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[German version] A. Ancient East Attested since the 2nd half of the 4th millennium, board games were used as a pastime but also for divination purposes ( Divination; in conjunction with models of the liver [3]). The playing boards of 5 × 4 squares were made from wood (carved or with coloured inlays), stone (painted or with inlays) or baked clay; the playing pieces and dice, from ivory or bone; no information is available on the way the games were played. There is probably no connection with the Egypt…

[German version] (Πάταικοι; Pátaikoi). Dwarf figures, mounted on the bow of Phoenician triremes according to Hdt. 3,37. Coins from Aradus [1] and Sidon from the late 4th cent. BC onward show half-figures or protome heads on ships [1. table 2,1, table 18,12-14]. From these Phoenician figures the term was transferred to figures of dwarfs; pátaikos thus became a descriptive proper name for people of short stature (Hdt. 7,154; cf. also the Pataíkeia festival at Delos, named after its founder Pátaikos). The term also became proverbial for thieves, however. Herodotus compares t…

[German version] (τὸ κωνώπιον; tò kōnṓpion, Latin conopium, conopeum). Originally, the konopion was a sleeping net for the protection against mosquitos, flies, etc. (Anth. Pal. 9,764; Prop. 3,11,45). According to Hdt. 2,95, the Egyptians even used their fishing nets for this purpose. The term was later used in various ways for litters and sofas (medieval canapeum developed into canapé). A cradle was called conopeum as well. Hurschmann, Rolf (Hamburg) Bibliography Bibliography: see Kline.

(ἀστράγαλος; astrágalos). [German version] [1] see Ornaments see  Ornaments Hurschmann, Rolf (Hamburg) [German version] [2] Playing-piece Playing-piece ( talus). Knucklebones from calves and sheep/goats, also those made of gold, glass, marble, clay, metals and ivory, mentioned already in Hom. Il. 23,85-88 as playing-pieces. Astragaloi were used as counters for games of chance,  dice and throwing games, including the games ‘odd or even’ (Pl. Ly. 206e) or πεντάλιθα ( pentálitha,  Games of dexterity). In the astragalos game the individual sides had varying values: the co…

[German version] A coat-like cloak made of thick wool (Greek: (χ)λαῖνα/ (ch)laîna). Cited in Rome as an article of clothing of the Augures and Flamines when offering sacrifice, as well as of the mythical kings, and found on monuments; in the Imperial period it was part of men's and women's costume. The laena was a special form of the toga and was made by doubling the semicircular-shaped cut of the toga praetexta to an almost circular cloth. By laying together the two circular segments, a toga-like garment was formed that was laid around the shoulders and covered both arms. The laena was worn o…

[German version] Ribbon, braid or trimming with a wide variety of meanings. Limbus describes the head band and the belt and even more so the edging and hem on garments (Ov. Met. 6, 127; Verg. Aen. 4,137) that could also be colourful or made of gold (Ov. Met. 5, 51). The band that runs across the celestial globe and contains the zodiac was also called the limbus (Varro, Rust. 2,3,7, Zodiac). Limbi were also the cords on the nets of hunters and fishermen. Hurschmann, Rolf (Hamburg)

[German version] Anonymous Attic bowl painter of the late 6th cent. BC, named after the potter Euergides; however, he also worked for the potter Chelis (bowl Paris, LV Inv. G 15 [1. 91, no. 51]), possibly for other potters as well. His c. 150 extant bowls are mainly painted with genre images (scenes depicting athletics, horses, chariots, as well as symposium and komos scenes), as well as mythological (Hercules, Theseus, Peleus-Thetis, Ajax-Achilles playing board games, etc.) and Dionysian topics; fabulous creatures (griffin, sphinx, Pe…

[German version] (περιρ(ρ)αντήριον; perir(r)hantḗrion). Large basin of clay, marble or limestone on a tall stand with a cylindrical shaft and base of quite considerable proportions, the basin being either firmly attached to the stand or separable. Similar in form and appearance to louteria (Labrum), perirrhanteria were used for ritual purification by sprinkling with water and stood in front of temples, at the entrances to sanctuaries and at cult places in gymnasiums or at herms (whereas louteria were used for everyday bodily cleaning). In Athens there were also perirrhanteria at t…

