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[German version] Long-sleeved  tunica reaching down to the knees, named after its country of origin Dalmatia; mentioned in literature for the first time at the turn of the 2nd cent. AD. According to evidence from written sources and statues, the dalmatica was white with a purple   clavus that went vertically from the shoulders to the hem; the materials from which it was made were wool, silk, a half-silk and linen. The dalmatica was worn by men (with a cingulum militiae when on duty) and women. As early as the 3rd cent. AD it was adopted as liturgical church dress and became…

[German version] Leading genre of red-figured,  southern Italian vase painting, c. 430 - c. 300 BC, with its production centre in Taranto. Apulian vases (AV) are subdivided into plain and ornate style. The first hardly employs any additional colours and concentrates on bell-shaped and colonette craters as well as smaller vessel types, and applies simple decor and compositions of one to four figures to them (Sisyphus Painter, Tarporley Painter). Mythological themes are one of the focal points, furthermore the…

[German version] Archaeological research regards the fish-plate (FP) as a plate that is decorated with paintings almost exclusively of fish and other marine animals (mussel, cuttlefish, prawn, shrimp, electric ray, seahorse and many more); other motifs are rare (e.g. grasshopper, head of a woman or purely floral ornament). FP have a wide standing ring and a handle of varying height. Their dish, with an edge bent round to the outside, inclines in a trough shape towards the deepened centre. As a cer…

(κοσμητής; kosmētḗs, ‘steward’). [German version] [1] Athenian official responsible for the training of the ephebes In Athens, the official responsible for the training of the ephebes after the reorganization of the ephēbeía around 335/334 BC. The kosmētes was chosen by the people, presumably from those citizens over 40 years of age ([Aristot.] Ath. Pol. 42,2). During the two-year training period, a kosmētes was probably responsible for a contingent of ephebes for both years. He is named in many lists of ephebes from the 4th cent. BC to the 3rd cent. AD; …

[German version] (ἀναξυρίδες; anaxyrídes). Iranian trousers worn by Scythians, Persians and neighbouring peoples (Hdt. 7,61 ff.) as well as mythical figures of the Orient (Amazons, Trojans, Orpheus, i.a.) who were characterized by these trousers. Anaxyrides were already known to the Greeks in the 6th cent. BC (various vase paintings; ‘Persian’ rider, Athens AM Inv. 606). In ancient art, anaxyrides are depicted as close-fitting along the legs, often in conjunction with a bodice resembling a leotard which covers the arms. This oriental attire is completed by the kandys (Iranian sl…

[German version] ( simpulum, simpuium). Short-handled ladle of Roman priests and Vestal Virgins, usually of clay (Plin. HN 35,158); it was used to pour the wine needed for a  sacrifice (with ill.) on the sacrificial bowl. There are several representions of simpuvia on coins and in reliefs. In everyday life the simpuvium was replaced by the long-handled Greek kýathos (Varro Ling. 5,124). Hurschmann, Rolf (Hamburg) Bibliography E. Zwierlein-Diehl, Simpuvium Numae, in: H. A. Cahn (ed.), Tainia. Festschrift R. Hampe 1980, 405-422 (with notes 58 and 69 on the form simpuium).

[German version] Even before the end of the 5th cent. BC, Greek vase painters had begun to depict grotesque comic scenes of the phlyakes' burlesques. The c. 250 extant vases and vase fragments show a rich repertoire of burlesques of the gods and heroes (e.g. Zeus and Hermes on an amorous adventure, Heracles at sacrifice), travesty of myth (Oedipus and the Sphinx) and daily life (punishment of a thief, love scenes, wedding). In Greece itself, PV are quite rare, although they are common in Apulian and Paestan vase painting…

