O

ŎBOLUS. [Drachma.]

OCRĔA (κνημίς), a greave, a leggin. A pair of greaves (κνημῖδες) was one of the six articles of armour which formed the complete equipment of a Greek warrior [Arma], and likewise of a Roman soldier as fixed by Servius Tullius. They were made of various metals, with a lining probably of leather, felt, or cloth. Their form is shown in the accompanying cut. The figure is that of a fallen warrior, and in consequence of the bending of the knees, the greaves are seen to project a little above them. This statue also shows the ankle-rings (ἐπισφύρια), which were used to fasten the greaves immediately above the feet.

Ocreae, Greaves. (From the Aeginetan Marbles.)

ŌDĒUM (ᾠδεῖον), a species of public building for contests in vocal and instrumental music. In its general form and arrangements it was very similar to the theatre; and it is sometimes calledθέατρον. There were, however, some characteristic differences: the Odeum was much smaller than the theatre; and it was roofed over, in order to retain the sound. The earliest building of this kind was that erected by Pericles at Athens, for the purpose of celebrating the musical contests at the Panathenaea. Its proximity to the theatre suggested some of the uses made of it, namely, as a refuge for the audience when driven out of the theatre by rain, and also as a place in which the chorus could be prepared. Another Odeum was built at Athens by Herodes Atticus, and was the most magnificent edifice of the sort in the whole empire. The length of its largest diameter was 248 feet, and it is calculated to have furnished accommodation for about 8000 persons. There were also Odea in other Greek towns. The first Odeum, properly so called, at Rome, was built by Domitian, and the second by Trajan. There are ruins of such buildings in the villa of Hadrian at Tivoli, at Pompeii, and at Catana.

ŎLĔA, ŎLĪVA (ἐλαία); ŎLĔUM, OLĪVUM (ἔλαιον). The importance of the olive was recognised from the most remote period of antiquity in all civilised countries where the temperature admitted of its cultivation: and it was widely adopted as an emblem of industry and peace. Hence the honour paid to it at Athens, and hence the title of “prima omnium arborum,” bestowed upon it by Columella. The fruit (bacca) of the olive was for the most part employed for one of two purposes. 1. It was eaten as a fruit, either fresh, pickled, or preserved in various ways. 2. It was pressed so as to yield the oil and other juices which it contained. And again, the oil was employed for a variety of purposes, but chiefly 1. As an article of food. 2. For anointing the body, and in this case was frequently made a vehicle for perfumes (unguenta). 3. For burning in lamps.

OLĬGARCHĬA (ὀλιγαρχια), the government of a few: a term applied to that perversion (παρέκβασις) of anAristocratiainto which the latter passed, when, owing to the rise of thedemus[Democratia], and the vanishing of those substantial grounds of pre-eminence which rendered an Aristocratia not unjust, the rule of the dominant portion of the community became the ascendancy of a faction, whose efforts were directed chiefly towards their own aggrandisement. The preservation of power under such circumstances of course depended chiefly upon the possession of superior wealth and the other appliances of wealth which were its concomitants. Thus it came to be regarded as essentially characteristic of an oligarchy, that the main distinction between the dominant faction and the subject portion of the community was the possession of greater wealth on the part of the former. Hence the termOligarchiawould not have been applied, if a small section of the community, consisting ofpoorpersons, by any means got the reins of government into their hands.

OLLA (λέβης,χύτρος), a vessel of any material,round and plain, and having a wide mouth; a pot; a jar.

