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[German version] (Latin factiones; Greek μέρη/ mérē or, less succinctly, δῆμοι/ dêmoi; see Demos [2] C.). Modern term for the associations or clubs that from the Roman Imperial Period onwards, initially in Rome itself and later also in other cities of the Empire, organised chariot races in hippodromes ( Hippódromos [1]). They were grouped - distinguished from one another by the colours white, red, blue and green - around successful charioteers and in Late Antiquity, primarily in the East of the Roman Empire, occasionally exhibited a clear political orientation (Nika Revolt; Factiones …

[German version] (σακελλάριος/ sakellários). From the 5th cent. AD, a chamberlain at the Roman-Byzantine imperial court (Court D), from the 8th-12th cents. the senior custodian of the state finances (last reference 1196), from 1094 sometimes called mégas logariastḗs . Tinnefeld, Franz (Munich) Bibliography P. Schreiner, s.v. Finanzwesen, -verwaltung (A. I.f.), LMA 4, 456  P. Magdalino, s.v. Sacellarius, ODB 3, 1828 f.

[German version] (Βελισάριος; Belisários). B. (born around 500/505 in Germania near  Serdica), distinguished commander under  Iustinianus I. The main source about his life is the historical work ( Bella) which glorifies B. and thus should be read critically, written by  Procopius of Caesarea, who accompanied him on his campaigns until 540. From 529, he was mag. militum per Orientem and, in 528, he assumed leadership in the newly erupted war against the Persians. He was victorious in 530 near Dara, but suffered a crushing defeat in 531 on the Euphrates…

[German version] Flavius V., Byzantine army leader, who rebelled in AD 513 because of the lack of supplies for his troops, but also because, as a supporter of the Christology of the Synod of Calchedon (Synodos II. D.4.), he was opposed to the monophysite emperor Anastasius [1] I (Monophysitism). When in 514 V. had brought under his control Anastasius' nephew Hypatius [4], who had been sent against him with an army, he consented to free him for a large ransom and, in return for being appointed magister militum per Thracias and the emperor's backing down on the question of belief, to…

[German version] (Εἰρήνη; Eirḗnē). Byzantine empress (AD 797-802; born in Athens c. 752, died on Lesbos in 803), from 768 wife of  Leon IV; after his death in 780 regent for her underage son  Constantinus [8] VI. The Council of Nicaea in 787, convened at her instigation and conducted by Tarasius, the patriarch of her choice, arrived at a moderate reconciliation of the Byzantine image controversy ( Syrian dynasty) in favour of the cult of images. In 790 her son forced her to hand over power, but was deposed…

[German version] (so named in Marcellinus Comes) or Μοῦνδος ( Moûndos; Greek sources). Eastern Roman general, born the son of a king (Giesmus?) of the Gepidae before AD 488, died in 536, probably not identical with the Hun M. (PLRE 2, 767f.). Initially he served the Ostrogoth king Theoderic the Great until his death (in 526). In 529 he was appointed magister militum per Illyricum by the Emperor Justinian [1] I. Magister militum per Orientem in 531, he returned to his earlier position in 532. In the Nika Revolt (January 532) he and Belisarius successfully defended Justin…

[German version] Army leader in the war between the Eastern Roman empire and the Goths in Italy, recorded only in Procopius [3] (Goth. 3,10,2) under the name Βιτάλις/ Bitális as magister militum per Illyricum c. AD 539-544. PLRE 3, 1380 f., no. 1 (s. v. Vitalius). Tinnefeld, Franz (Munich)

[German version] [1] see Musonianus see Musonianus Tinnefeld, Franz (Munich) [German version] [2] Eastern Roman official, 6th cent. AD (Strategios). Eastern Roman official, praef. Augustalis at Alexandria c. AD 518-523, received the title patrikios by 530 at the latest, and was head of the exchequer ( comes sacrarum largitionum) from AD 535 to c. 538. Tinnefeld, Franz (Munich) Bibliography PLRE 2, 1034-1036, Nr. 9  Stein, Spätrömische Republik 2, 433, 476f.

