Brill’s New Pauly
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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)
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
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.
Subscriptions: see brill.com
Oa
(110 words)
[German version] (Ὄα/
Óa, Ὀά/
Oá; demotikon Ὀα(ι)εύς/
Oa(i)eús, Ὄαθεν/Ó
athen or Οἴαθεν/
Oíathen [1]). Attic mesogeia deme of the phyle of Pandionis, and from 1AD 27/8 of the Hadrianis, with four
bouleutaí. Finds of funerary inscriptions point to the neighbourhood of Spata: IG II2 7820 (FO Papangelaki), IG II2 7816, 7817, 7825 (FO Velanideza). For
métoikoi in O. cf. [2. 84]. Lohmann, Hans (Bochum) Bibliography
1 S. Dow, The Attic Demes Oa and Oe, in: AJPh 84, 1963, 166-181
2 Whitehead, Index s.v. O. Traill, Attica, 8, 17f., 42 with notes 14, 43, 62, 68, 111 no. 91 pl. 3, 15 J.S. Traill, Demos…
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Brill’s New Pauly
Oak
(818 words)
[German version] With around 30 different species, oaks are by far the most common deciduous trees in the natural vegetation of the countries around the Mediterranean. As such, the Greeks gave them the collective Indogermanic name for a tree δρῦς (
drŷs) which was already documented in linear B, as well as special names to distinguish between them. Thus the name for the sacred oak oracle of Zeus in Dodona varies between δρῦς and φηγός (
phēgós), whilst in Latin it is consistently called
quercus. This refers to the ‘Trojan oak’, Q
uercus troiana [1. 385-391]. The most detailed and reliab…
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Brill’s New Pauly
Oanis
(67 words)
[German version] (Ὤανις/Ṓ
anis). Small river on the south coast of Sicily, probably the present-day Rifrascolaro, which flows into the sea to the east of Camarina. The MS tradition for Pind. Ol. 5,11 wavers between Ὤανις/
Ṓanis and Ὤανος/
Ṓanos; cf. the discussion for [1]. Olshausen, Eckart (Stuttgart) Bibliography
1 K. Ziegler, s.v. O., RE 17, 1675-1677
2 E. Manni, Geografia fisica e politica della Sicilia antica, 1981, 118.
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Brill’s New Pauly
Oannes
(226 words)
[German version] (Ὠάννης/
Ōánnēs, probably the short form of Sumerian u4-an-na-a-da-pà). Babylonian mythical creature (half human, half fish; Monsters), who is said to have imparted the foundations of civilisation to mankind. O. is part of the seven antediluvian wise men (Sumerian abgal, Akkadian
apkallu). The written tradition in Berosus (FGrH 3C1, 680, F 1) is augmented by references to him in cuneiform, mainly on a tablet from Hellenic Uruk, where he is named as the first of the wise men [1. 44-52]. On account of the spelling u4-ma-a-dnúm, which points to a pronunciation *
uwaan(
um)…
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Brill’s New Pauly
Oasis
(332 words)
[German version] Extensive depressions in the Libyan desert, interspersed with fertile areas, which were called in Egyptian
wḥt, i.e. ‘hollow’ (Coptic
ouah(
e), Arabic
wāḥa, rendered into Greek as
óasis (ὄασις). A Ptolemaic list records seven oases for Egypt, starting from the south to the north: Charga, ad-Dāḫila, al-Farāfira, al-Baḥrīya, Ain el-Dalla (?), Wādī n-Naṭrūn, Sīwa ( Ammoneion). For Sīwa, the Egyptian rule has been evidenced only from the 26th Dynasty (664-525 BC), but for the other ones already from the 5th/6th Dynasties, namely from
c. 2450 BC. Although lying deep…
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Brill’s New Pauly
Oath
(846 words)
[German version] I. Ancient Orient Since the second half of the 3rd millennium BC [1. 63-98; 2. 345-365], a distinction was made in Mesopotamia between promissory (assuring) oaths in contract law and assertory (confirming) oaths taking effect in lawsuits. A promissory oath served as an absolute assurance of a renunciation or intended action and was performed by invoking the king or a god, or both. An assertory oath had probative force as an oath for witnesses or parties, e.g. an oath of purification …
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Brill’s New Pauly
Oats
(123 words)
[German version] Unlike barley (Grain), wild and cultivated oats (
Avena sativa L., /
brómos,
avena) were used only occasionally in human diet in antiquity, for example as flour for pearl barley and dietary porridge (Hippoc. De victu 2,7(= 43) and Plin. HN 22,137); oats were used most frequently as animal fodder (green or as hay: Columella 2,10,32). Dioscorides (with a good description in 2,94 p. 1, 172f. Wellmann = 2,116 p. 203 Berendes) recommends the porridge against diarrhoea and the gruel obtained from it…
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Brill’s New Pauly
Oaxes
(78 words)
[German version] River ‘at the eastern edge of the world’ (Verg. Ecl. 1,65); probably not in Crete (as stated correctly by Serv. Aen. ad loc., rather it was a variation on Oxus, old Iranian Vaxshu, which, according to Plin. HN 6,48 and Iust. 1,8,2 flows out of the Oaxus lacus. A further variation is Araxes [2]. Karttunen, Klaus (Helsinki) Bibliography E. Kirsten, s.v. O. (1), RE 17, 1686f. E. Meyer, s.v. O. (1), RE Suppl. 12, 897f.
