Plaustrum, Waggon. (From a Bas-Relief at Rome.)
Plaustrum, Waggon. (From a Bas-Relief at Rome.)
PLĒBES or PLEBS. PLĒBĒII. This word contains the same root asim-pleo,com-pleo, &c., and is therefore etymologically connected withπλῆθος, a term which was applied to the plebeians by the more correct Greek writers on Roman history, while others wrongly called themδῆμοςorοἱ δημοτικοί. The plebeians were the body of commons or the commonalty of Rome, and thus constituted one of the two great elements of which the Roman nation consisted, and which has given to the earlier periods of Roman history its peculiar character and interest. The time when the plebeians first appear as a distinct class of Roman citizens in contradistinction to the patricians, is in the reign of Tullus Hostilius. Alba, the head of the Latin confederacy, was in his reign taken by the Romans and razed to the ground. The most distinguished of its inhabitants were transplanted to Rome and received among the patricians; but the great bulk of Alban citizens, who were likewise transferred to Rome, received settlements on the Caelian hill, and were kept in a state of submission to the populus Romanus or the patricians. This new population of Rome, which in number is said to have been equal to the old inhabitants of the city or the patricians, were the plebeians. They were Latins, and consequently of the same blood as the Ramnes, the noblest of the three patrician tribes. After the conquest of Alba, Rome, in the reign of Ancus Martius, acquired possession of a considerable extent of country, containing a number of dependent Latin towns, as Medullia, Fidenae, Politorium, Tellenae, and Ficana. Great numbers of the inhabitants of these towns were again transplanted to Rome, and incorporated with the plebeians already settled there, and the Aventine was assigned to them as their habitation. Some portions of the land which these new citizens had possessed were given back to them by the Romans, so that they remained free land-owners as much as the conquerors themselves, and thus were distinct from the clients.—The plebeians were citizens, but notoptimo jure; they were perfectly distinct from the patricians, and were neither contained in the three tribes, nor in the curiae, nor in the patrician gentes. The only point of contact between the two estates was the army. The plebeians were obliged to fight and shed their blood in the defence of their new fellow-citizens, without being allowed to share any of their rights or privileges, and without even the right of intermarriage (connubium). In all judicial matters they were entirely at the mercy of the patricians, and had no right of appeal against any unjust sentence, though they were not, like the clients, bound to have a patronus. They continued to have their own sacra, which they had had before the conquest, but these were regulated by the patrician pontiffs. Lastly, they were free land-owners, and had their own gentes.—The population of the Roman state thus consisted of two opposite elements; a ruling class or an aristocracy, and the commonalty, which, though of the same stock as the noblest among the rulers, and exceeding them in numbers, yet enjoyed none of the rights which might enable them to take a part in the management of public affairs, religious or civil. Their citizenship resembled the relation of aliens to a state, in which they are merely tolerated on conditionof performing certain services, and they are, in fact, sometimes called peregrini. That such a state of things could not last, is a truth which must have been felt by every one who was not blinded by his own selfishness and love of dominion. Tarquinius Priscus was the first who conceived the idea of placing the plebeians on a footing of equality with the old burghers, by dividing them into three tribes, which he intended to call after his own name and those of his friends. But this noble plan was frustrated by the opposition of the augur Attus Navius, who probably acted the part of a representative of the patricians. All that Tarquinius could do was to effect the admission of the noblest plebeian families into the three old tribes, who were distinguished from the old patrician families by the names of Ramnes, Tities, and Luceres secundi, and their gentes are sometimes distinguished by the epithet minores, as they entered into the same relation in which the Luceres had been to the first two tribes, before the time of Tarquinius. It was reserved to his successor, Servius Tullius, to give to the commonalty a regular internal organisation, and to determine their relations to the patricians. He first divided the city into four, and then the subject country around, which was inhabited by plebeians, into twenty-six regions or local tribes, and in these regions he assigned lots of land to those plebeians who were yet without landed property. [Tribus.] Each tribe had its praefect, called tribunus. The tribes had also their own sacra, festivals, and meetings (comitia tributa), which were convoked by their tribunes. This division into tribes with tribunes at their heads was no more than an internal organisation of the plebeians, analogous to the division of the patricians into thirty curiae, without conferring upon them the right to interfere in any way in the management of public affairs, or in the elections, which were left entirely to the senate and the curiae. These rights, however, they obtained by another regulation of Servius Tullius, which was made wholly independent of the thirty tribes. For this purpose he instituted a census, and divided the whole body of Roman citizens, plebeians as well as patricians, into five classes, according to the amount of their property. Taxation and the military duties were arranged according to these classes in such a manner, that the heavier burdens fell upon the wealthier classes. The whole body of citizens thus divided was formed into a great national assembly called comitiatus maximus, or comitia centuriata. [Comitia.] In this assembly the plebeians now met the patricians apparently on a footing of equality, but the votes were distributed in such a way that it was always in the power of the wealthiest classes, to which the patricians naturally belonged, to decide a question before it was put to the vote of the poorer classes. A great number of such noble plebeian families, as after the subjugation of the Latin towns had not been admitted into the curies by Tarquinius Priscus, were now constituted by Servius into a number of equites, with twelve suffragia in the comitia centuriata. [Equites.] In this constitution, the plebeians, as such, did not obtain admission to the senate, nor to the highest magistracy, nor to any of the priestly offices. To all these offices the patricians alone thought themselves entitled by divine right. The plebeians also continued to be excluded from occupying any portion of the public land, which as yet was possessed only by the patricians, and they were only allowed to keep their cattle upon the common pasture.