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This item can be found on the following maps: Sparta | Theatre | Christianity | Doric Migration | Dark Ages | Hellenistic states | Achaeans, Achaea | Colonization | Apollo | Macedonia, Macedones | Natural catastrophes | Persian Wars | Punic Wars | Athletes | Athenian League (Second) | Education / Culture (Σπάρτη/ Spártē, Doric Σπάρτα/ Spárta). I. Political history [German version] A. Archaic period City in Laconica on the middle reaches of the Eurotas; originally four villages (Cynosura [3], Limnae, Pitana/Pitane, Mesoa), which developed from settlements of D…

[German version] Eastern Goth, comes Syracusanae civitatis in AD 526/7, commander of the province of Sicilia, known from two letters of  Athalaric (Cassiod. Var. 9,11; 14) who threatened the comes Gotharum G. with dismissal from office because of serious irregularities in the levying of taxes and in legal decisions. Meier, Mischa (Bielefeld) Strothmann, Meret (Bochum)

[German version] (Ἱπποκλῆς; Hippoklês). H. of Cyme on the island of Euboea, oikist (‘founder’) of the Italian Cyme together with Megasthenes of Chalcis. According to Strabo (5,4,4), the colony was named by mutual agreement after H.' hometown, but must be considered as a Chalcidian foundation. Meier, Mischa (Bielefeld) Bibliography J. Bérard, La colonisation grecque, 1957, 38f.

(Εὐρύλοχος; Eurýlochos). [German version] [1] Relative and companion of Odysseus Close relation and ambivalent companion of  Odysseus. He is the only one not to accept the invitation of  Circe, and so escapes being transformed into a pig (Hom. Od. 10,205-274; Apollod. Epit. 7,14-15; Ov. Met. 14,287). When E. later incites the companions against Odysseus, he is threatened with punishment by death (Hom. Od. 10,429-448). Together with  Perimedes he takes part in the sacrifice to the dead before Odysseus ente…

(Ĕκδίκιος; Ekdíkios) [German version] [2] Son of the Emperor Avitus, 5th cent. AD Arvernian from a senator's family, son of the emperor  Avitus [1], brother-in-law of Sidonius Apollinaris, received an excellent education (in Clermont). Around AD 469, he was probably at the court of  Anthemius [2]; probably in 471 he organized the defence of Clermont against the Visigoths using his own means. During a famine in Burgundy in 473, he supplied the (suffering) population with food. In 474, Iulius Nepos awarded the patricius title to him for his achievements and probably made him a magister utr…

(Ἀγαθοκλῆς; Agathoklês) [German version] [1] of Athens Archon 357/56 BC Archon 357/56 BC (Dem. Or. 47,44; Diod. Sic. 16,9). Meier, Mischa (Bielefeld) [German version] [2] Tyrant King of Syracuse (316-288 BC) Later king of Syracuse, born 361/0 BC in Thermae in Sicily. Son of Carcinus, who had been banned from Rhegium, and who under  Timoleon had received citizenship in Syracuse and had a pottery manufactory. A. had an adventurous youth, participated in several martial undertakings and early on fostered broad-reaching politica…

[German version] [1] P. Orator, 1st cent. BC C. is mentioned in Cic. Brut. 205 as copyist (ed.?) of the speeches of P. Sulpicius and as an extremely eloquent orator (positive, in Cic. Clu. 29, 50, 73f.), whereas Aper in Tac. Dial. 21,1 regards him as too old. He was not a senator, but appeared in the trial of Oppianicus (Clu. 58). The passive use of admirari in the only quote in Prisc. Gramm. 2,381,12f. leads to the conclusion that C. was an analogist.  Histrio Calboli, Gualtiero (Bologna) Bibliography Edition: ORF4, 371f. Literature: Münzer, s.v. C. 2, RE 3, 1485 A. E. Douglas, Comm. in Cicero…

