Chapter XXI: Part II: The Middle Ages and the Reformation. A.D. 1381-1593 (20)

INTERCESSĬO was the interference of a magistrates to whom an appeal [APPELLATIO] was made. The object of the intercessio was to put a stop to proceedings, on the ground of informality or other sufficient cause. Any magistratus might _intercedere_, who was of equal rank with or of rank superior to the magistratus from or against whom the appellatio was. Cases occur in which one of the praetors interposed (_intercessit_) against the proceedings of his colleague. The intercessio is most frequently spoken of with reference to the tribunes, who originally had not jurisdictio, but used the intercessio for the purpose of preventing wrong which was offered to a person in their presence. The intercessio of the tribunes of the plebs was auxilium, and it might be exercised either _in jure_ or _in judicio_. The tribune _qui intercessit_ could prevent a judicium from being instituted. The tribunes could also use the intercessio to prevent execution of a judicial sentence. A single tribune could effect this, and against the opinion of his colleagues.

INTERCĪSI DĬES. [DIES.]

INTERDICTUM. “In certain cases (_certis ex causis_) the praetor or proconsul, in the first instance (_principaliter_), exercises his authority for the termination of disputes. This he chiefly does when the dispute is about possession or quasi-possession; and the exercise of his authority consists in ordering something to be done, or forbidding something to be done. The formulae and the terms, which he uses on such occasions, are called either _interdicta_ or _decreta_. They are called _decreta_ when he orders something to be done, as when he orders something to be produced (_exhiberi_) or to be restored: they are called _interdicta_ when he forbids something to be done, as when he orders that force shall not be used against a person who is in possession rightfully (_sine vitio_), or that nothing shall be done on a piece of sacred ground. Accordingly all interdicta are either restitutoria, or exhibitoria, or prohibitoria.” This passage, which is taken from Gaius, the Roman jurist, contains the essential distinction between an _actio_ and an _interdictum_. In the case of an actio, the praetor pronounces no order or decree, but he gives a judex, whose business it is to investigate the matter in dispute, and to pronounce a sentence consistently with the formula, which is his authority for acting. In the case of an actio, therefore, the praetor neither orders nor forbids a thing to be done, but he says, _Judicium dabo_. In the case of an interdict, the praetor makes an order that something shall be done or shall not be done, and his words are accordingly words of command; _Restituas, Exhibeas, Vim fieri veto_. This _immediate_ interposition of the praetor is appropriately expressed by the word _principaliter_.

INTERPRES, an interpreter. This class of persons became very numerous and necessary to the Romans as their empire extended. In large mercantile towns the interpreters, who formed a kind of agents through whom business was done, were sometimes very numerous. All Roman praetors, proconsuls, and quaestors, who were entrusted with the administration of a province, had to carry on all their official proceedings in the Latin language, and as they could not be expected to be acquainted with the language of the provincials, they had always among their servants [APPARITORES] one or more interpreters, who were generally Romans, but in most cases undoubtedly freedmen. These interpreters had not only to officiate at the conventus [CONVENTUS], but also explained to the Roman governor everything which the provincials might wish to be laid before him.

INTERREGNUM. [INTERREX.]

INTERREX. This office is said to have been instituted on the death of Romulus, when the senate wished to share the sovereign power among themselves, instead of electing a king. For this purpose, according to Livy, the senate, which then consisted of one hundred members, was divided into ten decuries; and from each of these decuries one senator was nominated. These together formed a board of ten, with the title of _Interreges_, each of whom enjoyed in succession the regal power and its badges for five days; and if no king was appointed at the expiration of fifty days, the rotation began anew. The period during which they exercised their power was called an _Interregnum_. These ten interreges were the _Decem Primi_, or ten leading senators, of whom the first was chief of the whole senate. The interreges agreed among themselves who should be proposed as king, and if the senate approved of their choice, they summoned the assembly of the curiae, and proposed the person whom they had previously agreed upon; the power of the curiae was confined to accepting or rejecting him. Interreges were appointed under the republic for holding the comitia for the election of the consuls, when the consuls, through civil commotions or other causes, had been unable to do so in their year of office. Each held the office for only five days, as under the kings. The comitia were hardly ever held by the first interrex; more usually by the second or third; but in one instance we read of an eleventh, and in another of a fourteenth interrex. The interreges under the republic, at least from B.C. 482, were elected by the senate from the whole body, and were not confined to the decem primi or ten chief senators, as under the kings. Plebeians, however, were not admissible to this office; and consequently, when plebeians were admitted into the senate, the patrician senators met without the plebeian members to elect an interrex. For this reason, as well as on account of the influence which the interrex exerted in the election of the magistrates, we find that the tribunes of the plebs were strongly opposed to the appointment of an interrex. The interrex had jurisdictio. Interreges continued to be appointed occasionally till the time of the second Punic war, but after that time we read of no interrex, till the senate, by command of Sulla, created an interrex to hold the comitia for his election as dictator, B.C. 82. In B.C. 55 another interrex was appointed, to hold the comitia in which Pompey and Crassus were elected consuls; and we also read of interreges in B.C. 53 and 52, in the latter of which years an interrex held the comitia in which Pompey was appointed sole consul.

