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[German version] (Old Persian ḫšaçapāvan-, 'protector of the kingdom/dynasty', Elamic šá-ak-šá-ba-ma, Akkadian aḫšadrapanu, Imperial Aramaic ḥšatrapan, Greek usually σατράπης/ satrápēs [9]; Latin satrapa, -es, satraps). Title of a Persian-Achaemenid (seminal: [3]), later also Seleucid, Parthian and Sassanid provincial governor (Parthian ḥštrp / ḫšahrap/; Middle Persian štrp / šahrap/). The title appears first in the Bīsutūn inscription of Darius [1] I [11. DB III 14.56], where it denotes two appointees of the new king in Bactria and Arachosi…

In the narrower sense, the term S. designates the members of the Iranian dynasty of the descendants of Sāsān; in the broader sense, it designates the inhabitants of the Sassanid Empire or its political elite (3rd-7th cents. AD). [German version] I. Evidence Among the written sources (discussion and literature in [25. 153-164, 283-287]; cf. also [1; 6; 27]), the contemporary indigenous evidence should have priority, esp.: a) the inscriptions, some multilingual, of kings and dignitaries (of the 3rd cent. AD) of Persis, the ancestral homel…

(Μεγαβάζος; Megabázos). Name of several distinguished Persians. [German version] [1] Commander under Dareius [1] I. Commander under Darius [1] I, father of Oebares (Hdt. 6,33) and of Bubares (7,22). After his Scythian campaign in 513, the king left him in Europe to conquer Thrace (Hdt. 5,2). M. subjugated all the inhabitants of the Hellespont, Perinthus (5,2), and Thrace (ibid.) who were not already subjected to the Persians (Hdt. 4,144), as well as the Paeonians (5,15). He accomplished the subjugation of the Macedonian king Amyntas [1] through envoys (Hdt. 5,17f.; Iust. 7,3,7). Wiese…

(Κυαξάρης, ancient Persian Uvaxštra-, etymology uncertain). [German version] [1] Median king of the 7th or 6th cent. BC Median ‘king’ of the 7th/6th cents. BC. In the Median lógos of Herodotus (Hdt. 1,73f.; 103-107) C. appears as τύραννος/ týrannos or βασιλεύς/ basileús of the Medes, as the son of  Phraortes, grandson of  Deioces and father of  Astyages. During his 40-year reign, he is said -- after a Scythian interregnum -- to have conquered the Assyrians and to have fought against Alyattes of Lydia (probably for possession of Cappado…

(Στάτειρα/ Státeira; Latin Statira). [German version] [1] Wife of Artaxerxes [2] II, c. 400 BC Daughter of Hydarnes, sister of Terituchmes and wife of Artaxerxes [2] II (Ktesias FGrH 688 F 15), who was beloved by the people (Plut. Artaxerxes 5,6). She was poisoned by the queen mother Parysatis [1] (Deinon FGrH 690 F 15b). In Chariton's novel S. fights Callirhoe for the love of the Great King, recognises her beauty and is rescued by Callirhoe from imprisonment in Egypt. Wiesehöfer, Josef (Kiel) [German version] [2] Sister of Darius [3] III, 4th cent. BC Wife and sister of Darius [3] III…

(Ὑστάσπης; Hystáspēs, ancient Persian/Avestian Vi/īštāspa-, ‘with untied horses (for the race)’). Name of various Iranian personalities. [German version] [1] Patron of Zarathustra As kauui- (Kavi, prince) the decisive patron of Zarathustra ( Zoroaster [4. 13,100]); son of Auruuaṯ.aspa-, husband of Hutaosā. In the Graeco-Roman world oft-used and quoted ‘Oracles’, which were concerned with the last things, went around under his name; cf. most recently [1. 376-381]. Wiesehöfer, Josef (Kiel) [German version] [2] Son of Arsames Son of Arsames (ancient Persian Aršāma-), grands…

[German version] (Γλῶς/ Glôs, Diod. Sic. 14,19,6; Γλοῦς/ Gloûs, Xen. An. 2,1,3). Son of the ‘Egyptian’ Tamos of Memphis (probably the Carian Tamos, born in Memphis), marched with Cyrus the Younger against his brother Artaxerxes II in 401 BC and after Cyrus' death defected to the other side (Xen. An. 1,4,16; 1,5,7; 2,1,3; 2,4,24). As commander of the fleet and son-in-law of the satrap  Tiribazus, G. organized the grain transport from Cilicia in the war against Evagoras of Salamis and defeated him in 381 …

