Chapter XXXIII: Part II: The Middle Ages and the Reformation. A.D. 1381-1593 (32)

STĂDĬUM (ὁ στάδιος and τὸ στάδιον), a Greek measure of length, and the chief one used for itinerary distances. It was equal to 600 Greek or 625 Roman feet, or to 125 Roman paces; and the Roman mile contained 8 stadia. Hence the stadium contained 606 feet 9 inches English. This standard prevailed throughout Greece, under the name of the Olympic stadium, so called because it was the exact length of the stadium or foot-race course at Olympia, measured between the pillars at the two extremities of the course. The first use of the measure seems to be contemporaneous with the formation of the stadium at Olympia when the Olympic games were revived by Iphitus (B.C. 884 or 828). This distance doubled formed the δίαυλος, the ἱππικον was 4 stadia, and the δόλιχος is differently stated at 6, 7, 8, 12, 20, and 24 stadia. A day’s journey by land was reckoned at 200 or 180 stadia, or for an army 150 stadia. The stadium at Olympia was used not only for the foot-race, but also for the other contests which were added to the games from time to time [OLYMPIA], except the horse-races, for which a place was set apart, of a similar form with the stadium, but larger; this was called the Hippodrome (ἱππόδρομος). The name stadium was also given to all other places throughout Greece wherever games were celebrated. The stadium was an oblong area terminated at one end by a straight line, at the other by a semicircle having the breadth of the stadium for its base. Round this area were ranges of seats rising above one another in steps.

STĀTĒR (στατῆρ), which means simply _a standard_ (in this case both of weight and more particularly of money), was the name of the principal gold coin of Greece, which was also called _Chrysus_ (χρυσοῦς). The stater is said to have been first coined in Lydia by Croesus, and probably did not differ materially from the stater which was afterwards current in Greece, and which was equal _in weight_ to _two_ drachmae, and _in value_ to _twenty_. The Macedonian stater, which was the one most in use after the time of Philip and his son Alexander the Great, was of the value of about 1_l._ 3_s._ 6_d._ In calculating the value of the stater in our money the ratio of gold to silver must not be overlooked. Thus the stater of Alexander, which we have valued, according to the present worth of gold, at 1_l._ 3_s._ 6_d._, passed for twenty drachmae, which, according to the present value of silver, were worth only 16_s._ 3_d._ But the former is the true worth of the stater, the difference arising from the greater value of silver in ancient times than now.

STĂTĬŌNES. [CASTRA.]

STĂTOR, a public servant, who attended on the Roman magistrates in the provinces. The Statores seem to have derived their name from standing by the side of the magistrate, and thus being at hand to execute all his commands; they appear to have been chiefly employed in carrying letters and messages.

STĀTŬĀRĬA ARS is in its proper sense the art of making statues or busts, whether they consist of stone or metal or other materials, and includes the art of making the various kinds of reliefs (alto, basso, and mezzo relievo). These arts in their infant state existed among the Greeks from time immemorial. There is no material applicable to statuary which was not used by the Greeks. As _soft clay_ is capable of being shaped without difficulty into any form, and is easily dried, either by being exposed to the sun or by being baked, we may consider this substance to have been the earliest material of which figures were made. The name plastic art (ἡ πλαστική), by which the ancients sometimes designate the art of statuary, properly signifies to form or shape a thing of clay. The second material was _wood_, and figures made of wood were called ξόανα, from ξέω, “polish” or “carve.” It was chiefly used for making images of the gods, and probably more on account of the facility of working in it, than for any other reason. _Stone_ was little used in statuary during the early ages of Greece, though it was not altogether unknown, as we may infer from the relief on the Lion-gate of Mycenae. In Italy, where the soft peperino afforded an easy material for working, stone appears to have been used at an earlier period and more commonly than in Greece. But in the historical times the Greeks used all the principal varieties of marble for their statues. Different kinds of marble and of different colours were sometimes used in one and the same statue, in which case the work is called Polylithic statuary. _Bronze_ (χάλκος, _aes_), _silver_, and _gold_ were used profusely in the state of society described in the Homeric poems. At that period, however, and long after, the works executed in metal were made by means of the hammer, and the different pieces were joined together by pins, rivets, cramps, or other mechanical fastenings, and, as the art advanced, by a kind of glue, cement, or solder. Iron came into use much later, and the art of casting both bronze and iron is ascribed to Rhoecus and to Theodoras of Samos. _Ivory_ was employed at a later period than any of the before-mentioned materials, and then was highly valued both for its beauty and rarity. In its application to statuary, ivory was generally combined with gold, and was used for the parts representing the flesh. The history of ancient art, and of statuary in particular, may be divided into five periods.

