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[German version] (ὁ κόθορνος; ho kóthornos, cot[h]urnus). The Greek cothurnus was a high-shafted soft leather boot that fitted tightly to the leg and foot (and, by extension, was used as a synonym for an adaptable person in Xen. Hell. 2,3,30-31). It was wrapped with bands or tied at an opening at the front. The cothurnus is mentioned as women's footwear (Aristoph. Eccl. 341-346; Lys. 657), but was worn in particular by elegant youths at a symposium and  komos. It was the preferred footwear of Hermes, …

[German version] (περίζωμα/ perízōma, Latin perizoma). Greek apron for covering the lower body, worn around the abdomen and held with a belt, as a cloth wrapped round the hips and then passed between the legs, or in the form of a garment similar to a pair of shorts. Perizomata were worn by labourers, artisans, sacrifice attendants, priests, slaves, and also soldiers (cf. Pol. 6,25,3; 12,26a 4) and athletes as their only clothing (Nudity C.) or as an undergarment. In iconography it is mostly men that are shown wearing perizomata, less often female figures such as Atalante and Gorgo…

[German version] A volute krater much cited from the late 18th to the early 20th cent. because of its inscription which mentions another lower Italian vase painter (Paris, LV, Inv. K 66 [N 3147], [1]). Research at that time discussed the written form of the letters and the artistic classification of the supposed vase painter Lasimus. Only recent research proved the inscription to be a recent addition. Hurschmann, Rolf (Hamburg) Bibliography 1 Trendall/Cambitoglou, 914, no. 36. S. Reinach, Peintures de vases antiques recueillés par Millin (1813) et Millingen (1813), 1891, 64-67 S. Favi…

[German version] Originally, the tropaion (τρόπαιον/ trópaion; Lat. tropaeum) was a sign erected by the victorious army at the place on the battlefield where the adversary turned to flee (from Greek τρέπειν/ trépein, 'to turn around'). In the language use of later Antiquity, it referred to victory monuments in general, such as the Tropaea Augusti (cf. e.g. Tac. Ann. 15,18). The term tropaion has been common since the 5th cent. BC (Batr. 159; Aesch. Sept. 277). The tropaion consisted of a tree stump or post, sometimes with crosspieces (cf. Diod. Sic. 13,24,5) on which the…

[German version] A Roman coarse linen cloth, used to dry off and rub down the body after bathing (Apul. Met. 1,23, cf. Mart. 12,70) or to wrap around the body, in order to raise a sweat after a steam bath; a sabanum was also used to squeeze out honeycombs and to envelop food during the cooking process (Apicius 6,215; 239). Late Antiquity understood a sabanum to be a linen garment decorated with gold and precious stones (Ven. Fort. Vita S. Radegundis 9) or a coat. Hurschmann, Rolf (Hamburg)

[German version] (κήρωμα; kḗrōma, Lat. ceroma). In the medical sense, a salve or cerate, Hippoc. Acut. 8 (vol. 2, p. 424) or a salve (Mart. 4,4,10). In Imperial Rome, keroma designated a wax tablet, and also the clayey wax-coloured surface of a wrestling ring that soils the body or neck of the athletes (Juv. 3, 68); from this, the term keroma was extended to the ring or arena itself (Plin. HN 30,5). Also, those employed there were called kērōmatistaí. Hurschmann, Rolf (Hamburg)

[German version] Bandages, bindings, straps of different kinds were made of various materials (felt, leather, linen, wool), and could be white or coloured. Fasciae as a category includes the straps of the bed ( lectus,   kline ) on which the mattress was laid,  swaddling cloths (σπάργανα, spárgana) and fasciae crurales, bindings designed to protect the lower legs ( fasciae tibiales) or thighs (  feminalia) against the cold. The use of fasciae was regarded as unmanly, and for men was restricted to invalids, but even Augustus (Suet. Aug. 82,1) and Pompey (Cic. Att. 2…

[German version] A. General In antiquity clean and regularly changed  clothes were part of physical well-being, as were washing or bathing followed by anointing the body with regular or perfumed olive oil and other fragrant oils ( Cosmetics), the latter being also used out of health reasons. Peoples or people who were dirty or unkempt were bound to be disagreeable to the Greek and Roman sense of cleanliness (Hor. Sat. 1,2,27; 1,4,92), as well as those who used unusual or strange methods of washing, …

[German version] Type of indigenous pottery, named after ancient Peucetia, the region of the eastern Apennines between Bari and Egnazia (Peucetii). PP emerges in the 7th cent. BC. Initially its decoration is influenced by geometric patterns (swastikas, lozenges, horizontal and vertical lines), which form a narrow ornamental grid pattern, particularly in the late Geometric phase (before 600 BC). Leading forms of PP are kraters, amphorae, kantharoi and stamnoi; bowls are less common. The second phas…

[German version] (λαβρώνιος, -ον; labrṓnios, -on). Persian luxury vessel of precious metal and unknown form (large, flat, with large handles, Ath. 11,484c-f, 784a, 500e). As it is named by Athenaeus loc cit. in connection with lakaina and lepaste (both types of vessels), the labronios is probably a type of drinking bowl. Hurschmann, Rolf (Hamburg)

[German version] Solid soap in the modern sense was unknown in Antiquity. For cleaning their bodies people used pumice, bran, bicarbonate of soda, oil, soda or clay - Cimolian earth was particularly well known (Aristoph. Ran. 712) - and water. The Greeks called these cleaning materials ῥύμμα/ rhýmma or σμῆγμα/ smêgma (there is no corresponding Latin term). In public bathing facilities washing materials were available on request from attendants (Aristoph. Lys. 377; Ath. 8,351e), or people brought them from home. As with modern soap, ancient wash…

