Chapter XXVII: Part II: The Middle Ages and the Reformation. A.D. 1381-1593 (26)

PĂNĂTHĒNAEA (παναθήναια), the greatest and most splendid of the festivals celebrated in Attica in honour of Athena, in the character of Athena Polias, or the protectress of the city. It was said to have been instituted by Erichthonius, and its original name, down to the time of Theseus, was believed to have been Athenaea; but when Theseus united all the Atticans into one body, this festival, which then became the common festival of all the Attic tribes, was called Panathenaea. There were two kinds of Panathenaea, the greater and the lesser; the former were held every fourth year (πενταετηρίς), the latter every year. The lesser Panathenaea were probably celebrated on the 17th of the month Hecatombaeon; the great Panathenaea in the third year of every Olympiad, and probably commenced on the same day as the lesser Panathenaea. The principal difference between the two festivals was, that the greater one was more solemn, and that on this occasion the peplus of Athena was carried to her temple in a most magnificent procession, which was not held at the lesser Panathenaea. The solemnities, games, and amusements of the Panathenaea were, rich sacrifices of bulls, foot, horse, and chariot races, gymnastic and musical contests, and the lampadephoria; rhapsodists recited the poems of Homer and other epic poets, philosophers disputed, cock-fights were exhibited, and the people indulged in a variety of other amusements and entertainments. The prize in these contests was a vase filled with oil from the ancient and sacred olive tree of Athena on the Acropolis. A great many of such vases, called Panathenaic vases, have in late years been found in Etruria, southern Italy, Sicily, and Greece. They represent on one side the figure of Athena, and on the other the various contests and games in which these vases were given as prizes to the victors. Of the discussions of philosophers and orators at the Panathenaea we still possess two specimens, the λόγος Παναθηναικός of Isocrates, and that of Aristeides. Herodotus is said to have recited his history to the Athenians at the Panathenaea. The management of the games and contests was entrusted to persons called _Athlothetae_ (ἀθλοθέται), whose number was ten, one being taken from every tribe. Their office lasted from one great Panathenaic festival to the other. The chief solemnity of the great Panathenaea was the magnificent procession to the temple of Athena Polias, which probably took place on the last day of the festive season. The whole of the procession is represented in the frieze of the Parthenon, the work of Phidias and his disciples, now deposited in the British Museum. The chief object of the procession was to carry the peplus of the goddess to her temple. This peplus was a crocus-coloured garment for the goddess, and made by maidens, called ἐργαστῖναι. In it were woven Enceladus and the giants, as they were conquered by the goddess. The peplus was not carried to the temple by men, but suspended from the mast of a ship. The procession proceeded from the Ceramicus, near a monument called Leocorium, to the temple of Demeter at Eleusis, and thence along the Pelasgic wall and the temple of Apollo Pythius to the Pnyx, and thence to the Acropolis, where the statue of Minerva Polias was adorned with the peplus. In this procession nearly the whole population of Attica appears to have taken part, either on foot, on horseback, or in chariots, as may be seen in the frieze of the Parthenon. Aged men carried olive branches, and were called _Thallophori_ (θαλλοφόροι); young men attended, at least in earlier times, in armour, and maidens who belonged to the noblest families of Athens carried baskets, containing offerings for the goddess, whence they were called _Canephori_ (κανηφόροι). Respecting the part which aliens took in this procession, and the duties they had to perform, see HYDRIAPHORIA. Men who had deserved well of the republic were rewarded with a gold crown at the great Panathenaea, and the herald had to announce the event during the gymnastic contests.

PANCRĂTĬUM (παγκράτιον), is derived from πάν and κράτος, and accordingly signifies an athletic game, in which all the powers of the fighter were called into action. The pancratium was one of the games or gymnastic contests which were exhibited at all the great festivals of Greece; it consisted of boxing and wrestling (πυγμή and πάλη), and was reckoned to be one of the heavy or hard exercises (ἀγωνίσματα βαρέα or βαρύτερα), on account of the violent exertions it required, and for this reason it was not much practised in the gymnasia. In Homer we find neither the game nor the name of the pancratium mentioned, and as it was not introduced at the Olympic games until Ol. 33, we may presume that the game, though it may have existed long before in a rude state, was not brought to any degree of perfection until a short time before that event. The name of the combatants was _Pancratiastae_ (παγκρατιασταί) or _Pammachi_ (πάμμαχοι). They fought naked, and had their bodies anointed and covered with sand, by which they were enabled to take hold of one another. When the contest began, each of the fighters might commence by boxing or by wrestling, accordingly as he thought he should be more successful in the one than in the other. The victory was not decided until one of the parties was killed, or lifted up a finger, thereby declaring that he was unable to continue the contest either from pain or fatigue.

PĂNĒGỸRIS (πανήγυρις), signifies a meeting or assembly of a whole people for the purpose of worshipping at a common sanctuary. The word is used in three significations:--1. For a meeting of the inhabitants of one particular town and its vicinity; 2. For a meeting of the inhabitants of a whole district, a province, or of the whole body of people belonging to a particular tribe [DELIA; PANIONIA]; and 3. For great national meetings, as the Olympic, Pythian, Isthmian, and Nemean games. Although in all panegyreis which we know, the religious character forms the most prominent feature, other subjects, political discussions and resolutions, as well as a variety of amusements, were not excluded, though they were perhaps more a consequence of the presence of many persons than objects of the meeting. Every panegyris, moreover, was made by tradespeople a source of gain, and it may be presumed that such a meeting was never held without a fair, at which all sorts of things were exhibited for sale.

