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[German version] (προσκύνησις; proskýnēsis). Ancient gesture of reverence, a kind of blown kiss (cf. Lucian. Demosthenus enkomion 49; Apul. Apol. 56; Min. Fel. 2,4), often performed in connection with particular postures or bodily movements (turning, bowing, etc.) (Plut. Marcellus 6,11 f.; Plut. Numa 14,4; [9. 142 f.]). The term proskynesis (Aristot. Rh. 1361a 36) is derived from proskyneîn, 'kiss towards' (Aesch. Prom. 936 f.) and in content corresponds to Latin adorare and venerari (Plin. HN 28,2,25; Hier. Adversus Rufinum. 1,19; Nep. Conon 3,3; [10. 157 f., 171,…

[German version] (Ὀξυάρτης/ Oxyártēs). Sogdian nobleman; friend of Bessus and opponent of Alexander [4] the Great, father of Rhoxane. After his reconciliation with the Macedonians (his sons joined Alexander's army), he was involved in the subjugation of Sogdia and in 326/5 BC received the Paropamisad satrapy (confirmed in 323 and 321). In 317 BC, O. fought with Eumenes [1] against Antigonus [1] (Arr. Anab. 3,28,10; 4,18,4-7; 20,4; 26,6f.; 6,15,3f.; 7,6,4; Diod. Sic. 18,3,3; 39,6; 19,14,6; 48,2). Sogdiana Wiesehöfer, Josef (Kiel)

(Φραόρτης/ Phraórtēs, Old Persian Fravartiš). [German version] [1] Father of the Median king Deioces According to Hdt. 1,96, father of the Median king Deioces. Wiesehöfer, Josef (Kiel) [German version] [2] Son of Deioces Son of Deioces, who, according to Hdt. 1,102, reigned for 22 years, subjugated the Persians and fell in battle against the Assyrians. Wiesehöfer, Josef (Kiel) [German version] [3] Median rebel against Darius [1] I Median rebel against Darius [1] I, mentioned in the Bīsutūn inscription [1. DB II 13ff., 64ff., DBe] and depicted on the relief ther…

[German version] (Καλλωνῖτις, Kallōnîtis, other form of the name Χαλωνῖτις/ Chalōnîtis). Area mentioned by Pol. 5,54,7 and considered part of Media, directly west of the great  Zagrus passes along the upper Diyālā; here  Antiochus [5] III had the corpse of the rioter  Molon impaled; neighbouring region of Apolloniatis. Str. 16,1,1 considers C. as still part of Ἀτουρία, i.e. Mesopotamia. Wiesehöfer, Josef (Kiel) Bibliography H. H. Schmitt, Unt. zur Gesch. Antiochos d.Gr. und seiner Zeit, 1964, Index s.v. Chalonitis.

[German version] Although a distinction was made in ancient gynaecology between abortion and contraception (Sor. 1,60), the corresponding methods and practices cannot be precisely separated the one from the other. On the one hand, conception was regarded as a process, and its interruption at an early stage of pregnancy was certainly regarded as contraceptive; on the other hand, in view of deficiencies in understanding as to the point of conception, a device used as a contraceptive could also produce an abortion.  Child Exposure must also be regarded as a form of family planning. If Hipp…

[German version] Siblings (1st cent. AD), authors of the Hanshu (Qian Hanshu), the official Chinese dynastic history of the Former or Western Han, containing information on the Parthian empire (Parthians; Parthia), among other subjects. Wiesehöfer, Josef (Kiel) Bibliography D.D. Leslie, K.H. J. Gardiner, The Roman Empire in Chinese Sources, 1996, s.v. Pan Ku/Pan Ch'ao.

[German version] (Γελωνοί; Gelōnoí). According to Hdt. (4,102; 108f.; 120; 136), agricultural Scythian tribe in the neighbourhood of the  Budini and speaking a Graeco-Scythian hybrid language; descendants of Gelonus; originally Greek refugees from Greek trade settlements. They apparently took part in the battle against  Darius [1] I. Wiesehöfer, Josef (Kiel)

[German version] (Ναβαρζάνης; Nabarzánēs). The chilíarchos (commander) of the royal cavalry of king Darius [3] III.; described in admiring terms by Curt. (esp. 5,9-10). Nabarzanes was the only Persian commander who was successful at the battle of Issus and was with Bessos at the time of king Darius' murder. He later surrendered to Alexander [4] the Great in Hyrcania (Arr. Anab. 3,23,3f.). Wiesehöfer, Josef (Kiel) Bibliography Berve, vol. 2, no. 543.