[German version] (ἀκακία [ akakía], Dioscorides 1,133; ἄκανθα [ ákantha], Theophr. Hist. pl. 6,1,3). The Egyptian shittah or rubber tree, already mentioned in Hdt. 2,96, belongs to the genus of mimosa plants widespread in the Mediterranean. The sap ( kommì, gum) secreted by the tree was used by the Egyptians for embalming corpses (Hdt. 2,86), but then also in human medical applications (ophthalmology) and was traded at high prices in Roman times (Plin. HN 13,63). The acacia sap was processed into mouth pastilles (Plin. HN 24,109) for…

[German version] I. Ancient Orient In the Ancient Orient differences existed between male and female hairstyles as well as human and divine hairstyles. Ancient Oriental hairstyles were usually based on long hair. With the exception of goddesses who were portrayed en face with long curls, braided hairstyles were usually worn up to the 1st millennium. Men preferred knots and women braided crown styles. The form and size of knots and braided crowns were used to differentiate between gods and humans. Shaved heads as a special style were fr…

[German version] (Greek στρῶμα, strṓma; Lat. stragulum). Blankets were usually made of linen or wool, but also from the moleskin (Plin. HN 8, 226) and from furs ( Textile art). They were part of the  household equipment; owning many of them was a sign of wealth (Hom. Il. 16,224; Hom. Od. 3,348). Blankets were placed over the mattresses of the dining sofas and were used as cover during sleep (Hom. Il. 9,661; Hom. Od. 6,38; 11,189; 13,73). Blankets, like pillows and furs, were also placed on chairs. Sim…

[German version] I. Science Σπόγγος/ spóngos, σπογγία/ spongía (Attic σπογγιά/ spongiá), Latin spongia (with the special names peniculus in comedies of such as Plautus and Terence, penicillus in Colum. 12,18,5 and Pliny) is the Bath Sponge ( Euspongia officinalis Bronn.), which grows in the Mediterranean. Four geographical subspecies, three black and one white (ἀπλυσία/ aplysía of the genus Sarcotragus Schmidt), are distinguished by Aristotle in his accurate description (Hist. an. 5,16,548a 30-549a 13; cf. Plin. HN 9,148-150) and a further one by Diosco…

[German version] (κυβεία/ kybeía; Lat. alea). Allegedly invented by the Lydians (Hdt. 1,94,3),  Palamedes [1] before Troy (Paus. 2,20,3; 10,31,1) or the Egyptian god Thot (Pl. Phdr. 274c-d). Dice are occasionally mentioned in mythology (Hdt. 2,122,1), e.g., Eros plays with Ganymede (Apoll. Rhod. 3,114-126), Hercules with a temple guard (Plut. Romulus 5,1 f.) and Patroclus with Clysonymus (Hom. Il. 23,87 f.). Either four-sided knuckle bones ( astragalos [2], Lat. also talus) that had inscribed on them the values one and six as well as three and four, or six-sided dice (κύβοι/ kýboi;…

[German version] Roman cape of different lengths, produced from a semi-circular cut. It was sewn together at the front, had an opening for the head to slip in and a sewn-on hood. If required, the seam at the front could be unpicked from the bottom end in order to give the arms more room to move. The paenula was made of leather, linen or (sheep's) wool and was worn by men and women of all classes, slaves and soldiers, in particular as a travelling and bad-weather coat for protection against the cold and rain; it was white or gray, or dyed in various sh…

(Τέττιξ, lit. “cicada”). [German version] [1] Founder of a city at the entrance to Hades A Cretan said to have founded a city on the Taenarum near the supposed entrance to Hades: there the man who killed Archilochus in battle, Callondas, nicknamed Corax, was sent by Delphi to placate Archilochus' ghost (Plut. De sera 17.615E, whence Suda α 4112, probably via Ael. (fr. 80)). The hypothesis of [1] that Archilochus called himself T. remains unproven, in spite of Lucian, Pseudol. 1 and Archil. fr. 223  West. Bowie, Ewen (Oxford) Bibliography 1 Göber, s. v. T. (1), RE 5 A, 1111. [German version] [2…