PĂNIŌNĬA (πανιώνια), the great national panegyris of the Ionians on mount Mycalé, where the national god Poseidon Heliconius had his sanctuary called the Panionium. One of the principal objects of this national meeting was the common worship of Poseidon, to whom splendid sacrifices were offered on the occasion. But religious worship was not the only object for which they assembled at the Panionium; on certain emergencies, especially in case of any danger threatening their country, the Ionians discussed at their meetings political questions, and passed resolutions which were binding upon all.

PĂNOPLĬA (πανοπλία), a panoply or suit of armour. The articles of which it consisted both in the Greek and in the Roman army, are enumerated under ARMA.

PANTŎMĪMUS, the name of a kind of actors peculiar to the Romans, who very nearly resembled in their mode of acting the modern dancers in the ballet. They did not speak on the stage, but merely acted by gestures, movements, and attitudes. All movements, however, were rhythmical like those in the ballet, whence the general term for them is _saltatio_, _saltare_; the whole art was called _musica muta_; and to represent Niobe or Leda was expressed by _saltare Nioben_ and _saltare Ledam_. During the time of the republic the name pantomimus does not occur, though the art itself was known to the Romans at an early period; for the first histriones said to have been introduced from Etruria were in fact nothing but pantomimic dancers [HISTRIO], whence we find that under the empire the names histrio and pantomimus were used as synonymous. The pantomimic art, however, was not carried to any degree of perfection until the time of Augustus. The greatest pantomimes of this time were Bathyllus, a freedman and favourite of Maecenas, and Pylades and Hylas. Mythological love-stories were from the first the favourite subjects of the pantomimes, which were disgraced by the most licentious scenes. In Sicily pantomimic dances were called _ballismi_ (βαλλισμοί), whence perhaps the modern words ball and ballet.

PĂPȲRUS. [LIBER.]

PĂRĂDĪSUS (παράδεισος), the name given by the Greeks to the parks or pleasure-grounds, which surrounded the country residences of the Persian kings and satraps. They were generally stocked with animals for the chase, were full of all kinds of trees, watered by numerous streams, and enclosed with walls.

PĂRĂGRĂPHĒ (παραγραφή). This word does not exactly correspond with any term in our language, but may without much impropriety be called _a plea_. It is an objection raised by the defendant to the admissibility of the plaintiff’s action. The _paragraphé_, like every other answer (ἀντιγραφή) made by the defendant to the plaintiff’s charge, was given in writing; as the word itself implies. If the defendant merely denied the plaintiff’s allegations, a court was at once held for the trial of the cause. If, however, he put in a _paragraphé_, a court was to be held to try the preliminary question, whether the cause could be brought into court or not. Upon this previous trial the defendant was considered the _actor_. If he succeeded, the whole cause was at an end; unless the objection was only to the form of action, or some other such technicality, in which case it might be recommenced in the proper manner. If, however, the plaintiff succeeded, the original action, which in the mean time had been suspended, was proceeded with.

PĂRĂLUS (πάραλος), and SĂLAMĪNĬA (σαλαμινία). The Athenians from very early times kept for public purposes two sacred or state vessels, the one of which was called _Paralus_ and the other _Salaminia_: the crew of the one bore the name of παραλῖται or πάραλοι, and that of the other σαλαμίνιοι. The Salaminia was also called Δηλία or Θεωρίς, because it was used to convey the θεωροὶ to Delos, on which occasion the ship was adorned with garlands by the priest of Apollo. Both these vessels were quick-sailing triremes, and were used for a variety of state purposes: they conveyed theories, despatches, &c. from Athens, carried treasures from subject countries to Athens, fetched state criminals from foreign parts to Athens, and the like. In battles they were frequently used as the ships in which the admirals sailed. These vessels and their crews were always kept in readiness to act, in case of any necessity arising; and the crew, although they could not for the greater part of the year be in actual service, received their regular pay of four oboli per day all the year round. The names of the two ships seem to point to a very early period of the history of Attica, when there was no navigation except between Attica and Salamis, for which the Salaminia was used, and around the coast of Attica, for which purpose the Paralus was destined. In later times the names were retained, although the destination of the ships was principally to serve the purposes of religion, whence they are frequently called the sacred ships.

PĂRĂNOIĀS GRĂPHĒ (παρανοίας γραφή). This proceeding may be compared to our commission of lunacy, or writ _de lunatico inquirendo_. It was a suit at Athens that might be instituted by a son or other relation against one who, by reason of madness or mental imbecility, had become incapable of managing his own affairs. If the complaint was well grounded, the court decreed that the next heir should take possession of the lunatic’s property, and probably also made some provision for his being put in confinement, or under proper care and guardianship. The celebrated tale of Iophon, the son of Sophocles, accusing his father of lunacy, is related in the life of Sophocles in the _Classical Dictionary_.