(Μεγαβάτης; Megabátēs). Name of several distinguished Persians, including: [German version] [1] Father of Megabazus [2] Father of Megabazus [2] (Hdt. 7,97), cousin of Darius [1] I and of the satrap Artaphernes [2]. He commanded the unsuccessful assault on Naxos (500 BC; Hdt. 5,30-35). He may be identical with the M. who was replaced by Xerxes as satrap of Hellespontian Phrygia in 477 (Thuc. 1,129,1), or the M. who is described as an ‘admiral’ in [1. 8,5-7]. Wiesehöfer, Josef (Kiel) Bibliography 1 G. G. Cameron, Persepolis Treasury Tablets, 1948. [German version] [2] Son of Spithridates T…

[German version] (Ἄπαρνοι/Πάρνοι, Áparnoi/Párnoi, variant Πάρνοι/Σπαρνοι, Párnoi/Spárnoi: Str. 11,7,1; Lat. Aparni/Parni: etymology unclear). Part of the Dahae [1] tribe - aside from the Xánthioi/ Xantheíoi and Píssouroi (Str. 11,8,2; cf. 11,9,3) - who occupied the steppe of south-western Turkmenistan in the 3rd cent. BC (Str. 11,8,2f.; Justin. 41,1,10) and from there, under its leader Arsaces [1] I, invaded Parthia after 250 BC. The P. originally spoke an eastern Middle Iranian dialect (Parnian) whose nature can only be…

[German version] The Avroman documents, as they as known, were found in 1909 in a clay vessel in a grotto on the Kūh-i Sālān near the village of Pālāngān on the Kūh-i Avrōmān in the south-west of Iranian Kurdistan and are today kept in the British Museum. They consist of one Parthian and two Greek parchment documents. Whilst the Greek documents are contracts dating from 88/87 and 22/21 BC providing proof of the sale of half of the Dādbakān vineyard, the Parthian document tells (using heterographic…

[German version] (Σαγάρτιοι/ Sagártioi; Old Persian asagarta 'Sagartia', asagartiya 'Sagartian', 'Sagartians'). In an inscription of Darius [1] I from Persepolis that lists the lands/peoples of the empire, the S. precede the Parthians, Drangianians, Arians and Bactrians [3. DPe 15-16]. In the inscription of Bīsutūn, the same ruler reports that two 'pretenders to the throne' - the Mede Fravartiš (Phraortes [3]) and the Sagartian Ciçantaḫma (who was later executed in Arbela) - had passed themselves off as …

[German version] A hail of arrows fired backwards by mounted Parthian archers while pretending to flee (cf. Just. Epit. 41,2,7: “saepe etiam fugam simulant, ut incautiores adversum vulnera insequentes habeant” ("often, too, they pretend flight, that they may make their pursuers less careful of being wounded"). There are also depictions of the Parthian shot, for instance on Chinese reliefs from the Han period (206 BC to AD 220). Wiesehöfer, Josef (Kiel) Bibliography 1 H. von Gall, Das Reiterkampfbild in der iranischen und iranisch beeinflußten Kunst parthischer und sas…

[German version] (Καρδοῦχοι; Kardoûchoi). First mentioned by Xenophon (Xen. An. 3,5,15 and passim), a mountain people living in the northernmost foothills of the  Zagrus, the Καρδούχεια ὄρη (Diod. Sic. 14,27,4). Xenophon describes the C. as living in villages and cultivating the fields, growing wine and raising cattle, as well as doing craftwork. He particularly emphasizes their military significance as archers and catapult shooters. Whilst in the Greek reports it is mainly the (‘natural’) aggression of the…

[German version] A. The conception of childhood and attitude towards the child In antiquity, numerous terms for the child (in literature, legal language etc.) distinguish stages of childhood (βρέφος/ bréphos, παιδίον/ paidíon, παῖς/ paîs; Lat. infans, puer), stress the different significance of the child to each of its parents ( pais/ téknon) or the child's unfitness to be held guilty or responsible before the law ( infans, impuber); some of these terms possess a broad spectrum of meaning [6. 12-22]. In the dichotomy of childhood and adulthood as observed in both Greece an…

