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Die Altertumswissenschaften von Petrarca bis zum 20. Jh.

(22,868 words)

Author(s): Kuhlmann, Peter | Schneider, Helmuth
A. Wissenschaftsgeschichte und Altertumswissenschaften – Zur Konzeption des Bandes In den vergangenen Jahrzehnten hat die Wissenschaftsgeschichte als Disziplin neben der Geschichte der Philosophie, der Literaturgeschichte und der Kunstgeschichte deutlich erkennbar an Bedeutung gewonnen, wobei die Aufgabe wissenschaftshistorischer (= wiss.histor.) Forschungen nicht allein in der Darstellung vergangener Erkenntnisfortschritte in den verschiedenen Wissenschaften bestand, sondern auch allgemein in der Analys…

Finley, Moses I.

(1,397 words)

Author(s): Schneider, Helmuth
Amerikan.-brit. Althistoriker. Geb. am 20. 5. 1912 in New York, gest. am 23. 6. 1986 in Cambridge. 1937–1939 Mitarbeiter am Institut für Sozialforschung in New York; 1948–1952 Lecturer und Assistant Prof. an der Rutgers Univ. in New Jersey; 1950 Prom. an der Columbia Univ. in New York. Ab 1954 in Cambridge (England); 1970–1979 Prof. of Ancient History an der Cambridge Univ. 1979 geadelt (Sir Moses). Biographie und Werdegang F. wurde 1912 in New York als Moses Israel Finkelstein geboren; er entstammte einer jüd. Familie, die bedeutende Rabbiner hervorgebracht…

Polanyi, Karl

(733 words)

Author(s): Schneider, Helmuth
Österr.-amerikan. Wirtschafts- und Sozialhistoriker. Geb. am 21. 10. 1886 in Wien, gest. am 23. 4. 1964 in Pickering (bei Toronto). Studium in Budapest; ab 1919 in Wien, ab 1933 (Emigration) in England polit. und journalistisch tätig. 1947–1953 Prof. für Wirtschaftsgeschichte an der Columbia Univ. in New York. Werdegang In Wien geboren, wuchs P. als Sohn eines jüd. Unternehmers in Budapest auf. Schon früh war er von sozialistischen Ideen und Theorien beeinflusst. 1919 ging er nach Wien, wo er ab 1924 Artikel für eine Wirtschaftszeitung ( Der Österr. Volkswirt) verfasste. 1933–…

Weber, Max

(1,226 words)

Author(s): Schneider, Helmuth
Dt. Jurist, Soziologe und Nationalökonom. Geb. am 21. 4. 1864 in Erfurt, gest. am 14. 6. 1920 in München. Schulbesuch in Berlin; 1882–1886 Studium der Jurisprudenz; 1889 Prom., 1892 Habil. in Berlin. 1893 Prof. für Nationalökonomie in Freiburg. 1896–1903 Prof. für Nationalökonomie in Heidelberg; 1919–1920 Prof. in München. Biographie und Werdegang W.s Vater, der Jurist Max W., war ab 1869 besoldeter Stadtrat in Berlin und 1868–1897 nationalliberaler Abgeordneter im preuß. Abgeordnetenhaus sowie 1872–1884 im Dt. Reichstag. W. studierte 1882–1…

De Ste. Croix, Geoffrey

(637 words)

Author(s): Schneider, Helmuth
Engl. Althistoriker. Geb. am 8. 2. 1910 als Geoffrey Ernest Maurice (meist geführt als G. E. M.) De. Ste. C. in Macao, gest. am 5. 2. 2000 in Oxford. Juristische Ausbildung in Bristol; Tätigkeit als Rechtsanwalt, ab 1935 für die Arbeiterbewegung tätig; ab 1940 Kriegsdienst. Ab 1947 Studium der Alten Gesch. am University College London. Ab 1950 Lecturer in Ancient Economic History an der London School of Economics; ab 1953 Fellow am New College Oxford und dort Tutor bis 1977. Werdegang, Werk und Wirkung D. Ste. C., in China als Sohn eines engl. Zollbeamten geboren, entst…

Ehrenberg, Victor

(1,080 words)

