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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Eagle

(715 words)

Author(s): Hünemörder, Christian (Hamburg)
[German version] (ἀετός; aetós, aquila). Most distinguished bird of antiquity (Il. 8,247; 24,315; Aesch. Ag. 112; Pind. Pyth. 1,6 al.; Plin. HN 10,6). Description of the six types in Aristot. Hist. an. 8(9),32,618 b 18-619 b 12 and with alterations in Plin. HN 10,6-8. (1) πύγαργος, νεβροφόνος ( pýgargos, nebrophónos; ‘deer calf killer’) (in Plin. no. 2), with white tailfeathers, living on plains, in forests, mountains and in towns, perhaps snake eagle [1. 208]. (2) πλάγγος, νηττοφόνος ( anataria) or μορφνός, Homer. (= περκνός, Il. 24,316), in damp lowlands or by lakes,…

Eagle-stone

(203 words)

Author(s): Hünemörder, Christian (Hamburg)
[German version] (ἀετίτης; aetítēs). According to Plin. HN 36.149 (cf. Plin. HN 10.12) a so-called rattle stone found in both sexes in eagles nests, which like a pregnant woman contained a further stone inside it, of which Pliny according to Sotacus (3rd cent. BC) [1.468] distinguished a total of four kinds in Africa, Arabia, Cyprus and near Leucas. Without its presence the eagle would not produce any progeny. According to the stone book of Evax ch. 1 [2.234-236], the eagle brought it from the peri…

Ear ornaments

(960 words)

Author(s): Hurschmann, Rolf (Hamburg)
[German version] I. Ancient Orient see  Jewellery Hurschmann, Rolf (Hamburg) [German version] II. Classical Antiquity Ear ornaments (ἐνώτια/ enṓtia, ἐνωτάρια/ enōtária, ἐνωτίδιον/ enōtídion, Lat. inaures) are seldom mentioned in Gr. myth (Hom. Il. 14,183; Hom. Od. 18,298; Hymn. Hom. ad Ven. 8), but numerous finds and representations attest that already in early times they formed part of the  jewellery of men (Hom. Od. 18,298) and women. In the classical period and later, the wearing of ear ornaments by men was regarded…

Earth­quake

(850 words)

Author(s): Maul, Stefan (Heidelberg) | Krafft, Fritz (Marburg/Lahn)
[German version] I. Mesopotamia The push of the Arabian peninsula to the north-east against the Eurasian plate caused the uplift of the Zagros and Taurus mountains. Seismic release of tensions can lead to earthquakes in the whole of Mesopotamia, particularly in the north. Earthquakes were considered to be expressions of wrath by  Enlil, king of the gods, by various  chthonic gods and by Inanna/Ištar as the star of Venus. They were regarded as severe warnings to the king and as precursors of further …

Easter chronicle

(6 words)

see  Chronicon paschale

Easter computation

(5 words)

see  Calendar

East Greek pottery

(1,554 words)

Author(s): Schaus, Gerald P. (Waterloo, Ontario)
[German version] A. Introduction The region of eastern Greece, i.e. the west coast of Asia Minor and the offshore islands, was settled by Greeks in part during the late Bronze Age and more comprehensively in the early Iron Age. Culturally and politically, the region was subdivided into the Aeolian north, the Ionic middle and the Doric south; artistically, the prosperous cities of Ionia (Miletus, Samos, Ephesus and Smyrna) were the leading ones in the region. Local pottery workshops influenced by the…

Ebionaei

(379 words)

Author(s): Rist, Josef (Würzburg)
[German version] (Greek Ἐβιωναῖοι; Ebiōnaîoi, from Hebr. םיִנֹויְבֶא < æbyōnı̄m, ‘[the] Poor’). Since  Irenaeus (Haer. 1,26,2); the usual collective term for selected, heterodox Jewish-Christian groups in antiquity. The name was wrongly interpreted as pejorative by Patristic authors (Euseb. Hist. eccl. 3,27; Orig. contra Celsum 2,1: ‘poor of mind’) or, since Tertullianus (De praescriptione haereticorum 10,8; also Hippolytus, refutatio omnium haeresium 7,35,1), ascribed to a homonymous namegiver Ebion, su…