PĂRĂNŎMŌN GRĂPHĒ (παρανόμων γραφή), an indictment at Athens for propounding an illegal, or rather unconstitutional measure or law. In order to check rash and hasty legislation, the mover of any law or decree, though he succeeded in causing it to be passed, was still amenable to criminal justice, if his enactment was found to be inconsistent with other laws that remained in force, or with the public interest. Any person might institute against him the γραφὴ παρανόμων within a year from the passing of the law. If he was convicted, not only did the law become void, but any punishment might be inflicted on him, at the discretion of the judges before whom he was tried. A person thrice so convicted lost the right of proposing laws in future. The cognizance of the cause belonged to the Thesmothetae.

PĂRAPRESBEIA (παραπρεσβεία), signifies any corrupt conduct, misfeasance, or neglect of duty on the part of an ambassador; for which he was liable to be called to account and prosecuted on his return home. Demosthenes accused Aeschines of _Parapresbeia_ on account of his conduct in the embassy to Philip.

PĂRĂPHERNA. [DOS.]

PĂRĂSANGA (ὁ παρασάγγης), a Persian measure of length, frequently mentioned by the Greek writers. It is still used by the Persians, who call it _ferseng_. According to Herodotus the parasang was equal to 30 Greek stadia. Xenophon must also have calculated it at the same, as he says that 16,050 stadia are equal to 535 parasangs. (16,050 ÷ 535 = 30.) Other ancient writers give a different length for the parasang. Modern English travellers estimate it variously at from 3½ to 4 English miles, which nearly agrees with the calculation of Herodotus.

PĂRĂSĪTI (παράσιτοι) properly denotes persons who dine with others. In the early history of Greece the name had a very different meaning, being given to distinguished persons, who were appointed as assistants to certain priests and to the highest magistrates. Their services appear to have been rewarded with a third of the victims sacrificed to their respective gods. Such officers existed down to a late period of Greek history. Solon in his legislation called the act of giving public meals to certain magistrates and foreign ambassadors in the prytaneum παρασιτεῖν, and it may be that the parasites were connected with this institution. The class of persons whom we call parasites was very numerous in ancient Greece, and appears to have existed from early times. The characteristic features common to all parasites are importunity, love of sensual pleasures, and above all the desire of getting a good dinner without paying for it. During the time of the Roman emperors a parasite seems to have been a constant guest at the tables of the wealthy.

PĂRĔDRI (πάρεδροι). Each of the three superior archons was at liberty to have two assessors (πάρεδροι) chosen by himself, to assist him by advice and otherwise in the performance of his various duties. The assessor, like the magistrate himself, had to undergo a _docimasia_ (δοκιμασία) in the Senate of Five Hundred and before a judicial tribunal, before he could be permitted to enter upon his labours. He was also to render an account (εὐθύνη) at the end of the year. The duties of the archons, magisterial and judicial, were so numerous, that one of the principal objects of having assessors must have been to enable them to get through their business. From the _paredri_ of the archons we must distinguish those who assisted the _euthyni_ in examining and auditing magistrates’ accounts.

PĂRENTĀLĬA. [FUNUS.]

PĂRĬES. [DOMUS.]

PARMA, _dim._ PARMŬLA, a round shield, three feet in diameter, carried by the _velites_ in the Roman army. Though small, compared with the CLIPEUS, it was so strongly made as to be a very effectual protection. This was probably owing to the use of iron in its frame-work. The parma was also worn by the cavalry. We find the term _parma_ often applied to the target [CETRA], which was also a small round shield, and therefore very similar to the parma.

PĂROCHI, certain people paid by the state to supply the Roman magistrates, ambassadors, and other official persons, when travelling, with those necessaries which they could not conveniently carry with them. They existed on all the principal stations on the Roman roads in Italy and the provinces, where persons were accustomed to pass the night. Of the things which the parochi were bound to supply, hay, fire-wood, salt, and a certain number of beds appear to have been the most important.

PĂROPSIS (παροψίς), any food eaten with the ὅψον as the μάζα, a kind of frumenty or soft cake, broth, or any kind of condiment or sauce. It was, likewise, the name of the dish or plate, on which such food was served up, and it is in this latter signification that the Roman writers use the word.

PARRĬCĪDA, PARRĬCĪDĬUM. A parricida signified originally a murderer generally, and is hence defined to be a person who kills another _dolo malo_. It afterwards signified the murderer of a parent, and by an ancient law such a parricide was sewed up in a sack (_culleus_), and thrown into a river. A law of the dictator Sulla contained some provisions against parricide, and probably fixed the same punishment for the parricide, as the Lex Pompeia de Parricidiis, passed in the time of Cn. Pompeius. This law extended the crime of parricide to the killing of a brother, sister, uncle, aunt, and many other relations, and enacted that he who killed a father or mother, grandfather or grandmother, should be punished (_more majorum_) by being whipped till he bled, sewed up in a sack with a dog, cock, viper, and ape, and thrown into the sea. Other parricides were simply put to death.

PASSUS, a measure of length, which consisted of five Roman feet. [PES.] The passus was not the step, or distance from heel to heel, when the feet were at their utmost ordinary extension, but the distance from the point which the heel leaves to that in which it is set down. The _mille passuum_, or thousand paces, was the common name of the Roman mile. [MILLIARE.]

PĂTER FĂMĬLIAE. [FAMILIA; MATRIMONIUM.]

PĂTER PĂTRĀTUS. [FETIALES.]

