Oxford English Dictionary
The Oxford English Dictionary is the principal historical dictionary of the English language, published by Oxford University Press. It traces the historical development of the English language, providing a comprehensive resource to scholars and academic researchers, as well as describing usage in its many variations throughout the world; the second edition, comprising 21,728 pages in 20 volumes, was published in 1989. Work began on the dictionary in 1857, but it was only in 1884 that it began to be published in unbound fascicles as work continued on the project, under the name of A New English Dictionary on Historical Principles. In 1895, the title The Oxford English Dictionary was first used unofficially on the covers of the series, in 1928 the full dictionary was republished in ten bound volumes. In 1933, the title The Oxford English Dictionary replaced the former name in all occurrences in its reprinting as twelve volumes with a one-volume supplement. More supplements came over the years until 1989.
Since 2000, compilation of a third edition of the dictionary has been underway half of, complete. The first electronic version of the dictionary was made available in 1988; the online version has been available since 2000, as of April 2014 was receiving over two million hits per month. The third edition of the dictionary will most only appear in electronic form: the Chief Executive of Oxford University Press has stated that it is unlikely that it will be printed; as a historical dictionary, the Oxford English Dictionary explains words by showing their development rather than their present-day usages. Therefore, it shows definitions in the order that the sense of the word began being used, including word meanings which are no longer used; each definition is shown with numerous short usage quotations. This allows the reader to get an approximate sense of the time period in which a particular word has been in use, additional quotations help the reader to ascertain information about how the word is used in context, beyond any explanation that the dictionary editors can provide.
The format of the OED's entries has influenced numerous other historical lexicography projects. The forerunners to the OED, such as the early volumes of the Deutsches Wörterbuch, had provided few quotations from a limited number of sources, whereas the OED editors preferred larger groups of quite short quotations from a wide selection of authors and publications; this influenced volumes of this and other lexicographical works. According to the publishers, it would take a single person 120 years to "key in" the 59 million words of the OED second edition, 60 years to proofread them, 540 megabytes to store them electronically; as of 30 November 2005, the Oxford English Dictionary contained 301,100 main entries. Supplementing the entry headwords, there are 157,000 bold-type derivatives; the dictionary's latest, complete print edition was printed in 20 volumes, comprising 291,500 entries in 21,730 pages. The longest entry in the OED2 was for the verb set, which required 60,000 words to describe some 430 senses.
As entries began to be revised for the OED3 in sequence starting from M, the longest entry became make in 2000 put in 2007 run in 2011. Despite its considerable size, the OED is neither the world's largest nor the earliest exhaustive dictionary of a language. Another earlier large dictionary is the Grimm brothers' dictionary of the German language, begun in 1838 and completed in 1961; the first edition of the Vocabolario degli Accademici della Crusca is the first great dictionary devoted to a modern European language and was published in 1612. The official dictionary of Spanish is the Diccionario de la lengua española, its first edition was published in 1780; the Kangxi dictionary of Chinese was published in 1716. The dictionary began as a Philological Society project of a small group of intellectuals in London: Richard Chenevix Trench, Herbert Coleridge, Frederick Furnivall, who were dissatisfied with the existing English dictionaries; the Society expressed interest in compiling a new dictionary as early as 1844, but it was not until June 1857 that they began by forming an "Unregistered Words Committee" to search for words that were unlisted or poorly defined in current dictionaries.
In November, Trench's report was not a list of unregistered words. The Society realized that the number of unlisted words would be far more than the number of words in the English dictionaries of the 19th century, shifted their idea from covering only words that were not in English diction
Abraxas
Abraxas is a word of mystic meaning in the system of the Gnostic Basilides, being there applied to the "Great Archon", the princeps of the 365 spheres. The word is found in Gnostic texts such as the Holy Book of the Great Invisible Spirit, appears in the Greek Magical Papyri, it was engraved on certain antique gemstones, called on that account Abraxas stones, which were used as amulets or charms. As the initial spelling on stones was "Abrasax", the spelling of "Abraxas" seen today originates in the confusion made between the Greek letters Sigma and Xi in the Latin transliteration; the seven letters spelling its name may represent each of the seven classic planets. The word may be related to Abracadabra. There are similarities and differences between such figures in reports about Basilides's teaching, ancient Gnostic texts, the larger Greco-Roman magical traditions, modern magical and esoteric writings. Speculations have proliferated on Abraxas in recent centuries, claimed to be both an Egyptian god and a demon.
