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[German version] (Πισάτις/ Pisátis, Πίσα/ Písa). Region and city or two terms for one region in westernPeloponnesus. The question of the historicity of the city P. is controversial today [1] just as in antiquity (Str. 8,3,31) and often answered in the negative (Str. l.c.). The earliest mention gives the name Πίσα/ Písā (, cf. Pind. Ol. 2,3; 3,9; Pind. Nem. 10,32), in Attic literature Πῖσα/ Pîsa (, Eur. IT 1; Eur. Hel. 386; Hdt. 2,7, with long /i/); the classical ethnikon is always Πισάτης/ Pisátēs (Pind. Ol. 4,11; Eur. IT 824), and since the Hellenistic Period Πισαῖος/ Pisaîos (cf. Paus…

This item can be found on the following maps: Theatre (Ἰσθμός; Isthmós, ὁ ( ho) or ἡ ( hē)) means primarily any connecting link between two things (e.g. the neck, Pl. Ti. 69e); in a narrower sense, any strip of land between two seas, as i.e. the Thracian Chersonesus [1] (Hdt. 6,36), but especially the I. of Corinth (e.g. Hdt. 8,40; Thuc. 1,13,5; 108,2; 2,9,2; 10,3). This I. corresponds to the fundamental definition in two respects - it links, on the one hand, the Corinthian Gulf with the Saronic Gulf, on the other hand, central Greece with the Peloponnese. The…

[German version] [1] A City of perioeci, northwest of Sparta on the Eurotas This item can be found on the following maps: Sparta (Πελλάνα/ Pellána, Πελλήνη/ Pellḗnē). A city of perioeci (Perioikoi) north-west of Sparta on the Eurotas (Xen. Hell. 7,5,9; Pol. 3,21,2f.; 4,81,7; 16,37,5; Diod. Sic. 15,67,2; Str. 8,7,5: κώμη/ kṓmē). Its exact location is uncertain: near the modern Vurlia [1. 371] or on the Palaeokastro hill near Castania [2. 125f.] near the modern P. (formerly Kalyvia). According to Plut. Agis 8,1, the land of the Spartans began at …

[German version] Geology, in modern understanding, is the science of physical nature (mineralogy, metallurgy) and of the structure, formation, and development of earth's crust (tectonics) as well as the forces that shaped this development (‘dynamic geology’). Antiquity only knew the first beginnings of a comparable scientific discipline [1. 8-50; 2]. Geological technologies ( Mining,  Quarries) were implemented even before specific geological questions began to be studied in Near Eastern theories …

This item can be found on the following maps: Sassanids | Pontos Euxeinos | Syria | Byzantium | Urarṭu | Christianity | Xenophon | | Commerce | Hellenistic states | Colonization | Limes | Pompeius | Patricius (Τραπεζοῦς/ Trapezoûs; Lat. Trapezus; the modern Trabzon, Turkey). [German version] I. Geographical Situation A Greek city in the region of Colchis (Xen. An. 4,8,22; 5,3,2) on the southeast coast of the Black Sea (Pontos Euxeinos), situated in a favourable setting with a secure acropolis. T. may have been first founded as early as 756 BC (…

[German version] S. is not, as Strabo's source ( cf.  Str. 5,4,12) implies, a diminutive of Sabini , but is derived from the same root as Samnites , and from the time of Varro onwards is a term for them. For the modern linguistic use of S., see Oscan-Umbrian. Olshausen, Eckart (Stuttgart) Sauer, Vera (Stuttgart) Bibliography E. T. Salmon, Samnium and the Samnites, 1967.

[German version] (Τευθρανία; Teuthranía). Region or its capital in the Mysian valley of the lower Caicus [1]. The name is derived from Teuthras, who reportedly took in Auge [2] and her son Telephus [1] as guests when they were washed ashore in Mysia. The region is generally located from the Aeolian coast between Atarneus and Cisthene (at modern Gömeç) inland about as far up as the upper Macestus. The site of the city (Str. 13,1,69; Plin. HN 5,126) has been located (though without certainty) near mo…

