A

ĂBĂCUS (ἄβαξ), denoted primarily a square tablet of any description, and was hence employed in the following significations:—(1) A table, or side-board, chiefly used for the display of gold and silver cups, and other kinds of valuable and ornamental utensils. The use of abaci was first introduced at Rome from Asia Minor after the victories of Cn. Manlius Vulso, B.C. 187, and their introduction was regarded as one of the marks of the growing luxury of the age.—(2) A draught-board or chess-board.—(3) A board used by mathematicians for drawing diagrams, and by arithmeticians for the purposes of calculation.—(4) A painted panel, coffer, or square compartment in the wall or ceiling of a chamber.—(5) In architecture, the flat square stone which constituted the highest member of a column, being placed immediately under the architrave.

ABOLLA, a cloak chiefly worn by soldiers, and thus opposed to the toga, the garb of peace. [Toga.] The abolla was used by the lower classes at Rome, and consequently by the philosophers who affected severity of manners and life. Hence the expression of Juvenal, facinus majoris abollae,—“a crime committed by a very deep philosopher.”

ABRŎGĀTĬO. [Lex.]

ABSŎLŪTĬO. [Judex.]

ĂCAENA (ἀκαίνη, ἄκαινα, or in later Greek ἄκενα, in one place ἄκαινον), a measuring rod of the length of ten Greek feet. It was used in measuring land, and thus resembles the Roman decempeda.

ĂCATĬUM (ἀκάτιον, a diminutive of ἄκατος), a small vessel or boat used by the Greeks, which appears to have been the same as the Roman scapha. The Acatia were also sails adapted for fast sailing.

ACCENSUS. (1) A public officer, who attended on several of the Roman magistrates. The Accensi summoned the people to the assemblies, and those who had law-suits to court; they preserved order in the courts, and proclaimed the time of the day when it was the third hour, the sixth hour, and the ninth hour. An accensus anciently preceded the consul who had not the fasces, which custom, after being long disused, was restored by Julius Cæsar in his first consulship. Accensi also attended on the governors of provinces.—(2) The accensi were also a class of soldiers in the Roman army, who were enlisted after the full number of the legion had been completed, in order to supply any vacancies that might occur in the legion. They were taken, according to the census of Servius Tullius, from the fifth class of citizens, and were placed in battle in the rear of the army, behind the triarii.

ACCLĀMĀTĬO, was the public expression of approbation or disapprobation, pleasure or displeasure, by loud acclamations. On many occasions, there appear to have been certain forms of acclamations always used by the Romans; as, for instance, at marriages, Io Hymen, Hymenaee, or Talassio; at triumphs, Io Triumphe; at the conclusion of plays, the last actor called out Plaudite to the spectators; orators were usually praised by such expressions as Bene et praeclare, Belle et festive, Non potest melius, &c. Under the empire the name of acclamationes was given to the praises and flatteries bestowed by the senate upon the reigning emperor and his family.

ACCŬBĀTĬO, the act of reclining at meals. The Greeks and Romans were accustomed, in later times, to recline at their meals; but this practice could not have been of great antiquity in Greece, since Homer always describes persons as sitting at their meals; and Isidore of Seville, an ancient grammarian, also attributes the same custom to the ancient Romans. Even in the time of the early Roman emperors, children in families of the highest rank used to sit together, while their fathers and elders reclined on couches at the upper part of the room. Roman ladies continued the practice of sitting at table, even after the recumbent position had become common with the other sex. It appears to have been considered more decent, and more agreeable to the severity and purity of ancient manners, for women to sit, more especially if many persons were present. But, on the other hand, we find cases of women reclining, where there was conceived to be nothing bold or indelicate in their posture. Such is the case in the preceding woodcut, which seems intended to represent a scene of matrimonial felicity. For an account of the disposition of the couches, and of the place which each guest occupied in a Greek and Roman entertainment, see Symposium and Triclinium.

ACCŪSĀTOR, ACCŪSĀTIO. [Judex.]

ĂCERRA (θυμιατήριον, λιβανωτρίς), the incense-box or censer used in sacrifices. The acerra was also a small moveable altar placed before the dead, on which perfumes were burnt. The use of acerrae at funerals was forbidden by a law of the Twelve Tables as an unnecessary expense.

ĂCĒTABŬLUM (ὀξίς, ὀξύβαφον, ὀξυβάφιον). (1) A vinegar-cup, wide and open above, as we see in the annexed cut. The name was also given to all cups resembling it in size and form, to whatever use they might be applied.—(2) A Roman measure of capacity, fluid and dry. It was one-fourth of the hemian, and therefore one-eighth of the sextarius.

ĂCHĀĬCUM FOEDUS. The Achaean league is divided into two periods. 1. The earlier period.—When the Heracleidae took possession of Peloponnesus, which had until then been chiefly inhabited by Achaeans, a portion of the latter, under Tisamenus, turned northwards and occupied the north coast of Peloponnesus. The country thus occupied derived from them its name of Achaia, and contained twelve confederate towns, which were governed by the descendants of Tisamenus, till at length they abolished the kingly rule after the death of Ogyges, and established a democracy. In the time of Herodotus the twelve towns of which the league consisted were: Pellene, Aegeira, Aegae, Bura, Helice, Aegium, Rhypes (Rhypae), Patreis (ae), Phareis (ae), Olenus, Dyme, and Tritaeeis (Tritaea). After the time of Herodotus, Rhypes and Aegae disappeared from the number, and Ceryneia and Leontium stepped into their place. The bond which united the towns of the league was not so much a political as a religious one, as is shown by the common sacrifice offered at Helice to Poseidon, and after the destruction of that town, at Aegium to Zeus, surnamed Homagyrius, and to Demeter Panachaea. The confederation exercised no great influence in the affairs of Greece down to the time when it was broken up by the Macedonians. 2. The later period.—When Antigonus in B.C. 281 made the unsuccessful attempt to deprive Ptolemaeus Ceraunus of the Macedonian throne, the Achaeans availed themselves of the opportunity of shaking off the Macedonian yoke, and renewing their ancient confederation. The grand object however now was no longer a common worship, but a real political union among the confederates. The fundamental laws were, that henceforth the confederacy should form one inseparable state, that each town, which should join it, should have equal rights with the others, and that all members, in regard to foreign countries, should be considered as dependent, and bound to obey in every respect the federal government, and those officers who were entrusted with the executive. Aegium was the seat of the government, and it was there that the citizens of the various towns met at regular and stated times, to deliberate upon the common affairs of the league, and if it was thought necessary, upon those of separate towns, and even of individuals, and to elect the officers of the league. The league acquired its great strength in B.C. 251, when Aratus united Sicyon, his native place, with it, and some years later gained Corinth also for it. Megara, Troezene, and Epidaurus soon followed their example. Afterwards Aratus persuaded all the more important towns of Peloponnesus to join the confederacy, and thus Megalopolis, Argos, Hermione, Phlius, and others were added to it. In a short period the league reached the height of its power, for it embraced Athens, Megara, Aegina, Salamis, and the whole of Peloponnesus, with the exception of Sparta, Elis, Tegea, Orchomenos, and Mantineia. The common affairs of the confederate towns were regulated at general meetings attended by the citizens of all the towns, and held regularly twice every year, in the spring and in the autumn. These meetings, which lasted three days, were held in a grove of Zeus Homagyrius in the neighbourhood of Aegium, and near a sanctuary of Demeter Panachaea. Every citizen, both rich and poor, who had attained the age of thirty, might attend the assemblies, to which they were invited by a public herald, and might speak and propose any measure. The subjects which were to be brought before the assembly were prepared by a council (βουλή), which seems to have been permanent. The principal officers of the confederacy were: 1. At first two strategi (στρατηγοί), but after the year B.C. 255 there was only one, who in conjunction with an hipparchus (ἴππαρχος) or commander of the cavalry and an under-strategus (ὑποστρατηγός) commanded the army furnished by the confederacy, and was entrusted with the whole conduct of war; 2. A public secretary (γραμματεύς); and, 3. Ten demiurgi (δημιουργοί). All the officers of the league were elected in the assembly held in the spring, at the rising of the Pleiades, and legally they were invested with their several offices only for one year, though it frequently happened that men of great merit and distinction were re-elected for several successive years. If one of the officers died during the period of his office, his place was filled by his predecessor, until the time for the new elections arrived. The perpetual discord of the members of the league, the hostility of Sparta, the intrigues of the Romans, and the folly and rashness of the later strategi, brought about not only the destruction and dissolution of the confederacy, but of the freedom of all Greece, which after the fall of Corinth, in B.C. 146, became a Roman province under the name of Achaia.

ĂCĬES. [Exercitus.]

ĂCĪNĂCĒS (ἀκινάκης), a Persian sword, whence Horace speaks of the Medus acinaces. The acinaces was a short and straight weapon, and thus differed from the Roman sica, which was curved. It was worn on the right side of the body, whereas the Greeks and Romans usually had their swords suspended on the left side. The form of the acinaces, with the mode of wearing it, is illustrated by the following Persepolitan figures.

ACISCŬLUS. [Ascia.]

ĀCLIS, a kind of dart with a leathern thong attached to it. [Amentum.]

ACROĀMA (ἀκρόαμα), which properly means any thing heard, was the name given to a concert of players on different musical instruments, and also to an interlude performed during the exhibition of the public games. The word is also applied to the actors and musicians who were employed to amuse guests during an entertainment, and is sometimes used to designate the anagnostae. [Anagnostes.]

ACRŎLĬTHI (ἀκρόλιθοι), statues, of which the extremities only were of marble, and the remaining part of the body of wood either gilt or covered with drapery.

ACRŎPŎLIS (ἀκρόπολις). In almost all Greek states, which were usually built upon a hill, rock, or some natural elevation, there was a castle or a citadel, erected upon the highest part of the rock or hill, to which the name of Acropolis, higher or upper city, was given. Thus we read of an acropolis at Athens, Corinth, Argos, Messene, and many other places. The Capitolium at Rome answered the same purpose as the Acropolis in the Greek cities; and of the same kind were the tower of Agathocles at Utica, and that of Antonia at Jerusalem.

ACROSTŎLĬUM. [Navis.]

ACRŎTĒRĬUM (ἀκρωτήριον), signifies the extremity of any thing, and was applied by the Greeks to the extremities of the prow of a vessel (ἀκροστόλιον), which were usually taken from a conquered vessel as a mark of victory: the act of doing so was called ἀκρωτηριάζειν. In architecture it signifies, 1. The sloping roof of a building. 2. The pediment. 3. The pedestals for statues placed on the summit of a pediment. In sculpture it signifies the extremities of a statue, as wings, feet, hands, &c.

ACTA. (1) The public acts and orders of a Roman magistrate, which after the expiration of his office were submitted to the senate for approval or rejection. Under the empire, all the magistrates when entering upon their office on the 1st of January swore approval of the acts of the reigning emperor.—(2) Acta Forensia were of two kinds: first, those relating to the government, as leges, plebiscita, edicta, the names of all the magistrates, &c., which formed part of the tabulae publicae; and secondly, those connected with the courts of law.—(3) Acta Militaria, contained an account of the duties, numbers, and expenses of each legion, and were probably preserved in the military treasury founded by Augustus.—(4) Acta Senatus, called also Commentarii Senatus and Acta Patrum, contained an account of the various matters brought before the senate, the opinions of the chief speakers, and the decision of the house. By command of Julius Caesar they were published regularly every day as part of the government gazette. Augustus forbade the publication of the proceedings of the senate, but they still continued to be preserved, and one of the most distinguished senators was chosen by the emperor to compile the account.—(5) Acta Diurna, a gazette published daily at Rome by the authority of the government, during the later times of the republic and under the empire, corresponding in some measure to our newspapers. They were also called Acta Publica, Acta Urbana, Acta Rerum Urbanarum, Acta Populi, and sometimes simply Acta or Diurna. They contained, 1. A list of births and deaths in the city, an account of the money paid into the treasury from the provinces, and every thing relating to the supply of corn. 2. Extracts from the Acta Forensia. 3. Extracts from the Acta Senatus. 4. A court circular, containing an account of the births, deaths, festivals, and movements of the imperial family. 5. An account of such public affairs and foreign wars as the government thought proper to publish. 6. Curious and interesting occurrences, such as prodigies and miracles, the erection of new edifices, the conflagration of buildings, funerals, sacrifices, a list of the various games, and especially curious tales and adventures, with the names of the parties.

ACTĬA (ἄκτια), a festival celebrated every four years at Actium in Epirus, with wrestling, horse-racing, and sea-fights, in honour of Apollo. There was a celebrated temple of Apollo at Actium. After the defeat of Antony off Actium, Augustus enlarged the temple, and instituted games to be celebrated every five years in commemoration of his victory.

ACTĬO, is defined by a Roman jurist to be the right of pursuing by judicial means what is a man’s due. The old actions of the Roman law were called legis actiones or legitimae, either because they were expressly provided for by the laws of the Twelve Tables, or because they were strictly adapted to the words of the laws, and therefore could not be varied. But these forms of action gradually fell into disuse, in consequence of the excessive nicety required, and the failure consequent on the slightest error in the pleadings, and they were eventually abolished by the Lex Aebutia, and two Leges Juliae, except in a few cases. In the old Roman constitution, the knowledge of the law was most closely connected with the institutes and ceremonial of religion, and was accordingly in the hands of the patricians alone, whose aid their clients were obliged to ask in all their legal disputes. App. Claudius Caecus, perhaps one of the earliest writers on law, drew up the various forms of actions, probably for his own use and that of his friends: the manuscript was stolen or copied by his scribe Cn. Flavius, who made it public; and thus, according to the story, the plebeians became acquainted with those legal forms which hitherto had been the exclusive property of the patricians. After the abolition of the old legal actions, a suit was prosecuted in the following manner:—An action was commenced by the plaintiff summoning the defendant to appear before the praetor or other magistrate who had jurisdictio; this process was called in jus vocatio; and, according to the laws of the Twelve Tables, was in effect a dragging of the defendant before the praetor, if he refused to go quietly; and although this rude proceeding was somewhat modified in later times, we find in the time of Horace that if the defendant would not go quietly, the plaintiff called on any bystander to witness, and dragged the defendant into court. The parties might settle their dispute on their way to the court, or the defendant might be bailed by a vindex. The vindex must not be confounded with the vades. This settlement of disputes on the way was called transactio in via, and serves to explain a passage in St. Matthew, v. 25. When before the praetor, the parties were said jure agere. The plaintiff then prayed for an action, and if the praetor allowed it (dabat actionem), he then declared what action he intended to bring against the defendant, which he called edere actionem. This might be done in writing, or orally, or by the plaintiff taking the defendant to the album [Album], and showing him which action he intended to rely on. As the formulae on the album comprehended, or were supposed to comprehend, every possible form of action that could be required by a plaintiff, it was presumed that he could find among all the formulae some one which was adapted to his case; and he was, accordingly, supposed to be without excuse if he did not take pains to select the proper formula. If he took the wrong one, or if he claimed more than his due, he lost his cause (causa cadebat); but the praetor sometimes gave him leave to amend his claim or intentio. It will be observed, that as the formulae were so numerous and comprehensive, the plaintiff had only to select the formula which he supposed to be suitable to his case, and it would require no further variation than the insertion of the names of the parties and of the thing claimed, or the subject-matter of the suit, with the amount of damages, &c., as the case might be. When the praetor had granted an action, the plaintiff required the defendant to give security for his appearance before the praetor (in jure) on a day named, commonly the day but one after the in jus vocatio, unless the matter in dispute was settled at once. The defendant, on finding a surety, was said vades dare, vadimonium promittere, or facere; the surety, vas, was said spondere; the plaintiff, when satisfied with the surety, was said vadari reum, to let him go on his sureties, or to have sureties from him. When the defendant promised to appear in jure on the day named, without giving any surety, this was called vadimonium purum. In some cases, recuperatores [Judex] were named, who, in case of the defendant making default, condemned him in the sum of money named in the vadimonium. If the defendant appeared on the day appointed, he was said vadimonium sistere; if he did not appear, he was said vadimonium deseruisse; and the praetor gave to the plaintiff the bonorum possessio. Both parties, on the day appointed, were summoned by a crier (praeco), when the plaintiff made his claim or demand, which was very briefly expressed, and may be considered as corresponding to our declaration at law. The defendant might either deny the plaintiff’s claim, or he might reply to it by a plea, exceptio. If he simply denied the plaintiff’s claim, the cause was at issue, and a judex might be demanded. The forms of the exceptio, also, were contained in the praetor’s edict, or, upon hearing the facts, the praetor adapted the plea to the case. The plaintiff might reply to the defendant’s exceptio. The plaintiff’s answer was called replicatio. If the defendant answered the replicatio, his answer was called duplicatio; and the parties might go on to the triplicatio and quadruplicatio, and even further, if the matters in question were such that they could not otherwise be brought to an issue. A person might maintain or defend an action by his cognitor or procurator, or, as we should say, by his attorney. The plaintiff and defendant used a certain form of words in appointing a cognitor, and it would appear that the appointment was made in the presence of both parties. The cognitor needed not to be present, and his appointment was complete when by his acts he had signified his assent. When the cause was brought to an issue, a judex or judices might be demanded of the praetor, who named or appointed a judex, and delivered to him the formula, which contained his instructions. The judices were said dari or addici. So far the proceedings were said to be in jure: the prosecution of the actio before the judex requires a separate discussion. [Judex.]

ACTOR, signified generally a plaintiff. In a civil or private action, the plaintiff was often called petitor; in a public action (causa publica), he was called accusator. The defendant was called reus, both in private and public causes: this term, however, according to Cicero, might signify either party, as indeed we might conclude from the word itself. In a private action the defendant was often called adversarius, but either party might be called adversarius with respect to the other. Wards brought their actions by their guardian or tutor. Peregrini, or aliens, originally brought their action through their patronus; but afterwards in their own name, by a fiction of law, that they were Roman citizens. A Roman citizen might also generally bring his action by means of a cognitor or procurator. [Actio.] Actor has also the sense of an agent or manager of another’s business generally. The actor publicus was an officer who had the superintendence or care of slaves and property belonging to the state.

ACTŬĀRĬAE NĀVES, transport-vessels, seem to have been built in a lighter style than the ordinary ships of burden, from which they also differed in being always furnished with oars, whereas the others were chiefly propelled by sails.

ACTŬĀRĬI, short-hand writers, who took down the speeches in the senate and the public assemblies. In the debate in the Roman senate upon the punishment of those who had been concerned in the conspiracy of Catiline, we find the first mention of short-hand writers, who were employed by Cicero to take down the speech of Cato.

ACTUS, a Roman measure of length, also called actus quadratus, was equal to half a jugerum, or 14,400 square Roman feet. The actus minimus, or simplex, was 120 feet long, and four broad, and therefore equal to 480 square Roman feet. Actus was also used to signify a bridle-way.

ĂCUS (βελόνη, βελονίς, ῥαφίς), a needle, a pin. Pins were made not only of metal, but also of wood, bone, and ivory. They were used for the same purposes as with us, and also in dressing the hair. The mode of platting the hair, and then fastening it with a pin or needle, is shown in the annexed figure of a female head. This fashion has been continued to our own times by the females of Italy.

ADDICTI. [Nexi.]

ADFĪNES. [Affines.]

ADLECTI, or ALLECTI, those persons under the empire who were admitted to the privileges and honours of the praetorship, quaestorship, aedileship, and other public offices, without having any duties to perform. The senators called adlecti seem to have been the same as the conscripti.

ADLŎCŪTĬO. [Allocutio.]

ADMISSĬŌNĀLES, chamberlains at the imperial court, who introduced persons into the presence of the emperor. They were divided into four classes; the chief officer of each class was called proximus admissionum; and the proximi were under the magister admissionum. Their duty was called officium admissionis. They were usually freedmen.

ĂDŎLESCENS, was applied in the Roman law to a person from the end of his twelfth or fourteenth to the end of his twenty-fifth year, during which period a person was also called adultus. The word adolescens, however, is frequently used in a less strict sense in the Latin writers in referring to a person much older than the above-mentioned age.

ĂDŌNĬA (ἀδώνια), a festival celebrated in honour of Aphrodite and Adonis in most of the Grecian cities. It lasted two days, and was celebrated by women exclusively. On the first day they brought into the streets statues of Adonis, which were laid out as corpses; and they observed all the rites customary at funerals, beating themselves and uttering lamentations. The second day was spent in merriment and feasting; because Adonis was allowed to return to life, and spend half the year with Aphrodite.

ĂDOPTĬO, adoption. (1) Greek.—Adoption was called by the Athenians εἰσποίησις, or sometimes simply ποίησις, or θέσις. The adoptive father was said ποιεῖσθαι, εἰσποιεῖσθαι, or sometimes ποιεῖν: and the father or mother (for a mother after the death of her husband could consent to her son being adopted) was said ἐκποιεῖν: the son was said ἐκποιεῖσθαι with reference to the family which he left; and εἰσποιεῖσθαι with reference to the family into which he was received. The son, when adopted, was called ποιητός, εἰσποιητός, or θετός, in opposition to the legitimate son born of the body of the father, who was called γνήσιος. A man might adopt a son either in his lifetime or by his testament, provided he had no male offspring, and was of sound mind. He might also, by testament, name a person to take his property, in case his son or sons should die under age. Only Athenian citizens could be adopted; but females could be adopted (by testament at least) as well as males. The adopted child was transferred from his own family and demus into those of the adoptive father; he inherited his property, and maintained the sacra of his adoptive father. It was not necessary for him to take his new father’s name, but he was registered as his son in the register of his phratria (φρατρικὸν γραμματεῖον). Subsequently to this, it was necessary to enter him in the register of the adoptive father’s demus (ληξιαρχικὸν γραμματεῖον), without which registration it appears that he did not possess the full rights of citizenship as a member of his new demus.—(2) Roman.—The Roman relation of parent and child arose either from a lawful marriage or from adoption. Adoptio was the general name which comprehended the two species, adoptio and adrogatio; and as the adopted person passed from his own familia into that of the person adopting, adoptio caused a capitis diminutio, and the lowest of the three kinds. [Caput.] Adoption, in its specific sense, was the ceremony by which a person who was in the power of his parent (in potestate parentum), whether child or grandchild, male or female, was transferred to the power of the person adopting him. It was effected under the authority of a magistrate (magistratus), the praetor, for instance, at Rome, or a governor (praeses) in the provinces. The person to be adopted was emancipated [Mancipatio] by his natural father before the competent authority, and surrendered to the adoptive father by the legal form called in jure cessio. When a person was not in the power of his parent (sui juris), the ceremony of adoption was called adrogatio. Originally, it could only be effected at Rome, and only by a vote of the populus (populi auctoritate) in the comitia curiata (lege curiata); the reason of this being that the caput or status of a Roman citizen could not, according to the laws of the Twelve Tables, be effected except by a vote of the populus in the comitia curiata. Clodius, the enemy of Cicero, was adrogated into a plebeian family, in order to qualify himself to be elected a tribune of the plebs. Females could not be adopted by adrogatio. Under the emperors it became the practice to effect the adrogatio by an imperial rescript. The effect of adoption was to create the legal relation of father and son, just as if the adopted son were born of the blood of the adoptive father in lawful marriage. The adopted child was intitled to the name and sacra privata of the adopting parent. A person, on passing from one gens into another, and taking the name of his new familia, generally retained the name of his old gens also, with the addition to it of the termination anus. Thus Aemilius, the son of L. Aemilius Paullus, upon being adopted by P. Cornelius Scipio, assumed the name of P. Cornelius Scipio Aemilianus, and C. Octavius, afterwards the emperor Augustus, upon being adopted by the testament of his great-uncle the dictator, assumed the name of C. Julius Caesar Octavianus.

ĂDŌRĀTĬO (προσκύνησις), adoration, was paid to the gods in the following manner:—The individual stretched out his right hand to the statue of the god whom he wished to honour, then kissed his hand, and waved it to the statue. The adoratio differed from the oratio or prayers, which were offered with the hands folded together and stretched out to the gods. The adoration paid to the Roman emperors was borrowed from the Eastern mode, and consisted in prostration on the ground, and kissing the feet and knees of the emperor.

ADRŎGĀTĬO. [Adoptio, (Roman).]

