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[German version] [1] see Michael [2] See Michael [2]. Berger, Albrecht (Berlin) [German version] [2] Georgius S. (Γεώργιος Σύνκελλος; Geṓrgios Sýnkellos). Author of a Byzantine world-chronicle, written c. AD 810, extending from the creation of the world until the beginning of the reign of Diocletianus in AD 284. Little is known about his life; he lived for quite a long time as a monk in a monastery in Palestine and later became σύγκελλος/ sýnkellos ('cell companion', i.e. assistant and private secretary) of the patriarch Tarasius of Constantinople. The chronicle Ἐκλογὴ χρονογραφίας/ E…

(* Mlk =‘ king; Greek Μάλκος, Málkos; Latin Malchus, Maleus, Mazeus). [German version] [1] Carthaginian, father of Carthalo Carthaginian, father of Carthalo [1]. Historicity and interpretation of the only source text concerning M. as first historically tangible personality of Carthage in Iustin (18,7; cf. Oros. 4,6,6-9) are frequently and vehemently contested to the present day, beginning with the titular character of his name and his place in the chronology of the (early?) 6th cent. BC. M. is supposed to have fo…

[German version] I. Greek The modern term 'panegyric' derives from πανηγυρικός ( panēgyrikós sc. λόγος/ lógos), a Greek term denoting a speech delivered during a πανήγυρις ( panḗgyris), a real or fictive 'festival', e.g. the Olympic Games. In the fictive sense →Isocrates was the first to call his fourth speech (389 BC) a Panēgyrikós (Isoc. Or. 59 and 84, 12,172; Letter 3,6; cf. Aristot. Rh. 1408b 15-17). In the broadest sense of the word, the forms of the epideictic genre ('display speech', epídeixis; → genera causarum) belong to panegyric oratory; in the rhetorical treatises of…

[German version] I. Definition The term ‘novels’ and ‘romance’ are not ancient, but the latter dates from the Middle Ages, when it denoted a work written in the Romance vernacular. There was no specific term for the genre in Antiquity ( drâma was common in Greek [1], fabula, in Latin, Apul. Met. 1.1, or argumentum, Macrob. Sat. In Somn. 1,2,8). Fusillo, Massimo (L'Aquila) II. Greek [German version] A. Overview and development of the genre In Greek literature, ‘novel’ denotes a series of texts of fiction, in prose, linked through two basic thematic features (love and a…

[German version] (θέμα /théma, pl. thémata; literally: 'area of deployment' [6]). Byzantine administrative districts that replaced the Roman provincial divisions beginning in the 7th cent. AD: After the loss of Egypt and the Middle East (mid 7th cent. AD), the Roman troops were withdrawn to Asia Minor only to be re-deployed there in the four themes of Anatolia, Armenia, Thracia and Opsikion, each under the command of a strategos (Byzantium II. D. incl. map). By the mid 8th cent., the authority of the provincial administration had been complet…

[German version] Designation for a group of 42 citizens of the city of Amorion in Phrygia (Asia Minor), who were taken to the caliph's residence in Samarra on the Euphrates after the Arab conquest in AD 838 and were executed there in 845. Their Greek vita, which was written by the monk Euodius soon thereafter, bears strongly legendary traits. The main focus lies with a theological discussion between the captives and their guards; the martyrs are executed because they refuse to convert to  Islam. Berger, Albrecht (Berlin) Bibliography Editions: V. Vasil'ev, P. Nikitin (ed.), Skazanija…

(Ζεύξιππος/ Zeúxippos). [German version] [1] Father of Cyclops Father of Cyclops and ancestor of the Attic hero Myrmex [1]. Börm, Henning (Kiel) [German version] [2] Son of Apollo and the Nymph Syllis Another Z., son of Apollo and the Nymph Syllis, successor to the emigré king Phaestus [1] of Sicyon (Paus. 7,6,7). Börm, Henning (Kiel) [German version] [3] Legendary king and founder of Byzantium Legendary king, of indeterminable period, who has been presented since the time of Iohannes Lydus [3] ( c. AD 500) as the founder of Byzantium [1. 261] and who also appears in apocalyp…

