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[German version] (ἀκόνιτον; akóniton). It is not known for certain which poisonous plants are meant by ἀκόνιτον λυκοκτόνον ( akóniton lykoktónon) and κυνοκτόνον ( kynoktónon) in Dioscorides 4,77 [1. 2,238 f.] = 4,78 [2. 412 f.], Nic. Alex. 13,41 and aconitum, scorpion and myoctonon, Plin. HN 27,4-7. The ‘Wolfesgelegena’ of Hildegard of Bingen [3. 1,156 = 4. 47], used as a hazardous aphrodisiac, is probably not the arnica but rather like the ‘alexandria’ of Konrad of Megenberg V. 36 (in ch. Eleborus = veratrum) [5. 399] a species of the poisonous ranunculaceae genus Aconitum (monk…

[German version] (ῥάφανος, κράμβη, καυλός; rháphanos, krámbē, kaulós; Latin brassica, crambe, caulis, from this Italian cavolo, French chou, German Kohl) is a European vegetable plant ( Brassica oleracea L.) from the Cruciferae family that today is grown in numerous culture strains. It is first mentioned as the heptaphyllous krámbē by Hipponax 40 Diehl (quoted in Ath. 9,370b). Within the rháphanos, Theophr. Hist. pl. 7,4,4 (related by Plin. HN 19,80 to the radish rhaphanís, Latin raphanus) distinguishes, like Cato Agr. 157,1-3 and Ath. 9,369e-f, three varieties of cab…

[German version] Phalacrocorax carbo (L.), a dark-feathered, fish-eating, goose-sized member of the web-footed group ( steganopodes), mentioned in Aristot. Hist. an. 7(8),593b 18-22 as the so-called ‘raven’ (κόραξ; kórax), and as breeding in trees. The phalacrocorax (‘bald-headed raven’) in Plin. HN 10,133, at that time native to the Balearics, used to be identified as the cormorant [1. 196f.], but is nowadays thought to be the hermit ibis or crested ibis ( Comatibis eremita), now extinct in Europe. A synonym found in Plin. HN 11,130 is corvus aquaticus. The Middle Minoan Hagia …

[German version] The striped mullet ( Mullus surmuletus) and red mullet ( M. barbatus), popular for eating, were called τρίγλη/ tríglē or Latin m. (for an ocean fish μύλλος/ mýllos: [1]). Mention is made of the red colouring (Sen. Q Nat. 3,18; Opp. Hal. 1,130; Athen. 4,135b and 7,325e), the beard strands on the lower lip (Plin. HN 9,64; Cic. Parad. 5,38: barbatulus; Cic. Att. 2,1,7; Varro Rust. 3,17,7: barbatus) as well as a gluttony that does not shrink even from floating corpses (Ael. Nat. 2,41; Opp. Hal. 3,432-442; Aristot. Hist. an. 7(8), 2,591a 12f.). Aristo…

[German version] German ‘Grille’, Pliny's gryllus (HN 29, 138) probably is the field cricket, Gryllus campestris, which runs backwards (thus Nigidius Figulus), digs into the ground and chirps at night with its wings ( stridere). As a paste, a cricket (dug out with its earth) helps against ear aches. It is drawn from its earthen hole using an ant tied to a hair as bait [1. 132]. Isid. Orig. 12,3,8 conveyed this information to the Middle Ages. It is uncertain if the wingless, locust-like insect trixalis in Plin. HN. 30,49 is a cricket because Ael. NA 6,19 only says that the trōchallís is ‘not si…

[German version] ( Lepus europaeus Pallas). The hare can be found from Central Europe to the Near East and South Africa in cultivated steppe lands and in forests. Its name: λαγωός ( lagōós; Homeric), λαγώς, λαγῶς ( lagṓs, lagôs; Attic), λαγός ( lagós; Ionian, Doric), λέπορις ( léporis; Aeolian, Sicilian: Varro, Rust. 3,12,6), Latin lepus or the derivatives thereof λαγίον; lagíon, λαγίδιον; lagídion, λαγιδεύς; lagideús, furthermore special appellations according to characteristic features such as ‘ducker’ (πτώξ; ptṓx; Hom. Il. 17,676; Aesch. Eum. 326; Theophr. Hist. pl. …

