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[German version] [1] Town in northeastern Sicily This item can be found on the following maps: Sicily | Socii (Roman confederation) | | Commerce | Italy, languages | Colonization | Punic Wars | Punic Wars (Μεσσάνα/ Messána, Ionian Μεσσήνη/ Messḗnē, Lat. Messana). Town in northeastern Sicily, modern Messina. The original name Zancle (Ζάγκλη/ Zánklē = Siculan: ‘sickle’) is derived from the topographically suggestive shape of the natural harbour (Thuc. 6,4,5). Sonnabend, Holger (Stuttgart) [German version] A. Foundation The site was settled at an early time because of its o…

(Δαίδαλα; Daídala). [German version] [1] Fortified settlement north-west of Telmessus This item can be found on the following maps: Lycii, Lycia Fortified settlement north-west of Telmessus in the border region between Lycia and Caria, the eastern part of the Rhodian Peraea [2. 54-57, 97f.]. References: Str. 14,2,2; 3,1; Liv. 37,22,3; Steph. Byz. s.v. D.; Plin. HN 5,103. D. is identified with the ruins of Inlice Asarı [1. 32f.]; for location cf. Ptol. 5,3; Stadiasmos maris magni 256f.; inscriptions are lacking (orig…

(Ληθαῖος; Lēthaîos). [German version] [1] Tributary of the Peneius Left-hand tributary of the Peneius in north-west Thessalia, flows through Tricca (Paus. 14,139), modern Trikkalinos. Kramolisch, Herwig (Eppelheim) Bibliography F. Stählin, Das hellenische Thessalien, 1924, 121. [German version] [2] River in southern Crete River in southern Crete, which flows through Gortyn from north to south (Str. 10,4,11), modern Mitropolianos. Sonnabend, Holger (Stuttgart) [German version] [3] Tributary of the Maiander Right-hand tributary of the Maeander (river god: coins o…

[German version] This item can be found on the following maps: Dark Ages | Mycenaean culture and archaeology | Delian League (Κάμιρος; Kámiros, Lat. Camirus). City on the western coast of  Rhodes near the modern Kalavarda; it was one of the three ancient Rhodian cities, together with  Ialysus and  Lindus (this configuration is already mentioned in Hom. Il. 2,656). According to the evidence of grave finds, C. was already inhabited in Mycenaean times. Its true foundation was by Dorian settlers. Together with Ialysus and …

[German version] This item can be found on the following maps: Crete (Ἱεράπυτνα; Hierápytna). Town on Crete, modern Ierapetra, at the narrowest point of the island between eastern and central Crete (Str. 10,4,3). In the Hellenistic period a significant political player as attested by several treaties primarily from the 2nd half of the 3rd cent. BC with other Cretan towns (Praesus, Itanus, Gortyn, Lyttus, Lato) [1]. There were links to powers outside Crete (Macedonia, Rhodes, Pergamum: Stv III 502; 551; Syll.3 627). An aggressive territorial policy in eastern Crete, especial…

(Ζεφύριον/ Zephýrion). Name used especially in the eastern Mediterranean region for foothills and the cities near them that are exposed to the west wind (Zephyrus). Kaletsch, Hans (Regensburg) [German version] [1] Cape on the north eastern coast of Crete Cape on the north-eastern coast of Crete (Ptol. 3,17,5), probably modern Cape Agios Ioannis at the north-eastern end of the Gulf of Mirabello. Sonnabend, Holger (Stuttgart) [German version] [2] Cape on the south western coast of Cyprus (or Ζεφυρία/ Zephyría). Cape on the south-western coast of Cyprus. According to Ptol. 5…

[German version] This item can be found on the following maps: Hellenistic states | Crete | Apollo (Ἴτανος; Ítanos). Port in the extreme north-east of Crete, between two acropoleis, modern Erimupolis. Traces of settlement date as far back as the Minoan period. In the 7th cent. BC, Corobius, a purple fisher from I., allegedly led colonists from  Thera to  Cyrene (Hdt. 4,151). In the Hellenistic period, it served as the Aegean base of the Ptolemies [1]. In 112 BC, rivalries with  Hierapytna were mediated on Roman i…

