Chapter XXVI: Part II: The Middle Ages and the Reformation. A.D. 1381-1593 (25)

NŌMEN (ὄνομα), a name. The Greeks bore only one name, and it was one of the especial rights of a father to choose the names for his children, and to alter them if he pleased. It was customary to give to the eldest son the name of the grandfather on his father’s side; and children usually received their names on the tenth day after their birth.--Originally every Roman citizen belonged to a gens, and derived his name (_nomen_ or _nomen gentilicium_) from his gens, which _nomen gentilicium_ generally terminated in _ius_. Besides this, every Roman had a name, called _praenomen_, which preceded the nomen gentilicium, and which was peculiar to him as an individual, _e.g._ Caius, Lucius, Marcus, Cneius, Sextus, &c. This praenomen was at a later time given to boys on the ninth day after their birth, and to girls on the eighth day. This day was called _dies lustricus_, _dies nominum_, or _nominalia_. The praenomen given to a boy was in most cases that of the father, but sometimes that of the grandfather or great-grandfather. These two names, a _praenomen_ and a _nomen gentilicium_, or simply _nomen_, were indispensable to a Roman, and they were at the same time sufficient to designate him; hence the numerous instances of Romans being designated only by these two names, even in cases where a third or fourth name was possessed by the person. Every Roman citizen, besides belonging to a gens, was also frequently a member of a familia, contained in a gens, and accordingly might have a third name or _cognomen_. Such cognomina were derived by the Romans from a variety of mental or bodily peculiarities, or from some remarkable event in the life of the person who was the founder of the familia. Such cognomina are, Asper, Imperiosus, Magnus, Maximus, Publicola, Brutus, Capito, Cato, Naso, Labeo, Caecus, Cicero, Scipio, Sulla, Torquatus, &c. These names were in most cases hereditary, and descended to the latest members of a familia; in some cases they ceased with the death of the person to whom they were given for special reasons. Many Romans had a second cognomen (_cognomen secundum_ or _agnomen_), which was given to them as an honorary distinction, and in commemoration of some memorable deed or event of their life, _e.g._ Africanus, Asiaticus, Hispallus, Cretensis, Macedonicus, Allobrogicus, &c. Such agnomina were sometimes given by one general to another, sometimes by the army and confirmed by the chief-general, sometimes by the people in the comitia, and sometimes they were assumed by the person himself, as in the case of L. Cornelius Scipio Asiaticus. The regular order in which these names followed one another was:--1. praenomen; 2. nomen gentilicium; 3. cognomen primum; 4. cognomen secundum or agnomen. Sometimes the name of the tribe to which a person belonged, was added to his name, in the ablative case, as Q. Verres Romilia, C. Claudius Palatina. If a person by adoption passed from one gens into another, he assumed the praenomen, nomen, and cognomen of his adoptive father, and added to these the name of his former gens, with the termination _anus_. Thus C. Octavius, after being adopted by his uncle C. Julius Caesar, was called C. Julius Caesar Octavianus, and the son of L. Aemilius Paullus, when adopted by P. Cornelius Scipio, was called P. Cornelius Scipio Aemilianus. [ADOPTIO.] Slaves had only one name, and usually retained that which they had borne before they came into slavery. If a slave was restored to freedom, he received the praenomen and nomen gentilicium of his former master, and to these was added the name which he had had as a slave. Instances of such freedmen are, T. Ampius Menander, a freedman of T. Ampius Balbus, L. Cornelius Chrysogonus, a freedman of L. Cornelius Sulla, and M. Tullius Tiro, freedman of M. Tullius Cicero.

NŎMŎPHỸLĂCES (νομοφύλακες), certain magistrates or official persons of high authority, who exercised a control over other magistrates, and indeed over the whole body of the people, it being their duty to see that the laws were duly administered and obeyed. Mention is made of such officers at Sparta and elsewhere, but no such body existed at Athens, for they must have had a power too great for the existence of a democracy. The Senate of 500, or the Areopagitic council, performed in some measure the office of law-guardians; but the only persons designated by this name appear to have been inferior functionaries (a sort of police), whose business it was to prevent irregularities and disturbances in the public assemblies.

NŎMOS (νόμος). This word comprehends the notion not only of established or statute law, but likewise of all customs and opinions to which long prescription or natural feeling gives the force of law. Before any written codes appeared, law was promulgated by the poets or wise men, who sang the great deeds of their ancestors, and delivered their moral and political lessons in verse. As civilisation advanced, laws were reduced to writing, in the shape either of regular codes or distinct ordinances, and afterwards publicly exhibited, engraved on tablets, or hewn on columns. The first written laws we hear of are those of Zaleucus. The first at Athens were those of Draco, called θεσμοὶ, and by that name distinguished from the νόμοι of Solon. The laws of Lycurgus were not written. He enjoined that they should never be inscribed on any other tablet than the hearts of his countrymen. Those of Solon were inscribed on wooden tablets, arranged in pyramidal blocks, turning on an axis, called ἄξονες and κύρβεις. They were first hung in the Acropolis, but afterwards brought down to the Prytaneum.

