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I Greek [German version] [1] Poet c. AD 500 Early Byzantine poet, contemporary of emperor Anastasius I (AD 491-518). According to Suda s.v. M., he originally was a descendent of a Roman family of senators, emigrated to Eleutheropolis in Palestine with his father and was a patríkios under Anastasius, composed iambic paraphrases of the works of Hellenistic authors ( Theocritus; Apollonius [2] Rhodius' ‘Argonautica; Callimachus' ‘Hecale, ‘Hymns, ‘Epigrams; Aratus [4]; Nicander's‘Theriaka). Possibly identical with M. [2]. Damschen, Gregor (Halle/Saale) Bibliography 1 J. Geffcken,…

(Πυθέας; Pythéas). [German version] [1] P. from Aegina 5th cent. BC, his son proposed revenge measures after the battle of Plataeae After the battle of Plataeae (479 BC) his son Lampon [1] proposed desecrating the corpse of  Mardonius [1] in revenge for Leonidas [1]  (Hdt. 9,78). Stein-Hölkeskamp, Elke (Cologne) [German version] [2] P. from Aegina Persian POW after a battle at Sciathos, freed after Salamis Fought so bravely in a skirmish at Sciathos that he inspired wonder in the victorious Persians, who consequently treated him with the greatest respect a…

(Ἡράκλειος; Hērákleios). Two prominent Sicilians known from the trial of  Verres in 70 BC: [German version] [1] Citizen of Syracuse, 1st cent. BC The son of a certain Hieron, a wealthy citizen of Syracuse. In 73 BC he inherited from a homonymous relative a magnificent house including furnishings and 3 million sesterces (Cic. Verr. 2,14,35). Because of the machinations of Verres, who contested the will, H. lost his wealth and the inheritance. The real estate was returned to him by L. Caecilius [I 13] Metellus, the successor of Verres (Cic. Verr. 2,19,47-50; 25,62). Meister, Klaus (Berlin) …

(Κοσμᾶς; Kosmâs). [German version] [1] C. and Damianus Doctor's saints and patrons of healing Doctor saints and patrons of healing. The Greek Synaxarion (ed. by H. Delehaye) contains three different pairs of saints with these names: 1) the sons of Theodata, who were born in Asia Minor and buried in Pelusium, whose feast day is 1 November; 2) the Roman martyrs stoned during the rule of  Carinus (283-285), whose feast day is 1 July; 3) the Arab martyrs killed with their three brothers under the emperor Diocleti…

(Λεωνίδας; Leōnídas). Cf. also Leonides. [German version] [1] Spartan king, 5th cent. BC Spartan king, Agiad ( Agiads), son of Anaxandridas, around 490/89 BC he succeeded his stepbrother Cleomenes [3] I. In 480, after the evacuation of the positions in the Vale of Tempe, L. was given the task of defending the gates of Thermopylae against the army of Xerxes, while the Greek fleet was to thwart the advance of the Persian squadrons at Artemisium (Northern Euboea) (Hdt. 7,175). At best, L. had 8,000 men at his disposal (among them 1,000 perioikoi and 300 Spartiates),…

[German version] (Παλλαδᾶς; Palladâs). Important exponent of pre-Byzantine epigrammatic poetry and probably the author of a collection of mostly satirical epigrams (cf. Anthology E.); he lived in the 2nd half of the 4th cent. AD in Alexandria (numerous allusions to an Egyptian context in P,. whose name appears on several occasions with the ethnikon Ἀλεξανδρεύς/ Alexandreús). Dating is made possible by Anth. Pal. 11,292 (attack on Themistius, in 384 praefectus urbi of Constantinople); 10,90 (presumably written after the destruction of the Serapeum in 391, cf. 9,37…

Common Roman cognomen, originally designating the second-born child. Elvers, Karl-Ludwig (Bochum) [German version] [1] Saturninius S. Salutius Praef. praet. Orientis 361-365 and 365-366 ( iterum), from a non-senatorial family in Gallia, a non-Christian. Between 324 and 350, he held several offices at court as well as governorships in the western part of the empire. In 355-359, he held the quaestura sacri palatii at the court of Caesar Iulianus [11] (CIL VI 1764 = ILS 1255) in Gallia who came to trust S. and, upon his rise to Augustus after the death of Co…