[German version] (χαραδριός; charadriós). A water bird, perhaps a shearwater, nesting in holes in the ground and in cliffs, and seldom seen by day (Aristoph. Av. 266). It was held to be gluttonous (Aristoph. Av. 1140f.), of ugly colour and cry (Ps.-Aristot. Hist. An. 9,11,615a1-3), and said to be white (9,3,593b 17; Pl. Grg. 494 b). Sight of it was supposed to heal jaundice, and accordingly it was sold covered (Ael. NA 17,13; Plut. Symp. 5,7,2; Heliodor 3,8 i.a.). In Plin. HN 30,94 it is called avis icterus or galgulus, owing to its yellow colour. In the Greek Physiologus (c. 3) an…

[German version] (OHG tilli, related to NHG Dolde [umbel], Lat. anetum). Probably identical with the umbellifera ( Anethum graveolens L., ἄ[ν[ν]ηθον; á[n[n]ēthon, Aeolic ἄνητον; ánēton, Alc. in Ath. 15,674d), which was introduced from Asia Minor in antiquity. This popular kitchen herb (sown according to Palladius, Opus agriculturae 3,24,5 and 4,9,5 or 10,13,3 and 11,11,4, in February/March and September/October) with bare seeds (Theophr. Hist. pl. 7,3,2 = Plin. HN 19,119) is mentioned in Theophr. Hist. pl. 1,11,2 and P…

[German version] (Lat. glis). The biggest central and southern European species of the nocturnal rodent family of dormice with a body length of 13-20 cm and a tail length of 10-18 cm. From the 2nd cent. BC onwards the dormouse was fattened for gourmet consumption by the Romans in special breeding enclosures ( gliraria, description in Varro, Rust. 3,15) with beech nuts, chestnuts and walnuts (example of the high return: Varro, Rust. 3,2,14; roasted and coated with honey and sprinkled with poppy: Petron. Sat. 31,10; Apicius 8,408). In 115 BC this …

[German version] (Greek ἡ [σ]μῖλος/ [s]mîlos, σμῖλαξ/ smîlax: Dioscorides, τὸ θύμαλλον/ thýmallon; Latin taxus, f.), a fir-like evergreen (Theophr. Hist. pl. 1,9,3; Plin.  HN 16,80) and long-lived (cf. Plin. ibid.  16,212) forest tree, the yew ( Taxus baccata L.). In Antiquity the cold-insensitive taxus (Verg. G 2,113) was widespread. Homer does not mention it, but Theophrastus knows the  mîlos well (Hist. Pl. 3,4,2 and 3,10,2; 4,1,3 and 5,7,6;   cf.  Plin.  HN 16,50 f.). Its needles and seeds (within the red berries) were already known to be poisonous…

[German version] (κέδρος, kédros, Cedar). This evergreen genus of conifer was common throughout the northern hemisphere during the Cretaceous and Tertiary, but largely died out during the second to last ice age. Only in the Himalayas ( C. deodara), in Lebanon (only approximately 400 trees left) and Asia Minor ( C. libani = libanotica, in the Taurus and the Antitaurus), on Cyprus ( C. brevifolia) and in the Atlas (below 2,700 m, C. atlantica) do related species still grow. As early as c. 2750 BC, the aromatic and durable wood of the cedar was being exported to Egypt from the T…

[German version] I. Near East and Egypt The pearl known as the 'Orient pearl' (true pearl) develops in an oyster as a result of the encasing of a foreign body with mother-of-pearl. This process takes several years. Early evidence (beginning of 3rd millennium BC) of the Orient pearl comes from Uruk [1]. After this, there no finds until those from Babylon [2] of the Neo-Babylonian period and from a tomb in Susa [3] of the Achaemenid period and also from the Pasargadae [4] treasure. The fact that the mate…

