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[German version] ('examiner') can, in general Latin usage, mean any chairman of a jury ( quaestio ) in criminal proceedings; however, the chairman selected for an individual trial is usually meant, in contrast to the permanent chairman appointed for a year ( praetor, iudex quaestionis) [1, vol. 2. 2234; 2. 48-50]. He also did no…

[German version] In Latin puer is used: (1) to describe male slaves of any age (like the Greek παῖς/ paîs); (2) to distinguish a free male child from a female one ( puella); and (3) to indicate a stage of life (Dig. 50,16,204). According to Festus (307), 'the ancients' ( antiqui) named their slaves Marcipor, Quintipor, etc., to express the master-slave relationship of Marcus or Quintus to each por = puer. A slave remained a puer until freed because his physical development, unlike that of a free child, would not lead to legal majority (Sen. Ep. 47,7). Latin lacks a ter…

[German version] Son of Alaricus [3] II and a daughter of Theoderic the Great. After Alaricus' death (507), his half-brother Gesalech ruled instead of the c. five-year-old A. (Gesalicus; Procop. Goth. 5,12,43; differently Gr…

[German version] [1] Flavius, cos. 427 AD Flavius, of Alan descent, father of Aspar A. Consul in AD 427. As magister utriusque militiae, he led a successful campaign against the Persian commander Narses in AD 421-422. In AD 424, he was, as magister utriusque mil. (praesentalis?), sent to Italy by Theodosius II, together with his son, against the usurper Iohannes who had seized power after the death of Honorius in AD 423; however, he was already captured during the crossing and held in Ravenna as Iohannes' prisoner, but freed by his son in AD 425 (PLRE 2, 137 f., A. 3). Eder, Walter (Berlin) [German version] …

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[German version] The ancient census had its origins in the effort to establish the military potential of a community, and was thus at first restricted to the part of the population that was capable of and qualified for military service, i.e. adult male citizens. Because the prevailing principle of self-provision of equipment made military service as cavalryman, heavy infantryman ( hoplitai ), light infantryman or military auxiliary dependent on the citizen's economic standing, a classification according to wealth was made by estimation ( …

[German version] (also zilat, zilach, zilac). Name of an office in Etruscan cities, known from inscriptional evidence from the 4th cent. BC onwards; most of the evidence is from the territory of Tarquinii, more from Vulci, Volsinii, Volaterra and Clusium [1. 246 f.]. The zilath seems (to some extent with other officials also described as zilath but charged with other duties) to have been at the apex of the city administration which evolved after the diss…

[German version] Son of Mundzuk, from AD 434 together with his brother Bleda king of the Huns as successor to his uncle Rua. After the murder of Bleda in 445, A. is until 453 sole ruler of a Hun empire reaching from the Rhine to the Caucasus, which also includes Iranian and Germanic tribes. The strict central organization of the Hunnish tribes, begun already by Rua, increasingly replaces the earlier, looser federation. Probably after the model of the Roman Empire but not with the goal of its destr…

(Already in Hdt. Greek ἔμφυλος στάσις/ émphylos stásis; πόλεμος/ pólemos; Latin bellum civile). Fight between armed citizens of the same state on its territory, which could be particularly fierce in Graeco-Roman antiquity given that ‘citizens’ and ‘soldiers’ were identical and therefore battle-experienced troops encountered each other. The causes lay in social conflicts, political differences or the power aspirations of individuals. Because the boundaries of civil wars are undefined, differentiation from ‘revolts’ and ‘uprisings’ is difficult. [German version] I. Greece The small territory of the Greek  polis, the low yield increases of agrarian production combined with population increases and rivalries among leading families, who often gathered followings (  hetairíai [2]) about themselves, made internal unrest a common phenomenon of the archaic period. The term stásis (literally: ‘standpoint’, in the meaning of ‘obstinacy’ directed against other communities or groups), which was used to d…

[German version] (ἀκρόπολις/ akrópolis, 'upper city'), the highest part ( ákros = 'located at the top') of a Greek settlement, in Greece and in the Aegean area often with fortification walls, rarely so in the colonies of Sicily and Lower Italy (Fortifications). The original reference to these elevated settlements as …