[German version] (στέφανος/ stéphanos, στεφάνη/ stephánē, Lat. corolla, corona). Wreaths and garlands were formed out of flowers, leaves and branches, or were reproduced (out of bronze, silver and gold; cf. e.g. [1]) in their image. They were a constituent part of culture and everyday life in Greece and Rome: a symbol of consecration, honouring and decoration for people and gods. Wearing a wreath was a mark of distinction ( cf. Apul. Met. 11,24.4) and it was reprehensible to attack a person wearing one ( cf. Aristoph. Plut. 21). Wreaths have been worn from time immemorial (Tert…

[German version] Pots (primarily volute kraters) of Apulian Red Figure vase painting with representations of the Underworld; the divine couple Hades and Persephone are found, sometimes enthroned within palace architecture, often with Hermes. The following can also be present: Hecate, Dike [1], the Judges of the Dead (Triptolemus, Aeacus, Rhadamanthys), Orpheus and Eurydice [1], Heracles [1] subduing Cerberus, Megara [1] with her children. In addition mythical evildoers and penitents appear, e.g. t…

[German version] Apulian vase painter from the last quarter of the 4th cent. BC, named after a vessel in Baltimore. The Baltimore Painter (BP) painted mostly on vessels with large surfaces (volute kraters, amphoras, loutrophori, hydrias i.a.  Pottery, shapes and types of) with funerary scenes ( Naiskos vases), mythological scenes ( Bellerophon, assemblies of the gods) and Dionysian subjects; rarer are genre scenes, like images of women, weddings and Erotes. His presence and artistic work in Canosa…

[German version] (σύμβολον/ sýmbolon, tessera). From 450 BC onwards in Athens, the State gave poor citizens free tickets for performances in the Theatre of Dionysus to the value of two oboloi (θεωρικòν διόβολον/ theōrikòn dióbolon); these tokens, called σύμβολα ( sýmbola), were given to the lessee of the theatre, who then collected the corresponding money for them from the State treasury. This institution was later extended to all citizens, followed by payments for participation in people's assemblies and in court. Numerous bronze symbola survive from the period between the s…

[German version] The terms ἀμίς/ amís, λάσανα/ lásana, Lat. matella, matellio, matula described vessels made of various materials used in agriculture (Cato Agr. 10,2; 11,3) as well as vessels for water and washing in the household; but they were particularly used to designate chamber pots (Aristoph. Plut. 816f.) that were set up in the latrine or were portable (Anth. Pal. 11,74,7; Hor. Sat. 1,6,109; Petron. Sat. 27). Ath. 1,519e attributed to the Sybarites ( Sybaris) the first use of chamber pots; from there, the chamber pot was brought to Athens. During the symposium, a special slave ( la…

[German version] Genre of vases from the last quarter of the 4th cent. and the first half of the 3rd cent. BC, named after their main find spot in northern Campania, the ancient Teanum Sidicinum, which was probably also the centre of production. Shallow bowls on small circular stands, known as footed dishes, with tall stems, skyphoi, gutti, oinochoai, kernoi and vessels in the shape of birds (see ill.) are common; other vessel types, such as kalyx kraters, are distinctly rare. The decoration of th…

[German version] (θρῆνυς/ thrḗnys, ὑποπόδιον/ hypopódion, σφέλας/ sphélas, rarely χελώνη/ chelṓnē; Latin scabellum, scamnum). The footstool was used as a foot bench for a person sitting on the  klismos,  throne or a similar high seating (cf. Hom. Od. 17,409 f.), or as a step for climbing up on the  Kline or down from it. There were three footstool variants: rectangular footstools with simple vertical legs, rectangular footstools with curved legs that ended in animal feet (lion feet), sphinxes etc., as well a…

[German version] (μαστίχη; mastíchē, Lat. mastiche, mastix). Aromatic resin of the mastic tree ( schínos; pistacia lentiscus L.) and the oil from its berries. The name is presumably derived from masásthai, ‘to chew’, since the resin was popular for chewing, because of its pleasant taste and hardness, for dental care and against bad breath, just as small pieces of mastic wood were used as toothpicks. The small, evergreen mastic tree (and bush) was planted and cultivated all over the Mediterranean, although its resin was not o…

[German version] I. Ancient Orient The forms of expression in ancient Oriental art were reinforced by a marked language of gestures that was especially useful in the communication between mortals and gods as well as between subordinate and higher-ranking persons. In the sacred sphere gestures expressed individual feelings and wishes; in the profane sphere their official information content was foregrounded more strongly. Prayer gestures were frequently represented by hands placed together in front of…

