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Article

Achaeus (1)  

Article

Publication History:

Published online:
22 December 2015
Subjects:
  1. Greek Myth and Religion

Achaeus (1), eponym of the Achaeans; in mythology, son of *Poseidon (Dion. Hal. Ant. Rom. 1. 17. 3), *Zeus (Serv. on Aen. 1. 242), *Xuthus (Apollod. 1. 50), or *Haemon (schol. Il. 2. 681).

Article

Achaeus (2), of Eretria, Athenian tragic poet  

Andrew Brown

Article

Publication History:

Published online:
07 March 2016
Subjects:
  1. Greek Literature
Achaeus (2) of Eretria, Athenian tragic poet, to be distinguished from Achaeus of Syracuse, who may be the Achaeus who won a *Lenaean victory c.356. According to the *Suda the Eretrian was born in 484–480 bce, wrote 44 or 30 or 24 plays, the first produced between 447 and 444, and won one victory. Being unmentioned at Ar. Ran.73–87, he was probably dead by 405. Of 20 known titles at least eight are satyric, and the philosopher *Menedemus (1) (a fellow Eretrian) thought his satyr-plays second only to those of *Aeschylus (Diog. Laert. 2. 133). *Didymus (1) seems to have written a commentary on him. *Euripides is said to have adapted a maxim from him (fr. 6, cf. Eur. fr. 895), and he is quoted three times by *Aristophanes (1) (Vesp.1081, Pax356, Ran.184). *Athenaeus (1) (10.

Article

Achaeus(3), d. 213 BCE  

Guy Thompson Griffith and Susan Mary Sherwin-White

Article

Publication History:

Published online:
07 March 2016
Subjects:
  1. Greek History and Historiography
  2. Near East

Achaeus (3) (d. 213 BCE), viceroy for *Antiochus (3) III of Seleucid Asia Minor and his kinsman (maternal uncle), probably the grandson of the Seleucid official Achaeus the Elder. In 223/2 he recovered Seleucid possessions in Anatolia from *Pergamum; exploiting Antiochus' involvement in the east (Molon's revolt and war against *Ptolemy (1) IV), he proclaimed himself king (220). His soldiers refused to fight Antiochus, but he maintained power until the king was free to quell his rebellion. After a two-year siege in Sardis, he was captured and duly executed as a traitor.

Article

Achaia  

Antony Spawforth

Article

Publication History:

Published online:
22 December 2015
Subjects:
  1. Ancient Geography
(correct spelling: J. Oliver, The Civic Tradition and Roman Athens (1983) 152 note 6), official name for the Roman province of *Greece, commemorating Rome's defeat of the *Achaean Confederacy in 146 bce (Paus. 7. 16. 20). After its initial and temporary formation by Caesar (46 bce), Augustus re-established it as a separate province (27 bce); joined to *Moesia in ce 15, it was detached in 44, ‘freed’ by Nero in 67, and definitively reconstituted by Vespasianc.70. Its early boundaries were unstable, including *Epirus and perhaps *Thessaly (by c.150 the former was a separate province, the latter part of *Macedonia). A public province, it was normally governed by junior (praetorian) proconsuls, upgraded under Constantine I to consulares. Although the procurator from Augustus on resided at *Corinth, the proconsuls were itinerant (e.g. Philostr. VA 8. 23), with residences attested at *Olympia (Paus.

Article

Acharnae  

Charles William John Eliot and Simon Hornblower

Article

Publication History:

Published online:
07 March 2016
Subjects:
  1. Ancient Geography

Acharnae, the largest Attic *deme. (The figure of 3,000 hoplites at Thuc. 2. 20. 4, cf. 21. 3, may be too high; 1,200 is likelier and a possible emendation; another is that πολῖται should be read for ὁπλῖται, ‘citizens’ not ‘hoplites’). It lay around Menidi in the NW corner of the Attic plain, near the pass from the Thriasian plain along which *Archidamus II and the Spartans marched in 431 bce. It is possible that Acharnae was divided into two demes for some purposes, making the total of known demes 140 not 139; but this is disputed. Although famous as charcoal-burners in *Aristophanes (1) (Ach.), the Acharnians lived primarily by growing corn and cultivating vines and olives. They were also famously brave (Pind. Nem. 2. 16) and had, appropriately, a sanctuary to *Ares: whether the temple was moved to the Athenian Agora in the Roman period is debated.