ISTHMĬA (ἴσθμια), the Isthmian games, one of the four great national festivals of the Greeks. This festival derived its name from the Corinthian isthmus, where it was held. Subsequent to the age of Theseus the Isthmia were celebrated in honour of Poseidon; and this innovation is ascribed to Theseus himself. The celebration of the Isthmia was conducted by the Corinthians, but Theseus had reserved for his Athenians some honourable distinctions: those Athenians who attended the Isthmia sailed across the Saronic gulf in a sacred vessel (θεωρίς), and an honorary place (προεδρία), as large as the sail of their vessel, was assigned to them during the celebration of the games. In times of war between the two states a sacred truce was concluded, and the Athenians were invited to attend at the solemnities. These games were celebrated regularly every other year, in the first and third years of each Olympiad. After the fall of Corinth, in 146 B.C., the Sicyonians were honoured with the privilege of conducting the Isthmian games; but when the town of Corinth was rebuilt by Julius Caesar, the right of conducting the solemnities was restored to the Corinthians. The season of the Isthmian solemnities was, like that of all the great national festivals, distinguished by general rejoicings and feasting. The contests and games of the Isthmia were the same as those at Olympia, and embraced all the varieties of athletic performances, such as wrestling, the pancratium, together with horse and chariot racing. Musical and poetical contests were likewise carried on, and in the latter women were also allowed to take part. The prize of a victor in the Isthmian games consisted at first of a garland of pine-leaves, and afterwards of a wreath of ivy. Simple as such a reward was, a victor in these games gained the greatest distinction and honour among his countrymen; and a victory not only rendered the individual who obtained it a subject of admiration, but shed lustre over his family, and the whole town or community to which he belonged. Hence Solon established by a law, that every Athenian who gained the victory at the Isthmian games should receive from the public treasury a reward of one hundred drachmae. His victory was generally celebrated in lofty odes, called Epinikia, or triumphal odes, of which we still possess some beautiful specimens among the poems of Pindar.

JĂCŬLUM. [HASTA.]

JĀNŬA (θύρα), a door. Besides being applicable to the doors of apartments in the interior of a house, which were properly called _ostia_, this term more especially denoted the first entrance into the house, _i.e._ the front or street door, which was also called _anticum_, and in Greek θύρα αὔλειος, αὐλεία, αὔλιος, or αὐλία. The houses of the Romans commonly had a back door, called _posticum_, _postica_, or _posticula_, and in Greek παράθυρα, _dim._ παραθύριον. The door-way, when complete, consisted of four indispensable parts; the threshold, or sill (_limen_, βηλός, οὖδας); the lintel (_jugumentum, limen superum_); and the two jambs (_postes_, σταθμοί). The door itself was called _foris_ or _valva_, and in Greek σανίς, κλισιάς, or θύρετρον. These words are commonly found in the plural, because the door-way of every building of the least importance contained two doors folding together. When _foris_ is used in the singular, it denotes one of the folding doors only. The fastenings of the door (_claustra_, _obices_) commonly consisted of a bolt (_pessulus_; μάνδαλος, κατοχεύς, κλεῖθρον) placed at the base of each _foris_, so as to admit of being pushed into a socket made in the sill to receive it. By night, the front-door of the house was further secured by means of a wooden and sometimes an iron bar (_sera_, _repagula_, μοχλός) placed across it, and inserted into sockets on each side of the door-way. Hence it was necessary to remove the bar (τὸν μοχλὸν παράφερειν) in order to open the door (_reserare_). It was considered improper to enter a house without giving notice to its inmates. This notice the Spartans gave by shouting; the Athenians and all other nations by using the knocker, or more commonly by rapping with the knuckles or with a stick (κρούειν, κόπτειν). In the houses of the rich a porter (_janitor_, _custos_, θυρωρός) was always in attendance to open the door. He was commonly an eunuch or a slave, and was chained to his post. To assist him in guarding the entrance, a dog was universally kept near it, being also attached by a chain to the wall; and in reference to this practice, the warning _cave canem_, εὐλαβοῦ τὴν κύνα, was sometimes written near the door. The appropriate name for the portion of the house immediately behind the door (θυρών) denotes that it was a kind of apartment; it corresponded to the hall or lobby of our houses. Immediately adjoining it, and close to the front door, there was in many houses a small room for the porter.

JENTĀCŬLUM. [COENA.]

