Flaminius Vfta-'min-e-osV Gaius (d. 217 bc) Roman political leader. As tribune (232) he supported Roman expansion in northern Italy; his land bill (232) gave land to Roman plebeians and gained him great popularity, but the bill’s passage was seen as the cause of the Gallic invasion of 225 (repelled in 223), and he was held responsible. He was elected consul in 223 and 217. As censor (220) he built the Circus Flaminius in Rome and the Via Flaminia to Ariminum (Rimini). He died fighting Hannibal in the Second Punic War.
Flanders Flemish Vlaanderen Vvlan-do-ronV Medieval principality extending along the coast of the Low Countries. Its lands are now included in the French departement of Nord, the Belgian provinces of East Flanders and West Flanders, and the Dutch province of Zeeland. Ruled by Bald¬ win I in 862, Flanders began to grow as a commercial centre, fostered by its strategic location between the Mediterranean Sea and the Scandina¬ vian and Baltic countries. It passed to Burgundy in 1384 and then to the Austrian Habsburgs in 1477. It remained part of the Netherlands under Spanish rule in the 17th century. It was the scene of fighting during both World War I and World War II. Limited autonomy was granted to Bel¬ gian Flanders in the 1980s, and it became one of the three regions in the new federation of Belgium in 1993.
Flandin \fla n -'da n \, Pierre-Etienne (b. April 12, 1889, Paris, France—d. June 13, 1958, Saint-Jean-Cap-Ferrat) French politician. He served in the Chamber of Deputies (1914-40) and held various ministe¬ rial posts in the Third Republic, serving briefly as premier (1934-35). As foreign minister when the Germans marched into the Rhineland in 1936, he failed to convince the French and British governments to act and accepted German dominance, though when he returned briefly as foreign minister in the Vichy regime, he resisted German demands. Later charged with treason, he was acquitted in 1946.
flare star Star that varies in brightness repeatedly but sporadically, sometimes by more than one magnitude, within a few minutes. The cause is thought to be the eruption of flares like those observed on the Sun but much larger (see solar flare). Prox- ima Centauri, in Alpha Centauri, the closest star to the Sun, is a flare star.
flat See playa
flatfish Any of about 600 species (order Pleuronectiformes) of oval¬ shaped, flattened bony FiSHes (e.g., flounder, turbot) found from tropical to cold waters. Most are marine and live at moderate depths along the
Flatfish (scophthalmus)
JACQUES SIX
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flatfoot ► flea I 681
continental shelf, but some enter or live permanently in fresh water. Flat¬ fishes are carnivorous bottom dwellers that habitually rest on one side, often partly buried in the sand or mud. Some can also change colour to blend with their surroundings. Both eyes are on one side of the head. The eyed side of the fish (uppermost as it lies on the bottom) is pigmented, but the lower, blind side is normally white. Species vary from 4 in. (10 cm) to 7 ft (2 m) long, and some (e.g., the Atlantic halibut) may weigh as much as 720 lb (325 kg). Many species are highly valued as food. See also plaice; sole.
flatfoot Congenital or acquired flatness of the arch of the foot, in which the foot and heel usually also roll outward, resulting in a splayfooted position. Initially, it may result from ligament stretching and muscle weak¬ ness. Later, altered shape of the bones may make the deformity rigid. In a few cases it seems to result from excessive weight or an injury. Symp¬ toms may include pain, spasm, and awkward gait, but many patients have no disability or pain. Treatment to correct arch and heel position employs proper shoes and muscle strengthening; arch supports are indicated only for severe pain or excessive fatigue.