[German version] (Εὐάγων / Euágōn, in MSS also as Εὐγαίων / Eugaíōn, Εὐγέων / Eugéōn). Of Samos, hailed by Dionysius of Halicarnassus as one of the earliest of the Greek historiographers (De Thucydide 5) and the first Samian historian (last third of the 5th cent. BC), the author of Hôroi Samíōn, which was still referred to by Aristotle; Thucydides, too, used it. In the course of a 2nd cent. BC territorial dispute with Priene, the Samians cited an old border agreement (early 7th cent.), mentioned by E. ─ who thus is one of the earliest local …

(δεκαδαρχία; dekadarchía). [German version] [1] Rule by ten c. 400 BC ‘Rule by ten’; commissions of ten men, used in 405/04 BC by the oligarchically inclined Spartan Lysander, especially in the former Athenian sphere of influence; according to Diodorus (14,13,1), besides dekadarchia he also set up oligarchies, but according to Xenophon (Hell. 3,5,13; 6,3,8), Plutarch (Lys. 13) and Nepos (Lys. 1,4-2,1) dekadarchia persisted ‘everywhere’. This is improbable, as Sparta had proclaimed freedom and autonomy as its goal in the war against Athens, and in Greek constitutional conceptions d…

[German version] (Ἐχέστρατος; Echéstratos). Legendary Spartan king, son of Agis I, father of Labotas and thus the third king from the house of the Agiads (Hdt. 7,204). According to Paus. 3,2,2, the Cynureans are said to have been expelled from the Argolis in the reign of E. Meier, Mischa (Bielefeld)

[German version] (Ἀβάσκαντος; Abáskantos). Athenian from Cephisia, son of Eumolpus, from AD 135/6 34 years παιδοτρίβης δια βίου ( paidotríbēs dia bíou) (CIA 3,1112; 740 and passim), died after 169/70 Traill, PAA, 101125). His son A. (Traill, PAA, 101135) was κοσμητὴς τῶν ἐφήβων ( kosmētḕs tôn ephḗbōn) 192/3-200/1 (CIA 3, 1159). Meier, Mischa (Bielefeld)

[German version] (Guntharis, Gundarus, Gontharis). Bucellarius of  Solomon I, magister militum and dux Numidiae from AD 545 (Iord. De origine actibusque Romanorum 384). G., whom Solomon had sent out in advance to Bagae on the River Abigas with an army to fight the Moors, escaped defeat only through the latter's rapid assistance (Procop. Vand. 2,19,6-16). In a secret alliance with the prince of the Moors Antalas, G. decided in 546 to remove  Areobindus [3], which also occurred (Procop. Vand. 2,25,1-28). G. oc…

Roman cognomen (also Caerialis, Caerealis) of Latin origin, derived from the adjectival Cerealis (‘belonging to Ceres’); current from the Julian-Claudian era onwards (Schulze, 486f.; ThlL, Onom. 2,344f.).   Meier, Mischa (Bielefeld) [German version] [1] Brother-in-law of Valentinianus I, 4th cent. AD Brother of  Iustina, the wife of  Valentinianus I (Amm. Marc. 28,2,10). Tribunus stabuli (Amm. Marc. 30,5,19). In AD 375 he helped his nephew  Valentinianus II to the throne (Amm. Marc. 30,10,5). PLRE 1,197. Portmann, Werner (Berlin) [German version] [2] Dux Libyarum 405 AD In AD 4…

[German version] [1] Legendary king of the Arcadian Orchomenus (2nd half 7th cent. BC) Legendary king of the Arcadian Orchomenus (Apollod. FGrH 244 F 334; according to Paus. 4,17,2; 8,5,13 king of Trapezus) at the time of the Second Messenian War (2nd half of the 7th cent. BC); according to Diog. Laert. 1,94, he ruled, together with his son, over almost all of Arcadia. As leader of the Arcadians, on several occasions A. supposedly betrayed his Messenian allies under the leadership of  Aristomenes to Sparta (Paus. 4,17,2-8; 22,1-6), and he was finally stoned …

