Bacon: Reference - Classical Index

Æschines (c389-c322BC): Athenian orator and rival of Demosthenes. He advocated appeasement of Philip of Macedon. Demosthenes tried to have him indicted for treason in 343 and in 330 Æschines tried to prevent Demosthenes being awarded a golden crown for his services to Athens. Defeated, Æschines withdrew to Rhodes, where he established a school of eloquence.
Æsop: Legendary Greek fabulist, said to have lived in the 6th century BC. The Fables attributed to him are probably compiled from a variety of sources.
Agathocles (369-289BC): Tyrant of Syracuse from 217. Although according to hostile tradition a ruthless tyrant, he enjoyed popular support and his rule was the last period of independence for Sicily before the Roman conquest.
Agesilaus (444-360BC): King of Sparta from c399 and one of the most brilliant soldiers of antiquity.
Agrippa Posthumus: Third son of Marcus Vipsanius Agrippa by Julia, the daughter of Augustus.
Marcus Vipsanius Agrippa (63-12BC): Roman commander and statesman, he helped Augustus to gain power and was a candidate to succeed the emperor until his comparatively early death. His third wife was Julia, the daughter of Augustus, by whom he had 3 sons and 2 daughters. He defeated Sextus, son of Pompey, at Mylae and Naulochus in 36BC and Mark Antony at Actium in 31 BC. He also served in Gaul, Spain, Syria and Pannonia.
Agrippina the Elder (c14BC-33AD): Daughter of Marcus Vipsanius Agrippa and grand-daughter of the emperor Augustus. She married Germanicus Cæsar and was the mother of Caligula and Agrippina the younger. Regarded as a model of heroic womanhood, she accompanied her husband on his campaigns and brought his ashes home when he was murdered in 19 AD. Her popularity incurred the anger of the emperor Tiberius, who banished her to the island of Pandataria, where she died in suspicious circumstances.
Agrippina the Younger (d. 59AD): Daughter of Agrippina the Elder, she first married Cnaeus Domitius Ahenobarbus, by whom she had a son, the future emperor Nero. Her third husband was the emperor Claudius, her own uncle. She persuaded Claudius to adopt Nero as his heir, to the exclusion of Britannicus, his own son by his former wife Messalina. She proceeded to poison all Nero's rivals and enemies, including (allegedly) her own husband. Her ascendancy proving intolerable, Nero put her to death in 59 AD.
Alcibiades (c450-404BC): Athenian statesman, raised in the house of Pericles after the death of his father. Socrates was an important influence, but could not restrain his love of magnificence and dissipation.
Alexander the Great (356-323BC): King of Macedonia, the son of Philip of Macedon and Olympias, daughter of the king of Epirus. He was educated by eminent Greek teachers, including Aristotle. He became ruler of Macedon at the age of 20 following the assassination of his father. He began a campaign of conquest, defeating the Persians and being welcomed in Egypt as a liberator. He was obliged to drawback from India, but was planning further conquests of Arabia and to the west before his untimely death. In antiquity he was viewed either as a ruthless conqueror and destroyer, or as a far-sighted statesman pursuing a civilising mission for the world.
Anacharsis: According to Herodotus, a Scythian prince who travelled widely in quest of knowledge and visited Athens in the time of Solon. He was reputed to have fallen asleep in a cave while attending his flocks and to have slept for 57 years.
Anaxagoras (c500-428BC): Greek philosopher, who taught both Pericles and Euripides. His scientific speculations may have provided the pretext for his prosecution for impiety.
Antalcidas: Spartan politician and naval commander, chiefly known for the treaty he concluded with Persia at the close of the Corinthian war in 386 BC.
Antigonus (d. 301BC): Macedonian soldier, one of the generals of Alexander the Great, after whose death he received the provinces of Phrygia Major, Lycia and Pamphylia. He aspired to the sovereignty of Asia Minor and Syria, but was eventually defeated and killed at Ipsus in Phrygia.
Antiochus (223-187BC): A king of Syria, who was continually involved in hostilities with the Romans.
Antipater (398-319BC): Macedonian general, who Alexander the Great left as regent in Macedonia during his absence.
Antisthenes (c455-c360BC): Greek philosopher, thought to be co-founder with his pupil Diogenes of the Cynic school.
Antoninus Pius (86-161): Roman emperor in succession to Hadrian, by whom he had been adopted. His reign was proverbially peaceful and happy. The epithet Pius was bestowed on him for his defence of Hadrian's memory.
Antonius Primus (1st century): Roman soldier, exiled under Nero, Marcus Antonius Primus was recalled by Galba and given command of one of the Pannonian legions. He was instrumental in installing Vespasian, but was neutralised by Mucianus.
Mark Antony (c83-30BC): Mark Antony was related to Julius Cæsar and on the latter's death was briefly held almost absolute power. In a division of the Roman world with Augustus and Lepidus, he was assigned the east. In 31BC he and Cleopatra were defeated at Actium; subsequently, deceived by a false report of Cleopatra's suicide, he fell on his sword.
