LĪBELLA, a small Roman silver coin, which existed in the early age of the city. The name was retained later as a proverbial expression for a very small value. Thelibellawas equal in value to the old full-weightas; and it seems most probable that the coin ceased being struck at the time of the reduction of theas, on account of the inconveniently small size which it would have assumed. Thelibellawas subdivided into thesembella, its half, and theteruncius, its quarter. Cicero uses these words to express fractions of an estate, with reference to thedenariusas the unit, thelibellasignifying 1-10th, and theteruncius1-40th of the whole.
LĬBELLUS, the diminutive form of liber, signifies properly a little book. It was distinguished from other kinds of writings, by being written like our books by pages, whereas other writings were writtentransversa charta. It was used by the Romans as a technical term in the following cases:—1.Libelli accusatorumoraccusatorii, the written accusations which in some cases a plaintiff, after having received the permission to bring an action against a person, drew up, signed, and sent to the judicial authorities. 2.Libelli famosi, libels or pasquinades, intended to injure the character of persons. A law of the Twelve Tables inflicted very severe punishments on those who composed defamatory writings. 3.Libellus memorialis,a pocket or memorandum book. 4.Libellusis used by the Roman jurists as equivalent toOratio Principis. 5. The word libellus was also applied to a variety of writings, which in most cases probably consisted of one page only; such as short letters, advertisements, &c.
Ancient Writing Materials. (From a Painting at Herculaneum.)
Ancient Writing Materials. (From a Painting at Herculaneum.)
LĬBER (βιβλίον), a book. The most common material on which books were written by the Greeks and Romans, was the thin coats or rind (liber, whence the Latin name for a book) of the Egyptian papyrus. This plant was called by the Egyptians Byblos (βύβλος), whence the Greeks derived their name for a book (βιβλίον). The papyrus-tree grows in swamps to the height of ten feet and more, and paper (charta) was prepared from the thin coats or pellicles which surround the plant. Next to the papyrus, parchment (membrana) was the most common material for writing upon. It is said to have been invented by Eumenes II. king of Pergamus, in consequence of the prohibition of the export of papyrus from Egypt by Ptolemy Epiphanes. It is probable, however, that Eumenes introduced only some improvement in the manufacture of parchment, as Herodotus mentions writing on skins as common in his time, and says that the Ionians had been accustomed to give the name of skins (διφθέραι) to books. The ancients wrote usually on only one side of the paper or parchment. The back of the paper, instead of being written upon, was usually stained with saffron colour or the cedrus, which produced a yellow colour. As paper and parchment were dear, it was frequently the custom to erase or wash out writing of little importance, and to write upon the paper or parchment again, which was then calledPalimpsestus(παλιμψήστος). The paper or parchment was joined together so as to form one sheet, and when the work was finished, it was rolled on a staff, whence it was called avolumen; and hence we have the expressionevolvere librum. When an author divided a work into several books, it was usual to include only one book in a volume or roll, so that there was generally the same number of volumes as of books. In the papyri rolls found at Herculaneum, the stick on which the papyrus is rolled does not project from the papyrus, but is concealed by it. Usually, however, there were balls or bosses, ornamented or painted, calledumbiliciorcornua, which were fastened at each end of the stick and projected from the papyrus. The ends of the roll were carefully cut, polished with pumice-stone and coloured black; they were called thegeminae frontes. The way in which a book was held while reading is shown in the following cut, taken from a painting at Herculaneum. To protect the roll from injury it was frequently put into a parchment case, which was stained with a purple colour or with the yellow of the Lutum. The title of the book (titulus,index) was written on a small strip of papyrus or parchment with a light red colour (coccumorminium).
Book held by a crowned Poet. (From a Painting at Herculaneum.)
Book held by a crowned Poet. (From a Painting at Herculaneum.)
LĪBĔRĀLĬA. [Dionysia.]
LĪBĔRI. [Ingenui;Libertus.]
