gladiator Latin swordsman Professional combatant in ancient Rome who engaged in fights to the death as sport. Gladiators originally performed at Etruscan funerals, the intent being to give the dead man armed attendants in the next world. At Rome gladiator matches were
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gladiolus ► glass I 767
wildly popular from 264 bc. By the time of Julius Caesar, 300 pairs would fight at a single show; by the time of Trajan, 5,000 combatants of various classes would fight. In the late Roman republic the audience called for death with thumbs downward (or thumbs toward their breasts) and for mercy with handkerchiefs (or thumbs downward, according to some sources). The victor earned palm branches or money, and after a few victories a gladiator could be freed. Most were slaves or criminals, but a talented or handsome one could become a favourite of society; since they often served as bodyguards, they occasionally became politically important. Domitian delighted in using dwarfs and women as gladiators. With the coming of Christianity the games began to fall into disfavour, but they may have continued into the 6th century. See also Spartacus.
gladiolus \,gla-de-'o-l3s\ Any of about 300 species of flowering plants of the genus Gladiolus, in the IRIS family, native to Europe, Africa, and the Mediterranean and widely cultivated for cut flowers. The flowering spike, which springs from a corm, reaches 2-3 ft (60-90 cm) in height and has many funnel-shaped flowers, all clustered on one side of the stem. There are six petal-like floral parts and sparse, swordlike leaves. Cultivated gladioli, which come in all colours, have been developed mostly from southern and eastern African species.
Gladstone, William E(wart) (b. Dec. 29, 1809, Liverpool, Eng.—d. May 19, 1898, Hawarden, Flintshire,
Wales) British politician and prime minister (1868-74, 1880-85, 1886,
1892-94). He entered Parliament in 1833 as a Tory, but after holding various government posts, including chancellor of the Exchequer (1852—
55, 1859-66), he slowly converted to liberalism and became Liberal Party leader in 1866. In his first term as prime minister (1868-74), he over¬ saw national education reform, vot¬ ing reform (see Ballot Act), and the disestablishment of the Irish Protes¬ tant church (1869). In 1875-76 he denounced the indifference of Ben¬ jamin Disraeli’s government to the Bulgarian Horrors. In his second term, he secured passage of the Reform Bill of 1884. His cabinet authorized the occupation of Egypt (1882), but his failure to rescue Gen.
Charles George Gordon in Khartoum (1885) cost Gladstone much popularity and his government’s defeat. In 1886, throwing his weight behind support for Irish Home Rule, he was able to regain control of Parliament, but when his Home Rule Bill was rejected he resigned. He devoted the next six years to trying to convince the elec¬ torate to grant Home Rule to Ireland. Liberals won a majority again in 1892, and in his fourth cabinet he piloted through another Home Rule Bill, but it was soundly rejected by the House of Lords. He was buried in Westminster Abbey.
Glama River See Glomma River
gland Collection of cells or tissue that removes specific substances from the blood, alters or concentrates them, and then either releases them for further use by the body or eliminates them. Typically, the functional cells of a gland rest on a membrane and are surrounded by a meshwork of blood vessels. Endocrine, or ductless, glands (e.g., pituitary, thyroid, adrenal) dis¬ charge hormones into the bloodstream directly rather than through ducts (see endocrine system). Exocrine glands (e.g., digestive, mammary, salivary, sweat) discharge their products through ducts.
Glaser Vgla-zorX, Donald (Arthur) (b. Sept. 21, 1926, Cleveland, Ohio, U.S.) U.S. physicist. He received his Ph.D. from the California Institute of Technology, then joined the faculty at the University of Michi¬ gan. There he developed the bubble chamber, an instrument that became widely used in the study of subatomic particles because it allows precise measurement of the particles’ paths. He was awarded a 1960 Nobel Prize.
Glasgow \'glas-go\ City and council area (pop., 2001: 577,689), west¬ ern Scotland. Located on the River Clyde 20 mi (32 km) from its mouth on the Atlantic coast, Glasgow forms an independent council area that lies entirely within the historic county of Lanarkshire. The largest city in
William E. Gladstone.
CULVER PICTURES
Scotland, Glasgow began to develop with the arrival (c. 550 ad) of St. Kentigern (St. Mungo), who established a religious community. The present cathedral (13th century) was built on the site of the chapel. Glas¬ gow was made a royal burgh in 1450 and prospered in the 18th century, when American produce (tobacco, sugar, and rum) made fortunes for Glasgow merchants. Its economy wavered as the tobacco trade was cut off by the American Revolution and the cotton industry by the American Civil War. With the Industrial Revolution came coal mining, iron founding, and, especially, shipbuilding. Manufactures now include textiles, food and beverages, and chemicals. A notable education centre, Glasgow has many cultural amenities, including the Scottish Opera, the Scottish Ballet, the Royal Scottish National Orchestra, and Kelvingrove Art Gallery and Museum. The Glasgow Science Centre includes the 459-ft- (140-m-) high Glasgow Tower, the tallest freestanding structure in Scotland and the only structure of its height in the world that revolves 360° from its base.
Glasgow, Ellen (Anderson Gholson) (b. April 22, 1873, Rich¬
mond, Va., U.S.—d. Nov. 21, 1945, Richmond) U.S. novelist. She was irregularly schooled and lived the life of a Southern belle. With Vir¬ ginia (1913), she completed a five- novel series (begun 1900) depicting the state’s social history. She was past age 50 when she gained critical notice for Barren Ground (1925). The Sheltered Life (1932) is part of a trilogy of ironic novels of manners. Her realistic depiction of Virginia life helped direct Southern literature away from sentimentality and nos¬ talgia.
Ellen Glasgow, miniature by an unknown artist; in the collection of the Virginia Historical Society.
COURTESY OF THE VIRGINIA HISTORICAL SOCIETY
Glasgow, University of Public university in Glasgow, Scotland. It was founded in 1451 and reorga¬ nized in 1577. In the 18th century its faculty included such eminent fig¬ ures as Adam Smith and James Black;
James Watt was an assistant there. In the 19th century the faculty included Joseph Lister and William Thomson (Lord Kelvin). The university faculties represent the arts, divinity, law, medicine, science, veterinary medicine, and engineering. The rector is elected triennially by the students.
Glashow \'gla-sho\, Sheldon Lee (b. Dec. 5, 1932, New York, N.Y., U.S.) U.S. theoretical physicist. He joined the faculty at Harvard Univer¬ sity in 1967. With Steven Weinberg (b. 1933) and Abdus Salam (1926- 1996), he received a 1979 Nobel Prize for formulation of the electroweak theory, unifying electromagnetism and the weak force. In extending the early, limited theory of Weinberg and Salam to include more classes of elementary particles, he had to invent an important new property (charm) for QUARKS.
glasnost Vglas-.nost, 'glas-,n6st\ (Russian: “openness”) Soviet policy of open discussion of political and social issues. It was instituted by Mikhail Gorbachev in the late 1980s and began the democratization of the Soviet Union. Glasnost also permitted criticism of government officials and allowed the media freer dissemination of news and information. See also PERESTROIKA.