Search

[German version] (Κεραία; Κεραῖαι; Keraía, Keraîai). Town on Crete in the north-west of the island, of undetermined location between Lappa and Polyrrhenia (Steph. Byz. s.v. Βήνη). In the Lyttian War (220 v.Chr.), C. -- together with other Cretan towns -- seceded from Cnossus and Gortyn (Pol. 4,53,6). In 183 BC, it was one of the Cretan towns to enter an alliance with Eumenes II of Pergamum [1. 179]. Sonnabend, Holger (Stuttgart) Bibliography 1 M. Guarducci (ed.), Inscriptiones Creticae IV, 1950.

[German version] (Λευκὰ ὄρη; Leukà órē). The ‘white mountains’ in western Crete, up to 2,482 m high (Str. 10,4,4). Uncultivated and inaccessible with a remarkable stand of cypress trees (Plin. HN 16,142; cf. Theophr. Hist. pl. 4,1,3), in Plin. HN 31,43 also mentioned in connection with the search for sources. Sonnabend, Holger (Stuttgart) Bibliography J. Bowman, Kreta, 1965, 271ff. P. Faure, Noms de montagnes crétoises, in: L'Association G. Budé. Lettres d'humanités 24, 1965, 426-446.

[German version] Linguistically, a forest in Latin (Serv. Aen. 1,310) is differentiated according to the degree of human cultivation ( silva, nemus,   saltus ) and the associated religious sphere ( lucus,  ‘Grove’). On one hand, forests caused fear and discomfort (Cic. Nat. D. 2,6; Plin. HN 12,3), on the other hand they were valued as places of (even productive) rest and recuperation (Plin. Ep. 1,6,2; 9,10,2; Tac. Dial. 9,6; 12,1). Forests received an extremely negative connotation among Romans in the context of the military …

[German version] (Ἅληξ; Hálēx). River in southern Bruttium, modern Alice. According to Timaeus (FGrH 566 F 43b) and Strabo (6,1,9) the border river between Rhegium and Locri (Paus. 6,6,4, however, says Caecinus). In the Peloponnesian War (426 BC) scene of an Athenian expedition against Locri (Thuc. 3,99). Sonnabend, Holger (Stuttgart) Bibliography Nissen 2, 955.

[German version] This item can be found on the following maps: Crete (Λισος; Lisos in inscriptions, Λισ(σ)ός; Lis(s)ós in literature; cf. Λίσσα; Líssa, Scyl. 47; Ptol. 3,15,3; Tab. Peut. 8,5). City on the south-western coast of Crete, to the west of modern Sougia, in a position protected by mountains and only open to the sea. From the late 4th cent. BC, L. with Elyrus, Hyrtacina and Tarrha formed the koinón of the oreíoi (‘mountain dwellers’). The city was occupied from the Classical to the Byzantine periods. Of supraregional importance was the Asclepium with the me…

[German version] (Δίκτη; Díktē). Mountain in Crete, not identifiable with certainty. In particular Str. 10,4,12 indicates that in antiquity, D. was not in the Lassithi Hills as today, but rather designated the Modi ridge (539 m) on the eastern tip of Crete and that this was the birthplace of Zeus (cf. Dion. Hal. Ant. Rom. 2,61; Diod. Sic. 5,70,6; Ath. 9,375f.). At the Minoan town of Palaikastro there was a sanctuary of Zeus Diktaios. Sonnabend, Holger (Stuttgart) Bibliography P. Faure, Nouvelles recherches de spéléologie et de topographie crétoises, in: BCH 84, 1960, 189-220 E. Meyer,…

[German version] Town of the Histri, probably modern Medulin (Croatia) in southern Histria. Like Faveria, it was conquered by the Romans in 177 BC (Liv. 41,11,8). Sonnabend, Holger (Stuttgart) Bibliography V.Vedaldi Iasbez, La Venetia Orientale e l'Histria, 1994, 354f.

This item can be found on the following maps: Byzantium | Peloponnesian War | Persian Wars | Delian League | Athenian League (Second) | Education / Culture (Μυτιλήνη; Mytilḗnē). [German version] A. Geography City in the southeast of the island of Lesbos, of great political, economic and cultural signficance throughout antiquity. M. owed its prominent position not least to its favourable topographical situation. The earliest settlement, founded by Aeolians in about 1200 BC, was on the modern Kastro Hill and was separated by an a…

This item can be found on the following maps: Writing | Theatre | Ionic | Natural catastrophes | Peloponnesian War | Pergamum | Persian Wars | Phoenicians, Poeni | Delian League | Athenian League (Second) | Aegean Koine | Aegean Koine | Aegean Koine | Education / Culture (ἡ Σάμος/ hē Sámos, Lat. also Samus). Sonnabend, Holger (Stuttgart) [German version] I. Geography Island in the southeastern Aegean Sea, only c. 2 km from the mainland of Asia Minor (at Mycale); connected in prehistoric times; total area 476 km2. The island is crossed by a chain of mountains (Ampelus according to …

(Πάρος; Páros). Island in the Cyclades (195 km2, 22 km long, 16 km wide), west of Naxos [1], south-west of it is the island Antiparos. [German version] I. Geography and early settlement history The landscape is shaped by Mt.Marpessa [2] (modern Prophitis Ilias) - heavily forested in Antiquity, today largely bare - with a height of up to 771 m. The foothills of the mountain stretch to the fertile coasts. Already settled in the Neolithic, P. developed into a significant site of the Cycladic culture. Important find spots are Na…

