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[German version] (Μυρμηκίδης; Myrmēkídēs). Sculptor in marble and toreutics . His creative period is not known, it probably lay in the 6th cent. BC. Mostly named in conjunction with Callicrates [2], he had a legendary reputation for producing microscopically small works in marble, iron and ivory. There are descriptions of a quadriga small enough to fit under the wings of a fly, a ship the size of a bee and a sesame seed enscripted with Homeric verses. Neudecker, Richard (Rome) Bibliography Overbeck, No. 293, 2168, 2192-2201  P. Mingazzini, s.v. M., EAA 5, 1963, 313-314.

[German version] I. Introduction Terra cotta (an Italian term meaning 'burnt clay') was the commonest material used for many kinds of ancient utensils, vessels and art objects. In archaeological terminology, it refers to artistically formed objects. As well as free moulding by hand, mass production was also usual, in the Near East (from the 3rd millennium BC) and the Mediterranean (from the 6th cent. BC). A matrix was derived from the patrix (original) to serve as a mould. If the object was made hol…

(Λύσιππος; Lýsippos). [German version] [1] Writer of the Old Comedy, c. 400 BC Poet of the Old Comedy who perhaps as early as the 430s BC won at the Dionysia [1. test. *2] and about whom further victories are attested in 409 and later [1. test. 3]. Only three titles of plays are extant; fragments (apart from three without a title) are only attributed to the ‘Bacchae’ (Βάκχαι): In fragment 1 a man by the name of Hermon (who had been thrown into a well by his father) talks to his brother. Nesselrath, Heinz-Günther (Göttingen) Bibliography 1PCG V, 1986, 618-622. [German version] [2] Bronze sculptor…

(Ἡλιόδωρος; Heliódōros). [German version] [1] Chancellor under Seleucus IV, 2nd cent. BC Son of Aeschylus of Antioch on the Orontes, was educated with Seleucus IV and was a courtier (τῶν περὶ τὴν αὐλήν) and well-respected chancellor (ὁ ἐπὶ τῶν πραγμάτων τεταγμένος) under him in 187-175 BC (IG XI 4,1112-1114, or OGIS 247; App. Syr. 45). When financial difficulties after the defeat of Seleucus' father Antiochus III against the Romans (190/188), in conjunction with internal Jewish intrigues, had led to special…

(Βόηθος; Bóēthos). I. Political figures [German version] [1] Ptolemaean civil servant, 136/5 BC Son of Nicostratus from Caria; in the service of the Ptolemies well before 149 BC, he occupied various administrative positions before becoming epistrategos of Thebes. Founded two cities in Lower Nubia. Ameling, Walter (Jena) Bibliography K. Vandorpe, Der früheste Beleg eines Strategen der Thebais als Epistrategen, in: ZPE 73, 1988, 47-50. II. Philosophers and writers [German version] [2] Of Sidon Stoic Philosopher, 2nd cent. BC Stoic philosopher of the 2nd cent. BC; he wrote…

(Κλέων; Kléōn). [German version] [1] The most influential politician in Athens after 430 BC The most influential politician in Athens after 430 BC, as the operator of a tannery was the first important demagogue from the circle of tradesmen who were rising to political leadership. Sources paint a picture of a man who put his loyalty to the people ( dḗmos) before that to his friends, who cleverly exploited the moods prevalent among the people and procured a following for himself by promising material gains. C. opposed  Pericles at the beginning of the Pelo…

[German version] Sculptor from Atrax in Thessaly, active in the 4th cent. BC. Together with Hippocrates he signed a victory votive of the Pharsalians in Delphi, where it was set up in the mid 4th cent. BC. Because of the measures at the base, it may have been the bronze group of Achilles on horseback and Patroclus, which Pausanias (10,13,5) describes. However, because the base bears a rededication to Claudius there can be no certainty. Pausanias may not have seen the original work. Neudecker, Richard (Rome) Bibliography G. Daux, Pausanias à Delphes, 1936, 141-143 J. Marcadé, Recueil de…

