ECCLĒSĬA (ἐκκλησία), the name of the general assembly of the citizens at Athens, in which they met to discuss and determine upon matters of public interest, and which was therefore the sovereign power in the state. These assemblies were eitherordinary(νόμιμοιorκυρίαι), and held four times in each prytany, orextraordinary, that is, specially convened, upon any sudden emergency, and therefore calledσύγκλητοι. The place in which they were anciently held was theagora. Afterwards they were transferred to the Pnyx, and at last to the great theatre of Dionysus, and other places. The most usual place, however, was the Pnyx, which was situated to the west of the Areiopagus, on a slope connected with Mount Lycabettus, and partly at least within the walls of the city. It was semicircular in form, with a boundary wall part rock and part masonry, and an area of about 12,000 square yards. On the north the ground was filled up and paved with large stones, so as to get a level surface on the slope. Towards this side, and close to the wall, was thebema(βῆμα), a stone platform or hustings ten or eleven feet high, with an ascent of steps. The position of thebemawas such as to command a view of the sea from behind, and of the Propylaea and Parthenon in front, and we may be sure that the Athenian orators would often rouse the national feelings of their hearers by pointing to the assemblage of magnificent edifices, “monuments of Athenian gratitude and glory,” which they had in view from the Pnyx.—The right of convening the people was generally vested in the prytanes or presidents of the council of Five Hundred [seeBoulé], but in cases of sudden emergency, and especially during wars, the strategi also had the power of calling extraordinary meetings, for which, however, the consent of the senate appears to have been necessary. The prytanes not only gave a previous noticeof the day of assembly, and published a programme of the subjects to be discussed, but also, it appears, sent a crier round to collect the citizens. All persons who did not obey the call were subject to a fine, and six magistrates called lexiarchs were appointed, whose duty it was to take care that the people attended the meetings, and to levy fines on those who refused to do so. With a view to this, whenever an assembly was to be held, certain public slaves (Σκύθαιorτοξόται) were sent round to sweep the agora, and other places of public resort, with a rope coloured with vermilion. The different persons whom these ropemen met, were driven by them towards the ecclesia, and those who refused to go were marked by the rope and fined. An additional inducement to attend, with the poorer classes, was theμισθὸς ἐκκλησιαστικός, or pay which they received for it. The payment was originally an obolus, but was afterwards raised to three. The right of attending was enjoyed by all legitimate citizens who were of the proper age (generally supposed to be twenty, certainly not less than eighteen), and not labouring under anyatimia, or loss of civil rights.—In the articleBouléit is explained who the prytanes and the proedri were; and we may here remark, that it was the duty of the proedri of the same tribe, under the presidency of their chairman (ὁ ἐπιστάτης), to lay before the people the subjects to be discussed; to read, or cause to be read, the previous bill (τὸ προβούλευμα) of the senate, without which no measure could be brought before the ecclesia, and to give permission to the speakers to address the people. The officers who acted under them, were the crier (ὁ κήρυξ), and the Scythian bowmen.—Previous, however, to the commencement of any business, the place was purified by the offering of sacrifices, and then the gods were implored in a prayer to bless the proceedings of the meeting. The privilege of addressing the assembly was not confined to any class or age among those who had the right to be present: all, without any distinction, were invited to do so by the proclamation,Τίς ἀγορεύειν βούλεται, which was made by the crier after the proedri had gone through the necessary preliminaries, and laid the subject of discussion before the meeting; for though, according to the institutions of Solon, those persons who were above fifty years of age ought to have been called upon to speak first, this regulation had in later times become quite obsolete. The speakers are sometimes simply calledοἱ παρίοντες, and appear to have worn a crown of myrtle on their heads while addressing the assembly. The most influential and practised speakers of the assembly were generally distinguished by the name ofῥήτορες. After the speakers had concluded, any one was at liberty to propose a decree, whether drawn up beforehand or framed in the meeting, which, however, it was necessary to present to the proedri, that they might see, in conjunction with thenomophylaces, whether there was contained in it anything injurious to the state, or contrary to the existing laws. If not, it was read by the crier; though, even after the reading, the chairman could prevent it being put to the vote, unless his opposition was overborne by threats and clamours. Private individuals also could do the same, by engaging upon oath (ὑπωμοσία) to bring against the author of any measure they might object to, an accusation called aγραφὴ παράνομων. If, however, the chairman refused to submit any question to the decision of the people, he might be proceeded against byendeixis; and if he allowed the people to vote upon a proposal which was contrary to existing constitutional laws, he was in some cases liable toatimia. If, on the contrary, no opposition of this sort was offered to a proposed decree, the votes of the people were taken, by the permission of the chairman and with the consent of the rest of the proedri. The decision of the people was given either by show of hands, or by ballot,i.e.by casting pebbles into urns (καδίσκοι); the former was expressed by the wordχειροτονεῖν, the latter byψηφίζεσθαι, although the two terms are frequently confounded. The more usual method of voting was by show of hands, as being more expeditious and convenient (χειροτονία). Vote by ballot, on the other hand, was only used in a few special cases determined by law; as, for instance, when a proposition was made for allowing those who had sufferedatimiato appeal to the people for restitution of their former rights; or for inflicting extraordinary punishments on atrocious offenders, and generally, upon any matter which affected private persons. In cases of this sort it was settled by law, that a decree should not be valid unless six thousand citizens at least voted in favour of it. This was by far the majority of those citizens who were in the habit of attending; for, in time of war, the number never amounted to five thousand, and in time of peace seldom to ten thousand.—The determination or decree of the people was called aψήφισμα, which properly signifies a law proposed to an assembly, and approved of by the people. Respecting the form for drawing up aψήφισμα, seeBoulé.—When the business was over, the order for the dismissal of the assemblywas given by the prytanes, through the proclamation of the crier; and as it was not customary to continue meetings, which usually began early in the morning, till after sunset, if one day were not sufficient for the completion of any business, it was adjourned to the next. But an assembly was sometimes broken up, if any one, whether a magistrate or private individual, declared that he saw an unfavourable omen, or perceived thunder and lightning. The sudden appearance of rain also, or the shock of an earthquake, or any natural phenomenon of the kind calledδιοσημίαι, was a sufficient reason for the hasty adjournment of an assembly.
ECCLETI. [Homoei.]
ECDĬCUS (ἔκδικος), the name of an officer in many of the towns of Asia Minor during the Roman dominion, whose principal duty was the care of the public money, and the prosecution of all parties who owed money to the state.
ECMARTȲRĬA (ἐκμαρτυρία), signifies the deposition of a witness at Athens, who, by reason of absence abroad, or illness, was unable to attend in court. His statement was taken down in writing, in the presence of persons expressly appointed to receive it, and afterwards, upon their swearing to its identity, was read as evidence in the cause.
