Kallixeinos of Rhodes (627) : BNJ 627 T 1

Kallixeinos of Rhodes (627)(34,684 words)
Keyser, Paul T.
Article Table Of Contents

1. T 1 : Photios, Bibliotheca 161 p. 104 b 38
2. T 2 : Pliny, Natural History 34.52
3. F 1 : Athenaios, Deipnosophists 5.37–9, 203e–206c
4. F 2 : Athenaios, Deipnophists 5.25-36, 196A-203E
5. F 2 a: Athenaios, Deipnosophists 11.43, 472A
6. F 2 b α: Athenaios, Deipnosophists 5.45, 209F, 210A
7. F 2 b β: Harpokration, Lexicon in decem oratores, s.v. ἐγγυθήκη
8. F 2 c: Athenaios, Deipnosophists 11.66, 483E–F
9. F 2 d: Athenaios, Deipnosophists 9.38, 387C–D
10. F 3 : Athenaios, Deipnosophists 11.49, 474E
11. F 4 : Athenaios, Deipnosophists 15.20, 677C–D
12. F 5 : Pliny, Natural History 36.67–8
13. Biographical Essay
14. Bibliography
BNJ 627 T 1
FGrH
Photios, Bibliotheca 161 p. 104 b 38 Translation
Subject: archaeology and art history: sculpture;archaeology and art
history: painting; genre: literary criticism
Source Date: 9th century AD
Historian's Date: 2nd century BC
ὁ δὲ δωδέκατος αὐτῶι λόγος συνήθροισται ἐξ ἄλλων τι His (Sopater’s) twelfth book is compiled from various (sources),
διαφόρων καὶ ἐκ τῆς Καλλιξένου ζωγράφων τε καὶ especially from Kallixenos’sCatalogue of Painters and Sculptors .
ἀνδριαντοποιῶν ἀναγραφῆς… ..
Commentary
Photios does not further identify the ‘sophist Sopater’, but Photios’s report of Sopater’s Book 1 indicates that he there
excerpted Diogenes Laertios, and his report of Book 6 indicates that Sopater there excerpted Athenaios, Deipnosophists .
Both Diogenes and Athenaios wrote c. 225 AD. Sopater is probably Sopater of Apameia, active c. 330 AD; based on Photios’s
extracts, Sopater’s book seems to have been a miscellany similar to Gellius’s work.
Sopater (in Photios) does not give any other titles for Kallixeinos, does not further identify his Kallixeinos, and excerpts authors as
early as Herodotos. Thus, given that Kallixeinos is not a rare name (see the Biographical Essay), we do not know that Sopater’s
undated Kallixeinos is the same man as the Kallixeinos of Rhodes who wrote On Alexandria . Photios does not provide any details
about what Sopater extracted from Kallixeinos’s Catalogue .
E.E. Rice, The Grand Procession of Ptolemy Philadelphus (London 1983), 156–9, acknowledges that identifying Sopater’s
Kallixeinos with the Kallixeinos of Rhodes who wrote On Alexandria is difficult, but then argues that Kallixeinos of Rhodes could
well have written a catalogue of sculptors, because he was interested in art and because art history and paradoxography were closely
allied genres in the Hellenistic era.
BNJ 627 T 2
FGrH
Pliny, Natural History 34.52 Translation
Subject: archaeology and art history:
sculpture;genre: literary criticism
Source Date: 1st century AD
Historian's Date: 2nd century BC
cessauit deinde ars ac rursus olympiade CLVI The art (of sculpture) then ceased, and it revived again in the 156th Olympiad,
reuixit, cum fuere longe quidem infra praedictos, although they were much inferior to the aforementioned (sculptors), they were
probati tamen, Antaeus, Callistratus, Polycles nevertheless approved: Antaios,Kallistratos,
Athenaeus, Callixenus, Pythocles, Pythias, Timocles. Polykles, Athenaios, Kallixenos,Pythokles, Pythias, Timokles.
Commentary
Pliny, HN 34.49–51 has given a capsule history of sculpture, starting from Pheidias of Athens, and providing 48 further names (six of
which are known only from Pliny: Skopas the Elder, Perellos, Phrynon, Dinon, Euphron, Ion; several more are badly muddled in
date), assigned to Olympiads 83, 86, 90, 95, 102, 104, 107, 113, and 121, i.e., from 448–445 BC through 296–293 BC. The intervals
average 4.75 Olympiads or 19 years (counting from start to start), which is consistent with a source writing ‘successions’. See esp. H.
Le Bonniec and H. Gallet de Santerre, Pline l’Ancien: Histoire naturelle, Livre XXXIV (Paris 1953), 196–214.
This paragraph constitutes the conclusion of the capsule history: the 156th Olympiad, by coincidence, began in what we call 156/5
BC. That Pliny’s capsule history ends with this Olympiad suggests a source of that era or shortly after—but the long gap from
Olympiad 121 to 156 (i.e., 35 Olympiads, or 137 years, counting from the end of the 121st to the start of the 156th), is peculiar, and
suggests some tendency, difficult now to divine. Kallixeinos of Rhodes, who wrote on events of the late third century, was willing to
praise other kinds of τέχναι from that period.
Of the eight names given by Pliny for the 156th Olympiad, three are unknown (Antaios, Pythokles, and Pythias), and another four are
possibly known elsewhere:
(1) Kallistratos in Tatian 34 (statues of licentious women); see M. Whittaker, Tatian: Oratio ad Graecos and Fragments (Oxford
1982), 64. However, Kallistratos is a very common name (seeBiographical Essay), the citation provides no evidence for his date, and
Tatian is unreliable; see A. Kalkmann, ‘Tatians Nachrichten über Kunstwerke’, RhM 42 (1887), 489–524, at 497, 501 and 523–4.
(2) One of at least two sculptors named Polykles, in Pausanias 6.4.5, 10.34.6–7; IG 9.1.141; Varro ap.Nonius p. 69.21; Cicero, ad Att.,
6.1.17; Pliny 34.80, 36.35; see G. Lippold, Die Griechische Plastik(W. Otto and R. Herbig (eds.), Handbuch der Archäologie 6
(Munich 1950)), 3.366–7; Le Bonniec and Gallet de Santerre, Histoire naturelle XXXIV, 213–14 with family tree; A.F. Stewart, Greek
Sculpture (New Haven, CT 1990), 304–5.
(3) Athenaios’s signature on statue fragments dated to the first century BC: see Lippold, Griechische Plastik, 3.382.
(4) Timokles in Pausanias 10.34.6, as a collaborator with (one of the sculptors named) Polykles; see Lippold, Griechische Plastik,
3.366; M. Bieber, Sculpture of the Hellenistic Age rev. ed. (New York, NY 1961), 160.
The rare name ‘Pythias’ is more often a woman’s name, as for Aristotle’s wife and daughter, i.e., Πυθιάς (f.) rather than Πυθίας
(m.); see LGPN 1.392, 2.385, 3A.380, 3B.366, 4.295, 5A.386, totaling 24 female and 15 male. The proportion of otherwise unknown
sculptors in Pliny’s capsule history—six of the 48 in the earlier period, and three of the seven (other than Kallixeinos) in the later
period—precludes certainty in identifying the sculptor Kallixeinos in Pliny with our author Kallixeinos of Rhodes.
In principle, there are three men called Kallixeinos who may hypothetically be identified: (1) the sculptor in Pliny, (2)
the Catalogue writer in Sopater in Photios, and (3) our author. As just argued, there is no necessity to identify (1) and (3); above (T 1),
it was argued that there is no necessity to identify (2) and (3).
Furthermore, there are good reasons not to identify (1) and (2). Pliny’s source seems to have been similar to the book by Kallixeinos
in Sopater in Photios (T 1). Other sculptors wrote such histories, starting from the mid-fourth century BC, especially:
1. Pytheos of Priene (c. 350 BC): Vitr. 1.1.12, 7.pr.12–13; P.T. Keyser and G.L. Irby-Massie,Encyclopedia of Ancient Natural
Scientists (London 2008), 712;
2. Satyros of Paros (c. 350 BC): Vitr. 7.pr.12-13; Keyser and Irby-Massie, Encyclopedia 727-8;
3. Euphranor (c. 345 BC): Vitr. 7.pr.14; Pliny, HN 34.77, 35.128–9; Pausanias 1.3.3–4; Keyser and Irby-Massie, Encyclopedia, 320;
4. Silanion of Athens (c. 340 BC): Vitr. 7.pr.14; Keyser and Irby-Massie, Encyclopedia, 741;
5. Xenokrates of Sikyon (c. 280 BC): Pliny, HN 1.34, 34.83, 35.68;
6. Antigonos of Karystos (c. 260 BC): Pliny, HN 1.33, 1.34, 34.84; Keyser and Irby-Massie,Encyclopedia, 93;
7. Pasiteles, history of sculpture in five books (c. 60 BC): Cicero, De Div. 1.79; Pliny, HN 36.39–40, cf. 33.130, 33.156, 35.156;
Lippold, Griechische Plastik, 3.386; Bieber, Sculpture, 181–2; Stewart,Greek Sculpture, 306–7.
However, (i) it is at least unusual that the putative author-sculptor Kallixeinos would have been so modest about his own abilities
(longe… infra praedictos); (ii) there are numerous possible sources for Pliny’s capsule history, such as the seven authors just
mentioned, especially Pasiteles; and (iii) Kallixeinos of Rhodes pays little attention to the history of painting or sculpture, providing
no names or descriptions, and barely evaluations: F 1.37 (204B) ‘encaustic painting’; F 1.38 (205C) ‘mediocre skill’; F 1.39 (205F)
‘portrait-statues of the kinsfolk of the kings’; and F 2.26 (196E) ‘chief sculptors . . . Sikyonian artists’; F 2.26 (197B) ‘magnificent in
their artistry’; and F 2.30 (200A) ‘encaustic-painted’. Furthermore, although most such passages are lacunose, in those that are not,
Kallixeinos makes no art-historical remarks: on the scene from the life of Dionysos, in F 2.31(200D), or the depictions of the cities, F
2.33 (201E).
E.E. Rice, The Grand Procession of Ptolemy Philadelphus (London 1983), 159–64, argues that the long gap from Olympiad 121 to
156 corresponds to the dominance of Pergamene and Rhodianschools of sculpture, more ‘baroque’ in style, but acknowledges that the
only two possibly identifiable sculptors of the ‘revival’, namely Kallistratos and Polykles, are of unknown date and style, and
concludes against an identification of the sculptor in Pliny with our author. Moreover, a Rhodian sculptor writing art history would
scarcely skip over the period in which Rhodian sculpture was dominant, even if he himself did not admire the style.
BNJ 627 F 1
FGrH
Athenaios, Deipnosophists 5.37–9, 203e–206c Translation
Subject: military history: navy; technology;archaeology and art
history: sculpture;archaeology and art history: architecture
Source Date: 3rd century AD
Historian's Date: 170 BC