Apelles: Greek painter and friend of Alexander the Great, who he is said to have accompanied on his expedition to Asia.
Apollonius of Tyana (c3-c97): Greek philosopher and seer, said to have been a zealous neo-Pythagorean teacher. He travelled widely and was patronised by Vespasian.
Appian of Alexandria (2nd century AD): Roman historian and lawyer, who compiled 24 books of Roman conquests down to Vespasian, of which 9 books remain complete.
Archidamus: King of Sparta in 4th century BC.
Archimedes (c287-212BC): Greek mathematician, remembered for the construction of siege-engines against the Romans, the Archimedean screw for raising water and his cry of 'Eureka' on discovering the principle of upthrust on a floating body. His rela importance lies in his discovery of formulae for the areas and volumes of spheres, cylinders and other plane and solid figures.
Aristippus: Greek philosopher and a native of Cyrene in Africa, whose followers known as Cyrenaics became an influential school n the late 4th and early 3rd centuries BC. The main doctrines were hedonism and the primacy of one's own immediate feelings.
Aristotle (384-322BC): Greek philosopher and scientist, the son of the court physician to the king of Macedon. He went to Athens in 367 and studied at Alexander the Great. In 335 he returned to Athens and founded his own school, called the Lyceum. His writings represented an enormous encyclopedic output encompassing logic, metaphysics, ethics, politics, rhetoric, poetry, biology, zoology, physics and psychology. The bulk of the surviving works consists of lecture notes and student textbooks, which were edited and published by Andronicus of Rhodes two centuries after Aristotle's death. His work exerted an enormous influence on medieval philosophy and it was this pervasive influence that Bacon attempted to counteract with his own writings.
Artaxerxes (4th Century BC): Artaxerxes II, called Mnemon (the mindful), reigned as king of Persia from 404 to 358BC. He lost control of Egypt but rebuilt the royal palace at Susa. He was the elder brother of Cyrus the Younger, who conspired against him.
Atticus (110-32BC): Roman intellectual who espoused Epicurean philosophy, businessman and writer, who spend a long period in Athens to avoid the Civil War. Cicero's Letters to Atticus form a famous and prolific correspondence.
Augustus (63BC-14AD): The first Roman emperor, son of Gaius Octavius, senator and praetor, and Atia, niece of Julius Cæsar. He was adopted by Julius Cæsar in his will and became Gaius Julius Cæsar Octavianus. He received the name Augustus ('sacred, venerable') in 27BC in recognition of his services and position. As a result of the rivalry between different factions following the assassination of his uncle in 44BC, he was not able to establish his sole rule of the Roman world until his victory at Actium in 31BC. His rule was disguised in republican forms to make his autocracy palatable to the Romans. At home he reformed Roman society through legislation and beautified the city; abroad he vastly increased the size of the empire. He was succeeded by Tiberius, the son of his third wife Livia by her former marriage.
Aurelian (ADc212-75): Lucius Domitius Aurelianus was born of humble origins but rose to the highest military honours. On the death of Claudius II (270) he was elected emperor by the army. He repulsed the Alemanni and Marcomanni and erected new walls around Rome. Resigning Dacia to the Goths, he made the Danube the new frontier of the empire. He was awarded the title 'Restorer of the World' by the senate, but was assassinated by his own officers near Byzantium during a campaign against the Persians.
Marcus Aurelius (AD121-80): Roman emperor from 161-80 and one of the most respected emperors in Roman history. The son of Annius Verus and Domita Calvilla, he was adopted by Antoninus Pius when 17, who married him to his daughter Faustina. On his accession he voluntarily divided the government with his brother by adoption Lucius Aurelius Verus. One of the most respected emperors in Roman history, his reign suffered from almost constant wars. His Mediatations, a collection of Stoic aphorisms and reflections written in Greek were compiled over the last ten years of his reign while on campaign.
Bion of Borysthenes (3rd century BC): A satirist, acknowledged by the Roman poet and satirist Horace as an exemplar.
Lucius Junius Brutus (fl. 500BC): Legendary Roman hero who established Republican government at Rome by driving out the last king, Lucius Tarquinius. He was elected was elected one of the first two consuls (509BC). He sentenced his own sons to death for conspiring to restore the monarchy and fell repelling an attack led by one of Tarquin's sons.
Marcus Junius Brutus (85-42BC): A Roman politician who was persuaded by Cassius to join the conspiracy against Julius Cæsar. Defeated by Mark Antony and Augustus at Philippi, he killed himself.
Burrhus: Commander of the Prætorian guards.
Julius Cæsar (100-44BC): One of the great figures of the ancient world, both as a general and a statesman. He wrote Commentaries, comprising 7 books De Bello Gallico on his campaign in Gaul and Britain (52-58BC) and 3 De Bello Civili on the civil war between himself and Pompey. After he was made dictator for life and consul for ten years, he was assassinated by conspirators led by Brutus and Cassius, who sought to restore republican freedom. They merely plunged Rome into civil war which led to the final destruction of the republic and the establishment of the empire under Augustus.
