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)

Help us improve our service

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.

Subscriptions: see brill.com

M(a)enaca

(288 words)

Author(s): Barceló, Pedro (Potsdam)
[German version] This item can be found on the following maps: Phoenicians, Poeni (Μαινάκη/ Mainákē, Lat. Menace), city in southern Spain. The name is probably derived from μαίνη/ maínē or Lat. maena, a salted fish (Avien. 426-431 confused M. with Malaca [1. 80]; Scymn. 147; Steph. Byz. s.v. Μ., where M. is called Celtic). According to Str. 3,4,2 M. was a colony of Phocaea, which no longer existed at that time. Schulten [2. 35-38] assumed it was located west of the mouth of the Vélez on the hill Cerro del Peñón. This hypothes…

Maenads

(945 words)

Author(s): Heinze, Theodor (Geneva)
[German version] (Μαινάς/ Mainás, pl. Μαινάδες/ Mainádes; Lat. Maenas, pl. Maenades). In modern research both the mythical companions (and antagonists) of Dionysus and their historical admirers are mostly called Maenads. But in Greek cult terminology the women who honour the god with a dance ritual every three years are especially called Bákchai (singular Bákchē, Lat. Bacchae), while the substantivized adjective Mainás (‘the mad one’, from maínesthai: ‘to be mad’), apart from four Hellenistic inscriptions with poetic tendencies [7. 52 with note 83], appears t…

Maenalum

(242 words)

Author(s): Lienau, Cay (Münster) | Meyer, Ernst (Zürich)
[German version] (Μαίναλον, Μαίναλος, Μαινάλιον; Maínalon, Maínalos, Mainálion). Limestone mountain range about 30 km long between the eastern Arcadian plain and the Helisson valley, up to 1981 m high, with extended fir woods; in modern times without a standardized name; modern Tripolis is at its southern foot. Sacred to Pan, who was called ‘Maenalian’ after it; in poets often in the genitive, hence it also means ‘Arcadian’. The mountains also appear as the hunting grounds of Atalante and Artemis. M. i…

Maenianum

(99 words)

Author(s): Höcker, Christoph (Kissing)
[German version] Gallery above the tabernae at the Forum Romanum in Rome, named after the Roman censor M. Maenius [I 3], from where spectators could follow the gladiatorial fights. The principle, attested here for the first time, of building the edge construction of a forum in two stories and constructing it as a bleacher, resp. viewing area on the upper floor, became widespread in the 2nd and 1st cents. BC in Roman architecture ( Forum); thereafter, the tiers in the amphitheatre were known as maeniana ( Theatre). Höcker, Christoph (Kissing) Bibliography W.-H. Gross, s.v. M., KlP 3, 864.

Maenius

(930 words)

Author(s): Elvers, Karl-Ludwig (Bochum) | Müller, Christian (Bochum) | Nadig, Peter C. (Duisburg) | Fündling, Jörg (Bonn) | Eck, Werner (Cologne)
Name of a Roman plebeian family, perhaps of Etruscan origin [1. 185; 187]. The most important bearer of the name is M. [I 3]; the family is politically unimportant in the 1st cent. BC. Lex Maenia is the title of a Menippean satire of Varro (Varro Men. 153-155). The law concerned the power of the paternal head of the house; content and dating are contested [3. 1085 - 1121]. A further lex Maenia probably passed before 290 BC directed that the ‘agreement of the Senate’ ( auctoritas patrum) for elections be obtained before proclaiming the election results (Cic. Brut. 55). Elvers, Karl-Ludwig (Boch…

Maeon

(237 words)

Author(s): Klodt, Claudia (Hamburg)
(Μαίων; Maíōn, Latin Maeon). [German version] [1] Son of a man named Haemon Son of a man named Haemon, leader of the 50 Thebans lying in wait for Tydeus as he returns from a legation. Only M. is spared by the latter, who kills all the others. In gratitude, M. later buries him when he falls outside of Thebes (Hom. Il. 4,390-398; 14,114; Apollod. 3,67; Paus. 9,18,2; Stat. Theb. 2,690-703; 3,40-113). In Statius, M., who is sent back by Tydeus as a witness to the catastrophe, blames Eteocles [1] for the disaster and takes his own life. Klodt, Claudia (Hamburg) [German version] [2] Child of Creon's s…

Maeonia

(372 words)

Author(s): Kaletsch, Hans (Regensburg)
(Μαιονία; Maionía, Latin Maeonia). [German version] [1] Area in Lydia Area in Lydia around the Gygaia Limne, at the foot of Tmolus (Hom. Il. 3,401, cf. 2,864ff.; 10,431); primarily understood as the oldest country or tribal name (Μηίονες/ Mēíones, Hdt. 1,7; 7,74; Diod. Sic. 4,31,5; Dion. Hal. 1,27,1; Plin. HN 5,110). Originally, M. comprised the Catacecaumene [1] (Str. 12,8,13; 13,4,11) with the border region of Phrygia (Plin. HN 5,146; Ptol. 5,2,16), the valley of the Cogamus river (modern Alaşehir Çayı), the area around Sardes (Pl…

Maeonius

(44 words)

Author(s): Franke, Thomas (Bochum)
[German version] Murdered the Palmyrene prince Odaenathus and his eldest son Herod in Emesa in AD 266/7 (SHA Tyr. Trig. 15,5; 17,1; SHA Gall. 13,1; different in Sync. I p. 717; Zon. 12,24 D.; Zos. 1,39,2). PIR2 M 71. Franke, Thomas (Bochum)

Maeotis

(144 words)

Author(s): von Bredow, Iris (Bietigheim-Bissingen)
[German version] (Μαιῶτις; Maiôtis, Latin lacus or palus Maeotis). The Asov Sea north-east of the Krim with an area of c. 38,000 km2, with an outlet to the Black Sea (Pontos Euxeinos in the south through the Cimmerian Bosporus [2], in the north-east confluence of the Tanais in the M. The M. is exceptionally shallow (average depth 9 m) so that it easily freezes over. In spring, south-west winds drive the water of the Pontos Euxeinos into the M. Many rivers flow into the M., which has an abundance of fish (Str. 7,4,6).…

Maepha

(161 words)

Author(s): Toral-Niehoff, Isabel (Freiburg)
[German version] According to Ptol. 6,7,41 (Μαίφα μητρόπολις; Maípha mētrópolis), city in the interior of Arabia Felix. Probably corresponds, with regard to the phonetic form, to epigraphically attested MYFT, once the capital of Ḥaḍramaut, the ruins of which are now called Naqab al-Ḥaǧar. M. owed its importance - the city had solid fortifications - to its strategic position on the trading route from the harbour of Cane to Inner Arabia. Toral-Niehoff, Isabel (Freiburg) Bibliography H. v. Wissmann, M. Höfner, Beitr. zur histor. Geogr. des vorislam. Südarabien (AAWM, Geiste…

