P

pacifico - (Latin) to make peace.

paedagogus - (Latin) a slave or freedman in charge of educating children; paedagogus were employed by wealthy families that could afford their fees.

Paestum - a city in southern Italy originally called Posidonia by the Greeks; when the Romans conquered the city in 273 BCE and established a colony there, the name of the city was changed to Paestum; archaeologists have studied the excellent remains of Doric temples found at Paestum.

paidotribes - physical trainers of athletics for competition in ancient Greece.

• The Ancient Olympics

painter - the person who painted a vase; Sometimes an ancient Greek vase painter signed a name or painted his shop's symbol on a vase thus a vase will be attributed to a person or painters' shop.

pala - (Latin) a trowel; a plank for putting bread in an oven.

palaestra scene - a scene in which wrestler are being trained; a palaestra is a wrestling school, see the Olympia, Palaestra; for an example of a palaestra scene, see Boston 01.8019 (image).

Palatine Hill - one of the seven hills of Rome on which was found the earliest evidence of Roman civilization (eighth century BCE). The home of Evander and Pallas in the Aeneid.

Pallas - epithet for Athena; (2) daughter of Triton who grew up with Athena; together Athena and Pallas practiced warfare but one day, just as Pallas was about to strike Zeus feared for Athena and appeared between the two girls; Zeus held the aegis in front of Pallas who was so frightened that she failed to parry Athena's blow and was killed; in honor of Pallas, Athena constructed a statue, the Palladium; (3) a Titan who, according to Hesiod, coupled with Styx who bore him Zelos, Nike, Cratos and Bia; (4) son of Evander, whose death is avenged by Aeneas (Aeneid).

palmettes - a floral leaf pattern; for an example, see Harvard 1925.30.51 (image).

palmifer - (Latin) palm-tree bearing.

panis - (Latin) bread.

pankration - an ancient Greek athletic event involving a combination of wrestling and boxing though no himantes, boxing gloves, were used; in myth, the hero Theseus invented the pankration as a result of using both wrestling and boxing to defeat the Minotaur; a dangerous event, the pankration had two forms, kato pankration in which the athletes could fall to the ground and continue the match, and ano pankration in which athletes had to remain standing throughout the match; competitors could use moves like the gastrizein, the ‘stomach trick’, a kick to the gut, as well as the apopternizein, the ‘heel trick’, where a foot was grab to throw an opponent off balance; also one opponent could hold another and punch him during a match; for an example, see Toledo 1961.41 (image).

• The Ancient Olympics

panoply - a complete suit of armor; armed figures are referred to as "in full panoply;" for an example, see Philadelphia MS2489 (image).

Pantheon - a temple with an inscription that reads “M.Agrippa L.F. Cos tertium fecit” claiming to have been built by Agrippa; the original, completed in 27 BCE, was burned in the fire in Rome in 80 CE and rebuilt during the time of Hadrian; an opening in the roof of the temple allows in air and light.

• Maecenas Image of the Pantheon

parabasis - in ancient Greek, "going aside or coming forward"; in Old Comedy, a parabasis is a scene in which all of the actors are of stage and the chorus directly addresses the audience; the chorus, although partly in character, speaks for the poet.

parados - in ancient Greek, a "side entrance"; the first entrance of the chorus and the side entrance by which the chorus enters.

Parcae - three Roman goddesses of fate, counterparts to the Greek Moirae; the Parcae were originally attendants at childbirth depicted as spinning the thread of life and measuring it out as a representation of the length of a person's life; the Parcae presided over birth, marriage, and death; populary they were known as the tria Fata, the Three Fates.

parens - (Latin) an actual parent or, more generally, one's ancestors.

Paris - son of Priam and Hecuba, brother of Hektor; also known as Alexandros; called on by Zeus to judge the fairest among Hera, Athena and Aphrodite; Aphrodite promised Paris Helen as a reward if Paris judged Aphrodite the fairest; Aphrodite helped Paris abduct Helen and thus caused the Trojan war.

parodos - side entrance to the theater (image); also, the entrance song of the chorus in tragedy and comedy.

parody - a literary genre mimicking the style of an author or genre in a literary work for the purpose of ridicule or satire.

parse - to give a grammatical break down of a word describing form and syntax.

