Chapter IX: Part II: The Middle Ages and the Reformation. A.D. 1381-1593 (8)

CENSUS.--(1) GREEK.--The Greek term for a man’s property as ascertained by the census, as well as for the act of ascertaining it, is τίμημα. The only Greek state concerning whose arrangement of the census we have any satisfactory information, is Athens. Previous to the time of Solon no census had been instituted at Athens. According to his census, all citizens were divided into four classes: 1. _Pentacosiomedimni_ (Πεντακοσιομέδιμνοι), or persons possessing landed property which yielded an annual income of at least 500 medimni of dry or liquid produce. 2. _Hippeis_ (Ἱππεῖς), i.e. knights or persons able to keep a war-horse, were those whose lands yielded an annual produce of at least 300 medimni, whence they are also called τριακοσιομέδιμνοι. 3. _Zeugitae_ (Ζευγῖται), i.e. persons able to keep a yoke of oxen (ζεῦγος), were those whose annual income consisted of at least 150 medimni. 4. The _Thetes_ (Θῆτες) contained all the rest of the free population, whose income was below that of the Zeugitae. The constitution of Athens, so long as it was based upon these classes, was a timocracy (τιμοκρατία, or ἀπὸ τιμημάτων πολιτεία). The highest magistracy at Athens, or the archonship, was at first accessible only to persons of the first class, until Aristides threw all the state offices open to all classes indiscriminately. The maintenance of the republic mainly devolved upon the first three classes, the last being exempted from all taxes. As the land in the legislation of Solon was regarded as the capital which yielded an annual income, he regulated his system of taxation by the value of the land, which was treated as the taxable capital. Lists of this taxable property (ἀπογραφαί) were kept at first by the naucrari, who also had to conduct the census, and afterwards by the demarchi.--As property is a fluctuating thing, the census was repeated from time to time, but the periods differed in the various parts of Greece, for in some a census was held every year, and in others every two or four years. At Athens every person had to state the amount of his property, and if there was any doubt about his honesty, it seems that a counter-valuation (ἀντιτίμησις) might be made. This system of taxation according to classes, and based upon the possession of productive estates, underwent a considerable change in the time of the Peloponnesian war, though the divisions into classes themselves continued to be observed for a considerable time after. As the wants of the republic increased, and as many citizens were possessed of large property, without being landed proprietors, the original land-tax was changed into a property-tax. This property-tax was called εἰσφορά, concerning which see EISPHORA. Compare LEITURGIAE; and for the taxes paid by resident aliens, METOICI.--(2) ROMAN. [CENSOR.]

CENTESĬMA, namely _pars_, or the hundredth part, also called _vectigal rerum venalium_, or _centesima rerum venalium_, was a tax of one per cent. levied at Rome and in Italy upon all goods that were exposed for public sale at auctions. It was collected by persons called _coactores_. This tax was perhaps introduced after the civil war between Marius and Sulla. Its produce was assigned by Augustus to the _aerarium militare_. Tiberius reduced the tax to one half per cent. (_ducentesima_), after he had changed Cappadocia into a province, and had thereby increased the revenue of the empire. Caligula in the beginning of his reign abolished the tax altogether for Italy.

CENTUMVĬRI, were judices, who resembled other judices in this respect, that they decided cases under the authority of a magistratus; but they differed from other judices in being a definite body or collegium. This collegium seems to have been divided into four parts, each of which sometimes sat by itself. The origin of the court is unknown. According to an ancient writer, three were chosen out of each tribe, and consequently the whole number out of the 35 tribes would be 105, who, in round numbers, were called the hundred men. If the centumviri were chosen from the tribes, this seems a strong presumption in favour of the high antiquity of the court. It was the practice to set up a spear in the place where the centumviri were sitting, and accordingly the word _hasta_, or _hasta centumviralis_, is sometimes used as equivalent to the words _judicium centumvirale_. The praetor presided in this court. The jurisdiction of the centumviri was chiefly confined to civil matters, but it appears that crimina sometimes came under their cognizance. The younger Pliny, who practised in this court, makes frequent allusions to it in his letters.

CENTŬRĬA. [EXERCITUS; COMITIA.]

CENTŬRĬĀTA CŎMĪTĬA. [COMITIA.]

CENTŬRĬO. [EXERCITUS.]

CENTUSSIS. [As.]

CĒRA (κηρός), wax. For its employment in painting, see PICTURA; and for its application as a writing material, see TABULAE and TESTAMENTUM.

CĔRĔĀLĬA, a festival celebrated at Rome in honour of Ceres, whose wanderings in search of her lost daughter Proserpine were represented by women, clothed in white, running about with lighted torches. During its continuance, games were celebrated in the Circus Maximus, the spectators of which appeared in white; but on any occasion of public mourning the games and festivals were not celebrated at all, as the matrons could not appear at them except in white. The day of the Cerealia is doubtful; some think it was the ides or 13th of April, others the 7th of the same month.

CĔRĔVĪSĬA, CERVĪSĬA (ζύθος), ale or beer, was almost or altogether unknown to the Greeks and Romans; but it was used very generally by the surrounding nations, whose soil and climate were less favourable to the growth of vines. According to Herodotus, the Egyptians commonly drank “barley wine;” and Diodorus Siculus says that the Egyptian beer was nearly equal to wine in strength and flavour. The Iberians and Thracians, and the people in the north of Asia Minor, instead of drinking their beer out of cups, placed it before them in a large bowl or vase, which was sometimes of gold or silver. This being full to the brim with the grains, as well as the fermented liquor, the guests, when they pledged one another, drank together out of the same bowl by stooping down to it, although, when this token of friendship was not intended, they adopted the more refined method of sucking up the fluid through tubes of cane. The Suevi and other northern nations offered to their gods libations of beer, and expected that to drink it in the presence of Odin would be among the delights of Valhalla.