[German version] Account, partly from secondary sources, of the journey that some Palestinian monks took to monastery centres in the Nile valley from the Thebaid to the Delta, composed c. AD 395 by one of the travellers, often transmitted together with the Historia Lausiaca of Palladius ( c. 400) (DHGE 24, 681f.). Tinnefeld, Franz (Munich) Bibliography A.-J. Festugière, Historia Monachorum in Aegypto, 1961 (Ed.) Lat. Übers. des Rufinus von Aquileia: PL 21, 387-462.

[German version] (Μουνδίλας; Moundílas). Eastern Roman officer in the body-guard of Belisarius during the Gothic War, attested between AD 537-539. M. was at Belisarius' side when he was besieged at Rome by the Gothic King Vitigis in 537-538, and he held Milan for nine months in 538 until finally forced to surrender to the Gothic besiegers and taken captive to Ravenna. Thereafter, he vanishes from history (PLRE 3, 901-903). Tinnefeld, Franz (Munich)

(Φώτιος/ Phṓtios). [German version] [1] Byzantine high-ranking military officer Stepson of Belisarius, son of his wife Antonina from an earlier marriage, born around AD 520, died AD 578/585. After AD 535, he accompanied Belisarius on campaigns in Italy, and after AD 541 in Persia . In a novelistic passage from the Historia arcana (1,31-35; 2,1-17; 3,2-5; 3,12f.; 3,21-29) Procopius relates that P. was incarcerated by the empress Theodora on Antonina’s orders because P. tried to thwart her affair with Theodosius, an adoptive son of her husband. How…

[German version] [1] Guarantor in Roman procedural law A vindex, (probably with the same etymology as vindicta ) was a guarantor in Roman procedural law. He played a role in two parts of the trial--in the summoning and in the execution, each time in the context of the manus iniectio (the physical bringing forward of the defendant). According to the Twelve Tables (tab. 1,1; tabulae duodecim ), the latter was permitted when the defendant did not voluntarily follow the order of the plaintiff to appear in front of the court magistrate ( vocatio in ius ). The defendant co…

[German version] [1] The term dux, which had already appeared in the Republican period with the general meaning of ‘a leader in a military action or of a troop of soldiers’ (cf. e.g. Cic. Dom. 12: seditionis duces), was in the 2nd cent. AD occasionally used in a semi-official way as the title for the commander of a military unit established for a particular purpose and not necessarily subordinate to the governor of a province. Thus Ti. Claudius Candidus was dux exercitus Illyrici in the war waged by Septimius Severus against Pescennius Niger in AD 193-195 (CIL II 4114 = ILS 1140); dux was also u…

(Ῥωμανός; Rhōmanós). [German version] [1] R. Melodod, the Melodist Byzantine hymnographer, 5th/6th cent. AD (Ῥωμανὸς Μελωδός; Rhōmanòs Melōdós). Byzantine hymnographer of Syrian origin, b. before AD 493 at Emesa (present-day Ḥims in Syria), d. between AD 551 and 565 at Constantinople. Initially deacon at Berytus (Beirut), he took up his post at the Church of the Virgin at Constantinople under the emperor Anastasius [1] I. According to legend, he is said to have decided to become a composer of hymns after receivi…

(Δήμαρχος; Dḗmarchos). Holder of office with political and/or religious duties in Greek communities. Rhodes, Peter J. (Durham) [German version] I. Greece until late antiquity (1) In Athens the demarchos was the highest office-holder in each of the 139 demes ( Demos [2]), into which Cleisthenes had divided the polis ([Aristot.] Ath. Pol. 54,8). By no later than the 4th cent. BC the demarchos was elected by lot in each   dḗmos for one year; the demarchos for Piraeus on the other hand was appointed by the polis (Ath. Pol. 54,8). He convened and chaired the assembly of th…

