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[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.

[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] In Ionian Greek Matiene (Ματιανή/ Matianḗ, Ματιηνή/ Matiēnḗ), its inhabitants are Matieni (Ματιηνοί; Matiēnoí). According to Hdt. 5,49; 52 a region east of Armenia and the sources of the Little Zab river (Zabatus), according to Hdt. 1,202 also of the Gyndes and the Araxes [2] (contra: Strab. 11, 14, 13). M. was part of Media according to Strab. 2,1,14; 11,7,2; 11,8,8 and Steph. Byz. s.v. M., while according to Strab. 11,13,2; 7 it may have extended from the southern shore of Lake Urmia to the …

[German version] (Καρμανία, Karmanía, Latin Carmania; etymology unclear). Name of an Iranian area east of the Persis and west of the  Gedrosia. In western documents the inhabitants of C. are called Καρμάνιοι/ Karmánioi, Latin Carmanii. This tradition distinguishes at the same time the barren north (ἡ ἔρημος Κ., e.g. Ptol. 6,5,1) from C. proper, which is described as particularly fertile (Str. 15,2,14; Arr. Ind. 32,4f.; Amm. Marc. 23,6,48). In the Achaemenid royal inscriptions, C. is mentioned as the supplier of yakā wood for the palace of Darius I in Susa [2. 14…

(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] (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.

[German version] Rock crevice with four Sāssānid reliefs (and  inscriptions) 3 km north-east of Persepolis in Persis. The reliefs show Šābuhr I (Sapor) with his entourage (with Middle Persian-Parthian-Greek inscription [1. ŠNRb]), the bust of the Zoroastrian ‘priest ’Karter ( Kirdīr, with Middle Persian inscription [2. KNRb]) , as well as the respective investitures of Ardaxšīr (Ardashir [1]) und Šābuhr I. Wiesehöfer, Josef (Kiel) Bibliography 1 M. Beck, Die sassanidischen Staatsinschriften, 1978 2 Ph. Gignoux, Les quatre inscriptions du mage Kirdīr, 1991.

[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] The title Great King in the ancient Oriental tradition (from the 2nd millennium BC to the Achaemenids [1]) was adopted by Hellenistic rulers as μέγας βασιλεύς; megas basileûs (and continued as rex magnus [2. 253]). It is attested for the Seleucids  Antiochus [5] III, who did not use it on coins and in royal letters, but tolerated (or even promoted) its use elsewhere [3. 75-77],  Antiochus [9] VII (Iust. 38,10,6), Ptolemy III (OGIS I 54) and IV [5. 71-74], and later also for other Hellenistic kings and petty prin…

[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] (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] 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] 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…

(Κυαξάρης, ancient Persian Uvaxštra-, etymology uncertain). [German version] [1] Median king of the 7th or 6th cent. BC Median ‘king’ of the 7th/6th cents. BC. In the Median lógos of Herodotus (Hdt. 1,73f.; 103-107) C. appears as τύραννος/ týrannos or βασιλεύς/ basileús of the Medes, as the son of  Phraortes, grandson of  Deioces and father of  Astyages. During his 40-year reign, he is said -- after a Scythian interregnum -- to have conquered the Assyrians and to have fought against Alyattes of Lydia (probably for possession of Cappado…

[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] 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] 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] The term iuvenes, although also related to adults or non-junior teams, usually refers to the Roman or Italian youth of military training or serving age. The organizations of the iuventutes existing in the late Republican period in Italy that were originally military and later rather paramilitary or pre-military were revitalized by Augustus in the context of his reorganization of the aristocratic youth; later they had the character of an association. There is evidence of such   collegia in Italy ( collegia iuvenum) and in the western provinces ( collegia iuventutis) pa…

[German version] (Τισσαφέρνης/ Tissaphérnēs). Son of Hydarnes [4], grandson of Hydarnes [1]. After the removal of the rebellious satrap Pissuthnes T. became a satrap in 413 BC in Sardis and a káranos (Thuc. 8,5,4: stratēgòs tôn kátō, 'army leader of the lands on the coast') in the west of Asia Minor. As such he concluded a subsidy treaty with Sparta against Athens in 412 BC; in return Sparta entrusted the Greeks of western Asia Minor to the Great King (Thuc. 1,115,4; 8,5,4 f.; 8,17 f.; 8,43; 8,52 and 8,58; renewal of the treaty in…

