Chapter 21

Discobolus. (Osterley, Denk. der alt Kunst, vol. 1. No. 139)

DISPENSĀTOR. [Calculator.]

DITHỸRAMBUS. [Chorus.]

DĪVERSŌRĬUM. [Caupona.]

DĪVĪNĀTĬO (μαντική), a power in man which foresees future things by means of those signs which the gods throw in his way. Among the Greeks themanteis(μάντεις), or seers, who announced the future, were supposed to be under the direct influence of the gods, chiefly that of Apollo. In many families of seers the inspired knowledge of the future was considered to be hereditary, and to be transmitted from father to son. To these families belonged the Iamids, who from Olympia spread over a considerable part of Greece; the Branchidae, near Miletus; the Eumolpids, at Athens and Eleusis; the Telliads,the Acarnanian seers, and others. Along with the seers we may also mention the Bacides and the Sibyllae. Both existed from a very remote time, and were distinct from the manteis so far as they pretended to derive their knowledge of the future from sacred books (χρησμοί) which they consulted, and which were in some places, as at Athens and Rome, kept by the government or some especial officers, in the acropolis and in the most revered sanctuary. The Bacides are said to have been descended from one or more prophetic nymphs of the name of Bacis. The Sibyllae were prophetic women, probably of Asiatic origin, whose peculiar custom seems to have been to wander with their sacred books from place to place. The Sibylla, whose books gained so great an importance at Rome, is reported to have been the Erythraean: the books which she was said to have sold to one of the Tarquins were carefully concealed from the public, and only accessible to the duumvirs. Besides these more respectable prophets and prophetesses, there were numbers of diviners of an inferior order (χρησμολόγοι), who made it their business to explain all sorts of signs, and to tell fortunes. They were, however, more particularly popular with the lower orders, who are everywhere most ready to believe what is most marvellous and least entitled to credit. No public undertaking of any consequence was ever entered upon by the Greeks and Romans without consulting the will of the gods, by observing the signs which they sent, especially those in the sacrifices offered for the purpose, and by which they were thought to indicate the success or the failure of the undertaking. For this kind of divination no divine inspiration was thought necessary, but merely experience and a certain knowledge acquired by routine; and although in some cases priests were appointed for the purpose of observing and explaining signs [Augur;Haruspex], yet on any sudden emergency, especially in private affairs, any one who met with something extraordinary, might act as his own interpreter. The principal signs by which the gods were thought to declare their will, were things connected with the offering of sacrifices, the flight and voice of birds, all kinds of natural phenomena, ordinary as well as extraordinary, and dreams.—The interpretation of signs of the first class (ἱερομαντείαorἱεροσκοπία,haruspiciumorars haruspicina) was, according to Aeschylus, the invention of Prometheus. It seems to have been most cultivated by the Etruscans, among whom it was raised into a complete science, and from whom it passed to the Romans. Sacrifices were either offered for the special purpose of consulting the gods, or in the ordinary way; but in both cases the signs were observed, and when they were propitious, the sacrifice was saidκαλλιερεῖν. The principal points that were generally observed were, 1. The manner in which the victim approached the altar. 2. The nature of the intestines with respect to their colour and smoothness; the liver and bile were of particular importance. 3. The nature of the flame which consumed the sacrifice. Especial care was also taken during a sacrifice, that no inauspicious or frivolous words were uttered by any of the bystanders: hence the admonitions of the priests,εὐφημεῖτεandεὐφημία, orσιγᾶτε, σιωπᾶτε,favete linguis, and others; for improper expressions were not only thought to pollute and profane the sacred act, but to be unlucky omens.—The art of interpreting signs of the second class was calledοἰωνιστική,augurium, orauspicium. It was, like the former, common to Greeks and Romans, but never attained the same degree of importance in Greece as it did in Rome. [Auspicium.] The Greeks, when observing the flight of birds, turned their face toward the north, and then a bird appearing to the right (east), especially an eagle, a heron, or a falcon, was a favourable sign; while birds appearing to the left (west) were considered as unlucky signs. Of greater importance than the appearance of animals, at least to the Greeks, were the phenomena in the heavens, particularly during any public transaction. Among the unlucky phenomena in the heavens (διοσημεῖα,signa, orportenta) were thunder and lightning, an eclipse of the sun or moon, earthquakes, rain of blood, stones, milk, &c. Any one of these signs was sufficient at Athens to break up the assembly of the people.—In common life, things apparently of no importance, when occurring at a critical moment, were thought by the ancients to be signs sent by the gods, from which conclusions might be drawn respecting the future. Among these common occurrences we may mention sneezing, twinkling of the eyes, tinkling of the ears, &c.—The art of interpreting dreams (ὀνειροπολία), which had probably been introduced into Europe from Asia, where it is still a universal practice, seems in the Homeric age to have been held in high esteem, for dreams were said to be sent by Zeus. In subsequent times, that class of diviners who occupied themselves with the interpretation of dreams, seems to have been very numerous and popular; but they never enjoyed any protection from the state, and were chiefly resorted to by private individuals.—The subject of oracles is treated in a separate article. [Oraculum.]—Theworddivinatiowas used in a particular manner by the Romans as a law term. If in any case two or more accusers came forward against one and the same individual, it was, as the phrase ran,decided by divination, who should be the chief or real accuser, whom the others then joined assubscriptores;i.e.by putting their names to the charge brought against the offender. This transaction, by which one of several accusers was selected to conduct the accusation, was calleddivinatio, as the question here was not about facts, but about something which was to be done, and which could not be found out by witnesses or written documents; so that the judices had, as it were, to divine the course which they had to take. Hence the oration of Cicero, in which he tries to show that he, and not Q. Caecilius Niger, ought to conduct the accusation against Verres, is calledDivinatio in Caecilium.