(5.37) ἐπεὶ δὲ περὶ νεῶν κατασκευῆς εἰρήκαμεν, φέρ᾽ εἴπωμεν (5.37) Since we spoke of construction of ships (F 2.36), come, let’s
(ἀκοῆς γάρ ἐστιν ἄξια) καὶ τὰ ὑπὸ τοῦ Φιλοπάτορος βασιλέως also talk about the hulls constructed by King Philopator, since they
κατεσκευασμένα σκάφη, περὶ ὧν ὁ αὐτὸς Καλλίξεινος ἱστορεῖ are worthy of hearing. The same Kallixeinos recorded them
ἐν τῶι πρώτωι Περὶ ᾽Αλεξανδρείας, οὑτωσὶ λέγων· in About Alexandria , Book 1, writing thus:
«τὴν τεσσαρακοντήρη ναῦν κατεσκεύασεν ὁ Φιλοπάτωρ τὸ ‘Philopator constructed the forty-oar ship with a length of 280
μῆκος ἔχουσαν διακοσίων ὀγδοήκοντα πηχῶν, ὀκτὼ δὲ καὶ cubits, and 38 cubits from gangway to gangway (parodos), and her
τριάκοντα ἀπὸ παρόδου ἐπὶ πάροδον, ὕψος δὲ ἕως elevation to the bowsprit (akrostolion) was 48 cubits.
ἀκροστολίου τεσσαράκοντα ὀκτὼ πηχῶν·
‘From the poop-sprit (stern-post) to the water-line was 53 cubits.
ἀπὸ δὲ τῶν πρυμνητικῶν ἀφλάστων ἐπὶ τὸ <ὑπὸ> τῆι θαλάσσηι She had four 30-cubit steering oars (pēdalia), and the oars of
μέρος αὐτῆς τρεῖς πρὸς τοῖς πεντήκοντα πήχεις. πηδάλια δ᾽ thethranites (topmost bank of rowers), the longest, were 38 cubits.
εἶχε τέτταρα τριακονταπήχη, κώπας δὲ θρανιτικὰς ὀκτὼ καὶ These were easy to use in rowing, due to their balancing, because
τριάκοντα πηχῶν τὰς μεγίστας, <αἳ> διὰ τὸ μόλυβδον ἔχειν ἐν they had lead on the handles, and were very long in-board.
τοῖς ἐγχειριδίοις καὶ γεγονέναι λίαν εἴσω βαρεῖαι κατὰ τὴν
ζύγωσιν εὐήρεις ὑπῆρχον ἐπὶ τῆς χρείας. ‘She was twin-prowed and twin-pooped, and carried seven rams;
one of these was the leader, the others subordinate, and some were
δίπρωιρος δ᾽ ἐγεγόνει καὶ δίπρυμνος, καὶ ἔμβολα εἶχεν ἑπτά· (mounted) at the catheads (epōtides). She was fitted with
τούτων ἓν μὲν ἡγούμενον, τὰ δ᾽ ὑποστέλλοντα, τινὰ δὲ κατὰ 12 under-girdles (hupozōmata), and each was 600 cubits. She was
τὰς ἐπωτίδας. ὑποζώματα δ᾽ ἐλάμβανε δώδεκα· ἑξακοσίων δ᾽ exceedingly well-proportioned.
ἦν ἕκαστον πηχῶν. εὐρυθμος δ᾽ ἦν καθ᾽ ὑπερβολήν.
‘The other ornament of the ship was also marvelous: she had
θαυμαστὸς δ᾽ ἦν καὶ ὁ ἄλλος κόσμος τῆς νεώς· ζῶια μὲν γὰρ images (zōia) at prow and poop of no less (height) than 12 cubits,
εἶχεν οὐκ ἐλάττω δώδεκα πηχῶν κατὰ πρύμναν τε καὶ κατὰ and her every surface was decorated with encaustic painting; the
πρῶιραν, καὶ πᾶς τόπος αὐτῆς κηρογραφίαι κατεπεποίκιλτο, whole enkōpon to the keel (tropis) had ivy foliage
τὸ δ᾽ ἔγκωπον ἅπαν μέχρι τῆς τρόπεως κισσίνην φυλλάδα καὶ and thyrsoi round about.
θύρσους εἶχε πέριξ.
‘Great also was the ornament of weaponry: it filled up <all>
πολὺς δ᾽ ἦν καὶ ὁ τῶν ὅπλων κόσμος· ἀνεπλήρου δὲ <πάντα> relevant parts of the ship. On atrial run, she needed more
τὰ προσδεόμενα τῆς νεὼς μέρη. γενομένης δὲ ἀναπείρας than 4000 rowers, and 400 for the crew (hupēresia), and for the
ἐδέξατο ἐρέτας πλείους τῶν τετρακισχιλίων, εἰς δὲ τὰς deck (katastrōma) 150 short of 3000 marines (epibatēs). Besides
ὑπηρεσίας τετρακοσίους, εἰς δὲ τὸ κατάστρωμα ἐπιβάτας that, below-decks was another mass of men, and no little supplies.
τρισχιλίους ἀποδέοντας ἑκατὸν καὶ πεντήκοντα· καὶ χωρὶς ὑπὸ
τὰ ζύγια πλῆθος ἀνθρώπων ἕτερον, ἐπισιτισμοῦ τε οὐκ ὀλίγον. ‘At first she was launched from some platform(escharion), which
they say was assembled from the timbers of 50 pentēres,
καθειλκύσθη δὲ τὴν μὲν ἀρχὴν ἀπὸ ἐσχαρίου τινός, ὅ φασι and hauled by a crowd with shouts and trumpets. But
παγῆναι πεντήκοντα πλοίων πεντηρικῶν ξυλείαι, ὑπὸ δὲ ὄχλου later,someone from Phoenicia invented the launcher (katholkē),
μετὰ βοῆς καὶ σαλπίγγων κατήγετο. ὕστερον δὲ τῶν ἀπὸ setting a trench beneath the ship equal to her in length, which he
Φοινίκης τις ἐπενόησε τὴν καθολκήν, τάφρον ὑποστησάμενος dug near the harbor. He constructed foundations for this from solid
ἴσην τῆι νηὶ κατὰ μῆκος, ἣν πλησίον τοῦ λιμένος ὤρυξε. ταύτηι stone to a depth of five cubits, and through these (foundations) he
δὲ τοὺς θεμελίους κατωικοδόμησε λίθωι στερεῶι πρὸς πέντε inserted transverse rollers across the width of the trench, one after
πήχεις τὸ βάθος, καὶ διὰ τούτων φάλαγγας ἐπικαρσίας κατὰ another, leaving a space four cubits deep.
πλάτος τῆς τάφρου διώσας συνεχεῖς, τετράπηχυν εἰς βάθος
τόπον ἀπολειπούσας. ‘Next, having made an inlet from the sea, he filled up the entire
enclosed space of it (the trench), into which he easily drew the ship
καὶ ποιήσας εἴσρουν ἀπὸ τῆς θαλάσσης ἐνέπλησεν αὐτῆς with just any men; <then> having blocked up what was opened at
πάντα τὸν ὀρυχθέντα τόπον, εἰς ὃν ῥαιδίως ὑπὸ τῶν τυχόντων first, he again pumped off the sea with machines. When that was
ἀνδρῶν εἰσήγαγε τὴν ναῦν· <εἶτα> τὸ ἀνοιχθὲν κατ᾽ ἀρχὰς done, the ship settled down safely on the aforementioned rollers.
ἐμφράξαντας μετεξαντλῆσαι πάλιν τὴν θάλασσαν ὀργάνοις.
τούτου δὲ γενομένου, ἑδρασθῆναι τὸ πλοῖον ἀσφαλῶς ἐπὶ τῶν
προειρημένων φαλάγγων.
(38) κατεσκεύασεν δ᾽ ὁ Φιλοπάτωρ καὶ ποτάμιον πλοῖον, τὴν (38) ‘Philopator also constructed a river-boat, called Thalamēgos ,
θαλαμηγὸν καλουμένην, τὸ μῆκος ἔχουσαν ἡμισταδίου, τὸ δὲ having a length of half a stade, and the broadest width of her was
εὖρος ἧι πλατύτατον λ̄ πηχῶν· τὸ δὲ ὕψος σὺν τῶι τῆς σκηνῆς 30 cubits; and the height, including the elevation of the pavilion
ἀναστήματι μικρὸν ἀπέδει τεσσαράκοντα πηχῶν. was a little short of 40 cubits.
τὰ δὲ σχῆμα αὐτῆς οὐτε ταῖς μακραῖς ναυσὶν οὐτε ταῖς ‘Her lines were neither like the long ships nor the round ships, but
στρογγύλαις ἐοικός, ἀλλὰ παρηλλαγμένον τι καὶ πρὸς τὴν her draft was somewhat altered and for use on the river. For below
χρείαν τοῦ ποταμοῦ τὸ βάθος. κάτωθεν μὲν γὰρ ἁλιτενὴς καὶ she wasshallow and flat, but elevated in bulk, and her end-parts,
πλατεῖα, τῶι δ᾽ ὄγκωι μετέωρος· τὰ δ᾽ ἐπὶ τῶν ἄκρων αὐτῆς especially the prow, were quite extended, the back-
μέρη καὶ μάλιστα τὰ κατὰ πρῶιραν παρέτεινεν ἐφ᾽ ἱκανόν, τῆς curve seeming very graceful.
ἀνακλάσεως εὐγράμμου φαινομένης.
‘She was twin-prowed and twin-pooped, and extended upward, the
δίπρωιρος δ᾽ ἐγεγόνει καὶ δίπρυμνος, καὶ πρὸς ὕψος ἀνέτεινε swell on the river often stood too high. Her hold (kutos)
διὰ τὸ μετέωρον ἄγαν ἵστασθαι πολλάκις ἐν τῶι ποταμῶι τὸ amidships was constructed for symposia, and (there were) bed-
κῦμα. κατεσκεύαστο δ᾽ αὐτῆς κατὰ μὲν μέσον τὸ κύτος τὰ chambers and so on useful for pastimes.
συμπόσια καὶ οἱ κοιτῶνες καὶ τὰ λοιπὰ τὰ πρὸς τὴν διαγωγὴν
χρηστήρια. ‘There were double promenades around the ship on three sides,
whose perimeter was five plethra, no less, and the arrangement of
πέριξ δὲ τῆς νεὼς περίπατοι κατὰ τὰς τρεῖς πλευρὰς the one below-decks (katageion) was very like a peristyle, but the
ἐγεγόνεσαν διπλοῖ, ὧν ἡ μὲν περίμετρος ἦν πέντε πλέθρων οὐκ arrangement of the upper one was (very like) a grotto enclosed all
ἐλάττων, ἡ δὲ διάθεσις τοῦ μὲν καταγείου περιστύλωι around with screens and windows.
παραπλήσιος, τοῦ δ᾽ ὑπερώιου κρύπτηι φραγμοῖς καὶ θυρίσι
περιεχομένηι πάντοθεν. ‘As one first came aboard at the stern, there lay a vestibule (prostas)
its facing side open, but surrounded by columns (peripteros) in a
πρώτη δ᾽ εἰσιόντι κατὰ πρύμναν ἐτέτακτο προστὰς ἐξ ἐναντίου circle, in the part of which opposite to the prow was constructed a
μὲν ἀναπεπταμένη, κύκλωι δὲ περίπτερος, ἧς ἐν τῶι fore-gate (propylaion) of ivory and very expensive wood.
καταντικρὺ τῆς πρώιρας μέρει προπύλαιον κατεσκεύαστο δι᾽
ἐλέφαντος καὶ τῆς πολυτελεστάτης ὕλης γεγονός. ‘Going through this, one came to something like a theater-facade
(proskēnion), arranged with a ceiling, and then another vestibule
τοῦτο δὲ διελθοῦσιν ὡσανεὶ προσκήνιον ἐπεποίητο τῆι like this one lay aft at mid-beam, and a four-door gateway led into
διαθέσει κατάστεγον ὄν, ὧι πάλιν ὁμοίως κατὰ μὲν τὴν μέσην it. On left and right, windows were set providing good ventilation.
πλευρὰν προστὰς ἑτέρα παρέκειτο ὄπισθεν, καὶ τετράθυρος
ἔφερεν εἰς αὐτὴν πυλών. ἐξ ἀριστερῶν δὲ καὶ δεξιῶν θυρίδες ‘Adjoining these was the great hall: it was surrounded by columns
ὑπέκειντο εὐαερίαν παρέχουσαι. (peripteros) and held twenty couches; most of it was constructed
ofsplit cedar and Milesian cypress. The doors of
συνῆπτο δὲ τούτοις ὁ μέγιστος οἶκος· περίπτερος δ᾽ ἦν εἴκοσι the portico (peristasis), twenty in number, were intarsia of thuya-
κλίνας ἐπιδεχόμενος· κατεσκεύαστο δ᾽ αὐτοῦ τὰ μὲν πλεῖστα wood panels, with ivory ornaments. The studding (enēlōsis) of
ἀπὸ κέδρου σχιστῆς καὶ κυπαρίσσου Μιλησίας. αἱ δὲ τῆς their surface and the knockers (rhoptra) were of red copper that had
περιστάσεως θύραι τὸν ἀριθμὸν εἴκοσι οὖσαι θυίναις been gilded by fire.
κατεκεκόλληντο σανίσιν, ἐλεφαντίνους ἔχουσαι τοὺς κόσμους.
ἡ δ᾽ ἐνήλωσις ἡ κατὰ πρόσωπον αὐτῶν καὶ τὰ ῥόπτρα ἐξ ‘The ‘bodies’ (shafts) of the columns were cypress, but
ἐρυθροῦ γεγονότα χαλκοῦ τὴν χρύσωσιν ἐκ πυρὸς εἰλήφει. the Corinthian-order capitals were ornamented with ivory and gold,
and the entablature (epistulion) was entirely of gold, upon which
τῶν δὲ κιόνων τὰ μὲν σώματα ἦν κυπαρίσσινα, αἱ δὲ κεφαλαὶ was a fitted a frieze (diazōsma) with ivory bas-relief (periphanē)
Κορινθιουργεῖς, ἐλέφαντι καὶ χρυσῶι διακεκοσμημέναι, τὸ δὲ images more than a cubit high, of mediocre skill, but wonder-
ἐπιστύλιον ἐκ χρυσοῦ τὸ ὅλον, ἐφ᾽ οὗ διάζωσμα ἐφήρμοστο worthy in their expenditure.
περιφανῆ ζώιδια ἔχον ἐλεφάντινα μείζω πηχυαίων, τῆι μὲν
τέχνηι μέτρια, τῆι χορηγίαι δὲ ἀξιοθαύμαστα. ‘Placed above the symposium was a beautiful rectangular ceiling of
cypress, whose ornaments were sculpted, with a golden surface.
ἐπέκειτο δὲ καὶ στέγη καλὴ τῶι συμποσίωι τετράγωνος
κυπαρισσίνη· γλυπτοὶ δ᾽ αὐτῆς ἦσαν οἱ κόσμοι, χρυσῆν ἔχοντες ‘Placed next to the symposium was a seven-couch bedroom, to
τὴν ἐπιφάνειαν. which was attached a narrow passage, across the width of the hold,
separating the women’s quarters. In there was a nine-
παρέκειτο δὲ τῶι συμποσίωι τούτωι καὶ κοιτὼν ἑπτάκλινος, ὧι couchsymposium, very similar to the large one in expense, and a
συνῆπτο στενὴ σῦριγξ, κατὰ πλάτος τοῦ κύτους χωρίζουσα five-couch bedroom.
τὴν γυναικωνῖτιν. ἐν δὲ ταύτηι συμπόσιον ἐννεάκλινον ἦν,
παραπλήσιον τῆι πολυτελείαι τῶι μεγάλωι, καὶ κοιτὼν
πεντάκλινος.
καὶ τὰ μὲν ἄχρι τῆς πρώτης στέγης κατεσκευασμένα τοιαῦτ᾽ ‘These were the constructions, up to the first deck. (39) Ascending
ἦν. (39) ἀναβάντων δὲ τὰς παρακειμένας πλησίον τῶι the ladder adjacent to the aforementioned bedroom, there was
προειρημένωι κοιτῶνι κλίμακας οἶκος ἦν ἄλλος πεντάκλινος another cabin, of five couches, having a lozenge-paneled ceiling,
ὀρόφωμα ῥομβωτὸν ἔχων, καὶ πλησίον αὐτοῦ ναὸς and next to it, a tholos-formed temple of Aphrodite, in which was
᾽Αφροδίτης θολοειδής, ἐν ὧι μαρμάρινον ἄγαλμα τῆς θεοῦ. amarble statue of the goddess.
κατεναντίον δὲ τούτου ἄλλο συμπόσιον πολυτελὲς περίπτερον· ‘Opposite this was another expensive symposiumsurrounded by
οἱ γὰρ κίονες αὐτοῦ ἐκ λίθων ᾽Ινδικῶν συνέκειντο. παρὰ <δὲ> columns (peripteros). Its columns were formed of Indian stone.
καὶ τούτωι τῶι συμποσίωι κοιτῶνες, ἀκόλουθον τὴν Beside thissymposium were bedrooms, constructed like those
κατασκευὴν τοῖς προδεδηλωμένοις ἔχοντες. προάγοντι δὲ ἐπὶ already shown. As one went forward to the prow, there was a
τὴν πρῶιραν οἶκος ὑπέκειτο Βακχικὸς τρισκαιδεκάκλινος thirteen-couch Bacchic room surrounded by columns (peripteros),
περίπτερος, ἐπίχρυσον ἔχων τὸ γεῖσον ἕως τοῦ περιτρέχοντος having acornice gilded as far as the circumferential entablature
ἐπιστυλίου· στέγη δὲ τῆς τοῦ θεοῦ διαθέσεως οἰκεία. (epistulion)—and the ceiling was suitably disposed for the god.
ἐν δὲ τούτωι κατὰ μὲν τὴν δεξιὰν πλευρὰν ἄντρον ‘Inside, on the starboard, was constructed arecess,
κατεσκεύαστο, οὗ χρῶμα (?) μὲν ἦν ἔχον τὴν πετροποιίαν ἐκ whose complexion (?) hadstonework architected of real gems and
λίθων ἀληθινῶν καὶ χρυσοῦ δεδημιουργημένην· ἵδρυτο δ᾽ ἐν gold; set up within it were portrait-statues of the kinsfolk of the
αὐτῶι τῆς τῶν βασιλέων συγγενείας ἀγάλματα εἰκονικὰ λίθου kings, made of translucent stone. Also sufficiently delightful was
λυχνέως. ἐπιτερπὲς δ᾽ ἱκανῶς καὶ ἄλλο συμπόσιον ἦν ἐπὶ τῆι anothersymposium, set on the roof of the great hall, arranged like a
τοῦ μεγίστου οἴκου στέγηι κείμενον, σκηνῆς ἔχον τάξιν, ὧι tent: there was no ceiling above it, and instead bow-shaped
στέγη μὲν οὐκ ἐπῆν, διατόναια δὲ τοξοειδῆ διὰ ποσοῦ τινος curtain-rodsstretched out some ways, upon which, whensetting
ἐνετέτατο διαστήματος, ἐφ᾽ ὧν αὐλαῖαι κατὰ τὸν ἀνάπλουν out, sea-purple awnings were spread.
ἁλουργεῖς ἐνεπετάννυντο.
‘After this an atrium (aithrion) was supportedin a place above the
μετὰ δὲ τοῦτο αἴθριον ἐξεδέχετο τὴν ἐπάνω τῆς ὑποκειμένης underlying vestibule (prostas), from which a spiral ladder led to the
προστάδος τάξιν κατέχον, ὧι κλῖμάξ τε ἑλικτὴ φέρουσα πρὸς covered walkway and the nine-couch symposium, and the style of
τὸν κρυπτὸν περίπατον παρέκειτο καὶ συμπόσιον ἐννεάκλινον, its construction was Egyptian. That is, the columns here rose up
τῆι διαθέσει τῆς κατασκευῆς Αἰγύπτιον· οἱ γὰρ γεγονότες bulging, and differing in their drums, the one black, the other white,
αὐτόθι κίονες ἀνήγοντο στρογγύλοι, διαλλάττοντες τοῖς alternately.
σπονδύλοις, τοῦ μὲν μέλανος, τοῦ δὲ λευκοῦ παράλληλα
τιθεμένων. ‘Some of their capitals are round in shape, and their whole outline is
very similar to roses slightly opened. However, around what is
εἰσὶ δ᾽ αὐτῶν καὶ αἱ κεφαλαὶ τῶι σχήματι περιφερεῖς, ὧν ἡ μὲν called the‘basket’ (kalathon) there are no volutes, as with Greek
ὅλη περιγραφὴ παραπλησία ῥόδοις ἐπὶ μικρὸν ἀναπεπταμένοις columns, or spiky leaves laid on, but the calyxes of river-
ἐστίν. περὶ δὲ τὸν προσαγορευόμενον κάλαθον οὐχ ἕλικες, lotuses and the fruit of new-budded dates, and sometimes many
καθάπερ ἐπὶ τῶν ῾Ελληνικῶν· καὶ φύλλα τραχέα περίκειται, other kinds of flowers are sculpted on. The part below the ‘root’,
λωτῶν δὲ ποταμίων κάλυκες καὶ φοινίκων ἀρτιβλάστων which is indeed where the capital lies upon the drum, had a similar
καρπός· ἔστι δ᾽ ὅτε καὶ πλειόνων ἄλλων ἀνθέων γέγλυπται arrangement, with flowers of Egyptian bean and their leaves as if
γένη. τὸ δ᾽ ὑπὸ τὴν ῥίζαν, ὃ δὴ τῶι συνάπτοντι πρὸς τὴν interwoven.
κεφαλὴν ἐπίκειται σπονδύλωι, κιβωρίων ἄνθεσι καὶ φύλλοις
ὡσανεὶ καταπεπλεγμένοις ὁμοίαν εἶχε τὴν διάθεσιν. ‘Egyptians construct their columns like this; and they dapple the
walls with white and black bricks, and sometimes with ones made
τοὺς μὲν οὖν κίονας οὕτως Αἰγύπτιοι κατασκευάζουσι· καὶ from the rock called alabastitis .
τοὺς τοίχους δὲ λευκαῖς καὶ μελαίναις διαποικίλλουσι
πλινθίσιν, ἐνίοτε δὲ καὶ τοῖς ἀπὸ τῆς ἀλαβαστίτιδος ‘There were many other rooms in the central hold (kutos) of the
προσαγορευομένης πέτρας. ship, and throughout every part of her. Her mast (histos) was
seventy cubits, with a linen sail adorned with a sea-purple top-
πολλὰ δὲ καὶ ἕτερα κατὰ μέσον τῆς νεὼς τὸ κύτος ἐν κοίληι sail(paraseion).’
καὶ κατὰ πᾶν αὐτῆς μέρος οἰκήματα ἦν. ὁ δὲ ἱστὸς ἦν αὐτῆς
ἑβδομήκοντα πηχῶν, βύσσινον ἔχων ἱστίον ἁλουργεῖ
παρασείωι κεκοσμημένον.»
Commentary
In the translation, I have provided transliterations of the technical names of parts of the ship. Most of Kallixeinos’s measurements are
given in cubits: there were exactly three feet in two cubits, but conversion to modern units is uncertain, because there were many
standards, in which the Greek foot (πούς) varied from c. 24 cm (Pythian) to c. 33 cm (Aiginetan): see R.C.A. Rottländer, Antike
Längenmaße: Untersuchungen über ihre Zusammenhänge (Braunschweig 1979), 14–16.
These ships should be compared to Moschion’s description of the Syrakosia, BNJ 575 F 1, also preserved in Athenaios 5 (206d–209e):
see Irby-Massie in P.T. Keyser and G.L. Irby-Massie,Encyclopedia of Ancient Natural Scientists (London 2008), 563. Philopator’s
ship was built c. 215 BC, and Hieron II’s ship c. 240 BC, then sent to Alexandria to relieve a grain shortage (σπάνις σίτου: cf.
Moschion in Athenaios 5.44 [209b] and Archimelos, F 202 SH, in Athenaios 5.44 [209c–e]), likely the one mentioned in
the Canopus Decree (March 238 BC); see S. Pfeiffer, Das Dekret von Kanopos (238 v. Chr.) (Munich 2004), 70 for the date, and 93–
101 for the grain shortage. We may know the name of the naval architect of earlier versions, ‘twenties’ and ‘thirties’, Ergoteles
orPyrgoteles, see Irby-Massie in Keyser and Irby-Massie, Encyclopedia, 710.
37 forty-oar ship: On the ‘forty’, see L. Casson, Ships and Seamanship in the Ancient World(Princeton, NJ 1971), 108-12; C.E.
Chaffin, ‘The Tessarakonteres Reconsidered’, BICS 38 (1993), 213–28; A. Wegener Sleeswyk and F.J.A.M. Meijer, ‘Quantitative
Analysis of the Oarage of Philopator’s ‘Forty’’, Mnemosyne 50 (1997), 185–98; and W.M. Murray, The Age of Titans: The Rise and
Fall of the Great Hellenistic Navies (New York, NY 2012), 178–85, 202–5. Murray dates the ‘forty’ to 217 BC, as part of a
celebration after the Battle of Raphia.
37 280 cubits and 48 cubits: Two of these dimensions are precisely confirmed by Plutarch,Demetrios 43.5, giving 280 cubits length,
48 cubits height.
37 bowsprit: The akrostolion (ἀκροστολίον) was an ornament crowning the stem-post, rather like a sixteenth to nineteenth-century
Euro-American figure-head, which was, however, always belowthe bowsprit.
37 poop-sprit (stern-post): The ‘poop-sprit’ or ‘stern-post’ renders ‘πρυμνητικῶν ἀφλάστων’, as in Iliad 15.716–7 (πρύμνηθεν …
/ ἄφλαστον …, Hektor grabs hold); Herodotos 6.114 (at Marathon,Kynegeiros son of Euphorion lost his hand and died, having
grabbed a ship by the ἀφλάστων). Cf. also Apollonios of Rhodes 1.1089, 2.601, 3.543.
37 seven rams: Murray, Age of Titans, 183, suggests the rams were not offensive but intended to protect the forward gap between the
two hulls, and compares Philon Byzant., pp. 94–5 Th., who recommends defending harbors by a variety of devices including
stationary rams.
37 catheads : The ‘catheads’ (ἐπωτίδες) held the anchor-cables away from the side of the ship; cf.Thucydides 7.34.5, 7.36.2, 7.62.3.
See Theophrastos, HP 5.7.3 for the woods used for catheads.
37 under-girdles: The ‘under-girdles’ (ὑποζώματα) were ropes bound onto the ship for strength, especially against hogging (flexure
of the keel in heavy seas); cf. Herodotos 7.69.1 (battle-dress of theArabians: robes under-girdled); Ariston (c. 425 BC, see Keyser and
Irby-Massie, Encyclopedia, 139), F in Anon. Paris. Morb. Acut. Chron. 10 (p. 72 Garofalo); cf. Diokles of Karystos F 104.9 van der
Eijk; Plato, Rep. 616C, Laws 945C; Apollonios of Rhodes 1.367–70; and Polybios 27.3.3. Their exact structure has been greatly
disputed: esp. E.G. Schauroth, ‘The ὑποζώματα of Greek Ships’, HSCP 22 (1911), 173–9; Hilda Richardson, ‘The Myth of Er
(Plato, Republic, 616b)’, CQ 20 (1926), 113–33; J.S. Morrison, ‘Parmenides and Er’, JHS 75 (1955), 59–68, at 67–8; and J.S.
Morrison, J.F. Coates, and N.B. Rankov, The Athenian trireme: The History and Reconstruction of an Ancient Greek
Warship 2 (Cambridge 2000), 169–71, 196–9, 220–1. Given that Philopator’s ship had a beam of 38 cubits and a length of 280 cubits,
the 600-cubit length here of each under-girdle indicates that it was bound around the outside of the hull. If we model the ship’s twin
hull as two adjacent ellipses, each very slender, with semi-major axis 140 cubits (half the length), and semi-minor axis equal to one
quarter of the total beam of 38 cubits, then a rope around the whole would be almost exactly 600 cubits long—there would be 19
cubits of rope stretching across the space between the two prows, and a like length across the space between the two poops, plus the
two slightly-curved sides, each a little longer than the prow-to-poop distance of 280 cubits. That does not preclude other earlier or
later forms of ‘under-girdles’ being rigged differently. It is quite unlikely that Kallixeinos’s report of the length of the under-girdles
was based on autopsy, and it must rather have been based on official records.
37 well-proportioned (εὔρυθμος): εὔρυθμος is in Aristophanes and Plato only of music, but see the adverbial forms
in Hippokrates, Officina 7 (Littré 3.290), of bandaging, and Euripides, Cyclops563, of drinking. As applied to objects,
see Xenophon, Mem. 3.10.11–12 (bodies, breastplates, shields, cloaks); Aristotle, HA 7(8).3 (592b24 a bird); Theophrastos, HP 3.12.9
(the tree ὄα, Sorbus domestica L.), 3.18.7 (ivy-leaves); Characters 2.7 (the foot); and Philon Byzant., p. 87.32 Th. (military
constructions).
37 the whole enkōpon (ἔγκωπον): The noun enkōpon is attested only here and is taken to mean the outer surface of the hull, where
the oar-ports lay: ‘part of the ship between the foremost and hindmost oars’, LSJ, s.v. κώπη, ‘oar’. Since we are told ‘to the keel’,
either the report is based on autopsy when the ship was in dry-dock, or else it is based on official records; the latter seems more likely.
37 encaustic painting: cf. F 2.30. Encaustic painting (κηρογραφίαι) was extensively practiced in Egypt, although this word is first
attested here; for the verb, as in F 2.30, see F. Durrbach,Inscriptions de Délos 1 (1926), #290, line 112 (246 BC). The older words for
this art-form derive from the verb ἐγκαίω; cf. Plato, Tim. 26C; Herakleides Krit., Descr. F 1.8; F. Durrbach, Inscriptions de Délos 2
(1926), #372, lines 100–1 (200 BC); II Maccabees , 2.29; and further inscriptions listed in LSJ.
37 trial run (ἀναπείρας): First attested here (although compare the verb, Herodotos 6.12.4); cf. Polybios 1.59.12, 5.2.4,
10.20.6; Diodorus 13.8.5, 13.38.3, 13.39.3. Kallixeinos could not have learned about a trial run by autopsy, and such a record seems
very likely to have been found in an official report.
37 4000 rowers, and 400 for the crew (hupēresia), and for the deck (katastrōma) 150 short of 3000 marines (epibatēs):
Plutarch, Demetrios 43.5, confirms the size of the ship’s complement: 4000 rowers, 400 crew, and ‘nearly’ 3000 marines.
37 supplies (ἐπισιτισμός): ἐπισιτισμός (‘supplies’ of food) is a military term, as in Xenophon,Anab. 1.5.9, 7.1.9, Hell. 3.2.26; LXX,
Genesis 45.21; LXX, Joshua 9.11 (translated c. 170 BC); Polybios 2.5.3, 2.9.2; Diodorus 13.95.3. On the dates of the LXX translations,
see G. Dorival, ‘L’histoire de la Septante dans le judaïsme antique’, in G. Dorival, M. Harl, and O. Munnich (eds.),La Bible Grecque
des Septante 2 (Paris 1994), 31–125, esp. 111.
37 platform (ἐσχαρίον): ‘Platform’ (ἐσχαρίον) as in Polybios 9.41.4 (for a military ram); Diodorus 20.91.2 (for a helepolis).
Athenaios Mech., pp. 16–17 W. (for a military tortoise), 21–2 W. (another), and 34 W. (aboard ship), ed. R. Schneider, Griechische
Poliorketiker 3, Abhandlungen der königlichen Gesellschaft der Wissenschaften zu Göttingen, Philol.-hist. Kl. N.F. 12.5 (Berlin
1912).
37 hauled by a crowd with shouts and trumpets: cf. Apollonios of Rhodes 1.383–7, the launching of the Argo.
37 someone from Phoenicia: There was, indeed, a mechanical tradition in the coastal cities ofPhoenicia: see Pephrasmenos
of Tyre (probably legendary, Vitruvius 10.13.2); Kallias of Arados (c. 305 BC, Vitruvius 10.16.3–7); and Pasikrates of Sidon (c.
135 BC, Oreibasios, Coll. 49.7, 49.13, 49.22 =CMG 6.2.2, pp. 14, 23–6, 34–5), in Keyser and Irby-Massie, Encyclopedia, 634, 460,
627 respectively. Philopator’s man, c. 215 BC, was two or three generations after Kallias. This report about the dry-dock must be
based on official records, or some earlier account. On the construction of the dry-dock, see A. Wegener Sleeswyk and F.J.A.M.
Meijer, ‘Launching Philopator’s ‘forty’’,International Journal of Nautical Archaeology 23.2 (1994), 115–18.
37 transverse rollers (φάλαγγας ἐπικαρσίας): For ‘phalanx’ as ‘roller’, see Apollonios of Rhodes 1.375–6, 388 (under the Argo,
for launching); Diodorus 3.37.5 (under a trapped snake); contrast, earlier, Herodotos 3.97.3 of trunks of ebony as tribute; Pseudo-
Arist., Mech., 20 (853b25), of a steelyard. For ‘transverse’ in this mechanical sense, see Polybios 1.22.5 (description of a naval crow),
and contrast ἐγκάρσιος for ‘transverse’ in Thucydides 2.76.4. For the verb, ‘inserted’ (διώσας), in this sense, see Polybios 21.28.14
(spears into an aperture).
37 pumped off (μετεξαντλῆσαι): The verb μετεξαντλῆσαι (pumped off) is attested only here.
37 with machines: Water-lifting machinery was evolving rapidly at Philopator’s time, especially in the work of Ktesibios of
Alexandria (c. 270 BC) and Philon of Byzantion (c. 220 BC): see Keyser and Irby-Massie, Encyclopedia, 496, 654–6, respectively. The
‘screw’ or auger of Archimedes was also used for water-lifting, and its use here seems more likely than the use of Ktesibios’s pump,
or the devices described by Philon, the tympanon (compartmented wheel) and the halusis (bucket-chain). See J.P. Oleson, Greek and
Roman Mechanical Water-Lifting Devices: The History of a Technology(Toronto, ON 1984), 291–370.
38–39 Thalamēgos : For earlier studies of the Thalamēgos, see F. Caspari, ‘Das Nilschiff Ptolemaios IV’, JDAI 31 (1916), 1–74; B.L.
Kutbay, Palaces and Large Residences of the Hellenistic Age (Lewiston, NY 1998), 49–51, who notes that the entrance was similar to
the entrance of the palace excavated at modern Palatitsa (southeast of Vergina, perhaps the ancient Aigai); I. Nielsen,Hellenistic
Palaces: Tradition and Renewal 2 (Aarhus 1999), 136–8, with figures from Caspari, ‘Nilschiff’; Nielsen compares the layout and
structure to the festival tent.
38 Thalamēgos: Was this the proper name of the ship, like the Athenian ship of state, theSalaminia, or was this the name of the kind
of ship? According to Hekataios of Abdera ( BNJ 264 F 25 = Diodorus 1.85.2), the ship, or a similar one (with a gilded cabin, cf.
205c, e), was used to convey the new Apis bull on the Nile to Memphis. Strabo 17.1.15–16 mentions plural thalamēgoi, in which
people hold feasts: by his era then, a type of boat. On later copies of and legends about this boat, see T.W. Hillard, ‘The Nile Cruise of
Cleopatra and Caesar’, CQ 52 (2002), 549–54.
38 half a stade: ‘Half a stade’ is exactly 200 cubits, thus shorter than Philopator’s forty-oar ship, of 280 cubits.
38 elevated: For the rare ‘elevation’ (ἀναστήμα), see Theophrastos, HP 9.9.5; and contrast the common adjectival expression of the
same concept, ‘elevated’, either μετέωρος (e.g., Herodotos 2.148.4-5; Thucydides 3.72.3) or μετάρσιος (e.g., Theophrastos, Igne 3;
Diodorus 3.51.4).
38 shallow: For the rare ‘shallow’ (ἁλιτενής), see Polybios 4.39.3, of the Kimmerian Bosporus(channel from the Maiotis, modern Sea
of Azov, to the Black Sea, i.e., the modern Strait of Kerch); Diodorus 4.18.5 (the Straits of Gibraltar made shallow by Herakles). In
contrast, it is said of things that lie low upon the sea: see Diodorus 3.44.1 (a rock); Strabo 7.3.19 (sandy barrier island), 8.2.3
(Cape Rhion), 9.1.3 (peninsula), 13.1.30, 15.2.2, 16.2.21, 17.3.4 (shores). The more common expression is nominal, either βραχεία
(e.g., Herodotos 2.102.2; Polybios 1.39.3) or τέναγος (e.g., Herodotos 1.202.3; Thuc. 3.51.3) and τεναγώδης (e.g., Polybios 1.75.8;
Diodorus 2.60.1).
38 back-curve (ἀνάκλασις): For this word in this sense, cf. Hippokrates, Fractures 2 (Littré 3.420, the arm); Polybios 4.43.9 (the
current in the Bosporos); Letter of Aristeas 68 (table legs); Diodorus 5.30.4 (Celtic javelin blades). For the date of the Letter of
Aristeas c. 135 BC, see E.J. Bickermann, ‘Zur Datierung des Pseudo-Aristeas’, ZNTW 29 (1930), 280-98; O. Murray, ‘Aristeas and
Ptolemaic Kingship’, JThS 18 (1967), 337-71; and N.F. Marcos, The Septuagint in Context(Leiden 2000), 35-52 (concluding on c. 122
BC).
38 very graceful (εὐγράμμος): This is the earliest extant attestation of this word (εὐγράμμος); cf. εὐγραμμίαν, below, F
2.26 (197B); see Strabo 4.5.2 (British bodies not very graceful).
38 the swell on the river often stood too high: A swell (κῦμα) is unlikely on a river, particularly in a delta region, and probably was
an inference by Kallixeinos from the shape of the prow, which may have been simply a quotation of the shape of Egyptian boat-prows.
The 200-cubit length of the ship indicates a hull length at the waterline of c. 85 m. The resistance experienced by a ship in motion is
dominated by that caused by the body wave, rising as the square root of the length, as shown by the work of modern hydrodynamics,
beginning with William Froude, ‘Experiments upon the Effect Produced on the Wave-Making Resistance of Ships by Length of
Parallel Middle Body,’ Transactions of the Institution of Naval Architects 18 (1877), 77-97, pls VI–VIII. In the case of a trireme, the
length at the waterline was close to 35 m, and her top effective speed was about 7.5 knots: Morrison, Coates, and Rankov, Athenian
Trireme, 196, 102–6, 259-67, respectively. Thus, the top effective speed of this ship could have been as much as square root of the
ratio (85/35) = about 1.6 times that of the trireme, i.e., about 12 knots. The height of the bow wave depends on the speed and the shape
of the cutwater in complex ways, but there is no reason to expect it to have been much larger than the bow wave on a trireme, and thus
this hull would not have required an extraordinarily high prow. Perhaps Kallixeinos was simply referring to the two epic swells in
Apollonios of Rhodes,Argonautika 2.169 (ἠλιβάτῳ ἐναλίγκιον οὔρεϊ κῦμα) and 2.580–1 (μέγα κῦμα … / κυρτόν, ἀποτμῆγι
σκοπιῇ ἴσον)?
38 plethron : The plethron is 100 feet, and the cubit is 1.5 feet, so 5 plethra = 333.33 cubits; by using the less precise unit, Kallixeinos
presumably intended to indicate a less precise measurement, so we should think of this as 330 cubits or so.
38 grotto: κρύπτη is a grotto or perhaps something like a ‘garden-level apartment’. See Xenophon,Anabasis 4.5.25
(Armenian houses); Plato, Protagoras 320e (animal burrows); Diodorus 5.3.3 (sacred grotto at Enna), 4.30.5 and 5.15.4–5 (dwellings
of the native Sardinians); Dionysios of Halikarnassos, Roman Antiquities 10.32.5 (garden-level floors of Roman houses).
38 held twenty couches (εἴκοσι κλίνας ἐπιδεχόμενος): Measuring the size of a room in terms of some standard piece of furniture
used in that room is paralleled in the Japanese manner of sizing rooms in terms of ‘mats’ (tatami).
38 split cedar (κέδρου σχιστῆς): ‘Split cedar’ as at Odyssey 5.59-61, of Kalypso’s island; cf. also Theophrastos, HP 3.12.3-4
(varieties), 5.7.1-4 (used in building ships and houses); Theokritos, Idylls7.81, 24.43, and Epigrams 8.4 (Gow); E.S. Forster, ‘Trees
and Plants in the Greek Tragic Writers’,G&R 21 (1952), 57-63, at 58; K. Lembach, Die Pflanzen bei Theokrit (Heidelberg 1970), 128-
9.
38 Milesian cypress: Strabo 14.1.20 records abundant cypress near Ephesos, just north of IonianMiletos. There is no need to
hypothesize a reference to Cretan Milatos (Iliad 2.647; Ephoros BNJ 70 F 127 = Strabo 14.1.6; Strabo 10.4.14, 12.8.5) any more than
to the Mysian Miletos (Pliny, HN 5.122). For the tree, see also Theophrastos, HP 4.5.2 (grows in Crete, Lykia, Rhodes), 5.4.1-2 (high
quality timber), 5.7.4 (used in building houses); Theokritos, Idylls 5.104, 11.45, 22.41, 27.46, 27.58; Lembach, Pflanzen, 121-2.
38 portico (περίστασις): For περίστασις in a similar sense, see Polybios 6.31.1 and 6.41.2 (of the Roman camp).
38 thuya-wood (θυίνος): Thuya-wood means made from wood of the θύον, which is a cypress-like tree of Libya and the oasis
of Ammon, proof against decay (Theophrastos, HP 5.3.7, 5.4.2); see also Odyssey 5.59-61 (Kalypso’s island); Strabo 4.6.2
(Ligurian trees similar); Pliny 13.100-2. The tree is identified as the small, slow-growing Callitris quadrivalvis Vent., syn. Thuja
articulata Vahl, syn. Tetraclinis articulata (Vahl) Masters. It is found widely in the Atlas Mountains of Morocco,Algeria, and Tunisia,
and is used for carvings and medicinal resin. Although sometimes known as ‘citron-wood’, it is distinct from the citron tree (Citrus
medica L.); it is also known as the ‘Atlas cypress’ or ‘African juniper.’
38 studding (ἐνήλωσις): The word ἐνήλωσις is attested only here, but cf. ‘pin/dowel’ (ἐνήλατον, Euripides, Hipp. 1235, Suppl.
729, Ph. 1179), also from the word for ‘nail’ (ἧλος).
38 gilded by fire: Two alchemical techniques could be described as gilded by fire; in either case this is the earliest extant text in
Greek or Latin to refer to it.
i. On the one hand, an alloy of low gold content is baked in the presence of materials that preferentially attack the more reactive
component(s)—here, copper—and thus leave a gold-enriched surface layer upon cooling and cleaning. The technique was ancient
Egyptian, as shown by R.W. Wood, ‘The Purple Gold of Tut‘ankhamūn,’ JEA 20 (1934), 62-6, pl. XI; it is also attested
forMesopotamia: S. La Niece, ‘Depletion Gilding from Third Millennium BC Ur’, Iraq 57 (1995), 41-7; and see Bolos, Physical and
Mystical Matters 12-13 ed. M. Berthelot, Collection des Anciens Alchimistes Grecs 2 (Paris 1888), 46; and Pliny, HN 33.85. Note also
that the technique of golden-colored ‘Corinthian Bronze’, known from c. 70 BC, is very similar: see D.M. Jacobson and M.P.
Weitzman, ‘What Was Corinthian Bronze?’ AJA 96 (1992), 237-47; Weitzman, ‘Black Bronze and the ‘Corinthian Alloy’’, CQ 45
(1995), 580-3.
ii. Another method which also used fire to gild copper or silver involved applying a coating of a mercury amalgam of gold, followed
by heating to drive off the mercury: Vitruvius 7.8.4; Pliny 33.64-65, 100, 125; A. Oddy, ‘Gilding of Metals in the Old World’, in S. La
Niece and P.T. Craddock (eds.),Metal Plating and Patination (London 1993), 171-81, at 177-80; K. Anheuser, ‘The Practice and
Characterization of Historic Fire Gilding Techniques’, Journal of the Minerals, Metals and Materials Society 49.11 (1997), 58-62.
Both methods were used for silver-plating, see P.T. Keyser, ‘Greco-Roman Alchemy and Coins of Imitation Silver’, AJN 7/8 (1995/6),
209-34, pls. 28-32 (p. 214 for the Bolos passage). If the substrate ‘red copper’ means, as usual, copper without alloying agents, the
second technique must be the one that was used. It is quite unlikely that Kallixeinos’s report on the technique is based on autopsy, and
must rather be based on official records.
38 frieze (διάζωσμα): In this spelling and with this sense, the word διάζωσμα is rarely attested—Plutarch, Perikles 13.7 (one ms,
followed by Ziegler); Clement, Paidagog. 3.5.33.1—but cf. Theophrastos, Stones 7 (διάζωμα), which may mean ‘frieze’ or may
perhaps refer to the same kind of architectural element as §39 (206c), as D.E. Eichholz, Theophrastus De Lapidibus (Oxford 1965),
93.
38 bas-relief (περιφανής): For περιφανής as bas-relief, cf. Thuc. 4.102.3 (etymology of the name of the city Amphipolis as
‘standing out’); Sophokles, Ajax 67 (a thing clear to see); and F 2.30 (199e), also bas-relief.
38 wonder-worthy (ἀξιοθαύμαστα): For ‘wonder-worthy’, cf. Xenophon, Mem. 1.4.4; Letter of Aristeas 282 (c. 135 BC?);
Plutarch, Sollert. 983D. E.E. Rice, The Grand Procession of Ptolemy Philadelphus (London 1983), 168, argues that this must be
Kallixeinos’s own personal intervention. But although it is surely somebody’s evaluation, its source cannot be determined.
38 symposium : symposium, i.e., a dining room with couches; apparently the first of these mentioned here is the same as the ‘great
hall’ (205b).
39 lozenge-paneled ceiling (ὀρόφωμα ῥομβωτὸν): ὀρόφωμα and ῥομβωτὸν are two rare words. For ὀρόφωμα, see Philon
Paradox. §1 (ed. Brodersen, p. 24) and Diodorus 2.10.5, ceiling of the ‘hanging gardens’; ceiling of the temple of Solomon: LXX
Ezekiel 41.26 (translated c. 190 BC),LXX Chronicles II 3.7 (translated c. 160 BC), and Eupolemos (c. 150 BC), BNJ 723 F 2b.34.4,
οὕτω δ᾽ αὐτὸν χρυσῶσαι ἀπὸ ἐδάφους ἕως τῆς ὀροφῆς, τό τε ὀροφώμα ποιῆσαι ἐκ φατνωμάτων χρυσῶν (‘thus he covered it
with gold from the floor to the ceiling, and he made the roof from golden coffers’). Compare below, F 2.25 (196c).
Contrast the more common terms, ὀροφή often means viewing the roof from the inside, as in F 2.26(197a); cf. Odyssey 22.297-8;
Aristophanes, Clouds 171-3; Plato, Republic 7.529b, Kritias 116de;Polemon of Ilion (c. 175 BC), Against Antigonos F 63 Preller (=
Athenaios 11.48, 474c-d); but ὄροφος is simply the covering (Iliad 24.450-1; Herodotos 7.140.3; Thuc. 1.134.2;
Xenophon,Anabasis 7.4.16, Symposium 4.38).
For ῥομβωτὸν, first attested here, see also Letter of Aristeas 67 (‘table’; c. 135 BC?).
39 tholos-formed (θολοειδής): θολοειδής is conjectured in Theophrastos, HP 3.9.6 (overall shape of the fir); see also Strabo 4.4.3
(Celtic houses) and 6.2.9 (water-spouts).
39 marble (μαρμάρινον): See also below, F 2.25 (196e): cf. Theokritos, Epigrams 10.2.
39 of Indian stone (ἐκ λίθων ᾽Ινδικῶν): Indian stone is probably marble, cf. LSJ, s.v., II, esp. Herodotos 3.57.4 (Parian) and 4.87.1
(white).
39 cornice (γεῖσον): For the singular (γεῖσον), see Lysias F 239 Carey (= 69a Thalheim) fromPollux 7.120. It is usually plural: cf.
Sophokles, OT 876 (Wolff); Eur. Ph. 1180, Or. 1570, 1620; Theophrastos, Signs 18 and Aratos, Phainomena 970-1, of birds fluttering
up under the cornices as a weather sign.
39 recess (ἄντρον): The description of this recess is very similar to that of the nymphaion in the third century BC epigram on papyrus
tentatively attributed to Poseidippos, F 113 Austin-Bastianini. On that epigram, see B. Schweitzer, Ein Nymphäum des frühen
Hellenismus. Festgabe zur Winckelmannsfeier des Archäologischen Seminars der Universität Leipzig am 10. Dezember 1938(Leipzig
1938); S. Settis, ‘Descrizione di un ninfeo ellenistico’, SCO 14 (1965), 247-57; P.M. Fraser,Ptolemaic Alexandria 1-3 (Oxford 1972),
1.609-11, 2.860-1 (n. 412); A. Schmidt-Colinet, ‘Exedra duplex: Ueberlegungen zum Augustusforum’, Hefte des Archäologischen
Seminars der Universität Bern 14 (1991), 43-60, at 46-9; C. Austin and G. Bastianini, Posidippi Pellaei quae supersunt omnia(Milano
2002), 136-7, with text and Italian and English translations; Judith McKenzie, The Architecture of Alexandria and Egypt, c. 300 B.C.
to A.D. 700 (New Haven, CT 2007), 61-2, ‘all the characteristic features’ of later nymphaia.
39 complexion (?): Either this is the only attested use of this word (χρῶμα (?)) in this sense (‘complexion’), or else we have to do
with a marginal gloss that replaced an unusual word for something like ‘surface’ or ‘appearance’; perhaps Kallixeinos wrote σχῆμα?
39 stonework (πετροποιία): πετροποιία is a word attested only here, though as regular a formation as ‘statue-making’
ἀνδριαντοποιία (Plato, Gorgias 450c and Xenophon, Mem. 1.4.3); ‘marvel-making’ θαυματοποιία (Plato, Republic 10 602D);
ἀλφιτοποιία ‘flour-making’, ἀρτοποιία ‘bread-making’, ἐξωμιδοποιία ‘vest-making’, and χλανιδοποιία ‘cloak-making’
(Xenophon, Mem. 2.7.6); σκηνοποιία ‘tent-making’ and τειχοποιία ‘wall-making’ (Aeneias Tacticus 8.3); οἰνοποιία ‘wine-making’
(Theophrastos, Odors 67); πυργοποιία ‘tower-making’ (Philon Byzant., pp. 82.43, 86.12, 86.19, 87.47–8 Th.); and τραπεζοποιία
‘table-making’ (Strabo 4.6.2); plus ‘machine-making’ (μηχανοποιία Athenaios Mech. p. 10.6 W.), ‘wooden-statue-making’
(ξοανοποιία Strabo 16.2.35), ‘armor-making’ (ὁπλοποιία Diodorus Siculus 14.43.4), ‘instrument-making’
(ὀργανοποιία TimaeusLocris 101e), and ‘sphere-making’ (σφαιροποιία Geminus 12.23), all from the first century BC.
The formation usually seems to refer to complex artifice, and perhaps the recess was lined with something like a lithic intarsia or
mosaic, i.e., opus sectile; see A.M. Panayides, ‛ Mosaic [II] Graeco-Roman ’ , BNP 9 (Leiden 2006, 2006 ) , 219-26, who, however,
dates wall-mosaics to the first century BC, following F.B. Sear, Roman Wall and Vault Mosaics = MDAI(R), Ergänzungsheft23
(1977), 16-30, despite his exclusion of opus sectile from his study (14). See also below, F 2.26(197A), s.v. ‘niche’ (νυμφαῖα).
39 real gems (λίθων ἀληθινῶν): ‘Real gems’ is another reference to alchemy, a chief goal of which was the production of artificial
gemstones, as already in Herodotos 2.69.2 (λίθινα χυτὰ), and Theophrastos, Stones 53-60, where the natural stones μίλτος ‘ruddle’,
κύανος ‘lapis lazuli’, ψιμύθιον ‘white lead’, ἰός ‘verdigris’, and κιννάβαρι ‘cinnabar’ are produced also by art; later writers of
stone-books or alchemy recorded means to produce imitation stones; see Vitruvius 7.11-12; Pliny, HN37.83, 134, 197. The
emendation of Schweighäuser, λίθων ἀχατῶν, is otiose and the resulting phrase is not how agate (ἀχάτης) was named, according to
Theophrastos, Stones 31 (καλὸς δὲ λίθος καὶ ὁ ἀχάτης ὁ ἀπὸ τοῦ Ἀχάτου ποταμοῦ). The claim that the gems were real, as in F
2.34 (202A) below of ivory, could be due to a tour-guide, but more likely was based on official records.
39 the kinsfolk of the kings (τῆς τῶν βασιλέων συγγενείας): R.A. Hazzard, Imagination of a Monarchy: Studies in Ptolemaic
Propaganda (Toronto, ON 2000), 63-4, argues that the phrase here must mean ‘the kinsfolk of the king and queen’ and that such a
meaning is first found from 140/139 BC. However, there is nothing in the context to indicate such a meaning (the ‘kings’ are simply
the various Ptolemies and likely Alexander), and even if there were, the concept is already implicit in Theokritos, Idyll 17.133
(equating Ptolemy II and Arsinoë II to Zeus and Hera), so the phrase contributes nothing to the dating of Kallixeinos.
39 translucent stone (λίθου λυχνέως): The word λυχνεύς is attested only here and in Polemon of Ilion (c. 175 BC), Antigraphai 4 F
41a Preller in Clement, Protrep. 4.47.3, statues by Skopas, ἐκ τοῦ καλουμένου λυχνέως λίθου; Antigraphai F 41b, from the scholia
to Aischines, Against Timarch. describes the same stone as λυχνίτης, also mentioned in Pseudo-Plato, Eryxias 400d7-8 (of great value
in Athens); Poseidippos (?) F 113.6 Austin-Bastianini (in a nymphaion); Strabo 17.3.11 (found in the Algerian Atlas); and Pliny 36.14
following Varro (alternate name for Parian marble). Moreover, Lucian, Syrian Goddess 32 mentions a glowing stone, λυχνίς. All
must be named from their brilliant appearance (i.e., from luchn-, ‘lamp’). If the portrait-statues were approximately life-size, as they
likely were, the λυχνεύς stone is most likely Parian marble or alabaster or the like.
39 bow-shaped curtain-rods (διατόναια… τοξοειδῆ): Although ‘bow-shaped’ (τοξοειδής) is an obvious formation, it is attested
only here, and in Maximus Planudes (AD c. 1300). Likewise, the ‘curtain-rod’ (διατόναιον) is hardly attested elsewhere (one
papyrus, see LSJ, and in the sense ‘supporting rod’ in Heron, Dioptra 34, p. 294.34 Schoene).
39 setting out (ἀνάπλουν): As in Polybios 1.53.13, and probably not ‘sailing up’, as Herodotos 2.4.3, 2.8.3, and Plato, Kritias 115d,
nor even simply ‘voyaging by ship’, as Apollonios of Rhodes 1.905. The phrase ‘when setting out’ indicates that the report about the
awnings is based on official records, or an earlier source.
39 atrium (αἴθριον): This meaning ‘atrium’ for the word αἴθριον is attested first here; cf.Josephus, Jewish Antiquities 3.6.2 (108,
114). Earlier it meant simply ‘airy’ (clear and bright), as in Herodotos 2.25.1.
• An attempt to render the sense of the word atrium via a punning calque must date from a period when Greeks were familiar with
Roman house design, thus likely no earlier than c. 200 BC. The earliest Greek authors known to have mentioned Rome, preserved for
us in Dionysios of Halikarnassos, Roman Antiquities 1.72.1–5, namely Damastes of Sigeum (FGrH 5 F 3), Hellanikos of
Lesbos ( BNJ 4 F 84), and Kallias of Syracuse ( BNJ 564 F 5), probably did not describe Roman house design, any more than did the
third-century BC historians whom Dionysios lists (Roman Antiquities 1.6), namely Antigonos of Karystos ( BNJ 816 T 1), Hieronymos
of Kardia (FGrH 154 F 13), Silenos ( BNJ 175 T 4), and Timaios ( BNJ 566 T 9c), or even Hegesianax of Alexandria Troas (c.
195 BC, but pretending to be the early ‘Kephalon of Gergis’, FGrH 45 F 9). Pliny, HN 3.57 claims that the first to mention Rome
was Theopompos of Chios ( BNJ 115 F 317), but that it was Theophrastos who first diligentius wrote about Rome—was Pliny
attributing to him the work elsewhere cited as by Aristotle, Barbarian Customs F 609 Rose (FGrH 840 F 13a)? None of these ten,
however, is likely the source of αἴθριον. Perhaps we ought to think of either (1) Q. Fabius Pictor (FGrH 809, but not his
source Diokles of Peparethos BNJ 840), who wrote c. 200 BC in Greek and would have known theatrium quite well, or else (2) some
grammarian who sought to explain Latin words as Greek in origin—although it seems unlikely that a Latin grammarian’s theories
would have found their way into Kallixeinos—such as Hypsikrates of Amisos (c. 80 BC, FGrH 190 F 6 in Gellius 16.12.5–
6),Philoxenos of Alexandria F 323 Theodoridis, or Dionysios of Halikarnassos, Roman Antiquities1.90.1.
On the other hand, the Greek transliteration of the Latin term atrium is attested from c. 100 BC, ἄτρεον/ ἄτρειον/ ἄτριον, SIG 3 #656;
see L. Robert, ‘Inscription hellénistique de Dalmatie’, BCH 59 (1935), 489-513, at 507-13, see lines 26-7. For the date, c. 100 BC, of
the inscription, see G. Chiranky, ‘Rome and Cotys, Two Problems: I. The Diplomacy of 167 B.C. II. The Date of Sylloge3 656’,
Athenaeum2 (Pavia, Italy) 60 (1982), 461-86, at 471-86.
39 was supported (ἐξεδέχετο): ‘was supported’ as in Diodorus 18.26.5, also an architectural description.
39 ‘basket’ (κάλαθον): The word κάλαθον in this sense (‘basket’) is attested first here; that Kallixeinos added ‘what is called’
indicates that the usage was new or technical.
39 river-lotuses (λωτῶν ποταμίων): ‘River-lotuses’ as in Herodotos 2.92.2-3 (see A.B. Lloyd,Herodotus Book II, 2: Commentary 1-
98 (Leiden 1976), 371-5), and Theophrastos, HP 4.8.9-11, the edible plant Nymphaea lotus L.; see A. Steier, ‘Lotos (2)’, RE 13.2
(Stuttgart 1927), cols. 1515-32, at 1516-26. The ‘river’ to distinguish from two other plants called λωτός: (1) the trefoil, as in
Theokritos, Idyll 18.43 (λωτῶ χαμαὶ: K. Lembach, Die Pflanzen bei Theokrit (Heidelberg 1970), 130-1); see Steier, ‘Lotos (2)’,
1530–2; and (2) the North African tree of Odyssey 9.82-97, Herodotos 4.177, and Theophrastos, HP 4.3.1–4; see Steier, ‘Lotos (2)’,
1526-30, and E.S. Forster, ‘Trees and Plants in the Greek Tragic Writers’, G&R 21 (1952), 57-63, at 59.
39 new-budded (ἀρτιβλάστων): ‘New-budded’ is an obvious formation, but ἀρτιβλάστων is a rare word, for which cf.
Theophrastos, CP 2.1.7, 2.3.1 (of trees); Dioskourides, MM 1.pr.9, 3.48.2 (‘new-sprouted’, of plant-stems).
39 Egyptian bean (κιβωρίων): By synecdoche ‘Egyptian bean’ for the plant Nelumbo nuciferaGaertn., syn. Nelumbium
speciosum Willd. (since literally the kiborion is the seed-capsule of the plant), as in Nikander, Georgica F 81 Gow and Scholfield;
Diodorus 1.34.5-6 (distinguishing this plant from Nymphaea lotus L., as had Herodotos 2.92.2-4, and Theophrastos, HP 4.8.7-11).
39 alabastitis : This form of the name, alabastitis without ‘r’ (ρ), is only here. For alabastrites, cf. Theophrastos, Stones 6 (Egyptian);
Strabo 12.8.14 (a kind of Phrygian marble); and Dioskourides,MM 5.135, ὁ καλούμενος ὄνυξ.
39 top-sail (παρασείῳ): The word top-sail (παρασείῳ) is first attested here.
Seven portions of the quotation demonstrate that Kallixeinos’s report is not based on autopsy:
• 37 (204A): the length of the under-girdles, on the 40-oar ship
• 37 (204B): the decoration extended down to the keel, on the 40-oar ship
• 37 (204B): the trial run and its crew, on the 40-oar ship
• 37 (204C–D): the dry-dock engineer from Phoenicia, for the 40-oar ship
• 38 (205B): the red copper gilded by fire, in the Thalamēgos
• 39 (205F): the gems were ‘real’, in the Thalamēgos
• 39 (206A): the awnings deployed when under sail, on the Thalamēgos
We can imagine Kallixeinos touring the ships and being informed by a tour-guide, but it seems more likely that he based his report on
some official record. And indeed, he mentions a source, in F 2.27(197D), which although itself not likely as the source here, does
confirm his use of sources.
Kallixeinos’s language is unusual, compared to extant texts, and contains, in the 1050 words of F 1, eight words not otherwise
attested: 37 (204B) ἔγκωπον, 37 (204D) μετεξαντλῆσαι, 38 (205B) ἐνήλωσις, 38 (205C) διάζωσμα, 39 (205F) πετροποιία, 39
(206A) τοξοειδῆ, and 39 (206C) ἀλαβαστίτιδος and παρασείῳ. Some others are first attested here: 38 (204E) εὐγράμμος, 39
(205D) ῥομβωτὸν and perhaps ὀρόφωμα or θολοειδής, 39 (205F) λυχνέως, and 39 (206B) κάλαθον (in this sense). Clearly, these
words were in use in his era and circle, but are absent from other texts that we have, and thus emphasize how different is his writing.
However, seven words in F 1 suggest that Kallixeinos’s language is in some ways close to that of Polybios, which may suggest an
approximate date for Kallixeinos: (a) 37 (204B) ‘platform’ (ἐσχαρίον), see Polybios 9.41.4; (b) 37 (204C) ‘transverse’ (ἐπικαρσίας),
in this mechanical sense, see Polybios 1.22.5; (c) 37 (204C) ‘inserted’ (διώσας), in this sense, see Polybios 21.28.14; (d) 38 (204E)
‘shallow’ (ἁλιτενής): see Polybios 4.39.3, also nautical; and (e) ‘back-curve’ (ἀνάκλασις): in this sense, see Polybios 4.43.9, also
nautical; (f) 38 (205B) ‘portico’ (περίστασις): in a similar sense, see Polybios 6.31.1 and 6.41.2; and (g) 39 (206A) ‘setting out’
(ἀνάπλουν): see Polybios 1.53.13. A date for Kallixeinos in the era of Polybios would be consistent with the indication provided by
the use of the word ‘atrium’ (αἴθριον), 39 (206A).
BNJ 627 F 2
FGrH
Athenaios, Deipnophists 5.25-36, 196A-203E Translation
Subject: religion: ritual; religion: festival; politics: monarchy
(25) ... προσέθηκεν ὁ Μασούριος περὶ τῆς ἐν (25) . . . Masurius introduced Kallixeinos of Rhodes recording, in the
᾽Αλεξανδρείαι γεγενημένης ὑπὸ τοῦ πάντα ἀρίστου fourth book of About Alexandria , the story of the procession
Πτολεμαίου τοῦ Φιλαδέλφου βασιλέως πομπῆς inAlexandria held by the most excellent kingPtolemy
Καλλίξεινον τὸν ῾Ρόδιον ἱστοροῦντα ἐν τῶι τετάρτωι Philadelphos. Kallixeinos says:
Περὶ ᾽Αλεξανδρείας, ὅς φησι·
‘Before beginning, I will explain the construction of the tent in the
« πρὸ δὲ τοῦ ἄρξασθαι τὴν κατασκευασθεῖσαν σκηνὴν ἐν enclosure of the citadel, outside the reception of the soldiers, artisans, and
τῶι τῆς ἄκρας περιβόλωι χωρὶς τῆς τῶν στρατιωτῶν καὶ tourists: for it was exceedingly beautiful and worthy of hearing.
τεχνιτῶν καὶ παρεπιδήμων ὑποδοχῆς ἐξηγήσομαι· καλὴ
γὰρ εἰς ὑπερβολὴν ἀξία τε ἀκοῆς ἐγενήθη. (196B) ‘It was big enough to hold 130 couchesin a circle, and its
construction was as follows. Five wooden columns were spaced along
(196B) τὸ μὲν οὖν μέγεθος αὐτῆς ἑκατὸν τριάκοντα each length, 50 cubits tall, and one less across the width. And onto these a
κλίνας ἐπιδεχόμενον κύκλωι, διασκευὴν δ᾽ εἶχε τοιαύτην· rectangular entablature (epistulion) was fitted, supporting the whole roof
κίονες διεστάθησαν ξύλινοι πέντε μὲν κατὰ πλευρὰν of the symposium. The roof was draped in the middle with a tent-
ἑκάστην τοῦ μήκους, πεντηκονταπήχεις πρὸς ὕψος, ἑνὶ roof (ouraniskos), dyed scarlet (kokkinobaphē) and white-edged, and on
δὲ ἐλάττους κατὰ πλάτος, ἐφ᾽ ὧν ἐπιστύλιον each side (the roof) had off-white beams, enveloped with battlement-
καθηρμόσθη τετράγωνον, ὑπερεῖδον τὴν σύμπασαν τοῦ patterned draperies, (196C) between which were laid
συμποσίου στέγην. αὕτη δ᾽ ἐνεπετάσθη κατὰ μέσον outpainted coffers. Of the columns four were like palm trees and the
οὐρανίσκωι κοκκινοβαφεῖ περιλεύκωι, καθ᾽ ἑκάτερον δὲ others had the appearance of Bacchic wands (thyrsoi).
μέρος εἶχε δοκοὺς μεσολεύκοις ἐμπετάσμασι πυργωτοῖς
κατειλημένας, ἐν αἷς φατνώματα γραπτὰ κατὰ μέσον ‘Outside of these (columns) was constructed a peristyle passage, on three
ἐτέτατο. τῶν δὲ κιόνων οἱ μὲν τέσσαρες ὡμοίωντο sides, with a vaulted(kamarōtēn) roof, in which the retinues of the
φοίνιξιν, οἱ δ᾽ ἀνὰ μέσον θύρσων εἶχον φαντασίαν. subordinates would stand. The interior of this was enclosed with deep-
red curtains, and in the middle spaces animal-pelts were hung, (196D)
τούτων δ᾽ ἐκτὸς περίστυλος ἐπεποίητο σῦριγξ, ταῖς τρισὶ astonishing in their variety and size; the exterior enclosure of this was
πλευραῖς καμαρωτὴν ἔχουσα στέγην, ἐν ἧι τὴν τῶν roofed with boughs of myrtle, laurel, and other suitable sorts; and the
κατακειμένων ἀκολουθίαν ἑστάναι συνέβαινεν· ἧς τὸ whole floor was strewn with all sorts of flowers.
μὲν ἐντὸς αὐλείαις περιείχετο φοινικίναις, ἐπὶ δὲ τῶν ἀνὰ
μέσον χωρῶν δοραὶ θηρίων (196D) παράδοξοι καὶ τῆι ‘For Egypt, both because of the temperateness of the surrounding air and
ποικιλίαι καὶ τοῖς μεγέθεσιν ἐκρέμαντο, τὸ δὲ περίεχον also because gardeners grow what rarely and at set seasons grows
αὐτὴν ὕπαιθρον μυρρίναις καὶ δάφναις ἄλλοις τε elsewhere, gives birth plentifully and throughout (the year), and neither
ἐπιτηδείοις ἔρνεσιν ἐγεγόνει συνηρεφές, τὸ δ᾽ ἔδαφος rose nor white-violet(leukoïon) nor any other flower is ever likely to fail
πᾶν ἄνθεσι κατεπέπαστο παντοίοις. easily.
ἡ γὰρ Αἴγυπτος καὶ διὰ τὴν τοῦ περιέχοντος ἀέρος ‘Thus, the entertainment then occurring at midwinter, (196E) its
εὐκρασίαν καὶ διὰ τοὺς κηπεύοντας τὰ σπανίως καὶ καθ᾽ appearance was astonishing to the guests. For flowers that could not have
ὥραν ἐνεστηκυῖαν ἐν ἑτέροις φυόμενα τόποις ἄφθονα been easily found for just one wreath in another city, they were furnished
γεννᾶι καὶ διὰ παντός, καὶ οὐτε ῥόδον οὐτε λευκόϊον for wreaths to the whole of the crowd, and had been scattered in heaps
οὐτ᾽ ἄλλο ῥαιδίως ἄνθος ἐκλιπεῖν οὐθὲν οὐδέποτ᾽ upon the floor of the tent, truly accomplishing the aspect of some divine
εἴωθεν. meadow.
διὸ δὴ καὶ κατὰ μέσον χειμῶνα τῆς ὑποδοχῆς τότε