CĒRŌMA (κήρωμα), the oil mixed with wax (κηρός) with which wrestlers were anointed; also the place where they were anointed, and, in later times, the place where they wrestled.

CĔRŪCHI. [NAVIS.]

CESTRUM. [PICTURA.]

CESTUS. (1) The thongs or bands of leather, which were tied round the hands of boxers, in order to render their blows more powerful (ἱμάντες, or ἱμάντες πυκτικοί). The cestus was used by boxers in the earliest times, and is mentioned in the Iliad; but in the heroic times it consisted merely of thongs of leather, and differed from the cestus used in later times in the public games, which was a most formidable weapon, being frequently covered with knots and nails, and loaded with lead and iron.--(2) A band or tie of any kind, but more particularly the zone or girdle of Venus, on which was represented every thing that could awaken love.

CETRA, or CAETRA, a target, _i.e._ a small round shield, made of the hide of a quadruped. It formed part of the defensive armour of the Osci, and of the people of Spain, Mauritania, and Britain, and seems to have been much the same as the target of the Scotch Highlanders. The Romans do not appear to have used the cetra; but we find mention of _cetratae cohortes_ levied in the provinces. Livy compares it to the _pelta_ of the Greeks and Macedonians, which was also a small light shield.

CHALCĬOĒCĬA (χαλκιοίκια), an annual festival, with sacrifices, held at Sparta in honour of Athena, surnamed _Chalcioecus_ (Χαλκίοικος), i.e. the goddess of the brazen-house. Young men marched on the occasion in full armour to the temple of the goddess; and the ephors, although not entering the temple, but remaining within its sacred precincts, were obliged to take part in the sacrifice.

CHALCUS (χαλκοῦς), a denomination of Greek copper-money. Bronze or copper (χαλκός) was very little used by the Greeks for money till after the time of Alexander the Great. The χαλκία πονηρὰ at Athens issued in B.C. 406 were a peculiar exception; and they were soon afterwards called in, and the silver currency restored. It is not improbable, however, that the copper coin called χαλκοῦς was in circulation in Athens still earlier. The smallest silver coin at Athens was the quarter-obol, and the χαλκοῦς was the half of that, or the eighth of an obol. Its value was somewhat more than 3-4ths of a farthing. The χαλκοῦς in later times was divided into lepta, of which it contained seven. In later times the obol was coined of copper as well as silver.

CHĂRISTĬA (from χαρίζομαι, to grant a favour or pardon), a solemn feast among the Romans, to which none but relations and members of the same family were invited, in order that any quarrel or disagreement which had arisen amongst them might be made up. The day of celebration was the 19th of February.

CHEIRŎNŎMĬA (χειρονομία), a mimetic movement of the hands, which formed a part of the art of dancing among the Greeks and Romans. In gymnastics it was applied to the movements of the hands in pugilistic combat.

CHEIRŎTŎNĬA (χειροτονία). In the Athenian assemblies two modes of voting were practised, the one by pebbles (ψηφίζεσθαι), the other by a show of hands (χειροτονεῖν). The latter was employed in the election of those magistrates who were chosen in the public assemblies, and who were hence called χειροτονητοί, in voting upon laws, and in some kinds of trials on matters which concerned the people. We frequently find, however, the word ψηφίζεσθαι used where the votes were really given by show of hands. The manner of voting by a show of hands was as follows:--The herald said: “Whoever thinks that Meidias is guilty, let him lift up his hand.” Then those who thought so stretched forth their hands. Then the herald said again: “Whoever thinks that Meidias is not guilty, let him lift up his hand;” and those who were of this opinion stretched forth their hands. The number of hands was counted each time by the herald; and the president, upon the herald’s report, declared on which side the majority voted. It is important to understand clearly the compounds of this word. A vote condemning an accused person is καταχειροτονία: one acquitting him, ἀποχειροτονία; ἐπιχειροτονεῖν is to confirm by a majority of votes: ἐπιχειροτονία τῶν νομῶν was a revision of the laws, which took place at the beginning of every year: ἐπιχειροτονία τῶν ἀρχῶν was a vote taken in the first assembly of each prytany on the conduct of the magistrates; in these cases, those who voted for the confirmation of the law, or for the continuance in office of the magistrate, were said ἐπιχειροτονεῖν, those on the other side ἀποχειροτονεῖν: διαχειροτονία is a vote for one of two alternatives: ἀντιχειροτονεῖν, to vote against a proposition. The compounds of ψηφίζεσθαι have similar meanings.

CHĪRŎGRĂPHUM (χειρόγραφον), meant first, as its derivation implies, a hand-writing or autograph. In this its simple sense, χείρ in Greek and _manus_ in Latin are often substituted for it. From this meaning was easily derived that of a signature to a will or other instrument, especially a note of hand given by a debtor to his creditor.

CHITON (χιτών). [TUNICA.]

CHLAENA (χλαῖνα). [PALLIUM.]