DĪVĪSOR. [Ambitus.]

DĪVORTĬUM (ἀπόλειψις,ἀπόπεμψις), divorce. (1)Greek.The laws of Athens permitted either the husband or the wife to call for and effect a divorce. If it originated with the wife, she was said to leave her husband’s house (ἀπολείπειν); if otherwise, to be dismissed from it (ἀποπεμπέσθαι). After divorce, the wife resorted to her male relations, with whom she would have remained if she had never quitted her maiden state; and it then became their duty to receive or recover from her late husband all the property that she had brought to him in acknowledged dowry upon their marriage. If, upon this, both parties were satisfied, the divorce was final and complete: if otherwise, an actionἀπολείψεως, orἀποπέμψεως, would be instituted, as the case might be, by the party opposed to the separation. A separation, however, whether it originated from the husband or the wife, was considered to reflect discredit on the latter.—(2)Roman.Divorce always existed in the Roman polity. As one essential part of a marriage was the consent and conjugal affection of the parties, it was considered that this affection was necessary to its continuance, and accordingly either party might declare his or her intention to dissolve the connection. No judicial decree, and no interference of any public authority, was requisite to dissolve a marriage. The first instance of divorce at Rome is said to have occurred aboutB.C.234, when Sp. Carvilius Ruga put away his wife, on the ground of barrenness: it is added, that his conduct was generally condemned. Towards the latter part of the republic, and under the empire, divorces became very common. Pompey divorced his wife Mucia for alleged adultery; and Cicero divorced his wife Terentia, after living with her thirty years, and married a young woman. Cato the younger divorced his wife Marcia, that his friend Hortensius might marry her, and have children by her; for this is the true meaning of the story that he lent his wife to Hortensius. If a husband divorced his wife, the wife’s dowry, as a general rule, was restored; and the same was the case when the divorce took place by mutual consent. Corresponding to the forms of marriage byconfarreatioandcoemtio, there were the forms of divorce bydiffarreatioandremancipatio. In course of time, less ceremony was used; but still some distinct notice or declaration of intention was necessary to constitute a divorce. The termrepudium, it is said, properly applies to a marriage only contracted, anddivortiumto an actual marriage; but sometimes divortium and repudium appear to be used indifferently. The phrases to express a divorce are,nuntium remittere,divortium facere; and the form of words might be as follows—Tuas res tibi habeto, tuas res tibi agito. The phrases used to express the renunciation of a marriage contract were,renuntiare repudium,repudium remittere,dicere, andrepudiare; and the form of words might be,Conditione tua non utor.

