the net profit of a business has been distributed. Net profit is generally distributed in three ways. Part is paid...

Appropriation Act
In constitutional finance, both in the US Congress and the UK Parliament, one of several special Appropriation Acts passed every session to authorize payments by...

APR
Abbreviation for annual percentage rate. ...

Apries
Egyptian king, son of Psamtik II and fourth king (c. 588-569 BC) of the 26th dynasty. He occupied Phoenicia but failed to save Jerusalem when it was besieged by Babylonians. His army, sent against...

apse
Semicircular or polygonal end to or extension of a religious or secular building, Roman in origin; it is usually covered with a semidomed or vaulted ceiling. In Early Christian churches it included...

Apsley House
Mansion at the southeast corner of Hyde Park, London. Home of the dukes of Wellington from 1820; now the Wellington Museum. It was originally built in 1771-8 for Baron Apsley, 2nd Earl Bathurst...

Apsu
In the mythology and religion of Mesopotamia, primordial sweet-water god, associated with Tiamat. ...

Apuleius, Lucius
(lived 2nd century AD) Roman lawyer, philosopher, and writer. He was the author of The Golden Ass, or Metamorphoses, a prose fantasy. Born at Madaura in North Africa, he was educated at Carthage and Athens. He travelled...

Aquae Sulis
Roman name of the city of Bath in the west of England. ...

aquatint
Printmaking technique. When combined with etching it produces areas of subtle tone as well as more precisely etched lines. Aquatint became common in the late 18th century. An etching plate is...

Aquaviva, Claudius
(1543-1615) Italian theologian, the fifth general of the Jesuits. He helped to strengthen the Society of Jesus when the principles of its founder, Ignatius Loyola, were seriously threatened. He improved its...

Aquinas, St Thomas
(1225-1274) Italian philosopher and theologian, the greatest figure of the school of scholasticism. He was a Dominican monk, known as the `Angelic Doctor`. In 1879 his works were recognized as the basis of...

Aquincum
Ancient Roman town, situated near the present city of Budapest, Hungary. By the 3rd century AD, Aquincum had become the capital of Lower Pannonia, and Valentinian II was proclaimed emperor here 375....

Aquino, (Maria) Corazon
(1933) Filipino centrist politician, president 1986-92. She was instrumental in the nonviolent overthrow of President Ferdinand Marcos in 1986. As president, she sought to rule in a conciliatory manner,...

Ara Pacis
Elaborately sculpted altar in Rome, consecrated in 13 BC to mark the return of Augustus from the provinces of Spain and Gaul, and dedicated in 9 BC. Intended as a symbol of the new age of imperial...

Arab
Any of the Semitic (see Semite) people native to the Arabian peninsula, but now settled throughout North Africa and the nations of the Middle East. The homeland of the Arabs comprises Saudi Arabia,...

Arab Common Market
Organization providing for the abolition of customs duties on agricultural products, and reductions on other items, between the member states: Egypt, Iraq, Jordan, Libya, Mauritania, Syria, and...

Arab Maghreb Union
Association formed in 1989 by Algeria, Libya, Mauritania, Morocco, and Tunisia to formulate common policies on military, economic, international, and cultural issues. ...

Arab-Israeli Wars
Series of wars and territorial conflicts between Israel and various Arab states in the Middle East since the founding of the state of Israel in May 1948. These include the war of 1948-49; the 1956...

arabesque
In the visual arts and architectural design, a linear decoration based on plant forms. Arabesque motifs are complicated, intertwined, flowing designs first found in ancient Arabic art - hence the...

Arabian Nights
Tales in oral circulation among Arab storytellers from the 10th century, probably having their roots in India. They are also known as The Thousand and One Nights and include `Ali Baba`,...

Arabic literature
Literature written in the Arabic language, the literature of Arabs and the Islamic world. 6th century-750 Arabic literature has its beginnings in pre-Islamic poetry with its highly developed...

Arachne
In Greek mythology, a Lydian woman who was so skilful a weaver that she challenged the goddess Athena to a contest. Athena tore Arachne's beautiful tapestries to pieces and Arachne hanged herself....

Arado
German aircraft of World War II, including the AR 196 floatplane and the AR 234, the first German jet bomber. The principal model was the AR 196, a twin-float low-wing monoplane used as a...

Arafat
Hill and plain about 24 km/15 mi east and about 19 km/12 mi southwest of Mecca. The hill is granite and rises to 61 m/200 ft. The most important ceremony of the Muslim pilgrimage, or hajj, occurs on...

Arafat, Yassir
(1929-2004) Palestinian nationalist politician, cofounder of the al-Fatah (Movement for the National Liberation of Palestine) resistance group in 1958, leader of the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO)...

Aragon, Louis
(1897-1982) French poet and novelist. Beginning as a Dadaist, he became one of the leaders of Surrealism, published volumes of verse, and in 1930 joined the Communist Party. Taken prisoner in World War II, he...

Arahat
In Buddhism, a being who has realized nirvana and is free from rebirth. The Arahat is the ideal of the Theravada. See also bodhisattva. ...

Arakan
State of Myanmar (formerly Burma) on the Bay of Bengal coast, some 645 km/400 mi long and strewn with islands; population (1994 est) 2,482,000. Most of Arakan is mountainous or hilly land,...