ĒDICTUM. TheJus Edicendi, or power of making edicts, belonged to the highermagistratus populi Romani, but it was principally exercised by the two praetors, the praetor urbanus, and the praetor peregrinus, whose jurisdiction was exercised in the provinces by the praeses. The curule aediles likewise made many edicts; and tribunes, censors, and pontifices also promulgated edicts relating to the matters of their respective jurisdictions. The edicta were among the sources of Roman law. The edictum may be described generally as a rule promulgated by a magistratus on entering on his office, which was done by writing it on an album and exhibiting it in a conspicuous place. As the office of a magistratus was annual, the rules promulgated by a predecessor were not binding on a successor, but he might confirm or adopt the rules of his predecessor, and introduce them into his own edict, and hence such adopted rules were callededictum ralatitium, orvetus, as opposed toedictum novum. Arepentinum edictumwas that rule which was made (prout res incidit) for the occasion. Aperpetuum edictumwas that rule which was made by the magistratus on entering upon office, and which was intended to apply to all cases to which it was applicable during the year of his office: hence it was sometimes called alsoannua lex. Until it became the practice for magistratus to adopt the edicta of their predecessors, the edicta could not form a body of permanent binding rules; but when this practice became common, the edicta (edictum tralatitium) soon constituted a large body of law, which was practically of as much importance as any other part of the law.
EICOSTĒ (εἰκοστή), a tax or duty of one-twentieth (five per cent.) upon all commodities exported or imported by sea in the states of the allies subject to Athens. This tax was first imposedB.C.413, in the place of the direct tribute which had up to this time been paid by the subject allies; and the change was made with the hope of raising a greater revenue. This tax, like all others, was farmed, and the farmers of it were calledεἰκοστολόγοι.
EIRĒN or ĪRĒN (εἴρηνorἴρην), the name given to the Spartan youth when he attained the age of twenty. At the age of eighteen he emerged from childhood, and was calledμελλείρην. When he had attained his twentieth year, he began to exercise a direct influence over his juniors, and was entrusted with the command of troops in battle. The word appears to have originally signified a commander. Theἰρένεςmentioned in Herodotus, in connection with the battle of Plataeae, were certainly not youths, but commanders.
EISANGĔLĬA (εἰσαγγελία), signifies, in its primary and most general sense, a denunciation of any kind, but, much more usually, an information laid before the council or the assembly of the people, and the consequent impeachment and trial of state criminals at Athens under novel or extraordinary circumstances. Among these were the occasions upon which manifest crimes were alleged to have been committed, and yet of such a nature as the existing laws had failed to anticipate, or at least describe specifically (ἄγραφα ἀδικήματα), the result of which omission would have been, but for the enactment by which the accusations in question might be preferred (νόμος εἰσαγγελτικός), that a prosecutor would not have known to what magistrate to apply; that a magistrate, if applied to, could not with safety have accepted the indictment or brought it into court; and that, in short, there would have been a total failure of justice.
EISITĒRĬA (εἰσιτήρια,scil.ἱερά), sacrifices offered at Athens by the senate before the session began, in honour of theΘεοὶ Βουλαῖοι,i.e.Zeus and Athena.
EISPHŎRA (εἰσφορά), an extraordinary tax on property, raised at Athens, whenever the means of the state were not sufficient tocarry on a war. It is not quite certain when this property-tax was introduced; but it seems to have come first into general use aboutB.C.428. It could never be raised without a decree of the people, who also assigned the amount required; and thestrategi, or generals, superintended its collection, and presided in the courts where disputes connected with, or arising from, the levying of the tax were settled. The usual expressions for paying this property-tax are:εἰσφέρειν χρήματα,εἰσφέρειν εἰς τὸν πόλεμον,εἰς τὴν σωτηρίαν τῆς πόλεως,εἰσφορὰς εἰσφέρειν, and those who paid it were calledοἱ εἰσφέροντες. The census of Solon was at first the standard according to which theeisphorawas raised, until inB.C.377 a new census was instituted, in which the people, for the purpose of fixing the rates of the property-tax, were divided into a number of symmoriae (συμμορίαι) or classes, similar to those which were afterwards made for the trierarchy. Each of the ten tribes or phylae, appointed 120 of its wealthier citizens; and the whole number of persons included in the symmoriae was thus 1200, who were considered as the representatives of the whole republic. This body of 1200 was divided into four classes, each consisting of 300. The first class, or the richest, were the leaders of the symmoriae (ἡγεμόνες συμμοριῶν), and are often called the three hundred. They probably conducted the proceedings of the symmoriae, and they, or, which is more likely, the demarchs, had to value the taxable property. Other officers were appointed to make out the lists of the rates, and were calledἐπιγραφεῖς,διαγραφεῖςorἐκλογεῖς. When the wants of the state were pressing, the 300 leaders advanced the money to the others, who paid it back to the 300 at the regular time. The first class probably consisted of persons who possessed property from 12 talents upwards; the second class, of persons who possessed property from 6 talents and upwards, but under 12; the third class, of persons who possessed property from 2 talents upwards, but under 6; the fourth class, of persons who possessed property from 25 minae upwards, but under 2 talents. The rate of taxation was higher or lower according to the wants of the republic at the time; we have accounts of rates of a 12th, a 50th, a 100th, and a 500th part of the taxable property. If any one thought that his property was taxed higher than that of another man on whom juster claims could be made, he had the right to call upon this person to take the office in his stead, or to submit to a complete exchange of property. [Antidosis.] No Athenian, on the other hand, if belonging to the tax-paying classes, could be exempt from theeisphora, not even the descendants of Harmodius and Aristogeiton.
ĒLECTRUM (ἤλεκτροςandἤλεκτρον), is used by the ancient writers in two different senses, either foramberor for a mixture of metals composed of gold and silver. In Homer and Hesiod, it has, in all probability, the former meaning. The earliest passage of any Greek writer, in which the word iscertainlyused for the metal, is in theAntigoneof Sophocles (1038). This alludes tonative electrum; but the compound was also made artificially. Pliny states that when gold contains a fifth part of silver, it is calledelectrum; that it is found in veins of gold; and that it is also made by art: if, he adds, it contains more than a fifth of silver, it becomes too brittle to be malleable. But Isidorus mentions electrum composed ofthreeparts gold, andoneof silver. Electrum was used for plate, and the other similar purposes for which gold and silver were employed. It was also used as a material for money. Lampridius tells us, that Alexander Severus struck coins of it; and coins are in existence, of this metal, struck by the kings of Bosporus, by Syracuse, and by other Greek states.