PĂTĔRA, _dim._ PĂTELLA (φιάλη), a round plate or dish. The paterae of the most common kind were small plates of the common red earthenware, on which an ornamental pattern was drawn, and which were sometimes entirely black. The more valuable paterae were metallic, being chiefly of bronze; but every family, raised above poverty, possessed one of silver, together with a silver salt-cellar. The accompanying cut exhibits a highly ornamented patera, made of bronze. The view of the upper surface is accompanied by a side-view, showing the form and depth of the vessel.

PĂTĬBŬLUM. [FURCA.]

PĂTĬNA (λεκάνη), a basin or bowl of earthenware, rarely of bronze or silver. The patina was of a form intermediate between the _patera_ and the _olla_, not so flat as the former, nor so deep as the latter. The most frequent use of the _patina_ was in cookery.

PATRES. [PATRICII.]

PĂTRĬA POTESTAS. Potestas signifies generally a power or faculty of any kind by which we do anything. “Potestas,” says Paulus, a Roman jurist, “has several significations: when applied to magistrates, it is Imperium; in the case of children, it is the patria potestas; in the case of slaves, it is Dominium.” According to Paulus then, potestas, as applied to magistrates, is equivalent to imperium. Thus we find potestas associated with the adjectives praetoria, consularis. But potestas is applied to magistrates who had not the imperium, as for instance to quaestors and tribuni plebis; and potestas and imperium are often opposed in Cicero. [IMPERIUM.] Thus it seems that this word potestas, like many other Roman terms, had both a wider signification and a narrower one. In its wider signification it might mean all the power that was delegated to any person by the state, whatever might be the extent of that power. In its narrower significations, it was on the one hand equivalent to imperium; and on the other, it expressed the power of those functionaries who had not the imperium. Sometimes it was used to express a magistratus, as a person; and hence in the Italian language the word podestà signifies a magistrate. Potestas is also one of the words by which is expressed the power that one private person has over another, the other two being manus and mancipium. The potestas is either dominica, that is, ownership as exhibited in the relation of master and slave [SERVUS]; or patria as exhibited in the relation of father and child. The mancipium was framed after the analogy of the potestas dominica. [MANCIPIUM.] Patria potestas then signifies the power which a Roman father had over the persons of his children, grandchildren, and other descendants (_filii-familias_, _filiae-familias_), and generally all the rights which he had by virtue of his paternity. The foundation of the patria potestas was a legal marriage, and the birth of a child gave it full effect. [MATRIMONIUM.] It does not seem that the patria potestas was ever viewed among the Romans as absolutely equivalent to the dominica potestas, or as involving ownership of the child; and yet the original notion of the patria came very near to that of the dominica potestas. Originally the father had the power of life and death over his son as a member of his familia; and he could sell him, and so bring him into the mancipii causa. He could also give his daughter in marriage, or give a wife to his son, divorce his child, give him in adoption, and emancipate him at his pleasure.

PATRĬCĬI. This word is evidently a derivative from _pater_, which frequently occurs in the Roman writers as equivalent to senator. _Patricii_ therefore signifies those who belonged to the _patres_, but it is a mistake to suppose that the patricii were only the offspring of the patres in the sense of senators. On the contrary, the patricians were, in the early history of Rome, the whole body of Roman citizens, the _populus Romanus_, and there were no real citizens besides them. The other parts of the Roman population, namely clients and slaves, did not belong to the populus Romanus, and were not burghers or patricians. The senators or patres (in the narrower sense of the word) were a select body of the populus or patricians, which acted as their representatives. The burghers or patricians consisted originally of three distinct tribes, which afterwards became united into the sovereign populus. These tribes had founded settlements upon several of the hills which were subsequently included within the precincts of the city of Rome. Their names were Ramnes, Tities, and Luceres, or Ramnenses, Titienses, and Lucerenses. Each of these tribes consisted of ten curiae, and each curia of ten gentes, and of the same number of decuries, which were established for representative and military purposes. [SENATUS.] The first tribe, or the Ramnes, were a Latin colony on the Palatine hill, said to have been founded by Romulus. As long as it stood alone, it contained only one hundred gentes, and had a senate of one hundred members. When the Tities, or Sabine settlers on the Quirinal and Viminal hills, under king Tatius, became united with the Ramnes, the number of gentes, as well as that of senators, was increased to 200. These two tribes after their union continued probably for a considerable time to be the patricians of Rome, until the third tribe, the Luceres, which chiefly consisted of Etruscans, who had settled on the Caelian hill, also became united with the other two as a third tribe. The amalgamation of these three tribes did not take place at once: the union between Latins and Sabines is ascribed to the reign of Romulus, though it does not appear to have been quite perfect, since the Latins on some occasions claimed a superiority over the Sabines. The Luceres existed for a long time as a separate tribe without enjoying the same rights as the two other tribes, until Tarquinius Priscus, himself an Etruscan, caused them to be placed on a footing of equality with the others. For this reason he is said to have increased the number of senators to 300. The Luceres, however, are, notwithstanding this equalisation, sometimes distinguished from the other tribes by the name _patres_ or _patricii minorum gentium_. During the time of the republic, distinguished strangers and wealthy plebeians were occasionally made Roman patricians; for instance, Appius Claudius and his gens, and Domitius Ahenobarbus. When the plebeians became a distinct class of citizens [PLEBES], the patricians, of course, ceased to be the only class of citizens, but they still retained the exclusive possession of all the power in the state. All civil and religious offices were in their possession, and they continued as before to be the populus, the nation now consisting of the populus and the plebes. In their relation to the plebeians or the commonalty, the patricians were a real aristocracy of birth. A person born of a patrician family was and remained a patrician, whether he was rich or poor, whether he was a member of the senate, or an eques, or held any of the great offices of the state, or not: there was no power that could make a patrician a plebeian. As regards the census, he might indeed not belong to the wealthy classes, but his rank remained the same. The only way in which a patrician might become a plebeian was when of his own accord he left his gens and curia, gave up the sacra, &c. A plebeian, on the other hand, or even a stranger, might be made a patrician by a lex curiata. But this appears to have been done very seldom; and the consequence was, that in the course of a few centuries the number of patrician families became so rapidly diminished, that towards the close of the republic there were not more than fifty such families. Although the patricians throughout this whole period had the character of an aristocracy of birth, yet their political rights were not the same at all times. During the first centuries of the republic there was an almost uninterrupted struggle between patricians and plebeians, in which the former exerted every means to retain their exclusive rights, but which ended in the establishment of the political equality of the two orders. [PLEBES.] Only a few insignificant priestly offices, and the performance of certain ancient religious rites and ceremonies, remained the exclusive privilege of the patricians; of which they were the prouder, as in former days their religious power and significance were the basis of their political superiority. At the time when the struggle between patricians and plebeians ceased, a new kind of aristocracy began to arise at Rome, which was partly based upon wealth, and partly upon the great offices of the republic, and the term nobiles was given to all persons whose ancestors had held any of the curule offices. (Compare NOBILES.) This aristocracy of nobiles threw the old patricians as a body still more into the shade, though both classes of aristocrats united as far as was possible to monopolise all the great offices of the state. In their dress and appearance the patricians were scarcely distinguished from the rest of the citizens, unless they were senators, curule magistrates, or equites, in which case they wore like others the ensigns peculiar to these classes. The only thing by which they seem to have been distinguished in their appearance from other citizens was a peculiar kind of shoe, which covered the whole foot and part of the leg, though it was not as high as the shoes of senators and curule magistrates. These shoes were fastened with four strings (_corrigiae_ or _lora patricia_) and adorned with a lunula on the top.

