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[German version] (Ἱπποκλῆς; Hippoklês). H. of Cyme on the island of Eubo…

[German version] (Ἐχέστρατος; Echéstratos). Legendary Spartan king, son of Agis I, father of Labotas and thus the third king from the house of the Agiads (Hdt. 7,204). According to Paus. 3,2,2, the Cynureans are said to have been expelled from the Argolis in the reign of E. Meier, Mischa (Bielefeld)

[German version] (Ἀβάσκαντος; Abáskantos). Athenian from Cephisia, son of Eumolpus, from AD 135/6 34 years παιδοτρίβης δια βίου ( paidotríbēs dia bíou) (CIA 3,1112; 740 and passim), died after 169/70 Traill, PAA, 101125). His son A. (Traill, PAA, 101135) was κοσμητὴς τῶν ἐφήβων ( kosmētḕs tôn ephḗbōn) 192/3-200/1 (CIA 3, 1159). Meier, Mischa (Bielefeld)

[German version] (Ἡρόστρατος; Hēróstratos). Arsonist, of unknown origin, involved in the destruction of the Temple of Artemis at  Ephesus in 356 BC. Under torture he confessed that he had been motivated by a thirst for glory, whereupon the Ephesians decided that his name should never again be mentio…

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[German version] Eldest son of  Geisericus and his successor in AD 477-484. King of the Vandals ( rex Vandalorum et Alanorum; Victor Vitensis 2,1). H. was f…

[German version] Conflicts between the Spartans and the Messenians ( Messana, Messene [2]) are already attested at the end of the 8th cent. BC (Paus. 4,4,2f.). Repeated assaults by Spartan nobles against Messenians culminated ca. 700/690-680/670 (the older date, based on the …

Meier, Mischa (Bielefeld) [German version] A. Early Period - General Characteristics (CT) Any attempt to trace the heritage of ancient drama in modern opera must focus less on the continuation of ancient genres in the post-medieval world than on a series of changing ideas and projections that have accompanied the history of opera and have on several occasions played a decisive role in its development; however, there are no historical or genre-specific links with ancient drama. When around 1600 a group of po…

[German version] The term refers to those Byzantine territories in Italy and North Africa which after the reorganization under  Mauricius (AD 582-602) were administered by an exarch (ἔξαρχος; éxarchos, …

(Ἀκρότατος; Akrótatos).…

(Εὐρυσθένης; Eurysthénēs). [German version] [1] Legendary Spartan king, descendant of Heracles …

[German version] (Ἐπικυδίδας; Epikydídas). Spartiate, who, in 394 BC, delivered to King Agesilaus the order of the Ephoroi to return to Sparta from Asia Minor (Xen. Hell. 4,2,2; Plut. Agesilaus 15,2). He was probably a troop commander in the battle of Aigospotamoi (405) for which he was honoured in Delphi with a memorial (Paus. 10,9,10, although the name was transmitted in a corrupt form). He fell in 378 in Boeotia under Agesilaus (Xen. Hell. 5,4,39). He is probably not identical with a troop commander of the same name mentioned in Thuc. 5,12f. Meier, Mischa (Bielefeld)

[German version] (Ἀβρώτη; Abrṓtē). According to Plut. Mor. 295a, the canny wife of  Ninus, the king of Megara. In her memory, he is supposed to have introduced her official dress ἀφάβρωμα ( aphábrōma) to the Megarean women; its abolition was supposedly forbidden by an oracle. Meier, Mischa (Bielefeld)

Roman gentilicium (also Cerinius) of Oscan origin, derived from Ceres; frequently attested in Pompeii and the surrounding area [1. 467f.]. [German version] [1] Initiates in the Bacchic mysteries, 2nd cent. BC According…

[German version] (Ἱππόνικος; Hippónikos). Son of  Callias and  Elpinice, the (half)sister of  Cimon, rich Athenian (And. 1,130; Lys. 19,48) from the family of the Kerykes, in the office of dadoûchos in Eleusis like his father ( Mysteria). As stratēgós in 427/6 BC, he led the successful campaign against the Tanagraeans alongside Eurymedon [4] (Thuc. 3,91,4f.; And. 1,115; Diod. Sic. 12,65,3ff.). He died shortly before 422. In her first marriage, his wife was married to  Pericles (Plut. Pericles 24,8, where it is falsely assumed that her first husband was H.)…

