Glossary deferent A hypothetical circle along which moves the epicycle, a theoretical orbit of the earth, sun, moon, and planets Delphi The most sacred and famous oracle of ancient Greece, dedicated to Apollo, god of prophecy deluge A flood; often used to refer to the Flood mentioned in the Bible in the story of Noah and his ark demagogue A leader who rises to power through playing on people’s prejudices or one who champions the cause of the people deme Basic geographic unit of Athens, equivalent to a neighborhood or ward democracy A political system in which governing power rests broadly on the population generally demography The study of a population’s characteristics, such as birth and death rates, density, growth, distribution, and breeding patterns demos The citizen body of Athens demotic A simplified form of Egyptian hieroglyphic writing denarius (pl denarii) A Roman silver coin denomination A specific class of coin with a specific value derrick A tall platform over an underground well that is used to raise and lower drills and containers desertification Process that causes fertile land to become desert deshret “Red land” in the Egyptian language, referring to desert, in contrast to kemet (cultivatable land), or “black land.” desiccation The process of drying something out thoroughly determinative A hieroglyph placed after the phonetic spelling of an ancient Egyptian word relating to the meaning of that word, like an ear placed after the verb meaning “to hear.” deterministic A theory or belief that any event or set of events is the inevitable consequence of what precedes and causes it and cannot be avoided devaraja The Hindu concept of the divinity of secular rulers devolution of property The transfer of land from one generation to the next dharma In Hindu and Buddhist philosophy, divine law as associated with the moral duty of individuals dhoti A wrapped Indian garment resembling loose, short trousers dhow A sailing vessel with triangular sails that was heavily used beginning in ancient times in the Indian Ocean, especially for trade between Africans and Arabs di indigetes Ancient Rome’s native gods di novensides In ancient Rome, “newcomer gods” imported from foreign cultures diadem A headband, like a crown, worn as an adornment by the royalty 1201 dialect A subgroup of a language usually (but not always) comprehensible to speakers of the parent language diaspora Dispersal of a people from its homeland diaulos A running event in ancient Greece covering roughly a quarter mile dictator In ancient Rome, a special kind of magistrate appointed by the Senate to act in times of emergency and who had almost unlimited power but whose term was limited, usually to about six months didactic poetry Poetry that teaches a lesson die An engraved metal device for stamping a design into a softer metal such as a coin dikai demosiai In Athens, public lawsuits in which prosecution could be initiated either by magistrates or by private individuals not directly connected to the case dioptra In ancient Greece, a sighting rod used in mapping and surveying diorite A hard, grayish stone that was commonly used in ancient Mesopotamia for freestanding obelisks and commemorative slabs Diorite could be polished to a glossy sheen diphros A simple stool or low chair in ancient Greece, without arms or a back diploidion A piece of material left long in front and folded at the shoulders worn by the ancient Greeks distaff Any tool used to hold fibers for spinning; in the Roman period it was a stick of wood, bone, metal, or even ivory distributive economy An economy in which a central authority collects food and other goods, stores the collections, and then redistributes them according to the people’s social positions or needs dithyramb An impassioned choric hymn and dance of ancient Greece, performed in honor of Dionysus divination A ritual observation of nature for signs that the will of the gods is favorable or unfavorable to a specific action, as a way to determine whether a contemplated action should be taken dolichos In ancient Greece, a race of about 2.5 to miles dolmen A type of stone monument in which a horizontal stone slab lies atop a set of upright stones domestication A process by which plants and animals are altered by human selection, resulting in loss of the ability to survive in the wild domus An ancient Roman home, especially in the cities Doric One of the three orders, or styles, of Greek architecture, distinguished by thick, sturdy columns and plain capitals dowel A pin fitted with holes to hold two pieces in place together downcutting Stream erosion that deepens a valley down-the-line trade A pattern of exchange whereby goods are passed from one person (or group) to another dowry Payment of property accompanying a bride to her new house, available for the husband’s use but repaid to the wife’s family should the marriage dissolve