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Article

Aegimius  

Article

Publication History:

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

Aegimius, a legendary king, son (or father, scholiast Pind. Pyth. 1. 121) of Dorus, eponym of the *Dorians. Being attacked by the *Centaurs, he asked *Heracles to help him, and in gratitude for his aid adopted *Hyllus and made him joint heir with his own sons.

Article

Aegina  

Simon Hornblower

Article

Publication History:

Published online:
07 March 2016
Subjects:
  1. Ancient Geography
  2. Greek History and Historiography

Aegina, island in Saronic Gulf, inhabited from late neolithic times and in contact with Minoan Crete and Mycenae. Early in the first millennium bce it was resettled by Greeks from Epidaurus (Hdt. 8. 46, 5. 43); protogeometric pottery indicates links with Attica and the Argolid. Aegina belonged to the Calaurian *amphictiony (Strabo 8. 6. 14; see calauria). It was not a great colonizing power, though Aeginetans participated at *Naucratis (Hdt. 2. 178), and are said to have colonized Kydonia (mod. Chania) on Crete, and Italian Umbria (Strabo 8. 6. 16; see atria; spina). Certainly Aeginetan connections with central Italy are attested c.500 bce by a dedication at Gravisca (Etruria) by the wealthy Sostratus of Aegina (Jeffery, LSAG 2 p. 439 + Hdt. 4. 152). The scale of Aegina's trade is indicated by its population of perhaps 40,000 (Figueira; reduced to 20,000 by Hansen) on territory which could support only 4,000 from its own agricultural resources. Aegina struck coins early.

Article

aegis  

Christiane Sourvinou-Inwood

Article

Publication History:

Published online:
07 March 2016
Subjects:
  1. Greek Myth and Religion
Aegis, divine attribute, represented as a large all-round bib with scales, fringed with snakes' heads and normally decorated with the gorgoneion (see gorgo). In Homer *Zeus' epithet aigiochos, and the story (Il. 15. 308–10) that the aegis was given to him by *Hephaestus suggest a primary association with Zeus, who lends it to *Apollo (Il. 15. 229–30). It is unclear whether Athena's aegis is also borrowed (cf. Il. 5. 736–8; cf. schol. Il. 15. 229). In post-Homeric times the aegis is most closely associated with *Athena, who is commonly shown wearing it over her dress; Zeus is very rarely shown with the aegis. At Il. 2. 446–9 the aegis is ageless and immortal, with a hundred tassels; its tasselled nature is reflected in its epithet thysanoessa. At Il. 5. 738–42 it is decorated with the Gorgon's head and the allegorical figures Phobos (Fear), Eris (Strife), Alke (Strength), and Ioke (Pursuit). Its shaking by Zeus (Il.

Article

Aegisthus  

Herbert Jennings Rose and Jenny March

Article

Publication History:

Published online:
22 December 2015
Subjects:
  1. Greek Myth and Religion
Aegisthus, in mythology the son of Thyestes who survives to avenge the deaths of his brothers at the hands of *Atreus. In Aeschylus he is only a baby when Atreus kills the other boys, and perhaps for this reason survives (Ag. 1583–1606). A version apparently Sophoclean (see Dio Chrys. 66. 6; cf. Apollod. Epit. 2. 14; Hyg. Fab. 87 and 88. 3–4) makes him the incestuous offspring of Thyestes and his daughter Pelopia after the murder of the elder sons; an oracle had advised that a son thus born would avenge their deaths. In connection with this story, it was said that the baby Aegisthus (his name suggesting the word αἴξ, goat) was exposed and fed by a she-goat (Hyg. ibid. and 252). When he grew up he learnt the truth, and avenged the murder of his brothers by killing Atreus and later, with *Clytemnestra, *Agamemnon.