ĂDULTĔRĬUM, adultery. (1) Greek.—Among the Athenians, if a man caught another man in the act of criminal intercourse (μοιχεία) with his wife, he might kill him with impunity; and the law was also the same with respect to a concubine (παλλακή). He might also inflict other punishment on the offender. It appears that there was no adultery, unless a married woman was concerned. The husband might, if he pleased, take a sum of money from the adulterer, by way of compensation, and detain him till he found sureties for the payment. The husband might also prosecute the adulterer in the action called μοιχείας γραφή. If the act of adultery was proved, the husband could no longer cohabit with his wife, under pain of losing his privileges of a citizen (ἀτιμία). The adulteress was excluded even from those temples which foreign women and slaves were allowed to enter; and if she was seen there, any one might treat her as he pleased, provided he did not kill her or mutilate her.—(2) Roman.—The word adulterium properly signifies, in the Roman law, the offence committed by a man’s having sexual intercourse with another man’s wife. Stuprum (called by the Greeks φθορά) signifies the like offence with a widow or virgin. In the time of Augustus a law was enacted (probably about B.C. 17), entitled Lex Julia de adulteriis coercendis, which seems to have contained special penal provisions against adultery; and it is also not improbable that, by the old law or custom, if the adulterer was caught in the fact, he was at the mercy of the injured husband, and that the husband might punish with death his adulterous wife. By the Julian law, a woman convicted of adultery was mulcted in half of her dowry (dos) and the third part of her property (bona), and banished (relegata) to some miserable island, such as Seriphos, for instance. The adulterer was mulcted in half his property, and banished in like manner. This law did not inflict the punishment of death on either party; and in those instances under the emperors in which death was inflicted, it must be considered as an extraordinary punishment, and beyond the provisions of the Julian law. The Julian law permitted the father (both adoptive and natural) to kill the adulterer and adulteress in certain cases, as to which there were several nice distinctions established by the law. If the wife was divorced for adultery, the husband was entitled to retain part of the dowry. By a constitution of the Emperor Constantine, the offence in the adulterer was made capital.

ADVERSĀRĬA, a note-book, memorandum-book, posting-book, in which the Romans entered memoranda of any importance, especially of money received and expended, which were afterwards transcribed, usually every month, into a kind of ledger. (Tabulae justae, codex accepti et expensi.)

ADVERSĀRĬUS. [Actor.]

ĂDŬNĂTI (ἀδύνατοι), were persons supported by the Athenian state, who, on account of infirmity or bodily defects, were unable to obtain a livelihood. The sum which they received from the state appears to have varied at different times. In the time of Lysias and Aristotle, one obolus a day was given; but it appears to have been afterwards increased to two oboli. The bounty was restricted to persons whose property was under three minae; and the examination of those who were entitled to it belonged to the senate of the Five Hundred. Peisistratus is said to have been the first to introduce a law for the maintenance of those persons who had been mutilated in war.

ADVOCATUS, seems originally to have signified any person who gave another his aid in any affair or business, as a witness for instance; or for the purpose of aiding and protecting him in taking possession of a piece of property. It was also used to express a person who in any way gave his advice and aid to another in the management of a cause; but, in the time of Cicero, the word did not signify the orator or patronus who made the speech. Under the emperors it signified a person who in any way assisted in the conduct of a cause, and was sometimes equivalent to orator. The advocate’s fee was then called Honorarium.

ĂDỸTUM. [Templum.]

AEDES. [Domus; Templum.]

AEDĪLES (ἀγορανόμοι). The name of these functionaries is said to be derived from their having the care of the temple (aedes) of Ceres. The aediles were originally two in number: they were elected from the plebs, and the institution of the office dates from the same time as that of the tribunes of the plebs, B.C. 494. Their duties at first seem to have been merely ministerial; they were the assistants of the tribunes in such matters as the tribunes entrusted to them, among which are enumerated the hearing of causes of smaller importance. At an early period after their institution (B.C. 446), we find them appointed the keepers of the senatus-consulta, which the consuls had hitherto arbitrarily suppressed or altered. They were also the keepers of the plebiscita. Other functions were gradually entrusted to them, and it is not always easy to distinguish their duties from some of those which belong to the censors. They had the general superintendence of buildings, both sacred and private; under this power they provided for the support and repair of temples, curiae, &c., and took care that private buildings which were in a ruinous state were repaired by the owners or pulled down. The care of the supply and distribution of water, of the streets and pavements, with the cleansing and draining of the city, belonged to the aediles; and, of course, the care of the cloacae. They had the office of distributing corn among the plebs, but this distribution of corn at Rome must not be confounded with the duty of purchasing or procuring it from foreign parts, which was performed by the consuls, quaestors, and praetors, and sometimes by an extraordinary magistrate, as the praefectus annonae. The aediles had to see that the public lands were not improperly used, and that the pasture grounds of the state were not trespassed on; and they had power to punish by fine any unlawful act in this respect. They had a general superintendence over buying and selling, and, as a consequence, the supervision of the markets, of things exposed to sale, such as slaves, and of weights and measures; from this part of their duty is derived the name under which the aediles are mentioned by the Greek writers (ἀγορανόμοι). It was their business to see that no new deities or religious rites were introduced into the city, to look after the observance of religious ceremonies, and the celebrations of the ancient feasts and festivals. The general superintendence of police comprehended the duty of preserving order, regard to decency, and the inspection of the baths and houses of entertainment. The aediles had various officers under them, as praecones, scribae, and viatores. The Aediles Curules, who were also two in number, were originally chosen only from the patricians, afterwards alternately from the patricians and the plebs, and at last indifferently from both. The office of curule aediles was instituted B.C. 365, and, according to Livy, on the occasion of the plebeian aediles refusing to consent to celebrate the Ludi Maximi for the space of four days instead of three; upon which a senatus-consultum was passed, by which two aediles were to be chosen from the patricians. From this time four aediles, two plebeian and two curule, were annually elected. The distinctive honours of the curule aediles were, the sella curulis, from whence their title is derived, the toga praetexta, precedence in speaking in the senate, and the jus imaginum. Only the curule aediles had the jus edicendi, or the right of promulgating edicta; but the rules comprised in their edicta served for the guidance of all the aediles. The edicta of the curule aediles were founded on their authority as superintendents of the markets, and of buying and selling in general. Accordingly, their edicts had mainly, or perhaps solely, reference to the rules as to buying and selling, and contracts for bargain and sale. The persons both of the plebeian and curule aediles were sacrosancti. It seems that after the appointment of the curule aediles, the functions formerly exercised by the plebeian aediles were exercised, with some few exceptions, by all the aediles indifferently. Within five days after being elected, or entering on office, they were required to determine by lot, or by agreement among themselves, what parts of the city each should take under his superintendence; and each aedile alone had the care of looking after the paving and cleansing of the streets, and other matters, it may be presumed, of the same local character within his district. The other duties of the office seem to have been exercised by them jointly. In the superintendence of the public festivals or solemnities, there was a further distinction between the two sets of aediles. Many of these festivals, such as those of Flora and Ceres, were superintended by either set of aediles indifferently; but the plebeian games were under the superintendence of the plebeian aediles, who had an allowance of money for that purpose; and the fines levied on the pecuarii, and others, seem to have been appropriated to these among other public purposes. The celebration of the Ludi Magni or Romani, of the Ludi Scenici, or dramatic representations, and the Ludi Megalesii, belonged specially to the curule aediles, and it was on such occasions that they often incurred a prodigious expense, with a view of pleasing the people, and securing their votes in future elections. This extravagant expenditure of the aediles arose after the close of the second Punic war, and increased with the opportunities which individuals had of enriching themselves after the Roman arms were carried into Greece, Africa, and Spain. Even the prodigality of the emperors hardly surpassed that of individual curule aediles under the republic; such as C. Julius Caesar, the dictator, P. Cornelius Lentulus Spinther, and, above all, M. Aemilius Scaurus, whose expenditure was not limited to bare show, but comprehended objects of public utility, as the reparation of walls, dock-yards, ports, and aquaeducts. In B.C. 45, Julius Caesar caused two curule aediles and four plebeian aediles to be elected; and thenceforward, at least so long as the office of aedile was of any importance, six aediles were annually elected. The two new plebeian aediles were called Cereales, and their duty was to look after the supply of corn. Though their office may not have been of any great importance after the institution of a praefectus annonae by Augustus, there is no doubt that it existed for several centuries, and at least as late as the time of the emperor Gordian. The aediles belonged to the class of the minores magistratus. The plebeian aediles were originally chosen at the comitia centuriata, but afterwards at the comitia tributa, in which comitia the curule aediles also were chosen. It appears that until the lex annalis was passed (B.C. 180) a Roman citizen might be a candidate for any office after completing his twenty-seventh year. This law fixed the age at which each office might be enjoyed, and it seems that the age fixed for the aedileship was thirty-six. The aediles existed under the emperors; but their powers were gradually diminished, and their functions exercised by new officers created by the emperors. After the battle of Actium, Augustus appointed a Praefectus urbi, who exercised the general police, which had formerly been one of the duties of the aediles. Augustus also took from the aediles, or exercised himself, the office of superintending the religious rites, and the banishing from the city of all foreign ceremonials; he also assumed the superintendence of the temples, and thus may be said to have destroyed the aedileship by depriving it of its old and original function. The last recorded instance of the splendours of the aedileship is the administration of Agrippa, who volunteered to take the office, and repaired all the public buildings and all the roads at his own expense, without drawing anything from the treasury. The aedileship had, however, lost its true character before this time. Agrippa had already been consul before he accepted the office of aedile, and his munificent expenditure in this nominal office was the close of the splendour of the aedileship. Augustus appointed the curule aediles specially to the office of putting out fires, and placed a body of 600 slaves at their command; but the praefecti vigilum afterwards performed this duty. They retained, under the early emperors, a kind of police, for the purpose of repressing open licentiousness and disorder. The coloniae, and the municipia of the later period, had also their aediles, whose numbers and functions varied in different places. They seem, however, as to their powers and duties, to have resembled the aediles of Rome. They were chosen annually.

AEDĬTŬI, AEDĬTŬMI, AEDĬTĬMI (called by the Greeks νεωκόροι, ζάκοροι, and ὑποζάκοροι), were persons who took care of the temples, attended to the cleaning of them, &c. They appear to have lived in the temples, or near them, and to have acted as ciceroni to those persons who wished to see them. Subsequently among the Greeks, the menial services connected with this office were left to slaves, and the persons called neocori became priestly officers of high rank, who had the chief superintendence of temples, their treasures, and the sacred rites observed in them.

AEGIS (αἰγίς) signifies, literally, a goat-skin. According to ancient mythology, the aegis worn by Zeus was the hide of the goat Amaltheia, which had suckled him in his infancy. Homer always represents it as part of the armour of Zeus, whom on this account he distinguishes by the epithet aegis-bearing (αἰγίοχος). He, however, asserts, that it was borrowed on different occasions both by Apollo and Athena. The aegis was connected with the shield of Zeus, either serving as a covering over it, or as a belt by which it was suspended from the right shoulder. Homer accordingly uses the word to denote not only the goat-skin, which it properly signified, but also the shield to which it belonged. The aegis was adorned in a style corresponding to the might and majesty of the father of the gods. In the middle of it was fixed the appalling Gorgon’s head, and its border was surrounded with golden tassels (θύσανοι), each of which was worth a hecatomb. The aegis is usually seen on the statues of Athena, in which it is a sort of scarf falling obliquely over the right shoulder, so as to pass round the body under the left arm. The serpents of the Gorgon’s head are transferred to the border of the skin. (See the left-hand figure in the cut.) The later poets and artists represent the aegis as a breast-plate covered with metal in the form of scales. (See the right-hand figure.)

AENĔĀTŌRES, were those who blew upon wind instruments in the Roman army; namely, the buccinatores, cornicines, and tubicines. They were also employed in the public games.

AENIGMA (αἴνιγμα), a riddle. It was an ancient custom among the Greeks to amuse themselves by proposing riddles at their symposia, or drinking parties. Those who were successful in solving them, received a prize, which usually consisted of wreaths, cakes, &c., while those who were unsuccessful were condemned to drink in one breath a certain quantity of wine, sometimes mixed with salt water. Those riddles which have come down to us are mostly in hexameter verse. The Romans seem to have been too serious to find any great amusement in riddles.

AENUM, or ĂHĒNUM (sc. vas), a brazen vessel, used for boiling. The word is also frequently used in the sense of a dyer’s copper; and, as purple was the most celebrated dye of antiquity, we find the expressions Sidonium aënum, Tyrium aënum, &c.

AEŌRA, or ĔŌRA (αἰώρα, ἐώρα), a festival at Athens, accompanied with sacrifices and banquets, whence it is sometimes called εὔδειπνος. It was probably instituted in honour of Icarius and his daughter Erigone.

AERA. [Chronologia.]

AERĀRĬI, a class of Roman citizens, who were not included in the thirty tribes instituted by Servius Tullius. Although citizens, they did not possess the suffragium, or right of voting in the comitia. They were cives sine suffragio. They also paid the tribute in a different manner from the other citizens. The Aerarians were chiefly artisans and freedmen. The Caerites, or inhabitants of the Etruscan town of Caere, who obtained the franchise in early times, but without the suffragium, were probably the first body of aerarians. Any Roman citizen guilty of a crime punishable by the censors, might be degraded to the rank of an aerarian; so that his civic rights were suspended, at least for the time that he was an aerarian. All citizens so degraded were classed among the Caerites; whence we find the expressions aerarium facere and in tabulas Caeritum referre used as synonymous. Persons who were made infames likewise became aerarians, for they lost the jus honorum and the suffragium. The aerarians had to pay a tributum pro capite which was considerably higher than that paid by the other citizens. They were not allowed to serve in the legions.

AERĀRĬI TRĬBŪNI. [Aes Equestre.]

AERĀRĬUM (τὸ δημόσιον), the public treasury at Rome, and hence the public money itself. After the banishment of the kings the temple of Saturn was employed as the place for keeping the public money, and it continued to be so used till the later times of the empire. Besides the public money and the accounts connected with it, various other things were preserved in the treasury; of these the most important were:—1. The standards of the legions. 2. The various laws passed from time to time, engraven on brazen tables. 3. The decrees of the senate, which were entered there in books kept for the purpose, though the original documents were preserved in the temple of Ceres under the custody of the aediles. 4. Various other public documents, the reports and despatches of all generals and governors of provinces, the names of all foreign ambassadors that came to Rome, &c. Under the republic the aerarium was divided into two parts: the common treasury, in which were deposited the regular taxes, and from which were taken the sums of money needed for the ordinary expenditure of the state; and the sacred treasury (aerarium sanctum or sanctius), which was never touched except in cases of extreme peril. Both of these treasuries were in the temple of Saturn, but in distinct parts of the temple. The produce of a tax of five per cent. (vicesima) upon the value of every manumitted slave, called aurum vicesimarium, was paid into the sacred treasury, as well as a portion of the immense wealth obtained by the Romans in their conquests in the East. Under Augustus the provinces and the administration of the government were divided between the senate, as the representative of the old Roman people, and the Caesar: all the property of the former continued to be called aerarium, and that of the latter received the name of fiscus. Augustus also established a third treasury, to provide for the pay and support of the army, and this received the name of aerarium militare. He also imposed several new taxes to be paid into this aerarium. In the time of the republic, the entire management of the revenues of the state belonged to the senate; and under the superintendence and control of the senate the quaestors had the charge of the aerarium. In B.C. 28, Augustus deprived the quaestors of the charge of the treasury and gave it to two praefects, whom he allowed the senate to choose from among the praetors at the end of their year of office. Various other changes were made with respect to the charge of the aerarium, but it was eventually entrusted, in the reign of Trajan, to praefects, who appear to have held their office for two years.

AES (χαλκός), properly signifies a compound of copper and tin, corresponding to what we call bronze. It is incorrect to translate it brass, which is a combination of copper and zinc, since all the specimens of ancient objects, formed of the material called aes, are found upon analysis to contain no zinc. The employment of aes was very general among the ancients; money, vases, and utensils of all sorts, being made of it. All the most ancient coins in Rome and the old Italian states were made of aes, and hence money in general was called by this name. For the same reason we have aes alienum, meaning debt, and aera in the plural, pay to the soldiers. The Romans had no other coinage except bronze or copper (aes), till B.C. 269, five years before the first Punic war, when silver was first coined; gold was not coined till sixty-two years after silver. The first coinage of aes is usually attributed to Servius Tullius, who is said to have stamped the money with the image of cattle (pecus), whence it is called pecunia. According to some accounts, it was coined from the commencement of the city, and we know that the old Italian states possessed a bronze or copper coinage from the earliest times. The first coinage was the as [As], which originally was a pound weight; but as in course of time the weight of the as was reduced not only in Rome, but in the other Italian states, and this reduction in weight was not uniform in the different states, it became usual in all bargains to pay the asses according to their weight, and not according to their nominal value. The aes grave was not the old heavy coins as distinguished from the lighter modern; but it signified any number of copper coins reckoned according to the old style, by weight. There was, therefore, no occasion for the state to suppress the circulation of the old copper coins, since in all bargains the asses were not reckoned by tale, but by weight.—Bronze or copper (χαλκός) was very little used by the Greeks for money in early times. Silver was originally the universal currency, and copper appears to have been seldom coined till after the time of Alexander the Great. The copper coin was called Chalcous (χαλκούς). The smallest silver coin at Athens was the quarter-obol, and the chalcous was the half of that, or the eighth of an obol. In later times, the obol was coined of copper as well as silver.

AES CIRCUMFORĀNĔUM, money borrowed from the Roman bankers (argentarii), who had shops in porticoes round the forum.

AES ĔQUESTRE, AES HORDĔĀRĬUM, and AES MĪLĬTĀRE, were the ancient terms for the pay of the Roman soldiers, before the regular stipendium was introduced. The aes equestre was the sum of money given for the purchase of the horse of an eques; the aes hordearium, the sum paid yearly for its keep, in other words the pay of an eques; and the aes militare, the pay of a foot soldier. None of this money seems to have been taken from the public treasury, but to have been paid by certain private persons, to whom this duty was assigned by the state. The aes hordearium, which amounted to 2000 asses, had to be paid by single women (viduae, i.e. both maidens and widows) and orphans (orbi), provided they possessed a certain amount of property. The aes equestre, which amounted to 10,000 asses, was probably also paid by the same class of persons. The aes militare, the amount of which is not expressly mentioned, had to be paid by the tribuni aerarii, and if not paid, the foot soldiers had a right of distress against them. It is generally assumed that these tribuni aerarii were magistrates connected with the treasury, and that they were the assistants of the quaestors; but there are good reasons for believing that the tribuni aerarii were private persons, who were liable to the payment of the aes militare, and upon whose property a distress might be levied, if the money were not paid. They were probably persons whose property was rated at a certain sum in the census, and we may conjecture that they obtained the name of tribuni aerarii because they levied the tributum, which was imposed for the purpose of paying the army, and then paid it to the soldiers. These tribuni aerarii were no longer needed when the state took into its own hands the payment of the troops; but they were revived in B.C. 70, as a distinct class in the commonwealth, by the Lex Aurelia, which gave the judicia to the senators, equites and tribuni aerarii.

AES UXŌRĬUM, was a tax paid by men who reached old age without having married. It was first imposed by the censors in B.C. 403. [Lex Julia et Papia Poppaea.]

AESYMNĒTES (αἰσυμνήτης), a person who was sometimes invested with unlimited power in the Greek states. His power partook in some degree of the nature both of kingly and tyrannical authority; since he was appointed legally, and did not usurp the government, but at the same time was not bound by any laws in his public administration. The office was not hereditary, nor was it held for life; but it only continued for a limited time, or till some object was accomplished. Thus we read that the inhabitants of Mytilene appointed Pittacus aesymnetes, in order to prevent the return of Alcaeus and the other exiles. Dionysius compares it with the dictatorship of Rome. In some states, such as Cyme and Chalcedon, it was the title borne by the regular magistrates.

AETAS. [Infans; Impubes.]

AETŌLĬCUM FOEDUS (κοινὸν τῶν Αἰτώλων), the Aetolian league, appears as a powerful political body soon after the death of Alexander the Great, viz. during the Lamian war against Antipater. The characteristic difference between the Aetolian and Achaean leagues was that the former originally consisted of a confederacy of nations or tribes, while the latter was a confederacy of towns. The sovereign power of the confederacy was vested in the general assemblies of all the confederates (κοινὸν τῶν Αἰτώλων, concilium Aetolorum), and this assembly had the right to discuss all questions respecting peace and war, and to elect the great civil or military officers of the league. The ordinary place of meeting was Thermon, but on extraordinary occasions assemblies were also held in other towns belonging to the league, though they were not situated in the country of Aetolia Proper. The questions which were to be brought before the assembly were sometimes discussed previously by a committee, selected from the great mass, and called Apocleti (ἀπόκλητοι). The general assembly usually met in the autumn, when the officers of the league were elected. The highest among them, as among those of the Achaean league, bore the title of Strategus (στρατηγός), whose office lasted only for one year. The strategus had the right to convoke the assembly; he presided in it, introduced the subjects for deliberation, and levied the troops. The officers next in rank to the strategus were the hipparchus and the public scribe. The political existence of the league was destroyed in B.C. 189 by the treaty with Rome, and the treachery of the Roman party among the Aetolians themselves caused in B.C. 167 five hundred and fifty of the leading patriots to be put to death, and those who survived the massacre were carried to Rome as prisoners.

ĀĔTŌMA (ἀέτωμα). [Fastigium.]

AFFĪNES, AFFĪNĬTAS, or ADFĪNES, ADFĪNĬTAS. Affines are the cognati [Cognati] of husband and wife, the cognati of the husband becoming the affines of the wife, and the cognati of the wife the affines of the husband. The father of a husband is the socer of the husband’s wife, and the father of a wife is the socer of the wife’s husband. The term socrus expresses the same affinity with respect to the husband’s and wife’s mothers. A son’s wife is nurus, or daughter-in-law to the son’s parents; a wife’s husband is gener, or son-in-law to the wife’s parents. Thus the avus, avia—pater, mater—of the wife became by the marriage respectively the socer magnus, prosocrus, or socrus magna—socer, socrus—of the husband, who becomes with respect to them severally progener and gener. In like manner the corresponding ancestors of the husband respectively assume the same names with respect to the son’s wife, who becomes with respect to them pronurus and nurus. The son and daughter of a husband or wife born of a prior marriage are called privignus and privigna, with respect to their step-father or step-mother; and with respect to such children, the step-father and step-mother are severally called vitricus and noverca. The husband’s brother becomes levir with respect to the wife, and his sister becomes glos (the Greek γάλως). Marriage was unlawful among persons who had become such affines as above mentioned.

ĂGALMA (ἄγαλμα) is a general name for a statue or image to represent a god.

ĂGĀSO, a groom, whose business it was to take care of the horses. The word is also used for a driver of beasts of burden, and is sometimes applied to a slave who had to perform the lowest menial duties.

ĂGĂTHŎERGI (ἀγαθοεργοί). In time of war the kings of Sparta had a body-guard of three hundred of the noblest of the Spartan youths (ἱππεῖς), of whom the five eldest retired every year, and were employed for one year under the name of Agathoergi, in missions to foreign states.

ĂGĔLA (ἀγέλη), an assembly of young men in Crete, who lived together from their eighteenth year till the time of their marriage. An agela always consisted of the sons of the most noble citizens, and the members of it were obliged to marry at the same time.

ĂGĒMA (ἄγημα from ἄγω), the name of a chosen body of troops in the Macedonian army, usually consisting of horsemen.