Maephath

(52 words)

Author(s): Toral-Niehoff, Isabel (Freiburg)
[German version] According to Ptol. 6,7,10 (Μαιφάθ κώμη; Maipháth kṓmē), town in the region of the Ἀδραμίται/ Adramítai (coastal dwellers of Ḥaḍramaut) near the coast north-east of the harbour of Cane. Was probably situated in Wādı̄ Maifa and should not be confused with Maipha situated in Wādı̄ Maifaa. Toral-Niehoff, Isabel (Freiburg)

Maera

(282 words)

Author(s): Waldner, Katharina (Berlin) | Lafond, Yves (Bochum)
(Μαῖρα; Maîra). [German version] [1] Daughter of Proetus According to the Nóstoi (EpGF fr. 5), M. is the daughter of Proetus, the son of Thersander (the son of Sisyphus), and dies a virgin. In Hom. Od. 11,326 only her name is mentioned, together with Clymene and Eriphyle. In Pherecydes (FGrH 3 F 170 with Jacoby ad loc.), who names Antea as her mother (according to Hom. Il. 6,160, wife of Proetus of Argos), she is a companion of Artemis. She is shot dead by her when she gives birth to Locrus [2] by Zeus. Waldner, Katharina (Berlin) [German version] [2] Arcadian heroine Arcadian heroine, daughter …

Maesades

(58 words)

Author(s): Peter, Ulrike (Berlin)
[German version] (Μαισάδης; Maisádēs). Odrysian prince who at the end of the 4th cent. BC, under the supreme rule of Seuthes I, reigned over the regions of the Melandites, Thynians and Tranipsians, the so-called Thracian delta. After his death his son Seuthes II was brought up by Medocus (Xen. An. 7,2,32; 7,5,1). Odrysae Peter, Ulrike (Berlin)

Maesaimanes

(133 words)

Author(s): Müller, Walter W. (Marburg/Lahn) | Dietrich, Albert (Göttingen)
[German version] (Μαισαιμανεῖς/ Maisaimaneîs, var. Μναισαιμανεῖς/ Mnaisaimaneîs, Ptol. 6,7,21). A people settling in north-western Arabia directly west of the Zamēs mountain range in the neighbouring area of the Thamydenians; definitely identifiable with the Batmizomaneis (var. Banizomeneis, Diod. Sic. 3,44,2) mentioned in Agatharchides (De mari Erythraeo 92) in the same region and with the Marsimani - named in the annals of Sargon II of Assyria from 715 BC after the Tamudi - who lived in the desert, owed tribute to no king and b…

Maesesses

(63 words)

Author(s): Barceló, Pedro (Potsdam)
[German version] Tribe of the Bastetani (Liv. 28,3,3) in eastern Andalusia in a fertile region with silver mines. In 207 BC their region was conquered by P. Cornelius [I 71] Scipio [1]. Orongis (probably identical with Aurgi, modern Jaén [2]) was situated here. Barceló, Pedro (Potsdam) Bibliography 1 A. Schulten (ed.), Fontes Hispaniae Antiquae 3, 1935, 131 2 Schulten, Landeskunde 1, 84.

Maesis

(47 words)

Author(s): Banholzer, Iris (Tübingen)
[German version] (Μαῖσις; Maîsis). Son of Hyraeus, grandson of Aegeus. With his brothers Laeas [1] and Europas, he establishes in Sparta heroes' sanctuaries for his ancestors Aegeus (who is said to have been born there), Oeolycus, Cadmus and Amphilochus (Paus. 3,15,8). Aegeidae Banholzer, Iris (Tübingen)

Maesius

(158 words)

Author(s): Eck, Werner (Cologne)
[German version] [1] C. M. Aquillius Fabius Titianus Consul, unknown date Consul in an unknown year; possibly identical with M. [3]. PIR2 M 73. Eck, Werner (Cologne) [German version] [2] C. M. Picatianus Cos. suff. in AD 165 or 166 Senator; perhaps from Brixia where he was honoured as a patron (CIL V 4338 = InscrIt X 5, 126). Praetorian legate of the legio III Augusta in AD 163-165 [1. 155f.]; suffect consul in 165 or 166. PIR2 M 78. Eck, Werner (Cologne) Bibliography 1 Thomasson, Fasti Africani, 1996. [German version] [3] C. M. Titianus Cos. ord. in AD 245 Cos. ord. in AD 245 together with Cae…

Maesolia

(73 words)

Author(s): Karttunen, Klaus (Helsinki)
[German version] (Μαισωλία; Maisōlía, Ptol. 7,1,15; Masalia, Peripl. m.r. 62); the land of the Maesolians (Ptol. 7,1,79; 93) on the east coast of India. For the name and the position see Maesolus. From an unnamed harbour there, the ships departed, according to Ptolemy, for Chryse Chersonesus (Malacca). Karttunen, Klaus (Helsinki) Bibliography 1 B. Chatterjee, The Point of Departure for Ships Bound for ‘Suvarnabhumi’, in: Journ. of Ancient Indian History 11, 1977-1978, 49-52.

Maesolus

(94 words)

Author(s): Karttunen, Klaus (Helsinki)
[German version] (Μαισῶλος; Maisôlos). Indian river, has its source in the Orudia mountain range (unclear according to [1]) and flows south to the Gulf of the Ganges (Ptol. 7,1,15; 37). Either modern Godavari or rather Kistna (Krishna) at whose delta the city of Masulipatam still lies today. Dey [2] also equates the name of the river M. with Old Indian Mahāósāla, a place of pilgrimage on the Godavari. Karttunen, Klaus (Helsinki) Bibliography 1 O. Stein, s.v. Ὀρούδια, RE 18, 1526f. 2 N. L. Dey, The Geographical Dictionary of Ancient and Mediaeval India, 1927.

