N

NAENĬA. [Funus.]

NĂTĀTĬO, NĂTĀTŌRĬUM. [Balneum.]

NĀVĀLIA, docks at Rome where ships were built, laid up, and refitted. They were attached to the emporium outside of the Porta Trigemina, and were connected with the Tiber. The emporium and navalia were first included within the walls of the city by Aurelian.—The docks (νεώσοικοιorνεώρια) in the Peiraeeus at Athens cost 1000 talents, and having been destroyed in the anarchy were again restored and finally completed by Lycurgus, the contemporary of Demosthenes. They were under the superintendence of regular officers, calledἐπιμεληταὶ τῶν νεωρίων.

NĀVĀLIS CŎRŌNA. [Corona.]

NĀVARCHUS (ναύαρχος), the name by which the Greeks designated both the captain of a single ship, and the admiral of a fleet. The office itself was calledναυαρχία. The admiral of the Athenian fleet was always one of the ten generals (στρατηγοί) elected every year, and he had either the whole or the chief command of the fleet. The chief officers who served under him were the trierarchs and the pentecontarchs, each of whom commanded one vessel; the inferior officers in the vessels were theκυβερνῆταιor helmsmen, theκελευσταίor commanders of the rowers, and theπρωρᾶται, who must have been employed at the prow of the vessels. Other Greek states who kept a navy had likewise their navarchs. The chief admiral of the Spartan fleet was called navarchus, and the second in commandepistoleus(ἐπιστολεύς). The same person was not allowed to hold the office of navarchus two successive years at Sparta. [Epistoleus.]

NAUCRĀRĬA (ναυκραρία), the name of a division of the inhabitants of Attica. The four ancient phylae were each divided into three phratries, and each of these twelve phratries into four naucraries, of which there were thus forty-eight. What the naucraries were previous to the legislation of Solon is not stated anywhere, but it is not improbable that they were political divisions similar to the demes in the constitution of Cleisthenes, and were made perhaps at the time of the institution of the nine archons, for the purpose of regulating the liturgies, taxes, or financial and military affairs in general. At any rate, however, the naucraries before the time of Solon can have had no connection with the navy, for the Athenians then had no navy; the wordναύκραροςtherefore cannot be derived fromναῦς, ship, but must come fromναιω, andναύκραροςis thus only another form forναύκληροςin the sense of a householder, asναῦλονwas used for the rent of a house. Solon in his legislation retained the old institution of the naucraries, and charged each of them with the equipment of one trireme and with the mounting of two horsemen. All military affairs, as far as regards the defraying of expenses, probably continued as before to be regulated according to naucraries. Cleisthenes, in his change of the Solonian constitution, retained the division into naucraries for military and financial purposes; but he increased their number to fifty, making five for each of his ten tribes; so that now the number of their ships was increased from forty-eight to fifty, and that of horsemen from ninety-six to one hundred. The statement of Herodotus, that the Athenians in their war against Aegina had only fifty ships of their own, is thus perfectly in accordance with the fifty naucraries of Cleisthenes. The functions of the formerναύκραροι, or the heads of their respective naucraries, were now transferred to the demarchs. [Demarchi.] The obligation of each naucrary to equip a ship of war for the service of the republic may be regarded as the first form of trierarchy. As the system of trierarchy became developed and established, this obligation of the naucraries appears to have gradually ceased, and to have fallen into disuse. [Trierarchia.]

NAUCRĀRUS. [Naucraria.]

NĀVIS, NĀVĬGIUM (ναῦς,πλοῖον), a ship. The numerous fleet, with which the Greeks are said to have sailed to the coast of Asia Minor, must on the whole be regarded as sufficient evidence of the extent to which navigation was carried on in those times, however much of the detail in the Homeric description may have arisen from the poet’s own imagination. In the Homeric catalogue it is stated that each of the fifty Boeotian ships carried 120 warriors, and a ship which carried so many cannot have been of very small dimensions. What Homer states of the Boeotian vessels applies more or less to the ships of other Greeks. These boats were provided with a mast (ἱστός) which was fastened by two ropes (πρότονοι) to the two ends of the ship, so that when the rope connecting it with the prow broke, the mast would fall towards the stern, where it might kill the helmsman. The mast could be erected or taken down as necessity required. They also had sails (ἱστία), but no deck; each vessel however appears to have had only one sail, which was used in favourable winds; and the principal means ofpropelling the vessel lay in the rowers, who sat upon benches (κληΐδες). The oars were fastened to the side of the ship with leathern thongs (τροποὶ δερμάτινοι), in which they were turned as a key in its hole. The ships in Homer are mostly called black (μέλαιναι), probably because they were painted or covered with a black substance, such as pitch, to protect the wood against the influence of the water and the air; sometimes other colours, such asμίλτος,minium(a red colour), were used to adorn the sides of the ships near the prow, whence Homer occasionally calls shipsμιλτοπάρῃοι, i.e. red-cheeked; they were also painted occasionally with a purple colour (φοινικοπάρῃοι). When the Greeks had landed on the coast of Troy, the ships were drawn on land, and fastened at the poop to large stones with a rope which served as anchors. The Greeks then surrounded the fleet with a fortification to secure it against the attacks of the enemy. This custom of drawing the ships upon the shore, when they were not used, was followed in later times also, as every one will remember from the accounts in Caesar’s Commentaries. In the Odyssey (v. 243, &c.) the building of a boat (σχεδία) is described, though not with the minuteness which an actual ship-builder might wish for. Ulysses first cuts down with his axe twenty trees, and prepares the wood for his purpose by cutting it smooth and giving it the proper shape. He then bores the holes for nails and hooks, and fits the planks together and fastens them with nails. He rounds the bottom of the ship like that of a broad transport vessel, and raises the bulwark (ἴκρια), fitting it upon the numerous ribs of the ship. He afterwards covers the whole of the outside with planks, which are laid across the ribs from the keel upwards to the bulwark: next the mast is made, and the sail-yard attached to it, and lastly the rudder. When the ship is thus far completed, he raises the bulwark still higher by a wicker-work which goes all around the vessel, as a protection against the waves. This raised bulwark of wicker-work and the like was used in later times also. For ballast Ulysses throws into the shipὕλη, which according to the Scholiast consisted of wood, stones, and sand. Calypso then brings him materials to make a sail of, and he fastens theὑπέραιor ropes which run from the top of the mast to the two ends of the yard, and also theκάλοιwith which the sail is drawn up or let down. Theπόδεςmentioned in this passage were undoubtedly, as in the later times, the ropes attached to the two lower corners of the square sail. The ship of which the building is thus described was a small boat, aσχεδία, as Homer calls it; but it had like all the Homeric ships a round or flat bottom. Greater ships must have been of a more complicated structure, as ship-builders are praised as artists. Below (p. 266), a representation of two boats is given which appear to bear great resemblance to the one of which the building is described in the Odyssey.—The Corinthians were the first who brought the art of ship-building nearest to the point at which we find it in the time of Thucydides, and they were the first who introduced ships with three ranks of rowers (τριήρεις,Triremes). AboutB.C.700, Ameinocles the Corinthian, to whom this invention is ascribed, made the Samians acquainted with it; but it must have been preceded by that of theBiremes, that is, ships with two ranks of rowers, which Pliny attributes to the Erythraeans.[3]These innovations however do not seem to have been generally adopted for a long time; for we read that about the time of Cyrus the Phocaeans introduced long sharp-keeled ships calledπεντηκόντοροι. These belonged to the class of long war-ships (νῆες μακραί), and had fifty rowers, twenty-five on each side of the ship, who sat in one row. It is further stated that before this timevessels calledστρογγύλαι, with large round or rather flat bottoms, had been used exclusively by all the Ionians in Asia. At this period most Greeks seem to have adopted the long ships with only one rank of rowers on each side (Moneris).