[1] M., Theodosius Writer of the Saturnalia, c. 400 [German version] A. Identification There are three Latin works extant under the name Ambrosius Theodosius M., vir clarissimus and illustris (sometimes listed in reverse order): 7 bks. of Saturnalia( Sat.), 2 bks. of Commentarii in Somnium Scipionis ( Somn.) and excerpts from De differentiis et societatibus Graeci Latinique verbi. Otherwise the author is unknown. However, the persons that appear in Sat. (Vettius Agorius Praetextatus, Q. Aurelius Symmachus and several Albini) are well-known Roman aristocrats from …

(Middle Persian Narseh, Armenian Nersēh, Greek Ναρσῆς/ Narsȇs, also Ναρσαῖος/ Narsaȋos). [German version] [1] Brother of Sapor I, died in AD 302 Brother of Sapor I, when he was prince-governor of (Persian) Armenia in AD 293 he overthrew his great-nephew Wahram III from the Persian throne and documented his success in the Paikuli inscription (cf. [1]). In about 296, N. renewed the conflict with Rome by invading (Roman) Armenia. The emperor Galerius [5] suffered a defeat at Carrhae (Ḥarran) in 297, but was able to besi…

(πρόεδρος/ pró(h)edros, pl. πρόεδροι/ pró(h)edroi) denotes that person who (in a leading position) 'sits in front' ('chairman' or 'president'). [German version] I. Greece in the Classical and Hellenistic Periods In early 4th cent. BC Athens, the duty of the chairman of the council ( boulḗ ) and the people's assembly ( ekklēsía ) was passed from the prytaneis to a newly created collegium of nine pró(h)edroi. The pró(h)edroi were summoned each for one day, one from each phyle of the council, excepting the prytany conducting business at just that time. One could be pró(h)edros only once du…

(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] [1] M. Valerius M. The poet Martial, epigrammatist in the 1st cent. the Roman poet Martial. Lausberg, Marion (Augsburg) [German version] A. Biography The epigrammatist M. was born between AD 38 and 41 (cf. Mart. 10,24: 57th birthday) in Bilbilis in the province of Hispania Tarraconensis. Around 64, he came to Rome (10,103), where he was probably at first promoted in the circle of Seneca. His poetic production does not become tangible for us until much later, when he celebrated the inauguration of the amphitheatrum Flavianum ( Colosseum) in 80 with a book of epigrams ( De spe…

[German version] A. Roman Republic and Imperial period Comes (from com- and ire, ‘to go with’) in its wider sense is a companion, trusted friend, or one entrusted with duties of aid and protection towards another (Dig. 47,10,1; 47,11,1,2). In public life, already in the Republican period comes means a member of the retinue of a travelling official, especially a provincial magistrate (Gr. ε̃πόμενος; hepómenos); the comes himself may be an official, a personal friend, slave, freedmen, client or even a high dignitary (Suet. Iul. 42; Dig. 1,18,16). In its special sense, from the beginn…

[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…

(Φαρασμάνης; Pharasmánēs). [German version] [1] Ph. I. King in the Caucasus (1st cent. AD) Son of Mithridates [19] and king of Iberia [1] (Caucasus). From AD 35, as an ally of Rome, P. had been supporting the Armenian kingdom of his brother Mithridates [20] (Tac. Ann. 6,32-35; 11,8-9) and, after AD 51, that of his own son Radamistus (Tac. Ann. 12,44-47). His relatives’ failure as client kings to Rome (cf. Tac. Ann. 13,37) and the acceptance of the Arsacid Tiridates I. as king of Armenia must have affected him…

[German version] [1] Roman pope 352-377 Roman pope 352-366. L.'s pontificate was burdened by the difficult dispute over Arianism. Emperor Constantius II banished L. to Beroea in 355, because he would not recant in Milan his support for the condemned bishop Athanasius of Alexandria, who was hostile to Arianism, whereupon Felix had himself appointed and ordained counter-bishop ( Felix [5] II.). The anguish of exile, reflected by the four letters of the spring of 357 recorded by Hilarius of Poitiers led…