DŎCĂNA (τὰ δόκανα, fromδοκός, a beam) was an ancient symbolical representation of the Dioscuri (Castor and Pollux), at Sparta. It consisted of two upright beams with others laid across them transversely.

DŎCĬMĂSĬA (δοκιμασία). When any citizen of Athens was either appointed by lot, or chosen by suffrage, to hold a public office, he was obliged, before entering on its duties, to submit to adocimasia, or scrutiny into his previous life and conduct, in which any person could object to him as unfit. Thedocimasia, however, was not confined to persons appointed to public offices; for we read of the denouncement of a scrutiny against orators who spoke in the assembly while leading profligate lives, or after having committed flagitious crimes.

DODRANS. [As.]

DŎLĀBRA,dim.DŎLĀBELLA (σμίλη,dim.σμιλίον), a chisel, a celt, was used for a variety of purposes in ancient as in modern times.Celtesis an old Latin word for a chisel, probably derived fromcoelo, to engrave. Celts, or chisels, were frequently employed in making entrenchments and in destroying fortifications; and hence they are often found in ancient earth-works and encampments. They are for the most part of bronze, more rarely of hard stone. The sizes and forms which they present, are as variousas the uses to which they were applied. The annexed woodcut is designed to show a few of the most remarkable varieties.

Dolabrae, Celts. (From different Collections in Great Britain.)

DŌLĬUM, a cylindrical vessel, somewhat resembling our tubs or casks, into which new wine was put to let it ferment.

DŎLO (δόλων). (1) A secret poniard or dagger contained in a case, used by the Italians. It was inserted in the handles of whips, and also in walking sticks, thus corresponding to our sword-stick.—(2) A small top-sail.

DŎMĬNĬUM signifies quiritarian ownership, or property in a thing; anddominus, ordominus legitimus, is the owner. The dominus has the power of dealing with a thing as he pleases, and differs from the barepossessor, who has only the right of possession, and has not the absolute ownership of the thing.