[German version] The common raven, Corvus corax (κόραξ/ kórax, apparently derived from korós, 'black'; the juvenile, κορακῖνος/ korakînos, e.g., in Aristoph. Equ. 1053; Lat. corvus), originally distributed throughout Europe and Egypt (Ael. NA 2,48; smaller in Egypt, according to Aristot. Hist. an. 9(8),28, 606a 23 f.) and at least as large as a buzzard, is the largest of the European songbirds. Its characteristic call is 'kronk' or 'prrruk', but its vocalizations are otherwise highly varied (64 sounds, according to Ful…

[German version] A domesticated form of the polecat ( Mustela putorius furo), specially bred to hunt for rabbits in their underground burrows, a member of the genus Mustela of the weasel family ( Mustelidae). Plin. HN 8,218 mentions the existence of ferrets (under the name of viverra) on the Balearic Islands. Isid. Orig. 12,2,39 is the first to transmit the description furo, derived from furvus (‘dark’). The earliest detailed description is provided by Thomas of Cantimpré 4,42 ([1. 135f.] c. AD 1240). He notes the similarity of the furunculus (popularly known as furetus) with the pole…

[German version] (Greek κώνειον/ kṓneion due to its conical ovary κῶνος; kônos, Lat. cicuta, other names were derived from its poisonous effect, e.g. in Dioscorides 4,78 Wellmann = 4,79 Berendes), the umbellifer which grows wild in Europe in two species (the spotted hemlock, Conium maculatum and water hemlock, Cicuta virosa). Theophrastus (Hist. pl. 1,5,3) mentions the fleshy and hollow (ibid. 6,2,9) stem of the plant which is similar to devil's dung ( Ferula asafoetida) ( Narthex [1]). The root, when brewed, leaves a residue stronger than that of the umbel (differin…

[German version] (σκόμβρος/ skómbros, σκομβρίς/ skombrís, Latin scomber, κολίας/ kolías with unexplained etymology according to [1], Latin colias), the predatory marine fish, Scomber scombrus L. of the sub-species of the Scombroidea, that is often confused with the tuna because of its kinship with it. The mackerel, which according to Plin. HN 9,49 has a sulphury yellow colour in the water ( sulpureus color), comes, according to Aristot. Hist. an. 7(8),13,599a 1-3, in large schools to spawn on the sea coasts. Its catch (details in Opp. Hal. 3,576-595) was p…

[German version] Through Plin. HN 12,28 we know that the Romans did not import the rhizome of the zingiber or zimpiber (Zingiber officinalis L.), a bitter-tasting spice, from Asia like today but from Arabia and Troglodytia (southern Egypt). Palladius used it to spice preserved quinces (Agric. 11,20,2). Dioscorides attributes to the zingíberi a warming, stomach-friendly effect (2,160 Wellmann = 2,189 Berendes). It helped with cataracts and in antidotes. Hünemörder, Christian (Hamburg) Bibliography R. Stadler, s.v. Ingwer, RE IX 2, 1554.

[German version] In the Mediterranean region there are about 12 species of the coniferous genus P inus (cf. p icea spruce): In the west, 1) p inus pinea L ., the stone pine (Italian: pino domestico cf. πεύκη ἥμερος; peúkē hḗmeros) with cones (στρόβιλοι / stróbiloi, θύρσοι / thýrsoi) containing edible seeds (κόκκιλοι / kókkiloi, κόκκωνες / kókkōnes); 2) the maritime pine, Pinus maritima (= p inaster Sol.); In the east, 3) the fine-needled aleppo pine, Pinus halepensis; 4) Pinus peuce Grisebach, which grows only on a few mountains of the northern Balkans along with various sp…

