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

Roman religion
Religious system that retained early elements of animism (with reverence for stones and trees) and totemism (see Romulus and Remus), and had a strong domestic base in the lares and penates, the cult...

Roman roads
Network of well built roads constructed across Britain by the Romans, to facilitate rapid troop movements and communications, as well as trade. The best known are Ermine Street, Watling Street, and...

romance
In literature, tales of love and chivalric adventure, in verse or prose, that became popular in France about 1200 and spread throughout Europe. It had antecedents in many works from classical...

Romanesque architecture
Style of Western European architecture of the 10th to 12th centuries, marked by rounded arches, solid volumes, and an emphasis on perpendicular elements such as arcades. The ribbed groin vault...

Romanesque art
European art of the 10th to 12th centuries; see medieval art. ...

Romania
Country in southeast Europe, bounded north and east by Ukraine, east by Moldova, southeast by the Black Sea, south by Bulgaria, southwest by Serbia, and northwest by Hungary. Government Under the...

Romanian
People of Romanian culture from Romania, Serbia, Moldova, and the surrounding area. There are 20-25 million speakers of the Romanian language. Historically the Romanians were known as Vlachs...

Romanino, Girolamo
(1485-1566) Italian painter. A fine colourist, influenced by Giorgione and Titian, he is best known for four frescoes in the cathedral of Cremona (1519-20). Among his other works are The Madonna (Doria...

Romanist
Any of the Netherlandish artists of the early 16th century who went to Italy to study and brought back some element of the Italian Renaissance style. The Romanists include Quentin Matsys, Marinus...

Romano, Giulio
Italian painter and architect; see Giulio Romano. ...

Romanov dynasty
Rulers of Russia from 1613 to the Russian Revolution in 1917. Under the Romanovs, Russia developed into an absolutist empire. The pattern of succession was irregular until 1797. The last tsar,...

Romansch literature
Literature written in the Romansch language of eastern Switzerland. Apart from one 12th-century fragment, it dates from the time of the Reformation, in the 16th century. There are a number of...

Romanus (I) Lecapenus
(c. 870-948) Byzantine emperor. A peasant by birth, he rose to become admiral and proclaimed himself emperor and regent for Constantine (VII) Porphyrogenitus in 920. He was at first occupied with the war against...

Romany
Member of a nomadic people believed to have originated in northwestern India and now living throughout the world. They used to be thought of as originating in Egypt, hence the name Gypsy (a...

Rome
Capital of Italy and of Lazio region, on the River Tiber, 27 km/17 mi from the Tyrrhenian Sea; population (2001 est) 2,459,800. Rome is an important transport hub and cultural centre. A large...

Rome-Berlin Axis
Another name for the Axis alliance 1936-40 in World War II. ...

Rome-Berlin-Tokyo Axis
Another name for the Axis alliance (from 1940) in World War II. ...

Rome, ancient history
Ancient Rome was a civilization based on the city of Rome. It lasted for about 800 years. Rome is traditionally said to have been founded as a...

Rome, Prix de
The highest award given to pupils of the French Academy of Fine Arts. Instituted 1666 by the arts minister Jean-Baptiste Colbert, it allowed students to spend four years in Rome. For over two...

Rome, Sack of
The pillaging of Rome in May 1527 by the mercenaries of Emperor Charles V. It occurred during the Italian Wars, the protracted struggle between several European powers for control of Italy. The...

Rome, Treaties of
Two international agreements signed 25 March 1957 by Belgium, France, West Germany, Italy, Luxembourg, and the Netherlands, which established the European Economic Community and the Romeo and Juliet
Romantic tragedy by William Shakespeare, first performed 1594-95. The play is concerned with the doomed love of teenagers Romeo and Juliet, victims of the bitter enmity between their respective...

Romero Barceló, Carlos
(1932) Puerto Rican politician and advocate of full US statehood, governor 1977-85. He helped to form the New Progressive Party (PNP) in 1967, and became PNP leader in 1973. As governor, he promoted...

