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
Science
(3,548 words)
[German version] I. Mesopotamia The framework for the emergence of science, i.e. of a socially organized, systematic search for discoveries and their transmission, existed in Mesopotamia from the early 3rd millennium BC. It included social differentiation and the development of a script (Cuneiform script) which was soon applied outside administrative and economic contexts. The potential of numeracy and literacy, sustained by the professional group of scribes, was developed beyond concrete, practical…
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Scillus
(208 words)
[German version] (Σκιλλοῦς/
Skilloûs). Town, settled from as early as the Mycenaean period, in Triphylia to the south of Olympia and possibly to the west of modern Makrisia on the Agios Elias (not at modern Skilluntia, where there are remains probably of the Temple of Athena Skilluntia of Phellon: Str. 8,3,14). Being allied with Pisa (Pisatis) (Paus. 5,6,4; 6,22,4), S. is said to have built the temple of Hera in Olympia (Paus. 5,16,1). After S. had been destroyed by Elis in about 570 BC (Paus. 5,6,…
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Scilurus
(126 words)
[German version] (Σκίλουρος/
Skílouros). King in the second half of the 2nd century BC of the Scythian-Taurian state in Crimea with capital Neapolis (modern Simferopol). His coins suggest a temporary protectorate over Olbia ([2]; contra [1. 146-148]). When S. devastated the
chṓra of Chersonesus [2], its inhabitants called on Mithridates [6]. One of S.' many sons, Palacus, fought Mithridates' general Diophantus [2] without success (Str. 7,4,3 and 7; 7,3,17; Syll.3 709 = IOSPE 2, 352; SEG 39, 692). His daughter Senamotis was married to a Bosporan Greek ([3]; SEG 37, 674). Scythae II. Pet…
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Scione
(189 words)
[German version] This item can be found on the following maps: Peloponnesian War | Persian Wars | Delian League (Σκιώνη/
Skiṓnē). City on the southern coast of Pallene [4] between Nea Skioni and Agios Nikolaos. According to local tradition (Thuc. 4,120,1; cf. Konon FGrH 26 F 13; Polyaenus, Strat. 7,47) S. was founded after the Trojan War by Achaei from Pellene. In the winter of 480/79 BC S. took part in the defence of Potidaea against the Persians (Hdt. 8,128). S. then appears consistently with six talents in the …
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Scipio
(36 words)
[German version] Roman cognomen ('gnarled stick, staff') in the Cornelii family (Cornelii [I 65-85] Scipiones); a representation of a staff was also used as the family emblem. Elvers, Karl-Ludwig (Bochum) Bibliography Kajanto, Cognomina, 19 f.; 91; 345.
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Scipionic circle
(181 words)
[German version] Modern term for a circle of friends (of debatable historicity) supposedly surrounding P. Cornelius [I 70] Scipio Aemilianus Africanus (
cos. 147, 134 BC). Its members - including C. Laelius [I 2] (
cos. 140), L. Furius [I 28] Philus (
cos. 136), Sp. Mummius [I 4] and P. Rupilius [I 1] (
cos. 132) - are supposed to have been connected by a particular interest in Greek culture (Philhellenism) and a more humane Roman foreign policy (influenced by Stoic teachings as transmitted by Panaetius [4]). The idea of a fixed group can be t…
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Scipionic inscriptions
(379 words)
[German version] Term referring to the nine extant sarcophagus inscriptions of the so-called 'Tomb of the Scipios', the burial place of the Cornelii Scipiones from
c. the mid 3rd cent. to the end of the 2nd cent. BC (CIL I2 6-16, ILLRP 309-317). The earliest texts are the eulogies for L. Cornelius [I 76] Scipio Barbatus (
cos. 298) and his son L. Cornelius [I 65] Scipio (
cos. 259), each consisting of a painted name followed by a chiseled poem in saturnian metre (most scholars date the eulogy to the father
later than the one to the son; for a contemporaneous creation [7]). Other than…
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Sciras
(88 words)
[German version] (Σκίρας/Skíras). Poet of 'Italic comedy' [1. test. 1] from Tarentum, who in a late record [1. test. 2] is, along with the phlyakes poet Rhinthon and the poet (of Menippian satire?) Blaesus named as a Pythagorean, which is not very credible. Of his work, only two iambic trimeters from the mythological play Μελέαγρος (Meléagros) have survived, a parody of Eur. Hipp. 75f. Hardly any clues exist regarding S.' biographical dates. He is usually associated with Rhinthon (c. 300 BC) Nesselrath, Heinz-Günther (Göttingen) Bibliography
