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[German version] Plin. HN 8,132 refers to the Marmota marmota as ‘Alpine mouse’ ( mus Alpinus) and stresses its size (like a badger, meles) and its hibernation ( conduntur hieme) thought to be based on its collection of food [1. 175]. The fact that its pelt is scrubbed off on the back he explains by saying that both sexes, lying on their back and holding food with their front legs, pulled themselves by their tails backwards into their den. The story of their supposed locomotion on two legs (ibid. 10,186) is, of course, not …

[German version] Because of its appearance in the evening it was called νυκτερίς ( nykterís) or vespertilio. From the Orient, the flying fox ( Pteropus medius Tem.) apparently was also known under the name of ἀλώπηξ ( alṓpēx, Aristot. Hist. an. 1,5,490a 7) or νυκταλώπηξ ( nyktalṓpēx, Ps.-Callisthenes 3,17,21; Str. 16,1,7 = p.739; cf. Hdt. 3,110, accordingly Plin. HN 12,85). The order of Chiropterais described as ‘skin-winged’ (δερμόπτερα, cf. Plin. HN 11,228: siccis membranis volat) by Aristot. Hist. an. 1.1.487b 22f. and 490a 7f., and thus seen as being close to that…

[German version] This superior species of crab ( Homarus vulgaris) belonged, according to Aristotle (Hist. an. 1,6,490b 12), under the name ἀστακός/ astakós (according to Frisk ‘provided with bones’) to the soft-shelled species (μαλακόστρακα/ malakóstraka), but according to Aelianus (NA 9,6) it was one of the crustaceans (ὀστρακόδερμα/ ostrakóderma). Its precise description (black speckles on a white background, eight feet, large claws with teeth on them, a tail composed of various parts) in Aristot. Hist. an. 4,2,526a 11-b 18 facilitates ide…

[German version] (φλόμος/ phlómos, Latin verbascum), a member, according to a good description in Dioscorides 4,103 Wellmann = 4,102 Berendes (cf. Plin. HN 25,120f.; Isid. orig. 17,9,94), of the Scrophulariaceae family, occurring in two kinds, one with white and one with black leaves ( Verbascum sinuatum L.). Of the white one Dioscurides distinguishes a male form ( V. thapsus L., Common Mullein) from a female one ( V. plicatum Sibthorp). Their roots are said to be effective e.g. as an astringent for diarrhoea. According to Plin. HN 26,23, drunk with water it help…

[German version] (καμάρα; kamára), the correct version for camera, related to camurus (‘curved’), describing the curvature of a room or a barque or indeed the barque itself. This type of small round-bottomed sailing vessel with inward-curving side walls, which could travel in a circle and in both directions, was used on the north-eastern coast of the Black Sea, particularly by pirates (Str. 11,2,12, 495f.; Tac. Hist. 3,47,3). The side walls could be raised in such a way that they formed a closed canopy in …

[German version] (γόγγρος; góngros, sometimes, e.g., Ath. 8,356a: γρύλλος; grýllos), a marine eel, a sea fish that was popular like the  eel and, therefore, expensive (Plaut. Mil. 760; Persa 110; cf. information in Ath. 7,288c). Aristotle mentions two species that differ in colour (Hist. an. 8,13, 598a13), their unusual length, thickness and smoothness, the large stomach and the tallow-like fat. The conger feeds on fish including its own species and octopuses but, in turn, is the prey of moray eels and c…

[German version] This name (πεύκη/ peúkē, picea, derived from pix = pitch) encompasses three genera of conifer, namely (a) the Common or Norway Spruce Picea abies [L.] Karst. = excelsa Link, which is found hardly anywhere in the Mediterranean, (b) the Fir ( abies, ἐλάτη, in some species on Mediterranean uplands) and (c) the Pine ( pinus, πίτυς/ pítys, πεύκη/ peúkē). Spruce and fir wood, felled on a large scale in the southern Alps and mountains of the Balkans, was used from Antiquity  for wood for building - including ships and masts [1. 38] - and for fi…