Maeson

(233 words)

Author(s): Blume, Horst-Dieter (Münster)
[German version] (Μαίσων; Maísōn). In the catalogue of masks of Iulius [IV 17] Pollux (4,148; 150), M. is listed among the slave characters of the New Comedy as a man with a red fringe of hair around his bald head [1]. Athenaeus (14,659a) specifies the mask type as a local cook (in contrast to Tettix who comes from a foreign country) and names as his source Aristophanes of Byzantium (fr. 363 Slater). The latter derives M. from an actor of the same name from Megara (it has been debated since antiqui…

Maevius

(112 words)

Author(s): Fündling, Jörg (Bonn)
Rare Italian proper name, variant of Mevius . [German version] [1] Accomplice of Verres in Sicily Accomplice of Verres in Sicily (Cic. Verr. 2,3,175), perhaps the scribe who received gifts from Verres (2,3,176; 181; 185; 187). Fündling, Jörg (Bonn) [German version] [2] Centurio of Octavian Centurio of Octavian, caught in 30 BC at Alexandria by Mark Antony, urged in vain to change sides and released out of respect (Val. Max. 3,8,8). Fündling, Jörg (Bonn) [German version] [3] M., M. Fell in battle as military tribune in 203 BC Fell in battle in upper Italy in 203 BC as military tribu…

Maezaei

(189 words)

Author(s): Burian, Jan (Prague)
[German version] (Μαιζαῖοι; Maizaîoi, Ptol. 2,16,5; Μαζαῖοι; Mazaîoi, Str. 7,5,3; Cass. Dio 55,32,4; Mazaei, Plin. HN 3,142; Maezei in inscriptions). Tribe to the north of Dalmatia near the Dalmatian-Pannonian border. According to Plin., Ptol. and Cass. Dio, it belonged to the Dalmatini, according to Str. to the Pannonii. The Pannonian origin of the M. is more probable although they were attached to the conventus Salonitanus (‘legal district of Salona’). Their extensive area was subjugated by the Romans in 12 BC. They formed a peregrine tribal district that was administered by a praef…

Magadis

(5 words)

see Musical instruments

Magalus

(47 words)

Author(s): Spickermann, Wolfgang (Bochum)
[German version] (Greek Μάγιλος; Mágilos). Celtic name from maglo-, ‘prince’ [1. 234]. Chief of the Boii who offered himself to Hannibal [4] in 217 BC as an ally and leader for the crossing of the Alps (Pol. 3,44,5; Liv. 21,29,6). Spickermann, Wolfgang (Bochum) Bibliography 1 Schmidt.

Magarsa

(126 words)

Author(s): Sayar, Mustafa H. (Cologne)
[German version] (Μάγαρσα; Mágarsa). Settlement on the righthand bank of the Sarus in the region of Mallus, 4 km south-west of the modern district capital of Karataş in Cilicia Pedias on Cape Karataş in Dört Direkli where the sanctuary to Athena Magarsia was situated. After the end of Persian rule, M. first belonged to the empire of Alexander, then to the Seleucid kingdom. In the 2nd cent. BC, M. with Mallus was renamed Antioch on the Pyramus. From AD 72 finally in the Roman province of Cilicia. An…

Magas

(587 words)

Author(s): Ameling, Walter (Jena)
(Μάγας; Mágas). [German version] [1] Father of Berenice Father of Berenice [1]. Ameling, Walter (Jena) Bibliography Geyer, s.v. M., RE 14, 292f. [German version] [2] Administrator of Cyrenaea, 3rd cent. BC M. was born no later than 320 BC as the son of Philippus and Berenice [1], perhaps the brother of Theoxene (PP VI 14511), who married Agathocles [2] after 300 (there was no adoption by Ptolemy I: SEG 18, 743; on a house belonging to him in Alexandria cf. [1. 287]). M. reconquered the seceded Cyrene for Ptolemaeus I shortly …

Magdala

(650 words)

Author(s): Pahlitzsch, Johannes (Berlin) | Kühne, Hartmut (Berlin)
[German version] [1] Harbour town on the north-western bank of Lake Genezareth (Greek Μαγδαλά; Magdalá < Hebrew Migdal Numayyā, ‘Tower’, Arabic al-Maǧdal). Harbour town on the north-western bank of Lake Genezareth, also known as Taricheai because of the production of saltwater fish there. Founded in the Hasmonean period ( Hasmoneans), Hellenized M. developed into one of the largest cities of Galilaea with a hippodrome and a stadium. Under emperor Nero, M. was annexed to the kingdom of Herod II Agrippa ( Iulius [II 5]). During th…

Mageia

(5 words)

see Magic, Magi

Magi

(116 words)

Author(s): Todd, Malcolm (Exeter)
[German version] Fort in north-western Britannia (Not. Dign. Occ. 40,14; 40,49) with a numerus Pacensium as a garrison (4th cent. AD). Site contentious but an altar (CIL VII 1291) built by vik(ani) Mag... in Old Carlisle refers to it. It is, however, conceivable that M. was the fort in Burrow Walls and Maglona was the one in Old Carlisle (Not. Dign. Occ. 40,13; 40,29). Both forts were held right through to the 4th cent. Todd, Malcolm (Exeter) Bibliography E. Birley, The Roman Fort and Settlement at Old Carlisle, in: Transactions of the Cumberland and Westmorland Archaeolog…

Magia Polla

(46 words)

Author(s): Strothmann, Meret (Bochum)
[German version] (also Maia). Mother of the poet Vergilius, of lowly birth. Her dream of the birth of Virgil in Suetonius (Suet. De viris illustribus, Vergilius 1-3). Strothmann, Meret (Bochum) Bibliography G. Brugnoli, Phocas, Vita di Vergilio, 1984 Id. (ed.), Vitae Vergilianae antiquae, 1997.

Magic

(3,646 words)

Author(s): Stuckrad, Kocku Von (Erfurt RWG)
Stuckrad, Kocku Von (Erfurt RWG) [German version] A. Introduction (CT) The discussions in Antiquity surrounding mageia/magia, goêteia, carmen etc. produced a multitude of possible interpretations, thereby making it virtually impossible to give a general description of what was meant by magic. A survey of its conceptual history also can do no more than descriptively apprehend magic's various aspects without aiming at forcing a sort of uniformity [27]. Furthermore, the concept of magic - closely related to the con…

Magical papyri

(1,407 words)

Author(s): Gordon, Richard L. (Ilmmünster)
[German version] I. General information Loose term for the constantly increasing body of Graeco-Egyptian magic texts (standard editions: [1; 2], since then, newly published texts in [3]). The most important distinction is to be made between the handbooks (until now more than 80 published copies) on papyrus, which contain the instructions for acts of magic, and directly used texts (at least 115 published copies) on papyrus, metal (lead tablets), pottery shards, wood, etc., corresponding to the extant …

Magical spells

(1,227 words)

Author(s): Gordon, Richard L. (Ilmmünster)
(ὀνόματα βάρβαρα/ onómata bárbara, Lat. nomina barbarica). [German version] I. General Broad term for names, words and sounds used in ancient incantation practices of ritual magic and popular medicine. Their obscurity or indefiniteness was often understood by ancient observers as a synecdoche for the otherness of magic, above all in poetical depictions of fictional witchcraft rituals (e.g. Lucan, 6,685-693; Lucian, Dialogi Meretricii 4,5). From the magician's perspective, such utterances underpinned his au…

Magic doll

(426 words)