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Brill’s New Pauly
Oaxus
(203 words)
[German version] (Ὄαξος/
Óaxos, Ἄξος/
Áxos). Mountain town in northern central Crete bordering on the region of Tylissus,
c. 30 km to the south of Heraklion and called Axos in later sources (Steph. Byz. s.v. Ἄ.). O. was situated on the northern foothills of the Ida mountain range, on a steep acropolis with few archaeological remains (walls). Already inhabited in late Minoan times, O. had developed since the 8/7 cents. BC into a significant town whose building fabric is preserved today only in a rudimentary form. …
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Brill’s New Pauly
Obarator
(264 words)
[German version] The Roman god of ‘reploughing’ the seed appears only in Servius' (Georg. 1,21) list of twelve “Sondergötter” connected with agriculture. This list goes back to the
libri iuris pontificii by Fabius [I 34] Pictor (fr. 3 HRR, mid 2nd cent. BC?). The verb
obarare appears once in Latin literature in a military context (Liv. 23,19,14), the concept of reploughing appears in Varro (Rust. 1,29,1-3; [1]). Opponents of the theory of Sondergötter [2] have denied the existence of O. It is also doubtful for linguistic reasons [3]. Yet it can be defended [4]…
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Brill’s New Pauly
Obelisk
(319 words)
[German version] (ὀβελίσκος/
obelískos, Latin
obeliscus). Slender column of square cross-section tapering upwards with a pyramid shaped top, Egyptian
tḫn, in the Graeco-Roman period also
bnbn. In Egypt, obelisks have been connected with the sun cult since the earliest times (Sun god). Their concrete function and significance, however, is unknown. Royal obelisks outside temples and sanctuaries to the sun are attested from the 5th Dynasty (2450-2300 BC). In the New Kingdom they were often erected in pairs in front of the …
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Brill’s New Pauly
Obelus
(132 words)
[German version] (ὀβελός/
obelós). Text-critical sign of Alexandrian philology in the shape of a line (- -) in the left margin [2. 204]. Its use goes back to Zenodotus of Ephesus [3. 9f.]. The obelus - originating in the textual criticism of Homer - was used primarily for marking poetic passages that were regarded as inauthentic or corrupted [4. 115; 5. 9]. In connection with the
asterískos the obelus marks a
versus iteratus (‘repeated verse’) regarded as interpolated. Correction marks; Critical marks; Emendation of texts; Text, corruption of the Baumbach, Manuel (Zürich) Bibliogr…
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Brill’s New Pauly
Oberdorla
(164 words)
[German version] O. is a bog in the district of Mühlhausen (Germany) where sacrifices were made. It was completely excavated 1957-1964, but published only in parts until now. It is a Germanic cult site that was used from the 6th cent. BC to the 4th cent. AD and which shows strong Celtic influences in the pre-Christian period. In the bog, various cultic areas were demarcated by stones or poles. Numerous animal bones (especially from cows and horses) and remains of sacrificial meals show that the si…
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Brill’s New Pauly
Obligatio
(802 words)
[German version] A. Concept and foundations According to Inst. Iust. 3,13 pr., an
obligatio is a
iuris vinculum, quo necessitate adstringimur alicuius solvendae rei secundum nostrae civitatis iura ('a legal tie whereby we are bound according to the laws of our State to give some performance'). In this sense,
obligatio refers to a relationship of indebtedness whereby a
debitor (debtor) is obligated to his
creditor (creditor) in respect of one or more performances. This relationship of indebtedness may arise from legal business, especially through a contract (
contractus …
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Brill’s New Pauly
Obolos
(202 words)
[German version] (ὀβολός;
obolós) in Greek coinage (Money; Coin minting) refers to a nominal value; derived from ὀβελός (
obelós), 'roasting spit or skewer' [1], which was used in the pre-monetary period as a method of payment. Six roasting spits or skewers could be held in one hand, hence the term drachme (δραχμή/
drachmḗ, 'as much as one hand can hold'; [2]). The
obolos was therefore 1/6 of the drachma. In the inscription concerning the Eleusinian Mysteries before 460 BC, the nominal value term
obolos appears (IG I2 6,88; 95; 96; 97; [3. 3]). Initially the
obolos in the Greek currencies…
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Brill’s New Pauly
Obscuritas
(337 words)
[German version] ('Lack of clarity' sc. of expression); corresponds with the Greek noun σκότος (
skótos, 'darkness') with the adjective σκοτεινός (
skoteinós); ἀσάφεια (
asápheia, 'unclearness').
Obscuritas is a central term in ancient rhetorical and literary-aesthetic discussions. For the Greeks,
obscuritas has a positive connotation in the context of solemn inspirational mantic art and oracles in particular, but as a quality of the language of poetry , it is a matter of controversy. In the
Frogs of Aristophanes, the archaic-obscure Aeschylus and the modern-perspicuous …
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Obsequens, Iulius
(381 words)
[German version] Author of a
liber prodigiorum, which for the years 190-11 BC, i.e. at the end of Livy's [III 2] Roman history, arranges accounts of portents (
Prodigium ) of salient historical events by and alongside their dates. The title of the
edition princeps of the work [4] shows that it was begun in 249 BC (for the significance of the starting date cf. [5. 76f.; 10. 158ff.], and that therefore the portents for 249-191 have been lost. O. evidently relates Rome's success to its observance of divine signs, whose expiation averts thre…
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Brill’s New Pauly
Obsequium
(199 words)
[German version] In the social and political fabric of Roman society
obsequium generally referred to a duty of support for prominent persons [3. 128ff.], in a military sense it referred to a soldier's obedience and in Roman private law to the legal duty of the
libertus (Freedmen) towards his
patronus [1. 140]. In relation to the
imperium Romanum,
obsequium also referred to the loyalty of a province (Tac. Hist. 4,71,2; 74,4; Tac. Ann. 4,72,1; 15,21,1) as well as the subordination - the goal of foreign policy - of tribes living on the edges of the Empi…
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Brill’s New Pauly