Author(s): Schneider, Helmuth
Dt.-brit. Althistoriker. Geb. am 22. 11. 1891 in Altona, gest. am 25. 1. 1976 in London. 1911 Architekturstudium an der TH Stuttgart; 1912–1914 Studium der Alt.wiss. in Göttingen und Berlin, 1919–1920 in Tübingen; dort 1921 Prom. 1922 Habil. in Frankfurt; 1929 Prof. für Alte Gesch. an der dt. Univ. Prag. 1939 Emigration nach England. 1946 Lecturer, dann Prof. am Bedford College London. Biographie und Werdegang Victor E. war Sohn Otto E.s, der als Bankier eine leitende Position im Hamburger Bankhaus Warburg & Co. innehatte. 1902 ging die Familie nach Kasse…

Hume, David

(545 words)

Author(s): Schneider, Helmuth
Schott. Philosoph, Historiker und Ökonom. Geb. am 7. 5. 1711 in Edinburgh, gest. am 25. 8. 1776 ebda. 1726–1729 Jurastudium an der Univ. Edinburgh, danach private Philosophiestudien. 1735–1737 und 1763–1766 Aufenthalt in Frankreich; ab 1752 Bibliothekar in Edinburgh. Ab 1763 für die engl. Botschaft in Paris, 1767/68 im Außenministerium tätig; danach Privatgelehrter in Edinburgh. Werk und Wirkkung H. war zweiter Sohn des Anwalts und Grundbesitzers Joseph H. Er widmete sich ab 1735 als Privatgelehrter v. a. philos. Studien. 1752 wurde er Bibliotheka…

Rostovtzeff, Michael Iwanowitsch

(2,380 words)

Author(s): Schneider, Helmuth
Russ.-amerikan. Althistoriker. Geb. am 10. 11. 1870 in Schitomir bei Kiew, gest. am 20. 10. 1952 in New Haven (Connecticut, USA). Schulbesuch in Kiew; Studium ebda. und in St. Petersburg; Lehrer am Gymnasium in Zarskoje Selo. Ab 1903 Prof. für Latein an der Univ. St. Petersburg; 1918 Emigration nach England; Lehrtätigkeit am Queens College, Oxford; 1920 Prof. in Madison (Wisconsin, USA); 1925–1944 Prof. für Alte Gesch. und Arch. an der Yale Univ. (New Haven, Connecticut). Biographie und Werdegang R. stammte aus einer russ. Familie, deren sozialer Aufstieg seit dem 18. …

Büchsenschütz, Albert Bernhard

(441 words)

Author(s): Schneider, Helmuth
Dt. Althistoriker. Geb. am 6. 9. 1828 in Berlin, gest. am 29. 1. 1922 ebda. 1848–1851 Studium der Philologie an der Friedrich-Wilhelms-Univ. Berlin, 1851 Prom. Danach Lehrer, 1875–1897 Direktor am Berliner Friedrich-Werderschen Gymnasium. Werdegang, Werk und Wirkung B., Sohn eines Lehrers, besuchte das Cöllnische Gymnasium in Berlin, studierte seit 1848 an der Friedrich-Wilhelms-Univ. Philologie und promovierte 1851 zu den Orphischen Hymnen. Innerhalb von nur zwei Jahren (1868–1869) veröffentlichte er drei Bücher: neben der Sch…

Rodbertus, Karl

(542 words)

Author(s): Schneider, Helmuth
Dt. Wirtschaftshistoriker und Ökonom. Geb. am 12. 8. 1805 in Greifswald als Johann Karl R., gest. am 6. 12. 1875 in Jagetzow (Pommern). 1823–1827 Studium der Rechtswiss. in Göttingen und Berlin; 1828–1830 im preuß. Staatsdienst. Ab 1835 als Besitzer des Rittergutes Jagetzow wiss. und polit. Publizist. Werdegang, Werk und Wirkung R., Sohn eines Prof. für Röm. Recht, beschäftigte sich nach dem Studium in Göttingen und Berlin sowie nach dem Rückzug aus dem Staatsdienst v. a. mit sozialpolit. Fragen; zur Lösung der sozialen Probleme seiner Zeit…

