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('promontory', 'cape'). [German version] [1] Promontorium Cantium Headland in the far south-east of Britannia, opposite the mouth of the Rhine (τὸ Κάντιον). Headland in the far south-east of Britannia, opposite the mouth of the Rhine; a landmark for seamen and geographers, modern South Foreland/Kent ( cf. Caes. B Gall. 5,13,1; 14,1; 22,1; Diod. Sic. 5,21,3; Str. 1,4,3; 4,3,3; 5,1). Cantium probably means 'corner' in Celtic [1]. The exposed location in the far south-east of the island gave its name to the Cantiaci, and the name was also applied to the ki…

[German version] [1] Pylae Gadeirides The Straits of Gibralter (Πύλαι Γαδειρίδες; Pýlai Gadeirídes). The Straits of Gibraltar; the sound (saddle depth 286 m), which is about 60 km long and at its narrowest point 13 km wide, lies between the southern tip of the Spanish Peninsula and the continent of Africa, and between the Mediterranean (Mare nostrum) in the east and Oceanus in the west. The ancient names for the straits are based on Gades (Plin. HN 3,3; 5; 74; 4,93: Gaditanum fretum; Plut. Sertorius 8,1: Γαδειραῖος πορθμός/ Gadeiraîos porthmós), on the temple of Heracles in Gades ('…

I. Geography and history [German version] A. Name Since the 1st cent. AD, H. has referred more and more to the entire Iberian Peninsula. Although the name Hispania is only attested since the time of the 2nd Punic War (218-201 BC; Liv. 21,2; Enn. Ann. 503), it is the oldest of all, because it is derived from Phoenician í-shephanním, ‘rabbit coast’ (according to a new interpretation ‘land of metal plates’). A further name was Ophioussa (‘land of the snakes’; Avien. 148; 152; 172; 196), which was probably coined by the Phocaeans when they came into contact with some reg…

[German version] [1] Hasta, hastati In the Roman army of the middle Republic, the hasta served primarily as a thrust lance for close combat although it could also be thrown; it had a wooden shaft and an iron point. The hasta was adapted to the fighting style of the  phalanx, but it remained in use when, in the 4th cent. BC, the Romans adopted a more flexible set-up in maniples (  manipulus ). According to Livy (Liv. 8,8,5-13), whose account, however, is not without its problems, in 340 BC the Roman army consisted of three battle rows, the hastati, the principes and the triarii. The triarii were a…

(Αὐγούστα, Αὐγοῦστα; Augoústa, Augoûsta). [German version] [0] Title First to receive the name A. (‘the Sublime’) was  Livia [2], by the terms of the will of her husband  Augustus (Tac. Ann. 1,8,1; Vell. Pat. 2,75,3; Suet. Aug. 101,2), who at the same time adopted her into the Julian family (thus: Iulia Augusta). Hellenistic influence is disputed (in favour [1], against [2. 140-145]); the name Σεβαστή/ Sebastḗ with the same literal meaning was bestowed on the wives of Roman emperors in the Greek-speaking world independently of any conferring of the name of A…