Search

[German version] The basic meaning of the Latin verb expedire is ‘to remove the foot from its bond’, in a military context it means ‘to make ready’, ‘to make ready for battle’. Expeditio is the term for a hunt (Arnob. 3,21: venationum praepotens [...] in expeditionibus Diana), but especially for a campaign against an enemy and thus originally for only a part of warfare ( bellum), as suggested by the division of the expeditio into march and battle (Liv. 3,12,5: egregia facinora nunc in expeditionibus, nunc in acie). Expeditio as the term for operations within a larger war is found i…

[German version] (Greek ἱεραρχία; hierarchía) Originally, the term meant ‘sacred order’. The term hierarchy, which is not attested before late antiquity, was first defined in the late 5th cent. AD by the Neoplatonist (Pseudo-)Dionysius [54] Areopagites in his treatises Perì tês ouranías hierarchías and Perì tês ekklēsiastikḗs hierarchías: the hierarchy is a holy ranking that reflects divine beauty. All beings participate in God as the creator of the hierarchy and are ranked according to their participation in God. The hierarch is the man ins…

[German version] reestablished a state between the gods and humans as it existed before a knowing or unknowing failing of humans. Expiatory rites (ER) are strategies for handling ill fortune and generate a community spirit among those in whose name they are performed. In the Greek world ER were practiced in the archaic and classical period ( Purification), but can also be proven for later times. When a small town in Lydia was visited by an epidemic in the 2nd cent. AD, a delegation was sent to the  oracle of  Clarus [1].  Apollo commande…

[German version] I. Ancient Orient see Divination Rosenberger, Veit (Augsburg) [German version] II. Classical antiquity According to Roman Augural law (Ecclesiastical/Religious law), omina mostly belong to the signa oblativa, the portents that offer themselves by coincidence and not those attained through a divination technique. An omen could bring good or bad tidings and people could accept or reject it (with a quick prayer, or by spitting). It is not possible to give a specific definition of omina. Varro's restriction of omina to signs given by the spoken word (Varro, Ling…

[English version] (griech. ἱεραρχία) bedeutet im eigentlichen Sinne “hl. Ordnung”. Der Begriff H., vor der Spätant. nicht belegt, wird erstmals Ende des 5. Jh. n.Chr. durch den Neuplatoniker (Ps.-)Dionysios [54] Areopagites in seinen Schriften Perí tḗs uranías hierarchías und Perí tḗs ekklēsiastikḗs hierarchías definiert: Danach ist H. eine hl. Rangordnung, die ein Abbild der göttl. Schönheit darstellt. Alles Sein nimmt an Gott als dem Urheber der H. teil und stuft sich entsprechend der Anteilnahme an Gott ab. Der Hierarch ist der gott…

[English version] I. Alter Orient s. Divination Rosenberger, Veit (Augsburg) [English version] II. Klassische Antike Omina gehören nach dem röm. Auguralrecht (Sakralrecht) zumeist zu den signa oblativa, den sich zufällig bietenden, nicht durch eine Divinationstechnik erlangten Vorzeichen. Ein o. kann Gutes oder Schlechtes vorhersagen, man kann es annehmen oder ablehnen (Stoßgebet, Ausspucken). Eine eindeutige Definition von o. ist nicht möglich. Varros Einschränkung von o. auf durch das gesprochene Wort gegebene Vorzeichen (Varro ling. 6,76) ist zu eng; auc…

[German version] I. The Ancient Orient and Egypt With palaces, temples constituted the central institutions of society in the Ancient Orient (in Mesopotamia from the 3rd millennium BC) and Egypt. Besides their function as locations for divine worship, they also normally exercised significant economic power. This was founded on the fact that they had at their disposal extensive tracts of agricultural land (the essential means of production of an agrarian society) and stocks of precious metals, i.a. in the form of craft-produced votive gifts (Votive offerings). The temple estates o…

[German version] I. Ancient Near East see Divination Römer, Malte (Berlin) [German version] II. Egypt From the New Kingdom to the Roman Period, the oracle is one of the forms of divination. An oracle was the questioning in written or oral form of the deity, mostly performed by a mediating priest. Normally, this took place during religious festivals (Festivals; Feasts), when the cult image of the deity was carried out of the inner sanctuary. Oracles within the inner sanctuary were rare and only limited to kings…

[English version] I. Alter Orient s. Divination Römer, Malte (Berlin) [English version] II. Ägypten Eine Form der Divination war vom NR bis in die röm. Zeit das O., die schriftl. oder mündl. Befragung der Gottheit, meist durch einen vermittelnden Priester. Diese fand in der Regel bei Götterfesten (Fest) statt, wenn das Kultbild aus dem Allerheiligsten getragen wurde. Selten und auf Könige beschränkt waren O. im Allerheiligsten. Beim Prozessions-O. erfolgte die zustimmende oder ablehnende Antwort des Gottes in…