DŎMUS (οἶκος), a house.—(1)Greek.A Greek house was always divided into two distinct portions, theAndronitis, or men’s apartments (ἀνδρωνῖτις), and theGynaeconitis, or women’s apartments (γυναικωνῖτις). In the earliest times, as in the houses referred to by Homer, and in some houses at a later period, the women’s apartments were in the upper story (ὑπερῷον), but usually at a later time the gynaeconitis was on the same story with the andronitis, and behind it. The front of the house towards the street was not large, as the apartments extended rather in the direction of its depth than of its width. In towns the houses were often built side by side, with party-walls between. The exterior wall was plain, being composed generally of stone, brick, and timber, and often covered with stucco. There was no open space between the street and the house-door, like the Romanvestibulum. Theπρόθυρα, which is sometimes mentioned, seems to be merely the space in front of the house, where there was generally an altar of Apollo Agyieus, or a rude obelisk emblematical of the god. Sometimes there was a laurel tree in the same position, and sometimes a head of the god Hermes. A few steps (ἀναβαθμοί) led up to the house-door, which generally bore some inscription, for the sake of a good omen, or as a charm. The door sometimes opened outwards; but this seems to have been an exception to the general rule, as is proved by the expressions used for opening,ἐνδοῦναι, and shutting it,ἐπισπάσασθαιandἐφελκύσασθαι. The handles were calledἐπισπαστῆρες. The house-door was calledαὔλειοςorαὔλεια θύρα, because it led to theαὐλή. It gave admittance to a narrow passage (θυρωρεῖον,πυλών,θυρών), on one side of which, in a large house, were the stables, on the other the porter’s lodge. The duty of the porter (θυρωρός) was to admit visitors and to prevent anything improper from being carried into or out of the house. The porter was attended by a dog. Hence the phraseεὐλαβεῖσθαι τὴν κύνα, corresponding to the LatinCave canem. From theθυρωρεῖονwe pass into the peristyle or court (περιστύλιον,αὐλή) of the andronitis, which was a space open to the sky in the centre (ὕπαιθρον), and surrounded on all four sides by porticoes (στοαί), of which one, probably that nearest the entrance, was calledπροστόον. These porticoes were used for exercise, and sometimes for dining in. Here was commonly the altar on which sacrifices were offered to the household gods. In building the porticoes the object sought was to obtain as much sun in winter, and as much shade and air in summer as possible. Round the peristyle were arranged the chambers used by the men, such as banqueting rooms (οἶκοι,ἀνδρῶνες), which were large enough to contain several sets of couches (τρίκλινοι,ἑπτάκλινοι,τριακοντάκλινοι, and at the same time to allow abundant room for attendants, musicians, and performers of games; parlours or sitting rooms (ἐξέδραι), and smaller chambers and sleeping rooms (δωμάτια,κοιτῶνες,οἰκήματα); picture-galleriesand libraries, and sometimes store-rooms; and in the arrangement of these apartments attention was paid to their aspect. The peristyle of the andronitis was connected with that of the gynaeconitis by a door calledμέταυλος,μέσαυλος, orμεσαύλιος, which was in the middle of the portico of the peristyle opposite to the entrance. By means of this door all communication between the andronitis and gynaeconitis could be shut off.

Ground-plan of a Greek House.

α, House-door,αὔλειος θύρα:θυρ’, passage,θυρωρεῖονorθυρών:Α, peristyle, orαὐλήof the andronitis;ο, the halls and chambers of the andronitis;μ,μέταυλοςorμέσαυλος θύρα:Γ, peristyle of the gynaeconitis;γ, chambers of the gynaeconitis;π,προστάςorπαραστάς:θ,θάλαμοςandἀμφιθάλαμος:Ι, rooms for working in wool (ἱστῶνες);Κ, garden-door,κηταία θύρα.