CHLĂMỸS (χλαμύς, _dim._ χλαμύδιον), a scarf, denoted an article of the _amictus_, or outer raiment of the Greeks. It was for the most part woollen; and it differed from the _himation_ (ἱμάτιον), or cloak, the usual amictus of the male sex, in being smaller, finer, and oblong instead of square, its length being generally about twice its breadth. The scarf does not appear to have been much worn by children. It was generally assumed on reaching adolescence, and was worn by the ephebi from about seventeen to twenty years of age, and hence was called χλαμὺς ἐφηβηική. It was also worn by the military, especially of high rank, over their body armour, and by hunters and travellers, more particularly on horseback. The usual mode of wearing the scarf was to pass one of its shorter sides round the neck, and to fasten it by means of a brooch (_fibula_), either over the breast (cut, HASTA), in which case it hung down the back, or over the right shoulder, so as to cover the left arm (cut, CAUSIA). In the following cut it is worn again in another way. The aptitude of the scarf to be turned in every possible form around the body, made it useful even for defence. The hunter used to wrap his chlamys about his left arm when pursuing wild animals, and preparing to fight with them. The annexed woodcut exhibits a figure of Neptune armed with the trident in his right hand, and having a chlamys to protect the left. When Diana goes to the chase, as she does not require her scarf for purposes of defence, she draws it from behind over her shoulders, and twists it round her waist so that the belt of her quiver passes across it. (See woodcut.) Among the Romans the scarf came more into use under the emperors. Caligula wore one enriched with gold. Severus, when he was in the country or on an expedition, wore a scarf dyed with the coccus.

CHOENIX (χοῖνιξ), a Greek measure of capacity, the size of which is differently given; it was probably of different sizes in the several states. Some writers make it equal to three cotylae (nearly 1½ pints English); others to four cotylae (nearly 2 pints English); others again make it eight cotylae (nearly 4 pints English).

CHŎRĒGUS (χορηγός), a person who had to bear the expenses of the choregia (χορηγία), one of the regularly recurring state burthens (ἐγκύκλιοι λειτουργίαι) at Athens. The choregus was appointed by his tribe, though we are not informed according to what order. The same person might serve as choregus for two tribes at once; and after B.C. 412 a decree was passed allowing two persons to unite and undertake a choregia together. The duties of the choregia consisted in providing the choruses for tragedies and comedies, the lyric choruses of men and boys, the pyrrhicists, the cyclic choruses, and the choruses of flute-players for the different religious festivals at Athens. When a poet intended to bring out a play, he had to get a chorus assigned him by the archon [CHORUS], who nominated a choregus to fulfil the requisite duties. He had first to collect his chorus, and then to procure a teacher (χοροδιδάσκαλος), whom he paid for instructing the choreutae. The chorus were generally maintained, during the period of their instruction, at the expense of the choregus. The choregus who exhibited the best musical or theatrical entertainment received as a prize a tripod, which he had the expense of consecrating, and sometimes he had also to build the monument on which it was placed. There was a whole street at Athens formed by the line of these tripod-temples, and called “The Street of the Tripods.”

CHŎRUS (χορός) probably signified originally a company of dancers dancing in a ring. In later times, a choric performance always implies the singing or musical recitation of a poetical composition, accompanied by appropriate dancing and gesticulation, or at least by a measured march. In all the Dorian states, especially among the Spartans, choral performances were cultivated with great assiduity. Various causes contributed to this, as, for example, their universal employment in the worship of Apollo, the fact that they were not confined to the men, but that women also took part in them, and that many of the dances had a gymnastic character given them, and were employed as a mode of training to martial exercises. [SALTATIO.] Hence Doric lyric poetry became almost exclusively choral, which was not the case with the other great school of Greek lyric poetry, the Aeolian; so that the Doric dialect came to be looked upon as the appropriate dialect for choral compositions, and Doric forms were retained by the Athenians even in the choral compositions which were interwoven with their dramas. The instrument commonly used in connection with the Doric choral poetry was the cithara. A great impetus was given to choral poetry by its application to the dithyramb. This ancient Bacchanalian performance seems to have been a hymn sung by one or more of an irregular band of revellers, to the music of the flute. Arion, a contemporary of Periander, was the first who gave a regular choral form to the dithyramb. This chorus, which ordinarily consisted of fifty men or youths, danced in a ring round the altar of Dionysus. Hence such choruses were termed _cyclic_ (κύκλιοι χοροί). With the introduction of a regular choral character, Arion also substituted the cithara for the flute. It was from the dithyramb that the Attic tragedy was developed. For details see TRAGOEDIA. From the time of Sophocles onwards the regular number of the chorus in a tragedy was 15; but it is impossible to arrive at any definite conclusion with regard to the number of the chorus in the early dramas of Aeschylus. The fact that the number of the dithyrambic chorus was 50, and that the mythological number of the Oceanides and Danaides was the same, tempts one to suppose that the chorus in the Prometheus and the Supplices consisted of 50. Most writers, however, agree in thinking that such a number was too large to have been employed. The later chorus of 15 was arranged in a quadrangular form (τετράγωνος). It entered the theatre by the passage to the right of the spectators. [THEATRUM.] Its entrance was termed πάροδος; its leaving the stage in the course of the play μετάστασις; its re-entrance ἐπιπάροδος; its exit ἄφοδος. As it entered in three lines, with the spectators on its left, the stage on its right, the middle choreutes of the left row (τρίτος ἀριστέρου) was the Coryphaeus or Hegemon, who in early times at least was not unfrequently the choregus himself. Of course the positions first taken up by the choreutae were only retained till they commenced their evolutions. To guide them in these, lines were marked upon the boards with which the orchestra was floored. The flute as well as the cithara was used as an accompaniment to the choric songs. The dance of the tragic chorus was called ἐμμέλεια.--The ordinary number of the chorus in a comedy was 24. Like the tragic chorus it was arranged in a quadrangular form, and entered the orchestra from opposite sides, according as it was supposed to come from the city or from the country. It consisted sometimes half of male and half of female choreutae. The dance of the comic chorus was the κόρδαξ. In the Satyric drama the chorus consisted of Satyrs: its number is quite uncertain. Its dance was called σίκιννις. When a poet intended to bring forward a play, he had to apply for a chorus (χορὸν αἰτεῖν) to the archons, to the king archon if the play was to be brought forward at the Lenaea, to the archon eponymus if at the great Dionysia. If the play were thought to deserve it, he received a chorus (χορὸν λαμβάνειν), the expenses of which were borne by a choregus. [CHOREGUS.] The poet then either trained (διδάσκειν) the chorus himself, or entrusted that business to a professed chorus trainer (χοροδιδάσκαλος), who usually had an assistant (ὑποδιδάσκαλος). For training the chorus in its evolutions there was also an ὀρχηστοδιδάσκαλος.

