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[German version] I. Italic, Celtic and Germanic Bucket-shaped vessel, as a rule metal, for the carrying and short-term holding of liquids. The shape is generally conical, with flat shoulders and a wide opening, on which a carrying handle was often also fixed with eyelets. The bottom, body and rim were mostly fashioned separately, then riveted together. In Etruria situlae are recorded from the 9th cent. BC onwards and were widely distributed there from the Orientalising Period on. Situlae had far greate…

[German version] (κημός; kēmós, late Ancient Greek χάμος; chámos; Lat. c[h]amus, -um). Kemoi cover a variety of objects that apparently relate to the basic concept of wrapping, covering, etc. Part of these are nosebags for horses, from which they take their fodder (Hesych. s.v.), as well as bow nets for fish, and the type of cloth that bakers tied around their mouth and nose (Ath. 12,548c) and that women wore in public to cover the lower part of their face. Hurschmann, Rolf (Hamburg) Bibliography H. Schenkl, s.v. K., RE 11, 157-162.

[German version] [1] Trough-shaped container; actually cavity, vault or trough. The alveus served as wine press trough, bath for newborn children and as hot-water bath tub for one or more persons. Moreover, alveus can also mean a sarcophagus. In archaeological research alveus designates a large hip bath built in stone or brick, in the caldarium of the Roman thermae [1] (the smaller versions were called alveolus), which were heated by the praefurnium above the testudo alvei, a semicircular kettle. Functionally allied with the alveus are solium and   labrum . Hurschmann, Rolf (Hamburg) Bi…

[German version] [1] Festal form of the toga Roman garment, a festal form of the toga , differing from it only in colour. It was dyed purple-red, with scarlet or white stripes ( clavi) and was worn on official occasion by equestrians and Salii [2]. Originally it was the dress of Roman kings and was then taken over by consuls, but they wore it only on special occasions (e.g. opening of the Temple of Janus). Other wearers of the trabea in the early period were the augures and the Flamines Dialis and Martialis (priests of Jupiter and Mars), who then wore the toga praetexta from the 3rd cent. BC onw…

[German version] (σπάργανον/ spárganon; Latin incunabula). SC in their modern form were not known in Antiquity; instead, a baby would be wrapped entirely - apart from the head - with narrow strips of wool. Wrapping was supposed to ensure the striaght growth of the body and the limbs (Sen. Ben. 6,24,1,  cf. Plin. HN 7,3). In Thessaly only the lower half of the body was wrapped, in Sparta SC were dispensed with entirely (Plut. Lycurgus 16,3). Depictions of babies survive from the Bronze Age onwards (e.…

[German version] (λακωνικαί; lakōnikaí). Men's shoes or boots, similar to the embas ( Shoes). Originally a Lacedaemonian (Spartan) phenomenon (Aristoph. Vesp. 1158-1165), later also worn elsewhere (Aristoph. Eccl. 74; 269; 345; 507, Aristoph. Thesm. 142); the elegant lakonikai were white (Ath. 215c) and red (Poll. 7,88). Hurschmann, Rolf (Hamburg) Bibliography O. Lau, Schuster und Schusterhandwerk in der griech.-röm. Lit. und Kunst, 1967, 126f.

[German version] (also called sudarium). The use of a 'face-cloth' ( orarium) or 'sweat-cloth' ( sudarium) is attested from the 1st cent. BC (Quint. Inst. 6,3,60; 11,3,148); it was used to wipe away sweat, cover the mouth (Suet. Nero 25), cover the head (Suet. Nero 45) or dry the hands (Petron. 67). It could also be worn around the neck (Suet. Nero 51; Petron. 67). According to Catull. 12,14 and 25,7, sudaria were made of Spanish linen. The name orarium does not emerge until the 3rd cent. AD; the two were used synonymously, with the orarium now being used for applause in arenas, for cover…