Callisthenes (d. 327BC): Nephew of Aristotle and court historian to Alexander. He was taken by Alexander on campaign to record his exploits, but executed in 327BC after tampering with the Royal Pages.
Calphurnia: Third wife of Julius Cæsar, who he married during the period of his reconciliation with Pompey in 59BC, when Pompey married Cæsar's daughter Julia. Calphurnia is supposed to have tried to prevent Cæsar from attending the Senate on the day of his assassination because she had a dream pressaging disaster.
Cambyses: King of the Medes and Persians in the 6th century BC.
Caracalla (176-217): Roman emperor, son of Septimius Severus, born in Lyons. His legal name was Marcus Aurelius Antoninus, but he was nicknamed Caracalla from his long hooded Gaulish tunic. He ascended the throne in 211 on his father's death as joint ruler with his brother, whom he soon murdered. He was in his turn assassinated while preparing for was against the Parthians.
Carneades (c214-129BC): Greek philosopher, born in Cyrene. He became the head of the Academy, which under his sceptical direction became known as the 'New Academy'. He had the reputation of a virtuoso dialectician, who could argue persuasively for opposing points of view.
Cassander (c354-c297BC): Son of Antipater, from 318 ruler and from 305 king of Macedonia. He put to death Alexander's mother and his wife and her children. He married Thessalonica, Alexander's half-sister, for whom he built and named a city in Macedonia.'
Cassius (d. 42BC): Gaius Cassius Longinus was quaestor to Crassus in the Parthian war, saving the credit of Roman arms after the commander's disasterous defeat and death. As praetor in 44BC he allied himself with the aristocrats who resented Cæsar's autocracy. When popular feeling blazed after the assassination of Cæsar he fled to the east, united his forces with those of Brutus. Being routed at Philippi he forced his freedman to kill him.
Lucius Sergius Catilina (c108-62BC): An adherent of Sulla elected praetor in 68BC and governor of Africa the next year, but disqualified from the consulship in 66 on charges of maladministration. In 63 he conspired against Cicero, who he intended to assassinate. The conspirator's were repulsed and Cicero subsequently made a famous speech against Catilina in the Senate, while his reply was drowned in cries of execration. He escaped from Rome, but was subsequently slain at Pistoria.
Marcus Porcius Cato 'the Elder' (234-149 BC): Also known as Cato the Censor, a Roman statesman and orator, reknown for his attempts to stem the tide of Greek refinement and luxury and advocating a return to a simpler, stricter way of life. He wrote several works, of which only the De Re Rustica and a few fragments of his summary of the Roman annals Origines have been preserved.
Marcus Porcius Cato 'the Younger' (95-46BC): Great-grandson of Cato the Elder, also known as 'Uticensis' from Utica the place of his eventual suicide. A Roman statesman, he eventually sided with Pompey against Cæsar and chose to kill himself after the latter's decisive victory at Thapsus.
Gaius Valerius Catullus (c84-54BC): Roman lyric poet, born in Verona to a wealthy and well-connected family. In Rome he became friendly with Cicero. He is known for his lyric poems of passion written to a married woman 'Lesbia'. A fiery, unscrupulous partisan, he assailed his enemies, including Julius Cæsar with scurrility and wit. His extant works comprise 116 pieces, many very brief.
Aulus Cornelius Celsus (1st century): Roman writer, who compiled an encyclopedia on medicine, rhetoric, history, philosophy, war and agriculture. The only extant portion is De Medicina, one of the first medical works to be printed (1478).
Chilon (6th century BC): Spartan sage, he held the office of ephor in 556 BC.
Chrysippus (c280-c206BC): Stoic philosopher, born in Soli in Cilicia. He wrote over 700 works elaborating the Stoic system, of which only fragments remain.
Marcus Tullius Cicero (106-43BC): A celebrated Roman orator and statesman, occasionally referred to as Tully, who was a prolific writer on many themes. Fifty-eight of his speeches survive, along with works on oratory, philosophical works and more than 800 letters. His denunciation of Mark Antony in the aftermath of Julius Cæsar's assassination led to his violent death. Q. Cicero was his brother.
Cineas (d. 270BC): Greek politician from Thessaly. The friend and minister of Pyrrhus, king of Epyrus, he was said to the most eloquent man of his time.
Appius Claudius (5th century BC): Consul in 471 BC, Appius Claudius was one of a ten-man commission (the decemviri) appointed in 451BC in response to popular demand to publish Rome's first code of laws, the so-called Twelve Tables. The commission tried to retain power, but was ousted in 449 by a popular uprising, In later legend he was cast as a figure of extreme wickedness.
Claudius (10BC-54AD): Fourth Roman emperor, brother of the emperor Tiberius, who largely kept him out of public life. His supposed imbeilicity protected him from Caligula, after whose assassination he was found hiding in the palace and proclaimed emperor by the soldiers. He had devoted much of his early life to study, and work several works now lost. His reign was marked by the expansion of the Roman empire. His third wife Messalina became notorious for her excesses and he eventually had her executed and married his niece Agrippina. He adopted her son Nero as his heir in preference to Britannicus, his own son by Messalina. He is said to have been fed poisoned mushrooms by Agrippina in order to secure Nero's succession.