ŎLYMPĬA (ὀλύμπια), the Olympic games, the greatest of the national festivals of the Greeks. It was celebrated at Olympia in Elis, the name given to a small plain to the west of Pisa, which was bounded on the north and north-east by the mountains Cronius and Olympus, on the south by the river Alpheus, and on the west by the Cladeus, which flows into the Alpheus. Olympia does not appear to have been a town, but rather a collection of temples and public buildings. The origin of the Olympic games is buried in obscurity, but the festival was of very great antiquity. The first historical fact connected with this festival is its revival by Iphitus, king of Elis, who is said to have accomplished it with the assistance of Lycurgus, the Spartan lawgiver, and Cleosthenes of Pisa. The date of this event is given by some writers asB.C.884, and by others asB.C.828. The interval of four years between each celebration of the festival was called an Olympiad; but the Olympiads were not employed as a chronological aera till the victory of Coroebus in the foot-race,B.C.776. [Olympias.] The most important point in the renewal of the festival by Iphitus was the establishment of theEcecheiria(ἐκεχειρία), or sacred armistice. The proclamation was made by peace-heralds (σπονδοφόροι), first in Elis and afterwards in the other parts of Greece; it put a stop to all warfare for the month in which the games were celebrated, and which was called thesacred month(ἱερομηνία). The territory of Elis itself was considered especially sacred during the games, and no armed force could enter it without incurring the guilt of sacrilege. The Olympic festival was probably confined at first to the Peloponnesians; but as its celebrity extended, the other Greeks took part in it, till at length it became a festival for the whole nation. No one was allowed to contend in the games but persons of pure Hellenic blood: barbarians might be spectators, but slaves were entirely excluded. After the conquest of Greece by the Romans, the latter were permitted to take part in the games. No women were allowed to be present or even to cross the Alpheus during the celebration of the games, under penalty of being hurled down from the Typaean rock, but women could send chariots to the races. The number of spectators at the festival was very great; and these were drawn together not merely by the desire of seeing the games, but partly through the opportunity it afforded them of carrying on commercial transactions with persons from distant places, as is the case with the Mohammedan festivals at Mecca and Medina. Many of the persons present were also deputies (θεωροί) sent to represent the various states of Greece; and we find that these embassies vied with one another in the number of their offerings, and the splendour of their general appearance, in order to support the honour of their native cities. The Olympic festival was a Pentaëteris (πενταετηρίς), that is, according to the ancient mode of reckoning, a space of four years elapsed between each festival, in the same way as there was only a space of two years between a Trieteris. It was celebrated on the first full moon after the summer solstice. It lasted, after all the contests had been introduced, five days, from the 11th to the 15th days of the month inclusive. The fourth day of the festival was the 14th of the month, which was the day of the full moon, and which divided the month into two equal parts. The festival was under the immediate superintendence of the Olympian Zeus, whose temple at Olympia, adorned with the statue of the god made by Phidias, was one of the most splendid works of art in Greece. There were also temples and altars to most of the other gods. The festival itself may be divided into two parts, the games or contests (ἀγὼν Ολυμπιακός), and the festive rites (ἑορτή) connected with the sacrifices, with the processions, and with the public banquets in honour of the conquerors.—The contests consisted of various trials of strength and skill, which were increased in number from time to time. There were in all twenty-four contests, eighteen in which men took part, and six in which boys engaged, though they were never all exhibited at one festival, since some were abolished almost immediately after their institution, and others after they had been in use only a short time. We subjoin a list of these from Pausanias, with the date of the introduction of each, commencing from the Olympiad of Coroebus:—1. The foot-race (δρόμος), which was the only contest during the first 13 Olympiads. 2. Theδίαυλος, or foot-race, in which the stadium was traversed twice, first introduced in Ol. 14. 3. Theδόλιχος, a still longer foot-race than theδίαυλος, introduced in Ol. 15. For a more particular account of theδίαυλοςandδόλιχος, seeStadium. 4. Wrestling (πάλη), and, 5. The Pentathlum (πένταθλον), which consisted of five exercises [Pentathlum], both introduced in Ol. 18. 6. Boxing (πυγμή) introduced in Ol. 23. [Pugilatus.] 7. The chariot-race, with four full-grown horses (ἵππων τελείων δρόμος,ἅρμα), introduced in Ol. 25. 8. The Pancratium (παγκράτιον) [Pancratium], and9. The horse-race (ἵππος κέλης), both introduced in Ol. 33. 10 and 11. The foot-race and wrestling for boys, both introduced in Ol. 37. 12. The Pentathlum for boys, introduced in Ol. 38., but immediately afterwards abolished. 13. Boxing for boys, introduced in Ol. 41. 