[German version] ('Greeting'). The morning reception allowed clients ( cliens, clientes ) to pay their respects to their patronus , and to receive advice (Hor. Epist. 2,1,102) and support, e.g. money ( sportula ). It took place during the first two hours of the morning (Mart. 4,8); the client ( salutator) had to attend in toga (Juv. 3,126 f.); hence Martial (3,46,1) calls the clients' duties the togata opera. The visitors gathered in the vestibulum or atrium of the house of their patronus and awaited admission (Hor. Epist. 1,5,31). Friends and prominent individuals were grant…

[German version] (ἀργυροθήκη/ argyrothḗkē; Latin arcula, crumena). It seems that MB were unknown in archaic and classical Greece; money was kept in trunks and chests together with jewellery and other objects of value (e.g. Theophr. Char. 10). Probably the oldest surviving MB is from Priene (2nd/1st cent. BC) and has the form of a little temple with a slit in the pediment for inserting money, which can be taken out again through a lockable opening at the rear [1. 190 f. no. 25]. The Romans used small pots for keeping money ( olla or aula, Cic. Fam. 9,18,4, cf. also Plautus's comedy Aulularia).…

[German version] [1] Roman cloak Roman cloak of unknown form; known from literary sources but not identifiable with certainty from monuments. In contradistinction to the  toga, the abolla is the costume of the farmer and the soldier (Non. 538,16), and to satirists it is the cloak favoured by philosophers of the Cynic and Stoic schools (Mart. 4,53; Juv. 3,115). The abolla was evidently similar to the   chlamys , both in form and in the way it was worn (Serv. Verg. Aen. 5,421). Abolla is possibly a general term for the shoulder-cloak (cf. Juv. 4,76, mentioned as the cloak of the praefectus urbi). …

[German version] plays only a minor role in myth and history. One case in point is Hades' helmet of invisibility which Athena uses (κυνέη Ἄϊδος/ kynéē Áïdos, Hom. Il. 5,844 f.) and then hands to  Perseus [1].  Midas hides his donkey ears under a turban ( Tiara), Ov. Met. 11,180 f. A hat (  pilleus ) was taken from  Lucumo ( Tarquinius [11] Priscus) by an eagle and then brought back, which was seen as a positive omen for the future, Liv. 1,34; a wind blows  Alexander [4] the Great's   kausia off his head (Arr. Anab. 7,22,2 f.). Greek and Roman men went bareheaded in everyday life, unless …

[German version] Male garment of a rectangular cloth (felt or loden) with a triangular or circular section cut out, sometimes also with hood. Worn as a shawl or cape and fixed at the right shoulder with a buckle or fibula (Pins), thus leaving the right side of the body uncovered. The sagum originally came from Gaul (Diod. Sic. 5,30,1: σάγος/ ságos; Varro, Ling. 5,167; Caes. B Gall. 5,42,3: sagulum) but was also worn by Germans and Iberians and in Italy and North Africa. It belonged to the garb of slaves and workers and to the battle dress of Roman navy and infan…

[German version] Equipment needed for training and for practising a sport in antiquity. 1) Hoplitodromia (verb ὁπλιτοδρομεῖν/ hoplitodromeȋn) was the last running competition to be included in the programme of the Olympic Games (Olympia IV.) in 520 BC (65th Olympiad). In the beginning it was run in full kit (helmet, greaves, round shield), but the armour was successively reduced until only the shield (ἀσπίς/ aspís) remained ( cf. Paus. 6,10,4). this discipline, which only adult males entered, is represented particularly in vase paintings. 2) The torch race (λαμπαδηδρομία/ lampadēd…

[German version] The toga, adopted from the Etruscans, was the official garment of Roman citizens which was worn in public and which non-Romans were not allowed to wear (Suet. Claud. 15,3; gens togata: Verg. Aen. 1,282). Originally, the woolen toga was worn over the bare upper body and over the subligaculum that covered the lower body, later over the tunica . The common toga of the simple Roman citizen was white ( toga pura, toga virilis). Furthermore, there was the toga praetexta with a crimson stripe along the edges ( clavi; status symbols) which was worn by curule officials, by the Flamines …

