Brill’s New Pauly
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Subject: Classical Studies
Edited by: Hubert Cancik and Helmuth Schneider (Antiquity) and Manfred Landfester (Classical Tradition).
English translation edited by Christine F. Salazar (Antiquity) and Francis G. Gentry (Classical Tradition)
Brill´s New Pauly is the English edition of the authoritative Der Neue Pauly, published by Verlag J.B. Metzler since 1996. The encyclopaedic coverage and high academic standard of the work, the interdisciplinary and contemporary approach and clear and accessible presentation have made the New Pauly the unrivalled modern reference work for the ancient world. The section on Antiquity of Brill´s New Pauly are devoted to Greco-Roman antiquity and cover more than two thousand years of history, ranging from the second millennium BC to early medieval Europe. Special emphasis is given to the interaction between Greco-Roman culture on the one hand, and Semitic, Celtic, Germanic, and Slavonic culture, and ancient Judaism, Christianity, and Islam on the other hand. The section on the Classical Tradition is uniquely concerned with the long and influential aftermath of antiquity and the process of continuous reinterpretation and revaluation of the ancient heritage, including the history of classical scholarship. Brill´s New Pauly presents the current state of traditional and new areas of research and brings together specialist knowledge from leading scholars from all over the world. Many entries are elucidated with maps and illustrations and the English edition will include updated bibliographic references.
Subscriptions: see brill.com
English translation edited by Christine F. Salazar (Antiquity) and Francis G. Gentry (Classical Tradition)
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Brill´s New Pauly is the English edition of the authoritative Der Neue Pauly, published by Verlag J.B. Metzler since 1996. The encyclopaedic coverage and high academic standard of the work, the interdisciplinary and contemporary approach and clear and accessible presentation have made the New Pauly the unrivalled modern reference work for the ancient world. The section on Antiquity of Brill´s New Pauly are devoted to Greco-Roman antiquity and cover more than two thousand years of history, ranging from the second millennium BC to early medieval Europe. Special emphasis is given to the interaction between Greco-Roman culture on the one hand, and Semitic, Celtic, Germanic, and Slavonic culture, and ancient Judaism, Christianity, and Islam on the other hand. The section on the Classical Tradition is uniquely concerned with the long and influential aftermath of antiquity and the process of continuous reinterpretation and revaluation of the ancient heritage, including the history of classical scholarship. Brill´s New Pauly presents the current state of traditional and new areas of research and brings together specialist knowledge from leading scholars from all over the world. Many entries are elucidated with maps and illustrations and the English edition will include updated bibliographic references.
Subscriptions: see brill.com
Woad
(201 words)
[German version] (Greek ἰσάτις/
isátis, Lat.
vitrum and
glastum, e.g. Plin. HN 22,2) the dye-plant 'Dyer's Woad',
L.
Isatis tinctoria. This genus of
Brassicaceae thrives in Europe in a number of species. Until the discovery of the dye indigo in the 19th cent., it was used for colouring textiles blue (Dyeing). It is a perennial plant, growing up to 1.4 m in height, with yellow flowers [1. 157, colour photograph 326] developing into single-seed pods which are violet when ripe. A mash of ground dried leaves (flowers acco…
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Brill’s New Pauly
Wolf
(1,451 words)
(ὁ λύκος/
lýkos, ἡ λύκαινα/
lýkaina, diminutive λυκιδεύς/
lykideús, occasionally σκύλαξ/
skýlax, 'young animal'; Latin
lupus,
lupa and
lupus femina, e.g. Enn. Ann. 1,68; Etym.:
leo +
pes, 'lion-foot', in Isid. Orig. 12,3,23). Large and feared land predators, wolves were known by first-hand experience to all peoples in Antiquity. Only Opp. Cyn. recognizes five species. Plin. HN 8,84 and 11,202 mentions a Gaulish
lupus cervarius and distinguishes it from the Aethiopian wolf, in reality a jackal (cf. θῶες/
thôes in Aristot. Hist. an. 6,35,580a 26-31). The
lycaones (Plin. HN 8,123; M…
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Brill’s New Pauly
Woman
(7,947 words)
I. Ancient Orient, Egypt and Iran [German version] A. Introduction Knowledge of the status of women is largely based on texts of a legal nature (legal documents, law books, royal decrees). Accordingly, research to date emphasizes primarily the legal aspects of the position of women in family and society. Non-legal texts from a variety of genres contain information on the activities of women from the families of the elite, particularly those of the royal clan. Thus, the Hittite royal wife Puduḫepa (13th ce…
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Brill’s New Pauly
Women authors
(3,134 words)