[German version] (Σισύγαμβις/ Sisýgambis, in Diodorus mostly Σισύγγαμβρις/ Sisýngambris). Daughter of Ostanes, a brother of Artaxerxes [2] II, sister and wife of Arsames [2] (Diod. Sic.17,5,5), as well as the mother of Darius [3] III. In 333 BC, after the battle of Issus she fell into the hands of Alexander [4] the Great (Arr. Anab. 2,11,9; Plut. Alexander 21; Curt. 3,11,24) and was treated with deference by him (cf. her rescue of the rebellious Uxians: Curt. 5,3,12 ff.). She stayed behind with Prince O…

[German version] (Ὑρκανία; Hyrkanía < old Persian varkāna-, ‘Wolf's Land’; middle Persian gurgān). Historically and geographically important region of Iran (inhabitants: Ὑρκάνιοι, Ὑρκανοί, Hyrcani) on the south-east corner of the Caspian Sea (Hecataeus FGrH 1 F 291: Ὑρκανίη θάλασσα); it is shielded in the south and south-east by the eastern wing of the Elburz mountains and opens up to the north-east to the Aralo-Caspian steppe. It was favoured climatically as well as naturally by the precipitation raining down on th…

[German version] (Hidrieus; Ἱδριεύς/ Hidrieús); son of  Hecatomnus and younger brother of  Maussolus, together with his sister and wife Ada satrap of Caria between 351 and 344. In the 340s I. helped Artaxerxes III to put down the Cypriot uprising against Persia and provided Evagoras II and Phocion of Athens with ships and troops (Diod. Sic. 16,42,6f.). He was honoured in Ionic Erythrae as euergetes (‘benefactor’) and proxenos (‘guest/friend of the state’), (SEG 31,969); dedication to I. in  Labraunda (Labraunda 16) and Amyzon (OGIS 235). I. and Ada are also do…

[German version] (Μεγάπανος; Megápanos). According to Hdt. 7,62 commander-in-chief of the Hyrcanians on Xerxes' Greek campaign, latter allegedly governor of Babylon, perhaps identical to the Bakabana of the PFT [1. 672]. A Ba-ga-a-pa- appears in Babylonian texts as satrap of Babylonia and Ebir Nāri or governor of Babylon, albeit for the year 503 BC. Wiesehöfer, Josef (Kiel) Bibliography 1 R. T. Hallock, Persepolis Fortification Tablets [PFT], 1969 2 A. Kuhrt, Babylonia from Cyrus to Xerxes, in: CAH2, vol. 4, 1988, 131, 136.

(Ὀτάνης/ Otánēs, Ancient Persian Utāna). [German version] [1] Son of Thuxra Son of Θuxra [2nd DB IV 83], one of the accomplices of Darius [1] I in the murder of Gaumāta (Smerdis). According to Hdt. 3,68-70, who gives Pharnaspes as O's father, O was even the instigator of the plot. Through his sister Cassandane (Hdt. 2,1; 3,2), O was brother-in-law of Cyrus [2] (II), and through his daughter Phaedyme father-in-law of Cambyses II, Smerdis and Darius (Hdt. 3,68). His influential status may also have secured t…

[German version] Several risings of Persian satraps against the central authority of the Great Kings are documented, esp. in the late 5th and 4th cents. BC (e.g. Megabyzus [2], Pissuthnes, Amorges, Cyrus [3] the Younger), but the term SR usually refers to the main phase (late 360s, called 'Great' by Diod. Sic. 15,90 ff, esp. 93,1) of the revolts against Artaxerxes [2] II (370s-350s). According to this source, it was characterized by joint action ( koinopragía) among numerous satraps (and peoples) of Asia Minor, support of these by the Egyptian Tachos and by the Sparta…

(Πρηξάσπης/ Prēxáspēs). [German version] [1] Prominent Persian Prominent Persian, who (according to Hdt. 3,30; 65) at the behest of king Cambyses [2] disposed of the king's brother Smerdis (Bardiya [1]). Although loyal to the demented king, after his death P. denied murdering Smerdis, but ultimately revealed before the assembled Persians the usurpation by the Magi (Patizeithes), called for their overthrow and committed suicide (Hdt. 3,66 ff.; 74 ff.). Wiesehöfer, Josef (Kiel) [German version] [2] Son of Aspathines Son of Aspathines, the 'bow-carrier' of Darius [1] I (a…

