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[German version] (πρυτανεῖον/ prytaneîon). Official building of the prytáneis , usually near the bouleuterion in the centre of a Greek polis (Agora; cf., e.g., Athens; Messene; Priene) and ostensibly of great age (cf. Thuc. 2,15,2). As the location of the state hearth, often with a constantly burning flame, the prytaneîon was the sacred centre of the polis and at the middle of numerous cult activities (Hestia). After the Persian Wars the 'contaminated' fires had to be extinguished and rekindled by Delphi in the prytaneîon (Plut. Aristides 20,4 f.). Participation in meals in the prytaneî…

[German version] Abbreviation of the Roman forenames Sextus and Spurius (also Sp.). S stands also for senatus in the formula SPQR, as S.S. for the Senate's resolution ( S[enatus] S[ententia]) and as S.C. on coins that were minted on behalf of the Senate ( [ex] S[enatus] C[onsulto]; s enatus consultum ). Very often to be found on inscriptions instead of the possessive pronouns of the 3rd person suus, sua, suum (in all the oblique cases), such as S(ua)P(ecunia)P(osuit) ('built with one's own money'). On coins, frequently used within imperial propaganda for s alus ('health'), s ecuritas …

[German version] Marcius C., Cn, received the epithet C. for his deeds of heroism in the capture of Corioli in 493 BC (Liv. 2,33,5). The unyielding patrician's proposal to exploit a famine in order to render the plebs submissive led to his banishment in 491, and to his attempt to return home at the head of the Volsci enemy. According to tradition (Liv. 2,39-41; Dion. Hal. Ant. Rom. 8,14-36), his mother Veturia and wife Volumnia persuaded him to turn back before the gates of Rome, and this cost him…

[German version] Marcomannian noble who had fled from  Marbod to the Gothic Gutones. At the instigation of Drusus he invaded the kingdom of Marbod in c. AD 18 with the help of the Gutones who wanted to free themselves from Marcomanni subjugation and drove him into exile in Ravenna. Shortly afterwards he himself was driven out by the Hermundurian Vibilius and fled to Forum Iulii (Fréjus) (Tac. Ann. 2, 62-63). Eder, Walter (Berlin)

[German version] (Τείσπης; Teíspēs). According to the testimony of a cylinder inscription of Cyrus [2] II (TUAT I 409,21) an ancestor of his grandfather Cyrus [1] I and hence probably, like him, of Persian descent and a ruler in Fars (Persis) in the 7th cent. BC. The genealogical connection with the Achaemenids [2] in Hdt. 7,11, who puts into the mouth of Xerxes I a family tree with a T. as the son of Achaemenes [1] and another T. as great-great-grandson, can presumably be traced to Darius [1]. The…

[German version] The B. (‘the Bold’) are the royal line of the Visigoths, which is held in lesser esteem than the  Amali line of the Ostrogoths. Although the B. are also considered to be a line of ‘kings and heroes’, in contrast with the Amali, the memory of divine descent was lost. The historical descent of the royal family also remains obscure, because the relationship of the first identifiable Balthi prince, Alaric I ( Alaricus [2], died AD 410), to the three Terwingian judges of the 4th cent. …

[German version] Part of the Roman state prison ( carcer ) for prisoners sentenced to death by strangulation, including the fellow conspirators of Catilina and the leaders of subjugated people paraded in triumphs (Triumph/Triumphal procession, with map). The name Tullianum led ancient authors to suppose that it was built by Tull(i)us Hostilius[4] or Servius Tullius [I 4] (Varro, Ling. 5,151; Fest. 490), but modern scholars think that it may have originally been a spring house (cp. Fest. 492: tullios = 'wellsprings'). Liv. 1,33,8 ascribed the construction of the carcer itself to An…

[German version] (Τιμοξένα; Timoxéna). Wife of Plutarchus [2], daughter of Alexion (Plut. Mor. 701d), probably herself an author (a writing on obsessive cleanliness is mentioned by Plutarch Mor. 145a). The marriage produced a daughter of the same name, but she died at the age of two (writing of condolence to T.: Plut. Mor. 608a-612b), and four sons; two of these also died young. Eder, Walter (Berlin)

[German version] [1] Appius H. Rebellious Sabine in Rome, 5th cent. BC A Sabine who in 460 BC seized the Capitol with the help of 2,500 exiles and slaves (Liv. 3,15,5-18,11; according to Dion. Hal. Ant. Rom. 10,14,1-17,1 with 4,000 clients and servants). He died in the battle against the troops of consul Valerius and L. Mamilius, the dictator of Tusculum. This story, modelled on the conspiracy of  Catilina, might be a possible indication of ethnic tensions in early Republican Rome. Eder, Walter (Berlin) Bibliography P. M. Martin, Des tentatives de tyrannies à Rome, in: Eder, Staat, 49-72…

