[Lucaris, Cyril], eminent ecclesiastic in the Greek Church, born in Crete, who embraced and propagated Protestantism; became a victim of persecution, and had a mysterious fate (1572-1637).
[Lucca] (20), cap. of the Italian prov. of Lucca (309), on the Serchio, 12 m. NE. of Pisa; has an extensive trade in olive-oil, silk, and capers, the specialty of the province. Its cathedral has a very ancient cedar crucifix, fine paintings, and valuable archives. There are other ancient churches, scientific and artistic institutes, and a wonderful aqueduct of 459 arches. The natives are known over Europe as stucco figure-sellers and organ-grinders.
[Lucerne] (36), a Swiss canton E. of Berne, mountainous in the S., where cattle are pastured and much cheese made; in the N. and in the valleys fertile with corn and fruit crops; is German speaking, and Roman Catholic; its highest elevation, Mount Pilatus, is 7000 ft. Stretching from the eastern corner is Lake Lucerne, one of the most beautiful in Europe. The cap. Lucerne (20), on the shores of the lake, is a busy tourist centre; outside its walls is the famous Lion of Lucerne, designed by Thorwaldsen, in memory of the Swiss Guard slain while defending the Tuileries in Paris in 1792, and cut out of the solid rock.
[Lucian], a Greek writer, born in Samosata, in Syria, in the early part of the 2nd century; he travelled much in his youth; acquired a cynical view of the world, and gave himself to ridicule the philosophical sects and the pagan mythology; his principal writings consist of "Dialogues," of which the "Dialogues of the Dead" are the best known, the subject being one affording him scope for exposing the vanity of human pursuits; he was an out and out sceptic, found nothing worthy of reverence in heaven or on earth.
[Lucifer] (i. e. light-bringer), name given to Venus as the morning star, and by the Church Fathers to Satan in interpretation of Isaiah xiv. 12.
[Lücke, Friedrich], German theologian, professor first at Bonn and then at Göttingen; wrote commentaries on John's Gospel and the Apocalypse (1791-1855).
[Lucknow] (273), fourth city in India, cap. of the prov. of Oudh, on the Gumti, a tributary of the Ganges, 200 m. NW. of Benares; is a centre of Indian culture and Mohammedan theology, an industrial and commercial city. It has many magnificent buildings, Canning and Martinière Colleges, various schools and Government offices. It manufactures brocades, shawls, muslins, and embroideries, and trades in country products, European cloth, salt, and leather. Its siege from July 1857 to March 1858, its relief by Havelock and Outram, and final deliverance by Sir Colin Campbell, form the most stirring incidents of the Indian Mutiny.
[Lucretia], a Roman matron, the wife of Collatinus, whose rape by a son of Tarquinus Superbus led to the dethronement of the tyrant, the expulsion of his family from Rome, and the establishment of the Roman republic.
[Lucretius, Titus Carus], a Roman poet of whose personal history nothing is known, only that he was the author of a poem entitled "De Rerum Naturâ," a philosophic, didactic composition in six books, in which he expounds the atomic theory of Leucippus, and the philosophy of Epicurus; the philosophy of the work commends itself only to the atheist and the materialist, but the style is the admiration of all scholars, and has ensured its translation into most modern languages (about 95-31 B.C.).
[Lucullus, Lucius], a Roman general, celebrated as conqueror of Mithridates, king of Pontus, and for the luxurious life he afterwards led at Rome on the wealth he had amassed in Asia and brought home with him; one day as he sat down to dine alone, and he observed his servant had provided for him a less sumptuous repast than usual, he took him sharply to task, and haughtily remarked, "Are you not aware, sirrah, that Lucullus dines with Lucullus to-day?"