[German version] I. Greece Poetic works by Greek women authors are documented from the Archaic to the Hellenistic period. Even though these works achieved great fame in their time and had a significant influence on the Greek and Latin literature of subsequent periods, they have only survived in small fragments. These confirm that all ancient Greek women authors wrote about mythological topics, often about love, frequently love between women [28. 161f.]. Sappho of Lesbos (late 7th cent. BC), the earliest and best known amongst Greek women poet…
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Brill’s New Pauly
Women painters
(746 words)
[German version] Painting (γραφική/
graphikḗ) appears to have been one of the few 'arts' (τέχναι/
téchnai) that could also be practised successfully by women (cf. Women authors; Female musicians). The vocational description ὁ/ἡ ζωγράφος/
zōgráphos ('male / female painter of living things') is attested on one occasion for a female painter (Phot. p. 149b 29-38), whilst no feminine counterpart for the more common γραφεύς/
grapheús ('painter') has been passed down to us. We would therefore have to regard the women trained in this
téchnē as a negligible marginal phenomenon if it we…
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Brill’s New Pauly
Women philosophers
(1,154 words)
[German version] A. Problems of definition In view of the usually familial links between women philosophers (WP) and known thinkers, in classical sources what is usually reported is their relationships to the latter (as lovers, concubines, wives and daughters). It is only in the rarest of cases possible to form a balanced judgment of the life and achievements of WP. Feminist theory goes as far as to designate as WP all women whose philosophical ambitions are in any way documented [6.XIII-XV]. Harich-Schwarzbauer, Henriette (Graz) [German version] B. Historical overview Literary sour…
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Brill’s New Pauly
Women rulers
(1,599 words)
[German version] I. Ancient Orient In the societies of the Ancient Orient and Egypt with their rules regarding patrilineal inheritance and succession, women did not assume the role of rulers. The only exceptions to this occurred in cases when a female member of the ruling family - generally the queen mother - acted as regent for an underage heir to the throne. For example, Hatshepsut, half-sister and wife of Thutmosis [2] II, acted for 22 years as regent for her underage nephew Thutmosis [3] III.. In…
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Brill’s New Pauly
Wonders of the world
(657 words)
[German version] (Greek e.g. ἑπτὰ θεάματα/
heptà theámata 'seven spectacles': Str. 14,652; 656; 16,738; 17,808, among others; Latin e.g. [
septem]
miracula: Plin. HN 36,30; Mart. de spectaculis 1,1;
septem opera mirabilia 'seven wondrous works': Hyg. fab. 223;
septem spectacula: Vitr. De arch. 7, praef.). In antiquity, magnificent human cultural achievements that were particularly notable for their technical construction and artistic ornamentation were referred to as "wonders of the world". The term was traced back by Gell. NA 3,10,16 to Varro's lost work
septem opera in orbe …
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Brill’s New Pauly
Wonders of the World
(2,800 words)
Vedder, Ursula [German version] A. Pagan Antiquity (CT) Sometime (the date cannot be ascertained more precisely) before the 2nd cent. BC, at one of the intellectual centres of the Hellenistic world, a list was compiled of several structures distinguished by their monumental size and cost of construction. The assumedly original list of the Seven Wonders of the World was yet far from definitive and varied throughout intellectual history. This variable list of the World Wonders, composed of a set of ancient Egyptian monuments (the Pyramids), one or two ancient Baby…
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Brill’s New Pauly
Wood
(2,502 words)
[German version] A. General points In Antiquity, as in pre-industrial societies in general, wood was a universally worked material, used even as a substitute for metal and for expendable parts, and beside animal and human muscle power was also the most important source of energy. The tree species and their economic and technical uses are summarized by Theophrastos (H. plant. 5), Vitruvius (2,8,20; 2,9f.) and Pliny (HN. 16). Herz, Peter (Regensburg) [German version] B. Agriculture, crafts, house building Agriculture and industry were to a great extent oriented towards wood…
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Brill’s New Pauly
Woodlouse
(431 words)
[German version] (ὄνος/
ónos, πολύπους/
polýplous, ὀνίσκος/
onískos, κούβαρις/
koúbaris, κύαμος/
kýamos, τύλον/
týlon,
centi-,
mille- (or
mili-) and
multipedium). The common woodlouse, rough woodlouse or pill bug (mentioned as early as Soph. fr.363 N2) of the Crustacea subphylum, at Aristot. Hist. an. 5,31,557a 24f. (on similarities between fish lice and many-legged ὄνοι/
ónoi), Dioscorides 2,35 [1. 1. 133] (on many-legged ὄνοι which curl up under water containers when disturbed as helpful against e.g. jaundice and as a component of injections aga…
