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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 s…

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[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 …

[German version] [1] Festal form of the toga Roman garment, a…

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[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…

[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…

[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…

[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/ …

[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…

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[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 c…

[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 woo…

(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/ …

[German version] (σκιάδιον/ skiádion or σκιάδειον/ skiádeion; Latin umbella, umbraculum). Round, collapsible umbrellas and those with fixed frames ha…

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[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…