[German version] (Ἡρόστρατος; Hēróstratos). Arsonist, of unknown origin, involved in the destruction of the Temple of Artemis at  Ephesus in 356 BC. Under torture he confessed that he had been motivated by a thirst for glory, whereupon the Ephesians decided that his name should never again be mentioned. According to Valerius Maximus (8,14 ext. 5), only Theopompus did not abide by that (Ael. NA 6,40; Solin. 40,2-5; Str. 14,1,22 are based on him). In fact, other sources (collected in [1. 262ff.]) do …

[German version] (δεκάπρωτοι; dekáprōtoi). College of the 10 highest ranked decuriones ( Decurio), attested from the middle of the 1st cent. AD for communities in the east of the Roman empire. The obligations of the dekaprotoi, the western equivalent of which were the  Decemprimi, varied according to region and in the course of time. As a rule they represented their communities before the Roman magistrates, received the sworn public accounts of departing municipal officials and administered the community treasury. From the 2nd c…

(Δημήτριος; Dēmḗtrios). Well-known personalities: the Macedonian King D. [2] Poliorketes; the politician and writer D. [4] of Phalerum; the Jewish-Hellenistic chronographer D. [29]. I. Politically active personalities [German version] [1] Officer under Alexander the Great Officer under Alexander [4], fought at Gaugamela as commander of a troop ( ile) of  Hetairoi and in India he commanded a hipparchy. Badian, Ernst (Cambridge, MA) Bibliography Berve 2, no. 256. [German version] [2] D. Poliorketes Son of  Antigonus [1], born 337/6 BC (Diod. Sic. 19,96,1). In 320 he m…

[German version] (Ἀνυτος; Ánytos). Son of Anthemion, a well-to-do Athenian. In 409 BC A. was sent as commander with a fleet towards Pylos, but was forced to turn back by a storm; he was, however, cleared at the subsequent investigation -- allegedly through bribery (Diod. Si c. 13,64,6). In 404 he was banished by the ( Thirty), subsequently playing a large part in their overthrow when he joined  Thrasyboulus (Xen. Hell. 2,3,42;44), becoming like him one of the most influential Athenian politicians after 403 (Isoc. Or. 18,23). A lover of  Alc…

(Frederick). [German version] [1] Son of the West Gothic king Theodoric I, co-ruler of Theoderic II about AD 450 Son of the West Gothic king Theoderic I, brother and co-ruler of Theoderic II, whom he helped to the throne in AD 453 after the murder of the eldest brother Thorismud (Chron. min. 1,483; 2,27 Mommsen; Greg. Tur. Franc. 2,7); after successful battles against the Spanish Bagauds (probably as magister militum, cf. Chron. min. 2,27; in this regard [1. 690f.]) he was involved in 455 in the rise of  Avitus [1] to the position of emperor (Sid. Apoll. Carm. 7,…

(Σόλων/ Sólōn). [1] S. of Athens Poet, legislator, c. 600 BC [German version] I. Life griech. Gesetzgeber, um 600 v. Chr. S. (b. c. 640 BC), an Athenian of the family of the Medontidae, supposedly related through the maternal line with Peisistratus [4], the most important Greek legislator (alongside the legendary Spartan Lycurgus [4]) of the Archaic period and the first prominent Athenian poet. S. first emerged around 600 BC, when he successfully appealed for the conquest of Salamis [1] during the conflict with Megara…

(Ἀντιφῶν; Antiphôn). [German version] [1] Athenian (end of the 5th cent. BC) Athenian, who towards the end of the Peloponnesian War equipped two triremes. He was executed 404/403 BC by the 30 Tyrants ( Triakonta) (Xen. Hell. 2,3,40; Traill PAA, 138325). He is probably identical with an A., for whose daughter  Lysias gave an oration (Traill PAA, 138320; cf. Theop. FGrH 115 F 120 = Plut. Mor. 833A-B). Meier, Mischa (Bielefeld) [German version] [2] Athenian (middle of the 4th cent. BC) Athenian, was removed from the list of citizens. Thereafter he allegedly promised  Philippu…

