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[German version] English name for the representatives of the Blattaria order of insects which can be found throughout the world in c. 3,000 types since the Carboniferous, one of them the German cockroach Blatella germanica. The Latin name is usually blatta; in Isid. Orig. 12,8,7, however, this name is used for a type of butterfly ─ actually a moth whose name was derived from its colour: when touched, its wings leave a blackish-blue spot on the hand ( blatteum colorem, ‘crimson’). In this text, the only zoological piece of information about the animal is its aversion to lig…

[German version] Two shrubs of the genus Sambucus in the family Caprifoliaceae occur in Europe, the common elder ( Sambucus nigra L., sa(m)bucus, ἀκτῆ; aktê) and the red-berried elder ( Sambucus racemosa L.; Verg. Ecl. 10,27: Pan was said to be red because of the berries of the ebulum, according to Serv. ad loc. a comparable plant). A third type is the herbaceous, black-fruited dwarf elder ( Sambucus ebulus L., ebulus/um, χαμαιάκτη; chamaiáktē in Dioscorides 4,173,2 Wellmann = 4,172 Berendes; Plin. HN 24,51: chamaeactis or helion acte). A good description of the species is found …

[German version] (ἐρείκη; ereíkē is first mentioned in Aesch. Ag. 295 and Theophr. Hist. pl. 1,14,2). The genus Erica comprises c. 500 species, most of all African shrubs and trees. In the maquis of Greece, however, only three species of the Ericaceae family are represented, amongst them the brier Erica arborea l. which grows like a tree and flowers in spring; in contrast, the popular honey flora, mentioned by Pliny (HN 11,42) and Dioscorides (1,88 [1. 82] and 1,117 [2. 106]), belongs to the autumn flowering ones. In Italy, on the other hand, el…

[German version] The fairly large Common Tuna ( Thynnus thynnus L., Greek ὁ θύννος/ thýnnos, Attic also ἡ θυννίς/ thynnís - primarily the female: Aristot. Hist. an. 5,9,543a 9; Ath. 7,303c-304b - or ἡ θύννη/ thýnnē: e.g. Opp. Hal. 1,756; Latin thynnus or thynnis) and the smaller Albacore ( Albacora thynnus L., perhaps αὐλωπίας/ aulōpías, Ael. NA 13,17) were the economically most important edible fish of the Mediterranean and Black Seas and were therefore given many names. The young (under 1 year) were called πηλαμύς/ pēlamýs or πηλαμίς/ pēlamís (Aristot. Hist. an. 6,17,571a 11, from pēlós…

[German version] ( ginestra) includes several mostly yellow-flowering genera of bushes of Tribus Genistae of the leguminosae. These are Genista L., the two kinds of prickly broom, Ulex and Calycotome ( Aspalathos), and especially the Spanish broom Spartium junceum L. (σπάρτον/ spárton: Hom. Il. 2,135; σπαρτίον/ spartíon and σπάρτη/ spártē: Dioscorides, 4,154 p. 2,300 Wellmann = 4,155 p. 454 Berendes; on its cultivation: Columella 4,31,1 and 11,2,19). From this species people have, since antiquity, been using the long branches with few leaves …

[German version] Originally probably ‘corn’ in the sense of grain [1]. In the historical period, however, the name applied especially to spelt as opposed to common wheat ( triticum). Synonyms are ador and alicastrum; evidently a short form of far adoreum. Plin. HN 18,82 maintains that the zones of cultivation for far (emmer) and ζειά/ zeiá (ζέα/ zéa) are mutually exclusive. According to Dion. Hal. Ant. Rom. 2,25,2, however, these two kinds of grain, along with arinca (ὄλυρα; ólyra) as grown in Gaul, Italy and elsewhere, are identical. 3 kinds of the highly cold-resistant …

[German version] (sc. venti), Greek ἀπόγειοι ἀνέμοι ( apógeioi ánemoi), e.g. Aristot. Mund. 4,394 b13-15, are the winds that blow offshore after sunset, i.e. out to sea, that make it easier for the fishermen to leave the harbour by sunrise. Their counterparts often mentioned simultaneously with them are the τροπαῖαι ( tropaîai) blowing in from the sea with which it is possible to return easily during the day. The calm between them is unpleasant [1]. Hünemörder, Christian (Hamburg) Bibliography 1 R. Böker, s. v. Winds, RE VIII A, 2245,43 ff.

[German version] The brown bear ( Ursus arctos; ἄρκτος/ árktos, Lat. ursus) occurred widely in southern and central Europe into the Roman imperial period. Aristotle [6] is very familiar with it: mating in December, birth of usually one-two cubs during hibernation (until March; Aristot. Hist. an. 6,30,579a 18-28), possible owing to reserves of fat; the bear eats everything (it even likes honey), but above all meat, such as that of deer, wild boar and cattle (ibid. 7(8),5,594b 5-17). Aristotle also gives a d…

[German version] (Latin) corresponds to κάρδαμον/ kárdamon according to Cic. Tusc. 5,99 and describes a type of cress, probably garden cress ( Lepidium sativum), which is mentioned in Xen. Cyr. 1,1,8 as something the ordinary Persian ate with bread. Here it probably means the seeds and not the leaves, which are eaten as salad in present-day Greece and Italy. Both Theophr. Hist. pl. 1,12,1 and Plin. HN. 19,186 mention the mustard-like, sharp taste of kárdamon, and the quick germination is also stressed in Plin. HN 19,117 and 154. For Italy, Columella 11,3,14 recommends…

[German version] (ῥόα/ rhóa, σίδη/ sídē, malum punicum or granatum; its flower, called κύτινος/ kýtinos and given as a loan word in Plin. HN 23,110ff., has strange medicinal benefits) The species Punica granatum L. grows wild in the Near East from Kurdistan to Afghanistan. It had probably been naturalized since the 16th dynasty in Egypt (around 1600 BC) and in southern Europe since the Neolithic Period, probably by the Phoenicians. The pomegranate as an attribute of Astarte and symbol of fertility because of the many seeds in i…

[German version] (Λίψ/ Líps). The west-south-west wind that on the twelve-point compass card of Aristotle blew from the setting point of the sun to the winter solstice (Aristot. Mete. 2,6,363b 19f.; [1. 2347, fig. 11]) and that Aristotle (De ventis 973b 11f.) and the Romans associated etymologically with Libya and therefore called Africus (Plin. HN 2,119f. and 18,336). It was considered damp and was set against the Aquilo (Plin. HN 2,125f.), it brought rain and storms, and through its blazing heat it destroyed the shoots of the vine [2]. On the compass card of Timosthenes this Libónotos (A…

[German version] (ἡ ἐμπίς/ empís, ὁ κώνωψ/ kṓnōps, Diminutive κωνώπιον/ kōnṓpion, Lat. culex, culicellus, culiculus; conops: Dioscorides Longobardus 3,23) is the general name for these buzzing insects which cause irritation by sucking blood. Aristotle gives a clear account at Hist. an. 5,19,551b 27-552a 8 and 1,1,487b 3-5 (so [1]) of the development of a midge of the genus Chironomus including the metamorphosis of the empís. The culices ficarii which help to pollinate figs are wasps of the type Blastophaga psenes (Plin. HN 11,118; 15,80 and 17,255). The common mosquito is t…

[German version] By this is meant the gradual and purposeful transformation of wild animal species into domesticated animals by human agency. Because of their biological characteristics, only a few of the wild mammals living during and immediately after the Ice Age were suitable for domestication. Only 5 of 19 orders of mammals provide domesticated species; these are the Lagomorpha (rabbits), Rodentia (guinea-pigs), Carnivora (dog, cat, ferret), Perissodactyla (horse, donkey) and the Artiodactyla (pig, sheep, goat, cattle, camel, llama). Domesticated animals howeve…