[German version] [1] Roman hunting net Roman hunting net, esp. for entrapment, into which game (stags, boars) was flushed from cover by dogs (Hor. Epod. 2,31-32; Hor. Epist. 1,6,58; 1,18,45), and so contrasts with the retia ('strike nets') and casses ('drop or purse nets'); of plagae plaited from rope, those from Cumae were the most highly valued (Plin. HN 19,11). The battue with the plaga, depicted in ancient art from early times (Vaphio Cup), later became primarily a theme of Roman mosaic and sarcophagus art. The term plaga is no longer used in modern archaeological scholarship, …

[German version] (πῖλος/ pîlos). Originally the term for the felt lining of helmets (Hom. Il. 10,265), shoes and caps (Hes. Op. 542-546) and the protective part of the armour (Thuc. 4,34,4), later for felt blankets (Hdt. 4,73 and 75) and shoes of felt (Cratinus 100 CAF), but esp. for a conical headdress (Hes. Op. 546, Anth. Pal. 6,90 and 199, cf. Hdt. 3,12; 7,61; 62; 92 on the felt mitres and tiaras of eastern peoples). The last resembles half an egg (Lycoph. 506), at times with a loop on the point for hanging up or carrying by the finger. The pîlos was worn by craftsmen (in pictorial represen…

[German version] A. Greece Neck ornaments famously play a role in the myth of Eriphyle, as they do in that of Scylla (Aesch. Choe. 613-622). The comedy Plókion by Menander also deserves mention (cf. Plut. Mor. 2,141d; Gell. 2,23,6). In Aristaen. 1,1 the stones of the necklace are organised in such a way that they give the name of Lais. Neck ornaments (ἁλύσιον/ halúsion, κάθημα/ káthēma, μάννος/ mánnos, μανιάκης/ maniákēs, ὅρμος/ hormos, πλόκιον/ plókoin) as a chain or a rope, with and without pendants, have survived in great numbers throughout the Mediterranean since…

[German version] (κεκρύφαλος, -άλιον; kekrýphalos, -álion, Lat. reticulum), hair net, hair cloth. Mentioned already in Hom. Il. 22,469 as part of the female costume, the kekryphalos was used to cover the hair or parts thereof. Greek (cf. e.g. Aristoph. Thesm. 257) and Roman women wore a kekryphalos not only at night to keep their carefully arranged hairstyle together, but also during the day (Varro, Ling. 130; Non. 14,32 et al.). Men who occasionally were seen to wear a kekryphalos were criticized (Ath. 15,681c; Juv. 2,96) and perceived as effeminate. As a cloth, the kekryphalos could b…

[German version] Rectangularly cut, mostly purple but also red or white, Roman cloak of linen or wool, corresponding to the Greek chlamys; Agrippina's gold-braided paludamentum is, however, unusual (Plin. HN. 33,63). Initially paludamenta were worn only by Roman generals and other high-ranking officers; they advanced in the imperial period to insignia of Imperial ruling power. Paludamenta were part of the battle dress of generals and emperors (cf. Varro Ling. 7,37) and were not to be worn within the limits of the city of Rome (Tac. Hist. 2,89); thu…

[German version] (κροσσοί/ krossoí; θύσανοι/ thýsanoi). These were actually the thread ends left at the edge of the cloth that ─ with several knotted together or hanging individually ─ decorated materials of all kinds such as cloths, blankets and clothes. They could also be worked separately and sewed on. Thus, for example, the ταραντῖνον ( tarantînon), a luxury garment, or the rica, a Roman head scarf, are explicitly defined as trimmed with fimbriae (Fest. 288,10; Non. 549,9). The Oriental and Egyptian garments already show evidence of fimbriae; they are also documented in Greek…