Author(s): Gordon, Richard L. (Ilmmünster)
[German version] Loose term for an anthropomorphous statuette made from a variety of different materials for specific ritual purposes. The conceptual condition for such statuettes, which function as signs or images of a physical and social existence, is the context-contingent abolishment of the difference between living creatures and objects that are incapable of self-determination [1]. Such statuettes were used for beneficial as well as harmful purposes in the ancient Oriental empires, while in M…

Magicians

(4 words)

see Entertainers

Magic, Magi

(7,505 words)

Author(s): Wiggermann, Frans (Amsterdam) | Wandrey, Irina (Berlin) | Graf, Fritz (Columbus, OH) | Johnston, Sarah Iles (Princeton) | Thür, Gerhard (Graz) | Et al.
I. Ancient Orient [German version] A. General The magic of the ancient Orient and of Egypt is based on a view of the world that runs counter to that of religion. In the world-view of magic, men, gods and demons are tied to each other and to the cosmos by sympathies and antipathies, whereas in the religious world view everything is created by the gods for their own purposes; the relations between men and the cosmos are the result of deliberate actions of the gods. In the practice of religion, however, b…

Magic Medicine

(7 words)

see Magic, Magi; Medicine

Magister a memoria

(277 words)

Author(s): Gizewski, Christian (Berlin)
[German version] Lat. memoria (Greek mnḗmē) refers to official issuing of documents in the sense of ‘lasting testimonial’ (cf. Aristot. Pol. 1321b 39: mnḗmones). It is accepted that from the time of Augustus an official sphere a memoria existed for the various official activities of the emperor to his court. Its head is, however, not mentioned until the 2nd cent. AD as magister a memoria or magister memoriae; this title survives until late antiquity (ILS 1672; Pan. Lat. 9,11 Baehrens; Cod. Iust. 1,23,7,1). The office head was initially a freedman, later a membe…

Magister equitum

(385 words)

Author(s): Gizewski, Christian (Berlin)
[German version] The office of the magister equitum (ME) (‘Master of the Cavalry’) was an office assigned to the dictator , and was never an independent office. Like the original designation of the dictator as magister populi (Master of the Infantry) (Cic. Rep. 1,40,63; Varro Ling. 5,82), it contains the word magister (root mag- = ‘head, leader’) and an indication of the original function as cavalry leader ( equites ). The ME was appointed by the dictator as deputy (Liv. 8,32,1-8) for the period of his dictatorship. Appointment by a consul (Cass. Dio 42,21) or by …

Magister (ludi)

(7 words)

see School III. Rome

Magister militum

(1,068 words)

Author(s): Herz, Peter (Regensburg)
[German version] Under Constantius [2] II (AD 337-361) the offices of the magister peditum and the magister equitum (for this office in the Roman Republic magister equitum ) were created and the military competencies of the praefecti praetorio were transferred to them (Zos. 2,33,3; Lydus, Mag. 2,10). This arrangement resulted from the separation of military and civilian functions in Roman offices that had started in the 3rd cent. At first, magister peditum and magister equitum were appointed as commanders of the relevant arms of service, although from the outset this …

Magister officiorum

(1,248 words)

Author(s): Groß-Albenhausen, Kirsten (Frankfurt/Main)
[German version] A. Origin of the office An office of late antiquity created by Constantinus [1] I, which was among the highest in the Roman empire (Not. Dign. Or. 11; Not. Dign. Occ. 9), attested for the first time in AD 320 (Cod. Theod. 16,10,1). The great imperial chancelleries ( scrinium ) of the magister memoriae, magister epistularum and magister libellorum and lesser palace officials, such as admissionales, interpretes, mensores ( mensor ), decani ( decanius ), stratores, cursores, lampadarii , and notarii ( notarius ) were first of all probably mandated to the magister officiorum

Magistratus

(2,166 words)

Author(s): de Libero, Loretana (Hamburg)
[German version] A. Term Usually a certain bearer of state power elected by popular vote, however, at the same time it is also in concrete terms the office or in the plural the sum of individual offices of Roman or peregrine provenance. Magistratus is derived from magister ( magis, ‘more’) (Varro Ling. 5,82; Dig. 50,16,57; Fest. p. 113 L.; CIL I2 401: mac[i]steratus). The concept is recorded in inscriptions from the 4th/3rd cents. BC, and in literature by Plautus (CIL I2 25: macistr[a]tos; I2 401; Plaut. Amph. 74; Plaut. Persa 76; Plaut. Rud. 477; Plaut. Truc. 761). The abstra…

Magius

(793 words)

Author(s): Elvers, Karl-Ludwig (Bochum) | Kierdorf, Wilhelm (Cologne) | Fündling, Jörg (Bonn) | Nadig, Peter C. (Duisburg) | Eck, Werner (Cologne)
Family name of Oscan origin. [I 184]. The family was prominent in Capua (M. [I 3], cf. Cic. Pis. 24) and M.'s [I 5] sons were the first to be admitted to the Senate in the 1st cent. BC. Elvers, Karl-Ludwig (Bochum) I. Republican period [German version] [I 1] Grandfather of the poet Vergilius on his mother's side Grandfather of the poet Vergilius on his mother's side; was allegedly an official messenger ( viator ; Donat. Vita Vergilii 1). Kierdorf, Wilhelm (Cologne) [German version] [I 2] M., Cn. Governor of Numidia AD 256-258. From Larinum in Samnium, died about 88 BC; heir of his (half…

Magnae

(170 words)

Author(s): Todd, Malcolm (Exeter)
[German version] (or Magni). Roman fort on Hadrian's Wall in northern England (Not. Dign. Occ. 40,43; Geogr. Rav. 107,11), probably dating to the Flavian period (AD 69-96), modern Carvoran, identified because of epigraphical evidence ( numerus Magn(c)es(ium) [1. 1825]). In the early 2nd cent., before M. became part of the Hadrianic Limes after AD 122, it may have been part of Trajan's border line [2. 192-196]. The fort was not integrated into the vallum as was usually the case, but remained situated to the south. Under Hadrian and after him, the cohors I Hamiorum was stationed there unt…

Magna Graecia

(3,167 words)

Author(s): Muggia, Anna (Pavia) | Olshausen, Eckart (Stuttgart) | Lamboley, Jean-Luc (Grenoble)
(Μεγάλη Ἑλλάς/ Megálē Hellás, ‘Great Greece’). I. Geography and history [German version] A. Definition From a geographical point of view, the concept of Magna Graecia (MG) is superimposed on Italia without being identical with it. In the 5th cent. BC, it referred to the outermost part of Italia, surrounded by the Tyrrhenian and Ionian Seas from Laus [2] to Metapontium. Later MG was used for the whole part of Southern Italy that had been settled by Greeks, from Taras to Cyme [2]. The term Megálē Hellás was already widespread around the middle of the 5th cent. BC. There seem to be…

Magna Mater

(6 words)

see Mater Magna

Magnates

(5 words)

see Archontes (III.)