NŎMŎTHĔTAE (νομόθεται), movers or proposers of laws, the name of a legislative committee at Athens, which, by an institution of Solon, was appointed to amend and revise the laws. At the first κυρία ἐκκλησία in every year, any person was at liberty to point out defects in the existing code or propose alterations. If his motion was deemed worthy of attention, the third assembly might refer the matter to the Nomothetae. They were selected by lot from the Heliastic body; it being the intention of Solon to limit the power of the popular assembly by means of a superior board emanating from itself, composed of citizens of mature age, bound by a stricter oath, and accustomed to weigh legal principles by the exercise of their judicial functions. The number of the committee so appointed varied according to the exigency of the occasion. The people appointed five advocates (σύνδικοι) to attend before the board and maintain the policy of the existing institution. If the proposed measure met the approval of the committee, it passed into law forthwith. Besides this, the Thesmothetae were officially authorised to review the whole code, and to refer to the _Nomothetae_ all statutes which they considered unworthy of being retained. Hence appears the difference between _Psephisma_ (ψήφισμα) and _Nomos_ (νόμος). The mere resolution of the people in assembly was a _psephisma_, and only remained in force a year, like a decree of the senate. Nothing was a _law_ that did not pass the ordeal of the Nomothetae.

NŌNAE. [CALENDARIUM.]

NŎTA, which signified a mark or sign of any kind, was also employed for an abbreviation. Hence _notae_ signified the marks or signs used in taking down the words of a speaker, and was equivalent to our short-hand writing, or stenography; and _notarii_ signified short-hand writers. It must be borne in mind, however, that _notae_ also signified writing in cipher; and many passages in the ancient reciters which are supposed to refer to short-hand, refer in reality to writing in cipher. Among the Greeks it is said to have been invented by Xenophon, and their short-hand writers were called ταχυγράφοι, ὀξυγράφοι and σημειογράφοι. The first introduction of the art among the Romans is ascribed to Cicero. He is said to have caused the debate in the senate on the punishment of the Catilinarian conspirators to be taken down in short-hand. Eusebius ascribes it to Tiro, the freedman of Cicero, and hence the system of abbreviated writing, in which some manuscripts are written, has received the name of _Notae Tironianae_; but there is no evidence to show whether this species of short-hand was really the invention of Tiro. The system of short-hand employed in the time of the Roman empire must have been of a much simpler and more expeditious kind than the _Notae Tironianae_, which were merely abbreviations of the words. Many of the wealthy Romans kept slaves, who were trained in the art. It was also learnt even by the Roman nobles, and the emperor Titus was a great proficient in it. At a later time, it seems to have been generally taught in the schools. There were, moreover, short-hand writers (_notarii_) by profession, who were chiefly employed in taking down (_notare_, _excipere_) the proceedings in the courts of justice. At a later period, they were called _exceptores_. These short-hand writers were also employed on some occasions to take down a person’s will.

NOTĀRĬI, short-hand writers, spoken of under NOTA. They were likewise called _Actuarii_. They were also employed by the emperors, and in course of time the title of _Notarii_ was exclusively applied to the private secretaries of the emperors, who, of course, were no longer slaves, but persons of high rank. The short-hand writers were now called _exceptores_, as is remarked under NOTA.

NŎTA CENSŌRĬA. [CENSOR.]

NŎVENDĬĀLE (sc. _sacrum_).--(1) A festival lasting nine days, which was celebrated as often as stones rained from heaven. It was originally instituted by Tullus Hostilius, when there was a shower of stones upon the Mons Albanus, and was frequently celebrated in later times.--(2) This name was also given to the sacrifice performed nine days after a funeral. [FUNUS.]

NŎVI HŎMĬNES. [NOBILES.]

NŪDUS (γυμνός). These words, besides denoting absolute nakedness, were applied to any one who, being without an AMICTUS, wore only his tunic or indutus. In this state of nudity the ancients performed the operations of ploughing, sowing, and reaping. This term applied to the warrior expressed the absence of some part of his armour. Hence the light-armed were called γυμνῆτες. [ARMA.]

NUMMŬLĀRĬI or NŪMŬLĀRII. [MENSARII.]

NUMMUS or NŪMUS. [SESTERTIUS.]

NUNDĬNAE is derived by all the ancient writers from _novem_ and _dies_, so that it literally signifies the ninth day. Every eighth day, according to our mode of speaking, was a nundinae, and there were thus always seven ordinary days between two nundinae. The Romans in their peculiar mode of reckoning added these two nundinae to the seven ordinary days, and consequently said that the nundinae recurred every ninth day, and called them _nundinae_, as it were _novemdinae_. The number of nundinae in the ancient year of ten months was 38. They were originally market-days for the country folk, on which they came to Rome to sell the produce of their labour, and on which the king settled the legal disputes among them. When, therefore, we read that the nundinae were feriae, or dies nefasti, and that no comitia were allowed to be held, we have to understand this of the populus or patricians, and not of the plebes; and while for the populus the nundinae were feriae, they were real days of business (_dies fasti_ or _comitiales_) for the plebeians, who on these occasions pleaded their causes with members of their own order, and held their public meetings (the ancient comitia of the plebeians). Afterwards the nundinae became fasti for both orders, and this innovation facilitated the attendance of the plebeians at the comitia centuriata. The subjects to be laid before the comitia, whether they were proposals for new laws, or the appointment of officers, were announced to the people three nundinae beforehand (_trinundino die proponere_). Instead of _nundinae_ the form _nundinum_ is sometimes used, but only when it is preceded by a numeral, as in _trinundinum_, or _trinum nundinum_.

NUPTĬAE. [MATRIMONIUM.]

ŎBOLUS. [DRACHMA.]