JŪDEX, JŪDĬCĬUM. A Roman magistratus generally did not investigate the facts in dispute in such matters as were brought before him: he appointed a judex for that purpose, and gave him instructions. [ACTIO.] Accordingly, the whole of civil procedure was expressed by the two phrases _Jus_ and _Judicium_, of which the former comprehended all that took place before the magistratus (_in jure_), and the latter all that took place before the judex (_in judicio_). In many cases a single judex was appointed: in others, several were appointed, and they seem to have been sometimes called recuperatores, as opposed to the single judex. Under certain circumstances the judex was called arbiter: thus judex and arbiter are named together in the Twelve Tables. A judex when appointed was bound to discharge the functions of the office, unless he had some valid excuse (_excusatio_). There were certain seasons of the year when legal business was done at Rome, and at these times the services of the judices were required. These legal terms were regulated according to the seasons, so that there were periods of vacation. When the judex was appointed, the proceedings _in jure_ or before the praetor were terminated. The parties appeared before the judex on the third day (_comperendinatio_), unless the praetor had deferred the judicium for some sufficient reason. The judex was generally aided by advisers (_jurisconsulti_) learned in the law, who were said _in consilio adesse_; but the judex alone was empowered to give judgment. The matter was first briefly stated to the judex (_causae conjectio, collectio_), and the advocates of each party supported his cause in a speech. Witnesses were produced on both sides, and examined orally: the witnesses on one side were also cross-examined by the other. After all the evidence was given and the advocates had finished, the judex gave sentence: if there were several judices, a majority decided. If the matter was one of difficulty, the hearing might be adjourned as often as was necessary (_ampliatio_); and if the judex could not come to a satisfactory conclusion, he might declare this upon oath, and so release himself from the difficulty. This was done by the form of words _non liquere_ (N. L.). The sentence was pronounced orally, and was sometimes first written on a tablet. If the defendant did not make his appearance after being duly summoned, judgment might be given against him.--According to Cicero, all judicia had for their object, either the settlement of disputes between individuals (_controversiae_), or the punishment of crimes (_maleficia_). This refers to a division of judicia, which appears in the jurists, into _judicia publica_ and _judicia privata_. The former, the _judicia publica_, succeeded to the _judicia populi_ of the early republican period: the latter were so called because in them the populus acted as judices. Originally the kings presided in all criminal cases, and the consuls succeeded to their authority. But after the passing of the Lex Valeria (B.C. 507), which gave an appeal to the populus (that is, the comitia curiata) from the magistratus, the consul could not sit in judgment on the caput of a Roman citizen, but such cases were tried in the comitia, or persons were appointed to preside at such inquiries, who were accordingly called _Quaesitores_ or _Quaestores parricidii_ or _rerum capitalium_. In course of time, as such cases became of more frequent occurrence, such quaestiones were made perpetual, that is, particular magistrates were appointed for the purpose. It was eventually determined, that while the _praetor urbanus_ and _peregrinus_ should continue to exercise their usual jurisdictions, the other praetors should preside at public trials. In such trials any person might be an accuser (_accusator_). The praetor generally presided as quaesitor, assisted by a judex quaestionis, and a body of judices called his consilium. The judices were generally chosen by lot out of those who were qualified to act; but in some cases the accuser and the accused (_reus_) had the privilege of choosing (_edere_) a certain number of judices out of a large number, who were thence called _Edititii_. Both the accusator and the reus had the privilege of rejecting or challenging (_rejicere_) such judices as they did not like. In many cases a lex was passed for the purpose of regulating the mode of procedure.--The judices voted by ballot, at least generally, and a majority determined the acquittal or condemnation of the accused. Each judex was provided with three tablets (_tabulae_), on one of which was marked A, _Absolvo_; on a second C, _Condemno_; and on a third N. L., _Non liquet_. The judices voted by placing one of these tablets in the urns, which were then examined for the purpose of ascertaining the votes. It was the duty of the magistratus to pronounce the sentence of the judices; in the case of condemnation, to adjudge the legal penalty; of acquittal, to declare the accused acquitted; and of doubt, to declare that the matter must be further investigated (_amplius cognoscendum_).--A _judicium populi_, properly so called, was one in which the case was tried in the comitia curiata, but afterwards in the comitia centuriata and tributa. The accuser, who must be a magistratus, commenced by declaring in a contio that he would on a certain day accuse a certain person, whom he named, of some offence, which he also specified. This was expressed by the phrase _diem dicere_. If the offender held any high office, it was necessary to wait till his time of service had expired, before proceedings could be thus commenced against him. The accused was required to give security for his appearance on the day of trial; the security was called _vades_ in a causa capitalis, and _praedes_ when the penalty for the alleged offence was pecuniary. If such security was not given, the accused was kept in confinement. If nothing prevented the inquiry from taking place at the time fixed for it, the trial proceeded, and the accuser had to prove his case by evidence. The investigation of the facts was called _anquisitio_ with reference to the proposed penalty: accordingly, the phrases _pecunia, capite_ or _capitis anquirere_, are used. When the investigation was concluded, the magistratus promulgated a rogatio, which comprehended the charge and the punishment or fine. It was a rule of law that a fine should not be imposed together with another punishment in the same rogatio. The rogatio was made public during three nundinae, like any other lex, and proposed at the comitia for adoption or rejection. The accused sometimes withdrew into exile before the votes were taken; or he might make his defence. The offences which were the chief subject of judicia populi and publica were majestas, adulteria and stupra, parricidium, falsum, vis publica and privata, peculatus, repetundae, ambitus.--With the passing of special enactments for the punishment of particular offences, was introduced the practice of forming a body of judices for the trial of such offences as the enactments were directed against. The _Album Judicum_ was the body out of which judices were to be chosen. It is not known what was the number of the body so constituted, but it has been conjectured that the number was 350, and that ten were chosen from each tribe, and thus the origin of the phrase _Decuriae Judicum_ is explained. It is easy to conceive that the judicia populi, properly so called, would be less frequent, as special leges were framed for particular offences, the circumstances of which could be better investigated by a smaller body of judices than by the assembled people. The Lex Servilia (B.C. 104) enacted that the judices should not be under thirty nor above sixty years of age, that the accuser and accused should severally propose one hundred judices, and that each might reject fifty from the list of the other, so that one hundred would remain for the trial. Up to B.C. 122 the judices were always senators, but in this year the Sempronia Lex of C. Gracchus took the judicia from the senators and gave them to the equites. This state of things lasted nearly fifty years, till Sulla (B.C. 80) restored the judicia to the senate, and excluded the equites from the album judicum. A Lex Aurelia (B.C. 70) enacted that the judices should be chosen from the three classes--of senators, equites, and tribuni aerarii; and accordingly the judicia were then said to be divided between the senate and the equites. The tribuni aerarii were taken from the rest of the citizens, and were, or ought to have been, persons of some property. Thus the three decuriae of judices were formed; and it was either in consequence of the Lex Aurelia or the Lex Fufia that, instead of one urn for all the tablets, the decuriae had severally their balloting urn, so that the votes of the three classes were known. It is not known if the Lex Aurelia determined the number of judices in any given case. The Lex Pompeia de Vi and De Ambitu (B.C. 52) determined that eighty judices were to be selected by lot, out of whom the accuser and the accused might reject thirty. In the case of Clodius, in the matter of the Bona Dea, there were fifty-six judices. It is conjectured that the number fixed for a given case, by the Lex Aurelia, was seventy judices. Augustus added to the existing three decuriae judicum a fourth decuria, called that of the _Ducenarii_, who had a lower pecuniary qualification, and only decided in smaller matters. Caligula added a fifth decuria, in order to diminish the labours of the judices.

