Lucan (39–65)
:
Roman poet
Lucian (
c
. 120–200)
:
Greek satirist
Lucifer
:
Satan’s name (‘light-bearer’) before his expulsion from Heaven
Lucilius (180–102
B
.
C
.)
:
Roman poet, creator of satire
Lucina
:
the Roman goddess of childbirth
Lucretius (96?–55
B
.
C
.)
:
Roman poet and philosopher
Luna
:
i.e. the moon
Luther, Martin (1483–1546)
:
founder of the German Reformation
Lycosthenes (Konrad Wolffhart, 1518–1561)
:
Swiss philosopher and theologian
Lycurgus
:
according to tradition, the foremost Spartan lawgiver
Lyser(us), Michael (fl. mid 17th cent.)
:
German physician and writer
Machiavelli, Niccolò (1469–1527)
:
Florentine statesman and political philosopher
Macrobius, Ambrosius Theodosius (fl. 395–423)
:
Roman philosopher and grammarian
Maginus (Giovanni Magini, 1555–1617)
:
Italian mathematician
Magius, Hieronymus (Girolamo Maggi, 1523–1572)
:
Italian engineer and author
Maimonides, Moses (1135–1204)
:
Jewish philosopher
Mammon
:
the false god of riches
Manasseh (Manasses)
:
Joseph’s eldest son (see Genesis 41.51); also the tribe
Mandelslo, Johann Albrecht von (1616–1644)
:
German traveller and author
Manlius
:
Titus Manlius Torquatus, who had his son beheaded (Livy, VIII, 7)
Marcellus (268?-208
B
.
C
.)
:
Roman general and statesman
Marcus
:
see next entry
Marcus Aurelius
:
Roman emperor (161–180) and author
Marius (2nd cent.)
:
Christian martyr
Marius, Gaius (155?-86
B
.
C
.)
:
Roman general and statesman
Mark Antony (83?–30
B
.
C
.)
:
Roman general and triumvir
Marlianus, Joannes Bartholomaeus (1490?–1560?)
:
Milanese antiquary
Mars (Ares)
:
Olympian god of war; also the planet
Martial (fl. 1st cent.)
:
Roman writer of epigrams
Martialis, St (fl. 2nd cent.)
:
first bishop of Limoges
Martinus Polonus (d. 1278)
:
chronicler
Mary Magdalen, St
:
a follower of Christ who cast out of her ‘seven devils’ (Luke 8.2)
Matilda (1102–1167)
:
queen of England and empress
Matthew of Miechów (1475–1523)
:
Polish historian
Matthias
:
German emperor (1612–1619)
Mattioli, Pietro Andrea (1500–1577)
:
Sienese physician and botanist
Mauricius
:
Byzantine emperor (582–602)
Mausolus
:
king of Caria, buried (353
B
.
C
.) in a splendid monument erected by Artemisia (q.v.)
Medea
:
sorceress who helped Jason obtain the Golden Fleece
Megasthenes (fl.
c
. 300
B
.
C
.)
:
Greek geographer and historian
Mela, Pomponius (1st cent.)
:
Latin geographer
Melissa
:
wife of Periander (q.v.)
Menoeceus
:
the hero self-killed for his country’s welfare (Statius,
Thebaid
, X)
Menoeceus
:
the recipient of the letter of Epicurus (q.v.)
Mercurialis (Girolamo Mercuriale, 1530–1606)
:
Italian physician and scholar
Mercurii (Girolamo Mercurio, 1550?–1615)
:
Italian physician, author of
De gli errori popolari d’Italia
(1603)
Mercurius
:
see next entry
Mercury (Hermes)
:
Olympian god of commerce, eloquence, etc.; also the planet
Mersenne, Marin (1588–1648)
:
French mathematician and scholar
Metellus, L. Caecilius (d. 221
B
.
C
.)
:
Roman dictator
Methuselah
:
patriarch, died aged 969 (see Genesis 5.27)
Metrophanes (9th cent.)