Accordingly Xenophon calls itθύρα βαλανωτός. Its nameμέσαυλοςis evidently derived fromμέσος, and means the doorbetweenthe twoαὐλαίor peristyles. This door gave admittance to the peristyle of the gynaeconitis, which differed from that of the andronitis in having porticoes round only three of its sides. On the fourth side were placed two antae [Antae], at a considerable distance from each other. A third of the distance between these antae was set off inwards, thus forming a chamber or vestibule, which was calledπροστάς,παραστάς, andπρόδρομος. On the right and left of thisπροστάςwere two bed-chambers, theθάλαμοςandἀμφιθάλαμος, of which the former was the principal bed-chamber of the house, and here also seem to have been kept the vases, and other valuable articles of ornament. Beyond these rooms were large apartments (ἱστῶνες) used for working in wool. Round the peristyle were the eating-rooms, bed-chambers, store-rooms, and other apartments in common use. Besides theαὔλειος θύραand theμέσαυλος θύρα, there was a third door (κηπαία θύρα) leading to the garden. The preceding is a conjectural plan of the ground-floor of a Greek house of the larger size. There was usually, though not always, an upper story (ὑπερῷον διῆρες), which seldom extended over the whole space occupied by the lower story. The principal use of the upper story was for the lodging of the slaves. The access to the upper floor seems to have been sometimes by stairs on the outside of the house, leading up from the street. Guests were also lodged in the upper story. But in some large houses there were rooms set apart for their reception (ξενῶνες) on the ground-floor. The roofs were generally flat, and it was customary to walk about upon them. In the interior of the house the place of doors was sometimes supplied by curtains (παραπετάσματα), which were either plain, or dyed, or embroidered. The principal openings for the admission of light and air were in the roofs of the peristyles; but it is incorrect to suppose that the houses had no windows (θυρίδες), or at least none overlooking the street. They were not at all uncommon. Artificial warmth was procured partly by means of fire-places. It is supposed that chimneys were altogether unknown, and that the smoke escaped through an opening in the roof (καπνοδόκη), but it is not easy to understand how this could be the case when there was an upper story. Little portable stoves (ἐσχάραι,ἐσχαρίδες) or chafing-dishes (ἀνθράκια) were frequently used. The houses of the wealthy in the country, at least in Attica, were much larger and more magnificent than those in the towns. The latter seem to have been generally small and plain, especially in earlier times, when the Greeks preferred expending the resources of art and wealth on their temples and public buildings; but the private houses became more magnificent as the public buildings began to be neglected. The decorations of the interior were very plain at the period to which our description refers. The floors were of stone. At a late period coloured stones were used. Mosaics are first mentioned under the kings of Pergamus. The walls, up to the 4th centuryB.C., seem tohave been only whited. The first instance of painting them is that of Alcibiades. This innovation met with considerable opposition. We have also mention of painted ceilings at the same period. At a later period this mode of decoration became general.—(2)Roman.The houses of the Romans were poor and mean for many centuries after the foundation of the city. Till the war with Pyrrhus the houses were covered only with thatch or shingles, and were usually built of wood or unbaked bricks. It was not till the latter times of the republic, when wealth had been acquired by conquests in the East, that houses of any splendour began to be built; but it then became the fashion not only to build houses of an immense size, but also to adorn them with columns, paintings, statues, and costly works of art. Some idea may be formed of the size and magnificence of the houses of the Roman nobles during the later times of the republic by the price which they fetched. The consul Messalla bought the house of Autronius for 3700 sestertia (nearly 33,000l.), and Cicero the house of Crassus, on the Palatine, for 3500 sestertia (nearly 31,000l.). The house of Publius Clodius, whom Milo killed, cost 14,800 sestertia (about 131,000l.); and the Tusculan villa of Scaurus was fitted up with such magnificence, that when it was burnt by his slaves, he lost 100,000 sestertia, upwards of 885,000l.—Houses were originally only one story high; but as the value of ground increased in the city they were built several stories in height, and the highest floors were usually inhabited by the poor. Till the time of Nero, the streets in Rome were narrow and irregular, and bore traces of the haste and confusion with which the city was built after it had been burnt by the Gauls; but after the great fire in the time of that emperor, by which two-thirds of Rome was burnt to the ground, the city was built with great regularity. The streets were made straight and broad; the height of the houses was restricted, and a certain part of each was required to be built of Gabian or Alban stone, which was proof against fire. The principal parts of a Roman house were the, 1.Vestibulum, 2.Ostium, 3.AtriumorCavum Aedium, 4.Alae, 5.Tablinum, 6.Fauces, 7.Peristylium. The parts of a house which were considered of less importance, and of which the arrangement differed in different houses, were the, 1.Cubicula, 2.Triclinia, 3.Oeci, 4.Exedrae, 5.Pinacotheca, 6.Bibliotheca, 7.Balineum, 8.Culina, 9.Coenacula, 10.Diaeta, 11.Solaria. We shall speak of each in order.—1.Vestibulumdid not properly form part of the house, but was a vacant space before the door, forming a court, which was surrounded on three sides by the house, and was open on the fourth to the street.—2.Ostium, which is also calledjanuaandfores, was the entrance to the house. The street-door admitted into a hall, to which the name of ostium was also given, and in which there was frequently a small room (cella) for the porter (janitororostiarius), and also for a dog, which was usually kept in the hall to guard the house. Another door (janua interior) opposite the street-door led into the atrium.—3.AtriumorCavum Aedium, also writtenCavaedium, are probably only different names of the same room.

Atrium of the House of Ceres at Pompeii.