Gaius Julius Hyginus gives Abrax Aslo Therbeeo as names of horses of the sun mentioned by'Homerus.' The passage is miserably corrupt: but it may not be accidental that the first three syllables make Abraxas. The proper form of the name is evidently Abrasax, as with the Greek writers, Epiphanias and Theodoret. By a euphonic inversion the translator of Irenaeus and the other Latin authors have Abraxas, found in the magical papyri, though most sparingly, on engraved stones; the attempts to discover a derivation for the name, Hebrew, Coptic, or other, have not been successful: Claudius Salmasius thought it Egyptian, but never gave the proofs which he promised. J. J. Bellermann thinks it a compound of the Egyptian words abrak and sax, meaning “the honorable and hallowed word,” or “the word is adorable.” Samuel Sharpe finds in it an Egyptian invocation to the Godhead, meaning “hurt me not.” Abraham Geiger sees in it a Grecized form of ha-berakhah, “the blessing,” a meaning which C. W. King declares philologically untenable.
J. B. Passerius derives it from abh, “father,” bara, “to create,” and a- negative—“the uncreated Father.” Giuseppe Barzilai goes back for explanation to the first verse of the prayer attributed to Nehunya ben HaKanah, the literal rendering of, “O, with thy mighty right hand deliver the unhappy,” forming from the initial and final letters of the words the word Abrakd, with the meaning “the host of the winged ones,” i.e. angels. While this theory can explain the mystic word Abracadabra, the association of this phrase with Abrasax is uncertain. Wendelin discovers a compound of the initial letters, amounting to 365 in numerical value, of four Hebrew and three Greek words, all written with Greek characters: ab, rouach, hakadōs. According to a note of Isaac de Beausobre’s, Jean Hardouin accepted the first three of these, taking the four others for the initials of the Greek anthrōpoussōzōn hagiōi xylōi, “saving mankind by the holy cross.” Isaac de Beausobre derives Abrasax from the Greek habros and saō, “the beautiful, the glorious Savior.”Perhaps the word may be included among those mysterious expressions discussed by Adolf von Harnack, “which belong to no known speech, by their singular collocation of vowels and consonants give evidence that they belong to some mystic dialect, or take their origin from some supposed divine inspiration.”
The Egyptian author of the book De Mysteriis in reply to Porphyry admits a preference of'barbarous' to vernacular names in sacred things, urging a peculiar sanctity in the languages of certain nations, as the Egyptians and Assyrians. It is uncertain what the actual role and function of Abraxas was in the Basilidian system, as our authorities show no direct acquaintance with the doctrines of Basilides himself. In the system described by Irenaeus, "the Unbegotten Father" is the progenitor of Nous, from Nous Logos, from Logos Phronesis, from Phronesis Sophia and Dynamis, from Sophia and Dynamis principalities and angels, the last of whom create "the first heaven." They in turn originate a second series. The process continues in like manner until 365 heavens are in existence, the angels of the last or visible heaven being the authors of our world. "The ruler" of the 365 heavens "is Abraxas, for this reason he contains within himself 365 numbers." The name occurs in the Refutation of all Heresies by Hippolytus, who appears in these chapters to have followed the Exegetica of Basilides.