OCRĔA (κνημίς), a greave, a leggin. A pair of greaves (κνημῖδες) was one of the six articles of armour which formed the complete equipment of a Greek warrior [ARMA], and likewise of a Roman soldier as fixed by Servius Tullius. They were made of various metals, with a lining probably of leather, felt, or cloth. Their form is shown in the accompanying cut. The figure is that of a fallen warrior, and in consequence of the bending of the knees, the greaves are seen to project a little above them. This statue also shows the ankle-rings (ἐπισφύρια), which were used to fasten the greaves immediately above the feet.

ŌDĒUM (ᾠδεῖον), a species of public building for contests in vocal and instrumental music. In its general form and arrangements it was very similar to the theatre; and it is sometimes called θέατρον. There were, however, some characteristic differences: the Odeum was much smaller than the theatre; and it was roofed over, in order to retain the sound. The earliest building of this kind was that erected by Pericles at Athens, for the purpose of celebrating the musical contests at the Panathenaea. Its proximity to the theatre suggested some of the uses made of it, namely, as a refuge for the audience when driven out of the theatre by rain, and also as a place in which the chorus could be prepared. Another Odeum was built at Athens by Herodes Atticus, and was the most magnificent edifice of the sort in the whole empire. The length of its largest diameter was 248 feet, and it is calculated to have furnished accommodation for about 8000 persons. There were also Odea in other Greek towns. The first Odeum, properly so called, at Rome, was built by Domitian, and the second by Trajan. There are ruins of such buildings in the villa of Hadrian at Tivoli, at Pompeii, and at Catana.

ŎLĔA, ŎLĪVA (ἐλαία); ŎLĔUM, OLĪVUM (ἔλαιον). The importance of the olive was recognised from the most remote period of antiquity in all civilised countries where the temperature admitted of its cultivation: and it was widely adopted as an emblem of industry and peace. Hence the honour paid to it at Athens, and hence the title of “prima omnium arborum,” bestowed upon it by Columella. The fruit (_bacca_) of the olive was for the most part employed for one of two purposes. 1. It was eaten as a fruit, either fresh, pickled, or preserved in various ways. 2. It was pressed so as to yield the oil and other juices which it contained. And again, the oil was employed for a variety of purposes, but chiefly 1. As an article of food. 2. For anointing the body, and in this case was frequently made a vehicle for perfumes (_unguenta_). 3. For burning in lamps.

OLĬGARCHĬA (ὀλιγαρχια), the government of a few: a term applied to that perversion (παρέκβασις) of an _Aristocratia_ into which the latter passed, when, owing to the rise of the _demus_ [DEMOCRATIA], and the vanishing of those substantial grounds of pre-eminence which rendered an Aristocratia not unjust, the rule of the dominant portion of the community became the ascendancy of a faction, whose efforts were directed chiefly towards their own aggrandisement. The preservation of power under such circumstances of course depended chiefly upon the possession of superior wealth and the other appliances of wealth which were its concomitants. Thus it came to be regarded as essentially characteristic of an oligarchy, that the main distinction between the dominant faction and the subject portion of the community was the possession of greater wealth on the part of the former. Hence the term _Oligarchia_ would not have been applied, if a small section of the community, consisting of _poor_ persons, by any means got the reins of government into their hands.

OLLA (λέβης, χύτρος), a vessel of any material, round and plain, and having a wide mouth; a pot; a jar.