1 CGF 190.
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Sciri
(118 words)
[German version] Germanic tribe on the Vistula (Plin. HN 4,97), which in the 3rd cent. BC advanced as far as the Black Sea (Syll.3 495, Z. 100 from Olbia). From the 4th cent. AD the S. settled on the northern edge of the Carpathians, came to be dependent on the Hunni and undertook incursions into the Roman Empire (Zos. 4,34,6; Sozom. Hist. eccl. 9,5,5; Sid. Apoll. Carm. 7,322). After the death of Attila in AD 453 the S. were defeated by the Goti; some were accepted into Moesia (Iord. Get. 265; Moesi), the rest moved with Odoacer to Italy (Procop. Goth. 1,1,3; Iohannes Antiochenus fr. 209,1). Graßl,…
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Sciritae
(211 words)
[German version] (Σκιρῖται;
Skirîtai). The S., perhaps ethnically Arcadian, came from the sub-region or district (χώρα/
chṓra) of Sciritis in the Peloponnese (Diod. Sic. 15,64,3; cf. Thuc. 5,33,1), of which the principal fortified place in the 2nd quarter of the fourth cent. BC was Oeum (Xen. Hell. 6,5,24f.). At the battle of Mantinea in 418 BC, 600 S. fought on the side of the Spartans (Thuc. 5,67,1; 5,68,3; 5,71,2). By then, they had won the right to occupy the extreme left of the Lacedaemonian
phálanx line (Thuc. 5,67,1; cf. Diod. Sic. 15,32,1); after 378,…
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Sciritis
(115 words)
[German version] (Σκιρῖτις;
Skirîtis). Northern border region of Laconia (Thuc. 5,33,2) between the eastern Arcadian and Spartan basins, in the north about 13 km wide and in the south about 4 km, a slate region of the northwestern slopes of the northern Parnon mountains without any larger settlements. It was originally counted as part of Arcadia (Steph. Byz. s. v. Σκίρος). In the 5th cent. BC the Sciritae had the status of Spartan
períoikoi . In 369 BC it was annexed to Megale polis (Xen. Hell. 6,5,24 ff.; 7,4,21; Diod. Sic. 15,64,3 ff.; Syll.3 665,31 f. from 164 BC). Lienau, Cay (Münst…
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Sciron
(172 words)
[German version] (Σκίρων/
Skírōn, Σκείρων/
Skeírōn). Either a son of Henioche [4] and Canethus (Plut. Theseus 10,1-4; 25,4) or son of Poseidon or son (or grandson) of Pelops [1] (Apollod. Epit. 1,2). Eponym of the 'Scironian Cliffs' (Scironides petrae) and the 'Scironian Way' to the Gerania (Hdt. 8,71). Whereas S. was originally considered by the Megarians as a benevolent hero and constructor of the Way (Paus. 1,44), with the blossoming of the Theseus legend he transformed into the well-known monster…
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Scironides
(107 words)
[German version] (Σκιρωνίδης;
Skirōnídēs). Athenian who, as
strategos, together with Phrynichus [2] and others led an offensive to reconquer Miletus [2] in the summer of 412 BC. In spite of victory in the land battle, the offensive was broken off - contrary to the votes of S.