Weber, Max

(1,440 words)

Author(s): Schneider, Helmuth
German jurist, sociologist and economist. Born Erfurt 21. 4. 1864, died Munich 14. 6. 1920. School in Berlin; 1882–1886 studied law; 1889 doctorate, 1892 habil. in Berlin. 1893 prof. of economics at Freiburg. 1896–1903 prof. of economics at Heidelberg; 1919–1920 prof. in Munich. Biography and career W.’s father, the jurist Max W., was a paid city councillor in Berlin from 1869, and between 1868 and 1897 he was a National Liberal member of the Prussian Abgeordnetenhaus, and from 1872 to 1884 of the German Reichstag. W. studied law at Heidelberg, Berlin and Göttingen from 1882 to…

Hume, David

(604 words)

Author(s): Schneider, Helmuth
Scottish philosopher, historian and economist. Born Edinburgh 7. 5. 1711, died there 25. 8. 1776. 1726–1729 studied law at Univ. of Edinburgh, thereafter private study of philosophy. 1735–1737 and 1763–1766 in France. From 1752, librarian at Edinburgh. Worked from 1763 for the British Embassy in Paris, then 1767/68 at the Foreign Office. Thereafter private scholar in Edinburgh. Works and influence H. was the second son of the advocate and landowner Joseph H. From 1735, he worked as a private scholar, devoting himself mostly to the study of philosophy. In…

Polanyi, Karl

(800 words)

Author(s): Schneider, Helmuth
Austrian-American economic and social historian. Born Vienna 21. 10. 1886, died Pickering (near Toronto) 23. 4. 1964. Studied at Budapest; in Vienna from 1919, then politically and journalistically active in Britain from (emigration in) 1933. 1947–1953 prof. of economic history at Columbia Univ. in New York. Career Born in Vienna, P. grew up in Budapest, the son of a Jewish businessman. He imbibed socialist ideas and theories from a young age. In ¶ 1919, he went to Vienna, where he wrote articles for a financial newspaper ( Der Österreichische Volkswirt) from 1924. Between 1933 and …

Ehrenberg, Victor

(1,135 words)

Author(s): Schneider, Helmuth
German-British ancient historian. Born Altona (Hamburg) 22. 11. 1891, died London 25. 1. 1976. Studied architecture at TH Stuttgart 1911; 1912–1914 studied classics at Göttingen and Berlin, 1919–1920 atTübingen. Doctorate Tübingen 1921. 1922 habil. in Frankfurt; 1929 prof. of ancient history at the German Univ. of Prague. Emigrated to Britain 1939. 1946 lecturer, then prof. at Bedford College, London. Biography and career Victor E. was the son of Otto E., a leading banker at the Hamburg banking house of Warburg & Co. In 1902, the family moved to Kassel, wh…

Rostovtzeff, Michael

(2,530 words)

Author(s): Schneider, Helmuth
Also Mikhail Rostovtsev/Rostovtseff. Russian-American ancient historian. Born Mikhail Ivano-vich Rostevtsev, Zhitomir (Kiev), 10. 11. 1870, died New Haven, Connecticut, 20. 10. 1952. School in Kiev. Studied there and St. Petersburg. Taught at the Gymnasium in Tsarskoye Selo. Prof. of Latin at Univ. of St. Petersburg from 1903; 1918 emigration to Britain. Taught at Queen’s College, Oxford; 1920 prof. at the Univ. of Wisconsin-Madison, USA. 1925–1944 prof. of ancient history and archaeology at Yale Univ., New Haven, Connecticut. Biography and career The social rise since the …

Rodbertus, Karl

(588 words)

Author(s): Schneider, Helmuth
German economic historian and economist. Born Johann Karl R., Greifswald 12. 8. 1805, died Jagetzow (Pomerania) 6. 12. 1875. 1823–1827 studied law at Göttingen and Berlin; 1828–1830 worked for Prussian civil service. From 1835, as owner of the manor of Jagetzow, working as scholarly and political writer. Career, works and influence R., the son of a prof. of Roman law, concerned himself mainly with issues of social policy, both after his studies at Göttingen and Berlin and following his resignation from the civil service. Seeking solutions to the…