[German version] Messapian pottery originated on the Italian peninsula of Salento (in Antiquity Messapia or Iapygia) around the mid-7th cent. BC as an independent genre. For the most part, geometric patterns (circles, squares, diamonds, horizontal lines, swastikas, etc.) were sparsely distributed over vessels; later, under Greek influence maeanders were added. Preferred vessel forms were the olla , pitcher and trozzella ( nestoris). Early in the 5th cent. BC, figurative representations, which also included new ornaments (ivy and other leaf motifs), appe…

[German version] A Roman sack made of leather for transporting goods of all kinds including food (Apul. Met. 1,18). The mantica was carried on the shoulder so that it lay over the back and chest (Pers. 4,24; Hor. Sat. 1,6,106), or when travelling on horseback over its hindquarters. A manticula, a small leather sack, was carried by poorer people. manticulari also means ‘steal’ or ‘cheat’, and the thief (‘cutpurse’) was called a manticulator ( -arius). Hurschmann, Rolf (Hamburg)

[German version] (πίναξ/ pínax, λεκάνη/ lekánē; Lat. catillus). Plates were used, like flatter platters and deeper bowls, for preparing and serving food at table (e.g. Hom. Od. 1,141; 16,49 f.); they could be round or square, with or without a stand, with curved or steep walls. In archaeological finds plates are attested from the 8th cent. BC until the end of Antiquity in various materials (bronze, wood, silver, clay, tin etc.). Catinus [1]; Crockery; Fish-plate; Lanx; Table culture Hurschmann, Rolf (Hamburg) Bibliography S. Künzl, Das Tafelgeschirr, in: E. Künzl (ed.), Die Ala…

[German version] The essential part of the knife is the blade, the form and development of which is determined by its particular function and use such as cutting off or cutting up. Furthermore, in the shape of a dagger it is used for piercing. The knife is one of the oldest and most essential aids in the history of humanity; it has been used for housework ( Household equipment), for hunting, as a tool in many areas (e.g. for working with wood or leather: σμίλη/ smílē, σμίλιον/ smílion, τομεύς/ tomeús, Latin scalprum, culter, crepidarius), in agriculture (tree knives, picks, sickles for …

[German version] (ψαλίς/ psalís; Latin forfex, forpex, forficula). Scissors, made of iron or bronze, were used in sheep and goat shearing, for cutting cloth and metal, hair and beards, in cobbling and in agriculture, for chopping plants and fruits and separating grapes from the vine. Scissors seem to have come into use from the early 5th cent. BC in Greece, and in Italy (according to written sources) from around 300 BC (Varro, Rust. 2,11,9), though the plucking of fleeces was still common in sheep-shea…

[German version] (πέδιλον/ pédilon, σανδάλον, -ιον/ sandálon, -ion; Lat. sandalion, solea, all usually plur). Sandals (soles attached with straps to the feet and reaching up to the ankles or just above) were certainly the most common ancient footwear and were made in various variations. Greek sandals were tied with thin laces up to the ankles [2. 270, fig. 5]; only in the Roman Imperial Period did there emerge ribbon-like leather straps, crossing or running diagonally over the foot. The straps were often …

[German version] Costly paint and make-up (Plin. HN 35,44) manufactured from the mixture of heated purple sap and silver clay (or silver chalk, creta argentaria); purpurissum became brighter the more silver clay was added. As a painter's pigment, purpurissum was highly esteemed for its vivid colour (Plin. HN 35,30; 35,44 f.; 35,49). Women used purpurissum together with white lead ( cerussa) to colour their cheeks and lips (cf. Plaut. Mostell. 258, 261; Plaut. Truc. 290). Cosmetics; Pigments Hurschmann, Rolf (Hamburg)

[German version] I. Classical antiquity (Lock: κλεῖθρον/ kleîthron or κλεῖστρον/ kleîstron, βαλανάγρα/ balanágra; cf. Lat. claustrum/ claustra; bolt: μοχλός/ mochlós; key: κλεῖς/ kleîs, κλειδίον/ kleidíon; Lat. clavis). Apart from the bolting of a door or gate by means of a beam, a system was employed in Greek/Roman antiquity that had already been described in Hom. Od. 21,6f.; 46-50 and was still in use in Roman times: a bolt provided with projections was drawn into its locked position from the outside by means of a cord…

[German version] (κίστη, kístē). A round basket woven out of willow branches or tree bark, with a lid that often has the same height as the lower part and can be placed over it; also with a flapping lid or a disc-shaped lid. The cista is illustrated on numerous monuments, e.g., Attic and Lower Italian vases, funerary reliefs and Locrian clay tablets. Figurines have also been found. In marriage scenes they function as a gift to the woman. They apparently represent the female sphere since numerous household objects are visible when opened. …

