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[German version] Whether γαλῆ/ galê or ἰκτίς/ iktís, Lat. mustela or viverra, respectively, describes the ermine ( Mustela erminea L.) or the polecat ( M. putorius L.) remains unclear. However, the polecat is not found in modern Greece [1. vol. 1, 163]. The Romans evidently feared this animal as a predator of poultry; already Varro (Rust. 3,12,3), using the term faelis (in Columella 8,14,9, the terms are 'viverra, faelesve ... mustela'), states that it must be kept away from poultry yards. Aristotle, in any case, knows the galê well (bony genitalia: Hist. an. 2,1,500b 24 = Plin…

[German version] (Latin ulmus, f.). Several species of this genus of trees in the Ulmaceae family grow in the Mediterranean region, notably the smooth-leaved elm ( Ulmus carpinifolia Gled., Greek πτελέα/ pteléa) and the wych elm ( U. scabra Mill.), which only grows as a shrub in Greece. It is already encountered in Homer (Il. 6,419 f.; 21,242-245 and 350). Theophrastus (Hist. pl. 3,14,1) differentiates in his excellent description a ὀρειπτελέα/ oreipteléa ( Ulmus scabra; atinia in Plin. HN 16,72; cf. Columella 5,6,2 and De arboribus 16,1) from the shrubby common elm, probably U. nemora…

[German version] (Ἱππόκαμπος/ Hippókampos, Latin equus marinus). The sea horse, which Paus. 2,1,9 defines as a ‘horse, which is like a sea monster (κῆτος; kêtos) from the chest downwards’ (cf. Serv. Georg. 4,387: in the first part a horse, changing into a fish in the last part). The hippokampos is not identical with the homonymous Mediterranean fish that is mentioned by Plin. HN 32,58 et passim as a remedy (e.g. the spotted seahorse, hippocampus guttulatus [1. 138]). Literary references are rare (e.g. Str. 8,7,2 [384]). According to Ael. NA 14,20 the stomach of a hippokampos, cooked and…

[German version] The name ἡ ἀηδών/ aēdṓn (‘singer’, other derivations ἀηδονίς/ aēdonís, ἀηδονιδεύς/ aēdonideús, among others) and Latin luscinia, luscinius or lusciniola in Varro, Rust. 3,5,14 (perhaps ‘twilight singer ’[1. 1,838]), or poetic aedon, aedonius and philomela in general describe the nightingale ( Luscinia megarhynchos Brehm), from the subfamily of the thrushes, which is very widespread around the Mediterranean. The grey-brown bird, which lives inconspicuously and hidden, is not more closely described. Only Aristot. Hist. an. …

[German version] A predator of the marten family ( Mustelidae), called meles ( maeles, Varro, Rust. 3,12,3; melo, Isid. Orig. 12,2,40) by the Romans; it was nocturnal and probably unknown to the Greeks [1]. Pliny maintains wrongly (HN 8,138) that it could defend itself against humans and dogs by puffing itself up, and otherwise only mentions it in comparison with other animals. Without taking into consideration the notes of the physician Marcellus Empiricus (36,5) who under the name of adeps taxoninus (which was Celtic) according to Isidore, Orig. 20,2,24, with a quotation …

[German version] (Κύκνος/ kýknos, Latin cygnus or olor) is the term not only for the mute swan., Cygnus olor, which breeds in Europe, but also for the Nordic whooper swan, C. cygnus (L.), which migrated as a winter visitor, probably occasionally as far as Greece and Italy. Hom. Il. 2,460-463 has them gather with geese and cranes in Lydia on the 'Asian meadow' (cf. Str. 14,1,45). Homer's Hymn 21 to Apollo locates them on the river Peneius in Thessaly, Aristoph. Av. 768 on the Hebrus in Thrace, Ov. Epist. 7,1 on the Maeander [2]…

[German version] ( aeruca in Vitr. De arch. 7,12, or aerugo [1.136], Greek ἰός; iós). The poisonous verdigris produced by the effect of damp air or acids, copper acetate, was scratched off (ξυστός; xystós) or as type σκώληξ ( skṓlēx), sometimes adulterated with other substances like pumice, and used as an astringent remedy, among other references in Dioscorides 5,79 [2.3.49 ff.] = 5,91-92 [3. 511 ff.] externally for ulcers and for eye ointments (Plin. HN 34,113). Hünemörder, Christian (Hamburg) Bibliography 1 D. Goltz, Studien zur Gesch. der Mineralnamen in Pharmazie, Ch…

[German version] (ἀετίτης; aetítēs). According to Plin. HN 36.149 (cf. Plin. HN 10.12) a so-called rattle stone found in both sexes in eagles nests, which like a pregnant woman contained a further stone inside it, of which Pliny according to Sotacus (3rd cent. BC) [1.468] distinguished a total of four kinds in Africa, Arabia, Cyprus and near Leucas. Without its presence the eagle would not produce any progeny. According to the stone book of Evax ch. 1 [2.234-236], the eagle brought it from the peri…

[German version] (Greek βελόνη ( belónē), also ῥαφίς ( rhaphís) or ἀβλεννής ( ablennḗs), Ath. 7,305d; 319cd; 8,355 f.). A saltwater fish that lives in a school (Aristot. Hist. an. 8(9),2,610 b 6) (Plin. HN 32,145), the pipefish [1. 9] of the syngnathus family or the garfish (Thompson and Jones in [1]) with an interesting spawning behaviour, i.e. the laying of large eggs in winter (Aristot. Hist. an. 5,11,543b11) by reversible bursting open of the abdomen (6,13,567b22-26; Plin. HN 9,166: reference to pouch of…

[German version] It is doubtful whether representatives of the two orders of the grebes ( Podicipidae) or the northern European loons ( Colymbidae) were known to antiquity. In any case almost all grebes spent the winter at the Mediterranean. The οὐρία/ ouría (Ath. 9,395e), which is about the size of a duck and dirty brown in colour, has been interpreted as a diver [1. 220], the κολυμβίς/ kolymbís (Ath. 9,395d; cf. Aristot. Hist. an. 1,1,487a 23 and 7(8),3,593b 17) as a little grebe ( Podiceps ruficollis) [1. 158] and the καταρράκτης/ katarrháktēs (Aristot. ibid. 2,17,509a 4 and 8(9)…

[German version] [1] Ruins of Nineveh This item can be found on the following maps: Xenophon (Μέσπιλα; Méspila). In 401 BC, M. is mentioned in Xen. An. 3,4,10 as an abandoned city of ruins, surrounded by a shell stone wall, 50 feet high and just as wide, 6 parasangs in length, on top of which was a brick wall 100 feet high. Xenophon was told that M. had been inhabited by Medes who had fled the Persians, among them the wife of the Medean king. The city - allegedly almost impregnable to the Persian king - is said …

[German version] ( cassia, κασσία; kas〈s〉ía) was the name originally given to species of Cinnamomum, especially C. zeylanicum ( Cinnamon, κιννάμωμον in Hdt. 3,107) and C. cassia (from southern China, cf. Theophr. Hist. pl. 9,5,1 and 3; Dioscorides 1,13 [1. 1,17f.] = 2.1,12 [2. 35ff.]), but also, already in antiquity, to species of the genus of leguminosae Cassia, especially the black husks of C. fistula ( C. solutiva, κασσία μέλαινα, γλυκοκάλαμος) introduced via Alexandria. Their edible pith that acts as a laxative (called senna pulp) was used frequently also in the Middle Ages. Hü…

