R

RAMNES. [Patricii.]

RĂPĪNA. [Furtum.]

RĔCŬPĔRĀTŌRES. [Judex.]

RĔDEMPTOR, the general name for a contractor, who undertook the building and repairing of public works, private houses, &c., and in fact of any kind of work. The farmers of the public taxes were also calledRedemptores.

RĔDĬMĪCULUM (καθετήρ), a fillet attached to thecalautica,diadema,mitra, or other head-dress at the occiput, and passed over the shoulders, so as to hang on each side over the breast.Redimiculawere properly female ornaments.

RĒGĬFŬGĬUM or FŬGĀLIA, the king’s flight, a festival which was held by the Romans every year on the 24th of February, and, according to some ancient writers, in commemoration of the flight of king Tarquinius Superbus from Rome. The day is marked in the Fasti as nefastus. In some ancient calendars the 24th of May is likewise called Regifugium. It is doubtful whether either of these days had anything to do with the flight of king Tarquinius: they may have derived their name from the symbolical flight of the Rex Sacrorum from the comitium; for this king-priest was generally not allowed to appear in the comitium, which was destined for the transaction of political matters in which he could not take part. But on certain days in the year, and certainly on the two days mentioned above, he had to go to the comitium for the purpose of offering certain sacrifices, and immediately after he had performed his functions there, he hastily fled from it; and this symbolical flight was called Regifugium.

RĔLĒGĀTĬO. [Exsilium.]

RĔMANCĬPĀTIO. [Emancipatio.]

RĔMULCUM (ῥυμουλκηῖν τὰς ναῦς), a rope for towing a ship, and likewise a tow-barge.

RĔMŪRĬA. [Lemuria.]

RĒMUS. [Navis.]

RĔPĔTUNDAE, or PĔCŪNĬAE RĔPĔTUNDAE, was the term used to designate such sums of money as the socii of the Roman state or individuals claimed to recover from magistratus, judices, or publici curatores, which they had improperly taken or received in the Provinciae, or in the UrbsRoma, either in the discharge of their jurisdictio, or in their capacity of judices, or in respect of any other public function. Sometimes the word Repetundae was used to express the illegal act for which compensation was sought, as in the phraserepetundarum insimulari, damnari; and Pecuniae meant not only money, but anything that had value. The first lex on the subject was the Calpurnia, which was proposed and carried by the tribunus plebis L. Calpurnius Piso (B.C.149). By this lex a praetor was appointed for trying persons charged with this crime. It seems that the penalties of the Lex Calpurnia were merely pecuniary, and at least did not comprise exsilium. Various leges de repetundis were passed after the Lex Calpurnia, and the penalties were continually made heavier. The Lex Junia was passed probably aboutB.C.126, on the proposal of M. Junius Pennus, tribunus plebis. The Lex Servilia Glaucia was proposed and carried by C. Servilius Glaucia, praetor, in the sixth consulship of Marius,B.C.100. This lex applied to any magistratus who had improperly taken or received money from any private person; but a magistratus could not be accused during the term of office. The lex enacted that the praetor peregrinus should annually appoint 450 judices for the trial of this offence: the judices were not to be senators. The penalties of the lex were pecuniary and exsilium; the law allowed a comperendinatio. [Judex.] Before the Lex Servilia, the pecuniary penalty was simply restitution of what had been wrongfully taken; this lex seems to have raised the penalty to double the amount of what had been wrongfully taken; and subsequently it was made quadruple. Exsilium was only the punishment in case a man did not abide his trial, but withdrew from Rome. The lex gave the civitas to any person on whose complaint a person was convicted of repetundae. The Lex Acilia, which seems to be of uncertain date, was proposed and carried by M’. Acilius Glabrio, a tribune of the plebs, and enacted that there should be neither ampliatio nor comperendinatio. The Lex Cornelia was passed in the dictatorship of Sulla, and continued in force to the time of C. Julius Caesar. It extended the penalties of repetundae to other illegal acts committed in the provinces, and to judices who received bribes, to those to whose hands the money came, and to those who did not give into the aerarium their proconsular accounts (proconsulares rationes). The praetor who presided over this quaestio chose the judges by lot from the senators, whence it appears that the Servilia Lex was repealed by this lex, at least so far as related to the constitution of the court. This lex also allowed ampliatio and comperendinatio. The penalties were pecuniary (litis aestimatio) and theaquae et ignis interdictio. Under this lex were tried L. Dolabella, Cn. Piso, C. Verres, C. Macer, M. Fonteius, and L. Flaccus, the two last of whom were defended by Cicero. In the Verrine Orations Cicero complains of the comperendinatio or double hearing of the cause, which the Lex Cornelia allowed, and refers to the practice under the Lex Acilia, according to which the case for the prosecution, the defence, and the evidence were only heard once, and so the matter was decided. The last lex de repetundis was the Lex Julia, passed in the first consulship of C. Julius Caesar,B.C.59. This lex repealed the penalty of exsilium, but in addition to the litis aestimatio, it enacted that persons convicted under this lex should lose their rank, and be disqualified from being witnesses, judices, or senators. The lex had been passed when Cicero made his oration against Piso,B.C.55. A. Gabinius was convicted under this lex. Under the empire the offence was punishable with exile.