Parthenon - the temple of Athena on the Acropolis in Athens; begun in 449 BCE, it was dedicated in 438 but did not finish construction until 432 BCE; a large cult statue by the famous sculptor Phidias was kept in the Parthenon and beautiful friezes decorated the temple.

• Teacher's Companion: Athena

Parthia - a land found near modern-day Iran; the Parthians became a powerful people, and the traditional date of the Parthian era began in 247 BCE; they had a contentious relationship with the Roman empire; they were an autonomous culture, although there were borrowings from Rome, Greece, and Persia; the Parthians are defeated by Longinus by 51 BCE; Parthians invade Syria and take Jerusalem in 40 BCE.

pasco - (Latin) to graze.

passum - (Latin) in Rome, a sweet wine sauce that becomes thick after boiling it for a long time.

pastor - (Latin) a shepherd, one who tends sheep.

pastoral - a literary genre. Originally a poem dealing with shepherds, a pastoral is usually written by an urban poet who idealizes the shepherds' lives. The term has now been extended to include any literary work which views and idealizes the simple life from the perspective of a more complex life. [Contributor: Dr. Ismail S. Talib, National University of Singapore.]

pater patriae - (Latin) “father of the fatherland”; the Senate gave the title pater patriae to Augustus in 2 BCE.

paterfamilias - (Latin) the head of a household; the paterfamilias had power over the rest of his family and slaves; he was in charge of any family business, property and religious rites.

pathos - the sense of pity or sorrow aroused by a particular element or scene in a literary work. [Contributor: Dr. Ismail S. Talib, National University of Singapore.]

patria - (Latin) fatherland, homeland.

patriarchy - 'father rule'; community in which the father is the supreme authority.

patricii - (Latin) wealthy, powerful, hereditary class of Roman citizens; the word “patrician” is derived from pater (father); the patricians initially held most priesthoods and powerful governmental magistracies; the senate was not only for patricians, but belonging to a patrician clan was a boon for joining the senate; eventually, many priesthoods and magistracies opened up to wider participation, but some priesthoods remained solely patrician; the patrician class grew smaller as they were unable to reproduce themselves adequately, so Augustus and later emperors were able to give patrician status to certain people and their families.

Patroklos (Patroclus) - son of Menoetius, best friend of Achilles through adulthood and was related to Achilles through Aegina, Patroclus' paternal grandmother; as a boy Patroclus killed Clitonymus over a game of knucklebones and was exiled; Achilles' father, Peleus, accepted Patroclus as a gesture of hospitality into his court during Patroclus' exile; Patroclus is killed by Hektor and his death is avenged by Achilles who kills Hektor.

patronymic - a name inherited from a paternal ancestor.

pavimentum - (Latin) the second layer of a Roman road consisting of a foundation of lime mortar or sand; the pavimentum formed a level base and was laid after the earth, on which the road was to be laid, was tamped firm.

• Layers of the Roman Road

pax - (Latin) peace

pecus - (Latin) single head of a herd, commonly cattle or sheep.

pedegogus - (Latin) school teacher.

pediment -a triangular piece that is located over a doorway, fireplace or the lintel of a temple; the pediment could contain a decorative frieze, engraving or painting.

pelekys - a double axe.

Peloponnese - large peninsula that forms the southernmost part of mainland Greece; named after Pelops, who conquered the area and dispersed his sons over the region to rule; the Peloponnese was the location for the First and Second Peloponnesian Wars between Athens and Sparta; the First Peloponnesian War ended in ca. 446 BCE and the Second Peloponnesian War began in 431 BCE and lasted until 404 BCE.

Peloponnesian War - war fought between Athens and Sparta that occurred between 431-404 BCE; Athens sought to expand its influence and Sparta attempted to curb that growth; the Peloponnesian War is most thoroughly recounted by Thucydides.