[German version] According to Festus (318, s. v. s.) s. described objects or persons who were protected by oath ( Sacramentum ) in such a way that by harming them the culprit came under the threat of the death penalty. As examples Festus gives the tribune of the plebs ( Tribunus plebis ) and, incorrectly, also the plebeian aediles. From their inception (in 494 BC; Struggle of the orders), the people's tribunes were protected by the lex sacrata (Liv. 2,33,1 and 3;  Dion. Hal. Ant. Rom. 6,89,2-4; Cic. Rep. 2,58), i.e. by an oath of the plebs to have every injury to a tribune's person or ability to act immediately followed by the punishment of the perpetrator, who by the act had become sacer (outlawed), in a kind of mob justice (for the lex sacrata…

[German version] 'Squeeze' (German abklatsch, French estampage) is the term for a negative impression of an inscription on paper or a latex sheet. After the inscribed surface has been cleaned, soft paper is pressed with a firm brush, or a thin film of liquid latex is poured, on to the inscription. After drying the squeeze can be detached and transported at will; under suitable lighting it can often be read better than the original. Large collections of squeezes can be found in the Akademie der Wissens…

[German version] Building where the  boule met. Attestable from the archaic period, from the 4th cent. BC the bouleuterion was regularly one of the public buildings at or in the vicinity of the  agora. On function and construction  assembly buildings. Eder, Walter (Berlin)

[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] I. Ancient Near East State territory during the history of the ancient Near East was structured and administered variously in keeping with the form of state organization (centralized state, small territorial state, etc.). In Egypt, state territory was divided into so-called 'districts' (in the Ptolemaic Period called nomoí (Nomos [2])) administered by 'district rulers' (Nomarches). External territories, especially in Syria-Palestine during the New Kingdom, were subject to the Pharaoh as vassal states. In Mesopotamia, the empire of the 3rd dynasty of U…

[German version] [1] P. Sabina Daughter of Poppaeus [1] Sabinus, 1st cent. AD Daughter of Poppaeus [1] Sabinus, married to T. Ollius, then, after his death, to P. Cornelius [II 33] Lentulus Scipio (proconsul of Asia in AD 41/2). She was the mother of P. [2] Sabina by T. Ollius, and by Scipio probably of P. Cornelius [II 49] Scipio Asiaticus, whose cognomen indicates that he was born in Asia. P. was regarded as the most beautiful woman of her day (Tac. Ann. 13,45,2), was embroiled in numerous scandals (Tac. Ann. 11,2,1) and committed suicide in AD 47 to a…

(Ἐπίλυκος; Epílykos). [German version] Epilycus Writer of comedies Comedy writer, whose surviving work consists of the title of one play (Κωραλίσκος; Kōralískos, The little lad from Crete? cf. Phot. p. 198,15) and of nine fragments; fr. 3 (remnants of catalectic anapaestic tetrameters) and fr. 4 (catalectic anapaestic dimeter in Doric dialect) show that he belonged to the Old Comedy (late 5th, early 4th cent. BC). Nesselrath, Heinz-Günther (Göttingen) Bibliography 1 PCG V, 1986, 170-173. [German version] [2] Nephew of Andocides [1], 2nd half of the 5th cent. BC The son of Teisander…

[German version] I. General remarks In contrast to ius iurandum , which in Latin generally refers to the oath itself and the act of swearing an oath, the sacramentum ('oath') has to do with the obligations an individual assumes vis-à-vis the god who is invoked (usually Iuppiter (I. B) in his function as Dius Fidius or 'all gods'). The sacramentum threatens that one may become sacer , in thrall to a god and consequently outlawed, by taking an oath affirming a false statement or failing to keep a promise made under oath (assertive or promissory oath) [1. 76-84]. Eder, Walter (Berlin) …

[German version] I. Capitol Hill in Rome, consisting of a summit called C. in the south (46 m) and the Arx in the north (49 m), linked by the depression of the asylum. Until Trajan's forum was built, the C. was the south-western spur of the Quirinal and linked with it by a bridge. From archaic times, buildings on the C. had to have very deep foundations because of unfavourable geological conditions; in addition, since ancient times, there have been landslides, terracing (in the 15th and 16th cents.), as well as other substa…

[German version] A. Life Flavius Magnus Aurelius C., a senator, born c. AD 490, came from a family of the senatorial aristocracy -- probably of Syrian origin (the name refers to the Syrian Zeus Kasios), but for generations settled in Scylacium (Squillace in Calabria) -- which was very influential in Bruttium and Sicily ( primatus: Cassiod. Var. 1,4,14) and carried out important political tasks (PLRE 2, 263f., C. 1 and 2). As a comes sacr. larg. of Odoacer, C.'s father (PLRE 2, 264f.) went over to Theoderic at the right time (AD 490), handed Sicily over to him without …

