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σπεῖρα

σπεῖρα, coil, rope; military unit, Roman manipulus

σπεῖρα, ἡ,
  • anything twisted or wound, ποιεῖν τι οἷον σπεῖραν twist it into a ball, Hp. Morb. 2.33.
      • 2 pl., coils or spires of a serpent, S. Fr. 535 (anap.), Ar. Fr. 500; πολύπλοκοι σ. E. Med. 481, cf. Ion 1164: so in sg., Nic. Th. 156, A.R. 4.151, Arat. 47, 89, etc.
      • 3 rope, cord, Nic. Fr. 74.21, f.l. in Hp. Steril. 235; σπείραισι δικτυοκλώστοις with the netʼs meshy folds, S. Ant. 346 (lyr.); shipʼs cable, Plu. Garr. 2.507b; padded circle used by women carrying weights on their head, Aët. 12.55; so by Atlas, Apollod. 2.5.11; as a lamp-stand, ἀρτεμισίας σ. ἐπὶ τὸν λύχνον PMag.Lond. 121.601 (cf. σπειρίον III); round cushion, IG 5(1).1390.24 (Andania, i B.C.).
      • 4 a mode of dressing the hair, Poll. 2.31, 4.149.
      • 5 σ. βόειαι thongs or straps of ox-hide to guard and arm a boxerʼs fist, Theoc. 22.80.
      • 6 knot or curl in wood, Thphr. HP 5.2.3, Plin. HN 16.198.
      • 7 a kind of cheesecake (al. σπῖρα), Chrysipp.Tyan. ap. Ath. 14.647d.
      • 8 rounded moulding in the base of an Ionic or Corinthian column, torus, IG 1(2).372.64, Sardis 7(1) No.181 (i A.D.), CIG 2713-14 (Labranda), Poll. 7.121, Vitr. 3.5.3.
      • 9 Geom., anchor-ring, tore, produced by revolution of a circle about a line in its plane but not passing through the centre, Hero *Deff. 97, Procl. in Euc. p.119 F.
    • II Milit., tactical unit, in the Ptolemaic army, BGU 1806.4 (i B.C.); used to translate the Roman manipulus, Plb. 11.23.1, al., Str. 12.3.18, Plu. Aem. 17; κατὰ σπείρας,= Lat. manipulatim, Plb. 3.115.12; later, cohort, Act. Ap. 10.1, J. BJ 3.4.2, IGRom. 1.10 (Massilia), 1373 (Egypt), al., OGI 208.2 (Nubia, ii A.D.), al. (gen. in this sense always σπείρης, Act.Ap. l.c., POxy. 477.3 (ii A.D.), BGU 73 (ii A.D.), OGI l.c., etc.).
      • 2 = θίασος, religious college or guild, gen. σπείρης IG 14.925 (Portus Trajani); dat. σπείρῃ ib. 977 (Rome), Inscr.Perg. 319,320; nom. σπεῖρα AEM 14.28 (Roumania); Lat. spira, CIL 6.261 (Rome), al. (cf. σπειράρχης).

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