Cleon (d. 422BC): Athenian soldier and politician, who rose from humble origins.
Cleopatra (69-30BC): The last and most famous of the Macedonian dynasty of the Ptolemies, by her father's will she should have shared the throne of Egypt with her younger brother but was ousted by his guardians. Julius Cæsar installed her on the throne in 47BC and she claimed that the child she bore the following year was his. She followed Cæsar to Rome but left after his assassination. She subsequently became personally and politically associated with Mark Antony, by whom she had 3 children. She was presented by Augustus as a threat to the power of Rome and she and Antony were defeated at the battle of Actium. After Antony's death she is supposed to have killed herself by causing an asp to bite her rather than be humiliated by Augustus.
Publius Clodius Pulcher (d. 52BC): Roman tribune in 58BC, he brought about Cicero's banishment and tyrannized with his gladiators until he was slain by Milo.
Lucius Aurelius Commodus (161-92): Roman emperor from 180, the son of Marcus Aurelius and Faustina. Though carefully educated and groomed for the succession, he proved unable to live up to the example of his father and his reign degenerated into one of the worst chapters in Roman imperial despotism. He was eventually strangled by Narcissus, a famous athlete, at the direction of his mistress Marcia. He was the last of the Antonine emperors.
Constantine the Great (c274-337): Properly Flavius Valerius Aurelius Constantinus, Roman emperor, born in Naissus in Upper Moesia. His father Constantius Chlorus became emperor in 305 and proclaimed Constantine his successor on his death the following year. The political situation was fraught (in 308 there were a total of 6 emperors), but Constantine secured his throne by military might. Christians were granted toleration throughout the empire in 313. Byzantium became the capital of the empire and was renamed Constaninople. Christianity became the state religion in 324 and in 325 a Church Council renounced Arianism and adopted the Nicene Creed. Constantine received baptism shortly before his death. His later years were vicious, seeing the execution of his eldest son Crispus for treason (326) and of his second wife Fausta (327). He proposed to divide the empire between his 3 sons by Fausta: Constantius, Constantine and Constans. Constantine was defeated by Constans at Aquileia (340) and Constans met a violent end in 350, leaving Constantius sole emperor.
Lucius Licinius Crassus (140-91 BC): Roman orator, during whose year as consul a rigorous law was enacted banishing from Rome all those who did not have the full rights of citizens. He is the chief speaker in Cicero's De Oratore, and represents the writer's own views.
Croesus (6th century BC): The last king of Lydia who succeeded his father c. 560BC. He made the Greeks of Asia Minor his tributaries and extended his kingdom eastward from the Aegean to the Halys. His wealth was proverbial. He was defeated and imprisoned by Cyrus the Great in 546BC; the manner of his death is lost in legend.
Cyrus the Great (d.529BC): Founder of the Persian empire, who made himself master of all Asia from the Mediterranean to the Hindu Kush. He ended the Babylonian captivity of the Jews and in the Bible is called the Shepherd and the Annointed of Jehovah.
Cyrus the Younger (424-401BC): Younger brother of Artaxerxes, king of Persia, against whom he conspired in 404 and was condemned to death, but subsequently reprieved. In 401 he led an army against his brother, but was defeated and slain at Cunaxa.
Darius (4th century BC): King of Persia from 336BC, he was defeated by Alexander the Great at the Granicus (334), at Issus (333) and at Gaugamela or Arbela (331). During flight he was slain by a satrap.
Demades (c380-319BC): Athenian orator and politician, a bitter enemy of Demosthenes. He was executed by Cascander, the son of Antipater.
Demetrius: The name of several kings of Macedon, including Demetrius Poliorcetes, 'beseiger of cities', king from 294BC until his expulsion in 288.
Democritus (c460-c370BC): Greek philosopher supposedly known as the 'laughing philosopher' because of his wry amusement at human foibles. He was one of the most prolific of ancient authors, but only fragments of his writings (on ethics) survive. He is best known for his physical speculations, and inparticular for the atomistic theory he developed from Leucippus, whereby the world consists of an infinite number of minute particles whose different combinations account for its infinite variety.
Demosthenes (384-322BC): Athenian orator and statesman. He initially gained repute as a constitutional lawyer and speech writer, he subsequently spearheaded the Athenian resistence to Philip of Macedon. After the death of Alexander he led the unsuccessful attempt to throw off the Macedonian yoke and took poison to avoid being captured alive.
Diagoras (5th century BC): An Athenian philosopher, who, seeing that a man who perjured himself when falsely claiming a poem written by Diagoras as his own was not punished by the gods, turned Atheist. The Areopagus, on account of his impieties and blasphemies, set a price on his head and he was forced to flee Athens.
Diocletian (245-313): Roman emperor and one of the architects of the Roman recovery after the troubles of the 3rd century. Diocletian was humbly born in Dalmatia and was declared emperor in 284 by the army at Chalcedon. He abdicated in 305 and devoted the rest of his life to philosophic reflection and gardening.