(Μηνόδοτος; Mēnódōtos). [German version] [1] M. of Perinthus Historian, c. 200 BC In about 200 BC, he wrote a ‘Greek History ( Hellenikaì Pragmateîai) in 15 books, probably a continuation of the work of Psaon of Plataeae (FGrH 78) and dealing with events after 218/17 (Diod. Sic. 26,4). He may be identical (see [1]) with M. of Samos (which was considered a colony of Perinthus). The latter was the author of a periegesis ( periēgētḗs ) on ‘Notabilia of Samos ( Tôn katà tḕn Sámon endóxōn anagraphḗ), from which Athenaeus (15, 671-699) relates an extensive passage on the pre-Hellenic h…

(Μηνόδωρος; Mēnódōros). [German version] [1] Legate of C. Calvisius Sabinus, died 35 BC M. (according to Appian, elsewhere Mena(s), Μηνᾶς; Mēnâs), a freedman, previously perhaps a Cilician pirate, in about 40 BC S. Pompeius' admiral in the Tyrrhenian Sea. As an opponent of a settlement with the Triumviri (Plut. Antonius 32,6f.), M. defended Sardinia and Corsica. When Pompey threatened to strip him of his power at the instigation of his rival Menecrates [11], M. delivered the islands into the hands of Octavian in 38…

[German version] Bronze sculptor of Cydonia. According to the evidence of inscriptions on existing socles, C. worked c. 450-420 BC in Delphi, Hermione and Athens. He created the most famous portrait of  Pericles in antiquity, ‘worthy of the epithet Olympian’ (Plin. HN 34,74). It was regarded as identical with the portrait statue of Pericles seen by Pausanias on the acropolis and which is clearly identified in copies. A statue by C. depicting a mortally wounded figure ( volneratum deficientem) was described by Pliny and is usually equated with the bronze statue depicting D…

(Ἀμώνιος; Ammónios). [German version] [1] Favourite of  Alexander [II 13] I (Balas), middle of the 2nd cent. BC Favourite of  Alexander [II 13] I (Balas); ruled in his place in Syria, executed relatives and followers of (the deceased) Demetrius I and oppressed the Antiochenes. When he attempted an attack on Ptolemy VI, certainly Alexander's most important supporter, and Ptolemy demanded that A. be handed over, Alexander actually declined to do this, so Ptolemy broke with Alexander: despite dressing as a woman, A…

(Κάνθαρος; Kántharos. Cp. Kantharos) [German version] [1] Main harbour of Piraeus The main harbour of Piraeus (Plut. Phocion 28,3; Aristoph. Pax 145 with schol.; Hesch. s.v. Κάνθαρος; Anecd. Bekk. 1,271,8), otherwise referred to simply as mégas or mégistos limḗn ('large' or 'largest harbour'; Plut. Themistocles 32,4; Paus. 1,1,2; IG II2 1035,45f.) [1. 61f.; 2. 9], modern Kentrikos limen. Named after an otherwise unknown heros [1] C. (Philochorus, FGrH 328 F 203) or after the pottery shape Kantharos [1] (cf. [3]). Moles narrowed the entry into the C. which, as limḕn kleistós ('close…

[German version] Etruscan terracotta sculptor from Veii. According to Plin. HN 35,157, V. made the clay cult image of Iuppiter Capitolinus in Rome commissioned by Tarquinius [11] Priscus (first half of the 6th cent. BC) for a temple which was not, however, dedicated until 509 BC. Ascribing to V. the rest of the building sculpture of this temple and that of the temple of Veii is hypothetical. A Hercules fictilis by V. in Rome (Plin. HN loc.cit.) is not more closely defined and is not identical with a statuette mentioned in Mart. 14,178. Neudecker, Richard (Rome) Bibliography M. Pallottino …