ŎLYMPĬA (ὀλύμπια), the Olympic games, the greatest of the national festivals of the Greeks. It was celebrated at Olympia in Elis, the name given to a small plain to the west of Pisa, which was bounded on the north and north-east by the mountains Cronius and Olympus, on the south by the river Alpheus, and on the west by the Cladeus, which flows into the Alpheus. Olympia does not appear to have been a town, but rather a collection of temples and public buildings. The origin of the Olympic games is buried in obscurity, but the festival was of very great antiquity. The first historical fact connected with this festival is its revival by Iphitus, king of Elis, who is said to have accomplished it with the assistance of Lycurgus, the Spartan lawgiver, and Cleosthenes of Pisa. The date of this event is given by some writers as B.C. 884, and by others as B.C. 828. The interval of four years between each celebration of the festival was called an Olympiad; but the Olympiads were not employed as a chronological aera till the victory of Coroebus in the foot-race, B.C. 776. [OLYMPIAS.] The most important point in the renewal of the festival by Iphitus was the establishment of the _Ececheiria_ (ἐκεχειρία), or sacred armistice. The proclamation was made by peace-heralds (σπονδοφόροι), first in Elis and afterwards in the other parts of Greece; it put a stop to all warfare for the month in which the games were celebrated, and which was called the _sacred month_ (ἱερομηνία). The territory of Elis itself was considered especially sacred during the games, and no armed force could enter it without incurring the guilt of sacrilege. The Olympic festival was probably confined at first to the Peloponnesians; but as its celebrity extended, the other Greeks took part in it, till at length it became a festival for the whole nation. No one was allowed to contend in the games but persons of pure Hellenic blood: barbarians might be spectators, but slaves were entirely excluded. After the conquest of Greece by the Romans, the latter were permitted to take part in the games. No women were allowed to be present or even to cross the Alpheus during the celebration of the games, under penalty of being hurled down from the Typaean rock, but women could send chariots to the races. The number of spectators at the festival was very great; and these were drawn together not merely by the desire of seeing the games, but partly through the opportunity it afforded them of carrying on commercial transactions with persons from distant places, as is the case with the Mohammedan festivals at Mecca and Medina. Many of the persons present were also deputies (θεωροί) sent to represent the various states of Greece; and we find that these embassies vied with one another in the number of their offerings, and the splendour of their general appearance, in order to support the honour of their native cities. The Olympic festival was a Pentaëteris (πενταετηρίς), that is, according to the ancient mode of reckoning, a space of four years elapsed between each festival, in the same way as there was only a space of two years between a Trieteris. It was celebrated on the first full moon after the summer solstice. It lasted, after all the contests had been introduced, five days, from the 11th to the 15th days of the month inclusive. The fourth day of the festival was the 14th of the month, which was the day of the full moon, and which divided the month into two equal parts. The festival was under the immediate superintendence of the Olympian Zeus, whose temple at Olympia, adorned with the statue of the god made by Phidias, was one of the most splendid works of art in Greece. There were also temples and altars to most of the other gods. The festival itself may be divided into two parts, the games or contests (ἀγὼν Ολυμπιακός), and the festive rites (ἑορτή) connected with the sacrifices, with the processions, and with the public banquets in honour of the conquerors.--The contests consisted of various trials of strength and skill, which were increased in number from time to time. There were in all twenty-four contests, eighteen in which men took part, and six in which boys engaged, though they were never all exhibited at one festival, since some were abolished almost immediately after their institution, and others after they had been in use only a short time. We subjoin a list of these from Pausanias, with the date of the introduction of each, commencing from the Olympiad of Coroebus:--1. The foot-race (δρόμος), which was the only contest during the first 13 Olympiads. 2. The δίαυλος, or foot-race, in which the stadium was traversed twice, first introduced in Ol. 14. 3. The δόλιχος, a still longer foot-race than the δίαυλος, introduced in Ol. 15. For a more particular account of the δίαυλος and δόλιχος, see STADIUM. 4. Wrestling (πάλη), and, 5. The Pentathlum (πένταθλον), which consisted of five exercises [PENTATHLUM], both introduced in Ol. 18. 6. Boxing (πυγμή) introduced in Ol. 23. [PUGILATUS.] 7. The chariot-race, with four full-grown horses (ἵππων τελείων δρόμος, ἅρμα), introduced in Ol. 25. 8. The Pancratium (παγκράτιον) [PANCRATIUM], and 9. The horse-race (ἵππος κέλης), both introduced in Ol. 33. 10 and 11. The foot-race and wrestling for boys, both introduced in Ol. 37. 12. The Pentathlum for boys, introduced in Ol. 38., but immediately afterwards abolished. 13. Boxing for boys, introduced in Ol. 41. 14. The foot-race, in which men ran with the equipments of heavy-armed soldiers (τῶν ὁπλιτῶν δρόμος), introduced in Ol. 65., on account of its training men for actual service in war. 15. The chariot-race with mules (ἀπήνη), introduced in Ol. 70.; and 16. The horse-race with mares (κάλπη), introduced in Ol. 71., both of which were abolished in Ol. 84. 17. The chariot-race with two full-grown horses (ἵππων τελείων συνωρίς), introduced in Ol. 93. 18, 19. The contest of heralds (κήρυκες) and trumpeters (σαλπιγκταί), introduced in Ol. 96. 20. The chariot-race with four foals (πώλων ἅρμασιν), introduced in Ol. 99. 21. The chariot-race with two foals (πώλων συνωρίς), introduced in Ol. 128. 22. The horse-race with foals (πῶλος κέλης), introduced in Ol. 131. 23. The Pancratium for boys, introduced in Ol. 145. 24. There was also a horse-race (ἵππος κέλης) in which boys rode, but we do not know the time of its introduction.--The judges in the Olympic Games, called _Hellanodicae_ (Ἑλλανοδίκαι), were appointed by the Eleans, who had the regulation of the whole festival. It appears to have been originally under the superintendence of Pisa, in the neighbourhood of which Olympia was situated, but after the conquest of Peloponnesus by the Dorians on the return of the Heraclidae, the Aetolians, who had been of great assistance to the Heraclidae, settled in Elis, and from this time the Aetolian Eleans obtained the regulation of the festival, and appointed the presiding officers. The Hellanodicae were chosen by lot from the whole body of the Eleans. Their number varied at different periods, but at a later time there were eight Hellanodicae. Their office probably lasted for only one festival. They had to see that all the laws relating to the games were observed by the competitors and others, to determine the prizes, and to give them to the conquerors. An appeal lay from their decision to the Elean senate. Under the direction of the Hellanodicae was a certain number of _Alytae_ (ἀλύται) with an _Alytarches_ (ἀλυτάρχης) at their head, who formed a kind of police, and carried into execution the commands of the Hellanodicae. There were also various other minor officers under the control of the Hellanodicae.--All free Greeks were allowed to contend in the games, who had complied with the rules prescribed to candidates. The equestrian contests were necessarily confined to the wealthy; but the poorest citizens could contend in the athletic games. This, however, was far from degrading the games in public opinion; and some of the noblest as well as meanest citizens of the state took part in these contests. The owners of the chariots and horses were not obliged to contend in person; and the wealthy vied with one another in the number and magnificence of the chariots and horses which they sent to the games. All persons, who were about to contend, had to prove to the Hellanodicae that they were freemen, and of pure Hellenic blood, that they had not been branded with atimia, nor guilty of any sacrilegious act. They further had to prove that they had undergone the preparatory training (προγυμνάσματα) for ten months previous. All competitors were obliged, thirty days before the festival, to undergo certain exercises in the Gymnasium at Elis, under the superintendence of the Hellanodicae. The competitors took their places by lot. The herald then proclaimed the name and country of each competitor. When they were all ready to begin the contest, the judges exhorted them to acquit themselves nobly, and then gave the signal to commence.--The only prize given to the conqueror was a garland of wild olive (κότινος), cut from a sacred olive tree, which grew in the sacred grove of Altis in Olympia. The victor was originally crowned upon a tripod covered over with bronze, but afterwards upon a table made of ivory and gold. Palm branches, the common tokens of victory on other occasions, were placed in his hands. The name of the victor, and that of his father and of his country, were then proclaimed by a herald before the representatives of assembled Greece. The festival ended with processions and sacrifices, and with a public banquet given by the Eleans to the conquerors in the Prytaneium. The most powerful states considered an Olympic victory, gained by one of their citizens, to confer honour upon the state to which he belonged; and a conqueror usually had immunities and privileges conferred upon him by the gratitude of his fellow-citizens. On his return home the victor entered the city in a triumphal procession, in which his praises were celebrated, frequently in the loftiest strains of poetry. [ATHLETAE.] As persons from all parts of the Hellenic world were assembled together at the Olympic Games, it was the best opportunity which the artist and the writer possessed of making their works known. It answered, to some extent, the same purpose as the press does in modern times. Before the invention of printing, the reading of an author’s works to as large an assembly as could be obtained, was one of the easiest and surest modes of publishing them; and this was a favourite practice of the Greeks and Romans. Accordingly we find many instances of literary works thus published at the Olympic festival. Herodotus is said to have read his history at this festival; but though there are some reasons for doubting the correctness of this statement, there are numerous other writers who thus published their works, as the sophist Hippias, Prodicus of Ceos, Anaximenes, the orator Lysias, Dion Chrysostom, &c. It must be borne in mind that these recitations were not contests, and that they formed properly no part of the festival. In the same way painters and other artists exhibited their works at Olympia.