I. _First Period, from the earliest times till about 580_ B.C.--Three kinds of artists may be distinguished in the mythical period. The first consists of gods and daemons; such as Athena, Hephaestus, the Phrygian or Dardanian Dactyli, and the Cabiri. The second contains whole tribes of men distinguished from others by the mysterious possession of superior skill in the practice of the arts, such as the Telchines and the Cyclopes. The third consists of individuals who are indeed described as human beings, but yet are nothing more than personifications of particular branches of art, or the representatives of families of artists. Of the latter the most celebrated is _Daedalus_, whose name indicates nothing but a smith, or an artist in general, and who is himself the mythical ancestor of a numerous family of artists (_Daedalids_), which can be traced from the time of Homer to that of Plato, for even Socrates is said to have been a descendant of this family. _Smilis_ (from σμίλη, a carving-knife) exercised his art in Samos, Aegina, and other places, and some remarkable works were attributed to him. _Endoeus_ of Athens is called a disciple of Daedalus. According to the popular traditions of Greece, there was no period in which the gods were not represented in some form or other, and there is no doubt that for a long time there existed no other statues in Greece than those of the gods. The earliest representations of the gods, however, were only symbolic. The presence of a god was indicated by the simplest and most shapeless symbols, such as unhewn blocks of stone (λίθοι ἀργοί), and by simple pillars or pieces of wood. The general name for a representation of a god not consisting of such a rude symbol was ἄγαλμα. In the Homeric poems there are sufficient traces of the existence of statues of the gods; but they probably did not display any artistic beauty. The only work of art which has come down to us from the heroic age is the relief above the ancient gate of Mycenae, representing two lions standing on their hind legs, with a sort of pillar between them (woodcut under MURUS). The time which elapsed between the composition of the Homeric poems and the beginning of the fifth century before our aera may be termed the age of discovery; for nearly all the inventions, upon the application of which the development of the arts is dependent, are assigned to this period. Glaucus of Chios or Samos is said to have invented the art of soldering metal (σιδήρου κόλλησις). The two artists most celebrated for their discoveries were the two brothers Telecles and Theodoras of Samos, about the time of Polycrates. They invented the art of casting figures of metal. During the whole of this period, though marble and bronze began to be extensively applied, yet wood was more generally used for representations of the gods. These statues were painted [PICTURA], and in most cases dressed in the most gorgeous attire. The style in which they are executed is called the _archaic_ or the _hieratic_ style. The figures are stiff and clumsy, the countenances have little or no individuality, the eyes long and small, and the outer angles turned a little upwards; the mouth, which is likewise drawn upwards at the two corners, has a smiling appearance. The hair is carefully worked, but looks stiff and wiry, and hangs generally down in straight lines, which are curled at the ends. The arms hang down the sides of the body, unless the figure carries something in its hands. The drapery is likewise stiff, and the folds are very symmetrical and worked with little regard to nature.

II. _Second Period, from 580 to 480_ B.C.--The number of artists who flourished during this period is truly astonishing. The Ionians of Asia Minor and the islanders of the Aegean, who had previously been in advance of the other Greeks in the exercise of the fine arts, had their last flourishing period from 560 to 528 B.C. Works in metal were produced in high perfection in Samos, in Aegina and Argos, while Chios gained the greatest reputation from its possessing the earliest great school of sculptors in marble, in which Bupalus and Anthermus were the most distinguished about 540 B.C. Their works were scattered over various parts of Greece, and their value may be inferred from the fact that Augustus adorned with them the pediment of the temple of Apollo on the Palatine. Sicyon also possessed a celebrated school of sculptors in marble, and about 580 B.C. Dipoenus and Scyllis, who had come from Crete, were at the head of it, and executed several marble statues of gods. Respecting Magna Graecia and Sicily we know few particulars, though it appears that the arts here went on improving and continued to be in advance of the mother-country. The most celebrated artists in southern Italy were Dameas of Croton, and Pythagoras of Rhegium. In Athens the arts made great progress under the patronage of the Pisistratids. The most celebrated among the Athenian sculptors of this period were Critias and Hegias, or Hegesias, both distinguished for their works in bronze. The former of them made in 477 B.C. the statues of Harmodius and Aristogiton. Argos also distinguished itself, and it is a curious circumstance, that the greatest Attic artists with whom the third period opens, and who brought the Attic art to its culminating point, are disciples of the Argive Ageladas (about 516 B.C.) In the statues of the gods (ἀγάλματα), which were made for temples as objects of worship, the hieratic style was more or less conscientiously retained, and it is therefore not in these statues that we have to seek for proofs of the progress of art. But even in temple-statues wood began to give way to other and better materials. Besides bronze, marble also, and ivory and gold were now applied to statues of the gods, and it was not uncommon to form the body of a statue of wood, and to make its head, arms, and feet of stone (ἀκρόλιθοι), or to cover the whole of such a wooden figure with ivory and gold. From the statues of the gods erected for worship we must distinguish those statues which were dedicated in temples as ἀναθήματα, and which now became customary instead of craters, tripods, &c. In these the artists were not only not bound to any traditional or conventional forms, but were, like the poets, allowed to make free use of mythological subjects, to add, and to omit, or to modify the stories, so as to render them more adapted for their artistic purposes. A third class of statues, which were erected during this period in great numbers, were those of the victors in the national games, and, though more rarely, of other distinguished persons (ἀνδριάντες). Those of the latter kind appear generally to have been portraits (εἰκόνες, _statuae iconicae_). The first iconic statues of Harmodius and Aristogiton were made by Antenor in 509 B.C., and in 477 B.C. new statues of the same persons were made by _Critias_. It was also at the period we are now describing that it became customary to adorn the pediments, friezes, and other parts of temples with reliefs or groups of statues of marble. We still possess two great works of this kind which are sufficient to show their general character during this period. 1. The _Selinuntine Marbles_, or the metopes of two temples on the acropolis of Selinus in Sicily, which were discovered in 1823, and are at present in the Museum of Palermo. 2. The _Aeginetan Marbles_, which were discovered in 1812 in the island of Aegina, and are now at Munich. They consist of eleven statues, which adorned two pediments of a temple of Athena, and represent the goddess leading the Aeacids against Troy, and contain manifest allusions to the war of the Greeks with the Persians.