[German version] (κηρός; kērós). According to Plin. HN 11,11, (bees)wax was one of the most widely used materials. Among the properties of cera are conservation of shape, the capacity to seal and adhere (Hom. Od. 12,47-49 and passim), inflammability ( Lighting), lustre; cera also aids the healing process (Dioscorides 2,83,3; Plin. HN 22,116). When warmed, cera is easy to work, but also becomes soft or fluid ( Icarus). Cera was used in  sculpture;  painting; in bronze casting; in magic (for amulets and articulated dolls etc.); in funerary art (  imagines maiorum );…

[German version] Board game in which a player attempted to remove his own 15 counters by reaching the end of the other side of the board. Moves were determined by throwing two or three dice; if two or three of the opponent's counters occupied a line, the first player's own counter could not be placed on that line; if only one counter was there, it could be removed. According to Isid. Orig. 18,60, duodecim scripta was played with a dice shaker or ‘tower’, dice and counters. The board consisted of 36 squares decorated with geometrical figures such as circles or squares,…

[German version] Brightly painted ceramics of the 3rd/2nd cents. BC, named after the place of their discovery in Sicily. Vessel forms ( Pottery, shapes and types of ) are pyxis, lekanis and lebes, and infrequently other types such as lekythos. The painting, in tempera colours (white, pink, black, yellow, red, gold, with isolated instances of green and blue) on a ground of orange-coloured clay (friezes of acanthus, tendrils and architectonic forms, heads, busts) is executed only on one side of the vessel. The vessels are of considera…

[German version] (σφαιρίσεις; sphairíseis, pilae lusus). Homeric society already enjoyed ball games (BG) (Hom. Od. 6,110-118; 8,372-380), which have also been practised by people of all social levels (Ath. 1,14e, 15c; 12,548b; Plut. Alexander 39,5; Cic. Tusc. 5,60) and age groups since then. The Romans took many BG over from the Greek. Some were team games, like   harpaston or ἐπίσκυρος, epískyros (Poll. 9,103f.; schol. Pl. Tht. 146 i.a.), during which the opposite party was gradually pushed off the field by long-range shots, perhaps depicted on the relie…

(τάπης, τάπις, ταπήτιον/ tápēs, tápis, tapḗtion; Lati. tapes, tapete). [German version] I. Ancient Near East and Egypt The only surviving rug (from kurgan V at Pazyrik, southern Siberia, 5th-4th cent. BC) is knotted in wool [1]. Otherwise, the existence of rugs in the ancient Near East can only be deduced from various pictorial representations. Owing to their similarity to modern rugs [2], the geometric motifs on wall paintings (7th cent.) at Çatal Hüyük (Turkey) are called 'kelim motifs'. However, definite evid…

[German version] In the first place mourning dress belonged in the personal area of family and friends, but it could also accompany public mourning. In Homer only mourning goddesses wore dark veils (Hom. Il. 24,93 f.; Hom. H. 2,42). The society described by Homer contented itself with dirtying their clothes with dust and ashes or tearing them (Hom. Il. 18,22 f.; 23,40 f.; 24,640; 28,25). Such behaviour was retained in the historical period by the Greeks and the Romans (e.g. Plut. Solon 21; Eur. El…

[German version] Pottery type found among the Italic peoples who inhabited the area of modern provinces around Bari and Foggia, with local production sites particularly in Ordona and Canosa. From their early phase (around 700 BC), the vessels display a geometric ornamentation independent of the Greek range of subjects, which is applied in red and brown to black earthen colours onto the manually formed vessels. Among these are diamond and triangular patterns as well as band ornaments, wavy lines, circle, cross, square, arc, …

[German version] [1] Thin stick Thin stick or spoon for stirring foods, medications, etc. (Greek κύκηθρον/ kýkēthron, Aristoph. Pax 654), called rudicula in its small form (Plin. HN 34,176), usually made of wood, more rarely of iron (Plin. HN 34,170). Hurschmann, Rolf (Hamburg) [German version] [2] Wooden epee Wooden stick or rapier for the fencing exercises of soldiers and gladiators. The rudis also served the lanista as a badge for separating fighting gladiators or for bestowing order on the fight. Retired gladiators received the rudis upon becoming supervisors in the fencing…