[German version] [1] An animal (κύων/ kýōn, κυνίδιον/ kynídion, κυνίσκος/ kynískos, σκύλαξ/ skýlax, σκυλάκιον/ skylákion, canis, canicula, catellus). Hünemörder, Christian (Hamburg) [German version] A. Breeds One of the oldest domestic animals, bred in various parts of the world, probably starting in the Mesolithic era, from varieties of wild dogs that have now died out. The theory of its descent from the golden jackal ( Canis aureus) [2] has now been abandoned. From bone remains and from graphic representations several early breeds can be identified as the a…

[German version] This colourful songbird (σίττη/ síttē, ὄρνις ποιός/ órnis poiós, οἱ δὲ δρυοκολάπτης/ dryokoláptēs: Hesych. s.v.) which is related to the tit-mouse and behaves in a similar manner to the woodpecker is found in Greece as the lighter coloured rock nuthatch, Sitta syriaca, which likes to break open almond kernels. In Aristot. Hist. an. 8(9),17,616b 21-25 the síttē  is quarrelsome but caring towards her many chicks. On the basis of her adroitness she is considered skilled in the art of healing. On account of the alleged destruction of the e…

[German version] (παιωνία/ paiōnía, Latin paeonia or glycyside, cf. Isid. Orig. 17,9,48, Paeonia officinalis Rtz.). The red- or white-flowered peony was cultivated not for its beautiful blooms but for its alleged therapeutic effect. According to Dioscorides (3,140 Wellmann = 3,147 Berendes) the plant was called e.g. γλυκυσίδη ( glykysídē), but the root was called paiōnía, perhaps after the god of healing Apollo Paionios (cf. [1. 100]). The root is eaten to promote menstruation and post-natal purification, drunk in wine it is allegedly helpful e.g. …

[German version] (ὤχρα/ ṓchra, Latin ochra, sil: Plin. HN 33,158), weathered clayey iron oxide compound, which was the most widely used brownish yellow paint in antiquity, sometimes resembling oxblood in appearance. There were four common types of ochre (Plin. HN 33,158-160), the best of which was no longer available after the Laurium silver mines in Attica were depleted (cf. Vitr. De arch. 7,7,1). The second-best type, a grainy ochre containing marble that could withstand etching with burnt lime, was…

[German version] (κιχόριον, κιχόρη, κίχορα; kichórion, kichórē, kíchora in Theophr. Hist. pl. 1,10,7; 7,7,3 and passim; cichorium, cichoreum, cichora in Plin. HN 21,88, and ἐντύβιον, ἔντυβον, intybus or intubus Columella 11,3,27; Plin. HN 19,129). The endive, the name for two related composite species native to the Mediterranean Sea: 1) the mainly perennial wild succory ( Cicorium intybus L.) with its hirsute shoot that are more than one metre high; it has many names in common with the plantain ( plantago) that grows in the same location and was likewise made into syrup an…

[German version] The Indian rhinoceros ( Rhinoceros unicornis L.) and the two African species, the Black rhinoceros ( Diceros bicornis L.) and White rhinoceros ( Ceratotherium simum Burch.), were referred to without distinction as ῥινόκερως/ rhinókerōs, more rarely μονόκερως/ monókerōs (literally 'unicorn' and translated as unicornis in Isid. Orig. 12,2,12), Latin rhinoceros, monoceros. 1. Indian rhinoceros: in literature, the Indian rhinoceros was known only from Ctesias (fr. 14; Phot. Bibl. 72,48b 19ff. Bekker), used by Aristot. Hist. an. 2,1,49…

[German version] (ἐφέδρα, ἐφέδρον; ephédra, ephédron). Type of shrub that has been identified with the almost leafless gymnospermous birch shrub Ephedra campylopoda C.A. Mey, which climbs up trees and cliffs in the Balkan countries. This is supported not only by the alternative name ( anábasis, ἀνάβασις) but also by Pliny's description of the plant (HN 26,36 scandens arborem et ex ramis propendens). There, rubbed into dark wine, it is recommended for coughing and shortness of breath, and is supposed to help against stomach-ache when boiled as a broth and …

[German version] (δάφνη/ dáphnē, Lat. laurus, from which ‘laurel’), Laurus nobilis L., from the mostly tropical family of the Lauraceae. Through cultivation, the bush (demonstrated by fossils since the Tertiary) developed into an evergreen forest tree in the Mediterranean region. In Homer (Od. 9,183), laurel formed a roof over the cave of the Cyclops. Theophrastus (Hist. pl. 1,9,3) distinguishes the cultivated laurel (ἥμερος/ hḗmeros) in many varieties (1,14,4; cf. the types distinguished by name in Plin. HN 15,127-130) from the wild (ἀγρία/ agría) species, erroneously assume…

[German version] A. Zoology According to our sources, it was the Greeks and Romans who first bred bees for honey in antiquity ( Apiculture). They called the honey or worker bee δάρδα, μέλισσα, apis, the male drone ἀνθρήνη, κηφήν, θρώναξ, fucus and the queen bee βασιλεύς, ἡγεμῶν, rex, dux or imperator. In Greece this applied to the uniformly coloured, dark brown Apis cecropia, in Italy mainly to the A. ligustica with two orange rings on its abdomen. The zoological information about them was often incorrect. According to Pliny (HN 11,1 and 5) they had no blood, a…

[German version] (λύγξ/ lýnx, λυγκίον/ lynkíon, according to Ael. NA 7,47, the young was called σκύμνιος/ skýmnios; Latin lynx or chama). The swamp lynx, a small species of cat [1. 1,81f.], and the desert lynx or caracal ( Lynx caracal; probably meant in Plin. HN 8,72) are attested on Egyptian representations (e.g. a swamp lynx? on a middle Minoan fresco from Hagia Triada on Crete together with a cormorant [1. 1,66, Fig. 17]). The northern lynx ( Lynx lynx) from the predatory family of the cats is mentioned by Aristotle (Hist. an. 2,1,499b 24f.: has only half of the cuboi…

[German version] Since there are no descriptions, we can not know whether the two species, beech marten ( Martes foina, with white throat patch) and pine marten ( Martes martes, with yellow throat patch), were known in antiquity. Hom. Il. 10,335 and 458 κτιδέην κυνέην/ ktidéēn kynéēn could be translated as ‘helmet of marten fur’ [1. 1,160].ἴκτις/ íktis (Aristot. Hist. an. 2,1,500b 24; cf. Plin. HN 29,60: mustelarum genus silvestre) may be a weasel. Aristoph. Ach. 880 mentions íktis pelts on the market in Athens; Nik. Ther. 196 speaks of them killing poultry, which suggest…

[German version] [1] Ship with two oars A ship with two oars (δίκωπος; díkōpos), Eur. Alc. 252; Pol. 34,3,2; Luc. 8,565; 10,56). Hünemörder, Christian (Hamburg) [German version] [2] A ship with two protruding banks of oars A ship with two protruding banks of oars, of different length, on the sides (διήρης/ diḗres) and accordingly two synchronous stroke patterns (δίκροτος/ díkrotos). Each oar was serviced by a galley convict (Caes. B Civ. 3,40,4). The Phoenicians were familiar with these ships of two banks of oars as early as around 700 BC.  Ships Hünemörder, Christian (Hamburg) Bibliogra…

[German version] The words βουνιάς/ bouniás, νᾶπυ/ nâpy, Latin napus probably refer to the swede ( Brassica napus L. var. napobrassica). According to Ath. 9,369b Theophrastus was not familiar with it, while Nicander fr. 70 Schn. was. In Greece, according to Plin. HN 19,75 (five local varieties distinguished by Greek physicians) and 20,21 (two kinds: boúnion and boúnias), it is supposed to have been used only as a medicine; Ath. 1,4d knows swedes from Thebes. Diod. Sic. 3,24,1 describes it as similar to the food plants of the Hylophagi people on the Re…