Pelops - son of Tantalus and Dione; Tantalus killed Pelops and cut him into pieces for a stew; the stew was served to the gods by Tantalus; all the gods but Demeter recognized the meat as human; famished, Demeter ate Pelops’ shoulder; the gods reconstructed Pelops and brought him back to life replacing the missing shoulder with ivory; Poseidon became his protector and took Pelops to Olympus where Pelops served as the god’s cup bearer; Pelops was sent back to Tantalus after Poseidon caught Tantalus using Pelops to steal ambrosia and nectar though Poseidon remained Pelops’ protector; according to Pindar, Pelops is the founder of the Olympic games; Pelops came from Asia Minor to participate in a chariot race organized by the king of Pisa, Oenomaos; race participants were suitors of Oenomaos’ daughter, Hippodameia; heeding an oracle that said his daughter would cause his death, Oenomaos ordered all suitors who participated in the race to be killed; during the race, Pelops kills Oenomaos with the help of Poseidon and then goes on to marry Hippodameia; two myths offer different reasons why Pelops then founded the Olympic games; he either did it to purify himself for killing Oenomaos or as thanks to the gods for his victory.

• The Ancient Olympics

peltast - a foot soldier or infantryman; derived from the word meaning a small, unrimmed shield; for an example, see Harvard 1959.219 (image).

penates - (Latin) patron gods of a family, also called lares; famously, in Virgil’s Aeneid, Aeneas leaves Troy with his father Anchises, his son Ascanius and his penates..

• Netshot: Vergil

Penelope - faithful wife of Odysseus, mother of Telemachus; holds suitors at bay for 20 years by weaving Laertes' shroud by day and unraveling it by night because she would not remarry until the shroud was complete.

• The Aftermath: Post Iliad through the Odyssey

penicullus - (Latin) a pencil or stylus; also an artist's brush.

pensio - (Latin) payment, day of payment.

pentathlon - an Olympic event comprised of five events, discus, javelin, long jump, running, and wrestling; the exact order of the events is unknown, it is also unknown whether the victor had to win all the events or just the majority; in myth, it was Jason who invented the pentathlon.

• The Ancient Olympics

Penthesilea - daughter of Ares and Otrere; Amazon queen killed by Achilles at Troy where she and her warriors had gone to help Priam; see the death of Penthesilea on Toledo 1955.225 (image) .

Pentheus - Theban king, tragic hero of the Bacchae who is sent by Dionysus to spy on the Bacchantes and once discovered is torn to pieces.

• Netshot: Euripides' Bacchae

peplos - a long cloak or robe; for an example, see Toledo 1956.70 (image).

perambulo - (Latin) to walk through.

perbeatus - (Latin) very happy, this word is related to the verb beo, meaning to make happy.

Perdiccas - a Macedonian noble who commanded a position of military power under Alexander the Great; after Alexander's death in 323 BCE, he became the regent, ruling in place of Philip II's other son, Philip Arrhidaeus, and Alexander's unborn child; his power grew, but eventually his plays for power alarmed others; Antipater, Craterus and Ptolemy all declared war on Perdiccas in 321 BCE and, after long battles, Perdiccas was killed.

perfidus - (Latin) disloyal ; the English word “perfidy” is etymologically linked to this word.

Pergamum - a large city in Asia Minor (today in Turkey); in 133 BCE, King Attalus III left the territory to Rome in his will; however, this bequest was not popular and Aristonicus led a rebellion of slaves and the poor against Rome; Aristonicus wanted to create a kingdom named “The City of the Sun” that would worship Helios, the sun god; Rome defeated Aristonicus and his rebels and Pergamum became known as the Roman province of Asia.

Periander - son of Cypselus; upon the death of his father in 625 BCE, Periander begins his reign as tyrant of Corinth and aggressively continues Corinth's economic expansion by founding colonies on the coasts both northwest and northeast of Greece to increase trade with the interior regions there; Periander loses the support of Corinth's people as a result of his cruelty; according to one story, Periander asks the tyrant Thrasybulus how he to keep his power; Thrasybulus responds by cutting off the tallest ears of corn in a corn field; Periander understands Thrasybulus' action to mean that he should kill or exile his potential political opponents which he does; following the death of Periander in 585 BCE, a government based on the rule of a board of eight magistrates and a council of eighty men is established in Corinth.

• Perseus Historical Overview: 6.17. Tyranny at Corinth

Periboea - (see entry (5) in Perseus Encyclopedia) wife of Polybus, adoptive mother of Oedipus, who takes him in after he is found on Mt. Cithaeron near Thebes.

period - a designated length of time in history.

peripateia - a plot reversal; a plot device in a play through which a character's situation changes dramatically from secure to vulnerable.

Peripatetic - founded by Aristotle, the Peripatetic school was where he taught philosophy to his students; this school is famously parodied in Aristophanes’ The Clouds.