Arakan, Battles of
In World War II, series of British offensives 1942-45 to dislodge the Japanese from Arakan, a coastal region of Burma (now Myanmar) offering an invasion route from India with...

Arakcheev, Alexsei Andreevich
(1769-1834) Russian noble. A favourite of Tsar Alexander I, he became war minister 1808 and greatly influenced internal policy in the spirit of extreme reaction. In Russia his name has become a symbol of...

Aram
Probably the name of a people, applied to the country north and northeast of Palestine from the Mediterranean to the middle of Mesopotamia. In the Old Testament, Aram occurs in several combinations...

Aram, Eugene
(1704-1759) English murderer, the subject of works by the English novelist Edward Bulwer Lytton, the English poet Thomas Hood, and others. He was a schoolmaster in Knaresborough, Yorkshire, and achieved some...

Araña Osorio, Carlos
(1918-2003) Guatemalan soldier and right-wing politician, president 1970-74. He was elected president on a programme of law and order and social reform. However, although a five-year development plan was...

Aranda, Pedro Pablo Abarca de Bolea
(1718-1798) Spanish politician and general. In 1766 he was called on by Charles II to restore order in Madrid, and, having done so, became chief minister in Spain. He fell from power 1792, due largely to his...

Arany, János
(1817-1882) Hungarian writer. His comic epic The Lost Constitution (1846) was followed in 1847 by Toldi, a product of the popular nationalist school. In 1864 his epic masterpiece The Death of King Buda...

Arapaho
Member of an American Indian people who moved from Minnesota and North Dakota to the upper Missouri River area in the 17th century, where they became close allies of the Cheyenne. Their language...

Aras
River rising in northeastern Turkey and flowing east through Armenia and Azerbaijan to the Caspian Sea; length 1,100 km/660 mi. Artaxata, the ancient capital of Armenia, was situated on the river...

Aras an Uachtaráin
Residence of the president of the Republic of Ireland, in Phoenix Park, Dublin. Formerly known as Phoenix Lodge and later Viceregal Lodge, this large house dates from 1751 and was designed and built...

Arason, Jón
(1484-1550) Icelandic priest, bishop of the northern diocese in Iceland. He introduced printing there, about 1530, and vigorously opposed the Lutheran Reformation which the Danish king Christian III was forcing...

Aratus
(315-245 BC) Greek poet. While residing at the court of Antigonus II Gonatus he wrote his celebrated astronomical poem `Phaenomena`, which was very popular in ancient times and was translated...

Aratus of Sicyon
(271-213 BC) Greek soldier and politician. He was instrumental in the growth of the Achaean League, the political and military confederation of Greek cities, and prevented its disintegration under pressure from...

Araucanian Indian
Member of a group of South American peoples native to central Chile and the Argentine pampas. They were agriculturalists and hunters, as well as renowned warriors, defeating...

Araunah (or Ornan)
In the Old Testament, the Jebusite owner of a threshing floor on Mount Moriah that David purchased as the site of an altar to halt a plague. This afterwards became the site of...

Arawak
Indigenous American people of the Caribbean and northeastern Amazon Basin. Arawaks lived mainly by shifting cultivation in tropical forests. They were driven out of many West Indian islands by...

Arbela
Ancient name for the modern Kurdish city of Irbil. ...

Arbenz Guzmán, Jácobo
(1913-1971) Guatemalan social democratic politician and president from 1951 until his overthrow in 1954 by army rebels led by Carlos Castillo Armas, operating with the help of the US...

arbitrageur
In finance, a person who buys securities (such as currency or commodities) in one country or market for immediate resale in another market, to take advantage of different prices. Arbitrage became...

arbitration
Submission of a dispute to a third, unbiased party for settlement. It may be personal litigation (legal action), a trade-union issue, or an international dispute. Following the Hague Conventions...

Arbogast
(died 394) Barbarian officer of the Roman army at the end of the 4th century. He served with distinction against the Goths, and was sent against Maximus, whom he defeated 388. He then became the chief minister...

Arbor Low
Megalithic structure near Bakewell, Derbyshire, in England. A circle of 30 stones, now overturned, enclosing a megalithic ruin, is surrounded by a fosse and rampart 76 m/250 ft across. It dates from...

Arbroath, Declaration of
Declaration made on 26 April 1320 by Scottish nobles of their loyalty to King Arbuthnot, John
(1667-1735) Scottish writer and physician. He attended Prince George and then Queen Anne from 1705 to 1714. He was a friend of Alexander Pope, Thomas Gray, and Jonathan Swift and was the chief author of the...

Arc de Triomphe
Arch at the head of the Champs Elysées in the Place de l'Etoile, Paris, France, begun by Napoleon in 1806 and completed in 1836. It was intended to commemorate Napoleon's victories of 1805-06 and...

Arca
Ancient town of Phoenicia, the birthplace of the Roman emperor Alexander Severus (ruled AD 222-35), from whom it took the name of Caesarea Arca. ...

arcade
Series of arches carried on piers or columns. The earliest examples are found in Rome, dating from the 1st century BC. Rows of arches were frequently used as decoration, internally or externally, in...