Magnentius

(353 words)

Author(s): Groß-Albenhausen, Kirsten (Frankfurt/Main)
[German version] Flavius Magnus M., usurper, Roman emperor, AD 350-353. Born in Amiens c. 303, of non-Roman origin, not Christian. M. entered a military career and made it to the rank of comes . The comes rerum privatarum Marcellinus [5] incited him to conspire against Constans [1]: On 18 January 350, M. revolted in Autun (Aur. Vict. 42; Zos. 2,42); Constans was killed. By the end of February, M. was recognized as emperor in northern Italy, and thereafter in the entire West and in Africa as well. In the Danube reg…

Magnes

(305 words)

Author(s): Visser, Edzard (Basle) | Nesselrath, Heinz-Günther (Göttingen)
(Μάγνης; Mágnēs). [German version] [1] Eponymous ruler of the central Greek territory of Magnesia Eponymous ruler of the central Greek region of Magnesia. His origins are variously described; the oldest reference (Hes. Cat. 7) calls him a son of Zeus and Thyia, daughter of Deucalion and a native of Pieria. Here Macedon, the mythical progenitor of the Macedonians, is referred to as his brother; according to Apollod. 1,16 he has a son named Pierus. These familial relationships indicate acquisition of land by the Magnesians from the north. Visser, Edzard (Basle) [German version] [2] Son o…

Magnesia

(1,218 words)

Author(s): Meyer, Ernst (Zürich) | Blümel, Wolfgang (Cologne) | Kaletsch, Hans (Regensburg)
(Μαγνησία; Magnēsía). [German version] [1] Thessalian coastal region (Ethnicon Μάγνης, Μαγνῆτες/ Mágnēs, Magnêtes; IG IX 2,1228 b16: dat. pl. Μαγνείτεσσι/ Magneítessi 3rd cent. BC). The Thessalian coastal region of Peneius to the Gulf of Pagasae with a narrow peninsula stretching far to the south, which encloses the Gulf of Pagasae in the east and south, filled up completely by the mountains Ossa and Pelion and their foothills. The east coast toward the open sea was without a harbour and feared by sailors; in 480 B…

Magnets

(329 words)

Author(s): Hünemörder, Christian (Hamburg)
[German version] (Μαγνῆτις/ magnêtis or Ἡρακλεία λίθος/ Hērakleía líthos; Lat. magnes). The name magnes supposedly comes from the homonymous discoverer, a shepherd on the mountain of Ida in the Troad (according to Nicander in Plin. HN 36,127) whom Isid. Orig. 16,4,1 holds to be a person from the Indus. The magnet is the well-known stone of iron oxide (Fe3O4) that attracts normal iron and, as ferrum vivum, ‘magnetizes’ the iron in its turn (Plin. HN 34,147; Isid. ibid.; Lucr. 6,910-914). Plin. HN 36,128 differentiates, with the Greek stone expert Sotacus, five …

Magnia Urbica

(63 words)

Author(s): Franke, Thomas (Bochum)
[German version] Wife of the emperor Carinus (end of the 3rd cent. AD) from Colonia Iulia Gemella Accitana in Hispania (CIL II 3394). She bore the titles of Augusta, mater castrorum and mater senatus ac patriae (CIL VIII 2384; XI 6957). PIR2 M 99. Franke, Thomas (Bochum) Bibliography H. Cohen, Description Historique des Monnaies frappées sous l'Empire Romain VI2, 1886, 405-408.

Magnillus

(50 words)

Author(s): Leppin, Hartmut (Hannover)
[German version] Belonged to the circle associated with Symmachus, with whom he corresponded (Symmachus, Ep. 5,17-33). Governor of Liguria; in AD 391-393 vicarius in Africa, then indicted and acquitted; attested until 396 but no longer in an office, probably not a Christian. PLRE 1, 533. Leppin, Hartmut (Hannover)

Magnum Municipium

(107 words)

Author(s): Šašel Kos, Marjeta (Ljubljana)
[German version] Town (Tab. Peut. 5,2; Geogr. Rav. 4,16; CIL XIII 6538) that developed partly from a Dalmatian settlement near Balina Glavica (near Drnis̆, Bosnia-Herzegovina, probably identical with Sinotium/Synodium: Str. 7,5,5; App. Ill. 78) and partly from a vicus close to the auxiliary camp near Umljanivići. Beneficiarii succeeded the auxiliary unit (cf. CIL III 9790; 14957ff.). Probably, MM was already a municipium under emperor M. Aurelius (cf. CIL III 9798). Šašel Kos, Marjeta (Ljubljana) Bibliography M. Zaninović, Ilirsko pleme Delmati II [The Illyrian Tribe of…

Magnus

(1,025 words)

Author(s): Elvers, Karl-Ludwig (Bochum) | Nutton, Vivian (London) | Groß-Albenhausen, Kirsten (Frankfurt/Main) | Portmann, Werner (Berlin) | Johne, Klaus-Peter (Berlin) | Et al.
Roman cognomen, which originally designated bodily size or birth order (‘the Elder’), as in the Republican period in the case of Sp. Postumius Albinus M. ( cos. 148 BC) and T. Roscius M. (Cic. Rosc. Am. 17) [1. 275; 3. 47]. As an assumption of the epithet of Alexander [4] ‘the Great’ (ὁ μέγας/ ho mégas, in the sense of great historical importance), first taken by Cn. Pompeius ( cos. 70 and 55) in the 1st cent. BC, then inherited by his sons Cn. and Sex. Pompeius and their descendants. Sex. Pompeius used M. also as a praenomen resp. nomen gentile [4. 364f.]. In the Imperial period, more frequen…

Magnus Sinus

(88 words)

Author(s): Karttunen, Klaus (Helsinki)
[German version] (μέγας κόλπος/ mégas kólpos, Ptol. 7,2,1; 7,3,1). A large ocean gulf in India extra Gangem, adjoining the Sinae, i.e. south-east Asia, with three rivers: Daonas, Dorias and Seros (Ptol. 7,2,7). Although the geography of south-east Asia seems hopelessly distorted in Ptolemy, and all interpretations of place names in that region must remain highly hypothetical, nonetheless the Magnus Sinus can be identified with the waters lying between the Malacca Peninsula and southern China. Karttunen, Klaus (Helsinki) Bibliography H. Treidler, s.v. Μέγας κόλπος, RE Suppl…

Mago

(1,896 words)