[German version] Strait of Messina between Caenus and Pelorum, 12 stadia (Plin. HN 3,73) or 1,500 passus (Plin. HN 3,86), today 3 km wide, a rift valley, with frequent earthquakes, characterized by fluctuating tidal currents that result in dreaded whirlpools (cf. the myth of  Scylla and Charybdis). Manganaro, Giacomo (Sant' Agata li Battiata) Olshausen, Eckart (Stuttgart) Bibliography E. Manni, Geografia fisica e politica della Sicilia antica, 1981, 50f. P. Radici Colace (ed.), Mito, Scienza e Mare: Animali fantastici, mostri e pesci del Mediterraneo (Meeting, …

[German version] I. Greece (Νᾶσοι/ Nâsoi). [German version] [I 1] Lowlands in the area of Caphyae in Arcadia Lowlands in the area of Caphyae in Arcadia (Arcadians), to the south of and below the modern village of Daras (known as Dara until 1940), with luxuriant vegetation, as the water of the upper Orchomenian Plain reemerges here in several springs forming the stream Tragus, which flows into the Ladon [2] (Paus. 8,23,2; 8). Olshausen, Eckart (Stuttgart) Lienau, Cay (Münster) Bibliography 1 E. Meyer, s.v. N. (1), RE 16, 1793  Ders., Peleponnesische Wanderungen, 1939, 31f., 34, Taf. XI. Pr…

[German version] [1] Z. Regia City in Africa Proconsularis This item can be found on the following maps: Coloniae | Punic Wars City in Africa proconsularis, probably modern Seba Biar [1. 416 f.; 2. 321-326; 3. 325 f.; 4; 5. 251 f.; 6. 42 f.]. It was near Z. - at Naraggara - that the decisive battle between Hannibal [4] and P. Cornelius [I 71] Scipio was fought in 202 BC [1. 417-420] (Punic Wars II). In the war with Iugurtha (111-105 BC), Z. was attacked by Q. Caecilius [I 30] Metellus (Sall. Iug. 56 f.). No later tha…

[German version] River in Aquitania, modern Allier, source at 1,430 m elevation on Mont Lozère; flows from the left side into the Liger below Noviodunum after a course of 375 km (Caes. B Gall. 7,34,2; 35,1). Olshausen, Eckart (Stuttgart)

(Νεοκαισάρεια/ Neokaisáreia, Lat. Neocaesarea). [German version] [1] Town in Pontos This item can be found on the following maps: Sassanids | Syria | Byzantium | Christianity | Asia Minor | Asia Minor | Limes | Rome | Rome A town in Pontus at the southern foot of the Paryadres near present-day Niksar, at the junction of the east-west route from the Amnias valley and up the Lycus valley via the Comana Pontica [2]-Polemonium road [4; 5; 6.Vol. 1, 17-57]; it is mentioned for the first time in Plin. HN. 6,8. N.'s history is traceable vi…

[German version] This item can be found on the following maps: Sicily | Theatre | Coloniae | Punic Wars (Τυνδαρίς/ Tyndarís). Greek city on the northern coast of Sicily between Mylae [2] and Agathyrnon, modern Tíndari. T. was founded in 396 BC by Dionysius [1] I to protect the Greeks against Carthage. It was settled mainly by Messenians, who, driven from Naupactus and Zacynthos after the Peloponnesian War, had offered their services to the tyrant and named the city after the Tyndaridae, a Messenian version of the D…

[German version] (Νέδα; Néda). A river in the western Peloponnese which in historical times formed the border between Triphylia (later Elis) and Messana [2]. Although its main source is close to Hagios Sostis, it actually rises on Mt. Lycaeum, then, after a distance of 37 km, it flows into the Gulf of  Cyparissia. The N. is a raging torrent with many waterfalls which rushes through a narrow, rugged, for the most part, inaccessible valley. The fortress of Hira was situated in the mountainous region …

[German version] (Ἀρκαθίας; Arkathías). Son of  Mithridates VI (different from Ariarathes IX [1; 2; 3]), led 10,000 horsemen from Lesser Armenia into the opening battle of the Mithridatic Wars (autumn of 89 BC) at the Amnias against  Nicomedes IV; he marched with a Pontic army in 88/87 BC through Macedonia and organized the conquered territories into  satrapies. He fell ill at the Tisaeum in Magnesia and died (App. Mith. 63-65; 137; 156). Olshausen, Eckart (Stuttgart) Bibliography 1 Magie, 1105 note 41 2 B.C. McGing, The Foreign Policy of Mithridates VI Eupator King of Pont…

