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[German version] (Πισάτις/ Pisátis, Πίσα/ Písa). Region and city or two terms for one region in westernPeloponnesus. The question of the historicity of the city P. is controversial today [1] just as in antiquity (Str. 8,3,31) and often answered in the negative (Str. l.c.). The earliest mention gives the name Πίσα/ Písā (, cf. Pind. Ol. 2,3; 3,9; Pind. Nem. 10,32), in Attic literature Πῖσα/ Pîsa (, Eur. IT 1; Eur. Hel. 386; Hdt. 2,7, with long /i/); the classical ethnikon is always Πισάτης/ Pisátēs (Pind. Ol. 4,11; Eur. IT 824), and since the Hellenistic Period Πισαῖος/ Pisaîos (cf. Paus…

This item can be found on the following maps: Theatre (Ἰσθμός; Isthmós, ὁ ( ho) or ἡ ( hē)) means primarily any connecting link between two things (e.g. the neck, Pl. Ti. 69e); in a narrower sense, any strip of land between two seas, as i.e. the Thracian Chersonesus [1] (Hdt. 6,36), but especially the I. of Corinth (e.g. Hdt. 8,40; Thuc. 1,13,5; 108,2; 2,9,2; 10,3). This I. corresponds to the fundamental definition in two respects - it links, on the one hand, the Corinthian Gulf with the Saronic Gulf, on the other hand, central Greece with the Peloponnese. The…

[German version] [1] A City of perioeci, northwest of Sparta on the Eurotas This item can be found on the following maps: Sparta (Πελλάνα/ Pellána, Πελλήνη/ Pellḗnē). A city of perioeci (Perioikoi) north-west of Sparta on the Eurotas (Xen. Hell. 7,5,9; Pol. 3,21,2f.; 4,81,7; 16,37,5; Diod. Sic. 15,67,2; Str. 8,7,5: κώμη/ kṓmē). Its exact location is uncertain: near the modern Vurlia [1. 371] or on the Palaeokastro hill near Castania [2. 125f.] near the modern P. (formerly Kalyvia). According to Plut. Agis 8,1, the land of the Spartans began at …

[German version] Geology, in modern understanding, is the science of physical nature (mineralogy, metallurgy) and of the structure, formation, and development of earth's crust (tectonics) as well as the forces that shaped this development (‘dynamic geology’). Antiquity only knew the first beginnings of a comparable scientific discipline [1. 8-50; 2]. Geological technologies ( Mining,  Quarries) were implemented even before specific geological questions began to be studied in Near Eastern theories …

This item can be found on the following maps: Sassanids | Pontos Euxeinos | Syria | Byzantium | Urarṭu | Christianity | Xenophon | | Commerce | Hellenistic states | Colonization | Limes | Pompeius | Patricius (Τραπεζοῦς/ Trapezoûs; Lat. Trapezus; the modern Trabzon, Turkey). [German version] I. Geographical Situation A Greek city in the region of Colchis (Xen. An. 4,8,22; 5,3,2) on the southeast coast of the Black Sea (Pontos Euxeinos), situated in a favourable setting with a secure acropolis. T. may have been first founded as early as 756 BC (…

[German version] S. is not, as Strabo's source ( cf.  Str. 5,4,12) implies, a diminutive of Sabini , but is derived from the same root as Samnites , and from the time of Varro onwards is a term for them. For the modern linguistic use of S., see Oscan-Umbrian. Olshausen, Eckart (Stuttgart) Sauer, Vera (Stuttgart) Bibliography E. T. Salmon, Samnium and the Samnites, 1967.

[German version] (Τευθρανία; Teuthranía). Region or its capital in the Mysian valley of the lower Caicus [1]. The name is derived from Teuthras, who reportedly took in Auge [2] and her son Telephus [1] as guests when they were washed ashore in Mysia. The region is generally located from the Aeolian coast between Atarneus and Cisthene (at modern Gömeç) inland about as far up as the upper Macestus. The site of the city (Str. 13,1,69; Plin. HN 5,126) has been located (though without certainty) near mo…

[German version] Strait of Messina between Caenus and Pelorum, 12 stadia (Plin. HN 3,73) or 1,500 passus (Plin. HN 3,86), today 3 km wide, a rift valley, with frequent earthquakes, characterized by fluctuating tidal currents that result in dreaded whirlpools (cf. the myth of  Scylla and Charybdis). Manganaro, Giacomo (Sant' Agata li Battiata) Olshausen, Eckart (Stuttgart) Bibliography E. Manni, Geografia fisica e politica della Sicilia antica, 1981, 50f. P. Radici Colace (ed.), Mito, Scienza e Mare: Animali fantastici, mostri e pesci del Mediterraneo (Meeting, …

[German version] I. Greece (Νᾶσοι/ Nâsoi). [German version] [I 1] Lowlands in the area of Caphyae in Arcadia Lowlands in the area of Caphyae in Arcadia (Arcadians), to the south of and below the modern village of Daras (known as Dara until 1940), with luxuriant vegetation, as the water of the upper Orchomenian Plain reemerges here in several springs forming the stream Tragus, which flows into the Ladon [2] (Paus. 8,23,2; 8). Olshausen, Eckart (Stuttgart) Lienau, Cay (Münster) Bibliography 1 E. Meyer, s.v. N. (1), RE 16, 1793  Ders., Peleponnesische Wanderungen, 1939, 31f., 34, Taf. XI. Pr…