(βάτραχος/ bátrachos, Ionian βάθρακος/ bátrakos, βρόταχος/ brótachos, Lat. rana) is the collective name for frog amphibians (βατράχων γένος; batráchōn génos, Aristot. Hist. an. 7(8),2,589a 28f.) comprising the genuine frog species and the toad species. [German version] A. The genuine frog species The genuine frog species include the green water frog (Rana esculenta), the brown grass frog (Rana temporaria L.; the first two distinguished by Theophr. fr. 174,1; cf. dioptes Plin. HN 32,70 and 139) and the tree frog (Hyla arborea), which Pliny (HN 32,75; 92; 122) app…

[German version] (βοῦς ἄγριος; boûs ágrios, bubalus; βούβαλος; boúbalos on the other hand is the gazelle!). Native to southern Asia and therefore originally foreign to the Mediterranean countries. Job 39,9ff. presumably uses this name to refer to the Assyrian wild ox that is also depicted on reliefs from that area (Luther translates it wrongly as ‘unicorn’). The short description of Aristot. Hist. an. 2,1,499a4ff. (cf. Plin. HN 8,38: Africa vituli potius cervique quadam similitudine, ‘as Africa brings forth this animal rather with a certain similarity to calf and dee…

[German version] (ἀνθεμίς; anthemís, Latin anthemis, Plin., later chamomilla, from which the English name is derived) probably is today's composite genus, Matricaria L. Dioscorides 3,137 Wellmann = 3,144 Berendes (cf. Plin. HN 22,53f.) knew of three species with differently coloured flowers that had warming as well as thinning powers. In antiquity the camomile, as a flower infusion, was already used externally and internally as an anti-inflammatory and antispasmodic medicine.  Anthemis Hünemörder, Christian (Hamburg) Bibliography P. Wagler, s.v. Anthemis (2), RE 1,2364f.

[German version] ( Rangifer tarandus, ὁ τάρανδος/ ho tárandos, Lat. tarand(r)us; parandrus: Solin. 30,25, there [?] shifted to Ethiopia!). The deer-like animal, dispersed as far as northern Italy and southern France during the Ice Age, was known to the Greeks only from the land of the Scythians on the basis of plausible reports in Theophr. fr. 172,2-3; Ps.-Aristot. Mir. 30,832b 7-16 and Aristot. fr. 317 (Antigonus Carystius 25), as well as Plin. HN 8,123-124. A fantastic motif recurring in these sources, such as in Solin. 30,25 (whose report on the pirander was adopted in the Middle …

[German version] The smallest European passerine ( Troglodytes troglodytes) is presumably meant by τροχίλος/ trochílos in Aristot. Hist. an. 7(8),3,593b 11 f.; 8(9),6,612a 20-24 (= Plin.  HN 8,90; but there by trochilos = rex avium the so-called crocodile bird, Pluvianus aegyptius, is meant [1. 241]). The alleged enmity between the wren and the eagle (Aristot. Hist. an. 8(9),11,615a 17-20 = Plin.  HN 10,203) refers to the attribute 'king'. Hünemörder, Christian (Hamburg) Bibliography 1 Leitner. Keller 2,82-84  D'Arcy W. Thompson, A Glossary of Greek Birds, 1936, repr. …

[German version] (ἑλλέβορος; helléboros, helleborus). The name refers to poisonous plants of various families: 1) the Ranunculacea Helleborus L. (ἑλλέβορος μέλας in Theophr. Hist. pl. 9,14,4, etc., = H. cyclophyllus Boissier, not H. niger L. (the Christmas rose); Dioscorides 4,162 Wellmann = 4,149 Berendes; Paus. 10,36,7). The root, in particular, (Plin. HN 25,48). 2), of the Liliacea Veratrum album L. (ἑλλέβορος λευκός, Helleborus candidus, white hellebore: Hippoc. De victu 1,35 [1. 292]; Theophr. Hist. pl. 9,10,1-4 with many local forms; Dioscorides 4,148…

[German version] In Antiquity - as it still is - the ancient Chondrostei family was represented by the Common Sturgeon ( Acipenser sturio L.) and the smaller Sterlet ( Acipenser ruthenus L.). The latter is described by Apion and Archestratus [2] (in Ath. 7,294e-f) as an ἀκκιπήσιος/ akkipḗsios (Latin acupenser/ accipenser) and identified with the ἔλ(λ)οψ/ él(l)ops (etymology still unclear: [1. 1,500], cf. schol. Theoc. Syrinx 18; Plut. Mor. 728e; Ath. 7,308c) and the γαλεός/ galeós (cf. Varro Rust. 2,6,2; elsewhere always meaning shark). Dorion (in Ath. 7,282) and Plut…

[German version] (κίσ(σ)ηρις/ kís(s)ēris, pumex). The relatively soft eruptive rock from volcanic eruptions or porous dripstone. It was used as a building material. In cosmetics it served as an exfoliant agent to smooth the skin (cf. Plin. HN 36, 154-156). A powder made of thrice-burnt pumice helped with eye ulcers and was used for dental care and as a stopper for fermenting wine (cf. Dioscorides 5,108 [1. 78f.] = 5,124 [2. 534f.]). Hünemörder, Christian (Hamburg) Bibliography 1 M. Wellmann (ed.), Pedanii Dioscurides de materia medica, vol. 3, 1914, repr. 1958 2 J. Berendes (ed.),…

[German version] (γογγυλίς/ gongylís, ῥάπυς/ rhápys, ῥάφυς/ rháphys, βουνιάς/ bouniás, Latin rapum, napus). Fodder beet (var. rapa) was cultivated from wild beet, Beta vulgaris. Probably the white beet of ancient times is related to turnip rape, Brassica rapa L., of the Cruciferae family. Theophrastus mentions in Hist. pl. 1,6, 6-7 the fleshy root of the gongylís and in the 7th book details of sowing. Columella 2,10,22-24 (= Pall. Agric. 8,2,1-3) seems to understand by napus the swede, and by rapum white beet. He recommends that after the summer solstice or at the end of A…

[German version] ( ervum, Columella 2,10,34 et passim, Plin. HN 18,57; 18, 139 et passim; ervilia, Plin. HN 18,58 et passim; Columella 2,13,1; ὄροβος/ órobos, related to ἐρέβινθος/ erébinthos ‘peas’). Collective name for small-seed legumes. These belong to the following genera: a) Vicia with the subgenus Ervum L. (among these V. ervilia (L.) Willd., the bitter vetch, cf. Columella 8,8,6); b) lens, lentil ( lens, Cato Agr. 35,1; 116; 132,2; 158,1; Columella 2,10,15 et passim; Plin. HN 18,57 et passim; lenticula, Plin. HN 18,123; Columella 2,7,1; 11,10; 8,8,6; φακός/ phakós, Hebrew ʿaḏā…

[German version] ( Phoenicopterus ruber L., φοινικόπτερος; phoinikópteros, phoenicopterus). Wader named after its partly scarlet red wings; distinctive, shy brooding bird in north Africa and southern Asia, today also in the Camargue (southern France). It was first mentioned as a rare import by Aristophanes (Av. 270ff.) and also by Cratinus (fr. 114 Kock = 108 Edmonds). The observation of huge flocks made by the Alexander-historian Cleitarchus (FGrH 137 F 21) is reflected tendency (without naming the fla…

[German version] A grey-brown bird, related to the woodpecker, which can turn its neck 180 degrees around like a snake and has two forward pointing and two backward pointing claws on each foot (Aristot. Hist. an. 2,12,504a 11-19; Aristot. Part. an. 4,12,695a 23 f.; Plin. HN 11,256), and was called ἴυγξ/ íynx or κίναιδος/ kínaidos (literally 'lewd person') or κιναίδιον/ kinaídion (Hesych. s.v.), with the Latin loanwords iunx (Laevius fr. 27,3) or iynx. Ael. NA 6,19 has a flute imitate its unique call. With its long tongue and thin beak it catches insects. According…