(Middle Persian ērān, genitive plural of ēr, in Ērān-šahr, ‘land of the  Aryans/Iranians’ < Middle Persian ēr, Sassanid inscriptions and Paḫlavī literature of the 9th cent. AD < Old Iranian * arya-, Old Persian ariya-, Avestan airya-). [German version] I. History of the term Although ariya- in itself carries ethnical meaning (the Achaemenids referred to themselves as ariya- ‘Aryan’ or respectively ariyaciça-, respectively ‘of Aryan descent’), the term I. (or respectively Ērān-šahr) as an ethical, religious, and political concept is an early Sassanid creation. Under…

[German version] The term iuvenes, although also related to adults or non-junior teams, usually refers to the Roman or Italian youth of military training or serving age. The organizations of the iuventutes existing in the late Republican period in Italy that were originally military and later rather paramilitary or pre-military were revitalized by Augustus in the context of his reorganization of the aristocratic youth; later they had the character of an association. There is evidence of such   collegia in Italy ( collegia iuvenum) and in the western provinces ( collegia iuventutis) pa…

[German version] (Συέννεσις/ Syénnesis). Term for indigenous Cilician dynasts with their centre at Tarsus (Xen. An. 1,2,23). According to Hdt. 1,74, one S. is supposed to have mediated the accord between the Lydians and the Medes; in the war between Croesus and Cyrus [2], Cilicia was on the Persian side (Hdt. 1,28). Another S. took part in Xerxes's campaign against Hellas (Hdt. 7,98; Aesch. Pers. 326-328). It is generally assumed that the duplicity of the third known S., the husband of Epyaxa, duri…

[German version] (Τισσαφέρνης/ Tissaphérnēs). Son of Hydarnes [4], grandson of Hydarnes [1]. After the removal of the rebellious satrap Pissuthnes T. became a satrap in 413 BC in Sardis and a káranos (Thuc. 8,5,4: stratēgòs tôn kátō, 'army leader of the lands on the coast') in the west of Asia Minor. As such he concluded a subsidy treaty with Sparta against Athens in 412 BC; in return Sparta entrusted the Greeks of western Asia Minor to the Great King (Thuc. 1,115,4; 8,5,4 f.; 8,17 f.; 8,43; 8,52 and 8,58; renewal of the treaty in…

[German version] ( Sīmǎ Qiān). C. 145 - c. 85 BC, author of the first Chinese dynastic history, the Shǐjì, which contains, primarily in chapter 123, important information on central Asia and Iran (e.g. on the decline of the Graeco-Bactrian kingdom and characteristics of the Parthian Empire). S. was born in Longmen (modern province of Shanxi, near Chang'an, the capital of the time). After early travels through the whole Empire he later held office at the court of the Han emperor Wu (140-87 BC) as court astrologer a…

[German version] (Περσίς/ Persís, Str. 15,3,1, etc.; Old Persian Pārsa). Region in Southwest Iran, which (as Anshan) belonged to the kingdom of Elam and was later the home of the dynasty of the Achaemenids [2] and Sāssānids (see below). Greek and Roman authors as well as Arab geographers divided P. into different geographical and climatic zones: the hot and infertile coastal region (with ports), the rugged, cold and inhospitable mountain region and the highly fertile region of well-watered valleys (Curt. 5,4,5-9; Str. 15,3,1; Arr. I…

(Ἐλυμαῖοι; Elymaîoi). [German version] [1] Inhabitants of the Elymais Inhabitants of the  Elymais, described by ancient authors mainly as mountain dwellers or rather, in a military context, as mounted archers (cf. i.a. App. Syr. 32; Str. 16,1,17; Liv. 37,40,9). Wiesehöfer, Josef (Kiel) [German version] [2] Inhabitants of the Elburz region According to Pol. 5,44,9 neighbours to the inhabitants of  Media Atropatene in the Elburz region along the south-western corner of the Caspian Sea. Plut. Pompeius 36 reports of a ‘king of the Elymaei and Medes…