:
Bishop of Smyrna and theologian
Michelangelo (1475–1564)
:
Italian sculptor, painter, poet
Minerva (Athena)
:
Olympian goddess of wisdom
Minutius Felix (fl.
c
. 270)
:
Roman rhetor
Miszraim
:
see next entry
Mizraim
:
the second son of Ham (see Genesis 10.6)
Mohammed (570–632)
:
Arabian prophet, founder of Islam
Moloch
:
a Phoenician-Ammonite god to whom children were sacrificed by burning
Montacutius (Richard Montague, 1577–1641)
:
English scholar and theologian, Bishop of Norwich from 1638
Montanus, Arnoldus (fl. 1657–1683)
:
Dutch miscellaneous writer
More, Henry, the Cambridge Platonist (1614–1687)
:
English philosopher
Morpheus
:
the god of dreams, son of the god of sleep
Moses
:
the founder and lawgiver of Israel, accepted as the author of the Pentateuch (Genesis through Deuteronomy)
Moses Bar-Cepha (
c
. 813–903)
:
Syrian bishop and Biblican scholar
Muffetus (Thomas Moffett, 1553–1604)
:
English physician and author
Murad IV
:
Ottoman emperor (1623–1640)
Mustapha I
:
Ottoman emperor (1617–1618, 1622–1623)
Naphthali
:
the sixth son of Jacob (see Genesis 49.21); also the tribe
Narses (478?-573)
:
Byzantine general and statesman
Nebuchadnezzar II
:
king of Babylon (605–562
B
.
C
.)
Nebuchodonosor
:
see previous entry
Nero
:
Roman emperor (54–68)
Newton, Sir Isaac (1642–1717)
:
English mathematician and scientist
Nicephorus
:
obscure Byzantine writer on dreams: cf. Artemidorus
Nicholas of Damascus (1st cent.
B
.
C
.)
:
Greek historian
Nieremberg, Juan (1595–1658)
:
Spanish mystic
Nimrod
:
legendary founder of the Assyrian Empire (see Genesis 10.8–10)
Ninus
:
legendary founder of Nineveh
Noah
:
tenth in descent from Adam; father of Shem, Ham and Japheth
Numa Pompilius
:
the legendary second king of Rome
Oedipus
:
noted for solving riddles; became king of Thebes on murdering his father and marrying his mother
Og
:
the giant king of Bashan (see Deuteronomy 3.11)
Olaus Magnus (1490–1558)
:
Swedish historian
Oleaster, Hieronymus (d. 1563)
:
Portuguese Biblical commentator
Olmo, Giovanni (late 16th cent.)
:
Italian physician and writer
Olympias (d. 316
B
.
C
.)
:
mother of Alexander the Great
Ophir
:
famous for its gold (1 Kings 10.11, Isaiah 13.12, etc.)
Opimius (d. 100?
B
.
C
.)
:
Roman consul
Oppianus of Apameia (fl.
c
. 210)
:
Greek poet
Orcus
:
the underworld (see
Hades
)
Orestes
:
son of Agamemnon and Clytemnestra, murdered her and her lover Aegisthus
Origen (
c
. 185–
c
. 254)
:
Alexandrian Biblical scholar and theologian
Orion
:
the hunter beloved of Diana; also the constellation near Taurus
Orpheus
:
legendary pre-Homeric poet, founder of the mystic cult Orphism
Orta, Garcia de (fl. mid 16th cent.)
:
Portuguese naturalist
Ortelius, Abraham (1527–1598)
:
Flemish cartographer and antiquary
Osiris
:
the Egyptian god of the lower world (see Isis, Horus)
Osman II
:
Ottoman emperor (1618–1622)
Osorius (Jeronimo Osorio da Fonseca, 1506–1580)
:
Portuguese bishop and historian
Ostorius Scapula, P.
:
Roman governor in Britain (47–51)
Ovid (43
B
.
C
.-
c
.
A
.
D
. 17)
:
Roman poet
Palaephatus (4th cent.
B
.
C
.)
:
Greek grammarian who rationalised Greek mythology
Palamedes
:
Greek warrior at the siege of Troy, said to have added several letters to the alphabet
Paracelsus (Theophrastus Bombastus von Hohenheim, 1493–1541)
:
Swiss physician and chemist
Paré (Pareus), Ambrose (1510–1590)
:
French surgeon
Pareus, Johann (1576–1648)
:
German theologian and philologist
Paris
:
the Trojan prince who kidnapped Helen of Sparta causing the Trojan War
Patrick, St (
c
. 389–
c
. 461)
:
the ‘Apostle of the Irish’
Patroclus
:
friend of Achilles (q.v.), killed by Hector of Troy
Paul, St (d.
c
.
A
.
D
. 65)
:
the ‘Apostle of the Gentiles’
Paul V
:
Pope (1605–1621)
Paulus Aegineta (fl.
ante
700)
:
Greek medical writer