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[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. …

[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 (Stuttgart) Bibliography E. Buschor, I., in: MDAI(A) 68, 1953 (195…

[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…

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[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 Greeks linked both settlement centres (modern Capri, Anacapri) by a flight of steps which, in parts, are still usable today (Scala Fenicia). In 29 BC, Augustus acquired C. from Neapolis in exchange for Aenaria ( Pithecussae; Suet. Aug. 92; Cass. Dio 52,…

[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 s…

[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 …

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

[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 form already around 1380 BC on an Egyptian list of place names), whilst the more recent and more common form is Lyttus. Pol. 4,54,6 describes L. as the oldest city in Crete. In Homer (Hom. Il. 2,647; 17,611) L. is a participant in the Trojan War; with a close connection to Sp…

[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. …

[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: Sacerdos Matris Magnae et Suriae deae et sacrorum Isidis). Sonnabend, Holger (Stuttgart) Bibliography Nissen, 860.

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[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; Sil. 8,490).…

[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 reconstruction makes genuine insight into Minoan palace architecture possible. Like the palaces of Knossos, Phaestus and Zakros, the buildings are grouped around a large central court. The history of the palace with its individual building phases also corresponds…

[German version] (Μύκονος; Mýkonos). Island in the  Cyclades (Plin. HN 4,66) with an area of 88 km2, barren, rocky, poor in water, hilly, but without very high mountains (the highest elevation amounts to just 390 m). The earliest settlement was in the late Neolithic (beginning of the 3rd millennium BC; Bay of Panormos in the north). An early Cycladic settlement (after 2600 BC) was on the peninsula of Anavolousa in the southwest. There were two urban centres on M. (Skyl. 58; cf. Syll.3 1024): near Palaiokastro to the southeast of the Bay of Panormos (from the middle of the B…

[German version] This item can be found on the following maps: Crete (Ῥαῦκος; Rhaûkos). Town in central Crete, c. 15 km southwest of Heracleum [1], present-day Agios Myron (named after a 3rd cent. bishop of R.), with Minoan remains in the surrounding area. The acropolis had been inhabited since the Late Mycenaean Period. At the beginning of the 2nd cent. BC, R. formed an alliance with Gortyn (Pol. 22,15,1) and in 166 BC it was the object of a combined military operation by Gortyn and Knossos (Pol. 31,1) [1. no. 4…

[German version] This item can be found on the following maps: Dark Ages | Crete | Apollo (Δρῆρος; Drêros). Town in north-east Crete in a mountainous position, with a double acropolis, from which there is a view of the Gulf of Mirabello, modern Hagios Antonios near Neapolis. Already populated in the Minoan period, D. reached its peak between the 8th and 6th cents. BC. The Temple of Apollo Delphinios from the mid 8th cent. BC, combining Minoan and Doric elements (with cult images of Apollo, Leto and Artemis) [1], …

[German version] This item can be found on the following maps: Byzantium | Peloponnesian War | Persian Wars | Delian League | Athenian League (Second) (Μήθυμνα; Mḗthymna). City on the north coast of the island of Lesbos, formerly Molivos, today again officially M., on a hill jutting into the sea. M. was one of the five póleis of Lesbos (Hdt. 1,151; Strab. 13,2,2) with a considerable amount of territory after the subjugation of Arisbe ( c. 600 BC). The ancient history of M. was dominated by continual rivalry with Mytilene. M. was involved in the founding of Assus in Asia Minor (Strab.…

[German version] (Πεδιῆς; Pediês). Deme of Lindos on Rhodes, possibly on the coastal plain to the north of Lindos [1. 747]. It had its own tribute payment in the Delian League (between 2000 drachmas and 1 talent: ATL 1, 370f.). Sonnabend, Holger (Stuttgart) Bibliography 1 F.Hiller von Gärtringen, s.v. Rhodos, RE Suppl. 5, 731-840. Id., Die Demen der rhodischen Städte, in: MDAI(A) 42, 1917, 171-184.

[German version] (Καίρατος; Kaíratos). River on Crete. On its western bank lies  Cnossus, occasionally also referred to as C. (Str. 10,4,8; Callim. H. 3,44; Eust. in Dionys. Per. 498). Sonnabend, Holger (Stuttgart) Bibliography M. S. F. Hood, D. Smyth, Archaeological Survey of the Knossos Area, 21981.