JŪGĔRUM, a Roman measure of surface, 240 feet in length and 120 in breadth, containing therefore 28,800 square feet. It was the double of the _Actus Quadratus_, and from this circumstance, according to some writers, it derived its name. [ACTUS.] The uncial division [AS] was applied to the _jugerum_, its smallest part being the _scrupulum_ of 10 feet square, = 100 square feet. Thus the _jugerum_ contained 288 scrupula. The jugerum was the common measure of land among the Romans. Two _jugera_ formed an _heredium_, a hundred _heredia_ a _centuria_, and four _centuriae_ a _saltus_. These divisions were derived from the original assignment of landed property, in which two _jugera_ were given to each citizen as heritable property.

JŬGUM (ζυγός, ζυγόν), signified in general that which joined two things together, such as the transverse beam which united the upright posts of a loom, the cross-bar of a lyre, a scale-beam, &c., but it denoted more especially the yoke by which ploughs and carriages were drawn. The following woodcut shows two examples of the yoke: the upper one is provided with two collars, the lower one with excavations cut in the yoke, in order to give more ease and freedom to the animals. The latter figure shows the method of tying the yoke to the pole (_temo_, ῥυμός) by means of a leathern strap. The word jugum is often used to signify _slavery_, or the condition in which men are compelled, against their will, like oxen or horses, to labour for others. Hence, to express symbolically the subjugation of conquered nations, the Romans made their captives pass under a yoke (_sub jugum mittere_), which, however, was not made like the yoke used in drawing carriages or ploughs, but consisted of a spear supported transversely by two others placed upright.

JŪRISCONSULTI or JŪRĔCONSULTI arose among the Romans after the separation of the Jus Civile from the Jus Pontificium. Such a body certainly existed before the time of Cicero, and the persons who professed to expound the law were called by the various names of _jurisperiti_, _jurisconsulti_, or _consulti_ simply. They were also designated by other names, as _jurisprudentes_, _prudentiores_, _peritiores_, and _juris auctores_. The business of the early jurisconsulti consisted both in advising and acting on behalf of their clients (_consultores_) gratuitously. They gave their advice or answers (_responsa_) either in public places which they attended at certain times, or at their own houses; and not only on matters of law, but on any thing else that might be referred to them. The words _scribere_ and _cavere_ referred to their employment in drawing up formal instruments, such as contracts or wills, &c. At a later period, many of these functions were performed by persons who were paid by a fee, and thus there arose a body of practitioners distinct from those who gave responsa and who were writers and teachers. Tiberius Coruncanius, a plebeian, who was consul B.C. 281, and also the first plebeian Pontifex Maximus, is mentioned as the first who publicly professed (_publice professus est_), and he was distinguished both for his knowledge of the law and his eloquence.

JŪRISDICTIO, signifies generally the authority of the magistrate “qui jus dicit,” and is mostly applied to the authority of the praetor in civil cases, such as the giving of the formula in an actio and the appointment of a judex. [ACTIO.]

JŪS. The law peculiar to the Roman state is sometimes called _Jus Civile Romanorum_, but more frequently _Jus Civile_ only. The _Jus Quiritium_ is equivalent to the _Jus Civile Romanorum_. The _jus civil_e of the Romans is divisible into two parts, _jus civile_ in the narrower sense, and _jus pontificium_, or the law of religion. This opposition is sometimes expressed by the words _Jus_ and _Fas_. The law of religion, or the _Jus Pontificium_, was under the control of the pontifices, who in fact originally had the control of the whole mass of the law; and it was only after the separation of the jus civile in its wider sense into the two parts of the jus civile, in its narrower sense, and the jus pontificium, that each part had its proper and peculiar limits. Still, even after the separation, there was a mutual relation between these two branches of law; for instance, an adrogatio was not valid by the jus civile unless it was valid by the jus pontificium. Again, jus pontificium, in its wider sense, as the law of religion, had its subdivisions, as into jus augurum, pontificium, &c.

