astrology:

study of the movements & relative positions of celestial objects as a means for divining information about human affairs & terrestrial events; rooted in calendrical systems used to predict seasonal shifts & to interpret celestial cycles as signs of divine communications; Western astrology originated in 19th–17th century BC Mesopotamia, spreading to Ancient Greece, Rome, the Arab world.

​

the Oracle:

person (priest or priestess) or agency considered to provide wise & insightful counsel, prophetic predictions or precognition of the future, inspired by the gods; a form of divination.  The most important oracle in the Classic world was the Pythia, the High Priestess of the Temple of Apollo at Delphi, known as the Oracle of Delphi.

 

the Sybil:

women the Greeks believed were oracles; earliest sibyls prophesied at holy sites influenced by inspiration from a deity; originally at Delphi & Pessinos; they were chthonic (spirits of the underworld). In Late Antiquity, various writers attested to the existence of sibyls in Greece, Italy, the Levant & Asia Minor.

​

Etruscan-Roman haruspices:

Latin, person trained in the practice of haruspicy (a type of divination) - the inspection of the entrails of sacrificed animals, especially sheep & poultry livers. The reading of omens specifically from the liver is known by the Greek term hepatoscopy.  The Romans borrowed this from Etruscan religion, as one of the three branches of the disciplina Etrusca. The city of Tarquinii had a college of 60 such diviners.

 

augers:

priest & official in the Roman world; main role was interpreting the will of the gods by studying the flight of birds (flying in groups or alone, their noises & direction of flight, type of birds). The ceremony & function of the augur was central to any major undertaking in Roman society, public or private, including matters of war, commerce & religion.

 

Olympiad:

period of 4 years associated with the Greek Olympic Games; in the Hellenistic period, beginning with the Greek historian Ephorus (400–330 BC) it was used as a calendar epoch; the first Olympiad began summer 776 BC, lasting until summer 772 BC when the 2nd Olympiad games began.

​

Mycenaean stone technique:

Mycenaean architecture employed Cyclopean masonry (a type of stonework employing massive limestone boulders, roughly fitted together with minimal clearance between adjacent stones, no mortar).  The boulders appear unworked though some may have been worked roughly with a hammer, gaps between boulders filled with smaller chunks of limestone; most famous Cyclopean masonry are the walls of Mycenae & Tiryns, with a style characteristic of Mycenaean fortifications.

​

Heraeum of Olympia: * see Endnote 14

(aka The Temple of Hera)  Greek temple, Olympia, dedicated to Hera, queen of the Gods, on a location previously used by an older cult; built 590 BC, destroyed in earthquake early 4th century AD.  In the Archaic period stored offerings & items important to Greek culture.  One of the earliest Doric temples & oldest peripteral temple at Olympia, with a single row of columns on all sides.

​

Thucydides:

(460-400 BC)  Athenian historian & general. His History of the Peloponnesian War recounts the 5th century BC war between Sparta & Athens.  Notable chapters of this work include: The Melian dialogue (seminal work on international relations) & Pericles' Funeral Oration (studied by political theorists, historians & students).  Father of scientific history, applied impartiality, evidence-gathering & analysis of cause & effect, without reference to the gods.  Famed for his political realism, saw political behaviour of individuals & outcomes of relations between states as mediated & constructed by fear & self-interest.  He developed an understanding of human nature explaining behaviour in crises periods (e.g. plagues, massacres, civil war).

 

Persian Wars:

see Introduction, Chapter I, page 10.

 

Tacitus:

(56-120 AD) historian & senator during the Roman Empire.  Lived in the Silver Age of Latin literature, known for his penetrating insight into psychology of power politics, and the brevity & compactness of his prose. His 2 major works: Annals and Histories, from the death of Augustus (14 AD) to the First Jewish–Roman War (70 AD).  Other works examine the Germans, and life of General Agricola (father in law) focusing on the Roman conquest of Britain.

 

Gracchi:

see Introduction, Chapter I, page 27.