[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] 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] This item can be found on the following maps: Xenophon (Κούναξα; Koúnaxa). City on the left shore of the Euphrates river mentioned only by Plut. Artaxerxes 8,2. In its vicinity,  Cyrus [3] the Younger lost the battle and his life against his brother  Artaxerxes [2] II in the autumn of 401 BC. According to Plut., the city was 500 stadia away from Babylon, but according to Xen. An. 2,2,6, the distance was 360. Thus, until today the city's location cannot be clearly ascertained (Tell Kuneise?). Wiesehöfer, Josef (Kiel) Bibliography H. Gasche, Autour des Dix Mille: Vest…

[German version] (Μασίστιος; Masístios). According to Hdt. 7,79, son of Siromitres, a Persian cavalry commander killed at Plataeae in 479 BC (Hdt. 9,20-22; Plut. Aristides 14; Diod. Sic. 11,30,4). The Athenians dedicated the armour of the ‘Persian most highly regarded after Mardonius by king and people’ (Hdt. 9,24) to Athena Polias (Paus. 1,27,1). Persian Wars Wiesehöfer, Josef (Kiel)

[German version] (Middle Persian Kerdīr or Kirdīr). The name of a Sassanid religious-political official and dignitary of the 3rd cent. AD. In his four inscriptions [1. KKZ, KNRm, KNRb, KSM], originating from the times of King Vahrām II (276-293), K. describes his career from a simple hērbed (teacher priest) under Šābuhr I to mōbad and dādvar (judge) of the entire kingdom. Further, he praises his commitment to Zoroastrianism and explains his visions. The significant role attributed to him in the arrest of the Mani under Vahrām I is in fact merely se…

[German version] (Μασίστης; Masistēs). According to Hdt.7,82 son of Darius [1] I and Atossa [1], satrap of Bactria (Hdt. 9,113) and Persian commander-in-chief (Hdt. 7,82). After the cruel death of his wife, M. is said to have been killed by the king's troops in 479/8 BC, together with his sons, while on his way to Bactria bent on insurrection (Hdt. 9,107-113). The name M. probably derives from the Old Persian ma θ iišta- (Greek μέγιστος/ mégistos, ‘the greatest’). Iust. 2,10,1-11 and Plut. Mor. 173b-c; 488d-f recount how, in exchange for recognising his kingship, Xerxe…

[German version] This item can be found on the following maps: Xenophon | Alexander Large village (κώμη μεγάλη, probably modern Tall Gōmil near Ǧabal Maqlūb, 35 km north-east of Mosul) on the river Bumelos in northern Mesopotamia (Arr. Anab. 6,11,6), near which (cf. Arr. Anab. 3,8,7) the battle between  Alexander [4] the Great and  Darius [3] III took place on 1 October 331 (Arr. Anab. 3,11-15; Curt. 4,13,26-16; Plut. Alexander 31-33; Diod. Sic. 17,56-61; Iust. 11,14). After Alexander stalled a flanking manoe…

[German version] (Ὠρεῖται/ Ōreîtai, also Ὦροι/ Ôroi). Not an Indian ethnic group (cf. Arr. Ind. 21,8; 22,10; 25,2; incorrectly  Arr. Anab. 6,21,3) but probably an Iranian ethnic group with the centre at Rhambakeia (Arr. Anab. 6,21,5; probably close to modern Las Bela) in the modern Pakistani province of Baluchistan. According to Arr. Anab. 6,21,3, the O. lived fully autonomously before Alexander [4] the Great subjugated them in 325 BC and placed them under the control of the satrap Apollophanes. Wiesehöfer, Josef (Kiel) Bibliography P.H.L. Eggermont, Alexander's Campaigns in Si…

[German version] Indian name of the kings of the so-called Indo-Parthian dynasty, which is primarily known because of its coins. Gondophares, who ended the rule of the Shaka in Arachosia (Arachosia) and ultimately probably also in Gandhara (Gandaritis), is regarded as the founder of the dynasty. The inscriptions from Taḫt-i Bahī from the 26th year of this king established his rule quite precisely as from AD 20 to 46. In keeping with this, the apostle Thomas is said to have met Gondophares on his j…