Flathead North American Indian people living in Montana, U.S. Salish is what they call themselves, and their language is of Salishan linguistic stock. The name Flathead is now customary, although it is a misnomer; they themselves did not practice head-flattening, but some of their slaves came from tribes that did. The Flatheads, who inhabited what is now western Montana, were the easternmost group of the Plateau Indians, but they exhib¬ ited many cultural traits of the Plains Indians just east over the Rocky Moun¬ tains. They acquired horses and went on bison hunts on the Plains, often warring with Plains tribes. The Plains tepee was the usual dwelling. Western Flatheads used bark canoes, and fishing was important for all groups. Reli¬ gious belief centred on guardian spirits, with whom one communicated in visions. Since 1872 the Flatheads have resided primarily on a reservation north of Missoula, Mont. In the 2000 U.S. census some 3,300 individuals claimed sole Salish descent and about 3,500 Salish and Kootenoi.
Flathead River River, southeastern British Columbia, Canada, and western Montana, U.S. Rising in the MacDonald Range, it flows south for 240 mi (385 km) across the Canada-U.S. boundary into Montana. After passing between the Whitefish Range and Glacier National Park, it enters Flathead Lake and emerges to join the Clark Fork. The Flathead valley is a resort region with diversified farming and fruit growing, lumbering, and mining.
Flatt, Lester (Raymond) (b. June 19, 1914, Duncan’s Chapel, near Sparta, Tenn., U.S.—d. May 11, 1979, Nashville, Tenn.) U.S. bluegrass and country music guitarist and singer. He worked in textile mills until the late 1930s, when he and his wife, Gladys, began performing as a duo. In 1945 he joined Bill Monroe’s Blue Grass Boys. There he met Earl Scruggs (b. 1924), a native of Flint Hill, N.C., who had played banjo since age 5 and had begun playing on radio by the age of 15. Scruggs eventually per¬ fected a picking technique involving the thumb and first two fingers of the right hand that came to be called the “Scruggs style.” In 1948 the two men left Monroe’s band to form Flatt and Scruggs and the Foggy Mountain Boys. They made dozens of records in the 1950s and ’60s and hosted their own syndicated radio and TV shows. Scruggs’s original instrumental compositions, including “Foggy Mountain Breakdown,” were especially popular. They parted ways in 1969 when Scruggs joined his sons Gary and Randy (and later Steve) in the Earl Scruggs Revue.
flatworm or platyhelminth Any of a phylum (Platyhelminthes) of soft-bodied, usually much-flattened worms, including both free-living and parasitic species. Flatworms live in a variety of marine, freshwater, and terrestrial habitats worldwide. They range in length from much less than an inch (a fraction of a millimeter) to 50 ft (15 m) and are of three main types: turbellarians (including the planarian), trematodes (see fluke), and cestodes (see tapeworm). Flatworms are bilaterally symmetrical and lack respiratory, skeletal, and circulatory systems and a body cavity. Turbel¬ larians are mostly free-swimming, but trematodes and cestodes are para¬ sites.
Flaubert \flo-'ber\, Gustave (b. Dec. 12, 1821, Rouen, France—d. May 8, 1880, Croisset) French novelist. Flaubert abandoned law studies at age 22 for a life of writing. His masterpiece, Madame Bovary (1857), a sharply realistic portrayal of provincial bourgeois boredom and adul¬ tery, led to his trial (and narrow acquittal) on charges of immorality. His other novels include the exotic Salammbo (1862), set in ancient Carthage; A Sentimental Education (1869), a classic bildungsroman of disillusion¬
ment in a time of social and political change; and The Temptation of Saint Anthony (1874), notable for its depiction of spiritual torment. Trois Contes (1877) contains three novel¬ las set in the ancient, medieval, and contemporary periods. Renowned for his lapidary style, he is regarded as the foremost exponent of French REALISM.
Flavian dynasty \'fla-ve-9n\ (ad 69-96) Ancient Roman imperial dynasty of Vespasian and his sons Titus and Domitian, members of the Flavia gens, or clan. Vespasian sought to give the office of emperor permanent form, by means of a for¬ mal system of titles to replace per¬ sonal names, an insistence on the rights of office, and a move to make Caesarism (dictatorship) hereditary by natural descent or adoption. Wor¬ ship of the deified caesars (subem¬ perors) became the symbol of imperial continuity and legitimacy.