Diogenes of Sinope (c410-c320BC): Greek philosopher and moralist, a native of Sinope in Pontus. He founded the Cynic sect with Antisthenes. The Cynics preached an austere asceticism and self-sufficiency. He was said to have lived in a tub 'like a dog' (the origin of the term Cynic).
Dionysius the Elder (431-367BC): Tyrant of Syracuse, who made himself absolute ruler of his native city in 405BC. He was a poet and patrons of poets and philosophers but a hostile tradition depicts him as the destroyer of Greek liberties. He was succeeded by his son, Dionysius the Younger, who was reputedly indolent and dissolute and was eventually expelled.
Publius Cornelius Dolabella (c70-43BC): Roman politician and profligate son-in-law to Cicero. In 49BC he sought refuge from his creditors with Cæsar and as tribune he brought forward a bill canceling all debts which led to bloody struggles in Rome. After Cæsar's death he was briefly given charge of Syria, but when Laodicea was taken by Cassius had one of his own soldiers kill him.
Domitian (51-96): Roman emperor Titus Flavius Domitianus, a son of Vespasian, he succeeded his elder brother Titus in 81. He ruled well at first,but his autocratic manner and severity alienated the Roman upper classes and his reign declined into violence and terror. He eventually fell victm to one of many conspiracies, bringing the Flavian dynasty to an end.
Drusus (39-9BC): Roman soldier, son of Livia Drusilla and stepson of the emperor Augustus and younger brother of the emperor Tiberius. His campaign against the Rhaeti and other Alpine tribes was celebrated by Horace in his Odes. Until his death he was engaged chiefly in establishing Roman supremacy in Germany. Germanicus' was his son.
Empedocles (5th century BC): Greek philosopher and poet from Acragas in Sicily, who by tradition was also a doctor, statesman and soothsayer. He attracted various colourful but apocryphal anecdotes.
Epaminondas (c418-362BC): Theban statesman and general.
Epictetus (1st century): Greek Stoic philosopher, his pupil Arrian collected his sayings into a manual entitled the Enchiridion and into 8 volumes of Discourses, of which 4 survive. He taught a gospel of inner freedom through self-abnegation, submission to Providence and the love of one's enemies.
Epicurus (341-271BC): Greek philosopher and founder of the Epicurean school. He supposedly wrote some 300 volumes, but only 3 letters and a few fragments survive and most of our knowledge of his doctrines comes from Cicero, Plutarch and Lucretius. His philosophy was designed to promote detachment, serenity, and freedom from fear. Pleasure is the only good and goal of morality. Pleasure is defined not as sensuality, but as the absence of pain and anxiety and is cultivated through simplicity and temperance.
Epimenides: An epic poet of Crete in the time of Solon. He was reputed to have fallen asleep in a cave while attending his flocks and to have slept for 57 years.
Euclid (fl. 300BC)
: Greek mathemetician, author of the Elements of geometry in 13 books, which is the earliest substantial Greek treatise on mathematics to survive and stood as a model of rigorous mathematical exposition for centuries. Most of his other works on geometry, optics, astronomy and music are lost.
Euclides of Megara (c435-c365BC): Greek philosopher, a disciple of Socrates and mentioned by Plato as one of those who was with him in his last hours. He founded a school of 'Megarans', who are associated with various developments in logic.
Euripides (c480-406BC): Greek dramatist, of about 80 plays of his known to us, 18 survive complete.
Q. Fabius Maximus (d. 203BC): Roman soldier, five times consul and twice censor. In the second Punic War his delaying tactics earned him the epithet Cunctator ('Delayer').
Faustina: The name of two Roman empresses, Faustina the Elder (d. 141), wife of Antoninus Pius, and her daughter Faustina the Younger (d. 175), wife of Marcus Aurelius. Both women were reputed to be promiscuous and faithless.
Servius Sulpicius Galba (3BC-69AD): Roman emperor, proclaimed by the Gallic legions in 68 after their rising against Nero. He made himself unpopular by favouritism, ill-timed severity and avarice and was assassinated.
Galen (c130-c201): Greek physician, born in Pergamum in Asia Minor. He was physician to the emperors Marcus Aurelius, Commodus and Severus. He was a voluminous writer on medical and philosophical subjects, with 83 treatises and 15 commentaries on Hippocrates extant under his name. He was a careful dissector of animals.
Gaius Cornelius Gallus (c70-26BC): Roman poet, born in Forum Julii, Gaul. Living in Rome, he became a friend of Ovid and Virgil. He was appointed prefect of Egypt by Augustus, but having fallen into disfavour and been banished, committed suicide.
Aulus Gellius (2nd century): Latin author of Noctes Atticae, a medley of language, antiquities, history and literature. It contains many extracts from lost authors.
Germanicus Cæsar (15BC-9AD): Roman soldier, son of Nero Claudius Drusus and of Antonia, a niece of Augustus. He was adopted by the emperor Tiberius and in 13 was appointed to the command of 8 legions on the Rhine. Tiberius, jealous of his success, recalled him in 17 and sent him to the East while appointing the envious Calpurnius Piso as viceroy of Syria to counteract him. He died near Antioch, probably of poison. His wife was Agrippina the Elder. She and 2 of his sons died in suspicious circumstances, but his son Caligula survived to become emperor.