Article

Achates  

Stephen J. Harrison

Article

Publication History:

Published online:
22 December 2015
Subjects:
  1. Latin Literature

Achates, character in mythology, faithful lieutenant of *Aeneas in the Aeneid; a late source ascribes to him the killing of *Protesilaus (Eust. Il. 2. 701).

Article

Acheloüs  

W. M. Murray

Article

Publication History:

Published online:
07 March 2016
Subjects:
  1. Greek Myth and Religion

Acheloüs, the longest of all Greek rivers, rising in central *Epirus and debouching, after a course of 240 km. (150 mi.; mostly through mountainous gorges), into the NW corner of the Corinthian Gulf. Its lower reaches were affected by heavy alluviation (Hdt. 2. 10. 3; Thuc. 2. 102. 3) and constituted the frequently disputed frontier between *Acarnania and *Aetolia. Recent geological studies based on coring in the river's delta continue to refine our understanding of this process as it relates to historical periods. Acheloüs was personified early as a water- and *river-god (the son of *Oceanus and *Tethys), from whom all seas, rivers, and springs derived (Hom. Il. 21. 194–7; Hes. Theog. 337–40). For his mythology and widespread depiction in art, see H. P. Isler, LIMC 1/1 (1981) 12–36.

Article

Acheron  

W. M. Murray

Article

Publication History:

Published online:
22 December 2015
Subjects:
  1. Greek Myth and Religion

Acheron, a river of Thesprotia in southern *Epirus which breaks through an impenetrable gorge into the Acherusian plain where a lake (named Acherusia) lay in ancient times. The river empties into the Ionian Sea at the ancient Glycys Limen (or ‘sweet harbour’). Homer (Od. 10. 513) describes the Acheron as a river of *Hades into which the Cocytus and Pyriphlegethon streams flow, the place where Odysseus consulted the spirits of the Underworld (Od.11). Herodotus (5. 92. 7) mentions a death oracle (nekyomanteion) by the banks of the river where one called forth dead spirits for consultation. Remains of such an oracle have been excavated near Mesopotamo (see ephyra).

Article

Achilles  

Andrew Brown

Article

Publication History:

Published online:
30 July 2015
Subjects:
  1. Greek Literature
  2. Greek Myth and Religion

Achilles (Ἀχιλλεύς), son of *Peleus and *Thetis; greatest of the Greek heroes in the Trojan War; central character of *Homer's Iliad.

His name may be of Mycenaean Greek origin, meaning ‘a grief to the army’. If so, the destructive Wrath of Achilles, which forms the subject of the Iliad, must have been central to his mythical existence from the first.

In Homer he is king of Phthia, or ‘Hellas and Phthia’, in southern Thessaly (see phthiotis), and his people are the Myrmidons. As described at Il. 2. 681–5 the size of his kingdom, and of his contingent in the Trojan expedition (50 ships), is not outstanding. But in terms of martial prowess, which is the measure of excellence for a Homeric hero, Achilles' status as ‘best of the Achaeans’ is unquestioned. We are reminded of his absolute supremacy throughout the poem, even during those long stretches for which he is absent from the battlefield.

Article

Achilles Tatius (1), Greek novelist  

Ewen Bowie

Article

Publication History:

Published online:
07 March 2016
Subjects:
  1. Greek Literature
(see novel, greek) from *Alexandria (1), author of ‘The Story of Leucippe and Cleitophon’ (Τὰ κατὰ Λευκίππην καì Κλειτοφῶντα) in eight books. Shown by papyri to be circulating by the mid-2nd cent. ce, it probably dates from the preceding decades. Of three other works ascribed to Achilles by the *Suda two are lost (an Etymology and a Miscellaneous History of Many Great and Illustrious Men), and the ascription of that partly preserved, On the Sphere, is debated. The Suda's story that later he became a Christian, and even a bishop, is probably false. Achilles varies patterns common to the genre: the enamoured couple elope and survive shipwreck, attacks by pirates and brigands, and complicated adventures in Egypt; they are eventually re-united in Ephesus after Leucippe has passed a chastity-test (cf. heliodorus (4)). The story is presented as Cleitophon's autobiographic narrative, told to the writer in a temple grove at Sidon (cf.

