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[German version] (κοντάκιον, κονδάκιον; kontákion, kondákion; from κοντός, ‘parchment roll’). Name given in later times to a genre of Byzantine hymns documented first in the 6th cent. AD. The kontakion consists of 18 to 24 metrically equal stanzas (so-called oíkoi, οἶκοι), preceded by the metrically differing prooemium ( koukoúlion, κουκούλιον). The individual stanzas are connected by acrostichs ( Acrostich) and have a common refrain (the ephýmnion or akroteleútion, ἐφύμνιον, ἀκροτελεύτιον). K…

[German version] (Ełišē). Author of a history of the Vardanids and the Armenian wars in the Armenian language, describing the uprising of the Armenian people under the leadership of Vardan Mamikonyan against the Sassanid occupation forces in AD 450/1. However, E. did not himself witness the historical events which he describes, but is likely to have lived in the 6th cent. AD. It was his aim to provide a martyrological anchor for the foundation of the Armenian church.…

[German version] (σύντομον; sýntomon). As a specimen of Byzantine liturgical poetry the s. lies between the kontákion and the kanṓn [2], but without having achieved their popularity. In the liturgy of the Orthodox Church its four to nine strophes are inserted between the verses of psalms, and for this reason a s. is also called a stichērón (στιχηρόν). Presumably it can be traced to the poet and hymnographer Kyprianos (1st half of the 8th cent.). Hymn IV. Savvidis, Kyriakos (Bochum) Bibliography J. Szövérf…

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(Θεοδοσιόπολις/ Theodosiópolis, Θεοδοσιούπολις/ Theodosioúpolis). [German version] [1] Modern Ras al-Ain, Syria T. in Osroene (in northern Mesopotamia), according to Procop. BP 2,19,29 (cf. Aed. 2,2,16) on the Ḫabur about 40 miles (= 60 km) from Dara, the village of Resaeina (= Ras al-Ain at the source of the Ḫabur) elevated c. AD 383 by Theodosius [2] I to a city (Malalas 13,40 p. 345 Dindorf). Iustinianus [1] I further increased the fortification of T., which was situated at the end of the Byzantine Limes (VI. C.), with forts (Procop. A…

[German version] [1] Patriarch of Constantinople 5th cent. AD (Γεννάδιος, Gennádios) Patriarch of  Constantinople AD 458-471. As an advocate at the Council of  Calchedon (451), he opposed acceptance of the Christology of  Cyrillus of Alexandria. Savvidis, Kyriakos (Bochum) Bibliography F. Diekamp, Analecta Patristica, 1938, 54-72 (73-108). [German version] [2] Priest in Marseilles, 5th cent. AD Priest in Marseilles associated with the Semipelagians, who died between 492 and 505. Complementary to  Hieronymus' De viris illustribus, he compiled under the same title a c…

(Λεόντιος; Leóntios). [German version] [1] Ptolemaic commander of Seleucid Pieria, late 3rd cent. BC Ptolemaic commander of Seleucea Pieria; in 219 BC, he surrendered the city to Antiochus [5] III after initial resistance in a hopeless position. Ameling, Walter (Jena) [German version] [2] General of…

This item can be found on the following maps: Sassanids | Pontos Euxeinos | Syria | Byzantium | Urarṭu | Christianity | Xenophon | | Commerce | Hellenistic states | Colonization | Limes | Pompeius | Patricius (Τραπεζοῦς/ Trapezoûs; Lat. Trapezus; the modern Trabzon, Turkey). [German version] I. Geographical Situation A Greek city in the region of Colchis (Xen. An. 4,8,22; 5,3,2) on the southeast coast of the Black Sea (Pontos Euxeinos), situated in a favourable setting with a secure acropolis. T. may have been first founded as early as 756 BC (…

[German version] A legend from  Edessa tells of a young Byzantine man (5th cent.) who left his wife on their wedding night to live an ascetic life [1. 36-44]. The figure of A., who became the archetype of the ascetic, was also known in Constantinople in the 9th cent., where Melodus († 833) composed a hymn in honour of A. The discovery of a Greek version that had escaped notice for a long period and which agrees in its main traits with a Syriac version of the 6th cent., but without being its translation [2. 56c], again raises the question of the original's language. Other Greek versions of the A.- vita…