III. _Third Period, from 480 to 336_ B.C.--During this period Athens was the centre of the fine arts in Greece. Statuary went hand in hand with the other arts and with literature: it became emancipated from its ancient fetters, from the stiffness and conventional forms of former times, and reached its culminating point in the sublime and mighty works of Phidias. His career begins about 452 B.C. The genius of this artist was so great and so generally recognised, that all the great works which were executed in the age of Pericles were placed under his direction, and thus the whole host of artists who were at that time assembled at Athens were engaged in working out his designs and ideas. Of these we have still some remains:--1. Parts of the eighteen sculptured metopes, together with the frieze of the small sides of the cella of the temple of Theseus. Ten of the metopes represent the exploits of Hercules, and the eight others those of Theseus. The figures in the frieze are manifestly gods, but their meaning is uncertain. Casts of these figures are in the British Museum. 2. A considerable number of the metopes of the Parthenon, which are all adorned with reliefs in marble, a great part of the frieze of the cella, some colossal figures, and a number of fragments of the two pediments of this temple. The greater part of these works is now in the British Museum, where they are collected under the name of the Elgin Marbles. Besides the sculptures of these temples, there are also similar ornaments of other temples extant, which show the influence which the school of Phidias exercised in various parts of Greece. Of these the most important are, the Phigalian marbles, which belonged to the temple of Apollo Epicurius, built about 436 B.C., by Ictinus. They were discovered in 1812, and consist of twenty-three plates of marble belonging to the inner frieze of the cella. They are now in the British Museum. The subjects represented in them are fights with Centaurs and Amazons, and one plate shows Apollo and Artemis drawn in a chariot by stags. About the same time that the Attic school rose to its highest perfection under Phidias, the school of Argos was likewise raised to its summit by Polycletus. The art of making bronze statues of athletes was carried by him to the greatest perfection: ideal youthful and manly beauty was the sphere in which he excelled. One of his statues, a youthful Doryphorus, was made with such accurate observation of the proportions of the parts of the body, that it was looked upon by the ancient artists as a canon of rules on this point. Myron of Eleutherae, about 432 B.C., adhered to a closer imitation of nature than Polycletus, and as far as the impression upon the senses was concerned, his works were most pleasing. The cow of Myron in bronze was celebrated in all antiquity. The change which took place after the Peloponnesian war in the public mind at Athens could not fail to show its influence upon the arts also. It was especially Scopas of Paros and Praxiteles of Athens, about one generation after Myron and Polycletus, who gave the reflex of their time in their productions. Their works expressed the softer feelings and an excited state of mind, such as would make a strong impression upon and captivate the senses of the beholders. Both were distinguished as sculptors in marble, and both worked in the same style; the legendary circles to which most of their ideal productions belong are those of Dionysus and Aphrodite, a fact which also shows the character of the age. Cephissodorus and Timarchus were sons of Praxiteles. There were several works of the former at Rome in the time of Pliny; he made his art subservient to passions and sensual desires. Most of the above-mentioned artists, however widely their works differed from those of the school of Phidias, may yet be regarded as having only continued and developed its principles of art in a certain direction; but towards the end of this period Euphranor and Lysippus of Sicyon carried out the principles of the Argive school of Polycletus. Their principal object was to represent the highest possible degree of physical beauty and of athletic and heroic power. The chief characteristic of Lysippus and his school is a close imitation of nature, which even contrived to represent bodily defects in some interesting manner, as in his statues of Alexander.

IV. _Fourth Period, from 336 to 146_ B.C.--During the first fifty years of this period the schools of Praxiteles and Lysippus continued to flourish, especially in works of bronze; but after this time bronze statues were seldom made, until the art was carried on with new vigour at Athens about the end of the period. The school of Lysippus gave rise to that of Rhodes, where his disciple Chares formed the most celebrated among the hundred colossal statues of the sun. It was seventy cubits high, and partly of metal. It stood near the harbour, and was thrown down by an earthquake about 225 B.C. Antiquarians assign to this part of the fourth period several very beautiful works still extant, as the magnificent group of Laocoon and his sons, which was discovered in 1506 near the baths of Titus, and is at present at Rome. This is, next to the Niobe, the most beautiful group among the extant works of ancient art; it was according to Pliny the work of three Rhodian artists: Agesander, Polydorus, and Athenodorus. The celebrated Farnesian bull is likewise the work of two Rhodian artists, Apollonius and Tauriscus. In the various kingdoms which arose out of the conquests of Alexander the arts were more or less cultivated. Not only were the great master-works of former times copied to adorn the new capitals, but new schools of artists sprang up in several of them. At Pergamus the celebrated groups were composed which represented the victories of Attalus and Eumenes over the Gauls. It is believed by some that the so-called dying gladiator at Rome is a statue of a Gaul, which originally belonged to one of these groups. The Borghese gladiator in the Louvre is supposed to be the work of an Ephesian Agasias, and to have originally formed a part of such a battle-scene. About the close of this period, and for more than a century afterwards, the Romans, in the conquest of the countries where the arts had flourished, made it a regular practice to carry away the works of art. The triumphs over Philip, Antiochus, the Aetolians, the Gauls in Asia, Perseus, Pseudo-Philip, and above all the taking of Corinth, and subsequently the victories over Mithridates and Cleopatra, filled the Roman temples and porticoes with the greatest variety of works of art. The sacrilegious plunder of temples and the carrying away of the sacred statues from the public sanctuaries became afterwards a common practice. The manner in which Verres acted in Sicily is but one of many instances of the extent to which these robberies were carried on. The emperors, especially Augustus, Caligula, and Nero, followed these examples, and the immense number of statues which, notwithstanding all this, remained at Rhodes, Delphi, Athens, and Olympia, is truly astonishing.--We can only briefly advert to the history of statuary among the Etruscans and Romans down to the year 146 B.C. The Etruscans were on the whole an industrious and enterprising people. With the works of Grecian art they must have become acquainted at an early time through their intercourse with the Greeks of southern Italy, whose influence upon the art of the Etruscans is evident in numerous cases. The whole range of the fine arts was cultivated by the Etruscans at an early period. Statuary in clay (which here supplied the place of wood, ξόανα, used in Greece) and in bronze appears to have acquired a high degree of perfection. In 267 B.C. no fewer than 2000 bronze statues are said to have existed at Volsinii, and numerous works of Etruscan art are still extant, which show great vigour and life, though they do not possess a very high degree of beauty. Some of their statues are worked in a Greek style; others are of a character peculiar to themselves, and entirely different from works of Grecian art, being stiff and ugly: others again are exaggerated and forced in their movements and attitudes, and resemble the figures which we meet with in the representations of Asiatic nations. The Romans previously to the time of the first Tarquin are said to have had no images of the gods; and for a long time afterwards their statues of gods in clay or wood were made by Etruscan artists. During the early part of the republic the works executed at Rome were altogether of a useful and practical, and not of an ornamental character; and statuary was in consequence little cultivated. But in the course of time the senate and the people, as well as foreign states which desired to show their gratitude to some Roman, began to erect bronze statues to distinguished persons in the Forum and other places.