Moneris. (Montfaucon, vol.IV. pt.II. pl. 142.)

Their name varied accordingly as they had fifty (πεντηκόντοροι), or thirty (τριακόντοροι), or even a smaller number of rowers. A ship of war of this class is represented in the preceding woodcut. The following cut contains a beautiful fragment of a Biremis with a complete deck. Another specimen of a small Biremis is given further on.—

Biremis. (Winckelmann, pl. 207.)

Navis Aperta. (Coin of Corcyra.)

The first Greek people whom we know to have acquired a navy of importance were the Corinthians, Samians, and Phocaeans. About the time of Cyrus and Cambyses the Corinthian Triremes were generally adopted by the Sicilian tyrants and by the Corcyraeans, who soon acquired the most powerful navies among the Greeks. In other parts of Greece and even at Athens and in Aegina the most common vessels about this time were long ships with only one rank of rowers on each side. Athens, although the foundation of its maritime power had been laid by Solon [Naucraria], did not obtain a fleet of any importance until the time of Themistocles, who persuaded the Athenians to build 200 Triremes for the purpose of carrying on the war against Aegina. But even then ships were not provided with complete decks (καταστρώματα) covering the whole of the vessel. Ships with only a partial deck or with no deck at all, were calledἄφρακτοι νῆες, and in Latinnaves apertae. Even at the time of the Persian war, the Athenian ships were without a complete deck. Ships which had a complete deck were calledκατάφρακτοι, and the deck itselfκατάστρωμα. At the time when Themistocles induced the Athenians to build a fleet of 200 sail he also carried a decree, that every year twenty new Triremes should be built from the produce of the mines of Laurium. After the time of Themistocles as many as twenty Triremes must have been built every year both in times of war and of peace, as the average number of Triremes which was always ready amounted to between three and four hundred. Such an annual addition was the more necessary, as the vessels were of a light structure and did not last long. The whole superintendence of the building of new Triremes was in the hands of the senate of the Five Hundred, but the actual business was entrusted to a committee called theτριηροποιοί, one of whom acted as their treasurer, and had in his keeping the money set apart for the purpose. Under the Macedonian supremacy the Rhodians became the greatest maritime power in Greece. The navy of Sparta was never of great importance. Navigation remained for the most part what it had been before; the Greeks seldom ventured out into the open sea, and it was generally considered necessary to remain in sight of the coast or of some island, which also served as guides in daytime: in the night the position, rising and setting of the different stars answered the same purpose. In winter navigation generally ceased altogether. In cases where it would have been necessary to coast around a considerable extent of country, which was connected with the main land by a narrow neck, the ships were sometimes drawn across the neck of land from one sea to the other, by machines calledὁλκοί. This was done most frequently across the isthmus of Corinth.—The various kinds of ships used by the Greeks might be divided, according to the number of ranks of rowers employed in them, into Moneres, Biremes, Triremes, Quadriremes, Quinqueremes, &c., up to the enormous ship with forty ranks of rowers, built by Ptolemaeus Philopator. But all these appearto have been constructed on the same principle, and it is more convenient to divide them intoships of warandships of burden(φορτικὰ,φορτηγοὶ,ὁλκάδες,πλοῖα,στρογγύλαι,naves onerariae,naves actuariae). Ships of the latter kind were not calculated for quick movement or rapid sailing, but to carry the greatest possible quantity of goods. Hence their structure was bulky, their bottom round, and although they were not without rowers, yet the chief means by which they were propelled were their sails. The most common ships of war in the earlier times were the pentecontori (πεντηκόντοροι), but afterwards they were chiefly Triremes, and the latter are frequently designated only by the nameνῆες, while all the others are called by the name indicating their peculiar character. Triremes however were again divided into two classes: the one consisting of real men-of-war, which were quick-sailing vessels (ταχεῖαι), and the other of transports either for soldiers (στρατιώτιδεςorὁπλιταγωγοί) or for horses (ἱππηγοί,ἱππαγωγοί). Ships of this class were more heavy and awkward, and were therefore not used in battle except in cases of necessity. The ordinary size of a war galley may be inferred from the fact that the average number of men engaged in it, including the crew and marines, was two hundred, to whom on some occasions as many as thirty epibatae were added. [Epibatae.]—Vessels with more than three ranks of rowers on each side were not constructed in Greece till about the year 400B.C., when Dionysius I., tyrant of Syracuse, who bestowed great care upon his navy, built the first Quadriremes (τετρήρεις), and Quinqueremes (πεντήρεις). In the reign of Dionysius II., Hexeres (ἑξήρεις) are also mentioned. After the time of Alexander the Great the use of vessels with four, five, and more ranks of rowers became very general, and it is well known that the first Punic war was chiefly carried on with Quinqueremes. Ships with twelve, thirty, or even forty ranks of rowers, such as they were built by Alexander and the Ptolemies, appear to have been mere curiosities, and did not come into common use. The Athenians at first did not adopt vessels larger than Triremes, probably because they thought that with rapidity and skill they could do more than with large and unwieldy ships. In the yearB.C.356 they continued to use nothing but Triremes; but inB.C.330 the republic had already a number of Quadriremes, which was afterwards increased. The first Quinqueremes at Athens are mentioned in a document belonging to the yearB.C.325.—Among the smaller vessels we may mention theἄκατοςorἀκάτιον, which seems to have been sometimes used as a ship of burden. The name Scapha (σκάφη) denotes a small skiff or life-boat, which was commonly attached to merchantmen for the purpose of saving the crew in danger.—Liburna, orLiburnica, in Greekλιβυρνίςorλιβυρνόν, is a name given apparently to every war-ship, from a bireme up to those with six lines of rowers on each side, but in the time of Augustus, liburnae even with six lines of rowers were considered small and swift in comparison with the unwieldy ships of Antony at Actium. They were usually provided with a beak, whence anavis rostratais generally the same as a Liburna. They were first constructed by the Liburnians (whence they derived their name), and formed the main part of the fleet of Augustus in the battle of Actium.—Every vessel at Athens, as in modern times, had a name given to it, which was generally of the feminine gender. The Romans sometimes gave to their ships masculine names. The Greek names were either taken from ancient heroines such as Nausicaa, or they were abstract words such asForethought,Safety,Guidance, &c. In many cases the name of the builder also was added.—The Romans appear to have first become aware of the importance of a fleet during the second Samnite war, in the yearB.C.311: whenduumviri navaleswere for the first time appointed by the people. The ships which the Romans now built were undoubtedly Triremes. This fleet, however insignificant it may have been, continued to be kept up until the time when Rome became a real maritime power. In the yearB.C.260, when the Romans saw that without a navy they could not carry on the war against Carthage with any advantage, the senate ordained that a fleet should be built. Triremes would now have been of no avail against the high-bulwarked vessels (Quinqueremes) of the Carthaginians. But the Romans would have been unable to build others had not fortunately a Carthaginian Quinquereme been wrecked on the coast of Bruttium, and fallen into their hands. This wreck the Romans took as their model, and after it built 120, or according to others 130 ships. From this time forward the Romans continued to keep up a powerful navy. Towards the end of the Republic they also increased the size of their ships, and built war vessels of from six to ten ranks of rowers. The construction of their ships, however, scarcely differed from that of Greek vessels; the only great difference was that the Roman galleys were provided with a greater variety of destructive engines of war than those of the Greeks. They even erected turres andtabulata upon the decks of their great men-of-war (naves turritae), and fought upon them as if they were standing upon the walls of a fortress (see cut,p. 260).