[German version] [1] King Rex (pl. reges; Indo-Germanic * rḗg̑-s, Old Indo-Aryan rā́j-, Celtic -rīx) in Latin denotes a king; in the Greek world, the Indo-Germanic term probably gave way in the Mycenaean period to the ruler designations anax ( wanax ) and basileús . The Imperial and Byzantine word ῥῆξ ( rhêx) was originally a mere Greek transliteration of the Latin rex and generally refers to tribal kings of foreign peoples. According to the root of the word * h3reg̑- ('to straighten', 'to stretch out'), the job of the rex was to 'rule', i.e. to keep the world 'upright' and perpendic…

(Ζῆνις/ Zênis). [German version] [1] Sub-satrap of Pharnabazus [2], 5th cent. BC Z. from Dardanus [4], sub-satrap of Pharnabazus [2] in the Troad (in Xen. Hell. 3,1,10: Aeolis); after his death, his wife Mania [3], with the assent of Pharnabazus, took over power and ruled successfully until her assassination shortly before the arrival of Dercylidas in 411 BC (Xen. Hell. 3,1,14; 3,1,16). Eder, Walter (Berlin) [German version] [2] From Chios, author of a work on his homeland, 4th cent. BC? (also Ζηνεύς/ Zēneús). Writer from Chios, possibly 4th cent. BC; he wrote 'about his hom…

[German version] I. The historical period In modern historical research, Late Antiquity (LA) is the period following the crisis of the Roman Empire in the 3rd cent. AD from the reigns of Diocletian (284-305) and Constantine [1] (307-337) to the end of the Empire in the West (deposition of Romulus [2] Augustulus 476) or the dissolution of the Western Empire into several Germanic successor states during the 5th cent. or even to Justinian's [1] (527-565) standardization of Roman law and failed attempt t…

[German version] (κτίστης; ktístēs). Ktistes (from Greek κτίζειν/ ktízein, ‘to make habitable, to settle’ or ‘to found, set up’) is (next to archēgétēs and oikistḗs; Latin conditor) the term used in the Greek language area in pre-Christian times to describe founders of cities. In inscriptions from the Hellenistic period ktistes also often means founder of games or other public institutions (cf. e.g. CIG 2851). Christian authors use ktistes in the sense of Creator (God) (of the earth, flora, fauna etc.). Ktistes in the sense of city founder could be a god (particularly Apoll…

[German version] I. Republic In Rome the permanent or temporary union between people who were mostly of high rank so as to preserve or assert similar interests. Initially used in the sense of a kinship connection (Plaut. Trin. 452; 466; 490), factiones gain a pejorative meaning in the late Roman Republic (‘clique’, ‘coterie’ in [1. 103 and passim]) as the term for an oligarchical group (Cic. Rep. 1,68; Caes. B Civ. 3,82f.) that was mostly reproached for moral inferiority (Sall. Iug. 31,15) and always for striving for power ( dominatio). For instance, political fellow travellers ( Syllana …

[German version] I. Ancient Near East There was at various periods and in various regions of the ancient Near East a spectrum of manifestations of collective bodies with diverse powers of decision-making  and capacities for implementation. Crucial to the role of such collective bodies was on the one hand the nature of their historical genesis, and on the other hand the nature of their integration into the prevailing system of rulership. There were no popular assemblies as in the Classical Mediterranea…

(ἐπίγονοι; epígonoi, ‘future generations’, ‘descendants’). [German version] [1] Second generation of successors of Alexander [4] the Great Second generation of successors of Alexander [4] the Great in regions of the former Alexandrian Empire. Regarding the term Epigoni, see  Diadochi and Epigoni. Eder, Walter (Berlin) [German version] [2] Early Greek epic Lost early Greek epic (only one hexameter certain to belong to it has survived, and that is the introductory verse: F 1 Bernabé = F 1 Davies, see below) which belonged to the Theban part of th…

Common cognomen (‘the lisper’), e.g. in the gens Gellia, Naevia, Iunia, Pedia, Sallustia, Sentia, Sempronia. [German version] [1] Freund of Atedius Melior, Senator, died 90 AD Friend of Atedius Melior, probably a senator; died before AD 90 (Stat. 2,1,189ff.). A link with P. Sallustius Lucullus remains uncertain, cf. [1. 12f., 334ff.]. Eck, Werner (Cologne) Bibliography 1 Scheid, Collège. [German version] [2] Roman jurist Jurist, probably a student with  Labeo of Trebatius (cf. Dig. 33,2,31). Identification with Q. Iunius B. (cos. suff. AD 10) is questionable. Eder, Walter (Ber…