Ebla

(525 words)

Author(s): Klengel, Horst (Berlin)
[German version] This item can be found on the following maps: Mesopotamia Town in North West Syria (today Tall Mardı̄ḫ, c. 60 km southwest of Aleppo). Excavations since 1964 show proof of extensive building developments from the 3rd and 2nd millennia BC; since 1974, substantial archives with c. 17,000 clay tablets and fragments (24th/23rd cents. BC) have come to light. They are written in the  Cuneiform script adopted from Mesopotamia and composed in an archaic Semitic language on whose character there are differing opinions ( Eblaite). So…

Eblaite

(238 words)

Author(s): Krebernik, Manfred (Munich)
[German version] The texts from palace G in  Ebla (24th cent. BC) are the oldest written records found in North West Syria so far. They reflect a complex linguistic situation: along with the cuneiform script, Sumerian and Akkadian texts from Mesopotamia were also imported, and the local material itself is not homogenous. The Semitic idiom ( Semitic languages) used in local texts (of which the bilingual lexical lists are particularly important), which is closely related to  Akkadian, is called Ebla…

Ebony

(199 words)

Author(s): Hünemörder, Christian (Hamburg)
[German version] As ébenos (ἔβενος) or ebénē (ἐβένη; since Hdt. 3,97: 200 logs of ebony as tribute of the Ethiopians to the Persian Great King) and hebenus (since Verg. G. 2,115f.), the precious and very long lasting (Plin. HN 16,213) heartwood imported from India (cf. Str. 15,1,37) and black Africa (cf. Str. 17,2,2) was famous in antiquity; it was derived from various deciduous trees of the genus Diospyros ( D. ebenum in India, hirsutum and haplostylis in Africa) belonging to the family of the Ebenaceae. In his report on Indian trees, Pliny (HN 12,20), like his source…

Ebora

(236 words)

Author(s): Barceló, Pedro (Potsdam)
Whether the name E. is Iberian, Ligurian or Celtic, remains unclear [1. vol. 1, 1394; vol. 2, 205; 2. 68; 3. 150]. [German version] [1] Town of the Carpetani, modern Montalba Town of the Carpetani, today Montalba on the Tajo. The town Aebura referred to in Livy (40,30; 32f.) is probably identical with Libora (Ptol. 2,6,56; Geogr. Rav. 4,44, Lebura; but cf. CIL II p. 111 s. Caesarobriga). Barceló, Pedro (Potsdam) [German version] [2] Modern Évora in Portugal Today Évora in Portugal (Alentejo); its identity is confirmed by inscriptions and archaeological remains (fort, …

Eboracum

(290 words)

Author(s): Todd, Malcolm (Exeter)
[German version] This item can be found on the following maps: Christianity | | Coloniae | Commerce | Legio | Limes | Limes | Pertinax | Rome | Rome | Britannia (Today York). With its strategically favourable location in the heart of the Vale of York, E. presented itself to the Romans as a base for their military control of northern Britannia. The earliest garrison was stationed in E. under Q. Petilius Cerealis in AD 71/74 [1]. The legionary camp ( legio IX Hispana) was a wood-earth fort of the 70s; the reconstruction in stone took place in the early 2nd cent. The legio VI Victrix replaced the legio I…

Eborarii

(4 words)

see  Ivory

Eburnus

(40 words)

Author(s): Elvers, Karl-Ludwig (Bochum)
[German version] Cognomen (‘ivory coloured’), derived from the skin or hair colour of Q. Fabius Maximus Eburnus, cos. 116 BC (Ps. Quint. Decl. mai. 3,17; with an obscene meaning in Arnob. 4,26). Elvers, Karl-Ludwig (Bochum) Bibliography Kajanto, Cognomina 227.