(Ἡφαιστίων; Hēphaistíōn). [German version] [1] Commander under Alexander the Great, 4th cent. BC H. of Pella, friend and probably lover of  Alexander [4]. Their relationship was soon likened to that of  Patroclus and  Achilles [1] and correspondingly embellished. It is doubtful whether he was a childhood friend of Alexander (Curt. 3,12,16), as he was not banished by  Philippus II in 337 BC. The wreath offered to Patroclus at Troy and the scene described in the vulgate version ( Alexander historians) of the c…

(Εὐβουλίδης; Euboulídēs). [German version] [1] E. from Miletus Megarian of the 4th cent. BC Member of the  Megarian school. The time when E. lived (mid 4th cent. BC) is determined by his intense attacks against Aristotle, which are repeatedly mentioned in the sources. In part these are personal attacks (Euseb. Praep. evang. 15,2,5), in part criticism of certain logical theorems by Aristotle (Eubulides, SSR vol. 4, p.88). Possibly, Aristotle may in turn have discussed the teachings of E. There is evidence tha…

Name of a Roman lineage (Sabine Clausus, with the vernacular variant of   Clodius , esp. in the 1st cent. BC). The Claudii supposedly immigrated to Rome from the Sabine city of Regillum at the beginning of the republic in 504 BC under their ancestor Att(i)us Clausus ( Appius) and were immediately accepted into the circle of patrician families (Liv. 2,16,4-6), which explains why the early members received the invented epithets of Inregillensis C. [I 5-6] and Sabinus C. [I 31-32], [1. 155f.]. The praenomen Appius came to signify the family. Named after them was the Tribus Claudi…

[German version] [1] Bust on a round shield ( clipeata imago). The bust on a round shield, in antiquity usually designated as clipeus et imago or εἰκὼν ἐν ὅπλῳ, is to be distinguished from relief medallions in the art of miniatures. Clipei painted on terracotta come from tombs (Centuripe); the earliest marble clipei attached to buildings come from Delos (Mithridates monument, c. 100 BC). The clipeus became widespread from the 1st cent. BC in Rome. Written sources on their invention suggest an origin in ancestor worship and military honours, though reports on Punic clipei of Hasdrubal ar…

(Σκόπας/ Skópas). [German version] [1] Sculptor from Paros, mid 4th cent. BC Sculptor from Paros, active in the mid 4th cent. BC, working mostly in marble and very occasionally in bronze. In the opinion of the ancient world, S. was one of the most important masters of Greek sculpture. Written records ascribe to him approximately 25-30 individual works and major projects, which should probably be allotted to several sculptors with the same name of different generations. The extant pediment sculptures from th…

[German version] Cicero called the  Herms of Athena and Hercules, which Atticus had obtained in 67-65 BC for Cicero's Tusculanum (Cic. Att. 1,1; 4; 8; 9; 10), Hermathena and Hermeracles. The bronze heads were set on marble pillars and were considered an appropriate ornamentum for his peristyle, which was compared to the Academia and a gymnasium. These terms are Cicero's creation. Setting up Herms of this type in the gardens of Roman villas became a common practice. Neudecker, Richard (Rome) Bibliography R. Neudecker, Die Skulpturenausstattung röm. Villen in Italien, 1988, 11-18 H. Wr…

(Ἀλκαμένης; Alkaménēs). [German version] [1] of Abydus Greek physician Greek physician of the 5th and 4th cents. BC. According to Aristotle or his student Meno, A. blamed illnesses on the residue of undigested food: presumably, it rises to the head where it accumulates only to be distributed throughout the body as a harmful substance (Anon. Londiniensis 7,42). A. assumed a position contrary to the opinions of Euryphon of Cnidus, who ascertained that the head is less involved in the origin of illnesses. It is not certain whether A. was his student.  Anonymus Londiniensis Nutton, Vivian (…