i.a. - because of the superiority of the Spartan fleet (Thuc. 8,25-27). As commanders of the fleet at Samos, he and Phrynichus were dismissed at the beginning of 411 (Thuc. 8,54,3). His attitude to the oligarchy of the Four Hundred (
Tetrakósioi ) is unclear. Walter, Uwe (Cologne) Bibliography D. Kagan, The Fall of th…
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Scironides petrae
(98 words)
[German version] (Σκειρωνίδες πέτραι/
Skeirōnídes pétrai, 'Scironic rocks'). Tall cliff on Mount Gerania above the Saronic Gulf (Hdt. 8,71; Pol. 16,16,4; Str. 9,1,4) west of Megara [2], still referred to as Kaki Skala ('dangerous climb') to the present day. The coastal pass from which - according to legend - Sciron pushed travellers into the sea (cf. Diod. Sic. 4,59,4) was notoriously dangerous. It was widened for traffic by Hadrianus (in AD 117-138) (Paus. 1,44,6). Meyer, Doris (Strasbourg) Bibliography Philippson/Kirsten 1, 949 F. Geyer, s. v. Skironische Felsen, RE 3 A, …
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Scissors
(168 words)
[German version] (ψαλίς/
psalís; Latin
forfex,
forpex,
forficula). Scissors, made of iron or bronze, were used in sheep and goat shearing, for cutting cloth and metal, hair and beards, in cobbling and in agriculture, for chopping plants and fruits and separating grapes from the vine. Scissors seem to have come into use from the early 5th cent. BC in Greece, and in Italy (according to written sources) from around 300 BC (Varro, Rust. 2,11,9), though the plucking of fleeces was still common in sheep-shea…
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Sclavinia
(283 words)
[German version] (Σκλαβηνία/
Sklabēnía, Latin
Sclavinia). A term, common since the 6th cent. AD in Greek and Latin, derived from the demonym Σκλαβηνοί/
Sklabēnoí or
Sclavi (Slavs) and used to describe communities formed of Slav tribes inside and outside formerly Roman territories in the Balkan peninsula, Carinthia, Pannonia and Transsylvania. They were for the most part organised in warlike tribal associations without fixed territorial borders and also included members of non-Slavonic peoples; some were autonomous, othe…
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Sclerias
(49 words)
[German version] (Σκληρίας/
Sklērías) or Sclerius (Σκλήριος/
Sklḗrios), tragic poet cited by Stobaeus (TrGF I 213), dates unknown. It is unlikely that the Skolion (PMG 890) which only Stobaeus ascribes to S. (TrGF I 213 F 5) is in fact by him (testimonies in PMG 651). Zimmermann, Bernhard (Freiburg)
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Scodra
(254 words)
[German version] This item can be found on the following maps: | Coloniae | Commerce | Moesi, Moesia | Punic Wars | Balkans, languages Illyrian city (Liv. 44,31; Vibius Sequester 148; It. Ant. 339,4; Tab. Peut. 7,1 f.; Pol. 28,8,4: Σκόδρα/
Skódra; Ptol. 2,17,12; Hierocles, Synekdemos 656,4; Liv. 45,26:
Scodrenses) southeast of Lacus Labeatis (modern Liqeni Shkodres), 17 Roman miles (
c. 28 km; Plin. HN 3,144; Geogr. Rav. 5,14) from the coast of the Ionios Kolpos, in the area of the mouths of the Drilon and the Barbanna (modern Bojanna), modern Shkodra (i…
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Scolus
(180 words)
[German version] This item can be found on the following maps: Boeotia, Boeotians (Σκῶλος;
Sk
ôlos). Settlement in Boeotia (Hom. Il. 2,498:
kṓmē), to the south of modern Neochorakion, to the north of Asopus [2] (Paus. 9,4,4; finds from the Mycenaean to the Roman periods [2; 4; 5; 6; 7], otherwise [1; 8]; relocated in 395 BC: [3]). S. was in the territory of Thebae, but from time to time of Plataeae (Str. 9,2,23 f.; as
pólis only in Steph. Byz. s. v. Σ.). S. was part of a region of the Boeotian League that depended on Thebae. Its population was evacuated to Thebae in 43…
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Scombrus
(47 words)
[German version] (Σκόμβρος;
Skómbros). Heavily forested mountains with ore deposits in the west of Thrace (Thuc. 2,96,3;
Scopius, Plin. HN 4,35), modern Vitoša south of Sofia. Aristot. Mete. 350b 16f. mistakenly locates the sources of the Nestus [1] and the Hebrus there. von Bredow, Iris (Bietigheim-Bissingen)
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Scopadae
(169 words)
[German version] (Σκοπάδαι;
Skopádai). Noble family from Crannon, which, beside the Aleuadae, was one of the leading clans of Thessaly in the 6th century BC. On account of their wealth from cattle and pasturing (cf. Theoc. 16,36-39) the S. were from time to time at the lead of the Thessalian League (Tagos). As in the case of Aleuas, constitutive measures in establishing the organisation of the Thessalian army are also ascribed to their mythical/historical founder, Scopas I, (cf. Xen. Hell. 6,1,19; …
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Scopas
(1,000 words)
(Σκόπας/