Eburodunum

(110 words)

Author(s): Lafond, Yves (Bochum) | Walser, Gerold (Basle)
This item can be found on the following maps: Rome | Rome [German version] [1] Main town of the Caturiges Main town of the Caturiges. On a rocky plinth towering above the Durance, the pre-Roman oppidum and the Roman town occupied the place of today's urban development (Embrun). Important station on the road from southern Gaul to northern Italy. Lafond, Yves (Bochum) Bibliography P.-A. Fevrier, Archéologie dans les Hautes-Alpes, 1991, 242-244. [German version] [2] Gallo-Roman vicus, today Yverdon-les-Bains Gallo-Roman vicus with a pre-Roman sulphur spring still in use toda…

Eburones

(234 words)

Author(s): Schön, Franz (Regensburg)
[German version] People in Gallia Belgica, the most important one amongst the Germani Cisrhenani (Caes. B Gall. 2,4); they were clients of the Treveri in the south; in between the two were the lands of the Germanic  Condrusi and Segni (Caes. B Gall. 4,6; 6,32). In the north, the E. shared a border with the coastal people of the Menapii (Caes. B Gall. 6,5). The core of their areas of settlement between Maas and Rhine (Caes. B Gall. 5,24) comprised the northern Ardennes, the Eiffel and the plains ex…

Ebusus

(172 words)

Author(s): Niemeyer, Hans Georg (Hamburg)
[German version] (Ἔβουσος; Ébousos). According to archaeological finds, the larger one of the two  Pityussae (‘Spruce islands’), Ibiza and Formentera, was settled around the middle of the 7th cent. BC, initially under the name of ybšm by Phoenician colonists from the Straits of Gibraltar. The founding of a settlement by Carthage reported in Diod. Sic. 5,16,1-3, evidently refers to an expansion carried out by the north African metropolis some 100 years later. Thanks to its prominent position, the town of E. became an important Pu…

Ecbatana

(479 words)

Author(s): Calmeyer, Peter (Berlin)
[German version] This item can be found on the following maps: Achaemenids | Diadochi and Epigoni | Alexander | Commerce | Hellenistic states | Hellenistic states | India, trade with | Mesopotamia (ancient Persian Hāgmātana, Greek Ἐκβάτανα, Ἀκβάτανα; Ekbátana, Akbátana), today Hamadān. Median capital, summer residence of the  Achaemenids (Xen. An. 3,5,15; Xen. Cyr. 8,6,22; Ael. NA 3,13; 10,6; Ezra 6,2) and Arsacids ( Arsaces; Curt. 5,8,1; Str. 11,524), Seleucid Ἐπιφάνεια/ Epipháneia (Steph. Byz. s.v. Ἀκβάτανα), later overtaken by Rhages. Today, the ruins of E. are…

Ecclesiastical/Religious law

(574 words)

Author(s): Podella, Thomas (Lübeck) | Rüpke, Jörg (Erfurt)
[German version] I. Old Testament A religious law in the sense of a legal system existing alongside profane law or even preceding it, cannot be reconstructed for the old Israel. At the centre of recent discussions is the question of the ‘theologizing’ or the ‘Jahvism’ of the law. This refers especially to the concept occurring in Exodus (Ex 20,1 ff.: Decalogue and book of the covenant) of a God  Jehova as a lawgiver who thus functionally occupies a domain which in the Old Orient was reserved for roya…

Ecdemus

(112 words)

Author(s): Stanzel, Karl-Heinz (Tübingen)
[German version] (Ἔκδημος; Ékdēmos) or Ecdelus (Ἔκδηλος; Ékdēlos, thus Plutarch, Polybius) from Megalopolis. Academic philosopher of the 3rd cent. BC, pupil of Arcesilaus who is mainly known because of his many and diverse political activities (Plut. Aratus 5: ‘a philosopher and a man of action at the same time’, ἀνὴρ φιλόσοφος καὶ πρακτικός cf. Id., Philopoemen 1); (Pol. 10,22; cf. Paus. 8,49,1): he was a teacher of Philopoemen; together with Demophanes, he liberated his home town of Aristodemus' tyra…