CHOUS, or CHOEUS (χοῦς or χοεῦς), was equal to the Roman congius, and contained six ξέσται, or sextarii (nearly six pints English). It seems that there was also a smaller measure of the same name, containing two sextarii (nearly two pints English).

CHRŎNOLŎGĬA (χρονολογία), chronology. The Greeks reckoned their years generally according to their magistrates, in the early times according to the years of the reign of their kings, and afterwards according to their annual magistrates. At Athens the year was called by the name of one of the nine archons, who from this circumstance was called ἄρχων ἐπώνυμος, or the archon par excellence; and at Sparta the years were called after one of the five ephors, who for this reason was likewise termed ἐπώνυμος. In Argos time was counted according to the years of the high priestess of Hera, who held her office for life (ἡρεσίς); and the inhabitants of Elis probably reckoned according to the Olympic games, which were celebrated every fifth year during the first full moon which followed after the summer solstice. Thus there was no era which was used by _all_ the Greeks in common for the ordinary purposes of life.--Timaeus, who flourished about B.C. 260, was the first historian who counted the years by Olympiads, each of which contained four years. The beginning of the Olympiads is commonly fixed in the year 3938 of the Julian period, or in B.C. 776. If we want to reduce any given Olympiad to years before Christ, _e.g._ Ol. 87, we take the number of the Olympiads actually elapsed, that is, 86, multiply it by 4, and deduct the number obtained from 776, so that the first year of the 87th Ol. will be the same as the year 432 B.C. If the number of Olympiads amounts to more than 776 years, that is, if the Olympiad falls after the birth of Christ, the process is the same as before, but from the sum obtained by multiplying the Olympiads by 4, we must deduct the number 776, and what remains is the number of the years after Christ. As the Olympic games were celebrated 293 times, we have 293 Olympic cycles, that is, 1172 years, 776 of which fall before, and 396 after Christ.--Some writers also adopted the Trojan era, the fall of Troy being placed by Eratosthenes and those who adopted this era, in the year B.C. 1184. After the time of Alexander the Great, several other eras were introduced in the kingdoms that arose out of his empire. The first was the Philippic era, sometimes also called the era of Alexander or the era of Edessa; it began on the 12th of November B.C. 324, the date of the accession of Philip Arrhidaeus. The second was the era of the Seleucidae, beginning on the 1st of October B.C. 312, the date of the victory of Seleucus Nicator at Gaza, and of his re-conquest of Babylonia. This era was used very extensively in the East. The Chaldaean era differed from it only by six months, beginning in the spring of B.C. 311. Lastly, the eras of Antioch, of which there were three, but the one most commonly used began in November B.C. 49.--The Romans during the time of the republic reckoned their years by the names of the consuls, which were registered in the Fasti. Along with this era there existed another, used only by the historians. It reckoned the years from the foundation of the city (_ab urbe condita_); but the year of the foundation of the city was a question of uncertainty among the Romans themselves. M. Terentius Varro placed it on the 21st of April in the third year of the 6th Olympiad, that is, B.C. 753; and this is the era most commonly used. To find out the year B.C. corresponding to the year A.U.C., subtract the year A.U.C. from 754; thus 605 A.U.C. = 149 B.C. To find out the year A.D. corresponding to the year A.U.C., subtract 753 from the year A.U.C.; thus 767 A.U.C. = 14 A.D.

CHRȲSENDĔTA, costly dishes used by the Romans at their entertainments, apparently made of silver, with golden ornaments.

CIDĂRIS. [TIARA.]

CINCTUS GABĪNUS. [TOGA.]

CINGŬLUM. [ZONA.]

CĬNĔRĀRĬUS. [CALAMISTRUM.]

CĬNĔRES. [FUNUS.]

CĬNĬFLO. [CALAMISTRUM.]

CIPPUS, a low column, sometimes round, but more frequently rectangular. Cippi were used for various purposes; the decrees of the senate were sometimes inscribed upon them; and with distances engraved upon them, they also served as mile-stones. They were, however, more frequently employed as sepulchral monuments. It was also usual to place at one corner of the burying-ground a cippus, on which the extent of the burying-ground was marked, towards the road (_in fronte_), and backwards to the fields (_in agrum_).

CIRCENSES LŪDI. [CIRCUS.]

CIRCĬTŌRES, or CIRCŬĬTŌRES. [CASTRA.]

