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[German version] Divination technique, a form of symbolic communication with the dead outside the cult of the dead proper. Greek νέκυια/ nékyia, νεκυομαντεία/ nekyomanteía (borrowed into Latin) described the necromancy ritual and is the title of literary and visual representations (Plin. HN 35,132; Gell. NA 16,7,12; 20,6,6; Plut. Mor. 740e-f; Lucian. Menippus). There are hints of necromancy rituals in the so-called Magical Papyri (PGM VII 285; III 278; IV 222; 3rd or 4th cents. AD). The most detailed sources from anci…

( limitatio). [German version] I. Etruscan prerequisites To the Etruscans, the definition of real and symbolic space by drawing boundaries ( limites; Varro in Frontin. De agri mensura p. 27 L.) was a prerequisite for the correct interpretation ( Divination) and placement (foundation of cities) of signs: the interpretation of heavenly signs was based on their arrangement in sections of the co-ordinate axes which divide the heavens; the axes are spatially fixed by alignment to the co-ordinates (orientation). Ritual fo…

[German version] (Νομᾶς/ Nomâs, Νόμας/ Nómas, Νουμᾶς/ Noumâs). In the ancient tradition the second king of Rome after Romulus, founder of Roman sacred law and Roman state cult ( sacra publica: Liv. 1,32,2). The patronymic ‘Numas’ in an Etruscan inscription on an urn from Perugia from the Hellenistic period (ET Nr. Pe 1.11; [3. 350]) constitutes no proof of an Etruscan origin for the name (different e.g. [1. 88]). According to tradition N. hailed from the city of Cures in the land of the Sabines. His birthday coincides with the …

[German version] C. U. Melior. Haruspex Caesarum, patronus municipii (AE 1930, no. 52; the dolphin as a word separator in the inscription probably locates its patronate in Tarentum; Haruspices with ill.; Patronus D.). On 15 January 69 U. predicted to Galba [2] from liver signs the latter's imminent overthrow by Otho (Tac. Hist. 1,27; Plut. Galba 24). His technical work De Etrusca Disciplina was Pliny's most recent source for (bird) portents (Plin. HN. 10; 11 index auct.; 10,19; [1]). Divination VII.; Etrusci III. D. Haase, Mareile (Toronto) Bibliography 1 D. Briquel, Sur un frag…

[German version] Author, probably in the 1st cent. BC, who wrote 'Etruscan tragedies' ( tragoediae Tuscae). V. was Varro's [2] (Ling. 5,55; written in c. 45 BC) informant for the Etruscan origin of the names of the first Roman tribus : tribus Titiensium, tribus Ramnium, tribus Lucerum. Haase, Mareile (Toronto) Bibliography C. O. Thulin, Die etruskische Disciplin III, 1909 (repr. 1968), 48  W. Strzelecki, s. v. V., RE 9 A, 766 f.

[German version] (θεοὶ πάτριοι/πατρῷοι; theoì pátrioi/ patrôioi; πατρικοί/ patrikoí: P CZ 3, 59421,2; 3rd cent. BC; [8.883]), 'fatherly' (inherited, native, traditional) deities; in multilingual inscriptions Lat. patrii di (e.g. inscriptions by Cornelius Gallus in: OGIS II 654,9; 29 BC; Philae). The word patrôios in particular appears in connection with theonyms, above all for Apollo [2; 9] and Zeus. In many cases, the semantic differentiations made between pátrios, patrôios, patrikós by ancient lexicographers (supporting evidence: ThGL VI 612) do not correspon…

[German version] Form of symbolic interaction in a religious context, consisting of a vow (Gr. εὐχή/ euchḗ, εὐχωλή/ euchōlḗ; Lat. votum), which involved a request (prayer), and the fulfilment of the vow as a sign of gratitude for having had the request granted. Vow and gratitude could each be expressed by setting up (Gr. ἀνατιθέναι/ anatithénai, also ἱστάναι/ histánai) or giving (Lat. ponere, (donum) dare; cf. also Etruscan mul(u)vanice, tur(u)ce: [2; 12]) a votive offering (Gr. ἀνάθημα/ anáthēma , δῶρον/ dôron; Lat. votum). These were objects of various size and economic val…

[German version] I. Ancient Orient and Egypt Since sacrifices were primarily intended to ensure that the daily needs of the gods were met, not only victuals but also beverages (generally water, beer, wine) were an essential component of regular sacrifices to the gods, as well as of sacrifices offered to the dead. Both in Egypt and in Mesopotamia, libation and terms used for libation stand as pars pro toto for sacrifice. This may have stemmed originally from the fact that for people living at a subsistence level the libation of water constituted their only opport…