Hünemörder, Christian (Hamburg) I. Meteorology [German version] A. Early conceptions In Antiquity, Greece with its many islands, and intimately connected with the sea, relied on the observation of the winds (ἄνεμος/ ánemos, Latin ventus) that blow at various times of the year, because navigation (Navigation) for merchant ships through the Aegean and Mediterranean to Egypt and Magna Graecia was always important (except for the Spartans) [1]. Homerus [1] already refers to the most prevalent winds, named after their direction of o…

[German version] (ὄνυξ; ónyx) designates an alabaster-like stone, which was imported by the Romans from India, Syria and Asia Minor (Plin. HN 36,59-61), as well as a gemstone with alternating bands of colour (agate, cf. Theophr. De lapidibus 31 [1. 68]) found in several variations. Despite the contention of Plin. HN 37,90 (= Isid. Orig. 16,8,3), the name is not derived from ónyx ('fingernail'). The alabaster-like stone was used to make drinking cups, the feet of beds, containers for ointments and even pillars. The gemstone was used to decorate rings or for cameos [2]. Hünemörder, Christ…

[German version] Pliny (HN 15,98) erroneously believes that the fragum, i.e. the Rosacee Fragaria L. with its three types vesca, viridis collina and moschata, was related to the strawberry tree. According to Virgil (ecl. 3,92), the strawberry grows on the ground. In Ovid (Met. 1,104), its delicious fruit grows spontaneously to provide food in the Golden Age (cf. Plin. HN 21,86). The name fragaria is claimed to have appeared first in Matthaeus Silvaticus ( c. 1344; Lyon 1541) [1]. In Greek, it is called τρίφυλλον μοροφερές ( tríphyllon moropherés). Hünemörder, Christian (Hamburg) Biblio…

[German version] As neither Greeks nor Romans paid much attention to many small songbirds, there is no clear evidence of them either. Medieval miniatures show both colourful finch species quite frequently (chaffinch e.g. [2. fig. 37 b]; goldfinch e.g. [2. fig. 10, 11 a-b, 15, 42, 44]). 1) Chaffinch ( Fringilla coelebs L.), σπίζα/ spíza, σπιζίον/ spizíon, σπίνος/ spínos, φρυγίλος/ phrygílos (Aristoph. Av. 763), ποικιλίς/ poikilís (interpretation uncertain, Aristot. Hist. an. 8[9],1,609a 6f.), fring(u)illa ( -us Mart. 9,5,7). A songbird with a melancholic-sounding (Mart…

[German version] (βίσων/ bísōn, βόνασος/ bónasos; Latin biso, viso or bonasus). A wild ox which, together with the aurochs ( urus), was common in northern Europe (Plin. HN 8,38 and 40; Solin. 20,4), and particularly in Paeonia (Paeones); it had a horse-like mane (Aristot. Hist. an. 2,1,498b 31), inward-curving horns (Aristot. Part. an. 3,2,663a 13) and the ability to fend off enemies by flinging dung (Aristot. loc.cit; Hist. an. 8(9),45,630a 18-b 17). Paus. 10,13,1-4 describes a method for capturing them [1]. That …

[German version] (‘red lead’). Latin equivalent for the red mineral cinnabar (κιννάβαρι/ kinnábari, ‘dragon's blood’, cf. Plin. HN 33,115f. and his source Theophr. De lapidibus 58f. [1. 78, 80]), mercury sulphide (HgS). According to Plin. HN 33,4 and 33,111 it was found in the search for silver in ‘red earth’ ( rubens terra). By about 400 BC, it was being mined in Spain, in Colchis and above Ephesus by grinding and washing sand. According to Q. Verrius Flaccus (in Plin. HN. 33,111f.) minium even enjoed religious respect, because the face of the s…

[German version] Term for those ruminants that at second dentition had both middle incisors in the lower jaw replaced by larger teeth at the age of 1 1/4 to 2 years (Paul. Fest. 4,17). Servius describes just such sheep as preferred sacrificial animals (Serv. Aen. 6,39: mactare praestiterit ... lectas ex more bidentes, ‘it would be better to slaughter ... bidentes selected as prescribed by custom’; later Isid. Orig. 12,1,9; cf. Serv. Aen. 4,57).  Ruminants Hünemörder, Christian (Hamburg) Bibliography Nehring, Jb. für class. Philol., 1893, 64ff. E. Norden, Vergils Aeneis, 6. Buch, …

[German version] (δαφνοειδές or χαμαιδάφνη; daphnoeidés or chamaidáphnē). The name used for two types of daphne in the texts of Dioscorides (4,146 [1. 288 = 2. 444] and 4,147 [1. 289f.= 2. 444]), for Daphne laureola L. or alpina L. from the Thymelaecea genus with evergreen leaves similar to laurel. When drunk, an infusion of these leaves was said to have emetic, expectorant and diuretic properties and also to promote menstruation. They were also distinguished from the varieties with leaves similar to the olive tree such as camelaiva (Dioscorides 4,171 [1. 320] = 4,169 [2. 464]…

[German version] (and other birds of prey). In Antiquity many species of the Falconidae family of birds of prey were grouped under the name ἱέρακες/ hiérakes, Latin accipitres. In Aristot. Hist. an. 8(9),36,620a 17-29 there are 10 species, in Plin. HN 10,21 f. as many as 16, but the information is often too vague for a more precise determination. The most important of them are: 1) The universally common Buzzard ( Buteo buteo), Greek τριόρχης/ triórchēs (allegedly with three testicles), Latin buteo. This plump and allegedly strong (Aristot. ibid. 17) hiérax was an important bird of a…

[German version] Because in Greek the same name (κίσσα/ kíssa or κίττα/ kítta) is used for the magpie ( Pica candata) and the jay, and because these two corvids can be trained to talk, the respective context, as in Plin. HN 10,78 with the mention of the long tail, must ensure the designation. Plin. HN 10,98 reports on their removal of the eggs as a reaction to disruptive observation by humans. Actually, magpies build several nests to protect themselves. However, his description of how they hang two eggs stuck to a …

[German version] (Ion. ἀπηλιώτης; apēliṓtēs, e.g. Thuc. 3,23 and Aristotle, later ἀφηλιώτης; aphēliṓtēs) was the name given to the wind blowing from the east which the Romans translated as subsolanus (Sen. Q. Nat. 5,16,4; Plin. HN 2,119; Gell. NA 2,22,8) or solanus (Vitr. De arch. 1,6,4 f.). On Ephorus' map of the world it comes from the land of the ‘Indoi’, on the wind-rose of the author of the work on the number seven (end of the 5th cent.) it is positioned between the Βορέης ( Boréēs; north-east point) and the Εὖρος ( Eûros; south-east point) [1]. According to Aristot. Met. 2,6,363b…

[German version] (γύψος; gýpsos, gypsum) is the name both for the mineral anhydrite and for the mass manufactured from it by heating until red-hot and mixable with water. Quarrying was carried out in many places, according to Theophrastus (De lapidibus 64, [1. 82]), who also provides details on the properties of gypsum, among these on Cyprus, in Phoenicia and Syria, in Thurii, Tymphaia and Perrhaebia, and according to Plutarch (Mor. 914c) also on Zacynthus. Theophr. l.c. 69 and Plin. HN 36,182 descr…

(Boρέας; Boréas) [German version] A. Meteorology According to Ps.-Aristot. De mundo 4,394b20, the winds blowing from the north towards Greece were called Βορέαι οἱ ἀπὸ ἄρκτου ( Boréai hoi apò árktou) [1]. When the compass rose was developed in the 5th cent., that term was applied -- instead of to the true north wind ( Aparctias) -- to its eastern neighbours, the north-north-east and the north-east, especially on monuments where the Roman term Aquilo also appears. The Boreas is the stormy ‘king of winds’ (Pind. Pyth. 4,181), bringing darkness, cold and snow. It is o…

