Brill’s New Pauly

Get access Subject: Classical Studies
Edited by: Hubert Cancik and Helmuth Schneider (Antiquity) and Manfred Landfester (Classical Tradition).
English translation edited by Christine F. Salazar (Antiquity) and Francis G. Gentry (Classical Tradition)

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Brill´s New Pauly is the English edition of the authoritative Der Neue Pauly, published by Verlag J.B. Metzler since 1996. The encyclopaedic coverage and high academic standard of the work, the interdisciplinary and contemporary approach and clear and accessible presentation have made the New Pauly the unrivalled modern reference work for the ancient world. The section on Antiquity of Brill´s New Pauly are devoted to Greco-Roman antiquity and cover more than two thousand years of history, ranging from the second millennium BC to early medieval Europe. Special emphasis is given to the interaction between Greco-Roman culture on the one hand, and Semitic, Celtic, Germanic, and Slavonic culture, and ancient Judaism, Christianity, and Islam on the other hand. The section on the Classical Tradition is uniquely concerned with the long and influential aftermath of antiquity and the process of continuous reinterpretation and revaluation of the ancient heritage, including the history of classical scholarship. Brill´s New Pauly presents the current state of traditional and new areas of research and brings together specialist knowledge from leading scholars from all over the world. Many entries are elucidated with maps and illustrations and the English edition will include updated bibliographic references.

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Baal

(1,388 words)

Author(s): Niehr, Herbert (Tübingen)
[German version] (Semitic bal, fem. balat; Greek Bḗlos, ‘Lord’, ‘Owner’, ‘Ruler’, ‘Master’, ‘Husband’). Since the 3rd millennium BC, the term B. was used to address God in the Syrian-Phoenician area (in the sense of ‘B. is almighty, ruler of order over chaos, lord of the heavens and the world and King’). At the same time, B. also designated individual or local deities when combined with toponyms (‘lord’ of a city, of a mountain range etc.) or with natural phenomena (‘lord’ of thunder, of rain etc., namely B. as weather god). In  Ugarit's lists of gods, B. always follows  El and Dag…

Baalbek

(2,207 words)

Author(s): Freyberger, Klaus Stefan (Damascus)
Freyberger, Klaus Stefan (Damascus) [German version] A. Introduction (CT) Baalbek, located in the fertile Beqaa plain northeast of Beirut, has been the site of an indigenous Baal cult since ancient times. The foundation of the Roman veteran colony presumably began in AD 16 with the construction of the sanctuary, whose monumental construction lasted until the 3rd cent. AD. The old cult remained alive among the population of the new colony. The sanctuary continued to be used even when transformed by new cu…

Baalbek

(276 words)

Author(s): Leisten, Thomas (Princeton)
[German version] This item can be found on the following maps: Syria | Theatre | Coloniae | Asia Minor Town in the Biqa plain between Lebanon and Antilebanon, located at an elevation of 1150 m, 64 km north-east of Beirut. The town's name was changed to Heliopolis (Str. 753; Plin. HN 5,80), probably because the Ptolemies of Alexandria identified the god ‘Baal (Haddad) of Biqa’ with the Egyptian sun god Ra/Helios. After the temporary rulership of the Seleucids (2nd cent. BC), B. became the cult centre for the Itu…

Babrius

(486 words)

Author(s): Luzzatto, Maria Jagoda (Florence)
[German version] Author of a collection of mostly Aesopian fables using a special kind of choliamb, which he himself called mythiambos ( prologos 2,7-8). The name B. is Italic [1. VII]. In 57,1, the author proclaims to know Arabs well, and in prologos 2,1, he states (as the only Greek) that the fable originated in Mesopotamia. His style [4] and particularly his special way of forming verses [6] make it obvious that B. wrote no earlier than in the 2nd cent. AD. The assumption that the actual addressee of the work, who in the text is poet…

Babylon

(712 words)