Ecdicius

(201 words)

Author(s): Meier, Mischa (Bielefeld) | Portmann, Werner (Berlin)
(Ĕκδίκιος; Ekdíkios) [German version] [2] Son of the Emperor Avitus, 5th cent. AD Arvernian from a senator's family, son of the emperor  Avitus [1], brother-in-law of Sidonius Apollinaris, received an excellent education (in Clermont). Around AD 469, he was probably at the court of  Anthemius [2]; probably in 471 he organized the defence of Clermont against the Visigoths using his own means. During a famine in Burgundy in 473, he supplied the (suffering) population with food. In 474, Iulius Nepos awarded the patricius title to him for his achievements and probably made him a magister utr…

Ecetra

(159 words)

Author(s): Sartori, Antonio (Milan)
[German version] Main settlement of the Volsci; its exact location to the north of the Monti Lepini is not known (Liv. 4,61,5; 6,31,5). An ongoing obstacle for the Romans [1. 649; 2. 100] (Liv. 3,10,8; Dion. Hal. Ant. Rom. 8,4), E. even stood up to them (at the end of the 5th cent. BC) after the fall of  Antium [3. 434], which was allied to E. (Liv. 4,59,1; Diod. Sic. 14,16,5). The Ecetrani, de facto displaced by the Privernati, are still found in Liv. 6,31 for 378 BC; thereafter, their traces vanish. The name of the town, which particularly in its Greek form Ἐχέτρα ( Echétra), similar to Cimetra (…

Echeclus

(108 words)

Author(s): Bloch, René (Berne)
(Ἔχεκλος; Écheklos). [German version] [1] Son of the Trojan Agenor Son of the Trojan Agenor, killed by Achilles (Hom. Il. 20,474). Paus. 10,27,2 points to a parallel motive in the Iliad parva (18 PEG I) where the son of Achilles, Neoptolemus, kills the father of E. Bloch, René (Berne) Bibliography W. Kullmann, Die Quellen der Ilias, Hermes ES 14, 1960, 354 P. Wathelet, Dictionnaire des Troyens de l'Iliade, vol. 1, 1988, 555f. [German version] [2] Trojan, killed by Patroclus Trojan, killed by Patroclus (Hom. Il. 16,694). Bloch, René (Berne) Bibliography P. Wathelet, Dictionnaire des…

Echecrates

(239 words)

Author(s): Ameling, Walter (Jena) | Riedweg, Christoph (Zürich)
(Ἐχεκράτης; Echekrátēs). [German version] [1] Thessalian condottierre of Ptolemy IV, c. 217 BC Thessalian condottiere of Ptolemy IV, whose training of the army and especially the cavalry significantly contributed to the victory at Raphia in 217 BC. In that battle, he commanded the right wing of the cavalry. An anecdotally coloured representation of the battle is recorded in Diod. Sic. 16,26,6. PP 2, 2161. Ameling, Walter (Jena) [German version] [2] Pythagorean from Phleius Pythagorean from Phleius, who together with Phanton, Polymnastos and Diocles, who also came fro…

Echedemus

(72 words)

Author(s): Günther, Linda-Marie (Munich)
[German version] (Ἐχέδημος; Echédēmos). Prominent Athenian from Cydathenaeum [1. 189-193], tried in vain in 190 BC to mediate between the Aetolians and the Romans, i.a. with P. Cornelius Scipio (Pol. 21,4-5; Liv. 37,6; 7) [2. 277-288], and in 185/4 contributed decisively to the reorganization of the Delphian  amphictyony [3. 213]. Günther, Linda-Marie (Munich) Bibliography 1 C. Habicht, Studien zur Gesch. Athens in hell. Zeit, 1982 2 P. Pantos, E., the Second Attic Phoibos, in: Hesperia 58, 1989 3 Habicht.