Article

Aegium  

Catherine A. Morgan

Article

Publication History:

Published online:
07 March 2016
Subjects:
  1. Ancient Geography
Aegium, Achaean port 40 km. (25 mi.) east of *Patrae, beneath the modern town of Aigion. It was settled from neolithic times, with particularly extensive activity during the late Helladic and Classical periods (when the city was walled). Classical sources refer to a shrine of Eileithyia, a temenos of Asclepius, and temples of *Athena and *Hera. The roadside shrine of *Artemis or Hera at Ano Mazaraki may have been controlled by Aegium.Aegium gained political importance after the destruction in 373 bce of Helice (whose citizens, along with those of Rhypes, it absorbed). The city expanded from the 4th cent., with a large agora and shrine complex. The nearby sanctuary of Zeus Homarius was the cult centre of the *Achaean Confederacy after 276. By the late 3rd cent., Aegium held the league archive and received ambassadors. The biennial league assembly of all Achaean citizens met here until 189 bce.

Article

Aegospotami  

Simon Hornblower

Article

Publication History:

Published online:
22 December 2015
Subjects:
  1. Ancient Geography
  2. Greek History and Historiography

‘Goat’s rivers’ in the *Hellespont, probably an open beach somewhere opposite *Lampacus, scene of the final and decisive sea-battle of the *Peloponnesian war, a victory over the Athenians by the Spartans under *Lysander (405). *Alcibiades, in exile in Thrace, had warned the Athenian generals (who included *Conon (1)) of the dangers of their exposed position, and may even have offered military help in the form of Thracians; but he was rebuffed. The accounts of how the battle started cannot be reconciled, but it is clear that, after several days of inactivity, the Athenians were caught with most of their ships unmanned.

Article

Aegosthena  

John Salmon

Article

Publication History:

Published online:
22 December 2015
Subjects:
  1. Ancient Geography

Aegosthena, settlement and fortified place in the territory of *Megara, at the easternmost point of the Corinthian Gulf. The remnants of the Spartan army which was defeated at *Leuctra joined a relieving force at Aegosthena on their way back to Sparta (Xen. Hell. 6. 4. 26). The fortifications are (despite earthquake damage in the early 1980s) among the best preserved in Greece, but the history of the site is ill known, and their date is uncertain: they were probably not much, if at all, before 350, but may be 3rd-century. Aegosthena went into the *Achaean Confederacy when Megara joined in 243/2 bce, and over to *Boeotia in 224; it remained Boeotian when Megara returned to Achaea. Under Rome it was an autonomous *polis. See fortifications (Greek).

Article

Aegritudo Perdicae  

Alun Hudson-Williams and Antony Spawforth

Article

Publication History:

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

Aegritudo Perdicae, an anonymous Latin *epyllion narrating the calamitous love of Perdicas for his mother, Castalia. Its ascription to *Dracontius is unwarrantable, though it almost certainly belongs to his period (i.e. 5th cent. ce), and probably to Africa, although Spain is suggested too.

Article

(Aelia) Eudocia, c. 400–460 CE  

Pavlos Avlamis

Article

Publication History:

Published online:
22 November 2016
Subjects:
  1. Greek Literature
  2. Late Antiquity
Originally named Athenais, Eudocia was the daughter of Leontius, a teacher of rhetoric. She was born in Athens (Evagrius Scholasticus Historia ecclesiastica 1.20) and probably followed her father in his career move to Alexandria, before returning to Athens, where Leontius was elected to the chair of rhetoric in 415ce with the help and intervention of Olympiodorus of Thebes (Olympiodorus fr. 28 FHG). Details of Eudocia’s life are complicated by the novelistic embellishments of the chroniclers (exemplified in Joannes Malalas 272-8 Thurn) and contemporary polemics persisting in later sources,1 but a basic narrative seems secure. Eudocia’s classical education (reported by Malalas 273 Thurn; Phot. Bibl. 183; Tzetz. Chil. 10.48–54) is evident in the nature of her literary output, her use of traditional poetic language, and her classical versification, which reveal formal training despite occasional inconsistencies and non-classical usages. Athenais converted to Christianity and changed her name to Eudocia before her marriage to Theodosius II on 7 June 421.