Gordian Pius (c.224-244): Roman emperor, proclaimed by the Praetorians as a child on the death of his father in battle and the subsequent suicide of his grandfather.
Hadrian Cæsar(76-138): Publius Aelius Hadrianus was proclaimed emperor by the army on the death of Trajan. About 120 he began a long tour of the empire, not returning to Rome until 126. He reorganised the army, ruled justly and was a patron of the arts.
Hannibal (247-182BC): 'The grace of Baal', Carthaginian general in the Second Punic War. The son of Hamilcar who made him swear eternal enmity to Rome when he was 9. He is famous for his crossing of the Alps in 15 days against almost insuperable obstacles.
Heliogabalus (204-22): Roman emperor proclaimed by the soldiers in 218. His brief reign was marked by extravagant personal behaviour and intolerant promotion of the Syro-Phoenician sun god Elagabal (of whom he was appointed high priest as a child and from whom he took his name). He was murdered in a palace revolution.
Heraclitus (fl. 500BC): Greek philosopher, born in Ephesus of an old aristocratic family. Only fragments of his On Nature remain. His most famous doctrine is that everything is in a state of flux, the apparent unity and stability in the world concealing a dynamic tension between opposites controlled by reason or its physical manifestation, fire.
Herillus: A philosopher of Chaledon, the pupil of Zeno.
Herodian (170-240): Greek historian, born in Syria. He lived in Rome and wrote a history of the Roman emperors in 8 books, from the death of Marcus Aurelius (180) to the accession of Gordian III (238).
Hesiod (c8th century BC): One of the earliest known Greek poets, his Theogony tells of the origin of the universe out of Chaos and the history of the gods.
Hiero (d. c466BC): King of Syracuse who won a great naval victory over the Etruscans in 474. He was the patron of several poets, including Simonides.
Hippias of Elis (5th century BC): Greek sophist, a contemporary of Socrates. He is portrayed in Plato's dialogues as a virtuoso teacher, orator and polymath.
Hippocrates (5-4th century BC): Greek physician, known as the 'father of medicine'. He was born and practised on the island of Cos, but little is known of him. The so-called 'Hippocratic Corpus ' are 72 medical and surgical treastises written over two centuries by his followers, of which little can be directly ascribed to him. He believed that the 4 humours (blood, phlegm, yellow bile and black bile) were the primary seats of disease.
Homer (8th century BC): Greek epic poet, to whom are attributed two distinct but complementary epics: the Illiad, telling of the fall of Troy, and the Odyssey, telling of the wanderings of Odysseus on his way back to Ithaca. Nothing certain is known about his life and some scholars have suggested that no individual author of these poems existed.
Hortensius Hortalus (d. 50BC): Roman orator, the great rival of Cicero in his youth. His death ostensibly inspired Cicero to write the Brutus (46BC), a history of Roman oratory.
Iphicrates (415-353BC): Athenian soldier. He is known for introducing a new and more mobile form of infantry, the 'peltasts'.
Jason of Pherae (4th century BC): Leader responsible for the rise of Thessaly in the years 375-370BC, until he was assassinated.
Julia (36BC-14AD): Daughter of the emperor Augustus and Scribonia, she was married at the age of 14 to her cousin Marcellus, a nephew of Augustus, who died in 23BC. In 21BC she married Marcus Vipsanius Agrippa, by whom she had 3 sons and 2 daughters. He died in 12BC, whereupon she was married to Tiberius the following year. The marriage was unhappy and in 2BC her father, learning of her adulteries, banished her. She subsequently starved herself to death.
Flavius Claudius Julianus (c331-363): The youngest son of Constantius and half-brother of Constantine the Great he survived a massacre of the males of the younger line of the Flavian family on Constantine's death, but the experience embittered him and led him to renounce Christianity. On becoming emperor in 361 he adopted a policy of toleration towards Jews and Christians, while restoring the old pagan religion and stripping the church of its privileges.
Justinian (c482-565): Emperor of the East Roman Empire from 527, which he restored to its ancient limits. It was as a legislator he gained his enduring renown. In 529 he published the Codex, by which all previous imperial enactments were repealed. In 533 the Digesta harmonized the writings of jurists on Roman law and the Institutiones presented a systematic elementary treatise on the law.
Leucippus (5th century BC): Greek philosopher, the originator of the atomistic cosmology later developed by Democritus and expounded in the De Rerum Natura of Lucretius.
Livia (58BC-29AD): Drusilla Livia, later called Julia Augusta, was the 3rd wife of the emperor Augustus, whom she married in 39BC after divorcing her first husband Tiberius Claudius Nero. From her first marriage she had two sons, Tiberius and Nero Claudius Drusus, but her marriage to Augustus was childless. She was believed to have been influential over Augustus and to have promoted the interests of her sons at the expense of her husband's family, but her relationship with Tiberius became strained when he did not accept her influence after his own accession.