ĔLEUSĪNĬA (ἐλευσίνια), a festival and mysteries, originally celebrated only at Eleusis in Attica, in honour of Demeter and Persephone. The Eleusinian mysteries, orthemysteries, as they were sometimes called, were the holiest and most venerable of all that were celebrated in Greece. Various traditions were current among the Greeks respecting the author of these mysteries: for, while some considered Eumolpus or Musaeus to be their founder, others stated that they had been introduced from Egypt by Erechtheus, who at a time of scarcity provided his country with corn from Egypt, and imported from the same quarter the sacred rites and mysteries of Eleusis. A third tradition attributed the institution to Demeter herself, who, when wandering about in search of her daughter, Persephone, was believed to have come to Attica, in the reign of Erechtheus, to have supplied its inhabitants with corn, and to have instituted the mysteries at Eleusis. This last opinion seems to have been the most common among the ancients, and in subsequent times a stone was shown near the well Callichoros at Eleusis, on which the goddess, overwhelmed with grief and fatigue, was believed to have rested on her arrival in Attica. All the accounts and allusions in ancient writers seem to warrant the conclusion, that the legends concerning the introduction of the Eleusinia are descriptions of a period when the inhabitants of Atticawere becoming acquainted with the benefits of agriculture, and of a regularly constituted form of society.—In the reign of Erechtheus a war is said to have broken out between the Athenians and Eleusinians; and when the latter were defeated, they acknowledged the supremacy of Athens in everything except the mysteries, which they wished to conduct and regulate for themselves. Thus the superintendence remained with the descendants of Eumolpus [Eumolpidae], the daughters of the Eleusinian king Celeus, and a third class of priests, the Ceryces, who seem likewise to have been connected with the family of Eumolpus, though they themselves traced their origin to Hermes and Aglauros.—At the time when the local governments of the several townships of Attica were concentrated at Athens, the capital became also the centre of religion, and several deities who had hitherto only enjoyed a local worship, were now raised to the rank of national gods. This seems also to have been the case with the Eleusinian goddess, for in the reign of Theseus we find mention of a temple at Athens, called Eleusinion, probably the new and national sanctuary of Demeter. Her priests and priestesses now became naturally attached to the national temple of the capital, though her original place of worship at Eleusis, with which so many sacred associations were connected, still retained its importance and its special share in the celebration of the national solemnities.—We must distinguish between the greater Eleusinia, which were celebrated at Athens and Eleusis, and the lesser, which were held at Agrae on the Ilissus. The lesser Eleusinia were only a preparation (προκάθαρσιςorπροάγνευσις) for the real mysteries. They were held every year in the month of Anthesterion, and, according to some accounts, in honour of Persephone alone. Those who were initiated in them bore the name ofMystae(μύσται), and had to wait at least another year before they could be admitted to the great mysteries. The principal rites of this first stage of initiation consisted in the sacrifice of a sow, which the mystae seem to have first washed in the Cantharus, and in the purification by a priest, who bore the name ofHydranos(Ὑδρανός). The mystae had also to take anoath of secrecy, which was administered to them by theMystagogus(μυσταγωγός, also calledἱεροφάντηςorπροφήτης), and they received some kind of preparatory instruction, which enabled them afterwards to understand the mysteries which were revealed to them in the great Eleusinia.—The great mysteries were celebrated every year in the month of Boedromion, during nine days, from the 15th to the 23rd, both at Athens and Eleusis. The initiated were calledἐπόπταιorἔφυροι. On the first day, those who had been initiated in the lesser Eleusinia, assembled at Athens. On the second day the mystae went in solemn procession to the sea-coast, where they underwent a purification. Of the third day scarcely anything is known with certainty; we are only told that it was a day of fasting, and that in the evening a frugal meal was taken, which consisted of cakes made of sesame and honey. On the fourth day theκαλάθος κάθοδοςseems to have taken place. This was a procession with a basket containing pomegranates and poppy-seeds; it was carried on a waggon drawn by oxen, and women followed with small mystic cases in their hands. On the fifth day, which appears to have been called the torch day (ἡ τῶν λαμπάδων ἡμέρα), the mystae, led by theδᾳδοῦχος, went in the evening with torches to the temple of Demeter at Eleusis, where they seem to have remained during the following night. This rite was probably a symbolical representation of Demeter wandering about in search of Persephone. The sixth day, calledIacchos, was the most solemn of all. The statue of Iacchos, son of Demeter, adorned with a garland of myrtle and bearing a torch in his hand, was carried along the sacred road amidst joyous shouts and songs, from the Cerameicus to Eleusis. This solemn procession was accompanied by great numbers of followers and spectators. During the night from the sixth to the seventh day the mystae remained at Eleusis, and were initiated into the last mysteries (ἐποπτεία). Those who were neitherἐπόπταιnorμύσταιwere sent away by a herald. The mystae now repeated the oath of secrecy which had been administered to them at the lesser Eleusinia, underwent a new purification, and then they were led by the mystagogus in the darkness of night into the lighted interior of the sanctuary (φωταγωγία), and were allowed to see (αὐτοψία) what none except the epoptae ever beheld. The awful and horrible manner in which the initiation is described by later, especially Christian writers, seems partly to proceed from their ignorance of its real character, partly from their horror of and aversion to these pagan rites. The more ancient writers always abstained from entering upon any description of the subject. Each individual, after his initiation, is said to have been dismissed by the wordsκόγξ,ὄμπαξ, in order to make room for other mystae. On the seventh day the initiated returned to Athens amid various kinds of raillery and jests, especially at the bridge over the Cephisus,where they sat down to rest, and poured forth their ridicule on those who passed by. Hence the wordsγεφυρίζεινandγεφυρισμός. Theseσκώμματαseem, like the procession with torches to Eleusis, to have been dramatical and symbolical representations of the jests by which, according to the ancient legend, Iambe or Baubo had dispelled the grief of the goddess and made her smile. We may here observe, that probably the whole history of Demeter and Persephone was in some way or other symbolically represented at the Eleusinia. The eighth day, calledEpidauria(Ἐπιδαύρια), was a kind of additional day for those who by some accident had come too late, or had been prevented from being initiated on the sixth day. It was said to have been added to the original number of days, when Asclepius, coming over from Epidaurus to be initiated, arrived too late, and the Athenians, not to disappoint the god, added an eighth day. The ninth and last day bore the name ofπλημοχοαί, from a peculiar kind of vessel calledπλημοχοή, which is described as a small kind ofκότυλος. Two of these vessels were on this day filled with water or wine, and the contents of the one thrown to the east, and those of the other to the west, while those who performed this rite uttered some mystical words.—The Eleusinian mysteries long survived the independence of Greece. Attempts to suppress them were made by the emperor Valentinian, but he met with strong opposition, and they seem to have continued down to the time of the elder Theodosius. Respecting the secret doctrines which were revealed in them to the initiated, nothing certain is known. The general belief of the ancients was, that they opened to man a comforting prospect of a future state. But this feature does not seem to have been originally connected with these mysteries, and was probably added to them at the period which followed the opening of a regular intercourse between Greece and Egypt, when some of the speculative doctrines of the latter country, and of the East, may have been introduced into the mysteries, and hallowed by the names of the venerable bards of the mythical age. This supposition would also account, in some measure, for the legend of their introduction from Egypt. In modern times many attempts have been made to discover the nature of the mysteries revealed to the initiated, but the results have been as various and as fanciful as might be expected. The most sober and probable view is that, according to which, “they were the remains of a worship which preceded the rise of the Hellenic mythology and its attendant rites, grounded on a view of nature, less fanciful, more earnest, and better fitted to awaken both philosophical thought and religious feeling.”