[German version] I. Writing media In Antiquity, a large variety of media were used as writing support. Modern scholarship divides them into inorganic and organic materials. Hurschmann, Rolf (Hamburg) [German version] A. Inorganic An inorganic medium for writing is natural rock on which inscriptions were chiselled; they are found in Egypt and in the mountains of to the east Mesopotamia from the 2nd half of the 3rd millennium BC. An early example from Greece are the inscriptions of Thera (IG XII 3,536-601; 1410-1493) from the end…

[German version] (χλαμύς; chlamýs). Shoulder-coat made of wool for travellers, warriors and hunters. The many-coloured and embroidered chlamys appeared in the 6th cent. BC and originally came from Thessaly (Poll. 7,46; 10,124; Philostr. Heroïkos 674) where it was also awarded as a winner's prize after athletic contests (Eust. in Hom. Il. 2,732), or Macedonia (Aristot. fr. 500 Rose). Typically it was worn as follows: the cloth of the ovally or rectangularly tailored coat was folded vertically, laid around the lef…

[German version] ( mantellum, mantelium, χειρόμακτρον; cheirómaktron). A rectangular linen cloth with braiding and fringes; in cult activity it served as a hand towel carried by the servants of the sacrifice,at meals is served for cleaning hands (e.g. Xen. Cyr. 1,3,5) and as a tablecloth (Mart. 12,28). In Sappho (99 Diehl) the cheirómaktron is mentioned as a head adornment. In its main functions as a tablecloth and towel the mantellum corresponds with the mappa that was also a popular gift at Saturnalia (Mart. 5,18,1). There is evidence that from the time of Nero (Suet. Nero 22) a mappa (fl…

A. General [German version] 1. Raw materials Attested in early monuments from the Minoan and Mycenaean period, hides and leather, as well as wool, sheepskins and goatskins, are amongst the oldest materials used for clothing. The use of  linen or flax to make garments developed thanks to the agency of the Phoenicians; Alexander [4] the Great's wars of conquest introduced  silk into Greece. The Romans used the same materials for clothing as the Greeks;  cotton came into use as well in the 2nd cent. BC; s…

[German version] (πήρα/ pḗra, πηρίδιον/ pērídion, Latin pera). A bag or satchel for carrying bread (Theoc. Epigr. 1,49; Ath. 10,422b), seeds (Anth. Pal. 6,95; 104) or herbs and vegetables (Aristoph. Plut. 298), which belonged to the equipment of hunters (Anth. Pal. 6,176), shepherds (Anth. Pal. 6,177) or fishermen and was worn at the hip by means of a strap over the shoulder. The pera was already an item characterizing beggars in Hom. Od. 13,437; 17,197; 410; 466 (cf. Aristoph. Nub. 924), and later became, along with the walking staff ( báktron, Latin baculum, staff), a symbol used by …

[German version] (δέπας; dépas). Wine bowl, mentioned several times in Homer and probably also attested in Hittite, for drinking, libations, mixing and ladling, made from precious metal and decorated (‘Nestor's cup’, Hom. Il. 11,632ff.). As synonyms Homer uses ἄλεισον ( áleison), ἀμφικύπελλον ( amphikýpellon), κύπελλον ( kýpellon); from which the depas has been understood to be a two-handled cup, similar to the cantharus ( Pottery, shape and types of). Archaeological finds and interpretation of Linear-B tablets from Pylos and Knossos (where it appears as di-pa) seem to have br…

[German version] (καρβατίνη/ karbatínē, cf. Lat. pero). Shoe made from rough leather, mostly worn by shepherds and farmers, later also shoe for soldiers (Xen. An. 4,5,14), apparently laced up (cf. Lucian. Alexander 39). In Aristot. Hist. an. 499a 29 also a camel shoe. Hurschmann, Rolf (Hamburg) Bibliography O. Lau, Schuster und Schusterhandwerk in der griech.-röm. Lit. und Kunst, 1967, 119-121.

[German version] In Greek and Roman antiquity there was a huge demand for essences, oils and pomades. As part of their skin care men lotioned themselves to keep their skin soft and tender (Ath. 15,686). Lotioning extended from the head over the entire body and it was a widespread custom to apply lotion several times a day, with a different lotion being used for each part of the body (Ath. 12,553d). Without lotion one was considered dirty. According to tradition, animal fats and butter were the fir…

[German version] (κοσ(σ)ύμβη, κόσ(σ)υμβος; kos(s)ýmbē, kós(s)ymbos, also θύσανος; thýsanos, κρόσσος; króssos). Designation for the warp-threads remaining on the edges of garments, from there also for fringe, fringed dress and fringed hairstyle (Poll. 2,30). The kosymbe was often manufactured separately to ornament the clothing. As early as Homer (Il. 14,181) it is used in connection with Hera's belt, here designated as θύσανος/ thýsanos. In art it is often attached to dresses and cloth. The kosymbe gained symbolic meaning in the mystery cults; particularly, represent…

[German version] (ταραντῖνον; tarantînon). A light diaphanous luxury garment with fringes, first recorded in literature in the 4th century BC (Men. Epitr. 272); the original place of production was Tarentum (Taras), cf. Poll. 7,76. Hetaerae wore it without undergarments (Aristaen. 1,25,  cf.  Ael. VH 7,9). In  Ath. 14,622b male participants in a Dionysian festal procession wear tarantina. Barbaron Hyphasmata; Coae Vestes; Fimbriae; Clothing Hurschmann, Rolf (Hamburg) Bibliography U. Mandel, Zum Fransentuch des Typus Colonna, in: MDAI(Ist) 39, 1989, 547-554.

