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[German version] According to Calpurnius Piso fr. 42 Peter = 10 Forsythe the wife of Volcanus, no other references. Assumed Oscian origin [1] contributes little to clarification. It is possible that Piso, against a contemporary identification of Maia as the wife of Volcanus and eponym of the month of May (conceivable with Gell. NA 13,23; Cincius fr. 8 GRF in Macrob. Sat. 1,12,18; Ov. Fast. 5,81-106), derives the name of the month from a goddess M., with M. for her part probably coming from Latin maiestas (Ov. Fast. 5,11-53 mentions the latter as a possible eponym of the name of …

[German version] Lat. 'announcer' of vaticinationes, 'prophecies', which occur by means of divine inspiration and are, according to Cicero, part of the 'natural' divination (Cic. Div. 1,4; 1,34 et passim; Divination VII: ill. of the communication pattern); occasionally, however, representatives of the 'artificial' divination (Haruspices; Augures) are also called vates (such as Liv. 2,42,10). The vates speaks in verse ( canere since Enn. Ann. 207; carmina: Sall. Hist. 1,77,3 et passim) and is thus part of a general ancient tradition of prophetically inspired text p…

[German version] (φυλακτήριον/ phylaktḗrion, literally 'means of protection') refers to a religious formula used to ask for protection (PGM VII 317f.) as well as to an amulet believed to offer safety, Latin amuletum (Char. 1,15; [1]). Since amulets were worn around the neck, head, arms and legs or attached to clothing, they were also called in Greek περιάμματα/ peri(h) ámmata or περίαπτα/ perí(h)apta (Plat. Resp. 426b; cf. Pind. Pyth. 3,52f.: peri(h)áptōn phármaka); in Latin, ligamenta or ligaturae (Aug. Serm. 4,36; cf. Cato Agr. 160: adligare), 'tied-on objects'. Here ancient …

[German version] As the social category of the human 'sense of shame', pudor is an element of Roman discourse on values from its earliest mention on (e.g. Plaut. Epid. 166). Yet only in the intensified moral discourses of the Augustan Period  - in imitation of the Greek a idṓs - does it come to the fore as an appellative and person. Amongst poets the mention of pudor can sometimes evoke Pudicitia (Serv. Auct. Aen. 4,27; Hor. Carm. saec. 57; [1. 89]). Admittedly, unlike the personification of female chastity, p udor was not formally worshipped. However, its combination with Copia, Fi…

[German version] V. is a goddess ( dea) of the city of Rome, recorded only in Val. Max. 2,1,6, whose small sanctuary ( sacellum) still stood on the Palatine at the time of Tiberius [II 1]: couples used to go there (but no longer in the time of Valerius Maximus) to resolve marriage difficulties by mutual exchange of their arguments. The name of the goddess was explained, entirely in the sense of a moralizing strategy by the author, with the etymology a placandis viris, 'from placating husbands'. With the aid of problematic 19th and 20th cent. religious and evolutionist categori…

[German version] A subterranean pit, presumably expanded into a chamber, associated in Rome and other Italic cities with religious cult. A possible architectonic parallel is the subterranean sanctuary of Dionysus in Volsinii (Bolsena) from the 3rd cent. BC [1 Fig. 1]. There is agreement neither on the etymology of the Latin word mundus [2], nor on the origins or the function of the religious mundus. It has been associated with a pre-deistic form of worship of the spirits of the dead, but also with primitive agrarian and fertility rituals (critica…

I. Begriff [English version] A. Personifizierung in Rhetorik und Dichtung Der frühneuzeitliche Begriff der personificatio gibt das hell. rhetor. Konzept der προσωποποιία/ prosōpopoiía wieder, welche die Darstellung fiktiver Personen, konkreter Sachen oder abstrakter Begriffe als Redende und Handelnde bezeichnet (lat. conformatio: Rhet. Her. 4,66; personarum ficta inductio: Cic. de orat. 3,205; prosopopoeia: Quint. inst. 9,29-37). Als fiktionale Personifizierung v.a. von Begriffen ist die Prosopopoiie für die ant. Theorie ein Element des allegori…

I. Allgemein und Klassische Antike [English version] 1. Begriffsgeschichte Das Adj. πολύθεος/ polýtheos bezeichnet in der griech. Dichtersprache das, was einer Mehrzahl von Göttern zukommt: der Altar als Sitz ( hédra) vieler Gottheiten (Aischyl. Suppl. 424) oder die von einer großen Zahl besuchte Götterversammlung (Lukian. Iuppiter Tragoedus 14). Erst die jüd. und christl. Lit. (Apologien) verwendet das Begriffsfeld zur Rechtfertigung der Herrschaft ( monarchía) eines einzigen Gottes: Philon [12] von Alexandreia prägt δόξα πολύθεος/ dóxa polýtheos (Phil. de decalogo 65…