14. The foot-race, in which men ran with the equipments of heavy-armed soldiers (τῶν ὁπλιτῶν δρόμος), introduced in Ol. 65., on account of its training men for actual service in war. 15. The chariot-race with mules (ἀπήνη), introduced in Ol. 70.; and 16. The horse-race with mares (κάλπη), introduced in Ol. 71., both of which were abolished in Ol. 84. 17. The chariot-race with two full-grown horses (ἵππων τελείων συνωρίς), introduced in Ol. 93. 18, 19. The contest of heralds (κήρυκες) and trumpeters (σαλπιγκταί), introduced in Ol. 96. 20. The chariot-race with four foals (πώλων ἅρμασιν), introduced in Ol. 99. 21. The chariot-race with two foals (πώλων συνωρίς), introduced in Ol. 128. 22. The horse-race with foals (πῶλος κέλης), introduced in Ol. 131. 23. The Pancratium for boys, introduced in Ol. 145. 24. There was also a horse-race (ἵππος κέλης) in which boys rode, but we do not know the time of its introduction.—The judges in the Olympic Games, calledHellanodicae(Ἑλλανοδίκαι), were appointed by the Eleans, who had the regulation of the whole festival. It appears to have been originally under the superintendence of Pisa, in the neighbourhood of which Olympia was situated, but after the conquest of Peloponnesus by the Dorians on the return of the Heraclidae, the Aetolians, who had been of great assistance to the Heraclidae, settled in Elis, and from this time the Aetolian Eleans obtained the regulation of the festival, and appointed the presiding officers. The Hellanodicae were chosen by lot from the whole body of the Eleans. Their number varied at different periods, but at a later time there were eight Hellanodicae. Their office probably lasted for only one festival. They had to see that all the laws relating to the games were observed by the competitors and others, to determine the prizes, and to give them to the conquerors. An appeal lay from their decision to the Elean senate. Under the direction of the Hellanodicae was a certain number ofAlytae(ἀλύται) with anAlytarches(ἀλυτάρχης) at their head, who formed a kind of police, and carried into execution the commands of the Hellanodicae. There were also various other minor officers under the control of the Hellanodicae.—All free Greeks were allowed to contend in the games, who had complied with the rules prescribed to candidates. The equestrian contests were necessarily confined to the wealthy; but the poorest citizens could contend in the athletic games. This, however, was far from degrading the games in public opinion; and some of the noblest as well as meanest citizens of the state took part in these contests. The owners of the chariots and horses were not obliged to contend in person; and the wealthy vied with one another in the number and magnificence of the chariots and horses which they sent to the games. All persons, who were about to contend, had to prove to the Hellanodicae that they were freemen, and of pure Hellenic blood, that they had not been branded with atimia, nor guilty of any sacrilegious act. They further had to prove that they had undergone the preparatory training (προγυμνάσματα) for ten months previous. All competitors were obliged, thirty days before the festival, to undergo certain exercises in the Gymnasium at Elis, under the superintendence of the Hellanodicae. The competitors took their places by lot. The herald then proclaimed the name and country of each competitor. When they were all ready to begin the contest, the judges exhorted them to acquit themselves nobly, and then gave the signal to commence.—The only prize given to the conqueror was a garland of wild olive (κότινος), cut from a sacred olive tree, which grew in the sacred grove of Altis in Olympia. The victor was originally crowned upon a tripod covered over with bronze, but afterwards upon a table made of ivory and gold. Palm branches, the common tokens of victory on other occasions, were placed in his hands. The name of the victor, and that of his father and of his country, were then proclaimed by a herald before the representatives of assembled Greece. The festival ended with processions and sacrifices, and with a public banquet given by the Eleans to the conquerors in the Prytaneium. The most powerful states considered an Olympic victory, gained by one of their citizens, to confer honour upon the state to which he belonged; and a conqueror usually had immunities and privileges conferred upon him by the gratitude of his fellow-citizens. On his return home the victor entered the city in a triumphal procession, in which his praises were celebrated, frequently in the loftiest strains of poetry. [Athletae.] As persons from all parts of the Hellenic world were assembled together at the Olympic Games, it was the best opportunity which the artist and the writer possessed of making their works known. It answered, to some extent, the same purpose as the press does in modern times. Before the invention of printing, the reading of an author’s works to as large an assemblyas could be obtained, was one of the easiest and surest modes of publishing them; and this was a favourite practice of the Greeks and Romans. Accordingly we find many instances of literary works thus published at the Olympic festival. Herodotus is said to have read his history at this festival; but though there are some reasons for doubting the correctness of this statement, there are numerous other writers who thus published their works, as the sophist Hippias, Prodicus of Ceos, Anaximenes, the orator Lysias, Dion Chrysostom, &c. It must be borne in mind that these recitations were not contests, and that they formed properly no part of the festival. In the same way painters and other artists exhibited their works at Olympia.