γενηθείσης, (196E) παράδοξος ἡ φαντασία [τότε] τοῖς
ξένοις κατέστη. τὰ γὰρ εἰς μίαν εὑρεθῆναι στεφάνωσιν
οὐκ ἂν δυνηθέντα ἐν ἄλληι πόλει ῥαιδίως, ταῦτα καὶ τῶι
πλήθει τῶν κατακειμένων ἐχορηγεῖτο εἰς τοὺς στεφάνους
ἀφθόνως καὶ εἰς τὸ τῆς σκηνῆς ἔδαφος κατεπέπαστο
χύδην, θείου τινὸς ὡς ἀληθῶς ἀποτελοῦντα λειμῶνος
πρόσοψιν.
(26) διέκειτο δὲ ἐπὶ μὲν τῶν τῆς σκηνῆς παραστάδων (26) ‘Set at the wings (parastades) of the tent were one hundred marble
ζῶια μαρμάρινα τῶν πρώτων τεχνιτῶν ἑκατόν· ἐν δὲ ταῖς figures by the chief sculptors: in the spaces between were paintings by
ἀνὰ μέσον χώραις πίνακες τῶν Σικυωνικῶν ζωγράφων, the Sikyonian artists, alternating with various select images, and
ἐναλλὰξ δ᾽ ἐπίλεκτοι εἰκασίαι παντοῖαι καὶ χιτῶνες also gold-embroidered tunics and most beautifulmilitary
χρυσουφεῖς ἐφαπτίδες τε κάλλισται, τινὲς μὲν εἰκόνας cloaks (ephaptides), (196F) some having portraits of the kings
ἔχουσαι τῶν βασιλέων ἐνυφασμένας, αἱ δὲ μυθικὰς embroidered, othersmythical compositions.
διαθέσεις.
‘Above these were hung tower-shields alternately silver and golden; in the
ὑπεράνω δὲ τούτων θυρεοὶ περιέκειντο ἐναλλὰξ ἀργυροῖ eight-cubit spaces above these, recesses were constructed, six along the
τε καὶ χρυσοῖ· ἐν δὲ ταῖς ἐπάνω τούτων χώραις οὐσαις length of the tent on each side, and four along the width, and drinking-
ὀκταπήχεσιν ἄντρα κατεσκεύαστο κατὰ μὲν τὸ μῆκος parties facing one another were in these, (197A) of tragic and comic and
τῆς σκηνῆς ἓξ ἐν ἑκατέραι πλευρᾶι, κατὰ πλάτος δὲ satyric figures, wearing real clothes, with golden cups at hand. In the
τέτταρα, συμπόσιά τε ἀντία ἀλλήλων <ἐν> αὐτοῖς (197A) spaces between the recesses were left niches (nymphaia), in which were
τραγικῶν τε καὶ κωμικῶν καὶ σατυρικῶν ζώιων set golden Delphic tripods on frames. At the highest point of the ceiling
ἀληθινὸν ἐχόντων ἱματισμόν, οἷς παρέκειτο καὶ ποτήρια were golden eagles facing one another, 15 cubits in size.
χρυσᾶ. κατὰ μέσον δὲ τῶν ἄντρων νυμφαῖα ἐλείφθησαν,
ἐν οἷς ἔκειντο Δελφικοὶ χρυσοῖ τρίποδες ὑποστήματ᾽ ‘100 golden sphinx-footed couches were set on the two sides, for the
ἔχοντες· κατὰ δὲ τὸν ὑψηλότατον τόπον τῆς ὀροφῆς facing apse was left open. (197B) Upon these couches were strewn sea-
ἀετοὶ κατὰ πρόσωπον ἦσαν ἀλλήλων χρυσοῖ, purple (halourgeis) two-pile rugs of finest wool, and upon them were
πεντεκαιδεκαπήχεις τὸ μέγεθος. variegated bedspreads magnificent in their artistry. Smooth Persiancarpets
covered the space between the feet (of the couches), having a precise
ἔκειντο δὲ κλῖναι χρυσαῖ σφιγγόποδες ἐν ταῖς δυσὶ gracefulness (eugrammia) of embroidered figures. 200 gold tripods were
πλευραῖς ἑκατόν· ἡ γὰρ κατὰ πρόσωπον ἁψὶς ἀφεῖτ᾽ also set beside the banqueters, so that there were 2 per couch, upon
ἀναπεπταμένη. (197B) ταύταις δ᾽ ἀμφίταποι ἁλουργεῖς silver side-tables. Behind these, 100 silver basins and pitchers to match
ὑπέστρωντο τῆς πρώτης ἐρέας, καὶ περιστρώματα were ready for the hand-washing.
ποικίλα διαπρεπῆ ταῖς τέχναις ἐπῆν. ψιλαὶ δὲ Περσικαὶ
τὴν ἀνὰ μέσον τῶν ποδῶν χώραν ἐκάλυπτον, ἀκριβῆ τὴν (197C) ‘Assembled in front of the symposium wasanother tent for the
εὐγραμμίαν τῶν ἐνυφασμένων ἔχουσαι ζωιδίων. display of the goblets and cups and the other equipment suitable for
παρετέθησαν δὲ καὶ τρίποδες τοῖς κατακειμένοις χρυσοῖ (banqueting) use, which were really all golden and gem-
διακόσιοι τὸν ἀριθμόν, ὥστ᾽ εἶναι δύο κατὰ κλίνην, ἐπ᾽ studded (dialitha), marvelous in their artistry. It was clear to me that to
ἀργυρῶν διέδρων. ἐκ δὲ τῶν ὄπισθεν πρὸς τὴν set out the construction and types of these one by one was lengthy; but
ἀπό<νι>ψιν ἑκατὸν ἀργυραῖ λεκάναι καὶ καταχύσεις ἴσαι their total weight all together attained 10,000 talents of silver.
παρέκειντο.
(197C) ἐπεπήγει δὲ τοῦ συμποσίου καταντικρὺ καὶ ἑτέρα

σκηνή πρὸς τὴν τῶν κυλίκων καὶ ποτηρίων τῶν τε
λοιπῶν τῶν πρὸς τὴν χρῆσιν ἀνηκόντων [καὶ]
κατασκευασμάτων ἔκθεσιν, ἃ δὴ πάντα χρυσᾶ τε ἦν καὶ
διάλιθα, θαυμαστὰ ταῖς τέχναις. τούτων δὲ τὴν μὲν κατὰ
μέρος κατασκευὴν καὶ τὰ γένη μακρὸν ἐπεφαίνετό μοι
δηλοῦν· τὸ δὲ τοῦ σταθμοῦ πλῆθος εἰς μύρια τάλαντα
ἀργυρίου τὴν σύμπασαν εἶχε κατασκευήν.
(27) ἡμεῖς δὲ ἐπειδὴ τὰ κατὰ τὴν σκηνὴν διεληλύθαμεν, (27) ‘Since we have covered the account of the tent, we’ll make a tour of
ποιησόμεθα καὶ τὴν τῆς πομπῆς ἐξήγησιν· ἤγετο γὰρ διὰ the procession: for itran through the stadium of the city.
τοῦ κατὰ τὴν πόλιν σταδίου.
(197D) ‘First marched the (procession) of theMorning-Star, since the
(197D) πρώτη δ᾽ ἐβάδιζεν <ἡ> ῾Εωσφόρου· καὶ γὰρ procession started at the time when the aforementioned star appeared.
ἀρχὴν εἶχεν ἡ πομπὴ καθ᾽ ὃν ὁ προειρημένος ἀστὴρ Then the (procession) dedicated to the parents of the rulers. After
φαίνεται χρόνον. ἔπειθ᾽ ἡ τοῖς τῶν βασιλέων γονεῦσι these the (processions) of all the gods, having the appropriate outfit of
κατωνομασμένη. μετὰ δὲ ταύτας αἱ τῶν θεῶν ἁπάντων, their history on each of them. It happened that the last (procession) was
οἰκείαν ἔχουσαι τῆς περὶ ἕκαστον αὐτῶν ἱστορίας that of the Evening-Star, the season (of the year) gathering up the time to
διασκευήν. τὴν δὲ τελευταίαν ῾Εσπέρου συνέβαινεν this point. If anyone wants to know all the details of these, let him get and
εἶναι, τῆς ὥρας εἰς τοῦτο συναγούσης τὸν καιρόν. τὰ δὲ inspect the accounts of thePentetērides .
κατὰ μέρος αὐτῶν εἴ τις εἰδέναι βούλεται, τὰς τῶν
Πεντετηρίδων γραφὰς λαμβάνων ἐπισκοπείτω. (197E) ‘At the head of the Dionysiac procession, the Silenes went
forth, restraining the crowd, dressed in purple cloaks, some in
(197E) τῆς δὲ Διονυσιακῆς πομπῆς πρῶτοι μὲν προήιεσαν red. Satyrsfollowed these, twenty at each part of the stadium, bearing
οἱ τὸν ὄχλον ἀνείργοντες Σιληνοί, πορφυρᾶς χλαμύδας, gilded ivy-torches; after them were Nikes with golden wings. These bore
οἱ δὲ φοινικίδας ἠμφιεσμένοι. τούτοις δ᾽ ἐπηκολούθουν six-cubit censers ornamented with gilded ivy-twigs, were clothed in
Σάτυροι καθ᾽ ἕκαστον τοῦ σταδίου μέρος εἴκοσι, tunics decorated with images, and they had put on much gold jewelery.
λαμπάδας φέροντες κισσίνας διαχρύσους· μεθ᾽ οὓς Νῖκαι (197F) After these, there followed a double six-cubit altarbedecked with
χρυσᾶς ἔχουσαι πτέρυγας. ἔφερον δ᾽ αὗται θυμιατήρια gilded ivy-foliage, having a golden vine crown, bound with off-white
ἑξαπήχη κισσίνοις διαχρύσοις κλωσὶ διακεκοσμημένα, ribbons (mitrai).
ζωιωτοὺς ἐνδεδυκυῖαι χιτῶνας, αὐταὶ δὲ πολὺν κόσμον
χρυσοῦν περικείμεναι. (197F) μετὰ δὲ ταύτας εἵπετο ‘Boys in purple tunics followed that, <some bearing> frankincense and
βωμὸς ἑξάπηχυς διπλοῦς, κισσίνηι φυλλάδι διαχρύσωι myrrh, then 120 bearing saffron on golden platters (mazonom-). After
πεπυκασμένος, ἔχων ἀμπέλινον χρυσοῦν στέφανον these 40 Satyrs crowned with golden ivy crowns: some were smeared all
μεσολεύκοις μίτραις κατειλημμένον. ἐπηκολούθουν δ᾽ over with shell-purple (ostreois), (198A) others with ruddleand other
αὐτῶι colors; these also wore a golden crown worked with vine and ivy.
παῖδες ἐν χιτῶσι πορφυροῖς, λιβανωτὸν καὶ σμύρναν, ἔτι ‘After these, two Silenes in purple cloaks and white shoes: one of them
δὲ κρόκον ἐπὶ χρυσῶν μαζονόμων φέροντες ἑκατὸν bore a petasos-hatand a golden herald’s staff, the other (bore) a trumpet.
εἴκοσι. μεθ᾽ οὓς Σάτυροι τεσσαράκοντα ἐστεφανωμένοι Between these marched a man more than 4 cubits (tall), in tragic
κισσίνοις χρυσοῖς στεφάνοις· τὰ δὲ σώματα οἱ μὲν costume and mask, bearing a golden horn of Amalthea, who was
ἐκέχριντο ὀστρείωι, (198A) τινὲς δὲ μίλτωι καὶ χρώμασινaddressed as ‘Year’. A most beautiful woman of the same height followed
ἑτέροις· ἔφερον δὲ καὶ οὗτοι στέφανον χρυσοῦν ἐξ him, adorned with much gold and magnificent <clothing>, (198B) bearing
ἀμπέλου καὶ κισσοῦ εἰργασμένον. in one of her hands a crown ofpersea , and in the other a wand of palm;
she was called Penteteris . The four Seasonsfollowed her all outfitted, and
μεθ᾽ οὓς Σιληνοὶ δύο ἐν πορφυραῖς χλαμύσι καὶ κρηπῖσι each bearing her own fruits. Next to these were 2 six-cubit censers in ivy
λευκαῖς· εἶχε δ᾽ αὐτῶν ὁ μὲν πέτασον καὶ κηρύκειον made of gold, and a square altar of gold between these. And again Satyrs,
χρυσοῦν, ὁ δὲ σάλπιγγα. μέσος δὲ τούτων ἐβάδιζεν ἀνὴρ having golden ivy crowns, robed in deep-red: some bore a golden wine-
μείζων <ἢ> τετράπηχυς ἐν τραγικῆι διαθέσει καὶ jug, others a (golden) karchēsion .
προσώπωι, φέρων χρυσοῦν ᾽Αμαλθείας κέρας, ὃς
προσηγορεύετο ᾽Ενιαυτός, ὧι γυνὴ περικαλλεστάτη κατὰ (198C) ‘After these went the poet Philikos, priest of Dionysos, and all
<ταὐτὸ> τὸ μέγεθος εἵπετο πολλῶι χρυσῶι καὶ διαπρεπεῖ the artists of Dionysos. In sequence after these were carried Delphic
<ἐσθῆτι> κεκοσμημένη, (198B) φέρουσα τῆι μὲν μιᾶι τῶν tripods, prizes for the sponsors of the flautists, the boys’ 9 cubits in
χειρῶν στέφανον περσαίας, τῆι δ᾽ ἑτέραι ῥάβδον height, and the men’s 12 cubits.
φοίνικος· ἐκαλεῖτο δὲ αὕτη Πεντετηρίς. ταύτηι δ᾽
ἐπηκολούθουν ῟Ωραι τέσσαρες διεσκευασμέναι, καὶ (28) ‘After these came a wagon 14 cubits long and 8 wide, drawn by 180
ἑκάστη φέρουσα τοὺς ἰδίους καρπούς. ἐχόμενα τούτων men: upon this was aten-cubit statue of Dionysos pouring a libation from
θυμιατήρια δύο κίσσινα ἐκ χρυσοῦ ἑξαπήχη καὶ βωμὸς a gold karchēsion, wearing a purple chiton, down to his feet, and on
ἀνὰ μέσον τούτων τετράγωνος χρυσοῦ. καὶ πάλιν top of that a diaphanous saffron robe. Wrapped around him was a
Σάτυροι στεφάνους ἔχοντες κισσίνους χρυσοῦς, gold-spangled purple mantle (himation) . (198D) Set before him was
φοινικίδας περιβεβλημένοι· ἔφερον δ᾽ οἱ μὲν οἰνοχόην a Lakonian fifteen-amphora mixing-bowl (kratēr) , plus a gold tripod,
χρυσῆν, οἱ δὲ καρχήσιον. on which (were) a golden censer and two goldsaucers (phialē), full
of cassia and saffron. Set above him was a parasol (skias) adorned with
(198C) μεθ᾽ οὓς ἐπορεύετο Φίλικος ὁ ποιητής, ἱερεὺς ὢν ivy and grape and other produce, and attached were crowns and victory-
Διονύσου, καὶ πάντες οἱ περὶ τὸν Διόνυσον τεχνῖται. ribbons(tainiai) and thyrsoi and drums and ribbons(mitrai), and masks
τούτων δ᾽ ἐφεξῆς ἐφέροντο Δελφικοὶ τρίποδες, ἆθλα τοῖς satyric and comic and tragic.
τῶν αὐλητῶν χορηγοῖς, ὁ μὲν παιδικὸς ἐννέα πηχῶν τὸ
ὕψος, ὁ δὲ πηχῶν δώδεκα ὁ τῶν ἀνδρῶν. (198E) ‘After the wagon (there followed) priests and priestesses and
[ perseisteletai ? text corrupt] and all sorts of crews (thiasoi) and women
(28) μετὰ τούτους τετράκυκλος πηχῶν τεσσαρεσκαίδεκα, bearing winnowing-fans. After these, the Macedonian women called
ὀκτὼ δὲ τὸ πλάτος, ἤγετο ὐπὸ ἀνδρῶν ὀγδοήκοντα καὶ Mimallones and Bassarai and Lēnai, their hair flowing free, and some
ἑκατόν· ἐπὶ δὲ ταύτης ἐπῆν ἄγαλμα Διονύσου δεκάπηχυ crowned with snakes and others with smilax and grape and ivy. The
σπένδον ἐκ καρχησίου χρυσοῦ, χιτῶνα πορφυροῦν ἔχον ones held in their hands daggers, the others snakes.
διάπεζον καὶ ἐπ᾽ αὐτοῦ κροκωτὸν διαφανῆ·
περιεβέβλητο δὲ ἱμάτιον πορφυροῦν χρυσοποίκιλον. (198F) ‘After these a wagon 8 cubits (wide) drawn by 60 men, on which
(198D) προέκειτο δ᾽ αὐτοῦ κρατὴρ Λακωνικὸς χρυσοῦς was sitting an eight-cubit statue of Nysa, enrobed in a gold-
μετρητῶν δεκαπέντε καὶ τρίπους χρυσοῦς, ἐφ᾽ οὗ spangledkhaki chiton and wrapped in a Lakonian mantle (himation). This
θυμιατήριον χρυσοῦν καὶ φιάλαι δύο χρυσαῖ, κασσίας would stand up mechanically, no-one setting their hand to it, and having
μεσταὶ καὶ κρόκου. περιέκειτο δ᾽ αὐτῶι καὶ σκιὰς ἐκ poured milk from a golden saucer (phialē) again sat down. She had in her
κισσοῦ καὶ ἀμπέλου καὶ τῆς λοιπῆς ὀπώρας left hand a thyrsos bound with ribbons (mitrai), and she was crowned with
κεκοσμημένη, προσήρτηντο δὲ καὶ στέφανοι καὶ ταινίαι golden ivy and expensive gem-studded grape-clusters. She had a parasol
καὶ θύρσοι καὶ τύμπανα καὶ μίτραι πρόσωπά τε σατυρικὰ (skias), and at the corners of the wagon were affixed 4 golden torches.
καὶ κωμικὰ καὶ τραγικά.
(199A) ‘Next another wagon, of length 20 cubits, width 16, was drawn
(198E) τῆι δὲ τετρακύκλωι <ἐπηκολούθουν> ἱερεῖς καὶ by 300 men, on which there was a wine press of 24 cubits, 15 wide, full
ἱέρειαι καὶ †περσειστελεται καὶ θίασοι παντοδαποὶ καὶ of grapes. 60 Satyrs trampled while singing a vintaging song to the flute,
<αἱ> τὰ λῖκνα φέρουσαι. μετὰ δὲ ταύτας Μακέται αἱ and Silenos directed them; the juice flowed through the whole route.
καλούμεναι Μιμαλλόνες καὶ Βασσάραι καὶ Λῆναι,
κατακεχυμέναι τὰς τρίχας καὶ ἐστεφανωμέναι τινὲς μὲν ‘Next came a wagon 25 cubits long, 14 wide (drawn by 600 men), on
ὄφεσιν, αἱ δὲ μίλακι καὶ ἀμπέλωι καὶ κισσῶι· κατεῖχον δὲ which was a wine-sack, capacity 3000 amphorae, sewn from leopard
ταῖς χερσὶν αἱ μὲν ἐγχειρίδια, αἱ δὲ ὄφεις. skins. (199B) This wine also slowly flowed out, released along the whole
route. 120 crowned Satyrs and Silenes followed it, some
(198F) μετὰ δὲ ταύτας ἤγετο τετράκυκλος πηχῶν ὀκτὼ bearing carafes (oinochoē), others saucers (phialē), and others
πλάτος ὑπὸ ἀνδρῶν ἑξήκοντα, ἐφ᾽ ἧς ἄγαλμα Νύσης large Theriklean bowls, all golden.
ὀκτάπηχυ καθήμενον, ἐνδεδυκὸς μὲν θάψινον χιτῶνα
χρυσοποίκιλον, ἱμάτιον δὲ ἠμφίεστο Λακωνικόν.
ἀνίστατο δὲ τοῦτο μηχανικῶς οὐδενὸς τὰς χεῖρας
προσάγοντος, καὶ σπεῖσαν ἐκ χρυσῆς φιάλης γάλα πάλιν
ἐκάθητο· εἶχε δὲ ἐν τῆι ἀριστερᾶι θύρσον ἐστεμμένον
μίτραις. αὕτη δ᾽ ἐστεφάνωτο κισσίνωι χρυσῶι καὶ
βότρυσι διαλίθοις πολυτελέσιν. εἶχε δὲ σκιάδα καὶ ἐπὶ
τῶν γωνιῶν τῆς τετρακύκλου κατεπεπήγεσαν λαμπάδες
διάχρυσοι τέτταρες.
(199A) ἑξῆς εἵλκετο ἄλλη τετράκυκλος, μῆκος πηχῶν

εἴκοσι, πλάτος ἑκκαίδεκα, ὑπὸ ἀνδρῶν τριακοσίων, ἐφ᾽
ἧς κατεσκεύαστο ληνὸς πηχῶν εἴκοσι τεσσάρων, πλάτος
πεντεκαίδεκα, πλήρης σταφυλῆς. ἐπάτουν δὲ ἑξήκοντα
Σάτυροι πρὸς αὐλὸν ἄιδοντες μέλος ἐπιλήνιον,
ἐφειστήκει δ᾽ αὐτοῖς Σιληνός· καὶ δι᾽ ὅλης τῆς ὁδοῦ τὸ
γλεῦκος ἔρρει.
ἑξῆς ἐφέρετο τετράκυκλος μῆκος πηχῶν εἴκοσι πέντε,

πλάτος τεσσαρεσκαίδεκα (ἤγετο δὲ ὑπὸ ἀνδρῶν
ἑξακοσίων), ἐφ᾽ ἧς ἦν ἀσκὸς τρισχιλίους ἔχων μετρητάς,
ἐκ παρδαλῶν [δερμάτων] ἐρραμμένος· (199B) ἔρρει δὲ
καὶ οὗτος κατὰ μικρὸν ἀνιέμενος κατὰ πᾶσαν τὴν ὁδόν.
ἠκολούθουν δ᾽ αὐτῶι Σάτυροι καὶ Σιληνοὶ ἑκατὸν εἴκοσι
ἐστεφανωμένοι, φέροντες οἱ μὲν οἰνοχόας, οἱ δὲ φιάλας,
οἱ δὲ θηρικλείους μεγάλας, πάντα χρυσᾶ.
(29) ἐχόμενος ἤγετο κρατὴρ ἀργυροῦς, ἑξακοσίους (29) ‘Next there came a silver mixing bowl (kratēr), capacity 600
χωρῶν μετρητάς, ἐπὶ τετρακύκλου ἑλκομένης ὑπὸ amphorae, on a wagon drawn by 600 men. It had sculpted figures under
ἀνδρῶν ἑξακοσίων. εἶχε δὲ ὑπὸ τὰ χείλη καὶ τὰ ὦτα καὶ the lip and handles (lit. ‘ears’) and upon the foot, (199C) and was crowned
ὑπὸ τὴν βάσιν ζῶια τετορευμένα, (199C) καὶ διὰ μέσου around the middle with a golden gem-studded crown. Next were carried
ἐστεφάνωτο στεφάνωι χρυσῶι διαλίθωι. ἑξῆς ἐφέρετο two twelve-cubit cup-stands(kylikeion), 6 cubits tall; above, they had
κυλικεῖα ἀργυρᾶ δωδεκαπήχη δύο, ὕψος πηχῶν ἕξ· finials (akrotērion), and in a circle around their middles and on their feet
ταῦτα δ᾽ εἶχεν ἄνω τε ἀκρωτήρια καὶ ἐν ταῖς γάστραις they had many figures, one-and-half cubits tall and a cubit tall. There were
κύκλωι καὶ ἐπὶ τῶν ποδῶν ζῶια τριημιπήχη καὶ πηχυαῖα 10 large basins and 16 mixing-bowls (kratēr), the larger ones of which
πλήθει πολλά. καὶ λουτῆρες μεγάλοι δέκα καὶ κρατῆρες held 30 amphorae, and the smaller ones 5.
ἑκκαίδεκα, ὧν οἱ μείζους ἐχώρουν μετρητὰς τριάκοντα,
οἱ δ᾽ ἐλάχιστοι πέντε. ‘Next were 24 acorn-adorned cauldrons (lebēs) all on
stands (engythēkē) and two silver wine-presses, upon which were 24 jars,
εἶτα λέβητες [ἓξ] βα<λα>νωτοὶ εἴκοσι τέσσαρες ἐπ᾽ (199D) a 12-cubit table of solid silver, and 30 more 6-cubit (tables), plus
ἐγγυθήκαις πάντες καὶ ληνοὶ ἀργυραῖ δύο, ἐφ᾽ ὧν ἦσαν four tripods, of which one had a 16-cubit perimeter, wholly silvered, and
βῖκοι εἴκοσι τέσσαρες, (199D) τράπεζά τε ὁλάργυρος the three smaller were gem-studded in the middle.
δωδεκάπηχυς, καὶ ἄλλαι ἑξαπήχεις τριάκοντα, πρὸς δὲ
τούτοις τρίποδες τέσσαρες, ὧν εἷς μὲν εἶχε τὴν ‘After these, 8 silver Delphic tripods, smaller than the aforementioned, of
περίμετρον πηχῶν ἑκκακαίδεκα, κατάργυρος ὢν ὅλος, οἱ which the corners <words missing in the text> (capacity) 4 amphorae,
δὲ τρεῖς ἐλάττονες ὄντες διάλιθοι κατὰ μέσον ὑπῆρχον. 26water-pitchers (hydria), 16 Panathenaicamphorae, 160 wine-
chillers (psyktēr). (199E) The biggest of these held 6 amphorae, and the
μετὰ τούτους ἐφέροντο Δελφικοὶ τρίποδες ἀργυροῖ smallest 2. These were all of silver.
ὀγδοήκοντα τὸν ἀριθμόν, ἐλάττους τῶν προειρημένων,
ὧν αἱ γωνίαι ** τετράμετροι, ὑδρίαι εἴκοσι καὶ ἕξ, (30) ‘After these, proceeding next were those bearing the gold vessels, 4
ἀμφορεῖς Παναθηναικοὶ δεκαέξ, ψυκτῆρες ἐκατὸν Lakonian mixing-bowls (kratēr) having grape crowns <words missing>
ἐξήκοντα· (199E) τούτων ὁ μέγιστος ἦν μετρητῶν ἕξ, ὁ δὲ (around their middles?) others of four-amphora capacity, two
ἐλάχιστος δύο. ταῦτα μὲν οὖν ἦν ἅπαντα ἀργυρᾶ. of Corinthian style on stands (engythēkē)—these had bas-relief sculpted
figures above, and on their necks and on their middles they had carefully-
(30) ἐχόμενα δὲ τούτων ἐπόμπευον οἱ τὰ χρυσώματα madelow-reliefs; each held 8 amphorae. And there was a wine-press in
φέροντες, κρατῆρας Λακωνικοὺς τέτταρας ἔχοντας which were 10 jars, (199F) 2basins (holkeion), and another holding 5
στεφάνους ἀμπελίνους ** τετραμέτρητοι ἕτεροι, amphorae, 2 mugs (kōthōn) of two-amphora capacity, 22 wine-chillers
Κορινθιουργεῖς δύο – οὗτοι δὲ εἶχον ἄνωθεν καθήμενα (psyktēr), of which the largest held 30 amphorae, and the smallest one.
περιφανῆ τετορευμένα ζῶια καὶ ἐν τῶι τραχήλωι καὶ ἐν Then four large tables proceeded, and a gem-encrusted golden treasure-
ταῖς γάστραις πρόστυπα ἐπιμελῶς πεποιημένα· ἐχώρει δ᾽ chest, 10 cubits tall, having 6 shelves in which were carefully-made
ἕκαστος μετρητὰς ὀκτώ – ἐπ᾽ ἐγγυθήκαις. καὶ ληνός, ἐν statuettes four-palms high, in great quantity. There were two cup-stands,
ἧι ἦσαν βῖκοι δέκα, (199F) ὁλκεῖα δύο, ἑκάτερον χωροῦν and two gilded glass (vessels); two golden four-cubit stands (engythēkē),
μετρητὰς πέντε, κώθωνες διμέτρητοι δύο, ψυκτῆρες (200A) and three smaller ones; ten water-pitchers (hydria); a three-cubit
εἴκοσι δύο, ὧν ὁ μέγιστος ἐχώρει μετρητὰς τριάκοντα, ὁ altar; 25 small platters (mazonomion).
δ᾽ ἐλάχιστος μετρητήν. ἐπόμπευσαν δὲ τρίποδες χρυσοῖ
μεγάλοι τέτταρες, καὶ χρυσωματοθήκη χρυσῆ διάλιθος ‘After these 1600 boys proceeded wearing white chitons, some crowned
πηχῶν δέκα ὕψος, ἔχουσα βασμοὺς ἕξ, ἐν οἷς καὶ ζῶια with ivy, some with pine; of these, 250 held golden pitchers (chous), and
τετραπάλαιστα ἐπιμελῶς πεποιημένα, πολλὰ τὸν 400 (held) silver ones, and another 320 carried golden wine-chillers
ἀριθμόν· καὶ κυλικεῖα δύο, καὶ ὑάλινα διάχρυσα δύο· (psyktēr), and the others silver ones.
ἐγγυθῆκαι χρυσαῖ τετραπήχεις δύο, (200A) ἄλλαι
ἐλάττους τρεῖς· ὑδρίαι δέκα· βωμὸς τρίπηχυς· μαζονόμια ‘After these, other boys carried jars for sweet wine, of which 20 were
εἴκοσι πέντε. gold, 50 silver, and 300 were encaustic-painted in many colors. (200B)
When these were mixed in the water-pitchers (hydria) and pithoi,
μετὰ δὲ ταῦτα ἐπορεύοντο παῖδες χίλιοι καὶ ἑξακόσιοι, everyone in the stadium was sweetened in order.’
ἐνδεδυκότες χιτῶνας λευκούς, ἐστεφανωμένοι οἱ μὲν
κισσῶι, οἱ δὲ πίτυι, ὧν διακόσιοι μὲν καὶ πεντήκοντα
χοεῖς εἶχον χρυσοῦς, τετρακόσιοι δὲ ἀργυροῦς, ἕτεροι δὲ
τριακόσιοι καὶ εἴκοσι ψυκτήρια ἔφερον χρυσᾶ, οἱ δὲ
ἀργυρᾶ.
μεθ᾽ οὓς ἄλλοι παῖδες ἔφερον κεράμια πρὸς τὴν τοῦ