Roman deity; Cic. Nat. D. 2,66 explains she is the goddess the Greeks called Persephone. [German version] A. Theology The derivation of the name P. from Latin (pro-)serpere, 'creep (forward)', in Varro is connected with the allegorical interpretation of P. as 'grain's germ' ( frumenta germinantia) and as 'the lower part of the earth' ( terrae inferior pars) and its associated deities (e.g. Luna, Diana, Tellus, Vesta: Varro Ling. 5,68; Varro Antiquitates fr. 28, 167, 268 Cardauns). This is not 'folk etymology' (contra: [4. 229; 11. 265]), but Stoic lin…

Roman nomen gentile of Etruscan origin (in Antiquity probably seen as a variant of Tarquinius , cf. Fest. 496). Elvers, Karl-Ludwig (Bochum) I. Republican period [German version] [I 1] T. Priscus Technical author, 1st cent. BC? Latin writer perhaps of the 1st cent. BC (cf. Verg. Catal. 5,3); mentioned in Macrobius [1] (Sat. 3,20,3; 5. cent. BC) as the author of an ostentarium arborarium (Etrusci, Etruria III with ill. on Etrusca disciplina), probably an ordered and annotated list of trees and shrubs ( arbores) of significance in divination. T. may also be meant in Plin. HN 2; …

[German version] Term of modern scholarship for a group of ancient religious texts. The term (following [10]) is based on the Greek ἀρεταλογία/ aretalogía, 'celebration (of the deeds and qualities of a deity)' (from aretḗ, here '(deed of) wonder, miracle, sphere of power', and légein, 'to speak'). Sources: LXX Sirach 36,19, c. 180 BC; cf. Str. 17,1,17 (possibly corrupted); pejorative in Manetho [2], Apotelesmatiká 4,447; cf. Latin virtutes narrare: Ter. Ad. 535f. There is no record of the term 'aretalogy' as the name of a genre of texts in Antiquity. None of the…

[German version] (-us; Greek σποντίτης/ spontítēs etc.; small libum: libacunculus). (Honey) pastry, a kind of placenta (sacrificial cake; Serv. Aen. 7,109). Types: [1]; strues (Fest. 407 L.) among others; cf. Umbr. strusla ( Tabulae Iguvinae: [2]). Recipe: Cato Agr. 75. Introduced by Numa according to Enn. Ann. fr. 121 V. Production and sale by bakers of cakes, libarii: Sen. Ep. 56,2; CIL IV 1768, fictores : Varro, Ling. 7,44. Pictorial representations are not classifiable with certainty [3]. The libum is a cult element: combination with liquid ( merum, lac: wine, milk; libum from libar…

[German version] I. General comments The purpose of ancient wedding customs and rituals was to achieve the cultic purification of the wedding couple, seal their union by offering sacrifices, enhance fertility and strengthen the couple, as well as to protect the bride from calamity and evil spirits on her way to the bridegroom's house and guide her in assuming her new position as wife and mother. The rituals lasted for several days, beginning in the bride's house, where they signaled her departure fro…

[German version] I. Egypt The origin, meaning of the name and original role of the Egyptian goddess I. are not entirely certain. There is much evidence to indicate a home in the 12th Egyptian district with its capital at Per-Hebit ( pr-ḥbjt), Latin Iseum, modern Bahbīt al-Ḥiǧāra. The long-standing opinion that I. personifies the royal throne is based on the fact that her name was written with the image of a throne. However, the likely root of the name ( st) describes I. as ‘one who has power to rule’. It is significant that she is included in the Osiris myth, in which seve…

Geus, Klaus (Bamberg) [German version] I. Genre (CT) Geus, Klaus (Bamberg) [German version] A. Definition (CT) Comics are a special kind of picture story, originating in the United States at the end of the 19th cent. They can be described as a form of story in which text and pictures are organised in a narrative sequence, and arranged ,for the most part, chronologically. Comics developed from the political and satirical caricatures of the 18th and 19th cents.[1]. Long dismissed as trivial and juvenile literatur…

[German version] (Greek i. a. Νεμέτωρ/ Nemétōr, Νομήτωρ/ Nomḗtōr). Figure from the legend of the founding of Rome by Romulus: older son of Procas; father of Rhea Silvia; king of Alba Longa. Deposed by his brother Amulius, N. is reinstated again with the help of his grandsons Romulus und Remus (e.g. Liv. 1,3-6; Dion. Hal. Ant. 1,71; 76-84; Plut. Romulus 3-8); this event marks the moment in the story which directly precedes the founding of the city. In the literature about the history of Rome, N. is first mentioned by Fabius Pictor (2nd half 3rd cent. BC.), whose source is…