[German version] (Ἑλλανοδίκαι; Hellanodíkai, also Ἑλληνοδίκαι; Hellēnodíkai), the supervisors and judges at the competitions of Olympia, Nemea (IG IV 587) and the Asc…

[German version] C. Crassus, P., of unknown descent. In 43 BC, he served as legate of  Lepidus in Gaul (Cic. Fam. 10,21,4). Probably holder of a command position under M.  Antonius [I 9] in the Perusine War (App. B Civ. 5,50; MRR 2,373). Cos. suff. at the end of 40 BC; from 36 BC, he fought successfully in Armenia and in the Caucasus, and took part in Antony's Parthian campaigns. In the winter 33/32 BC, he returned to Antony from a command in Armenia, was in charge of the land forces at Actium; after the defeat, he fled to join Antony in …

[German version] (Λάμις; Lámis). From Megara, leader of a party of Megarian colonists who, probably together with settlers from Chalcis [1], went to Sicily around 730 BC. There the Megarians separated from the Chalcidians, and, the latter already having occupied the most favourable locations (Naxos, Catana, Leontini), founded Trotilum. They accepted an invitation from Leontini to drive out the Sicels ( Siculi) and live in the polis, but they were soon driven out themselves, founding Thapsus (moder…

[German version] (Γοργίδας/ Gorgídas, or Γοργίας/ Gorgías in Diodorus). The most important Theban politician and commander of the 4th cent. BC (cf. Diod. Sic. 15,39,2) alongside  Epaminondas and  Pelopidas, Hipparchus in c. 383. After the Spartan seizure of the Cadmeia, G. remained in contact with Theban fugitives in Athens (Plut. Mor. 578BC; 576A). He is said to have organized the resistance against Sparta by forming the ‘holy throng’ ( hieròs lóchos, ἱερὸς λόχος) (Plut. Mor. 594AB; Plut. Pel. 12; 18f.; Polyaenus, Strat. 2,5,1; in Ath. 13,602a attributed to Epami…

[German version] The term refers to the wars between the former companions and generals of king Alexander [4] ( Diadochi and Epigoni) for his inheritance, lasting from his death in 323 BC to the formation of the Hellenistic state system. The period of the D. can be roughly divided into two periods: the wars leading up to the death of  Antigonos [1] Monophthalmos (301 BC), who championed most forcefully the unity of the empire, and the subsequent phase, beginning as early as …

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[German version] Daughter of the West Roman emperor Avitus [1], sister of Ecdicius, married the poet Sidonius Apollinaris before AD 455. She brought great wealth to the marriage and was supposedly opposed to her husband's charitableness (Sidon. Epist. 2,…

[German version] [1] Elean, brother of the seer Teisamenus (5th cent. BC) Elean, son of Antiochus, received as a result of the activity of his brother, the seer Teisamenus, together with him Spartan citizenship (Hdt. 9,33; 35). Meier, Mischa (Bielefeld) …

[German version] (μεσότης, mesótēs: ‘middle’, ‘mean’, understood in the positive sense). Key concept of a Greek ethical (and resulting political) maxim, which - according to the classical definition of Aristotle (see below) - postulates an orientation toward the mean between ‘too much’ ( hyperbolḗ) and ‘too little’ ( élleipsis). A diffuse mesótēs ideal is perceptible since the Archaic period, and was already propagated by Hesiodus (Op. 694) and ascribed primarily to the Delphic oracle or the Seven Sages ( mēdén ágan: ‘nothing too much’, supporting documents in [1. 11f.]). A…

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[German version] (ναύαρχος; naúarchos). Title of a Spartan naval commander, first evidence of use during the Persian Wars in 480 BC, when Sparta commanded the Greek forces, including the fleet, and the establishment of military offices became necessary. The first …

[German version] Regarding the name [5. 394]. King of the Vandals and Alani AD 428-477, successor to his half-brother  Gundericus. In 429 G. crossed from the south of Spain to north Africa with 80,000 others (Victor Vitensis 1,2), possibly called in by the Comes Africae  Bonifatius [1], who fell from grace in 427, but ultimately he went because the wealth of the country. Neither Boniface nor an eastern Roman auxiliary corps commanded by Aspar ( Ardabur [2]) were able to stop the Vandals' advance; in 431 G. conquered H…