[German version] This item can be found on the following maps: Byzantium | Education / Culture (Νακόλεια; Nakóleia). City in northeastern Phrygia (Phryges; Str. 12,8,12: in Phrygia Epictetus; Ptol. 5,2,22: in Phrygia Megale) on the river Parthenius (modern river Seydi), modern Seyitgazi. The earliest evidence (Str. loc. cit.) is no later than the time of Augustus, historical notes are provided by Amm. Marc. 26,9,7-9 (defeat of Procopius in a battle with Valens at N. in AD 366) and Philostorgius in 138 (rebellion…

[German version] [1] Island and city in the Cyclades This item can be found on the following maps: Ionic | Marble | Peloponnesian War | Persian Wars | Delian League | Athenian League (Second) | Aegean Koine (Νάξος, Náxos, Latin Naxus). Sonnabend, Holger (Stuttgart) [German version] A. Geography City and island of the same name, the latter, with an area of just 420 km2, the largest of the Cyclades. A significant topographical  characteristic is a chain of mountains dividing the island from north to south (highest peak the Zia at 1004 m, also the highest poi…

(Λαοδίκεια; Laodíkeia). [German version] [1] Port-town in north-west Syria, modern Latakia This item can be found on the following maps: Syria | Theatre | | Coloniae | Commerce | Hellenistic states | Limes | Pompeius | Education / Culture (Λ. ἐπὶ τῇ θαλάσσῃ; L. epì têi thalássēi). Port in north-west Syria (now Latakia or al-Lāḏiqīya), not far from the Bronze Age Ugarit (Ra's Šamra). Founded by Seleucus I around 300 BC together with its sister towns of Antioch, Apamea and Seleucea (the so-called North Syrian Tetrapolis) and equipped with an…

[German version] (Ἥραιον; Hḗraion). The outermost cape (today Cape Melangavi) of the peninsula that is formed by the foothills of the Geraneia opposite Corinth with a settlement, fort and sanctuary of Hera Akraia and Limenia (rich finds from the 9th cent. BC onwards) on a small bay on the south side of the cape (Xen. Hell. 4,5,5ff.; Xen. Ages. 2,18f.; Str. 8,6,22; Plut. Cleomenes 20,3; Liv. 32,23,10). Olshausen, Eckart (Stuttgart) Lienau, Cay (Münster) Bibliography H. Payne et al. (ed.), The Sanctuaries of Hera Akraia and Limenia, 2 vols., 1940/1962.

[German version] Name given in Plin. HN 6,118 to a left-bank tributary of the Tigris in Adiabene. It remains questionable whether he meant the Lycus [14] (modern Al-Zāb al-Kabīr, 'Greater Zab') or the Caprus [2] (modern Al-Zāb al-Ṣaġīr, 'Lesser Zab'). Olshausen, Eckart (Stuttgart)

[German version] (Νιφάτης/ Niphátēs). Mountain range on the Thospitis Limne (Van Gölü) in Armenia, belonging to the eastern Taurus massif (Doğu Toros Dağları) (Str. 11,12,4; 11,13,3; 14,2; 8; Plin. HN 5,27; Mela 1,15,81; Plut. Alexandros 31,10; Ptol. 5,13,4; 6,1,1; Amm. Marc. 23,6,13; Steph. Byz. s.v. N.; cf. Hor. Carm. 2,9,20; Verg. G. 3,30; Jos. Ant. Iud. 18,2,4) - in a narrower sense probably İhtiyarşahap Dağları with Mevzi Dağı (3446 m) in the south of Van Gölü or Ala Dağları with Tendürek Dağı (3533 m) in the north-east of Van Gölü. Olshausen, Eckart (Stuttgart) Bibliography R. Sy…

[German version] (σταδιασμός/ stadiasmós) is the term for distance in stádia (Str. 1,3,2; 4,6; 2,1,17; 4,7; Stadion [1]) analogous to which miliasmós is the term for distance in milia 'miles' (Str. 6,2,1; cf. Eust. ad Hom. Od. 2,133,2: miliasmoû ... ḕ stadiasmoû). Consequently the stadiasmôn epidromḗ (Marcianus, Epit. peripli Menippi 3 = GGM 1,566,23), was an abridgment, made by Timosthenes of Rhodes of his own 10-volume description of harbours (mid-3rd cent. BC), a 'compilation of distance data in stádia' from harbour to harbour. It was not until the 2nd cent. AD that stadiasmos was a…