RĔPŌTĬA. [Matrimonium.]

RĔPŬDĬUM. [Divortium.]

RĒTĬĀRĬI. [Gladiatores.]

RĒTĬCŬLUM. [Coma.]

Retia, Nets (From a Bas-Relief at Ince-Blundell.)

RĒTIS and RĒTE;dim.RĒTĬCŬLUM (δίκτυον), a net. Nets were made most commonly of flax or hemp, whence they are sometimes calledlina(λίνα). The meshes (maculae,βρόχοι,dim.βροχίδες) were great or small according to the purposes intended. By far the most important application of net-work was to the three kindred arts of fowling, hunting, and fishing. In fowling the use of nets was comparatively limited. In hunting it was usual to extend nets in a curved line of considerable length, so as in part to surround a space into which the beasts of chace, such as the hare, the boar, the deer, the lion, and the bear, were driven through the opening left on one side. This range of nets was flanked by cords, to which feathers dyed scarlet and of other bright colours were tied, so as to flare and flutter in the wind. The hunters then sallied forth with their dogs, dislodged the animals from their coverts, and by shouts and barking drove them first within theformido, as the apparatus of string and feathers was called, and then, as they were scared with this appearance, within the circuit of the nets. In the drawing below three servants with staves carry on their shoulders a large net, which is intended to be set up as already described. In the lower figure the net is set up. At each end of it stands a watchman holding a staff. Beingintended to take such large quadrupeds as boars and deer (which are seen within it), the meshes are very wide (retia rara). The net is supported by three stakes (στάλικες,ancones,vari). To dispose the nets in this manner was calledretia ponere, orretia tendere. Comparing it with the stature of the attendants, we perceive the net to be between five and six feet high. The upper border of the net consists of a strong rope, which was calledσαρδών. Fishing-nets (ἁλιευτικὰ δίκτυα) were of different kinds. Of these the most common were theἀμφίβληστρον, or casting-net (funda,jaculum,retinaculum) and theσαγήνη,i.e.the drag-net, or sean (tragum,tragula,verriculum).

Retia, Nets. (From the same.)

RĔUS. [Actor.]