LĪBERTUS, LĪBERTĪNUS. Freemen (liberi) were eitherIngenui[Ingenui] orLibertini.Libertiniwere those persons who had been released from legal servitude. A manumitted slave wasLibertus(that is,liberatus) with reference to his master; with reference to the class to which he belonged after manumission, he wasLibertinus. Respecting the mode in which a slave was manumitted, and his status after manumission, seeManumissio.—At Athens, a liberated slave was calledἀπελεύθερος. When manumitted he did not obtain the citizenship, but was regarded as ametoicus[Metoicus], and, as such, he had to pay not only themetoicionμετοίκιονbut a triobolon in addition to it. His former master became his patronπροστάτηςto whom he owed certain duties.
LĬBĬTĪNĀRĬI. [Funus.]
LĪBRA,dim.LĪBELLAσταθμός, a balance, a pair of scales. The principal parts of this instrument were, 1. The beam (jugum). 2. The two scales, called in Greekτάλαντα, and in Latinlances. The beam was made without a tongue, being held by a ring or other appendage (ligula,ῥῦμα) fixed in the centre.
LĪBRA or AS, a pound, the unit of weight among the Romans and Italians. The uncial division, which has been noticed in speaking of the coin As, was also applied to the weight.—(SeeTablesat the end.) The divisions of the ounce are given underUncia. Where the wordpondo, or its abbreviationsP.orPOND., occur with a simple number, the weight understood is thelibra. The namelibrawas also given to a measure of horn, divided into twelve equal parts (unciae) by lines marked on it, and used for measuring oil.
LIBRĀRĬI, the name of slaves, who were employed by their masters in writing or copying, sometimes calledantiquarii. They must be distinguished from the Scribae publici, who were freemen [Scribae], and also from the booksellers [Bibliopola], to both of whom this name was also applied.
LĪBRĀTOR, in general a person who examines things by aLIBRA; but specially applied to two kinds of persons.—(1)Libratores aquae, persons whose knowledge of hydrostatics was indispensable in the construction of aquaeducts, sewers, and other structures for the purpose of conveying a fluid from one place to another.—(2)Libratoresin the armies were probably soldiers who attacked the enemy by hurling with their own hands (librando) lances or spears against them.
LIBRĬPENS. [Mancipium.]
LĬBURNA, LĬBURNĬCA, a light vessel, which derived its name from the Liburni. The ships of this people were of great assistance to Augustus at the battle of Actium; and experience having shown their efficiency, vessels of a similar kind were built and called by the name of the people.
LICTOR, a public officer, who attended on the chief Roman magistrates. The number which waited on the different magistrates is stated in the articleFasces. The office of lictor is said to have been derived by Romulus from the Etruscans. The lictors went before the magistrates one by one in a line; he who went last or next to the magistrate was calledproximus lictor, to whom the magistrate gave his commands; and as this lictor was always the principal one, we also find him calledprimus lictor. The lictors had to inflict punishment on those who were condemned, especially in the case of Roman citizens; for foreigners and slaves were punished by the Carnifex; and they also probably had to assist in some cases in the execution of a decree or judgment in a civil suit. The lictors likewise commanded persons to pay proper respect to a magistrate passing by, which consisted in dismounting from horseback, uncovering the head, standing out of the way, &c. The lictors were originally chosen from the plebs, but afterwards appear to have been generally freedmen, probably of the magistrate on whom they attended. Lictors were properly only granted to those magistrates who had the Imperium. Consequently, the tribunes of the plebs never had lictors, nor several of the other magistrates. Sometimes, however, lictors were granted to persons as a mark of respect or for the sake of protection. Thus by a law of the Triumvirs every vestal virgin was accompanied by a lictor, whenever she went out, and the honour of one or two lictors was usually granted to the wives and other female members of the Imperial family. There were also thirty lictors calledLictores Curiati, whose duty it was to summon the curiae to the comitia curiata; and when these meetings became little more than a form, their suffrages were represented by the thirty lictors.
LĬGŬLA, a Roman measure of fluid capacity, containing one-fourth of theCyathus. It signifiesa spoonful, likecochlear; only theligulawas larger than thecochlear. The spoon which was calledligula, orlingula(dim. oflingua) from its shape, was used for various purposes, especially to clean out small and narrow vessels, and to eat jellies and such things. The word is also used for the leather tongue of a shoe.
LĪMEN. [Janua.]
LINTER, a light boat, frequently formed of the trunk of a tree, and drawing little water.
LĬTHOSTRŌTA. [Domus,p. 144.]