Article

Aelian  

Steven D. Smith

Article

Publication History:

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

Aelian (Claudius Aelianus, 161/77–230/8 CE), an influential writer of miscellaneous works in Rome during the reign of the Severan emperors, helped shape the literary landscape of the so-called Second Sophistic. There are two sources for his life, one a contemporary notice by Philostratus in his Lives of the Sophists, and the other a brief entry in the 10th-centurySuda lexicon. According to the former, Aelian ‘was a Roman, but he spoke and wrote Attic Greek’ (VS 624). A student of the sophist Pausanias of Caesarea and an admirer of Herodes Atticus, Aelian himself declined to declaim in public and instead committed himself to writing and composition. He died without any children, and he claimed never to have travelled outside of Italy. The Suda supplies additional information: Aelian was born in Praeneste (modern Palestrina) near Rome and he was a high priest (ἀρχιερεύς), though the Byzantine source is silent about what god Aelian served.

Article

Aelianus, 1st–2nd cent. CE  

M. B. Trapp

Article

Publication History:

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

Aelianus (1st–2nd cent. ce), author of a Greek Tactica, on the tactics of the Hellenistic *hoplite phalanx, heavily indebted to earlier military writers.

Article

Aelius, Lucius  

R. A. Kaster

Article

Publication History:

Published online:
22 December 2015
Subjects:
  1. Roman History and Historiography

(also called ‘Stilo’ and ‘Praeconinus’: Suet. Gram. 3; Plin. HN 33. 39, 37. 9), the first important Roman scholar, born at Lanuvium about 150 bce, of equestrian rank and a professed Stoic. His studies, which embraced Latin literature, antiquities, semasiology, and etymology, profoundly influenced contemporary and later scholars, including *Varro, *Cicero (cf. Brut. 205–7), and *Verrius Flaccus. His known endeavours include: an interpretation of the *Carmen Saliare; comments on sacral language and the usage of the *Twelve Tables; employment of critical signs (notae) in the study of literary texts; a tract on propositions (proloquia = ἀξιώματα: Gell.NA 16. 8. 2 f.), a topic of Stoic dialectic related to syntactic analysis; and a list (index) of the 25 genuine plays of *Plautus (Gell. NA 3. 3. 1, 12). Another noted Plautine scholar, Ser. Clodius, was his son-in-law. He also composed speeches for various Roman notables, though he was not an orator himself. All his works are lost.

Article

Aelius Gallus  

Ronald Syme and Barbara Levick

Article

Publication History:

Published online:
22 December 2015
Subjects:
  1. Roman History and Historiography

Aelius Gallus, prefect of Egypt after C. *Cornelius Gallus and before C. Petronius (see egypt (Roman)). Influenced by prevalent and exaggerated reports of the wealth of Arabia Felix, *Augustus instructed him to invade it. The expedition, which lasted two years (26–25 or 25–24 bce), failed; blame was conveniently laid upon the treachery of the Nabataean Syllaeus. Aelius Gallus wrote on medical topics and was a friend of *Strabo the geographer. He very probably adopted the son of the distinguished Roman knight L. Seius Strabo (see aelius seianus, l.).

Article

Aelius Marcianus  

Tony Honoré

Article

Publication History:

Published online:
22 December 2015
Subjects:
  1. Roman Law

Aelius Marcianus, a lawyer of the early 3rd cent. ce, probably from the eastern provinces. Mainly a teacher, he does not seem to have given responsa (consultative opinions). His extensive knowledge of the rescripts (replies to petitions) of Severus and Caracalla might be explained by a connection with *Ulpianus, whose style is similar, and of whom he may have been a pupil. He is not known to have held public office. Author of several monographs and commentaries published after Caracalla's death in 217, he is best known for his large-scale teaching manual, sixteen books (libri) of Institutiones. Though other lawyers do not seem to have cited him, Justinian's compilers admired his clarity and measured judgement and selected over 280 passages from his work for the Digesta (see justinian's codification).