[German version] This item can be found on the following maps: Achaemenids | Alexander | Hellenistic states | Hellenistic states (τὰ Ζαδρακάρτα/ tà Zadrakárta; Arr. Anab. 3,23,6; 25,1). Largest city and fortified Achaemenid residence in Hyrcania, whose precise location is not certain (Sārī?, Qale Ḫandān?). Alexander [4] the Great passed through Z. while pursuing Bessus in 331 BC. Wiesehöfer, Josef (Kiel)

[German version] (Μύκοι; Mýkoi). Ethnic group in the Persian empire (Hdt. 3,93; 7,68; Hecat. FGrH 1 F 289) who, together with the Sagartii, Sarangae, Thamanaei, Utii and the island inhabitants of the Persian Gulf, were classed as belonging to the 14th nomos by Herodotus. It is probably correct to assume that they were  the inhabitants of the regions on both sides of the strait of Hormūz, corresponding to the Maciyā, i.e. the inhabitants of Maka, known from Achaemenid inscriptions and reliefs as well as the fortification and treasury ta…

[German version] The peoples of ancient India and ancient Iran, who spoke Aryan languages referred to themselves as A. (cf. Old Indo-Aryan árya-, Iranian arya-; etymology disputed). In the 19th cent. the until then purely linguistic terms A./Aryan were for a time used synonymously with Indo-Europeans/Indo-Germanic and in this way came to be used in anthropology and ethnology, which in the Nazi era perverted them with an anti-Semitic bias into the positive counterpart of Jews/Jewish. Linguistic and religious-historical reasons support the belief that the A. were an ori…

[German version] (Ἐλυμαίς; Elymaís). Greek name of a region in south-west Iran ( Ḫūzestān) within the territory of the ancient empire of  Elam. Originally probably mainly used for the mountainous Baḫtı̄ārı̄ region (in contrast with the Susiana plains), the term increasingly also included the expanding territory of the Hellenistic-Parthian ‘kingdom’ of E. [1. 39-45; 2. 3-8]. E./Susiana was one of the political and economic core regions of the Achaemenid and Seleucid empires; however, for the actual E., it is to be expected that some special forms of…

[German version] Indian name of the kings of the so-called Indo-Parthian dynasty, which is primarily known because of its coins. Gondophares, who ended the rule of the Shaka in Arachosia (Arachosia) and ultimately probably also in Gandhara (Gandaritis), is regarded as the founder of the dynasty. The inscriptions from Taḫt-i Bahī from the 26th year of this king established his rule quite precisely as from AD 20 to 46. In keeping with this, the apostle Thomas is said to have met Gondophares on his j…

[German version] (ἡ Ῥάγα/ hē Rhága: Str. 11,13,6; ἡ Ῥάγη/ hē Rhágē: Tobit 6,10; Ῥάγοι/ Rhágoi: Tobit 1,14 et alibi; (αἱ) Ῥάγαι/ (hai) Rhágai: Str. 11,9,1; Arr. Anab. 3,20,2 etc.). City (and district with a large population) of eastern Media, today an expanse of ruins south of Tehran. In the district of (Old Persian) Ragā (Elamic Rakka, Babylonian Raga), Darius [1] I captured the Median rebel Fravarti (Phraortes [3]) in 521 ([3. DB II 70 ff.]). In the summer of 330, Alexander [4] the Great rested his troops in R. for five days while in pursuit of Dariu…

[German version] Archaeological find site in Kurdistan, Iran (Old Persian Ḥulvān; Akkadian Ḫalmān), 20 km from the Iraqi border on the old Kermānshāh-Baghdad road. There, to both sides of the River Alvand, was found a total of four reliefs of the Lullubaean princes who reigned in the late 3rd or early 2nd millennium BC; among them, the triumphal relief of Anubanini [2. pl. 49], with the motif of trampling the enemy underfoot, provided the model for the relief of Darius [1] I at Bisutun. Below this image is …

[German version] Place in Azerbaijan mentioned by Moslem authors. In the middle of the limestone interplateau projecting slightly over the plain was a more than 60 m deep (lifeless) lake. Š. is located about 30 km to the north of Takāb and identical with Taḫt-e Soleimān. During the Sassanid period, it was the location of one of the three main fire temples of the empire (Āzurgušnasp). The close relationship between this place and the Sassanid kings of the 5th-7th cents. (Sassanids) is documented by…