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Brill’s New Pauly
Woodpecker
(284 words)
[German version] (Greek δρυ(ο)κολάπτης/
dry(o)koláptēs, 'wood-pecker' at Aristoph. Av. 480 and 979, πιπώ/
pipṓ at Aristot. Hist. an. 7(8),3,593a 4, πελεκᾶς/
pelekâs at Aristoph. Av. 884 and 1155; Latin
picus at Plaut. Asin. 260, cf. Ov. Met. 14,314). Aristotle (Hist. an. 7(8),3,593a 3-12) is familiar with two spotted woodpeckers of different sizes (probably
Dendrocopos major and
minor) and the green woodpecker (κελεός/
keleós,
Picus viridis), which is about the size of a turtle dove and is widespread, particularly in the Peloponnesus. Aristot. Hist. an. 8(9)…
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Brill’s New Pauly
Wool
(1,162 words)
[German version] I. Ancient Near East In the Near East, wool (Sumerian
si, Akkadian
šīpātu) from sheep was an essential raw material for textile production (Textiles, production of). Chiefly with the aid of numerous administrative documents from the time of the Third Dynasty of Ur (21st cent. BC), many typical details of wool production can be reconstructed. The fleecing of sheep, for which Sumerian has various terms, took place as a rule in spring. This is the removal of the fleece from the sheep in its tota…
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Brill’s New Pauly
Word division
(305 words)
[German version] In archaic Greek inscriptions there are rather irregular and arbitrarily placed word division (WD) symbols (i.e. symbols to separate individual words from one another), presumably of Phoenician origin (e.g. points and small lines). In subsequent periods, they are increasingly infrequently used and disappear entirely in the Classical and Hellenistic periods, in favour of continuous writing (
scriptio continua; cf. Punctuation I. B.). This development is very likely based
i.a. on the increasing spread of the
stoichēdón style (Writing, direction of A.),…
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Brill’s New Pauly
Word families
(317 words)
[German version] Within the lexicon of an Indo-European language, words which share a meaning-bearing core element form a WF. It is always particular words belonging to the class of verbs, substantives, adjectives, and adverbs ('content words') that together make up a WF. The core element is often the stem of a primary verb, i.e. a verbal root: Gr. ἀγ(-ω), δεικ(-νυμι), φερ(-ω); or Lat.
ag(-o), dīc(-o), fer(-o). A WF is enriched by word formation, particularly by suffixation (φορ-ά, in combination with ablaut;
ag-men) and compounding (καρπο-φόρ-ος;
frūgi-fer: these two each belon…
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Brill’s New Pauly
Word formation
(821 words)
[German version] I. General The vocabulary (Lexicon) of a language is an open inventory which is or can be constantly expanded through the adoption of elements from other languages (loan words) or by the creation of words with the means of the language itself. Linguistic creativity is most clearly revealed in the adoption and creation of new items of vocabulary. Since speakers seldom reflect on the 'onomasiological' or content elements of the lexicon, their attention is probably first caught by form…
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Brill’s New Pauly
Work
(2,798 words)
[German version] [1] The Ancient Near East Work in the Ancient Near East was normally identified with physical labour in the agricultural and craft sectors, as well as in construction and haulage. Free labour was the province of self-employed producers and wage workers in institutional households (palace and temple). In the latter contexts, unfree labour was performed by dependents of many kinds, and also existed in the form of a state-decreed obligation of service. Slave labour was present to a varyin…
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Brill’s New Pauly
Work contract
(440 words)
[German version] Besides slavery, free, contract-based labour was also used in all sectors of the ancient economy. Although craft workers and singers who belonged to an
oikos only for a short period are mentioned by Homer, contracted wage work goes back rather to the use of mercenaries in the 6th cent. BC. In classical Athens, it does not appear to have been the normal practice for work contracts to be determined in writing. A special category is made up by work contracts occasioned by public building projects, which wer…
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Brill’s New Pauly
Working hours
(212 words)
[German version] They were generally determined by the circumstances under which the work was performed. Thus agricultural work began at dawn and ended at dusk; A herdsmen, tending a herd on a nearby meadow, would return in the evening (Varro Rust. 2,10,1). On the large estates in Italy WH would be extended by e.g. fieldworkers being deployed on other work on rainy or frosty days; even holidays were used for work against which there was no religious objection (Cato Agr. 2,3; 2,4; 2,39; Columella …
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Brill’s New Pauly