Persepolis - a large settlement in Persis where the Achmaeneid royalty kept a residence; in 331 BCE, Alexander the Great conquered Persepolis and razed it; Alexander's men burned and looted the city; archaeological excavations of Persepolis have unearthed many administrative texts and reliefs.

Persians - the largest, wealthiest, and most powerful military state in the ancient Mediterranean and Near Eastern world ca. 500 BCE; a diplomatic misunderstanding in 499 BCE caused the king of Persia, Darius I, to send a great army and navy again the Greeks whom he thought were being disloyal subjects; the Persians began their first expedition against the Greeks in 490 BCE; in 479 BCE, the Spartans defeated the Persians at battle of Plataea in Boeotia and the Athenian navy defeated the Persians at Mykale on the coast of Ionia thus ending the Persian Wars; the Athenians eventually form the Delian League against the Persians in 478 BCE. See below for map of the Persian Empire:

• Perseus Historical Overview: 8. Clash Between the Greeks and Persian
• Alexander the Great

Persian Wars - numerous battles between the Greeks and the Persians that took place between the 6th and 4th centuries; initially, the unified Greeks fought against Darius the Great and some Greek territories were conquered by the Persians; later, the Greeks sought to liberate some of those Persian-controlled territories; Xerxes I, leader of the Persian Empire in the late 480s BCE, amassed a colossal force against the Greeks; the Greeks defeated the Persians and successfully liberated its territories; the battles between the Persians and Greeks were chronicled by Herodotus in The Histories.

personification - the attribution of human characteristics and/or form to inanimate objects and abstract ideas.

petasos - a Thessalian broad-brimmed hat; for an example, see Dewing 2240 (image).

Petronius - author of the Menippean satire The Satyricon; the Satyricon is an extended piece of work of which only fragments remain today; not much is known definitely about the author; it has been suggested that the Petronius who wrote the Satyricon is the man mentioned by Tacitus as the "arbiter elegentiae" or "judge of elegance" during the time of Nero, which would have placed him very highly in Nero's court.

pervalidus - (Latin) very strong.

pervideo - (Latin) to look over, to inspect, to discern.

peto - (Latin) to seek, to ask for.

Phaedrus - Roman writer of Latin animal fables, born in Macedonia in 14 CE; Phaedrus came to Italy as a slave when he was young; later he was granted freedom by Augustus, the first Roman emperor; some of Phaedrus' fables are original works while others are rewrites of fables attributed to the ancient Greek writer, Aesop; Phaedrus wrote in iambic verse and 93 of his fables are extant; each fable is written in simple Latin and draws a clear moral.

• The Fables of Phaedrus: Reading Exercises in Latin

Phaistos - an ancient city on the island of Crete that existed during the Geometric, archaic, Classical, and Hellenistic periods; the site is known for the Minoan palace and surrounding pre-palatial complex located on the site; well-preserved remains from the Geometric and Hellenistic periods were found at Phaistos; the city was destroyed by the neighboring city of Gortyn in the second century BCE; for more on Phaiston and to view images of the ancient city, follow the link below.

• The Princeton Encyclopedia of Classical Sites: Phaistos

Pheidippides - son of Strepsiades in the Clouds.

phiale - a wide, flat bowl (image).

Philip II of Macedonia - (382-336 BCE) Macedonian king; he usurped the throne from his nephew after King Perdiccas, Philip's brother, died; Phillip strengthened and unified Macedonia after he became king; he continually added more land to his kingdom, both by war and by treachery; in 338 BCE he conquered Greece after winning the decisive battle of Chaeronea against a united Thebes and Athens; he married Olympias, a princess from Epirus (modern Albania); he was the father of Alexander the Great; Phillip was assassinated in 336 BCE during a public parade in Macedonia.

Philip V of Macedonia - (238-179 BCE) Philip V was a king of Macedonia; he fought in the Social War and the Second Macedonian War; he was beaten in the Battle of Cynoscephalae in Thessaly in 197 BCE; Philip V died in 179 BCE at Amphipolis.

Philippi - a city in Macedonia established by Philip of Macedon during the 4th century BCE; this city was the site of a famous battle in 42 BCE between Octavian and Antony on one side and Brutus and Cassius on the other; Octavian and Antony were triumphant and Brutus killed himself soon thereafter.

philosophy - 'love of wisdom'; rational investigation of theories and principles or knowledge, existence, and conduct.