After describing the manifestation of the Gospel in the Ogdoad and Hebdomad, he adds that the Basilidians have a long account of the innumerable creations and powers in the several'stages' of the upper world, in which they speak of 365 heavens and say that "their great archon" is Abrasax, because his name contains the number 365, the number of the days in the year. He designates Abraxas more distinctly as "the power above all, First Pri
Encyclopædia Britannica
The Encyclopædia Britannica published by Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc. is a general knowledge English-language encyclopaedia. It was written by more than 4,000 contributors; the 2010 version of the 15th edition, which spans 32 volumes and 32,640 pages, was the last printed edition. The Britannica is the English-language encyclopaedia/encyclopedia, in print for the longest time: it lasted 244 years, it was first published between 1768 and 1771 as three volumes. The encyclopaedia grew in size: the second edition was 10 volumes, by its fourth edition it had expanded to 20 volumes, its rising stature as a scholarly work helped recruit eminent contributors, the 9th and 11th editions are landmark encyclopaedias for scholarship and literary style. Beginning with the 11th edition and following its acquisition by an American firm, the Britannica shortened and simplified articles to broaden its appeal to the North American market. In 1933, the Britannica became the first encyclopaedia to adopt "continuous revision", in which the encyclopaedia is continually reprinted, with every article updated on a schedule.
In March 2012, Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc. announced it would no longer publish printed editions, would focus instead on Encyclopædia Britannica Online. The 15th edition had a three-part structure: a 12-volume Micropædia of short articles, a 17-volume Macropædia of long articles, a single Propædia volume to give a hierarchical outline of knowledge; the Micropædia was meant as a guide to the Macropædia. Over 70 years, the size of the Britannica has remained steady, with about 40 million words on half a million topics. Though published in the United States since 1901, the Britannica has for the most part maintained British English spelling. Since 1985, the Britannica has had four parts: the Micropædia, the Macropædia, the Propædia, a two-volume index; the Britannica's articles are found in the Micro- and Macropædia, which encompass 12 and 17 volumes each volume having one thousand pages. The 2007 Macropædia has 699 in-depth articles, ranging in length from 2 to 310 pages and having references and named contributors.
In contrast, the 2007 Micropædia has 65,000 articles, the vast majority of which contain fewer than 750 words, no references, no named contributors. The Micropædia articles are intended for quick fact-checking and to help in finding more thorough information in the Macropædia; the Macropædia articles are meant both as authoritative, well-written articles on their subjects and as storehouses of information not covered elsewhere. The longest article is on the United States, resulted from the merger of the articles on the individual states; the 2013 edition of Britannica contained forty thousand articles. Information can be found in the Britannica by following the cross-references in the Micropædia and Macropædia. Hence, readers are recommended to consult instead the alphabetical index or the Propædia, which organizes the Britannica's contents by topic; the core of the Propædia is its "Outline of Knowledge", which aims to provide a logical framework for all human knowledge. Accordingly, the Outline is consulted by the Britannica's editors to decide which articles should be included in the Micro- and Macropædia.
The Outline is intended to be a study guide, to put subjects in their proper perspective, to suggest a series of Britannica articles for the student wishing to learn a topic in depth. However, libraries have found that it is scarcely used, reviewers have recommended that it be dropped from the encyclopaedia; the Propædia has color transparencies of human anatomy and several appendices listing the staff members and contributors to all three parts of the Britannica. Taken together, the Micropædia and Macropædia comprise 40 million words and 24,000 images; the two-volume index has 2,350 pages, listing the 228,274 topics covered in the Britannica, together with 474,675 subentries under those topics. The Britannica prefers British spelling over American. However, there are exceptions such as defense rather than defence. Common alternative spellings are provided with cross-references such as "Color: see Colour." Since 1936, the articles of the Britannica have been revised on a regular schedule, with at least 10% of them considered for revision each year.
According to one Britannica website, 46% of its articles were revised over the past three years. The alphabetization of articles in the Micropædia and Macropædia follows strict rules. Diacritical marks and non-English letters are ignored, while numerical entries such as "1812, War of" are alphabetized as if the number had been written out. Articles with identical names are ordered first by persons by places by things. Rulers with identical names are organized first alphabetically by country and by chronology. Places that share names are
Incantation
An incantation is a magical formula intended to trigger a magical effect on a person or objects. The formula can be sung or chanted. An incantation can be performed during ceremonial rituals or prayers. Other words synonymous with incantation is charms or to bewitch. In the world of magic, the incantations are said to be performed by wizards and fairies. In medieval literature, fairy tales and modern fantasy fiction, enchantments are charms or spells; this has led to the terms "enchanter" and "enchantress" for those. The term was loaned into English around AD 1300; the corresponding native English term being "galdr" "song, spell". The weakened sense "delight" is modern, first attested in 1593. Any word can be an incantation as long as the words are spoken with inflection and emphasis on the words being said; the tone and rhyme of how you speak the words matter on the outcome of the magical effect. The tone and placement of words used in the formula matters in influencing the outcome of the magical effect.