—In the early times of the republic there was a constant struggle between the two orders, the history of which belongs to a history of Rome, and cannot be given here. Eventually the plebeians gained access to all the civil and religious offices, until at last the two hostile elements became united into one great body of Roman citizens with equal rights, and a state of things arose, totally different from what had existed before. After the first secession, inB.C.494, the plebeians gained several great advantages. First, a law was passed to prevent the patricians from taking usurious interest of money, which they frequently lent to impoverished plebeians; secondly, tribunes were appointed for the protection of the plebeians [Tribuni]; and lastly, plebeian aediles were appointed. [Aediles.] Shortly after, they gained the right to summon before their own comitia tributa any one who had violated the rights of their order, and to make decrees (plebiscita), which, however, did not become binding upon the whole nation, free from the control of the curies, until the yearB.C.286.InB.C.445, thetribune Canuleius established, by his rogations, the connubium between patricians and plebeians. He also attempted to divide the consulship between the two orders, but the patricians frustrated the realisation of this plan by the appointment of six military tribunes, who were to be elected from both orders. [Tribuni.] But that the plebeians might have no share in the censorial power, with which the consuls had been invested, the military tribunes did not obtain that power, and a new curule dignity, the censorship, was established, with which patricians alone were to be invested. [Censor.] InB.C.421 the plebeians were admitted to the quaestorship, which opened to them the way into the senate, where henceforth their number continued to increase. [Quaestor;Senatus.] InB.C.367 the tribunes L. Licinius Stolo and L. Sextius placed themselves at the head of the commonalty, and resumed the contest against the patricians. After a fierce struggle, which lasted for several years, they at length carried a rogation, according to which decemvirs were to be appointed for keeping the Sibylline books instead of duumvirs, of whom half were to be plebeians. The next great step was the restoration of the consulship, on condition that one consul should always be a plebeian. A third rogation of Licinius, which was only intended to afford momentary relief to the poor plebeians, regulated the rate of interest. From this time forward the plebeians also appear in the possession of the right to occupy parts of the ager publicus. InB.C.366, L. Sextius Lateranus was the first plebeian consul. The patricians, however, who always contrived to yield no more than what it was absolutely impossible for them to retain, stripped the consulship of a considerable part of its power, and transferred it to two new curule offices, viz. that of praetor and of curule aedile. [Aediles;Praetor.] But after such great advantages had been once gained by the plebeians, it was impossible to stop them in their progress towards a perfect equality of political rights with the patricians. InB.C.356, C. Marcius Rutilus was the first plebeian dictator; inB.C.351 the censorship was thrown open to the plebeians, and inB.C.336 the praetorship. The Ogulnian law, inB.C.300, also opened to them the offices of pontifex and augur. These advantages were, as might be supposed, not gained without the fiercest opposition of the patricians, and even after they were gained and sanctioned by law, the patricians exerted every means to obstruct the operation of the law. Such fraudulent attempts led, inB.C.286, to the last secession of the plebeians, after which, however, the dictator Q. Hortensius successfully and permanently reconciled the two orders, secured to the plebeians all the rights they had acquired until then, and procured for their plebiscita the full power of leges binding upon the whole nation. After the passing of the Hortensian law, the political distinction between patricians and plebeians ceased, and, with a few unimportant exceptions, both orders were placed on a footing of perfect equality. Henceforth the name populus is sometimes applied to the plebeians alone, and sometimes to the whole body of Roman citizens, as assembled in the comitia centuriata or tributa. The term plebs or plebecula, on the other hand, was applied, in a loose manner of speaking, to the multitude or populace, in opposition to the nobiles or the senatorial party.—A person who was born a plebeian could only be raised to the rank of a patrician by a lex curiata, as was sometimes done during the kingly period, and in the early times of the republic. It frequently occurs in the history of Rome that one and the same gens contains plebeian as well as patrician families. In the gens Cornelia, for instance, we find the plebeian families of the Balbi, Mammulae, Merulae, &c., along with the patrician Scipiones, Sullae, Lentuli, &c. The occurrence of this phenomenon may be accounted for in different ways. It may have been, that one branch of a plebeian family was made patrician while the others remained plebeians. It may also have happened that two families had the same nomen gentilicium without being actual members of the same gens. Again, a patrician family might go over to the plebeians, and as such a family continued to bear the name of its patrician gens, this gens apparently contained a plebeian family. When a peregrinus obtained the civitas through the influence of a patrician, or when a slave was emancipated by his patrician master, they generally adopted the nomen gentilicium of their benefactor, and thus appear to belong to the same gens with him.
PLĒBISCĪTUM, a name properly applied to a law passed at the comitia tributa on the rogation of a tribune. Originally, a plebiscitum required confirmation by the comitia curiata and the senate; but a Lex Hortensia was passedB.C.286, to the effect that plebiscita should bind all the populus (universus populus), and this lex rendered confirmation unnecessary. The Lex Hortensia is always referred to as the lex which put plebiscita as to their binding force exactly on the same footing as leges. The principal plebiscita are mentioned under the articleLex.
PLECTRUM. [Lyra.]
PLETHRON (πλέθρον), the fundamental land measure in the Greek system, being the square of 100 feet, that is, 10,000 square feet. The later Greek writers use it as the translation of the Romanjugerum, probably because the latter was the standard land measure in the Roman system; but, in size, theplethronanswered more nearly to the Romanactus, or half-jugerum, which was the older unit of land measures. As frequently happened with the ancient land measures, the side of theplethronwas taken as a measure of length, with the same name.Thisplethronwas equal to 100 feet (or about 101 English feet) = 66⅔πήχεις= 10ἄκαιναιorκάλαμοι. It was also introduced into the system of itinerary measures, being 1-6th of thestadium.
PLŬTĔUS, was applied in military affairs to two different objects. (1) A kind of shed made of hurdles, and covered with raw hides, which could be moved forward by small wheels attached to it, and under which the besiegers of a town made their approaches. (2) Boards or planks placed on the vallum of a camp, on moveable towers or other military engines, as a kind of roof or covering for the protection of the soldiers.
PLYNTĒRĬA (πλυντήρια, fromπλύνειν, to wash), a festival celebrated at Athens every year, on the 25th of Thargelion, in honour of Athena, surnamed Aglauros, whose temple stood on the Acropolis. The day of this festival was at Athens among theἀποφράδεςordies nefasti; for the temple of the goddess was surrounded by a rope to preclude all communication with it; her statue was stripped of its garments and ornaments for the purpose of cleaning them, and was in the meanwhile covered over, to conceal it from the sight of man. The city was therefore, so to speak, on this day without its protecting divinity, and any undertaking commenced on it was believed to be necessarily unsuccessful.
PNYX. [Ecclesia.]