[German version] (Ζαράμα; Zaráma). Not precisely locatable township, mentioned only in Ptol. 6,2,16, in the interior of Media, presumably to the southwest of Europus (Rhagae). Wiesehöfer, Josef (Kiel)

[German version] (Καρμανία, Karmanía, Latin Carmania; etymology unclear). Name of an Iranian area east of the Persis and west of the  Gedrosia. In western documents the inhabitants of C. are called Καρμάνιοι/ Karmánioi, Latin Carmanii. This tradition distinguishes at the same time the barren north (ἡ ἔρημος Κ., e.g. Ptol. 6,5,1) from C. proper, which is described as particularly fertile (Str. 15,2,14; Arr. Ind. 32,4f.; Amm. Marc. 23,6,48). In the Achaemenid royal inscriptions, C. is mentioned as the supplier of yakā wood for the palace of Darius I in Susa [2. 14…

[German version] ( Ǧundı̄sābūr, ‘Place of the army of Šāpūr’; middle Persian Veh-Andiyōk-Šābūr, ‘Šāpūr [made this city] better than Antioch’; Syrian Bēṯ Lāpāṭ). City located about 30 km east of Susa in which the Sassanid Šāpur ( Sapor) I settled artisans and specialists deported from Syria in the 3rd cent. AD. The town soon became a cultural and scientific centre with its own ‘university’ (important especially in the field of medicine), a main location for Persian silk manufacturing and a centre for the Christians of…

[German version] (Παρθία/ Parthía Plut. Antonius 55; Παρθυαία/ Parthyaía Pol. 5,44,4; Str. 11,9,1; Παρθυηνή/ Parthyēnḗ, distinct from the Parthian Empire Pol. 10,28,7; Str. 11,9,1; Ancient Persian Par θ ava-). Territory south east of the Caspian Sea, bonded to the west by Media, in the north west by Hyrcania, in the east by Margiana (by the Parthian territory of Apauarktikene/Apavortene) and Areia [1]. P.'s geography is dictated by two chains of mountains, the Kopet Dag to the north (along the modern frontier between Iran and Turkmenistan) and the Bīnālū…

[German version] (Τιρίβαζος/ Tiríbazos), Achaemenid satrap in Armenia, who rescued Artaxerxes [2] II at Cunaxa (in 401 BC) and allowed the Greek mercenaries free passage (Xen. Anab. 4,4,4 f.; 18; Plut. Artaxerxes 7 and 10; Diod. Sic. 14,27,7). As káranos (governor-general of the western satrapies) in Asia Minor (and probably also satrap in Sardeis), in 392 BC he referred Athenian and Spartan envoys to the great king, helped Antalcidas construct a fleet and captured Conon [1] (Xen. Hell. 4,8,12 ff.; Diod. Sic. 14,85,4). Temporari…

(Πνυταγόρας; Pnytagóras). [German version] [1] Greek politician from Cyprus Son of Evagoras [1] of Salamis in Cyprus. P. helped his father in the rebellion against the Persians and after the sea battle of  Citium (381 BC) defended Salamis (Isoc. or. 9,62; Diod. 15,4), which was under siege. Father and son are supposed to have had relations with the daughter of Nicocreon [1], and both were murdered by the eunuch Thrasydaeus  (Theop. FGrH 115 F 103,12; Aristot. Pol. 5,1311b 4ff.). Wiesehöfer, Josef (Kiel) Bibliography F.G. Maier, Cyprus and Phoenicia, in: CAH 6, 21994, 297-336. …

[German version] (προσκύνησις; proskýnēsis). Ancient gesture of reverence, a kind of blown kiss (cf. Lucian. Demosthenus enkomion 49; Apul. Apol. 56; Min. Fel. 2,4), often performed in connection with particular postures or bodily movements (turning, bowing, etc.) (Plut. Marcellus 6,11 f.; Plut. Numa 14,4; [9. 142 f.]). The term proskynesis (Aristot. Rh. 1361a 36) is derived from proskyneîn, 'kiss towards' (Aesch. Prom. 936 f.) and in content corresponds to Latin adorare and venerari (Plin. HN 28,2,25; Hier. Adversus Rufinum. 1,19; Nep. Conon 3,3; [10. 157 f., 171,…