(Πολύστρατος/ Polýstratos). [German version] [1] Wealthy Athenian, councillor 411 BC Wealthy Athenian, frequent office-holder, member of the boulḗ in 411 BC. After the oligarchic coup, he took part in the selection of the 5,000 citizens to whom political rights would in future be restricted. He was wounded in the naval battles against the Spartans off Eretria. After the fall of the Four Hundred (Tetrakosioi), P. was fined heavily; he was prosecuted again c. 410/409 at age 70, probably for his political activities. Parts of his defence survive in the 20th speech of t…

(Κῦρος; Kŷros, Lat. Cyrus). [German version] [1] C. I. (the Elder) Grandfather of  Cyrus [2] (the Great), known from the cylinder inscription of his grandson (TUAT I 409,21). Here he is given the title ‘great king, king of Anšān’ ( šarru rabû šar Anšān;  Anshan) and called ‘descendant’ ( liblibbu) of  Teispes. The genealogical link C. (I.) ─ Cambyses (I.) ─ C. (II.) is also mentioned in Hdt. 1,111. C. the Elder may accordingly be interpreted as a petty king of Persian descent, ruling over (a part of (?) the formerly Elamite) Fārs in the 7th/…

(Θεοφάνης/ Theophánēs). [German version] [1] T. of Mytilene Close confidant and historiographer of Pompey (Pompeius [I 3]). As a recently-discovered inscription [1. 377-383] shows, T., the son of Hieroitas, was already active as prytanis at Mytilene (FGrH 188 T 1) before making the acquaintance of Pompey, whom he accompanied on the campaign against Mithridates [6] in 67 BC (T 2). He received Roman citizenship from Pompey in 62 BC (cf. Cic. Arch. 24 = T 3a) at an army gathering, and he therefore appears in IG XII 2, 150 as Cn. Po…

[German version] [1] (Archangel) Archangel In the Jewish tradition, the angel G. (‘man of God’) is one of the six archangels, together with Uriel, Rafael, Raguel, Michael, and Sariel (1 Enoch, 20:1-7; for seven archangels cf. Tob 12:12-15; for four archangels: 1 Enoch 9-10; 40:9f.). In the biblical tradition, G. appears already together with Michael in the role of angelus interpres, who interprets the seer's visions (Dan 8:16; 9:21), and who announces the births of John the Baptist and Jesus (Lc 1:19.26). According to 1 Enoch 20:7, G. is placed above the…

(Νουμήνιος/Noumḗnios). [German version] [1] Author of didactic poems from Heraclea, c. 300 BC N. from Heraclea, physician and poet, end of the 4th cent. BC. He was a pupil of the physician Dieuches [1] (Ath. 1,5), wrote on cookery and composed didactic poems on fishing (Ἁλιευτικόν/ Halieutikón, SH 568-588), on the theriac (Θηριακόν/ Thēriakón: SH 589-594), on medicinal prescriptions (SH 595) and ‘On Banquets (Δείπνων ἀναγραφαί/ Deípnōn anagraphaí: Ath. 1,5a). He may be the source on Nicander [4] (cf. schol. Theriakon 237; 257; 519; 637) and Archigenes. Fornaro, Sotera (Sassari) Bibl…

(Μητρόδωρος/ Metródōros). [German version] [1] M. of Chios Democritan philosopher, 5th/4th cent. BC Democritan philosopher ( Democritus [1]) of the 5th-4th cent. BC who recognised Fullness and Emptiness, Being and Non-Being as the first principles. This orthodoxy, however, does not go beyond the fundamental theoretical views of Atomism: M. is said to have had his own views in other matters (70 A 3 DK). M. propounds the uncreatedness of the universe (τὸ πᾶν) in the Eleatic manner ( Eleatic School) because a c…

(Μενεκράτης; Menekrátes). [German version] [1] Attic comic poet, 5th cent. BC Attic comic poet of the 5th cent. BC. Two titles of his plays have survived, Ἑρμιονεύς/ Hermioneús (or Ἑρμιόνη/ Hermiónē?) and Μανέκτωρ/ Manéktōr (probably ‘Manes as Hector) [1. test. 1], as well as an anapaestic tetrameter (fr. 1) from the latter. It is uncertain whether Menecrates was once victorious at the Dionysia [1. test. *2]. Nesselrath, Heinz-Günther (Göttingen) Bibliography 1 PCG VII, 1989, 1-2. [German version] [2] Tragic poet, 5th cent. BC Greek tragic poet, victor at the Great Dionysia in…

