Today I was reading in my pirated version of the Barclay Commentary and I learned a new word for patience that I thought was interesting:

Makrothumia (GSN3115); this is a great word. The writer of First Maccabees (1Macc.8:4) says that it was by makrothumia (GSN3115) that the Romans became masters of the world, and by that he means the Roman persistence which would never make peace with an enemy even in defeat, a kind of conquering patience.

Generally speaking the word is not used of patience in regard to things or events but in regard to people. Chrysostom said that it is the grace of the man who could revenge himself and does not, the man who is slow to wrath. The most illuminating thing about it is that it is commonly used in the New Testament of the attitude of God towards men (Rom.2:4; Rom.9:22; 1Tim.1:16; 1Pet.3:20). – Barclay Commentary