The Atrium or Cavum Aedium was a large apartment roofed over with the exception of an opening in the centre, calledcompluvium, towards which the roof sloped so as to throw the rain-water into a cistern in the floor, termedimpluvium, which was frequently ornamented with statues, columns, and other works of art. The wordimpluvium, however, is also employed to denote the aperture in the roof. The atrium was the most important room in the house, and among the wealthy was usually fitted up with much splendour and magnificence. Originally it was the only sitting-room in the house; but in the houses of the wealthy it was distinct from the private apartments, and was used as a reception-room, where the patron received his clients, and the great and noble the numerous visitors who were accustomed to call every morning to pay their respects or solicit favours. But though the atrium was not used by the wealthy as a sitting-room for the family, it still continued to be employed for many purposes which it had originally served. Thus the nuptial couch was placed in the atrium opposite the door, and also the instruments and materials for spinning and weaving, which were formerly carried on by the women of the family in this room. Here also the images of their ancestors were placed, and the focus or fire-place, which possessed a sacred character, being dedicated to the Lares of each family.—4.Alae, wings, were small apartments or recesses on the left and right sides of the atrium.—5.Tablinumwas in all probability a recess or room at the further end of the atrium opposite the door leading into the hall, and was regarded as part of the atrium. It contained the family records and archives. With the tablinum the Roman house appears to have originally ceased; and the sleeping-rooms were probably arranged on each side of the atrium. But when the atrium and its surrounding rooms were used for the reception of clients and other public visitors, it became necessary to increase the size of the house; and the followingrooms were accordingly added:—6.Faucesappear to have been passages, which passed from the atrium to the peristylium or interior of the house.—7.Peristyliumwas in its general form like the atrium, but it was one-third greater in breadth, measured transversely, than in length. It was a court open to the sky in the middle; the open part, which was surrounded by columns, was larger than the impluvium in the atrium, and was frequently decorated with flowers and shrubs.—The arrangement of the rooms, which are next to be noticed, varied according to the taste and circumstances of the owner. It is therefore impossible to assign to them any regular place in the house.—1.Cubicula, bed-chambers, appear to have been usually small. There were separate cubicula for the day and night; the latter were also calleddormitoria.—2.Tricliniaare treated of in a separate article. [Triclinium.]—3.Oeci, from the Greekοἶκος, were spacious halls or saloons borrowed from the Greeks, and were frequently used as triclinia. They were to have the same proportions as triclinia, but were to be more spacious on account of having columns, which triclinia had not.—4.Exedraewere rooms for conversation and the other purposes of society.—5.Pinacotheca, a picture-gallery.—6, 7.BibliothecaandBalineumare treated of in separate articles.—8.Culina, the kitchen.

Kitchen of the House of Pansa at Pompeii.

The food was originally cooked in the atrium: but the progress of refinement afterwards led to the use of another part of the house for this purpose. In the kitchen of Pansa’s house at Pompeii, a stove for stews and similar preparations was found, very much like the charcoal stoves used in the present day. Before it lie a knife, a strainer, and a kind of frying-pan with four spherical cavities, as if it were meant to cook eggs.—9.Coenacula, properly signified rooms to dine in; but after it became the fashion to dine in the upper part of the house, the whole of the rooms above the ground-floor were calledcoenacula.—10.Diaeta, an apartment used for dining in, and for the other purposes of life. It appears to have been smaller than the triclinium.Diaetais also the name given by Pliny to rooms containing three or four bed-chambers (cubicula). Pleasure-houses or summer-houses are also calleddiaetae.—11.Solaria, properly places for basking in the sun, were terraces on the tops of houses. The preceding cut represents the atrium of a house at Pompeii. In the centre is the impluvium, and the passage at the further end is the ostium or entrance hall.—The preceding account of the different rooms, and especially of the arrangement of the atrium, tablinum, peristyle, &c., is best illustrated by the houses which have been disinterred at Pompeii. The ground-plan of one is accordingly subjoined.