[German version] (κιννάμωμον/ kinnámōmon, κασσία/ kassía; Lat. cinnamomum, -a, cinnamum, cas(s)ia). In antiquity as now, the aromatic bark of various varieties of the cinnamon bush (esp. C. zeylanicum Br., C. cassis Br., C. Burmanni Bl.) was dried and sold in the form of rolled sticks. The  Phoenicians passed the knowledge (Hdt. 3,111) on to the Greeks, but the spice's real origin from south or south-eastern Asia ( India II.) remained unknown. Thus it was generally assumed that cinnamon grew in the south-west of the Arabian peninsula and the opposing shores of eastern Africa (  kinnamōm…

[German version] was evidently neither noticed nor unambiguously given a name by the Greeks. In Dioskurides (1,21 Wellmann) βρύον ( brýon), actually means, amongst other things, lichens on oak trees. The Latin muscus describes not only this lower plant but also often algae or lichens. In order to improve a poor meadow, Columella 2,17,2 and Pall. Agric. 10,10,3 recommend pulling out moss or eradicating it by scattering ashes. Moss should also be removed from the base of grape vines in order to promote their growth (Columella. 4…

[German version] Member of the crowfoot plant family (Ranunculaceae) delphínion in Dioscorides 3,73 (only RV; [1. 84] = 3,77 [2. 310]). Because of the dolphin-like or pony-like nectaries on the larkspur, it is probably identical with D. ajacis L. (Modern Greek καπουτσῖνος) and consists of about 200 varieties, of which eight are to be found in Greece and Italy. That includes the common field weed D. staphisagria L. (στάφις ἀγρία in Dioscorides 4,152 [1. 84] = 4,153 [2. 451f.], Modern Greek ψειρόχορτο, ψειροβότανο, Lat. astaphis agria in Plin. HN 23,17, herba pedicularis, passula m…

[German version] (Greek ἰσάτις/ isátis, Lat. vitrum and glastum, e.g. Plin. HN 22,2) the dye-plant 'Dyer's Woad', L. Isatis tinctoria. This genus of Brassicaceae thrives in Europe in a number of species. Until the discovery of the dye indigo in the 19th cent., it was used for colouring textiles blue (Dyeing). It is a perennial plant, growing up to 1.4 m in height, with yellow flowers [1. 157, colour photograph 326] developing into single-seed pods which are violet when ripe. A mash of ground dried leaves (flowers acco…

[German version] [1] Plant (κοτυληδών/ kotylēdṓn, κυμβάλιον/ kymbálion, σκυτάλιον/ skytálion, γῆς ὀμφαλός/ gȇs omphalós; Latin umbilicus Veneris, cotyledon), genus of the Crassulaceae family: navelwort with two species ( Umbilicus erectus and Umbilicus horizontalis) still growing on rocks and walls in the Mediterranean area, mentioned in Dioscorides (4,91-92 Wellmann = 4,90-91 Berendes) and Pliny (HN. 25,159). Its small fleshy leaves, sap pressed from them and it roots were prescribed for rashes, inflammations (primarily of th…

[German version] ( Procavia capensis) is the only family representative from the mammal order Hyracoidea which is still found today in Palestine and the Middle East. These hare-sized herbivores are probably identical to the rabbits ( Hare) of the Luther Bible, χοιρόγρυλλος/ choirógryllos, Latin choerogryllus, chyrogryllius or middle-Latin cirogrillus, which are unclean according to the Mosaic food laws (Lv 11:5; Dt 14:7). At Thomas of Cantimpré 4,24 [1. 124] it is maintained by implied use of Hesychius (commentary in Lv 3:11, PG 93,906) that …

[German version] ( Caprimulgus europaeus L.). The curious earth-coloured bird has its name αἰγοθήλας/ aigothḗlas (Lat. caprimulgus, i.e. 'goat-milker') from the statement in Aristot. Hist. an. 8(9),30,618b 2-9 (= Plin. HN 10,115; Ael. NA 3,39) that it sucks the udder of goats at night [1. 72], causes their milk to dry up and makes the animals blind. In reality the bird flies about at night catching insects with its rather wide beak. Hünemörder, Christian (Hamburg) Bibliography 1 Leitner. Keller 2, 68 f.  D'Arcy W. Thompson, A Glossary of Greek Birds, 1936 (repr. 1966), 24 f.