REX (βασιλεύς,ἄναξ), king.—(1)Greek.In the heroic age, as depicted in the poems of Homer, the kingly form of government was universal. The authority of these kings and its limitations were derived not from any definite scheme, or written code, but from the force of traditionary usage, and the natural influence of the circumstances in which the kings were placed, surrounded as they were by a body of chiefs or nobles, whose power was but little inferior to that of the kings themselves. Even the titleβασιλῆεςis applied to them as well as to the king. The maintenance of regal authority doubtless depended greatly on the possession of personal superiority in bravery, military prowess, wisdom in council and eloquence in debate. When old age had blunted his powers and activity, a king ran a great chance of losing his influence. There was, however, an undefined notion of a sort of divine right connected with the kingly office, whence the epithetδιοτρεφής, so commonly applied to kings in Homer. The characteristic emblem of the kingly office was theσκῆπτρον. [Sceptrum.] Our information respecting the Grecian kings in the more historical age is not ample or minute enough to enable us to draw out a detailed scheme of their functions. Respecting the kings of Sparta the reader is referred to the articleEphori. As an illustration of the gradual limitation of the prerogatives of the king or chief magistrate, the reader may consult the articleArchon. The titleBasileuswas sometimes applied to an officer who discharged the priestly functions of the more ancient kings, as in Athens. [Archon.]—(2)Roman.Rome was originally governed by kings. All the ancient writers agree in representing the king as elected by the people for life, and as voluntarily entrusted by them with the supreme power in the state. No reference is made to the hereditary principle in the election of the first four kings; and it is not until the fifth king Tarquinius Priscus obtained the sovereignty, that anything is said about the children of the deceased king. Since the people had conferred the regal power, it returned to them upon the death of the king. But as a new king could not be immediately appointed, an Interrex forthwith stepped into his place. The necessity for an immediate successor to the king arose from the circumstance that he alone had had the power of taking the auspicia on behalf of the state; and as the auspicia devolved upon the people at his death, it was imperative upon them to create a magistrate, to whom they could delegate the auspicia, and who would thus possess the power of mediating between the gods and the state. Originally the people consisted only of the patres or patricii; and accordingly on the death of the king, we readres ad patres redit, or, what is nearly the same thing,auspicia ad patres redeunt. [Augur.] The interrex was elected by the whole body of the patricians, and he appointed (prodebat) his successor, as it was a rule that thefirst interrex could not hold the comitia for the election; but it frequently happened that the second interrex appointed a third, the third a fourth, and so on, till the election took place. The Interrex presided over the comitia curiata, which were assembled for the election of the king. The person whom the senate had selected was proposed by the interrex to the people in a regularrogatio, which the people could only accept or reject, for they had not the initiative and could not themselves propose any name. If the people voted in favour of the rogation, they were saidcreare regem, and their acceptance of him was calledjussus populi. But the king did not immediately enter upon his office. Two other acts had still to take place before he was invested with the full regal authority and power. First, hisinauguratiohad to be performed, as it was necessary to obtain the divine will respecting his appointment by means of the auspices, since he was the high priest of the people. This ceremony was performed by an augur, who conducted the newly-elected king to thearx, or citadel, and there placed him on a stone seat with his face turned to the south, while the people waited below in anxious suspense until the augur announced that the gods had sent the favourable tokens confirming the king in his priestly character. The inauguratio did not confer upon him the auspicia; for these he obtained by his election to the royalty, as the comitia were heldauspicato. The second act which had to be performed was the conferring of the imperium upon the king. The curiae had only determined by their previous vote who was to be king, and had not by that act bestowed the necessary power upon him; they had, therefore, to grant him the imperium by a distinct vote. Accordingly the king himself proposed to the curiae alex curiata de imperio, and the curiae by voting in favour of it gave him the imperium. Livy in his first book makes no mention of thelex curiata de imperio, but he uses the expressionspatres auctores fierent,patres auctores facti; but these expressions are equivalent to thelex curiata de imperioin the kingly period.—The king possessed the supreme power in the earliest times, and the senate and the comitia of the curiae were very slight checks upon its exercise. In the first place, the king alone possessed the right of taking the auspices on behalf of the state; and as no public business of any kind could be performed without the approbation of the gods expressed by the auspices, the king stood as mediator between the gods and the people, and in an early stage of society must necessarily have been regarded with religious awe. [Augur.] Secondly, the people surrendered to the king the supreme military and judicial authority by conferring theimperiumupon him. The king was not only the commander in war, but the supreme judge in peace. Seated on his throne in the comitium, he administered justice to all comers, and decided in all cases which were brought before him, civil as well as criminal. Again, all the magistrates in the kingly period appear to have been appointed by the king and not elected by the curiae. Further, the king was not dependent upon the people for his support; but a large portion of the ager publicus belonged to him, which was cultivated at the expense of the state on his behalf. He had also the absolute disposal of the booty taken in war and of the conquered lands. It must not, however, be supposed that the authority of the king was absolute. The senate and the assembly of the people must have formed some check upon his power. But these were not independent bodies possessing the right of meeting at certain times and discussing questions of state. They could only be called together when the king chose, and further could only determine upon matters which the king submitted to them. The only public matter in which the king could not dispense with the co-operation of the senate and the curiae was in declarations of war. There is no trace of the people having had anything to do with the conclusion of treaties of peace.—The insignia of the king were the fasces with the axes (secures), which twelve lictors carried before him as often as he appeared in public, thetrabea, thesella curulis, and thetoga praetextaandpicta. Thetrabeaappears to have been the most ancient official dress, and is assigned especially to Romulus: it was of Latin origin, and is therefore represented by Virgil as worn by the Latin kings. Thetoga praetextaandpictawere borrowed, together with thesella curulis, from the Etruscans, and their introduction is variously ascribed to Tullus Hostilius or Tarquinius Priscus.

REX SACRĬFĬCŬLUS, REX SACRĬFĬCUS, or REX SACRORUM. When the civil and military powers of the king were transferred to two praetors or consuls, upon the establishment of the republican government at Rome, these magistrates were not invested with that part of the royal dignity by virtue of which the king had been the high priest of his nation and had conducted several of the sacra publica, but this priestly part of his office was transferred to a priest called Rex Sacrificulus or Rex Sacrorum. The first rex sacrorum was designated, at the command of the consuls, by the college of pontiffs, and inaugurated by the augurs. Hewas always elected and inaugurated in the comitia curiata under the presidency of the pontiffs, and as long as a rex sacrificulus was appointed at Rome, he was always a patrician, for as he had no influence upon the management of political affairs, the plebeians never coveted this dignity. Considering that this priest was the religious representative of the kings, he ranked indeed higher than all other priests, and even higher than the pontifex maximus, but in power and influence he was far inferior to him. He held his office for life, was not allowed to hold any civil or military dignity, and was at the same time exempted from all military and civil duties. His principal functions were: 1. To perform those sacra publica which had before been performed by the kings; and his wife, who bore the title ofregina sacrorum, had also, like the queens of former days, to perform certain priestly functions. These sacra publica he or his wife had to perform on all the Calends, Ides, and the Nundines; he to Jupiter, and she to Juno in the regia. 2. On the days called regifugium he had to offer a sacrifice in the comitium. [Regifugium.] 3. When extraordinary portenta seemed to announce some general calamity, it was his duty to try to propitiate the anger of the gods. 4. On the nundines, when the people assembled in the city, the rex sacrorum announced (edicebat) to them the succession of the festivals for the month. This part of his functions, however, must have ceased after the time of Cn. Flavius. He lived in a domus publica on the via sacra, near the regia and the house of the vestal virgins.