[German version] Hippopotamus amphibius L., ὁ or ἡ ἵππος ποτάμιος/ híppos potámios, literally ‘river horse’, Latin hippopotam(i)us or equus fluvialis (Ambr. Hexaemeron 5,1,4), equus Nili (Thomas of Cantimpré, Liber de natura rerum 6,19), known from the  Nile (Plin. HN 8,95 and 28,121), from west African rivers (Plin. HN 5,10) and from Palestine. That the animal was found in the Indus, as alleged by Onesicratus, was rejected by Str. 14,1,45 and Paus. 4,34,3. In Egypt, the hippopotamus was nearly extinct in late antiquit…

[German version] (Greek ἡ στύραξ/ hē stýrax, e.g. Theophr. Hist. pl. 9,7,3: the styrax tree or shrub; τὸ στύραξ/ tò stýrax, Latin styrax or later storax: the balsamic resin extracted from it is called Styrax officinalis). The fragrant resin was much in demand in Rome in the Imperial Period, and because of its high price, it was often adulterated (including with cedar resin, honey or bitter almonds, Plin. HN 12,125). It was imported (at the time of Hdt. 3,107 with the help of the Phoenicians) from Syria and Asia minor ( e.g. Cilicia), rolled in leaves of reeds (hence the earlier name Storax calam…

[German version] Of the conifer genus Lat. cupressus (since Enn. Ann. 262 (223) and 490 (511); late Lat. cyparissus, Isid. Orig. 17,7,34; κυπάρισσος/ kypárissos, probably from the pre-Indogermanic, already in Hom. Od. 5,64) with 14 species, only the wild form C. sempervirens L. with the variant C. horizontalis ( C. mas in Plin. HN 16,141) occurred in south-east Europe. However, the old culture strain [1. 34 ff.] of the variant C. pyramidalis ( C. femina: Plin. HN 16,141; it was already sown by Cato: Cato Agr. 48,1; 151), widespread and well known on Cyprus and Crete…

[German version] (πίτυς/ pítys, Lat. pinus, Pinus pinea L.). This striking broad-crowned conifer, related to the spruce, is common along the coastal fringes of the Mediterranean Sea. Because a wreath of stone pine was awarded to victors in the Isthmian Games (Isthmia), poets from Hom. Il. 13,390 on mention the pinus. Pall. Agric. 12,7,9-12 and, much more briefly, Gp. 11,11 describe its cultivation. In many cases, a cone of pinus crowned Roman funerary monuments (Funerary architecture). Its wood useful for shipbuilding, its bark, needles and cones (κῶνος/ kônos) were used in medici…

[German version] (κηρός/ kērós, Lat. cera ). On melting (Plin. HN 21,83), the honeycombs of bees yielded cheap (Colum. 9,16,1) wax, which was bleached by boiling in sea water, adding bicarbonate of soda and then drying in the air (Plin. HN 21,84; cf. Dioscurides 2,83 Wellmann = 2,105 Berendes). In medicine it was used to make salves, patches (Plin. HN 22,117 and 30,70) and suppositories (Pharmacology). Small moulded items (κηροπλαστική/ kēroplastikḗ: Poll. 7,165) as toys for children (Aristoph. Nub. 878), toy figures (Plin. HN 8,215; Children's games, Dolls), household gods ( Lares: J…

[German version] (ἀνάγυρις, -ρος, ἄκοπον; anágyris, - ros, ákopon in Dioscorides 3,150 [1. 158 f.] = 3,157 [2. 360], Plin. HN 27,30 etc., modern Greek ἀνδράβανα; andrávana) is the common Mediterranean leguminous malodorous bush A. foetida L. with a tangy odour and cabbage-like flower, in antiquity used as a medicinal plant, e.g. the leaves as a laxative and the seed to induce vomiting. The proverb ἀνάγυριν κινεῖς [ anágyrin kineîs; 3.109] means to touch something unpleasant (cf. Zenob. 2,55 and 3,31). Hünemörder, Christian (Hamburg) Bibliography 1 M. Wellmann (ed.), Pedanii D…

[German version] (ὁ, ἡ κόρις/ kóris, Lat. cimex; especially Cimex lectularius, the common bedbug, a troublesome bloodsucking parasite). Aristophanes was the first to refer to the bedbug as a typical inhabitant of the bedsteads of poor people in a work of literature (Nub. 634, Ra. 115, and Plut. 541). That is the origin of the expression ‘not even to own a bedbug’ ( nec tritus cimice lectus, Mart. 11,32,1; cf. Catull. 23,2). As a bad parasite, the bedbug was also used synonymously for a matchmaker or literary critic (Plaut. Curc. 500; Anth. Pal. 11,322,6; Hor. …

[German version] (λίβανος; líbanos, λιβανωτός; libanōtós as a Semitic loan-word, Lat. tus). Especially frankincense, the resin from bushes of the Boswellia species (e.g. B. Carteri), burnt for its aromatic smell. The actual appearance of the bushes was unknown in Graeco-Roman antiquity (cf. Plin. HN 12,55-57). These bushes also grew in India and the coast of Somalia, but the Greeks only knew them from Arabia (Theophr. Hist. pl. 9,4,2; Plin. HN 12,51). In the eastern Mediterranean, incense was used for cathartic and apo…

[German version] The seeds of several legumes of the Vicieae group of genera of the order Leguminosae are called peas (Old High German arawiz, related to ὄροβος, órobos, and ἐρέβινθος, erébinthos). They have been cultivated for food in the Near East since the Mesolithic and in southern and central Europe since the Neolithic. Primarily they are Pisum sativum L. (also elatius and arvense, πίσ(σ)ον/ pís(s)on or πίσος/ písos, from which proper names such as Pisa and Piso derive), and also several varieties of chickpea, Cicer arietinum L., common in the East, named after the similarit…

[German version] Arabic (orig. Indian) name for the coral-red, poisonous seeds of the legume Abrus precatorius L. that have been used in India since antiquity in medicine, criminal science and as weights as ‘rati’ like those of Ceratonia (karat; seed of the carob tree), but which were probably not brought to Europe until after 1550 (according to Prosper Alpinus, 1553-1617, in 1592), in [1] pisa rubra, in [2. 343] pisum indicum minus coccineum, called ‘semen Jequiritii’ or ‘rosary peas’ by other botanists, especially common for rosaries like the stones of the oleaster.  Weights Hünemörd…

[German version] The ancient sources give varying accounts of the place of origin of the giraffe ( Camelopardalis girafa): Agatharchides (De mare rubro = Phot. bibl. 250,455b 4 B.) considers that it was among the Troglodytae in Nubia, Plin. HN 8,69 under the name nabun it had there in Ethiopia, Artemidorus of Ephesus (Str. 16,775) locates it in Arabia, whilst Paus. 9,21,2 places it in India. The name καμηλοπάρδαλις, camelopardalis ( -parda, -pardala) comes from similarities with the camel and panther: ‘it has the figure of a camel but the spots of a panther’ (Varro,…

[German version] Of the beetle order, whose name κολεόπτερα/ koleóptera Aristotle (Hist. an. 1,5,490a 13-15 and 4,7,552a 22f.) derives from the fact that their wings were under a cover (ἔλυτρον, élytron; crusta: Plin. HN 11,97), only a few species were distinguished. The popular name for them was κάνθαροι, kántharoi, Latin scarabaei. They form from larvae (κάμπαι, Aristot. Hist. an. 5,19,551b 24) or worms (σκώληκες, 5,19,552b 3, Latin vermes). The most important of the 112 species probably identified through more detailed information on them are the following: A. Ground beetle: 1. …