PŌCŬLUM, any kind of drinking-cup, to be distinguished from theCrateror vessel in which the wine was mixed [Crater], and from theCyathus, a kind of ladle or small cup, used to convey the wine from the Crater to the Poculum or drinking-cup.
PŎDĬUM. [Amphitheatrum.]
POENA (ποινή), a general name for any punishment of any offence. Multa is the penalty of a particular offence. A Poena was only inflicted when it was imposed by some lex or some other legal authority (quo alio jure). When no poena was imposed, then a multa or penalty might be inflicted.
PŎLĔMARCHUS (πολέμαρχος). Respecting the polemarchus at Athens, seeArchon. We read also of polemarchs at Sparta, and in various cities of Boeotia. As their name denotes, they were originally and properly connected with military affairs, being entrusted either with the command of armies abroad, or the superintendence of the war department at home; sometimes with both. The polemarchs of Sparta appear to have ranked next to the king, when on actual service abroad, and were generally of the royal kindred or house (γένος). They commanded single morae, so that they would appear to have been six in number, and sometimes whole armies. They also formed part of the king’s council in war, and of the royal escort calleddamosia. At Thebes there appear to have been two polemarchs, perhaps elected, annually; and in times of peace they seem to have been invested with the chief executive power of the state, and the command of the city, having its military force under their orders. They are not, however, to be confounded with the Boeotarchs.
PŌLĒTAE (πωλῆται), a board of ten officers, or magistrates, whose duty it was to grant leases of the public lands and mines, and also to let the revenues arising from the customs, taxes, confiscations, and forfeitures. Of such letting the wordπωλεῖν(notμισθοῦν) was generally used, and also the correlative wordsὠνεῖσθαιandπρίασθαι. One was chosen from each tribe. In the letting of the revenue they were assisted by the managers of the theoric fund (τὸ θεωρικόν), and they acted under the authority of the senate of Five Hundred, who exercised a general control over the financial department of the administration. Resident aliens, who did not pay their residence tax (μετοίκιον), were summoned before them, and, if found to have committed default, were sold.
POLLINCTŌRES. [Funus.]
PŌMOĒRĬUM. This word is compounded ofpostandmoerium(murus), in the same manner aspomeridiemofpostandmeridiem, and thus signifies a line running by the walls of a town (poneorpost muros). But the walls of a town here spoken of are not its actual walls or fortifications, but symbolical walls, and the course of the pomoerium itself was marked by stone pillars, erected at certain intervals. The sacred line of the Roman pomoerium did not prevent the inhabitants from building upon or taking into use any place beyond it, but it was necessary to leave a certain space on each side of it unoccupied, so as not to unhallow it by profane use. Thus we find that the Aventine, although inhabited from early times, was for many centuries not included within the pomoerium. The pomoerium was not the same at all times; as the city increased the pomoerium also was extended; but this extension could, according to ancient usage, only be made by such men as had by their victories over foreign nations increased the boundaries of the empire, and neither could a pomoerium be formed nor altered without the augurs previously consulting the will of the gods by augury: hence thejus pomoeriiof the augurs.
POMPA (πομπή), a solemn procession, as on the occasion of a funeral, triumph, &c. It is, however, more particularly applied tothe grand procession with which the games of the circus commenced (Pompa Circensis). [Circus.]
PONS (γέφυρα), a bridge. As the rivers of Greece were small, and the use of the arch known to them only to a limited extent, it is probable that the Greek bridges were built entirely of wood, or, at best, were nothing more than a wooden platform supported upon stone piers at each extremity. Pliny mentions a bridge over the Acheron 1000 feet in length; we also know that the island Euboea was joined to Boeotia by a bridge; but the only existing specimen of a Greek bridge is the one over a tributary of the Eurotas. The Romans regularly applied the arch to the construction of bridges, by which they were enabled to erect structures of great beauty and solidity, as well as utility. The width of the passage-way in a Roman bridge was commonly narrow, as compared with modern structures of the same kind, and corresponded with the road (via) leading to and from it. It was divided into three parts. The centre one, for horses and carriages, was denominatedaggeroriter; and the raised footpaths on each sidedecursoria, which were enclosed by parapet walls similar in use and appearance to thepluteusin the basilica. There were eight bridges across the Tiber. I. Of these the most celebrated, as well as the most ancient, was thePons Sublicius, so called because it was built of wood;sublices, in the language of the Formiani, meaning wooden beams. It was built by Ancus Martius, when he united the Janiculum to the city, and was situated at the foot of the Aventine.—II.Pons Palatinusformed the communication between the Palatine and its vicinities and the Janiculum.—III. IV.Pons FabriciusandPons Cestiuswere the two which connected the Insula Tiberina with the opposite sides of the river; the first with the city, and the latter with the Janiculum.
Pons Cestius, and Pons Fabricius, at Rome, with the buildings between restored.
Pons Cestius, and Pons Fabricius, at Rome, with the buildings between restored.
Both are still remaining. They are represented in the preceding woodcut: that on the right hand is the pons Fabricius, and that on the left the pons Cestius.—V.Pons Janiculensis, which led direct to the Janiculum.—VI.Pons Vaticanus, so called because it formed the communication between the Campus Martius and Campus Vaticanus.—
Pons Aelius at Rome.
Pons Aelius at Rome.
VII.Pons Aelius, built by Hadrian, which led from the city to the mausoleum of that emperor, now the bridge and castle of St. Angelo.—VIII.Pons Milvius, on the Via Flaminia, now Ponte Molle,was built by Aemilius Scaurus the censor.—The Roman bridges without the city were too many to be enumerated here.
Bridge at Arimmum.
Bridge at Arimmum.
They formed one of the chief embellishments in all the public roads; and their frequent and stupendous remains, still existing in Italy, Portugal, and Spain, attest, even to the present day, the scale of grandeur with which the Roman works of national utility were always carried on.—When the comitia were held, the voters, in order to reach the enclosure calledseptumandovile, passed over a wooden platform, elevated above the ground, which was calledpons suffragiorum, in order that they might be able to give their votes without confusion or collusion. [Comitia.]Ponsis also used to signify the platform (ἐπιβάθρα,ἀποβάθρα), used for embarking in, or disembarking from, a ship.