LITRAλίτρα, a Sicilian silver coin, equal in value to the Aeginetan obol.
Lituus, Augur’s Staff. (Centre figure from an Etruscan sculpture; the two others are Roman coins.)
Lituus, Augur’s Staff. (Centre figure from an Etruscan sculpture; the two others are Roman coins.)
LĬTUUS, probably an Etruscan word signifyingcrooked.—(1) The crooked staff borne by the augurs, with which they divided the expanse of heaven, when viewed with reference to divination (templum), into regions (regiones).—(2) A sort of trumpet slightly curved at the extremity. It differed both from thetubaand thecornu, the former being straight, while the latter was bent round into a spiral shape. Its tones are usually characterised as harsh and shrill. The Liticines, or blowers on the Lituus, formed a Collegium along with the Cornicines. [Cornu.]
Lituus, Trumpet. (From Fabretti.)
Lituus, Trumpet. (From Fabretti.)
LIXAE. [Calones.]
LŎCŬPLĒTES or ASSĬDŬI, the name of the Roman citizens included in the five classes of the Servian constitution, and opposed to theProletarii.
LŌDIX, a small shaggy blanket. It was also used as a carpet.
LOGISTAE. [Euthyne.]
Lorica, as worn by a Greek Warrior.(From a Vase.)Lorica, as worn by a Roman Emperor.(Statue of Caligula in Louvre.)
Lorica, as worn by a Greek Warrior.(From a Vase.)Lorica, as worn by a Roman Emperor.(Statue of Caligula in Louvre.)
Lorica, as worn by a Greek Warrior.(From a Vase.)
Lorica, as worn by a Roman Emperor.(Statue of Caligula in Louvre.)
LŌRĪCA (θώραξ), a cuirass. The cuirass was worn by the heavy-armed infantry bothamong the Greeks and Romans. The soldiers commonly wore cuirasses made of flexible bands of steel, or cuirasses of chain mail; but those of generals and officers usually consisted of twoγύαλα, the breast-piece and back-piece, made of bronze, iron, &c., which were joined by means of buckles (περόναι). The epithetsλεπιδωτόςandφολιδωτόςare applied to a cuirass; the former on account of its resemblance to the scales of fish (λεπίσιν), the latter to the scales of serpents (φολίσιν). Among the Asiatic nations the cuirass was frequently made of cotton, and among the Sarmatians and other northern nations of horn.
Lorica.λεπιδωτός.Lorica.φολιδωτός.(Bartoli, ‘Arcus Triumph.’)
Lorica.λεπιδωτός.Lorica.φολιδωτός.(Bartoli, ‘Arcus Triumph.’)
Lorica.λεπιδωτός.
Lorica.φολιδωτός.
LŪCAR. [Histrio.]
LŪCĔRES. [Tribus.]
Lucerna, lamp. (Museo Borbonico, vol. iv. pl. 10.)
Lucerna, lamp. (Museo Borbonico, vol. iv. pl. 10.)
LŬCERNA (λύχνος), an oil lamp. The Greeks and Romans originally used candles; but in later times candles were chiefly confined to the houses of the lower classes. [Candela.] A great number of ancient lamps has come down to us; the greater part of which are made of terra cotta, but also a considerable number of bronze. Most of the lamps are of an oval form, and flat upon the top, on which there are frequently figures in relief. In the lamps there are one or more round holes, according to the number of wicks (ellychnia) burnt in them; and as these holes were called from an obvious analogy,μυκτῆρεςorμύξαι, literally nostrils or nozzles, the lamp was also calledMonomyxos,Dimyxos,Trimyxos, orPolymyxos, according as it contained one, two, three, or a greater number of nozzles or holes for the wicks. The following is an example of adimyxos lucerna, upon which there is a winged boy with a goose. The next woodcut represents one of the most beautiful bronze lamps which has yet been found. Upon it is the figure of a standing Silenus. The lamps sometimes hung in chains from the ceiling of the room, but they generally stood upon a stand. [Candelabrum.]
Lucerna lamp. (Museo Borbonico, vol. i. pl 10.)
Lucerna lamp. (Museo Borbonico, vol. i. pl 10.)