Skópas). [German version] [1] Sculptor from Paros, mid 4th cent. BC Sculptor from Paros, active in the mid 4th cent. BC, working mostly in marble and very occasionally in bronze. In the opinion of the ancient world, S. was one of the most important masters of Greek sculpture. Written records ascribe to him approximately 25-30 individual works and major projects, which should probably be allotted to several sculptors with the same name of different generations. The extant pediment sculptures from th…
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Scopelianus
(132 words)
[German version] (Σκοπελιανός;
Skopelianós). Sophist from Clazomenae, active
c. 80-115 AD. According to Philostr. VS 1,21,514, our only source, S. was taught by Nicetes [2], presumably in Smyrna where S. too taught (his pupils included Polemon) and declaimed. Renowned especially for subjects drawn from the Persian Wars, S. had a vigorous style (apparent also in his epic Γιγαντία (
Gigantía), criticised as 'dithyrambic'. Like his ancestors he was high priest of the province of Asia (ἀρχιερεύς/
archiereús). Often an envoy to emperors,
c. 92 AD he successfully opposed Domitian's…
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Scopelus
(64 words)
[German version] (Σκόπελος;
Skópelos). Foothills of the Amanus between Rhosus and Seleucia [2] Pieria (Ptol. 5,15,2) with the cape Ras al-Ḫinzīr. It formed the natural boundary, and in Late Antiquity, also the political boundary between Syria and Cilicia; in the Middle Ages, there were Greek, Syrian, Armenian, and Latin monasteries in this region. Hild, Friedrich (Vienna) Bibliography Hild/Hellenkemper, s. v. Ras al-Hinzir, s. v. Skopelos.
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Scordisci
(228 words)
[German version] Celtic tribe with Illyrian and Thracian elements. They originally settled in the northern central Balkans (Str. 7,5,12) - the 'Greater S.' to the east of the Noarus as far as the Margus [1] (modern Morava), and the 'Lesser S.' on the right bank of the latter. To the south the territory of the S. extended as far as the sources of the Margus. The precise boundaries of the tribal territory, however, are hard to ascertain; in the 1st cent. BC its nucleus was at the confluence of the Savus and the Danube. About the beginning of the 3rd cent. BC the S. and other Celtic tribes …
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Scorpion
(19 words)
[German version] [1] see Arachnids see Arachnids [German version] [2] see Catapult C. (
scorpio) s. Catapult C.
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Scotland, Law of
(1,697 words)
[English version] The kingdom of Scotland grew between 850 and 1050 from a combination of four peoples: the Picts, the Irish
Scoti of Dalriada, the Britons and the Anglo-Saxons. All four peoples made a contribution to Scots law (SL). But the most important contribution was made by the Gaelic-speaking
Scoti, with Irish or Celtic law. Little written testimony has come down to us from this early period, most of it relating to awards of land in an early feudal society. But several institutions of Celtic law survived as the basis of SL. The beginnings of a specifically Scottish law lie in t…
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Scotti
(80 words)
[German version] (
Scoti, 'Scots'). A Celtic people - wild and bellicose according to Roman reports - which originally settled in the north of Hibernia (Ireland) (Oros. 1,2,81 f.). In the late 4th cent. AD, groups of them ferried across to Britannia (Amm. 18,2,3; 26,4,5; 27,8,1; 29,4,7). The S. had been Christianised before AD 431 in Hibernia by the deacon Palladius (Prosp. 1301) and came to develop a very active monastery culture. Todd, Malcolm (Exeter) Bibliography G. and A. Ritchie, Scotland, 1985.
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Scotussa
(125 words)
[German version] (Σκοτοῦσσα/
Skotoûssa). City in Pelasgiotis in Thessaly, about 20 km to the west of Pherae at modern Skotoússa. (earlier Supli; Cynoscephalae). Attested by finds, remains and myth as very ancient, its first period of prosperity came to an end when the population was massacred by Alexander [15] of Pherae in 367 BC (Diod. 15,75,1; Paus. 6,5,2 f.). S. was not insignificant under Macedonian rule (Pol. 18,20,2-6; Liv. 33,6,8), and in the Thessalian League after 197 (Liv. 36,9,3). After …
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Screw
(531 words)
[German version] The screw appears among the five simple mechanical instruments listed in the
Mechanics of Hero I of Alexandria (1st cent. AD), next to the rotating axle, lever, pulley and wedge (Hero, Mēchaniká 2,5). It is not mentioned either in the description of surgical instruments in Hippocrates (Hippoc. Perì agmôn 31) or in Aristotelian mechanics. Since there is no indication of the use of the screw before Archimedes [1], it can be considered one of the most significant technical inventions of the Hellenistic period. It appears that the principle of the screw was first us…
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Scriba
(604 words)
In Rome,
scribae (plural) were professional literates with higher qualifications; they were thus not simple copiers (
librarii) but secretaries and accountants, in the early period even authors (Fest. p. 446).