(γραφίς/ graphís, γραφεῖον/ grapheîon; Latin stilus, graphium). [German version] [1] Tool for drawing Tool for drawing, also called a drawing- (or ruling)-pen, see Construction technique, Building trade. Hurschmann, Rolf (Hamburg) [German version] [2] Writing implement Implement for writing on a wooden tablet covered with wax (Cera). The pointed (lower) end of a stylus was used to engrave the text to be written on the tablet and, by inverting it, the flat (upper) end could be used to correct mistakes by re-smoothing the wax ( stilum vertere, e.g. Hor. Sat. 1,10,72). Representati…

[German version] Apulian vase painter of the second quarter of the 4th cent. BC, named after a volute crater in London (BM Inv. F 160 [1. 193 no. 8]) with the image of the  Iliupersis. The Iliupersis Painter (IP) belongs to those creatively engaged vase painters who produced pioneering innovations for the development of later  Apulian vase painting; among these are the introduction of burial scenes ( Naiscus vases), additionally the fluting of vessels on their lower sections and the decoration of …

[German version] (τετραορία/ tetraoría, τέθριππον/ téthrippon; Lat. usually plur. quadrigae). Carriage-and-four, a two-wheeled carriage drawn by four horses side by side, steered from a standing position; invented, by ancient tradition, by Trochilus or Erichthonius [1] (Verg. G. 3,113, cf. Plin. HN 7,202). The carriage-and-four is very seldom mentioned in the Homeric epics (e.g. Hom. Il. 8,185; 11,699). Occuring more often later in the literary tradition, e.g., in mythical contests (Oenomaus and Pelops, …

[German version] Campanian type of vase in the late 4th and early 3rd cents. BC, named after the inscription on a vase in London (BM, Inv. F 507, [1. 674 no. 4]). The prevailing shape of the vessel resembles a stamnus ( Vessels, fig. C 6) but it has vertical handles, sharply drawn-in shoulders and a lip that juts out widely; in many cases the lid has also been preserved, so that archaeological research also refers to the vessel as a pyxis. The painting is ornamental and consists of small palmette…

[German version] (προβόλιον/ probólion). Short spear (Hdt. 7,76), or rather hunting spear (Hesych. s. v. προβόλιον), especially for hunting boar (Xen. Cyn. 10; Philostr. Imag. 1,28,5) or lions; hardly ever used as a term in modern archaeological research, even if there have been attempts to identify probólia in Minoan-Mycenaean and Geometric hunting scenes (on the attribute of the komos described in Philostr. Imag. 1,2,2 as a probólion see [1]). Furthermore, probólion was also the term for a fortified place, a fortress (Xen. Mem. 3,5,7; Dion. Hal. Ant. Rom. 10,16,4). Hunting Hurschm…

[German version] With representations of a naïskos (diminutive of naós, ‘temple’) on Lower Italian vases, a new form of depicting funerary monuments emerged in the 2nd quarter of the 4th cent. BC. It can probably be traced back to the Iliupersis Painter. In Apulian vase painting (Apulian vases) NV are unusually common after the middle of the 4th cent. BC, while they are exceptions in other Lower Italian artistic regions. NV are vases that are specially produced for the cult of the dead; they not only po…

[German version] (σκάφη, σκαφίς, σκάφιον, σκάφος/ skáphē, skaphís, skáphion; Latin scapha, scaphium). Frequently used term for a basin, tank, vat, trough (or a small boat) or a wood or metal tub, a receptacle used agriculturally (Hom. Od. 9,223; cf. Theoc. 5,59) and domestically (Aristoph. Eccl. 738-739, cf. Anth. Pal. 6,306). A woman's chamber pot could also be called a scapha. According to Hdt. 4,73,2 the Scythae threw hot stones into a skáphē to make a cleansing 'steam bath'. Romulus and Remus are supposed to have been exposed in a skáphē (Plut. Romulus 3; in Soph. Fr. 574 N a cr…

[German version] I. Near East and Egypt Near East: the lighting in the rooms was generally dim; exterior walls usually only contained windows high up, as documented primarily by architectural drawings, rarely by the original building. Light coming in through the doors probably sufficed for rooms adjacent to courtyards. Interior rooms, in particular larger architectural complexes, required special lighting by means of different roof levels and wall openings close to the ceiling, or by closable skylights…