PĂTRĪMI ET MĀTRĪMI were children born of parents, who had been married by the religious ceremony called confarreatio: they are almost always mentioned in connection with religious rites and ceremonies.

PĂTRŎNŎMI (πατρονόμοι), magistrates at Sparta, who exercised, as it were, a paternal power over the whole state. They did not exist till a late period, and they succeeded to the powers which the ephori formerly possessed.

PĂTRŌNUS. The act of manumission created a new relation between the manumissor and the slave, which was analogous to that between father and son. The manumissor became with respect to the manumitted person his patronus, and the manumitted person became the libertus of the manumissor. The word patronus (from pater) indicates the nature of the relation. If the manumissor was a woman, she became patrona. The libertus adopted the gentile name of the manumissor. Cicero’s freedman Tiro was called M. Tullius Tiro. The libertus owed respect and gratitude to his patron, and in ancient times the patron might punish him in a summary way for neglecting those duties. This obligation extended to the children of the libertus, and the duty was due to the children of the patron. It was the duty of the patron to support his freedman in case of necessity, and if he did not, he lost his patronal rights; the consequence was the same if he brought a capital charge against him. The most important of the patronal rights related to the property of liberti, as in certain cases the patronus had a right to the whole or a part of the property of a libertus.

PAUPĔRĬES, the legal term for mischief done by an animal (_quadrupes_) contrary to the nature of the animal, as if a man’s ox gored another man. In such cases the law of the Twelve Tables gave the injured person an action against the owner of the animal for the amount of the damage sustained. The owner was bound either to pay the full amount of damages or to give up the animal to the injured person (_noxae dare_).

PĂVĪMENTUM. [DOMUS, p. 144, _b_.]

PECTEN (κτείς), a comb. The Greeks and Romans used combs made of box-wood. The Egyptians had ivory combs, which also came into use by degrees among the Romans. The wooden combs, found in Egyptian tombs, are toothed on one side only; but the Greeks used them with teeth on both sides. The principal use of the comb was for dressing the hair, in doing which the Greeks of both sexes were remarkably careful and diligent. To go with uncombed hair was a sign of affliction.

PĔCŬLĀTUS, is properly the misappropriation or theft of public property. The person guilty of this offence was _peculator_. The origin of the word appears to be _pecus_, a term which originally denoted that kind of moveable property which was the chief sign of wealth. Originally trials for _peculatus_ were before the populus or the senate. In the time of Cicero matters of _peculatus_ had become one of the quaestiones perpetuae.

PĔCŪLĬUM. [SERVUS.]

PĔCŪNĬA. [AES; ARGENTUM; AURUM.]

PĔDĀRĬI. [SENATUS.]

PĔDĬSĔQUI, a class of slaves, whose duty was to follow their master when he went out of his house. There was a similar class of female slaves, called _Pedisequae_.

PĔDUM (κορώνη), a shepherd’s crook. On account of its connection with pastoral life, the crook is often seen in works of ancient art, in the hands of Pan, Satyrs, Fauns, and shepherds. It was also the usual attribute of Thalia, as the muse of pastoral poetry.