[German version] (Κρόνιον). A hill with pine growth (123 m) above the Altis in  Olympia with a Cronos cult only attested in literature (priesthood of the Βασίλαι/ Basílai): Xen. Hell. 7,4,14; Pind. Ol. 1,111; 5,17; 6,64; 9,3; Paus. 5,21,2; 6,19,1; 20,1f.; Dion. Hal. Ant. Rom. 1,34,3. Olshausen, Eckart (Stuttgart) Meyer, Ernst (Zürich)

[German version] (Πολεμώνιον/ Polemṓnion). Port city on the south shore of the Black Sea (Pontos Euxeinos; Ptol. 5,6,4; Peripl. m. Eux. 30-33; Steph. Byz. s. v. Π.; Plin. HN 6,11; Tab. Peut. 10,3; Hierocles, Synekdemos 37) at the modern Bolaman, 10 km west of Fatsa, where the Sidenus (Str. 1,3,7; 2,5,25; 3,3,14-16; modern Bolaman Irmağı) flows into a broad bay. Named after Polemon [4] I (37-7 BC: EM s. v. Πολεμώνιος). The town was probably built on the site of Side, a settlement which was abandoned by Strabo's (12,3,16) time (cf. Amm. Marc. 22,8,16, who emphasizes the Greek tradition of P.). O…

[German version] (North Sea). This shelf sea, a marginal sea of the Atlantic ( Oceanus), assumed its present form in the Jura. In the west, it is separated from the Atlantic by the Straits of Dover, in the north-west, by the line of the Orkney and Shetland Islands. In the east, the Skagerrak separates it from the Baltic Sea ( Mare Suebicum). There are few bordering archipelagos north-west and south-east. The Mare Germanicum (MG) extends over an area of 0.58 million km2, it contains 0.054 km3 of water, its medium depth is around 94 m, its greatest depth is 725 m near Arendal in th…

[German version] (Λάβδαλον; Lábdalon). Site at the northern rim of the Epipolai-Plateau of Syracusae, where a fortress was built by the Athenians in 414 BC. This was taken from them by Gylippus shortly after his arrival (Thuc. 6,97,5; 98,2; 7,3,4). Fabricius located it east of Scala Greca, above the descent of the antique roadway Syracusae - Megara from the plateau. Before him, it was thought to lie more to the west. Olshausen, Eckart (Stuttgart) Falco, Giulia (Athens) Bibliography K. Fabricius, Das ant. Syrakus (Klio-Beih. 28), 1932, 19f. H.-D. Drögemüller, Syrakus, 1968, 15f., fi…

[German version] I. Name Strabo was the first to refer to the peninsula of Asia Minor (AM) west of the  Taurus (Str. 2,5,24; 12,1,3; cf. Plin. HN 5,27f.; Ptol. 5,2) as a single unit by the name of Asia in the narrower sense, as opposed to the continent of Asia. The term of Asia minor in this sense is first used in Oros. 1,2,26 (early 5th cent. AD). Olshausen, Eckart (Stuttgart) [German version] II. Geography AM is the westernmost part of the Asian continent between 36° and 42° northern latitude, and 26° and 44° eastern longitude, stretching from the Aegean to the Euphrates ( c. 1,200 km), and fro…

[German version] [1] Pylae Gadeirides The Straits of Gibralter (Πύλαι Γαδειρίδες; Pýlai Gadeirídes). The Straits of Gibraltar; the sound (saddle depth 286 m), which is about 60 km long and at its narrowest point 13 km wide, lies between the southern tip of the Spanish Peninsula and the continent of Africa, and between the Mediterranean (Mare nostrum) in the east and Oceanus in the west. The ancient names for the straits are based on Gades (Plin. HN 3,3; 5; 74; 4,93: Gaditanum fretum; Plut. Sertorius 8,1: Γαδειραῖος πορθμός/ Gadeiraîos porthmós), on the temple of Heracles in Gades ('…

[German version] (Γοργῶπις λίμνη; Gorgôpis límnē). In Aesch. Ag. 302, it belongs to the chain of fire signals from Ida to Mycenae between  Cithaeron and Aigiplanktos ( Gerania in the Megaris) and is therefore regarded as identical with the eastern part of the gulf of Corinth, the bay of Eleusis, and several lakes on the Isthmus of Corinth (Limni Vouliagmenis to the west of the Gerania, cf. Xen. Hell. 4,5,6; Limni Psatho to the east of Schinos). Olshausen, Eckart (Stuttgart) Bibliography F. Bölte, s.v. G. 1), RE 7, 1658f. W. Leiner, Die Signaltechnik der Ant., 1982, 59ff. Philippson/Kirst…