(κάτοπτρον/ kátoptron; Lat. speculum). [German version] I. Greek Circular hand mirrors made of bronze with decorated ivory handles were already known in the Mycenaean period. Then mirrors are again evident from the second half of the 8th cent. BC. Greek mirrors can be divided into hand mirrors, standing mirrors and folding mirrors. Silver mirrors from the Mycenaean period have not survived, those from later periods only in exceptional circumstances. Round hand mirrors were developed as a direct imitatio…

[German version] (κουρεύς/ koureús; tonsor). It is unknown when the occupation of the barber and hairdresser first became an autonomous profession in Greece. In myth the barber is only rarely mentioned ( Midas); early representation of a barber: Boeotian terracotta in Berlin [1]. The barber is considered to be talkative and curious (Plut. Mor. 2,177a; 508) and knows the latest gossip. The barber's room (κουρεῖον/ koureîon) is the place where people get together (Lys. 24,3,20; Plut. Timoleon 14; Plut. Mor. 716ff.), and where you can also contract business dea…

[German version] (ψίαθος/ psíathos). Mat or coarse cover made of rushes and straw, in Egypt also of papyrus (cf. Theophr. Hist. pl. 4,8,4). It served as bedding on the floor for farmers, travellers and the poor; in an Attic inscription it is also listed as part of the furnishings of a house [1]. According to Augustine (Contra Faustum 5,5) he who sleeps on a matta is the follower of a doctrine that preaches a frugal life ( mattarius). A sleeping-mat could also be called χαμεύνη/ chameúnē (Poll. 6,11). Hurschmann, Rolf (Hamburg) Bibliography 1Hesperia 5, 1936, 382 no. 6 A.

[German version] The use of wooden tablets (δέλτος/ déltos, cf. Hdt. 8,135, or δελτίον/ deltíon, cf. Hdt. 7,239) coated with wax for the transmission of written messages (therefore in the form of a letter, Pl. Ep. 312d) appears to have been known to the Greeks from the end of the 8th cent. BC (Writing). In this context, the Homeric epic (Hom. Il. 6,168-170) speaks of a πίναξ πτυκτός/ pínax ptyktós (cf. Hdt. 7,239: δελτίον δίπτυχον/ deltíon díptychon). The folding wooden tablet (Diptychon) consisted of two panels connected with a hinge; their inner sides, covered with a…

[German version] Latin term (Greek τύλη/ týlē; τυλεῖον/ tyleîon) for anything raised or bulge-like, such as the convex circular parts of an Ionic column base (Column [II B 3] with ill.; the term entered mediaeval and modern architectural terminology in the form ( torus) usual in Vitr. De arch. 3,5,2-3), the calloused skin of the neck and shoulders of a load carrier (Aristoph. Ach. 860; 954: týlē) or the bulging of animals' muscles (Plin. HN 18,78: torus ). Týlē was also the word for cushions on klinai and furniture for sitting on (Sappho fr. 46 Lobel/Page; Diod. Sic. 13,84,5…

[German version] Incense container,   pyxís (πυξίς, κυλιχνίς, λιβανωτίς; kylichnís, libanōtís). A small box, round on Greek monuments (cf. side panel of the Ludovisi throne [1. fig. 118]) and often rectangular and richly decorated on Roman ones (e.g. on the  Ara Pacis), which served to make the incense available during a sacrificial ceremony; it was regarded as part of the ceremony's essential utensils (Suet. Tib. 44; Galba 8; Plin. HN 35,70).  Turibulum Hurschmann, Rolf (Hamburg) Bibliography 1 R. Lullies, Gr. Plastik, 1979. F. Fless, Opferdiener und Kultmusiker auf stadtröm.…

[German version] Short form from Lat. biiugae (Greek: δίζυξ; dízyx; συνωρίς; synōrís); originally two animals moving under one yoke (horse, cow, mule), especially used for teams of horses. Worthy of mention for the early Greek period are not just the representations already extant from the Minoan-Mycenaean culture on frescos, signet rings and similar objects or the models made of clay or bronze, but also especially the lively description in Homer (Il. 23,392f., funeral games for  Patroclus) of a horse race…