(Ἀμύκλαι; Amýklai). [German version] [1] Pre-Greek settlement This item can be found on the following maps: Sparta | Dark Ages | Aegean Koine Pre-Greek settlement on and at the foot of the hills bearing the chapel of Agia Kyriaki, inhabited from the early Helladic to the imperial Roman period (Paus. 3,18,6-19,6; IG V 1, 515), c. 5 km south of  Sparta near the modern Tsausi. In historical times, it was a ὠβή ( ōbḗ) of Sparta with its own ephors and other officials (cf. Syll.3 932). The region seems to have reached its peak in the 7th/6th cent. BC. From the late Mycenaean period, it housed a sa…

[German version] (Λυκόρμας; Lykórmas). Earlier name of the river Evenus [3] in Aetolia (Str. 7,7,8; 10,2,5). The L. plays a part in the story of the rape of Marpessa [1], the daughter of Evenus by Alcippe (Hom. Il. 9,555ff.; Ov. Met. 2,245; Bacchyl. 15,34). Sonnabend, Holger (Stuttgart) Bibliography B. Snell, Bakchylides' Marpessa-Gedicht, in: Hermes 80, 1952, 156-163.

(Θεράπναι/ Therápnai). [German version] [1] City in Crete City in Crete, probably in the central north (presumably between Eleutherna and Cydonia; [cf. 1. 198]), reckoned one of the island's more important towns (Mela 2,113; Plin. HN 4,59). Sonnabend, Holger (Stuttgart) Bibliography 1 P. Faure, La Crète aux cents villes, in: Κρητικὰ Χρονικά 13, 1959, 171-217. [German version] [2] Place in Laconia This item can be found on the following maps: Sparta Cult site in Laconia (Laconica) on the left bank of the Eurotas, c. 2 km to the southeast of Sparta on a foothill of the Parnon…

This item can be found on the following maps: Achaemenids | Theatre | Dark Ages | Mycenaean culture and archaeology | Persian Wars | Delian League | Education / Culture (Λίνδος; Líndos). [German version] A. Topography Town on the eastern coast of Rhodes in an exposed topographical situation, with an acropolis rising steeply (116m) from the sea and a natural twin harbour. The territory of L. extended to more than half of the island. L. held land in Asia Minor (Physcus).…

[German version] Tribe of the northern Adriatic (Dalmatia), in Hecat. FGrH 1 F 62 neighbours but in Plin. HN 1,139 part of the Liburni (together with the Himani, Encheleae, Peucetti). The M. were later ruled by the Iapodes. Sonnabend, Holger (Stuttgart) Bibliography G. Alföldy, Bevölkerung u. Ges. der r…

[German version] (Νέστοι/ Néstoi). Tribe, probably Thracian or Illyrian, of the north-eastern Adriatic, with territory between the Nestus and the Naro (Ps.-Scyl. 23f.; Apoll. Rhod. 4,1215: Νεσταῖοι/ Nestaîoi). Sonnabend, Holger (Stuttgart) Bibliography …

[German version] This item can be found on the following maps: Crete | Macedonia, Macedones | Pompeius (Λάππα; Láppa). Town in western Crete (Str. 10,4,3) near the modern …

[German version] The Tyrrhenian Sea, the western part of the Mediterranean Sea ( Mare Nostrum), bordered by the Italian west coast, the Sicilian north coast and by Corsica and Sardinia. The name goes back to the Greek name of the Etruscans (Τυρσανοί/ Tyrsanoí; Τυρσηνικὸν πέλαγος/ Tyrsēnikòn pélagòs in Thuc. 4,24). The Romans spoke of the Tuscum mare…