γλυκισμοῦ χρείαν, ὧν εἴκοσι μὲν ἦν χρυσᾶ, πεντήκοντα
δὲ ἀργυρᾶ, τριακόσια δὲ κεκηρογραφημένα χρώμασι
παντοίοις. (200B) καὶ κερασθέντων ἐν ταῖς ὑδρίαις καὶ
πίθοις πάντες κοσμίως ἐγλυκάνθησαν οἱ ἐν τῶι
σταδίωι ».
(31) ἑξῆς τούτοις καταλέγει τετραπήχεις τραπέζας, ἐφ᾽ (31) After these, Kallixeinos explained the four-cubit tables, on which
ὧν πολλὰ θέας ἄξια πολυτελῶς κατεσκευασμένα many tableaux worth seeing and expensively-arranged were led
περιήγετο θεάματα, ἐν οἷς καὶ ὁ τῆς Σεμέλης θάλαμος, ἐν around, among which was the bedroom of Semele, in which they wore
ὧι ἔχουσι χιτῶνας τινὲς διαχρύσους καὶ λιθοκολλήτους golden chitons embroidered with the most valuable gems. It would not be
τῶν πολυτιμήτων. οὐκ ἄξιον δ᾽ ἦν παραλιπεῖν τήνδε τὴν right to omit the wagon that had a length of 22 cubits, and a width of 14,
τετράκυκλον, μῆκος οὖσαν πηχῶν εἴκοσι δύο, πλάτος drawn by five hundred men, (200C) on which was a cave exceedingly
δεκατεσσάρων, ὑπὸ ἀνδρῶν ἑλκομένην πεντακοσίων, thick with ivy and yew (milos).
(200C) ἐφ᾽ ἧς ἄντρον ἦν βαθὺ καθ᾽ ὑπερβολὴν κισσῶι
καὶ μίλωι. ‘Out of this, along the whole route, doves and ring-doves (phassa) and
turtle-doves (trugon ) fluttered, their feet bound with laces (lēmniskos)
« ἐκ τούτου περιστεραὶ καὶ φάσσαι καὶ τρυγόνες καθ᾽ for them easily to be caught by the spectators; two springs gushed
ὅλην ἐξίπταντο τὴν ὁδόν, λημνίσκοις τοὺς πόδας forth from it, the one of milk, the other of wine. All the nymphs around it
δεδεμέναι πρὸς τὸ ῥαιδίως ὑπὸ τῶν θεωμένων had golden crowns, and Hermes also had a golden herald’s-staff and
ἁρπάζεσθαι· ἀνέβλυζον δὲ ἐξ αὐτοῦ καὶ κρουνοὶ δύο, ὁ expensive clothes.
μὲν γάλακτος, ὁ δὲ οἴνου. πᾶσαι δ᾽ αἱ περὶ αὐτὸν νύμφαι
στεφάνους εἶχον χρυσοῦς, ὁ δὲ ῾Ερμῆς καὶ κηρύκειον ‘On another wagon which held the ‘Return of Dionysos from the
χρυσοῦν, ἐσθῆτας δὲ πολυτελεῖς. Indies’, (200D) Dionysoswas 12-cubits tall, reclining upon an elephant,
clothed in purple and having a golden crown of ivy and grape; he held in
ἐπὶ δὲ ἄλλης τετρακύκλου, ἣ περιεῖχε τὴν ἐξ ᾽Ινδῶν his hands a goldenthyrsos-lance, and he had on golden-sewn felt slippers.
κάθοδον Διονύσου, (200D) Διόνυσος ἦν δωδεκάπηχυς Before him, on the neck of the elephant, sat a five-cubit young Satyr,
ἐπ᾽ ἐλέφαντος κατακείμενος, ἠμφιεσμένος πορφυρίδα, crowned with a golden crown of pine, signaling with a golden goat-horn
καὶ στέφανον κισσοῦ καὶ ἀμπέλου χρυσοῦν ἔχων· εἶχε δ᾽ in his right hand. The elephant had golden gear and a golden ivy crown
ἐν ταῖς χερσὶ θυρσόλογχον χρυσοῦν, ὑπεδέδετο δ᾽ around his neck.
ἐμβάδας χρυσορραφεῖς. προεκάθητο δ᾽ αὐτοῦ ἐπὶ τῶι
τραχήλωι τοῦ ἐλέφαντος Σατυρίσκος πεντάπηχυς, (200E) ‘500 girls followed this, adorned with purple chitons, girdled with
ἐστεφανωμένος πίτυος στεφάνωι χρυσῶι, τῆι δεξιᾶι χειρὶ gold; the leading 120 were crowned with golden pine crowns. 120 Satyrs
αἰγείωι κέρατι χρυσῶι σημαίνων. ὁ δὲ ἐλέφας σκευὴν followed them, some wearing <golden> armor, some silver, and some
εἶχε χρυσῆν καὶ περὶ τῶι τραχήλωι κίσσινον χρυσοῦν bronze. After these, five troops of asses, on which were crowned Silenes
στέφανον. and Satyrs: some of the asses had goldenfrontlets and dressings, others
had silver.
(200E) ἠκολούθουν δὲ τούτωι παιδίσκαι πεντακόσιαι,
κεκοσμημέναι χιτῶσι πορφυροῖς, χρυσῶι διεζωσμέναι· (32) (200F) ‘After these, 24 chariots of elephants were sent forth, and 60
ἐστεφάνωντο δὲ αἱ μὲν ἡγούμεναι ἑκατὸν εἴκοσι χρυσοῖς yoked-pairs of goats, 12 of kōloi, 7 of oryges, 15 of gazelles, 8 yoked-
πιτυίνοις στεφάνοις. ἠκολούθουν δ᾽ αὐταῖς Σάτυροι pairs of ostriches, 7 of ‘ass-deer’, and 4 yoked-pairs of wild asses,
ἑκατὸν εἴκοσι, πανοπλίας οἱ μὲν <χρυσᾶς, οἱ δὲ> (and) 4 chariots. On all of these, young boys rode with
ἀργυρᾶς, οἱ δὲ χαλκᾶς ἔχοντες. μετὰ δὲ τούτους charioteer’s chitones and petasos-hats; riding with them were young girls
ἐπορεύοντο ὄνων ἶλαι πέντε, ἐφ᾽ ὧν ἦσαν Σιληνοὶ καὶ outfitted with light shields and thyrsos-lances, <and> adorned with gold
Σάτυροι ἐστεφανωμένοι· τῶν δὲ ὄνων οἱ μὲν χρυσᾶς, οἱ mantles (himatia). The boy-charioteers were crowned with pine, and the
δὲ ἀργυρᾶς προμετωπίδας καὶ σκευασίας εἶχον. girls with ivy.
(32) (200F) μετὰ δὲ τούτους ἐλεφάντων ἅρματα ἀφείθη ‘After them were <six> yoked-pairs of camels, three on either side,
εἴκοσι τέτταρα καὶ συνωρίδες τράγων ἑξήκοντα, κώλων followed bycarriages (apēnē) drawn by mules: these held foreign tents,
δεκαδύο, ὀρύγων ἑπτά, βουβάλων δεκαπέντε, στρουθῶν (201A) under which Indian women, and other women dressed as
συνωρίδες ὀκτώ, ὀνελάφων ἑπτά, καὶ συνωρίδες δ ὄνων captives, sat. Some more camels carried 300mnai of frankincense, 300
ἀγρίων, ἃρματα τέσσαρα. ἐπὶ δὲ πάντων τούτων of myrrh, and 200 of saffron, cassia, cinnamon, iris, and the rest of
ἀναβεβήκει παιδάρια, χιτῶνας ἔχοντα ἡνιοχικούς καὶ the perfumes.
πετάσους· παραναβεβήκει δὲ παιδισκάρια,
διεσκευασμένα πελταρίοις καὶ θυρσολόγχοις, <καὶ> ‘Following these were Ethiopians bearing gifts, some of whom carried
κεκοσμημένα ἱματίοις [καὶ] χρυσίοις· ἐστεφάνωτο δὲ τὰ 600 tusks, others carried 2000 trunks of ebony, and the rest carried 60
μὲν ἡνιοχοῦντα παιδάρια πίτυι, τὰ δὲ παιδισκάρια mixing-bowls (kratēr) of gold and silver coin and gold-dust.
κισσῶι.
(201B) ‘After these 200 huntsmen proceeded with gilded hunting-
ἐπῆισαν δὲ καὶ συνωρίδες καμήλων <ἕξ>, ἐξ ἑκατέρου spears (sibunē). They led 2400 dogs, some Indian, and the rest
μέρους τρεῖς, αἷς ἐπηκολούθουν ἀπῆναι ὑφ᾽ ἡμιόνων Hyrcanian and Molossian and other kinds. Next were 150 men bearing
ἀγόμεναι· αὗται δ᾽ εἶχον σκηνὰς βαρβαρικάς, (201A) ὑφ᾽ trees, from which were hung all sorts of beasts and birds. Then there were
ὧν ἐκάθηντο γυναῖκες ᾽Ινδαί, καὶ ἕτεραι κεκοσμημέναι carried in cages parrots and peacocks and guinea-fowl (meleagris) and
ὡς αἰχμάλωτοι. κάμηλοι δ᾽ αἱ μὲν ἔφερον λιβανωτοῦ pheasants (phasianos) and Ethiopian birds, a great crowd.’
μνᾶς τριακοσίας, σμύρνης τριακοσίας, κρόκου καὶ
κασσίας καὶ κινναμώμου καὶ ἴριδος καὶ τῶν λοιπῶν Telling also of many other things and listing herds of animals, Kallixeinos
ἀρωμάτων διακοσίας. included: ‘130Ethiopian sheep, 300 Arabian, (201C) 20 Euboic, 26 all-
white Indian cows, 8 Ethiopic (cows), 1 large white bear, 14 leopards,
ἐχόμενοι τούτων ἦισαν Αἰθίοπες δωροφόροι, ὧν οἱ μὲν 16 panthers, 4 ‘lynxlets’, 3 panther-cubs, 1 giraffe, and 1 Ethiopic
ἔφερον ὀδόντας ἑξακοσίους, ἕτεροι δὲ ἐβένου κορμοὺς rhinoceros.
δισχιλίους, ἄλλοι χρυσίου καὶ ἀργυρίου κρατῆρας
ἑξήκοντα καὶ ψήγματα χρυσοῦ. (33) ‘Next, on a wagon was Dionysos, having fled to the altar of Rhea
when he was being pursued by Hera, wearing a golden
(201B) μεθ᾽ οὓς ἐπόμπευσαν κυνηγοὶ σ´, ἔχοντες σιβύνας crown,Priapos standing by him crowned with golden ivy; and the statue
ἐπιχρύσους. ἤγοντο δὲ καὶ κύνες δισχίλιοι τετρακόσιοι, of Hera had a golden crown.
οἳ μὲν ᾽Ινδοί, οἱ λοιποὶ δὲ ῾Υρκανοὶ καὶ Μολοσσοὶ καὶ
ἑτέρων γενῶν. ἑξῆς ἄνδρες ἑκατὸν πεντήκοντα φέροντες (201D) ‘<. . .> statues of Alexander and Ptolemy crowned with crowns
δένδρα, ἐξ ὧν ἀνήρτητο θηρία παντοδαπὰ καὶ ὄρνεα. of ivy made of gold; the statue of Aretē standing by Ptolemy had a golden
εἶτ᾽ ἐφέροντο ἐν ἀγγείοις ψιττακοὶ καὶ ταὼι καὶ crown of olive; and Priapos appeared with them having an ivy crown of
μελεαγρίδες καὶ φασιανοὶ καὶ ὄρνιθες Αἰθιοπικοί, πλήθει gold. The city of Corinth was standing by Ptolemy crowned with a
πολλοί ». golden diadem. Next after all these was a cup-stand full of gold vessels,
and a gold mixing-bowl (kratēr), capacity five amphorae. Women
εἰπὼν δὲ καὶ ἄλλα πλεῖστα καὶ καταλέξας ζώιων ἀγέλας followed this wagon, (201E) wearing expensive mantles (himatia) and
ἐπιφέρει· « πρόβατα Αἰθιοπικὰ ἑκατὸν τριάκοντα, adornment. They were labeled as Cities, some from Ionia and the
᾽Αράβια τριακόσια, (201C) Εὐβοικὰ εἴκοσι, ὁλόλευκοι others Greek, all those planted in Asia and the islands occupied by the
βόες ᾽Ινδικοὶ εἴκοσι ἕξ, Αἰθιοπικοὶ ὀκτώ, ἄρκτος λευκὴ Persians; they all wore golden crowns.
μεγάλη μία, παρδάλεις ιδ´, πάνθηροι ις´, λυγκία δ´,
ἄρκηλοι γ´, καμηλοπάρδαλις μία, ῥινόκερως Αἰθιοπικὸς ‘After them came, on other wagons, a 90-cubit golden thyrsos, and a 60-
α´. cubit silver spear, and in another (wagon), a golden phallus, 120 cubits,
delineated and bound with golden wreaths, having on its tip a gold star,
(33) ἑξῆς ἐπὶ τετρακύκλου Διόνυσος περὶ τὸν τῆς ῾Ρέας whose perimeter was 6 cubits.
βωμὸν καταπεφευγώς, ὅτε ὑπὸ ῞Ηρας ἐδιώκετο,
στέφανον ἔχων χρυσοῦν, Πριάπου αὐτῶι παρεστῶτος ‘Many various things were said about this procession, but we
ἐστεφανωμένου χρυσῶι κισσίνωι· τὸ δὲ τῆς ῞Ηρας (Kallixeinos) have selected (201F) only those in which there was gold
ἄγαλμα στεφάνην εἶχε χρυσῆν. and silver. There were also many presentations worthy of report, and a
multitude of beasts and horses, and 24 very large lions.
<***> ᾽Αλεξάνδρου δὲ καὶ Πτολεμαίου ἀγάλματα,
ἐστεφανωμένα στεφάνοις κισσίνοις ἐκ χρυσοῦ· τὸ δὲ τῆς ‘There were other wagons carrying not only the images of the kings but
᾽Αρετῆς ἄγαλμα τὸ παρεστὸς τῶι Πτολεμαίωι στέφανον also many images of the gods. With these a chorus of 600 men proceeded,
εἶχεν ἐλαίας χρυσοῦν· καὶ Πρίαπος δ᾽ αὐτοῖς συμπαρῆν, among whom were 300 kitharists playing in concert
ἔχων στέφανον κίσσινον ἐκ χρυσοῦ· Κόρινθος δ᾽ ἡ πόλις upon kitharas gilded all over, and wearing golden crowns. (202A) After
παρεστῶσα τῶι Πτολεμαίωι ἐστεφάνωτο διαδήματι them came 2000 like-colored bulls with gilded horns, golden frontlets, and
χρυσῶι· παρέκειντο δὲ πᾶσι τούτοις κυλικεῖον μεστὸν crowns above, having collars and aegises on their chests: and all of these
χρυσωμάτων κρατήρ τε χρυσοῦς μετρητῶν πέντε. τῆι δὲ were golden.
τετρακύκλωι ταύτηι ἠκολούθουν γυναῖκες, (201E)
ἔχουσαι ἱμάτια πολυτελῆ καὶ κόσμον· προσηγορεύοντο
δὲ Πόλεις, αἵ τε ἀπ᾽ ᾽Ιωνίας καὶ <αἱ> λοιπαὶ ῾Ελληνίδες,
ὅσαι τὴν ᾽Ασίαν καὶ τὰς νήσους κατοικοῦσαι ὑπὸ τοὺς
Πέρσας ἐτάχθησαν· ἐφόρουν δὲ πᾶσαι στεφάνους
χρυσοῦς.
ἐφέρετο καὶ ἐπ᾽ ἄλλων τετρακύκλων θύρσος

ἐνενηκοντάπηχυς χρυσοῦς καὶ λόγχη ἀργυρᾶ
ἑξηκοντάπηχυς, καὶ ἐν ἄλληι φαλλὸς χρυσοῦς πηχῶν ρκ,
διαγεγραμμένος καὶ διαδεδεμένος στέμμασι διαχρύσοις,
ἔχων ἐπ᾽ ἄκρου ἀστέρα χρυσοῦν, οὗ ἦν ἡ περίμετρος
πηχῶν ς̄.
πολλῶν οὖν καὶ ποικίλων εἰρημένων ἐν ταῖς πομπαῖς

ταύταις μόνα ἐξελεξάμεθα (201F) ἐν οἷς ἦν χρυσὸς καὶ
ἄργυρος. καὶ γὰρ διαθέσεις πολλαὶ ἀκοῆς ἦσαν ἄξιαι,
καὶ θηρίων πλήθη καὶ ἵππων, καὶ λέοντες παμμεγέθεις
εἴκοσι καὶ τέσσαρες.
ἦσαν δὲ καὶ ἄλλαι τετράκυκλοι οὐ μόνον εἰκόνας

βασιλέων φέρουσαι, ἀλλὰ καὶ θεῶν πολλάς. μεθ᾽ ἃς
χορὸς ἐπόμπευσεν ἀνδρῶν ἑξακοσίων, ἐν οἷς κιθαρισταὶ
συνεφώνουν τριακόσιοι, ἐπιχρύσους ἔχοντες ὅλας
κιθάρας καὶ στεφάνους χρυσοῦς. (202A) μεθ᾽ οὓς ταῦροι
διῆλθον δισχίλιοι ὁμοιοχρώματοι χρυσόκερωι,
προμετωπίδας χρυσᾶς καὶ ἀνὰ μέσον στεφάνους, ὅρμους
τε καὶ αἰγίδας πρὸ τῶν στηθῶν ἔχοντες· ἦν δὲ ἅπαντα
ταῦτα χρυσᾶ.
(34) καὶ μετὰ ταῦτα Διὸς ἤγετο πομπὴ καὶ ἄλλων (34) ‘And after these ran the procession of Zeusand all the other gods, and
παμπόλλων θεῶν, καὶ ἐπὶ πᾶσιν ᾽Αλεξάνδρου, ὃς έφ᾽ after all of them, (the procession) of Alexander who was carried on a
ἅρματος ἐλεφάντων ἀληθινῶν ἐφέρετο χρυσοῦς, Νίκην golden chariot of real ivory, with Nikeand Athena on either side. And
καὶ ᾽Αθηνᾶν ἐξ ἑκατέρου μέρους ἔχων. ἐπόμπευσαν δὲ many thrones were in the procession, constructed of ivory and gold.
καὶ θρόνοι πολλοὶ ἐξ ἐλέφαντος καὶ χρυσοῦ (202B) On one of these lay a golden crown (f.), on another a golden
κατεσκευασμένοι, (202B) ὧν ἐφ᾽ ἑνὸς ἔκειτο στεφάνη bull-horn-pair (dikeras), on another a golden crown (m.), and on
χρυσῆ, ἐπ᾽ ἄλλου δίκερας χρυσοῦν, ἐπ᾽ ἄλλου δὲ ἦν another a solid-gold horn. Upon the throne of Ptolemy Soter lay a
στέφανος χρυσοῦς, καὶ ἐπ᾽ ἄλλου δὲ κέρας ὁλόχρυσον· crown made of a myriad of gold pieces (i.e., coins).
ἐπὶ δὲ τὸν Πτολεμαίου τοῦ Σωτῆρος θρόνον στέφανος
ἐπέκειτο ἐκ μυρίων κατεσκευασμένος χρυσῶν. ‘350 censers also processed and 4 gilded altars crowned with gold crowns,
on one of which four 10-cubit golden torches were affixed. There
ἐπόμπευσε δὲ καὶ θυμιατήρια χρυσᾶ τριακόσια καὶ processed 2 gilded braziers (escharai), of which one had a 12-cubit
πεντήκοντα, καὶ βωμοὶ δ´ ἐπίχρυσοι ἐστεφανωμένοι perimeter, and was 40 cubits tall, and the other was 15 cubits.
χρυσοῖς στεφάνοις, ὧν ἑνὶ παρεπεπήγεσαν δᾶιδες χρυσαῖ
δεκαπήχεις τέσσαρες. ἐπόμπευσαν δὲ καὶ ἐσχάραι (202C) ‘9 golden Delphic tripods of 4 cubits (height) proceeded, and
ἐπίχρυσοι β̄, ὧν ἡ μὲν δωδεκάπηχυς τῆι περιμέτρωι, another 8 of 6 cubits, and another of 30 cubits, on which were 5-cubit
τεσσαρακοντάπηχυς ὕψει, ἡ δὲ πηχῶν πεντεκαίδεκα. golden figures and a golden grape-crown in a circle. 7 gilded 8-cubit
palm-trees also went by, and a gilded herald’s-staff of 40 cubits, and
(202C) ἐπόμπευσαν δὲ καὶ Δελφικοὶ τρίποδες χρυσοῖ agilded thunderbolt of 40 cubits, and a gilded temple, 40 cubits
ἐννέα ἐκ πηχῶν τεσσάρων, ἄλλοι ὀκτὼ <ἐκ> πηχῶν ἕξ, perimeter; besides these, an 8-cubit bull-horn-pair (dikeras).
ἄλλος πηχῶν τριάκοντα, ἐφ᾽ οὗ ἦν ζῶια χρυσᾶ
πενταπήχη καὶ στέφανος κύκλωι χρυσοῦς ἀμπέλινος. ‘A great quantity of gilded animal figures accompanied the procession, of
παρῆλθον δὲ καὶ φοίνικες ἐπίχρυσοι ὀκταπήχεις ἑπτά, which many were 12 cubits; (202D) and beasts extraordinary in their
καὶ κηρύκειον ἐπίχρυσον πηχῶν τεσσαράκοντα πέντε, sizes, and eagles of 20 cubits.
καὶ κεραυνὸς ἐπίχρυσος πηχῶν τεσσαράκοντα, ναός τε
ἐπίχρυσος, οὗ ἡ περίμετρος πηχῶν µ̄· δίκερας πρὸς ‘And 3200 gold crowns processed, and a 5-cubit gold initiate’s crown
τούτοις ὀκτάπηχυ. adorned with expensive stones: this was placed around the doorway
of the Berenikeion; and an aegis likewise golden. Very many golden
πολὺ δὲ καὶ ζώιων πλῆθος ἐπιχρύσων συνεπόμπευεν, ὧν crowns (f.) also processed, which young girls wore, expensively adorned:
ἦν τὰ πολλὰ δωδεκαπήχη· (202D) καὶ θηρία ὑπεράγοντα one of them was two-cubits tall, having a perimeter of 16 cubits. A 12-
τοῖς μεγέθεσι καὶ ἀετοὶ πηχῶν εἴκοσι. cubit golden breastplate also proceeded, (202E) and another silver
one 18 cubits, having upon it two 12-cubit golden thunderbolts and a
στέφανοί τε χρυσοῖ ἐπόμπευσαν τρισχίλιοι διακόσιοι, gem-studded oak-crown; 20 golden shields, 64 golden suits of armor, 2
ἕτερός τε μυστικὸς χρυσοῦς λίθοις πολυτελέσι golden greaves three cubits long, 12 golden pans (lekane) , saucers
κεκοσμημένος ὀγδοηκοντάπηχυς· οὗτος δὲ περιετίθετο (phiale) in very great number, thirty wine-jugs, ten large unguent-boxes,
τῶι τοῦ Βερενικείου θυρώματι· αἰγίς τε ὁμοίως χρυσῆ. twelve water-pitchers (hydria), fifty small platters (mazonomion), various
ἐπόμπευσαν δὲ καὶ στεφάναι χρυσαῖ πάνυ πολλαί, ἃς tables, five cup-stands for golden vessels, (202F) a solid gold horn, 30
ἔφερον παιδίσκαι πολυτελῶς κεκοσμημέναι· ὧν μία cubits. These gold vessels are separate from those already gone over, in
δίπηχυς εἰς ὕψος, τὴν δὲ περίμετρον ἔχουσα ἑκκαίδεκα the procession of Dionysos.
πηχῶν. ἐπόμπευσε δὲ καὶ θώραξ χρυσοῦς πηχῶν δώδεκα
, (202E) καὶ ἕτερος ἀργυροῦς πηχῶν ιη´, ἔχων ἐφ᾽ ἑαυτοῦ ‘Then 40 carts of silver vessels, and 20 of gold, and eight-hundred of
κεραυνοὺς χρυσοῦς δεκαπήχεις δύο καὶ στέφανον δρυὸς perfumes.
διάλιθον· ἀσπίδες χρυσαῖ εἴκοσι, πανοπλίαι χρυσαῖ ξδ,
κνημῖδες χρυσαῖ τριπήχεις β̄, λεκάναι χρυσαῖ δεκαδύο,
φιάλαι πολλαὶ πάνυ τὸν ἀριθμόν, οἰνοχόαι τριάκοντα,
ἐξάλειπτρα μεγάλα δέκα, ὑδρίαι δεκαδύο, μαζονόμια
πεντήκοντα, τράπεζαι διάφοροι, κυλικεῖα χρυσωμάτων
πέντε, (202F) κέρας ὁλόχρυσον πηχῶν λ̄. ταῦτα δὲ τὰ
χρυσώματα ἐκτὸς ἦν τῶν ἐν τῆι τοῦ Διονύσου πομπῆι
διενεχθέντων.
εἶτ᾽ ἀργυρωμάτων ἅμαξαι τετρακόσιαι καὶ χρυσωμάτων

εἴκοσι, ἀρωμάτων δὲ ὀκτακόσιαι.
(35) ἐπὶ δὲ πᾶσιν ἐπόμπευσαν αἱ δυνάμεις αἱ ἱππικαὶ καὶ (35) ‘After all these, the troops processed, the cavalry and foot-soldiers,
πεζικαί, πᾶσαι καθωπλισμέναι θαυμασίως· πεζοὶ μὲν εἰς all in marvelous full armor: the foot-soldiers numbered 57,600
πέντε μυριάδας καὶ ἑπτακισχιλίους καὶ ἑξακοσίους (203A), and the cavalry 23,200. All of these processed dressed in the
(203A), ἱππεῖς δὲ δισμύριοι τρισχίλιοι διακόσιοι. πάντες armament fitted to each and having the appropriate armor.’
δ᾽ οὗτοι ἐπόμπευσαν, τὴν ἁρμόζουσαν ἑκάστωι
ἠμφιεσμένοι στολὴν καὶ τὰς προσηκούσας ἔχοντες ‘Besides the suits of armor which all these men had, there were many
πανοπλίας ». more in reserve, whose total is not easy to record, but Kallixeinos gave the
account.
ἐκτὸς δ᾽ ὧν πάντες οὗτοι εἶχον πανοπλιῶν καὶ ἄλλαι
πλεῖσται ἦσαν ἀποκείμεναι, ὧν οὐδὲ τὸν ἀριθμὸν ‘In the contest, they were crowned with 20 gold crowns; Ptolemy [the
ἀναγράψαι ῥάιδιον· κατέλεξε δ᾽ αὐτὸν ὁ Καλλίξεινος. first] and Berenike (were honored) with three icons on golden
chariots and precincts at Dodona; and the expense in coin was
« ἐστεφανώθησαν δ᾽ ἐν τῶι ἀγῶνι καὶ στεφάνοις χρυσοῖς (203B)2239 talents and 50 mnai; and all this was disbursed to the
<καὶ> εἰκόσι· Πτολεμαῖος δὲ [ὁ πρῶτος] καὶ Βερενίκη stewards through the eagerness of the crowners before the completion
εἰκόσι τρισὶν ἐφ᾽ ἁρμάτων χρυσῶν καὶ τεμένεσιν ἐν of the spectacle. AndPhiladelphos Ptolemy, their son, (was honored)
Δωδώνηι· καὶ ἐγένετο τὸ δαπάνημα τοῦ νομίσματος with two golden icons on golden chariots, and upon columns, on one of
(203B) τάλαντα δισχίλια διακόσια τριάκοντα ἐννέα, μναῖ 6 cubits, 5 of 5 cubits, and 6 of 4 cubits.’
πεντήκοντα· καὶ ταῦτ᾽ ἠριθμήθη πάντα τοῖς οἰκονόμοις
διὰ τὴν τῶν στεφανούντων προθυμίαν πρὸ τοῦ τὰς θέας (36) Fellow banqueters, what sort of kingdom has been so rich in gold?
παρελθεῖν· ὁ δὲ Φιλάδελφος Πτολεμαῖος, υἱὸς αὐτῶν, Surely not one taking money from the Persians and Babylon, (203C)
εἰκόσι χρυσαῖς δυσὶ μὲν ἐφ᾽ ἁρμάτων χρυσῶν, ἐπὶ δὲ nor one working mines, nor one having the gold-dust-bearing
κιόνων ἑξαπήχει μιάι, πενταπήχεσι πέντε, τετραπήχεσι Paktolos! For only the Nile, truly called gold-flowing, with undying crops
ἕξ. » and conveying pure gold, farmed risk-free and sufficient for all people, in
the manner of Triptolemos sent forth into every land. Therefore,
(36) ποία, ἄνδρες δαιτυμόνες, βασιλεία οὕτως γέγονε the Byzantine poet Parmenoninvokes him with the words “Nile the
πολύχρυσος; οὐ γὰρ τὰ ἐκ Περσῶν καὶ Βαβυλῶνος Egyptian Zeus”.
λαβοῦσα χρήματα, (203C) ἢ μέταλλα ἐργασαμένη, ἢ
Πακτωλὸν ἔχουσα χρυσοῦν ψῆγμα καταφέροντα· μόνος Philadelphos surpassed many kings in wealth (203D) and zealously
γὰρ ὡς ἀληθῶς ὁ χρυσορόας καλούμενος Νεῖλος μετὰ devoted himself to all his arrangements, so that he exceeded them all in
τροφῶν ἀφθόνων καὶ χρυσὸν ἀκίβδηλον καταφέρει, the number of his ships. Indeed, the greatest of his ships were the two
ἀκινδύνως γεωργούμενον ὡς πᾶσιν ἐξαρκεῖν ἀνθρώποις, with 30 banks of oars, the one 20-banker, the four 13-bankers, and the
δίκην Τριπτολέμου πεμπόμενον εἰς πᾶσαν γῆν· διόπερ two 12-bankers, the fourteen 11-bankers, the thirty 9-bankers, the thirty-
αὐτὸν καὶ ὁ Βυζάντιος ποιητὴς Παρμένων seven 7-bankers, the five 6-bankers, the seventeen 5-bankers, and double
ἐπικαλούμενος « Αἰγύπτιε Ζεῦ, φησί, Νεῖλε ». those of 4-bankers down to 3-banker hemiolai; the ships sent to the islands
and the other cities over which he ruled, and Libya, were more than 4000.
πολλῶν δὲ ὁ Φιλάδελφος βασιλέων πλούτωι διέφερε,
(203D) καὶ περὶ πάντα ἐσπουδάκει τὰ κατακσευάσματα And about the quantity of books and the building of the library and the
φιλοτίμως, ὥστε καὶ πλοίων πλήθει πάντας ὑπερέβαλλεν· collection in the Mouseion , what need to speak, since everyone recalls
τὰ γοῦν μέγιστα τῶν πλοίων ἦν παρ᾽ αὐτῶι them?
τριακοντήρεις δύο, εἰκοσήρης μία, τέσσαρες δὲ
τρισκαιδεκήρεις, δωδεκήρεις δύο, ἑνδεκήρεις
δεκατέσσαρες, ἐννήρεις λ̄, ἑπτῆρεις λζ , ἑξήρεις ε̄,
πεντήρεις δεκαεπτά, τὰ δ᾽ ἀπὸ τετρήρους μέχρι
τριηρημιολίας διπλάσια τούτων· τὰ δ᾽ εἰς τὰς νήσους
πεμπόμενα καὶ τὰς ἄλλας πόλεις, ὧν ἦρχε, καὶ τὴν
Λιβύην πλείονα ἦν τῶν τετρακισχιλίων.
περὶ δὲ βιβλίων πλήθους καὶ βιβλιοθηκῶν κατασκευῆς