[German version] Eldest son of  Geisericus and his successor in AD 477-484. King of the Vandals ( rex Vandalorum et Alanorum; Victor Vitensis 2,1). H. was first married to a daughter of the Visigoth king Theodoric I (Iord. Get. 184), and from 456 to Eudocia [2], the daughter of Valentinian III (Procop. Vand. 3,5,6), a marriage that was probably decided upon when H. was staying with him as a hostage, in order to ensure adherence to the treaty of 442 between the Romans and the Vandals (Procop. Vand. 3,4,13). H. sough…

(Ἀλκιβιάδης; Alkibiádēs). [German version] [1] Athenian (end of 6th cent. BC) Athenian, who in 510 BC supported  Cleisthenes when he initiated the expulsion of the Peisistratids from Athens (Isoc. Or. 16,26). [1; cf. 2]. Meier, Mischa (Bielefeld) Bibliography 1 Traill, PAA, 121620. 2 Davies, 600,III u. V. [German version] [2] ‘the Elder’ Athenian, around 461 BC Son of the previous (cf. Pl. Euthd. 275a/b); after the deposition of  Cimon (462/1 BC) and the break between Athens and Sparta he laid down demonstratively the inherited title of a Lacedaimonian proxenos (Thuc. 5,43,2; 6,8…

[German version] Mentioned by Pliny the Elder as the source for parts of his Naturalis historia (Plin. HN 16,216; 37,24; 97; 127); Solinus also repeatedly draws on a C.B. as a source for chronological details (cf. Solin. 1,97; 2,11; 2,18); still the identity of this C.B. with that referred to in Pliny (suspected by [1. XIV]) cannot be proved [2. 646f.]. The inscriptions CIL II 35 and 5184 (=ILS 2920 and 2921) from Lusitania (1st cent. AD), according to which a Lucius CB was flamen provinciae and tribunus militum legionis III Augustae, however probably do relate to Pliny's source. PIR2 C. 133…

[German version] King of the West Goths, AD 680-687. As comes at the court of Wamba, E. was not free of involvement in the latter's deposal and he had himself anointed king without any election. In 681 he had a new version of the law of the West Goths issued. His policy of strengthening the kingship came to grief in 683, when he was obliged to make concessions to the aristocracy at the 13th Council of Toledo. In 687, seriously ill, he designated his bitter rival Egica as his successor. Meier, Mischa (Bielefeld) Strothmann, Meret (Bochum)

[German version] Conflicts between the Spartans and the Messenians ( Messana, Messene [2]) are already attested at the end of the 8th cent. BC (Paus. 4,4,2f.). Repeated assaults by Spartan nobles against Messenians culminated ca. 700/690-680/670 (the older date, based on the list of Olympic victors for 736-716 [1. 9ff.; 2. 34] is not tenable, cf. [3; 4. 91ff.]) in the 1st Messenian War, which resulted in Spartan control over large parts of Messenia [4. 70-91]. A Messenian uprising ca. 640/30-600, …

Meier, Mischa (Bielefeld) [German version] A. Early Period - General Characteristics (CT) Any attempt to trace the heritage of ancient drama in modern opera must focus less on the continuation of ancient genres in the post-medieval world than on a series of changing ideas and projections that have accompanied the history of opera and have on several occasions played a decisive role in its development; however, there are no historical or genre-specific links with ancient drama. When around 1600 a group of po…