[German version] (Μενέστωρ; Menéstōr). A Pythagorean from Sybaris, contemporary of Empedocles (5th cent. BC) and according to Iambl. VP 267 the earliest Greek botanist. Three citations in Theophr. Hist. pl., and the four in C. plant. [1. 375f.] show that he distinguished warm plants, i.e. evergreen ones such as ivy and laurel and water plants such as rushes and reeds ( Kalamos [2]) from the other cold ones. He even took into account ecological factors such as different habitats, climate (see esp. Theophr. Caus. pl. 1,21,6) and maturation times. Hünemörder, Christian (Hamburg) Bibliogra…

[German version] The ancient names (μελεαγρίς/ meleagrís, Latin meleagris, synonym: gallinae Africanae or Numididae) actually only meant the common guineafowl ( Numida meleagris L.) ─ in spite of Columella 8,2,2 (cf. [1. 19]) ─ among the total of 23 species spread over southern Asia and the Middle East as well as North and West Africa. The guineafowl was probably introduced to Greece in the 4th cent. BC and only in the 1st cent. BC to Italy (Varro, Rust. 3,9,18, cf. Plin. HN 10,74: ‘the last of the southern birds brou…

[German version] (Greek ὁ, ἡ ὄρτυξ/ ho, hē órtyx, Lat. coturnix). The quail ( Coturnix coturnix) is a very small poultry bird which flies poorly against the wind, seeming to murmur in complaint (cf. Aristot. Hist. an. 8(9),12,597b 14; Plin. HN 10,33). It was believed, on its spring and autumn migrations in the northern Mediterranean region (Aristot. ibid. 597a 22-27), to follow the lead of the landrail ( Crex crex), the 'mother of the quails' (ὀρτυγομήτρα/ ortygomḗtra; Plin. HN 10,33). While migrating, it was caught with nets (Diod. Sic. 1,60) into which it was driven w…

[German version] Latin a. (Plin. HN 16,108: with leaves between holly oak, Ilex, and olive tree, oliva) means evergreen trees and shrubs of the Mediterranean Sea area with stone fruit (Pliny: without fruit!) from the families of the rhamnaceae (especially Rhamnus alaternus L., buckthorn) and the oleaceae ( Phillyrea media L. and angustifolia L.). In Theophr. Hist. pl. 1,9,3 κήλαστρος ( kḗlastros; celastrus) seems to belong to Phillyrea because the celastreae genus Celastrus L. is not found by the Mediterranean Sea. Hort [1] translates the φιλύκη ( philýkē) that follows there as a. Hünem…

[German version] (σαύρα/ saura or σαῦρος/ sauros, Latin lacerta and lacertus, possibly connected with ‘upper arm’, cf. [1. 1,743]). Genus name for various species of reptiles native to the Mediterranean: 1. the common wall lizard ( Lacerta muralis), 2. the green lizard ( L. viridis, χλοροσαύρα/ chlorosaúra), 3. the ocellated lizard that occurs especially in south-western Europe and North Africa ( Lacerta lepida; perhaps mentioned for the first time by Hdt. 4,183), 4. probably the monitor lizard ( Varanus) that is more than 20 cm long and is mentioned by Plin. HN 8,141 ( lacertus Arabiae …

[German version] (γλυκύρριζα; glykýrriza, liquorice). This thirst-quenching asthma, throat and cold medication was produced from the rootstock of certain representatives of the 12-species liquorice genus (Leguminosae), especially G. glabra L. and echinata L. As Σκυθική ( Skythikḗ) or γλυκεῖα ( glykeīa) (sc. ῥίζα; ríza) it supposedly came from Scythia (Theophr. Hist. pl. 9,13,2). Dioscurides 3,5 p. 2,8-10 Wellmann = p. 265 Berendes also recommended it for chest and liver ailments. According to Plin. HN 22,24-26, who knew several prescriptions (cf. 25,82 Scythice = Theophr. ib…

Along with the eagles and falcons, the family of night predator birds is given five main varieties in Aristotle. These were also known to the Romans. [German version] A. Eagle-owls 1. Eagle-owl ( Bubo bubo, βύας/ býas or βρύας/ brýas, derived from the onomatopoeic βύζειν/ býzein, as bubo is from bubulare), the largest, almost eagle-sized kind (Aristot. Hist. an. 7(8),3,592b 9-10). It lives in wastelands, in eerie and inaccessible places (Plin. HN 10,34), on tombs and in caves (Isid. Orig. 12,7,39). Plin. HN 10,35 mentions its imprecise, seeming…

[German version] (Greek τὸ ῥόδον/ tò rhódon, Latin rosa). The first references to the plant, famed for its blossoms and, according to Hehn [1. 253 f.], introduced from Media, are in the Homeric hymn to Demeter (Hom. h. 2,6) and - citing its purple colour - Pind. Isthm. 3/4,36b. According to Hdt. 8,138 (cf. Nic. in Ath. 15,683a-b), the celebrated sixty-petalled scented roses in the so-called 'Garden of Midas' in Macedonia grew in the reign of King Perdiccas [1]. Theophrastus (Hist. pl. 6,6,4) knew a full double rose, allegedly hundred-petalled (cf. Rosa centifolia), from Philippi in th…

[German version] ( acer). Depending on how one classifies them, there are 100-200 species of the hardwood genus Acer L., the names for which in most European languages, including Greek ἄκαστος (ákastos) and Latin acer and ornus, are derived from an Indo-European tree name beginning with an a - not from the adjective acer (with an ā). Apart from the Central European A cer pseudoplatanus L. (sycamore maple), platanoides L. (Norway maple) and campestre L. (field or common maple), in southern Europe one finds, among other species, Acer opalus Mill., monspessulanum L. and orientale L. As deci…

[German version] (σαλαμάνδρα/ salamándra from Persian, Lat. salamandra, identified at an early stage with the gecko, Lat. stellio), presumably the nocturnal fire salamander, Salamandra salamandra, an amphibian of the order Caudata ( Urodela), which is black with large yellow spots. The yellow spots led to the superstition that because of its coldness it could not only live in fire (e.g., Aug. Civ. 21,4) but even extinguish it (Aristot. Hist. an. 5,19,552b 15-17; Plin. HN 10,188; Gp. 15,1,34; cf. Theophr. fr. 3,60 and Ael. NA 2…

[German version] (ἡ ψυχή/ psychḗ, literally ‘soul’ e.g. in Aristot. Hist. an. 5,19,551a 14; νύμφη/ nýmphē, literally ‘young girl’ in Aristot. Gen. an. 3,9,758b 33; Lat. papilio and papiliunculus in Tert. De anima 32). Butterflies and moths is the collective term for the insect order of the Lepidoptera. Despite their certainly large spread in the Mediterranean region, they were not often recorded in scientific treatises in antiquity. Aristot. Hist. an. 5,551a 13-27 (cf. Aristot. Gen. an. 1,18,723b 5f. and 2,1,733b 13-16) correctly assigns them to the insects (ἔντομα/ éntoma, cf. In…

[German version] (ἄγρωστις; ágrōstis, Latin gramen). Already substantiated in Homer for fodder grasses but not the same as the genus of paniculate grasses of the same name that includes more than 100 species. According to the botanical descriptions (Dioscorides 4,29 [1. 2,192] = 4,30 [2. 381], Apuleius among others), the term refers to cereal plants like couch grass ( Agropyron = Triticum repens L. according to Sprengel [in 2. 381]) or luxuriantly growing cinquefoil ( Cynodon Dactylon, Panicum Dactylum L.), according to Fraas [2. 381] the hippagrostis of the herbal books of t…