[German version] (Ὀξυάρτης/ Oxyártēs). Sogdian nobleman; friend of Bessus and opponent of Alexander [4] the Great, father of Rhoxane. After his reconciliation with the Macedonians (his sons joined Alexander's army), he was involved in the subjugation of Sogdia and in 326/5 BC received the Paropamisad satrapy (confirmed in 323 and 321). In 317 BC, O. fought with Eumenes [1] against Antigonus [1] (Arr. Anab. 3,28,10; 4,18,4-7; 20,4; 26,6f.; 6,15,3f.; 7,6,4; Diod. Sic. 18,3,3; 39,6; 19,14,6; 48,2). Sogdiana Wiesehöfer, Josef (Kiel)

(Φραόρτης/ Phraórtēs, Old Persian Fravartiš). [German version] [1] Father of the Median king Deioces According to Hdt. 1,96, father of the Median king Deioces. Wiesehöfer, Josef (Kiel) [German version] [2] Son of Deioces Son of Deioces, who, according to Hdt. 1,102, reigned for 22 years, subjugated the Persians and fell in battle against the Assyrians. Wiesehöfer, Josef (Kiel) [German version] [3] Median rebel against Darius [1] I Median rebel against Darius [1] I, mentioned in the Bīsutūn inscription [1. DB II 13ff., 64ff., DBe] and depicted on the relief ther…

[German version] (Καλλωνῖτις, Kallōnîtis, other form of the name Χαλωνῖτις/ Chalōnîtis). Area mentioned by Pol. 5,54,7 and considered part of Media, directly west of the great  Zagrus passes along the upper Diyālā; here  Antiochus [5] III had the corpse of the rioter  Molon impaled; neighbouring region of Apolloniatis. Str. 16,1,1 considers C. as still part of Ἀτουρία, i.e. Mesopotamia. Wiesehöfer, Josef (Kiel) Bibliography H. H. Schmitt, Unt. zur Gesch. Antiochos d.Gr. und seiner Zeit, 1964, Index s.v. Chalonitis.

[German version] Although a distinction was made in ancient gynaecology between abortion and contraception (Sor. 1,60), the corresponding methods and practices cannot be precisely separated the one from the other. On the one hand, conception was regarded as a process, and its interruption at an early stage of pregnancy was certainly regarded as contraceptive; on the other hand, in view of deficiencies in understanding as to the point of conception, a device used as a contraceptive could also produce an abortion.  Child Exposure must also be regarded as a form of family planning. If Hipp…

[German version] Siblings (1st cent. AD), authors of the Hanshu (Qian Hanshu), the official Chinese dynastic history of the Former or Western Han, containing information on the Parthian empire (Parthians; Parthia), among other subjects. Wiesehöfer, Josef (Kiel) Bibliography D.D. Leslie, K.H. J. Gardiner, The Roman Empire in Chinese Sources, 1996, s.v. Pan Ku/Pan Ch'ao.

[German version] (Γελωνοί; Gelōnoí). According to Hdt. (4,102; 108f.; 120; 136), agricultural Scythian tribe in the neighbourhood of the  Budini and speaking a Graeco-Scythian hybrid language; descendants of Gelonus; originally Greek refugees from Greek trade settlements. They apparently took part in the battle against  Darius [1] I. Wiesehöfer, Josef (Kiel)

[German version] (Ναβαρζάνης; Nabarzánēs). The chilíarchos (commander) of the royal cavalry of king Darius [3] III.; described in admiring terms by Curt. (esp. 5,9-10). Nabarzanes was the only Persian commander who was successful at the battle of Issus and was with Bessos at the time of king Darius' murder. He later surrendered to Alexander [4] the Great in Hyrcania (Arr. Anab. 3,23,3f.). Wiesehöfer, Josef (Kiel) Bibliography Berve, vol. 2, no. 543.