Article

Achilles Tatius (2), probably 3rd cent. CE  

Article

Publication History:

Published online:
22 December 2015
Subjects:
  1. Greek Literature

Achilles Tatius (2) (probably 3rd cent. ce), author of a Greek commentary on *Aratus (1), the only surviving part of his work Περὶ σφαίρας.

Article

Acilius, Gaius, Roman senator and historian  

Alexander Hugh McDonald

Article

Publication History:

Published online:
07 March 2016
Subjects:
  1. Roman History and Historiography

Acilius, Gaius Romansenator and historian, who interpreted for *Carneades, *Diogenes (3), and *Critolaus in the senate in 155 bce, wrote a history of Rome, in Greek, from early Italian times to his own age, certainly to 184 bce (Dion. Hal. Ant. Rom. 3. 67. 5); it appeared c.142 (Livy, Per. 53: reading C. Acilius). His senatorial tradition is seen in the anecdote of P. *Cornelius Scipio Africanus and *Hannibal (Livy 35. 14. 5). His work was reproduced in Latin by a Claudius, probably *Claudius Quadrigarius, who would then have incorporated it in his annalistic form.

Article

Acilius Attianus, Publius  

Anthony R. Birley

Article

Publication History:

Published online:
07 March 2016
Subjects:
  1. Roman History and Historiography
Acilius Attianus, Publius, from Italica, fellow townsman of *Hadrian, whose guardian he became in ce 85 (SHAHadr. 1. 4, where Caelium is a scribal error). Nothing more is known of his career before 117, when as *praefectus praetorio at *Trajan's death he helped to ensure Hadrian's position: returning rapidly to Rome he arranged the execution of four ex-consuls (118) who had allegedly plotted against Hadrian.

Article

Acilius Glabrio, Manius (1), Roman consul, 191 BCE  

John Briscoe

Article

Publication History:

Published online:
22 December 2015
Subjects:
  1. Roman History and Historiography
Acilius, Manius, a *novus homo, was tribune of the plebs 201 bce when he supported peace with Carthage on the terms agreed with *Scipio Africanus. Praetor 196, he suppressed a slave revolt in Etruria. He was consul 191, defeating *Antiochus (3) III at Thermopylae and beginning operations against the Aetolians. In a famous scene he made it clear to the latter that deditio (see dediticii) to Rome precluded negotiations about terms. He was assisted by *Philip (3) V, whom he ordered to desist from the siege of Lamia (2), but allowed to appropriate territory in northern Greece. He embarked on the siege of *Naupactus, but was persuaded by *Flamininus to grant the Aetolians a truce to allow them to send ambassadors to Rome. He triumphed in 190 and in 189 stood for the censorship; accused of embezzlement during his command in Greece, he abandoned his candidacy. As consul he had carried the lex Acilia de intercalando (Acilian law on intercalation), necessitated by the fact that the Roman *calendar had become four months ahead of the seasons.

Article

Acilius Glabrio, Manius (2), Roman tribune, 122 BCE  

Ernst Badian

Article

Publication History:

Published online:
22 December 2015
Subjects:
  1. Roman History and Historiography
Acilius, Manius, grandson of (1), son-in-law of a Scaevola (probably Q. *Mucius Scaevola (1)), as tribune 122 bce passed a *repetundae law providing for *equites as jurors and making procedure more severe (Cic. 1 In Verr. 51 f.). He died soon after. The law, almost certainly part of C.