OLYMPĬAS (ὀλυμπιάς), an Olympiad, the most celebrated chronological aera among the Greeks, was the period of four years which elapsed between each celebration of the Olympic Games. The Olympiads began to be reckoned from the victory of Coroebus in the foot-race, which happened in the yearB.C.776. Timaeus of Sicily, however, who flourishedB.C.264, was the first writer who regularly arranged events according to the conquerors in each Olympiad. His practice of recording events by Olympiads was followed by Polybius, Diodorus Siculus, Dionysius of Halicarnassus, &c. The writers who make use of the aera of the Olympiads, usually give the number of the Olympiad (the first corresponding toB.C.776), and then the name of the conqueror in the foot-race. Some writers also speak of events as happening in the first, second, third, or fourth year, as the case may be, of a certain Olympiad; but others do not give the separate years of each Olympiad. The rules for converting Olympiads into the yearB.C., andvice versa, are given underChronologia; but as this is troublesome, the student will find at the end of the book a list of the Olympiads, with the years of the Christian aera corresponding to them from the beginning of the Olympiads toA.D.301. To save space, the separate years of each Olympiad, with the corresponding yearsB.C., are only given from the 47th to the 126th Olympiad, as this is the most important period of Grecian history; in the other Olympiads the first year only is given. In consulting the table it must be borne in mind that the Olympic Games were celebrated about midsummer, and that the Attic year commenced at about the same time. If, therefore, an event happened in the second half of the Attic year, the year B.C. must be reduced by 1. Thus Socrates was put to death in the 1st year of the 95th Olympiad, which corresponds in the table toB.C.400; but as his death happened in Thargelion, the 11th month of the Attic year, the yearB.C.must be reduced by 1, which gives usB.C.399, the true date of his death.