(Αὐτοκράτωρ; Autokrátōr). [German version] A. Greek The meaning ‘exercising control over oneself’ expresses the opposite of subjugation to the will of another. The Thebans used this argument to claim that their support of the Persians in 480 was attributable to a ruling   dynasteia , not to the whole city, which acted as its own autocrator (Thuc. 3,62,3-4). Envoys and officials are often described as autokratores when entitled to more power than is usual in these positions. This background is evident, for example, when the Athenians declare the leaders of th…

(ἑταιρία/ hetairía, also ἑταιρεία/ hetaireía). [German version] [1] In Crete a sub-category of citizenry In Crete a sub-category of citizenry, with communal meals ( andreia or syssitia: Aristot. Pol. 1272a 12ff.; Ath. 4,143a-b = Dosiadas FGrH 458 F 2) and a common cult of Zeus Hetaireîos (Hsch. s.v. ἑταιρεῖος/ hetaireîos), but neither an association of family members nor part of a phyle, as was the hetairia in Thera or Cyrene (ML 5, l. 16). Acceptance into the hetairia took place after those fit for military service had left the   agélai and it was a prerequisit…

(σχολαστικός/ scholastikós). [German version] [1] Advocate in Late Antiquity In Roman procedural law of Late Antiquity a scholasticus (literally: someone 'schooled') is the advocate of a party, a late successor to the causidicus , with a certain amount of knowledge of formal rhetoric and law. Schiemann, Gottfried (Tübingen) Bibliography M. Kaser, K. Hackl, Das römische Zivilprozeßrecht, 21996, 563. [German version] [2] Palace official in Constantinople, from 422 (in Latin sources Scholasticus or Scholasticius), a palace official in Constantinople, first recorded i…

(Ἐπίνικος; Epínikos). [German version] [1] Writer of comedies Comic poet; two titles of his plays and two fragments are extant. The dating of his life (late 3rd/early 2nd cent. BC) is based on the title of his play, Mnēsiptólemos: it refers to the court historiographer (FGrH 164) of Antiochus III (223-187 BC), a remarkably late example for the mockery of a named character (ὀνομαστὶ κωμῳδεῖν; onomastì kōmōideîn). Fr. 1 sees Mnesiptolemus speaking for himself, parodying the ornate, almost dithyrambic style, in which he describes the banalest of acts performed by his sovereign. Nesselrath…

(δῆμος; dêmos). [German version] [1] The entire citizenry Demos, meaning ‘people’, could refer to either the entire citizenry of a community or only the ‘common people’ as distinct from its more privileged members. As an extension of the first meaning it also served to designate the popular assembly, so that political decisions in many states were seen as being ‘issued by the council and the people’ (ἔδοξεν τῇ βουλῇ καὶ τῷ δήμῳ). Adjectives such as dēmotikós and the description of a democratic leader as προστάτης τοῦ δήμου (‘champion of the people’; e.g. in Thuc. 3,82,…

(Θεοδώρα; Theodṓra). [German version] [1] Roman empress, about AD 300 Roman empress; stepdaughter (Aur. Vict. Caes. 39,25; Eutr. 9,22,1) or daughter (Anon. Vales. 1,1; Philostorgius 2,16) of Maximianus [1]. Contrary to the assertions of later sources, she was already married to Constantius [1] even before he was elevated to the rank of Caesar in AD 293  ( tetrárchēs IV.), and probably when he was praefectus praetorio to Maximianus (unclear Paneg. 2,11,4). The six children of their marriage represent the younger branch of the Constantinian imperial fam…

(πάροικοι; pároikoi). [German version] [1] Free non-citizens in Hellenistic states and Roman provinces In the Hellenistic states of Asia Minor and the Near East and the Roman provinces that arose out of them, free people, mostly indigenous but without citizenship, living in kṓmai ( kṓmē ) in the territory of a pólis were predominantly called paroikoi. In emergency situations, freed and non-free people, particularly those belonging to the (royal) farmers ( láoi), could be made paroikoi, and paroikoi from a pólis's synoikismós could be made citizens of that pólis. In legal status wi…