This item can be found on the following maps: Caesar | | Etrusci, Etruria | Commerce | Italy, languages | Regio, regiones | Rome | Rome | Batavian Revolt Harbour city in the territory of the Boii on the Ionios Kolpos (Adriatic). [German version] I. Foundation and Roman Period According to myth, R. was founded by Thessalians (Zos. 5,27); however, it was actually founded by Umbri in the 6th-5th cents. BC (Str. 5,1,2; 5,1,11; 5,2,1: Ῥάυεννα/ Rháuenna). The character of R.'s topography includes its proximity to the sea and protection by the natural geographic conditions - s…

(Νικηφόρος; Nikēphóros). [German version] [1] Patriarch of Constantinople, died 828 Patriarch. N. was born around AD 750 or 758 in Constantinople; he embarked on a magistrate's career at the imperial court which he represented in 787 at the Council of Nicaea. Around 797 he became a monk and ran a poorhouse in Constantinople. In 806 he was appointed patriarch of Constantinople and failed to end the so-called ‘Moechian controversy’ between Theodoros Studites and the government. In 815 he had to resign at th…

[German version] (ὀψίκιον/ opsíkion). Originally a term for a troop detachment (Latin obsequium), from c. 680 AD one of the four original themes ( thḗma ) of the Byzantine Empire in Asia Minor. It comprised the northern part of the Dardanelles peninsula as far as the River Halys with a capital at Ancyra. Later it was reduced in size and limited in the west, with Nicaea [5] as its capital. Berger, Albrecht (Berlin) Bibliography R. Hiss, s.v. O., LMA 6, 1418f.  C.F.W. Foss, s.v. O., ODB 3, 1528f.

(Ἰωάννης; Iōánnēs). Well-known persons i.a.: I. [1] the Evangelist, I. [4] Chrysostomos, bishop of Constantinople and Homilet, I. [18] Malalas, author of the world chronicle, I. [25] of Gaza, rhetor and poet, I. [33] of Damascus, the theologian, I. [39] Baptistes. [1] I. the Evangelist [German version] A. Tradition and criticism According to the inscriptions, the author of a  Gospel (Jo), of three letters and the Apocalypse in the NT is called I. (= J.; the name appears only in Apc. 1:1; 1:4; 1:9; 22:8). Since the end of the 2nd cent. (Iren. adv…

(Μένανδρος; Ménandros). [German version] [1] Joint strategos with Nicias, 414 BC The Athenians M. and Euthydemus [1], who were already in Sicily, were chosen as joint strategoi of Nicias towards the end of 414 BC, during the Sicilian Expedition, to support him until the relief expedition of Demosthenes [1] arrived (413) (Thucyd. 7,16,1; Plut. Nicias 20,2); re-elected 413/12 (Plut. Nicias 20,6-8; Thucyd. 7,69,4; Diod. 13, 13,2). Possibly identical with the M. who fought in Abydus in 409 (Xen. Hell. 1,2,16). He was stratēgós with Tydeus (405/4) in the defeat at Aigos potamoi (X…

[German version] [1] Byz. general under Justin I Son of a sister of Justin I, cousin of Justinian I, Byzantine general, as magister militum per Thracias under Justin I he conquered the people of the Anti who had invaded the Empire from the lower Danube. As patricius and primus magister militum praesentalis, he successfully combated the military revolt of Stotzas in North Africa in 536-537, on the orders of Justinian I. In a deployment in 540 against the first assault by Chosroes [5] I after the ‘eternal peace’ of 532, a shortage of troops preven…