[German version] I. Botanical Ivy (κισσός/ kissós, ἕλιξ/ hélix, Latin hedera) represents the only European genus of Araliaceae. English ‘ivy’ as well as German Efeu and Eppich (another word for ivy;  Celery) are derived from Old High German ebihouui or eboue. Because of confusion with the rock-rose mentioned in Theophrastus (κίσθος/ kísthos, Hist. pl. 6,2,1), Pliny (HN 16,145) distinguishes between a male ( hedera mas) and a somewhat smaller female form ( h. femina). In his further statements on ivy, he also follows Theophrastus who in turn regards the ivy as being r…

[German version] (ὁ μῦς/ ho mŷs, in dialects σμῦς/ smŷs, σμίς/ smís, σμίνθος/ smínthos, σμίνθα/ smíntha; Latin mus, dimin. musculus; in this regard [4. 2,132]), representative of the family Muridae of rodents (Rodentia), rich in species, with constantly regrowing incisor teeth. The terms mentioned mostly refer to the long-tailed mice, the house mouse ( Mus musculus L.), wood mouse ( Apodemus sylvaticus L.), the harvest mouse that builds a nest of grass above the ground ( Micromys minutus Pallas) as well as the field mouse ( Microtus arvalis Pallas) that belongs to the vole family ( Arvico…

[German version] (Greek κάλαμος/ kálamos (Calamus [2]), Lat. (h)arundo). Phragmites communis and other species of grass are often mentioned in Theophrastus and Plinius (cf. the indexes of the Naturalis Historia s.v. harundo) as plants by and in lakes and rivers. The various applications of this 'extremely useful water plant' (Plin. HN 16,173: qua nulla aquatilium utilior) and related species - e.g., for thatched roofs and as arrows (see also Pen; Musical instruments [V B]) - are compiled in Plin. HN 16,156-173. Graminea Hünemörder, Christian (Hamburg)

[German version] The central European partridge ( Perdix perdix) can be found in Greece in the form of the rock-loving Rock partridge ( Alectoris graeca, πέρδιξ/ pérdix). The smaller partridge, which is found in Italy (which, unlike the rock partridge, does not have a red beak) is described only by Ath. 9,390b. Hünemörder, Christian (Hamburg)

[German version] (φῦκος; phŷkos, φυκίον; phykíon, φῦκος θαλάσσιος; phŷkos thalássios) originally denoted red algae used for dyeing clothes red and as a cosmetic (Lat. verb fucare): e.g. Rytiphloea tinctoria ( Clem.) Ag., but not the species Fucus L. The loan-word phycos (as bush frutex, Plin. HN 13,135) denotes not only the herb-like algae, but is extended to green algae like the sea lettuce ( Ulva lactuca). Pliny distinguishes (HN 13,136) three species: 1. the orseille or litmus lichen ( Roccella tinctoria L.), 2. perhaps some red algae (= Dioscorides 4,99 p. 2,255 Wellmann…

[German version] (the easily tameable gallinaceous bird Pavo cristatus, indigenous to India). According to unresolved etymology [1.vol. 2, 862; 2.vol. 2, 267] it was called ὁ ταώς/ taṓs, ταῶς/ taôs and Latin pavo or pava. Its introduction occurred probably in the 7th/6th cents. BC via Babylon (peacock throne) to Palestine and via Iran (hence Μηδικὸς ὄρνις/ Mēdikòs órnis, 'Median/Persian bird'; Diod. Sic 2,53 et passim) and the Middle East to Samos. There the peacock was the sacred animal in the temple of Hera (Antiphanes in Athens 14,655b; but on S…

[German version] A. Anatomy The popular collective term τὰ ὄστρεα/ tà óstrea was replaced by Aristot. Hist. an. 4,4,527b 35-528a 1 with ὀστρακόδερμα/ ostrakóderma. The corresponding Latin terms are ostreum and ostrea (Isid. Orig. 12,6,52), but this often means oyster, or concha (Plin. HN 9,40) in particular. In contrast to  Pliny, Aristot. Hist. an. 4,4,528a 12f. distinguishes bivalves (δίθυρα/ díthyra, modern: Bivalvia) from univalve gastropods (μονόθυρα/ monóthyra). Aristot., unlike Plin. HN 11,129, erroneously mentions a head in gastropods and bivalves (Pa…

[German version] (σμάραγδος/ smáragdos, Lat. smaragdus or zmaragdus). Greenish gemstone, variety of beryl, in the famous ring of  Polycrates [1] (in Hdt. 3,41) among others, one of the 12 stones of  Aaron (Ex 39,10). Theophr. De lapidibus 25 [1. 66] mentions the copper mines of  Cyprus and an island near Chalcedon as the main places where the stone is found. Plin. HN 37,62-75 distinguishes 12 types depending on their origin. Particularly transparent and shiny mirroring specimens were highly regarded. Hünemörder, Christian (Hamburg) Bibliography 1 D. E. Eichholz (ed.), Theophr…

Ὁ ὄφις/ ho óphis, as early as Hom. Il. 12,208; Latin anguis or, from its creeping way of moving, serpens; sometimes also generally ὁ δράκων/ ho drákōn (v.i. B. 3.; = óphis in Hom. Il. 12,202; Hes. Theog. 322 and 825), ἡ ἔχιδνα/ hē échidna (Hdt. 3,108; also as the snake-like monster Echidna and in a metaphorical sense for 'traitor/traitress', e.g. Aesch. Cho.  249), ἡ χέρσυδρος/ hē chérsydros (e.g. Nic. Ther. 359); Latin vipera (first at Cic. Har. resp. 50), coluber, colubra (from Plautus to Petronius only poetic). I. Zoology [German version] A. General The absence of snakes on certain i…

[German version] These predatorily living fresh-water fish (Salmo trutta L.) were first mentioned by Ambr. Exam. 5,3,7 as ' quite large variegated fish, called trout' ( varii maiores, quos vocant troctas; v.l. tructas), that commit their eggs to the water to develop by themselves ( ova generant ... et aquis fovenda committunt). This view is adopted by Isidore (Orig. 12,6,6) when deriving their name from their variegation ( varii et varietate) and by Hrabanus Maurus (De universo 8,5, PL 111,237) from him. In accordance with a proverb, Alexander Neckam (De naturis r…

[German version] The sweet chestnut ( Castanea sativa Mill.) already grew in southern Europe in early historic times. Theophrastus calls the fruit εὐβοική ( euboikḗ sc. karýa) and describes it in Hist. pl. 1,11,3 as enveloped in a leather-like skin. According to Hist. pl. 4,5,4, the tree was very common on Euboea and in the area around Magnesia. Its wood, that was by nature resistant to rotting (5,4,2, according to 5,4,4 even in water), is recommended as especially suitable for carpentry work exposed to the weather and t…

[German version] (σαρδόνυξ/ sardónyx, Latin sardonyx). Today a brown-and-white-banded variety of chalcedony, but in Antiquity a metal from the S. Mountains in India. Whether ancient gems allegedly made from sardonyx [1. e.g. pls.üü 15,52 and 18,42] in fact consist of this stone would be a matter for study. Hünemörder, Christian (Hamburg) Bibliography 1 F. Imhoof-Blumer, O. Keller, Tier- und Pflanzenbilder auf Münzen und Gemmen des klassischen Altertuns, 1889 (repr. 1972).