Büchsenschütz, Albert Bernhard

(490 words)

Author(s): Schneider, Helmuth
German ancient historian. Born Berlin 6. 9. 1828, died there 29. 1. 1922. 1848–1851 studied philology at Friedrich-Wilhelms-Univ. Berlin, doctorate 1851. Thereafter teacher, then 1875–1897 Director of Friedrich-Werderschen Gymnasium, Berlin. Background, work and influence B., the son of a teacher, attended the Cöllnisches Gymnasium in Berlin, studied philology at Friedrich-Wilhelms-Univ. from 1848 and obtained his doctorate in 1851 with a dissertation on the Orphic Hymns. He published three books in a period of just two years (1868–1869)…

Finley, Moses I.

(1,440 words)

Author(s): Schneider, Helmuth
American-British ancient historian. Born 20. 5. 1912 in New York, died Cambridge 23. 6. 1986. 1937–1939, worked at Institute for Social Research in New York; 1948–1952 lecturer and assistant prof. at Rutgers Univ. in New Jersey; 1950 doctorate at Columbia Univ., New York. At Cambridge (England) from 1954; 1970–1979 prof. of ancient history at Cambridge Univ. Knighted 1979. Biography and career F. was born Moses Israel Finkelstein in 1912 in New York. He came from a Jewish family that had produced leading rabbis, and he received a Jewish education himself …

De Ste. Croix, Geoffrey

(676 words)

Author(s): Schneider, Helmuth
British ancient historian. Born Geoffrey Ernest Maurice (usually G. E. M.) De Ste. C. in Macao 8. 2. 1910, died Oxford 5. 2. 2000. Legal training at Bristol; worked as a lawyer, then active in the Labour movement from 1935; war service from 1940. Studied ancient history at Univ. College London from 1947. Lecturer in ancient economic history from 1950 at the London School of Economics; fellow of New College, Oxford from 1953 and tutor there until 1977. Career, works and influence D. Ste. C., born in China, the son of a British customs official, came from a Huguenot family that…

Univira

(219 words)

Author(s): Schneider, Helmuth (Kassel)
[German version] The idea that in a woman's life she should be married to only one man was considered a traditional ideal of Roman society; correspondingly only women who had been married just once were admitted to the cult of Pudicitia (Val. Max. 2,1,3; Liv. 10,23,3-10). Although in the late Republic and the early Principate the number of divorces increased and remarriages of divorced women and widows was normal, this ideal retained its validity (Catull. 111,1 f.). Propertius emphasizes in his el…

Traffic

(1,288 words)

Author(s): Nissen | Schneider, Helmuth (Kassel)
The overcoming of distances by people and goods, using means of transport on transport routes. [German version] I. The Ancient Orient The oldest means of transport are people, beasts of burden and boats. They were used for short- and long-distance traffic alike, for individual items and for bulk transport. It was not only in the nomadic context (Nomads) that donkeys and later camels were employed unharnessed for their stamina as beasts of burden, and their ability to travel long distances with little food. In Egypt,…

Vexillatio

(223 words)

Author(s): Schneider, Helmuth (Kassel)
[German version] From the late 1st cent. onwards, rather than entire legions (Legio) being sent to reinforce Roman troops in a theatre of war, smaller units were usually dispatched to the scene; these were formed for the specific occasion, and their members drawn from individual legions or auxiliary units (Auxilia). Thus, for the siege of Jerusalem during the Jewish War, the legions stationed in Egypt provided 2,000 soldiers and the frontier troops on the Euphrates 3,000 (Jos. BI 5,43 f.). Such units, called vexillationes, normally comprised 1,000 (ILS 2726) or 2,000 men. They…

Castration of animals

(328 words)

Author(s): Schneider, Helmuth (Kassel)
[German version] ( castratio) was a frequent procedure in ancient agriculture, designed to adapt the characteristics of male animals to the requirements of human beings. In horses and cattle, the castration served the purpose of altering the temperament of the animal without impairing its viability (Xen. Cyr. 7,5,62). Aristotle describes the effects of castration in his zoological writings, drawing attention to how the mutilation of a small part of the body affects an ani- mal's entire appearance. …