[German version] Greek κράταιγος/ krátaigos or κραταιγῶν/ krataigôn, Lat. spina alba are names for various thorny plants (cf. Plin. HN 24,108; Columella 3,11,5; 7,7,2 and 7,9,6); in Plin. HN 21,68 spina alba, for instance, obviously means the edible Carline thistle ( Carlina). This also includes ὄα/ óa or ὄη/ óē, Lat. sorbus, the mountain ash. An exact identification of what is meant in ancient texts with crataegus and sorbus is not possible. In Theophr. Hist. pl. 3,15,6, the Azarole/Crete hawthorn ( Crataegus azarolus) is probably being described, which Plin. HN 27,63 incorr…

[German version] Named after Umbria, their place of origin, this breed of dog was highly favoured, primarily as a  tracking hound (Grattius, Cynegetica 171 ff.; Sen. Thy. 497 ff.; Verg. Aen. 12,753-55: hound baits deer; Sil. Pun. 3,295 ff.). We do not know its appearance. The Umbrian sheepdogs, mentioned in Varro Rust. 2,9,6, that returned of their own accord to their flocks were certainly not of this breed. An illustration on an aes grave coin from Hatria in Picenum could represent an umber [1. 124, fig. 49; 2. 95]. Dog Hünemörder, Christian (Hamburg) Bibliography 1 Keller 2 Toynbee…

[German version] (μεσπίλη/ mespílē, μέσπιλον/ méspilon, ἀρωνία/ arōnía: Dioscorides; Lat. mespilus or -a, the fruit mespilum). Mespilus germanica L. (family Rosaceae), a bush or tree probably native to southern Europe, was cultivated in Greece as a wild apple tree at least since about 370 BC on account of its small, three-cored, sweet fruits (Middle Comedy, Eubulus [2] in Ath. 14,640c). Theophrastus (Hist. pl. 3,12,5f. = Plin. HN. 15,84) describes three thorn-bushes under this name, of which only μεσπίλη ἡ σατάνειος/ mespílē hē satáneios is recognized as medlar. Dioscorides (…

[German version] (πλάτανος/ plátanos, poet. πλατάνιστος/ platánistos, Lat. platanus) is the tree Platanus orientalis L., found in southern Europe at least since the time of Homer (Il. 2,307-13). According to Plin. HN 12,6, the plane tree crossed the Ionian Sea to Sicily, and thence to Italy. It was later naturalized in northern Europe. The broad (πλατύς/ platýs, 'broad, wide') leaves, after which it is named, provided goodly shade for rest, as in Plato's Phaedrus (Plat. Phdr. 229a-230b). In antiquity, the tree was favoured as a graft stock for slips of e.g. pear (Pal…

[German version] (Greek ἀκιπήσιος; akipḗsios = (h)elops). Rare delicacy saltwater fish (Plin. HN 9,60 and 32,145; Macrob. Sat. 3,16,1-9; Ath. 7,294f), only very highly valued until the time of the caesars (Plautus in Macrobius; Lucil. 1240 M; Mart. 13,91; cf. Plinius and Hor. Sat. 2,2,46 f.). As early as antiquity the zoological classification was contentious (Plin. HN 32,153 according to Ovid Hal. 96 and Ath. loc. cit.); now it is sometimes regarded as a sturgeon [1. 7; 2. 2,375 and passim] and sometimes as a sterlet ( elops [1; 3]).  Fishes Hünemörder, Christian (Hamburg) Bibliograp…

[German version] This wild dog ( Canis aureus), principally found in Africa, still occurs today in Eurasia from the Balkans eastwards. It hunts at night, often in packs, preying mainly on small mammals and birds, but it also eats carrion. An earlier theory that it, together with the wolf, was a progenitor of the domestic dog ([1]; cf. [2. 70-72]), has now been abandoned. The θώς/ thṓs, as distinct from the  wolf, was well known to Aristotle (Hist. an. 2,17,507b 17: internal organs resemble those of the wolf; 6,35,580a 26-31: gives birth to two to four blind w…

[German version] An uncommon subshrub growing in Crete, properly called Dittany in English (δίκταμνος; díktamnos or δίκταμνον; díktamnon in Aristot. Hist. an. 8(9),6,612a 3-5 and Mir. ausc. 4,830b 20-22, Theophr. Hist. pl. 9,16,1, Dioscorides 3,32 [1. 41f.] = 3,34 [2. 284ff.] and dictamnus in Verg. Aen. 12,412 and Pliny HN 25,92). It is considered to be not our native Rutacea the aromatic Burning Bush, Dictamnus albus L., the diptam or diptamnus of the Middle Ages, whose leaves have a lemon-like fragrance when rubbed, but rather the Mediterranean labiate Amaracus (Amarakos) dict…