[German version] [1] Z. Regia City in Africa Proconsularis This item can be found on the following maps: Coloniae | Punic Wars City in Africa proconsularis, probably modern Seba Biar [1. 416 f.; 2. 321-326; 3. 325 f.; 4; 5. 251 f.; 6. 42 f.]. It was near Z. - at Naraggara - that the decisive battle between Hannibal [4] and P. Cornelius [I 71] Scipio was fought in 202 BC [1. 417-420] (Punic Wars II). In the war with Iugurtha (111-105 BC), Z. was attacked by Q. Caecilius [I 30] Metellus (Sall. Iug. 56 f.). No later tha…

[German version] River in Aquitania, modern Allier, source at 1,430 m elevation on Mont Lozère; flows from the left side into the Liger below Noviodunum after a course of 375 km (Caes. B Gall. 7,34,2; 35,1). Olshausen, Eckart (Stuttgart)

(Νεοκαισάρεια/ Neokaisáreia, Lat. Neocaesarea). [German version] [1] Town in Pontos This item can be found on the following maps: Sassanids | Syria | Byzantium | Christianity | Asia Minor | Asia Minor | Limes | Rome | Rome A town in Pontus at the southern foot of the Paryadres near present-day Niksar, at the junction of the east-west route from the Amnias valley and up the Lycus valley via the Comana Pontica [2]-Polemonium road [4; 5; 6.Vol. 1, 17-57]; it is mentioned for the first time in Plin. HN. 6,8. N.'s history is traceable vi…

[German version] This item can be found on the following maps: Sicily | Theatre | Coloniae | Punic Wars (Τυνδαρίς/ Tyndarís). Greek city on the northern coast of Sicily between Mylae [2] and Agathyrnon, modern Tíndari. T. was founded in 396 BC by Dionysius [1] I to protect the Greeks against Carthage. It was settled mainly by Messenians, who, driven from Naupactus and Zacynthos after the Peloponnesian War, had offered their services to the tyrant and named the city after the Tyndaridae, a Messenian version of the D…

[German version] (Νέδα; Néda). A river in the western Peloponnese which in historical times formed the border between Triphylia (later Elis) and Messana [2]. Although its main source is close to Hagios Sostis, it actually rises on Mt. Lycaeum, then, after a distance of 37 km, it flows into the Gulf of  Cyparissia. The N. is a raging torrent with many waterfalls which rushes through a narrow, rugged, for the most part, inaccessible valley. The fortress of Hira was situated in the mountainous region …

[German version] (Ἀρκαθίας; Arkathías). Son of  Mithridates VI (different from Ariarathes IX [1; 2; 3]), led 10,000 horsemen from Lesser Armenia into the opening battle of the Mithridatic Wars (autumn of 89 BC) at the Amnias against  Nicomedes IV; he marched with a Pontic army in 88/87 BC through Macedonia and organized the conquered territories into  satrapies. He fell ill at the Tisaeum in Magnesia and died (App. Mith. 63-65; 137; 156). Olshausen, Eckart (Stuttgart) Bibliography 1 Magie, 1105 note 41 2 B.C. McGing, The Foreign Policy of Mithridates VI Eupator King of Pont…

[German version] This item can be found on the following maps: Byzantium | Education / Culture (Νακόλεια; Nakóleia). City in northeastern Phrygia (Phryges; Str. 12,8,12: in Phrygia Epictetus; Ptol. 5,2,22: in Phrygia Megale) on the river Parthenius (modern river Seydi), modern Seyitgazi. The earliest evidence (Str. loc. cit.) is no later than the time of Augustus, historical notes are provided by Amm. Marc. 26,9,7-9 (defeat of Procopius in a battle with Valens at N. in AD 366) and Philostorgius in 138 (rebellion…

[German version] [1] Island and city in the Cyclades This item can be found on the following maps: Ionic | Marble | Peloponnesian War | Persian Wars | Delian League | Athenian League (Second) | Aegean Koine (Νάξος, Náxos, Latin Naxus). Sonnabend, Holger (Stuttgart) [German version] A. Geography City and island of the same name, the latter, with an area of just 420 km2, the largest of the Cyclades. A significant topographical  characteristic is a chain of mountains dividing the island from north to south (highest peak the Zia at 1004 m, also the highest poi…

(Λαοδίκεια; Laodíkeia). [German version] [1] Port-town in north-west Syria, modern Latakia This item can be found on the following maps: Syria | Theatre | | Coloniae | Commerce | Hellenistic states | Limes | Pompeius | Education / Culture (Λ. ἐπὶ τῇ θαλάσσῃ; L. epì têi thalássēi). Port in north-west Syria (now Latakia or al-Lāḏiqīya), not far from the Bronze Age Ugarit (Ra's Šamra). Founded by Seleucus I around 300 BC together with its sister towns of Antioch, Apamea and Seleucea (the so-called North Syrian Tetrapolis) and equipped with an…

[German version] (Ἥραιον; Hḗraion). The outermost cape (today Cape Melangavi) of the peninsula that is formed by the foothills of the Geraneia opposite Corinth with a settlement, fort and sanctuary of Hera Akraia and Limenia (rich finds from the 9th cent. BC onwards) on a small bay on the south side of the cape (Xen. Hell. 4,5,5ff.; Xen. Ages. 2,18f.; Str. 8,6,22; Plut. Cleomenes 20,3; Liv. 32,23,10). Olshausen, Eckart (Stuttgart) Lienau, Cay (Münster) Bibliography H. Payne et al. (ed.), The Sanctuaries of Hera Akraia and Limenia, 2 vols., 1940/1962.

[German version] Name given in Plin. HN 6,118 to a left-bank tributary of the Tigris in Adiabene. It remains questionable whether he meant the Lycus [14] (modern Al-Zāb al-Kabīr, 'Greater Zab') or the Caprus [2] (modern Al-Zāb al-Ṣaġīr, 'Lesser Zab'). Olshausen, Eckart (Stuttgart)