[German version] This item can be found on the following maps: Mycenaean culture and archaeology | Aegean Koine (Ἀμνισός; Amnisós). Harbour settlement, belonging to  Knosos during the Minoan period (Epineion: Str. 10,4,7), situated on the northern coast of  Crete, 8 km east of  Heracleum on the river A. (modern Karteros); remains of the Minoan town structure (i. a. ‘Villa of the Lilies’); its name is listed on the place name register of Amenophis III [1. 67 ff.] and in the clay tablet archives of Cnossus; it was f…

[German version] City in  Latium on the   mons Albanus near modern Castel Gandolfo. According to legendary documents making every effort to ensure the connection of Rome with Troy, founded by  Aeneas' [1] son  Ascanius (in the Roman version also Iulus, Verg. Aen. 1,267, or Iullus, Cato HRR fr. 9). An early position of supremacy in Latium is probable. Most likely already in the 7th cent. BC, Alba Longa (AL) was incorporated by Etruscan-dominated Rome. Tradition has ascribed this to King Tullus Hostilius (Liv. 1,29; Dion. Hal. Ant. Rom. 3,31,3-6). The population was relocated to Rome, the mon…

[German version] This item can be found on the following maps: Crete (Λατώ; Latṓ). City in the east of Crete, situated in an isolated mountain area at a height of c. 400 m, with a good view of the coast, 15 km away from modern Agios Nikolaos. Already settled in the Minoan period but then deserted by the inhabitants. In the 8th cent. BC, Doric re-establishment and then in the ancient and classical period one of the most prominent towns on the island. Numerous inscriptions document the engagement of L. in international politic…

[German version] Name of two road stations in Italy: one on the Via Aemilia Scauri near Populonia (Tab. Peut. 4,2; Geogr. Rav. 4,32; It. Ant. 292,4) and the other on the road from Siena to Chiusi (Tab. Peut. 4,4; Geogr. Rav. 4,36; Ptol. 3,1,49). Sonnabend, Holger (Stuttgart)

[German version] This item can be found on the following maps: Crete (Πραισός/ Praisós). City in eastern Crete (Scyl. 47) on the peninsula of Sitia, near the modern village of Nea Praisos (Vaveli) between three acropoleis. The location was already settled in the Neolithic Period (cult site in a cave to the north west of the town). Numerous remains from the Minoan and Mycenaean periods survive (megalithic building in the south; tholos tombs in the necropolis north of the town, in use from the 15th-2nd cents. …

[German version] There is no Greek or Latin term to be found in ancient literature corresponding to the modern 'volcano'; nevertheless, individual volcanic phenomena are identified, such as lava-flow: Greek ῥύαξ/ rhýax (< ῥέω/ rhéō, 'to flow'; cf. also Theophrastus's Perì rhýakos toû en Sikelíai mentioned in Diog. Laert. 5,49), Lat. Vulcanius amnis ('Vulcanic stream', Claud. Rapt. Pros. 172; from Latin Vulcanius, 'pertaining to Vulcan and his works'), saxa liquefacta 'liquified rocks' (Verg. Aen. 3,576) or massa ardens 'blazing mass' (Iuv. 10,130). For the Roman god see Volcanus. I…

[German version] Town in Liburnia (Tab. Peut. 5,4; ILS 1989), modern-day Nadin/Croatia, on the road from Iader to  Burnum. The Roman town was built in the time of Augustus on an earlier indigenous settlement. As a Roman colonia and as municipium to the tribus Claudia, N. was part of the regio X of Italy (Plin. HN. 3,130).There is documentary evidence for the following officials: II viri, aediles and an officialis Naeditarum (CIL III 2860-2876). The town's aristocracy came from the indigenous families. The preservation of social structures and cultic observances i…

[German version] In Roman tradition the name given to the earliest inhabitants of  Latium (Dion. Hal. Ant. Rom. 1,10; Lydus, Mag. 1,10). The etymology of the name is uncertain: Lycoph. 1253 hints at a derivation from Βορείγονοι ( Boreígonoi;  Aeneas [1] was prophesied that he would settle ἐν τόποις Βορειγόνων; en tópois Boreigónōn); others -- on the presumption that the A. pursued a nomadic way of life -- formulate an onomastic development from Aberrigenes ( aberrare) to A. (Paul. Fest. 19; Dion. Hal. Ant. Rom. 1,10; Auctor de origine gentis Romanae 4,2). The origin of the A. is equa…

[German version] [1] C. Inui Town of the Rutuli (Sil. Pun. 8,359) in the centre of Latium, founded by the kings of Alba Longa (Verg. Aen. 6,775). Abandoned in the archaic period, often confused with C. Novum in Etruria (Rut. Namat. 1,227). Uggeri, Giovanni (Florence) Bibliography A. Nibby, Analisi storico-topografica-antiquaria della Carta de' Dintorni di Roma 1, 1848, 440 Nissen 2, 579 O. Toti, 1984. [German version] [2] C. Novum Settlement on the southern coast of Etruria This item can be found on the following maps: Socii (Roman confederation) | Tribus …

(Ἀμύκλαι; Amýklai). [German version] [1] Pre-Greek settlement This item can be found on the following maps: Sparta | Dark Ages | Aegean Koine Pre-Greek settlement on and at the foot of the hills bearing the chapel of Agia Kyriaki, inhabited from the early Helladic to the imperial Roman period (Paus. 3,18,6-19,6; IG V 1, 515), c. 5 km south of  Sparta near the modern Tsausi. In historical times, it was a ὠβή ( ōbḗ) of Sparta with its own ephors and other officials (cf. Syll.3 932). The region seems to have reached its peak in the 7th/6th cent. BC. From the late Mycenaean period, it housed a sa…