(ὁ λύκος/ lýkos, ἡ λύκαινα/ lýkaina, diminutive λυκιδεύς/ lykideús, occasionally σκύλαξ/ skýlax, 'young animal'; Latin lupus, lupa and lupus femina, e.g. Enn. Ann. 1,68; Etym.: leo + pes, 'lion-foot', in Isid. Orig. 12,3,23). Large and feared land predators, wolves were known by first-hand experience to all peoples in Antiquity. Only Opp. Cyn. recognizes five species. Plin. HN 8,84 and 11,202 mentions a Gaulish lupus cervarius and distinguishes it from the Aethiopian wolf, in reality a jackal (cf. θῶες/ thôes in Aristot. Hist. an. 6,35,580a 26-31). The lycaones (Plin. HN 8,123; M…

[German version] (Greek μυγαλῆ/ mygal, Lat. sorex or Old Latin saurex and mus araneus, 'spider mouse'). Due to its secretive habit, this insectivore family of mammals with various species was hardly known in Antiquity. It was often confused with the ordinary mouse. Pliny describes the ears of the sorex as hairy (HN 11,136) and the tip of the tail as similar to that of the cow or lion (ibid. 11,265). Their hibernation is correctly mentioned by Plin. HN 8,223 (referring only to the garden shrew [1. 175]). Much superstition and magic was reported: supposedly, egrets ( ardeola) and shrews pre…

[German version] The fig has been indigenous to southern Europe since at least the Neolithic period, as documented by fruit discoveries from Lerna, the Argolid and the Bronze Age at the Mincio. The first literary references are in the Odyssey (e.g. Hom. Od. 11,588; 12,103). The fig is represented by two deciduous species of the genus Ficus of the Moraceae: (a) Ficus carica L. as ἐρινεός ( erineós), the goat fig as a wild form besides to the συκῆ ( sykê), the cultivated eating fig that was pollinated by a male plant ( caprificus) of (a). (b) the sycamore or mulberry fig, Ficus sycomorus L. (συκόμορ…

[German version] (βατράχιον/ batráchion = σέλινον ἄγριον/ sélinon ágrion in Dioscorides), buttercup, crowfoot. The widespread family of the Ranunculaceae has more than 100 species in Greece and Italy. The Greek and Latin names for the plant seem to be derived from' frog' (βάτραχος/ bátrachos, Lat. rana), owing to its preference for damp locations. Dioscorides (2,175 Wellmann = 2,206 Berendes) and Pliny (HN 25,172 f.) describe the appearance of four species; it is impossible today to determine exactly which. The leaves and stems in poultice…

[German version] Pliny (HN 10,97 = Sol. 33,15) reports -- taking up the work of Ps.-Aristotle (Hist. an. 9,13 p. 616a 6-13 = 8,5 of the Arabic-Latin translation of Michael Scotus) -- about the cinnamon bird cinnamolgus (κιννάμωμον ὄρνεον; kinnámōmon órneon) in Arabia that builds its nest in high trees of twigs from the  cinnamon and which the inhabitants shot down with lead arrows for profit. Through Isid. Orig. 12,7,23 this fairytale went into the extended Latin  Physiologus of Ps.-Hugo of St. Victor (3,30 [1. 95], cf. [2. 103f.]) an…

[German version] (χάννη, χάννα; chánnē, chánna). A fish of the perch family, perhaps the comber ( Serranus cabrilla), according to Aristot. Hist. an. 8,13,598a 13 a saltwater fish that, according to 8,2,591a 10, was carnivorous. Ath. 7,327f emphasizes its large mouth, the black and red stripes as well as, in 8,355c, its tender flesh. As no males were known -- the channe indeed is a hermaphrodite -- it was thought that the female fertilized itself (Aristot. Hist. an. 4,11,538a 19; Plin. HN 9,56 and 32,153, according to Ov. Halieutica 108). Hünemörder, Christian (Hamburg) Bibliography L…

[German version] (ἀψίνθιον/ apsínthion or ἡ ἄψινθος/ ápsinthos or ἀψινθία/ apsinthía, Latin absinthium since Plaut. Trin. 935) describes popular spices and medicinal plants in several of the roughly 200 species of the Artemisia [3] genus in the Compositae family. Predominant was Artemisia absinthum L., which appears on the Greek mainland as Artemisia arborescens L. The yellow-flowered herbaceous plant reaches a height of about 1.20 m and has lancet-shaped leaves with silvery hair, which contain aromatic and bitter substances. Cappadocia and Pontus…

[German version] This songbird family is represented in the Mediterranean by only two varieties: (a) the grey ( Muscicapa striata Pall.) and (b) the collared flycatcher ( M. albicollis Temminck). The two were not distinguished in antiquity, thus it is impossible to identify them either in zoological records or in ancient illustrations (for instance on mosaics [1. vol. 2, 119]). The ancient name συκαλλίς/ sykallís, ficedula is based on the assumption, already indirectly refuted by Aristotle (Hist. an. 8(9),3,592b 21f. and 28f.) that it eats figs. Aristotle's c…

[German version] (Μαγνῆτις/ magnêtis or Ἡρακλεία λίθος/ Hērakleía líthos; Lat. magnes). The name magnes supposedly comes from the homonymous discoverer, a shepherd on the mountain of Ida in the Troad (according to Nicander in Plin. HN 36,127) whom Isid. Orig. 16,4,1 holds to be a person from the Indus. The magnet is the well-known stone of iron oxide (Fe3O4) that attracts normal iron and, as ferrum vivum, ‘magnetizes’ the iron in its turn (Plin. HN 34,147; Isid. ibid.; Lucr. 6,910-914). Plin. HN 36,128 differentiates, with the Greek stone expert Sotacus, five …

[German version] Egyptian mongoose ( Herpestes ichneumon, first mentioned under the name ἰχνεύμων by Aristot. Hist. an. 6,35,580a 25, but also ἰχνευτής/-ήρ; ichneutḗs/-ḗr), viverrid with dog-like feeding habits, in Egypt and, according to Vitr. De arch. 8,2,7, also in Morocco. The ichneumon stays mostly in the reeds and likes to raid poultry farms. In Egypt, it was known as the ferocious enemy of the crocodile, into whose open jaws it was said to creep and kill by consumption of its entrails (Str. 17,812; Diod. Sic. …

[German version] A. General The class Crustacea of the arthropod family, to be found, in many varieties, mainly in the sea but also in freshwater. The Greeks called them 'soft-shelled' (μαλακόστρακα/ malakóstraka, Aristot. Hist. an. 1,6,490b 10-12 and passim; Speusippus in Ath. 3,105b; erroneously as ὀστρακόδερμα/ ostrakóderma, Ael. NA 9,6 following Aristot. Hist. an. 7(8),17,601a 17f., where these names are meant, however to distinguish different types of crab). The Romans used contecta crustis tenuibus (Plin. HN 9,83) or crustis intecta (Plin. HN 9,43) or crustata (Plin. HN 1…

[German version] This flying fish, mentioned by Pliny in HN 9,82 together with the flying gurnard ( hirundo, Dactylopterus volitans, Aristot. Hist. an. 4,9,535b 27-29; cf. Opp. Hal. 2,459 and Ael. NA 2,50) and often confused with it, is identical, it seems, with the hiérax (two-winged flying fish, Exocoetus volitans Cuv., Opp. Hal. 1,427f.; Ael. NA 9,52) [1. 140 and 145f.]. Further information is lacking, apart from the fish's wariness of hidden hooks (Hor. Epist. 1,16,50f.: cautus ... metuit ... opertum milvus hamum). Hünemörder, Christian (Hamburg) Bibliography 1 Leitner.