PEGMA (πῆγμα), a pageant, _i.e._ an edifice of wood, consisting of two or more stages (_tabulata_), which were raised or depressed at pleasure by means of balance weights. These great machines were used in the Roman amphitheatres, the gladiators who fought upon them being called _pegmares_. They were supported upon wheels so as to be drawn into the circus, glittering with silver and a profusion of wealth. When Vespasian and Titus celebrated their triumph over the Jews, the procession included pageants of extraordinary magnitude and splendour, consisting of three or four stages above one another, hung with rich tapestry, and inlaid with ivory and gold. By the aid of various contrivances they represented battles and their numerous incidents, and the attack and defence of the cities of Judaea. The pegma was also used in sacrifices. A bull having been slain in one of the stages, the high priest placed himself below in a cavern, so as to receive the blood upon his person and his garments, and in this state he was produced by the flamines before the worshippers.

PĔLĂTAE (πελάται), were free labourers working for hire, like the _thetes_, in contra-distinction to the helots and penestae, who were bondsmen or serfs. In the later Greek writers, such as Dionysius of Halicarnassus, and Plutarch, the word is used for the Latin cliens, though the relations expressed by the two terms are by no means similar.

PELTA (πέλτη), a small shield. Iphicrates, observing that the ancient CLIPEUS was cumbrous and inconvenient, introduced among the Greeks a much smaller and lighter shield, from which those who bore it took the name of _peltastae_. It consisted principally of a frame of wood or wicker-work, covered with skin or leather.

PĔNESTAE (πενέσται), a class of serfs in Thessaly, who stood in nearly the same relation to their Thessalian lords as the helots of Laconia did to the Dorian Spartans, although their condition seems to have been on the whole superior. They were the descendants of the old Pelasgic or Aeolian inhabitants of Thessaly Proper. They occupied an intermediate position between freemen and purchased slaves, and they cultivated the land for their masters, paying by way of rent a portion of the produce of it. The Penestae sometimes accompanied their masters to battle, and fought on horseback as their vassals: a circumstance which need not excite surprise, as Thessaly was so famous for cavalry. There were Penestae among the Macedonians also.

PĔNĔTRĀLE. [TEMPLUM.]

PĒNĬCILLUS. [PICTURA, p. 295 _a_.]

PENTĂCOSĬŎMĔDIMNI. [CENSUS.]

PENTATHLON (πένταθλον, _quinquertium_), was next to the pancratium the most beautiful of all athletic performances. The persons engaged in it were called _Pentathli_ (πένταθλοι). The pentathlon consisted of five distinct kinds of games, viz. leaping (ἅλμα), the foot-race (δρόμος), the throwing of the discus (δίσκος), the throwing of the spear (σίγυννος or ἀκόντιον), and wrestling (πάλη), which were all performed in one day and in a certain order, one after the other, by the same athletae. The pentathlon was introduced in the Olympic games in Ol. 18.

PENTĒCOSTĒ (πεντηκοστή), a duty of two per cent, levied upon all exports and imports at Athens. The money was collected by persons called πεντηκοστολόγοι. The merchant who paid the duty was said πεντηκοντεύεσθαι. All the customs appear to have been let to farm, and probably from year to year. They were let to the highest bidders by the ten _Poletae_, acting under the authority of the senate. The farmers were called τελῶναι, and were said ὠνεῖσθαι τὴν πεντηκοστήν.

PEPLUM or PEPLUS (πέπλος), an outer garment or shawl, strictly worn by females, and thus corresponding to the himation or pallium, the outer garment worn by men. Like all other pieces of cloth used for the AMICTUS, it was often fastened by means of a brooch. It was, however, frequently worn without a brooch. The shawl was also often worn so as to cover the head while it enveloped the body, and more especially on occasion of a funeral or of a marriage, when a very splendid shawl (παστός) was worn by the bride. The following woodcut may be supposed to represent the moment when the bride, so veiled, is delivered to her husband at the door of the nuptial chamber. He wears the PALLIUM only; she has a long shift beneath her shawl, and is supported by the pronuba. Of all the productions of the loom, pepli were those on which the greatest skill and labour were bestowed. So various and tasteful were the subjects which they represented, that poets delighted to describe them. The art of weaving them was entirely oriental; and those of the most splendid dyes and curious workmanship were imported from Tyre and Sidon. They often constituted a very important part of the treasures of a temple, having been presented to the divinity by suppliants and devotees.

PĒRA (πήρα), a wallet, made of leather, worn suspended at the side by rustics and by travellers to carry their provisions, and adopted in imitation of them by the Cynic philosophers.

PERDŬELLĬO was in the ancient times of the republic nearly the same as the _Majestas_ of the later times. [MAJESTAS.] _Perduellis_ originally signified _hostis_, and thus the offence was equivalent to making war on the Roman state. Offenders were tried by two judges called _Perduellionis Duumviri_. In the time of the kings the duumviri perduellionis and the quaestores parricidii appear to have been the same persons; but after the establishment of the republic, the offices were distinct, for the quaestores were appointed regularly every year, whereas the duumviri were appointed very rarely, as had been the case during the kingly period. Livy represents the duumviri perduellionis as being appointed by the kings, but they were really proposed by the king and appointed by the populus. During the early part of the republic they were appointed by the comitia curiata, and afterwards by the comitia centuriata, on the proposal of the consuls. In the case of Rabirius (B.C. 63), however, this custom was violated, as the duumviri were appointed by the praetor instead of by the comitia centuriata. The punishment for those who were found guilty of perduellio was death; they were either hanged on the _arbor infelix_, or thrown from the Tarpeian rock. But when the duumviri found a person guilty, he might appeal to the people (in early times the populus, afterwards the comitia centuriata), as was done in the first case which is on record, that of Horatius, and in the last, which is that of Rabirius, whom Cicero defended before the people in the oration still extant.