Phoenix (Phoinix) - a colorful, mythical bird that did not die but burned itself and its nest and a new Phoenix rises from the ashes; (2) foster father of Achilles.

phonascus - (Latin) a teacher of music.

pictor - (Latin) painter; this word is linked to the Latin verb pingo, which means to paint or depict and whose fourth principle part is pictum.

pictura - (Latin) painting; many of the extant examples of Roman painting are frescoes, that is painting on wall plaster; however, there is evidence that informs us that painting was also done on wood, ivory and other materials.

pietas - (Latin) dutifulness; pietas meant religious piety but also piety towards family, government, and the state; in the Aeneid, Vergil repeatedly characterizes Aeneas as pius, meaning he respected the gods, his father and family, and his role in the fate of Rome.

piger - (Latin) Sluggish.

pigritia - (Latin) Laziness, idleness; Cicero asks his friend Atticus not to blame pigritia or laziness for his not writing the letter in his own handwriting in Book 16 Letter 15.

pinax - (Latin) plaque, panel or picture hung on a wall.

Pindar - ancient Greek writer of victory odes, epinician, in honor of the winners of athletic competitions; Pindar was commissioned to composed the odes by the victor, the victor’s family, or the victor’s hometown; born in Thebes in 518 BCE, Pindar wrote his first ode, Pythian 10, at age 20 and his last, Pythian 8, in 446 at age 72; Pindar traveled the Greek world composing odes for winners at the major athletic festivals at Olympia, Delphi, Nemea, and Corinth; his odes were sung by a dancing chorus and the surviving text include musical notations and choreographical directions; each ode includes a proclamation of the victor, the victory being celebrated, and the majority include a myth usually associated with the victor, his home, or the location of the games; when Alexander the Great destroyed Thebes, he did not burn Pindar's house out of respect for his work.

• The Ancient Olympics
• Biography of Pindar

pinguis - (Latin) fat.

pirus - (Latin) pear tree.

piscator - (Latin) fisherman; the Roman diet relied upon fish and other seafood; the man who provided the city with fish was the piscator; this word is tied to the Latin word for “fish”, piscis.

piscina - (Latin) a place for swimming, a bath, a pond.

piscis - (Latin) fish.

Pisistratus - (see entry (2) in Perseus Encyclopedia) (Peisistratos, Peisistratus, Pisistratos) tyrant of Athens; Pisistratus reigned as the tyrant of Athens three times, his first reign began in 560 BCE, his second in 558 BCE and his third in 546 BCE and lasted until his death in 528 BCE; Pisistratus came to power in usual ways, Herodotus describes these in his Histories, see sections 1.59.1-3, 1.59.4-6 and 1.60.3-5.

• Funk & Wagnalls Encyclopedia: Pisistratus

pistor - (Latin) miller; a pistor ground grain in a hand-mill or mortar; a pistor could also perform some of the duties of a baker, or furnarius.

pithos - a very large, terra cotta jar used for storage; many pithoi were found in Mycenaean and Minoan palaces.

Placentia - a colony in northern Italy established in 218 BCE; the via Aemilia ran through Placentia and traveled to Araminum.

plantaria - (Latin) young trees that are just growing.

Plato - Athenian philosopher and author of the Apology and the Republic.

• Netshot: Plato's Apology
• Netshot: Plato's Republic

plastic - refers to a material that is molded.

Plautus - Titus Maccius Plautus, a Roman comedic playwright who wrote in Latin verse; born ca. 254 BCE in Sarsina, Plautus begins his career with the performance of his Miles Gloriosus; dies in 184 BCE; 20 of his plays have survived extant and incomplete.