[English version] A. Alter Orient Nachgewiesen seit der 2. H. des 4. Jt. dienten B. dem Zeitvertreib, aber auch divinatorischen Praktiken (Divination; Kombination mit Lebermodellen [3]). Die Spielbretter mit 5 × 4 Feldern bestanden aus Holz (mit bunten Einlagen oder geschnitzt), Stein (bemalt oder mit Einlagen) oder gebranntem Ton, die Spielfiguren und Würfel aus Elfenbein oder Knochen; zum Spielverlauf sind keine Angaben möglich. Mit dem ägypt. 30-Felder Spiel (bereits prädynastisch) besteht vermutl…

[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] I. Ancient Orient The religion of Mesopotamia is characterized by a system of tutelary deities for the numerous city settlements that has its origin in the Sumerian religion of the 4th millennium BC. There is evidence of the existence and worship of city deities from the 3rd to the 1st millennium. Individual city deities achieved supraregional importance in the course of history (e.g.  Assur [2];  Enlil;  Ištar,  Marduk;  Nabû).  Asia Minor IV.;  Pantheon;  Religion II. and III. Renger, Johannes (Berlin) [German version] II. Classical antiquity For Graeco-Roman …

I. In general and in classical antiquity [German version] 1. History of the term The adjective πολύθεος/ polýtheos refers in poetic Greek to that which pertains to many deities: the altar as the seat ( hédra) of many gods (Aesch. Suppl. 424) or the divine assembly attended by many gods (Lucian. Iuppiter Tragoedus 14). It is only in Jewish and Christian literature (Apologists) that this concept is used to justify the rule ( monarchía) of a single deity. Philo [12] of Alexandria coined the terms δόξα πολύθεος/ dóxa polýtheos (Phil. De decalogo 65) and πολυθεΐα/ polytheḯa (Phil. De mutatione…

I. Terminology [German version] A. Personification in Rhetoric and Poetry The early modern term personificatio expresses the Hellenistic, rhetorical concept of προσωποποιία/ prosōpopoiía , which refers to the representation of fictive persons, concrete (inanimate) items or abstract concepts as speakers and actors (Latin, conformatio: Rhet. Her. 4,66; personarum ficta inductio: Cic. De or. 3,205; prosopopoeia: Quint. Inst. 9,29-37). As a fictional personalisation, primarily of concepts, prosōpopoiía was considered by Greek literary theory to be an element of a…

[English version] I. Allgemeines Die Stellung des Mondes in der ant. myth. Spekulation und kultischen Verehrung reflektiert seine zentrale Position in den kalendarischen, agrarischen und Monatszyklen in ihren unterschiedlichen Aspekten. Adressat von Kult kann der (personifizierte) Mond sein; Kult gilt auch den in ihrem Aspekt als M. mit dem Mond assoziierten männl. oder weibl., in den traditionellen Panthea verankerten Gottheiten. Während z.B. Selene/Luna ebenso wie Helios/Sol in der öffentl. Rel. d…

[German version] [1] River in southern Italy River in southern Italy (approximately 185 km in length) with a catchment area of approximately 5,677 km2. It rises on the south-eastern slopes of Monte Metuccia (near Aesernia) from a large karst spring, absorbs tributaries from the Monti del Matese and ultimately the Calor (modern Calore) to the west of mons Taburnus, before breaking to the north of the Tifata mons through to the Mare Tyrrhenum, where its alluvial deposits have created the plain of Campania (Str. 5,4,4;…

[German version] I. Ancient Orient In the Ancient Orient the deification of  rulers always occurred in the context of the legitimization and exercise of  rulership. Deified rulers and proper gods were always differentiated on principle. Renger, Johannes (Berlin) [German version] A. Mesopotamia References to the deification of living rulers are geographically restricted to Babylonia and temporally to the late 3rd and early 2nd millennium BC: a) individual rulers claimed divine descent for themselves as a means of legitimizing their rule…

[German version] I. General The status of the moon in ancient mythological speculation and cult worship reflected its central position in the calendar cycles, agricultural cycles and monthly cycles with respect to their various aspects. The moon (personified) could be the addressee of the cult; the cult also included the male and female deities embedded in the traditional panthea and associated with the moon as moon deities (MD) with regard to their particular aspect. Whilst e.g. Selene/Luna just li…

