Amyot, Jacques, 1513–93, French humanist, translator of Heliodorus' Aethiopica (1547), of Longus' Daphnis and Chloë (1559), and particularly of Plutarch's Lives (1559).

Draco or Dracon, fl. 621 B.C., Athenian politician and law codifier. Of his codification of Athenian customary law only the section dealing with involuntary homicide is preserved. From this an...

Holland, Philemon, 1552–1637, English translator and scholar. Educated at Cambridge, he became director of the free school in Coventry, where he also practiced medicine. He was the first Engli...

North, Sir Thomas, 1535?–1601?, English translator. He is famous for his translation of Plutarch, entitled Lives of the Noble Grecians and Romans (1579), which he made from the French of Jacqu...

, ancient town of Boeotia, Greece, in the Cephissus (now Kifisós) River valley and NW of Thebes. There the Athenians and Thebans were defeated (338 B.C.) by the Macedonians under Philip II, an...

Coriolanus (Gnaeus Marcius Coriolanus), Roman patrician. He is said to have derived his name from the capture of the Volscian city Corioli. According to legend he was expelled from Rome becaus...

Calpurnia, d. after 44 B.C., Roman matron. The daughter of Lucius Calpurnicus Piso Caesoninus (see under Piso, family), she was married to Julius Caesar in 59 B.C. She was loyal to him despite...

Dio Chrysostom, d. after A.D. 112, Greek Sophist and orator [Chrysostom=golden-mouthed], b. Prusa (modern Bursa) in Bithynia. He lived at Rome under Emperor Domitian, who subsequently banished...

Anecdote, brief narrative of a particular incident. An anecdote differs from a short story in that it is unified in time and space, is uncomplicated, and deals with a single episode. The liter...

Pelopidas, d. 364 B.C., Theban general. When the Spartans seized the citadel of Thebes (now Thívai) in 382, he fled to Athens and prepared the coup that recovered the city (379). He fostered a...