[German version] Named μέροψ, mérops by the Boeotians (Aristot. Hist. an. 6,1,559a3ff.); a colourful, warmth-loving bird of the Coraciiformes species, Merops apiaster L., said to feed its parents shortly after hatching (Plin. HN 10,99; drawing on Ps.-Aristot. Hist. an.9,13,615b24-32 and Ael. NA 11,30 [2]). It is said to brood in holes six feet deep in the ground. It was hunted because it fed on bees (Ps.-Aristot. Hist. an. 9,40,626a13). Servius derives the Latin name apiastra from this feeding pattern (Serv. Georg. 4,14). In Ger. glosses of the Middle Ages it is often…

[German version] This composite creature ( Monsters) (size of a donkey, legs of a deer, badger head with a gaping snout up to the ears and a single bone in place of teeth, similarity to a lion in the neck, chest and tail, cloven hooves, ability to imitate the human voice) in Ethiopia in Plin. HN 8,72f. and Solin. 52,34 should possibly be interpreted as the brown hyaena ( Hyaena brunnea) [1. 154]. However, it is probably a mythical animal that was passed on through the sources mentioned and Honorius Augustodunensis 1,12 ( Ceucocrota) [2. 54] and Jacob of Vitry, Historia orientalis c. 88 …

ψῆτται/ psȇttai (etym. ψήχειν/ psḗchein, 'rub off'; Lat. pisces plani, e.g. Plin. HN 9,72) is the name mostly used to designate the family of flatfish ( Pleuronectidae). It was difficult to differentiate between the numerous species (cf. Ath. 7,329e-330b). According to schol. Pl. Symp. 191d, ψῆττα/ psȇtta is the Attic word for βούγλωσσος/ boúglōssos, 'ox- tongue'. [German version] Main species 1. Plaice, Pleuronectes, a) the ψῆττα in the strictest sense. Aristot Mot. an. 17,714a 6-8 refers to its characteristic asymmetry, Plat. Symp. 191d points out how ea…

[German version] This name corresponds to the north-north-westerly wind Κιρίας blowing from Cape Circe to Cumae and interfering with the Phocians' navigation from Sicily to Massalia. As an originally local wind of Gallia narbonensis (Plin. HN 2,121) that reached all the way to Ostia, it was later included in the wind rose (not yet in Vitruvius).  Winds Hünemörder, Christian (Hamburg) Bibliography W. Böker, s.v. Winde, RE 8 A, 2306ff.

[German version] (Κολοκύνθη/-τη/ kolokýnt(h)ē, Lat. cucurbita) denoted in Antiquity the bottle gourd ( Lagenaria vulgaris Ser.), shown in pictures as early as in Ancient Egypt, rather than the pumpkin ( Cucurbita pepo L.), which was not introduced from America until the 16th cent. Considerable attestations can be found in Ath. 2,58f-60b, primarily from comedians from Epicharmus onwards. The denotation sikýa Indikḗ ('Indian pumpkin') refers to its alleged introduction from India. The shells were fashioned into bottles (cf. Pall. Agric. 4,10,33; Columella 11,3,49: Alexandrinae c…

[German version] (ψιττακός/ psittakós or -η/ ē, or σιττακός/ sittakós or -η/ ē, Latin psittacus or sittacus, siptace, Plin. HN 10,117), the lavishly colourful birds introduced from India. They were highly prized in their homeland as denizens of royal aviaries, as showpieces and gifts (Ps. Callisthenes 3,18; Cleitarchus in Str. 15,1,69; Callixeinus in Ath. 5,201b; Megasthenes in Arr. Ind. 1,15,8). Ctesias was the first to show knowledge of them (Indika 3 = fr. 57,3 βιττακός/ bittakós; similarly Nearchus FGrH 113 F 9). Besides their origin, Aristotle (Hist. an. 7(8),12,5…

[German version] (σιλλικύπριον/ sillikýprion, κίκι/ kíki, κρότων/ krótōn, Lat. ricinus, the latter however also the name of a species of louse, e.g. in Columella 6,2,6 and 7,13,1), i.e. Ricinus communis ( Euphorbiacea arbor mirabilis or Palma Christi), originating from Africa. It grew wild in Greece, but in Egypt, several species were cultivated along the shores of lakes and rivers (cf. Diod. Sic. 1,34,11). Hdt. 2,94 provides information on the extraction of the oil, suitable for lamps but of unpleasant smell, either by cold pressing the cracked fruits of the kíki or by roasting and…

[German version] (ἀρρενικόν or ἀρσεν-; arrhenikón, arsen-). In antiquity the yellow orpiment, identical to the auripigmentum, different from the red arsenic sulphide σανδαράκη [ sandrákē; 1. 158-160] also found in mines, called realgar in the Middle Ages. According to Dioscorides 5s 5,104 and 105 [2. 74f.] = 5,120 and 121 [3. 531 f.], both were used not only as paints but also, burned and crushed, as cauterizing and astringent agents, especially for hair removal and also for ulcers etc. (cf. Plin. HN 34,177f.). Hünemörder, Christian (Hamburg) Bibliography 1 D. Goltz, Studien z…

[German version] (πίθηκος/ píthēkos, simia, Vulgar Latin clura), only in Africa and southern Asia; earlier instances on Pithecusa (Ischia) (Xenagoras fr. 13) disputed by Plin. HN 3,82 (cf. the legend Ov. Met. 14,92 ff.). Those known in antiquity (Aristot. Hist. an. 2,8,502 a 16-b 24; Plin. HN 8,216) were: 1. the tailless Turkish monkey (πίθηκος), 2. the tailed guenon (κῆβος/ kȇbos, κερκοπίθηκος/ kerkopíthēkos), 3. grey baboon (κυνοκέφαλος/ kynoképhalos, Latin satyrus). Species 1 and 2 were popular, often portrayed [cf. 1, ch. 3 and figs. 13-15] and (because of th…

[German version] ( Alces alces, American ‘moose’) A large northern species of deer, originally common across all of Central Europe [1]; its earliest ancient reference is found in Pliny (HN 8,39). He describes it similar to a mule ( iumentum), but with a long neck and ears. He only knows of this species from hearsay, as with the related Scandinavian achlis with its protruding upper lip, forcing the animal to walk backwards while grazing. Its (slender) legs without knee joints supposedly forced the achlis to lean against trees when sleeping. To catch an achlis in the  Hercynia silva , one need…

[German version] (κάστωρ; kástōr, fiber, Old Latin feber and as a loan word castor). The amphibian marsh dweller is slightly broader than the otter (ἔνυδρις), has strong teeth for night-time cutting of aspens (κερκίδαι) and a hard pelt. It was described also under the name of σαθέριον/ sathérion or σατύριον/ satýrion and λάταξ/ látax, by Aristot. Hist. an. 8,5,594b31-595a6 (= Plin. HN 8,109; Ael. NA 6,34). In antiquity it was apparently eradicated early in Italy and Greece. In Gaul, Spain, and Central and Eastern Europe, especially on the Black Se…

[German version] [1] Lettuce plant Lettuce (θρίδαξ/ thrídax, also θρύ-, θρόδαξ/ thrý-, thródax, θριδακίνη/ thridakínē, Lactuca sativa L.), the lettuce plant known in several varieties (Theophr. Hist. pl. 7,4,5 et passim), whose cultivation and protection against pests, as well as culinary and medical uses, are described by Theophrastus. Thus, according to Theophr. Hist. pl. 7,6,2, its juice is said to help against dropsy and eye sores. Lettuce has been cultivated in Europe, North Africa and Asia for a long time …

[German version] (ἀετός; aetós, aquila). Most distinguished bird of antiquity (Il. 8,247; 24,315; Aesch. Ag. 112; Pind. Pyth. 1,6 al.; Plin. HN 10,6). Description of the six types in Aristot. Hist. an. 8(9),32,618 b 18-619 b 12 and with alterations in Plin. HN 10,6-8. (1) πύγαργος, νεβροφόνος ( pýgargos, nebrophónos; ‘deer calf killer’) (in Plin. no. 2), with white tailfeathers, living on plains, in forests, mountains and in towns, perhaps snake eagle [1. 208]. (2) πλάγγος, νηττοφόνος ( anataria) or μορφνός, Homer. (= περκνός, Il. 24,316), in damp lowlands or by lakes,…