[German version] Themes of the Byzantine Empire, established from the early 8th cent. AD for the construction and maintenance of a fleet. The most significant of them comprised the whole Mediterranean coast of Asia Minor from Miletus to Cilicia. The capital was probably Attaleia [1], but the crews were predominantly from the mountainous hinterland in the western part of the theme, as is shown by the name 'Theme of the Cibyrrhaeoti', which can be traced to the city of Cibyra about 80 km from the sea in the Carian-Lycian border region. Theme Berger, Albrecht (Berlin) Bibliography 1 H. Ahrwe…

[German version] Cyprus [3] The island was incorporated into Roman possessions in 58 BC and remained part of the province of Cilicia until 48/47 BC. It was returned to the Ptolemaic kingdom by Caesar and Antony, and came permanently into Roman possession from 30 BC. As a province in its own rights, it was initially administered by a legatus, then from 22 BC by the Senate through an annually appointed procurator; following Diocletian's reorganization of the provinces, it was placed under the administration of the consularis of the dioecesis Oriens in Antioch [1] . After the initial f…

[German version] [1] Military handbook Byzantine term for military handbook, cf. Taktika [2]; cf. also stratēgikón . Berger, Albrecht (Berlin) [German version] [2] Taktika of Leo Military handbook ( stratēgikón) in 20 books, written c. AD 905 by the emperor Leo [9] VI or at his command. It is to some extent based on earlier sources such as writings by Onasander [2] and the stratēgikón of Mauricius, but it also contains many contemporary passages, e.g. on the Arabs and Hungary. The work, which is preserved in two different versions, exer…

[German version] (νόμος ναυτικός; nómos nautikós). Byzantine collection of legal rules concerning shipping, compiled in the 7th or 8th cent. AD and incorporated in the 9th cent. AD into the legal compilation of the ‘Basilica. Its traditional meaning of ‘Rhodian Sea Law’ derives from the subsequently added prologue asserting that the Roman emperors affirmed the ancient sea law of Rhodes. This statement, although mentioned in legal writings (e.g. Dig. 14,2), cannot be verified historically in any detai…

(Λέων; Léōn). Cf. also Leo. Byzantine emperor Leo [4-9]. Sicilian place name L. [13]. [German version] [1] Spartan king, 6th cent. BC Spartan king, Agiad ( Agiads), grandfather of Cleomenes [3] I (Hdt. 5,39); is said to have been successful in war together with his fellow king Agasicles in the early 6th cent. BC, but to have been defeated by Tegea (Hdt. 1,65). Sparta is said to have already achieved eunomía (‘good order’) before his time [1. 45ff.]. Welwei, Karl-Wilhelm (Bochum) Bibliography 1 M. Meier, Aristokraten und Damoden, 1998. [German version] [2] Tyrant of Phlius, 6th cent. BC Tyran…

[German version] I Greek (Θεοδόσιος/ Theodósios). [German version] [I 1] Greek mathematician and astronomer, 2nd/1st cent. BC Greek mathematician and astronomer. Folkerts, Menso (Munich) [German version] I. Life and works According to Str. 12,4,9, T. was one of the most important men in Bithynia; the birthplace Tripoli given in the Suda (s. v. Θ.) may relate to another T. As Strabo also names T.’ sons as important mathematicians, T. must belong in the 2nd half of the 2nd cent. BC, or, at the latest, the 1st half of the 1st. …

(Κίλικες, Κιλικία; Kílikes, Kilikía). [German version] I. Cilices a) Tribe mentioned in Homer (Hom. Il. 6,397; 415; cf. Str. 13,1,7; 60), who settled in the southern Troad. b) The inhabitants of the region of Cilicia. The relationship between the two is not clear. Täuber, Hans (Vienna) [German version] II. Cilicia The name first appears around 858 BC in Assyrian sources as H̬ilakku; however, in these it only refers to the mountainous part of the region, where the Greeks first visited. An eponymous hero named Cilix appears in the mythological literature (e…