LUCTA, LUCTĀTĬO (πάλη,πάλαισμα,παλαισμοσύνη, orκαταβλητική), wrestling. The Greeks ascribed the invention of wrestling to mythical personages, and Hermes, the god of all gymnastic exercises, also presided over wrestling. In the Homeric age wrestling was much practised: during this period wrestlers contended naked, and only the loins were covered with the perizoma (περίζωμα), and this custom probably remained throughout Greece until Ol. 15, from which time the perizoma was no longer used, and wrestlers contended entirely naked. In the Homeric age the custom of anointing the body for the purpose of wrestling does not appear to have been known, but in the time of Solon it was quite general, and was said to have been adopted by the Cretans and Lacedaemonians at a very early period. After the body was anointed, it was strewed over with sand or dust, in order to enable the wrestlers to take a firm hold of each other. If one combatant threw the other down three times, the victory was decided. Wrestling was practised in all the great games of the Greeks. The most renowned wrestler was Milon, of Croton. [Pancratium.]
LŪDI, the common name for the whole variety of games and contests which were held at Rome on various occasions, but chiefly at the festivals of the gods; and as the ludi at certain festivals formed the principal part of the solemnities, these festivals themselves are called ludi. Sometimes ludi were also held in honour of a magistrate or a deceased person, in which case they may be considered as ludi privati. All ludi were divided by the Romans into two classes,ludi circensesandludi scenici, accordingly as they were held in the circus or in the theatre; in the latter case they were mostly theatrical representations with their various modifications; in the former they consisted of all or of a part of the games enumerated in the articlesCircusandGladiatores. Another division of the ludi intostati,imperativi, andvotivi, is analogous to the division of the feriae. [Feriae.] The superintendence of the games, and the solemnities connected with them, was in most cases intrusted to the aediles. [Aediles.] If the lawful rites were not observed in the celebration of the ludi, it depended upon the decision of the pontiffs whether they were to be held again (instaurari) or not. An alphabetical list of the principal ludi is subjoined.
Ludi Apollinareswere instituted at Rome during the second Punic war, after the battle of Cannae (212B.C.), at the command of an oracle contained in the books of the ancient seer Marcius, in order to obtain the aid of Apollo. They were held every year under the superintendence of the praetor urbanus, and ten men sacrificed to Apollo, according to Greek rites, a bull with gilt horns and two white goats also with gilt horns, and to Latona a heifer with gilt horns. The games themselves were held in the Circus Maximus, the spectators were adorned with chaplets, and each citizen gave a contribution towards defraying the expenses. InB.C.208, it was ordained that they should always be celebrated on the 6th of July.
Ludi Augustales.[Augustales.]
Ludi Capitoliniwere institutedB.C.387, after the departure of the Gauls from Rome, as a token of gratitude towards Jupiter Capitolinus, who had saved the Capitol in the hour of danger. The superintendence of the games was entrusted to a college of priests calledCapitolini.
Ludi Circenses,RomaniorMagni, were celebrated every year during several days, from the fourth to the twelfth of September, in honour of the three great divinities, Jupiter, Juno, and Minerva, or, according to others, in honour of Jupiter, Consus, and Neptunus Equestris. They were superintended by the curule aediles. For further particulars seeCircus.
Ludi Compitalicii.[Compitalia.]
Ludi Florales.[Floralia.]
Ludi Funebreswere games celebrated at the funeral pyre of illustrious persons. Such games are mentioned in the very early legends of the history of Greece and Rome, and they continued with various modifications until the introduction of Christianity. It was at such a ludus funebris, inB.C.264, that gladiatorial fights were exhibited at Rome for the first time, which henceforwards were the most essential part in all funeral games. [Gladiatores.]
Ludi Liberales.[Dionysia.]
Ludi Megalenses.[Megalesia.]
Ludi Plebeiiwere instituted probably in commemoration of the reconciliation between the patricians and plebeians after the first secession to the Mons Sacer, or, according to others, to the Aventine. They were held on the 16th, 17th, and 18th of November, and were conducted by the plebeian aediles.