[German version] (κότταβος; kóttabos, verb: κοτταβίζειν; kottabízein). Greek party game, probably of Sicilian origin (schol. Aristoph. Pax 1244; Anac. fr. 41 D), played by women (hetaerae) and men during a symposium ( Banquet). Kottabos is frequently mentioned in ancient literature (since Anac. fr.. 41 D = Ath. 10,427d) and has especially been captured in vase images from the end of the 6th cent. BC on. The goal was to strike a metal disk, resting on a construction similar to a lamp stand, with wine dregs, shot from a drinking …

[German version] (ἧλος/ hḗlos, Lat. clavus, more rarely πάτταλος/ páttalos, γόμφος/ gómphos, Lat. palus). Nails have survived in abundance from the Early Bronze Age onwards; they have shanks that are rounded or angular in section and heads of various forms (round, pointed, flat, globular, spherical, etc.). Surviving nails are made of bronze or iron, though decorative nails may be made of gold or silver, or only have a head made of precious metal, but in antiquity wooden nails were also used. Nails were used …

[German version] (φιμός, phimós). The shaker was used for throwing the dice and the   astragaloi in various  board games and  dice games (Hor. Sat. 2,7,17; Juv. 14,5; Mart. 4,14,7-9; 5,84,1-5 and passim; Sen. Apocol. 12,3,31; 14,4; 15,1; Sid. Apoll. Epist. 2,9,4 etc.). Besides shakers made of perishable material, there were some made of clay [1. fig. 15 from Mainz-Kastell, Wiesbaden] and bronze (Schol. Juv. 14,5 mentions horn). The playing-pieces in the shape of towers (called turricula or pyrgus) made of ivory, wood or copperplate, through which the dice were rolled on t…

[German version] Filters were used for straining and filtering water, wine, oils, perfume, vinegar, honey and liquid medicine. For this purpose various materials were used: linen cloths, bast weave, ash, clay or wood. Greek and Roman antiquity knew different filtering vessels (ἡθμός/ hēthmós, ὑλιστήρ/ hylistḗr, colum, infundibulum, saccus etc.), including the superb Macedonian devices of the Hellenistic period, as well as the metal ladles with the sieve-like bottom and the wine sieves mainly known from the Roman Imperial period (Hildesheim s…

[German version] Slipper-like, light half-shoe (Catull. 61,10), probably adopted by the Romans from Greek areas (perhaps σύκχος/ sýkchos or συκχίς/ sykchís, Anth. Pal. 6,294). Originally a woman's shoe, it was also worn by 'effeminate' men (Suet. Cal. 52). Later Diocletian's Price Edict distinguished between socci for men and women, in various colours. The soccus was also considered to be a comedy actor's shoe (cf. Hor. Epist. 2,1,174; Hor. Ars 79 f.), so that soccus became a synonym for comedy (as cothurnus for tragedy). Illustration of a soccus under shoes. Hurschmann, Rolf (Ham…

[German version] (Cabinet). The second most important piece of furniture for storage besides the arca. The armarium seems to be a typically Roman item, unknown to the Greeks until quite late ( pyrgiskos). The term armarium basically describes a cabinet for equipment, but also a cupboard for food, money and jewellery. It was also used for bookcases and shelves in  libraries. A funeral relief in Rome (TM 184) depicts the armarium in a cobbler's shop [3. 114-115 pl. 117,1-2], and as a household furniture item together with, among other things, the arca (Leiden, Mus. [2. 69, 301]), cf. …

[German version] [1] Cosmetic Cosmetic ( Cosmetics) created from bean flour (Plin. HN 18,117), used by Roman women to cover up and reduce wrinkles (Mart. 3,42; 14,60), with the addition of sun-dried, crushed snails (Plin. HN 30,127), lomentum rendered the skin soft and white. It further served as a remedy for ulcers, burns or tumours (Plin. HN 20,127; 22,141). Hurschmann, Rolf (Hamburg) [German version] [2] Two types of blue pigment Two types of blue pigment gained from ‘sky blue’ ( caeruleum, cf. [1]) (Plin. HN 33,162f.), one representing the more expensive (10 denarii per…

[German version] Bracelets were already common in the old cultures of the Near East and Egypt ( Jewellery). For the Aegean region, we know of examples from Early Cyclade times, and from the Minoan and Mycenaean epochs. Bracelets were worn on the forearm above the wrist or on the upper arm, often on both arms or on forearm and upper arm at the same time. The basic shape was a bangle with room for decorations and inscriptions, either closed or with sculpted ends. Spirally wound bracelets which ended…

[German version] I. Ancient Orient see  Jewellery Hurschmann, Rolf (Hamburg) [German version] II. Classical Antiquity Ear ornaments (ἐνώτια/ enṓtia, ἐνωτάρια/ enōtária, ἐνωτίδιον/ enōtídion, Lat. inaures) are seldom mentioned in Gr. myth (Hom. Il. 14,183; Hom. Od. 18,298; Hymn. Hom. ad Ven. 8), but numerous finds and representations attest that already in early times they formed part of the  jewellery of men (Hom. Od. 18,298) and women. In the classical period and later, the wearing of ear ornaments by men was regarded…