[German version] From Latin acetum (vinegar); this goblet-shaped vessel with an indented wall profile served as a container for vinegar and honey, as a table and cooking vessel as well as a wax melting utensil; also used as a beaker amongst conjurers. Usually, the acetabulum was made of clay or glass, sometimes of precious metal. Its volume was very small (0,068 l [1]); in Apicius (6,8,3) and Apici excerpta a Vindario VI, the acetabulum is also equivalent to a cooking vessel.  Catinus Hurschmann, Rolf (Hamburg) Bibliography 1 F. Hultsch, s. v. A., RE I, 155 f. G. Hilgers, Lat. Gefäßnamen, …

[German version] (ἐποστρακισμός; epostrakismós). Boys' game, in which a shard or flat stone is skimmed on the water to make it hit the surface and skip. The winner was the one whose stone or shard made the most skips and went the furthest (Poll. 9, 119; Hes. s.v. E.; Min. Fel. 3; Eust. in Hom. Il. 18,543). Hurschmann, Rolf (Hamburg)

[German version] In Greek as in Latin, there were many terms denoting purse, e.g., βαλ(λ)άντιον ( bal(l)ántion), μαρσίππιον ( marsíppion), θύλακος ( thýlakos), φασκώλιον ( phaskṓlion), crumina, marsuppium, pasceolus, saccus, sacculus, sacciperium, versica; but the exact distinctions between them cannot be established today. The words may have referred only to differences in colour, shape and size, as may be inferred from Plaut. Rud. 1313-1318 (and 548). Purses were small bags kept on a cord around the neck or on the belt or ar…

[German version] (πόλος/ pólos). Cylindrical head-dress without brim, worn by female deities, e.g. Aphrodite (Paus. 2,10,4), Tyche (Paus. 4,30,6), Athena (Paus. 7,5,9), Hera, Demeter, Persephone, Cybele, and by mortals on festive occasions. As a goddess' crown, the pólos came from the Near East (e.g. ivory statuettes from Nimrud, see Kalḫu) to Greece, and was depicted on monuments as early as the Minoan-Mycenaean Period. The height of the pólos could be just a few centimetres, or it could assume considerable proportions, as in the head-dress of Hera of Samos [1. 19 fig. 6]. Such a tall p…

[German version] Just before the end of the 5th cent. BC, production of red-figured vases began in Himera and Syracuse in Sicily. In style, ornamentation, vase shape and themes they reveal considerable influence from Attic vase painting (Meidias Painter). In the second quarter of the 4th century BC a number of Sicilian vase painters emigrated, in order to lay the foundation on the Italian mainland of Campanian and Paestan vase painting  (Campanian vases; Paestan ware). To a limited extent vase pro…

(Greek στλεγγίς/ stlengís, ξύστρα/ xýstra). [German version] [1] Implement for sports and cosmetics Ancient implement for sports and cosmetics, primarily of bronze or iron, for scraping off oil, sweat and dirt after practising sport and after visiting a steam bath ( laconica or sudatoria) in the balnea or thermae. It was part of a grooming set, which for the Greeks also included a sponge and a small bottle of oil (Alabastron, Lekythos [1]), and for the Romans an ampulla (small bottle of oil) and a patera (hand-dish for pouring water on the body or for holding oil). A strigilis consisted of …

(χειρίς; cheirís). [German version] A. Sleeve Clothing from as early as the Minoan-Mycenaean period had sleeves down to the wrist, shorter ones to the elbow or just to the upper arm. In the archaic and classical periods the chiton with sleeves was the usual dress for ‘barbarians (Persians, Scythians et al.), but it was also worn by Greeks. In Roman dress manicae were initially a sign of effeminacy ( Tunic) - Commodus could still be censured because he wore a tunic with sleeves (Cass. Dio 72,17, cf. SHA Heliogab. 26,3). From the 3rd cent. AD, the adoption …