[German version] [1] Brother-in-law of Valentinian I, died c. 370 AD Brother-in-law of  Valentinian I. He led the fleet of the Euphrates in 363 in Julian’s Persian campaign (Amm. Marc. 23,3,9; Zos. 3,13,3). In 370 when tribunus stabuli in Valentinian’s Gaulish campaigns he was killed in an ambush (Amm. Marc. 28,2,10). PLRE 1,221. Portmann, Werner (Berlin) [German version] [2] Byzantine general under Justinian I Comes sacri stabuli (‘supervisor of the imperial stables’), Byzantine general in the war of  Justinian I against the Goths; from 536 in Dalmatia; after…

(βασιλεύς; basileús). I. Mycenaean period up to the Hellenistic Monarchies [German version] A. Mycenaean The word basileus has not yet been sufficiently explained etymologically. It is usually translated as ‘king’ and probably stems from the pre-Hellenistic substratum. The Mycenaean form qa-si-re-u is evidently identical to βασιλεύς, but instead of designating the sovereign of a kingdom (he holds the title of wa-na-ka), it refers to a considerably lower position. Qa-si-re-u and its derivation qa-si-re-wi-ja can be found about 20 times in the Linear-B archives of Cn…

[German version] [1] Flavius Iulius C. Roman Emperor (Augustus), 337-350 AD Roman Emperor, born c. 320 AD, the youngest son of Constantine [1] and Fausta, elevated to Caesar on 25 December 333 and at about the same time betrothed to Olympias, the daughter of  Ablabius [1]. From 9 September 337 Augustus. At a meeting of the brothers in Pannonia (Julian Or. 1,19a) C. received Italy, Illyricum and Africa (Zon. 13,5). He refused to acknowledge the guardianship of his eldest brother Constantine [2] II [1]. Constan…

[German version] [1] Proclaimed emperor in AD 240 by the Carthaginians Was proclaimed emperor in AD 240 by the inhabitants of Carthage, but was shortly after defeated by the governor of Mauretania and delivered to Gordianus [3] III by his own followers (Zos. 1,17,1; SHA Gord. 23,4). Franke, Thomas (Bochum) Bibliography Kienast 1, 197. [German version] [2] see Vettius Sabinianus See Vettius Sabinianus. Portmann, Werner (Berlin) [German version] [3] Magister equitum per Orientem, 359-360 AD At a great age m agister equitum per Orientem in AD 359-360 under Constantius [2] II. Ac…

(Ἡρωδιανός; Hērōdianós). [German version] [1] Aelius H. Greek grammarian, 2nd cent. AD (Αἴλιος Ἡρωδιανός; Aílios Hērōdianós), of Alexandria, one of the most important Greek grammarians, lived in the 2nd cent. AD; son of  Apollonius [11] Dyscolus and his worthy student and successor. For a time he lived in Rome and dedicated his main work, the Καθολικὴ προσῳδία ( Katholikḕ prosōidía) to the emperor Marcus Aurelius (161-180). He is justifiably not seen as a brilliant but as a careful and precise grammarian, the great heir and systematician of the Alexandr…

(Λυδός; Lydós). [German version] [1] Mythological king of Lydia Mythological king of Lydia, son of Atys [1], brother of Tyrsenus ( Tyrrhenus). Eponym of the Lydian people ( Lydia) (formerly Maeon: Hom. Il. 2,864): Hdt. 1,94; Str. 5,219; Tac. Ann. 4,55. According to Hdt. 1,171 L., Mysus and Car were brothers, which expresses the tribal kinship of the Lydians, Carians and Mysians ( Carian, Mysia). Käppel, Lutz (Kiel) [German version] [2] Attic black-figured vase painter (ὁ Λυδός/ ho Lydós, ‘the Lydian’). Attic black-figured vase painter, before 560-540/530 BC; a bit older t…