[German version] (τὸ κανοῦν; tò kanoûn). Flat - sometimes quite small - basket woven from willow twigs, round or oval in shape, with three handles; a kanoun could sometimes also be made from bronze (e.g. Hom. Il. 630) or gold (Hom. Od. 10,355; Eur. IA 1565). Mentioned already by Homer (Hom. Il. 9,217; Hom. Od. 1,148) as a household item in which bread, onions (Hom. Il. 11, 630) etc. are placed on the table during meal times (wastebasket in Hom. Od. 20,300 ?). Also mentioned by Homer as a sacrificial implement for cult sa…

[German version] The production of red-figure Lucanian vases (LV) begins around 430 BC with the Pisticci Painter, named after a place where his vases were discovered. He is still wholly within the Attic tradition, which is visible in the stylistic treatment of his figures, the ornaments and forms of the vessels. He prefers bell craters, which he ornaments with scenes of pursuit and of everyday life or with Dionysiac images. His successors, the Amycus and the Cyclops Painters, apparently settled in Metapontium and founded a workshop here, which was in operation until c. 380-370 BC. The …

[German version] (from lavabrum, diminutive labellum, Greek λουτήριον/ loutḗrion and λεκάνη/ lekánē). The labrum, a large shallow basin with a raised, thickened rim and resting on a high pedestal, served various purposes. As materials used for the labrum, marble, porphyry, clay, stone and others are cited. In the Greek realm, the labrum is a washbasin where men and women cleansed themselves with water; on vases in Lower Italy this often takes place in the presence of Eros, with waterfowl (swans or geese) sometimes cavorting in the water of the labrum. It also often appears in love o…

[German version] (ζειρά/z eirá). A loose colourful cloak, reaching to the feet and belted in the middle, worn by Arabs (Hdt. 7,69) and Thracians (Hdt. 7,75), which gave protection from the cold and, unlike the chlamýs , was long enough to keep the feet warm when on horseback (Xen. An. 7,4,4). In depictions of Thracians in Attic vase painting it can be identified from its length and ornamental decorations. Hurschmann, Rolf (Hamburg) Bibliography W. Raeck, Zum Barbarenbild in der Kunst Athens, 1981, 69-72 I. Mader, Thrakische Reiter auf dem Fries des Parthenon?, in: F. Blakolmer (ed.), …

[German version] Group of red-figured Campanian vases, named after one of its motifs (an owl standing on a column or pillar), dating from the 2nd and 3rd quarters of the 5th cent. BC. The primary pottery form is the Attic ('Nolan') amphora (Pottery, shapes and types of, fig. A 5), while kalpis (Pottery, shapes and types of, fig. B 12), krater and jug are much rarer. In their adoption of the particular shapes of amphora and kalpis, as well as in their style, the painters of the OPG attempted to imi…

[German version] (ξυρόν/ xyrón; Lat. novacula, cultellus, culter tonsorius). Razors were used from the early Greek period on for shaving the  beard and cutting hair from the head when in mourning, for example; numerous examples survive. They could easily exceed 20 cm in length; materials used for blades were iron and bronze; for handles bronze, ivory and wood. Razors are instanced in various forms: they could be shaped like a spatula or a crescent, long and slender with a straight or curved blade, broad…

[German version] A plate or flat Roman bowl of varying size, form (oval, rectangular or multiangular) and function; it was used in kitchen work (e.g. Petron. Sat. 28,8), but more often for the serving of dishes like fish, meat and poultry (Mart. 7,48,3; 11,31,19); drinking-cups were served on it. It also found use in Roman legal relations. It is mentioned further as a torture instrument, and the head of John the Baptist was presented on a lanx. In religious ritual , lanx generally designates the sacrificial vessel (e.g. Verg. G. 2,194; Verg. Aen. 213-214). Materials for the lanx included pr…

[German version] (περισκελίς/ periskelís, περισκέλιον/ periskélion. Latin periscelis, periscelium). Term no longer current in archaeological scholarship for a simple band of material or metal worn as a thigh ornament above the knee by women of the lower classes and prostitutes (Hor. Epist. 1,17,56; Alci. fr. 4; Petron. 67), less commonly by women from higher circles (Petron. 67; Longus 1,5). They should be distinguished from clasps worn above the ankle and known as compedes (Petron. 67; Plin. HN 33,39-40 and 152). Such bangles and clasps are common in Greek and Roma…

[German version] (χλαῖνα; chlaîna, from χλιαίνω; chliaínō, ‘to warm’). Already mentioned in Homer (Il. 16,224; Od. 4,50 and passim) as a warm coat for men made out of sheep's wool to protect against cold and rain. The chlaina could be laid over the shoulders unfolded (ἁπλοΐς; haploís) or double-folded (δίπλαξ; díplax) and be held together with a pin; it could be red or purple in colour and decorated with patterns or figures (Hom.Il. 10,133; 22,441). The chlaina was, according to Poll. 7,46, worn as a cape over the  chiton and was part of the dress of farmers and shepher…

[German version] (Πάταικοι; Pátaikoi). Dwarf figures, mounted on the bow of Phoenician triremes according to Hdt. 3,37. Coins from Aradus [1] and Sidon from the late 4th cent. BC onward show half-figures or protome heads on ships [1. table 2,1, table 18,12-14]. From these Phoenician figures the term was transferred to figures of dwarfs; pátaikos thus became a descriptive proper name for people of short stature (Hdt. 7,154; cf. also the Pataíkeia festival at Delos, named after its founder Pátaikos). The term also became proverbial for thieves, however. Herodotus compares t…

[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)