[German version] (ἀσκωλιασμός; askōliasmós). ‘Hopping on one leg’ (Pl. Symp. 190d with Schol.; Aristoph. Plut. 1129 etc.), also ‘hopping on a wineskin’. Mentioned by Eratosthenes (fr.22) and Didymus (Schol. in Aristoph. ibid.) at Attic grape harvest festivals as dances on a wineskin made of the skin of a pig or pelt of a goat that was filled with air or wine and -- as Poll. 9,121 writes -- oil was rubbed into it to make it harder to stand. The festival Askolia mentioned from time to time was invented by the grammarians. Eubolus (fr.8) mentions the askōliasmós also as an Attic folk entertai…

[German version] (καμπύλη; kampýlē). Staff with a cambered handle, mostly used by farmers and shepherds, beggars, old men and travellers, in contrast to the straight walking stick baktēría (βακτηρία) used by full citizens. According to the Vit. Soph. 6 (according to Satyrus) Sophocles is supposed to have introduced the kampyle into the theatre. According to Poll. 4,119 the old men in comedies carry kampyles. On representations of theatre, actors are often depicted with a kampyle. Lituus; Staff Hurschmann, Rolf (Hamburg) Bibliography Bibliography: Staff.

[German version] Named after his geometric krater, formerly in the Cesnola collection (h. 114.9 cm with lid, from Kourion/Cyprus, now in New York, MMA, Inv. 74. 51. 965;  Geometric pottery). The work of the anonymous vase painter combines motifs from the Middle East with those from mainland Greece and the Greek islands. In the past, both the unusual form of the eponymous krater and the combination of decorative motifs led to discussion as to its date and origin, but these are now confirmed by ana…

[German version] (κάλαμος/ kálamos, lat. calamus). Besides the stylus , the pen was the second indispensable writing implement in antiquity. It was used to write with red or black ink on papyrus and parchment, as well as on whitened or uncoated wooden tablets. Pens made from reed stalks (κάλαμος/ kálamos, lat. calamus) were sharpened with a penknife (σμίλη, scalprum librarium) and given a slit in the middle, so that they resembled the modern steel pen in appearance and functioned correspondingly (Pers. 3,10-14). After longer use, kalamoi which had become blunt could be resharpen…

[German version] [1] Architectural term (κρηπίς/ krēpís, κρηπίδωμα/ krēpídōma). Ancient term, documented frequently in building inscriptions, for the stepped base which served as the foundation for various edifices, but particularly for Greek colonnade construction (sources: Ebert 7-9). The krepis rests on the euthynteria (the top layer of the foundation, the first to be precisely planed) and ends in the stylobate, the surface on which the columns stand. The shaping of the initially one- or two-stepped krepis in the early 6th cent. BC is an important result of the comi…

[German version] were primarily performed by children. With some of these games  astragaloi (knucklebones), nuts, pebbles, coins, small balls or potsherds were used as toys ( Children's games), with others, sticks, discs, wheels, etc. A favourite was the so-called πεντάλιθα ( pentálitha) (Poll. 9,126), in which five stones (nuts, balls, etc.) were thrown up in the air and caught in the palm of the hand or on the back of the hand. In another, the orca-game, nuts, stones etc. were thrown into a narrow-necked container (Ps.-Ov. Nux 85f.; Pers. 3,50). Similar to this game was the ἐς βόθυνον ( es…

[German version] (ὄστρακον; óstrakon). Sherd of pottery, sometimes of (lime)stone, which was used as writing material for short  messages, smaller documents, receipts, etc.; they were rarely used for literary texts (Sappho fr. 2 Lobel-Page). Ostraca are attested from pre-Ptolemaic Egypt and then up to the end of Graeco-Roman antiquity. The respective texts were written in ink or scratched into the ostrakon; examples have survived in the Hieratic, Demotic, Greek, Coptic and Arabic scripts. In contrast to expensive papyrus, óstraka were waste products of a household, and th…