PĔRĔGRĪNUS, a stranger or foreigner. In ancient times the word _peregrinus_ was used as synonymous with _hostis_; but in the times of which we have historical records, a peregrinus was any person who was not a Roman citizen. In B.C. 247, a second praetor (_praetor peregrinus_) was appointed for the purpose of administering justice in matters between Romans and peregrini, and in matters between such peregrini as had taken up their abode at Rome. [PRAETOR.] The number of peregrini who lived in the city of Rome appears to have had an injurious influence upon the poorer classes of Roman citizens, whence on some occasions they were driven out of the city. The first example of this kind was set in B.C. 127, by the tribune M. Junius Pennus. They were expelled a second time by the tribune C. Papius, in B.C. 66. During the last period of the republic and the first centuries of the empire, all the free inhabitants of the Roman world were, in regard to their political rights, either Roman citizens, or Latins, or peregrini, and the latter had, as before, neither commercium nor connubium with the Romans. They were either free provincials, or citizens who had forfeited their civitas, and were degraded to the rank of peregrini, or a certain class of freedmen, called peregrini dediticii.

PĔRĬOECI (περίοικοι). This word properly denotes the inhabitants of a district lying around some particular locality, but is generally used to describe a dependent population, living without the walls or in the country provinces of a dominant city, and although personally free, deprived of the enjoyment of citizenship, and the political rights conferred by it. A political condition such as that of the _perioeci_ of Greece, and like the vassalage of the Germanic nations, could hardly have originated in anything else than foreign conquest, and the _perioeci_ of Laconia furnish a striking illustration of this. Their origin dates from the Dorian conquest of the Peloponnesus, when the old inhabitants of the country, the Achaeans, submitted to their conquerors on certain conditions, by which they were left in possession of their private rights of citizenship. They suffered indeed a partial deprivation of their lands, and were obliged to submit to a king of foreign race, but still they remained equal in law to their conquerors, and were eligible to all offices of state except the sovereignty. But this state of things did not last long: in the next generation after the conquest the relation between the two parties was changed. The Achaeans were reduced from citizens to vassals; they were made tributary to Sparta; their lands were subjected to a tax; and they lost their rights of citizenship, the right of voting in the general assembly, and their eligibility to important offices in the state, such as that of a senator, &c. It does not, however, appear that the _perioeci_ were generally an oppressed people, though kept in a state of political inferiority to their conquerors. On the contrary, the most distinguished among them were admitted to offices of trust, and they sometimes served as heavy-armed soldiers; as, for instance, at the battle of Plataea. The Norman conquest of England presents a striking parallel to the Dorian conquest of Laconia, both in its achievement and consequences. The Saxons, like the old Achaeans, were deprived of their lands, excluded from all offices of trust and dignity, and reduced, though personally free, to a state of political slavery. The Normans, on the contrary, of whatever rank in their own country, were all nobles and warriors, compared with the conquered Saxons, and for a long time enjoyed exclusively the civil and ecclesiastical administration of the land.

PĔRISCĔLIS (περισκελίς), an anklet or bangle, worn by the Orientals, the Greeks, and the Roman ladies also. It decorated the leg in the same manner as the bracelet adorns the wrist and the necklace the throat. The word, however, is sometimes used in the same sense as the Latin _feminalia_, that is, drawers reaching from the navel to the knees.

PĔRISTRŌMA, a coverlet large enough to hang round the sides of the bed or couch.

PĔRISTȲLĬUM. [DOMUS.]

PĒRO (ἀρβύλη), a low boot of untanned hide worn by ploughmen (_peronatus arator_), shepherds, and others employed in rural occupations. The term ἀρβύλη is applied to an appendage to the Greek chariot. It seems to have been a shoe fastened to the bottom of the chariot, into which the driver inserted his foot, to assist him in driving, and to prevent him from being thrown out.

PERSŌNA (_larva_, πρόσωπον or προσωπεῖον), a mask. Masks were worn by Greek and Roman actors in nearly all dramatic representations. This custom arose undoubtedly from the practice of smearing the face with certain juices and colours, and of appearing in disguise, at the festivals of Dionysus. [DIONYSIA.] Now, as the Greek drama arose out of these festivals, it is highly probable that some mode of disguising the face was as old as the drama itself. Choerilus of Samos, however, (about B.C. 500) is said to have been the first who introduced regular masks. Other writers attribute the invention of masks to Thespis or Aeschylus, though the latter had probably only the merit of perfecting and completing the whole theatrical apparatus and costume. Some masks covered, like the masks of modern times, only the face, but they appear more generally to have covered the whole head down to the shoulders, for we always find the hair belonging to a mask described as being a part of it; and this must have been the case in tragedy more especially, as it was necessary to make the head correspond to the stature of an actor, which was heightened by the cothurnus.

