Adventus
(ἀπάντησις), ceremonial arrival rooted in ancient society and religion. Although Byz. adventus ceremonies were held to greet bishops, officials, and saints' relics, the most spectacular adventus ...
Basilikos Logos
(βασιλικòς λόγος), a variety of enkomion addressed to an emperor on some notable occasion. Menander Rhetor (pp.76–94) set out the form and the sentiments considered appropriate; the major points were ...
Board Games
History of board games in Africa.Africa is associated with two groups of board games, mancala and draughts. Chess is the first board game on record that has been connected ...
Chalcondyles (Chalcocondylas), Laonicus
(c.1423–after 1461) Historian; only a few details of his life are known.In 1447 he was a pupil of Georgius Gemistus Pletho at Mistra. He wrote a history about the ...
determinism
The doctrine that every event has a cause. The usual explanation of this is that for every event, there is some antecedent state, related in such a way that it would break a law of nature for this ...
Doukas
(c.1400–after 1462),Byzantine historian. His baptismal name is not known, though historians sometimes assume that he was called Michael, which was his grandfather's name. Doukas first appears in the ...
Esquiline Treasure
A hoard of mostly domestic objects made in the 4th C., unearthed on the Esquiline Hill in Rome in 1793. The precise contents of the treasure are a matter of ...
Eutychides
Sicyonian sculptor, pupil of Lysippus (2), active c. 330–290 bc. Famed for his Tyche for Antioch (1) (founded in 300), known in many copies and widely imitated by other cities ...
fate
A fate worse than death rape; the term is recorded from the early 19th century, although earlier in the mid 17th century Dorothy Osborne in a letter refers to ‘the Roman courage, when they killed ...
Fortune
Chance or luck as a power in human affairs, often personified (Fortune) as a goddess; the word comes (in Middle English, via Old French) from Latin Fortuna, the name of a goddess personifying luck or ...
George Pachymeres
(1242–c.1310)George Pachymeres was born at Nicaea and went to Constantinople in 1261, after the departure of the Latins. A deacon of the patriarchal clergy, he served there all his ...
historiography
The study and writing of history. The recording and interpretation of past events began with the retelling of legends handed down through oral traditions: the epic poems Homer (fl. c.800 bc) were an ...
John VI Kantakouzenos
Emperor (8 Feb. 1347–3 Dec. 1354 [A. Failler, REB 29 (1971) 293–302]); born ca.1295, died Mistra 15 June 1383.The son, probably posthumous, of a Peloponnesian governor of the aristocratic ...
Leo the Deacon
Historian; born ca.950 in Kaloe at Tmolos (Asia Minor), died after 992 or 994. Leo received his education in Constantinople and became a palace deacon. His History encompasses 959–76 and ...
Marriage Belt
Apparently one of the customary gifts from groom to bride. Unlike the marriage ring and marriage crown, it was associated with the nuptial chamber, rather than the wedding ceremony (A. ...
Nemesis
EuropeA Greek goddess unsuccessfully pursued by Zeus. But most of her actions are simply connected with retribution, the ‘unescapable’ punishment of human presumption.
personification
Representation of a human figure with attributes to suggest an abstraction, such as Hope with Anchor. Cesare Ripa's Iconologia (1593) was an important source-book for personification.Lampugnani (ed.) ...
Pronoia
Pronoia, literally “forethought,” “care,” or “provision,” was the common Byzantine theological term for divine providence. To speak of imperial pronoia was to liken the emperor’s care for his ...
school of Lysippus
According to Pliny (1), Naturalis historia 34. 66, Lysippus (2) left three sons and pupils, Laippus (probably Daippus, misreading the initial Δ as Λ), Boedas, and Euthycrates. Elsewhere, he adds ...
Silver Stamps
State control marks impressed on some silver objects between the 4th and 8th (?) C. In the early 4th C. such stamps, giving the place of manufacture (e.g., Nikomedeia, Antioch) ...