ĔLEUTHĔRĬA (ἐλευθέρια), the feast of liberty, a festival which the Greeks, after the battle of Plataeae (479B.C.), instituted in honour of Zeus Eleutherios (the deliverer). It was intended not merely to be a token of their gratitude to the god to whom they believed themselves to be indebted for their victory over the barbarians, but also as a bond of union among themselves; for, in an assembly of all the Greeks, Aristeides carried a decree that delegates (πρόβουλοι καὶ θεωροί) from all the Greek states should assemble every year at Plataeae for the celebration of the Eleutheria. The town itself was at the same time declared sacred and inviolable, as long as its citizens offered the annual sacrifices which were then instituted on behalf of Greece. Every fifth year these solemnities were celebrated with contests, in which the victors were rewarded with chaplets.
ELLŌTĬA or HELLŌTĬA (ἐλλώτιαorἑλλώτια), a festival with a torch race celebrated at Corinth in honour of Athena as a goddess of fire.
ĒMANCĬPĀTĬO, was an act by which thepatria potestaswas dissolved in the lifetime of the parent, and it was so called because it was in the form of a sale (mancipatio). By the laws of the Twelve Tables it was necessary that a son should be sold three times in order to be released from the paternal power, or to besui juris. In the case of daughters and grandchildren, one sale was sufficient. The father transferred the son by the form of a sale to another person, who manumitted him, upon which he returned into the power of the father. This was repeated, and with the like result. After a third sale, the paternal power was extinguished, but the son was re-sold to the parent, who then manumitted him, and so acquired the rights of a patron over his emancipated son, which would otherwise have belonged to the purchaser who gave him his final manumission.
EMBAS (ἐμβάς), a shoe worn by men, and which appears to have been the most common kind of shoe worn at Athens. Pollux says that it was invented by the Thracians, and that it was like the low cothurnus. Theembaswas also worn by the Boeotians, and probably in other parts of Greece.
EMBĂTEIA (ἐμβατεία). In Attic law this word (like the corresponding English one,entry), was used to denote a formal taking possession of real property. Thus, when a son entered upon the land left him by his father, he was saidἐμβατεύεινorβαδίζειν εἰςτὰ πατρῳα, and thereupon he becameseised, or possessed of his inheritance. If any one disturbed him in the enjoyment of this property, with an intention to dispute the title, he might maintain an action of ejectment,ἐξούλης δίκη. Before entry he could not maintain such action.
EMBLĒMA (ἔμβλημα,ἔμπαισμα), an inlaid ornament. The art of inlaying was employed in producing beautiful works of two descriptions, viz.;—1st, those which resembled our marquetry, buhl, and Florentine mosaics; and 2dly, those in which crusts (crustae), exquisitely wrought in bas-relief and of precious materials, were fastened upon the surface of vessels or other pieces of furniture. To the latter class of productions belonged the cups and plates which Verres obtained by violence from the Sicilians, and from which he removed the emblems for the purpose of having them set in gold instead of silver.
ĒMĔRĬTI, the name given to those Roman soldiers who had served out their time, and had exemption (vacatio) from military service. The usual time of service was twenty years for the legionary soldiers, and sixteen for the praetorians. At the end of their period of service they received a bounty or reward (emeritum), either in lands or money, or in both.
ĒMISSĀRĬUM (ὑπόνομος), a channel, natural or artificial, by which an outlet is formed to carry off any stagnant body of water. Such channels may be either open or underground; but the most remarkable works of the kind are of the latter description, as they carry off the waters of lakes surrounded by hills. In Greece, the most striking example is presented by the subterraneous channels which carry off the waters of the lake Copais in Boeotia, which were partly natural and partly artificial. Some works of this kind are among the most remarkable efforts of Roman ingenuity. Remains still exist to show that the lakes Trasimene, Albano, Nemi, and Fucino, were all drained by means ofemissaria, the last of which is still nearly perfect, and open to inspection, having been partially cleared by the present king of Naples. Julius Caesar is said to have first conceived the idea of this stupendous undertaking, which was carried into effect by the Emperor Claudius.
EMMĒNI DĬKAE (ἔμμηνοι δίκαι), suits in the Athenian courts, which were not allowed to be pending above a month. This regulation was confined to those subjects which required a speedy decision; and of these the most important were disputes respecting commerce (ἐμπορικαὶ δίκαι). All causes relating to mines (μεταλλικαὶ δίκαι) were alsoἔμμηνοι δίκαι, as well as those relating toἔρανοι. [Erani.]
EMPŎRĬUM (τὸ ἐμπόριον), a place for wholesale trade in commodities carried by sea. The name is sometimes applied to a sea-port town, but it properly signifies only a particular place in such a town. The word is derived fromἔμπορος, which signifies in Homer a person who sails as a passenger in a ship belonging to another person; but in later writers it signifies the merchant or wholesale dealer, and differs fromκάπηλος, the retail dealer. The emporium at Athens was under the inspection of certain officers, who were elected annually (ἐπιμεληταὶ τοῦ ἐμπορίου).
ENCAUSTĬCA. [Pictura.]
ENCTĒSIS (ἔγκτησις), the right of possessing landed property and houses (ἔγκτησις γῆς καὶ οἰκίας) in a foreign country, which was frequently granted by one Greek state to another, or to separate individuals of another state.Ἐγκτήματαwere such possessions in a foreign country, or in a differentδῆμοςfrom that to which an Athenian belonged by birth.
ENDEIXIS (ἔνδειξις), properly denotes a prosecution instituted against such persons as were alleged to have exercised rights or held offices while labouring under a peculiar disqualification. The same form of action was available against the chairman of the proedri (ἐπιστάτης), who wrongly refused to take the votes of the people in the assembly; against malefactors, especially murderers; traitors, ambassadors accused of malversation, and persons who furnished supplies to the enemy during war. The first step taken by the prosecutor was to lay his information in writing, also calledendeixis, before the proper magistrate, who then arrested, or held to bail, the person criminated, and took the usual steps for bringing him to trial. There is great obscurity with respect to the punishment which followed condemnation. The accuser, if unsuccessful, was responsible for bringing a malicious charge (ψευδοῦς ἐνδείξεως ὑπεύθυνος).