ĂGER PUBLĬCUS, the public land, was the land belonging to the Roman state. It was a recognised principle among the Italian nations that the territory of a conquered people belonged to the conquerors. Accordingly, the Romans were constantly acquiring fresh territory by the conquest of the surrounding people. The land thus acquired was usually disposed of in the following way. 1. The land which was under cultivation was either distributed among colonists, who were sent to occupy it, or it was sold, or it was let out to farm. 2. The land which was then out of cultivation, and which, owing to war, was by far the greater part, might be occupied by any of the Roman citizens on the payment of a portion of the yearly produce; a tenth of the produce of arable land, and a fifth of the produce of the land planted with the vine, the olive, and other valuable trees. 3. The land which had previously served as the common pasture land of the conquered state, or was suitable for the purpose, continued to be used as pasture land by the Roman citizens, who had, however, to pay a certain sum of money for the cattle which they turned upon it. The occupation of the public land spoken of above under the second head was always expressed by the words possessio and possidere, and the occupier of the land was called the possessor. The land continued to be the property of the state; and accordingly we must distinguish between the terms possessio, which merely indicated the use or enjoyment of the land, and dominium, which expressed ownership, and was applied to private land, of which a man had the absolute ownership. The right of occupying the public land belonged only to citizens, and consequently only to the patricians originally, as they were the state. The plebeians were only subjects, and consequently had no right to the property of the state; but it is probable that they were permitted to feed their cattle on the public pasture lands. Even when the plebeians became a separate estate by the constitution of Servius Tullius, they still obtained no right to share in the possession of the public land, which continued to be the exclusive privilege of the patricians; but as a compensation, each individual plebeian received an assignment of a certain quantity of the public land as his own property. Henceforth the possession of the public land was the privilege of the patricians, and an assignment of a portion of it the privilege of the plebeians. As the state acquired new lands by conquest, the plebeians ought to have received assignments of part of them, but since the patricians were the governing body, they generally refused to make any such assignment, and continued to keep the whole as part of the ager publicus, whereby the enjoyment of it belonged to them alone. Hence, we constantly read of the plebeians claiming, and sometimes enforcing, a division of such land. With the extension of the conquests of Rome, the ager publicus constantly increased, and thus a large portion of Italy fell into the hands of the patricians, who frequently withheld from the state the annual payments of a tenth and a fifth, which they were bound to pay for the possession of the land, and thus deprived the state of a fund for the expenses of the war. In addition to which they used slaves as cultivators and shepherds, since freemen were liable to be drawn off from field-labour to military service, and slave-labour was consequently far cheaper. In this way the number of free labourers was diminished, and that of slaves augmented. To remedy this state of things several laws were from time to time proposed and carried, which were most violently opposed by the patricians. All laws which related to the public land are called by the general title of Leges Agrariae, and accordingly all the early laws relating to the possession of the public land by the patricians, and to the assignment of portions of it to the plebeians, were strictly agrarian laws; but the first law to which this name is usually applied was proposed soon after the establishment of the republic by the consul, Sp. Cassius, in B.C. 486. Its object was to set apart the portion of the public land which the patricians were to possess, to divide the rest among the plebeians, to levy the payment due for the possession, and to apply it to paying the army. The first law, however, which really deprived the patricians of the advantages they had previously enjoyed in the occupation of the public land was the agrarian law of C. Licinius Stolo (B.C. 366), which limited each individual’s possession of public land to 500 jugera, and declared that no individual should have above 100 large and 500 smaller cattle on the public pastures: it further enacted that the surplus land was to be divided among the plebeians. As this law, however, was soon disregarded, it was revived again by Tib. Sempronius Gracchus (B.C. 133), with some alterations and additions. The details of the other agrarian laws mentioned in Roman history are given under the name of the lex by which they are called. [Lex.]

AGGER (χῶμα), from ad and gero, was used in general for a heap or mound of any kind. It was more particularly applied:—(1) To a mound, usually composed of earth, which was raised round a besieged town, and which was gradually increased in breadth and height, till it equalled or overtopped the walls. The agger was sometimes made, not only of earth, but of wood, hurdles, &c.; whence we read of the agger being set on fire.—(2) To the earthen wall surrounding a Roman encampment, composed of the earth dug from the ditch (fossa), which was usually 9 feet broad and 7 feet deep; but if any attack was apprehended, the depth was increased to 12 feet and the breadth to 13 feet. Sharp stakes, &c., were usually fixed upon the agger, which was then called vallum. When both words are used, the agger means the mound of earth, and the vallum the stakes, &c., which were fixed upon the agger.

ĂGITĀTŌRES. [Circus.]

AGMEN. [Exercitus.]

AGNĀTI. [Cognati.]

AGNŌMEN [Nomen.]

ĂGŌNĀLĬA or ĂGŌNĬA, one of the most ancient festivals at Rome, its institution being attributed to Numa Pompilius. It was celebrated on the 9th of January, the 21st of May, and the 11th of December; to which we should probably add the 17th of March, the day on which the Liberalia was celebrated, since this festival is also called Agonia or Agonium Martiale. The object of this festival was a disputed point among the ancients themselves. The victim which was offered was a ram; the person who offered it was the rex sacrificulus; and the place where it was offered was the regia. Now the ram was the usual victim presented to the guardian gods of the state, and the rex sacrificulus and the regia could be employed only for such ceremonies as were connected with the highest gods and affected the weal of the whole state. Regarding the sacrifice in this light, we see a reason for its being offered several times in the year. The etymology of the name was also a subject of much dispute among the ancients; and the various etymologies that were proposed are given at length by Ovid (Fast. i. 319-332). None of these, however, are at all satisfactory; and we would therefore suggest that it may have received its name from the sacrifice having been offered on the Quirinal hill, which was originally called Agonus.

ĂGŌNES (ἀγῶνες), the general term among the Greeks for the contests at their great national games. The word also signified law-suits, and was especially employed in the phrase ἀγῶνες τιμητοί and ἀτίμητοι. [Timema.]

ĂGONŎTHĔTAE (ἀγωνοθέται), persons in the Grecian games who decided disputes, and adjudged the prizes to the victors. Originally, the person who instituted the contest and offered the prize was the Agonothetes, and this continued to be the practice in those games which were instituted by kings or private persons. But in the great public games, such as the Isthmian, Pythian, &c., the Agonothetae were either the representatives of different states, as the Amphictyons at the Pythian games, or were chosen from the people in whose country the games were celebrated. During the flourishing times of the Grecian republics the Eleans were the Agonothetae in the Olympic games, the Corinthians in the Isthmian games, the Amphictyons in the Pythian games, and the Corinthians, Argives, and inhabitants of Cleonae in the Nemaean games. The Agonothetae were also called Aesymnetae (αἰσυμνῆται), Agonarchae (ἀγωνάρχαι), Agonodicae (ἀγωνοδίκαι), Athlothetae (ἀθλοθέται), Rhabduchi (ῥαβδοῦχοι), or Rhabdonomi (ῥαβδονόμοι, from the staff which they carried as an emblem of authority), Brabeis (βραβεῖς), and Brabeutae (βραβευταί).

ĂGŎRA (ἀγορά) properly means an assembly of any kind, and is usually employed by Homer to designate the general assembly of the people. The Agora seems to have been considered an essential part of the constitution of the early Grecian states. It was usually convoked by the king, but occasionally by some distinguished chieftain, as, for example, by Achilles before Troy. The king occupied the most important seat in these assemblies, and near him sat the nobles, while the people stood or sat in a circle around them. The people appear to have had no right of speaking or voting in these assemblies, but merely to have been called together to hear what had been already agreed upon in the council of the nobles, and to express their feelings as a body. The council of the nobles is called Boulé (βουλή) and Thoöcus (θόωκος), and sometimes even Agora. Among the Athenians, the proper name for the assembly of the people was Ecclesia (ἐκκλησία), and among the Dorians Halia (ἁλία). The term Agora was confined at Athens to the assemblies of the phylae and demi. The name Agora was early transferred from the assembly itself to the place in which it was held; and thus it came to be used for the market-place, where goods of all descriptions were bought and sold. Hence it answers to the Roman forum.

ĂGŎRĀNŎMI (ἀγορανόμοι), public functionaries in most of the Grecian states, whose duties corresponded in many respects with those of the Roman aediles. At Athens their number was ten, five for the city, and five for the Peiraeus, and they were chosen by lot. The principal duty of the Agoranomi was, as their name imports, to inspect the market, and to see that all the laws respecting its regulation were properly observed. They had the inspection of all things that were sold in the market, with the exception of corn, which was subject to the jurisdiction of special officers, called Sitophylaces (σιτοφύλακες). They regulated the price and quantity of articles exposed for sale, and punished all persons convicted of cheating, especially by means of false weights and measures. They had the power of fining all citizens who infringed upon the rules of the market, and of whipping all slaves and foreigners guilty of a like offence. They also collected the market dues, and had the care of all the temples and fountains in the market place.

AGRĀRĬAE LĒGES. [Ager Publicus; Lex.]

AGRAULĬA (ἀγραύλια) was a festival celebrated by the Athenians in honour of Agraulos, the daughter of Cecrops. It was perhaps connected with the solemn oath, which all Athenians, when they arrived at manhood (ἔφηβοι), were obliged to take in the temple of Agraulos, that they would fight for their country, and always observe its laws.

AGRĪMENSŌRES, or “land surveyors,” a college established under the Roman emperors. Like the jurisconsults, they had regular schools, and were paid handsome salaries by the state. Their business was to measure unassigned lands for the state, and ordinary lands for the proprietors, and to fix and maintain boundaries. Their writings on the subject of their art were very numerous; and we have still scientific treatises on the law of boundaries, such as those by Frontinus and Hyginus.

AGRIŌNĬA (ἀγριώνια), a festival which was celebrated at Orchomenus, in Boeotia, in honour of Dionysus, surnamed Agrionius. A human being used originally to be sacrificed at this festival, but this sacrifice seems to have been avoided in later times. One instance, however, occurred in the days of Plutarch.

AGRONŎMI (ἀγρονόμοι), the country-police, probably in Attica, whose duties corresponded in most respects to those of the astynomi in the city, and who appear to have performed nearly the same duties as the hylori (ὑλωροί).

AGRŎTĔRAS THŬSIA (ἀγροτέρας θυσία), a festival celebrated every year at Athens in honour of Artemis, surnamed Agrotera (from ἄγρα, the chase). It was solemnized on the sixth of the month of Boëdromion, and consisted of a sacrifice of 500 goats, which continued to be offered in the time of Xenophon. Its origin is thus related:—When the Persians invaded Attica, the Athenians made a vow to sacrifice to Artemis Agrotera as many goats as there should be enemies slain at Marathon. But as the number of enemies slain was so great that an equal number of goats could not be found at once, the Athenians decreed that 500 should be sacrificed every year.

AGYRTAE (ἀγύρται), mendicant priests, who were accustomed to travel through the different towns of Greece, soliciting alms for the gods whom they served, and whose images they carried, either on their shoulders or on beasts of burthen. They were, generally speaking, persons of the lowest and most abandoned character.

ĂHĒNUM. [Aenum.]

AIKIAS DĬKĒ (αἰκίας δίκη), an action brought at Athens, before the court of the Forty (οἱ τετταράκοντα), against any individual who had struck a citizen. Any citizen who had been thus insulted might proceed against the offending party, either by the αἰκίας δίκη, which was a private action, or by the ὕβρεως γραφή, which was looked upon in the light of a public prosecution.

AITHOUSA (αἴθουσα), a word only used by Homer, is probably for αἴθουσα στοά, a portico exposed to the sun. From the passages in which it occurs, it seems to denote a covered portico, opening on to the court of the house, αὐλή, in front of the vestibule, πρόθυρον.

ĀLA, part of a Roman house. [Domus.]

ĀLA, ĀLĀRES, ĀLĀRĬI. Ala, which literally means a wing, was from the earliest epochs employed to denote the wing of an army, but in process of time was frequently used in a restricted sense.—(1) When a Roman army was composed of Roman citizens exclusively, the flanks of the infantry when drawn up in battle array were covered on the right and left by the cavalry; and hence Ala denoted the body of horse which was attached to and served along with the foot-soldiers of the legion.—(2) When, at a later date, the Roman armies were composed partly of Roman citizens and partly of Socii, either Latini or Italici, it became the practice to marshal the Roman troops in the centre of the battle line and the Socii upon the wings. Hence ala and alarii denoted the contingent furnished by the allies, both horse and foot, and the two divisions were distinguished as dextera ala and sinistra ala.—(3) When the whole of the inhabitants of Italy had been admitted to the privileges of Roman citizens the terms alarii, cohortes alariae were transferred to the foreign troops serving along with the Roman armies.—(4) Lastly, under the empire, the term ala was applied to regiments of horse, raised it would seem with very few exceptions in the provinces, serving apart from the legions and the cavalry of the legions.

ĂLĂBARCHĒS (ἀλαβάρχης), the chief magistrate of the Jews at Alexandria, whose duties, as far as the government was concerned, chiefly consisted in raising and paying the taxes.

ĂLĂBASTER or ĂLĂBASTRUM, a vessel or pot used for containing perfumes, or rather ointments, made of that species of marble which mineralogists call gypsum, and which is usually designated by the name of alabaster. When varieties of colour occur in the same stone, and are disposed in bands or horizontal strata, it is often called onyx alabaster; and when dispersed irregularly, as if in clouds, it is distinguished as agate alabaster. The term seems to have been employed to denote vessels appropriated to these uses, even when they were not made of the material from which it is supposed they originally received their name. Thus Theocritus speaks of golden alabastra. These vessels were of a tapering shape, and very often had a long narrow neck, which was sealed; so that when Mary, the sister of Lazarus, is said by St. Mark to break the alabaster box of ointment for the purpose of anointing our Saviour, it appears probable that she only broke the extremity of the neck, which was thus closed.

ĀLĀRĬI. [Ala.]

ĂLAUDA, a Gaulish word, the prototype of the modern French Alouette, denoting a small crested bird of the lark kind. The name alauda was bestowed by Julius Caesar on a legion of picked men, which he raised at his own expense among the inhabitants of Transalpine Gaul, about the year B.C. 55, which he equipped and disciplined after the Roman fashion, and on which he at a subsequent period bestowed the freedom of the state. The designation was, in all probability, applied from a plume upon the helmet, resembling the “apex” of the bird in question, or from the general shape and appearance of the head-piece.

ALBŎGĂLĒRUS. [Apex.]

ALBUM, a tablet of any material on which the praetor’s edicts, and the rules relating to actions and interdicts, were written. The tablet was put up in a public place, in order that all the world might have notice of its contents. According to some authorities, the album was so called because it was either a white material or a material whitened, and of course the writing would be of a different colour. According to other authorities, it was so called because the writing was in white letters. Probably the word album originally meant any tablet containing anything of a public nature. We know that it was, in course of time, used to signify a list of any public body; thus we find album judicum, or the body out of which judices were to be chosen [Judex], and album senatorium, or list of senators.

ĀLĔA, gaming, or playing at a game of chance of any kind: hence aleo, aleator, a gamester, a gambler. Playing with tali, or tesserae, was generally understood, because this was by far the most common game of chance among the Romans. Gaming was forbidden by the Roman laws, both during the times of the republic and under the emperors, but was tolerated in the month of December at the Saturnalia, which was a period of general relaxation; and old men were allowed to amuse themselves in this manner at all times.

ĂLĬCŬLA (ἄλλιξ or ἄλληξ), an upper dress, in all probability identical with the chlamys.

ĂLIMENTĀRII PŬĔRI ET PŬELLAE. In the Roman republic the poorer citizens were assisted by public distributions of corn, oil, and money, which were called congiaria. [Congiarium.] The Emperor Nerva was the first who extended them to children, and Trajan appointed them to be made every month, both to orphans and to the children of poor parents. The children who received them were called pueri et puellae alimentarii, and also (from the emperor) pueri puellaeque Ulpiani.

ĀLĬPĬLUS, a slave, who attended on bathers to remove the superfluous hair from their bodies.

ĂLIPTAE (ἀλείπται), among the Greeks, were persons who anointed the bodies of the athletae preparatory to their entering the palaestra. The chief object of this anointing was to close the pores of the body, in order to prevent much perspiration, and the weakness consequent thereon. The athleta was again anointed after the contest, in order to restore the tone of the strained muscles. He then bathed, and had the dust, sweat, and oil scraped off his body, by means of an instrument similar to the strigil of the Romans, and called stlengis (στλεγγίς), and afterwards xystra (ξύστρα). The aliptae took advantage of the knowledge they necessarily acquired of the state of the muscles of the athletae, and their general strength or weakness of body, to advise them as to their exercises and mode of life. They were thus a kind of medical trainers. Among the Romans the aliptae were slaves who scrubbed and anointed their masters in the baths. They, too, like the Greek aliptae, appear to have attended to their masters’ constitution and mode of life. They were also called unctores. They used in their operations a kind of scraper called strigil, towels (lintea), a cruise of oil (guttus), which was usually of horn, a bottle (ampulla), and a small vessel called lenticula.

ALLŎCŪTĬO, an harangue made by a Roman imperator to his soldiers, to encourage them before battle, or on other occasions. On coins we frequently find a figure of an imperator standing on a platform and addressing the soldiers below him. Such coins bear the epigraph ADLOCUTIO.

ALŌA or HALŌA (ἀλῶα, ἁλῶα), an Attic festival, but celebrated principally at Eleusis, in honour of Demeter and Dionysus, the inventors of the plough and protectors of the fruits of the earth.

ALTĀRE. [Ara.]

ĂLŪTA. [Calceus.]

ĂLỸTAE (ἀλύται), persons whose business it was to keep order in the public games. They received their orders from an alytarches (ἀλυτάρχης), who was himself under the direction of the agonothetae, or hellenodicae.

ĀMĂNŬENSIS, or AD MĂNUM SERVUS, a slave, or freedman, whose office it was to write letters and other things under his master’s direction. The amanuenses must not be confounded with another sort of slaves, also called ad manum servi, who were always kept ready to be employed in any business.

ĂMĂRYNTHĬA, or ĂMĂRYSĬA (ἀμαρύνθια or ἀμαρύσια), a festival of Artemis Amarynthia or Amarysia, celebrated, as it seems, originally at Amarynthus in Euboea, with extraordinary splendour, but also solemnised in several places in Attica, such as Athmone.

AMBARVĀLIĂ. [Arvales Fratres.]

AMBĬTUS, which literally signifies “a going about,” cannot, perhaps, be more nearly expressed than by our word canvassing. After the plebs had formed a distinct class at Rome, and when the whole body of the citizens had become very greatly increased, we frequently read, in the Roman writers, of the great efforts which it was necessary for candidates to make in order to secure the votes of the citizens. At Rome, as in every community into which the element of popular election enters, solicitation of votes, and open or secret influence and bribery, were among the means by which a candidate secured his election to the offices of state. The following are the principal terms occurring in the Roman writers in relation to the canvassing for the public offices:—A candidate was called petitor; and his opponent with reference to him competitor. A candidate (candidatus) was so called from his appearing in the public places, such as the fora and Campus Martius, before his fellow-citizens, in a whitened toga. On such occasions the candidate was attended by his friends (deductores), or followed by the poorer citizens (sectatores), who could in no other manner show their good will or give their assistance. The word assiduitas expressed both the continual presence of the candidate at Rome and his continual solicitations. The candidate, in going his rounds or taking his walk, was accompanied by a nomenclator, who gave him the names of such persons as he might meet; the candidate was thus enabled to address them by their name, an indirect compliment, which could not fail to be generally gratifying to the electors. The candidate accompanied his address with a shake of the hand (prensatio). The term benignitas comprehended generally any kind of treating, as shows, feasts, &c. The ambitus, which was the object of several penal enactments, taken as a generic term, comprehended the two species—ambitus and largitiones (bribery). Liberalitas and benignitas are opposed by Cicero, as things allowable, to ambitus and largitio, as things illegal. Money was paid for votes; and, in order to insure secrecy and secure the elector, persons called interpretes were employed to make the bargain, sequestres to hold the money till it was to be paid, and divisores to distribute it. The offence of ambitus was a matter which belonged to the judicia publica, and the enactments against it were numerous. One of the earliest, though not the earliest of all, the Lex Cornelia Baebia (B.C. 181) was specially directed against largitiones. Those convicted under it were incapacitated from being candidates for ten years. The Lex Cornelia Fulvia (B.C. 159) punished the offence with exile. The Lex Acilia Calpurnia (B.C. 67) imposed a fine on the offending party, with exclusion from the senate and all public offices. The Lex Tullia (B.C. 63), passed in the consulship of Cicero, in addition to the penalty of the Acilian law, inflicted ten years’ exsilium on the offender; and, among other things, forbade a person to exhibit gladiatorial shows (gladiatores dare) within any two years in which he was a candidate, unless he was required to do so, on a fixed day, by a testator’s will. Two years afterwards the Lex Aufidia was proposed, but not passed; by which, among other things, it was provided that, if a candidate promised (pronuntiavit) money to a tribe, and did not pay it, he should be unpunished; but, if he did pay the money, he should further pay to each tribe (annually?) 3000 sesterces as long as he lived. This absurd proposal occasioned the witticism of Cicero, who said that Clodius observed the law by anticipation; for he promised, but did not pay. The Lex Licinia (B.C. 55) was specially directed against the offence of sodalitium, or the wholesale bribery of a tribe by gifts and treating; and another lex, passed (B.C. 52) when Pompey was sole consul, had for its object the establishment of a speedier course of proceeding on trials for ambitus. All these enactments failed in completely accomplishing their object. That which no law could suppress, so long as the old popular forms retained any of their pristine vigour, was accomplished by the imperial usurpation. Caesar, when dictator, nominated some of the candidates for public offices: as to the consulship, he managed the appointments to that office just as he pleased. The popular forms of election were observed during the time of Augustus. Tiberius transferred the elections from the comitia to the senate, by which the offence of ambitus, in its proper sense, entirely disappeared. The trials for ambitus were numerous in the time of the republic. The oration of Cicero in defence of L. Murena, who was charged with ambitus, and that in defence of Cn. Plancius, who was charged with sodalitium, are both extant.

AMBRŎSĬA (ἀμβροσία), the food of the gods, which conferred upon them eternal youth and immortality, and was brought to Jupiter by pigeons. It was also used by the gods for anointing their body and hair; whence we read of the ambrosial locks of Jupiter.

AMBŪBAIAE (probably from the Syriac abub aubub, a pipe), Eastern dancing girls, who frequented chiefly the Circus at Rome, and obtained their living by prostitution and lascivious songs and dances.

AMBURBĬUM, a sacrifice which was performed at Rome for the purification of the city.

AMENTUM. [Hasta.]

ĂMICTŌRĬUM. [Strophium.]

ĂMICTUS. The verb amicire is commonly opposed to induere, the former being applied to the putting on of the outer garment, the pallium, laena, or toga (ἱμάτιον, φᾶρος); the latter, to the putting on of the inner garment, the tunic (χιτών). In consequence of this distinction, the verbal nouns amictus and indutus, even without any further denomination of the dress being added, indicate respectively the outer and inner clothing. In Greek amicire is expressed by ἀμφιέννυσθαι, ἀμπέχεσθαι, ἐπιβάλλεσθαι, περιβάλλεσθαι: and induere by ἐνδύνειν. Hence came ἀμπεχόνη, ἐπίβλημα, and ἐπιβόλαιον, περίβλημα, and περιβόλαιον, an outer garment, a cloak, a shawl; and ἔνδυμα, an inner garment, a tunic, a shirt.