καὶ τῆς εἰς τὸ Μουσεῖον συναγωγῆς τί δεῖ καὶ λέγειν,
πᾶσι τούτων ὄντων κατὰ μνὴμην;
Commentary
As for the ship (F 1), technical, or rare, terms are transliterated within this translation. This fragment contains two distinct
descriptions, of the tent and of the procession: both are ekphrastic, harking back to models such as the shield
of Achilles ( Iliad 18.478–608), on which see A.S. Becker,The Shield of Achilles and the Poetics of Ekphrasis (Lanham, MD 1995), or
that of Herakles(Pseudo-Hesiod, Scutum ), on which see J.L. Myres, ‘Hesiod’s ‘Shield of Herakles’: Its Structure and
Workmanship’, JHS 61 (1941), 17–38, or many other such descriptions, especially perhaps that ofJason’s cloak in Apollonios of
Rhodes, Argonautika 1.730–67, on which see: C.U. Merriam, ‘An Examination of Jason’s Cloak (Apollonius
Rhodius, Argonautica 1.730–68)’, Scholia ns 2 (1993), 69–80.
25–26 (196A–197C) tent: This section describes the festival-tent of Ptolemy, on which see esp.: Wilhelm Franzmeyer, Kallixeinos’
Bericht über das Prachtzelt und den Festzug Ptolemaeus II. (Athenaeus V. Capp. 25–35) (Strasburg 1904), 5–25; Franz
Studniczka, Das Symposion Ptolemaios II nach der Beschreibung des Kallixeinos wiederhergestellt = Abhandlungen der philologisch-
historischen Klasse der Königlich Sächsischen Akademie der Wissenschaften 30.2 (Leipzig 1915), a detailed architectural analysis;
F.E. Winter and A. Christie, ‘The Symposium-Tent of Ptolemy II. A New Proposal’, Echos du Monde Classique / Classical Views 29
(1985), 289-308, disputing many details of Studniczka’s reconstruction, especially: they place all decoration on the interior, and
propose a much smaller central area and awning; and E.S.P. Ricotti, ‘Le tende conviviali e la tenda di Tolomeo Filadelfo’, in Robert I.
Curtis (ed.), Studia Pompeiana & Classica in Honor of Wilhelmina F. Jashemski 2 (New Rochelle, NY 1988–1989), 199-239; I.
Nielsen, Hellenistic Palaces: Tradition and Renewal 2 (Aarhus 1999), 134–6; Elena Calandra, The ephemeral and the eternal: the
pavilion of Ptolemy Philadelphos in the court of Alexandria [translated by Scott A. Burgess] (Athens 2011).
The tent itself may have been intended as an imitation, at some remove, of: (1) the luxurious tent ofXerxes, in Herodotos 9.82; (2) the
Odeion of Perikles, as in Plutarch, Perikles 13 (Ricotti, ‘Tenda di Tolomeo Filadelfo’, 202–3); (3) the festival tent
in Euripides, Ion 1132–66; or (4) Alexander’s tent:Chares of Mitylene, Book 10 (FGrH 125 F 4 in Kallixeinos 12.55 (538B-D)
with Aelian, VH 8.7), Kallixeinos 12.55 (539D) preserving Phylarchos (c. 220 BC), Book 23, FGrH 81 F 41.18, mixed
withAgatharchides, Asia , Book 10, BNJ 86 F 3; Aelian, VH 9.3; and Polyainos 4.3.24), and Studniczka,Symposion , 25-7; and
Calandra, Ephemeral, 110-113. The Ptolemaic tent appears to be an ancestor of the Vitruvian hypostyle halls with clerestories (Winter
and Christie, ‘Symposium-Tent’, 306–8).
25 (196A) 130 couches: For the layout of the one hundred and thirty couches, see Franzmeyer,Prachtzelt und Festzug, 8-11; and
Studniczka, Symposion, 157–61.
25 (196B) 50 cubits tall: Studniczka, Symposion, 40–4, argues that this height of 50 cubits was possible, citing ancient parallels for
long wooden beams; see Theophrastos, HP 5.8.1–2 (Demetrioshad from Cyprus timbers 13 orguiai long: one ὄργυια = 4 cubits, thus
52 cubits, close to Kallixeinos’s report) repeated and muddled by Pliny, HN 16.203 (‘130 feet’).
25 (196B) tent-roof (οὐρανίσκωι): For the tent-roof, see Kallixeinos 12.55 (539D) as above, §§25–26 (196A-197C), and see
Franzmeyer, Prachtzelt und Festzug, 15; Studniczka, Symposion, 49-50. The word appears more often in the sense ‘roof of the
mouth’: Pseudo-Aristotle, Probl. 33.14 (963a2, reading οὐρανίσκον for οὐρανόν); Melampous A52/P31 (c. 250 BC ed. H.
Diels,Abhandlungen Preus. Akad. Wiss. Phil.-Hist. Kl. (1907), #4; Irby-Massie in P.T. Keyser and G.L. Irby-Massie
(eds.), Encyclopedia of Ancient Natural Scientists (London 2008), 538–9); Hikesios of Smurna (c. 100 BC; Keyser and Irby-
Massie, Encyclopedia, 396) in Kallixeinos 7.98 (315D–E), of the sturgeon. B.L. Kutbay, Palaces and Large Residences of the
Hellenistic Age (Lewiston, NY 1998), 46-9, emphasizes that this awning and the vaulting (below) were remarkable.
25 (196B) dyed scarlet (κοκκινοβαφεῖ): Prior to Byzantine times, the meaning ‘dyed scarlet’ is only here, for κοκκοβαφεῖ, itself is
very rare: see Theophrastos, HP 3.7.5; Aelian, NA 17.38 (Caspianbird, on which see D’A.W. Thompson, A Glossary of Greek
Birds (1936), 131: ‘an imaginative account of the Flamingo’); and Philostratos, Life of Apollonios 4.21 (festival garb, κοκκοβαφία).
The formation is normal, but perhaps poetic, cf. words such as:
ἁλιβαφῆ: Aischylos, Persae 275, by Prien’s emendation, meaning ‘sea-dyed’; see A.F. Garvie,Aeschylus Persae with Introduction
and Commentary (Oxford 2009), 153–5;
κροκοβαφής: Aischylos, Agamemnon 1121;
μελαμβαφές: Bacchylides, B. Snell and H. Maehler (eds.), Bacchylides (Leipzig 1970), F 29 = J. Irigoin (ed.), Bacchylide (Paris
1993), F 6, in Suda ει 45;
αἱμοβαφῆ: Sophokles, Ajax 219;
πορφυροβάφου: Ion of Chios, Epidemiai , BNJ 392 F 6, in Kallixeinos 13.81 (604B), cf. Strabo17.3.18;
ὑακινθινοβαφῆ: Xenophon, Cyrop. 6.4.2;
ἰοβαφές: Theophrastos, On Waters: W.W. Fortenbaugh et al. (eds.), Theophrastus of Eresus (Leiden 1992), F 214A,
in Athenaios 2.16 (42E), the water of the Borysthenes;
χολοίβαφος: Nikander, Ther. 444.
25 (196B) white-edged (περιλεύκωι): ‘White-edged’ is a rare term, cf. Antiphanes, PCG 2, F 289 in Pollux 7.52, who explains τὰ δὲ
περίλευκα … εἴη ἂν ὕφασμα ἐκ πορφύρας ἢ ἄλλου χρώματος ἐν τῷ περιδρόμῳ λευκὸν ἐνυφασμένον; Pliny 37.180; and later
alchemical texts such as Sokrates andDionysios, §34 (c. 135 AD?: see Keyser and Irby-Massie, Encyclopedia, 747) with the parallel
Damigeron §34, and P. Holm. 14.
25 (196B) off-white (μεσολεύκοις): ‘Off-white’ also appears below at 27 (197F), and it was apparently worn by rulers and in rituals:
cf. Xenophon, Cyrop. 8.3.13 (the shah’s tunic); Ephippos ofOlynthos (c. 300 BC?), On the Deaths of Alexander and Hephaistion,
FGrH 126 F5 in Athenaios 12.53 (537E), on which see A.J.S. Spawforth, ‘The Pamphleteer Ephippus, King Alexander and the
Persian Royal Hunt’, Histos 6 (2012), 169-213; Semos of Delos (c. 225 BC?), On Paeans BNJ 396 F 24 in Athenaios 14.16 (622A–
B); and an unattributed account by Athenaios 5.54 (215B–C) about the tyrant Lysias of Tarsos. Studniczka, Symposion, 52, argues that
the meaning is ‘white-striped in the middle’, citing μεσοπόρφυρον in Plutarch, Aratos 53.3, to which add Dio Cassius 78.3.3,
χλαμύδα τε τοτὲ μὲν ὁλοπόρφυρον τοτὲ δὲ μεσόλευκον, ἔστι δ’ ὅτε καὶ μεσοπόρφυρον.
25 (196B) battlement-patterned draperies: Both words (ἐμπετάσμασι πυργωτοῖς) are first attested here. But for πυργωτ–, cf.
Aischylos, Seven 346 (ὁρκάνα πυργῶτις); and later, Strabo 15.3.19 (the ‘tower-like hat’, πίλημα πυργωτόν, of Persian military
garb). For the draperies (ἐμπετάσμασι), see Sokrates of Rhodes BNJ 192 F 1 in Athenaios 4.29 (147F); Josephus, Ant. Iud. 12.318,
15.394. Studniczka, Symposion, 52-4 discusses the meaning of ‘battlement-patterned’.
25 (196C) coffers (φατνώματα): ‘Coffers’ are of a ceiling, cf. Aischylos, Thalamopoioi, F 78 Radt; Moschion (c. 200 BC) BNJ 575
F 1 in Athenaios 5.43 (208B–C): ‘portholes’ or ‘embrasures’ through which stones were projected; Polybios 10.27.10 (‘beams and
coffers and columns’); and of the temple of Solomon: LXX Ezekiel 41.20 and Amos 8.3 (both translated c. 190 BC, cf. on F
1.37(204B)); II Maccabees 1.16; Eupolemos BNJ 723 F 2b.34.4 (as in F 1.39 (205D), plus: BNJ 723 F 2b.34.6 καὶ καταστεγάσαι
φατνώμασι κεδρίνοις καὶ κυπαρισσίνοις (‘and roofed them over with cedar and cypress coffers’) and BNJ 723 F 2b.34.9 μήτε
νοσσεύῃ ἐπὶ τοῖς φατνώμασι τῶν πυλῶν καὶ στοῶν (‘they would not nest on the coffers of the gates and porches’).
25 (196C) like palm trees and the others had the appearance of Bacchic wands: These forms of columns (palm trees and Bacchic
wands), and the placement of columns at the corners, Studniczka, Symposion, 35-40, argues, are typically Egyptian; cf. the remark of
Kallixeinos about the Egyptian style of the ship, §39 (206A).
25 (196C) were laid out (ἐτέτατο): For ἐτέτατο, see below, ἐνετέτατο; for the meaning, see Iliad4.544; Sophokles, Antigone 600;
Herodotos 2.8.2 (some mss); Hippokrates, Seed 13 (Littré 7.490.19–492.1), Glands 2 (Littré 8.556); Empedokles F 100 DK; and
Apollonios of Rhodes 1.1006. The passive in this sense is rare: see LSJ, s.v., §B.I, and contrast the medical sense ‘stretched out’ in
Hippokrates, Diseases 3.1 (Littré 7.118), Internal Affections 36 (Littré 7.256). Studniczka,Symposion, 57–8, defends the received text,
ἐτέτακτο.
25 (196C): passage (σῦριγξ): σῦριγξ is normally a tube or pipe, and first here in the sense ‘passage’, as in Polybios 9.41.9 (siege-
tunnel), 15.30.6, 31.3 (covered passage), 21.28.6 (siege-tunnel). Note that at least two of these are subterranean and that vaulting was
often the roofing of such passages, as next; see also Franzmeyer, Prachtzelt und Festzug, 7-8, 12; and Studniczka,Symposion, 89-90.
25 (196C) vaulted (καμαρωτὴν): Vaulting was rare in Greek above-ground architecture; see Franzmeyer, Prachtzelt und Festzug,
12-13. Studniczka, Symposion, 87-91, argues that the shape shows Egyptian influence, which it may well. In Mykenaian times, there
were the corbel-vaultedtholos tombs, then from c. 350 BC the Macedonian barrel-vaulted tombs; in the second century BC and later,
barrel-vaults are found above ground: R.A. Tomlinson, ‘The Architectural Context of the Macedonian Vaulted Tombs’, ABSA 82
(1987), 305-12. Cf. Herodotos 1.199.1 (covered carriage);Ktesias, FGrH 688 F 1b (Semiramis’s tunnel); Diokles F 23 van der
Eijk; Philon Byzant., p. 87.32 Th.; LXX, Isaiah 40.22 (transl. c. 165 BC; vault of heaven); Lukos of Neapolis (c. 100 BC, see Keyser
and Irby-Massie, Encyclopedia, 514) in Erotianus Κ–85, s.v. καμμάρῳ; Diodorus Siculus 3.19.2 (probably following Agatharchides),
17.82.3, 18.26.5–27.4 (καμάρα, vault, built on Alexander’s funeral wagon); Strabo 11.2.12 (boats), 16.1.5 (vaulted houses and
gardens in Babylon); Athenaios Mech. p. 36.5-6 W. (vaulted passage).
25 (196C) deep-red (φοινικίναις): For φοινικίναις, see also on φοινικίδας (27) (197E, 198B); cf. the more usual word for deep-
red, φοινίκεος: Herodotos 1.98.5, 2.132.1; Hippokrates, Int. Aff. 29 (Littré 7.244), Dis. Wom. 77 (Littré 8.172); Pseudo-
Hippokrates, Heart 1 (Littré 9.80); Ap. Rh. 2.1069-71; Theokritos, Idyll 2.2.
The adjective φοινικίν– refers to things made of palm, e.g., oil: Antiphanes, Thorikioi, PCG 2, F 105 in Athenaios 12.78 (553D) and
15.40 (689E–F); wine: Ephippos, Ephebes, PCG 5, F 8 in Athenaios 14.50 (642E); rope or cloth: Strabo 15.2.2, 17.2.5; or usually
planks: Philon Byzant., pp. 90.14, 97.24, 98.8 Th.; Strabo 15.3.10, 16.1.5, 17.2.2; and Athenaios Mech. p. 17.14 W.
25 (196C) curtains (αὐλαίαις): αὐλαίαις means curtains as in Hyperides, Against Patrokles F 139 Blass; LXX, Exodos 26.1-6, 37.1-
2, 10-14; Philon Byzant., p. 95.34 Th.; LXX, Isaiah 54.2 (transl. c. 165 BC); and Polybios 33.5.2. (The received text, αὐλείαις, would
mean the courtyard door: seePindar, Nemean 1.19; Homeric Hymn Hermes 26; Sophokles, Antigone 18; Herodotos
6.69.3;Aristophanes, Peace 982; Theophrastos, Characters 18.4; Theokritos, Idyll 15.43, 23.54, 29.39.) Like the ‘draperies’
(ἐμπετάσμασι) in 25 (196B) above (battlement-patterned draperies), the curtains are a sign of luxury, and perhaps still perceived
as non-Greek?
25 (196D) white-violet (λευκόϊον): λευκόϊον is white-violet, as in Theophrastos, HP 6.8.1, 7.8.3, the flower Matthiola incana (L.)
W.T. Aiton, in English called ‘gillyflower’ or ‘white stock’, used as medicine and perfume. Medically, see: Hippokrates, Dis. Wom.
46 (Littré 8.106), Nat. Wom. 32, 34, 104-105, 109 (Littré 7.348-50, 372, 418-20, 428). As perfume, see: Theophrastos, Odors 27;
Pseudo-Aristotle, Problems 13.11 (908b34–909a4); Theokritos, Idyll 7.64 (Lembach, Pflanzen bei Theokrit, 158-60); and Polybios
34.8.5 in Athenaios 8.1 (331A).
26 (196E) chief sculptors: For chief sculptors, see Franzmeyer, Prachtzelt und Festzug, 21–2, 60; Kallixeinos names no names.
26 (196E) Sikyonian artists: Sikyonian artists were highly-regarded at the time; see the history of Sikyonian painting and sculpture
by Xenokrates of Sikyon (c. 280 BC: Pliny, HN 1.34, 34.83, 35.68). It is likely that Ptolemy I had been collecting such pieces;
perhaps Ptolemy II commissioned further pieces for this event. In the early third century BC, collectible painters from Sikyon included
four from the previous century, Pamphilos (c. 380 BC; Pliny, HN 35.75–77), Pausias (c. 360 BC; Pliny, HN 35.123, 126–7), his son
Aristolaos (c. 340 BC; Pliny, HN 35.137), and Melanthios (c. 340 BC; Plutarch, Aratos 13.1–3, following Polemon of
Ilion, Periegesis F 17 Preller), as well as the same Xenokrates, a painter as well as an author. Plutarch, Aratos 12.5, records
that Aratos of Sikyon (c. 250–230 BC) sent art-works as gifts to a Ptolemy (III Euergetes, son of the ruler who built the tent, and
father of the builder of the Thalamegos), which explicitly included works by Pamphilos and Melanthios, and perhaps included works
by Leontiskos (c. 240 BC; Pliny, HN 35.141), and Nealkes (c. 240 BC; Pliny, HN 35.142).
26 (196E) wings (parastades): The παραστάδες seem to have been a kind of vestibule, as in Eur.,Pho. 415; or Pollux 7.122; see
Franzmeyer, Prachtzelt und Festzug, 11-12; Studniczka, Symposion, 74-80.
26 (196F) gold-embroidered (χρυσοϋφεῖς): Embroidery was practiced by Egyptians c. 1340 BC: see E. J. W. Barber, Prehistoric
Textiles (Princeton, NJ 1991), 159-62; the technology continued into Greek times: see Herodotos 3.47.2; Duris, Histories , Book
22, BNJ 76 F 14, the gold-embroidered shoes of Demetrios Poliorketes; Menander, PCG 6.2, F 435; and Diodorus 17.70.3 (χρυσοῖς
ἐνυφάσμασι πεποικιλμέναι), 20.46.2. The word ‘gold-embroidered’ itself is first here or inPtolemy VIII (writing c. 155
BC?), BNJ 234 F 3, in Athenaios 10.52 (438E), of Antiochos Epiphanesas hostage at Rome (188/7 BC); see also Diodorus 5.46.2,
Panchaean priests’ turbans are χρυσοϋφεῖς (from Euhemeros, c. 300 BC).
26 (196F) military cloaks (ἐφαπτίδες): For military cloaks, see Polybios 30.25.11, in Athenaios 5.23 (194F), the procession
of Antiochos IIII (see below 27 (197D), procession:); Hipparchos, In Arati 2.5.16, 3.2.1, 3.4.6; Poseidonios FGrH 87 F31, in Strabo
7.2.3; Strabo 11.14.12.
26 (196F) mythical compositions (μυθικὰς διαθέσεις): For mythical compositions, see the ‘outfit of their history’ with the gods in
the procession (27 (197D, outfit), and the tableaux in the procession (31 (200B); see also tableaux worth seeing and expensively-
arranged). The phrase here is not apparently attested elsewhere.
26 (197A) niches: Calandra, Ephemeral, 104-7, rejects the reading νυμφαῖα in favor of νύμφαι, interpreting as statues of nymphs.
This meaning of νυμφαῖα as niche is only here; the νυμφαῖα is usually the plant Nuphar lutea (L.) Sm., ‘yellow water-lily’, as
Theophrastos, HP 9.13.1;Dioskourides, MM 3.132. The Nymphaion was a small shrine to the nymphs, with a spring or fountain,
attested from the fifth century BC: I. Nielsen, ‛ Nymphaeum [I] ’ , BNP 9 (Leiden 2006, 2006 ) , 923-5, citing SEG 10.357, ILS 9458
(3rd c. BC), and Pausanias 9.3.9. See F 1.39(205F), the ἄντρον; Franzmeyer, Prachtzelt und Festzug, 13-14, 19-21;
Studniczka, Symposion, 99-102. In fact, the decorating of cave-walls is one of the most ancient art-forms of humanity, as in the caves
of Lascaux: see recently, J. Clottes (ed.), La grotte Chauvet: l’art des origines (Paris 2001), transl. by P.G. Bahn as Chauvet Cave:
The Art of Earliest Times (Salt Lake City, UT 2003). See above, F 1.39 (205F), s.v. ‘stonework’ (πετροποιία).
26 (197B) side-tables (διέδρων): διέδρων meaning side-tables is only here and Herodotos Med. (AD c. 85, see Keyser and Irby-
Massie, Encyclopedia, 383-4), in Oreibasios, Collection 10.37.5,9 (CMG 6.1.2, pp. 75-6); but cf. the common καθέδρα (chair) and
προέδρα (front seat), as well as the rare words: (1) ἐξέδρα, in the sense ‘exposed seat’ (Strabo 13.4.5); and (2) ἐφέδρα: see B.
Haussoulier, ‘Inscriptions de Didymes. Classement chronologique des comptes de la construction du Didymeion (3)’, Revue de
philologie, de littérature et d’histoire anciennes2 44 (1920), 248–77, #VI, line 8; and Heron, Pneum. 1.30. See Franzmeyer, Prachtzelt
und Festzug, 22; Studniczka,Symposion, 130-1.
26 (197C) another tent (σκηνή): As argued by Studniczka, Symposion, 161-71, Meineke’s emendation here (σκηνή) is necessary:
(1) one couch would be too small to contain such a mass of equipment; (b) no-one would store banqueting equipment on a couch.
26 (197C) suitable for (banqueting) use (τῶν πρὸς τὴν χρῆσιν ἀνηκόντων): For this sense, see Megasthenes, BNJ 715 F 4 (τὰ
πρὸς κόσμον τε καὶ χρείαν καὶ πολεμικὴν παρασκευὴν ἀνήκοντα, ‘suitable for decoration and use and military
preparedness’); Berossos, BNJ 680 F 1.4; Timaios BNJ566 F 164; Philon Byzant., p. 101.5–6 Th. (πρὸς τὴν τροφὴν, ‘(suitable) for
food’); Polybios 2.15.4 (ditto), 2.39.11 (πρὸς αὔξησιν, ‘(suitable) for growth’), 2.70.5, 6.12.4, 6.56.2, 9.20.6 (πρὸς τὴν χρείαν,
‘(suitable) for use’), 16.20.3 (ditto); Diodorus 3.18.6 (πρὸς τὴν χρείαν, ‘(suitable) for use’), 19.97.3 (εἰς τὴν χρείαν, ‘(suitable) for
use’), 31.9.2 (τῶν τε πρὸς τροφὴν καὶ τὴν ἄλλην πᾶσαν χρείαν ἀνηκόντων, ‘(suitable) for food and all other use’), etc.
26 (197C) gem-studded (διάλιθα): See also on 28 (198F), 29 (199CD), 30 (199F), and 34 (202E); cf. Aristophanes, Thesmophor. II,
PCG 3.2, F 332 in Pollux 7.95-6; Megasthenes BNJ 715 F 32, in Strabo 15.1.54; Menander, Philadelphoi, PCG 6.2, F 395, in
Athenaios 11.68 (484D),Epitrepontes 386 (W.D. Furley, Menander Epitrepontes (London 2009), 162); Letter of Aristeas 62 (c. 135
BC?, cf. on F 1.38); Diodorus 31.8.12 (triumph of Aemilius Paulus, 168 BC).
26 (197C) 10,000 talents of silver (μύρια τάλαντα ἀργυρίου): That the quantity of gold is given as ‘talents of silver’ suggests that
Kallixeinos’s source gave the value, indeed extreme but possible, and that Kallixeinos misread the value as weight (10,000 talents by
weight would be about 260 metric tons, more than all the gold ever mined by humans, and simply impossible). See
Franzmeyer, Prachtzelt und Festzug, 24.
27–35 (197D–203B) procession: For the procession, see esp. Franzmeyer, Prachtzelt und Festzug, 25–53; F. Caspari, ‘Studien zu
dem Kallixeinosfragment Athenaios 5, 197c–203b’, Hermes68 (1933), 400-14; E.E. Rice, The Grand Procession of Ptolemy
Philadelphus (London 1983); F.W. Walbank, ‘Two Hellenistic Processions: A Matter of Self-Definition’, SCI 15 (1996), 119–30,
repr. in F.W. Walbank, Polybios, Rome, and the Hellenistic World: Essays and Reflections (Cambridge 2002), 79-90; C. Wikander,
‘Pomp and Circumstance: The Procession of Ptolemaios II’, Opuscula Atheniensia 19 (1992), 143-50; Hazzard, Imagination, 59-79;
D.J. Thompson, ‘Philadelphus’ Procession: Dynastic Power in a Mediterranean Context’, in L. Mooren (ed.), Politics, Administration
and Society in the Hellenistic and Roman World (Leuven 2000), 365-88.
Kallixeinos (25 (196D)), says that this procession was ‘performed’ or ‘held’ (γεγενημένης) by Ptolemy (II) Philadelphos, in the
winter, and it seems to have been penteteric (27 (197D, 198B)); but in what year did it occur? (Rice, Grand Procession, 182-7, rejects
the identification with the Ptolemaia, but dates the procession to c. 280–275 BC.) The Ptolemaia was a penteteric festival held in
Alexandria (from 279/8 BC, midwinter): see W. Dittenberger, Sylloge 13 (Leipzig 1915), #390 (inscription of c. 280 BC planning the
event) and H. Volkmann, ‘Ptolemaia’, RE 23.2 (Stuttgart 1959), cols. 1578–90, and it seems unlikely that there were two distinct
penteteric festivals in one city. Which of the Ptolemaia does Kallixeinos describe? The date has been disputed: see W. Otto,Beiträge
zur Seleukidengeschichte des 3. Jahrhunderts v. Chr., ABAW 34.1 (1928), 5-9, 88–89; W.W. Tarn, ‘Two Notes on Ptolemaic
History’, JHS 53 (1933), 57-68, at 59-61; P.M. Fraser, ‘Two Hellenistic Inscriptions from Delphi’, BCH 78 (1954), 49-67; P.M.
Fraser, ‘The Foundation-Date of the Alexandrian Ptolemaieia’, HThR 54 (1961) 141-5; M.J. Osborne, ‘Kallias, Phaidros and the
Revolt of Athens in 287 B. C.’, ZPE 35 (1979), 181-94; V. Foertmeyer, ‘The Dating of the Pompe of Ptolemy II
Philadelphus’, Historia 37 (1988), 90-104; Walbank, ‘Two Hellenistic Processions’, 121–5 (81–5); J. Köhler, Pompai:
Untersuchungen zur hellenistischen Festkultur (Frankfurt 1996), 35-45; B. Dreyer, ‘Der Beginn der Freiheitsphase Athens 287 v. Chr.
und das Datum der Panathenäen und Ptolemaia im Kalliasdekret’, ZPE 111 (1996), 45-67; Hazzard, Imagination, 25–58, 168–75;
Thompson, ‘Philadelphus’ Procession’, 382-8; C. Bennett, Alexandria and the Moon (Leuven 2011), 105–6. Elsewhere, I argue that
the date must have been 279/8 BC (confirming Tarn, Walbank, Köhler, and Thompson): P.T. Keyser, ‘Venus and Mercury in the
Grand Procession of Ptolemy II’,Historia (forthcoming).
The event probably also included the performance of a tetralogy by Philikos, on the life of Alexander and Ptolemy: see below 27
(198A) ‘in tragic costume and mask’, 198B ‘Philikos’, and 198C ‘artists of Dionysos’. For the devotion of Ptolemy ‘Philadelphos’ to
Dionysos and his festivals, seeEratosthenes, Arsinoë in Athenaios 7.2 (276B) and Theokritos, Idyll 17.112-14.
Kallixeinos’s ecphrasis of the procession is one of the earliest and most complete descriptions of any Greek procession. These other
kinds and examples should be noted:
A) Wedding processions: e.g., Iliad 18.490–6 and Sappho F 44 L-P, on which see J.H. Oakley and R.H. Sinos, The Wedding in
Ancient Athens (Madison, WI 1993), 26-34, 136-7;
B) Civic religious processions, such as the Panathenaia (with musical and athletic contests): see, e.g.,Thucydides 6.56-
8; Aristotle, Ath. Pol. 60.1; Plutarch, Perikles 13.6; J.A. Davison, ‘Notes on the Panathenaea’, JHS 78 (1958) 23-42; J. Neils
(ed.), Goddess and Polis: The Panathenaic Festival in Ancient Athens (Hanover, NH 1992);
C) The procession of Antiochos IV (c. 166 BC), for an athletic contest: Polybios 30.25, 26, in Athenaios 5.23 (194C–195F) + 10.53
(439B);
D) and especially, funeral processions: of Dionysios I (367 BC; Philistos BNJ 556 F 40 in Plutarch,Pelop. 34.1); of Pelopidas (364
BC; Plutarch, Pelop. 33-4); of Alexander (323 BC; Hieronymos of Kardia BNJ 154 F 2 in Athenaios 5.40 (206E); of Demetrios
‘Poliorketes’ (283 BC, τραγικήν τινα καὶ θεατρικὴν διάθεσιν; in Plutarch, Demetr. 53.1–7); of Aratos (213 BC; in
Plutarch, Aratos 53), and of Philopoemen (183 BC, ἐπινίκιον πομπήν τινα ἅμα ταῖς ταφαῖς μίξαντες; in Plutarch, Philop. 21).
On Greek processions in general, see: A.G. Leacock, ‘De rebus ad pompas sacras apud Graecos pertinentibus quaestiones
selectae’, HSCP 11 (1900), 1-45; F. Bömer, ‘Pompa’, RE 21.2 (Stuttgart 1952), cols. 1878-1994, esp. 1954-5; A. Chaniotis, ‘Sich
selbst ferien?’, in M. Wörrle and P. Zanker (eds.), Stadtbild und Bürgerbild in Hellenismus (Munich 1995), 147-72; R. Hägg,
‘Religious Processions in Mycenaean Greece’, in P.M. Fischer (ed.), Contributions to the Archaeology and History of the Bronze and
Iron Ages in the Eastern Mediterranean: Studies in Honour of Paul Åström (Wien 2001), 143-7. Hägg cites Minoan processions, and
other pre-Greek processions may have influenced the form, see e.g., W. Andrae, Alte Feststraßen im Nahen Osten (Leipzig 1941).
Roman processions entered Greek literature, and their descriptions may have influenced Greek descriptions of Greek processions:
A) Allegedly Greek-style processions before games celebrating Roman victories: Dionysios of Halikarnassos, Roman Antiquities 7.72,
following Fabius Pictor, c. 200 BC, on which see H.S. Versnel, Triumphus: An Inquiry into the Origin, Development and Meaning of
the Roman Triumph (Leiden 1970), 96-8;
B) The triumph of Aemilius Paullus over Perseus, 167 BC: presumably from Polybios, see Diodorus 31.8.9-12, and Plutarch, Aemilius
Paullus 32-4.
The contents and order of the procession of Antiochos IV (for an athletic contest, c. 166 BC) should be compared: Polybios 30.25, 26,
in Athenaios 5.23 (194C-195F); cf. Leacock, ‘pompas sacras’, 31-5. The elements of the procession of Antiochos were:
1. troops and cavalry, including elephant-chariots;
2. sacrificial oxen;
3. elephant-tusks;
4. images of all the gods, with their myths depicted (ἐν διασκευαῖς πολυτελέσι, to which compare the similar presentation in F 2.31,
200B);
5. representations of Night and Day, Earth and Heaven, Dawn and Noon;
6. people carrying silver and gold vessels;
7. multiple costly perfumes distributed to the audience.
The elements of this procession, so far as recorded by Kallixeinos, who explains that he has omitted elements (5.33 (201EF)):
1. (197D) overview of the whole procession: morning-star, parents of the rulers, all the gods (with outfit of their history), and evening-
star;
2. (197E) Dionysiac procession: Silens;
3. (197F) Dionysiac procession: boys bearing perfumes (frankincense, myrrh, saffron);
4. (197F-198A) Dionysiac procession: Satyrs with painted bodies;
5. (198A–B) Dionysiac procession: representations of Hermes, Ares, Year, Penteteris/Isis, four Seasons;
6. (198C) Dionysiac procession: dramatist Philikos and actors;
7. (198C-E) Dionysiac procession: Dionysos and then his Mainads;
8. (198F) Dionysiac procession: Nysa the automaton;
9. (199A-C) Dionysiac procession: wine-press, wine-sack, kratēr;
10. (199C-200B) Dionysiac procession: silver and gold vessels, some carried, some on carts;
11. (200B) Dionysiac procession: Scene 1, tableau of Semele’s bedroom;
12. (200B-C) Dionysiac procession: Scene 2, tableau of Nysa’s cave;
13. (200C-E) Dionysiac procession: Scene 3, tableau of ‘Return of Dionysos from the Indies’, himself and more Mainads, Satyrs, and
Silenes;
14. (200F) Dionysiac procession: Scene 3 continued, booty led back from India by Dionysos, animals;
15. (201A) Dionysiac procession: Scene 3, continued, captives and goods led back from India by Dionysos;
16. (201B-C) Dionysiac procession: Scene 3, continued, more animals led back by Dionysos from India;
17. (201C) Dionysiac procession: Scene 4, tableau of Dionysos at the altar of Rhea;
18. — (gap of unknown length);
19. (201D-E) Alexander’s procession: images of Ptolemy and Corinth and other Cities;
20. (201F-202A) Zeus and all the gods in procession, a section of the procession which might be expected to precede Alexander’s
section, but in any case not to intervene between two parts of Alexander’s procession;
21. (202A-C) Alexander’s procession: Alexander on chryselephantine chariot, symbols of rulership;
22. (202D-F) procession of Ptolemy Soter (apparently a separate section, although Kallixeinos does not explicitly say so): symbols
of Berenike, of rulership, of prosperity;
23. (202F-203A) procession of Ptolemy Soter: troops and cavalry.
Antiochos placed martial elements at the head of the procession, whereas Ptolemy placed them at the end. Antiochos apparently
included both the representations of abstracts and the costly vessels after the processions of the divinities, whereas Ptolemy seems to
have included such things within the sections devoted to the gods (at least, abstracts within the Dionysiac procession, and vessels
within both the Dionysiac procession and the processions for Alexander and Ptolemy his father). Nearly all the goods displayed were
exotic: the dogs and birds (5.32 201B), the yoked beasts other than goats (5.32 200F, 201C), and the perfumes (5.27 197F, 5.28 198D,
5.32 201A). The Egyptianpersea and the doves are not procession goods, but rather symbolic elements of their respective costume or
tableau.
27 (197C) ran (ἤγετο): Contrast 5.28 (198C, F, 199A) ‘drawn’ and compare 5.29 (199B), 5.34 (202A) ‘ran’; cf. Dio Cassius 56.34.2
(funeral procession of Augustus); Aelian, VH 11.6.
27 (197C-D) Morning-Star and Evening-Star: Kallixeinos appears to refer to a single day, but Rice, Grand Procession, 35-6, argues
that the procession likely lasted a few days. In either case, the morning and evening stars here are two distinct stars (as
in Plato, Laws 7 (821c); Aristotle,Metaphysics 12(Λ).8 (1073b17–1074a14); Galen, In Hipp. Epid. I (17A.16 K.); cf. P.J. Bicknell,
‘Early Greek Knowledge of the Planets’, Eranos 68 (1970), 47-54), contra Rice, Grand Procession, 36-7, who sees two
representations of one star. Venus and Mercury can each be a morning star or an evening star (cf. Plato, Timaios 38d; Epinomis 987b,
990b; Herakleides, fr. 70 Schütrumpf = Calcidius §110–111; Vitruvius 9.1.6; Ptolemy, Almagest 9.7–8, 9.10), and the two planets are
on opposite sides of the sun usually several months in a year. Based on this, and the winter season, a date of 279/8 BC can be secured:
see Keyser, ‘Venus and Mercury in the Grand Procession of Ptolemy II’, Historia (forthcoming).
27 (197D) the (procession) dedicated to the parents of the rulers (ἡ τοῖς τῶν βασιλέων γονεῦσι κατωνομασμένη): Paul
Goukowsky, ‘Sur la ‘Grande Procession’ de Ptolémée Philadelphe’, in Paul Goukowsky and Claude Brixhe (eds.), Hellènika
symmikta (Nancy 1991, 1995), 2.79–81, argues for the translation of ‘κατωνομασμένη’ plus dative as ‘dedicated to’, citing Dionysios
of Halikarnassos, Antiquities 1.16.3, as a parallel, to which add the even closer parallel Polybios 5.43.1, ‘(Laodike) dedicated to the
king as wife’ (γυναῖκα τῷ βασιλεῖ κατωνομασμένην). The parents of the rulers are Ptolemy Soter and Berenike, the deceased
parents of the soon-to-be married siblings Ptolemy Philadelphos and Arsinoë (II) Philadelphe: Edda Bresciani, Sara Giannotti, Chiara
Gorini, Luca Grassi, Angiolo Menchetti, and Nives Rogoznica, ‘Ancora sull’iscrizione demotica di Elefantina’, Egitto e Vicino
Oriente 26 (2003), 33–39, have established the marriage-date as March of 278 BC (i.e., merely two months after the procession),
based on a demotic inscription. If the katachresis of βασιλέων for king and queen is impossible (or if Ptolemy had not yet married the
second Arsinoë), then the ancestors intended must be various Macedonian royalty, included somewhat in the way that Romans
included ancestor-masks. The order of the sections of the procession implies that the parents are divine, and Ptolemy ‘Soter’ and
Berenike were included separately and nominatim (5.34 202D, 5.35 203A), so it is difficult to see precisely who could be intended,
other than Ptolemy Soter and Berenike. Although Ptolemy’s marriage to Arsinoë occurred two months after the procession, several
items in the procession seem to refer to her (5.27 198A,Amalthea; 5.34 202B, dikeras; 5.34 202E, lekanai), and Kallixeinos admits to
large omissions (5.33 201E-F), reporting primarily on the Dionysiac procession (compare above the list of sections of the procession).
27 (197D) outfit (διασκευήν): Contrast F 1.25 (196B), ‘construction’. For the meaning of διασκευήν (outfit) here, see LXX,
Exodos 31.7; Timaios BNJ 566 F 164 (in their outfit imitate ancient life); Moschion BNJ 575 F 1, in Athenaios 5.40 (207B), interior
outfitting (of Hieron’s ship);Baton of Sinope (c. 200 BC: see E. Schwartz, ‘Baton (7)’, RE 3 (Stuttgart 1897), cols. 143-4), On the
Tyranny of Hieronymos (d. 214 BC), καὶ τὴν πορφύραν καὶ τὴν ἄλλην πᾶσαν διασκευὴν ‘both his purple and his whole outfit’
which Dionysios the tyrant wore; II Macc. 11.10; Polybios 8.29.7 (νομαδικὴν, ‘nomadic’, garb), 30.18.3 (the white hat, toga, and
shoes of a freedman), 30.25.14, in Athenaios 5.23 (194F) (cf. above 5.26 (196F), s.v. ‘military cloaks’, ἐφαπτίδες), 30.26.3, tables
with πολυτελεστάτης διασκευής (cited as Book 31); Diodorus 31.25.2; Strabo 11.14.12 (actors’ outfit). On dress during a
procession, see Leacock, ‘pompas sacras’, 35-7.
27 (197D) the accounts of the Pentetērides (τὰς τῶν Πεντετηρίδων γραφὰς): ThePentetērides is the only written source to which
Kallixeinos refers; the work must have been the records of the penteteric festival, the Ptolemaia, one celebration of which he is
recording. How much he derived from this, or other sources, is disputed, but he could not have seen the procession or tent himself.
27 (197E) restraining the crowd: i.e., the procession is outside the stadium. Kallixeinos otherwise describes the segments of the
procession as viewed from within the stadium: 27 (197C), 29 (200B).
27 (197E) censers (θυμιατήρια): θυμιατήρια is the ceramic shape (‘censer’ or ‘thurible’) in which incense was burned, and made in
metal for dedications or show, e.g., Herodotos 4.162.3, Thuc. 6.46.3. On the shape, see G. Kanowski, Containers of Classical
Greece (St. Lucia 1984), 144-6; R. Hurschmann, Thymiaterion [I] , BNP 14 (Leiden 2009, 2009 ) , 647-8.
27 (197F) double six-cubit altar (βωμὸς … διπλοῦς): Franzmeyer, Prachtzelt und Festzug, 29 and Rice, Grand Procession, 47 note
the oddity of a double altar that is decorated for a single god. Could we see here a reference to the Delian problem of doubling an altar
(Vitruvius 9.1.13–14; Plutarch, E at Delphi 386E)?
27 (197F) frankincense and myrrh and saffron (λιβανωτὸν καὶ σμύρναν… κρόκον): For frankincense, myrrh, and saffron, see
also 28 (198D), 32 (201A); all three were very expensive substances, used in perfumery and medicine, sometimes together:
Hippokrates, Ulcers 12 (Littré 6.414.6-11), Dis. Wom. 221 (Littré 8.428); Theophrastos, Odors 35; Dioskourides 2.100; Galen,Simpl.
10.3 (12.257 Kühn), Comp. Med. Sec. Loc. 4.1 (12.702, 707), 4.4 (12.716). For use in sacrifices, see, e.g., Theophrastos, Piety F 2,
in Porphyry, Abstinence 2.5 (W. Pötscher, Theophrastus, Peri eusebeias (Leiden 1964), plus κασία); and Chrysippos, SVF 2, F 348,
(with ῥόδον, στύραξ, and μύρον, as instances of sweet-smelling stuffs). On frankincense and myrrh, both products of Arabia, see
Theophrastos, HP 9.4. Frankincense is the resin of several species of trees of the Boswelliagenus; myrrh is the resin of several species
of trees of the Commiphora genus: see A.O. Tucker, ‘Frankincense and Myrrh’, Economic Botany 40 (1986), 425-33. Saffron is the
pollen and stigmas of the flowers of Crocus sativa L., famously grown at Korykos in Kilikia, but also elsewhere in Asia Minor: see
P.T. Keyser, ‘Sallust’s Historiae, Dioskorides and the Sites of the Korykos Captured by P. Servilius Vatia’, Historia 46 (1997), 64-79,
esp. 71-3; and S.C. Ferrence, G. Bendersky, ‘Therapy with Saffron and the Goddess at Thera’, Perspectives in Biology and
Medicine 47 (2004), 199-226.
27 (197F) platters (μαζονόμων): Cf. ‘small platters’ (μαζονόμιον) at 30 (200A) and 34 (202E); and cf. Harmodios (c. 250
BC) BNJ 319 F 1. See also Pollux 6.87, who explains they are wooden and ‘for barley-cakes’.
27 (197F–198A) shell-purple and ruddle (ὀστρείωι… μίλτωι): See Plato, Rep. 4 (420c8), statue-eyes painted with ὀστρείωι
‘shellfish-purple’; and for ruddle as body-paint, Herodotos 4.191.1, 7.69.1.
Miltos is always ruddle (iron oxide), as seen in Theophrastos, Stones 52-4; and cf. Aristophanes,Eccl. 378 (marking late-comers);
Xenophon, Oec. 10.5–6 (as rouge); Aristotle, Meteor. 3.6 (378a23); Pseudo-Hippokrates, Heart 2 (Littré 9.80); LXX, Jerem. 22.14
(wall-paint; transl. c. 170 BC?); and Strabo 15.2.14 (mine). Various forms of iron oxide are very common as minerals, occurring with
varying shades of red or brown; see especially http://www.mindat.org/min-5579.html
The other red mineral pigments, all toxic, were always distinct (as in Pliny, HN 33.115). See N. Hoesch and M.
Haase, Pigments , BNP 11 (Leiden 2007, 2007 ) , 239-40:
1. realgar (arsenic sulphide, http://www.mindat.org/min-3375.html), which is rather σανδαράκη, as in Hippokrates, Dis. Wom. 78,
94, 100, 206 (Littré 8.196.12–16, 8.222, 8.224, 402); Herodotos 1.98.5; Aristotle, Meteor. 3.6 (378a23), HA 8.24 (604b28);
Theophrastos, Stones 50;
2. vermilion (mercuric sulphide, http://www.mindat.org/min-1052.html), which is rather κιννάβαρι, as in Theophrastos, Stones 58-9;
see also Diokles, Melittai, PCG 5, F 10 (distinguished from miltos); Pliny, HN 33.113–14; J.M. Alonso-Núñez, Cinnabar , BNP 3
(Leiden 2003, 2003 ) , 344-5; I. Domingo, P. García-Borja, and C. Roldán, ‘Identification, Processing and Use of Red Pigments
(Hematite and Cinnabar) in the Valencian Early Neolithic (Spain)’, Archaeometry 54 (2012), 868–92; M. Gajić-Kvaščev et al., ‘New
Evidence for the Use of Cinnabar as a Colouring Pigment in the Vinča Culture’, Journal of Archaeological Science 39 (2012), 1025–
33;
3. red lead (lead tetroxide, http://www.mindat.org/min-2721.html), which is rather σάνδυξ (Lat.minium), as in Dioskourides 5.88.5-6
(recipe); Vitruvius 7.5.8; Celsus 4.22.5, 5.20.3; Pliny, HN35.30, 40, 45.
27 (198A) petasos hat (πέτασον): A petasos is a wide-brimmed hat, which among the gods (197D) was characteristic of Hermes,
who indeed was the patron and prototype of the herald (κηρύκειον): G. Siebert, ‘Hermes’, LIMC 5 (Zurich 1990), 285-387, esp. 384,
‘le dieu au pétase’. The god signified by a trumpet (σάλπιγγα), characteristically an instrument of war (Iliad 18.218–21, 21.387–
8; Batrachomyomachia 199-201; Aischylos, Seven 391-4; Sophokles, Electra 711; Diodorus 5.30.3), must be Ares, god of war. Thus,
the symbolism here is something like, ‘with war or with peace, the year prospers’, i.e., under the rule of Ptolemy. They cannot be the
leaders of the procession, as Rice, Grand Procession, 48-9, interprets them, since they are not in the lead and march in a triad
with Eniautos.
27 (198A) a man more than 4 cubits (tall): More than four cubits tall was very tall in that era, but not super-human; see below 28,
198C ‘10-cubit statue of Dionysos’. For very tall people as figures in processions, see the tale in Herodotos 1.60.4-5
of Peisistratos and the tall woman Phye(three fingers short of four cubits tall) with parallels at Aristotle, Athenian Politaia 14.4 and
Polyainos 1.21.1.
27 (198A) in tragic costume and mask: The tragic costume included notably the kothornos, a high-heeled boot (often translated
‘buskin’), as well as a cloak. Although he is here playing the role of the Year (see Rice, Grand Procession, 50-1), a man in tragic
costume could well have been the protagonist of Philikos’s tetralogy: see below, 198B–C.
27 (198A) horn of Amalthea: The horn of Amalthea was symbolic of prosperity, as in the object dedicated by Miltiades (Pausanias
6.19.6); see also Philoxenos of Kythera, Dinner, PMG 836e in Athenaios 14.50 (642F–643A); Duris Book 4 BNJ 76 F 19. Amalthea
suckled Zeus, and both Ares and Hermes were sons of Zeus. The centrality of Zeus is perhaps analogous to the centrality of
Ptolemy—and thus implicitly of Arsinoë his sister-wife as Hera. A garbled citation of this passage seems to be preserved in the
epitome of Athenaios 11.25 (783C), ‘a drinking vessel called Amalthea’s Horn and Eniautos’.
27 (198B) persea (περσαίας): persea is the tree Mimusops laurifolia (Forssk.) Friis syn.Mimusops schimperi Hochst., known to
ancient Egyptians as šw3b, whose fruits were commonly eaten, but it is no longer found as far north as Egypt: R. Germer, ‘Persea’, in
W. Helck and E. Otto (eds.), Lexikon der Ägyptologie 4 (1982), 942–3; I. Friis, F.N. Hepper, and P. Gasson, ‘The Botanical Identity of
the Mimusops in Ancient Egyptian Tombs’, JEA 72 (1986), 201-4. Plutarch, Isis68 (378C), records that the tree was sacred to Isis; so
the processional figure of Penteteris (next) had a double value as also honoring Isis.
The oldest attested Greek spelling is περσέα in Hippokrates, Dis. Wom. 90 (Littré 8.216.5); Theophrastos, CP 2.3.7 (fruits in Egypt
but only flowers in Rhodes), HP 3.3.5 (some MSs πέρσεια; same data as CP 2.3.7), 4.2.1, 4.2.5 (full description), 4.2.8; De Mundo 6
(401a1); and Strabo 16.4.14. The fruit is πέρσ(ε)ιον: Theophrastos, HP 2.2.10; Klearchos of Soloi, On Riddles, in Athenaios 14.60
(649A), MSS περσια; in Poseidonios, Histories Book 3 BNJ 87 F 3 (see K. Dowden ad loc.) it grows in Arabia and Syria. This
spelling is first attested here (but ms C has περσέας), and then in Agatharchides BNJ 86 F 19 in Diodorus 1.34.7 (introduced
from Ethiopia); Strabo 17.2.2; Dioskourides, MM 1.129 (ms F, others περσέα); to which compare the similar spelling πέρσεια in
Bolos, Physika F 20 (was once poisonous but became edible upon reaching Egypt; ed. M. Wellmann,Die Φυσικα des Bolos
Demokritos und der Magier Anaxilaos aus Larissa (Berlin 1928),Abhandlungen der Preußischen Akademie der Wissenschaften no. 7);
Nikander, Alex. 99; and Paus. 5.14.3 (flourishes only in water of Nile). W.T. Thiselton-Dyer, ‘On Some Ancient Plant-Names.
II’,Journal of Philology 34 (1915), 78-96, at §15 (87-93), discusses the name, and connects the variant spellings with the alleged
Persian-sponsored introduction, as in Agatharchides and Dioskourides.
27 (198B) Penteteris (Πεντετηρίς): As the one actor mimed the Year, so she (Penteteris) mimes five (i.e., four) years, the interval at
which many festivals were celebrated, especially the Olympicand Pythian games, and see, e.g., Herodotos 3.97.4 (Kolchians), 4.94.2
(Thracians), 6.111.2 (Athenians); Thuc. 3.104.2. See Franzmeyer, Prachtzelt und Festzug, 66; L. Ziehen, ‘Penteteris’, RE19.1
(Stuttgart 1937), cols. 537-42; and Rice, Grand Procession, 49-50.
27 (198B) karchēsion (καρχήσιον): A karchesion was a kind of tall cup; see also 27 (198C), F 2a, and especially F 3.
27 (198B) Philikos: Philikos of Korkyra was one of the ‘Alexandrian Pleiad’, a poet of tragedy (credited by the Suda with forty-two
plays, but no fragments survive), and the author of a partly-extant Hymn to Demeter (Suppl. Hell. 676–80), and appropriately also a
priest of Dionysos: seeSuda φ 358; Franzmeyer, Prachtzelt und Festzug, 32-3; F. Stoessl, ‘Philiskos (4)’, RE 19.2 (Stuttgart 1938),
cols. 2379-81; P.M. Fraser, Ptolemaic Alexandria 1 (Oxford 1972), 651-2; Rice, Grand Procession, 52, 55-6; B. Zimmermann,
‘Philicus’. Titles likely included a Themistokles as well as plays on the Offspring (γονάι) of various gods (of Zeus, of Pan, and of
Hermes and Aphrodite). His name is most often recorded as ‘Phili[s]kos’, a relatively common name, see LGPN, but the lectio
difficilior, secured by the name given to the metre he ‘invented’, is Philikos, quite rare, but more frequent in West Greece and hardly
attested except in the fourth-third century BC: see LGPN 1.461 (2 from the era), 2.449 (1 from the era), 3A.450 (besides the tragedian,
8 from the era); cf. also Philekos, LGPN 2.447 (1 from the era), 3B.321 (1 from the era).
27 (198C) artists of Dionysos: Artists of Dionysos were actors, as in Diodorus 4.5.4; and see Rice, Grand Procession, 52-5; J.L.
Lightfoot, ‘Nothing to Do with the technitai of Dionysus?’, in P.E. Easterling and E. Hall (eds.), Greek and Roman Actors (Cambridge
2002), 209-24. It seems as if there was to be a performance of a tragedy or tetralogy by Philikos as part of the same festival that
included the procession. Given Philikos’s interests and the items in the procession, his composition may have been a tetralogy
centered on Alexander, as son of Zeus, and on Ptolemy Soter, whose plays were plotted perhaps somewhat like this: founding of
Alexandria, death in Babylon, burial in Egypt. The satyr-play could well have been a Dionysian romp.
27 (198C) Delphic tripods: As also at 29 (199D), 34 (202C), these Delphic tripods must be the older, more formal style, used as
prizes also at Athens: Studniczka, Symposion, 97-8; Rice, Grand Procession, 57-8.
27 (198C) sponsors of the flautists (αὐλητῶν χορηγοῖ): Ms A reads ἀθλητῶν, ‘athletes’, but L. Robert, ‘Athénée V 198 C’, Études
épigraphiques et philologiques (Paris 1938), 31-5, shows that the correct reading is αὐλητῶν (‘flautists’); Jacoby and Rice (Grand
Procession, 57-8) follow Robert.
28 (198C) wagon 14 cubits long and 8 wide: Cf. 28 (198F) for another wagon 8 cubits wide, and 5.28 (199A) for two wagons, one
20 cubits long and 16 wide, the other 25 cubits long and 14 wide. Normal Greek wagons had a gauge (center-to-center distance
between the wheels, along the axle, also known as the wheelbase) of about 1.5 m (1.4 m on Malta): see H. Hayen, ‘Früheste
Nachweise des Wagens und die Entwicklung der Transport-Hilfsmittel’, Mitteilungen. Berliner Gesellschaft für Anthropologie,
Ethnologie und Urgeschichte 10-11 (1989–90), 31-49; G. Raepset and M. Tolley, ‘Le diolkos de l’Isthme à Corinthe: son tracé, son
fonctionnement, avec une annexe, Considérations techniques et mécaniques’, BCH 117 (1993), 233-61, esp. 239-45; D. Mottershead,
A. Pearson, and M. Schaefer, ‘The Cart Ruts of Malta: An Applied Geomorphology Approach’,Antiquity 82 (2008), 1065-79. The
attested gauge would be about 3 cubits (and may well have been intended as exactly 3 cubits): thus, the 8-cubit-wide wagons were
approximately 2.5-scale, and the 14 and 16 cubit-wide wagons were approximately 5.0-scale.
28 (198C) ten-cubit statue of Dionysos: Since a normal, or at least nominal, male height was 4 cubits (cf. above on 27 198A), this
ten-cubit statue of Dionysos was 2.5-scale.
28 (198C) wearing a purple chiton, down to his feet, and on top of that a diaphanous saffron robe. Wrapped around him was a
gold-spangled purple mantle (himation) : i.e., he was dressed in effeminate style. For the long chiton, see Odyssey 19.241-3
(perhaps); Herodotos 1.195.1; R. Hurschmann, Chiton , BNP 3 (Leiden 2003, 2003 ) , 234-5. For the saffron robe, see
Aristophanes, Frogs 46; Pollux 3.117-18. For the himation, see W. Amelung, ‘Ἱμάτιον’, RE 8.2 (Stuttgart 1913), cols. 1609-13.
28 (198D) Lakonian fifteen-amphora mixing-bowl (kratēr) : See below for bowls even larger than fifteen amphorae: 29 (199B,
199C) and 30 (199E), the last also Lakonian. Kallixeinos refers to the capacities of vessels using ‘measure’ (μετρητής), equal to the
standard capacity (i.e., ἀμφορεύς) of an amphora, usually the Athenian amphora of 39 ± 1 liters, see F. Hultsch, Griechische und
Römische Metrologie 2 (Leipzig 1882), 101-4, 107-11; M. Lang and M. Crosby, Athenian Agora X: Weights, Measures, and
Tokens (Princeton, NJ 1964), 58-61; P. Radici-Colace and M.I. Gulletta,Lexicon Vasorum Graecorum 1 (Pisa 1992), 161-8. On
the kratēr itself, see G.M.A. Richter and M.J. Milne, Shapes and Names of Athenian Vases (New York, NY 1935), 6-8, figs. 43-63;
and Kanowski,Containers, 60-6. If a ‘normal’ kratēr held one amphora, this bowl would be 15 times the ‘normal’ capacity, or about
2.5-scale (since 2.5 cubed is about 15), exactly correct for the kratēr being used by a 2.5-scale Dionysos. It is not clear what is meant
by specifying that the kratēr was Lakonian, but see 28 (198F), where it is a himation that is Lakonian, and cf. Athenaios 11.69 (484F),
the λάκαινη, a Lakonian drinking vessel.
28 (198D) saucers (φιάλαι): Cf. the gold saucer used for the burial of Patroklos, Iliad 23.243, 253; or gold saucers used during
sacrifice, for pouring libations: Pindar, Pythian 4.193, Herodotos 2.151, 7.54.2; or even blood, Plato, Kritias 120a; and used simply
for drinking wine: Herodotos 9.80.1; Euripides, Ion 1181-2; Xenophon, Cyrop. 5.3.3; and see Richter and Milne, Athenian Vases, 29-
30, fig. 181; Kanowski, Containers, 116-17. Note the golden saucer from which a libation of milk is poured by the automaton Nysa at
28 (198F).
28 (198D) cassia and saffron (κασσίας): See 27 (197F) (saffron) on saffron; cassia likewise was a costly exotic aromatic, used in
medicine and perfumery: see Herodotos 2.86.5 (cassia used in embalming, with myrrh and many others, but not frankincense);
Theophrastos, HP 4.4.14 (list of aromatics: frankincense, myrrh, cassia, balsam, cinnamon), 9.7.3 (long list of plants used for
perfumes: cassia, cinnamon, cardamom . . . saffron, myrrh . . .), and Odors 35. The spelling κασσία is first attested here; see also
Agatharchides, On the Red Sea , Book 5, in Diodorus 3.46.2-3 andPhotios, Bibl. cod. 250 458a; Artemidoros of Ephesos, in Strabo
16.4.19 (mss vary), 16.4.25.
Cas(s)ia was derived from the bark of Cinnamomum aromaticum Nees, and cinnamon from that ofCinnamomum verum J. Presl
syn. C. zeylanicum Nees, two closely-related species of a genus of evergreen trees native to India, that were regularly distinguished in
antiquity: see Herodotos 3.110–11 (‘in the places where Dionysos was raised’); Theophrastos, HP 9.5; Diodorus 2.49.3; J.W.
Purseglove, et al., Spices 1 (1981), 100-73; L. Casson, ‘Cinnamon and Cassia’, in Ancient Trade and Society (Detroit, MI 1984), 225-
46.
28 (198D) parasol (σκιάς): σκιάς is a parasol or perhaps a kind of arbor or booth; cf. Theokritos,Idyll 15.119 (for Adonis and
Aphrodite); Plutarch, Ant. 26.2 (for Kleopatra as Aphrodite); and Pollux 7.174 who explains: σκιάς, ὑφ᾽ ᾗ ὁ Διόνυσος κάθηται
‘parasol, under which Dionysos sits’. Compare the σκιάδειον of Skylax, Perieg. BNJ 709 F 7b; Aristophanes, Birds 1508,
1550, Knights 1348,Thesm. 829; Theophrastos, HP 9.12.2. On the significance of these parasols, see M.C. Miller, ‘The Parasol. An
Oriental Status-Symbol in Late Archaic and Classical Athens’, JHS 112 (1992), 91-105.
28 (198D) victory-ribbons (ταινίαι): Victory-ribbons were typically worn around the head, at forehead level, and thus are often
translated ‘headband’; cf. Empedokles B112 DK (ταινίαις τε περίστεπτος στέφεσίν τε θαλείοις); Xenophon, Symposium 5.9;
Plato, Symposium 212e-213a.
28 (198D) drums (τύμπανα): ‘Drums’ were instruments played in the worship of Dionysos, sometimes with castanets attached, i.e., a
tambourine: cf. Herodotos 4.76.4 (for Magna Mater); Euripides, Herakles 892-3, Cyclops 65, 205, Bacchae 59, 120-34, 156; see E.R.
Dodds, Euripides Bacchae 2 (Oxford 1960), on 59 (pp. 70-1), 120-34 (pp. 83-4).
28 (198D) ribbons (μίτραι): Possibly here μίτραι refers to a ribbon wound up to form head-gear, i.e., a turban, as in Herodotos
1.195.1 (Babylonians μίτρῃσι ἀναδέονται their hairy heads), 2.122.3 (a blindfold), 7.90 (Cypriote kings εἱλίχατο μίτρῃσι their
heads, cf. 7.62.2); Euripides, Bacchae 833 (ἐπὶ κάρᾳ δ᾽ ἔσται μίτρα), 928-9 (πλόκαμος… ὑπὸ μίτρᾳ), 1115-16 (ὃ δὲ μίτραν
κόμης ἄπο/ἔρριψεν),Electra 162 (‘neither ribbons nor crowns’), Hecuba 924 (πλόκαμον ἀναδέτοις/μίτραισιν ἐρρυθμιζόμαν);
Aristophanes, Thesm. 257 (κεκρυφάλου δεῖ καὶ μίτρας). Compare A.S.F. Gow,Theocritus 2 (Cambridge 1950), 329-30.
28 (198D) masks satyric and comic and tragic: Masks were worn honor of Dionysos as patron of theatre. This is another reference
to Philikos, as at 27 (198C).
28 (198E) perseisteletai (περσειστελεται): perseisteletai is a locus desperatus. As Rice, Grand Procession, 60-1, points out, the
letters must represent some ‘functionary in a cult of Dionysus’; moreover, the functionary must be distinct both visually and
functionally from those that precede (priests and priestesses) and those that follow (crews of devotees and women bearing winnowing-
fans), and a fortiori from the groups of Bacchants. The functionaries seem to be ranked: priests before priestesses, before our
unknowns, before crews, before winnowing-fan-women, before Bacchants.
• Rohde emended to hierostolistai; accepted by Franzmeyer, Prachtzelt und Festzug, 34–5, Jacoby, and Gulick (Loeb
Classical Library). But (a) the preceding words beginning with hier– would tend to preserve a hypothetical original prefix hiero– here;
and (b) such ‘robers of statues’ are a specifically Egyptian office (Chairemon F 4 in Porphyry, Abstinence 4.8; Plutarch, Isis and
Osiris 3 (352B), along with ‘bearers of sacred vessels’, hieraphoroi), unlikely for a Greek god whose every attribute and function in
the procession is wholly Greek.
• Meineke emended to hieroprepeis telestai (‘fittingly-sacred initiators’). This can be rejected as for Rohde’s emendation, (a); and (b)
as too abstract to have been a description of Dionysian functionaries in a procession.