• The World of Plautus
• Teacher's Companion: Greek Theater

plebeian secession - the major tactic of the plebs to exercise their power during the Conflict of Orders; when they wanted to make a strong point, the plebs would leave the city as a group, taking themselves out of public and military service; the first plebeian secession happened in 494 BCE and the last one occurred in 287 BCE.

plebs - (Latin) the large group of Roman citizens (as opposed to the patrician class); while the plebeians were restricted from participation in some offices (priesthoods, the senate, certain magistracies), they gradually acquired a larger say in the Roman government; in 287 BCE, the lex Hortensia gave the plebeian assembly the power to make their own binding legislation similar to laws and removed one of the major differences in power between the plebs and the patricians; the plebeian class grew so powerful that by 172 BCE, the first two plebeian consuls, Gaius Popilius Laenas and Publius Aelius Ligus, are elected.

plectrum - (Latin) similar to a guitar pick, a plectrum plucked the strings of a musical instrument.

plektron - a pick for strumming a lyre; for an example, see Boston 13.194 (image).

plemochoe - covered bowl that often held perfume and oil (image).

Pliny the Elder - (23-79 CE) author and scientist; Pliny the Elder wrote the Naturalis Historia, an encyclopedic text, and published the first section in 77 CE; he died in Pompeii in the eruption of Mt. Vesuvius in 79 CE.

Pliny - C. Plinius L. f. Oufentina tribu Caecilius Secundus, Roman statesman and orator; born in 62 at Novum Comum; following his father's death when Pliny was young, Pliny's maternal uncle, C. Plinius Secundus (Pliny the Elder), became his mentor; in 79 he witnessed the eruption of Mt. Vesuvius during which his uncle, Pliny the Elder, died; in his will Pliny the Elder adopted Pliny the Younger; Pliny began his legal career in Rome around 80 and entered the Roman Senate in 90 by becoming quaestor augusti; Pliny is best known for his letters that provide insides into politics and life during the reign of the Roman emperor Trajan; Pliny died in 111 at Bithynia.

• The Letters of Pliny the Younger: Teaching Pliny’s Correspondence in the Intermediate Latin Setting
• Timeline of the Life of Pliny the Younger

Plutarch - (45-120 CE) Greek historian and biographer; Plutarch enjoyed a prominent social and political position and had influential friends; he was one of the two priests who interpreted the Pythia's words at the Oracle at Delphi; his most famous writing was entitled Lives of the Noble Greeks and Romans and his Life of Alexander is one of the few remaining sources concerning Alexander the Great.

Pluto - (see entry (2) in Perseus Encyclopedia) Roman god of underworld and the dead; also known as as Orcus, Dis, or Dis Pater; identified with Hades.

• Encyclopedia Mythica: Pluto

pluvius - (Latin) Rainy; this word is derived from the Latin verb pluo, to rain.

podium - (Latin) a temple would be constructed on a high podium so that it could only by entered by steps; Roman temples generally had steps only at the front of the temple; Greek temples usually had steps around all sides of the temple.

poena - (Latin) a penalty for something, punishment.

Poetics - work written by Aristotle which examines, among other things, the nature of tragedy.

point of view - the perspective established by the narrator of a literary work. Point of view can either be of the first-person, in which case a character narrates the story, or it can be told from the narrative perspective of the third-person, where a personage who is not a character in the story, tells the story. [Contributor: Dr. Ismail S. Talib, National University of Singapore.]

• University of Victoria's electronic list of Literary and Rhetorical Terms

Polemon - (314-269 BCE) an ancient philosopher; Polemon was one of the first men to lead the Academy, the ancient school of philosophy founded by Socrates’ follower Plato; the head of the Academy was elected for life

polis - city.

polleo - (Latin) to be strong.

polos - an ornamented cylindrical hat or crown; for an example, see Berlin 1800 (image).

Polybius - a Greek historian; Polybius was brought to Rome from Aetolia in Greece as a hostage in 167 BCE; he wrote primarily to explain how Rome became such a powerful state on the world stage; since he was part of the governing class and had been the tutor of Scipio Africanus the Younger, Polybius had a unique position to see and write about history.

Polynices - (see entry (3) in Perseus Encyclopedia) son of Oedipus and Jocasta; cursed by his father never to live in peace with his brother, Eteocles; the two brothers killed one another.

polytheism - belief in many gods.

pomeridianus - (Latin) in the afternoon; this word is tied to the two Latin words post, meaning "after", and meridianus, which means "noon".

Pompeii - a city located in Italy near Naples; it was destroyed by the eruption of Mount Vesuvius in 79 CE; Pompeii was remarkably well preserved under volcanic ash; Pompeii was rediscovered in 1748, and further excavated in the 19th century; Pompeii remains popular as an archaeological and tourist site for those interested in classical antiquity.