Author(s): Günther, Linda-Marie (Munich) | Ruffing, Kai (Münster) | Barceló, Pedro (Potsdam)
(* Mgn = ‘(god's) gift’; Greek Μάγων; Mágōn). [German version] [1] Carthaginian king (?), 2nd half 6th cent. BC Carthaginian, leading figure (king?) in the 2nd half of the 6th cent. BC; successor of Malchus [1], efficient promoter of Carthaginian power (Iust. 18,7,19; 19,1,1; [1. 173f.; 2. 475f.]), to whom a great army reform with the goal of the deployment of mercenaries is erroneously attributed [3. 184-187]. As father (?) of Hamilcar [1] and Hasdrubal (Iust. 19,1,2), M. is considered the ancestor of the Magonid…

Magodia

(4 words)

see Simodia

Magog

(240 words)

Author(s): Ego, Beate (Osnabrück)
[German version] In Ez 38:2 M. is the name of the country of the grand duke Gog, whom God has advance together with his armed forces against Israel to attack it; in doing so, however, he will die (for the text Ez 38:1-39:29 and its individual layers cf. [1]; see also Gn 10:2 where M. is counted among the sons of Japheth). Experts have raised the question whether Gog is to be associated with a historical figure, e.g. the Lydian king Gyges, who appears in documents of Assurbanipal under the name Gug(g)u. M. would then be identifiable with Lydia. The episode was diversely interpreted: Iosephus s…

Magonids

(4 words)

see Mago

Magonus

(46 words)

Author(s): Günther, Linda-Marie (Munich)
[German version] (Μάγωνος; Mágōnos), more correctly: Mago [1. 188,1113], Carthaginian councillor in the army of Hannibal [4]. In 215 BC he took the oath on the Carthaginian-Macedonian treaty (Pol. 7,9,1). M.'s identification with Mago [7] is contentious [1. 14,53]. Günther, Linda-Marie (Munich) Bibliography 1 Geus.

Magos

(5 words)

see Magic, Magi

Magpie

(232 words)

Author(s): Hünemörder, Christian (Hamburg)
[German version] Because in Greek the same name (κίσσα/ kíssa or κίττα/ kítta) is used for the magpie ( Pica candata) and the jay, and because these two corvids can be trained to talk, the respective context, as in Plin. HN 10,78 with the mention of the long tail, must ensure the designation. Plin. HN 10,98 reports on their removal of the eggs as a reaction to disruptive observation by humans. Actually, magpies build several nests to protect themselves. However, his description of how they hang two eggs stuck to a …

Magulaba

(63 words)

Author(s): Toral-Niehoff, Isabel (Freiburg)
[German version] According to Ptol. 6,7,37 (Μαγουλάβα/ Magoulába, also Μαγούλαυα/ Magoúlaba), town in Arabia Felix between Silaeum and Menambis. Probably the identical to modern al-Maḥǧar al-Alā. Toral-Niehoff, Isabel (Freiburg) Bibliography H. v. Wissmann, Zur Geschichte und Landeskunde von Altsüdarabien (SAWW, Phil.-histor. Klasse 246), 1964, 417 (map) Id., M. Höfner, Beiträge zur historischen Geographie des vorislamischen Arabien (AAWM, Geistesund sozialwiss. Klasse), 1952, no. 4, 37.

Magulnius

(49 words)

Author(s): Elvers, Karl-Ludwig (Bochum)
[German version] Name of one of the leading families of Praeneste until 82 BC, only attested in inscriptions (CIL I2 188-191 et passim). The famous Ficoronian Cista was given by a Dindia Magcolnia (= ‘ ‘wife of M. ’) to her daughter (ILS 8562). Elvers, Karl-Ludwig (Bochum)

Magusum

(91 words)

Author(s): Toral-Niehoff, Isabel (Freiburg)
[German version] One of the cities that according to Plin. HN 6,160 was destroyed by Aelius [II 11] Gallus in 24 BC. M. was then situated in modern Ǧauf (in modern Yemen) and is probably identical with modern Maǧzı̄r south of Yaṯill in Wādī 'l-Farḍa. Toral-Niehoff, Isabel (Freiburg) Bibliography H. v. Wissmann, Zur Geschichte und Landeskunde von Altsüdarabien (SAWW, Phil.-histor. Klasse 246), 1964, 84 (map), 140 J. F. Breton, Les fortifications d'Arabie Méridionale du 7e au 1er siècle avant nôtre ère (Arch. Ber. aus dem Yemen 8), 1994, 100 (map).

Mahanajim

(179 words)

Author(s): Podella, Thomas (Lübeck)
[German version] (Hebrew maḥanayim, literally ‘double camp’, cf. Ugarite mḥnm [3. 3,4] on the basis of the apparent dual form of maḥanæh; Gn 32:8; 11; 1 Kgs 2:8; cf. also Jos. Ant. Iud. 7,10; Euseb. On. 130,4); already attested in the list of defeated ‘Asians’ of the Egyptian king Shoshenk I (ANET 263, no. 22) as m-ḥ-n-m. This town east of the Jordan appears as the boundary point between the territories of the tribes Gad and Manasse on the Israelite-Aramaic border between Penuel and the mountain range Gilead; according to Jos. Ant. Iud. 21,38, a Levi…

Maharbal

(278 words)

Author(s): Günther, Linda-Marie (Munich)
(* Mhrbl = ‘servant of Bl’; Greek Μαάρβας/ Maárbas). [German version] [1] Carthaginian commander (?) Carthaginian commander of dubious historicity, who is supposed to have outsmarted rebellious Libyans by means of doped wine and defeated them (Frontin. Str. 2,5,12; cf. Polyaenus, Strat. 5,10,1; [1. 193f.]). Günther, Linda-Marie (Munich) [German version] [2] Carthaginian commander of Hannibal, end of 3rd cent. BC Carthaginian, son of a Himilkon, as Hannibal's [4] commander in his absence he led the siege of Saguntum in 219 BC (Liv. 21,12,1-3); identical…

Maia

(446 words)

Maiandrou pedion

(47 words)

Author(s): Blümel, Wolfgang (Cologne)
[German version] (Μαιάνδρου πεδίον; Maiándrou pedíon). The plain which the Maeander [2] (modern Menderes) washed up on its lower reaches (Hdt. 1,18; 161; Thuc. 3,19; Xen. Hell. 3,2,17; Str. 14,1,42); known for its fertility. Blümel, Wolfga…

Maidenhair

(4 words)

see Fern

Maiden sacrifice

(6 words)

see Human sacrifice

Maiesta

(147 words)

Author(s): Bendlin, Andreas (Erfurt)

Maiestas

(1,003 words)

Author(s): Gizewski, Christian (Berlin)
[German version] A. Definition As noun to the adjective maius (‘increasing’, ‘bigger’), maiestas in general means an unusual, unquestionably superior power and dignity to be respected, notably 1. the sacredness of the gods or of a god (Cic. Div. 1,82; Christian: Cod. Iust. 1,1,1, pr.), 2. the patria potestas of the pater familias towards the relatives and slaves subordinate to him (Liv. 4,45,8; Val. Max. 7…