Pigs

(1,385 words)

Author(s): Nissen | Reeg, Gottfried | Schneider, Helmuth (Kassel)
[German version] I. Near East and Egypt The Near East is part of the original range of the wild pig ( Sus scrofa L.), which was evidently used in various places for breeding the domestic pig; the earliest examples date from the 7th millennium BC [6. 73]. The pig (Sumerian šaḫ(a); Akkadian šaḫû [3]) was of some significance during most periods and in most regions of the Near East, probably esp. as a provider of meat. The few pictorial representations usually depict wild pigs. Pigs are mentioned from the beginning of written records in Mesopotamia…

Fiscus

(396 words)

Author(s): Schneider, Helmuth (Kassel)
[German version] In the time of the late Republic the word fiscus on the one hand referred to a container for storing money, on the other hand it already referred to public funds that were placed at the disposal of a promagistrate in the province (Cic. Verr. 2,3,197). Furthermore fiscus also meant the private assets of a Roman citizen. In the Principate period the fis cus was the cashier's office of the princeps; as he alone could dispose of the fiscus, he could also exercise considerable influence over politics by using these finances. This already applies to Augustus who …

Wealth, distribution of

(1,635 words)

Author(s): Schneider, Helmuth (Kassel)
[German version] I. General The study of the distribution of wealth in a society should offer information about the various types of wealth and their economic significance in a national economy and about the share of individuals or social groups in the overall national wealth. Because quantitative information on the economy and private wealth is only available in an extremely limited scope for Antiquity, the statistical methods of modern economics cannot be applied in the field of ancient economic h…

Mineral Resources

(1,831 words)

Author(s): Tichy, Franz (Erlangen) | Schneider, Helmuth (Kassel)
[German version] I. Geography Compared with Europe as a whole and other continents, the mainlands and islands of the Mediterranean are poor in valuable mineral resources; furthermore, deposits of precious metals and marble are limited to only a few regions. Many of the deposits were exploited in antiquity or during the Middle Ages, especially wherever they were easily accessible along the coasts. The Phoenicians traveled to obtain tin ore from Iberia as early as the Bronze Age, and the Greeks transp…

Social structure

(4,590 words)

Author(s): Renger, Johannes (Berlin) | Müller-Wollermann, Renate | Gehrke, Hans-Joachim (Freiburg) | Schneider, Helmuth (Kassel) | Kuchenbuch, Ludolf (Hagen)
[German version] I. Ancient Near East Social structure in the ancient Orient was determined by who controlled the fundamental means of production in an agrarian society, the arable land. The usual form of government in such societies was a patrimonial monarchy. Palaces and temples were the institutional centres dominating the economic and social structures and developments, especially in Egypt and Mesopotamia; all parts of society were directly or indirectly incorporated into this system. The existenc…

Flooding

(1,042 words)

Author(s): Schneider, Helmuth (Kassel)
[German version] ( inundatio: ILS 207; 5797a; Tac. Hist. 1,86,2; diluvia: Plin. Ep. 8,17,1; aquae ingentes: Liv. 35,9,2; 38;28,4; aquarum magnitudo: Liv. 30,26,5; 30,38,10; proluvies: Cic. Ad Q. Fr. 3,5,8). Only exceptionally were natural catastrophes taken as historiographical subjects in Antiquity, and then for instance when earthquakes hit famous cities and substantial emergency measures were undertaken to help the populace. This is true in the case of flooding and flood disasters, too, on which subject we have info…

Onasander

(561 words)

Author(s): Nutton, Vivian (London) | Schneider, Helmuth (Kassel)
(Ονάσανδρος; Onásandros). [German version] [1] Physician on Cos, c. 250 BC Public physician of Cos in c. 250 BC. As a resident of Cos without citizens' rights, he apprenticed with a public physician ( archiatrós ) in Halasarna, became his assistant and followed him to Cos when he was chosen public doctor there. There he opened his own practice but continued to treat his old patients from Halasarna, at times for nothing. The inscription documenting his career is one of the most informative ones about physicians to survive from antiquity. Nutton, Vivian (London) Bibliography  R. Herzog, Dec…