PONTĬFEX (ἱεροδιδάσκαλος,ἱερονόμος,ἱεροφύλαξ,ἱεροφάντης). The origin of this word is explained in various ways; but it is probably formed fromponsandfacere(in the signification of the Greekῥέζειν, to perform a sacrifice), and consequently signifies the priests who offered sacrifices upon the bridge. The ancient sacrifice to which the name thus alludes, is that of the Argei on the sacred or sublician bridge. [Argei.] The Roman pontiffs formed the most illustrious among the great colleges of priests. Their institution, like that of all important matters of religion, was ascribed to Numa. The number of pontiffs appointed by this king was four, and at their head was the pontifex maximus, who is generally not included when the number of pontiffs is mentioned. It is probable that the original number of four pontiffs (not including the pontifex maximus) had reference to the two earliest tribes of the Romans, the Ramnes and Tities, so that each tribe was represented by two pontiffs. In the yearB.C.300 the Ogulnian law raised the number of pontiffs to eight, or, including the pontifex maximus, to nine, and four of them were to be plebeians. The pontifex maximus, however, continued to be a patrician down to the yearB.C.254, when Tib. Coruncanius was the first plebeian who was invested with this dignity. This number of pontiffs remained for a long time unaltered, until inB.C.81 the dictator Sulla increased it to fifteen, and J. Caesar to sixteen. In both these changes the pontifex maximus is included in the number. During the empire the number varied, though on the whole fifteen appears to have been the regular number. The mode of appointing the pontiffs was also different at different times. It appears that after their institution by Numa, the college had the right of co-optation, that is, if a member of the college died (for all the pontiffs held their office for life), the members met and elected a successor, who, after his election, was inaugurated by the augurs. This election was sometimes calledcaptio. InB.C.104 a Lex Domitia was passed, which transferred the right of electing the members of the great colleges of priests to the people (probably in the comitia tributa); that is, the people elected a candidate, who was then made a member of the college by the co-optatio of the priests themselves, so that the co-optatio, although still necessary, became a mere matter of form. The Lex Domitia was repealed by Sulla in a Lex Cornelia de Sacerdotiis (B.C.81), which restored to the great priestly colleges their full right of co-optatio. InB.C.63 the law of Sulla was abolished, and the Domitian law was restored, but not in its full extent; for it was now determined, that in case of a vacancy the college itself should nominate two candidates, and the people elect one of them. M. Antonius again restored the right of co-optatio to the college. The college of pontiffs had the supreme superintendence of all matters of religion, and of things and persons connected with public as well as private worship. They had the judicial decision in all matters of religion, whether private persons, magistrates, or priests were concerned, and in cases where the existing laws or customs were found defective or insufficient, they made new laws and regulations (decreta pontificum), in which they always followed their own judgment as to what was consistent with the existing customsand usages. The details of these duties and functions were contained in books calledlibri pontificiiorpontificales,commentarii sacrorumorsacrorum pontificalium, which they were said to have received from Numa, and which were sanctioned by Ancus Martius. As to the rights and duties of the pontiffs, it must first of all be borne in mind, that the pontiffs were not priests of any particular divinity, but a college which stood above all other priests, and superintended the whole external worship of the gods. One of their principal duties was the regulation of the sacra, both publica and privata, and to watch that they were observed at the proper times (for which purpose the pontiffs had the whole regulation of the calendar, seeCalendarium), and in their proper form. In the management of the sacra publica they were in later times assisted in certain duties by the Triumviri Epulones. [Epulones.] The pontiffs convoked the assembly of the curies (comitia calataorcuriata) in cases where priests were to be appointed, and flamines or a rex sacrorum were to be inaugurated; also when wills were to be received, and when a detestatio sacrorum and adoption by adrogatio took place. [Adoptio.] In most cases the sentence of the pontiffs only inflicted a fine upon the offenders; but the person fined had the right of appealing to the people, who might release him from the fine. In regard to the vestal virgins, and the persons who committed incest with them, the pontiffs had criminal jurisdiction, and might pronounce sentence of death. A man who had violated a vestal virgin was, according to an ancient law, scourged to death by the pontifex maximus in the comitium, and it appears that originally neither the vestal virgins nor the male offenders in such a case had any right of appeal. In later times we find that, even when the pontiffs had passed sentence upon vestal virgins, a tribune interfered, and induced the people to appoint a quaestor for the purpose of making a fresh inquiry into the case; and it sometimes happened that after this new trial the sentence of the pontiffs was modified or annulled. Such cases, however, seem to have been mere irregularities, founded upon an abuse of the tribunitian power. In the early times the pontiffs were in the exclusive possession of the civil as well as religious law, until the former was made public by Cn. Flavius. The regulations which served as a guide to the pontiffs in their judicial proceedings, formed a large collection of laws, which was called thejus pontificium, and formed part of the Libri Pontificii. The meetings of the college of pontiffs, to which in some instances the famines and the rex sacrorum were summoned, were held in the curia regia on the Via Sacra, to which was attached the residence of the pontifex maximus and of the rex sacrorum. As the chief pontiff was obliged to live in a domus publica, Augustus, when he assumed this dignity, changed part of his own house into a domus publica. All the pontiffs were in their appearance distinguished by the conic cap, called tutulus or galerus, with an apex upon it, and the toga praetexta. The pontifex maximus was the president of the college, and acted in its name, whence he alone is frequently mentioned in cases in which he must be considered only as the organ of the college. He was generally chosen from among the most distinguished persons, and such as had held a curule magistracy, or were already members of the college. Two of his especial duties were to appoint (capere) the vestal virgins and the flamines [Vestales;Flamen], and to be present at every marriage by confarreatio. When festive games were vowed, or a dedication made, the chief pontiff had to repeat over, before the persons who made the vow or the dedication, the formula in which it was to be performed (praeire verba). During the period of the republic, when the people exercised sovereign power in every respect, we find that if the pontiff, on constitutional or religious grounds, refused to perform this solemnity, he might be compelled by the people. The pontifex maximus wrote down what occurred in his year on tablets, which were hung up in his dwelling for the information of the people, and calledAnnales Maximi. A pontifex might, like all the members of the great priestly colleges, hold any other military, civil, or priestly office, provided the different offices did not interfere with one another. Thus we find one and the same person being pontiff, augur, and decemvir sacrorum; instances of a pontifex maximus being at the same time consul are very numerous. But whatever might be the civil or military office which a pontifex maximus held beside his pontificate, he was not allowed originally to leave Italy. The college of pontiffs continued to exist until the overthrow of paganism. The emperors themselves were always chief pontiffs, and as such the presidents of the college; hence the title of pontifex maximus (P. M. or PON. M.) appears on several coins of the emperors. If there were several emperors at a time, only one bore the title of pontifex maximus; but in the yearA.D.238 we find that each of the two emperors Maximus and Balbinus assumed this dignity.From the time of Theodosius the emperors no longer appear with the dignity of pontiff; but at last the title was assumed by the Christian bishop of Rome.—There were other pontiffs at Rome, who were distinguished by the epithetMinores. They appear to have been originally only the secretaries of the pontiffs; and when the real pontiffs began to neglect their duties, and to leave the principal business to be done by their secretaries, it became customary to designate these scribes by the name of Pontifices Minores. The number of these secretaries is uncertain.