(Τιμόστρατος/ Timóstratos). [German version] [1] Tragic poet, 4th cent. BC Greek tragedian, successful at the Lenaea in c. 350 BC (TrGF I 83). Zimmermann, Bernhard (Freiburg) [German version] [2] Athenian comedy writer, beginning of the 2nd cent. BC Athenian comedian, who came sixth at the Dionysia in 188 BC with his Λυτρούμενος ( Lytroúmenos, 'The ransomed [prisoner]') [1. test. 1] and fourth in 183 with his Φιλοικεῖος ( Philoikeîos, 'He who loves his relatives') [1. test. 2]; a third place in c. 177 with an Ἀντευεργετῶν ( Anteuergetṓn, 'He who repays good deeds') is uncertain [1…

[German version] [1] Trajan, Roman Emperor, AD 98-117 Roman emperor, AD 98-117. Eck, Werner (Cologne) [German version] I. Career up to accession T. was probably born in 53, the son of the consular (of the same name), M. Ulpius [12] Traianus, and probably a certain Marcia, perhaps a daughter of Marcius [II 3] Barea. The family came from Italica in Hispania Baetica. Little is known of T.' senatorial career. He served as a tribunus [4] militum under his father in Syria (but certainly not for ten stipendia ('campaigns'), as alleged in Plin. Pan. 15,3). After his praetorship (before 84…

(στρατηγός/ stratēgós, 'army leader'; pl. strategoi). In many Greek states the formal title for a military commander. [German version] I. Classical Greece In Athens, strategoi are occasionally mentioned earlier (e.g. Peisistratus [4] as strategos; Hdt. 1,59,4; [Aristot.] Ath. pol. 17,2), but it was only after the tribal reorganization of Cleisthenes [2], probably first in 501/0 BC, that a regular board of strategoi was appointed: one from each of the 10 phylai, elected annually by the assembly (but candidates may have been pre-selected in the phylai, see [2]), and eligible for …

A popular cognomen in the Imperial Age, attested with certainty from the 1st cent. AD (ThlL, Onom. 2,133ff.). [German version] [1] Christian in AD 200 Christian in c. AD 200, author of various lost treatise about the Hexaemeron (Eus. HE 5,27; Jer. vir. ill. 48). Meier, Mischa (Bielefeld) [German version] [2] A follower of the Gnostic Valentinianus, 3rd cent. AD A follower of the Gnostic Valentinianus; in c. AD 230, he had a public dispute with  Origen, who accused him of retrospectively falsifying the records (Rufin. Apol. Orig. epil. = PG 17,625; Hier. Adv. Ru…

[German version] [1] C. I. The Great, Roman Emperor AD 306-337 ‘the Great’, Roman emperor from AD 306-337. Born c. 275 (Euseb. Vita Const. 4,53; Aur. Vict. Caes. 41,16; [Aur. Vict.] Epit. Caes. 41,15, differently Euseb. Vita Const. 2,51) at Naïssus (Anon. Vales. 2) the son of Constantius [1] I and of Helena. After his father was made Caesar, Constantine served on the staff of  Diocletian and of  Galerius (Pan. Lat. 7[6] 5,3; Lactant. De mort. pers. 18,10; Anon. Vales. 2). In 305 he left the court of Galerius to jo…

(Φωκᾶς; Phōkâs). [German version] [1] Martyr around AD 305 Martyr († around AD 305 in Sinope; Fest: 22. 9.). He lived in Sinope as a gardener and suffered martyrdom by beheading. As early as the 4th cent. a church is said to have existed above his grave in Sinope. From there his cult spread throughout the entire Mediterranean area. He is depicted as a gardener. Savvidis, Kyriakos (Bochum) Bibliography J. Bollandus, G. Henschenius et al. (eds.), Acta sanctorum, vols. 1ff., 1643ff.; 6, 293-299; 7.3, 629-632  PG 60, 36ff. [German version] [2] P. Diaconus Poet A poet of unknown date who is …

