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[German version] (τὸ κωνώπιον; tò kōnṓpion, Latin conopium, conopeum). Originally, the konopion was a sleeping net for the protection against mosquitos, flies, etc. (Anth. Pal. 9,764; Prop. 3,11,45). According to Hdt. 2,95, the Egyptians even used their fishing nets for this purpose. The term was later used in various ways for litters and sofas (medieval canapeum developed into canapé). A cradle was called conopeum as well. Hurschmann, Rolf (Hamburg) Bibliography Bibliography: see Kline.

[German version] A coat-like cloak made of thick wool (Greek: (χ)λαῖνα/ (ch)laîna). Cited in Rome as an article of clothing of the Augures and Flamines when offering sacrifice, as well as of the mythical kings, and found on monuments; in the Imperial period it was part of men's and women's costume. The laena was a special form of the toga and was made by doubling the semicircular-shaped cut of the toga praetexta to an almost circular cloth. By laying together the two circular segments, a toga-like garment was formed that was laid around the shoulders and covered both arms. The laena was worn o…

[German version] Ribbon, braid or trimming with a wide variety of meanings. Limbus describes the head band and the belt and even more so the edging and hem on garments (Ov. Met. 6, 127; Verg. Aen. 4,137) that could also be colourful or made of gold (Ov. Met. 5, 51). The band that runs across the celestial globe and contains the zodiac was also called the limbus (Varro, Rust. 2,3,7, Zodiac). Limbi were also the cords on the nets of hunters and fishermen. Hurschmann, Rolf (Hamburg)

[German version] Anonymous Attic bowl painter of the late 6th cent. BC, named after the potter Euergides; however, he also worked for the potter Chelis (bowl Paris, LV Inv. G 15 [1. 91, no. 51]), possibly for other potters as well. His c. 150 extant bowls are mainly painted with genre images (scenes depicting athletics, horses, chariots, as well as symposium and komos scenes), as well as mythological (Hercules, Theseus, Peleus-Thetis, Ajax-Achilles playing board games, etc.) and Dionysian topics; fabulous creatures (griffin, sphinx, Pe…

[German version] (περιρ(ρ)αντήριον; perir(r)hantḗrion). Large basin of clay, marble or limestone on a tall stand with a cylindrical shaft and base of quite considerable proportions, the basin being either firmly attached to the stand or separable. Similar in form and appearance to louteria (Labrum), perirrhanteria were used for ritual purification by sprinkling with water and stood in front of temples, at the entrances to sanctuaries and at cult places in gymnasiums or at herms (whereas louteria were used for everyday bodily cleaning). In Athens there were also perirrhanteria at t…

[German version] (στέφανος/ stéphanos, στεφάνη/ stephánē, Lat. corolla, corona). Wreaths and garlands were formed out of flowers, leaves and branches, or were reproduced (out of bronze, silver and gold; cf. e.g. [1]) in their image. They were a constituent part of culture and everyday life in Greece and Rome: a symbol of consecration, honouring and decoration for people and gods. Wearing a wreath was a mark of distinction ( cf. Apul. Met. 11,24.4) and it was reprehensible to attack a person wearing one ( cf. Aristoph. Plut. 21). Wreaths have been worn from time immemorial (Tert…

[German version] Pots (primarily volute kraters) of Apulian Red Figure vase painting with representations of the Underworld; the divine couple Hades and Persephone are found, sometimes enthroned within palace architecture, often with Hermes. The following can also be present: Hecate, Dike [1], the Judges of the Dead (Triptolemus, Aeacus, Rhadamanthys), Orpheus and Eurydice [1], Heracles [1] subduing Cerberus, Megara [1] with her children. In addition mythical evildoers and penitents appear, e.g. t…

[German version] Apulian vase painter from the last quarter of the 4th cent. BC, named after a vessel in Baltimore. The Baltimore Painter (BP) painted mostly on vessels with large surfaces (volute kraters, amphoras, loutrophori, hydrias i.a.  Pottery, shapes and types of) with funerary scenes ( Naiskos vases), mythological scenes ( Bellerophon, assemblies of the gods) and Dionysian subjects; rarer are genre scenes, like images of women, weddings and Erotes. His presence and artistic work in Canosa…

[German version] (σύμβολον/ sýmbolon, tessera). From 450 BC onwards in Athens, the State gave poor citizens free tickets for performances in the Theatre of Dionysus to the value of two oboloi (θεωρικòν διόβολον/ theōrikòn dióbolon); these tokens, called σύμβολα ( sýmbola), were given to the lessee of the theatre, who then collected the corresponding money for them from the State treasury. This institution was later extended to all citizens, followed by payments for participation in people's assemblies and in court. Numerous bronze symbola survive from the period between the s…

[German version] The terms ἀμίς/ amís, λάσανα/ lásana, Lat. matella, matellio, matula described vessels made of various materials used in agriculture (Cato Agr. 10,2; 11,3) as well as vessels for water and washing in the household; but they were particularly used to designate chamber pots (Aristoph. Plut. 816f.) that were set up in the latrine or were portable (Anth. Pal. 11,74,7; Hor. Sat. 1,6,109; Petron. Sat. 27). Ath. 1,519e attributed to the Sybarites ( Sybaris) the first use of chamber pots; from there, the chamber pot was brought to Athens. During the symposium, a special slave ( la…