Roman family name, presumably of Etruscan origin (in Greek also Καρείνας, Καρρείνας; Kareínas, Karreínas), reliably attested from the 1st cent. BC (ThlL, Onom. 2,209f.). I. Republican Age [German version] [I 1] C., C. Follower of Marius Follower of Marius, in the Civil War sent to Picenum against  Pompeius in 83 BC (Plut. Pompeius 7); he was praetor in 82 BC , and suffered a number of defeats in northern and central Italy. After the flight of the consul Cn.  Papirius Carbo to Africa, the remaining Marian military leaders united their troops with the Samn…

[German version] The term refers to those Byzantine territories in Italy and North Africa which after the reorganization under  Mauricius (AD 582-602) were administered by an exarch (ἔξαρχος; …

(Διόδωρος, Διόδορος; Diódōros, Diódoros). Well-known representatives of the name: the philosopher D. [4] Kronos, the mathematician D. [8] of Alexandria, the universal historian D. [18] Siculus, the early Christian theologian D. [20] of Tarsus. [German version] [1] Athenian fleet commander in the Peloponnesian War Athenian, fleet commander with…

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(Ἀνδροκλῆς; Androklês). [German version] [1] Messenian king shortly before the outbreak of the first Messenian War…

[German version] (Ἐπικυδίδας; Epikydídas). Spartiate, who, in 394 BC, delivered to King Agesilaus the order of the Ephoroi to return to Sparta from Asia Minor (Xen. Hell. 4,2,2; Plut. Agesilaus 15,2). He was probably a troop commander in the battle…

(Δημοχάρης; Dēmochárēs). [German version] [1] Athenian delegate to Philip II, mocked by Seneca Mentioned by Seneca as an Athenian delegate to Philip II and compared to the Homeric  Thersites because of his open and bold style of speech (cf. Il. 2,212ff.) (Sen. De ira 3,23,2f.). Possibly identical with D. [3] PA 3716. Meier, Mischa (Bielefeld) [German version] [2] Relative of Demosthenes the orator The son of Demon of the Paeania deme, a relative of  Demosthenes, possibly as commander of the cavalry, he was Athenian delegate and witness of the oath of symmachia with Amyntas (IG II2 102,19?…

[German version] King of the Vandal Hasdingians around AD 400, father of  Gundericus and  Geisericus. Under G. the Hasdingians moved from Pannonia via Vindelicia and Noricum to the Rhine-Neckar area where G. fell in battle in 406 fighting the Franks, who were defending the Roman Rhine border (Greg. Tur. Franc. 2,9); Procop. (Vand. 3,3,2; 22f.) and Theophanes (5931; 6026) erroneously report that G. led the Hasdingians to Spain. Meier, Mischa (Bielefeld) Strothmann, Meret (Bochum) Bibliography PLRE 2, 515f. F. Clover, The Late Roman West and the Vandals, 1993 Chr. Courtois, Les vanda…

[German version] (Ἀβρώτη; Abrṓtē). According to Plut. Mor. 295a, the canny wife of  Ninus, the king of Megara. In her memory, he is supposed to have introduced her official dress ἀφάβρωμα ( aphábrōma) to the Megarean women; its abolition was supposedly forbidden by an oracle. Meier, Mischa (Bielefeld)

(Ἀριστόδημος; Aristódēmos). [German version] [1] Great-grandson of Heracles Great-grandson of Hercules, one of the three Heraclids who led the Dorians into the Peloponnese. According to the widely known version of th…

Roman gentilicium (also Cerinius) of Oscan origin, derived from Ceres; frequently attested in Pompeii and the surrounding area [1. 467f.]. [German version] [1] Initiates in the Bacchic mysteries, 2nd cent. BC According to Liv. 39,13,9, Minnius and Herennius Cerrinii were the first men to be initiated into the Bacchic mysteries, by their mother, a priestess of Dionysus. After the Senate, seeing the cult as a conspiracy, had banned the so-called  Bacchanalia in 186 BC (CIL I2 581), Minnius, as its leading figure, was arrested in Ardea (Liv. 39,17,6; 19,2). Meier, M…