The person, speaking magical words commands for the magic to be carried out. The incantation performed can bring up powerful emotions and remind one of a sense of awe in childhood. Surviving written records of historical magic spells were obliterated in many cultures by the success of the major monotheistic religions, Islam and Christianity, which label some magical activity as immoral or associated with evil; the Latin incantare, which means'to utter an incantation', or cast a magic spell, forms the basis of the word "enchant", with deep linguistic roots going back to the Proto-Indo-European kan- prefix. So it can be said that an enchanter or enchantress casts magic spells, or utters incantations, similar to what are called Mantra in Sanskrit; the words that are similar to incantations such as enchantment and spells are the effects of reciting an incantation. To be enchanted is to be under the influence of an enchantment thought to be caused by charms or spells. Magic words or words of power are words which have a specific, sometimes unintended, effect.
They are nonsense phrases used in fantasy fiction or by stage prestidigitators. Such words are presented as being part of a divine, adamic, or other secret or empowered language. Certain comic book heroes use magic words to activate their powers. Examples of traditional magic words include Hocus pocus, Open sesame and Sim Sala Bim. Craig Conley, a scholar of magic, writes that the magic words used by conjurers may originate from "pseudo-Latin phrases, nonsense syllables, or esoteric terms from religious antiquity," but that what they have in common is "language as an instrument of creation." In Babylonian, incantations can be used in rituals to burn images of one's own enemies. An example would be found in the series of Mesopotamian incantations of Maqlu. In the Orient, the charming of snakes have been used in incantations of the past and still used today. A person using an incantation would entice the snake out of its hiding place in order to get rid of them. In Jewish rites reciting a bible verse, a person has to follow strict Jewish rules.
The performer of an incantation has to prepare three days ahead of time with fasting and studying. The Jewish law requires that incantations only be recited during the new or full moon, before sunset, during the Sabbath; the Jewish commentary, the Talmud mentions. An incantation of a bible quotation attached to a charm or object is recited backward and frontwards. Incantations are seen in demonic activity where the devil uses words to bring misfortune or sickness to someone; some illnesses include mental anxiety. The aspect of the devil in incantations is feared by many; the demon's can create other horrible events of divorce, loss property or other terrible catastrophes in ones life. In traditional fairy tales sometimes magical formulas are attached to an object and when spoken can help transform the object into the imaginable from the unimaginable. In these stories incantations are attached to a magic wand used by wizards and fairy-god mothers. A known example is the spell that Cinderella's Fairy Godmother used to turn a pumpkin into a coach.
Incantations nonsense or whimsical rhymes are performed. The performance of magic always involves the use of language. Whether spoken out loud or unspoken, words are used to access or guide magical power. In The Magical Power of Words, S. J. Tambiah argues that the connection between language and magic is due to a belief in the inherent ability of words to influence the universe. Bronisław Malinowski, in Coral Gardens and their Magic, suggests that this belief is an extension of man's basic use of language to describe his surroundings, in which "the knowledge of the right words, appropriate phrases and the more developed forms of speech, gives man a power over and above his own limited field of personal action." Magical speech is therefore a ritual act and is of equal or greater importance to the performance of magic than non-verbal acts. Not all speech is considered magical. Only certain words and phrases or words spoken in a specific context are considered to have magical power. Magical language, according to C. K.