OLYMPĬAS (ὀλυμπιάς), an Olympiad, the most celebrated chronological aera among the Greeks, was the period of four years which elapsed between each celebration of the Olympic Games. The Olympiads began to be reckoned from the victory of Coroebus in the foot-race, which happened in the year B.C. 776. Timaeus of Sicily, however, who flourished B.C. 264, was the first writer who regularly arranged events according to the conquerors in each Olympiad. His practice of recording events by Olympiads was followed by Polybius, Diodorus Siculus, Dionysius of Halicarnassus, &c. The writers who make use of the aera of the Olympiads, usually give the number of the Olympiad (the first corresponding to B.C. 776), and then the name of the conqueror in the foot-race. Some writers also speak of events as happening in the first, second, third, or fourth year, as the case may be, of a certain Olympiad; but others do not give the separate years of each Olympiad. The rules for converting Olympiads into the year B.C., and _vice versa_, are given under CHRONOLOGIA; but as this is troublesome, the student will find at the end of the book a list of the Olympiads, with the years of the Christian aera corresponding to them from the beginning of the Olympiads to A.D. 301. To save space, the separate years of each Olympiad, with the corresponding years B.C., are only given from the 47th to the 126th Olympiad, as this is the most important period of Grecian history; in the other Olympiads the first year only is given. In consulting the table it must be borne in mind that the Olympic Games were celebrated about midsummer, and that the Attic year commenced at about the same time. If, therefore, an event happened in the second half of the Attic year, the year B.C. must be reduced by 1. Thus Socrates was put to death in the 1st year of the 95th Olympiad, which corresponds in the table to B.C. 400; but as his death happened in Thargelion, the 11th month of the Attic year, the year B.C. must be reduced by 1, which gives us B.C. 399, the true date of his death.

ŎPĀLĬA, a Roman festival in honour of Opis, celebrated on the 19th of December, being the third day of the Saturnalia. It was believed that Opis was the wife of Saturnus, and for this reason the festivals were celebrated at the same time.

OPSŌNĬUM, or OBSŌNĬUM (ὄψον, _dim._ ὀψάριον; ὀψήμα), denoted everything which was eaten with bread, the principal substance of every meal. Those numerous articles of diet called _opsonia_ or _pulmentaria_ were designed to give nutriment, but still more to add a relish to food. Some of these articles were taken from the vegetable kingdom, but were much more pungent and savoury than bread, such as olives, either fresh or pickled, radishes, and sesamum. Of animal food by much the most common kind was fish, whence the terms under explanation were in the course of time used in a confined and special sense to denote fish only, but fish variously prepared, and more especially salt fish, which was most extensively employed to give a relish to the vegetable diet. The Athenians were in the habit of going to markets (εἰς τοῦψον) themselves in order to purchase their opsonia (ὀψωνεῖν, _opsonare_). But the opulent, Romans had a slave, called _opsonator_ (ὀψώνης), whose office it was to purchase for his master.

OPTĬO. [CENTURIO.]

OPTĬMĀTES. [NOBILES.]