Scribae worked in both private and public spheres. [German version] I. Scribae in private households Slaves who assisted their masters in writing tasks were generally called
(servi) librarii (Plin. HN 7,91; ILS 7398; 7401) or
amanuenses (Suet. Nero 44,1; ILS 7395). The expression
s. librarius is only rarely attested (CIL VI 8881). Secretaries entrusted with more …
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Scribes
(4,529 words)
I. Mesopotamia [German version] A. Scribes and schools In the course of the long history of Mesopotamian cuneiform culture from about 3200 BC to the end of the 1st millennium BC, scribes and schools undoubtedly underwent more changes than the continuity of terminology seems to indicate. At the beginning of the 3rd millennium, when cuneiform writing had already been used for more than two centuries, the art of writing itself had not yet become a profession in its own rights. This is evident from texts da…
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Scribonia
(264 words)
[German version] [1] Wife of Octavian, 1st cent. BC Born
c. 66 BC, daughter of L. Scribonius Libo, sister of L. Scribonius [I 7] Libo,
cos. in 34. Her third marriage was to Octavianus (Augustus; Tac. Ann. 2,27) in 40 BC, before that she was married to Cn. Cornelius [I 52] Lentulus Marcellinus,
cos. 56, and P. Cornelius Scipio, the father of her son P. Cornelius Scipio (Suet. Aug. 62, but cf. the genealogy in [2], according to which S.'s second marriage was to P. Cornelius Scipio,
cos. suff. in 35, son of Lentulus). At the end of 39 Octavianus divorced S. - one day after she gave …
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Scribonianus
(63 words)
[German version] S. Camerinus belonged to the family of the Licinii, probably the son of Licinius [II 10] Crassus, who was
cos. in AD 64. S. was apparently killed along with his parents under Nero. Under Vitellius, a slave by the name of Geta claimed to be S. but was exposed and executed (Tac. Hist. 2,72). PIR2 L 241. Eck, Werner (Cologne)
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Scribonius
(2,206 words)
Name of a Roman plebeian family, probably from Caudium (CIL I2 1744 f.) and attested from the time of the 2nd Punic War. The branch of the Libones (S. [I 5-7; II 4-7]) attained the consulship with S. [I 7] and was part of the Roman high nobility in the early Imperial period. The Curiones (S. [I 1-4]), prominent in the 2nd and 1st cents. BC, disappeared with the Republic. I. Republican period [German version] [I 1] S. Curio, C. As aedile in 196 BC, he built the Temple of Faunus on the Tiber Island.