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[German version] (Gundahar, Gundihar, Guntiar). Traditionally the son of Gibica; king of the Burgundians. In AD 411 with the king of the Alanians Goar, G. elevated the Gaulish senator  Jovinus in Mainz to the status of emperor (Olympiodorus FHG 4, 61 fr. 17). After the latter's death in 417, he entered into a   foedus with  Honorius (Chron. min. 1,467; 2,155 Mommsen), but in 435 invaded the province of Belgica I where  Aetius [2] defeated him (Sid. Apoll. Carm. 7,234f.). In 436 G., al…

(Ἀνάξανδρος; Anáxandros). [German version] [1] Spartan king at the time of the second Messenian war According to Paus. 3,3,4 and 4,15,3 Spartan king at the time of the second Messenian war, Agiad, son of Eurycrates (Hdt. 7,204).…

(Ἀναξανδρίδας; Anaxandrídas). …

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(Ἀγασικλῆς; Agasiklês), Ion. Hegesicles. [German version] [1] Spartan king (1st half of 6th cent. BC) Spartan king, Eurypontid, father of Ariston. During the basileia of A. and of Leon (first half of the 6th cent. BC) the Spartans suffered a defeat against Tegea (Hdt. 1,65; otherwise Paus. 3,7,6, who claims that A. did not wage any wars). …

[German version] (Ὀθρυάδας/ Othryádas, Ὀθρυάδης/ Othryadēs). When, during their conflict over the territory of Thyreatis around 550 BC, the Argives and Spartans had agreed to hold a decisive battle with 300 selected warriors on either side, O. was the only Spartiate to survive. While the two Argive survivors were reporting the outcome in their homeland, O. robbed his fallen enemies of their weapons. Both side…

[German version] Spartan nauarchos in Byzantium, when in 400 BC the remains of the army of the younger Cyrus entered Bithynia. Recalled from there in 400/399, A. was sent as harmost to Abydus in 389 to secure the Spartan position in the northern Aegean against Athens, but he fell in 388 in a battle against the Athenians under Iphicrates (Xen. An. 5,1,4; 6,1,16; 7,1.2; Diod. Sic. 14,30,4; Xen. Hell. 4,8,32 ff.). Meier, Mischa (Bielefeld)

[German version] (Ἀγησανδρίδας; Agēsandrídas) Spartan, son of Agesander, vanquished the Athenians under  Thymochares with a Peloponnesian fleet in 411 BC at Eretria, which caused Euboea (with the exception of Oreos) to secede from Athens (Thuc. 8,94 ff.). After the Spartan defeat at Cynossema (411), A. was sent with a contingent to the Hellespont, where he beat Thymochares again (Thuc. 8,107; Xen. Hell. 1,1,1). In 409/08 he was in Thrace (Xen. Hell. 1,3,17). Meier, Mischa (Bielefeld)

[German version] King of the Thuringians c. AD 507/511-531/2. Around 510 he married  Amalaberga, the niece of the king of the Ostrogoths  Theoderic the Great, and thus became involved in his policy of alliances (Anon. Vales. 12,70; Cassiod. Var. 4,1; Iord. Get. 299; Procop. Goth. 5,12,22). H. initially ruled with his brothers Baderic and Berthar. After their murder, he was sole ruler until he was overthrown by the king of the Franks  Theoderic c. 531/2. He died shortly afterwards. His territory became part of Franconia (Greg. Tur. Franc. 3,4-8; Procop. Goth. 5,13,1f.…

[German version] Son of  Hunericus and Eudocia [2], the daughter of Valentinian III (Theoph. 5964; 6026), king of the Vandals in AD 523-530 who ended the anti-Catholic policies of his predecessors and attempted to come closer to Byzantium (he minted coins with the image of Justin I [1. 94]), while the relationship with the East Goths deteriorated considerably. The Vandal opposition under the leadership of  Gelimer therefore took advantage of a defeat of H.'s troops against Arabs in Byzacena to dep…

[German version] (πατρονόμος, ‘guardian of the ancestral traditions…

[German version] (Δάμιππος; Dámippos). Spartan in the service of Hieronymus of Syracuse to whom he gave the advice of adherence to the alliance with Rome in 215 BC (Pol. 7,5,3). Later he also served Epicydes; in 212 he was sent as envoy to Philip V of Macedonia, and in the process fell into the hands of the Romans. The negotiations for his release, in the course of which M. Cl…

[German version] (Ἡγησίδαμος; Hēgēsídamos). In the Suda s.v. Ἱππίας/ Hippías named as the teacher of  Hippias of Elis. Meier, Mischa (Bielefeld)