[German version] (κίστη, kístē). A round basket woven out of willow branches or tree bark, with a lid that often has the same height as the lower part and can be placed over it; also with a flapping lid or a disc-shaped lid. The cista is illustrated on numerous monuments, e.g., Attic and Lower Italian vases, funerary reliefs and Locrian clay tablets. Figurines have also been found. In marriage scenes they function as a gift to the woman. They apparently represent the female sphere since numerous household objects are visible when opened. …

(γραφίς/ graphís, γραφεῖον/ grapheîon; Latin stilus, graphium). [German version] [1] Tool for drawing Tool for drawing, also called a drawing- (or ruling)-pen, see Construction technique, Building trade. Hurschmann, Rolf (Hamburg) [German version] [2] Writing implement Implement for writing on a wooden tablet covered with wax (Cera). The pointed (lower) end of a stylus was used to engrave the text to be written on the tablet and, by inverting it, the flat (upper) end could be used to correct mistakes by re-smoothing the wax ( stilum vertere, e.g. Hor. Sat. 1,10,72). Representati…

[German version] Apulian vase painter of the second quarter of the 4th cent. BC, named after a volute crater in London (BM Inv. F 160 [1. 193 no. 8]) with the image of the  Iliupersis. The Iliupersis Painter (IP) belongs to those creatively engaged vase painters who produced pioneering innovations for the development of later  Apulian vase painting; among these are the introduction of burial scenes ( Naiscus vases), additionally the fluting of vessels on their lower sections and the decoration of …

[German version] (τετραορία/ tetraoría, τέθριππον/ téthrippon; Lat. usually plur. quadrigae). Carriage-and-four, a two-wheeled carriage drawn by four horses side by side, steered from a standing position; invented, by ancient tradition, by Trochilus or Erichthonius [1] (Verg. G. 3,113, cf. Plin. HN 7,202). The carriage-and-four is very seldom mentioned in the Homeric epics (e.g. Hom. Il. 8,185; 11,699). Occuring more often later in the literary tradition, e.g., in mythical contests (Oenomaus and Pelops, …

[German version] Campanian type of vase in the late 4th and early 3rd cents. BC, named after the inscription on a vase in London (BM, Inv. F 507, [1. 674 no. 4]). The prevailing shape of the vessel resembles a stamnus ( Vessels, fig. C 6) but it has vertical handles, sharply drawn-in shoulders and a lip that juts out widely; in many cases the lid has also been preserved, so that archaeological research also refers to the vessel as a pyxis. The painting is ornamental and consists of small palmette…

[German version] (προβόλιον/ probólion). Short spear (Hdt. 7,76), or rather hunting spear (Hesych. s. v. προβόλιον), especially for hunting boar (Xen. Cyn. 10; Philostr. Imag. 1,28,5) or lions; hardly ever used as a term in modern archaeological research, even if there have been attempts to identify probólia in Minoan-Mycenaean and Geometric hunting scenes (on the attribute of the komos described in Philostr. Imag. 1,2,2 as a probólion see [1]). Furthermore, probólion was also the term for a fortified place, a fortress (Xen. Mem. 3,5,7; Dion. Hal. Ant. Rom. 10,16,4). Hunting Hurschm…

[German version] With representations of a naïskos (diminutive of naós, ‘temple’) on Lower Italian vases, a new form of depicting funerary monuments emerged in the 2nd quarter of the 4th cent. BC. It can probably be traced back to the Iliupersis Painter. In Apulian vase painting (Apulian vases) NV are unusually common after the middle of the 4th cent. BC, while they are exceptions in other Lower Italian artistic regions. NV are vases that are specially produced for the cult of the dead; they not only po…

[German version] (σκάφη, σκαφίς, σκάφιον, σκάφος/ skáphē, skaphís, skáphion; Latin scapha, scaphium). Frequently used term for a basin, tank, vat, trough (or a small boat) or a wood or metal tub, a receptacle used agriculturally (Hom. Od. 9,223; cf. Theoc. 5,59) and domestically (Aristoph. Eccl. 738-739, cf. Anth. Pal. 6,306). A woman's chamber pot could also be called a scapha. According to Hdt. 4,73,2 the Scythae threw hot stones into a skáphē to make a cleansing 'steam bath'. Romulus and Remus are supposed to have been exposed in a skáphē (Plut. Romulus 3; in Soph. Fr. 574 N a cr…

[German version] (κουρεύς/ koureús; tonsor). It is unknown when the occupation of the barber and hairdresser first became an autonomous profession in Greece. In myth the barber is only rarely mentioned ( Midas); early representation of a barber: Boeotian terracotta in Berlin [1]. The barber is considered to be talkative and curious (Plut. Mor. 2,177a; 508) and knows the latest gossip. The barber's room (κουρεῖον/ koureîon) is the place where people get together (Lys. 24,3,20; Plut. Timoleon 14; Plut. Mor. 716ff.), and where you can also contract business dea…

[German version] (ψίαθος/ psíathos). Mat or coarse cover made of rushes and straw, in Egypt also of papyrus (cf. Theophr. Hist. pl. 4,8,4). It served as bedding on the floor for farmers, travellers and the poor; in an Attic inscription it is also listed as part of the furnishings of a house [1]. According to Augustine (Contra Faustum 5,5) he who sleeps on a matta is the follower of a doctrine that preaches a frugal life ( mattarius). A sleeping-mat could also be called χαμεύνη/ chameúnē (Poll. 6,11). Hurschmann, Rolf (Hamburg) Bibliography 1Hesperia 5, 1936, 382 no. 6 A.