JŪS CĪVĪLE. [JUS.]

JŪS LĂTĪI. [CIVITAS; LATINITAS.]

JUS PONTĬFĬCĬUM. [JUS.]

JUS QUĬRĪTĬUM. [JUS.]

JUSJŪRANDUM (ὅρκος), an oath. (1) GREEK. An oath is an appeal to some superior being, calling on him to bear witness that the swearer speaks the truth, or intends to perform the promise which he makes. We find early mention in the Greek writers of oaths being taken on solemn and important occasions, as treaties, alliances, vows, compacts, and agreements, both between nations and individuals. The Greeks paid high regard to the sanctity of oaths. The poets frequently allude to the punishment of perjury after death, which they assign to the infernal gods or furies, and we find many proofs of a persuasion that perjurers would not prosper in this world. Anciently the person who took an oath stood up, and lifted his hands to heaven, as he would in prayer; for an oath was a species of prayer, and required the same sort of ceremony. Oaths were frequently accompanied with sacrifice or libation. The parties used also to lay their hands upon the victims, or on the altar or some other sacred thing, as if by so doing they brought before them the deity by whom the oath was sworn, and made him witness of the ceremony. Hence the expressions πρὸς τὸν βωμὸν ἐξορκίζειν, ὀμνύναι καθ’ ἱερῶν. The hand especially was regarded as a pledge of fidelity, and the allusions to the junction of hands in making contracts and agreements abound in the ancient writers. The different nations of Greece swore by their own peculiar gods and heroes; as the Thebans by Hercules, Iolaus, &c., the Lacedaemonians by Castor and Pollux, the Corinthians by Poseidon; the Athenians swore principally by Zeus, Athena, Apollo (their πατρῷος θεὸς), Demeter, and Dionysus. The office or character of the party, or the place, or the occasion often suggested the oath to be taken. As swearing became a common practice with men upon trivial occasions, and in ordinary conversation, they used to take oaths by any god, person, or thing, as their peculiar habits or predilections, or the fancy of the moment, dictated. Women also had their favourite oaths. As the men preferred swearing by Hercules, Apollo, &c., so the other sex used to swear by Aphrodite, Demeter, and Persephone, Hera, Hecate, Artemis; and Athenian women by Aglauros, Pandrosus, &c.--(2) ROMAN. I. _Oaths taken by magistrates and other persons who entered the service of the republic._--After the establishment of the republic the consuls, and subsequently all the other magistrates, were obliged, within five days after their appointment, to promise on oath that they would protect and observe the laws of the republic (_in leges jurare_). Vestal virgins and the flamen dialis were not allowed to swear on any occasion. During the later period of the republic we also find that magistrates, when the time of their office had expired, addressed the people and swore that during their office they had undertaken nothing against the republic, but had done their utmost to promote its welfare. All Roman soldiers after they were enlisted for a campaign, had to take the military oath (_sacramentum_). It may here be remarked that any oath might be taken in two ways: the person who took it, either framed it himself, or it was put to him in a set form, and in this case he was said in _verba jurare_, or _jurare verbis conceptis_.--II. _Oaths taken in transactions with foreign nations in the name of the republic._ According to the most ancient form the pater patratus pronounced the oath in the name of his country, and struck the victim with a flint-stone, calling on Jupiter to destroy the Roman nation in like manner, as he (the pater patratus) destroyed the animal, if the people should violate the oath. The chiefs or priests of the other nation then swore in a similar manner by their own gods. In swearing to a treaty with a foreign nation, a victim (a pig or a lamb) was in the early times always sacrificed by the fetialis (whence the expressions _foedus icere_, ὅρκια τέμνειν), and the priest while pronouncing the oath probably touched the victim or the altar. The jus fetiale, however, fell into disuse as the Romans extended their conquests; and as in most cases of treaties with foreign nations, the Romans were not the party that chose to promise anything on oath, we hear no more of oaths on their part. At first the Romans were very scrupulous in observing their oaths in contracts or treaties with foreigners, and even with enemies; but from the third Punic war to the end of the republic, perjury was common among the Romans in their dealings with foreigners as well as among themselves.--III. _Oaths or various modes of swearing in common life._ The practice of swearing in ordinary conversations, was as common among the Romans as among the Greeks. The forms used were sometimes simple invocations of one or more gods, as _Hercle_ or _Mehercle_, that is, ita me Hercules juvet, amet, or servet; _Pol_, _Perpol_ or _Aedepol_, that is, per Pollucem; _per Jovem Lapidem_ or simply _per Jovem_; _per superos_; _per deos immortales_; _medius fidius_, that is, ita me Dius (Δίος) filius juvet; _ita me deus amet_, or _dii ament_. Women as well as men swore by most of the gods; but some oaths were peculiar to one of the sexes. Thus women never swore by Hercules, and men never by Castor. Sometimes oaths were accompanied with an execration, in case the swearer was stating a falsehood: as _Dii me perdant_; _dii me interficiant_; _dispeream_; _ne vivam_; _ne salvus sim_, &c.--IV. _Oaths taken before the praetor or in courts of justice._ There might be a _jusjurandum_ either _in jure_ or _in judicio_. The _jusjurandum in jure_ is the oath which one party proposed to his adversary (_detulit_) that he should make about the matter in dispute; and the effect of the oath being taken or refused was equivalent to a judicium. The _jusjurandum in judicio (jusjurandum judiciale)_ was required by the judex, and not by either of the parties, though either of the parties might suggest it.

