Search
Search Results
Definition
Renaissance Humanism
Renaissance Humanism was an intellectual movement typified by a revived interest in the classical world and studies which focussed not on religion but on what it is to be human. Its origins went back to 14th-century Italy and such authors...
Definition
Isocrates
Isocrates (436-338 BCE) was an ancient Athenian rhetorician, characterized as one of the most prominent orators of his time, even though it appears that he restricted himself to writing speeches and not orating them himself. His most notable...
Article
Roman Students in Athens
Training in oratory was a crucial part of Roman education; it was associated with a young boy's transition into adult life. As Athens was considered the intellectual centre of the eastern Mediterranean, many students undertook long journeys...
Definition
Aspasia of Miletus
Aspasia of Miletus (l. c. 470-410/400 BCE) is best known as the consort of the great Athenian statesman Pericles. Her life story has always been given in the shadow of Pericles' fame, but she was a woman of great eloquence and intelligence...
Definition
Benito Mussolini - Founder of Fascism
Benito Mussolini (1883–1945) was the founder of fascism and dictator of Italy from 1922 to 1943. He led the country into a highly authoritarian regime and then dragged it into the Second World War (1939-45) on the side of Nazi Germany. Mussolini...
Definition
Augustine of Hippo
Aurelius Augustinus Hipponensis (354-430), better known as Augustine of Hippo, is extolled as the greatest of the Christian Church Fathers. More than any other writer, he developed what would become known as systematic theology, or an explanation...
Article
Roman Education
Roman education had its first 'primary schools' in the 3rd century BCE, but they were not compulsory and depended entirely on tuition fees. There were no official schools in Rome, nor were there buildings used specifically for the purpose...
Book Review
Gentry Rhetoric: Literacies, Letters, and Writing in an Elizabethan Community
European rhetoric and language usage have experienced many changes and modifications ever since ancient Greece and Roman orator Cicero's famous diction. Language, in history, has been used not just for functional communication but also as...
Image
Portrait of a Sophist
Portrait of a sophist (a teacher of philosophy and rhetoric), from Smyrna, 193–211 CE. Izmir Museum of History and Art, Turkey.
Definition
Hermes - The Messenger of the Olympian Gods
Hermes was the ancient Greek god of trade, wealth, luck, fertility, animal husbandry, sleep, language, thieves, and travel. One of the cleverest and most mischievous of the 12 Olympian gods, Hermes was their herald and messenger. In that...