[German version] (εὐεργέτης; euergétēs, ‘benefactor’). An honorary title bestowed by Greek communities upon people who rendered particularly outstanding services to them. There is evidence of this term with this meaning from the 5th cent. BC (cf. Hdt. 8,136), but euergesia as an aspect of the ideal of generosity of the Greek aristocracy can be traced back to the Homeric period ( Euergetism). In Athens the work of individual citizens for the polis in the 5th cent. was still primarily regulated by  liturgies and it was expected of on…

[German version] (Ἀμφίδαμος, Ἀμφιδάμας; Amphídamos, Amphidámas) Captain of the Eleans. In 218 BC A. was imprisoned by Philip V, but was released without payment of ransom after he promised to press the Eleans to form an alliance with Philip. His efforts failed, however; suspected of betrayal, A. had to flee Elis and returned to Philip (Pol. 4,75,6; 84-86).  Philippus Meier, Mischa (Bielefeld) Bibliography …

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(Ἀνήριστος; Anḗristos). [German version] [1] Spartan (beginning of 5th cent. BC) Spartan. After the murder of the Persian envoy in Sparta, his son  Sperthias went willingly to atone for this de…

[German version] (Ἐτεόνικος; Eteónikos…

[German version] (καλοκἀγαθία; kalokagathía). ‘Excellence’, a combination of kalós k(aì) (‘and’) agathós, where kalós means ‘beautiful’, and agathós ‘good’. Because since Homeric times Greek aristocrats had been defining themselves with these two adjectives [1. 8f.], kalokagathia was thought…

[German version] (Ἀρχῖνος; Archînos). Athenian, around 404 BC initially an adherent of the political group around  Theramenes (Aristot. Ath. Pol. 34,3). Together with  Thras…

(Δορύλαος; Dorýlaos). [German version] [1] Great-great-grandfather of Strabo, friend of Mithridates V From Amisus, great-great-grandfather of the geographer Strabo, recruited mercenaries in Thrace, Greece and Crete as …

[German version] (Ἀξίοχος; Axíochos). Uncle of  Alcibiades (Pl. Euthd. 275a), and accused together wit…

(ῥήτρα/ rhḗtra, Ionian ῥήτρη/ rhḗtrē, Elean ράτρα/ wrátra; related to εἴρειν/ eírein ('speak')). [German version] [1] Contract (general) Generally 'ceremonial utterance, something said with a claim to authority', figuratively also 'agreement, contract' (e.g., Hom. Il. 14,393; Syll.3 9, Elis, 6th cent. BC), later 'resolution, law' [1. 17-22; 2. 431; 3. 120283]. The phrase εὐθεῖαι ῥῆτραι/ eutheîai rhêtrai ('legal covenants') attested in Tyrtaeus fr. 1b,6 = °14,6 Gentili/Prato (2nd half of 7th cent. BC) expresses an ideal of a consensus extending to all po…

[German version] Son of Massilia, was elevated to king of the Suebi by the king of the West Goths Theodericus II in AD 456 after the murder of Rechiarius, although he had to defend himself against other pretenders [1. 124]. In 457 he plundered Olisipo (Lisbon) and laid waste to Gallaecia, in 459 to Lusitania and Portumcale Castrum (Oporto). In the same year, he murdered his brother, was then killed himself in 460 (Chron. min. 2,29-31 Mommsen). PLRE 2, 704. Meier, Mischa (Bielefeld) Bibliography 1 D. Claude, Geschichte der Westgoten, 1970.

[German version] (Ἔνδιος; Éndios). Spartan, son of Alcibiades. In 420 BC, E. attempted in vain as a delegate in Athens to prevent a symmachia between the Athenians and Argos, Mantineia and Elis (Thuc. 5,44-47). As ephor he voted in 413/2 on the advice of Alcibiades [3], who was banned from Athens and with whose family he was associated by …

[German version] (Ἑρπυλλίς; Herpyllís). Life companion (first as slave, then freed, but probably not second wife) of Aristotle [6] (died 322 BC), in whose will she was lavished with money, servants, and the right of residence in the philosopher's estates in Chalcis and Stageira because of her excellent care of him (ὅτι σπουδαία περὶ ἐμὲ ἐγένετο). In case of a future marriage, the executors were to take care that she wou…

