Читать книгу A Smaller Dictionary of Greek and Roman Antiquities - William Smith - Страница 6

Triple Aqueduct.

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.]

Arae, Altars.

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.

Arae, Altars.

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.

Aratrum, Plough (now used at Mantua).

1. Buris. 2. Temo. 3. Dentale.

4. Culter. 5. Vomer. 6 6. Aures.

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.

Arcera. (Ginzrot, Wagen, Tav. 19, fig. 2.)

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[1] 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.]