Codanus Sinus

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Codanus sinus with its numerous islands

Codanus sinus is the Latin name for the Baltic Sea and the Kattegat , possibly also the Skagerrak .

Ancient sources

The ancient name of the river is first mentioned by Pomponius Mela and Pliny as a huge bay on the north coast of Germania with numerous islands lying across the Elbe:

“Great Albim Codanus ingens sinus magnis parvisque insulis refertus est. hac re mare quod gremio litorum accipitur nusquam late patet nec usquam mari simile, verum aquis passim interfluentibus ac saepe transgressis vagum atque diffusum facie amnium spargitur; qua litora attingit, ripis contentum insularum non longe distantibus et ubique paene tantundem, it angustum et par freto, curvansque se subinde longo supercilio inflexum est. "

- Pomponius Mela, De choreographia 3,31

Scandinavia (named at Mela Codannovia ) is mentioned as the largest of these islands :

"Triginta sunt Orcades angustis inter se diductae spatiis. septem Haemodae contra Germaniam vectae in illo sinu quem Codanum diximus; ex iis Scandinavia, quam adhuc Teutoni tenent, ut fecunditate alias ita magnitudine antestat. "

- Pomponius Mela, De choreographia 3.54

In contrast to Pomponius Mela, Pliny apparently means the (present-day) Baltic Sea: “as the Codinus sinus is enclosed by a high mountain range (Saevo) into which the promontory of the Cimbri (Cape Skagen) ends and u. a. the 'island' of Scandinavia washed around "

“Incipit deinde clarior aperiri fama from gente Inguaeonum, quae est great in Germania. mons Saevo ibi, inmensus nec Ripaeis iugis minor, inmanem ad Cimbrorum usque promunturium efficit sinum, qui Codanus vocatur, refertus insulis, quarum clarissima est Scatinavia, inconpertae magnitudinis, portionem tantum eius, quodum notum sit, Hillevionum quente: inc terrarum eam appellant. nec minor est opinione Aeningia. "

- Pliny the Elder, Naturalis historia 4.96

interpretation

Codanus sinus in the Roman worldview according to Pomponius Mela in a map of the 19th century

The interpretation of the text passages at Mela with regard to the range of the waters meant by Codanus sinus ranges from the western part of the Baltic Sea, which today can be roughly described as the Bay of Lübeck, via Skagerrak and Kattegat, to the entire Baltic Sea including Kattegat and Skagerrak.

It is unclear whether the two authors used the same source or whether Pliny essentially made use of the undoubtedly older records of the Mela. In any case, the ideas of Pliny and Mela about the position and extent of the Codanus sinus were obviously not completely congruent. This is indicated, among other things, by the reference at Mela to a tidal influence in this body of water. Accordingly, the eastern North Sea would be meant. Various authors assume that the later description by Pliny, in which references to a tidal sea can no longer be found, is related to misinterpretations of the Mela writings, which he is beyond doubt. Among other things, this goes back to actual or supposed contradictions in Mela's writings between the geographical location of the area and the description of the tribes that inhabit these coastal stretches. However, the differences are also related to the vague ideas about the extent of the land masses in the area of ​​the eastern North Sea and the western Baltic Sea in antiquity, so that the ideas about the marine areas themselves were also blurred. Although the original geographical meaning of Codanus sinus , i.e. that of Mela, would be more likely to be equated with the eastern North Sea as far as the Skagerrak and Kattegat, historical science later oriented itself primarily on the text of Pliny and the meaning derived from it as western Baltic Sea has prevailed.

Etymological

The origin of the name is still controversial today. One of several explanations is based on the assumption that Codanus is derived from the ahd. Quoden , which means something like stomach or womb and this name refers to the round coastline of the southern Baltic Sea.

literature

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ POMPONIUS MELA DE CHOROGRAPHIA LIBER TERTIUS 3.31 ( Latin ) thelatinlibrary.com. Retrieved February 12, 2019.
  2. ↑ See Kai Brodersen (ed.): Pomponius Mela - Cruise through the Old World. Lat.-dt., Wissenschaftliche Buchgesellschaft, Darmstadt 1994, pp. 152–55, ISBN 3-534-12349-2 . Brodersen translates: “Above the Albis (the Elbe) lies the huge Codanus Gulf (Baltic Sea), full of large and small islands. As a result, the sea, which is taken up in the lap of these coasts, nowhere forms wide expanses and therefore nowhere resembles a sea; rather, since its floods penetrate in many places and often even step over (to land), it appears irregular and rambling, more like streams broken up. Where it meets coasts, it is narrowed and like an arm of the sea by the shores of islands, which are not far away everywhere almost at the same distance; afterwards it describes a curve and forms a long curved indentation. "
  3. ↑ POMPONIUS MELA DE CHOROGRAPHIA LIBER TERTIUS 3.54 ( Latin ) thelatinlibrary.com. Retrieved February 12, 2019.
  4. ↑ See ibid. Pp. 164–67. Brodersen translates as: “There are thirty orcades islands (Orkneys), only separated from one another by narrow spaces. Seven Hemodes Islands (Denmark) lie opposite Germania in the Codanus Gulf mentioned above; Of these, Scandinavia, which is still owned by the Teutons today, surpasses the others in fertility and also in size. "
  5. ↑ See Reinhard Wenskus: Codanus Sinus . In: Reallexikon der Germanischen Altertumskunde . No. 5 . de Gruyter, Berlin 1982, ISBN 3-11-009635-8 , p. 39 .
  6. ↑ C. PLINII NATVRALIS HISTORIAE LIBER IV 4.96 ( Latin ) thelatinlibrary.com. Retrieved February 12, 2019.
  7. ↑ See Karl Müllenhoff: Deutsche Altertumskunde . No. 1 . Berlin 1870.