Echeia

(173 words)

Author(s): Blume, Horst-Dieter (Münster)
[German version] (ἠχεῖα; ēcheîa). Instruments/objects producing or amplifying sound (echo). Vitruvius refers to echia as bronze vessels with a wide opening, which were used for resonance reinforcement in the theatre (Vitr. De arch. 1,1,9; 5,5). Tuned to various keys, they were supposedly installed under the rows of seats according to mathematical calculations. They did not exist in Rome, but L. Mummius is said to have brought pieces of loot of this type back from Corinth. However, nothing in the theatre of C…

Echelidae

(90 words)

Author(s): Lohmann, Hans (Bochum)
[German version] (Ἐχελίδαι; Echelídai, from ἕλος; hélos, ‘Swamp’?). Locality ( dḗmos according to Steph. Byz. s.v. Eχελíδαι; EM s.v. Ἔχελος) in Attica in the plain near the mouth of the Kephisos close to the ‘Long Wall’ leading to Phalerum, slightly north of today's Neofaliron on the territory of the Demos Xypete [2; 3. 87]. Judeich and Milchhöfer [1; 2] suspect that the hippodromos of Athens was located there. Lohmann, Hans (Bochum) Bibliography 1 W. Judeich, Top. von Athen, 21931, 456 2 A. Milchhöfer, s.v. E., RE 5, 1911 3 Traill, Attica, 50, 86f., 114 no. 10.

Echembrotus

(74 words)

Author(s): Bowie, Ewen (Oxford)
[German version] (Eχέμβροτος; Echémbrotos) Arcadian aulode and elegist. Paus. 10,7,5-6 reports about his victory in the aulode competition during the newly arranged Pythian Games in 586 BC and quotes his verse(?) epigram on a tripod in Thebes dedicated to Hercules. His description as a singer of μέλεα καὶ ἐλέγους is the earliest record of the term élegoi. Bowie, Ewen (Oxford) Bibliography IEG 2, 62 M. L. West, Studies in Greek Elegy and Iambus, 1974.

Echemmon

(89 words)

Author(s): Bloch, René (Berne)
(Ἐχέμμων; Echémmōn). [German version] [1] Son of Priamus A son of Priamus. He was killed at the same time as his brother Chromius [3] of Diomedes (Hom. Il. 5,160; Apollod. 3,153). Bloch, René (Berne) Bibliography P. Wathelet, Dictionnaire des Troyens de l'Iliade, vol. 1, 1988, 557f. [German version] [2] Nabataean A Nabataean who was killed by Perseus (Ov. Met. 5,163; 176). Ovid at this point adopts the Homeric motif from Hom. Il. 5,159-165 (cf. E. [1]). Bloch, René (Berne) Bibliography F. Bömer, P. Ovidius Naso, Met. B. 4-5 (comm.), 1976, 264.

Echemus

(153 words)

Author(s): Bloch, René (Berne)
(Ἔχεμος; Échemos). [German version] [1] King of Tegea in Arcadia King of Tegea in Arcadia, son of Aeropos, married to Leda's daughter Timandra who left him (Hes. Cat. fr. 23a, 31-35; 176,3-4; Paus. 8,5,1; Apollod. 3,126). E. won in an Olympic wrestling match (Pind. Ol. 10,66). Due to his victory in single combat against Heracles' son Hyllus, E. is said to have checked the advance of the Heraclids into the Peloponnese by 50 (Diod. Sic. 4,58,3-5) or 100 years (Hdt. 9,26). A relief fragment shows E. as an heroic fighter [1]. Paus. 8,53,10 describes the grave of E. in Tegea. Bloch, René (Berne) Bibli…

Echephron

(42 words)

Author(s): Bloch, René (Berne)
(Ἐχέφρων; Echéphrōn). [German version] [1] Son of Nestor Son of Nestor (Hom. Od. 3,413; 439; Apollod. 1,94). Bloch, René (Berne) [German version] [2] Son of Hercules and Psophis Son of Hercules and Psophis, twin brother of  Promachos. Bloch, René (Berne)