(Πελάγιος; Pelágios). [German version] [1] Schoolfellow and friend of Libanius, high-ranking official Fellow student and friend of Libanius, in AD 357; represented his home city Cyrrhus (in Euphratensis) before Constantius [2] II in Italy; in about 382 he was consularis Syriae; he died in 393, a non-Christian (it is to him that Lib. Epist. 1325 and 1334 are addressed). PLRE 1, 686 (P. 1). Leppin, Hartmut (Hannover) [German version] [2] Epic poet and historian, 5th cent. Silentiarius ( Silentiarii ), distinguished epic poet and probably also historian…

(νομοφύλακες / nomophýlakes, ‘guardians of the law’) [German version] I. Classical Period In the Classical Period, nomophýlakes were officials responsible for ensuring compliance with the laws ( nómoi). In Athens, the Areopagus (Areios Pagos) was said to have performed the function of the nomophylakía  until the reforms of Ephialtes [2] (462 BC) ([Aristot.] Ath. Pol. 3,6; [4,4]; 8,4; 25,2). According to one version in a fragment of Philochorus (FGrH 328 F 64), Ephialtes appointed a college of seven nomophýlakes, who also held some religious offices, but it is more likely…

(Προκόπιος/ Prokópios). [German version] [1] Usurper, AD 365-366 Usurper, AD 365-366 Usurper in AD 365-366. He was born in 326 in Corycus (Them. Or. 7,86c; cf. Amm. Marc. 26,9,11) and was a relative of the emperor Iulianus [11] (Amm. Marc. 23,3,2). In 358 he was a delegate to Persia with the rank of a tribunus (Amm. Marc. 17,14,3), later he held a high position at the schola notariorum (Amm. Marc. 26,6,1). During Julian’s Persian campaign, he commanded a division as a comes (Amm. Marc. 23,3,5). After Julian's death (363) he retired to private life (Zos.…

[1] Son of King David [German version] I. Old Testament S. (Hebrew Šelomō, literally 'his peace' or 'his restitution'). Successor to David [1] (2 Sam 9-1 Kg 2) in the second third of the 10th cent. BC. His 40-year reign (1 Kg 11:42, cf. 1 Kg 2:11) is of ideal duration, resulting from his esteem as a wise man and temple-builder (1 Kg 3:6-8, cf. Sir 47:12-18). He is criticized for building altars to foreign deities (1 Kg 11:1-13) and his introduction of forced labour (1 Kg 5:27-32). Stories about S. (1 Kg 3-1…

[German version] [1] A. I, AD 491-518 Byzantine emperor A. I, AD 491-518 Byzantine emperor, born c. 431 in Dyrrachion, decurio of the Silentiarii under emperor Zeno the Isaurian, after whose death the widowed empress Ariadne pushed through A.'s selection and took him as her spouse. Ariadne also banned Longinus, the brother of Zeno; he had been regarded as the successor to Zeno. A revolt of the Isaurians which broke out as a consequence of this, was finally put down by A. only in 498. There was a revolt of the people of Constantinople in 512 caused by the preference of the empero…

I. Greek [German version] [I 1] Christian apologist and theologian, 2nd cent. (Τατιανός; Tatianós). Christian apologist and theologian (born c. AD 120). By his own account, T. was from the East Syrian/North Mesopotamian region (Or. 42). His work betrays a knowledge of classical authors relying upon Hellenistic scholarly tradition. His travels brought T. into contact with a variety of the philosophical and religious systems of his period ( i.a. participation in mystery cults, which he fails to define more precisely). In Rome, study of the Bible finally brought hi…

[German version] A. Antecedents in the ancient Orient Court titles (CT) and court ranks in antiquity, used for the description and creation of personal proximity of members of courtly society to the  ruler or to the hierarchical rank classification of the upper class involved in administration, are a consequence of the emergence of territorial monarchies from the time of Alexander [4] the Great and the resulting organization of  courts as centres of political rule. The question of ancient Oriental antec…