[German version] (Ὄαξος/ Óaxos, Ἄξος/ Áxos). Mountain town in northern central Crete bordering on the region of Tylissus, c. 30 km to the south of Heraklion and called Axos in later sources (Steph. Byz. s.v. Ἄ.). O. was situated on the northern foothills of the Ida mountain range, on a steep acropolis with few archaeological remains (walls). Already inhabited in late Minoan times, O. had developed since the 8/7 cents. BC into a significant town whose building fabric is preserved today only in a rudimentary form. Phronime, the mother of Battus [1] of Cyrene came from O. (Hdt. 4,154f.). A large amount of epigraphic evidence from Hellenistic times documents the conclusion of international treaties with neighbouring Cretan towns such as Gortyn and Phaestus in the 2nd half of the 3rd cent. BC and with Tylissus at the end of the 3rd cent. BC [1]. In Late Antiquity and the Middle Ages it was the sea…

[German version] This item can be found on the following maps: Achaemenids | Writing | Christianity | Coloniae | Dark Ages | Grain Trade, Grain Import | Crete | Apollo | Linear B | Macedonia, Macedones | Mycenaean culture and archaeology | Natural catastrophes | Aegean Koine | Aegean Koine | Aegean Koine | Education / Culture | Mineral Resources (Κνωσός; Knōsós; in later practice the spelling is Κνωσσός/ Knōssós; Latin usually Gnosos or Gnosus). City in central Crete, about 5 km south-east of Heraklion on the western bank of the river Caeratus; settlement already too…

[German version] This item can be found on the following maps: Crete (Ῥίθυμνα/ Rhíthymna). City on the northwest coast of Crete (Plin. HN 4,59), modern Rethymnon, settled already in the Minoan period (temple and necropolis in the south of the city). Its temporary renaming as Arsinoe (after the wife of Ptolemaeus [7] IV) in the 3rd century BC indicates Ptolemaic influence. No remains from the Classical and Hellenistic periods survive, but one building from the late Roman period does.…

[German version] This item can be found on the following maps: Coloniae Town in  Apulia on the via Traiana (Tab. Peut. 6,3), modern Troia. In the Second Punic War, it was at times allied with Hannibal, 214 BC recaptured by Rome (Liv. 24,20,5). In the later imperial period …

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[German version] For the whole of antiquity there are numerous reports of natural catastrophes (NC). Especially in the eastern Mediterranean, but also in Italy, tectonic conditions resulted in an extraordinary susceptibility for frequently disastrous seismic activity (earthquakes and resulting tsunami, volcanic eruptions). The ancient perception was that phenomena such as storms, epidemics, rains of stones, comets (Cic. Nat. deor. 2,14) and solar and lunar eclipses (e.g. Plut. Nicias 23; Eclipses) were also in the category of NC. Earthquakes (cf. map) …

This item can be found on the following maps: Writing | Theatre | Byzantium | Commerce | Hellenistic states | Asia Minor | Colonization | Natural catastrophes | Peloponnesian War | Pergamum | Pompeius | Rome | Rome | Athletes | Athenian League (Second) | Aegean Koine | Aegean Koine | Education / Culture (Ῥόδος; Rhódos). [German version] I. Geography Island in the southeastern Aegean Sea, off the …

[German version] (Μετεών; Meteṓn). Town of the Illyrian Labeates in the territory of Labeatis (Pol. 29,3; Liv. 44,23,3; 32,3), near modern Podgorica (Montenegro). M. achieved political significance in 168 BC as the meeting place of Pantauchus, an emissary of the Macedonian king Perseus, and the Illyrian prince Genthius (Pol. loc.cit.; Liv. loc.cit.). Towers of the 3rd-cent. BC town walls are preserved; no systematic excavations.…

This item can be found on the following maps: Theatre | Natural catastrophes | Pompeius | Delian League | Athenian League (Second) | Aegean Koine | Aegean Koine | Education / Culture (Κῶς; Kôs, Lat. Cos). [German version] I. Geography and settlement Island in the eastern Aegean, off the south-west coast of Asia Minor, the second largest of the Doric islands (298 km2). A fertile plain in the north contrasts with a barren, sparsely populated mountainous area in the south (highest elevation the Oromedon, 850 m; in the south-west the Latra, 425 m). In the Neolithic period (finds in a cav…