PŎPA. [Sacrificium.]
PŎPĪNA. [Caupona.]
POPŬLĀRĬA. [Amphitheatrum.]
PŎPŬLUS. [Patricii.]
PŎPŬLĬFŬGĬA or POPLĬFŬGĬA, the day of the people’s flight, was celebrated on the nones of July, according to an ancient tradition, in commemoration of the flight of the people, when the inhabitants of Ficulae, Fidenae, and other places round about, appeared in arms against Rome shortly after the departure of the Gauls, and produced such a panic that the Romans suddenly fled before them. Other writers say that the Populifugia was celebrated in commemoration of the flight of the people before the Tuscans; while others again refer its origin to the flight of the people on the death of Romulus.
PŎRISTAE (πορισταί), magistrates at Athens, who probably levied the extraordinary supplies.
PORTA (πύλη,dim.πυλίς), the gate of a city, citadel, or other open space inclosed by a wall, in contradistinction toJanua, which was the door of a house or any covered edifice. The termsportaandπύληare often found in the plural, even when applied to a single gate, because it consisted of two leaves. The gates of a city were of course various in their number and position. Thus Megara had 5 gates; Thebes, in Boeotia, had 7; Athens had 8; and Rome 20, or perhaps even more. The jambs of the gate were surmounted, 1. by a lintel, which was large and strong in proportion to the width of the gate. 2. By an arch, as we see exemplified at Pompeii, Paestum, Sepianum, Volterra, Suza, Autun, Besançon, and Treves. 3. At Arpinum, one of the gates now remaining is arched, whilst another is constructed with the stones projecting one beyond another. Gates sometimes had two passages close together, the one designed for carriages entering, and the other for carriages leaving the city. In other instances we find only one gate for carriages, but a smaller one on each side of it (παραπυλίς) for foot-passengers. When there were no sideways, one of the valves of the large gate sometimes contained a wicket (portula,πυλίς: ῥινοπύλη), large enough to admit a single person. The gateway had commonly a chamber (calledπυλών) either on one side or on both, which served as the residence of the porter or guard. Statues of the gods were often placed near the gate, or even within it in the barbican, so as to be ready to receive the adoration of those who entered the city.
PORTĬCUS (στοά), a walk covered with a roof, and supported by columns, at least on one side. Such shaded walks and places of resort are almost indispensable in the southern countries of Europe, where people live much in the open air, as a protection from the heat of the sun and from rain. The porticoes attached to the temples were either constructed only in front of them, or went round the whole building, as is the case in the so-called Temple of Theseus at Athens. They were originally intended as places for those persons to assemble and converse in who visited the temple for various purposes. As such temple-porticoes, however, were found too small, or not suited for the various purposes of private and public life, most Grecian towns had independent porticoes, some of which were very extensive; and in most of thesestoae, seats (exedrae) were placed, that those who were tired might sit down. They were frequented not only by idle loungers, but also by philosophers, rhetoricians, and other persons fond of intellectual conversation. The Stoic school of philosophy derived its name from the circumstance, that the founder of it used to converse with his disciples in a stoa. The Romans derived their great fondness for such covered walks from the Greeks; and as luxuries among them were carried in everything to a greater extent than in Greece, wealthy Romans had their private porticoes, sometimes in the city itself, and sometimes in their country-seats. In the public porticoes of Rome, which were exceedingly numerous and very extensive (as those around the Forum and the Campus Martius), a variety of business was occasionally transacted: we find that law-suits were conducted here, meetings of the senate held, goods exhibited for sale, &c.
PORTISCŬLUS (κελευστής), an officer in a ship, who gave the signal to the rowers, that they might keep time in rowing. This officer is sometimes calledHortatororPausarius.
PORTĬTŌRES. [Publicani.]
PORTŌRĬUM, a branch of the regular revenues of the Roman state, consisting ofthe duties paid on imported and exported goods. A portorium, or duty upon imported goods, appears to have been paid at a very early period, for it is said that Valerius Publicola exempted the plebes from the portoria at the time when the republic was threatened with an invasion by Porsena. The time of its introduction is uncertain; but the abolition of it, ascribed to Publicola, can only have been a temporary measure; and as the expenditure of the republic increased, new portoria must have been introduced. In conquered places, and in the provinces, the import and export duties, which had been paid there before, were generally not only retained, but increased, and appropriated to the aerarium. Sicily, and above all, Asia, furnished to the Roman treasury large sums, which were raised as portoria. InB.C.60 all the portoria in the ports of Italy were done away with by a Lex Caecilia, but were restored by Julius Caesar and the subsequent emperors. Respecting the amount of the import or export duties we have but little information. In the time of Cicero the portorium in the ports of Sicily was one-twentieth (vicesima) of the value of taxable articles; and it is probable that this was the average sum raised in all the other provinces. In the times of the emperors the ordinary rate of the portorium appears to have been the fortieth part (quadragesima) of the value of imported goods; and at a later period the exorbitant sum of one-eighth (octava) is mentioned. The portorium was, like all other vectigalia, farmed out by the censors to the publicani, who collected it through theportitores. [Vectigalia;Publicani.]
POSSESSĬO. [Ager Publicus.]