[German version] A place in the Iranian province of Īlām near the Iraqi border, named after Šīrīn (Shirin), the Christian wife of the Sassanid Ḫusrau II (Chosroes [6]; 591-628). In the Islamic period, Q. was an important town on the trading and pilgrimage route from Hamadān to Baghdad. On the eastern edge of the city a large fire sanctuary (?) (Çahār Tāq) is located, and north of it, on an 8 m high terrace, a palace complex attributed to Ḫusrau II (Imārat-e Ḫusrau), 370 × 190 m in size. The entire complex should be pictured as part of a park ( parádeisos ) in Antiquity. Wiesehöfer, Josef (Kiel) B…

[German version] (Φραταφέρνης/ Phrataphérnēs). Satrap of the territories of Parthia and Hyrcania under Darius [3] III (Arr. Anab. 3,23,4); he commanded the Parthians, Hyrcanians and Topeirians in the battle of Gaugamela in 331 BC ( ibidem 3,8,4). After the death of Darius he was reinstated in his old post by Alexander[4] the Great ( ibidem 3,28,2; 5,20,7; Curt. 8,3,17) and became one of the most loyal followers of the Macedonian. He took part in the suppression of the rebellion in Areia [1] ( ibidem 3,28,2; 4,18,1), arrested the insurgent Autophradates [2] (ibidem 4,18,2; Curt. 8,3,17…

[German version] ('Old Šīrāz', modern Mādar-e Sulaimān), 7 km south-east of Šīrāz (Fars); essentially a late Sāssānid and early Islamic complex (5th-9th cents.). Three Achaemenid stone portals, which aroused great attention from travellers as early as the 19th cent., proved to be parts of the palace of Darius in Persepolis which had been brought to Q. to decorate much later buildings (they have since been returned to their original place). In the Achaemenid era, Q. is probably to be identified with th…

[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] Fertile and densely settled area in Sogdiana, mentioned only in Curt. 8,2,14 as "bordering Scythia." The location and region are today identified with Erkurgan and its surrounding area near Karshi in the plain of the River Qashqadaryo in Uzbekistan. At the approach of Alexander [4]  the Great in the winter of 329/8 BC the inhabitants of X. expelled the Bactrians (Bactria) that had defected from the Macedonians and sought refuge in their land. Wiesehöfer, Josef (Kiel) Bibliography 1 F. Grenet, Zoroastre au Badakhshân, in: Studia Iranica 31, 2002, 193-214 2 C. Rapin, …

(also Μεγάβυξος/ Megábyxos, Hdt. Μεγάβυζος/ Megábyzos < Old Persian Bagabuxša, Elamite Ba-ka-bu-uk-šá). [German version] [1] Distinguished Persian, conspirator against Gaumata Distinguished Persian, son of Dātūvahya (according to Hdt. 3,153 father of Zopyrus), He conspired with Darius [1] I against Gaumāta/Smerdis ([2. DB IV 85], Hdt. 3,70 passim). Wiesehöfer, Josef (Kiel) [German version] [2] Son of Zopyrus, commander under Xerxes According to Hdt. son of Zopyrus (and hence grandson of M. [1]). Commander under Xerxes in his Greek campaign (Hdt. 7,82; 1…

(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] (Γορδυηνή/ Gordyēnḗ, Plut. Lucullus 21; 26; 29 and passim; Plut. Pompey 36; Ptol. 5,12,9; Str. 11,14,2; 14,8; 14,15; App. Mith. 105; Γορδυαία/ Gordyaía, Str. 16,1,8; 1,21; 2,5). Region on the border of Armenia, the Adiabene, and the Atropatene on the upper course of the Tigris, south of Lake Van, with the poleis Sareisa (modern Šārı̄š), Satalka, and Pinaka (modern Finek) (Str. 16,1,24). Strabo identifies the inhabitants of the region, the Gordyaíoi (Γορδυαῖοι), with the   Carduchi (Καρδοῦχοι) (cf. Xen. An. 4,1,8; Plin. HN 6,44). After …