[German version] Eastern Goth, comes Syracusanae civitatis in AD 526/7, commander of the province of Sicilia, known from two letters of  Athalaric (Cassiod. Var. 9,11; 14) who threatened the comes Gotharum G. with dismissal from office because of serious irregularities in the levying of taxes and in legal decisions. Meier, Mischa (Bielefeld) Strothmann, Meret (Bochum)

(Εὐρύλοχος; Eurýlochos). [German version] [1] Relative and companion of Odysseus Close relation and ambivalent companion of  Odysseus. He is the only one not to accept the invitation of  Circe, and so escapes being transformed into a pig (Hom. Od. 10,205-274; Apollod. Epit. 7,14-15; Ov. Met. 14,287). When E. l…

(Ĕκδίκιος; Ekdíkios) [German version] [2] Son of the Emperor Avitus, 5th cent. AD Arvernian from a senator's family, son of the emperor  Avitus [1], brother-in-law of Sidonius Apollinaris, received an excellent education (in Clermont). Around AD 469, he was probably at the court of  Anthemius [2]; probably in 471 he organized the defence of Clermont against the Visigoths using his own means. During a famine in Burgundy in 473, he supplied the (suffering) population with food. In 474, Iulius Nepos awarded the patricius title to him for his achievements and probably made him a magister utr…

[German version] [1] P. Orator, 1st cent. BC C. is mentioned in Cic. Brut. 205 as copyist (ed.?) of the speeches of P. Sulpicius and as an extremely eloquent orator (positive, in Cic. Clu. 29, 50, 73f.), whereas Aper in Tac. Dial. 21,1 regards him as too old. He was not a senator, but appeared in the trial of Oppianicus (Clu. 58). The passive use of admirari in the only quote in Prisc. Gramm. 2,381,12f. leads to the conclusion that C. was an analogist.…

[German version] (Εὐάγων / Euágōn, in MSS also as Εὐγαίων / Eugaíōn, Εὐγέων / Eugéōn). Of Samos, hailed by Dionysius of Halicarnassus as one of the earliest of the Greek historiographers (De Thucydide 5) and the first Samian historian (last third of the 5th cent. BC), the author of Hôroi Samíōn, which was still re…

(δεκαδαρχία; dekadarchía). [German version] [1] Rule by ten c. 400 BC ‘Rule by ten’; commissions of ten men, used in 405/04 BC by the oligarchically inclined Spartan Lysander, especially in the former Athenian sphere of influence; according to Diodorus (14,13,1), besides dekadarchia he also set up oligarchies, but according to Xenophon (Hell. 3,5,13; 6,3,8), Plutarch (Lys. 13) and Nepos (Lys. 1,4-2,1) dekadarchia persisted ‘everywhere’. This is improbable, as Sp…

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[German version] [1] Legendary king of the Arcadian Orchomenus (2nd half 7th cent. BC) Legendary king of the Arcadian Orchomenus (Apollod. FGrH 244 F 334; according to Paus. 4,17,2; 8,5,13 king of Trapezus) at the time of the Second Messenian War (2nd half of the 7th cent. BC); according to Diog. Laert. 1,94, he ruled, together with his son, over almost all of Arcadia. As leader of the Arcadians, on several occasions A. supposedly betrayed his Messenian allies under the leadership of  Aristomenes to Sparta (Paus. 4,17,2-8; 22,1-6), and he was finally stoned …

(Frederick). [German version] [1] Son of the West Gothic king Theodoric I, co-ruler of Theoderic II about AD 450 Son of the West Gothic king Theoderic I, brother and co-ruler of Theoderic II, whom he helped to the throne in AD 453 after the murder of the eldest brother Thorismud (Chron. min. 1,483; 2,27 Mommsen; Greg. Tur. Franc. 2,7); after successful battles against the Spanish Bagauds (probably as magister militum, cf. Chron. min. 2,27; in this regard [1. 690f.]) he was involved in 455 in th…

[German version] Mentioned by Pliny the Elder as the source for parts of his Naturalis historia (Plin. HN 16,216; 37,24; 97; 127); Solinus also repeatedly draws on a C.B. as a source for chronological details (cf. Solin. 1,97; 2,11; 2,18); still the identity of this C.B. with that referred to in Pliny (suspected by [1. XIV]) cannot be proved [2. 646f.]. The inscriptions CIL II 35 and 5184 (=ILS 2920 and 2921) from Lusitania (1st cent. AD), according to which a Lucius CB was …