[German version] (Ὀρέσται/ Oréstai). People in the upper Haliacmon valley around Lake Kastoria (Celetron, cf. Liv. 31,40,1-4 [1. 236-239; 3. 163-166; 4. 110-116]). Hecat. FGrH 1 F 107 and Str. 7,7,8 and 9,5,11 (cf. also Thuc. 2,80,6) numbered them among the Molossi or the Epeirotae, Str. 9,5,11 among the Macedones (for a discussion of this contradiction cf. [5]). From the 4th cent. BC under Macedonian rule (a division of O. in Alexander [4] the Great's army in Diod. Sic. 17,57,2). In 196 BC, the O. were declared independent by Rome and organised as a koinón  (Pol. 18,47,6; Liv. 33,34,…

(Μυγδονία; Mygdonía). [German version] [1] Region in northwestern Asia Minor Region in northwestern Asia Minor whose name is derived from the Thracian Mygdones who, like the Doliones and the Mysi (Mysia), migrated to the northwestern part of Asia Minor in the 12th cent. BC. The area in which they settled was bordered at the northwest by the Dascylitis (Δασκυλῖτις, now Kuş Gölü), at the northeast by Apameia [1]; in the southwest their settlements reached to the Mysian Olympus [13] (modern-day Uludağ), in t…

[German version] High-lying fortified chief town of the Sarmatic Siraci on the bank of the Panda [1] in the north of the Caucasus (Tac. Ann. 12,16,3); not located. Olshausen, Eckart (Stuttgart) Bibliography D. D. Kacharava, G. T. Kvirkveliia, Goroda i poseleniya Pričernomor'ya antičnoi epokhi, 1991, 284.

(αἱ τῶν μακάρων νῆσοι; hai tôn makárōn nêsoi, Lat. insulae fortunatae, ‘Islands of the blessed'). [German version] [1] Mythical country Since Hes. Op. 167-173, the mythical country to which heroes are transported - instead of to dark, mouldy Hades like ‘normal people’ - when their lives on earth are over. The concept of the makaron nesoi (MN) is closely linked with the idea of Elysium (Hom. Od. 4,561ff.) as the place were the blessed reside after death (cf. Pind. Ol. 2,68-80; Hdt. 3,26; Aristoph. Vesp. 640; Eur. Hel. 1677; Aristot. Protrepticus fr. …

[German version] (Ἀργινοῦσ(σ)αι; Arginoû(s)sai). Name of three small islands at the southern entry into the  Lesbos Sound at the Aeolian coast (main island modern Garip Adası), famous because of the naval victory of the Athenians over the Spartans under the leadership of the strategos  Callicratidas, which was followed by the ‘Trial of the Generals of the Arginusae’ (406 BC). In this trial, the Athenians condemned the leading strategoi en bloc, because of their failure to rescue survivors and casualties of the storm which followed the battle.  Socrates was the …

[German version] [1] City in Sicily This item can be found on the following maps: Sicily | Theatre | Etrusci, Etruria | Italy, languages (Σέγεστα/ Ségesta, Ἔγεστα/ É gesta, Αἵγεστα/ Haígesta). City (elevation 318 m) of the Elymi, like Entella and Eryx [1] in the west of Sicily (with map), 10 km to the southwest of Castellammare; the acropolis towers over the city to the northwest on Monte Bàrbaro (431 m). In traditional rivalry with Selinus [4] (earliest verifiable conflict 580/576 BC; Diod. Sic. 5,9), S. opposed Greek occup…

[German version] (Πειροῦσται/ Peiroûstai). Illyrian tribe (Str. 7,5,3; Ptol. 2,16,8) in the ore-rich region between Lim and Drin in modern Albania, first mentioned in Liv. 45,26,13 in the context of the conclusion of the 3rd Macedonian War, 167 BC, as a civitas libera et immunis. At that time, its relationship with Rome was governed by a treaty. However, in 54 BC the P. undertook excursions into the Roman province of Illyricum for plunder. In reaction, the proconsul of the province, Caesar, restored order in the frontier region by taking h…