Echepolus

(78 words)

Author(s): Bloch, René (Berne)
(Ἐχέπωλος; Echépōlos, ‘Horse owner’). [German version] [1] Pelopid Pelopid, son of an Anchises from Sicyon. He gave Agamemnon the mare Aithe and thus bought his release from the journey to Troy (Hom. Il. 23,296 with schol.) Bloch, René (Berne) Bibliography W. Kullmann, Die Quellen der Ilias, Hermes ES 14, 1960, 261. [German version] [2] Trojan A Trojan who was killed by Antilochus (Hom. Il. 4,458). Bloch, René (Berne) Bibliography P. Wathelet, Dictionnaire des Troyens de l'Iliade, vol. 1, 1988, 558-560.

Echestratus

(52 words)

Author(s): Meier, Mischa (Bielefeld)
[German version] (Ἐχέστρατος; Echéstratos). Legendary Spartan king, son of Agis I, father of Labotas and thus the third king from the house of the Agiads (Hdt. 7,204). According to Paus. 3,2,2, the Cynureans are said to have been expelled from the Argolis in the reign of E. Meier, Mischa (Bielefeld)

Echetla

(112 words)

Author(s): Falco, Giulia (Athens)
[German version] (Ἐχέτλα; Echétla). Town in the interior of Sicily, neighbouring Leontini, Syracusae and Camarina (Diod. Sic. 20,32), in the border region between the spheres of influence of Carthage and Hieron II (Pol. 1,15,10). Besieged by the Romans at the beginning of the 1st Punic War. Plin. HN 3,91 calls the citizens of E. stipendiarii. Judging from the similarity in name, E. was located on the hill Occhialà near Grammichele east of Caltagirone where Siculan-Greek remains and a Demeter sanctuary were found. Falco, Giulia (Athens) Bibliography D. Palermo, s.v. Grammichele, …

Echetlus, Echetlaeus

(88 words)

Author(s): Bloch, René (Berne)
[German version] (Ἔχετλος, Ἐχετλαῖος; Échetlos, Echetlaîos). A man of peasant demeanour who in the battle of Marathon killed many Persians with his plough ( echétlē, ‘plough handle’) and subsequently disappeared. Because of an oracle, the Athenians worshipped him as the Hero Echetlaeus. On the painting of the battle of Marathon in the Stoa Poikile, he was depicted with a plough in his hand (Paus. 1,15,3; 32,5) Bloch, René (Berne) Bibliography M. H. Jameson, The Hero Echetlaeus, in: TAPhA 82, 1951, 49-61 J. G. Szilágyi, s.v. Echetlos, LIMC 3.1, 677-678.

Echetus

(97 words)

Author(s): Bloch, René (Berne)
[German version] (Ἔχετος; Échetos, ‘Holder’). Cruel king with whom the suitor Antinous threatened the beggar Irus and Odysseus (Hom. Od. 18,85; 116; 21,308; Suda s.v. E. 493 Adler). He blinded his daughter Amphissa (or Metope) and had her crush ore in a chamber; he dismembered her lover Aechmodicus (Apoll. Rhod. 4,1093 with schol.). Schol. Hom. Od. 18,85 (= Marsyas FGrH 135-136 F 19) explains that he was a Sicilian tyrant who tortured strangers, but who was eventually stoned by his own subjects. Bloch, René (Berne) Bibliography J. Russo et al., Homer's Odyssey, vol. 3 (comm.), 1992, 52f.