[German version] King of the West Goths, AD 680-687. As comes at the court of Wamba, E. was not free of involvement in the latter's deposal and he had himself anointed king without any election. In 681 he had a new version of the law of the West Goths issued. His policy of strengthening the kingship came to grief in 683, when he …

Roman family name, presumably of Etruscan origin (in Greek also Καρείνας, Καρρείνας; Kareínas, Karreínas), reliably attested from the 1st cent. BC (ThlL, Onom. 2,209f.). I. Republican Age [German version] [I 1] C., C. Follower of Marius Follower of Marius, in the Civil War sent to Picenum against  Pompeius in 83 BC (Plut. Pompeius 7); he was praetor in 82 BC , and suffered a number of defeats in northern and central Italy. After the flight of the consul Cn.  Papirius Carbo to Africa, the remaining Marian military leaders united their troops with the Samn…

(Ἀνδροκλῆς; Androklês). [German version] [1] Messenian king shortly before the outbreak …

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[German version] [1] Addressee of Pliny Ep. 6,31 Addressee of Pliny Ep. 6,31, cf. [1]. PIR…

(Ἀδείμαντος; Adeímantos). [German version] [1] Corinthian (5 cent. BC) Corinthian, son of Ocytus, fled in a cowardly manner, according to Herodotus (8,94), in the war against Xerxes with the Corinthian contingent before the naval battle at  Salamis in 480 BC. In fact, he was probably supposed to guard an area apart from the scene of the battle, namely the western entrance to the gulf, and then became involved in the battle (cf. ML 24; Dio Chrys. 37,18; Plut. Mor. 870b-871a). His son Aristeas (Aristeus) c…

[German version] (Ἔκλεκτος; Éklektos, also Electus, Eiectus). E. from Egypt, freedman of Verus, later lived in the palace of Marcus Aurelius (SHA Ver. 9,5f.) after whose death he became cubicularius of that emperor's nephew M. Ummidius Quadratus. When the latter was executed in AD 182, Commodus took on E. (Herodian. 1,16,5; Cass. Dio 72,4,6) with whom he appeared in gladiator games (SHA Comm. 15,2; Cass. Dio 72,19,4). In 193, together with the praetorian prefect Aemilius Laetus and Marcia, the concubina of Commodus, he instigated the murder of the Emperor (Hdn. 1,17,6; 2,1,3; Cass. Dio 7…

(Εὐθήριος; Euthḗrios). [German version] [1] Slave at the court of Constantine I An Armenian pagan eunuch, who had come to the court of Constantine I as a slave, later served under Constans, and under Julian rose to praepositus sacri cubiculi (AD 356-360). In Milan in 356/7, E. appeared before Constantius II to defend Julian against Marcellus' accusations (Amm. Marc. 16,7,2f.); after Julian had been made Augustus in 360, h…

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(Ἡγεσίλοχος; Hēgesílochos). [German version] [1] Rhodian, middle of 4th cent. BC Rhodian, exploited the conflict between Rhodes and Athens ( Social Wars [1]) in 356/5 BC, in order to take over power in Rhodes at the head of an oligarchical clique with the support of  Maussollos of Caria. Meier, Mischa (Bielefeld) Bibliography R. M. Berthold, Rhodes in the Hellenistic Age, 1984, 31, with n. 41 (sources and bibliography). [German version] [2] Rhodian prytanis and envoy, 2nd …

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(Ἀρχέδημος; Archédēmos). [German version] [1] Athenian politician of c. 400 BC Athenian politician of c. 400 BC. Archedemus was close to  Socrates and  Criton (Xen. Mem. 2,9). A…

[German version] Administrators of goods and representatives of the king's interests in the Lombardic kingdom, first attested under Authari (AD 584-590). Since the 7th cent. they watched over the dukes (cf. Edictus Rothari 23); in the 8th cent. they could preside over courts of law. They were directly subject to the king in their non-inheritable office. In the Duchies of Spoleto and Benevent they administered the most important towns for the dukes. Meier, Mischa (Bielefeld) …

[German version] Son of Gentunis, king of the Vandals in AD 484-496 (Iord. Get. 170; Procop. Vand. 1,8,6f.), fought successfully against the Moors. In 491 his attempt to reconquer Sicily failed (Ennod. Panegyricus 70). He showed tolerance to the Catholics after initially persecuting them. PLRE 2, 525f. Meier, Mischa (Bielefeld) Strothmann, Meret (Bochum) Bibliography H.-J. Diesner, Das Vandalenreich, 1966, 8…