ŎPĀLĬA, a Roman festival in honour of Opis, celebrated on the 19th of December, being the third day of the Saturnalia. It was believed that Opis was the wife of Saturnus, and for this reason the festivals were celebrated at the same time.

OPSŌNĬUM, or OBSŌNĬUM (ὄψον,dim.ὀψάριον;ὀψήμα), denoted everything which was eaten with bread, the principal substance of every meal. Those numerous articles of diet calledopsoniaorpulmentariawere designed to give nutriment, but still more to add a relish to food. Some of these articles were taken from the vegetable kingdom, but were much more pungent and savoury than bread, such as olives, either fresh or pickled, radishes, and sesamum. Of animal food by much the most common kind was fish, whence the terms under explanation were in the course of time used in a confined and special sense to denote fish only, but fish variously prepared, and more especially salt fish, which was most extensively employed to give a relish to the vegetable diet. The Athenians were in the habit of going to markets (εἰς τοῦψον) themselves in order to purchase their opsonia (ὀψωνεῖν,opsonare). But the opulent, Romans had a slave, calledopsonator(ὀψώνης), whose office it was to purchase for his master.

OPTĬO. [Centurio.]

OPTĬMĀTES. [Nobiles.]

ŌRĀCŬLUM (μαντεῖον,χρηστήριον) was used by the ancients to designate both the revelations made by the deity to man, as well as the place in which such revelations were made. The deity was in none of these places believed to appear in person to man, and to communicate to him his will or knowledge of the future, but all oracular revelations were made through some kind of medium, which was different in the different places where oracles existed. It may, at first sight, seem strange that there were, comparatively speaking, so few oracles of Zeus, the father and ruler of gods and men. But although, according to the belief of the ancients, Zeus himself was the first source of all oracular revelations, yet he was too far above men to enter with them into any close relation; other gods therefore, especially Apollo, and even heroes, acted as mediators between Zeus and men, and were, as it were, the organs through which he communicated his will. The ancients consulted the will of the gods on all important occasions of public and private life, since they were unwilling to undertakeanything of importance without their sanction.—The most celebrated oracle was that of Apollo at Delphi. Its ancient name was Pytho. In the centre of the temple there was a small opening (χάσμα) in the ground, from which, from time to time, an intoxicating smoke arose, which was believed to come from the well of Cassotis, which vanished into the ground close by the sanctuary. Over this chasm there stood a high tripod, on which the Pythia, led into the temple by the prophetes (προφήτης), took her seat whenever the oracle was to be consulted. The smoke rising from under the tripod affected her brain in such a manner that she fell into a state of delirious intoxication, and the sounds which she uttered in this state were believed to contain the revelations of Apollo. These sounds were carefully written down by the prophetes, and afterwards communicated to the persons who had come to consult the oracle. The Pythia (theπροφῆτις) was always a native of Delphi, and when she had once entered the service of the god she never left it, and was never allowed to marry. In early times she was always a young girl, but subsequently no one was elected as prophetess who had not attained the age of fifty years. The Delphians, or, more properly speaking, the noble families of Delphi, had the superintendence of the oracle. Among the Delphian aristocracy, however, there were five families which traced their origin to Deucalion, and from each of these one of the five priests, calledHosioi(ὅσιοι), was taken. TheHosioi, together with the high-priest or prophetes, held their offices for life, and had the control of all the affairs of the sanctuary and of the sacrifices. That these noble families had an immense influence upon the oracle is manifest from numerous instances, and it is not improbable that they were its very soul, and that it was they who dictated the pretended revelations of the god. Most of the oracular answers which are extant are in hexameters, and in the Ionic dialect. Sometimes, however, Doric forms also were used.—No religious institution in all antiquity obtained such a paramount influence in Greece as the oracle of Delphi. When consulted on a subject of a religious nature, the answer was invariably of a kind calculated not only to protect and preserve religious institutions, but to command new ones to be established, so that it was the preserver and promoter of religion throughout the ancient world. Colonies were seldom or never founded without having obtained the advice and the directions of the Delphic god. The Delphic oracle had at all times a leaning in favour of the Greeks of the Doric race, but the time when it began to lose its influence must be dated from the period when Athens and Sparta entered upon their struggle for the supremacy in Greece; for at this time the partiality for Sparta became so manifest that the Athenians and their party began to lose all reverence and esteem for it, and the oracle became a mere instrument in the hands of a political party. Of the other oracles, the most celebrated were that of Apollo at Didyma, usually called the oracle of the Branchidae, in the territory of Miletus; that of Zeus, at Dodona, where the oracle was given from sounds produced by the wind; that of Zeus Ammon, in an oasis in Libya, not far from the boundaries of Egypt; that of Amphiaraus, between Potniae and Thebes, where the hero was said to have been swallowed up by the earth; and that of Trophonius, at Lebadeia in Boeotia.

ŌRĀRĬUM was a small handkerchief used for wiping the face, and appears to have been employed for much the same purposes as our pocket-handkerchief. It was made of silk or linen. Aurelian introduced the practice of givingOrariato the Roman people to usead favorem, which appears to mean for the purpose of waving in the public games in token of applause.

ŌRĀTOR. The profession of the Roman orator, who with reference to his undertaking a client’s case is also called patronus, was quite distinct from that of the Jurisconsultus [Jurisconsulti], and also from that of the Advocatus, at least in the time of Cicero, and even later. An orator who possessed a competent knowledge of the Jus Civile would, however, have an advantage. Some requisites of oratory, such as voice and gesture, could only be acquired by discipline, whereas a competent knowledge of the law of a case (juris utilitas) could be got at any time from the jurisconsulti (periti) or from books. Oratory was a serious study among the Romans. Cicero tells us by what painful labour he attained to excellence. Roman oratory reached its perfection in the century which preceded the Christian aera. Its decline dates from the establishment of the Imperial power. The old orators learned their art by constant attendance on some eminent orator and by actual experience of business: the orators of Messala’s time were formed in the schools of Rhetoric, and their powers were developed in exercises on fictitious matters. But the immediate causes of the former nourishing condition of eloquence were the political power which oratory conferred on the orator under the Republic, and the party struggles and even the violence that are incident to such a state of society.