[German version] (ἀργεμώνη; argemṓnē), in Dioscorides 2,177 [1. 1.245 f.] = 2,208 [2.253], which is supposed to be named after the use of its milky sap (ὀπός; opós) against leucoma (ἀργεμα; árgema) etc. Just as with μήκων ῥοιάς ( mḗkōn rhoiás) in Dioscorides 4,63 [1.2.217 f.] = 4,64 [2.397] and argemonia in Plin. HN 25,102 (medical use e.g. for angina in Plin. HN 26,23) there is identification with the club-like poppy Papaver argemone L., by others with the similarly flowering pheasant's eye ( Adonis autumnalis L.; cf. adonium Plin. HN 21,60).  Poppy Hünemörder, Christian (Hamburg) Bib…

[German version] The true rose of Jericho, Rosa hierochontea, Rosa de Hiericho, Rosa Sanctae Mariae, the year-old crucifer Anastatica hierochuntica L. of the deserts of the Near East and north Africa and the small or false rose of Jericho, the composite Odontospermum pygmaeum (= Asteriscus aquaticus), found as far as southern Europe, have been considered since the Crusades to be a symbol of the Resurrection because of the infructescences unrolling in the presence of moisture [1. 38 f.]. The plants spread their seeds by rolling in the wind. Hünemörder, Christian (Hamburg) Bibliograph…

[German version] Trigonella foenum-graecum L. (βούκερας, αἰγόκερας, τῆλις; boúkeras, aigókeras, têlis) is an annual cultivar of the Mesopotamian species Tr. Haussknechtii (not the Mediterranean Trigonella gladiata), with a tangy fragrance that was used medicinally and as fodder. As seed finds of c. 3000 BC near Cairo show, fenugreek was cultivated in ancient Babylonia and Egypt, (Egyptian šbt, Arabic ḥulba) from where it was exported. Dioscurides 2,102 ([1. 176f.] = 2,124 [2. 206f.]) recommends the meal produced from the seed as a tonic and for cleansi…

[German version] (τέτραξ, tétrax). Plin. HN 10,56 distinguishes between a smaller black variety (i.e. the black grouse) and one living in the north and in the Alps, similar in colour to but much bigger than a vulture, which because of its weight could be caught on the ground [1. 234f.]. When kept in a cage, their meat supposedly lost its taste, and the birds stopped breathing and died. Whether the bird from Mysia in Ath. 9,398e-f refers to the capercaillie remains uncertain. Other mentions of its n…

(Ξενοκράτης/ Xenokrátēs). [German version] [1] X. of Acragas, mentioned by Pindar, c. 500 BC Brother of the tyrant Theron of Acragas. Pind. Pyth. 6 refers to X.' victory in chariot-racing at the Pythian Games (Pythia [2]) in 490 BC, and Pind. Isthm. 2 to his charioteering victory at the Isthmian Games (Isthmia) in c. 470 BC. The latter ode was written after X.' death. Meister, Klaus (Berlin) Bibliography H. Berve, Die Tyrannis bei den Griechen, 1967, 133; 135. [German version] [2] X. of Chalcedon Academic philosopher, 4th cent. BC Academic philosopher (Academy), 4th cent. BC. Stanzel, Ka…

[German version] The apricot ( Armeniaca vulgaris Lam. = Prunus armeniaca L.) comes from a stone fruit genus represented in eastern and central Asia by eight to nine species that are often regarded, like the peach and the almond, as just (like Plin. HN 15,41-43) a subgenus of Prunus. In its Chinese homeland it has been cultivated since at least the 3rd cent. BC. The early flowering tree (Plin. HN 16,103) reached Greece and Italy via Armenia through the campaign in AD 63 and so was called μῆλον ἀρμενιακόν ( mêlon armeniakón), malum Armeniacum (Isid. Orig. 17,7,7), Armenia(ca). Dioscorides 1,…