ŌRĀCŬLUM (μαντεῖον, χρηστήριον) was used by the ancients to designate both the revelations made by the deity to man, as well as the place in which such revelations were made. The deity was in none of these places believed to appear in person to man, and to communicate to him his will or knowledge of the future, but all oracular revelations were made through some kind of medium, which was different in the different places where oracles existed. It may, at first sight, seem strange that there were, comparatively speaking, so few oracles of Zeus, the father and ruler of gods and men. But although, according to the belief of the ancients, Zeus himself was the first source of all oracular revelations, yet he was too far above men to enter with them into any close relation; other gods therefore, especially Apollo, and even heroes, acted as mediators between Zeus and men, and were, as it were, the organs through which he communicated his will. The ancients consulted the will of the gods on all important occasions of public and private life, since they were unwilling to undertake anything of importance without their sanction.--The most celebrated oracle was that of Apollo at Delphi. Its ancient name was Pytho. In the centre of the temple there was a small opening (χάσμα) in the ground, from which, from time to time, an intoxicating smoke arose, which was believed to come from the well of Cassotis, which vanished into the ground close by the sanctuary. Over this chasm there stood a high tripod, on which the Pythia, led into the temple by the prophetes (προφήτης), took her seat whenever the oracle was to be consulted. The smoke rising from under the tripod affected her brain in such a manner that she fell into a state of delirious intoxication, and the sounds which she uttered in this state were believed to contain the revelations of Apollo. These sounds were carefully written down by the prophetes, and afterwards communicated to the persons who had come to consult the oracle. The Pythia (the προφῆτις) was always a native of Delphi, and when she had once entered the service of the god she never left it, and was never allowed to marry. In early times she was always a young girl, but subsequently no one was elected as prophetess who had not attained the age of fifty years. The Delphians, or, more properly speaking, the noble families of Delphi, had the superintendence of the oracle. Among the Delphian aristocracy, however, there were five families which traced their origin to Deucalion, and from each of these one of the five priests, called _Hosioi_ (ὅσιοι), was taken. The _Hosioi_, together with the high-priest or prophetes, held their offices for life, and had the control of all the affairs of the sanctuary and of the sacrifices. That these noble families had an immense influence upon the oracle is manifest from numerous instances, and it is not improbable that they were its very soul, and that it was they who dictated the pretended revelations of the god. Most of the oracular answers which are extant are in hexameters, and in the Ionic dialect. Sometimes, however, Doric forms also were used.--No religious institution in all antiquity obtained such a paramount influence in Greece as the oracle of Delphi. When consulted on a subject of a religious nature, the answer was invariably of a kind calculated not only to protect and preserve religious institutions, but to command new ones to be established, so that it was the preserver and promoter of religion throughout the ancient world. Colonies were seldom or never founded without having obtained the advice and the directions of the Delphic god. The Delphic oracle had at all times a leaning in favour of the Greeks of the Doric race, but the time when it began to lose its influence must be dated from the period when Athens and Sparta entered upon their struggle for the supremacy in Greece; for at this time the partiality for Sparta became so manifest that the Athenians and their party began to lose all reverence and esteem for it, and the oracle became a mere instrument in the hands of a political party. Of the other oracles, the most celebrated were that of Apollo at Didyma, usually called the oracle of the Branchidae, in the territory of Miletus; that of Zeus, at Dodona, where the oracle was given from sounds produced by the wind; that of Zeus Ammon, in an oasis in Libya, not far from the boundaries of Egypt; that of Amphiaraus, between Potniae and Thebes, where the hero was said to have been swallowed up by the earth; and that of Trophonius, at Lebadeia in Boeotia.

ŌRĀRĬUM was a small handkerchief used for wiping the face, and appears to have been employed for much the same purposes as our pocket-handkerchief. It was made of silk or linen. Aurelian introduced the practice of giving _Oraria_ to the Roman people to use _ad favorem_, which appears to mean for the purpose of waving in the public games in token of applause.

ŌRĀTOR. The profession of the Roman orator, who with reference to his undertaking a client’s case is also called patronus, was quite distinct from that of the Jurisconsultus [JURISCONSULTI], and also from that of the Advocatus, at least in the time of Cicero, and even later. An orator who possessed a competent knowledge of the Jus Civile would, however, have an advantage. Some requisites of oratory, such as voice and gesture, could only be acquired by discipline, whereas a competent knowledge of the law of a case (_juris utilitas_) could be got at any time from the jurisconsulti (_periti_) or from books. Oratory was a serious study among the Romans. Cicero tells us by what painful labour he attained to excellence. Roman oratory reached its perfection in the century which preceded the Christian aera. Its decline dates from the establishment of the Imperial power. The old orators learned their art by constant attendance on some eminent orator and by actual experience of business: the orators of Messala’s time were formed in the schools of Rhetoric, and their powers were developed in exercises on fictitious matters. But the immediate causes of the former nourishing condition of eloquence were the political power which oratory conferred on the orator under the Republic, and the party struggles and even the violence that are incident to such a state of society.

ORCHESTRA. [THEATRUM.]

ORCĪNUS SĔNĀTOR. [SENATUS.]

ORDO is applied to any body of men who form a distinct class in the community, either by possessing distinct privileges, pursuing certain trades or professions, or in any other way. Thus the whole body of sacerdotes at Rome is spoken of as an ordo, and separate ecclesiastical corporations are called by the same title. The libertini and scribae also formed separate ordines. The senate and the equites are also spoken of respectively as the ordo senatorius and ordo equestris, but this name is never applied to the plebes. Accordingly we find the expression, _uterque ordo_, used without any further explanation to designate the senatorial and equestrian ordines. The senatorial ordo, as the highest, is sometimes distinguished as _amplissimus ordo_.--The senate in colonies and municipia was called _ordo decurionum_ [COLONIA], and sometimes simply _ordo_.--The term ordo is also applied to a company or troop of soldiers, and is used as equivalent to centuria: thus centurions are sometimes called _qui ordines duxerunt_, and the first centuries in a legion _primi ordines_. Even the centurions of the first centuries are occasionally called _primi ordines_.

ORGIA. [MYSTERIA.]