[German version] The Roman proconsul B. was privately honoured c. 100 BC on  Delos by a marble statue in armour, with a plinth in the form of the bow of a ship (height c. 235 cm), placed in front of the east wall of the Stoa of  Antigonus [2] Gonatas. It was found in situ during the French excavations in 1909, its arms, head and left lower leg missing. Today the name B. is associated with the very first armoured statue to which a name can be ascribed with certainty. Hurschmann, Rolf (Hamburg) Bibliography J. Marcadé, Au Musée de Délos, 1969, 134, 329-333, pl. 75 K. Tuchelt, Frühe Denkmäler Roms i…

[German version] Apulian vase painter of the ornate style ( Apulian vases) from the middle of the 4th cent. BC, student of the Iliupersis Painter, named after the image of the ‘madness of Lycurgus’ on a calyx crater (London, BM Inv. F 271, [1. 415, no. 5, pl. 147]). The Lycurgus Painter painted mostly vessels with large surfaces (craters, hydrias, situles), which he liked to ornament with mythological themes. He further developed the use of spatial depth and perspective, distributed his mytholo…

[German version] A fringed (schol. Pers. 1,54) open cloak, a special form of the sagum , probably introduced in the 1st cent. BC (first mention Cic. Phil. 2,30,76); used at first as a soldier's coat which in poetry might also be worn by mythical kings and heroes (e.g. Ov. Fast. 2,743-747; Prop. 4,3,18). The lacerna soon became an everyday garment and was popular in the 1st cent. AD. Initially made of coarse wool, light fabrics were also used which were dyed purple or scarlet (Mart. 2,29,3; 4,61,4; 4,8,10; Juv. 1,27). The lacerna was worn over the tunica, instead of the toga, or over…

[German version] These objects (βάκτρον/ báktron, κηρύκειον/ kerýkeion, ῥάβδος/ rhábdos, σκῆπτρον/ skêptron; Lat. baculum, caduceus, lituus [1], rudis , stimulus) could be straight, with a curvature at the top end, knotty, angled or smooth and could vary in thickness and length. They were carved from hard wood (e.g. olive or myrtle) and might be left plain or decorated with gold embellishments (Ath. 12,543 f.) or reinforced with iron (Theoc. Epigr. 17,31). They were used by old people (old men, teachers) and the …

[German version] A Roman cloak, corresponding to the Greek himation, of a rectangular length of material; fabrics used were wool, linen and silk. Pallia could be variously coloured (white, diverse shades of red, yellowish, black) with gold brocade or purple stripes. They are known from the 3rd cent. BC and were initially worn only by friends of Greek culture, e.g. philosophers (Liv. 29,10); but they quite soon enjoyed the greatest popularity because they were comfortable and simple to wear (cf. Suet. Aug. 40) and were…

[German version] Group of round or pelta-shaped (i.e. based on the shape of the shield of an Amazon) ornamental marble discs, executed in relief, and dating from the period between the 1st cent. BC and the middle of the 2nd cent. AD. Oscilla for the most part come from the Vesuvian cities and have been found in villas and townhouses with gardens, in which they were used as decoration, hanging from chains between the columns of garden peristyles. Others could be found as ornamental elements in thea…

[German version] I. Celtic-Germanic There has generally been evidence of belts since the end of the Neolithic Age (3rd millennium BC) as part of archaeological discoveries in Central Europe (mostly burial objects). The belts themselves were made of organic materials (leather, etc.) and have not been preserved, but the (metal) fittings, such as clasps (belt hooks/ rings) or decorations (metal plates) have been. Belt hooks made of bone are known from the early phase (end of the 3rd millennium BC). Dur…

[German version] Modern archaeological technical term, derived from the place name (ancient  Gnathia) in eastern Apulia, where the first vases of this type were found in the mid-19th cent. Unlike red-figured vases, in Gnathia ware (GN) the decoration was applied in various opaque colours on the fired vessel body. In addition, details on persons and objects depicted could be indicated or entirely represented by grooving. The production of GN began about 370/360 BC in Apulia, probably triggered by t…

[German version] (βάθρον/ báthron). Long, narrow four-legged bench, lower than a sella, Varro Ling. 5,128 (Seat); usually without a back, occasionally with a rest (Suet. Iul. 84,3; Suet. Claud. 41; Suet. Nero 26,2); made from wood, marble and bronze. Subsellia could be found in every Roman household, and were also used as seats for customers to wait on in shops and workshops; at auctions (Suet. Claud. 39) or public lectures and recitals those present sat on subsellia (Suet. Claud. 41; Juv. 7,45; 7,86). Pupils also sat on a subsellium (Diog. Laert. 2,130; 7,22). Since everybody but the quaes…