ORCHESTRA. [Theatrum.]

ORCĪNUS SĔNĀTOR. [Senatus.]

ORDO is applied to any body of men who form a distinct class in the community, either by possessing distinct privileges, pursuing certain trades or professions, or in any other way. Thus the whole body of sacerdotes at Rome is spoken of as an ordo, and separate ecclesiastical corporations are called by the same title. The libertini and scribae also formed separate ordines. The senate and the equites are also spoken of respectively as the ordo senatorius and ordo equestris, but this name is never applied to the plebes. Accordingly we find the expression,uterque ordo, used without any further explanation to designate the senatorial and equestrian ordines. The senatorial ordo, as the highest, is sometimes distinguished asamplissimus ordo.—The senate in colonies and municipia was calledordo decurionum[Colonia], and sometimes simplyordo.—The term ordo is also applied to a company or troop of soldiers, and is used as equivalent to centuria: thus centurions are sometimes calledqui ordines duxerunt, and the first centuries in a legionprimi ordines. Even the centurions of the first centuries are occasionally calledprimi ordines.

ORGIA. [Mysteria.]

ORGYIA (ὀργυιά), a Greek measure of length, derived from the human body, was the distance from extremity to extremity of the outstretched arms, whence the name, fromὀρέγω. It was equal to 6 feet or to 4 cubits, and was 1-100th of the stadium.

ŎRĬCHALCUM, a metallic compound, akin to copper and bronze, which was highly prized by the ancients. It probably denotesbrass, with which the ancients became acquainted by fusing zinc ore (cadmium, calamine) with copper, although they appear to have had scarcely any knowledge of zinc as a metal. The word is derived fromὄροςandχαλκός, that is,mountain-bronze.

OSCHOPHŎRIA (ὠσχοφόρια,ὀσχοφόρια), an Attic festival, which, according to some writers, was celebrated in honour of Athena and Dionysus, and according to others in honour of Dionysus and Ariadne. It is said to have been instituted by Theseus. It was a vintage festival, and its name is derived fromὦσχος,ὄσχος, orὄσχη, a branch of vines with grapes.

Oscillum. (From a Marble in the British Museum.)

OSCILLUM, a diminutive throughosculumfromos, meaning “a little face,” was the term applied to faces or heads of Bacchus, which were suspended in the vineyards to be turned in every direction by the wind. Whichsoever way they looked, they were supposed to make the vines in that quarter fruitful. The first cut represents the countenance of Bacchus with a beautiful, mild, and propitious expression. The other cut represents a tree with four oscilla hung upon its branches. A syrinx and a pedum are placed at the root of the tree.

Oscillum. (From an ancient Gem.)

OSTĬĀRĬUM, a tax upon the doors of houses, which appears to have been sometimes levied in the provinces. There was a similar tax, calledcolumnarium, imposed upon every pillar that supported a house.

OSTĬUM. [Janua.]

ŎVĀTĬO, a lesser triumph. The circumstances by which it was distinguished from the more imposing solemnity [Triumphus] were the following:—The general did not enter the city in a chariot drawn by four horses, but on foot: he was not arrayed in the gorgeous gold-embroidered robe, but in the simple toga praetexta of a magistrate; his brows were encircled with a wreath, not of laurel but of myrtle; he bore no sceptre in his hand; the procession was not heralded by trumpets, headed by the senate, and thronged with victorious troops, but was enlivened by a crowd of flute players, attended chiefly by knights and plebeians, frequently without soldiers: the ceremonies were concluded by the sacrifice, not of a bull but of a sheep. The wordovatioseems clearly to be derived from the kind of victim offered. An ovation was granted when the advantage gained, although considerable, wasnot sufficient to constitute a legitimate claim to the higher distinction of a triumph, or when the victory had been achieved with little bloodshed; or when hostilities had not been regularly proclaimed; or when the war had not been completely terminated; or when the contest had been carried on against base and unworthy foes; and hence when the servile bands of Athenion and Spartacus were destroyed by Perperna and Crassus, these leaders celebrated ovations only.

ŎVĪLE. [Comitia.]

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