Maiistas

(122 words)

Author(s): Fornaro, Sotera (Sassari)
[German version] (Μαϊίστας; Maïístas). Author (his name perhaps Egyptian) of the hexametric aretalogy of Sarapis. This forms the second part (l. 29-84) of an inscription (3rd cent. BC) on a column in the Serapeum of Delos, which tells the history of the cult of the god from its inception to the construction of the first temple [1]. The beginning of the inscription (l. 1-28) comprises the prose chronicle of the priest Apollonius II. M.'s text following may be a Greek aretalogy intend…

Maīn

(4 words)

see Minaei

Mainz

(4,352 words)

Author(s): Klein, Michael J. | Kreikenbom, Detlev (Mainz RWG)
Klein, Michael J. [German version] I. History of Excavations (CT) Klein, Michael J. [German version] A. Research since the Period of Humanism (CT) The architectural surface monuments and many extant inscriptions from the Roman period have stimulated intensive research in the history of Roman Mainz (M.) ( Mogontiacum) since the Humanist period. The so-called Drusus Stone ( Drususstein or Eichelstein), a monumental cenotaph of the elder Drusus [2], has attracted particular attention. Also the pillars of the Roman aqueduct [20. 63] have spurred a number of…

Maiocariri

(114 words)

Author(s): Kessler, Karlheinz (Emskirchen)
[German version] Fortified location in the hills on the road from Mardin to Amida (Diyarbakır). Amm. Marc. 18,6,6 describes the location of M. in a forested region with winegrowing and orchards. According to Amm. Marc. 18,10,1 Šābuhr moved before the siege of Amida in AD 359 from Horre (Horren) via M. to Carcha (Kerh). Not. Dign. Or. 36,36 names the Cohors XIV Valeria Zabdenorum as occupation force. The name M. means ‘cold water in Aramaic. M. can not be localized exactly yet, but should probably be searched for near modern Ceyhan. Kessler, Karlheinz (Emskirchen) Bibliography L. Dillemann,…

Maiorianus

(312 words)

Author(s): Leppin, Hartmut (Hannover)
[German version] [1] Iulius M. Emperor in the West in 457-461 AD In AD 457-461 emperor in the West. He served under Aetius [2] in Gaul, retired to his estates and probably served as comes domesticorum at least with Valentinianus III. With Ricimer he brought about the overthrow of Avitus [1]. The East Roman emperor named him military commander and on 28 December 457 he was declared to be Augustus (on the date [1. 180-188]; against a step-by-step appointment [1. 185f.]). He emphasized the support for him in the Senate and military …

Maiorina

(367 words)

Author(s): Klose, Dietrich (Munich)
[German version] (Lat., in full pecunia maiorina or nummus maior). Ancient name for ‘larger bronze (Æ)/billon coins ( Billon) of the 4th cent. AD. Some modern scholars avoid the ancient names because of the frequent changes in the coinage system. Maiorina was probably the name of the largest Æ nominal of the coinage reform of AD 348 ( c. 5 1/4 g, 2.8 % silver), only struck for a brief period, and of the somewhat smaller coins of 349-352 [2. 64f.]. The edict Cod. Theod. 9,21,6 of 349 AD forbad the elimination of silver from the maiorina, an edict of 356 (…

Maiorinus

(114 words)

Author(s): Gutsfeld, Andreas (Münster)
[German version] Praefectus praetorio Orientis under Constantius II. Life and career are poorly attested. Coming from a curial family from the East, he had a meteoric rise in his career (Lib. Ep. 1510) which reached its peak with the praetorian prefecture. He presumably held this office between the summer of 344 and 28 July AD 346 (Cod. Theod. 11,22,1: first certain evidence for his supposed successor Flavius Philippus) with his headquarters in Antioch [1]. He died shortly before 357 (Lib. Ep. 560) …

Maiotae

(146 words)

Author(s): von Bredow, Iris (Bietigheim-Bissingen)
[German version] (Μαιῶται; Maiôtai). Greek collective name for the tribes on the east coast of the Maeotis and in the lower and middle reaches of Kuban/north-west Caucasus (Hdt. 4,123; Str. 11,2,2-4; 11). These probably include Iranian and Caucasian tribes of the Sindi, Cercetae, Toretae, Dandarii and Psessii among others. Farming and fishing formed the primary basis of their livelihood (Str. 11,2,4). They traded actively with Tanais in particular. The M. had to pay tributes to the Regnum Bosporanu…

Maius

(21 words)

Author(s): Elvers, Karl-Ludwig (Bochum)
[German version] Roman surname and cognomen [1. 61; 2. 13]. Elvers, Karl-Ludwig (Bochum) Bibliography 1 Kajanto, Cognomina 2 Walde/Hofmann 2.

Majuscule

(836 words)

Author(s): Eleuteri, Paolo (Venice) | Menci, Giovanna (Florence)
In contrast to minuscules, majuscules are the scripts in which the letters of the alphabet are written between two often only imaginary horizontal lines. [German version] A. Greek script In Greek palaeography, majuscules are also called capitals and uncials, although the latter term is very controversial. Theoretically all Greek scripts before the emergence of the minuscules ought to be called majuscules (not only the actual and the stylized book hands, but also the half cursives, cursives and document hand [1. 132-133, 137…

Makaron Nesoi

(326 words)

Author(s): Käppel, Lutz (Kiel) | Olshausen, Eckart (Stuttgart)
(αἱ τῶν μακάρων νῆσοι; hai tôn makárōn nêsoi, Lat. insulae fortunatae, ‘Islands of the blessed'). [German version] [1] Mythical country Since Hes. Op. 167-173, the mythical country to which heroes are transported - instead of to dark, mouldy Hades like ‘normal people’ - when their lives on earth are over. The concept of the makaron nesoi (MN) is closely linked with the idea of Elysium (Hom. Od. 4,561ff.) as the place were the blessed reside after death (cf. Pind. Ol. 2,68-80; Hdt. 3,26; Aristoph. Vesp. 640; Eur. Hel. 1677; Aristot. Protrepticus fr. …

Make-up

(4 words)

see Cosmetics

Makra Kome

(93 words)

Author(s): Kramolisch, Herwig (Eppelheim)
[German version] (Μακρὰ κώμη; Makrà kṓmē). Town in the upper valley of the Spercheius, in 198 BC conquered by the Aetolians during a plundering raid on Thessalia (Liv. 32,13,10). Makra Kome (MK) is localized near the ruins of the modern village of MK (formerly Varibopi) on the northern bank of the Spercheius. Kramolisch, Herwig (Eppelheim) Bibliography Y. Béquignon, La vallée du Spercheios, 1937, 316ff. B. Helly, Incursions chez les Dolopes, in: I. Blum (ed.), Topographie antique et géographie historique en pays grec, 1992, 67 F. Stählin, s.v. M.k., RE 14, 808f.