AMPHICTỸŎNES (ἀμφικτύονες). Institutions called amphictyonic appear to have existed in Greece from time immemorial. They seem to have been originally associations of neighbouring tribes, formed for the regulation of mutual intercourse and the protection of a common temple or sanctuary, at which the representatives of the different members met, both to transact business and to celebrate religious rites and games. One of these associations was of much greater importance than all the rest, and was called, by way of eminence, the Amphictyonic League or Council (ἀμφικτυονία). It differed from other similar associations in having two places of meeting, the sanctuaries of two divinities; which were the temple of Demeter, in the village of Anthela, near Thermopylae, where the deputies met in autumn; and that of Apollo, at Delphi, where they assembled in spring. Its connexion with the latter place not only contributed to its dignity, but also to its permanence. Its early history is involved in obscurity. Most of the ancients suppose it to have been founded by Amphictyon, the son of Deucalion and Pyrrha, from whom they imagined that it derived its name: but this opinion is destitute of all foundation, and arose from the ancients assigning the establishment of their institutions to some mythical hero. There can be little doubt as to the true etymology of the word. It was originally written ἀμφικτίονες, and consequently signified those that dwelt around some particular locality. Its institution, however, is clearly of remote antiquity. It was originally composed of twelve tribes (not cities or states, it must be observed), each of which tribes contained various independent cities or states. We learn from Aeschines, that in B.C. 343, eleven of these tribes were as follows:—The Thessalians, Boeotians (not Thebans only), Dorians, Ionians, Perrhaebians, Magnetes, Locrians, Oetaeans or Oenianians, Phthiots or Achaeans of Phthia, Malians, and Phocians; other lists leave us in doubt whether the remaining tribe were the Dolopes or Delphians; but as the Delphians could hardly be called a distinct tribe, their nobles appearing to have been Dorians, it seems probable that the Dolopes were originally members, and afterwards supplanted by the Delphians. All the states belonging to each of these tribes were on a footing of perfect equality. Thus Sparta enjoyed no advantages over Dorium and Cytinium, two small towns in Doris: and Athens, an Ionic city, was on a par with Eretria in Euboea, and Priene in Asia Minor, two other Ionic cities. The ordinary council was called Pylaea (πυλαία), from its meeting in the neighbourhood of Pylae (Thermopylae), but the name was given to the session at Delphi as well as to that at Thermopylae. The council was composed of two classes of representatives, one called Pylagorae (Πυλαγόραι), and the other Hieromnemones (Ἱερομνήμονες). Athens sent three Pylagorae and one Hieromnemon; of whom the former were elected apparently for each session, and the latter by lot, probably for a longer period. Respecting the relative duties of the Pylagorae and Hieromnemones we have little information: the name of the latter implies that they had a more immediate connection with the temple. We are equally in the dark respecting the numbers who sat in the council and its mode of proceeding. It would seem that all the deputies had seats in the council, and took part in its deliberations; but if it be true, as appears from Aeschines, that each of the tribes had only two votes, it is clear that all the deputies could not have voted. In addition to the ordinary council, there was an ecclesia (ἐκκλησία), or general assembly, including not only the classes above mentioned, but also those who had joined in the sacrifices, and were consulting the god. It was convened on extraordinary occasions by the chairman of the council. Of the duties of the Amphictyons nothing will give us a clearer view than the oath they took, which was as follows:—“They would destroy no city of the Amphictyons, nor cut off their streams in war or peace; and if any should do so, they would march against him, and destroy his cities; and should any pillage the property of the god, or be privy to or plan anything against what was in his temple (at Delphi), they would take vengeance on him with hand and foot, and voice, and all their might.” From this oath we see that the main duty of the deputies was the preservation of the rights and dignity of the temple of Delphi. We know, too, that after it was burnt down (B.C. 548), they contracted with the Alcmaeonidae for its rebuilding. History, moreover, teaches that if the council produced any palpable effects, it was from their interest in Delphi; and though they kept up a standing record of what ought to have been the international law of Greece, they sometimes acquiesced in, and at other times were parties to, the most iniquitous acts. Of this the case of Crissa is an instance. This town lay on the Gulf of Corinth, near Delphi, and was much frequented by pilgrims from the West. The Crissaeans were charged by the Delphians with undue exactions from these strangers. The council declared war against them, as guilty of a wrong against the god. The war lasted ten years, till, at the suggestion of Solon, the waters of the Pleistus were turned off, then poisoned, and turned again into the city. The besieged drank their fill, and Crissa was soon razed to the ground; and thus, if it were an Amphictyonic city, was a solemn oath doubly violated. Its territory—the rich Cirrhaean plain—was consecrated to the god, and curses imprecated upon whomsoever should till or dwell in it. Thus ended the First Sacred War (B.C. 585), in which the Athenians were the instruments of Delphian vengeance. The second or Phocian war (B.C. 350) was the most important in which the Amphictyons were concerned; and in this the Thebans availed themselves of the sanction of the council to take vengeance on their enemies, the Phocians. To do this, however, it was necessary to call in Philip of Macedon, who readily proclaimed himself the champion of Apollo, as it opened a pathway to his own ambition. The Phocians were subdued (B.C. 346), and the council decreed that all their cities, except Abae, should be razed, and the inhabitants dispersed in villages not containing more than fifty persons. Their two votes were given to Philip, who thereby gained a pretext for interfering with the affairs of Greece; and also obtained the recognition of his subjects as Hellenes. The Third Sacred War arose from the Amphissians tilling the devoted Cirrhaean plain. The Amphictyons called in the assistance of Philip, who soon reduced the Amphissians to subjection. Their submission was immediately followed by the battle of Chaeroneia (B.C. 338), and the extinction of the independence of Greece. In the following year, a congress of the Amphictyonic states was held, in which war was declared as if by united Greece against Persia, and Philip elected commander-in-chief. On this occasion the Amphictyons assumed the character of national representatives as of old, when they set a price upon the head of Ephialtes, for his treason to Greece at Thermopylae. It has been sufficiently shown that the Amphictyons themselves did not observe the oaths they took; and that they did not much alleviate the horrors of war, or enforce what they had sworn to do, is proved by many instances. Thus, for instance, Mycenae was destroyed by Argos (B.C. 535), Thespiae and Plataeae by Thebes, and Thebes herself swept from the face of the earth by Alexander, without the Amphictyons raising one word in opposition. Indeed, a few years before the Peloponnesian war, the council was a passive spectator of what Thucydides calls the Sacred War (ὁ ἱερὸς πόλεμος), when the Lacedaemonians made an expedition to Delphi, and put the temple into the hands of the Delphians, the Athenians, after their departure, restoring it to the Phocians. The council is rarely mentioned after the time of Philip. We are told that Augustus wished his new city, Nicopolis (A.D. 31), to be enrolled among the members. Pausanias, in the second century of our era, mentions it as still existing, but deprived of all power and influence.

AMPHĬDRŎMĬA (ἀμφιδρόμια or δρομιάμφιον ἧμαρ), a family festival of the Athenians, at which the newly-born child was introduced into the family, and received its name. The friends and relations of the parents were invited to the festival of the amphidromia, which was held in the evening, and they generally appeared with presents. The house was decorated on the outside with olive branches when the child was a boy, or with garlands of wool when the child was a girl; and a repast was prepared for the guests. The child was carried round the fire by the nurse, and thus, as it were, presented to the gods of the house and to the family, and at the same time received its name, to which the guests were witnesses. The carrying of the child round the hearth was the principal part of the solemnity, from which its name was derived.

AMPHĬTHĔĀTRUM, an amphitheatre, was a place for the exhibition of public shows of combatants, wild beasts, and naval engagements, and was entirely surrounded with seats for the spectators; whereas, in those for dramatic performances, the seats were arranged in a semicircle facing the stage. An amphitheatre is therefore frequently described as a double theatre, consisting of two such semicircles, or halves, joined together, the spaces allotted to their orchestras becoming the inner inclosure, or area, termed the arena. The form, however, of the ancient amphitheatres was not a circle, but invariably an ellipse. Gladiatorial shows and combats of wild beasts (venationes) were first exhibited in the forum and the circus; and it appears that the ancient custom was still preserved till the time of Julius Caesar. The first building in the form of an amphitheatre is said to have been erected by C. Scribonius Curio, one of Caesar’s partisans; but the account which is given of this building sounds rather fabulous. It is said to have consisted of two wooden theatres, made to revolve on pivots, in such a manner that they could, by means of windlasses and machinery, be turned round face to face, so as to form one building. Soon after Caesar himself erected, in the Campus Martius, a stationary amphitheatre, made of wood; to which building the name of amphitheatrum was for the first time given. The first stone amphitheatre was built by Statilius Taurus, in the Campus Martius, at the desire of Augustus. This was the only stone amphitheatre at Rome till the time of Vespasian. One was commenced by Caligula, but was not continued by Claudius. The one erected by Nero in the Campus Martius was only a temporary building, made of wood. The amphitheatre of Statilius Taurus was burnt in the fire of Rome in the time of Nero; and hence, as a new one was needed, Vespasian commenced the celebrated Amphitheatrum Flavium in the middle of the city, in the valley between the Caelian, the Esquiline, and the Velia, on the spot originally occupied by the lake or large pond attached to Nero’s palace. Vespasian did not live to finish it. It was dedicated by Titus in A.D. 80, but was not completely finished, till the reign of Domitian. This immense edifice, which is even yet comparatively entire, covered nearly six acres of ground, and was capable of containing about 87,000 spectators. It is called at the present day the Colosseum or Colisaeum. The interior of an amphitheatre was divided into three parts, the arena, podium, and gradus. The clear open space in the centre of the amphitheatre was called the arena, because it was covered with sand, or sawdust, to prevent the gladiators from slipping, and to absorb the blood. The size of the arena was not always the same in proportion to the size of the amphitheatre, but its average proportion was one-third of the shorter diameter of the building. The arena was surrounded by a wall distinguished by the name of podium; although such appellation, perhaps, rather belongs to merely the upper part of it, forming the parapet, or balcony, before the first or lowermost seats, nearest to the arena. The arena, therefore, was no more than an open oval court, surrounded by a wall about fifteen feet high; a height considered necessary, in order to render the spectators perfectly secure from the attacks of wild beasts. There were four principal entrances leading into the arena; two at the ends of each axis or diameter of it, to which as many passages led directly from the exterior of the building; besides secondary ones, intervening between them, and communicating with the corridors beneath the seats on the podium. The wall or enclosure of the arena is supposed to have been faced with marble, more or less sumptuous; besides which, there appears to have been, in some instances at least, a sort of net-work affixed to the top of the podium, consisting of railing, or rather open trellis-work of metal. As a further defence, ditches, called euripi, sometimes surrounded the arena. The term podium was also applied to the terrace, or gallery itself, immediately above the arena, which was no wider than to be capable of containing two, or at the most, three ranges of moveable seats, or chairs. This, as being by far the best situation for distinctly viewing the sports in the arena, and also more commodiously accessible than the seats higher up, was the place set apart for senators and other persons of distinction, such as foreign ambassadors; and it was here, also, that the emperor himself used to sit, in an elevated place, called suggestus or cubiculum, and likewise the person who exhibited the games on a place elevated like a pulpit or tribunal (editoris tribunal). Above the podium were the gradus, or seats of the other spectators, which were divided into maeniana, or stories. The first maenianum, consisting of fourteen rows of stone or marble seats, was appropriated to the equestrian order. The seats appropriated to the senators and equites were covered with cushions, which were first used in the time of Caligula. Then, after an interval or space, termed a praecinctio, and forming a continued landing-place from the several staircases in it, succeeded the second maenianum, where were the seats called popularia, for the third class of spectators, or the populus. Behind this was the second praecinctio, bounded by a rather high wall; above which was the third maenianum, where there were only wooden benches for the pullati, or common people. The next and last division, namely, that in the highest part of the building, consisted of a colonnade, or gallery, where females were allowed to witness the spectacles of the amphitheatre, but some parts of it were also occupied by the pullati. Each maenianum was not only divided from the other by the praecinctio, but was intersected at intervals by spaces for passages left between the seats, called scalae, or scalaria; and the portion between two such passages was called cuneus, because the space gradually widened like a wedge, from the podium to the top of the building. The entrances to the seats from the outer porticoes were called vomitoria. At the very summit was the narrow platform for the men who had to attend to the velarium, or awning, by which the building was covered as a defence against the sun and rain. The velarium appears usually to have been made of wool, but more costly materials were sometimes employed. The first of the preceding cuts represents a longitudinal section of the Flavian amphitheatre, and the second, which is on a larger scale, a part of the above section, including the exterior wall, and the seats included between that and the arena. It will serve to convey an idea of the leading form and general disposition of the interior. For an account of the gladiatorial contests, and the shows of wild beasts, exhibited in the amphitheatre, see Gladiatores, Naumachia, and Venatio.

AMPHŎRA (ἀμφορεύς), a vessel used for holding wine, oil, honey, &c. The following cut represents amphorae in the British Museum. They are of various forms and sizes; in general they are tall and narrow, with a small neck, and a handle on each side of the neck (whence the name, from ἀμφί, on both sides, and φέρω, to carry), and terminating at the bottom in a point, which was let into a stand or stuck in the ground, so that the vessel stood upright: several amphorae have been found in this position in the cellars at Pompeii. Amphorae were commonly made of earthenware. Homer mentions amphorae of gold and stone, and the Egyptians had them of brass; glass vessels of this form have been found at Pompeii. The most common use of the amphora, both among the Greeks and the Romans, was for keeping wine. The cork was covered with pitch or gypsum, and (among the Romans) on the outside the title of the wine was painted, the date of the vintage being marked by the names of the consuls then in office; or, when the jars were of glass, little tickets (pittoria, tesserae) were suspended from them, indicating these particulars.—The Greek amphoreus and the Roman amphora were also names of fixed measures. The amphoreus, which was also called metretes (μετρητής) and cadus (κάδος), was equal to three Roman urnae = 8 gallons, 7·365 pints, imperial measure. The Roman amphora was two-thirds of the amphoreus, and was equal to 2 urnae = 8 congii = to 5 gallons, 7·577 pints; its solid content was exactly a Roman cubic foot.

AMPLĬĀTĬO, an adjournment of a trial, which took place when the judices after hearing the evidence of the advocates were unable to come to a satisfactory conclusion. This they expressed by giving in the tablets, on which were the letters N. L. (non liquet), and the praetor, by pronouncing the word amplius, thereupon adjourned the trial to any day he chose. The defendant and the cause were then said ampliari.

AMPULLA (λήκυθος, βομβύλιος), a bottle, usually made among the Romans either of glass or earthenware, rarely of more valuable materials. Ampullae were more or less globular. From their round and swollen shape, the word was used by Horace to indicate grand and turgid but empty language. (“Projicit ampullas et sesquipedalia verba,” Ar. Poet. 97.) Ampullae are frequently mentioned in connection with the bath, since every Roman took with him to the bath a bottle of oil for anointing the body after bathing. The dealer in bottles was called ampullarius.

AMPYX (ἄμπυξ, ἀμπυκτήρ, Lat. frontale), a frontal, a broad band or plate of metal, which ladies of rank wore above the forehead as part of the head-dress. The frontal of a horse was called by the same name. The annexed cut exhibits the frontal on the head of Pegasus, in contrast with the corresponding ornament as shown on the heads of two females.

ĂMŬLĒTUM (περίαπτον, περίαμμα, φυλακτήριον), an amulet. This word in Arabic (hamalet) means that which is suspended. It was probably brought into Europe by Arabian merchants, together with the articles to which it was applied. An amulet was any object,—a stone, a plant, an artificial production, or a piece of writing,—which was suspended from the neck, or tied to any part of the body, for the purpose of warding off calamities and securing advantages of any kind. Faith in the virtues of amulets was almost universal in the ancient world, so that the art of medicine consisted in a very considerable degree of directions for their application.

ĂMUSSIS or ĂMUSSĬUM, a carpenter’s and mason’s instrument, the use of which was to obtain a true plane surface.

ĂNĂCEIA (ἀνάκεια, or ἀνάκειον), a festival of the Dioscuri or Anactes (Ἄνακτες), as they were called at Athens. These heroes, however, received the most distinguished honours in the Dorian and Achaean states, where it may be supposed that every town celebrated a festival in their honour, though not under the name of Anaceia.

ĂNACRĬSIS (ἀνάκρισις), an examination, was used to signify the pleadings preparatory to a trial at Athens, the object of which was to determine, generally, if the action would lie. The magistrates were said ἀνακρίνειν τὴν δίκην or τοὺς ἀντιδίκους, and the parties ἀνακρίνεσθαι. The process consisted in the production of proofs, of which there were five kinds:—1. The laws; 2. Written documents; 3. Testimonies of witnesses present (μαρτυρίαι), or affidavits of absent witnesses (ἐκμαρτυρίαι); 4. Depositions of slaves extorted by the rack; 5. The oath of the parties. All these proofs were committed to writing, and placed in a box secured by a seal (ἐχῖνος) till they were produced at the trial. If the evidence produced at the anacrisis was so clear and convincing that there could not remain any doubt, the magistrate could decide the question without sending the cause to be tried before the dicasts: this was called diamartyria (διαμαρτυρία). The archons were the proper officers for holding the anacrisis; they are represented by Athena (Minerva), in the Eumenides of Aeschylus, where there is a poetical sketch of the process in the law courts. For an account of the anacrisis or examination, which each archon underwent previously to entering on office, see Archon.

ĂNĂGLỸPHA or ĂNĂGLYPTA (ἀνάγλυφα, ἀνάγλυπτα), chased or embossed vessels made of bronze or of the precious metals, which derived their name from the work on them being in relief, and not engraved.

ĂNĂGNOSTĒS, a slave, whose duty it was to read or repeat passages from books during an entertainment, and also at other times.

ĂNĂGŌGĬA (ἀναγώγια), a festival celebrated at Eryx, in Sicily, in honour of Aphrodite. The inhabitants of the place believed that, during this festival, the goddess went over into Africa.

ĂNĂTŎCISMUS. [Fenus.]

ANCĪLE. [Salii.]

ANCŎRA. [Navis.]

ANDĂBĂTA. [Gladiator.]

ANDRŎGĔŌNIA (ἀνδρογεώνια), a festival with games, held every year in the Cerameicus at Athens, in honour of the hero Androgeus, son of Minos, who had overcome all his adversaries in the festive games of the Panathenaea, and was afterwards killed by his jealous rivals.

ANDRŎLEPSĬA (ἀνδροληψία or ἀνδρολήψιον), a legal means by which the Athenians were enabled to take vengeance upon a community in which an Athenian citizen had been murdered, by seizing three individuals of that state or city, as hostages, until satisfaction was given.

ANDRŌNĪTIS. [Domus, Greek.]

ANGĂRĪA (ἀγγαρεία, Hdt. ἀγγαρήϊον), a word borrowed from the Persians, signifying a system of posting by relays of horses, which was used among that people, and which, according to Xenophon, was established by Cyrus. The term was adopted by the Romans under the empire to signify compulsory service in forwarding the messages of the state. The Roman angaria, also called angariarum exhibitio or praestatio, included the maintenance and supply, not only of horses, but of ships and messengers, in forwarding both letters and burdens; it is defined as a personale munus; and there was no ground of exemption from it allowed, except by the favour of the emperor.

ANGĬPORTUS, or ANGĬPORTUM, a narrow lane between two rows of houses, which might either be what the French call a cul-de-sac, or it might terminate at both ends in some public street.

ANGUSTICLĀVĬI. [Clavus.]

ANNĀLES MAXĬMI. [Pontifex.]

ANNŌNA (from annus, like pomona from pomum).—(1) The produce of the year in corn, fruit, wine, &c., and hence,—(2) provisions in general, especially the corn, which, in the later years of the republic, was collected in the storehouses of the state, and sold to the poor at a cheap rate in times of scarcity; and which, under the emperors, was distributed to the people gratuitously, or given as pay and rewards;—(3) the price of provisions;—(4) a soldier’s allowance of provisions for a certain time. The word is used also in the plural for yearly or monthly distributions of pay in corn, &c.

ANNŬLUS (δακτύλιος), a ring. It is probable that the custom of wearing rings was very early introduced into Greece from Asia, where it appears to have been almost universal. They were worn not merely as ornaments, but as articles for use, as the ring always served as a seal. A seal was called sphragis (σφραγίς), and hence this name was given to the ring itself, and also to the gem or stone for a ring in which figures were engraved. Rings in Greece were mostly worn on the fourth finger (παράμεσος). At Rome, the custom of wearing rings was believed to have been introduced by the Sabines, who were described in the early legends as wearing golden rings with precious stones of great beauty. But, whenever introduced at Rome, it is certain that they were at first always of iron; that they were destined for the same purpose as in Greece, namely, to be used as seals; and that every free Roman had a right to use such a ring. This iron ring was worn down to the last period of the republic by such men as loved the simplicity of the good old times. In the course of time, however, it became customary for all the senators, chief magistrates, and at last for the equites also, to wear a golden seal-ring. The right of wearing a gold ring, which was subsequently called the jus annuli aurei, or the jus annulorum, remained for several centuries at Rome the exclusive privilege of senators, magistrates, and equites, while all other persons continued to wear iron ones. During the empire the right of granting the annulus aureus belonged to the emperors, and some of them were not very scrupulous in conferring this privilege. Augustus gave it to Mena, a freedman, and to Antonius Musa, a physician. The emperors Severus and Aurelian conferred the right of wearing golden rings upon all Roman soldiers; and Justinian at length allowed all the citizens of the empire, whether ingenui or libertini, to wear such rings. The ring of a Roman emperor was a kind of state seal, and the emperor sometimes allowed the use of it to such persons as he wished to be regarded as his representatives. During the republic and the early times of the empire the jus annuli seems to have made a person ingenuus (if he was a libertus), and to have raised him to the rank of eques, provided he had the requisite equestrian census, and it was probably never granted to any one who did not possess this census. Those who lost their property, or were found guilty of a criminal offence, lost the jus annuli. The principal value of a ring consisted in the gem set in it, or rather in the workmanship of the engraver. The stone most frequently used was the onyx (σαρδῶνος, σαρδόνυξ), on account of its various colours, of which the artist made the most skilful use. In the art of engraving upon gems the ancients far surpassed anything that modern times can boast of. The devices engraved upon rings were very various: they were portraits of ancestors or of friends, subjects connected with mythology; and in many cases a person had engraved upon his seal some symbolical allusion to the real or mythical history of his family. The bezel or part of the ring which contained the gem was called pala. With the increasing love of luxury and show, the Romans, as well as the Greeks, covered their fingers with rings. Some persons also wore rings of immoderate size, and others used different rings for summer and winter. Much superstition appears to have been connected with rings, especially in the East and in Greece. Some persons made it a lucrative trade to sell rings which were believed to possess magic powers, and to preserve the wearers from external danger.

ANNUS. [Calendarium.]

ANQUĪSĪTĬO, signified, in criminal trials at Rome, the investigation of the facts of the case with reference to the penalty that was to be imposed: accordingly the phrases pecunia capitis or capitis anquirere are used. Under the emperors the term anquisitio lost its original meaning, and was employed to indicate an accusation in general; in which sense it also occurs even in the times of the republic.

ANTAE (παραστάδες), square pillars, which were commonly joined to the side-walls of a building, being placed on each side of the door, so as to assist in forming the portico. These terms are seldom found except in the plural; because the purpose served by antae required that they should be erected corresponding to each other and supporting the extremities of the same roof. The temple in antis was one of the simplest kind. It had in front antae attached to the walls which inclosed the cella; and in the middle, between the antae, two columns supporting the architrave.

ANTĔAMBŬLŌNES, slaves who were accustomed to go before their masters, in order to make way for them through the crowd. The term anteambulones was also given to the clients, who were accustomed to walk before their patroni, when the latter appeared in public.

ANTĔCESSŌRES, called also ANTĔCURSŌRES, horse-soldiers, who were accustomed to precede an army on march, in order to choose a suitable place for the camp, and to make the necessary provisions for the army. They do not appear to have been merely scouts, like the speculatores.

ANTĔCOENA. [Coena.]

ANTĔFIXA, terra-cottas, which exhibited various ornamental designs, and were used in architecture to cover the frieze (zophorus) of the entablature. These terra-cottas do not appear to have been used among the Greeks, but were probably Etruscan in their origin, and were thence taken for the decoration of Roman buildings. The name antefixa is evidently derived from the circumstance that they were fixed before the buildings which they adorned. Cato, the censor, complained that the Romans of his time began to despise ornaments of this description, and to prefer the marble friezes of Athens and Corinth. The rising taste which Cato deplored may account for the superior beauty of the antefixa preserved in the British Museum, which were discovered at Rome.

ANTENNA. [Navis.]

ANTĔPĪLĀNI. [Exercitus.]

ANTĔSIGNĀNI. [Exercitus.]

ANTHESPHŎRĬA (ἀνθεσφόρια), a flower-festival, principally celebrated in Sicily, in honour of Demeter and Persephone, in commemoration of the return of Persephone to her mother in the beginning of spring.

ANTHESTĒRĬA. [Dionysia.]

ANTĬDŎSIS (ἀντίδοσις), in its literal and general meaning, “an exchange,” was, in the language of the Attic courts, peculiarly applied to proceedings under a law which is said to have originated with Solon. By this, a citizen nominated to perform a leiturgia, such as a trierarchy or choregia, or to rank among the property-tax payers, in a class disproportioned to his means, was empowered to call upon any qualified person not so charged to take the office in his stead, or submit to a complete exchange of property, the charge in question of course attaching to the first party, if the exchange were finally effected. For the proceedings the courts were opened at a stated time every year by the magistrates that had official cognisance of the particular subject; such as the strategi in cases of trierarchy and rating to the property-taxes, and the archon in those of choregia.

ANTĬGRĂPHE (ἀντιγραφή) originally signified the writing put in by the defendant, his “plea” in all causes whether public or private, in answer to the indictment or bill of the prosecutor. It is, however, also applied to the bill or indictment of the plaintiff or accuser.

ĀNTLĬA (ἄντλια), any machine for raising water, a pump. The most important of these machines were:—(1) The tympanum; a tread-wheel, worked by men treading on it.—(2) A wheel having wooden boxes or buckets, so arranged as to form steps for those who trod the wheel.—(3) The chain pump.—(4) The cochlea, or Archimedes’s screw.—(5) The ctesibica machina, or forcing-pump.—Criminals were condemned to the antlia or tread-mill. The antlia with which Martial (ix. 19) watered his garden, was probably the pole and bucket universally employed in Italy, Greece, and Egypt. The pole is curved, as shown in the annexed figure; because it is the stem of a fir or some other tapering tree.

ANTYX (ἄντυξ), the rim or border of any thing, especially of a shield or chariot. The rim of the large round shield of the ancient Greeks was thinner than the part which it enclosed; but on the other hand, the antyx of a chariot must have been thicker than the body to which it gave both form and strength. In front of the chariot the antyx was often raised above the body, into the form of a curvature, which served the purpose of a hook to hang the reins upon.

ĂPĂGŌGĒ (ἀπαγωγή), a summary process, allowed in certain cases by the Athenian law. The term denotes not merely the act of apprehending a culprit caught in ipso facto, but also the written information delivered to the magistrate, urging his apprehension. The cases in which the apagoge was most generally allowed were those of theft, murder, ill-usage of parents, &c.