[German version] (Greek σίλφιον/ sílphion, word of non-Greek origin, from σίλφι/ sílphi or σίρφι/ sírphi; Latin sirpe, laserpicium from lac sirpicium). An as yet unidentified plant, imported from the 6th cent. BC from Cyrenaeca in northern Africa, and the resinous milky juice obtained from its stem and root (Latin laser, main citation in Plin. HN 19,38-46 and 22,100 f. according to Theophr. Hist. pl. 3,1,6; 6,3,1; 6,3,3; 6,4). It seems to have been related to asafoetida ( Ferula asa-foetida L.). The plant is supposed to have had a strong but pleasant smell. Theophr. (Hi…

[German version] (κίσσα/ kíssa or κίττα/ kítta, Garrulus glandarius). It was often confused in Greek with the  Magpie [1. 146] and, as garrulus, in the Middle Ages (among others in Isid. Orig. 12,7,45) with either the graculus, the Alpine chough ( Jackdaw), or the rook (e.g. in Thomas of Cantimpré 5,62; [2. 209]). The colourful crow shows characteristic coloration and behaviour. Plin. HN 10,119 already admires the talkativeness of the related magpies and of the acorn eaters ( earum quae glande vescantur). Aristot. Hist. an. 9(8),13,615b 19-23 describes the changeability o…

[German version] (στυπτηρία; styptēría, alumen). Name for a group of earth salts already known to the Babylonians [1.76 f.] ( salsugo terrae, Plin. HN 35,183), namely the salts of sulphuric acid that, in so-called alum works (μέταλλα τῆς στυπτηρίας; métalla tês styptērías) were, according to Dioscorides 5,106 [2.3.75] = 5,122 [3.532], mined in Egypt, Macedonia and, i.a., on Greek islands and proved lucrative because of their rarity and the strong demand for alum (cf. Diod. Sic. 5,10; Str. 6,2,10). Use of alum e.g. as an impregnating a…

[German version] The word ἀκρίς/ akrís (from κρίζειν, ‘to scream’) attested since Hom. Il. 21,12 describes all species of Saltatoria same as locusta (since Naevius in Varro, Ling. 7,39 basic meaning ‘equipped with joints’ or ‘jumping’). This also applies to the synonyms βροῦχος/ broûchos = bruc(h)us, βρύκος/ brýkos, μάσταξ/ mástax, πάρνοψ/ párnops (Aristoph. Ach. 150 and Av. 588; Ael. NA 6,19; Paus. 1,24,8) or κόρνοψ ( kórnops; Str. 13,1,64 [613]) and ἀττέλαβος ( attélabos; Hdt. 4,172) = attelebus (Plin. HN 29,92). Regarding their biology, Aristot. Hist. an. 5,28,555b 18…

[German version] Knowledge of Hyoscyamus L., a member of the Solanacaea family (ὑοσκύαμος; hyoskýamos, named after cramps which pigs apparently get from eating the poisonous herb), can be demonstrated in Dioscorides 4,68 [1. 224ff.; 2. 402f.]. According to Plin. HN 25,35, Hercules discovered the plant. According to Dioscorides, of the varieties found in Greece, the first two Hyoscyamus niger (ὑοσκύαμος μέλας) and aureus (ὑοσκύαμος λευκός), are not usable due to their poisonous nature. A juice pressed from the plant or seeds of the third, Hyoscyamus albus, a ruderal plant, was …

[German version] (ἀμύγδαλος, -η, -ον; amýgdalos, - ē, - on) is the almond tree, ἀμυγδαλέα ( amygdaléa) etc. the fruit (almond, it. mandorla) of Amygdalus communis L. of the stone fruit genus Amygdalus L. comprising c. 40 Asian species, previously only regarded as a subgenus of Prunus. In addition to the A. communis of the Near East that has been cultivated in southern Europe since antiquity and the fruits of which Cato (Agr. 8,2 according to Plin. HN 15,90) calls nuces graecas, the wild variety ( Prunus webbii) was also used [1.135 and fig. 279]. Pall. Agric. 2,15,6-13 in particul…