(Μένανδρος; Ménandros). [German version] [1] Joint strategos with Nicias, 414 BC The Athenians M. and Euthydemus [1], who were already in Sicily, were chosen as joint strategoi of Nicias towards the end of 414 BC, during the Sicilian Expedition, to support him until the relief expedition of Demosthenes [1] arrived (413) (Thucyd. 7,16,1; Plut. Nicias 20,2); re-elected 413/12 (Plut. Nicias 20,6-8; Thucyd. 7,69,4; Diod. 13, 13,2). Possibly identical with the M. who fought in Abydus in 409 (Xen. Hell. 1,2,16). He was stratēgós with Tydeus (405/4) in the defeat at Aigos potamoi (X…

[German version] People (named after their king Morges) originally settled in Lower Italy, who migrated from there (Antiochus FGrH 555 F 9: M. driven by the Oenotri; otherwise F 2) to Sicily (Strab. 6,2,4), where the city of Morgantina has preserved their name (Antiochus l.c.; Steph. Byz. s.v. Μοργέντιον/ Morgéntion). Murgantia, the name of a city of the Samnites, is probably also related (Liv. 10,17,3; 11). Olshausen, Eckart (Stuttgart) Falco, Giulia (Athens) Bibliography G. Devoto, Gli antichi Italici, 31967  J. Bérard, La colonisation grecque, 21957  R. Peroni, Enotri, Ausoni,…

(Νεοπτόλεμος; Neoptólemos). [German version] [1] Son of Achilles and Deidamia The son of Achilles [1] and Deidamia, the daughter of king Lycomedes [1] of Scyros. Rare but explainable variants of the mother's name are Pyrrha (Heliodorus 3,2 = Anth. Pal. 9,485,8) and Iphigenia (Duris of Samos FGrH 76 F 88; on this FGrH 2 C 130). Homer only knows the name N., and Pyrrhus probably only becomes more common in the 4th cent. (first Theopompus FGrH 115 F 355) because of dynastic considerations of the Epirote king…

[German version] This item can be found on the following maps: Diadochi and Epigoni (Γαζίουρα). Fortress of the Pontic kings in Zelitis on an isolated mountain peak near Turhal with a flight of steps from the Hellenistic period and late Byzantine wall remains. Also an inscription from the time of Mithridates VI, and two Roman milestones on the road from  Amasea to Nicopolis [1. 251-253 no. 278; 2. 348f. no. 960f.]. Olshausen, Eckart (Stuttgart) Bibliography 1 Anderson/Cumont/Grégoire 3,1 2 D. French, Roman Roads and Milestones of Asia Minor 2 (British Institute of Arc…

[German version] [1] Town in Pontus This item can be found on the following maps: Patricius The town established by Mithridates the Great in Pontus at the confluence of the Iris (modern Yeşilırmak) into the Lycus (modern Kelkit Cayı) had without a fight opened the gates to the Romans under Lucullus in 71 BC in the 3rd Mithridatic War; as a result it was totally destroyed by the king four years later. The reconstruction had not yet been completed when Pompey captured E. in 65 BC and, renamed Magnopolis, incorpor…

[German version] [1] City in north-western Boeotia This item can be found on the following maps: Linear B | Mycenaean culture and archaeology | Natural catastrophes | Oracles | Persian Wars | Aegean Koine | Aegean Koine | Boeotia, Boeotians (Ὀρχομενός/ Orchomenós; Boeotian Ἐρχομενός/ Erchomenós, LSAG 95, no. 17). Freitag, Klaus (Münster) [German version] A. Geography City in north-western Boeotia (Hom. Il. 2,511) at the foot of Mount Acontium on the north-western shore of Lake Copais near modern Skripou, today once more called Orkhomenos. The polis had an extensive hinterland, in…

[German version] This item can be found on the following maps: Xenophon (Θύμβριον; Thýmbrion). City in eastern Phrygia, 10 parasangai ( Parasángēs ; 57 km) both from Caystru Pedion [2] in the west and Tyriaeium in the east, to be found in the area of modern Doğanhisar to the southeast of Akşehir (Xen. An. 1,2,13; Plin.  HN 5,95: Thymbriani in Lycaonia in the early Imperial period  province of Asia; Hierocles, Synecdemus 673,9: Τιμβριάδων in the late Antiquity  province of Pisidia). Olshausen, Eckart (Stuttgart) Bibliography Magie, 792 f.

