Aaron Burr
(1756–1836)US Democratic Republican statesman. After losing the presidential election to Jefferson in 1800, Burr was elected Vice-President. He was defeated in the contest for the governorship of New ...
abacus
An ancient device for performing arithmetic calculations by sliding beads along rods or in grooves. Despite the spread of electronic calculators and computers, the abacus is still widely used in the ...
Abaris
Legendary devotee of Apollo from the far north, a shamanistic missionary and saviour-figure like Aristeas whom Pindar (fr. 270 B. Snell and H. Maehler) associated with the time of Croesus—perhaps ...
abduction
An inference process widely used in artificial intelligence, particularly in expert systems and rule-based systems. In diagnosis, for example, there may be a rule like “if measles then red spots” so ...
abortion
There is no actual prohibition in the Bible against aborting a foetus. Nevertheless, in the unanimously accepted Jewish consensus, abortion is a very serious offence, though foeticide is not treated ...
Abraham Lincoln
(1809–65)US Republican statesman, 16th President of the USA (1861–65). His election as President on an anti‐slavery platform antipathetic to the interests of the southern states helped precipitate ...
academies
Are societies or institutions for the cultivation and promotion of literature, the arts or science, or of some particular branch of science such as medicine, for example, the Académie de ...
Acamas
Son of Theseus and brother of Demophon (1). Unknown to the Iliad, the brothers are certainly present at Troy in the Iliu Persis (fr. 4 Davies), and free their grandmother ...
Acanthus
Was a colony of Andros (Thucydides 4. 84) near the narrowest point of the Akte prong of Chalcidice and thus close to the canal dug in 480 bc on the ...
Acanthus
(family Acanthaceae)A genus of shrubs and perennial herbs, most of which are xeromorphic and have spiny leaves. Some species are cultivated as ornamentals. The upper lip of the corolla is lacking. ...
Acarnan
Eponym of Acarnania. He was the son, with Amphoterus, of Callirhoë (the daughter of Acheloüs) and Alcmaeon (1) (who had settled in the Achelous floodplain to escape the Erinyes). Later ...
Acarnania
A district of NW Greece, bounded by the Lonian Sea, the gulf of Ambracia, and the Acheloüs river. The district is divided into three main regions: (1) a rugged coast ...
Acastus
In mythology, son of Pelias (see Neleus); he took part in the Argonautic expedition and the Calydonian boar-hunt (see Argonauts; Meleager (1)). When Peleus took refuge with him, Acastus' wife ...
Acca Larentia
Obscure Roman goddess with a festival on 23 December (Larentalia or Larentinalia). One tradition (Valerius Antias fr. 1 Peter) makes her a prostitute, contemporary with Romulus, who left her property ...
Accius
(170–c.86 bc),Roman tragic poet and literary scholar. Although of conservative political views, he believed that literary talent demanded in its context more respect than nobility of birth. He had a ...
acclamation
Vocal expressions of approval and good wishes in ritual form were an important part of Roman life, both private (e.g. at weddings) and public (for actors and the presiding magistrate at public ...
Acestes
(Αἰ̑γέστης, Αἴγεστος), character in mythology, founder and king of Segesta (Egesta) in Sicily and of Trojan descent (cf. Dionysius Halicarnassensis Antiquitates Romanae 1. 52.1–4; Scholia Danielis ...
Achaean Confederacy
Federal organization developed by the twelve Achaean cities united in cult of Zeus. First mentioned in 453 bc as Athenian allies, Achaea's independence was guaranteed in 446 (Thirty Years Peace). In ...
Achaemenid art
The official sculpture of the Persian empire was made in a style which owed much to Mesopotamian forerunners, and like them tended to the glorification of the ruler. The Median, Persian, Babylonian, ...