[German version] [1] Addressee of Pliny Ep. 6,31 Addressee of Pliny Ep. 6,31, cf. [1]. PIR2 C 1301. Meier, Mischa (Bielefeld) Strothmann, Meret (Bochum) Bibliography 1 A. N. Sherwin…

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(Ἀδείμαντος; Adeímantos). [German version] [1] Corinthian (5 cent. BC) Corinthian, son of Ocytus, fled in a cowardly manner, according to Herodotus (8,94), in the war against Xerxes with the Corinthian contingent before the naval battle at  Salamis in 480 B…

[German version] (Ἑλλανοδίκαι; Hellanodíkai, also Ἑλληνοδίκαι; Hellēnodíkai), the supervisors and judges at the competitions of Olympia, Nemea (IG IV 587) and the Asclepiea in Epidaurus (IG IV 946; 1508). The hellanodikai of the Olympic Games were chosen in Elis from the local aristocracy for one festival in each case. The office (official oath: Paus. 5,24,10), the sacred components of which are still reflected in a cleansing ritual of the …

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[German version] C. Crassus, P., of unknown descent. In 43 BC, he served as legate of  Lepidus in Gaul (Cic. Fam. 10,21,4). Probably holder of a command position under M.  Antonius [I 9] in the Perusine War (App. B Civ. 5,50; MRR 2,373). Cos. suff. at the end of 40 BC; from 36 BC, he fought successfully in Armenia and in the Caucasus, and took part in Antony's Parthian campaigns. In the winter 33/32 BC, he returned to Antony from a comma…

(Ἀριστοτέλης; Aristotélēs). [German version] [1] Athenian oligarch Athenian oligarch who, in 404 BC, was banned from Athens and sent to Sparta by  Lysander (Xen. Hell. 2,2,118). Later, he was one of the 30 Tyrants in Athens (Xen. Hell. 2,3,2;  Triakonta), who sent him to Sparta with the request for a Spartan occupational force (Xen. Hell. 2,3,13). Traill, PAA, 174765. Meier, Mischa (Bielefeld) [German version] [2] Rhodian envoy, 166/5 BC Rhodian envoy to Rome who, in 166/5 BC, failed in his request for a renewal of the amicitia by the Senate (Pol. 30,23,2-4) [1. 167,2; 2. 208]. Günther, …

(Πολύδωρος/ Polýdōros, Lat. Polydorus). [German version] [1] King of Thebes, son of Cadmus King of Thebes, son of Cadmus [1] and Harmonia (Hes. Theog. 978; Eur. Phoen. 8; Hyg. Fab. 179), husband of Nyctis who was one of Nycteus' daughters (Apollod. 3,40). According to Pausanias, P. succeeded Cadmus to the Theban throne (Paus. 9,5,3). In Euripides, on the other hand, P. is not the heir apparent - there, an aged Cadmus hands the Theban throne to his grandson Pentheus (Eur. Bacch. 43 f. and 213). Although early…

(Εὐκλείδας; Eukleídas; Paus. 2,9,1; 3: Epicleidas). [German version] [1] Spartan king about 227-222 BC Spartan king c. 227-222 BC, son of Leonidas II, Agiad. His brother Cleomenes III elevated him as king after the murder of the Eurypontid Archidamus III to formally preserve the double monarchy. Tradition attributes the Spartan catastrophe against Antigonus [3] Doson (222) at Sellasia to his tactical incompetence. E. was killed in this battle (Plut. Cleom. 11,5; 28,3; 6f.; Phil. 6; Paus. 2,9,1; 3; Pol. 2,65-68). Meier, Mischa (Bielefeld) [German version] [2] Syracusan die cutter…

[German version] (Λάμις; Lámis). From Megara, leader of a party of Megarian colonists who, probably together with settlers from Chalcis [1], went to Sicily around 730 BC. There the Megarians separated from the Chalcidians, and, the latter already having occupied the most favourable locations (Naxos, Catana, Leontini), founded Trotilum. They accepted an invitat…