• Schweighaüser emended to perusi telestai (‘last-year’s initiates’); accepted by Olson. But (a) as Rice argues, there is no reason to
expect such an annual system; and (b) are not the following devotees et al. also initiates?
• Casaubon emended to orpheotelestai (‘initiator into Orphic mysteries’, as in Theophrastos,Characters 16.12). But there is no
evidence for such initiators among Dionysian functionaries.
• L. Preller, Polemonis Periegetae Fragmenta (Leipzig 1838), 178, emended, starting from the preceding kai, to hai peri tas
teletas (‘those around the mysteries’, i.e., a circumlocution for ‘initiates’). This can be rejected on the same grounds as Meineke’s
emendation, i.e., as too abstract to have been a description of Dionysian functionaries in a procession.
None of these will do. Euripides, Bacchae 21-2 gives ‘dancers’ before ‘initiates’, and perhaps some kind of sacred dancers (χορευταί)
are meant here. Another relevant functionary might be the temple-wardens (νεωκόροι). Either of those would be in their proper order
here. Is the received text perhaps a somewhat garbled (and perhaps mistaken) explanatory gloss taken into the text, as if ‘Persian
initiates’ or ‘in Persian rites’? Alternatively, K. Dowden (pers. comm.) suggests περιστολισταί (a hapax, but cf. στολισταί and
περιστέλλω), to mean ‘dressers’, i.e., officials who dress a statue, as in the Egyptian cults (L. Vidman, Sylloge inscriptionum
religionis Isiacae et Sarapiacae (Berlin 1969), Index, 349).
28 (198E) all sorts of crews (θίασοι παντοδαποί): This phrase is apparently only here. For other examples of such crews of
different composition, see Alkman F 98 PMG in Strabo 10.4.18 (of men); Euripides, IA 1059 (of Centaurs), IT 1146 (of
coevals), Bacchae 680 (of women); Aristophanes, Thesm. 41 (of Muses), Frogs 156-7 (of men and of women); Plato, Politicus 303cd
(Centauric and Satyric); Diodorus 3.64.6 (of women). For a modern parallel, see the bands of merrymakers dedicated to Dionysos at
Mardi Gras that are called ‘crews’.
28 (198E) winnowing-fans (λῖκνα): Winnowing-fans were basketry used to separate grain from chaff: Aristotle, Meteorologica 2.8
(368b28-30); Kallimachos, Hymn to Demeter 126 (N. Hopkinson, Callimachus: Hymn to Demeter (Cambridge 1984), 42-
3); Columella 2.10.13-14. They were sacred to Dionysos: see J.E. Harrison, ‘Mystica Vannus Iacchi’, JHS 23 (1903), 292-324,
andJHS 24 (1904), 241-54; W. Kroll, ‘Liknon’, RE 13.1 (Stuttgart 1927), cols. 538-41, esp. 540-1. An actual winnowing-fan has
survived from ancient Egypt: H. Schäfer, ‘Altaegyptische Pflüge, Joche, und andere Landwirtschaftliche Geräte’, ABSA 10 (1903/4),
127-43, at 139-40, fig. 15. (The winnowing process is described, without using the noun: Iliad 5.499-502, 13.588-92 and
Xenophon,Oecon. 18.6-8; the word also designated a cradle: Homeric Hymn to Hermes 21, 63, 150, 254, 290, 358).
28 (198E) Macedonian women called Mimallones and Bassarai and Lēnai: This is the earliest certain attestation of the
Mimallones; Kallimachos (F 503 Pfeiffer) is said to have mentioned them, and see also Strabo 10.3.10;
Plutarch, Alexander 2.7; Hesychios Μ–1367; Suda μ 1072; and O. Kern, ‘Mimallones’, RE 15.2 (Stuttgart 1932), col. 1713.
For the ‘Bassarai’ (Βασσάραι), see Aischylos, Edon. F 59 Radt, and the title of the second tragedy of the same trilogy, Bassarides T
78.3c Radt; Herodotos 4.192.2 (βασσάρια, identified as a fox species by Hesychios, Β 305-307); cf. βασσάρα, ‘foxy/impudent
woman’, in Lykophron 771, 1393; Pollux 7.59; and O. Jessen, ‘Bassarai, Bassarides’, RE 3.1 (Stuttgart 1897), col. 104. Thus, we
could think of them as the ‘Foxies’.
‘Lēnai’ (Λῆναι) is an emendation of the ms ‘Lydians’ (Λυδαί) by U. von Wilamowitz-Moellendorff, ‘Lesefrüchte’, Hermes 37
(1902), 302-14, at 313 = Kleine Schriften 4 (1962), 154; rejected by Rice,Grand Procession, 62. On the Lēnai, see
Theokritos, Idyll 26; Strabo 10.3.10 (also together with Mimallones); R. Hartmann, ‘Lenai’, RE 12.2 (Stuttgart 1925), cols. 1933-4.
28 (198E) their hair flowing free and some crowned with snakes and others with smilax and grape and ivy. The ones held in
their hands daggers, the others snakes: For snake-handling Mainads, see Euripides, Bacchae 101-4, and Dodds, Euripides,
Bacchae, ad loc. (p. 79). On smilax (μῖλαξ or σμῖλαξ), the plant Smilax aspera L., see Euripides, Bacchae 105-10 (crowns of ivy,
smilax, and oak or fir), 702-3 (crowns of ivy, oak, and smilax); Aristophanes, Clouds 1007,Birds 215; Theophrastos, HP 3.18.11.
Throughout the procession, the crowns of grape, ivy, and pine are Bacchic: see M. Blech, Studien zum Kranz bei den Griechen,
RGVV 38 (1992), 181-216.
28 (198F) Nysa: The nurse and mountain (Iliad 6.130-7) of the infancy of Dionysos, at first localized in Egypt or Arabia, see Homeric
Hymn to Dionysos 9-14 (τηλοῦ Φοινίκης, σχεδὸν Αἰγύπτοιο ῥοάων); Herodotos 2.146.2, 3.97.2 (Ethiopia). Diodorus reports both
an ‘Egyptian’ Nysa and an Indian one: 1.15.6-7, 1.19.7; 3.64.5-6, 3.66.3. The site is placed in India by Kleitarchos FGrH137 F 17
in Schol. Ap. Rh. 2.904; Strabo 15.1.7-9 (cf. BNJ 721 F 3a), and Arrian, Anabasis 5.1; cf. Franzmeyer, Prachtzelt und Festzug, 35-6;
O. Stein, ‘Nysa (12)’, RE 17.2 (Stuttgart 1937), cols. 1640-54; Rice, Grand Procession, 62–8; U.W. Gottscholl, LIMC 8.1 (Zurich
1997), 902–5.
28 (198F) khaki (θάψινον): Khaki comes from the roots of the plant θάψος (Cotinus coggygria(Scop.), syn. Rhus cotinus,
sometimes known as ‘young fustic’: Photios, Lex. θ 44), a yellowish dye very like khaki; cf. Aristophanes, Wasps 1413 (sallow skin,
from sickness?); Theokritos, Idyll 2.88 (skin would become like much θάψος; cf. Lembach, Pflanzen bei Theokrit, 172-3);
Nikander, Alex. 570, Ther. 529-30; Plutarch, Phokion 28.3.
28 (198F) stand up mechanically, no-one setting their hand to it, and having poured milk from a golden saucer (phialē) again
sat down: Such devices were constructed byKtesibios, an approximate contemporary of the procession (see Keyser and Irby-
Massie,Encyclopedia, 496). For mechanical ‘floats’ in a procession, see already the automatic snail ofDemetrios of Phaleron, 308 BC
(Demochares BNJ 75 F 4 = Demetrios of Phaleron FGrH 228 F 28 = Polybios 12 F 13.11), in the procession he put on at
the Dionysia: see Duris BNJ 76 F 10 in Athenaios, 12.60 (542E); A. Rehm, ‘Antike “Automobile”’, Philologus 92 (1937), 317-30. In
a banquet given c. 75 BC, a more elaborate automaton crowned a banqueter: Sallust, Histories F 2.70 in Macrobius,Saturnalia 3.13.
Automata are among the most ancient fantasies of Greek literature, beginning withIliad 18.373-7 (tripods), 417-20 (maids), 468-73
(bellows), and Odyssey 7.91-4 (dogs), 8.555-63 (ships).
28 (199A) wagon, of length 20 cubits, width 16, was drawn by 300 men, on which there was a wine press of 24 cubits: The
wagon is twenty cubits long and the press twenty-four, because the arm of the press extends well beyond its base; likely it extended
behind the wagon. The presses of the era were so constructed: see A.G. Drachmann, Ancient Oil Mills and Presses(Copenhagen
1932), esp. 50, ‘The same sort of presses, often the very same presses, were used for pressing the last juice out of the grape pulp; there
is no theoretical difference between the oil press and the wine press.’ See also Drachmann, Ancient Oil Mills, 145 fig. 12; 151 figs. 20-
1. Rice, Grand Procession, 68-70, argues that grape juice could not be had in mid-winter, but Kallixeinos has insisted on the year-
round productivity of Egypt: ‘Egypt, both because of the temperateness of the surrounding air and also because gardeners grow what
rarely and at set seasons grows elsewhere, gives birth plentifully and throughout (the year)’, F 1.25 (196D).
28 (199A) wagon 25 cubits long, 14 wide (drawn by 600 men), on which was a wine-sack, capacity 3000 amphorae: 3000
amphorae is about 117,000 liters, thus, weighing about 117 metric tonnes (if there was no empty space within the sack). If the sack
had been spherical, its diameter would have been about six meters, which would be just under 14 cubits, exactly the width given for
the wagon; presumably the shape was a flattened spheroid, wider, but less tall, and perhaps extending for much of the 25-cubit length
of the wagon. The description is thus shown to be internally consistent.
28 (199B) carafes (οἰνοχόας): The oinochoē was used to transfer mixed wine from the kratēr to the drinking cup (here the phialē);
cf. Thucydides 6.46; Euripides, Troades 820. On the oinochoēsee R. Lullies, ‘Oinochoë’, RE 17.2 (Stuttgart 1937), cols. 2234-5;
Richter and Milne, Athenian Vases, 18-20, figs. 114-34; Kanowski, Containers, 108-11.
28 (199B) Theriklean bowls: The Corinthian potter Therikles (c. 400 BC) designed and made vessels in a variety of shapes, including
mixing-bowls (κρατήρ); cf. Euboulos (c. 360 BC), Dolon F 31 and Kybeutai F 56, in R.L. Hunter, Eubulus: The
Fragments (Cambridge 1983) 123-4, 142; Alexis,Agonis (c. 340 BC), PCG 2, F 5, and see W.G. Arnott, Alexis: The
Fragments (Cambridge 1996), 66-8; Theophrastos, HP 5.3.2; Polemon of Ilion (c. 175 BC), On the Acropolis , Book 1, F 1
Preller;Cicero, Verrines II, 4.18.38; and especially Athenaios 11.41 (470E-472E). Apparently by the third century BC, the epithet
referred to special shapes, rather than items produced by Therikles; the original reference may have been a special luster, as Arnott
suggests. See Rice, Grand Procession, 73-4.
28 (199B) silver mixing bowl (kratēr), capacity 600 amphorae: A capacity of 600 amphorae is perhaps about 8.5-scale. Excessive
mixing-bowls are attested from Ugaritic hymns (M.L. West, The East Face of Helicon: West Asiatic Elements in Greek Poetry and
Myth (Oxford 1997), 201-2, citing the Ba‘al epic KTU 1.3, col. 1, of which see lines 10-17, in his translation: ‘He gave a cup into his
hand, | a goblet into both his hands, | a great jar, mighty to behold, | a cask (worthy) of men of the heavens, | a holy cup, no woman can
look on it, | a goblet, no goddess can regard it. | A thousand pitchers he took of the new wine, | ten thousand he mixed in his mixture.’),
Herodotos 1.51.2 (Lydian, of silver, holds 600 amphorae), 1.70.1 (Spartan, of bronze, holds 300 amphorae), and 4.81.3-4 (Skythian, of
bronze, holds 600 amphorae). The bronze kratēr found at Vix (1.64 meters high, 1.27 meters maximum diameter) had a capacity of
only about 30 amphorae (thus perhaps about 3-scale): A.J. Graham, ‘Commercial Interchanges Between Greeks and
Natives’, AncW 10 (1984), 3-10, esp. 4-5.
28 (199B) cup-stands (κυλικεῖα): κυλικεῖα is cup-stands or perhaps ‘cupboard’ (if so, then displayed open); cf. Athenaios 11.3
(460DE), on the κυλικεῖον, citing comedians: Aristophanes,Georgoi (PCG 3.2, F 106); Euboulos (c. 360 BC), Lakones (PCG 5, F
62), Semele (PCG 5, F 95);Kratinos Junior (c. 325 BC), Cheiron (PCG 4, F 9); Satyros (c. 220 BC), Life of Alcibiades, S. Schorn
(ed.), Satyros aus Kallatis (Basel 2004), F 20 in Athenaios 12.47 (534B–F); Letter of Aristeas 320 (c. 135 BC); I Maccabees 15.32 (c.
100 BC?).
29 (199C) 16 mixing-bowls (kratēr), the larger ones of which held 30 amphorae, and the smaller ones 5: The sixteen mixing-
bowls were merely 3-scale and 1.7-scale objects.
29 (199C) 24 acorn-adorned cauldrons (lebēs) all on stands ( engythēkē ): See F 2b, below. On the number, see 29 (199D)(16),
below. Jahn’s emendation ‘acorn-adorned’ is accepted by Franzmeyer, Prachtzelt und Festzug, 38-9, but rejected by Rice, Grand
Procession, 74-5; cf.Parmenides, DK B1, lines 39-40; Xenophon, Oecon. 9.5 (of a door); Semos of Delos ( BNJ 396 F 18). On the
cauldron (lebēs), see Richter and Milne, Athenian Vases, 9-11, figs. 69-71; Kanowski,Containers, 86-8.
For the stand (engythēkē), see three authors preserved by Athenaios 5.45 (209F–210C, which includes F 2bα): Lysias, On the Vessel-
Stand, F 101 Carey; Polemon of Ilion (c. 175 BC), To Adaion and Antigonos, Book 3, F 58 Preller; Hegesander, On Statues and
Images, F 45, FHG 4.421–2; also, Megasthenes, Indika Book 2 ( BNJ 715 F 2).
29 (199C) jars (βῖκοι): A bikos is a jar for wine, attested in Herodotos 1.194.2; Xenophon, Anab. 1.9.25; R. Beekes, Etymological
Dictionary of Greek 1 (Leiden 2010), 215, cites B. Hemmerdinger, ‘Noms communs grecs d’origine égyptienne’, Glotta 46 (1968),
238-47, at 241, for an Egyptian etymology (from b3ḳ.t), thus especially suited to a Ptolemaic procession; see also Radici-Colace,
Gulletta, Lexicon 2 (1997), 87-91.
29 (199D) solid silver and wholly silvered (ὁλάργυρος … κατάργυρος): The distinction between solid silver and wholly silvered
could only have been known to Kallixeinos from official records. Adjectives meaning ‘solid silver/gold’ arise once plating is
common: ὁλάργυρος occurs first here; see also Ptolemy VIII (writing c. 155 BC?), Book 8 BNJ 234 F 9 in Athenaios 12.73 (549D-
550B). The parallel formation ὁλόχρυσος is found in Antiphanes (c. 350 BC), Chrysis (PCG 2, F 223), and Kallimachos, Iambs 1.65
(R. Pfeiffer, Callimachus 1-2 (Oxford 1949–1953), F 191), and indeed Kallixeinos F 2.34 (202B). The verb καταργυρόω (‘cover
with silver’) occurs earlier, when plating is still unusual: Sophokles, Antigone 1077 (as a metaphor, ‘bribe’) and Herodotos 1.98.6; the
adjective occurs first here; see also Poseidonios BNJ 87 F 116. On silver-plating, see P.T. Keyser, ‘Greco-Roman Alchemy and Coins
of Imitation Silver’, AJN 7/8 (1995/6), 209-34, plates 28-32.
29 (199D) gem-studded in the middle (διάλιθοι κατὰ μέσον): Apparently, gem-studded is a kind of lithic intarsia, as in
the antron of F 1.39 (205F), ‘stonework’ (πετροποιία).
29 (199D) water-pitchers (ὑδρία): On the hydria, see Richter and Milne, Athenian Vases, 11-12, figs. 76-86; E. Diehl, Die Hydria:
Formgeschichte und Verwendung im Kult des Altertums (Mainz 1964), esp. 193-4, on their use in ‘Festzuge der großen Dionysien’;
and Kanowski, Containers, 38-42.
29 (199D) 16 (δεκαέξ): The normal Greek way to write out compound numbers in words would be ἑκκαίδεκα (as just above); see
P.T. Keyser, ‘Errors of Calculation in Herodotus’, CJ 81 (1986), 230-42. Inverse transcriptions like δεκαέξ are rare, especially this
early: cf. Hippokrates, Aff. Int. 40 (Littré 7.264); Ktesias FGrH 688 F 45; Xenophon, Anabasis 7.8.26; Aristotle, HA 8(9).49b
(632b21), Metaphysics 14.6.7 (1093a30); Euclid, Elements 4.16; Autolykos 1.6; and LXX, Genesis46.18. They become more frequent
beginning with Polybios 1.36.11, 1.42.5, 3.56.3; and see also Hypsikles, ‘Elements 14’ §3; Diodorus 12.71.2, 14.53.6, 14.84.7,
15.23.2, 16.63.2; Strabo 2.5.41–2, 6.1.10, 6.2.1, 9.1.4.
29 (199D) wine-chillers (ψυκτῆρες): Wine-chillers are also at 30 (200A), a smaller sort, the ψυκτήριον. They were used at
symposia, as in Hesiod, F 301 MW, and Plato, Symp. 213e; on the vessel, see Athenaios 11.109 (502D–503D); Richter and
Milne, Athenian Vases, 12-13, figs. 87-9; and Kanowski, Containers, 122-5.
30 (199E) others of four-amphora capacity (τετραμέτρητοι ἕτεροι): See Rice, Grand Procession, 76-7, on the lacuna and
emendation here.
30 (199E) Corinthian style (Κορινθιουργεῖς): Elsewhere, ‘Corinthian style’ is always used of the column-capital: cf. F 2.38
(205C), and see also Apollonios of Rhodes, Kanobos F 1, in J.U. Powell, Collectanea Alexandrina (Oxford 1925); Demokritos of
Ephesos (c. 225 BC), On the Temple at Ephesus, Book 1 ( BNJ 267 F 1); Artemidoros of Ephesos in Strabo 4.4.6, the shape of the
fruit of a mythical plant compared to the column-capital. Cf. earlier, the also rare word Κορινθοειδής in Dittenberger, Sylloge, #245,
col. 1.35.
30 (199E) low-reliefs (πρόστυπα): This rare word (πρόστυπα) occurs first here, although seeEpicurus F 37.15, i.e., P.Herc. 1413, in
G. Arrighetti, Epicuro. Opere 2 (Turin 1973), 387, προστυ[πουμένας], of images (φαντασίας).
30 (199E) bas-relief (περιφανῆ): See F 1.38 (205C).
30 (199F) basins (ὁλκεῖα): These are basins for holding, in contrast to the phialē, which was for pouring; cf. Epigenes (c. 360
BC), Mnemation (PCG 5, F 6; Philemon (c. 290 BC), Gamos (PCG 7, F 16: holding wheat); Polybios 30 F 26.1 (gold basins holding
saffron oil); LXX, Judith 15.11.
30 (199F) 2 mugs (kōthōnes) of two-amphora capacity: See F 2c, below, where the ‘two’ is a numeral. The κώθων was a Lakonian
military drinking vessel: cf. Archilochos F 4 West; Aristophanes, Knights 600 (here perhaps ‘canteen’?), Peace 1094;
Xenophon, Cyrop. 1.2.8; Athenaios 11.66 (483B–484C). The amphora contained 144 kylikes (Hultsch, Metrologie, 101-4, 107-11),
and the Lakonian vessel might have been twice the size of the kylix (compare the modern British and American ‘pint’ for drinking ale
and beer), so that these were 4-scale or 5-scale vessels. On the kōthōn, see I. Scheibler, ‘Kothon—Exaleiptron’, AA (1968), 389-97;
and Kanowski,Containers, 56-8, 118: ‘a simple mug with a single handle’.
30 (199F) four-palms (τετραπάλαιστα): There were four palms to a foot (thus six to a cubit): Hultsch, Metrologie, 29.
30 (199F) gilded glass (vessels) (ὑάλινα διάχρυσα): The phrase ‘gilded glass’ is only here; on such vessels, see M.I.
Rostovtzeff, The Social and Economic History of the Hellenistic World 3 (Oxford 1941), 371, plates XLIII–XLIV (facing pp. 372-3),
and 1408-9 (n. 165), citing, inter alia, F. Durrbach and P. Roussel, Inscriptions de Délos 3 (1935), 1429A (after 166BC), col. 2.24-5,
with ivory, from a Ptolemy; and W. Deonna, ‘Bol en verre à décor doré’, REA 27 (1925), 15-21. Cf. Rice,Grand Procession, 77.
30 (200A) encaustic painting (κηρογραφία): For encaustic painting, see F 1.37 (204B).
30 (200B) mixed in the water-pitchers (hydria) and pithoi, everyone in the stadium was sweetened in order: Perhaps this was
why the Silenes were needed to restrain the crowd at 27 (197E)? Franzmeyer, Prachtzelt und Festzug, 40 describes this as a kind of
‘Intermezzo’; see also Rice, Grand Procession, 77-8. On the hydria, see 29 (199D); on the pithos, see H. Sauer, ‘Pithos’, RESuppl. 9
(Stuttgart 1962), cols. 828-42.
31 (200B) tableaux worth seeing and expensively-arranged: Cf. 26 (196F), ‘mythical compositions’ in the tent, and note the
depiction of gods (ἐν διασκευαῖς πολυτελέσι) in the procession of Antiochos VI, in Polybios 30 F 25, F 26.
31 (200B) bedroom of Semele: Scene 1, where Zeus comes in disguise to Semele (note ‘they wore’, sc. Semele and Zeus, and
perhaps a nurse); see Franzmeyer, Prachtzelt und Festzug, 40-1; Rice, Grand Procession, 78-81.
31 (200B) cave excessively thick with ivy and yew (milos) (μίλωι): Scene 2: Dionysos’s infancy in a cave upon Mt. Nysa (cf. 28
198F), where his symbolic plants grew; see Rice, Grand Procession, 81-2. For yew, Taxus baccata L., see Theophrastos, HP 3.3.1
(montane), 3.4.2 (late-budding), 3.4.6 (late fruiting), 3.10.2 (description; common in Macedonia), 5.7.6 (wood used for ornamental
work).
31 (200B) doves and ring-doves (phassa) and turtle-doves (trugon): The first (doves, περιστεραί) are the ordinary domesticated
dove, see D’A.W. Thompson, A Glossary of Greek Birds 2(Oxford 1936), 238–47; the second (ring-doves, φάσσαι) are Columba
palumbus L., the ‘ring-dove’, known to Aristotle, HA 5.13 (544b5–7) as the largest dove, see Thompson, Glossary , 300-2; and the
third (turtle-doves, τρυγόνες) are Streptopelia turtur L., the ‘turtle-dove’, known to Aristotle, ibid., as the smallest dove; see
Thompson, Glossary, 290-2.
31 (200B) feet bound with laces (… λημνίσκοις): See Polybios 18 F 46.12 (with crowns); and cf. E. Schuppe,
‘Lemniskos’, RE Suppl. 5 (Stuttgart 1931), cols. 548-9, who cites Plautus, Pseudolus1265 (with garlands) as the earliest attestation of
this word for ‘laces’.
31 (200C) gushed forth (ἀνέβλυζον): For ‘gushed forth’ see Timaios BNJ 566 F 41b (ofArethousa); Pseudo-Aristotle, Marvels 113
(841a16–18, of a fountain near Carthage); Apollonios of Rhodes 4.923 (of Charybdis); Theokritos, Idyll 17.80 (of the Nile); and
Pseudo-Aristotle, On the Kosmos (400a32).
31 (200CD) the ‘Return of Dionysos from the Indies: The triumphal character of the ‘Return of Dionysos from the Indies’ derives
from the myth, not the circumstance of the procession: Euripides, Cyclops 5–17, Bacchae 13–22; Diodorus 4.2.5–4.3.1; Rice, Grand
Procession, 82–6; and Kenneth F. Kitchell Jr., Animals in the Ancient World from A to Z (London and New York 2014), 64–7.
31 (200D) thyrsos lance (θυρσόλογχον): First attested here (also 32, 200F), a thyrsos-lance was apparently a lance whose shaft was
modeled as fennel and whose blade was modeled as a pine-cone; cf. Strabo 1.2.8 (mythical divine armaments).
31 (200D) purple (πορφυρίδα): Purple clothing was an ostentatious display of wealth: cf. Xenophon, Cyrop. 2.4.6, 8.3.3, Oecon.
10.3; Chrysippos, On Good and Evil (SVF 3, p. 196, F XVII.2; Satyros, Life of Alcibiades F 20, as at 28 (199B); LXX, Judges 8.26
(transl. c. 165 BC); Polybios, 38 F 7.2, of the foolish and pompous Hasdrubal.
31 (200E) frontlets (προμετωπίδας): Frontlets, also known as ‘chamfrons’, were dressings for horses (whether decorative or
protective or both). They are first known from c. 875 BC in Assyria: see M.A. Littauer and J.H. Crouwel, Wheeled Vehicles and
Ridden Animals in the Ancient Near East, Handbuch der Orientalistik Abt. 7, Kunst und Archäologie 1.2 B, fasc. 1 (Leiden 1979),
125-6. This word is found only here, and 33 (202A), where they are golden, but the form προμετωπίδιον for the same object is
attested in Xenophon, Anabasis 1.8.7, Hippika 12.8, Cyrop. 6.4.1, 7.1.2.
After these, 24 chariots of elephants were sent forth, and 60 yoked-pairs of goats, 12 of kōloi, 7 oforyges, 15 of gazelles, 8 yoked-pairs
of ostriches, 7 of ‘ass-deer’, and 4 yoked-pairs of wild asses, (and) 4 chariots.
32 (200F) 60 yoked-pairs of goats, 12 of kōloi, 7 of oryges, 15 of gazelles, 8 yoked-pairs of ostriches, 7 of ‘ass-deer’, and 4
yoked-pairs of wild asses: Goats and camels are rarely yoked, and the others are unusual wild animals, i.e., Dionysian yet
‘domesticated’ (i.e., because yoked), and thus a symbol of the wealth and power of Ptolemy: cf. Ptolemy VIII (writing c. 155
BC?),BNJ 234 F 2a; Diodorus 3.36.3. See Franzmeyer, Prachtzelt und Festzug, 43-4; Rice, Grand Procession, 86-8. For yoked-pairs
(συνωρίδες), see Sophokles, OC 894-5 and Euripides, Medea1145, of children; Plato, Apology 36d, Kritias 119b; Polybios 2.23.5,
2.28.5, and 30 F 25.11 (of elephants).
• The elephants may have been either the Indian species, Elephas maximus L., or the African bush elephant, Loxodonta
africana (Blumenbach 1797), or both; each of which may have been bred in captivity. George Jennison, Animals for Show and
Pleasure in Ancient Rome (Manchester 1937), 30-1, guesses the Indian elephant (on the basis of his further guess that the capture of
African elephants was not yet organized by the Ptolemies); cf. Rice, Grand Procession, 90-2.
• The kolos is likely the Saiga tartarica L., a white-furred ungulate: see Strabo 7.4.8, who refers to its distinctive flexible nose
structure (πίνων τοῖς ῥώθωσιν εἰς τὴν κεφαλήν), and its white fur (see also Hesychios, κ 3370). It is native to Kazakhstan and
nearby areas, and thus must have been imported via the Seleukid empire or India; see O. Keller, Die antike Tierwelt 1 (Leipzig 1909),
295-6; Jennison, Animals, 31; Rice, Grand Procession, 88; Kitchell, Animals, 101–2.
• There are two species of oryx that might be meant (see Keller, Tierwelt, 290-3): the Oryx beisaRüppell (the East African species,
high-shouldered, and brown with black-marked face), and O. leucoryx Pallas (the Arabian species, heavy-rumped, and white with
black-marked face). Either could have easily been imported by Ptolemaic traders: Jennison, Animals, 31-2; cf. Rice, Grand
Procession, 88–9; Kitchell, Animals, 138–40.
• The boubalos is mentioned as an African animal, distinguished from the more common dorkas, and possessing horns, and was
probably a species of gazelle (i.e., of the genus Gazella). Since thedorkas is probably the Gazella dorcas L., found in Egypt, and about
the size of a goat (cf. Keller,Tierwelt, 294-5), it seems that the boubalos would be one of: (1) the Gazella cuvieri (Ogilby, 1841),
found in Morocco, Algeria, and Tunisia; (2) the Gazella gazella (Pallas, 1766), living in cooler areas, currently only in the mountains
of Arabia and Israel; (3) the Gazella leptoceros (F. Cuvier, 1842), living in the Sahara. For the boubalos, see Herodotos 4.192.1
(eastern Libya); Aristotle, PA 3.2 (663a8–13); LXX, Deuteronomy 14.5; Polybios 12 F 3.5 (Libya); Diodorus 2.51.2 (Arabia); and
Strabo 17.3.4 (Mauretania)—only Polybios and Diodoros omit to distinguish the boubalos from thedorkas (which Herodotos calls
the zorkas); see Jennison, Animals, 32; Rice, Grand Procession, 89; and Kitchell, Animals, 18–19.
• The ostrich is the Struthio camelus L., as in Xenophon, Anabasis 1.5.2 and Arist., PA 4.14 (697b13–26); note Paus. 9.31.1: statue of
Arsinoë riding an ostrich. See Thompson, Glossary, 270-3; Jennison, Animals, 32; and Rice, Grand Procession, 90.
• The ‘ass-deer’ is mentioned only here. Evidently it somehow resembled a donkey, so that it likely had short horns, and some features
similar to a donkey, such as its body-type, or fur, or else long ears or tail; i.e., among the antelope species, it might have been: (a) the
rather furry ‘Persian antelope’, Gazella subgutturosa (Güldenstädt, 1780); (b) the short-legged and stout-bodied YemeniGazella
erlangeri (Neumann, 1906); or (c) the coarse-coated short-horned Somalian ‘beira’,Dorcatragus megalotis (Menges 1894). Contrast
Kitchell, Animals, 138, suggesting various other species. Jennison, Animals, 32, cites Xenophon, Anabasis 1.5.2 to suggest a deer-like
ass of Syria; cf. (1) the often mythical ‘trag-elaphos’ (goat-deer) in Aristophanes, Frogs 937; Euboulos,Katakollomenos (PCG 5, F
47, Plato, Republic 6 (488a); Aristotle, Physics 4.1 (208a30-1); LXX, Deuteronomy 14.5; Poseidonios BNJ 87 F 114; and (2) the ‘hipp-
elaphos’ (horse-deer) in Aristotle,HA 2.1 (498b32–499a8), probably the Boselaphus tragocamelus (Pallas, 1766) of India, known as
the ‘nilgai’; see http://www.science.smith.edu/msi/pdf/i1545-1410-813-1-1.pdf; and Rice, Grand Procession, 89-90.
32 (200F–201A) After them were <six> yoked-pairs of camels, three on either side andcamels: These camels are almost certainly
the Arabian, ‘one-hump’, camel, Camelus dromedariusL. (see Jennison, Animals, 33, and Kitchell, Animals, 21–3), but possibly
understood as being an Indian animal, as in Herodotos 3.103; Ktesias BNJ 688 F 1b, BNJ 688 F 10b; and Arist., HA 2.1 (499a13-30).
The Arabian camel does not seem to have expanded its range to Africa, other thanSomalia, before the Persian conquest of Egypt, 525
BC: R.W. Bulliet, The Camel and the Wheel(Cambridge 1975), 34, 41-8; J. Zarins, ‘The Camel in Ancient Arabia: A Further
Note’, Antiquity 52 (1978), 44-6; H. Gauthier-Pilters, A.I. Dagg, The Camel: Its Evolution, Ecology, Behavior, and Relationship to
Man (Chicago, IL 1981), 115-20, who note among other considerations that camels do poorly in the Nile Delta, where they ‘die of
insect-borne diseases’.
32 (200F) carriages (ἀπῆναι): The distinction is not in the number of wheels, but in the superstructure, which had seats, for the
women and captives. The word ἀπήνη could be applied equally to the two-wheeled cart, i.e., chariot-like vehicles
(Pindar, Olympian 5.3, Pythian 4.94; Aischylos, Agamemnon 906, 1039; Medea’s swift chariot, Apollonios of Rhodes 3.841-3, 869:
θοῆς, 889–90: εὐτροχάλοιο, 1152: θοῆς), and also to the four-wheeled wagon (Iliad 24.324: explicitly four-wheeled; Odyssey 6.68–
84: carrying Nausikaä, her maids, the washing, and a picnic; Hesiod F 151 MW, houses on wagons; Poseidonios BNJ 87 F 7). See E.
Blume and J. Anastassiou, ‘ἀπήνη’,Lexikon des frühgriechischen Epos 1 (1969), 1017-19, comparing the four-wheeled ἄμαξα
of Odyssey9.241–2; Iliad 24.189, 266, and Hesiod, Erga 692–3. All vehicles in the procession other than these are either the
τετράκυκλος (wagon) or the ἅρμα (chariot), so this is likely to be the ‘donkey chariot’, and indeed is drawn by donkeys.
32 (200F–201A) these held foreign tents, under which Indian women, and other women dressed as captives: Captive women are
further symbols of Dionysos’s triumph over India.
32 (201A) mnai : There were exactly 60 mnai in one talent; see Hultsch, Metrologie, 127-44.
32 (201A) frankincense, 300 of myrrh, and 200 of saffron, cassia, cinnamon, iris, and the rest of the perfumes: For aromatics,
see above 5.28 (198D) (cassia and saffron). For long lists of aromatics, see Theophrastos, HP 4.4.14 (frankincense, myrrh, cassia,
balsam, cinnamon); Polybios 30 F 26.2, of the procession of Antiochos IV (saffron, cinnamon, nard . . . iris).
32 (201A) tusks and trunks of ebony (ὀδόντας… ἐβένου κορμοὺς): Tusks and trunks of ebony were produce extracted from the
land of Ethiopia, possibly obtained as tribute or in trade. Trunks of ebony had been offered to the Persian king as tribute from
Ethiopia: Herodotos 3.97.3. Ebony is (the wood of) the tree Diospyros ebenum J. Koenig, which grows in South India (cf.
Theophrastos, HP 4.4.6), or else of the West African species, Diospyros crassiflora Nesbitt. In either case, evidently the Ethiopians
transshipped it for the Ptolemies. See also Theokritos, Idyll 15.123-4, with Lembach, Pflanzen bei Theokrit, 129.
32 (201B) 200 huntsmen (σ´ κυνηγοὶ): the ms reading ‘Β’ (beta = 2) cannot be correct, given the large number of dogs; an easy
emendation to ‘Σ’ gives ‘200’, so that each huntsman (or dog-master, more literally) had a dozen dogs, a very likely number.
32 (201B) hunting-spears (σιβύνας): For hunting spears, see also Alexis (c. 340 BC), Leukadia (PCG 2, F 136, but emended by
Kassel to σιγύνην, which has the requisite long upsilon); Polybios 6.23.9; LXX, Judith 1.15; Diodorus 18.47.4, 20.33.6.
32 (201B) dogs, some Indian, and the rest Hyrcanian and Molossian: All large fierce hunting breeds: see F. Orth, ‘Hund’, RE 8.2
(Stuttgart 1913), cols. 2540-82, esp. 2544-54; Jennison,Animals, 33; and C. Hünemörder, ‛ Dog [1] ’ , BNP 4 (Leiden 2004, 2004 ) ,
608-11.
• For Indian dogs, see Herodotos 1.192.4, 3.32.1 (two puppies, perhaps Indian, defeat a lion-cub), 7.187.1 (as dogs of war in Xerxes’
army); Ktesias, Indica , BNJ 688 F 45.10; Diodorus 17.92; Strabo 15.1.31; Aelian 4.19 and 8.1, novelistic tale of two or four such
dogs fighting a lion (cf. D. Lenfant,Ctésias de Cnide (Paris 2004), 297-8, n. 797); Xenophon, Kynegetika 9.1 (for hunting deer), 10.1
(for hunting wild boar); Aristotle, HA 7(8).28 (607a3–8): mixed breed of dog and tiger as also in Diodorus 17.92, and GA 2.7
(746a34–35); Keller, Tierwelt, 109-10; Orth, ‘Hund’, 2545.
• For Hyrkanian dogs, see Ktesias, Indiκa, BNJ 688 F 46a; Lucretius 3.750; Pollux 5.38 (mixed breed of dog and lion); Aelian 7.38
(for war); Orth, ‘Hund’, 2546.
• For Molossian dogs, see Aristophanes, Thesm. 416–17; Aristotle, HA 8(9).1 (608a21–33); Pollux 5.39; Keller, Tierwelt, 103-7; Orth,
‘Hund’, 2548–50; Kitchell, Animals, 52–3.
32 (201B) parrots and peacocks and guinea-fowl (meleagris) and pheasants (phasianos) and Ethiopian birds: See F 2d, whose
better reading καὶ ὄρνιθες is adopted here, in preference to ὄρνιθες καὶ ἄλλοι; see Jennison, Animals, 33-4. All of these are colorful
and exotic birds:
• The first (parrots) are probably the Indian bird known as Plum-Headed parakeets (Psittacula cyanocephala L. syn. Palaeornis
cyanocephalus Wagler): see Ktesias, Indica, BNJ 688 F 45.8; cf. Lenfant, Ctésias, 295 n. 790, J.M. Bigwood, ‘Ctesias’ Parrot’, CQ 43
(1993), 321-7; Aristotle, HA7(8).12 (597b25–29); Thompson, Glossary, 335-8.
• The second (peacocks) were sacred to Hera, possibly explaining why they were caged in this procession (an unusual way to deal
with a peacock): see Thompson, Glossary, 277-81;
• The third (guinea-fowl (meleagris)) are the bird known as Helmeted Guinea-Fowl (Numida meleagris L. syn. Numida ptilorhyncha:
several varieties), found in Ethiopia and further south; see Thompson, Glossary, 197-200;
• And the fourth (pheasants (phasianos)) are the pheasant (Phasianus colchicus L.), originally from the region of Kolchis; see
Thompson, Glossary, 298-300.
32 (201C) Indian cows: The Indian cow is probably the ‘zebu’, the Bos primigenius indicus L., with humped back and dewlap, cf.
Kitchell, Animals, 141, 144.
32 (201C) 1 large white bear, 14 leopards, 16 panthers, 4 ‘lynxlets’, 3 panther-cubs, 1 giraffe, and 1 Ethiopic rhinoceros: Α
modern reader might wish to see a polar bear here, but that is extremely unlikely, and a rare albino bear, or even one of the (extinct)
white bears of Thrace, Paus. 8.17.3, is much more likely; see Jennison, Animals, 34; Rice, Grand Procession, 96; and
Kitchell, Animals, 12–14.
Leopards and panthers are standard Dionysian animals (Rice, Grand Procession, 96-7), their ancient range including Egypt, Ethiopia,
and South Asia east to India. It is not clear what distinction was intended by Kallixeinos (or his source), since the rarer term πάνθηροι
was normally taken as equivalent to παρδάλεις; see Xenophon, Kyneg. 11.1 and Aristophanes of Byzantion §269; cf. Keller,Tierwelt,
62–4, 86–7; F. Wotke, ‘Panther. Literarische Überlieferung’, RE 18.3 (Stuttgart 1949), cols. 747–67; and Kitchell, Animals, 107–8,
147. Perhaps the African subspecies, Panthera pardus pardus L. was seen as distinct from the smaller-bodied, broader-muzzled Indian
subspecies,Panthera pardus fusca (Meyer, 1794), or else is one of these the cheetah, Acinonyx jubatus(Schreber, 1775)?
The word ‘lynxlets’ (λυγκία) is attested only here, and perhaps refers to the African ‘caracal’, Caracal caracal (Schreber, 1776), a
distinctive medium-size feline: Rice, Grand Procession, 97.
For panther-cubs (ἄρκηλοι), see also Aristophanes of Byzantion in Aelian, NA 7.47 and Hesychios α 7275; cf. Jennison, Animals, 34.
Two subspecies of the giraffe are native to southern Ethiopia; others dwell in Africa further away from Egypt, so it is likely that this
was either the Nubian giraffe (Giraffa camelopardalis camelopardalis L.) or the Somali giraffe (Giraffa camelopardalis reticulata De
Winton, 1899; cf. Kitchell, Animals, 75).
The Ethiopic rhinoceros is likely the ‘black’ African rhinoceros, the Diceros bicornis L., or perhaps the ‘white’, the Ceratotherium
simum Burchell, both of which are found as far north as South Sudanand could easily have been shipped down the Nile, as earlier
pharaohs had done; see D.J. Osborne and J. Osbornová, The Mammals of Ancient Egypt (Warminster 1998), 138–41 (the Indian
species is the Rhinoceros unicornis L.); cf. Jennison, Animals, 34–5, and Kitchell, Animals, 161–3.
32 (201C) Dionysos, having fled to the altar of Rhea (when he was pursued by Hera): Scene 4: Rhea cured Dionysos of madness
inflicted by Hera; see Euripides, Cyclops 3-4; Plato, Laws2 (672b); Apollodoros, Bibl. 3.5.1; Rice, Grand Procession, 99-102.
33 (201D) statues of Alexander and Ptolemy: Alexander and Ptolemy were depicted as divine figures, heading up their parade;
Rice, Grand Procession, 102. The anacolouthon suggests a lacuna, perhaps as brief as ‘Then a wagon carried …’, but perhaps also
including some notation by Kallixeinos or Athenaios that the account skipped some portion of the procession.
33 (201D) golden crown of olive: The olive-crown was given to Olympic victors (Blech, Kranz, 127-31), awarded at Athens
(Blech, Kranz, 141-5), and associated with Athena (Blech, Kranz, 257-9). This Aretē was thus likely meant as a reference to Athens or
her festivals.
33 (201D) The city of Corinth was standing by Ptolemy crowned with a golden diadem: Corinth had been the capital city of the
league established by Philip II, which lasted 338–322 BC:Demosthenes 17; Rice, Grand Procession, 102-10; P.J. Rhodes, Corinthian
League , BNP 3 (Leiden 2003, 2003 ) , 791-2. Moreover, Corinth had been taken, through the aid of QueenKratesipolis, and held by
Ptolemy 308–303 BC: Diodorus 19.67.1-2, 20.37.1–2, 20.103.1-3; Plutarch,Demetr. 15.1, 15.3, 25.1; Polyainos 8.58; G.H. Macurdy,
‘The Political Activities and the Name of Cratesipolis’, AJP 50 (1929), 273-8. Evidently Corinth was still celebrated: perhaps the
Ptolemies retained favorable trade agreements?
33 (201E) expensive mantles (himatia) and adornment. They were labeled as Cities, some from Ionia and the others Greek, all
those planted in Asia and the islands occupied by the Persians: These are the cities freed by Alexander, and to be seen as supported
by Ptolemy; see Rice 105-110.
33 (201EF) Many various things were said about this procession, but we (Kallixeinos) have selected (201F) only those in which
there was gold and silver: Kallixeinos is reporting very selectively, apparently in view of his interest in symposia and wealth.
33 (201F) kitharists playing in concert upon kitharas : Kitharists were musicians on the seven-stringed, wooden-framed instrument,
played by plucking and built in various sizes. For images, see the black-figure amphora: F. Canciani, Corpus Vasorum Antiquorum:
Tarquinia, Museo Nazionale 1 (Rome 1955), III.H.7-8, Pl. (1144) 12.2-
3,http://www.beazley.ox.ac.uk/XDB/ASP/recordDetails.asp?id=5EB4B52F-0F80-4E19-A8D4-307CA5BBC511, and the red-figure
amphora in the Metropolitan Museum (56.171.38),http://www.metmuseum.org/toah/works-of-art/56.171.38; and F. Zaminer, Musical
instruments [V] Greece , ‛ BNP ’ 9 (Leiden 2006, 2006 ) , 354-62, with line drawings.
34 (202A) (the procession) of Alexander who was carried on a golden chariot of real ivory (... ἐλεφάντων
ἀληθινῶν): Translators render ‘ἐλεφάντων’ as ‘elephants’ (Franzmeyer,Prachtzelt und Festzug, 48-9; Gulick (Loeb Classical
Library); Rice, Grand Procession, 21), but the parade of exotic draft animals came earlier (see 32, 200F, indeed including elephants),
and ivory or even chryselephantine chariots are de rigueur in a well-appointed ancient procession: see e.g., Diodorus 31 F 8.12, ἅρμα
ἐλεφάντινον ἐκ χρυσοῦ καὶ λίθων; Ovid, Tristia 4.2.63, currus… eburnos; and although not a chariot, a chryselephantine couch
bears Adonis and Aphrodite in Theokritos,Idyll 15.123. The plural probably refers to the many pieces of ivory used to construct the
chariot. The adjective applied to stuffs is rare, and always applies to costly substances; cf. F 1.39 (205F), of gems; and Periplus Maris
Erythraei 3, χελώνην ἀληθινὴν (‘real tortoise-shell’); Galen, Theriak. 12 (14.257 K), ἀληθινοῦ κινναμώμου (‘real
cinnamon’); Physiologos 34, ἀληθινὴν πορφύραν (‘real purple-dye’). On this work, see Zucker, ‘Physiologos’, in Keyser and Irby-
Massie, Encyclopedia, 665-6; P. Holm. §60, ἀληθινὸν μάργαρον (‘real pearl’); Pseudo-Galen, Remed. Parab. 3 (14.542 K), κρόκος
ἀληθινὸς (‘real saffron’)—but unattested with animals.
34 (202B) On one of these lay a golden crown (f.), on another a golden bull-horn-pair (dikeras), on another a golden crown
(m.), and on another a solid-gold horn. Upon the throne of Ptolemy ‘Savior’ lay a crown made of a myriad of gold pieces (i.e.,
coins): For the use of both crown (f.) and crown (m.) in the same passage, see Hesiod, Theogony 576-80, where the golden crown is
fem. and the floral garlands are masc. As in that passage, it seems that thestephanē (not found in Pindar) was mostly metallic or non-
living, whereas the stephanos was mostly botanic; see Blech, Kranz, 34; J. Engemann, ‘Kranz (Krone)’, RAC 21 (2006), 1006-34
(same distinction made in Hebrew); M. Schmidt, Lexikon des frühgriechischen Epos 4 (2006), 209-11. For metallic or non-
living stephanai, see, e.g., Herodotos 8.118.4; Eur., Hec. 910 and Troades 784. For botanic stephanoi, see, e.g.,
Euripides, Bacchae 702-3 and Hipp. 73. The dikeras, a kind of doubled rhyton, had been adopted as the symbol of Arsinoë (II); see
Athenaios 11.97 (497B-C), and the reverse image on her coins, both
gold: http://numismatics.org/collection/1944.100.49263,http://numismatics.org/collection/1935.117.1085; and
silver:http://numismatics.org/collection/1957.172.1617, http://numismatics.org/collection/1974.26.801; Rice, Grand Procession, 202-
8, accepts the symbol, but argues that Arsinoë is not in view here, and that ‘no coherent context can be conjectured for the dikeras in
the procession’. Keyser, ‘Venus and Mercury’, argues that the symbol looks forward to the impending marriage, which would be held
two months after the procession.
34 (202C) gilded thunderbolt: The gilded thunderbolt refers to Zeus, as on the coins of Ptolemy I ‘Soter’; see the reverse image,
eagle facing left, holding a fulmen (thunderbolt) in his claws,
e.g.,http://numismatics.org/collection/1935.117.1082andhttp://numismatics.org/collection/1944.100.75453; and Ptolemy II
‘Philadelphus’, see e.g.,http://numismatics.org/collection/1974.26.5431, http://numismatics.org/collection/1974.26.5448,
and http://numismatics.org/collection/1974.26.5443; and many further examples in I.N. Svoronos,Ta nomismata tou kratous ton
Ptolemaion (Athens 1904), available in translation by C. Lorbeer athttp://donum.numismatics.org/cgi-bin/koha/opac-
detail.pl?biblionumber=160443.
Ptolemy Keraunos had left for Thrace and the court of Lysimachοs, in 282 BC, when his younger half-brother Ptolemy Philadelphos
was designated the heir of Ptolemy Soter (Memnon BNJ 434 F 8). After a treacherous and murderous career, Keraunos died in battle
against the Gauls in mid-279 BC: see H. Volkmann, ‘Ptolemaios (15) Keraunos’, RE 23.2 (Stuttgart 1959), cols. 1597-9; G. Hölbl, A
History of the Ptolemaic Empire (London 2001), 32-5. Thus, at the time of this procession, winter 279/8 BC, he was no longer a figure
of controversy, and would not have seemed the referent of the highly-visible thunderbolts.
34 (202D) a 5-cubit gold initiate’s crown adorned with expensive stones: this was placed around the doorway of the
Berenikeion: The dimension of the crown in the received text, ‘80’, seems excessive (despite Rice, Grand Procession, 120-2) since
even the great pillars atKarnak, in Upper Egypt, are only about 45 cubits high: Hekataios of Abdera BNJ 264 F 25; G.E. Kadish, in
D.B. Redford (ed.), Oxford Encyclopedia of Ancient Egypt 2 (2001), 222-6. There is no reason to believe that the Berenikeion had a
doorway or even a wall 80 cubits tall. Perhaps Kallixeinos or Athenaios misread a pente (‘five’) abbreviated to ‘Π’ (pi) as if it were
‘80’ in alphabetic numerals: cf. on F 2.29 (199D)—a five-cubit crown would be about 15-scale (quite large enough) and go nicely
around a normal doorway. A shrine means divine honors, indeed, already accorded to Berenike while she was still living. (The shrine
must have been outside the stadium, but the placement of the crown at the shrine could have occurred outside the scope of the
procession.)
34 (202DE) 12-cubit golden breastplate also proceeded, (202E) and another silver one 18 cubits, having upon it two 12-cubit
golden thunderbolts and a gem-studded oak-crown: The thunderbolts again refer to Zeus. A crown of oak would be associated with
Zeus by the Romans (Phaidros 3.17; Plutarch, Coriolanus 3.2-3, Aetia Romana et Graeca 285F-286A; Dio Cassius 53.16.4); but by
Greeks with Dionysos: see Euripides, Bacchae 109-10, 685-6, 702-3, 1103-4, and Theokritos, Idyll 26.3; or even Hekate, in
Sophokles, Rhizotomoi F 535.5-6 Radt with parallel in Apollonios of Rhodes 3.1214-15.
34 (202E) golden pans (lekanai): The lekanē was a flat bowl, sometimes lidded, with a pair of ribbon handles, many of which seem
to have been nuptial vessels (the alternative term λεκανίς (lekanis) is rarely attested), see: Richter and Milne, Athenian Vases, 23–4,
figs. 149–51; Kanowski,Containers, 90-3; E.D. Breitfeld-von-Eickstedt, ‘Die Lekanis von 6.–4. Jh. v. Chr.: Beobachtungen zur Form
und Entwicklung einer Vasengattung’, in J.H. Oakley et al. (eds.), Athenian Potters and Painters (1997), 55-61.
35 (202F–203A) the troops processed, the cavalry and foot-soldiers, all in marvelous full armor: the foot-soldiers numbered
57,600 (203A), and the cavalry 23,200: These numbers could only derive from official records. As Wikander, ‘Pomp and
Circumstance’, 146-7, notes, the presence of the troops is not a sign of recent or impending war; they are simply part of the power and
might of the king; cf. Rice, Grand Procession, 123-5. Moreover, Appian, Romaika pr. 10, based on official records in Alexandria,
gives as the full strength of the army of Ptolemy II 200,000 foot-soldiers and 40,000 cavalry, plus arms for 300,000 of reservists—so
the troops in the parade are at most one-third of the active forces, and likely were mostly reservists.
35 (203A) In the contest, they were crowned with 20 gold crowns; Ptolemy [the first] and Berenike (were honored) with three
icons on golden chariots and precincts at Dodona: The first clause must refer to the athletes or musicians who competed; the second
clause refers explicitly to the honorands of the procession, Ptolemy and Berenike. ‘The first’ seems intrusive, since Kallixeinos does
not number the Ptolemies. Likely a reader of Athenaios made a note clarifying which Ptolemy was meant, and a scribe copied that into
the text. It is unclear why the precincts at Dodona were granted; perhaps because Ptolemy Soter (or Philadelphos?) had made generous
donations in view of its status as an oracle of Zeus, analogous to Ammon. See Rice, Grand Procession, 126-31, and cf.
Pindar, Paians F 57 Snell. It is surely not due to any victory in the Naa games in honor of Zeus Naios, which, like the stadium at
Dodona, are not attested before 219 BC: IG4.428 (which records the victories of Kallistratos son of Philothales, signed by the sculptor
Θοινίας Τεισικράτους Σικυώνιος, active at the end of the third or beginning of the second century BC); Sotirios
Dakaris, Dodona (Congleton 1994), 24-5, 33-4; and D. Strauch and C. Höcker, ‛Dodona, Dodone ’ , BNP 4 (Leiden 2004, 2004 ) ,
605-6.
35 (203AB) 2239 talents and 50 mnai; and all this was disbursed to the stewards (οἰκονόμοις) through the eagerness of the
crowners before the completion of the spectacle: Again official records are required for these numbers, and likely for the
disbursement itself. The money was disbursed to the stewards by the sponsors of the various crews and floats; cf. Leacock, ‘pompas
sacras’, 44-5; Franzmeyer, Prachtzelt und Festzug, 52-3; Rice, Grand Procession, 131-3.
35 (203B) Philadelphos Ptolemy, their son, (was honored) with two golden icons on golden chariots, and upon columns: The
parents of Ptolemy Philadelphos are gods, and receive statues and the like; the living gods receive appropriately lesser honors. The
epithet, preceding the name, looks like an intrusive gloss, as immediately above in 203A, the ‘first’, but may perhaps have been
supplied by Kallixeinos; Hazzard, Imagination, 62-3, argues that this epithet provides aterminus post quem for Kallixeinos of c. 165
BC.
36 (203B) not one taking money from the Persians and Babylon, (203C) nor one working mines, nor one having the gold-dust-
bearing Paktolos!: In his remarks about money and mines, Athenaios appears to refer to (1) the Seleukids, (2) Athens or the
Antigonids (for the mines of Laurion, and perhaps Thasos), and (3) Lydia.
36 (203B) exceeded them all in the number of his ships. Indeed, the greatest of his ships were the two with 30 banks of oars, the
one 20-banker, the four 13-bankers: The information about ships is again from official records, which Kallixeinos appears to have
recorded—not as part of the procession—and Athenaios here recounts. W.M. Murray, The Age of Titans: The Rise and Fall of the
Great Hellenistic Navies (New York, NY 2012), 188-207, argues that a fleet of this size would make good sense during the reign of
Ptolemy II and reflects a policy of large fleets intended as a deterrent. See also C.E. Chaffin, ‘The Tessarakonteres
Reconsidered’, BICS 38 (1993), 213-28, at 220-2, for instance on what might constitute a ‘bank’.
36 (203C) Byzantine poet Parmenon: See P. Maas, ‘Parmenon (1)’, RE 18.4 (Stuttgart 1949), cols. 1572; M. di Marco, ‛ Parmenon ’
, BNP 10 (Leiden 2007, 2007 ) , 502, see SH 604A.
Six portions of the quotation confirm that Kallixeinos had access to official records:
• 26 (196E) ‘Sikyonian artists’: the records would give the sources of the paintings;
• 26 (197C) ‘10,000 talents of silver’: the exact value is not likely to have been a round figure, but Kallixeinos was evidently reading
some source that he misinterpreted (as giving the weight);
• 27 (197CD) ‘Morning-Star . . . Evening-Star’: the records would report the astronomical synchronism;
• 29 (199D) ‘solid silver . . . wholly silvered’: the distinction could only have been known from official records;
• 35 (202F-203A): the exact number of troops and cavalry could only have been known from official records;
• 36 (203B): the exact number and kinds of vessels could only have been known from official records.
That confirms his own statement that he was reading the official Pentetērides (27 (197D)). Note that some kinds of official records
from the reign of Ptolemy II were still accessible to Appian in AD c. 160 (Appian, Romaika pr. 10.)
Compared to extant texts, Kallixeinos’s language in F 2 is as unusual as in F 1, and contains, in its 2700 words (omitting Athenaios’s
remarks), seven words or phrases not otherwise attested: 25 (196B) κοκκινοβαφεῖ (until the Byzantine era); 26 (196F) μυθικὰς
διαθέσεις; 28 (198E) θίασοι παντοδαποί; 30 (199F) ὑάλινα διάχρυσα; 31 (200E) προμετωπίδας; 32 (201C) λυγκία; and 32 (200F)
ὀνελάφων. Some fifteen others are first attested here: 25 (196B) οὐρανίσκωι (first in this sense); 25 (196B) ἐμπετάσμασι and
πυργωτοῖς; 25 (196C) σῦριγξ and φοινικίναις (each the first in this sense); 26 (196F) χρυσοϋφεῖς; 26 (197A) νυμφαῖα (in this
sense); 26 (197B) διέδρων (in this sense); 27 (198B) περσαίας (this spelling); 28 (198D) κασσίας (this spelling); 29 (199D)
ὁλάργυρος and κατάργυρος; 30 (199E) πρόστυπα; 31 (200D) θυρσόλογχον; and 32 (200F) κόλων. Others are simply quite rare:
25 (196B) περιλεύκωι and μεσολεύκοις; 25 (196C) καμαρωτὴν and αὐλαίαις; 26 (196E) παραστάδες; 28 (198D) σκιάς; 28
(198E) the words for types of Bacchants; 28 (198F) θάψινον; 29 (199C) βαλανωτοὶ; 32 (201C) ἄρκηλοι; and 34 (202A) ἀληθινῶν
(applied to stuffs). Moreover, the ‘inversely’-written numbers are unusual, see on 29 (199D). Clearly, these words were in use in his
era and circle, but being absent from other texts now extant emphasize the peculiarity of his style.
However, seven words or phrases in F 2 indicate a similarity to the language of Polybios, as in F 1, which may suggest a date for
Kallixeinos: (a) 25 (196C) ‘passage’ (σῦριγξ), cf. Polybios 9, F 41.9, etc.; (b) 26 (196F) ‘military cloaks’ (ἐφαπτίδες), cf. Polybios
30, F 25.11; (c) 26 (197C) ‘suitable for use’ (‘τῶν πρὸς τὴν χρῆσιν ἀνηκόντων’), cf. Polybios 2.15.4, 2.39.11, 2.70.5, and often; (d)
27 (197D), ‘κατωνομασμένη’ plus dative meaning ‘dedicated to’, cf. Polybios 5.43.1; (e) 27 (197D) ‘outfit’ (διασκευήν), cf.
Polybios 8 F 29.7, 30 F 18.3, 30 F 25.14, and often; (f) 31 (200B) ‘feet bound with laces’ (λημνίσκοις), cf. Polybios, 18 F 46.12; (g)
32 (201B) ‘hunting-spears’ (σιβύνας), cf. Polybios 6.23.9. In addition, at 29 (199D), note the ‘inverse’ writing out of numbers,
common first in Polybios.
BNJ 627 F 2a
FGrH
Athenaios, Deipnosophists 11.43, 472A Translation
Subject: religion: ritual; language
ὅτι δὲ διαφέρει σαφῶς παρίστησι Καλλίξεινος ἐν τοῖς Περὶ That they (i.e., therikleios and karchesion) differ is clearly established
᾽Αλεξανδρείας, φάσκων τινὰς ἔχοντας θηρικλείους by Kallixeinos in his bookOn Alexandria , saying that some processed
πομπεύειν, τοὺς δὲ καρχήσια. holding therikleioi, others karchēsia.
Commentary
The karchēsia are in F 2.27 (198B); the Therikleans (therikleioi) in F 2.28 (199B). On the karchēsia, see F 3, below.
BNJ 627 F 2b α
FGrH
Athenaios, Deipnosophists 5.45, 209F, 210A Translation
Subject: language; everyday culture; genre: rhetoric; archaeology and art
history