[German version] ( feniculum first in Plaut. Pseud. 814, MLat. feniculum or fenuclum, μάραθ(ρ)ον; márath(r)on). An umbellifer ( Umbelliferae) introduced from the eastern Mediterranean. It differs from the closely related  dill ( anethum ) because of its size and its being perennial. As a vegetable and an astringently scented herb (cf. e.g., Plin. HN 19,186), it was particularly grown in the wine-growing areas of Germany [1. 26] (sown in February in Italy according to Pall. Agr. 3,24,9). The well-known Attic v…

[German version] The name given to umbellate plants from the Araliaceae family that had large, shiny leaves and were suitable for making wreaths, namely the  ivy (κισσός, ἕλιξ, hedera), sacred to Dionysus/Bacchus, and several umbelliferous plants. The following pot-herbs are meant in particular: 1) Celery ( apium graveolens L.), as σέλινον ( sélinon) mentioned already in Hom. Il. 2,776 and Od. 5,72; as garden celery, σέλινον κηπαῖον ( sélinon kēpaîon), celery is referred to in Dioscorides for its cooling, pain-relieving and anti-inflammatory effect (3,64 [1. 75f.…

[German version] One of the few members of the Solanacea family indigenous to Europe, this plant, Solanum dulcamara L. (γλυκύπικρον, dulcamara or amaradulcis), is so called because of the taste of its red, slightly toxic berries. It is not so much the berries, whose bitter-sweet qualities have a mildly narcotic effect, as the twigs that are used: their decoction induces sweating; in Dioscorides 4,72 (1. 230f.) = 4,73 [2. 406f.], though called στρύχνον ὑπνωτικόν ( strýchnon hypnōtikón), used for pain relief.  Solanacea Hünemörder, Christian (Hamburg) Bibliography 1 M. Wellmann (…

(Πλούταρχος/ Ploútarchos). [German version] [1] Tyrant of Eretria, 4th cent. BC Tyrant of Eretria [1]. As the guest-friend of Meidias [2], the rich opponent of Demosthenes (Dem. Or. 21,110; 21,200), he turned to Athens for help in 349 BC when the exiled Cleitarchus [1] and Callias [9] of Chalcis, supported by Phalaecus of Phocis and Philippus [4] II, threatened his position (Aeschin. In Ctes. 86-88 with schol.). Phocion led the inglorious and expensive expedition in early 348 BC (Dem. Or. 5,5 with schol.; …

[German version] For the Greeks, the name κέδρος/ kédros (  cedrus ) described, among other things, various species of juniper, such as the prickly juniper (also ὀξύκεδρος/ oxýkedros: Juniperus oxycedrus L.) and the common juniper ( J. communis L.) which grows in the higher mountains of Greece. The latter is also called κεδρίς; kedrís (Theophr. Hist. pl. 1,9,4; 1,10,6; 1,12,1), while ἄρκευθος/ árkeuthos is thought to refer to the Phoenician juniper ( J. phoenicea), whose berries only ripen in the second year (ibid. 1,9,3; 3,12,3 f.). Six species occur in Greece today…

[German version] The pome genus Pyrus L. (pears, Latin pirus, pirum) consists of around 20 wild species (ἀχράς/ achrás, ἄχερδος/ ácherdos), which occur in the areas of the Black Sea and the Mediterranean, and many cultivated breeds (ὄγχνη/ ónchnē, in Homer ἄπιος/ ápios), developed by hybridization since the Neolithic Age. Mainly imported into Greece from the Levant, they were cultivated especially in the Peloponnese, which was for this reason called Ἀπία/ Apía (Ath. 14,63,650bc), for the production of must. Pears were consecrated to Hera, Aphrodite, Venus and Pomon…

[German version] In ancient sources, Greek ἰτέα/ itéa and its related forms, ἡ οἰσύα/ oisýa (Poll. 7,176), ἡ ἑλίκη/ helíkē (especially in Arcadia, according to Theophr. Hist. pl. 3,13,7) and Latin salix each designate in a non-specific way (cf. the descriptions in Theophr. l.c.; Plin. HN 16,174-177) one of the species of the Salicaceae family growing around the Mediterranean. Its many forms include the white willow ( S. alba L.), crack willow ( S. fragilis L.), basket willow ( S. viminalis L.), goat willow ( S. caprea L.), almond-leafed willow ( S. triandra L.) and purple willow ( S. purpure…

[German version] Athenaeus (9,395D-E, drawing on Alexander from Myndus, Περὶ ὀρνίθων; Perì ornithōn, ‘On birds’) recorded that several varieties of the family of Anatidae, widely dispersed throughout the world , were found in the Mediterranean region. These were: 1) the very common stock duck (or wild duck, mallard) ( Anas platyrhynchos), νῆττα; nêtta, lat. anas (diminutive form νηττάριον; nēttárion, lat. aneticula); 2) the smaller βοσκάς; boskás, perhaps the migratory garganey (or querquedule) ( Anas querquedula), but according to Gossen [1. 418] the red-crested pochard ( Nett…

[German version] (σκάρος/ skáros, Latin scarus). In the 1st cent. AD this up to 490 mm long colourful Scarus cretensis (= Sparisoma cretense) was the saltwater fish most prized for its taste by the Romans according to Plin. HN 9,62f., and was also noticed by Greek poets (Athen. 7,319f-320c). Pliny mentions as a zoological peculiarity its exclusively vegetable diet (φυκίον/ phykíon, seaweed, in Aristot. Hist. an. 7(8),2,591a 14f.; herbae in Plin. HN 9,62) and - connected with that - its alleged rumination (Aristot. Hist. an. 7(8),2,591b 22: μηρυκάζειν/ mērykázein = ruminare; cf. Ael. …

[German version] (σκίλλη/ skíllē, Latin scilla), Urginea maritima of the Liliaceae family. In the Mediterranean area, metre-high flowering stems with numerous white and red blooms issue from its large bulb [1. 114f. and figs. 190-192] in autumn before leaf-formation (Theophr. Hist. pl. 7,13,6). According to Dioscorides 2,171 Wellmann = 2,202 Berendes the spicy-flavoured bulb was roasted on a fire wrapped in clay or wheat dough, or stewed in a lidded pot. It was then cut up and dried in portions on line…

[German version] (μύρρα/ mýrrha, σμύρνα/ smýrna or σμύρνη/ smýrnē as a loan word from the Semitic; Latin murra, murrha, myrrha). The aromatic resin of the true myrrh tree Commiphora abyssinica Engl., which grows to an altitude of 300 to 2000 metres, is imported from Southern Arabia, Eritrea and Northern Abyssinia and obtained by tapping young branches. When heated, it gives off a pleasant aroma that has been prized since time immemorial by the peoples of the Southeastern Mediterranean region (cf. for example Prov. 7,17; HL 1,12 et passim; Mt 2,11). Theophr. H. plant. 9,4,2-9 provi…

[German version] The large annual varieties of the generally tropical family of Cucurbitaceae with sizeable berries all come from the Near East. In antiquity the different varieties were often confused with one another. The real cucumber Cucumis sativus L. (σίκυς; síkys, σίκυος; síkyos, ἀγγούριον; angoúrion, Lat. cucumis) is encountered in Plin. HN 19,64-66 as a vegetable grown in hothouses ( intra specularium munimenta) to ensure a constant fresh supply for Tiberius. Theophr. Hist. pl. 7,1,6 describes the process of leaving the seeds in milk mead ( lac mulsum) for two days before…

