The Thebaid or Thebais (Greek: Θηβαΐδα, Thēbaïda or Θηβαΐς, Thēbaïs) is the region of ancient Egypt containing the thirteen southernmost nomes of Upper Egypt, from Abydos to Aswan. It acquired its name from its proximity to the ancient Egyptian capital of Thebes.
In Ptolemaic Egypt, the Thebaid formed a single administrative district under the Epistrategos of Thebes, who was also responsible for overseeing navigation in the Red Sea and the Indian Ocean.
During the Roman Empire, Diocletian created the province of Thebais, guarded by the legions I Maximiana Thebanorum and II Flavia Constantia. This was later divided in Upper (Latin: Thebais Superior, Greek: Ἄνω Θηβαΐς, Anō Thēbaïs), comprising the southern half with its capital at Thebes, and Lower or Nearer (Latin: Thebais Inferior, Greek: Θηβαΐς Ἐγγίστη, Thēbaïs Engistē), comprising the northern half with capital at Ptolemais.
Around the 5th century, since it was a desert, the Thebaid became a place of retreat of a number of Christian hermits, and was the birthplace of Pachomius.[1] In Christian art, the Thebaid was represented as a place with numerous monks.
References [link]
External Links [link]
- Bagnall, R., J. Drinkwater, A. Esmonde-Cleary, W. Harris, R. Knapp, S. Mitchell, S. Parker, C. Wells, J. Wilkes, R. Talbert, M. E. Downs, M. Joann McDaniel, B. Z. Lund, T. Elliott, S. Gillies. "Places: 991398 (Thebais)". Pleiades. https://pleiades.stoa.org/places/991398. Retrieved March 8, 2012 3:17 pm.
This article incorporates text from the public domain 1907 edition of The Nuttall Encyclopædia.
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Thebaid (Latin poem)
The Thebaid (/ˈθi.beɪˌɪd/; Latin: Thēbaïs) is a Latin epic in 12 books written in dactylic hexameter by Publius Papinius Statius (AD c. 45–c. 96). The poem deals with the Theban cycle and treats the assault of the seven champions of Argos against the city of Thebes.
Composition
Based on Statius' own testimony, the Thebaid was written AD c. 80–c. 92, beginning when the poet was around 35, and the work is thought to have been published in 91 or 92. According to the last verse of the poem, Statius wrote the Thebaid over the course of a dozen years during the reign of Emperor Domitian, although the symmetry of the compositional period, assigning one book per year, has been taken with suspicion by scholars. The poem is divided into twelve books in imitation of Vergil's Aeneid and is composed in 9,748 hexameter verses, the standard meter of Greco-Roman epics. In the Silvae, Statius speaks of his extensive work in polishing and revising the Thebaid and his public recitations of the poem. From the epilogue it seems clear that Statius considered the Thebaid to be his magnum opus and believed that it would secure him fame for the future.
Thebaid (Greek poem)
The Thebaid or Thebais (Greek: Θηβαΐς, Thēbais) is an Ancient Greek epic poem of uncertain authorship (see Cyclic poets) sometimes attributed by early writers to Homer. It told the story of the war between the brothers Eteocles and Polynices, and was regarded as forming part of a Theban Cycle. Only fragments of the text survive.
See also
Select editions and translations
Critical editions
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|title= (help). (The link is to the 1st edition of 1914.) English translation with facing Greek text; now obsolete except for its translations of the ancient quotations.