CIRCUS. When Tarquinius Priscus had taken the town of Apiolae from the Latins, he commemorated his success by an exhibition of races and pugilistic contests in the Murcian valley, between the Palatine and Aventine hills, around which a number of temporary platforms were erected by the patres and equites, called _spectacula_, _fori_, or _foruli_, from their resemblance to the deck of a ship; each one raising a stage for himself, upon which he stood to view the games. This course, with its surrounding scaffoldings, was termed circus; either because the spectators stood round to see the shows, or because the procession and races went round in a circuit. Previously, however, to the death of Tarquin, a permanent building was constructed for the purpose, with regular tiers of seats in the form of a theatre. To this the name of Circus Maximus was subsequently given, as a distinction from the Flaminian and other similar buildings, which it surpassed in extent and splendour; and hence it is often spoken of as _the_ Circus, without any distinguishing epithet. Of the Circus Maximus scarcely a vestige now remains; but this loss is fortunately supplied by the remains of a small circus on the Via Appia, the ground-plan of which is in a state of considerable preservation: it is represented in the annexed cut, and may be taken as a model of all others. Around the double lines (A, A) were arranged the seats (_gradus_, _sedilia_, _subsellia_), as in a theatre, termed collectively the _cavea_; the lowest of which were separated from the ground by a _podium_, and the whole divided longitudinally by _praecinctiones_, and diagonally into _cunei_, with their _vomitoria_ attached to each. [AMPHITHEATRUM.] Towards the extremity of the upper branch of the _cavea_, the general outline is broken by an outwork (B), which was probably the _pulvinar_, or station for the emperor, as it is placed in the best situation for seeing both the commencement and end of the course, and in the most prominent part of the circus. In the opposite branch is observed another interruption to the uniform line of seats (C), betokening also, from its construction, a place of distinction; which might have been assigned to the person at whose expense the games were given (_editor spectaculorum_). In the centre of the area was a low wall (D) running lengthways down the course, which, from its resemblance to the position of the dorsal bone in the human frame, was termed _spina_. At each extremity of the spina were placed, upon a base (E, E), three wooden cylinders, of a conical shape, like cypress trees, which were called _metae_--the goals. Their situation is distinctly seen in the cut on p. 89. The most remarkable objects upon the _spina_ were two columns (F) supporting seven conical balls, which, from their resemblance to eggs, were called _ova_. Their use was to enable the spectators to count the number of rounds which had been run; and they were seven in number, because seven was the number of the circuits made in each race. As each round was run, one of the _ova_ was either put up or taken down. An egg was adopted for this purpose, in honour of Castor and Pollux. At the other extremity of the spina were two similar columns (G), sustaining dolphins, termed _delphinae_, or _delphinarum columnae_, which do not appear to have been intended to be removed, but only placed there as corresponding ornaments to the _ova_; and the figure of the dolphin was selected in honour of Neptune. These figures are also seen in the cut on p. 89. At the extremity of the circus in which the two horns of the _cavea_ terminate, were placed the stalls for the horses and chariots (H, H), commonly called _carceres_, but more anciently the whole line of building at this end of the circus was termed _oppidum_: hence in the circus, of which the plan is given above, we find two towers (I, I) at each end of the _carceres_. The number of _carceres_ is supposed to have been usually twelve, as in this plan.

They were vaults, closed in front by gates of open wood-work (_cancelli_), which were opened simultaneously upon the signal being given, by removing a rope attached to pilasters of the kind called _Hermae_, placed for that purpose between each stall, upon which the gates were immediately thrown open by a number of men, as represented in the preceding woodcut. The cut below represents a set of four _carceres_, with their _Hermae_, and _cancelli_ open, as left after the chariots had started; in which the gates are made to open inwards. The preceding account and woodcuts will be sufficient to explain the meaning of the various words by which the _carceres_ were designated in poetical language, namely, _claustra_, _crypta_, _fauces_, _ostia_, _fores carceris_, _repagula_, _limina equorum_. There were five entrances to the circus; one (L) in the centre of the carceres, called _porta pompae_, because it was the one through which the Circensian procession entered, and the others at M, M, N, and O. At the entrance of the course, exactly in the direction of the line (J, K), were two small pedestals (_hermuli_) on each side of the _podium_, to which was attached a chalked rope (_alba linea_), for the purpose of making the start fair, precisely as is practised at Rome for the horse-races during Carnival. Thus, when the doors of the _carceres_ were thrown open, if any of the horses rushed out before the others, they were brought up by this rope until the whole were fairly abreast, when it was loosened from one side, and all poured into the course at once. This line was also called _calx_, and _creta_. The _metae_ served only to regulate the turnings of the course, the _alba linea_ answered to the starting and winning post of modern days.--From this description the Circus Maximus differed little, except in size and magnificence of embellishment. The numbers which the Circus Maximus was capable of containing are computed at 150,000 by Dionysius, 260,000 by Pliny, and 385,000 by P. Victor, all of which are probably correct, but have reference to different periods of its history. Its length, in the time of Julius Caesar, was three stadia, the width one, and the depth of the buildings occupied half a stadium. When the Circus Maximus was permanently formed by Tarquinius Priscus, each of the thirty curiae had a particular place assigned to it; but as no provision was made for the plebeians in this circus, it is supposed that the Circus Flaminius was designed for the games of the commonalty, who in early times chose their tribunes there, on the Flaminian field. However, in the latter days of the republic, these invidious distinctions were lost, and all classes sat promiscuously in the circus. The seats were then marked off at intervals by a line or groove drawn across them (_linea_), so that the space included between two lines afforded sitting room for a certain number of spectators. Under the empire, however, the senators and equites were separated from the common people. The seat of the emperor (_pulvinar or cubiculum_) was most likely in the same situation in the Circus Maximus as in the one above described.--The Circensian games (_Ludi Circenses_) were first instituted by Romulus, according to the legends, when he wished to attract the Sabine population to Rome, for the purpose of furnishing his own people with wives, and were celebrated in honour of the god Consus, or Neptunus Equestris, from whom they were styled _Consuales_. But after the construction of the Circus Maximus they were called indiscriminately _Circenses_, _Romani_, or _Magni_. They embraced six kinds of games:--I. CURSUS; II. LUDUS TROJAE; III. PUGNA EQUESTRIS; IV. CERTAMEN GYMNICUM; V. VENATIO; VI. NAUMACHIA. The two last were not peculiar to the circus, but were exhibited also in the amphitheatre, or in buildings appropriated for them. The games commenced with a grand procession (_Pompa Circensis_), in which all those who were about to exhibit in the circus, as well as persons of distinction, bore a part. The statues of the gods formed the most conspicuous feature in the show, which were paraded upon wooden platforms, called _fercula_ and _thensae_. The former were borne upon the shoulders, as the statues of saints are carried in modern processions; the latter were drawn along upon wheels.--I. CURSUS, the races. The carriage usually employed in the circus was drawn by two or four horses (_bigae_, _quadrigae_). [CURRUS.] The usual number of chariots which started for each race was four. The drivers (_aurigae_, _agitatores_) were also divided into four companies, each distinguished by a different colour, to represent the four seasons of the year, and called a _factio_: thus _factio prasina_, the green, represented the spring; _factio russata_, red, the summer; _factio veneta_, azure, the autumn; and _factio alba_ or _albata_, white, the winter. Originally there were but two factions, _albata_ and _russata_, and consequently only two chariots started at each race. The driver stood in his car within the reins, which went round his back. This enabled him to throw all his weight against the horses, by leaning backwards; but it greatly enhanced his danger in case of an upset. To avoid this peril, a sort of knife or bill-hook was carried at the waist, for the purpose of cutting the reins in a case of emergency. When all was ready, the doors of the carceres were flung open, and the chariots were formed abreast of the _alba linea_ by men called _moratores_ from their duty; the signal for the start was then given by the person who presided at the games, sometimes by sound of trumpet, or more usually by letting fall a napkin; whence the Circensian games are called _spectacula mappae_. The _alba linea_ was then cast off, and the race commenced, the extent of which was seven times round the _spina_, keeping it always on the left. A course of seven circuits was termed _unus missus_, and twenty-five was the number of races run in each day, the last of which was called _missus aerarius_, because in early times the expense of it was defrayed by a collection of money (_aes_) made amongst the people. The victor descended from his car at the conclusion of the race, and ascended the _spina_, where he received his reward (_bravium_, from the Greek βραβεῖον), which consisted in a considerable sum of money.