[German version] Of the genus Rubus (blackberry, βάτος; bátos, cf. Dioscorides 4,37 [1. 196f.; 2. 384f.], μόρον, μορέα; móron, moréa) that is rich in species and tends towards hybridization, the most common in the Mediterranean are Rubus ulmifolius and tomentosus. The raspberry Rubus idaeus is only found up to the mountains of Macedonia and Thessaly; it does not grow on the Ida. The fruit resembles the mulberry, particularly the Morus nigra (μορέα, μορέη) that was introduced to Greece from the Caucasus around 400 BC, the colour of which, according to Ovid (Met. …

[German version] (φιλύρα/ philýra, Latin tilia, perhaps derived from πτελέα/ pteléa, ‘elm’). Three species, namely the summer, winter and silver lime tree, were known to the Greeks and Romans from their mountains and they described them very precisely. Theophr. Hist. pl. 3,10,4-5 and Plin. HN 16,65 were certainly wrong to differentiate a male form from a female one. The fairly soft wood (Plin. HN 16,207) served ‘1,000 purposes’ (Plin. HN 18,266), namely for boxes of all kinds, goblets, measures of volume …

The class of cuttlefish called Cephalopoda (‘Cephalopod’) belongs to the μαλάκια/ malákia that live in the sea (cf. Plin. HN 32,149), Lat. mollia, modern molluscs, and to the subphylum Conchifera. Today's system differentiates the two orders of the ten-armed cuttlefish ( Decabrachia) and eight-armed cuttlefish ( Octobrachia). [German version] I. Decabrachia Of the Decabrachia that have, in addition to the eight tentacles on the head (πλεκτάναι/ plektánai: Aristot. Hist. an. 4,1,524a 3 f.), two longer, retractable tentacles (προβοσκίδες/ proboskídes: ibid. 523b 29-33), Ar…

[German version] English name for the representatives of the Blattaria order of insects which can be found throughout the world in c. 3,000 types since the Carboniferous, one of them the German cockroach Blatella germanica. The Latin name is usually blatta; in Isid. Orig. 12,8,7, however, this name is used for a type of butterfly ─ actually a moth whose name was derived from its colour: when touched, its wings leave a blackish-blue spot on the hand ( blatteum colorem, ‘crimson’). In this text, the only zoological piece of information about the animal is its aversion to lig…

[German version] Two shrubs of the genus Sambucus in the family Caprifoliaceae occur in Europe, the common elder ( Sambucus nigra L., sa(m)bucus, ἀκτῆ; aktê) and the red-berried elder ( Sambucus racemosa L.; Verg. Ecl. 10,27: Pan was said to be red because of the berries of the ebulum, according to Serv. ad loc. a comparable plant). A third type is the herbaceous, black-fruited dwarf elder ( Sambucus ebulus L., ebulus/um, χαμαιάκτη; chamaiáktē in Dioscorides 4,173,2 Wellmann = 4,172 Berendes; Plin. HN 24,51: chamaeactis or helion acte). A good description of the species is found …

[German version] (ἐρείκη; ereíkē is first mentioned in Aesch. Ag. 295 and Theophr. Hist. pl. 1,14,2). The genus Erica comprises c. 500 species, most of all African shrubs and trees. In the maquis of Greece, however, only three species of the Ericaceae family are represented, amongst them the brier Erica arborea l. which grows like a tree and flowers in spring; in contrast, the popular honey flora, mentioned by Pliny (HN 11,42) and Dioscorides (1,88 [1. 82] and 1,117 [2. 106]), belongs to the autumn flowering ones. In Italy, on the other hand, el…

[German version] The fairly large Common Tuna ( Thynnus thynnus L., Greek ὁ θύννος/ thýnnos, Attic also ἡ θυννίς/ thynnís - primarily the female: Aristot. Hist. an. 5,9,543a 9; Ath. 7,303c-304b - or ἡ θύννη/ thýnnē: e.g. Opp. Hal. 1,756; Latin thynnus or thynnis) and the smaller Albacore ( Albacora thynnus L., perhaps αὐλωπίας/ aulōpías, Ael. NA 13,17) were the economically most important edible fish of the Mediterranean and Black Seas and were therefore given many names. The young (under 1 year) were called πηλαμύς/ pēlamýs or πηλαμίς/ pēlamís (Aristot. Hist. an. 6,17,571a 11, from pēlós…

[German version] ( ginestra) includes several mostly yellow-flowering genera of bushes of Tribus Genistae of the leguminosae. These are Genista L., the two kinds of prickly broom, Ulex and Calycotome ( Aspalathos), and especially the Spanish broom Spartium junceum L. (σπάρτον/ spárton: Hom. Il. 2,135; σπαρτίον/ spartíon and σπάρτη/ spártē: Dioscorides, 4,154 p. 2,300 Wellmann = 4,155 p. 454 Berendes; on its cultivation: Columella 4,31,1 and 11,2,19). From this species people have, since antiquity, been using the long branches with few leaves …

[German version] Originally probably ‘corn’ in the sense of grain [1]. In the historical period, however, the name applied especially to spelt as opposed to common wheat ( triticum). Synonyms are ador and alicastrum; evidently a short form of far adoreum. Plin. HN 18,82 maintains that the zones of cultivation for far (emmer) and ζειά/ zeiá (ζέα/ zéa) are mutually exclusive. According to Dion. Hal. Ant. Rom. 2,25,2, however, these two kinds of grain, along with arinca (ὄλυρα; ólyra) as grown in Gaul, Italy and elsewhere, are identical. 3 kinds of the highly cold-resistant …

[German version] (sc. venti), Greek ἀπόγειοι ἀνέμοι ( apógeioi ánemoi), e.g. Aristot. Mund. 4,394 b13-15, are the winds that blow offshore after sunset, i.e. out to sea, that make it easier for the fishermen to leave the harbour by sunrise. Their counterparts often mentioned simultaneously with them are the τροπαῖαι ( tropaîai) blowing in from the sea with which it is possible to return easily during the day. The calm between them is unpleasant [1]. Hünemörder, Christian (Hamburg) Bibliography 1 R. Böker, s. v. Winds, RE VIII A, 2245,43 ff.

[German version] The brown bear ( Ursus arctos; ἄρκτος/ árktos, Lat. ursus) occurred widely in southern and central Europe into the Roman imperial period. Aristotle [6] is very familiar with it: mating in December, birth of usually one-two cubs during hibernation (until March; Aristot. Hist. an. 6,30,579a 18-28), possible owing to reserves of fat; the bear eats everything (it even likes honey), but above all meat, such as that of deer, wild boar and cattle (ibid. 7(8),5,594b 5-17). Aristotle also gives a d…

[German version] (Latin) corresponds to κάρδαμον/ kárdamon according to Cic. Tusc. 5,99 and describes a type of cress, probably garden cress ( Lepidium sativum), which is mentioned in Xen. Cyr. 1,1,8 as something the ordinary Persian ate with bread. Here it probably means the seeds and not the leaves, which are eaten as salad in present-day Greece and Italy. Both Theophr. Hist. pl. 1,12,1 and Plin. HN. 19,186 mention the mustard-like, sharp taste of kárdamon, and the quick germination is also stressed in Plin. HN 19,117 and 154. For Italy, Columella 11,3,14 recommends…

[German version] (ῥόα/ rhóa, σίδη/ sídē, malum punicum or granatum; its flower, called κύτινος/ kýtinos and given as a loan word in Plin. HN 23,110ff., has strange medicinal benefits) The species Punica granatum L. grows wild in the Near East from Kurdistan to Afghanistan. It had probably been naturalized since the 16th dynasty in Egypt (around 1600 BC) and in southern Europe since the Neolithic Period, probably by the Phoenicians. The pomegranate as an attribute of Astarte and symbol of fertility because of the many seeds in i…