... τίς αὕτη ἡ παρὰ τῶι Καλλιξείνωι ἐγγυθήκη, φαμὲν… ὅτι καὶ . . . what this ‘engythēkē’ is in Kallixeinos, we respond . . . that
λόγος τις εἰς Λυσίαν ἀναφέρεται… Περὶ ἐγγυθήκης there is a speech ascribed toLysias, On the Engythēkē . . .
ἐπιγραφόμενος...
(210A) In this passage, Lysias, saying that theengythēkē was
(210A) ἐν τούτοις ὁ Λυσίας εἰπὼν ὅτι καὶ χαλκῆ ἦν ἡ ἐγγυθήκη, bronze, clearly establishes, as Kallixeinos also said, that
σαφῶς παρίστησιν, ὡς καὶ ὁ Καλλίξεινος εἴρηκε, λεβήτων αὐτὰς the engythēkai are supports for cauldrons. In this way,
ὑποθήματα εἶναι· οὕτως γὰρ καὶ Πολέμων… too, Polemon. . .
Commentary
As for Kallixeinos, this is simply a paraphrase by Athenaios of what he has quoted in F 2.29 (199C). For discussion of the object and
the other authors cited here (Lysias, Polemon), see F 2.29 (199C).
BNJ 627 F 2b β
FGrH
Harpokration, Lexicon in decem oratores, s.v. ἐγγυθήκη Translation
Subject: genre: rhetoric; everyday culture:
drinking; language; archaeology and art history
φέρεται τις λόγος ὡς Λυσίου ἐπιγραφόμενος Περὶ τῆς ἐγγυθήκης. There is a speech said to be by Lysias, On the Engythēkē: that
εἴη δ᾽ ἂν σκεῦός τι πρὸς τὸ κρατῆρας ἢ λέβητας ἤ τι τούτων οὐκ would be some vessel, useful for setting under mixing-bowls
ἀλλότριον ἐπικεῖσθαι ἐπιτήδειον [εἶναι]· ὡς Καλλίξενός τε ἐν δ̄ Περὶ or cauldrons or some other such things: as Kallixeinos in
᾽Αλεξανδρείας ὑποσημαίνει καὶ Δαίμαχος ὁ Πλαταιεὺς ἐν β̄ Περὶ Book 4 of On Alexandria indicates, and Daimachos of
᾽Ινδικῆς. Plataiaiin Book 2 of On India ( BNJ 716 F 1).
Commentary
There is no reason to think that Harpokration has any source here other than Athenaios, i.e., Kallixeinos F 2.29 (199C).
BNJ 627 F 2c
FGrH
Athenaios, Deipnosophists 11.66, 483E–F Translation
Subject: religion: ritual; archaeology and art history; everyday culture:
drinking
Καλλίξεινος δ᾽ ἐν τετάρτωι Περὶ ᾽Αλεξανδρείας ἀναγράφων τὴν Kallixeinos in the fourth book of On Alexandria , reporting
τοῦ Φιλαδέλφου πομπὴν καὶ καταλέγων πολλὰ ἐκπώματα γράφει the procession of Philadelphos, and listing many drinking
καὶ τάδε· « κώθωνες διµέτρητοι β̄ Θ. vessels, also writes this: ‘2 mugs (kōthōn) of two-amphora
capacity’.
Commentary
Athenaios is simply repeating a small portion of his own extract; see F 2.30 (199F).
BNJ 627 F 2d
FGrH
Athenaios, Deipnosophists 9.38, 387C–D Translation
Subject: religion: ritual; natural sciences: animals
Καλλίξενος δ᾽ ὁ ῾Ρόδιος ἐν τετάρτηι Περὶ ᾽Αλεξανδρείας Kallixeinos of Rhodes in Book 4 of On Alexandria, describing
διαγράφων τὴν γενομένην πομπὴν ἐν ᾽Αλεξανδρείαι (Athenaios 387D) the procession ofKing
Πτολεμαίου τοῦ Φιλαδέλφου καλουμένου βασιλέως, ὡς μέγα Ptolemy called Philadelphos that occurred in Alexandria, writes as
θαῦμα περὶ τῶν ὀρνίθων τούτων οὕτως γράφει· follows about these birds, as something amazing:
« εἶτα ἐφέροντο ἐν ἀγγείοις ψιττακοὶ καὶ ταὼι καὶ μελεαγρίδες ‘Then there were carried in cages parrots and peacocks and
καὶ φασιανοὶ καὶ ὄρνιθες Αἰθιοπικοί, πλήθει πολλοί ». guinea-fowl and pheasants and Ethiopian birds, a great crowd.’
Commentary
Athenaios is simply repeating a small portion of his own extract; see F 2.30 (201B). Notably, however, here the text is better
preserved: see the discussion on F 2.30 (201B).
BNJ 627 F 3
FGrH
Athenaios, Deipnosophists 11.49, 474E Translation
Subject: everyday culture: drinking; archaeology and art history
καρχήσιον· Καλλίξεινος ὁ ῾Ρόδιος ἐν τοῖς Περὶ ᾽Αλεξανδρείας Karchēsion: Kallixeinos of Rhodes in his On Alexandria says
φησὶν ὅτι ποτήριόν ἐστιν ἐπίμηκες, συνηγμένον εἰς μέσον ἐπιεικῶς, that this is a longish drinking vessel, fairly narrowing in the
ὦτα ἔχον μέχρι τοῦ πυθμένος καθήκοντα. middle, having ‘ears’ (handles) reaching to the base.
Commentary
Athenaios 11.49 (474D–475C) discusses the nature of the vessel karchesion (a kind of tall cup), the primary use of which seems to
have been ritual. Athenaios cites Kallixeinos (this fragment), and especially Asklepiades of Myrlea (c. 75 BC; see P.T. Keyser and
G.L. Irby-Massie, Encyclopedia of Ancient Natural Scientists (London 2008), 171), who is quoted on the form of the nautical
apparatus of the same name. On that apparatus, see Pindar, Nemean 5.51; Euripides, Hecuba 1261; Archimelos(c. 210 BC), F
202 Suppl. Hell., in Athenaios 5.44 (209C–E); and Philon Byzant., p. 74.15 Th.; E.W. Marsden, Greek and Roman Artillery:
Technical Treatises (Oxford 1971), 51 fig. 12, illustrates the device, translating as ‘universal joint’, and points out (102 n. 71)
that Biton §8 (p. 66 W.) uses ἀγκῶνα κρατῆρα (‘cup-bracket’) for the same device. On the cup, see Sappho, F 141 LP
andSophokles, Tyro F 660 Radt (on an altar), in this passage of Athenaios; Ktesias BNJ 688 F 1b;Theopompos (c. 330 BC) BNJ 115 F
248, plundered from Delphi; Polemon of Ilion (c. 175 BC), On Hellas F 22 Preller, in Athenaios 11.59 (480A), in the treasury
of Byzantion at Olympia; Diodorus2.9.7 (in Semiramis’s temple of Hera).
The description of the shape that Athenaios gives here is not found in F 2, showing either that there is a lacuna, or that the description
of the karchēsion is drawn from a separate place (perhaps not even from Kallixeinos).
BNJ 627 F 4
FGrH
Athenaios, Deipnosophists 15.20, 677C–D Translation
Subject: everyday culture: games
᾽Ισθμιακὸν … στέφανον … οὗ μνημονεύει καὶ Καλλίξεινος ὁ Isthmian . . . crown . . . which Kallixeinos theRhodian mentions as
῾Ρόδιος καὶ αὐτὸς γένος ἐν τοῖς Περὶ ᾽Αλεξανδρείας, γράφων the same kind in his On Alexandria , writing thus: <**>.
οὕτως **.
Commentary
The actual quotation has been lost, and was probably brief; the context is clearly athletic, and probably derived from the portion also
lost from Athenaios, in F 2.35 (203A), q.v.
BNJ 627 F 5
FGrH
Pliny, Natural History 36.67–8 Translation
Subject: archaeology and art history:
sculpture;technology; religion: votive
Source Date: 1st century AD
(67) ... Alexandriae statuit unum Ptolemaeus Philadelphus (67). . . Ptolemy Philadelphos set up one (obelisk) in Alexandria of
octoginta cubitorum; exciderat eum Necthebis rex purum, 80 cubits: King Necthebis(Nectanebo) had had it cut out
maiusque opus in deuehendo statuendoue multo† est quam in uninscribed, and it was much more trouble in transporting and
excidendo. a Satyro architecto aliqui deuectum tradunt erecting than in cutting. Some claim it was transported under the
rate, Callixenus a Phoenice, fossa perducto usque ad iacentem direction of the architectSatyros, but Kallixeinos says it was
obeliscum Nilo, (68) nauesque duas in latitudinem patulas, byPhoenix, by digging a trench from the Nile up to the prone
pedalibus ex eodem lapide ad rationem geminati per duplicem obelisk, (68) and that two ships, broad of beam, were loaded with
mensuram ponderis oneratas ita ut subirent obeliscum pendentem cubic feet of the same stone to the double measure of the weight, so
extremitatibus suis in ripis utrimque; postea egestis laterculis that they would go under the obelisk suspended by its ends on each
alleuatas naues excepisse onus; statutum autem in sex talis e monte bank; afterwards, the blocks were removed and the ships, lightened,
eodem, et artificem donatum talentis L. took up the burden (of the obelisk). Moreover, it was erected on six
similar stones from the same mountain, and the engineer was
hic fuit in Arsinoeo positus a rege supra dicto munus amoris, [in] rewarded with 50 talents.
coniuge eademque sorore Arsinoe.
This one was placed in the Arsinoeion by the aforementioned king as
a gift of love, for his wife and likewise sister, Arsinoë.
Commentary
Kallixeinos: The Kallixeinos here in Book 36 of Pliny need not be the same as the sculptor of the same name in Book 34 (see T 1).
The Kallixeinos here was evidently a writer on events in Alexandria who had an interest in technology and architecture, which is the
basis for identifying him withKallixeinos of Rhodes.
Ptolemy Philadelphos married his sister Arsinoë in March of 278 BC, and reigned with her until her death 270 BC, after which he
reigned alone until 246 BC. Although the obelisk as a munus amoris(‘gift of love’) is more likely to have been erected after the
wedding and before her death, it could have been intended as a posthumous memorial. She was honored together with Philadelphos as
a divinity even in her lifetime: see Theokritos, Idyll 17.131-4; for the date, c. 274–270 BC, see A.S.F. Gow, Theocritus 2 (Cambridge
1950), 326, 339–40.
Necthebis: ‘Necthebis’ refers to one or the other of two Pharaohs of the fourth century BC (in the 30th and last Dynasty of Egypt),
whose name is more usually transcribed as ‘Nectanebo’; Pliny may have written (or read) NECTNEBIS, which would be quite close to
a more precise transcription ‘Nekhtnebef’ from the Egyptian: H. de Meulenaere, ‘Nektanebos II’, in W. Helck and E. Otto
(eds.),Lexikon der Ägyptologie 4 (1982), 451–3; J.A. Josephson, ‘Nektanebo’, in D.B. Redford (ed.),Oxford Encyclopedia of Ancient
Egypt 2 (2001), 517–18. The second Pharaoh of the name, who reigned c. 359/8 – c. 342/1 BC, was by far the more famous in Greco-
Roman literature, and appears in the Alexander Romance as Alexander’s true father; his sudden defeat by the Persians and consequent
flight to Nubia left many monuments and works unfinished, consistent with Pliny’s report.
Satyros: Satyros cannot have been the well-known architect Satyros of Paros, active c. 350 BC (see Miles in P.T. Keyser and G.L.
Irby-Massie, Encyclopedia of Ancient Natural Scientists (London 2008), 727–8), and Pliny must be referring to the writer on
Alexandria ( BNJ 631). That writer is not otherwise called an architect, and the confusion is likely due to Pliny.
Phoenix: ‘Phoenix’ is probably a mistake by Pliny for the likely ‘Phoenician’ of Kallixeinos, as inF 1.37 (204C), i.e., the same
tradition as the engineer from Phoenicia who created the dry dock forPtolemy Philopator, c. 215 BC. This engineer of the obelisk must
have been in the generation afterKallias of Arados (himself c. 305 BC), and one or two generations before Philopator’s engineer of the
dry dock. Philopator also married his sister, also named Arsinoë, 220 BC, so that if we suppose Pliny to have written ‘Philadelphus’
when he meant, or had read, ‘Philopator’, the two Phoenician engineers could be the same man. E.E. Rice, The Grand Procession of
Ptolemy Philadelphus(London 1983), 154–5, attempts the identification of the two Phoenician engineers by supposing that
‘Philadelphus’ is correct, that the obelisk was not moved until c. 250 BC, and that the dry-dock was constructed already in 220 BC. It
is clear that the Arsinoeion in honor of Arsinoë the sister-wife of Ptolemy II Philadelphos was begun around 270 BC, but her temple
was never finished: see Pliny 34.148, 37.108; and P.M. Fraser, Ptolemaic Alexandria 1 (Oxford 1972), 228–30.
Biographical Essay
Names in Καλλι– (Kalli–) are frequent (see LGPN, 1–5a), especially the eight names Kallias (598), Kallikles (248), Kallikrates (610),
Kallimachos (268), Kallippos (306), Kallisthenes (215), Kallistos (124), and Kallistratos (553), for a total of 2922 out of 5193 attested.
But Kallixe(i)nos is relatively rare, listed only 79 times: see LGPN 1.247 (28, from Rhodes, all but one being 3rd–1st c. BC); 2.250
(17, from Attica, 5th c. BC to 1st c. AD); 3A.232 (2, from Aitolia, 3rd c. BC, from Argos 1st c. BC); and 3B.220–221 (32, from various
locales, 25 being 3rd–2nd c. BC). Thus, the ethnic ‘of Rhodes’ seems likely to be correct. On the other hand, the name is not so rare as
to require identifying all citations with the same person.
Two other writers are attested to have composed works on Alexandria in general: (1) the poet Apollonios of Rhodes, who wrote on its
foundation; and (2) Satyros ( BNJ 631), under Ptolemy Philopator (222–205 BC), who wrote on the demes of Alexandria (see
Theophilos, Ad Autolycum 2.7 ed. R.M. Grant, Theophilus of Antioch Ad Autolycum (Oxford 1970)).
The date of Kallixeinos of Rhodes has been variously determined, with the arguments often adducing his autopsy, or not, of the ships
and procession. He is certainly after 220 BC, since he mentions Philopator and his ships. E.E. Rice, The Grand Procession of Ptolemy
Philadelphus(London 1983), 164–71, rejects arguments based on autopsy or not, and argues (Rice, Grand Procession, 176–9) that
Kallixeinos’s genre places him in the third century BC, thus presumably 220–200 BC. R.A. Hazzard, Imagination of a Monarchy:
Studies in Ptolemaic Propaganda(Toronto, ON 2000), 62, argues that Kallixeinos would only have applied the epithet ‘Philopator’, as
in F 1.37 (203E) and F 1.38 (204D), to Ptolemy posthumously, although as Hazzard, Imagination, 62, shows, the epithet was in
official use during Philopator’s reign. Indeed, above (F 1, F 2), evidence was presented to show that autopsy is not required or even
likely, so that a date after 205 BC is possible. Moreover, his language (F 1, F 2) seems to suggest a date close to Polybios, who was
active c. 180–c. 120 BC. Hazzard further argues (Hazzard, Imagination, 62–3) that the use of the epithet ‘Philadelphos’ at F 2 (203B)
shows that Kallixeinos must be later than c. 165 BC; however, the epithet there seems suspiciously intrusive. After the expulsion of
the scholars from Alexandria in 145 BC (by Ptolemy VIII Physkon, see Menekles of Barca, BNJ 270 F 9), it would have been difficult
for Kallixeinos to consult the kinds of records that he seems to have used (F 1, F 2); as a result, he must have been writing prior to 145
BC. Hazzard, Imagination, 63–4, offers a third argument, that τῆς τῶν βασιλέων συγγενείας at F 1.39 (205F) must mean ‘the
kinsfolk of the king and queen’, a usage that first arises after c. 140 BC. However, the phrase appears to refer simply to ‘the kinsfolk
of the kings’, and thus provides no evidence for date (and the usage of ‘kings’ to mean ‘king and queen’ may have arisen earlier than
our fragmentary evidence suggests). On the whole, it seems we can set Kallixeinos in the decades around 170 BC, perhaps in the
range 190–150 BC. Within that range there is an attractive candidate occasion for the publication of a work On Alexandria that among
other things celebrated the greatness of the Ptolemies and the majesty of the Ptolemaia: the accession of Ptolemy VI Philometor in
180 BC followed by the centennial twenty-sixth celebration of thePtolemaia in 179/8 BC. But that is merely a guess.
Athenaios in Book 5 quotes descriptions of several processions and other kinds of display; see esp. 5.40 (206E–F) where Moschion (c.
200 BC) is quoted for his list of famed descriptions, and then his description of Hieron’s ship built by Archimedes ( BNJ 575 F 1, in
Athenaios 5.40 206F–209E). Athenaios may have been attracted to these texts, not all of which are closely related to his notional
subject, the symposium (cf. 5.1 185A–C), because of their ekphrastic nature, since that was an item of literary study in and prior to his
era. Achilles Tatius, Leukippe and Kleitophon (2nd c. AD), Hermogenes, Progymnasmata (AD c. 175), and Philostratos of
Lemnos, Eikones (c. 230 AD), among many others, were greatly enamored of this mode of writing; see S. Bartsch, Decoding the
Ancient Novel (Princeton, NJ 1989), 3–39; ekphraseis were composed about a wide variety of subjects, especially spectacles
(Bartsch, Decoding, 109–43), including processions.
Kallixeinos wrote at least four books on Alexandria, which if they had the typical length of contemporary book-rolls, implies a very
detailed treatment, since the city was a recent foundation (less than two centuries prior). He included material about two rulers,
Ptolemy Philadelphos (F 2from Book 4, and F 5; reigned 283–246 BC) and Ptolemy Philopator (F 1 from Book 1; reigned 221–205
BC)—but not in chronological order. We do not know, nor can we infer, what other periods or rulers he covered. He included material
on two magnificent ships (F 1), a magnificent tent (F 2), and a magnificent procession (F 2), plus the erection of an obelisk (F 5), and
perhaps some athletic contest (F 4, on one interpretation of the citation). The common element appears to be public works by rulers,
but that impression may only reflect Athenaios’s choice of passages (F 1, F 2, F 4). Since the procession and tent (F 2) were not
preserved in Kallixeinos’s time (decades after they had been displayed), he must have been describing objects and scenes other than
those visible to his contemporaries, therefore he was not writing a periegesis of Alexandria. Whatever else appeared in his work, the
fragments show that he was interested in the technology on display, and even in the technicians (note the attribution of inventions to
men from Phoenicia, F 1, F 5).
Bibliography
L. Casson, Ships and Seamanship in the Ancient World (Princeton, NJ 1971, 1971 ) , 108–12
C.E. Chaffin, ‛The Tessarakonteres Reconsidered’ , BICS 38 ( 1993 ) , 213–28
R.A. Hazzard, Imagination of a Monarchy: Studies in Ptolemaic Propaganda (Toronto, ON 2000, 2000 )
G.L. Irby-Massie, ‛Kallixeinos of Rhodes’ , P.T. Keyser and G.L. Irby-Massie (eds),Encyclopedia of Ancient Natural
Scientists (London 2008, 2008 ) , 466
E.E. Rice, The Grand Procession of Ptolemy Philadelphus (London 1983, 1983 )
D.J. Thompson, ‛Philadelphus’ Procession: Dynastic Power in a Mediterranean Context’ , L. Mooren (ed.), Politics, Administration
and Society in the Hellenistic and Roman World (Leuven 2000, 2000 ) , 365–88
F.W. Walbank, ‛Two Hellenistic Processions: A Matter of Self-Definition’ , SCI 15 ( 1996 ) , 119–30
A. Wegener Sleeswyk and F.J.A.M. Meijer, ‛Launching Philopator’s “Forty”’ , International Journal of Nautical Archaeology 23 (
1994 ) , 115–18
Keyser, Paul T. (Google Inc.)
Cite this page
Keyser, Paul T.. "Kallixeinos of Rhodes (627)." Brill’s New Jacoby. Editor in Chief: Ian Worthington (University of Missouri). Brill
Online, 2014. Reference. <http://referenceworks.brillonline.com /entries/brill-s-new-jacoby/kallixeinos-of-rhodes-627-a627>