RHĒDA or RĒDA, a travelling carriage with four wheels. Like theCovinusand theEssedumit was of Gallic origin, and may perhaps contain the same root as the Germanreitenand ourride. It was the common carriage used by the Romans for travelling, and was frequently made large enough not only to contain many persons, but also baggage and utensils of various kinds. The wordEpirhedium, which was formed by the Romans from the Greek prepositionἐπιand the Gallicrheda, is explained by the Scholiast on Juvenal as “Ornamentum rhedarum aut plaustrum.”

RHĒTRAE (ῥῆτραι), specially the name of the ordinances of Lycurgus. The wordRhetrameans a solemn compact, either originally emanating from, or subsequently sanctioned by the gods, who are always parties to such agreements. The Rhetra of Lycurgus emanated from the Delphian god: but the kings, senators, and people all bound themselves, both to each other and to the gods, to obey it.

RHYTON (ῥυτόν), a drinking-horn (κέρας). Its original form was probably the horn of the ox, but one end of it was afterwards ornamented with the heads of various animals and birds. Therhytonhad a small opening at the bottom, which the person who drank put into his mouth, and allowed the wine to run in: hence it derived its name.

Rhyton, drinking-horn. (Museo Borbonico.)

RĪCA. [Flamen.]

RĪCĪNĬUM, an article of female dress, appears to have been a kind of mantle, with a sort of cowl attached to it, in order to cover the head. Themavortium,mavorte, ormavorsof later times was thought to be only another name for what had formerly been called ricinium.

RŌBĪGĀLĬA, a public festival in honour of the god Robigus, to preserve the fields from mildew, is said to have been instituted by Numa, and was celebrated April 25th. The sacrifices offered on this occasion consisted of the entrails of a dog and a sheep, accompanied with frankincense and wine: a prayer was presented by a flamen in the grove of the ancient deity, whom Ovid and Columella make a goddess. A god Robigus or a goddess Robigo is a mere invention from the name of this festival, for the Romans paid no divine honours to evil deities.

RŎGĀTĬO. [Lex,p. 225.]

RŎGĀTŌRES. [Comitia,p. 107.]

RŎGUS. [Funus,p. 188,b.]

ROMPHEA. [Hasta.]

RŌRĀRĬI. [Exercitus,p. 165.]

ROSTRA, or The Beaks, was the name applied to the stage (suggestus) in the Forum, from which the orators addressed the people. This stage was originally calledtemplum, because it was consecrated by the augurs, but obtained its name ofRostraat the conclusion of the great Latin war, when it was adorned with the beaks (rostra) of the ships of the Antiates. The Greeks also mutilated galleys in the same way for the purpose of trophies: this was called by themἀκρωτηριάζειν. [Acroterium.] The rostra lay between the Comitium or place of meeting for the curies, and the Forum or place of meeting for the tribes,so that the speaker might turn either to the one or the other; but down to the time of C. Gracchus, even the tribunes in speaking used to front the Comitium; he first turned his back to it and spoke with his face towards the forum. The rostra was a circular building, raised on arches, with a stand or platform on the top, bordered by a parapet, the access to it being by two flights of steps, one on each side. It fronted towards the comitium, and the rostra were affixed to the front of it, just under the arches. Its form has been in all the main points preserved in the ambones or circular pulpits of the most ancient churches, which also had two flights of steps leading up to them, one on the east side, by which the preacher ascended, and another on the west side, for his descent. The speaker was thus enabled to walk to and fro, while addressing his audience. The suggestus or rostra was transferred by Julius Caesar to a corner of the Forum, but the spot where the ancient rostra had stood still continued to be calledRostra Vetera, while the other was calledRostra NovaorRostra Julia. Both the rostra contained statues of illustrious men.

Rostra on Coin of M. Lollius Palicanus. (British Museum.)

ROSTRUM. [Navis.]

RŎTA. [Currus.]

RŬDĬĀRĬI. [Gladiatores.]

RŬDIS. [Gladiatores.]

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