[German version] [1] (Alarich). Mid 4th cent. AD, King of the Erulians (Alarich). Mid 4th cent. AD, King of the Erulians who resided on the Sea of Asov according to  Ablabius [3] quoted by Iordanes ( iuxta Maeotidas Paludes habitans). They were defeated by the Greuthungi king  Ermanaricus, partially destroyed, the rest of them subjugated. Nothing more is known about the personal destiny of A. (Iord. Get. 117-119). Schwarcz, Andreas (Vienna) Bibliography H. Wolfram, Die Goten, 31990, 44, 97, 150. [German version] [2] I Gothic king, AD 391-410 A. I, from the Balthi family (Iord. Get…

[German version] [1] Daughter of the Roman king Servius Tullius [I 4] Daughter of the Roman king Servius Tullius [I 4], the son-in-law of Tarquinius [11] Priscus, she was married to her uncle Arruns. Having failed in her attempts to talk Arruns into assuming rulership, T. turned towards Arruns' brother Tarquinius (the later Tarquinius [12] Superbus), husband of her sister of the same name. After the death of Arruns and of her sister (by murder?; Liv. 1,46,9; Dion. Hal. Ant. Rom. 4,30,1), T. married Tarquini…

[German version] A. Ancient Near East Xenophon (Cyr. 8,2,10ff.) tells of undercover informants, the “eyes and ears of the king”, who reported to the Persian king. Antecedents of this Achaemenid institution can be found in Mesopotamia: soothsayers (Mari 18th cent. BC) and state officials (Assyria 8th/7th cents.) undertook in their oath of office to report to the king any moves or actions against him. The extent to which fear of the “eyes and ears of the king” was an encumbrance to contemporaries can be…

(Ζηνόβιος/ Zēnóbios). [German version] [1] General of Mithridates [6] VI, 1st cent. BC General of Mithridates [6] VI in the first of the Mithridatic Wars (89-85 BC). He captured Chios in 86 BC and organized, despite the payment of the imposed fine of 2,000 talents, deportation of the entire population to the Black Sea (App. Mithr. 180-187; Colchis: Ath. 6,266), in order to warn other cities against secession (cf. Syll.3 785, lines 13-15). During a subsequent stay in Ephesus (still in 86: [1. 172 f.]), however, he was killed by the citizens, who feared a simila…

[German version] [1] Statilia M. Third wife of Nero Born between AD 30 and 40, daughter of T. Statilius Taurus ( cos. 44), married her fourth husband M. Atticus Vestinus (= M. Iulius [II 147] Vestinus Atticus, cos. 65) in 63/4. In 65, emperor Nero forced Vestinus to commit suicide so that he could take M. as his (third) wife in 66 (Tac. Ann. 15,68,3; Suet. Nero 35,1; IG IV 1402 and IV2 604: M. as Nero's wife). In the same year, she was installed as Augusta. As a widow, she was courted by Otho in 69 (Suet. Otho 10,2). M., who was deified during her lifetime (as noted in the Acts o…

[German version] I. General Neither the states of the ancient Near East nor those of classical antiquity had a word corresponding to the modern, impersonal concept of the state. There was no abstract idea of state separate from the ruler or distinguished by law. In particular, the state did not appear as a perpetrator of action. The use of the term 'state' for these pre-modern societies is none the less justified, because, on the one hand, they did fulfil the minimum formal criteria: permanent state…

(lit. 'standing', 'condition', 'position'). [German version] [1] In rhetoric (Rhetoric). The Latin rhetorical term status (Quint. Inst. 3,6,1; Cic. Top. 25,93) or constitutio (Quint. Inst. 3,6,2: 'ascertainment' i.e. of the point in dispute) equates to the Greek στάσις/ stásis (Quint. Inst. 3,6,3; Cic. Top. 25,93; Isid. Orig. 2,5,1). Walde, Christine (Basle) [German version] A. Definition In the rhetorical system (Rhetoric), status ('standing of the matter of dispute') was the determination, arrived at by a series of questions ( summa quaestio, 'crucial question': Quint. I…

The term aristocracy, when used for ancient societies, must be distinguished from the term aristocracy used in the Middle Ages and in modern times. The aristocracy of antiquity is lacking lordly property as the basis of rule over people who work the land, and also, in principle, an authority that can justify aristocratic status. Heredity and exclusive class thinking are especially weakly pronounced in the Greek areas, even if often through the handing down of property and personal connections, e…