Ludi Saeculares.During the time of the republic these games were calledludi Tarentini,Terentini, orTaurii, and it was not till the time of Augustus that they bore the name ofludi saeculares. The namesTarentiorTauriiare perhaps nothing but different forms of the same word, and of the same root as Tarquinius. There were various accountsrespecting the origin of the games, yet all agree in stating that they were celebrated for the purpose of averting from the state some great calamity by which it had been afflicted, and that they were held in honour of Dis and Proserpina. From the time of the consul Valerius Publicola down to that of Augustus, the Tarentine games were held only three times, and again only on certain emergencies, and not at any fixed period, so that we must conclude that their celebration was in no way connected with certain cycles of time (saecula). Not long after Augustus had assumed the supreme power in the republic, the quindecimviri announced that according to their booksludi saecularesought to be held, and at the same time tried to prove from history that in former times they had not only been celebrated repeatedly, but almost regularly once in every century. The festival, however, which was now held, was in reality very different from the ancient Tarentine games; for Dis and Proserpina, to whom formerly the festival belonged exclusively, were now the last in the list of the divinities in honour of whom the ludi saeculares were celebrated. The festival took place in summer, and lasted for three days and three nights. On the first day the games commenced in that part of the Campus Martius, Which had belonged to the last Tarquin, from whom it derived its name Tarentum, and sacrifices were offered to Jupiter, Juno, Neptune, Minerva, Venus, Apollo, Mercury, Ceres, Vulcan, Mars, Diana, Vesta, Hercules, Latona, the Parcae, and to Dis and Proserpina. The solemnities began at the second hour of the night, and the emperor opened them by the river side with the sacrifice of three lambs to the Parcae upon three altars erected for the purpose, and which were sprinkled with the blood of the victims. The lambs themselves were burnt. A temporary scene like that of a theatre was erected in the Tarentum, and illuminated with lights and fires. In this scene festive hymns were sung by a chorus, and various other ceremonies, together with theatrical performances, took place. During the morning of the first day the people went to the Capitol to offer solemn sacrifices to Jupiter; thence they returned to the Tarentum, to sing choruses in honour of Apollo and Diana. On the second day the noblest matrons, at an hour fixed by an oracle, assembled in the Capitol, offered supplications, sang hymns to the gods, and also visited the altar of Juno. The emperor and the quindecimviri offered sacrifices which had been vowed before, to all the great divinities. On the third day Greek and Latin choruses were sung in the sanctuary of Apollo by three times nine boys and maidens of great beauty, whose parents were still alive. The object of these hymns was to implore the protection of the gods for all cities, towns, and officers of the empire. One of these hymns was thecarmen saeculareby Horace, which was especially composed for the occasion and adapted to the circumstances of the time. During the whole of the three days and nights, games of every description were carried on in all the circuses and theatres, and sacrifices were offered in all the temples. The first celebration of the ludi saeculares in the reign of Augustus took place in the summer ofB.C.17.
Ludi TarentiniorTaurii. [Ludi Saeculares.]
LŪDUS. [Gladiatores.]
LŪDUS TRŌJAE. [Circus.]
LŬPERCĀLĬA, one of the most ancient Roman festivals, which was celebrated every year in honour of Lupercus, the god of fertility. It was originally a shepherd-festival, and hence its introduction at Rome was connected with the names of Romulus and Remus, the kings of shepherds. It was held every year, on the 15th of February, in the Lupercal, where Romulus and Remus were said to have been nurtured by the she-wolf; the place contained an altar and a grove sacred to the god Lupercus. Here the Luperci assembled on the day of the Lupercalia, and sacrificed to the god goats and young dogs. Two youths of noble birth were then led to the Luperci, and one of the latter touched their foreheads with a sword dipped in the blood of the victims; other Luperci immediately after wiped off the bloody spots with wool dipped in milk. Hereupon the two youths were obliged to break out into a shout of laughter. This ceremony was probably a symbolical purification of the shepherds. After the sacrifice was over, the Luperci partook of a meal, at which they were plentifully supplied with wine. They then cut the skins of the goats which they had sacrificed, into pieces: with some of which they covered parts of their body in imitation of the god Lupercus, who was represented half naked and half covered with goatskin. The other pieces of the skins they cut in the shape of thongs, and holding them in their hands they ran with them through the streets of the city, touching or striking with them all persons whom they met in their way, and especially women, who even used to come forward voluntarily for the purpose, since they believed that this ceremony rendered them fruitful, and procured them an easy delivery in child-bearing. This act of running about with thongs of goatskin was a symbolic purificationof the land, and that of touching persons a purification of men, for the words by which this act is designated arefebruareandlustrare. The goatskin itself was calledfebruum, the festive daydies februata, the month in which it occurredFebruarius, and the god himselfFebruus. The festival of the Lupercalia, though it necessarily lost its original import at the time when the Romans were no longer a nation of shepherds, was yet always observed in commemoration of the founders of the city. M. Antonius, in his consulship, was one of the Luperci, and not only ran with them half naked and covered with pieces of goatskin through the city, but even addressed the people in the forum in this rude attire.