Article

Acilius Glabrio, Manius (3), Roman consul, 67 BCE  

Ernst Badian

Article

Publication History:

Published online:
22 December 2015
Subjects:
  1. Roman History and Historiography
Acilius, Manius, son of (2), as praetor repetundarum (70 bce) presided over *Verres' trial. Consul 67, he fought ineffectually against *Mithradates VI until superseded by *Pompey. ‘Lazy and negligent’ (Cic. Brut.239), but well connected, he was a *pontifex and possibly *censor 64 (Broughton, MRR 3.

Article

Acilius Glabrio, Manius (4), Roman consul, 91 CE  

Arnaldo Momigliano and Barbara Levick

Article

Publication History:

Published online:
07 March 2016
Subjects:
  1. Roman History and Historiography

Acilius, Manius, patrician and member of *Domitian's consilium (council of advisers); as consul in ce 91 he had to fight in the arena at Domitian's Alban estate (see alba longa) and was exiled. The cause is uncertain; Dio alleges jealousy of his prowess. His execution in 95 for plotting revolution contributed to Domitian's assassination the following year. The *catacomb to which his name is attached may belong to the end of the 2nd cent.

Article

acoustics  

Massimo Raffa

Article

Publication History:

Published online:
07 March 2016
Subjects:
  1. Science, Technology, and Medicine
From the earliest stages of Greek thought, sound was thought to originate as the result of an impact between two objects. At first it was believed that the swiftness and force of the impact affected both volume and pitch; then it became clear that these were two different parameters. Pitch, in particular, was connected either to quantitative factors, such as the speed of the movement or the number of subsequent impacts, or to qualitative ones, like the idiotes (“peculiarity”) theorized by Theophrastus. The least investigated parameter of sound is timbre, which was usually attributed to the physical characteristics of the source.There is no specific branch of ancient Greek science or physics named akoustike; nevertheless, the Greeks showed a keen interest in sound and its characteristics from the earliest stages of their literature. In the Homeric poems, sound is conceived of as something that possesses magnitude and direction. Such adverbial forms as .

Article

Acquarossa  

D. W. R. Ridgway

Article

Publication History:

Published online:
22 December 2015
Subjects:
  1. Roman Material Culture

Acquarossa, a plateau 6 km. (3 ½ mi.) north of Viterbo, is the site of a small and anonymous *Etruscan centre in the territory of *Caere. Excavation (1966–78) of its component areas—including the monumental complex in zone F, variously defined as a ‘palace’, a ‘regia’, or a ‘sacred area’ (with a temple)—has combined with contemporary work at *Poggio Civitate to focus attention on early Etruscan building techniques, domestic and public architecture, town planning, and non-funerary religious practice. Like Poggio Civitate, Acquarossa has yielded copious architectural *terracottas. The most important category, previously unknown or unrecognized, is that of the *orientalizing cut-out acroteria used on two-slope roofs between c.650/600 and c.575. They have no Greek models or counterparts, and clearly follow schemes derived from the strong indigenous tradition of exuberantly decorated roof-tops documented by the impasto hut-urns used as cinerary receptacles (but representing real huts) in Etruria and Latium between the 10th and 8th centuries.

Article

Acrae  

Arthur Geoffrey Woodhead and R. J. A. Wilson

Article

Publication History:

Published online:
07 March 2016
Subjects:
  1. Ancient Geography

Acrae (near mod. Palazzolo Acreide), founded by *Syracuse in 663 bce (Thuc. 6. 5. 3), stands on a hill protected by steep cliffs, commanding the westward route from the Syracusan plain. It enjoyed local self-government, but its fortunes were throughout its history linked with those of its metropolis. A late Archaic temple is known on the acropolis, but other known monuments are Hellenistic: a theatre, perhaps built under *Hieron (2) II, a bouleutērion, and a paved artery linking this with the agora. The series of extramural rock-cut reliefs in honour of *Cybele is unique. Also of note is a Hellenistic inscription found near Acrae, variously interpreted as oracular or as part of an epic poem. Acrae declined under the empire, but extensive *catacombs reveal it as still inhabited in the 4th and 5th cent. ce.