V. _Fifth Period, from_ B.C. _146 to the fall of the Western Empire._--During this period Rome was the capital of nearly the whole of the ancient world, not through its intellectual superiority, but by its military and political power. But it nevertheless became the centre of art and literature, as the artists resorted thither from all parts of the empire for the purpose of seeking employment in the houses of the great. The mass of the people, however, had as little taste for and were as little concerned about the arts as ever. In the time of Nero, who did much for the arts, we meet with Zenodorus, a founder of metal statues, who was commissioned by the emperor to execute a colossal statue of 110 feet high, representing Nero as the Sun. In the reign of Hadrian the arts seem to begin a new aera. He himself was undoubtedly a real lover of art, and encouraged it not only at Rome, but in Greece and Asia Minor. The great Villa of Hadrian below Tivoli, the ruins of which cover an extent of ten Roman miles in circumference, was richer in works of art than any other place in Italy. Here more works of art have been dug out of the ground than anywhere else within the same compass. Some statues executed at this time are worthy of the highest admiration. Foremost among these stand the statues and busts of Antinous, for whom the emperor entertained a passionate partiality, and who was represented in innumerable works of art. The colossal bust of Antinous in the Louvre is reckoned one of the finest works of ancient art, and is placed by some critics on an equality with the best works that Greece has produced. There are also some very good works in red marble which are referred to this period, as that material is not known to have been used before the age of Hadrian. As the arts had received such encouragement and brought forth such fruits in the reign of Hadrian, the effects remained visible for some time during the reigns of the Antonines. The frieze of a temple, which the senate caused to be erected to Antoninus Pius and Faustina, is adorned with griffins and vessels of very exquisite workmanship. The best among the extant works of this time are the equestrian statue of M. Aurelius of gilt bronze, which stands on the Capitol, and the column of M. Aurelius with reliefs representing scenes of his war against the Marcomanni. After the time of the Antonines the symptoms of decline in the arts became more and more visible. The most numerous works continued to be busts and statues of the emperors, but the best among them are not free from affectation and mannerism. In the time of Caracalla many statues were made, especially of Alexander the Great. Alexander Severus was a great admirer of statues, not from a genuine love of art, but because he delighted in the representations of great and good men. The reliefs on the triumphal arch of Septimius Severus, representing his victories over the Parthians, Arabs, and Adiabenians, have scarcely any artistic merits. Art now declined with great rapidity: busts and statues were more seldom made than before, and are awkward and poor; the hair is frequently indicated by nothing else but holes bored in the stone. The reliefs on the sarcophagi gradually become monotonous and lifeless. The reliefs on the arch of Constantine, which are not taken from that of Trajan, are perfectly rude and worthless, and those on the column of Theodosius were not better. Before concluding, it remains to say a few words on the destruction of ancient works of art. During the latter part of the reign of Constantine many statues of the gods were destroyed, and not long after his time a systematic destruction began, which under Theodosius spread to all parts of the empire. The spirit of destruction, however, was not directed against works of art in general and as such, but only against the pagan idols. The opinion, therefore, which is entertained by some, that the losses we have sustained in works of ancient art, are mainly attributable to the introduction of Christianity, is too sweeping and general. Of the same character is another opinion, according to which the final decay of ancient art was a consequence of the spiritual nature of the new religion. The coincidence of the general introduction of Christianity with the decay of the arts is merely accidental. That the early Christians did not despise the arts as such, is clear from several facts. We know that they erected statues to their martyrs, of which we have a specimen in that of St. Hippolytus in the Vatican library. The numerous works, lastly, which have been found in the Christian catacombs at Rome, might alone be a sufficient proof that the early Christians were not hostile towards the representation of the heroes of their religion in works of art. In fact, Christianity during the middle ages became as much the mother of the arts of modern times, as the religion of Greece was the mother of ancient art. Another very general and yet incorrect notion is, that the northern barbarians after the conquest of Rome intentionally destroyed works of art. This opinion is not supported by any of the contemporary historians, nor is it at all probable. The barbarians were only anxious to carry with them the most precious treasures in order to enrich themselves; a statue must have been an object of indifference to them. What perished, perished naturally by the circumstances and calamities of the times. In times of need bronze statues were melted down and the material used for other purposes; marble statues were frequently broken to pieces and used for building materials. If we consider the history of Rome during the first centuries after the conquest of Italy by the Germans, we have every reason to wonder that so many specimens of ancient art have come down to our times. The greatest destruction, at one time, of ancient works of art is supposed to have occurred at the taking of Constantinople, in the beginning of the thirteenth century. Among the few works saved from this devastation are the celebrated bronze horses which now decorate the exterior of St. Mark’s church at Venice. They have been ascribed, but without sufficient authority, to Lysippus.