Ogden and I. A. Richards's categories of speech, is distinct from scientific language because it is emotive and it converts words into symbols for emotions. Magical language is therefore adept at constructing metaphors that establish
Geta (emperor)
Geta was Roman emperor with his father Septimius Severus and older brother Caracalla from 209, when he was named Augustus like his brother, who had held the title since 198. Severus died in 211, although he intended for his sons to rule together, they proved incapable of sharing power, culminating with the murder of Geta in December of that year. Geta was the younger son of Septimius Severus by his second wife Julia Domna. Geta was born in Rome, at a time when his father was only a provincial governor at the service of Emperor Commodus. Conflicts between Geta and Caracalla were constant and required the mediation of their mother. To appease his younger son, Septimius Severus gave Geta the title of Augustus in 209. During the campaign against the Britons in the early 3rd century AD, imperial propaganda promoted the image of a happy family that shared the responsibilities of rule. Septimius Severus entrusted Julia Domna with the role of counsellor, Caracalla acted as the emperor's second in command, administrative and bureaucratic duties were Geta's responsibility.
In reality, the rivalry and antipathy between the brothers did not abate. When Septimius Severus died in Eboracum in early 211, Caracalla and Geta were proclaimed joint emperors and returned to Rome, it is said that on the journey from England to Rome the two brothers kept well away from each other, not once lodging in the same house or sharing a common meal. Their joint rule was a failure; the Imperial Palace in Rome was divided into two separate sections, neither allowed the servants of the other into his own. They only met in the presence of their mother, with a strong military guard, being in constant fear of assassination; the historian Herodian asserted that the brothers decided to split the empire in two halves, when, by the end of 211, the situation had become unbearable. Caracalla tried unsuccessfully to murder Geta during the festival of Saturnalia. On the 26th of December, Caracalla had his mother arrange a peace meeting with his brother in his mother's apartments, thus depriving Geta of his bodyguards, had him murdered in her arms by centurions.
Caracalla ordered the damnation of his memory, carried out, as is clear from the archaeological record. Caracalla was thereafter tormented by guilt over his deed, but sought to expiate it by adding to this crime the proscription of all his brother's former followers. Cassius Dio stated that around 20,000 men and women were killed or proscribed on this charge during this time. Few marble portraits attributable to Geta survive to date due to the thorough damnatio memoriae which resulted in the erasing of his images; however Roman coins with his image are plentiful, can reflect how his father Septimius Severus and Geta himself wanted him to be seen by the Roman people. Images of Geta and his older brother Caracalla cannot be well distinguished until the death of the father. Both sons were supposed to be presented as suitable heirs to the throne, showing thus more "depth" to the dynasty. On his coins, who became Augustus in 198, was shown with a wreath of laurels, while Geta remained bareheaded until he himself became Augustus in 209.
Between 209 and their father's death in February 211, both brothers were shown as mature young men with a short full beard, ready to take over the empire. Between the death of Septimus Severus and the assassination of Geta, Caracalla's portraits did not change, while Geta was depicted with a long beard with hanging hairs, much like his father, a strong indication of Geta's efforts to be seen as the "true" successor of his father. Septimia Severan dynasty family tree Dio Cassius lxxvii. Birley, Anthony R.. Septimius Severus: The African Emperor. London: Routledge. ISBN 0415165911. Life of Geta
Oxford University Press
Oxford University Press is the largest university press in the world, the second oldest after Cambridge University Press. It is a department of the University of Oxford and is governed by a group of 15 academics appointed by the vice-chancellor known as the delegates of the press, they are headed by the secretary to the delegates, who serves as OUP's chief executive and as its major representative on other university bodies. Oxford University has used a similar system to oversee OUP since the 17th century; the Press is located on opposite Somerville College, in the suburb Jericho. The Oxford University Press Museum is located on Oxford. Visits are led by a member of the archive staff. Displays include a 19th-century printing press, the OUP buildings, the printing and history of the Oxford Almanack, Alice in Wonderland and the Oxford English Dictionary; the university became involved in the print trade around 1480, grew into a major printer of Bibles, prayer books, scholarly works. OUP took on the project that became the Oxford English Dictionary in the late 19th century, expanded to meet the ever-rising costs of the work.