Malaca

(524 words)

Author(s): Niemeyer, Hans Georg (Hamburg) | Barceló, Pedro (Potsdam)
[German version] This item can be found on the following maps: Theatre | | Commerce | Hispania, Iberia | Colonization | Phoenicians, Poeni | Punic Wars | Pyrenean peninsula (Μαλάκη; Malákē). City on the Spanish east coast, modern Málaga (name probably Semitic, not from Hebrew malkah, ‘queen but from Phoenician mlkt, ‘place of work [1. 5742]; in [2. 574; 4. 76] the possibility of a semantic reference to fish processing is mentioned); probably a settlement that was not established until the early 6th cent. BC as a substitute for the 200 years older Ph…

Malachbelus

(493 words)

Author(s): Kaizer, Ted (Oxford)
[German version] (Aramaic mlkbl, ‘messenger of Bel’). Palmyrene god, depicted or referred to in various forms and together with a changing array of other gods in Palmyra and the Roman empire (Rome [3], Dacia [8], north Africa [4]). In Palmyra M. was worshipped with Aglibol in the so-called ‘sacred garden’, a temple known through inscriptions (e.g. [6. no. 0197, 0314]), tesserae [7. 155-161] and a relief [2. pl. 4,1]. The latter, the so-called Dexiosis relief of the ‘sacred brothers’ in which the two gods join hands, is also found in…

Malangitae

(70 words)

Author(s): Toral-Niehoff, Isabel (Freiburg)
[German version] (Μαλαγγῖται; Malangîtai). According to Ptol. 6,7,23, a people in central Arabia who lived on the Máreitha órē (Μάρειθα Ὄρη), i.e. on the Āriḍ. Probably corresponds to the tribe of the Maḏḥiǧ which was expelled by Imru al-Qais, the king of the Lakhmids in c. AD 300. Toral-Niehoff, Isabel (Freiburg) Bibliography H. v. Wissmann, Zur Geschichte und Landeskunde von Altsüdarabien (SAWW, Phil.-histor. Klasse 246), 1964, 175, 195f., 404-406.

Malaria

(416 words)

Author(s): Touwaide, Alain (Madrid)
[German version] The term malaria covers a polymorphous complex of feverous diseases whose origin can be traced back to the parasite plasmodium carried by the anopheles mosquito. In antiquity, malaria could be distinguished by some of its symptoms: recurrent attacks of fever, particularly of three and four-day duration, swelling of the spleen (splenomegalia) or black urine. Aetiologially the feverous diseases were related to swampy regions, especially within the framework of climatic medicine. Treatment was symptom-…

Malaric

(51 words)

Author(s): Kehne, Peter (Hannover)
[German version] Frank, defended in AD 355 as tribunus gentilium of the scholae Palatinae the magister peditum Silvanus who was accused of planning to usurp power (see Mallobaudes). In 363 M. declined appointment as magister equitum per Gallias (Amm. Marc. 15,5,6; 25,8,11; 10,6). PLRE 1, 538. Kehne, Peter (Hannover)

Malatha

(193 words)

Author(s): Pahlitzsch, Johannes (Berlin)
[German version] (Μάλαθα; Málatha, Jos. Ant. Iud. 18,147; Moleatha, Not. Dign. Or. 34,45), modern Arabic Tall al-Milḥ (‘salt hill) or Hebrew Tel Malḥatā; settlement situated in the centre of the Beeršeba Basin in north-eastern Negev at the confluence of two Wadis. Because of the wealth of wells in the erea, a major fortified settlement was already established in the Middle Bronze Age, part of a southern defence line. Destroyed by the Egyptians and obviously restored in the 10th cent. BC under Solomon, M…

Malatya

(5 words)

see Asia Minor

Malchus

(686 words)

Author(s): Günther, Linda-Marie (Munich) | Bringmann, Klaus (Frankfurt/Main) | Berger, Albrecht (Berlin)
(* Mlk =‘ king; Greek Μάλκος, Málkos; Latin Malchus, Maleus, Mazeus). [German version] [1] Carthaginian, father of Carthalo Carthaginian, father of Carthalo [1]. Historicity and interpretation of the only source text concerning M. as first historically tangible personality of Carthage in Iustin (18,7; cf. Oros. 4,6,6-9) are frequently and vehemently contested to the present day, beginning with the titular character of his name and his place in the chronology of the (early?) 6th cent. BC. M. is supposed to have fo…

Maldras

(92 words)

Author(s): Meier, Mischa (Bielefeld)
[German version] Son of Massilia, was elevated to king of the Suebi by the king of the West Goths Theodericus II in AD 456 after the murder of Rechiarius, although he had to defend himself against other pretenders [1. 124]. In 457 he plundered Olisipo (Lisbon) and laid waste to Gallaecia, in 459 to Lusitania and Portumcale Castrum (Oporto). In the same year, he murdered his brother, was then killed himself in 460 (Chron. min. 2,29-31 Mommsen). PLRE 2, 704. Meier, Mischa (Bielefeld) Bibliography 1 D. Claude, Geschichte der Westgoten, 1970.

Malea

(388 words)

Author(s): Lienau, Cay (Münster) | Meyer, Ernst (Zürich) | Lafond, Yves (Bochum)
[German version] [1] South-east cape of the Peloponnese (Μαλέα ἄκρα/ Maléa ákra, Μάλεια/ Máleia, Μαλέαι/ Maléai, ἀκρωτήριον Μαλέας/ akrōtḗrion Maléas, Μαλειάων ὄρος/ Maleiáōn óros, cf. Hom. Od. 3,287; 19,187; modern Κάβο Μαλιάς, Ἅγιος Ἄγγελος). The south-east cape of the Peloponnese, feared in antiquity and in modern times, southern foothill of the Parnon (cf. the proverb passed on by Str. 8,6,20 ‘if you sail around M. forget those at home’ [1. 262ff.]). The main difficulty for ancient navigation lay in the gusty, oft…

Maleatas

(182 words)

Author(s): Auffarth, Christoph (Tübingen)
[German version] (Μαλεάτας; Maleátas). The epiclesis M. for Apollo is derived from the place-name Malea [1], the cape in the south-east of the Peloponnese (of the Mani) feared for its storms (Hom. Od. 3,287 et passim). Poseidon had a cult there (Eur. Cyc. 293; Paus. 3,23,2). Typically, however, it is Apollo rather than Poseidon who bears this epiclesis in the eastern Peloponnese and radiating outward from there, for example in Piraeus (IG II2 4962); here M., as well as Apollo, receives his own preliminary sacrifices before Asclepius. Another link with healing cults …
▲   Back to top   ▲