[German version] This item can be found on the following maps: Crete …

[German version] This item can be found on the following maps: Venetic | | Coloniae A city on the western coast of Histria, the modern Poreč. Illyrian settlement is attested as early as the late Bronze Age. In the wake of the Roman occupation in the 2nd cent. BC, a castrum was built on the coastal road. P. later became one of the …

[German version] (ἡ ἔρημος/ érēmos, ἡ ἐρημία/ erēmía, τὰ ἔρημα/ érēma; Lat. deserta, regio deserta). In geographical terms the arid desert zones were part of the marginal areas of the Ancient World (North Africa, the Middle East with Syria, Palestine, Arabia). Politically and to a greater extent economically they, had close relationships to the Graeco-Roman cultural sphere. A large part of the east-west trade devolved over long-distance routes across the Arabian deserts. Desert towns such as Ḥatra [1], Palmyr…

[German version] (Λισσήν; Lissḗn). Locality on Crete with uncertain geographical position primarily because of unclear information from the scholiasts ad Hom. Od. 3,293, probably modern Cape Lithinos. Affiliation with Phaestus in Str. 10,4,4 (only by conjecture) and Steph. Byz. s.v. Φαιστός. Sonnabend, Holger (Stuttgart) Bibliography P. Faure, La Crète aux cents villes, in: Kretika Chronika 13, 1959, 190. …

(Μαρσύας; Marsýas). [German version] [1] Phrygian rivergod and Celaenae's god of protection Phrygian river god and Celaenae's god of protection, represented as satyr or silenus. The name is derived from a toponym that can be found repeatedly throughout Asia Minor and Syria; the river, at the source of which Celaenae lies, also carries this name (M. [5]). M. was considered the discoverer of flute playing ( aulós), the inventor of the bandage used for flute playing ( phorbeiá) and of songs for the worship of the goddess Cybele. According to the myth, the p…

[German version] Region around the town of  Capua that the Romans confiscated in the Second Punic War in 211 BC, because Capua had gone over to Hannibal (Liv. 23,7). Since then   ager publicus populi Romani (Liv. 26,16,8), covering a total area of about 500 km2 [1. 36-38]. Rome thus gained control over one of Italy's most fertile areas (Liv. 26,26,7). In 209 BC, it was leased out by the censors (Liv. 27,11,8). In order to refill the Roman public purse after the strains of war, parts of the AC were sold off in 205 and in 199 BC (from the fossa Graeca to  Cyme: Liv. 28,46,4, or rather the area at…

[German version] (Ἴμβρασος; Ímbrasos). River on Samos (Plin. HN 5,135), in ancient times also referred to as Parthenius (Str. 10,2,17), near the temple of Hera, modern Imvrasos. Ancient tradition holds that Hera was born under the lygos tree (chaste-tree) on the shore of the I. (Paus. 7,4,4; Apoll. Rhod. 1,187), a legend which repeatedly gave rise to cultic activities in the water of the I. Sonnabend, Holger (Stut…

(Ἡράκλειον; Hērákleion). [German version] [1] Town on Crete's northern coast Town on Crete's northern coast, modern Iraklion. In a legal support agreement with Miletus (259/250 BC) H. appears as a sovereign town allied with  Knossos (Stv III 482 I) [1]. H. was in the 1st cent. BC, probably in succession to Amnisus, the port town of Knossos (Str. 10,4,7f.) and probably subject to it (cf. Str. 10,5,1). Based on Plin. HN 4,59, it was presumed that H. also bore the name…

[German version] After the conquest by Q. Caecilius Metellus (69-67 BC; Liv. per. 100; Plut. Pompey 29),  Crete was organized as a double province together with  Cyrenae (Roman province since 74 BC), ( C. et C.). A short-term separation between the two occurred as a result of M. Antonius' declaration of independence (43 BC). In 27 BC, Augustus re-established the old order (senatorial province). The seat of the government was  Gortyne. After the Diocletian reorganization, the double province was dissolved (Cyrenae went to Libya Pe…

