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[German version] (Θεμίστα; Themísta). One of the women philosophers of the Epicurean School; at the beginning of the 4th cent. BC the wife of Leonteus [2] (Diog. Laert. 10,5,25); they had a son called Epicurus (Diog. Laert. 10,26). Cicero praises T.'s 'wisdom' ( sapientia) and names her as the author of numerous writings ( tanta volumina, Cic. Pis. 63). Epicurus addressed a number of letters (Excerpt: Diog. Laert. 10,5 = fr. 125 Usener) and a work …

[German version] (᾿Ανάξαρχος, Anáxarchos) of Abdera. Democritean philosopher ( Democriteans, c. 380-320 BC). He accompanied Alexander the Great on his campaign to the East. After Alexander's death, A. was taken prisoner and then pounded to death in a mortar by Nicocreon, the tyrant of Salamis on Cyprus, with whom he had quarrelled. In the ancient records, A.'s attitude towards Alexander the Great wavers between adoration and irony. A. was the author of a treatise Περὶ βασιλείας ( Perì basileías), of which only two fragments are preserved (fr. 65-66). The assessments of h…

[German version] (ὀπισθογράφος, -ον/ opisthográphos, -on; Latin opisthographus, -a, -um), lit. 'written on the reverse', adj., sometimes also used as a noun; a technical term rarely attested in antiquity. Ancient authors paraphrased or used synonyms instead (ὄπισθεν/ ópisthen or κατόπισθεν/ katópisthen, ὀπίσω/ opísō, κατόπιν/ katópin). In antiquity, opisthograp…

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[German version] (Ἕρμαρχος; Hérmarchos). Born in Mytilene on Lesbos, a contemporary of  Epicurus. In his youth he was trained in rhetoric and encountered Epicurus in Mytilene in about 310 BC. H. did not immediately turn to philosophy, but only followed his teacher Epicurus to Athens after he had founded a school (306 BC). From 290 to 270 BC he went to Lampsacus to visit the Epicurean school there. Before his death in 270 BC, Epicurus transferred the leadership of the Athenian school to H. despite h…

[German version] The philosopher Epicurus owned a house in the Attic deme of Melite (Diog. Laert. 10,17) and a garden (κῆπος; kêpos), the seat of his school (Cic. Fin. 5,1,3; Sen. Ep. 21,10; Plin. HN 19,50; Diog. Laert. 10,11). The localization of this garden is disputed. It was either outside the city between the Dipylon Gate and the Academy (Heliodorus, Aethiopica 1,16,5) [2], or in the city itself ( in ipsa urbe, Plin. HN 19,50), adjoining the house in the deme of Melite or very close by [1]. Epicurus; Epicurean School Dorandi, Tiziano (Paris) Bibliography …

[German version] A. Definition Papyri with Latin and Greek texts found during the Bourbon excavations in the middle of the 18th cent. in a villa near  Herculaneum (with site map). These were part of the library of the poet and philosopher  Philodemus of Gadara, who had gone from Athens to Italia during the period 80-70 BC and maintained a friendly relationship there with L.  Calpurnius [I 19] Piso Caesoninus, the owner of the villa in Herculaneum. In this luxurious villa, Philodemus collected an extensive library …

[German version] ( schida, scida) has various meanings in Latin authors: (1) a sheet or piece of papyrus or parchment (Pugillares) for notes or short messages (Cic. Att. 1,20,7; Quint. Inst. 1,8,19; Mart. 4,89,4; CGL IV 422,52; V 243,10 and 482,57;  cf. [1. 49…

[German version] The existence in antiquity of MSS of literary texts written ‘in the author's own handwriting’ is still a controversial subject in current times and is closely connected with the individual authors' ways of working ( Copy). The MSS under consideration are those which were claimed to be a copy in the author's own hand, as well as the evidence of indirect tradition which lead to the conclusion that a literary work was written in the author's own hand. The only texts which can be said with absolute certainty to have been written in the author's own hand are th…

[German version] An ancient text could be corrected in at least two ways: a) a διορθωτής ( diorthōtḗs), a professional c orrector, collated the copy with the original. This i…

[German version] A. School of Epicurus The school, founded in Athens in 307/6 or 305/4, survived as an institution until the 1st cent. BC. After a period of obscurity we again come across references, from the 2nd cent. AD, to some Epicurean philosophers. It was between the 4th and 1st cents. BC that the Epicurean School received its strength and vitality, extending both its range of thought and its structure. That happened under a series of school heads from Epicurus to Patron who assured its fate and…

[German version] Publication (ἔκδοσις/ ékdosis) describes the act by means of which an author in Antiquity released his work to the public. The common interpretation (van Groningen) limited the meaning of ἔκδοσις to entirely private transmission by authors themselves, who would make their works available to anybody who might wish to become a…

(Φιλόδημος; Philódēmos). [German version] A. Life and work …

[German version] Cardboard or papier mâché made from used pieces of papyrus for making mummy bandages (for humans or animals). Common in Egypt during the Ptolemaic period (find spots: necropoleis of Ghoran, Madīnet al-Nuḥās, Al-Ḥība); a number of examples can be dated to the end of the Augustan period (find spots: Abū Ṣīr al-Malaq). Numerous 3rd-cent. BC fragments of Greek literary texts (e.g. Callimachus, Menander, Plato; list in [1]) and copies of documents (petitions or submissions/ …

[German version] Portable wooden reading desk. Manuale was probably originally an adjectival attribute of lectorium. Substanticised it then took on the meaning of (reading) desk [1]. The sole written reference is found in Mart. 14,84. A manuale…

[German version] (Χαιρέδημος; Chairédēmos). One of the three brothers of  Epicurus, who, like him, devoted themselves to philosophy (Diog. Laert. 10,3). He predeceased Epicurus, who bestowed funerary gifts in his memory (Diog. Laert. 10,18) and dedicated a book to him (Diog. Laert. 10,27 and Plut. An recte dictum sit latenter esse vivendum 1129a). Dorandi, Tiziano (Paris)

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[German version] (Τιμασαγόρας; Timasagóras). Epicurean 'deviant' ( sophistḗs), living in Rhodes presumably in the 2nd cent. BC. T., who shared the philosophical views of Nicasicrates, the leader of the Epicurean school there, is accused together with him (primarily by Philodemus) of having misappropriated Epicurean theories by setting themselves in opposition to the founders ( …

[German version] (Καρνεΐσκος; Karneískos). Pupil of  Epicurus, originating in Asia Minor, perhaps from Cos or Rhodes. In his work Φιλίστας ( Philístas), comprising at least two volumes, he wrote on the Epicurean concept of friendship. The end of the 2nd volume (extant in PHercul. 1027) is dedicated to one Zopyrus, otherwise unknown. C. expresses his disagreement with the Peripatetic philosopher  Praxiphanes, criticizing his writing on friendship for suggesting improper forms of relationship between friends.…

[German version] A. Introductory comments Copy should be understood in two ways: on the one hand, it refers to the copying of a literary work beginning with the first version and throughout the various writing phases, including the alteration of the text into book form. On the other hand, it refers to the copies of a book intended for its systematic, ‘publisher driven’ dissemination. Copy thus refers to both the working methods of ancient authors and to the realm of book production. Dorandi, Tiziano (Paris) [German version] B. Copying-techniques There are only few indirect records a…