[German version] (ἀσπάλαθος, aspálathos) was the name given in particular to the common gorse Calycotome villosa (modern Greek σπάλαθος, σπαλαθιά) and to C. spinosa (Italian sparzio spinoso) that were widespread in the Mediterranean macchia, as well as thorny species of broom (e.g. Genetha acanthoclados, modern Greek ἀφάνα) and aspalathoides and even  acacia or the rosewoods belonging to other families ( Lignum rosae, L. thuris). In Pl. Resp. 10,616a the Erinyes whip tyrants with it in the Tartarus, in Theoc. 24,89 snakes killed by Hercules are burned with …

[German version] Type of houseleek Sempervivum tectorum (ἀείζωον; aeízōon) with yellow blooms and fleshy, evergreen and moist leaves (Theophr. Hist. pl. 1,10,4 and 7,15,2); derives its name from its heavy covering of hairs. According to Dioscorides 4,87-88 [1. 247ff.] = 4,88-89 [2. 418f.], the leaves of both types (Lat. sedum in Plin. HN 25,160-163) i.a. served externally as cooling and astringent medicines for sores and wounds. Democritus is supposed to have recommended the juice to treat seeds (Plin. HN 18,159). In HN 16,76 Plin. means, however, the bushy silverbush Anthyllis Ba…

(from Latin urere, 'burn'; equivalent of cnide in Plin.  HN 32,146, [1. 91],  Greek ἀκαλήφη/ akalḗphē, κνίδη/ knídē). [German version] [1] Stinging nettle The stinging nettle, with its two differently sized species Urtica dioica and Urtica urens in the Urticaceae family, can be identified with the names urtica silvestris and urtica canina (Plin. HN. 21,92), but not with the herculanea. The species silvestris in particular was used as a drug, its leaves, seeds and roots e.g. for women's illnesses (Hippocr. De morbis mulierum 1,31; 1,51; 1,74 and 2,175), fo…

[German version] (εὐφόρβιον; euphórbion, euphorbea). Name given to the gum resin (Plin. HN 25,77f.) of the cactus-like species of spurge ( Euphorbia resinifera, beaumeriana and antiquorum) which King Juba II of Mauretania found in the Atlas Mountains and is said to have named after his personal physician Euphorbius. Dioscorides 3,82 [1. 98f.] and 3,86 [2. 320f.] however mentions a king of the Libyans of the same name as the person who coined the name. According to Isidorus (Orig. 17,9,26), the name euphorbium is derived from the sharpening of the eye-sight through its sap…

[German version] From Celtic tree names alausa, aliza or alisa the Roman and Germanic names for two genuses of rosaceae are probably derived, namely the whitebeam and the serviceberry ( Sorbus aria and torminalis) and the bird cherry or racemosa ( Prunus padus = Padus racemosa). It is uncertain whether ἄλιζα ( áliza; Hesychius) that is said to also mean alnus (alder) and populus (poplar) also belongs to this. Hünemörder, Christian (Hamburg) Bibliography Bertoldi, in: Zschr. für Celtische Philol. 17, 1927.

[German version] (Greek δρυ(ο)κολάπτης/ dry(o)koláptēs, 'wood-pecker' at Aristoph. Av. 480 and 979, πιπώ/ pipṓ at Aristot. Hist. an. 7(8),3,593a 4, πελεκᾶς/ pelekâs at Aristoph. Av. 884 and 1155; Latin picus at Plaut. Asin. 260, cf. Ov. Met. 14,314). Aristotle (Hist. an. 7(8),3,593a 3-12) is familiar with two spotted woodpeckers of different sizes (probably Dendrocopos major and minor) and the green woodpecker (κελεός/ keleós, Picus viridis), which is about the size of a turtle dove and is widespread, particularly in the Peloponnesus. Aristot. Hist. an. 8(9)…

[German version] The names ἀρνόγλωσσον/ arnóglōsson, κυνόγλωσσον/ kynóglōsson, ἑπτάπλευρον/ heptápleuron, πολύπλευρον/ polýpleuron, προβάτειον/ probáteion, ψύλλιον/ psýllion and Lat. plantago, all descriptive of appearance, indicate various species of the plantain ( plantago). Pliny, by virtue of its familiarity, compares it in habit with many other plants. Plin. HN 25,80, citing his contemporary  Themison, praises two species as excellent in desiccating and solidifying the body. Dioscorides (2,126 Wellmann = 2,152 Berendes)…

[German version] (gentian). Greece boasts seven, Italy more than 20 species of this family with about 200 species in total. According to Dioscorides (3,3 p.2,4 Wellmann = p.262f. Berendes), the medicinal properties of these species, generally identified as γεντιανή/ gentianḗ ( gentiana: Pliny), were allegedly discovered by an Illyrian king called Gentis (= Gentius: Plin. HN 25,71). In medicine, gentiana found a multitude of applications (Plin. HN 26,29 and passim): Even in antiquity, juice was extracted from the root of the yellow Gentiana lutea L. and related species ─ ascribe…

[German version] (οἶστρος; oîstros, tabanus bovinus, substituted in Verg. G. 3,147 by asilus, later considered antiquated by Seneca in Epist. 58,2). Earlier authors generally equated it with the horsefly μύωψ ( mýōps) (cf. Aesch. Suppl. 511 and 308; Prom. 567 and 675), but Aristotle distinguishes between the two (Hist. an. 1,5,490a20 and 8,11,596b14, without description). As the μύωψ in Aristot. Hist. an. 5,19,552a30, are described in the tabanus and the cossus (Pliny HN 11,113) as originating from wood. Apparently, the gadfly was only properly identified in Augus…

[German version] This dyeing, fine-textured earthy limestone was formed in the sea in the Cretaceous period from foraminifera and coccolites. Greek: γύψος, λευκὴ γή ( gýpsos, leukḗ gḗ. The Latin name creta is derived perhaps from cerno ‘sieved (earth)’[1]. In antiquity, chalk was needed to make paints and coloured pencils. Plin. HN 35,44 knew of both silver chalk ( creta argentaria) and chalk mixed with  purple paint ( purpurissimum) as a by-product of the dyeing of cloth. Seven colours, including white lead ( cerussa), bond, according to Plin. HN 35,49, with dry, but not with…

[German version] Both the black poplar (αἴγειρος/ aígeiros, Hom. Il. 4,482-87; Od. 7,106; 10,510 and 17,208, Lat. populus nigra) and the silver poplar (ἀχερωίς/ acherōḯs in Hom. Il. 13,389 and 16,482, then λευκή/ leukḗ, Lat. populus alba) are frequently encountered in ancient literature. Theophrastus (Hist. pl. 3,14,2) and Pliny (HN 16,85f.) provide good descriptions, the latter even including the woolly seeds. Medicinal use is to be found for the bark, the resin and the leaves. Dioscorides (1,83 Wellmann = 1,110 Berendes) mention…

[German version] (Νεπουάλιος/ Nepouálios). The work of this otherwise unknown author, Perì tôn katà antipátheian kaì sympátheian, perhaps from the 2nd cent. AD, belongs,  with its medical-magical conception of nature, to the field of ‘Physika ’literature around Ps.-Democritus (= Bolus of Mendes). Only an edition could clarify whether sympathy and antipathy are here to be understood magically or rationally. The MSS are listed in [1. 68]. Hünemörder, Christian (Hamburg) Bibliography 1 H. Diels, Die Handschriften der antiken Ärzte, vol. 2 (ADAW), 1906 (repr. 1970).