(Κολχίς; Kolchís, Lat. Colchis). [German version] I. Historical overview from early times Area of the east coast of the Black Sea ( Pontos Euxeinos) stretching as far as western Transcaucasia, bordered to the north by the Great Caucasus and by Meskheti to the south. The favourable climatic and soil conditions (fertile river valleys, forests and a proliferation of natural resources) meant that advanced civilizations emerged in C. as early as the 3rd millennium BC. Kulcha is mentioned in Urartian documents together with the capital city Ildamuša (which flourished in the 8th cent.…

[German version] (Ταβώρ/ Tabṓr). Conically tapering mountain with a broad plateau at the peak (about 1,200 m × 400 m) in the Plain of Jezreel in Israel. According to Jos 19:22, the territories of the tribes of Zebulun, Issachar and Naphtali bordered on Mount T. In the Biblical texts, no indications are given of any cultic function of the mountain. Neither is there any connection with the cult of the Rhodian god Zeus Atabyrios ([1]; Rhodes). It has been possible to demonstrate Iron Age settlement [2…

(Τύχων/ Týchōn). [German version] [1] Ithyphallic god Ithyphallic god (Str. 13,1,12), associated with Priapus (Diod. Sic. 4,6,4), but primarily with Hermes (Clem. Al. Protreptikos 102,1; Theognostus, Anecdota Oxoniensia 2, p. 33,31 Cramer), as in the only inscriptional record, from Magnesia [2] on the Maeander [2] [2. 136 no. 203]; also with Aphrodite (Herodian. 1,37,15 Lentz; Hesych. s. v. T.; cf. Apollophanes PCG 2 fr. 6). His efficacy was considered limited (Anth. Pal. 9,334,1), but Alexander [II 15…

[German version] (Ταράσιος; Tarásios). Patriarch of Constantinople ( c. AD 730-806), of noble descent, secretary to the empress Irene, who had him elected patriarch in 784 in connexion with her efforts to restore iconolatry. The Synod (Synodos II.D.) at Nicaea in 787, convened by him to solve the iconoclasm controversy (Syrian dynasty), was able at the second attempt to resolve to restore the worship of icons. It is to him that resolutions made at the synod are due; he had already written them in 754. Savvidis, Kyriakos (Bochum) Bibliography Editions: PG 98, 1424-1428 (Apologeticus)  PG …

(Ἰωάννης; Iōánnēs). Well-known persons i.a.: I. [1] the Evangelist, I. [4] Chrysostomos, bishop of Constantinople and Homilet, I. [18] Malalas, author of the world chronicle, I. [25] of Gaza, rhetor and poet, I. [33] of Damascus, the theologian, I. [39] Baptistes. [1] I. the Evangelist [German version] A. Tradition and criticism According to the inscriptions, the author of a  Gospel (Jo), of three letters and the Apocalypse in the NT is called I. (= J.; the name appears only in Apc. 1:1; 1:4; 1:9; 22:8). Since the end of the 2nd cent. (Iren. adv…

[German version] (τροπάριον/ tropárion, from τρόπος/ trópos in the sense of 'mode, note'). Originally a short strophe in free-rhythm Byzantine prose with the character of a prayer and a melody resembling psalmody. The …

(Ἀνδρέας; Andréas). [German version] [1] Personal physician of Ptolemaeus Philopator Originally from Carystus. Personal physician of Ptolemaeus Philopator, was murdered before the battle of Raphia in the year 215 BC (Pol. 5,81). The son of Chrysareus, he was a Herophilean ( Herophilus), who wrote about medicaments (this was especially so in his writing Narthex), midwifery, poisons, doxography and the history of medicine. He commented on Hippocrates, even if he did not write any actual commentaries. Eratosthenes (EM s. v. Bibliaegisthus) accused h…

