Alcimoennis

Location from Alkimoennis to Ptolemy

Alcimoennis even Alkimoennis ( Greek  Άλκιμοεννίς , Άλκιμοννίς, Έλκιμοεννίς; Latin: Helcimoennis ), a local name used by Ptolemy in his created around the year 150 work Geographia considered one in the southern magna Germania north of the upper Danube (πόλεις) lying places with 32 ° 30 'longitude and 47 ° 30' latitude. In research, the name of the settlement is traditionally associated with the medieval river name of the Altmühl . So far the ancient place could not be clearly localized despite some attempts.

Ancient sources

The name of the settlement occurs only with Ptolemy, in a list of 94 places in Germania magna. The list was probably derived from Roman itineraries and transferred to a constructed network of longitudes and latitudes.

etymology

The name of the settlement Alcimoennis is traditionally associated with the river name of the Altmühl , which was called Alcmona , Alcmuna and similar in the Middle Ages . At the same time, an old European origin of the name is suspected. Already Johann Kaspar Zeuss and afterwards Carolus Müller and Theodor Steche assumed a connection between the place name Alcimoennis and the river name of the Altmühl, which, however, has only been known as Alcmona since the year 793 . The localization by the team around Kleineberg, on the other hand, moves the meaning of - moennis near mansio , the Latin name for a Roman street station, and ´alki -, ´alci - or helci - near calco (Pl. Calchi ), a derivative of the Latin calcare for limestone. Perhaps the place name Alcimoennis is also derived from the Latin word moenia ("walls, fortifications"). On the other hand, it is possible to have a connection with the suffix - mana , - mannia , - menni (a) , - minni appearing in water names .

Localizations

Alcimoennis is from research because of the supposed connection to the Altmühl usually with the Vindeliker - Oppidum Michelsberg in Kelheim , near the fort Gunzenhausen identified. An interdisciplinary research team led by Andreas Kleineberg, who re-examined and interpreted the information given by Ptolemy ^, meanwhile , is locating Alcimoennis with the corrected ancient coordinates ( ^▼ 48.550079,10.300026) in the area of ​​today's Sontheim an der Brenz in Baden-Württemberg . In the field of Sontheim was already around the year 100 on the Roman highway , the provincial capitals Augusta Vindelicorum ( Augsburg ) and Mogontiacum ( Mainz a bandage), Roman road station created, the settlement was expanded several times in succession. In the 2nd century AD, Sontheim was a road junction with an extensive rest station at the intersection of the road from Guntia ( Günzburg ) to Aquileia ( Heidenheim an der Brenz ) and the Danube north road from Ad Lunam ( originating castle ) to Castra Regina ( Regensburg ) . Limestone mining began in the vicinity as early as the middle of the first century.

Remarks

1. ↑ ( Ptolemy, Geographia 2, 11, 15 ).
2. ↑ Cf. Gerhard Rasch: Ancient geographical names north of the Alps. With a contribution by Hermann Reichert: Germania in the point of view of Ptolemy . In: Stefan Zimmer (Hrsg.): Reallexikon der Germanischen Altertumskunde : Supplementary volumes . No. 47 . de Gruyter, Berlin 2005 (meaning about "elk river").
3. ^ Johann Kaspar Zeuss : The Germans and their neighboring tribes. Munich 1837 (reprint Heidelberg 1925), p. 13.
4. ^ Theodor Steche : Old Germania in the geography book of Claudius Ptolemy. Leipzig 1937, p. 173.
5. ^ Johann Jakob Egli : Nomia Geographica. Language and factual explanation of 42,000 geographical names of all regions of the world. Leipzig 1893, p. 30.
6. ↑ See Hermann Hinz :  Baustoffe. In: Reallexikon der Germanischen Altertumskunde (RGA). 2nd Edition. Volume 2, Walter de Gruyter, Berlin / New York 1976, ISBN 3-11-006740-4 , p. 112.
7. ↑ Cf. Günther Christian Hansen : Klaudios Ptolemaios (Commentary on GH II, 11). In: Greek and Latin sources on the early history of Central Europe. 3rd part: From Tacitus to Ausonius. Berlin 1991, pp. 553-589.
8. ^ Adolf Bach : German onomastics. Volume 2.1. Heidelberg 1956, p. 156.
9. ^ Dieter Planck : The Romans in Baden-Württemberg. Stuttgart 2005, p. 321 ff.

literature

• Maximilian Ihm : Alkimoennis . In: Paulys Realencyclopadie der classischen Antiquity Science (RE). Volume I, 2, Stuttgart 1894, Col. 1541 f.
• Johann Baptist Keune : Altmühl . In: Paulys Realencyclopadie der classischen Antiquity Science (RE). Supplement volume III, Stuttgart 1918, column 88. (contains older literature)
• Reinhard Wenskus :  Alkimo tennis. In: Reallexikon der Germanischen Altertumskunde (RGA). 2nd Edition. Volume 1, Walter de Gruyter, Berlin / New York 1973, ISBN 3-11-004489-7 , p. 171. ( online )
• Hermann Reichert: Ptolemaeus . In: Reallexikon der Germanischen Altertumskunde . No. 23 . de Gruyter, Berlin 2003, ISBN 3-11-017535-5 , p. 567-597 .
• Alfred Stückelberger, Gerd Graßhoff (ed.): Ptolemaios, Handbook of Geography (Greek-German) . Schwabe Verlag, Basel 2006, ISBN 3-7965-2148-7 (work in 2 half-volumes. 1020 pages with 24 illustrations and 29 maps, with CD-ROM).
• Gerhard Rasch: Ancient geographical names north of the Alps. With a contribution by Hermann Reichert: Germania in the point of view of Ptolemy . In: Stefan Zimmer (Hrsg.): Reallexikon der Germanischen Altertumskunde : Supplementary volumes . No. 47 . de Gruyter, Berlin 2005.
• Andreas Kleineberg, Christian Marx, Eberhard Knobloch , Dieter Lelgemann: Germania and the island of Thule. The decryption of Ptolemy's “Atlas of the Oikumene” . Wissenschaftliche Buchgesellschaft, Darmstadt 2011, ISBN 978-3-534-24525-3 (131 pages with partly colored maps).
• Michael Nick, Gabriele Seitz:  Sontheim. In: Reallexikon der Germanischen Altertumskunde (RGA). 2nd Edition. Volume 29, Walter de Gruyter, Berlin / New York 2005, ISBN 3-11-018360-9 , pp. 246–249. ( online )

Web links

• Edition of Geographike Hyphegesis with translation and map of Germania magna , accessed on March 3, 2015
• Google Earth in ancient times. In: Der Spiegel. 39/2010, accessed March 3, 2015