BIREMIS.A.Prora,πρώρα.B.Oculus,ὀφθαλμός.C.Rostrum,ἔμβολος.D.Cheniscus,χηνίσκος.E.Puppis,πρύμνη.F.Aplustre,ἄφλαστον, with the pole containingthefasciaortaenia.G.τράφηξ.H.Remi,κώπαι.I.Gubernaculum,πηδάλιον.K.Malus,ἱστός.L.Velum,ἱστός.M.Antenna,κεραία,κέρας.N.Cornua,ἀκροκέραιαι.O.Ceruchi,κεροῦχοι.P.Carchesium,καρχήσιον.Q.κάλοι,καλῴδια.R.πρότονος.S.Pedes,πόδες.T.Opifera,ὑπέραι.

A.Prora,πρώρα.B.Oculus,ὀφθαλμός.C.Rostrum,ἔμβολος.D.Cheniscus,χηνίσκος.E.Puppis,πρύμνη.F.Aplustre,ἄφλαστον, with the pole containingthefasciaortaenia.

G.τράφηξ.H.Remi,κώπαι.I.Gubernaculum,πηδάλιον.K.Malus,ἱστός.L.Velum,ἱστός.M.Antenna,κεραία,κέρας.N.Cornua,ἀκροκέραιαι.

O.Ceruchi,κεροῦχοι.P.Carchesium,καρχήσιον.Q.κάλοι,καλῴδια.R.πρότονος.S.Pedes,πόδες.T.Opifera,ὑπέραι.

We now proceed to describe the parts of ancient vessels.—1. The prow (πρώραorμέτωπον, prora) was generally ornamented on both sides with figures, which were either painted upon the sides or laid in. It seems to have been very common to represent an eye on each side of the prow. Upon the prow or fore-deck there was always some emblem (παράσημον, insigne, figura) by which the ship was distinguished from others. At the head of the prow there projected theστόλος, and its extremity was termedἀκροστόλιον, which was frequently made in the shape of an animal or a helmet. It appears to have been sometimes covered with brass and to have served as an embole (ἐμβολή) against the enemy’s vessels. Theἀκροστόλιονis sometimes designated by the name ofχηνίσκος(fromχήν, a goose), because it was formed in the shape of the head or neck of a goose or swan, as in the accompanying woodcut.

Cheniscus. (From a Painting at Herculaneum.)

The cheniscus was often gilt and made of bronze. Just below the prow and projecting a little above the keel was theRostrum(ἔμβολος,ἔμβολον) or beak, which consisted of a beam, to which were attached sharp and pointed irons, or the head of a ram and the like. Thisἔμβολοςwas used for the purpose of attacking another vessel and of breaking its sides. These beaks were at first always above the water and visible; afterwards they were attached lower, so that they were invisible, and thus became still more dangerous to other ships. The annexed woodcuts represent three different beaks of ships.

Rostra, Beaks of Ships. (Montfaucon, pl. 133.)