PES (ποῦς), a foot, the standard measure of length among the Greeks and Romans, as well as among nearly all other nations, both ancient and modern. The Romans applied the uncial division [AS] to the foot, which thus contained 12 _unciae_, whence our _inches_; and many of the words used to express certain numbers of unciae are applied to the parts of the foot. It was also divided into 16 _digiti_ (finger-breadths): this mode of division was used especially by architects and land-surveyors, and is found on all the foot-measures that have come down to us. From the analogy of the as, we have also _dupondium_ for 2 feet, and _pes sestertius_ for 2½ feet. The probable value of the Roman foot is 11.6496 inches English. (See Tables at the end.)

PESSI. [LATRUNCULI.]

PESSŬLUS. [JANUA.]

PĔTĂLISMUS. [EXSILIUM.]

PĔTĂSUS. [PILEUS.]

PĔTĪTOR. [ACTOR.]

PĔTAURISTAE. [PETAURUM.]

PĔTAURUM (πέταυρον, πέτευρον), used in the Roman games, seems to have been a board moving up and down, with a person at each end, and supported in the middle, something like our see-saw; only it appears to have been much longer, and consequently went to a greater height than is common amongst us. The persons who took part in this game, were called _Petauristae_ or _Petauristarii_.

PĔTORRĬTUM, a four-wheeled carriage, which, like the ESSEDUM, was adopted by the Romans in imitation of the Gauls. It differed from the HARMAMAXA in being uncovered. Its name is compounded of _petor_, four, and _rit_, a wheel.

PHĂLANX. [EXERCITUS.]

PHĂLĂRĬCA. [HASTA.]

PHĂLĔRAE (φάλαρον), a boss, disc, or crescent of metal, in many cases of gold, and beautifully wrought so as to be highly prized. They were usually worn in pairs; and we most commonly read of them as ornaments attached to the harness of horses, especially about the head, and often worn as pendants (_pensilia_), so as to produce a terrific effect when shaken by the rapid motions of the horse. These ornaments were often bestowed upon horsemen by the Roman generals, in the same manner as the ARMILLA, the TORQUES, the hasta pura [HASTA], and the crown of gold [CORONA], in order to make a public and permanent acknowledgment of bravery and merit.

PHĂRETRA (φαρέτρα), a quiver, was principally made of hide or leather, and was adorned with gold, painting, and braiding. It had a lid (πῶμα), and was suspended from the right shoulder by a belt passing over the breast and behind the back. Its most common position was on the left hip, and is so seen in the annexed figures, the right-hand one representing an Amazon, and the left-hand an Asiatic archer.

PHARMĂCŌN GRĂPHĒ (φαρμάκων or φαρμακείας γραφή), an indictment at Athens against one who caused the death of another by poison, whether given with intent to kill or to obtain undue influence. It was tried by the court of Areiopagus.

PHĂROS or PHĂRUS (φάρος), a light-house. The most celebrated light-house of antiquity was that situated at the entrance to the port of Alexandria, on an island which bore the name of Pharos. It contained many stories, and the upper stories had windows looking seawards, and torches or fires were kept burning in them by night in order to guide vessels into the harbour. The name of Pharos was given to other light-houses, in allusion to that at Alexandria, which was the model for their construction.

PHĂSĒLUS (φάσηλος), a vessel rather long and narrow, apparently so called from its resemblance to the shape of a phaselus or kidney-bean. It was chiefly used by the Egyptians, and was of various sizes, from a mere boat to a vessel adapted for long voyages. The phaselus was built for speed, to which more attention seems to have been paid than to its strength: whence the epithet _fragilis_ is given to it by Horace. These vessels were sometimes made of clay, to which the epithet of Horace may perhaps also refer.

PHASIS (φάσις, from φαίνω), one of the various methods by which public offenders at Athens might be prosecuted; but the word is often used to denote any kind of information; and we do not know in what respects the _Phasis_ was distinguished from other methods of prosecution. The word _sycophantes_ (συκοφάντης) is derived from the practice of laying information against those who exported figs. [SYCOPHANTES.]

PHORMINX. [LYRA.]

PHRATRĬA. [TRIBUS.]

PHỸLARCHI (φύλαρχοι) were at Athens after the age of Cleisthenes ten officers, one for each of the tribes, and were specially charged with the command and superintendence of the cavalry. There can be but little doubt that each of the phylarchs commanded the cavalry of his own tribe, and they were themselves collectively and individually under the control of the two hipparchs, just as the taxiarchs were subject to the two strategi. Herodotus informs us that when Cleisthenes increased the number of the tribes from four to ten, he also made ten phylarchs instead of four. It has been thought, however, that the historian should have said ten phylarchs in the place of the old phylobasileis, who were four in number, one for each of the old tribes.

PHỸLŎBĂSĬLEIS (φυλοβασιλεῖς) were four in number, representing each one of the four ancient Athenian tribes, and probably elected (but not for life) from and by them. They were nominated from the Eupatridae, and during the continuance of royalty at Athens these “kings of the tribes” were the constant assessors of the sovereign, and rather as his colleagues than counsellors. Though they were originally connected with the four ancient tribes, still they were not abolished by Cleisthenes when he increased the number of tribes, probably because their duties were mainly of a religious character. They appear to have existed even after his time, and acted as judges, but in unimportant or merely formal matters.