[German version] Gorge midway between Ramhor, Hormuz and Behbahan in ancient  Elymais (region in southwestern Iran), where rock reliefs (some with Elymaean inscriptions) were carved on four stone blocks in the 2nd/3rd cents. AD. Some of the reliefs show the dynasts Abar-Basi and Orodes with dependants and dignitaries in rites of legitimization or rulership (in the presence of deities and divine symbols), and on Block III a cavalry battle (with minor characters) is depicted. The identification of t…

[German version] (Ζαρανίς/Ζανιρίς; Zaranis/Zaniris). Not accurately locatable township, mentioned only in Ptol. 6,2,13, in the interior of Media (cf. Zonbis in Amm. Marc. 23,6,39). Wiesehöfer, Josef (Kiel) Bibliography M. G. Schmidt, Die Nebenüberlieferung des 6. Buchs der Geographika des Ptolemaios, 1999, 25 f.

[German version] I. Issue and method Little research has yet been done into the complex of themes comprising the history of youth in Antiquity, except for individual problems such as the terminology of youth, the education of young people and youth organizations. What is especially needed is more gender-specific and class-specific studies, and more individual studies differentiated according to time and place. The focus of recent studies has been on the issue of whether 'adolescence' was perceived as …

[German version] I. General Before the so-called ‘demographic transition’ with its change to lower birth and death rates, societies generally  have high natality and mortality, especially infant mortality and concomitant low average life expectancy for new-born babies. This must have been the same in Antiquity, although less is known about Greece than about the Imperium Romanum. Modern scholarship assumes an ancient life expectancy of c. 20-25 years. According to modern mortality table ‘West, level 3 - often used for comparison with Rome - a ‘stable populatio…

[German version] (Ὀρόβαζος/ Oróbazos). Envoy of the Parthian king Mithridates [13] II who met Cornelius [I 90] Sulla, the proconsular governor of Cilicia, in AD 96 (Plut. Sulla 5,4) in order to offer him 'friendship and an alliance' (Liv. epitome 70; Rufius Festus 15,2; Flor. Epit. 3,12). He is said to have subsequently paid with his life for his inadequate resistance to the humiliating behaviour of the Roman (Plut. Sulla 5,4). Wiesehöfer, Josef (Kiel)

[German version] Exposure of children (Greek έκθεσις/ ékthesis; Lat. expositio/ oblatio), which must be clearly distinguished from infanticide, is to be seen as a method of ancient family planning. The decision whether to expose an infant lay with the head of the family: in Greece -- with the exception of Sparta, where the phyle elders (των φυλετῶν οί πρεσβύτατοι) examined newly born infants either to order or to forbid that they be raised -- this was the κύριος/  kýrios ; in Rome the pater familias. Demographic theories regarding the frequency of infant exposure are not unprob…

(Ῥωξάνη/ Rhōxánē). [German version] [1] Wife of Cambyses [2] II Wife of Cambyses [2] II (Ctesias FGrH 688 F 13). Wiesehöfer, Josef (Kiel) [German version] [2] Daughter of Hydarnes Daughter of Hydarnes, half-sister of Terituchmes, fell victim with her whole family to the vengeance of Parysatis [1] (Ctesias FGrH 688 F 15) because Terituchmes had turned away from his wife Amestris and devoted himself to R. Wiesehöfer, Josef (Kiel) [German version] [3] Daughter of Darius [3] III According to Julius Valerius 2,33 among others, daughter of Darius [3] III who in 332 offered her…

(Πάρθοι/ Párthoi, Hdt. 3,93 i.a.; Παρθυαῖοι/ Parthyaîoi Pol. 10,31,15; App. Syr. 65 i.a.; Latin Parthi, Just. Epit. 41,1,1 et passim. In a narrower sense a term for the inhabitants of the province of Parthia and/or the Parni, who invaded Parthia, and in a wider sense the inhabitants of the Arsacid Empire (Arsaces) or their political elite. [German version] I. Evidence In the written tradition (for a discussion of the evidence and literature concerning it see [21]; see also [19. 117-129, 276-278]) on the Parthians, contemporary indigenous sources take pre…