Brick­yards

(532 words)

Author(s): Schneider, Helmuth (Kassel)
[German version] ( figlina). Building bricks and roof tiles were produced in brickyards close to clay deposits and then transported to the building sites. Because of their great weight, every effort was generally made to avoid long transport distances; for that reason, brick production was not concentrated in certain centres, but spread across all of Italy. Nonetheless, brickyards close to the coast, whose bricks could be transported by ship, supplied entire coastal regions; bricks of the figlina of Vibius Pansa near Ariminum can be found across the entire northern Adri…

Purple

(582 words)

Author(s): Schneider, Helmuth (Kassel)
[German version] (πορφύρα/ porphýra, Lat. purpur) was a dye (Dyeing) used in Antiquity for the manufacture of costly materials and garments. It was obtained from various species of sea-snails (Snails and slugs) living in the Mediterranean; Aristotle devoted lengthy disquisitions to the purple-snail (Aristot. Hist. an. 546b-547b), but the most important ancient description of the creature and the manufacture of the dye is found in Pliny (Plin. HN 9,124-138). It is likely that the technique of obtaining dye from sea-snails was first developed by the Phoenicians. In…

Pigmentarius

(105 words)

Author(s): Schneider, Helmuth (Kassel)
[German version] Derived from  pigmentum ('pigment'; cf. Plin. HN 33,111; 33,115; 33,158; 35,29; 37,81), the Latin word pigmentarius is the term for producers of and traders in pigments, ointments and perfumes ( unguenta). Representatives of this group are mentioned in Cicero and in inscriptions (Cic. Fam. 15,17,2; ILS 7604; 7605; CIL VI 9795). The workshop and store of a pigmentarius may be depicted in the house of the Vettii in Pompeii  [2. pl. XV 1]. The selling of poisons or love potions by a pigmentarius was punishable (Dig. 48,8,3,3; cf. Pharmakeía ). Schneider, Helmuth (Kassel) Bi…

Slave revolts

(1,378 words)

Author(s): Schneider, Helmuth (Kassel)
[German version] The great slave revolts in Roman Antiquity occurred within a comparatively narrow time span, in the 2nd and early 1st cents. BC; geographically, they centred around Sicily and southern Italy. The extent of these great revolts remains unique; bands formed by fugitive slaves never reached the same level either before or later, nor were they comparable with these revolts (Chios: Ath. 6,265d-266e; Bulla Felix in Italy: Cass. Dio. 77,10). Even though these rebellious movements of the u…

Marble

(4,101 words)

Author(s): Schneider, Helmuth (Kassel) | Schneider, Rolf Michael (Cambridge)
[German version] I. Terminology, properties, identification Geologically speaking, marble is a metamorphic rock of crystalline structure (average crystal size 0.3 to 1.0 mm) and variable translucency, derived by mediumor high-level metamorphosis from limestone and dolomite [21. 17-20]. The ancient terms μάρμαρον/ mármaron (originally masc. μάρμαρος/ mármaros = ‘gleaming stone’; later attested in all three genders) and Latin marmor, however, mean all white and coloured rocks capable of being polished, including hard rocks such as granite, greywacke and…

Storage economy

(2,351 words)

Author(s): Renger, Johannes (Berlin) | Schneider, Helmuth (Kassel) | Corbier, Mireille (Paris)
[German version] I. Ancient Near East The creation of stores, esp. of less perishable foodstuffs (esp. grain), is essential to the existence of societies whose agriculture is strongly exposed to environmental and political risks. The paradigm for such experiences is found in the OT story, referring to ancient Egypt, of the seven 'fat' and seven 'lean' years (Gn 41:25-36). The economy (I.) of Mesopotamia, centralized from the 4th millennium BC, also had a central SE, but it is known only from texts. In…

Agriculture

(7,403 words)