As a result, the last hundred years has seen Oxford publish children's books, school text books, journals, the World's Classics series, a range of English language teaching texts. Moves into international markets led to OUP opening its own offices outside the United Kingdom, beginning with New York City in 1896. With the advent of computer technology and harsh trading conditions, the Press's printing house at Oxford was closed in 1989, its former paper mill at Wolvercote was demolished in 2004. By contracting out its printing and binding operations, the modern OUP publishes some 6,000 new titles around the world each year; the first printer associated with Oxford University was Theoderic Rood. A business associate of William Caxton, Rood seems to have brought his own wooden printing press to Oxford from Cologne as a speculative venture, to have worked in the city between around 1480 and 1483; the first book printed in Oxford, in 1478, an edition of Rufinus's Expositio in symbolum apostolorum, was printed by another, printer.
Famously, this was mis-dated in Roman numerals as "1468", thus pre-dating Caxton. Rood's printing included John Ankywyll's Compendium totius grammaticae, which set new standards for teaching of Latin grammar. After Rood, printing connected with the university remained sporadic for over half a century. Records or surviving work are few, Oxford did not put its printing on a firm footing until the 1580s. In response to constraints on printing outside London imposed by the Crown and the Stationers' Company, Oxford petitioned Elizabeth I of England for the formal right to operate a press at the university; the chancellor, Robert Dudley, 1st Earl of Leicester, pleaded Oxford's case. Some royal assent was obtained, since the printer Joseph Barnes began work, a decree of Star Chamber noted the legal existence of a press at "the universitie of Oxforde" in 1586. Oxford's chancellor, Archbishop William Laud, consolidated the legal status of the university's printing in the 1630s. Laud envisaged a unified press of world repute.
Oxford would establish it on university property, govern its operations, employ its staff, determine its printed work, benefit from its proceeds. To that end, he petitioned Charles I for rights that would enable Oxford to compete with the Stationers' Company and the King's Printer, obtained a succession of royal grants to aid it; these were brought together in Oxford's "Great Charter" in 1636, which gave the university the right to print "all manner of books". Laud obtained the "privilege" from the Crown of printing the King James or Authorized Version of Scripture at Oxford; this "privilege" created substantial returns in the next 250 years, although it was held in abeyance. The Stationers' Company was alarmed by the threat to its trade and lost little time in establishing a "Covenant of Forbearance" with Oxford. Under this, the Stationers paid an annual rent for the university not to exercise its full printing rights – money Oxford used to purchase new printing equipment for smaller purposes.
Laud made progress with internal organization of the Press. Besides establishing the system of Delegates, he created the wide-ranging supervisory post of "Architypographus": an academic who would have responsibility for every function of the business, from print shop management to proofreading; the post was more an ideal than a workable reality, but it survived in the loosely structured Press until the 18th century. In practice, Oxford's Warehouse-Keeper dealt with sales and the hiring and firing of print shop staff. Laud's plans, hit terrible obstacles, both personal and political. Falling foul of political intrigue, he was executed in 1645, by which time the English Civil War had broken out. Oxford became a Royalist stronghold during the conflict, many printers in the city concentrated on producing political pamphlets or sermons; some outstanding mathematical and Orientalist works emerged at this time—notably, texts edited by Edward Pococke, the Regius Professor of Hebrew—but no university press on Laud's model was possible before the Restoration of the Monarchy in 1660.
It was established by the vice-chancellor, John Fell, Dean of Christ Church, Bishop of Oxford, Secretary to the Delegates. Fell regarded Laud as a martyr, was determined to honour his vision of the Press. Using the provisions of the Great Charter, Fell persuaded Oxford to refuse any further payments from the Stationers and drew
Roman emperor
The Roman emperor was the ruler of the Roman Empire during the imperial period. The emperors used a variety of different titles throughout history; when a given Roman is described as becoming "emperor" in English, it reflects his taking of the title Augustus or Caesar. Another title used was imperator a military honorific. Early Emperors used the title princeps. Emperors amassed republican titles, notably princeps senatus and pontifex maximus; the legitimacy of an emperor's rule depended on his control of the army and recognition by the Senate. The first emperors reigned alone; the Romans considered the office of emperor to be distinct from that of a king. The first emperor, resolutely refused recognition as a monarch. Although Augustus could claim that his power was authentically republican, his successor, could not convincingly make the same claim. Nonetheless, for the first three hundred years of Roman emperors, from Augustus until Diocletian, efforts were made to portray the emperors as leaders of a republic.