Author(s): Maul, Stefan (Heidelberg)
[German version] This item can be found on the following maps: Achaemenids | Xenophon | Zenobia | Diadochi and Epigoni | Alexander | Commerce | Hellenistic states | India, trade with | Limes | Mesopotamia | Rome | Rome Capital of Babylonia, on the river Euphrates south of Baghdad, near today's city of Hilleh. The Greek form of the name goes back to a place name in an unknown linguistic substratum of Mesopotamian (Babillu), which was interpreted by the popular Babylonian etymology of the Semitic population as Bāb-ili(m), ‘God's gate’.…

Babylon

(4,479 words)

Author(s): Rollinger, Robert (Innsbruck RWG)
Rollinger, Robert (Innsbruck RWG) [German version] A. Preliminary note (CT) The name Babylon (B.) can refer to both the city and the country of the same name. Ancient Assyria can also be included under the latter. It is not always possible to distinguish between these meanings. Rollinger, Robert (Innsbruck RWG) [German version] B. Introduction (CT) In the first centuries AD, the ancient city of B. increasingly lost significance. Although the evidence of the Tabula Peutingeriana (3rd cent.) indicates it was still part of ancient travel routes (see ma…

Babylonia

(412 words)

Author(s): Oelsner, Joachim (Leipzig)
[German version] In its lexical meaning, the term B., as used by Greek and Latin writers, (also expanded by γῆ, , μοῖρα, moîra or rather χώρα, chṓra) refers to the territory of the city of  Babylon (its wider surroundings); however, its use in that sense is frequently not unambiguous. In derivation, the term is nowadays generally taken to refer to the entire southern part of Mesopotamia, between the Persian Gulf and roughly the 34th northern parallel. Ancient oriental sources, though, do not use an equivalent regional …

Babyloniaka

(4 words)

see  Iamblichus

Babylonian

(4 words)

see  Akkadian

Bacchae

(6 words)

see  Dionysus; see Maenads

Bacchanal(ia)

(634 words)

Author(s): Frateantonio, Christa (Gießen)
[German version] In its oldest source, the   senatus consultum de Bacchanalibus from 186 BC, the Latin word bacchanal is used in the singular to designate a place of cult worship (Schuhmacher, Roman Inscription II 11). In the plural, it designates religious groups and cult rituals (Macrob. Sat. 1,18,1-5). The term bacchanal is based on a cult name of  Bacchus, the Greek Dionysus, or rather his offshoot Pacha, epithet of the Etruscan god Fufluns who was identified with Dionysus [1. 127] (detailed history of the term [6. 24f.]). It is controversial what type of cult place a bacchanal could …

Bacchiadae

(530 words)

Author(s): Stein-Hölkeskamp, Elke (Cologne)
[German version] (Βακχιάδαι; Bakchiádai). Exclusive aristocratic group which ruled over  Corinth from the middle of the 8th cent. BC. The B. derived from the Corinthian King Bacchis and followed their family tree back to  Heracles. 200 families belonged to the group (Diod. Sic. 7,9,6). They were a closed group for members by birthright only and maintained their exclusive status through endogamy (Hdt. 5,92). This practice distinguished them from the general aristocratic ruler classes of other poleis…

Bacchides

(63 words)

Author(s): Mehl, Andreas (Halle/Saale)
[German version] (Βακχίδης; Bakchídēs). ‘Friend’ of the Seleucid Antiochus IV, who governed Mesopotamia on his behalf. In 162 BC, he installed Alcimus as high priest under the orders of Demetrius I, defeated Iudas Maccabaeus, and strictly upheld Seleucid rulership over Judea (1 Macc 7-9; Ios. Bell. Iud. 1,35f.; Ant. Iud. 12,393-396; 420ff. passim; 13,4ff. passim Niese.  Antiochus [2-12] Mehl, Andreas (Halle/Saale)

Bacchius

(427 words)