Ground-plan of a House at Pompeii.

Like most of the otherhouses at Pompeii, it had no vestibulum according to the meaning given above. 1. Theostiumor entrance-hall, which is six feet wide and nearly thirty long. Near the street-door there is a figure of a large fierce dog worked in mosaic on the pavement, and beneath it is writtenCave Canem. The two large rooms on each side of the vestibule appear from the large openings in front of them to have been shops; they communicate with the entrance-hall, and were therefore probably occupied by the master of the house. 2. Theatrium, which is about twenty-eight feet in length and twenty in breadth; itsimpluviumis near the centre of the room, and its floor is paved with white tesserae, spotted with black. 3. Chambers for the use of the family, or intended for the reception of guests, who were entitled to claim hospitality. 4. A small room with a staircase leading up to the upper rooms. 5.Alae.6. Thetablinum. 7. Thefauces. 8. Peristyle, with Doric columns and garden in the centre. The large room on the right of the peristyle is the triclinium; beside it is the kitchen; and the smaller apartments are cubicula and other rooms for the use of the family.—Having given a general description of the rooms of a Roman house, it remains to speak of the (1) floors, (2) walls, (3) ceilings, (4) windows, and (5) the mode of warming the rooms. For the doors, seeJanua.—(1.) The floor (solum) of a room was seldom boarded: it was generally covered with stone or marble, or mosaics. The common floors were paved with pieces of bricks, tiles, stones, &c., forming a kind of composition calledruderatic. Sometimes pieces of marble were imbedded in a composition ground, and these probably gave the idea of mosaics. As these floors were beaten down (pavita) with rammers (fistucae), the wordpavimentumbecame the general name for a floor. Mosaics, called by Plinylithostrota(λιθόστρωτα), though this word has a more extensive meaning, first came into use in Sulla’s time, who made one in the temple of Fortune at Praeneste. Mosaic work was afterwards calledMusivum opus, and was most extensively employed.—(2.) The inner walls (parietes) of private rooms were frequently lined with slabs of marble, but were more usually covered by paintings, which in the time of Augustus were made upon the walls themselves. This practice was so common that we find even the small houses in Pompeii have paintings upon their walls.—(3.) The ceilings seem originally to have been left uncovered, the beams which supported the roof or the upper story being visible. Afterwards planks were placed across these beams at certain intervals, leaving hollow spaces, calledlacunariaorlaquearia, which were frequently covered with gold and ivory, and sometimes with paintings. There was an arched ceiling in common use, calledCamara.—(4.) The Roman houses had few windows (fenestrae). The principal apartments, the atrium, peristyle, &c., were lighted from above, and the cubicula and other small rooms generally derived their light from them, and not from windows looking into the street. The rooms only on the upper story seem to have been usually lighted by windows. The windows appear originally to have been merely openings in the wall, closed by means of shutters, which frequently had two leaves (bifores fenestrae). Windows were also sometimes covered by a kind of lattice or trellis work (clathri), and sometimes by net-work, to prevent serpents and other noxious reptiles from getting in. Afterwards, however, windows were made of a transparent stone, calledlapis specularis(mica); such windows were calledspecularia. Windows made of glass (vitrum) are first mentioned by Lactantius, who lived in the fourth century of the Christian era; but the discoveries at Pompeii prove that glass was used for windows under the early emperors.—(5.) The rooms were heated in winter in different ways; but the Romans had nostoves like ours. The cubicula, triclinia, and other rooms, which were intended for winter use, were built in that part of the house upon which the sun shone most; and in the mild climate of Italy this frequently enabled them to dispense with any artificial mode of warming the rooms. Rooms exposed to the sun in this way were sometimes calledheliocamini. The rooms were sometimes heated by hot air, which was introduced by means of pipes from a furnace below, but more frequently by portable furnaces or braziers (foculi), in which coal or charcoal was burnt. Thecaminuswas also a kind of stove, in which wood appears to have been usually burnt, and probably only differed from thefoculusin being larger and fixed to one place. The rooms usually had no chimneys for carrying off the smoke, which escaped through the windows, doors, and openings in the roof; still chimneys do not appear to have been entirely unknown to the ancients, as some are said to have been found in the ruins of ancient buildings.