[German version] I. Greek (Μάξιμος; Máximos) [German version] [I 1] Maximus of Tyre Author of lectures mainly on ethics and theology, 2nd cent. AD, [1] Maximus of Tyrus AD 2nd cent.; author of 41 short dialéxeis (lectures), according to the most important MS (Cod. Parisinus graecus 1962) delivered in Rome (the Suda dates a visit to the reign of Commodus, AD 180-191). His concepts are simple yet rhetorically sophisticated (frequent use of comparisons, quotations from poetry, mythological and historical examples); his main topic is ethics, but he also touches on physics, theology and epistemology, e.g. pleasure ( …

(Βασιλεῖος; Basileîos). [German version] [1] Basil the Great Theologian and bishop of Caesarea/Cappadocia.…

[German version] I. Greek Biblical poetry (BP) started with the early church poetry of hymns and psalms that were part of devotional service. Extensive biblical quotations or poetic paraphrases mark the origin of BP. Then as later, it is impossible to separate literary from liturgical poetry. Thus the heirmós (εἱρμός) Χριστὸς γεννᾶται, for example, is taken from the beginning of a  homily of  Gregorius of Nyssa (PG 36, 312ff.). The  kontakion, developed in Constantinople around 500, marks the high point of BP. One of the leading figures for t…

[German version] (Isaac). S. I (the Great), born between AD 340 and 350, died AD 438/9. Patriarch of Armenia, son of the patriarch Nerses the Great; last representative of the Gregorians (descendants of Gregory the Illuminator, Armenia [B]). S. grew up in Constantinopl…

(Φιλάρετος; Philáretos). [German version] [1] Greek writer on medicine Greek writer on medicine. A text which bears P.’s name and ultimately goes back to Galen’s theories about the pulse, is a Byzantine revision (from the 9th cent.?) of the text De pulsibus ad Antonium (= Gal. 19,629-642 K.) which was influenced by pneumat (Pneumatists). Whether or not P. was the author of the original text or the revised version, is a matter of controversy. A connection with Philagrius cannot be ruled out as his name i…

(Μηνᾶς; Menâs). [German version] [1] Spartiate, 421 BC One of the Spartiates who in 421 BC swore the Peace of Nicias and the symmachy with Athens (Thucyd. 5,19,2; 5,24,1). In the interval between these treaties he was one of the emissaries who, by the terms of the peace, were to guarantee the transfer of Amphipolis to A…

[German version] (Παυλικιανοί/ Paulikianoí; Armenian Pawlikeank'). Heretical Christian group of Armenian origin in the Byzantine Empire, whose teachings survive only in secondary sources of Orthodox polemic. The accounts of the Armenian katholikós John of Odzun (8th cent. AD) and of Petros Sikeliotes (9th cent. AD) are particularly important. According to these the Paulicians were described as an offshoot from the Manichaeans (Mani), whose dualistic doctrine postulated only an individualistic approach to faith and rejected the OT (Bible), the sacraments ( sacramentum …

[German version] (Λᾶζαι, Λάζοι; Lâzai, Lázoi). People of the Caucasus mountains who migrated into Colchis about 100-75 BC, initially settled on the river Phasis (modern Rioni; Plin. HN 6,12; Ptol. 5,10,5) and later spread widely. About AD 300, they founded the Lazic state in the belief they were the true descendants of the Colchi. Colchis then became known as the Lazica (Λαζική/ Lazikḗ; in Old Georgian sources also Egrisi). In the Byzantine period the Lazi were the cause of battles between imperial and Persian troops because of the important trade routes across the Caucasus. von Bredow, Iris (Bietigheim-Bissingen) Savvidis, Kyriakos (Bochum) Bibliography H. Brakmann, O. Lordkipanidse, s.v. Iberia II (Georgia), RAC 17, 70ff. A. Herrmann, s.v. L., RE 12, 1042f.