[German version] Genre of vases from the last quarter of the 4th cent. and the first half of the 3rd cent. BC, named after their main find spot in northern Campania, the ancient Teanum Sidicinum, which was probably also the centre of production. Shallow bowls on small circular stands, known as footed dishes, with tall stems, skyphoi, gutti, oinochoai, kernoi and vessels in the shape of birds (see ill.) are common; other vessel types, such as kalyx kraters, are distinctly rare. The decoration of th…

[German version] (θρῆνυς/ thrḗnys, ὑποπόδιον/ hypopódion, σφέλας/ sphélas, rarely χελώνη/ chelṓnē; Latin scabellum, scamnum). The footstool was used as a foot bench for a person sitting on the  klismos,  throne or a similar high seating (cf. Hom. Od. 17,409 f.), or as a step for climbing up on the  Kline or down from it. There were three footstool variants: rectangular footstools with simple vertical legs, rectangular footstools with curved legs that ended in animal feet (lion feet), sphinxes etc., as well a…

[German version] (μαστίχη; mastíchē, Lat. mastiche, mastix). Aromatic resin of the mastic tree ( schínos; pistacia lentiscus L.) and the oil from its berries. The name is presumably derived from masásthai, ‘to chew’, since the resin was popular for chewing, because of its pleasant taste and hardness, for dental care and against bad breath, just as small pieces of mastic wood were used as toothpicks. The small, evergreen mastic tree (and bush) was planted and cultivated all over the Mediterranean, although its resin was not o…

[German version] Messapian pottery originated on the Italian peninsula of Salento (in Antiquity Messapia or Iapygia) around the mid-7th cent. BC as an independent genre. For the most part, geometric patterns (circles, squares, diamonds, horizontal lines, swastikas, etc.) were sparsely distributed over vessels; later, under Greek influence maeanders were added. Preferred vessel forms were the olla , pitcher and trozzella ( nestoris). Early in the 5th cent. BC, figurative representations, which also included new ornaments (ivy and other leaf motifs), appe…

[German version] A Roman sack made of leather for transporting goods of all kinds including food (Apul. Met. 1,18). The mantica was carried on the shoulder so that it lay over the back and chest (Pers. 4,24; Hor. Sat. 1,6,106), or when travelling on horseback over its hindquarters. A manticula, a small leather sack, was carried by poorer people. manticulari also means ‘steal’ or ‘cheat’, and the thief (‘cutpurse’) was called a manticulator ( -arius). Hurschmann, Rolf (Hamburg)

[German version] (πίναξ/ pínax, λεκάνη/ lekánē; Lat. catillus). Plates were used, like flatter platters and deeper bowls, for preparing and serving food at table (e.g. Hom. Od. 1,141; 16,49 f.); they could be round or square, with or without a stand, with curved or steep walls. In archaeological finds plates are attested from the 8th cent. BC until the end of Antiquity in various materials (bronze, wood, silver, clay, tin etc.). Catinus [1]; Crockery; Fish-plate; Lanx; Table culture Hurschmann, Rolf (Hamburg) Bibliography S. Künzl, Das Tafelgeschirr, in: E. Künzl (ed.), Die Ala…

[German version] The essential part of the knife is the blade, the form and development of which is determined by its particular function and use such as cutting off or cutting up. Furthermore, in the shape of a dagger it is used for piercing. The knife is one of the oldest and most essential aids in the history of humanity; it has been used for housework ( Household equipment), for hunting, as a tool in many areas (e.g. for working with wood or leather: σμίλη/ smílē, σμίλιον/ smílion, τομεύς/ tomeús, Latin scalprum, culter, crepidarius), in agriculture (tree knives, picks, sickles for …

[German version] (ψαλίς/ psalís; Latin forfex, forpex, forficula). Scissors, made of iron or bronze, were used in sheep and goat shearing, for cutting cloth and metal, hair and beards, in cobbling and in agriculture, for chopping plants and fruits and separating grapes from the vine. Scissors seem to have come into use from the early 5th cent. BC in Greece, and in Italy (according to written sources) from around 300 BC (Varro, Rust. 2,11,9), though the plucking of fleeces was still common in sheep-shea…

[German version] (πέδιλον/ pédilon, σανδάλον, -ιον/ sandálon, -ion; Lat. sandalion, solea, all usually plur). Sandals (soles attached with straps to the feet and reaching up to the ankles or just above) were certainly the most common ancient footwear and were made in various variations. Greek sandals were tied with thin laces up to the ankles [2. 270, fig. 5]; only in the Roman Imperial Period did there emerge ribbon-like leather straps, crossing or running diagonally over the foot. The straps were often …

[German version] Costly paint and make-up (Plin. HN 35,44) manufactured from the mixture of heated purple sap and silver clay (or silver chalk, creta argentaria); purpurissum became brighter the more silver clay was added. As a painter's pigment, purpurissum was highly esteemed for its vivid colour (Plin. HN 35,30; 35,44 f.; 35,49). Women used purpurissum together with white lead ( cerussa) to colour their cheeks and lips (cf. Plaut. Mostell. 258, 261; Plaut. Truc. 290). Cosmetics; Pigments Hurschmann, Rolf (Hamburg)