Pompey - Cn. Pompeius Magnus (106-47 BCE) a Roman politician, general and champion of the Senate from Picenum; Pompey was a great soldier and celebrated military triumphs for Africa (81 BCE), the Slave War (70) and against Mithradates (62); in 70, Pompey became consul along with Crassus; he was given command of the army against Mithradates by means of the lex Manilia in 66 BCE; in 63, he defeated Mithradates and took Syria and Jerusalem; upon returning to Rome in 62, he disbanded his army; member of the First Triumvirate with Caesar and Crassus in 60 BCE, but the union did not last long; marries Julia, daughter of Caesar in 59 BCE but Julia dies in 54 BCE; political relations between Caesar and Pompey worsened after Crassus’ death, with both men wary of the other’s power; Pompey was given control of the food supply in 57 BCE after arranging for Cicero to return from his exile; Pompey was consul again with Crassus in 55, the same year in which he dedicated his theater in Rome; Pompey was Caesar's opposition in the Civil War that began in 49 BCE; when Caesar brought his army to Italy in 48, Pompey brought the opposing force to the battlefield where he was defeated at Pharsalus; after that battle, Pompey fled to Egypt where he was killed in 47 BCE.

pomum - (Latin) apple.

pontifex maximus - (Latin) chief pontiff in Rome; duties included regulation of the Roman calendar and compilation of the annales, an annual record of magistrate names and memorable Roman events; the most famous pontifex maximus was Julius Caesar, elected pontifex maximus in 63 BCE; Caesar's best known reform as pontifex was to introduce the "Julian Calendar," a calendar of 365 days with a provision of a leap year every forth year.

pontifices - (Latin) members of the Collegium Pontificum, the most important sacred college, who were led by the Pontifex Maximus; the number of pontifices grew to 15 by the 1st century BCE; members served for life; they were in charge of the Fasti, the records kept by the magistrates, and the Annales Maximi, further public records.

portorium - (Latin) a Roman port-tax that had to be paid on imported and exported goods.

postulo - (Latin) to ask, to demand, to summon.

pottage - a Roman staple meal that resembled modern day polenta; pottage was ground grain, e.g., spelt, in a course paste; eventually, the word pultiphagus, pottage eater, took on negative connotations and was used to describe Romans; according to Pliny, the word pulmentaria later described food in general.

potter - the creator of a vase, does not include the painting of the vase.

Poseidon - god of the sea, horses and earthquakes; son of Cronus and Rhea; read the Homeric Hymn to Poseidon to learn more.

• Poseidon in Encyclopedia Mythica

praecentio - (Latin) a prelude set to music.

praeda - (Latin) the things taken in a war; plunder.

praefectus classis - (Latin) the leader of the Roman naval fleet.

praemedicatus - (Latin) having medicines protecting someone or something.

praetor - (Latin) Roman magistrate who served as a law court judge; in the absence of the consul, the praetor assumed his administrative duties; eight (8) praetors served at a time and following their services often served next as propraetors; praetors administered and interpreted the jus gentium; praetors in Roman provinces administered law based on the rulings and the patterns of praetors' rulings in Rome.

praetorium - (Latin) house in a Roman fort for a unit’s commander and his family.

prandium - (Latin) in Rome, lunch; a light midday meal that might consist of bread, marinated vegetables, cheeses, hard boiled eggs, salads, cured hams, and salami; in Rome, consuming a large lunch was considered vulgar.

Presocratics - Greek philosophers of whom some preceded, and others were contemporary with Socrates.

Priam - son of Laomedon; fought the Amazons; husband of Hecuba, king of Troy and father of Hektor (Iliad and Aeneid); killed by Neoptolemus at the tomb of Achilles.

principia - (Latin) building for the administrative offices of a Roman fort; the principia could hold records, storerooms and the soldiers’ pay.

proagon - preliminary announcement by playwright of plays to be performed at a given ancient Greek festival.

proaulia - (Latin) in ancient Greece, the day before the wedding ceremony; on the proaulia a ceremony and feast would be held at the house of the bride's father; the bride would make various offerings, proteleia to different gods; the offerings would generally include her childhood clothing and toys; sacrifices to Artemis, goddess of virginity and of transition, would likely include locks of hair and zemia, a fine or penalty, in the hope that she would ease the bride's passage from virginity; the bride and groom would both make offerings to Aphrodite for a fruitful, child-rearing life.