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(Ἀνθίμος; Anthímos). [German version] [1] Greek doctor Greek doctor who soon after AD 511 wrote a brief Latin treatise in letter form about dietetics, De observatione ciborum ad Theodoricum regem Francorum epistula. As a medical treatise and book of remedies, the work offered a description of the dietary customs of a Germanic tribe. It is written in a language associated with one of the colloquial languages of the people of his time, and his region (vulgar Latin). Schmitt-Pantel, Pauline (Paris) Bibliography Ed.: E. Liechtenhan, 1963 (CML VIII 1). [German version] [2] Bishop of Trap…

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[German version] A. Hellenism and Roman era The highlands south and south-west of the Caucasus. Main river is the  Araxes (today Aras). Northern border river Cyrus (today Kura), also upper reaches and tributaries of Tigris and Euphrates. Lakes: Lichnitis (today Sevan), Thospitis (today Van) and Matianus (Urmia). Holy mountain  Baris (5165 m, today Ararat), preserves the pre-classical name of Urartu of a state with Hurrite population, who under Persian rule became part of the Haikh (= Armenians). The Indo-European language was similar to Phry…

(Φιλόπονος/ Philóponos, 'the industrious'; also called Γραμματικός/ Grammatikós, 'the teacher'). [German version] I. Life P. was a Christian polymath who lived in Alexandria [1] around AD 490-575 and was a disciple of Ammonius [12]. His cognomen may have been inspired by his enthusiasm for his work or by his membership in the brotherhood of the philóponoi (φιλόπονοι). He was sharply criticized for his Christian faith by the Neoplatonist scholar Simplicius, a member of the Academy in Athens, after Emperor Justinian [1] had closed that institution in …

[German version] A. Greek…

[German version] The A. refer to themselves as hayk', while the term A. is used by the Persians (Behistun inscription) and the Greeks (Herodotus and Xenophon). In the 6th cent. BC, the A. immigrated and intermixed with the autochthonous Urartians. After enduring Median, Persian, Macedonian and Seleucid domination, the A. King Artashes won the fight for independence in AD 189. Following the Christianization of the country, Armenian literature (AL) emerged in the early 5th cent., with Maštoc's ( Mesrop in…

(Θεοφύλακτος; Theophýlaktos). [German version] [1] T. Simocatta Byzantine historian, 7th cent. (Θ. Σιμοκάτης; Th. Simokátēs). Byzantine historian, born in Egypt, jurist and high official in Constantinople under the emperor Heraclius [7] (610-641). The family name Simokates is not recorded prior to the Suda, the spelling with -tt- is modern. Author of a 'General History' (οἰκουμενικὴ ἱστορία/ oikoumenikḕ historía, 8 bks), designed as a continuation of Menander [13] Protector, on the reign of the emperor Mauricius (582-602…

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Savvidis, Kyriakos (Bochum) [German version] [1] Persian martyr, died in 599 (Σιρή; Sirḗ). Persian martyr, died 559 AD. S. was the daughter of a respected Persian magus, who after her conversion to Christianity was publicly executed by hanging under the Persian king Chosroes [5] I.…

Supposedly an ancient Latin praenomen (Liber de praenominibus 4), but historically only attested (with meaning ‘The Fortunate’) for F. Cornelius [I 87] Sulla, the son of the dictator Sulla and his descendants ( Cornelius [II 57] and [II 60]). Epithet of the Anicii ( Anicius [II 2-6]); also a favourite name for slaves. Elvers, Karl-Ludwig (Bochum) [German version] [1] Anicius Acilius Glabrio F. Consul AD 438 Scion of the most important late Roman senatorial family who became praefectus urbi Romae three times under Honorius and Valentinian III, in AD 437/8 and 442 praefectus praetorio Italiae Africae et Illyrici (ILS 1283), and…

[German version] I Greek (Θεόδωρος; Theódōros). [German version] [I 1] Of Samos, Greek architect, bronze sculptor and inventor, Archaic period Multitalented Greek inventor, architect, bronze sculptor and metal worker ( toreutḗs; Toreutics) of the Archaic period from Samos (for the occupational image cf. architect). His father was Telecles (Hdt. 3,41; Paus. 8,14,8; 10,38,6) or according to other sources (Diog. Laert. 2,103; Diod. Sic. 1,98) Rhoecus [3]; his name is so frequently mentioned in conjunction with the latter that both a clear definition of their relationship [1] and a clear distinction of their works are impossible. Various sources report T. as…