Romero Y Galdames, Oscar Arnulfo
(1917-1980) El Salvadorean Roman Catholic prelate, archbishop, and champion of human rights. He believed in the principles of liberation theology, that the Gospels demanded action against poverty and injustice....

Romilly, Samuel
(1757-1818) British lawyer, politician, and reformer. Called to the Bar in 1783, he became a King's Counsel 17 years later. He entered Parliament in 1806 and in that year was solicitor-general in the Ministry...

Romney, George
(1734-1802) English painter. Active in London from 1762, he became, with Thomas Gainsborough and Joshua Reynolds, one of the most successful portrait painters of the late 18th century. His best work is to be...

Romney, George Wilcken
(1907-1995) US business executive and state governor. He was president and chair of American Motors Corporation 1954-62, and as a moderate Republican governor of Michigan 1963-69 he supported civil rights...

Romuald, St
(c. 950-1027) Italian monastic reformer. He established several religious houses, notably the monastery of Camaldoli, near Arezzo (1009), the home of the Camaldolese. His feast day is 19 June; the translation of...

Romulo, Carlos Pena
(1899-1895) Filipino diplomat and journalist. He represented the Philippines at the United Nations and also served as ambassador to the USA 1952-53 and 1955-62 and as foreign minister 1968-84, in the...

Romulus
In Roman legend, the founder and first king of Rome; the son of Mars and Rhea Silvia, daughter of Numitor, king of Alba Longa. Romulus and his twin brother Remus were thrown into the Tiber by their...

Romulus Augustulus
(born c.AD 461) Last Roman emperor in the western Roman empire. He was made emperor, while still a child, by his father the patrician Orestes about 475. He was compelled to abdicate 476 by Odoacer, leader of the...

Ronan Point
Prefabricated tower block in Canning Town, London, which suffered progressive collapse as the result of a gas explosion 1968. Five people were killed in the disaster, which did much to discredit...

ronin
In Japanese history, a samurai who had no allegiance to a feudal lord. Especially numerous in the 16th and 17th centuries, many of them engaged in brigandage and in 1651 they were responsible for an...

Ronsard, Pierre de
(1524-1585) French poet. He was the leader of the Pléiade group of poets. Under the patronage of Charles IX, he published original verse in a lightly sensitive style, including odes and love sonnets, such as...

rood
Alternative name for the cross of Christ, often applied to the large crucifix placed on a beam or screen at the entrance to the chancel of a church. ...

Rooke, George
(1650-1709) English admiral of the fleet. He saw service against the Dutch, and was promoted to rear-admiral and commanded the squadron sent to relieve Londonderry, Nor ...

Room 40
In World War I, room in the British Admiralty building for the cryptanalysis staff who deciphered German naval signals, including the Zimmermann Telegram. ...

Roosevelt, (Anna) Eleanor
(1884-1962) US social worker, lecturer, and first lady. Her newspaper column `My Day`, started in 1935, was widely syndicated. She influenced New Deal policies, especially those supporting desegregation....

Roosevelt, Edith (Kermit)
(1861-1948) US first lady. She was Theodore Roosevelt's second wife. She promoted a sense of harmony in the White House, using caterers for entertaining and a personal secretary to handle her correspondence....

Roosevelt, Franklin D(elano)
(1882-1945) 32nd president of the USA 1933-45, a Democrat. He served as governor of New York 1928-33. Becoming president during the Great Depression, he launched the New Deal economic and social reform...

Roosevelt, Theodore
(1858-1919) 26th president of the USA 1901-09, a Republican. After serving as governor of New York 1898-1901 he became vice president to Root and Branch Petition
In England, petition presented to the Long Parliament 11 December 1640, calling for the abolition `root and branch` of episcopacy. The petition was supported by 15,000 Londoners and a bill was...