[German version] (Δαγισθαῖος; Dagisthaîos). As a young Roman commander D., who probably was of Gothic origin, unsuccessfully besieged Persian-occupied Petra in the area of the Lazi in AD 548/9 (Procop. Pers. 2,29 especially 33-43). On account of this he was later taken to court under Justinian on the charge of pro-Persian sentiments and arrested by the emperor (Procop. Goth. 4,9,1-4). For the Narses campaign to Italy he wa…

[German version] (Erelieva, Hereleuva). Concubina of the Amal Thiudimer, mother of  Theoderic the Great (Iord. Get. 269); for the legal position of marriage [1. 262]; for her origins, Anon. Val. 58: Gothic lady; but differing [1. 263]: possibly of provincial Roman origin. E. accompanied her son on his military campaigns (Malchus fr. 18, FHG 4, 130) and was honoured for that by Ennodius (Ennod. MGH (AA) 7,208). At a Catholic baptism, she was given the name Eusebia (Anon. Val. 58) and ma…

Roman cognomen of a branch of the patrician  Cornelii (ThlL, Onom. 356-59). Attested from the 3rd cent. BC onwards; also Cetegus (Cic. Or. 160); Greek Κέθηγος ( Kéthēgos), supposedly because the family refused to wear the tunica (Porph. Hor. Ars…

(Ἀναξίδαμος; Anaxídamos). [German version] [1] Spartan king at the time of the second Messenian war According to Paus. 3,7,6 and 4,15,3 Spartan king, Eurypontid, whose reign together with the Agiad Anaxander fell in the time of the second Messenian War.…

[German version] (Gunderic). In AD 406 G. was chosen as king of the Vandal Hasdingians after the death of his father  Godigiselus; he united his troops with the Alani under Respendial (Greg. Tur. Franc. 2,9), defeated the Franks and by the end of 406 crossed the Rhine. Without facing organized resistance, he plundered Gaul (Oros. 7,40,3; Chron. min. 1,299; 465 Mommsen; Zos. 6,3), crossed the Pyrenees in 409 (Chron. min. 2,17; Soz. 9,12; Greg. Tur. Franc. 2,2) and secured for himself the east of th…

[German version] (Gundomarus, Gundomar). Son of  Gundobad, after the death of his brother Sigismundus (Greg. Tur. Franc. 3,6) in AD 524 he was elevated to the position of king of the Burgundians (Chron. min. 2,235 Mommsen). He defeated the Franks under Chlodomer at Vienne on 25 June 524, entered in 530 into an alliance with  Amalasuntha and bought the freedom of prisoners of war (CIL XII 2584). In 533 the Franks under Chlothachar and Childebert defeated G. at Autun and in 534 divided up the Burgundian kingdom amongst themselves (Greg. Tur. Franc. 3,11). PLRE 2, 517 G. (2). Meier, Mischa (Bie…

[German version] (δυναστεία; dynasteía, cf. also δυνάστης; dynástēs, ‘Ruler’). Derived from δύνασθαι; dýnasthai, ‘to be capable’, ‘to be able’; ‘to have influence’, ‘to be wealthy’ [1. 116]. Dynasteia was primarily the rule ( rulership) of a small, influential group, within which high offices were inherited. Two basic levels of meaning are to be distinguished for dynasteia: in the first of them, its character as the term for a group of rulers or an individual ruler expresses more the original sense of the word; in the second the inheritance of lea…

[German version] A Canninefate, who deserted from Roman service and together with the Chauci laid waste to Lower Germania and the Gallic bank of the Rhine after the death of  Sanquinius Maximus, the governor of Lower Germania, in AD 47. The new governor  Domitius [II 11] Corbulo drove G. away and restored order. When he had G. murdered by a ruse, unrest again broke out among the Chauci, causing Claudius to pull the advance troops back to the west bank of the Rhine (Tac. Ann. 11,18f.). PIR2 G 73. Meier, Mischa (Bielefeld) Strothmann, Meret (Bo…

[German version] (Dintzic, Greek Δεγγιζίχ, Δινζίριχος; Dengizích, Dinzírichos). Son of Attila, king of the Huns; after the latter's death D. assembled an army from the elements of the Hun empire that were still under his control, to fight the Goths. He was, however, defeated at Bassianae (Pannonia) by the Goths (probably after AD 456/57, Iord. Get. 272f.). He later conducted several wars against the Romans but was killed in 469 by the mag. mil. per Thracias Anagestes (Prisc. fr. 36 [FHG 4,107f.]; Chron. pasch. 323d Dindorf). PLRE 354f. Meier, Mischa …