ĂPĂTŪRĬA (ἀπατούρια) was a political festival, which the Athenians had in common with all the Greeks of the Ionian name, with the exception of those of Colophon and Ephesus. It was celebrated in the month of Pyanepsion, and lasted for three days. The name ἀπατούρια is not derived from ἀπατᾶν, to deceive, but is composed of ἀ = ἅμα and πατύρια, which is perfectly consistent with what Xenophon says of the festival, that when it is celebrated the fathers and relations assemble together. According to this derivation, it is the festival at which the phratriae met to discuss and settle their own affairs. But, as every citizen was a member of a phratria, the festival extended over the whole nation, who assembled according to phratriae. The festival lasted three days. The third day was the most important; for on that day, children born in that year, in the families of the phratriae, or such as were not yet registered, were taken by their fathers, or in their absence by their representatives (κύριοι), before the assembled members of the phratria. For every child a sheep or a goat was sacrificed. The father, or he who supplied his place, was obliged to establish by oath that the child was the offspring of free-born parents, and citizens of Athens. After the victim was sacrificed, the phratores gave their votes, which they took from the altar of Zeus Phratrius. When the majority voted against the reception, the cause might be tried before one of the courts of Athens; and if the claims of the child were found unobjectionable, its name, as well as that of the father, was entered into the register of the phratria, and those who had wished to effect the exclusion of the child were liable to be punished.

ĂPERTA NĀVIS. [Navis.]

ĂPEX, a cap worn by the flamines and salii at Rome. The essential part of the apex, to which alone the name properly belonged, was a pointed piece of olive-wood, the base of which was surrounded with a lock of wool. This was worn on the top of the head, and was held there either by fillets only, or, as was more commonly the case, by the aid of a cap which fitted the head, and was also fastened by means of two strings or bands. The albogalerus, a white cap made of the skin of a white victim sacrificed to Jupiter, and worn by the flamen dialis, had the apex fastened to it by means of an olive twig.

APHLASTON (ἄφλαστον). [Navis.]

ĂPHRACTUS. [Navis.]

ĂPHRŎDĪSĬA (ἀφροδίσια) were festivals celebrated in honour of Aphrodité, in a great number of towns in Greece, but particularly in the island of Cyprus. Her most ancient temple was at Paphos. No bloody sacrifices were allowed to be offered to her, but only pure fire, flowers, and incense.

APLUSTRE. [Navis.]

ĂPŎCLĒTI (ἀποκλητοὶ). [Aetolicum Foedus.]

ĂPODECTAE (ἀποδέκται), public officers at Athens, who were introduced by Cleisthenes in the place of the ancient colacretae (κωλακρέται). They were ten in number, one for each tribe, and their duty was to collect all the ordinary taxes, and distribute them among the separate branches of the administration which were entitled to them.

ĂPŎGRĂPHĒ (ἀπογραφή), literally, “a list, or register;” signified also, (1) An accusation in public matters, more particularly when there were several defendants. It differed but little, if at all, from the ordinary graphe.—(2) A solemn protest or assertion in writing before a magistrate, to the intent that it might be preserved by him till it was required to be given in evidence.—(3) A specification of property, said to belong to the state, but actually in the possession of a private person; which specification was made with a view to the confiscation of such property to the state.

ĂPOLLĬNĀRES LŪDI. [Ludi Apollinares.]

ĂPOLLŌNĬA (ἀπολλώνια), the name of a propitiatory festival solemnized at Sicyon, in honour of Apollo and Artemis.

ĂPŎPHŎRĒTA (ἀποφόρητα) were presents, which were given to friends at the end of an entertainment to take home with them. These presents appear to have been usually given on festival days, especially during the Saturnalia.

ĂPORRHĒTA (ἀπόῤῥητα), literally “things forbidden,” has two peculiar, but widely different, acceptations in the Attic dialect. In one of these it implies contraband goods; in the other, it denotes certain contumelious epithets, from the application of which both the living and the dead were protected by special laws.

ĂPŎSTŎLEUS (ἀποστολεύς), the name of a public officer at Athens. There were ten magistrates of this name, and their duty was to see that the ships were properly equipped and provided by those who were bound to discharge the trierarchy. They had the power, in certain cases, of imprisoning the trierarchs who neglected to furnish the ships properly.

ĂPŎTHĒCA (ἀποθήκη), a place in the upper part of the house, in which the Romans frequently placed the earthen amphorae in which their wines were deposited. This place, which was quite different from the cella vinaria, was above the fumarium; since it was thought that the passage of the smoke through the room tended greatly to increase the flavour of the wine. The position of the apotheca explains the expression in Horace (Carm. ii. 21, 7), Descende, testa.

ĂPŎTHĔŌSIS (ἀποθέωσις), the enrolment of a mortal among the gods. The mythology of Greece contains numerous instances of the deification of mortals; but in the republican times of Greece we find few examples of such deification. The inhabitants of Amphipolis, however, offered sacrifices to Brasidas after his death. In the Greek kingdoms, which arose in the East on the dismemberment of the empire of Alexander, it appears to have been not uncommon for the successor to the throne to offer divine honours to the former sovereign. Such an apotheosis of Ptolemy, king of Egypt, is described by Theocritus in his 17th Idyl. The term apotheosis, among the Romans, properly signified the elevation of a deceased emperor to divine honours. This practice, which was common upon the death of almost all the emperors, appears to have arisen from the opinion which was generally entertained among the Romans, that the souls or manes of their ancestors became deities; and as it was common for children to worship the manes of their fathers, so it was natural for divine honours to be publicly paid to a deceased emperor, who was regarded as the parent of his country. This apotheosis of an emperor was usually called consecratio; and the emperor who received the honour of an apotheosis was usually said in deorum numerum referri, or consecrari, and whenever he is spoken of after his death, the title of divus is prefixed to his name. The funeral pile on which the body of the deceased emperor was burnt, was constructed of several stories in the form of chambers rising one above another, and in the highest an eagle was placed, which was let loose as the fire began to burn, and which was supposed to carry the soul of the emperor from earth to heaven.

APPĀRĬTOR, the general name for a public servant of the magistrates at Rome, namely, the Accensus, Carnifex, Coactor, Interpres, Lictor, Praeco, Scriba, Stator, Viator, of whom an account is given in separate articles. They were called apparitores because they were at hand to execute the commands of the magistrates (quod iis apparebant). Their service or attendance was called apparitio.

APPELLĀTĬO, appeal.—(1) Greek (ἔφεσις or ἀναδικία.) Owing to the constitution of the Athenian tribunals, each of which was generally appropriated to its peculiar subjects of cognisance, and therefore could not be considered as homogeneous with or subordinate to any other, there was little opportunity for bringing appeals properly so called. It is to be observed also, that in general a cause was finally and irrevocably decided by the verdict of the dicasts (δίκη αὐτοτελής). There were only a few exceptions in which appeals and new trials might be resorted to.—(2) Roman. The word appellatio, and the corresponding verb appellare, are used in the early Roman writers to express the application of an individual to a magistrate, and particularly to a tribune, in order to protect himself from some wrong inflicted, or threatened to be inflicted. It is distinguished from provocatio, which in the early writers is used to signify an appeal to the populus in a matter affecting life. It would seem that the provocatio was an ancient right of the Roman citizens. The surviving Horatius, who murdered his sister, appealed from the duumviri to the populus. The decemviri took away the provocatio; but it was restored by the Lex Valeria et Horatia, B.C. 449, in the year after the decemvirate, and it was at the same time enacted, that in future no magistrate should be made from whom there should be no appeal. On this Livy remarks, that the plebs were now protected by the provocatio and the tribunicium auxilium; this latter term has reference to the appellatio properly so called. The complete phrase to express the provocatio is provocare ad populum; and the phrase which expresses the appellatio is appellare ad, &c.

APSIS or ABSIS (ἁψίς), in architecture, signified first, any building or portion of a building of a circular form or vaulted, and more especially the circular and vaulted end of a Basilica.

ĂQUAE DUCTUS (ὑδραγωγία), literally, a water-conduit, but the word is used especially for the magnificent structures by means of which Rome and other cities of the Roman empire were supplied with water. A Roman aqueduct, often called simply aqua, may be described in general terms as a channel, constructed as nearly as possible with a regular declivity from the source whence the water was derived to the place where it was delivered, carried through hills by means of tunnels, and over valleys upon a substruction of solid masonry or arches. The aqueduct is mentioned by Strabo as among the structures which were neglected by the Greeks, and first brought into use by the Romans. Springs (κρῆναι, κρουνοί) were sufficiently abundant in Greece to supply the great cities with water; and they were frequently converted into public fountains by the formation of a head for their waters, and the erection of an ornamental superstructure. Of this we have an example in the Enneacrunos at Athens, which was constructed by Peisistratus and his sons. The Romans were in a very different position, with respect to the supply of water, from most of the Greek cities. They, at first, had recourse to the Tiber, and to wells sunk in the city; but the water obtained from those sources was very unwholesome, and must soon have proved insufficient, from the growth of the population. It was this necessity that led to the invention of aqueducts, in order to bring pure water from the hills which surround the Campagna. The number of aqueducts was gradually increased, partly at the public expense, and partly by the munificence of individuals, till, in the fourth century of the Christian era, they amounted to fourteen. Of these only four belong to the time of the republic, while five were built in the reigns of Augustus and Claudius.—1. The Aqua Appia, begun by the censor Appius Claudius Caecus in B.C. 313. Its sources were near the Via Praenestina, between the seventh and eighth mile-stones.—2. The Anio Vetus was commenced forty years later, B.C. 273, by the censor M. Curius Dentatus, and was finished by M. Fulvius Flaccus. The water was derived from the river Anio, above Tibur, at a distance of 20 Roman miles from the city; but, on account of its windings, its actual length was 43 miles.—3. The Aqua Marcia, one of the most important of the whole, was built by the praetor Q. Marcius Rex, by command of the senate, in B.C. 144. It commenced at the side of the Via Valeria, 36 miles from Rome.—4. The Aqua Tepula, built by the censors Cn. Servilius Caepio and L. Cassius Longinus in B.C. 127, began at a spot in the Lucullan or Tusculan land, two miles to the right of the tenth milestone on the Via Latina. It was afterwards connected with.—5. The Aqua Julia, built by Agrippa in his aedileship, B.C. 33. It was conducted from a source two miles to the right of the twelfth milestone on the Via Latina, first to the Aqua Tepula, in which it was merged as far as the reservoir (piscina) on the Via Latina, seven miles from Rome. From this reservoir the water was carried along two distinct channels, on the same substructions; the lower channel being called the Aqua Tepula, and the upper the Aqua Julia; and this double aqueduct again was united with the Aqua Marcia, over the watercourse of which the other two were carried.—6. The Aqua Virgo, built by Agrippa, to supply his baths. From a source in a marshy spot by the 8th milestone on the Via Collatina, it was conducted by a very circuitous route.—7. The Aqua Alsietina (sometimes called also Aqua Augusta), on the other side of the Tiber, was constructed by Augustus from the Lacus Alsietinus (Lago di Martignano), which lay 6500 passus to the right of the 14th milestone on the Via Claudia.—8, 9. The two most magnificent aqueducts were the Aqua Claudia and the Anio Novus (or Aqua Aniena Nova), both commenced by Caligula in A.D. 36, and finished by Claudius in A.D. 50. The water of the Aqua Claudia was derived from two copious and excellent springs, near the 38th milestone on the Via Sublacensis. Its length was nearly 46½ miles. The Anio Novus began at the 42nd milestone. It was the longest and the highest of all the aqueducts, its length being nearly 59 miles, and some of its arches 109 feet high. In the neighbourhood of the city these two aqueducts were united, forming two channels on the same arches, the Claudia below and the Anio Novus above. These nine aqueducts were all that existed in the time of Frontinus, who was the curator of the aqueducts in the reigns of Nerva and Trajan. There was also another aqueduct, not reckoned with the nine, because its waters were no longer brought all the way to Rome, viz.: 10. The Aqua Crabra.—The following were of later construction. 11. The Aqua Trajana, brought by Trajan from the Lacus Sabatinus (now Bracciano).—12. The Aqua Alexandrina, constructed by Alexander Severus; its source was in the lands of Tusculum, about 14 miles from Rome.—13. The Aqua Septimiana, built by Septimius Severus, was perhaps only a branch of the Aqua Julia.—14. The Aqua Algentia had its source at M. Algidus by the Via Tusculana. Its builder is unknown.—Great pains were taken by successive emperors to preserve and repair the aqueducts. From the Gothic wars downwards, they have for the most part shared the fate of the other great Roman works of architecture; their situation and purpose rendering them peculiarly exposed to injury in war; but still their remains form the most striking features of the Campagna, over which their lines of ruined arches, clothed with ivy and the wild fig-tree, radiate in various directions.

Three of them still serve for their ancient use. They are—(1.) The Acqua Vergine, the ancient Aqua Virgo. (2.) The Acqua Felice, named after the conventual name of its restorer Sixtus V. (Fra Felice), is, probably, a part of the ancient Aqua Claudia, though some take it for the Alexandrina. (3.) The Acqua Paola, the ancient Alsietina.—The following woodcut represents a restored section of the triple aqueduct of Agrippa:—a. the Aqua Marcia; b. the Aqua Tepula; c. the Aqua Julia. The two latter are of brick and vaulted over. The air-vents are also shown.—The channel of an aqueduct (specus, canalis) was a trough of brick or stone, lined with cement, and covered with a coping, which was almost always arched; and the water either ran directly through this trough, or it was carried through pipes laid along the trough. These pipes were of lead, or terra-cotta (fictiles), and sometimes, for the sake of economy, of leather. At convenient points on the course of the aqueduct, and especially near the middle and end, there was generally a reservoir (piscina, piscina limosa) in which the water might deposit any sediment that it contained. The water was received, when it reached the walls of the city, in a vast reservoir called castellum, which formed the head of water and also served the purpose of a meter. From this principal castellum the water flowed into other castella, whence it was distributed for public and private use. The term castellum is sometimes also applied to the intermediate reservoirs already mentioned. During the republic, the censors and aediles had the superintendence of the aqueducts. Augustus first established curatores (or praefecti) aquarum, who were invested with considerable authority. They were attended outside the city by two lictors, three public slaves, a secretary, and other attendants. In the time of Nerva and Trajan, 460 slaves were constantly employed under the orders of the curatores aquarum in attending to the aqueducts. They consisted of:—1. The villici, whose duty it was to attend to the pipes and calices. 2. The castellarii, who had the superintendence of all the castella, both within and without the city. 3. The circuitores, so called because they had to go from post to post, to examine into the state of the works, and also to keep watch over the labourers employed upon them. 4. The silicarii, or paviours. 5. The tectores, or masons. These and other workmen appear to have been included under the general term of Aquarii.

ĂQUAE ET IGNIS INTERDICTĬO. [Exsilium.]

ĂQUĀRĬI, slaves who carried water for bathing, &c., into the female apartments. The aquarii were also public officers who attended to the aqueducts. [Aquae Ductus.]

ĂQUĬLA. [Signa Militaria.]

ĀRA (βωμός, θυτήριον), an altar. Ara was a general term denoting any structure elevated above the ground, and used to receive upon it offerings made to the gods. Altare, probably contracted from alta ara, was properly restricted to the larger, higher, and more expensive structures. Four specimens of ancient altars are given below; the two in the former woodcut are square, and those in the latter round, which is the less common form. At the top of three of the above altars we see the hole intended to receive the fire (ἐσχαρίς, ἐσχάρα): the fourth was probably intended for the offering of fruits or other gifts, which were presented to the gods without fire. When the altars were prepared for sacrifice, they were commonly decorated with garlands or festoons. These were composed of certain kinds of leaves and flowers, which were considered consecrated to such uses, and were called verbenae. The altars constructed with most labour and skill belonged to temples; and they were erected either before the temple or within the cella of the temple, and principally before the statue of the divinity to whom it was dedicated. The altars in the area before the temple were altars of burnt-offerings, at which animal sacrifices (victimae, σφάγια, ἱερεῖα) were presented: only incense was burnt, or cakes and bloodless sacrifices offered on the altars within the building.

ĂRĀTRUM (ἄροτρον), a plough. Among the Greeks and Romans the three most essential parts of the plough were,—the plough-tail (γύης, buris, bura), the share-beam (ἔλυμα, dens, dentale), that is, the piece of wood to which the share is fixed, and the pole (ῥυμός], ἱστοβοεύς, temo). In the time and country of Virgil it was the custom to force a tree into the crooked form of the buris, or plough-tail. The upper end of the buris being held by the ploughman, the lower part, below its junction with the pole, was used to hold the dentale or share-beam, which was either sheathed with metal, or driven bare into the ground, according to circumstances. The term vomer was sometimes applied to the end of the dentale. To these three parts, the two following are added in the description of the plough by Virgil:—1. The earth-boards, or mould-boards (aures), rising on each side, bending outwardly in such a manner as to throw on either hand the soil which had been previously loosened and raised by the share, and adjusted to the share-beam (dentale), which was made double for the purpose of receiving them. 2. The handle (stiva). Virgil describes this part as used to turn the plough at the end of the furrow; and it is defined by an ancient commentator on Virgil as the “handle by which the plough is directed.” It is probable that as the dentalia, the two share-beams, were in the form of the Greek letter Λ, which Virgil describes by duplici dorso, the buris was fastened to the left share-beam and the stiva to the right, so that the plough of Virgil was more like the modern Lancashire plough, which is commonly held behind with both hands. Sometimes, however, the stiva was used alone and instead of the buris or tail. In place of stiva the term capulus is sometimes employed. The only other part of the plough requiring notice is the coulter (culter), which was used by the Romans as it is with us. It was inserted into the pole so as to depend vertically before the share, cutting through the roots which came in its way, and thus preparing for the more complete overturning of the soil by the share. Two small wheels were also added to some ploughs. The plough, as described by Virgil, corresponds in all essential particulars with the plough now used about Mantua and Venice. The Greeks and Romans usually ploughed their land three times for each crop. The first ploughing was called proscindere, or novare (νεοῦσθαι, νεάζεσθαι); the second offringere, or iterare; and the third, lirare, or tertiare. The field which underwent the “proscissio” was called vervactum or novale (νεός), and in this process the coulter was employed, because the fresh surface was entangled with numberless roots which required to be divided before the soil could be turned up by the share. The term “offringere” from ob and frangere, was applied to the second ploughing; because the long parallel clods already turned up were broken and cut across, by drawing the plough through them at right angles to its former direction. The field which underwent this process was called ager iteratus. After the second ploughing the sower cast his seed. Also the clods were often, though not always, broken still further by a wooden mallet, or by harrowing (occatio). The Roman ploughman then, for the first time, attached the earth-boards to his share. The effect of this adjustment was to divide the level surface of the “ager iteratus” into ridges. These were called porcae, and also lirae, whence came the verb lirare, to make ridges, and also delirare, to decline from the straight line. The earth-boards, by throwing the earth to each side in the manner already explained, both covered the newly-scattered seed, and formed between the ridges furrows (αὔλακες, sulci) for carrying off the water. In this state the field was called seges and τρίπολος. When the ancients ploughed three times only, it was done in the spring, summer, and autumn of the same year. But in order to obtain a still heavier crop, both the Greeks and the Romans ploughed four times, the proscissio being performed in the latter part of the preceding year, so that between one crop and another two whole years intervened.

ARBĬTER. [Judex.]

ARCA (κιβωτός). (1) A chest, in which the Romans were accustomed to place their money; and the phrase ex arca solvere had the meaning of paying in ready money. The term arcae was usually applied to the chests in which the rich kept their money, and was opposed to the smaller loculi, sacculus, and crumena.—(2) The coffin in which persons were buried, or the bier on which the corpse was placed previously to burial.—(3) A strong cell made of oak, in which criminals and slaves were confined.

ARCĔRA, a covered carriage or litter, spread with cloths, which was used in ancient times in Rome, to carry the aged and infirm. It is said to have obtained the name of arcera on account of its resemblance to an arca, or chest.

ARCHEION (ἀρχεῖον) properly means any public place belonging to the magistrates, but is more particularly applied to the archive office, where the decrees of the people and other state documents were preserved. This office is sometimes merely called τὸ δημοσίον. At Athens the archives were kept in the temple of the mother of the gods (μήτρῳον), and the charge of it was entrusted to the president (ἐπιστάτης) of the senate of the Five-hundred.

ARCHĬĀTER (ἀρχίατρος), a medical title under the Roman emperors, the exact signification of which has been the subject of much discussion, but which most probably means “the chief of the physicians.” The first person whom we find bearing this title is Andromachus, physician to Nero. In after times the order appears to have been divided, and we find two distinct classes of archiatri, viz., those of the palace and those of the people.

ARCHĬMĪMUS. [Mimus.]

ARCHĬTECTŪRA ( ἀρχιτεκτονία, ἀρχιτεκτονική), architecture. The necessity for a habitation, and the attempt to adorn those habitations which were intended for the gods, are the two causes from which the art derives its existence. In early times little attention was paid to domestic architecture. The resources of the art were lavished upon the temples of the gods; and hence the greater part of the history of Grecian architecture is inseparably connected with that of the temple, and has its proper place under Templum, and the subordinate headings, such as Columna, &c. But, though the first rise of architecture, as a fine art, is connected with the temple, yet, viewed as the science of construction, it must have been employed, even earlier, for other purposes, such as the erection of fortifications, palaces, treasuries, and other works of utility. Accordingly, it is the general opinion of antiquaries, that the very earliest edifices, of which we have any remains, are the so-called Cyclopean works, in which we see huge unsquared blocks of stone built together in the best way that their shapes would allow. [Murus.] In addition to these, however, there are other purposes for which architecture, still using the term in its lower sense, would be required in a very early stage of political society; such as the general arrangement of cities, the provision of a place for the transaction of public business, with the necessary edifices appertaining to it [Agora, Forum], and the whole class of works which we embrace under the head of civil engineering, such as those for drainage [Cloaca, Emissarius], for communication [Via, Pons], and for the supply of water [Aquae ductus]. Almost equally necessary are places devoted to public exercise, health, and amusement, Gymnasium, Stadium, Hippodromus, Circus, Balneum, Theatrum, Amphitheatrum. Lastly, the skill of the architect has been from the earliest times employed to preserve the memory of departed men and past events; and hence we have the various works of monumental and triumphal architecture, which are described under the heads Funus, Arcus, Columna. The history of architecture may be divided into five periods. The first, which is chiefly mythical, comes down to the time of Cypselus, Ol. 30, B.C. 660: the second period comes down to the termination of the Persian war, Ol. 75. 2, B.C. 478: the third is the brilliant period from the end of the Persian war to the death of Alexander the Great, Ol. 114, B.C. 323: the fourth period extends to the battle of Actium, B.C. 31: the fifth period embraces the architecture of the Roman empire till it became mingled with the Gothic. Strongly fortified cities, palaces, and treasuries are the chief works of the earlier part of the first period; and to it may be referred most of the so-called Cyclopean remains; while the era of the Dorian invasion marks, in all probability, the commencement of the Dorian style of temple architecture. In the second period the art made rapid advances under the powerful patronage of the aristocracies in some cities, as at Sparta, and of the tyrants in others, as Cypselus at Corinth, Theagnes at Megara, Cleisthenes at Sicyon, the Peisistratids at Athens, and Polycrates at Samos. Architecture now assumed decidedly the character of a fine art, and became associated with the sister arts of sculpture and painting, which are essential to its development. Magnificent temples sprung up in all the principal Greek cities; and while the Doric order was brought almost, if not quite, to perfection, in Greece Proper, in the Doric colonies of Asia Minor, and in Central Italy and Sicily, the Ionic order appeared, already perfect at its first invention, in the great temple of Artemis at Ephesus. The ruins still existing at Paestum, Syracuse, Agrigentum, Selinus, Aegina, and other places, are imperishable monuments of this period. To it also belong the great works of the Roman kings. The commencement of the third and most brilliant period of the art was signalized by the rebuilding of Athens, the establishment of regular principles for the laying out of cities by Hippodamus of Miletus, and the great works of the age of Pericles, by the contemporaries of Phidias, at Athens, Eleusis, and Olympia. The first part of the fourth period saw the extension of the Greek architecture over the countries conquered by Alexander, and, in the West, the commencement of the new style, which arose from the imitation, with some alterations, of the Greek forms by Roman architects, to which the conquest of Greece gave, of course, a new impulse. By the time of Augustus, Rome was adorned with every kind of public and private edifice, surrounded by villas, and furnished with roads and aqueducts; and these various erections were adorned by the forms of Grecian art; but already Vitruvius begins to complain that the purity of that art is corrupted by the intermixture of heterogeneous forms. This process of deterioration went on rapidly during the fifth period, though combined at first with increasing magnificence in the scale and number of the buildings erected. The early part of this period is made illustrious by the numerous works of Augustus and his successors, especially the Flavii, Nerva, Trajan, Hadrian, and the Antonines, at Rome and in the provinces; but from the time of the Antonines the decline of the art was rapid and decided. In one department a new impulse was given to architecture by the rise of Christian churches, which were generally built on the model of the Roman Basilica. One of the most splendid specimens of Christian architecture is the church of S. Sophia at Constantinople, built in the reign of Justinian, A.D. 537, and restored, after its partial destruction by an earthquake, in 554. But, long before this time, the Greco-Roman style had become thoroughly corrupted, and that new style, which is called the Byzantine, had arisen out of the mixture of Roman architecture with ideas derived from the Northern nations.

