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[German version] Alleged author, otherwise unknown, of a powerfully effective anti-Manichaean ( Mani, Manichaeism) polemical treatise, recorded in its entirety only in Latin translation and known as the Acta Archelai (CPG 3570). Despite an indication of a Syrian source (Jer. Vir. ill. 72), the basis of the Latin translation from the 1st half of the 5th cent. could well have been a Greek original created between 330 and 348 [1. 136-140]. Information beyond any doubt regarding the author - H. names himself as author (Acta 68: ego scripsi; in the sense of ‘scribe’, ‘editor’?) - and…

[German version] ('saints' lives'), an important genre of hagiographic literature. The VS enjoy a special position among the documents concerning early Christian saints (B.) and their veneration. From the point of view of the literary genre, they belong to the biography ('spiritual biography': [5.8]), but they can also assume features of other Greek and Roman literary genres (such as the novel), as well as of biblical stories. Modern scholars favour the term 'hagiographic discourse', which includes numerou…

(Θεοδώρητος; Theodṓrētos). [German version] [1] Bishop of Cyrrhus, 1st half of the 5th cent. Bishop of Cyrrhus (born in c. 393, bishop in 423, died in c. 466). T. received a solid classical education in the monastic milieu of Antioch [1]. A devoted pastor in his diocese, he fought against heretics (Heresy) and worked towards improving living conditions. In the Christological conflict between Cyrillus [2] of Alexandria and Nestorius he joined the latter without reservations. He was dismissed by the Synod of Ephesus in 449…

(Συνέσιος; Synésios) [German version] [1] S. of Cyrene Neoplatonist philosopher and bishop, c. AD 400 Neoplatonist philosopher and bishop ( c. AD 370 - c. 413). S., of a leading family at Cyrene (Libya superior), first studied at Alexandria [1] with the Neoplatonist philosopher Hypatia. From 399 to 402 (or 397-400; S.' chronology is disputed) he went to the court at Constantinople at the bidding of his home city to obtain tax relief. He then travelled to Alexandria (where he married a Christian) and subsequently retire…

(Πρόκλος/ Próklos). [German version] [1] Bishop of Constantinople 434-446 Bishop of Constantinople (434-446). Probably born before 390 in Constantinople, after a thorough schooling, P. occupied a position of trust under bishop Atticus (406-425). In 426, Atticus' successor Sisinnius consecrated him bishop of Cyzicus, but, in face of local opposition, P. was unable to occupy his bishop's chair. Passed over on many occasions, he eventually became bishop of Constantinople in 434. He stood in high esteem as a preacher; besides letters - among them the epistle of 435 Tomus ad Armenios (CP…

(Ζαχαρίας/ Zacharías, Graecised form of the Hebrew Zacharyah, 'Yahweh remembers'). [German version] [1] Stoned to death at the command of the king Joash, 9th cent. BC According to 2 Chr 24:17-22, Zechariah bar Jehoiada was stoned to death in the Temple at the command of the king Joash (840-801 BC), for having reproached the people for practicing idolatry and hence abandoning their god. The Jewish Haggada developed this story: the blood of the murdered one boils on the floor of the Temple and does not come to rest (ultima…

[German version] A. Definition Christianity (Χριστιανισμός, Christianismós) was a monotheistic religious system ( Monotheism) which emerged from Judaism in the procuratorial province of Judaea during the 1st cent. AD. At Christianity's centre were the life and mission of Jesus of Nazareth, whose adherents regarded him as the ‘Messiah’, or God's ‘anointed’ (Χριστός, Christós), and as his son, wholly participating in the nature of God. Trombley, Frank R. (Cardiff) [German version] B.1 Cultural adaptation The word ‘Christian’ (χριστιανός, christianós) arose after c. 36 in An…

(εξήγησις; exḗgēsis) [German version] A. Judaism The Jewish exegesis, which started within the biblical texts themselves in the form of explanatory glossaries and extrapolations in antiquity served to bring up to date the traditions of the sacred scriptures ( Bible). In early Judaism, biblical stories were retold (known as the ‘Rewritten Bible’), e.g. the ‘Book of Jubilees’ ( c. mid 2nd cent. BC) or the Liber Antiquitatum Biblicarum ( c. end of the 1st cent. AD). These retellings fill in narrative gaps in the biblical text, reconcile contradictions, and also add…

(Ἰγνάτιος; Ignátios). [German version] [1] Bishop of Antioch Bishop of Antioch, martyr, ranks as an Apostolic Father ( Apostolic Fathers). Rist, Josef (Würzburg) [German version] A. Biography The person and work of I. cannot be separated from each other because the only certain biographical information is extant in the corpus of letters ascribed to him. Therefore, the position taken in the ‘Ignatian debate’, i.e. in the discussion over the unity and genuineness of the preserved letters (see [4], with response [5; 6]), al…

(Λεύκιος; Leúkios). [German version] [1] Roman in the Ptolemaic army L. (= Lucius), son of Gaius, Roman, Ptolemaic phroúrarchos on Itanus (between 221-209 BC), thus the first Roman known to have had a higher rank in the Ptolemaic army. PP VI 15117. Ameling, Walter (Jena) [German version] [2] L. Charinus Ostensible author of apocryphal Acts of the Apostles Ostensible author of apocryphal Acts of the Apostles. As such L. appears once with a double name in the middle of the 9th cent. in Photius (Bibl. cod. 114), who ascribes to him the authorship of the …

(Βασιλείδης; Basileídēs). [German version] [1] Leader of the  Epicurean School (since 201/0) Epicurean (c . 245-175 BC.), fourth leader of the  Epicurean School (since 201/0) who taught Philonides of Laodicea on the Pontus. He studied mathematics and is known for his discussions in Alexandria with the father of the mathematician Hypsicles about a writing by Apollonius [13] of Perge. He is also known for a debate together with Thespis, another Epicurean, about anger, held against Nicasicrates and Timasagoras. Dorandi, Tiziano (Paris) Bibliography Testimonia: W. Crönert, Kolotes…