• Ancient Weddings

procursus - (Latin) literally a running forward, taken to mean an attack or charge in military terms.

profundum - (Latin) the sea, an abyss.

prokynesis - a Persian custom that entailed prostrating oneself before someone of higher rank; Alexander the Great required prokynesis as of 327 BCE, a move that pleased the Persians but caused great unhappiness among the Greeks and especially Macedonians who fought for him.

prologue - the opening in ancient tragedy and comedy, usually in the form of a soliloquy or a dialogue; a way to convey the dramatic setting and situation of the play and introduce the background of the main characters .

pronuba - (Latin) in ancient Roman wedding ceremononies, a married woman who had only been married once and whose husband was alive - the incarnation of the faithful wife and thus auspicious; following the wedding ceremony, the pronuba led the bride into the bedroom and prayed with the bride for a blessing on the marriage, helped her undress, and remove her jewelry and then put her into the bed; then the groom entered, either alone or escorted by others and the pronuba would offer a sacrifice and leave.

• Ancient Weddings

Propertius - (51 BCE –d?) Roman poet; Propertius is best known for writing love poetry; his first two books consist mostly of love poems; he directed much of his poetry to a woman he names as “Cynthia”, although it is not known who Cynthia was supposed to be.

prorogatio imperii - (Latin) the continuation of an office or authority, used for the first time in 326 BCE in order to extend the consulship of Q. Publilius Philo; prorogatio imperii could be declared for consuls (pro consul), praetors (pro praetore), and quaestors (pro quaestore).

Prorsa Postverta - Roman goddess of women in labor.

proscaenium - (Latin) the theater’s stage.

protagonist - the leading character or hero in ancient Greek tragedy; in modern literary criticism, the central character in a drama or another genre.

prothesis scene - an iconographical scene where mourners surround the body of a dead person; for an example, see Harvard 1952.75 (image).

Proto-Corinthian - a style of ancient pottery decoration used during the period of 720 BCE to 690 BCE, that preceded Corinthian period.

protome - a depiction of the fore part of an animal's body; for an example, see Philadelphia L-29-40 (image).

provoco - (Latin) to defy.

psaltria - (Latin) a woman who plays the cithara.

psykter - a vase with a bulbous top and stemmed bottom (image).

Ptah - the ancient Egyptian god of architects and skilled craftsmen; Path’s wife was the lioness-goddess Sekhmet and his son was said to be either Imhotep or Nefertem; by thinking them with his mind and saying them with his tongue, Ptah brought all things into being.

Ancient Egyptian Gods - Ptah

Ptolemy - the Ptolemaic dynasty in Egypt lasted from 323 BCE to 116 BCE; below is a chart of the Ptolemaic kings:

• The House of Ptolemy

puer - (Latin) boy or child in general.

pugnus - (Latin) fight, fist.

pullus - (Latin) animals when they are young, especially in relation to chickens and birds.

pulmentum - (Latin) a sauce that one eats with bread.

puls - (Latin) a porridge made from ground wheat that could be used as the main meal of the Roman day.

Punic Wars - a series of wars between Rome and Carthage over the control of land, especially of Sicily; the first Punic War lasted from 264-146 BCE and ended with the Romans having control of Sicily; the Second Punic War took place between 218-201 BCE, was led by Hannibal, and ended in Roman victory again; the Third Punic War began in 149 and ended in 146 BCE; at the end of the Third Punic War, Carthage was completely destroyed, its population was sold and the land became the Roman Africa province.

• Why Did They Do That? ... Takes on the Punic Wars

purpureus - (Latin) purple; this word refers to anything purplish; Vergil uses the word to describe bloody breath coughed up in Aeneid 9.

pyre - a pile of wood or other combustible materials on which a body is burned in a cremation ritual; for an example, see Louvre G 197 (image).

Pythagoreanism - a philosophy influenced by the work of Pythagoras; the philosophy, based on mathematical and numerical theories, also promoted a strict vegetarianism.

Pythia - a woman who served at the Delphic Oracle for life; inspired by the god Apollo, she would prophecy; the Delphic oracles would often be ambiguous and easy to misunderstand.

pyxis - a round vase used for storage of cosmetics (image).