#antic

• Abaris — A legendary figure in Greek mythology, known as Abaris the Hyperborean, a priest of Apollo, healer, and shaman attested by Pindar and Herodotus. In the history of medicine and anthropology, he is studied as a representative of archaic pre-scientific medical practices (iatromantis), curing epidemics through incantations, exorcisms, and spiritual purification rituals.
• Abason (illness entity) — A rare archaic and mythological term found in medieval superstitions and magic-medical manuscripts of Southern Europe, representing the demonic personification of an acute mental illness or furious delirium. In ancient empirical medicine, severe epileptic seizures or psychotic episodes were often attributed to possession by Abason, with healing attempted through charms, exorcisms, and fumigations with sedative plants.
• Anti-brush border antibody disease — Anti-brush border antibody (ABBA) disease is a rare autoimmune kidney condition, specifically a form of tubulointerstitial nephritis, characterized by autoantibodies targeting the LRP2 (megalin) protein in the proximal tubules, leading to acute tubular injury and progressive renal failure.
• Abdera — Ancient Greek city in Thrace, famous in medical history as the birthplace of Democritus, the atomist philosopher who influenced early physiological theories, and visited by Hippocrates, who described local epidemic cases in his treatise 'On Epidemics'.
• The Abilii — A historical demonym used to designate the inhabitants of the ancient city of Abila or the surrounding province of Abilene. In Roman administrative documents and the writings of ancient geographers, the population of this area was recognized for its agricultural organization around the Barada River and close cultural interactions with Syrian and Hellenistic civilizations.
• Abolla cloak — A thick woolen cloak or cape worn in Antiquity by Roman soldiers and officers. Later, the garment was adopted by Stoic and Cynic philosophers in the Roman Empire, becoming a distinctive symbol of austere status, wisdom, or senatorial rank.
• Aborigines — A historical, ethnological, and anthropological name used internationally to denote the indigenous populations native to Australia (Australian Aborigines) who inhabited the continent prior to the arrival of European colonizers; (in ancient history) a term used by classical Roman authors to refer to the earliest mythological or prehistoric inhabitants of the Latium region in Italy, considered to have been settled there 'from the beginning' (ab origine).
• Abrittus — An ancient Roman city and major fortress in the province of Moesia Inferior, located near the modern town of Razgrad in northeastern Bulgaria; famous in history as the site of the Battle of Abrittus in 251 AD, where the Roman Emperor Decius and his son Herennius Etruscus were defeated and killed by the Goths led by King Cniva.
• Abu Simbel — A monumental archaeological complex located in Nubia, southern Egypt, consisting of two massive rock-cut temples carved during the reign of Pharaoh Ramesses II. Intended to celebrate the victory at Kadesh and to deify the royal couple, the complex is famous both for the four colossal statues of the pharaoh at the entrance and for a world-scale engineering operation in the 1960s, when it was entirely dismantled and relocated to save it from flooding caused by the construction of the Aswan High Dam.
• Abydos — One of the oldest and most significant cities of ancient Egypt, situated upstream from Thebes, famous as the primary religious center of the cult of Osiris. The archaeological site houses early royal necropolises, invaluable funerary monuments, the underground Osireion complex, and the famous cenotaph temple of Pharaoh Seti I, on whose walls lies the 'King List', an essential chronology of Egyptian dynasties. (Note: The term also designates an ancient Greek colony located on the Asiatic side of the Hellespont).
• Abyla — The classical name, of Phoenician origin, attributed in Greco-Roman antiquity to the mountainous promontory in North Africa (identified today with Mount Hacho or Jebel Musa near the enclave of Ceuta). Together with Mount Calpe (Gibraltar) on the opposite, European shore, it formed the legendary assembly known as the 'Pillars of Hercules', marking the ultimate limit of the known and navigable world in ancient collective thought.
• Academus — A legendary hero from ancient Attic mythology, whose primary historical and cultural significance derives from his connection to the origins of Western education. Academos owned an estate and a sacred olive grove (located northwest of Athens) where, according to myth, he helped the Dioscuri rescue Helen. This sacred grove, named 'Hekademeia' or 'Akademeia' in his honor, was later chosen by the philosopher Plato in 387 BC as the site for his famous school, transforming the hero's name into the universal etymological root for 'academy' and 'academic'.
• Acamas — The name borne by several heroes in Greek mythology, the most famous being the son of Theseus and Phaedra, mentioned in the epic cycles related to the Trojan War. He distinguished himself as an emissary sent to Troy to demand the return of Helen and as one of the brave warriors who hid inside the Trojan Horse. Broadly, the name also refers to other mythological figures, such as a Thracian leader killed in battle or a Theban warrior in the Seven against Thebes war.
• Acana — An ancient unit of measurement for length used in Greece and Persia, representing a measuring rod ten feet long (approximately three meters). In a secondary historical sense, the term also designated a square area of land determined by this rod. The concept is attested in ancient writings on land surveying and historical metrology, serving as an important indicator of agrarian organization in Antiquity.
• Acarnan — A Greek mythological hero, one of the Epigoni, and the son of the seer Alcmaeon and the nymph Callirhoe (daughter of the river god Achelous). According to legend, Zeus miraculously accelerated his and his brother Amphoterus's growth so they could avenge their murdered father. He later migrated to the western coast of central Greece, where he founded the ancient state and region named after him: Acarnania.
• Acarnania — A traditional historical and geographical region located in western central Greece, bounded to the west by the Ionian Sea, to the north by the Ambracian Gulf, and separated to the east from Aetolia by the Achelous River. In antiquity, it operated as a distinct tribal federal state, notable for its military resistance during the Peloponnesian War and strategic alliances with Macedon before its conquest by the Roman Empire in 168 BC. Today, it forms part of the regional administrative unit of Aetolia-Acarnania, renowned for its abundant water resources and unique wetlands.
• Acastus — A Greek mythological hero and king of Iolcus, son of Pelias and Anaxibia. He participated in the famous Argonauts' expedition in search of the Golden Fleece (going against his father's will) and took part in the Calydonian Boar hunt. Following his father's murder instigated by Medea, Acast ascended the throne, expelled Jason and Medea, and organized grand funeral games, a legendary episode widely celebrated in ancient poetry and art.
• Acrolith — A type of statue from classical antiquity (especially Greek) constructed structuraly from a combination of materials: the visible extremities were carved from marble, while the torso was made of wood.
• Acron — A proper name of Greek origin borne by historical or mythological figures, the most notable being Acron of Agrigentum (a 5th-century BC physician-philosopher, contemporary with Empedocles, recognized for his empirical contributions in combating the plague of Athens). In geography, the term can describe a high topographical feature or an ancient city, preserving the Greek structural meaning of prominence or extremity.
• Acronte — A proper name of ancient origin borne by characters in classical mythology or major epics of world literature. The most notable is Acronte (or Acheron), a figure mentioned in Virgil's Aeneid, representing a Trojan warrior of exceptional physical strength killed in battle by Mezentius, his name being etymologically closely linked to the dark connotations of the infernal river in Greek mythology.