JUSTĬTĬUM, a cessation of public business of every kind. Thus the courts of law and the treasury were shut up, no ambassadors were received in the senate, and no auctions took place. The _Justitium_ was proclaimed (_edicere_, _indicere_) by the senate and the magistrates in times of public alarm and danger; and after confidence and tranquillity had been restored, the Justitium was removed (_remittere_, _exuere_) by the same authorities. As such times of alarm are usually accompanied with general sorrow, a _Justitium_ came in course of time to be ordained as a mark of public mourning, and under the empire was only employed for this reason.

JŬVĔNĀLĬA, or JŬVĔNĀLES LŪDI, scenic games instituted by Nero, in A.D. 59, in commemoration of his shaving his beard for the first time, thus intimating that he had passed from youth to manhood. He was then in the twenty-second year of his age. These games were not celebrated in the circus, but in a private theatre erected in a pleasure-ground (_nemus_), and consisted of every kind of theatrical performance, Greek and Roman plays, mimetic pieces, and the like. The Juvenalia continued to be celebrated by subsequent emperors, but not on the same occasion. The name was given to those games which were exhibited by the emperors on the 1st of January in each year. They no longer consisted of scenic representations, but of chariot races and combats of wild beasts.

LĂBĂRUM. [SIGNA MILITARIA.]

LĂBRUM. [BALNEUM.]

LĂBỸRINTHUS (λαβύρινθος), a labyrinth, a large and complicated subterraneous cavern with numerous and intricate passages, similar to those of a mine. The earliest and most renowned labyrinth was that of Egypt, which lay beyond lake Moeris. It had 3000 apartments, 1500 under ground, and the same number above it, and the whole was surrounded by a wall. It was divided into courts, each of which was surrounded by colonnades of white marble. The second labyrinth mentioned by the ancients was that of Crete, in the neighbourhood of Cnossus, where the Minotaur is said to have dwelt. Although the Cretan labyrinth is very frequently mentioned by ancient authors, yet none of them speaks of it as an eyewitness. It was probably some natural cavern in the neighbourhood of Cnossus. A third labyrinth, the construction of which belongs to a more historical age, was that in the island of Lemnos. A fabulous edifice in Etruria is also mentioned, to which Pliny applies the name of labyrinth. It is described as being in the neighbourhood of Clusium, and as the tomb of Lar Porsena; but no writer says that he ever saw it, or remains of it.

LĂCERNA (μανδύας, μανδύη), a cloak worn by the Romans over the toga. It differed from the paenula in being an open garment like the Greek pallium, and fastened on the right shoulder by means of a buckle (_fibula_), whereas the paenula was what is called a _vestimentum clausum_ with an opening for the head. The Lacerna appears to have been commonly used in the army. In the time of Cicero it was not usually worn in the city, but it soon afterwards became quite common at Rome. The lacerna was sometimes thrown over the head for the purpose of concealment; but a _cucullus_ or cowl was generally used for that purpose, which appears to have been frequently attached to the lacerna, and to have formed a part of the dress.

LĂCĬNĬAE, the angular extremities of the toga, one of which was brought round over the left shoulder. It was generally tucked into the girdle, but sometimes was allowed to hang down loose.

LĂCŌNĬCUM. [BALNEUM.]

LĂCŪNAR. [DOMUS.]

LĂCUS. [FONS.]

LAENA (χλαῖνα), a woollen cloak, the cloth of which was twice the ordinary thickness, shaggy upon both sides, and worn over the pallium or the toga for the sake of warmth. In later times the laena seems, to a certain extent, to have been worn as a substitute for the toga.

LAMPĂDĒPHŎRĬA (λαμπαδηφορία), _torch-bearing_, LAMPADEDROMIA (λαμπαδηδρομία), _torch-race_, and often simply LAMPAS (λαμπάς), was a game common throughout Greece. At Athens we know of five celebrations of this game: one to Prometheus at the Prometheia, a second to Athena at the Panathenaca, a third to Hephaestos at the Hephaesteia, a fourth to Pan, and a fifth to the Thracian Artemis or Bendis. The first three are of unknown antiquity; the fourth was introduced soon after the battle of Marathon; the last in the time of Socrates. The race was usually run on foot, horses being first used in the time of Socrates; sometimes also at night. The preparation for it was a principal branch of the _Gymnasiarchia_, so much so indeed in later times, that the _Lampadarchia_ (λαμπαδαρχία) seems to have been pretty much equivalent to the _Gymnasiarchia_. The gymnasiarch had to provide the lampas, which was a candlestick with a kind of shield set at the bottom of the socket, so as to shelter the flame of the candle; as is seen in the following woodcut, taken from a coin. He had also to provide for the training of the runners, which was of no slight consequence, for the race was evidently a severe one, with other expenses, which on the whole were very heavy, so that Isaeus classes this office with the _choregia_ and _trierarchia_, and reckons that it had cost him 12 minae.

LAMPAS. [LAMPADEPHORIA.]

LANCĔA. [HASTA.]

