[German version] (Προποντίς; Propontís). A sea between the Pontos Euxeinos (Black Sea) in the northeast (Bosporus [1]) and the Aigaion Pelagos (Aegean) in the southwest (Hellespontus), between Thrace in the north and Mysia in the south, greatest length (from Callipolis to Nicomedia) 252 km, greatest breadth 74 km, modern Sea of Marmara. The P. was brought into existence by an early quaternary rift. The largest part of the area of the sea ( c. 11,500 km2) is formed by an area of land lowered 200 m, on which the islands perch (cf. the list of the islands in Plin. HN 5,151; Proconnesus, Ophiusa, Halone, Prote, Elaea, Chalcitis, Pityodes). This plateau is cut through in an east-west direction by a rift-valley up to 1355 m deep, which continues to the east into the Gulf of Nicomedia. Whereas the European coast has a number of lagoons and is poor in inlets and natural harbours (cf. Byzantium, Selymbria, Perinthus, Bisanthe), the Asiatic coast is int…

(Ὄλυμπος/Ólympos). Geography: [1-13]. People: [14-15]. [German version] [1] Home of the ›Olympian‹ gods, highest mountain in Greece (Latin Olympus) (Latin Olympus). Kramolisch, Herwig (Eppelheim) Meyer, Ernst (Zürich) [German version] I. Geography The highest mountain in Greece, regarded as the home of the 'Olympian' gods (twelve (Olympian) gods). Its altitude, overlooking all of its surroundings, creates a powerful impression, as do its massive size and density and its dramatic ascent, especially at the east and west, which is hardly obscured by foothills. It rises steeply from a base measuring some 20 km in diameter to a ridge some 2300-2400 m in elevation, with a summit region in the north capped by limestone. It forms a steep ridge from the northwest to the southeast, with numerous peaks, the highest point located approximately in the middle, at Mitikas peak (2918 m). The northernmost peak (2787 m, with a chapel of Profitis Elias; no ancient remains) was formerly believed to be the highest. Although snow remains until well into summer, O. does not have a permanent snow cover. An ancient sacrificial site was excavated at an altitude of some 2900 m on the easily accessible peak of Hagios Antonios (2817 m) 1500 m south of the Mitikas. Aside from the thick layer of ash containing remains of sacrifices, finds include large amounts of ceramics as well as inscriptions (including two dedicated to Zeus Olympios) and coins from the 4th cent. AD (with one exception: Antigonus [2] Gonatas). The summit is mentioned as early as Homer (Hom. Il. 1,44; 2,167; 4,74), who uses a variety of epithets to describe its size, height and length of snow cover; similar mentions are made by later poets as well, but no actual description of O. is preserved from antiquity. According to the verse inscription recorded in Plut. Aemilius 15,10, Xenagoras, the son of Eumelus, used measuring instruments to determine the relative altitude of O. from Pythion (elevation approximately 900 m, on the western slope of O.), concluding that its altitude was 10 stadia and 96 feet. Some ancient authors considered O. to be part of Thessalia (Hdt. 7,128), others part of Mace…