ENDRŎMIS (ἐνδρομίς), a thick, coarse blanket, manufactured in Gaul, and called “endromis” because those who had been exercising in the stadium (ἐν δρόμῳ) threw it over them to obviate the effects of sudden exposure when they were heated. Notwithstanding its coarse and shaggy appearance, it was worn on other occasions as a protection from the cold by rich and fashionable persons at Rome.
ENSIS. [Gladius.]
ENTĂSIS (ἔντασις). The most ancient columns now existing, diminish immediatelyand regularly from the base to the neck, so that the edge forms a straight line—a mode of construction which is wanting in grace and apparent solidity. To correct this, a swelling outline, calledentasis, was given to the shaft, which seems to have been the first step towards combining grace and grandeur in the Doric column.
EPANGĔLĬA (ἐπαγγελία). If a citizen of Athens had incurredatimia, the privilege of taking part or speaking in the public assembly was forfeited. But as it sometimes might happen that a person, though not formally declaredatimus, had committed such crimes as would, on accusation, draw upon him this punishment, it was of course desirable that such individuals, like realatimi, should be excluded from the exercise of the rights of citizens. Whenever, therefore, such a person ventured to speak in the assembly, any Athenian citizen had the right to come forward in the assembly itself and demand of him to establish his right to speak by a trial or examination of his conduct (δοκιμασία τοῦ βίου), and this demand, denouncement, or threat, was calledepangelia, orepangelia docimasias(ἐπαγγελία δοκιμασίας). The impeached individual was then compelled to desist from speaking, and to submit to a scrutiny into his conduct, and, if he was convicted, a formal declaration ofatimiafollowed.
EPARITI (ἐπάριτοι), the name of the standing army in Arcadia, which was formed to preserve the independence of the Arcadian towns, when they became united as one state after the defeat of the Spartans at Leuctra. They were 5000 in number, and were paid by the state.
EPHĒBUS (ἔφηβος), the name of Athenian youths after they had attained the age of 18. The state ofephebeia(ἐφηβεία) lasted for two years, till the youths had attained the age of 20, when they became men, and were admitted to share all the rights and duties of citizens, for which the law did not prescribe a more advanced age. Before a youth was enrolled among the ephebi, he had to undergo adocimasia(δοκιμασία), the object of which was partly to ascertain whether he was the son of Athenian citizens, or adopted by a citizen, and partly whether his body was sufficiently developed and strong to undertake the duties which now devolved upon him. After thedocimasiathe young men received in the assembly a shield and a lance; but those whose fathers had fallen in the defence of their country received a complete suit of armour in the theatre. It seems to have been on this occasion that the ephebi took an oath in the temple of Artemis Aglauros, by which they pledged themselves never to disgrace their arms or to desert their comrades; to fight to the last in the defence of their country, its altars and hearths; to leave their country not in a worse but in a better state than they found it; to obey the magistrates and the laws; to resist all attempts to subvert the institutions of Attica; and finally, to respect the religion of their forefathers. This solemnity took place towards the close of the year, and the festive season bore the name ofephebia(ἐφήβια). The external distinction of the ephebi consisted in the chlamys and the petasus. During the two years of the ephebeia, which may be considered as a kind of apprenticeship in arms, and in which the young men prepared themselves for the higher duties of full citizens, they were generally sent into the country, under the name ofperipoli(περίπολοι), to keep watch in the towns and fortresses, on the coast and frontier, and to perform other duties which might be necessary for the protection of Attica.
ĔPHĒGĒSIS (ἐφήγησις), denotes the method of proceeding against such criminals as were liable to be summarily arrested by a private citizen [Apagoge] when the prosecutor was unwilling to expose himself to personal risk in apprehending the offender. Under these circumstances he made an application to the proper magistrate, and conducted him and his officers to the spot where the capture was to be effected.
ĔPHĔTAE (ἐφέται), the name of certain judges at Athens, who tried cases of homicide. They were fifty-one in number, selected from noble families, and more than fifty years of age. They formed a tribunal of great antiquity, and were in existence before the legislation of Solon, but, as the state became more and more democratical, their duties became unimportant and almost antiquated. The Ephetae once sat in one or other of the five courts, according to the nature of the causes they had to try. In historical times, however, they sat infouronly, called respectively the court by the Palladium (τὸ ἐπὶ Παλλαδίῳ), by the Delphinium (τὸ ἐπὶ Δελφινίῳ), by the Prytaneium (τὸ ἐπὶ Πρυτανείῳ), and the court at Phreatto or Zea (τὸ ἐν Φρεαττοῖ). At the first of these courts they tried cases of unintentional, at the second, of intentional but justifiable homicide. At the Prytaneium, by a strange custom, somewhat analogous to the imposition of a deodand, they passed sentence upon the instrument of murder when the perpetrator of the act was not known. In the court at Phreatto, on the sea shore at the Peiraeeus, they tried such persons as werecharged with wilful murder during a temporary exile for unintentional homicide.
Ephippium, Saddle. (Coin of Labienus.)
Ephippium, Saddle. (Coin of Labienus.)
ĔPHIPPĬUM (ἀστράβη,ἐφίππιον,ἐφίππειον), a saddle. Although the Greeks occasionally rode without any saddle, yet they commonly used one, and from them the name, together with the thing, was borrowed by the Romans. The ancient saddles appear, indeed, to have been thus far different from ours, that the cover stretched upon the hard frame was probably of stuffed or padded cloth rather than leather, and that the saddle was, as it were, a cushion fitted to the horse’s back. Pendent cloths (στρώματα,strata) were always attached to it so as to cover the sides of the animal; but it was not provided with stirrups. The saddle with the pendent cloths is exhibited in the annexed coin. The term “Ephippium” was in later times in part supplanted by the word “sella,” and the more specific expression “sella equestris.”