ORGYIA (ὀργυιά), a Greek measure of length, derived from the human body, was the distance from extremity to extremity of the outstretched arms, whence the name, from ὀρέγω. It was equal to 6 feet or to 4 cubits, and was 1-100th of the stadium.

ŎRĬCHALCUM, a metallic compound, akin to copper and bronze, which was highly prized by the ancients. It probably denotes _brass_, with which the ancients became acquainted by fusing zinc ore (_cadmium_, calamine) with copper, although they appear to have had scarcely any knowledge of zinc as a metal. The word is derived from ὄρος and χαλκός, that is, _mountain-bronze_.

OSCHOPHŎRIA (ὠσχοφόρια, ὀσχοφόρια), an Attic festival, which, according to some writers, was celebrated in honour of Athena and Dionysus, and according to others in honour of Dionysus and Ariadne. It is said to have been instituted by Theseus. It was a vintage festival, and its name is derived from ὦσχος, ὄσχος, or ὄσχη, a branch of vines with grapes.

OSCILLUM, a diminutive through _osculum_ from _os_, meaning “a little face,” was the term applied to faces or heads of Bacchus, which were suspended in the vineyards to be turned in every direction by the wind. Whichsoever way they looked, they were supposed to make the vines in that quarter fruitful. The first cut represents the countenance of Bacchus with a beautiful, mild, and propitious expression. The other cut represents a tree with four oscilla hung upon its branches. A syrinx and a pedum are placed at the root of the tree.

OSTĬĀRĬUM, a tax upon the doors of houses, which appears to have been sometimes levied in the provinces. There was a similar tax, called _columnarium_, imposed upon every pillar that supported a house.

OSTĬUM. [JANUA.]

ŎVĀTĬO, a lesser triumph. The circumstances by which it was distinguished from the more imposing solemnity [TRIUMPHUS] were the following:--The general did not enter the city in a chariot drawn by four horses, but on foot: he was not arrayed in the gorgeous gold-embroidered robe, but in the simple toga praetexta of a magistrate; his brows were encircled with a wreath, not of laurel but of myrtle; he bore no sceptre in his hand; the procession was not heralded by trumpets, headed by the senate, and thronged with victorious troops, but was enlivened by a crowd of flute players, attended chiefly by knights and plebeians, frequently without soldiers: the ceremonies were concluded by the sacrifice, not of a bull but of a sheep. The word _ovatio_ seems clearly to be derived from the kind of victim offered. An ovation was granted when the advantage gained, although considerable, was not sufficient to constitute a legitimate claim to the higher distinction of a triumph, or when the victory had been achieved with little bloodshed; or when hostilities had not been regularly proclaimed; or when the war had not been completely terminated; or when the contest had been carried on against base and unworthy foes; and hence when the servile bands of Athenion and Spartacus were destroyed by Perperna and Crassus, these leaders celebrated ovations only.

ŎVĪLE. [COMITIA.]

PAEAN (παιήων, παιάν, παιών), a hymn or song, which was originally sung in honour of Apollo. It was always of a joyous nature, and its tune and sounds expressed hope and confidence. It was a song of thanksgiving, when danger was passed, and also a hymn to propitiate the god. It was sung at the solemn festivals of Apollo, and especially at the Hyacinthia. The paean was also sung as a battle-song, both before an attack on the enemy and after the battle was finished. It is certain that the paean was in later times sung to the honour of other gods besides Apollo. Thus Xenophon relates that the Greek army in Asia sung a paean to Zeus.

PAEDĂGŌGUS (παιδαγωγός), a tutor. The office of tutor in a Grecian family of rank and opulence was assigned to one of the most trustworthy of the slaves. The sons of his master were committed to his care on attaining their sixth or seventh year, their previous education having been conducted by females. They remained with the tutor until they attained the age of puberty. His duty was rather to guard them from evil, both physical and moral, than to communicate instruction. He went with them to and from the school or the GYMNASIUM; he accompanied them out of doors on all occasions; he was responsible for their personal safety, and for their avoidance of bad company. In the Roman empire the name _paedagogi_ or _paedagogia_ was given to beautiful young slaves, who discharged in the imperial palace the duties of the modern _page_, which is in fact a corruption of the ancient name.

PAEDŎNŎMUS (παιδονόμος), a magistrate at Sparta, who had the general superintendence of the education of the boys.

PAENŬLA, a thick cloak, chiefly used by the Romans in travelling, instead of the toga, as a protection against the cold and rain. It appears to have had no sleeves, and only an opening for the head, as shown in the following figure.

PĀGĀNĀLĬA. [PAGI.]

PĀGĀNI. [PAGI.]

PĀGI were fortified places in the neighbourhood of Rome, to which the country-people might retreat in case of a hostile inroad. Each of the country tribes is said to have been divided by Numa into a certain number of pagi; which name was given to the country adjoining the fortified village, as well as to the village itself. There was a magistrate at the head of each pagus, who kept a register of the names and of the property of all persons in the pagus, raised the taxes, and summoned the people, when necessary, to war. Each pagus had its own sacred rites, and an annual festival called _Paganalia_. The _pagani_, or inhabitants of the pagi, had their regular meetings, at which they passed resolutions. The division of the country-people into pagi continued to the latest times of the Roman empire. The term Pagani is often used in opposition to milites, and is applied to all who were not soldiers, even though they did not live in the country. The Christian writers gave the name of pagani to those persons who adhered to the old Roman religion, because the latter continued to be generally believed by the country-people, after Christianity became the prevailing religion of the inhabitants of the towns.