Echidna

(247 words)

Author(s): Graf, Fritz (Columbus, OH)
[German version] (Ἔχιδνα; Échidna). Primeval female creature in the shape of a snake, introduced into Greece due to the influence of Near East narrative art and iconography (Iluyanka for the Hittites, Tiamat in Mesopotamia). In Hesiod, E. is the daughter of the sea creatures Phorcys and Ceto (Theog. 295-303) and, together with  Typhon who also often occurs in the body of a snake, mother of a series of monsters ─ of Orthrus the dog of the triple-bodied  Geryoneus, of  Cerberus, of  Hydra, of  Chimaera, of the  Sphinx (Φίξ; Phíx in Hesiod) and of the lion of  Nemea. Later authors add…

Echinades

(222 words)

Author(s): Strauch, Daniel (Berlin)
[German version] (Ἐχινάδες, Ἐχῖναι; Echinádes, Echînai). Archipelago off the SW coast of Acarnania and the mouth of the Achelous; today, it belongs to the nomos Cephallenia. The islands were largely uninhabited, but they were exploited economically (Dion. Hal. Ant. Rom. 1,51). Already in antiquity it was observed that the islands became joined to the mainland due to the  Achelous [1] depositing debris into the area (Hdt. 2,10; Thuc. 2,102; Scyl. 34; Str. 1,3,18; 10,2,19 [1; 2]). This phenomenon was a…

Echinoderms

(136 words)

Author(s): Hünemörder, Christian (Hamburg)
[German version] (Greek ὀστρακόδερμα/ ostrakóderma) or crustaceans. They partly correspond with today's phylum of the Echinodermata, i.e. the marine feather stars, starfishes and brittle stars, the  sea urchins and sea cucumbers. Aristotle who gave them the name and lists in Hist. an. 1,6,490b10 the phylum as that of the  shells ( óstrea), does however also include the  sponges (modern phylum Porifera), sea anemones (modern class Anthozoa of the phylum jellyfish, Cnidaria), sea squirts ( ascidia, modern class of sea squirts, tunicates), and the marine and land snails …

Echinus

(668 words)

Author(s): Kramolisch, Herwig (Eppelheim) | Strauch, Daniel (Berlin) | Höcker, Christoph (Kissing)
(Ἐχῖνος; Echînos). [German version] [1] Town on the northern shore of the Gulf of Malia Town on the northern shore of the Gulf of Malia near today's village of Achino. Originally part of the Achaea Phthiotis, Echinus was granted by Philippus II to the Malieis in 342 with whom E. belonged to the Aetolian league from c. 235. In 210, E. was conquered by Philippus V (Pol. 9,41; [1]) who refused to return it to the Aetolians; after 193, the Romans conquered it and assigned E. to Malis again in 189. In Roman times, E. was considered part of Achaea Phthiot…

Echion

(146 words)

Author(s): Bloch, René (Berne)
(Ἐχίων/ Echíōn, ‘Snake man’, from ἡ ἔχις/ échis, ‘the Snake’). [German version] [1] One of the five 'Spartoi', men who grew from dragon teeth One of the five ‘Spartoi’, the men who grew from the dragon teeth sown by  Cadmus into the Theban earth. He married Cadmus' daughter Agave and was the father of Pentheus (Paus. 9,5,3f.; Apollod. 3,26; 36; Hyg. Fab. 178,6; 184,1; Ov. Met. 3,126; cf. Hor. Carm. 4,4,64: Thebae Echioniae). Aeneas killed the Rutulian Onites, a son of E. and Peridia (Verg. Aen. 12,514f.). Bloch, René (Berne) Bibliography R. Rocca, s.v. E., EV 2, 164f. [German version] [2] Son…

Echo

(364 words)

Author(s): Krafft, Fritz (Marburg/Lahn) | Graf, Fritz (Columbus, OH)
(ἠχώ; ēchṓ). [German version] [1] Origin and propagation of sound The origin and propagation of sound is explained as (contiguous) air moved by a blow ( Acoustics); its reflection within a sound box (reverberation) or on a suitable, usually a smooth object, conceived of as reversal (resounding, echo), is also included in this explanation (Theophr. de sensu 9 [Empedocles], 53 [Democritus]; Aristot. An. 2,8, 419b 25ff., Probl. 11,6,899a 24-25 and 11,8,899b 25ff., probably after Aristoxenus; Lucr. 4,572-594)…

Eclecticism

(346 words)