[German version] (ἡ or ὁ συκάμινος/ sykáminos with the fruit συκάμινον/ sykáminon; σ. Αἰγυπτία/ s. Aigyptía = sycamore (fig): Theophr. Hist. pl. 4,2,1-2 = Plin. HN 13,56, from Hebrew šiqmah, cf. Dioscorides 1,27 Wellmann = 1,181 Berendes; or μορέα/ moréa, μόρον/ móron; acc. to Ath. 2,51b, the Alexandrians called it μῶρον/ môron; Lat. morus, morum, the same name they used for the blackberry bush). The tree of the Moraceae family has white catkins and came to Greece from the Near East; according to the quotes at Ath. 2,51c-d, it was first mentioned …

[German version] Several evergreen bushes make up the genus Buxus (πύξος; pýxos), among them Buxus sempervirens (cf. Theophr. Hist. pl. 1,5,4 and passim), widespread in the macchia of southern Europe (on Mount Olympus up to heights 2,200 m). Like the  cypress ( Cupressus sempervirens) and the yew ( Taxus), it is a cemetery plant that has been popular since antiquity. The hard wood was used for carvings: from it were made, for example, the boxes (πυξίς; pyxís) named after it for medicines (used e.g. in Dioscorides praef. 9 [1. I.5; = 2. 21], also the Apollo image of Olympia, cheese moulds ( buxe…

[German version] ( rubicapra). Like the  mountain goat ( ibex) the chamois, which belongs to the bovine family, lives in the Alps (Plin. HN 8,214). Its horns are bent backwards ( cornua in dorsum adunca) in contrast to those of the dammae ( Gazelles) that are directed forwards; Plin. HN 11,124, perhaps from his own experience. For the supposed healing of consumption through chamois fat mixed in equal proportions with milk, Plin. HN 28,231 refers, however, to an author who possibly confused chamois with wild goats. This confusion is to …

[German version] As ébenos (ἔβενος) or ebénē (ἐβένη; since Hdt. 3,97: 200 logs of ebony as tribute of the Ethiopians to the Persian Great King) and hebenus (since Verg. G. 2,115f.), the precious and very long lasting (Plin. HN 16,213) heartwood imported from India (cf. Str. 15,1,37) and black Africa (cf. Str. 17,2,2) was famous in antiquity; it was derived from various deciduous trees of the genus Diospyros ( D. ebenum in India, hirsutum and haplostylis in Africa) belonging to the family of the Ebenaceae. In his report on Indian trees, Pliny (HN 12,20), like his source…

[German version] Haematite (αἱματίτης; haimatítēs, haematites) is seen today as a form of red iron ore. Theophrastus (De lapidibus 37, [1. 70]) derives its name from the appearance of dried blood ( haîma). In the ancient kingdoms of the Orient it was highly valued as a precious stone. Pliny recommends it among other things for treating blood-shot eyes (HN 36,144-148), and for staunching blood flow in consumptives and women. Following Sotacus, a Greek lithologist of the 4th cent. BC, he distinguishes five kinds, and referring …

[German version] (πελεκάν/ pelekán, gen. -ᾶνος/ -ânos, not to be confused with πελεκᾶς, -ᾶντος/ pelekâs, -ántos = 'woodpecker' in Aristoph. Av. 884 and 1155; also πελεκῖνος/ pelekînos). Many take the name to refer not to the pelican, but to the spoonbill ( Platalea leucorodia). The Latin loan-word pelicanus is used first in Vulg. Ps 101,7. Unlike the Romans, the Greeks knew the bird as a breeding bird in the Danube delta (as it still is today) (e.g. Aristot. Hist. an. 7(8),12,597a 9-13) and a predator of mussels (Aristot. Hist. an. 8(9),10,6…

[German version] The name sciurus of the rodent Sciurus vulgaris, an excellent climber, derives from its long bushy tail, which is allegedly supposed to provide shade in summer (σκίουρος/ skíouros, from σκιά/ skiá, 'shade' and οὐρά/ ourá, 'tail',  cf. Plin.  HN 8,138 and Opp.  Cyn. 2,586-588). According to Pliny, it is sensitive to the weather and blocks up the entrance to its hole against storms [1. 218]. In winter squirrels live on the provisions they have collected. Pliny (HN 11,245) is familiar with its sitting up and using it…

(Ἄρακος; Árakos). Spartan, eponymic ephor 409/408 BC; 406 elected to nauarch, he actually ceded this office 405 to  Lysander (Xen. Hell. 2,1,7; Plut. Lys. 7,3), who now functioned as epistoleus, as it was not permitted to repeat the nauarchy [1. 76,80]. Early in 398 he was sent with two Spartans by the ephors to join  Dercylidas at Lampsacus, in order to become acquainted with the situation and to admonish discipline amongst the troops there (Xen. Hell. 3,2,6-9). In the winter of 370/369 A., together with other Spartan envo…

[German version] (κύανος; kýanos) in Hom. Il. 11,24 (on the cuirass of Agamemnon) and in Hom. Od. 7,87 (on a wall frieze at Alcinous' palace), as well as in Hes. Sc. 143 (on the shield of Hercules) does not designate blueish steel, but the azure stone or Lapis lazuli (Theophr. De lapidibus 55), which was produced artificially especially in Egypt. In medicine, the kyanos that, according to Dioscorides 5,91 Wellmann = 5,106 Berendes, was mined on Cyprus was prescribed for ulcers. The blue colour also gave the name kyanos to the male of the blue rock thrush (Monticola solitarius) a so…

[German version] Prickly composite herbaceous plant of the Cynareae family with some 70 species in 15 genera. Various species are discussed by Theophr. Hist. pl. 6,4,3-11 (= Plin. HN 21,94-97) under names such as ἄκανθα ( ákantha) or κάκτος ( káktos) (Latin carduus or cactus), including the artichoke ( cynara). Dioscorides 3,12 ([1. 19f.] and [2. 270f.]) recommends the roots of a white thistle e.g. to be taken for haemoptysis and stomach ache. Somewhat similar plants of other families such as the Umbelliferae ( Eryngium, etc.), Acanthaceae (Acanthus) and Dipsaceae are also co…

[German version] Aristotle sufficiently clearly described this electric marine fish (Torpedo spec.), a representative of the flat cartilagenous fish known to him, as νάρκη/ nárkē with reference to eye witnesses (Aristot. Hist. an. 8(9),37,620b 19-23; cf. Plin. HN 9,143: torpedo; Ael. NA 9,14 and Plut. Mor. 878b-d; [1. 238 f.]). Pliny (loc.cit.) praises the tenderness of its liver. Hünemörder, Christian (Hamburg) Bibliography 1 Leitner.

[German version] (ἔποψ/ épops, named after its characteristic call upupa in Lat., Varro, Ling. 5,75; cf. Aristoph. Av. 57 ff., 227 and 260), common in the Mediterranean and the only European representative of the hoopoes ( Upupidae). Paus. 10,4,8 and Plin. HN 10,86 describe its appearance, especially the impressive folding crest (Ov. Met. 6,672-674) and its long beak. Ael. NA 3,26 exaggerates the bird's uncleanliness (alleged use of faeces for nest building; cf. Aristot. Hist. an. 8(9),15,616a 35 f.). Despite its beauty - which i…

[German version] The various ancient names do not admit reliable classification into particular species. Nevertheless, based on Aristot. Hist. an. 5,9,542b 17, Plin. HN 10,91 suggests gavia as the Latin equivalent of λάρος/ láros (λαρίς/ larís) and mergus of αἴθυα/ aíthya ( mergulus, mergunculus with the etymology in Varro, Ling. 5,78: "because it catches its food by diving into the water"). However, since the habit of diving is far more typical of the grebe family, which likewise has several species, these may be what both Pliny and Alb…

[German version] (ἄργυρος χυτός; árgyros chytós, ἀργύριον ὕδωρ; argýrion hýdōr, Latin argentum vivum). First mentioned in Aristot. An. 1,3,406b 19. Theophr. De lapidibus 60 [1. 80] reports on its usual synthesis at the time in a copper vessel by pounding cinnabar (κιννάβαρ/ kinnábar) with vinegar (ὄξος/ óxos). Because of its toxicity, which was already known in ancient times, it was not used in medicine but it was used quite commonly in alchemy to separate gold and silver for jewellery. Hünemörder, Christian (Hamburg) Bibliography 1 D. E. Eichholz (ed.), Theophrastus De lapidibus…

[German version] The composite flowers ( Compositae) of today's genus Anthemis L. (ἀνθεμίς; anthemís) comprising about 150 species were not clearly distinguished by authors like Dioscorides 3,137 [1.2.145 ff.] = 3,144 [2. 352 f.] from the related genuses Chrysanthemum and Chamomilla. A. nobilis L. (Roman camomile), with its anti-inflammatory effect, was highly regarded by Dioscorides and Asclepiades according to Plin. HN 22,53 f. A. tinctoria L. (golden marguerite) was an important provider of yellow dye. Hünemörder, Christian (Hamburg) Bibliography 1 M. Wellmann (ed.)…