[German version] Area in Bruttium. The only reference was found on an epigraphical copy of the Senatus Consultum deBacchanalibus from 186 BC, containing instructions for the local administration (CIL I2 581,30 in agro Teurano; cf. ILLRP 2, 511). Judging by where the bronze tablet was found (Tiriolo), the Ager Teuranus should be localized in the vicinity thereof.  Bacchanalia Sonnabend, Holger (Stuttgart) Bibliography Nissen 2, 945.

[German version] This item can be found on the following maps: Dark Ages | Mycenaean culture and archaeology | Persian Wars | Delian League (Ἰάλυσος; Iálysos). City on the north coast of the island of Rhodes; with  Lindus and  Camirus one of the three ancient cities of Rhodes. Situated c. 15 km south-west of Rhodes city, on the western slope of the 267 m-high mountain Filerimos (ancient name Achaía, Diod. Sic. 5,57,6; Ath. 8,360e), which functions as the acropolis of I. Settlement and necropolis from the Mycenaean period at the present-day village of Trianda. …

[German version] (Μάταλον; Mátalon). Town on the Southern coast of Crete (Strab. 10,4,11; Stadiasmus maris magni 323), originally the harbour for Phaestus (Pol. 4,55,6), later for Gortyn; now called Matala. According to one myth, this is where Zeus made landfall after abducting Europa. Only a few classical remains from the Roman period. Some early Christian cliff graves on the northern side of the bay, now partly below sea-level. Sonnabend, Holger (Stuttgart) Bibliography H. Buhmann, s.v. Matala, in: Lauffer, Griechenland, 410 I. F. Sanders, Roman Crete, 1982, 161.

[German version] City in the area of the  Hernici (Plin. HN 3,63), today Alatri. Like Ferentinum and Verulae, A. did not participate in 307-306 BC in the war of the Hernici against Rome (Liv. 9,42,11) and was therefore rewarded like them with autonomy and   conubium (Liv. 9,43,23). A few structural ruins, i.a. an aqueduct and wall. Sonnabend, Holger (Stuttgart) Bibliography Nissen 2, 654.

[German version] Region in northern  Campania (Plin. HN 14,62) between Mons Masicus and Volturnus, known particularly for its wines (Plin. HN 23,24). From 340 BC under Roman control (land distribution to Roman settlers: Liv. 8,11,13 f. 12,12). Pillaged by Carthaginians in the war against Hannibal (Liv. 22,13,9). Sonnabend, Holger (Stuttgart) Bibliography Nissen 2, 689 f.

[German version] (from Arabic ṣaḥrā, 'desert'; cf. Hdt. 2,32: τὰ ἐρῆμα τῆς Λιβύης/ tà erêma tês Libýēs, 'the desert region of Libya'; Mela 1,50: deserta Africae). The indigenous people today call only individual parts of the S. by their own name. The largest desert on earth, situated in North Africa, with an expanse from the Atlantic in the west to the Red Sea in the east ( c. 6000 km; c. 8 million km2). The S. underwent several cyclical climatic changes (Climate) in prehistoric times that shaped the vegetation and the natural profile; the last of these changes in…

[German version] Main settlement of the Illyrian Iapodes, now Cakovac near Ogulin (in modern Croatia). It was destroyed in 35 BC by the future Augustus (App. Ill. 19-21; Cass. Dio 49,35,2-4). In the Roman period, M. had the status of a municipium (CIL III 10060). Sonnabend, Holger (Stuttgart) Bibliography J. J. Wilkes, Dalmatia, 1969.

[German version] From a historio-geographical perspective, the term landscape carries several basic implications and connotations. Generally speaking, it can designate a space where historically relevant events have taken place. It is then attributed the quality of a historical source, to be interpreted in a variety of ways. Of further interest is the reciprocal relationship between man and landscape in terms such as: how did man perceive, design, and change the landscape? And how, on the other ha…

[German version] This item can be found on the following maps: Dark Ages | Crete (Ὀλοῦς; Oloûs). Dorian port on the northern coast of Crete, on the western part of the bay of Mirabello on the isthmus of the Spinalonga peninsula, modern Elounda. But for a basilica with splendid mosaics from the 5th cent. AD, the remains of O. are under water. In the Hellenistic period, a considerable prosperity developed in O., due not least to its double harbour, with correspondingly growing political significance. The history …