This item can be found on the following maps: Pergamum | Aegean Koine | Aegean Koine (Λέσβος; Lésbos, Lat. Lesbus; Hittite Lazba). [German version] A. Geography Island in the north-eastern Aegean, with an area extent of 1,630 km2 the third-largest Greek island after Crete and Euboea. Characteristic topographical features are two bays that extend deep into the interior of the island: in the south the Gulf of Hiero (modern Yera), in the west the Gulf of Pyrrha (modern Kalloni). The highest elevations are Lepetymnos (838 m) in the north, Ordymnos (646 m) in the north-west, Olympos (968 m) in the south-west. The south-east of the island is rich in water and fertile, the north and west are volcanic and bare. Agricultural production was mainly of olives, along with wine and grain, even tod…

[German version] Spring (also ad caput Ferentinum, Liv. 2,38,1) in  Latium, probably on the southern slopes of   Mons Albanus , in the lucus Ferentinae (Liv. 1,50,1). Until the middle of the 4th cent. BC a place of assembly of the  Latini (Liv. 1,50,1; 2,38,1; 7,25,5; Dion. Hal. Ant. Rom. 3,45; 51; 4,45; 5,61). According to Roman annalists (Liv. 1…

[German version] Island off the coast of Campania in the southern part of the Gulf of Naples (today Capri). Verg. Aen. 7,735 provides a legendary link of an early Greek settlement with  Telon and the  Teleboae: Serv. Aen. 7,735; Tac. Ann. 4,67. The Greek…

[German version] This item can be found on the following maps: Crete | Aegean Koine (Τυλισσός/ Tylissós). City in central Crete, 13 km to the southwest of Heracleum [1] at modern T.; settlement evidently of considerable size from the early Minoan period. From the late Minoan period, there are three richly furnished houses of at least two storeys which afford an impression of superior domestic comfort. There is also evidence of settlement continuity for the Mycenaean period. In the Archaic period, a sanctuary to…

(Δρέπανον; Drépanon). Name of several foothills; the external shape of the mountain may have given rise to the name D. (‘sickle’). [German version] [1] Vorgebirge an der Nordküste von Westkreta On the north coast of western Crete (Ptol. 3,15,5), known in antiquity and today as D. Sonnabend, Holger (Stuttgart) Lienau, Cay (Münster) Bibliography M. Guarducci, Inscript. Cret. 2,10. [German version] [2] Nördlichster Vorsprung der Peloponnesos in den Korinth. Golf Northernmost outcrop of the Peloponnese into the Corinthian Gulf, 7 km north-east of Rhion (with which i…

[German version] This item can be found on the following maps: Theatre (also Herdonia: Str. 6,3,7; Sil. Pun. 8,567; App. Hann. 48; Ptol. 3,1,72; Herdonea: Liv. 25,21,1; 27,1,6). City in Apulia ( regio II: Plin. HN 3,105; CIL IX 689f.; 1156; It. Ant. 116,2), modern Ordona, on the via Minucia (Str. 6,3,7; Plin. HN 2,244), starting-point of the roads to Beneventum, Aeclanum, and Ausculum. After the battle of Cannae (216 BC), H. switched allegiance to Hannibal, and until 210 BC, it was frequen…

[German version] This item can be found on the following maps: Achaemenids | Grain Trade, Grain Import | Hellenistic states | Crete | Macedonia, Macedones | Mycenaean culture and archaeology | Peloponnesian War | Persian Wars | Pompeius | Aegean Koine | Aegean Koine | Aegean Koine (Κυδωνία; Kydonía…

(Νέστος/ Néstos, Μέστος/ Méstos, Νέσσος/ Néssos). [German version] [1] River in Thrace River in Thrace which rises in the Rila mountain range, (according to mistaken classical belief from the Scomius mountains, the present-day Vitoša Mountains, : Aristot. Mete. 1,13,350b 16f.) and after 234 km flows through the sw…