[German version] Abbreviation of the widespread Roman name Gaius. This abbreviation must have occurred already before the introduction of the letter G into the Roman alphabet by the censor Appius  Claudius Caecus (312 BC). In the Roman system of numbers, C represents the value 100 ( centum), but it probably developed from the Greek aspirate Θ (via its form), which did not have any application as a letter in the early Latin alphabet.  Italy (alphabetic scripts);  Numerical systems Eder, Walter (Berlin)

[German version] (σκυταλισμός; skytalismós). The killing of 1200 (Diod. 15,57,3-58,4; in Plut. Mor.  814B: 1500) rich citizens in Argos (in the autumn of 370 BC) by beating them with clubs ( skytálē: 'stick, club'). The occasion was an attempt by an oligarchic group, with the help of mercenaries, to gain power in order to prevent a radicalization of democracy in Argos, probably after the defeat of Sparta at Leuctra (in 370 BC). The attempt was betrayed (Aen. Tact. 11,7-10) and 30 respected citizens were executed; the ensuing atmosphere of turmoil resulted in the skytalismós, to which ev…

[German version] The bellum Mutinense (Oros. 6,18,2)of December 44 to April 43 BC, named after the City of Mutina (modern Modena), was the first military dispute, after Caesar's death, between Antonius [I 9] and a curious coalition formed out of the troops of Caesar's murderer Decimus Iunius [I 12] Brutus, of Caesar's heir Octavianus (the later Augustus) and of the Senate, and it was at the same time the last and unsuccessful attempt by the Senate to deprive Antonius of power and to once again acquire political leadership. When D. Brutus was faced with the threat of losing his province Galli…

[German version] (πορφυρογέννητος/ porphyrogénnētos, 'born in the purple') was used as a cognomen (not a title) for children born to an emperor in his period of office (Konstantinos [1] VII). The Greek porphyrogénnētos was applied to both sexes, the Latin form distinguished ( porphyrogenitus or porphyrogenita). A similar Latin version ( natus in purpure) is recorded as early as for Honorius [3] (born AD 384), a Greek one (ἐν τῇ πορφύρᾳ/ en tȇi porphýrāi) for Theodosius II (born 401). In official texts the adjective appears in Latin form in the 8th cent., in Greek not…

[German version] As an abbreviation in names, T. stands for the Roman given name Titus. Eder, Walter (Berlin)

[German version] Nomen gentile of a Roman family of Etruscan origin. After the expulsion of the Etruscan king at the beginning of the republic, it produced two consuls but then disappeared from history like most Etruscan families from the middle of the 5th cent. BC. The consul of 506 (T.H. Aquilinus) is mentioned, partly with his colleague Sp. Larcius (likewise of Etruscan origin), in the battle against the Etruscans and Latins (Liv. 2,10,6f.; 11,7-10; 20,8f.; Dion. Hal. Ant. Rom. 5,22,5; 23,2 and…

[German version] Abbreviation of the Roman first name Quintus; in the formula SPQR ( SenatusPopulusQueRomanus) for Que (= postpositive 'and'); in inscriptions frequently for the relative pronoun qui, quae, quod (e.g. Q[ui] I[nfra]S[cripti]S[unt] = 'the undersigned') and for q uaestor . Rare on coins, mostly for Quinquennales, the five-year celebration of an emperor's rule. In MSS, Q stands as the numeral for 500,000. Eder, Walter (Berlin) Bibliography H. Chantraine, s. v. Q, RE 24, 1963, 621-623.

[German version] Within the sphere of state and politics, elections serve to appoint organs (individuals or committees), who were generally entrusted for a set period of time by the majority of qualified voters with the preparation or execution of community tasks; in monarchic systems, political elections are of no importance. There is no information regarding the appointment of functionaries (for military tasks or within the jurisdiction) in early aristocracies, but it is likely that selection wa…

[German version] The federation of 12 cities or tribes into an alliance was an old and widespread occurrence in the Mediterranean region and well beyond (cf. the 12 tribes of Israel). The number 12, which had symbolic significance, emphasized internal closeness and, at the same time, differentiation from the outside. Political/military goals in the sense of a defensive community or a federation for the arrangement of common policies cannot be identified in any of the ancient leagues of twelve citi…

[German version] Brother-in-law of Alarich ( Alaricus [2]), AD 410-415 king of the West Goths. Probably by order of Alarich active as army commander in Pannonia, A. was summoned by him in 408, reached Italy in 409 and was named comes domesticorum equitum by the usurper  Attalus [11]. After the death of Alarich in 410 he gave up Alarich's African plans and in 412 on the advice of Attalus travelled to Gallia to the usurper  Iovinus. A. soon came into conflict with him and in 413 handed him over to Dardanus, the Gallic praefect of the Emp…

[German version] PID were officials of the urban Roman legal magistracy ( praetor ), who dispensed justice in Italy in the Republican period, among Roman citizens living far from Rome in communities where political organization was either lacking or rudimentary ( forum, conciliabulum , oppidum I.). PID neither had the right to scrutinize existing law courts, nor did they constitute an instance of appeal ( appellatio ). A praefectura was thus both the (temporary) seat of the official and the legal district for which he was responsible. With developing urban organization in Italy, (cf. mu…