Root, Elihu
(1845-1937) US Republican politician. He was secretary of war in William McKinley's cabinet 1899-1904, and secretary of state under Theodore Roosevelt 1905-09. He was awarded the Nobel Prize for Peace in...

Root, Waverley (Lewis)
(1903-1982) US journalist and author. He was a longtime Paris correspondent for newspapers such as the Chicago Tribune 1927-57 and the Washington Post 1957-69. With The Food of France 1958, he launched a...

Roper, Elmo (Burns, Jr)
(1900-1971) US public opinion analyst who pioneered modern public opinion polling techniques. He published Fortune's public opinion surveys 1935-50, broadcast the first live analysis of election returns in...

Roper, William
(1496-1578) English writer. He wrote a biography of Thomas More, whose daughter, Margaret, he married in 1525. His biography, written in 1535, was published in Paris in 1626. It is remarkable for its simplicity...

Rorimer, James (Joseph)
(1905-1966) US museum director. He was curator of medieval art at the Metropolitan Museum of Art 1934-43 and 1946-55, and was director of the museum 1955-66. He wrote many books on art preservation,...

Rorke's Drift, Battle of
During the Anglo-Zulu War, British victory over a Zulu army 22 January 1879 at Rorke's Drift, a farm about 170 km/105 mi north of Durban, Natal. A small British force on the farm, which was little...

Rorty, Richard McKay
(1931-2007) US philosopher. His main concern was to trace the personal and social implications of our changing perception of human identity, and his work drew inspiration from US philosopher John Dewey and...

Rosa, Salvator
(1615-1673) Italian baroque painter, etcher, poet, and musician. Active in Florence 1640-49 and subsequently in Rome, he is important for having created a new style of landscape, wild, romantic, and sometimes...

rosary
String of beads used in a number of religions, including Buddhism, Christianity, and Islam, to count off prayers. In the Roman Catholic and some Anglican churches it refers to a series of prayers...

Rosas, Juan Manuel de
(1793-1877) Argentine soldier, gaucho (cowboy), and dictator 1835-52. Rosas used his private gaucho army to overthrow the Liberal regime of Bernardino Rivadavia in 1827. A Buenos Aires Federalist, he was...

Roscius Gallus, Quintus
(c. 126-62 BC) Roman actor who was so gifted that his name became a byword for a great actor. ...

Roscoe, William
(1753-1831) English writer. His principal works are The Life of Lorenzo de' Medici 1795 and The Life and Pontificate of Leo the Tenth 1805. He also wrote the children's classic The Butterfly's Ball and the...

Roscrea Castle
13th-century keepless castle in Roscrea, County Tipperary, Republic of Ireland. A tall rectangular gate tower and a portion of the curtain walls with two D-shaped towers survive of this...

Rose Theatre
Former London theatre near Southwark Bridge where many of Shakespeare's plays were performed. The excavation and preservation of the remains of the theatre, discovered in 1989, caused controversy...

rose window
In Gothic architecture, a circular window frequently placed over one of the large doors. It is usually filled with elaborate tracery on a centralized pattern, in early examples arranged like the...

Rose, Billy
(1899-1966) US entertainment entrepreneur and lyricist. He was known for producing such spectacles as the `aquacades` for New York's World Fair 1939-40 and the San Francisco Golden Gate Exposition in...

Rose, Frederick George Godfrey
(1915-1991) English anthropologist and socialist, who studied the Australian Aborigines. He held academic posts in East Germany from 1956. He published books in German and English, among them The Traditional...

Rose, Irwin
(1926) US scientist. With Israeli scientist Aaron Ciechanover and Hungarian-born Israeli scientist Avram Hershko, Rose shared the Nobel Prize for Chemistry in 2004 for his contributions to the discovery...

Rose, John Holland
(1855-1942) British historian. He became first Vere Harmsworth professor of naval history at Cambridge University in 1919, and was a leading authority on British history of the Revolutionary and Napoleonic...