STĬLUS or STỸLUS is in all probability the same word with the Greek στύλος, and conveys the general idea of an object tapering like an architectural column. It signifies, (1) An iron instrument, resembling a pencil in size and shape, used for writing upon waxed tablets. At one end it was sharpened to a point for scratching the characters upon the wax, while the other end, being flat and circular, served to render the surface of the tablets smooth again, and so to obliterate what had been written. Thus, _vertere stilum_ means _to erase_, and hence _to correct_. The stylus was also termed _graphium_, and the case in which it was kept _graphiarium_.--(2) A sharp stake or spike placed in pitfalls before an entrenchment, to embarrass the progress of an attacking enemy.

STIPENDĬĀRĬI. The stipendiariae urbes of the Roman provinces were so denominated, as being subject to the payment of a fixed money-tribute, _stipendium_, in contradistinction to the vectigales, who paid a certain portion as a tenth or twentieth of the produce of their lands, their cattle, or customs. The word _stipendium_ was used to signify the tribute paid, as it was originally imposed for and afterwards appropriated to the purpose of furnishing the Roman soldiers with pay. The condition of the urbes stipendiariae is generally thought to have been more honourable than that of the vectigales, but the distinction between the two terms was not always observed. The word stipendiarius is also applied to a person who receives a fixed salary or pay, as a _stipendiarius miles_.

STĪPENDĬUM, a pension or pay, from _stipem_ and _pendo_, because before silver was coined at Rome the copper-money in use was paid by weight and not by tale. According to Livy, the practice of giving pay to the Roman soldiers was not introduced till B.C. 405, on the occasion of the taking of Tarracina or Anxur. It is probable, however, that they received pay before this time, but, since it was not paid regularly, its first institution was referred to this year. In B.C. 403 a certain amount of pay was assigned to the knights also, or EQUITES, p. 156, _b_. This, however, had reference to the citizens who possessed an equestrian fortune, but had no horse (_equus publicus_) assigned to them by the state, for it had always been customary for the knights of the 18 centuries to receive pay out of the common treasury, in the shape of an allowance for the purchase of a horse, and a yearly pension of 2000 asses for its keep. [AES EQUESTRE; AES HORDEARIUM.] In the time of the republic the pay of a legionary soldier amounted to two oboli, or 3⅓ asses; a centurion received double, and an eques or horseman triple. Polybius states that foot soldiers also received in corn every month an allowance (_demensum_) of ⅔ of an Attic medimnus, or about 2 bushels of wheat: the horsemen 7 medimni of barley and 2 of wheat. The infantry of the allies received the same allowance as the Roman: the horsemen 1⅓ medimni of wheat and 5 of barley. But there was this difference, that the allied forces received their allowances as a gratuity; the Roman soldiers, on the contrary, had deducted from their pay the money value of whatever they received in corn, armour, or clothes. There was indeed a law passed by C. Gracchus, which provided that besides their pay the soldiers should receive from the treasury an allowance for clothes; but this law seems either to have been repealed or to have fallen into disuse. The pay was doubled for the legionaries by Julius Caesar before the civil war. He also gave them corn whenever he had the means, without any restrictions. Under Augustus it appears to have been raised to 10 asses a day (three times the original sum). It was still further increased by Domitian. The praetorian cohorts received twice as much as the legionaries.

STŎLA, a female dress worn over the tunic; it came as low as the ankles or feet, and was fastened round the body by a girdle, leaving above the breast broad folds. The tunic did not reach much below the knee, but the essential distinction between the tunic and stola seems to have been that the latter always had an _instita_ or flounce sewed to the bottom and reaching to the instep. Over the stola the palla or pallium was worn [PALLIUM], as we see in the cut annexed. The stola was the characteristic dress of the Roman matrons, as the toga was of the Roman men. Hence the meretrices were not allowed to wear it, but only a dark-coloured toga; and accordingly Horace speaks of the _matrona_ in contradistinction to the _togata_. For the same reason, women who had been divorced from their husbands on account of adultery, were not allowed to wear the stola, but only the toga.