DŌNĀRĬA (ἀναθήματαorἀνακείμενα), presents made to the gods, either by individuals or communities. Sometimes they are also calleddonaorδῶρα. The belief that the gods were pleased with costly presents was as natural to the ancients as the belief that they could be influenced in their conduct towards men by the offering of sacrifices; and, indeed, both sprang from the same feeling. Presents were mostly given as tokens of gratitude for some favour which a god had bestowed on man; as, for instance, by persons who had recovered from illness or escaped from shipwreck; but some are also mentioned, which were intended to induce the deity to grant some especial favour. Almost all presents were dedicated in temples, to which in some places an especial building was added, in which these treasures were preserved. Such buildings were calledθησαυροί(treasuries); and in the most frequented temples of Greece many states had their separate treasuries. The act of dedication was calledἀνατιθέναι,donare,dedicare, orsacrare.

DŌNĀTĪVUM. [Congiarium.]

DORMĪTŌRĬA. [Domus.]

DOS (φερνή,προΐξ), dowry. (1)Greek.In the Homeric times it was customary for the husband to purchase his wife from her relations, by gifts calledἕδναorἔεδνα. But at Athens, during the historical period, the contrary was the case; for every woman had to bring her husband some dowry, and so universal was the practice, that one of the chief distinctions between a wife and aπαλλακή, or concubine, consisted in the former having a portion, whereas the latter had not; hence, persons who married wives without portions appear to have given them or their guardians an acknowledgment in writing by which the receipt of a portion was admitted. Moreover, poor heiresses were either married or portioned by their next of kin, according to a law, which fixed the amount of portion to be given at five minae by a Pentacosiomedimnus, three by a Horseman, and one and a half by a Zeugites. The husband had to give to the relatives or guardians of the wife security (ἀποτίμημα) for the dowry, which was not considered the property of the husband himself, but rather of his wife and children. The portion was returned to the wife in case of a divorce.—(2)Roman.Thedosamong the Romans was every thing which on the occasion of a woman’s marriage was transferred by her, or by another person, to the husband. All the property of the wife which was not made dos continued to be her own, and was comprised under the name ofparapherna. The dos upon its delivery became the husband’s property, and continued to be his so long as the marriage relation existed. In the case of divorce, the woman, or her relations, could bring an action for the restitution of the dos; and, accordingly, a woman whose dos was large (dotata uxor) had some influence over her husband, inasmuch as she had the power of divorcing herself, and thus of depriving him of the enjoyment of her property.

Attic Drachma. (British Museum.)

DRACHMA (δραχμή), the principal silver coin among the Greeks. The two chief standards in the currencies of the Greek states were the Attic and Aeginetan. The average value of the Attic drachma was 9¾d.of our money. It contained six obols (ὀβολοί); and the Athenians had separate silver coins, from four drachmae to a quarter of an obol. There were also silver pieces of two drachmae and four drachmae. (See tables.) The tetradrachm in later times was calledstater. The latter word also signifies a gold coin, equal in value to twenty drachmae [Stater]. The obolos, in later times, was of bronze: but in the best times of Athens we only read of silver obols. Theχαλκοῦςwas a copper coin, and the eighth part of an obol. The Atticstandard prevailed most in the maritime and commercial states. It was the standard of Philip’s gold, and was introduced by Alexander for silver also.—The Aeginetan standard appears to have been the prevalent one in early times: we are told that money was first coined at Aegina by order of Pheidon at Argos. In later times the Aeginetan standard was used in almost all the states of the Peloponnesus, except Corinth. The average value of the Aeginetan drachma was 1s.1¾d.in our money; and the values of the different coins of this standard are as follows:—

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