[German version] Roman ball game, recorded for the Imperial period; it was played on the Field of Mars  (Hor. Sat. 1,6,126) and in baths (Petron. 27,1-3). Three players (Mart. 7,72,9) were needed for trigon; they positioned themselves in a triangle and played one or more small balls between themselves, either catching them (Mart. 12,82,4) or hitting them with both hands so that they were passed back to the thrower or to the third player (Mart. 14,46,1), sometimes with such violence that the palms …

[German version] (κρότος, ἐπικροτεῖν [ krótos, epikroteîn], plausus, plaudere). The impulsive and impromptu expression of praise and approval, also of rejection, cursing and reprimand communicated through words, sounds, gestures and actions; these forms of expressing approval are so closely related to   acclamatio that it is often difficult to distinguish between them [1]. In the ancient world, the most frequent gesture used to express approval was the clapping of hands, for example, in the theatre, during music, danc…

[German version] (ὁ κάλαθος/ ho kálathos; diminutive τὸ καλάθιον/ tò kaláthion and ὁ/τὸ καλαθίσκος, -ν/ ho/tó kalathiskos, -n; Lat. calathus). A basket which opens like a blossom, made from a variety of materials such as clay, wood, precious metals (Hom. Od. 4,125). It can also be woven from rods [1]. It was used as a working basket by female wool spinners (e.g. Juv. 2,54; Ov. Ars am. 1,693 and 2,219) - and as such is a requisite of scenes of the women's quarters (e.g. Rhyton London, BM E 773 [2]) - or as a household receptacle for cheese, milk, or oil, which made the kalathos a common wedding pre…

(στρόφιον/ stróphion). A band wound round something or twisted together. [German version] [1] Breast band A breast band worn by women in Greece and Rome (Aristoph. Thesm. 139; 251; 255; 638; Aristoph. Lys. 931; Catull. 64,65), also called μίτρα/ mítra (Anth. Pal. 5,13,4; Apoll. Rhod. 3,867), μηλοῦχος/ mēloûchos (Anth. Pal. 6,211), στηθόδεσμος/ stēthódesmos (Poll. 7,66), mamillare (Mart. 14,66 lem.), fascia pectoralis (Mart. 14,134 Lem., cf. Ov. Ars am. 3,274; Prop. 4,9,49). Women are variously portrayed in art wearing strophia or putting on strophia. Straps across the shoulde…

[German version] (σκιάδιον/ skiádion or σκιάδειον/ skiádeion; Latin umbella, umbraculum). Round, collapsible umbrellas and those with fixed frames had been familiar to the Greeks from the 5th cent. BC; as in the states of the Near East, in Greece too umbrellas were a status symbol and sign of dignity. Noble Greek women had them carried by a servant girl (Athen. 12,534a, cf. Ael. VH 6,1). For Greek men, carrying an umbrella was considered a sign of effeminacy (Pherecrates PCG 7, 70 (64)). In Antiquity, um…

[German version] (λάκαινα; lákaina). A drinking vessel listed as a cup in Ath. 11,484f.; the technical term is used in archaeological research to describe a vessel with a goblet-like body and round-bellied lower part, with two horizontal handles. Produced predominantly in Sparta from the 8th cent. BC onwards, the L. became a model for Laconian vasepainting of the 7th cent. BC. The design was discontinued after the middle of the 6th cent. BC. Its decoration was usually ornamental, but black- glazed examples do occur. Hurschmann, Rolf (Hamburg) Bibliography C. M. Stibbe, Lakon. Vasenma…

[German version] (ζύγαστρον/ zýgastron, κιβωτός/ kibōtós, κιβώτιον/ kibṓtion, λάρναχ/ lárnax, χηλός/ chēlós; Latin arca, cista). Chests made of wood, bronze or other materials were used in the household for storing and transporting clothes, household goods, book rolls (  scrinium), equipment, provisions, etc. Chests could be simple and undecorated, or decorated with ornamental or figurative reliefs on their sides ( Praenestine cistae). Wooden chests often had metal fittings, which were also decorated, for reinforcing edges and corne…