[German version] The use of wooden tablets (δέλτος/ déltos, cf. Hdt. 8,135, or δελτίον/ deltíon, cf. Hdt. 7,239) coated with wax for the transmission of written messages (therefore in the form of a letter, Pl. Ep. 312d) appears to have been known to the Greeks from the end of the 8th cent. BC (Writing). In this context, the Homeric epic (Hom. Il. 6,168-170) speaks of a πίναξ πτυκτός/ pínax ptyktós (cf. Hdt. 7,239: δελτίον δίπτυχον/ deltíon díptychon). The folding wooden tablet (Diptychon) consisted of two panels connected with a hinge; their inner sides, covered with a…

[German version] Latin term (Greek τύλη/ týlē; τυλεῖον/ tyleîon) for anything raised or bulge-like, such as the convex circular parts of an Ionic column base (Column [II B 3] with ill.; the term entered mediaeval and modern architectural terminology in the form ( torus) usual in Vitr. De arch. 3,5,2-3), the calloused skin of the neck and shoulders of a load carrier (Aristoph. Ach. 860; 954: týlē) or the bulging of animals' muscles (Plin. HN 18,78: torus ). Týlē was also the word for cushions on klinai and furniture for sitting on (Sappho fr. 46 Lobel/Page; Diod. Sic. 13,84,5…

[German version] Incense container,   pyxís (πυξίς, κυλιχνίς, λιβανωτίς; kylichnís, libanōtís). A small box, round on Greek monuments (cf. side panel of the Ludovisi throne [1. fig. 118]) and often rectangular and richly decorated on Roman ones (e.g. on the  Ara Pacis), which served to make the incense available during a sacrificial ceremony; it was regarded as part of the ceremony's essential utensils (Suet. Tib. 44; Galba 8; Plin. HN 35,70).  Turibulum Hurschmann, Rolf (Hamburg) Bibliography 1 R. Lullies, Gr. Plastik, 1979. F. Fless, Opferdiener und Kultmusiker auf stadtröm.…

[German version] Short form from Lat. biiugae (Greek: δίζυξ; dízyx; συνωρίς; synōrís); originally two animals moving under one yoke (horse, cow, mule), especially used for teams of horses. Worthy of mention for the early Greek period are not just the representations already extant from the Minoan-Mycenaean culture on frescos, signet rings and similar objects or the models made of clay or bronze, but also especially the lively description in Homer (Il. 23,392f., funeral games for  Patroclus) of a horse race…

[German version] The Roman proconsul B. was privately honoured c. 100 BC on  Delos by a marble statue in armour, with a plinth in the form of the bow of a ship (height c. 235 cm), placed in front of the east wall of the Stoa of  Antigonus [2] Gonatas. It was found in situ during the French excavations in 1909, its arms, head and left lower leg missing. Today the name B. is associated with the very first armoured statue to which a name can be ascribed with certainty. Hurschmann, Rolf (Hamburg) Bibliography J. Marcadé, Au Musée de Délos, 1969, 134, 329-333, pl. 75 K. Tuchelt, Frühe Denkmäler Roms i…

[German version] Apulian vase painter of the ornate style ( Apulian vases) from the middle of the 4th cent. BC, student of the Iliupersis Painter, named after the image of the ‘madness of Lycurgus’ on a calyx crater (London, BM Inv. F 271, [1. 415, no. 5, pl. 147]). The Lycurgus Painter painted mostly vessels with large surfaces (craters, hydrias, situles), which he liked to ornament with mythological themes. He further developed the use of spatial depth and perspective, distributed his mytholo…

[German version] A fringed (schol. Pers. 1,54) open cloak, a special form of the sagum , probably introduced in the 1st cent. BC (first mention Cic. Phil. 2,30,76); used at first as a soldier's coat which in poetry might also be worn by mythical kings and heroes (e.g. Ov. Fast. 2,743-747; Prop. 4,3,18). The lacerna soon became an everyday garment and was popular in the 1st cent. AD. Initially made of coarse wool, light fabrics were also used which were dyed purple or scarlet (Mart. 2,29,3; 4,61,4; 4,8,10; Juv. 1,27). The lacerna was worn over the tunica, instead of the toga, or over…

[German version] These objects (βάκτρον/ báktron, κηρύκειον/ kerýkeion, ῥάβδος/ rhábdos, σκῆπτρον/ skêptron; Lat. baculum, caduceus, lituus [1], rudis , stimulus) could be straight, with a curvature at the top end, knotty, angled or smooth and could vary in thickness and length. They were carved from hard wood (e.g. olive or myrtle) and might be left plain or decorated with gold embellishments (Ath. 12,543 f.) or reinforced with iron (Theoc. Epigr. 17,31). They were used by old people (old men, teachers) and the …

[German version] A Roman cloak, corresponding to the Greek himation, of a rectangular length of material; fabrics used were wool, linen and silk. Pallia could be variously coloured (white, diverse shades of red, yellowish, black) with gold brocade or purple stripes. They are known from the 3rd cent. BC and were initially worn only by friends of Greek culture, e.g. philosophers (Liv. 29,10); but they quite soon enjoyed the greatest popularity because they were comfortable and simple to wear (cf. Suet. Aug. 40) and were…

[German version] Group of round or pelta-shaped (i.e. based on the shape of the shield of an Amazon) ornamental marble discs, executed in relief, and dating from the period between the 1st cent. BC and the middle of the 2nd cent. AD. Oscilla for the most part come from the Vesuvian cities and have been found in villas and townhouses with gardens, in which they were used as decoration, hanging from chains between the columns of garden peristyles. Others could be found as ornamental elements in thea…