(Μεγαβάτης; Megabátēs). Name of several distinguished Persians, including: [German version] [1] Father of Megabazus [2] Father of Megabazus [2] (Hdt. 7,97), cousin of Darius [1] I and of the satrap Artaphernes [2]. He commanded the unsuccessful assault on Naxos (500 BC; Hdt. 5,30-35). He may be identical with the M. who was replaced by Xerxes as satrap of Hellespontian Phrygia in 477 (Thuc. 1,129,1), or the M. who is described as an ‘admiral’ in [1. 8,5-7]. Wiesehöfer, Josef (Kiel) Bibliography 1 G. G. Cameron, Persepolis Treasury Tablets, 1948. [German version] [2] Son of Spithridates T…

[German version] (Ἄπαρνοι/Πάρνοι, Áparnoi/Párnoi, variant Πάρνοι/Σπαρνοι, Párnoi/Spárnoi: Str. 11,7,1; Lat. Aparni/Parni: etymology unclear). Part of the Dahae [1] tribe - aside from the Xánthioi/ Xantheíoi and Píssouroi (Str. 11,8,2; cf. 11,9,3) - who occupied the steppe of south-western Turkmenistan in the 3rd cent. BC (Str. 11,8,2f.; Justin. 41,1,10) and from there, under its leader Arsaces [1] I, invaded Parthia after 250 BC. The P. originally spoke an eastern Middle Iranian dialect (Parnian) whose nature can only be…

[German version] The Avroman documents, as they as known, were found in 1909 in a clay vessel in a grotto on the Kūh-i Sālān near the village of Pālāngān on the Kūh-i Avrōmān in the south-west of Iranian Kurdistan and are today kept in the British Museum. They consist of one Parthian and two Greek parchment documents. Whilst the Greek documents are contracts dating from 88/87 and 22/21 BC providing proof of the sale of half of the Dādbakān vineyard, the Parthian document tells (using heterographic…

[German version] (Σαγάρτιοι/ Sagártioi; Old Persian asagarta 'Sagartia', asagartiya 'Sagartian', 'Sagartians'). In an inscription of Darius [1] I from Persepolis that lists the lands/peoples of the empire, the S. precede the Parthians, Drangianians, Arians and Bactrians [3. DPe 15-16]. In the inscription of Bīsutūn, the same ruler reports that two 'pretenders to the throne' - the Mede Fravartiš (Phraortes [3]) and the Sagartian Ciçantaḫma (who was later executed in Arbela) - had passed themselves off as …

[German version] A hail of arrows fired backwards by mounted Parthian archers while pretending to flee (cf. Just. Epit. 41,2,7: “saepe etiam fugam simulant, ut incautiores adversum vulnera insequentes habeant” ("often, too, they pretend flight, that they may make their pursuers less careful of being wounded"). There are also depictions of the Parthian shot, for instance on Chinese reliefs from the Han period (206 BC to AD 220). Wiesehöfer, Josef (Kiel) Bibliography 1 H. von Gall, Das Reiterkampfbild in der iranischen und iranisch beeinflußten Kunst parthischer und sas…

[German version] (Πατιζείθης/ Pathizeíthēs Hdt. 3,61ff.; Πανζούθης/ Panzoúthēs Dionysius of Miletus, Schol. Hdt. 3,61 FGrH 687 F 2; identical to Παζάτης/ Pazátēs in Xanthus the Lydian; Πατζάτης/ Patzátēs Chron. pasch. 270?). According to Hdt. 3,61, a mágos who in 521 BC persuaded his brother Smerdis (Gaumāta) to rebel against Cambyses [2] II and was killed by Darius [1] I. Just. Epit. 1,9,9f. cites his name as Oropastes. P. should be interpreted as a title, although it is etymologically unclear (the same as the later πιτιάχης/ Pitiáchēs, Middle Persian btḥšy: "viceroy"?). Wiesehö…

[German version] (Μαργιανή/ Margianḗ < Ancient Persian Marguš > New Persian Marv). Fertile eastern Iranian country through which the Murġāb flows (Ptol. 6,10,1; Plin. HN 6,16; Str. 2,1,14; 11,10,1; in the Avesta M. is regarded as one of the most beautiful of countries created by Ahura Mazdā) in modern Turkmenistan. Ptol. 6,10 names the Derbicci, Massageti, Parni, Daae and Topuri as inhabitants of M. and also mentions individual cities, among which Antioch [7] Margiane (Giaur-Qala with the original Achaeme…

