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[German version] (Ὀρνε(ι)αί/ Orne(i)aí). Small city c. 120 stadia to the northwest of Argos [II 1], surrounded by the Lirkion, Durmiza and Megalovouni mountain ranges, probably not at Kastro, 3 km to the south of Jimnon on the eastern slopes of the Durmiza mountains (traces of a Mycaenaean town, tower from the Classical period), but rather on a hill (550 m) in the upper valley of the Inachus [2], 2·5 km west of Sterna (remains of a ring wall; [2. 188f.]). O. was an independent polis (cf. Hom. Il. 2,571; Paus. 10,18,5), but from the 5th cent. BC a dependency of Argos as a períoikoi …

[German version] (Μυτίστρατον; Mytístraton/ Lat. Mutustratum). Town of the Siculi in Sicily. According to the distribution of coin finds (from the period of Timoleon, HN 158), probably located near Marianopoli (30 km west of Henna [1] (modern Enna)). At the beginning of the 1st Punic War, M. was besieged for seven months by the Romans without success. The Romans suffered great losses (Diod. Sic. 23,9,3) and only conquered the town in 258 BC. After the withdrawal of the Carthaginian garrison and the c…

[German version] [1] River in the Pyrenees River with its source in the Pyrenees (Pyrene [2]) which flows past R. [2] into the Mediterranean (Str. 4,1,6: Ῥουσκίνων/ Rhouskínōn; Pol. apud Ath. 8,332a: Ῥόσκυνος/ Rhóskynos; Ptol. 2,10,2: Ῥουσκίων/ Rhouskíōn; Avien. Ora maritima 567: Roschinus). Plin. HN 3,32 calls the river Tetum (Mela 2,84: Telis); modern Têt. Lafond, Yves (Bochum) Olshausen, Eckart (Stuttgart) [German version] [2] Celtic oppidum (Ῥουσκίνων/ Rhouskínōn). Celtic oppidum in the territory of the Volcae Tectosages (Ptol. 2,10,9: Ῥουσκινόν/ Rhouskinón) on the R. […

(Λεῦκαι; Leûkai). [German version] [1] Town on the east coast of the Laconian Gulf Perioikoi town ( períoikoi ) on the east coast of the Laconian Gulf, neighbouring Acriae (Pol. 5,19,8; Liv. 35,27,3), probably on the north-eastern edge of the plain of Leuce mentioned by Str. 8,5,2. Lafond, Yves (Bochum) Bibliography Pritchett 7, 1991, 143-146; 8, 1992, 157-159 A. J. B. Wace, F. W. Hasluck, South-Eastern Laconia, in: ABSA 14, 1907/8, 162f. [German version] [2] City in Ionia City in Ionia, on the northern shore of the Gulf of Smyrna on a raised promontory with two harbour b…

[German version] This item can be found on the following maps: Sparta | Achaeans, Achaea (Πύρριχος/ Pýrrhichos). Lacedaemonian inland town of the períoikoi in the south of the Taygetus. In the Roman Imperial period, P. was a member of the League of Eleutherolakones (Paus. 3,21,7; 3,25,1-3). Remains dating to the Imperial period can be found at modern P. (villa with site of thermae). Lafond, Yves (Bochum) Olshausen, Eckart (Stuttgart) Bibliography E. S. Forster, Southwestern Laconia, in: ABSA 10, 1903/4, 160  C. Le Roy, s. v. P., PE, 746  D. Musti, M. Torelli (ed.), Pausania, Guida del…

[German version] (Καρνίων; Karníōn). Tributary of the Gatheatas, modern Xerilas; the Gatheatas rises on the north-western slopes of the Taygetus and discharges into the Alpheius [1] south of Megale Polis (Paus. 8,34,5; Callim. H. 1,24). Plin. HN 4,20 mentions, possibly erroneously, an otherwise unknown Arcadian town of the same name. Olshausen, Eckart (Stuttgart) Meyer, Doris (Strasbourg) Bibliography Philippson/Kirsten, vol. 3, 288f.