[German version] (Greek: Σαμ(μ)ώνιον/ Sam(m)ṓnion). Promontory on the northeastern tip of Crete, modern Kavo Sidero. Strong winds often prevented seafarers from rounding the cape. S. served ancient authors as a fixed point of reference for geographical information and the communication of distances between the islands of the Aegean Sea (cf. Str. 2,4,3; 10,3,20; 10,4,2 f.; 10,4,5; 10,4,12; 10,5,18; Dionys. Per. 110; Mela 2,112; Plin. HN 4,58; 60 f.; 71: promunturium Samonium; Ptol. 3,17,5; Stadiasmus maris magni 318 f.; 355; Acts 27:7: Σαλμώνη/ Salmṓnē in connection with the…

[German version] This item can be found on the following maps: Delian League | Athenian League (Second) (Ἄντισσα; Ántissa). Harbour town in the north-west of  Lesbos, c. 9 km north-east of the modern Antissa, settled from the 14th cent. BC. A. was a member of the  Delian League, and participated in the secession of Lesbian towns on the initiative of  Mytilene (Thuc. 3,18. 28). It was a member of the Second Athenian Confederacy. In 167 BC, it was destroyed by the Romans, and its population resettled in  Methymna (Liv. 45,31,14; Plin. HN 5,139). Sonnabend, Holger (Stuttgart) Bibliography R. …

[German version] River, also known as Eurotas (Pol. 8,35,8), 40 stades (Pol. loc. cit.) or 5 miles (Liv. 25,11,8) from Tarentum. In 212 BC, Hannibal built a camp on its banks. Mentioned in Virgil (Georg. 4,12,6), Horace (Carm. 2,6,10), and Propertius (2,34,67). Its water is praised as particularly suited for the washing of wool (Mart. 2,43,3; 4,28,3; 5,37,2; 8,28,3; 12,63,6; Stat. Silv. 3,3,93). Sonnabend, Holger (Stuttgart) Bibliography Nissen 2, 870.

[German version] This item can be found on the following maps: Crete | Education / Culture (Ἀπτάρα, Ἀπτέρα; Aptára, Aptéra). Port in the north-west of  Crete on a 230 m high plateau, today Aptara; on coins and in inscriptions Aptara, in literature Aptera (ancient explanation of the name: Steph. Byz. s. v. A.; Paus. 10,5,10). Signs of settlement from the 2nd millennium BC. Frequently involved in interstate politics in early Hellenistic times. In 220 BC under pressure from  Polyrrhenia A. terminated its alliance with  Knossos (Pol. 4,55,4). There is evidence of a   symmachia …

[German version] Roman castellum in Dalmatia on the Salona - Narona road (Plin. HN 3,142: N.; Nerate: other MS traditions; Geogr. Rav. 4,16: Netrate; 5,14: Nerente), modern Jesenice east of Split/Croatia. Sonnabend, Holger (Stuttgart) Bibliography A. Mayer, Die Sprache der alten Illyrier, 1957, 240f.

[German version] This item can be found on the following maps: Social Wars | Socii (Roman confederation) | Theatre | Tribus | | Coloniae | Coloniae | Italy, languages | Latini, Latium | Oracles | Regio, regiones Harbour town in southern Latium, modern Anzio. According to first treaty between Rome and Carthage, dated by Polybius back to 508/507 BC [1], this town, rich in tradition (Dion. Hal. Ant. Rom. 1,32), was at that time under Roman control (Pol. 3,22,11). Soon after, A. came under the influence of the  Volsci, and was thus inv…

[German version] Region in  Latium between   mons Albanus and the coast of the mare Tyrrhenum. Its name is derived from the town of Pometia (Cic. Rep. 2,44; Liv. 2,16,8; 17,5 f.; 25,6; Dion. Hal. Ant. Rom. 4,50; 6,29), which it has not been possible to localize. Probably towards the end of the 6th cent. BC, the ager Pomptinus (AP) came into the possession of the neighbouring  Volsci. Rome's reaction to this was -- supposedly as early as 492 BC -- the foundation of the colony of  Norba (Liv. 2,34,6; Dion. Hal. …

[German version] (Ῥύτιον/ Rhýtion). City in southern central Crete (Plin. HN 4,59), today's Rhotasi. Traces of settlements from late Minoan to Venetian periods. First literary mention at Hom. Il. 2,648 (reference to its being well populated). Rhytium was important beyond its borders as a cultic site for Zeus Skylios [1. 141]. Politically, R. was dependant on Gortyn  (Str. 10,4,14). Sonnabend, Holger (Stuttgart) Bibliography 1 H. Verbruggen, Le Zeus crétois, 1981. H. Beister, s. v. Pyrgos, in: Lauffer, Griechenland, 580  M. Guarducci, Inscriptiones Creticae 1, 1935, 303 f.  I. F.…

[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.