LĂNISTA. [GLADIATORES.]

LANX, a large dish, made of silver or some other metal, and sometimes embossed, used at splendid entertainments to hold meat or fruit; and consequently at sacrifices and funeral banquets.

LAPHRĬA (Λάφρια), an annual festival, celebrated at Patrae in Achaia, in honour of Artemis, surnamed Laphria.

LĂPĬCĪDĪNAE. [LAUTUMIAE.]

LĂQUĔAR. [DOMUS, p. 144, _b._]

LĂQŬEĀTŌRES. [GLADIATORES.]

LĂQUĔUS, a rope, was used to signify the punishment of death by strangling. This mode of execution was never performed in public, but only in prison and generally in the Tullianum. Hence we find the words _carcer_ and _laqueus_ frequently joined together. Persons convicted of treason were most frequently put to death by strangling, as for instance the Catilinarian conspirators (_laqueo gulam fregere_).

LĂRĀRĬUM, a place in the inner part of a Roman house, which was dedicated to the Lares, and in which their images were kept and worshipped. It seems to have been customary for religious Romans in the morning, immediately after they rose, to perform their prayers in the lararium.

LĀRENTĀLĬA, sometimes written LĀRENTINĀLIA and LAURENTĀLIA, a Roman festival in honour of Acca Larentia, the wife of Faustulus and the nurse of Romulus and Remus. It was celebrated in December, on the 10th before the calends of January.

LARGĪTĬO. [AMBITUS.]

LĂTER πλίνθος, a brick. The Romans distinguished between those bricks which were merely dried by the sun and air (_lateres crudi_), and those which were burnt in the kiln (_cocti_ or _coctiles_). They preferred for brick making clay which was either whitish or decidedly red. Pliny calls the brickfield _lateraria_, and to make bricks _lateres ducere_, corresponding to the Greek πλίνθους ἕλκειν or ἔρυειν.

LĀTĬCLĀVĬI. [CLAVUS.]

LĂTĪNAE FĔRĬAE. [FERIAE.]

LĂTĪNĬTAS, LĂTĬUM, JUS LĂTĬI. All these expressions are used to signify a certain status intermediate between that of cives and peregrini. Before the passing of the Lex Julia de Civitate (B.C. 90) the above expressions denoted a certain nationality, and as part of it a certain legal status with reference to Rome; but after the passing of that lex, these expressions denoted only a certain status, and had no reference to any national distinction. About the year B.C. 89, a Lex Pompeia gave the jus Latii to all the Transpadani, and consequently the privilege of obtaining the Roman civitas by having filled a magistratus in their own cities. To denote the status of these Transpadani, the word Latinitas was used, which since the passing of the Lex Julia had lost its proper signification; and this was the origin of that Latinitas which thenceforth existed to the time of Justinian. This new Latinitas or jus Latii was given to whole towns and countries; as, for instance, by Vespasian to the whole of Spain. It is not certain wherein this new Latinitas differed from that Latinitas which was the characteristic of the Latini before the passing of the Lex Julia. It is, however, clear that all the old Latini had not the same right with respect to Rome; and that they could acquire the civitas on easier terms than those by which the new Latinitas was acquired.

LĂTRUNCŬLI (πεσσοί, ψήφοι), draughts. The invention of a game resembling draughts was attributed by the Greeks to Palamedes; and it is mentioned by Homer. There were two sets of men, one set being black, the other white or red. Being intended to represent a miniature combat between two armies, they were called soldiers (_milites_), foes (_hostes_), and marauders (_latrones_, dim. _latrunculi_); also _calculi_, because stones were often employed for the purpose. The Romans often had twelve lines on the draught-board, whence the game so played was called _duodecim scripta_.

LAUDĀTĬO. [FUNUS.]

LAURENTĀLĬA. [LARENTALIA.]

LAUTŬMĬAE, LAUTŎMIAE, LĀTOMIAE, Or LĀTUMIAE (λιθοτομίαι, λατομίαι,Lat. _Lapicidinae_), literally places where stones are cut, or quarries, and more particularly the public prison of Syracuse. It lay in the steep and almost inaccessible part of the town which was called Epipolae, and had been built by Dionysius the tyrant. It was cut to an immense depth into the solid rock, so that nothing could be imagined to be a safer or stronger prison, though it had no roof, and thus left the prisoners exposed to the heat of the sun, the rain, and the coldness of the nights. The Tullianum at Rome was also sometimes called lautumiae. [CARCER.]

LECTICA (κλίνη, κλινίδιον, or φορεῖον), was a kind of couch or litter, in which persons, in a lying position, were carried from one place to another. Lecticae were used for carrying the dead [FUNUS] as well as the living. The Greek lectica consisted of a bed or mattress, and a pillow to support the head, placed upon a kind of bedstead or couch. It had a roof, consisting of the skin of an ox, extending over the couch and resting on four posts. The sides of this lectica were covered with curtains. In the republican period it appears to have been chiefly used by women, and by men only when they were in ill health. When this kind of lectica was introduced among the Romans, it was chiefly used in travelling, and very seldom in Rome itself. But towards the end of the republic, and under the empire, it was commonly used in the city, and was fitted up in the most splendid manner. Instead of curtains, it was frequently closed on the sides with windows made of transparent stone (_lapis specularis_), and was provided with a pillow and bed. When standing, it rested on four feet, generally made of wood. Persons were carried in a lectica by slaves (_lecticarii_), by means of poles (_asseres_) attached to it, but not fixed, so that they might easily be taken off when necessary. The number of lecticarii employed in carrying one lectica varied according to its size, and the display of wealth which a person might wish to make. The ordinary number was probably two; but it varied from two to eight, and the lectica is called _hexaphoron_ or _octophoron_, accordingly as it was carried by six or eight persons.