The command in the prow of a vessel was exercised by an officer calledπρωρεύς, who seems to have been next in rank to the steersman, and to have had the care of the gear, and the command over the rowers.—2.The stern(πρύμνη,puppis) was generally above the other parts of the deck, and in it the helmsman had his elevated seat. It is seen in the representations of ancient vessels to be rounder than the prow, though its extremity is likewise sharp. The stern was, like the prow, adorned in various ways, but especially with the image of the tutelary deity of the vessel (tutela). In some representations a kind of roof is formed over the head of the steersman, and the upper part of the stern frequently has an elegant ornament calledaplustre, and in Greekἄφλαστον, which constituted the highest part of the poop. It formed a corresponding ornament to theἀκροστόλιονat the prow. At the junction of the aplustre with the stern on which it was based, we commonly observe an ornament resembling a circular shield: this was calledἀσπιδεῖονorἀσπιδίσκη. It is seen on the two aplustria here represented. The aplustre rose immediately behind the gubernator, and served in some degree to protect him from wind and rain. Sometimes there appears, beside the aplustre, a pole, to which a fillet or pennon (ταινία) was attached, which served both to distinguish and adorn the vessel, and also to show the direction of the wind.—3. Theτράφηξis the bulwark of the vessel, or rather the uppermost edge of it. In small boats the pegs (σκαλμοί,scalmi)between which the oars move, and to which they are fastened by a thong (τροπωτήρ), were upon theτράφηξ. In all other vessels the oars passed through holes in the side of the vessel (ὀφθαλμοί,τρήματα, orτρυπήματα).—

Aphlaston, Aplustre.

4. The middle part of the deck in most ships of war appears to have been raised above the bulwark, or at least to a level with its upper edge, and thus enabled the soldiers to occupy a position from which they could see far around and hurl their darts against the enemy. Such an elevated deck appears in the annexed woodcut representing aMoneris.

Moneris. (From a Painting at Pompeii.)

In this instance the flag is standing upon the hind-deck.—5. One of the most interesting, as well as important parts in the arrangements of the Biremes, Triremes, &c., is the position of the ranks of rowers, from which the ships themselves derive their names. Various opinions have been entertained by those who have written upon this subject. Thus much is certain, that the different ranks of rowers, who sat along the sides of a vessel, were placed one above the other. In ordinary vessels, from the Moneris up to the Quinqueremis, each oar was managed by one man. The rowers sat upon little benches attached to the ribs of the vessel, and calledἑδώλια, and in Latinforiandtranstra. The lowest row of rowers was calledθαλάμος, the rowers themselves,θαλαμῖταιorθαλάμιοι. The uppermost ordo of rowers was calledθράνος, and the rowers themselvesθρανῖται. The middle ordo or ordines of rowers were calledζυγὰ,ζύγιοιorζυγῖται. Each of this last class of rowers had likewise his own seat, and did not, as some have supposed, sit upon benches running across the vessel. The gear of a vessel was divided intowoodenandhanging gear(σκεύη ξύλινα, andσκεύη κρεμαστά).

I.Wooden Gear.—1.Oars(κώπαι, remi). The collective term for oars isταῤῥός, which properly signified only the blade or flat part of the oar, but was afterwards used as a collective expression for all the oars, with the exception of the rudder. The oars varied in size accordingly as they were used by a lower or higher ordo of rowers, and from the name of the ordo by which they were used, they also received their special names, viz.,κώπαι θαλάμιαι,ζύγιαι, andθρανίτιδες. Each Trireme had on an average 170 rowers. In a Roman Quinquereme during the first Punic war, the average number of rowers was 300; in later times we even find as many as 400. The lower part of the holes through which the oars passed appears to have been covered with leather (ἄσκωμα), which also extended a little way outside the hole.—2.The rudder(πηδάλιον,gubernaculum).

Gubernacula, rudders. (From an ancient Lamp and Gems.)

Before the invention of the rudder, vessels must have been propelled and guided by the oars alone. This circumstance may account for the form of the ancient rudder, as well as for the mode of using it. It was like an oar with a very broad blade, and was commonly placed on each side of the stern, not at its extremity. The annexed woodcut presents examples of its appearance as it is frequently exhibited on gems, coins, and other works of art. The figure in the centre shows a Triton blowing the buccina, and holding a rudder over his shoulder. The left-hand figure represents a rudder with its helm or tiller crossed by the cornucopia. In the third figure Venus leans with her left arm upon arudder to indicate her origin from the sea. The rudder was managed by the gubernator (κυβερνήτης), who is also called therector navisas distinguished from themagister. A ship had sometimes one, but more commonly two rudders; but they were managed by the steersman to prevent confusion. In larger ships the two rudders were joined by a pole, which was moved by the gubernator, and kept the rudders parallel. The contrivances for attaching the two rudders to one another and to the sides of the ship, are calledζεῦγλαιorζευκτηρίαι.—3.Ladders(κλιμακίδες,scalae). Each Trireme had two wooden ladders, and the same seems to have been the case inτριακόντοροι.—4.Polesor punt poles (κοντοί,conti). Three of these, of different lengths, belonged to every Trireme.—5.Παραστάταιor supports for the masts. They seem to have been a kind of props placed at the foot of the masts.—6. Themast(ἱστός,malus). The ancients had vessels with one, two, or three masts. The fore-mast was calledἀκάτειος, the mainmast,ἱστὸςμέγας. A triaconter, or a vessel with 30 rowers, had likewise two masts, and the smaller mast here, as well as in a trireme, was near the prow. In three-masted vessels the largest mast was nearest the stern. The masts as well as the yards were usually of fir. The part of the mast immediately above the yard (antenna), formed a structure similar to a drinking-cup, and bore the name ofcarchesium(καρχήσιον). Into it the mariners ascended in order to manage the sail, to obtain a distant view, or to discharge missiles.Breastworks (θωράκια) were fixed to these structures, so as to supply the place of defensive armour; and pulleys (τροχηλίαι,trochleae) for hoisting up stones and weapons from below. The continuation of the mast above the carchesium was called the “distaff” (ἠλακάτη), corresponding to our top-mast or top-gallant mast.—7. Theyards(κέρα,κεραίαι,antennae).

Ceruchi. (From an ancient Lamp.)

The mainyard was fastened to the top of the mast by ropes termedceruchi, as seen in the preceding woodcut. To the mainyard was attached the mainsail, which was hoisted or let down as the occasion might require. In the two extremities of the yard (cornua,ἀκροκέραιαι), ropes (ceruchi,κηροῦχοι) were attached, which passed to the top of the mast; and by means of these ropes and the pulleys connected with them, the yard and sail, guided by the hoop, were hoisted to the height required. There are numerous representations of ancient ships in which the antenna is seen, as in the two woodcuts here appended. In the second of them there are ropes hanging down from the antenna, the object of which was to enable the sailors to turn the antenna and the sail according to the wind.

