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[German version] (Μαραθήσιον; Marathḗsion). Town on the west coast of Asia Minor (ruins at the Ambar Tepe [1]); after an exchange with Samos, it belonged to the territory of Ephesus (Scyl. 98; Steph. Byz. s.v. Μ.; Plin. HN. 5,114). From 478/7 BC it was a member of the Delian League (ATL 1,336f.; 515; 2,80; 3,204; 307). Sonnabend, Holger (Stuttgart) Bibliography R. Meriç et al (Ed.) IK 17,1, 1981, 111 (with inscriptions 3112-3114), 100 (map). Magie 2, 886.

[German version] This item can be found on the following maps: Aegean Koine (Λεβήνα; Lebḗna). City on the southern coast of Crete (Str. 10,4,12; Plin. HN 4,59) near the modern village of Lendas. Older form of the name: Λεβήν/ Lebḗn. There is evidence that it was already settled in the Minoan period. Initially important as the harbour for Gortyn, L. became a religious centre from the 4th cent. BC onwards because of its sanctuary of Asclepius founded at a healing spring (the visible remains of the temple as well as the stoa and nympha…

[German version] This item can be found on the following maps: Crete (Ἔλυρος; Élyros). Extensive urban settlement in south-western Crete (Steph. Byz. s.v. E.) near Rodovani east of Kandans. Archaeological data: some Roman ruins (town walls, theatre, aqueduct). Syia was Elyrus' port (Steph. Byz. s.v.). It is possible that E. belonged to the koinon of the western Cretan Oreioi, who probably entered an alliance with Magas of Cyrene between 280 and 250 BC [1. 1; 2. 468]; from 183 BC, it was part of the alliance of thirty-one Cretan cities with Eumenes…

[German version] (Κεραία; Κεραῖαι; Keraía, Keraîai). Town on Crete in the north-west of the island, of undetermined location between Lappa and Polyrrhenia (Steph. Byz. s.v. Βήνη). In the Lyttian War (220 v.Chr.), C. -- together with other Cretan towns -- seceded from Cnossus and Gortyn (Pol. 4,53,6). In 183 BC, it was one of the Cretan towns to enter an alliance with Eumenes II of Pergamum [1. 179]. Sonnabend, Holger (Stuttgart) Bibliography 1 M. Guarducci (ed.), Inscriptiones Creticae IV, 1950.

[German version] (Λευκὰ ὄρη; Leukà órē). The ‘white mountains’ in western Crete, up to 2,482 m high (Str. 10,4,4). Uncultivated and inaccessible with a remarkable stand of cypress trees (Plin. HN 16,142; cf. Theophr. Hist. pl. 4,1,3), in Plin. HN 31,43 also mentioned in connection with the search for sources. Sonnabend, Holger (Stuttgart) Bibliography J. Bowman, Kreta, 1965, 271ff. P. Faure, Noms de montagnes crétoises, in: L'Association G. Budé. Lettres d'humanités 24, 1965, 426-446.

[German version] Linguistically, a forest in Latin (Serv. Aen. 1,310) is differentiated according to the degree of human cultivation ( silva, nemus,   saltus ) and the associated religious sphere ( lucus,  ‘Grove’). On one hand, forests caused fear and discomfort (Cic. Nat. D. 2,6; Plin. HN 12,3), on the other hand they were valued as places of (even productive) rest and recuperation (Plin. Ep. 1,6,2; 9,10,2; Tac. Dial. 9,6; 12,1). Forests received an extremely negative connotation among Romans in the context of the military …

[German version] (Ἅληξ; Hálēx). River in southern Bruttium, modern Alice. According to Timaeus (FGrH 566 F 43b) and Strabo (6,1,9) the border river between Rhegium and Locri (Paus. 6,6,4, however, says Caecinus). In the Peloponnesian War (426 BC) scene of an Athenian expedition against Locri (Thuc. 3,99). Sonnabend, Holger (Stuttgart) Bibliography Nissen 2, 955.

[German version] This item can be found on the following maps: Crete (Λισος; Lisos in inscriptions, Λισ(σ)ός; Lis(s)ós in literature; cf. Λίσσα; Líssa, Scyl. 47; Ptol. 3,15,3; Tab. Peut. 8,5). City on the south-western coast of Crete, to the west of modern Sougia, in a position protected by mountains and only open to the sea. From the late 4th cent. BC, L. with Elyrus, Hyrtacina and Tarrha formed the koinón of the oreíoi (‘mountain dwellers’). The city was occupied from the Classical to the Byzantine periods. Of supraregional importance was the Asclepium with the me…

[German version] (Δίκτη; Díktē). Mountain in Crete, not identifiable with certainty. In particular Str. 10,4,12 indicates that in antiquity, D. was not in the Lassithi Hills as today, but rather designated the Modi ridge (539 m) on the eastern tip of Crete and that this was the birthplace of Zeus (cf. Dion. Hal. Ant. Rom. 2,61; Diod. Sic. 5,70,6; Ath. 9,375f.). At the Minoan town of Palaikastro there was a sanctuary of Zeus Diktaios. Sonnabend, Holger (Stuttgart) Bibliography P. Faure, Nouvelles recherches de spéléologie et de topographie crétoises, in: BCH 84, 1960, 189-220 E. Meyer,…

[German version] Town of the Histri, probably modern Medulin (Croatia) in southern Histria. Like Faveria, it was conquered by the Romans in 177 BC (Liv. 41,11,8). Sonnabend, Holger (Stuttgart) Bibliography V.Vedaldi Iasbez, La Venetia Orientale e l'Histria, 1994, 354f.