[German version] (Μανθ(ο)υρέα; Manthouréa/Manthyréa). The name given both to the south western part of the eastern Arcadian plain near Tegea and to a deme of Tegea (Μανθυρεῖς; Manthureîs). In M. there was originally a cult of Athena Hippia which Tegea adopted at the time of Augustus along with the cult image. Evidence: Paus. 8,44,7; 45,1; 47,1; Steph. Byz. s.v. Μ. Olshausen, Eckart (Stuttgart) Lienau, Cay (Münster) Bibliography F. Bölte, s.v. M., RE 14, 1255f.

[German version] (Πύργος Λίθινος: Ptol. 1,12,8 M.; 6,13,2 N.; literally 'stone tower'). Important station on the Pamir on the Silk Road leading to China from the west via Antioch [7] and Bactra. Despite the favourable situation with regard to sources - Ptolemy uses the itinerary of Marinus [1] of Tyre as his basis, the latter the notes of the silk trader Maēs Titianus - no one has yet succeeded in a full identification; the town is however marked on the map [2. 6 D2]. Olshausen, Eckart (Stuttgart) Nissen, Hans Jörg (Berlin) Bibliography 1 J. I. Miller, The Spice Trade of the Roman Empir…

[German version] [1] Strait between Chalcis on Euboea and Boeotia (Εὔριπος ὁ Χαλκιδικός; Eúripos ho Chalkidikós). This strait, 9 km in length between Chalcis on Euboea and Boeotia, with three narrows, lies at the approximate mid-point of the sound between  Euboea and the Greek mainland (Anon. in GGM 1,105 § 29: ἡ τῶν Εὐβοέων θάλατττα). Originally, two channels ran through the most northerly narrows at Chalcis, one at the western shore, 0.5 m deep and 15 m wide, bounded on the seaward side by a reef, and with a…

[German version] (Πάχυνος/ Páchynos). Promontory in the extreme south-east of Sicily (more precisely: 8 km northeast from there), today's Capo Pássero, 5 km southeast of today's Pachino. P. was of great importance for navigation as a landmark and measuring point (cf. Str. 2,4,3: distance from Crete; 6,2,11: from Malta; Plin. HN 3,87: from the Peloponnese). Because of the way the island was thought to be orientated, in antiquity P. was usually referred to as the east cape (Str. 6,2,1; Plin. HN 3,87;…

(Λύκαστος; Lýkastos). [German version] [1] City in Crete City in Crete (Steph. Byz. s.v. Λ.; Plin. HN 4,59; Mela 2,113), about 11 km south of Knossos, modern Kanli Kastelli. In Hom. Il. 2,647 participant in the Trojan War. Autonomous in phases but mostly dependent on Knossos and belonging to its territory. In 184 BC, conquered by Gortyn (Pol. 22,19) until revised by Roman arbitration [1]. Sonnabend, Holger (Stuttgart) Bibliography 1 A. Chaniotis, Die Verträge zw. kret. Poleis in der hell. Zeit, 1996, 281-285, no. 40. I. F. Sanders, Roman Crete, 1992, 154. [German version] [2] River River f…

(Ἰνδός; Indós). [German version] [1] The Indus The River Indus. Probably from Old Indian Sindhu (for the etymology cf.  India); the Indian name is better attested as Sindus in Plin. HN 6,71, than Σίνθος; Sínthos in Peripl. m.r. 38; 40 and as Σίνδων/Σίνθων; Síndōn/ Sínthōn in Ptol. 7,1,2 (here a branch of the delta). According to general Greek opinion (with the exception of  Megasthenes), the I. is the largest river in India, known to the Greeks since the end of the 6th cent. BC (Scylax in Hdt. 4,44). The lower reaches for instance downstr…

[German version] [1] Social class Penestai (πενέσται/ penéstai, sing. πενέστης/ penéstēs) is probably etymologically related to the word πένης ( pénēs), 'poor'. Penestai was applied as the collective term for the class of dependent Greeks who formed the economic and military foundation of the aristocracy in the towns of Thessaly (Crannon, Larissa, Pherae). Dionysius [18] of Halicarnassus compared them with the thétai and pelátai at Athens (Dion. Hal. Ant. Rom. 2,9); they were thus accorded the social status of dependents or clientes. Most ancient authors, esp. Theopompus (FG…

