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Alpes (Alps)
(825 words)

[German version]

A. Knowledge of the Alps

Proto-Indo-European term for ‘mountain’. Ancient etymology Fest. 4,9 f. (from the white colour of the snow); Serv. Georg. 3,474; Aen. 4,442; 10,13; schol. Luc. 1,183; Isid. Orig. 14,8,18 (Celtic ‘high mountains’). Other mountain ranges are also called Alpes (Pyrenees, Alpes Bastarnicae, Numidicae). First mentions at Hdt. 4. 49. 2 (Alpis river) and Lycoph. 1361 (Salpia) are uncertain. Since Hannibal…

Cite this page
Graßl, Herbert (Salzburg), “Alpes (Alps)”, in: Brill’s New Pauly, Antiquity volumes edited by: Hubert Cancik and , Helmuth Schneider, English Edition by: Christine F. Salazar, Classical Tradition volumes edited by: Manfred Landfester, English Edition by: Francis G. Gentry. Consulted online on 21 September 2023 <http://dx.doi.org/10.1163/1574-9347_bnp_e116320>
First published online: 2006
First print edition: 9789004122598, 20110510



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