[German version] I. Ancient Orient see  Divination II. [German version] A. Introduction and definition Haruspices is the Latin term for viewers and interpreters of entrails (of animals) in various ancient cultures, mostly from Etruria (Cic. Div. 1,3). The etymology of the word's first syllable is unclear; amongst others, hira (‘intestines’) and hostia (from haruga, ‘sacrificial animal’) have been assumed [1. 45]. In Roman Republican times, the viewing of entrails ( haruspicina) was regarded as an ars, an ‘empirical science’ based on observation (Cic. Div. 1,24f.), who…

[German version] Italic goddess. Cults are recorded by votive inscriptions in the territory of the Marsi [1] (Vetter, no. 223, from Antinum; no. 228b, 'at Milonia'). In the Umbrian Tabulae Iguvinae III/IV (Iguvium), she is the object of sacrificial activities and prayers, together with Pomonus Popdicus, a god of fruits and perhaps of the annual cycle [1. 497]. A (hierarchical) relationship with this god also becomes clear in the formulation of the name ( Vesune Puemunes Pupřikes, 'V. (dative singular) of P. P.') and is conditioned by the role of the deity in the conte…

[German version] A. Sources 1. The so-called Hittite laws 2. The Anitta text 3. The autobiography of Ḫattušilis I. 4. The ‘Political Testament’ of Ḫattušilis I. 5. Royal decrees 6. Court records. 7. Royal letters 8. Funerary rituals 9. So-called deeds of donation of land 10. The field texts 11. The charters for individual vassals 12. The state contracts. Haase, Mareile (Toronto) [German version] B. Civil and criminal law A body of laws, for which the name ‘Hittite Laws’ has come into use, primarily provides information (however, the term ‘law’ should …

(ἴυγξ; íynx). [German version] [1] Demon related to the genesis of the world Iynx (‘sounding’, cf. ἰύζω/ iýzō) refers to 1. a bird, 2. a humming wheel used in magical rites, and 3. a demon in  theurgy who is associated with the origin of the world and mediates between humans and gods. In myth the bird is transformed from a seductive nymph, the daughter of Echo or Peitho and perhaps  Pan (Callim. Fr. 685; Phot. and Suda, s.v. I.), or from a woman who competed with the Muses in singing (Nicander in Antoninus Liberalis 9). The wheel and the bird were important in the Greek love-spell in myth…

[German version] Technical term in Roman divination (VII.) (augury: e.g. Serv. Aen. 2,453; interpretation of thunder and lightning: schol. Veronensia Verg. Aen. 2,693). PA describes the two spatial semiotic units ( partes, spatia: Serv. Ecl. 9,15) of the field of observation in front of the diviner, PP the two behind, constructed with the help of a system of rectangular co-ordinates ( Templum ). This system of spatial orientation, which was also the basis of Roman surveying, with rules for drawing boundaries ( constitutio limitum: Hyginus p. 166f. Lachmann) is traced by Varro …

('Age'). [German version] I. General Censorinus [4] takes up ancient theories on saeculum in ch. 17 of De die natali (AD 238) in the framework of chronographic remarks. His sources include Varro, who, according to Serv. Aen. 8,526, was the author of a text, De saeculis. Censorinus, DN 17,2, defined saeculum as 'the length of the longest possible human lifetime' ( spatium vitae humanae longissimum partu et morte definitum). Censorinus makes a clear distinction between Etruscan (17,5-6) and Roman traditions (17,7-15; Roman(or)um saeculum: 17,7): the ritual staging of the beginn…

[German version] (ὀρνιθομαντεία/ ornithomanteía 'bird divination' or ὀρνιθοσκοπία/ ornithoskopía 'bird watching', also ὀρνιθεία/ ornitheía 'bird (art)'; Latin auspicium 'bird watching', augurium; cf. Augures ; cf. Umbrian aves anzeriaom). Method of divination; the interpretation results from the configuration of visual and aural signs (bird species, motion [in flight]; bird noises) and from its arrangement into a space defined by boundaries and divided into meaningful sections (Latin templum ; Limitation [I], Pars antica, postica ). The tradition of the theory of aug…

[English version] I. Alter Orient s. Divination. II. [English version] A. Einleitung und Definition H. ist die lat. Bezeichnung für Eingeweidebeschauer und -deuter (bei Tieren) verschiedener ant. Kulturkreise, v.a. aus Etrurien (Cic. div. 1,3). Die Etym. des ersten Wortgliedes ist ungeklärt; man hat u.a. hira (“Gedärm”) und hostia (von haruga, “Opfertier”) angenommen [1. 45]. Die Eingeweideschau ( haruspicina) galt in republikanischer Zeit in Rom als ars, eine auf Beobachtung beruhende “Erfahrungswiss.” (Cic. div. 1,24f.), deren Beherrschung und Pflege versc…