ARCHITHĔŌRUS (ἀρχιθέωρος). [Delia.]

ARCHON (ἄρχων). The government of Athens began with monarchy, and, after passing through a dynasty and aristocracy, ended in democracy. Of the kings of Athens, considered as the capital of Attica, Theseus may be said to have been the first; for to him, whether as a real individual or a representative of a certain period, is attributed the union of the different and independent states of Attica under one head. The last was Codrus; in acknowledgment of whose patriotism in meeting death for his country, the Athenians are said to have determined that no one should succeed him with the title of king (βασιλεύς). It seems, however, equally probable that it was the nobles who availed themselves of the opportunity to serve their own interests, by abolishing the kingly power for another, the possessors of which they called Archontes (ἄρχοντες) or rulers. These for some time continued to be like the kings of the house of Codrus, appointed for life: still an important point was gained by the nobles, the office being made accountable (ὑπεύθυνος), which of course implies that the nobility had some control over it. This state of things lasted for twelve reigns of archons. The next step was to limit the continuance of the office to ten years, still confining it to the Medontidae, or house of Codrus, so as to establish what the Greeks called a dynasty, till the archonship of Eryxias, the last archon of that family elected as such. At the end of his ten years (B.C. 684), a much greater change took place: the archonship was made annual, and its various duties divided among a college of nine, chosen by suffrage (χειροτονία) from the Eupatridae, or Patricians, and no longer elected from the Medontidae exclusively. This arrangement lasted till the time of Solon, who still continued the election by suffrage, but made the qualification for office depend, not on birth, but property. The election by lot is believed to have been introduced by Cleisthenes (B.C. 508). The last change is supposed to have been made by Aristides, who after the battle of Plataeae (B.C. 479) abolished the property qualification, throwing open the archonship and other magistracies to all the citizens; that is, to the Thetes, as well as the other classes, the former of whom were not allowed by Solon’s laws to hold any magistracy at all. Still, after the removal of the old restrictions, some security was left to insure respectability; for, previously to an archon entering on office, he underwent an examination, called the anacrisis (ἀνάκρισις), as to his being a legitimate and a good citizen, a good son, and qualified in point of property, but the latter limitation was either done away with by Aristides, or soon became obsolete. Yet, even after passing a satisfactory anacrisis, each of the archons, in common with other magistrates, was liable to be deposed on complaint of misconduct made before the people, at the first regular assembly in each prytany. On such an occasion the epicheirotonia (ἐπιχειροτονία), as it was called, took place: and we read that in one case the whole college of archons was deprived of office (ἀποχειροτονεῖσθαι). In consequence of the democratical tendency of the assembly and courts of justice established by Solon, the archons lost the great political power which they at one time possessed. They became, in fact, not as of old directors of the government, but merely municipal magistrates, exercising functions and bearing titles described below. It has been already stated, that the duties of the single archon were shared by a college of nine. The first, or president of this body, was called Archon, by way of pre-eminence, or Archon Eponymus (ἄρχων ἐπώνυμος), from the year being distinguished by and registered in his name. The second was styled Archon Basileus (ἄρχων βασιλεύς), or the King Archon; the third Polemarchus (πολέμαρχος), or commander-in-chief; the remaining six, Thesmothetae (θεσμοθέται), or legislators. As regards the duties of the archons, it is sometimes difficult to distinguish what belonged to them individually, and what collectively. It seems that a considerable portion of the judicial functions of the ancient kings devolved upon the Archon Eponymus, who was also constituted a sort of state protector of those who were unable to defend themselves. Thus he was to superintend orphans, heiresses, families losing their representatives, widows left pregnant, and to see that they were not wronged in any way. This archon had also the superintendence of the greater Dionysia, and the Thargelia. The functions of the King Archon were almost all connected with religion; his distinguishing title shows that he was considered a representative of the old kings in their capacity of high priest, as the Rex Sacrificulus was at Rome. Thus he presided at the Lenaea, or older Dionysia; superintended the mysteries and the games called Lampadephoriae, and had to offer up sacrifices and prayers in the Eleusinium, both at Athens and Eleusis. Moreover, indictments for impiety, and controversies about the priesthood, were laid before him; and, in cases of murder, he brought the trial into the court of the areiopagus, and voted with its members. His wife, also, who was called Basilissa (βασίλισσα), had to offer certain sacrifices, and therefore it was required that she should be a citizen of pure blood, without stain or blemish. The Polemarch was originally, as his name denotes, the commander-in-chief, and we find him discharging military duties as late as the battle of Marathon, in conjunction with the ten Strategi; he there took, like the kings of old, the command of the right wing of the army. This, however, seems to be the last occasion on record of this magistrate appointed by lot being invested with such important functions; and in after ages we find that his duties ceased to be military, having been, in a great measure, transferred to the protection and superintendence of the resident aliens, so that he resembled in many respects the praetor peregrinus at Rome. Thus, all actions affecting aliens, the isoteles and proxeni were brought before him previously to trial. Moreover, it was the polemarch’s duty to offer the yearly sacrifice to Artemis, in commemoration of the vow made by Callimachus, at Marathon, and to arrange the funeral games in honour of those who fell in war. The six Thesmothetae were extensively connected with the administration of justice, and appear to have been called legislators, because, in the absence of a written code, they might be said to make laws, or thesmi (θεσμοί), in the ancient language of Athens, though in reality they only explained them. They were required to review, every year, the whole body of laws, that they might detect any inconsistencies or superfluities, and discover whether any laws which were abrogated were in the public records amongst the rest. Their report was submitted to the people, who referred the necessary alterations to a legislative committee chosen for the purpose, and called Nomothetae (νομοθέται). The chief part of the duties of the thesmothetae consisted in receiving informations, and bringing cases to trial in the courts of law, of the days of sitting in which they gave public notice. They did not try them themselves, but seem to have constituted a sort of grand jury, or inquest. The trial itself took place before the Dicastae. [Dicastae.] It is necessary to be cautious in our interpretation of the words ἀρχή and ἄρχοντες, since they have a double meaning in the Attic orators, sometimes referring to the archons peculiarly so called, and sometimes to any other magistracy. The archons had various privileges and honours. The greatest of the former was the exemption from the trierarchies—a boon not allowed even to the successors of Harmodius and Aristogeiton. As a mark of their office, they wore a chaplet or crown of myrtle; and if any one struck or abused one of the archons, when wearing this badge of office, he became atimus (ἄτιμος), or infamous in the fullest extent, thereby losing his civic rights. The archons, at the close of their year of service, were admitted among the members of the areiopagus. [Areiopagus.]

ARCUS (also fornix), an arch. A true arch is formed of a series of wedge-like stones, or of bricks, supporting each other, and all bound firmly together by their mutual pressure. It would seem that the arch, as thus defined, and as used by the Romans, was not known to the Greeks in the early periods of their history. But they made use of a contrivance, even in the heroic age, by which they were enabled to gain all the advantages of our archway in making corridors, or hollow galleries, and which in appearance resembled the pointed arch, such as is now termed Gothic. This was effected by cutting away the superincumbent stones in the manner already described, at an angle of about 45° with the horizon. The mode of construction and appearance of such arches is represented in the annexed drawing of the walls of Tiryns. The gate of Signia (Segni) in Latium exhibits a similar example. The principle of the true arch seems to have been known to the Romans from the earliest period; it is used in the Cloaca Maxima. It is most probably an Etruscan invention. The use of it constitutes one leading distinction between Greek and Roman architecture, for by its application the Romans were enabled to execute works of far bolder construction than those of the Greeks. The Romans, however, never used any other form of arch than the semicircle. The arcus triumphalis, triumphal arch, was a structure peculiar to the Romans, erected in honour of an individual, or in commemoration of a conquest. Triumphal arches were built across the principal streets of Rome, and, according to the space of their respective localities, consisted of a single archway, or a central one for carriages, and two smaller ones on each side for foot-passengers. Those actually made use of on the occasion of a triumphal entry and procession were merely temporary and hastily erected; and, having served their purpose, were taken down again, and sometimes replaced by others of more durable materials. Stertinius is the first upon record who erected anything of the kind. He built an arch in the Forum Boarium, about B.C. 196, and another in the Circus Maximus, each of which was surmounted by gilt statues. There are twenty-one arches recorded by different writers, as having been erected in the city of Rome, five of which now remain:—1. Arcus Drusi, which was erected to the honour of Claudius Drusus on the Appian way. 2. Arcus Titi, at the foot of the Palatine, which was erected to the honour of Titus, after his conquest of Judaea; the bas-reliefs of this arch represent the spoils from the temple of Jerusalem carried in triumphal procession. 3. Arcus Septimii Severi, which was erected by the senate (A.D. 207) at the end of the Via Sacra, in honour of that emperor and his two sons, Caracalla and Geta, on account of his conquest of the Parthians and Arabians. 4. Arcus Gallieni, erected to the honour of Gallienus by a private individual, M. Aurelius Victor. 5. Arcus Constantini, which was larger than the arch of Titus. As a specimen of the triumphal arches, a drawing of the arch of Drusus is given in the preceding page.

ARCUS (βιός, τόξον), the bow used for shooting arrows, is one of the most ancient of all weapons, but is characteristic of Asia rather than of Europe. In the Roman armies it was scarcely ever employed except by auxiliaries; and these auxiliaries, called sagittarii, were chiefly Cretes and Arabians. The upper of the two figures below shows the Scythian or Parthian bow unstrung; the lower one represents the usual form of the Grecian bow, which had a double curvature, consisting of two circular portions united by the handle. When not used, the bow was put into a case (τοξοθήκη, γωρυτός, corytus), which was made of leather, and sometimes ornamented. It frequently held the arrows as well as the bow, and on this account is often confounded with the pharetra or quiver.

ĀRĔA (ἅλως, or ἁλωά), the threshing-floor, was a raised place in the field, open on all sides to the wind. Great pains were taken to make this floor hard; it was sometimes paved with flint stones, but more usually covered with clay and smoothed with a roller.

ĂREIOPĂGUS (ὁ Ἄρειος πάγος, or hill of Ares) was a rocky eminence, lying to the west of, and not far from the Acropolis at Athens. It was the place of meeting of the council (Ἡ ἐν Ἀρείῳ πάγῳ βουλή), which was sometimes called The Upper Council (Ἡ ἄνω βουλή), to distinguish it from the senate of Five-hundred, which sat in the Cerameicus within the city. It was a body of very remote antiquity, acting as a criminal tribunal, and existed long before the time of Solon, but he so far modified its constitution and sphere of duty, that he may almost be called its founder. What that original constitution was, must in some degree be left to conjecture, though there is every reason to suppose that it was aristocratical, the members being taken, like the ephetae, from the noble patrician families. [Ephetae.] By the legislation of Solon the Areiopagus was composed of the ex-archons, who, after an unexceptionable discharge of their duties, “went up” to the Areiopagus, and became members of it for life, unless expelled for misconduct. As Solon made the qualification for the office of archon to depend not on birth but on property, the council after his time ceased to be aristocratic in constitution; but, as we learn from Attic writers, continued so in spirit. In fact, Solon is said to have formed the two councils, the senate and the Areiopagus, to be a check upon the democracy; that, as he himself expressed it, “the state riding upon them as anchors might be less tossed by storms.” Nay, even after the archons were no longer elected by suffrage, but by lot, and the office was thrown open by Aristides to all the Athenian citizens, the “upper council” still retained its former tone of feeling. Moreover, besides these changes in its constitution, Solon altered and extended its functions. Before his time it was only a criminal court, trying cases of “wilful murder and wounding, of arson and poisoning,” whereas he gave it extensive powers of a censorial and political nature. Thus we learn that he made the council an “overseer of everything, and the guardian of the laws,” empowering it to inquire how any one got his living and to punish the idle; and we are also told that the Areiopagites were “superintendents of good order and decency,” terms as unlimited and undefined as Solon not improbably wished to leave their authority. When heinous crimes had notoriously been committed, but the guilty parties were not known, or no accuser appeared, the Areiopagus inquired into the subject, and reported to the demus. The report or information was called apophasis. This was a duty which they sometimes undertook on their own responsibility, and in the exercise of an old established right, and sometimes on the order of the demus. Nay, to such an extent did they carry their power, that on one occasion they apprehended an individual (Antiphon), who had been acquitted by the general assembly, and again brought him to a trial, which ended in his condemnation and death. Again, we find them revoking an appointment whereby Aeschines was made the advocate of Athens before the Amphictyonic council, and substituting Hyperides in his room. They also had duties connected with religion, one of which was to superintend the sacred olives growing about Athens, and try those who were charged with destroying them; and in general it was their office to punish the impious and irreligious. Independent, then, of its jurisdiction as a criminal court in cases of wilful murder, which Solon continued to the Areiopagus, its influence must have been sufficiently great to have been a considerable obstacle to the aggrandisement of the democracy at the expense of the other parties in the state. Accordingly, we find that Pericles, who was opposed to the aristocracy, resolved to diminish its power and circumscribe its sphere of action. His coadjutor in this work was Ephialtes, a statesman of inflexible integrity, and also a military commander. They experienced much opposition in their attempts, not only in the assembly, but also on the stage, where Aeschylus produced his tragedy of the Eumenides, the object of which was to impress upon the Athenians the dignity, sacredness, and constitutional worth of the institution which Pericles and Ephialtes wished to reform. Still the opposition failed: a decree was carried by which, as Aristotle says, the Areiopagus was “mutilated,” and many of its hereditary rights abolished, though it is difficult to ascertain the precise nature of the alterations which Pericles effected. The jurisdiction of the Areiopagus in cases of murder was still left to them. In such cases the process was as follows:—The king archon brought the case into court, and sat as one of the judges, who were assembled in the open air, probably to guard against any contamination from the criminal. The accuser first came forwards to make a solemn oath that his accusation was true, standing over the slaughtered victims, and imprecating extirpation upon himself and his whole family were it not so. The accused then denied the charge with the same solemnity and form of oath. Each party then stated his case with all possible plainness, keeping strictly to the subject, and not being allowed to appeal in any way to the feelings or passions of the judges. After the first speech, a criminal accused of murder might remove from Athens, and thus avoid the capital punishment fixed by Draco’s Thesmi, which on this point were still in force. Except in cases of parricide, neither the accuser nor the court had power to prevent this; but the party who thus evaded the extreme punishment was not allowed to return home, and when any decree was passed at Athens to legalize the return of exiles, an exception was always made against those who had thus left their country. The Areiopagus continued to exist, in name at least, till a very late period. Thus we find Cicero mentioning the council in his letters; and an individual is spoken of as an Areiopagite under the emperors Gratian and Theodosius (A.D. 380). The case of St. Paul is generally quoted as an instance of the authority of the Areiopagus in religious matters; but the words of the sacred historian do not necessarily imply that he was brought before the council. It may, however, be remarked, that the Areiopagites certainly took cognizance of the introduction of new and unauthorised forms of religious worship, called ἐπίθετα ἱερά, in contradistinction to the πάτρια or older rites of the state.

ĂRĒNA. [Amphitheatrum.]

ĂRĔTĀLŎGI, persons who amused the company at the Roman dinner tables.

ARGĒI, the name given by the pontifices to the places consecrated by Numa for the celebration of religious services. Varro calls them the chapels of the argei, and says they were twenty-seven in number, distributed in the different districts of the city. There was a tradition that these argei were named from the chieftains who came with Hercules, the Argive, to Rome, and occupied the Capitoline, or, as it was anciently called, Saturnian hill. It is impossible to say what is the historical value or meaning of this legend; we may, however, notice its conformity with the statement that Rome was founded by the Pelasgians, with whom the name of Argos was connected. The name argei was also given to certain figures thrown into the Tiber from the Sublician bridge, on the Ides of May in every year. This was done by the pontifices, the vestals, the praetors, and other citizens, after the performance of the customary sacrifices. The images were thirty in number, made of bulrushes, and in the form of men. Ovid makes various suppositions to account for the origin of this rite; we can only conjecture that it was a symbolical offering, to propitiate the gods, and that the number was a representative either of the thirty patrician curiae at Rome, or perhaps of the thirty Latin townships.

ARGENTĀRĬI, bankers or money changers. (1) Greek. The bankers at Athens were called Trapezitae (τραπεζίται), from their tables (τραπεζαι) at which they sat, while carrying on their business, and which were in the market place. Their principal occupation was that of changing money; but they frequently took money, at a moderate premium, from persons who did not like to occupy themselves with the management of their own affairs, and placed it out at interest. Their usual interest was 36 per cent.; a rate that at present scarcely occurs except in cases of money lent on bottomry. The only instance of a bank recognized and conducted on behalf of the state occurs at Byzantium, where at one time it was let by the republic to capitalists to farm. Yet the state probably exercised some kind of superintendence over the private bankers, since it is hardly possible otherwise to account for the unlimited confidence which they enjoyed.—(2) Roman. The Argentarii at Rome must be distinguished from the mensarii and nummularii, or public bankers. [Mensarii.] The argentarii were private persons, who carried on business on their own responsibility, and were not in the service of the republic; but the shops or tabernae about the forum, which they occupied, and in which they transacted their business, were state property. The business of the argentarii may be divided into the following branches. 1. Permutatio, or the exchange of foreign coin for Roman, and in later times the giving of bills of exchange payable in foreign towns. 2. The keeping of sums of money for other persons. Such money might be deposited by the owner merely to save himself the trouble of keeping it and making payments, and in this case it was called depositum; the argentarius then paid no interest, and the money was called vacua pecunia. Or the money was deposited on condition of the argentarius paying interest; in this case the money was called creditum. A payment made through a banker was called per mensam, de mensa, or per mensae scripturam, while a payment made by the debtor in person was a payment ex arca or de domo. An argentarius never paid away any person’s money without being either authorised by him in person or receiving a cheque which was called perscriptio. The argentarii kept accurate accounts in books called codices, tabulae, or rationes, and there is every reason for believing that they were acquainted with what is called in book-keeping double entry. When a party found to be in debt paid what he owed, he had his name effaced (nomen expedire or expungere) from the banker’s books. 3. Their connection with commerce and public auctions. In private sales and purchases, they sometimes acted as agents for either party (interpretes), and sometimes they undertook to sell the whole estate of a person, as an inheritance. At public auctions they were almost invariably present, registering the articles sold, their prices, and purchasers, and receiving the payment from the purchasers. 4. The testing of the genuineness of coins (probatio nummorum). This, however, seems originally to have been a part of the duty of public officers, the mensarii or nummularii, until in the course of time the opinion of an argentarius also came to be looked upon as decisive. 5. The solidorum venditio, that is, the obligation of purchasing from the mint the newly coined money, and circulating it among the people. This branch of their functions occurs only under the empire. The argentarii formed a collegium, divided into societates or corporations, which alone had the right to admit new members of their guild. None but freemen could become members of such a corporation. It has already been observed that the argentarii had their shops round the forum: hence to become bankrupt was expressed by foro cedere, or abire, or foro mergi.

ARGENTUM (ἄργυρος), silver. The relative value of gold and silver differed considerably at different periods in Greek and Roman history. Herodotus mentions it as 13 to 1; Plato, as 12 to 1; Menander, as 10 to 1; and Livy as 10 to 1, about B.C. 189. According to Suetonius, Julius Caesar, on one occasion, exchanged silver for gold in the proportion of 9 to 1; but the most usual proportion under the early Roman emperors was about 12 to 1. The proportion in modern times, since the discovery of the American mines, has varied between 17 to 1 and 14 to 1. In the earliest times the Greeks obtained their silver chiefly as an article of commerce from the Phocaeans and the Samians; but they soon began to work the rich mines of their own country and its islands. The chief mines were in Siphnos, Thessaly, and Attica. In the last-named country, the silver mines of Laurion furnished a most abundant supply, and were generally regarded as the chief source of the wealth of Athens. The Romans obtained most of their silver from the very rich mines of Spain, which had been previously worked by the Phoenicians and Carthaginians, and which, though abandoned for those of Mexico, are still not exhausted. By far the most important use of silver among the Greeks was for money. There are sufficient reasons for believing that, until some time after the end of the Peloponnesian war, the Athenians had no gold currency. [Aurum.] It may be remarked that all the words connected with money are derived from ἄργυρος, and not from χρυσός, as καταργυρόω, “to bribe with money;” ἀργυραμοιβός, “a money changer,” &c.; and ἄργυρος is itself not unfrequently used to signify money in general, as aes is in Latin. At Rome, on the contrary, silver was not coined till B.C. 269, before which period Greek silver was in circulation at Rome; and the principal silver coin of the Romans, the denarius, was borrowed from the Greek drachma. For further details respecting silver money, see Denarius, Drachma. From a very early period, silver was used also in works of art; and the use of it for mere purposes of luxury and ostentation, as in plate, was very general both in Greece and Rome.

ARGỸRASPĬDES (ἀργυράσπιδες), a division of the Macedonian army, who were so called because they carried shields covered with silver plates.

ARGỸROCŎPEION (ἀργυροκοπεῖον), the place where money was coined, the mint, at Athens.

ĂRĬES (κριός), the battering-ram, was used to batter down the walls of besieged cities. It consisted of a large beam, made of the trunk of a tree, especially of a fir or an ash. To one end was fastened a mass of bronze or iron (κεφαλή, ἐμβολή, προτομή), which resembled in its form the head of a ram. The aries in its simplest state was borne and impelled by human hands, without other assistance. In an improved form, the ram was surrounded with iron bands, to which rings were attached for the purpose of suspending it by ropes or chains from a beam fixed transversely over it. By this contrivance the soldiers were relieved from the necessity of supporting the weight of the ram, and could with ease give it a rapid and forcible motion backwards and forwards. The use of this machine was further aided by placing the frame in which it was suspended upon wheels, and also by constructing over it a wooden roof, so as to form a “testudo,” which protected the besieging party from the defensive assaults of the besieged.

ĀRISTOCRĂTĬA (ἀριστοκρατία), signifies literally “the government of the best men,” and as used by Plato, Aristotle, Polybius, &c., it meant the government of a class whose supremacy was founded not on wealth merely, but on personal distinction. That there should be an aristocracy, moreover, it was essential that the administration of affairs should be conducted with a view to the promotion of the general interests, not for the exclusive or predominant advantage of the privileged class As soon as the government ceased to be thus conducted, or whenever the only title to political power in the dominant class was the possession of superior wealth, the constitution was termed an oligarchy (ὀλιγαρχία), which, in the technical use of the term, was always looked upon as a corruption (παρέκβασις) of an aristocracy. In the practical application of the term aristocracy, however, the personal excellence which was held to be a necessary element was not of a higher kind than what, according to the deeply-seated ideas of the Greeks, was commonly hereditary in families of noble birth, and in early times would be the ordinary accompaniments of noble rank, namely, wealth, military skill, and superior education and intelligence. It is to be noted that the word ἀριστοκρατία is never, like the English term aristocracy, the name of a class, but only of a particular political constitution.