[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] (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] (Συέννεσις/ Syénnesis). Term for indigenous Cilician dynasts with their centre at Tarsus (Xen. An. 1,2,23). According to Hdt. 1,74, one S. is supposed to have mediated the accord between the Lydians and the Medes; in the war between Croesus and Cyrus [2], Cilicia was on the Persian side (Hdt. 1,28). Another S. took part in Xerxes's campaign against Hellas (Hdt. 7,98; Aesch. Pers. 326-328). It is generally assumed that the duplicity of the third known S., the husband of Epyaxa, duri…

[German version] Border territory of Media, opposite Parthyene east of the Caspian Gates (the modern territory of Dāmghān). Although it had already been lost for a period to the Seleucids before the eastern campaign ( anábasis) of  Antiochus [5] III, it did not finally fall to the Parthians (along with its central town of  Hecatompylus) until the 2nd cent. BC (cf. Str. 11,9,1). In the late Sassanid period the province ( šahr) Kōmiš, which incidentally was probably never a Christian diocese [1], separated the provinces of Gurgān and Ray. Wiesehöfer, Josef (Kiel) Bibliography 1 R. Gysel…

[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] (Μύκοι; Mýkoi). Ethnic group in the Persian empire (Hdt. 3,93; 7,68; Hecat. FGrH 1 F 289) who, together with the Sagartii, Sarangae, Thamanaei, Utii and the island inhabitants of the Persian Gulf, were classed as belonging to the 14th nomos by Herodotus. It is probably correct to assume that they were  the inhabitants of the regions on both sides of the strait of Hormūz, corresponding to the Maciyā, i.e. the inhabitants of Maka, known from Achaemenid inscriptions and reliefs as well as the fortification and treasury ta…

[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] The peoples of ancient India and ancient Iran, who spoke Aryan languages referred to themselves as A. (cf. Old Indo-Aryan árya-, Iranian arya-; etymology disputed). In the 19th cent. the until then purely linguistic terms A./Aryan were for a time used synonymously with Indo-Europeans/Indo-Germanic and in this way came to be used in anthropology and ethnology, which in the Nazi era perverted them with an anti-Semitic bias into the positive counterpart of Jews/Jewish. Linguistic and religious-historical reasons support the belief that the A. were an ori…

(Πνυταγόρας; Pnytagóras). [German version] [1] Greek politician from Cyprus Son of Evagoras [1] of Salamis in Cyprus. P. helped his father in the rebellion against the Persians and after the sea battle of  Citium (381 BC) defended Salamis (Isoc. or. 9,62; Diod. 15,4), which was under siege. Father and son are supposed to have had relations with the daughter of Nicocreon [1], and both were murdered by the eunuch Thrasydaeus  (Theop. FGrH 115 F 103,12; Aristot. Pol. 5,1311b 4ff.). Wiesehöfer, Josef (Kiel) Bibliography F.G. Maier, Cyprus and Phoenicia, in: CAH 6, 21994, 297-336. …

[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] 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] (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.

[German version] (Ὀροίτης; Oroítēs). Persian governor in Sardeis who (according to Hdt. 3,120ff.) had Polycrates [1] enticed from Samos to Magnesia and crucified. When O. refused to assist Darius [1] I after the death of Cambyses [2], Darius had him disposed of (according to Herodotus, through a command from the royal envoy Bagaeus to the O.'s bodyguard). From the entourage of O., the physician Democedes came to the Persian court. Wiesehöfer, Josef (Kiel) Bibliography P. Briant, Histoire de l'Empire perse: de Cyrus à Alexandre, 1996, s.v. Oroites

[German version] (Παρθία/ Parthía Plut. Antonius 55; Παρθυαία/ Parthyaía Pol. 5,44,4; Str. 11,9,1; Παρθυηνή/ Parthyēnḗ, distinct from the Parthian Empire Pol. 10,28,7; Str. 11,9,1; Ancient Persian Par θ ava-). Territory south east of the Caspian Sea, bonded to the west by Media, in the north west by Hyrcania, in the east by Margiana (by the Parthian territory of Apauarktikene/Apavortene) and Areia [1]. P.'s geography is dictated by two chains of mountains, the Kopet Dag to the north (along the modern frontier between Iran and Turkmenistan) and the Bīnālū…