[German version] (Παφνούτιος; Paphnoútios), died around AD 360. According to Socrates [9] (Hist. eccl. 1,11), P. attended the first Council of Nicaea [5] (AD 325) as bishop of Upper Thebias. During the persecution of Christians, perhaps under Maximinus [1] Daia, he lost an eye. He was held in high regard by emperor Constantinus [1] and considered an ecclesiastical authority because of his strict monastic lifestyle. It is uncertain whether remarks attributed to him by Socrates ( loc. cit.) regarding the celibacy of priests (retention of clerical marriages entered into pri…

[German version] [1] Village on the Mount of Olives near Jerusalem (Βηθανία; Bēthanía; Anānyā, Neh 11,32, or Bēt Aniyyā, ‘house of the poor’). Village on the south-eastern slope of the Mount of Olives, 15 stades (John 11,18) or two miles (Eus. On. 58) from Jerusalem (ruins of settlement 5th cent. BC -- 14th cent. AD). Place where J…

[German version] A collection of apocryphal acts of the Apostles in Latin ( Historia Certaminis Apostolici or Historiae Apostolicae) frequently used in the MA, is attributed to A., supposedly the first bishop of  Babylon and a contemporary of  Origenes. It consists of 10 books purportedly compiled in Hebrew by A. and then translated by  Eutropius into Greek and by Julius, who was known to write in Greek, into Latin. However, the collection presupposes  Rufinus' History and must have been created in the 6th-7th cents.  Apocrypha Savvidis, Kyriakos (Bochum) Bibliography W. Smith and H. Wace (ed.), A Dictionary of Christian Biography, Literature, Sects and Doctrines being a Continuation of the Dictionary of the Bible, vol. 1, 1967, s. v. A. L. Moraldi, Apocrifi del Nuovo Testamento II, 1971, 1431-1606.

(Μεθόδιος; Methódios). [German version] [1] Bishop of Olympus, 3rd-4th cent. AD Bishop of Olympus (late 3rd - early 4th cent. BC). Little about his life is known for certain. According to Jer. Vir. ill. 83 he was bishop of Olympus in Lycia, but Tyre, Patara, Myra and Philippi are also mentioned as his see. His martyrdom, also reported by Jerome, is equally disputed. M., who preferred the dialogue form in imitation of Plato, wrote numerous works (CPG 1810-1830) in an elegant style. His main work Sympósion ē Perí hagneías (Συμπόσιον ἢ Περὶ ἁγνείας [2]) celebrates virg…

[German version] [1] Gem cutter, 1st cent. BC Gem cutter (1st cent. BC), signed the famous ‘Agath…

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[German version] (τὸ διὰ τεσσάρων [εὐαγγέλιον]; tò dià tessárōn [euangélion]). The Dia…

(Ἄθως; Áthōs). [German version] I. Classical and Hellenistic era Highest elevation on the largely forested peninsula of the same name, which in antiquity was mostly called Acte; it is almost 50 km long and averages 6-8 km wide. On its south-east tip a Persian fleet was wrecked in 492 BC and then in 411 BC a Spartan one; its isthmus was penetrated before the advance of Xerxes. The inhabitants of the peninsula (origins largely unknown) were rumoured to be especially long-lived (Makrobioi). The mostly small…

[German version] The C. (Turkish, roughly ‘vagabonds’) belong to the group of Turkish-Altaic peoples and are attested from the 3rd/4th cents. AD. Originally nomadic, in the 7th cent. they founded an autonomous empire reaching from the Black Sea to the Don. Their king (Qağan) was political and religious leader. Although they did not develop their own written language they left behind loan words in Arabic, Greek, Armenian, Georgian, Hebrew and Persian i.a. Their campaigns of conquest reached as far …

(Ἀριστείδης; Aristeídēs). [German version] [1] Athenian politician and srategos (beginning of the 5th cent. BC) Of Athens, son of Lysimachus. He was one of the most prominent politicians and strategoi of Athens at the time of the Persian Wars. In the battle of Marathon, he probably served as a strategos. In 489/488 BC, he was the eponymous archon (Plut. Aristides 1,2, cf. IG I3 1031). In 482 BC, he was ostrazised ( Ostraka) (Hdt. 8,79; Aristot. Ath. Pol. 22,7; Plut. Aristides 7,1 ff.). His rivalry with  Themistocles, documented already in Herodotus (8,79), …