[German version] (Ζάβιδα/ Zábida). Village settlement in the centre of a large oasis in the interior of Arabia Felix (Arabia), on the Wādī Zabīd to the northeast of modern Zabīd (in Yemen), mentioned by Uranius [3] in the third book of his Arabiká (in Steph. Byz. s. v. Z.). Z. and its port on the Erythra Thalatta [1] was the starting point of an important trade route into the high mountains through Achoma (modern Aḫum) and Adana (modern Al-Udain) to Tarphara (modern Ẓafār), the chief town of the Homeritae, the Ḥimyar of Arab literature. Olshausen, Eckart (Stuttgart) Bibliography A. Dietric…

[German version] (Ξοδράκη; Xodrákē). City in the western part of India, left of the lower reaches of the Indus [1] (Ptol. 7,1,60), on the southeast border between modern Pakistan and India; not precisely locatable. Olshausen, Eckart (Stuttgart) Bibliography H. Treidler, s. v. X., RE 9 A, 2149-2152.

(Ὄσσα/ Óssa). [German version] [1] Mountain range in central Greece, modern Kissavos Mountain range (1978 m) of lime and slate, divided from Olympus [1] in the north by the erosion gorge that is the Vale of Tempe and from Pelion (modern Kissavos) in the south by the Agia depression. Politically it was part of Magnesia [1]. The steep eastern slopes down to the Aegaean were uninhabited, in spite of a coastal road from Homole in the north to Meliboea [2]. On the western slopes there were Thessalian towns (Elat…

(Φύσκος/ Phýskos). [German version] [1] Carian city in Peraia in Rhodes Carian city in Peraia in Rhodes (Str. 14,2,4; 29; 5,22; Ptol. 5,2,11: Φοῦσκα/ Phoûska; Stadiasmus maris magni 272), deme of the polis of Lindus in Rhodes [1. 792; 2. no. 51]. Ancient remains of a Classical and Hellenistic fortress are on Asar Tepe, 2 km to the northwest of Marmaris, above an excellent natural harbour on the bay. Inscriptions: [1. 2-5; 2. no. 1-7, 57]. Olshausen, Eckart (Stuttgart) Bibliography 1 P.M. Fraser, G.E. Bean, The Rhodian Peraea and Islands, 1954 2 C. Blinkenberg, K.F. Kinch, Lindos, …

[German version] (Ζαλίχης/ Zalíchēs). Coastal city on the coastal river of the same name (Marcianus [1], Epit. Peripl. Menipp. 10: Ζάληκος/ Zálēkos; Peripl. m. Eux. 24; Ptol. 5,4,3: Ζαλίσκος ποταμός/ Zalískos potamós) in Pontus, in late Antiquity one of the seven cities of the consular province of Helenopontus: Σάλτος ( Saltus ) Ζαλίχης/ Sáltos Zalíchēs (Hierocles, Synekdemos 701,6 - an imperial domain?) with the suffragan bishopric of Amasea, now also called Leontoupolis (possibly from the reign of the emperor Leon [4] I, 457-474, onwards; Not. Episc. 1, 240: Ζ. ἤτοι Λεοντούπολις/ Z.…

Mithridatic Wars (MW) is the term for the military conflicts between Mithridates [6] VI Eupator, the ruler of the kingdom of Pontus, and Rome. The wars each originated in Mithridates' attempts to expand his domain in the manner of the Diadochi in Asia Minor and constantly led to conflicts with Rome, which did not wish to permit a concentration of power in the region. [German version] A. The First Mithridatic War (89-85 BC) It was out of the attempt by Mithridates after the death of Nicomedes [4] III (94) to pass over the legitimate successor, enthrone Nicomedes' brot…

(Βόσπορος; Bósporos). [German version] [1] Early link between the Black Sea and the Mediterranean In Turkish, İstanbul Boğazi or Boğaziçi. There is debate over the B.'s geological genesis: the lack of marine fossils argues for it to have originated from a valley floor, while marine biological evidence suggests an early link between the Black Sea and the Mediterranean (Izmit -- Sapanca Gölü -- Sakarya), from which the masses of water were pushed back, by the silt build-up, to the depression of the B. The B. is the source of saltwater for the Black Sea (average influx per annum 193 km3); 31.7 k…