[English version] [1] Bezeichnung für die Vielzahl der Götterwelt Als Begriff der mod. religionsgesch. Systematisierung der Vielzahl der ant. Götterwelt (Polytheimus) bezeichnet P. im folgenden die Gesamtheit einer in einem bestimmten geogr. Raum und sozio-histor. Kontext verehrten Mehrzahl von Gottheiten. Richter, Thomas (Frankfurt/Main) [English version] I. Mesopotamien Im Sumerischen findet sich kein eigener Terminus für eine Göttergesamtheit, der dem des P. entspräche. Der dafür in Anspruch genommene, vorwiegend in lit. Kontext begegnend…

[German version] [1] Name to describe the plurality of gods In modern scholarship on religious history, the term 'pantheon' is used in systematizing the plurality of ancient gods (Polytheism). In the following, it will be used accordingly to denote all the many deities worshipped in a particular geographical area and socio-historical context. Richter, Thomas (Frankfurt/Main) [German version] I. Mesopotamia Sumerian does not have its own expression for a collective of gods corresponding to the term 'pantheon'. The Sumerian term A-nun-na, 'seed of the prince' (i.e. of Enki, …

[English version] [1] legendärer Stadtgründer Roms Der legendäre Stadtgründer Roms. Wörtl. vielleicht “der Römer”. Eine mögliche Entsprechung zw. dem etr. Gentiliz Rumelna (Volsinii, 6. Jh. v. Chr.: ET Vs 1,35) und dem angeblichen röm. Gentilnamen Romilius - der Name läßt sich histor. sicher nur in einer alten tribus Romilia/-ulia nachweisen (Paul. Fest. 331 L.) - sowie zw. R. und einem etr. Praenomen * Rumele [1. 31 f.] ergibt nichts für die Historizität der R.-Gestalt. Problematisch ist auch der Versuch [2. 491-520; 3. 95-150], die in das 8. Jh. v. Chr. …

[German version] [1] Legendary founder of Rome The legendary founder of Rome. Perhaps literally 'the Roman'. A possible correspondence between the Etruscan nomen gentile Rumelna (Volsinii, 6th cent. BC: ET Vs 1,35) and the alleged Roman nomen gentile Romilius - the name is securely attested only in an old tribus Romilia/-ulia (Paul Fest. 331 L.) - and between R. and an Etruscan praenomen * Rumele [1. 31 f.] proves nothing about the historicity of the figure of R. Also problematic is the attempt [2. 491-520; 3. 95-150] to connect the finds from the Roman Mon…

(Νίκανδρος). [English version] [1] Spartanischer König, ca. 715 v.Chr. Spartanischer König, Eurypontide, Vater des Theopompos (Hdt. 8,131). N. leitete einen Einfall von Spartanern und Asinaiern in die Argolis, woraufhin die Argiver Asine [1] zerstörten (ca. 715 v.Chr.). Der Ort wurde einige Jahre später mit spartanischer Unterstützung am messenischen Golf neu gegründet (Asine [2]; Paus. 2,36,4f.; 3,7,4; 4,14,3f.). Meier, Mischa (Bielefeld) Bibliography M. Meier, Aristokraten und Damoden, 1998, 74f., 93, 96. [English version] [2] Stratege im Aitolerbund, 190/189, 184…

(Νίκανδρος; Níkandros). [German version] [1] Spartan king, c. 715 BC Spartan king, Eurypontid, the father of Theopompus (Hdt. 8,131). N. led the raid of Spartans and Asinaeans into Argolis, in retaliation for which the Argives destroyed Asine [1] ( c. 715 BC). The settlement was refounded a few years later on the Messenian Gulf (Asine [2]; Paus. 2,36,4f.; 3,7,4; 4,14,3f.). Meier, Mischa (Bielefeld) Bibliography M. Meier, Aristokraten und Damoden, 1998, 74f., 93, 96. [German version] [2] Strategos in the Aetolian League, 190/189, 184/3 and 177/6 BC Son of Bittus of Trichonium (Syll.3 5…

[English version] I. Begriff Der Begriff R. bezeichnet die komplexe Handlungssequenz einzelner, in einem logischen Funktionszusammenhang und nach einer festgelegten R.-Syntax miteinander verbundener Riten. R. finden sich nicht nur in rel., sondern auch in anderen gesellschaftlichen - polit. wie sozialen - Kontexten. Die Bed. von R. für die Teilnehmer läßt sich weder auf eine integrative (Legitimations-R.) noch auf eine die normale Ordnung temporär außer Kraft setzende Funktion - dies die beiden Extr…

I. Religionswissenschaftlich [English version] A. Allgemeines Das O. gehört zu den zentralen Begriffen für die Selbstbeschreibung von Ritual-Rel. in ant. und mod. Kulturen. Der O.-Begriff schließt in der europäischen Moderne oft (darin direkt oder indirekt von der christl. Theologie des die Menschen erlösenden O.-Todes Jesu Christi beinflußt) das Moment der individuellen Selbsthingabe (“Aufopferung”) ein. Die Spannbreite der mod. Bedeutungsnuancen reicht dabei bis zu den nicht mehr rel., sondern nun m…