Author(s): Hruška, Blahoslav (Prague) | Pingel, Volker (Bochum) | Schneider, Helmuth (Kassel) | Osborne, Robin (Oxford) | Schreiner, Peter (Cologne) | Et al.
I. Near East and Egypt [German version] A. Introduction In the Near Orient (particularly the southern Levant and Syria) and Egypt, a fundamental change in the history of mankind occurred 12,000 years ago: the transition from the hunter-gatherer life of paleolithic times to neolithic agrarian society. In the so-called ‘fertile crescent’ and in Egypt, agriculture almost always included livestock farming. Agriculture also encompassed the planting of fruit trees, viticulture and horticulture. The methods of food production led to increasing freedom from dependency on e…

Steel

(153 words)

Author(s): Schneider, Helmuth (Kassel)
[German version] Modern term for alloys of iron with a carbon content of up to two per cent. In the blast-furnace process, however, the iron extracted has a much higher carbon content, which has to be reduced by means of a technical procedure (refining). In Antiquity there was an entirely different technical problem: Crude iron, the product of the smelting process, had only an extremely limited carbon content and was therefore relatively soft. The iron was therefore tempered by further forging in …

Opera

(253 words)

Author(s): Schneider, Helmuth (Kassel)
[German version] The Latin term opera was used to describe the output of work demanded of a worker in one day. This says nothing about that worker's legal status; he could be a freeman, freedman or a slave (Cic. Off. 1,41; cf. also the definition in Paulus, Dig. 38,1,1: “operae sunt diurnum officium”). The Roman agrarian writers use opera to determine precisely at what time certain work had to be done; in this way, it was possible to specify the speed of the work above and beyond the working hours and to calculate the number of slaves needed for a rural…

Social politics

(938 words)

Author(s): Schneider, Helmuth (Kassel)
[German version] In modern industrial societies, the function of SP is to set up systems to prevent the occurrence of cases of hardship, and to protect individual citizens and groups of citizens from defined risks. A vital instrument of SP is social insurance, of the kind created in the German Empire between 1883 and 1889 (health insurance, accident insurance, old-age insurance); unemployment insurance followed during the Weimar Republic. Since that time, the actual concern in SP has been, on the …

Trireme

(850 words)

Author(s): Tilley, Alec F. | Schneider, Helmuth (Kassel)
(τριήρης/ triḗrēs; Lat. trieris, triremis;from tri- 'three' and Gr. eretmón, Lat. remus 'oar'). [German version] I. History of the Trireme From the battle off Salamis [1] (480 BC) to the Hellenistic age, the trireme of the Classical period was the most battle-worthy warship of the eastern Mediterranean region. It was developed from the elongated boats of the archaic period, which possessed one or two banks of oars on both sides and were used in Naval warfare. The tactical goal in naval battles was to sink enemy shi…

Lime

(576 words)

Author(s): Schneider, Helmuth (Kassel)
[German version] The technique used by the Greeks, of binding the individual blocks in quarried-stone walls by means of variously formed metal clamps, was adopted by the Romans for their monumental architecture. Besides that, they early on used mortar made of lime and sand as a bounding agent in house building. Thus, lime, which in Greece had been used primarily for the roughcast of buildings, acquired greater importance as a building material in the Roman period. Lime is obtained from limestone by burning at temperatures of some 1000° C; the calcium carbonate (CO3Ca) turns into calciu…

Veterans

(1,638 words)

Author(s): Schneider, Helmuth (Kassel) | O.S.
(Latin veterani). [German version] I. Republic The Roman army in the Republican Period was a militia; all citizens with means exceeding the defined level (cf. Census) were obliged to provide combat service in the military; the term of service depended on military requirements, and was not precisely defined. It was the custom for soldiers released from the army after military service to return to their farms, and to be available again for recruitment upon the outbreak of another war (Pol. 6,19-26; Liv.…

Biton

(285 words)

Author(s): Schneider, Helmuth (Kassel)
[German version] (Bíτων; Bítōn). Author of a short work on catapults and siege equipment; named in Athenaeus (14,634); the work is dedicated to a King Attalus and was therefore composed between about 230 BC (when Attalus I assumed the title of king) and 133 BC (death of Attalus III). As B. mentions older types of catapults but not the torsion catapult that was otherwise well attested from the end of the 4th cent. BC, the work probably belongs to the early years of the reign of Attalus I. B. describes two catapults that could hurl stones weighing from c. 2 kg to 18 kg, a mobile siege tower ( helépol…