ĔPHŎRI (ἔφοροι). Magistrates calledEphorior overseers were common to many Dorian constitutions in times of remote antiquity; but the Ephori of Sparta are the most celebrated of them all. The origin of the Spartan ephori is quite uncertain, but their office in the historical times was a kind of counterpoise to the kings and council, and in that respect peculiar to Sparta alone of the Dorian states. Their number, five, appears to have been always the same, and was probably connected with the five divisions of the town of Sparta, namely, the fourκῶμαι, Limnae, Mesoa, Pitana, Cynosura, and theΠόλιςor city properly so called, around which theκῶμαιlay. They were elected from and by the people, without any qualification of age or property, and without undergoing any scrutiny; so that the people enjoyed through them a participation in the highest magistracy of the state. They entered upon office at the autumnal solstice, and the first in rank of the five gave his name to the year, which was called after him in all civil transactions. They possessed judicial authority in civil suits, and also a general superintendence over the morals and domestic economy of the nation, which in the hands of able men would soon prove an instrument of unlimited power. Their jurisdiction and power were still further increased by the privilege of instituting scrutinies (εὔθυναι) into the conduct of all the magistrates. Even the kings themselves could be brought before their tribunal (as Cleomenes was for bribery). In extreme cases, the ephors were also competent to lay an accusation against the kings as well as the other magistrates, and bring them to a capital trial before the great court of justice. In later times the power of the ephors was greatly increased; and this increase appears to have been principally owing to the fact, that they put themselves in connection with the assembly of the people, convened its meetings, laid measures before it, and were constituted its agents and representatives. When this connection arose is matter of conjecture. The power which such a connection gave would, more than anything else, enable them to encroach on the royal authority, and make themselves virtually supreme in the state. Accordingly, we find that they transacted business with foreign ambassadors; dismissed them from the state; decided upon the government of dependent cities; subscribed in the presence of other persons to treaties of peace; and in time of war sent out troops when they thought necessary. In all these capacities the ephors acted as the representatives of the nation, and the agents of the public assembly, being in fact the executive of the state. In course of time the kings became completely under their control. For example, they fined Agesilaus on the vague charge of trying to make himself popular, and interfered even with the domestic arrangements of other kings. In the field the kings were followed by two ephors, who belonged to the council of war; the three who remained at home received the booty in charge, and paid it into the treasury, which was under the superintendence of the whole College of Five. But the ephors had still another prerogative, based on a religious foundation, which enabled them to effect a temporary deposition of the kings. Once in eight years, as we are told, they chose a calm and cloudless night to observe the heavens, and if there was any appearance of a falling meteor, it was believed to be a sign that the gods were displeased with the kings, who were accordingly suspended from their functions until an oracle allowed of their restoration. The outward symbols of supreme authority also were assumed by the ephors; and they alone kept their seats while the kings passed; whereas it was not considered below the dignity of the kings to rise in honour of the ephors. When Agis and Cleomenes undertook to restore the old constitution, it was necessary for them to overthrowthe ephoralty, and accordingly Cleomenes murdered the ephors for the time being, and abolished the office (B.C.225); it was, however, restored under the Romans.
ĔPĬBĂTAE (ἐπιβάται), were soldiers or marines appointed to defend the vessels in the Athenian navy, and were entirely distinct from the rowers, and also from the land soldiers, such as hoplitae, peltasts, and cavalry. It appears that the ordinary number of epibatae on board a trireme was ten. The epibatae were usually taken from the thetes, or fourth class of Athenian citizens. The term is sometimes also applied by the Roman writers to the marines, but they are more usually calledclassiarii milites. The latter term, however, is also applied to the rowers or sailors as well as the marines.
ĔPĬBŎLĒ (ἐπιβολή), a fine imposed by a magistrate, or other official person or body, for a misdemeanour. The various magistrates at Athens had (each in his own department) a summary penal jurisdiction;i.e.for certain offences they might inflict a pecuniary mulct or fine, not exceeding a fixed amount; if the offender deserved further punishment, it was their duty to bring him before a judicial tribunal. Theseepibolaeare to be distinguished from the penalties awarded by a jury or court of law (τιμήματα) upon a formal prosecution.
ĔPĬCLĒRUS (ἐπίκληρος, heiress), the name given to the daughter of an Athenian citizen, who had no son to inherit his estate. It was deemed an object of importance at Athens to preserve the family name and property of every citizen. This was effected, where a man had no child, by adoption (εἰσποίησις); if he had a daughter, the inheritance was transmitted through her to a grandson, who would take the name of the maternal ancestor. If the father died intestate, the heiress had not the choice of a husband, but was bound to marry her nearest relation, not in the ascending line. When there was but one daughter, she was calledἐπίκληρος ἐπὶ παντὶ τῷ οἴκῳ. If there were more, they inherited equally, like our co-parceners; and were severally married to relatives, the nearest having the first choice.
ĔPĬDŎSEIS (ἐπιδόσεις), voluntary contributions, either in money, arms, or ships, which were made by the Athenian citizens in order to meet the extraordinary demands of the state. When the expenses of the state were greater than its revenue, it was usual for the prytaneis to summon an assembly of the people, and after explaining the necessities of the state, to call upon the citizens to contribute according to their means. Those who were willing to contribute then rose and mentioned what they would give; while those who were unwilling to give any thing remained silent, or retired privately from the assembly.
ĔPĬMĔLĒTAE (ἐπιμεληταί), the names of various magistrates and functionaries at Athens.—(1)Ἐπιμελητὴς τῆς κοινῆς προσόδου, more usually calledταμίας, the treasurer or manager of the public revenue. [Tamias.]—(2)Ἐπιμεληταὶ τῶν μοριῶν Ἐλαιῶν, were persons chosen from among the Areopagites to take care of the sacred olive trees.—(3)Ἐπιμεληταὶ τοῦ Ἐμπορίου, were the overseers of the emporium. [Emporium.] They were ten in number, and were elected yearly by lot. They had the entire management of the emporium, and had jurisdiction in all breaches of the commercial laws.—(4)Ἐπιμεληταὶ τῶν Μυστηρίων, were, in connection with the king archon, the managers of the Eleusinian mysteries. They were elected by open vote, and were four in number.—(5)Ἐπιμεληταὶ τῶν νεωρίων, the inspectors of the dockyards, were ten in number.—(6)Ἐπιμεληταὶ τῶν φυλῶν, the inspectors of theφυλαὶor tribes. [Tribus.]
ĔPISCŎPI (ἐπίσκοποι), inspectors, who were sometimes sent by the Athenians to subject states. They were also calledφύλακες. It appears that these Episcopi received a salary at the cost of the cities over which they presided.
ĔPISTĂTĒS (ἐπιστάτης).—(1) The chairman of the senate and assembly of the people, respecting whose duties seeBouléandEcclesia.—(2) The name of the directors of the public works. (Ἐπισταταὶ τῶν δημοσίων ἔργων).
ĔPISTŎLEUS (ἐπιστολεύς), the officer second in rank in the Spartan fleet, who succeeded to the command if any thing happened to thenavarchus(ναυάρχος) or admiral. When the Chians and the other allies of Sparta on the Asiatic coast sent to Sparta to request that Lysander might be again appointed to the command of the navy, he was sent with the title of epistoleus, because the laws of Sparta did not permit the same person to hold the office of navarchus twice.