STRĂTĒGUS (στρατηγός), general. This office and title seems to have been more especially peculiar to the democratic states of ancient Greece: we read of them, for instance, at Athens, Tarentum, Syracuse, Argos, and Thurii; and when the tyrants of the Ionian cities in Asia Minor were deposed by Aristagoras, he established strategi in their room, to act as chief magistrates. The strategi at Athens were instituted after the remodelling of the constitution by Clisthenes, to discharge the duties which had in former times been performed either by the king or the archon polemarchus. They were ten in number, one for each of the ten tribes, and chosen by the suffrages (χειροτονία) of the people. Before entering on their duties they were required to submit to a _docimasia_, or examination of their character; and no one was eligible to the office unless he had legitimate children, and was possessed of landed property in Attica. They were, as their name denotes, entrusted with the command on military expeditions, with the superintendence of all warlike preparations, and with the regulation of all matters in any way connected with the war department of the state. They levied and enlisted the soldiers, either personally or with the assistance of the taxiarchs. They were entrusted with the collection and management of the property-taxes (εἰσφοραί) raised for the purposes of war; and also presided over the courts of justice in which any disputes connected with this subject or the trierarchy were decided. They nominated from year to year persons to serve as trierarchs. They had the power of convening extraordinary assemblies of the people in cases of emergency. But their most important trust was the command in war, and it depended upon circumstances to how many of the number it was given. At Marathon all the ten were present, and the chief command came to each of them in turn. The archon polemarchus also was there associated with them, and, according to the ancient custom, his vote in a council of war was equal to that of any of the generals. Usually, however, three only were sent out; one of these (τρίτος αὐτός) was considered as the commander-in-chief, but his colleagues had an equal voice in a council of war. The military chiefs of the Aetolian and Achaean leagues were also called _strategi_. The Achaean _strategi_ had the power of convening a general assembly of the league on extraordinary occasions. Greek writers on Roman affairs give the name of _strategi_ to the praetors.

STRĒNA, a present given on a festive day, and for the sake of good omen. It was chiefly applied to a new year’s gift, to a present made on the calends of January. In accordance with a senatusconsultum, new year’s gifts had to be presented to Augustus in the Capitol, even when he was absent.

STRĬGIL. [BALNEUM.]

STRŎPHĬUM (ταινία, ταινίδιον, ἀπόδεσμος), a girdle or belt worn by women round the breast and over the inner tunic or chemise. It appears to have been usually made of leather.

STUPRUM. [ADULTERIUM.]

SUBSIGNĀNI, privileged soldiers in the time of the empire, who fought under a standard by themselves, and did not form part of the legion. They seem to have been the same as the _vexillarii_.

SUFFRĀGĬA SEX. [EQUITES.]

SUFFRĀGĬUM, a vote. At Athens the voting in the popular assemblies and the courts of justice was either by show of hands (χειροτονία) or by ballot (ψῆφος). Respecting the mode of voting at Rome, see COMITIA, p. 107, and LEGES TABELLARIAE.

SUGGESTUS, means in general any elevated place made of materials heaped up (_sub_ and _gero_), and is specially applied: (1) To the stage or pulpit from which the orators addressed the people in the comitia. [ROSTRA.]--(2) To the elevation from which a general addressed the soldiers.--(3) To the elevated seat from which the emperor beheld the public games, also called _cubiculum_. [CUBICULUM.]

SUOVĔTAURĪLĬA. [SACRIFICIUM, p. 325; LUSTRATIO; and woodcut on p. 343.]

SUPPĂRUM. [NAVIS, p. 267, _b_.]

SUPPLĬCĀTĬO, a solemn thanksgiving or supplication to the gods, decreed by the senate, when all the temples were opened, and the statues of the gods frequently placed in public upon couches (_pulvinaria_), to which the people offered up their thanksgivings and prayers. [LECTISTERNIUM.] A _supplicatio_ was decreed for two different reasons. 1. As a thanksgiving, when a great victory had been gained: it was usually decreed as soon as official intelligence of the victory had been received by a letter from the general in command. The number of days during which it was to last was proportioned to the importance of the victory. Sometimes it was decreed for only one day, but more commonly for three or five days. A supplication of ten days was first decreed in honour of Pompey at the conclusion of the war with Mithridates, and one of fifteen days after the victory over the Belgae by Caesar, an honour which had never been granted to any one before. Subsequently a supplicatio of twenty days was decreed after his conquest of Vercingetorix. A supplicatio was usually regarded as a prelude to a triumph, but it was not always followed by one. This honour was conferred upon Cicero on account of his suppression of the conspiracy of Catiline, which had never been decreed to any one before in a civil capacity (_togatus_).--2. A _supplicatio_, a solemn supplication and humiliation, was also decreed in times of public danger and distress, and on account of prodigies, to avert the anger of the gods.