Rose, Roman de la
See Roman de la Rose. ...

Rose, Uriah Milton
(1834-1913) US jurist who was a delegate to the Second Peace Conference at the Hague in 1907. He wrote Digest of the Arkansas Reports 1867 and The Constitution of the State of Arkansas 1891. Arkansas placed his...

Rosegger, Peter
(1843-1918) Austrian novelist, poet, and dramatist. His novels describing peasant life, for example Die Schriften des Waldschulmeisters/The Forest Schoolmaster 1875 and Waldheimat/The Forest Farm 1877, are...

Rosen, Michael
(1946) English writer of poems and books for children, performer, and broadcaster, whose works include the popular We're Going on a Bear Hunt (1989) (illustrated by Helen Oxenbury) and You Wait 'Til I'm...

Rosenbach, Abraham (Simon Wolf)
(1876-1952) US book dealer and collector. He helped assemble the volumes at the core of such institutions as the Huntington Library, the Widener Library, the Folger Shakespeare Library, and the Harkness...

Rosenberg
US married couple, convicted of being leaders of an atomic-espionage ring passing information from Ethel's brother via courier to the USSR. The Rosenbergs were executed after much public...

Rosenberg, Isaac
(1890-1918) English poet. His poems of World War I reflect the horror of life on the front line, as in `Louse Hunting`, and fleeting philosophical moments, as in `Break of...

Rosenberg, Paul
(1881-1959) French-born US art dealer and collector. He was a dealer of such artists as Picasso, Braque, and Matisse. He opened a gallery that successfully represented contemporary US and European artists. He...

Rosenblum, Robert Harvey
(1927-2006) US art historian. He taught art and archaeology at several institutions, notably New York University (from 1976) and specialized in neoclassical, romantic, and...

Rosencrans, William Starke
(1819-1898) US soldier and Democratic politician. As an officer in the Union army during the Civil War 1861-65, he showed himself a brilliant strategist, with victories at Juka, Corinth, and Stone River....

Rosenquist, James Albert
(1933) US painter and printmaker. He was a seminal figure in American pop art. In his paintings, fragmented images drawn from advertising and the mass media are enlarged to huge proportions and juxtaposed...

Rosenthal, Jack Morris
(1931-2004) English dramatist. His warmly humorous television plays, dramatizing real-life stories, wartime nostalgia, and domestic issues, include The Evacuees (1975), Barmitzvah Boy (1976), London's Burning...

Roses, Wars of the
Civil wars in England 1455-85 between the houses of Lancaster (badge: red rose) and York (badge: white rose), both of which claimed the throne through descent from the sons of Edward III. As a...

Rosetta Stone
Slab of basalt with inscriptions from 197 BC, found near the town of Rosetta, Egypt, 1799. Giving the same text in three versions - Greek, hieroglyphic, and demotic script - it became the key to...

Rosh Hashanah
Two-day religious observance that marks the start of the Jewish New Year (first new moon after the autumn equinox, beginning the month of Tishri). It is traditionally announced by blowing a...

Rosicrucians
Group of early 17th-century philosophers who claimed occult powers and employed the terminology of alchemy to expound their mystical doctrines (said to derive from Paracelsus). The name comes from...

Roslin, Alexandre
(1718-1793) Swedish painter. He moved to France 1747, where he became a successful portrait painter in the prevailing rococo style. He later travelled extensively in Europe and Russia, before settling in Paris...

Rosmer, Ernst
(1866-1925) German dramatist who wrote several naturalistic plays influenced by Ibsen, including Dämmerung/Twilight 1893; tragedies such as Nausikaa 1906; and a fairytale melodrama Königskinder 1894, which...

Rosmerta
In Celtic mythology, a goddess associated with increase and fertility, often depicted carrying a basket of fruit, purse, or cornucopia. ...