ARMA, ARMĀTŪRA (ἔντεα, τεύχεα, Hom.; ὅπλα), arms, armour. Homer describes in various passages an entire suit of armour, and we observe that it consisted of the same portions which were used by the Greek soldiers ever after. Moreover, the order of putting them on is always the same. The heavy-armed warrior, having already a tunic around his body, and preparing for combat, puts on—1. his greaves (κνημῖδες, ocreae); 2. his cuirass (θώραξ, lorica), to which belonged the μίτρη underneath, and the zone (ζώνη, ζωστῆρ, cingulum), above; 3. his sword (ξίφος, ensis, gladius), hung on the left side of his body by means of a belt which passed over the right shoulder; 4. the large round shield (σάκος, ἀσπίς, clipeus, scutum), supported in the same manner; 5. his helmet (κόρυς, κυνέη, cassis, galea); 6. he took his spear (ἔγχος, δόρυ, hasta), or in many cases, two spears. The form and use of these portions are described in separate articles, under their Latin names. The annexed cut exhibits them all. Those who were defended in the manner which has now been represented are called by Homer aspistae (ἀσπισταί), from their great shield (ἀσπίς); also angemachi (ἀγχεμάχοι), because they fought hand to hand with their adversaries; but much more commonly promachi (πρόμαχοι), because they occupied the front of the army. In later times, the heavy-armed soldiers were called hoplitae (ὁπλίται), because the term hopla (ὄπλα) more especially denoted the defensive armour, the shield and thorax. By wearing these they were distinguished from the light-armed (ψιλοί, ἄνοπλοι, γυμνοί, γυμνῆται, γυμνῆτες), who, instead of being defended by the shield and thorax, had a much slighter covering, sometimes consisting of skins, and sometimes of leather or cloth; and instead of the sword or lance, they commonly fought with darts, stones, bows and arrows, or slings. Besides the heavy and light-armed soldiers, another description of men, the peltastae (πελτασταί), also formed a part of the Greek army, though we do not hear of them in early times. Instead of the large round shield, they carried a smaller one called the pelté (πέλτη), and in other respects their armour, though heavier and more effective than that of the psili, was much lighter than that of the hoplites. The weapon on which they principally depended was the spear. The Roman legions consisted, as the Greek infantry for the most part did, of heavy and light-armed troops (gravis et levis armatura). The preceding figure represents two heavy-armed Roman soldiers. All the essential parts of the Roman heavy armour (lorica, ensis, clipeus, galea, hasta) are mentioned together, except the spear, in a well-known passage of St. Paul (Eph. vi. 17).

ARMĀRĬUM, originally a place for keeping arms, afterwards a cupboard, in which were kept not only arms, but also clothes, books, money, and other articles of value. The armarium was generally placed in the atrium of the house.

ARMILLA (ψάλιον, ψέλιον, or ψέλλιον, χλιδών, ἀμφιδέα), a bracelet or armlet, worn both by men and women. It was a favourite ornament of the Medes and Persians. Bracelets do not appear to have been worn among the Greeks by the male sex, but Greek ladies had bracelets of various materials, shapes, and styles of ornament. They frequently exhibited the form of snakes, and were in such cases called snakes (ὄφεις) by the Athenians. According to their length, they went once, twice, or thrice round the arm, or even a greater number of times. The Roman generals frequently bestowed armillae upon soldiers for deeds of extraordinary merit.

ARMĬLUSTRĬUM, a Roman festival for the purification of arms. It was celebrated every year on the 19th of October, when the citizens assembled in arms, and offered sacrifices in the place called Armilustrum, or Vicus Armilustri.

ARRA, ARRĂBO, or ARRHA, ARRHABO, was the thing which purchasers and vendors gave to one another, whether it was a sum of money or anything else, as an evidence of the contract being made: it was no essential part of the contract of buying and selling, but only evidence of agreement as to price. The term arrha, in its general sense of an evidence of agreement, was also used on other occasions, as in the case of betrothment (sponsalia). Sometimes the word arrha is used as synonymous with pignus, but this is not the legal meaning of the term.

ARRHĒPHŎRĬA (ἀῤῥηφόρια), a festival celebrated at Athens in honour of Athena (Minerva). Four girls, of between seven and eleven years (ἀῤῥηφόροι, ἐρσηφόροι, ἐῤῥηφόροι), were selected every year by the king archon from the most distinguished families, two of whom superintended the weaving of the sacred peplus of Athena; the two others had to carry the mysterious and sacred vessels of the goddess. These latter remained a whole year on the Acropolis; and when the festival commenced, the priestess of the goddess placed vessels upon their heads, the contents of which were neither known to them nor to the priestess. With these they descended to a natural grotto within the district of Aphrodite in the gardens. Here they deposited the sacred vessels, and carried back something else, which was covered and likewise unknown to them. After this the girls were dismissed and others were chosen to supply their place in the acropolis.

ARRŎGĀTĬO. [Adoptio.]

ARTĂBA (ἀρτάβη), a Persian measure of capacity = 1 medimnus and 3 choenices (Attic) = 102 Roman sextarii = 12 gallons, 5·092 pints.

ARTĔMĪSĬA (ἀρτεμίσια), a festival celebrated at Syracuse in honour of Artemis Potamia and Soteira. It lasted three days, which were principally spent in feasting and amusements, Festivals of the same name, and in honour of the same goddess, were held in many places in Greece, but principally at Delphi.

ARTOPTA. [Pistor.]

ĂRŪRA (ἄρουρα), a Greek measure of surface, mentioned by Herodotus, who says that it is a hundred Egyptian cubits in every direction. Now the Egyptian cubit contained nearly 17¾ inches; therefore the square of 100 by 17¾ inches, i.e. nearly 148 feet, gives the number of square feet (English) in the arura, viz. 21,904.

ĂRUSPEX. [Haruspex.]

ARVĀLES FRĀTRES, formed a college or company of twelve priests, and were so called from offering public sacrifices for the fertility of the fields. That they were of extreme antiquity is proved by the legend which refers their institution to Romulus, of whom it is said, that when his nurse Acca Laurentia lost one of her twelve sons, he allowed himself to be adopted by her in his place, and called himself and the remaining eleven “Fratres Arvales.” We also find a college called the Sodales Titii, and as the latter were confessedly of Sabine origin, and instituted for the purpose of keeping up the Sabine religious rites, it is probable that these colleges corresponded one to the other—the Fratres Arvales being connected with the Latin, and the Sodales Titii with the Sabine element of the Roman state. The office of the fratres arvales was for life, and was not taken away even from an exile or captive. One of their annual duties was to celebrate a three days’ festival in honour of Dea Dia, supposed to be Ceres, sometimes held on the 17th, 19th, and 20th, sometimes on the 27th, 29th, and 30th of May. But besides this festival of the Dea Dia, the fratres arvales were required on various occasions, under the emperors, to make vows and offer up thanksgivings. Under Tiberius, the Fratres Arvales performed sacrifices called the Ambarvalia, at various places on the borders of the ager Romanus, or original territory of Rome; and it is probable that this was a custom handed down from time immemorial, and, moreover, that it was a duty of the priesthood to invoke a blessing on the whole territory of Rome. There were also the private ambarvalia, which were so called from the victim (hostia ambarvalis) that was slain on the occasion being led three times round the corn-fields, before the sickle was put to the corn. This victim was accompanied by a crowd of merry-makers, the reapers and farm-servants dancing and singing, as they marched, the praises of Ceres, and praying for her favour and presence, while they offered her the libations of milk, honey, and wine. This ceremony was also called a lustratio, or purification.

ARX signifies a height within the walls of a city, upon which a citadel was built, and thus came to be applied to the citadel itself. Thus one of the summits of the Capitoline hill at Rome is called Arx. The Arx was the regular place at Rome for taking the auspices, and was hence likewise called auguraculum; or, more probably, the auguraculum was a place in the Arx.

AS, or Libra, a pound, the unit of weight among the Romans. [Libra.]

AS, the unit of value in the Roman and old Italian coinages, was made of copper, or of the mixed metal called Aes. It was originally of the weight of a pound of twelve ounces, whence it was called as libralis and aes grave. The oldest form of the as is that which bears the figure of an animal (a bull, ram, boar, or sow). The next and most common form is that which has the two-faced head of Janus on one side, and the prow of a ship on the other (whence the expression used by Roman boys in tossing up, Capita aut navim.) Pliny informs us, that in the time of the first Punic war (B.C. 264-241), in order to meet the expenses of the state, this weight of a pound was diminished, and asses were struck of the same weight as the sextans (that is, two ounces, or one-sixth of the ancient weight); and that thus the republic paid off its debts, gaining five parts in six; that afterwards, in the second Punic war, in the dictatorship of Q. Fabius Maximus (B.C. 217), asses of one ounce were made, and the denarius was decreed to be equal to sixteen asses, the republic thus gaining one half; but that in military pay the denarius was always given for ten asses; and that soon after, by the Papirian law (about B.C. 191), asses of half an ounce were made. The value of the as, of course, varied with its weight. Before the reduction to two ounces, ten asses were equal to the denarius = about 8½ pence English [Denarius]. Therefore the as = 3·4 farthings. By the reduction the denarius was made equal to sixteen asses; therefore the as = 2⅛ farthings. The as was divided into parts, which were named according to the number of ounces they contained. They were the deunx, dextans, dodrans, bes, septunx, semis, quincunx, triens, quadrans or teruncius, sextans, sescunx or sescuncia, and uncia, consisting respectively of 11, 10, 9, 8, 7, 6, 5, 4, 3, 2, 1½, and 1 ounces. Of these divisions the following were represented by coins; namely, the semis, quincunx, triens, quadrans, sextans, and uncia. After the reduction in the weight of the as, coins were struck of the value of 2, 3, 4, and even 10 asses, which were called respectively dussis or dupondius, tressis, quadrussis, and decussis. Other multiples of the as were denoted by words of similar formation, up to centussis, 100 asses; but most of them do not exist as coins. In certain forms of expression, in which aes is used for money without specifying the denomination, we must understand the as. Thus deni aeris, mille aeris, decies aeris, mean respectively 10, 1000, 1,000,000 asses. The word as was used also for any whole which was to be divided into equal parts; and those parts were called unciae. Thus these words were applied not only to weight and money, but to measures of length, surface, and capacity, to inheritances, interest, houses, farms, and many other things. Hence the phrases haeres ex asse, the heir to a whole estate; haeres ex dodrante, the heir to three-fourths. The as was also called in ancient times assarius (sc. nummus), and in Greek τὸ ἀσσάριον. According to Polybius, the assarius was equal to half the obolus.

ASCĬA (σκέπαρνον), an adze. The annexed cut shows two varieties of the adze. The instrument at the bottom was called acisculus, and was chiefly used by masons.

ASCLĒPIEIA (ἀσκληπίεια), the name of festivals which were probably celebrated in all places where temples of Asclepius (Aesculapius) existed. The most celebrated, however, was that of Epidaurus, which took place every five years, and was solemnized with contests of rhapsodists and musicians, and with solemn processions and games.

ASCŌLĬASMUS (ἀσκωλιασμός, the leaping upon the leathern bag, ἀσκός) was one of the many kinds of amusements in which the Athenians indulged during the Anthesteria and other festivals in honour of Dionysus. Having sacrificed a he-goat to the god, they made a bag out of the skin, smeared it with oil, and then tried to dance upon it.

ĂSĔBEIAS GRĂPHĒ (ἀσεβείας γραφή), one of the many forms prescribed by the Attic laws for the impeachment of impiety. Any citizen not incapacitated by disfranchisement (ἀτιμία) seems to have been a competent accuser; and citizens, resident aliens, and strangers, were equally liable to the accusation. Whether the causes were brought into the areiopagus, or the common heliastic court, seems to have been determined by the form of action adopted by the prosecutor, or the degree of competency to which the areiopagus rose or fell at the different periods of Athenian history.

ĂSĬARCHAE (ἀσιάρχαι) were, in the Roman province of Asia, the chief presidents of the religious rites, whose office it was to exhibit games and theatrical amusements every year, in honour of the gods and the Roman emperor, at their own expense, like the Roman aediles. They were ten in number, selected annually by the different towns of Asia, and approved of by the Roman proconsul; of these, one was the chief asiarch, and frequently, but not always, resided at Ephesus.

ASSĀRĬUS NUMMUS. [As.]

ASSERTOR, or ADSERTOR, contains the same root as the verb adserere, which, when coupled with the word manu, signifies to lay hold of a thing, to draw it towards one. Hence the phrase adserere in libertatem, or liberali adserere manu, applies to him who lays his hand on a person reputed to be a slave, and asserts, or maintains his freedom. The person who thus maintained the freedom of a reputed slave was called adsertor. The person whose freedom was thus claimed was said to be adsertus. The expressions liberalis causa, and liberalis manus, which occur in connection with the verb adserere, will easily be understood from what has been said. Sometimes the word adserere alone was used as equivalent to adserere in libertatem. The expression asserere in servitutem, to claim a person as a slave, occurs in Livy.

ASSESSOR, or ADSESSOR, literally one who sits by the side of another. Since the consuls, praetors, governors of provinces, and the judices, were often imperfectly acquainted with the law and forms of procedure, it was necessary that they should have the aid of those who had made the law their study. The assessors sat on the tribunal with the magistrate. Their advice or aid was given during the proceedings as well as at other times, but they never pronounced a judicial sentence.

ASSĬDUI. [Locupletes.]

ASTRĂGĂLUS (ἀστράγαλος), literally, that particular bone in the ankles of certain quadrupeds, which the Greeks, as well as the Romans, used for dice and other purposes. [Talus.] In architecture it signifies a certain moulding (the astragal) which seems to have derived its name from its resemblance to a string or chain of tali, and it is in fact always used in positions where it seems intended to bind together the parts to which it is applied. It belongs properly to the more highly decorated forms of the Ionic order, in which it appears as a lower edging to the larger mouldings, especially the echinus (ovolo), particularly in the capital, as shown in the following woodcut.

ASTRĂTEIAS GRĂPHĒ (ἀστρατείας γραφή), the accusation instituted at Athens against persons who failed to appear among the troops after they had been enrolled for a campaign by the generals. The defendant, if convicted, incurred disfranchisement (ἀτιμία) both in his own person and that of his descendants.

ASTRŎLŎGĬA, astrology. A belief very early arose, which still prevails unshaken in the East, that a close connection subsisted between the position and movements of the heavenly bodies and the fate of man. Few doubted that the destiny of a child might be predicted with certainty by those who were skilled to interpret the position of the stars at the moment of his birth, and that the result of any undertaking might be foretold from the aspect of the firmament when it was commenced. Hence a numerous and powerful class of men arose who were distinguished by various designations. From the country where their science was first developed, they were called Chaldaei or Babylonii; from observing the stars, astronomi, astrologi, planetarii; from employing diagrams such as were used by geometricians, mathematici; from determining the lot of man at his natal hour, genethliaci; from prophesying the consummation of his struggles, ἀποτελεσματικοί; while their art was known as ἀστρολογία, μετεωρολογία, γενεθλιαλογία, ἀποτελεσματική, Ars Chaldaeorum, Mathesis, or, from the tables they consulted, πινακική. Their calculations were termed Babylonii numeri, Χαλδαίων μέθοδοι, Χαλδαίων ψηφίδες, Rationes Chaldaicae; their responses when consulted Chaldaeorum monita, Chaldaeorum natalicia praedicta, Astrologorum praedicta. The stars and constellations to which attention was chiefly directed were the planets and the signs of the zodiac, some of which were supposed to exert uniformly a benign influence (ἀγαθοποιοὶ ἀστέρες), such as Venus, Jupiter, Luna, Virgo, Libra, Taurus; others to be uniformly malign (κακοποιοὶ ἀστέρες), such as Saturnus, Mars, Scorpio, Capricornus; others to be doubtful (ἐπίκοινοι ἀστέρες), such as Mercurius. The exact period of birth (hora genitalis) being the critical moment, the computations founded upon it were styled γένεσις (genitura), ὡροσκόπος (horoscopus), or simply θέμα, and the star or stars in the ascendant sidus natalitium, sidera natalitia. Astrologers seem to have found their way very early into Italy. In B.C. 139 an edict was promulgated by C. Cornelius Hispallus, at that time praetor, by which the Chaldaeans were ordered to quit Italy within ten days, and they were again banished from the city in B.C. 33, by M. Agrippa, who was then aedile. Another severe ordinance was levelled by Augustus against this class, but the frequent occurrence of such phrases as “expulit et mathematicos,” “pulsis Italia mathematicis,” in the historians of the empire prove how firm a hold these pretenders must have obtained over the public mind, and how profitable the occupation must have been which could induce them to brave disgrace, and sometimes a cruel death.

ASTỸNŎMI (ἀστυνόμοι), or street-police of Athens, were ten in number, five for the city, and as many for the Peiraeeus. The astynomi and agoranomi divided between them most of the functions of the Roman aediles. [Agoranomi.]

ĂSῩLUM (ἄσυλον). In the Greek states the temples, altars, sacred groves, and statues of the gods, generally possessed the privilege of protecting slaves, debtors, and criminals, who fled to them for refuge. The laws, however, do not appear to have recognised the right of all such sacred places to afford the protection which was claimed, but to have confined it to a certain number of temples, or altars, which were considered in a more especial manner to have the ἀσυλία, or jus asyli. There were several places in Athens which possessed this privilege; of which the best known was the Theseium, or temple of Theseus, in the city, near the gymnasium, which was chiefly intended for the protection of ill-treated slaves, who could take refuge in this place, and compel their masters to sell them to some other person. In the time of Tiberius, the number of places possessing the jus asyli in the Greek cities in Greece and Asia Minor became so numerous, as seriously to impede the administration of justice; and, consequently, the senate, by the command of the emperor, limited the jus asyli to a few cities. The asylum, which Romulus is said to have opened at Rome to increase the population of the city, was a place of refuge for the inhabitants of other states, rather than a sanctuary for those who had violated the laws of the city. In the republican and early imperial times, a right of asylum, such as existed in the Greek states, does not appear to have been recognised by the Roman law; but it existed under the empire, and a slave could fly to the temples of the gods, or the statues of the emperors, to avoid the ill-usage of his master.

ĂTĔLEIA (ἀτέλεια), immunity from public burthens, was enjoyed at Athens by the archons for the time being; by the descendants of certain persons, on whom it had been conferred as a reward for great services, as in the case of Harmodius and Aristogeiton; and by the inhabitants of certain foreign states. It was of several kinds: it might be a general immunity (ἀτέλεια ἁπάντων); or a more special exemption, as from custom-duties, from the liturgies, or from providing sacrifices.

ĀTELLĀNAE FĂBŬLAE were a species of farce or comedy, so called from Atella, a town of the Osci, in Campania. From this circumstance, and from being written in the Oscan dialect, they were also called Ludi Osci. These Atellane plays were not praetextatae, i.e. comedies in which magistrates and persons of rank were introduced, nor tabernariae, the characters in which were taken from low life; they rather seem to have been a union of high comedy and its parody. They were also distinguished from the mimes by the absence of low buffoonery and ribaldry, being remarkable for a refined humour, such as could be understood and appreciated by educated people. They were not performed by regular actors (histriones), but by Roman citizens of noble birth, who were not on that account subjected to any degradation, but retained their rights as citizens, and might serve in the army. The Oscan or Opican language, in which these plays were written, was spread over the whole of the south of Italy, and from its resemblance to the Latin could easily be understood by the more educated Romans.

ĂTHĒNAEUM (ἀθήναιον), a school (ludus) founded by the Emperor Hadrian at Rome, for the promotion of literary and scientific studies (ingenuarum artium), and called Athenaeum from the town of Athens, which was still regarded as the seat of intellectual refinement. The Athenaeum was situated on the Capitoline hill. It was a kind of university, with a staff of professors, for the various branches of study. Besides the instruction given by these magistri, poets, orators, and critics were accustomed to recite their compositions there, and these prelections were sometimes honoured with the presence of the emperors themselves. The Athenaeum seems to have continued in high repute till the fifth century.

ATHLĒTAE (ἀθληταί, ἀθλητῆρες), persons who contended in the public games of the Greeks and Romans for prizes (ἆθλα, whence the name of ἀθληταί), which were given to those who conquered in contests of agility and strength. The name was in the later period of Grecian history, and among the Romans, properly confined to those persons who entirely devoted themselves to a course of training which might fit them to excel in such contests, and who, in fact, made athletic exercises their profession. The athletae differed, therefore, from the agonistae (ἀγωνισταί), who only pursued gymnastic exercises for the sake of improving their health and bodily strength, and who, though they sometimes contended for the prizes in the public games, did not devote their whole lives, like the athletae, to preparing for these contests. Athletae were first introduced at Rome, B.C. 186, in the games exhibited by M. Fulvius, on the conclusion of the Aetolian war. Aemilius Paullus, after the conquest of Perseus, B.C. 167, is said to have exhibited games at Amphipolis, in which athletae contended. Under the Roman emperors, and especially under Nero, who was passionately fond of the Grecian games, the number of athletae increased greatly in Italy, Greece, and Asia Minor. Those athletae who conquered in any of the great national festivals of the Greeks were called Hieronicae (ἱερονῖκαι), and received the greatest honours and rewards. Such a conqueror was considered to confer honour upon the state to which he belonged; he entered his native city through a breach made in the walls for his reception, in a chariot drawn by four white horses, and went along the principal street of the city to the temple of the guardian deity of the state. Those games, which gave the conquerors the right of such an entrance into the city, were called Iselastici (from εἰσελαύνειν). This term was originally confined to the four great Grecian festivals, the Olympian, Isthmian, Nemean, and Pythian, but was afterwards applied to other public games. In the Greek states, the victors in these games not only obtained the greatest glory and respect, but also substantial rewards. They were generally relieved from the payment of taxes, and also enjoyed the first seat (προεδρία) in all public games and spectacles. Their statues were frequently erected at the cost of the state, in the most frequented part of the city, as the market-place, the gymnasia, and the neighbourhood of the temples. At Athens, according to a law of Solon, the conquerors in the Olympic games were rewarded with a prize of 500 drachmae; and the conquerors in the Pythian, Nemean, and Isthmian, with one of 100 drachmae; and at Sparta they had the privilege of fighting near the person of the king. The privileges of the athletae were secured, and in some respects increased, by the Roman emperors. The term athletae, though sometimes applied metaphorically to other combatants, was properly limited to those who contended for the prize in the five following contests:—1. Running (δρόμος, cursus). [Stadium.] 2. Wrestling (πάλη, lucta). 3. Boxing (πυγμή, pugilatus). 4. The pentathlum (πένταθλον), or, as the Romans called it, quinquertium. 5. The pancratium (παγκράτιον). Of all these an account is given in separate articles. Great attention was paid to the training of the athletae. They were generally trained in the palaestrae, which, in the Grecian states, were distinct places from the gymnasia. Their exercises were superintended by the gymnasiarch, and their diet was regulated by the aliptes. [Aliptae.]—The athletae were accustomed to contend naked. In the descriptions of the games given in the Iliad, the combatants are represented with a girdle about their loins; and the same practice, as we learn from Thucydides, anciently prevailed at the Olympic games, but was discontinued afterwards.

ĂTĪMĬA (ἀτιμία), the forfeiture of a man’s civil rights at Athens. It was either total or partial. A man was totally deprived of his rights, both for himself and for his descendants (καθάπαξ ἄτιμος), when he was convicted of murder, theft, false witness, partiality as arbiter, violence offered to a magistrate, and so forth. This highest degree of atimia excluded the person affected by it from the forum, and from all public assemblies; from the public sacrifices, and from the law courts; or rendered him liable to immediate imprisonment, if he was found in any of these places. It was either temporary or perpetual, and either accompanied or not with confiscation of property. Partial atimia only involved the forfeiture of some few rights, as, for instance, the right of pleading in court. Public debtors were suspended from their civic functions till they discharged their debt to the state. People who had once become altogether atimi were very seldom restored to their lost privileges. The converse term to atimia was epitimia (ἐπιτιμία).

ATLANTES (ἄτλαντες) and TĔLĂMŌNES (τελαμῶνες), terms used in architecture, the former by the Greeks, the latter by the Romans, to designate those male figures which are sometimes fancifully used, like the female Caryatides, in place of columns. Both words are derived from τλῆναι, and the former evidently refers to the fable of Atlas, who supported the vault of heaven, the latter perhaps to the strength of the Telamonian Ajax.

ĀTRĀMENTUM, a term applicable to any black colouring substance, for whatever purpose it may be used, like the melan (μέλαν) of the Greeks. There were, however, three principal kinds of atramentum: one called librarium, or scriptorium (in Greek, γραφικὸν μέλαν), writing-ink; another called sutorium, which was used by the shoemakers for dyeing leather; the third tectorium, or pictorium, which was used by painters for some purposes, apparently as a sort of varnish. The inks of the ancients seem to have been more durable than our own; they were thicker and more unctuous, in substance and durability more resembling the ink now used by printers. An inkstand was discovered at Herculaneum, containing ink as thick as oil, and still usable for writing. The ancients used inks of various colours. Red ink, made of minium or vermilion, was used for writing the titles and beginning of books. So also was ink made of rubrica, “red ochre;” and because the headings of laws were written with rubrica, the word rubric came to be used for the civil law. So album, a white or whited table, on which the praetors’ edicts were written, was used in a similar way. A person devoting himself to album and rubrica, was a person devoting himself to the law. [Album.]