Antennae. (From ancient Gems.)

II.Hanging Gear.—1.Hypozomata(Ὑποζώματα), thick and broad ropes running in a horizontal direction around the ship from the stern to the prow, and intended to keep the whole fabric together. They ran round the vessel in several circles, and at certain distances from one another. The Latin name forὑπόζωμαistormentum. Sometimes they were taken on board when a vessel sailed, and not put on till it was thought necessary. The act of putting them on was calledὑποζωννύναι, orδιαζωννύναι, orζῶσαι. A Trireme required fourὑποζώματα.—2.The sail(Ἱστίον,velum). Most ancient ships had only one sail, which was attached with the yard to the great mast. In a Trireme also one sail might be sufficient, but the trierarch might nevertheless add a second. As each of the two masts of a Trireme had two sail-yards, it further follows that each mast might have two sails, one of which was placed lower than the other. The two belonging to the mainmast were calledἱστία μεγάλα, and those of the fore-mastἱστία ἀκάτεια. The former were used on ordinary occasions, but the latter probably only in cases when it was necessary to sail with extraordinary speed. The sails of the Attic war-galleys, and of most ancient ships in general, were of a square form. Whether triangular sails were ever used by the Greeks, as has been frequently supposed, is very doubtful. The Romans, however, used triangular sails, which they calledSuppara, and which had the shape of an inverted Greek Δ (⛛), the upper side of which was attached to the yard.—3.Cordage(τοπεῖα) differed from theσχοινίαorκάλοι. Theσχοινία(funes) are the strong ropes to which the anchors were attached, and by which a ship was fastened to the land; while theτοπεῖαwere a lighter kind of ropes and made with greater care, which were attached to the masts, yards, and sails. Each rope of this kind was made for a distinct purpose and place (τόπος, whence the nameτοπεῖα). The following kinds are most worthy of notice:—a.καλῴδιαorκάλοι, were probably the ropes by which the mast was fastened to both sides of the ship, so that theπρότονοιin the Homeric ships were only an especial kind ofκαλῴδια, or theκαλῴδιαthemselves differently placed. In later times theπρότονοςwas the rope which went from the top of the mainmast (καρχήσιον) to the prow of the ship, and thus was what is now called the main-stay.b.Ceruchi(κεροῦχοι,ἱμάντες), ropes which ran from the two ends of the sail-yard to the top of the mast. In more ancient vessels theἱμὰςconsisted of only one rope; in later times it consisted of two, and sometimes four, which uniting at the top of the mast, and there passing through a ring, descended on the other side, where it formed theἐπίτονος, by means of which the sail was drawn up or let down.c.ἄγκοινα, Latinanquina, was the rope which went from the middle of a yard to the top of the mast, and was intended to facilitate the drawing up and letting down of the sail.d.Πόδες(pedes) were in later times, as in the poems of Homer, the ropes attached to the two lower corners of a square sail. Theseπόδεςran from the ends of the sail to the sides of the vessel towards the stern, where they were fastened with rings attached to the outer side of the bulwark.e.Ὑπέραιwere the two ropes attached to the two ends of the sail-yard, and thence came down to a part of the ship near the stern. Their object was to move the yard according to the wind. In Latin they are calledopifera, which is, perhaps, only a corruption ofhypera.—4.Παραῤῥύματα. Theancients as early as the time of Homer had various preparations raised above the edge of a vessel, which were made of skins and wicker-work, and which were intended as a protection against high waves, and also to serve as a kind of breast-work behind which the men might be safe against the darts of the enemy. These elevations of the bulwark are calledπαραῤῥύματα. They were probably fixed upon the edge on both sides of the vessel, and were taken off when not wanted. Each galley appears to have had severalπαραῤῥύματα, two made of hair and two white ones, these four being regularly mentioned as belonging to one ship.—5.Σχοινίαare the stronger and heavier kinds of ropes. There were two kinds of these, viz. theσχοινία ἀγκύρεια, to which the anchor was attached, andσχοινία ἐπίγυαorἐπίγεια(retinacula), by which the ship was fastened to the shore or drawn upon the shore.—6. Theanchor(ἀγκύρα,ancora). We have already remarked that in the Homeric age anchors were not known, and large stones (εὐναὶ,sleepers) used in their stead. When anchors came to be used, they were generally made of iron, and their form resembled that of a modern anchor. Such an anchor was often termedbidens,διπλῆ,ἀμφίβολοςorἀμφίστομος, because it had two teeth or flukes; but sometimes it had only one, and was then calledἑτεροστόμος. The technical expressions in the use of the anchor are:ancoram solvere,ἀγκύραν χαλᾷν, to loose the anchor;ancoram jacere,ἀγκύραν βάλλεινorῥίπτειν, to cast anchor; andancoram tollere,ἀγκύραν αἴρεινorἀναίρεσθαι, to weigh anchor, whenceαἴρεινby itself means “to set sail,”ἀγκύρανbeing understood. The following figure shows the cable (funis), passing through a hole in the prow (oculus). Each ship of course had several anchors. The last or most powerful anchor, “the last hope,” was calledἱερά,sacra, and persons trying their last hope were saidsacram solvere.—The preceding account of the different parts of the ship will be rendered still clearer by the drawing onp. 263.

Biremis. (From a Marble at Rome.)

FOOTNOTE:[3]Biremes are sometimes called by the Greeksδίκροτα. The name biremis is also applied to a little boat managed by only two oars.

[3]Biremes are sometimes called by the Greeksδίκροτα. The name biremis is also applied to a little boat managed by only two oars.