SȲCŎPHANTĒS (συκοφάντης). At an early period in Attic history a law was made prohibiting the exportation of figs. Whether it was made in a time of dearth, or through the foolish policy of preserving to the natives the most valuable of their productions, we cannot say. It appears, however, that the law continued in force long after the cause of its enactment, or the general belief of its utility, had ceased to exist; and Attic fig-growers exported their fruit in spite of prohibitions and penalties. To inform against a man for so doing was considered harsh and vexatious; as all people are apt to think that obsolete statutes may be infringed with impunity. Hence the term συκοφαντεῖν, which originally signified _to lay an information against another for exporting figs_, came to be applied to all ill-natured, malicious, groundless, and vexatious accusations. _Sycophantes_ in the time of Aristophanes and Demosthenes designated a person of a peculiar class, not capable of being described by any single word in our language, but well understood and appreciated by an Athenian. He had not much in common with our _sycophant_, but was a happy compound of the _common barrator, informer, pettifogger, busybody, rogue, liar, and slanderer_. The Athenian law permitted any citizen (τὸν βουλόμενον) to give information against public offenders, and prosecute them in courts of justice. It was the policy of the legislator to encourage the detection of crime, and a reward (such as half the penalty) was frequently given to the successful accuser. Such a power, with such a temptation, was likely to be abused, unless checked by the force of public opinion, or the vigilance of the judicial tribunals. Unfortunately, the character of the Athenian democracy and the temper of the judges furnished additional incentives to the informer. Eminent statesmen, orators, generals, magistrates, and all persons of wealth and influence were regarded with jealousy by the people. The more causes came into court, the more fees accrued to the judges, and fines and confiscations enriched the public treasury. The prosecutor therefore in public causes, as well as the plaintiff in civil, was looked on with a more favourable eye than the defendant, and the chances of success made the employment a lucrative one. It was not always necessary to go to trial, or even to commence legal proceedings. The timid defendant was glad to compromise the cause, and the conscious delinquent to avert the threat of a prosecution, by paying a sum of money to his opponent. Thriving informers found it not very difficult to procure witnesses, and the profits were divided between them.

SȲLAE (σῦλαι). When a Greek state, or any of its members, had received an injury or insult from some other state or some of its members, and the former was unwilling, or not in a condition, to declare open war, it was not unusual to give a commission, or grant public authority to individuals to make reprisals. This was called σύλας, or σῦλα, διδόναι. This ancient practice may be compared with the modern one of granting letters of marque and reprisal.

SYLLOGEIS (συλλογεῖς), usually called Συλλογεῖς τοῦ δήμου, or the Collectors of the People, were special commissioners at Athens, who made out a list of the property of the oligarchs previously to its confiscation.

SYMBOLAEON, SỸNALLAGMA, SYNTHĒCĒ (συμβόλαιον, συνάλλαγμα, συνθήκη), are all words used to signify a contract, but are distinguishable from one another. Συμβόλαιον is used of contracts and bargains between private persons, and peculiarly of loans of money. Thus, συμβαλεῖν εἰς ἀνδράποδον is, to lend upon the security of a slave. Συνάλλαγμα signifies any matter negotiated or transacted between two or more persons, whether a contract or anything else. Συνθήκη is used of more solemn and important contracts, not only of those made between private individuals, but also of treaties and conventions between kings and states.

SYMPŎSĬUM (συμπόσιον, _comissatio_, _convivium_), a drinking-party. The _symposium_ must be distinguished from the _deipnon_ (δεῖπνον), for though drinking almost always followed a dinner-party, yet the former was regarded as entirely distinct from the latter, was regulated by different customs, and frequently received the addition of many guests, who were not present at the dinner. For the Greeks did not usually drink at their dinner, and it was not till the conclusion of the meal that wine was introduced. Symposia were very frequent at Athens. Their enjoyment was heightened by agreeable conversation, by the introduction of music and dancing, and by games and amusements of various kinds: sometimes, too, philosophical subjects were discussed at them. The symposia of Plato and Xenophon give us a lively idea of such entertainments at Athens. The name itself shows, that the enjoyment of drinking was the main object of the symposia: wine from the juice of the grape (οἴνος ἀμπέλινος) was the only drink partaken of by the Greeks, with the exception of water. The wine was almost invariably mixed with water, and to drink it unmixed (ἄκρατον) was considered a characteristic of barbarians. The mixture was made in a large vessel called the CRATER, from which it was conveyed into the drinking-cups. The guests at a symposium reclined on couches, and were crowned with garlands of flowers. A master of the revels (ἄρχων τῆς πόσεως, συμποσίαρχος, or βασιλεύς) was usually chosen to conduct the symposium, whose commands the whole company had to obey, and who regulated the whole order of the entertainment, proposed the amusements, &c. The same practice prevailed among the Romans, and their symposiarch was called _Magister_, or _Rex Convivii_, or the _Arbiter Bibendi_. The choice was generally determined by the throwing of astragali or tali. The proportion in which the wine and water were mixed was fixed by him, and also how much each of the company was to drink, for it was not usually left to the option of each of the company to drink as much or as little as he pleased. The cups were always carried round from right to left (ἐπὶ δεξιά), and the same order was observed in the conversation, and in everything that took place in the entertainment. The company frequently drank to the health of one another, and each did it especially to the one to whom he handed the same cup. Respecting the games and amusements by which the symposia were enlivened, it is unnecessary to say much here, as most of them are described in separate articles in this work. Enigmas or riddles (αἰνίγματα or γρῖφοι) were among the most usual and favourite modes of diversion. Each of the company proposed one in turn to his right-hand neighbour; if he solved it, he was rewarded with a crown, a garland, a cake, or something of a similar kind, and sometimes with a kiss; if he failed, he had to drink a cup of unmixed wine, or of wine mixed with salt water, at one draught. The cottabos was also another favourite game at symposia, and was played at in various ways. [COTTABUS.] Representations of symposia are very common on ancient vases. Two guests usually reclined on each couch (κλίνη), as is explained on p. 95, but sometimes there were five persons on one couch. A drinking-party among the Romans was sometimes called _convivium_, but the word _comissatio_ more nearly corresponds to the Greek symposium. [COMISSATIO.] The Romans, however, usually drank during their dinner (_coena_), which they frequently prolonged during many hours, in the later times of the republic and under the empire. Their customs connected with drinking differed little from those of the Greeks, and have been incidentally noticed above.

