Asclepius. Greek god of healing. Killed by Zeus to prevent immortality of man. Son of Apollo.

Atalanta. Greek huntress beaten in race by Hippomenes.

Athens. 3000BC. 6C BC growth. 5C decline. 4C Macedonia (aut). 27 BC Rome. 1458 Ottoman. 1834 Greek capital.

Attalid. c230-135BC. Dynasty of Pergamum.

Attila. 406-453. Leader of the Huns. 434 attacked Gaul, defeated at Catalonia in 451. “The Scourge of God”.

Austro-Prussian War. 1866. Austria excluded from German Confederation. Austrian influence in Italy ended. Dual Monarchy.

Aventine Secession. 1924. 150 Italian government members protest Fascist government. Matteotti.

Axis Pact. 1936-45. German-Italian Agreement, 1936. Cooperative alliance maintained through WWII. Allied with Spain, 1939; Japan, 1936. Yugoslavia 1941. Tripartite Pact.

Babylon. 40C BC. Capital of Babylonia. Peak 7-6C BC.

Badoglio, Pietro. 1871-1956. Italian. Conquered Ethiopia 1936. Arranged 1943 armistice. Prime Minister 1943-44.

Ballet. Dance form originating in 15C Italy, and codified in Louis XIV court. Refined by Russians 19C.

Baltard, Victor. 1805-74. French architect. First to employ metal girders: Les Halles. St-Augustine’s Church.

Baronius, Caesar. 1538-1607.Italian. RC historian. Annales Eccles 1586-93.

Baroque Art. 1600-1750. Orig in Italy, spread across W. Europe. Architecture: Ornate style characterized by stucco, frescoes, rood screens. Vanbrugh. Bernini’s Barberini Palace. Music: Counterpoint vs Renaissance polyphony. Opera, cantata. Bach. Monteverdi. Vivaldi. Painting: Dynamic, emotional. Caravaggio. Reni. Rubens.Van Dyck. Rococo.

Bassi, Agostino. 1773-1856. Italian microscopist: contagion by microbes.

Bayard, Pierre. 1476-1524. French knight in Italian wars. “The fearless and blameless knight.”

Beatrice. c1265-90. Florentine woman immortalized by Dante.

Beccaria, Cesare. 1738-94. Italian writer. Treatise on Crime and Punishment 1764. Influenced 19C penal reform and capital punishment.

Bedlam. (Bethlehem Royal Hospital). 1247-1815. Bishopsgate asylum.

Begin, Menachem. 1913-91. Polish/Israeli. Prime Minister, 1977-83. Camp David Accords. Sadat.

Beirut. 20C BC Phoenicia. 15BC Rome. 635 Moslem. 1110 Crusaders. 1187 Saladin. 1516 Ottoman. 1291 Mameluk. 1920 Capital of Lebanon. 1975-90 Lebanese Civil War.

Bellarmine, St. Robert. 1542-1621. Italian Jesuit defender of RC church vs Protestantism, Copernican theory, heretics. Galileo.

Bellini, Vincenzo. 1801-35. Italian Romantic opera composer. Norma 1831.

Belloc, Hilaire. 1870-1953. French/English writer: Bad Child’s Book of Beasts 1896. Cautionary Tales 1907.

Benedict of Nursia, St. 480-547. Italian monastic. Benedictine Rule 535.

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