POSTĪCUM. [Janua.]
POSTLĪMĬNĬUM, POSTLĪMĬNII JUS. If a Roman citizen during war came into the possession of an enemy, he sustained adiminutio capitis maxima[Caput], and all his civil rights were in abeyance. Being captured by the enemy, he became a slave; but his rights over his children, if he had any, were not destroyed, but were said to be in abeyance (pendere) by virtue of theJus Postliminii: when he returned, his children were again in his power; and if he died in captivity, they became sui juris. Sometimes by an act of the state a man was given up bound to an enemy, and if the enemy would not receive him, it was a question whether he had the Jus Postliminii. This was the case with Sp. Postumius, who was given up to the Samnites, and with C. Hostilius Mancinus, who was given up to the Numantines; but the better opinion was, that they had noJus Postliminii, and Mancinus was restored to his civic rights by a lex. It appears that the Jus Postliminii was founded on the fiction of the captive having never been absent from home; a fiction which was of easy application, for, as the captive during his absence could not do any legal act, the interval of captivity was a period of legal non-activity, which was terminated by his showing himself again.
PŎTESTAS. [Patria Potestas.]
PRACTŎRES (πράκτορες), subordinate officers at Athens, who collected the fines and penalties (ἐπιβολάςandτιμήματα) imposed by magistrates and courts of justice, and payable to the state.
PRAECINCTĬO. [Amphitheatrum.]
PRAECŌNES, criers, were employed for various purposes: 1. In sales by auction, they frequently advertised the time, place, and conditions of sale: they seem also to have acted the part of the modern auctioneer, so far as calling out the biddings and amusing the company, though the property was knocked down by themagister auctionis. [Auctio.] 2. In all public assemblies they ordered silence. 3. In the comitia they called the centuries one by one to give their votes, pronounced the vote of each century, and called out the names of those who were elected. They also recited the laws that were to be passed. 4. In trials, they summoned the accuser and the accused, the plaintiff and defendant. 5. In the public games, they invited the people to attend, and proclaimed the victors. 6. In solemn funerals they also invited people to attend by a certain form; hence these funerals were calledfunera indictiva. 7. When things were lost, they cried them and searched for them. 8. In the infliction of capital punishment, they sometimes conveyed the commands of the magistrates to the lictors. Their office, calledPraeconium, appears to have been regarded as rather disreputable: in the time of Cicero a law was passed preventing all persons who had been praecones from becoming decuriones in the municipia. Under the early emperors, however, it became very profitable, which was no doubt partly owing to fees, to which they were entitled in the courts of justice, and partly to the bribes which they received from the suitors, &c.
PRAEDA signifies moveable things taken by an enemy in war. Such things were either distributed by the Imperator among the soldiers or sold by the quaestors, and the produce was brought into the Aerarium. The difference between Praeda and Manubiae is this:—Praeda is the thingsthemselves that are taken in war, and Manubiae is the money realized by their sale. It was the practice to set up a spear at such sales, which was afterwards used at all sales of things by a magistrates in the name of the people. [Sectio.]
PRAEFECTŪRA. [Colonia.]
PRAEFECTUS AERĀRĬI. [Aerarium.]
PRAEFECTUS ANNŌNAE, the praefect of the provisions, especially of the corn-market, was not a regular magistrate under the republic, but was only appointed in cases of extraordinary scarcity, when he seems to have regulated the prices at which corn was to be sold. Augustus created an officer under the title ofPraefectus Annonae, who had jurisdiction over all matters appertaining to the corn-market, and, like thePraefectus Vigilum, was chosen from the equites, and was not reckoned among the ordinary magistrates.
PRAEFECTUS ĂQUĀRUM. [Aquae Ductus.]
PRAEFECTUS CASTRŌRUM, praefect of the camp, is first mentioned in the reign of Augustus. There was one to each legion.
PRAEFECTUS CLASSIS, the commander of a fleet. This title was frequently given in the times of the republic to the commander of a fleet; but Augustus appointed two permanent officers with this title, one of whom was stationed at Ravenna on the Adriatic, and the other at Misenum on the Tuscan sea, each having the command of a fleet.
PRAEFECTUS FABRUM. [Fabri.]
PRAEFECTUS JŪRI DĪCUNDO. [Colonia.]
PRAEFECTUS LĔGĬŌNIS. [Exercitus.]
PRAEFECTUS PRAETŌRĬO, was the commander of the troops who guarded the emperor’s person. [Praetoriani.] This office was instituted by Augustus, and was at first only military, and had comparatively small power attached to it; but under Tiberius, who made Sejanus commander of the praetorian troops, it became of much greater importance, till at length the power of these praefects became only second to that of the emperors. From the reign of Severus to that of Diocletian, the praefects, like the vizirs of the east, had the superintendence of all departments of the state, the palace, the army, the finances, and the law: they also had a court in which they decided cases. The office of praefect of the praetorium was not confined to military officers; it was filled by Ulpian and Papinian, and other distinguished jurists. Originally there were two praefects; afterwards sometimes one and sometimes two; from the time of Commodus sometimes three, and even four. They were, as a regular rule, chosen only from the equites; but from the time of Alexander Severus the dignity of senator was always joined with their office.
PRAEFECTUS VĬGĬLUM. [Exercitus,p. 171,a.]