LŬPERCI, the priests of the god Lupercus. They formed a college, the members of which were originally youths of patrician families, and which was said to have been instituted by Romulus and Remus. The college was divided into two classes, the one calledFabiiorFabiani, and the otherQuinctiliiorQuinctiliani. The office was not for life, but how long it lasted is not known. Julius Caesar added to the two classes of the college a third with the name ofJuliiorJuliani, and made Antonius their high-priest. He also assigned to them certain revenues (vectigalia) which were afterwards withdrawn from them.
LŬPUS FERREUS, the iron wolf used by the besieged in repelling the attacks of the besiegers, and especially in seizing the battering-ram and diverting its blows.
LUSTRĀTĬO (κάθαρσις) was originally a purification by ablution in water. But the lustrations of which we possess direct knowledge are always connected with sacrifices and other religious rites, and consisted in the sprinkling of water by means of a branch of laurel or olive, and at Rome sometimes by means of the aspergillum, and in the burning of certain materials, the smoke of which was thought to have a purifying effect. Whenever sacrifices were offered, it seems to have been customary to carry them around the person or thing to be purified. Lustrations were made in ancient Greece, and probably at Rome also, by private individuals when they had polluted themselves by any criminal action. Whole cities and states also sometimes underwent purifications to expiate the crime or crimes committed by a member of the community. The most celebrated purification of this kind was that of Athens, performed by Epimenides of Crete, after the Cylonian massacre. Purification also took place when a sacred spot had been unhallowed by profane use, as by burying dead bodies in it, as was the case with the island of Delos. The Romans performed lustrations on many occasions, on which the Greeks did not think of them; and the object of most Roman lustrations was not to atone for the commission of crime, but to obtain the blessing of the gods upon the persons or things which were lustrated. Thus fields were purified after the business of sowing was over, and before the sickle was put to the corn. [Arvales Fratres.] Sheep were purified every year at the festival of the Palilia. All Roman armies before they took the field were lustrated; and as the solemnity was probably always connected with a review of the troops, the word lustratio is also used in the sense of the modern review. The establishment of a new colony was always preceded by a lustratio with solemn sacrifices. The city of Rome itself, as well as other towns within its dominion, always underwent a lustratio after they had been visited by some great calamity, such as civil bloodshed, awful prodigies, and the like. A regular and general lustratio of the whole Roman people took place after the completion of every lustrum, when the censor had finished his census and before he laid down his office. This lustratio (also called lustrum) was conducted by one of the censors, and held with sacrifices calledSuovetaurilia, because the sacrifices consisted of a pig (or ram), a sheep, and an ox. It took place in the Campus Martius, where the people assembled for the purpose. The sacrifices were carried three times around the assembled multitude.
LUSTRUM (fromluo, Gr.λούω) is properly speaking a lustration or purification, and in particular the purification of the whole Roman people performed by one of the censors in the Campus Martius, after the business of the census was over. [Census;Lustratio.] As this purification took place only once in five years, the word lustrum was also used to designate the time between two lustra. The first lustrum was performed inB.C.566, by king Servius, after he had completed his census, and it is said to have taken place subsequently every five years, after the census was over. The census might be held without the lustrum, and indeed two cases of this kind are recorded which happened inB.C.459 and 214. In these cases the lustrum was not performed on account of some great calamities which had befallen the republic. The time when the lustrum took place has been very ingeniously defined by Niebuhr. Six ancient Romulian years of 304 days each were, with the difference of one day, equal to five solar years of 365 days each, or the six ancient years made 1824days, while the five solar years contained 1825 days. The lustrum, or the great year of the ancient Romans, was thus a cycle, at the end of which the beginning of the ancient year nearly coincided with that of the solar year. As the coincidence, however, was not perfect, a month of 24 days was intercalated in every eleventh lustrum. Now it is highly probable that the recurrence of such a cycle or great year was, from the earliest times, solemnised with sacrifices and purifications, and that Servius Tullius did not introduce them, but merely connected them with his census, and thus set the example for subsequent ages. Many writers of the latter period of the republic and during the empire, use the word lustrum for any space of five years, and without any regard to the census, while others even apply it in the sense of the Greek pentaeteris or an Olympiad, which contained only four years.