The horse-racing followed the same rules as the chariots. The enthusiasm of the Romans for these races exceeded all bounds. Lists of the horses (_libella_), with their names and colours, and those of the drivers, were handed about, and heavy bets made upon each faction; and sometimes the contests between two parties broke out into open violence and bloody quarrels, until at last the disputes which originated in the circus had nearly lost the Emperor Justinian his crown.--II. LUDUS TROJAE, a sort of sham-fight, said to have been invented by Aeneas, performed by young men of rank on horseback, and often exhibited by the emperors.--III. PUGNA EQUESTRIS ET PEDESTRIS, a representation of a battle, upon which occasions a camp was formed in the circus.--IV. CERTAMEN GYMNICUM. See ATHLETAE, and the references to the articles there given.--V. [VENATIO.]--VI. [NAUMACHIA.]

CĬSĬUM, a light open carriage with two wheels, adapted to carry two persons rapidly from place to place. The cisia were quickly drawn by mules. Cicero mentions the case of a messenger who travelled 56 miles in 10 hours in such vehicles, which were kept for hire at the stations along the great roads; a proof that the ancients considered six Roman miles per hour as an extraordinary speed.

CISTA (κίστη). (1) A small box or chest, in which anything might be placed, but more particularly applied to the small boxes which were carried in procession in the festivals of Demeter and Dionysus. These boxes, which were always kept closed in the public processions, contained sacred things connected with the worship of these deities. In the representations of Dionysiac processions on ancient vases women carrying cistae are frequently introduced.--(2) The ballot-box, into which those who voted in the comitia and in the courts of justice cast their tabellae. It is represented in the annexed cut, and should not be confounded with the _situla_ or _sitella_, into which sortes or lots were thrown. [SITULA.]

CISTŎPHŎRUS (κιστοφόρος), a silver coin, which is supposed to belong to Rhodes, and which was in general circulation in Asia Minor at the time of the conquest of that country by the Romans. It took its name from the device upon it, which was either the sacred chest (_cista_) of Bacchus, or more probably a flower called κιστός. Its value is extremely uncertain: some writers suppose it to have been worth in our money about 7¼_d._

CĬTHĂRA. [LYRA.]

CĪVIS. [CIVITAS.]