Praetor urbanus in 183 and the second plebeian to be elected
curio [2] maximus …
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Scrinium
(711 words)
[German version] I. Meaning The etymology may be related to the Latin
scribere, 'to write' [1; 2]: a closable Roman cupboard or a container for scrolls, letters, documents, etc., then also an archive or office (Plin. Ep. 7,27,14; 10,65,3) and, since Diocletian (end of the 3rd cent. AD), specifically an office in the imperial court administration or in a civil administration or military authority outside the court with a large scope of files to manage in official correspondence. Gizewski, Christian (Berlin) [German version] II. Book container The
scrinium (or
capsa) was a rectangul…
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Scriptio plena
(103 words)
[German version] ('full mode of writing'). Technical term for writing systems in which consonants and vowels both are represented by characters (as opposed to:
scriptio defectiva, where only consonants are denoted). In Semitic linguistics in particular,
plene writing refers to the writing of words with the inclusion of the usually omitted vowel letters, the so-called
matres lectionis, while vowels otherwise were indicated only, if at all, by diacritical marks. In papyrology and codicology,
scriptio plena refers to the unusual writing-out of normally abbreviated words.…
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Scriptorium
(940 words)
[German version] The present-day use of the term scriptorium refers to the writing workshop for the production of books in the period prior to the invention of the printing press. For Antiquity, there is no evidence of the word
scriptorium in this sense; the first record is Isid. Orig. 6,9,2 (in the sense of a writing stylus). However, we know that ancient libraries must have had such an establishment since the book supply for the library was not acquired from booksellers but was produced on site. In an anecdote transmitted by Galen,…
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Scriptura
(124 words)
[German version] (literally 'that which is written down'), in the field of law, denoted all Roman documents, and (as literacy increased) from the Principate, but esp. in late antiquity, e.g. the testament, the note of hand (
cheirógraphon ), generally the contract, but also a legal opinion or a legal ruling, provided that these were given in writing. In a narrower sense, probably arising from the fact that the Roman tax farmers (
publicani ) 'marked down' transactions of relinquishment of public pasture to private (sub-)lessees,
scriptura was the payment the lessee had to make for…
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Scripulum
(258 words)
[German version] (also
scrupulum, 'little stone', from
scrupus; Greek γράμμα/
grámma, cf. English 'scruple'). Roman unit of weight of 1/24
uncia = 1/288
libra [1] ('pound') = 1·137 g. The
scripulum is probably the unit used for a number of central-Italian and Etruscan gold and silver coins. In Rome, the
quadrigatus , the gold oath-scene coins which accompanied it and the earliest
denarius with the associated Mars/eagle gold issue were based on the
scripulum. The
quadrigatus corresponded to 6
scripula, the
denarius to 4, and the
sestertius to 1
scripulum. Because of the popularity o…
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Scroll
(1,258 words)
[German version] (κύλινδρος/
kýlindros, Lat.
rotulus, volumen). Greek papyrus scrolls from Egypt, most in a fragmentary state, survive from as early as the late 4th cent. BC. It is uncertain to what extent the oldest scrolls were similar to the examples preserved from the Hellenistic period. Depictions on 5th-cent. BC vases show scrolls written parallel to the narrow side (Lat. technical term:
transversa charta), thus differing from the standard type, in which the text was arranged parallel to the long side, along the entire length of the scroll, in columns (
selis, Lat.
pagina) succeed…
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Brill’s New Pauly
Sculpting, technique of
(1,584 words)
[German version] I. Near East The oldest examples of a developed sculptural technique in stone from the Ancient Near East are from the later 4th millennium BC (Uruk). The most important genres of monuments are free-standing sculpture and relief (stele, rock reliefs, orthostats, obelisks). The material was worked with metal tools and probably hard stone tools. Traces of tools are rarely preserved due to smoothing and polishing of the surface with abrasives. Surfaces could be shaped through the incisio…
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Brill’s New Pauly
Sculptor
(546 words)
[German version] In Graeco-Roman culture sculptors were less artists than technicians, as were, in the early period at least, architects and inventors. The ancient terms for them relate to the materials they use, e.g.
lithourgós/
sculptor (for stone),
chalkourgós/
aerarius (bronze),
plástēs or
koropláthos/
fictor (clay),
ceroplastes (wax), and the social esteem of the product, e.g.
lapidarius (stonecutter),
agalmatopoiós and
andriantopoiós (artist of pictures of people and gods) and
toreutḗs (maker of small bronzes). Signatures occasionally give information about…
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Brill’s New Pauly
Sculpture
(5,548 words)
[German version] I. Ancient Near East Stone figures and reliefs, in part large-sized, are authenticated in Palestine, Anatolia and Upper Mesopotamia as early as the Aceramic Neolithic Age (7th millennium BC), although in Mesopotamia not until the 6th millennium in the form of small idols. As the context of the finds suggests, they were part of cult buildings, and in the Levant also of a grave cult. The early Sumerian anthropomorphic stone sculpture from Uruk (late 4th millennium) and the early Elamian…
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Brill’s New Pauly
Scultenna
(64 words)
[German version] Right-hand tributary of the Padus (Po) in Aemilia, which flows down from the Apennines from the territory of the Ligures Friniates (Liv. 41,12,18) into the region of Mutina. In the valley of the S. sheep were bred (particularly soft wool, cf. Str. 5,1,12: Σκουλτάννα). Today the river is called Scoltenna in the mountains, Panaro on the plain. Uggeri, Giovanni (Florence)
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Brill’s New Pauly