LỸCAEA (λύκαια), a festival with contests, celebrated by the Arcadians in honour of Zeus surnamedΛυκαῖος. It was said to have been instituted by the ancient hero Lycaon, the son of Pelasgus, who is also said, instead of the cakes which had formerly been offered to the god, to have sacrificed a child to Zeus, and to have sprinkled the altar with its blood.
Lyre with four strings, from a Lycian coin. (Cabinet of Sir Charles Fellows.)
Lyre with four strings, from a Lycian coin. (Cabinet of Sir Charles Fellows.)
Lyre with seven strings, from a coin of Chalcis. (British Museum.)
Lyre with seven strings, from a coin of Chalcis. (British Museum.)
LỸRA (λύρα, Lat.fides), a lyre, one of the most ancient musical instruments of the stringed kind. The Greeks attributed the invention of the lyre to Hermes, who is said to have formed the instrument of a tortoise-shell, over which he placed gut-strings. The nameλύρα, however, does not occur in the Homeric poems, and the ancient lyre, called in Homerphorminx(φόρμιγξ) andcitharis(κίθαρις), seems rather to have resembled thecitharaof later times, which was in some respects like a modern guitar. In the cithara the strings were drawn across the bottom, whereas in the lyra of ancient times they were free on both sides. The lyre is also calledχέλυςorχελώνη, and in Latintestudo, because it was made of a tortoise-shell. The lyre had originally three or four strings, but after the time of Terpander of Antissa (aboutB.C.650), who is said to have added three more, it was generally made with seven. The ancients, however, made use of a variety of lyres; and about the time of Sappho and Anacreon several stringed instruments, such asmagadis,barbiton, and others, were used in Greece, and especially in Lesbos. They had been introduced from Asia Minor, and their number of strings far exceeded that of the lyre, for we know that some had even twenty strings, so that they must have more resembled a modern harp than a lyre. But the lyra and cithara had in most cases no more than seven strings. The lyre had a great and full-sounding bottom, which continued as before to be made generally of tortoise-shell, from which the horns rose as from the head of a stag. A transverse piece of wood connecting the two horns at or near their top-ends served to fasten the strings, and was calledζύγον, and in Latintranstillum. The horns were calledπήχειςorcornua. These instruments were often adorned in the most costly manner with gold and ivory. The lyre was considered as a more manly instrument than the cithara, which, on account of its smaller-sounding bottom, excluded full-sounding and deep tones, and was more calculated for the middle tones. The lyre when played stood in an upright position between the knees, while the cithara stood upon the knees of the player. Both instruments were held with the left hand, and played with the right. It has generally been supposed that the strings of these instruments were alwaystouched with a little staff calledplectrum(πλῆκτρον), but among the paintings discovered at Herculaneum we find several instances where the persons play the lyre with their fingers. The lyre was at all times only played as an accompaniment to songs. The Latin namefides, which was used for a lyre as well as a cithara, is probably the same as the Greekσφίδες, which signifies gut-string. The lyre (citharaorphorminx) was at first used in the recitations of epic poetry, though it was probably not played during the recitation itself, but only as a prelude before the minstrel commenced his story, and in the intervals or pauses between the several parts. The lyre has given its name to a species of poetry called lyric; this kind of poetry was originally never recited or sung without the accompaniment of the lyre, and sometimes also of an appropriate dance.
Anacreon playing the lyre. (Vase-painting in the British Museum.)
Anacreon playing the lyre. (Vase-painting in the British Museum.)