NAUMĂCHIA, the name given to the representation of a sea-fight among the Romans, and also to the place where such engagements were exhibited. These fights sometimes took place in the circus or amphitheatre, sufficient water being introduced to float ships, but more generally in buildings especially devoted to this purpose. The combatants in these sea-fights, calledNaumachiarii, were usually captives, or criminals condemned to death, who fought as in gladiatorial combats, until one party was killed, unless preserved by the clemency of the emperor. The ships engaged in the sea fights were divided into two parties, called respectively by the names of different maritime nations, as Tyrians and Egyptians, Rhodians and Sicilians, Persians and Athenians, Corcyraeans and Corinthians, Athenians and Syracusans, &c. These sea-fights were exhibited with the same magnificence and lavish expenditure of human life as characterised the gladiatorial combats and other public games of the Romans. In Nero’s naumachia there were sea-monsters swimming about in the artificial lake. In the sea-fight exhibited by Titus there were 3000 men engaged, and in that exhibited by Domitian the ships were almost equal in number to two real fleets.

NAUTŎDĬCAE (ναυτόδικαι), magistrates at Athens, who had jurisdiction in matters belonging to navigation and commerce, and in matters concerning such persons as had entered their names as members of a phratriawithout both their parents being citizens of Athens, or in other words, in theδίκαι ἐμπόρωνandδίκαι ξενίας. The time when nautodicae were first instituted is not mentioned, but it must have been previous to Pericles, and perhaps as early as the time of Cleisthenes. The nautodicae were appointed every year by lot in the month of Gamelion, and probably attended to theδίκαι ἐμπόρωνonly during the winter, when navigation ceased, whereas theδίκαι ξενίαςmight be brought before them all the year round.

NĔFASTI DIES. [Dies.]

NĔGŌTĬĀTŌRES, signified specially during the later times of the republic Roman citizens settled in the provinces, who lent money upon interest or bought up corn on speculation, which they sent to Rome as well as to other places. Their chief business however was lending money upon interest, and hence we find the wordsnegotia,negotiatio, andnegotiariused in this sense. Thenegotiatoresare distinguished from thepublicani, and from themercatores. Thenegotiatoresin the provinces corresponded to theargentariiandfeneratoresat Rome.

NĔMEA (νέμεα,νεμεῖα, orνεμαῖα), the Nemean games, one of the four great national festivals of the Greeks. It was held at Nemea, a place near Cleonae in Argolis, and is said to have been originally instituted by the Seven against Thebes in commemoration of the death of Opheltes, afterwards called Archemorus. The games were revived by Hercules, after he had slain the Nemean lion; and were from this time celebrated in honour of Zeus. They were at first of a warlike character, and only warriors and their sons were allowed to take part in them; subsequently, however, they were thrown open to all the Greeks. The various games were horse-racing, running in armour in the stadium, wrestling, chariot-racing and the discus, boxing, throwing the spear and shooting with the bow, to which we may add musical contests. The prize given to the victors was at first a chaplet of olive-branches, but afterwards a chaplet of green parsley. The presidency of these games, and the management of them, belonged at different times to Cleonae, Corinth, and Argos. They were celebrated twice in every Olympiad, viz. at the commencement of every second Olympic year, in the winter, and soon after the commencement of every fourth Olympic year, in the summer.

NĒNIA. [Funus,p. 188,a.]

NĔŌCŎRI (νεωκόροι), signified originally temple-sweepers, but was applied even in early times to priestly officers of high rank, who had the supreme superintendence of temples and their treasures. Under the Roman emperors the word was especially applied to those cities in Asia, which erected temples to the Roman emperors, since the whole city in every such case was regarded as the guardian of the worship of the emperor. Accordingly we frequently find on the coins of Ephesus, Smyrna, and other cities, the epithetΝεωκόρος, which also occurs on the inscriptions of these cities.

NEPTŪNĀLĬA, a festival of Neptune, celebrated at Rome, of which very little is known. The day on which it was held was probably the 23rd of July. In the ancient calendaria this day is marked asNept. ludi et feriae, orNept. ludi, from which we see that the festival was celebrated with games.

NEXUM, was either the transfer of the ownership of a thing, or the transfer of a thing to a creditor as a security; accordingly in one sense Nexum included Mancipium [Mancipium]; in another sense, Mancipium and Nexum are opposed in the same way in which Sale and Mortgage or Pledge are opposed. The formal part of both transactions consisted in a transferper aes et libram. The person who becamenexusby the effect of anexumornexus(for this form of the word also is used) was saidnexum inire. The phrasesnexi datio,nexi liberatio, respectively express the contracting and the release from the obligation. The Roman law as to the payment of borrowed money was very strict. By a law of the Twelve Tables, if the debtor admitted the debt, or had been condemned in the amount of the debt by a judex, he had thirty days allowed him for payment. At the expiration of this time, he was liable to be assigned over to the creditor (addictus) by the sentence of the praetor. The creditor was required to keep him for sixty days in chains, during which time he publicly exposed the debtor on three nundinae, and proclaimed the amount of his debt. If no person released the prisoner by paying the debt, the creditor might sell him as a slave or put him to death. If there were several creditors, the letter of the law allowed them to cut the debtor in pieces, and to take their share of his body in proportion to their debt. There is no instance of a creditor ever having adopted this extreme mode of satisfying his debt. But the creditor might treat the debtor, who was addictus, as a slave, and compel him to work out his debt; and the treatment was often very severe. The Lex Poetilia (B.C.326) alleviated the condition of the nexi. So far as we can understand its provisions, it set all the nexi free, or made themsoluti, and it enacted that for the future there should be no nexum, and thatno debtor should for the future be put in chains.