LECTISTERNIUM. Sacrifices being of the nature of feasts, the Greeks and Romans, on occasion of extraordinary solemnities, placed images of the gods reclining on couches, with tables and viands before them, as if they were really partaking of the things offered in sacrifice. This ceremony was called a _lectisternium_. The woodcut here introduced exhibits one of these couches, which is represented with a cushion covered by a cloth hanging in ample folds down each side. This beautiful _pulvinar_ is wrought altogether in white marble, and is somewhat more than two feet in height.

LECTUS (λέχος, κλίνη, εὐνή), a bed. The complete bed (εὐνή) of a wealthy Greek in later times generally consisted of the following parts:--κλίνη, ἐπίτονοι, τυλεῖον or κνέφαλον, προσκεφάλειον, and στρώματα. The κλίνη is, properly speaking, merely the bedstead, and seems to have consisted only of posts fitted into one another and resting upon four feet. At the head part alone there was a board (ἀνάκλιντρον or ἐπίκλιντρον) to support the pillow and prevent its falling out. Sometimes, however, the bottom part of a bedstead was likewise protected by a board, so that in this case a Greek bedstead resembled what we call a French bedstead. The bedstead was provided with girths (τόνοι, ἐπίτονοι, κειρία) on which the bed or mattress (κνέφαλον, τυλεῖον, or τύλη) rested. The cover or ticking of a mattress was made of linen or woollen cloth, or of leather, and the usual material with which it was filled was either wool or dried weeds. At the head part of the bed, and supported by the ἐπίκλιντρον, lay a round pillow (προσκεφάλειον) to support the head. The bed-covers (στρώματα) were generally made of cloth, which was very thick and woolly, either on one or on both sides. The beds of the Romans (_lecti cubiculares_) in the earlier periods of the republic were probably of the same description as those used in Greece; but towards the end of the republic and during the empire, the richness and magnificence of the beds of the wealthy Romans far surpassed every thing we find described in Greece. The bedstead was generally rather high, so that persons entered the bed (_scandere_, _ascendere_) by means of steps placed beside it (_scamnum_). It was sometimes made of metal, and sometimes of costly kinds of wood, or veneered with tortoise-shell or ivory; its feet (_fulcra_) were frequently of silver or gold. The bed or mattress (_culcita_ and _torus_) rested upon girths or strings (_restes_, _fasciae_, _institae_, or _funes_), which connected the two horizontal side-posts of the bed. In beds destined for two persons the two sides are distinguished by different names; the side at which persons entered was open, and bore the name _sponda_; the other side, which was protected by a board, was called _pluteus_. The two sides of such a bed are also distinguished by the names _torus exterior_ and _torus interior_, or _sponda exterior_ and _sponda interior_; and from these expressions it is not improbable that such lecti had two beds or mattresses, one for each person. Mattresses were in the earlier times filled with dry herbs or straw, and such beds continued to be used by the poor. But in subsequent times wool, and, at a still later period, feathers, were used by the wealthy for the beds as well as the pillows. The cloth or ticking (_operimentum_ or _involucrum_) with which the beds or mattresses were covered, was called _toral_, _torale_, _linteum_, or _segestre_. The blankets or counterpanes (_vestes stragulae_, _stragula_, _peristromata_, _peripetasmata_) were in the houses of wealthy Romans of the most costly description, and generally of a purple colour, and embroidered with beautiful figures in gold. Covers of this sort were called _peripetasmata Attalica_, because they were said to have been first used at the court of Attalus. The pillows were likewise covered with magnificent casings. The _lectus genialis_ or _adversus_ was the bridal bed, which stood in the atrium, opposite the janua, whence it derived the epithet _adversus_. It was generally high, with steps by its side, and in later times beautifully adorned. Respecting the lectus funebris see FUNUS. An account of the disposition of the couches used at entertainments is given under TRICLINIUM.

LĒGĀTĬO LĪBĔRA. [LEGATUS.]

LĒGĀTUM, a part of the hereditas which a testator gives out of it, from the heres (_ab herede_); that is, it is a gift to a person out of that whole (_universum_) which is diminished to the heres by such gift. There were several laws limiting the amount of property which a person might give in legacies; and it was at last fixed by the Lex Falcidia (B.C. 40), that he should not bequeath more than three-fourths of his property in legacies, and thus a fourth was left to the heres. By the Law of the Twelve Tables a man could dispose of his property as he pleased, and he might exhaust (_erogare_) the whole hereditas by legacies and bequests of freedom to slaves, so as to leave the heres nothing. The consequence was that in such cases the scripti heredes refused to take the hereditas, and there was of course an intestacy. Legata were inutilia or void, if they were given before a heres was instituted by the will, for the will derived all its legal efficacy from such institution; there was the same rule as to a gift of freedom.