[German version] (Ὀρξίνης/ Orxínēs, Curtius: Orsines). Rich Persian, descendant of Cyrus [2] II, fought at Gaugamela, and in 326 BC, in the absence of Alexander [4] the Great, made himself satrap of Persis. When he attempted to have his position confirmed at a later stage, he was executed by Alexander, having been accused of killing numerous people, defiling temples and robbing the royal tombs (Arr. Anab. 3,8,5; 6,29,2; 30,1f.; Curt. 4,12,8; 10,1,24.37). Wiesehöfer, Josef (Kiel) Bibliography J. Wiesehöfer, Die “dunklen Jahrhunderte” der Persis, 1994, s.v. O.

[German version] Chinese author of a dynastic history that contains i.a. information on the geography of the Parthian empire and on contacts between the Parthians and the Chinese. Born AD 398 into a family of Chinese imperial officials, F. himself held the posts of administrative district officer and general in the imperial guard. Implicated in a conspiracy under emperor Wen (Sung Dyn.), he was executed in AD 446, which prevented the completion of his 100-chapter ‘History of the later Han Dynasty (AD 25-220)’, Hou Hanshu (10 chs. ‘basic annals’, benji of emperors and empresses, 80 b…

[German version] (Ρωδάσπης; Rhōdáspēs). Son of the Parthian king  Phraates [4] IV. In order to secure the royal succession of Phraates [5] V, his father sent him in 10/9 BC, with other sons and grandsons, to Augustus in Rome (R. Gest. div. Aug. 32; Str. 16,1,28; Vell. Pat. 2,94,4; Tac. Ann. 2,1,2; Suet. Aug. 21,3; 43,4) where he died (tomb inscription: ILS 842). Wiesehöfer, Josef (Kiel) Bibliography 1 E. Nedergaard, The Four Sons of Phraates IV in Rome, in: Acta Hyperborea 1, 1988, 102-115 2 K.-H. Ziegler, Die Beziehungen zwischen Rom und dem Partherreich, 1964, 51 f.

[German version] (Σακαραῦκαι/ Sakaraûkai; on the name [2. 68]). A people originally living on the borders of Transoxiana, regarded by Str. 11,8,2 ( cf. Just. Epit. prol. 41), together with the Asii, Pasiani and Tochari, among the conquerors of Bactria (in the 2nd cent. BC). After Parthian kings had already been forced at the end of the 2nd cent. BC into conflict with nomadic peoples on the eastern border of the empire, in 78/77 BC the S. even succeeded in placing Sanatruces [1] on the Parthian throne, an Arsacid acce…

(Γωβρύας; Gōbrýas, Akkadian Gu/Gú-ba/bar-ru( -u; Elamite Kam-bar-ma, ancient Persian Gaubaruva-). Name of various Achaemenid dignitaries. [German version] [1] Governor of Cyrus the Gr. ‘Governor’ of Cyrus the Great known from the Nabonidus Chronicle (3,20 [4]) who after the conquest of Babylonia appointed administrative officials there. Presumably identical to Ugbaru, the ‘Governor of Gutium’ mentioned in 3,15 who captured Babylon for the Persian king and died there a few days after Cyrus' arrival. In this case it i…

[German version] (νέοι; néoi). In ancient Greece, the term neoi, which was also used unspecifically (‘the young’ vs. ‘the old’, gérontes/γέροντες), as a technical term described an age group or a group of young men organized as an association: neoi were the young men over 18 who had grown out of puberty, with the boundary between neoi and ἄνδρες ( ándres/men) often remaining undefined; in poleis with the ephebeia ( ephēbeía ; Athens) they followed the paídes (Child) and éphēboi by age and, therefore, belonged to the citizens with military service obligations; Xenophon cons…

[German version] River, mentioned only in Plin. HN 6,99, which flowed into the Persian Gulf. Presumably identical to the Or(o)atis, named in Plin. HN 6,111; 136 as the border river between Persis and Elymais (cf. Ptol. 6,3,1; 6,4,1 f.: Oroátis; Amm. Marc. 23,6,26: Oroates; modern Šūr Āb) or the Arosis, described in Arr. Ind. 39,9 as the border between the Persians and the Susians (modern Zohre/Hendīǧān). Wiesehöfer, Josef (Kiel) Bibliography 1 M. G. Schmidt, Die Nebenüberlieferung des 6. Buchs der 'Geographie' des Ptolemaios, 1999, 25 f.