ĔPISTȲLĬUM (ἐπιστύλιον), properly, as the name implies, the architrave, or lower member of an entablature, which lies immediately over the columns. The word is sometimes also used for the whole of the entablature.
ĔPĬTRŎPUS (ἐπίτροπος), the name at Athens of a guardian of orphan children. Of such guardians there were at Athens three kinds: first, those appointed in the will of the deceased father; secondly, the next of kin, whom the law designated as tutores legitimi in default of such appointment, andwho required the authorization of the archon to enable them to act; and lastly, such persons as the archon selected if there were no next of kin living to undertake the office. The duties of the guardian comprehended the education, maintenance, and protection of the ward, the assertion of his rights, and the safe custody and profitable disposition of his inheritance during his minority, besides making a proper provision for the widow if she remained in the house of her late husband.
ĔPŌBĔLIA (ἐπωβελία), as its etymology implies, at the rate of one obolus for a drachma, or one in six, was payable on the assessment (τίμημα) of several private causes, and sometimes in a case of phasis, by the litigant that failed to obtain the votes of one-fifth of the dicasts.
ĔPŌNỸMUS. [Archon.]
ĔPOPTAE (ἐπόπται). [Eleusinia.]
ĔPŬLŌNES, who were originally three in number (triumviri epulones), were first created inB.C.196, to attend to the Epulum Jovis, and the banquets given in honour of the other gods; which duty had originally belonged to the pontifices. Their number was afterwards increased to seven, and they were called septemviri epulones or septemviri epulonum. The epulones formed a collegium, and were one of the four great religious corporations at Rome; the other three were those of the Pontifices, Augures, and Quindecemviri.
ĔPŬLUM JŎVIS. [Epulones.]
ĔQUĪRĬA, horse-races, which are said to have been instituted by Romulus in honour of Mars, and were celebrated in the Campus Martius. There were two festivals of this name; of which one was celebratedA.D.III. Cal. Mart., and the other prid. Id. Mart.
ĔQUĬTES, horsemen. Romulus is said to have formed three centuries of equites; and these were the same as the 300 Celeres, whom he kept about his person in peace and war. A century was taken from each of the three tribes, theRamnes,Titienses, andLuceres. Tarquinius Priscus added three more, under the title of Ramnes, Titienses, and Luceresposteriores. These were the six patrician centuries of equites, often referred to under the name of thesex suffragia. To these Servius Tullius added twelve more centuries, for admission into which, property and not birth was the qualification. These twelve centuries might therefore contain plebeians, but they do not appear to have been restricted to plebeians, since we have no reason for believing that the six old centuries contained thewholebody of patricians. A property qualification was apparently also necessary by the Servian constitution for admission into the six centuries. We may therefore suppose that those patricians who were included in the six old centuries were allowed by the Servian constitution to continue in them, if they possessed the requisite property; and that all other persons in the state, whether patricians or plebeians, who possessed the requisite property, were admitted into the twelve new centuries. We are not told the amount of property necessary to entitle a person to a place among the equites, but it was probably the same as in the latter times of the republic, that is, four times that of the first class. [Comitia,p. 105.] Property, however, was not the only qualification; for in the ancient times of the republic no one was admitted among the equestrian centuries unless his character was unblemished, and his father and grandfather had been born freemen. Each of the equites received a horse from the state (equus publicus), or money to purchase one, as well as a sum of money for its annual support; the expense of its support was defrayed by the orphans and unmarried females; since, in a military state, it could not be esteemed unjust, that the women and the children were to contribute largely for those who fought in behalf of them and of the commonwealth. The purchase-money for a knight’s horse was calledaes equestre, and its annual provisionaes hordearium. The former amounted, according to Livy, to 10,000 asses, and the latter to 2000.—All the equites, of whom we have been speaking, received a horse from the state, and were included in the 18 equestrian centuries of the Servian constitution; but in course of time, we read of another class of equites in Roman history, who did not receive a horse from the state, and who were not included in the 18 centuries. This latter class is first mentioned by Livy, in his account of the siege of Veii,B.C.403. He says that during the siege, when the Romans had at one time suffered great disasters, all those citizens who had an equestrian fortune, and no horse allotted to them, volunteered to serve with their own horses; and he adds, that from this time equites first began to serve with their own horses. The state paid them, as a kind of compensation for serving with their own horses. The foot soldiers had received pay a few years before; and two years afterwards,B.C.401, the pay of the equites was made three-fold that of the infantry. From the yearB.C.403, there were therefore two classes of Roman knights: one who received horses from the state, andare therefore frequently calledequites equo publico, and sometimesFlexuminesorTrossuli, and another class, who served, when they were required, with their own horses, but were not classed among the 18 centuries. As they served on horseback they were calledequites; and when spoken of in opposition to cavalry, which did not consist of Roman citizens, they were also calledequites Romani; but they had no legal claim to the name of equites, since in ancient times this title was strictly confined to those who received horses from the state.—The reason of this distinction of two classes arose from the fact, that the number of equites in the 18 centuries was fixed from the time of Servius Tullius. As vacancies occurred in them, the descendants of those who were originally enrolled succeeded to their places, provided they had not dissipated their property. But in course of time, as population and wealth increased, the number of persons who possessed an equestrian fortune, also increased greatly; and as the ancestors of these persons had not been enrolled in the 18 centuries, they could not receive horses from the state, and were therefore allowed the privilege of serving with their own horses among the cavalry, instead of the infantry, as they would otherwise have been obliged to have done.—The inspection of the equites who received horses from the state belonged to the censors, who had the power of depriving an eques of his horse, and reducing him to the condition of an aerarian, and also of giving the vacant horse to the most distinguished of the equites who had previously served at their own expense. For these purposes they made during their censorship a public inspection, in the forum, of all the knights who possessed public horses (equitatum recognoscere). The tribes were taken in order, and each knight was summoned by name. Every one, as his name was called, walked past the censors, leading his horse. If the censors had no fault to find either with the character of the knight or the equipments of his horse, they ordered him to pass on (traducere equum); but if on the contrary they considered him unworthy of his rank, they struck him out of the list of knights, and deprived him of his horse, or ordered him to sell it, with the intention no doubt that the person thus degraded should refund to the state the money which had been advanced to him for its purchase.—This review of the equites by the censors must not be confounded with theEquitum Transvectio, which was a solemn procession of the body every year on the Ides of Quintilis (July). The procession started from the temple of Mars outside the city, and passed through the city over the forum, and by the temple of the Dioscuri. On this occasion the equites were always crowned with olive chaplets, and wore their state dress, the trabea, with all the honourable distinctions which they had gained in battle. According to Livy, this annual procession was first established by the censors Q. Fabius and P. Decius,B.C.304; but according to Dionysius it was instituted after the defeat of the Latins near the lake Regillus, of which an account was brought to Rome by the Dioscuri.