[German version] Modern archaeological technical term, derived from the place name (ancient  Gnathia) in eastern Apulia, where the first vases of this type were found in the mid-19th cent. Unlike red-figured vases, in Gnathia ware (GN) the decoration was applied in various opaque colours on the fired vessel body. In addition, details on persons and objects depicted could be indicated or entirely represented by grooving. The production of GN began about 370/360 BC in Apulia, probably triggered by t…

[German version] (βάθρον/ báthron). Long, narrow four-legged bench, lower than a sella, Varro Ling. 5,128 (Seat); usually without a back, occasionally with a rest (Suet. Iul. 84,3; Suet. Claud. 41; Suet. Nero 26,2); made from wood, marble and bronze. Subsellia could be found in every Roman household, and were also used as seats for customers to wait on in shops and workshops; at auctions (Suet. Claud. 39) or public lectures and recitals those present sat on subsellia (Suet. Claud. 41; Juv. 7,45; 7,86). Pupils also sat on a subsellium (Diog. Laert. 2,130; 7,22). Since everybody but the quaes…

[German version] (μαζονόμον/ mazonómon, μαζονόμιον/ mazonómion, Latin mazonomus), from μάζα/ máza (‘barley bread’) and νέμω/ némō (‘to issue’). Originally, a wooden plate, to pass barley bread (cf. Ath. 5,202c); a carrying bowl made of bronze and gold is also mentioned (Ath. 4,149a; 5,197f). Later a serving plate for poultry (Hor. Sat. 2,8,86; Varro, Rust. 3,4,3), which the scholiasts equated with the Roman lanx (Porph. Hor. Sat. 2,8,86). The mazonomon has not been identified in art with certainty. Hurschmann, Rolf (Hamburg)

[German version] (Latin mensa, also cartibum, cartibulum; Greek τράπεζα/ trápeza, τρίπους/ trípous or τετράπους/ tetrápous). Three forms of table are known from Greek and Roman Antiquity: rectangular with three or four legs, round with a central support or three legs, and oblong with one supports at each end; the last variant was primarily employed in gardens and was of marble, with the outer sides of the supports often decorated with reliefs. The other forms of table were usually made of wood, but the feet c…

[German version] are parts of Jupiter-Giants-columns (Monumental columns III.), found immediately on top of the columns' substructures (followed upwards by a medial plinth with the 'gods of the week' - e.g. Venus for Friday, Saturn for Saturday, a column shaft, decorated with scales or garlands, with a base and a capital with a Iuppiter riding down a Giant). The figures of gods on Viergöttersteine are usually placed in recessed fields: they are usually Iuno (front), Minerva (left), Mercurius (right) and Hercules (back); other gods can be depicted, however, …

[German version] Spoons were initially used as stirring or wooden spoons (Greek τορύνη/ torýnē, Aristoph. Equ. 984, cf. Anth. Pal. 6,305; 306, Latin trua or trulla) for preparing food. For scooping liquid foods or wine, a κύαθος/ kýathos was used. Although spoons were known at an early stage, they were little used for eating since people mainly used hollowed-out pieces of bread (μυστίλη/ mystílē, μύστρον/ mýstron) to eat pulse soups, broth or soups etc. (Aristoph. Equ. 1168-1174). The Romans distinguished a spoon with oval bowls ( ligula) for soup, flour soup, pulse etc. from a spoon w…

[German version] (ἐσχάρα/ eschára, ἑστία/ hestía, Lat. focus, ara, lar, cf. also  Altar). Greeks and Romans honour the hearth and hearth fire especially ( Hestia,  Lares,  Penates,  Vesta,  Fire), since these are the places of worship and the seats of the household gods. It was also the place in the house where the family would meet for meals, as well as a source of light and warmth; thus hearth came to be synonymous with house. During the wedding ( Wedding customs) the bride is led into the bridegroom's house and around the hearth, and the katachýsmata are poured over her, cf. the amphidrómia…

[German version] Occasionally feretrum (e.g., Ov. Met. 3,508; 14,747), the name for various types of devices employed for carrying goods. In particular, it refers to the racks on which objects were presented during processions (triumphs, funerals etc.), e.g., booty, prisoners, images of deities etc. (Suet. Caes. 76). The fericulum was also used to transport the deceased and objects to be interred or cremated (Stat. Theb. 6,126). Fericulum was also the name for the trencher ( Household equipment), the flat bowl in which foods were served during meals (e.g., Pet…

[German version] (ἁρπαστόν/ harpastón; harpastón; harpastum). Name for a small, firm ball, then also for a catch ball game using such a ball (Poll. 9,105; Ath. 1,14f.), similar to the   phainínda (cf. Clem. Al. 3,10,50 [and schol.]). The harpaston was a very physical combat game; details of the game are not known. One party attacks the player of the other side, who is in possession of the ball, and attempts to wrest the ball from him (ἁρπάζειν; harpázein, ‘[hastily] grasp’, ‘snatch’, ‘rob’). This player strives to pass the ball to his team mates who in turn are prevented …

[German version] [1] Piece of armour (μίτρα/ mítra; μίτρη/ mítrē). (1) According to Homer (Hom. Il. 4,137; 187; 216; 5,857) a piece of armour worn to protect the lower body, identified by archaeological research with semicircular plates of bronze, dating from the early Archaic period and found particularly on Crete. Similarly, mitra is the name of a piece of armour worn by the Salii (Dion. Hal. Ant. Rom. 2,70; Plut. Numa 13,4). (2) Belt for young women (Theocr. 27,55, cf. μιτροχίτων/ mitrochítōn, Athen. 12,523d) and goddesses (Callim. H. 1,120; 4,222, Epigr. 39) and also for…