(Σατιβαρζάνης; Satibarzánēs). [German version] [1] Chamberlain of Artaxerxes [1] I 'Eunuch'/chamberlain in the entourage of Artaxerxes [1] I (Plut. Artaxerxes 12,4. Plut. Mor. 173e; Ktes. FGrH 688 F 30). Wiesehöfer, Josef (Kiel) [German version] [2] Satrap of Areia, 4th cent. BC Persian satrap of Areia [1], fought in the battle of Gaugamela on the left flank (Arr. Anab. 3,8,4), follower of Bessus and one of the assassins of Darius [3] III (Arr. Anab. 3,21,9 f.). He surrendered in 330 to Alexander  [4] the Great (Arr. Anab. 3,25,1 f.; …

[German version] (Old Persian ḫšaçapāvan-, 'protector of the kingdom/dynasty', Elamic šá-ak-šá-ba-ma, Akkadian aḫšadrapanu, Imperial Aramaic ḥšatrapan, Greek usually σατράπης/ satrápēs [9]; Latin satrapa, -es, satraps). Title of a Persian-Achaemenid (seminal: [3]), later also Seleucid, Parthian and Sassanid provincial governor (Parthian ḥštrp / ḫšahrap/; Middle Persian štrp / šahrap/). The title appears first in the Bīsutūn inscription of Darius [1] I [11. DB III 14.56], where it denotes two appointees of the new king in Bactria and Arachosi…

[German version] (Πατιζείθης/ Pathizeíthēs Hdt. 3,61ff.; Πανζούθης/ Panzoúthēs Dionysius of Miletus, Schol. Hdt. 3,61 FGrH 687 F 2; identical to Παζάτης/ Pazátēs in Xanthus the Lydian; Πατζάτης/ Patzátēs Chron. pasch. 270?). According to Hdt. 3,61, a mágos who in 521 BC persuaded his brother Smerdis (Gaumāta) to rebel against Cambyses [2] II and was killed by Darius [1] I. Just. Epit. 1,9,9f. cites his name as Oropastes. P. should be interpreted as a title, although it is etymologically unclear (the same as the later πιτιάχης/ Pitiáchēs, Middle Persian btḥšy: "viceroy"?). Wiesehö…

[German version] (Μαργιανή/ Margianḗ < Ancient Persian Marguš > New Persian Marv). Fertile eastern Iranian country through which the Murġāb flows (Ptol. 6,10,1; Plin. HN 6,16; Str. 2,1,14; 11,10,1; in the Avesta M. is regarded as one of the most beautiful of countries created by Ahura Mazdā) in modern Turkmenistan. Ptol. 6,10 names the Derbicci, Massageti, Parni, Daae and Topuri as inhabitants of M. and also mentions individual cities, among which Antioch [7] Margiane (Giaur-Qala with the original Achaeme…

[German version] (Persian Nehāvand). City in Iran, south of the Alvand mountains in the Zagros range (Media). In this region (Tepe Giyan), which was already of importance in prehistoric times, the Seleucids founded the pólis Laodiceia(-N.), where a copy of the dynastic cult inscription of Antiochus [5] III was found. A Sassanid army was defeated by the Arabs near N. in AD 642, when N. was the main city of the district and diocese. Wiesehöfer, Josef (Kiel) Bibliography L. Robert, Inscriptions séleucides de Phrygie et d'Iran, in: Hellenica 7, 1949, 5-22.