This item can be found on the following maps: Byzantium | Peloponnesian War | Persian Wars | Delian League | Athenian League (Second) | Education / Culture (Μυτιλήνη; Mytilḗnē). [German version] A. Geography City in the southeast of the island of Lesbos, of great political, economic and cultural signficance throughout antiquity. M. owed its prominent position not least to its favourable topographical situation. The earliest settlement, founded by Aeolians in about 1200 BC, was on the modern Kastro Hill and was separated by an a…

This item can be found on the following maps: Writing | Theatre | Ionic | Natural catastrophes | Peloponnesian War | Pergamum | Persian Wars | Phoenicians, Poeni | Delian League | Athenian League (Second) | Aegean Koine | Aegean Koine | Aegean Koine | Education / Culture (ἡ Σάμος/ hē Sámos, Lat. also Samus). Sonnabend, Holger (Stuttgart) [German version] I. Geography Island in the southeastern Aegean Sea, only c. 2 km from the mainland of Asia Minor (at Mycale); connected in prehistoric times; total area 476 km2. The island is crossed by a chain of mountains (Ampelus according to …

(Πάρος; Páros). Island in the Cyclades (195 km2, 22 km long, 16 km wide), west of Naxos [1], south-west of it is the island Antiparos. [German version] I. Geography and early settlement history The landscape is shaped by Mt.Marpessa [2] (modern Prophitis Ilias) - heavily forested in Antiquity, today largely bare - with a height of up to 771 m. The foothills of the mountain stretch to the fertile coasts. Already settled in the Neolithic, P. developed into a significant site of the Cycladic culture. Important find spots are Na…

[German version] This item can be found on the following maps: Mycenaean culture and archaeology | Aegean Koine (Ἀμνισός; Amnisós). Harbour settlement, belonging to  Knosos during the Minoan period (Epineion: Str. 10,4,7), situated on the northern coast of  Crete, 8 km east of  Heracleum on the river A. (modern Karteros); remains of the Minoan town structure (i. a. ‘Villa of the Lilies’); its name is listed on the place name register of Amenophis III [1. 67 ff.] and in the clay tablet archives of Cnossus; it was f…

[German version] City in  Latium on the   mons Albanus near modern Castel Gandolfo. According to legendary documents making every effort to ensure the connection of Rome with Troy, founded by  Aeneas' [1] son  Ascanius (in the Roman version also Iulus, Verg. Aen. 1,267, or Iullus, Cato HRR fr. 9). An early position of supremacy in Latium is probable. Most likely already in the 7th cent. BC, Alba Longa (AL) was incorporated by Etruscan-dominated Rome. Tradition has ascribed this to King Tullus Hostilius (Liv. 1,29; Dion. Hal. Ant. Rom. 3,31,3-6). The population was relocated to Rome, the mon…

[German version] This item can be found on the following maps: Crete (Λατώ; Latṓ). City in the east of Crete, situated in an isolated mountain area at a height of c. 400 m, with a good view of the coast, 15 km away from modern Agios Nikolaos. Already settled in the Minoan period but then deserted by the inhabitants. In the 8th cent. BC, Doric re-establishment and then in the ancient and classical period one of the most prominent towns on the island. Numerous inscriptions document the engagement of L. in international politic…

[German version] Name of two road stations in Italy: one on the Via Aemilia Scauri near Populonia (Tab. Peut. 4,2; Geogr. Rav. 4,32; It. Ant. 292,4) and the other on the road from Siena to Chiusi (Tab. Peut. 4,4; Geogr. Rav. 4,36; Ptol. 3,1,49). Sonnabend, Holger (Stuttgart)

[German version] This item can be found on the following maps: Crete (Πραισός/ Praisós). City in eastern Crete (Scyl. 47) on the peninsula of Sitia, near the modern village of Nea Praisos (Vaveli) between three acropoleis. The location was already settled in the Neolithic Period (cult site in a cave to the north west of the town). Numerous remains from the Minoan and Mycenaean periods survive (megalithic building in the south; tholos tombs in the necropolis north of the town, in use from the 15th-2nd cents. …

[German version] There is no Greek or Latin term to be found in ancient literature corresponding to the modern 'volcano'; nevertheless, individual volcanic phenomena are identified, such as lava-flow: Greek ῥύαξ/ rhýax (< ῥέω/ rhéō, 'to flow'; cf. also Theophrastus's Perì rhýakos toû en Sikelíai mentioned in Diog. Laert. 5,49), Lat. Vulcanius amnis ('Vulcanic stream', Claud. Rapt. Pros. 172; from Latin Vulcanius, 'pertaining to Vulcan and his works'), saxa liquefacta 'liquified rocks' (Verg. Aen. 3,576) or massa ardens 'blazing mass' (Iuv. 10,130). For the Roman god see Volcanus. I…

[German version] Town in Liburnia (Tab. Peut. 5,4; ILS 1989), modern-day Nadin/Croatia, on the road from Iader to  Burnum. The Roman town was built in the time of Augustus on an earlier indigenous settlement. As a Roman colonia and as municipium to the tribus Claudia, N. was part of the regio X of Italy (Plin. HN. 3,130).There is documentary evidence for the following officials: II viri, aediles and an officialis Naeditarum (CIL III 2860-2876). The town's aristocracy came from the indigenous families. The preservation of social structures and cultic observances i…