Rosmini-Serbati, Antonio
(1797-1855) Italian philosopher and theologian. He was ordained in 1821 and founded in 1828 the Institute of Charity. Encouraged by Leo XII and successive popes, he undertook the reform of philosophy, but his...

Ross rifle
In World War I, Canadian .303 in calibre rifle of extreme accuracy and power, using a unique `straight-pull` bolt mechanism. When exposed to the mud and foul conditions of the Flanders...

Ross, Betsy
(1752-1836) American entrepreneur said to have made the first US flag. According to popular legend, she was approached 1776 by family acquaintance George Washington to create an official flag for the new...

Ross, Bob
(1943) US painting instructor. In 1983 he began his instruction programme, The Joy of Painting, on television, spawning an empire that included videos, books, art supplies, and certified Bob Ross...

Ross, Denman Waldo
(1853-1935) US teacher and art collector. He wrote several theoretical books on art, including A Theory of Pure Design 1907. An avid traveller, he collected oriental art, which he donated to both Boston's and...

Ross, Harold (Wallace)
(1892-1951) US magazine editor. In 1925 he founded the New Yorker as a sophisticated magazine aimed at a metropolitan audience. He guided the magazine to greatness, especially in its short stories, humour,...

Ross, James Clark
(1800-1862) English explorer. He discovered the north magnetic pole in 1831. He also went to the Antarctic 1839; Ross Island, Ross Sea, and Ross Dependency are named after him. He was knighted in 1843. He is...

Ross, John
(1790-1866) Cherokee leader who from 1823 to 1839 was principal chief of the eastern Cherokee nation. In 1828 he argued and won a case brought before the US Supreme Court designed to prevent US encroachments on...

Ross, John
(1777-1856) Scottish rear admiral and explorer. He served in wars with France and made voyages of Arctic exploration in 1818, 1829-33, and 1850. KCB 1834. ...

Ross, Jonathan
(1960) English broadcaster and producer. He rose to prominence in the late 1980s as the host of the Channel 4 chat show The Last Resort. As well as presenting talk shows, radio programmes, award...

Ross, Martin
Pen-name of Violet Florence Martin, Irish novelist. ...

Ross, Nellie
(c. 1876-1977) US state governor. She was the first woman governor in US history (Democrat, Wyoming) 1925-27 (being inaugurated two weeks before `Ma` Ferguson in Texas). She was director of...

Ross, Tony
(1938) English writer and illustrator of books for children including the best-selling classic I Want My Potty (1986). ...

Rossbach, (Charles) Ed(mund)
(1914-2002) US weaver. Acclaimed as the `father of contemporary fibre`, he led in the development of nonfunctional textiles, the use of unusual materials, and the introduction of basketry techniques to make...

Rossbach, Battle of
During the Seven Years' War, victory of a Prussian army led by Frederick the Great over a French-Austrian coalition 5 November 1757 at Rossbach, a small village in what was then Prussian Saxony,...

Rossetti, Christina Georgina
(1830-1894) English poet and a devout High Anglican (see Oxford movement). Her best-known work is Goblin Market and Other Poems (1862); among others are The Prince's Progress (1866),...

Rossetti, Dante Gabriel
(1828-1882) English painter and poet. He was a founding member of the Rossetti, Gabriele
(1783-1854) Italian poet. In 1824, banished from his country because of his liberal ideas, he settled in London and became professor of Italian at King's College 1831. Besides patriotic odes and other poems, he...

Rossetti, William Michael
(1829-1919) English writer and art critic. The brother of Christina and Dante Gabriel Rossetti, he wrote memoirs of them 1904 and 1895 respectively, and Some Reminiscences 1906. He made a translation in blank...

Rossi, Aldo
(1931-1997) Italian architect and theorist. He was the leading exponent of neo-rationalism. Though comparatively few of his designs have been built, his theories on the nature of design - offering an...