—It may be asked how long did the knight retain his public horse, and a vote in the equestrian century to which he belonged? On this subject we have no positive information; but as those equites, who served with their own horses, were only obliged to serve for ten years (stipendia) under the age of 46, we may presume that the same rule extended to those who served with the public horses, provided theywishedto give up the service. For it is certain that in the ancient times of the republic a knight might retain his horse as long as he pleased, even after he had entered the senate, provided he continued able to discharge the duties of a knight. Thus the two censors, M. Livius Salinator and C. Claudius Nero, inB.C.204, were also equites, and L. Scipio Asiaticus, who was deprived of his horse by the censors inB.C.185, had himself been censor inB.C.191. But during the later times of the republic the knights were obliged to give up their horses on entering the senate, and consequently ceased to belong to the equestrian centuries. It thus naturally came to pass, that the greater number of the equites equo publico, after the exclusion of senators from the equestrian centuries, were young men.—The equestrian centuries, of which we have hitherto been treating, were only regarded as a division of the army: they did not form a distinct class or ordo in the constitution. The community, in a political point of view, was divided only into patricians and plebeians, and the equestrian centuries were composed of both. But in the yearB.C.123, a new class, called theOrdo Equestris, was formed in the state by the Lex Sempronia, which was introduced by C. Gracchus. By this law, or one passed a few years afterwards, every person who was to be chosen judex was required to be above 30 and under 60 years of age, to have either an equus publicus, or to be qualified by his fortune to possess one, andnotto be a senator. The number of judices, who were required yearly, was chosen from this class by the praetor urbanus. As the name of equites had been originally extended from those who possessed the public horses to those who served with their own horses, it nowcame to be applied to all those persons who were qualified by their fortune to act as judices, in which sense the word is usually used by Cicero. After the reform of Sulla, which entirely deprived the equestrian order of the right of being chosen as judices, and the passing of the Lex Aurelia (B.C.70), which ordained that the judices should be chosen from the senators, equites, and tribuni aerarii, the influence of the order, says Pliny, was still maintained by thepublicani, or farmers of the public taxes. We find that the publicani were almost always called equites, not because any particular rank was necessary in order to obtain from the state the farming of the taxes, but because the state was not accustomed to let them to any one who did not possess a considerable fortune. Thus the publicani are frequently spoken of by Cicero as identical with the equestrian order. The consulship of Cicero, and the active part which the knights then took in suppressing the conspiracy of Catiline, tended still further to increase the power and influence of the equestrian order; and “from that time,” says Pliny, “it became a third body (corpus) in the state, and, to the title ofSenatus Populusque Romanus, there began to be addedEt Equestris Ordo.” InB.C.63, a distinction was conferred upon them, which tended to separate them still further from the plebs. By the Lex Roscia Othonis, passed in that year, the first fourteen seats in the theatre behind the orchestra were given to the equites. They also possessed the right of wearing the Clavus Angustus [Clavus], and subsequently obtained the privilege of wearing a gold ring, which was originally confined to the equites equo publico. The number of equites increased greatly under the early emperors, and all persons were admitted into the order, provided they possessed the requisite property, without any inquiry into their character, or into the free birth of their father and grandfather. The order in consequence gradually began to lose all the consideration which it had acquired during the later times of the republic.—Augustus formed a select class of equites, consisting of those equites who possessed the property of a senator, and the old requirement of free birth up to the grandfather. He permitted this class to wear thelatus clavus; and also allowed the tribunes of the plebs to be chosen from them, as well as the senators, and gave them the option, at the termination of their office, to remain in the senate or return to the equestrian order. This class of knights was distinguished by the special titleillustres(sometimesinsignesandsplendidi)equites Romani. The formation of this distinct class tended to lower the others still more in public estimation. In the ninth year of the reign of Tiberius, an attempt was made to improve the order by requiring the old qualifications of free birth up to the grandfather, and by strictly forbidding any one to wear the gold ring unless he possessed this qualification. This regulation, however, was of little avail, as the emperors frequently admitted freedmen into the equestrian order. When private persons were no longer appointed judices, the necessity for a distinct class in the community, like the equestrian order, ceased entirely; and the gold ring came at length to be worn by all free citizens. Even slaves, after their manumission, were allowed to wear it by special permission from the emperor, which appears to have been usually granted provided the patronus consented.—Having thus traced the history of the equestrian order to its final extinction as a distinct class in the community, we must now return to the equites equo publico, who formed the 18 equestrian centuries. This class still existed during the latter years of the republic, but had entirely ceased to serve as horse-soldiers in the army. The cavalry of the Roman legions no longer consisted, as in the time of Polybius, of Roman equites, but their place was supplied by the cavalry of the allied states. It is evident that Caesar in his Gallic wars possessed no Roman cavalry. When he went to an interview with Ariovistus, and was obliged to take cavalry with him, we are told that he did not dare to trust his safety to the Gallic cavalry, and therefore mounted his legionary soldiers upon their horses. The Roman equites are, however, frequently mentioned in the Gallic and civil wars, but never as common soldiers; they were officers attached to the staff of the general, or commanded the cavalry of the allies, or sometimes the legions.—After the yearB.C.50, there were no censors in the state, and it would therefore follow that for some years no review of the body took place, and that the vacancies were not filled up. When Augustus, however, took upon himself, inB.C.29, the praefectura morum, he frequently reviewed the troops of equites, and restored the long neglected custom of the solemn procession (transvectio). From this time these equites formed an honourable corps, from which all the higher officers in the army and the chief magistrates in the state were chosen. Admission into this body was equivalent to an introduction into public life, and was therefore esteemed a great privilege. If a young man was not admitted into this body, he was excluded from all civil offices of any importance, except in municipal towns;and also from all rank in the army, with the exception of centurion. All those equites, who were not employed in actual service, were obliged to reside at Rome, where they were allowed to fill the lower magistracies, which entitled a person to admission into the senate. They were divided into six turmae, each of which was commanded by an officer, who is frequently mentioned in inscriptions asSevir equitum Rom. turmaeI. II., &c., or commonlySevir turmaeorSevir turmarum equitum Romanorum. From the time that the equites bestowed the title ofprincipes juventutisupon Caius and Lucius Caesar, the grandsons of Augustus, it became the custom to confer this title, as well as that of sevir, upon the probable successor to the throne, when he first entered into public life, and was presented with an equus publicus. The practice of filling all the higher offices in the state from these equites appears to have continued as long as Rome was the centre of the government and the residence of the emperor. After the time of Diocletian, the equites became only a city guard, under the command of the praefectus vigilum; but they still retained, in the time of Valentinianus and Valens,A.D.364, the second rank in the city, and were not subject to corporal punishment. Respecting theMagister Equitum, seeDictator.