CĪVĬTAS, citizenship. (1) GREEK (πολιτεία). Aristotle defines a citizen (πολίτης) to be one who is a partner in the legislative and judicial power (μέτοχος κρίσεως καὶ ἀρχῆς). No definition will equally apply to all the different states of Greece, or to any single state at different times; the above seems to comprehend more or less properly all those whom the common use of language entitled to the name. A state in the heroic ages was the government of a prince; the citizens were his subjects, and derived all their privileges, civil as well as religious, from their nobles and princes. The shadows of a council and assembly were already in existence, but their business was to obey. Upon the whole the notion of citizenship in the heroic ages only existed so far as the condition of aliens or of domestic slaves was its negative. The rise of a dominant class gradually overthrew the monarchies of ancient Greece. Of such a class, the chief characteristics were good birth and the hereditary transmission of privileges, the possession of land, and the performance of military service. To these characters the names _gamori_ (γάμοροι), _knights_ (ἱππεῖς), _eupatridae_ (εὐπατρίδαι), &c. severally correspond. Strictly speaking, these were the only citizens; yet the lower class were quite distinct from bondmen or slaves. It commonly happened that the nobility occupied the fortified towns, while the _demus_ (δῆμος) lived in the country and followed agricultural pursuits: whenever the latter were gathered within the walls, and became seamen or handicraftsmen, the difference of ranks was soon lost, and wealth made the only standard. The quarrels of the nobility among themselves, and the admixture of population arising from immigrations, all tended to raise the lower orders from their political subjection. It must be remembered, too, that the possession of domestic slaves, if it placed them in no new relation to the governing body, at any rate gave them leisure to attend to the higher duties of a citizen, and thus served to increase their political efficiency. During the convulsions which followed the heroic ages, naturalisation was readily granted to all who desired it; as the value of citizenship increased, it was, of course, more sparingly bestowed. The ties of hospitality descended from the prince to the state, and the friendly relations of the Homeric heroes were exchanged for the προξενίαι of a later period. In political intercourse, the importance of these last soon began to be felt, and the _Proxenus_ at Athens, in after times, obtained rights only inferior to actual citizenship. [HOSPITIUM.] The isopolite relation existed, however, on a much more extended scale. Sometimes particular privileges were granted: as ἐπιγαμία, the right of intermarriage; ἔγκτησις, the right of acquiring landed property; ἀτέλεια, immunity from taxation, especially ἀτέλεια μετοικίου, from the tax imposed on resident aliens. All these privileges were included under the general term ἰσοτέλεια, or ἰσοπολίτεια, and the class who obtained them were called ἰσοτελεῖς. They bore the same burthens with the citizens, and could plead in the courts or transact business with the people, without the intervention of a προστάτης, or patron. Respecting the division of the Athenian citizens into tribes, phratriae and demes, see the articles TRIBUS and DEMUS.--If we would picture to ourselves the true notion which the Greeks embodied in the word _polis_ (πόλις), we must lay aside all modern ideas respecting the nature and object of a state. With us practically, if not in theory, the _essential_ object of a state hardly embraces more than the protection of life and property. The Greeks, on the other hand, had the most vivid conception of the state as a whole, every part of which was to co-operate to some great end to which all other duties were considered as subordinate. Thus the aim of democracy was said to be liberty; wealth, of oligarchy; and education, of aristocracy. In all governments the endeavour was to draw the social union as close as possible, and it seems to have been with this view that Aristotle laid down a principle which answered well enough to the accidental circumstances of the Grecian states, that a _polis_ must be of a certain size. This unity of purpose was nowhere so fully carried out as in the government of Sparta. The design of Spartan institutions was evidently to unite the governing body among themselves against the superior numbers of the subject population. The division of lands, the syssitia, the education of their youth, all tended to this great object. [HELOTES; PERIOECI.] In legal rights all Spartans were equal: but there were yet several gradations, which, when once formed, retained their hold on the aristocratic feelings of the people. First, there was the dignity of the Heraclide families; and, connected with this, a certain pre-eminence of the Hyllean tribe. Another distinction was that between the _Homoioi_ (ὅμοιοι) and _Hypomeiones_ (ὑπομείονες), which, in later times, appears to have been considerable. The latter term probably comprehended those citizens who, from degeneracy of manners or other causes, had undergone some kind of civil degradation. To these the _Homoioi_ were opposed, although it is not certain in what the precise difference consisted. All the Spartan citizens were included in the three tribes, Hylleans, Dymanes or Dymanatae, and Pamphilians, each of which was divided into ten obes or phratries. The citizens of Sparta, as of most oligarchical states, were landowners, although this does not seem to have been looked upon as an essential of citizenship.--(2) ROMAN. _Civitas_ means the whole body of _cives_, or members, of any given state, and the word is frequently used by the Roman writers to express the rights of a Roman citizen, as distinguished from those of other persons not Roman citizens, as in the phrases, _dare civitatem_, _donare civitate_, _usurpare civitatem_. Some members of a political community (_cives_) may have more political rights than others; and this was the case at Rome under the republic, in which we find a distinction made between two great classes of Roman citizens, one that had, and another that had not, a share in the sovereign power (_optimo jure_, _non optimo jure cives_). That which peculiarly distinguished the higher class, or the _optimo jure cives_, was the right to vote in a tribe (_jus suffragiorum_), and the capacity of enjoying magistracy (_jus honorum_). The inferior class, or the _non optimo jure cives_, did not possess the above rights, which the Romans called _jus publicum_, but they only had the _jus privatum_, which comprehended the _jus connubii_ and _jus commercii_, and those who had not these had no citizenship.--Under the empire we find the free persons who were within the political limits of the Roman state divided into three great classes. The same division probably existed in an early period of the Roman state, and certainly existed in the time of Cicero. These classes were, _Cives_, _Latini_, and _Peregrini_. _Civis_ is he who possesses the complete rights of a Roman citizen. _Peregrinus_ was incapable of exercising the rights of _commercium_ and _connubium_, which were the characteristic rights of a Roman citizen; but he had a capacity for making all kinds of contracts which were allowable by the jus gentium. The _Latinus_ was in an intermediate state; he had not the _connubium_, and consequently he had not the _patria potestas_ nor rights of agnatio; but he had the _commercium_ or the right of acquiring quiritarian ownership, and he had also a capacity for all acts incident to quiritarian ownership, as the power of making a will in Roman form, and of becoming heres under a will. The rights of a Roman citizen were acquired in several ways, but most commonly by a person being born of parents who were Roman citizens. A slave might obtain the civitas by manumission (_vindicta_), by the census, and by a testamentum, if there was no legal impediment; but it depended on circumstances whether he became a _civis Romanus_, a _Latinus_, or in the number of the _peregrini dediticii_. [MANUMISSIO.] The civitas could be conferred on a foreigner by a lex, as in the case of Archias, who was a civis of Heraclea, a civitas which had a foedus with Rome, and who claimed the civitas Romana under the provisions of a lex of Silvanus and Carbo, B.C. 89. By the provisions of this lex, the person who chose to take the benefit of it was required, within sixty days after the passing of the lex, to signify to the praetor his wish and consent to accept the civitas (_profiteri_). This lex was intended to give the civitas, under certain limitations, to foreigners who were citizens of foederate states (_foederatis civitatibus adscripti_). [FOEDERATAE CIVITATES.] Thus the great mass of the Italians obtained the civitas, and the privileges of the former civitates foederatae were extended to the provinces, first to part of Gaul, and then to Sicily, under the name of Jus Latii or Latinitas. This Latinitas gave a man the right of acquiring the Roman citizenship by having exercised a magistratus in his own civitas; a privilege which belonged to the foederatae civitates of Italy before they obtained the Roman civitas.