This item can be found on the following maps: Theatre | Christianity | Dark Ages | Grain Trade, Grain Import | Hellenistic states | Hellenistic states | Crete | Apollo | Limes | Macedonia, Macedones | Pompeius | Rome | Rome | Education / Culture [German version] I. Location One of the biggest and most important cities of Crete, in the Mesara plain on the river Lethaeus, between the villages of Agi Deka and Mitropolis, 16 km (Str. 10,4,7: 90 stadia) from the Libyan Sea, also transmitted as Gortyna and Gortyne.…

(Φοῖνιξ/ Phoînix, Latin Phoenix). Persons P. [1-4], the mythical P. bird [5], the date palm P. [6], geographical locations P. [7-9]. [German version] [1] Mythical king of Sidon or Tyrus Mythical king of Sidon or Tyrus, son of Agenor [1] and…

[German version] This item can be found on the following maps: Crete | Apollo (Λύκτος/ Lýktos, Λύττος/ Lýttos, Latin Lyctus). Important Doric city in eastern Crete with a wide territory, in the interior of the country on a ridge of the Lassithi Massif. The older form of the name is Lyctus (in this for…

[German version] (Ὤλερος; Ṓleros). Location in eastern Crete from which most of the population probably migrated to the newly founded Hierapytna in the 4th cent. BC. Afterwards O. was a cultic center for Athena Oleria [1]. It can be located at modern Meseleri. There are no ancient remains there. Sonnabend, Holger (Stuttgart) Bibliography 1 A. Chaniotis, Die Verträge zwischen kretischen Poleis in der hellenistischen Zeit, 1996, no. 74,8. C. Bursian, Geographie von Griechenland, vol. 2, 1868, 579  H. van Effenterre, Die von den Grenzen der ostkretischen Poleis eingeschlossenen Flächen als Ernährungsspielraum, in: …

[German version] (also Egnatia, Ignatia). Peucetic port town in Apulia between Barium and Brundisium (Str. 6,3,7; Ptol. 3,1,15; in Sallentino oppido G., Plin. HN 2,240) on the via Minucia (Tab. Peut. 6,5). Station on Horace's journey to Brundisium, who mocks alleged incense miracles in Sat. 1,5,97-100 (cf. Plin. loc. cit.). Ruins near modern Torre d'Egnazia (land wall, necropoleis, basilicas). Remains of Oriental cults (ILS 4178: …

[German version] This item can be found on the following maps: Crete (Ἐλευθέρνα; Eleuthérna). City in central Crete on the northern slopes of the Ida range, settled from the late Minoan period. Some vestiges have survived near the mod. village of Prinès (cisterns, town walls, bridge, Byzantine tower). In around 260 BC, E. joined the isopoliteia of Miletus with Cnossus, Gortyn, Phaestus and their allies [2. 482]. In c. 225 BC, the city entered into an alliance with the Macedonian king Antigonus [2] Gonatas [1. 20; 2. 501]. In 220 BC, as a consequence of disputes…

[German version] (Χάλκη; Chálkē). Island off the north coast of Rhodes (29 km2). The polis of C. (remains of acropolis, temple to Apollo, necropolis) belonged to Rhodian Camirus. During the 5th cent. BC a member of the Delian League. Sonnabend, Holger (Stuttgart) Bibliography P. M. Fraser, G. E. Bean, The Rhodian Peraea and Islands, 1954, 144f.

[German version] According to Str. 5,2,9 a settlement on the   via Flaminia between Oriculi (modern Otricoli) and Rome, possibly identical with  Falerii (Str. loc. cit.). On the Tab. Peut. 5,4 ( Aequo Falsico) east of the Tiberis [1. 320]. Uncertain connection with the Aequi Falisci (Verg. Aen. 7,695…

[German version] This item can be found on the following maps: Linear B | Aegean Koine Minoan palace on Crete, on the northern coast c. 40 km east of Heraklion, with two harbour bays. The relatively low level of ancient building on top of the site and of later re…