[German version] (Μουσίκιος; Mousíkios). Epigrammist whose existence is uncertain (the name is not found elsewhere: [2] suspects a corruption of Μούκιος ( Moúkios), i.e. Q. Mucius [I 10] Scaevola, author of Anth. Pal. 9,217); the poem Anth. Pal. 9,39 (a lively dispute between Cypris and the Muses containing an abundance of colloquialisms) has been attributed to him (Diog. Laert. 3,33,  however, attributes it to the philosopher ‘Plato’). Albiani, Maria Grazia (Bologna) Bibliography 1 FGE 165f. 2 R. Reitzenstein, Epigramm und Skolion, 1893, 182.

(Φάλαικος; Phálaikos). [German version] [1] Phocian army officer Son of Onomarchus. P., while a minor, was deployed in 352 BC by his uncle Phayllus [1] as fourth stratēgòs autokrátōr ('general or executive with special powers of authority') of the Phocians in the 3rd Sacred War. Mnaseas [1] was appointed as his guardian but died as early as 351 (Diod. Sic. 16,38,6f.). After an inconclusive series of battles against Thebes, P. was deposed in 347, apparently because of his opposition to the Phocians' attempts to make peace (…

(Γλαῦκος; Glaûkos). The name means ‘glossy blue’, also ‘luminous’ [1];  Glauce: Hom. Il 16,34). [German version] [1] Sea demon A sea demon, into which a Boeotian fisherman from Anthedon was transformed after consuming a magical herb. The place of his jump into the sea after the transformation, Γλαύκου πήδημα ( Glaúkou pḗdēma, ‘Glaucus' jump’), was indicated (Paus. 9,22,6-7). Representations are known by Evanthes, Hedyle and Nicander (Ath. 7,295b-297c), by Callimachus (Suda s.v.), Q. Cornificius (Macrob. Sat. 6,5,13) and Cicero (Plut. Cic. 2,3,86…

[I] (Γάλλος; Gállos). [German version] [1] River in Bithynia River in Bithynia, modern Mudurnu Çayı, rises near Modrene (modern Mudurnu) in Phrygia Epictetus (Str. 12,3,7; [2], differently [1]) and flows into the lower course of the  Sangarius. Strobel, Karl (Klagenfurt) [German version] [2] Small river through Pessinus Small river that originally flowed through  Pessinus to the  Sangarius [3]. Strobel, Karl (Klagenfurt) Bibliography 1 W. Ruge, s.v. G., RE 7, 674 2 S. Şahin, Stud. über die Probleme der histor. Geogr. Kleinasiens, in: EA 7, 1986, 125-151 3 Belke, 165f. …

(Πάμφιλος; Pámphilos). [German version] [1] Athenian soldier, 4th cent. BC Athenian hípparchos and stratēgós. In 389 BC, he erected a permanent emplacement on Aegina and besieged the island, but had to be relieved after five months, himself besieged by the Spartan Gorgopas. Convicted of embezzlement and fined heavily at Athens, P. still owed the city five talents at his death after having sold his estates (Lys. 15,5; Xen. Hell. 5,1,2; Aristoph. Plut. 174; 385; Plat. fr. 14 PCG; Dem. Or. 39,2; 40,20 and 22). Schmitz, Winfried (Bielefeld) Volkmann, Hans (Cologne) Bibliography Davies, 36…

[German version] [1] Roman cognomen Roman cognomen (derived in popular etymology from pisere, 'trample', Plin. HN 18,10), hereditary within the family of the Calpurnii (Calpurnius [I 8-23; II 12-24]) and transferred to the Pupii (Pupius); in many other families in the Imperial Period. Also the name of an Aquitanian prince who fell fighting for Caesar in 55 BC (Caes. B Gall. 4,12,3-6); his father or grandfather may have taken the name from L. Calpurnius [I 17] P. ( cos. 112 BC). Elvers, Karl-Ludwig (Bochum) Bibliography Degrassi, FCIR, 262. [German version] [2] Epigrammatist Otherwise…