PĂLAESTRA (παλαίστρα), properly means a place for wrestling (παλαίειν, πάλη), and appears to have originally formed a part of the gymnasium. At Athens, however, there was a considerable number of palaestrae, quite distinct from the gymnasia. It appears most probable that the palaestrae were chiefly appropriated to the exercises of wrestling and of the pancratium, and were principally intended for the athletae, who, it must be recollected, were persons that contended in the public games, and therefore needed special training. The Romans had originally no places corresponding to the Greek gymnasia and palaestrae; and when towards the close of the republic wealthy Romans, in imitation of the Greeks, began to build places for exercise in their villas, they called them indifferently gymnasia and palaestrae.

PĂLĪLIA, a festival celebrated at Rome every year on the 21st of April, in honour of Pales, the tutelary divinity of shepherds. The 21st of April was the day on which, according to the early traditions of Rome, Romulus had commenced the building of the city, so that the festival was at the same time solemnised as the dies natalitius of Rome. It was originally a shepherd-festival, and continued to be so among country people till the latest times, but in the city it lost its original character, and was only regarded as the dies natalitius of Rome. The first part of the solemnities was a public purification by fire and smoke. The things burnt in order to produce this purifying smoke were the blood of the _October-horse_, the ashes of the calves sacrificed at the festival of Ceres, and the shells of beans. The people were also sprinkled with water, they washed their hands in spring-water, and drank milk mixed with must. As regards the _October-horse_ (_equus October_) it must be observed that in early times no bloody sacrifice was allowed to be offered at the palilia, and the blood of the October-horse mentioned above, was the blood which had dropped from the tail of the horse sacrificed in the month of October to Mars in the Campus Martius. This blood was preserved by the vestal virgins in the temple of Vesta for the purpose of being used at the palilia. The sacrifices consisted of cakes, millet, milk, and other kinds of eatables. The shepherds then offered a prayer to Pales. After these solemn rites were over, the cheerful part of the festival began: bonfires were made of heaps of hay and straw, and the festival was concluded by a feast in the open air, at which the people sat or lay upon benches of turf, and drank plentifully.

PALLĬUM, _dim._ PALLIŎLUM, _poet._ PALLA (ἱμάτιον, _dim._ ἱματίδιον; _Ion._ and _poet._ φᾶρος), an outer garment. The English _cloak_, though commonly adopted as the translation of these terms, conveys no accurate conception of the form, material, or use of that which they denoted. The article designated by them was always a rectangular piece of cloth, exactly, or at least nearly square. It was indeed used in the very form in which it was taken from the loom, being made entirely by the weaver, without any aid from the tailor, except to repair the injuries which it sustained by time. Whatever additional richness and beauty it received from the art of the dyer, was bestowed upon it before its materials were woven into cloth or even spun into thread. Most commonly it was used without having undergone any process of this kind. The raw material, such as wool, flax, or cotton, was manufactured in its natural state, and hence pallia were commonly white, although from the same cause brown, drab, and grey were also prevailing colours. As the pallium was the most common outer garment, we find it continually mentioned in conjunction with the tunica, which constituted the indutus. Such phrases as “coat and waistcoat,” or “shoes and stockings,” are not more common with us than the following expressions, which constantly occur in ancient authors: _tunica palliumque_, ἱμάτιον καὶ χιτών, τὸ ἱμάτιον καὶ ὁ χιτωνίσκος, φᾶρος ἠδὲ χιτών, &c. To wear the pallium without the underclothing indicated poverty or severity of manners, as in the case of Socrates. One of the most common modes of wearing the pallium was to fasten it with a brooch over the right shoulder, leaving the right arm at liberty, and to pass the middle of it either under the left arm so as to leave that arm at liberty also, or over the left shoulder so as to cover the left arm. The figure in the preceding cut is attired in the last-mentioned fashion.

PALMA. [PES.]

PALMĬPES, a Roman measure of length, equal to a foot and a palm.

PALMUS, properly the width of the open hand, or, more exactly, of the four fingers, was used by the Romans for two different measures of length, namely, as the translation of the Greek παλαιστή, or δῶρον in old Greek, and σπιθαμή respectively. In the former sense it is equal to 4 digits, or 3 inches, or 1-4th of a foot, or 1-6th of the cubit. The larger palm of 9 inches only occurs in later Roman writers. From this large _palmus_ the modern Roman _palmo_ is derived.

PĂLŪDĀMENTUM, the cloak worn by a Roman general commanding an army, his principal officers and personal attendants, in contradistinction to the _sagum_ of the common soldiers, and the _toga_ or garb of peace. It was the practice for a Roman magistrate, after he had received the _imperium_ from the comitia curiata and offered up his vows in the Capitol, to march out of the city arrayed in the paludamentum (_exire paludatus_), attended by his lictors in similar attire (_paludatis lictoribus_), nor could he again enter the gates until he had formally divested himself of this emblem of military power. The paludamentum was open in front, reached down to the knees or a little lower, and hung loosely over the shoulders, being fastened across the chest by a clasp. The colour of the paludamentum was commonly white or purple, and hence it was marked and remembered that Crassus on the morning of the fatal battle of Carrhae went forth in a dark-coloured mantle. In the cut below, representing the head of a warrior, we see the paludamentum flying back in the charge, and the clasp nearly in front.

PAMBOEŌTĬA (παμβοιώτια), a festive panegyris of all the Boeotians, like the Panathenaea of the Atticans, and the Panionia of the Ionians. The principal object of the meeting was the common worship of Athena Itonia, who had a temple in the neighbourhood of Coronea, near which the panegyris was held.