[German version] I Greek (Παλλάδιος; Palládios). [German version] [I 1] Greek rhetor, 4th cent. Greek rhetor of the first half of the 4th cent. AD (Suda s.v. P. gives his prime as under Constantinus [1] I) from Methone (probably the Messenian one). According to the Suda, in addition to declamations he wrote in all three rhetorical genres ( genera dicendi ) and also an antiquarian work on the festivals of the Romans (FGrH F 837). Whether P. is identical with one of the numerous Palladii mentioned in the letters of Libanius and if …

[German version] I. Greek (soldier saint) Greek (soldier saint), I (Μερκούριος; Merkoúrios). Widely attested but legendary figure - a soldier saint who according to Soz. 6,2,3ff. is said to have killed Emperor Iulianus [11] at God's behest by spearing him. Savvidis, Kyriakos (Bochum) Bibliography H. Ch. Brennecke, Studien zur Geschichte der Homöer, 1988, 96f. II. Roman (the god Mercury) Roman (the god Mercury), II [German version] A. Origin and functions The traditional view is that M. is the direct Roman transposition of the Greek god Hermes (= H.) [1. 304-306]: …

[German version] (Σωφρόνιος/ Sōphrónios). Patriarch of Jerusalem (634-638), Greek-Byzantine saint, poet and author. S. was probably from Damascus and taught rhetoric. He became a monk in Palestine and with his friend Iohannes [29] Moschus travelled to the monastic settlements there. As a staunch opponent of Monotheletism in 633 he tried but failed to persuade Cyrus of Phasis, patriarch of Alexandria [1], to abandon it. S. was able to agree a compromise with the patriarch of Constantinople (Sergios …

[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…

[German version] A. ( 340/345 in  Cappadocia, † after 394) was a student of  Libanius and rhetorician in Constantinople. In 370 he returned to Cappadocia and at the instigation of  Basilius the Great became bishop of  Iconium in the newly created province of  Lycaonia in 373. He created an ecclesiastical administration in his episcopacy and defended it against the  Messalians and other heretics. Through his cousin  Gregorius of Nazianze, who converted him, a close friendship developed with the Cappadocians and later with circles in the capital.  Gregorius of Nyssa Savvidis, Kyriak…

[German version] (Συνοδικόν; Synodikón). Liturgical formula of the Orthodox Church. The synodìkon originated in the period of iconoclasm in AD 843, on the initiative of Methodius, patriarch of Constantinople, as a document of the victory of the patriarchate over the iconoclasts (Syrian dynasty). It continued the tradition of the diptycha . At the beginning of the 11th cent., the synodìkon was granted the more general function of a liturgical formula, which contained a commemoration list of emperors and patriarchs (in the prov…

(Ἡσύχιος; Hēsýchios). [German version] [1] Alex. scholar, author of a lexicon Alexandrian scholar, author of an alphabetically arranged lexicon, which has passed down to us numerous fragments (primarily of poetry), allows many text variants to be restored, and is of special significance to the study of ancient classical exegesis, of dialects, and of the history of the Greek language. The basis for dating him is the Epistula ad Eulogium, which introduces the lexicon: some scholars identify the addressee with  Eulogius Scholasticus (5th cent. AD), others, includin…

According to modern etymology, the name derives from *agrei-pod-, ‘having the feet in front’ (according to Leumann, 398, ‘very dubious’). Originally a praenomen (thus still in the Iulii, especially A. Postumus), then a cognomen in the families of the Antonii, Asinii, Cassii(?), Fonteii, Furii, Haterii, Helvii, Iulii, Lurii, Menenii, Vibuleni, Vipsanii, but also of Jewish kings ( Herodes A.). Documented as name of various persons. Kienast, Dietmar (Neu-Esting) [German version] [1] M. Vipsanius, consul 37, 28, 27 BC M. Vipsanius, born 64/3 BC, of knightly lineage, probabl…