[German version] (βαρβάρων ὑφάσματα; barbárōn hyphásmata). The Greeks called the valuable Median-Persian robes, materials, blankets i.a., with colourful  ornaments, detailed figurative decorations, hybrid and fable creatures barbaron hyphasmata (BH ). The BH arrived in Greece through commerce (Aristoph. Vesp. 1132ff.), as loot (Hdt. 9,80) or gifts (Ath. 2,48d). BH were donated as  votive offerings to sanctuaries (Paus. 5,12,4) or they were worn as luxury robes as a demonstration of wealth and power. The BH led to changes in…

[German version] Running and catching games tended to be played in open areas and streets (e.g., Callim. Epigr. 1,9; Verg. Aen. 7,379) where children could chase one another (Hor. Ars P 455f.; cf. Hor. Ars P 412-415 perhaps races) or engage in the popular pastime of hoop rolling (τροχός/ trochós, trochus), often depicted on Greek vases in particular (also in Ganymedes [1]) (Poll. 10,64). From indications in Roman sources this game was frequently played in the street (Mart. 14,168; 14,169; cf. ibidem 12,168; 14,157) and even on frozen rivers (Ma…

[German version] (ὁ κτείς; ho kteís, Lat. pecten). Combs for wool and for the hair were known already in prehistorical Europe, Egypt and the Near East. They were made from a range of different materials (olive wood, boxwood, ivory, bone, later also from bronze and iron) and could also vary in shape (trapezoid or oblong). In the post-Mycenaean period they had two rows of teeth, with those on one side being more narrowly set teeth. Semi-circular combs appeared in the archaic period. The Classical period …

[German version] I. General Pins and needles (βελόνη/ belónē, περόνη/ perónē, ῥαφίς/ rhaphís, Latin acus) were put to a variety of uses in the ancient household: they were used for hair, garments and sewing. They were also a utensil, for example, in the work of doctors (Surgical instruments), sailmakers etc. Tattoos were also done using special needles. The shape of the pin, long and thin with one sharp end, has not changed since prehistoric times. In sewing needles, the head is generally unadorned and flat; …

[German version] The term already defined in the  Tabulae duodecim (Cic. Leg. 2, 64) as ‘tomb’ was, according to Paul. Fest. 6, 78; 25,3; 27,11 and Serv. Aen. 11,201, the place where the corpse was cremated and the remains buried, whilst the place where dead bodies were actually burnt was generally known as   ustrinum . There is a lot of archaeological evidence of this type of funeral.  Burial Hurschmann, Rolf (Hamburg) Bibliography T. Bechert, Röm. Germanien zwischen Rhein und Maas, 1982, 244-246 M. Struck (ed.), Römerzeitliche Gräber als Quellen zu Rel., Bevölkerungsstruktu…

[German version] (δακτύλιος/ daktýlios, ἀκαρές/ akarés; Latin anulus). In the following, ring refers exclusively to finger rings (for earrings, see Ear ornaments). The rings in the Aegina and Thyreatis treasures from the beginning of the 2nd millennium BC already display outstanding technical command and high artistic quality. From the early Mycenaean period, gold wire and silver rings deserve note, along with the so-called shield rings, which developed into a leading form of Mycenaean jewellery. They …

[German version] (καυσία; kausía). Primarily Macedonian head cover with a wide brim to protect the wearer from the rays of the sun ( kaûsis), but it could also serve as a helmet (Anth. Pal. 6,335). The kausia was made from leather or felt and sometimes had a chin strap. Depictions on coins of the 5th cent. BC already document the kausia as part of the attire of Macedonian kings. From Alexander [4] the Great (Ath. 12,537e), the kausia, by then scarlet, has become one of the main features of the Macedonian royal costume (Plut. Antonius 54; cf. Arr. Anab. 7,22,2) and is worn with a tiara ( diádēma …