From Diocletian, whose tetrarchic reforms divided the position into one emperor in the West and one in the East, until the end of the Empire, emperors ruled in an monarchic style and did not preserve the nominal principle of a republic, but the contrast with "kings" was maintained: although the imperial succession was hereditary, it was only hereditary if there was a suitable candidate acceptable to the army and the bureaucracy, so the principle of automatic inheritance was not adopted. Elements of the republican institutional framework were preserved after the end of the Western Empire; the Western Roman Empire collapsed in the late 5th century after multiple invasions of imperial territory by Germanic barbarian tribes. Romulus Augustulus is considered to be the last emperor of the West after his forced abdication in 476, although Julius Nepos maintained a claim recognized by the Eastern Empire to the title until his death in 480. Following Nepos' death, the Eastern Emperor Zeno abolished the division of the position and proclaimed himself as the sole Emperor of a reunited Roman Empire.
The Eastern imperial lineage continued to rule from Constantinople. Constantine XI Palaiologos was the last Roman emperor in Constantinople, dying in the Fall of Constantinople to the Ottomans in 1453; the "Byzantine" emperors from Heraclius in 629 and onwards adopted the title of basileus, which had meant king in Greek but became a title reserved for the Roman emperor and the ruler of the Sasanian Empire. Other kings were referred to as rēgas. In addition to their pontifical office, some emperors were given divine status after death. With the eventual hegemony of Christianity, the emperor came to be seen as God's chosen ruler, as well as a special protector and leader of the Christian Church on Earth, although in practice an emperor's authority on Church matters was subject to challenge. Due to the cultural rupture of the Turkish conquest, most western historians treat Constantine XI as the last meaningful claimant to the title Roman Emperor. From 1453, one of the titles used by the Ottoman Sultans was "Caesar of Rome", part of their titles until the Ottoman Empire ended in 1922.
A Byzantine group of claimant Roman emperors existed in the Empire of Trebizond until its conquest by the Ottomans in 1461, though they had used a modified title since 1282. Eastern emperors in Constantinople had been recognized and accepted as Roman emperors both in the East, which they ruled, by the Papacy and Germanic kingdoms of the West until the deposition of Constantine VI and accession of Irene of Athens as Empress regnant in 797. Objecting to a woman ruling the Roman Empire in her own right and issues with the eastern clergy, the Papacy would create a rival lineage of Roman emperors in western Europe, the Holy Roman Emperors, which ruled the Holy Roman Empire for most of the period between 800 and 1806; these Emperors were never recognized as Roman emperors by the court in Constantinople. Modern historians conventionally regard Augustus as the first Emperor whereas Julius Caesar is considered the last dictator of the Roman Republic, a view having its origins in the Roman writers Plutarch and Cassius Dio.
However, the majority of Roman writers, including Josephus, Pliny the Younger and Appian, as well as most of the ordinary people of the Empire, thought of Julius Caesar as the first Emperor. At the end of the Roman Republic no new, no single, title indicated the individual who held supreme power. Insofar as emperor could be seen as the English translation of imperator Julius Caesar had been an emperor, like several Roman generals before him. Instead, by the end of the civil wars in which Julius Caesar had led his armies, it became clear that there was no consensus to return to the old-style monarchy, but that the period when several officials, bestowed with equal power by the senate, would fight one another had come to an end. Julius Caesar, Augustus after him, accumulated offices and titles of the highest importance in the Republic, making the power attached to those offices permanent, preventing anyone with similar aspirations from accumulating or maintaining power for themselves. However, Julius Caesar, unlike those after
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Chisholm, Hugh, ed. (1911). . Encyclopædia Britannica (11th ed.). Cambridge University Press.
Chisholm, Hugh, ed. (1911). 
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