[German version] As μυῖα (μῦα; myîa, mŷa; Lat. musca), which Aristotle attributed to the dipterans (δίπτερα; díptera), not only the housefly, but also the gadfly or blind fly (also κυνόμυια; kynómyia) and the bluebottle were conceived. In Aristotle, Pliny and Lucian ( Muscae Encomium = ‘Praise of the Fly’) usually the housefly is referred to, but the sting of the gadfly (Aristot. Hist. an. 1,5,490a 20; 4,7,532a 21; Plin. HN 11,100; Lucian. Muscae Encomium 6) and its buzzing during flight (Aristot. Hist. an. 4,9,535 b 9-11; Plin. HN 11,266) are also mentioned. Homer (…

[German version] The pheasant, the male of which is splendidly colourful, ( Phasianus colchicus, φασιανός/ phasianós sc. ὄρνις/ órnis, phasianus or phasiana sc. avis) comes originally from the region in Colchis around the river Phasis it is named after (modern Rioni, to the south of the Caucasus) (Agatharchides fr. 15 Jacoby FGrH 86 in Athen. 9,387c, cf. Mart. 13,72). From the 5th cent. BC it was introduced - with unique success for a galliform - into the wild in the Graeco-Roman cultural area. Aristophanes, who is th…

[German version] (ἄγνος; ágnos). Like Greek λύγος ( lýgos; Homeric), Latin vitex for the shrub or tree Vitex agnus-castus L. from the tropical genus of the verbenaceae that is the only species common around the Mediterranean Sea and Black Sea on coasts and river banks. Popular etymological interpretation as early as antiquity sometimes as ἅγιος ( hágios) = holy (Dioscorides), sometimes as ἄγονος ( ágonos; Galen) = castus = chaste and in the Middle Ages as agnus = lamb (Albertus Magnus) and castus ( Agnus castus in the 13th cent. [2. lib. 10,5 = 1. lib. IV. A. 1 among others]. Th…

[German version] The dioecious (with smaller male form) fibrous plant Cannabis sativa L. (κάνναβις/-ος/ kánnabis/-os, cannabis/-us) is from the Urticaceae family, 2-4 m tall with finger-shaped long-stemmed leaves. Around 500 BC hemp probably grew in the area from the Caspian Sea to China. The Scythians are said to have used the seeds, which both grew wild and were cultivated, for ritual sweat baths and ecstatic states of intoxication (Hdt. 4,74f.). This suggests hashish, which is won from the subspecies Cannabis Indica (cf. Hsch. s.v. κάνναβις). The Thracians are said to h…

[German version] ( Cichorium endivia L.) was one form of the cultivated σέρις ( séris) of Dioscorides (2,132 [2. 203f.] and 2,159 [3. 224f.]), which was considered as tolerable to the stomach, astringent and cooling in effect. A poultice of its leaves was prescribed as soothing medication for heart ailments, podagra, eye infections, scorpion stings, etc. Then as now it was popular as a salad. Pliny (HN 19,126) mentions it under the name intubus amongst the lactuca species (‘lettuce’). As sponsa solis it is found, i.a., in the Salernitan Circa instans and in Thomas of Cantimpré (12,…

[German version] (ἡ τέρμινθος/ términthos, later τερέβινθος/ terébinthos, Latin terebinthus), the evergreen (Theophr. H. plant. 1,9,3 and 3,3,3; Plin.  HN 16,80), pinnate-leafed, dioecious Terebinth ( Pistacia terebinthus L.) of the genus Pistacia (cf. Pistachio), of which nine species occur in the Mediterranean, in the Anacardiaceae family. Theophr.  Hist. pl. 3,15,3 f. (cf. Plin. HN 13,54) shows accurate knowledge: the resin ( rhētínē, Latin resina; 9,2,2,  cf. Plin.  HN 14,122; 24,32 and 34), which drips from the stem and branches when cut (cf. Theoph…

[German version] (ὤκιμον/ ṓkimon, Lat. ocimum) was identified as the labiate sweet basil, Ocimum basilicum L., that bloomed for a long time and was probably introduced to Greece and Italy from the Orient (first mentioned in Theophr. Hist. pl. 7,2,1 and passim; Theophr. Hist. pl. 7,3,1 = Plin. HN  19,100). Theophr. Hist. pl. 7,1,2-3 and passim and Caus. pl. 1,4,3 as well as Plin. HN 19,119-123 describe how it is sown. Pliny - as also Dioscorides (2,141 Wellmann = 2,170 Berendes) - review both negative assessments (Plin. HN 20,119-120; [1. 76-78]) by …

[German version] (καρυωτὸς φοῖνιξ; karyōtòs phoînix) is a not precisely identifiable species of date palm with tasty fruit (Latin caryotae, derived from the nut κάρυον/ káryon), therefore not Caryota urens L. Plin. HN 13,44f. praises the juice of the fruit, from which outstanding, but intoxicating, wines were made in the Orient. Best of all were the dates from Jericho with their fatty, milk-like juice and very sweet taste. Additional passages: Plin. HN 14,102 and 23,52; Varro, Rust. 2,1,27; Mart. 13,27; Dioscorides 1,10…

[German version] The small, cheap, edible fish found in large shoals in the Mediterranean, Engraulis encrasicholus L., ἡ ἀφύη/ aphýē (ἀφύα/ aphýa), the ‘foam fish’, Lat. apua (Apicius) and sardina (Colum. 8,17,12 as fish-food), but not sarda (since according to Plin. HN 23,46 and 151 the sarda is identical with pelamys,  tuna, [1. 193]; Isid. Orig. 12.6.38 on the other hand equates sarda with sardina). Aristot. Hist. an. 6,15,569a 30-b 28 (= Plin. HN 9,160 and 31,95) claims that the aphýe is generated asexually from sandy soil or from the foam of rain on the surface of the…

[German version] (Greek τὸ σήσαμον/ tò sḗsamon, from Semitic, Latin sesamum). The oleiferous seeds of Sesamum indicum L. of the Pedaliaceae family, which grows around the Mediterranean, in Mesopotamia and in Egypt, according to Plin. HN 18,96 originally introduced from  India (Greek σησάμη/ sēsámē or σησαμίς/ sēsamís). Solon 40 West and Aristoph. Vesp. 676 record its early use in Greece. Theophrastus (Hist. pl. 8,3,1-4) describes the leaves, the stem, the (white) foxglove-like flowers and the seeds in the elongated bilocular capsules (ibid.…

[German version] (ἀκανθίς/ akanthís, Latin acanthis and carduelis). A heat-loving bird, which, because of its colourful plumage and beautiful song, people still like to keep in cages in Mediterranean countries today. Its small size (Plin. HN 10,175) and enmity with the ass owing to competition for the thistles they eat are variously mentioned (Plin. HN 10,205 = Ps.-Aristot. 9,1,610 a 4). This interpretation of akanthís (Aristot. Hist. an. 8,3,592 b 30; Ps.-Aristot. 9,1,610a 4; 9,17,616b 31), however, is as disputed as the identification with acanthyllis ( agathillis Codd.) in Pli…

[German version] In Greece and southern Italy today the following species occur: 1. Barn Swallow ( Hirundo rustica), 2. Crag Martin ( Ptyonoprogne rupestris), 3. Red-Rumped Swallow ( Cecropis daurica), 4. Sand Martin ( Riparia riparia) and 5. House Martin ( Delichon urbica). Whether ancient accounts of the χελιδών/ chelidṓn, Latin hirundo, refer to species other than 1 or 5 or the swift ( Apus apus L.) is almost always uncertain. For the most part broods are raised in skilfully constructed mud nests (Aristot. Hist. an. 8(9),7,612b 23; Varro Rust. 3,5,6; Ov. Fa…