Author(s): Frede, Michael (Oxford)
[German version] The eclecticists are a school of philosophers documented in one source only (Diog. Laert. 2,12). Their founder, Potamon of Alexandria, taught that the aim was to select the most plausible teachings of the various schools. In the same manner, Galenos refused to identify with any branch of philosophy or medicine (De libris propriis 1; De dignot. affect. 8). Modern research often refers to eclecticism, most of all in respect of the philosophy of the early Imperial period. This often …

Eclecticism

(690 words)

Author(s): Albrecht, Ruth (Hamburg)
[English version] The term eclecticism, widely used today in a negative sense to denote an imitative, dependent, combinative mode of philosophising, stands from Antiquity on for a model of philosophical reflection that, eschewing connection with a particular school (or sect), instead selects the best from all teachings. At the turn of the 15th cent., Gianfrancesco Pico della Mirandola recalled the 'selective philosophers' (Diog. Laert. 1.21), who, like bees, chose everywhere the things that please…

Eclecticist sculpture

(5 words)

see  Sculpture

Eclectus

(133 words)

Author(s): Meier, Mischa (Bielefeld) | Strothmann, Meret (Bochum)
[German version] (Ἔκλεκτος; Éklektos, also Electus, Eiectus). E. from Egypt, freedman of Verus, later lived in the palace of Marcus Aurelius (SHA Ver. 9,5f.) after whose death he became cubicularius of that emperor's nephew M. Ummidius Quadratus. When the latter was executed in AD 182, Commodus took on E. (Herodian. 1,16,5; Cass. Dio 72,4,6) with whom he appeared in gladiator games (SHA Comm. 15,2; Cass. Dio 72,19,4). In 193, together with the praetorian prefect Aemilius Laetus and Marcia, the concubina of Commodus, he instigated the murder of the Emperor (Hdn. 1,17,6; 2,1…

Eclipses

(1,075 words)

Author(s): Hübner, Wolfgang (Münster)
[German version] A. In Superstition Eclipses disturbed the usual regularity of day and night and frightened people as long as they were unable to explain these phenomena. In early times, it was believed that the heavenly bodies suffered under the power of the  demons and attempts were made to end this suffering with banging or loud shouting. On the other hand, Thessalian witches are supposed to have forced the moon down to earth with their magical practices (Pl. Grg. 513a, Hor. Epod. 5,46; 17,77, Ver…

Ecliptic

(1,090 words)

Author(s): Hübner, Wolfgang (Münster)
[German version] (ἐκλειπτική sc. γραμμή, cf. schol. Arat. 550, p. 323,8 Martin: τὴν μέσην γραμμὴν τοῦ ζῳδιακοῦ; and ThlL V,2, 48,56 ecliptica linea, but mostly ἐκλειπτικὸς sc. κύκλος). One of the five fixed celestial orbits (  kýkloi ), limited by the two tropics and intersecting the equator, i.e. an oblique orbit (λοξός, loxós) whose stars do not rise and set at the same point; it originally referred to the orbit of the sun during its year. The name is derived from the fact that the  eclipses take place on this orbit (Ach.Tat. Isagoga 23, p. 53,…

Ecloga

(320 words)

Author(s): Schmidt, Peter L. (Constance) | Makris, Georgios (Bochum)
(Ἐκλογή; eklogḗ, ‘excerpt’, ‘selection’). [German version] Ecloga [1] Varro (in Charisius, gramm. p. 154 B.) uses the foreign term in its literal meaning (‘selection’). It is unclear how the meaning has developed into the usage we encounter from the end of the 1st cent. AD on: Ecloga may refer to individual lyrical poems (Stat. Silv. 3, pr. 23 = 3,5; 4, pr. 21 = 4,8, later in a similar way Auson. 8 Peiper) and in the plural form Eclogae to the entire collection (Plin. Ep. 4,14,9). The term is used in particular for  Horatius (Suet. Vita: Epist. 2,1; Sid. Apoll. Epist. 9,1…
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