(Κήρινθος; Kḗrinthos). [German version] [1] Town on the eastern coast of Euboea Town on the eastern coast of  Euboea (Hom. Il. 2,538; Str. 10,1,3; 5), localized near the modern Mandudion. The origins of C. date back into the Neolithic. In historical times, C. probably belonged to  Histiaea. Inscriptions: IG XII 9, 1184f. Kalcyk, Hansjörg (Petershausen) Bibliography E. Freund, s.v. K., in: Lauffer, Griechenland, 323. [German version] [2] Jewish-Christian Gnostic Jewish-Christian  Gnostic, contemporary with the Apostles (1st/ early 2nd cents. AD). According to the…

(Θέογνις/ Théognis). [German version] [1] Elegiac poet, 6th cent. BC Elegiac poet, 6th cent. BC Bowie, Ewen (Oxford) [German version] I. Life and textual history T. was born in Megara [2] in Greece (Didymus in schol. Plat. leg. 630a), hardly Megara [3] in Sicily (Suda Θ 136 and probably Plat. l.c.,), ca. 544-1 BC (Suda l.c.; acc. to [17] 65-71 ca. 630-600). Plat. l.c. (citing El. 77-8) and Isoc. Or. 3,42-3 first name T. as a good adviser, and according to Stob. 4,29,53 Xen. wrote On Theognis and cited El. 22-3 and 183-190. T.'s poems were probably sung at 5th and 4th cent. B…

(Hebrew Mošæh, Greek Μω(υ)σῆς; Mō(y)sȇs). [1] Israelite religious founder [German version] I. Biblical tradition According to tradition, M. was a Levite who grew up as an Egyptian prince, was forced to flee to Midian, was called there by the god Yahweh to lead the enslaved Hebrew people out of Egypt; Biblical cultic and moral law were revealed to him on Mt. Sinai, and he led the Hebrew people through the desert to the edge of the Promised Land, where he died on Mount Nebo, across from Jericho (Ex 2 - Dt 34). …

(Οὐράνιος/ Ouránios). [German version] [0] Usurper, mid 3rd cent. L. Iulius Aurelius Sulpicius Severus U. Antoninus, usurper, who had coins minted in Emesa in 253/4; very likely identical with the priest of Aphrodite Sampsigeramus (Ioh. Mal. 12 p. 296 f.) who warded off an attack on Emesa by the Persian army in 253, in the course of which their leader (in the text Sapor [1] I himself) was killed. It may be that Or. Sib. 13,158-171 and IGLS 1799-1801 also refer to these events. When with Valerianus' [2] d…

(Εὐάγριος; Euágrios) [German version] [1] Ponticus Christian writer and monastic leader Religious writer and monastic spiritual leader (AD 345-399). Born in the Pontic Ibora, he was a pupil of  Gregorius of Nazianzus; after periods spent in Constantinople (ordination to deacon) and Jerusalem, he stayed in the Egyptian anchorite community of Kellia (Nitrian desert) from 383 as a much sought-after spiritual advisor. Posthumously condemned as an Origenist (553 Council of Constantinople), his few extant works …

[German version] [1] Bishop of Caesarea [2] Maritima/Palaestina Bishop of  Caesarea [2] Maritima/Palaestina (died before AD 400). The nephew of  Cyrillus of Jerusalem, installed as bishop around 365/367, took part in the Council of Constantinople in 381 and in the synod there in 394. At the wish of his uncle, G. wrote a continuation of the Church history by  Eusebius [7] of Caesarea, going as far as 395, which had a long-lasting effect (Gelasius of Cyzicus, hagiographic lives, etc.). Parts of the lost s…

(Εὐτύχης; Eutýchēs). [German version] [1] Gem-cutter of the 1st cent. AD Gem-cutter of the 1st cent. AD, signed as ‘son of  Dioscorides of Aegeae’ the rock crystal with a bust of Athena (Berlin, SM), in the style of the Athena of Velletri. Athena of  Velitrae;  Intaglio;  Gem and cameo cutters Michel, Simone (Hamburg) Bibliography Zazoff, AG, 31770, 331 pl. 92,3 AGD II, Berlin 169 pl. 80 and 81 no. 456. [German version] [2] Lat. grammarian of the 4th cent. AD (Eutyc(h)ius, MSS), Latin grammarian of the 4th cent. AD, a pupil of  Priscianus and author of an Ars de verbo, probably identical with…

(Ἑρμίας; Hermías). [German version] [1] Around 350 BC tyrant over Atarneus and Assos (or Hermeias) Around 350 BC successor of Eubulus as tyrant over  Atarneus and  Assos (Diog. Laert. 5,3), possibly pupil of Plato (Str. 13,1,57; Theopomp. FGrH 115 F 250; by contrast Pl. Ep. 6,322e). Along with other philosophers he brought Aristotle to the court and married him to his niece  Pythias. After the Persians had reconquered Egypt in 343/342, H. considered his region to be under threat and contacted  Philippus II (…

[German version] A. General Αἱ χρονικαὶ, τὰ χρονικά; Hai chronikaì, tà chroniká, chronicon; Latin according to Isid. Orig. 5,37 series temporum. No antique or medieval description of the genre [1; 2]. Chronicles are written histories structured on a yearly basis. They vary from mere lists of dates to miniature narratives for individual years: it is then, as  annals -- retrospective in the Roman period, ongoing and contemporaneous in the Carolingian -- that they enter the realm of real  historiography. This progres…