This item can be found on the following maps: Achaeans, Achaea | Education / Culture (Φιγάλεια/ Phigáleia, Φιγαλία/ Phigalía, from the Hellenistic Period Φιάλεια/ Phiáleia). [German version] I. Location and historical development Town in southwest Arcadia on a very remote mountainous site above the north bank of the Neda (Pol. 4,3,5ff.; Str. 8,3,22; Paus. 8,39,1-42,13; Ptol. 3,16,19; Hierocles, Synecdemus 647,13), near present-day Figalia, and with close geographic and historical connections to Messana [2]. The town has a well…

(Ἐνιπεύς; Enipeús). [German version] [1] Tributary to the right of the Alpheius [1] in Elis A tributary to the right of the  Alpheius [1] in Elis, also Βαρνίχιος ( Barníchios, ‘River of Lambs’) [1], modern Lestenitsa west of Olympia (Str. 8,3,32; Hom. Od. 11,238ff.). Olshausen, Eckart (Stuttgart) Lienau, Cay (Münster) Bibliography 1 E. Curtius, Peloponnesos 2, 1852, 71f. [German version] [2] Main river of the West Thessalian plain Main river of the West Thessalian plain, modern Tsanarlis. Its source is in the Othrys range near Melitaea under the name Elipeus (IG IX 2, 205 and add.…

[German version] [1] Son of Amphictyon (Μᾶλος; Mâlos). Son of Amphictyon, eponym of the Malieis and of their city Malieus (Androtion in Steph. Byz. s.v. Μαλιεύς; Malieús). In the poems of Isyllus of Epidaurus (CollAlex 132-135 = [1. 380-383 no. 40]) M. is an Epidaurian king who introduces the cult of Apollo Maleatas. Therefore, M. is probably an Epidaurian etymology to explain the name Maleatas. In Isyllus, M. - through the mediation of Zeus - marries the Muse Erato and becomes the father of Cleophema, hence the grandfather of Aegle [5] and the great-grandfather of Asclepius. von Stuckrad,…

(ἡ Πελοπόννησος/ hē Pelopónnēsos, Doric Πελοπόννασος/ Pelopónnasos). [German version] I. Geography Peninsula in southern Greece (21,439 km²), connected to the mainland (Attica, Boeotia) by the Isthmus of Corinth. It is predominantly mountainous (cf. Cyllene [1], Erymanthus [1], Lycaeum, western Messenian massif with Ithome [1], Taygetus, Parnon) and highly fragmented (cf. the numerous small rivers, particularly in Achaea, e.g. Alpheus [1], Pamisus, Eurotas, Inachus [2]; also the many small coastal plains a…

(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…

[German version] [1] Fish Fish (Greek ἰχθῦς/ ichthŷs; Latin piscis) was a common food in Greece and Rome, certain fishes in Rome were even considered a luxury food. This explains the Greek curiosity about neighbouring cultures such as Egypt or Syria, where conspicuous food prohibitions were observed and generalized (priests in Egypt: Hdt. 2,37; Plut. De Is. et Os. 7, 353b; Plut. Symp. 8,8,2; Syria: Ov. Fast. 2,473f.; Porph. De abstinentia 2,61 etc.) that probably relate to the worship of fish in these cu…

[German version] This item can be found on the following maps: Oracles (Κλᾶρος; Klâros). Ionian sanctuary of  Apollo Klarios (since the protogeometric period, 10th cent. BC) with oracle (flowering 2nd cent. AD) in the territory of  Colophon, on the coastal plain of Ahmetbeyli. Well attested in literature and epigraphy (cf. h. Hom. ad Apollinem 1,40; h. Hom. ad Dianam 5; Thuc. 3,33; Str. 14,1,27; Paus. 7,3; Iambl. Myst. 3,11; Aristid. 3,317 Jebb; Tac. Ann. 2,54,2f.: Germanicus in C. in AD 18). Archaeological …