NŌBILES, NŌBĬLĬTAS. In the early periods of the Roman state the Patricians were the Nobles as opposed to the Plebs. InB.C.366, the plebeians obtained the right of being eligible to the consulship, and finally they obtained access to all the curule magistracies. Thus the two classes were put on the same footing as to political capacity; but now a new order of nobility arose. The descendants of plebeians who had filled curule magistracies, formed a class calledNobilesor men “known,” who were so called by way of distinction from “Ignobiles” or people who were not known. The Nobiles had no legal privileges as such; but they were bound together by a common distinction derived from a legal title and by a common interest; and their common interest was to endeavour to confine the election to all the high magistracies to the members of their body, to the Nobilitas. Thus the descendants of those Plebeians who had won their way to distinction combined to exclude other Plebeians from the distinction which their own ancestors had transmitted to them. The external distinction of the Nobiles was the Jus Imaginum, a right or privilege which was apparently established on usage only, and not on any positive enactments. These Imagines were figures with painted masks of wax, made to resemble the person whom they represented; and they were placed in the Atrium of the house, apparently in small wooden receptacles or cases somewhat in the form of temples. The Imagines were accompanied with the tituli or names of distinction which the deceased had acquired; and the tituli were connected in some way by lines or branches so as to exhibit the pedigree (stemma) of the family. These Imagines were generally enclosed in their cases, but they were opened on festival days and other great ceremonials, and crowned with bay (laureatae): they also formed part of a solemn funeral procession. It seems probable that the Roman Nobilitas, in the strict sense of that term, and the Jus Imaginum, originated with the admission of the Plebeians to the consulshipB.C.366. A plebeian who first attained a Curule office was the founder of his family’s Nobilitas (princeps nobilitatis; auctor generis). Such a person could have no imagines of his ancestors; and he could have none of his own, for such imagines of a man were not made till after he was dead. Such a person then was not nobilis in the full sense of the term, nor yet was he ignobilis. He was called by the Romans a “novus homo” or a new man; and his status or condition was called Novitas. The term novus homo was never applied to a Patrician. The two most distinguished “novi homines” were C. Marius and M. Tullius Cicero, both natives of an Italian municipium. The Patricians would of course be jealous of the new nobility; but this new nobility once formed would easily unite with the old aristocracy of Rome to keep the political power in their hands, and to prevent more novi homines from polluting this exclusive class. As early as the second Punic war this new class, compounded of Patricians or original aristocrats, and Nobiles or newly-engrafted aristocrats, was able to exclude novi homines from the consulship. They maintained this power to the end of the republican period, and the consulship continued almost in the exclusive possession of the Nobilitas. TheOptimateswere the Nobilitas and the chief part of the Equites, a rich middle class, and also all others whose support the Nobilitas and Equites could command, in fact all who were opposed to change that might affect the power of the Nobilitas and the interests of those whom the Nobilitas allied with themselves. Optimates in this sense are opposed to Plebs, to the mass of the people; and Optimates is a wider term than Nobilitas, inasmuch as it would comprehend the Nobilitas and all who adhered to them.

NŌMEN (ὄνομα), a name. The Greeks bore only one name, and it was one of the especial rights of a father to choose the names for his children, and to alter them if he pleased. It was customary to give to the eldest son the name of the grandfather on his father’s side; and children usually received their names on the tenth day after their birth.—Originally every Roman citizen belonged to a gens, and derived his name (nomenornomen gentilicium) from his gens, whichnomen gentiliciumgenerally terminated inius. Besides this, every Roman had a name, calledpraenomen, which preceded the nomen gentilicium, and which was peculiar to him as an individual,e.g.Caius, Lucius, Marcus, Cneius, Sextus, &c. This praenomen was at a later time given to boys on the ninth day after their birth, and to girls on the eighth day. This day was calleddies lustricus,dies nominum, ornominalia. The praenomen given to a boy was in most cases that of the father, but sometimes that of the grandfather or great-grandfather. These two names, apraenomenand anomen gentilicium, or simplynomen, were indispensable to a Roman, and they were at the same time sufficient to designate him; hence the numerous instances of Romans being designated only by these two names, even in cases wherea third or fourth name was possessed by the person. Every Roman citizen, besides belonging to a gens, was also frequently a member of a familia, contained in a gens, and accordingly might have a third name orcognomen. Such cognomina were derived by the Romans from a variety of mental or bodily peculiarities, or from some remarkable event in the life of the person who was the founder of the familia. Such cognomina are, Asper, Imperiosus, Magnus, Maximus, Publicola, Brutus, Capito, Cato, Naso, Labeo, Caecus, Cicero, Scipio, Sulla, Torquatus, &c. These names were in most cases hereditary, and descended to the latest members of a familia; in some cases they ceased with the death of the person to whom they were given for special reasons. Many Romans had a second cognomen (cognomen secundumoragnomen), which was given to them as an honorary distinction, and in commemoration of some memorable deed or event of their life,e.g.Africanus, Asiaticus, Hispallus, Cretensis, Macedonicus, Allobrogicus, &c. Such agnomina were sometimes given by one general to another, sometimes by the army and confirmed by the chief-general, sometimes by the people in the comitia, and sometimes they were assumed by the person himself, as in the case of L. Cornelius Scipio Asiaticus. The regular order in which these names followed one another was:—1. praenomen; 2. nomen gentilicium; 3. cognomen primum; 4. cognomen secundum or agnomen. Sometimes the name of the tribe to which a person belonged, was added to his name, in the ablative case, as Q. Verres Romilia, C. Claudius Palatina. If a person by adoption passed from one gens into another, he assumed the praenomen, nomen, and cognomen of his adoptive father, and added to these the name of his former gens, with the terminationanus. Thus C. Octavius, after being adopted by his uncle C. Julius Caesar, was called C. Julius Caesar Octavianus, and the son of L. Aemilius Paullus, when adopted by P. Cornelius Scipio, was called P. Cornelius Scipio Aemilianus. [Adoptio.] Slaves had only one name, and usually retained that which they had borne before they came into slavery. If a slave was restored to freedom, he received the praenomen and nomen gentilicium of his former master, and to these was added the name which he had had as a slave. Instances of such freedmen are, T. Ampius Menander, a freedman of T. Ampius Balbus, L. Cornelius Chrysogonus, a freedman of L. Cornelius Sulla, and M. Tullius Tiro, freedman of M. Tullius Cicero.

NŎMŎPHỸLĂCES (νομοφύλακες), certain magistrates or official persons of high authority, who exercised a control over other magistrates, and indeed over the whole body of the people, it being their duty to see that the laws were duly administered and obeyed. Mention is made of such officers at Sparta and elsewhere, but no such body existed at Athens, for they must have had a power too great for the existence of a democracy. The Senate of 500, or the Areopagitic council, performed in some measure the office of law-guardians; but the only persons designated by this name appear to have been inferior functionaries (a sort of police), whose business it was to prevent irregularities and disturbances in the public assemblies.