PRAEFECTUS URBI, praefect or warden of the city, was originally calledCustos Urbis. The namepraefectus urbidoes not seem to have been used till after the time of the decemvirs. The dignity ofcustos urbis, being combined with that ofprinceps senatus, was conferred by the king, as he had to appoint one of the decem primi as princeps senatus. The functions of thecustos urbis, however, were not exercised except in the absence of the king from Rome; and then he acted as the representative of the king: he convoked the senate, held the comitia, if necessary, and on any emergency, might take such measures as he thought proper; in short, he had the imperium in the city. During the kingly period, the office ofcustos urbiswas probably for life. Under the republic, the office, and its name ofcustos urbis, remained unaltered; but inB.C.487 it was elevated into a magistracy, to be bestowed by election. Thecustos urbiswas, in all probability, elected by the curiae. Persons of consular rank were alone eligible. In the early period of the republic thecustos urbisexercised within the city all the powers of the consuls, if they were absent: he convoked the senate, held the comitia, and, in times of war, even levied civic legions, which were commanded by him. When the office of praetor urbanus was instituted, the wardenship of the city was swallowed up in it; but as the Romans were at all times averse to dropping altogether any of their old institutions, a praefectus urbi, though a mere shadow of the former office, was henceforth appointed every year, only for the time that the consuls were absent from Rome for the purpose of celebrating the Feriae Latinae. This praefectus had neither the power of convoking the senate nor the right of speaking in it; in most cases he was a person below the senatorial age, and was not appointed by the people, but by the consuls. An office very different from this, though bearing the same name, was instituted by Augustus on the suggestion of Maecenas. This new praefectus urbi was a regular and permanent magistrate, whom Augustus invested with all the powers necessary to maintain peace and order in the city. He had the superintendence of butchers, bankers, guardians, theatres, &c.; and to enablehim to exercise his power, he had distributed throughout the city a number of milites stationarii, whom we may compare to a modern police. His jurisdiction, however, became gradually extended; and as the powers of the ancient republican praefectus urbi had been swallowed up by the office of the praetor urbanus, so now the power of the praetor urbanus was gradually absorbed by that of the praefectus urbi; and at last there was no appeal from his sentence, except to the person of the princeps himself, while any body might appeal from the sentence of any other city magistrate, and, at a later period, even from that of a governor of a province, to the tribunal of the praefectus urbi.
PRAEFĬCAE. [Funus.]
PRAEJŪDĬCĬUM is used both in the sense of a precedent, in which case it is ratherexemplumthanpraejudicium(res ex paribus causis judicatae); and also in the sense of a preliminary inquiry and determination about something which belongs to the matter in dispute (judiciis ad ipsam causam pertinentibus), from whence also comes the name Praejudicium.
PRAELŪSĬO. [Gladiatores.]
PRAENŌMEN. [Nomen.]
PRAERŎGĀTĪVA TRIBUS. [Comitia,p. 109.]
PRAES, is a surety for one who buys of the state. The goods of a Praes were calledPraedia. ThePraediatorwas a person who bought apraedium, that is, a thing given to the state as a security by a praes.
PRAESCRIPTĬO, or rather TEMPŎRIS PRAESCRIPTĬO, signifies the Exceptio or answer which a defendant has to the demand of a plaintiff, founded on the circumstance of the lapse of time. The word has properly no reference to the plaintiff’s loss of right, but to the defendant’s acquisition of a right by which he excludes the plaintiff from prosecuting his suit. This right of a defendant did not exist in the old Roman law.
PRAESES. [Provincia.]
PRAESUL. [Salii.]
PRAETEXTA. [Toga.]
PRAETOR (στρατηγός), was originally a title which designated the consuls as the leaders of the armies of the state. The period and office of the command of the consuls might appropriately be calledPraetorium. Praetor was also a title of office among the Latins. The first praetor specially so called was appointed inB.C.366, and he was chosen only from the patricians, who had this new office created as a kind of indemnification to themselves for being compelled to share the consulship with the plebeians. No plebeian praetor was appointed till the yearB.C.337. The praetor was calledcollega consulibus, and was elected with the same auspices at the comitia centuriata. The praetorship was originally a kind of third consulship, and the chief functions of the praetor (jus in urbe dicere,jura reddere) were a portion of the functions of the consuls. The praetor sometimes commanded the armies of the state; and while the consuls were absent with the armies, he exercised their functions within the city. He was a magistratus curulis, and he had the imperium, and consequently was one of the magistratus majores: but he owed respect and obedience to the consuls. His insignia of office were six lictors; but at a later period he had only two lictors in Rome. The praetorship was at first given to a consul of the preceding year.—InB.C.246 another praetor was appointed, whose business was to administer justice in matters in dispute between peregrini, or peregrini and Roman citizens; and accordingly he was calledpraetor peregrinus. The other praetor was then calledpraetor urbanus, qui jus inter cives dicit, and sometimes simplypraetor urbanusandpraetor urbis. The two praetors determined by lot which functions they should respectively exercise. If either of them was at the head of the army, the other performed all the duties of both within the city. Sometimes the military imperium of a praetor was prolonged for a second year. When the territories of the state were extended beyond the limits of Italy, new praetors were made. Thus, two praetors were createdB.C.227, for the administration of Sicily and Sardinia, and two more were added when the two Spanish provinces were formed,B.C.197. When there were six praetors, two stayed in the city, and the other four went abroad. The senate determined their provinces, which were distributed among them by lot. After the discharge of his judicial functions in the city, a praetor often had the administration of a province, with the title ofpropraetor. Sulla increased the number of praetors to eight, which Julius Caesar raised successively to ten, twelve, fourteen, and sixteen. Augustus, after several changes, fixed the number at twelve. Under Tiberius there were sixteen. Two praetors were appointed by Claudius for matters relating to fideicommissa, when the business in this department of the law had become considerable, but Titus reduced the number to one; and Nerva added a praetor for the decision of matters between the fiscus and individuals. Thus there were eventually eighteen praetors, who administered justice in the state.—The praetor urbanus was specially named praetor, and hewas the first in rank. His duties confined him to Rome, as is implied by the name, and he could only leave the city for ten days at a time. It was part of his duty to superintend the Ludi Apollinares. He was also the chief magistrate for the administration of justice; and to the edicta of the successive praetors the Roman law owes in a great degree its development and improvement. Both the praetor urbanus and the praetor peregrinus had the jus edicendi, and their functions in this respect do not appear to have been limited on the establishment of the imperial power, though it must have been gradually restricted, as the practice of imperial constitutions and rescripts became common. [Edictum.] The chief judicial functions of the praetor in civil matters consisted in giving a judex. [Judex.] It was only in the case of interdicts that he decided in a summary way. [Interdictum.] Proceedings before the praetor were technically said to bein jure. The praetors also presided at trials of criminal matters. These were the quaestiones perpetuae, or the trials for repetundae, ambitus, majestas, and peculatus, which, when there were six praetors, were assigned to four out of the number. Sulla added to these quaestiones those of falsum, de sicariis et veneficis, and de parricidis, and for this purpose he added two, or, according to some accounts, four praetors. On these occasions the praetor presided, but a body of judices determined by a majority of votes the condemnation or acquittal of the accused. [Judex.] The praetor, when he administered justice, sat on a sella curulis in a tribunal, which was that part of the court which was appropriated to the praetor and his assessors and friends, and is opposed to the subsellia, or part occupied by the judices, and others who were present.