(Ῥοδογούνη/ Rhodogoúnē). [German version] [1] Mother of Darius I Wife of Hystaspes [2], mother of Darius [1] I (Suda and Harpocr., s. v.). Wiesehöfer, Josef (Kiel) [German version] [2] Daughter of Darius [1] I Daughter of Darius [1] I? (Hier. Adversus Iovinianum 1,45; PL 23, p. 287). Wiesehöfer, Josef (Kiel) [German version] [3] Daughter of Xerxes I Daughter of Xerxes I (Ctes. FGrH 688 F 13). Wiesehöfer, Josef (Kiel) [German version] [4] Daughter of Artaxerxes [2] II Daughter of Artaxerxes [2] II, wife of Orontes [2] I (Plut. Artaxerxes 27,7; cf. Xen. An. 2,4,8) an…

[German version] Site of ruins high in the Baḫtiyiārī Mountains (in Iran), c. 25 km north of the city of Īẕe (Malāmīr), in ancient Elymais. Among the numerous Hellenistic marble and bronze fragments found in a sanctuary, a bronze statue, somewhat over life size and almost completely preserved, is particularly noteworthy: it is as yet the only surviving large-scale representation in three dimensions of an Arsacid dignitary (prince?) (2nd cent. AD). Wiesehöfer, Josef (Kiel) Bibliography 1 V.S. Curtis, The Parthian Costume and Headdress, in: J. Wiesehöfer (ed.), Das Partherreic…

[German version] Chinese name of a 'nomadic people' with an original settlement area between the Qilian chain of mountains and Dunhuang, the starting point of the Silk Road in northwestern China. Driven from there between 176/174 and 161 BC at the command of Maodun, khan of the Xiongnu, the Y. turned west and in turn subjugated the Sai tribes (Sacae). Shortly afterwards, expelled from the Sai pasture lands in the Ili Basin and on Lake Ysyk by the Wusun, a subject people of the Xiongnu, the Y. foll…

[German version] ( Kūh-ī Xvāgah, Kūh-i Ḫvāǧah). Basalt mountain on an island in Lake Hāmūn in Drangiana/Iran. On its south-eastern slope is a site with ruins of impressive courtyards, gates, towers and rooms, at the earliest from the Parthian period but probably rather from the Sassanid and post-Sassanid period (Ġāga Šahr). Numerous rooms were richly decorated with stucco ornaments and above all with colourful frescos showing Graeco-Roman, Iranian and Indian stylistic elements and representing religi…

[German version] (Σατάσπης; Satáspēs). According to Hdt. 4,43 a maternal nephew of Darius [1] I, who was to be impaled for the violation of the daughter of Zopyrus. He was released upon the intercession of his mother, and as atonement he was given the task of circumnavigating Libya (Africa). He started from Egypt and left the Mediterranean through the 'Pillars of Heracles' (i.e. the Straits of Gibraltar), but turned back without having fulfilled his task; as a result Xerxes I had the originally imposed punishment carried out. Wiesehöfer, Josef (Kiel) Bibliography F. Colin, Le récit…

[German version] While women in archaic Greece usually nursed their own children, the use of wet-nurses became more common in the classical period. The τιθήνη/ tithḗnē or τίτθη/ títh ē (the nanny who did not nurse was referred to as τροφός/ trophós) was usually a slave (such as GVI 1729), although some free-born or freed women in Athens provided this service as well, usually ξέναι/ xénai. In the visual arts, wet-nurses played a primarily attributive role up into the 4th cent., but later one can observe an increased interest in them - that is, in their function, less as persons. In Rome, wet-nu…

[German version] I. Age thresholds The onset of pubertas, sexual maturity and the autonomy categorically connected to it (Fest. p. 250 s. v. pubes: puer qui iam generare potest), was assumed for girls to come with the completion of their 12th year (Cass. Dio 54,16,7), and was established for boys only by the inspectio habitudinis corporis ( indagatio corporis).  In AD 529, Justinian finally abolished the obligatory indagatio, considering it too offensive a procedure (Cod. Iust. 5,60,3). The attainment of pubertas by boys was recognized and celebrated on the occasion of the f…

[German version] (Ὀροντοβάτης/ Orontobátēs, Arrianus; ΡΟΟΝΤΟΠΑΤΟ, coins, HN 630). Younger brother of the Carian satrap Mausolus, Persian co-regent appointed by Darius [3] III and son-in-law of the Carian dynast Pixodarus. After the death of Pixodarus in 334 BC, O. defended Halicarnassus as satrap of Caria against Alexander [4] the Great, and ultimately the castle against Ptolemaeus. Following his flight in 333, O. commanded Persian troops at Gaugamela. Arr. Anab. 1,23; 2,5,7; 3,8,5; 11,5; Str. 14,2,17; Curt. 4,12,7. Wiesehöfer, Josef (Kiel) Bibliography Briant, Index s.v. O.  S…