[German version] I. Ancient Orient Adult men in the ancient Orient are mostly represented wearing beards, but they can also be depicted like gods and demons as beardless without having any different meaning. Beards consisted of a long or short full beard with or without a shaved lip part. The short beard finishes half-rounded or pointed below, the long beard is straight or half-rounded; the wavy strands of hair falling onto the chest mostly end in curls that form decorative rows in the layered types.…

(κοσμητής; kosmētḗs, ‘steward’). [German version] [1] Athenian official responsible for the training of the ephebes In Athens, the official responsible for the training of the ephebes after the reorganization of the ephēbeía around 335/334 BC. The kosmētes was chosen by the people, presumably from those citizens over 40 years of age ([Aristot.] Ath. Pol. 42,2). During the two-year training period, a kosmētes was probably responsible for a contingent of ephebes for both years. He is named in many lists of ephebes from the 4th cent. BC to the 3rd cent. AD; …

[German version] I. Ancient Orient In the Ancient Orient differences existed between male and female hairstyles as well as human and divine hairstyles. Ancient Oriental hairstyles were usually based on long hair. With the exception of goddesses who were portrayed en face with long curls, braided hairstyles were usually worn up to the 1st millennium. Men preferred knots and women braided crown styles. The form and size of knots and braided crowns were used to differentiate between gods and humans. Shaved heads as a special style were fr…

[German version] I. Science Σπόγγος/ spóngos, σπογγία/ spongía (Attic σπογγιά/ spongiá), Latin spongia (with the special names peniculus in comedies of such as Plautus and Terence, penicillus in Colum. 12,18,5 and Pliny) is the Bath Sponge ( Euspongia officinalis Bronn.), which grows in the Mediterranean. Four geographical subspecies, three black and one white (ἀπλυσία/ aplysía of the genus Sarcotragus Schmidt), are distinguished by Aristotle in his accurate description (Hist. an. 5,16,548a 30-549a 13; cf. Plin. HN 9,148-150) and a further one by Diosco…

(Τέττιξ, lit. “cicada”). [German version] [1] Founder of a city at the entrance to Hades A Cretan said to have founded a city on the Taenarum near the supposed entrance to Hades: there the man who killed Archilochus in battle, Callondas, nicknamed Corax, was sent by Delphi to placate Archilochus' ghost (Plut. De sera 17.615E, whence Suda α 4112, probably via Ael. (fr. 80)). The hypothesis of [1] that Archilochus called himself T. remains unproven, in spite of Lucian, Pseudol. 1 and Archil. fr. 223  West. Bowie, Ewen (Oxford) Bibliography 1 Göber, s. v. T. (1), RE 5 A, 1111. [German version] [2…

(τάπης, τάπις, ταπήτιον/ tápēs, tápis, tapḗtion; Lati. tapes, tapete). [German version] I. Ancient Near East and Egypt The only surviving rug (from kurgan V at Pazyrik, southern Siberia, 5th-4th cent. BC) is knotted in wool [1]. Otherwise, the existence of rugs in the ancient Near East can only be deduced from various pictorial representations. Owing to their similarity to modern rugs [2], the geometric motifs on wall paintings (7th cent.) at Çatal Hüyük (Turkey) are called 'kelim motifs'. However, definite evid…

[German version] [1] Architectural term (κρηπίς/ krēpís, κρηπίδωμα/ krēpídōma). Ancient term, documented frequently in building inscriptions, for the stepped base which served as the foundation for various edifices, but particularly for Greek colonnade construction (sources: Ebert 7-9). The krepis rests on the euthynteria (the top layer of the foundation, the first to be precisely planed) and ends in the stylobate, the surface on which the columns stand. The shaping of the initially one- or two-stepped krepis in the early 6th cent. BC is an important result of the comi…

[German version] I. Italic, Celtic and Germanic Bucket-shaped vessel, as a rule metal, for the carrying and short-term holding of liquids. The shape is generally conical, with flat shoulders and a wide opening, on which a carrying handle was often also fixed with eyelets. The bottom, body and rim were mostly fashioned separately, then riveted together. In Etruria situlae are recorded from the 9th cent. BC onwards and were widely distributed there from the Orientalising Period on. Situlae had far greate…

[German version] [1] Festal form of the toga Roman garment, a festal form of the toga , differing from it only in colour. It was dyed purple-red, with scarlet or white stripes ( clavi) and was worn on official occasion by equestrians and Salii [2]. Originally it was the dress of Roman kings and was then taken over by consuls, but they wore it only on special occasions (e.g. opening of the Temple of Janus). Other wearers of the trabea in the early period were the augures and the Flamines Dialis and Martialis (priests of Jupiter and Mars), who then wore the toga praetexta from the 3rd cent. BC onw…

[German version] [1] Dish of clay or metal for meals Dish of clay or metal for meals (fish, meat, desserts). Vessel for the kitchen and cooking, for sacrificial offerings and for melting metals; identified by graffiti probably as the vessel forms Dragendorff 31 and 32 ( Clay vessels). Bowls (  acetabulum ) were also called catinus.  Terra sigillata;  Clay vessels Hurschmann, Rolf (Hamburg) Bibliography G. Hilgers, Lat. names of vessels, BJ 31. Supplement 1969, 48f., 142-144 F. Fless, Opferdiener und Kultmusiker auf stadtröm. histor. Reliefs, 1995, 19f. [German version] [2] Meltin…