Article

Aelius Melissus  

R. A. Kaster

Article

Publication History:

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

Aelius Melissus, grammarian contemporary with A. *Gellius (NA 18. 6. 1–3), who derides his work on semantics (De loquendi proprietate).

Article

Aelius Paetus, Sextus  

Tony Honoré

Article

Publication History:

Published online:
22 December 2015
Subjects:
  1. Roman Law
Aelius Paetus, Sextus, a Roman lawyer nicknamed ‘Catus’ (clever) for his shrewd pragmatism, was consul in 198 bce. He was the author of Tripertita, so called because it contained three elements: the law of the Twelve Tables, an account of their interpretation, and the formulas for use in litigation and possibly private transactions (legis actiones, ‘actions in law’).

Article

Aelius Promotus, physician  

Article

Publication History:

Published online:
22 December 2015
Subjects:
  1. Roman History and Historiography

From Alexandria (1), probably belonging to the period between Hadrian and Pertinax (ce 138–93). He wrote a book on curative methods called Potency (Δυναμερόν), sections of which remain, largely unedited.

Article

Aelius Seianus, Lucius, d. 31 CE  

John Percy Vyvian Dacre Balsdon and Barbara Levick

Article

Publication History:

Published online:
22 December 2015
Subjects:
  1. Roman History and Historiography
Aelius d. ce 31, of *Volsinii (mod. Bolsena). Sejanus' father was an eques, L. Seius Strabo, his mother the sister of Q. *Iunius Blaesus, suffect consul ce 10, and connected with Aelii Tuberones and Cassii Longini. Sejanus, who had attended Augustus' grandson C. *Iulius Caesar (3) in the east, was made Strabo's colleague as prefect of the guard by *Tiberius in ce 14, and soon, on his father's appointment as prefect of Egypt, became sole commander; by 23 he had concentrated the guard in barracks near the porta Viminalis. After the death of Tiberius' son Drusus *Iulius Caesar (1) in 23 (murder was later imputed) his influence was paramount; a succession of prosecutions eliminated opponents (chiefly adherents of the elder Agrippina (see vipsania agrippina (2)). Tiberius allegedly refused to allow a marriage with Drusus' widow *Livia Iulia (25), but retired from Rome in 26, further increasing Sejanus' influence (he allegedly encouraged the move); honours and oaths were offered to him as to Tiberius.

Article

Aelius Tubero, Lucius  

Ernst Badian

Article

Publication History:

Published online:
22 December 2015
Subjects:
  1. Roman History and Historiography
Aelius Tubero, Lucius, boyhood friend and relative by marriage of Cicero and legate of Q. *Tullius Cicero (1)61–58 bce. At some point (perhaps before this) he was praetor. Assigned Africa by the senate in 49, he was not admitted by Q. *Ligarius and P. *Attius Varus and, with his son (see next article) joined *Pompey.

Article

Aelius Tubero, Quintus  

Ernst Badian, Tony Honoré, and Christopher Pelling

Article

Publication History:

Published online:
22 December 2015
Subjects:
  1. Roman Law
Aelius Tubero, Quintus, son of Lucius (above), accompanied his father 49–48 bce and fought at *Pharsalus, but was pardoned by *Caesar. In 46 he prosecuted Q. *Ligarius (whom Cicero successfully defended) for alleged co-operation with *Juba (1) I in 49. His failure in this is said to have turned him away from a public career. He wrote books of law as well as (very probably) annales (see annals, annalists), though it is just possible that the annales were the work of his father Lucius. It is again probable that he was the dedicatee of *Dionysius (7)'s On Thucydides. The history, written in the 30s, covered Roman history from its origins to his own day in at least fourteen books. Like *Licinius Macer, he consulted the ‘linen books’ (Livy 4. 23. 1–3, cf. 10. 9. 10). His role as a historical source of *Livy and Dionysius is disputed.