SYNDĬCUS (σύνδικος), _an advocate_, is frequently used as synonymous with the word _synegorus_ (συνήγορος), to denote any one who pleads the cause of another, whether in a court of justice or elsewhere, but was peculiarly applied to those orators who were sent by the state to plead the cause of their countrymen before a foreign tribunal. Aeschines, for example, was appointed to plead before the Amphictyonic council on the subject of the Delian temple; but a certain discovery having been made, not very creditable to his patriotism, the court of Arciopagus took upon themselves to remove him, and appoint Hyperides in his stead. There were other _syndici_, who acted rather as magistrates or judges than as advocates, though they probably derived their name from the circumstance of their being appointed to protect the interests of the state. These were extraordinary functionaries, created from time to time to exercise a jurisdiction in disputes concerning confiscated property.

SỸNĔDRI (σύνεδροι), a name given to the members of any council, or any body of men who sat together to consult or deliberate. The congress of Greeks at Salamis is called συνέδριον. Frequent reference is made to the general assembly of the Greeks, τὸ κοινὸν τῶν Ἑλλήνων συνέδριον, at Corinth, Thermopylae, or elsewhere. The congress of the states belonging to the new Athenian alliance, formed after B.C. 377, was called συνέδριον, and the deputies σύνεδροι, and the sums furnished by the allies συντάξεις, in order to avoid the old and hateful name of φόρος or tribute. The name of συνέδριον was given at Athens to any magisterial or official body, as to the court of Areiopagus, or to the place where they transacted business, their board or council-room.

SỸNĒGŎRUS (συνήγορος). In causes of importance, wherein the state was materially interested, more especially in those which were brought before the court upon an εἰσαγγελία, it was usual to appoint public advocates (called συνήγοροι, σύνδικοι, or κατήγοροι) to manage the prosecution. In ordinary cases however the accuser or prosecutor (κατήγορος) was a distinct person from the συνήγορος, who acted only as auxiliary to him. It might be, indeed, that the συνήγορος performed the most important part at the trial, or it might be that he performed a subordinate part, making only a short speech in support of the prosecution, which was called ἐπίλογος. But however this might be, he was in point of law an auxiliary only, and was neither entitled to a share of the reward (if any) given by the law to a successful accuser, nor liable, on the other hand, to a penalty of a thousand drachms, or the ἀτιμία consequent upon a failure to get a fifth part of the votes. The fee of a drachm (τὸ συνηγορικόν) mentioned by Aristophanes was probably the sum paid to the public advocate whenever he was employed on behalf of the state. There appears to have been (at least at one period) a regular appointment of συνήγοροι, ten in number. For what purpose they were appointed, is a matter about which we have no certain information: but it is not unreasonable to suppose that these ten συνήγοροι were no other than the public advocates who were employed to conduct state prosecutions.

SYNGRĂPHĒ (συγγραφή), signifies a written contract: whereas συνθήκη and συμβόλαιον do not necessarily import that the contract is in writing; and ὁμολογία is, strictly speaking, a verbal agreement. At Athens important contracts were usually reduced to writing; such as leases (μισθώσεις), loans of money, and all executory agreements, where certain conditions were to be performed. The whole was contained in a little tablet of wax or wood (βιβλίον or γραμματεῖον, sometimes double, δίπτυχον), which was sealed, and deposited with some third person, mutually agreed on between the parties.

SỸNOIKĬA (συνοίκια).--(1) A festival celebrated every year at Athens on the 16th of Hecatombaeon in honour of Athena. It was believed to have been instituted by Theseus to commemorate the concentration of the government of the various towns of Attica at Athens.--(2) A house adapted to hold several families, a lodging-house, _insula_, as the Romans would say. The lodging-houses were let mostly to foreigners who came to Athens on business, and especially to the μέτοικοι, whom the law did not allow to acquire real property, and who therefore could not purchase houses of their own. The rent was commonly paid by the month. Lodging-houses were frequently taken on speculation by persons called ναύκληροι or σταθμοῦχοι, who made a profit by underletting them.

SYNTHĔSIS, a garment frequently worn at dinner, and sometimes also on other occasions. As it was inconvenient to wear the toga at table, on account of its many folds, it was customary to have dresses especially appropriated to this purpose, called _vestes coenatoriae_, or _coenatoria_, _accubitoria_, or _syntheses_. The synthesis appears to have been a kind of tunic, an _indumentum_ rather than an _amictus_. [AMICTUS.] That it was, however, an easy and comfortable kind of dress, as we should say, seems to be evident from its use at table above mentioned, and also from its being worn by all classes at the SATURNALIA, a season of universal relaxation and enjoyment. More than this respecting its form we cannot say; it was usually dyed with some colour, and was not white, like the toga.

SȲRINX (σύριγξ), the Pan’s pipe, or Pandean pipe, was the appropriate musical instrument of the Arcadian and other Grecian shepherds, and was regarded by them as the invention of Pan, their tutelary god. When the Roman poets had occasion to mention it, they called it _fistula_. It was formed in general of seven hollow stems of cane or reed, fitted together by means of wax, having been previously cut to the proper lengths, and adjusted so as to form an octave; but sometimes nine were admitted, giving an equal number of notes. A syrinx of eight reeds is represented on p. 278.

SYRMA (σύρμα), which properly means that which is drawn or dragged (from σύρω), is applied to a dress with a train. It was more especially the name of the dress worn by the tragic actors, which had a train to it trailing upon the ground. Hence we find _syrma_ used metaphorically for tragedy itself.