[German version] (ἐπαρχία; eparchía). Territorial administrative unit in Hellenistic states. In the Seleucid kingdom, Antiochus [5] III especially supported the setting up of smaller provinces in order to prevent power concentrations in the areas of individual satraps, as f…

[German version] (Fravitus). Tervingian army commander in the service of Rome, married to a Roman woman. In support of maintaining the Roman alliance with the Goths of AD 382, he killed Eriulf in 391 at the court of Theodosius I (Zos. 4,56,1-3; Eunapius fr. 60 FHG 4,41). In about 400 as the …

[German version] Epigraphy, from Greek ἐπιγράφειν ( epigráphein, ‘to write on something’). The term refers to ancient texts that were documented on various, mostly permanent materials (stone, bronze, etc.), as well as to the respective sub-discipline of archaeology.  Inscriptions; Epigraphy Meier, Mischa (Bielefeld) Strothmann, Meret (Bochum)

(Χειρίσοφος; Cheirísophos). [German version] [1] Spartan commander under Cyrus Spartiate; on the instructions of his polis, at Issus in 401 BC he joined the army of the younger  Cyrus with 700 hoplites (Xen. An. 1,4,3; Diod. Sic. 14,19,4f.); after Cyrus' death at Cunaxa C. was sent by  Clearchus to Ariaeus, to offer him the Persian throne (Xen. An. 2,1,4f.). After Clearchus had been imprisoned and put to death, C…

[German version] (Γάννυς; Gánnys). G. was raised in the house of  Iulia Maesa and had a relationship with her daughter  Iulia Soaemias, who made him the tutor of her son  Elagabalus [2] (Cass. Dio 79,6,1f. Boissevain). G. and  Valerius Comazon had the troops elevate Elagabalus to emperor in Emesa in May AD 218 (Cass. Dio 78,31,2-4). Despite a lack of military experience, G. defeated  Macrinus in June, but was eliminated in the winter of 218-219 by Elagabalus, who had toyed with the idea of marrying…

[German version] (H)ermanaricus (also Ermenrichus, Hermenerig). King of the East Goths who, as the first historically documented  Amal, already belongs to the 10th generation of the Amal family tree (Iord. Get. 79 from Cassiodorus). He was the youngest son of Achiulf, brother of Ansila, Ediulf and Vultuulf, and was rega…

[German version] (Ἐπικτήτα; Epiktḗta). Widow of the aristocrat Phoenix from Thera. Under the instruction of her son Andragoras, who died two years after his father, she completed the construction of a shrine to the Muses (mouseion) that Phoenix had started, as a memorial to their son Cratesilochus, but had not been able to finish. In her will (early 2nd cent. BC, preserved epigraphically: IG XII 3,330, l. 1-108), E. entrusted the …

[German version] (Godigisel, Godegisel). Burgundian king, son of  Gundiok, lived from c. AD 474 in Geneva, always in the shadow of his older brother  Gundobad (Ennod. Vita Epiphanii 174). In 500, together with the king of the Franks, Chlodovechus ( Clovis I), he defeated Gundobad at Dijon, but in 501 he was killed…

[German version] Grandson of Berimund of the Amal dynasty, called to Italy by Theoderic the Great in AD 515 and married to  Amalasuntha in order to secure the succession (Iord. Get. 298). He was later adopted by Justin as his son-at-arms, received Roman citizenship; at the assumption of his consulate in 519 ─ on the occasion of which Cassiodorus had written a speech (MGH AA 12,465ff.) and probably a…

[German version] (Genzon). Son of  Geisericus, brother of Hunericus, father of Gunthamundus, Gelaridus, and Thrasamund (Procop. Vand. 1,5,11; 8,6-8; 9,6). In AD 468, he participated in the naval battle against  Basiliscus (Procop. Vand. 1,6,24), only to die in 477, preceding his father in death. PLRE 2,502-503 (Genton 1).…

[German version] A unified notion of peace, comparable to the modern concept, was unknown in Antiquity. Eirene; Koine Eirene; Pax. Meier, Mischa (Bielefeld) Strothmann, Meret (Bochum)

(Ἀγασίας; Agasías) [German version] [1] Lochagos in the mercenary army of the younger Cyrus…