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(Ἵππαρχος; Hípparchos). [German version] [1] Second son of Peisistratus, around 530 BC Second son of  Peisistratus and an Athenian woman. Together with his older brother  Hippias [1] and the younger Thessalus, H. assumed his inheritance (528/527 BC) after his father's death (Thuc. 6,55; [Aristot.] Ath. Pol. 18,1). In contrast to Hippias, H. exhibited no political profile. He dedicated himself to aristocratic social life and culture and invited, among others,  Anacreon [1] of T…

(Ἱκέτας; Hikétas). [German version] [1] Syracusan nobleman, tyrant of Leontini, around 350 BC Syracusan nobleman, friend of  Dion [I 1]. In the troubles after Dion's death in 353 BC he won the tyranny of Leontini. He initially supported the Syracusans in their struggle against  Dionysius [2] II. However, during his campaign against Syracuse in 346 he reached an understanding with Dionysius because of the approaching Carthaginians and supported his plea to the Corinthians for help. The superiority of the Cart…

[German version] (Λαμίσκος; Lamískos). A Tarantine, member of the circle around Archytas [1]; he led the legation that the friends of Plato in Tarentum sent to Syracuse in 360 BC after the latter's break with Dionysius [2] II. L. succeeded in getting Dionysius to let Plato leave Syracuse (Pl. Ep. 7, 350a 7-b 4; derived from this are the mentions of L. in the two forged Archytas letters in Diog. Laert. 3,22 and 8,80).…

I. Mesopotamia [German version] A. Numerical systems Before systems for representing numbers in writing were (further) developed, counting stones, known as calculi or tokens, were used in arithmetic. As first-order representations they enabled operations such as increasing, decreasing, combining, separating, and distributing. Their re…

(Μνήσαρχος; Mnḗsarchos). [German version] [1] Father of Pythagoras Father of Pythagoras (6th and early 5th cents. BC), whose historicity seems certain (cf. Heracl. fr. 17 Marcovich and Hdt. 4,95,1), even if the tradition is contradictory and sometimes legendary. M. is sometimes described as a Samian gem cutter (Diog. Laert. 8,1; Apul. Flor. 15; cf. Porph. Vita Pythagorica 1; [1]), sometimes as a merchant from the Tyrrhenian island of Lemnos who had settled on Samos (Neanthes FGrH 84 F 29a = Porph. ibid…

(Ἵππασος; Híppasos). Name often used in epic texts for figures lacking any further characterization, particularly common in patronymic information about less important heroes. Esp. interesting in this context are [1] - [4]: …