Livy (59BC-17AD): Titus Livius was a Roman historian born in Padua to a noble and wealthy family. He settled in Rome c29BC and was admitted to the court of Augustus, despite his advowed preference for republicanism. Of the 142 books of his history of Rome from foundation to the death of Nero Claudius Drusus (9BC) only 35 remain.
Lucan (39-65): Roman poet born in Cordoba, Spain, nephew of the philosopher Seneca the younger. For several years he was held in high favour by Nero, but the emperor grew jealous of his literary success and forbade him to write poetry. He joined a conspiracy against Nero, but was betrayed and forced to commit suicide. The epic poem Pharsalia concerning the civil war between Pompey and Cæsar is the only surviving example of his poetry.
Lucian (c117-180): Greek satirist and rhetorician, born in Syria. He made his name as a peripatetic speech-maker, but eventually settled in Athens where he studied philosophy. He introduced a new form of literature - the humourous dialogue. He wrote at a time of increasing decline of the old faiths, old philosophy and old literature and this provided the subject matter for his satire.
Lucretia: Roman matron, the wife of L. Tarquinius Collatinus. According to legend she was raped by Sextus Tarquinius, son of Tarquinius Superbus, summoned her husband and friends, made them take an oath to drive out the Tarquins and then plunged a knife into her own heart.
Lucretius (c99-55BC): Roman poet and philosopher, said to have died mad from the effects of a love potion given to him by his wife Lucilia. He wrote the hexameter poem De Natura Rerum in 6 books, attempting to popularize the philosophical theories of Democritus and Epicurus on the origin of the universe with the special purpose of eradicating religious belief which he denounced as the source of man's misery and wickedness.
Lucullus (c110-57BC): Lucius Licinius Lucullus was a Roman soldier born of a plebian family. During his career he acquired prodigious wealth and spent the remainder of his life in the luxury that has become synominous with his name. He was a great patron of arts.
Lycurgus: Traditional, possibly legendary, lawgiver of Sparta, who is said to have instigated the Spartan ideals of harsh military discipline.
Lysander (d. 395BC): Spartan naval commander, who took Athens in 404BC and so ended the Peloponnesian war.
Lysimachus (d. 281BC): Macedonian general of Alexander the Great, afterwards king in Thrace, to which he added north-west Asia Minor and Macedonia.
Macrobius (5th century): Roman writer and neo-Platonist philosopher. He wrote a commentary on Cicero's Somnium Scipionis and Saturnaliorum Conviviorum Libri Septem, a series of historical, mythological and critical dialogues.
Maecenas (d. 8BC): Gaius Cilnius Maecenas was a Roman statesman and trusted counsellor of Augustus. His name became a synonym for a patron of letters.
Gaius Marius (157-86BC): Consul 6 times between 107 and 100BC, this Roman soldier was the victor over Jugurtha and saviour of Rome from the Cimbri and Teutones. He was infamous for his revenge against the aristocrats on his return to Rome with Cinna after a dispute with Sulla had led to a brief civil war: 4000 slaves carried out the work of murder for 5 days and nights.
Martial (c40-c104): Roman poet and epigrammatist, born in Bilbilis, Spain. He went to Rome in 64 and retired to Bulbilis in 98AD. He courted imperial and senatorial patronage by his verses for particular events, his earliest known work being De Spectaculis celebrating the opening of the Colosseum in 80AD. The 12 books of his satirical epigrams appeared between 86 and 101.
Menander (342-c292BC): Greek poet, the greatest writer of Attic comedy. He wrote over 100 comedies, although only a few fragments were known until the 20th century, when 1328 lines from four plays were found on a papyrus in 1906 and a complete play The Bad-Tempered Man in 1957.
Messalina (c25-c48): Third wife of the emperor Claudius, whom she married at the age of 14 and by whom she had 2 children: Octavia (wife of Nero) and Britannicus. Her name has become a byword for avarice, lust and cruelty. In her husband's absence she publicly married one of her favourites, the consul-designate Silius, leading to her execution by Claudius.
Metellus Pius (1st century BC): A Roman general who was having some success in Spain against the rebel general Sertorius, when Pompey arrived to steal his limelight.
Mithridates (d. 63BC): King of Pontus from 120BC. He fought three wars against the Romans, being eventually defeated by Pompey (66BC). His schemes of vengeance were thwarted by his son's rebellion and he committed suicide. He had received a Greek education, spoke 22 languages and made a great collection of pictures and statues.
Gaius Licinus Mucianus (1st century): Legate of Syria and supporter of Vespasian, instrumental in establishing the provisional government when the latter became emperor.
Nero (37-68): Born in Antium, the son of Cnaeus Domitus Ahenobarbus and Agrippina, he was adopted in 50BC by Claudius, his mother's third husband. After the death of Claudius he was declared emperor by the Praetorian Guards. His reign began with much promise, but descended into debauchery, extravagance and tyranny. He was responsible for the deaths of his mother, two wives, his half-brother and half-sister and the husband of his third wife. Following the burning of two-thirds of Rome in 64, for which he scapegoated the Christians, he rebuilt the city at great expense. In 68 the Gallic and Spanish legions and then the Praetorians rose against him in favour of Galba and Nero committed suicide.