[German version] (Persian Nehāvand). City in Iran, south of the Alvand mountains in the Zagros range (Media). In this region (Tepe Giyan), which was already of importance in prehistoric times, the Seleucids founded the pólis Laodiceia(-N.), where a copy of the dynastic cult inscription of Antiochus [5] III was found. A Sassanid army was defeated by the Arabs near N. in AD 642, when N. was the main city of the district and diocese. Wiesehöfer, Josef (Kiel) Bibliography L. Robert, Inscriptions séleucides de Phrygie et d'Iran, in: Hellenica 7, 1949, 5-22.

(Ῥοδογούνη/ Rhodogoúnē). [German version] [1] Mother of Darius I Wife of Hystaspes [2], mother of Darius [1] I (Suda and Harpocr., s. v.). Wiesehöfer, Josef (Kiel) [German version] [2] Daughter of Darius [1] I Daughter of Darius [1] I? (Hier. Adversus Iovinianum 1,45; PL 23, p. 287). Wiesehöfer, Josef (Kiel) [German version] [3] Daughter of Xerxes I Daughter of Xerxes I (Ctes. FGrH 688 F 13). Wiesehöfer, Josef (Kiel) [German version] [4] Daughter of Artaxerxes [2] II Daughter of Artaxerxes [2] II, wife of Orontes [2] I (Plut. Artaxerxes 27,7; cf. Xen. An. 2,4,8) an…

[German version] Site of ruins high in the Baḫtiyiārī Mountains (in Iran), c. 25 km north of the city of Īẕe (Malāmīr), in ancient Elymais. Among the numerous Hellenistic marble and bronze fragments found in a sanctuary, a bronze statue, somewhat over life size and almost completely preserved, is particularly noteworthy: it is as yet the only surviving large-scale representation in three dimensions of an Arsacid dignitary (prince?) (2nd cent. AD). Wiesehöfer, Josef (Kiel) Bibliography 1 V.S. Curtis, The Parthian Costume and Headdress, in: J. Wiesehöfer (ed.), Das Partherreic…

[German version] Chinese name of a 'nomadic people' with an original settlement area between the Qilian chain of mountains and Dunhuang, the starting point of the Silk Road in northwestern China. Driven from there between 176/174 and 161 BC at the command of Maodun, khan of the Xiongnu, the Y. turned west and in turn subjugated the Sai tribes (Sacae). Shortly afterwards, expelled from the Sai pasture lands in the Ili Basin and on Lake Ysyk by the Wusun, a subject people of the Xiongnu, the Y. foll…

[German version] ( Kūh-ī Xvāgah, Kūh-i Ḫvāǧah). Basalt mountain on an island in Lake Hāmūn in Drangiana/Iran. On its south-eastern slope is a site with ruins of impressive courtyards, gates, towers and rooms, at the earliest from the Parthian period but probably rather from the Sassanid and post-Sassanid period (Ġāga Šahr). Numerous rooms were richly decorated with stucco ornaments and above all with colourful frescos showing Graeco-Roman, Iranian and Indian stylistic elements and representing religi…

[German version] (Σατάσπης; Satáspēs). According to Hdt. 4,43 a maternal nephew of Darius [1] I, who was to be impaled for the violation of the daughter of Zopyrus. He was released upon the intercession of his mother, and as atonement he was given the task of circumnavigating Libya (Africa). He started from Egypt and left the Mediterranean through the 'Pillars of Heracles' (i.e. the Straits of Gibraltar), but turned back without having fulfilled his task; as a result Xerxes I had the originally imposed punishment carried out. Wiesehöfer, Josef (Kiel) Bibliography F. Colin, Le récit…

[German version] While women in archaic Greece usually nursed their own children, the use of wet-nurses became more common in the classical period. The τιθήνη/ tithḗnē or τίτθη/ títh ē (the nanny who did not nurse was referred to as τροφός/ trophós) was usually a slave (such as GVI 1729), although some free-born or freed women in Athens provided this service as well, usually ξέναι/ xénai. In the visual arts, wet-nurses played a primarily attributive role up into the 4th cent., but later one can observe an increased interest in them - that is, in their function, less as persons. In Rome, wet-nu…