NŎMOS (νόμος). This word comprehends the notion not only of established or statute law, but likewise of all customs and opinions to which long prescription or natural feeling gives the force of law. Before any written codes appeared, law was promulgated by the poets or wise men, who sang the great deeds of their ancestors, and delivered their moral and political lessons in verse. As civilisation advanced, laws were reduced to writing, in the shape either of regular codes or distinct ordinances, and afterwards publicly exhibited, engraved on tablets, or hewn on columns. The first written laws we hear of are those of Zaleucus. The first at Athens were those of Draco, calledθεσμοὶ, and by that name distinguished from theνόμοιof Solon. The laws of Lycurgus were not written. He enjoined that they should never be inscribed on any other tablet than the hearts of his countrymen. Those of Solon were inscribed on wooden tablets, arranged in pyramidal blocks, turning on an axis, calledἄξονεςandκύρβεις. They were first hung in the Acropolis, but afterwards brought down to the Prytaneum.

NŎMŎTHĔTAE (νομόθεται), movers or proposers of laws, the name of a legislative committee at Athens, which, by an institution of Solon, was appointed to amend and revise the laws. At the firstκυρία ἐκκλησίαin every year, any person was at liberty to point out defects in the existing code or propose alterations. If his motion was deemed worthy of attention, the third assembly might refer the matter to the Nomothetae. They were selected by lot from the Heliastic body; it being the intention of Solon to limit the power of the popular assembly by means of a superior board emanating from itself, composed of citizens of mature age, bound by a stricter oath, and accustomed to weigh legal principles by the exercise of their judicial functions. The number of the committee so appointed varied according to the exigency of the occasion. The people appointed five advocates (σύνδικοι) to attend before theboard and maintain the policy of the existing institution. If the proposed measure met the approval of the committee, it passed into law forthwith. Besides this, the Thesmothetae were officially authorised to review the whole code, and to refer to theNomothetaeall statutes which they considered unworthy of being retained. Hence appears the difference betweenPsephisma(ψήφισμα) andNomos(νόμος). The mere resolution of the people in assembly was apsephisma, and only remained in force a year, like a decree of the senate. Nothing was alawthat did not pass the ordeal of the Nomothetae.

NŌNAE. [Calendarium.]

NŎTA, which signified a mark or sign of any kind, was also employed for an abbreviation. Hencenotaesignified the marks or signs used in taking down the words of a speaker, and was equivalent to our short-hand writing, or stenography; andnotariisignified short-hand writers. It must be borne in mind, however, thatnotaealso signified writing in cipher; and many passages in the ancient reciters which are supposed to refer to short-hand, refer in reality to writing in cipher. Among the Greeks it is said to have been invented by Xenophon, and their short-hand writers were calledταχυγράφοι,ὀξυγράφοιandσημειογράφοι. The first introduction of the art among the Romans is ascribed to Cicero. He is said to have caused the debate in the senate on the punishment of the Catilinarian conspirators to be taken down in short-hand. Eusebius ascribes it to Tiro, the freedman of Cicero, and hence the system of abbreviated writing, in which some manuscripts are written, has received the name ofNotae Tironianae; but there is no evidence to show whether this species of short-hand was really the invention of Tiro. The system of short-hand employed in the time of the Roman empire must have been of a much simpler and more expeditious kind than theNotae Tironianae, which were merely abbreviations of the words. Many of the wealthy Romans kept slaves, who were trained in the art. It was also learnt even by the Roman nobles, and the emperor Titus was a great proficient in it. At a later time, it seems to have been generally taught in the schools. There were, moreover, short-hand writers (notarii) by profession, who were chiefly employed in taking down (notare,excipere) the proceedings in the courts of justice. At a later period, they were calledexceptores. These short-hand writers were also employed on some occasions to take down a person’s will.

NOTĀRĬI, short-hand writers, spoken of underNota. They were likewise calledActuarii. They were also employed by the emperors, and in course of time the title ofNotariiwas exclusively applied to the private secretaries of the emperors, who, of course, were no longer slaves, but persons of high rank. The short-hand writers were now calledexceptores, as is remarked underNota.

NŎTA CENSŌRĬA. [Censor.]

NŎVENDĬĀLE (sc.sacrum).—(1) A festival lasting nine days, which was celebrated as often as stones rained from heaven. It was originally instituted by Tullus Hostilius, when there was a shower of stones upon the Mons Albanus, and was frequently celebrated in later times.—(2) This name was also given to the sacrifice performed nine days after a funeral. [Funus.]

NŎVI HŎMĬNES. [Nobiles.]

NŪDUS (γυμνός). These words, besides denoting absolute nakedness, were applied to any one who, being without anAmictus, wore only his tunic or indutus. In this state of nudity the ancients performed the operations of ploughing, sowing, and reaping. This term applied to the warrior expressed the absence of some part of his armour. Hence the light-armed were calledγυμνῆτες. [Arma.]

NUMMŬLĀRĬI or NŪMŬLĀRII. [Mensarii.]

NUMMUS or NŪMUS. [Sestertius.]

NUNDĬNAE is derived by all the ancient writers fromnovemanddies, so that it literally signifies the ninth day. Every eighth day, according to our mode of speaking, was a nundinae, and there were thus always seven ordinary days between two nundinae. The Romans in their peculiar mode of reckoning added these two nundinae to the seven ordinary days, and consequently said that the nundinae recurred every ninth day, and called themnundinae, as it werenovemdinae. The number of nundinae in the ancient year of ten months was 38. They were originally market-days for the country folk, on which they came to Rome to sell the produce of their labour, and on which the king settled the legal disputes among them. When, therefore, we read that the nundinae were feriae, or dies nefasti, and that no comitia were allowed to be held, we have to understand this of the populus or patricians, and not of the plebes; and while for the populus the nundinae were feriae, they were real days of business (dies fastiorcomitiales) for the plebeians, who on these occasions pleaded their causes with members of their own order, and held their public meetings (the ancient comitia of the plebeians). Afterwards the nundinae became fasti for both orders, and this innovation facilitated the attendance ofthe plebeians at the comitia centuriata. The subjects to be laid before the comitia, whether they were proposals for new laws, or the appointment of officers, were announced to the people three nundinae beforehand (trinundino die proponere). Instead ofnundinaethe formnundinumis sometimes used, but only when it is preceded by a numeral, as intrinundinum, ortrinum nundinum.

NUPTĬAE. [Matrimonium.]

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