PRAETŌRĬA CŎHORS. [Praetoriani.]
PRAETŌRĬĀNI, sc.milites, orpraetoriae cohortes, a body of troops instituted by Augustus to protect his person and his power, and called by that name in imitation of thepraetoria cohors, or select troops which attended the person of the praetor or general of the Roman army. They originally consisted of nine or ten cohorts, each comprising a thousand men, horse and foot. Augustus, in accordance with his general policy of avoiding the appearance of despotism, stationed only three of these cohorts in the capital, and dispersed the remainder in the adjacent towns of Italy. Tiberius, however, under pretence of introducing a stricter discipline among them, assembled them all at Rome in a permanent camp, which was strongly fortified. Their number was increased by Vitellius to sixteen cohorts, or 16,000 men. The praetorians were distinguished by double pay and especial privileges. Their term of service was originally fixed by Augustus at twelve years, but was afterwards increased to sixteen years; and when they had served their time, each soldier received 20,000 sesterces. They soon became the most powerful body in the state, and, like the janissaries at Constantinople, frequently deposed and elevated emperors according to their pleasure. Even the most powerful of the emperors were obliged to court their favour; and they always obtained a liberal donation upon the accession of each sovereign. After the death of Pertinax (A.D.193) they even offered the empire for sale, which was purchased by Didius Julianus; but upon the accession of Severus in the same year they were disbanded, on account of the part they had taken in the death of Pertinax, and banished from the city. The emperors, however, could not dispense with guards, and accordingly the praetorians were restored on a new model by Severus, and increased to four times their ancient number. Diocletian reduced their numbers and abolished their privileges; they were still allowed to remain at Rome, but had no longer the guard of the emperor’s person, as he never resided in the capital. Their numbers were again increased by Maxentius; but after his defeat by Constantine,A.D.312, they were entirely suppressed by the latter, their fortified camp destroyed, and those who had not perished in the battle between Constantine and Maxentius were dispersed among the legions. The commander of the praetorians was calledPraefectus Praetorio.
PRAETŌRĬUM, the name of the general’s tent in the camp, and so called because the name of the chief Roman magistrate was originally praetor, and not consul. [Castra.] The officers who attended on the general in thepraetorium, and formed his council of war, were called by the same name. The word was also used in several other significations, which were derived from the original one. Thus the residence of a governor of a province was called thepraetorium; and the same name was also given to any large house or palace. The camp of the praetorian troops at Rome, and frequently the praetorian troops themselves, were called by this name. [Praetoriani.]
PRANDĬUM. [Coena,p. 96,b.]
PRĒLUM. [Vinum.]
PRĪMĬPĪLUS. [Centurio.]
PRINCEPS JŬVENTŪTIS. [Equites.]
PRINCEPS SĔNĀTUS. [Senatus.]
PRINCĬPES. [Exercitus,p. 168,b.]
PRINCĬPĬA, PRINCĬPĀLIS VIA. [Castra.]
PRĪVĬLĒGĬUM. [Lex.]
PRŎBŎLĒ (προβολή), an accusation of a criminal nature, preferred before the people of Athens in assembly, with a view to obtain their sanction for bringing the charge before a judicial tribunal. Theproboléwas reserved for those cases where the public had sustained an injury, or where, from the station, power, or influence of the delinquent, the prosecutor might deem it hazardous to proceed in the ordinary way without being authorised by a vote of the sovereign assembly. In this point it differed from theeisangelia, that in the latter the people were called upon either to pronounce final judgment, or to direct some peculiar method of trial; whereas, in theproboléafter the judgment of the assembly, the parties proceeded to trial in the usual manner. The cases to which theproboléwas applied were, complaints against magistrates for official misconduct of oppression; against those public informers and mischief-makers who were calledsycophantae(συκοφάνται); against those who outraged public decency at the religious festivals; and against all such as by evil practices exhibited disaffection to the state.
PRŎBOULEUMA. [Boule.]
PRŎBOULI (πρόβουλοι), a name applicable to any persons who are appointed to consult or take measures for the benefit of the people. Tenprobouliwere appointed at Athens, after the end of the Sicilian war, to act as a committee of public safety. Their authority did not last much longer than a year; for a year and a half afterwards Pisander and his colleagues established the council of Four Hundred, by which the democracy was overthrown.
PRŌCONSUL (ἀνθύπατος), an officer who acted in the place of a consul, without holding the office of consul itself. The proconsul, however, was generally one who had held the office of consul, so that the proconsulship was a continuation, though a modified one, of the consulship. The first time when the imperium of a consul was prolonged, was inB.C.327, in the case of Q. Publilius Philo, whose return to Rome would have been followed by the loss of most of the advantages that had been gained in his campaign. The power of proconsul was conferred by a senatusconsultum and plebiscitum, and was nearly equal to that of a regular consul, for he had the imperium and jurisdictio, but it differed inasmuch as it did not extend over the city and its immediate vicinity, and was conferred, without the auspicia, by a mere decree of the senate and people, and not in the comitia for elections. When the number of Roman provinces had become great, it was customary for the consuls, who during the latter period of the republic spent the year of their consulship at Rome, to undertake at its close the conduct of a war in a province, or its peaceful administration, with the title of proconsuls. There are some extraordinary cases on record in which a man obtained a province with the title of proconsul without having held the consulship before. The first case of this kind occurred inB.C.211, when young P. Cornelius Scipio was created proconsul of Spain in the comitia centuriata.
PRŌCŪRĀTOR, a person who has the management of any business committed to him by another. Thus it is applied to a person who maintains or defends an action on behalf of another, or, as we should say, an attorney [Actio]: to a steward in a family [Calculator]: to an officer in the provinces belonging to the Caesar, who attended to the duties discharged by the quaestor in the other provinces [Provincia]: to an officer engaged in the administration of the fiscus [Fiscus]: and to various other officers under the empire.