Alemannia(Region)Ancient Roman Latin name for the lands where the Alemanni lived. The Alemanni were a confederation of Germanic tribes who lived around the upper Rhine River in the time of the Roman Empire.
Assyria(Region)English, Ancient Roman, Ancient Greek From Greek Ἀσσυρία (Assyria), derived from Akkadian Ashurayu, itself from the name of the empire's capital city Ashur. This was the name of an ancient Mesopotamian kingdom and empire.
Attica(Region)English, Ancient Roman From Greek Ἀττική (Attike), derived from the name of the city of Ἀθήναι (see Athens). This is the name of the peninsula where Athens is located.
Aurelianum(Settlement)Ancient Roman Means "of Aurelianus" in Latin. This was the name of a city in Gaul (modern Orléans, France), which was renamed in honour of the 3rd-century Roman emperor Aurelian.
Babylon(Settlement)English, German, Dutch, Biblical, Ancient Roman, Biblical Latin, Ancient Greek, Biblical Greek Greek form of Akkadian 𒆍𒀭𒊏𒆠 (Babili), which appears to mean "gateway of God", from Akkadian 𒆍 (babu) meaning "gate" and 𒀭 (ilu) meaning "God", though it may in fact derive from a non-Semitic language. This was the name of a major city in ancient Mesopotamia, the capital of the Babylonian Empire. It was located in present-day Iraq.
Belgica(Region & Political Subdivision)Ancient Roman Derived from the Belgae, a Celtic-Germanic confederation of tribes that inhabited northern Gaul (modern Belgium). Their name is probably derived from a Celtic root meaning "to swell with anger".
Cale(Settlement)Ancient Roman Possibly from Celtic gall meaning "Gaul, Celt". This was the name of an ancient town in what is now Portugal, near the modern city of Porto.
Damascus(Settlement)Ancient Roman, Biblical Latin, English Meaning unknown, probably of Semitic origin. It is first mentioned in Egyptian records from the 15th century BC under the name Tmsq. It is now the capital city of Syria.
Delphi(Settlement)Ancient Roman, English Latinized form of Greek Δελφοί (Delphoi), from δελφύς (delphys) meaning "womb". This was the name of an ancient Greek city, the site of an oracle of Apollo.
Euphrates(River)English, Ancient Roman, Ancient Greek From Greek Εὐφράτης (Euphrates), the name of a river in Mesopotamia. It is derived from Old Persian 𐎢𐎳𐎼𐎠𐎬𐎢 (Ufratu), itself from Elamite or Sumerian, of uncertain meaning.
Galatia(Region & Political Subdivision)Ancient Greek, Ancient Roman, English From the Greek word for the Gaulish people Γαλάτης (Galates), probably a cognate of Latin Gallus (see Gallia). This was the Greek name for the region of Gaul. It was also used to refer to a region in Anatolia (modern Turkey) where Gauls settled in the 3rd century BC.... [more]
Gallia(Region, Political Subdivision & Country)Ancient Roman, Italian, Greek Latin name for the historical region of Gaul. It is derived from the Latin ethnic word Gallus, referring to the Gauls (Celts of continental Europe), probably ultimately derived from the Celtic root *galn- "be able".... [more]
Indus(River)English, Ancient Roman From Old Persian Hindus, which was from Sanskrit सिन्धु (Sindhu) meaning "body of trembling water, river". This is the name of a river in Pakistan and India.
Libya(Country & Region)Berber, English, Norwegian, Finnish, Turkish, Hausa, Swahili, Indonesian, Malay, Tagalog, Ancient Roman From Λιβύη (Libye), the Ancient Greek name for North Africa. It was derived from the Berber tribe of the Libu, attested as rbw in Ancient Egyptian. This name was revived in 1934 when the Italian colonies of Tripolitania and Cyrenaica were merged, carrying forward when the country gained independence in 1951. It is called ليبيا (Lībiyā) in Arabic.
Palaestina(Region & Political Subdivision)Ancient Roman Latin form of Palestine. There was a Roman province named Syria Palaestina after the 2nd century.
Persia(Country)Ancient Roman, English, Spanish, Italian Latin form of Greek Περσίς (Persis), from Old Persian Parsa. This is the name used in the West for a region in western Asia, as well as several empires that were based there, including the Achaemenid Empire, Parthian Empire, and Sasanian Empire. This was the Western name for the country of Iran until 1935, when the king requested that the native name Iran be used instead.
Portus Cale(Settlement)Ancient Roman Means "port of Cale" in Latin. This was the name of the city now known as Porto. The name of the city was later applied to the entire region of Portugal.
Romania(Country & Region)English, Italian, Ancient Roman From Latin meaning "land of the Romans" (see Rome). This is the name of a country in Eastern Europe, so named in the 16th century because of its historic and linguistic connections to the Roman Empire.... [more]
Syria(Country & Region)English, Polish, Norwegian, Greek, Ancient Roman, Ancient Greek From Greek Συρία (Syria), which was probably a variant of Assyria, used in an expanded sense to refer to the northern Levant. This was the name of a province of the Roman Empire. It is now the name of a country in western Asia, having gained independence from the Ottoman Empire early in the 20th century.
Venetia(Region & Settlement)Ancient Roman, Late Roman, Greek From the name of the Veneti people who inhabited northeastern Italy in ancient times. Their tribal name possibly meant something like "kinfolk" or "friendly". This was the Latin name for the region now called Veneto, and later the Latin name for the city of Venice (which did not exist in the classical period).
Vindobona(Settlement)Ancient Roman From Celtic windos "white" and bona "foundation, fort". This was a Roman military town on the site of the Austrian city of Vienna.