Author(s): Nutton, Vivian (London) | Najock, Dietmar (Berlin)
(Βακχεῖος; Bakcheîos). [German version] [1] From Tanagra, physician, c. 250-200 BC of Tanagra. According to Erotian (31,10), B. was a physician and student of Herophilus (Gal. 18 A, 187 K.), active around 250-200 BC. In addition to his writings about pulse theory, pathology, and pharmacology, he also authored his memoirs of Herophilus and the latter's other students. B.'s reputation is largely based upon his glossary on Hippocrates, in which certain text versions have survived that are missing in the MSS o…

Bacchon

(46 words)

Author(s): Ameling, Walter (Jena)
[German version] (Βάκχων; Bákchōn). Son of Nicetas, from Boeotia, Ptolemaic nesiarch of the League of Islanders in 286 BC. He stayed in office until after 280 (PP 6, 15038). Ameling, Walter (Jena) Bibliography R. S. Bagnall, The administration of the Ptolemaic possessions outside Egypt, 1976, 136ff.

Bacchus

(1,417 words)

Author(s): Clinton, Kevin (Ithaca N. Y.) | Scheid, John (Paris)
(βάκχος; bákchos). [German version] I. Greece [German version] A. Mystes Βάκχος, βακχεύειν [1] ( Bákchos/bakcheúein) and related words refer to a type of raving (μανία, manía) predominantly expressed in the Dionysus cult ([1] where we also find a discussion about the word's origin; Hdt. 4,79). This essential characteristic of a Bacchus/Baccha was taken as a sign that he or she was possessed by the god (ἔνθεος, éntheos). The Bacchus/Baccha usually wore a thyrsus (or bakchos see below) and the skin of a deer (νεβρίς, nebrís). Although the thyrsus was seen as a particularly obviou…

Bacchylides

(1,270 words)

Author(s): Robbins, Emmet (Toronto)
[German version] (Βακχυλίδης; Bakchylídēs). Author of choral lyric whose productive period was in the 5th cent. BC. B. was born in Iulis on Ceos, but the exact year of his birth remains contested. He was the grandson of an athlete by the same name, the son of a man called Meidon (Suda) or Meidylus (EM), and nephew of  Simonides [1. 130-132]. Eusebius of Caesarea stated the time of B.'s akmḗ as the 2nd year of the 78th Olympiad, doubtlessly due to B.'s most important assignment -- to praise Hieron of Syracuse's victory in the chariot race of 468 BC. In Chron. pasch., his akmḗ is set 13 years earl…

Bacis

(210 words)

Author(s): Graf, Fritz (Columbus, OH)
[German version] (Βάκις; Bákis). Ecstatic seer from Boeotia, supposed author of hexametric oracles, which have been in circulation since the Persian Wars (Hdt. 7,20; 77; 96; 9,43). Other oracles refer to the reconstruction of Messene (Paus. 4,27,4) or to Theban rites (ibid., 9,15,7; 10,32,8-11); Athenian inscriptions possibly attest to an oracle (IG II4968; SEG.10,175) [1]. The nymphs had driven B. to madness (Paus. 4,27,4; 20,12,11), supposedly those of the Corycian grotto (Schol. Aristoph. Pax 1279). B. also cures madness, like the seer  Melamp…

Back formation

(6 words)

see  Word formation

Bactria

(970 words)

Author(s): Brentjes, Burchard (Berlin) | Treidler, Hans (Berlin)
[German version] A. Sources Herodotus was the first to write about ancient B., and he was closest to the events he describes; all further tradition is secondary, mainly also the information relating to the epoch of  Alexander [4] the Great by Arrian (A.) and Curtius Rufus, who refer back to Aristobulus, Ptolemy and Cleitarchus. Strabo (11,11) and Ptolemy (6,11 N) give coherent representations of B. and, in addition, there are scattered accounts by  Aelianus [2], Aeschylus, Aristotle, Diodorus Sicul…
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