[German version] In the Mediterranean, beeches propes such as Fagus silvatica and orientalis (φηγός; phēgós) only grow on relatively high mountains, but are often confused with hornbeams ( Carpinus) or even oaks (δρῦς; drŷs), although mainly with Quercus aegilops and the edible oak Quercus ilex var. ballota ( aesculus), supposedly the main food plant of prehistoric times.  Trees Hünemörder, Christian (Hamburg) Bibliography K. Koch, Die Bäume und Sträucher des Alten Griechenlands, 21884, 55ff.

[German version] Pulses ( legumina) such as peas (πίσον; píson, pisum), chickpeas (ἐρέβινθος; erébinthos, cicer) and lentils (φακός; phakós, lens) have been cultivated in the Mediterranean region, as crops of Middle Eastern origin, for at least as long as cereal crops, i.e. for about 6,000 years. Nicknames of reputable Roman families (Fabius, Lentulus, Cicero) are derived from them. The original small-seed varieties (κύαμος; kýamos, πύανος; pýanos, faba, Slav. bob), that were being cultivated over 4,000 years ago, originated from Vicia faba L., from which the large-seed hors…

[German version] (αἰγίθαλ(λ)ος/ aigíthal(l)os, αἰγιθάλος/ aigithálos; Latin vitiparra). The Paridae family of songbirds in which Aristot. Hist. an. 7(8),3,592b 17-21 distinguishes three worm-eating (σκωληκοφάγα/ skōlēkophága) species, with many eggs (8(9),15,616b 2f.), enemies of bees (8(9),40,626a 8;  Ael. NA 1,58): 1. the Great Tit ( Parus maior), the size of a finch (σπιζίτης/ spizítēs), 2. a medium-sized titmouse with a long tail (ὀρεινός/ oreinós), perhaps the Long-Tailed Tit ( Aegithalos caudatus), and 3. an unspecified small titmouse with no particular nam…

[German version] ( obsianus lapis, 'stone of Obsius'; obsidianus is the incorrect reading) is a dark, vitreous (Plin. HN 36,196: in genere vitri = Isid. Orig. 16,16,5) volcanic rock that a certain Obsius of Ethiopia is said to have imported to Rome. In the Near East, obsidian was highly regarded from the 8th millennium and in Egypt from the 4th millennium, principally because of the sharp cutting edges of tools that were made of obsidian blades but also because its semi-transparent property made it attractive as a gemstone (Akkadian ṣurru; Egyptian mnw). From the 2nd millennium, obsid…

[German version] (ὀποβάλσαμον/ opobálsamon, Latin balsamum, properly balsam sap, or βάλσαμον/ bálsamon) was the name of the balsam tree Commiphora opobalsamum, famous for its valuable resin, which was known by the Greeks only from plantations in Syria (at Jericho and En Gedi). In fact, however, the origin was southwestern Arabia and Somalia. Theophrastus describes the plants in Syria (Theophr. H. plant. 9,6,1-4) and the careful extraction of the fragrant resin, which he never knew in a pure state (ibid. 9,1,7). Pli…

(Ἕννα/ Henna, Ἔννα/ Énna). [German version] [1] City of the Siculi This item can be found on the following maps: Sicily | | Punic Wars Well-fortified city of the Siculi (Cic. Verr. 2,4,107; Diod. Sic. 5,3,2; though possibly founded by Syracuse, Steph. Byz. s.v. H., cf. [1. 7424; 2. 395]) on a steep, almost 1,000 m high mountain in the centre of Sicily, Hellenized from the 5th cent., besieged for a short time in 403, then on a long-term basis from 396 by Dionysius I (Diod. Sic. 14,14,6-8; 78,7), defected from Agathocles in 309 (Diod. Sic. 20…