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Article Table Of Contents

Source Date: 9th century AD

Historian's Date: 2nd century BC

Source Date: 1st century AD

Historian's Date: 2nd century BC

5. Xenokrates of Sikyon (c. 280 BC): Pliny, HN 1.34, 34.83, 35.68;

Source Date: 3rd century AD

Historian's Date: 170 BC

39 top-sail (παρασείῳ): The word top-sail (παρασείῳ) is first attested here.

• 37 (204A): the length of the under-girdles, on the 40-oar ship

• 38 (205B): the red copper gilded by fire, in the Thalamēgos

• 39 (205F): the gems were ‘real’, in the Thalamēgos

• 39 (206A): the awnings deployed when under sail, on the Thalamēgos

Source Date: 3rd century AD

Historian's Date: 170 BC

διὸ δὴ καὶ κατὰ μέσον χειμῶνα τῆς ὑποδοχῆς τότε

(197C) ἐπεπήγει δὲ τοῦ συμποσίου καταντικρὺ καὶ ἑτέρα

(199A) ἑξῆς εἵλκετο ἄλλη τετράκυκλος, μῆκος πηχῶν

ἑξῆς ἐφέρετο τετράκυκλος μῆκος πηχῶν εἴκοσι πέντε,

μεθ᾽ οὓς ἄλλοι παῖδες ἔφερον κεράμια πρὸς τὴν τοῦ

ἐφέρετο καὶ ἐπ᾽ ἄλλων τετρακύκλων θύρσος

πολλῶν οὖν καὶ ποικίλων εἰρημένων ἐν ταῖς πομπαῖς

ἦσαν δὲ καὶ ἄλλαι τετράκυκλοι οὐ μόνον εἰκόνας

εἶτ᾽ ἀργυρωμάτων ἅμαξαι τετρακόσιαι καὶ χρυσωμάτων

περὶ δὲ βιβλίων πλήθους καὶ βιβλιοθηκῶν κατασκευῆς

κροκοβαφής: Aischylos, Agamemnon 1121;

αἱμοβαφῆ: Sophokles, Ajax 219;

ὑακινθινοβαφῆ: Xenophon, Cyrop. 6.4.2;

χολοίβαφος: Nikander, Ther. 444.

1. troops and cavalry, including elephant-chariots;

6. people carrying silver and gold vessels;

7. multiple costly perfumes distributed to the audience.

2. (197E) Dionysiac procession: Silens;

3. (197F) Dionysiac procession: boys bearing perfumes (frankincense, myrrh, saffron);

4. (197F-198A) Dionysiac procession: Satyrs with painted bodies;

6. (198C) Dionysiac procession: dramatist Philikos and actors;

7. (198C-E) Dionysiac procession: Dionysos and then his Mainads;

8. (198F) Dionysiac procession: Nysa the automaton;

9. (199A-C) Dionysiac procession: wine-press, wine-sack, kratēr;

11. (200B) Dionysiac procession: Scene 1, tableau of Semele’s bedroom;

12. (200B-C) Dionysiac procession: Scene 2, tableau of Nysa’s cave;

18. — (gap of unknown length);

21. (202A-C) Alexander’s procession: Alexander on chryselephantine chariot, symbols of rulership;

23. (202F-203A) procession of Ptolemy Soter: troops and cavalry.

30 (199E) bas-relief (περιφανῆ): See F 1.38 (205C).

Source Date: 3rd century AD

Historian's Date: 170 BC

Source Date: 3rd century AD

Historian's Date: 170 BC

Source Date: 3rd century AD

Historian's Date: 170 BC

Source Date: 3rd century AD

Historian's Date: 170 BC

Source Date: 3rd century AD

Historian's Date: 170 BC

Source Date: 3rd century AD

Historian's Date: 170 BC

Source Date: 3rd century AD