Portrait

(2,270 words)

Author(s): Schneider, Helmuth (Kassel) | Schneider, Norbert
Schneider, Helmuth (Kassel) [German version] A. Introduction (CT) The genre of portraiture, which developed in Antiquity, and especially that which developed in Rome from the 1st cent. BC under the influence of the Greek, diverged into a multiplicity of types (portrait statues,  equestrian statues, portrait busts, apotheoses in relief form, imago clipeata on sarcophagi etc.). According to their respective functions and historical (re-)applications (e.g. as portraits of rulers or poets), these types cons…

Rigging

(287 words)

Author(s): Schneider, Helmuth (Kassel)
[German version] From the Archaic Period on, Greek trading ships were no longer propelled by oarsmen but had a large sail attached to a yard (ἐπίκριον/ epíkrion; Lat. antemna/ antenna), allowing them to use wind power. Even the long warships had a mast with a yardsail; as these ships, however, had to be used regardless of wind conditions and in naval battles required great manoeuvrability, oarsmen could not be dispensed with; they used the sail on longer journeys in favourable wind. Greek warships in the 5th-4th cents. BC not only had the big sails (μεγάλα ἱστία/ megála histía; Xen. Hell. 1…

Taberna

(94 words)

Author(s): Schneider, Helmuth (Kassel) | Uggeri, Giovanni (Florence)
[German version] [1] Type of building Latin term for buildings, both urban and rural, used for storage, craft production, selling goods, offering drinks, meals and lodging, and also as living space. Storage economy; Workshop; Inn Schneider, Helmuth (Kassel) [German version] [2] T. Frigida Road station in Etruria on the Via Aemilia Scauri between Pisae and Luna at the crossing over the Frigidus (modern Frigido), modern San Leonardo in Frigido. Uggeri, Giovanni (Florence) Bibliography L. Banti, Luni, 1937, 71  G. De Santis Alvisi, Questioni lunensi, in: Centro Studi Lunensi. …

Liberalitas, largitio

(1,766 words)

Author(s): Corbier, Mireille (Paris) | Schneider, Helmuth (Kassel)
[German version] A. Etymology and development of the word's meaning The term liberalitas (= li.) denotes, on an abstract level, an attribute (cf. Sen. Dial. 7,24,3: ... quia a libero animo proficiscitur, ita nominata est), in a particular case an act of generosity. The term largitio (= la.) belongs to the area of gifts, as does li.; derived from the adjective largus (in the original sense of a freely flowing spring, Cic. Off. 2,52) la. usually signifies the distribution of gifts. In the political vocabulary of the late Republic la., seen as a gift by means of which a particular purp…

Vacuum

(379 words)

Author(s): Schneider, Helmuth (Kassel)
[German version] Pre-Platonic thinkers, such as the Pythagoreans (Pythagorean School) or Anaxagoras [2] had a concept of an empty “space” (τὸ κενόν/ tò kenón). The examination of this view led Aristotle (Aristoteles [6]) to the conclusion that no such 'void' could exist. His argument reveals that Anaxagoras had undertaken experiments to study phenomena of air. For Aristotle, Anaxagoras' demonstrations show that air is a form of matter (ὅτι ἔστι τι ὁ ἀήρ/ hóti ésti ti ho aḗr: Aristot. Ph. 213a-214b). In the 3rd cent. BC, Ctesibius [1] constructed apparatuses which made use o…

Tactics

(952 words)

Author(s): Burckhardt, Leonhard (Basle) | Schneider, Helmuth (Kassel)
[German version] I. Greece Tactics are understood as the planning and execution of military operations, such as marching and battles. Before the emergence of the phalanx , no tactical organization of the army is discernible. The battle formation of the phalanx, however, required the army to be divided into subunits, with a marching order, an ordered array in file and a clear system of orders. Ancient historians and military writers document various marching orders and possible transitions (often probably rather remote from reality) fr…
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