ĀTRĬUM (called αὐλή by the Greeks and by Virgil, and also μεσαύλιον, περίστυλον, περίστῳον) is used in a distinctive as well as collective sense, to designate a particular part in the private houses of the Romans [Domus], and also a class of public buildings, so called from their general resemblance in construction to the atrium of a private house. An atrium of the latter description was a building by itself, resembling in some respects the open basilica [Basilica], but consisting of three sides. Such was the Atrium Publicum in the capitol, which, Livy informs us, was struck with lightning, B.C. 216. It was at other times attached to some temple or other edifice, and in such case consisted of an open area and surrounding portico in front of the structure. Several of these buildings are mentioned by the ancient historians, two of which were dedicated to the same goddess, Libertas. The most celebrated, as well as the most ancient, was situated on the Aventine Mount. In this atrium there was a tabularium, where the legal tablets (tabulae) relating to the censors were preserved. The other Atrium Libertatis was in the neighbourhood of the Forum Caesaris, and was immediately behind the Basilica Paulli or Aemilia.

AUCTĬO signifies generally “an increasing, an enhancement,” and hence the name is applied to a public sale of goods, at which persons bid against one another. The sale was sometimes conducted by an argentarius, or by a magister auctionis; and the time, place, and conditions of sale, were announced either by a public notice (tabula, album, &c.), or by a crier (praeco). The usual phrases to express the giving notice of a sale were, auctionem proscribere, praedicare; and to determine on a sale, auctionem constituere. The purchasers (emtores), when assembled, were sometimes said ad tabulam adesse. The phrases signifying to bid are, liceri, licitari, which was done either by word of mouth, or by such significant hints as are known to all people who have attended an auction. The property was said to be knocked down (addici) to the purchaser. The praeco, or crier, seems to have acted the part of the modern auctioneer, so far as calling out the biddings, and amusing the company. Slaves, when sold by auction, were placed on a stone, or other elevated thing, as is the case when slaves are sold in the United States of North America; and hence the phrase homo de lapide emtus. It was usual to put up a spear (hasta) in auctions; a symbol derived, it is said, from the ancient practice of selling under a spear the booty acquired in war.

AUCTOR, a word which contains the same element as aug-eo, and signifies generally one who enlarges, confirms, or gives to a thing its completeness and efficient form. The numerous technical significations of the word are derivable from this general notion. As he who gives to a thing that which is necessary for its completeness may in this sense be viewed as the chief actor or doer, the word auctor is also used in the sense of one who originates or proposes a thing; but this cannot be viewed as its primary meaning. Accordingly, the word auctor, when used in connection with lex or senatus consultum, often means him who originates and proposes.—The expressions patres auctores fiunt, patres auctores facti, have given rise to much discussion. In the earlier periods of the Roman state, the word patres was equivalent to patricii; in the later period, when the patricians had lost all importance as a political body, the term patres signified the senate. Hence some ambiguity has arisen. The expression patres auctores fiunt, when used of the early period of Rome, means that the determinations of the populus in the comitia centuriata were confirmed by the patricians in the comitia curiata. Till the time of Servius Tullius there were only the comitia curiata, and this king first established the comitia centuriata, in which the plebs also voted, and consequently it was not till after this time that the phrase patres auctores fiunt could be properly applied. Livy, however, uses it of an earlier period. The comitia curiata first elected the king, and then by another vote conferred upon him the imperium. The latter was called lex curiata de imperio, an expression not used by Livy, who employs instead the phrase patres auctores fiunt (Liv. i. 17, 22, 32).—After the exile of the last Tarquin, the patres, that is the patricians, had still the privilege of confirming at the comitia curiata the vote of the comitia centuriata, that is, they gave to it the patrum auctoritas; or, in other words, the patres were auctores facti. In the fifth century of the city a change was made. By one of the laws of the plebeian dictator Q. Publilius Philo, it was enacted that in the case of leges to be enacted at the comitia centuriata, the patres should be auctores, that is, the curiae should give their assent before the vote of the comitia centuriata. By a lex Maenia of uncertain date the same change was made as to elections.—But both during the earlier period and afterwards no business could be brought before the comitia without first receiving the sanction of the senate; and accordingly the phrase patres auctores fiunt came now to be applied to the approval of a measure by the senate before it was confirmed by the votes of the people. This preliminary approval was also termed senatus auctoritas.—When the word auctor is applied to him who recommends but does not originate a legislative measure, it is equivalent to suasor. Sometimes both auctor and suasor are used in the same sentence, and the meaning of each is kept distinct. With reference to dealings between individuals, auctor has the sense of owner. In this sense auctor is the seller (venditor), as opposed to the buyer (emtor): and hence we have the phrase a malo auctore emere. Auctor is also used generally to express any person under whose authority any legal act is done. In this sense, it means a tutor who is appointed to aid or advise a woman on account of the infirmity of her sex.

AUCTŌRĀMENTUM, the pay of gladiators. [Gladiatores.]

AUCTŌRĬTAS. The technical meanings of this word correlate with those of auctor. The auctoritas senatus was not a senatus-consultum; it was a measure, incomplete in itself, which received its completion by some other authority. Auctoritas, as applied to property, is equivalent to legal ownership, being a correlation of auctor.

AUDĪTŌRĬUM, as the name implies, is any place for hearing. It was the practice among the Romans for poets and others to read their compositions to their friends, who were sometimes called the auditorium; but the word was also used to express any place in which any thing was heard, and under the empire it was applied to a court of justice. Under the republic the place for all judicial proceedings was the comitium and the forum. But for the sake of shelter and convenience it became the practice to hold courts in the Basilicae, which contained halls, which were also called auditoria. It is first under M. Aurelius that the auditorium principis is mentioned, by which we must understand a hall or room in the imperial residence; and in such a hall Septimius Severus and the later emperors held their regular sittings when they presided as judges. The latest jurists use the word generally for any place in which justice was administered.

AUGUR, AUGŬRĬUM; AUSPEX, AUSPĬCĬUM. Augur or auspex meant a diviner by birds, but came in course of time, like the Greek οἰωνός, to be applied in a more extended sense: his art was called augurium or auspicium. Plutarch relates that the augures were originally termed auspices. The word auspex was supplanted by augur, but the scientific term for the observation continued on the contrary to be auspicium and not augurium. By Greek writers on Roman affairs, the augurs are called οἰωνοπόλοι, οἰωνοσκόποι, οἰωνισταί, οἱ ἐπ’ οἰωνοῖς ἱερεῖς. The belief that the flight of birds gave some intimation of the will of the gods seems to have been prevalent among many nations of antiquity, and was common to the Greeks, as well as the Romans; but it was only among the latter people that it was reduced to a complete system, governed by fixed rules, and handed down from generation to generation. In Greece, the oracles supplanted the birds, and the future was learnt from Apollo and other gods, rarely from Zeus, who possessed very few oracles in Greece. The contrary was the case at Rome: it was from Jupiter that the future was learnt, and the birds were regarded as his messengers. It must be remarked in general, that the Roman auspices were essentially of a practical nature; they gave no information respecting the course of future events, they did not inform men what was to happen, but simply taught them what they were to do, or not to do; they assigned no reason for the decision of Jupiter—they simply announced, yes or no. The words augurium and auspicium came to be used in course of time to signify the observation of various kinds of signs. They were divided into five sorts: ex caelo, ex avibus, ex tripudiis, ex quadrupedibus, ex diris. Of these, the last three formed no part of the ancient auspices.—1. Ex caelo. This included the observation of the various kinds of thunder and lightning, and was regarded as the most important, maximum auspicium. Whenever it was reported by a person authorised to take the auspices, that Jupiter thundered or lightened, the comitia could not be held.—2. Ex avibus. It was only a few birds which could give auguries among the Romans. They were divided into two classes: Oscines, those which gave auguries by singing, or their voice, and Alites, those which gave auguries by their flight. To the former class belonged the raven (corvus) and the crow (cornix), the first of these giving a favourable omen (auspicium ratum) when it appeared on the right, the latter, on the contrary, when it was seen on the left: likewise the owl (noctua) and the hen (gallina). To the aves alites belonged first of all the eagle (aquila), which is called pre-eminently the bird of Jupiter (Jovis ales), and next the vulture (vultur). Some birds were included both among the oscines and the alites: such were the Picus Martius, and Feronius, and the Parra. These were the principal birds consulted in the auspices. When the birds favoured an undertaking, they were said addicere, admittere or secundare, and were then called addictivae, admissivae, secundae, or praepetes: when unfavourable they were said abdicere, arcere, refragari, &c., and were then called adversae or alterae. The birds which gave unfavourable omens were termed funebres, inhibitae, lugubres, malae, &c., and such auspices were called clivia and clamatoria.—3. Ex tripudiis. These auspices were taken from the feeding of chickens, and were especially employed on military expeditions. The chickens were kept in a cage, under care of a person called pullarius; and when the auspices were to be taken, the pullarius opened the cage and threw to the chickens pulse or a kind of soft cake. If they refused to come out or to eat, or uttered a cry (occinerent), or beat their wings, or flew away, the signs were considered unfavourable. On the contrary, if they ate greedily, so that something fell from their mouth and struck the earth, it was called tripudium solistimum (tripudium quasi terripavium, solistimum, from solum, according to the ancient writers), and was held a favourable sign.—4. Ex quadrupedibus. Auguries could also be taken from four-footed animals; but these formed no part of the original science of the augurs, and were never employed by them in taking auspices on behalf of the state, or in the exercise of their art properly so called. They must be looked upon simply as a mode of private divination. When a fox, a wolf, a horse, a dog, or any other kind of quadruped ran across a person’s path or appeared in an unusual place, it formed an augury.—5. Ex diris, sc. signis. Under this head was included every kind of augury which does not fall under any of the four classes mentioned above, such as sneezing, stumbling, and other accidental things. There was an important augury of this kind connected with the army, which was called ex acuminibus, that is, the flames appearing at the points of spears or other weapons. The ordinary manner of taking the auspices, properly so called (i.e. ex caelo and ex avibus), was as follows: The person who was to take them first marked out with a wand (lituus) a division in the heavens called templum or tescum, within which he intended to make his observations. The station where he was to take the auspices was also separated by a solemn formula from the rest of the land, and was likewise called templum or tescum. He then proceeded to pitch a tent in it (tabernaculum capere), and this tent again was also called templum, or, more accurately, templum minus. [Templum.] Within the walls of Rome, or, more properly speaking, within the pomoerium, there was no occasion to select a spot and pitch a tent on it, as there was a place on the Arx on the summit of the Capitoline hill, called Auguraculum, which had been consecrated once for all for this purpose. In like manner there was in every Roman camp a place called augurale, which answered the same purpose; but on all other occasions a place had to be consecrated, and a tent to be pitched, as, for instance, in the Campus Martius, when the comitia centuriata were to be held. The person who was then taking the auspices waited for the favourable signs to appear; but it was necessary during this time that there should be no interruption of any kind whatsoever (silentium), and hence the word silentium was used in a more extended sense to signify the absence of every thing that was faulty. Every thing, on the contrary, that rendered the auspices invalid was called vitium; and hence we constantly read in Livy and other writers of vitio magistratus creati, vitio lex lata, &c. The watching for the auspices was called spectio or servare de coelo, the declaration of what was observed nuntiatio, or, if they were unfavourable, obnuntiatio. In the latter case, the person who took the auspices seems usually to have said alio die, by which the business in hand, whether the holding of the comitia or any thing else, was entirely stopped.—In ancient times no one but a patrician could take the auspices. Hence the possession of the auspices (habere auspicia) is one of the most distinguished prerogatives of the patricians; they are said to be penes patrum, and are called auspicia patrum. It would further appear that every patrician might take the auspices; but here a distinction is to be observed between the auspicia privata and auspicia publica. One of the most frequent occasions on which the auspicia privata were taken, was in case of a marriage: and this was one great argument used by the patricians against connubium between themselves and the plebeians, as it would occasion, they urged, perturbationem auspiciorum publicorum privatorumque. In taking these private auspices, it would appear that any patrician was employed who knew how to form templa and was acquainted with the art of augury. The case, however, was very different with respect to the auspicia publica, generally called auspicia simply, or those which concerned the state. The latter could only be taken by the persons who represented the state, and who acted as mediators between the gods and the state; for though all the patricians were eligible for taking the auspices, yet it was only the magistrates who were in actual possession of them. In case, however, there was no patrician magistrate, the auspices became vested in the whole body of the patricians (auspicia ad patres redeunt), who had recourse to an interregnum for the renewal of them, and for handing them over in a perfect state to the new magistrates: hence we find the expressions repetere de integro auspicia, and renovare per interregnum auspicia.—The distinction between the duties of the magistrates and the augurs in taking the auspices is one of the most difficult points connected with this subject, but perhaps a satisfactory solution of these difficulties may be found by taking an historical view of the question. We are told not only that the kings were in possession of the auspices, but that they themselves were acquainted with the art and practised it. Romulus is stated to have appointed three augurs, but only as his assistants in taking the auspices, a fact which it is important to bear in mind. Their dignity gradually increased in consequence of their being employed at the inauguration of the kings, and also in consequence of their becoming the preservers and depositaries of the science of augury. Formed into a collegium, they handed down to their successors the various rules of the science, while the kings, and subsequently the magistrates of the republic, were liable to change. Their duties thus became two-fold, to assist the magistrates in taking up auspices, and to preserve a scientific knowledge of the art. As the augurs were therefore merely the assistants of the magistrates, they could not take the auspices without the latter, though the magistrates on the contrary could dispense with their assistance. At the same time it must be borne in mind, that as the augurs were the interpreters of the science, they possessed the right of declaring whether the auspices were valid or invalid. They thus possessed in reality a veto upon every important public transaction; and they frequently exercised this power as a political engine to vitiate the election of such parties as were unfavourable to the enclusive privileges of the patricians. But although the augurs could declare that there was some fault in the auspices, yet, on the other hand, they could not, by virtue of their office, declare that any unfavourable sign had appeared to them, since it was not to them that the auspices were sent. Thus we are told that the augurs did not possess the spectio. This spectio was of two kinds, one more extensive and the other more limited. In the one case the person who exercised it could put a stop to the proceedings of any other magistrate by his obnuntiatio: this was called spectio et nuntiatio (perhaps also spectio cum nuntiatione), and belonged only to the highest magistrates, the consuls, dictators, interreges, and, with some modifications, to the praetors. In the other case, the person who took the auspices only exercised the spectio in reference to the duties of his own office, and could not interfere with any other magistrate: this was called spectio sine nuntiatione, and belonged to the other magistrates, the censors, aediles, and quaestors. Now as the augurs did not possess the auspices, they consequently could not possess the spectio (habere spectionem); but as the augurs were constantly employed by the magistrates to take the auspices, they exercised the spectio, though they did not possess it in virtue of their office. When they were employed by the magistrates in taking the auspices, they possessed the right of the nuntiatio, and thus had the power, by the declaration of unfavourable signs (obnuntiatio), to put a stop to all important public transactions.—The auspices were not conferred upon the magistrates in any special manner. It was the act of their election which made them the recipients of the auspices, since the comitia, in which they were appointed to their office, were held auspicato, and consequently their appointment was regarded as ratified by the gods. The auspices, therefore, passed immediately into their hands upon the abdication of their predecessors in office.—The auspices belonging to the different magistrates were divided into two classes, called auspicia maxima or majora and minora. The former, which belonged originally to the kings, passed over to the consuls, censors, and praetors, and likewise to the extraordinary magistrates, the dictators, interreges, and consular tribunes. The quaestors and the curule aediles, on the contrary, had only the auspicia minora.—It was a common opinion in antiquity that a college of three augurs was appointed by Romulus, answering to the number of the early tribes, the Ramnes, Tities, and Lucerenses, but the accounts vary respecting their origin and number. At the passing of the Ogulnian law (B.C. 300) the augurs were four in number. This law increased the number of pontiffs to eight, by the addition of four plebeians, and that of the augurs to nine by the addition of five plebeians. The number of nine augurs lasted down to the dictatorship of Sulla, who increased them to fifteen, a multiple of the original three, probably with a reference to the early tribes. A sixteenth was added by Julius Caesar after his return from Egypt. The members of the college of augurs possessed the right of self-election (cooptatio) until B.C. 103, the year of the Domitian law. By this law it was enacted that vacancies in the priestly colleges should be filled up by the votes of a minority of the tribes, i.e. seventeen out of thirty-five chosen by lot. The Domitian law was repealed by Sulla B.C. 81, but again restored B.C. 63, during the consulship of Cicero, by the tribune T. Annius Labienus, with the support of Caesar. It was a second time abrogated by Antony B.C. 44; whether again restored by Hirtius and Pansa in their general annulment of the acts of Antony, seems uncertain. The emperors possessed the right of electing augurs at pleasure. The augurs were elected for life, and even if capitally convicted, never lost their sacred character. When a vacancy occurred, the candidate was nominated by two of the elder members of the college, the electors were sworn, and the new member was then solemnly inaugurated. On such occasion there was always a splendid banquet given, at which all the augurs were expected to be present. The only distinction in the college was one of age; an elder augur always voted before a younger, even if the latter filled one of the higher offices in the state. The head of the college was called magister collegii. As insignia of their office the augurs wore the trabea, or public dress, and carried in their hand the lituus or curved wand. [Lituus.] On the coins of the Romans, who filled the office of augur, we constantly find the lituus, and along with it, not unfrequently, the capis, an earthen vessel which was used by them in sacrifices. The science of the augurs was called jus augurum and jus augurium, and was preserved in books (libri augurales), which are frequently mentioned in the ancient writers. The expression for consulting the augurs was referre ad augures, and their answers were called decreta or responsa augurum. The science of augury had greatly declined in the time of Cicero; and although he frequently deplores its neglect in his De Divinatione, yet neither he nor any of the educated classes appears to have had any faith in it.

AŪGŬRĀCŬLUM. [Arx; Augur, p. 50, b.]

AUGŬRĀLE. [Augur, p. 50, b.]

AUGŬRIUM. [Augur.]

AUGUSTĀLES—(1) (sc. ludi, also called Augustalia, sc. certamina, ludicra), games celebrated in honour of Augustus, at Rome and in other parts of the Roman empire. After the battle of Actium, a quinquennial festival was instituted; and the birthday of Augustus, as well as that on which the victory was announced at Rome, were regarded as festival days. It was not, however, till B.C. 11 that the festival on the birthday of Augustus was formally established by a decree of the senate, and it is this festival which is usually meant when the Augustales or Augustalia are mentioned. It was celebrated iv. Id. Octobr. At the death of Augustus, this festival assumed a more solemn character, was added to the Fasti, and celebrated to his honour as a god. It was henceforth exhibited annually in the circus, at first by the tribunes of the plebs, at the commencement of the reign of Tiberius, but afterwards by the praetor peregrinus.—(2) The name of two classes of priests, one at Rome and the other in the municipia. The Augustales at Rome, properly called sodales Augustales, were an order of priests instituted by Tiberius to attend to the worship of Augustus and the Julia gens. They were chosen by lot from among the principal persons of Rome, and were twenty-one in number, to which were added Tiberius, Drusus, Claudius, and Germanicus, as members of the imperial family. They were also called sacerdotes Augustales, and sometimes simply Augustales. The Augustales in the municipia are supposed by most modern writers to have been a class of priests selected by Augustus from the libertini to attend to the religions rites connected with the worship of the Lares, which that emperor was said to have put up in places where two or more ways met; but there are good reasons for thinking that they were instituted in imitation of the Augustales at Rome, and for the same object, namely, to attend to the worship of Augustus. They formed a collegium and were appointed by the decuriones, or senate of the municipia. The six principal members of the college were called Seviri, a title which seems to have been imitated from the Seviri in the equestrian order at Rome.

AUGUSTUS, a name bestowed upon Octavianus in B.C. 27, by the senate and the Roman people. It was a word used in connection with religion, and designated a person as sacred and worthy of worship; hence the Greek writers translate it by Σεβαστός. It was adopted by all succeeding emperors, as if descended, either by birth or adoption, from the first emperor of the Roman world. The name of Augusta was frequently bestowed upon females of the imperial family; but Augustus belonged exclusively to the reigning emperor till towards the end of the second century of the Christian aera, when M. Aurelius and L. Verus both received this surname. From this time we frequently find two or even a greater number of Augusti. From the time of Probus the title became perpetuus Augustus, and from Philippus or Claudius Gothicus semper Augustus, the latter of which titles was borne by the so-called Roman emperors in Germany. [Caesar.]

AULAEUM. [Siparium.]

AURĔUS. [Aurum.]

AURĪGA. [Circus.]

AURUM (χρυσός), gold. Gold was scarce in Greece. The chief places from which the Greeks procured their gold were India, Arabia, Armenia, Colchis, and Troas. It was found mixed with the sands of the Pactolus and other rivers. Almost the only method of purifying gold, known to the ancients, seems to have been that of grinding and then roasting it, and by this process they succeeded in getting it very pure. This is what we are to understand by the phrase χρυσίον ἄπεφθον in Thucydides, and by the word obrussa in Pliny. The art of gilding was known to the Greeks from the earliest times of which we have any information. The time when gold was first coined at Athens is very uncertain, but on the whole it appears most probable that gold money was not coined there, or in Greece Proper generally, till the time of Alexander the Great, if we except a solitary issue of debased gold at Athens in B.C. 407. But from a very early period the Asiatic nations, and the Greek cities of Asia Minor and the adjacent islands, as well as Sicily and Cyrene, possessed a gold coinage, which was more or less current in Greece. Herodotus says that the Lydians were the first who coined gold, and the stater of Croesus appears to have been the earliest gold coin known to the Greeks. The Daric was a Persian coin. Staters of Cyzicus and Phocaea had a considerable currency in Greece. There was a gold coinage in Samos as early as the time of Polycrates. The islands of Siphnos and Thasos, which possessed gold mines, appear to have had a gold coinage at an early period. The Macedonian gold coinage came into circulation in Greece in the time of Philip, and continued in use till the subjection of Greece to the Romans. [Daricus; Stater.] The standard gold coin of Rome was the aureus nummus, or denarius aureus, which, according to Pliny, was first coined 62 years after the first silver coinage [Argentum], that is, in the year 207 B.C. The lowest denomination was the scrupulum, which was made equal to 20 sestertii. The weight of the scrupulum was 18·06 grains. The annexed cut represents a gold coin of 60 sestertii. Pliny adds that afterwards aurei were coined of 40 to the pound, which weight was diminished, till under Nero they were 45 to the pound. The average weight of the aurei of Augustus, in the British Museum, is 121·26 grains: and as the weight was afterwards diminished, we may take the average at 120 grains. The value of the aureus in terms of the sovereign = 1l. 1s. 1d. and a little more than a halfpenny. This is its value according to the present worth of gold; but its current value in Rome was different from this, on account of the difference in the worth of the metal. The aureus passed for 25 denarii; therefore, the denarius being 8½d., it was worth 17s. 8½d. The ratio of the value of gold to that of silver is given in the article Argentum. Alexander Severus coined pieces of one-half and one-third of the aureus, called Semissis and tremissis, after which time the aureus was called solidus. Constantine the Great coined aurei of 72 to the pound; at which standard the coin remained to the end of the empire.

AURUM CŎRŌNĀRĬUM. When a general in a Roman province had obtained a victory, it was the custom for the cities in his own provinces, and for those from the neighbouring states, to send golden crowns to him, which were carried before him in his triumph at Rome. In the time of Cicero it appears to have been usual for the cities of the provinces, instead of sending crowns on occasion of a victory, to pay money, which was called aurum coronarium. This offering, which was at first voluntary, came to be regarded as a regular tribute, and was sometimes exacted by the governors of the provinces, even when no victory had been gained.

AURUM VĪCĒSĬMĀRĬUM. [Aerarium.]

AUSPEX. [Augur.]

AUSPĬCĬUM. [Augur.]

AUTHEPSA (αὐθέψης), which literally means “self-boiling,” or “self-cooking,” was the name of a vessel which is supposed to have been used for heating water, or for keeping it hot.

AUTŎNŎMI (αὐτονόμοι), the name given by the Greeks to those states which were governed by their own laws, and were not subject to any foreign power. This name was also given to those cities subject to the Romans, which were permitted to enjoy their own laws and elect their own magistrates.

AUXĬLĬA. [Socii.]

AXĀMENTA. [Salii.]

AXĪNĒ. [Securis.]

AXIS. [Currus.]

AXŎNES (ἄξονες), also called kurbeis (κύρβεις), wooden tablets of a square or pyramidal form, made to turn on an axis, on which were written the laws of Solon. According to some writers the Axones contained the civil, and the Kurbeis the religious laws; according to others the Kurbeis had four sides and the Axones three. But at Athens, at all events, they seem to have been identical. They were at first preserved in the Acropolis, but were afterwards placed in the agora, in order that all persons might be able to read them.