Nerva (c32-98): Elected Roman emperor by the Senate in 96 after the assassination of Domitian. He introduced liberal reforms but lacked military support and had to adopt Trajan as his successor.
Numa Pompilius (8-7th century BC): Second of Rome's early kings, who according to tradition ruled from 715-673BC. He sought solitude on pretence of consulting the nymph Egeria.
Octavius: The name of Augustus before he became emperor.
Otho (32-69): Marcus Salvius Otho was a close friend of the emperor Nero and husband of Sabina Poppeia, who became Nero's second wife and was murdered by him. He joined Galba's successful revolt against Nero, but turned against the new emperor when he was not proclaimed his successor. After Galba was slain, Otho was recognised as emperor everywhere except Germany, whence Aulus Vitellius marched on Italy and defeated his forces. Otho then committed suicide, having been emperor only 3 months.
Parmenides of Elea (5th century BC): Greek philosopher from Southern Italy, founder of the Eleatic school (which included his pupils Zeno and Melissus). His treatise On Nature, written in hexameter verse and of which substantial fragments survive, represented a radical departure from the cosmologies of his predecessors and set an agenda of problems for the subsequent pre-Socratic philosophers.; Theban soldier, whose 'sacred band' of Theban youth largely contributed to the victory of Epaminondas at Leuctra (371), which drove the Spartans out of central Greece.
Periander (c625-585BC): Tyrant of Corinth who developed Corinth's power and position in the Greek world. Later tradition remembered him as an example of a repressive tyrant, but he was also included in the canon of the Seven Wise Men of Greece.
Pericles (c490-429BC): Athenian statesman under whose patronage Athenian architecture and sculpture reached their apogee.
Publius Helvius Pertinax (126-93AD): Roman emperor, born in Alba-Pompeia in Liguria. He was forced to accept the purple by the assassins of Commodus, but was killed by rebellious praetorians three months later.
Gaius Petronius (1st century): Termed by Tacitus arbiter elegantiae at the court of Nero, the aider and abettor of the emperor and his entourage in all forms of sensual indulgence. This aroused the jealousy of another confidant, Tigellinus, who procured his disgrace and banishment. Ordered to commit suicide, he opened his veins. He is generally thought the same person as the satirical author of the Satyricon.
Philip of Macedon (382-336BC): Father of Alexander and founder of Macedonian greatness. A younger son he took the throne from his infant nephew, built up the army and followed a policy of expansion. He created the conditions which enabled his son to conquer the Persian empire after he himself had been assassinated.
Philo Judæus (1st century): Hellenistic Jewish philosopher, born in Alexandria, where he was a leading member of the Jewish community. A prolific author, he attempted to effect a synthesis between Jewish scripture and Greek philosophy and greatly influenced later Greek Christian theologians.
Philopoemen (c252-183BC): Greek soldier born in Megalopolis in Arcadia, who attempted to unite the Greeks against the Romans.
Phocion (c402-318BC): Athenian soldier, who fought against Philip of Macedon, but after 340BC tried to persuade the Athenians to make peace with Philip and his successors. During a brief return to democracy in Athens, he was executed for treason.
Phormio (5th century BC): Athenian naval strategist under whom the Athenians acquired the courage and skill to manoeuvre in the open sea.
Pindar (c522-c440BC): Greek lyric poet, who wrote hymns to the gods, pæans, dithyrambs, odes for processions, mimic dancing songs, convivial songs, dirges and odes in praise of princes. Of much of his output only fragments survive, but his Triumphal Odes celebrating victories won in the Olympian, Phythian, Nemean and Isthmian games are extant.
Plato (c428-c348BC): Greek philosopher, the pupil of Socrates and the teacher of Aristotle. He recorded the story of the former's last days in the Apology, the Crito and the Phaedo. He founded the Academy in Athens (c387BC), which became a centre for philosophical, mathematical and scientific research. His corpus of writings consists of some 30 philosophical dialogues, including the Republic which describes his political utopia, and a series of Letters.
Plautus (c250-184BC): Roman writer of comedies. He borrowed his plots to a large extent from the New Attic Comedy, which dealt with social life rather than politics. Of about 130 plays that were attributed to him, there are 21 extant that are thought to be genuine.
Pliny the Elder (23-79) and Pliny the Younger (62-113): Gaius Plinius Secundus 'the Elder' was a Roman writer on natural history. He apparently wrote the Studiosus, a treatise defining the culture necessary for the orator, and the grammatical work Dubius Sermo for his nephew Pliny the Younger, whose guardian he became in 71. He bequeathed his nephew the 160 volumes of manuscrupt which he used to compile his universal encyclopædia in 37 volumes Historia Naturalis. His observations, made at secondhand, show no discrimination between fact and fiction. Pliny the Younger was a noted orator. His panegyric of Trajan is laboured, but his 10 volumes of letters give an intimate picture of upper class Roman life and his correspondence with Trajan is informative for the early history of Christianity.