[German version] (κίχλη/ kíchlē, Doric κιχήλα/ kichḗla, Latin turdus). Collective name for several species: according to Ps.-Aristot. Hist. an. 9,20, 617a 8-22 (cited in Ath. 2,64f) the Mistle Thrush (ιξοβόρος; ixobóros), the smaller Song Thrush (τριχάς; trichás) and perhaps the Redwing [1. 243] (ἰλίας, ἰλλάς; ilías, illás: Ath. 2,65a). After the first occurence (Hom. Od. 22,468), mentions are quite frequent from the 6th cent. BC onwards. Of the way of life of thrushes, which do not breed in Greece and Italy, apart from the mistle-thrush (…

[German version] This conifer, Larix europaea or Larix decidua Mill., which loses its needles in autumn, does not occur in Greece but was imported by the Romans from the Alps and the Carpathians as larix and cultivated in upper Italy. The larch did not reach western central Europe until the 18th cent. Vitr. 2,9,14 mentions for the first time its wood for being resistant to rotting and fire (cf. Pall. Agric. 12,15,1), after that Plin. HN 16,43 and 45. Its solid, resin-rich, reddish wood was used for housebuilding and shipbuilding. Hünemörder, Christian (Hamburg) Bibliography R. Stadler, s.…

[German version] (ἀνδράχλη, -νη; andráchlē, - nē). By this Dioscorides 2,124 [1.196 f.] = 2,150 [2.219 f.] meant on the one hand the purslane ( Portulaca oleracea) and on the other hand 2,186-187 [1.1.254 f.] = 2,217 [2.259] the waxflower Cerinthe aspera L. (τηλεφώνιον; tēlephṓnion) and then 4,168 ([1.2.316 f.] = 4,166 [2.462] = Plin. HN 20,210) the sea spurge Euphorbia Peplis L.; Plin. HN 13,120 (following Theophr. Hist. pl. 3,16,5) describes the andrachle as an evergreen (cf. Theophr. Hist. pl. 1,9,3 = Plin. HN 16,80) species of the eastern strawberry tree with…

[German version] The dorcas gazelle ( Gazella dorcas, formerly Antilope dorcas or Gazella africana) represents the antilope subfamily, which also includes the wildebeest and the oryx), in North Africa and the Middle East (ζορκάς, δορκάς, δόρκων, δόρκος, δόρξ, or ζόρξ; zorkás, dorkás, dórkōn, dórkos, dórx or zórx, damma or dorcas). The gazelle is a typical desert dweller (Hdt. 4,192), e.g. in Libya (Theophr. Hist. pl. 4,3,5), and lives in harmony with partridges (πέρδικες; pérdikes) and in herds together with wild asses (ὄναγροι; ónagroi, Timothy of Gaza c. 17 [1. 27f.]). Gazelles…

[German version] Latin name for the wind Λίψ ( Líps) or νότος ( nótos) that blows from the south-west from Africa (Libya) to southern Europe. In Plin. HN 2,119 the Africus ventus, characterized by Sen. Q. Nat. 5,16,5 and Hor. Carm. 1,3,12; 3,29,57; Epod. 16,22 and Verg. Aen. 1,85 f. as wild and stormy, is considered to be west-south-west between the west wind Favonius and the south-south-west Austroafricus (Λιβόνοτος; Libónotos) on the astronomical point rose (cf. Vitr. De arch. 1,6,10 and 12) with a total of 15 winds. In Hor. Carm. 3,23,5 it is called pestilens. According to Isid. Nat. …

[German version] (χαμαίμηλον; chamaímēlon, chamomilla, camomile). Certainly the composite Matricaria chamomilla L. that was cultivated as a medicinal plant from Neolithic times onwards. Plin. HN 22,53 knew not just its name,  anthemis, but also the nomenclature allegedly based on its apple smell ( quod odorem mali habeat, but in reality probably the result of its hemispherical thalamus), and emphasized its anti-inflammatory healing power (Plin. HN 22,53; Dioscorides 3,137 [1. II.145ff.] = 3,144 [2. 352ff.]). Hünemörder, Christian (Hamburg) Bibliography 1 M. Wellmann (ed.…

[German version] (ὁ σφήξ/ sphḗx, Latin vespa). Wasps occur in the Mediterranean region in several families of Hymenoptera. In  ancient sources it is almost always the eusocial (Aristot. Hist. an. 1,1,488a 10; 5,23,554b 22-29; 8(9),41,627b 23-628b 31; Aristot. Gen. an. 3,9,758b 18-759a 3) paper wasp that is meant. Aristotle [6] (Hist. an. 8(9),41, 627b 23 ff.) distinguishes between wild and tame wasps; of these the former are rarer and larger, and live on rocks, perhaps of the genus Polistes. Since tra…

[German version] (ῥοδοδένδρον/ rhododéndron or ῥοδοδάφνη/ rhododáphnē, in Latin for the first time in Ps.-Verg. Culex 402, νήριον/ nḗrion e.g. in Dioscorides 4,81 Wellmann = 4,82 Berendes, Latin nerium, rododafne in Pall. Agric. 1,35,9), the rosebay, the oleander ( Nerium oleander) or the alpenrose ( R. ferrugineum and hirsutum L.), appears only in the 1st cent. AD in Plin. HN 16,79 (and Dioscorides, see below) with all three names ( rhododendron, rhododaphne and nerium) and hence is presumably of Greek origin. This evergreen plant with rose-like flowers,  which grow…

[German version] (ἱππομανές; hippomanés). Plant identified by Dioscorides 2,173 Wellmann = 2,204 Berendes as the caper (κάππαρις; kápparis), whose fruit was considered to be diuretic. According to Theoc. 2,48f. and Serv. Georg. 3,280 Thilo in Arcadia it drove mares and foals mad. Hünemörder, Christian (Hamburg)

[German version] (Family of the Cyprinidae). (1.) The carp that lives in rivers and ponds (Ath. 7,309a) ( Cyprinus carpio L.; κυπρῖνος/ kyprînos, Latin cyprinus or carpa) was a popular edible fish (Cassiod. Var. 12,4,1; cf. Nep. Themistocles 10,3). Aristotle describes its fleshy palate, οὐρανός/ uranós, that simulates a tongue (Hist. an. 4,8,533a 28-30), and mentions that thunderstorms drive it into a daze (Hist. an. 7(8),20,602b 23f.; Plin. HN 9,58). Supposedly it spawns five to six times a year (Aristot. Hist. an. 6,14,568a 16f.; Plin. H…

[German version] It is almost impossible to distinguish exactly whether ἱέραξ/ hiérax (ἴρηξ, in Homer) in each individual instance refers to the goshawk ( Accipiter gentilis), the sparrowhawk ( A. nisus) or a species of the Falconidae. A commonly used synonym was κίρκος/ kírkos (e.g. Hom. Il. 22,139). The pigeon-killer φασσοφόνος/ phassophónos in Hom. Il. 15,237 apparently refers to the goshawk, írēx, however, to the sparrowhawk. In popular etymology, the Latin name accipiter ( acceptor in Lucil. 1130) is derived from accipere (Isid. Orig. 12,7,55, cf. Plaut. Persa 406f.). Aristot. …

[German version] (ἡ νάρδος/ hē nárdos or τὸ νάρδον/ tò nárdon, Latin nardus, -i f. and nardum, from Hebrew nērd from Sanskrit nalada(m) [1. 657]). Nardos in antiquity designates not only the true Indian spikenard ( Nardostachys jatamansi), but also (according to Plin. HN 13,16 and 12,45-47) as many as nine other plants (cf. inventory [2. 209f.]), including the two aromatic kinds of grass from the Near East, namely Syrian or Assyrian nard, the Valeriana Gallic and Cretan or wild nard, hazelwort, cyprus, etc. From the true nard of the central Himalayas the valuable scented oi…