I. Religious studies [German version] A. General Sacrifice is one of the central concepts in describing ritual religion in ancient and modern cultures. In European Modernity, the term sacrifice (directly or indirectly influenced by Christian theology of the sacrificial death of Jesus Christ to redeem mankind) also has an intimation towards individual self-giving ('sacrifice of self'). The range of nuances in the modern meaning stretches to include discourses that have lost their religious motif and hav…

I. Einleitung [English version] A. Bestimmung des Begriffs Als substantivistischer Terminus der rel. Selbstbeschreibung bezeichnet “R.” ein System von gemeinsamen Praktiken, individuellen Glaubensvorstellungen, kodifizierten Normen und theologischen Erklärungsmustern, dessen Gültigkeit zumeist auf ein autoritatives Prinzip oder Wesen zurückgeführt wird. Für die R.-Wissenschaft ist der R.-Begriff dagegen eine rein heuristische Kategorie, mit der jene Praktiken, Vorstellungen, Normen und theologischen Kon…

[German version] I. Term Ritual refers to an elaborate sequence of individual rites which, following an established ritual syntax, are logically connected within a certain functional context. Rituals are not limited to religious contexts but exist in other cultural contexts, political as well as social. The significance of rituals for those who participate in them can be reduced neither to an integrative function (legitimation ritual) nor to a temporary disabling of the regular structure - the two e…

I. Introduction [German version] A. Definition of the concept 'Religion', the substantive for describing the religious, denotes a system of common practices, individual ideas about faith, codified norms and examples of theological exegesis whose validity is derived chiefly from an authoritative principle or being. For the academic study of religion, conversely, the word is a purely heuristic category in which those practices, ideas, norms and theological constructs are examined historically; however, the…

Alter röm. Gentilname, abgeleitet vom Vornamen Marcus. Die Überl. kennt einen patrizischen Zweig mit dem (myth.) König Ancus M. [I 3] und Cn. M. Coriolanus als bedeutendsten Angehörigen. Die jüngeren Angehörigen der Familie (seit dem 3. Jh.) waren plebeisch, ohne daß die Verbindung zu den patrizischen Marcii deutlich ist. Bedeutende Familien waren die Rutili, dann die Censorini, Tremuli, Reges und Rallae. In der späten Republik berief sich die Familie auf ihre Herkunft von den Königen Ancus M. und Numa Pompilius (daher das Cogn. Rex, s. M. [I 5]; RRC 346; 425; Suet. Iul. 6,1…

(Λύκος; Lýkos). Mythology and religion: L. [1-9], historical persons: L. [10-13], rivers: L. [14-19]. [German version] [1] Son of Poseidon and the Pleiad Celaeno Son of Poseidon and the Pleiad Celaeno [1] (Ps.-Eratosth. Katasterismoi 23), only Apollod. 3,111 mentions his translation to the Islands of the Blessed, possibly to differentiate him from L. [6], with whom he is connected by Hyg. Fab. 31, 76 and 157 in spite of the descent from Poseidon. Scherf, Johannes (Tübingen) [German version] [2] Son of Prometheus and Celaeno Son of Prometheus and Celaeno [1], on whose tomb in th…

(Λύκος). Mythologie und Religion: L. [1-9], Historische Personen: L. [10-13], Flüsse: L. [14-19]. [English version] [1] Sohn des Poseidon und der Pleiade Kelaino Sohn des Poseidon und der Pleiade Kelaino [1] (Ps.-Eratosth. katasterismoi 23), nur Apollod. 3,111 erwähnt seine Entrückung auf die Inseln der Seligen, vielleicht, um ihn von L. [6], mit dem er von Hyg. fab. 31, 76 und 157 trotz der Abstammung von Poseidon zusammengebracht wird, zu differenzieren. Scherf, Johannes (Tübingen) [English version] [2] Sohn des Prometheus und der Kelaino Sohn des Prometheus und der Kelaino…

Old Roman nomen gentile, derived from the prename Marcus. Tradition knows of a patrician branch with the (mythical) king Ancus M. [I 3] and Cn. M. Coriolanus as its most important members. The younger members of the family (from the 3rd cent.) were plebeian without a link to the patrician Marcii being evident. Important families included the Rutili, later also the Censorini, Tremuli, Reges and Rallae. In the Late Republic the family claimed descent from the kings Ancus M. and Numa Pompilius (therefore the cognomen Rex, see M. [I 5]; RRC 346; 425; Suet. Iul. 6,1; [4. 154]) as wel…