CLĀRĬGĀTĬO. [FETIALES.]

CLASSĬCUM. [CORNU.]

CLĀVUS ANNĀLIS. In the early ages of Rome, when letters were yet scarcely in use, the Romans kept a reckoning of their years by driving a nail (_clavus_), on the ides of each September, into the side walls of the temple of Jupiter Optimus Maximus, which ceremony was performed by the consul or a dictator.

CLĀVUS GŬBERNĀCŬLI. [NAVIS.]

CLĀVUS LĀTUS, CLĀVUS ANGUSTUS. The _clavus_, as an article of dress, seems to have been a purple band worn upon the tunic and toga, and was of two fashions, one broad and the other narrow, denominated respectively _clavus latus_ and _clavus angustus_. The former was a single broad band of purple, extending perpendicularly from the neck down the centre of the tunic; the latter probably consisted of two narrow purple slips, running parallel to each from the top to the bottom of the tunic, one from each shoulder. The _latus clavus_ was a distinctive badge of the senatorian order; and hence it is used to signify the senatorial dignity, and _laticlavius_, the person who enjoys it. The _angustus clavus_ was the decoration of the equestrian order; but the right of wearing the latus clavus was also given to the children of equestrians, at least in the time of Augustus, as a prelude to entering the senate-house. This, however, was a matter of personal indulgence, and was granted only to persons of very ancient family and corresponding wealth, and then by special favour of the emperor. In such cases the latus clavus was assumed with the toga virilis, and worn until the age arrived at which the young equestrian was admissible into the senate, when it was relinquished and the angustus clavis resumed, if a disinclination on his part, or any other circumstances, prevented him from entering the senate, as was the case with Ovid. But it seems that the latus clavus could be again resumed if the same individual subsequently wished to become a senator, and hence a fickle character is designated as one who is always changing his clavus. The latus clavus is said to have been introduced at Rome by Tullus Hostilius, and to have been adopted by him after his conquest of the Etruscans; nor does it appear to have been confined to any particular class during the earlier periods, but to have been worn by all ranks promiscuously. It was laid aside in public mourning.

CLEPSȲDRA. [HOROLOGIUM.]

CLĒRŪCHI (κληροῦχοι), the name of Athenian citizens who occupied conquered lands; their possession was called _cleruchia_ (κληρουχία). The Athenian Cleruchi differed from the ἄποικοι or ordinary colonists. The only object of the earlier colonies was to relieve surplus population, or to provide a home for those whom internal quarrels had exiled from their country. Most usually they originated in private enterprise, and became independent of, and lost their interest in, the parent state. On the other hand, it was essential to the very notion of a _cleruchia_ that it should be a public enterprise, and should always retain a connection more or less intimate with Athens herself. The connection with the parent state subsisted in all degrees. Sometimes, as in the case of Lesbos, the holders of land did not reside upon their estates, but let them to the original inhabitants, while themselves remained at Athens. The condition of these cleruchi did not differ from that of Athenian citizens who had estates in Attica. All their political rights they not only retained, but exercised as Athenians. Another case was where the cleruchi resided on their estates, and either with or without the old inhabitants, formed a new community. These still retained the rights of Athenian citizens, which distance only precluded them from exercising: they used the Athenian courts; and if they or their children wished to return to Athens, naturally and of course they regained the exercise of their former privileges. Sometimes, however, the connection might gradually dissolve, and the cleruchi sink into the condition of mere allies, or separate wholly from the mother country. It was to Pericles that Athens was chiefly indebted for the extension and permanence of her colonial settlements. His principal object was to provide for the redundancies of population, and raise the poorer citizens to a fortune becoming the dignity of Athenian citizens. It was of this class of persons that the settlers were chiefly composed; the state provided them with arms, and defrayed the expenses of their journey. The Cleruchiae were lost by the battle of Aegospotami, but partially restored on the revival of Athenian power.

CLĒTĒRES or CLĒTORES (κλητῆρες, κλῆτορες), summoners, were at Athens not official persons, but merely witnesses to the prosecutor that he had served the defendant with a notice of the action brought against him, and the day upon which it would be requisite for him to appear before the proper magistrate.

CLĪBĂNĀRĬI. [CATAPHRACTI.]