[German version] (ἀδράφαξυς/ adráphaxys: Theophrastus, ἀνδράφαξυς/ andráphaxys: Dioscorides, ἀνδράφαξις/ andráphaxis: Hippocr.; Latin atriplex), a spinach-like vegetable of the goose-foot family ( Chenopodiaceae), of which only one species (Theophr. H. plant. 7,4,1 = Plin. HN 19,123), i.e. Atriplex rosea L., is cultivated in Greece. According to Theophr. H. plant. 1,14,2 and 7,3,4 it formed its broad leaf-like seeds, which were viable for only two to three years, (Theophr. H. plant. 7,5,5 = Plin. HN 19,181) inside a pericarp (Theop…

[German version] There were several names for the pleasantly smelling members of the genus Mentha of the family Labiatae not precisely described by the Greeks: μίνθη/ mínthē (Theophr. H. plant. 2,4,1), καλαμίνθη/ kalamínthē, σισύμβριον/ sisýmbrion, ἡδύσμον/ hēdýsmon (e.g. in Theophr. ibid. 7,7,1), βλήχων/ blḗchōn or γλήχων/ glḗchōn and among the Romans as menta, mentastrum, pule(g)ium and nepeta. Watermint, horsemint, pennyroyal and catmint were cultivated in antiquity, but peppermint ( Mentha Piperita), which apparently arose spontaneously from watermint ( Mentha Aquatic…

[German version] As we do not know of any ancient name, we cannot clarify whether the carnation was found in ancient times. Possibly it is meant by the name Διὸς ἄνθος/ Diòs ánthos, ‘flower of Zeus’ Latin Iovis flos, from which the modern name of the genus, Dianthus, is also derived. At any rate, of the 65 representatives that grow in Greece from among the 120 wild European species of carnation, 20 are regarded as endemic [1. 81]. In the shrub-like Cretan carnation, Dianthus arboreus, archaeologists see the model for wall paintings in the palace of Knossos. As Zeus is said to …

[German version] This biennial vegetable, Daucus carota L., that grew wild in Europe and belonged to the family of the umbelliferous plants σταφυλῖνος ( staphylînos), was called καρωτόν ( karōtón), δαῦκον ( daûkon: Theophr. Hist. pl. 9,15,5), Latin pastinaca, daucus. Through cultivation the originally dry and woody root became pleasant-tasting, nutritious and sweet. Dioscorides (3,52,1 Wellmann and Berendes) describes the one purple-coloured ornamental flower of the staphylínos ágrios in the middle of the otherwise white umbel and recommends (cf. Plin. HN 20,30…

[German version] The name that is derived via Spanish alcarchofa and Italian articiocco, carciofo from Arabic al-haršūf describes the Cynara scolymus L. that is widely grown in the Mediterranean because of its edible bract scales; it is a subspecies of the Cynara cardunculus L. (Italian cardoncello) that was cultivated even earlier as a leafy vegetable. It is probably identical to the σκόλυμος in Hes. Op. 582ff. and Alc. fr.94 D. (quoted in Plin. HN 22,86f.), Theophr. Hist. pl. 6,4,7 (edible root; cf. Plin. HN 21,96), Dioscorides 3,14 [1. …

[German version] I. Egypt and the Near East The cat was particularly significant in Egypt where there is evidence of it being kept as a pet from the beginning of the 2nd millennium BC at the latest; the period of its domestication, however, stretched far into the 1st millennium. The Egyptian cat used to be regarded as the precursor of the European domestic cat, but today it is assumed that the origin of the latter was the Near East: it was first mentioned in Mesopotamia [1] in the 17th cent. BC as a wil…

[German version] ( Francolinus francolinus, ἀτταγήν/ attagḗn, Attic ἀτταγᾶς/ attagâs). This wild hen, which resembles a rock partridge, still widespread in Asia Minor and Africa, often (as in Plin. HN. 10,133) bears the Latin  epithet Ionius. According to Pliny, it multiplied particularly in Gaul and Spain. Aristoph. Ach. 875 mentiones francolins in Boeotia. By the attagḗn caught in the Alps the hazel grouse was probably meant. Hor. Epod. 2,53 and Mart. 13,61 prize its excellent flavour. Alexander of Myndus in Ath. 9,387f gives a good description: i…

[German version] (νίτρον/ nítron, λίτρον/ lítron, Latin nitrum). Collective name for the sodium and potassium salts obtained from brine. Pliny (HN 31,106-122) deals with them in detail on the basis of a lost work of Theophrastus. Some nitrum-releasing waters (e.g. at Clitae in Macedonia) and mines, e.g. in Egypt at Naucratis and Memphis (e.g. Nitria), were known. Nitrum could also, however, refer to potash (Plin HN 31,107) obtained from burnt oak wood. Its property of destroying leather shoes was known (ibid. 31,115). Owing to its heating, thinning, c…

[German version] As late as the 18th cent., Carl von Linné combined the different phyla of Plathelminthes (flatworms), Nemertini (ribbon worms) and Nemathelminthes (roundworms) into the single phylum of Vermes. Only a very few representatives were known in Antiquity, almost all parasites, with confusion between true worms and worm-like maggots and larval forms being common. By σκώληξ/ skṓlēx, τερηδών/ terēdṓn, εὐλή/ eulḗ, ἴψ/ íps and ἡ ἕλμι(ν)ς/ hē hélmi(n)s both insect larvae or maggots as well as worms can therefore be meant. 1. Common Earthworms ( Lumbricus terrestris), ἔντερα …

[German version] Plant from the cucumber family ( Cucurbitaceae) with two species, the elongated golden-yellow honeydew melon (Cucumis melo L.) and the rounded water-melon ( Citrullus vulgaris Schrad.) with reddish flesh. It is known that they were cultivated early in Egypt and Greece. Greek testimonies, however, offer - aside from more or less incidental descriptions - various names (πέπων/ pépōn, σίκυος πέπων/ síkyos pépōn, σικύα/ sikýa). According to Pliny (NH. 19,67), the golden-yellow (aureus) honeydew melon, melopepo, which he described as a cucumber, first appear…

[German version] or eel-pout ( Lota lota L.), a freshwater fish of the cod family living at the bottom of the lake, called mustela (weasel) by Plin. HN 9,63 (probably because of its voracity), and highly regarded as a delicacy from Lake Constance (lacus Brigantinus) because of its liver. Columella recommends the avidae mustelae 8,17,8, here probably rocklings [cf. 1. 177 f.], as profitable stock for fish ponds ( piscinae) on rocky coasts. Their liver ( mustelae marinae) was considered medicine for epilepsy (Plin. HN 32,112). Auson. Mos. 107 ff. describes the burbot ver…

[German version] Urus (οὖρος; oûros in Hadrianus in Anth. Pal. 6.332.3). The extinct wild ox bos primigenius, was first described by Caes. Gall. 6.28 (interpolated) for the Hercynia silva (fig. in [1. 1.342]). By Plin. HN 8.38 [2. 55ff.] expressly distinguished in strength and speed from the bison or  wisent and the  buffalo. Hdt. 7.126 is the first to mention it for Macedonia. It was found in Germania, the mountain regions of Gallia and on the lower Danube. The large horns as, according to Caesar [3. 137f.], s…

[German version] (ἀσπάλαξ/ aspálax or ἀσφάλαξ/ asphálax and σπάλαξ/ spálax, σφ-/ sph- or σκάλωψ/ skálōps, Hesych. s.v., according to Schol. Lykophr. 121 also σιφνεύς/ siphneús, according to Alexander Trallianus 2,575 Puschmann παλαμίς/ palamís; Latin m. and f. talpa). This is in fact the insectivore mole, not the blind mole-rat ( Microspalax leucodon) of northern Greece, a rodent. The externally invisible mole's eye, described by Aristot. Hist. an. 4,8,533a 3-12 (cf. Hist. an. 1,9,491b 28 and Plin. HN 11,139) and interpreted as a developmental d…